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Portions of tablets sent
by Abdu’l-Baha’
To Mrs. Helen S. Goodall.
Translated by Anton Hadad in 1903
In The Hidden Words “Leave the ego” [“Renounce thyself”] means that man must leave his passions and lusts, his human sentiments, his personal interests and aims, and seek the Spiritual Fragrances and Heavenly Attractions, and become drowned in the sea of redemption, and drawn to the Beauty of Al-Abha.
O SON OF SPIRIT!
Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity. Baha’u’llah-PHW#38
In The Hidden Words “Remember the covenant you entered into with Me upon the Mount of Paran” means that in relation to the Truth (God) the past, the present, and the future are regarded as one time, but in relation to the created beings, the past had passed and expired, the present is about vanishing, and the future is the place of hopes.
O MY FRIENDS! Call ye to mind that covenant ye have entered into with Me upon Mount Paran, situate within the hallowed precincts of Zaman. I have taken to witness the concourse on high and the dwellers in the city of eternity, yet now none do I find faithful unto the covenant. Of a certainty pride and rebellion have effaced it from the hearts, in such wise that no trace thereof remaineth. Yet knowing this, I waited and disclosed it not. Baha’u’llah-PHW #71
Of the fundamental principles of the Law of God, there is one which means that in every Prophetical Mission God taketh a covenant from all the souls which come up to the end of that mission, which is the Promised Day of the Appearance of a Promised Person.
Look back to Moses, the Interlocutor. Verily, He took the Covenant of Christ upon the Mount of Sinai from all the souls who came in the time of Christ. Those souls, though they came after Moses by ages and generations, yet, with reference to the Covenant which is sanctified from times, they were present. But the Jews were heedless and did not remember; so they fell into a manifest loss.
In the Arabic Hidden Words “No peace was ordained for thee save by cutting the ego from thyself”: It means that man, also, must not seek for himself in this perishable world anything, but must be separated from it–i.e., he must redeem his whole soul under all conditions, in the place of martyrdom, on the appearing of its Lord.
O SON OF SPIRIT! There is no peace for thee save by renouncing thyself and turning unto Me; for it behooveth thee to glory in My name, not in thine own; to put thy trust in Me and not in thyself, since I desire to be loved alone and above all that is. Baha’u’llah-AHW #8
As to thy question concerning the “Minor Resurrection” and the first creation, this is the appearance of the Bab, the Great, His Holiness the Supreme. But the “Major Resurrection” signifies the Manifestation of the Preexistent Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh), the GREATEST NAME. (May My Spirit be a sacrifice for His beloved!)
By the majesty of My Lord, your gathering in the meeting of Oneness, your commemoration of God with a pure heart, and your association with a spirit rejoiced by the Spirit of God in the Great Day profiteth you more than all favors and this Bounty surpasseth all wishes.
O maidservant of God, assemble the maidservants of the merciful with all spirituality and fragrance, love and attraction, and raise your voice in the praise and glory of your Majestic Lord for His abundant mercy and great favor of guidance.
Upon thee be greeting and praise.
(signed) ABDU’L-BAHA ABBAS
ALLAH-U-ABHA!
Excerpt from Daily Lessons Received At Akka, January 1908-By Helen S. Goodall and Ella Goodall Cooper, with Hidden Words by Baha’u’llah inserted as translated by Shoghi Effendi.
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