The present is always unimportant, but we must make our present so filled with mighty, altruistic deeds as to assume significant weight and momentous importance in the future. A shallow present will surely be followed by a superficial future. Christopher Columbus and his idea, before the discovery of America, were ridiculed and scoffed at, and he spent the last days of his eventful life in poverty, shame and prison. But now in whatever city I enter I see the houses, the parks, the streets and public buildings adorned with his picture and statue. All the prophets, philosophers, benefactors of the human race, leaders of great reforms, scientists, inventors and discoverers were not duly appreciated in their own days; nay, rather, they were persecuted, maligned, thrown into prison and if possible put to death. The fact is they should have honoured and adored them; but the people are not, as a whole, worthy to worship the reality; they apotheosize the phantasm-a supposed image formed by their minds.

Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to William Jennings Brayan in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1912

Star of the West,  V:8, 1 August 1914
page 119
From the Diary of Mírzá Ahmad Sohráb, 13 May 1914

MORNING:

Thou art He through Whom the ensign “Praiseworthy art Thou in Thy works” hath been lifted up, and the standard “Obeyed art Thou in Thy behest” hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware that the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good-pleasure of Thy will, and may recognize that the reins of men’s doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: “All dominion is Thine, O Thou the Begetter of the Spirit*”; and Thy Friend** crieth out: “Glory be to Thee, O Thou the Best-Beloved, for that Thou hast uncovered Thy Beauty, and written down for Thy chosen ones what will cause them to attain unto the seat of the revelation of Thy Most Great Name, through which all the peoples have lamented except such as have detached themselves from all else except Thee, and set themselves towards Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Manifestation of Thine attributes.”

*Jesus, The Christ

**Muḥammad

—His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh

Prayers and Meditations of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 68

EVENING:

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art He the fire of Whose love hath set ablaze the hearts of them who have recognized Thy unity, and the splendors of Whose countenance have illuminated the faces of such as have drawn nigh unto Thy court. How plenteous, O my God, is the stream of Thy knowledge! How sweet, O my Beloved, is the injury which, in my love for Thee, and for the sake of Thy pleasure, I suffer from the darts of the wicked doers! How pleasing are the wounds which, in Thy path and in order to proclaim Thy Faith, I sustain from the swords of the infidels!

I beseech Thee, by Thy name through which Thou turnest restlessness into tranquillity, fear into confidence, weakness into strength, and abasement into glory, that Thou of Thy grace wilt aid me and Thy servants to exalt Thy name, to deliver Thy Message, and to proclaim Thy Cause, in such wise that we may remain unmoved by either the assaults of the transgressors or the wrath of the infidels, O Thou Who art my Well-Beloved!

—His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh

Prayers and Meditations of Bahá’u’lláh, pp: 212-213

FROM THE CENTRE OF THE COVENANT ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ:

Praise be to God! Upon the faces of those assembled here I perceive the light of God. This I consider an evidence of the possibility of uniting the East and the West, of establishing a perfect bond between Persia and America — one of the objects of this conference. For the Persians there is no government better fitted to contribute to the development of their natural resources and the helping of their national needs in a reciprocal alliance than the United States of America, and for the Americans there could be no better industrial outlet and market than the virgin commercial soil of Persia. The mineral wealth of Persia is still latent and untouched. It is my hope that the great American democracy may be instrumental in developing these hidden resources and that a bond of perfect amity and unity may be established between the American republic and the government of Persia. May this bond — whether material or spiritual — be well cemented. May the material civilization of America find complete efficacy and establishment in Persia, and may the spiritual civilization of Persia find acceptance and response in America.

The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 35