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Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
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Pages 104-107
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LII: Say: O people! Withhold not from yourselves...
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Say: O people! Withhold not from yourselves the grace of God and His mercy. Whoso withholdeth
himself therefrom is indeed in grievous loss. What, O
people! Do ye worship the dust, and turn away from
your Lord, the Gracious, the All-Bountiful? Fear ye
God, and be not of those who perish. Say: The Book
of God hath been sent down in the form of this
Youth. Hallowed, therefore, be God, the most excellent
of makers! Take ye good heed, O peoples of the
world, lest ye flee from His face. Nay, make haste
to attain His presence, and be of them that have returned
unto Him. Pray to be forgiven, O people, for
having failed in your duty towards God, and for having
trespassed against His Cause, and be not of the
foolish. He it is Who hath created you; He it is Who
hath nourished your souls through His Cause, and enabled
you to recognize Him Who is the Almighty,
the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing. He it is Who
hath unveiled to your eyes the treasures of His
knowledge, and caused you to ascend unto the heaven
of certitude--the certitude of His resistless, His
irrefutable, and most exalted Faith. Beware that ye
do not deprive yourselves of the grace of God, that
ye do not bring to naught your works, and do not
repudiate the truth of this most manifest, this lofty,
this shining, and glorious Revelation. Judge ye fairly
the Cause of God, your Creator, and behold that
which hath been sent down from the Throne on
high, and meditate thereon with innocent and sanctified
hearts. Then will the truth of this Cause appear
unto you as manifest as the sun in its noon-tide glory.
Then will ye be of them that have believed in Him.
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Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing
His truth is His own Self. Next to this testimony
is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to recognize
either the one or the other He hath established the
words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and
truth. This is, verily, an evidence of His tender
mercy unto men. He hath endowed every soul with
the capacity to recognize the signs of God. How
could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony
unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His Cause
in their hearts. He will never deal unjustly with any
one, neither will He task a soul beyond its power.
He, verily, is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful.
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Say: So great is the glory of the Cause of God that
even the blind can perceive it, how much more they
whose sight is sharp, whose vision is pure. The blind,
though unable to perceive the light of the sun, are,
nevertheless, capable of experiencing its continual
heat. The blind in heart, however, among the people
of the Bayán--and to this God is My witness--are
impotent, no matter how long the Sun may shine
upon them, either to perceive the radiance of its
glory, or to appreciate the warmth of its rays.
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Say: O people of the Bayán! We have chosen you
out of the world to know and recognize Our Self.
We have caused you to draw nigh unto the right side
of Paradise--the Spot out of which the undying Fire
crieth in manifold accents: "There is none other God
besides Me, the All-Powerful, the Most High!" Take
heed lest ye allow yourselves to be shut out as by a
veil from this Day Star that shineth above the dayspring
of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful,
and whose light hath encompassed both the small and
the great. Purge your sight, that ye may perceive
its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the
sight of any one except your self, for God hath
never burdened any soul beyond its power. Thus hath
it been sent down unto the Prophets and Messengers
of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.
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Strive, O people, to gain admittance into this vast
Immensity for which God ordained neither beginning
nor end, in which His voice hath been raised, and
over which have been wafted the sweet savors of
holiness and glory. Divest not yourselves of the Robe
of grandeur, neither suffer your hearts to be deprived
of remembering your Lord, nor your ears of hearkening
unto the sweet melodies of His wondrous, His
sublime, His all-compelling, His clear, and most eloquent
voice.
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