Arise, and make amends for that which escaped thee. Erelong
the world and all that thou possessest will perish, and the kingdom will remain
unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers of old. It behooveth thee not to
conduct thine affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs
of this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts of such as act unjustly. For
what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine
empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast
wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred. Commotions shall
seize all the people in that land, unless thou arisest to help this Cause, and
followest Him Who is the Spirit of God [Jesus] in this, the straight Path. Hath
thy pomp made thee proud? By My Life! It shall not endure; nay, it shall soon
pass away, unless thou holdest fast by this firm Cord. We see abasement
hastening after thee, while thou art of the heedless.... Abandon thy palaces to
the people of the graves, and thine empire to whosoever desireth it, and turn,
then, unto the Kingdom. This, verily, is what God hath chosen for thee, wert
thou of them that turn unto Him.... Shouldst thou desire to bear the weight of
thy dominion, bear it then to aid the Cause of thy Lord. Glorified be this
station which whoever attaineth thereunto hath attained unto all good that
proceedeth from Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.... Exultest thou over
the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in
that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of
the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant?
Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto
Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their
palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example,
inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of
Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the
Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh
unto this sublime Vision.”
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The
Promised Day Is Come’)