"O people of Baha! Subdue the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance.
(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 78)
That's from a letter to Napoleon III. It's in a series of paragraphs addressed to the people, following some words addressed to the King, and followed by some words addressed to priests and monks.
I never noticed this before:
"On other than these four consummate days, engage ye in your daily occupations, and withhold yourselves not from the pursuit of your trades and crafts."
Just before these paragraphs addressed to the people, Baha'u'llah says to the King:
"Adorn the body of Thy kingdom with the raiment of My name, and arise, then, to teach My Cause."
In the next paragraph after that He writes:
Say: He from whom, in this day, the sweet savours of the remembrance of His Lord, the All-Merciful, have not been diffused, is indeed unworthy of the station of man. He, verily, is of them that have followed their own desires, and shall erelong find himself in grievous loss. Doth it behove you to relate yourselves to Him Who is the God of mercy, and yet commit the things which the Evil One hath committed? Nay, by the Beauty of Him Who is the All-Glorified! could ye but know it. Purge your hearts from love of the world, and your tongues from calumny, and your limbs from whatsoever may withhold you from drawing nigh unto God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Say: By the world is meant that which turneth you aside from Him Who is the Dawning-Place of Revelation, and inclineth you unto that which is unprofitable unto you. Verily, the thing that deterreth you, in this day, from God is worldliness in its essence. Eschew it, and approach the Most Sublime Vision, this shining and resplendent Seat. Blessed is he who alloweth nothing whatsoever to intervene between him and his Lord. No harm, assuredly, can befall him if he partaketh with justice of the benefits of this world, inasmuch as We have created all things for such of Our servants as truly believe in God.After I read the whole letter, I'd like to consider this section addressed to the people, one sentence at a time, and look for ways to improve my practice of what Baha'u'llah is saying.
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