Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas

O ye beloved ones of Abdul-Baha! This servant longeth to write a special Tablet to each one of the 572 friends of God—but what can be done! For there is neither opportunity nor time. The affairs are like unto the waves, and the requirements are like unto the vernal showers. I do not rest a moment, neither do I have leisure for an instant. Letters are received every day from all the regions and it is impossible and impracticable to answer one among ten; yet there is no other mode than to answer the letters which are the most important, for the urgent affairs must be attended to. Therefore, I request the pardon and ask the forgiveness of the friends, that they may overlook these shortcomings and be content and happy with that which is possible.

O ye friends of Abdul-Baha! The East is illumined, the West is perfumed and the world is in motion and acceleration. Such a tumult is visible in the regions; and such a spiritual commotion is perceived in the pillars of the earth! The fame of the grandeur of the Word of God hath reached the ears of the inhabitants of the world, and the voice of the Cause of God holdeth universal sway! It is the time for joy and happiness and the moment of exhileration and ecstasy. One must live in accord with the exhortations and advices of the Blessed Perfection and behave with such deeds and actions as to become conducive to the illumination of the world and the manifestion of mercifulness among the nations.

All the denizens of the earth, the communities and the people have taken an axe in their hands to uproot the life-tree of each other; they are blood-thirsty and the instigators of corruption; they are armed to the teeth with destructive implements; each seeketh the 573 death and annihilation of the other. But the heavenly power, the divine energy and the celestial hand of strength, hath raised the canopy of the oneness of the realm of humanity on the pinnacle of the contingent being and hoisted the standard of the most great peace, friendship, love, uprightness and the adoration of truth. The friends are the servants of this canopy and the beloved are the hosts of this standard. Therefore they must with one accord arise to that which is the requirement and the merit of this day, become overflowing with joy and beatitude, perfume the nostrils with the fragrances, sweeten the tastes with the honey and delicacy of love, become the signs of guidance, be the glad-tidings of the Supreme Concourse and the army of the Kingdom of Abha; so that they may destroy the edifice of war and bloodshed, efface the traces of battle and strife from the face of the earth, uproot the tree of foreignness and plant the tree of unity in the rose-garden of the regions, extinguish the fire of hatred and animosity and set in motion the sea of love and affinity, erase the traces of discord from the Tablet of the earth and register thereon the verses of concord, clear the field of existence from the thorns and brambles of hostilities and ill-feeling and adorn it with the hyacinths and anemones of harmony, train and educate the souls and loosen the tongue in the delivery of the instructions and teachings of the Blessed Perfection!