Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas

O thou dear maid-servant of God!

Thy letter was received and a sweet odor wafted from the rose-garden of its meanings. Thou hast offered thanks before the threshold of the One God, for that thou hast stepped into the Court of the Manifestation in such a blessed day and hast partaken a share and portion from the bounties of the Pre-existent Beauty 1 . This mortal world is fickle and unstable like unto a shifting shadow, and the human life is like unto a mirage and a reflection on the water. When thou lookest at the result thou wilt consider the preliminaries as 203 important, otherwise, preliminaries without a result are of no fruit or harm; they are pure fancy and sheer darkness. Therefore even a short duration of life is sufficient.

I beg of God that He may render thee successful so that thou mayest find the result of the supernal life from the temporal life and attain to the gift of the heavenly food and be strengthened to serve the Cause of God.