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Deliverance from Calamities |
As the whole of humanity is one organism, however, the
welfare of each individual depends not only on his own behavior,
but on that of his neighbors. If one does wrong, all
suffer in greater or less degree; while if one does well, all benefit.
Each has to bear his neighbor’s burdens, to some extent,
and the best of mankind are those who bear the biggest burdens.
The saints have always suffered abundantly; the Prophets
have suffered superlatively. Bahá’u’lláh says in the Book of
Íqán:—“You must undoubtedly have been informed of the
tribulations, the poverty, the ills, and the degradation that
have befallen every Prophet of God and His companions. You
must have heard how the heads of their followers were sent
as presents unto different cities. …”—Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 73.
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This is not because the saints and Prophets have merited
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punishment above other men. Nay, they often suffer for the
sins of others, and choose to suffer, for the sake of others. Their
concern is for the world’s welfare, not for their own. The
prayer of the true lover of humanity is not that he, as an individual,
may escape poverty, ill-health or disaster, but that
mankind may be saved from ignorance and error and the ills
that inevitably flow from them. If he wishes health or wealth
for himself, it is in order that he may serve the Kingdom, and
if physical health and wealth are denied him, he accepts his
lot with “radiant acquiescence,” well knowing that there is a
right wisdom in whatever befalls him in the Path of God.
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Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance; they
are sent by the Divine Mercy for our perfecting. When
grief and sorrow come, then will a man remember his
Father Who is in Heaven, Who is able to deliver him from
his humiliations. The more a man is chastened, the greater
is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth by him.
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As to the subject of babes and children and weak ones
who are afflicted by the hands of the oppressors … for
those souls there is a recompense in another world …
that suffering is the greatest mercy of God. Verily that
mercy of the Lord is far better than all the comfort of
this world and the growth and development appertaining
to this place of mortality.
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