December 22, 1918
Haifa
Now that thou art returning to America thou must think of
taking unto thyself a wife. Do thou choose a girl who may be suitable to thy
intellectual and spiritual ideals. She must be wise, intelligent, and a symbol
of aspiring perfection. She must take an interest in all the problems
pertaining to thy life, and be thy companion and partner in every phase of thy
existence. She must be sympathetic, kind-hearted, happy, and endowed with a joyful
disposition. Then thou must devote thyself to her happiness and love her with a
glorious, spiritual love.
Before choosing a wife a man must think soberly and
seriously that this girl will be his friend throughout all his life. It is not
a temporary matter. She is a soul with whom he must associate all the days of his life; she will be
his mate and his intimate confidant; therefore, day by day their love and their
attachment to each other must increase.
The greatest bond that will unite the hearts of man and wife
is faithfulness and loyalty. Both must exercise toward each other the utmost
faithfulness and loyalty and not let any trace of jealousy creep between them;
for this thing like unto poison vitiates the very foundation of love.
The man and wife must dedicate their knowledge, their talents, their fortunes, their titles, their bodies and their spirits, first to Baha’u’llah and then to each other. Their thoughts must be lofty, their ideals luminous, their hearts spiritual, and their souls the dawning-places of the rays of the Sun of Reality. They must not become ill-disposed toward each other on account of the ephemeral incidents and accidents of this changeful life. Their hearts must be spacious, as spacious as the universe of God. In case any difference of opinion should arise between them, they must do their utmost to settle it by themselves, and not let its knowledge go out of the family; for people are apt to change a speck into a mountain. Again, in case a circumstance causes a real offense between the two, they must not keep it in their hearts, but rather explain its nature to each other and try to remove it as soon as possible. They must prefer fellowship and amity to jealousy and hypocrisy, and be like two pure mirrors reflecting the light of the stars of love and beauty to each other.
You must tell to each other all your noble and heavenly
conceptions. Have no secrets between you. Make your home a haven of rest and
peace. Be ye hospitable and let the doors of your home be open to the faces of
friends and strangers. Welcome everyone with a smiling face and let them all
feel that they are in my home.
God has created such union and harmony between man and
wife that no one can conceive in this world a greater plane of union. You must
irrigate continually the tree of your union with the water of love and
affection, so that it may remain green and verdant
throughout all the seasons, producing the most luscious fruits for the healing
of the nations.
In short, you two must live such a life that your home may
become a vision of the paradise of Abha; so that
whosoever enters therein may feel the essence of purity and cleanliness, and may cry
out unconsciously: "Here is the home of love, here is the palace of love, here
is the nest of love, here is the garden of love;" and yon two, like unto
two sweet-singing birds, must be perched on the highest branches of the tree of
life, filling the air with songs of love and happiness.
Endeavor as far as you are able to lay the foundation of your
love in the very center of your spiritual being, in the very heart of your
consciousness, and do not let this foundation of love be shaken in the least.
And when God gives you sweet and lovely children, exert
yourselves in their education and training, so that they may become the
imperishable flowers of the divine rose-garden, the nightingales of the ideal
paradise, the servants of the world of humanity and the fruits of the Tree of
Life.
Live ye in such a manner that others may take your life as an example, and may
say to
each other: "Look! How they live like unto two doves
in one nest with perfect love, affinity and harmony. It is as though God had
kneaded from eternity the very essence of their beings for the love of each
other."
When such conditions exist and such ideals hold sway, then you
have taken a large portion from the everlasting life, have quaffed deeply from
the fountain of Truth, and have spent your days in the paradise of glory gathering
the immortelles of divine mysteries.
Be ye to each other as heavenly lovers and divine beloved
ones. Spend your life in the paradise of love. Build your nest on the leafy
branches of the tree of love. Soar ye in the clear atmosphere of love. Swim ye
in the shoreless sea of love. Walk ye in the eternal rose-garden of love. Move
ye in the shining rays of the sun of love. Be ye firm and steadfast in the path of
love. Perfume your nostrils with the sweet fragrance of the flowers of love.
Familiarize your ears with the soul-entrancing melodies of love. Be ye
intoxicated with the wine of love. Drink ye deeply of the elixir of love. Let
your ideals be the bouquet of love, and your conversation the white pearls of
the ocean of love.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, December 22, 1918, Haifa; Star of the West, vol. 11, no. 1, March 21, 1920)
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, December 22, 1918, Haifa; Star of the West, vol. 11, no. 1, March 21, 1920)
