August 8, 1914
Haifa
[This morning I was called into His presence, and after
reading a few letters and dictating a number of Tablets, He spoke about the
present war (World War I)]:
These dreadful events are as warnings on the part of God so
that they may quicken the people and make them mindful. But the majority of
mankind are like unto the children, who are being rocked in a cradle. The
harder they are rocked to be awakened, the deeper they fall into sleep.
East and West the affairs of the people are in utter
confusion and the markets of the world are afflicted with lethargy. The wheels
of international transactions are at a standstill. We shall wait and see what
God has decreed to be the outcome of this universal upheaval.
As for you, pray meanwhile in behalf of the people so that
the forces of Peace may gain ascendancy over the powers of war. They are now in
great distress. From all sides they are surrounded with difficulties and
hardships. Perchance, God willing, they may become mindful and aware, be
released from negligence, abandon tyranny and oppression, treat each other with
justice and fairness, and give up the dictates of selfishness and personal
interest.
Our hope is that they may be freed from the cruelty of
passion and egoism; that these wicked powers may not overmaster them; that they
may turn their faces toward God; that the hearts may become illumined; that the
sphere of the minds be extended; that avarice and covetousness may not remain;
that trust in Cod and self-reliance may take possession of their beings that
they may be satisfied with their own rights and that they may not rise in
aggression to trample under their feet the rights of others. May all of the
causes of war and conflict, hardships and sufferings, be entirely removed!
In short, pray and supplicate at the Threshold of the
Almighty in behalf of the heedless souls; for they know not what they are
doing! May they became emancipated from the defects of their own nature! May
they be imbued with the qualities of the heavenly angels! May they give up
ferocity and be characterized with the attributes of the Merciful! May they
ever live in accord with the good pleasure of the Lord of mankind! May they
become the guardians of the rights of the oppressed and downtrodden! May they
be the real servants in the Palace of Universal Brotherhood!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, August 8, 1914, Haifa; Star of the West, vol. 5, no. 12, October
16, 1914)
