[‘Abdu’l-Baha spoke these words to a number of Jewish,
Zoroastrian, Christian and Mohammedan Baha’is seated around His table and while
serving them all:]
Haifa
May 13, 1910
Among the human race, the bonds of and means for love are
numerous, for man cannot live without it; nay, rather, human life is dependent
upon friendship and affection. Both the material and intrinsic development of
man are conditional upon amity and love, and the greatest honor and pleasure in
the human world is love; but the ways and means are different.
Sometimes the cause of love is simply relationship and
kinship; and sometimes it is a racial bond, patriotism, political affairs, etc.
But, through all these various bonds and means it is impossible to obtain a
real and pure love; it is rather superficial and temporary. Such love may
easily be changed into enmity and rancor, for it is affected by the slightest
manifestation of hostility; whereas a true and ideal love is faith and
assurance.
Those who believe in God and are confident in His Word shall
enter the Kingdom, and the essential oneness appears among them to such an
extent that all become the drops of one ocean, the rays of one sun, the fishes
of one sea, the trees of one garden, the birds of one orchard, the candles of
one assembly and the stars of the same heaven. Such love is real; there is no
interruption for this connection, nor any separation for this union; this
foundation shall never be destroyed, for it is eternal; hence it is established
that the love which exists among the beloved of God is everlasting, for it is a
Divine bounty, a Godly appearance, a melody of the Kingdom and a heavenly
cohesion.
In the Koran it is said: 'They love Him and He loves them'
i.e. the bounty of love is one of the Divine bounties which comes to man from
God; just as the sun when it sends its rays to the mirrors and thereby the
mirrors are illumined; this effulgence and splendor are from the bounty of the
sun. Therefore, this love which is among the beloved is a Divine bounty, a
Godly splendor, an eternal manifestation and the power of Divinity; it is
perpetual.
Praise be to God! Ye are gathered here under the shadow of
the Blessed Beauty and your hearts are overflowing with His love, your souls
are rejoicing in His favors and ‘Abdu’l-Baha is serving you. What more do you
need?"
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, Haifa, 13 May 1910; Star of the West,
vol. 1, no. 8, August 1, 1910)
