Daily Frameworks for 05 January 2023

Istijlál, 06 Sharaf (Honor), 179 B.E

The Nine Year Plan: 2022-2031

To the Friends Gathered in the Holy Land to Mark the Centenary Commemoration of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Our hearts are filled with wonder as we contemplate the significance of this momentous occasion: the close of one hundred years since the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, one hundred years since the inception of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Dispensation, and one hundred years since the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh was entrusted to His Administrative Order, whose institutions you here represent. How marvellous is His Covenant, through which “this unique, this wondrous System” has been established in your nations and its processes made to operate. We bow our heads in gratitude to Bahá’u’lláh that, despite the numerous and severe obstacles of a world in turmoil, He has opened the doors and facilitated the means for you—including, for the first time, representatives of Regional Bahá’í Councils—to be here during these soul-stirring days. ^{1 2}

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

THE world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.

Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause—a Cause through which the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath refused to seek it—verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.

Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst you. Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving. ³

1. Universal House of Justice. The Nine Year Plan: 2022-2031. 1st ed. Wilmette, Illinois: Baha’i Publishing, 2022, 27. ↩
2. Universal House of Justice. “25 November 2021 – To the Friends Gathered in the Holy Land.” Bahá’í Reference Library, November 25, 2021.
   https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20211125_001/1#854275862. ↩
3. Bahá’u’lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʹuʹlláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Rev Ed. 1952. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1971, 136-137. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/4#825854170 ↩