Daily Frameworks for 14 January 2023

Jalál, 15 Sharaf (Honor), 179 B.E

The Nine Year Plan: 2022-2031

Contemplating the Person of the Master, we find ourselves wonderstruck by the all-compassing authority that accompanied His inexhaustible patience and understanding, by the keenness of His wisdom in every setting, by the infinite tenderness of His being, and by His limitless love that can be felt by every unshuttered soul. But every prompting to pay homage to His matchless qualities is restrained by the recollection that never did He seek praise or worldly recognition. And so we feel compelled to testify: Beloved of all our hearts, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Your all was servitude—a servitude “complete, pure and real, firmly established, enduring, obvious, explicitly revealed and subject to no interpretation whatever”. We reserve what words remain for a pledge of fidelity to You, for our vow to uphold the Covenant that You “proclaimed, championed and vindicated”, for our wholehearted expression of loyalty to Your timeless guidance and expositions, to Your fervent entreaties and exhortations. This same pledge is manifested in the steadfast, strenuous exertions of the Bahá’í world to fulfil the mission entrusted to it at this time. Seeing this community striving to live by Your example summons up for us these words of Yours:

“O friends! Praise be to God that the banner of Divine Unity hath been hoisted in every land, and the melody of the Abhá Kingdom hath been raised on every side. The holy Seraph of the Concourse on high is raising the cry of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” in the midmost heart of the world, and the power of the Word of God is breathing true life into the body of existence.” ¹

“Wherefore, O ye faithful friends, it behoveth you all to join ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in self-sacrifice and in service to the Cause of God and thraldom to His divine Threshold. If ye be aided to attain unto such a supreme bounty, the whole world shall erelong be made the recipient of the effulgent splendours of God, and the longed-for oneness of humanity shall be revealed in the utmost beauty and charm in the midmost heart of the world. This is the dearest wish of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá! This is the greatest yearning of them that are faithful! The Glory of Glories rest upon you.” ^{2 3 4}

Paris Talks

The great unselfish love for humanity is bounded by none of these imperfect, semi-selfish bonds; this is the one perfect love, possible to all mankind, and can only be achieved by the power of the Divine Spirit. No worldly power can accomplish the universal love.

Let all be united in this Divine power of love! Let all strive to grow in the light of the Sun of Truth, and reflecting this luminous love on all men, may their hearts become so united that they may dwell evermore in the radiance of the limitless love. ⁵

The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude

The other is the station of distinction, and pertaineth to the world of creation and to the limitations thereof. In this respect, each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined Revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each one of them is known by a different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfills a definite Mission, and is entrusted with a particular Revelation. ⁶

1. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/light-of-the-world/5#249947283 ↩
2. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. 1st ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Center, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/light-of-the-world/5#398579560 ↩
3. Universal House of Justice. The Nine Year Plan: 2022-2031. 1st ed. Wilmette, Illinois: Baha’i Publishing, 2022, 35-36. ↩
4. Universal House of Justice. “On the Occasion of the Centenary Commemoration of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” Bahá’í Reference Library, November 27, 2021. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20211127_001/1#422353090. ↩
5. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Paris Talks: Addresses given by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá in Paris in 1911-1912. 11th British Ed. 1912. Reprint, London, England: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1972, 73–74. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/paris-talks/2#220808810. ↩
6. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st pocket-size Ed. 1950. Reprint, Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1983, 176.
   . https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-iqan/7#024442778 ↩