Fidál, 08 Kamál (Perfection), 180 B.E.
One Planet, One Habitation
Embracing the Role of the State
35.0 The mandate of the state, as steward of the common good, is long-term in nature, transcending electoral cycles and political terms. Effective governance ensures the flourishing of all within a jurisdiction, for generations to come. The state also bears crucial responsibility for governing the commons, whether within its own borders or in collaboration with other institutions beyond them, for example in managing and caring for public goods that benefit all. 1
The Secret of Divine Civilization
Again, is there any deed in the world that would be nobler than service to the common good? Is there any greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he should become the cause of the education, the development, the prosperity and honor of his fellow-creatures? No, by the Lord God! The highest righteousness of all is for blessed souls to take hold of the hands of the helpless and deliver them out of their ignorance and abasement and poverty, and with pure motives, and only for the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves to the service of the masses, forgetting their own worldly advantage and working only to serve the general good. “They prefer them before themselves, though poverty be their own lot.” (Qur’án 59:9.) “The best of men are those who serve the people; the worst of men are those who harm the people.” 2
- Bahá’í International Community Staff. “One Planet, One Habitation.” International Environment Forum, June 1, 2022. https://www.iefworld.org/2022bic_OPOH. ↩
- ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Secret of Divine Civilization. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 2nd Edition | Reprint. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1975, 103. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/secret-divine-civilization/4#555673920. ↩
Frameworks for Understanding the World 