And among His signs is the sublimity of His grandeur, His exalted state, His towering glory, and the shining out of His beauty above the horizon of the Prison: so that heads were bowed before Him and voices lowered, and humble were the faces that turned His way. This is a proof never witnessed in the ages gone before.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Beatrice-Aurore
by Harriet Löwenhjelm
In Stockholm town at Kornhamnstorg
in Hallbeck’s secondhand bookstore
I bought an ancient dream-book once
composed in days of yore.
Then I lay dreaming all last night
of Beatrice-Aurore.
She was a one time love of mine
whom I lost long before.
She stood so close, she took my hand,
she whispered: “Come to me.”
At once I understood and knew –
my only love was she.
We wandered down a linden walk,
I wept and I was sad.
The autumn leaves were wet and sere
and yet my heart was glad.
We walked and held each other’s hand.
Like children’s were our words.
And then we reached a quaint old mill
with many singing birds.
I said: “Will you be mine alone,
say, Beatrice-Aurore?”
“Then catch me if you can,” she cried
and left me at the door.
And I ran in and searched and searched
in every nook around,
and cried – but Beatrice-Aurore
was nowhere to be found.
I woke up crying bitterly
and in my heart a sting.
And in my dream-book then I searched
but there was not a thing.
The Martyrdom of Táhirih (The Pure One)
Garden of Ilkhani in Tehran
Táhirih was arrested in 1852 and sentenced to death by the Shah of Iran for teaching a new religion which included the principle of the equality of men and women.
"You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women", Táhirih responded.
Dressed in white silk, she had prepared for her death with fasting and prayers. She was strangled with a silk handkerchief and then thrown into a well, later filled with stones and dirt.
The Paradox in the Greatness of Humility
When I see athletes, politicians, performers, or anyone who swells with pride at their influence, power or achievement, I think the story of the raindrop by the 13th Century Persian poet Saadi.
'From a lofty cloud this pure drop of rain began its descent. Soon it became conscious of its own qualities, so with pride it told itself "I am the water of life. All existence depends on me." Swollen with self-admiration and pride, suddenly it looked down and saw the vast ocean beneath it. Dumbfounded, it said, "By God, if that is water, then who am I?" Filled with remorse and utter humility, it fell on the ocean. The mighty ocean, with admiration and love, embraced the drop and made it the companion of the pearl.'
From: The Tamed Phoenix. by Darius Shahrokh. published in Windows to the Past 1992
The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.
Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 118
Just one time,
I loved life.
Just one time
And that’s all.
Hope shone brightly,
The hope that illuminates the path
Of my loneliness.
Just once, my soul I entrust
With sweet and total surrender.
And, when that miracle brings about
The wonder of loving each other,
There are festival bells
That ring in one’s heart.
These are the first detailed drawings of the moon by Galileo Galilei after he observed them through his homemade telescope in 1609.
Credit: Historic Vids
“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.”
― Edgar Mitchell
"Be thankful to God for having enabled you to recognise His Cause. Whoever has received this blessing must, prior to his acceptance, have performed some deed which, though he himself was unaware of its character, was ordained by God as a means whereby he has been guided to find and embrace the Truth. As to those who have remained deprived of such a blessing, their acts alone have hindered them from recognising the truth of this Revelation. We cherish the hope that you, who have attained to this light, will exert your utmost to banish the darkness of superstition and unbelief from the midst of the people. May your deeds proclaim your faith and enable you to lead the erring into the paths of eternal salvation. The memory of this night will never be forgotten. May it never be effaced by the passage of time, and may its mention linger for ever on the lips of men."
-baha'u'llah, the dawnbreakers p. 586
"For every land We have prescribed a portion, for every occasion an allotted share, for every pronouncement an appointed time and for every situation an apt remark. Consider Greece. We made it a Seat of Wisdom for a prolonged period. However, when the appointed hour struck, its throne was subverted, its tongue ceased to speak, its light grew dim and its banner was hauled down. Thus do We bestow and withdraw. Verily thy Lord is He Who giveth and divesteth, the Mighty, the Powerful."
(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh)
www.bahai.org/r/391088723
The Orion correlation theory posits that there is a correlation between the location of the three largest pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex and Orion's Belt of the constellation Orion, and that this correlation was intended as such by the original builders of the Giza pyramid complex. wiki
