# Letters of Abdu'l-Baha

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: George Townshend, Letters of Abdu'l-Baha, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Letters of Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> George Townshend
> published in The Mission of Bahá'u'lláh and Other Literary Pieces pp. 77-87
> 
> Oxford: George Ronald, 1952
> 
> THESE TABLETS ARE a fountain of heavenly love and joy, of wisdom and power. In
> every volume, the ceaseless, the boundless Love of God pours forth like wine
> into a thousand different vessels: changing its form, taking the shape of many
> occasions, filling exactly many needs, but never changing the exquisiteness of
> its beauty. Love, spontaneous and unstinted, floods every utterance of thought.
> There is no check, no limit. The days when these letters were written were
> early days, the days of the first meetings of Lovers and Beloved, the days of
> God's welcome to the first believers of the western world.
> 
> "This is the time of happiness, the day of rejoicing and of delight."
> (p. 320.) " With a heart overflowing with the love of God, pray to God
> in all joy and give Him thanks for this guidance this high gift. Could those who
> receive these letters but realise the joy with which they are written, they
> would lift up their hearts and in spirit soar heavenward in exaltation," He
> writes. 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the time of writing these letters was in prison.
> He was misrepresented, humiliated, frustrated; His life was in danger;
> difficulties had to be met every hour. Yet no personal distress affects for a
> moment in the least degree His inward peace of heart or weakens the delight of
> His fellowship with those who begin to share His love for God.
> 
> Whatever sorrow there be in these pages is not for Himself but is through the
> intensity of His sympathy with the griefs of those to whom He writes. His
> heart "is filled with the Love of God, is free and isolated from all save God,
> is illumined and overflowing with the bounties of the Kingdom of
> El-Abhá." (p. 713) "Verily, I am the servant of
> Bahá'u'lláh, the bond slave of Bahá'u'lláh, the
> captive of Bahá'u'lláh. I have no grade but this and I do not
> possess anything for myself." (p. 603)
> 
> A power from on high animates Him: the Holy Spirit moves His limbs, His pen. To
> suffer for God's Sake to drink the cup of
> 
> 78THE MISSION OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH
> 
> Sacrifice is His "utmost hope, the joy of my heart, the consolation of my
> soul and my final desire."
> 
> Again and again He rejects commiseration offered on account of His calamities
> and afflictions. They are not calamities, but bounties, they are not
> afflictions but gifts; not hardships, but tranquillity; not trouble, but mercy;
> and we thank God for this great favour." (p. 128.) He asserts His
> independence of all His enemies can do to harm Him.
> 
> "I am free," he writes, "though I should remain in prison; all
> fortresses and castles cannot confine me, and the dungeon cannot bring me under
> the narrow bondage of the world. The spirit is ever soaring, even if the body
> be in the depths ... Therefore, neither the prison is a cause of sorrow, nor
> freedom from it a source of joy." (p. 151)
> 
> These letters fill hundreds of printed pages. Each correspondent is addressed
> by some special spiritual title chosen by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for him or for
> her, personally, as, "Thou Who Art Turning to the Divine Kingdom... Thou
> Candle of the Love of God," "Thou Servant of God," "Thou Opened Rose in the
> Garden of Abhá," "Thou Who Art Awakened to the Cause of God," "Thou
> Worshipper of Truth," "Thou Servant of Humanity," "Thou Who Art Yearning for
> the Glad Tidings of God."
> 
> He deals with diverse problems; answers countless questions about the past and
> the present, about Revelation, about Christianity, about social life, the life
> of the home, about marriage and children. He sets forth the cause of God and
> its administration. He exposes the error and the evil of the times. He
> comforts, counsels, commands, urges; He chants praises of God and of His
> faithful ones. Whatever the subject, whatever the occasion, whatever the need,
> the same divine might of His creative love calls into action the awakening
> spirit of the people of the West. His heart, He writes (p. 60), overflows with
> gladness and exultation as He reads the letters of the beloved of God whose
> eyes are enlightened by God, whose hearts and consciences are purified by
> knowledge and love of God and who have found peace of soul through the
> commemoration of God.
> 
> He remembers them at all times, prays for them every morn
> 
> THE LETTERS OF
> 'ABDU'L-BAHA79
> 
> and eve (p. 113) "Do not think that ye are forgotten for one moment" (p.
> 593). "Trust thou in the love of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, for verily nothing
> equals it." (p. 201)
> 
> If for any reason letters do not reach Him He misses them and life and
> conscience do not find happiness and joy. (p. 375). Yet important and dearly
> cherished as letters are He is in close and living touch
> with the faithful in spite of distance, in spite of interruption in
> correspondence. Time and place do not control the Spirit nor the inwardness of
> spiritual realities: geographical remoteness from a heavenly centre will not
> obscure the vision of its glory. "When the Spirit is breathed in the East
> its signs immediately appear in the West, and it hath a spiritual dominion
> which penetrates the pillars of the world." (p. 289.) If the friends be
> firm in the cause of God and in His service, spiritual letters come down to
> them from the Kingdom of Abhá. Their descent is according to an eternal
> law; their movement is like that of wave following wave and they bear tidings
> of the unity of God. The love of 'Abdu'l-Bahá for His faithful friends
> is itself another and a special messenger between them. If a human heart be
> truly sensitive to the call of God, then there is stretched between its centre
> and the centre of the Kingdom a connection through which the spirit sends its
> messages. Every faithful loving heart is endued with this means of communion.
> (pp. 787, 628.)
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá is spiritually present with the faithful at their meetings
> and is their protector, "spreading His wings over them." (pp. 287,
> 628)
> 
> In phrase after phrase, passage after passage challenging, rigorous, profound,
> He tells of the transcendent unimagined imperishable splendour of the
> Abhá Kingdom they are entering. (p. 289.)
> 
> "O maidservant of God! Every star hath a setting but the star of knowledge
> of God in the Divine heaven; every light shall darken save the light of the
> guidance of God, every glory shall vanish away save the glory under the shadow
> of the word of God." (p. 129.) He calls on the beloved (pp. 411-2) to seize
> the opportunity God's mercy offers them -- "Truly I say unto you, this is a
> gift which neither the dominion of the world, nor all the riches of its
> treasuries,
> 
> 80THE MISSION OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH
> 
> nor the glory of its distinguished men, can rival in this resplendent
> century and new age; inasmuch as crowns are transient but this is eternal and
> will never be taken away.""In this material world nothing hath any result, even
> if it be dominion over the East and the West. But that which hath an immortal
> result is servitude in the Holy Threshold, service which is rendered to the
> Kingdom of God. and which gives guidance to all on the earth." (p.
> 424.) "O beloved of God! Know ye that the world is like unto a mirage which
> the thirsty one thinks to be water . . . Leave it to its people and turn unto
> the Kingdom of your Lord, the merciful."
> 
> He pours His blessing upon them. "Blessed are ye, O stars that shine with
> the light of the love of God! Blessed are ye, O lamps that burn with the fire
> of love of God. Blessed are ye whose hearts are drawn to the Kingdom. Glad
> tidings to you who are severed from all save God .... Glad tidings to you
> through the gift of the Covenant... Rejoice ... Be glad ... Lift up your hearts
> .. Let your eyes be solaced by the vision of the bounties of the spiritual
> Realm." (p. 30.)
> 
> "The cup of knowledge is floating over, blessed are they who drink of it
> deeply! . . . The gates of heaven are open, blessed are they who see. The hosts
> of heaven stand in battle-array-what joy to them who win the victory. The
> trumpet of life is sounding - how glad the ears of them that hear!" (p.
> 621.) He calls on them again and again to realise the supreme privilege which
> is vouchsafed them by the mercy of God, and to pour forth every kind of praise
> to Him for ever from grateful, happy, radiant hearts. (pp. 182, 259, 413, 594,
> etc.)
> 
> There is a note of warning, too: "The time is short, and the Divine Courser
> moves swiftly on." (p. 406.) To those who complain the path to the Kingdom
> is hard, obstacles many, difficulties severe; who are
> perplexed, burdened, discouraged, He says such trials are to be expected.
> Earthly aims are not won without effort and perseverance, and obstacles to
> these great spiritual attainments naturally are greater still.
> 
> Through steadfastness in overcoming these trials, the soul of the believer is
> brought nearer to God and at last reaches the condition of knowledge and
> assurance. As Nature, having borne with
> 
> THE LETTERS OF
> 'ABDU'L-BAHA81
> 
> patience the lightning and thunderbolts and storms of winters, is afterwards
> rewarded with the season of blossoms, flowers and fruits; so in the Kingdom of
> heaven the storms of trials give a constant heart the means of earning the good
> pleasure of God and the prizes of the Kingdom.
> 
> How extreme in times long past were the troubles of the lovers of Christ. Yet
> their courage was proof, and their reward was eternal life and everlasting
> Glory.
> 
> If tests are severe, it is that they may expose the weakness of those who are
> unworthy, and enable every true hearted soul to "shine from the horizon of
> the Most Great Guidance." To any such soul tests, however violent, are a
> gift from God, the Exalted, and He hastens towards them with joy and gladness,
> for they will cleanse him of those imperfections that keep him removed from his
> Beloved. (p. 722.)
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá bids the faithful not to be grieved at the divine trials:
> but to turn to God, to bow before His will in lowliness, to pray to Him, to be
> content under all conditions, to be thankful to Him in the midst of
> affliction.
> 
> They are to know that in this age the greatest of all titles, the highest of
> all praise is given for resolution and firmness because the tests and trials
> are of the greatest intensity.
> 
> The mastery of life and its trials belongs only to believers and comes only
> from turning to God. When asked about problems of human relationships or the
> life of the home He affirms that one must at all times be free from merely
> personal desires and warmed with devotion to God. One must love all people and
> one's own family with a ray of the infinite Godward love - personal love is not
> enough. To one whose home was a place of strain He wrote: "It behoveth thee
> to sever thyself from all desires save for thy Lord the supreme, expecting no
> aid or help from anyone in the Universe, not even thy father or children.
> Resign thyself to God . . . Be patient. Endure every difficulty and hardship
> with an uplifted heart, an aspiring spirit, a tongue that delights to make
> mention of the All-merciful." (pp. 97-8) To another He wrote explaining:
> "When thou beholdest with the eye of Truth, then thou wilt realise that in
> this
> 
> 82THE MISSION OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH
> 
> world neither known nor unknown, neither kind father nor beloved son,
> neither mother nor sister help us. No persons assist except the benevolent
> Almighty. When thou knowest Him, thou art independent of all else. When thou
> art attached to His love then thou art detached kith and kin." (p. 671.)
> Only when the heart has broken the lure of a limited love can it be attuned to
> the perfect love, the perfect joy that will satisfy it for ever.
> 
> "Know that in every home where God is praised and prayed to, and His Kingdom
> proclaimed, that home is a garden of God and a paradise of His happiness."
> (p. 69.)
> 
> He writes of the importance of marriage and of its responsibilities (e.g., pp.
> 609, 627) and shows (p. 605) that true marriage is accessible only to the
> spiritually minded, and that the real bond between husband and wife is none
> other than the Word of God.
> 
> He suggests that the naming of a child should be made a religious and social
> occasion: that friends should be invited to the home and that before the name
> is given suitable prayers should be said; after which the company should enjoy
> some light repast together. He calls for obedience and kindness from children
> to their parents (p. 551); and on the other hand, in the strongest manner,
> stresses the obligation laid by God in this Dispensation on parents to bring up
> their children in the knowledge and fear of God, "Should they neglect this
> matter they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the presence of
> the stern Lord. This is a sin unpardonable ...(p. 579.)
> 
> For those who seek comfort in the anguish of a fresh bereavement He lifts a
> little the veil that hides from them that eternal world in which love knows no
> separation. He bids them remember this parting is limited to the body, its
> length will be counted in days and over the Spirit death has no dominion at
> all. Reunion and everlasting consolation are near. "Thy son shall be with
> thee in the Kingdom of God and thou shalt behold his smiling face and his brow
> illumined with the beauty of eternal happiness; then thou wilt have comfort and
> wilt give thanks to God for His loving kindness to thee." (p. 86.)
> 
> To the faithful or as he names them "the people of adoration," He writes
> "death is an ark of deliverance," (p. 444.) Could these
> 
> THE LETTERS
> OF 'ABDUL-BAHA83
> 
> mourners but see in heaven now the faithful souls they lament, wonder and joy
> would check their tears. He comforts a mourning mother (p. 405) "O Bird of
> the Rose-Garden of Fidelity! Be of no cheerless heart; have no wing nor feather
> broken; sigh not, neither do thou wail nor sit chilled in a corner. The little
> girl lamented is in the divine Rose-Garden in the highest happiness and
> delight. Why then art thou grieved, sorrowing with a bleeding heart? This is
> the day of rejoicing and the hour of ecstasy. This is the season of the
> spiritually dead coming forth from their graves and gathering together,
> This is the promised time for the attainment of plenteous grace.
> 
> "Be calm, be strong, be grateful, and become a lamp fall of light, that the
> darkness of sorrow may be scattered and the sun of everlasting joy arise in
> brilliant splendour from the dawning place of heart and soul, Upon thee be the
> Glory of the Most Glorious!"
> 
> To a physician seeking counsel, He writes (p. 688): " Whenever thou
> presentest thyself at the bed of a patient turn thy face towardl the Lord of
> the Kingdom and supplicate assistance from the Holy Spirit and heat the
> ailments of the sick one." (p. 685)
> 
> Answering an enquiry about the nature of the sympathetic nervous system He
> explains that the powers of the sympathetic nerve are not exclusively spiritual
> nor exclusively physical, but are between the two and connected with both. The
> operation of the nerve is normal when its relations with the spiritual and the
> physical systems are perfect. "When the material and the divine world are
> rightly co-related, when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations grow
> pure and divine, then perfect connection between the two systems will follow.
> Then shall this power be shown in its perfection, and physical and spiritual
> diseases shall receive complete healing. The exposition is brief. Ponder, and
> thou shall understand the meaning." (p. 309)
> 
> All life in reality opens on heaven, and all experience lies in the path of
> God. To those who consult Him about the study and practice of letters, music,
> painting, science, and the like, 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains that these
> pursuits are one and all to be inspired by the sense of worship. "Art is
> worship," as He once said. He affirms that a spiritual motive in the artist
> will quicken his progress and heighten his proficiency. A believer will find
> his art a natural
> 
> 84
> THE MISSION OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH
> 
> medium of communicating the Divine Message; if his work has itself a spiritual
> quality it will awaken the spiritual susceptibilities of the beholder while his
> social intercourse with fellow-artists will tend to guide their thoughts to
> appreciation of the Divine Beauty.
> 
> (pp. 449-50.)
> 
> At the present time all divine power poured from heaven on humanity has its
> focus in Bahá'u'lláh, and reaches mankind through His mediation
> alone. As in our solar system the source of all physical light is the sun, and
> every light directly or indirectly is derived from it, so in the spiritual
> realm every Age has its Messiah and truth is attained by men only through Him.
> (p. 592.) "Whatever question thou hast in thy heart," writes
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "turn thou thy heart towards the kingdom of Abhá
> and entreat at the threshold of the Almighty and reflect upon that problem;
> then unquestionably the light of Truth shall dawn and the reality of that
> problem will become evident and clear to thee. For the teachings of His
> Highness Bahá'u'lláh are the keys to all the doors." (p.
> 692.)
> 
> In the past, He points out, there were great philosophers who upheld the ideal
> of the oneness of humanity; but at that time the support and inspiration of
> heaven were not forthcoming so that their endeavours bore no fruit. To-day
> there are many souls in the world who spread thoughts of peace and
> reconciliation and long to establish the unity of the human race. But they
> likewise are without the dynamic power to carry their ideal into effect. This
> power belongs only to the instructions and exhortations of
> Bahá'u'lláh whose summons to world-unity is supported by the word
> of God and by all the resources of the Kingdom of the Most High. "Therefore,
> O thou lover of the oneness of the world of humanity, spread thou as much as
> thou canst the instructions and teachings of His Highness
> Bahá'u'lláh." (p. 691.)
> 
> There is indeed need of a thousand teachers, He writes, each one severed from
> the world, attracted by the Holy Spirit, radiant with the joy of the Kingdom,
> seeking no reward or recompense. "Strive with life and guide the people to
> the Kingdom of God, lead them to the straight pathway, inform them of the
> greatness of the Cause and give them the glad tidings." (p. 360.)
> 
> THE LETTERS OF
> 'ABDU'L-BAHA85
> 
> The world of humanity to-day is like a sick and feeble man; the teachers are
> wise physicians. The remedies which they are to apply are two. The first to be
> given is that of guidance, that the people "may turn unto God, hearken to
> the divine commandments and go forth with a hearing ear and a seeing eye."
> When this remedy has had its effect, then the people are "to be trained in
> the conduct, morals and deeds of the Supreme Concourse, encouraged and inspired
> with the gifts of the Kingdom of Abhá." (pp. 36-7.) Their hearts are
> to be cleansed of all ill-will and to be strengthened in all the attributes of
> love and union so that East and West may be joined in one, and universal peace
> be established. In the pursuit of their task, teachers are not to spare
> themselves nor to seek rest. They are to make the utmost endeavour to bring the
> Glad Tidings to the ears of mankind and are to accept every calamity and
> affliction in their love for God and their reliance on 'Abdu'l-Bahá. (p.
> 38.) They are to drink from the eternal chalice of the love of God, to enjoy
> its ecstasy and in the radiance of the beauty of Abhá be all aglow with
> zeal, delight and eager energy. They all are to work together in perfect
> unanimity and singleness of purpose. "Ye must attain such spiritual unity
> and agreement that ye may express one spirit and one life." (p. 23.)
> 
> It was to this end, to unite the hearts of the beloved of God, that
> Bahá'u'lláh endured all difficulties and all ordeals (p. 247);
> and the aim of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's devotion and service is the same; "that
> union and affection may be created among the beloved of God, nay the whole of
> the human world." (p. 421.)
> 
> Nothing can exceed the emphasis and earnestness with which in these Tablets he
> appeals for concord and unity among believers, This is the vital instrument
> through which is to be achieved the master-objective of the Bahá'í Movement,
> namely the transforming of the earth into a paradise, the wide world into one
> home, the nations of East and West into one household. "Not until this
> (union) is realised will the cause advance by any means whatsoever." Therefore, even in those early days of
> the Faith when believers were very few in the West, He begins the work of
> organisation, urges co-operation and gatherings among the friends, the forming
> of committees for promoting the Cause and of what were at that
> 
> 86
> THE MISSION OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH
> 
> time called Boards of Consultation. "The greatest means for the union and
> harmony of all is Spiritual Meetings. This matter is very important." (p.
> 125.) Such meetings will be magnets drawing down divine strength, "Blessed
> are ye," He writes to one group, "for organising the assembly of
> unity." As these meetings begin to materialise, He insists that the highest
> degree of union and harmony must exist between them. The spiritual meeting of
> consultation in New York must be in the fullest accord with that in Chicago,
> and when a similar meeting "shall be organised in Washington, these two
> meetings of Chicago and New York must be in unity and harmony with that
> meeting."
> 
> He watches over the constitution of these bodies, instructs that each shall
> have its clearly marked purpose and fit into the general scheme as an integral
> part of the whole, and that no spirit of exclusiveness shall be aroused such as
> has happened in earlier Dispensations when arrangements which "were in the
> beginning a means for harmony became in the end a cause of trouble." (p.
> 394.)
> 
> He enjoins, too, the great observance of the Faith, the yearly fast from March
> 2nd-20th; "the nineteen-day Fast is a duty to be observed by all" (p.
> 57) - and the "Feast of Remembrance or Meeting of Faithfulness" as it was then called (p. 421).
> 
> "This Feast," He writes (p. 468), "was established by His Highness
> The Bab, to occur once in nineteen days. Likewise the Blessed Perfection hath
> commanded, encouraged and reiterated it. Therefore, it hath the utmost
> importance. Undoubtedly you must give the greatest attention to its
> establishment and raise it to the highest point of importance, so that it may
> become continual and constant."
> 
> He then gives directions as to the keeping of the Feast; and concludes - "If
> the Feast is arranged in this manner and in the way mentioned, that supper is
> the Lord's supper, for the result is the same result and the effect is the same
> effect." (pp. 468-9.)
> 
> These Tablets, published in America and written chiefly to American believers,
> form a sister - and complementary - volume to that which contains
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá's American addresses and bears the title The
> Promulgation of Universal Peace. Taken
> 
> THE LETTERS OF
> 'ABDU'L-BAHA
> 87
> 
> together they form, as it were, a complete circle of Divine and practical
> instruction for the times.
> 
> The Addresses constitute the profoundest and most comprehensive textbook on
> modern problems. They reveal what true modernism is, dealing with the larger
> aspects of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, with questions of the
> relations and the history of religions and of peoples, with science and
> philosophy, with the principles of world order and with definite plans for its
> establishment. The Tablets, on the other hand, are directed for the most part
> to individuals, often to individuals who look to Him with ardent belief and
> adoring love. They reveal clearly and emphatically the essential nature of His
> own special station as the bondservant of Bahá'u'lláh and the
> Centre of the Covenant. They are heart to heart talks on the personal hopes and
> aspirations of His correspondents, their personal trials and difficulties,
> their personal duties and obligations to God and His Faith. The writer's
> attitude is that of a host greeting an honoured and loved guest, a father
> welcoming a dear son home from a long and perilous journey: it is that of a
> divine messenger who brings to those struggling in the uncertain turmoil of
> earthly life a foretaste of the sweetness and fragrance and harmony and peace
> of Paradise and of the eternal glory and power that will he the reward of
> victory.
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated that these Tablets have an importance which will not
> be appreciated for many long years to come. But perhaps their message of the
> impassioned all-embracing love of God will never be more sadly needed than it
> is now, nor more precious than it is to us as we battle on through the heart of
> the storm and the darkness and the ruin of the Night of judgment and
> Retribution.
> 
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> Views13381 views since posted 2001-12-24; last edit 2025-01-20 16:38 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../townshend_letters_abdul-baha;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> Scanned 2001-11-28 by Jonah Winters; Formatted 2001-12-24 by Jonah Winters; Proofread 2001-12-24 by Paula Bidwell.
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> — *Letters of Abdu'l-Baha (Used by permission of the curator)*