Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the
peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness,
uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the
world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that
ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness
of estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to
the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show
your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards
them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourselves, should they
show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives,
sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you, be a salve to their
sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the
truthful.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
The foundation of the divine religions is reality; were
there no reality, there would be no religions. Abraham heralded reality. Moses
promulgated reality. Christ established reality. Muhammad was the Messenger of
reality. The Báb was the door of reality. Bahá’u’lláh was the splendor of
reality. Reality is one; it does not admit multiplicity or division. Reality is
as the sun, which shines forth from different dawning points; it is as the
light, which has illumined many lanterns. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, 19 May,
1912, New York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by
Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)