As regards marriage between a Bahá'í and a Hindu, having a Hindu ceremony is possible only if the people concerned, including the officiating priest, are aware that the Bahá'í remains a Bahá'í although taking part in the Hindu marriage ceremony in deference to his or her Hindu partner.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated May 4, 1970 to the National Spiritual Assembly of India; 19-Day Feast Circular of India, February 2, 1971; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
Consider the former generations. Witness how every time the Day Star of Divine bounty hath shed the light of His Revelation upon the world, the people of His Day have arisen against Him, and repudiated His truth. They who were regarded as the leaders of men have invariably striven to hinder their followers from turning unto Him Who is the Ocean of God's limitless bounty. ... Thou hast known how grievously the Prophets of God, His Messengers and Chosen Ones, have been afflicted. Meditate a while on the motive and reason which have been responsible for such a persecution. At no time, in no Dispensation, have the Prophets of God escaped the blasphemy of their enemies, the cruelty of their oppressors, the denunciation of the learned of their age, who appeared in the guise of uprightness and piety. Day and night they passed through such agonies as none can ever measure, except the knowledge of the one true God, exalted be His glory.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh’; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Crisis and Victory)
He was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in 1874 and was introduced to the Baha'i Faith in 1914. His major book, Baha'u'llah and the New Era, the first nine chapters of which he wrote during the First World War, was submitted to 'Abdu'l-Baha for approval. Dr. Esslemont visited 'Abdu'l-Baha in the Holy Land during 1919 to 1920 and following the passing of the Master in 1921 returned to the Holy Land in 1925 to undertake work for Shoghi Effendi. He died there in November 1925 and was posthumously named a Hand of the Cause. The book, ‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era’ has been translated into many languages and has become one of the most widely used of the introductory books to the Baha'i Faith.
(Adapted from 'A Basic Baha’i Dictionary')
Dearly-beloved friends! This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose fundamental principles have been enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less than the complete unification of the entire human race. This unification should conform to such principles as would directly harmonize with the spirit that animates, and the laws that govern the operation of, the institutions that already constitute the structural basis of the Administrative Order of His Faith.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’, included in ‘The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh)
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, New York, 14 April 1912; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)
These recurrent crises which, with ominous frequency and resistless force, are afflicting an ever-increasing portion of the human race must of necessity continue, however impermanently, to exercise, in a certain measure, their baleful influence upon a world community which has spread its ramifications to the uttermost ends of the earth. How can the beginnings of a world upheaval, unleashing forces that are so gravely deranging the social, the religious, the political, and the economic equilibrium of organized society, throwing into chaos and confusion political systems, racial doctrines, social conceptions, cultural standards, religious associations, and trade relationships—how can such agitations, on a scale so vast, so unprecedented, fail to produce any repercussions on the institutions of a Faith of such tender age whose teachings have a direct and vital bearing on each of these spheres of human life and conduct?
Little wonder, therefore, if they who are holding aloft the banner of so pervasive a Faith, so challenging a Cause, find themselves affected by the impact of these world-shaking forces. Little wonder if they find that in the midst of this whirlpool of contending passions their freedom has been curtailed, their tenets contemned, their institutions assaulted, their motives maligned, their authority jeopardized, their claim rejected.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)
It is incumbent upon the children to exert themselves to the utmost in acquiring the art of reading and writing.... Writing skills that will provide for urgent needs will be enough for some; and then it is better and more fitting that they should spend their time in studying those branches of knowledge which are of use.
As for what the Supreme Pen hath previously set down, the reason is that in every art and skill, God loveth the highest perfection.
- Baha’u’llah (From a Tablet; Baha’i Education Compilation)
These children are even as young plants, and teaching them the prayers is as letting the rain pour down upon them, that they may wax tender and fresh, and the soft breezes of the love of God may blow over them, making them to tremble with joy.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (‘Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá’)
(Star of the West, vol.16, no. 5, August 1925)
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God! Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, nor is there anything that could slip from Thy grasp, or anything that could thwart Thy Purpose, whether in the heavens or on the earth, of the past or of the future.
Thou seest Paradise and the inmates thereof; Thou beholdest the realm below and the dwellers thereof. All are but Thy servants and are held within Thy grasp.
- The Báb (‘Selections
from the Writings of the Báb)
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
The method of Shoghi Effendi in writing God Passes By was to sit down for a year and read every book of the Bahá'í Writings in Persian and English, and every book written about the Faith by Bahá'ís, whether in manuscript form or published, and everything written by non-Bahá'ís that contained significant references to it. I think, in all, this must have covered the equivalent of at least two hundred books. As he read he made notes and compiled and marshalled his facts. Anyone who has ever tackled a work of an historical nature knows how much research is involved, how often one has to decided, in the light of relevant material, between this date given in one place and that date given in another, how back-breaking the whole work is. How much more so then was such a work for the Guardian who had, at the same time, to prepare for the forthcoming Centenary of the Faith and make decisions regarding the design of the superstructure of the Báb's Shrine. When all the ingredients of his book had been assembled Shoghi Effendi commenced weaving them into the fabric of his picture of the significance of the first century of the Bahá'í Dispensation. It was not his purpose, he said, to write a detailed history of those hundred years, but rather to review the salient features of the birth and rise of the Faith, the establishment of its administrative institutions, and the series of crises which had propelled it forward in a mysterious manner, through the release of the Divine power within it, from victory to victory. He revealed to us the panorama of events which, he wrote, "the revolution of a hundred years...has unrolled before our eyes" and lifted the curtain on the opening acts of what he asserted was one "indivisible, stupendous and sublime drama, whose mystery no intellect can fathom, whose climax no eye can even dimly perceive, whose conclusion no mind can adequately foreshadow."
For nine months I have been touring America, calling the people to the oneness of humanity. I have delivered addresses in churches and large assemblies in many cities, inviting the people to the oneness of mankind and to love and unity. The people of America extended a cordial welcome to me. In fact, Americans are a noble nation, with capacity to acquire every virtue and investigate every truth.
Since I shall leave your shores tomorrow, I bid you farewell. I pray that divine confirmations, heavenly glory and eternal life may be granted to you, so that you may reach the highest pinnacles of the world of man. I am most grateful to you and shall never forget you. I shall ever supplicate at the court of the Almighty and beg divine assistance and heavenly bounty for you.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, December 4, New York, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani, His a secretary and chronicler during His travels in the West; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou art He Whom all things worship and Who worshipeth no one, Who is the Lord of all things and is the vassal of none, Who knoweth all things and is known of none.
- Baha’u’llah (Prayes and Meditations by Baha’u’llah)
O my well-beloved, deeply spiritual sister! [the Greatest
Holy Leaf] Day and night thou livest in my memory. Whenever I remember thee my
heart swelleth with sadness and my regret groweth more intense. Grieve not, for
I am thy true, thy unfailing comforter. Let neither despondency nor despair
becloud the serenity of thy life or restrain thy freedom. These days shall pass
away. We will, please God, in the Abhá Kingdom and beneath the sheltering
shadow of the Blessed Beauty, forget all these our earthly cares and will find
each one of these base calumnies amply compensated by His expressions of praise
and favour. From the beginning of time sorrow and anxiety, regret and
tribulation, have always been the lot of every loyal servant of God. Ponder
this in thine heart and consider how very true it is. Wherefore, set thine
heart on the tender mercies of the Ancient Beauty and be thou filled with
abiding joy and intense gladness.... 
A colorized picture of Bahiyyih Khanum,
the Greatest Holy Leaf
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Bahiyyih Khanum: The Greatest Holy Leaf’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, 1982)
We perceive a no less apparent evolution in the scope of its teachings, at first designedly rigid, complex and severe, subsequently recast, expanded, and liberalized under the succeeding Dispensation, later expounded, reaffirmed and amplified by an appointed Interpreter, and lastly systematized and universally applied to both individuals and institutions.
- Shoghi Effendi
(‘Preface to God Passes By’)
