Page 20 - Prayers and Extracts from the Baha'i Writings_

42
Man is he who forgets his own interests for the sake of others. His own comfort he

forfeits for the well-being of all. Nay, rather, his own life must he be willing to forfeit
for the life of mankind. Such a man is the honor of the world of humanity. Such a man

is the glory of the world of mankind. Such a man is the one who wins eternal bliss.
Such a man is near to the threshold of God. Such a man is the very manifestation of

eternal happiness.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity

43
O, when will one arise and while listening to this song don the garment of

selflessness and hasten to the precinct of the friend!

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy

44
Protect us, bless us, support us, make us such that we shall love but Thy good

pleasure, utter only Thy praise, follow only the pathway of truth, that we may
become rich enough to dispense with all save Thee, and receive our gifts from the sea

of Thy beneficence, that we may ever strive to exalt Thy Cause and to spread Thy
sweet savors far and wide, that we may become oblivious of self and occupied only

with Thee, and disown all else and be caught up in Thee.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Prayers

45
The mass of the people are occupied with self and worldly desire, are immersed in the
ocean of the nether world and are captives of the world of nature, save those souls

who have been freed from the chains and fetters of the material world and, like unto
swift-flying birds, are soaring in this unbounded realm. They are awake and vigilant,

they shun the obscurity of the world of nature, their highest wish centereth on the
eradication from among men of the struggle for existence, the shining forth of the

spirituality and the love of the realm on high, the exercise of utmost kindness among
peoples, the realization of an intimate and close connection between religions and

the practice of the ideal of self-sacrifice.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

17