Page 21 - Prayers and Extracts from the Baha'i Writings

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The pure heart is one that is entirely cut away from self. To be selfless is to be pure.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London

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Until a being setteth his foot in the plane of sacrifice, he is bereft of every favour and

grace; and this plane of sacrifice is the realm of dying to the self, that the radiance of
the living God may then shine forth. The martyr's field is the place of detachment
from self, that the anthems of eternity may be upraised. Do all ye can to become

wholly weary of self, and bind yourselves to that Countenance of Splendours; and

once ye have reached such heights of servitude, ye will find, gathered within your
shadow, all created things. This is boundless grace; this is the highest sovereignty;
this is the life that dieth not. All else save this is at the last but manifest perdition and

great loss.

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

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Whether in the management of the affairs of His Household in which she excelled, or

in the social relationships which she so assiduously cultivated in order to shield both
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whether in the unfailing attention she paid to the

everyday needs of her Father, or in the traits of generosity, of affability and kindness,
which she manifested, the Greatest Holy Leaf had by that time abundantly

demonstrated her worthiness to rank as one of the noblest figures intimately
associated with the life-long work of Bahá’u’lláh.

Bahíyyih Khánum, The Greatest Holy Leaf

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