|
O people of the earth! A solitary life and severe discipline do not meet God's approval. The possessors of perception and knowledge should look unto the means which are conducive to joy and fragrance. Such practices come forth and proceed from the loins of superstition and the womb of fancy, and are not worthy the people of knowledge. Some of the people of the past and of later times dwelt in mountain caves, and others frequented the tombs during the night. Say: Hearken to the advice of this oppressed One. Abandon that which ye hold, and adhere unto what the trustworthy counsellor commands. Deprive not yourselves of that which is created for you. (184:4) Charity is beloved and acceptable before God, and is accounted the chief among all good deeds. Consider, and then remember that which the merciful One has revealed in the Qur'an: "But they prefer the poor before themselves, although there be indigence among them. He who is preserved from the covetousness of his own soul, such shall surely prosper." Indeed, this blessed Word is, in this connection, a sun among words: Blessed is he who prefers his brother before himself: Such an one is of the people of Baha, in the Red Ark, on the part of God, the Knower, the Wise! The Word of God in the Eleventh Leaf of the Exalted Paradise:
(184:5)
|