The depth of Baha’u’llah’s sufferings; “my tears and lamentations”, “my sighing”, “my cry and bitter wailing”; Protection of those in His company

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou seest my tears and lamentations, and hearest my sighing, my cry and bitter wailing. I am the one, O my Lord, that hath held fast the cord of Thy mercy which hath surpassed the entire creation. I am the one that hath clung to the hem of Thy loving-kindness, O Thou in Whose hand is the empire of all names!

Have mercy upon me and upon all them that are in my company, through the wonders of Thy grace and power. Shield us, then, O my God, from the mischief of Thine enemies, and assist us to help Thy Faith, and to protect Thy Cause, and to celebrate Thy glory. Thou art, verily, He Who from everlasting hath inhabited the inaccessible heights of His unity, and will continue to remain the same for ever and ever. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, nor is there anything that can frustrate Thee. No God is there beside Thee, the Almighty, the Ever-Faithful, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved.

 Lauded and glorified art Thou, in Whose hand is the empire of all things! 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

The three proofs pertaining to the “reality and truth” of God’s Manifestation

Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth. This is, verily, an evidence of His tender mercy unto men. He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God. How could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His Cause in their hearts. He will never deal unjustly with any one, neither will He task a soul beyond its power. He, verily, is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

“if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad consummate wisdoms”: - “One of the created phenomena is the dream.”

Indeed, O brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad consummate wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths. One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets have been deposited therein, how many wisdoms treasured up, how many worlds concealed. Observe how thou art asleep in a dwelling, and its doors are shut; on a sudden thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy feet or wearying thy body. Without taxing thine eyes, thou seest; without troubling thine ears, thou hearest; without a tongue, thou speakest. And perchance when ten years have passed, thou wilt witness in this temporal world the very things thou hast dreamt tonight.

Now there are many wisdoms to ponder in the dream, which none but the people of this valley can comprehend in their reality. First, what is this world where without eye or ear or hand or tongue one can put all these to use? Second, how is it that in the outer world thou seest today the effect of a dream which thou didst witness in the world of sleep some ten years past? Consider the difference between these two worlds, and the mysteries they conceal, that, attended by divine confirmations, thou mayest attain unto heavenly discoveries and enter the realms of holiness. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Seven Valleys’, revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)

The magnitude of tribulations born by Baha’u’llah

All praise be to Thee, O my God! Thou beholdest my helplessness and poverty, and bearest witness unto my woes and trials. How long wilt Thou abandon me among Thy servants? Suffer me to ascend into Thy presence. The power of Thy might beareth me witness! Such are the tribulations with which I am encompassed that I am powerless to recount them before Thy face. Thou, alone, verily, hast through Thy knowledge reckoned them.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

“The heart must needs… be cleansed from the idle sayings of men, and sanctified from every earthly affection”

The heart must needs… be cleansed from the idle sayings of men, and sanctified from every earthly affection, so that it may discover the hidden meaning of divine inspiration, and become the treasury of the mysteries of divine knowledge. Thus hath it been said: “He that treadeth the snow-white Path, and followeth in the footsteps of the Crimson Pillar, shall never attain unto his abode unless his hands are empty of those worldly things cherished by men.” This is the prime requisite of whosoever treadeth this path. Ponder thereon, that, with eyes unveiled, thou mayest perceive the truth of these words.

- Baha'u'llah  ('The Kitab-i-Iqan')

God’s “handiwork knoweth neither beginning nor end”

Behold, how many are the mysteries that lie as yet unravelled within the tabernacle of the knowledge of God, and how numerous the gems of His wisdom that are still concealed in His inviolable treasuries! Shouldest thou ponder this in thine heart, thou wouldst realize that His handiwork knoweth neither beginning nor end. The domain of His decree is too vast for the tongue of mortals to describe, or for the bird of the human mind to traverse; and the dispensations of His providence are too mysterious for the mind of man to comprehend. His creation no end hath overtaken, and it hath ever existed from the “Beginning that hath no beginning”; and the Manifestations of His Beauty no beginning hath beheld, and they will continue to the “End that knoweth no end.” Ponder this utterance in thine heart…

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

Every Prophet is filled with consternation when confronted by the manifold evidences of Thy [God’s] wrath; “adversities which, through the mysterious workings of Thy decree, Thou hast caused to descend upon us as gems from the treasury of Thy providence.”; “to send down whatever afflictions Thou hast destined for Thy loved ones upon this Thy servant”

He is the Almighty, the Self-Subsisting.

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I call upon Thee at this time when the accents of the dove of separation are raised from the land of Iraq, and the warbling of the Nightingale of fervent longing is heard from the horizon of the world—at such a time do I call upon Thee, proclaiming: “Thou in truth art God, the King, the Mighty, the Beauteous. From everlasting, O my God, Thou hast been exalted in the supremacy of Thy might, Thy power, and Thy glory, and unto all eternity Thou wilt remain transcendent in the sublimity of Thy grandeur, Thy majesty, and Thy splendour. Every Prophet is filled with consternation when confronted by the manifold evidences of Thy wrath, and every Chosen One standeth dismayed before the revelations of Thy might. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling.”

I yield Thee thanks, O my God, in these days when the oppressors amongst Thy people and the rebellious amongst Thy creatures have arrayed themselves against us, and are rejoicing at the adversities which, through the mysterious workings of Thy decree, Thou hast caused to descend upon us as gems from the treasury of Thy providence. Such hath ever been Thy custom with Thy loved ones and Thy practice with Thy chosen servants. I swear by Thy might, O my Beloved, that though others may flee from tribulations suffered in Thy path, I am he who, in his love for Thee, yearneth after every woe and trial. I ask Thee, then, by Thy Name through which the seas of names have surged before the evidences of Thy transcendent oneness, and through which Thou hast been exalted above all creation in the hallowed sovereignty of thy Lordship, to send down whatever afflictions Thou hast destined for Thy loved ones upon this Thy servant, lest there should befall them that which would still the quickness of their love for Thee, or dampen the fervency of their devotion. I am he, O my God, who would ransom with his life and soul whatsoever proceedeth from Thee or befalleth at Thy bidding. To all this shall I be true, through Thy power and Thy might. No God is there but Thee, the Generous, the Subtile, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. 

- Bahá’u’lláh  (‘Additional Prayers Revealed by Baha’u’llah; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Centre)

God: - “a hidden Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being”, “an impenetrable Mystery enshrined in Thine own Essence”; Creation of “the Greater and the Lesser Worlds”, and God’s Manifestation”; Manifestations of God represent “the one and the same sun” – Moses, Jesus, Muhammad; “none on the face of the earth should equal Them”

Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! I testify that Thou wast a hidden Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being and an impenetrable Mystery enshrined in Thine own Essence. Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate!

Thou didst raise Him up to occupy Thy throne before all the people of Thy creation. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine with the lights of Thine inspiration and Thy Revelation, and to manifest Thy names and Thine attributes. Through Him Thou didst adorn the preamble of the book of Thy creation, O Thou Who art the Ruler of the universe Thou hast fashioned!

I bear witness that in His person solidity and fluidity have been joined and combined. Through His immovable constancy in Thy Cause, and His unwavering adherence to whatsoever Thou, in the plentitude of the light of Thy glory, didst unveil to His eyes, throughout the domains of Thy Revelation and creation, the souls of Thy servants were stirred up in their longing for Thy Kingdom, and the dwellers of Thy realms rushed forth to enter into Thy heavenly dominion. Through the restlessness He evinced in Thy path, the feet of all them that are devoted to Thee were steeled and confirmed to manifest Thy Cause amidst Thy creatures, and to demonstrate Thy sovereignty throughout Thy realm.