SONG OFFERINGS
I
THE DAY OF GOD
Be of good cheer! What but the glory of the Light of ”‘Light Could cast such shadows on a world forlorn? If our hearts whispered not the hope of morn Would we so hate the horror of the night? What is it else than desperate bitter fear That drives the troops of evil, who know well Their hour is come, to vent their dying rage Upon the people of this heaven—lit age And seek by every means they may to sell Their lost dominion dear?
Be of good cheer! The very depth of our perplexity Amid this whirling world of strife and care Where disillusion beckons to despair Is of itself a call for help, a cry That angels’ hearts will not be slow to hear. For it is ever in such a time as ours, When man has ransacked sea and land for rest And never sought the heaven in his own breast, That God reveals once more His hidden powers And in His might draws near.
Be of good cheer!
Though all things change, Truth’s kingdom is secure. The forms of faith come, go, and are forgot,
But that which they enshrine can perish not. Altars may crumble, worship will endure.
Those holy things that God bids man revere
Reign on unchecked by man’s satanic will;
Wisdom and love are of a higher birth
Than these frail phantom forces of the earth
And take their deathless power from Him Whose will Above all things stands clear.
Be of good cheer! What kings desired in vain God gives to you And in this wondrous day before our eyes Unseals His ancient book of mysteries Making all things in earth and heaven new. Truth hath come down from some far-flaming sphere; L0, in our midst her sacred fires burn! And see—trace back these countless rays of light To the One Point wherein they all unite, And bow your forehead in the dust to know That God Himself is here!
-—G. TowNSHEN1).
II
THE GARDEN OF RIDVAN (outside Bagfgddd)
THE DECLARATION OF Bahá’u’lláh Man Speaks:
Such fragrance hath my being ne’er perfumed! How fair this Garden: roses bower each path
And songs of birds are like celestial choirs!
My soul as well as body_is illumed,
’Twould seem, by Sun which such great power hath Its rays touch into flame my heart’s dim fires.
The almond blossoms scent the gentle breeze,
And luscious fruits encumber many a vine.
My heart is filled with peace beyond all words: The very air breathes joy, and even the trees
Are murmuring a melody divine
As though their boughs were tuned to heaven’s chords.
What is this lovely Garden of the heart?
Not here man’s cruelty can ever come!
From all earth’s sordid things we’ve drawn apart: This is God's Place, my spirit feels at home.
‘Abdu’l—Ba/m’:
This is the Garden where Bahá’u’lláh
Soiourns a fortnight ere He journeys far,
An exile, further still from native land.
The city whose fair walls and domes you see,
As South you gaze, is Bagl_id:’id—-Home of Peace. There dwelt the Lord of Glory full ten years,
An exile since the tortured months in vile Imprisonment in Siyéh _C_I_h:il——The Pit.
’Tis nineteen years since first The Báb proclaimed
Himself the Herald of the Dawn.
Ar:/zp/Jony: His call Awakened ready hearts, and souls arose In myriads to lay their lives at His Blest feet. Yet but the Herald He. The King Unknown hath walked the earth a prisoner, An exile most despised by those who, blind, Saw not the Glory veiled beneath the cloud Of flesh and circumstance. Now strikes the hour
When bursts the Sun of Truth. The veil is rent Which hid the Glory of the Lord of Hosts. Now dawns the Day by Prophets long foretold; Now comes the Kingdom of His Majesty The One True God.
Listen and bow thy head.
(The Guide Celestial raised His hand, and 10, Before the Seeker’s gaze, embowered in green, A fair pavilion lay, while to and fro
A group of men walked calmly, while the sheen Of sinking sun shed lustre on the scene.
Some five-score men there were whose faces shone With radiance, as though a lamp were lit
Within their breasts. The tent enshrined a Throne, And humble homage on their brows doth sit,
For in their breasts hath Revelation writ.)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’: Chants. From high Horizons of the Lights hath shone Such brilliancy and brightness none hath known: Blest are the souls attaining to His Throne!
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SONG OFFERINGS
From this white Spot such fragrance now outflows That all the worlds are perfumed like the rose: Blest are the nostrils which this perfume knows!
The Cup of Life, o’erflowing with the wine—Fulfilling Words: “I drink not of the vine—” Is passing ‘round. O take the Cup divine!
From that blest Tree on Sinai’s Mount a Call Is heard—a Trumpet pcal that sounds to all The world. Blest are the souls who heed His Call!
The Light of Unity for sons of men In this secluded Spot shines once again: Blest are the eyes which open to that ken!
The Face of God the Glorious unveiled Now shines resplendent. Blest the souls assailed By Glory in Whose Light all Suns have paled!
Antzp/Jony: The Kingdom of our God amongst the race Of men is glorified before His Face: Blest are the souls who therein find a place!
The Tongue of Grandeur speaks! Ah, listen well! For ’tis the Word of God Himself—the knell
Of wrong, injustice, prejudice and strife.
Harken to Words of Beauty——-Words of Life!
The Voice of Ba/Ja"u’lla'/2 from within the tent:
O people of the world! I was asleep
Upon My couch, when, 10, the Breeze of God Upon My being breathed and I awoke!
His Spirit bade Me to proclaim His Will
To earth and heaven.
I summon all mankind
To God, the Lord of all the worlds. For, lo,
The hour hath struck of which ’twas said,
Of old by blessed lips, that no man knoweth,
Not even the Son, but only He Who comes
When that Hour strikes. The Father knows alone!
The Word which Christ concealed hath in the form Of Man appeared. Blest is this Day for now
The Father hath with Power come amongst
The nations: turn ye unto Him and live!
My body longeth for the Cross, in truth, And for the spear My head, that in His Path I thus may purify the world from sin.
Say not amongst yourselves: “The Hour’s not yet, We wish to slumber still." O heedless ones!
Shake off this deadly sleep, for that Great Day Proclaimed by all God's holy Ones hath dawned. Why will ye longer slumber? Wake! O Wake!
I speak not of Myself: I speak of what God whispers to My soul. How else, O men, Could I proclaim that which all men disdain, And for whose utterance their hatred casts New tortures on My head each passing day!
Yet am I not impatient of men’s hate, Nor do I shrink from dread afflictions in His Path. For God hath made calamities As freshening showers to His pastures green, And as a wick for Lamp divine by which His earth and heaven shall illumined be.
805
Antipbony:
O people of the earth! The Day of Grace
Hath dawned: come ye that I may crown ye kings In this My earthy Kingdom: for if ye
Obey Me I will make you friends of Mine,
My very soul, in realms of greatness, and Companions of Perfection ye shall shine
Forever in the heavens of My Might!
And if ye disobey Me, O loved ones, The garment of My Mercy covereth you, And My forbearance doth precede your sin.
O people of the earth! The Giver of All Gifts hath «come indeed, riding upon The cloud! Advance with shining faces and Illumined hearts!
Blest are the souls who to His Meeting win; to whom the fragrance of His Verses is_disclosed; who at His Hands The wine of Union drink; who in the air Of love and praise spread wing, and whom He hath Led to His Paradise Supreme~—the Place Of Revelation and of vision clear Before the grandeur of His heavenly Throne!
O people of the earth! Come unto Me And I will show you paths of Life, and make You vivifiers of a world now dead! —-HOWARD COLBY Ives. MARCH 31, 1936.
111 BAH Jf
Das Land ist heilig, darauf wir gehn Und Blumen uns duftend umbreiten, An Bahjí’s Tore leis verwehn, Verdaemmern der Erde Zeiten.
Die Schwelle beugt sich noch lichterfuellt Der Herrlichkeit, die sie geborgen,
Da drinnen aber, da Schlaf Ihn huellt, Umfaengt uns der strahlende Morgen.
Das Herz schlaegt leiser und Wundcr erbluehn Wohl hier an der Welten Mitte,
Da Erd und Himmel in Einheit gluehn
Und schreiten in goettlichem Schritte.
Verrinnen fuehlst du des Daseins Flut, Verhalten die Flammen noch ragen,
Und beugst dich still vor der staerksten Glut, Die jemals die Erde getragen.
Dein Selbst vergeht und es waechst im Raum Die Kraft, die dem Ursprung verbunden, Da, Welt, du hier an des Lebens Baum Den Atem der Gottheit gefunden. —E. M. GROSSMANN.
IV THE KINGDOM IS AT HAND
The Kingdom is at hand! Its mountains glow
In summer light and all its rivers flow
With silvery sheen through gardened-way and plains And I have seen its rainbow after rains
In dazzling hues against the darkened clouds
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Which God hath placed at times like gloomy shrouds Beyond the hills to show His Mercy spans
All that He loves in plans and counter-plans
To make life true and good and full of beauty Even in things which hold us to our duty.
The roseate dawn is full of purest blessing,
But storm and rain come too for our refreshing, And every tree and all the garden-flowers
Through tears of love give thanks for vernal showers.
The Sun of Truth mounts in the sky revealing In sunshine bright the path of thought and feeling, And new Jerusalem is seen resplendent
When faith in God is in the heart transcendant. Hark! For above the Most Great Bell is sounding The tenderness and majesty abounding
In mid-most Heaven whose glorious connection Hath given the heart this wonderful reflection. He that hath seen the grandeur of Bahá
Hath passed the beauty of the Morning Star And lifteth up a smiling face to bless
The glorious Day of bliss and righteousness!
There is a city by the tideless sea
Whose crumbling walls were marked by Destiny To be a lamp wherein should grandly shine
The Truth of truths in Holy Palestine:
And in that spot the echoes rose and fell Attuned and sweet to that great Heavenly Bell Which in the height beyond the gates impearled Called angel hosts to aid the awakening world; For ‘Akk:i’s walls embraced and held Bahá-The dawning Light behind the Morning StarAnd on the horizon’s edge the cloud-drifts stood Aflame with rose. the tinge of martyr-blood.
Within the heart reflected gleams of the scene, Nor ever again shall Ages intervene
To make of Christ a myth of fancied faith—A human dream——an empty fleeting wraithFor herein God hath gloriously fulfilled
That which the Christ had said the Father willed. Thus testifies all Heaven, the grateful heart, The awakening world, and witnesses apart:
The hills of Galilee, Jezreel aglow,
And Hermon crowned with pure resilient snow.
When He, the Golden Dawn, had blessed the world, The Servant of Bahá, inspired, unfurled
The Standard of His glory on the height
Of Carmel's brow o’er-looking Acca white Beside the sea which bore the Tyrian ships
And Grecian fleets and kissed with sunlit lips The Roman prows in days of old renowned, And saw the Saracenic galleys bound
From Egypt's ports and famed Italian sails Ablow where now the British flag prevails.
Yes, Carmel is the throne from whence the Call Went forth at last to summon one and all
To brotherhood--the Call which cannot cease Until the world is tranquillised in Peace;
And who shall still the beating heart that waits The mighty Law which issues from the gates Of Zion's wall bejewelled with the Teaching Of all the Saints, persuasive and far-reaching?
Give ear ye lands, ye continents and isles,
To that sweet Call of love which reconciles The human heart to God and breaks the sword To win for all the Kingdom of the Lord!
This is the Dawn of all the dawns the best The encrimsoned East is offering the West;
THE BAHA’I WORLD
Then put aside all pride and all pretending
For Truth worth while-—worth knowing and defending. —-E. T. HALL,
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND APRIL 4, 1936.
V THE TEMPLE OF LIGHT
Then we will build us a temple of light, A symbol of God among men,
Whose rays of truth will illumine the night Of man's prejudice, fear, and sin!
Through the nine great doors of religious faith, Will the races of men come in;
And under one dome of love universal,
Will worship as brothers and kin!
Then hasten the time, O lovers of truth, When the temple of light will shine; And in the dawn of God’s Great New Day, We will enter His holy shrine! --ELIZABETH Hacxm-zv.
VI THE MYSTERY OF SACRIFICE
A lily bloomed because a bulb was torn, A caterpillar wove a golden mesh, Discarding it with joy when wings were born; A martyr rose triumphant from the flesh.
These things I saw with wonderment and pain, As, led by love, I climbed a mountain slope;-On levels far below gleamed ripened grain, Small seeds to hold the resurrection hope!
And then I saw on shining laurel blades The emerald tracery of crossing bars,
And knew that cells must break to build facades Of giant shrubs that yearn to meet the stars.
Oh, Love, Who spreads white arms above my earth, Thy mantle robes the mystic cross of birth! -ALICE SIMMONS Cox.
VII
FROM HIGH HORIZONS
A CHANT ADAPTED FROM WORDS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA
From High Horizons of the Lights hath shone Such brilliancy and brightness none hath known. Blest are the souls attaining to His Throne!
From this white spot such fragrance now outflows That all the worlds are perfumed like the rose. Blest are the nostrils which this Fragrance knows!
The Cup of Life o’erflowing with the wine-Fulfllling Words: “I drink not of the vine-—” Is passing ‘round. 0 take the Cup divine!
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SONG OFFERINGS
From that blest Tree on Sinai’s Mount a call Is heard—a trumpet peal that sounds to all The world. Blest are the souls who heed His Call!
‘The Light of Unity for all the sons of men
In this secluded Spot shines once again. Blest are the eyes that open to that ken!
The Face of God the Glorious unveiled Now shines resplendent. Blest the souls assailed By Glory in Whose Light all suns have paled!
The Kingdom of our God amongst the race Of men is glorified before His Face. Blest are the souls who therein find a place!
The clouds of Generosity with rain Of Bounties are o’erflowing. Souls are fain To take abundance and their Goal attain.
The hearts of men in darkness long, at last Are now enlightened: all their gloom is past. The Face of God Its Lights upon them cast!
The Servant of Bahá in servitude Hath clad His Glorious Form. The Holy Rood Of sacrifice He hath attained. Ah! Blest is he Who shareth in this heavenly Victory!
-HOWARD COLBY Ives.
VIII ANNIVERSARY OF THE BAB
A Star of splendor past our Mortal Ken The glory of your life through all the Spheres Will shed its light through the undying years. The radiance of the Love you brought to men Has birthed our planet’s darkened heart anew. Your life-blood, poured out on its dearth like dew! Oh ichor of God’s grace, let each drop shed Redeem the Nations and the living-dead, Renew their vision and their Spirits’ Youth, Auroral is the fountain of Thy Truth. —-BEATRICE Inwm.
IX "ANTHEM OF ALL NATIONS”
O God of every nation
We turn our hearts to Thee. Within Thy love is safety
In peace and liberty. For love alone can conquer
The strife within each breast, And bind ‘vith ties eternal
Thy sons of East and West.
O Truce of God enduring, Come Thou to all the world, And may Thy flag of beauty In each land be unfurled. A covenant proclaiming That cruel war has ceased, Beloved by all Thy children, Thy spotless flag of Peace.
O God of every nation, Thou Father of us all,
Let now Thy Benediction Upon each country fall.
807
With wide divisions ending
May every voice now ring, And in love tones exultant
One nation’s anthem sing.
——LOUISE R. Wane, Cmcaoo, ILL.
Dedicated to the International Peace Society, and composed especially for the Peace Congress held in Rome, October, 1911.
This was distributed there—~not as a Song but a Poem. ‘Abdu’l—Babd’s words under title.
X GOD’S CHANNEL
To be a channel through which flows
God substance into everything The words I speak, the song I sing,
The trees I tend, the rambler rose: The poem forming in my mind,
The simple meals that I prepare: Whatever task my hands shall find,
This, Father, is my earnest prayer.
To be responsive to Thy will, An instrument, alive, awake: To know the choice is mine to make Of truth or error, good or ill: In all I choose to be and do, To be the voice of Spirit power, An open channel for the true And beautiful, from hour to hour. ——Bv IRENE STANLEY.
XI BELL OF THE TEMPLE
Bell of the Temple—-of Love and Unity,
From realms above thy clarion tones now ring; Calling aloud to all humanity,
Awake! Arise! and with the angels sing; Glory to God—and His Eternal Plan,
Come to the Temple of the Brotherhood of man.
Bell of the Temple—-of Peace enduring,
Softly thy tender notes fall on the air;
Calling the hearts of men to Love's true union, Calling to worship in God’s Temple fair.
Glory to God—and His Eternal Plan,
Come to the Temple of the Brotherhood of man.
Bell of the Temple-—unseen Reality,
Yet thy clear tones by inner ear is heard;
Bell of the Temple—-of wondrous Beauty,
Founded upon God’s Manifested WORD;
Glory to God—and His Eternal Plan,
Come to the Temple of the Brotherhood of man. —-§3AHNAz Warns.
XII
Zerreisst ein Streit unser Wesen zwischen Wiinschen und Meinen, konnen wir so nur genesen,
dass wir die Antithesen sieghaft im Herzen veteinen.
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808 THE BAHA’I
Will auch den Weg nach innen Dickiqht wild iiberwachsen,—glaube, so wirst du gewinnen; und es schwingt sich dein Sinnen um immer kiihnere Achsen. -—-ADELBERT Mi'IHLscHLEcEL.
XIII TO IRAN
Awake, 0 Iran, to the Voice of God
Which in thy borders shook both Heaven and earth
And bade thy sons arise and bravely guard
The Flame of Truth which gleamed with priceless worth!
The splendors of thy past are not forgot:
When thine unnumbered hosts with ordered strength And great renown for discipline well wrought Subdued great banners which had stood at length.
The dynasty Sassanian held its reign
And kings and satraps widened thy domain; While bards and seers extolled thy noble worth And chief in thee was ruler of the earth,
As free, the benison of genius led
And sciences and arts their treasures spread; When minds expanded by an unseen power Discovered in the hearts a mystic bower.
Here Zarathustra raised the torch of truth; Created laws of justice and full ruth; Enkindled in the realm a wondrous fire Which made of ignorance a funeral pyre.
Came Islam here by Allaih’s Imam led;
Revived a body numbered with the dead;
Rent ancient customs which abased their sway; Bestowed the joy of life, the Higher Way.
Arise anew to hear the Call of God
For which thy heroes sought the gory sod——Dcaf to what place or pride or fame might call, Intent upon those notes which hearts enthrall!
Regardless of the past, how dear its fame,
The glory of today enshrines thy name.
The Light most Manifest hath now shone forth, Eclipsing by its brilliance every troth.
The tidings of the coming of the Lord
Which ancient seers proclaimed by deed and word, Hath holy made thy soil for endless tread
As gospels of that Blessed Beauty spread.
The freedom which thou now shalt grant to right Will echo through the world and win for thee
The homage of the noble and the free
And state of exaltation in God’s sight.
Thine ensign blazed from old the Lion-Sun.
Thy nightingale and rose three plaudits won.
Each bears to thee a message of the heart
That thou can’st know what mystic joys impart. -—Louls G. GREGORY.
XIV
Mensch von heute, freue dich, dass du heute lebst auf Erden!
WORLD
Mensch von heut’, erneue dich, denn du sollst das Grosse werden, wie es war des Schopfers Plan: Geistesmensch und Edelmann.
Mensch von heute, ziehe doch
aus dem Staub dein wahres Wesen!
Mensch von heute, siehc doch,
wie so leicht du kannst genesen!
Sonnenfroh und stark und klar
wird ein ncuer Friihling wahr. —-ADELBERT MiZRHLscHLEc1~:L.
XV THE BAB
Into the intricate dark I strode, No dagger-hilt lighted my way,
The vast Caesarean palaces could not hold My gift of Day.
Iran dream on, as those who rest Bemused beneath a Bo-tree’s shadeMine is the free and naked breast, That bears a rose, disdains a blade!
And I shall climb the whitest cloud, And penetrate the darkest veil,
jostling the elbows of the crowd, Myself the Flail.
Of Him Who holds the world at poise And follows wild birds on their flight—Put out the lamps-——I have dawn-joys For treaders of the night. ---ANNA MCCLURE SHOLL.
XVI THE CREATIONAL BOOK
Thine insight is so dimmed thou canst not see That My Creation’s Book revealeth Me.
That every atom is an open door
Inviting thee to enter and explore.
What dost thou hope to see
When thou goest seeking Me?
A Face? A Voice? A Word writ on the sky? If I should speak who art thou to reply?
If I should write some guiding Word to men Could they interpret My Supremest Pen?
Is then thine eye so keen, thy mind so sure That when My Spirit moves thee and I lure Thy longing soul afar
To probe the mote and star
That thou canst hope thus to encompass Me Who doth surround what mind and eye can see?
Wert thou through all eternity to seek,
And through immensity of space to roam, Thy spirit shall no foot-hold find,
No answer to thy questing mind,
Except to My Command thou shalt bow down, Unless My Love thou wearest like a crown, And find in meeting Me thy spirit’s home.
I am not far from thee but ever near: Listen to thy heart’s whisper: “I am here.”
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SONG OFFERINGS 809
The whale by seeking cannot find the sea; The eagle soaring high
Against My blue-domed sky
Finds not the air, nor can thy mind find Me Who in thy heart of hearts is truly thee.
About thee and above; beneath, within,
Thy Mystery am I and thou art Mine.
No flight avails: nor height nor depth, nor sin Nor death, nor hell can part thee from My Love.
My Lamp thou art and I the Light within. Know this, 0 servant, as the eagle knows
The air: the fish the boundless seas they rove, The leaf the wind which by My Order blows.
In mineral and plant, in beast and man
Thou mayest discern the working of My Plan Which hath one aim--that I may fully be Revealed to every heart that seeketh Me.
Cohesion, growth, the senses and the mind
Are the four steps which through the cycles wind That from the void of non-existence may Existence come, and that My Love may find Some far-ofi' Day, Its full expression. Nay That I Myself may tell man's ordained story
In Man, the very Temple of My Glory.
For, in this gloomy and disastrous age
Man may perceive, if he will scan My Page, The secret of creation. There is he
Told of My Wisdom: for Humanity
Hath borne Its noblest fruit; My Love Disclosed in Man his Lord, that he may prove All things, and thereby with my aid may reach The summit of the Truth I fain would teach, That all his probing eye and mind can see
Hath but one purpose—to uncover Me.
By every grain of dust shall man be told
Of Me. The rushing wind shall cry: "Behold!" The still, small voice within his heart
Shall whisper low: "I am of God a part.”
Lo, all things from their silence, shout aloud! My Voice falls from each bright or lowering cloud! My Trumpet peals from every star and clod: "There is no God but Me—-but Me no God."
Why else should I create, 0 son of man?
In My eternal Being hid I knew
My Love in thee and framed a gracious Plan Age-long, in which I might Myself review
And see My Love expressed in form and power.
Thus through the ages, countless hour by hour, Have I in it expressed My Love, to thee Revealed My Beauty. "Be!” My Will but spake And My beloved Creation came awake To mention Me. Wherefore love only Me
That My Command may summon thee to be.
-—-Howaiua COLBY IVES.
XVII
DAS JAHR DER SEELE SOMMER:
Hei, wie ist das Leben priichtig! tatengliihend, friichtetrfichtigl
Schwer aus meinen reichen Feldern rollen Wagen, goldbeschienen.—Vieles dank ich meinen Eltern, manches musst ich selbst verdienen.
Tor, was rechnest du mit Gold? Horst du, wie der Sturm schon grollt?
HERBST:
Weh, des Schicksals Sturm zerfetzte mir auch dies—es war das Letzte. Arm und nackt steh ich im Winde. Bin ich so von allen, allen
Siichten frei? ——- Wie einem Kinde
wird mir leicht. Die Blatter fallen. . .
Bist du arm, so wirst du weit fur die Stille. Sei bereit!
ADVENT:
Zages Bangen wird 7um Hoffen,
was verschlossen war, wird offen. Was noch wunschte, was noch strebte, schwindet demutsvoll nach innen. Sieh, die liebe Erde webte
sich in briiutlich weisse Linnen!
Bist du rein, so naht der Geist, der dich in das Neue weist.
WEIIINACHTEN:
Naht mir, was mich langst umwittert? Freudvoll wird mein Herr. und zittert bis in die geheimsten Falten,
wie das Miichtige, das Grosse
sich ihm neigt und alle alten
Krafte hebt ins Namenlose.
Werde fahig zu begreifen, lass es durch das Blut dir reifen!
FASTENZEIT:
Grosses waltet immer leise,
duldet keiiie Last der Speise,
wiichst geheim in warmer Scholle.
Stort es nicht durch menschlich Treiben! Brausen driiber noch so tolle
Geister — es wird Sieger bleiben.
Alles musst du freudig geben, soll das Hochste in dir leben.
KARFREITAG:
Konnt ich wirklich alles geben?-ja! Hier gibt es kein Daneben. Wenn ich glaube, dass des Geistes Hauch erlosend uns durchdringe, ganz durchdringe, o, dann heisst es, dass ich mich zum Kreuse bringe.
Opfer lost aus tiefster Haft Kriifte durch die hochste Kraft.
OSTERN:
Auferstehen! Auferstehen! Siiume nicht, es soll geschehen. Durch dein Leben sei bewiesen, dass des Winters schwere Nachte dich nicht unverwandelt liessen. Froh entspriesse alles Echte!
Wenn ihr reine Taten schufet, naht der Allgeist, den ihr rufet.
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PFINGSTEN:
Reine Krifte, froh entbunden, werdet Form und Leib hier unten! Erde, wie du dich verschwendest! Alles spiegelt sich nach oben. Heiliger Geist, der du dich spendest, komm zu allen die dich loben!
Ist das Licht in jeder Zelle, strahlt die Welt in Gottes Helle.
RIDVAN:
In des neuen Bundes Segen bleibt die Ordnung fest gelegen. Fiihlen wir sie urnotwendig, dienend ihr in hundert Arten, bleibt der Geist uns inlebendig, wird die Welt ein Gottesgarten.
Weiter wachst darin die Seele, atmet rein sich aller Fehle. -—An£Lm«:nr MlJHLscHL1=.c1=.L.
XVIII THE CHALLENGE
That Day when man should yield his will To God, dawned!
Though not a single breath of Unity
Was wafting to the Court of Holiness, The "Mystic Bird” gazed earthward "Seeking one heart severed
That He might alight therein to nest.” Saw souls stifling
"In the garment of a thousand years ago.” Man, whose destiny is Godward, Enthralled in selfhood,
Alien to the Mystic Song; His plight known to but One,
The Knower!
Faithful to Command,
That "Bird of Heaven” circled
The abyss of godlessness, crying:
"Oh people! I am He and He is Me!”
As the spirit liberated by His Words Mirrored the cosmos,
Aloft two mighty Pillars flamed: "Reward and Retribution!”
"O mortals! Will ye be content
With that which is like vapor in a plain, Unmindful of the precepts of your Lord? By one word He called ye into being! Will ye not be thankful?
I am come to you, O people,
From the Throne of Glory!
Would that your hearts might comprehend!" Falling on rocks His words had yielded Springs of crystal water,
But impenetrable the heart of man, Deprived of Faith!
Holding aloft "a Chalice of Pure Light” He saw no arm outstretched to seize it, Nor heart that would reflect it.
Remote from Truth is man
That He could view that Flaming Cup Immune to rapture!
Faithless to His Trust, when he, "Created from a clot,” was covenanted To reflect to all the kingdoms
THE Bahá’í WORLD
Eternity and God.
In them the Law is honoredTheir fruits garnered,
While man roves, phantom-like,
The vale of heedlessness.
How can this shadow make reply to God?
Never plead ye were not warned That fear and overwhelming grief Would shake ye!
For through unreckoned aeons True Ones came,
To reconcile your will to God's, That Truth might be renowned. Forsaken and decried,
They sang "A Day of God” and "Covenant”~—A people living lordly exhortations And commands;
His people they, and He their God.
Have ye imagined all their counsels
But idle musings of a "moving form of dust?” "L0! The Promised One hath come!”
This is the Day of Knowledge and of Love; The Day wherein the True shall be distinguished From the false;
And “none secure from this Decree”:
Thy evil deeds and secrets,
Nurtured in satanic gloom,
Shall sear thy soul with torment;And ye shall know what God hath known!
Calamity! Thy cradle is Iran!
Thy ‘ulamas "knew not" Jesus nor Muhammad, Or Him ye would have known, The Promised One, Of Whom They prophesied!
Behold He hath all life-—all rhythm changed! Now is the soul’s oblivion pierced,
As from the grave of negligence
Your hosts unleash
Their calumnies and crtfelties,
Their doubts and base denialsInner life and outward form that sprang
From human thought-—all
To perish in the tumult of a dying day! Almighty Day! When only that shall stand Which serves the Lord, thy God!
And this thy theme, thine inmost urgeone Faith, one Race, one common Cause!
Now from the Day-spring of a vital Faith The Covenant takes form,
And shielded in the Tabernacle
Of a Mighty Soul,‘
Rises from out the chaos
Of receding dispensations!
‘'O ye people of discernment"
Sing praises unto GodHe comes—-and in His hand the Cup! His triumphant song of Oneness Arresting the movement of the world! Transcending warring cycles, He, The Ensign of the Most Great Peace, Salutes the Promised Day:
"Lord! Here am I!”
The Ancient Law,
Revealed in symbols in the Day of Abraham;
In Moses’ Day inscribed in flaming Tablets;
Is, in this matchless Day, incarnate in a Man, Who "embodies every virtue, every ideal
Of this Holy Cycle’s Goal!”
"Magnified be God for this exalted Handiwork!
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SONG OFFERINGS 811
Unto God, O people, render thanks for His appear ance! He is the Most Great Favor unto you, The Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you!”
"Taking the cloak of resignation
In the name of God,”
He taught and labored
In this womb-life of the spirit,
Hailing with unerring pen
The Renaissance of Nations,
When The Law exalted in the hearts Shall guide the people.
Shaken from her slumbers, Russia Glimpsed the vision leading on to destiny! Then her Czar sought a parliament of nations, While ‘Ishq:'1b:'td's strong-hearted
Seized and clothed that Spirit
In a "Dawning-Point-of-Light!” Assurance to a soul-tried people
Of a sacred commonwealth The pivot of Divine Economy!
Gaze toward ‘Akká!
Soil of bondage! Soil of Spirit!
Where in savage conflict
Moslem and Crusader met!
Where the Ancient Suns of God
Saw the vision of This Day: Melchizedek, Elijah, Abraham and Jesus! There, in towering grandeur,
Came The ExileMaster Builder of "The Day of God,” And His Mighty "Ark of Covenant,”
A tender Youth adorned
In "Robe of Servitude!"
O misleaders of the people!
Prophet slayers and Their Chosen! Grievous is your plight:He for Whom ye prayed a thousand years Hath come,
And ye knew Him not!
‘Akká, hearthstone of The Servant! To His Open Court hasten Over mountains, deserts, seas The yearning!
Race and Faith converging
In a Crucible of Spirit
Knowing neither East nor West! This is Heaven!
There is Carmel, Fragrant Mountain, And Bahjí, over the Bay,
Glorified by Him in Shrines.
Holy the soil that He bore there And flowers He tenderly caressed;Earth, in exquisite remembrance, Blooms a New Eden!
Fitting couch for El Bab,
Whose crimson light
Cleft the Mom of Promised Day; And "Him-Whom-God-Hath-Manifest,” The Promised One!
Hallowed is thy Mystic Fane
That conceals Their rest,
Most lowly, most transcendent Earth! Ages and their traces vanished,
Thy Perfumed Spot shall breathe “Tidings from God”
To the souls of men!
‘Akká, soil of service!
Soil of freedom!
Where His childhood, youth and age Were ceded to this New Creation, “Which shall ever stand unrivalled, Uneclipsed in splendor.”
His enemies are scattered now
And martyrdom has won.
Across the threshold of His prison home He sweeps,
The Object of devotion «such as kings Might envy,
To engage the final epic
Of His threefold Mission!
Egypt! Europe! Westward—to America! Bent with age and cares He comes! On His brow dominion!
In His melting glance forgiveness! His utterance the future!
His life dynamic acclamation
Of the Oneness of Mankind!
From that visitation
Ages shall inherit manna.
Here at Gotham’s portals,
Where first the West embraced Him, "Clothed in majesty”
He laid the "Mantle of the Covenant” Exhorting its inhabitants
To spiritual distinction!
Then in the nation's midmost heart
He blest the Earth
Whereon would arise a Sacred Edifice to God, A symbol that "this earth shall be indeed A Paradise,
And all men live as brothers
In the Most Great Peace.”
His prayer: "O God! My God! I call Thee
And all Thy Holy Ones to witness
That I have declared conclusively
Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones,
And set forth clearly all things unto them, That they may watch . . . guard . . . and protect Thy Law Resplendent . . .”
Ah, “could you but know
His burning love for you
’Twould kindle in your hearts a fire
To set aflame the world!”
"Being ‘round Whom all names revolve!” The pride and glory of mankind!
Honored the land you visited!
Blest the eye, the ear, the heart, the breast Through Thy remembrance dilated!
The tongue that mentions Thee!
The pen that celebrates Thy praise!
Blest, doubly blest
The ground trod by Thy feet.
And when the Breeze of Mercy rends the veils, Still shalt Thou be "The Mystery of God."
America! Ye must arise
To "forge the Mystic Chain”
And "if His wishes are to be fulfilled, Unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace! Your mission is unutterably great!”
Dare to fulfill a spiritual destiny!
0 lift your gaze above the "sea of names” And blot remoteness from your consciousness "That you may render life a greater thing.”
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812 THE BAHA'I WORLD
"Seize, O seize your chance!” For "if you fail to be enkindled Regrettable your plight!"
—-OLIVIA KELSEY.
XIX BAHA'I YOUTH
Fling wide the Banner
Of the inestimable favor bestowed upon you.
Malte the world resound with the glorious Chimes of Baha.
Take with you your new found radiance And light the world with untouched Glory, The Glory of the Beloved,
Teaching the world with your unwearied spirit, Fusing Mankind from the One Torch
Held aloft in your youthful arms.
Fill your hearts without ceasing
From the Fountain of the Beloved,
Leaving no room
For the world's insidious potion.
Thus, to every human question
You shall find answer . . .
Armed with the strength of the Greatest Name, On your foreheads a Star shall glow
Lit by the love for mankind in your hearts.
Thus shall you safely return,
"Young Shepherds of Men,”
Each with his radiant Following,
To the glorious Riḍván of the Beloved.
--DIANTHA Cmsp.
