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FROM THE WRITINGS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
“O ye two believers in God! The Lord, peerless is He, hath made woman and man to abide with each other in the closest companionship, and to be even as a single soul. They are two helpmates, two intimate friends, who should be concerned about the welfare of each other.
“If they live thus, they will pass through this world with perfect contentment, bliss, and peace of heart, and become the object of divine grace and favour in the Kingdom of heaven. But if they do other than this, they will live out their lives in great bitterness, longing at every moment for death, and will be shamefaced in the heavenly realm.
“Strive, then, to abide, heart and soul, with each other as two doves in the nest, for this is to be blessed in both worlds.”
“Formerly in Persia divorce was very easily obtained.
Among the people of the past Dispensation a trifling matter
would cause divorce. However, as the light of the Kingdom
shone forth souls were quickened by the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh,
then they totally eschewed divorce. In Persia now divorce
doth not take place among the friends, unless a compelling
reason existeth which maketh harmony impossible. Under
such rare circumstances some cases of divorce take place.
“Now the friends in America must live and conduct themselves
in this way. They must strictly refrain from divorce
unless something ariseth which compelleth them to separate
because of their aversion for each other, in that case with the
knowledge of the Spiritual Assembly they may decide to
separate. They must then be patient and wait one complete
year. If during this year harmony is not re-established
between them, then their divorce may be realised. It should
not happen that upon the occurrence of a slight friction or
displeasure between husband and wife, the husband would
think of union with some other woman or, God forbid, the[Page 5]
wife also think of another husband. This is contrary to the
standard of heavenly value and true chastity. The friends of
God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such
excellence of character and conduct, as to make others
astonished. The love between husband and wife should not
be purely physical, nay rather it must be spiritual and heavenly.
These two souls should be considered as one soul. How
difficult it would be to divide a single soul! Nay, great would
be the difficulty!
“In short, the foundation of the Kingdom of God is based upon harmony and love, oneness, relationship and union, not upon differences, especially between husband and wife. If one of these two become the cause of divorce, that one will unquestionably fall into great difficulties, will become the victim of formidable calamities and experience deep remorse.”
