Love

From Lights of Guidance (to categorize)

Bahá'ís Must Be Distinguished

"I desire distinction for you. The Bahá'ís must be distinguished from others of humanity. But this distinction must not depend upon wealth--that they should become more affluent than other people. I do not desire for you financial distinction. It is not an ordinary distinction I desire: not scientific, commercial, industrial distinction. For you I desire spiritual distinction; that is, you must become eminent and distinguished in morals. In the love of God you must become distinguished from all else. You must become distinguished for loving humanity; for unity and accord; for love and justice. In brief, you must become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world; for faithfulness and steadfastness; for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world; for love toward every human being; for unity and accord with all people; for removing prejudices and promoting international peace. Finally, you must become distinguished for heavenly illumination and acquiring the bestowals of God. I desire this distinction for you. This must be the point of distinction among you."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 190, in Lights of Guidance, no. 320)

Believers Should Draw on Each Other's Love

"Indeed the believers have not yet fully learned to draw on each other's love for strength and consolation in time of need. The Cause of God is endowed with tremendous powers, and the reason the believers do not gain more from it is because they have not learned to draw fully on these mighty forces of love and strength and harmony generated by the Faith."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, May 8, 1942: Living the Life, p. 8, in Lights of Guidance, no. 321)

Worst Enemies of the Cause Are in the Cause

"The worst enemies of the Cause are in the Cause and mention the Name of God. We need not fear the enemies on the outside for such can be easily dealt with. But the enemies who call themselves friends and who persistently violate every fundamental law of love and unity, are difficult to be dealt with in this day, for the mercy of God is still great. But ere long this merciful door will be closed and such enemies will be attacked with a madness...."

('Abdu'l-Bahá answers questions asked by Dr. E. C. Getsinger in the Holy Land: Star of the West, Vol. VI, No. 6, p. 45, in Lights of Guidance, no. 322)

The Best Remedy for Hate is Love, as Hate is the Absence of Love

"The best remedy for hate is love, as hate is the absence of love! In this respect you must show forth the love of God to others, Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís alike, and thus do your part to dispel the darkness in this world. This is what the beloved Master expects of His servants."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 12, 1949, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1339)

The Standard which Must Govern the Conduct of Believers Toward Each Other is Love

"...If between the friends true love--based on the love of God--could become manifest, the Cause would spread very rapidly. Love is the standard which must govern the conduct of one believer towards another. The administrative order does not change this, but unfortunately sometimes the friends confuse the two, and try to be a whole spiritual assembly,--with the discipline and justice and impartiality that body must show,--to each other, instead of being forgiving, loving and patient to each other as individuals."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, March 18, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1340)

We Must Love God and Thus Love for All Men Becomes Possible

"We must never take one sentence in the Teachings and isolate it from the rest: it does not mean we must not love, but we must reach a spiritual plane where God comes first and great human passions are unable to turn us away from Him. All the time we see people who either through the force of hate or the passionate attachment they have to another person, sacrifice principle or bar themselves from the Path of God.

"We know absence of light is darkness, but no one would assert darkness was not a fact. It exists even though it is only the absence of something else. So evil exists too, and we cannot close our eyes to it, even though it is a negative existence. We must seek to supplant it by good, and if we see an evil person is not influenceable by us, then we should shun his company for it is unhealthy.

"We must love God, and in this state, a general love for all men becomes possible. We cannot love each human being for himself but our feeling towards humanity should be motivated by our love for the Father who created all men.

"The Bahá'í Faith teaches man was always potentially man, even when passing through lower stages of evolution. Because he has more powers, and subtler powers than the animal, when he turns towards evil he becomes more vicious than an animal because of these very powers."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 4, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1341)

The Kind of Love Every Believer Should Cultivate

"You mention the fact that at times you feel strongly attracted to people whom you have never known before; this is surely the kind of love which every Bahá'í should cultivate. For we Bahá'ís should come to love all human beings, whether believers or not, alien or friendly. The love which Bahá'u'lláh wishes us to acquire is a love that embraces the whole mankind. The reason why one feels attracted is due to such gifts and qualities with which the soul is endowed and which exert a powerful and latent influence."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, November 20, 1937, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1342)

Abdu'l-Bahá Explained the Meaning of Bahá'u'lláh's Words Regarding Love of Humanity

"As regards the meaning of Bahá'u'lláh's words regarding love of humanity, the Master often explained it to mean that man should love his family, then his native town, then his province, then his nation, but should not stop there and acquire a narrow nationalism, but grow to love the whole-wide world and mankind at large. Bahá'ís love their country but should also love the world, that is, other peoples."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 5, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1343)

Spiritual Relationships Are Far More Important Than Rules and Regulations

"He urges you to do all you can to promote unity and love amongst the members of the Community there, as this seems to be their greatest need.

"So often young communities, in their desire to administer the Cause, lose sight of the fact that these spiritual relationships are far more important and fundamental than the rules and regulations which must govern the conduct of Community affairs."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 4, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1344)

The People of the World Need to See the Love Engendered by the Faith in the Hearts of the Believers

"The people of the world not only need the laws and principles of the Bahá'í Faith--they desperately need to see the love that is engendered by it in the hearts of its followers, and to partake of that atmosphere of tolerance, understanding, forbearance and active kindness which should be the hall-mark of a Bahá'í Community."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, December 5, 1942, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1345)

The Morbid and Turbulent Influence of the Dark Forces of the World is Felt by All

"The believers, to better understand their own internal condition, should realize that the forces of darkness in the world are so prevalent and strong that their morbid and turbulent influence is felt by all. They should therefore consciously strive to be more loving, more united, more dedicated and prayerful than ever before, in order to fight against the atmosphere of present day society which is unloving, disunited, careless of right and wrong, and heedless of God."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, March 20, 1946, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1346)

We Must Pray to be Protected from the Contamination of Society

"The friends must, at all times, bear in mind that they are, in a way, like soldiers under attack. The world is at present in an exceedingly dark condition spiritually; hatred and prejudice, of every sort, are literally tearing it to pieces. We, on the other hand, are the custodians of the opposite forces, the forces of love, of unity, of peace and integration, and we must constantly be on our guard, whether as individuals or as an Assembly or Community, lest through us these destructive, negative forces enter into our midst. In other words, we must beware lest the darkness of society become reflected in our acts and attitudes, perhaps all unconsciously. Love for each other, the deep sense that we are a new organism, the dawn-breakers of a New World Order, must constantly animate our Bahá'í lives, and we must pray to be protected from the contamination of society which is so diseased with prejudice."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Spiritual Assembly of Atlanta, February 5, 1947, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1347)

Analogies of

Rose as love

"O Friend! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love..."

(Bahá'u'lláh, "Hidden Words", from the Persian, no. 3)

See also

• Unity
• Fault-finding/Looking for good/Backbiting (some opposite behaviors)