Exhortation to make use of rose-water and of pure perfume[edit]
"Make use of rose-water, and of pure perfume; this, indeed, is that which God hath loved from the beginning that hath no beginning, in order that there may be diffused from you what your Lord, the Incomparable, the All-Wise, desireth."
- (Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, par. 76)
- "To perfume one's self" (under "To be the essence of cleanliness" under "Miscellaneous Exhortations")
Symbolic of diffusion of love of God[edit]
"In every town and village along the way, he ably spread the Faith, adducing clear arguments and proofs, quoting from and interpreting the sacred traditions and evident signs.[Qur'án 3:91] He did not rest for a moment; everywhere he shed abroad the attar of the love of God, and diffused the sweet breathings of holiness. And he inspired the friends, making them eager to teach others in their turn, and to excel in knowledge."
(Attar of rose sent as gift for anointing friends in Australia and New Zealand (e.g., attending (first) New Zealand Convention))[edit]
"You will also be receiving some attar of rose, with which the Guardian would like you to anoint the friends who attend the Convention."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 4 April 1957, Messages to the Antipodes, p. 430)
"You may anoint the friends in New Zealand with the attar of rose which you received from the Guardian when you were in Haifa."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 7 October 1955, Messages to the Antipodes, pp. 393-394)
"He is, in addition, sending through her [Miss Effie Baker] for the believers a bottle of attar of rose extracted by the friends in Persia."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 3 January 1936, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New-Zealand, Messages to the Antipodes, p. 110; also in Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand, p. 12)
Use in funeral for Hand of the Cause Dr. Esslemont[edit]
"I have been ordered by Shoghi Effendi to relate in as simple words as possible for the information of his friends in England, the sufferings of his [Dr. Esslemont's] last days and yet words fail me in that painful task...The funeral service was both simple and touching. His body was washed by two of the friends, dressed and wrapped in white silk cloth and perfumed by attar of roses. On his finger Shoghi Effendi placed his own Bahá'í ring which he had worn for a good many years."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, pp. 40-41)
Used by Tahirih in advance of her martyrdom[edit]
"She bathed her face and hands, arrayed herself in a costly dress, and scented with attar of roses she came out of the house."
