Extract from a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá
As for your desire to publish a monthly magazine in the Arabic and Persian languages that would have a circulation in a number of countries—it would be unwise to embark on such a project at the present time, unless the magazine were to be devoted in its entirety to purely scientific and literary topics, and to contain no mention of political subjects, whether in the form of articles or news reports. My prayer is that God will enable thee to be divinely inspired, not politically motivated—this condition is what befitteth thee, for it is based upon a permanent foundation and its effects are lasting. The scientific matters discussed in your proposed journal should be limited to those that will be of profit to the people, and not such questions as do not go beyond empty verbiage and can have no other outcome, if pursued, than idle contention; rather, the journal should treat of such matters as divine philosophy, mathematics, natural sciences, arts and crafts—areas, in short, from which the people will derive benefit. By the same token, you should refrain for the time being from broaching subjects connected with religion, for such discourse is calculated to provoke an outcry from the ignorant; unaroused from their sleep of heedlessness, they will merely be confirmed in their stubborn adherence to their own wayward beliefs.