A Tablet of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá

O Friends of God! Now is the time for joy and gladness, for acquiring the characteristics of the All-Merciful. This transitory world is passing even as a fleeting shadow, and the days of life are speeding by. When finally we hasten from this world to the next, we should do so with a candle in our hand, a brightness in our countenance, and a spirit in our heart. Observe how the exterior is the sign of the interior. All tombs and sepulchres, even of the world’s most celebrated monarchs, are dark and gloomy, whereas the holy resting-places of the chosen ones of the All-Merciful are radiant and luminous. Let us then exert ourselves with heart and soul, and lift up our voices in a gladsome chorus, that we may become acceptable at the Threshold of Oneness; be made alive by the fragrant breaths of holiness; detach ourselves from whatsoever is of the world; become devoted servants at the threshold of Him Who is the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting; be made recipients of His infinite bounty, and attain to everlasting life. Upon you be salutation and praise.

—‘Abdu’l‑Bahá