The Book of the Most Holy CHAPTER THREE

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Division 61-85

THE MOST HOLY

61.

Upon completing your prostrations, seat yourselves cross-legged

-- men and women alike -- and 18 times repeat

62.

" Glorified be God, the Lord of the kingdoms of earth and heaven".

63.

Thus doth the Lord make plain the ways of truth and guidance,

ways that lead to one way, which is this Straight Path.

64.

Render thanks unto God for this most gracious favour;

offer praise unto Him for this bounty that hath encompassed the heavens and the earth;

extol Him for this mercy that hath pervaded all creation.

65.

Say:

God hath made My hidden love the key to the Treasure; would that ye might perceive it!

66.

But for the key, the Treasure would to all eternity have remained concealed; would that ye might believe it!

67.

Say:

This is the Source of Revelation, the Dawning-place of Splendour, Whose brightness hath illumined the horizons of the world.

68.

Would that ye might understand!

69.

This is, verily, that fixed Decree through which every irrevocable decree hath been established.

70.

O Pen of the Most High!

Say:

O people of the world!

We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period,

and at its close have designated for you Naw-Rú z as a feast.

71.

Thus hath the Day-Star of Utterance shone forth above the horizon of the Book as decreed by Him Who is the Lord of the beginning and the end.

72.

Let the days in excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting.

73.

We have ordained that these, amid all nights and days, shall be the manifestations of the letter Há, and thus they have not been bounded by the limits of the year and its months.

74.

It behoveth the people of Bahá, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy,

75.

and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name;

76.

and when they end -- these days of giving that precede the season of restraint -- let them enter upon the Fast.

77.

Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who is the Lord of all mankind.

78.

The traveller, the ailing, those who are with child or giving suck, are not bound by the Fast;

they have been exempted by God as a token of His grace.

He, verily, is the Almighty, the Most Generous.

79.

These are the ordinances of God that have been set down in the Books and Tablets by His Most Exalted Pen.

80.

Hold ye fast unto His statutes and commandments,

and be not of those who, following their idle fancies and vain imaginings,

have clung to the standards fixed by their own selves,

and cast behind their backs the standards laid down by God.

81.

Abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sundown,

and beware lest desire deprive you of this grace that is appointed in the Book.

82.

It hath been ordained that every believer in God, the Lord of Judgement,

shall, each day, having washed his hands and then his face,

seat himself and, turning unto God, repeat " Allá h-u-Abhá " 95 [9? ] times.

83.

Such was the decree of the Maker of the Heavens when, with majesty and power,

He established Himself upon the thrones of His Names.

84.

Perform ye, likewise, ablutions for the Obligatory Prayer;

this is the command of God, the Incomparable, the Unrestrained.

85.

Ye have been forbidden to commit murder or adultery, or to engage in backbiting or calumny; shun ye, then, what hath been prohibited in the holy Books and Tablets.

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