What Are Some Important Virtues
and Character Attributes to Acquire?
For every thing, however, God has created a sign and symbol, and established
standards and tests by which it may be known. The spiritually learned must be
characterized by both inward and outward perfections; they must possess a good
character, an enlightened nature, a pure intent, as well as intellectual power,
brilliance and discernment, intuition, discretion and foresight, temperance,
reverence, and a heartfelt fear of God. For an unlit candle, however great in
diameter and tall, is no better than a barren palm tree or a pile of dead wood.
(38 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Secret of Divine Civilization, pp.
33-34)
Above all else, the greatest gift and the most wondrous blessing hath ever been
and will continue to be wisdom. It is man's unfailing Protector. It aideth him
and strengtheneth him. Wisdom is God's Emissary and the Revealer of His Name
the Omniscient. Through it the loftiness of man's station is made manifest and
evident. It is all-knowing and the foremost Teacher in the school of existence.
It is the Guide and is invested with high distinction. Thanks to its educating
influence earthly beings have become imbued with a gem-like spirit which
outshineth the heavens. In the city of justice it is the unrivalled Speaker
Who, in the year nine, illumined the world with the joyful tidings of this
Revelation. And it was this peerless Source of wisdom that at the beginning of
the foundation of the world ascended the stair of inner meaning and when
enthroned upon the pulpit of utterance, through the operation of the divine
Will, proclaimed two words. The first heralded the promise of reward, while the
second voiced the ominous warning of punishment. The promise gave rise to hope
and the warning begat fear. Thus the basis of world order hath been firmly
established upon these twin principles. Exalted is the Lord of wisdom, the
Possessor of Great Bounty.
(39 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
p. 66)
The essence of wisdom is the fear of God, the dread of His scourge and
punishment, and the apprehension of His justice and decree.
(40 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
page 155)
Say, O people of the earth! Beware lest any reference to wisdom debar you from
its Source or withhold you from the Dawning-Place thereof. Fix your hearts upon
your Lord, the Educator, the All-Wise.
(41 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
p. 34)
Trustworthiness, wisdom and honesty are, of a truth, God's beauteous adornments
for His creatures. These fair garments are a befitting vesture for every
temple. Happy are those that comprehend, and well is it with them that acquire
such virtue.
(42 - Bahá'u'lláh - Trustworthiness,
#26)
We beg of God to assist the children of His loved ones and adorn them with
wisdom, good conduct, integrity and righteousness.
(43 - Bahá'u'lláh - Bahá'í Education,
#25)
Say: Honesty, virtue, wisdom and a saintly character redound to the exaltation
of man, while dishonesty, imposture, ignorance and hypocrisy lead to his
abasement. By My life! Man's distinction lieth not in ornaments or wealth, but
rather in virtuous behaviour and true understanding.
(44 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
p. 57)
O SON OF SPIRIT!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice;
turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may
confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through
the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the
knowledge of thy neighbour.
(45 - Bahá'u'lláh - The Hidden Words, Arabic
#2)
Equity is the most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all
things must needs depend upon it.
(46 - Bahá'u'lláh - Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh, p. 203)
The foundation of Bahá'u'lláh is love...You must have infinite
love for each other, each preferring the other before himself.
(47 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.
213)
The best way to thank God is to love one another.
(48 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.
231)
In the world of existence there is no more powerful magnet than the magnet of
love.
(49 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - `Abdu'l-Bahá in London, p.
77)
Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness
progress and success, in all of the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul.
When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will
also be acquired.
(50 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p.
459)
Adorn your heads with the garlands of trustworthiness and fidelity, your hearts
with the attire of the Fear of God, your tongues with absolute truthfulness,
your bodies with the vesture of courtesy. These are in truth seemly adornings
unto the temple of man, if ye be of them that reflect. Cling, O ye people of
Baha', to the cord of servitude unto God, the True One, for thereby your
stations shall be made manifest, your names written and preserved, your ranks
raised and your memory exalted in the Preserved Tablet. Beware lest the
dwellers on earth hinder you from this glorious and exalted station. Thus have
We exhorted you in most of our Epistles and now in this, Our Holy Tablet, above
which hath beamed the Day-star of the Laws of the Lord, your God, the Powerful,
the All-Wise.
(51 - Bahá'u'lláh - Synopsis of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p.
24)
Good speech and truthfulness are, in loftiness of position and rank, like unto
the sun which hath risen from the horizon of the heaven of knowledge.
(52 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
p. 12)
A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the
Spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of
wisdom and understanding.
(53 - Bahá'u'lláh - Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh, p. 289;; Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p.
15)
When we find truth, constancy, fidelity, and love, we are happy; but if we meet
with lying, faithlessness, and deceit, we are miserable.
(54 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Paris Talks*, p. 65)
O SON OF MAN!
For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude
under My decree and patience under My trials.
(55 - Bahá'u'lláh - The Hidden Words, Arabic
#48)
It behooveth whosoever hath set his face towards the Most Sublime Horizon to
cleave tenaciously unto the cord of patience, and to put his reliance in God,
the Help in Peril, the Unconstrained. O ye loved ones of God! Drink your fill
from the well-spring of wisdom, and soar ye in the atmosphere of wisdom, and
speak forth with wisdom and eloquence. Thus biddeth you your Lord, the
Almighty, the All-Knowing.
(56 - Bahá'u'lláh - Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p.
99)
...God, verily, loveth those women and men who show forth patience. Obey ye My
commandments, and follow not the ungodly, they who have been reckoned as
sinners in God's Holy Tablet.
(57 - Bahá'u'lláh - The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p.
43)
The essential thing is firmness and steadfastness.
(58 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p.
696)
Thou art most dear to Us; and, as We love thee, so love We all in whom may be
perceived the goodly adornments of trustworthiness and uprightness, and such
qualities of virtue and integrity as have been enjoined upon men in the Book of
God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. Happy the lot of the soul that hath
perceived the fragrant breaths of divine utterance, and given ear to what hath
been revealed by God, the Omniscient, the All-Informed. God hath, verily,
willed that His Cause should be assisted by the hosts of goodly deeds and a
righteous character. Blessed, then, be the man that apprehendeth this truth and
acteth conformably; and woe betide those who ignore or deny it!
(59 - Bahá'u'lláh - Trustworthiness,
#24)
As to the seven qualifications (of the divinely enlightened soul) of which thou
hast asked an explanation, it is as follows:
- KNOWLEDGE
- Man must attain the
knowledge of God.
- FAITH
- STEADFASTNESS
- TRUTHFULNESS
- Truthfulness
is the foundation of all the virtues of the world of humanity. Without
truthfulness, progress and success in all of the worlds of God are impossible
for a soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine
qualities will also become realized.
- UPRIGHTNESS
- And this is one of the
greatest divine attainments.
- FIDELITY
- This is also a beautiful trait of the heavenly man.
- EVANESCENCE or Humility
- That is to say, man must become
evanescent in God. Must forget his own selfish conditions that he may thus
arise to the station of sacrifice. It should be to such a degree that if he
sleep, it should not be for pleasure, but to rest the body in order to do
better, to speak better, to explain more beautifully, to serve the servants of
God and to prove the truths. When he remains awake, he should seek to be
attentive, serve the Cause of God and sacrifice his own stations for those of
God. When he attains to this station, the confirmations of the Holy Spirit will
surely reach him, and man with this power can withstand all who inhabit the
earth.
(60 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Bahá'í World Faith*, p.
384)
The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident and manifest,
and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenly Books. Among them are
trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity of heart while communing with God,
forbearance, resignation to whatever the Almighty hath decreed, contentment
with the things His Will hath provided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the
midst of tribulation, and complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him.
These rank, according to the estimate of God, among the highest and most
laudable of all acts. All other acts are, and will ever remain, secondary and
subordinate unto them....
(61 - Bahá'u'lláh - Gleanings, p. 290)
Other attributes of perfection are to fear God, to love God by loving His
servants, to exercise mildness and forbearance and calm, to be sincere,
amenable, clement and compassionate; to have resolution and courage,
trustworthiness and energy, to strive and struggle, to be generous, loyal,
without malice, to have zeal and a sense of honor, to be high-minded and
magnanimous, and to have regard for the rights of others. Whoever is lacking in
these excellent human qualities is defective. If We were to explain the inner
meanings of each one of these attributes, "the poem would take up seventy
maunds of paper."
(62 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Secret of Divine Civilization, p.
40)
Of the spiritual prerequisites of success, which constitute the bedrock on
which the security of all plans, projects, and schemes must ultimately rest,
the following stand out as preeminent and vital. Upon the extent to which these
basic requirements are met, and the manner in which the believers fulfill them
in their individual lives, administrative activities, and social relationships,
must depend the measure of the manifold blessings which the All-Bountiful
Possessor can vouchsafe to them all. These requirements are none other than a
high sense of moral rectitude in their social and administrative activities,
absolute chastity in their individual lives, and complete freedom from
prejudice in their dealings with peoples of a different race, class, creed, or
colour.
(63 - Shoghi Effendi - Advent of Divine Justice, p. 19)
The first Taraz and the first effulgence which hath dawned from the horizon of
the Mother Book is that man should know his own self and recognize that which
leadeth unto loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement, wealth or poverty.
Having attained the stage of fulfillment and reached his maturity, man standeth
in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or
professions is commendable and praiseworthy in the estimation of men of wisdom,
and especially in the eyes of servants who dedicate themselves to the education
of the world and to the edification of its peoples. They are, in truth,
cup-bearers of the life-giving water of knowledge and guides unto the ideal
way. They direct the peoples of the world to the straight path and acquaint
them with that which is conducive to human upliftment and exaltation. The
straight path is the one which guideth man to the dayspring of perception and
to the dawning-place of true understanding and leadeth him to that which will
redound to glory, honour and greatness.
(64 - Bahá'u'lláh - Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh,
pp. 34-35)
They who dwell within the Tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats
of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch
their hands, and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbour, however vile
and worthless he may be....
(65 - Bahá'u'lláh - Trustworthiness,
#30)
Then it is clear that the honor and exaltation of man must be something more
than material riches. Material comforts are only a branch, but the root of the
exaltation of man is the good attributes and virtues which are the adornments
of his reality. These are the divine appearances, the heavenly bounties, the
sublime emotions, the love and knowledge of God; universal wisdom, intellectual
perception, scientific discoveries, justice, equity, truthfulness, benevolence,
natural courage and innate fortitude; the respect for rights and the keeping of
agreements and covenants; rectitude in all circumstances; serving the truth
under all conditions; the sacrifice of one's life for the good of all people;
kindness and esteem for all nations; obedience to the teachings of God; service
in the Divine Kingdom; the guidance of the people, and the education of the
nations and races. This is the prosperity of the human world! This is the
exaltation of man in the world! This is eternal life and heavenly honor!
(66 - `Abdu'l-Bahá - Some Answered Questions, pp.
79-80)