Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.
Bahá’u’lláh
كُنْ فِي النِّعْمَةِ مُنْفِقَاً وَفِي فَقْدِهَا شَاكِرَاً وَفِي الْحُقُوقِ أَمِينَاً وَفِي الْوَجْهِ طَلْقَاً وَلِلْفُقَرَاءِ كَنْزَاً وَلِلْأَغْنِيَاءِ نَاصِحَاً وَلِلْمُنَادِي مُجِيبَاً وَفِي الْوَعْدِ وَفِياً وَفِي الْأُمُورِ مُنْصِفَاً وَفِي الْجَمْعِ صَامِتَاً وَفِي الْقَضَاءِ عَادِلَاً وَلِلْاِنْسَانِ خَاضِعَاً وَفِي الظُّلْمَةِ سِرَاجَاً وَلِلْهُمُومِ فَرَحَاً وَلِلظَّمْآنِ بَحْرَاً وَلِلْمَكْرُوبِ مَلْجَأً وَلِلْمَظْلُومِ نَاصِرَاً وَعَضُدَاً وَظَهَرَاً وَفِي الْأَعْمَالِ مُتَّقِيَاً وَلِلْغَرِيبِ وَطَنَاً وَلِلْمَرِيضِ شِفَاءً وَلِلْمُسْتَجِيرِ حِصْنَاً وَلِلضَّرِيرِ بَصَرَاً وَلِمَنْ ضَلَّ صِرَاطَاً وَلِوَجْهِ الصِّدْقِ جَمَالَاً وَلِهَيْكَلِ الْأَمَانَةِ طِرَازَاً وَلِبَيْتِ الْأَخْلَاقِ عَرْشَاً وَلِجَسَدِ الْعَالَمِ رُوحَاً وَلِجُنُودِ الْعَدْلِ رَايَةً وَلِأُفُقِ الْخَيْرِ نُورَاً وَلِلْأَرْضِ الطَّيِّبَةِ رَذَاذَاً وَلِبَحْرِ الْعِلْمِ فُلْكَاً وَلِسَمَاءِ الْكَرَمِ نَجْمَاً وَلِرَأْسِ الْحِكْمَةِ إِكْلِيلَاً وَلِجَبِينِ الدَّهْرِ بَيَاضَاً وَلِشَجَرِ الْخُشُوعِ ثَمَرَاً
حضرة بهاءالله
These iconic verses come from a Tablet of Baháʼuʼlláh to one of His sons, Mírzá Badíʻu’lláh. This excerpt from that Tablet was translated by Shoghi Effendi and first published in Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼuʼlláh CXXX.
Interesting fact: When an Arabic sentence or clause begins with some form of the verb “to be” (kána), the predicate (khabar kána) assumes the accusative case. If the word which forms that predicate is an indefinite noun or adjective, it will take on a diacritical mark called a fatḥatain, which sounds like “an” when pronounced. That is why this passage, which begins with the imperative verb “be” (kun), has a recurring “an” sound attached to all the nouns and adjectives which follow that command.
Supplementary Material
This booklet was prepared by The Utterance Project as a supplement for the publication of the video for “Be Generous in Prosperity.”
This selection from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh was published as part of the Sovereign Remedy Collection, a thematic series of excerpts from Bahá’u’lláh addressing both the causes and the divine remedy for the ills of the world.
For more information about the Sovereign Remedy, visit the page on our website, where you can also view a slideshow of Be Generous in Prosperity:
https://theutteranceproject.com/sovereign-remedy-about/
The 37-page PDF Booklet available on the Utterance Project’s website for download on this page:
https://theutteranceproject.com/resources/downloads/
The PDF is also directly accessible via this link:
https://theutteranceproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Be-Generous-in-Prosperity.pdf
37 individual images in a Google Photos album:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ijsghfTHWhJ2xuSJ6
Original Sources
Further References