the declaration
may be appreciated in various references which Baha'u'llah was to make to
His mission in many of His subsequent writings:

The purpose underlying all creation is the revelation of this most
sublime, this most holy Day, the Day known as the Day of God, in His Books
and Scriptures--the Day which all the Prophets, and the Chosen Ones, and
the holy ones, have wished to witness.(21)

...this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the
Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the
light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behooveth every
man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart,
and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His
Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.(22)

As repeatedly emphasized in Baha'u'llah's exposition of the Bab's message,
the primary purpose of God in revealing His will is to effect a
transformation in the character of humankind, to develop within those who
respond the moral and spiritual qualities that are latent within human
nature:

Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls
with the ornament of honesty. Beware, O people, that ye deal not
treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His
creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people....(23)

Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of
hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been
created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with
all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.(24)

The aggressive proselytism that had characterized efforts in ages past to
promote the cause of religion is declared to be unworthy of the Day of
God. Each person who has recognized the Revelation has the obligation to
share it with those who he believes are seeking, but to leave the response
entirely to his hearers:

Show forbearance and benevolence and love to one another. Should any one
among you be incapable of grasping a certain truth, or be striving to
comprehend it, show forth, when conversing with him, a spirit of extreme
kindliness and good-will....(25)

The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of
grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the
largeness or smallness of the receptacle....(26)

Against the backgr