eglect 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 neighbor. Ponder
this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is
My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then
before thine eyes.

The first essential of social life is that individuals should become
capable of discerning the true from the false and right from wrong, and of
seeing things in their true proportions. The greatest cause of spiritual
and social blindness, and the greatest foe of social progress, is
selfishness. Baha'u'llah says:--

O ye sons of intelligence! The thin eye lid prevents the eye from
seeing the world and what is contained therein. Then think of the
result when the curtain of greed covers the sight of the heart!

O people! The darkness of greed and envy obscures the light of the
soul as the cloud prevents the penetration of the sun's rays.
(Tablet to some Persian Zoroastrian Baha'is).

Long experience is at last convincing men of the truth of the prophetic
teaching that selfish views and selfish actions inevitably bring social
disaster, and that if humanity is not to perish ingloriously, each must
look on the things of his neighbor as of equal importance with his own,
and subordinate his own interests to those of humanity as a whole. In this
way the interests of each and all will ultimately be best served.
Baha'u'llah says:--"O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy,
forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will
profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou
for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself."--Words of Paradise.

Government

The teachings of Baha'u'llah contain two different types of reference to
the question of true social order. One type is exemplified in the tablets
revealed to the Kings, which deal with the problem of government as
existing in the world during Baha'u'llah's life on earth; the other
references are to the new order to be developed within the Baha'i
community itself.

Hence arises the sharp contrast between such passages as: "The one true
God, exalted be His glory, hath ever regarded, and will continue to
regard, the hearts of men as His own, His exclusive possession. All else,
whether pertaining t