ng the people,
antiquated customs and prejudices will by and by be shed, as naturally and
inevitably as bud scales are shed in spring when the leaves and flowers
expand in the sunshine.

Education

Education--the instruction and guidance of men and the development and
training of their innate faculties--has been the supreme aim of all the
Holy Prophets since the world began, and in the Baha'i teachings the
fundamental importance and limitless possibilities of education are
proclaimed in the clearest terms. The teacher is the most potent factor in
civilization and his work is the highest to which men can aspire.
Education begins in the mother's womb and is as unending as the life of
the individual. It is a perennial necessity of right living and the
foundation of both individual and social welfare. When education on right
lines becomes general, humanity will be transformed and world will become
a paradise.

At present a really well educated man is the rarest of phenomena, for
nearly everyone has false prejudices, wrong ideals, erroneous conceptions
and bad habits drilled into him from babyhood. How few are taught from
their earliest childhood to love God with all their hearts and dedicate
their lives to Him; to regard service to humanity as the highest aim in
life; to develop their powers to the best advantage for the general good
of all! Yet surely these are the essential elements of a good education.
Mere cramming of the memory with facts about arithmetic, grammar,
geography, languages, etc., has comparatively little effect in producing
noble and useful lives.

Baha'u'llah says that education must be universal:--

It is decreed that every father must educate his sons and
daughters in learning and in writing and also in that which hath
been ordained in the tablet. He who neglects that which hath been
commanded (in this matter), if he be rich, it is incumbent on the
trustees of the House of Justice to recover from him the amount
required for the education of his children; otherwise (i.e. if the
parent be not capable) the matter shall devolve upon the House of
Justice. Verily We have made it (the House of Justice) an asylum
for the poor and needy.

He who educates his son, or any other children, it is as though he
hath educated one of My children.--Tablet of I_sh_raqat.

Men and women must place a part of what they earn by trade,
agriculture or oth