he world, and their endeavours are greater. They are confirmed by divine
bestowals and blessings. It is my hope that in the East the handmaids of
the Merciful will also exert such effort, reveal their powers, and
manifest their capacities....

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) [101]

102: Now is the time to speak forth and to deliver speeches, the time to
teach...

Now is the time to speak forth and to deliver speeches, the time to teach
and to give testimony. Loosen thy tongue, expound the truths, and
establish the validity of the verse: "The All-Merciful hath taught the
Qur'an."(7) The Holy Spirit speaketh through the innermost essence of the
human tongue, God's Spirit which desireth communion with the human soul
unfoldeth the truths, the Faithful Spirit writeth down and the Spirit of
the Ancient of Days confirmeth. I swear by that Peerless Beauty, Who is in
the Unseen Kingdom, that when the leaves loose their tongues in praise and
glorification of the All-Loving Lord, and in teaching the Cause of the
Kind Lord, the concourse of the Kingdom and the inmates of the Unseen
Realms will give ear, and cry out with exclamations of extreme joy and
jubilation.

Glory be upon thee and upon every handmaiden who is steadfast in the
Covenant.

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) [102]

103: O handmaid of God!... To the mothers must be given the divine
Teachings...

O handmaid of God!... To the mothers must be given the divine Teachings
and effective counsel, and they must be encouraged and made eager to train
their children, for the mother is the first educator of the child. It is
she who must, at the very beginning, suckle the new-born at the breast of
God's Faith and God's Law, that divine love may enter into him even with
his mother's milk, and be with him till his final breath.

So long as the mother faileth to train her children, and start them on a
proper way of life, the training which they receive later on will not take
its full effect. It is incumbent upon the Spiritual Assemblies to provide
the mothers with a well-planned programme for the education of children,
showing how, from infancy, the child must be watched over and taught.
These instructions must be given to every mother to serve her as a guide,
so that each will train and nurture her children in accordance with the
Teachings.

("Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha" [rev. ed.], (Haifa: Baha'i
World Centre, 198