Thou must be firm and unshakable in thy purpose, and never, never let any outward circumstances worry thee. I am sending thee to India to accomplish certain definite results. Thou must enter that country with a never-failing spirituality, a radiant faith an eternal enthusiasm, an inextinguishable fire, a solid conviction, in order that thou mayest achieve those services for which I am sending thee.
Let not thy heart be troubled. If thou goest away with this unchanging condition of invariability of inner state, thou shalt see the doors of confirmation open before thy face, thy life will be a crown of heavenly roses, and thou shalt find thyself in the highest station of triumph.
Strive day and night to attain to this exalted state. Look at me! Thou dost not know a thousandth part of the difficulties and seemingly unsurmountable passes that rise daily before my eyes. I do not heed them; I am walking in my chosen highway; I know the destination. Hundreds of storms and tempests may rage furiously around my head; hundreds of Titanics may sink to the bottom of the sea, the mad waves may rise to the roof of heaven; all these will not change my purpose, will not disturb me in the least; I will not look either to the right or to the left; I am looking ahead, far, far. Piercing through the impenetrable darkness of the night, the howling winds, the raging storms, I see the glorious Light beckoning me forward, forward. The balmy weather is coming, and the voyager shall land safely.
Qurrat al-‘Ayn [Tahirih] had attained to this supreme state. When they brought her the terrible news of the martyrdom of the Baha’is, she did not waver; it did not make any difference to her; she also had chosen her path, she knew her goal, and when they imparted to her the news of her impending death, no one could see any trace of sorrow in her face; she was rather happier. Although she never cared for dress, that day she wore her best white silk dress and jewelry and perfumed herself with the most fragrant attar of roses. She hailed the chamber of death as a happy bride entering the nuptial bower of the bridegroom.
To this lofty summit of unchanging purpose thou must attain; like Qurrat al-‘Ayn, nothing must shake thy firm faith.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to Lua Getsinger, Ramleh, Egypt, August 19, 1913; recorded by Ahmad Sohrab, one of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's secretaries and translators from 1912 to 1919; Star of the West, volume 4, no. 12, October 16, 1913)
