e
Powerful, the Mighty, the Bestower!

O my dear friends! Yours was not merely a letter; it was perfumed with
amber and diffused a sweet fragrance. Every word thereof was a rose in the
rose-garden of the love of God and was a flower, a hyacinth.

When the breeze of Providence blows from the direction of gift, the
gardens of hearts attain thereby exceeding purity and freshness. Such
significances arise from the soul and consciousness and impart joy and
fragrance.

O friends! It is the wish of Abdul-Baha that the friends may establish
general unity and not a particular meeting of unity. You must have great
consideration for this fact, for during the past cycles though such events
(founding of particular, i.e., exclusive unity meetings) were, in the
beginning, a means for harmony, they became in the end the cause of
trouble.

We are all servants of one Threshold, attendants at one Court, waves of
one sea, drops of one stream, the dust before one door and plants of one
garden. There must arise no trouble to deprive one from that which is the
real purpose. The beloved of God must be friendly even with strangers and
intimate even with outsiders--how much more with others among the righteous
(i.e., believers)!

To organize assemblies is praiseworthy and acceptable, but these must be
established for certain matters. For example: Assemblages for teaching
(the Truth), gatherings for the spread of the fragrances of God,
gatherings for the relief of the orphans, gatherings for the protection
(i.e., feeding, etc.,) of the poor, assemblages for the spread of learning
and, in a word, there must be gatherings for matters which concern the
well-being of men, such as organizations of a society of commerce,
societies for the expansion of agriculture. To be brief, similar societies
are very acceptable and praiseworthy and concern all in general and not a
particular number.

In a word: That which is conducive to the life (or growth) of the people
is acceptable and whatever is the cause of disaffection is blameworthy. I
hope all the friends of the East and West shall rest in the same
assemblage and adorn one gathering, appearing with all the heavenly
attributes and virtues in the world of humanity.

O my Lord! O my Lord! Enable me to witness the most great sign and to
realize the fulfillment of this hope throughout all regions. Verily Thou
art the Bestower, the Beneficent, whose bounties are great!

Some of the friends have asked t