ful and self-subsisting.

O My Servant!

Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness
of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer's knowledge.
Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy
worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.

O My Friend!

Thou art the day-star of the heavens of My holiness, let not the
defilement of the world eclipse thy splendor. Rend asunder the
veil of heedlessness, that from behind the clouds thou mayest
emerge resplendent and array all things with the apparel of life.

The life to which Baha'u'llah calls His followers is surely one of such
nobility that in all the vast range of human possibility there is nothing
more lofty or beautiful to which man could aspire. Realization of the
spiritual self in ourselves means realization of the sublime truth that we
are from God and to Him shall we return. This return to God is the
glorious goal of the Baha'i; but to attain this goal the only path is that
of obedience to His chosen Messengers, and especially to His Messenger for
the time in which we live, Baha'u'llah, the prophet of the New Era.

CHAPTER 6: PRAYER

Prayer is a ladder by which everyone may ascend to Heaven.--MUHAMMAD.

Conversation with God

"Prayer," says 'Abdu'l-Baha, "is conversation with God." In order that God
may make known His Mind and Will to men, He must speak to them in a
language which they can understand, and this He does by the mouths of His
Holy Prophets. While these Prophets are alive in the body They speak with
men face to face and convey to them the Message of God, and after Their
death Their message continues to reach men's minds through Their recorded
sayings and writings. But this is not the only way in which God can
commune with and inspire those whose hearts are seeking after truth,
wherever they are, and whatever their native race or tongue. By this
language the Manifestation continues to hold converse with the faithful
after His departure from the material world. Christ continued to converse
with and inspire His disciples after His crucifixion. In fact He
influenced them more powerfully than before; and with other Prophets it
has been the same. 'Abdu'l-Baha speaks much of this spiritual language. He
says, for instance:--

We should speak in the language of heaven--in the language of the
spirit--for there i