O army of God! Through the protection and help vouchsafed by
the Blessed Beauty—may my life be a sacrifice to His loved ones—ye must conduct
yourselves in such a manner that ye may stand out distinguished and brilliant
as the sun among other souls. Should any one of you enter a city, he should
become a center of attraction by reason of his sincerity, his faithfulness and
love, his honesty and fidelity, his truthfulness and loving-kindness towards
all the peoples of the world, so that the people of that city may cry out and
say: ‘This man is unquestionably a Bahá’í, for his manners, his behavior, his
conduct, his morals, his nature, and disposition reflect the attributes of the
Bahá’ís.’ Not until ye attain this station can ye be said to have been faithful
to the Covenant and Testament of God. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by Shoghi Effendi
in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)
