O ye loved ones of God! Out of gratitude for firmness in the
eternal Covenant arise to serve the threshold of the omnipotent Lord, observe
obligatory prayer and fasting, and spend your time in diffusing the sweet
savours of God and in spreading the Divine verses. Tear asunder the veils,
remove the obstacles, proffer the life-giving waters, and point out the path of
salvation. This is what 'Abdu'l-Bahá admonisheth you every morn and eve. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, compilation ‘The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; published in The American Baha'i, September 2000)
