At this time, likewise, I most urgently request the friends
of God to make every effort, as much as lieth within their competence, along
these lines. The harder they strive to widen the scope of their knowledge, the
better and more gratifying will be the result. Let the loved ones of God,
whether young or old, whether male or female, each according to his
capabilities, bestir themselves and spare no efforts to acquire the various
current branches of knowledge, both spiritual and secular, and of the arts.
Whensoever they gather in their meetings let their conversation be confined to
learned subjects and to information on the knowledge of the day.
If they do thus, they will flood the world with the Manifest
Light, and change this dusty earth into gardens of the Realm of Glory.
('Abdu'l-Bahá, from a Tablet-translated from
the Arabic; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Excellence in All Things)
