O my Lord, the lamps of guidance have gone out. The flames of passion are mounting high, and malevolence is ever gaining on the world. Malice and hate have overspread the face of the whole earth, and I find no souls except Thine own oppressed small band who are raising up this cry: Make haste to love! Make haste to trust! Make haste to give! To guidance come! Come ye for harmony! To behold the Star of Day! Come here for kindliness, for ease! Come here for amity and peace! Come and cast down your weapons of wrath, till unity is won! Come and in the Lord’s true path each one help each one. Verily with exceeding joy, with heart and soul, do these oppressed of Thine offer themselves up for all mankind in every land. Thou seest them, O my Lord, weeping over the tears Thy people shed, mourning the grief of Thy children, condoling with humankind, suffering because of the calamities that beset all the denizens of the earth. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. Available from www.bahai.org/r/253012522