Love

“In the garden of thy heart, plant

naught but the rose of love”
– Bahá'í Faith

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Hinduism c. 3000 BC
Let a man feel hatred for no contingent being,
Let him be friendly, compassionate,
Let him be done with thoughts of “I” and “mine,”
The same in pleasure as in pain, long-suffering.
Content and ever integrated,
His self restrained, his purpose firm,
Let him mind and soul (buddhi) be steeped in Me,
Let him worship me with love (bhakta):
Then I will love him [in return].
That man I love from whom the people do not shrink,
And who does not shrink from them,
Who’s free from exaltation, fear,
Impatience and excitement.
I love the man who has no expectation,
Is pure and skilled, indifferent,
Who has not worries, and gives up
All [selfish] enterprise, wrapt up in (bhakta) Me.
I love the man who hates not, nor exults,
Who mourns not nor desires,
Who puts away both pleasant and unpleasant things,
Who’s loyal, devoted and devout (bhaktimat).
I love the man who is the same
To friend or foe, [the same]
Whether he be respected or despised,
The same in heath and cold, in pleasure as in pain.
— Bhagavad-Gitta 12:13-19
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God's holy
Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain
of spiritual outpourings.
Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal
breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God's
revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance
with the divine creation, in the realities of things.
Love is the one means that ensureth true felicity both in
this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in
darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that
assureth the progress of every illumined soul.
Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and
heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the
diverse elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic
force that directeth the movements of the spheres in the
celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless
power the mysteries latent in the universe.
Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of
mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world,
and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming
race and nation....
O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive to become the
manifestations of the love of God, the lamps of Divine guidance
shining amongst the kindreds of the earth with the light of love
and concord.
— `Abdu'l-Bahá:
Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD Judaism c. 1500 BC

O SON OF MAN!
Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient
eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore
I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and
revealed to thee My beauty.
Let there be no hate in your heart for your brother; but
you may make a protest to your neighbour, so that he
may be stopped from doing evil. Do not make attempts to
get equal with one who has done you wrong, or keep hard
feelings against the children of your people, but have love
for your neighbour as for yourself.

— Leviticus 19:17-18
O SON OF BEING!
Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me
not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O
servant. I love them that love me, and those that seek me
earnestly shall find me. Riches and honour are with me;
— Bahá'u'lláh Yea, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better
Hidden Words than gold, yea, that fine gold; And my produce than
choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the
midst of the paths of justice; That I may cause those that
love me to inherit substance, and that I may fill their
treasuries.

— Proverbs 8:17-21

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Buddhism c. 400 BC The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
The fourth is the love of man for man. The love which
We are what we think, exists between the hearts of believers is prompted by the ideal
having become what we thought, of the unity of spirits. This love is attained through the
Like the wheel that follows the cart-pulling ox, knowledge of God, so that men see the Divine Love reflected in
Sorrow follows an evil thought. the heart. Each sees in the other the Beauty of God reflected in
the soul, and finding this point of similarity, they are attracted
And joy follows a pure thought, to one another in love. This love will make all men the waves of
like a shadow faithfully tailing a man, one sea, this love will make them all the stars of one heaven
We are what we think, and the fruits of one tree. This love will bring the realization of
true accord, the foundation of real unity.
having become what we thought.
But the love which sometimes exists between friends is
not (true) love, because it is subject to transmutation; this is
How will hate leave him if a man forever thinks, merely fascination. As the breeze blows, the slender trees yield.
“He abused me, he hit me, he defeated me, he robbed If the wind is in the East the tree leans to the West, and if the
me”? wind turns to the West the tree leans to the East. This kind of
love is originated by the accidental conditions of life. This is not
Will hate ever touch him if he does not think, love, it is merely acquaintanceship; it is subject to change.
“He abused me, he hit me, he defeated me, he robbed Today you will see two souls apparently in close friendship;
me”? tomorrow all this may be changed. Yesterday they were ready
to die for one another, today they shun one another’s society!
This is not love; it is the yielding of the hearts to the accidents of
There is only one eternal law:
life. When that which has caused this ‘love’ to exist passes, the
Hate never destroys hate; only love does.
love passes also; this is not in reality love.
— Lal, Dhammapada, p.39 Love is only of the four kinds that I have explained. (a)
The love of God towards the identity of God. Christ has said God
is Love. (b) The love of God for His children—for His servants. (c)
The love of man for God and (d) the love of man for man. These
four kinds of love originate from God. These are rays from the
Sun of Reality; these are the Breathings of the Holy Spirit; these
are the Signs of the Reality.

— `Abdu'l-Bahá:
Paris Talks

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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
What a power is love! It is the most wonderful, the greatest of
all living powers. Love gives life to the lifeless. Love lights a
flame in the heart that is cold. Love brings hope to the hopeless
and gladdens the hearts of the sorrowful. In the world of
existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of
love. When the heart of man is aglow with the flame of love, he
is ready to sacrifice all—even his life. In the Gospel it is said God
is love.
There are four kinds of love. The first is the love that
flows from God to man; it consists of the inexhaustible graces,
the Divine effulgence and heavenly illumination. Through this
love the world of being receives life. Through this love man is
endowed with physical existence, until, through the breath of
the Holy Spirit—this same love—he receives eternal life and
becomes the image of the Living God. This love is the origin of
all the love in the world of creation.
The second is the love that flows from man to God.
This is faith, attraction to the Divine, enkindlement, progress,
entrance into the Kingdom of God, receiving the Bounties of
God, illumination with the lights of the Kingdom. This love is the
origin of all philanthropy; this love causes the hearts of men to
reflect the rays of the Sun of Reality.
The third is the love of God towards the Self or Identity
of God. This is the transfiguration of His Beauty, the reflection
of Himself in the mirror of His Creation. This is the reality of
love, the Ancient Love, the Eternal Love. Through one ray of this
Love all other love exists.
(continued...)
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Christianity 1 AD
If speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I
am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift
of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. If I can give all I possess to the poor and surrender my
body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not
easy angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will
cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there
is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect
disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like
a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put
childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in
a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then
I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three
remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
— 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
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Christianity 1 AD Islam c. 613 AD

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Remember with gratitude Allah’s favour on you, for you
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. were enemies and He joined your hearts in love.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love. — Qur’án 3:103
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
This is what God announceth to his servants who believe
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I
and do the things that are right. Say: For this ask I no wage
love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who of you, save the love of my kin. And whoever shall have
does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, won the merit of a good deed, we will increase good to
whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: him therewith; for God is forgiving, grateful.
Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
— Qur’án 42:22
— 1 John 4:7-8, 11-12, 16, 19-21

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,

gentleness, and patience.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them
all together in perfect unity.

— Colossians 3:12,14

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