God tests mankind’s spirituality.
228. God tests mankind’s spirituality: The Bahá’í Faith tells us that God tests mankind for many reasons. Example, God tests mankind to see if man is spiritually awake. He tests mankind to separate out the true believers from the unbelievers by concealing the content and true understanding of the word in symbols and parables to test our true spiritual perception. He tests us with hardships to help us develop our souls spiritually, so we can come closer to Him and He sends tests our way, in the form of the word itself, to see if we have open eyes and hearing ears that can perceive the truth. Matthew 11:15 “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” These are just a few of the reasons why God will test mankind, but the thing is, God does, in fact, test mankind. Job 2:3 “And The LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
The various forms of the religions of God tell us we should expect tests from God. Indeed, the various religions, of the omniscient God, tell us to expect tests from Him just because we say we believe, and are not just going through the motions of religion to satisfy past, worn out customs and traditions, of religious beliefs, that have been handed down to us from father to son for ages that have long since replaced the true spiritual nature of God’s teachings.
BAHA’I FAITH: “Thus hath the Dove of holiness proclaimed: ‘Do men think when they say ‘We believe’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?”’
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries)
BABI RELIGION: “Think men that when they say, ‘We believe,’ they shall be let alone and not be put to the proof?”
The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 309)
CHRISTIANITY: 1 Peter 1:7 “The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 
Judaism: Leviticus 20:20 “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you.” Psalms 14:2 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.”
BAHA’I FAITH: “Do men think when they say ‘We believe’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 8)
BABI RELIGION: “O YE who are invested with the Bayan! Ye shall be put to proof, even as those unto whom the Qur’án was given.”
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 140)
ISLAM: 2. “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, ‘We believe,’ and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah (God) will certainly know those who are true from those who are false. Do those who practice evil think that they will get the better of us? Evil is their judgment!”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 29)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “Whatever torments You may send to me Ahura (God), I would taste them as delights” “Test us, by what are your tests in this respect. What ever Your tests are they are for finding out the strong.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 269 and 360)
HINDUISM: “I CALL with prayers Visit, to prove us,” “Sorrow and suffering, trial and endurance, are a part of the Hindu ideal of a Perfect Life of righteousness. Repeated trials bring out in brighter relief the unfaltering truth.”
(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 6, and Ramayana, R. Dutt, abridged tr)
BUDDHISM: “The sorrow arising through this or that loss or misfortune (test) which one encounters, the worrying oneself, the state of being alarmed, inward sorrow, inward woe this is called Sorrow.” “Easy to do are those karmas Which are bad and not benefitting oneself But those which are good and beneficial Are difficult indeed to be performed.”
(The Eightfold Path), Buddha and The Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3 (tr. J. Richards))
SABEANISM: “(Haiyi, God, The First Life) perfecteth our souls,” when we say we believe we are sampled for “brilliance and purity;” “The Great Light (abideth) in Its purities.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 46, 49 and 92)
a. Tests, difficulties and tribulations, come to us from God: or I should say some tests and difficulties, come to us from God. He does this to help our spirits grow and develop and become less attached to this world and become more purified and saintly: 
Christianity: 1 Peter 5:10 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” God is trying to strengthen our resolve and make our spirits more perfect through hardships we face in this life and to know what is really in our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Judaism: Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Deuteronomy 8:16 “Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;” Psalms 7:9 “The righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
ISLAM: 21 “Allah (God) doth purify whom He pleases: and Allah is One Who hears and knows (all things).” “For Allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts.” 35. “Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial: to Us must ye return.”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 3, 21 and 24)
Islam: “Allah’s Apostle said, ‘If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials.” “Human beings have received and will receive perfection through us.”
(Islam, Hadith, Bukhari Vol 7, Book 70, # 548 and Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)
Islam: 49. “Now, when trouble touches man, he cries to Us; but when We bestow a favor upon him as from Ourselves, he says, ‘This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge (I have)!’ Nay, but this is but a trial, but most of them understand not!”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 39)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “Evil is not wholly evil. In tackling it the soul acquires moral strength i.e. competence for nearness to God. This is a relieving feature of sin. This Rik gives the reason why Mazda (God) is said to be good in spite of there being evil in the world.” “Even evil operates for the ultimate good.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 120 and 121)
Zoroastrianism: “An aspirant has to acquire the strength to pass through all trials. The greater the difficulty, the greater is the gain when one overcomes it.” “A staunch devotee welcomes troubles as it makes his spirit stronger.” (Hardships are) “given by Ahura Mazda for the promotion of piety, for that thought which originates from the heart-devoted self.” “O thou, all-knowing Ahura!” (knows the secrets of our hearts)
((ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 362, 364 and The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Visperad)
HINDUISM: “In sight of Brahma (God), (difficulties, hardships etc….) There is no purifier like thereto In all this world, and he who seeketh it Shall find it- being grown perfect- in himself.” “O God, who knowest all things!”
(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 4 and Upanishads vol. 1, Vagasaneyi-Samhita)
BUDDHISM: 10. “Is there in the world anyone who is so restrained by modesty that they avoid blame like a trained horse avoids the whip? Like a trained horse when touched by a whip, be strenuous and eager, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of the truth you will overcome this great sorrow, perfected in knowledge, behavior, and mindfulness.” 26. “The one I call holy, though having committed no offense, patiently bears reproach, ill-treatment, and imprisonment, has endurance for one’s force and strength.” 24. “All-conquering and all-knowing am I.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 and 2 (tr. J. Richards))
SABEANISM: “Who establisheth our strength and cutteth us not off From the House of our trust; Who restoreth our souls at the House of Ransom On the Day of Judgement, and perfecteth our souls.” “For Thou knowest hearts, understandest minds and searchest out consciences (even) in the nethermost hells of darkness.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35 and 76)
BABI RELIGION: “How numerous the verses which have been revealed concerning the grievous tests ye shall experience on the Day of Judgement, yet it appeareth that ye have never perused them; and how vast the number of revealed traditions regarding the trials which will overtake you on the Day of Our Return, and yet ye seem never to have set your eyes upon them.” “issued orders to persecute the Bábís, imagining that by overweening force he could eradicate and suppress matters of this nature, and that harshness would bear good fruit;” “The present reign, condemned criminals (what they considered the Babis to be; to be) crucified, blown from guns, buried alive, impaled, shod like horses, torn asunder by being bound to the heads of two trees bent together and then allowed to spring back to their natural position, converted into human torches, flayed while living.” “whereas (in fact) to interfere with matters of conscience is simply to give them greater currency and strength; the more you strive to extinguish, the more will the name be kindled, more specially in matters of faith and religion, which spread and acquire influence so soon as blood is shed, and strongly affect men’s hearts.”
(Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 140 and Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, pp. xlvii and 332)
BAHA’I FAITH: “Now show thou forth firmness and steadfastness without wavering. If any test fall upon thee, it will be conducive to the strength of thy faith.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v3, p. 552)
Baha’i Faith: “All praise be to Thee, O Thou the Desire of the worlds!’ In truth, it is in the hand of God to give what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and to withhold what He pleaseth from whomsoever He may wish. He knoweth the inner secrets of the hearts.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 76)
Baha’i Faith: “There is no need to fear opposition from without if the life within be sound and vigorous. Our Heavenly Father will always give us the strength to meet and overcome tests if we turn with all our hearts to Him, and difficulties if they are met in the right spirit only make us rely on God more firmly and completely.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 417)
b. We also find, when we read into the Bahá’í writings and the holy scriptures from the rest of the religions, that some of our tribulations come to us from God trying to correct our behavior and teach us a better way, as He tries to give us knowledge that will be beneficial to help us in this earthly life and help prepare us for life in the world to come: Judaism: Proverbs 3:11 “My son, despise not the chastening of The LORD; neither be weary of His correction:” Proverbs 3:12 “For whom The LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” Christianity: Hebrews 12:6 “For whom The Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” Hebrews 12:7 “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” Hebrews 12:8 “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”
ISLAM: 155. “Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.” 156. “Who say, when afflicted with calamity: ‘To Allah (God) we belong, and to Him is our return.’ 157. “They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.” As a father chasten a dear son or daughter.
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “Mazda (God) as the upholder of moral order, is sure to give His support to Zarathushtra and to punish his enemies. The punishment would, however, be for their own good, to lead them to the path of rectitude. Why should God, who is all kindness, inflict punishment on anybody unless it is for his good.” (ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 832)
HINDUISM: 164. “Let him, when angry, not raise a stick against another man, nor strike (anybody) except a son or a pupil; those two he may beat in order to correct them.” “In sight of Brahma (God)……There is no purifier like thereto In all this world, and he who seeketh it Shall find it- being grown perfect- in himself,” through the correction of Brahma.
(Hindu, Laws of Manu and Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) chapter 4)
BUDDHISM: “Teaching is not the mere play of blind chance, but has an existence that is dependent upon conditions; and that, precisely with the removal of these conditions, those things that have arisen in dependence upon them-thus…… perforce disappear and cease to be.” “Let one (as with Brahma) admonish; let one teach; let one forbid the wrong; and one will be loved by the good and hated by the bad.”
(The Eightfold Path and Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))
SABEANISM: “Great First Word, (Haiyi, God) which assured me sight in mine eyes, pour wisdom into my heart! Open the eyes of my understanding!” “The good will see and will be found ready, (But) The wicked will be discomfited, chastised by Manda-d-Hiia (Savior God, Knowledge of Life).” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 76 and 171)
BABI RELIGION: “The Báb revealed His Bayan, proclaimed a new code of religious law, and by precept and example instituted a profound moral and spiritual reform.” “Live a moral life,” “the acquisition of moral qualities and the exercise of spiritual influence’ through human perfections, through qualities that are excellent and pleasing, and spiritual behavior,” “abound throughout his writings.” (Peter Smith, The Babi & Baha’i Religions, pp. 79, 83 and 87) “God, the All-Merciful, desiring not to afflict you with His punishment, has willed to reveal to your eyes the Truth. By His Divine interposition, He has instilled into your heart the love of His chosen One, and caused you to recognize the unconquerable power of His Faith.”
The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 247)
BAHA’I FAITH: “The baby, like unto a green and tender branch, will grow according to the way it is trained. If the training be right, it will grow right, and if crooked, the growth likewise, and unto the end of life it will conduct itself accordingly.” “If He (God) chastise me, He verily is to be praised for what He doeth; and if He forgive me, His behest shall be obeyed.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith, p. 399 and Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 110)
Baha’i Faith: “God — does not only punish the wrongdoings of His children. He (also) chastises (them), because He is just, and He chastens (them) because He loves (them). Having chastened them, He cannot, in His great mercy, leave them to their fate. Indeed, by the very act of (His) chastening them He prepares them for the mission for which He has created them. ‘My calamity is My providence,’ He, by the mouth of Bahá’u’lláh, has assured them, ‘outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.”’ So, God, by the very act of chastising and correcting His children, is turning that which appears to be evil into something that is good for us in the long run.
(Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 115)
c. God uses the world to cause sleep to come over the eyes of some men possibly due to actions they have performed in this life; to separate out the good people from the bad people: Christianity: Luke 10:21 “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 2 Corinthians 4:3 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Romans 9:8 “They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:” Romans 11:8 “According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.” Judaism: Deuteronomy 28:28 “The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:” 28:29 “And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.” Isaiah 44:18 “They have not known nor understood: for He hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.”
ISLAM: 6. “As to those who reject Faith, it is the same to them whether thou warn them or do not warn them; they will not believe.” 7. “Allah (God) hath set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and on their eyes is a veil; great is the penalty they (incur).”10. “In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease, and grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to themselves).”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2)
Islam: 26. “Allah disdains not, (likes) to use the similitude (allegories) of things, lowest as well as highest. Those who believe know that (this) is truth from their Lord; but to those who reject His Faith say: ‘What means Allah by this similitude?’ By it He causes many to stray, and many He leads into the right path, but He causes not to stray, except those who forsake (the path).” Allah uses similitudes and allegories to prove us, and separate out His good believers from the chafe that is encumbered with attachment to this world and blind to His spiritual nature and essence.
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2)
Islam: 49. “Now, when trouble touches man, he cries to Us; but when We bestow a favor upon him as from Ourselves, he says, ‘This has been given to me because of a certain knowledge (I have)!’ Nay, but this is but a trial, but most of them understand not!”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 39)
ZOROASTRIANISM: 13. “Since Grehma shall attain the realm in the dwelling of the Worst Thought, he and the destroyers of life, O Mazda (God), they shall lament in their longing for the message of Thy prophet, who will stay them from beholding the Right.”
(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 32)
HINDUISM: 6 “The man who sits, the man who walks, and whosoever looks on us, Of these we closely shut the eyes, even as we closely shut this house.”
(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 7)
BUDDHISM: 24. “What is fearsome they fear not. Embracing false views as much Those beings go to a woeful realm.” 22. “They think there is harm where there is none, And they do not see where harm exists. Embracing false views as such, Those beings go to a woeful realm.” (they are) “Ensnared in the fetter of views,” Their eyes have been closed.
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3 and The Eightfold Path)
SABEANISM: “Cut me not off from Your presence,” and hide not your instruction from us Great Life (God). (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 410)
BABI RELIGION: “Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except Thine Own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou wouldst test him with the benefits of this world and of the next that he might become preoccupied therewith and forget Thy remembrance.”
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 191)
BAHA’I FAITH: “God, however, hath veiled your hearts and obscured your eyes, lest ye should apprehend His mysteries and be made aware of their meaning.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 205)
Baha’i Faith: “Some, O my God, Thou didst, through Thy strengthening grace, enable to approach it, while others Thou didst keep back by reason of what their hands have wrought in Thy days.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, p. 76)
d. God sometimes sends tests and tribulations our way, in order, to separate out the good servants from the bad corruptible people: Judaism: Deuteronomy 29:21 “And The LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel,” 2 Kings 14:17 “For as an angel of God, so….. to discern good and bad: therefore The LORD thy God will be with thee.” 3 Kings 8:53 “For Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth,” Proverbs 12:2 “A good man obtaineth favour of The LORD: but a man of wicked devices will He condemn.” Proverbs 12:3 “A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.” Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of The LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Christianity: 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:11 “Knowing therefore the terror of The Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God.” Matthew 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:” 13:48 “Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” Matthew 13:49 “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,”
ISLAM: 179. “Allah (God) will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good. Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. But He chooses of His Messengers (for the purpose) whom He pleases. So believe in Allah and His Messengers: and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure.” We will find glory with Allah in heaven.
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 3)
Islam: 155. “This is no more than Thy trial: by it Thou causest whom Thou wilt to stray, and Thou leadest whom Thou wilt into the right path. Thou art our protector: so forgive us and give us Thy mercy; for Thou art the best of those who forgive.”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 7)
Islam: 37. “In order that Allah may separate the impure from the pure, put the impure, one on another, heap them together, and cast them into hell. They will be the ones to have lost.” 7. “That which is on earth We have made but as a glittering show for the earth, in order that We may test them — as to which of them are best in conduct.”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 8 and 18)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “I present all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and with rejection I repudiate all evil thoughts, and words, and deeds.” “Even He, Ahura Mazda (God), Who through His Dominion appoints what is better than good to him that is attached to His will, but what is worse than evil to him that obeys Him not.” “May that happen to you (likewise) which is better than the good, and may that not happen which is worse than the evil, and may that likewise not be my lot.”
(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna, chapters 11, 51 and 59)
HINDUISM: 25. “Austerity, speech, pleasure, desire, and anger, this whole creation He likewise produced, as He desired to call these beings into existence.” 26. “Moreover, in order to distinguish actions, He separated merit from demerit, and He caused the creatures to be affected by the pairs (of opposites), such as pain and pleasure.”
(Hindu, Laws of Manu, chapter 1)
BUDDHISM: “The undesired, separated from the desired.” “Truly, pleasing is He to the good, Displeasing is He to the bad.”
(The Eightfold Path), Buddha and Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 3)
BABI RELIGION: “Some regarded Tahirih as the sole judge in such matters and the only person qualified to claim implicit obedience from the faithful. Others who denounced her behaviour held to Quddus, whom they regarded as the sole representative of the Báb, the only one who had the right to pronounce upon such weighty matters. Still others who recognized the authority of both Tahirih and Quddus viewed the whole episode as a God-sent test designed to separate the true from the false and distinguish the faithful from the disloyal.”
The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 296)
BAHA’I FAITH: “Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God‘s holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 48)
Baha’i Faith: “Know, moreover, that it is through such words that God proveth His servants and sifteth them, separating the believer from the infidel, the detached from the worldly, the pious from the profligate, the doer of good from the worker of iniquity, and so forth. Thus hath the Dove of holiness proclaimed: ‘Do men think when they say ‘We believe’ they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?”’
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries)
Baha’i Faith: “He doth whatsoever He chooseth. Had the world been of any worth in His sight, He surely would never have allowed His enemies to possess it, even to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. He hath, however, caused you to be entangled with its affairs, in return for what your hands have wrought in His Cause.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 209)
e. God also sends tests our way, as I said earlier, to help us grow spiritually so we will be prepared for our new life in heaven: Judaism: Psalms 17:3 “Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me.” 16:10 “For thou wilt not leave my soul. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Christianity: 1 Thessalonians 168. “We have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: in order that they might turn (to us)” 1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, where-unto thou art also called.”
ISLAM: Letter 55. “You must know and understand that Allah (God) has made this world a place where one is to stay only to provide for a happy life for himself in the Hereafter by his deeds. People are put to test here so that they may be rewarded according to their merits. Our life does not end here and we are not created only for this world. Nor are we ordered to concentrate our energies only to acquire pleasures, power and pomp here. We are brought here simply to be tested in accordance to our knowledge, intentions and activities.”
(Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)
Islam: 179. “Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which ye are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good. Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. But He chooses of His Messengers (for the purpose) whom He pleases. So believe in Allah and His Messengers: and if ye believe and do right, ye have a reward without measure.” We will find glory and everything we need, with our Lord, in the hereafter.
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali TR), Surah 3)
Islam: 2. “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, ‘We believe,’ and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” 168. “We broke them up into sections on this earth. There are among them some that are the righteous, and some that are the opposite. We have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: in order that they might turn (to us)” 214. “Or do ye think that ye shall enter the Garden (of Bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you?”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surahs 2, 7 and 29)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “An aspirant has to acquire the strength to pass through all trials. The greater the difficulty, the greater is the gain when one overcomes it.” “A staunch devotee welcomes troubles as it makes his spirit stronger.” “Grant that reward which Thou hast appointed to our souls, O Ahura Mazda (God)!” 2. “Of this do Thou Thyself bestow upon us for this world and the spiritual; and now as part thereof (do Thou grant) that we may attain to fellowship with Thee, and Thy Righteousness for all duration.”
(ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan pp. 362, 364 and The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments) (Edwin Arnold tr) chapters 4, 8, 9 and 15)
HINDUISM: “In man…. the self develops gradually.” “(Hardships etc……) There is no purifier like thereto In all this world.” “When the righteous strive and struggle, Gods assist the true and brave!” “Have Me, then, in thy heart always! and fight! Thou too, when heart and mind are fixed on Me, Shalt surely come to Me!” “Holy souls see Which strive thereto. Enlightened, they perceive That Spirit in themselves.” “knowing Me the Source, The Eternal Source, of Life (Unending).”
(Hindu, Upanishads vol. 1, Aitareya-Aranyaka Part 2) Hindu, Bhagavad Gita
BUDDHISM: “Your life is coming to an end; you are in the presence of death. There is no rest stop on the way, and you have made no provision for your journey.” “Your body as no better than an earthen pot.” “Before long this body will be lying on the ground, discarded and unconscious, like a useless bit of wood.” “Just as one can make a lot of garlands from a heap of flowers, so man, subject to birth and death as he is, should make himself a lot of good karma.” “Make yourself an island work hard, be wise; when your impurities are purged and you are free from guilt, you will not again enter into birth and old age.” “As a smith removes the impurities from silver, so let the wise (Brahma, God) remove the impurities (through tests) from oneself one by one, little by little, again and again.” “The purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms, honor, or fame. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that, verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is its goal.” “Cleansed of your faults and now without blemish, you will go to the heavenly land.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards))
SABEANISM: Thou hast proven thyself by thy sojourn on earth And thy destiny leapt upward from its struggles, From its struggles thy destiny leapt upward.” Over coming these difficult struggles of this life “perfecteth our souls,” and we are prepared for our new life in the next world. (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 35 and 92)
BAHA’I FAITH: “O friend! Verily the prison is my paradise and the chains my necklace; my balance is my redemption and the castle is my fortified safety, for this imprisonment is in the path of my Lord and it is my salvation, my joy, my gratitude and happiness. Verily, in calamity the face of Abdul-Baha shineth and through hardship joy is attained by this servant in all conditions.” “O thou friend!” “the calamities and afflictions of Abdul-Baha: These are not calamities, but bounties; they are not afflictions, but gifts; not hardships, but tranquillity; not trouble, but mercy — and we thank God for this great favor.” “It seems to me a real Truth seeker would know at a glance that He is the Master! Withal, I must say He is the Most Wonderful Being I have ever met or ever expect to meet in this world. Though He does not seek to impress one at all, strength, power, purity, love and holiness are radiated from His majestic, yet humble, personality, and the spiritual atmosphere which surrounds Him, and most powerfully affects all those who, are blessed by being near Him, is indescribable.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 128 and v2, p. 333) and The Babi and Baha’i Religions, p. 316)
Baha’i Faith: “No matter how man may advance upon the physical and intellectual plane, he is ever in need of the boundless virtues of Divinity, the protection of the Holy Spirit and the face of God.” “In this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here.” “Tests lead to the development of holy souls:” “How could the disciples…. attain to any spiritual development if they did not undergo trials and tests!”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 225, 289 and Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v2, pp. 277 and 297)
f. If we put our reliance in God He will help us make it through the hardships and we will grow even stronger and become more spiritual in the process: Judaism: Isaiah 48:10 “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” 1 Chronicles 29:17 “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart,” Job 23:10 “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Psalms 34:19 “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but The LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Psalms 66:10 “For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.” Proverbs 17:3 “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but The LORD trieth the hearts.” Zechariah 13:9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” Malachi 3:2 “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:” Malachi 3:3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto The LORD an offering in righteousness.” Hosea 6:5 “Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.” Hosea 6:6 “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
BAHA’I FAITH: “We learn that even though God does test us He will not send us difficulties beyond our endurance: Our Heavenly Father will always give us the strength to meet and overcome tests if we turn with all our hearts to Him, and difficulties if they are met in the right spirit only make us rely on God more firmly and completely.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 417)
CHRISTIANITY: 1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” God will not tempt us or test us above our capacity and endurance, we are told this in the Bahá’í writings and we are told this in the Holy Bible. Judaism: Lamentations 3:32 “But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.” Lamentations 3:33 For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.” Psalms 7:9 “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts.”
BAHA’I FAITH: “Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of complete detachment.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 178)
CHRISTIANITY: 2 Thessalonians 4:30 “When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to The LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice;” 2 Thessalonians 4:31 “For The LORD thy God is a merciful God; He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware unto them.” As I said earlier, God tests us but it is not His desire to destroy us, we do that on our own with our own actions. Not all tests come to us from God some tests we bring on ourselves through our own behavior in this life. Say, you become angry and hit someone, is it God’s fault when the police come and arrest you. Tests are like a bounty from God, but to the unprepared soul they are calamity and pain itself. John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Acts 14:22 “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4 “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” It is God’s desire that we be comforted in our hardship, but that is not to say by the comforts of this world. God wants us to use these trials we pass through to become more reliant on Him so that we can come closer to Him.
BAHA’I FAITH: “To him, the calamities were favors, the tribulations were Divine Providence, the chastisement abounding grace; for he was enduring all this on the pathway of God, and seeking to win His good pleasure.” “O army of God! When calamity striketh, be ye patient and composed. However afflictive your sufferings may be, stay ye undisturbed, and with perfect confidence in the abounding grace of God, brave ye the tempest of tribulations and fiery ordeals.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 96 and Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 73)
ISLAM: 233. “No soul shall have a burden laid on it greater than it can bear.”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2)
Islam: 152. “No burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear;”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 6)
Islam: 42. “But those who believe and work righteousness, no burden do We place on any soul, but that which it can bear, they will be companions of the garden, therein to dwell (for ever).”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 7)
ZOROASTRIANISM: “He is the greatest Lord, powerful and wise, creator, nourisher, protector, compassionate, virtuous, forgiver, pure, a good dispenser of justice and all powerful.” The One who protects us from too much difficulty and hardship.
(The Zend-Avesta, Khorda Avesta – Book of Common Prayer pt. 1)
Zoroastrianism: “Duty does not exceed one’s ability. None will be held responsible” for what one is not capable of.
(ZOROASTER, Hymns of Atharvan p. 153)
HINDUISM: 158. “Until death let her be patient (of hardships), self-controlled, and chaste, and strive (to fulfill) that most excellent duty which (is prescribed).” Be patient in hardships, “Let him overcome,” the self.
(Hindu, Laws of Manu chapter 5)
Hinduism: 22. “All the creatures of the Creator severally carry breath (the breath of spiritual life) in their souls. All these the Brahma (God), protects.” That we may endure and overcome our own hardship.
(Hindu, Vedas, Atharva Veda)
BUDDHISM: “As a smith removes the impurities from silver, so let the wise (Brahma, God) remove the impurities (through tests) from oneself one by one, little by little, again and again.” “The purpose of the Holy Life does not consist in acquiring alms, honor, or fame. That unshakable deliverance of the heart: that, verily, is the object of the Holy Life, that is its essence, that is its goal.” “Cleansed of your faults and now without blemish.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards))
SABEANISM: “Ye will go forth: ye will behold the Perfecter of Souls, One who setteth on paths…. are made perfect,” “In the name of The Life (God)! Go in peace, chosen, pure and guiltless one; Thou art without spot. Thou hast proven thyself by (thy sojourn on) earth And thy destiny leapt upward from its struggles From its struggles thy destiny leapt upward. Above all the world thou hast spoken. Chosen and pure one (saying), ‘I am a seer, a diviner;’ “May Kulla strengthen you! In the name of The Great Life (God) may healing and purity be thine!” “The name of the great Mystery, the mystic Word, is pronounced upon thee.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapters 76, 92, 104 and 173)
BABI RELIGION: “THOU knowest full well, O my God, that tribulations have showered upon me from all directions and that no one can dispel or transmute them except Thee. I know of a certainty, by virtue of my love for Thee, that Thou wilt never cause tribulations to befall any soul unless Thou desirest to exalt his station in Thy celestial Paradise and to buttress his heart in this earthly life with the bulwark of Thine all-compelling power, that it may not become inclined toward the vanities of this world. Indeed Thou art well aware that under all conditions I would cherish the remembrance of Thee far more than the ownership of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.”
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 214)
Babi Religion: “I pray to God graciously to assist you to weather the storms of tests and trials which must needs beset you, to enable you to emerge, unscathed and triumphant, from their midst, and to lead you to your high destiny.”
The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 42)
BAHA’I FAITH: “Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and such of His servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His commandment. Such is God‘s method carried into effect of old, and such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring, they that are patient under ills and hardships, who lament not over anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of resignation….”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 129)
Baha’i Faith: “We learn that even though God does test us He will not send us difficulties beyond our endurance: Our Heavenly Father will always give us the strength to meet and overcome tests if we turn with all our hearts to Him, and difficulties if they are met in the right spirit only make us rely on God more firmly and completely.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 417)
Baha’i Faith: “God, does not only punish the wrongdoings of His children. He chastises because He is just, and He chastens because He loves. Having chastened them, He cannot, in His great mercy, leave them to their fate. Indeed, by the very act of chastening them He prepares them for the mission for which He has created them. ‘My calamity is My providence,’ He, by the mouth of Bahá’u’lláh, has assured them, ‘outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.’”
(Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 115)