Note 144

144. It is inadmissible that man, who hath been endowed with reason, should consume that which stealeth it away. # 119

There are many references in the &Baha'i Writings which +P227 prohibit the use of wine and other intoxicating drinks and which describe the deleterious effect of such intoxicants on the individual. In one of His Tablets, &Baha'u'llah states:

Beware lest ye exchange the Wine of God for your own wine, for it will stupefy your minds, and turn your faces away from the Countenance of God, the All-Glorious, the Peerless, the Inaccessible. Approach it not, for it hath been forbidden unto you by the behest of God, the Exalted, the Almighty. &Abdu'l-Baha explains that the Aqdas prohibits "both light and strong drinks", and He states that the reason for prohibiting the use of alcoholic drinks is because "alcohol leadeth the mind astray and causeth the weakening of the body".

Shoghi Effendi, in letters written on his behalf, states that this prohibition includes not only the consumption of wine but of "everything that deranges the mind", and he clarifies that the use of alcohol is permitted only when it constitutes part of a medical treatment which is implemented "under the advice of a competent and conscientious physician, who may have to prescribe it for the cure of some special ailment".

145. turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient

Root # 121 &Baha'u'llah here alludes to &Abdu'l-Baha as His Successor and calls upon the believers to turn towards Him. In the Book of the Covenant, His Will and Testament, &Baha'u'llah discloses the intention of this verse. He states: "The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch." The "Most Mighty Branch" is one of the titles conferred by &Baha'u'llah on &Abdu'l-Baha. (See also notes 66 and 184.)