There is so much said in this short passage! It is from the Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah, in which the Voice of God speaks directly to each one of us.  The first thing to note is the addressee- “O Emigrants!”.  The implication is that we are like immigrants- travelers in this world but not from here- like spiritual beings living in a material world.  The first line then says that our speech, our “tongue”, has been “designed” for the mention of God- the most sublime expression of human language- and not for “detraction”, which means  a “fault” that someone else may have. The implication is that we “defile” our speech by engaging in fault-finding or backbiting.

Baha’u’llah then reminds us that we compare our inner selves to other people’s outer selves, and since we do not know their inner selves like we know our own, we judge from a position of ignorance. We are reminded to look at our own faults and work to improve them and not judge others. The passage is reminiscent of Christ’s words in the Gospel, from Matthew 7:1-5.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Beautiful stuff!