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Title: Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era
Author: Esslemont, J. E. (John Ebenezer), 1874-1925
Language: English
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Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era
by J.E. Esslemont
Edition 1, (September 2006)
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CONTENTS
Baha’i Terms of Use
Preface to 1937 Edition
Preface to 1950 Edition
Preface to 1970 Edition
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Glad Tidings
The Greatest Event in History
The Changing World
The Sun of Righteousness
The Mission of Bahá’u’lláh
Fulfillment of Prophecies
Proofs of Prophethood
Difficulties of Investigation
Aim of Book
Chapter 2: The Báb: The Forerunner
Birthplace of the New Revelation
Early Life
Declaration
Spread of the Bábí Movement
Claims of the Báb
Persecution Increases
Martyrdom of the Báb
Tomb on Mount Carmel
Writings of Báb
He Whom God Shall Make Manifest
Resurrection, Paradise, and Hell
Social and Ethical Teachings
Passion and Triumph
Chapter 3: Bahá’u’lláh: The Glory of God
Birth and Early Life
Imprisoned as Bábí
Exile to Baghdád
Two Years in the Wilderness
Opposition of Mullás
Declaration at Ridván near Baghdád
Constantinople and Adrianople
Letters to Kings
Imprisonment in Akká
Restrictions Relaxed
Prison Gates Opened
Life at Bahjí
Ascension
Prophethood of Bahá’u’lláh
His Mission
His Writings
The Bahá’í Spirit
Chapter 4: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Servant of Bahá
Birth and Childhood
Youth
Marriage
Center of the Covenant
Strict Imprisonment Renewed
Turkish Commissions of Investigation
Western Tours
Return to Holy Land
War Time at Haifa
Sir ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbás, K.B.E.
Last Years
The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Writings and Addresses
Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Exemplar of Bahá’í Life
Chapter 5: What is a Bahá’í
Living the Life
Devotion to God
Search After Truth
Love of God
Severance
Obedience
Service
Teaching
Courtesy and Reverence
The Sin-covering Eye
Humility
Truthfulness and Honesty
Self-Realization
Chapter 6: Prayer
Conversation with God
The Devotional Attitude
Necessity for a Mediator
Prayer Indispensable and Obligatory
Congregational Prayer
Prayer the Language of Love
Deliverance from Calamities
Prayer and Natural Law
Bahá’í Prayers
Chapter 7: Health and Healing
Body and Soul
Oneness of All Life
Simple Life
Alcohol and Narcotics
Enjoyments
Cleanliness
Effect of Obedience to Prophetic Commands
The Prophet as Physician
Healing by Nonmaterial Means
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Attitude of the Patient
The Healer
How All Can Help
The Golden Age
Right Use of Health
Chapter 8: Religious Unity
Sectarianism in the Nineteenth Century
The Message of Bahá’u’lláh
Can Human Nature Change?
First Steps Toward Unity
The Problem of Authority
Progressive Revelation
Infallibility of the Prophets
The Supreme Manifestation
A New Situation
Fullness of the Bahá’í Revelation
The Bahá’í Covenant
No Professional Priesthood
Chapter 9: True Civilization
Religion the Basis of Civilization
Justice
Government
Political Freedom
Rulers and Subjects
Appointment and Promotion
Economic Problems
Public Finance
Voluntary Sharing
Work for All
The Ethics of Wealth
No Industrial Slavery
Bequest and Inheritance
Equality of Men and Women
Women and the New Age
Methods of Violence Discarded
Education
Innate Differences of Nature
Character Training
Arts, Sciences, and Crafts
Treatment of Criminals
Influence of the Press
Chapter 10: The Way to Peace
Conflict versus Concord
The Most Great Peace
Religious Prejudices
Racial and Patriotic Prejudices
Territorial Ambitions
Universal Language
Universal League of Nations
International Arbitration
Limitation of Armaments
Nonresistence
Righteous Warfare
Unity of East and West
Chapter 11: Various Ordinances and Teachings
Monastic Life
Marriage
Divorce
The Bahá’í Calendar
Spiritual Assemblies
Bahá’í Feasts, Anniversaries, and Days of Fasting
Feasts
Fast
Meetings
The Nineteen Day Feast
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
Life After Death
Heaven and Hell
Oneness of the Two Worlds
The Nonexistence of Evil
Chapter 12: Religion and Science
Conflict Due to Error
Persecution of Prophets
The Dawn of Reconciliation
The Agnosticism
Knowledge of God
The Divine Manifestations
Creation
The Evolution of Man
Body and Soul
Unity of Mankind
The Era of Unity
Chapter 13: Prophecies Fulfilled by the Bahá’í Movement
Interpretation of Prophecy
The Coming of the Lord
Prophecies about Christ
Prophecies about the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh
The Glory of God
The Branch
The Day of God
The Day of Judgment
The Great Resurrection
Return of Christ
The Time of the End
Signs in Heaven and Earth
Manner of Coming
Chapter 14: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Creative Power of God’s Word
Napoleon III
America
The Great War
Social Troubles After the War
Coming of the Kingdom of God
Akká and Haifa
Chapter 15: Retrospect and Prospect
Progress of the Cause
Prophethood of Báb and Bahá’u’lláh
A Glorious Prospect
Renewal of Religion
Need for New Revelation
The Last Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
The Guardian of the Cause of God
Hands of the Cause of God
The Administrative Order
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
Epilogue
PREFACE TO 1937 EDITION
With the publication of “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” more than ten years
ago, the Bahá’í Faith was given its first well-conceived, thorough
exposition by a student of the teachings. Recognizing its value as the
most satisfactory introduction to the Cause, Bahá’ís in both East and West
have found Dr. Esslemont’s book so helpful that it has been translated
into some thirty different languages.
As Dr. Esslemont himself recognized, the Faith entered a new phase of its
history after the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The result is that the
author’s views, some of them written prior to 1921, no longer, on certain
aspects of the subject, correspond to the evolutionary character of the
Faith. His treatment of events and social conditions then existing,
moreover, no longer appears fully relevant. Unavoidably, a few errors of
fact had entered his text, while his explanation of the stations of the
Báb and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have been replaced in the minds of Bahá’ís by the
authoritative interpretations since made by the first Guardian of the
Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
The present edition therefore represents a revision made by the American
National Spiritual Assembly, acting under the advice and approval of
Shoghi Effendi.
These revisions in no respect alter the original plan of Dr. Esslemont’s
book, nor affect the major portion of his text. Their purpose has been to
amplify the author’s discussion in a few passages by the addition of
material representing the fuller knowledge available since his lamented
death, and newer translations of his quotations from Bahá’í Sacred
Writings.
Bahá’í Publishing Committee
January 1937
PREFACE TO 1950 EDITION
With this edition the American Bahá’í Publishing Committee takes over
copyright and other interests in “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” from
Messrs. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., of London, England, through whom the
late Dr. J. E. Esslemont published his famous book more than twenty years
ago. Under arrangement with the British publishers, the Committee has
since 1928 brought out eleven printings, in addition to the first American
edition imported by Brentano’s of New York.
This edition does not displace the text as it has appeared since major
revision was made in the book under the direction of the Guardian of the
Faith in 1937, as the time has not come for anything like a thorough
recasting of the book to make its references to world conditions
completely contemporaneous. Dr. Esslemont’s work endures as a trustworthy
introduction to the history and teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. Its
translation into some thirty different languages attests its appeal to
students in the East as well as the West.
It should be added that any further revision of the text in the future is
subject to approval by Shoghi Effendi. The Committee has no authority to
pass upon revisions which may be desired by Bahá’ís of other countries for
their particular need.
Bahá’í Publishing Committee
December 1950
PREFACE TO 1970 EDITION
Since 1937 no revision has been made to the text of Dr. Esslemont’s book,
although in 1950 some minor corrections were introduced. On the other
hand, the diffusion and development of the Bahá’í Faith since that time
have been tremendous, and there has been added to Bahá’í bibliography a
rich legacy of incomparable expositions, translations and historical
accounts from the pen of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith and the
appointed interpreter of its Sacred Writings.
It has therefore been deemed necessary to bring the book up to date in
order to maintain its usefulness for modern readers. This has been done
with a minimum of alteration to the text, and chiefly by the use of
footnotes and of an epilogue giving the current statistics and new
developments in the organic unfoldment of the Bahá’í Faith.
Dr. Esslemont’s book continues to be one of the most widely used
introductory books on the Bahá’í Faith, as evidenced by the fact that
since 1937 the number of its translations has increased from thirty to
fifty-eight.
Bahá’í Publishing Trust
INTRODUCTION
In December 1914, through a conversation with friends who had met
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the loan of a few pamphlets, I first became acquainted
with the Bahá’í teachings. I was at once struck by their
comprehensiveness, power and beauty. They impressed me as meeting the
great needs of the modern world more fully and satisfactorily than any
other presentation of religion which I had come across—an impression which
subsequent study has only served to deepen and confirm.
In seeking for fuller knowledge about the movement I found considerable
difficulty in obtaining the literature I wanted, and soon conceived the
idea of putting together the gist of what I learned in the form of a book,
so that it might be more easily available for others. When communication
with Palestine was reopened after the war, I wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
enclosed a copy of the first nine chapters of the book, which was then
almost complete in rough draft. I received a very kind and encouraging
reply, and a cordial invitation to visit Him in Haifa and bring the whole
of my manuscript with me. The invitation was gladly accepted, and I had
the great privilege of spending two and a half months as the guest of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá during the winter of 1919–1920. During this visit
‘Abdu’l-Bahá discussed the book with me on various occasions. He gave
several valuable suggestions for its improvement and proposed that, when I
had revised the manuscript, He would have the whole of it translated into
Persian so that He could read it through and amend or correct it where
necessary. The revisal and translation were carried out as suggested, and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá found time, amid His busy life, to correct some three and a
half chapters (Chapters I, II, V and part of III) before He passed away.
It is a matter of profound regret to me that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not able to
complete the correction of the manuscript, as the value of the book would
thereby have been greatly enhanced. The whole of the manuscript has been
carefully revised, however, by a committee of the National Bahá’í Assembly
of England, and its publication approved by that Assembly.
I am greatly indebted to Miss E. J. Rosenberg, Mrs. Claudia S. Coles,
Mírzá Lutfu’lláh S. Hakím, Messrs. Roy Wilhelm and Mountfort Mills and
many other kind friends for valuable help in the preparation of the work.
As regards the transliteration of Arabic and Persian names and words, the
system adopted in this book is that recently recommended by Shoghi Effendi
for use throughout the Bahá’í World.
J. E. ESSLEMONT
Fairford, Cults,
By Aberdeen.
CHAPTER 1: THE GLAD TIDINGS
The Promised One of all the peoples of the world hath appeared.
All peoples and communities have been expecting a Revelation, and
He, Bahá’u’lláh, is the foremost teacher and educator of all
mankind.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
The Greatest Event in History
If we study the story of the “ascent of man” as recorded in the pages of
history, it becomes evident that the leading factor in human progress is
the advent, from time to time, of men who pass beyond the accepted ideas
of their day and become the discoverers and revealers of truths hitherto
unknown among mankind. The inventor, the pioneer, the genius, the
Prophet—these are the men on whom the transformation of world primarily
depends. As Carlyle says:—
The plain truth, very plain, we think is, that ... _one_ man that
has a higher Wisdom, a hitherto unknown spiritual Truth in him, is
stronger, not than ten men that have it not, or than ten thousand,
but than _all_ men that have it not; and stands among them with a
quite ethereal, angelic power, as with a sword out of Heaven’s own
armory, sky-tempered, which no buckler, and no tower of brass,
will finally withstand.
—Signs of the Times
In the history of science, of art, of music, we see abundant illustrations
of this truth, but in no domain is the supreme importance of the great man
and his message more clearly evident than in that of religion. All down
the ages, whenever the spiritual life of men has become degenerate and
their morals corrupt, that most wonderful and mysterious of men, the
Prophet, makes His appearance. Alone against the world, without a single
human being capable of teaching, of guiding, of fully understanding Him,
or of sharing His responsibility, He arises, like a seer among blind men,
to proclaim His gospel of righteousness and truth.
Amongst the Prophets some stand out with special preeminence. Every few
centuries a great Divine Revealer—a Krishna, a Zoroaster, a Moses, a
Jesus, a Muḥammad—appears in the East, like a spiritual Sun, to illumine
the darkened minds of men and awaken their dormant souls. Whatever our
views as to the relative greatness of these religion-founders we must
admit that They have been the most potent factors in the education of
mankind. With one accord these Prophets declare that the words They utter
are not from Themselves, but are a Revelation through Them, a Divine
message of which They are the bearers. Their recorded utterances abound,
too, in hints and promises of a great world teacher Who will appear “in
the fullness of time” to carry on Their work and bring it to fruition, One
Who will establish a reign of peace and justice upon earth, and bring into
one family all races, religions, nations, and tribes, that “there may be
one fold and one shepherd” and that all may know and love God “from the
least even unto the greatest.”
Surely the advent of this “Educator of Mankind,” in the latter days, when
He appears, must be the greatest event in human history. _And the Bahá’í
Movement is proclaiming to the world the glad tidings that this Educator
has in fact appeared, that His Revelation has been delivered and recorded
and may be studied by every earnest seeker, that the “Day of the Lord” has
already dawned and the “Sun or Righteousness” arisen._ As yet only a few
on the mountaintops have caught sight of the Glorious Orb, but already its
rays are illumining heaven and earth, and erelong it will rise above the
mountains and shine with full strength on the plains and valleys too,
giving life and guidance to all.
The Changing World
That the world, during the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth
centuries,(1) has been passing through the death pangs of an old era and
the birth pangs of a new, is evident to all. The old principles of
materialism and self-interest, the old sectarian and patriotic prejudices
and animosities, are perishing, discredited, amidst the ruins they have
wrought, and in all lands we see signs of a new spirit of faith, of
brotherhood, of internationalism, that is bursting the old bonds and
overrunning the old boundaries. Revolutionary changes of unprecedented
magnitude have been occurring in every department of human life. The old
era is not yet dead. It is engaged in a life and death struggle with the
new. Evils there are in plenty, gigantic and formidable, but they are
being exposed, investigated, challenged and attacked with new vigor and
hope. Clouds there are in plenty, vast and threatening, but the light is
breaking through, and is illumining the path of progress and revealing the
obstacles and pitfalls that obstruct the onward way.
In the eighteenth century it was different. Then the spiritual and moral
gloom that enshrouded the world was relieved by hardly a ray of light. It
was like the darkest hour before the dawn, when the few lamps and candles
that remain alight do little more than make the darkness visible. Carlyle
in his Frederick the Great writes of the eighteenth century thus:—
A century which has no history and can have little or none. A
century so opulent in accumulated falsities ... as never century
before was! Which had no longer the consciousness of being false,
so false had it grown; and was so steeped in falsity, and
impregnated with it to the very bone, that—in fact the measure of
the thing was full, and a French Revolution had to end it.... A
very fit termination, as I thankfully feel, for such a century....
For there was need once more of a Divine Revelation to the torpid,
frivolous children of men, if they were not to sink altogether
into the ape condition.—Frederick the Great, Book I, Chap. I.
Compared with the eighteenth century the present time is as the dawn after
darkness, or as the spring after winter. The world is stirring with new
life, thrilling with new ideals and hopes. Things that but a few years ago
seemed impossible dreams are now accomplished facts. Others that seemed
centuries ahead of us have already become matters of “practical politics.”
We fly in the air and make voyages under the sea. We send messages around
the world with the speed of lightning. Within a few decades we have seen
miracles too numerous to mention.
The Sun of Righteousness
What is the cause of this sudden awakening throughout the world? Bahá’ís
believe that it is due to a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit through
the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh, Who was born in Persia in 1817 and passed away in
the Holy Land in 1892.
Bahá’u’lláh taught that the Prophet, or “Manifestation of God,” is the
Light-bringer of the spiritual world, as the sun is the light-bringer of
the natural world. Just as the material sun shines over the earth and
causes the growth and development of material organisms, so also, through
the Divine Manifestation, the Sun of Truth shines upon the world of heart
and soul, and educates the thoughts, morals and characters of men. And
just as the rays of the natural sun have an influence which penetrates
into the darkest and shadiest corners of the world, giving warmth and life
even to creatures that have never seen the sun itself, so also, the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the Manifestation of God influences
the lives of all, and inspires receptive minds even in places and among
peoples where the name of the Prophet is quite unknown. The advent of the
Manifestation is like the coming of the Spring. It is a day of
Resurrection in which the spiritually dead are raised to new life, in
which the Reality of the Divine Religions is renewed and reestablished, in
which appear “new heavens and a new earth.”
But, in the world of nature, the Spring brings about not only the growth
and awakening of new life but also the destruction and removal of the old
and effete; for the same sun, that makes the flowers to spring and the
trees to bud, causes also the decay and disintegration of what is dead and
useless; it loosens the ice and melts the snow of winter, and sets free
the flood and the storm that cleanse and purify the earth. So is it also
in the spiritual world. The spiritual sunshine causes similar commotion
and change. Thus the Day of Resurrection is also the Day of Judgment, in
which corruptions and imitations of the truth and outworn ideas and
customs are discarded and destroyed, in which the ice and snow of
prejudice and superstition, which accumulated during the season of winter,
are melted and transformed, and energies long frozen and pent up are
released to flood and renovate the world.
The Mission of Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh declared, plainly and repeatedly, that He was the
long-expected educator and teacher of all peoples, the channel of a
wondrous Grace that would transcend all previous outpourings, in which all
previous forms of religion would become merged, as rivers merge in the
ocean. He laid a foundation which affords a firm basis for Unity
throughout the whole world and the inauguration of that glorious age of
peace on earth, goodwill among men, of which prophets have told and poets
sung.
Search after truth, the oneness of mankind, unity of religions, of races,
of nations, of East and West, the reconciliation of religion and science,
the eradication of prejudices and superstitions, the equality of men and
women, the establishment of justice and righteousness, the setting up of a
supreme international tribunal, the unification of languages, the
compulsory diffusion of knowledge—these, and many other teachings like
these, were revealed by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh during the latter half of
the nineteenth century in innumerable books and epistles several of which
were addressed to the Kings and Rulers of the world.
His message, unique in its comprehensiveness and scope, is wonderfully in
accord with the signs and needs of the times. Never were the new problems
confronting men so gigantic and complex as now. Never were the proposed
solutions so numerous and conflicting. Never was the need of a great world
teacher so urgent or so widely felt. Never, perhaps, was the expectancy of
such a teacher so confident or so general.
Fulfillment of Prophecies
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—
When Christ appeared, twenty centuries ago, although the Jews were
eagerly awaiting His Coming, and prayed ever day, with tears,
saying: “O God, hasten the Revelation of the Messiah,” yet when
the Sun of Truth dawned, they denied Him and rose against Him with
the greatest enmity, and eventually crucified that divine Spirit,
the Word of God, and named Him Beelzebub, the evil one, as is
recorded in the Gospel. The reason for this was that they said:
“The Revelation of Christ, according to the clear text of the
Torah, will be attested by certain signs, and so long as these
signs have not appeared, whoso layeth claim to be a Messiah is an
impostor. Among these signs is this, that the Messiah should come
for an unknown place, yet we all know this man’s house in
Nazareth, and can any good thing come out of Nazareth? The second
sign is that He shall rule with a rod of iron, that is, He must
act with the sword, but this Messiah has not even a wooden staff.
Another of the conditions and signs is this: He must sit upon the
throne of David and establish David’s sovereignty. Now, far from
being enthroned, this man has not even a mat to sit on. Another of
the conditions is this: the promulgation of all the laws of the
Torah; yet this man has abrogated these laws, and has even broken
the sabbath day, although it is the clear text of the Torah that
whosoever layeth claim to prophethood and revealeth miracles and
breaketh the sabbath day, must be put to death. Another of the
signs is this, that in His reign justice will be so advanced that
righteousness and well-doing will extend from the human even to
the animal world—the snake and the mouse will share one hold, and
the eagle and the partridge one nest, the lion and the gazelle
shall dwell in one pasture, and the wolf and the kid shall drink
from one fountain. Yet now, injustice and tyranny have waxed so
great in his time that they have crucified him! Another of the
conditions is this, that in the days of the Messiah the Jews will
prosper and triumph over all the peoples of the world, but now
they are living in the utmost abasement and servitude in the
Empire of the Romans. Then how can this be the Messiah promised in
the Torah?
In this wise did they object to that Sun of Truth, although that
Spirit of God was indeed the One promised in the Torah. But as
they did not understand the meaning of these signs, they crucified
the Word of God. Now the Bahá’ís hold that the recorded signs did
come to pass in the Manifestation of Christ, although not in the
sense which the Jews understood, the description in the Torah
being allegorical. For instance, among the signs is that of
sovereignty. For Bahá’ís say that the sovereignty of Christ was a
heavenly, divine, everlasting sovereignty, not a Napoleonic
sovereignty that vanisheth in a short time. For well-nigh two
thousand years this sovereignty of Christ hath been established,
and until now it endureth, and to all eternity that Holy Being
will be exalted upon an ever-lasting throne.
In like manner all the other signs have been made manifest, but
the Jews did not understand. Although nearly twenty centuries have
elapsed since Christ appeared with divine splendor, yet the Jews
are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah and regard themselves
as true and Christ as false.—Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for this
chapter.
Had the Jews applied to Christ He would have explained to them the true
meaning of the prophecies concerning Himself. Let us profit by their
example, and before deciding that the prophecies concerning the
Manifestation of the Latter-Day Teacher have not been fulfilled, let us
turn to what Bahá’u’lláh Himself has written regarding their
interpretation, for many of the prophecies are admittedly “sealed”
sayings, and the True Educator Himself is the only One Who can break the
seals and show the real meaning contained in the casket of words.
Bahá’u’lláh has written much in explanation of the prophecies of old, but
it is not on these that He depends for proof of His Prophethood. The sun
is its own proof, to all that have the power of perception. When it rises
we need no ancient predictions to assure us of its shining. So with the
Manifestation of God when He appears. Were all the former prophecies swept
into oblivion, He would still be His own abundant and sufficient proof to
all whose spiritual sense are open.
Proofs of Prophethood
Bahá’u’lláh asked no one to accept His statements and His tokens blindly.
On the contrary, He put in the very forefront of His teachings emphatic
warnings against blind acceptance of authority, and urged all to open
their eyes and ears, and use their own judgement, independently and
fearlessly, in order to ascertain the truth. He enjoined the fullest
investigation and never concealed Himself, offering, as the supreme proofs
of His Prophethood, His words and works and their effects in transforming
the lives and characters of men. The tests He proposed are the same as
those laid down by His great predecessors. Moses said:—
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord
hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him.—Deut. xviii, 22.
Christ put His test just as plainly, and appealed to it in proof of His
own claim. He said:—
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.... Wherefore by their fruits ye shall
know them.—Matt. vii, 15–17, 20
In the chapters that follow, we shall endeavor to show whether
Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to Prophethood stands or falls by application of these
tests: whether the things that He had spoken have followed and come to
pass, and whether His fruits have been good or evil; in other words,
whether His prophecies are being fulfilled and His ordinances established,
and whether His lifework has contributed to the education and upliftment
of humanity and the betterment of morals, or the contrary.
Difficulties of Investigation
There are, of course, difficulties in the way of the student who seeks to
get at the truth about this Cause. Like all great moral and spiritual
reformations, the Bahá’í Faith has been grossly misrepresented. About the
terrible persecutions and sufferings of Bahá’u’lláh and His followers,
both friends and enemies are in entire agreement. About the value of the
Movement, however, and the character of its Founders, the statements of
the believers and the accounts of the deniers are utterly at variance. It
is just as in the time of Christ. Concerning the crucifixion of Jesus and
the persecution and martyrdom of His followers both Christian and Jewish
historians are in agreement, but whereas the believers say that Christ
fulfilled and developed the teachings of Moses and the prophets, the
deniers declare that He broke the laws and ordinances and was worthy of
death.
In religion, as in science, truth reveals her mysteries only to the humble
and reverent seeker, who is ready to lay aside every prejudice and
superstition—to sell all that he has, in order that he may buy the “one
pearl of great price.” To understand the Bahá’í Faith in its full
significance, we must undertake its study in the spirit of sincere and
selfless devotion to truth, persevering in the path of search and relying
on divine guidance. In the Writings of its Founders we shall find the
master key to the mysteries of this great spiritual awakening, and the
ultimate criterion of its value. Unfortunately, here again there are
difficulties in the way of the student who is unacquainted with the
Persian and Arabic languages in which the teachings are written. Only a
small proportion of the Writings has been translated into English, and
many of the translations which have appeared leave much to be desired,
both in accuracy and style. But despite the imperfection and inadequacy of
historical narratives and translations, the greatest essential truths
which form the massive and firm foundations of this Cause stand out like
mountains from the mists of uncertainty.(2)
Aim of Book
The endeavor in the following chapters will be to set forth, as far as
possible, fairly and without prejudice, the salient features of the
history and more especially of the teachings of the Bahá’í Cause, so that
readers may be enabled to form an intelligent judgment as to their
importance, and perhaps be induced to search into the subject more deeply
for themselves.
Search after truth, however, important though it be, is not the whole aim
and end of life. The truth is no dead thing, to be placed in a museum when
found—to be labeled, classified, catalogued, exhibited and left there, dry
and sterile. It is something vital which must take root in men’s hearts
and bear fruit in their lives ere they reap the full reward of their
search.
The real object, therefore, in spreading the knowledge of a prophetic
revelation is that those who become convinced of its truth may proceed to
practice its principles, to “lead the life” and diffuse the glad tidings,
thus hastening the advent of that blessed day when God’s Will shall be
done on earth as it is in Heaven.
CHAPTER 2: THE BÁB:(3) THE FORERUNNER
Verily the oppressor hath slain the Beloved of the worlds that he might
thereby quench the Light of God amidst His creatures and withhold mankind
from the Stream of Celestial Life in the days of his Lord, the Gracious,
the Bountiful.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Tablet to Ra’ís.
Birthplace of the New Revelation
Persia, the birthplace of the Bahá’í Revelation, has occupied a unique
place in the history of the world. In the days of her early greatness she
was a veritable queen among nations, unrivaled in civilization, in power
and in splendor. She gave to the world great kings and statesmen, prophets
and poets, philosophers and artists. Zoroaster, Cyrus and Darius, Háfiz
and Firdawsí, Sa’dí and ‘Umar _Kh_ayyam are but a few of her many famous
sons. Her craftsmen were unsurpassed in skill; her carpets were matchless,
her steel blades unequaled, her pottery world famous. In all parts of the
Near and Middle East she has left traces of her former greatness.
Yet, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries she had sunk to a
condition of deplorable degradation. Her ancient glory seemed
irretrievably lost. Her government was corrupt and in desperate financial
straits; some of her rulers were feeble, and other monsters of cruelty.
Her priests were bigoted and intolerant, her people ignorant and
superstitious. Most of them belonged to the _Sh_í’ih sect,(4) of
Muḥammadans, but there were also considerable numbers of Zoroastrians,
Jews and Christians, of diverse and antagonistic sects. All professed to
follow sublime teachers who exhorted them to worship the one God and to
live in love and unity, yet they shunned, detested and despised each
other, each sect regarding the others as unclean, as dogs or heathens.
Cursing and execration were indulged in to a fearful extent. It was
dangerous for a Jew or a Zoroastrian to walk in the street on a rainy day,
for if his wet garment should touch a Muḥammadan, the Muslim was defiled,
and the other might have to atone for the offense with his life. If a
Muḥammadan took money from a Jew, Zoroastrian or Christian he had to wash
it before he could put it in his pocket. If a Jew found his child giving a
glass of water to a poor Muḥammadan beggar he would dash the glass from
the child’s hand, for curses rather than kindness should be the portion of
infidels! The Muslims themselves were divided into numerous sects, among
whom strife was often bitter and fierce. The Zoroastrians did not join
much in these mutual recriminations, but lived in communities apart,
refusing to associate with their fellow countrymen of other faiths.
Social as well as religious affairs were in a state of hopeless decadence.
Education was neglected. Western science and art were looked upon as
unclean and contrary to religion. Justice was travestied. Pillage and
robbery were of common occurrence. Roads were bad and unsafe for travel.
Sanitary arrangements were shockingly defective.
Yet, notwithstanding all this, the light of spiritual life was not extinct
in Persia. Here and there, amid the prevailing worldliness and
superstition, could still be found some saintly souls, and in many a heart
the longing for God was cherished, as in the hearts of Anna and Simeon
before the appearance of Jesus. Many were eagerly awaiting the coming of a
promised Messenger of God, and confident that the time of His advent was
at hand. Such was the state of affairs in Persia when the Báb, the Herald
of a new era, set all the country in commotion with His message.
Early Life
Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e. Gate),
was born at _Sh_íráz, in the south of Persia, on the 20th of October 1819
A.D.(5) He was a Siyyid, that is, a descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad.
His father, a well-known merchant, died soon after His birth, and He was
then placed under the care of a maternal uncle, a merchant of _Sh_íráz,
who brought Him up. In childhood He learned to read, and received the
elementary education customary for children.(6) At the age of fifteen He
went into business, at first with His guardian, and afterward with another
uncle who lived at Bú_sh_ihr, on the shore of the Gulf of Persia.
As a youth He was noted for great personal beauty and charm of manner, and
also for exceptional piety, and nobility of character. He was unfailing in
His observance of the prayers, fasts and other ordinances of the
Muḥammadan religion, and not only obeyed the letter, but lived in the
spirit of the Prophet’s teachings. He married when about twenty-two years
of age. Of this marriage one son was born, who died while still an infant,
in the first year of the Báb’s public ministry.
Declaration
On reaching His twenty-fifth year, in response to divine command, He
declared that “God the Exalted had elected Him to the station of Bábhood.”
In “A Traveller’s Narrative”(7) we read that:—“What he intended by the
term Báb was this, that he was the channel of grace from some great Person
still behind the veil of glory, who was the possessor of countless and
boundless perfections, by whose will he moved, and to the bond of whose
love he clung.”—A Traveller’s Narrative (Episode of the Báb), p. 3.
In those days belief in the imminent appearance of a Divine Messenger was
especially prevalent among a sect known as the _Sh_ay_kh_ís, and it was to
a distinguished divine belonging to this sect, called Mullá Ḥusayn
Bu_sh_rú’i, that the Báb first announced His mission. The exact date of
this announcement is given in the Bayán, one of the Báb’s Writings, as two
hours and eleven minutes after sunset on the eve preceding the fifth day
of the month of Jamádiyu’l-Avval 1260 A.H.(8) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born in the
course of the same night, but the exact hour of His birth has not been
ascertained. After some days of anxious investigation and study, Mullá
Ḥusayn became firmly convinced that the Messenger long expected by the
_Sh_í’ihs had indeed appeared. His eager enthusiasm over this discovery
was soon shared by several of his friends. Before long the majority of the
_Sh_ay_kh_ís accepted the Báb, becoming known as Bábís; and soon the fame
of the young Prophet began to spread like wildfire throughout the land.
Spread of the Bábí Movement
The first eighteen disciples of the Báb (with Himself as nineteenth)
became known as “Letters of the Living.” These disciples He sent to
different parts of Persian and Turkistán to spread the news of His advent.
Meantime He Himself set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where He arrived in
December 1844, and there openly declared His mission. On His return to
Bú_sh_ihr great excitement was caused by the announcement of His Bábhood.
The fire of His eloquence, the wonder of His rapid and inspired writings,
His extraordinary wisdom and knowledge, His courage and zeal as a
reformer, aroused the greatest enthusiasm among His followers, but excited
a corresponding degree of alarm and enmity among the orthodox Muslims. The
_Sh_í’ih doctors vehemently denounced Him, and persuaded the Governor of
Fárs, namely Ḥusayn _Kh_án, a fanatical and tyrannical ruler, to undertake
the suppression of the new heresy. Then commenced for the Báb a long
series of imprisonments, deportations, examinations before tribunals,
scourgings and indignities, which ended only with His martyrdom in 1850.
Claims of the Báb
The hostility aroused by the claim of Bábhood was redoubled when the young
reformer proceeded to declare that He was Himself the Mihdí (Mahdi) Whose
coming Muḥammad had foretold. The _Sh_í’ihs identified this Mihdí with the
12th Imám(9) who, according to their beliefs, had mysteriously disappeared
from the sight of men about a thousand years previously. They believed
that he was still alive and would reappear in the same body as before, and
they interpreted in a material sense the prophecies regarding his
dominion, his glory, his conquests and the “signs” of his advent, just as
the Jews in the time of Christ interpreted similar prophecies regarding
the Messiah. They expected that he would appear with earthly sovereignty
and an innumerable army and declare his revelation, that he would raise
dead bodies and restore them to life, and so on. As these signs did not
appear, the _Sh_í’ihs rejected the Báb with the same fierce scorn which
the Jews displayed towards Jesus. The Bábís, on the other hand,
interpreted many of the prophecies figuratively. They regarded the
sovereignty of the Promised One, like that of the Galilean “Man of
Sorrows,” as a mystical sovereignty; His glory as spiritual, not earthly
glory; His conquests as conquests over the cities of men’s hearts’ and
they found abundant proof of the Báb’s claim in His wonderful life and
teachings, His unshakable faith, His invincible steadfastness, and His
power of raising to newness of spiritual life those who were in the graves
of error and ignorance.
But the Báb did not stop even with the claim of Mihdíhood. He adopted the
sacred title of “Nuqṭiyiúlá” or “Primal Point.” This was a title applied
to Muḥammad Himself by His followers. Even the Imáms were secondary in
importance to the “Point,” from Whom they derived their inspiration and
authority. In assuming this title, the Báb claimed to rank, like Muḥammad,
in the series of great Founders of Religion, and for this reason, in the
eyes of the _Sh_í’ihs, He was regarded as an impostor, just as Moses and
Jesus before Him had been regarded as impostors. He even inaugurated a new
calendar, restoring the solar year, and dating the commencement of the New
Era from the year of His own Declaration.
Persecution Increases
In consequence of these declarations of the Báb and the alarming rapidity
with which people of all classes, rich and poor, learned and ignorant,
were eagerly responding to His teaching, attempts at suppression became
more and more ruthless and determined. Houses were pillaged and destroyed.
Women were seized and carried off. In Ṭihrán, Fárs, Mázindarán, and other
places great numbers of the believers were put to death. Many were
beheaded, hanged, blown from the mouths of cannon, burnt or chopped to
pieces. Despite all attempts at repression, however, the movement
progressed. Nay, through this very oppression the assurance of the
believers increased, for thereby many of the prophecies concerning the
coming of the Mihdí were literally fulfilled. Thus in a tradition recorded
by Jabír, which the _Sh_í’ihs regard as authentic, we read:—
In him shall be the perfection of Moses, the preciousness of
Jesus, and the patience of Job; his saints shall be abased in his
time, and their heads shall be exchanged as presents, even as the
heads of the Turk and the Deylamite are exchanged as presents;
they shall be slain and burned, and shall be afraid, fearful and
dismayed; the earth shall be dyed with their blood, and
lamentation shall prevail amongst their women; these are my saints
indeed.—New History of the Báb, translated by Prof. E. G. Browne,
p. 132.
Martyrdom of the Báb
On the 9th of July, 1850,(10) the Báb Himself, Who was then in His
thirty-first year, fell a victim to the fanatical fury of His persecutors.
With a devoted young follower name Áqá Muḥammad ‘Alí, who had passionately
begged to be allowed to share His martyrdom, He was led to the scaffold in
the old barrack square of Tabríz. About two hours before noon the two were
suspended by ropes under their armpits in such a way that the head of
Muḥammad ‘Alí rested against the breast of his beloved Master. A regiment
of Armenian soldiers was drawn up and received the order to fire. Promptly
the volleys rang out, but when the smoke cleared, it was found that the
Báb and His companion were still alive. The bullets had but severed the
ropes by which they were suspended, so that they dropped to the ground
unhurt. The Báb proceeded to a room nearby, where He was found talking to
one of His friends. About noon they were again suspended. The Armenians,
who considered the result of their volleys a miracle, were unwilling to
fire again, so another regiment of soldiers had been brought on the scene,
who fired when ordered. This time the volleys took effect. The bodies of
both victims were riddled by bullets and horribly mutilated, although
their faces were almost untouched.
By this foul deed the Barrack Square of Tabríz became a second Calvary.
The enemies of the Báb enjoyed a guilty thrill of triumph, thinking that
this hated tree of the Bábí faith was now severed at the root, and its
complete eradication would be easy! But their triumph was short-lived!
They did not realize that the Tree of Truth cannot be felled by any
material ax. Had they but known, this very crime of theirs was the means
of giving greater vigor to the Cause. The martyrdom of the Báb fulfilled
His own cherished wish and inspired His followers with increased zeal.
Such was the fire of their spiritual enthusiasm that the bitter winds of
persecution but fanned it to a fiercer blaze: The greater the efforts at
extinction, the higher mounted the flames.
Tomb on Mount Carmel
After the Báb’s martyrdom, His remains, with those of His devoted
companion, were thrown on the edge of the moat outside the city wall. On
the second night they were rescued at midnight by some of the Bábís, and
after being concealed for years in secret depositories in Persia, were
ultimately brought, with great danger and difficulty, to the Holy Land.
There they are now interred in a tomb beautifully situated on the slope of
Mount Carmel, not far from the Cave of Elijah, and only a few miles from
the spot where Bahá’u’lláh spent His last years and where His remains now
lie. Among the thousands of pilgrims from all parts of the world who come
to pay homage at the Holy Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, none omit to offer a prayer
also at the shrine of His devoted lover and forerunner, the Báb.
Writings of Báb
The Writings of the Báb were voluminous, and the rapidity with which,
without study or premeditation, He composed elaborate commentaries,
profound expositions or eloquent prayers was regarded as one of the proofs
of His divine inspiration.
The purport of His various Writings has been summarized as follows:—
Some of these [the Báb’s Writings] were commentaries on, and
interpretations of the verses of the Kur’an; some were prayers,
homilies, and hints of [the true significance of certain]
passages; other were exhortations, admonitions, dissertations on
the different branches of the doctrine of the Divine Unity ...
encouragements to amendment of character, severance from worldly
states, and dependence on the inspirations of God. But the essence
and purport of his compositions were the praises and descriptions
of that Reality soon to appear which was his only object and aim,
his darling, and his desire. For he regarded his own appearance as
that of a harbinger of good tidings, and considered his own real
nature merely as a means for the manifestation of the greater
perfections of that One. And indeed he ceased not from celebrating
Him by night or day for a single instant, but used to signify to
all his followers that they should expect His arising: in such
wise that he declares in his writings, “I am a letter out of that
most might book and a dew-drop from that limitless ocean, and,
when He shall appear, my true nature, my mysteries, riddles, and
intimations will become evident, and the embryo of this religion
shall develop through the grades of its being and ascent, attain
to the station of ‘the most comely of forms,’ and become adorned
with the robe of ‘blessed be God, the Best of Creators.’ ... and
so inflamed was he with His flame that commemoration of Him was
the bright candle of his dark nights in the fortress of Mákú, and
remembrance of Him was the best of companions in the straits of
the prison of _Ch_ihrík. Thereby he obtained spiritual
enlargements; with His wine was he inebriated; and at remembrance
of Him did he rejoice.—A Traveller’s Narrative (Episode of the
Báb), pp. 54–56.
He Whom God Shall Make Manifest
The Báb has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Báb
is not merely that of the herald or forerunner. In Himself the Báb was a
Manifestation of God, the Founder of an independent religion, even though
that religion was limited in time to a brief period of years. The Bahá’ís
believe that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh were Co-Founders of their Faith, the
following words of Bahá’u’lláh testifying to this truth: “That so brief a
span should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from
Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a
mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained,
and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed
of the contents of My Hidden Book.” In His references to Bahá’u’lláh,
however, the Báb revealed an utter selflessness, declaring that, in the
day of “Him whom God shall manifest”:—“If one should hear a single verse
from Him and recite it, it is better that he should recite the Beyán [i.e.
the Revelation of the Báb] a thousand times.”—A Traveller’s Narrative
(Episode of the Báb), p. 349.
He counted Himself happy in enduring any affliction, if by so doing He
could smooth the path, be ever so little, for “Him Whom God shall make
manifest,” Who was, He declared, the sole source of His inspiration as
well as the sole object of His love.
Resurrection, Paradise, and Hell
An important part of the Báb’s teaching is His explanation of the terms
Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hell. By the Resurrection is
meant, He said, the appearance of a new Manifestation of the Sun of Truth.
The raising of the dead means the spiritual awakening of those who are
asleep in the graves of ignorance, heedlessness and lust. The Day of
Judgment is the Day of the new Manifestation, by acceptance or rejection
of Whose Revelation the sheep are separated from the goats, for the sheep
know the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him. Paradise is the joy of
knowing and loving God, as revealed through His Manifestation, thereby
attaining to the utmost perfection of which one is capable, and, after
death, obtaining entrance to the Kingdom of God and the life everlasting.
Hell is simply deprivation of that knowledge of God with consequent
failure to attain divine perfection, and loss of the Eternal Favor. He
definitely declared that these terms have no real meaning apart from this;
and that the prevalent ideas regarding the resurrection of the material
body, a material heaven and hell, and the like, are mere figments of the
imagination. He taught that man has a life after death, and that in the
afterlife progress towards perfection is limitless.
Social and Ethical Teachings
In His Writings the Báb tells His followers that they must be
distinguished by brotherly love and courtesy. Useful arts and crafts must
be cultivated. Elementary education should be general. In the new and
wondrous Dispensation now commencing, women are to have fuller freedom.
The poor are to be provided for out of the common treasury, but begging is
strictly forbidden, as is the use of intoxicating liquors for beverage
purposes.
The guiding motive of the true Bábí must be pure love, without hope of
reward or fear of punishment. Thus He says in the Bayán:—
So worship God that if the recompense of thy worship of Him were
to be the Fire, no alteration in thy worship of Him would be
produced. If you worship from fear, that is unworthy of the
threshold of the holiness of God.... So also, if your gaze is on
Paradise, and if you worship in hope of that; for then you have
made God’s creation a Partner with Him.—Bábís of Persia, II, Prof.
E. G. Browne, J.R.A.S., vol. xxi, p. 931.
Passion and Triumph
This last quotation reveals the spirit which animated the Báb’s whole
life. To know and love God, to mirror forth His attributes and to prepare
the way for His coming Manifestation—these were the sole aim and object of
His being. For Him life had no terrors and death no sting, for love had
cast out fear, and martyrdom itself was but the rapture of casting His all
at the feet of His Beloved.
Strange! that this pure and beautiful soul, this inspired teacher of
Divine Truth, this devoted lover of God and of His fellowmen should be so
hated, and done to death by the professedly religious of His day! Surely
nothing but unthinking or willful prejudice could blind men to the fact
that here was indeed a Prophet, a Holy Messenger of God. Worldly greatness
and glory He had none, but how can spiritual Power and Dominion be proved
except by the ability to dispense with all earthly assistance, and to
triumph over all earthly opposition, even the most potent and virulent?
How can Divine Love be demonstrated to an unbelieving world save by its
capacity to endure to the uttermost the blows of calamity and darts of
affliction, the hated of enemies and the treachery of seeming friends, to
rise serene above all these and, undismayed and unembittered, still to
forgive and bless?
The Báb has endured and the Báb has triumphed. Thousands have testified to
the sincerity of their love for Him by sacrificing their lives and their
all in His service. Kings might well envy His power over men’s hearts and
lives. Moreover, “He Whom the Lord shall make manifest” has appeared, has
confirmed the claims and accepted the devotion of His forerunner, and made
Him partaker of His Glory.
CHAPTER 3: BAHÁ’U’LLÁH: THE GLORY OF GOD
O thou who art waiting, tarry no longer, for He is come. Behold His
Tabernacle and His Glory dwelling therein. It is the Ancient Glory, with a
new Manifestation.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
Birth and Early Life
Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, Who afterwards assumed the title of Bahá’u’lláh (i.e.
Glory of God), was the eldest son of Mírzá Abbás of Núr, a Vazír or
Minister of State. His family was wealthy and distinguished, many of its
members having occupied important positions in the Government and in the
Civil and Military Services of Persia. He was born in Ṭihrán (Teheran),
the capital city of Persia, between dawn and sunrise on the 12th of
November, 1817.(11) He never attended school or college, and what little
teaching He received was given at home. Nevertheless, even as a child He
showed wonderful wisdom and knowledge. While He was still a youth His
father died, leaving Him responsible for the care of His younger brothers
and sisters, and for the management of the extensive family estates.
On one occasion ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, related to
the writer the following particulars about His Father’s early days:—
From childhood He was extremely kind and generous. He was a great
lover of outdoor life, most of His time being spent in the garden
or the fields. He had an extraordinary power of attraction, which
was felt by all. People always crowded around Him. Ministers and
people of the Court would surround Him, and the children also were
devoted to Him. When He was only thirteen of fourteen years old He
became renowned for His learning. He would converse on any subject
and solve any problem presented to Him. In large gatherings He
would discuss matters with the ‘Ulamá (leading mullás) and would
explain intricate religious questions. All of them used to listen
to Him with the greatest interest.
When Bahá’u’lláh was twenty-two years old, His father died, and
the Government wished Him to succeed to His father’s position in
the Ministry, as was customary in Persia, but Bahá’u’lláh did not
accept the offer. Then the Prime Minister said: “Leave him to
himself. Such a position is unworthy of him. He has some higher
aim in view. I cannot understand him, but I am convinced that he
is destined for some lofty career. His thought are not like ours.
Let him alone.”
Imprisoned as Bábí
When the Báb declared His mission in 1844, Bahá’u’lláh, Who was then in
His twenty-seventh year, boldly espoused the Cause of the new Faith, of
which He soon became recognized as one of the most powerful and fearless
exponents.
He had already twice suffered imprisonment for the Cause, and on one
occasion had undergone the torture of the bastinado, when in August 1852,
an event occurred fraught with terrible consequences for the Bábís. One of
the Báb’s followers, a youth named Ṣádiq, had been so affected by the
martyrdom of his beloved Master, of which he was an eyewitness, that his
mind became deranged, and, in revenge, he waylaid the _Sh_áh and fired a
pistol at him. Instead of using a bullet, however, he charged his weapon
with small shot, and although a few pellets struck the _Sh_áh, no serious
harm was done. The youth dragged the _Sh_áh from his horse, but was
promptly seized by the attendants of his Majesty and put to death on the
spot. The whole body of Bábís was unjustly held responsible for the deed,
and frightful massacres ensued. Eighty of them were forthwith put to death
in Ṭihrán with the most revolting tortures. Many others were seized and
put into prisons, among them being Bahá’u’lláh. He afterwards wrote:—
By the righteousness of God! We were in no wise connected with
that evil deed, and Our innocence was indisputably established by
the tribunals. Nevertheless, they apprehended Us, and from
Níyávarán, which was then the residence of His Majesty, conducted
Us, on foot and in chains, with bared head and bare feet, to the
dungeon of Ṭihrán. A brutal man, accompanying Us on horseback,
snatched off Our hat, whilst We were being hurried along by a
troop of executioners and officials. We were consigned for four
months to a place foul beyond comparison. As to the dungeon in
which this Wronged One and other similarly wronged were confined,
a dark and narrow pit were preferable. Upon Our arrival We were
first conducted along a pitch-black corridor, from whence We
descended three steep flights of stairs to the place of
confinement assigned to Us. The dungeon was wrapped in thick
darkness, and Our fellow-prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and
fifty souls: thieves, assassins and highwaymen. Though crowded, it
had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen
can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome
smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie
on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling
and gloomy place!
Day and night, while confined in that dungeon, We meditated upon
the deeds, the condition, and the conduct of the Bábís, wondering
what could have led a people so high-minded, so noble, and of such
intelligence, to perpetrate such an audacious and outrageous act
against the person of His Majesty. This Wronged One, thereupon,
decided to arise, after His release from prison, and undertake,
with the utmost vigor, the task of regenerating this people.
On night, in a dream these exalted words were heard on every side:
“Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy
Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be
Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the
treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and
through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as
have recognized Him.”—Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 20–21.
Exile to Baghdád
This terrible imprisonment lasted four months, but Bahá’u’lláh and His
companions remained zealous and enthusiastic, in the greatest of
happiness. Almost every day one or more of them was tortured or put to
death and the others reminded that their turn might come next. When the
executioners came to fetch one of the friends, the one whose name was
called would literally dance with joy, kiss the hands of Bahá’u’lláh,
embrace the rest of his fellow believers and then hasten with glad
eagerness to the place of martyrdom.
It was conclusively proved that Bahá’u’lláh had no share in the plot
against the _Sh_áh, and the Russian Minister testified to the purity of
His character. He was, moreover, so ill that it was thought He would die.
Instead, therefore, of sentencing Him to death, the _Sh_áh ordered that He
should be exiled to ‘Iráq-i-‘Arab, in Mesopotamia; and thither, a
fortnight later, Bahá’u’lláh set out, accompanied by His family and a
number of other believers. They suffered terribly from cold and other
hardships on the long winter journey and arrived in Ba_gh_dád in a state
of almost utter destitution.
As soon as His health permitted, Bahá’u’lláh began to teach inquirers and
to encourage and exhort the believers, and soon peace and happiness
reigned among the Bábís.(12) This, however, was short-lived. Bahá’u’lláh’s
half brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá, also known as Subh-i-Azal, arrived in
Ba_gh_dád, and soon afterwards differences, secretly instigated by him,
began to grow, just as similar divisions had arisen among the disciples of
Christ. These differences (which later, in Adrianople, became open and
violent) were very painful to Bahá’u’lláh, Whose whole aim in life was the
promotion of unity among the people of the world.
Two Years in the Wilderness
About a year after coming to Ba_gh_dád, He departed alone into the
wilderness of Sulaymáníyyih, taking with Him nothing but a change of
clothes. Regarding this period He write in the Book of Íqán(13) as
follows:—
In the early days of Our arrival in this land, when We discerned
the signs of impending events, We decided, wilderness, and there,
separated and alone, led for two years a life of complete
solitude. From Our eyes there rained tears of anguish, and in Our
bleeding heart there surged an ocean of agonizing pain. Many a
night We had no food for sustenance, and many a day Our body found
no rest. by Him Who hath My being between His hands!
notwithstanding these showers of afflictions and unceasing
calamities, Our soul was wrapt in blissful joy, and Our whole
being evinced an ineffable gladness. For in Our solitude We were
unaware of the harm or benefit, the health or ailment, of any
soul. Alone, We communed with Our spirit, oblivious of the world
and all that is therein. We knew not, however, that the mesh of
divine destiny exceedeth the vastest of mortal conceptions, and
the dart of His decree transcendeth the boldest of human designs.
None can escape the snares He setteth, and no soul can find
release except through submission to His will. By the
righteousness of God! Our withdrawal contemplated no return, and
Our separation hoped for no reunion. The one object of Our
retirement was to avoid becoming a subject of discord among the
faithful, a source of disturbance unto Our companions, the means
of injury to any soul, or the cause of sorrow to any heart. Beyond
these, We cherished no other intention, and apart from them, We
had no end in view. And yet, each person schemed after his own
desire, and pursued his own idle fancy, until the hour when, from
the Mystic Source, there came the summons bidding Us return whence
We came. Surrendering Our will to His, We submitted to His
injunction.
What pen can recount the things We beheld upon Our return! Two
years have elapsed during which Our enemies have ceaselessly and
assiduously contrived to exterminate Us, whereunto all
witness.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 250–252.
Opposition of Mullás
After His return from this retirement, His fame became greater than ever
and people flocked to Ba_gh_dád from far and near to see Him and hear His
teachings. Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, as well as Muḥammadans,
became interested in the new message. The Mullás (Muḥammadan doctors),
however, took up a hostile attitude and persistently plotted to effect His
overthrow. On a certain occasion they sent one of their number to
interview Him and submit to Him certain questions. The envoy found the
answers of Bahá’u’lláh so convincing and His wisdom so amazing, although
evidently not acquired by study, that he was obliged to confess that in
knowledge and understanding Bahá’u’lláh was peerless. In order, however,
that the Mullás who had sent him should be satisfied as to the reality of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Prophethood, he asked that some miracle should be produced
as proof. Bahá’u’lláh expressed His willingness to accept the suggestion
on certain conditions, declaring that if the Mullás would agree regarding
some miracle to be performed, and would sign and seal a document to the
effect that on performance of this miracle they would confess the validity
of His mission and cease to oppose Him, He would furnish the desired proof
or else stand convicted of imposture. Had the aim of the Mullás been to
get at the truth, surely here was their opportunity; but their intention
was far otherwise. Rightly or wrongly, they meant to secure a decision in
their own favor. They feared the truth and fled from the daring challenge.
This discomfiture, however, only spurred them on to devise fresh plots for
the eradication of the oppressed sect. The Consul General of Persia in
Ba_gh_dád came to their assistance and sent repeated messages to the
_Sh_áh to the effect that Bahá’u’lláh was injuring the Muḥammadan religion
more than ever, still exerting a malign influence on Persia, and that He
ought therefore to be banished to some more distant place.
It was characteristic of Bahá’u’lláh that, at this crisis, when at the
instigation of the Muḥammadan Mullás the Persian and Turkish Governments
were combining their efforts to eradicate the Movement, He remained calm
and serene, encouraging and inspiring His followers and writing
imperishable words of consolation and guidance. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá relates how
the Hidden Words were written at this time. Bahá’u’lláh would often go for
a walk along the bank of the Tigris. He would come back looking very happy
and write down those lyric gems of wise counsel which have brought help
and healing to thousands of aching and troubled hearts. For years, only a
few manuscript copies of the Hidden Words were in existence, and these had
to be carefully concealed lest they should fall into the hands of the
enemies that abounded, but now this little volume is probably the best
known of all Bahá’u’lláh’s works, and is read in every quarter of the
globe. The Book of Íqán is another well-known work of Bahá’u’lláh’s
written about the same period, towards the end of His sojourn at Ba_gh_dád
(1862–1863 A.D.)
Declaration at Ridván(14) near Baghdád
After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an order
was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Bahá’u’lláh to
Constantinople. On receipt of this new His followers were in
consternation. They besieged the house of their beloved Leader to such an
extent that the family encamped in the Garden of Najíb Pá_sh_á outside the
town for twelve days, while the caravan was being prepared for the long
journey. It was during these twelve days (April 22 to May 3, 1863, i.e.
nineteen years after the Báb’s Declaration) that Bahá’u’lláh announced to
several of His followers the glad tidings that He was the One Whose coming
had been foretold by the Báb—the Chosen of God, the Promised One of all
the Prophets. The Garden where this memorable Declaration took place has
become known to Bahá’ís as the “Garden of Ridván,” and the days
Bahá’u’lláh spent there are commemorated in the “Feast of Ridván,” which
is held annually on the anniversary of those twelve days. During those
days Bahá’u’lláh, instead of being sad or depressed, showed the greatest
joy, dignity and power. His followers became happy and enthusiastic, and
great crowds came to pay their respects to Him. All the notables of
Ba_gh_dád, even the Governor himself, came to honor the departing
prisoner.
Constantinople and Adrianople
The journey to Constantinople lasted between three and four months, the
party consisting of Bahá’u’lláh with members of His family and twenty-six
disciples. Arrived in Constantinople they found themselves prisoners in a
small house in which they were very much overcrowded. Later they got
somewhat better quarters, but after four months they were again moved on,
this time to Adrianople. The journey to Adrianople, although it lasted but
a few days, was the most terrible they had yet undertaken. Snow fell
heavily most of the time, and as they were destitute of proper clothing
and food, their sufferings were extreme. For the first winter in
Adrianople, Bahá’u’lláh and His family, numbering twelve persons, were
accommodated in a small house of three rooms, comfortless and vermin
infested. In the spring they were given a more comfortable abode. They
remained in Adrianople over four and a half years. Here Bahá’u’lláh
resumed His teaching and gathered about Him a large following. He publicly
announced His mission and was enthusiastically accepted by the majority of
the Bábís, who were known thereafter as Bahá’ís. A minority, however,
under the leadership of Bahá’u’lláh’s half brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá, become
violently opposed to Him and joined with their former enemies, the
_Sh_í’ihs, in plotting for His overthrow. Great troubles ensued, and at
last the Turkish Government banished both Bábís and Bahá’ís from
Adrianople, exiling Bahá’u’lláh and His followers to Akká, in Palestine,
where they arrived (according to Nabíl)(15) on August 31, 1868, while
Mírzá Yaḥyá and his party were sent to Cyprus.
Letters to Kings
About this time Bahá’u’lláh wrote His famous letter to the Sulṭán of
Turkey, many of the crowned heads of Europe, the Pope, and the _Sh_áh of
Persia. Later, in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas(16) He addressed other sovereigns, the
rulers and Presidents of America, the leaders of religion in general and
the generality of mankind. To all, He announced His mission and called
upon them to bend their energies to the establishment of true religion,
just government and international peace. In His letter to the _Sh_áh He
powerfully pleaded the cause of the oppressed Bábs and asked to be brought
face to face with those who had instigated their persecution. Needless to
say, this request was not complied with; Badí, the young and devoted
Bahá’í who delivered the letter of Bahá’u’lláh, was seized and martyred
with fearful tortures, hot bricks being pressed on his flesh!
In the same letter Bahá’u’lláh gives a most moving account of His own
sufferings and longings:—
O King, I have seen in the way of God what no eye hath seen and no
ear hath heard. Friends have disclaimed me; ways are straitened
unto me; the pool of safety is dried up; the plain of ease is
[scorched] yellow. How many calamities have descended, and how
many will descend! I walk advancing toward the Mighty, the
Bounteous, while behind me glides the serpent. My eyes rain down
tears until my bed is drenched; but my sorrow is not for myself.
By God, my head longeth for the spears for the love of its Lord,
and I never pass by a tree but my heart addresseth it [saying], “O
would that thou wert cut down in my name and my body were
crucified upon thee in the way of my Lord;” yea, because I see
mankind going astray in their intoxication, and they know it not:
they have exalted their lusts, and put aside their God, as though
they took the command of God for a mockery, a sport, and a
plaything; and they think that they do well, and that they are
harboured in the citadel of security. The matter is not as they
suppose: to-morrow they shall see what they [now] deny.
We are about to shift from this most remote place of banishment
[Adrianople] unto the prison of Acre. And, according to what they
say, it is assuredly the most desolate of the cities of the world,
the most unsightly of them in appearance, the most detestable in
climate, and the foulest in water; it is as though it were the
metropolis of the owl; there is not heard from its regions aught
save the sound of its hooting. And in it they intend to imprison
the servant, and to shut in our faces the doors of leniency and
take away from us the good things of the life of the world during
what remaineth of our days. By God, though weariness should weaken
me, and hunger should destroy me, though my couch should be made
of the hard rock and my associates of the beasts of the desert, I
will not blench, but will be patient, as the resolute and
determined are patient, in the strength of God, the King of
Pre-existence, the Creator of the nations; and under all
circumstances I give thanks unto God. And we hope of His
graciousness (exalted is He) ... that He will render [all men’s]
faces sincere toward Him, the Mighty, the Bounteous. Verily He
answereth him who prayeth unto Him, and is near unto him who
calleth on Him. And we ask Him to make this dark calamity a
buckler for the body of His saints, and to protect them thereby
from sharp swords and piercing blades. Through affliction hath His
light shone and His praise been bright unceasingly: this hath been
His method through past ages and bygone times. A Traveller’s
Narrative (Episode of the Báb), pp. 145–147.
Imprisonment in Akká
At that time Akká (Acre) was a prison city to which the worst criminals
were sent from all parts of the Turkish Empire. On arriving there, after a
miserable sea journey, Bahá’u’lláh and His followers, about eighty to
eighty-four in number, including men, women and children, were imprisoned
in the army barracks. The place was dirty and cheerless in the extreme.
There were no beds or comforts of any sort. The food supplied was wretched
and inadequate, so much so that after a time the prisoners begged to be
allowed to buy their food for themselves. During the first few days the
children were crying continually, and sleep was almost impossible.
Malaria, dysentery and other diseases soon broke out, and everyone in the
company fell sick, with the exception of two. Three succumbed to their
sickness, and the sufferings of the survivors were indescribable.(17)
This rigorous imprisonment lasted for over two years, during which time
none of the Bahá’ís were allowed outside the prison door, except four men,
carefully guarded, who went out daily to buy food.
During the imprisonment in the barracks, visitors were rigidly excluded.
Several of the Bahá’ís of Persia came all the way on foot for the purpose
of seeing their beloved leader, but were refused admittance within the
city walls. They used to got to a place on the plain outside the third
moat, from which they could see the windows of Bahá’u’lláh’s quarters. He
would show Himself to them at one of the windows and after gazing on Him
from afar, they would weep and return to their homes, fired with new zeal
for sacrifice and service.
Restrictions Relaxed
At last the imprisonment was mitigated. A mobilization of Turkish troops
occurred and the barracks were required for soldiers. Bahá’u’lláh and His
family were transferred to a house by themselves and the rest of the party
were accommodated in a caravanserai in the town. Bahá’u’lláh was confined
for seven more years in this house. In a small room near that in which He
was imprisoned, thirteen of His household, including both sexes, had to
accommodate themselves as best they could! In the earlier part of their
stay in this house they suffered greatly from insufficiency of
accommodation, inadequate food supply and lack of the ordinary
conveniences of life. After a time, however, a few additional rooms were
placed at their disposal and they were able to live in comparative
comfort. From the time Bahá’u’lláh and His companions left the barracks,
visitors were allowed to see them, and gradually the severe restrictions
imposed by the Imperial firmans were more and more left in abeyance,
although now and then reimposed for a time.
Prison Gates Opened
Even when the imprisonment was at its worst, the Bahá’ís were not
dismayed, and their serene confidence was never shaken. While in the
barracks at Akká, Bahá’u’lláh wrote to some friends, “Fear not. These
doors shall be opened. My tent shall be pitched on Mount Carmel, and the
utmost joy shall be realized.” This declaration was a great source of
consolation to His followers, and in due course it was literally
fulfilled. The story of how the prison doors were opened had best be told
in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as translated by His grandson, Shoghi
Effendi:—
Bahá’u’lláh loved the beauty and verdure of the country. One day
He passed the remark: “I have not gazed on verdure for nine years.
The country is the world of the soul, the city is the world of
bodies.” When I heard indirectly of this saying I realized that He
was longing for the country, and I was sure that whatever I could
do towards the carrying out of His wish would be successful. There
was in Akká at that time a man called Muḥammad Pá_sh_á Safwat, who
was very much opposed to us. He had a palace called Mazra’ih,
about four miles north of the city, a lovely place, surrounded by
gardens and with a stream of running water. I went and called on
this Pá_sh_á at his home. I said: “Pá_sh_á, you have left the
palace empty, and are living in Akká.” He replied: “I am an
invalid and cannot leave the city. If I go there it is lonely and
I am cut off from my friends.” I said: “While you are not living
there and the place is empty, let it to us.” He was amazed at the
proposal, but soon consented. I got the house at a very low rent,
about five pounds per annum, paid him for five years and made a
contract. I sent laborers to repair the place and put the garden
in order and had a bath built. I also had a carriage prepared for
the use of the Blessed Beauty.(18) One day I determined to go and
see the place for myself. Notwithstanding the repeated injunctions
given in successive firmans that we were on no account to pass the
limits of the city walls, I walked out through the City Gate.
Gendarmes were on guard, but they made no objection, so I
proceeded straight to the palace. The next day I again went out,
with some friends and officials, unmolested and unopposed,
although the guards and sentinels stood on both sides of the city
gates. Another day I arranged a banquet, spread a table under the
pine trees of Bahjí, and gathered round it the notables and
officials of the town. In the evening we all returned to the town
together.
One day I went to the Holy Presence of the Blessed Beauty and
said: “the palace at Mazra’ih is ready for You, and a carriage to
drive You there.” (At that time there were no carriages in Akká or
Haifa.) He refused to go, saying: “I am a prisoner.” Later I
requested Him again, but got the same answer. I went so far as to
ask Him a third time, but He still said “No!” and I did not dare
to insist further. There was, however, in Akká a certain
Muḥammadan _Sh_ay_kh_, a well-known man with considerable
influence, who loved Bahá’u’lláh and was greatly favored by Him. I
called this _Sh_ay_kh_ and explained the position to him. I said,
“You are daring. Go tonight to His Holy Presence, fall on your
knees before Him, take hold of His hands and do not let go until
He promises to leave the city!” He was an Arab.... He went
directly to Bahá’u’lláh and sat down close to His knees. He took
hold of the hands of the Blessed Beauty and kissed them and asked:
“Why do you not leave the city?” He said: “I am a prisoner.” The
_sh_ay_kh_ replied: “God forbid! Who has the power to make you a
prisoner? You have kept yourself in prison. It was your own will
to be imprisoned, and now I beg you to come out and go to the
palace. It is beautiful and verdant. The trees are lovely, and the
oranges like balls of fire!” As often as the Blessed Beauty said:
“I am a prisoner, it cannot be,” the _Sh_ay_kh_ took His hands and
kissed them. For a whole hour he kept on pleading. At last
Bahá’u’lláh said, “_Kh_aylí _kh_ub (very good)” and the
_Sh_ay_kh_’s patience and persistence were rewarded. He came to me
with great joy to give the glad news of His Holiness’s consent. In
spite of the strict firman of ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz which prohibited my
meeting or having any intercourse with the Blessed Perfection, I
took the carriage the next day and drove with Him to the palace.
No one made any objection. I left Him there and returned myself to
the city.
For two years He remained in that charming and lovely spot. Then
it was decided to remove to another place, at Bahjí. It so
happened than an epidemic disease had broken out at Bahjí, and the
proprietor of the house fled away in distress, with all his
family, ready to offer the house free of charge to any applicant.
We took the house at a very low rent, and there the doors of
majesty and true sovereignty were flung wide open. Bahá’u’lláh was
nominally a prisoner (for the drastic firmans of Sulṭán
‘Abdu’l-’Aziz were never repealed), yet in reality He showed forth
such nobility and dignity in His life and bearing that He was
reverenced by all, and the Rulers of Palestine envied His
influence and power. Governors and Mutasarrifs, generals and local
officials, would humbly request the honor of attaining His
presence—a request to which He seldom acceded.
On one occasion a Governor of the city implored this favor on the
ground of his being ordered by higher authorities to visit, with a
certain general, the Blessed Perfection. The request being
granted, the general, who was a very corpulent individual, a
European, was so impressed by the majestic presence of Bahá’u’lláh
that he remained kneeling on the ground near the door. Such was
the diffidence of both visitors that it was only after repeated
invitations from Bahá’u’lláh that they were induced to smoke the
narguileh (hubble-bubble pipe) offered to them. Even then they
only touched it with their lips, and then, putting it aside,
folded their arms and sat in an attitude of such humility and
respect as to astonish all those who were present.
The loving reverence of friends, the consideration and respect
that were shown by all officials and notables, the inflow of
pilgrims and seekers after truth, the spirit of devotion and
service that was manifest all around, the majestic and kingly
countenance of the Blessed Perfection, the effectiveness of His
command, the number of His zealous devotees-all bore witness to
the fact that Bahá’u’lláh was in reality no prisoner, but a King
of Kings. Two despotic sovereigns were against Him, two powerful
autocratic rulers, yet, even when confined in their own prisons,
He addressed them in very austere terms, like a king addressing
his subjects. Afterwards, in spite of severe firmans, He lived at
Bahjí like a prince. Often He would say: “Verily, verily, the most
wretched prison has been converted into a Paradise of Eden.”
Surely, such a thing has not been witnessed since the creation of
the world.
Life at Bahjí
Having in His earlier years of hardship shown how to glorify God in a
state of poverty and ignominy, Bahá’u’lláh in His later years at Bahjí
showed how to glorify God in a state of honor and affluence. The offering
of hundreds of thousands of devoted followers placed at His disposal large
funds which He was called upon to administer. Although His life at Bahjí
has been described as truly regal, in the highest sense of the word, yet
it must not be imagined that it was characterized by material splendor or
extravagance. The Blessed Perfection and His family lived in very simple
and modest fashion, and expenditure on selfish luxury was a think unknown
in that household. Near His home the believers prepared a beautiful garden
called Ridván, in which He often spent many consecutive days or even
weeks, sleeping at night in a little cottage in the garden. Occasionally
He went further afield. He made several visits to Akká and Haifa, and on
more than one occasion pitched His tent on Mount Carmel, as He had
predicted when imprisoned in the barracks at Akká. The time of Bahá’u’lláh
was spent for the most part in prayer and meditation, in writing the
Sacred Books, revealing Tablets, and in spiritual education of the
friends. In order to give Him entire freedom for this great work,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá undertook the arrangement of all other affairs, even meeting
the Mullás, poets, and members of the Government. All of these were
delighted and happy through meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and entirely satisfied
with His explanation and talks, and although they had not met Bahá’u’lláh
Himself, they became full of friendly feeling towards Him, through their
acquaintanceship with His son, for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s attitude caused them to
understand the station of His father.
The distinguished orientalist, the late Professor Edward G. Browne, of the
University of Cambridge, visited Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí in the year 1890,
and recorded his impressions as follows:—
... my conductor paused for a moment while I removed my shoes.
Then, with a quick movement of the hand, he withdrew, and, as I
passed, replaced the curtain; and I found myself in a large
apartment, along the upper end of which ran a low divan, while on
the side opposite to the door were placed two or three chairs.
Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom I was to
behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second
or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became
definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the
corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable
figure, crowned with a felt head-dress of the kind called ‘taj’ by
dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of
which was wound a small white turban. The face of him on whom I
gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those
piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority
sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and
face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing
down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to
belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself
before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings
might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!
A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then
continued:—“Praise be to God that thou has attained! ... Thou has
come to see a prisoner and an exile.... We desire but the good of
the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a
stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and
banishment. ... That all nations should become one in faith and
all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between
the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion
should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is
there in this? ... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes,
these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’
shall come. ... Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this
that which Christ foretold? ... Yet do we see your kings and
rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the
destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to
the happiness of mankind. ... These strifes and this bloodshed and
discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one
family.... Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country;
let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind....”
Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides
many others, I heard from Behá. Let those who read them consider
well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds,
and whether the world is more likely gain or lose by their
diffusion.—Introduction to A Traveller’s Narrative (Episode of the
Báb), pp. xxxix-xl.
Ascension
Thus simply and serenely did Bahá’u’lláh pass the evening of His life on
earth until, after an attack of fever, He passed away on the 29th of May,
1892, at the age of seventy-five. Among the last Tablets He revealed was
His Will and Testament, which He wrote with His own hand and duly signed
and sealed. Nine days after His death the seals were broken by His eldest
son, in the presence of members of the family and a few friends, and the
contents of the short but remarkable document were made known. By this
will ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was constituted His father’s representative and the
expounder of His teachings, and the family and relatives of Bahá’u’lláh
and all believers were instructed to turn to Him and obey Him. By this
arrangement sectarianism and division were provided against and the unity
of the Cause assured.
Prophethood of Bahá’u’lláh
It is important to have clear ideas of Bahá’u’lláh’s Prophethood. His
utterances, like those of other divine “Manifestations,” may be divided
into two classes, in one of which He writes or speaks simply as a man who
has been charged by God with a message to His fellows, while in the other
class the words purport to be the direct utterance of God Himself.
He writes in the Book of Íqán:—
We have already in the foregoing pages assigned two stations unto
each of the Luminaries arising from the Daysprings of eternal
holiness. One of these stations, the station of essential unity,
We have already explained. “No distinction do We make between any
of them.” [Qur’án 2:136] The other is the station of distinction,
and pertaineth to the world of creation and to be the limitations
thereof. In this respect, each Manifestation of God hath a
distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a
predestined Revelation, and specially designated limitations. Each
one of them is known by a different name, is characterized by a
special attribute, fulfils a definite Mission, and is entrusted
with a particular Revelation. Even as He saith: “Some of the
Apostles We have caused to excel the others. To some God hath
spoken, some He hath raise and exalted. And to Jesus, Son of Mary,
We gave manifest signs, and We strengthen Him with the Holy
Spirit.” [Qur’án 2:253] ...
Thus, viewed from the standpoint of their oneness and sublime
detachment, the attributes of Godhead, Divinity, Supreme
Singleness, and Inmost Essence, have been and are applicable to
those Essences of being, inasmuch as they all abide on the throne
of divine Revelation, and are established upon the seat of divine
Concealment. Through their appearance the Revelation of God is
made manifest, and by their countenance the Beauty of God is
revealed. Thus it is that the accents of God Himself have been
heard uttered by these Manifestations of the divine Being.
Viewed in the light of their second station—the station of
distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations,
characteristics and standards,—they manifest absolute servitude,
utter destitution and complete self-effacement. Even as He saith:
“I am the servant of God. I am but a man like you.” ...
Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: “I
am God!” He verily speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth
thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through
their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of
God, His name and His attributes, are made manifest in the world.
Thus, He hath revealed: “Those shafts were God’s, not Thine!”
[Qur’án 8:17] And also He saith: “In truth, they who plighted
fealty unto thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.” [Qur’án
48:10] And were any of them to voice the utterance: “I am the
Messenger of God,” He also speaketh the truth, the indubitable
truth. Even as He saith: “Muḥammad is not the father of any man
among you, but He is the Messenger of God.” Viewed in this light,
they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable
Essence. And were they all to proclaim: “I am the Seal of
Prophets,” they verily utter but the truth, beyond the faintest
shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one
spirit, one being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation
of the “Beginning” and the “End,” the “First” and the “Last,” the
“Seen” and “Hidden”—all of which pertain to Him Who is the
innermost Spirit of Spirits and eternal Essence of Essences. And
were they to say: “We are the servants of God,” [Qur’án 33:40]
this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been
made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the
like of which no man can possibly attain. Thus in moments in which
these Essences of being were deeply immersed beneath the oceans of
ancient and everlasting holiness, or when they soared to the
loftiest summits of divine mysteries, they claimed their utterance
to be the Voice of divinity, the Call of God Himself. Were the eye
of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very
state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and
non-existent in the face of Him Whom is the All-Pervading, the
incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter
nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of
blasphemy. For the slightest whisperings of self, within such a
Court, is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence.
In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court, such a
suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much more
grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that
Presence, were man’s heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to
be busied with anyone but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to
behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be
inclined to any melody but His voice, and were his feet to tread
any way but His way.
In this day the breeze of God is wafted, and His Spirit hath
pervaded all things. Such is the outpouring of His grace that the
pen is stilled and the tongue is speechless.
By virtue of this station, they have claimed for themselves the
Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station
of Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of
God. In every instance they have voiced an utterance that would
conform to the requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all
these declarations to Themselves, declarations ranging from the
divine Revelation to the realm of creation, and from the domain of
Divinity even unto the domain of earthly existence. Thus it is
that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it pertain to the
realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership,
Guardianship, Apostelship or Servitude, all is true, beyond the
shadow of a doubt. Therefore, these sayings which We have quoted
in support of Our argument must be attentively considered, that
the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and
Daysprings of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex
the mind.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, 176–181.
When Bahá’u’lláh speaks as a man, the station He claims for Himself is
that of utter humility, of “annihilation in God.” What distinguishes the
Manifestation, in His human personality, from other men is the
completeness of His self-abnegation as well as the perfection of His
powers. Under all circumstances He is able to say, as did Jesus in the
Garden of Gethsemane, “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” Thus
in His epistle to the _Sh_áh, Bahá’u’lláh says:—
O king! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when
lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and
taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not
from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade
Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there
befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding
to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their
schools I entered not.... This is but a leaf which the winds of
the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised have stirred.
Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by
Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as
they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the
Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and
caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as
one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy
Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me. Can any one
speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high
and low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen
the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty,
the All-Powerful, hath strengthened.—Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán (Tablet to the
King of Persia), as quoted in The Promised Day Is Come, pp. 40–41.
As Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, so Bahá’u’lláh used sometimes to cook
food and perform other lowly offices for His followers. He was a servant
of the servants, and gloried only in servitude, content to sleep on a bare
floor if need be, to live on bread and water, or even, at times, on what
He called “the divine nourishment, that is to say, hunger!” His perfect
humility was seen in His profound reverence for nature, for human nature,
and especially for the saints, prophets and martyrs. To Him, all things
spoke of God, from the meanest to the greatest.
His human personality had been chosen by God to become the Divine
Mouthpiece and Pen. It was not of His own will that He had assumed this
position of unparalleled difficulty and hardship. As Jesus said: “Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” so Bahá’u’lláh said: “Had
another exponent or speaker been found, We would not have made Ourself an
object of censure, derision and calumnies on the part of the people”
(Tablet of I_sh_ráqát). But the divine call was clear and imperative and
He obeyed. God’s will became His will, and God’s pleasure, His pleasure;
and with “radiant acquiescence” He declared:—“Verily I say: Whatever
befalleth in the path of God is the beloved of the soul and the desire of
the heart. Deadly poison in His path is pure honey, and every tribulation
a draught of crystal water.”—Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 17.
At other times, as we have mentioned, Bahá’u’lláh speaks “from the station
of Deity.” In these utterances His human personality is so completely
subservient that it is left out of account altogether. Through Him God
addresses His creatures, proclaiming His love for them, teaching them His
attributes, making known His will, announcing His laws for their guidance
and pleading for their love, their allegiance and service.
In the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the utterance frequently changes from one
of these forms to another. Sometimes it is evidently the man who is
discoursing, then without a break the writing continues as if God were
speaking in the first person. Even when speaking as a man, however,
Bahá’u’lláh speaks as God’s messenger, as a living example of entire
devotion to God’s will. His whole life is actuated by the Holy Spirit.
Hence no hard and fast line can be drawn between the human and divine
elements in His life or teachings. God tells Him:—
Say: “Naught is seen in my temple but the Temple of God, and in my
beauty but His Beauty, and in my being but His Being, and in
myself but Himself, and in my movement but His Movement, and in my
acquiescence but His Acquiescence, and in my pen but His Pen, the
Precious, the Extolled.”
Say: “There hath not been in my soul but the Truth, and in myself
naught could be seen but God.”—Súratu’l-Haykal.
His Mission
Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the world is to bring about Unity—Unity of all
mankind in and through God. He says:—“Of the Tree of Knowledge the
All-glorious fruit is this exalted word: Of one Tree are all ye the fruits
and of one Bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this that he loves his
country, but let him rather glory in this that he loves his kind.”
Previous Prophets have heralded an age of peace on earth, goodwill among
men, and have given Their lives to hasten its advent, but each and all of
Them have plainly declared that this blessed consummation would be reached
only after the “Coming of the Lord” in the latter days, when the wicked
would be judged and righteous rewarded.
Zoroaster foretold three thousand years of conflict before the advent of
_Sh_áh Bahrám, the world-savior, Who would overcome Ahrmán the spirit of
evil, and establish a reign of righteousness and peace.
Moses foretold a long period of exile, persecution and oppression for the
children of Israel, before the Lord of Hosts would appear to gather them
from all the nations, to destroy the oppressors and establish His Kingdom
upon earth.
Christ said: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not
to send peace, but a sword” (Matt. x, 34), and He predicted a period of
wars and rumors of wars, of tribulations and afflictions that would
continue till the coming of the Son of Man “in the glory of the Father.”
Muḥammad declared that, because of their wrongdoings, Alláh had put enmity
and hatred among both Jews and Christians that would last until the Day of
Resurrection, when He would appear to judge them all.
Bahá’u’lláh, on the other hand, announces that He is the Promised One of
all these Prophets—the Divine Manifestation in Whose era the reign of
peace will actually be established. This statement is unprecedented and
unique, yet it fits in wonderfully with the signs of the times, and with
the prophecies of all the great Prophets. Bahá’u’lláh revealed with
incomparable clearness and comprehensiveness the means for bringing about
peace and unity amongst mankind.
It is true that, since the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, there have been, until
now, war and destruction on an unprecedented scale, but this is just what
all the prophets have said would happen at the dawn of the “great and
terrible Day of the Lord,” and is, therefore, but a confirmation of the
view that the “Coming of the Lord” is not only at hand, but is already an
accomplished fact. According to the parable of Christ, the Lord of the
Vineyard must miserably destroy the wicked husbandmen before He gives the
Vineyard to others who will render Him the fruits in their seasons. Does
not this mean that at the coming of the Lord dire destruction awaits those
despotic governments, avaricious and intolerant priests, mullás, or
tyrannical leaders who through the centuries have, like wicked husbandmen,
misruled the earth and misappropriated its fruits?
There may be terrible events, and unparalleled calamities yet awhile on
the earth, but Bahá’u’lláh assures us that erelong, these fruitless
strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’
shall come.” War and strife have become so intolerable in their
destructiveness that mankind must find deliverance from them or perish.
“The fullness of time” has come and with it the Promised Deliverer!
His Writings
The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh are most comprehensive in their range, dealing
with every phase of human life, individual and social, with things
material and things spiritual, with the interpretation of ancient and
modern scriptures, and with prophetic anticipations of both the near and
distant future.
The range and accuracy of His knowledge was amazing. He could quote and
expound the Scriptures of the various religions with which His
correspondents or questioners were familiar, in convincing and
authoritative manner, although apparently He had never had the ordinary
means of access to many of the books referred to. He declares, in Epistle
to the Son of the Wolf, that He had never read the Bayán, although in His
own Writings He shows the most perfect knowledge and understanding of the
Báb’s Revelation. (The Báb, as we have seen, declared that His Revelation,
the Bayán, was inspired by and emanated from “Him Whom God shall make
Manifest”!) With the single exception of a visit from Professor Edward
Granville Browne, to whom in the year 1890 He accorded four interviews,
each lasting twenty to thirty minutes, He had no opportunities of
intercourse with enlightened Western thinkers, yet His Writings show a
complete grasp of the social, political and religious problems of the
Western World, and even His enemies had to admit that His wisdom and
knowledge were incomparable. The well-known circumstances of His long
imprisonment render it impossible to doubt that the wealth of knowledge
shown in His Writings must have been acquired from some spiritual source,
quite independent of the usual means of study or instruction and the help
of books or teachers.(19)
Sometimes He wrote in modern Persian, the ordinary language of His fellow
countrymen, which is largely admixed with Arabic. At other times, as when
addressing learned Zoroastrians, He wrote in the purest classical Persian.
He also wrote with equal fluency in Arabic, sometimes in very simple
language, sometimes in classical style somewhat similar to that of the
Qur’án. His perfect mastery of these different languages and styles was
remarkable because of His entire lack of literary education.
In some of His Writings the way of holiness is pointed out in such simple
terms that “the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein”
(Isaiah xxv, 8). In others there is a wealth of poetic imagery, profound
philosophy and allusions to Muḥammadan, Zoroastrian and other scriptures,
or to Persian and Arabic literature and legends, such as only the poet,
the philosopher or the scholar can adequately appreciate. Still others
deal with advanced stages of the spiritual life and are to be understood
only by those who have already passed through the earlier stages. His
works are like a bountiful table provided with foods and delicacies suited
to the needs and tastes of all who are genuine truth seekers.
It is because of this that His Cause had effect among the learned and
culture, spiritual poets and well-known writers. Even some of the leaders
of the Súfís and of other sets, and some of the political ministers who
were writers, were attracted by His words, for they exceeded those of all
other writers in sweetness and depth of spiritual meaning.
The Bahá’í Spirit
From His place of confinement in distant Akká, Bahá’u’lláh stirred His
native land of Persia to its depths; and not only Persia; He stirred and
is stirring the world. The spirit that animated Him and His followers was
unfailingly gentle, courteous and patient, yet it was a force of
astonishing vitality and transcendent power. It achieved the seemingly
impossible. It changed human nature. Men who yielded to its influence
became new creatures. They were filled with a love, a faith, and
enthusiasm, compared with which earthly joys and sorrows were but as dust
in the balance. They were ready to face lifelong suffering or violent
death with perfect equanimity, nay, with radiant joy, in the strength of
fearless dependence on God.
Most wonderful of all, their hearts were so brimming over with the joy of
a new life as to leave no room for thoughts of bitterness or
vindictiveness against their oppressors. They entirely abandoned the use
of violence in self-defense, and instead of bemoaning their fate, they
considered themselves the most fortunate of men in being privileged to
receive this new and glorious Revelation and to spend their lives or shed
their blood testifying to its truth. Well might their hearts sing with
joy, for they believed that God, the Supreme, the Eternal, the Beloved,
had spoken to them through human lips, had called them to be His servants
and friends, had come to establish His Kingdom upon earth and to bring the
priceless boon of Peace to a warworn, strife-stricken world.
Such was the faith inspired by Bahá’u’lláh. He announced His own mission,
as the Báb had foretold that He would, and, thanks to the devoted labors
of His great Forerunner, there were thousands ready to acclaim His
Advent—thousands who had shaken off superstitions and prejudices, and were
waiting with pure hearts and open minds for the Manifestation of God’s
Promised Glory. Poverty and chains, sordid circumstances and outward
ignominy could not hide from them the Spiritual Glory of their Lord—nay,
these dark earthly surroundings only served to enhance the brilliance of
His real Splendor.
CHAPTER 4: ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ: THE SERVANT OF BAHÁ
When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is
ended, turn your faces towards Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath
branched from this Ancient Root.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
Birth and Childhood
Abbás Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (i.e.
Servant of Bahá), was the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh. He was born in Ṭihrán
before midnight on the eve of the 23rd of May, 1844,(20) the very same
night in which the Báb declared His mission.
He was nine years of age when His father, to Whom even then He was
devotedly attached, was thrown into the dungeon in Ṭihrán. A mob sacked
their house, and the family were stripped of their possessions and left in
destitution. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells how one day He was allowed to enter the
prison yard to see His beloved father when He came out for His daily
exercise. Bahá’u’lláh was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk,
His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure
of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains, and
the sight made a never- to-be-forgotten impression on the mind of the
sensitive boy.
During the first year of their residence in Ba_gh_dád, ten years before
the open Declaration by Bahá’u’lláh of His Mission, the keen insight of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who was then but nine years of age, already led Him to the
momentous discovery that His father was indeed the Promised One Whose
Manifestation all the Bábís were awaiting. Some sixty years afterwards He
thus described the moment in which this conviction suddenly overwhelmed
His whole nature:—
I am the servant of the Blessed Perfection. In Ba_gh_dád I was a
child. Then and there He announced to me the Word, and I believed
in Him. As soon as He proclaimed to me the Word, I threw myself at
His Holy Feet and implored and supplicated Him to accept my blood
as a sacrifice in His Pathway. Sacrifice! How sweet I find that
word! There is no greater Bounty for me than this! What greater
glory can I conceive than to see thick neck chained for His sake,
these feet fettered for His love, this body mutilated or thrown
into the depths of the sea for His Cause! If in reality we are His
sincere lovers—if in reality I am His sincere servant, then I must
sacrifice my life, my all at His Bless Threshold.—Diary of Mírzá
Aḥmad Sohrab, January 1914.
About this time He began to be called by His friends, “The Mystery of
God,” a title given to Him by Bahá’u’lláh, by which He was commonly known
during the period of residence in Ba_gh_dád.
When His father went away for two years in the wilderness, Abbás was
heartbroken. His chief consolation consisted in copying and committing to
memory the Tablets of the Báb, and much of His time was spent in solitary
meditation. When at last His father returned, the boy was overwhelmed with
joy.
Youth
From that time onwards, He became His father’s closest companion and, as
it were, protector. Although a mere youth, He already showed astonishing
sagacity and discrimination, and undertook the task of interviewing all
the numerous visitors who came to see His father. If He found they were
genuine truth seekers, He admitted them to His father’s presence, but
otherwise He did not permit them to trouble Bahá’u’lláh. On many occasions
He helped His father in answering the questions and solving the
difficulties of these visitors. For example, when of the Súfí leaders,
named ‘Alí _Sh_awkat Pá_sh_á, asked for an explanation of the phrase: “I
was a Hidden Mystery,” which occurs in a well-known Muḥammadan
tradition,(21) Bahá’u’lláh turned to the “Mystery of God,” Abbás, and
asked Him to write the explanation. The boy, who was then about fifteen or
sixteen years of age, at once wrote an important epistle giving an
exposition so illuminating as to astonish the Pá_sh_á. This epistle is now
widely spread among the Bahá’ís, and is well known to many outside the
Bahá’í faith.
About this time Abbás was a frequent visitor to the mosques, where He
would discuss theological matters with the doctors and learned men. He
never attended any school or college, His only teacher being His father.
His favorite recreation was horseback riding, which He keenly enjoyed.
After Bahá’u’lláh’s Declaration in the Garden outside Ba_gh_dád,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s devotion to His father became greater than ever. On the
long journey to Constantinople He guarded Bahá’u’lláh night and day,
riding by His wagon and watching near His tent. As far as possible He
relieved His father of all domestic cares and responsibilities, becoming
the mainstay and comfort of the entire family.
During the years spent in Adrianople, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá endeared Himself to
everyone. He taught much, and became generally known as the “Master.” At
Akká, when nearly all the party were ill with typhoid, malaria, and
dysentery, He washed the patients, nursed them, fed them, watched with
them, taking no rest, until utterly exhausted, He Himself took dysentery,
and for about a month remained in a dangerous condition. In Akká, as in
Adrianople, all classes, from the Governor to the most wretched beggar,
learned to love and respect Him.
Marriage
The following particulars regarding the marriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were
kindly supplied to the writer by a Persian historian of the Bahá’í Faith:—
During the youth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the question of a suitable
marriage for Him was naturally one of great interest to the
believers, and many people came forward, wishing to have this
crown of honor for their own family. For a long time, however,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá showed no inclination for marriage, and no one
understood the wisdom of this. Afterwards it became known that
there was a girl who was destined to become the wife of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, one whose birth came about through the Blessing
which the Báb gave to her parents in Iṣfáhán. Her father was Mírzá
Muḥammad ‘Alí, who was the uncle of the “King of Martyrs” and the
“Beloved of Martyrs,” and she belonged to one of the great and
noble families of Iṣfáhán. When the Báb was in Iṣfáhán, Mírzá
Muḥammad ‘Alí had no children, but his wife was longing for a
child. On hearing of this, the Báb gave him a portion of His food
and told him to share it with his wife. After they had eaten of
that food, it soon became apparent that their long-cherished hopes
of parenthood were about to be fulfilled, and in due course a
daughter was born to them, who was given the name of Munírih
_Kh_ánum.(22) Later on son was born, to whom they gave the name of
Siyyid Yaḥyá, and afterwards they had some other children. After a
time, Munírih’s father died, her cousins were martyred by
Zillu’s-Sulṭán and the mullás, and the family fell into great
troubles and bitter persecutions because of their being Bahá’ís.
Bahá’u’lláh then permitted Munírih and her brother Siyyid Yaḥyá to
come to Akká for protection. Bahá’u’lláh and His wife, Navváb, the
mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, showed such kindness and favor to Munírih
that others understood that they wished her to become the wife of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The wish of His father and mother became the wish of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, too. He had a warm feeling of love and affection for
Munírih which was fully reciprocated, and erelong they became
united in marriage.
The marriage proved exceedingly happy and harmonious. Of the children born
to them four daughters have survived the rigors of their long
imprisonment, and, through their beautiful lives of service, have endeared
themselves to all who have been privileged to know them.
Center of the Covenant
Bahá’u’lláh indicated in many ways the ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to direct the
Cause after His own ascension. Many years before His death He declared
this in a veiled manner in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas. He referred to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
on many occasions as “The Center of My Covenant,” “The Most Great Branch,”
“The Branch from the Ancient Root.” He habitually spoke of Him as “The
Master” and required all His family to treat Him with marked deference;
and in His Will and Testament He left explicit instructions that all
should turn to Him and obey Him.
After the death of the “Blessed Beauty” (as Bahá’u’lláh was generally
called by His family and believers) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá assumed the position
which His father had clearly indicated for Him as head of the Cause and
authoritative Interpreter of the teachings, but this was resented by
certain of His relatives and others, who became as bitterly opposed to
‘Abdu’l-Bahá as Subh-i-Azal had been to Bahá’u’lláh. They tried to stir up
dissensions among the believers, and, failing in that, proceeded to make
various false charges against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Turkish Government.
In accordance with instructions received from His father, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was
erecting a building on the side of Mount Carmel, above Haifa, which was
intended to be the permanent resting-place of the remains of the Báb, and
also to contain a number of rooms for meetings and services. They
represented to the authorities that this building was intended as a fort,
and that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His followers meant to entrench themselves
there, defy the Government, and endeavor to gain possession of the
neighboring region of Syria.
Strict Imprisonment Renewed
In consequence of this and other equally unfounded charges, in 1901,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His family, who for more than twenty years had been
allowed the freedom of the country for some miles around Akká, were again,
for over seven years, strictly confined within the walls of the prison
city. This did not prevent Him, however, from effectively spreading the
Bahá’í message through Asia, Europe and America. Mr. Horace Holley writes
of this period as follows:—
To ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as a teacher and friend, came men and women from
every race, religion and nation, to sit at his table like favored
guests, questioning him about the social, spiritual or moral
program each had most at heart; and after a stay lasting from a
few hours to many months, returning home, inspired, renewed and
enlightened. The world surely never possessed such a guest-house
as this.
Within its doors the rigid castes of India melted away, the racial
prejudice of Jew, Christian and Muḥammadan became less than a
memory; and every convention save the essential law of warm hearts
and aspiring minds broke down, banned and forbidden by the
unifying sympathy of the master of the house. It was like a King
Arthur and the Round Table ... but an Arthur who knighted women as
well as men, and sent them away not with the sword but with the
Word.—The Modern Social Religion, Horace Holley, p. 171.
During these years ‘Abdu’l-Bahá cared on an enormous correspondence with
believers and inquirers in all parts of the world. In this work He was
greatly assisted by His daughters and also by several interpreters and
secretaries.
Much of His time was spent in visiting the sick and the afflicted in their
own homes; and in the poorest quarters of Akká no visitor was more welcome
than the “Master.” A pilgrim who visited Akká at this time writes:—
It is the custom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá each week, on Friday morning, to
distribute alms to the poor. From his own scanty store he gives a
little to each one of the needy who come to ask assistance. This
morning about one hundred were ranged in line, seated and
crouching upon the ground in the open street of the courts where
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s house stands. And such a nondescript collection of
humanity they were. All kinds of men, women and children—poor,
wretched, hopeless in aspect, half-clothed, many of them crippled
and blind, beggars indeed, poor beyond expression—waiting
expectant—until from the doorway came ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.... Quickly
moving from one to another, stopping sometimes to leave a word of
sympathy and encouragement, dropping small coins into each eager
outstretched palm, touching the face of a child, taking the hand
of an old woman who held fast to the hem of his garment as he
passed along, speaking words of light to old men with sightless
eyes, inquiring after those too feeble and wretched to come for
their pittance of help, and sending them their portion with a
message of love and uplift.—Glimpses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, M. J. M., p.
13.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s personal wants were few. He worked late and early. Two
simple meals a day sufficed Him. His wardrobe consisted of a very few
garments of inexpensive material. He could not bear to live in luxury
while others were in want.
He had a great love for children, for flowers, and for the beauties of
nature. Every morning about six or seven, the family party used to gather
to partake of the morning tea together, and while the Master sipped His
tea, the little children of the household chanted prayers. Mr. Thornton
Chase writes of these children:—“Such children I have never seen, so
courteous, unselfish, thoughtful for others, unobtrusive, intelligent, and
swiftly self-denying in the little things that children love....”—In
Galilee, p. 51.
The “ministry of flowers” was a feature of the life at Akká, of which
every pilgrim brought away fragrant memories. Mrs. Lucas writes:—“When the
Master inhales the odor of flowers, it is wonderful to see him. It seems
as though the perfume of the hyacinths were telling him something as he
buries his face in the flowers. It is like the effort of the ear to hear a
beautiful harmony, a concentrated attention!”—A Brief Account of My Visit
to ‘Akká, pp. 25–26.
He loved to present beautiful and sweet-smelling flowers to His numerous
visitors.
Mr. Thornton Chase sums up his impression of the prison life at Akká as
follows:—
Five days we remained within those walls, prisoners with Him who
dwells in that “Greatest Prison.” It is a prison of peace, of love
and service. No wish, no desire is there save the good of mankind,
the peace of the world, the acknowledgement of the Fatherhood of
God and the mutual rights of men as His creatures, His children.
Indeed, the real prison, the suffocating atmosphere, the
separation from all true heart desires, the bond of world
conditions, is outside of those stone walls, while within them is
the freedom and pure aura of the Spirit of God. All troubles,
tumults, worries or anxieties for worldly things are barred out
there.—In Galilee, p. 24.
To most people the hardships of prison life would appear as grievous
calamities, but for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá they had no terrors. When in prison He
wrote:—
Grieve not because of my imprisonment and calamity; for this
prison is my beautiful garden, my mansioned paradise and my throne
of dominion among mankind. My calamity in my prison is a crown to
me in which I glory among the righteous.
Anyone can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health,
success, pleasure and joy; but if one be happy and contented in
the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, that is the
proof of nobility.
Turkish Commissions of Investigation
In 1904 and 1907 commissions were appointed by the Turkish Government to
inquire into the charges against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and lying witnesses gave
evidence against Him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, while refuting the charges, expressed
His entire readiness to submit to any sentence the tribunal chose to
impose. He declared that if they should throw Him into jail, drag Him
through the streets, curse Him, spit upon Him, stone Him, heap upon Him
all sort of ignominy, hang Him or shoot Him, He would still be happy.
Between the sittings of the Commissions of Investigation He pursued His
ordinary life with the utmost serenity, planting fruit trees in a garden
and presiding at a marriage feast with the dignity and radiance of
spiritual freedom. The Spanish Consul offered to provide Him a safe
passage to any foreign port He cared to select, but this offer He
gratefully but firmly refused, saying that whatever the consequences, He
must follow in the footsteps of the Báb and the Blessed Perfection, Who
never tried to save Themselves or run away from Their enemies. He
encouraged most of the Bahá’ís, however, to leave the neighborhood of
Akká, which had become very dangerous for them, and remained alone, with a
few of the faithful, to await His destiny.
The four corrupt officials who constituted the last investigating
commission arrived in Akká in the early part of the winter of 1907, stayed
one month, and departed for Constantinople, after finishing their
so-called “investigation,” prepared to report that the charges against
‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been substantiated and to recommend His exile or
execution. No sooner had they got back to Turkey, however, than the
Revolution broke out there and the four commissioners, who belonged to the
old regime, had to flee for their lives. The Young Turks established their
supremacy, and all political and religious prisoners in the Ottoman Empire
were set free. In September 1980 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was released was prison, and
in the following year ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd, the Sulṭán, became himself a
prisoner.
Western Tours
After His release, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued the same holy life of ceaseless
activity in teaching, correspondence, ministering to the poor and the
sick, with merely the change from Akká to Haifa and from Haifa to
Alexandria, until August 1911, when He started on His first visit to the
Western world. During His tours in the West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met men of every
shade of opinion and amply fulfilled the command of Bahá’u’lláh to
“Consort with all the people with joy and fragrance.” He reached London
early in September 1911, and spent a month there, during which, besides
daily talks with inquirers and many other activities, He addressed the
congregations of the Rev. R. J. Campbell at the City Temple, and of
Archdeacon Wilberforce at St. John’s, Westminster, and breakfasted with
the Lord Mayor. He then proceeded to Paris, where His time was occupied in
giving daily addresses and talks to eager listeners of many nationalities
and types. In December He returned to Egypt, and next spring, in response
to the earnest entreaty of the American friends, He proceeded to the
United States, arriving in New York in April 1912. During the next nine
months He traveled through America, from coast to coast, addressing all
sorts and conditions of men—university students, Socialists, Mormons,
Jews, Christians, Agnostics, Esperantists, Peace Societies, New Thought
Clubs, Women’s Suffrage Societies, and speaking in churches of almost
every denomination, in each case giving addresses suited to the audience
and the occasion. On December 5 He sailed for Great Britain, where He
passed six weeks, visiting Liverpool, London, Bristol and Edinburgh. In
Edinburgh He gave a notable address to the Esperanto Society, in which He
announced that He had encouraged the Bahá’ís of the East to study
Esperanto in order to further better understanding between the East and
the West. After two months in Paris, spent as before in daily interviews
and conference, He proceeded to Stuttgart, where He held a series of very
successful meetings with the German Bahá’ís; thence to Budapest and
Vienna, founding new groups in these places, returning, in May 1913, to
Egypt, and on December 5, 1913, to Haifa.
Return to Holy Land
He was then in His seventieth year, and His long and arduous labors,
culminating in these strenuous Western tours, had worn out His physical
frame. After His return He wrote the following pathetic Tablet to the
believers in East and West:—
Friends, the time is coming when I shall be no longer with you. I
have done all that could be done. I have served the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh to the utmost of my ability. I have labored night and
day all the years of my life.
Oh, how I long to see the believers shouldering the
responsibilities of the Cause! Now is the time to proclaim the
Kingdom of Abhá (i.e. The Most Glorious!). Now is the hour of
union and concord! Now is the day of the spiritual harmony of the
friends of God! ...
I am straining my ears toward the East and toward the West, toward
the North and toward the South, that haply I may hear the songs of
love and fellowship raised in the meetings of the believers. My
days are numbered, and save this there remains none other joy for
me.
Oh, how I yearn to see the friends united, even as a shining
strand of pearls, as the brilliant Pleiades, as the rays of the
sun, the gazelles of one meadow!
The mystic nightingale is singing for them; will they not listen?
The bird of paradise is warbling; will they not hear? The Angel of
the Kingdom of Abhá is calling to them; will they not hearken? The
Messenger of the Covenant is pleading; will they not heed?
Ah! I am waiting, waiting to hear the glad news that the believers
are the embodiment of sincerity and loyalty, the incarnation of
love and amity and the manifestation of unity and concord!
Will they not rejoice my heart? Will they not satisfy my
yearnings? Will they not heed my pleadings? will they not fulfill
my hopes? Will they not answer my call?
I am waiting, I am patiently waiting!
The enemies of the Bahá’í Cause, whose hopes had risen high when the Báb
fell a victim to their fury, when Bahá’u’lláh was driven from His native
land and made a prisoner for life, and again at the passing of
Bahá’u’lláh—these enemies once more took heart when they saw the physical
weakness and weariness of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after His return from His Western
travels. But again their hopes were doomed to disappointment. In a short
time ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was able to write:—
Unquestionably this physical body and human energy would have been
unable to stand the constant wear and tear...but the aid and help
of the Desired One were the Guardian and Protector of the weak and
humble ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.... Some have asserted that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is on
the eve of bidding his last farewell to the world, that his
physical energies are depleted and drained and that ere long these
complications will put an end to his life. This is far from the
truth. Although in the outward estimation of the Covenant-breakers
and defective-minded the body is weak on account of ordeals in the
Blessed Path, yet, Praise be to God! through the providence of the
Blessed Perfection the spiritual forces are in the utmost
rejuvenation and strength. Thanks be to God that now, through the
blessing and benediction of Bahá’u’lláh, even the physical
energies are fully restored, divine joy is obtained, the supreme
glad-tidings are resplendent and ideal happiness overflowing.
Both during the European War and after its close ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, amidst
countless other activities, was able to pour forth a series of great and
inspiring letters which, when communications were reopened, roused
believers throughout the world to new enthusiasm and zeal for service.
Under the inspiration of these letters the Cause progressed by leaps and
bounds and everywhere the Faith showed signs of new vitality and vigor.
War Time at Haifa
A remarkable instance of the foresight of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was supplied during
the months immediately preceding the war. During peacetimes there was
usually a large number of pilgrims at Haifa, from Persia and other regions
of the globe. About six months before the outbreak of war one of the old
Bahá’ís living at Haifa present a request from several believers of Persia
for permission to visit the Master. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not grant the
permission, and from that time onwards gradually dismissed the pilgrims
who were at Haifa, so that by the end of July 1914 none remained. When, in
the first days of August the sudden outbreak of the Great War startled the
world, the wisdom of His precaution became apparent.
When the war broke out, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who had already spent fifty-five
years of His life in exile and prison, became again virtually a prisoner
of the Turkish Government. Communication with friends and believers
outside Syria was almost completely cut off, and He and His little band of
followers were again subjected to straitened circumstances, scarcity of
food and great personal danger and inconvenience.
During the war ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had a busy time in ministering to the material
and spiritual wants of the people about Him. He personally organized
extensive agricultural operations near Tiberias, thus securing a great
supply of wheat, by means of which famine was averted, not only for the
Bahá’ís but for hundreds of the poor of all religions in Haifa and Akká,
whose wants He liberally supplied. He took care of all, and mitigated
their sufferings as far as possible. To hundreds of poor people He would
give a small sum of money daily. In addition to money He gave bread. If
there was no bread He would give dates or something else. He made frequent
visits to Akká to comfort and help the believers and poor people there.
During the time of war He had daily meetings of the believers, and through
His help the friends remained happy and tranquil throughout those
troublous years.
Sir ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Abbás, K.B.E.
Great was the rejoicing in Haifa when, on the 23rd day of September, 1918,
at 3 P.M., after some twenty-four hours’ fighting, the city was taken by
British and Indian cavalry, and the horrors of war conditions under the
Turkish rule came to an end.
From the beginning of the British occupation, large numbers of soldiers
and Government officials of all ranks, even the highest, sought interviews
with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, delighting in His illuminating talks, His breadth of
view and depth of insight, His dignified courtesy and genial hospitality.
So profoundly impressed were the Government representatives by His noble
character and His great work in the interests of peace conciliation, and
the true prosperity of the people, that a knighthood of the British Empire
was conferred on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the ceremony taking place in the garden of
the Military Governor of Haifa on the 27th day of April, 1920.
Last Years
During the winter of 1919–1920 the writer had the great privilege of
spending two and half months as the guest of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Haifa and
intimately observing His daily life. At that time, although nearly
seventy-six years of age, He was still remarkably vigorous, and
accomplished daily an almost incredible amount of work. Although often
very weary He showed wonderful powers of recuperation, and His services
were always at the disposal of those who needed them most. His unfailing
patience, gentleness, kindliness and tact made His presence like a
benediction. It was His custom to spend a large part of each night in
prayer and meditation. From early morning until evening, except for a
short siesta after lunch, He was busily engaged in reading and answering
letters from many lands and in attending to the multitudinous affairs of
the household and of the Cause. In the afternoon He usually had a little
relaxation in the form of a walk or a drive, but even then He was usually
accompanied by one or two, or a party, of pilgrims with whom He would
converse on spiritual matters, or He would find opportunity by the way of
seeing and ministering to some of the poor. After His return He would call
the friends to the usual evening meeting in His salon. Both at lunch and
supper He used to entertain a number of pilgrims and friends, and charm
His guests with happy and humorous stories as well as precious talks on a
great variety of subjects. “My home is the home of laughter and mirth,” He
declared, and indeed it was so. He delighted in gathering together people
of various races, colors, nations and religions in unity and cordial
friendship around His hospitable board. He was indeed a loving father not
only to the little community at Haifa, but to the Bahá’í community
throughout the world.
The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s manifold activities continued with little abatement despite
increasing bodily weakness and weariness up till the last day or two of
His life. On Friday, November 25, 1921, He attended the noonday prayer at
the Mosque in Haifa, and afterwards distributed alms to the poor with His
own hands, as was His wont. After lunch He dictated some letters. When He
had rested He walked in the garden and had a talk with the gardener. In
the evening He gave His blessing and counsel to a loved and faithful
servant of the household who had been married that day, and afterwards He
attended the usual meeting of the friends in His own salon. Less that
three days later, about 1:30 A.M. on Monday, November 28, He passed away
so peacefully that, to the two daughters watching by His bedside, it
seemed as if He had gone quietly to sleep.
The sad news soon spread throughout the town and was flashed over the
wires to all parts of the world. The next morning (Tuesday, November 29)
the funeral took place:
... a funeral the like of which Haifa, nay Palestine itself, had
surely never seen ... so deep was the feeling that brought so many
thousands of mourners together, representative of so many
religions, races and tongues.
The High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel, the Governor or
Jerusalem, the Governor of Phoenicia, the Chief Officials of the
Government, the Consuls of the various countries, resident in
Haifa, the heads of the various religious communities, the
notables of Palestine, Jews, Christians, Moslems, Druses,
Egyptians, Greeks, Turks, Kurds, and a host of his American,
European and native friends, men, women and children, both of high
and low degree ... all, about ten thousand in number, mourning the
loss of their Beloved One....
“O God, my God!” the people wailed with one accord, “Our father
has left us, our father has left us!” ... they slowly wended their
way up Mount Carmel, the Vineyard of God.... After two hours’
walking, they reached the garden of the Tomb of the Báb.... As the
vast concourse pressed round ... representatives of the various
denominations, Moslems, Christians and Jews, all hearts being
ablaze with fervent love of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, some on the impulse of
the moment, other prepared, raised their voices in eulogy and
regret, paying their last homage of farewell to their loved one.
So united were they in their acclamation of him, as the wise
educator and reconciler of the human race in this perplexed and
sorrowful age, that there seemed to be nothing left for the
Bahá’ís to say.—The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, by Lady Blomfield and
Shoghi Effendi, pp. 11, 12.
Nine speakers, all of them prominent representatives of the Muslim,
Christian and Jewish communities, bore eloquent and moving witness to
their love and admiration of the pure and noble life which had just drawn
to its close. Then the casket was slowly passed to its simple and hallowed
resting-place.
Surely here was a fitting tribute to the memory of One Who had labored all
His life for unity of religions, of races, of tongues—a tribute, and also
a proof, that His lifework had not been in vain, that the ideals of
Bahá’u’lláh, which were His inspiration, nay, His very life, were already
beginning to permeate the world and to break down the barriers of sect and
caste that for centuries had alienated Muslim, Christian, Jew, and the
other diverse factions into which the human family has been riven.
Writings and Addresses
The Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are very numerous and are mostly in the form
of letter to believers and inquirers. A great many of His talks and
addresses have also been recorded and many have been published. Of the
thousands of pilgrims who have visited Him at Akká and Haifa a large
number have written descriptions of their impressions, and many of these
records are now available in printed form.
His teachings are thus very completely preserved, and they cover a very
wide range of subjects. With many of the problems of both East and West He
dealt more fully than His Father had done, giving more detailed
applications of the general principles laid down by Bahá’u’lláh. A number
of His Writings have not yet been translated into any Western language but
enough is already available to give deep and full knowledge of the more
important principles of His teaching.
He spoke Persian, Arabic and Turkish. In His Western tours His talks and
addresses were always interpreted, obviously losing much of their beauty,
eloquence and force in the process, yet such was the power of the Spirit
which accompanied His words that all who heard Him were impressed.
Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
The unique station assigned to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by the Blessed Perfection is
indicated in the following passage written by the latter:—“When the ocean
of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn
your faces towards Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this
Ancient Root.” And again:—“ ... refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in
the Book to Him Who hath branched from this mighty Stock.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Himself wrote the following:—“In accordance with the explicit text of the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh hath made the Center of the Covenant the
Interpreter of His Word—a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the
beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation hath
produced its like.”
The very completeness of the servitude with which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá promulgated
the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in East and West resulted at times in a confusion
of belief concerning His station on the part of believers. Realizing the
purity of the spirit animating His word and deed, surrounded by religious
influences marking the breakdown of their traditional doctrines, a number
of Bahá’ís felt that they honored ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by likening Him to a
Manifestation, or hailing Him as the “return of Christ.” Nothing caused
Him such intense grief as this failure to perceive that His capacity to
serve Bahá’u’lláh proceeded from the purity of the mirror turned to the
Sun of Truth, and not from the Sun itself.
Moreover, unlike previous Dispensations, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh had
within it the potency of a universal human society. During ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
mission covering the period 1892 to 1921, the Faith evolved through
successive stages of development in the direction of a true world order,
Its development required continuous direction and specific instruction
from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who alone knew the fullness of that new potent
inspiration brought to earth in this age. Until His own Will and Testament
was revealed after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s departure from the flesh, and its
significance was expounded by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith,
the Bahá’ís almost inevitably attributed their beloved Master’s guidance a
degree of spiritual authority equaling that of the Manifestation.
The effects of such naive enthusiasm are no longer felt within the Bahá’í
community, but with a sounder realization of the mystery of that
incomparably devotion and servitude, the Bahá’ís can today all the more
consciously appreciate the unique character of the mission which
‘Abdu’l-Bahá fulfilled. The Faith which in 1892 seemed so weak and
helpless in the physical exile and imprisonment of its Exemplar and
Interpreter, has since, with irresistible power, raised up communities in
many countries,(23) and challenges the weakness of a decaying civilization
with a body of teachings that alone reveal the future of a despairing
humanity.
The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá itself set forth with complete
clarity the mystery of the stations of the Báb and of Bahá’u’lláh, and His
own mission:—
This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my
life be offered up for them): “His Holiness, the Exalted One (the
Báb), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the
Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá Beauty
(may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the
Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine
Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.”
By this statement, and by numerous others in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized
the importance of basing one’s knowledge of the Faith upon His general
Tablets, a foundation for unity of belief was established, with the result
that the differences of understanding caused by reference to His Tablets
to individuals, in which the Master answered personal questions, rapidly
disappeared. Above all, the establishment of a definite administrative
order, with the Guardian at its head, transferred to institutions all
authority previously wielded in the form of prestige and influence by
individual Bahá’ís in the various local groups.
Exemplar of Bahá’í Life
Bahá’u’lláh was preeminently the Revealer of the Word. His forty years’
imprisonment gave Him but limited opportunities of intercourse with His
fellowmen. To ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, therefore, fell the important task of becoming
the exponent of the Revelation, the Doer of the Word, the Great Exemplar
of the Bahá’í life in actual contact with the world of today, in the most
diverse phases of its myriad activities. He showed that it is still
possible, amid the whirl and rush of modern life, amid the self-love and
struggle for material prosperity that everywhere prevail, to live the life
of entire devotion to God and to the service of one’s fellows, which
Christ and Bahá’u’lláh and all the Prophets have demanded of men. Through
trial and vicissitudes, calumnies, and treachery on the one hand, and
through love and praise, devotion and veneration on the other, He stood
like a lighthouse founded on a rock, around which wintry tempests rage and
the summer ocean plays, His poise and serenity remaining ever steadfast
and unshaken. He lived the life of faith, and calls on His followers to
live it here and now. He raised amid a warring world the Banner of Unity
and Peace, the Standard of a New Era, and He assures those who rally to
its support that they shall be inspired by the Spirit of the New Day. It
is the same Holy Spirit which inspired the Prophets and Saints of old, but
it is a new outpouring of that Spirit, suited to the needs of the new
time.
CHAPTER 5: WHAT IS A BAHÁ’Í
Man must show forth fruits. A fruitless man, in the words of His Holiness
the Spirit (i.e. Christ), is like a fruitless tree, and a fruitless tree
is fit for fire.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Words of Paradise.
Herbert Spencer once remarked that by no political alchemy is it possible
to get golden conduct out of leaden instincts, and it is equally true that
by no political alchemy is it possible to make a golden society out of
leaden individuals. Bahá’u’lláh, like all previous Prophets, proclaimed
this truth and taught that in order to establish the Kingdom of God in the
world, it must first be established in the hearts of men. In examining the
Bahá’í teachings, therefore, we shall commence with the instructions of
Bahá’u’lláh for individual conduct, and try to form a clear picture of
what it means to be a Bahá’í.
Living the Life
When asked on one occasion: “What is a Bahá’í?” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied: “To
be a Bahá’í simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try
to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.” On
another occasion He defined a Bahá’í as “one endowed with all the
perfections of man in activity.” In one of His London talks He said that a
man may be a Bahá’í even if He has never heard the name of Bahá’u’lláh. He
added:—
The man who lives the life according to the teachings of
Bahá’u’lláh is already a Bahá’í. On the other hand, a man may call
himself a Bahá’í for fifty years, and if he does not live the life
he is not a Bahá’í. An ugly man may call himself handsome, but he
deceives no one, and a black man may call himself white, yet he
deceives no one, not even himself.
One who does not know God’s Messengers, however, is like a plant growing
in the shade. Although it knows not the sun, it is, nevertheless,
absolutely dependent on it. The great Prophets are spirits suns, and
Bahá’u’lláh is the sun of this “day” in which we live. The suns of former
days have warmed and vivified the world, and had those suns not shone, the
earth would not be cold and dead, but it is the sunshine of today that
alone can ripen the fruits which the suns of former days have kissed into
life.
Devotion to God
In order to attain to the Bahá’í life in all its fullness, conscious and
direct relations with Bahá’u’lláh are as necessary as is sunshine for the
unfolding of the lily or the rose. The Bahá’í worships not the human
personality of Bahá’u’lláh, but the Glory of God manifest through that
personality. He reverences Christ and Muḥammad and all God’s former
Messengers to mankind, but he recognizes Bahá’u’lláh as the bearer of
God’s Message for the new age in which we live, as the Great World teacher
Who has come to carry on and consummate the work of His predecessors.
Intellectual assent to a creed does not make a man a Bahá’í, nor does
outward rectitude of conduct. Bahá’u’lláh requires of His followers
wholehearted and complete devotion. God alone has the right to make such a
demand, but Bahá’u’lláh speaks as the Manifestation of God, and the
Revealer of His Will. Previous Manifestations have been equally clear on
this point. Christ said: “If any man come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same
shall save it.” In different words, all the Divine Manifestations have
made this same demand from Their followers, and the history of religion
shows clearly that as long as the demand has been frankly recognized and
accepted, religion has flourished, despite all earthly opposition, despite
affliction, persecution and martyrdom of the believers. On the other hand,
whenever compromise has crept in, and “respectability” has taken the place
of complete consecration, then religion has decayed. It has become
fashionable, but it has lost its power to save and transform, its power to
work miracles. True religion has never yet been fashionable. God grant
that one day it may become so; but it is still true, as in the days of
Christ, that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it.” The gateway of spiritual birth,
like the gateway of natural birth, admits men only one by one, and without
encumbrances. If, in the future, more people succeed in entering that way
than in the past, it will not be because of any widening of the gate, but
because of a greater disposition on the part of men to make the “great
surrender” which God demands; because long and bitter experience has at
last brought them to see the folly of choosing their own way instead of
God’s way.
Search After Truth
Bahá’u’lláh enjoins justice on all His followers and defines it as:—“The
freedom of man from superstition and imitation, so that he may discern the
Manifestations of God with the eyes of Oneness, and consider all affairs
with keen sight.”—Words of Wisdom.
It is necessary that each individual should see and realize for himself
the Glory of God manifest in the human temple of Bahá’u’lláh, otherwise
the Bahá’í faith would be for him but a name without meaning. The call of
the Prophets to mankind has always been that men should open their eyes,
not shut them, use their reason, not suppress it. It is clear seeing and
free thinking, not servile credulity, that will enable them to penetrate
the clouds of prejudice, to shake off the fetters of blind imitation, and
attain to the realization of the truth of a new Revelation.
He who would be a Bahá’í needs to be a fearless seeker after truth, but he
should not confine his search to the material plane. His spiritual
perceptive powers should be awake as well as his physical. He should use
all the faculties God has given him for the acquisition of truth,
believing nothing without valid and sufficient reason. If his heart is
pure, and his mind free from prejudice, the earnest seeker will not fail
to recognize the Divine Glory in whatsoever temple it may become manifest.
Bahá’u’lláh further declares:—
Man should know his own self, and know those things that lead to
loftiness or to baseness, to shame or to honor, to wealth or to
poverty.—Tablet of Tarazát.
The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His
Glory! and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of
His divine Manifestation.—Words of Wisdom.
The Manifestation is the Perfect Man, the great Exemplar for Mankind, the
First Fruit of the tree of humanity. Until we know Him we do not know the
latent possibilities within ourselves. Christ tells us to consider the
lilies how they grow, and declares that Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. The lily grows from a very unattractive-looking
bulb. If we had never seen a lily in bloom, never gazed on its matchless
grace of foliage and flower, how could we know the reality contained in
that bulb? We might dissect it most carefully and examine it most
minutely, but we should never discover the dormant beauty which the
gardener knows how to awaken. So until we have seen the Glory of God
revealed in the Manifestation, we can have no idea of the spiritual beauty
latent in our own nature and in that of our fellows. By knowing and loving
the Manifestation of God and following His teachings we are enabled,
little by little, to realize the potential perfections within ourselves;
then, and not till then, does the meaning and purpose of life and of the
universe become apparent to us.
Love of God
To know the Manifestation of God means also to love Him. One is impossible
without the other. According to Bahá’u’lláh, the purpose of man’s creation
is that he may know God and adore Him. He says in one of His Tablets:—
The cause of the creation of all contingent beings has been love,
as it is said in the well-known tradition, “I was a hidden
treasure and I loved to be known. Therefore I created the creation
in order to be known.”
And in the Hidden Words He says:—
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.
O Son of the Wondrous Vision!
I have breathed within thee a breath of My own Spirit, that thou
mayest be My lover. Why hast thou forsaken Me and sought a beloved
other than Me?
To be God’s lover! That is the sole object of life for the Bahá’í. To have
God as his closest companion and most intimate friend, his Peerless
Beloved, in Whose Presence is fullness of joy! And to love God means to
love everything and everybody, for all are of God. The real Bahá’í will be
the perfect lover. He will love everyone with a pure heart, fervently. He
will hate no one. He will despise no one, for he will have learned to see
the Face of the Beloved in every face, and to find His traces everywhere.
His love will know no limit of sect, nation, class or race. Bahá’u’lláh
says:—“Of old it hath been revealed: ‘Love of one’s country is an element
of the Faith of God.’ The Tongue of Grandeur hath ... in the day of His
manifestation proclaimed: ‘It is not his to boast who loveth his country,
but it is his who loveth the world.’”—Tablet of the World. And
again:—“Blessed is he who prefers his brother before himself; such an one
is of the people of Bahá.”—Words of Paradise.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us we must be “as one soul in many bodies, for the more
we love each other, the nearer we shall be to God.” To an American
audience He said:—
Likewise the divine religions of the holy Manifestations of God
are in reality one though in name and nomenclature they differ.
Man must be a lover of the light no matter from what day-spring it
may appear. He must be a lover of the rose no matter what soil it
may be growing. He must be a seeker of the truth no matter from
what source it come. Attachment to the lantern is not loving the
light. Attachment to the earth is not befitting but enjoyment of
the rose which develops from the soil is worthy. Devotion to the
tree is profitless but partaking of the fruit is beneficial.
Luscious fruits no matter upon what tree they grow or where they
may be found must be enjoyed. The word of truth no matter which
tongue utters it must be sanctioned. Absolute verities no matter
in what book they be recorded must be accepted. If we harbor
prejudice it will be the cause of deprivation and ignorance. The
strife between religions, nations and races arises from
misunderstanding. If we investigate the religions to discover the
principles underlying their foundations we will find they agree,
for the fundamental reality of them is one and not multiple. By
this means the religionists of the world will reach their point of
unity and reconciliation.
Again He says:—
Every soul of the beloved ones must love the others and withhold
not his possessions and life from them, and by all means he must
endeavor to make the other joyous and happy. But these others must
also be disinterested and self-sacrificing. Thus may this Sunrise
flood the horizons, this Melody gladden and make happy all the
people, this divine Remedy become the panacea for every disease,
this Spirit of Truth become the cause of life for every soul.
Severance
Devotion to God implies also severance from everything that is not of God,
severance, that is, from all selfish and worldly, and ever other-worldly
desires. The path of God may lie through riches or poverty, health or
sickness, through palace or dungeon, rose garden or torture chamber.
Whichever it be, the Bahá’í will learn to accept his lot with “radiant
acquiescence.” Severance does not mean stolid indifference to one’s
surroundings or passive resignation to evil conditions; nor does it mean
despising the good things which God has created. The true Bahá’í will not
be callous, nor apathetic nor ascetic. He will find abundant interest,
abundant work and abundant joy in the Path of God, but he will not deviate
one hair’s breadth from that path in pursuit of pleasure nor hanker after
anything that God has denied him. When a man becomes a Bahá’í, God’s Will
becomes his will, for to be at variance with God is the one thing he
cannot endure. In the path of God no errors can appall, no troubles dismay
him. The light of love irradiates his darkest days, transmutes suffering
into joy, and martyrdom itself into an ecstasy of bliss. Life is lifted to
the heroic plane and death becomes a glad adventure. Bahá’u’lláh says:—
He that hath in his heart even less than a mustard seed of love
for anything beside Me, verily he cannot enter My
Kingdom.—Súratu’l-Haykal
O Son of Man!
If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My
pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I
may eternally live in thee.
O My Servant!
Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul
from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to
thee no more.—The Hidden Words.
Obedience
Devotion to God involves implicit obedience to His revealed Commands even
when the reason for these Commands is not understood. The sailor
implicitly obeys his captain’s orders, even when he does not know the
reason for them, but his acceptance of authority is not blind. He knows
full well that the captain has served a thorough probation, and given
ample proofs of competence as a navigator. Were it not so, he would be
foolish indeed to serve under him. So the Bahá’í must implicitly obey the
Captain of his Salvation, but he will be foolish indeed if he has not
first ascertained that this Captain has given ample proofs of
trustworthiness. Having received such proofs, however, to refuse obedience
would be even greater folly, for only by intelligent and open-eyed
obedience to the wise master can we reap the benefits of his wisdom, and
acquire this wisdom for ourselves. Be the captain never so wise, if none
of the crew obey him how shall the ship reach its port or the sailors
learn the art of navigation? Christ clearly pointed out that obedience is
the path of knowledge. He said:—“My doctrine is not mine, but his that
sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”—St. John vii, 16–17.
So Bahá’u’lláh says: “Faith in God, and the knowledge of Him, cannot be
fully attained except ... by practicing all that He hath commanded and all
that is revealed in the Book from the Pen of Glory.”—Tablet of Tajallíyát.
Implicit obedience is not a popular virtue in these democratic days, and
indeed entire submission to the will of any mere man would be disastrous.
But the Unity of Humanity can be attained only by complete harmony of each
and all with the Divine will. Unless that Will be clearly revealed, and
men abandon all other leaders and obey the Divine Messenger, then conflict
and strife will go on, and men will continue to oppose each other, to
devote a large part of their energy to frustrating the efforts of their
brother men, instead of working harmoniously together for the Glory of God
and the common good.
Service
Devotion to God implies a life of service to our fellow- creatures. We can
be of service to God in no other way. If we turn our backs on our
fellowmen, we are turning our backs upon God. Christ said, “Inasmuch as ye
did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.” So
Bahá’u’lláh says:—“O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy,
forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will
profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou
for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”—Words of Paradise.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
In the Bahá’í Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are counted as
worship. The man who makes a piece of note- paper to the best of
his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on
perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and
exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is
worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to
do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to
minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A
physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from
prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, is
giving praise.
Teaching
The real Bahá’í will not only believe in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, but
find in them the guide and inspiration of his whole life and joyfully
impart to others the knowledge that is the wellspring of his own being.
Only thus will he receive in full measure “the power and confirmation of
the Spirit.” All cannot be eloquent speakers or ready writers, but all can
teach by “living the life.” Bahá’u’lláh says:—
The people of Bahá must serve the Lord with wisdom, teach others
by their lives, and manifest the light of God in their deeds. The
effect of deed is in truth more powerful than that of words.—Words
of Paradise
The Bahá’í will, however, on no account force his ideas on those who do
not wish to hear them. He will attract people to the Kingdom of God, not
try to drive them into it. He will be like the good shepherd who leads his
flock, and charms the sheep by his music, rather than like the one who,
from behind, urges them on with dog and stick.
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Hidden Words:—
O Son of Dust!
The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing,
even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he findeth
a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his
heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved. Wherefore
sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the
heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom
spring from the heart and not from mire and clay.
Again He says, in the Tablet of I_sh_ráqát:—
O people of Bahá! Ye are the dawning-places of the Love and
daysprings of the Favor of God. Defile not your tongues with
cursing or execrating anyone, and guard your eyes from that which
is not worthy. Show forth that which ye possess (i.e. Truth). If
it be accepted, the aim is attained. If not, to rebuke or
interfere with him who rejects is vain. Leave him to himself, and
advance towards God, the Protector, the Self-Subsistent. Be not
the cause of sorrow, how much less of sedition and strife! It is
hoped that ye may be nurtured in the shade of the tree of Divine
Bounty and act as God has willed for you. Ye are all leaves of one
tree and drops of one sea.
Courtesy and Reverence
Bahá’u’lláh says:—
O people of God! I exhort you to courtesy. Courtesy is indeed ...
the lord of all virtues. Blessed is he who is adorned with the
mantle of Uprightness and illumined with the light of Courtesy. He
who is endowed with Courtesy (or Reverence) is endowed with a
great station. It is hoped that this Wronged One, and all, will
attain to it, hold unto it and observe it. This is the Irrefutable
Command which hath flowed from the pen of the Greatest
Name.—Tablet of the World.
Again and again He repeats:—“Let all the nations of the world consort with
each other with joy and fragrance. Consort ye, O people, with the people
of all religions with joy and fragrance.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says in a letter to the Bahá’ís of America:—
Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye hurt any soul!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye deal unkindly toward any person!
Beware! Beware! Lest ye be the cause of hopelessness to any
creature!
Should one become the cause of grief to any one heart, or of
despondency to any one soul, it were better to hide oneself in the
lowest depths of the earth than to walk upon the earth.
He teaches that as the flower is hidden in the bud, so a spirit from God
dwells in the heart of every man, no matter how hard and unlovely his
exterior. The true Bahá’í will treat every man, therefore, as the gardener
tends a rare and beautiful plant. He knows that no impatient interference
on his part can open the bud into a blossom; only God’s sunshine can do
that, therefore his aim is to bring that life-giving sunshine into all
darkened hearts and homes.
Again, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is one requiring man, under all
conditions and circumstances, to be forgiving, to love his enemy
and to consider an ill-wisher as a well-wisher. Not that one
should consider another as an enemy and then put up with him ...
and be forbearing toward him. This is hypocrisy and not real love.
Nay, rather, you must see your enemies as friends, your
ill-wishers as well-wishers and treat them accordingly. Your love
and kindness must be real ... not merely forbearance, for
forbearance, if not of the heart, is hypocrisy.
Such counsel appears unintelligible and self-contradictory until we
realize that while the outer carnal man may be a hater and ill-wisher,
there is in everyone an inner, spiritual nature which is the real man,
from whom only love and goodwill can proceed. It is to this real, inner
man in each of our neighbors that we must direct our thought and love.
When he awakens into activity, the outer man will be transformed and
renewed.
The Sin-covering Eye
On no subject are the Bahá’í teaching more imperative and uncompromising
than on the requirement to abstain from faultfinding. Christ spoke very
strongly on the same subject, but it has now become usual to regard the
Sermon on the Mount as embodying “Counsels of Perfection” which the
ordinary Christian cannot be expected to live up to. Both Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá are at great pains to make it clear that on this subject They
mean all They say. We read in the Hidden Words:—
O Son of Man!
Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a
sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst
thou be, and to this I bear witness.
O Son of Being!
Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed
to thee, and say not that which thou doest not. This is My command
unto thee, do thou observe it.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us:—
To be silent concerning the faults of others, to pray for them,
and to help them, through kindness, to correct their faults.
To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a man has ten
good qualities and one bad one, to look at the ten and forget the
one; and if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look
at the one and forget the ten.
Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word about another,
even though that other be our enemy.
To an American friend He writes:—
The worst human quality and the most great sin is backbiting, more
especially when it emanates from the tongues of the believers of
God. If some means were devised so that the doors of backbiting
could be shut eternally, and each one of the believers of God
unsealed his lips in praise of others, then the teachings of His
Holiness Bahá’u’lláh would be spread, the hearts illumined, the
spirits glorified, and the human world would attain to everlasting
felicity.
Humility
While we are commanded to overlook the faults of others, and see their
virtues, we are commanded, on the other hand, to find out our own faults
and take no account of our virtues. Bahá’u’lláh says in the Hidden Words:—
O Son of Being!
How couldst thou forge thine own faults and busy thyself with the
faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me.
O Emigrants!
The tongue I have designed for the mention of Me, defile it not
with detraction. If the fire of self overcome you, remember your
own faults and not the faults of My creatures, inasmuch as every
one of you knoweth his own self better than he knoweth others.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Let your life be an emanation of the Kingdom of Christ. He came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister.... In the religion of
Bahá’u’lláh all are servants and maidservants, brothers and
sisters. As soon as one feels a little better than, a little
superior to, the rest, he is in a dangerous position, and unless
he casts away the seed of such an evil thought, he is not a fit
instrument for the service of the Kingdom.
Dissatisfaction with oneself is a sign of progress. The soul who
is satisfied with himself is the manifestation of Satan, and the
one who is not contented with himself is the manifestation of the
Merciful. If a person has a thousand good qualities he must not
look at them; nay, rather he must strive to find out his own
defects and imperfections....However much a man may progress, yet
he is imperfect, because there is always a point ahead of him. No
sooner does he look up towards that point than he become
dissatisfied with his own condition, and aspires to attain to
that. Praising one’s own self is the sign of selfishness.—Diary of
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohrab, 1914.
Although we are commanded to recognize and sincerely repent of our sins,
the practice of confession to priests and others is definitely forbidden.
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Glad Tidings:—
The sinner, when his heart is free from all save God, must seek
forgiveness from God alone. Confession before the servants (i.e.
before men) is not permissible, for it is not the means or the
cause of Divine Forgiveness. Such confession before the creatures
leads to one’s humiliation and abasement, and God—exalted by His
Glory—does not wish for the humiliation of His servants. Verily He
is Compassionate and Beneficent. The sinner must, between himself
and God, beg for mercy from the Sea of Mercy and implore pardon
from the Heaven of Forgiveness.
Truthfulness and Honesty
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablet of Tarazát:—
Verily, Honesty is the door of tranquillity to all in the world,
and the sign of glory from the presence of the Merciful One.
Whosoever attains thereto has attained to treasures of wealth and
affluence. Honesty is the greatest door to the security and
tranquillity of mankind. The stability of every affair always
depends on it, and the worlds of honor, glory and affluence are
illumined by its light....
O people of Bahá! Honesty is the best garment for your temples and
the most splendid crown for your heads. Adhere thereto by the
Command of the Omnipotent Commander.
Again He says:—“The principle of faith is to lessen words and to increase
deeds. He who words exceed his acts, know verily, that his nonbeing is
better than his being, his death better than his life.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Truthfulness is the foundation of all the virtues of mankind.
Without truthfulness, progress and success in all of the worlds
are impossible for a soul. When this holy attribute is established
in man, all the other divine qualities will also become realized.
Let the light of truth and honesty shine from your faces so that
all may know that your word, in business or pleasure, is a word to
trust and be sure of. Forget self and work for the whole. (Message
to the London Bahá’ís, October 1911).
Self-Realization
Bahá’u’lláh constantly urges men to realize and give full expression to
the perfections latent within them—the true inner self as distinguished
from the limited outer self, which at best is but the temple, and too
often is the prison of the real man. In the Hidden Words He says:—
O Son of Being!
With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of
strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence
of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My
work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor
have a doubt thereof.
O Son of Spirit!
I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?
Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the
essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou
enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I
molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy
sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee,
mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
O My Servant!
Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness
of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer’s knowledge.
Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy
worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.
O My Friend!
Thou art the day-star of the heavens of My holiness, let not the
defilement of the world eclipse thy splendor. Rend asunder the
veil of heedlessness, that from behind the clouds thou mayest
emerge resplendent and array all things with the apparel of life.
The life to which Bahá’u’lláh calls His followers is surely one of such
nobility that in all the vast range of human possibility there is nothing
more lofty or beautiful to which man could aspire. Realization of the
spiritual self in ourselves means realization of the sublime truth that we
are from God and to Him shall we return. This return to God is the
glorious goal of the Bahá’í; but to attain this goal the only path is that
of obedience to His chosen Messengers, and especially to His Messenger for
the time in which we live, Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet of the New Era.
CHAPTER 6: PRAYER
Prayer is a ladder by which everyone may ascend to Heaven.—MUḤAMMAD.
Conversation with God
“Prayer,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “is conversation with God.” In order that God
may make known His Mind and Will to men, He must speak to them in a
language which they can understand, and this He does by the mouths of His
Holy Prophets. While these Prophets are alive in the body They speak with
men face to face and convey to them the Message of God, and after Their
death Their message continues to reach men’s minds through Their recorded
sayings and writings. But this is not the only way in which God can
commune with and inspire those whose hearts are seeking after truth,
wherever they are, and whatever their native race or tongue. By this
language the Manifestation continues to hold converse with the faithful
after His departure from the material world. Christ continued to converse
with and inspire His disciples after His crucifixion. In fact He
influenced them more powerfully than before; and with other Prophets it
has been the same. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá speaks much of this spiritual language. He
says, for instance:—
We should speak in the language of heaven—in the language of the
spirit—for there is a language of the spirit and heart. It is as
different from our language as our own language is different from
that of the animals, who express themselves only by cries and
sounds.
It is the language of the spirit which speaks to God. When, in
prayer, we are freed from all outward things and turn to God, then
it is as if in our hearts we hear the voice of God. Without words
we speak, we communicate, we converse with God and hear the
answer.... All of us, when we attain to a truly spiritual
condition, can hear the Voice of God. (from a talk reported by
Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg).
Bahá’u’lláh declares that the higher spiritual truths can be communicated
only by means of this spiritual language. The spoken or written word is
quite inadequate. In a little book called The Seven Valleys, in which He
describes the journey of travelers from the earthly dwelling to the Divine
Home, He says, in speaking of the more advanced stages of the journey:—
The tongue is unable to give an account of these, and utterance
falls exceedingly short. The pen is useless in this court, and the
ink gives no result but blackness.... Heart alone can communicate
to heart the state of the knower; this is not the work of a
messenger, nor can it be contained in letters.
The Devotional Attitude
In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation
with God becomes possible, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from
all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God
alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to
that condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can
attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and
more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer
we are to the other. The choice is ours.
Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so that
we can see the signs and traces of God’s spirit in everything.
Everything can reflect to us the light of the Spirit. (from a talk
reported by Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg).
Bahá’u’lláh has written:—“That seeker ... at the dawn of every day ...
should commune with God, and, with all his soul, persevere in the quest of
his Beloved. He should consume every wayward thought from the flame of His
loving mention. ...”—Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 265.
In the same way, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declares:—
When man allows the spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his
understanding, then does he contain all creation.... But on the
other hand, when man does not open his mind and heart to the
blessing of the spirit, but turns his soul towards the material
side, towards the bodily part of his nature, then his he fallen
from his high place and he becomes inferior to the inhabitants of
the lower animal kingdom.
Again, Bahá’u’lláh writes:—
Deliver your souls, O people, from the bondage of self, and purify
them from all attachment to anything besides Me. Remembrance of Me
cleanseth all things from defilement, could ye but perceive it....
Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by
thee, ... that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own
soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the
privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering
angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the
words uttered by his mouth....—Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 294–295.
Necessity for a Mediator
According to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:—
A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator—one who
receives the full light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it
over the human world, as the earth’s atmosphere receives and
diffuses the warmth of the sun’s rays.
If we wish to pray, we must have some object on which to
concentrate. If we turn to God, we must direct our hearts to a
certain center. If man worships God otherwise than through His
Manifestation, he must first form a conception of God, and that
conception is created by his own mind. As the finite cannot
comprehend the Infinite, so God is not to be comprehended in this
fashion. That which man conceives with his own mind he
comprehends. That which he can comprehend is not God. That
conception of God which a man forms for himself is but a phantasm,
an image, an imagination, an illusion. There is no connection
between such a conception and the Supreme Being.
If a man wishes to know God, he must find Him in the perfect
mirror, Christ or Bahá’u’lláh. In either of these mirrors he will
see reflected the Sun of Divinity.
As we know the physical sun by its splendor, by its light and
heat, so we know God, the Spiritual Sun, when He shines forth from
the temple of Manifestation, by His attributes of perfection, by
the beauty of His qualities and by the splendor of His light.
(from a talk to Mr. Percy Woodcock, at Akká, 1909).
Again He says:
Unless the Holy Spirit become intermediary, one cannot attain
directly to the bounties of God. Do not overlook the obvious
truth, for it is self-evident that a child cannot be instructed
without a teacher, and knowledge is one of the bounties of God.
The soil is not covered with grass and vegetation without the rain
of the cloud; therefore the cloud is the intermediary between the
divine bounties and the soil.... The light hath a center and if
one desire to seek it otherwise than from the center, one can
never attain to it.... Turn thine attention to the days of Christ;
some people imagine that without the Messianic outpourings it was
possible to attain to truth, but this very imagination became the
cause of the deprivation.
A man who tries to worship God without turning to His Manifestation is
like a man in a dungeon trying through his imagination to revel in the
glories of the sunshine.
Prayer Indispensable and Obligatory
The use of prayer is enjoined upon Bahá’ís in no uncertain terms.
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas:—
Chant (or recite) the Words of God every morning and evening. The
one who neglects this has not been faithful to the Covenant of God
and His agreement, and he who turns away from it today is of those
who have turned away from God. Fear God, O my people! Let not too
much reading (of the Sacred Word) and actions by day or night make
you proud. To chant but one verse with joy and gladness is better
for you than reading all the Revelations of the Omnipotent God
with carelessness. Chant the Tablets of God in such measure that
ye be not overtaken with fatigue and depression. Burden not the
soul so as to cause exhaustion and languour, but rather refresh it
that thus it may soar on the wings of Revelation to the
Dawning-place of proofs. This brings you nearer to God, were ye of
those who understand.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says to a correspondent:—“O thou spiritual friend! Know thou
that prayer is indispensable and obligatory, and man under no pretext
whatever is excused therefrom unless he be mentally unsound or an
insurmountable obstacle prevent him.”
Another correspondent asked: “Why pray? What is the wisdom thereof, for
God has established everything and executes all affairs after the best
order—therefore, what is the wisdom in beseeching and supplicating and in
stating one’s wants and seeking help?”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:—
Know thou, verily it is becoming in a weak one to supplicate to
the Strong One, and it behooveth a seeker of bounty to beseech the
Glorious Bountiful One. When one supplicates to his Lord, turns to
Him and seeks bounty from His Ocean, this supplication brings
light to his heart, illumination to his sight, life to his soul
and exaltation to his being.
During thy supplications to God and thy reciting, “Thy Name is my
healing,” consider how thine heart is cheered, thy soul delighted
by the spirit of the love of God, and thy mind attracted to the
Kingdom of God! By these attractions one’s ability and capacity
increase. When the vessel is enlarged the water increases, and
when the thirst grows the bounty of the cloud becomes agreeable to
the taste of man. This is the mystery of supplication and the
wisdom of stating one’s wants. (from a tablet to an American
believer, translated by ‘Alí Kuli _Kh_án, October 1908).
Bahá’u’lláh has revealed three daily obligatory prayers. The believer is
free to choose any one of these three prayers, but is under the obligation
of reciting one of them, and in the manner Bahá’u’lláh has prescribed.
Congregational Prayer
The prayers which Bahá’u’lláh has ordained as a daily obligation for
Bahá’ís are to be said privately. Only in the case of the Prayer for the
Dead has Bahá’u’lláh commanded congregational prayer, and the only
requirement is that the believer who reads it aloud, and all others
present, should stand. This differs from the Islamic practice of
congregational prayer in which the believers stand in rows behind an imám,
who leads the prayer, which is prohibited in the Bahá’í Faith.
These ordinances, which are in accordance with Bahá’u’lláh’s abolition of
professional clergy, do not mean that He attached no value to meetings for
worship. Regarding the value of gathering for prayer, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke
as follows:—
Man may say: “I can pray to God whenever I wish, when the feelings
of my heart are drawn to God; when I am in the wilderness, when I
am in the city, or wherever I may be. Why should I go where others
are gathered upon a special day, at a certain hour, to unite my
prayers with theirs, when I may not be in a frame of mind for
praying?”
To think in this way is useless imagination, for where many are
gathered together their force is greater. Separate soldiers
fighting alone and individually have not the force of a united
army. If all the soldiers in this spiritual war gather together,
then their united spiritual feelings help each other, and their
prayers become acceptable. (from notes taken by Miss Ethel J.
Rosenberg).
Prayer the Language of Love
To someone who asked whether prayer was necessary, since presumably God
knows the wishes of all hearts, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:—
If one friend loves another, is it not natural that he should wish
to say so? Though he knows that that friend is aware of his love,
does he still not wish to tell him of it? ... It is true that God
knows the wishes of all hearts; but the impulse to pray is a
natural one, springing from man’s love to God.
... Prayer need not be in words, but rather in thought and action.
But if this love and this desire are lacking, it is useless to try
to force them. Words without love mean nothing. If a person talks
to you as an unpleasant duty, finding neither love nor enjoyment
in the meeting, do you wish to converse with him? (article in
Fortnightly Review, Jul.-Dec. 1911, p. 784 by Miss E. S. Stevens).
In another talk He said:—
In the highest prayer, men pray only for the love of God, not
because they fear Him or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven. ...
When a man falls in love with a human being, it is impossible for
him to keep from mentioning the name of his beloved. How much more
difficult is it to keep from mentioning the Name of God when one
has come to love Him.... The spiritual man finds no delight in
anything save in commemoration of God. (from notes of Miss Alma
Robertson and other pilgrims, November and December 1900).
Deliverance from Calamities
According to the teaching of the Prophets, disease and all other forms of
calamity are due to disobedience to the Divine Commands. Even disasters
due to floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes are attributed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
indirectly to this cause.
The suffering that follows error is not vindictive, however, but educative
and remedial. It is God’s Voice proclaiming to man that he has strayed
from the right path. If the suffering is terrible, it is only because the
danger of wrongdoing is more terrible, for “the wages of sin is death.”
Just as calamity is due to disobedience, so deliverance from calamity can
be obtained only be obedience. There is no chance or uncertainty about the
matter. Turning from God inevitably brings disaster, and turning to God as
inevitably brings blessing.
As the whole of humanity is one organism, however, the welfare of each
individual depends not only on his own behavior, but on that of his
neighbors. If one does wrong, all suffer in greater or less degree; while
if one does well, all benefit. Each has to bear his neighbor’s burdens, to
some extent, and the best of mankind are those who bear the biggest
burdens. The saints have always suffered abundantly; the Prophets have
suffered superlatively. Bahá’u’lláh says in the Book of Íqán:—“You must
undoubtedly have been informed of the tribulations, the poverty, the ills,
and the degradation that have befallen every Prophet of God and His
companions. You must have heard how the heads of their followers were sent
as presents unto different cities. ...”—Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 73.
This is not because the saints and Prophets have merited punishment above
other men. Nay, they often suffer for the sins of others, and choose to
suffer, for the sake of others. Their concern is for the world’s welfare,
not for their own. The prayer of the true lover of humanity is not that
he, as an individual, may escape poverty, ill-health or disaster, but that
mankind may be saved from ignorance and error and the ills that inevitably
flow from them. If he wishes health or wealth for himself, it is in order
that he may serve the Kingdom, and if physical health and wealth are
denied him, he accepts his lot with “radiant acquiescence,” well knowing
that there is a right wisdom in whatever befalls him in the Path of God.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Grief and sorrow do not come to us by chance; they are sent by the
Divine Mercy for our perfecting. When grief and sorrow come, then
will a man remember his Father Who is in Heaven, Who is able to
deliver him from his humiliations. The more a man is chastened,
the greater is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth by
him.
At first sight it may seem very unjust that the innocent should suffer for
the guilty, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá assures us that the injustice is only
apparent and that, in the long run, perfect justice prevails. He writes:—
As to the subject of babes and children and weak ones who are
afflicted by the hands of the oppressors ... for those souls there
is a recompense in another world ... that suffering is the
greatest mercy of God. Verily that mercy of the Lord is far better
than all the comfort of this world and the growth and development
appertaining to this place of mortality.
Prayer and Natural Law
Many find a difficulty in believing in the efficacy of prayer because they
think that answers to prayer would involve arbitrary interference with the
laws of nature. An analogy may help to remove this difficulty. If a magnet
be held over some iron filings the latter will fly upwards and cling to
it, but this involves no interference with the law of gravitation. The
force of gravity continues to act on the filings just as before. What has
happened is that a superior force has been brought into play—another force
whose action is just as regular and calculable as that of gravity. The
Bahá’í view is that prayer brings into action higher forces, as yet
comparatively little known; but there seems no reason to believe that
these forces are more arbitrary in their action than the physical forces.
The difference is that they have not yet been fully studied and
experimentally investigated, and their action appears mysterious and
incalculable because of our ignorance.
Another difficulty which some find perplexing is that prayer seems too
feeble a force to produce the great results often claimed to it. Analogy
may serve to clear up this difficulty also. A small force, when applied to
the sluice gate of a reservoir, may release and regulate an enormous flow
of water-power, or, when applied to the steering gear of an ocean liner,
may control the course of the huge vessel. In the Bahá’í view, the power
that brings about answers to prayer is the inexhaustible Power of God. The
part of the suppliant is only to exert the feeble force necessary to
release the flow or determine the course of the Divine Bounty, which is
ever ready to serve those who have learned how to draw upon it.
Bahá’í Prayers
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have revealed innumerable prayers for the use
of Their followers at various times and for various purposes. The
greatness of conception and depth of spirituality revealed in these
utterances must impress every thoughtful student, but only by making their
use a regular and important part of one’s daily life can their
significance be fully appreciated and their power for good realized.
Unfortunately, considerations of space prevent our giving more than a very
few short specimens of these prayers. For further examples the reader must
be referred to other works.
O my Lord! Make Thy beauty to be my food, and Thy presence my
drink, and Thy pleasure my hope, and praise of Thee my action, and
remembrance of Thee my companion, and the power of Thy sovereignty
my succorer, and Thy habitation my home, and my dwelling-place the
seat Thou hast sanctified from the limitations imposed upon them
who are shut out as by a veil from Thee.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most
Powerful.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created Me to know Thee
and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my
powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth.
There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants and reveal to
them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide
in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them
strength to serve Thee. O God! leave them not to themselves, but
guide their steps by the light of knowledge, and cheer their
hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their
Lord.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
O Thou kind Lord! Thou has created all humanity from the same
stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same
household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all
mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered
together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the
light of Thy Providence.
O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost
shelter all, conferrest life upon all, Thou hast endowed each and
all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean
of Thy Mercy.
O Thou kind Lord! United all. Let the religions agree and make the
nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the
whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect
harmony.
O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.
O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.
Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.
O Thou kind Father, O God! Gladden our hearts through the
fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy
Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and
shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.
Thou art the Might and Powerful. Thou art the Forgiving and Thou
art the One Who overlookest the shortcomings of all mankind!
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
O Thou Almighty! I am a sinner, but Thou art the Forgiver! I am
full of shortcomings, but Thou art the Compassionate! I am in
darkness of error, but Thou art the Light of Pardon!
Therefore, O Thou Benevolent God, forgive my sings, grant Thy
Bestowals, overlook my faults, provide for me a shelter, immerse
me in the Fountain of Thy Patience and heal me of all sickness and
disease.
Purify and sanctify me. Give me a portion from the outpouring of
holiness, so that sorrow and sadness may vanish, joy and happiness
descend, despondency and hopelessness be changed into cheerfulness
and trustfulness, and courage take the place of fear.
Verily Thou art the Forgiver, the Compassionate, and Thou art the
Generous, the Beloved! —‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
O compassionate God! Thanks be to Thee for Thou hast awakened and
made me conscious. Thou hast given me a seeing eye and favored me
with a hearing ear; hast led me to Thy Kingdom and guided me to
Thy Path. Thou hast shown me the right way and caused me to enter
the Ark of Deliverance. O God! Keep me steadfast and make me firm
and staunch. Protect me from violent tests and preserve and
shelter me in the strongly fortified fortress of Thy Covenant and
Testament. Thou art the Powerful! Thou art the Seeing! Thou art
the Hearing! O Thou the Compassionate God! Bestow upon me a heart
which, like unto glass, may be illumined with the light of Thy
love, and confer upon me a thought which may change this world
into a rose-garden through the spiritual bounty. Thou art the
Compassionate, the Merciful! Thou art the Great Beneficent God!
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
Bahá’í prayer is not, however, confined to the use of prescribed forms,
important as those are. Bahá’u’lláh teaches that one’s whole life should
be a prayer, that work done in the right spirit is worship, that every
thought, word and deed devoted to the Glory of God and the good of one’s
fellows is prayer, in the truest sense of the world.(24)
CHAPTER 7: HEALTH AND HEALING
Turning the face towards God brings healing to the body, the mind and the
soul.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
Body and Soul
According to the Bahá’í teaching the human body serves a temporary purpose
in the development of the soul, and, when that purpose has been served, is
laid aside; just as the eggshell serves a temporary purpose in the
development of the chick, and, when that purpose has been served, is
broken and discarded. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that the physical body is
incapable of immortality, for it is a composite thing, built up of atoms
and molecules, and, like all things that are composed, must, in time,
become decomposed.
The body should be the servant of the soul, never its master, but it
should be a willing, obedient and efficient servant, and should be treated
with the consideration which a good servant deserves. If it is not
properly treated, disease and disaster result, with injurious consequences
to master as well as servant.
Oneness of All Life
The essential oneness of all the myriad forms and grades of life is one of
the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Our physical health is so linked
up with our mental, moral and spiritual health, and also with the
individual and social health of our fellowmen, nay, even with the life of
the animals and plants, that each of these is affected by the others to a
far greater extent than is usually realized.
There is no command of the Prophet, therefore, to whatever department of
life it may primarily refer, which does not concern bodily health. Certain
of the teachings, however, have a more direct bearing on physical health
than others, and these we may now proceed to examine.
Simple Life
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Economy is the foundation of human prosperity. The spendthrift is
always in trouble. Prodigality on the part of any person is an
unpardonable sin. We must never live on others like a parasitic
plant. Every person must have a profession, whether it be literary
or manual, and must live a clean, manly, honest life, an example
of purity to be imitated by others. It is more kingly to be
satisfied with a crust of stale bread than to enjoy a sumptuous
dinner of many courses, the money for which comes out of the
pockets of others. The mind of a contented person is always
peaceful and his heart at rest.—Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 453.
Animal food is not forbidden, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—“Fruits and grains
[will be the foods of the future]. The time will come when meat will no
longer be eaten. Medical science is only in its infancy, yet it has shown
that our natural diet is that which grows out of the ground.”—Ten Days in
the Light of Akká, by Julie M. Grundy.
Alcohol and Narcotics
The use of narcotics and intoxicants of any kind, except as remedies in
case of illness, is strictly forbidden by Bahá’u’lláh.
Enjoyments
The Bahá’í teaching is based on moderation, not as asceticism. Enjoyment
of the good and beautiful things of life, both material and spiritual, is
not only encouraged but enjoined. Bahá’u’lláh says: “Deprive not
yourselves of that which has been created for you.” Again He says: “It is
incumbent upon you that exultation and glad tidings be manifest in your
faces.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
All that has been created is for man, who is at the apex of
creation, and he must be thankful for the divine bestowals. All
material things are for us, so that through our gratitude we may
learn to understand life as a divine benefit. If we are disgusted
with life we are ingrates, for our material and spiritual
existence are the outward evidences of the divine mercy. Therefore
we must be happy and spend our time in praises, appreciating all
things.
Asked whether the Bahá’í prohibition of gambling applies to game of every
description, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:—
No, some games are innocent, and if pursued for pastime there is
no harm. But there is danger that pastime may degenerate into
waste of time. Waste of time is not acceptable in the Cause of
God. But recreation which may improve the bodily powers, as
exercise, is desirable.—A Heavenly Vista, p. 9.
Cleanliness
Bahá’u’lláh says, in the Book of Aqdas:—
Be the essence of cleanliness among mankind ... under all
circumstances conform yourselves to refined manners ... let no
trace of uncleanliness appear on your clothes.... Immerse
yourselves in pure water; a water which hath been used is not
allowable.... Verily We have desired to see in you the
manifestations of Paradise on earth, so that there may be diffused
from you that whereat the hearts of the favored ones shall
rejoice.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl, in his book, Bahá’í Proofs (p. 89), points out the
extreme importance of these commands, more especially in some parts of the
East, where water of the foulest description is often used for household
purposes, for bathing and even for drinking, and horribly insanitary
conditions abound, causing a vast amount of preventable disease and
misery. These conditions, often supposed to be sanctioned by the
prevailing religion, can be changed, among Orientals, only by the
commandment of one who is believed to have Divine authority. In many parts
of the Western Hemisphere, too, a wonderful transformation would result
were cleanliness accepted not only as next to godliness, but as an
essential part of godliness.
Effect of Obedience to Prophetic Commands
The bearing on health of these commands relating to the simple life,
hygiene, abstinence from alcohol and opium, etcetera, is too obvious to
call for much comment, although their vital importance is apt to be
greatly underestimated. Were they to be generally observed, most of the
infectious diseases and a good many others would soon vanish from among
men. The amount of illness caused by neglect of simple hygienic
precautions and by indulgence in alcohol and opium is prodigious.
Moreover, obedience to these commands would not only affect health, but
would have an enormous effect for good on character and conduct. Alcohol
and opium affect a man’s conscience long before they affect his gait or
cause obvious bodily disease, so that the moral spiritual gain from
abstinence would be even greater than the physical. With regard to
cleanliness, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—“External cleanliness, although it is but
a physical thing, has great influence upon spirituality.... The fact of
having a pure and spotless body exercises an influence upon the spirit of
man.”
Were the commands of the Prophets concerning chastity in sexual relations
generally observed, another fertile cause of disease would be eliminated.
The loathsome venereal diseases, which wreck the health of so many
thousands today, innocent as well as guilty, babes as well as parents,
would very soon be entirely a thing of the past.
Were the commands of the Prophets concerning justice, mutual aid, loving
one’s neighbor as oneself, carried out, how could overcrowding, sweated
labor and sordid poverty on the one hand, together with self-indulgence,
idleness and sordid luxury on the other, continue to work mental, moral
and physical ruin?
Simple obedience to the hygienic and moral commands of Moses, Buddha,
Christ, Muḥammad or Bahá’u’lláh would do more in the way of preventing
disease than all the doctors and all the public health regulations in the
world have been able to accomplish. In fact, it seems certain that were
such obedience general, good health would also become general. Instead of
lives being blighted by disease of cut off in infancy, youth or prime, as
so frequently happens now, men would live to a ripe old age, like sound
fruits that mature and mellow ere they drop from the bough.
The Prophet as Physician
We live in a world, however, where from time immemorial obedience to the
commands of the Prophets has been the exception rather than the rule;
where love of self has been a more prevalent motive than love of God;
where limited and party interests have taken precedence of the interests
of humanity as a whole; where material possessions and sensual pleasures
have been preferred to the social and spiritual welfare of mankind. Hence
have arisen fierce competition and conflict, oppression and tyranny,
extremes of wealth and poverty—all those conditions which breed disease,
mental and physical. As a consequence, the whole tree of humanity is sick,
and every leaf on the tree shares in the general sickness. Even the purest
and holiest have to suffer for the sins of others. Healing is
needed—healing of humanity as a whole, of nations and of individuals. So
Bahá’u’lláh, like His inspired predecessors, not only shows how health is
to be maintained, but also how it may be recovered when lost. He comes as
the Great Physician, the Healer of the world’s sicknesses, both of body
and of mind. Healing by Material Means
In the Western world of today there is evident a remarkable revival of
belief in the efficacy of healing by mental and spiritual means. Indeed
many, in their revolt against the materialistic ideals about disease and
its treatment which prevailed in the nineteenth century, have gone to the
opposite extreme of denying that material remedies or hygienic methods
have any value whatsoever. Bahá’u’lláh recognizes the value of both
material and spiritual remedies. He teaches that the science and art of
healing must be developed, encouraged and perfected, so that all means of
healing may be used to the best advantage, each in its appropriate sphere.
When members of Bahá’u’lláh’s own family were sick, a professional
physician was called in, and this practice is recommended to His
followers. He says: “Should ye be attacked by illness or disease, consult
skillful physicians.”—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
This is quite in accordance with the Bahá’í attitude towards science and
art generally. All sciences and arts which are for the benefit of mankind,
even in a material way, are to be esteemed and promoted. Through science
man becomes the master of material things; through ignorance he remains
their slave.
Bahá’u’lláh writes:—
Do not neglect medical treatment when it is necessary, but leave
it off when health has been restored. Treat disease through diet,
by preference, refraining from the use of drugs; and if you find
what is required in a single herb, do not resort to a compound
medicament.... Abstain from drugs when the health is good, but
administer them when necessary.—Tablet to a Physician
In one of His Tablets ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
O seeker after truth! There are two ways of healing sickness,
material means and spiritual means. The first way is through the
use of material remedies. The second consists in praying to God
and in turning to Him. Both means should be used and practiced....
Moreover, they are not incompatible, and you should accept the
physical remedies as coming from the mercy and favor of God Who
has revealed and made manifest medical knowledge, so that His
servants may profit by this kind of treatment also.
He teaches that, were our natural tastes and instincts not vitiated by
foolish and unnatural modes of living, they would become reliable guides
in the choice both of appropriate diet and of medicinal fruits, herbs and
other remedies, as is the case with wild animals. In an interesting talk
on healing, recorded in Some Answered Questions (p. 298), He says in
conclusion:—
It is therefore evident that it is possible to cure by foods,
aliments, and fruits; but as to-day the science of medicine is
imperfect, this fact is not yet fully grasped. When the science of
medicine reaches perfection, treatment will be given by foods,
aliments, fragrant fruits, and vegetables, and by various waters,
hot and cold in temperature.
Even when the means of healing are material, the power that heals is
really Divine, for the attributes of the herb of mineral are from the
Divine Bestowals. “All depends upon God. Medicine is merely an outward
form or means by which we obtain heavenly healing.”
Healing by Nonmaterial Means
He teaches that there are also many methods of healing without material
means. There is a “contagion of health,” as well as a contagion of
disease, although the former is very slow and has a small effect, while
the latter is often violent and rapid in its action.
Much more powerful effects result from the patient’s own mental states,
and “suggestion” may play an important part in determining these states.
Fear, anger, worry, et cetera, are very prejudicial to health, while hope,
love, joy, et cetera, are correspondingly beneficial.
Thus Bahá’u’lláh says:—
Verily the most necessary thing is contentment under all
circumstances; by this one is preserved from morbid conditions and
lassitude. Yield not to grief and sorrow: they cause the greatest
misery. Jealousy consumeth the body and anger doth burn the liver:
avoid these two as you would a lion.—Tablet to a Physician.
And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—“Joy gives us wings. In times of joy our strength
is more vital, our intellect keener.... But when sadness visits us our
strength leaves us.”
Of another form of mental healing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes that it results:—
from the entire concentration of the mind of a strong person upon
a sick person, when the latter expects with all his concentrated
faith that a cure will be effected from the spiritual power of the
strong person, to such an extent that there will be a cordial
connection between the strong person and the invalid. The strong
person makes every effort to cure the sick patient, and the sick
patient is then sure of receiving a cure. From the effect of these
mental impressions an excitement of the nerves is produced, and
this impression and this excitement of the nerves will become the
cause of the recovery of the sick person.—Some Answered Questions,
p. 294.
All these methods of healing, however, are limited in their effects, and
may fail to effect a cure in severe maladies.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
The most potent means of healing is the Power of the Holy Spirit.
... This does not depend on contact, nor on sight, nor upon
presence.... Whether the disease be light or severe, whether there
be a contact of bodies or not, whether a personal connection be
established between the sick person and the healer or not, this
healing takes place through the power of the Holy Spirit.—Some
Answered Questions, p. 295.
In a talk with Miss Ethel Rosenberg, in October 1904, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
The healing that is by the power of the Holy Spirit needs no
special concentration or contact. It is through the wish or desire
and the prayer of the holy person. The one who is sick may be in
the East and the healer in the West, and they may not have been
acquainted with each other, but as soon as that holy person turns
his heart to God and begins to pray, the sick one is healed. This
is a gift belonging to the Holy Manifestations and those who are
in the highest station.
Of this nature, apparently, were the works of healing performed by Christ
and His apostles, and similar works of healing have been attributed to
holy men in all ages. Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were gifted with
this power, and similar powers are promised to Their faithful followers.
Attitude of the Patient
In order that the power of spiritual healing may be brought fully into
operation certain requirements are necessary on the part of the patient,
of the healer, of the patient’s friends and of the community at large.
On the part of the patient the prime requisite is, turning with all the
heart to God, with implicit trust both in His Power and in His Will to do
whatever is best. To an American lady, in August 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
All of these ailments will pass away and you will receive perfect
physical and spiritual health.... Let your heart be confident and
assured that through the Bounty of Bahá’u’lláh, through the Favor
of Bahá’u’lláh, everything will become pleasant for you.... But
you must turn your face wholly towards the Abhá (All-Glorious)
Kingdom, giving perfect attention—the same attention that Mary
Magdalene gave to His Holiness Christ—and I assure you that you
will get physical and spiritual health. You are worthy. I give you
the glad tidings that you are worthy because your heart is
pure.... Be confident! Be happy! Be rejoiced! Be hopeful!
Although in this particular case ‘Abdu’l-Bahá guaranteed the attainment of
sound physical health, He does not do so in every case, even where there
is strong faith on the part of the individual. To a pilgrim in Akká He
said:—
The prayers which were written for the purpose of healing are both
for the spiritual and material healing.... If healing is best for
the patient, surely it will be granted. For some who are sick,
healing for them shall be the cause of other ills. Thus it is that
Wisdom does not decree the answer to some prayers.
O maid-servant of God. The Power of the Holy Spirit heals both
material and spiritual ills.—Daily Lessons Received at Akká, p.
95.
Again He writes to one who is ill:—
Verily the Will of God acts sometimes in a way for which mankind
is unable to find out the reason. The causes and reasons shall
appear. Trust in God and confide in Him, and resign thyself to the
Will of God. Verily thy God is affectionate, compassionate and
merciful ... and will cause His Mercy to descend upon Thee.
He teaches that spiritual health is conducive to physical health, but
physical health depends upon many factors, some of which are outside the
control of the individual. Even the most exemplary spiritual attitude on
the part of the individual, therefore, may not ensure physical health in
every case. The holiest men and women sometimes suffer illness.
Nevertheless, the beneficent influence on bodily health which results from
a right spiritual attitude is far more potent than is generally imagined,
and is sufficient to banish ill-health in a large proportion of cases.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to an English lady:—“You have written about the
weakness of your body. I ask from the Bounties of Bahá’u’lláh that your
spirit may become strong, that through the strength of your spirit your
body also may be healed.”
Again He says:—
God hath bestowed upon man such wonderful powers, that he might
ever look upward, and receive, among other gifts, healing from His
divine Bounty. But alas! man is not grateful for this supreme
good, but sleeps the sleep of negligence, being careless of the
great mercy which God has shown towards him, turning his face away
from the Light and going on his way in darkness.
The Healer
The power of spiritual healing is doubtless common to all mankind in
greater or less degree, but, just as some men are endowed with exceptional
talent for mathematics or music, so others appear to be endowed with
exceptional aptitude for healing. These are the people who ought to make
the healing art their lifework. Unfortunately, so materialistic has the
world become in recent centuries that the very possibility of spiritual
healing has to a large extent been lost sight of. Like all other talents
the gift of healing has to be recognized, trained and educated in order
that it may attain its highest development and power, and there are
probably thousands in the world today, richly dowered with natural
aptitude for healing, in whom this precious gift is lying dormant and
inactive. When the potentialities of mental and spiritual treatment are
more fully realized, the healing art will be transformed and ennobled and
its efficacy immeasurably increased. And when this new knowledge and power
in the healer are combined with lively faith and hope on the part of the
patient, wonderful results may be looked for.
In God must be our trust. There is no God but Him, the Healer, the
Knower, the Helper.... Nothing in earth or heaven is outside the
grasp of God.
O physician! In treating the sick, first mention the name of Thy
God, the Possessor of the Day of Judgment, and then use what God
hath destined for the healing of His creatures. By My Life! The
physician who has drunk from the Wine of My Love, his visit is
healing, and his breath is mercy and hope. Cling to him for the
welfare of the constitution. He is confirmed by God in his
treatment.
This knowledge (of the healing art) is the most important of all
the sciences, for it is the greatest means from God, the
Life-giver to the dust, for preserving the bodies of all people,
and He has put it in the forefront of all sciences and wisdoms.
For this is the day when you must arise for My Victory.
Thy Name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my
remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my
companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both
this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the
All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Tablet
to a Physician.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—
He who is filled with love of Bahá, and forgets all things, the
Holy Spirit will be heard from his lips and the spirit of life
will fill his heart.... Words will issue from his lips in strands
of pearls, and all sickness and disease will be healed by the
laying on of the hands.
O thou pure and spiritual one! Turn thou toward God with thy heart
beating with His love, devoted to His praise, gazing towards His
Kingdom and seeking help from His Holy Spirit in a state of
ecstasy, rapture, love, yearning, joy and fragrance. God will
assist thee, through a spirit from His Presence, to heal sickness
and disease.
Continue in healing hearts and bodies and seek healing for sick
persons by turning unto the Supreme Kingdom and by setting the
heart upon obtaining healing through the power of the Greatest
Name and by the spirit of the Love of God.
How All Can Help
The work of healing the sick, however, is a matter that concerns not the
patient and the practitioner only, but everyone. All must help, by
sympathy and service, by right living and right thinking, and especially
by prayer, for of all remedies prayer is the most potent. “Supplication
and prayer on behalf of others,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “will surely be
effective.” The friends of the patient have a special responsibility, for
their influence, either for good or ill, is most direct and powerful. In
how many cases of sickness the issue depends mainly on the ministrations
of parents, friends or neighbors of the helpless sufferer!
Even the members of the community at large have an influence in every case
of sickness. In individual cases that influence may not appear great, yet
in the mass the effect is potent. Everyone is affected by the social
“atmosphere” in which he lives, by the general prevalence of faith or
materialism, of virtue or vice, of cheerfulness of depression; and each
individual has his share in determining the state of that social
“atmosphere.” It may not be possible for everyone, in the present state of
the world, to attain to perfect health, but it is possible for everyone to
become a “willing channel” for the health-giving power of the Holy Spirit
and thus to exert a healing, helpful influence both on his own body and on
all with whom he comes in contact.
Few duties are impressed on Bahá’ís more repeatedly and emphatically than
that of healing the sick, and many beautiful prayers for healing have been
revealed by both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The Golden Age
Bahá’u’lláh gives the assurance that, through harmonious cooperation of
patients, healers and the community in general, and by appropriate use of
the various means to health, material, mental and spiritual, the Golden
Age may be realized, when, by the Power of God, “all sorrow will be turned
into joy, and all disease into health.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that “when the
Divine Message is understood, all troubles will vanish.” Again He says:—
When the material world and the divine world are well correlated,
when the hearts become heavenly and the aspirations pure, perfect
connection shall take place. Then shall this power produce a
perfect manifestation. Physical and spiritual diseases will then
receive absolute healing.
Right Use of Health
In concluding this chapter it will be well to recall ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
teaching as to the right use of physical health. In one of His Tablets to
the Bahá’ís of Washington He says:—
If the health and well-being of the body be expended in the path
of the Kingdom, this is very acceptable and praiseworthy; and if
it be expended to the benefit of the human world in general—even
though it be to their material (or bodily) benefit—and be a means
of doing good, that is also acceptable. But if the health and
welfare of man be spent in sensual desires, in a life on the
animal plane, and in devilish pursuits—then disease were better
than such health; nay, death itself were preferable to such a
life. If thou art desirous of health, wish thou health for serving
the Kingdom. I hope that thou mayest attain perfect insight,
inflexible resolution, complete health, and spiritual and physical
strength in order that thou mayest drink from the fountain of
eternal life and be assisted by the spirit of divine confirmation.
CHAPTER 8: RELIGIOUS UNITY
O ye that dwell on earth! The distinguishing feature that marketh the
preeminent character of this Supreme Revelation consisteth in that We
have, on the one hand, blotted out from the pages of God’s book whatsoever
hath been the cause of strife, of malice and mischief amongst the children
of men, and have, on the other, laid down the essential prerequisites of
concord, of understanding, of complete and enduring unity. Well is it with
them that keep My statutes.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Tablet of the World.
Sectarianism in the Nineteenth Century
Never, perhaps, did the world seem farther away from religious unity than
in the nineteenth century. For many centuries had the great religious
communities—the Zoroastrian, Mosaic, Buddhist, Christian, Muḥammadan and
others—been existing side by side, but instead of blending together into a
harmonious whole they had been at constant enmity and strife, each against
the others. Not only so, but each had become split up, by division after
division, into an increasing number of sects which were often bitterly
opposed to each other. Yet Christ had said: “By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another, “ and Muḥammad
had said: “This your religion is the one religion.... To you hath God
prescribed the faith which He commanded unto Noah, and which We have
revealed unto thee, and which We commanded unto Abraham and Moses and
Jesus saying: ‘Observe this faith, and be not divided into sects
therein!’” The Founder of every one of the great religions had called His
followers to love and unity, but in every case the aim of the Founder was
to a large extent lost sight of in a welter of intolerance and bigotry,
formalism and hypocrisy, corruption and misrepresentation, schism and
contention. The aggregate number of more or less hostile sects in the
world was probably greater at the commencement of the Bahá’í era than at
any previous period in human history. It seemed as if humanity at that
time were experimenting with every possible kind of religious belief, with
every possible sort of ritual and ceremonial observance, with every
possible variety of moral code.
At the same time an increasing number of men were devoting their energies
to fearless investigation and critical examination of the laws of nature
and the foundations of belief. New scientific knowledge was being rapidly
acquired and new solutions were being found for many of the problems of
life. The development of inventions such as steamship and railway, postal
system and press, greatly aided the diffusion of ideas and the fertilizing
contact of widely different types of thought and life.
The so-called “conflict between religion and science” became a fierce
battle. In the Christian world Biblical criticism combined with physical
science to dispute, and to some extent to refute, the authority of the
Bible, an authority that for centuries had been the generally accepted
basis of belief. A rapidly increasing proportion of the population became
skeptical about the teachings of the churches. A large number even of
religious priests secretly or openly entertained doubts or reservations
regarding the creeds adhered to by their respective denominations.
This ferment and flux of opinion, with increasing recognition of the
inadequacy of the old orthodoxies and dogmas, and groping and striving
after fuller knowledge and understanding, were not confined to Christian
countries, but were manifest, more or less, and in different forms, among
the people of all countries and religions.
The Message of Bahá’u’lláh
It was when this state of conflict and confusion was at its height, that
Bahá’u’lláh sounded His great trumpet call to humanity:—
That all nations should become one in faith and all men as
brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons
of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should
cease, and differences of race be annulled.... These strifes and
this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one
kindred and one family.... (words spoken to Professor Browne).
It is a glorious message, but how are its proposals to be carried into
effect? Prophets have preached, poets have sung and saints have prayed
about these things for thousands of years, but diversities of religion
have not ceased nor have strife and bloodshed and discord been annulled.
What is there to show that now the miracle is to be accomplished? Are
there any new factors in the situation? Is not human nature the same as it
ever was, and will it not continue to be the same while the world lasts?
If two people want the same thing, or two nations, will they not fight for
it in the future as they have done in the past? If Moses, Buddha, Christ
and Muḥammad failed to achieve world unity will Bahá’u’lláh succeed? If
all previous faiths become corrupted and rent asunder into sects will not
the Bahá’í faith share the same fate? Let us see what answer the Bahá’í
teachings give to these and similar questions.
Can Human Nature Change?
Education and religion are alike based on the assumption that it is
possible to change human nature. In fact, it requires but little
investigation to show that the one thing we can say with certainty about
any living thing is that it cannot keep from changing. Without change
there can be no life. Even the mineral cannot resist change, and the
higher we go in the scale of being, the more varied, complex, and
wonderful do the changes become. Moreover, in progress and development
among creatures of all grades we find two kinds of change—one slow,
gradual, often almost imperceptible; and the other rapid, sudden and
dramatic. The latter occur at what are called “critical stages” of
development. In the case of minerals we find such critical stages at the
melting and boiling points, for example, when the solid suddenly becomes a
liquid or the liquid becomes a gas. In the case of plants we see such
critical stages when the seed begins to germinate, or the bud bursts into
leaf. In the animal world we see the same on every hand, as when the grub
suddenly changes into a butterfly, the chick emerges from its shell, or
the babe is born from its mother’s womb. In the higher life of the soul we
often see a similar transformation, when a man is “born again” and his
whole being becomes radically changes in its aims, its character and
activities. Such critical stages often affect a whole species or multitude
of species simultaneously, as when vegetation of all kinds suddenly bursts
into new life in springtime.
Bahá’u’lláh declares that just as lesser living things have times of
sudden emergence into new and fuller life, so for mankind also a “critical
stage,” a time of “rebirth,” is at hand. Then modes of life which have
persisted from the dawn of history up till now will be quickly,
irrevocably, altered, and humanity enter on a new phase of life as
different from the old as the butterfly is different from the caterpillar,
or the bird from the egg. Mankind as a whole, in the light of new
Revelation, will attain to a new vision of truth; as a whole country is
illumined when the sun rises, so that all men see clearly, where but an
hour before everything was dark and dim. “This is a new cycle of human
power,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “All the horizons of the world are luminous,
and the world will become indeed as a rose garden and a paradise.” The
analogies of nature are all in favor of such a view; the Prophets of old
have with one accord foretold the advent of such a glorious day; the signs
of the times show clearly that profound and revolutionary changes in human
ideas and institutions are even now in progress. What could be more futile
and baseless therefore, than the pessimistic argument that, although all
things else change, human nature cannot change?
First Steps Toward Unity
As a means of promoting religious unity Bahá’u’lláh advocates the utmost
charity and tolerance, and calls on His followers to “consort with the
people of all religions with joy and gladness.” In His last Will and
Testament He says:—
Contention and conflict hath He strictly forbidding in His book
(Kitáb-i-Aqdas); such is the command of the Lord in this
all-highest Revelation—a command which He hath exempted from all
annulment and arrayed with the adorning of His confirmation.
O ye people of the world! The Religion of God is for the sake of
love and union; make it not the cause of enmity and conflict....
The hope is cherished, that the people of Bahá shall ever turn
unto the Hallowed Word: “Lo! All things are of God.”—the
All-Glorious Word that, like unto water, quencheth the fire of
hate and rancor which doth smoulder in hearts and breasts. By this
one Word shall the diverse sects of the world attain unto the
light of real union; verily the Truth He speaketh, and to the Path
He leadeth, and He is the Mighty, the Gracious, the Beauteous.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
All must abandon prejudices and must even go to each other’s
churches and mosques, for, in all of these worshipping places, the
Name of God is mentioned. Since all gather to worship God, what
difference is there? None of them worship Satan. The Muḥammadans
must go to the churches of the Christians and the Synagogues of
the Jews, and vice versa, the others must go to the Muḥammadan
Mosques. They hold aloof from one another merely because of
unfounded prejudices and dogmas. In America I went to the Jewish
Synagogues, which are similar to the Christian Churches, and I saw
them worshipping God everywhere.
In many of these places I spoke about the original foundations of
the divine religions, and I explained to them the proofs of the
validity of the divine prophets and of the Holy Manifestations. I
encouraged them to do away with blind imitations. All of the
leaders must, likewise, go to each other’s Churches and speak of
the foundation and of the fundamental principles of the divine
religions. In the utmost unity and harmony they must worship God,
in the worshipping places of one another, and must abandon
fanaticism.
Were even these first steps accomplished and a state of friendly mutual
tolerance established between the various religious sects, what a
wonderful change would be brought about in the world! In order that real
unity may be achieved, however, something more than this is required. For
the disease of sectarianism, tolerance is a valuable palliative, but it is
not a radical cure. It does not remove the cause of the trouble.
The Problem of Authority
The different religious communities have failed to unite in the past,
because the adherents of each have regarded the Founder of their own
community as the one supreme authority, and His law as the divine law. Any
Prophet Who proclaimed a different message was, therefore, regarded as an
enemy of the truth. The different sects of each community have separated
for similar reasons. The adherents of each have accepted some subordinate
authority and regarded some particular version or interpretation of the
Founder’s Message as the One True Faith, and all others as wrong. It is
obvious that while this state of matters exists no true unity is possible.
Bahá’u’lláh, on the other hand, teaches that all the Prophets were bearers
of authentic messages from God; that each in His day gave the highest
teachings of all are essentially in harmony, and are parts of a great plan
for the education and the unification of humanity. He calls on the people
of all denominations to show their reverence for their Prophets by
devoting their lives to the accomplishment of that unity for which all the
Prophets labored and suffered. In His letter to Queen Victoria He likens
the world to a sick man whose malady is aggravated because he has fallen
into the hands of unskilled physicians; and He tells how the remedy may be
effected:—
That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union
of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This
can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled,
an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the
truth, and all else naught but error.—Gleanings from the Writings
of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 255.
Progressive Revelation
A great stumbling block to many, in the way of religious unity, is the
difference between the Revelations given by the different Prophets. What
is commanded by one is forbidden by another; how then can both be right,
how can both be proclaiming the Will of God? Surely the truth is One, and
cannot change. Yes, the Absolute Truth is One and cannot change, but the
Absolute Truth is infinitely beyond the present range of human
understanding, and our conceptions of it must constantly change. Our
earlier, imperfect ideas will be by the Grace of God replaced, as time
goes on, by more and more adequate conceptions. Bahá’u’lláh says, in a
Tablet to some Bahá’ís of Persia:—
O people! Words are revealed according to capacity so that the
beginners may make progress. The milk must be given according to
measure so that the babe of the world may enter into the Realm of
Grandeur and be established in the Court of Unity.
It is milk that strengthens the babe so that it can digest more solid food
later on. To say that because one Prophet is right in giving a certain
teaching at a certain time, therefore another Prophet must be wrong Who
gives a different teaching at a different time, is like saying that
because milk is the best food for the newborn babe, therefore, milk and
nothing but milk should be the food of the grown man also, and to give any
other diet would be wrong! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Each divine revelation is divided into two parts. The first part
is essential and belongs to the eternal world. It is the
exposition of Divine truths and essential principles. It is the
expression of the Love of God. This is one in all the religions,
unchangeable and immutable. The second part is not eternal; it
deals with practical life, transactions and business, and changes
according to the evolution of man and the requirements of the time
of each Prophet. For example.... During the Mosaic period the hand
of a person was cut off in punishment of a small theft; there was
a law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but as these
laws were not expedient in the time of Christ, they were
abrogated. Likewise divorce had become so universal that there
remained no fixed laws of marriage, therefore His Holiness Christ
forbade divorce.
According to the exigencies of the time, His Holiness Moses
revealed ten laws for capital punishment. It was impossible at
that time to protect the community and to preserve social security
without these severe measures, for the children of Israel lived in
the wilderness of Tah, where there were no established courts of
justice and no penitentiaries. But this code of conduct was not
needed in the time of Christ. The history of the second part of
religion is unimportant, because it relates to the customs of this
life only; but the foundation of the religion of God is one, and
His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has renewed that foundation.
The religion of God is the One Religion, and all the Prophets have taught
it, but it is a living and a growing thing, not lifeless and unchanging.
In the teaching of Moses we see the Bud; in that of Christ the Flower; in
that of Bahá’u’lláh the Fruit. The flower does not destroy the bud, nor
does the fruit destroy the flower. It destroys not, but fulfills. The bud
scales must fall in order that the flower may bloom, and the petals must
fall that the fruit may grow and ripen. Were the bud scales and the petals
wrong or useless, then, that they had to be discarded? Nay, both in their
time were right and necessary; without them there could have been no
fruit. So it is with the various prophetic teachings; their externals
change from age to age, but each revelation is the fulfillment of its
predecessors; they are not separate or incongruous, but different stages
in the life history of the One Religion, which has in turn been revealed
as seed, as bud and as flower, and now enters on the stage of fruition.
Infallibility of the Prophets
Bahá’u’lláh teaches that everyone endowed with the Station of Prophethood
is given sufficient proofs of His Mission, is entitled to claim obedience
from all men and has authority to abrogate, alter or add to the teachings
of His predecessors. In the Book of Íqán we read:—
How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His loving
providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soul from
amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one
hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine
testimony, and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on His
people for having turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the
manifold bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times,
through the Manifestations of His divine Essence, encompassed the
earth and all that dwell therein. ...
And yet, is not the object of every Revelation to effect a
transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation
that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall
affect both its inner life and external conditions? For if the
character of mankind be not changed, the futility of God’s
universal Manifestations would be apparent.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 14,
240.
God is the One infallible Authority, and the Prophets are infallible
because Their Message is the Message of God given to the world through
Them. That Message remains valid until it is superseded by a later Message
given by the same or another Prophet.
God is the great Physician Who alone can rightly diagnose the world’s
sickness and prescribe the appropriate remedy. The remedy prescribed in
one age is no longer suitable in a later age, when the condition of the
patient is different. To cling to the old remedy when the physician has
ordered new treatment is not to show faith in the physician, but
infidelity. It may be a shock to the Jew to be told that some of the
remedies for the world’s sickness which Moses ordered over three thousand
years ago are now out of date and unsuitable; the Christian may be equally
shocked when told that Muḥammad had anything necessary or valuable to add
to what Jesus prescribed; and so also the Muslim, when asked to admit that
the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh had authority to alter the commands of Muḥammad;
but according to the Bahá’í view, true devotion to God implies reverence
to all His Prophets, and implicit obedience to His latest Commands, as
given by the Prophet for our own age. Only by such devotion can true Unity
be attained.
The Supreme Manifestation
Like all the other Prophets, Bahá’u’lláh states His own Mission in the
most unmistakable terms.
In the Lawḥ-i-Aqdas, a Tablet addressed especially to Christians, He
says:—
Surely the Father hath come and hath fulfilled that which you were
promised in the Kingdom of God. This is the Word which the Son
veiled when He said to those around Him that at that time they
could not bear it. But when the stated time was ended, and the
Hour arrived, the Word shone forth from the Horizon of the Will.
Beware, O Concourse of the Son (i.e. Christians)! Cast it not
behind you, but hold thereunto. It is better for you than all that
which is before you! ... Verily, the Spirit of Truth is come, to
guide you into all Truth. Verily, He speaketh not from Himself,
nay, but rather from the All-Knowing and Wise. He is the One Whom
the Son hath glorified.... Abandon that which is before you, O
people of the earth, and take that which is commanded you by Him
Who is the Powerful, the Faithful.
And in a letter to the Pope, written from Adrianople in 1867, He says:—
Beware lest celebration hinder you from the Celebrated and worship
hinder you from the Worshipped One! Behold the Lord, the Mighty,
the All-Knowing! He hath come to minister to the life of the
world, and for the uniting of whatever dwelleth therein. Come, O
ye people, to the Dawning-place of Revelation! Tarry not, even for
an hour! Are ye learned of the Gospel, and yet are unable to see
the Lord of Glory?
This beseemeth you not, O learned concourse! Say then, if ye deny
this matter, by what proof do you believe in God? Produce your
proof....
Just as in these letters to Christians He announces the fulfillment of the
Gospel promises, so He proclaims also to Muḥammadan, Jews, Zoroastrians
and the people of other faiths the fulfillment of the promises of their
Holy Books. He addresses all men as the sheep of God, who have hitherto
been divided into different flocks and sheltered in different folds. His
message, He says, is the Voice of God, the Good Shepherd, Who has come in
the fullness of time to gather His scattered sheep into one flock,
removing the barriers between them, that “there may be one fold and one
shepherd.”
A New Situation
The position of Bahá’u’lláh among the Prophets is unprecedented and
unique, because the condition of the world at the time of His advent was
unprecedented and unique. By a long and checkered process of development
in religion, science, art and civilization the world had become ripe for a
teaching of Unity. The barriers which in previous centuries had made a
world unity impossible were ready to crumble when Bahá’u’lláh appeared,
and since His birth, in 1817, and more especially since the promulgation
of His teachings began, these barriers have been breaking down in most
astonishing fashion. Be the explanation what it may, about the fact there
can be no doubt.
In the days of previous Prophets geographical barriers alone were amply
sufficient to prevent world unity. Now that obstacle has been overcome.
For the first time in human history men on opposite sides of the globe are
able to communicate with each other quickly and easily. Things done in
Europe yesterday are known in every continent of the world today, and a
speech made in America today may be read in Europe, Asia and Africa
tomorrow.
Another great obstacle was the language difficulty. Thanks to the study
and teaching of foreign languages, that difficulty has already been to a
large extent overcome; and there is every reason to suppose that ere many
years an international auxiliary language will be adopted and taught in
all the schools of the world. Then this difficulty also will be completely
removed.
The third great obstacle was religious prejudice and intolerance. That,
too, is disappearing. Men’s minds are becoming more open. The education of
the people is passing more and more out of the hands of sectarian priests;
and new and more liberal ideas can no longer be prevented from penetrating
into even the most exclusive and conservative circles.
Bahá’u’lláh is thus the first of the great Prophets Whose message has
become known within a period of comparatively few years in every quarter
of the globe. Within a short time the essential teachings of Bahá’u’lláh,
translated from His own authentic Writings, will be directly accessible to
every man, woman and child in the world who is able to read.
Fullness of the Bahá’í Revelation
The Bahá’í Revelation is unprecedented and unique among the faiths of the
world by reason of the fullness and completeness of its authentic records.
The recorded words that can with certainty be attributed to Christ, to
Moses, to Zoroaster, to Buddha, to Krishna, are very few, and leave many
modern questions of great practical importance unanswered. Many of the
teachings commonly attributed to these religious Founders are of doubtful
authenticity, and some are evidently accretions of later date. The
Muḥammadans possess in the Qur’án, and in a large store of traditions, a
much fuller record of the life and teachings of their Prophet, but
Muḥammad Himself, though inspired, was illiterate, as were most of His
early followers. The methods employed for recording and spreading His
teachings were in many respects unsatisfactory, and the authenticity of
many of the traditions is very doubtful. As a result, differences of
interpretation and conflicting opinions have cause divisions and
dissensions in Islam, as in all previous religious communities.
On the other hand, both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh wrote copiously and with
great eloquence and power. As both were debarred from public speaking and
spent most of Their lives (after the declaration of Their mission) in
prison, They devoted a large proportion of Their time to writing, with the
result that in richness of authentic scriptures the Bahá’í Revelation is
unapproached by any of its predecessors. Clear and full expositions are
given of many truths which were but dimly foreshadowed in previous
revelations, and the eternal principles of truth, which all the Prophets
have taught, have been applied to the problems which are facing the world
today—problems of the utmost complexity and difficulty, many of which had
not arisen in the days of former Prophets. It is evident that this full
record of authentic revelation must have a powerful effect in preventing
misunderstandings in the future and in clearing up those misunderstandings
of the past which have kept the various sects asunder.
The Bahá’í Covenant
The Bahá’í Revelation is unprecedented and unique in still another way.
Before the death of Bahá’u’lláh He repeatedly put in writing a Covenant
appointing his eldest son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Whom He often refers to as “The
Branch,” or “The Most Great Branch,” as the authorized interpreter of the
teachings, and declaring that any explanations or interpretations given by
Him are to be accepted as of equal validity with the words of Bahá’u’lláh
Himself. In His Will and Testament He says:—
Consider that which We revealed in Our Most Holy Book: “When the
ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is
ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath
branched from this Ancient Root.” The object of this sacred verse
is none other except the Most Mighty Branch (‘Abdu’l-Bahá).
And in the Tablet of the Branch, in which He explains the station of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, He says:—
Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance; for verily
He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon
you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened. Whoso
turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth
away from Him hath turned away from My Beauty, hath repudiated My
Proof, and transgressed against Me.
After the death of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had abundant opportunities,
both in His own home and on His extensive travels, of meeting people from
all parts of the world and of all shades of opinion. He heard all their
questions, their difficulties and objections, and gave full explanations
which were carefully recorded in writing. During a long series of years
‘Abdu’l-Bahá continued this work of elucidating the teachings and showing
their applications to the most varied problems of modern life. Differences
of opinion which have arisen among believers have been referred to Him and
authoritatively settled, and thus the risks of future misunderstandings
have been further reduced.
Bahá’u’lláh further arranged that an International House of Justice,
representative of all Bahá’ís throughout the world, should be elected to
take charge of the affairs of the Cause, control and coordinate all its
activities, prevent divisions and schisms, elucidate obscure matters, and
preserve the teachings from corruption and misrepresentation. The fact
that this supreme administrative body can not only initiate legislation on
all matters not defined in the Teachings, but also annul its own
enactments when new conditions require different measures, enables the
Faith to expand and adapt itself, like a living organism, to the needs and
requirements of a changing society.
Moreover, Bahá’u’lláh expressly forbade interpretation of the teachings by
anyone but the authorized interpreter. In His Will and Testament
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed Shoghi Effendi to be the Guardian of the Faith
after Him and to be empowered to interpret the Writings.
In a thousand or more years another Manifestation will appear, under the
shadow of Bahá’u’lláh, with clear proofs of His mission, but until then
the words of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Guardian and the decisions
of the International House of Justice constitute the authorities to which
all believers must turn for guidance. No Bahá’í may found a school or sect
based on any particular interpretation of the teachings or any supposed
divine revelation. Anyone contravening these injunctions is considered a
“Covenant-breaker.”(25)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
One of the enemies of the Cause is he who endeavors to interpret
the words of Bahá’u’lláh and thereby colors the meaning according
to his capacity, and collects around him a following, forming a
different sect, promoting his own station, and making a division
in the Cause.
In another Tablet He writes:—
These people (promoters of schism) are like the froth that gathers
on the surface of the sea; a wave will surge from the ocean of the
Covenant and through the power of the Abhá Kingdom will cast this
foam ashore.... These corrupt thoughts that emanate from personal
and evil intentions will all vanish, whereas the Covenant of God
shall remain stable and secure.
There is nothing to keep men from forsaking religion if they wish to do
so. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “God Himself does not compel the soul to become
spiritual. The exercise of the free human will is necessary.” The
spiritual Covenant, however, clearly makes sectarianism within the Bahá’í
community quite impossible.
No Professional Priesthood
One other feature of the Bahá’í organization must be specially mentioned,
and that is the absence of a professional priesthood. Voluntary
contributions toward the expenses of teachers are permitted and many
devote their whole time to work for the Cause, but all Bahá’ís are
expected to share in the work of teaching, et cetera, according to their
opportunity and ability, and there is no special class distinguished from
their fellow believers by the exclusive exercise of priestly functions and
prerogatives.
In former ages priesthoods were necessary, because people were illiterate
and uneducated and were dependent on priests for their religious
instruction, for the conduct of religious rites and ceremonies, for the
administration of justice, et cetera. Now, however, times have changed.
Education is fast becoming universal, and if the commands of Bahá’u’lláh
are carried out, every boy and girl in the world will receive a sound
education. Each individual will then be able to study the Scriptures for
himself, to draw the Water of Life for himself, direct from the
Fountainhead. Elaborate rites and ceremonies, requiring the services of a
special profession or caste, have no place in the Bahá’í system; and the
administration of justice is entrusted to the authorities instituted for
that purpose.
For a child a teacher is necessary, but the aim of the true teacher is to
fit his pupil to do without a teacher; to see things with his own eyes,
hear with his own ears, and understand with his own mind. Just so, in the
childhood of the race, the priest is necessary, but his real work is to
enable men to do without him: to see things divine with their own eyes,
hear them with their own ears and understand them with their own minds.
Now the priest’s work is all but accomplished, and the aim of the Bahá’í
teaching is to complete that work, to make men independent of all save
God, so that they can turn directly to Him, that is, to His Manifestation.
When all turn to one Center, then there can be no cross-purposes or
confusion and the nearer all draw to the Center, the nearer they will draw
to each other.
CHAPTER 9: TRUE CIVILIZATION
O people of God! Be not occupied with yourselves. Be intent on the
betterment of the world and the training of nations.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
Religion the Basis of Civilization
According to the Bahá’í view, the problems of human life, individual and
social, are so inconceivably complex that the ordinary human intellect is
incapable of itself of solving them aright. Only the Omniscient fully
knows the purpose of creation and how that purpose may be achieved.
Through the Prophets He shows to mankind the true goal of human life and
the right path of progress; and the building up of a true civilization
depends upon faithful adherence to the guidance of prophetic Revelation.
Bahá’u’lláh says:—
Religion is the greatest instrument for the order of the world and
the tranquillity of all existent beings. The weakening of the
pillars of religion has encouraged the ignorant and rendered them
audacious and arrogant. Truly I say, whatever lowers the lofty
station of religion will increase heedlessness in the wicked, and
finally result in anarchy....
Consider the civilization of the people of the Occident—how it has
occasioned commotion and agitation to the people of the world.
Infernal instruments have been devised, and such atrocity is
displayed in the destruction of life as has not been seen by the
eye of the world, nor heard by the ear of nations. It is
impossible to reform these violent, overwhelming evils, except the
peoples of the world become united upon a certain issue or under
the shadow of One Religion....
O people of Bahá! Each one of the revealed Commands is a mighty
stronghold for the protection of the world.—Words of Paradise.
The present state of Europe and of the world in general eloquently
confirms the truth of these words written so many years ago. Neglect of
the prophetic commands and the prevalence of irreligion have been
accompanied by disorder and destruction on the most terrible scale, and,
without the change of heart and aim which is the essential characteristic
of true religion, the reform of society seems an utter impossibility.
Justice
In the little book of Hidden Words, in which Bahá’u’lláh gives in brief
the essence of the prophetic teachings, His first counsel refers to the
individual life: “Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart.” The next
indicates the fundamental principle of true social life:—
O Son of Spirit!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not
away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may
confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and
not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own
knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder
this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is
My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then
before thine eyes.
The first essential of social life is that individuals should become
capable of discerning the true from the false and right from wrong, and of
seeing things in their true proportions. The greatest cause of spiritual
and social blindness, and the greatest foe of social progress, is
selfishness. Bahá’u’lláh says:—
O ye sons of intelligence! The thin eye lid prevents the eye from
seeing the world and what is contained therein. Then think of the
result when the curtain of greed covers the sight of the heart!
O people! The darkness of greed and envy obscures the light of the
soul as the cloud prevents the penetration of the sun’s rays.
(Tablet to some Persian Zoroastrian Bahá’ís).
Long experience is at last convincing men of the truth of the prophetic
teaching that selfish views and selfish actions inevitably bring social
disaster, and that if humanity is not to perish ingloriously, each must
look on the things of his neighbor as of equal importance with his own,
and subordinate his own interests to those of humanity as a whole. In this
way the interests of each and all will ultimately be best served.
Bahá’u’lláh says:—“O son of man! If thine eyes be turned towards mercy,
forsake the things that profit thee, and cleave unto that which will
profit mankind. And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou
for thy neighbor that which thou choosest for thyself.”—Words of Paradise.
Government
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contain two different types of reference to
the question of true social order. One type is exemplified in the tablets
revealed to the Kings, which deal with the problem of government as
existing in the world during Bahá’u’lláh’s life on earth; the other
references are to the new order to be developed within the Bahá’í
community itself.
Hence arises the sharp contrast between such passages as: “The one true
God, exalted be His glory, hath ever regarded, and will continue to
regard, the hearts of men as His own, His exclusive possession. All else,
whether pertaining to land or sea, whether riches or glory, He hath
bequeathed unto the Kings and rulers of the earth”’ and “It beseemeth all
men, in this Day, to take firm hold on the Most Great Name, and to
establish the unity of all mankind. There is no place to flee to, no
refuge that any one can seek, except Him.”—Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 206, 203.
The apparent incompatibility of these two views is removed when we observe
the distinction which Bahá’u’lláh makes between the “Lesser Peace” and the
“Most Great Peace.” In His tablets to the Kings Bahá’u’lláh called upon
them to assemble and take measures for the maintenance of political peace,
the reduction of armaments and the removal of the burdens and insecurity
of the poor. But His words make it perfectly clear that their failure to
respond to the needs of the time would result in wars and revolutions
leading to the overthrow of the old order. Therefore, on the one hand He
said: “What mankind needeth in this day is obedience unto them that are in
authority,” and on the other, “Those men who, having amassed the vanities
and ornaments of the earth, have turned away disdainfully from God—these
have lost both this world and the world to come. Ere long, will God, with
the Hand of Power, strip them of their possessions, and divest them of the
robe of His bounty.” “We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail,
at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent
hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every
direction.” “The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be
discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably
defective.” “We have pledged Ourselves to secure Thy triumph upon earth
and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though no king be found who would
turn his face towards Thee.” Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,
pp. 207, 209, 214, 216, 248–249.
The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace
and tranquillity of the world and the advancement of its peoples,
hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for
the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be
universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs
attend it, and participating in its deliberations, must consider
such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s
Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great
Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquillity of the
peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves.
Should any kind take up arms against another, all should unitedly
arise and prevent him.—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,
p. 249.
By such counsel, Bahá’u’lláh revealed the conditions under which
public responsibility must be discharged in this Day of God.
Appealing for international solidarity on the one hand, He no less
clearly warned the rulers that continuance of strife would destroy
their power. Now modern history confirms this warning, in the rise
of those coercive movements which in all civilized nations have
attained such destructive energy, and in the development of
warfare to the degree that victory is no longer attainable by any
party. “Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye
fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree
better your own condition and that of your dependents.” “That
which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest
instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all
its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in
no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an
all-powerful and inspired Physician.”—Gleanings from the Writings
of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 254, 255.
By the Lesser Peace is meant a political unity of states, while the Most
Great Peace is a unity embracing spiritual as well as political and
economic factors. “Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new
one spread out in its stead.”—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,
p. 7.
In former ages, a government could concern itself with external matters
and material affairs, but today the function of government demands a
quality of leadership, of consecration and of spiritual knowledge
impossible save to those who have turned to God.
Political Freedom
Although advocating as the ideal condition a representative form of
government, local, national and international, Bahá’u’lláh teaches that
this is possible only when men have attained a sufficiently high degree of
individual and social development. Suddenly to grant full self-government
to people without education, who are dominated by selfish desires and are
inexperienced in the conduct of public affairs, would be disastrous. There
is nothing more dangerous than freedom for those who are not fit to use it
wisely. Bahá’u’lláh writes in the Book of Aqdas:—
Consider the pettiness of men’s minds. They ask for that which
injureth them, and cast away the thing that profiteth them. They
are, indeed, of those that are far astray. We find some men
desiring liberty, and priding themselves therein. Such men are in
the depths of ignorance.
Liberty must, in the end, lead to sedition, whose flames none can
quench. Thus warneth you He Who is the Reckoner, the All-Knowing.
Know ye that the embodiment of liberty and its symbol is the
animal. That which beseemeth man is submission unto such
restraints as will protect him from his own ignorance, and guard
him against the harm of the mischief-maker. Liberty causeth man to
overstep the bounds of propriety, and to infringe on the dignity
of his station. It debaseth him to the level of extreme depravity
and wickedness.
Regard men as a flock of sheep that need a shepherd for their
protection. This, verily, is the truth, the certain truth. We
approve of liberty in certain circumstances, and refuse to
sanction it in others. We, verily, are the All-Knowing.
Say: True liberty consisteth in man’s submission unto My
commandments, little as ye know it. Were men to observe that which
We have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they
would, of a certainty, attain unto perfect liberty. Happy is the
man that hath apprehended the Purpose of God in whatever He hath
revealed from the Heaven of His Will, that pervadeth all created
things. Say: The liberty that profiteth you is to be found nowhere
except in complete servitude unto God, the Eternal Truth. Whoso
hath tasted of its sweetness will refuse to barter it for all the
dominion of earth and heaven.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
For improving the condition of backward races and nations, the Divine
teachings are the sovereign remedy. When both people and statesmen learn
and adopt these teachings the nations will be freed from all their bonds.
Rulers and Subjects
Bahá’u’lláh forbids tyranny and oppression in the most emphatic terms. In
Hidden Words He writes:—
O Oppressors of Earth!
Withdraw your hands from tyranny, for I have pledged Myself not to
forgive any man’s injustice. This is My covenant which I have
irrevocably decreed in the preserved tablet and sealed it with My
seal of glory.
Those entrusted with the framing and administration of laws and
regulations must “hold fast to the rope of Consultation, and decide upon
and execute that which is conducive to the people’s security, affluence,
welfare and tranquillity; for if matters be arranged otherwise, it will
lead to discord and tumult.”—Tablet of the World.
On the other hand, the people must be law-abiding and loyal to the just
government. They must rely on educational methods and on the force of good
example, not on violence, for bringing about a better state of affairs in
the nation. Bahá’u’lláh says:—
In every country where any of this community reside, they must
behave toward the government of that country with faithfulness,
truthfulness, and obedience.—Glad Tidings.
O people of God! Adorn your temples with the mantle of
trustworthiness and integrity; then assist your Lord with the
hosts of good deeds and good morals. Verily We have forbidden you
sedition and strife, in My Books and Epistles, in My Writings and
Tablets; and by this We have desired only your loftiness and
exaltation.—Tablet of I_sh_ráqát.
Appointment and Promotion
In making appointments, the only criterion must be fitness for the
position. Before this paramount consideration, all others, such as
seniority, social or financial status, family connection or personal
friendship, must give way. Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablet of I_sh_ráqát:—
The fifth I_sh_ráq (Effulgence) is the knowledge by governments of
the condition of the governed, and the conferring of ranks
according to desert and merit. Regard to this matter is strictly
enjoined upon every chief and ruler, that haply traitors may not
usurp the positions of trustworthy men nor spoilers occupy the
seats of guardians.
It needs but little consideration to show that when this principle becomes
generally accepted and acted upon, the transformation in our social life
will be astounding. When each individual is given the position for which
his talents and capabilities specially fit him he will be able to put his
heart into his work and become an artist in his profession, with
incalculable benefit to himself and the rest of the world.
Economic Problems
The Bahá’í teachings insist in the strongest terms on the need for reform
in the economic relations of rich and poor. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
The arrangements of the circumstances of the people must be such
that poverty shall disappear, that everyone, as far as possible,
according to his rank and position, shall share in comfort and
well-being. We see among us men who are overburdened with riches
on the one hand, and on the other those unfortunate ones who
starve with nothing; those who possess several stately palaces,
and those who have not where to lay their head.... This condition
of affairs is wrong, and must be remedied. Now the remedy must be
carefully undertaken. It cannot be done by bringing to pass
absolute equality between men. Equality is a chimera! It is
entirely impracticable. Even if equality could be achieved it
could not continue; and if its existence were possible, the whole
order of the world would be destroyed. The Law of Order must
always obtain in the world of humanity. Heaven has so decreed in
the creation of man.... Humanity, like a great army, requires a
general, captains, underofficers in their degree, and soldiers,
each with their appointed duties. Degrees are absolutely necessary
to ensure an orderly organization. An army could not be composed
of generals alone, or of captains only, or of nothing but soldiers
without anyone in authority.
Certainly, some being enormously rich and other lamentably poor,
an organization is necessary to control and improve this state of
affairs. It is important to limit riches, as it is also of
importance to limit poverty. Either extreme is not good.... When
we see poverty allowed to reach a condition of starvation, it is a
sure sign that somewhere we shall find tyranny. Men must bestir
themselves in this matter, and no longer delay in altering
conditions which bring the misery of grinding poverty to a very
large number of people.
The rich must give of their abundance; they must soften their
hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking thought
for those sad ones who are suffering from lack of the very
necessaries of life.
There must be special laws made, dealing with these extremes of
rich and want.... The government of the countries should conform
to the Divine Law which gives equal justice to all.... Not until
this is done will the Law of God be obeyed.
Public Finance
‘Abdu’l-Bahá suggests that each town and village or district should be
entrusted as far as possible with the administration of fiscal matters
within its own area and should contribute its due proportion for the
expenses of the general government. One of the principal sources of
revenue should be a graduated income tax. If a man’s income does not
exceed his necessary expenditure he should not be required to pay any tax,
but in all cases where income exceeds the necessary expenditure a tax
should be levied, the percentage of tax increasing as the surplus of
income over necessary expenditure increases.
On the other hand, if a person, through illness, poor crops, or other
cause for which he is not responsible, is unable to earn an income
sufficient to meet his necessary expenses for the year, then what he lacks
for the maintenance of himself and his family should be supplied out of
public funds.
There will also be other sources of public revenue, e.g. from intestate
estates, mines, treasure trove and voluntary contributions; while among
the expenditures will be grants for the support of the infirm, of orphans,
of schools, of the deaf and blind, and for the maintenance of public
health. Thus the welfare and comfort of all will be provided for.(26)
Voluntary Sharing
In a letter to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, written in
1919, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s
property with others among mankind. This voluntary sharing is
greater than (legally imposed) equality, and consists in this,
that one should not prefer oneself to others, but rather should
sacrifice one’s life and property for others. But this should not
be introduced by coercion so that it becomes a law which man is
compelled to follow. Nay, rather, man should voluntarily and of
his own choice sacrifice his property and life for others, and
spend willingly for the poor, just as is done in Persia among the
Bahá’ís.
Work for All
One of the most important instructions of Bahá’u’lláh in regard to the
economic question is that all must engage in useful work. There must be no
drones in the social hive, no able-bodied parasites on society. He says:—
It is enjoined on every one of you to engage in some
occupation—some art, trade or the like. We have made this—your
occupation—identical with the worship of God, the True One.
Reflect, O people, upon the Mercy of God and upon His Favors, then
thank Him in the mornings and evenings.
Waste not your time in idleness and indolence, and occupy
yourselves with that which will profit yourselves and others
beside yourselves, Thus hath the matter been decreed in this
Tablet, from the Horizon of which the Sun of Wisdom and Divine
Utterance is gleaming! The most despised of men before is he who
sits and begs. Cling unto the rope of means, relying upon God, the
Causer of Causes.—Glad Tidings.
How much of the energy employed in the business world of today is expended
simply in canceling and neutralizing the efforts of other people—in
useless strife and competition! And how much in ways that are still more
injurious! Were all to work, and were all work, whether of brain or hand,
of a nature profitable to mankind, as Bahá’u’lláh commands, then the
supplies of everything necessary for a healthy, comfortable and noble life
would amply suffice for all. There need be no slums, no starvation, no
destitution, no industrial slavery, no health-destroying drudgery.
The Ethics of Wealth
According to the Bahá’í teachings, riches rightly acquired and rightly
used are honorable and praiseworthy. Services rendered should be
adequately rewarded. Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablet of Tarazát:—“The
people of Baha must not refuse to discharge the due reward of anyone, and
must respect possessors of talent, ... One must speak with justice and
recognize the worth of benefits.”
With regard to interest on money, Bahá’u’lláh writes in the Tablet of
I_sh_ráqát as follows:—
Most of the people are found to be in need of this matter; for if
no interest be allowed, affairs (business) will be trammeled and
obstructed.... A person is rarely found who would lend money to
anyone upon the principle of “Qar-i-hasan” (literally “good loan,”
i.e. money advanced without interest and repaid at the pleasure of
the borrower). Consequently, out of favor to the servants, We have
appointed “profit on money” to be current, among other business
transactions which are in force among people. That is ... it is
allowable, lawful and pure to charge interest on money ... but
this matter must be conducted with moderation and justice. The Pen
of Glory has withheld itself from laying down its limits, as a
Wisdom from His Presence and as a convenience for His servants. We
exhort the friends of God to act with fairness and justice, and in
such a way that the mercy of His beloved ones, and their
compassion, may be manifested toward each other....
The execution of these matters has been placed in charge of the
men of the House of Justice, in order that they may act in
accordance with the exigencies of the time and with wisdom.
No Industrial Slavery
In the Book of Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh forbids slavery, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has
explained that not only chattel slavery, but also industrial slavery, is
contrary to the law of God. When in the United States in 1912, He said to
the American people:—
Between 1860 and 1865 you did a wonderful thing; you abolished
chattel slavery; but today you must do a much more wonderful
thing: you must abolish industrial slavery....
The solution of economic questions will not be brought about by
array of capital against labor, and labor against capital, in
strife and conflict, but by the voluntary attitude of goodwill on
both sides. Then a real and lasting justness of conditions will be
secured....
Among the Bahá’ís there are no extortionate, mercenary and unjust
practices, no rebellious demands, no revolutionary uprisings
against existing governments....
It will not be possible in the future for men to amass great
fortunes by the labors of others. The rich will willingly divide.
They will come to this gradually, naturally, by their own
volition. It will never be accomplished by war and bloodshed.
It is by friendly consultation and cooperation, by just copartnership and
profit-sharing, that the interests of both capital and labor will be best
served. The harsh weapons of the strike and lockout are injurious, not
only to the trades immediately affected, but to the community as a whole.
It is, therefore, the business of the governments to devise means for
preventing recourse to such barbarous methods of settling disputes.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said at Dublin, New Hampshire, in 1912:—
Now I want to tell you about the law of God. According to the
divine law, employees should not be paid merely by wages. Nay,
rather they should be partners in every work. The question of
socialization is very difficult. It will not be solved by strikes
for wages. All the governments of the world must be united, and
organize an assembly, the members of which shall be elected from
the parliaments and the noble ones of the nations. These must plan
with wisdom and power, so that neither the capitalists suffer
enormous losses, nor the laborers become needy. In the utmost
moderation they should make the law, then announce to the public
that the rights of the working people are to be effectively
preserved; also the rights of the capitalists are to be protected.
When such a general law is adopted, by the will of both sides,
should a strike occur, all the governments of the world should
collectively resist it. Otherwise the work will lead to much
destruction, especially in Europe. Terrible things will take
place.
One of the several causes of a universal European war will be this
question. The owners of properties, mines and factories, should
share their incomes with their employees, and give a fairly
certain percentage of their profits to their workingmen, in order
that the employees should receive, besides their wages, some of
the general income of the factory, so that the employee may strive
with his soul in the work.
Bequest and Inheritance
Bahá’u’lláh states that a person should be free to dispose of his
possessions during his lifetime in any way he chooses, and it is incumbent
on everyone to write a will stating how his property is to be disposed of
after his death. When a person dies without leaving a will, the value of
the property should be estimated and divided in certain state proportions
among seven classes of inheritors, namely, children, wife or husband,
father, mother, brothers, sisters and teachers, the share of each
diminishing from the first to the last. In the absence of one or more of
these classes, the share which would belong to them goes to the public
treasury, to be expended on the poor, the fatherless and the widows, or on
useful public works. If the deceased has no heirs, then all his property
goes to the public treasury.
There is nothing in the law of Bahá’u’lláh to prevent a man from leaving
all his property to one individual if he pleases, but Bahá’ís will
naturally be influenced, in making their wills, by the model Bahá’u’lláh
has laid down for the case of intestate estates, which ensures
distribution of property among a considerable number of heirs.
Equality of Men and Women
One of the social principles to which Bahá’u’lláh attaches great
importance is that women should be regarded as the equals of men and
should enjoy equal rights and privileges, equal education and equal
opportunities.
The great means on which He relies for bringing about the emancipation of
women is universal education. Girls are to receive as good an education as
boys. In fact, the education of girls is even more important than that of
boys, for in time these girls will become mothers, and, as mothers, they
will be the first teachers of the next generation. Children are like green
and tender branches; if the early training is right they grow straight,
and if it is wrong they grow crooked; and to the end of their lives they
are affected by the training of their earliest years. How important, then,
that girls should be well and wisely educated!
During His Western tours, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had frequent occasion to explain
the Bahá’í teachings on this subject. At a meeting of the Women’s Freedom
League in London in January 1913, He said:—
Humanity is like a bird with its two wings—the one is male, the
other female. Unless both wings are strong and impelled by some
common force, the bird cannot fly heavenwards. According to the
spirit of this age, women must advance and fulfill their mission
in all departments of life, becoming equal to men. They must be on
the same level as men and enjoy equal rights. This is my earnest
prayer and it is one of the fundamental principles of Bahá’u’lláh.
Some scientists have declared that the brains of men weigh more
than those of women, and claim this as a proof of man’s
superiority. Yet when we look around us we see people with small
heads, whose brains much weigh little, who show the greatest
intelligence and great powers of understanding; and others with
big heads, whose brains must be heavy, and yet they are witless.
Therefore the avoirdupois of the brain is no true measure of
intelligence or superiority.
When men bring forward as a second proof of their superiority the
assertion that women have not achieved as much as men, they use
poor arguments which leave history out of consideration. If they
kept themselves more fully informed historically, they would know
that great women have lived and achieved great things in the past,
and that there are many living and achieving great things today.
Here ‘Abdu’l-Bahá described the achievements of Zenobia and other great
women of the past, concluding with an eloquent tribute to the fearless
Mary Magdalene, whose faith remained firm while that of the apostles was
shaken. He continued:—
Amongst the women of our own time is Qurratu’l-’Ayn, the daughter
of a Muḥammadan priest. At the time of the appearance of the Báb
she showed such tremendous courage and power that all who heard
her were astonished. She threw aside her veil despite the
immemorial custom of the women of Persia, and although it was
considered impolite to speak with men, this heroic woman carried
on controversies with the most learned men, and in every meeting
she vanquished them. The Persian Government took her prisoner; she
was stoned in the streets, anathematized, exiled from town to
town, threatened with death, but she never failed in her
determination to work for the freedom of her sisters. She bore
persecution and suffering with the greatest heroism; even in
prison she gained converts. To a Minister in Persia, in whose
house she was imprisoned, she said: “You can kill me as soon as
you like but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.” At last
the end of her tragic life came; she was carried into a garden and
strangled. She put on, however, her choicest robes as if she were
going to join a bridal party. With such magnanimity and courage
she gave her life, startling and thrilling all who saw her. She
was truly a great heroine. Today in Persia, among the Bahá’ís,
there are women who also show unflinching courage, and who are
endowed with great poetic insight. They are most eloquent, and
speak before large gatherings of people.
Women must go on advancing; they must extend their knowledge of
science, literature, history, for the perfection of humanity.
Erelong they will receive their rights. Men will see women in
earnest, bearing themselves with dignity, improving the civil and
political life, opposed to warfare, demanding suffrage and equal
opportunities. I expect to see you advance in all phases of life;
then will your brows be crowned with the diadem of eternal glory.
Women and the New Age
When woman’s point of view receives due consideration and woman’s will is
allowed adequate expression in the arrangement of social affairs, we may
expect great advancement in matters which have often be grievously
neglected under the old regime of male dominance—such matters as health,
temperance, peace, and regard for the value of the individual life.
Improvements in these respects will have very far-reaching and beneficent
effects. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has
dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive
qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already
shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness,
intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in
which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age
will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine
ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the
masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more
evenly balanced.—Star of the West, viii, No. 3, p. 4 [from report
of remarks made aboard the S.S. Cedric on arrival in New York].
Methods of Violence Discarded
In bringing about the emancipation of women as in other matters,
Bahá’u’lláh counsels His followers to avoid methods of violence. An
excellent illustration of the Bahá’í method of social reform has been
given by the Bahá’í in Persia, Egypt and Syria. In these countries it is
customary for Muḥammadan women outside their homes to wear a veil covering
the face. The Báb indicated that in the New Dispensation women would be
relieved from this irksome restraint, but Bahá’u’lláh counsels His
followers, where no important question of morality is involved, to defer
to established customs until people become enlightened, rather than
scandalize those amongst whom they live, and arouse needless antagonism.
The Bahá’í women, therefore, although well aware that the antiquated
custom of wearing the veil is, for enlightened people, unnecessary and
inconvenient, yet quietly put up with the inconvenience, rather than rouse
a storm of fanatical hatred and rancorous opposition by uncovering their
faces in public. This conformity to custom is in no way due to fear, but
to an assured confidence in the power of education and in the transforming
and life-giving effect of true religion. Bahá’ís in these regions are
devoting their energies to the education of their children, especially
their girls, and to the diffusion and promotion of the Bahá’í ideals, well
knowing that as the new spiritual life grows and spreads among the people,
antiquated customs and prejudices will by and by be shed, as naturally and
inevitably as bud scales are shed in spring when the leaves and flowers
expand in the sunshine.
Education
Education—the instruction and guidance of men and the development and
training of their innate faculties—has been the supreme aim of all the
Holy Prophets since the world began, and in the Bahá’í teachings the
fundamental importance and limitless possibilities of education are
proclaimed in the clearest terms. The teacher is the most potent factor in
civilization and his work is the highest to which men can aspire.
Education begins in the mother’s womb and is as unending as the life of
the individual. It is a perennial necessity of right living and the
foundation of both individual and social welfare. When education on right
lines becomes general, humanity will be transformed and world will become
a paradise.
At present a really well educated man is the rarest of phenomena, for
nearly everyone has false prejudices, wrong ideals, erroneous conceptions
and bad habits drilled into him from babyhood. How few are taught from
their earliest childhood to love God with all their hearts and dedicate
their lives to Him; to regard service to humanity as the highest aim in
life; to develop their powers to the best advantage for the general good
of all! Yet surely these are the essential elements of a good education.
Mere cramming of the memory with facts about arithmetic, grammar,
geography, languages, etc., has comparatively little effect in producing
noble and useful lives.
Bahá’u’lláh says that education must be universal:—
It is decreed that every father must educate his sons and
daughters in learning and in writing and also in that which hath
been ordained in the tablet. He who neglects that which hath been
commanded (in this matter), if he be rich, it is incumbent on the
trustees of the House of Justice to recover from him the amount
required for the education of his children; otherwise (i.e. if the
parent be not capable) the matter shall devolve upon the House of
Justice. Verily We have made it (the House of Justice) an asylum
for the poor and needy.
He who educates his son, or any other children, it is as though he
hath educated one of My children.—Tablet of I_sh_ráqát.
Men and women must place a part of what they earn by trade,
agriculture or other business, in charge of a trustworthy person,
to be spent in the education and instruction of the children. That
deposit must be invested in the education of the children, under
the advice of the trustees (or members) of the House of
Justice.—Tablet of the World.
Innate Differences of Nature
In the Bahá’í view the child’s nature is not like so much wax that can be
molded indifferently to any shape according to the will of the teacher.
Nay, each from the first has his own God-given character and individuality
which can develop to the best advantage only in a particular way; and that
way in each case is unique. No two people have exactly the same
capabilities and talents, and the true educator will never attempt to
force two natures into the same mold. In fact, he will never attempt to
force any nature into any mold. Rather he will reverently tend the
developing powers of the young nature, encourage and protect them, and
supply the nourishment and assistance which they need. His work is like
that of a gardener tending different plants. One plant likes the bright
sunshine, another the cool shade; one loves the water’s edge and another
the dry knoll; one thrives best on sandy soil and another on rich loam.
Each must have its needs appropriately supplied, else its perfections can
never be fully revealed. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
The Prophets acknowledge that education hath a great effect upon
the human race, but They declare that minds and comprehensions are
originally different. We see that certain children of the same
age, nativity and race, nay, from the same household, under the
tutorship of the same teacher, differ in minds and comprehensions.
No matter how the shell is educated (or polished) it can never
become the radiant pearl. The black stone will not become the
world-illuminating gem. The thorny cactus can never by training
and development become the blessed tree. That is to say, training
doth not change the essential nature of the human gem, but it
produceth a marvelous effect. By this effective power all that is
latent, of virtues and capacities in the human reality, will be
revealed.
Character Training
The thing of paramount importance in education is character training. With
regard to this, example is more effective than precept, and the lives and
characters of the child’s parents, teachers and habitual associates are
factors of the utmost importance.
The Prophets of God are the great educators of mankind, and Their counsels
and the story of Their lives should be instilled into the child’s mind as
soon as it is able to grasp them. Especially important are the words of
the Supreme Teacher, Bahá’u’lláh, Who reveals the root principles on which
the civilization of the future must be built up. He says:—
Teach your children what hath been revealed through the Pen of
Glory. Instruct them in what hath descended from the heaven of
greatness and power. Let them memorize the Tablets of the Merciful
and chant them with the most melodious voices in the halls of the
Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár.
Arts, Sciences, and Crafts
Training in arts, sciences, crafts and useful professions is regarded as
important and necessary. Bahá’u’lláh says:—
Knowledge is like unto wings for the being (of man) and is like a
ladder for ascending. To acquire knowledge is incumbent upon all,
but of those sciences which may profit the people of the earth,
and not such sciences as being in mere words and end in mere
words. The possessors of sciences and arts have a great right
among the people of the world. Indeed, the real treasury of man is
his knowledge. Knowledge is the means of honor, prosperity, joy,
gladness, happiness and exaltation.—Tablet of Tajallíyát.
Treatment of Criminals
In a talk on the right method of treating criminals, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke as
follows:—
... the most essential thing is that the people must be educated
in such a way ... that they will avoid and shrink from
perpetrating crimes, so that the crime itself will appear to them
as the greatest chastisement, the utmost condemnation and torment.
Therefore no crimes which require punishment will be committed....
... if someone oppresses, injures, and wrongs another, and the
wronged man retaliates, this is vengeance, and is censurable. ...
If ‘Amr dishonours Zaid, the latter has not the right to dishonour
‘Amr; if he does so, this is vengeance, and is very reprehensible.
No, rather he must return good for evil, and not only forgive, but
also, if possible, be of service to his oppressor. This conduct is
worthy of man; for what advantage does he gain by vengeance? The
two actions are equivalent; if one action is reprehensible, both
are reprehensible. The only difference is that one was committed
first, the other later.
But the community has the right of defense and of self-protection;
moreover, the community has no hatred nor animosity for the
murderer: it imprisons or punishes him merely for the protection
and security of others. ...
Thus when Christ said: “Whosoever shall smite thee on the right
cheek, turn to him the left one also,” it was for the purpose of
teaching men not to take personal revenge. He did not mean that if
a wolf should fall upon a flock of sheep and wish to destroy it,
that the wolf should be encouraged to do so. No, if Christ had
known that a wolf had entered the fold and was about to destroy
the sheep, most certainly he would have prevented it. ...
... the constitution of the communities depends upon justice....
Then what Christ meant by forgiveness and pardon is not that, when
nations attack you, burn your homes, plunder your goods, assault
your wives, children, and relatives, and violate your honour, you
should be submissive in the presence of these tyrannical foes, and
allow them to perform all their cruelties and oppressions. No, the
words of Christ refer to the conduct of two individuals towards
each other: if one person assaults another, the injured one should
forgive him. But the communities must protect the rights of man.
...
One thing remains to be said: it is that the communities are day
and night occupied in making penal laws, and in preparing and
organizing instruments and means of punishment. They build
prisons, make chains and fetters, arrange places of exile and
banishment, and different kinds of hardships and tortures, and
think by these means to discipline criminals; whereas, in reality,
they are causing destruction of morals and perversion of
characters. The community, on the contrary, ought day and night to
strive and endeavour with the utmost zeal and effort to accomplish
the education of men, to cause them day by day to progress and to
increase in science and knowledge, to acquire virtues, to gain
good morals and to avoid vices, so that crimes may not occur.—Some
Answered Questions, pp. 307–311.
Influence of the Press
The importance of the press as a means of diffusing knowledge and
educating the people, and its power as a civilizing force, when rightly
directed, are fully recognized by Bahá’u’lláh. He writes:—
In this day the mysteries of this earth are unfolded and visible
before the eyes, and the pages of swiftly appearing newspapers are
indeed the mirror of the world; they display the doings and
actions of the different nations; they both illustrate them and
cause them to be heard. Newspapers are as a mirror endowed with
hearing, sight and speech; they are a wonderful phenomenon and a
great matter.
But it behooves the writers and editors thereof to be sanctified
from the prejudice of egotism and desire, and to be adorned with
the ornament of equity and justice. They must inquire into matters
as fully as possible in order that they may be informed of the
real facts, and commit the same to writing. Concerning this
wronged one, what the newspapers have published has for the most
part been devoid of truth. Good speech and truthfulness are, in
loftiness of position and rank, like the sun which has risen from
the horizon of the heaven of knowledge.—Tablet of Tarazát.
CHAPTER 10: THE WAY TO PEACE
Today, this Servant has assuredly come to vivify the world and to bring
into unity all who are on the face of the earth. That which God willeth
shall come to pass and thou shalt see the earth even as the Abhá (Most
Glorious) Paradise.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, Tablet to the Ra’ís.
Conflict versus Concord
During the past century scientists have devoted and immense amount of
study to the struggle for existence in the plant and animal world, and,
amid the perplexities of social life, many have turned for guidance to the
principles which have been found to hold good in the lower world of
nature. In this way they have come to regard rivalry and conflict as
necessities of life, and the ruthless killing out of the weaker members of
society as a legitimate or even necessary means of improving the race.
Bahá’u’lláh tells us, on the other hand, that, if we wish to ascend the
scale of progress, instead of looking backward to the animal world, we
must direct our gaze forward and upward, and must take not the beasts, but
the Prophets as our guides. The principles of unity, concord and
compassion taught by the Prophets are the very antithesis of those
dominating the animal struggle for self-preservation, and we must choose
between them, for they cannot be reconciled. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
In the world of nature the dominant note is the struggle for
existence—the result of which is the survival of the fittest. The
law of the survival of the fittest is the origin of all
difficulties. It is the cause of war and strife, hatred and
animosity, between human beings. In the world of nature there is
tyranny, egoism, aggression, overbearance, usurpation of the
rights of others and other blameworthy attributes which are
defects of the animal world. Therefore, so long as the
requirements of the natural world play paramount part among the
children of men, success and prosperity are impossible. Nature is
warlike, nature is bloodthirsty, nature is tyrannical, for nature
is unaware of God the Almighty. That is why these cruel qualities
are natural to the animal world.
Therefore the Lord of mankind, having great love and mercy, has
caused the appearance of the prophets and the revelation of the
Holy Books, so that through divine education humanity may be
released from the corruption of nature and the darkness of
ignorance, be confirmed with ideal virtues and spiritual
attributes, and become the dawning-place of merciful emotions....
A hundred thousand times, alas! that ignorant prejudice, unnatural
differences and antagonistic principles are yet displayed by the
nations of the world toward one another, thus causing the
retardation of general progress. This retrogression comes from the
fact that the principles of divine civilization are completely
abandoned, and the teachings of the prophets are forgotten.
The Most Great Peace
In all ages the Prophets of God have foretold the coming of an era of
“peace on earth, goodwill among men.” As we have already seen Bahá’u’lláh,
in the most glowing and confident terms, confirms these prophecies and
declares that their fulfillment is at hand. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
... in this marvellous cycle, the earth will be transformed, and
the world of humanity arrayed in tranquility and beauty. Disputes,
quarrels, and murders will be replaced by peace, truth, and
concord; among the nations, peoples, races, and countries, love
and amity will appear. Co-operation and union will be established,
and finally war will be entirely suppressed.... Universal peace
will raise its tent in the centre of the earth, and the Blessed
Tree of Life will grow and spread to such an extent that it will
overshadow the East and the West. Strong and weak, rich and poor,
antagonistic sects and hostile nations—which are like the wolf and
the lamb, the leopard and kid, the lion and calf—will act towards
each other with the most complete love, friendship, justice, and
equity. The world will be filled with science, with the knowledge
of the reality of the mysteries of beings, and with the knowledge
of God.—Some Answered Questions, pp. 74–75.
Religious Prejudices
In order to see clearly how the Most Great Peace may be established, let
us first examine the principle causes that have led to war in the past and
see how Bahá’u’lláh proposes to deal with each.
One of the most fertile causes of war has been religious prejudice. With
regard to this the Bahá’í teachings show clearly that animosity and
conflict between people of different religions and sects have always been
due, not to true religion, but to the want of it, and to its replacement
by false prejudices, imitations and misrepresentations.
In one of His talks in Paris, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to
vanish from the face of the earth; it should give birth to
spirituality, and bring light and life to every soul. If religion
becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division it would be better
to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a
truly religious act. For it is clear that the purpose of a remedy
is to cure, but if the remedy only aggravates the complaint, it
had better be left alone. Any religion which is not a cause of
love and unity is no religion.
Again He says:—
From the beginning of human history down to the present time
various religions of the world have anathematized one another and
accused one another of falsity.... They have shunned one another
most rigidly, exercising mutual animosity and rancor. Consider the
history of religious warfare.... One of the greatest religious
wars, the Crusaders, extended over a period of 200 years....
Sometimes the Crusaders were successful, killing, pillaging and
taking captive Muḥammadan people; sometimes the Mussulmans were
victorious, inflicting bloodshed and ruin in turn upon the
invaders.
So they continued for two centuries, alternately fighting with
fury and relaxing with weakness until the European religionists
withdrew from the East, leaving ashes of desolation behind them
and finding their own nations in a condition of turbulence and
upheaval.... Yet this was only one of the “Holy wars.”
Religious wars have been many. Nine hundred thousand martyrs of
the Protestant cause was the record of conflict and difference
between that sect of Christians and the Catholics.... How many
languished in prisons! How merciless the treatment of captives!
All in the name of religion!
The Christians and Muḥammadans considered the Jews as satanic and
the enemies of God. Therefore they cursed and persecuted them.
Great numbers of Jews were killed, their houses burnt and
pillaged, their children carried into captivity. The Jews in turn
regarded the Christians as infidels, and the Muḥammadans as
enemies and destroyers of the laws of Moses; therefore they called
down vengeance upon them and curse them even to this day.
When the light of Bahá’u’lláh dawned from the East, He proclaimed
the promise of the oneness of humanity. He addressed all mankind
saying: “Ye are all fruits of one tree. There are not two trees,
one a tree of divine mercy, the other a tree of Satan.” ...
Therefore we must exercise the utmost love toward one another. We
must not consider any people the people of Satan, but know and
recognize all as servants of one God. At most it is this: some do
not know, they must be guided and trained.... Some are ignorant,
they must be informed. Some are as children, they must be helped
to reach maturity. Some are ailing, their moral condition is bad,
they must be treated until their morals are purified. But the sick
man is not to be hated because he is sick; the child must not be
shunned because he is a child, the ignorant one is not to be
despised because he lacks knowledge. They must be treated,
educated, trained and assisted in love. Everything must be done in
order that all humanity may live under the shadow of God in the
utmost security, in happiness of the highest type.
Racial and Patriotic Prejudices
The Bahá’í doctrine of the unity of mankind strikes at the root of another
cause of war, namely, racial prejudice. Certain races have assumed
themselves to be superior to others and have taken for granted, on the
principle of “survival of the fittest,” that this superiority gives them
the right to exploit for their own advantage, or even to exterminate,
weaker races. Many of the blackest pages in the world’s history are
examples of the pitiless application of this principle. According to the
Bahá’í view people of every race are of equal value in the sight of God.
All have wonderful innate capacities which only require suitable education
for their development, and each can play a part, which, instead of
impoverishing, will enrich and complete the life of all the other members
of the body of humanity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Concerning the prejudice of race; it is an illusion, a
superstition pure and simple, for God created us all of one
race.... In the beginning also there were no limits and boundaries
between the different lands; no part of the earth belonged more to
one people than to another. In the sight of God there is no
different between the various races. Why should man invent such a
prejudice? How can we uphold war caused by such an illusion? God
has not created men that they should destroy one another. All
races, tribes, sects and classes share equally in the bounty of
their Heavenly Father.
The only real difference lies in the degree of faithfulness, of
obedience to the laws of God. There are some who are as lighted
torches; there are others who shine as stars in the sky of
humanity.
The lovers of mankind, these are the superior men, of whatever
nation, creed or color they may be.
Equally mischievous with racial prejudice is political or patriotic
prejudice. The time has now come when narrow national patriotisms should
be merged in the wider patriotism whose country is the world. Bahá’u’lláh
says:—
Of old it hath been revealed: “Love of one’s country is an element
of the Faith of God.” The Tongue of Grandeur hath ... in the day
of His manifestation proclaimed: “It is not his to boast who
loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.” Through
the power released by these exalted words He hath lent a fresh
impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men’s hearts,
and hath obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation
from God’s Holy Book.—Tablet of the World.
Territorial Ambitions
Many are the wars which have been fought over pieces of territory whose
possession has been coveted by two or more rival nations. The greed of
possession has been as fertile a cause of strife among nations as among
individuals. According to the Bahá’í view, land rightly belongs not to
individual men or individual nations but to humanity as a whole; nay,
rather, it belongs to God alone, and all men are but tenants.
On the occasion of the Battle of Benghazi(27) , ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
The news of the Battle of Benghazi grieves my heart. I wonder at
the human savagery that still exists in the world: How is it
possible for men to fight from morning till night, killing each
other, shedding the blood of their fellowmen? And for what object?
To gain possession of a part of the earth! Even the animals when
they fight have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their
attacks. How terrible is it that men who are of the higher kingdom
can descend to slaying and bringing misery to their fellow beings
for the possession of a tract of land—the highest of created
beings fighting to obtain the lowest form of matter, earth.
Land belongs not to one people but to all people. The earth is not
man’s home but his tomb.
However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce
to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated
lands but one tiny portion—his tomb.
If more land is required for the improvement of the condition of
the people, for the spread of civilization ... surely it would be
possible to acquire peaceably the necessary extension of
territory. But war is made for the satisfaction of men’s ambition.
For the sake of worldly gain to the few terrible misery is brought
to numberless homes, breaking the hearts of hundred of men and
women. ...
I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts
of his heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes,
oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must
be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. When soldiers of
the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each
other’s hands. So may all the savagery of men disappear by the
mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the
sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible
to attain. Nothing is impossible to the divine benevolence of God. If you
desire with all your heart friendship with every race on earth, your
thought, spiritual and positive will spread; it will become the desire of
others, growing stronger until it reaches the minds of all men.
Universal Language
Having glanced at the principal causes of war and how they may be avoided,
we may now proceed to examine certain constructive proposals made by
Bahá’u’lláh with a view to achieving the Most Great Peace.
The first deals with the establishment of a universal auxiliary language.
Bahá’u’lláh refers to this matter in the Book of Aqdas and in many of His
Tablets. Thus in the Tablet of I_sh_ráqát He says:—
The Sixth I_sh_ráq (Effulgence) is Concord and Union amongst men.
Through the radiance of Union have the regions of the world at all
times been illumined, and the greatest of all means thereunto is
the understanding of one another’s writing and speech. Ere this,
in Our Epistles, have We commanded the Trustees of the House of
Justice, either to choose one of the existing tongues, or to
originate a new one, and in like manner to adopt a common script,
teaching these to the children in all the schools of the world,
that the world may become even as one land and one home.
About the time when this proposal of Bahá’u’lláh was first given to the
world, there was born in Poland a boy named Ludovic Zamenhof, who was
destined to play a leading part in carrying it into effect. Almost from
his infancy, the ideal of a universal language became a dominant motive in
Zamenhof’s life, and the result of his devoted labors was the invention
and widespread adoption of the language known as Esperanto, which has now
stood the test of many years and has proved to be a very satisfactory
medium of international intercourse. It has the great advantage that it
can be mastered in about a twentieth part of the time required to master
such languages as English, French or German. At an Esperanto banquet given
in Paris in February 1913, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
Today one of the chief causes of the differences in Europe is the
diversity of languages. We say this man is a German, the other is
an Italian, then we meet an Englishman and then again a Frenchman.
Although they belong to the same race, yet language is the
greatest barrier between them. Were a universal auxiliary language
in operation they would all be considered as one.
His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh wrote about this international language
more than forty years ago. He says that as long as an
international language is not adopted, complete union between the
various sections of the world will be unrealized, for we observe
that misunderstandings keep people from mutual association, and
these misunderstandings will not be dispelled except through an
international auxiliary language.
Generally speaking, the whole people of the Orient are not fully
informed of events in the West, neither can the Westerners put
themselves in sympathetic touch with the Easterners; their
thoughts are enclosed in a casket—the international language will
be the master key to open it. Were we in possession of a universal
language, the Western books could easily be translated into that
language, and the Eastern peoples be informed of their contents.
In the same way the books of the East could be translated into
that language for the benefit of the people in the West. The
greatest means of progress towards the union of East and West will
be a common language. It will make the whole world one home and
become the strongest impulse for human advancement. It will
upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity. It will make the
earth one universal commonwealth. It will be the cause of love
between the children of men. It will cause good fellowship between
the various races.
Now, praise be to God that Dr. Zamenhof(28) has invented the
Esperanto language. It has all the potential qualities of becoming
the international means of communication. All of us must be
grateful and thankful to him for this noble effort; for in this
way he has served his fellowmen well. With untiring effort and
self-sacrifice on the part of its devotees Esperanto will become
universal. Therefore every one of us must study this language and
spread it as far as possible so that day by day it may receive a
broader recognition, be accepted by all nations and governments of
the world, and become a part of the curriculum in all the public
schools. I hope that Esperanto will be adopted as the language of
all the future international conferences and congresses, so that
all people need acquire only two languages—one their own tongue
and the other the international language. Then perfect union will
be established between all the people of the world. Consider how
difficult it is today to communicate with various nations. If one
studies fifty languages one may yet travel through a country and
not know the language. Therefore I hope that you will make the
utmost effort, so that this language of Esperanto may be widely
spread.
While these allusions to Esperanto are specific and encouraging, it
remains true that until the House of Justice has acted on the matter in
accordance with Bahá’u’lláh’s instruction the Bahá’í Faith is not
committed to Esperanto nor to any other living or artificial tongue.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself said: “The love and effort put into Esperanto will
not be lost, but no one person can construct a Universal
Language.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 95.
Which language to adopt, and whether it is to be a natural or constructed
one, is a decision which the nations of the world will have to make.
Universal League of Nations
Another proposal frequently and powerfully advocated by Bahá’u’lláh was
that a Universal League of Nations should be formed for the maintenance of
international peace. In a letter to Queen Victoria, written while He was
still a prisoner in the barracks of Akká,(29) He said:—
O Rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may
need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your
territories and dominions....
Be united, O Kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of
discord be stilled amongst you, and your people find rest....
Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all
against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.
In 1875, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a forecast of the establishment of a Universal
League of Nations, which is especially interesting at the present time(30)
in view of the strenuous attempts now being made to establish such a
league. He wrote:—
True civilization will unfurl its banner in the midmost heart of
the world whenever a certain number of its distinguished and
high-minded sovereigns—the shining exemplars of devotion and
determination—shall, for the good and happiness of all mankind,
arise, with firm resolve and clear vision, to establish the Cause
of Universal Peace. They must make the Cause of Peace the object
of general consultation, and seek by every means in their power to
establish a Union of the nations of the world. They must conclude
a binding treaty and establish a covenant, the provisions of which
shall be sound, inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to
all the world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human
race. This supreme and noble undertaking—the real source of the
peace and well-being of all the world—should be regarded as sacred
by all that dwell on earth. All the forces of humanity must be
mobilized to ensure the stability and permanence of this Most
Great Covenant. In this all-embracing Pact the limits and
frontiers of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the
principles underlying the relations of governments towards one
another definitely laid down, and all international agreements and
obligations ascertained. In like manner, the size of the armaments
of every government should be strictly limited, for if the
preparations for war and the military forces of any nation should
be allowed to increase, they will arouse the suspicion of others.
The fundamental principle underlying this solemn Pact should be so
fixed that if any government later violate any one of its
provisions, all the governments on earth should arise to reduce it
to utter submission, nay the human race as a whole should resolve,
with every power at its disposal, to destroy that government.
Should this greatest of all remedies be applied to the sick body
of the world, it will assuredly recover from its ills and will
remain eternally safe and secure.—The Secret of Divine
Civilization, pp. 64–65.
Bahá’ís see grave deficiencies in the structure of the League of
Nations(31) which falls short of the type of institution which Bahá’u’lláh
described as essential to the establishment of world peace. On December
17, 1919, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declared:—
At present Universal Peace is a matter of great importance, but
unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this
matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice
strong.... Although the League of Nations has been brought into
existence, yet it is incapable of establishing Universal Peace.
But the Supreme Tribunal which His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has
described will fulfill this sacred task with the utmost might and
power.
International Arbitration
Bahá’u’lláh also advocated the establishment of an international court of
arbitration, so that differences arising between nations might be settled
in accordance with justice and reason, instead of by appeal to the ordeal
of battle.
In a letter to the Secretary of the Mohonk Conference on International
Arbitration, in August 1911, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
About fifty years ago in the Book of Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh commanded
people to establish universal peace and summoned all the nations
to the divine banquet of international arbitration, so that the
questions of boundaries, of national honor and property, and of
vital interests between nations might be settled by an arbitral
court of justice, and that no nation would dare to refuse to abide
by the decisions thus arrived at. If any quarrel between two
nations it must be adjudicated by this international court and be
arbitrated and decided upon like the judgment rendered by the
Judge between two individuals. If at any time any nation dares to
break such a decision, all the other nations must arise to put
down this rebellion.
Again, in one of His Paris talks in 1911, He said:—
A supreme tribunal shall be established by the peoples and
governments of every nation, composed of members elected from each
country and government. The members of this great council shall
assemble in unity. All disputes of an international character
shall be submitted to this court, its work being to arrange by
arbitration everything which otherwise would be a cause of war.
This mission of this tribunal would be to prevent war.
During the quarter of a century preceding the establishment of the League
of Nations a permanent Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague
(1900), and many arbitration treaties were signed, but most of these fell
far short of the comprehensive proposals of Bahá’u’lláh. No arbitration
treaty was made between two great Powers in which all matters of dispute
were included. Differences affecting “vital interests,” “honor” and
“independence” were specifically excepted. Not only so, but effective
guarantees that nations would abide by the terms of the treaties into
which they had entered were lacking. In the Bahá’í proposals, on the other
hand, questions of boundaries, of national honor and of vital interest are
expressly included, and agreements will have the supreme guarantee of the
World League of Nations behind them. Only when these proposals are
completely carried out will international arbitration attain the full
scope of its beneficent possibilities and the curse of war be finally
banished from the world.
Limitation of Armaments
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
By a general agreement all the governments of the world must
disarm simultaneously. It will not do if one lays down its arms
and the others refuse to do so. The nations of the world must
concur with each other concerning this supremely important
subject, so that they may abandon together the deadly weapons of
human slaughter. As long as one nation increases her military and
naval budget other nations will be forced into this crazed
competition through their natural and supposed interests.—Diary of
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohrab, May 11–14, 1914.
Nonresistence
As a religious body, Bahá’ís have, at the express command of Bahá’u’lláh,
entirely abandoned the use of armed force in their own interests, even for
strictly defensive purposes. In Persia many, many thousands of the Bábís
and Bahá’ís have suffered cruel deaths because of their faith. In the
early days of the Cause the Bábís on various occasions defended themselves
and their families by the sword, with great courage and bravery.
Bahá’u’lláh, however, forbade this. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—
When Bahá’u’lláh appeared, He declared that the promulgation of
the truth by such means must on no account be allowed, even for
purposes of self-defense. He abrogated the rule of the sword and
annulled the ordinance of “Holy War.” “If ye be slain,” said He,
“it is better for you than to slay. It is through the firmness and
assurance of the faithful that the Cause of the Lord must be
diffused. As the faithful, fearless and undaunted, arise with
absolute detachment to exalt the Word of God, and, with eyes
averted from the things of this world, engaged in service for the
Lord’s sake and by His power, thereby will they cause the Word of
Truth to triumph. These blessed souls bear witness by their
lifeblood to the truth of the Cause and attest it by the sincerity
of their faith, their devotion and their constancy. The Lord can
avail to diffuse His Cause and to defeat the froward. We desire no
defender but Him, and with our lives in our hands face the foe and
welcome martyrdom.” (written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for this book).
Bahá’u’lláh wrote to one of the persecutors of His cause:—
Gracious God! This people need no weapons of destruction, inasmuch
as they have girded themselves to reconstruct the world. Their
hosts are the hosts of goodly deeds, and their arms the arms of
upright conduct, and their commander the fear of God. Blessed that
one that judgeth with fairness. By the righteousness of God! Such
hath been the patience, the calm, the resignation of contentment
of this people that they have become the exponents of justice, and
so great hath been their forbearance, that they have suffered
themselves to be killed rather than kill, and this notwithstanding
that these whom the world hath wronged have endured tribulations
the like of which the history of the world hath never recorded,
nor the eyes of any nation witnessed. What is it that could have
induced them to reconcile themselves to these grievous trials, and
to refuse to put forth a hand to repel them? What could have
caused such resignation and serenity? The true cause is to be
found in the band which the Pen of Glory hath, day and night,
chosen to impose, and in Our assumption of the reins of authority,
through the power and might of Him Who is the Lord of all
mankind.—Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 74–75.
The soundness of Bahá’u’lláh’s nonresistance policy has already been
proved by results. For every believer martyred in Persia, the Bahá’í faith
has received a hundred new believers into its fold, and the glad and
dauntless way in which these martyrs cast the crowns of their lives at the
feet of their Lord has furnished to the world the clearest proof that they
had found a new life for which death has no terrors, a life of ineffable
fullness and joy, compared with which the pleasures of earth are but as
dust in the balance, and the most fiendish physical tortures but trifles
light as air.
Righteous Warfare
Although Bahá’u’lláh, like Christ, counsels His follows as individuals and
as a religious body to adopt an attitude of nonresistance and forgiveness
toward their enemies, He teaches that it is the duty of the community to
prevent injustice and oppression. If individuals are persecuted and
injured it is wrong for a community to allow pillage and murder to
continue unchecked within its borders. It is the duty of a good government
to prevent wrongdoing and to punish offenders.(32) So also with the
community of nations. If one nation oppresses or injures another, it is
the duty of all other nations to unite to prevent such oppression.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—“It may happen that at a given time warlike and
savage tribes may furiously attack the body politic with the intention of
carrying on a wholesale slaughter of its members; under such a
circumstance defense is necessary.”
Hitherto the usual practice of mankind has been that if one nation
attacked another, the rest of the nations of the world remained neutral,
and accepted no responsibility in the matter unless their own interests
were directly affected or threatened. The whole burden of defense was left
to the nation attacked, however weak and helpless it might be. The
teaching of Bahá’u’lláh reverses this position and throws the
responsibility of defense not specially on the nation attacked, but on all
the others, individually and collectively. As the whole of mankind is one
community, an attack on any one nation is an attack on the community, and
ought to be dealt with by the community. Were this doctrine generally
recognized and acted on, any nation contemplating an aggression on another
would know in advance that it would have to reckon with the opposition not
of that other nation only, but of the whole of the rest of the world. This
knowledge alone would be sufficient to deter even the boldest and most
bellicose of nations. When a sufficiently strong league of peace-loving
nations is established war will, there, become a thing of the past. During
the period of transition from the old state of international anarchy to
the new state of international solidarity aggressive wars will still be
possible, and in these circumstances, military or other coercive action in
the cause of international justice, unity and peace may be a positive
duty. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes that in such case:—
A conquest can be a praiseworthy thing, and there are times when
war becomes the powerful basis of peace, and ruin the very means
of reconstruction. If, for example, a high-minded sovereign
marshals his troops to block the onset of the insurgent and the
aggressor, or again, if he takes the field and distinguishes
himself in a struggle to unify a divided state and people, if, in
brief, he is waging war for a righteous purpose, then this seeming
wrath is mercy itself, and this apparent tyranny the very
substance of justice and this warfare the cornerstone of peace.
Today, the task befitting great rulers is to establish universal
peace, for in this lies the freedom of all peoples.—The Secret of
Divine Civilization, pp. 70–71.
Unity of East and West
Another factor which will help in bringing about universal peace is the
linking together of the East and the West. The Most Great Peace is no mere
cessation of hostilities, but a fertilizing union and cordial cooperation
of the hitherto sundered peoples of the earth which will bear much
precious fruit. In one of His talks in Paris, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
In the past, as in the present, the Spiritual Sun of Truth has
always shone from the horizon of the East. In the East Moses arose
to lead and teach the people. On the Eastern horizon rose the Lord
Christ. Muḥammad was sent to an Eastern nation. The Báb arose in
the Eastern land of Persia. Bahá’u’lláh lived and taught in the
East. All the great spiritual teachers arose in the Eastern world.
But although the Sun of Christ dawned in the East, the radiance
thereof was apparent in the West, where the effulgence of its
glory was more clearly seen. The divine light of His teaching
shone with a greater force in the Western world, where it has made
more rapid headway than in the land of its birth.
In these days the East is in need of material progress and the
West is in need of a spiritual ideal. It would be well for the
West to turn to the East for illumination, and to give in exchange
its scientific knowledge. There must be this interchange of gifts.
The East and the West must unite to give to each other what is
lacking. This union will bring about true civilization where the
spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material. Receiving
thus, the one from the other, the greatest harmony will prevail,
all people will be united, a state of great perfection will be
attained, there will be a firm cementing, and this world will
become a shining mirror for the reflection of the attributes of
God.
We all, the Eastern and the Western nations, must strive day and
night, with heart and soul, to achieve this high ideal, to cement
the unity between all the nations of the earth. Every heart will
then be refreshed, all eyes will be opened, the most wonderful
power will be given, the happiness of humanity will be assured....
This will be the Paradise which is to come on earth, when all
mankind will be gathered together under the Tent of Unity in the
Kingdom of Glory.
CHAPTER 11: VARIOUS ORDINANCES AND TEACHINGS
Know thou that in every age and dispensation all divine ordinances are
changed and transformed according to the requirement of the time, except
the law of love, which, like a fountain, always flows and is never
overtaken by change.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
Monastic Life
Bahá’u’lláh, like Muḥammad, forbids His followers to lead lives of
monastic seclusion.
In the Tablet to Napoleon III we read:—
O concourse of monks! Seclude not yourselves in churches and
cloisters. Come forth by My leave, and occupy yourselves with that
which will profit your souls and the souls of men.... Enter ye
into wedlock, that after you someone may fill your place. We have
forbidden you perfidious acts, and not that which will demonstrate
fidelity. Have ye clung to the standards fixed by your own selves,
and cast the standards of God behind your backs? Fear God, and be
not of the foolish. But for man, who would make mention of Me on
My earth, and how could My attributes and My name have been
revealed? Ponder ye, and be not of them that are veiled and fast
asleep. He that wedded not (Jesus) found no place wherein to dwell
or lay His head, by reason of that which the hands of the
treacherous had wrought. His sanctity consisteth not in that which
ye believe or fancy, but rather in the things We possess. Ask,
that ye may apprehend His station which hath been exalted above
the imaginings of all that dwell on earth. Blessed are they who
perceive it.
Does it not seem strange that Christian sects should have instituted the
monastic life and celibacy for the clergy, in view of the facts that
Christ chose married men for His disciples, and both He Himself and His
apostles lived lives of active beneficence, in close association and
familiar intercourse with the people?
In the Muḥammadan Qur’án we read:—
To Jesus the son of Mary We gave the Gospel, and We put into the
hearts of those who followed Him kindness and compassion: but as
to the monastic life, they invented it themselves. The desire only
of pleasing god did We prescribe to them, and this they observed
not as it ought to have been observed.—Qur’án, s. lviii. 27.
Whatever justification there may have been for the monastic life in
ancient times and bygone circumstances, Bahá’u’lláh declares that such
justification no longer exists; and, indeed, it seems obvious that the
withdrawal of a large number of the most pious and God-fearing of the
population from association with their fellows, and from the duties and
responsibilities of parenthood, must result in the spiritual
impoverishment of the race.
Marriage
The Bahá’í teachings enjoin monogamy, and Bahá’u’lláh makes marriage
conditional on the consent of both parties and of their parents. He says
in the Book of Aqdas:—
Verily in the Book of Bayán (the Báb’s Revelation) the matter is
restricted to the consent of both (bride and bridegroom). As We
desired to bring about love and friendship and the unity of the
people, therefore We made it conditional upon the consent of the
parents also, that enmity and ill-feeling might be
avoided.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
On this point ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to an inquirer:—“As to the question of
marriage, according to the law of God: First you must select one, and then
it depends on the consent of the father and mother. Before your selection
they have no right of interference.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that as a result of this precaution of Bahá’u’lláh’s the
strained relations between relatives-in-law which have become proverbial
in Christian and Muḥammadan countries are almost unknown among the
Bahá’ís, and divorce is also of very rare occurrence. He writes on the
subject of matrimony:—
Bahá’í marriage is union and cordial affection between the two
parties. They must, however, exercise the utmost care and become
acquainted with each other’s character. This eternal bond should
be made secure by a firm covenant, and the intention should be to
foster harmony, fellowship and unity and to attain everlasting
life....
In a true Bahá’í marriage the two parties must become fully united
both spiritually and physically, so that they may attain eternal
union throughout all the worlds of God, and improve the spiritual
life of each other. This is Bahá’í matrimony.
The Bahá’í marriage ceremony is very simple, the only requirement being
that the groom and the bride, in the presence of at least two witnesses,
each say: “We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God.”
Divorce
In the matter of divorce, as in that of marriage, the instructions of the
Prophets have varied in accordance with the circumstances of the times.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá states the Bahá’í teaching, with regard to divorce, thus:—
The friends (Bahá’ís) must strictly refrain from divorce unless
something arises which compels them to separate because of their
aversion for each other; in that case, with the knowledge of the
Spiritual Assembly, they may decide to separate. They must then be
patient and wait one complete year. If during this year harmony is
not reestablished between them, then their divorce may be
realized.... The foundation of the Kingdom of God is based upon
harmony and love, oneness, relationship and union, not upon
differences, especially between husband and wife. If one of these
two become the cause of divorce, that one will unquestionably fall
into great difficulties, will become the victim of formidable
calamities and experience deep remorse. (Tablet to the Bahá’ís of
America).
In the matter of divorce, as in other matters, Bahá’ís will, of course, be
bound not only by the Bahá’í teaching, but also by the laws of the country
in which they live.
The Bahá’í Calendar
Among different peoples and at different times many different methods have
been adopted for the measurement of time and fixing of dates, and several
different calendars are still in daily use, e.g., the Gregorian in Western
Europe, the Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among
the Jews, and the Muḥammadan in Muslim communities.
The Báb signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to
herald, by inaugurating a new calendar. In this, as in the Gregorian
Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.
The Bahá’í year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e. 361 days),
with the addition of certain “Intercalary Days” (four in ordinary and five
in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to
adjust the calendar to the solar year. The Báb named the months after the
attributes of God. The Bahá’í New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year,
is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (usually March
21), and the Bahá’í era commences with the year of the Báb’s declaration
(i.e. 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.).
In the not far distant future it will be necessary that all peoples in the
world agree on a common calendar.
It seems, therefore, fitting that the new age of unity should have a new
calendar free from the objections and associations which make each of the
older calendar unacceptable to large sections of the world’s population,
and it is difficult to see how any other arrangement could exceed in
simplicity and convenience that proposed by the Báb.
The months in the Bahá’í Calendar are as follows:
*Arabic Name* *Translation* *First Days*
1st Bahá Splendor March 21
2nd Jalál Glory April 9
3rd Jamál Beauty April 28
4th ‘Aẓamat Grandeur May 17
5th Núr Light June 5
6th Rahmat Mercy June 24
7th Kalímát Words July 31
8th Kamál Perfection Aug. 1
9th Asmá’ Names Aug. 20
10th ‘Izzat Might Sept. 8
11th Ma_sh_íyyat Will Sept. 27
12th ‘Ilm Knowledge Oct.16
13th Qudrat Power Nov. 4
14th Qawl Speech Nov. 23
15th Masa’il Questions Dec. 12
16th _Sh_araf Honor Dec. 31
17th Sulṭán Sovereignty Jan. 19
18th Mulk Dominion Feb. 7
Intercalary Feb. 26 to
Days March 1,
inclusive.
19th ‘Alá Loftiness March 2
Spiritual Assemblies
Before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá completed His earthly mission, He had laid a basis for
the development of the administrative order established in Bahá’u’lláh’s
Writings. To show the high importance to be attributed to the institution
of the Spiritual Assembly, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a tablet declared that a
certain translation must be approved by the Spiritual Assembly of Cairo
before publication, even though He Himself had reviewed and corrected the
text.
By Spiritual Assembly is meant the administrative body of nine persons,
elected annually by each local Bahá’í community, in which is vested the
authority of decision on all matters of mutual action on the part of the
community. This designation is temporary, since in future the Spiritual
Assemblies will be termed Houses of Justice.
Unlike the organization of churches, these Bahá’í bodies are social rather
than ecclesiastical institutions. That is, they apply the law of
consultation to all questions and difficulties arising between Bahá’ís,
who are called upon no to carry them to the civil court, and seek to
promote unity as well as justice throughout the community. The Spiritual
Assembly is in no wise equivalent to the priest or clergy, but is
responsible for upholding the teachings, stimulating active service,
conducting meetings, maintaining unity, holding Bahá’í property in trust
for the community, and representing it in its relations to the public and
to other Bahá’í communities.
The nature of the Spiritual Assembly, local and national, is described
more fully in the section devoted to the Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the final chapter, but its general functions have been
defined by Shoghi Effendi as follows:—
The matter of Teaching, its direction, its ways and means, its
extension, its consolidation, essential as they are to the
interests of the Cause, constitute by no means the only issue
which should receive the full attention of these Assemblies. A
careful study of Bahá’u’lláh’s and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets will
reveal that other duties, no less vital to the interests of the
Cause, devolve upon the elected representatives of the friends in
every locality.
It is incumbent upon them to be vigilant and cautious, discreet
and watchful, and protect at all times the Temple of the Cause
from the dart of the mischief-maker and the onslaught of the
enemy.
They must endeavor to promote amity and concord amongst the
friends, efface every lingering trace of distrust, coolness and
estrangement from every heart, and secure in its stead an active
and whole-hearted cooperation for the service of the Cause.
They must do their utmost to extend at all times the helping hand
to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the orphan, the widow,
irrespective of color, caste and creed.
They must promote by every means in their power the material as
well as the spiritual enlightenment of youth, the means for the
education of children, institute, whenever possible, Bahá’í
educational institutions, organize and supervise their work and
provide the best means for their progress and development....
They must undertake the arrangement of the regular meetings of the
friends, the feasts and the anniversaries, as well as the special
gatherings designed to serve and promote the social, intellectual
and spiritual interests of their fellow-men.
They must supervise in these days when the Cause is still in its
infancy all Bahá’í publications and translations, and provide in
general for a dignified and accurate presentation of all Bahá’í
literature and its distribution to the general public.
The possibilities inherent in Bahá’í institutions can only be estimated
when one realizes how rapidly modern civilization is disintegrating for
lack of that spiritual power which can alone supply the necessary attitude
of responsibility and humility to the leaders and the requisite loyalty to
the individual members of society.
Bahá’í Feasts, Anniversaries, and Days of Fasting
Feast of Naw-Rúz (Bahá’í New Year), March 21.
Feast of Ridván (Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh), April 21-May 2.
Declaration of the Báb, May 23.(33)
Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, May 29.
Martyrdom of the Báb, July 9.
Birth of the Báb, October 20.
Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, November 12.
Day of the Covenant, November 26.
Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, November 28.
Period of the Fast, nineteen days beginning March 2.
Feasts
The essential joyousness of the Bahá’í religion finds expression in
numerous feasts and holidays throughout the year.
In a talk on the Feast of Naw-Rúz, in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1912,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
In the sacred laws of God, in every cycle and dispensation there
are blessed feasts, holidays and workless days. On such days all
kinds of occupations, commerce, industry, agriculture, etc.,
should be suspended.
All should rejoice together, hold general meetings, become as one
assembly, so that the national oneness, unity and harmony may be
demonstrated in the eyes of all.
As it is a blessed day it should not be neglected, nor deprived of
results by making it a day devoted to the pursuit of mere
pleasure.
During such days institutions should be founded that may be of
permanent benefit and value to the people....
Today there is no result or fruit greater than guiding the people.
Undoubtedly the friends of God, upon such a day, must leave
tangible philanthropic or ideal traces that should reach all
mankind and not pertain only to the Bahá’ís. In this wonderful
dispensation, philanthropic affairs are for all humanity without
exception, because it is the manifestation of the mercifulness of
God. Therefore, my hope is that the friends of God, every one of
them, may become as the mercy of God to all mankind.
The Feasts of Naw-Rúz (New Year) and Ridván, the Anniversaries of the
Birth of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, and of the Báb’s Declaration (which is
also the birthday of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá) are the great joy-days of the year for
Bahá’ís. In Persia they are celebrated by picnics or festal gatherings at
which music, the chanting of verses and tablets, and short addresses
suitable to the occasion are contributed by those present. The intercalary
days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months (that is, February 26 to
March 1 inclusive) are specially devoted to hospitality to friends, the
giving of presents, ministering to the poor and sick, et cetera.
The anniversaries of the martyrdom of the Báb and the departure of
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are celebrated with solemnity by appropriate
meetings and discourses, the chanting of prayers and Tablets.
Fast
The nineteenth month, following immediately on the hospitality of the
intercalary days, is the month of the fast. During nineteen days the fast
is observed by abstaining from both food and drink from sunrise to sunset.
As the month of the fast ends at the March equinox, the fast always falls
in the same season, namely, spring in the Northern, and autumn in the
Southern, Hemisphere; never in the extreme heart of summer nor in the
extreme cold of winter, when hardship would be likely to result. At that
season, moreover, the interval between sunrise and sunset is approximately
the same all over the habitable portion of the globe, namely, from about 6
A.M. to 6 P.M. The fast is not binding on children and invalids, on
travelers, or on those who are too old or too weak (including women who
are with child or have babes at the breast).
There is much evidence to show that a periodical fast such as is enjoined
by the Bahá’í teachings is beneficial as a measure of physical hygiene,
but just as the reality of the Bahá’í fast does not lie in the consumption
of physical food, but in the commemoration of God, which is our spiritual
food, so the reality of the Bahá’í fast does not consist in abstention
from physical food, although that may help in the purification of the
body, but in the abstention from the desires and lusts of the flesh, and
in severance from all save God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Fasting is a symbol. Fasting signifies abstinence from lust.
Physical fasting is a symbol of that abstinence, and is a
reminder; that is, just as a person abstains from physical
appetites, he is to abstain from self-appetites and self-desires.
But mere abstention from food has no effect on the spirit. It is
only a symbol, a reminder. Otherwise it is of no importance.
Fasting for this purpose does not mean entire abstinence from
food. The golden rule as to food is, do not take too much or too
little. Moderation is necessary. There is a sect in India who
practice extreme abstinence, and gradually reduce their food until
they exist on almost nothing. But their intelligence suffers. A
man is not fit to do service for God with brain or body if he is
weakened by lack of food. He cannot see clearly. (quoted by Miss
E. S. Stevens in Fortnightly Review, June 1911).
Meetings
‘Abdu’l-Bahá attaches the greatest important to regular meetings of the
believers for united worship, for the exposition and study of the
teachings and for consultation regarding the progress of the Movement. In
one of His Tablets He says:—
It hath been decided by the Desire of God that union and harmony
may day by day increase among the friends of God and the handmaids
of the Merciful. Not until this is realized will the affairs
advance by any means whatever! And the greatest means for the
union and harmony of all are Spiritual Meetings. This matter is
very important and is as a magnet to attract divine confirmation.
In the spiritual meetings of Bahá’ís contentious argument and the
discussion of political or worldly affairs must be avoided; the sole aim
of the believers should be to teach and learn Divine Truth, to have their
hearts filled with Divine Love, to attain more perfect obedience to the
Divine Will, and to promote the coming of the Kingdom of God. In an
address given at New York in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—
The Bahá’í meeting must be the meeting of the Celestial Concourse.
It must be illumined by the lights of the Celestial Concourse. The
hearts must be as mirrors wherein the lights of the Sun of Truth
shall be revealed. Every bosom must be as a telegraph station: one
terminal of the wire shall be in the bosom of the soul, the other
in the Celestial Concourse, so that messages may be exchanged
between them. In this way from the Abhá Kingdom inspiration shall
flow and in all discussions harmony shall prevail.... The more
agreement, unity and love prevail among you, the more shall the
confirmations of God assist you, and the help and aid of the
Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, support you.
In one of His Tablets He said:—
In these meetings outside conversation must be entirely avoided,
and the gathering must be confined to chanting the verses and
reading the words, and to matters which concern the Cause of God,
such as explaining proofs, adducing clear and manifest evidences,
and tracing the signs of the Beloved One of the creatures. Those
who attend the meeting must, before entering, be arrayed with the
utmost cleanliness and turn to the Abhá Kingdom, and then enter
the meeting with all meekness and humbleness; and while the
tablets are being read, must be quiet and silent; and if one
wishes to speak he must do so with all courtesy, with the
satisfaction and permission of those present, and do it with
eloquence and fluency.
The Nineteen Day Feast
With the development of the Bahá’í administrative order since the
ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Nineteen Day Feast, observed on the first
day of each Bahá’í month, has assumed a very special importance, providing
as it does not only for community prayer and reading from the Holy Books,
but also for general consultation on all current Bahá’í affairs and for
the association of the friends together. This Feast is the occasion when
the Spiritual Assembly makes its reports to the community and invites both
discussion of plans and suggestions for new and better methods of service.
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár(34)
Bahá’u’lláh left instructions that temples of worship should be built by
His followers in every country and city. To these temples He gave the name
of “Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár,” which means “Dawning Place of God’s Praise.”
The Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár is to be a nine-sided building surmounted by a
dome, and as beautiful as possible in design and workmanship. It is to
stand in a large garden adorned with fountains, trees and flowers,
surrounded by a number of accessory buildings devoted to educational,
charitable and social purposes, so that the worship of God in the temple
may always be closely associated with reverent delight in the beauties of
nature and of art, and with practical work for the amelioration of social
conditions.(35)
In Persia, up till the present, Bahá’ís have been debarred from building
temples for public worship, and so the first great Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár
was built in I_sh_qábád,(36) Russia. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dedicated the site of
the second Bahá’í House of Worship, to stand on the shore of Lake Michigan
a few miles north of Chicago, during His visit to America in 1912.(37)
In tablets referring to this “Mother Temple” of the West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
writes as follows:—
Praise be to God, that, at this moment, from every country in the
world, according to their various means, contributions are
continually being sent toward the fund of the
Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár in America.... From the day of Adam until
now, such a thing has never been witnessed by man, that from the
furthermost country of Asia contributions were forwarded to
America. This is through the power of the Covenant of God. Verily
this is a cause of astonishment for the people of perception. It
is hoped that the believers of God may show magnanimity and raise
a great sum for the building.... I want everyone left free to act
as he wills. If anyone wishes to put money into other things, let
him do so. Do not interfere with him in any way, but be assured
that the most important thing at this time is the building of the
Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár.
... The mystery of the edifice is great, and cannot be unveiled
yet, but its erection is the most important undertaking of this
day. The Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár has important accessories, which
are accounted of the basic foundations. These are: school for
orphan children, hospital and dispensary for the poor, home for
the incapable, college for the higher scientific education, and
hospice. In every city a great Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár must be
founded after this order. In the Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár services
will be held every morning. There will be no organ in the Temple.
In buildings nearby, festivals, services, conventions, public
meetings and spiritual gatherings will be held, but in the Temple
the chanting and singing will be unaccompanied. Open ye the gates
of the Temple to all mankind.
When these institutions, college, hospital, hospice and
establishment for the incurables, university for the study of
higher sciences, giving post-graduate courses, and other
philanthropic buildings are built, the doors will be opened to all
the nations and religions. There will be absolutely no line of
demarcation drawn. Its charities will be dispense irrespective of
color or race. Its gates will be flung wide open to mankind;
prejudice towards none, love for all. The central building will be
devoted to the purpose of prayer and worship. Thus ... religion
will become harmonized with science, and science will be the
handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual
gifts on all humanity.
Life After Death
Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the life in the flesh is but the embryonic stage
of our existence, and that escape from the body is like a new birth
through which the human spirit enters on a fuller, freer life. He writes:—
Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the
body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of
God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages
and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can
alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His
sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest
the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving
kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it
attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so
exalted a station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will
invest the soul is such as no tongue can adequately reveal, nor
any other earthly agency describe. Blessed is the soul which, at
the hour of its separation from the body, is sanctified from the
vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such a soul liveth
and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and
entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of
the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of
God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them
that soul will freely converse, and will recount unto them that
which it hath been made to endure in the path of God, the Lord of
all worlds. If any man be told that which hath been ordained for
such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on high
and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in
his great longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and
resplendent station.... The nature of the soul after death can
never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal its
whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of
God have been sent down for the sole purpose underlying their
revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the
hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with
absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High. The light
which these souls radiate is responsible for the progress of the
world and the advancement of its peoples. They are like unto
leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the
animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world
are made manifest. Through them the clouds rain their bounty upon
men, and the earth bringeth forth its fruits. All things must
needs have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle. These
souls and symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue
to provide, the supreme moving impulse in the world of being. The
world beyond is as different from this world as this world is
different from that of the child while still in the womb of its
mother.—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 155–157.
Similarly, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:—
The mysteries of which man is heedless in the earthly world, those
will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be
informed of the secrets of the truth; how much more will he
recognize or discover persons with whom he has been associated.
Undoubtedly the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored
with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with
all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality
of every great soul. They will even manifestly behold the Beauty
of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of
God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the
heavenly assemblage.
The difference and distinction between men will naturally become
realized after their departure from this mortal world. But this
distinction is not in respect to place, but in respect to the soul
and the conscience. For the Kingdom of God is sanctified (or free)
from time and place; it is another world and another universe. And
know thou for a certainty that in the divine worlds the spiritual
beloved ones will recognize one another, and will seek union with
each other, but a spiritual union. Likewise a love that one may
have entertained for anyone will not be forgotten in the world of
the Kingdom, nor wilt thou forget there the life that thou hadst
in the material world.
Heaven and Hell
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regard the descriptions of Heaven and Hell
given in some of the older religious writings as symbolic, like the
Biblical story of the Creation, and not as literally true. According to
Them, Heaven is the state of perfection, and Hell that of imperfection;
Heaven is harmony with God’s will and with our fellows, and Hell is the
want of such harmony; Heaven is the condition of spiritual life, and Hell
that of spiritual death. A man may be either in Heaven or in Hell while
still in the body. The joys of Heaven are spiritual joys; and the pains of
Hell consist in the deprivation of these joys.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:
When they [men] are delivered through the light of faith from the
darkness of these vices, and become illuminated with the radiance
of the sun of reality, and ennobled with all the virtues, they
esteem this the greatest reward, and they know it to be the true
paradise. In the same way they consider that the spiritual
punishment ... is to be subjected to the world of nature, to be
veiled from God, to be brutal and ignorant, to fall into carnal
lusts, to be absorbed in animal frailties, to be characterized
with dark qualities ... these are the greatest punishments and
tortures....
... The rewards of the other world are the perfections and the
peace obtained in the spiritual worlds after leaving this world
... the spiritual graces, the various spiritual gifts in the
Kingdom of God, the gaining of the desires of the heart and the
soul, and the meeting of God in the world of eternity. In the same
way the punishments of the other world ... consist in being
deprived of the special divine blessings and the absolute
bounties, and falling into the lowest degrees of existence. He who
is deprived of these divine favours, although he continues after
death, is considered as dead by the people of truth.
The wealth of the other world is nearness to God. Consequently it
is certain that those who are near the Divine Court are allowed to
intercede, and this intercession is approved by God....
It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in
sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may
become the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through
His justice; for bounty if giving without desert, and justice is
giving what is deserved. As we have the power to pray for these
souls here, so likewise we shall possess the same power in the
other world, which is the Kingdom of God.... Therefore in that
world also they can make progress. As here they can receive light
by their supplications, there also they can plead for forgiveness,
and receive light through entreaties and supplications.
Both before and after putting off this material form, there is
progress in perfection, but not in state.... There is no other
being higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this
state can still make progress in perfections but not in state,
because there is no state higher than that of a perfect man to
which he can transfer himself. He only progresses in the state of
humanity, for the human perfections are infinite. Thus however
learned a man may be, we can imagine one more learned.
Hence, as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also
make progress in perfections after leaving this world.—Some
Answered Questions, pp. 260, 261, 268, 269, 274.
Oneness of the Two Worlds
The unity of humanity as taught by Bahá’u’lláh refers not only to men
still in the flesh, but to all human beings, whether embodied or
disembodied. Not only all men now living on the earth, but all in the
spiritual world as well, are parts of one and the same organism and these
two parts are intimately dependent, one on the other. Spiritual communion
one with the other, far from being impossible or unnatural, is constant
and inevitable. Those whose spiritual faculties are as yet undeveloped are
unconscious of this vital connection, but as one’s faculties develop,
communications with those beyond the veil gradually become more conscious
and definite. To the Prophets and saints this spiritual communion is as
familiar and real as are ordinary vision and conversation to the rest of
mankind.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
The visions of the Prophets are not dreams; no, they are spiritual
discoveries and have reality. They say, for example: “I saw a
person in a certain form, and I said such a thing, and he gave
such an answer.” This vision is in the world of wakefulness, and
not in that of sleep. Nay, it is a spiritual discovery....
... Among spiritual souls there are spiritual understandings,
discoveries, a communion which is purified from imagination and
fancy, an association which is sanctified from time and place. So
it is written in the Gospel that on Mount Tabor, Moses and Elias
came to Christ, and it is evident that this was not a material
meeting. It was a spiritual condition....
... [Communications such as] these are real, and produce wonderful
effects in the minds and thoughts of men, and cause their hearts
to be attracted.—Some Answered Questions, pp. 290, 291, 292.
While admitting the reality of “supernormal” psychic faculties He
deprecates attempts to force their development prematurely. These
faculties will unfold naturally when the right time comes, if we only
follow the path of spiritual progress which the Prophets have traced for
us. He says:—
To tamper with psychic forces while in this world interferes with
the condition of the soul in the world to come. These forces are
real, but, normally, are not active on this plane. The child in
the womb has its eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc., but they are not
in activity. The whole purpose of life in the material world is
the coming forth into the world of Reality, where those forces
will become active. They belong to that world. (from Miss
Buckton’s notes, revised by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá).
Intercourse with spirits of the departed ought not to be sought for its
own sake, nor in order to gratify idle curiosity. It is both a privilege
and duty, however, for those on one side of the veil to love and help and
pray for those on the other. Prayers for the dead are enjoined on Bahá’ís.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said to Miss E. J. Rosenberg in 1904: “The grace of effective
intercession is one of the perfections belonging to advanced souls, as
well as to the Manifestation of God. Jesus Christ had the power of
interceding for the forgiveness of His enemies when on earth, and He
certainly has this power now. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá never mentions the name of a
dead person without saying ‘May God forgive him!’ or words to that effect.
Followers of the prophets have also this power of praying for the
forgiveness of souls. Therefore we may not think that any souls are
condemned to a stationary condition of suffering or loss arising from
absolute ignorance of God. The power of effective intercession for them
always exists....
“The rich in the other world can help the poor, as the rich can help the
poor here. In every world all are the creatures of God. They are always
dependent on Him. They are not independent and can never be so. While they
are needful of God, the more they supplicate, the richer they become. What
is their merchandise, their wealth? In the other world what is help and
assistance? It is intercession. Undeveloped souls must gain progress at
first through the supplications of the spiritually rich; afterwards they
can progress through their own supplications.”
Again He says:—“Those who have ascended have different attributes from
those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.
“In prayer there is a mingling of station, a mingling of condition. Pray
for them as they pray for you!”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 97.
Asked whether it was possible through faith and love to bring the New
Revelation to the knowledge of those who have departed from this life
without hearing of it, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:—“Yes, surely! since sincere
prayer always has its effect, and it has a great influence in the other
world. We are never cut off from those who are there. The real and genuine
influence is not in this world but in that other.”—Notes of Mary Hanford
Ford: Paris, 1911.
On the other hand, Bahá’u’lláh writes:—
He who lives according to what is ordained for him—the Celestial
Concourse, and the people of the Supreme Paradise, and those who
are dwelling in the Dome of Greatness will pray for him, by a
Command from God, the Dearest and the praiseworthy. (Tablet
translated by ‘Alí Kuli _Kh_án).
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked how it was that the heart often turns with
instinctive appeal to some friend who has passed into the next life, He
answered:—“It is a law of God’s creation that the weak should lean upon
the strong. Those to whom you turn may be mediators of God’s power to you,
even as when on earth. But it is the One Holy Spirit that strengthens all
men.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 98.
The Nonexistence of Evil
According to Bahá’í philosophy it follows from the doctrine of the unity
of God that there can be no such thing as positive evil. There can only be
one Infinite. If there were any other power in the universe outside of or
opposed to the One, then the One would not be infinite. Just as darkness
is but the absence or lesser degree of light, so evil is but the absence
or lesser degree of good—the undeveloped state. A bad man is a man with
the higher side of his nature still undeveloped. If he is selfish, the
evil is not in his love of self—all love, even self-love, is good, is
divine. The evil is that he has such a poor, inadequate, misguided love of
self and such a lack of love for others and for God. He looks upon himself
as only a superior sort of animal, and foolishly pampers his lower nature
as he might pamper a pet dog—with worse results in his own case than in
that of the dog.
In one of His letters ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
As to thy remark, that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá hath said to some of the
believers that evil never exists, nay rather, it is a nonexistent
thing, this is but truth, inasmuch as the greatest evil is man’s
going astray and being veiled from truth. Error is lack of
guidance; darkness is absence of light; ignorance is lack of
knowledge; falsehood is lack of truthfulness; blindness is lack of
sight; and deafness is lack of hearing. Therefore, error,
blindness, deafness and ignorance are nonexistent things.
Again He says:—
In creation there is no evil; all is good. Certain qualities and
natures innate in some men and apparently blameworthy are not so
in reality. For example, from the beginning of his life you can
see in a nursing child the signs of desire, of anger, and of
temper. Then, it may be said, good and evil are innate in the
reality of man, and this is contrary to the pure goodness of
nature and creation. The answer to this is that desire, which is
to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided that
it is used suitably. So, if a man has the desire to acquire
science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and
just, it is most praiseworthy. If he exercises his anger and wrath
against the bloodthirsty tyrants who are like ferocious beasts, it
is very praiseworthy; but if he does not use these qualities in a
right way, they are blameworthy....
... It is the same with all the natural qualities of man, which
constitute the capital of life; if they be used and displayed in
an unlawful way, they become blameworthy. Therefore it is clear
that creation is purely good.—Some Answered Questions, pp. 250,
251.
Evil is always lack of life. If the lower side of man’s nature is
disproportionately developed, the remedy is not less life for that side,
but more life for the higher side, so that the balance may be restored. “I
am come,” said Christ, “that ye may have life and that ye may have it more
abundantly.” That is what we all need—life, more life, the life that is
life indeed! Bahá’u’lláh’s message is the same as Christ’s. “Today,” He
says, “this servant has assuredly come to vivify the world” (Tablet to
Ra’ís), and to His followers He says: “Come ye after Me, that We may make
you to become quickeners of mankind.” (Tablet to the Pope.)
CHAPTER 12: RELIGION AND SCIENCE
‘Alí, the son-in-law of Muḥammad, said: “That which is in conformity with
science is also in conformity with religion.” Whatever the intelligence of
man cannot understand, religion ought not to accept. Religion and science
walk hand in hand, and any religion contrary to science is not the
truth.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ, Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Conflict Due to Error
One of the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that true science and
true religion must always be in harmony. Truth is one, and whenever
conflict appears it is due, not to truth, but to error. Between so-called
science and so-called religion there have been fierce conflicts all down
the ages, but looking back on these conflicts in the light of fuller truth
we can trace them every time to ignorance, prejudice, vanity, greed,
narrow-mindedness, intolerance, obstinacy or something of the
kind—something foreign to the true spirit of both science and religion,
for the spirit of both is one. As Huxley tells us, “The great deeds of
philosophers have been less the fruit of their intellect than the
direction of that intellect by an eminently religious tone of mind. Truth
has yielded herself rather to their patience, their love, their
single-heartedness and self-denial than to their logical acumen.” Boole,
the mathematician, assures us that “geometric induction is essentially a
process of prayer—an appeal from the finite mind to the Infinite for light
on finite concerns.” The great prophets of religion and science have never
denounced each other. It is the unworthy followers of these great world
teachers—worshipers of the letter but not of the spirit of their
teaching—who have always been the persecutors of the later prophets and
the bitterest opponents of progress. They have studied the light of the
particular revelation which they hold sacred, and have defined its
properties and peculiarities as seen by their limited vision, with the
utmost care and precision. That is for them the one true light. If God in
His infinite bounty sends fuller light from another quarter, and the torch
of inspiration burns brighter than before from a new torchholder, instead
of welcoming the new lights they are angry and alarmed. This new light
does not correspond with their definitions. It has not the orthodox color,
and does not shine from the orthodox place, therefore it must at all costs
be extinguished lest it lead men astray into the paths of heresy! Many
enemies of the Prophets are of this type—blind leaders of the blind, who
oppose new and fuller truth in the supposed interests of what they believe
to be the truth. Others are of baser sort and are moved by selfish
interests to fight against truth, or else block the path of progress by
reason of spiritual deadness and inertia.
Persecution of Prophets
The great Prophets of religion have always been, at Their coming, despised
and rejected of men. Both They and Their early followers have given their
backs to the smiters and sacrificed their possessions and their lives in
the path of God. Even in our own times this has been so. Since 1844 A.D.,
many thousands of Bábís and Bahá’ís in Persia have suffered cruel deaths
for their faith, and many more have borne imprisonment, exile, poverty and
degradation. The latest of the great religions has been “baptized in
blood” more than its predecessors, and martyrdoms have continued down to
the present day. With the prophets of science the same thing has happened.
Giordano Bruno was burned as a heretic in 1600 A.D. for teaching, amongst
other things, that the earth moved around the sun. A few years later the
veteran philosopher Galileo had to abjure the same doctrine on his knees
in order to escape a similar fate. In later times, Darwin and the pioneers
of modern geology were vehemently denounced for daring to dispute the
teaching of Holy Write that the world was made in six days, and less than
six thousand years ago! The opposition to new scientific truth has not all
come from the Church, however. The orthodox in science have been just as
hostile to progress as the orthodox in religion. Columbus was laughed to
scorn by the so-called scientists of his day, who proved to their own
satisfaction that if ships did succeed in getting down to the Antipodes
over the side of the globe, it would be absolutely impossible for them to
get up again! Galvani, the pioneer of electrical science, was scoffed at
by his learned colleagues, and called the “frogs’ dancing master.” Harvey,
who discovered the circulation of the blood, was ridiculed and persecuted
by his professional brethren on account of his heresy and driven from his
lecture chair. When Stephenson invented his locomotive engine, European
mathematicians of the time, instead of opening their eyes and studying the
facts, continued for years to prove to their own satisfaction that an
engine on smooth rails could never pull a load, as the wheels would simply
slip round and round and the train make no progress. To examples like
these one might add indefinitely, both from ancient and modern history,
and even from our own times. Dr. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, had
to battle for his wonderful international language against the same sort
of ridicule, contempt, and stupid opposition which greeted Columbus,
Galvani, and Stephenson. Even Esperanto, which was given to the world so
recently as 1887, has had its martyrs.
The Dawn of Reconciliation
In the last half century or so, however, a change has come over the spirit
of the times, a New Light of Truth has arisen which has already made the
controversies of last century seem strangely out of date. Where are now
the boastful materialists and dogmatic atheists who, only a few short
years ago, were threatening to drive religion out of the world? And where
are the preachers who so confidently consigned those who did not accept
their dogmas to the fires of hell and the tortures of the damned? Echoes
of their clamor we may still hear, but their day is fast declining and
their doctrines are being discredited. We can see now that the doctrines
around which their controversies waxed most bitter were neither true
science nor true religion. What scientist in the light of modern psychical
research could still maintain that “brain secretes thought as the liver
secretes bile”? Or that decay of the body is necessarily accompanied by
decay of the soul? We now see that thought to be really free must soar to
the realms of psychical and spiritual phenomena and not be confined to the
material only. We realize that what we now know about nature is but as a
drop in the ocean compared with what remains to be discovered. We
therefore freely admit the possibility of miracles, not indeed in the
sense of the breaking of nature’s laws, but as manifestations of the
operation of subtle forces which are still unknown to us, as electricity
and X rays were to our ancestors. On the other hand, who amongst our
leading religious teachers would still declare it is necessary to
salvation to believe that the world was made in six days, or that the
description of the plagues in Egypt as given in the Book of Exodus is
literally true, or that the sun stood still in the heavens (that is, that
the earth stopped its rotation) to let Joshua pursue his enemies, or that
if a man accept not the creed of St. Athanasius, “without doubt he shall
perish everlastingly”? Such beliefs may still be repeated in form, but who
accepts them in their literal sense and without reservation? Their hold on
people’s hearts and minds has gone or is fast going. The religious world
owes a debt of gratitude to the men of science who helped to tear such
worn-out creeds and dogmas to tatters and allowed the truth to step forth
free. But the scientific world owes an even heavier debt to the real
saints and mystics who, through good report and ill, held to the vital
truths of spiritual existence and demonstrated to an incredulous world
that the life is more than meat and the unseen greater than the seen.
these scientists and saints were like the mountain peaks which caught the
first rays of the rising sun and reflected them to the lower world, but
now the sun has risen and its rays are illuminating the world. In the
teachings of Bahá’u’lláh we have a glorious revelation of truth which
satisfies both heart and mind, in which religion and science are at one.
Search after Truth
Complete harmony with science is evident in the Bahá’í teachings regarding
the way in which we must seek the truth. Man must cut himself free from
all prejudice so that he may search after truth unhindered.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
In order to find truth we must give up our prejudices, our own
small trivial notions; an open receptive mind is essential. If our
chalice is full of self, there is no room in it for the water of
life. The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody
else wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards
unity, and unity is essential if we would reach Truth, for Truth
is one....
No one truth can contradict another truth. Light is good in
whatsoever lamp it is burning! A rose is beautiful in whatsoever
garden it may bloom! A star has the same radiance if it shines
from the East or from the West! Be free from prejudice; so will
you love the Sun of Truth from whatever point in the horizon it
may arise. You will realize that if the Divine Light of Truth
shone in Jesus Christ, it also shone in Moses and Buddha. This is
what is meant by the search after truth.
It also means that we must be willing to clear away all that we
have previously learned, all that would clog our steps on the way
to Truth; we must not shrink, if necessary, from beginning our
education all over again. We must not allow our love for any one
religion or any one personality so to blind our eyes that we
become fettered by superstition. When we are freed from all these
bonds, seeking with liberal minds, then shall we be able to arrive
at our goal.
The Agnosticism
The Bahá’í teaching is at one with science and philosophy in declaring the
essential nature of God to be entirely beyond human comprehension. As
emphatically as Thomas Huxley and Herbert Spencer teach that the nature of
the Great First Cause is unknowable, does Bahá’u’lláh teach that “God
comprehends all; He cannot be comprehended.” To knowledge of the Divine
essence “the way is barred and road is impassable,” for how can the finite
comprehend the Infinite; how can a drop contain the ocean or a mote
dancing in the sunbeam embrace the universe? Yet the whole universe is
eloquent of God. In each drop of water are hidden oceans of meaning, and
in each mote is concealed a whole universe of significances, reaching far
beyond the ken of the most learned scientist. The chemist and physicist
pursuing their researches into the nature of matter have passed from
masses to molecules, from molecules to atoms, from atoms to electrons and
ether, but at every step the difficulties of the research increase till
the most profound intellect can penetrate no farther, and can but bow in
silent awe before the unknown Infinite which remains ever shrouded in
inscrutable mystery.
Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies.
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower—but if I
could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God
and man is.—TENNYSON.
If the flower in the crannied wall, if even a single atom of matter,
present mysteries which the most profound intellect cannot solve, how is
it possible for man to comprehend the universe? How dare he pretend to
define or describe the Infinite cause of all things? All theological
speculations about the nature of God’s essence are thus swept aside as
foolish and futile.
Knowledge of God
But if the essence is unknowable, the manifestations of its bounty are
everywhere apparent. If the first cause cannot be conceived, its effects
appeal to our every faculty. Just as knowledge of a painter’s pictures
gives to the connoisseur a true knowledge of the artist, so knowledge of
the universe in any of its aspects—knowledge of nature or of human nature,
of things visible or of things invisible—is knowledge of God’s handiwork,
and gives to the seeker for Divine truth a real knowledge of His Glory.
“The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth
knowledge.—Ps. xix, 1–2.
The Divine Manifestations
All things manifest the bounty of God with greater or less clearness, as
all material objects exposed to the sun reflect its light in greater or
less degree. A heap of soot reflects a little, a stone reflects more, a
piece of chalk more still, but in none of these reflections can we trace
the form and color of the glorious orb. A perfect mirror, however,
reflects the sun’s very form and color, so that looking into it is like
looking at the sun itself. So it is with the way in which things speak to
us of God. The stone can tell us something of the Divine attributes, the
flower can tell us more, the animal with its marvelous senses, instincts
and power of movement, more still. In the lowest of our fellowmen we can
trace wonderful faculties which tell of a wonderful Creator. In the poet,
the saint, the genius, we find a higher revelation still, but the great
Prophets and Founders of religions are the perfect mirrors by which the
love and wisdom of God are reflected to the rest of mankind. Other men’s
mirrors are dulled by the stains and the dust of selfishness and
prejudice, but these are pure and without blemish—wholly devoted to the
Will of God. Thus They become the greatest educators of mankind. The
Divine teachings and the Power of the Holy Spirit proceeding through Them
have been and are the cause of the progress of humanity, for God helps men
through other men. Each man who is higher in the ascent of life is the
means of helping those who are lower, and those who are the highest of all
are the helpers of all mankind. It is as if all men were connected
together by elastic cords. If a man rises a little above the general level
of his fellows, the cords tighten. His former companions tend to draw him
back, but with an equal force he draws them upwards. The higher he gets,
the more he feels the weight of the whole world pulling him back, and the
more dependent he is on the divine support, which reaches him through the
few who are still above him. Highest of all are the great Prophets and
Saviors, the Divine “Manifestations”—those perfect men Who were each, in
Their day, without peer or companion, and bore the burden of the whole
world, supported by God alone. “The burden of our sins was upon Him: was
true of each of Them. Each was the “Way, the Truth and the Life” to His
followers. Each was the channel of God’s bounty to every heart that would
receive it. Each had His part to play in the great divine plan for the
upliftment of humanity.
Creation
Bahá’u’lláh teaches that the universe is without beginning in time. It is
a perpetual emanation from the Great First Cause. The Creator always had
His creation and always will have. Worlds and systems may come and go, but
the universe remains. All things that undergo composition, in time undergo
decomposition, but the component elements remain. The creation of a world,
a daisy or a human body is not “making something out of nothing”; it is
rather a bringing together of elements which before were scattered, a
making visible of something which before was hidden. By and by the
elements will again be scattered, the form will disappear, but nothing is
really lost or annihilated; ever new combinations and forms arise from the
ruins of the old. Bahá’u’lláh confirms the scientists who claim, not six
thousand, but millions and billions of years for the history of the
earth’s creation. The evolution theory does not deny creative power. It
only tries to describe the method of its manifestation; and the wonderful
story of the material universe which the astronomer, the geologist, the
physicist and the biologist are gradually unfolding to our gaze is,
rightly appreciated, far more capable of evoking the deepest reverence and
worship than the crude and bald account of creation given in the Hebrew
Scriptures. The old account in the Book of Genesis had, however, the
advantage of indicating by a few bold strokes of symbolism the essential
spiritual meanings of the story, as a master painter may, by a few strokes
of the brush, convey expressions which the mere plodder with the most
laborious attention to details may utterly fail to portray. If the
material details blind us to the spiritual meaning, then we should be
better without them; but if we have once firmly grasped the essential
meaning of the whole scheme, then knowledge of the details will give our
conception a wonderful added richness and splendor and make it a
magnificent picture instead of a mere sketch plan.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Know that it is one of the most abstruse spiritual truths that the
world of existence, that is to say this endless universe, has no
beginning....
... Know that ... a creator without a creature is impossible, a
provider without those provided for cannot be conceived; for all
the divine names and attributes demand the existence of beings. If
we could imagine a time when no beings existed, this imagination
would be the denial of the Divinity of God. Moreover, absolute
non-existence cannot become existence. If the beings were
absolutely non-existent, existence would not have come into being.
Therefore, as the Essence of Unity, that is the existence of God,
is everlasting and eternal—that is to say, it has neither
beginning nor end—it is certain that this world of existence ...
has neither beginning nor end.... it may be that one of the parts
of the universe, one of the globes, for example, may come into
existence, or may be disintegrated, but the other endless globes
are still existing.... As each globe has a beginning, necessarily
it has an end, because every composition, collective or
particular, must of necessity be decomposed; the only difference
is that some are quickly decomposed, and others more slowly, but
it is impossible that a composed thing should not eventually be
decomposed.—Some Answered Questions, pp. 209–210.
The Evolution of Man
Bahá’u’lláh also confirms the biologist who finds for the body of man a
history reaching back in the development of the species through millions
of years. Starting from a very simple, apparently insignificant form, the
human body is pictured as developing stage by stage, in the course of
untold generations, becoming more and more complex, and better and better
organized until the man of the present day is reached. Each individual
human body develops through such a series of stages, from a tiny round
speck of jelly-like matter to the fully developed man. If this is true of
the individual, as nobody denies, why should we consider it derogatory to
human dignity to admit a similar development for the species? This is a
very different thing from claiming that man is descended from a monkey.
The human embryo may at one time resemble a fish with gill-slits and tail,
but it is not a fish. It is a human embryo. So the human species(38) may
at various stages of its long development have resembled to the outward
eye various species of lower animals, but it was still the human species,
possessing the mysterious latent power of developing into man as we know
him today, nay more, of developing in the future, we trust, into something
far higher still.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
... it is clear that this terrestrial globe in its present form
did not come into existence all at once; but ... gradually passed
through different phases until it became adorned with its present
perfection....
... man, in the beginning of his existence and in the womb of the
earth, like the embryo in the womb of the mother, gradually grew
and developed, and passed from one form to another ... until he
appeared with this beauty and perfection, this force and this
power. It is certain that in the beginning he had not this
loveliness and grace and elegance, and that he only by degrees
attained this shape, this form, this beauty, and this grace....
... man’s existence on this earth, from the beginning until it
reaches this state, form, and condition, necessarily lasts a long
time.... But from the beginning of man’s existence he is a
distinct species.... admitting that the traces of organs which
have disappeared actually exist [in the human body], this is not a
proof of the impermanence and the non-originality of the species.
At the most it proves that the form, and fashion, and the organs
of man have progressed. Man was always a distinct species, a man,
not an animal.—Some Answered Questions, pp. 211, 212, 213, 214.
Of the story of Adam and Eve He says:—
If we take this story in its apparent meaning, according to the
interpretation of the masses, it is indeed extraordinary. The
intelligence cannot accept it, affirm it, or imagine it; for such
arrangements, such details, such speeches and reproaches are far
from being those of an intelligent man, how must less of the
Divinity—that Divinity who has organised this infinite universe in
the most perfect form, and its innumerable inhabitants with
absolute system, strength, and perfection....
Therefore this story of Adam and Eve who ate from the tree, and
their expulsion from Paradise, must be thought of simply as a
symbol. It contains divine mysteries and universal meanings, and
it is capable of marvellous explanations.—Some Answered Questions,
p. 140
Body and Soul
The Bahá’í teachings with regard to body and soul, and the life after
death, are quite in harmony with the results of psychical research. They
teach, as we have seen, that death is but a new birth—the escape from the
prison of the body into a larger life, and that progress in the afterlife
is limitless.
A large body of scientific evidence has gradually been accumulating which
in the opinion of impartial but highly critical investigators is amply
sufficient to establish beyond all question the fact of a life after
death—of the continued life and activity of the conscious “soul” after the
dissolution of the material body. As F. W. H. Myers says in his Human
Personality, a work which summarizes many of the investigations of the
Psychical Research Society:—
Observation, experiment, inference, have led many inquirers, of
whom I am one, to a belief in direct or telepathic
intercommunication, not between the minds of men still on earth
only, but between minds or spirits still on earth and spirits
departed. Such a discovery opens the doors also to revelation....
We have shown that amid much deception and self-deception, fraud
and illusion, veritable manifestations do reach us from beyond the
grave. ...
By discovery and by revelation certain theses have been
provisionally established with regard to such departed souls as we
have been able to encounter. First and chiefly, I, at least, see
ground to believe that their state is one of endless evolution in
wisdom and in love. Their loves of earth persist, and most of all,
those highest loves which find their outlet in adoration and
worship. ... Evil to them seems less a terrible than a slavish
thing. It is embodied in no mighty Potentate; rather it forms as
isolating madness from which higher spirits strive to free the
distorted soul. There needs no chastisement of fire;
self-knowledge is man’s punishment and his reward; self-knowledge
and the nearness or the aloofness of companion souls. For in that
world love is actually self-preservation; the Communion of Saints
not only adorns but constitutes the Life Everlasting. nay, from
the laws of telepathy it follows that that communion is valid to
us here and now. Even now the love of souls departed makes answer
to our invocations. Even now our loving memory—love is itself a
prayer—supports and strengthens those delivered spirits upon their
upward way.
The measure of agreement between this view, which is founded on careful
scientific research, and that of the Bahá’í teachings, is truly
remarkable.
Unity of Mankind
“Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of
one garden.” That is one of the most characteristic sayings of
Bahá’u’lláh, and another is like it: “Glory is not his who loves his own
country, but glory is his who loves his kind.” Unity—unity of mankind, and
of all created beings in God—is the main theme of His teaching. Here again
the harmony between true religion and science is evident. With every
advance in science the oneness of the universe and the interdependence of
its parts has become more clearly evident. The astronomer’s domain is
inseparably bound up with physicist’s, and the physicist’s with the
chemist’s, the chemist’s with the biologist’s, the biologist’s with the
psychologist’s, and so on. Every new discovery in one field of research
throws new light on other fields. Just as physical science has shown that
every particle of matter in the universe attracts and influences every
other particle, no matter how minute or how distant, so psychical science
is finding that every soul in the universe affects and influences every
other soul. Prince Kropotkin, in his book on Mutual Aid, shows most
clearly that even among the lower animals, mutual aid is absolutely
necessary to continued life, while in the case of man, the progress of
civilization depends on the increasing substitution of mutual aid for
mutual enmity. “Each for all and all for each” is the only principle on
which a community can prosper.
The Era of Unity
All the signs of the times indicate that we are at the dawn of a new era
in the history of mankind. Hitherto the young eagle of humanity has clung
to the old aerie in the solid rock of selfishness and materialism. Its
attempts to use its wings have been timid and tentative. It has had
restless longings for something still unattained. More and more it has
been chafing in the confinement of the old dogmas and orthodoxies. But now
the era of confinement is at an end, and it can launch on the wings of
faith and reason into the higher realms of spiritual love and truth. It
will no longer be earthbound as it was before its wings had grown, but
will soar at will to the regions of wide outlook and glorious freedom. One
thing is necessary, however, if its flight is to be sure and steady. Its
wings must not only be strong, but they must act in perfect harmony and
coordination. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—“It cannot fly with one wing alone. If
it tries to fly with the wing of religion alone it will land in the slough
of superstition, and if it tries to fly with the wing of science alone it
will end in the dreary bog of materialism.”
Perfect harmony between religion and science is the sine qua non of the
higher life for humanity. When that is achieved, and every child is
trained not only in the study of the sciences, and arts, but equally in
love to all mankind and in radiant acquiescence to the Will of God as
revealed in the progress of evolution and the teachings of the Prophets,
then and not till then, shall the Kingdom of God come and His Will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven; then and not till then shall the Most Great
Peace shed its blessings on the world.
“When religion,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “shorn of its superstitions,
traditions and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with
science, then there will be a great unifying, cleansing force in
the world, which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements,
discords and struggles, and then will mankind be united in the
power of the love of God.”
CHAPTER 13: PROPHECIES FULFILLED BY THE BAHÁ’Í MOVEMENT
As to the Manifestation of the Greatest Name (Bahá’u’lláh): this is He
Whom God promised in all His Books and Scriptures, such as the Bible, the
Gospels and the Qur’án.—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ.
Interpretation of Prophecy
The interpretation of prophecy is notoriously difficult, and on no subject
do the opinions of the learned differ more widely. This is not to be
wondered at, for, according to the revealed writings themselves, many of
the prophecies were given in such a form that they could not be fully
understood until the fulfillment came, and even then, only by those who
were pure in heart and free from prejudice. Thus at the end of Daniel’s
visions the seer was told:—
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to
the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall be increased.... And I heard, but I understood not: then
said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he
said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed
till the time of the end.—Daniel xii, 4–9.
If God sealed up the prophecies until the appointed time, and did not
fully reveal the interpretation even to the prophets who uttered them, we
may expect that none but the appointed Messenger of God will be able to
break the seal and disclose the meanings concealed in the casket of the
prophetic parables. Reflection on the history of prophecies and their
misinterpretation in previous ages and dispensations, combined with the
solemn warnings of the prophets themselves, should render us very chary of
accepting the speculations of theologians as to the real meaning of these
utterances and the manner of their fulfillment. On the other hand, when
someone appears who claims to fulfill the prophecies, it is important that
we examine his claim with open, unprejudiced minds. Should he be an
impostor, the fraud will soon be discovered and no harm will be done, but
woe to all who carelessly turn God’s Messenger from the door because He
comes in an unexpected form or time.
The life and utterances of Bahá’u’lláh testify that He is the Promised One
of all the Holy Books, Who has the power to break the seals of the
prophecies and to pour forth the “Sealed choice wine” of the divine
mysteries. Let us hasten, then, to hear His explanations and to reexamine
in their light the familiar but often mysterious words spoken by the
prophets of old.
The Coming of the Lord
The “Coming of the Lord” in the “last days” is the one “far-off divine
event” to which all the Prophets look forward, about which Their most
glorious songs are sung. Now what is meant by the “Coming of the Lord”?
Surely God is at all times with His creatures, in all, through all, and
over all; “Closer is He than breathing, nearer than hands and feet.” Yes,
but men cannot see or hear God immanent and transcendent, cannot realize
His Presence, until He reveals Himself through a visible form and talks to
them in human language. For the revelation of His higher attributes, God
has always made use of a human instrument. Each of the Prophets was a
mediator through whom God visited and spoke to His people. Jesus was such
a mediator, and the Christians have rightly regarded His appearance as a
coming of God. In Him they saw the Face of God and through His lips they
heard the Voice of God. Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the “Coming” of the Lord
of Hosts, the Everlasting Father, the Maker and Redeemer of the World,
which, according to all the Prophets, is to take place at “the time of the
end,” means no other than His manifestation in a human temple, as He
manifested through the temple of Jesus of Nazareth, only this time with a
fuller and more glorious revelation, for which Jesus and all the former
Prophets came to prepare men’s hearts and minds.
Prophecies about Christ
Through failing to understand the meaning of the prophecies about the
dominion of the Messiah, the Jews rejected Christ. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
The Jews still await the coming of the Messiah, and pray to God
day and night to hasten His advent. When Jesus came they denounced
and slew Him, saying: “This is not the One for Whom we wait.
Behold, when the Messiah shall come, signs and wonders shall
testify that He is in truth the Christ. The Messiah will arise out
of an unknown city. He shall sit upon the throne of David, and
behold, He shall come with a sword of steel, and with a scepter of
iron shall He rule. He shall fulfill the Law of the Prophets. He
shall conquer the East and the West, and shall glorify His chosen
people the Jews. He shall bring with Him a reign of Peace during
which even the animals shall cease to be at enmity with man. For
behold, the wolf and the lamb shall drink from the same spring ...
and all God’s creatures shall be at rest....”
Thus the Jews thought and spoke, for they did not understand the
Scriptures nor the glorious truths that were contained in them.
The letter they knew by heart, but of the life-giving Spirit they
understood not a word.
Hearken, and I will show you the meaning thereof: Although Christ
came from Nazareth, which was a known place, He came also from
heaven. His body was born of Mary, but His Spirit came from
heaven. The sword He carried was the sword of His tongue, with
which He divided the good from the evil, the true from the false,
the faithful from the unfaithful, and the light from the darkness.
His Word was indeed a sharp sword! The throne upon which He sat is
the Eternal Throne from which Christ reigns forever, a heavenly
throne, not an earthly one, for the things of earth pass away but
heavenly things pass not away. He reinterpreted and completed the
Laws of Moses and fulfilled the Law of the Prophets. His Word
conquered the East and the West. His kingdom is everlasting. He
exalted those Jews who recognized Him. They were men and women of
humble birth, but contact with Him made them great and gave them
everlasting dignity. The animals who were to live with one another
signified the different sects and races, who, once having been at
war, were now to dwell in love and charity, drinking together the
Water of Life from Christ the Eternal Spring.
Most Christians accept these interpretations of Messianic prophecies as
applied to Christ; but with regard to similar prophecies about the
latter-day Messiah, many of them take up the same attitude as the Jews,
expecting a miraculous display on the material plane which will fulfill
the very letter of the prophecies.
Prophecies about the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh
According to the Bahá’í interpretations, the prophecies which speak of
“the time of the end,” the “last days,” the coming of the “Lord of hosts,”
of the “everlasting Father,” refer especially, not to the advent of Jesus
Christ, but to that of Bahá’u’lláh. Take, for instance, the well-known
prophecy in Isaiah:—
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they
that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the
light shined.... For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and
the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day
of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise,
and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and
fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The might God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon
his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and
with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord
of hosts will perform this.—Isa. ix, 2–7.
This is one of the prophecies that has often been regarded as referring to
Christ, and must of it may quite fairly be thus applied, but a little
examination will show how much more fully and aptly it applies to
Bahá’u’lláh. Christ has, indeed, been a light-bringer and Savior, but for
nearly two thousand years since His advent the great majority of the
people of the earth have continued to walk in darkness, and the children
of Israel and many other of God’s children have continued to groan under
the rod of the oppressor. On the other hand, during the first few decades
of the Bahá’í era, the light of truth has illumined the East and the West,
the gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man has been
carried into all countries of the world, the great military autocracies
have been overthrown, and a consciousness of world unity has been born
which brings hope of eventual relief to all the downtrodden and oppressed
nationalities of the world. The great war which from 1914 to 1918
convulsed the world, with its unprecedented use of firearms, liquid fire,
incendiary bombs and fuel for engines, has indeed been “with burning and
fuel of fire.”(39) Bahá’u’lláh, by dealing at great length in His Writings
with questions of government and administration, and showing how they may
best be solved, has “taken the government upon His shoulders” in a way
that Christ never did. With regard to the titles “everlasting Father,”
“Prince of Peace,” Bahá’u’lláh repeatedly refers to Himself as the
manifestation of the Father, of whom Christ and Isaiah spoke, whereas
Christ always referred to Himself as the Son; and Bahá’u’lláh declares
that His mission is to establish peace on earth, while Christ said: “I
came not to send peace but a sword,” and as a matter of fact during the
whole of the Christian era wars and sectarian strifes have abounded.
The Glory of God
The title “Bahá’u’lláh” is the Arabic for “Glory of God,” and this very
title is frequently used by the Hebrew prophets for the Promised One Who
is to appear in the last days. Thus in the 40th chapter of Isaiah we
read:—
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received
of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall
be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see
it together. Isa. xl, 1–5.
Like the former prophecy, this has also been partly fulfilled in the
advent of Christ and His forerunner, John the Baptist; but only partly,
for in the days of Christ the warfare of Jerusalem was not accomplished;
many centuries of bitter trail and humiliation were yet in store for her.
With the advent of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, however, the more complete
fulfillment dawned for Jerusalem, and her prospects of a peaceful and
glorious future seem now to be reasonably assured.
Other prophecies speak of the Redeemer of Israel, the Glory of the Lord,
as coming to the Holy Land from the East, from the rising of the sun. Now
Bahá’u’lláh appeared in Persia, which is eastward from Palestine, towards
the rising of the sun, and He came to the Holy Land, where He spent the
last twenty-four years of His life. Had He come there as a free man,
people might have said that it was the trick of an impostor in order to
conform to the prophecies; but He came as an exile and prisoner. He was
sent there by the _Sh_áh of Persia and the Sulṭán of Turkey, who can
hardly be suspected of any design to furnish arguments in favor of
Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to be the “Glory of God” Whose coming the Prophets
foretold.
The Branch
In the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah are several
references to a man called the Branch. These have often been taken by
Christians as applying to Christ, but are regarded by Bahá’ís as referring
especially to Bahá’u’lláh.
The longest Bible prophecy about the Branch is in the 11th chapter of
Isaiah:—
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the Lord.... righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard ... with the kid; and
the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little
child shall lead them.... They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.... And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the
second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be
left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from
Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from
the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the
nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather
together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
earth.—Isa. xi, 1–12.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remarks about this and other prophecies of the Branch:—
One of the great events which is to occur in the day of the
manifestation of that incomparable Branch, is the hoisting of the
Standard of God among all nations; meaning that all the nations
and tribes will come under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which
is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a
single nation. The antagonism of faiths and religions, the
hostility of races and peoples, and the national differences, will
be eradicated from amongst them. All will become one religion, one
faith, one race, and one single people, and will dwell in one
native land, which is the terrestrial globe. Universal peace and
concord will be realised between all the nations, and that
incomparable Branch will gather together all Israel: signifying
that in this cycle Israel will be gathered in the Holy Land, and
that the Jewish people who are scattered to the East and West,
South and North, will be assembled together.
Now see: these events did not take place in the Christian cycle,
for the nations did not come under the One Standard which is the
Divine Branch. But in this cycle of the Lord of Hosts all the
nations and people will enter under the shadow of this Flag. In
the same way, Israel, scattered all over the world, was not
reassembled in the Holy Land in the Christian cycle; but in the
beginning of the cycle of Bahá’u’lláh this divine promise, as is
clearly stated in all the Books of the Prophets, has begun to be
manifest. You can see that form all the parts of the world tribes
of Jews are coming to the Holy Land; they live in villages and
lands which they make their own, and day by day they are
increasing to such an extent, that all Palestine will become their
home.—Some Answered Questions, p. 75–76.
The Day of God
The word “Day” in such phrases as “Day of God” and “Last Day” is
interpreted as meaning “Dispensation.” Each of the great religion-founders
has His “Day.” Each is like a sun. His teachings have their dawn, their
truth gradually illumines more and more the minds and hearts of the people
until they attain the zenith of their influence. Then they gradually
become obscured, misrepresented and corrupted, and darkness overshadows
the earth until the sun of a new day arises. The day of the Supreme
Manifestation of God is the Last Day, because it is a day that shall never
end, and shall not be overtaken by night. His sun shall never set, but
shall illumine the souls of men both in this world and in the world to
come. In reality none of the spiritual suns ever set. The suns of Moses,
of Christ, of Muḥammad, and all the other Prophets are still shining in
heaven with undiminished luster. But earthborn clouds have concealed their
radiance from the people of earth. The Supreme Sun of Bahá’u’lláh will
finally disperse these dark clouds, so that the people of all religions
will rejoice in the light of all the Prophets, and with one accord worship
the one God Whose light all the Prophets have mirrored forth.
The Day of Judgment
Christ spoke much in parables about a great Day of Judgment when “the Son
of man shall come in the glory of his Father ... and ... shall reward
every man according to his works” (Matt. xvi, 27). He compares this Day to
the time of harvest, when the tares are burned and the wheat gathered into
barns:—
... so shall it be in the end of this world [consummation of the
age]. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.—Matt. xiii,
40–43.
The phrase “end of the world” used in the Authorized Version of the Bible
in this and similar passages has led many to suppose that when the Day of
Judgment comes, the earth will suddenly be destroyed, but this is
evidently a mistake. The true translation of the phrase appears to be “the
consummation or end of the age.” Christ teaches that the Kingdom of the
Father is to be established on earth, as well as in heaven. He teaches us
to pray: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In the parable of the Vineyard, when the Father, the Lord of the Vineyard,
comes to destroy the wicked husbandmen, He does not destroy the vineyard
(the world) also, but lets it out to other husbandmen, who will render Him
the fruits in their season. The earth is not to be destroyed, but to be
renewed and regenerated. Christ speaks of that day on another occasion as
“the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory.” St. Peter speaks of it as “the times of refreshing,” “the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.” The Day of Judgment of which Christ
speaks is evidently identical with the coming of the Lord of Hosts, the
Father, which was prophesied by Isaiah and the other Old Testament
prophets; a time of terrible punishment for the wicked, but a time in
which justice shall be established and righteousness rule, on earth as in
heaven.
In the Bahá’í interpretation, the coming of each Manifestation of God is a
Day of Judgment, but the coming of the supreme Manifestation of
Bahá’u’lláh is the great Day of Judgment for the world cycle in which we
are living. The trumpet blast of which Christ and Muḥammad and many other
prophets speak is the call of the Manifestation, which is sounded for all
who are in heaven and on earth—the embodied and the disembodied. The
meeting with God, through His Manifestation, is, for those who desire to
meet Him, the gateway to the Paradise of knowing and loving Him, and
living in love with all His creatures. Those, on the other hand, who
prefer their own way to God’s way, as revealed by the Manifestation,
thereby consign themselves to the hell of selfishness, error and enmity.
The Great Resurrection
The Day of Judgment is also the Day of Resurrection, of the raising of the
dead. St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians says:—
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality.—I Cor. xv, 51–53.
As to the meaning of these passages about the raising of the dead,
Bahá’u’lláh writes in the Book of Íqán:—
... By the terms “life” and “death,” spoken of in the scriptures,
is intended the life of faith and the death of unbelief. The
generality of the people, owing to their failure to grasp the
meaning of these words, rejected and despised the person of the
Manifestation, deprived themselves of the light of His divine
guidance, and refused to follow the example of that immortal
Beauty....
... Even as Jesus said: “Ye must be born again” [John iii, 7].
Again He saith: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the
flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”
[John iii, 5–6]. The purpose of these words is that whosoever in
every dispensation is born of the Spirit and is quickened by the
breath of the Manifestation of Holiness, he verily is of those
that have attained unto “life” and “resurrection” and have entered
into the “paradise” of the love of God. And whosoever is not of
them, is condemned to “death” and “deprivation,” to the “fire” of
unbelief, and to the “wrath” of God....
In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and
their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual
significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.”
... Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of
divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is
not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life
of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life
of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have
quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of
certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is
crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: “He who is a
true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.”
If by “life” be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death
must needs overtake it.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 114, 118, 120–21.
According to the Bahá’í teaching the Resurrection has nothing to do with
the gross physical body. That body, once dead, is done with. It becomes
decomposed and its atoms will never be recomposed into the same body.
Resurrection is the birth of the individual to spiritual life, through the
gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed through the Manifestation of God. The
grave from which he arises is the grave of ignorance and negligence of
God. The sleep from which he awakens is the dormant spiritual condition in
which many await the dawn of the Day of God. This dawn illumines all who
have lived on the face of the earth, whether they are in the body or out
of the body, but those who are spiritually blind cannot perceive it. The
Day of Resurrection is not a day of twenty-four hours, but an era which
has now begun and will last as long as the present world cycle continues.
It will continue when all traces of the present civilization will have
been wiped off the surface of the globe.
Return of Christ
In many of His conversations Christ speaks of the future Manifestation of
God in the third person, but in others the first person is used. He says:
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John xiv, 2–3). In the
first chapter of Acts we read that the disciples were told, at the
ascension of Jesus: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
Because of these and similar sayings, many Christians expect that when the
Son of Man comes “in the clouds of heaven and with great glory” they shall
see in bodily form the very Jesus Who walked the streets of Jerusalem two
thousand years ago, and bled and suffered on the cross. They expect to be
able to thrust their fingers into the prints of the nails on His hands and
feet, and their hands into the spear wound in His side. But surely a
little reflection on Christ’s own words would dissipate such an idea. The
Jews of Christ’s time had just such ideas about the return of Elias, but
Jesus explained their error, showing that the prophecy that “Elias must
first come” was fulfilled, not by the return of the person and body of the
former Elias, but in the person of John the Baptist, who came “in the
spirit and power of Elias.” “And if ye will receive it,” said Christ,
“this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear.” The “return” of Elias, therefore, meant the appearance of another
person, born of other parents, but inspired by God with the same spirit
and power. These words of Jesus may surely be taken to imply that the
return of Christ will, in like manner, be accomplished by the appearance
of another person, born of another mother, but showing forth the Spirit
and Power of God even as Christ did. Bahá’u’lláh explains that the “coming
again” of Christ was fulfilled in the advent of the Báb and in his own
coming. He says:—
Consider the sun. Were it to say now, “I am the sun of yesterday,”
it would speak the truth. And should it, bearing the sequence of
time in mind, claim to be other than that sun, it still would
speak the truth. In like manner, if it be said that all the days
are but one and the same, it is correct and true. And if it be
said, with respect to their particular names and designations,
that they differ, that again is true. For though they are the
same, yet one doth recognize in each a separate designation, a
specific attribute, a particular character. Conceive accordingly
the distinction, variation, and unity characteristic of the
various Manifestations of holiness, that thou mayest comprehend
the allusions made by the creator of all names and attributes to
the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover the answer to
thy question as to why that everlasting Beauty should have, at
sundry times, called Himself by different names and
titles.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, 21–22.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
Know that the return of Christ for a second time doth not mean
what the people believe, but rather signifieth the One promised to
come after Him. He shall come with the Kingdom of God and His
Power which hath surrounded the world. This dominion is in the
world of hearts and spirits, and not in that of matter; for the
material world is not comparable to a single wing of a fly, in the
sight of the Lord, wert thou of those who know! Verily Christ came
with His Kingdom from the beginning which hath no beginning, and
will come with His Kingdom to the eternity of eternities, inasmuch
as in this sense “Christ” is an expression of the Divine Reality,
the simple Essence and heavenly Entity, which hath no beginning
nor ending. It hath appearance, arising, manifestation and setting
in each of the cycles.
The Time of the End
Christ and His apostles mentioned many signs which would distinguish the
times of the “Return” of the Son of Man in the glory of the Father. Christ
said:—
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know
that the desolation thereof is nigh.... For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled....
for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this
people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be
led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be
fulfilled.—Luke xxi, 20–24.
Again He said:—
Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name,
saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of
wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all
these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall
be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be
offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one
another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive
many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come.—Matt. xxiv, 4–14.
In these two passages Christ foretold in plain terms, without veil or
covering, the things that must come to pass before the coming of the Son
of Man. During the centuries that have elapsed since Christ spoke, every
one of these signs has been fulfilled. In the last part of each passage He
mentions an event that shall mark the time of the coming—in one case the
ending of the Jewish exile and the restoration of Jerusalem, and in the
other the preaching of the gospel in all the world. It is startling to
find that both of these signs are being literally fulfilled in our own
times. If these parts of the prophecy are as true as the rest, it follows
that we must be living now in the “time of the end” of which Christ spoke.
Muḥammad also mentions certain signs which will persist until the Day of
Resurrection. In the Qur’án we read:—
When Alláh said: “O Jesus! Verily I will cause thee to die, and
exalt thee towards Me, and clear thee of the charges of those who
disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee [that is,
Christians] above those who disbelieve [Jews and others], until
the Day of Resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, so I
will decide between you concerning that in which you
differed.”—Súrá iii, 54.
“The Hand of God,” say the Jews, “is chained up.” Their own hands
shall be chained up—and for that which they have said shall they
be cursed. Nay! outstretched are both His hands! At His own
pleasure doth He bestow gifts. That which hath been sent down to
thee from thy Lord will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief
of many of them; and We have put enmity and hatred between them
that shall last until the Day of Resurrection. Oft as they kindle
a beacon fire for war shall God quench it.—Súrá v, 69.
And of those who say, “We are Christians,” have We accepted the
Covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were
taught; wherefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them
that shall last till the Day of Resurrection; and in the end will
God tell them of their doings.—Súrá v, 17.
These words also have been literally fulfilled in the subjection of the
Jews to Christian (and Muslim) peoples, and in the sectarianism and strife
which have divided both Jews and Christians among themselves during all
the centuries since Muḥammad spoke. Only since the commencement of the
Bahá’í era (the Day of Resurrection) have signs of the approaching end of
these conditions made their appearance.
Signs in Heaven and Earth
In the Hebrew, Christian, Muḥammadan and many other Scriptures, there is a
remarkable similarity in the description of the signs which are to
accompany the coming of the Promised One.
In the Book of Joel we read:—
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible
days of the Lord come.... For, behold, in those days ... when I
shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will
also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley
of Jehoshaphat [Jehovah judgeth], and will plead with them
there.... Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for
the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and
the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their
shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the
Lord will be the hope of his people.—Joel ii, 30–31; iii, 1–2,
14–16.
Christ says:—
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they
shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory.—Matt. xxiv, 29–30.
In the Qur’án we read:—
When the sun shall be shrouded,
And when the stars shall fall,
And when the mountains are made to pass away ...
And when the leaves of the Book shall be unrolled,
And when the heaven shall be uncovered,
And when hell shall be made to blaze.—Súrá lxxxi.
In the Book of Íqán Bahá’u’lláh explains that these prophecies about the
sun, moon and stars, the heavens and the earth, are symbolical and are not
to be understood merely in the literal sense. The Prophets were primarily
concerned with spiritual, not material, things; with spiritual, not with
physical, light. When They mention the sun, in connection with the Day of
Judgment, They refer to the Sun of Righteousness. The sun is the supreme
source of light, so Moses was a sun for the Hebrews, Christ for the
Christians, and Muḥammad for the Muslims. When the Prophets speak of the
sun being darkened, what is meant is that the pure teachings of these
spiritual Suns have become obscured by misrepresentation, misunderstanding
and prejudice, so that the people are in spiritual darkness. The moon and
stars are the lesser sources of illumination, the religious leaders and
teachers, who should guide and inspire the people. When it is said that
the moon shall not give her light or shall be turned into blood, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, it is indicated that the leaders of the
churches shall become debased, engaging in strife and contention, and the
priests shall become worldly minded, concerned about earthly instead of
heavenly things.
The meaning of these prophecies is not exhausted by one explanation,
however, and there are other senses in which these symbols can be
interpreted. Bahá’u’lláh says that in another sense the words “sun,”
“moon,” and “stars” are applied to the ordinances and instructions enacted
in every religion. As in every subsequent Manifestation the ceremonies,
forms, customs and instructions of the preceding Manifestations are
changed in accordance with the requirements of the times, so, in this
sense the sun and moon are changed and the stars dispersed.
In many cases the literal fulfillment of these prophecies in the outward
sense would be absurd or impossible; for example, the moon being turned
into blood or the stars falling upon the earth. The least of the visible
stars is many thousand times larger than the earth, and were one to fall
on the earth there would be no earth left for another to fall on! In other
cases, however, there is a material as well as a spiritual fulfillment.
For example, the Holy Land did literally become desert and desolate during
many centuries, as foretold by the prophets, but already, in the Day of
Resurrection, it is beginning to “rejoice and blossom as the rose,” as
Isaiah foretold. Prosperous colonies are being started, the land is being
irrigated and cultivated, and vineyards, olive groves and gardens are
flourishing where half a century ago there was only sandy waste. Doubtless
when men beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning
hooks, wildernesses and deserts in all parts of the world will be
reclaimed; the scorching winds and sandstorms that blow from these
deserts, and make life in their neighborhood well-nigh intolerable, will
be things of the past; the climate of the whole earth will become milder
and more equable; cities will no longer defile the air with smoke and
poisonous fumes, and even in the outward, material sense there will be
“new heavens and a new earth.”
Manner of Coming
As to the manner of His coming at the end of the age, Christ said:—
And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a
great sound of a trumpet.... then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his
sheep from the goats.—Matt. xxiv, 30–31; xxv, 31–32.
Regarding these and similar passages Bahá’u’lláh writes in the Book of
Íqán:—
... The term “heaven” denoteth loftiness and exaltation, inasmuch
as it is the seat of the revelation of those Manifestations of
Holiness, the Day-springs of ancient glory. These ancient Beings,
though delivered from the womb of their mother, have in reality
descended from the heaven of the will of God. Though they be
dwelling on this earth, yet their true habitations are the
retreats of glory in the realms above. Whilst walking amongst
mortals, they soar in the heaven of the divine presence. Without
feet they tread the path of the spirit, and without wings they
rise unto the exalted heights of divine unity. With every fleeting
breath they cover the immensity
of space, and at every moment traverse the kingdoms of the visible
and the invisible....
... By the term “clouds” is meant those things that are contrary
to the ways and desires of men. Even as He hath revealed in the
verse already quoted: “As oft as an Apostle cometh unto you with
that which your souls desire not, ye swell with pride, accusing
some of being impostors and slaying others.” [Qur’án 2:87.] These
“clouds” signify, in one sense, the annulment of laws, the
abrogation of former Dispensations, the repeal of rituals and
customs current amongst men, the exalting of the illiterate
faithful above the learned opposers of the Faith. In another
sense, they mean the appearance of that immortal Beauty in the
image of mortal man, with such human limitations as eating and
drinking, poverty and riches, glory and abasement, sleeping and
waking, and such other things as cast doubt in the minds of men,
and cause them to turn away. All such veils are symbolically
referred to as “clouds.”
These are the “clouds” that cause the heavens of the knowledge and
understanding of all that dwell on earth to be cloven asunder.
Even as He hath revealed: “On that day shall the heaven be cloven
by the clouds.” [Qur’án 25:25]. Even as the clouds prevent the
eyes of men from beholding the sun, so do these things hinder the
souls of men from recognizing the light of the divine Luminary. To
this beareth witness that which hath proceeded out of the mouth of
the unbelievers as revealed in the sacred Book: “And they have
said: ‘What manner of apostle is this? He eateth food, and walketh
the streets. Unless an angel be sent down and take part in His
warnings, we will not believe.’” [Qur’án 25:7.] Other Prophets,
similarly, have been subject to poverty and afflictions, to
hunger, and to the ills and chances of this world. As these holy
Persons were subject to such needs and wants, the people were,
consequently, lost in the wilds of misgivings and doubts, and were
afflicted with bewilderment and perplexity. How, they wondered,
could such a person be sent down from God, assert His ascendancy
over all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and claim Himself
to be the goal of all creation,—even as He hath said: “But for
Thee, I would have not created all that are in heaven and on
earth,”—and yet be subject to such trivial things? You must
undoubtedly have been informed of the tribulations, the poverty,
the ills, and the degradation that have befallen every Prophet of
God and His companions. You must have heard how the heads of their
followers were sent as presents unto different cities, how
grievously they were hindered from that whereunto they were
commanded. Each and every one of them fell a prey to the hands of
the enemies of His Cause, and had to suffer whatsoever they
decreed....
... The All-Glorious hath decreed these very things, that are
contrary to the desires of wicked men, to be the touchstone and
standard whereby He proveth His servants, that the just may be
known from the wicked, and the faithful distinguished from the
infidel....
And now, concerning His words: “And He shall send His angels....”
By “angels” is meant those who, reinforced by the power of the
spirit, have consumed, with the fire of the love of God, all human
traits and limitations, and have clothed themselves with the
attributes of the most exalted Beings and of the Cherubim....
As the adherents of Jesus have never understood the hidden meaning
of these words, and as the signs which they and leaders of their
Faith have expected have failed to appear, they therefore refused
to acknowledge, even until now, the truth of those Manifestations
of Holiness that have since the days of Jesus been made manifest.
They have thus deprived themselves of the outpourings of God’s
holy grace, and of the wonders of His divine utterance. Such is
their low estate in this, the Day of Resurrection! They have even
failed to perceive that were the signs of the Manifestation of God
in every age to appear in the visible realm in accordance with the
text of established traditions, none could possibly deny or turn
away, not would the blessed be distinguished from the miserable,
and the transgressor from the God-fearing. Judge fairly: Were the
prophecies recorded in the Gospel to be literally fulfilled; were
Jesus, Son of Mary, accompanied by angels, to descend from the
visible heaven upon the clouds; who would dare to disbelieve, who
would dare to reject the truth, and wax disdainful? Nay, such
consternation would immediately seize all the dwellers of the
earth that no soul would feel able to utter a word, much less to
reject or accept the truth.—Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 67, 71–73, 76,
78–79, 80–81.
According to the above explanation the coming of the Son of Man, in lowly
human form, born of woman, poor, uneducated, oppressed and set at naught
by the great ones of the earth—this manner of coming is the very
touchstone by which He judges the people of earth and separates them one
from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. Those whose
spiritual eyes are opened can see through those clouds and rejoice in the
“power and great glory”—the very glory of God—which He comes to reveal;
the others, whose eyes are still holden by prejudice and error, can see
but the dark clouds and continue to grope in gloom, deprived of the
blessed sunshine.
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in.
... 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’ sope.... For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as
an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble: ... But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings.—Mal. iii, 1–2; iv.
1–2.
NOTE—The subject of fulfillment of prophecy is such an extensive one that
many volumes would be required for its adequate exposition. All that can
be done within the limits of a single chapter is to indicate the main
outlines of the Bahá’í interpretations. The detailed Apocalypses revealed
by Daniel and St. John have been left untouched. Readers will find certain
chapters of these dealt with in Some Answered Questions. In the Book of
Íqán, by Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í Proofs, by Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl, and in many of
the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá further explanation of
prophecies may be found. Prophecies of Bahá’u’lláh and
CHAPTER 14: ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord
hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the
thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath
not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not
be afraid of him.—Duet. xviii, 21–22.
Creative Power of God’s Word
God, and God alone, has the power to do whatever He wills, and the
greatest proof of a Manifestation of God is the creative power of His
word—its effectiveness to change and transform all human affairs and to
triumph over all human opposition. Through the word of the Prophets God
announces His will, and the immediate or subsequent fulfillment of that
word is the clearest proof of the Prophet’s claim and of the genuineness
of His inspiration.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from the heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to
the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it.—Isa. lv, 10–11.
When the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus with the question:
“Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” the answer of
Jesus was simply to point to the effects wrought by His words:—
Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The
blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor
have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever
shall not be offended in me.—Matt. xi, 4–6.
Let us now see what evidence there is to show whether the words of
Bahá’u’lláh have this creative power which is distinctive of the word of
God.
Bahá’u’lláh commanded the rulers to establish universal peace, and their
prolongation of the policy of war since 1869–1870 has overthrown many
ancient dynasties, while each successive war has produced less and less
fruits of victory, until the European War of 1914–1918 revealed the
historically startling fact that was has become disastrous to victor and
vanquished alike.(40)
Bahá’u’lláh bade the rulers likewise to act as trustees of those under
their control, making political authority a means to true general welfare.
The progress toward social legislation has been unprecedented.
He commanded limitation of the extremes of wealth and poverty, and ever
since, legislation for the establishment of minimum subsistence levels and
for graduated taxation of wealth by income and inheritance taxes has been
a constant concern. He commanded the abolition of both chattel and
economic slavery, and ever since, the progress toward emancipation has
been a ferment in all parts of the world.
Bahá’u’lláh declared the equality of men and women, expressed through
equal responsibilities and equal rights and privileges, and since that
declaration, the bonds by which women have been bound for ages have been
breaking, and woman has rapidly been securing her rightful place as the
equal and partner of man.
He declared the fundamental oneness of religions, and the succeeding
interval has witnessed the most determined efforts of sincere souls in all
parts of the world to achieve a new degree of tolerance, of mutual
understanding and of cooperation for universal ends. The sectarian
attitude has everywhere been undermined, and its historical position has
become more and more untenable. The basis of exclusiveness in religion has
been destroyed by the same forces making nationalism of the self-contained
type incapable of survival.
He commanded universal education, and made the independent investigation
of truth a proof of spiritual vitality. Modern civilization has been
stirred to its depths by this new leaven. Compulsory education for
children, and the extension of educational facilities for adults, have
become a primary policy of government. Nations which deliberately seek to
restrict that very policy have aroused revolution within and suspicion and
fear outside their boundaries.
Bahá’u’lláh commanded the adoption of a universal auxiliary language, and
Dr. Zamenhof and others obeyed His call by devoting their lives and genius
to this great task and opportunity.
Above all, Bahá’u’lláh imbued humanity with a new spirit, arousing new
longings in minds and hearts and new ideals for society. Nothing in all
history is so dramatic and impressive as the course of events since the
dawn of the Bahá’í era in 1844. Year by year, the power of a dead past
prolonged through outworn ideas, habits, attitudes and institutions has
weakened, until at present every intelligent man and woman on earth
realizes that humanity is passing through its most terrible crisis. On the
one hand we see the new creation arising as the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s
teaching has revealed the true path of evolution. On the other hand we see
naught but disaster and frustration in all realms where that light is
resisted or ignored.
Yet, to the faithful Bahá’í, these and countless other evidences,
impressive as they are, fail to give the real measure of the spiritual
majesty of Bahá’u’lláh. His life on earth, and the irresistible force of
His inspired words, stand as the only true criterion of the will of God.
A study of the more detailed prophecies of Bahá’u’lláh and their
fulfillment will give powerful corroborative evidence. Of these prophecies
we shall now proceed to give a few examples, about the authenticity of
which there can be no dispute. They were widely published and known before
their fulfillment came about. The letter which He sent to the crowned
heads of the world, in which many of these prophecies occur, were compiled
in a book which was first published in Bombay in the late nineteenth
century. Several editions have since been published. We shall also give
some examples of noteworthy prophecies by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Napoleon III
In the year 1869 Bahá’u’lláh wrote to Napoleon III, rebuking him for his
lust of war and for the contempt with which he had treated a former letter
from Bahá’u’lláh. The Epistle contains the following stern warning:—
For what thou has done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into
confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a
punishment for that which thou has wrought. Then wilt thou know
how thou has plainly erred. Commotions shall seize all the people
in that land, unless thou arisest to held this Cause, and
followest Him Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ) in this, the
Straight Path. Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By My Life! It shall
not endure; nay, it shall soon pass away, unless thou holdest fast
by this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee, whilst
thou art of the heedless.
Needless to say, Napoleon, who was then at the zenith of his power, paid
no heed to this warning. In the following year he went to war with
Prussia, firmly convinced that his troops could easily gain Berlin; but
the tragedy foretold by Bahá’u’lláh overwhelmed him. He was defeated at
Saarbruck, at Weisenburg, at Metz, and finally in the crushing catastrophe
at Sedan. He was then carried prisoner to Prussia, and came to a miserable
end in England two years later. Germany
Bahá’u’lláh later gave an equally solemn warning to the conquerors of
Napoleon, which also fell on deaf ears and received a terrible
fulfillment. In the Book of Aqdas, which was begun in Adrianople, and
finished in the early years of Bahá’u’lláh’s imprisonment in Akká, He
addressed the Emperor of Germany as follows:—
O King of Berlin! ... Do thou remember the one whose power
transcended thy power (Napoleon III) and whose station excelled
thy station. Where is he? Whither are gone the things he
possessed? Take warning, and be not of them that are fast asleep.
He it was who cast the Tablet of God behind him, when We made
known unto him what the hosts of tyranny had caused Us to suffer.
Wherefore, disgrace assailed him from all sides, and he went down
to dust in great loss. Think deeply, O King, concerning him, and
concerning them who, like unto thee, have conquered cities and
ruled over men. The All-Merciful brought them down from their
palaces to their graves. Be warned, be of them who reflect....
O banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch
as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall
have another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Berlin, though
she be today in conspicuous glory.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
During the period of German successes in the Great War of 1914–1918, and
especially during the last great German offensive in the spring of 1918,
this well-known prophecy was extensively quoted by the opponents of the
Bahá’í Faith in Persia, in order to discredit Bahá’u’lláh; but when the
forward sweep of the victorious Germans was suddenly transformed into
crushing, overwhelming disaster, the efforts of these enemies of the
Bahá’í Cause recoiled on themselves, and the notoriety which they had
given to the prophecy became a powerful means of enhancing the reputation
of Bahá’u’lláh. Persia
In the Book of Aqdas written when the tyrannical Náṣiri’d-Dín _Sh_áh was
at the height of his power, Bahá’u’lláh blesses the city of Ṭihrán, which
is the capital of Persia, and His own birthplace, and says of it:—
Let nothing grieve thee, O Land of Tá (Ṭihrán), for God hath
chosen thee to be the source of the joy of all mankind. He shall,
if it be His will, bless thy throne with one who will rule with
justice, who will gather together the flock of God which the
wolves have scattered. Such a ruler will, with joy and gladness,
turn his face towards, and extend his favors unto, the people of
Bahá. He indeed is accounted in the sight of God as a jewel among
men. Upon him rest forever the glory of God, and the glory of all
that dwell in the kingdom of His Revelation.
Rejoice with great joy, for God hath made thee “the Day Spring of
His light,” inasmuch as within thee was born the Manifestation of
His Glory. Be thou glad for this name that hath been conferred
upon thee—a name through which the Day Star of Grace hath shed its
splendor, through which both earth and heaven have been illumined.
Ere long will the state of affairs within thee be changed, and the
reins of power fall into the hands of the people. Verily, thy Lord
is the All-Knowing. His authority embraceth all things. Rest thou
assured in the gracious favor of thy Lord. The eye of His
loving-kindness shall everlastingly be directed towards thee. The
day is approaching when thy agitation will have been transmuted
into peace and quiet calm. Thus hath it been decreed in the
wondrous Book.—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp.
110–111.
So far, Persia has only begun to emerge from the period of confusion
foretold by Bahá’u’lláh, but already constitutional government has been
started, and signs are not lacking that a brighter era is at hand. Turkey
To the Sulṭán of Turkey and his Prime Minister ‘‘Alí Pá_sh_á, Bahá’u’lláh,
then (in 1868) confined in a Turkish prison, addressed some of His most
solemn, grave warnings. To the Sulṭán He wrote from the Barracks at Akká:—
O thou who considerest thyself the greatest of all men ... erelong
thy name shall be forgotten and thou shalt find thyself in great
loss. According to thy opinion, this Quickener of the world and
its Peacemaker is culpable and seditious. What crime have the
women, children and suffering babes committed to merit thy wrath,
oppression and hate? You have persecuted a number of souls who
have shown no opposition in your country, and who have instigated
no revolution against the government; nay, rather, by day and by
night they have been peacefully engaged in the mentioning of God.
You have pillaged their properties, and through your tyrannical
acts, all that they had was taken from them.... Before God, a
handful of dust is greater than your kingdom, glory, sovereignty
and dominion, and should He desire, He would scatter you as the
sand of the desert. Erelong His wrath shall overtake you,
revolutions shall appear in your midst and your countries will be
divided! Then you will weep and lament and nowhere will you find
help and protection. ... Be ye watchful, for the wrath of God is
prepared, and erelong you shall behold that which is written by
the Pen of Command.
And to ‘Alí Pá_sh_á He wrote:—
Thou hast, O Chief, committed that which hath made Muḥammad, the
Apostle of God, groan in the Most Exalted Paradise. The world hath
made thee proud, so much so that thou hast turned away from the
Face through Whose brightness the Concourse on high hath been
illumined. Soon thou shalt find thyself in evident loss. Thou
didst unite with the Ruler of Persia for doing Me harm, although I
had come to you from the Dawning-place of the Almighty, the Great,
with a Cause which refreshed the eyes of the favored ones of
God....
Didst thou think that thou could put out the fire which God hath
enkindled in the Universe? No! I declare by His True Soul, wert
thou of those who understand. More than that, by what thou hast
done its blaze and flame have been increased. Soon it will
encompass the world and its inhabitants.... The day is approaching
when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and what is beside it shall
be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the King, and
commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be
raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all
sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath
befallen these captives [Bahá’u’lláh and His companions] at the
hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be
altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sand
on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain
will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou
behold the people in sore distress....
Thus hath the matter been decreed on the part of the Designer, the
Wise, Whose command the hosts of heaven and earth could not
withstand, nor could all the kings and rulers withhold Him from
that which He willeth. Calamities are the oil for this Lamp, and
through them its Light increaseth, were ye of those who know! All
oppositions displayed by the oppressors are indeed as heralds to
this Faith, and by them the appearance of God and His Cause have
become widely spread among the people of the world.
Again in the Book of Aqdas He wrote:—
O Spot [Constantinople] that art situate on the shores of the two
seas! The throne of tyranny hath, verily, been established upon
thee, and the flame of hatred hath been kindled within thy bosom,
in such wise that the Concourse on high and they who circle around
the Exalted Throne have wailed and lamented. We behold in thee the
foolish ruling over the wise, and darkness vaunting itself against
the light. Thou art indeed filled with manifest pride. Hath thine
outward splendor made thee vainglorious? By Him Who is the Lord of
mankind! It shall soon perish, and thy daughters and thy widows
and all the kindreds that dwell within thee shall lament. Thus
informeth thee the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
The successive calamities which have befallen this once great empire since
the publication of these warnings have furnished an eloquent commentary on
their prophetic significance.
America
In the Book of Aqdas, revealed in Akká in 1873, Bahá’u’lláh appealed to
America as follows:—
O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein
... Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring
of Grandeur: Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of
Utterance, the All-Knowing. Bind ye the broken with the hands of
justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of
the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the
All-Wise.—Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His addresses in America and elsewhere frequently
expressed the hope, the prayer and the assurance that the banner of
international peace would be first raised in America. At Cincinnati, Ohio,
on November 5, 1912, He said:—
America is a noble nation, a standard-bearer of peace throughout
the world, shedding her light to all regions. Other nations are
not untrammeled and free of intrigues like the United States, and
are unable to bring about Universal Peace. But America, thank God,
is at peace with all the world, and is worthy of raising the flag
of brotherhood and International Peace. When the summons to
International Peace is raised by America, all the rest of the
world will cry: “Yes, we accept.” The nations of every clime will
join in adopting the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, revealed over fifty
years ago. In His Epistles He asked the parliaments of the world
to send their best and wisest men to an international world
parliament that should decide all questions between the peoples
and establish peace ... then we shall have the Parliament of Man
of which the prophets have dreamed.
The appeals of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have already been responded
to, in a large measure, by the United States of America, and in no country
of the world have the Bahá’í teachings met with readier acceptance. The
role assigned to America, of summoning the nations to international peace,
has as yet, however, been only partially played, and Bahá’ís are awaiting
with interest the developments which the future has in store.(41)
The Great War
Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on many occasions foretold with
surprising accuracy the coming of the Great War of 1914–1918. At
Sacramento, California, on October 26, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:—“Today the
European continent is like an arsenal. It is a storehouse of explosives,
ready for just a spark, and one spark could set aflame the whole of
Europe, particularly at this time, when the Balkan question is before the
world.”
In many of His addresses in America and Europe He gave similar warning. In
another address in California in October 1912 He said:—
We are on the eve of the Battle of Armageddon referred to in the
sixteenth chapter of Revelation. The time is two years hence, when
only a spark will set aflame the whole of Europe.
The social unrest in all countries, the growing religious
scepticism antecedent to the millennium, and already here, will
set aflame the whole of Europe as is prophesied in the Book of
Daniel and in the Book (Revelation) of John.
By 1917 kingdoms will fall and cataclysms will rock the earth.
(Reported by Mrs. Corinne True in The North Shore Review,
September 26, 1914, Chicago, U.S.A.)
On the eve of the great conflict He said:—
A great melee of the civilized nations is in sight. A tremendous
conflict is at hand. The world is at the threshold of a most
tragic struggle.... Vast armies—millions of men—are being
mobilized and stationed at their frontiers. They are being
prepared for the fearful contest. The slightest friction will
bring them into a terrific crash, and there will be a
conflagration, the like of which is not recorded in the past
history of mankind. (At Haifa, August 3, 1914).
Social Troubles After the War
Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also foretold a period of great social
upheaval, conflict and calamity as an inevitable result of the irreligion
and prejudices, the ignorance and superstition, prevalent throughout the
world. The great international military conflict was but one phase of this
upheaval. In a Tablet dated January, 1920, He wrote:—
O ye lovers of truth! O ye servants of mankind! As the sweet
fragrance of your thoughts and high intentions has breathed upon
me, I feel that my soul is irresistibly prompted to communicate
with you.
Ponder in your hearts how grievous is the turmoil in which the
world is plunged; how the nations of the earth are besmeared with
human blood, nay their very soil is turned into clotted gore. The
flame of war has caused so wild a conflagration that the world in
its early days, in its middle ages, or in modern times has never
witnessed its like. The millstones of war have ground and crushed
many a human head, nay, even more severe has been the lot of these
victims. Flourishing countries have been made desolate, cities
have been laid level with the ground, and smiling villages have
been turned into ruin. Fathers have lost their sons, and sons
turned fatherless. Mothers have shed tears of blood in mourning
for their youths, little children have been made orphans, and
women left wanderers and homeless. In a word, humanity, in all its
phases, has been debased. Loud is the cry and wailing of orphans,
and bitter the lamentations of mothers which are echoed by the
skies.
The prime cause for all these happenings is racial, national,
religious, and political prejudice, and the root of all this
prejudice lies in outworn and deepseated traditions, be they
religious, racial, national, or political. So long as these
traditions remain, the foundation of human edifice is insecure,
and mankind itself is exposed to continuous peril.
Now in this radiant age, when the essence of all beings has been
made manifest, and the hidden secret of all created thing has been
revealed, when the morning light of truth has broken and turned
the darkness of the world into light, is it meet and seemly that
such a frightful carnage which brings irretrievable ruin upon the
world should be made possible? By God! that cannot be.
Christ summoned all the people of the world to reconciliation and
peace. He commanded Peter to return his sword unto its scabbard.
Such was His wish and counsel, and yet they that bear His name
have unsheathed the sword! How great the difference between their
deeds and the explicit text of the Gospel!
Sixty years ago Bahá’u’lláh, even as the shining sun, shone in the
firmament of Persia, and proclaimed that the world is wrapt in
darkness and this darkness is fraught with disastrous results, and
will lead to fearful strife. In His prison city of Akká, He
apostrophized in unmistakable terms the Emperor of Germany,
declaring that a terrible war shall take place, and Berlin will
break forth in lamentation and wailing. In like manner, whilst the
wronged prisoner of the Sulṭán of Turkey in the citadel of Akká,
He clearly and emphatically wrote him that Constantinople will
fall a prey to grave disorder, in such wise that the women and
children will raise their moaning cry. In brief, He addressed
epistles to all the chief rulers and sovereigns of the world, and
all that He foretold has been fulfilled. From His pen of glory
flowed teachings for the prevention of war, and these have been
scattered far and wide.
His first teaching is the search after truth. Blind imitation, He
declared, killeth the spirit of man, whereas the investigation of
truth frees the world from the darkness of prejudice.
His second teaching is the oneness of mankind. All men are but one
fold, and God the loving Shepherd. He bestoweth upon them His most
great mercy, and considers them all as one. “Thou shalt find no
difference amongst the creatures of God.” They are all His
servants, and all seek His bounty.
His third teaching is that religion is the most mighty stronghold.
It should be conducive to unity, rather than be the cause of
enmity and hate. Should it lead to enmity and hate better not have
it at all. For religion is even as medicine, which if it should
aggravate the disease, its abandonment would be preferred.
Likewise, religious, racial, national, and political prejudice,
all are subversive of the foundation of human society, all lead to
bloodshed, all heap ruin upon mankind. So long as these remain,
the dread of war will continue. The sole remedy is universal
peace. And this is achieved only by the establishment of a supreme
Tribunal, representative of all governments and peoples. All
national and international problems should be referred to this
tribunal, and whatsoever be its decision that should be enforced.
Were a government or people to dissent, the world as a whole
should rise against it.
And among His teachings is the equality in right of men and women,
and so on with many other similar teachings that have been
revealed by His pen.
At present it has been made evident and manifest that these
principles are the very life of the world, and the embodiment of
its true spirit. And now, ye, who are the servants of mankind,
should exert yourselves, heart and soul, to free the world from
the darkness of materialism and human prejudice, that it may be
illumined with the light of the City of God.
Praise be to Him, ye are acquainted with the various schools,
institutions and principles of the world; today nothing short of
these divine teachings can assure peace and tranquillity to
mankind. But for these teachings, this darkness shall never
vanish, these chronic diseases shall never be healed; nay, they
shall grow fiercer from day to day. The Balkans will remain
restless, and it condition will aggravate. The vanquished will not
keep still, but will seize every means to kindle anew the flame of
war. Modern universal movements will do their utmost to carry out
their purpose and intentions. The Movement of the Left will
acquire great importance, and its influence will spread.
Wherefore, endeavor that with an illumined heart, a heavenly
spirit, and a divine strength, and aided by His grace, ye may
bestow God’s bountiful gift upon the world ... the gift of comfort
and tranquillity for all mankind.
In a talk given in November 1919, He said:—
Bahá’u’lláh frequently predicted that there would be a period when
irreligion and consequent anarchy would prevail. The chaos will be
due to too great liberty among people who are not ready for it,
and in consequence there will have to be a temporary reversion to
coercive government, in the interests of the people themselves and
in order to prevent disorder and chaos. It is clear that each
nation now wishes complete self-determination and freedom of
action, but some of them are not ready for it. The prevailing
state of the world is one of irreligion, which is bound to result
in anarchy and confusion. I have always said that the peace
proposals following the great war were only a glimmer of the dawn,
and not the sunrise.
Coming of the Kingdom of God
Amid these troublous times, however, the Cause of God will prosper. The
calamities caused by selfish struggle for individual existence, or for
party or sectarian or national gain, will induce the people to turn in
despair to the remedy offered by the Word of God. The more calamities
abound, the more will the people turn to the only true remedy. Bahá’u’lláh
says in his Epistle to the _Sh_áh:—
God hath made afflictions as a morning shower to this green
pasture, and as a wick for His Lamp, whereby earth and heaven are
illumined.... Through affliction hath His Light shone and His
Praise been bright unceasingly; this hath been His method through
past ages and bygone times.
Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá predict in the most confident terms the
speedy triumph of spirituality over materiality and the consequent
establishment of the Most Great Peace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote in 1904:—
Know this, that hardships and misfortunes shall increase day by
day, and the people shall be distressed. The doors of joy and
happiness shall be closed on all sides. Terrible wars shall
happen. Disappointment and the frustration of hopes shall surround
the people from every direction until they are obliged to turn to
God. Then the lights of great happiness shall enlighten the
horizons, so that the cry of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” may arise on all
sides.—Tablet to L.D.B. quoted in Compilation on War and Peace, p.
187.
When asked, in February 1914, whether any of the Great Powers would become
believers, He replied:—
All the people of the world will become believers. Should you
compare the beginning of the Cause with its position today, you
would see what a quick influence the Word of God has, and now the
Cause of God has encompassed the world.... Unquestionably, all
will come under the shadow of the Cause of God.
He declared that the establishment of world unity will come about during
the present century. In one of His Tablets He wrote:—
... All the members of the human family, whether peoples or
governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly
interdependent. For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible,
inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the
bonds of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are
being strengthened every day. Hence the unity of all mankind can
in this day be achieved. Verily this is none other but one of the
wonders of this wondrous age, this glorious century—the century of
light—has been endowed with the unique and unprecedented glory,
power and illumination. Hence the miraculous unfolding of a fresh
marvel every day. Eventually it will be seen how bright its
candles will burn in the assemblage of man.
In the last two verses of the Book of Daniel occur the cryptic
words:—“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three
hundred and five and thirty days. But go thy way till the end be: for thou
shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”
Many have been the attempts of learned students to solve the problem of
the significance of these words. In a tabletalk at which the writer was
present, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reckoned the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy from
the date of the beginning of the Muḥammadan era.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets make it clear that this prophecy refers to the one
hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in Ba_gh_dád, or
the year 1963:—
Now concerning the verse in Daniel, the interpretation whereof
thou didst ask, namely, “Blessed is he who cometh unto the
thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days.” These days must be
reckoned as solar and not lunar years. For according to this
calculation a century will have elapsed from the dawn of the Sun
of Truth, then will the teachings of God be firmly established
upon the earth, and the Divine Light shall flood the world from
the East even unto the West. Then, on this day, will the faithful
rejoice!
Akká and Haifa
Mírzá Aḥmad Sohrab recorded in his diary the following prophecy about Akká
and Haifa uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while seated by the window of one of the
Bahá’í Pilgrim Homes at Haifa on February 14, 1914:—
The view from the Pilgrim Home is very attractive, especially as
it faces the Blessed Tom of Bahá’u’lláh. In the future the
distance between Akká and Haifa will be built up, and the two
cities will join and clasp hands, becoming the two terminal
section of one mighty metropolis. As I look now over this scene, I
see so clearly that it will become one of the first emporiums of
the world. This great semicircular bay will be transformed into
the finest harbor, wherein the ships of all nations will seek
shelter and refuge. The great vessels of all peoples will come to
this port, bringing on their decks thousands and thousands of men
and women from every part of the globe. The mountain and the plain
will be dotted with the most modern buildings and palaces.
Industries will be established and various institutions of
philanthropic nature will be founded. The flowers of civilization
and culture from all nations will be brought here to blend their
fragrances together and blaze the way for the brotherhood of man.
Wonderful gardens, orchards, groves and parks will be laid out on
all sides. At night the great city will be lighted by electricity.
The entire harbor from Akká to Haifa will be one path of
illumination. Powerful searchlights will be placed on both sides
of Mount Carmel to guide the steamers. Mount Carmel itself, from
top to bottom, will be submerged in a sea of lights. A person
standing on the summit of Mount Carmel, and the passengers of the
steamers coming to it, will look upon the most sublime and
majestic spectacle of the whole world.
From every part of the mountain the symphony of “Yá
Bahá’u’l-Abhá!” will be raised, and before the daybreak
soul-entrancing music accompanied by melodious voices will be
uplifted towards the throne of the Almighty.
Indeed, God’s ways are mysterious and unsearchable. What outward
relation exists between _Sh_íráz and Ṭihrán, Ba_gh_dád and
Constantinople, Adrianople and Akká and Haifa? God worked
patiently, step by step, through these various cities, according
to His own definite and eternal plan, so that the prophecies and
predictions as foretold by the Prophets might be fulfilled. This
golden thread of promise concerning the Messianic Millennium runs
through the Bible, and it was so destined that God in His own good
time would cause its appearance. Not even a single word will be
left meaningless and unfulfilled.
CHAPTER 15: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
I bear witness, O friends! that the favor is complete, the argument
fulfilled, the proof manifest, and the evidence established. Let it now be
seen what your endeavors in the path of detachment will reveal. In this
wise hath the divine favor been fully vouchsafed unto you and unto them
that are in heaven and on earth. All praise to God, the Lord of all
worlds.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, The Hidden Words.
Progress of the Cause
Unfortunately it is impossible, within the space at our disposal, to
describe in detail the progress of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world.
Many chapters might be devoted to this fascinating subject, and many
thrilling stories related about the pioneers and martyrs of the Cause, but
a very brief summary must surface.
In Persia the early believers in this revelation met with the utmost
opposition, persecution and cruelty at the hands of their fellow
countrymen, but they faced all calamities and ordeals with sublime
heroism, firmness and patience. Their baptism was in their own blood, for
many thousands of them perished as martyrs; while thousands more were
beaten, imprisoned, stripped of their possessions, driven from their homes
or otherwise ill-treated. For sixty years or more anyone in Persia who
dared to own allegiance to the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh did so at the risk of
his property, his freedom and even his life. Yet this determined and
ferocious opposition could not more check the progress of the Movement
than a cloud of dust could keep the sun from rising.
From one end of Persia(42) to the other Bahá’ís are now to be found in
almost every city and town, and even amongst the nomad tribes. In some
villages the whole population is Bahá’í and in other places a large
proportion of the inhabitants are believers. Recruited from many and
diverse sects, which were bitterly hostile to each other, they now form a
great fellowship of friends who acknowledge brotherhood, not only with
each other, but with all men everywhere, who are working for the
unification and upliftment of humanity, for the removal of all prejudices
and conflict, and for the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the
world.
What miracle could be greater than this? Only one, and that the
accomplishment throughout the entire world of the task to which these men
have set themselves. And signs are not lacking that this greater miracle,
too, is in progress. The Faith is showing an astonishing vitality, and is
spreading, like leaven, through the lump of humanity, transforming people
and society as its spreads.(43)
The relatively small number of Bahá’ís may still seem insignificant in
comparison with the followers of the ancient religions, but they are
confident that a divine Power has blessed them with the high privilege of
serving a new order into which will throng the multitudes of East and West
at no distant day.
While, therefore, it remains true that the Holy Spirit has reflected from
pure hearts in all countries still unconscious of the Source, and the
growth of the Faith can be witnessed in the many efforts outside the
Bahá’í community to promote one or another of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings,
nevertheless the lack of any enduring foundation in the old order is
convincing proof that the ideals of the Kingdom can only become fruitful
within the framework of the Bahá’í community.
Prophethood of Báb and Bahá’u’lláh
The more we study the lives and teachings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, the
more impossible does it seem to find any explanation of Their greatness,
except that of Divine Inspiration. They were reared in an atmosphere of
fanaticism and bigotry. They had only the most elementary education. They
had no contact with Western culture. They had no political or financial
power to back Them. They asked nothing from men, and receive little but
injustice and oppression. The great ones of earth ignored or opposed Them.
They were scourged and tortured, imprisoned and subjected to direst
calamities in the fulfillment of Their mission. They were alone against
the world, having no help but that of God, yet already Their triumph is
manifest and magnificent.
The grandeur and sublimity of Their ideals, the nobility and
self-sacrifice of Their lives; Their dauntless courage and conviction,
Their amazing wisdom and knowledge, Their grasp of the needs of both
Eastern and Western peoples, the comprehensiveness and adequacy of Their
teachings, Their power to inspire wholehearted devotion and enthusiasm in
Their followers, the penetration and potency of Their influence, the
progress of the Movement They founded—surely these constitute proofs of
Prophethood as convincing as any which the history of religion can show.
A Glorious Prospect
The Bahá’í glad tidings disclose a vision of the Bounty of God and of the
future progress of humanity, which is surely the greatest and most
glorious Revelation ever given to mankind, the development and fulfillment
of all previous Revelations. Its purpose is nothing less than the
regeneration of mankind and the creation of “new heavens and a new earth.”
It is the same task to which Christ and all the Prophets have devoted
Their lives, and between these great teachers there is no rivalry. It is
not by this Manifestation or by that, but by all together, that the task
will be accomplished.
As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:—
It is not necessary to lower Abraham to raise Jesus. It is not
necessary to lower Jesus to proclaim Bahá’u’lláh. We must welcome
the Truth of God wherever we behold it. The essence of the
question is that all these great Messengers came to raise the
Divine Standard of Perfections. All of them shine as orbs in the
same heaven of the Divine Will. All of them give Light to the
world.
The task is God’s, and God calls not only the Prophets but all mankind to
be His co-workers in this creative process. If we refuse His invitation,
we shall not hinder the work from going on, for what God wills shall
surely come to pass. If we fail to play our part He can raise up other
instruments to perform His purpose; but we shall miss the real aim and
object of our own lives. At-one-ment with God—becoming His lovers, His
servants, the willing channels and mediums of His Creative Power, so that
we are conscious of no life within us but His Divine and abundant
life—that, according to the Bahá’í teaching, is the ineffable and glorious
consummation of human existence.
Humanity, however, is sound at heart, for it is made “in the image and
likeness of God,” and when at last it sees the truth, it will not persist
in the paths of folly. Bahá’u’lláh assures us that erelong the call of God
will be generally accepted, and mankind as a whole will turn to
righteousness and obedience. “All sorrow will then be turned into joy, and
all disease into health,” and the kingdoms of this world shall become “the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and
ever” (Rev. xi, 15). Not only those on earth, but all in the heavens and
on the earth, shall become one in God and rejoice eternally in Him.
Renewal of Religion
The state of the world today surely affords ample evidence that, with rare
exceptions, people of all religions need to be reawakened to the real
meaning of their religion; and that reawakening is an important part of
the work of Bahá’u’lláh. He comes to make Christians better Christians, to
make Muslims real Muslims, to make all men true to the spirit that
inspired their Prophets. He also fulfills the promise made by all these
Prophets, of a more glorious Manifestation which was to appear in the
“Fullness of Time” to crown and consummate Their labors. He gives a fuller
unfolding of spiritual truths than His predecessors, and reveals the Will
of God with regard to all the problems of individual and social life that
confront us in the world today. He gives a universal teaching which
affords a firm foundation on which a new and better civilization can be
built up, a teaching adapted to the needs of the world in the new era
which is now commencing.
Need for New Revelation
The unification of the world of humanity, the welding together of the
world’s different religions, the reconciliation of Religion and Science,
the establishment of Universal Peace, of International Arbitration of an
International House of Justice, of an International Language, the
Emancipation of Women, Universal Education, the abolition not only of
Chattel Slavery, but of Industrial Slavery, the Organization of Humanity
as a single whole, with due regard to the rights and liberties of each
individual—these are problems of gigantic magnitude and stupendous
difficulty in relation to which Christians, Muḥammadans and adherents of
other religions have held and still hold the most diverse and often
violently opposed views, but Bahá’u’lláh has revealed clearly defined
principles, the general adoption of which would obviously make the world a
paradise. Truth Is for All
Many are quite ready to admit that the Bahá’í teachings would be a
splendid thing for Persia and for the East, but imagine that for the
nations of the West they are unnecessary or unsuitable. To one who
mentioned such a view, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:—
As to the meaning of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, whatever has to do
with the universal good is divine, and whatever is divine is for
the universal good. If it be true, it is for all; if not, it is
for no one; therefore a divine cause of universal good cannot be
limited to either the East or the West, for the radiance of the
Sun of Truth illumines both the East and the West, and it makes
its heat felt in the South and in the North—there is no difference
between one Pole and another. At the time of the Manifestation of
Christ, the Romans and Greeks thought His Cause was especially for
the Jews. They thought they had a perfect civilization and nothing
to learn from Christ’s teachings, and by this false supposition
many were deprived of His Grace. Likewise know that the principles
of Christianity and the Commandments of Bahá’u’lláh are identical
and their paths are the same. Every day there is progress; there
was a time when this divine institution (of progressive
revelation) was in embryo, then newborn, then a child, then an
intellectual youth; but today it is resplendent with beauty and
shining with the greatest brilliancy.
Happy is he who penetrates the mystery and takes his place in the
world of the illumined ones.
The Last Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
With the passing of its beloved leader, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Bahá’í Faith
entered on a new phase of its history. This new phase represents a higher
state in the existence of the same spiritual organism, a more mature and
consequently a more responsible expression of the faith felt by its
members. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had devoted His superhuman energy and unique
capacity to the task of spreading His love for Bahá’u’lláh throughout the
East and West. He had lighted the candle of faith in countless souls. He
had trained and guided them in the attributes of the personal spiritual
life. In view of the momentous importance of the Last Will and Testament
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the gravity of the issues it raises and the profound
wisdom underlying its provisions, we give a few extracts which vividly
portray the spirit and leading principles which animated and guided
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and are transmitted as a rich heritage to His faithful
followers:—
O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation, conflict
and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor deprives
himself of God’s grace. It is incumbent upon everyone to show the
utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straight forwardness and
sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the world,
be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of
love and loving kindness, that the stranger may find himself a
friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever
existing between them. For universality is of God and all
limitations earthly. ...
Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples,
kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness,
uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness,
that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of
the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may
vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the
peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of
Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show
your fidelity unto them, should they keep aloof from you attract
them to yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly
towards them, should they poison your lives, sweeten their souls,
should they inflict a wound upon you, be a salve to their sores.
Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of
the truthful.
O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon you to be
submissive to all monarchs that are just and to show your fidelity
to every righteous king. Serve ye the sovereigns of the world with
utmost truthfulness and loyalty. Show obedience unto them and be
their well-wishers. Without their leave and permission do not
meddle with political affairs, for disloyalty to the just
sovereign is disloyalty to God Himself.
This is my counsel and the commandment of God unto you. Well is it
with them that act accordingly.
Lord! Thou seest all things weeping over me and my kindred
rejoicing in my woes. By Thy Glory, O my God! Even amongst mine
enemies, some have lamented my troubles and my distress, and of
the envious ones a number have shed tears because of my cares, my
exile and my afflictions. They did this because they found naught
in me but affection and care and witnessed naught but kindliness
and mercy. As they saw me swept into the flood of tribulation and
adversity and exposed even as a target to the arrows of fate,
their hearts were moved with compassion—“The Lord is our witness;
naught have we seen from him but faithfulness, generosity and
extreme compassion.” The Covenant-breakers, foreboders of evil,
however, waxed fiercer in their rancor, rejoiced as I fell a
victim to the most grievous ordeal, bestirred themselves against
me and made merry over the heartrending happenings around me.
I call upon Thee, O Lord my God! with my tongue and with all my
heart, not to require them for their cruelty and their
wrong-doings, their craft and their mischief, for they are foolish
and ignoble and know not what they do. They discern not good from
evil, neither do they distinguish right from wrong, nor justice
from injustice. They follow their own desires and walk in the
footsteps of the most imperfect and foolish amongst them. O my
Lord! Have mercy upon them, shield them from all afflictions in
these troubled times and grant that all trials and hardships may
be the lot of this Thy servant that hath fallen into this darksome
pit. Single me out for every woe and make me a sacrifice for all
Thy loved ones. O Lord, Most High! May my soul, my life, my being,
my spirit, my all be offered up for them. O God, my God! Lowly,
suppliant and fallen upon my face, I beseech Thee with all the
ardor of my invocation to pardon whosoever hath hurt me, forgive
him that hath conspired against me and offended me, and wash away
the misdeeds of them that have wrought injustice upon me.
Vouchsafe unto them Thy goodly gifts, give them joy, relieve them
from sorrow, grant them peace and prosperity, give them Thy bliss
and pour upon them Thy bounty.
Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting!
The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all earthy things,
forsook all their cares and belongings, purged themselves of self
and passion and with absolute detachment scattered far and wide
and engaged in calling the peoples of the world to the Divine
Guidance, till at last they made the world another world,
illumined the surface of the earth and even to their last hour
proved self-sacrificing in the pathway of that Beloved One of God.
Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. Let
them that are men of action follow in their footsteps!
O God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets and Thy Messengers, Thy
Saints and Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have declared
conclusively Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones and set forth clearly
all things unto them, that they may watch over Thy Faith, guard
Thy Straight Path and protect Thy Resplendent Law. Thou art,
verily, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise!
With ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, the time had come to establish the
administrative order which has been termed the pattern and nucleus of the
world order which it is the special mission of the religion of Bahá’u’lláh
to establish. The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá consequently marks a
turning point in Bahá’í history, dividing the era of immaturity and
irresponsibility from that era in which the Bahá’ís themselves are
destined to fulfill their spirituality by enlarging its scope from the
realm of personal experience to that of social unity and cooperation. The
three principal elements in the administrative plan left by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
are:—
1. “The Guardian of the Cause of God,” 2. “The Hands of the Cause of God,”
and 3. “The Houses of Justice, Local, National and International.”(44)
The Guardian of the Cause of God
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, to the
responsible position of “Guardian of the Cause” (Valiyy-i-Amru’lláh).
Shoghi Effendi is the eldest son of Diya’íyyih _Kh_ánum, the eldest
daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. His father, Mírzá Hádí, is a relative of the Báb
(although not a direct descendant, as the Báb’s only child died in
infancy). Shoghi Effendi was twenty-five years of age, and was studying at
Balliol College, Oxford, at the time of his grandfather’s passing. The
announcement of his appointment is made in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will as
follows:—
O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one,
it is incumbent upon the A_gh_sán (Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of
the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and
the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the
youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred
Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots
of the Tree of Holiness,—as he is the sign of God, the chosen
branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the
A_gh_sán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved
ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after
him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.
The sacred and youthful branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God
as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally
elected and established, are both under the care and protection of
the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His
Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them
both). Whatsoever they decide is of God....
O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the Guardian of the
Cause of God to appoint in his own lifetime him that shall become
his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing.
He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all
worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in
himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus,
should the first-born of the Guardian of the Cause of God not
manifest in himself the truth of the words:—“The child is the
secret essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the
spiritual within him (the Guardian of the Cause of God) and his
glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must
he (the Guardian of the Cause of God) choose another branch to
succeed him.
The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number
nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important
services of the work of the Guardian of the Cause of God. The
election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by
majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and
these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their
assent to the choice of the one whom the Guardian of the Cause of
God hath chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in
such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be
distinguished (i.e., secret ballot).
Hands of the Cause of God
During His own lifetime Bahá’u’lláh appointed a few tried and trusted
friends to assist in directing and promoting the work of the Movement, and
gave them the title of Ayadiyi-Amru’lláh (lit. “Hands of the Cause of
God”). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá makes provision in His Will for the establishment of a
permanent body of workers to serve the Cause and help the Guardian of the
Cause. He writes:—
O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and
appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God....
The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse
the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote
learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all
times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from
earthly things. They must manifest the fear of God in their
conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words.
This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction
of the Guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually urge them
to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse
the sweet savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the
world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the
universe to be illumined.(45)
The Administrative Order(46)
It has been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks
the interruption of the true spiritual influence and serves to prevent the
original impulse from being carried into the world. The organization has
invariably become a substitute for religion rather than a method or an
instrument used to give the religion effect. The separation of peoples
into different traditions unbridged by any peaceful or constructive
intercourse has made this inevitable. Up to the present time, in fact, no
Founder of a revealed religion has explicitly laid down the principles
that should guide the administrative machinery of the Faith He has
established.
In the Bahá’í Cause, the principles of world administration were expressed
by Bahá’u’lláh, and these principles were developed in the writings of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, more especially in His Will and Testament.
The purpose of this organization is to make possible a true and lasting
unity among peoples of different races, classes, interests, characters,
and inherited creeds. A close and sympathetic study of this aspect of the
Bahá’í Cause will show that the purpose and method of Bahá’í
administration is so perfectly adapted to the fundamental spirit of the
Revelation that it bears to it the same relationship as body to soul. In
character, the principles of Bahá’í administration represent the science
of cooperation; in application, they provide for a new and higher type of
morality worldwide in scope....
A Bahá’í community differs from other voluntary gatherings in that its
foundation is so deeply laid and broadly extended that it can include any
sincere soul. Whereas other associations are exclusive, in effect if not
in intention, and from method if not from ideal, Bahá’í association is
inclusive, shutting the gates of fellowship to no sincere soul. In every
gathering there is latent or developed some basis of selection. In
religion this basis is a creed limited by the historical nature of its
origin; in politics this is party or platform; in economics this is a
mutual misfortune or mutual power; in the arts and sciences this basis
consists of special training or activity or interest. In all these
matters, the more exclusive the basis of selection, the stronger the
movement—a condition diametrically opposed to that existing in the Bahá’í
Cause. Hence the Cause, for all its spirit of growth and progress,
develops slowly as regards the numbers of its active adherents. For people
are accustomed to exclusiveness and division in all affairs. The important
sanctions have ever been warrants and justifications of division. To enter
the Bahá’í Movement is to leave these sanctions behind—an experience which
at first invariably exposes one to new trials and sufferings, as the human
ego revolts against the supreme sanction of universal love. The scientific
must associate with the simple and unlearned, the rich with the poor, the
white with the colored, the mystic with the literalist, the Christian with
the Jew, the Muslim with the Parsee: and on terms removing the advantage
of long established presumptions and privileges.
But for this difficult experience there are glorious compensations. Let us
remember that art grows sterile as it turns away from the common humanity,
that philosophy likewise loses its vision when developed in solitude, and
that politics and religion never succeed apart from the general needs of
mankind. Human nature is not yet known, for we have all lived in a state
of mental, moral, emotional or social defense, and the psychology of
defense is the psychology of inhibition. But the love of God removes fear;
the removal of fear establishes the latent power, and association with
others in spiritual love brings these powers into vital, positive
expression. A Bahá’í community is a gathering where this process can take
place in this age, slowly at first, as the new impetus gathers force, more
rapidly as the members become conscious of the powers unfolding the flower
of unity among men....
The responsibility for and supervision of local Bahá’í affairs is vested
in a body known as the Spiritual Assembly. This body (limited to nine
members) is elected annually on April 21st, the first day of Ridván (the
Festival commemorating the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh) by the adult
declared believers of the community, the voting list being drawn up by the
outgoing Spiritual Assembly. Concerning the character and functions of
this body, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written as follows:—
It is incumbent upon every one [every believer] not to take any
step [of Bahá’í activity] without consulting the Spiritual
Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soul its
bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly
ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act
independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own
desire, and do harm to the Cause.
The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are
purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else
save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and
lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in
difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they
be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the
unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day,
assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a
vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory.
The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that
no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be
attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his
own opinion and must on no account feel hurt for not until matters
are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining
spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing
opinions. If after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously
well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion
should arise, a majority of voices must prevail....
The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the
members of the assembly. They must be wholly free from
estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for
they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars
of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the
flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute
unity be non-existent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that
assembly be brought to naught. The second condition:—They must
when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High and
ask aid from the Realm of Glory.... Discussions must all be
confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of
souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the
help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness
to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the
exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these
conditions the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto
them, and that assembly shall become the center of the Divine
blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their
aid, and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of Spirit.
Expounding this subject, Shoghi Effendi writes:—
... nothing whatever should be given to the public by any
individual among the friends, unless fully considered and approved
by the Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and if this (as is
undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains to the general
interest of the Cause in that land, then it is incumbent upon the
Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the consideration and approval
of the national body representing all the various local
assemblies. Not only with regard to publication, but all matters
without any exception whatsoever, regarding the interests of the
Cause in that locality, individually or collectively, should be
referred exclusively to the Spiritual Assembly in that locality,
which shall decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national
interest, in which case it shall be referred to the national
[Bahá’í] body. With this national body also will rest the decision
whether a given question is of local or national interest. (By
national affairs is not meant matters that are political in their
character, for the friends of God the world over are strictly
forbidden to meddle with political affairs in any way whatsoever,
but rather things that affect the spiritual activities of the body
of the friends in that land.)
Full harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the various
local assemblies and the members themselves, and particularly
between each assembly and the national body, is of the utmost
importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the
solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working
of the spiritual activities of His loved ones....
The various Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the
bedrock upon the strength of which the Universal House [of
Justice] is in future to be firmly established and raised. Not
until these function vigorously and harmoniously can the hope for
the termination of this period of transition be realized....
... bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause of God is not
dictatorial authority but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power,
but the spirit of frank and loving consultation. Nothing short of
the spirit of a true Bahá’í can hope to reconcile the principles
of mercy and justice, of freedom and submission, of the sanctity
of the right of the individual and of self-surrender, of
vigilance, discretion and prudence on the one hand, and
fellowship, candor and courage on the other.
The local Spiritual Assemblies of a country are linked together and
co-ordinating through another elected body of nine members, the National
Spiritual Assembly. This body comes into being by means of an annual
election held by elected delegates representing the local Bahá’í
communities.... The National Convention in which the delegates are gather
together is composed of an elective body based upon the principle of
proportional representation.... These National Conventions are preferably
held during the period of Ridván, the twelve days beginning April 21st
which commemorate the Declaration made by Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of
Ridván near Ba_gh_dád. The recognition of delegates is vested in the
outgoing National Spiritual Assembly.
A National Convention is an occasion for deepening one’s understanding of
Bahá’í activities and of sharing reports of national and local activities
for the period of the elapsed year.... The function of a Bahá’í delegate
is limited to the duration of the National Convention and participation in
the election of the new National Spiritual Assembly. While gathered
together, the delegates are a consultative and advisory body whose
recommendations are to be carefully considered by the members of the
elected National Spiritual Assembly....
The relation of the National Spiritual Assembly to the local Spiritual
Assemblies and to the body of the believers in the country is thus defined
in the letters of the Guardian of the Cause:
Regarding the establishment of “National Assemblies,” it is of
vital importance that in every country, where the conditions are
favorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a
considerable size ... that a “National Spiritual Assembly” be
immediately established, representative of the friends throughout
that country.
Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate by
frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the
friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close
and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and
direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country.
It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first,
as in the course of time it shall evolve into the National House
of Justice (referred to in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will as the “secondary
House of Justice”), which according to the explicit text of the
Testament will have, in conjunction with the other National
Assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world, to elect directly the
members of the International House of Justice, that Supreme
Council that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the
Movement throughout the world....
This National Spiritual Assembly, which, pending the establishment
of the Universal House of Justice, will have to be re-elected once
a year, obviously assumes grave responsibilities, for it has to
exercise full authority over all the local Assemblies in its
province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends,
guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and control and supervise the
affairs of the Movement in general.
Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country
such as the matter of translation and publication, the
Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár, the Teaching Work, and other similar
matters that stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be
under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly.
It will have to refer each of these questions, even as the local
Assemblies, to a special Committee, to be elected by the members
of the National Spiritual Assembly, from among all the friends in
that country, which will bear to it the same relation as the local
committees bear to their respective local Assemblies.
With it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point at issue
is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for the
consideration and decision of the local Assembly, or whether it
should fall under its own province and be regarded as a matter
which ought to receive its special attention....
... it is bounden duty, in the interest of the Cause we all love
and serve, of the members of the incoming National Assembly, once
elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek and have the
utmost regard, individually as well as collectively, for the
advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the
assembled delegates. Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue
reticence, of dictatorial aloofness, from their midst, they should
radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the delegates, by
whom they are elected, their plans, their hopes, and their cares.
They should familiarize the delegates with the various matters
that will have to be considered in the current year, and calmly
and conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of
the delegates. The newly elected National Assembly, during the few
days when the Convention is in session and after the dispersal of
the delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate
understanding, facilitate and maintain the exchange of views,
deepen confidence, and vindicate by every tangible evidence their
one desire to serve and advance the common weal....
The National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the
unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and
long-standing sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in
its hands the final decision on all matters that affect the
interests of the Cause ... such as the right to decide whether any
local Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles
laid down for the conduct and the advancement of the Cause....
Concerning the matter of drawing up the voting list to be used at the
annual local Bahá’í elections, the responsibility for this is placed upon
each local Spiritual Assembly, and as a guidance in the matter the
Guardian has written the following:
... to state very briefly and as adequately as present
circumstances permit the principal factors that must be taken into
consideration before deciding whether a person may be regarded as
a true believer or not. Full recognition of the station of the
Forerunner, the Author, and the True Exemplar of the Bahá’í Cause,
as set forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; unreserved acceptance
of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen;
loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our Beloved’s
sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the
form of the present day Bahá’í administration throughout the
world—these I conceive to be the fundamental and primary
considerations that must be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully
ascertained before reaching such a vital decision.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions provide for the further development of Bahá’í
organization....:
And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained
as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be
elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its
members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings
of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s faith
and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this House is meant the
Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries a secondary
House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of
Justice must elect the members of the Universal one.(47) Unto this
body all things must be referred. It enacted all ordinances and
regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By
this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the
Guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the
distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend
in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent
him.... This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government
enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive,
the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that
through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the
foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong,
that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise
itself....
... Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is
not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal
House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by
a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of
God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that
love discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the
Lord of the Covenant.
Even at the present time, the Bahá’ís in all parts of the world maintain
an intimate and cordial association by means of regular correspondence and
individual visits. This contact of members of different races,
nationalities and religious traditions is concrete proof that the burden
of prejudice and the historical factors of division can be entirely
overcome through the spirit of oneness established by Bahá’u’lláh.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
The larger implications of this order are explained by Shoghi Effendi in
successive communications addressed to the Bahá’í community since
February, 1929:—
I cannot refrain from appealing to them who stand identified with
the Faith to disregard the prevailing notions and the fleeting
fashions of the day, and to realize as never before that the
exploded theories and the tottering institutions of present-day
civilization must needs appear in sharp contrast with those
God-given institutions which are destined to arise upon their
ruin....
For Bahá’u’lláh ... has not only imbued mankind with a new and
regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain
universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy,
however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to
these He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the
Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a
set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for
the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a
pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the
establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the
unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of
righteousness and justice upon the earth....
Unlike the Dispensation of Christ, unlike the Dispensation of
Muḥammad, unlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apostles
of Bahá’u’lláh in every land, wherever they labor and toil, have
before them in clear, in unequivocal and emphatic language, all
the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, the
guidance, they require for the prosecution and consummation of
their task.... Therein lies the distinguishing feature of the
Bahá’í Revelation. Therein lies the strength of the unity of the
Faith, of the validity of a Revelation that claims not to destroy
or belittle previous Revelations, but to connect, unify, and
fulfill them....
Feeble though our Faith may now appear in the eyes of men, who
either denounce it as an offshoot of Islam, or contemptuously
ignore it as one more of those obscure sects that abound in the
West, this priceless gem of Divine Revelation, now still in its
embryonic state, shall evolve within the shell of His law, and
shall forge ahead, undivided and unimpaired, till it embraces the
whole of mankind. Only those who have already recognized the
supreme station of Bahá’u’lláh, only those whose hearts have been
touched by His love, and have become familiar with the potency of
His spirit, can adequately appreciate the value of this Divine
Economy—His inestimable gift to mankind.—March 21, 1930.
It is towards this goal—the goal of a new World Order, Divine in
origin, all-embracing in scope, equitable in principle,
challenging in its features—that a harassed humanity must
strive....
How pathetic indeed are the efforts of those leaders of human
institutions who, in utter disregard of the spirit of the age, are
striving to adjust national processes, suited to the ancient days
of self-contained nations, to an age which must either achieve the
unity of the world, as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh, or perish. At so
critical an hour in the history of civilization it behooves the
leaders of all the nations of the world, great and small, whether
in the East or in the West, whether victors or vanquished, to give
heed to the clarion call of Bahá’u’lláh and, thoroughly imbued
with a sense of world solidarity, the sine quaa non of loyalty to
His Cause, arise manfully to carry out in its entirety the one
remedial scheme He, the Divine Physician, has prescribed for an
ailing humanity. Let them discard, one for all, every preconceived
idea, every national prejudice, and give heed to the sublime
counsel of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the authorized Expounder of His
teachings. You can best serve your country, was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
rejoinder(48) to a high official in the service of the federal
government of the United States of America, who had questioned Him
as to the best manner in which he could promote the interests of
his government and people, if you strive, in your capacity as a
citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the
principles of federalism underlying the government of your own
country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and
nations of the world....
Some form of a world Super-State must needs be evolved, in whose
favor all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded every
claim to make war, certain rights to impose taxation and all
rights to maintain armaments, except for purposes of maintaining
internal order within their respective dominions. Such a state
will have to include within its orbit an International Executive
adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable authority on every
recalcitrant member of the commonwealth; a World Parliament whose
members shall be elected by the people in their respective
countries and whose election shall be confirmed by their
respective governments; and a Supreme Tribunal whose judgment will
have a binding effect even in such cases where the parties
concerned did not voluntarily agree to submit their case to its
consideration. A world community in which all economic barriers
will have been permanently demolished and the interdependence of
Capital and Labor definitely recognized; in which the clamor of
religious fanaticism and strife will have been forever stilled; in
which the flame of racial animosity will have been finally
extinguished; in which a single code of international law—the
product of the considered judgment of the world’s federated
representatives—shall have as its sanction the instant and
coercive intervention of the combined forces of the federated
units; and finally a world community in which the fury of a
capricious and militant nationalism will have been transmuted into
an abiding consciousness of world citizenship—such indeed,
appears, in its broadest outline, the Order anticipated by
Bahá’u’lláh, an Order that shall come to be regarded as the
fairest fruit of a slowly maturing age....
Let there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the
world-wide Law of Bahá’u’lláh. Far from aiming at the subversion
of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its
basis, to remold its institutions in a manner consonant with the
needs of an ever-changing world. It can conflict with no
legitimate allegiances, nor can it undermine essential loyalties.
Its purpose is neither to stifle the flame of a sane and
intelligent patriotism in men’s hearts, nor to abolish the system
of national autonomy so essential if the evils of excessive
centralization are to be avoided. It does not ignore, nor does it
attempt to suppress, the diversity of ethnical origins, of
climate, of history, of language and tradition, of thought and
habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It
calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that
has animated the human race....
The call of Bahá’u’lláh is primarily directed against all forms of
provincialism, all insularities and prejudices.... For legal
standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to
safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity
to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any
particular law or doctrine....
The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all
the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of
ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope....
Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the
Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable
not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the
nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the
states and nations as members of one human family....
It represents the consummation of human evolution....
That the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such
a new phase of human thought is, alas, becoming increasingly
apparent....
Nothing but a fiery ordeal, out of which humanity will emerge,
chastened and prepared, can succeed in implanting that sense of
responsibility which the leaders of a newborn age must arise to
shoulder....
Has not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself asserted in unequivocal language that
“another war, fiercer than the last, will assuredly break
out”?—November 28, 1931.
This Administrative Order ... will, as its component parts, its
organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor,
assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not
only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order
destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of
mankind....
Alone of all the Revelations gone before it this Faith has ...
succeeded in raising a structure which the bewildered followers of
bankrupt and broken creeds might well approach and critically
examine, and seek, ere it is too late, the invulnerable security
of its world-embracing shelter....
To what else if not the power and majesty which this
Administrative Order—the rudiments of the future all-enfolding
Bahá’í Commonwealth—is destined to manifest, can these utterances
of Bahá’u’lláh allude: “The world’s equilibrium hath been upset
through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World
Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the
agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the like of which
mortal eyes have never witnessed.” ...
The Bahá’í Commonwealth of the future of which this vast
Administrative Order is the sole framework, is, both in theory and
practice, not only unique in the entire history of political
institutions, but can find no parallel in the annals of any of the
world’s recognized religious systems. No form of democratic
government; no system of autocracy or of dictatorship, whether
monarchical or republican; no intermediary scheme of a purely
aristocratic order; nor even any of the recognized types of
theocracy, whether it be the Hebrew Commonwealth, or the various
Christian ecclesiastical organizations, or the Imamate or the
Caliphate in Islám—none of these can be identified or be said to
conform with the Administrative Order which the master-hand of its
perfect Architect has fashioned....
Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive
its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its
purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded
is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source
from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than
Bahá’u’lláh Himself.... The central, the underlying aim which
animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as
adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh. The methods it employs, the standard it
inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor
Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its
watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the
“Most Great Peace.” ... February 8, 1934.
The contrast between the accumulating evidences of steady
consolidation that accompany the rise of the Administrative Order
of the Faith of God, and the forces of disintegration which batter
at the fabric of a travailing society, is as clear as it is
arresting. Both within and outside the Bahá’í world the signs and
tokens which, in a mysterious manner, are heralding the birth of
that World Order, the establishment of which must signalize the
Golden Age of the Cause of God, are growing and multiplying day by
day....
“Soon,” Bahá’u’lláh’s own words proclaim it, “will the present day
Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.” ...
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh ... should ... be regarded as
signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire
human race. It should be viewed not merely as yet another
spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not
only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor
even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic
cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the
stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on this planet. The
emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world
citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture ...
should ... be regarded, as far as this planetary life is
concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human
society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a
result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress
and develop. ...
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies
the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations,
races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and
in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal
freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are
definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as
far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose
members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately
control the entire resources of all the component nations, and
will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life,
satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and
peoples. A world executive, backed by an international Force, will
carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by,
this world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity of
the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal will ajudicate and
deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes
that may arise between the various elements constituting this
universal system. A mechanism of world intercommunication will be
devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national
hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvelous
swiftness and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as
the nerve center of a world civilization, the focus towards which
the unifying forces of life will converge and from which its
energizing influences will radiate. A world language will either
be invented or chosen from among the existing languages and will
be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an
auxiliary to their mother tongue. A world script, a world
literature, a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights
and measures, will simplify and facilitate intercourse and
understanding among the nations and races of mankind. In such a
world society, science and religion, the two most potent forces in
human life, will be reconciled, will cöoperate, and will
harmoniously develop. The press will, under such a system, while
giving full scope to the expression of the diversified views and
convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously manipulated by
vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated
from the influence of contending governments and peoples. The
economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of
raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will
be cöordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products
will be equitably regulated.
National rivalries, hatred, and intrigues will cease, and racial
animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity,
understanding and cöoperation. The causes of religious strife will
be permanently removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be
completely abolished, and the inordinate distinction between
classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand, and
gross accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear. The
enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or
political, will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the
range of human inventions and technical development, to the
increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of
disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the raising
of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and
refinement of the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused
and unsuspected resources of the planet, to the prolongation of
human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency that can
stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the
entire human race.
A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising
unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources,
blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West,
liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the
exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface
of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of
Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of
one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation—such is the
goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of
life, is moving....
The whole of mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity, and
to terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly refuses
to embrace the light and acknowledge the sovereign authority of
the one Power that can extricate it from its entanglements, and
avert the woeful calamity that threatens to engulf it....
Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage
which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe,
of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and
fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a
harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end.
The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a
climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish,
recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and
establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this
fundamental principle of its life.—March 11, 1936.
[The above letters have been published in one volume entitled The
World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.]
Epilogue
Under the inspired guidance of Shoghi Effendi the Bahá’í Cause grew
steadily in size and in the establishment of its Administrative Order, so
that by 1951 there were eleven functioning National Spiritual Assemblies.
At that point the Guardian turned to the development of the institutions
of the Faith at its international level, appointing the International
Bahá’í Council, the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice, and,
shortly thereafter, the first contingent of the Hands of the Cause of God.
Hitherto Shoghi Effendi has raised certain eminent Bahá’ís to the rank of
Hands of the Cause posthumously, one of them being Dr. John E. Esslemont,
but it was only in 1951 that he adjudged the time ripe to begin the full
development of this important institution. In rapid succession between
1951 and 1957 he appointed thirty-two Hands and extended the range of
their activities, instituting in each continent Auxiliary Boards
consisting of believers and appointed by the Hands to be their deputies,
assistants and advisors. Twenty-seven of these Hands were living at the
time of his passing.
Through a series of letters, some addressed to Bahá’ís throughout the
world, and others to those in specific countries, the Guardian deepened
their understanding of the teachings, built up the administrative
institutions of the Faith, trained the believers in their correct and
effective use, and in 1937 launched the American Bahá’í Community on its
implementation of the Divine Plan for the diffusion of Bahá’u’lláh’s
Message. This Divine Plan had been revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a number of
Tablets written during the years of the First World War and constitutes
the charter for the propagation of the Faith.
Within the framework of this charter a number of teaching plans were
carried out, first in the Western Hemisphere, then also in Europe, Asia,
Australasia and Africa until in 1953 the Guardian called for a
“decade-long, world-embracing, spiritual crusade” to carry the Faith to
all the remaining independent states and principal dependencies of the
world.
In 1957, as the midway point of the crusade approached, the Guardian,
exhausted by thirty-six years of unremitting labor, died while on a visit
to London.
As Shoghi Effendi had no heir, the work of the Faith after November 1957
was coordinated and directed by the twenty-seven Hands of the Cause until
the victorious completion of the crusade in April 1963, at which time the
first Universal House of Justice was elected by the members of fifty-six
National Spiritual Assemblies convened at the Bahá’í World Center in Haifa
by the Hands of the Cause.
Immediately following this historic election, Bahá’ís from all parts of
the globe gathered in London at the first World Congress of the Faith to
celebrate the Centenary of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh and to rejoice
in the worldwide spread of His Faith.
The supreme institution of the Faith today is the Universal House of
Justice, created by Bahá’u’lláh in His Most Holy Book, invested with
authority to legislate on all matters not covered in the Bahá’í Writings,
and assured divine guidance in the Sacred Text itself. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in
His Will and testament, lays down the method of election of the Universal
House of Justice, define sits station and duties more clearly, and asserts
that it is under the direct guidance of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and is the
body to which all must turn.
The unique and distinguishing feature of the Bahá’í Faith is the Covenant
of Bahá’u’lláh, the bedrock upon which the Faith raises all its structures
and bases its development. Its uniqueness is that for the first time in
religious history the Manifestation of God, in clear and unambiguous
language, provides for the authorized interpretation of His Word, and
ensures the continuity of the divinely appointed authority which flows
from the Source of the Faith.
Interpretation of Scripture has always in earlier religions been a most
fertile source of schism. Bahá’u’lláh, in the Book of His Covenant, vested
in His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, full powers for the interpretation of His
Writings and for the direction of His Cause. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and
Testament, appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the
Faith and sole interpreter of the Writings. There is no priesthood within
the Faith and no individual may claim special station or guidance;
authority is vested in institutions created within the Bahá’í Scriptures.
By virtue of these unique provisions, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has been
preserved from schism, from the depredations of unauthorized leadership,
and above all from the infiltration of man-made doctrines and theories,
which in the past have shattered the unity of religions. Pure and
inviolate, the revealed Word of Bahá’u’lláh, with its authorized
interpretation, remains throughout the Dispensation the uncorrupted and
incorruptible source of spiritual life to men.
In 1968 the Universal House of Justice took action to provide for the
future carrying out of the specific functions of protection and
propagation vested in the Hands of the Cause, by the establishment of
Continental Board of Counsellors. Each Board consists of a number of
Counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice, and they work in
close collaboration with the Hands of the Cause of God. The appointment
and direction of Auxiliary Boards is now the duty of the Boards of
Counsellors, and the activities of the Hands, of whom fourteen are still
living, have been extended to be worldwide. In June 1973 the Universal
House of Justice established in the Holy Land an International Teaching
Centre and assigned it the activities of the Continental Board of
Counsellors and as liaison between them and the Universal House of
Justice.
The Guardian had written of future global teaching plans to be carried out
under the direction of the Universal House of Justice, and the first of
these, a Nine Year Plan, was launched in 1964. This was followed by a Five
Year Plan terminating at Ridván 1979. At the present time, 1979, the
Bahá’í Faith has been established in 172 independent states. There are
Bahá’ís living in over 103,000 localities throughout the world; Bahá’í
literature has been translated into over 650 languages; the sixth and
seventh Bahá’í Temples are being built in India and Samoa; land for 123
other Temples has been acquired; there are 125 National Spiritual
Assemblies and 25,500 Local Spiritual Assemblies. Bahá’ís are now
energetically pursuing a Seven Year Plan designed to further expand and
consolidate the growth of the Faith throughout the world.
Most encouraging of all has been the response of the masses in such places
as Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America, where large numbers of
the indigenous peoples have begun to enter the Cause, bringing about a new
stage in the development of the administrative and social activities of
the worldwide Bahá’í community.
FOOTNOTES
1 Written shortly after the First World War.
2 There are now the incomparable translations by Shoghi Effendi from
the Persian and Arabic, of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. These, together with his own considerable writings
covering the history of the Faith, the statements and implications
of its fundamental verities and the unfoldment of its Administrative
Order, make the modern inquirer’s task infinitely easier than in Dr.
Esslemont’s time.
3 The “a” pronounced as in _Sh_áh.
4 One of the two great factions—_Sh_í’ih and Sunní—into which Islám
fell soon after the death of Muḥammad, was the first legitimate
successor of the Prophet, and that only his descendants are the
rightful caliphs.
5 First day of Muharram, 1235 A.H.
6 On this point a historian remarks: “The belief of many people in the
East, especially the believers in the Báb (now Bahá’ís) was this:
that the Báb received no education, but that the Mullás, in order to
lower him in the eyes of the people, declared that such knowledge
and wisdom as he possessed were accounted for by the education he
had received. After deep search into the truth of this matter we
have found evidence to show that in childhood for a short time he
used to go to the house of _Sh_ay_kh_ Muḥammad (also known as Abid)
where he was taught to read and write in Persian. It was this to
which the Báb referred when he wrote in the book of Bayán: ‘O
Muḥammad, O my teacher! ...’
“The remarkable thing is this, however, that this _Sh_ay_kh_, who
was his teacher, became a devoted disciple of his own pupil, and the
uncle of the Báb who was like a father to him, whose name was Ḥájí
Siyyid ‘Alí, also became a devout believer and was martyred as a
Bábí.
“The understanding of these mysteries is given to seekers after
truth, but we know this, that such education as the Báb received was
but elementary, and that whatever signs of unusual greatness and
knowledge appeared in him were innate and from God.”
7 A Traveller’s Narrative Written to Illustrate the Episode of the Báb
with an introduction by E. G. Browne, referred to subsequently as A
Traveller’s Narrative (Episode of the Báb).
8 i.e. May 23, 1844 A.D.
9 The Imám of the _Sh_í’ihs is the divinely ordained successor of the
Prophet whom all the faithful must obey. Eleven persons successively
held the office of Imám, the first being ‘Alí, the cousin and
son-in-law of the Prophet. The majority of the _Sh_í’ihs hold that
the twelfth Imám, called by them the Imám Mihdí, disappeared as a
child into an underground passage in 329 A.H., and that in the
fullness of time he will come forth, overthrow the infidels and
inaugurate an era of blessedness.
10 Friday, 28th _Sh_a’bán, 1266 A.H.
11 Pronounced with the accent on the second and fourth syllables, the
first syllable being almost mute and both l’s distinctly sounded.
12 2nd of Muharram, 1233 A.H.
13 This was early in the year 1853, or nine years after the Báb’s
Declaration, thus fulfilling certain prophecies of the Báb
concerning “the year nine.”
14 Pronounced Rizwán.
15 Author of an early history of the Faith, The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl
was a participant in some of the scenes he describes and was
personally acquainted with many of the early believers.
16 The Aqdas, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Book of Aqdas, and The Most Holy Book
all refer to the same book.
17 In order to bury two of those who died, Bahá’u’lláh gave His own
carpet to be sold for the expenses of their burial, but instead of
using this money for that purpose the soldiers appropriate it, and
thrust the bodies into a hole in the ground.
18 Jamál-i-Mubárak (lit. Blessed Beauty) was a title frequently applied
to Bahá’u’lláh by His followers and friends.
19 When asked whether Bahá’u’lláh had made a special study of Western
writings and founded His teachings in accordance with them
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that the books of Bahá’u’lláh, written and printed
as long ago as the 1870’s, contained the ideals now so familiar to
the West, although at that time these ideas had not been printed or
thought of in the West.
20 Thursday, 5th Jamádi I, 1260 A.H.
21 The tradition is quoted in a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh; see Chapter 5 of
this book.
22 It is interesting to compare this story with that of the birth of
John the Baptist; see St. Luke’s Gospel, Chapter I.
23 In 1969, 139 independent states and 173 significant territories and
islands. (See Epilogue)
24 On the subject of Intercessory Prayer, see Chapter 11.
25 See pp. 261–263 and 272–273 for further elucidations of the
Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.
26 For further particulars see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s published addresses,
especially those given in the United States of America.
27 A battle of the Italo-Turkish War which broke out on September 29,
1911.
28 It is of interest that Zamenhof’s daughter, Lydia, became an active
Bahá’í.
29 1868 to 1870.
30 The author wrote this passage in 1919–1920.
31 The same considerations apply to the United Nations Organization.
32 See also section on Treatment of Criminals, pp. 153–155.
33 This date coincides with the birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
34 (Pronounced Azkar).
35 In connection with the Ma_sh_riqu’l-A_dh_kár it is interesting to
recall Tennyson’s lines:—
I dreamed
That stone by stone I reared a sacred fane,
A temple, neither Pagod, Mosque nor Church,
But loftier, simpler, always open-doored
To every breath from heaven, and Truth and Peace
And Love and Justice came and dwelt therein.”
Akbar’s Dream, 1892
36 This first House of Worship was seriously damaged in an earthquake
in 1948 and had to be demolished some years later.
37 This Temple was completed in 1953. Since then other Bahá’í Temples
have been constructed in Kampala, Uganda; Sydney, Australia;
Frankfurt, Germany; Panama City, Panama; and two more are being
built in India and Samoa. At the present time, 1979, sites for 123
others have been purchased. (See Epilogue)
38 The word “species” is used here to explain the distinction which has
always existed between men and animals, despite outward appearances.
It should not be read with its current specialized biological
meaning.
39 The Second World War further demonstrated the fulfillment of this
prophecy, culminating in the use of the atomic bomb.
40 This has been further evidenced by the Second World War.
41 It is of interest that the charter meeting of the United Nations
Organization was held in San Francisco.
42 Lord Curzon, in his book, Persia and the Persian Question, published
in 1892, the year of Bahá’u’lláh’s death, writes:—
“The lowest estimate places the present number of Babis in Persia at
half a million. I am disposed to think, from conversations with
persons well qualified to judge, that the total is nearer one
million. They are to be found in every walk of life, from the
ministers and nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the groom, not
the least arena of their activity being the Mussulman priesthood
itself....
“If Babism continues to grow at its present rate of progression, a
time may conceivably come when it will oust Mohammedanism from the
field in Persia. This, I think, it would be unlikely to do, did it
appear upon the ground under the flag of a hostile faith. But since
its recruits are won from the best soldiers of the garrison whom it
is attacking, there is greater reason to believe that it may
ultimately prevail.” (Vol. i, pp. 449–502).
43 The number of Bahá’ís is increasing every year and by 1979 the
number of localities throughout the world where Bahá’ís reside has
risen to over 103,000. (See Epilogue).
44 The Local and National Houses of Justice are at the present time
designated Local and National Assemblies, as previously indicated.
45 Of the Hands of the Cause appointed by Shoghi Effendi during his
thirty-six year ministry, twenty-seven were living at the time of
his passing. He also instituted, in 1954, Auxiliary Boards to be
appointed by the Hands and to be their deputies, assistants and
advisors.
46 This section on the Administrative Order is taken from the article
on The Present-Day Administration of the Bahá’í Faith by Horace
Holley, published in 1933 in The Bahá’í World, Volume V, p. 191 et
seq. Passages in this article quoting from Bahá’í writings have been
replaced by newer translations where these are available.
47 The Universal House of Justice was elected for the first time in
April 1986 by the members of fifty-six National Spiritual
Assemblies.
48 In the year 1912.
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