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Bahá’í News

November 1975

Bahá’í Year 132

Impressions of Bahá’u’lláh

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Contents

Impressions of Bahá’u’lláh	1
By Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and others
Around the world	6
Alaska, Cameroon Republic, Canada, El Salvador, French Guiana, Hawaiian Islands, India, Jamaica, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Tanzania, Turkey, United States, Zaire
Iceland: souls touching souls	16
The growth of the Faith and a gift of love

page 6

page 8

page 12

Bahá’í News is published monthly for circulation among Bahá’ís only by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í world community. Manuscripts submitted should be typewritten and double spaced throughout; any footnotes should appear at the end. The contributor should keep a carbon copy. Send materials to: Bahá’í News Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A.

Change of address should be reported directly to Office of Membership and Records, National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091, U.S.A. Please attach mailing label.

Subscription rates: one year, US $8; two years, US $15.

Second class postage paid at Wilmette, Illinois 60091.

Copyright ® 1975, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. World Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

[Page 1]

Impressions of Bahá’u’lláh

By Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, the Hand of the Cause of God Ṭarázulláh Samandarí, Nabíl-i-A’zam, and others. Compiled by Janet Schoen.

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“The voice of the Burning Bush is raised in the midmost heart of the world, and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud among the nations: ‘Lo, the Desired One is come with manifest dominion!’ ”¹

“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 or 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 thoughts are not like ours. Let Him alone.’ ”²

“If thine aim be to cherish thy life, approach not our court;

but if sacrifice be thy heart’s desire,

come and let others come with thee.

For such is the way of Faith,

if in thy heart thou seekest reunion with Bahá shouldst thou refuse to tread this path, why trouble us?

Begone!”³

“... the former Muftí of ‘Akká ... had been a bitter enemy of Bahá’u’lláh. Salah, caretaker at Bahjí, told us the story of the two attempts on the life of Bahá’u’lláh made by this Muftí while Bahá’u’lláh was still in prison. Once with a hidden dagger, but Bahá’u’lláh before admitting him to His presence said, ‘Let him first cleanse his hands.’ A second time, the Muftí planned to strangle the Blessed Beauty, and Bahá’u’lláh said before admitting him, ‘First let him cleanse his heart.’ The Muftí became an ardent believer ...”⁴

The beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, describes the exalted Station of his Great-Grandfather, Bahá’u’lláh: “The Everlasting

[Page 2]

The Shrine and Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí on the plain of ‘Akká.

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Father, the Lord of Hosts, the Most Great Name, the Ancient Beauty, the Pen of the Most High, the Hidden Name, the Preserved Treasure, the Most Great Light, the Most Great Ocean, the Supreme Heaven, the Pre-existent Root, the Day-Star of the Universe, the Judge, the Law-giver, the Redeemer of all mankind, the Organizer of the entire planet, the Unifier of the children of men, the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, the Creator of a new World Order, the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization.”⁵

“The room of the Most Great House (in Baghdad)... set apart for the reception of Bahá’u’lláh’s visitors, though dilapidated, and having long since outgrown its usefulness, vied, through having been trodden by the blessed footsteps of the Well-Beloved, with the Most Exalted Paradise. Low-roofed, it yet seemed to reach to the stars, and though it boasted but a single couch, fashioned from the branches of palms whereon He Who is the King of Names was wont to sit, it drew to itself, even as a loadstone, the hearts of the princes.”⁶

This reception room so charmed one prince that he planned to build one like it in his own house.

“ ‘He may well succeed,’ Bahá’u’lláh is reported to have smilingly remarked when apprised of this intention, ‘in reproducing outwardly the exact counterpart of this low-roofed room made of mud and straw with its diminutive garden. What of his ability to open onto it the spiritual doors leading to the hidden worlds of God?’ ‘I know not how to explain it,’ another prince ... describing the atmosphere which pervaded that reception-room had affirmed, ‘were all the sorrows of the world to be crowded into my heart they would, I feel, all vanish when in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh. It is as if I had entered Paradise itself.’ ”⁷

“So intoxicated were those who had quaffed from the cup of Bahá’u’lláh’s presence... that in their eyes, the palaces of kings appeared more ephemeral than a spider’s web ...

“Many a night ... no less than ten persons subsisted on no more than a pennyworth of dates. No one knew to whom actually belonged the shoes, the cloaks, or the robes that were to be found in their houses. Whoever went to the bazaar could claim that the shoes upon his feet were his own, and each one who entered the presence of Bahá’u’lláh could affirm that the cloak and robe he then wore belonged to him. Their own names they had forgotten; their hearts were emptied of aught else except adoration for their Beloved ... O for the joy of those days, and the gladness and wonder of those hours!”⁸

“It was late one afternoon, at sunset. I went to His presence. One of those who had emigrated to ‘Akká, a greatly celebrated believer, was there, and the Blessed Beauty was conversing with him. Then the believer finished what he had to say, and the utterances of Bahá’u’lláh were at an end. Bahá’u’lláh had, under the couch which was in His room, a small tin box of dates. The Blessed Beauty was sitting on His heels; He ate one of the dates,

[Page 3] After which He gave the pit to that individual. ‘See,’ He said, ‘how delicate it is.’ Then He reached for a handful of the dates and gave them to me. I took them in my two cupped hands. When He reached for the tin a second time, I thought He wished once again to give some to me, and this time I held out the skirt of my garment. He smiled and said, ‘This place is the Most Great Prison. If you eat too much you will come to grief.’ ”⁹

“I ... lived in a room which was devoid of furniture. Bahá’u’lláh entered it one day, and, looking about Him, remarked: ‘Its emptiness pleases Me. In My estimation, it is preferable to many a spacious palace, inasmuch as the beloved of God are occupied in it with the remembrance of the incomparable Friend, with hearts that are wholly emptied of the dross of this world.’ ”¹⁰

“... we were five people, the first group to come out (to the Mansion of Bahjí) and pay our respects on the Riḍván ...

“When we arrived, we knelt before Bahá’u’lláh and remained seated on the floor in that position. The Blessed Beauty was seated on a chair. His room was carpeted with a mat woven of marsh reeds; there was nothing else in the room. He addressed us lovingly. After His expressions of loving-kindness, which I am no longer able to recall, He began to chant the ... Tablet to the Shah ... Truthfully, at that time I did not have sufficient capacity to experience those delights which were there to enjoy; but according to ... such capacity as I had, on that day I, too, from His chanting, from His ways (today, when I am at this age of ninety-two years, I feel it all) that day I witnessed Him in two states of being: one was His overwhelming meekness; and no meekness greater than His can be conceived. The other was the condition of might; of the power and authority of the Supreme Pen. When He would address the King, with what might He intoned, ‘Ya Sultan!’ At times He would gesture with His hand, at times He would move His foot, and with all majesty and power, He would pronounce the words, ‘O King!’ When He came to: ‘The invisible King standeth revealed in a visible temple and saith, “Fear not, Relate unto His Majesty the Shah that which befell Thee ...’ ” at that moment, as He unfolded the tale of His calamities and trials, He manifested in His Person the very essence and spirit of ineffable meekness. Then He brought the reading to a close and said, with that heavenly music of His voice: ‘Taraz Effendi, stand up!’ I stood up. They had brought a quantity of roses from Junayna, red roses, the kind for attar, for rose water; early roses, fresh from the bush, perhaps thirty or forty in all, placed on a mat or cushion in His room, on a white cloth. He said, ‘Give a rose to each one present here.’ I took them up and I gave one rose to each. Then I stood waiting. He said, ‘And what about My share?’ I took one and offered it to Him. Then He said, ‘Take one yourself, as well.’ I took one myself. And He dismissed us, saying ‘Go in God’s care...’ ”¹¹

That was during Bahá’u’lláh’s last earthly Riḍván festival. Nabíl, the historian, describes His first:

“Every day ere the hour of dawn, the gardeners would pick the roses which lined the four avenues of the garden, and would pile them in the center of the floor of His blessed tent. So great would be the heap that when His companions gathered to drink their

[Page 4] morning tea in His presence, they would be unable to see each other across it. All these roses Bahá’u’lláh would, with His own hands, entrust to those whom He dismissed from His presence every morning to be delivered, on His behalf, to His Arab and Persian friends in the city ... One night, the ninth night of the waxing moon, I happened to be one of those who watched beside His blessed tent. As the hour of midnight approached, I saw Him issue from His tent, pass by the places where some of His companions were sleeping, and begin to pace up and down the moonlit, flower-bordered avenues of the garden. So loud was the singing of the nightingales on every side that only those who were near Him could hear distinctly His voice. He continued to walk until, pausing in the midst of one of these avenues, He observed: ‘Consider these nightingales. So great is their love for these roses that sleepless from dusk till dawn, they warble their melodies and commune with burning passion with the object of their adoration.

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‘Shun disharmony. Strive that no discord should arise among the friends. Let the friends avoid contention.’—Bahá’u’llah

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How then can those who claim to be afire with the rose-like beauty of the Beloved choose to sleep?’ ”¹²

“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.

“See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory.”¹³

“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 ...”¹⁴

“... the Greatest Holy Leaf ... would sometimes take his (Shoghi Effendi’s) hand in hers and say, ‘These are like the hands of my Father.’ They were what I call intellectual hands, more square than tapering, strong, nervous, the veins standing out, very expressive in their gestures, very assured in their motions.”¹⁵

“... The breezes of Revelation can never be confounded with other breezes. Now the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing standeth laden with countless fruits before thy face ...”¹⁶

“... Seven days before His ascension ... in the afternoon ... one of the servitors came down from upstairs in the Mansion, and announced: ‘The Blessed Beauty directs whoever is in the Mansion to come upstairs ...’

“The Blessed Beauty lay in His bed. Two were seated one to either side of Him, and He leaned against them; they ... were fanning Him. Then, He Himself began to speak; He addressed gracious and loving words to those about Him, spoke of His indisposition and recited some verses from the Book of Aqdas: ‘Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the daystar of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men.’

“Since He recited these verses it became clear to us that He would ascend. Following these utterances He vehemently counseled us to abstain from dissension and strife. Although His blessed body was feeble, He voiced this with great power, distinctly measuring out the words: ‘Shun disharmony. Strive that no discord should arise among the friends. Let the friends avoid contention.’ ... And suddenly Jináb-i-‘Andalíb (the poet, whose name means the nightingale) could endure no more. He broke down and Bahá’u’lláh dismissed us saying, ‘Go, in God’s care.’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was present too; as I recall He was standing. He directed us to circumambulate the bed. Those of us in our group simply walked around Bahá’u’lláh’s bed and He said to us, ‘Go, in God’s care ...’ ”¹⁷

When Bahá’u’lláh was still a child, the Vazír, His father, dreamed a dream. Bahá’u’lláh appeared to him swimming in a vast, limitless ocean. His body shone upon the waters with a radiance that illumined the sea. Around His head, which could distinctly be seen above the waters, there radiated, in all directions, His long, jet-black locks, floating in great profusion above the waves. As he dreamed, a multitude of fishes gathered round Him, each holding fast to the extremity of one hair. Fascinated by the effulgence of His face, they followed Him in whatever direction He swam. Great as was their number, and however firmly they clung to His locks, not one single hair seemed to have been detached from His head, nor did the least injury affect His person. Free and unrestrained, He moved above the waters and they all followed Him.

“The Vazír, greatly impressed by this dream, summoned a soothsayer who had achieved fame in that region, and asked him to interpret it for him. This man, as if inspired by a premonition of the future glory of Bahá’u’lláh, declared: ‘The limitless ocean that you have seen in your dream, O Vazír, is none other than the

[Page 5] world of being. Single-handed and alone, your son will achieve supreme ascendancy over it. Wherever He may please, He will proceed unhindered. No one will resist His march, no one will hinder His progress. The multitude of fishes signifies the turmoil which He will arouse amidst the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Around Him will they gather, and to Him will they cling. Assured of the unfailing protection of the Almighty, this tumult will never harm His person, nor will His loneliness upon the sea of life endanger His safety.’ ”¹⁸

“The Persian poet says:

‘This great disorder in the town

is my Beloved’s tangled hair,

and it’s my Darling’s curving brow —

this revolution everywhere ...’ ”¹⁹

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No one will resist His march, no one will hinder His progress.

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References

1. Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Shoghi Effendi, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1941) p. 48.
2. Words of Abdu’l-Bahá, J.E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, third revised edition, (Wilmette, Ill.: Pyramid Publications for Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970) pp. 37-38.
3. Poem by Bahá’u’lláh, Nabil-i-A’zam, The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation, transl. and ed. by Shoghi Effendi, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1932) pp. 137-38.
4. William Sears, “The Prison City of Akka”, The Bahá’í World, vol. XII. 1950-54, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1956) p. 880.
5. Rúḥíyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl, (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969) p. 200.
6. Words of Nabíl, Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944) p. 134.
7. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 135.
8. Words of Nabíl, Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 137.
9. Ṭarázulláh Samandarí, tape, transcribed by Dr. N. Jazab, transl. fr. Persian by Marzieh Gail, consultant: Allah K. Kalantar, (Curtis Kelsey Florida home, Dec. 27, 1967).
10. Words of Nabíl, Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 137.
11. Ṭarázulláh Samandarí, tape.
12. Words of Nabil, Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, (Oxford: George Ronald. 1975) pp. 275-276.
13. The Holy Bible, New American Catholic Edition, Isaiah 60:1-2.
14. Words of E.G. Browne, J.E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 53.
15. Rúḥíyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl, p. 7.
16. Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 115.
17. Ṭarázulláh Samandarí, tape.
18. Nabíl, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 119-120.
19. Ṭarázulláh Samandarí, tape, “In His Presence”, from a talk given at the Bahá’í World Congress in London, 1963, transl. by Marzieh Gail, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust).

[Page 6]

World Center

Excavation continues at the Seat of the House of Justice

A bulldozer removes rock and earth from the slope of Mount Carmel as the excavation work continues on schedule at the site of the permanent seat of The Universal House of Justice.

The completed excavation, averaging a depth of 33 feet, will measure 492 feet by 820 feet and is expected to be finished early in 1976. More than 1.5 million cubic feet of stone and earth must be removed at a cost of about $200,000. The Universal House of Justice has invited all believers to contribute to the building fund to ensure the uninterrupted progress of this historic undertaking.

The Universal House of Justice has called the entire project the greatest single undertaking of the Five Year Plan.

Holy Places attract 142,773 visitors

The golden-domed Shrine of the Báb and the beautiful gardens and monuments on Mount Carmel attracted a total of 142,773 non-Bahá’ís between August 1974 and September 1975, the Bahá’í Holy Places Department at the World Center reported.

Most people visit Mount Carmel during the summer. In August, 17,955 visitors were received. All guests at the Bahá’í Holy Places are given introductory literature about the Faith. The literature is available in various languages.

Hands of Cause present at Summer Schools

Bahá’í Summer Schools blossomed throughout Europe this year. All were blessed by the presence of one or more of the Hands of the Cause of God.

The Scandinavian Bahá’í Summer School at Evje, Norway, welcomed the Hand of the Cause of God ‘Alí-Akbar Furútan. That school also sponsored its first children’s program and reported that “... In the beginning, it was difficult to find teachers, but as the success of the program began to filter back ... the posts were easily filled ...” Toward the end of the session, parents, unmarried youth, and grandparents had joyously taught the children. “Some of the children were so enthusiastic about the program that they actually complained when there were no classes because of other activities,” the children’s committee wrote, “and other children reminded their parents that they had to leave the beach to attend classes.”

Bulldozer at work on Mount Carmel.

The Hands of the Cause of God Abu’l-Qásim Faizi, Paul Haney, and Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir taught at the Bahá’í Summer School of the United Kingdom at Tiverton, Devon, England. Forty children attending the school responded eagerly to three special sessions with Mr. Faizi, Mr. Haney, and Dr. Muhájir.

Mr. Haney also worked with 141 Bahá’ís from 16 countries at a summer Youth Conference in Switzerland. The conference cabled that it had “concluded week intensive deepening successful teaching unprecedented proclamation area blessed beloved Guardian’s visits ...”

Mr. Faizi also visited the French Bahá’í Summer School in Normandy, the Luxembourg School, and the twelfth Italian School, which was also illumined by the presence of the Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery. And Mr. Giachery inspired the friends at the historic first weekend Summer School of Greece, which reported attendance by about 50 “elated, happy and united” Bahá’ís.

Around the World

Alaska

Guardian’s secretary leads Summer School

Bahá’ís from Alaska and Canada gathered in Juneau, Alaska, August 2-6 for the Alaskan Bahá’í Summer School. They met in a setting approved by the beloved Guardian as the future site of the school, and their love for the Guardian was kindled through classes led by Gladys Weeden. Mrs. Weeden served as Shoghi Effendi’s secretary and was instructed by him to “always give the friends my deepest love.”

Auxiliary Board member Eunice Braun presented the history of the Faith as the unfolding life of the Cause of God. Auxiliary Board member Javidukht Khadem challenged the Bahá’ís with the concept of Bahá’í family based on the development of spiritual qualities such as courtesy, self-discipline, and obedience through daily refining of these qualities within the family. Mrs. Khadem also presented a class on the protection of the Faith. Another class covered the history of the Faith in Alaska, and a class on the Fund was based on open discussions.

Public firesides were held every evening. Alaska’s latest overseas pioneers were sent lovingly to Finland. Over 60 children attended the children’s program, making notebooks which they took home with them, and enjoying music and arts and crafts.

Cameroon Republic

Mr. Olinga delighted with 10-day tour

The Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga has concluded a 10-day tour of Bahá’í communities in the Cameroon Republic.

Accompanied by E. O. Ayamba and Fondem Joseph, Mr. Olinga paid a courtesy visit to the senior divisional officer in Mamfe, J. N. Ngoh, who paid glowing tribute to the Bahá’í Faith for the role played by Bahá’ís in its work at the United Nations. Mr. Ngoh was reported to have said that the need to mold the morals and character of youth and to correct social and economic imbalance are questions to which answers could be found only in the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. He expressed the hope that the Mamfe Bahá’ís would

Continued on Page 7, Col. 3

[Page 7] Bahá’ís gather at Summer School in Juneau, Alaska.

Continued from page 6

assist, as usual, in celebrating United Nations observances. He accepted from Mr. Olinga a copy of Pattern of Bahá’í Life.

Mr. Olinga expressed delight at the vital role played by Bahá’í women in the Bahá’í community of Bakebe, where the Local Spiritual Assembly has four women members, two of whom are officers of the Assembly.

In Eyang, Mr. Olinga had the joy of being reunited with Jacob Awoh, who, he said, as a young boy was the first to accept the Faith in West Africa and who has continued to actively serve the Cause. In addition, Mr. Olinga had the pleasure of witnessing the declaration of acceptance of the Faith by Mr. Awoh’s brother.

Canada

Proclamation, deepening activities highlight commemoration of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit

During the week of August 30-September 7, the Bahá’í community of Canada undertook a series of proclamation and deepening activities commemorating the 1912 visit to Canada of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The idea originated last year with the Hand of the Cause of God William Sears when he proposed to the National Spiritual Assembly that the anniversary of the Master’s visit be commemorated through a series of annual teaching projects. He offered to spend the month of September in Canada each year of the Five Year Plan.

The Hand of the Cause of God John Robarts agreed to assist with a program in Vancouver to run simultaneously with one in Montreal. When the Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem also accepted the National Spiritual Assembly’s invitation to take part, it was then possible to expand the plans for the program in Montreal.

Since the first stage of the landscaping and interior decor at the new National Center would be completed in August, it was decided to also hold the official public opening of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Toronto during commemoration week.

And it became apparent that the Maxwell home, Canada’s National Bahá’í Shrine, would be ready and it was decided to schedule the formal reopening to coincide with the other events of commemoration week.

But the news arrived of an unexpected deterioration in Mr. Sears’ health and it became clear that he would have to suspend all of his activities. At the personal request of Mr. Sears, however, The Universal House of Justice asked the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, then winding up her Amazon trip, to replace Mr. Sears on the Montreal program. Rúḥíyyih Khánum immediately accepted.

The week began with the formal reopening of the Maxwell home as a place for visitation and prayer. The Shrine had been closed because it lacked a fire escape. But a solution was finally worked out.

The heart of the commemoration week was Montreal where the program involved the re-creation of a number of events of the week which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had spent there 63 years ago. Three churches in the city had been especially associated with His visit: the Church of the Messiah where He had delivered the address at the morning service on September 1, St. James United Church where He had spoken later in the week, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame which He had visited.

At St. James United Church, Mr. Khádem delivered an address based on the themes of the Master’s message.

That evening, at the Windsor Hotel where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had spent three or four days of His visit, Rúḥíyyih Khánum spoke to a crowd of almost 700 persons. She spoke movingly of the early days of the Cause in Montreal and of the role which she sees the Canadian Bahá’í community increasingly playing around the world.

On Sunday morning, Amatu’l-Bahá spoke at the Church of the Messiah, discussing the themes which the Master had enunciated under that very roof in 1912. The architect for the Church of the Messiah, built over six years before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit, had been the late Hand of the Cause of God W. Sutherland Maxwell, the father of Rúḥíyyih Khánum.

Other public meetings were held in Montreal. In addition to the two Hands of the Cause, other participants in the events included Counsellor Lloyd Gardner and Auxiliary Board members Javidukht Khádem and Ted Oliver.

In Vancouver, approximately 500 believers came from the provinces of western Canada to commemorate the Master’s visit. Mr. Robarts recounted warm and humorous anecdotes connected with this “very great occasion.” Six of the early believers from the Vancouver area, Austin Collin, Mary Burroughs, Ruby France, Doris Skinner, Muriel Warnicker, and Kathy Moscrop, all shared brief vignettes of their early Bahá’í lives.

Later in the week, Mr. Robarts participated in the ceremonies formally opening the new Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and more than 200 persons attended.

Photographs on Page 8

[Page 8] Around the World

Special events during the week of August 30-September 7 in Canada marked the 1912 visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Two Hands of the Cause of God, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum (1) and Dhikru’lláh Khádem (2), spoke in Montreal. The friends gather (3) for the official public opening of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds (4) in Toronto. The believers enter (5) the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Montreal for a program commemorating the Master’s visit to that church. Another event was at the Windsor Hotel where the friends (6) saw a performance by the Ballet Shayda (7).

[Page 9] El Salvador

Institute held for Auxiliary Board assistants

An institute was held in El Salvador, October 11-12, for the newly appointed assistants to the Auxiliary Board.

From left to right are Auxiliary Board member Naomi Dreyer, Jose Francisco Oliva, Lidia Montecinos, Anna Hilda Rosales, Carlos Rodriguez, Counsellor Artemus Lamb of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Central America, and Antonio Reyes.

Subjects covered at the institute included the institutions of the Counsellors and the Auxiliary Boards, the role of the assistant Board members, the Local Spiritual Assembly, the Feast, and the Five Year Plan.

French Guiana

New Bahá’í assists in village teaching

Bahá’í teachers traveled by ferry and went inland along overgrown jungle trails to bring the Message to the Galibi Indian villages of French Guiana this summer.

The first to accept the Teachings was a youth, age 19, who, because he has attended school, serves as an interpreter for the chief of his village. The teachers gave the youth literature; he obtained the chief’s permission for the Bahá’ís to explain the Faith in the village and show the filmstrip “Unity in Diversity,” and the next day the youth became a Bahá’í.

He asked the Bahá’í teachers to go with him to Aouara, another Galibi village where he used to be a school teacher. The Bahá’ís were warmly welcomed by the chief of Aouara who opened his home for a Bahá’í meeting.

“We had a wonderful evening,” the teachers reported. “About 50 adults and 30 youth and children heard the Message of Bahá’u’lláh for the first time. They even had the privilege of hearing a prayer of the Báb in their own dialect because Eugene (the youth) had already translated it! He is not losing one moment of his time and is trying to find ways to help teach the Faith. What more could one ask after ... such a wonderful time teaching? Probably another opportunity to do it again!”

Hawaiian Islands

Bahá’í float wins Aloha Parade prize

The Bahá’í float in the 1975 Aloha Week Parade in Honolulu took first place in its category.

An estimated 80,000 persons lined the parade route. The parade, held October 18, was broadcast by local television stations to hundreds of thousands.

The Bahá’í float was made up of 35,000 real flowers—mums, carnations, pumeria, and tea leaves. It took two weeks to build, and during the building, some 150 Bahá’ís participated in some way in helping with carpentry, plastering, pasting on flowers, painting, and other jobs. All islands in Hawaii had representation in the making of the float, and all races were also represented. The Bahá’ís worked all night until the next morning, the day before the parade, to put on the final touches. The float was designed, built, manned, and driven by Bahá’ís.

The float consisted of a huge clam shell which was pulled by five dolphins. Four of the dolphins moved in a rocking motion and had youth on them as riders. In the shell were Bahá’ís of different races and nationalities. On the side of the float were the words: One Race—The Human Race. In the front and back were the words Bahá’í Faith.

This is the ninth time the Bahá’ís have had a float in the parade. In the past, they won two first places, three second places, and one third place. A large photo of the Bahá’í float was carried in the daily newspaper.

This float entered by the Bahá’ís of the Hawaiian Islands won first prize in its category in the Aloha Week Parade. The float was made up of 35,000 real flowers and was constructed in two weeks by about 150 Bahá’ís.

[Page 10] Around the World

India

Mrs. Gandhi receives Bahá’í literature

Counsellor Hooper Dunbar of the International Teaching Center presents Bahá’í literature to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 3. Also pictured, from left, are Counsellors Zena Sorabjee and Shirin Boman of the Continental Board of Counsellors for South Central Asia.

Kerala State site of youth proclamation

The National Youth Committee sponsored a proclamation program in Kerala State this summer called the East-West Project.

The project was carried out by Bahá’í youth pioneers and traveling teachers and by about 20 youth from India. The youth worked “in an extremely systematic manner towards the expansion and consolidation of the Faith in Kerala State,” the committee reported. “They have organized adequate follow-up work so that every day, after teaching in universities and colleges, classes are held for those who express interest in order to increase their knowledge of the Faith and to inspire them with love of Bahá’u’lláh.” The youth also visited villages, spending time with Bahá’í families and seekers, establishing regular firesides.

A Victory Conference was held when the project was two-thirds completed. Over 200 youth participated in the conference, consulting about proclamation, teaching, and follow-up. The regenerating spirit of the conference inspired many to arise and help complete the project, which ended in September.

Project nets publicity in Uttar Pradesh

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, sponsored a proclamation this summer which resulted in an unprecedented amount of publicity for the Faith in India. All four members of the Continental Board of Counsellors in South Central Asia participated in the proclamation; they are Counsellors Zena Sorabjee, Shirin Boman, Salisa Kermani, and Dipchand Khianra. In addition to the Counsellors, Bahá’í speakers included Gloria Faizi, Charles MacDonald, Ray Johnson, and H.M. Munje.

The proclamation began with a tea and reception at Government House hosted by Chenna Reddy, governor of Uttar Pradesh. Dr. Reddy received a copy of The Bahá’í World, Vol. XIV. He chatted informally with the friends and asked many questions about the Faith, then chaired the first meeting of the proclamation, which was held in the Government House auditorium. Dr. Reddy spoke for 40 minutes on various aspects of the Faith, expressing the hope that the Bahá’í Faith would be able to create a new society based on the oneness of religion. “I am extremely happy to know that the Bahá’ís are taking this message of love and peace throughout the world,” he said.

The meeting was covered in the prestigious Times of India, a newspaper which has rarely printed anything about the Faith. It was televised and seen on the news. Extracts of the governor’s speech were recorded and broadcast on All India Radio. The broadcast was relayed three times, in English, Hindi, and various regional languages.

Jamaica

Jamaica broadcast features Mrs. Afnán

The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation recently featured a 25-minute interview on the Bahá’í Faith with Shomais Afnán. Mrs. Afnán was on her way home after attending the Tribune for United Nations non-governmental organizations in Mexico City. The Tribune was a parallel activity with the United Nations International Women’s Year Conference in Mexico City. Mrs. Afnán was one of eight Bahá’ís who participated in the Tribune.

While in Jamaica, Mrs. Afnán also conducted a number of firesides and, in informal social settings, was able to discuss the Faith with some distinguished leaders. She spent two days at the Bahá’í Summer School of Jamaica, where she spoke on “The Pattern of Bahá’í Life” and “Teaching Methods and Public Relations Work.”

Mrs. Afnán was also interviewed on the largest television station in Mexico. She had also given talks in Yucatan, and had visited with Mayan believers.

New Zealand

New social event fun for Hastings

The Bahá’ís of Hastings, New Zealand, have a new idea for a Bahá’í social event. They called it a “Bahá’í-Family Home Entertainment Evening,” and invited Bahá’ís and friends to prepare an item, such as a song, a crafts project, jokes, or a skit to share with everyone. The children participated, and loved it.

The Christchurch Bahá’ís received inquiries from many sincere seekers as a result of consistent advertisements in the local newspapers. Attendance at their firesides has increased. Each day, the Bahá’ís of Christchurch met for a prayer session and concentrated on the Remover of Difficulties prayer. The proclamation, held over a 19-day period, was extended for

[Page 11] 19 more days because of its success.

The Thames, New Zealand, Bahá’ís proclaimed the Faith during a dedication of a new band shell in Thames. They distributed pamphlets and presented Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era to the mayor of Thames, who praised the Faith. A Bahá’í recited the prayer “Blessed is the Spot” at the dedication.

In Manukau City, the Bahá’ís had a sale among themselves of old articles and of new things which some of them made especially for the sale. All proceeds went to the National Fund.

Pakistan

Women’s Year event held in Karachi

The Bahá’í Youth Committee of Karachi recently sponsored a successful symposium on the subject of women’s rights held in observance of the United Nations International Women’s Year.

Shirin Fozdar presented the Bahá’í teachings relating to the role of women. Other participants in the panel were Faeyza Haq, editor of the women’s page of the Daily Morning News; Rafiq Saifi of the Karachi Development Authority; and Masooda Jawad, a director of the All-Pakistan Women’s Association.

The program opened with the reading of a Bahá’í prayer followed by a brief introduction to the Faith and an outline of its relationship to the United Nations, by a Bahá’í youth. Various dignitaries of Karachi attended the meeting. The audience consisted largely of professional people, including teachers, advocates, and social workers, and students.

Many persons left their names and addresses at the registration counter, requesting invitations to future public meetings under Bahá’í sponsorship.

Paraguay

Governor cooperates in teaching Faith

Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay, is the largest and fastest-growing city in Paraguay, apart from the capital. When a new “Delegado de Gobierno” was appointed a few months ago, all organizations wishing to hold meetings were required to apply for police permission. The Bahá’ís presented The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh and other literature to the new governor, who offered his full cooperation to the Bahá’ís.

These Bahá’í teachers spent several days in Paraguay recently. From left, back row, are Josephine Johnson, a pioneer; Zia Vojdani of the National Teaching Committee of Argentina; Auxiliary Board member Natalia Caballero; front row, Candido Gimenez and Herminia Caballero.

In July, Auxiliary Board member Natalia Caballero, her daughter Herminia, and Zia Vojdani, a member of the National Bahá’í Teaching Committee of Argentina, spent several days in Pedro Juan. Their activities included visits with Bahá’ís and inquirers, a fireside with slides at the home of seekers, a 30-minute radio interview, an audience with the government delegate, and a brief consultation with members of the Local Spiritual Assembly.

In September, Auxiliary Board member Edmund Miessler of Brazil spoke before a large audience in Ponta Para, the twin city of Pedro Juan, at the invitation of the director of the “Centro Educacional.” He also visited the government delegate, conducted firesides and visits and was interviewed on the radio.

Bahá’ís in Pedro Juan proclaim the Faith through newspaper ads, which quote from the Writings and offer free literature, and by slides of drawings illustrating basic Bahá’í principles. These slides are shown nightly on the movie theater screen.

Philippines

Tutorial School resumes classes

The Rogelio Onilla Tutorial School resumed classes on June 2 in Tablongan, Philippines, in the area of the Mangyan Hanunuo Tribe.

The school is named for the tribe’s first Bahá’í who, in 1968, thought of erecting a school for his village. With the help of his fellow tribe members, he built a small house of cogon grass, rattan vines, and bamboo trees. Since nearly everyone accepted the Faith, Mr. Onilla imparted fundamental concepts of the Cause together with basic reading skills, called abakada. Many Bahá’í meetings were held in the school.

Mr. Onilla became ill and died at the age of 32. No one in the tribe could take over the school, but the spark of the Faith remained warm in their hearts. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Philippines, in response to the goal set by The Universal House of Justice that tutorial schools be established among tribes during the Five Year Plan, took steps to restore the effectiveness of the school.

Now, the school has classes for both youth and adults in the mornings and afternoons. The classes cover Bahá’í teachings, abakada, basic English, and arithmetic.

Tanzania

Assistants appointed to Auxiliary Board

The appointment of assistants to members of the Auxiliary Board has greatly reinforced the effectiveness of the Board’s activities throughout the country and the assistants have commenced their services with hope, zeal and eagerness, pledging themselves to the rapid fulfillment of the goals of the Five Year Plan.

Auxiliary Board member Festus Sunguti reported that the believers of one village, at a recent conference attended by an assistant to the Board, resolved to meet each morning for prayers and begin cultivating a plot of land which will become a means of increasing their local Bahá’í Fund.

The friends in a second village visited not long ago by another assistant are in the process of baking bricks for the construction of their local Bahá’í Center. They have also organized classes for Bahá’í children. Bahá’í youth in that community are organizing a football club as a means of entertaining themselves and attracting other youth to the Faith.

In a third village, the believers are busy beautifying their Bahá’í Center by planting flowers and trees, the visiting assistant reported, and are translating Bahá’í literature into two local indigenous dialects and have resolved to undertake extension teaching and deepening with a view to creating new Local Spiritual Assemblies in five nearby communities.

[Page 12] Around the World

Turkey

Officials receive new Bahá’í book

A new Bahá’í book, Beklenen Cag, has been published in Turkey and presented to a number of high-ranking government officials and journalists. The Bahá’ís have received letters of appreciation, including one from a former prime minister of Turkey.

A Turkish organization that upholds the concept of world peace and unity recently invited one of the Bahá’ís to speak at a meeting. A few Bahá’ís attended the gathering, joining an audience of about 70 people, most of whom were young. The speaker briefly outlined the history and teachings of the Faith and showed slides of the Bahá’í Holy Places. The talk led to a lively discussion. Many seekers took literature, and the meeting continued until midnight. The Turkish Bahá’ís expect that the success of this meeting will give them opportunities to present the Bahá’í Message to other organizations whose aims are in harmony with the aims of the Faith.

United States

Law Conference hears words of Master

“Woman by nature is opposed to war; she is an advocate of peace. Children are reared and brought up by mothers who give them the first principles of education and labor assiduously in their behalf ...”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, uttered before the Women’s Freedom League in England in 1913, were quoted by Dr. Dorothy Nelson, treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly, when she presided at a session of the World Law Conference, held October 12-17 in Washington, D.C.

She was one of four Bahá’í lawyers participating in this worldwide meeting, held at three-year intervals since 1957, and was also the recipient of the Pax Orbis Ex Jure medal, awarded by the Center Associates of the World Peace Through Law Center in Washington, for outstanding accomplishment in the field of international relations.

The conference was attended by 4,600 chief justices and lawyers from 131 countries.

Many significant opportunities occurred during the conference for the proclamation of the Bahá’í Faith to persons of influence. One courtesy extended to the Bahá’ís was permission to have a booth in the exhibit hall, where literature concerning equality of men and women, human rights, and loyalty to government attracted considerable attention.

Dorothy Nelson, treasurer of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, chats with a fellow delegate at the World Law Conference in Washington, D.C. Dr. Nelson, dean of the University of Southern California Law Center, was awarded the Pax Orbis Ex Jure medal for outstanding accomplishment in the field of international relations. She also presided over one session in which she quoted words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concerning women. Several Bahá’ís were delegates to the important international conference.

Bahá’ís from the Washington-Baltimore area took turns manning the booth. One popular item with visitors was postcards of the House of Worship in Wilmette. Many mentioned Bahá’í pioneers living in their own country and showed a respectful attitude to the Faith.

An arrangement of fall flowers given by the Bahá’ís of the Washington area was the centerpiece for the head table at the luncheon where the Pax Orbis Ex Jure awards were presented, and one table near the front of the room was occupied by Bahá’í participants in the conference and their friends.

The following cable was sent to Dr. Nelson by the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America:

“The Continental Board of Counsellors for North America wishes to congratulate you on the occasion of your being a recipient of the Pax Orbis Ex Jure Award to be granted you on October 16th, 1975, from the Center Associates of the World Peace Through Law Center, Washington, D.C., in recognition of your distinguished record of notable contributions to world peace.

“We share in the pride of all the Bahá’ís on this continent who rejoice and felicitate you.

“Loving Bahá’í greetings,
(signed) Sarah Martin Pereira for the Continental Board of Counsellors for North America.”

Amid the historic sites of Washington, including receptions at the Supreme Court and at the White House, Bahá’ís attending the conference had many encounters with legal experts interested in world peace. “Voice of America” interviewed Dr. Nelson for future broadcast, and two long articles appeared in the Afro-American newspaper chain. Interview material for a public affairs broadcast on WMIL radio was taped by Dr. Nelson for use in a series on juvenile justice.

The widely representative gathering, with many lawyers in the national dress of their countries, pointed to the gradual penetration of the principle of the oneness of mankind into the consciousness of humanity today.

Speaking up in the cause of peace were many who had suffered through recent wars, including Helvi Sipila of Finland, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations and secretary-general of International Women’s Year. She told one session that she had been pregnant with her oldest

[Page 13] son when she was fighting in the underground during World War II and had vowed at that time that if she lived through the war, she would devote her efforts to securing peace.

Sir Philip Noel-Baker of London, England, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959, traced the history of his family with its participation on opposite sides of the American War of Independence. He emphasized that he did not believe peace can be won by rapidly increasing stockpiles of armaments throughout the world. He stressed the necessity for reduction of armaments and subordination of some national powers to the common good so that governments negotiate internationally and protect their citizens from a nuclear holocaust. His concluding assurance that he deeply believed “government of the people, by the people and for the people will not perish” brought his audience of several thousand to their feet in prolonged applause.

Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger struck a note of optimism about the ultimate outcome of present world tensions. After receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws from Howard University, he spoke of the increasing number of people in the world “who are committed to the rule of law” and expressed his feeling of honor on behalf of the judiciary to welcome such a diverse membership to this conference.

“We share common ideals or we would not be here,” he continued. “We share the concept that man was meant to be free and that the state was meant to be the servant of man, or we would not be here. We know that the foundation of any idea of justice and the rule of law between states requires that there first be justice and the rule of law within each state. That is, of course, the foundation.

“Sometimes people ask whether there is any purpose in a meeting of this kind, and in the trying period that we live in. This is not an unreasonable question.” Justice Burger then went on to cite important outcomes of earlier world law conferences, stressing the value of the demonstration trial held at each conference with an international tribunal set up to arbitrate a case involving a citizen suing his sovereign.

Referring to the Bicentennial, Justice Burger commented that the United States is a very young country. “In today’s terms, our people, 200 years ago, were 13 underdeveloped and underpopulated states, diverse in their attitudes, competing with each other, and it was only through the miracle of great leadership that we managed through the revolution to gain our independence. It was not until 11 years later, in 1787, that we shaped a form of government. But we can look back on that form of government now, in the light of history, as one in which 13 separate sovereign states, diverse in their interests and competing with each other, with a total of only three million people, managed to shape a legal and judicial system in which there was one law, supreme over all.”

That theme, of the possibility for harmonious association of world governments in the same way that states cooperate in a federal system of the United States, ran through the entire conference, with Bahá’í delegates utilizing a number of opportunities to speak to this question from the point of view of Bahá’í Writings.

In the session presided over by Dr. Nelson, matters relating to the rights of women were the primary concern. Participating on this panel were Dr. Lung-chu Chen of the Yale Law School, Emma Hill of Jamaica, Maria Luisa Fuster of Puerto Rico, Chief Justice A. R. Jiagge of Ghana, Rachel Mayanja of Uganda, and Aisa I. Mendoza of Mexico. Seated in the front row, as the working paper was read by Rachel Mayanja, was Sir Noel-Baker who expressed an interest in meeting Dr. Nelson and voiced his warm approval for her efforts in the field of international rights as well as world peace.

For the Bahá’í delegates at the conference, including Judge James Nelson of Los Angeles, Dr. Elsie Austin of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Kiser Barnes of Baltimore, it was an especially rare moment to hear the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quoted by Dr. Nelson in this setting:

“Woman by nature is opposed to war; she is an advocate of peace. Children are reared and brought up by mothers who give them the first principles of education and labor assiduously in their behalf. Consider, for instance, a mother who has tenderly reared a son for twenty years to the age of maturity. Surely she will not consent to having that son torn asunder and killed in the field of battle. Therefore, as woman advances toward the degree of man in power and privilege, with the right of vote and control in human government, most assuredly war will cease, for woman is naturally the most devoted and staunch advocate of international peace.”

Dr. Nelson spoke of the necessity for concerted effort in the field of education, as well as extensive programs toward

[Page 14] Around the World

eliminating extreme poverty, racism, and ill health.

“I am excited and optimistic about the peace of the world,” she continued, “because at the conference in Mexico City this year I found that men and women, whether from north or south, east or west, truly believe in the equality of men and women. It was clear at this conference that this alone will not be sufficient, however. For to achieve world peace and the oneness of humanity, we must have universal education, the abolition of poverty, and the abolition of racism.

In her summation, Dr. Nelson restated her conviction that it was important that men and women work together in achieving equal rights for men and women, concluding: “The discussion in our panel today should indicate the breadth of the movement toward equal rights and responsibilities for men and women and should cast in comparative perspective some of the problems encountered along the way.”

The oneness of mankind, the equality of men and women, the necessity for world government, the need for an auxiliary universal language ... these themes ran through the conference, providing many moments for the Bahá’ís present to speak of solutions found in Bahá’í Writings to these critical issues facing mankind.

The international teaching work

Since Riḍván 1974, 261 pioneers have left the United States for international posts, 173 of whom are filling specific numerical goals of the Five Year Plan.

The International Goals Committee reported that of the remainder, 33 are overfilling goals, 34 went to non-goal areas, and 21 pioneers returned.

Since Riḍván 1975, almost 400 Bahá’ís have volunteered for pioneer service. However, various problems have not made it possible for all of them to depart. A total of 137 pioneers are required at specific locations by October 1976 to achieve the Five Year Plan goal of 310.

Since Riḍván 1975, a total of 186 international traveling teaching trips have been undertaken from the United States, 28 of these by youth. And the International Goals Committee reported that more Bahá’ís are being recruited for future trips to meet the traveling teaching commitments around the world. Almost 200 persons have volunteered for such service in the last six months.

Plans are under way for further work on the international scene. A total of 16 Bahá’ís have already volunteered for the traveling teaching project in India in December. Teaching teams from the United States will again assist the sister communities in Central America during Riḍván 1976, and teaching projects in South America are being planned for next summer.

Inquiries double in just one year

The number of inquiries received by the National Information Committee from persons interested in the Bahá’í Faith has doubled in the last year.

Figures compiled by the National Information Committee show that 1,697 persons seeking information about the Faith have written to the National Center since January.

One-third of the inquiries are from persons who have visited the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, again demonstrating the power of the Temple as a silent teacher.

Record 1,200 attend Green Lake Institute

The 15th annual Green Lake Institute drew a record 1,200 persons to Green Lake, Wisconsin, on October 3-5.

The speakers included Auxiliary Board member Peter Khan; Daniel Jordan, vice-chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly; Janet Khan; Nancy Jordan; and representatives from the National Teaching Committee, the National Information Committee, and the National Treasurer’s Office.

Dr. Khan said: “What we are aiming to achieve is priceless—it is setting the course of world events for the next thousand years, it is creating a structure in which millions of human beings will find happiness and security.”

Dr. Jordan said that reconstructing human life on this planet “entails each individual struggling from the very depths of his being to transform himself spiritually, and then to work with others who are committed to the same thing to create a new civilization.”

A special message from the National Spiritual Assembly emphasized the urgency for teaching as the Five Year Plan rapidly approaches its midway point.

[Page 15] A message from The Universal House of Justice assured the believers that prayers were said for the success of the Institute.

Many people who attended said they left the Institute with fresh inspiration to speed the teaching work.

Women is subject of Texas conference

“Women: Striking the Balance” was the theme of a proclamation conference in Irving, Texas, October 17-19. About 150 people attended the conference, which was sponsored by 12 Bahá’í communities: Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Grand Prairie, Richardson, Plano, University Park, Denton, Arlington, Euless, Garland, and Mesquite.

The conference opened Friday evening with a talk by Winnie Davis of Plano, Texas, author of Fantastic Womanhood. “Our heroic foremothers are as important as our heroic forefathers ...” Ms. Davis said. Helen Callaway, a Bahá’í from Edmond, Oklahoma, spoke on the history of women in the Bahá’í Faith, stressing the heroic examples of Ṭáhirih, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and Lua Getsinger. Chris Miller of the Texas State Legislature spoke on the legal status of women and Sharon Klempke, a Bahá’í from Oklahoma, discussed job opportunities for women.

Six short workshops received enthusiastic participation. The highlight of the conference was a talk by Lisa Janti, a Bahá’í who is an administrative assistant to the mayor of Los Angeles, California. Following a slide presentation of the United Nations Women’s Conference in Mexico City, which was presented by the Women for Change Center of Dallas, Ms. Janti spoke on “Women: Striking the Balance,” stressing that the emancipation of women is part of a vast upheaval that is emancipating mankind from all its debilitating traditions and reshaping the earth into a worldwide civilization where peace and justice reign supreme.

Zaire

Walking trio visits 40 communities

Earlier this year Auxiliary Board member Ngindu-Ntambwe, accompanied by Biselele-Kapinga and Tshibasu-Kabundi, undertook a two-month teaching trip in western Kasai during which they organized seven institutes in collaboration with Bahá’ís in the villages they visited. An estimated 450 believers participated in the series of meetings.

During their trip, the trio walked more than 350 kilometers and visited approximately 40 communities. Often they walked during the night to avoid sun and heat.

In the village of Bena Mukamba, the sub-chief of the locality, the directors of a leading local organization, and representatives of various Christian and Islamic groups attended the initial meeting and expressed appreciation for the Bahá’í teachings on the unity of mankind and the abolition of prejudice.

Speakers at the Green Lake Institute included Auxiliary Board member Peter Khan (1), Daniel Jordan (2), Janet Khan (3), and Nancy Jordan (4). Dawn prayers (5) were held regularly and many of the sessions were videotaped (6).

The steering committee for the Texas conference on women is pictured below. At right top, Lisa Janti delivers the featured talk and June Washington Smith performs an original theme song, right bottom.

[Page 16]

ICELAND: Souls touching souls the gift of love

Iceland is, in the words of the late Hand of the Cause of God Martha Root, a “land of jagged snowcapped mountain peaks, great glaciers, and ice fields, magnificent waterfalls, boiling hot springs, geysers and desolate lava fields ... a climate of extraordinary clearness and purity; ... a calm, too, a repose in the very atmosphere, and the almost celestial colors of sky and clouds, mountains and sea...”

The first country in the world to ‎delcare declare‎ neutrality, to absolutely refuse to participate in any war, Iceland is mentioned by the Master in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, written during the devastation of World War I. “Show ye an effort,” He says, “and after this war, spread ye the synopsis of these teachings in ... Iceland, Faroe Islands...”

Iceland now has a National Spiritual Assembly, a victory of the Nine Year Plan, and that Assembly is responsible, during the Five Year Plan, for the growth of the Faith in the Faroe Islands.

Nobles and chieftains from Norway settled Iceland during the ninth century, and the Icelandic language is the original of all the Norse tongues, so pure that Icelanders can read, with no alterations, sagas of the twelfth century. Theirs is a tongue of almost magical grace, and theirs is the first country in the world to achieve total literacy.

The history of the Bahá’í Faith in Iceland also possesses great magic. It is a story of souls touching souls with infinite delicacy and gentleness.

The first Bahá’í to visit Iceland was the late Hand of the Cause of God Amelia Collins. During a cruise with her husband in 1924, she stopped in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, for a few hours. There she went to the museum of Iceland’s world-famous sculptor, Einar Jonsson, who later told Martha Root, “Everything is from the Higher Plane. It is! The artist only makes it manifest; I am only a servant. The sculptor takes away the rough envelope which enwraps the spark of God.” In that museum, Mrs. Collins befriended an Icelandic woman and discussed the Faith with her. Subsequently, she corresponded with her, sending her “The Bahá’í Magazine.”

Eleven years later, Mrs. Root, called by the beloved Shoghi Effendi the “archetype of Bahá’í itinerant teachers,” spent one month in Iceland, from July 12 to August 8, 1935. Amelia Collins’ friend opened many doors for Martha Root, who joyously announced, after her visit, “... now ... Icelandic people have heard Bahá’u’lláh’s great Message for the first time in their newspapers, over their radios, from their public libraries and through lectures in ... one short month ...”

She was well-received by the Icelanders, who are noted for their hospitality. One distinguished man wrote in a Reykjavik newspaper, “our guest will give her last lecture here tonight ... if people would go in great numbers, it would make her memory of Iceland more intimate, and that is the kind of hospitality we should like to give to everyone who visits Iceland.

Another man, after learning of the Faith from her, asked her, “Do you believe in dreams?” She replied that “Bahá’u’lláh said there may be many mysteries and wisdoms in dreams; there are occasions where it may happen that one witnesses outwardly in the world of time exactly the thing he had seen in his dream.” “Well,” said her host, “last night I dreamed that a bird came into this room, and resting on the sofa sang such a beautiful melody. I was so happy. This morning I said to myself, ‘Who will come?’ Then I met you in the street, you come ... to our house, and you have taken the seat on the sofa where the bird sang the melody.” In her great humility, Martha Root concludes her telling of this incident by saying, “He was one of the great souls of Iceland.”

She gave copies of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, in English, to the editors of all the newspapers, as most Icelanders speak English and Scandinavian.

A Reykjavik newspaper printed, on July 14, 1935, the first article on the Bahá’í Faith ever published in the Icelandic language. Martha Root reported, “The editor had said two days before, ‘I’ll read this book and these pamphlets and then I’ll write.’ ”

One newspaper printed an article on the Faith that was so excellent that she had a thousand reprints made of it and gave them to people, “as there was yet,” she said, “no Bahá’í booklets in Icelandic.” Two years later, in 1937, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era was translated into Icelandic.

She gave books to all the libraries, happily noting that “the number of books drawn out of the public libraries is extraordinary ... packages containing 40 books each are lent regularly to the fishing trawlers when the men go out to sea to remain months at a time.”

She lectured at the Theosophist Society several times and spoke in Esperanto before the Esperantists of Reykjavik, who presented her with a book that mentioned an Esperanto magazine devoted to the Bahá’í Faith. This was the first time the words “Bahá’í Faith” were printed in Icelandic. She had corresponded with the author of that book, sending him Bahá’í books in Esperanto.

The broadcasting station of Iceland, on July 15, and again on July 23, 1935, aired interviews with Martha Root during the early evening news hour when “at least 50,000 people all over Iceland,” she reported, “listen in. If the farmers are working late in the fields in this summer weather ... they always send someone from the family into the house to listen to the news and come back to report it to the others.”

No wonder that Iceland is one of the countries “specifically called upon” by The Universal House of Justice during the Five Year Plan “to expand the use of radio and/or television” in proclaiming the Faith.

[Page 17] In the summer of 1964, a traveling teacher of Icelandic background was sent by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada to visit the Icelandic Bahá’ís and try to open new centers to the Faith. At that time, the entire community consisted of a group in Reykjavik, numbering eight.

During the visit, the teacher found that one of the group, Jochum Eggertson, was in the habit of spending five months, from May to September, in a remote western area where he owned some property.

To fulfill her promise to the Canadian National Assembly that she would meet all of the Bahá’ís during her stay, the visiting Bahá’í went by bus to Bjarklunder to visit Mr. Eggertson, together with Asgeir Einarson, from the Reykjavik community. Here is her account of that visit.

[Page 18] It was a cold, windy Sunday morning when our bus left Reykjavik. We traveled northwest, through rocky farmland and high mountainous areas, with the bus sometimes having to stop while the driver measured the width of the bridge before gently easing the wide vehicle across it. After approximately five hours, the driver called us to the front of the bus and said we had reached our destination. When I looked out, there was no sign of a village and no buildings, but we got off, and the bus drove on.

It was raining and very cold. Across the road from us, we saw a big, powerfully built man, who stared intently at us. He went up to Asgeir, embraced him, and said, “ ‘Alláh-u-Abhá,” then turned to me and said: “I have been expecting you for a long time.” I was very surprised, for I had never met Jochum Eggertson before. He led us in silence a few yards down the road to a tiny wooden building, with one window facing the highway.

Inside, there was a bunk bed built into one wall, a tree stump in a corner for a chair, a small table with a heater on it, and a few tins of food on the shelf over the table. Jochum motioned to Asgeir to sit on the log, I sat on the bed, and Jochum then said very formally that today, since he was having his first visitors in his western home, he would begin by serving molle cafe. This is the traditional Icelandic gesture of friendship to guests; strong black coffee served with lump sugar, which you place on the tip of your tongue, drinking the coffee through it.

We waited in silence while Jochum prepared everything, noting his consternation when he was unable to find one item. “I have waited so long for Bahá’ís to come and ask what I am doing here,” he said, “and now, today, I have no molle (sugar).” He stood shaking his head, looking very serious. I began hunting in my handbag, which was crammed with many things. In 1963, during a visit with Ali Kuli Khan in Washington, D.C., he had shown me a number of his gifts from Abdu’l-Bahá and had shared several of them with me, including a few pieces of rock sugar blessed by the Master. I found one of these pieces wrapped in a bit of paper and held it out to Jochum, saying, “Today, the molle is from the Master.” The three of us wept as we broke that piece of candy into three pieces and had our molle cafe together.

Then Jochum asked whether we would like to hear him chant the Tablet of Ahmad in Icelandic. He explained that in the evenings he polished semi-precious stones from his land, hoping they would one day be ring stones, and translated Writings of Bahá’u’lláh into Icelandic. He shouted the words of that prayer in the small room, in such a cadence that it was unforgettable.

After we sat in silence for some time, Jochum began speaking about his life. He said he came from a long line of writers; his father’s brother was Matthias Jochumson, one of the foremost Icelandic literary figures of his time. It was Matthias Jochumson who traveled from Akureyri, Iceland, to Chicago in 1893 to attend the Parliament of World Religions at which the Bahá’í Faith was mentioned for the first time in the western world.

Jochum had won a number of short story prizes and showed us a volume published in England in 1954 which contained one of his short stories. He said he had always lived to himself but was deeply interested in people and in the world. When he was a young man, he had a dream, in which he saw a twin-peaked mountain, with a hand appearing over it, writing, “The Glory of God is come.” In his middle age, he had the same dream once more, and again, some years later, while visiting in Reykjavik, he had the same dream. The next day, he was walking down the street and met a young man he knew. In their conversation, he mentioned the dream and described it in detail. The young man listened carefully, then explained that he believed the Glory of God had indeed come. This was Asgeir Einarson, who taught Jochum and witnessed his entrance into the Bahá’í Faith. From then on, there was no doubt in Jochum’s heart that he was a

[Page 19] Bahá’í, although he began a pattern of long absences from Reykjavik which he never explained to the Bahá’ís residing there.

Now, he told us how his heart had felt a surge of joy when he entered the Bahá’í Faith, and his dream became more significant to him. He believed a twin-peaked mountain did exist in Iceland and might one day be secured for the Faith of the Glory of God. With this in mind, he began a series of long walking trips through the interior of the country, looking for the mountain. After a number of years, he was up in the west country when he realized that the mountains facing a fjord looked like those in his dream. There was an unusual twin-peak formation and his search ended when he saw it.

What ensued was a long period of negotiation to obtain the property. It was owned by Cecelia Helgadottir, an old woman who had been the faithful servant of the couple who owned this land. Upon their death, since they had no children, they had left the land to her. Jochum arranged that she retain lifetime rights to live in her small home on the property, when she agreed to sell it to him, complete with mineral rights. He then looked at the land and felt it was not ready for its ultimate purpose.

“I wanted to beautify the land, by having it treed as it must have been in the earliest days of this country.” During one of the occupations of Iceland by another country, the land had been deforested, and the topsoil blew away, making it extremely difficult now to grow trees. With the help of the government, which is encouraging reforestation of the country, Jochum was able to buy trees every spring and take them to Skogar, his new home, where he carefully planted them. When he visited him, trees nine years old were only slightly taller than he, so slowly do they grow in this windy area.

“Through every moment of this, I have felt God assisting me,” he said. “There is a huge rock on this property, with a cross carved into it, pointing east. It is my belief that when monks first settled the west coast of Iceland (from 870 on) this may have been one of their earliest settlements. The land feels to me as if many prayers have been said here and this rock confirms the belief of earlier inhabitants. When I say my Long Obligatory Prayer each day, I go early in the morning to this rock, face east, and chant it.”

When it was time for us to tour the property, Jochum gave me an extra sweater and scarf, saying this would be a long walk, but he was sure I would never forget it. We followed a tiny stream, now surrounded on each side by fledgling pine trees. Each tree seemed like a friend of Jochum, as he described in detail the planting and the difficulties that he endured trying to get the trees to grow. Then he led us to the small house where Cecelia Helgadottir lived, saying it was important to meet her.

Cecelia was short, bright-eyed, and vibrant. She was wearing overalls and many sweaters, her white hair in the traditional Icelandic braid. After looking a long time into each of our faces, she stepped back from the door, saying in Icelandic that she was going to look in her trunk for special cups and saucers for our tea. Again, it was a long, formal occasion, with the china located, water boiled, and tea served in a way deeply communicating her preferred friendship. Jochum explained that we had come to witness his work and the two looked at each other with deep understanding.

Cecelia’s spirituality was so evident that I couldn’t help asking if she would tell me about her family, and her life in Iceland. She replied, “Gladly. God has always taken care of me.” The story she recounted was full of suffering and difficulties, but not in her eyes. She had worked for a number of farm families, always caring for her mother. When her mother was so aged and ill that she needed almost constant care, the particular family Cecelia worked for could not keep her. She recalled that she carried her mother in her arms from that farm, looking for a new home. She found another family who fully accepted

[Page 20] her and whom she served to her utmost. Upon their death, she found she had inherited their property. Since she was very old when Jochum came, asking to buy it, she prayed what was the right thing to do, and it came to her that Jochum would put it to the use of the Lord. So she sold it.

At this point, Jochum motioned to me to bundle up again in my sweater and raincoat, for we would take another walk. Cecelia put on a denim jacket, as she, Asgeir, Jochum, and I set out. I was unaware of what direction we were going, or even what the landscape looked like, because in a few minutes the wind had penetrated my clothing and I was aware only of the cold. Jochum moved to my side, holding up a mitted hand and motioning that I should put my hand inside his mitt. Cecelia did the same thing on my other side. We walked in step for a long distance, with the cold increasing until each of them put their hands in their jacket pockets, with my hands thus sheltered by the warmth of their own hands, their mittens, and their jackets. We walked in complete silence, in deep communion. When it felt impossible to take one more step, I looked at Jochum, and he nodded his head as we halted.

“Now it is done! I dreamed that Bahá’ís would come to see my property and walk the full width of it. Here is the marker! Now we can stop a passing car and you can ride back to the hostel.” As if called, a jeep appeared and gave me a lift, as Jochum and Asgeir walked back with Cecelia to her home.

That evening, Jochum came, with a small bundle of belongings, saying that he had decided to return to Reykjavik with Asgeir and me, to extend our visit a little longer. His English was beautiful, with an extensive vocabulary. He did not talk a great deal, but when he did, it was a choice of words so delicate and balanced. He spoke of his pleasure at the beauty of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and was insatiable in his eagerness to learn details of The Universal House of Justice and their messages to the Bahá’í world. He kept nodding his head as Asgeir spoke of the Jubilee in London, and the warm response of the friends to hearing an Icelandic prayer said at one of the sessions. When we arrived in Reykjavik, he told us he had made up his mind it was now time to make his will and testament. Since there was not yet a National Spiritual Assembly in Iceland, he felt it would be proper to leave his land in trust to The Universal House of Justice, to be used as the national endowment when the National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland was formed, and asked us to be present when he wrote this will.

The next day he came to the home of Asgeir, sat at the dining room table, and laboriously wrote out on long legal pages the terms of his will, which had to be witnessed by Icelandic citizens, but which later was executed as Jochum had wished. When this was completed, Jochum said he would like to say more of the Bahá’í prayers he had translated into Icelandic, and our afternoon ended with molle cafe in Asgeir’s home. Asgeir’s wife, Hulda Bjarnadottir, who later became a Bahá’í, was a kind and loving hostess during the visit.

It was not long until Jochum’s death. The will took a long time to be probated, but ultimately its terms were upheld, and the land where Jochum dreamed that someday a Bahá’í summer school might be held has already been blessed with that occurrence.

Truly, the words of Abdu’l-Bahá come to mind when contemplating the life of Jochum Eggertson:

“... Bestow upon us life everlasting and confer upon us never-ending honor. Unify mankind and illumine the world of humanity. May we all follow Thy pathway, long for Thy good pleasure and seek the mysteries of Thy Kingdom. O God! Unite us and connect our hearts with Thy indissoluble bond. Verily, Thou art the Giver, Thou art the Kind One, and Thou art the Almighty.”

[Page 21]

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