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| Bahá’í News | March 1976 | Bahá’í Year 132-133 |
Bahá’u’lláh and His Most Holy Shrine
Contents
Bahá’u’lláh and His Most Holy Shrine | 1 |
By the Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem |
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Around the world | 17 |
Australia, Burma, Canada, Canary Islands, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, France, Gilbert Islands, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Kenya, Laos, Leeward and Virgin Islands, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Windward Islands |
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page 19
page 27
page 30
| On the cover: A nineteen-pointed star encircles the Greatest Name above the entrance to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. |
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Bahá’u’lláh and His Most Holy Shrine[edit]
By the Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem
The Hand of the Cause of God Dhikru’lláh Khádem has written a trilogy of illuminating articles for Bahá’í News in two years. In each, he has related aspects of Bahá’í history to the contemporary problems and experience of newer generations. The first article, which appeared in September 1974, was a speculative piece that explored the significance of the Bahá’í conference at St. Louis, the largest in history, through a comparison with the first Bahá’í conference in history, that of Badasht where the independent character of the new Revelation was boldly asserted. In a second article, published in August 1975, Mr. Khádem recalled the process of the development of the Faith at the World Center and told of the circumstances attending the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablet of Carmel and of its portent. This latest article, an analysis of the religious literature which anticipated the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, is coupled with an explanation of how the Master and the Guardian expressed their love for the Manifestation in their worship at the Holy Shrines and in their life at the World Center. His moving descriptions will surely provide valuable insight for those who grasp for a deeper application of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission.
O ye dwellers in the highest paradise!
Proclaim unto the children of assurance that within the realms of holiness, nigh unto the celestial paradise, a new garden hath appeared, round which circle the denizens of the realm on high and the immortal dwellers of the exalted paradise. Strive, then, that ye may attain that station, that ye may unravel the mysteries of love from its wind-flowers and learn the secret of divine and consummate wisdom from its eternal fruits. Solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein.1
But for Him* (Bahá’u’lláh), no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the robe of prophethood, nor would any of the sacred scriptures have been revealed. To this bear witness all created things.3
“When the friends speak of the Blessed Beauty,” said the beloved of all hearts, Shoghi Effendi, to the pilgrims, “it is not enough for them to merely say that Bahá’u’lláh is the Great Educator of mankind; let them rather say that He is ‘the Most Great Revelation,’ the Promised One of all Holy Books and Scriptures, the Dawning-place of Revelation, and the Source of Inspiration. There is a difference between revelation and inspiration. He is also the ‘Heavenly Father’.”4
Ever since that moment I heard the beloved Guardian emphasize this, when I approach a seeker I quote the following from Isaiah, the greatest prophet of Israel:
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, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.5
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh proclaims His Station and the great Significance of His Day, to the kings:
O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting....
This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God (Moses) hath attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true God! Sinai is circling round the Day Spring of Revelation, while from the heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ)
* In all the Bahá’í Writings it is emphasized: “Let no one meditating ... on the nature of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, mistake its character or misconstrue the intent of its Author. The divinity attributed to so great a Being and the complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God in so exalted a Person should, under no circumstances, be misconceived or misinterpreted. The human temple that has been made the vehicle of so overpowering a Revelation must, if we be faithful to the tenets of the Faith, ever remain entirely distinguished from that ‘innermost Spirit of Spirits’ and ‘eternal Essence of Essences’—that invisible yet rational God ...”2
Christ is heard proclaiming: “Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That which had been announced in the holy Writ of God, the most Exalted, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved, is made manifest.”6
Bahá’u’lláh proclaims: “All the Divine Books and Scriptures have predicted and announced unto men the advent of the Most Great Revelation.”7
The Divine Messengers of the past had a mission to prepare the people for this Day and give them glad tidings of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh.
Of old did we send Moses with our signs: and said to him, “Bring forth thy people from the darkness into the light, and remind them of the days of God.”8
Then gave We the Book to Moses—complete for Him who should do right, and a decision for all matters, and a guidance, and a mercy, that they might believe in the Presence of their Lord.9
All the Prophets from the seed of Abraham received their mantles in the Holy Land and its vicinity, the Court and Sanctuary of Bahá’u’lláh. Zoroaster also visited the Holy Land and “held converse with some of the Prophets of Israel.”10
The Greatest Name of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
The Holy Books start with B (the first letter of the name of Bahá’u’lláh), as with the first letter of the first word of Genesis, “Brishit” (Hebrew: beginning or in the beginning), which starts with the letter B.11
This large wooden plaque inscribed by Bahá’u’lláh’s beloved father hangs over the mansion he built in Tákur. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said the poem on the plaque is proof that Bahá’u’lláh’s father recognized the Station of His Son as the Manifestation of God.
The same is true of the beginning of the Glorious Qur’án and of each of the 114 Súrihs (chapters) which all begin with B: BiSMI’LLÁH.* The ninth Súrih also begins with a B, but with a different word, Bára’t.
The Muslims repeat the first chapter beginning with BiSMI’LLÁH, five times a day in their obligatory prayers. They are also urged to repeat the word, BiSMI’LLÁH, as many times as they can in their daily lives as a blessing, evidently a reminder of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His commentary13 of BiSMI’LLÁH, quotes from Imám Ja’far-i-Ṣádiq (the sixth Imám) that “El-Bá Bahá’u’lláh” (B means Bahá’u’lláh). Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí, in one of his works (Sharḥ-i-Qasídih), quotes from the same Imám on several occasions, “El-Bá, Bahá’u’lláh, val-Sín, Saná’u’lláh” (B means Bahá’u’lláh and S Saná’u’lláh). In Arabic, the i between B and S is not written, thus B is the first letter and S the second letter and Saná’u’lláh again means Bahá’u’lláh. The inscription, “El-Bá, Bahá’u’lláh” (the beginning of this analysis in Arabic), adorns the margins of some of the Latin editions of the Qur’án published in Turkey.
The Imám ‘Alí explains that the Qur’án is the essence of all Holy Books and the essence of the Qur’án is contained in its first chapter. Further, the essence of the first chapter is in the first verse and the essence of the first verse is in the first letter, B, to which is added in the commentary of the Khuṭbiy-i-Ṭutunjíyyih, “El-Bá, Bahá’u’lláh val-Sín, Saná’u’lláh....”14
Hundreds of verses and traditions had been revealed by the Prophets in praise of the name of Bahá’u’lláh. Some of them, together with some of His titles, appear in the majestic work of the beloved Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, Chapter XI, and others.
Ezekiel said, “the glory of the God of Israel (Bahá’u’lláh) came from the way of the East.”15
*BISMI’LLÁH is the first word of the first verse of every Surih of the Qur’án except the ninth. The verse is composed of 19 letters, in honor of each letter six chapters were revealed, totaling 114 chapters.12 The translation of the first verse is: “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.”
A group of pilgrims stands beneath the windows of the hall of the Mansion of Tákur, a home built by the father of Bahá’u’lláh. The water is from a natural spring which flows from beneath the hall into a pool in the gardens.
Isaiah said, “Arise, shine; for the light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”16 Not only does “the glory of the Lord” refer to the name of Bahá’u’lláh, but since Bahá also means shining,* “Arise, shine” may be considered an exhortation to be a Bahá’í!18
The followers of Krishna also have many references to the name of Bahá’u’lláh. In the prayer, “the Mother of the Vedas,” the Hindus stand with great reverence and beseech guidance from the “GLORY OF GOD” (Bahá’u’lláh). Also in Gita, XI:30, it is said, “Thine Blazing BHAH, O Vishnu (the Omnipotent God), doth glow intensely.”19
AMITABHA (Infinite Glory), the name of the promised Buddha, is inscribed in the 42-foot statue sitting in eternal meditation at Kamakura, Japan, accompanied by the words, “Long ear lobes denote aristocratic birth. Mark on forehead is symbol of spiritual insight.”
One of the most explicit references appears in the 11th chapter of Shams’ul-Ma’ání written by Shaykh-i-Búní*: “Ere long God will shine from the face of Bahíyu’l-Abhá (the Glory, the Most Glorious) with the name of Bahá on the Day of Absolute (the Promised Day), in the plain of ‘Akká.”20
The well-known scholar, the illustrious and learned man, Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Ámilí, was the first in the Muslim Faith to
* “Bahá’u’lláh, ... signifying at once the glory, the light and the splendor of God.”17
** He passed on in the year 622 A.H. (774 years ago).
The Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí as it appeared during the time of the first pilgrimages of the Western believers in the early 1900s.
Discover the name of Bahá’u’lláh. He was inspired by the guidance of the fifth and sixth Imáms’* who swore that the Greatest Name of God could be found in either of two specific prayers.** In one of these,*** recited at dawn during the month of Fasting, the name, ‘BAHÁ’ is repeated four times in the first verse, a verse that Bahá’u’lláh commanded the “Son of the Wolf” recite with absolute sincerity while facing the Kaaba of God: “O my God! I beseech Thee by Thy most glorious light, and all Thy lights are verily glorious,”21
How significant that during the 30 days of Ramaḍán, this prayer echoes melodiously from the minarets at dawn, awakening the populace with the name of Bahá’u’lláh.
In order to attest to his faith in Bahá’u’lláh, he (Shaykh Ámilí) assumed the title “Bahá’í” over three centuries ago,**** and is now known as Shaykh-i-Bahá’í. He composed a most moving and eloquent poem in praise of his Beloved, some verses of which are as follows:
- How long will this torrent of tears flood from each lash in my longing to meet Thee,
- O, the Unique One, my Beloved?
- Will the night of Thy separation ever end
- O, Thou, Whose agony and tribulations have, as an arrow, pierced the hearts of Thy lovers?
- Multitudes are occupied in Thy praise whilst Thou art hidden from them.
- To the abode of the pious and the religious, I went;
- Before Thy Countenance, I found all bowing and prostrating....
- Of a time I was a hermit of the hermitage,
- Another, a refugee in the monastery
- And again, a resident in the mosque.
- Verily, O Beloved, house to house ’tis Thee I have sought.
- Upon whichever door I knock, I find the Master of the house is Thee, Thee alone.
- In Pagan temple, in monastery, Thou art the Beloved, Thee, Thee alone.
- My goal in the Kaaba and the temple is Thee, Thee alone.
- Thou art my purpose; Kaaba and temple are but excuses....
- Helpless Bahá’í, whose heart is rent by Thy sorrows,
- However sinful he may be, is one among the multitudes of Thy servants,
* Imám Muḥammad-i-Báqir and Imám Ja’far-i-Sádiq.
** Du’áy-i-Saḥar and Du’áy-i-Umm-i-Davúd (See commentary of Ash’ár-i-Ná’ím by Ishráq-Khávarí pp. 469-70.
*** Du’áy-i-Saḥar. The first verse, transliterated, reads: “Alláhumma inní as ‘aluka min Bahá’ ika bi Abháh va kullu Bahá’ ika Bahí.” The illustrious Bahá’í poet, Na’ím has pointed out that the Dawn-prayer begins with the name of Bahá (Splendor) and ends with the name of ‘Alá (Loftiness), the latter the exalted name of the Báb, the two names of the 1st and 19th month of the Badí’ Calendar.
**** He passed on in the year 1030 A.H., which corresponds to the early part of the 16th Century A.D. He was 78. He is buried in Mashhad.
- His hope is Thy perpetual compassion,
- His sins anticipate Thy mercifulness.
- Surely, no better excuse has one for sins.22
In the Qur’án, Moses was addressed by “the Speaker on Sinai” (one of the titles of Bahá’u’lláh) in the following words:
O Moses! Verily, I am thy Lord: therefore pull off thy shoes: for thou art in the holy valley of Towa....
Verily I am God: there is no God but Me: therefore worship me, and observe prayer for a remembrance of me. Verily the hour is coming:—I all but manifest it—That every soul may be recompensed for its labors.”23
And when Moses came at our set time and his Lord spake with him, he said, “O Lord, shew thyself to me, that I may look upon thee.” He said, “Thou shalt not see Me; but look towards the mount, and if it abide firm in its place, then shalt thou see Me.” And when God manifested Himself to the mountain he turned it to dust! and Moses fell in a swoon.
And when he came to himself, he said, “Glory be to thee! To thee do I turn in penitence, and I am the first of them that believe.”24
Bahá’u’lláh confirms in His Epistle to the Son of the Wolf that He is “the Speaker on Sinai” anticipated by Imám ‘Alí:
The Commander of the Faithful (Imám ‘Alí)—peace be upon him—moreover saith in the Khuṭbiy-i-Ṭutunjíyyih: “Anticipate ye the Revelation of Him Who conversed with Moses from the Burning Bush on Sinai.”25
One of the most moving recognitions of the station of Bahá’u’lláh appears in a beautiful poem inscribed by His beloved father in exquisite handwriting on a large wooden plaque. This plaque was given a place of honor over the kingly mansion he built in Tákur, where Bahá’u’lláh spent most of His summers. This gesture, according to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is proof that he recognized the Station of his Son as the Manifestation of God. This plaque is still in existence in Tákur. It reads:
- When thou attaineth the threshold of thy Beloved
- Say yea, for this is not the place to exchange Salám (peace) and Alayk (upon thee be peace).
- This is the valley of love, mind thy step.
- This is the Holy Land, pull off thy shoes.26
Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, received His revelation almost 1,400 years ago, in His one-night journey (according to the Muslims, “a journey equal to seventy thousand years”) to Jerusalem and was shown there, in ‘the circuit of’ Jerusalem (‘Akká and Haifa) some of the signs of God:
Praise be unto him who transported his servant (Muḥammad) by night from the sacred temple of Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs.27
The Koran is no other than a revelation revealed to him (Muḥammad):
- Endued with wisdom. With even balance stood he....
- Then came he nearer and approached....
- And he (God) revealed to his servant what he revealed....
- He (Muḥammad) had seen him also another time,*
- Near the Sidrah-tree, which marks the boundary.28
In the Conference of Badasht, Bahá’u’lláh, the Hidden Treasure, Who ‘loved to be known,’ revealed His “Hidden Name” and appeared with His Most Great Name: BAHA; He Who “But for Him no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the robe of prophethood, nor would any of the sacred scriptures have been revealed.”29
The Exalted Báb, Who declared “that He had ‘sacrificed’ Himself ‘wholly’ for Him (Bahá’u’lláh), that He had ‘consented to be cursed’ for His sake, and to have ‘yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of His love,’ ”30 in all His Writings and in between the lines, praises Bahá’u’lláh and mentions His name with great exaltation. In His formulation of the Badí’ Calendar, He adorned the first day and first month of the year with the name “Bahá.” He “alluded to Him (Bahá’u’lláh) as the ‘Abhá Horizon’ wherein He Himself lived and dwelt,”31 called the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the Qayyúm-i-Asmá, “companions of the Crimson Ark—the Ark which God hath prepared for the people of Baha”.32
* This refers to the twin Revelations of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
He heralded the order of Bahá’u’lláh in these words: “Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh.”33 Prior to His departure from Chihri’q, He had penned on a scroll “no less than three hundred and sixty derivations of the word Bahá” and instructed that the scroll together with His documents, “His pen-case, His seals, and agate rings” be delivered to His Beloved, Bahá’u’lláh.34 In the ninth Váḥid of the Arabic Bayán, the Báb also sends His greetings to Bahá’u’lláh, in the most touching, and delicate way, unprecedented in the annals of all religions, wishing the remembrance and praise of all creation rest upon Him at all times. He addresses Him in that passage:
O Bahá’u’lláh!
O Bahá’u’lláh!
What hast Thou done? O Bahá’u’lláh! May my life be sacrificed for Thee! O Bahá’u’lláh! May my soul be offered up for Thy sake! How full were Thy days with trials and tribulations! How severe the ordeals Thou didst endure! How solid the foundation Thou hast finally laid, and how glorious the banner Thou didst hoist!35
“He (Abdu’l-Bahá) ... was heard to exclaim” the above passages “one evening as He was being swiftly driven to fulfill His third engagement of the day in Washington.”
One day, as He (Abdu’l-Bahá) was strolling, the beloved Guardian further recounts: “He called to remembrance the days of the Blessed Beauty, referring with sadness to His sojourn in Sulaymáníyyih, to His loneliness and to the wrongs inflicted upon Him. Though He had often recounted that episode, that day He was so overcome with emotion that He sobbed aloud in His grief.
... All His attendants wept with Him, and were plunged into sorrow as they heard the tale of the woeful trials endured by the Ancient Beauty, and witnessed the tenderness of heart manifested by His Son.”36
The Sufferings of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
I am moved to share with you my dear readers, further heartbreaking passages from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh; and, from the writings of the beloved Guardian, a moving story related by Abdu’l-Bahá; and, finally, touching accounts of the Síyáh-Chál by Dr. Yúnis Khán, one of the amanuenses of Abdu’l-Bahá.
they, ... 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 others 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 ... 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!37
Shouldst thou at sometime happen to visit the dungeon of His Majesty the Sháh, ask the director and chief jailer to show thee those two chains, one of which is known as Qará-Guhar, and the other as Salásil. I swear by the Day-Star of Justice that for four months this Wronged One was tormented and chained by one or the other of them. “My grief exceedeth all the woes to which Jacob gave vent, and all the afflictions of Job are but a part of My sorrows!”38
“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.”39
“Light and glory, greetings and praise, be upon the hands of His Cause ...”
Dr. Yúnis Khán recounts: “All traces of the terrifying dungeon and the chains, the two ‘wild dragons’, have now been effaced from the surface of Ṭihrán, just as gigantic wild animals became extinct after Noah’s Flood. However, we should preserve their memories in the museum of our minds.” He proceeds to give some of the details of the Síyáh-Chál which will be left unquoted since Bahá’u’lláh testified that, “No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell.”40
“As for Qará-Guhar,” Dr. Yúnis Khán writes, “this is the name of a particular chain which belongs to this subterranean dungeon.
The Hand of the Cause of God Hájí ‘Ali-Kabli-Akbar Sháhmírzadí (left), known as Ḥají Akhúnd, and Hájí Abu’l-Ḥasan (right), known as Ḥájí Amín, mentioned by Bahá’u’lláh in the Tablet quoted above, were both in the Strong Prison in Qazín when Bahá’u’lláh ascended. Ḥájí Amín was posthumously appointed a Hand of the Cause by the beloved Guardian.
Above left is a view of the Síyáh-Chál, showing what was the original corridor leading to the entrance. The dungeon was filled-in in 1868 and the Tikyíh Dowlat, a canvas-covered center for royal mourning for the Imám Ḥusayn, was built over it. Above right is a reproduction of a painting of the Tikyíh Dowlat showing a ceremony for the Imám Ḥusayn. The groundfloor accommodated 4,000 women. The surrounding rooms were for the Sháh, his family, and dignitaries. The site was used for a convocation of national representatives (Majlis-i-Mu’assisán) in 1925 at which the fall of the Qajár dynasty was announced. Below are the officers of that historic gathering. A Bahá’í, ‘Izzatu’lláh Bakhsháyish, fifth from left in front row, was the chief stenographer recording the event. Thus the downfall of the Qajár dynasty was announced through the will of the promised Ḥusayn (Bahá’u’lláh) at the very site of His prison. Believers at the time kept recalling that the Exalted Báb predicted that the Qajár dynasty would fall 1,000 (lunar) months from His Revelation. However, research must be made to find the source.
However, it was not an ordinary chain but is referred to by this title because of its thickness and heavy weight.... It was over 10 meters in length and had five to seven thick steel collars, each with a heavy lock to which the jailers held keys. The chain took seven prisoners in a row. Each prisoner was given a piece of wood shaped like a “Y” (like a cane with two heads). One end was used to carry part of the weight of the collar, while the other end was held or placed on the damp brick floor of the dungeon should the prisoner prefer to sit. Of course, not even a man of great strength could stand or walk with this chain. There was no choice for the prisoner but to sit on his knees, hold fast onto the end of the cane with his two hands, lay his chin on the “Y,” rest his eyes on the dark ceiling of this foul, loathsome-smelling prison, and await his fate.”
Dr. Yúnis Khán continues: “This is a brief account of the Síyáh-Chál. Why should the believers know the description of the Síyáh-Chál and the chains? Because the ‘Wronged One of the world’, the Abhá Beauty, suffered under their weight for a certain period of time. Years later some of His lovers and followers attained the glory of being imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál and experienced the same burdens of those heavy chains. You might wonder how I know these details, being unworthy to enter the prison of Bahá’u’lláh, and undeserving to win the glory of bearing the weight of the chain. Fifty-three lunar years ago, when I was a boy, I went to meet my father, Mashhadí Ḥusayn, who was one of the prisoners in the Síyáh-Chál. Then I witnessed this terrifying scene and the unhealthy conditions of the prisoners. This impressed me so much that it has left its agonizing memory on me all these years and will remain with me for the rest of my life. It is a comfort to recall that in spite of all the terrifying scenes, the imprisoned believers, frail and weak, were joyous that their imprisonment was in the path of their Beloved. It was also comforting to see their suffering somewhat alleviated when His Majesty Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh had mercy on them, permitting the prisoners two hours of sunshine in the middle of that cold winter so that they might inhale fresh air after 30 days of deprivation. In addition, their spirits were uplifted to hear from me that their families were safe, especially since they had heard from the jailers that the mobs in Ṭihrán had attacked the Bahá’ís and murdered all the women and children....
“On my visit* to the 100-square-meter courtyard, I found the prisoners weak and sickly, sitting before the sun. My father was so weak, thin, and yellow in color that initially I did not recognize him, although he called me by name. The late Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar Shahmírzádí, known as Ḥájí Akhúnd (Hand of the Cause of God), was chained to my father.... Finally, I recognized my father and sat on his trembling knees while the jailers surrounded us and stared. We conversed briefly. I gave the good news of the safety of the Bahá’í families, looked at and touched the collar of the Qará-Guhar chain which, due to the dampness of the prison, had rusted.
“Fortunately, after six to seven weeks, the prisoners** were transferred to a common prison close to the Síyáh-Chál. In this prison, they were allowed to sit on platforms along the corridor at night with every seven prisoners chained together and their legs locked in what is called a Khalílí. The prisoners were permitted light at night. The Bahá’í prisoners among them had secretly taught the Faith to their fellow prisoners (formerly thieves, highwaymen, and assassins) and deepened them in the Cause. After the jailers retired, they chanted prayers and Tablets they had committed to memory and rejoiced in remembrance of their Beloved....
“O, how I envied the nightly celebrations of the prisoners whose sweets consisted of the stories of the chains that bore them down!”41
Thus it was in the Síyáh-Chál and under these circumstances that the birth of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh took place—“a Revelation which (according to the beloved Guardian), flowing out, in that extremely perilous hour, from His travailing soul, pierced the gloom that had settled upon that pestilential pit, and, bursting through its walls, and propagating itself as far as the ends of the earth, infused into the entire body of mankind its boundless potentialities, and is now under our very eyes, shaping the course of human society.”42
The Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
The Blessed Beauty’s “spirit... winged its flight to His ‘other dominions,’ dominions ‘whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen.’ ”43
“The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to
* The meeting between Dr. Yúnis Khán and the prisoners took place outside the prison, during one of the two-hour periods that the prisoners enjoyed the outdoor air.
** His father and others.
Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd in a telegram which began with the words, ‘the Sun of Bahá has set’ and in which the monarch was advised of the intention of interring the sacred remains within the precincts of the Mansion, an arrangement to which he readily assented. Bahá’u’lláh was accordingly laid to rest in the northernmost room of the house which served as a dwelling-place for His son-in-law, the most northerly of the three houses lying to the west of, and adjacent to, the Mansion. His interment took place shortly after sunset, on the very day of His ascension.” (May 29, 1892)44
The Exalted Báb had already anticipated in the eighth Váḥid of the Arabic Bayán that the Qiblih would be wherever “He Whom God shall make Manifest”45 (Bahá’u’lláh) is. The Blessed Beauty had fixed the Qiblih in the Book of Aqdas.46
‘Abdu’l-Bahá singled out “the inconsolable Nabíl to select those passages (from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh) which constitute the text of the Tablet of Visitation now recited in the Most Holy Tomb.”47
He (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) also arranged for construction of the Shrine.
“Then the supreme ordeal, the great desolation, came upon us. Qulám-‘Alí* took on the carpentry work of the Holy Tomb, exerting all his sure powers. To this day, the glass roof which is over the inner courtyard of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh remains as the product of his skill.”48
The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, the Qiblih of the Bahá’í World[edit]
Let us now prepare to make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, the most precious dust that this planet holds in its bosom; let us fulfill our hearts’ desire which is none other than “the Desire of the Divine Messengers.”50
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visits[edit]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to the Holy Shrine is very moving. Evidently He approached the Shrine from the former road** which passes by the Mansion.
As we reach the bend of the road, the Mansion of Bahjí comes into full view, “a dwelling place which He (Bahá’u’lláh) characterized as the ‘lofty mansion,’ the spot which ‘God hath ordained as the most sublime vision of mankind.’ ”51 We are moved to recall the touching stories told by dearly loved Hand of the Cause of God Ṭaráz’u’lláh Samandarí,*** about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Bahá’u’lláh shortly before His passing, also confirmed by Ḥájí Mirzá Ḥaydar ‘Alí.
“On His walk from ‘Akká to Bahjí, the moment ‘Abdu’l-Bahá approached the bend of the road, He prostrated Himself and laid His forehead on the earth. Bahá’u’lláh turned to those in His presence and told them: ‘The Master is coming. Hasten, go to meet and escort Him.’ ”
Ḥájí Mirza Ḥaydar ‘Alí recounts this story in his marvelous book: “Bahá’u’lláh was sitting in His Mansion. As soon as the light of the beauty of His Branch (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) shone from the garden of Jammál (the bend of the road already referred to) Bahá’u’lláh’s Face beamed with great joy and fragrance. He bade all to hasten to the garden and its vicinity and welcome the Master.”52
Dr. Yúnis Khán writes: “Pilgrimages to the Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh started the very first year of His Ascension ... Twice on Fridays and Sundays, the pilgrims and resident Bahá’ís would go to the Shrine in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Who chanted the Tablet of Visitation.
“On the second and third year after the Ascension, there were celebrations during the Bahá’í Holy Days which attracted the attention of the populace, whether friend or foe, particularly of the military and civil authorities, the Judge, and the Muftí. They were all so impressed with the spirit that surrounded the visitation of the Shrine that they longed to accompany the friends on these occasions.
“Outside the House of the Master, there was an open area where the coach house was situated. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had two carriages: a big one called ‘American cab’ that carried nine people and another one that carried four. For weekly visits to the Shrine, Isfandíyár, the cabman of the Master, would prepare the carriage for the pilgrims and resident Bahá’ís, the pilgrims being given priority. Isfandíyár would drive the carriage to Bahjí and come back to take another group. However, the Master would walk alone, sometimes with two believers escorting Him. Upon His arrival at Bahjí, He would rest briefly in a room adjacent to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.
* A resident Bahá’í, “a carpenter and a master craftsman”49 from Káshán.
** Before The Universal House of Justice, in their negotiations with the authorities, succeeded in procuring the present access to the main highway.
*** He often shared this story with the Hands of the Cause on that spot, as well as with the beloved friends in America.
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After summoning the pilgrims and anointing each with rose water in a heavenly manner and with silence, He would chant the Tablet of Visitation with His glorious voice.
“During the Feasts, outside the inner court of the House of the Master, beautiful pots of varied colored flowers were ready to be carried to the Holy Shrine. All the pilgrims and residents, dressed in their best attire, would gather in the House of the Master two hours before sunset, or perhaps earlier if the exceeding heat of the mid-day sun had subsided. Each would shoulder a pot and, two by two, they set out for the Holy Shrine. During my pilgrimage, the believers would not start from the House of the Master, owing to the tense atmosphere created by the rebellious Covenant-breakers. Rather, they would pick up the pots from outside the Gate of ‘Akká, where the pots were ready for them. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, like the Commander of an Army, while Himself carrying a pot, would pace on their flank or ahead of them, monitoring and controlling their march and commanding two or three whose voices were melodious to chant from the Mathnaví of Bahá’u’lláh, from ‘Sáqi’az Ghiybi Baqá’, or from the poems recited by Bahá’í poets. This band of flower-bearers would walk slowly and majestically to the Shrine. As soon as the Shrine came into full view, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá bade them to stop, take the pots from their shoulders and put them on their heads while a moving prayer from Bahá’u’lláh was chanted....
“To be brief, the pots were delivered to the Shrine. Another prayer was chanted. All would go for a little rest and after having had tea, some sweets and making ablutions, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would chant the Tablet of Visitation and bid them to sit and chant the appropriate passages for the Feasts with melodious voices. Often times, they would chant some of the exhilarating poems of Bahá’u’lláh such as ‘Halih Halih yá Bishárat’.*53
“On the night of the (fifth-anniversary Ascension) we had a vigil night in the House of the Master, praying and chanting the whole night. At early dawn, we were called by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to head to the Holy Shrine. Each was given a bottle of rose water and a lit candle. We left the gate of ‘Akká at dawn heading for the Shrine with the same ceremony already mentioned. Upon our arrival in the Holy Shrine, following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions, the rose water was poured at the base of the flowers inside the inner court of the Shrine and the burning candles planted inside the earth of the inner garden. We all stood in great reverence. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá chanted the Tablet of Visitation. It was unbearable for us to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s agony, especially the noticeable tears in His eyes....
“The Feast of Riḍván was at hand, and again, with the same ceremony as before, we went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.... The garden was full of flowers....”54
“In addition to the vases of flowers which had been brought for the commemoration from ‘Akká, it was necessary to tend the flower gardens around the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. One of the ceremonies which developed consisted of watering this flower garden around the Shrine. About 100 copper pots (called Arabian Jarrih) were secured. During the Feast, the pilgrims and residents would fill them from neighboring wells and chant poems and verses from the Writings while watering the flowers. The rapture and devotion with which this task was carried out so deeply impressed Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís, especially when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Himself, would put a copper pot on His shoulder and face the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, that everyone would be moved to tears. All the friends would stand with great reverence. Some of the visitors would ask to be given a copper pot so that they too could water the flowers.
“After chanting the Tablets of the Feasts and other appropriate passages for Riḍván, we would all return together to ‘Akká.”55
Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥaydar ‘Alí recounts: “After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gained His freedom, He resumed visiting the Holy Dust of Bahá’u’lláh and watering the flowers of the garden as was His custom.
“In spite of His frailty and illness, every Friday and Sunday in the presence of the notables of the government, the dignitaries, and some of the inhabitants, He carried on His shoulders 60 to 70 Jarrih of water. While watering, He was attacked by fever several times and became ill. With this illness, His fever was worse than ever. The pilgrims and Bahá’í residents asked His permission to attain His presence. When permission was granted, they all assembled, threw themselves at the knees of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, took the hem of His robe, and in tears beseeched Him, for the sake of His precious health, to stop watering the flowers of the Holy Shrine and leave this job to those devoted believers who longed to be given the bounty of watering the flowers on His behalf. He agreed. However, the grief in His face was so apparent that those who had begged Him to give up this job regretted their act and blamed themselves for having dared to ask ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for this. After two weeks, He invited all the Bahá’ís, showered His bounties upon them, served them tea and sweets, and gave them heavenly food. Then in the most loving and affectionate manner, He said, ‘I have agreed to your request and refrained from watering the flowers of the Holy Shrine, but my comfort and the happiness of my heart are in watering these flowers. My physical body and health are not important. The main thing is the happiness of my heart and the healthiness of my spirit.... Now please agree with me, from the bottom of your hearts, to water the flowers of the Shrine. All of you may participate in this service to the Abhá Beauty.’ (Here Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥaydar ‘Alí is moved to express his great admiration, praises the exemplary modesty of the Master and offers to give his life for Him). In response, all bowed and joyfully assented. Thus the watering, His permanent custom, was once again resumed.”56
Dr. Ḥabíb Mu’ayyad writes similar moving accounts of the early years. The following concerns his visits to the Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh on October 28 and 30, 1914: “We went to make our pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. When arriving there our eyes were illumined by gazing on the beautiful countenance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Who was there in the garden. His beauty surpasses the beauty and fragrance of the flowers. The beloved Master, in His heavenly radiance, was dressed from head to toe in white and was working in the midst of the white jasmine and white lilies. We bowed, and He answered, ‘Marhabá’. After a little while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to the well (a water well with a hand pump) and started to pump for 19 minutes. The water was to be held in reserve for the gardens to water the trees and flowers. Incidentally, one of the friends, Badí’ Bushrú’í, counted carefully on his watch. It came to 361 pumps, which came to 19 times 19. Formerly there was no well there, and water for irrigation was very scarce. The gardens around the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh had recently been started and needed continuous watering... ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would pump twice a day each time for 19 minutes...57 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, ‘I, with the help of a group of believers, carried the soil (for the gardens of the Shrine) on our shoulders and watered the flowers.’ ”58
* In which Bahá’u’lláh in a most glorious, astounding way praises the Glad tidings of His Revelation. The above phrase is repeated in each ode of the poem.
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“ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá anointed us with pure attar on our heads and faces and said, ‘I want to anoint your head and face even as in old times when the prophets did so, so that you will succeed in your services and activities.’ ”59
“At night, when we are accommodated in the guest house, with a wall between our room and the Master’s, we hear the melody of the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His prayers. The melody of His voice when He chants the Tablet of Visitation, together with the mood of His reverence and rapture, affects everything, even the stones.”60
“Many nights when we walked slowly around the room of the Master, we heard the murmur of His voice, but we did not recognize all the words. Those we could recognize were, ‘O my God, O my Beloved.’ ”61
Mary L. Lucas shared with us the experience of her pilgrimage to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the early years: “We got out of the carriage and gathered the flowers, and then proceeded on our way to the Tomb, with the flowers we had plucked. As we entered this Holy Precinct, we took off our shoes. The silence here was like nothing I have ever experienced. As we advanced toward the door no one spoke, but we all prayed. I remembered the Master’s wish, and sang part of Gounod’s Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy! It was the first thing that came to my mind. It seemed as though I was not singing, but the voice of itself was soaring, and had left my body.”62
And of later years we read in an article written in Haifa in July 1922, by G.L.C. under the heading of “The Plain of Acca”: “After we had rested a little while, Fugeta and I went into the Tomb. It was dark by that time, and the lights in the Tomb were lighted. The thing which seemed to me most beautiful about the lighting was that the lights were so placed that they shone out from under a fern in the center of the little inner garden. The light came out soft and green through the fronds of fern. The lights were not all on when we first went in, and I liked it better with the softer light. We stayed there in prayer for perhaps half an hour.... Afterward, ... turned on all the lights, so that I might see them. They turn into a blaze of light, and made me think of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s comment when he was in America, that Bahá’u’lláh always loved light; that they might be economical about everything else, but that he always told them to have much light about Him. Fugeta also drew my attention to the vase that the American Bahá’ís had sent in memory of the Master’s visit to America. The vase was made by Tiffany, and it is very beautiful. It is of bronze, with insets of jewels and cloisonné work. The latter is of a most exquisite blue, shading off into yellow, as it curves up the slender neck of the vase. It is a very, very lovely thing, as is worthy of such a place.”63
What a glory for the North American Bahá’ís to be so close to Bahá’u’lláh and to His inner Shrine, “The Holy of Holies!”
Dr. Yúnis Khán, commenting further on his visit, in the company of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to the Holy Shrine, shares with us in a moving way his impressions. He feels inadequate to convey the heavenly experience he had of hearing the melodious voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá repeating certain verses in the Tablet of Visitation, and he says:
“Dear Reader, if you are touched by reading these lines, if you are moved with a burning desire for such a visit to the Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, do not feel sad, do not be depressed. In the presence of the beloved Shoghi Effendi, who stands in the place of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá chanting the Tablet of Visitation, you will feel the rare heavenly experience. Hasten! Hasten! Grasp the opportunity! Grasp the opportunity!”64
This vase, a gift of the American Bahá’ís, stands in the Holy Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh. It was made in commemoration of the visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to America; it was designed by Louis Bourgeois, the architect of the Mother Temple of the West.
The Beloved Guardian’s Visits[edit]
Let us visit the Holy Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh in the presence of the beloved of all hearts, Shoghi Effendi.
Earlier, the beloved Guardian said the first and most important festival of joy is the Feast of Riḍván, the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh; the second is the Declaration of the Báb; the third, the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh; the fourth, the birthday of the Báb; and the fifth, the Feast of Naw-Rúz and fasting.
Mine was the great bounty to make a pilgrimage on the Birthday of Bahá’u’lláh.
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It was on February 10, 1940 (Muḥarram 2nd 1359), the lunar anniversary of the birth of the Blessed Beauty, that in the morning, the beloved Shoghi Effendi sent all of us pilgrims in two cars to the Mansion of Bahjí, after we had visited the monument gardens on Mount Carmel. In the afternoon, there was a big gathering of all the Bahá’ís, pilgrims, and residents, where prayers were chanted in the open space on the ground floor of the Mansion. Everyone waited impatiently for the arrival of the beloved Shoghi Effendi. When the beloved Guardian arrived, he had Ismá’íl Aqá in his presence in the car, as was his custom on such occasions.
A message from the beloved Guardian extended an invitation to all to go to the garden facing the Holy Shrine and hold a big gathering in celebration of the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh.
Everyone hastened to attain the presence of the beloved Shoghi Effendi of whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that primal branch of the Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out, blest, tender, verdant and flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most wondrous, unique, and priceless pearl that doth gleam from out the Twin surging Seas; ... Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind.65
Some, because of the greatness of the gathering, sat on the lawn, others carried wicker chairs. The beloved Shoghi Effendi was seated on a wicker chair in the corner of the garden facing the Most Holy Shrine. His majesty and deportment are beyond us. He bade everyone to sit as he showed each pilgrim where to sit. All were seated in a J shape in the small garden surrounding Bahá’u’lláh’s resting place. (The entire property was 4,000 meters at that time and is now, according to the beloved Guardian’s cable dated November 12, 1952, 155,000 square meters.)66 This J shape started from the outer patio of the entrance to the Shrine, leading to the pilgrim house nearby.
The beloved Shoghi Effendi greeted all: “May this Feast be a blessing to you all. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has called these twin Great Feasts (the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh and the Birth of the Báb) because in the lunar calendar they follow one another.” A day earlier, the Birth of the Báb had been celebrated on Mount Carmel. “The Blessed Beauty has referred to the Báb as His former Manifestation and Forerunner of His Beauty. He had also referred to Himself as the Báb’s Beloved and the Báb as Bahá’u’lláh’s Beloved. The twin Feasts are identical, yet the believers must celebrate both.” As to the station of the Báb, the beloved Guardian quoted: “Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve.”67 He continued: “In America, the Assemblies exchange greetings by telegram. In Bombay, India, the Bahá’ís invite the government authorities to their celebrations. I have received a greeting from America.” The beloved Guardian spoke in detail on the significance of the Mansion of Bahjí, its past history, the different stages that the Faith has to pass through before it reaches the Bahá’í Commonwealth. Gems of knowledge and guidance poured from the lips of the Sign of God on Earth. He assured us that the promises of Bahá’u’lláh will surely be fulfilled. I was overwhelmed when he bade me to chant a prayer. To be brief, this was truly a heavenly reunion.
The beloved Guardian requested that the Tablet of the Feast be chanted and urged that on such occasions the specific prayers and Tablets are to be recited. Then he quoted from Bahá’u’lláh a passage on the significance of the night journey of Muḥammad and the station of Bahá’u’lláh already referred to. The passage explains that Muhammad, in His flight, took 70 thousand years (as the Muslims believe) until He reached the Threshold of Bahá’u’lláh. After repeating that passage, He waved his hand, pointing to the Shrine, and said, “This is the exalted station of this Holy of Holies, which signifies the glory of this Manifestation.” The beloved Guardian then proceeded to the Holy Shrine. When I entered, I found him in the entrance way, now the inner court. From a vial of attar of roses, he anointed each one who entered. While being anointed, he said to me in a low voice: “Chant prayer.” The beloved Shoghi Effendi proceeded directly along the inner garden of the Shrine, walking around it until he reached the door of the Holy Tomb, where he placed his forehead on the Holy Threshold and bade everyone to sit and directed me to chant. I chanted a prayer in praise and thanksgiving to God that the light of His Sun of Mercy had shed over the world of creation and His blessings are pouring forth their rain. I also chanted a prayer from the beloved Guardian himself. The beloved Shoghi Effendi then rose on his knees. His voice, resonant and haunting, was lifted in the Tablet of Visitation.
The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee...68
He continued chanting the Tablet of Visitation as far as:
Waft, then, unto me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy mercy and Thy loving kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy nearness and Thy presence.69
whereupon he paused. He again continued until:
The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou who art His Beauty!70
when he paused again, as if overwhelmed and entranced. After the completion of the Tablet of Visitation, he remained silent for a few moments, proceeded to the Holy Threshold, bent his blessed knees, and placed his forehead on the Threshold. Only a few moments passed with the believers standing and witnessing that memorable, precious commemoration.
Then the beloved Shoghi Effendi, without removing his eyes from the Holy Threshold, walked backward to the door. This completed a circumambulation around the inner court of the Shrine.
Only Bahá’u’lláh knows what passed between Him and His beloved Guardian on these occasions. However, one could feel, within the Shrine in the presence of the beloved Shoghi Effendi, that because of his intercession, every prayer would be answered. How sweet, how very sweet the melody of his voice which rings in the ears till the last breath of life! May we attain his good pleasure! May he ever look compassionately upon us with his exhilarating glance and cheer our hearts!
The Ocean of Light[edit]
“The Ancient Beauty” Who “hath consented to be bound with”
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Chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within the most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty”71 is no longer “subjected to the abasement of a dungeon”72. He rests in the Ḥaram-i-Aqdas (the Most Holy Sanctuary) in the midmost of Jannat-i-Abhá (Abhá paradise) as designated by the beloved Guardian. God has already fulfilled His promise, the promise Bahá’u’lláh heard in the Siyáh-Chál:
Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee ... Ere long will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name...73
Bahá’u’lláh was from Núr* (i.e. Light), and “Bahá” signifies Light; thus, “Light upon light”74 in the Súrih of Núr in the Qur’án fulfilled in Bahá’u’lláh from Núr.**
His Holy Shrine, the Holy of Holies, is the Ocean of Light (Daryá-yi-Núr),*** so designated by the beloved Shoghi Effendi, which floods the light over the whole creation. “God is the LIGHT of the Heavens and of the Earth.”75
This Ocean of Light has taken the Mountain of Light (Kúh-i-Núr*** the Shrine of the Báb), under Its shadow. The Queen of Carmel, facing this Ocean, is seated on Her throne of majesty and dignity in the midmost Supreme Paradise (Firdaws-i-A’lá)****, the spot blessed and designated by Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Her face is toward the Qiblih that the Báb Himself anticipated. Her breast is ornamented with the Greatest Holy Name.
Abdu’l-Bahá, the Mystery of God, Whose Station is unique and unparalleled in the annals of all religions, rests by the side of the Báb and faces the Ocean of Light (the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh).
Missing in that vicinity is the resting place of the beloved Shoghi Effendi, who, for an unknown wisdom, or perhaps because of his utmost modesty, has rested since his passing in 1957 in London, far, far away from the Holy Land. However, it seems as if Bahá’u’lláh rewarded His beloved Guardian, since the Centenary Jubilee was held there under his shadow in 1963, right after The Universal House of Justice came into existence, as one of the choicest fruits of his labors and of his Ten Year Crusade.
Again, facing the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, His beloved daughter, the Greatest Holy Leaf; His martyred Son “created of the light of Bahá”,76 the Purest Branch; and His dearly-loved Consort, who is “His companion in every one of His worlds”,77 the Navváb, rest in peace and praise in the Monument gardens created in their honor by the beloved Shoghi Effendi fulfilling the promise of God†.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh is shaking “the world’s equilibrium”78 before our very eyes. His Ark has set sail on God’s Holy Mountain, and His Laws are beginning to flow to the whole world. The Seat of Legislation is in the process of construction around the Arc already prepared by the beloved Shoghi Effendi and the “people of Bahá”79 (House of Justice), the dwellers of the Ark mentioned in the Tablet of Carmel are calling “the people of Bahᔇ80 (we Bahá’ís) to participate in that glorious project.
Beloved friends: We are living in the Most Glorious Day, the Day in which the kingdom of God on earth, long ago prophesied by Jesus Christ, is taking shape. The vibration of the Revelation of
* The native land of Bahá’u’lláh.
** Istidlalíyyih Na’ím p. 68. See also Psalms 36:9.
*** Daryá-yi-Núr and Kúh-i-Núr, the Twin Shrines of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb as designated by the beloved Guardian (also the titles of the two biggest diamonds in the world).
**** Designated by the beloved Guardian.
† Isaiah, Chapter 54.
‡ The dwellers of the Crimson Ark “which God hath ordained in the Qayyúm-i-Asmá for the people of Bahá.”80
The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, clearly showing the windows all around it just under the roof which was constructed by Qulám-‘Alí.
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Bahá’u’lláh “has pierced the gloom” of the walls of “that pestilential pit”81 and has reached to all corners of the world. His love is penetrating deep into the hearts of men from amongst all nations, classes, races, colors, and religious backgrounds, and “soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted under” His banner.82 This is the Day about which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:
The holy realities of the Concourse on high yearn, in this day, in the Most Exalted Paradise, to return unto this world, so that they may be aided to render some service to the threshold of the Abhá Beauty and arise to demonstrate their servitude to His sacred Threshold.83
What a glory to serve Bahá’u’lláh!
References:
- Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), Persian Hidden Words, No. 18, p. 27.
- Shoghi Effendi, The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 20.
- Ibid, p. 12.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1965), p. 100.
- Isaiah 9:6.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1952), pp. 210-11.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 100.
- The Koran, translated from the Arabic by J.M. Rodwell, (London, Eng.: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1974), Chapter LXXVI, Sura XIV, Verse 5, p. 226.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971), quotation from The Qur’án, p. 117.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 183.
- Ishráq-Khávarí, Ahang-i-Badí’, (Persian magazine), p. 347.
- The Báb, The Bayán, 2nd Váhid, Chapter 2, p. 20.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Makátíb, Vol. I, p. 39.
- Ishráq-Khávarí, Commentary on Na’im’s Poems, p. 468.
- Ezekiel 43:2.
- Isaiah 60:1.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 94.
- Ishráq-Khávarí, Commentary on Na’im’s Poems, p. 471.
- M.M. Munjie, The Whole World is but One Country, pp. 50-51.
- Dalá’il’ul-‘Irfán, p. 156.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 140.
- Shaykh-i-Bahá’í, Ash’ár-i-Parákandih Shaykh-i-Bahá’í, p. 76.
- The Koran, Chapter LV, Sura XX, verses 11-16, pp. 94-95.
- Ibid, Chapter LXXXVII, Sura VII, verses 139-140.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 42.
- Nabíl, The Dawnbreakers, (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), page 112, from the inscription placed by Mírzá Buzurg above the entrance to his house in Tákur, translated from the Persian by the author.
- The Koran, translated by George Sale, Chapter XVII, verse 1.
- The Koran, Rodwell, Chapter XLVI, Sura LIII, p. 69.
- Shoghi Effendi, The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 12.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 98.
- Ibid, p. 97.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 212.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 324-25.
- Ibid, p. 69.
- Ibid, p. 293.
- Ibid.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 20-21.
- Ibid, p. 77.
- J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Books, 1970), p. 64.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 21.
- Yúnis Khán, Ahang-i-Badí’, no. 70, p.5.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 93.
- Ibid, p. 221.
- Ibid, p. 222.
- Ibid. p. 97.
- Ibid, p. 214.
- Ibid, p. 222.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971), p. 144.
- Ibid, p. 143.
- Shoghi Effendi, The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 13.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 193.
- Ḥájí Mirza Ḥaydar ‘Alí, Bihjatu’ṣ-Ṣudúr, p. 517-518.
- Yúnis Khán, Memoirs of Dr. Yúnis Khán, “9 Years in ‘Akká”, pp. 33-38.
- Ibid, pp. 80-81.
- Ibid, pp. 143-44.
- Ḥájí Mirza Ḥaydar ‘Alí, Bihjatu’ṣ-Ṣudúr, pp. 517-518.
- Ḥabíb Mu’ayyad, Memoirs of Ḥabíb, (Kháṭirat-i-Ḥabib), pp. 173-174.
- Ibid, p. 452.
- Ibid, p. 60.
- Ibid, pp. 176-77.
- Ibid, p. 131.
- Mary L. Lucas, A Brief Account of my Visit to Acca, (Chicago, Ill., 1905).
- Bahá’í Magazine, Vol. 13, p. 208.
- Yúnis Khán, Memoirs of Dr. Yúnis Khán, “9 Years in Acca,” p. 37.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1944), p. 1.
- The Universal House of Justice, Bahá’í Holy Places at the World Centre, (Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England: Broadwater Press Ltd., 1968), p. 40.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 3.
- Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Prayers, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1973), p. 133.
- Ibid, p. 135.
- Ibid.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 99.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 109.
- Ibid, p. 101.
- The Koran, Chapter LV, Sura XXIV, verse 35, p. 447.
- Ibid, p. 446.
- Bahá’í World, Vol. VIII, p. 249.
- Ibid, p. 251.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 136.
- Ibid, p. 16.
- Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 139.
- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 93.
- Ibid, p. 184.
- Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969), p. 39.
Around the World[edit]
Australia
Mr. Featherstone speaks at teaching conference[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone illumined a teaching conference in Melbourne, October 18-19, with highlights of his visit to Gilbert and Ellice (Tuvalu) Islands and the Solomons.
Four Counsellors from the Australasian zone were also at the conference with members of the Auxiliary Board and representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly. Total attendance was 278. The conference theme was how to gain spiritual strength in a declining world.
Mr. Featherstone directed the attention of the friends to a recent letter from The Universal House of Justice concerning protection of the Cause and the need to strengthen understanding of the Covenant.
The conference concluded with the announcement of the appointment of additional assistants to the Auxiliary Board members in Australia.
Burma
600 attend joyful, loving gatherings[edit]
A Bahá’í Women’s Teaching Conference in Daidanaw, October 19, was attended by over 500 women and children. The following week more than 100 adults and youth participated in a five-day Winter School.
The National Spiritual Assembly was pleased with the happy, joyful, loving atmosphere of both gatherings.
Canada
Public school includes course on Faith[edit]
A secondary school teacher in Saanich, British Columbia, contacted the Local Spiritual Assembly of Saanich recently and requested a week-long course on the Bahá’í Faith for his comparative religion class.
In consultation with him, the Assembly planned six 65-minute sessions, beginning with one on progressive Revelation. Other classes presented a brief introduction to Islam; Bahá’í social and spiritual teachings; and Bahá’í history. The last session was devoted to questions and answers. The teacher requested books on the Faith for the school library.
In Calgary, Alberta, the Local Assembly launched an unprecedented proclamation of the Faith through media. Thirty-second spot announcements were used by two radio stations and ads were published in two newspapers. Posters were placed and invitations to firesides mailed to leaders of thought.
The Bahá’ís of Winnipeg, Manitoba, have produced nine cable television shows in color. Directed toward Bahá’ís to be used in deepening, the first three shows broadcast were “Happily Ever After,” on Bahá’í marriage; “Getting Your Feet Wet,” on the Bahá’í Writings; and “Spirituality and the Construction Worker,” an illustration of the principle that work in the spirit of service is worship.
Canary Islands
Persian singers proclaim Faith[edit]
Two Bahá’í Youth from Iran who are studying in England recently took a successful traveling teaching trip through the Canary Islands. Shádí Kúchik-zádih and Shírín Chúbínih proclaimed the Faith through music and song and awakened much interest although they don’t speak Spanish.
They appeared on television, sang over three radio stations, before three university groups, in the old people’s home, the Girls’ and Boys’ Reformatory, at several homes, and in the Bahá’í Center. At the newspaper office, they spoke with a most receptive woman reporter. When Shádí and Shírin played and sang for her, other
Dominican Republic
Puerto Plata hosts national teaching conference[edit]
The Bahá’ís of the Dominican Republic gathered on October 18-19 for the first of two national teaching conferences planned for the current Bahá’í year. Site of the conference was the small town of Puerto Plata where believers from various parts of the country met to hear talks about meeting the Five Year Plan goals.
Auxiliary Board member Regino Pepin opened the conference with a talk on the effective use of prayer. Members of the National Spiritual Assembly and other Bahá’ís addressed the friends on various aspects of living the Bahá’í life, a Bahá’í psychologist gave advice on the education and discipline of children in the home, and members of the National Teaching Committee surveyed the progress of the Dominican Republic in the Plan.
The local children’s class, sponsored by the Bahá’ís and attended by 25 non-Bahá’í children, presented a delightful program at the Unity Feast.
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Newspaper workers appeared and invited them to sing on “Radio Popular” that night, a station which is heard all over the archipelago. They sang a song called “Listen to Me, My Brother” which tells the story of Bahá’u’lláh and names Him, and also “See the New People” which tells about the Bahá’ís all over the world and ends with a chorus of the Greatest Name.
At the university, as Shírín and Shádí began to sing, about 80 young women joined in. They asked many questions and invited the two teachers to return two days later. They did, and talked to more students, many of whom had not been there the first time. About 110 young men attended a subsequent meeting.
Ethiopia
10 teaching trips offered at meeting[edit]
A National Teaching Conference held in Addis Ababa in January was attended by Continental Counsellor Húshang ‘Ahdíyyih, two Auxiliary Board members, and over 60 other believers. During animated discussions, the friends offered 10 traveling teaching trips and 25 deputations.
The Women’s Committee of Addis Ababa has introduced a program of weekly visits to mass conversion areas. With the assistance and cooperation of pioneers, their first visit was to Awassa. They held a meeting which was attended by about 50 people, and they returned with glowing spirits, delighted with the success of their initial effort.
How a child of 5 teaches the Cause[edit]
Anyone can teach the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. To emphasize this point, the following incident is being shared by the believers in Ethiopia:
Five-year-old Netsanet Kahsai, child of a Bahá’í family of Addis Ababa, was asked by her school teacher to say a prayer. She recited a prayer for children revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The teacher was amazed at her fluency and at the content of the prayer.
On another occasion, he again asked her to pray. She said the same prayer. The teacher then asked her to have her mother write down the words of the prayer. The mother did, indicating ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Author. The teacher then asked Netsanet who ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was. The child explained that He is the Son of Bahá’u’lláh.
“But who is Bahá’u’lláh?” asked the teacher.
Surprised, the little girl exclaimed, “You don’t even know who Bahá’u’lláh is? Then you’d better ask my mother!”
France
Media campaign has good results[edit]
In collaboration with the National Teaching Committee, the Bahá’í Information Bureau of the National Spiritual Assembly sent all Local Assemblies a brief set of guidelines concerning contact with press, radio, and television, and preparation of material for media.
Press releases for each Bahá’í Holy Day, special events days, and observances such as United Nations Day, were also sent to the Assemblies and to national newspapers in Paris.
Most local papers printed the releases, and a release presented to a radio station in Toulouse resulted in the 20-minute broadcast of an interview with members of the Toulouse Assembly. “This must be the longest interview on the Faith in the history of French radio,” the Information Bureau commented.
The Bureau has also distributed a press kit which will be supplemented with material about the International Teaching Conference to be held in Paris this August.
Gilbert Islands
Mr. Featherstone tours island communities[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God H. Collis Featherstone, accompanied by Mrs. Featherstone, recently visited Bahá’í communities in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the latter now called Tuvalu), the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia.
The Featherstones’ travel was facilitated by a 24-foot catamaran built by pioneer John Thurston to help transport traveling teachers and pioneers across the vast stretches of open sea which separate the islands. Mr. Thurston is currently planning a larger catamaran which will handle commercial as well as Bahá’í traffic.
Mr. Featherstone addressed a reception held in his honor and attended by the governor, deputy governor, and government ministers and secretaries. The Bahá’í World, Vol. XIV, was presented to the governor for the House of Assembly library. A 20-minute radio interview with Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone was broadcast after the 6 p.m. news, and the next day after the 1 p.m. news over Radio Tarawa.
The Featherstones, National Assembly chairman Moten Naari, and Auxiliary Board member Sam Tranter officiated at the dedication of the local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Betio.
In the Solomon Islands, the Hand of the Cause addressed public meetings, firesides, and deepenings. “At Auki, I was
Mrs. Madge Featherstone (middle foreground) prepares to board a catamaran at Tarawa. Gilbert Islands, to sail with her husband, the Hand of the Cause of God Collis Featherstone, to Abaiang Island. John Thurston constructed the 24-foot craft to help solve transportation problems for traveling teachers and pioneers.
[Page 19]
given the bounty of declaring the National Teaching Institute open,” he wrote. “It is a fine concrete building 46’ x 48’ with a vinyl tile floor.” In Honiara, Mr. Featherstone was interviewed by the press, and Mrs. Featherstone spoke on a radio program designed for women.
The Featherstones then went to New Hebrides. In Port-Vila, Mr. Featherstone met with the believers and was interviewed on the radio. The interview was summarized in Pidgin, and two different versions were broadcast on two different days.
With two members of the Spiritual Assembly of Port-Vila, Martine Dahl and Palene Hnaloane, Mr. Featherstone met the French resident commissioner and gave him The Bahá’í World, Vol. XIV. The Featherstones also visited Noumea. In all of his meetings with the Bahá’ís, Mr. Featherstone stressed the urgency of completing the goals of the Five Year Plan and encouraged the believers to teach.
Guatemala
Bahá’ís safe after massive earthquake[edit]
The National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Guatemala City was damaged by a massive earthquake which struck Guatemala on February 4. There were no known casualties among the Bahá’ís, and all pioneers were reported safe.
However, thousands of persons were killed and injured in one of the most destructive natural disasters of the century. The earthquake also hit Honduras, El Salvador, and parts of Mexico, but no deaths were reported there.
In Guatemala City, entire blocks were wiped out, and hundreds of thousands of persons were homeless. Many small towns in the interior were destroyed, and others were temporarily cut off by fallen power lines, collapsed bridges, and roads blocked by landslides.
Aid for Guatemalans was being coordinated by the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization.
Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana
Happy Bahá’ís march in Surinam parade[edit]
After a one-week intensive teaching effort in Surinam, all Counsellors in South America met there December 13-14 to receive the joyful news that three new Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed, seven new localities were opened, one land endowment was secured, and one local Haziratu’l-Quds would be built.
A total of 95 new Bahá’ís were enrolled. Most of the new friends are of East-Indian background, fulfilling one of the goals set by The Universal House of Justice for Surinam.
Bahá’ís of Kamaloea clear the site for the first local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Surinam. The formation of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Kamaloea was guided by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum and completed in March. Many new believers were enrolled in December following a teaching project.
[Page 20]
Also present at this gathering was Counsellor Hooper Dunbar, of the International Teaching Center in Haifa.
The teaching project had been launched during a conference in which the goals of the Five Year Plan were reviewed, and six teaching teams were formed. Three of the teams traveled through the interior, which is mostly jungle.
The teachers that went to the Bushnegro village of Kamaloea were received with great joy. There, beloved Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum guided the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly in March, during her historic Green Light Expedition. Many new believers were enrolled in Kamaloea in December, and the Local Spiritual Assembly acquired a local endowment and additional property for the construction of their local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds. The land is scheduled to be cleared by April. Two more Local Spiritual Assemblies were formed in nearby villages.
Teachers who visited the Nickerie District on the western border were warmly welcomed by East Indian villagers, who came out of their houses and down the road to meet the Bahá’ís. They eagerly read the pamphlets in Hindi and enjoyed seeing photographs of the Bahá’ís of India. One young girl approached the teachers and invited them to her house with the simple greeting, “Come.” She and her whole family became Bahá’ís. A Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in a home which the host family had decorated with bright red flowers called “Feir Lobie” (Fire of Love).
Three other teams stayed in the coastal city of Paramaribo and taught during evenings and afternoons in the city and its environs. Children shared the teaching work, and babies were carried along; no one wanted to miss the chance to participate.
At the meeting at the end of the week were a captain of the Aucaner Bushnegro tribe, his daughter, and two other members of the tribe. He said that the Bahá’ís had stolen his heart, and they should not wait to teach the others in his tribe. The captain of the Arawak Indian tribe was also there, with his wife. He said that he and his daughter were preparing to accept the Faith.
Counsellors Peter McLaren, Leonora Armstrong, and Mr. Dunbar appeared on television with a translator. Mr. McLaren delighted listeners by speaking in the popular dialect of Surinam, Taki-Taki. Some Bahá’ís of Surinam, researching materials for their national archives, have found newspaper articles on the Faith dating from October 1927. The articles were placed by Mrs. Armstrong, who was the first Bahá’í to bring the Faith to Surinam, Guyana, and Trinidad. She has pioneered for 54 years in Brazil. Though she went to South America with no financial means and no knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese, she now speaks both languages fluently.
Mrs. Armstrong shared her experiences with large gatherings of Bahá’ís and showed them visiting cards from her 1927 visit: names of newspaper reporters, educators, and other prominent citizens she had met. In many cases, it was possible to contact these people or their children, a happy experience for Mrs. Armstrong and the Bahá’ís.
French Guiana fair includes Bahá’í booth[edit]
Bahá’ís of Paramaribo marched for three hours in Surinam’s Independence Parade on November 26. The parade was viewed by 100,000 people, which is about a third of the entire population, and was the largest in Surinam’s history.
Through a torrential rain, the Bahá’ís marched with their banner: “Bahá’í Community” (in Dutch). They were a mixed group among other separately marching groups of Japanese, Chinese, East Indians, Bushnegroes, and American Indians. Three East Indian youth spontaneously joined the Bahá’ís and marched with them to the finish. They arrived in the town square cold and numb, but happy.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Paramaribo also sponsored a booth in the Surinade (trade fair) from November 19 to December 6. The booth was colorfully decorated and fragrant with flowers, and visitors were welcome to all the pamphlets they wanted. The pamphlets were in various languages, as Surinam has a diverse population of East-Indians, Javanese, Chinese, American Indians, blacks and whites. Dutch is the official language, and the supply of Dutch pamphlets was soon exhausted. About 1,500 pamphlets were distributed.
One group of three students asked for pamphlets and explained that their sociology teacher had instructed them to write a report on the Bahá’í Faith.
One seeker immediately visited the Bahá’í Center in Paramaribo and there met four Continental Counsellors: Leonora Armstrong, Peter McLaren, Donald Witzel, and Mas’úd Khamsí. He is now a Bahá’í.
Surinam campaign nets many victories[edit]
For the first time, Bahá’ís had a booth at the annual fair in the town square of Cayenne, French Guiana. The fair lasted for five days in October, and many people visited the booth, which had literature available in French and other languages. This fair is one of the largest events of the year and is attended by people from all over the country.
A traveling teacher from the United States, Benjamin Levy, was present in Cayenne for the construction and opening of the booth. He also attended a conference for Local Spiritual Assemblies October 9-12, met with the press, and visited Bahá’ís in Cayenne and Remire.
Above, Carmelie Charles, right, passes out literature at the Bahá’í booth in Cayenne, French Guiana. Below is the front view of the booth. Pictured with Mrs. Charles is her husband, Francisco.
Local Assembly formed at Eccles-Ramsburg, Guyana[edit]
The first Local Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Eccles-Ramsburg, East Bank Demerara, Guyana, was formed on November 25. This picture was published in the Chronicle, the only daily newspaper in Guyana.
From left to right, seated: Frank Sheffey, E. Stevens, and M. Brummell; standing: Agnes Sheffey, B. Stevens, M. Thomas, M. Alleyne, M. Henry. Missing from the photograph is B. Medouce.
Honduras
Counsellors meet with chief of state[edit]
Continental Counsellors for Central America met in Tegucigalpa, Honduras November 13-20. Counsellors Carmen de Burafato and Pablo Lucas from Mexico, Artemus Lamb from El Salvador, and Alfred Osborne from Panama, met with Auxiliary Board members Jorge Pavon of Honduras, Naomi Dreyer of El Salvador, Hedi Ahmadeyeh of Belize, Rodrigo Tomas of Costa Rica, and Edith McLaren of Nicaragua.
During the week, the Counsellors filled Honduras’ goal to present The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh to the chief of state. He has usually refused to grant interviews to representatives of religious organizations. However, Colonel Juan Alberto Melgar Castro received the Counsellors, as did the minister of defense, Colonel Chinchilla, who was presented with a Bahá’í statement on loyalty to the government. The Counsellors also met with the minister of culture, tourism, and information, Colonel Efrain Gonzales,
Colonel Melgar Castro (second from left), chief of state of Honduras, shakes hands with Counsellor Alfred Osborne of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Central America during a meeting with Bahá’ís in November. Also pictured, from left, are Priscilla Banks de Tavora, Counsellor Artemus Lamb, and Counsellor Pablo Lucas.
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who received a basic fact sheet about the Faith. All three officials were cordial and expressed respect and admiration for the Bahá’ís and their attitude toward the government.
A major newspaper printed two pictures of and a brief article on the interview with the chief of state.
A special committee of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Tegucigalpa planned other events during the week. Among these were a welcoming banquet; a Saturday morning coffee given by the Bahá’í Women’s Club for prominent women of Tegucigalpa, at which Mrs. de Burafato spoke; and an all-day deepening institute at the Bahá’í Center.
A public meeting was held at the National Library and attended by 50 non-Bahá’ís and 30 Bahá’ís. The Counsellors spoke on “Steps to a Lasting World Peace.” Four thousand flyers had been passed out during the week; ads were published in four major papers, and four radio stations used spot announcements.
A farewell party for the Counsellors featured Honduran folk dances by six local Bahá’í youth.
Iran
Institution members meet on Plan goals[edit]
The Hands of the Cause of God Shu’á’u’lláh ‘Alá’í, ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá, and Abu’l-Qásim Faizí inaugurated a successful Inter-Assembly Conference sponsored by the Continental Board of Counsellors in Western Asia December 11-13. Regrettably, The Hand of the Cause of God Jalál Kházeh was ill and could not attend, but he sent a much appreciated message of love.
At the Temple land in Ṭihrán, in a hall built for the Summer School, 42 representatives of 10 National Spiritual Assemblies, 12 Auxiliary Board members and a number of their assistants, and 29 representatives of national committees conferred.
The purpose of the conference was to formulate means for the rapid completion of the goals of the Five Year Plan. Participants made commitments to support pioneers and traveling teachers, and, though few in number, made a significant contribution to various Bahá’í funds. Some gave their entire savings.
Some sessions were devoted to youth and children. Audio-visual aids were displayed and films shown. It was resolved to hold two conferences during 1976, in Iran and Pakistan, one before and one after the International Teaching Conferences.
The guidance and inspiration of the Hands of the Cause were much appreciated. In one session, Mr. Faizí said that a man lost in the desert and dying of thirst would give all he owned for a cup of water. But for the second cup, he wouldn’t give a dime. The dying world is in need of the first cup, the water of life. This is the time for the Bahá’ís to inform the people of the world that the pure crystal water of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is flowing.
Ṭihrán conference nets many pledges[edit]
Believers from more than 11 nations gathered at a National Teaching Conference in Tehran October 23-24 and pledged 235 traveling-teaching trips. Inspired by the Hands of the Cause of God Sh’á’u’lláh ‘Alá’í, Ugo Giachery, and ‘Alí-Muḥammad Varqá, the friends resolved to bring the Faith to the attention of at least 5,000 people through individual firesides.
Borrah Kavelin, member of The Universal House of Justice, was also present, along with all three Continental Counsellors in Western Asia, members of the National Spiritual Assembly, and representatives of more than 100 Local Spiritual Assemblies.
Six regional teaching plans were made.
Ireland
Tralee becomes 10th Local Spiritual Assembly[edit]
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tralee was formed December 14. The total number of Local Assemblies in Ireland is now 10, and the Bahá’ís of Ireland are working toward the formation of two more Assemblies by Riḍván.
The formation of the Tralee Assembly was the result of a teaching conference held in Dunlaoghaire where 19 friends arose to pioneer on the Irish homefront.
The Bahá’ís of Ireland are finding increased receptiveness to the Faith in their country. Youth are active teachers and settlers.
Kenya
Holy Day marked by teaching trek[edit]
Some Kenyan Bahá’ís walked 15 miles to observe a celebration for the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. As they walked through the villages, they announced that they were going to celebrate the Bahá’í Holy Day, thus impressing their neighbors with the fact that the Faith is an independent religion.
The celebration, held in Givogi Bahá’í Center, South Tiriki, Kakamega District, was attended by Auxiliary Board member Festus Shayo, an assistant to the Auxiliary Board, and about 200 other Bahá’ís. The center had been decorated with flowers by the host Local Spiritual Assembly.
After devotions, a period of consultation stressed the importance of the International Teaching Conference to be held in Nairobi in October. The friends returned home with an increased commitment to help strengthen Assemblies and Groups.
Laos
Crops are planted at Bahá’í properties[edit]
The spacious backyard of the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of Vientiane is now a vegetable and fruit garden, in accordance with a government order that property be used to facilitate the “green revolution.” This widespread cultivation of food is helping the economy of Laos.
Youth of Vientiane, under the supervision of the National Youth and Children Committee, have re-cleared the Temple site outside of Vientiane, surrounded it with barbed wire, and are preparing to plant a garden there. A team of youths works on the land every Saturday. When the project is finished, a well will be built to supply water for the crops.
Youth are taking an increasingly active part in Bahá’í community life in Laos, especially since the first Youth Training Institute last summer. They conduct youth deepenings and children’s classes at the National Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds each Sunday. Non-Bahá’í children also attend the classes.
The youth survey teaching progress, plan expansion programs, and visit inactive youth. The generosity of a local believer has helped the Youth Committee
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hire a vehicle to transport the young teachers.
Teaching has also been stimulated by a three-member team which visits Local Spiritual Assemblies, helping them implement the deepening program of the National Teaching Committee. Meetings for women and children have also been launched by the team, especially in villages with no regular children’s classes, and the National Assembly reports that women are becoming more and more active.
Leeward, Virgin Islands
Gregory Award presented to St. Croix citizen[edit]
Dr. Randall James, above, was presented the Louis G. Gregory Human Rights Day Award in December by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Christiansted. Below, Mrs. James is presented with flowers at the awards presentation.
The Local Spiritual Assembly of Christiansted, St. Croix, honored a beloved citizen of St. Croix, Randall James, with the presentation of a Louis G. Gregory Human Rights Day Award on December 10. Doc James, as he is affectionately called, is a selfless general practitioner who also sponsors a youth talent group and a radio show which fosters unity.
The St. Croix Assembly honored Doc James at a dinner to which 120 political, civic, and business leaders were invited. At the dinner, Doc James received a mahogany plaque made by a St. Croix craftsman, and his wife was presented with flowers.
The banquet program included tributes to Doc James by the distinguished guests. Praising him were the chairman of the St. Croix Board of Education, a former senator, the assistant commissioner of health, a noted writer, a Catholic priest, the director of the new airport, and many other prominent people. Bahá’í prayers were read, and a brief statement on the Faith was given. Some of the guests requested prayer books, and Doc James requested literature.
The week after the banquet, Doc James’ brother, filling in on the doctor’s radio show, spent the full half-hour describing the event. “These are some of the Bahá’ís of Christiansted,” he said, listing names. “You may know some of them.”
Other radio stations read press releases about the banquet. A disc jockey in Fredericksted broadcast a story on the event at least twice, with soft jazz music in the background.
A photographer from one of the newspapers covered the banquet, and his paper published a long story with pictures. In all four St. Croix papers, the event received double coverage because one of the guests released his own news story; a clarifying letter from the Bahá’ís resulted in other stories.
Traveling teachers find warm response[edit]
Beneath a street light on the island of Montserrat, five Bahá’í teachers were singing; children appeared out of the darkness, followed by adults who came down from their mountain homes to learn of the Faith. The next evening, the Bahá’ís were teaching in another part of the island. This was a new experience for traveling teachers Ray and Edna Fechtner from Libertyville, Illinois, who traveled through the Leeward Islands during November and December. They followed an itinerary planned by the National Teaching Committee of the Leeward and Virgin Islands.
Neighbors of Bahá’í pioneers on Montserrat were especially friendly. The Fechtners played with, read to, and talked with the children. The pioneers, Craig and Elizabeth Owens, live in an impoverished area. Yet the neighbors came every day bringing treats from their own meager food supply.
At the Galley Bay Surf Club in Antigua, which is owned by a Bahá’í, Edee Holbert,
Traveling teachers to Montserrat found that Clifford, at right, wanted to go to every fireside. As soon as he entered the house, Clifford picked up a book of Bahá’í prayers and poured over it, attempting to read the words.
the Fechtners mingled with the guests and encouraged them to read the Bahá’í literature which the owner places in all the rooms. They later saw guests relaxing on the beach and reading Bahá’í books.
The traveling teachers found that the natives were pleased that they had traveled so far just to tell them of the Bahá’í Faith. The Fechtners found that it is hard to secure work permits in the islands, so retired people with incomes would make excellent pioneers.
The beauty of the islands, with their multi-co bougainvillea blossoms, red, 12-foot high poinsettias, brilliant sunshine, and warm sea, is a fitting background to the gentle ways of the natives whose hearts and minds are open and waiting.
Popular Bahá’í TV show is expanded[edit]
Barbara Joyce, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Leeward and Virgin Islands, interviews Roy Massey, a traveling teacher from Dallas, Texas, on the first regularly scheduled Bahá’í television show in the West Indies.
Titled “The Bahá’í Television Program,” the show had its premiere on December 7 and is scheduled every Sunday afternoon. The show has been so successful that the station asked the Bahá’ís to extend the time from 15 to 30 minutes each week. The format varies from week to week, sometimes using films or slides and sometimes being a talk show or interview.
Mr. Massey was on an extended teaching trip throughout the French Antilles and appeared on two television shows and five radio programs. There were articles and photographs about his trip for the Faith in six major newspapers of the area.
Article by Bahá’í printed in St. Kitts[edit]
An article titled “I Found the Bahá’í Faith,” by a young West Indian Bahá’í, appeared in The Democrat, a newspaper at Basseterre, St. Kitts, Leeward Islands, November 1.
Albert N. Millington’s article described his first encounter with the Faith and his acceptance of it as the fulfillment of his spiritual longing. It included passages from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
“As a Bahá’í I have learned to respect all mankind,” Mr. Millington wrote. “I learn to love other religions. The Bahá’í Faith makes me feel that I am one of God’s children and that ... I am wanted and useful in the world. It gives the sense of wholeness and it makes me just one proud and happy person ... It gives me courage to face the problems of the world.”
Malawi
Young traveling teachers join in new project[edit]
Traveling teacher Jergen Aiff of South Africa, left, is pictured with George Mpyaila, Suzanne Locke, Ramuncy Namukopwe, and Richard Kachiza.
The International Traveling Teaching Project in Malawi, newly developed by the International Teaching Center in Haifa, is going forward with great success. Several youth from other countries assisted in Malawi, and a youth from Malawi went to Zambia for several months.
Jergen Aiff of South Africa spent three weeks in Malawi deepening many Assemblies in villages and assisting with the elections for delegates to Malawi’s National Convention. Michael Servina of the Seychelles Islands visited Malawi for a week, enhancing his efforts with his guitar. Richard Hainsworth of England was in Malawi during January and February. He spent most of his time in the bush, assisting with delegate elections.
George Mpyaila went from Malawi to Zambia and assisted with the formation of several new Assemblies. He also helped open new localities to the Faith.
Malaysia
National Assembly sets 1976 Plan deadline[edit]
After conferring with the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, the National Spiritual Assembly announced that all Five Year Plan Goals for Malaysia should be accomplished by November 1976. Dr. Muhájir met with the Bahá’ís at the Bahá’í Center November 17 and the stirring new teaching plan began.
Goals for Malaysian Bahá’ís are: send pioneers to Thailand, Bangladesh, and the Philippines; increase teaching among Chinese-speaking people; increase the number of believers by 2,000; and buy five district Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds and five local Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, large enough for conferences.
Mauritius
Forum on Women shown on television[edit]
The National Women’s Committee of the Bahá’ís of Mauritius sponsored a forum on the status of women on September 6
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Lea Nys (right), Bahá’í international traveling teacher, is pictured above with R. Poonoosamy, minister for women’s affairs, and H. Tirvengadum, chairman of the Administrative Commission of Quatre-Bornes, at a forum on the status of women. At left, Mrs. Nys speaks at one of the public meetings while she was in Mauritius.
in Quatre-Bornes. Speakers were R. Poonoosamy, minister for women’s affairs; H. Tirvengadum, chairman of the Administrative Commission of the municipality of Quatre-Bornes, and Léa Nys, Bahá’í international traveling teacher.
The forum was advertised in the newspaper, and personal invitations were sent to government officials, diplomats, leading citizens of Mauritius, and the press. One day before the event, Mrs. Nys was interviewed on television.
Television cameras recorded the forum, and it was shown as a news item. About 250 people attended. Mrs. Poonoosamy praised the Faith; described the United Nations conference on women in Mexico City, stressing its diversity; and mentioned plans for women in Mauritius during the decade of Women and Development, 1975-1985, which was proclaimed by the conference,
Mrs. Nys then spoke of the immortal heroine, Táhirih, and her own recent travels in Africa. She explained how the African women are participating in all levels of Bahá’í life and showed the impact of the Faith on the emancipation of women. Mr. Tirvengadum then gave an address on the social evolution of women.
Mrs. Nys stayed for another 10 days after the forum. She met the governor-general of Mauritius and the chief justice and presented a volume of The Bahá’í World to each. She also met and had a long fireside with a senior minister of the government.
She taught in villages, met the National Teaching Committee, and attended a youth gathering and a teaching conference. She spoke at two well-advertised public meetings and inspired the Bahá’ís with wonderful stories of her teaching trips.
Pakistan
Teaching results in 900 enrollments[edit]
Recent teaching in the Tharparkar District of Pakistan was very fruitful. Nine hundred people enrolled.
Human Rights Day was celebrated in Karachi and Hyderabad December 10 in the Bahá’í Halls. Distinguished speakers included Asrar Hussain Siddiqi, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly; Qubuddin Aziz, director of the United Press of Pakistan; and Professor Manzoor Ahmed of the Karachi University.
United Nations Day was observed in Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, and Lahore. The symposiums at Karachi and Hyderabad had large audiences. In Hyderabad, Auxiliary Board member A.C. Joshi spoke and chaired the meeting; also speaking were the director of the Board of Education and a professor from the University of Sind. All three talks were broadcast by Radio Pakistan.
A gala party celebrated the opening of the newly-built Bahá’í Center in New Karachi. Construction of the center achieved a goal of the Five Year Plan. Mr. Joshi cut the ribbon to officially open the center, and his fellow Auxiliary Board member, Mehrban Jamshedi, addressed the Bahá’ís.
Panama
Mr. Dunbar speaks at Center, hotel[edit]
Counselor Hooper Dunbar of the International Teaching Center in Haifa spent time in Panama during his recent two-month teaching trip.
Bahá’ís gathered for a session with Mr. Dunbar at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds December 18. He explained how The Universal House of Justice deliberates, consults, and makes decisions. At times the individual members do not know why they made a certain decision, but they know that the decisions they make as a body come from God. All of their meetings are tremendous acts of faith. And all messages from The Universal House of Justice are from God.
He also stressed the need to form, educate, and deepen Local Spiritual Assemblies. A weekly prayer session is a good initial activity for a new Assembly, he said.
Mr. Dunbar also addressed nearly 100 Bahá’ís and guests in the Salon Washington of El Panama Hotel December 16. He emphasized the world’s need for guidance, saying that materialism without spiritual understanding has damaged individuals and nations. The remedy, he said, is the love of God and the recognition of the immortality of the soul.
Philippines
Four-month teaching plan is launched[edit]
Inspired by advice from the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmátu’lláh Muhájir, the National Spiritual Assembly initiated a four-month teaching plan with 14 regional conferences in December. The January-April plan calls for special teaching work in 32 localities, with major
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Bahá’ís at Los Banos attended one of 14 regional teaching conferences held in December in the Philippines.
goals of bringing entire families into the Faith and increasing teaching in tribal areas. The great gains anticipated during this plan will carry the Philippines toward a joyous completion of the Five Year Plan.
Dr. Muhájir visited the islands in November during a national conference. He stressed the concept of family teaching; when one member of a family becomes a Bahá’í, the entire family should be lovingly informed. Bahá’ís gathered for the first conferences of the four-month plan in the Benguet area, Debebe, Occidental Mindoro, Los Banos, Kiangan, Isabela, Balungao, Davao, Kitapawan, Cagayan de Oro City, Appari, Bacolod, Cebu City, and Tacloban City.
Puerto Rico
Radio-TV workshop on Caribbean held[edit]
The Bahá’í Radio and Television Committee of Puerto Rico sponsored the first Caribbean Radio and Television Workshop for Bahá’ís in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, December 25-28.
Thirty-four believers from 13 countries and islands, representing nine National Spiritual Assemblies, attended the sessions which lasted from early morning until late at night.
Objectives of the workshop were to share ideas and concepts of Bahá’í programming; to cultivate production techniques for radio and television; to foster acquaintance with the media; and to develop international collaboration.
The sessions were filled with a spirit of comradeship that grew out of the shared experience of similar professions. This feeling, with the ever-growing Bahá’í unity, resulted in a wonderful exchange of diverse points of view.
Samoa
Many cultures present at women’s congress[edit]
Bahá’í women of the South Pacific met for a Women’s Congress organized by the Local Spiritual Assembly of Maré December 20-21. Representatives from various island communities arrived on Friday, December 19. Women from the Yate community were assisted in paying their expenses by youth traveling teachers and Yatian friends who, in a work project, gathered and sold dry coconuts.
Marean seekers were welcome, and they came bringing contributions of ignames, sugar, and other vegetables, in accordance with their custom. They attended classes and ate with the Bahá’ís. On Saturday night the whole village saw “It’s Just the Beginning.”
The classes were short and were presented by women from different cultures. French-speaking Bahá’ís noticed that explanations of the Faith in the local language were invaluable.
Mr. Tehrani meets with Noumea Bahá’ís[edit]
The Bahá’ís of Noumea met with traveling teacher Mr. Tehrani during December. After pioneering for 16 years in Japan, Mr. Tehrani is now settled in Samoa.
The friends enjoyed an evening of interesting stories about the early days of the Faith in Iran. Mr. Tehrani’s father became a Bahá’í in the days of Bahá’u’lláh. He was a wrestler who could not read or write. When he heard someone read the Hidden Words, he immediately became a Bahá’í and told his family and friends of his new Faith. Then he had to leave his village under threat of death; he went to Ṭihrán.
An outstanding Bahá’í then asked Mr. Tehrani’s father to take a letter to Bahá’u’lláh. He set out immediately. At the Persian border, he was stopped and questioned by custom officials. He evaded their questions: if they asked where he was going, he told them where he was coming from. Finally, they decided he must be a fool and let him pass. He traveled to the Holy Land and spent three months in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh and the Master.
Switzerland
[edit]
The presence of the Hand of the Cause of God Ugo Giachery, members of many European National Spiritual Assemblies, Auxiliary Board members, and Mrs. Giachery, inspired the 300 friends at the Swiss Winter School in December.
Dedicated to the memory of the beloved Guardian, the school was the gathering place for Bahá’ís from five continents, who met in the shadow of the mountains which were cherished places of peace and beauty for Shoghi Effendi.
The school was blessed with four declarations and supported by newspaper articles, radio publicity, public meetings, and an interview with the mayor of Lausanne.
A copy of The Bahá’í World, Vol. XIV, was recently presented to another distinguished
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Taiwan
Family life subject of women’s institute[edit]
A Women’s Institute was held on December 25 at the Tainan Bahá’í Center to provide an opportunity for a discussion of the place of the Faith in family life. Most of the communities in Southern Taiwan were represented; 26 adults and 12 children attended.
The program included workshops for children and a talk by Auxiliary Board member Roxanne Gardner, standing extreme right in the second row, on “Women in the Bahá’í Faith.”
citizen of Lausanne, Professor Carl A. Keller, a theologian at the Universities of Lausanne and Neuchâtel. And the Bahá’í Students Association of Zürich has planned a year-long series of events. One of their activities is a monthly round-table talk; each month a Bahá’í scholar presents a scientific theme in the light of the Bahá’í Teachings.
Trinidad and Tobago
First Youth conference is held at Mayoro[edit]
Beach houses at Mayoro, on the eastern coast of Trinidad, were the location for the first National Bahá’í Youth Conference of Trinidad and Tobago, November 28-30. In collaboration with the Continental Board of Counsellors and the Auxiliary Board member for Trinidad, the National Spiritual Assembly and the Bahá’í Youth Committee planned the event which was attended by 70 youth, including some from Iran, Alaska, Surinam, Guyana, St. Vincent, Venezuela, and Grenada.
Beneath a banner reading “Heroes of the Past and Future,” the youth gathered to study the lives of youthful heroes and martyrs. About 17 youth adopted specific individual goals to be achieved by Riḍván.
Participants also enjoyed swimming in the ocean, outdoor games, a talent night, and frequent singing. “The love and spirit of unity prevailing throughout this conference was truly remarkable,” reported Auxiliary Board member Laurence Coward. “There was full participation by all.”
Uganda
Mr. Olinga tours Western Province[edit]
The Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga, with Mrs. Olinga and Auxiliary Board member Peter Mutabazi, recently visited the Bunyoro and Semuliki districts of the Western Province of Uganda.
The numerous meetings addressed by Mr. Olinga attracted audiences of from 100 to 800 Bahá’ís and friends. Within three days, approximately 52 new believers were enrolled in Semuliki; 35 of whom are youth. Another 150 persons declared later.
One heartwarming highlight of the journey was a visit to the Pygmy village at Ntandi. The Pygmy Bahá’ís warmly greeted the guests, and after a meeting, six more Pygmies became Bahá’ís. One young woman signed the declaration form with her thumb-print. As she walked proudly from the hut, she smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Olinga and said in Swahili: “We like the Bahá’ís.”
The journey of Mr. and Mrs. Olinga and Mr. Mutabazi was covered by radio announcements in English and in vernacular languages. A letter from the governor informed tribal chiefs about Mr. Olinga and his companions, and the chiefs assisted in organizing the meetings.
As well as seizing every chance to proclaim the Faith to the public, Mr. Olinga met with many government officials. Most of them had visited the Bahá’í Temple at Kikaya Hill, Kampala, Uganda, but they were basically uninformed about the Faith. The Hand of the Cause briefed them
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on the Faith and answered their questions and gave them Bahá’í books.
The Uganda Broadcasting Corporation also carried, in English and in the principal vernacular languages, free announcements of local observances of the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. And a Bahá’í exhibition and literature display in the Uganda Museum in Kampala, which was scheduled to last two weeks, remained on view for three weeks at the request of the exhibition officer of the Museum.
About 2,000 people visited the exhibit each day, and on Sundays, the number grew to between 4,000 and 5,000.
The book display, which was officially opened by the commissioner for community development, Philip Wabulya, was the subject of two long articles in The Voice of Uganda newspaper. One article quoted Mr. Wabulya: “The Bahá’ís have assisted through social services, teaching, and education... The Ministry pays great tribute to religious organizations like the Bahá’í Faith which endeavor to bring all sects together to work for the unity of all.”
The second article, by Zulf Khallan, stated: “Bahá’u’lláh’s religion, in my opinion, is the answer to the philosophical argument that religion is a divisive force in this world. The Bahá’í Faith is mainly concerned with the elimination of contradictions which appear to divide the world along religious, political, racial, and linguistic lines.”
United Kingdom
24-hour prayer vigil held in goal town[edit]
“The Destiny of Bahá’í Youth” and “The Authority of Bahá’u’lláh” were the titles of keynote addresses by Continental Counsellor Betty Reed at the Winter Bahá’í Youth Institute in Oakham, United Kingdom.
The institute took place near a goal town, Melton Mowbray, and the 46 participants visited the town and conducted a 24-hour prayer vigil there. They also toured the offices of the British Bahá’í Publishing Trust.
Lancaster Local Spiritual Assembly is formed[edit]
The first Local Spiritual Assembly of the District of Lancaster, England, was formed on November 6. Left to right, seated: Lyn Holmes, Robert Parry, Gerd Conrad-Armes, and Madeline Hellaby; standing: David Conrad-Armes, Robina Hodgson, Peter Smith, Bill Hellaby, and Sammireh Smith.
United States
Teaching program launched in South[edit]
Messages from The Universal House of Justice and the National Spiritual Assembly heightened the enthusiasm of the friends for the new Southern teaching program announced at the Louis Gregory Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina, January 24.
“Supplicating Bahá’u’lláh guide inspire their endeavors awaken spirit service hearts mass of believers so recently won His cause,” The Universal House of Justice cabled. The new teaching plan was launched with the help of the Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir who traveled through the South during January and February. “We are prepared for greater victories than have yet been recorded,” wrote the National Assembly.
The new program calls for special projects in states with nine or more Local Assemblies: South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia. States with the goal of raising their number of Assemblies to nine are: Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Delaware.
Dr. Muhájir visited 12 cities and the Cherokee Indian Reservation. After a meeting in Columbia, South Carolina, a group of Bahá’ís went to Rock Hill, which was a mass-teaching area in 1970. There, a declaration completed the enrollment of Rock Hill’s first all-Bahá’í family.
After the meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, there were seven declarations in one weekend.
Dr. Muhájir came to the South from a tour of California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Canada, and Alaska. He then went to Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
His visit to the United States was the continuation of an extensive global circuit.
In Bangladesh, regular firesides were held every evening of his stay in November, and in just one evening, 10 people declared. Dr. Muhájir also visited refugee camps, telling the homeless ones of the sufferings of Bahá’u’lláh.
In Indonesia, he greeted pioneers and native believers; in Korea, he met with the National Spiritual Assembly and helped
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The Hand of the Cause of God Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, at right in picture above, meets with some of the believers at the Louis Gregory Institute as a new Southern teaching program was launched.
them draw up a plan of action. “Winter in Korea is a paradise for Bahá’í teachers,” he said, “because all the farmers and students have three to four months’ holiday.”
In Hong Kong, Dr. Muhájir encouraged shared teaching efforts with Malaysian Bahá’ís, and in Hawaii 10 Bahá’ís volunteered for traveling teaching continuously until Riḍván.
Displays set up at transportation centers[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States continued the largest advertising campaign it has ever undertaken with exhibits and dioramas in five airports and a large train station. The displays were set up February 1 and remained in place all month.
Exhibits were in O’Hare Airport in Chicago, Penn Central Station in New York City, and Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Dioramas were in New York’s La Guardia, and airports in Dallas, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia. A toll-free number was provided with each display so inquirers could immediately call the Bahá’í National Center for information.
The displays were intended to inform business people of the Faith, as they make up the mass of daily travelers. However, the two Bahá’ís from the National Center
Exhibits honoring the Bicentennial of the United States were placed in three transportation centers in February by the National Spiritual Assembly. At right, a skycap studies the messages on the exhibit at Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. Below, a commuter is drawn to the exhibit at Penn Central Station in New York City.
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who erected the exhibits in New York and Washington noticed that many of the workers were interested in and grateful for the colorful, pleasing appearance of the modules. They said that many of the people they greeted had heard of the Faith.
In New York, a man from Panama was surprised to learn of the strength of the Faith in this country. He had seen the Panama House of Worship and had known a pioneer in Panama for 10 years but didn’t realize that the Faith was so well-established in the United States.
In Dulles Airport, which serves many tour groups, the exhibits were frequently photographed by tourists. In O’Hare, the exhibits were in a wing that serves Southern, Delta, and American Airlines. The planes are frequented by travelers to and from the South, so the displays in Chicago supported the newly-launched Southern Teaching project.
The advertising campaign began with an ad in the Bicentennial issue of Life magazine, honoring the 200th birthday of the United States. The magazine had a circulation of one million. Many more than a million people saw the exhibits; it is estimated that combined monthly traffic at O’Hare and Penn Central is at least six million.
The exhibits, which have the same color-scheme and tone of presentation as the ad, are emerald green rectangular modules with color transparencies, including one of the House of Worship, and introductory text. Even in display space with dim lighting, such as Penn Central Station, the exhibits were easily and attractively visible because they are lighted within to illuminate the transparencies.
The dioramas are 42 x 60 inch transparencies. A new edition of Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, which has an emerald green cover with a color picture of the Temple, shares this visual theme.
The exhibits will be used again in May in Washington, D.C., and at a major Eucharistic gathering in Philadelphia, Pa. The dioramas will be displayed in May at 10 regional airports. After the Bicentennial year, the displays will be modified for continued proclamation.
Centers acquired by New York, San Francisco[edit]
Five Year Plan goals for New York City, New York, and San Francisco, California, were filled when those cities purchased Bahá’í Centers. The sale of the New York City center was finalized January 12; San Francisco Bahá’ís finalized their purchase December 1.
Both cities occupy important positions in the early history of the Faith in the United States. New York has been a major Bahá’í community since the turn of the century. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá toured the United States in 1912, He spent much of His time in New York and named it the city of the Covenant, for there He established for the United States believers an understanding of the significance of the Covenant.
San Francisco was one of the first Bahá’í communities of the western U.S. In fact, the historic acquisition of the San Francisco Center was made possible by a trust fund left by Ella Goodall Cooper, who, with her mother Helen Goodall, was instrumental in building a firm foundation for the Faith in San Francisco. The Bahá’ís of San Francisco call the center “A Gift of Love,” in honor of Mrs. Cooper. Located at 170 Valencia Street, the center is in the city’s Mission District, near the Mission Delores, the Spanish settlement which grew into San Francisco. The neighborhood is largely Spanish-speaking, but other cultures are well-represented.
New York’s center is also ideally located. It is near the home of Juliet Thompson where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá first revealed for Miss Thompson and Lua Getsinger the power of His station as the Center of the Covenant, and where He named Lua the Herald of the Covenant. Around the corner from that home is the Church of the Ascension, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a moving talk. And the neighborhood of the center, which is at 53 East 11th Street, is in the heart of Manhattan, New York’s central borough. It is a hub of cultural activity, near New York University, with a large population of youth from all backgrounds and nations.
The New York Center is fully equipped to present programs that will attract its neighbors. It has a theater with a fully equipped stage, including facilities for slide and movie projection. It has ample space for offices, classes, and recreational activities.
The National Spiritual Assembly will be using some of the office space in the New York Center to facilitate its work with the press, radio, and television in New York.
The San Francisco Center will also be well able to meet teaching and consolidation needs. It has an auditorium that seats 500, classroom and office space, recreation space, and a dining room and kitchen. Bahá’ís and friends in San Francisco began activities in their “Gift of Love” with a joyous open house December 2.
This is the new Bahá’í Center at San Francisco, the purchase of which was made possible by a trust fund left by Ella Goodall Cooper. The attractive building is located at 170 Valencia Street, in the city’s Mission District.
Pioneers to fill 19 more Plan goals[edit]
Pioneers headed for Sierra Leone, Portugal, the Falkland Islands, the Bahamas, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Tanzania, Colombia, Uruguay, Japan, Ecuador, Guyana, Tonga, Guatemala, Trinidad, and the Philippines met at a Pioneering Institute in Wilmette, Illinois, January 22-25. They were addressed by the Hands of the Cause of God Dhikrulláh Khádem and Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir, Continental Counsellor Edna True, and other distinguished speakers.
When these Bahá’ís arrive at their posts, they will have completed Five Year Plan pioneering goals in seven countries; they will fill a total of 19 goals. Dr. Muhájir asked some of them, “Don’t I know you?” He had met them in Japan, Africa, and South America. He has circled the globe many times on teaching trips, and he always remembers the faces of the pioneers.
He had met Beth and Frederick Laws in Africa. After nearly 20 years in the Faith, the Laws pioneered to Nairobi during the 10 Year Crusade. When the Guardian requested that believers in cities with more than 15 Bahá’ís disperse, Mr. and Mrs. Laws went to Basutoland. They were adopted into a tribe there and given a name which means “Lovers of Mankind.” Their granddaughter is now a homefront settler on an Indian Reservation in Wapato, Washington. The Laws will fill a pioneering post in Tanzania.
The Hand of the Cause Dhikrulláh Khádem, at left, addresses a group of pioneers who attended a special institute at the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. This latest group of pioneers will fill 19 goals of the Five Year Plan.
The radiance of the pioneers increased as the institute progressed. The inspiring
classes, the opportunity to pray in the Holiest House of Worship, and the practical information available gave them support and encouragement.
Windward Islands
Carib India chief receives Bahá’í literature[edit]
Carib Indian Chief Mas Clam receives The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh from a teaching team under the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Windward Islands. Left to right are Evette Clark, Erith Elcock, Patricia Paccassi, Anthony Providence, Mas Clam, Mrs. Clam, Mona George, and Auxiliary Board member Shirley Yarbrough. The picture was taken in August. The proclamation completed a goal of the Five Year Plan.
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New Books
Mr. Balyúzi’s book on Muḥammad, Islám will be published[edit]
Muḥammad and the Course of Islám by the Hand of the Cause of God Ḥasan Balyúzí, an important one-volume work which comprises a full biography of the Prophet and a history of Islám from the years of His mission to the nineteenth century, will be published in March.
Bahá’ís will find in it, the publisher says, the authentic material they need to identify persons, realize the circumstances in which various surahs of the Qur’án were revealed, and understand the many references to Islám in Bahá’í Writings.
In a letter written by the Guardian’s secretary on his behalf to an American Bahá’í Summer School Committee on August 24, 1939, it was stressed that a study of Islám “is absolutely indispensable” in order to attain “a proper and sound understanding of the Cause.”
In succeeding years, study courses were devised, chapters about Muḥammad and Islám were included in several books, articles appeared in Bahá’í publications, and Stanwood Cobb wrote his useful Islamic Contributions to Civilization.
But it is only now that a full-scale biography of Muḥammad, together with a history of Islám, has become available in one 480-page volume. The book includes 16 pages of illustrations and maps.
It comes from the pen of a Bahá’í who is equipped, by virtue of his immersion in the cultures of East and West, to give the student the right approach toward the proper understanding and evaluation of Islám.
Mr. Balyúzí spent about a decade in writing, not continuously but at intervals. His other works include The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The Hand of the Cause of God Abu’l-Qásim Faizí, who saw a draft of the new book last year, said: “The welcome news of the publication of the book written by Mr. Balyúzí on the Prophet Muḥammad and Islám was a source of great happiness for me. I have felt the need of such a publication for a very long time because there is a great need for accurate knowledge of the fundamental verities, history, and laws of the religion of Islám.... I whole-heartedly congratulate the writer and the publishers for providing us with such a long-awaited treasure-house of knowledge on a subject that has never really received from Western scholars and writers the objective and accurate treatment it deserves.”
The book will be available soon through many Bahá’í Publishing Trusts. It may also be ordered from the publisher, George Ronald, 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 2DN, England. The cost of the book is $14.75.
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Don Rufino Fuentes, a Mayan Bahá’í, at the ruins of Uxmal.
Bahá’í Proclamation and Deepening Film[edit]
An artist, a mechanic, a field laborer, an accounting manager, a policeman, a hospital administrator — what have these people in common? They’re Bahá’ís and they appear in a new Bahá’í film, Paso a Paso, produced by Kiva Films.
The film, which is titled Step by Step in English, depicts the growth of the Bahá’í Faith among Indians, blacks, and Latins in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Panama. Unified by their common belief in Bahá’u’lláh and His Message, these persons comment on their faith and what it means to them.
These native teachers share their views on such widely varying topics as prophecy, the unity of mankind, world peace, universal governing institutions, and a divine civilization. Simply, clearly, and directly they discuss how the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is unifying all mankind, step by step, through the infusion of Divine Love.
Feasts, the local Spiritual Assembly, elections, and other aspects of Bahá’í administration are explained.
In addition, the 29-minute, color-and-sound film mentions ancient Mayan prophecies concerning world peace, the Return, and a spiritual revival, and relates these to the newest Bahá’í House of Worship in Panama. It complements two earlier films, El Alba and The Dedication. Designed for television use, this new film is also suited to public meetings and other proclamation events. The film is also universally suitable for teaching and deepening.
How to Get the Film[edit]
To obtain rental information and purchase prices, write to your publishing trust or national Bahá’í distributor. If you do not know the name and address of the one serving your area, you may send your inquiry to the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre, 1640 Holcomb Road, Victor, N.Y. 14564, U.S.A. for forwarding to the proper organization.
Specify Step by Step, Product Number 20672, for the English edition, or Paso a Paso, Product Number 20671, for the Spanish version.
