Bahá’í World/Volume 15/Essays and reviews

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[Page 765]PART SIX

LITERARY AND MUSICAL WORKS

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ESSAYS AND REVIEWS

1. THREE MOMENTOUS YEARS OF THE HEROIC AGE—1868-I87o

B} ADiB TAHIRZADIH

AT this particular juncture in the history of the Formative Age of the Faith, when the followers of Baha’u’llah in most parts of the world have, under the unerring guidance of the Universal House of Justice, embarked upon extensive programmes of proclamation designed to bring the Faith out of obscurity into the notice of the generality of mankind, it is most appropriate that we turn our hearts and souls to the events of a century ago when the King of Kings was issuing the remainder of His majestic summons to the kings and rulers of the world from the prison of ‘Akká.

In the summer of1868, through the intrigues of the Persian Ambassador in Turkey and the hostility of ‘Ali Pasha, Grand Vizir of the Sultan (of Turkey), Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned in the barracks of ‘Akká and confined to a small room which looked desolate and depressing. This room, the interior of which today is kept in good condition and is visited by innumerable pilgrims from all the world over, was, in the days of Baha’u’llah, uninhabitable and dilapidated. He Himself mentions in a Tablet that its floor was covered with thick dust, and what plaster remained on the ceiling was often falling down.

A number of officials, ill disposed, hateful, and unaccommodating, were commissioned to guard and isolate Him from the outside world. Thus Baha’u’llah, the Supreme Manifestation Of God#He at Whose advent “the hearts of the entire company” of God’s “Messengers and Prophets were proved”, “Whose presence” Moses “hath longed to attain”, for “Whose love” the spirit of Jesus “ascended to heaven”, “the beauty of Whose countenance” Muhammad “had yearned to behold”, and “for Whose sake” the Báb had “sacrificed” Himself—the Bearer of such a mighty Revelation, fallen into the hands of a perverse generation, being wronged and afflicted with calamities,

was now secluded within the walls ofa barracks designated by Him as the “Most Great Prison”.

The Cause He revealed, however, had by then been well established in the land of His birth. His followers after years of misfortune and uncertainty were reinvigorated, their faith strengthened and their souls galvanized.

At the time of Baha’u’llah’s arrival in the prison city of ‘Akká, well nigh six years had elapsed since the Most Great Festival had been ushered in through Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, when the whole creation was “immersed in the sea of purification” and the splendours of the light of His countenance broke upon the world.

The Cause of God had by then witnessed a prodigious outpouring ofdivine Revelation for five years in Adrianople, culminating in the historic proclamation of His Message in that land. The St’lriy—i-Muh’tk (SL’lrih of the Kings) had been revealed in a language of authority and power; through it the clarion call of a mighty King had been sounded and His claims fully asserted.

The Tablet described by Him as “the rumbling” of His proclamation, addressed to Nasiri’d—Din fiah of Persia, had been revealed though not yet delivered.

His first Tablet to Napoleon III, in which the sincerity of that monarch concerning His statement in defence of the oppressed among the Turks was tested, had been dispatched and received. The SUriy-i-Ra’is (Arabic), in which ‘Ali Pasha had been severely rebuked, and about which Baha’u’llah had testified that from the moment of its revelation “until the present day, neither hath the world been tranquilized, nor have the hearts of its people been at rest,” had been revealed and the prophecies it contained had been noted with awe and wonder.

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Now in ‘Akká, though confined to a cell and cut off from the body of the believers, the outpourings of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation did not cease. The ocean of His utterance continued to surge, and the “Tongue of Grandeur” spoke with authority and might. The Pen of the Most High directed its warnings and exhortations first to His immediate persecutors and then to some of the more outstanding monarchs of the world at that time.

BAHA’U’LLAH WARNS ‘ALi PAWA

Soon after His confinement in the prison barracks in 1868, Bahá’u’lláh addressed another Tablet of tremendous importance to ‘Ali Paflé, who had been an implacable enemy and the prime instigator of His banishment to the prison of ‘Akká, and who previously had been addressed by Him as Ra’is (i.e. Chief).

In this second Tablet (Persian), known as the Lawh-i-Ra’is, Bahá’u’lláh recounts with much tenderness and resignation the hardships and sufferings to which He and His companions had been subjected on their arrival in ‘Akká; describes very movingly the cruelties perpetrated by the guards in the prison; reminds the Grand Vizir that the Manifestations of God in every age had suffered at the hands of the ungodly; narrates a story for him of His own childhood, portraying in a dramatic way the instability and futility of this earthly life; counsels him not to rely on his pomp and glory as they would come to an end soon; reveals to him the greatness of this Revelation; points out his impotence to quench the fire of the Cause of God; admonishes him for the iniquities he had perpetrated; emphatically warns him that God’s chastisement would assail him from every direction and confusion overtake his peoples and government; and affirms that the wrath of God had so surrounded him that he would never be able to repent or make amends.

On this last point Mirza Aqa Jan, Bahá’u’lláh’s amanuensis, asked Baha’u’llah what would happen if‘Ali Péfla Changed his attitude and truly repented. Bahá’u’lláh’s emphatic response was that whatever had been revealed in the Lawh-i-Ra’is would inevitably be fulfilled, and if the whole world were to join together in order to change one word of that Tablet they would be impotent to do so.

A majestic contrast took place one hundred

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years later when passages from this very Tablet, depicting the rigours and hardships of the Most Great Prison, were chanted in the vicinity of Baha’u’llah’s Most Holy Tomb, in the presence of over two thousand of His followers gathered from every corner of the world to commemorate the centenary of the arrival in ‘Akká of the One Whom the world had wronged.

THE TABLET OF FU’AD

Another Tablet of great significance, the Tablet of Fu’ad, was revealed in 1869, soon after the premature death in Nice, France, 01‘ Fu’ad Pasha, the foreign minister of the Sultan and a faithful accomplice of the Prime Minister in bringing about the exile of Baha’u’llah to ‘Akká. It was revealed in honour of one of Bahá’u’lláh’s most devoted apostles, flayfl Kazim Samandar (father of the late Hand of the Cause of God Tarazu’llah Samandari). The following passage from it contains the clear prediction of the downfall of ‘Ali Pay and the Sultan himself: “Soon will We dismiss the one who was like unto him (i.e. ‘Ali Paflé), and will lay hold on their Chiel’ (i.e. the Sultan) who ruleth the land, and l, verily, am the Almighty, the All-Compelling." Soon after the revelation of the Tablet, ‘Ali Page: was dismissed from his post, and two years later he died.

In those days the believers in Persia often referred to Baha’u’llah’s newly revealed Tablets to the kings and rulers of the world, and many non—Bahá’ís made their acceptance of the Faith conditional upon the fulfilment of the warnings they contained.

MlRZA ABU’L-FADL’S SEARCH FOR TRUTH

A notable example is the case of Mirza’ Abu‘l-Fadl, the greatest of Bahá’í scholars. He was renowned for his knowledge and learning among the divines oflslam, and was the head of the Theological College in Tihran. His first contact with the Faith was through meeting a blacksmith who was a Bahá’í at his shop in the outskirts of Tihran. Never before had Mirzá Abu’l-Fadl been so humiliated as on this occasion, when, with all his knowledge, he was utterly confounded by the amazing force of the argument of this illiterate Bahá’í. The black [Page 769]ESSAYS AND REVIEWS

smith immediately reported this whole episode to a Bahá’í friend, ‘Abdu’l-Karim, who, although he did not belong to the learned class, pursued Mirza Abu’l-Fadl and eventually succeeded in bringing him to his house to discuss the Faith.

At this meeting, and subsequent ones, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, confronted with some simple Bahá’ís who were not of his calibre, found himself over and over again incapable of refuting the clear proofs and arguments put forward by his uneducated Bahá’í teachers. He marvelled at these men who answered his difficult and abstruse questions so simply and so brilliantly. From there on he visited more often the house of ‘Abdu’l-Karim. He read many of the Writings of Baha’u’llah and met many learned Bahá’ís, but his immense knowledge was a barrier and a veil.

One day in 1876 he met Haji Muhammad Isma‘il, surnamed Anis. Mirza Abu’l-Fadl was handed the original copy of this Sflrih in the very handwriting of Mirza Aqa Jan, Bahá’u’lláh’s amanuensis; the Tablet wherein Baha’u’llah foretells that Adrianople will pass out of the Sultan’s hand and that confusion will overtake his kingdom. He was also given the Tablet of Fu’ad, in which the downfall of the Sultan is clearly prophesied. Upon seeing these two Tablets Mirza Abu’l-Fadl made his acceptance of the Faith conditional upon the fulfilment of these prophecies.

His Bahá’í friends pursued him no longer. A few months passed and the news of the assassination of Sultan ‘Abdu’l—‘Aziz reached Tihran. On hearing the news Abu’l-Fadl became very agitated. His soul was yearning for confirmation of the truth of this Cause, and yet his heart was not touched by the light of faith. He sat the whole night, read some Tablets of Baha’u’llah, and prayed with absolute sincerity until his eyes were opened and he knew the truth of the Cause of God. At the hour of dawn he went to the house of that faithful friend ‘Abdu’l-Karim, and when the door was opened he kissed the threshold of that house and prostrated himself at the feet of the man who, through perseverance and love, had given him the gift of the Faith and led him to the truth.

It is no exaggeration to say that among the apostles of Baha’u’llah there was no one who surpassed Mirza Abu’l-Facll in his knowledge,

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his humility and self-effacement, ‘Ali-Kuli Khán, a well-known and learned Bahá’í who was commissioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to serve Mirza Abu’l—Fadl in America and act as his interpreter, has described him so well in these few lines: “IfI had never seen ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, I would consider Mirza Abu’l-Fadl the greatest being I ever laid eyes on.”

THE DOWNFALL OF A MONARCH AND A POPE

Let us turn our thoughts again to Bahá’u’lláh. Though captive in the hands of His enemies and cut off from the outside world, the Supreme Pen wrote many more Tablets in the prison of ‘Akká. In the year 1869 two important Tablets were revealed and delivered; one addressed to Napoleon III, in which Baha’u’llah explicitly foretells his extinction; the other to Pope Pius IX. Within almost a year’s time Napoleon, the most powerful monarch of his time in Europe, was driven into exile and suffered an ignominious death, while in the same year the supreme Pontiff’s temporal powers which had existed for many centuries, were seized from him and his vast dominion was reduced to the tiny Vatican State.

Parallel with these events and indeed, ever since Bahá’u’lláh had been sent to the prison of ‘Akká, the believers in Persia were desperately trying to establish contact with Him. Many travelled on foot all the way, but could not gain admittance to that city. The officials had taken many precautions in order to prevent the Bahá’ís from entering. The few Azalis, headed by the notorious Siyyid Muhammad Iṣfahání, who is described by the beloved Guardian as the “embodiment of wickedness”, were housed in a certain room overlooking the landgate. One of their functions was to watch for any Bahá’í who might wish to enter the city and to inform the guards. This they did with great zeal and enthusiasm. Many believers, even though they had disguised themselves, were recognized by these men and were not allowed to enter.

Every day a party consisting of a small number of Baha’u’llah’s companions, including ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was allowed out of the barracks in order to purchase food and other necessities in the markets of ‘Akká. The first time that the people of ‘Akká took notice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

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was in a butcher’s shop. While waiting to be served He noticed that a Christian and a Muslim were discussing their faiths, but the Muslim was being defeated. Thereupon, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá simply and eloquently proved the authenticity and truth of Islam for the Christian. The news of this spread and warmed the hearts of many people of ‘Akká towards the Master; this was the beginning of His immense popularity among the inhabitants of that city.

During these daily visits, the people of ‘Akká came in touch with the person of‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They felt His genuine love and compassion and were attracted to His magnetic personality. Gradually their fear and animosity towards Baha’u’llah and His followers were removed, and many became sympathetic to the Faith and its Founder. Some of these people who were attracted to the Faith tried, at times to help the believers, who were refused entry, by lowering ropes and pulling the believers up over the walls of the city—attempts which however were foiled by the guards.

The first two believers who managed to get into the city were Haji flab Muhammad and Haji Abu’l-Hasan, both from the province of Yazd. The former was the first Trustee of Baha’u’llah, and was martyred. The latter, known also as Haji Amin who succeeded him, lived to an old age and continued to be the Trustee of the Ḥuqúqu’lláh during the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and part of that of the Guardian. The dominating factor in the lives ofthese two heroes of the Faith was a passionate love for Baha’u’llah. In order to enter the city they bought some camels and disguised themselves as Arabs. No one recognized them as Bahá’ís, and they were allowed in.

In the city they met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the news of their arrival was conveyed to Baha’u’llah. Arrangements were made for them to meet Baha’u’llah in the public bath, but with the strict instructions that they show no signs of recognition or emotion. However, on beholding the face of his Beloved, Haji Amin was so overwhelmed that his body began to tremble. He fell to the ground and hit his head on a stone, was badly injured, and was hurriedly carried out by his friend.

The arrival in ‘Akká of these two souls, and a few others who managed to get in afterwards, established a vital link between the Com THEBAHA’lWORLD

munity of the Most Great Name and its exalted Founder, from Whom they were so cruelly cut off. Letters from the believers began to pour in, and Tablets were sent out. This process, which called for acts of sacrifice and heroism on the part of the many believers who risked their lives in order to maintain a two-way communication channel, continued throughout Baha’u’llah’s life. Men like Shayk_h Salman, honoured by the appellation of “the Messenger of the Merciful”, who in previous years hatl carried Baha’u’llah’s Tablets from ‘Iráq and Adrianople, continued in this arduous task, travelling on foot between ‘Akká and Persia, and, in the utmost poverty, eating mostly bread and onions for sustenance. This great hero of the Cause, though illiterate, stands out among the disciples of Baha’u’llah as one of the spiritual giants of this Dispensation.

BADl‘—THE HANDFUL OF DUST

About a year after Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in ‘Akká, a young Persian, aged seventeen, by the name of Aqa Buzurg, disguised himself as an Arab and entered the city. Although his father. a survivor of the upheaval of fiayfl Tabarsi, had been a devoted Bahá’í, Aqa Buzurg hac. shown no interest in the Faith until he met: Nabil in the city of Nishapt'ir, in northeasx. Persia, and was converted. He then decided to go and attain the presence of Baha’u’llah.

Upon his arrival in the city of ‘Akká in 1869 he began to roam around until he came to a mosque where he saw a few Persians and recognized the Master among them. He wrote a note, in which he declared his faith, and han-ded it to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who greeted him warm" ly and took him along with the party straight. to the barracks, where he was ushered into the presence of Baha’u’llah.

In a Tablet Mirzá Aqa Jan mentions that Aqa Buzurg was summoned twice to meet Baha’u’llah alone. It was in the course of these momentous audiences that the handsofBaha‘u’»llah created a new being and bestowed upor. him the title of Badi‘ (i.e. wonderful). For more than two years Baha’u’llah had been waiting; for a devoted soul to‘arise and deliver His. Tablet to Nasiri’d-Din Sháh of Persia.While ir Adrianople He had written some passages or the cover of the Tablet, anticipating that the Almighty would cause one of His servants to

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arise, detach himself from all earthly things, adorn his heart with the ornament of courage and strength, take the Tablet, walk all the way to the capital of Persia, hand it in the manner described by Him to the King, and in the end be prepared to give his life, if necessary, with great joy and thankfulness. “We took a handful of dust,” is Baha’u’llah’s own testimony referring to Badi‘, “mixed it with the waters of might and power and breathed into it the spirit ofassurance.”

In a Tablet revealed in honour of the father of Badi‘, who was also martyred a few years later, the Pen of the Most High, in great detail,

portrays the manner in which this new creation _

came into being. He describes that when the appointed time had arrived the Tongue of Grandeur uttered “one word” which caused his whole being to tremble, and that were it not for God’s protection he would have been dumbfounded. Then the Hand of Omnipotence began creating the new creation, and “breathed into him the spirit of might and power”. So great had been the infusion of this might, as attested by Baha’u’llah, that, single and alone, Badi‘ could have conquered all that is on earth and in heaven. Bahá’u’lláh mentions that when this new creation came into being, Badi‘ had smiled in His presence and manifested such steadfastness that the Concourse on high was deeply moved and uplifted.

In the same Tablet, referring to the loftiness of the station of Badi‘, He states that no Tablet can convey its significance nor any pen describe its glory. Badi‘ left the Most Great Prison and went to Haifa. Baha’u’llah entrusted Haji mm Muhammad Amin (His Trustee) with a small case and a Tablet to be delivered into the hands of Badi‘ at Haifa. The following is the story as recounted by this Trustee to an eminent Bahá’í historian.

“I was given a small case and was instructed to hand it to Badi‘ at Haifa together with some money. I did not know anything about the contents of the case. I met him at Haifa and gave him the glad tidings that he had been honoured with a trust . . . we left the town and walked up Mount Carmel where I handed him the case. He took it into his hands, kissed it, and knelt with his forehead to the ground; he also took the sealed envelope, walked twenty to thirty paces away from me, sat down facing

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‘Akká, read it, and again knelt with his forehead to the ground. The rays of ecstasy and the signs of gladness and joy appeared on his face.

“I asked him if I could read the Tablet also. He replied, ‘There is no time’. I knew it was a confidential matter. But what it was I had no idea—l could not imagine such a mission.

“I mentioned that we had better go to Haifa, in order that, as instructed, I might give him some money. He declined to go with me, but suggested that I could go alone and bring it to him.

“When I returned, in spite of much searching, I could not find him. He had gone. . . We had no news ofhim until we heard ofhis martyrdom in Tihran. Then I knew that the case contained the Tablet of Baha’u’llah to the fléh, and the sealed envelope, a holy Tablet containing the glad tidings of the future martyrdom of the one who was the essence of steadfastness and strength."

The same chronicler has written the following account given by a certain believer who met Badi‘ on his way to Persia and travelled with him for some distance.

. . he was very happy and smiling, patient, thankful, gentle, and humble. All that we knew was that he had attained the presence of Baha’u’llah and was now returning to his home in Qurasan. Many a time he could be seen to have walked about a hundred steps, leaving the road in either direction, turning his face towards ‘Akká, kneeling with his forehead to the ground and could be heard saying, ‘0 God! Do not take back, through Thy justice, what Thou hast vouchsafed unto me through Thy bounty, and grant me the strength for its protection.’ ”

Thus Badi‘ travelled on foot all the way to Tihran and did not meet with anyone there. On arrival he discovered that the King was staying at his summer residence. He made his way to that area and sat on the top of the hill overlooking the flah’s palace at Niyavaran. The King on successive days, looking through his binoculars, saw the same man dressed in white, sitting in the same position on the hill. He ordered his men to find out who he was and what he wanted.

Badi‘ told them that he had a letter from a very important personage for the mm and must hand it personally to him. After searching him they brought him to the King.

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Only those who are well versed in the history of Persia in the nineteenth century can appreciate the immense dangers which faced an ordinary person like Badi‘ wishing to meet a palace official, let alone the King. For at that time the King enjoyed absolute power and was surrounded by ruthless officials who would put to the sword anyone who would dare to utter one word, or raise a finger, against the established institutions of that oppressive regime. The loud voice of the “herald" who announced to the public in the streets the approach of the King’s carriage, shouting, “Everyone die! Everyone go blind!” would strike terror into the hearts of the citizens who, with eyes cast to the ground, stood motionless and still as their King and his men passed by.

Being invested by Baha’u’llah with tremendous powers, this young man of seventeen, assured and confident, stood straight as an arrow, face to face with the King. Calmly and courteously he handed him the Tablet and in a loud voice called out the celebrated Arabic phrase: “0 King! I have come to thee from Sheba with a weighty message.”

The King sent the Tablet to the divines of Tihran and commanded them to write an answer to Baha’u’llah. Finding themselves incapable of doing so, they evaded the issue and put forward some excuses which displeased the King immensely.

Badi‘was arrested, and brutally tortured. His endurance and fortitude amazed the executioner and other officials. They took a photograph of him as he sat in front of a brazier containing hot bars of iron with which he was branded. Eventually his head was beaten to a pulp and his body thrown into a pit. This was July 1870.

For three years after the martyrdom of Badi‘, Baha’u’llah referred in His Tablets to his steadfastness and sacrifice, extolled his station, and bestowed upon him the title “Pride of Martyrs”.

THE TABLET TO THE EAH For over two decades the people of Persia had witnessed memorable acts of heroism performed by a small band of God-intoxicated

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heroes, whose devotion and self-sacrifice had lit a great conflagration throughout that country. The Message of the Báb, the accounts oins martyrdom, and the transforming power of His Cause had already reached to every corner of that land; and from there its reverberations had echoed to the Western world. And yet, as attested by Bah-é’u’llah, not until this momentous Tablet was delivered to the King had the nature of the Cause of God or the claims of its Founder, or its principles and teachings, been clearly enunciated to those who held the reins of power in their hands.

In the annals of the Faith, Badi‘ stands out among the first heroic souls to arise for the proclamation of the Cause of Baha’u’llah. He joyously sacrificed himself in His path.

This sacrifice was not in vain. The Cause of Baha’u’llah—which, from the time of its inception, had been suppressed; whose adherents in the land of its birth had been so cruelly persecuted and at times mowed down in thousands; whose very name, as anticipated by Nasiri’d-Din flab and the divines of Persia, was to have been obliterated from the pages of history—has, in spite of much opposition, tremendously expanded during the last hundred years. Its light has been systematically diffused to all the continents of the world. The army of its pioneers and teachers, recruited from every race, class and colour, proclaiming to mankind the advent of the Lord of Hosts, has encircled the globe. The rising institutions of its divinely guided Administrative Order have been established, and within its World Centre, in the vicinity of its Holy Shrines, the crowning Edifice of that same Order (The Universal House of Justice)—the only refuge for the world’s tottering civilization —has been majestically erected.

This glorious unfoldment of the Cause in the Formative Age and its future sovereignty in the Golden Age are the direct consequences, on the one hand, of the outpourings of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation and, on the other, of the mysterious power generated by the sacrifice of countless martyrs, whose precious blood has flowed in great profusion during the Heroic Age of the Faith.

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2. THE SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION

By DOUGLAS MARTIN

GLOBAL revolution is the dominant fact of life in our age. Throughout the world men are rebelling against the dead weight of the past. Typically, the challenge to traditional institutions and assumptions now insists on the need for changes which reach to the very roots of the social order. Typically, too, it manifests an increasing readiness to resort to force to achieve such changes.

The origin of this vast upheaval has been the subject of unending academic and public discussion. In seeking to comprehend a phenomenon which clearly goes far beyond demands for specific political, social and economic reforms, social scientists have felt compelled to formulate a new vocabulary. They depict the crisis as a “cultural” revolution, a challenge to the “quality" of modern life, a search for “relevancy” and “authenticity". However suggestive such terminology may be, it remains tragically inadequate to grasp the reality of human experience in the second half of the twentieth century. It is apparent that we in fact are witnessing a massive revulsion 0n the part of mankind against ways of life that, in their nature and their goal, are seen as anti-life. In so sweeping and profound a reaction violence is incidental. The essential revolution advances quietly, often for a time unnoticed, in the hearts ofmillions of people who spiritually “drop out” of a world they have found meaningless. The routine tasks may or may not be done; laws may be obeyed or fiouted; but the roots of faith—without which no society can long endure—have been severed.

This is the first thing that can with confidence be said about the revolution of our times; it is in essence spiritual.

The first voice to make this statement, a century ago, was that of Baha’u’llah, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. In announcing Himself to be the Messenger of God awaited by all the world‘s religions, Baha’u’llah declared the unification of mankind in one people and one universal social order to be the Will of God in this age. He asserted that the revelation of this divine purpose had set in motion forces within both

man and society that will in time transform human existence:

I testif y that no sooner had the First Wordproceeded, through the potency of Thy will and purpose, out of H is mouth . . .than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred t0 the depths. Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities ofa new creation. . . .1

Baha’u’llah’s declaration of His Mission was rejected by the rulers of society to whom He addressed it in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Humanity was therefore left to struggle with those forces of which He had spoken, but left to do so in a context not of search for global unification, but rather of attachment to national, racial, cultural, class or political loyalties. The fruit is the world we live in. There is not on earth today a social system which can be said to serve man’s needs. There is none in which human identity does not seem endangered. There is none which appears to possess real moral authority. This is as true ofsocialistic societies as it is of capitalistic ones, as true of cultures based on Christian values as it is of those founded on Islam or Buddhism.

In briefly tracing the course of mankind’s struggle over the past century, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of Baha’u’llah‘s Message, underlined a further characteristic of the resulting crisis:

Every system, short of the unification of the human race, has been tried, repeatedly tried, and been found wanting. Wars again and again have been fought, and conferences without number have met and deliberated. Treaties, pacts and covenants have been painstakingly negotiated, concluded and revised. Systems of government have been patiently tested, have been continually recast and superseded. Economic plans of reconstruction have been care ‘ Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’í World Faith: Selected Writings of Bahd’u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, 2nd ed. (Wilmette, 111.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1956), p. 93.

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fully devised, and meticulously executed. And yet crisis has succeeded crisis, and the rapidity with which a perilously unstable world is declining has been correspondingly accelerated. A yawning gulf threatens to involve in one common disaster both the satisfied and dissatisfied nations, democracies and dictatorships, capitalists and wage-earners, Europeans and Asiatics, Jew and Gentile, white and coloured.1

The second feature of the revolution is that it is universal.

The elements of society most keenly sensitive to the crisis are the underprivileged, the youth and the minorities. Unlike those who are deeply involved in the existing order, they do not have the emotional commitment to the status quo which past habits or considerable personal investment bring‘ In their eyes present-day civilization stands or falls on its own record. In a technological age that, record is coldly exposed for all to read. The evidence is now overwhelming that Western civilization like its older counterparts in other areas of the world has failed the test of such an examination. That is to say, its values have been largely rejected by the people on whom those values must depend for their surviva1.One may or may not feel that the examination has been ade‘ quate or fair. What demands attention is the almost deafening verdict expressed in the spreading apathy and withdrawal of our times. We are being told that present-day civilization, morally speaking, is not one in which human beings can live and grow.

This fact throws into sharp relief a third feature of the modern crisis which is implicit in what has already been said: the revolution is entirely out of man’s control.

Nor is there any prospect that it can in some way be brought under human control. The history of the hundred years since Bahá’u’lláh declared His Mission provides whatever evidence is needed to support Shoghi Effendi’s judgement that:

Humanity . . . has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline to be redeemed through the unaided efforts of the best among its recognized rulers and statesmen—however disinterested their motives, however concerted 1 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Balzd'u‘llah, rev.

ed. égVilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1955), p.1 .

THE Bahá’í WORLD

their action, however unsparing in their zeal and devotion to its cause. No scheme which the calculations of the highest statesmanship ma) yet devise; no doctrine which the most distinguished exponents of economic theory ma) hope to advance; n0 principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the future ofa distracted world can be built.2

For Bahá’ís, recognition that the process 01‘ social breakdown is irreversible is both a great burden and a real benefit. An incalculably large part of the suffering of our times is the result of men‘s struggle somehowto avoidthe realization pressed on them by their own experience. Only with the greatest reluctance do we let go our illusions. The greatest of modern illusions is that man can save himself. No one can be said to have dispassionately examined the record of the past several decades who still retains this belief. The process is irreversible because it is a part of nature itself: All created Ihings [‘Abdu’l-Bahá3 has said] are expressions of the affinity and cohesion of elementary substances, and non-existence is the absence ofrheir atlraction and agreement. V arious elements unite harmoniously in composition but when these elements become disbardam, repelling each other, decomposition and non-existence result.4

Shoghi Effendi relates this basic principle of existence to the institutional and social life of mankind: 1f iong-cherished ideals and time-honoured institutions, if certain social assumptions and religious formulae have ceased to promote the welfare of the generality of mankind, if they no longer minister to the needs of a continually evolving humanity, let them be swept away and relegated to the limbo Of obsolescenl and forgotten doctrines. Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law ofchange and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution ?5

The most important thing about the revou lution is its direction. Humanity has been des 2 ibid., pp. 33—34 _

3 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Son and appomted Successor of Bahá’u’lláh. .

" ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, Foundations of Wm'ld Unity: Cqmpileu from Addresses 11ml Table” of‘Abdu’l-Bahá' (Wilmette 11].: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. 1945), p, 20. K

5 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order offlahd’u’lla’h, p. 42.

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cribed as “evolution become conscious of itself”. For nearly six thousand years our world was the private preserve ofa small ruling class. Now, almost overnight, in the wake of the universal Revelation of God promised in all the sacred scriptures of the past, people everywhere are awakening to the possibilities of human life. Something that can truly be called humanity is being born.

One thing only is lacking. “The whole of mankind,” Shoghi Effendi states, “is groaning, is dying to be led to unity. . . .”1 The achievement of such a unity involves the building of a society fit for human beings to live in. That is where the revolution is going. However long and bloody the process, mankind is struggling blindly toward the creation of a world community.

Bahá’ís believe that the “nucleus” and “pattern” of that community already exist, as the result of a hundred years of work by the spirit of Baha’u’llah.2 Slowly, over the past century, as the Bahá’í teachings have been carried to all parts of the world, people of every racial and national origin have embraced them. As they have done so, they have sought to give these teachings effect not only in their personal lives, but also in their social relationships.

Baha’u’llah’s conception of organic community has been summed up in these words:

In the human body, every cell, every organ, every nerve has its part to play. When all do so the body is healthy, vigorous, radiant, ready for every call made upon it. No cell, however humble, lives apart from the body, whether in serving it or receiving from it. This is . . . supremely true of the body of the Bahá’í world community, for this body is already an organism, united in its aspirations, unified in its methods, seeking assistance and confirmation from the same Source, and illumined with the conscious knowledge of its unity . . . The Bahá’í world community, growing like a healthy new body, develops new cells, new organs, new functions and powers as it presses on to its maturity, when every soul, living for the Cause of God, will receive from that Cause, health, assurance and the overflowing bounties of Baha’u’llah which are diffused through His divinely ordained order.3

1 ibid., p. 201. 2 ibid., p.144.

3 The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidanc3el(\;\gllmette, lll.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969), pp. — 775

Baha’u’llah's Community has now passed the first critical century of its evolution. In contrast to the deepening disorder of the world around it, its original unity remains unbroken, as both its expansion and diversification rapidly accelerate. ‘Abdu‘I-Baha’s vision of world unity emerging from worldwide revolution begins to take on form and substance:

In the contingent world there are many colleetive centres which are conducive to association and unity between the children of men. For example, patriotism is a collective centre; nationalism is a collective centre; identity of interests is a collective centre," political alliance is a collective centre; the union ofideals is a collective centre, and the prosperity of the world of humanity is dependent upon the organization and promotion of the collective centres. Nevertheless, all the above institutions are in reality, the matter and not the substance, accidental and not eternal—temporary and not everlasting. With the appearance of great revolutions and upheavals, all these collective centres are swept away. But the C ollective C entre offhe Kingdom, embodying the Institutions and Divine Teachings, is the Eternal Collective Centre. It establishes relationship between the East and the West, organizes the oneness of the world of humanity, and destroys the foundation of diflerences.‘1

From the foregoing it will be apparent why those who have recognized Baha’u’llah regard the well—beaten path of political action not merely as pointless, but as wasteful of urgently needed resources. That is not to denigrate the motivation of others. It relates solely to the inescapable priorities imposed by recognition of God’s Messenger to our age and of the Mission entrusted to Him. Again, in words written on behalfofShoghi Effendi:

What we Bahá’ís must face is the fact that society is disintegrating so rapidly that moral issues which were clear a half century ago are now hopelessly confused and . . . mixed up with battling political interests. That is why the Bahá’ís must turn all their forces into the channel of building up the Bahá’í Cause and its administration. They can neither change nor help the world in any other way at present. If they become involved in the issues the governments of the world are struggling over, they

‘ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 419.

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will be lost. But if they build up the Bahá’í pattern they can offer it as a remedy when all else has failed.1

THE BAHA

That pattern itself includes service to the material as well as the spiritual needs of mankind. From whatever background an individual may enter the Bahá’í Cause, recognition of Baha’u’llah must inevitably and intensely sharpen his social conscience. So it is that around the world Bahá’ís are found working in a wide range of non-partisan humanitarian programmes. So it is, too, that Bahá’í youth are encouraged to pursue educational goals that will fit them to contribute practically to the relief of human suffering and want. Collectively the Bahá’í community itself devotes great energy to serving the aims of the United Nations and its subsidiary bodies. What the Bahá’í teachings deny is that political action of a national or other partisan nature holds answers for problems which are in their very essence universal. In the spreading public disillw sionment with politically oriented agencies. Bahá’ís see a reflection ofthis fact of twentiethcentury life.

The challenge which Bahá’u’lláh places before the individual who recognizes Him, is to work for the realization of a new pattern of human life. As men of all backgrounds have responded in ever increasing numbers, the implications of the challenge to the individual have steadily become clearer. Shoghi Effendi, it is reported, has explained:

. the object of life to a Bahá’í is to promote the oneness of mankind. The whole object of our lives is bound up with the lives ofall human beings; not a personal salvation we are seeking, but a universal one. . . Our aim is to produce a world civilization which will in turn react 0n the character of the individual. It is, in a way, the inverse of Christianity, which started with the individual unit and through it reached out to the conglomerate life of men.2

The pursuit of such an objective requires a transformation in the individual’s order of moral priorities that is as revolutionary as any other aspect of the modern condition.

The human virtue to which Baha’u’llah assigns the highest place isjustice. He says:

1 U. S. BaliaHiNews No. 241 Mlag'ch, 1951, p. l4.Cited

in Wellspring of Gui(lam‘,ep 2 U. S. Baha' iNews, No. 231, p May, 1950, p. 6.

91

[WORLD

O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom ifthou‘desirest Me. . . By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of th y neighbour.3

This central moral attribute Bahá’u’lláh sets in the context of community growth: The purpose afjusfice is the appearance ofunity among men. “

Intimately related to justice in building healthy social relationships is love. Going beyond “the golden rule” of past revelations, Bahá’u’lláh teaches that the creation ofa human community that incarnates the principle of unity in diversity requires that men learn literally to prefer others to themselves.5 We do this when we focus on the good qualities of our fellowmen, and, as individuals, resolutely overlook those qualities we do not admire.The effect is to nourish the desirable attributes which are noticed and praised, just as the effect of censure and coldness is to blight individual sense of self—worth and inhibit spiritual growth.

Detachment becomes another moral attribute of prime importance in such a context. Freed from the ascetic connotations of the past, detachment serves a vital function in such areas as the process of consultation on which Bahá’í institutional life entirely depends. Attachment to the self includes attachment to ideas which are “mine”, to the ego which can be bruised, to the desire for one’s own wishes to be accepted. The central principle of consultation, however, is the struggle of the group to find a collective mind, through which the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh can communicate with them. As in all other areas of moral effort, the group reacts upon the individual by requiring a conscious efi’ort at detachment, until this becomes a habit.

Moreover, it is only by living in a community that an individual can discover and gradually eradicate the universal disease of prejudice. The more one works with people of varying backgrounds, the more he finds his prejudices are groundless. This includes not mere racial differences, but the much-discussed

3 Bahá'u’lláh, The Hidden Words, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette 111.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust 1954), pp 3— 4.

‘ Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, rev. ed. (Wilmette, 111.: BahaiPublishing Trust, 1969), p. 23. 5 Baha’u’llah, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 185 See also Shoghi Effendi The World Order of Bahau‘lla’li, pp. 41—42.

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“generation gap” between the ideals of youth and those of the adult, the vast difl’erences between the “haves" and the “have-nots”, the division between the well-educated and the illiterate, the discrimination against women, and the host of other forms which this age-old enemy of social order assumes.

Honesty is a moral quality which assumes new significance in the deliberate attempt to build an organically united society. Man today lives in a hypocritical society wherein each person tends to develop a mask to hide his own feelings. We also tend to say those things which we think will please our listeners (and something else when we are away from them). This has become so much a pattern that we sometimes even learn to hide our true feelings from ourselves, because we seek acceptance and feel that we must conform to the generally accepted point of view. The whole basis of Bahá’í consultation is quite opposite to this. “. . . at the very root of the Cause lies the principle of the undoubted right of the individual to self expression. . .” Truthfulness is the fbundation of

all the virtues of the world ofhamanity. Without truthfulness, progress and success in all the worlds ofGoa' are impossible for a soul.1

Similarly, the Bahá’í teachings strongly censure certain moral weaknesses which, in the past, have been viewed somewhat complaisantly by almost all religious systems. Backbiting, for example, Bahá’u’lláh tells us, “quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of'the soul”. 2

Justice, love, detachment, honesty, freedom from prejudice and backbiting—these are a few of the spiritual qualities which Bahá’u’lláh has redefined and emphasized as the focus for the individual’s inner battle. In laying particular stress on these and other human attributes which directly serve the development of community life, therefore, Bahá’u’lláh has created a new system of moral priorities. The ethical standards which man has inherited from past religions and cultures do not necessarily contribute equally, or in some cases at all, to the emergence of a universal civilization which represents the long—awaited establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. That Kingdom

' Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í Administration, rev. ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1968), p. 63; and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Warla'Faith, p. 384.

2 Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’ífI/a’h, trans. Shoghi Effendi, rev. ed. (Wilmette, lll.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1952), p. 265.

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has its own integrity and its own processes of organic growth, and those who would serve it can do so only in harmony with this divinely ordained pattern.

O friends! Be not careless Of the virtues with which ye have been endo wed, neither be neglectfitl of your high destiny. . . Beware lest the powers of the earth alarm you, or the might of the nations weaken you, or the tumult Of the people of discard a’eter you, or the exponents ofearthly glory sadden you. . . This Day a door is open wider than both heaven and earth. The eye of the mercy of Him Who is the Desire Of the worlds is turned towards all men. An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in the mirror of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. . . One righteous act is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore theforce that hath spent itselfana' vanished. 3

The form of the global society toward which mankind is being impelled must match these ideals; must indeed arise from the same divine impulse. The age—old issue of authority in the organization of human affairs must find a solution which not only unites the diverse peoples of the world, but protects and nurtures their individual capacity.

The uniqueness of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh lies in its response to this challenge. Fundamental to its teachings is the assertion that the “age of human maturity” has dawned, and that mankind is capable of responding to divine order in its social life. The central thrust of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission, therefore, was the establishment of His “Covenant”. Through this Covenant, for the first time in history, a Manifestation of God has Himselffounded the institutions for the organization of the community life of those who recognize Him. Acting on His assurance, democratically elected Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies have been formed at both local and national levels. In all their essentials these institutions are faithful reflections of the Will of God as revealed in the comprehensive written statements of His Messenger. Today they form one organically united administrative system embracing the whole earth.

3 Bahá’u’lláh cited by Shoghi Effendi in The Advent of DivineJuinee, pp. 63, 69, 65, 20.

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In 1963, on the hundredth anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s declaration of His Mission, the crowning unit of His embryonic World Order was successfully raised. In April of that year elected representatives of Bahá’u’lláh’s followers in every part of the globe gathered at the Bahá’í World Centre on the slopes ofMount Carmel in the Holy Land. There they carried out the first democratic worldwide election in history.1The international administrative body born that day had been conceived a century earlier by Baha’u’llah. It assumed the name given it by Him: “The Universal House of Justice”.

With the emergence of this central organ of Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause, the social model He conceived a century ago stands essentially complete. Separated entirely from the arena of political dispute it seeks to demonstrate conclusively the truth its members have discovered, that mankind can learn to live as one human family. As yet it represents no more than the “first shaping” of the community that will gradually be built by the growing numbers of people ofevery background who are entering it. To His House of Justice Bahá’u’lláh has assigned a wide range of discretion in adapting the institutions and ordinances of this community to the exigencies of an “ever-advancing civilization”. The essential pattern however has been set, and its viability clearly demonstrated.

Far ahead lies the ultimate objective of Bahá’u’lláh’s coming, the establishment of the global society toward which the universal revolution of our times is resistlessly impelling all mankind. The present generation of Baha’u’llah’s followers will not see the attainment of this goal.Whatthey know isthat it isattainable; that their individual and collective elTorts bring it daily nearer; and that in this lies the real meaning oflife.

The Revelation of Baha’u’llah, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should, ifwe be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming afage Ofthe entire human race. It should be viewed not merely as yet

1 All National Spiritual Assembly members participated in the election of the Universal House of Justice, whether in person or by mailed ballot. See The Bahá’í World, vol. XIV, pp. 425—439 for a report of the first international Bahá’í convention for the election of the Universal House of Justice.

THE BAHA’J’ WORLD

another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on this planet. The emergence ofa world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding ofa world civilization and culture. . .2

THROUGH REVOLUTION TO COMMUNITY

THE BAB: Say, God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself, the Knawer, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent."

BAHA’U’LLAH: (Jesus) said: ‘Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men’. In this day, however, We say: “Come ye after Me, that We may make you to become quickeners ofmankind.’ Verily, God loveth those who are working in His path in groups, far they are a salid/btmdation. “

‘ABDU’L—BAHA: Consider ye that He says ‘in groups,” united and bound together . . . with sincere intentions, good designs, useful advices, divine moralities, beautiful actions, spiritual qualities. . . When the holy souls, through the angelic power, will arise to show forth these celestial characteristics, establishing a band of harmony, each of these souls shall be regarded as one thousand persons. . .

O ye/i'iends of God! Strive to attain to this high and sublime station and showforth such a brightness in these days that its radiance may appear/ram the eternal horizons. This is the real

l/aundation Of the Cause of God; this is the

essence (JfIhe divine doctrine. . .5

SHOGHI EFFENDIZ “Who else can be the blissful if not the community of the Most Great Name, whose world-embracing, continually consolidating activities constitute the one integrating process in a world whose institutions, secular as well as religious, are for the most part, dissolving? . . . 2 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. p. 3 fgiayer of the Báb. “ Bahá’u’lláh, cited by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day is Come, (Wilmette, lll.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,

I96! ), p. l 10: and Bahá’í World Faith, p. 40l. 5 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, pp. 401—402.

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“Conscious of their high calling, confident in the society-building power which their Faith possesses, they press forward, undeterred and undismayed, in their efforts to fashion and perfect the necessary instruments wherein the embryonic World Order of Baha’u’llah can mature and develop. It is this building process, slow and unobtrusive, to which the life of the world-wide Bahá’í Community is wholly consecrated, that constitutes the one hope of a stricken society.”1

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE: “We should constantly be on our guard lest the glitter and tinsel of an affluent society should lead us to think that such superficial adjustments . . . as an extension to all members of the human race of the benefits of a high standard of living, of education, medical care, technical knowledge‘ Shoghi Effendi, The World Order ofBa/Id'u’l/a’h, pp. 194—195.

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will of themselves fulfill the glorious mission of Bahát’u’llah. Far otherwise. . . Far deeper and more fundamental was their [the Báb’s, Bahá’u’lláh’s, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s and Shoghi Effendi’s] vision, penetrating to the very purposeofhuman life. . . . ‘The principle of the oneness of mankind’, [the Guardian] writes, ‘implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced.’ . . .

“Dearly loved friends, this is the theme we must pursue in our efforts to deepen in the Cause. What is Bahá’u’lláh’s purpose for the human race? For what ends did He submit to the appalling cruelties and indignities heaped upon Him? What does He mean by a ‘new race of men’ ? What are the profound changes which He will bring about ?“ 2The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 113—114.

[Page 780]780 THE BAHA

iWORLD

3. THE WRITINGS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHA1

By AMiN BANANi

THE Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are the fruit of more than half a century of prolific labour from His early twenties to the seventy-eighth and final year of His life. Their full volume is as yet unknown; and much remains to be done in gathering, analyzing, and collating His literary legacy.

His Writings consist of personal correspondence, general tablets, tablets on specific themes, books, prayers, poems, public talks, and recorded conversations. Approximately four-fifths of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings are in Persian; the rest—with the exception of a very small number of prayers and letters inTurkishare in Arabic. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was both fluent and eloquent in these three languages. Transcriptions of His extemporaneous speeches are of ten indistinguishable from His Writings. In a culture that placed a high premium on rhetoric ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was recognized by friend and foe, Arab and Persian, as a paragon of distinctive style and eloquence.

It is the intent of this article to touch upon the character of that style and to present an overview of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings in various genres and categories. Discussion of the language and style is inherently limited, as it must be attempted across twin barriers of culture and tongue; the attempt at categorization is necessarily arbitrary and is meant to serve only as a catalogue. Obviously any number of criteria, such as chronological, thematic and linguistic, can provide different sets of categories. Furthermore, some works cited as examples of certain categories could easily be put under others.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was, of course, not a prophet and at no time claimed to have received direct revelation from God. But the Centre of the Covenant of Baha’u’llah, and the appointed Interpreter of His Revelation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’ís believe, was divinely inspired and guided. His Writings, therefore, constitute for the Bahá’ís at once a part and an interpretation Oftheir Scriptures.

The question of divinely inspired language

1 See “Bahá’í Bibliography“, p. 705.

has traditionally posed a dilemma and given rise to baseless dogma in the religions of the past. In their literal-minded zeal to aver the authenticity Oftheir Holy Writ, devotees oftraditional religions have often insisted on the divine authorship of the very lexical and syntactic form of that Writ. This view not only reduces God to the use of particular and different human tongues, but it also attempts to isolate religious writings from the body of the language in which they were written. It equates divine origin with absolute linguistic and literary originality. Those who uphold this view tend to be resentful of any comparison and precedence, and through their unwarranted notion of originality they completely miss the often striking literary originality of holy books that can only be perceived in the light of traditions in their languages. By ignoring the literary traditions, conceptual methods, cultural associations—in short by denying the life of the language—they reduce rather than enhance comprehension and true appreciation ofholy scriptures.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s two primary languages have vigorous and highly developed literary traditions with more than a thousand years oflife. Only the briefest mention of facets of these traditions that are germane to the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is possible here. Since most of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings are in Persian, the main focus here is on Persian literary traditions. But so many of these are shared with Arabic—indeed in many cases they are reflections of Arabic norms in Persian—that the observations will generally be true of the Arabic literary traditions as well.

For nearly a thousand years since the formulation and the crystallization of classical criteria in Arabic and Persian literature there has existed a preoccupation with and a primacy of form. Needless to say, tightly metered and fully rhymed poetry, as the most formal of literary arts, has been the master art form for the Arabs and the Persians. Prose writers from their aesthetically inferior position have attempted to ennoble their work with qualities

[Page 781]ESSAYS AND REVIEWS

of poetry, evolving a technique known as saj‘. It introduces the basic poetic ingredients of rhyme and rhythm into prose without actually transforming it into equal-footed lines. A symmetry of expression is achieved by use of lexical devices such as synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms giving prose an architectural plasticity and rendering it memorable. This Style of writing in Persian reached its apex during the thirteenth century A.D. and declined rapidly thereafter. By the end of the eighteenth century it had reached a nadir of artificial verbosity and lost its power to communicate.

The style of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the outward mode of His inspiration and expression. The animus is the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. The clay is the Persian language with its charac teristics. The mystery of His person forms it i

into a unique style. It is distinctive, unmistakably personal, and therefore original. Yet it is in the purest mould of literary tradition. It is a new flowering of saj‘. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has breathed new life into a familiar form; but by harmonizing form and content He has banished contrived artifice.

In the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá form is an approach to the content. He makes use of poetic imagery and of a vast range of rhetorical and literary devices such as metaphors, similes, symbols, allegories, alliterations, assonances, and dissonances, not in order to draw a veil around the subject, but to expand the reader’s mind by refraction of the same reality through different planes of perception, cognition and intuition. This is the difference between sterile formality and organic integrity of form in a truly creative sense.

Two brief examples may illustrate this harmony of form and content in the Writings of

‘Abdu’l-Bahá. First is the phrase “the Sun of

Reality” which occurs frequently in His Writings both as a metaphor and a symbol for the Revelation of Baha’u’llah. There is mutual illumination of the concrete and the abstract here—at once self-evident, life-giving, and pervasive. But it also can remind us of creatures that avoid the sun. How often ‘Abdu’l-Bahá referred to the Sun of Reality dawning over gatherings of bats! The other example is the imagery evoked in His own Tablet Of Visitation: “. . . Give me to drink from Ike chalice of selflessness; with its robe clothe me. . .” The

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paragraph is made ofa series of related cultural images of admittance to court, proffering of the cup of favour, and granting of the ceremonial bejewelled robe: all evoke the ceremony of a royal audience and the bestowal of high rank—traditionally an occasion of pomp, pride and vanity. By this dramatic inversion of images, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has underlined the nobility ofservitude and humility.

This use ofartistic form for the expression of meanings and purpose is a hallmark of‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings. To cultivate an appreciation of the poetic qualities of His Writings is to enhance one’s understanding of His meaning. It must be admitted that the same qualities place an enormous burden on the translator; and much can be lost in inadequate hands. Fortunately, Shoghi Effendi, particularly in his translations of some of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayers, has left us a true standard.

The foregoing should not lead the reader to infer that the style of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. although at all times recognizable and personal, is unvarying. His subjects, ranging from philosophical treatises to meditative poems, are expressed in language appropriate to them. Before proceeding to the differentiation of the various categories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings it might be helpful to clarify the traditional term Tablet (lawli) which is applied to the majority of His Works. It designates all His Writings that are addressed to specific individuals or groups. As such it is applied to everything from His personal correspondence to such fundamental documents as the Tablets oj'the Divine Plan and the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

I. For purposes of analysis ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings can be divided into twelve groups of which personal correspondence (Tablets to individuals) constitutes by far the largest segment, despite the undoubted fact that a portion of this precious heritage has been irretrievably lost, and a portion remains in non-Bahá’í hands. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s letters are masterpieces of Persian epistolary genre. They are marked by directness, intimacy, warmth, love, humour, forbearance, and a myriad other qualities that reveal the exemplary perfection of His personality.‘Abdu’l-Bahá addresses everyone as an equal in the service of Baha’u’llah. His letters often open with an invocation of the quality of faith of the recipient rather than his name or

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identity repithets such as “0 the Firm One in the Covenant”, “0 Lover of the BlessedBeaury". (Later when the Persians were required by law to adopt family names, many Bahá’ís chose as surnames words of address from the Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to themselves or to their fathers.) In subject matter, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s letters range from responses to the personal and ephemeral requests of His correspondents to profound elaborations, elucidations and interpretations of the Bahá’í Revelation. But mostly they are concerned with direction and exhortation of the friends to spread the Teachings.

11. Tablets of specific topical or thematic significance addressed to individuals are perhaps best exemplified by the Tablet to Professor Auguste Fore],I which is in fact a philosophical treatise written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in September, 1921, in answer to questions put to Him by the noted Swiss psychologist.

111. Tablets addressed to Bahá’í communities in various parts of the world chronicle ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s loving and vigorous leadership of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh and its propagation from a handful of countries in the Near and the Middle East to some thirty-five countries in every continent on the globe. The most important in this group are undoubtedly the series of the Tablets 0/ the Divine Plan, written at the close of the first World War.

1v. Among the Tablets written to world groups or congresses, the best known is the Tablet sent in 1919 to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at the Hague.2

v. The Will and Testament of ‘Abdul’-Baha is a unique document, written in three parts, that constitutes the charter3 of the Bahá’í Administrative Order. Although undated, it is clear from its contents that the first part was written in 1906/7 during the most perilous and yet most prolific period of His life.

VI. The next category is that of prayers. The Arabic and Persian languages distinguish between what is translated in English as prayer (mundja’t) and obligatory prayer (sa/dr). The

1 The text ofthis Tablet appears on page 37.

2 See p. 29 for text.

3 “The Charter which called into being, outlined the features and set in motion the processes of, this Administrative Order is none other than the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His greatest legacy to posterity, the brightest emanation of His mind and the mightiest instrument forged to insure the continuity of the three ages which constitute the component parts of His Father’s Dispensation." Shoghi Effendi, GodPnsses By, p. 325, Wilmette ed.

THE BAHA’I’ WORLD

prayers of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are muna'ja'r. Approximately one half of these are in Persian and the other in Arabic, with a very few in Turkish.

The term mundjdt has a history in Persian literature beginning with @wéjih ‘Abdu’lláhi-Ansari, a $in mystic of the eleventh century A.D. The munaf/‘dt of Ansari are highly stylized epigrammatic forms of communion with God. From a literary point of view these brief evocative compositions bear only the slightest generic resemblance to the muna’jdt of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which, although called by the same name, are clearly a literary innovation and original creations in the Persian and Arabic languages. Their Chief distinguishing quality is the sustained and expanding expression of man’s experience of the Holy by means of poetic language.

The prayers of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, particularly, partake in the fullest measure of poetic qualities. Some actually include fragments or lines of metrical verse which are indistinguishable from the texture of the whole prayer. The purity and sanctity of natural imagery reveal a state of cosmic harmony. The musicality of some of them transcends limitations of language. Poetry is made to serve the ultimate goal of rising above “the murmur of syllables and sounds”. The emotional intensity of some of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayers, especially those that recall the sutTerings of and separation from Baha’u’llah is unrivalled.

Vll. Prayers written for special occasions such as meetings of Spiritual Assemblies, or embarking on teaching trips, focus upon overcoming of selfand reliance upon confirmations from God.

VIII. Tablets of Visitation, virtually all written in Arabic, are primarily for commemoration of individual heroes and martyrs of the Faith, and are to be chanted when visiting their graves. The majority were written in the final years of ‘Abdu’l-Bahz’t’s life and are another testimony of His abiding love and faithfulness to the memory of those who sacrificed themselves for the Cause of God.

1X. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s poems are few in number. and mostly in mat_/mavi (rhymed couplet) form. His love for this form—universally associated with the great spiritual masterpiece of the thirteenth century poet Rt'Jmi—and His love for RL’tmi’s poetry are further evinced by frequent

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quotations of lines from the latter’s works in His Writings.

x. Books and treatises, of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left three, are The Secret of Divine Civilization, written in 1875 (also known as A Treatise on Civilization); A Traveller’s Narrative, written about 1886; and a short volume entitled A Treatise on Politics, written in 1893. The first two have been translated into English. The latter, available only in Persian, may be considered a sequel in subject and purpose to The Secret of Divine Civilization. The fundamental theme is the generative force of religion and the degenerative role of priestly power in human affairs. The first book is addressed to the Persian nation as a whole; the second is directed to the Bahá’í community in that land. Their import obviously transcends the historical aims and the immediate occasion of their writing, but they also constitute significant documents within that context.

The Secret of Divine C ivilization, particularly, occupies a pre-eminent historical position among the literature of modernization in Persia. Seen in the light of the unfolding Bahá’í Revelation, it is, of course, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s elaboration of the principles enunciated by Baha’u’llah in His Tablets to the rulers of the earth. But read in the light of modern analytical literature on the nature and problems of modernization, it is a unique document of equally profound implications. In it ‘Abdu’l-Bahá presents a coherent programme for the regeneration of Persian society.The programme is predicated on universal education and eradication of ignorance and fanaticism. It calls for responsibility and participation of the people in government through a representative assembly. It seeks to safeguard their rights and liberties through codification oflaws and institutionalization ofjustice. It argues for the humane benefits of modern science and technology. It condemns militarism and underscores the immorality of heavy expenditures for armaments. It promulgates a more equitable sharing of the wealth of the nation.

Of the long list of indictments that could be brought against the one hundred and twentyfive years of Qajar misrule of Persia, few could be as damaging as their neglect ofthis blueprint in 1875. Not until nearly twenty years later do some of these ideas appear piecemeal and unrelated in the writings of other so—called re 783

formers and modernists in Persia. But the significance of The Secret of Divine Civilization is not merely that it represents the earliest and the only coherent scheme for the modernization of Persia. We have come to recognize as the fatal flaw of nearly all reformist ideas and modernizing efforts of the last hundred years (not only in Persia but in many parts of the world), a naive imitation of effects without grasping the causes—superficial borrowing of forms unrelated to their underlying values‘ Everything in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s proposals is firmly based upon the validity and potency of divine guidance. It is not westernization of the East that He advocates. He has as much to say to the spiritually impoverished societies of the West as to the people of Persia. Through a revivification Of the spiritual and moral potentialities of man ‘Abdu’l-Bahá seeks to create new institutions and viable political forms—to lay the foundation ofa truly divine civilization. A Traveller’s Narrative, which is a history of the episode of the Báb, was written for the seeker and the curious. It presents a brief and dispassionate account of that portentous dispensation in a simple and moving narrative style. Like The Secret ofDivine Civilization, this book was published anonymously. It may be another indication of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s humility before Baha’u’llah that He did not place His name on the two books He wrote for the public beyond the Bahá’í community during the lifetime of His Father. He also wished to emphasize, as He points out in The Secret of Divine Civilization, that He had no expectation of personal gain from His efforts. x1. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s discourses are extensive transcriptions of His utterances on various topics. The two major examples of the genre are Some Answered Questions and Memorials Of the Faithful. The generic affinity of these two works is, however, strictly formal; for in subject matter they are widely different. The final written versions of both were examined by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and approved for publication. Some Answered Questions is a compilation of the table talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in response to questions put to Him by Laura Clifi‘ord Barney on spiritual tenets of the Bahá’í Faith and on the Bahá’í understanding of some Christian beliefs. The conversations, their recording, editing, and authentication occurred in the difficult years immediately preceding

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‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s relative freedom in 1908. The compilation was first published in 1907.

Memorials Of the Faithful, which has only lately (.1971) been translated into English, is a compendium of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s remembrances of some seventy early believers, spoken to gatherings of Bahá’ís in Haifa during the early years ofWorld War I. These were compiled, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s permission for their publication was granted in 1915 but due to the strictures of wartime the book was not published until 1924 when it was again authorized by Shoghi Effendi.

The outward form of Memorials Of the Faithful is a collection of brief biographical sketches. Its title in the original, Tad_/ikiratu’lVafa’, places it in a Persian literary tradition some nine centuries old. It brings to mind the T acjfikiratu’l-Awliyd (Remembrance of Saints) of the twelfth century mystic poet ‘Attar. The spiritual and cultural impulses that have given rise to the literary form of taflkirib have little to do with the particular, the personal and the ephemeral aspects of human life. It is the quality of soul, the attributes of spirit, the quintessential humanity and the reflection of the divine in man that is the focus here.

The root word dflikr in the title means prayerful mention—reverent remembrance. It implies that it is not the biographer nor the reader who memorializes a human life, but rather the quality of that life which has earned immemorial lustre and sheds light on all who remember that quality. Quite literally this book is a remembrance of vafd—faithfulness—not just memories of individual lives, but remembrance of that essential quality which was the animating force ofallthoselives.

The people whose “lives” are depicted here all share one thing in common. They are propelled by their love for Baha’u’llah. So great is this magnetic force in their lives that they literally travel vast distances and overcome every barrier to be with Him. Some of them arrive virtually with their dying breath, to expire happily after having seen the face of their Beloved; some die on the arduous path. Des THE Bahá’í WORLD

pite the peculiarities oftime and place, it should not take the reader long to recognize a gallery of timeless and universal human types in this book.

The spoken language of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is figurative and almost indistinguishable from His written style. He makes use of a rich fund of literary devices—rhymed phrases, symmetrical forms, alliterations, assonanees, metaphors, similes, and allusions—that, far from sounding contrived and artificial, are naturally matched to the subject matter: the essence of faithfulness. With concrete images He describes spiritual states and psychic levels of consciousness, as if to assert the primacy and reality of the realm of spirit. Should the reader experience difficulty with the style, let him savour it slowly, allowing the unfamiliar language to create its own spirit and breathe life into its allusions. Let the words of‘Abdu’l-Bahá trace in his mind the shape of the valley of love and faithfulness.

In His usual self-effacing way ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

says almost nothing about Himself in this book. But occasional events in the lives of these companions are interwoven with His own. In these passages we have some thrilling glimpses of that essence of humanity and humility that was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. XII. Next to His personal correspondence, talks comprise the largest segment of‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s recorded words. One may distinguish between talks given to Bahá’ís and addresses to the general public, such as societies, groups, universities and congregations. Generally they have the same literary marks and rhetorical patterns that are characteristic of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Writings.

This vast body of Writing, boundless in its wisdom, consummate in form, generous and loving in spirit and rich in significance, is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s literary legacy, a legacy that, like His own prayer, rises “above words and letters” and transcends “the murmur of syllables and sounds”. It is the reality of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá so far as we the grateful readers are capable of perceiving.