WORDS OF BAHA‘O’LLAH[edit]
O SON OF SPIRIT!—The first counsel is:
- Possess a good, a pure, an enlightened
- heart, that thou mayest possess a kingdom
- eternal, immortal, ancient, and
- without end.
O SON OF HUMANITY!—If thou |lovest
- Me, turn away from thyself; if My
- Will thou seekest, regard not thine own,
- that thou mayest die in Me, and I live
- in thee.
O SON OF SPIRIT!—No peace is ordained
- for thee save by departing from thyself,
- and coming to Me. Verily, thy glory
- should be in My Name, not in thy
- name; thy trust upon My Countenance
- not upon thine own; for I will be
- loved above all that is.
O SON OF PERCEPTION!—My Fort thou
- art: Enter thou into, that thou mayest
- be safe. My love is with thee: Seek and
- thou wilt find Me near.
O SON OF EXISTENCE!—My Lamp thou
- art, and My Light is in thee: Therefore
- be illumined by it, and seek no one but
- Me, for I have created thee rich and
- upon thee have I showered abundant
- grace.
O SON OF SPIRIT!—I have created thee rich:
- Why dost thou make thyself poor?
- Noble have I made thee: Why dost
- thou degrade thyself? Of the essence of
- knowledge have I manifested thee: Why
- searchest thou for another than Me?
- From the clay of Love I have kneaded
- thee: Why seekest thou another?
- Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou
- mayest find Me standing within thee,
- Powerful, Mighty, Supreme.
O SON OF PERCEPTION!—Look thou to
- My Face, and turn from all save Me,
- for My Authority is eternal and shall
- never cease, My Kingdom is lasting and
- shall not be overthrown. If thou
- seekest another than me, Yea, if thou
- searchest the universe forevermore, yet
- shall thy search be vain.
O SON OF SPIRIT!—My Right to thee is
- great and cannot be denied. My mercy
- for thee is ample and cannot be ignored.
- My love in thee exists and cannot be
- concealed. My Light to thee is manifest
- and cannot be obscured.
O SON OF SUPREME!—I beckon to the
- Life, but thou desirest death: Why
- hast thou neglected My Will and
- followed thy desire.
N. R. VAKIL’S TOUR IN NORTH INDIA[edit]
(A VISIT TO CENTRAL PROVINCES, BENGAL AND KARACHI)
PRAISE be to God. Through His
Grace and Bounty a weak soul was
strengthened and an unworthy one
was chosen to deliver the Most Great
Glad Tidings. The desire to spread the
News about the Coming of the Promised
One of all the religions and nations was
fulfilled, and God confirmed this humble
one to proceed as lead by Divine Wisdom.
On 1st January I started in the company
of a very sincere soul, Mr. Pritamsingh in
Allahabad by the passenger train at night.
We reached Itarsi on the next day at 3 P.M.
and had to wait there till 3 A.M. to catch
a train for Allahabad. Here at the
station we met some gentlemen from
different parts of the Central Provinces and
delivered the message to them. Some of
them had already read a little about the
Cause and we were much delighted to learn
that the News had permeated in some
parts of the Central Provinces. We left
Itarsi at 3 A.M. on the 3rd January and
reached Allahabad at 10 P.M. In Allahabad
I was the guest of Mr. Pritamsingh and[Page 20]
through his efforts some public lectures
were arranged. Mr. Pritamsingh was
staying there for the last 3 years and had
many friends among the B.A. and M.A.
students and the Professors of various
Colleges. I met many of them and found
them very sincere seekers after truth.
During my stay in Allahabad for Public
lectures were delivered. The first was in
the Hindu Students’ Hostel on ‘Universal
Peace’. Nearly forty students attended
the lecture. The second was on the
‘Bahai Movement’ in the Ewing Christian
College, where Prof. Dudgeon, Ph.D.,
presided. It was attended by about
fifty students and a few gentlemen from
the city. The next day I addressed the
students of the Kayastha Pathshala College
to ‘Abdul Baha and Universal Religion,’
where the Principal of the College
Mr. Sanjivrao presided. There were about
75 students and some gentlemen from the
city. The last public lecture was delivered
under the presidentship of Mr.
Purshotamdas Tondon, M.A., LL.B., an
eminent citizen of Allahabad, on the
‘Bahai Movement’ in the Hindi language
at Vidyapith, near Chowk. The leading
daily papers of Allahabad, viz, The Independent
and The Leader published summaries
of two of these lectures and also
published an article on the Bahai Movement.
After spending six happy days at
Allahabad I left for Benares on 10th
January reaching there the same day.
Benares is a very sacred place of the Hindoos and many old men go there to spend the last days of their life. In ancient days it was a center for education and many students went there to study religious scriptures, grammar, sanskrit and various other subjects. It is situated on the banks of the river Ganges and has a very fine scenery. When one walks in the small narrow lanes of Benares with high buildings on both the sides of the streets, one is reminded of the streets of Acre which are very similar. Here I was the guest of Prof. S. C. Dey, a very sincere and selfless soul. My genial host made my stay very comfortable, and I shall never forget his sincerity and hospitality. The Theosophical Society has a fine colony here and there is a large area of land near the city where they have built a School, a College for girls and have erected a fine large Hall for the Lodge.
Here I addressed them on the Bahai Movement and gave the message that the world-teacher had come. That the sun has shone from the East and spread His Light in the West. The Theosophists are very sincere and pious souls, and those who belong to the Order of the Star of the East are anxiously awaiting a world–teacher. They believe that Lord Maitreya will come. They are very advanced souls and are very near the threshold. A thin veil prevails and we pray to God that through His Mercy and Bounty this may be uplifted and they may recognize that the world-teacher has come. Another lecture was delivered in the Kashiraj Hall of the Central Hindu College on 15th Januay at 2 P.M., when 200 students and some professors were present. Prof. Adhikari, a very learned man and a great thinker presided. He spoke very favorably and drew the attention of the audience to the high philosophy of this Movement, which he said is the same truth preached in the Vedas. I had an informal talk with the students of the hostel and before I left Benares, Prof. Dey took me to the new beautiful University building that is being built at a distance of four miles from the city. I also addressed the students of the hostel situated there, and I left for Calcutta by the Punjab Mail at 1 P.M.
Before I close this short account of the two places that I visited I deem it my duty to express my sincere thanks to the Principals and Professors of the Colleges who arranged for lectures in their Colleges and showed their broad-mindedness and generous spirit. Students always gain by learning about this cause which does not deprecate or falsify any religion, but which teaches oneness of all religions, unifies the hearts of men, purifies them and reforms them. Bahaism has an important historical record and how can any student who received a University education afford to remain ignorant of the historical events of to-day. I also express my thanks to the editors of the newspapers that published the report of the speeches and thus carried the message to numerous souls who could not attend the lectures.
8th March 1921.
The Word of GOD is the storehouse of all good, all power, and all wisdom. The illiterate fishers (who became Christians), and savage Arabs (who became Mohammedans) were thereby enabled to solve such problems as were puzzles to eminent sages all through the ages. It awakens within us that brilliant intuition, which makes us independent of all tuition, and endows us with an all-embracing power, of spiritual understanding.
Many a soul, in the ark of philosophy, after fruitless struggles, was drowned in the sea of conflicting theories of cause and effect, while those on board the craft of simplicity reached the shore of the Universal Cause with the help of favorable winds blowing from the Point of Divine Knowledge.
When a man is associated with that Transcendent Power emanating from the Word of God, the tree of his existence becomes so well rooted in the soil of Assurance, that it laughs at the violent hurricanes of skepticism which attempt its eradication. For this association of the part with the Whole endows him with the Whole, and this unison of the particular with the Universal makes him all in all.
O PEOPLE! The Doors of the Kingdom are opened—the Sun of Truth is shining upon the world—the Fountains of Life are flowing—the Daysprings of Mercy have appeared—the Greatest and Most Glorious Light is now manifest to illuminate the hearts of men: Wake up and hear the voice of GOD calling from all parts of the Supreme World—” COME UNTO ME, O ye children of men; come Unto Me, O ye who are thirsty, and drink from this sweet water which is descending in torrents upon all parts of the globe!
Now is the time! NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME!
Look ye at the time of Christ; had the people realized that the Holy Spirit of GOD was speaking to them through His Divine Mouth they would not have waited three centuries before accepting Him. And now, is it meet for you that ye are sleeping upon the beds of idleness and neglect, while the Father foretold by Christ has come amongst us and opened the Greatest Door of Bounteous Gifts and Divine Favors? Let us not be like those in past centuries who were deaf to His call and blind to His Beauty; but let us try and open our eyes that we may see Him, and open our cars that we may hear Him, and cleanse our hearts that He may come and abide in our temples.
These days are the days of faith and deeds—not the days of words and lip service. Let us arise from the sleep of negligence, and realize what a great feast is prepared for us, first eating thereof ourselves, then giving unto others who are thirsting for the Water of Knowledge and hungering for the BREAD OF LIFE.
The Light of Knowledge hath appeared before which the darkness of every superstitious fancy will be annihilated. The hosts of the Supreme Concourse are descending to assist all those who rise up to serve their Lord, to subdue and gain the victory over the city of the hearts, to proclaim the Glad Tidings of the Coming of God, and to unite the souls of His creatures.
THE BAHAI MOVEMENT[edit]
THE Object of the Bahai Movement is the establishment of universal religion, which is the foundation of inter-religious, inter-racial, and inter-national brotherhood and peace. It offers to mankind a practical basis of unity, one which is in direct line with the great world needs of this age an is paving the way for the great universal civilization and the oneness of humanity.
This movement began in Persia in the year 1844, with the rise of a teacher known as The Bab, who proclaimed the coming of a greater teacher whose mission would be that of establishing the universal religion, the brotherhood of man and universal peace. The Bab was but the forerunner of this great teacher who was to come, and to this promised one and to His cause The Bab and thousands of his followers testified by suffering and martyrdom inflicted upon them by the fanatical Moslems.
Shortly after the martyrdom of The Bab, the great teacher who was promised appeared in person of Baha‘O’llah, from Whom the movement now takes its name. His mission lasted forty years during which time He was subjected to imprisonment and suffering at the hands of Oriental despots because of His teaching, which brought freedom of thought and enlightenment to all who accepted it. Baha‘O’llah was sent into exile as a prisoner from one Mahammedan country to another, until he finally was lodged in the Turkish penal colony of Akka in Syria, where, after having given His great teaching to humanity, He passed from this natural world in the year 1892.
Abdul Baha, the son of Baha‘O’llah was the one chosen by his father to further establish this great movement and to explain and demonstrate it before the world. For forty years Abdul Baha was a prisoner in the fortress of Akka, held there by the Sultan of Turkey for no other reason than that, his teaching was bringing enlightenment and freedom of thought to all who came within the radius of its power. With the fall of the old regime of Turkish government and the establishment of the present constitutional rule, which occurred in the Summer of 1908, Abdul Baha was liberated from prison. In 1911, 1912 and 1913, he visited Europe and America, where he travelled extensively, speaking, teaching, and giving his message of religious unity and constructive peace from the pulpits of churches and before many audiences composed of progressive thinkers.
The Bahai teaching confirms and completes the true religious teachings which have gone before, and offers a practical philosophy which meets the present-day spiritual needs of humanity. People interested in the growing need and desire for harmony and brotherhood between the followers of the differing doctrines and creeds cannot fail to find this movement of deep interest, and those who are interested in the comparative study of religion, will find this subject worthy of much thought, for the foundation of the Bahai teaching rests upon the firm basis of the religions of the past—it comes to fulfil, not to destroy, “the law and the prophets.”
NEWS FROM THE BAHAI WORLD[edit]
INDIA.
THE Publication Committee of Bombay has been experiencing some difficulty in corresponding with the various Bahai Centres in Persia, India, Egypt and elsewhere. Of late the bulk of that correspondence has increased to an enormous degree. It is therefore considered desirable that the various assemblies may get news primarily from the Bahai News and with a view to facilitate and expedite the publication of such news, one center in each country, such as Tehran in Persia or Bombay in India or Cairo in Egypt or Chicago in United States of America, be the centre both for the incoming news and the outgoing news for each country as well as for the communication of news to and from other countries. In this way alone can such a large volume of correspondence be efficiently and economically handled. We hope, our correspondents in Persia will kindly take a special note of this, since a great deal of our correspondence at present is with many minor centres of that country. Bombay henceforward will be the only distributing centre for all incoming news as well as for outgoing news for the whole of India. Tehran may be another such centre for the whole of Persia. This distribution will be effected at first through Bahai News and afterwards if necessary by means of circular letters.
The following Sub-Committees were organized to carry on the programme of the Convention during the year 1921.
I.—THE MASHREK-UL-AZKAR COMMITTEE.
- Elected Members—
- M. Behmard Behram.
- M. Haji Ahmed.
- M. Mehrban Khudabakhsh.
- M. Jamshed Khodadad
- M. Mirza Mahmood.
- M. N. R. Vakil. (Surat).
- M. Aga Syed Mustafa (Burma).
- M. Khusroo Boman (Poona).
- M. Pritam Singh (Secy.)
- Co-opted Members—
- M. Isphandyar Mechrban Boman.
- M. Meherban Behram.
- M. Rustom Behmard.
II.—THE ALL-INDIA BAHAI CENTRAL FUND COMMITTEE.
- Elected Members—
- M. Kaikhusroo Hormzyar.
- M. Sarush Shehryar.
- M. Isphandyar Behram.
- M. Syed Abdul Hussain (Burma).
- Doulat Iran. |
- M. Pritam Singh (Secy.).
- Co-opted Members—
- M. Rustom Mehrban.
- M. Mirza Mahmood.
III.—THE BAHAI PUBLICATION COMMITTEE.
- M. Hashmat Ullah (Agra).
- M. Abbas Ali (Burma).
- Daulat Jamshed.
- M. Khodadad Shahvir.
- M. N. R. Vakil (Surat).
- M. Pritam Singh (Secy.).
- Co-opted Members—
- M. Sarush Nush.
- M. Mehrban Khodadad Khan.
- M. Mehrban Shehryar.
- M. Mirza Abdul Hussain.
- M. Ardeshir Khodadad.
- M. Ardeshir Khodabakhsh.
- M. Mirza Mahmood.
IV.—THE BAHAI NEWS SERVICE.
- Editorial Board—
- M. M. R. Shirazi (Karachi).
- M. Hashmat Ullah. (Agra).
- M. Pritam Singh (Secy.)
- Correspondents—
- M. A. Rangaswami Iyer (Madras).
- M. Maung-Ba-Tin (Burma).
- M. Mirza Mahmood (Editor Persian
- Section).
- M. Syed Mustafa Rumi. (Burma).
- M. N. R. Vakil (Surat).
A Sunday School for imparting religious instruction in the Elements of Bahaism to the Bahai Children has been inaugurated in the Bahai Assembly in Bombay. The first lesson was given on the morning of the 6th March 1921 by Jenabe Mirza Mahmood assisted by Mr. Pritamsingh. There were twelve children, girls and boys and the lesson lasted for about 2 hours, children were very happy and wanted to come every day. A preparatory class for the teaching of English and Persian has been started and arrangements for giving daily lessons have been made. God willing this small beginning will be the nucleus of a Bahai School in Bombay, which in fact is urgently needed.
Abdul Baha said to a Pilgrim from India in 1914, “India must become prepared,” he said, “a center of magnetic power must be created there in order to attract me. If such a center of attraction come into being I might come.” Prophetic Words indeed! But the duty of preparing such a Magnetic centre lies with us, the Bahais of India and Burma.
We are glad to have received from the Bahai Publication Society of Egypt, Cairo, a translation in Armenian of the famous Peace Tablet translated by Jenabe Faik Effendi.
It is absolutely essential that the children of the Bahais in India should grow up to learn the modern Persian and in the course of time to master it thoroughly. This knowledge in later years will be useful in unraveling to them the charm and usefulness of the Bahai Revelation and in molding their lives in accordance with the teachings of Baha‘O’llah and in accordance with the exposition of that teaching by Abdul Baha. The Bahai Schools that may be established in the future should therefore make an adequate arrangement for the teaching of Persian. Suitable text books should be getting ready suited to the requirements of the Indian boys and girls. We trust the Bahais In India will pay their full attention to this question of language. Never was the need for knowing Persian greater than now.
Jenabe Mirza Seavash, the Zoroastrian Bahai Traveller returned to Bombay after having visited Agra, Delhi, Mooradabad, Lucknow, Allahabad, Calcutta, Murshidabad and Dacca. He gave the Message of Bahaism to many and we trust his journey has been fruitful of many results.
An appeal for funds for a Girls’ School in Haifa has been issued by the wife of His Holiness Abdul Baha. The Bahai sisters of the world have been asked to share in the privilege. We hope the Bombay Sisters will take their due share. All contributions are payable to the Secretary, Bahai Assembly, and will in due course be sent to Haifa.
Miss Elizabeth H. Stewart while on her way to Teheran, via Busrah and Bagdad paid a visit to the house in Bagdad, where Baha‘O’llah used to reside and also paid a visit to the Garden of Rezwan in Bagdad. She met an old lady who was quite young while Baha‘O’llah was residing there and found her happy in spite of the years. Miss Stewart writes that the house was badly in need of repairs and efforts were being made to rebuild it. It is the duty of the believers of the world to take part in this noble work of great historical importance and we trust our brothers and sisters in India will not be far behind in doing their little for the Bagdad House.
AMERICA.
The ‘Star of the West’ brings the happy news of the decision of the New York Convention to lay the foundation of the Mashrek-ul-Azkar in Chicago, the first Bahai Temple of America. Thus begins the erection of the first Universal House of the New World.
The pilgrimage of Miss Martha Root to Buenos Aires, Monteirdeo, Mendoza, Valparaiso, Lima, and the Panama Canal Zone in South America is an extremely interesting and instructive reading and the earnestness with which the message of Bahaism was given by this illustrious pilgrim and the enthusiasm with which the People of South America received the message read like a romance and yet this is not fiction.
The ‘Star of the West’ dated 4th November 1920 is full of good news from Germany. The German Bahais, so writes Mr. Charles Mason Remey from Esslingen, Wurtemberg, about a feast which was celebrated there “It was decided that the principal thought of the meeting should revolve about the Mashrek-ul-Azkar.” He writes further—“Now here in Germany I am experiencing a similar blessing; for through the kindness showered upon me here, I feel this great love and devotion of our friends here for the Bahais in America. It is as Abdul Baha teaches; ‘when soldiers of the world rush into battle to kill one another, Soldiers of God’s Kingdom rush forward ty embrace one another.’ Dr. Harlan F. Ober is the companion of Mr. Charles Mason Remey in their German travels and he has addressed a beautiful letter to the teaching committee of America.
In the ‘Star of the West’ of November 23, 1920, we find on page 238, ‘Abdul Baha’s Supplication and Declaration of His Servitude’ and we beg to invite the attention of our readers to this important Declaration by Abdul Baha......
‘O thou who art calling by the Testament, in the Pivot of the horizons! This servant according to the clear statements in Kitab-el-Akdas and the unambiguous texts of the Kitab-el-Ahd is the commentator and the explainer of the texts of God. All the faithful ones, who are assured and firm in the Testament and Covenant of God must neither over-reach the clear explanation of this servant nor the unambiguous interpretation of this slave. If any one over-reaches he follows his own suppositions. This servant gives the real meaning and the meaning of the real also........’
More happy news is being received
from America about the spread of the
cause. Harmonious efforts are being
made to start the work on the building
the Mashrek-ul-Azkar in Chicago. Janabe
Fazal Mazandarani is travelling in
different parts of the United States of
America since April 1920 and addressing
large and intelligent audiences. He was
invited by numerous churches, clubs and
societies to address them and very often
delivered two or three addresses during
the day. The Portsmouth Herald has devoted
many columns of its papers to the
tour of these pilgrims and the addresses
of this Persian Professor are also published
by many other public papers. On 18th
December 1920, Janabe Fazal and others
visited Topeka and were the guests of
Mrs. Weightman. Here he spoke at the
Metaphysical Library on Self-Mastery and
in the largest theatre of Topeka on the
subjects of ‘The Teachings of All Religions
are One’ and on ‘The Religion and
Reality of Jesus Christ’. In the Elle’s
club he addressed a large, enthusiastic
audience on ‘Women’s Movement in
Persia’. He also spoke on modern
education in Persia, as advocated by[Page 25]
Baha‘O’llah. From Topeka they went to
Kansas City, where Janabe Fazal gave
lecturers in the Unitarian Church and
then went to Denver. In Denver
many public lectures were delivered
before large and intelligent audiences.
He addressed the Civic and Commercial
Association on the subject of ‘Palestine
during the days of reconstruction.’
He spoke before the members of the
Universal Truth Central on ‘Evolution
of the Ideas of God in All ages.’ He
spoke in the Theosophical Society, the
Cactus Club, Denver Society, and Dr.
Filderis’ Auditorium on the ‘Underlying
Unity of all the Religions,’ ‘Old and New
Persia,’ ‘The Progress of the Women of
Persia,’ ‘The Ideals of the New Age’
and the ‘International Co-operation’ and
also gave an account of the Bahai Movement.
He also addressed the members
of the Denver Law Club on the Regeneration
of Persia and the members of the
Optimist Club on the solution of the
economic problems from an oriental standpoint.
The last talk of Janabe Fazal was
given on December 30th in the house of
representatives at the Capital Building
under the auspices of Hate Historical
and Natural History Society of Folorado
on the subject of ‘Persian Mysticism.’
They left Denver on the 30th December
for Salt Lake City, where he spoke to the
inmates of the State Prison on the Bahai
Movement and addressed a crowded church
of more than 500 members on ‘Palestine,
its past and present.’ He also addressed
the members of the Theosophical Society
on fundamental unity of all religions and
left Salt Lake City on 3rd January 1921.
PERSIA.
Several Bahai Teachers from Hamdan and Tehran have gone out into different Persian towns to spread the message of Bahaism amongst the people of Persia, the birth place of the great faith.
NOTES AFTER A VISIT TO SIR ABDUL BAHA ABBAS EFFENDI AT CARMEL[edit]
MY first acquaintance with the illustrious and the saintly leader of the Bahai Movement was as one of his chairman in the course of his lectures in Edinburgh on his tour through the West some years ago before the War. After this meeting he became interested in the practical methods of my ‘Outlook Tower’ at Edinburgh, and found in these something of that incorporation of science into life, and therefore into religion, which is one of the tenets in which the Bahai Organization, guided by his teaching, takes so eminent a lead among the religious bodies of the present. He indeed then asked me to deliver a public lecture on those lines to those attending his teaching, which I did under his chairmanship.
During each of the past two years I have been town-planning in Palestine and not only in Jerusalem, but also for his own home city of Haifa, and have thus had more than one opportunity of meeting him again.
On the last occasion of calling on him, I had the pleasant duty of conveying to him a unanimous request from “Pro-Carmel,” a new Society of Citizens, founded on the lines of the better-known “Pro Jerusalem,” and with the same purpose of advancing all the common interests of the City, without distinction of race, party or creed, and thus embracing all. Their desire was that he should become the President of this new Society, which unites Moslems, Jews, Christians and Bahais in the work of social service and of civic and regional improvements in all respects, moral and educational, as well as material, hygienic, architectural and artistic, etc.
This office and leadership he cordially accepted, to the great satisfaction of all concerned, since all Haifa looks up to and is proud of him as the foremost of their fellow-citizens.
He also approved and authorized the proposed town-planning scheme, as arranged between the City Engineer, Dr. Ciffrin, and myself so far as his fairly extensive property (on the slope of Carmel above Haifa) is concerned. He granted the land for the two new public roads which are required, without accepting compensation for the land taken, and he also presented a substantial piece of ground for the public school which is required in that vicinity, some 4,000 square meters.
Dr. Ciffrin, in his architectural capacity has produced a fine scheme for a monumental stairway and cypress avenue leading uphill from the Templar Boulevard upon the level plain, to the central meeting place of the Bahai community in Haifa, which as all Bahais doubtless know, contains the Tomb of the Bab.
In this scheme, (of which the design is a gift from Dr. Ciffrin) between £2,000 and £3,000 will be required; but he and I and other friends and sympathisers are confident that this sum will readily be subscribed within a reasonable time by the many members and friends of the Bahai cause throughout the world. Sir Abbas at once expressed himself as approving the design, and gratified by it, as at once a useful and needed access, and a beautiful and dignified memorial. He granted the land, and promised also to compensate from his own ground, the small portion of a Moslem neighbour’s ground which is also required to complete the scheme. He further gave a subscription of £100 to begin the list; but while authorising us to open a subscription list, and send it to friends and sympathizers, he charged us to be careful to explain this as a purely voluntary matter, and not to represent him as in any way pressing his followers or friends to subscribe, and this we of course promised to do.
We are thus however free to say that all subscriptions may be sent to The Treasurer, Bab Memorial Stairway, c/o Dr. Ciffrin, Municipal Engineer, Haifa, Palestine.
LATEST NEWS—EDITORIAL.[edit]
The New Year’s Day was celebrated in the Bahai Hall in Bombay on the evening of the 21st March 1921. More than one hundred Bahai brothers attended and partook in light refreshments and sweetmeats. Rose water and Shirini were first distributed. Short speeches were then made for the promotion of the Bahai Cause among the many peoples of India and an appeal was made for the newly born Bahai Journal the Bahai News. Greetings were exchanged among friends and prayers and poems were chanted and a spirit of love prevailed, which made the occasion both pleasant and sanctified. It was indeed a sacrament of the servants of God and the lovers of the Lord. A Bahai brother from Jandula (Dera Ismail Khan, Punjab) had sent by telegram the new year greetings and a suitable reply was telegraphed back. It was announced that the ladies’ gathering for the celebration of the New year’s Day would come off the next evening. We learn the evening of the 22nd March was a happy evening for the Bahai sisters in Bombay. May the New Year be a happy and a joyous one for all the Bahai sisters and brothers all over the world. Several Persian pilgrims who were on their way to the Holy Land also shared in the rejoicings.
We are glad to be able to announce that our dear brother Kaushal Kishore Bhargva who is studying the making of sugar in Glasgow, will visit London and Manchester during the vacation with a view to meet many Bahai friends in those places and also to give the Message and the glad tidings to many more.
It would interest many friends to know that His Holiness Abdul Baha was recently on a visit to Tabaryya and that the change was a welcome one for the health of His Holiness.
We regret to say that in our March issue, we forgot to mention the names of Messrs. A. Rangaswami Iyer and Khusroo Boman Irani as delegates to the First All-India Bahai Convention from Madras and Poona respectively.
