Daily Lessons Received at ‘Akká, January 1908/Notes
NOTES
[edit]
NOTES
[edit]1. For a more accurate translation see Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1939), p. 48.—ED.
2. Marion Elizabeth Jack (1866–1954) taught English to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandchildren in ‘Akká in 1908. In response to the Tablets of the Divine Plan she taught the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in many places in North America and pioneered to Alaska and later to Bulgaria for the last twenty-four years of her life. On her death Shoghi Effendi called her an “immortal heroine,” and a “shining example (to) pioneers (of) present and future generations. . . .” See “In Memoriam: Marion Jack,” The Bahá’í World: A Biennial International Record, Volume XII, 1950–1954, comp. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1956), pp. 674–77.—ED.
3. Ella Goodall Cooper here recalls an experience from her first pilgrimage to Haifa in 1898–99.—ED.
4. Mashriqu’l-Adhkár is more accurately translated “The Dawning Place of the Praise of God.” See [The Universal House of Justice], “Notes and References,” in Bahá’u’lláh, A Synopsis and Codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Most Holy Book of Bahá’u’lláh, [comp. The Universal House of Justice] (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1973), p. 61.—ED.
5. Thornton Chase (1846–1912), who became a Bahá’í in Chicago in 1894, was the first believer in America and the Western world. For more information see Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, “Abdul-Baha at the Grave of Thornton Chase: Los Angeles, California, October 19, 1912,” Star of the West, 3, no. 13 (Nov. 4, 1912), 14–15, and O. Z. Whitehead, Some Early Bahá’ís of the West (Oxford: George Ronald, 1976), pp. 1–12.—ED.
6. For a more accurate translation see Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings
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from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, trans. Shoghi Effendi, 2d rev. ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 139.—ED.
7. For a more accurate translation see Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, trans. Habib Taherzadeh et al. (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978), p. 69.—ED.
8. According to Islám, on the Day of Judgment Isráfíl calls the dead to rise to a new life.—ED.
9. Hájí Mírzá Ḥaydar-‘Alí of Iṣfahán was a devoted servant of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from the 1850s to his death in 1920. At Bahá’u’lláh’s bidding he went to Egypt to teach about the Bahá’í Faith; his efforts resulted in his being imprisoned for nearly ten years. For more than twenty-five years he was one of the foremost teachers in Persia; he staunchly defended the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh at His passing and during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry. He spent the last years of his life as companion to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and counselor to pilgrims; the Western pilgrims knew him as the Angel of Mount Carmel. For details on his life see Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: Adrianople 1863–68 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1977), pp. 438–50.—ED.
10. It is not clear to what “see history” refers; perhaps it means to see historical accounts of the August 12, 1852, attempt on the life of the Sháh.—ED.
11. According to H. M. Balyuzi (Edward Granville Browne and the Bahá’í Faith [London: George Ronald, 1970], p. 10n), “A manuscript copy [of A Traveler’s Narrative] in the handwriting of an eminent Bahá’í, Zaynu’l-Muqarribín [Jináb-i Zayn], was given to Browne in Bahjí, ‘Akká, in 1890. This book was written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but at that time its authorship was anonymous. Browne had that manuscript published in facsimile. . . .” Probably Mrs. Goodall and Mrs. Cooper were told that Jináb-i Zayn wrote A Traveler’s Narrative in the sense that he copied it; they may have misunderstood and thought that he had authored it. For accounts of Jináb-i Zayn’s life and work see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, trans. Marzieh Gail
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(Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1971), pp. 150–53, and Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: Baghdád 1853–63 (Oxford: George Ronald, 1974), pp. 25–26.—ED.
12. For a detailed explanation of the Greatest Name see Abu’l-Qásim Faizi, “Explanation of the Emblem of the Greatest Name” (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1977), reprinted from Bahá’í News, no. 451 (Oct. 1968), pp. 8–12.—ED.
13. When Shoghi Effendi translated The Hidden Words, he renumbered the Arabic section. For his translation see Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, p. 15, no. 51.—ED.
14. For a more accurate translation see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in J. E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era: An Introduction to the Bahá’í Faith, 3d rev. ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), p. 83.—ED.
15. The Medium Obligatory Prayer is to be recited three times daily, in the morning, between noon and sunset, and in the evening. The Short Obligatory Prayer is to be recited once in twenty-four hours, between noon and sunset. The Long Obligatory Prayer is to be recited once in twenty-four hours. According to Shoghi Effendi, “The daily obligatory prayers are three in number . . . The believer is entirely free to choose any one of those three prayers, but is under the obligation of reciting either one of them, and in accordance with any specific directions with which they may be accompanied.” Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Prayers: A Selection of the Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, The Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, rev. ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1970), pp. 117–28. For further details on obligatory prayers and a description of ablutions see Bahá’u’lláh, Synopsis and Codification, pp. 35–37.—ED.
16. According to The Universal House of Justice, “If a Bahá’í works for one political party to overcome another it is a negation of the very spirit of the Faith. Membership in any political party, therefore, necessarily entails repudiation of some or all of the principles of peace and unity proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated: ‘Our party is God’s party; we do not belong to any party.’” The Universal House of Justice, Messages from The
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Universal House of Justice: 1968–1973 (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1976), p. 46. See also Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters, 2d rev. ed. (Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974), pp. 64–67, and “Membership Criteria in Non-Bahá’í Groups” in National Bahá’í Review, no. 106, (Feb. 1978), p. 5.—ED.
17. The correct transliteration is Bahá’u’lláh.—ED.
18. For a more accurate translation see Bahá’u’lláh, Synopsis and Codification, p. 14.—ED.
19. Occultation means absence from the physical world. Shoghi Effendi translates this line as follows: “In My presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet another, inscrutable to all but God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.” Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 139.—ED.
20. For a more accurate translation of the entire passage see ibid.—ED.
21. For a more accurate translation of excerpts from this Tablet see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, trans. Committee at the Bahá’í World Centre and Marzieh Gail (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1978), pp. 160–62.—ED.
22. The Universal House of Justice in a letter dated February 20, 1978, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, noted that, “There is a Tablet written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to an individual believer in California on 19 August 1905 in which He states, ‘In the Torah it says that the Valley of Achor was made for you a door of hope; this valley is the city of ‘Akká, and this is certainly so . . .’. This is similar to the statement of the Guardian on page 184 of “God Passes By”, ‘Akká, itself, . . . designated by Hosea as a door of hope’ . . . . it is thus made indisputably clear that the Valley of Achor (which means Valley of Trouble) in this prophecy refers to the City of ‘Akká. . . .”—ED.
23. Shoghi Effendi translates this phrase as “Renounce thyself.” See Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, p. 35, no. 38.—ED.
24. For a more accurate translation see ibid., p. 46.—ED.
25. For a more accurate translation see ibid., p. 5.—ED.