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THE BAHA'I TEMPLE
* * *
| VOL. 24 | JUNE, 1933 | No. 3 |
LEADERS of religion, exponents of political theories, governors of human institutions, who at present are witnessing with perplexity and dismay the bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration of their handiwork, would do well to turn their gaze to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, and to meditate upon the World Order which, lying enshrined in His teachings, is slowly and imperceptibly rising amid the welter and chaos of present-day civilization. They need have no doubt or anxiety regarding the nature, the origin or validity of the institutions which the adherents of the Faith are building up throughout the world. For these lie embedded in the teachings themselves, unadulterated and unobscured by unwarrantable inferences, or unauthorized interpretations of His Word."
| VOL. 24 | JUNE, 1933 | No. 3 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 67 |
The Temple of Light, John J. Earley | 69 |
The True Sovereign, Alfred E. Lunt | 72 |
Are Good Deeds Enough, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick | 76 |
Letters Home (Persia), Keith Ransom-Kehler | 78 |
The Martyrdom of Quddus (Nabil’s Narrative) | 83 |
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Visit to Budapest, Martha L. Root | 84 |
Glimpses of the New World Order, Mabel and Sylvia Paine | 90 |
Peter or Paul? Dale S. Cole | 94 |
STANWOOD COBB, MARIAM HANEY, BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK | Editors |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
| CONTRIBUTING EDITORS | |
| For the United States and Canada | For Foreign Countries |
| ALFRED E. LUNT MR. LEROY IOAS MRS. LOULIE MATHEWS MRS. MAY MAXWELL MRS. DORIS McKAY MISS SYLVIA PAYNE International MISS MARTHA L. ROOT |
MRS. ANNIE B. Romer, Great Britain |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send OLD as well as NEW address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to The Bahá'i Magazine, 1000 Chandler Bldg., Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103 Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
“Your Assembly faithful to its trust and conscious of its high calling, has sounded the call for a further and final effort on the part of the followers of Baha’u’llah in that land. It is for them, now if ever, to arise for the speedy consummation of a divinely appointed task . . . The American believers have made a splendid beginning. Let them bring to a speedy and successful termination a task which they have so nobly initiated and which they alone are destined to accomplish . . . I am acutely conscious of the unprecedented character of the depression under which you labor . . . But I realize also the uniqueness of the opportunity which it is our privilege to seize and utilize.”
“Would to God . . . that the multitudes who, from the remote corners of the globe, will throng the grounds of the Great Fair to be held in the neighborhood of that hallowed shrine may, as the result of your sustained spirit of self-sacrifice, be privileged to gaze on the arrayed splendor of its dome—a dome that shall stand as a flaming beacon and a symbol of hope amidst the gloom of a despairing world.”
| VOL. 24 | JUNE, 1933 | No. 3 |
of God for all religionists, will be built in the Orient and Occident, but this being the first one erected in the Occident has great importance. In the future there will be many here and elsewhere: in Asia, Europe, even Africa, New Zealand and Australia, but this edifice in Chicago is of especial significance.”
INCREASING numbers daily are aware that there is being erected in the suburbs of Chicago a Shrine which is expressive of a great and grandiloquent emotion of the human heart, namely that of the brotherhood of man—an International Shrine dedicated to the oneness of mankind and the oneness of religion. This is the Bahá’i Temple or Mashriqu’l-Adhkár which is being erected on the shores of Lake Michigan in the beautiful suburb of Chicago—Wilmette, Ill.
There are many unique features of this monument to the Bahá’i Movement. The first is the marvelously beautiful and creative architecture in which it is phrased—an architecture described as “the first thing new in architecture since the thirteenth century.” The second, of still greater import, is the fact that this Bahá’i Temple expresses the longing dreams and spiritual aspirations of countless Bahá’is among the different races and religions of this planet who look with eagerness to the completion of such a visible expression of their faith in this land of freedom, advanced civilization, high humanitarian ideals and tolerance.
Nor is the interest taken by the adherents of this Faith limited
only to good wishes. In deeds of sacrifice, rather, is their cooperation manifested. Since the inception of this Temple, many countries and many religionists have contributed generously of their funds, even to the point of extreme sacrifice. The following are a few expressions of consecration out of the many on record:
‘ABDU’L-BAHA has told the story
of the widow of a Bahá’i martyr
who was left with two young children
to support. She provided for
them by knitting socks; the proceeds
from one sock she used for
their support, and what she received
for the other sock was her
glad offering toward the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
’Abdu’l-Bahá then
said, “It is this spirit which will
build the Temple.”
“Truly, I say, the friends of God displayed wonderful generosity in regard to the contributions for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. They displayed magnanimity at any cost to such an extent that some of them sold portions of their clothing on the street.
“Praise be to God! that at this moment, from every country in the world, according to their various means, contributions are continually
being sent toward the fund of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in America. . . . From the day of Adam until now, such an event has never been witnessed by man, that from the farthermost country of Asia, contributions were forwarded to the farthermost country of America.
“Contributions for the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár are most important. Notwithstanding the miserable condition of Persia, money has poured in and is still coming for this purpose. Although many families are extremely poor, so that they have scarcely enough to keep them, nevertheless they give towards it. For many years the West has contributed towards the East, and now, through the Mercies and Bounties of God, a miracle has been performed, and for the first time in the history of the world the East is contributing to the West.”
THESE are only a few instances,
but the stories of similar sacrifices
could easily make many chapters
if recorded. Suffice it to say that
from Australia comes a regular
flow of gifts for the Divine Edifice.
From Persia, India, England,
France, from Honolulu and Maui,
Hawaii, and from groups and individual
Bahá’is everywhere comes
the evidence that unity in God is
a living thing through the creative
power of the Word of Bahá’u’lláh.
No less a personage than the Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, Shoghi Effendi—who has said that “the specific Bahá’i institutions should be viewed in the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s gifts bestowed upon the world”—has set an example in the divine art of real sacrifice when
Reprinted by request.
he forwarded the most precious possession from the Shrine of Baha’u’llah to be sold for the Bahá’i Temple Fund in this country, and he has regularly contributed every month to the National Bahá’i Fund of America.
It is indeed the beginning of a new world cycle when the Orient actually contributes money to the Occident. Is this not the symbol of true love and brotherhood—knowing as all do the relatively impoverished condition of those people compared with that of America?
IN THIS TURNING of the thoughts
and dreams of the Orient toward
the New World and the awareness
of the spiritual evolution going on
in America, one finds the miraculous
enlargement of the Asiatic consciousness
which only true religion
could have brought about. For to
the illiterate peasant of Asia in
general, the New World hardly has
existence; or if any, but nebulous
and unformed. Yet to the Bahá’is
of Persia, Rangoon, and even of the
jungles of India, America exists as
an entity sufficiently to call forth
their loving sacrifices. This is
more than human education could
have accomplished.
As witnessed in an article by A. H. Naimi on “Martha L. Root in Persia,” the Persian Bahá’is look with real vision toward America. The vision of what this dynamic rapidly evolving people of the New World will ultimately achieve for the Universal Bahá’i Faith, becomes the daily inspiration and stimulus to our brothers and sisters around the world.
Mr. Earley was awarded the contract for the construction of the ornamentation of the Temple dome by the Temple Trustees, after a thorough study and investigation of his special architectural concrete by The Research Service and recommended by them.
TWELVE years ago last August two gentlemen came to my studio in Washington. They came unexpectedly and they brought with them only the photograph of a plaster model. They had been sent by a mutual friend, an engineer, deeply interested in the work being done with concrete by this studio, and who had suggested that we might offer a solution for their problem. One of these gentlemen was Mr. Louis Bourgeois, an architect, and the most unusual personality I had met in that profession; the other was Mr. Ashton, his friend; and the photograph which they brought was of a Temple, the most exotically beautiful building I had ever seen. It came up out of the earth like the sprout of some great plant bursting out to life and growth.
Mr. Bourgeois explained that he was the architect of the building and a member of the Bahá’i Faith. It soon became clear that this Bahá’i Temple was the dream of Mr. Bourgeois’ life, that all his hopes and ambitions were centered in it, and that he believed himself to have been inspired to design a temple unlike any other in the world, so that it might be the symbol of a new religion in a new age. At that moment he was anxiously seeking a material with which to
--PHOTO--
Model of Dome with Plaster Models of Panel and Rib.
build it, someone with the ability to understand his work and who had the skill to execute it. He left the photograph with me after autographing it. I have it still. It marks the beginning of the project for me.
IN THE time which intervened between this meeting and the death of Mr. Bourgeois about two years ago, there developed between us an interesting and instructive friendship. We studied this Temple with all its ramifications of form, of treatment and of meaning as a preparation for the time when work on it would be begun. It was strange in a way, that we of the studio should have given so much thought to it. We had no authority to do so, and as a matter of fact we were not commissioned to do the work until the summer of 1932. But somehow it always seemed to be our work. We understood it, we had the material and were equipped to do it.
The architect was interesting to us and we to him. And then there was the job itself, a thing to fascinate the imagination. A Temple of Light with a great pierced dome through which by day the sunlight would stream to enlighten all within, and through which by night the Temple light would shine out into a darkened world. When at night we look into the sky we see only the stars but could we see the orbits of the stars how wonderful it would be! Great curved intertwining in wierd perspective. Ovals, circles, and vesicas of endless variety twisted and woven into some great cosmic fabric. This is the theme of the dome,—the courses of the stars woven into a fabric. But this is not all; interwoven with the courses of the stars in the pattern of the dome are the tendrils of living things, leaves, and flowers, because no symbol of creation would be complete without a symbol of life. Lifted above the dome are nine
--PHOTO--
Model of 19-Foot Clerestory Section of Great Ribs of Dome.
great ribs, nine aspirations that mount higher than the courses of the stars. I wonder after all if it was strange that we of the studio should have given so much thought to this project?
THE DRAWINGS left to us by the
architect adequately illustrate his
ideas about the decorations of the
dome but they do not pretend to
show a method for making the dome
nor for attaching it to the steel
skeleton. Among his drawings are
some of the most extraordinary full sized details of ornament. There is one of a panel in the field of the dome which is seventy feet long; another of the face of the great rib which is ninety feet long. Each of these drawings were made in one piece in a loft building on LaSalle Street in Chicago where he stretched out on the floor a great sheet of paper and with his pencil tied to the end of a long stick he drew in great sweeps–in a manner never to be forgotten—the interlacing ornament of the dome. One line through another, under and over, onward and upward until the motif was completed. Never have I seen a greater feat of draftsmanship nor a more interesting draftsman than was Mr. Bourgeois. Most surprising of all perhaps is the approximation to accuracy which he maintained in these great drawings in spite of the disadvantages under which he worked. He was obliged to stand on the drawing which he was making and his only view of the whole was from the top of a step ladder.
It became necessary, after the death of Mr. Bourgeois, for the Temple Trustees to carry these drawings further. This matter was
put in charge of The Research Service of Washington, D. C., who allotted to our studio the development of the ornamental dome.
I cannot begin to tell you how many factors enter into such a problem and I am sure that we automatically give consideration to many without being able to recall or to name them-just as an operating surgeon might know the position and function of every vein and sinew, the names of which have long since been forgotten. So in discussing such a problem consideration can be given only to principles such as these—the decoration of the Temple must always be subservient to the architecture; the theme of the ornament must not be lost; the craftsmanship must be adequate, practical and economical; the materials must be suitable and enduring. This project as stated in many articles written about it, is a pioneer one in every sense of the word, structurally new and arresting, and involves the use of new methods, new processes, and the highest standards of materials and craftsmanship. The structure will be not only beautiful in accordance with the design but permanent and enduring through the ages.
“The first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár [Bahá’i Temple] in America was instituted in [Wilmette, Ill., suburb] of Chicago, and this honor and distinction is infinite in value. Undoubtedly out of this Mashriqu’l-Adhkár thousands of other Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs will he born.”
“Verily, those who have denied God and adhered unto nature as nature is, are indeed void of both science and wisdom, are they not of the erring?”
In the first installment of this article, published in the May number, is pointed out the great truth that nature is in itself incapable of establishing values or achieving perfection. Therefore when mankind forsakes the path of revealed guidance for his upward climb and gives way to the forces of nature in him, he expresses, as a social group, confusion, chaos, degeneracy. This is what is happening in the world today. In this second and present installment, the author describes vividly the dual nature of man—the pivot of creation—a microcosm containing within himself the secrets of heaven and hell, a soul capable of upward and downward flights. Now is the destined time in the history of this planet for man to express his highest spiritual nature with the aid and stimulus of revealed truth and the power of the Holy Spirit by attaining the consciousness of the spirit of faith as contrasted with mere belief.
ARE these insidious enemies of our true welfare the inheritance of aeons of life when man was emerging from the slime of the waters, when Nature wholly dominated him, or are they the results of a gradual yielding to the natural allurement, the real fall of man enshrined in a mysterious tradition wherein he deliberately chose to dwell in the water and clay of the
lower self and to forsake the heavenly delights of the divine provision? Certain it is that in the countless milleniums of his life on earth he has been brought face to face with the prophetic admonishments, and, flouting them, suffered the pains and punishments of disobedience. Nothing is clearer in the Sacred Books than that in a day concealed in the mists of creation he took a covenant with his Creator by which the infinite bestowals of God were promised him in exchange for his guerdon of obedience and acknowledgment of the True Sovereign.
If, now, these bestowals appear to be withdrawn; if in their place we are confronted with depression and unhappiness more widespread and more poignant than men have hitherto experienced; if the utmost ingenuity of our leaders is powerless to find the key to the solution,—can it be doubted that, if these premises are true, the reason for this deprivation is mankind’s own default? Not the vengeance of God, but the unchangeable law of cause and effect operating in the arena of human affairs, has brought upon us these scourges. Long continued disobedience to the Command, forgetfulness and doubt of the True Sovereign have created in the heart of humanity a potent magnet of attraction for the indrawing of the destructive, death-dealing force of Nature which is
ever ready to seize hold of those who madly stray from the impregnable stronghold and wander in the morasses of remoteness and ignorance.
AT WHAT point in its evolution the race became endowed with that capacity to know God that is commensurate with the assumption of responsibility, no record exists. Man has always stood at the forefront of the army of life, despite the unproved theories of certain anthropologists that he is merely a branch or descendant of inferior animals. Humanity is the main stem of the creational order. Concealed in the matrix of life as is the great oak in the acorn, his superior potentialities have slowly unfolded in the march of the centuries.* And in the long succession of aeons and ages, when civilization after civilization became buried and submerged by earthshaking cataclysms, who can say with accuracy that our present civilization surpasses or even equals the apex attained by former peoples, our remote ancestors? Man is very ancient. And the succession of divine teachers known as prophets stretches back to a period little imagined by the orthodox literalists. The building of these cycles of human existence, whose climax is to witness the entrance of all mankind into a universal era of brotherhood, peace and knowledge of reality, is the evident creational purpose indelibly recorded in the Word of God revealed to every nation. Herein lies food for thought. For it betokens the latent capacity of the
* ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Some Answered Questions.”
race to evolve the supreme achievement of attaining a world-wide unity. As well to say that the oak tree, having reached the leafy stage is incapable of putting forth its seed-fruitage, as to insist that man is forever bound by the limitations, superstitions and prejudices he now exhibits. The little acorn, a mere pulpy mass, is in nature bound, once buried in the rich soil, to increase in stature and grandeur until its full fruitage bursts forth.
And, yet, many so-called leaders of thought upon whose conclusions the people lean, the materialistic philosophers, the shallow thinkers whose vision is veiled to the intangible, controlling power that governs the world of reality,—have taught that if there is a Creator He has absented Himself from His creation and forgotten it; that mankind is left wholly to its own resources. This is forgetting God, with a vengeance. Were it not for the redoubtable Champions of Truth, who resolutely arise amidst mankind in the time of need, revealing the Will and Word of God, such a philosophy might well attain a proud and irrefutable eminence, since all admit the evident truth that the Essence of God is unknowable. But the very existence of these divine intermediaries, dotting the pages of history at times most inconvenient to the oppressors of humanity, is and always has been an irritating, insurmountable fact to the materialists. Either must they deny their actual historical existence, or otherwise explain their enormous and unique influence
upon the masses of humanity. Briefly, the materialist philosophers have endeavored to link man to the animal in such fashion as to deny to him and cause him to despair of the spiritual qualities and powers resident within him. But these qualities have ever been emphasized and certified by the Messengers who have ceaselessly called the people to awaken and put forth this glorious fruitage of the human tree of life.
LET US assume for a moment as
true the definitions of the Manifestations
of God concerning the
true station of man. That in the
sight of his Creator, he is, as it
were, the pivot of creation, a microcosm
containing within himself
the secrets of heaven and hell, the
divine and nether worlds. That he
has been given dominion over every
lesser plane of life including the
elemental forces. That his soul is
capable of both upward and downward
flights. That he possesses powers
unrivalled and unequalled by
animal, vegetable and mineral
realms, among them reason, spiritual
susceptibility, the capacity of
discovery and invention, and the
ability to know his Creator, which
implies a consciousness, amounting
to certainty, of the realities of the
divine world. That his heart is
above all else the home of the Spirit
of God, endowed with capacity to
become the recipient of the Divine
Love, than which no greater bounty
is imaginable in the world of creation.
That he is destined, through
the establishment of unity in his
own ranks, to uncover in this world
the fragrant flowers of the Kingdom
of God. That because of the
free will of his soul he may choose the high or the low flight. That the ancient myth of the “devil” and all his works may be traced to man, himself, in his excursions into the dark caverns of Nature and his submission to her behests.
Not only this but, as a result, he becomes an emissary of that cruel sovereign, supplementing its impulses with his all powerful will, and registering its cruelties upon his fellow-beings with all the accumulated force of his (God-given) mind. Thus he has used gifts of which Nature is totally lacking, to refine and augment her blind forces. For this reason the “devil” has been reputed to be intelligent, capable of plots against the divine Sovereign, challenging His authority and His right to command humanity, and asserting in place thereof his own egoistic supremacy.
Such are the actual and latent glories and abasement of man described in the Book of Life. Can we doubt that the Will of his Lord, Himself the Creator, through His wisdom, of the natural forces, will become enacted and established on this planet? Already, glorious signs of this fulfilment are witnessed in the earth. The hour, concealed in the Book of Fate, has arrived when a new order is in process of institution. And the first and greatest step is the enthronement of His Sovereignty, through wisdom and explanation and the awakening of the new consciousness. “For every hour there is a fate,” asserts Bahá’u’lláh. The destined hour for this consummation is here and now, consonant with the declaration of the Divine Decree.
“Beside Him, every one changeth by the will on His part, and He is the Almighty, the precious, the Wise . . . Nothing can move between the heaven and earth without My permission, and no soul can ascend to the Kingdom without My Command; but My creatures veiled themselves from My power and authority, and were of those who were negligent.“
“O, My servants! The Ancient Beauty commands: Hasten to the shadow of immortality, nearness and mercy, from the shadow of desire, remoteness and heedlessness . . . . Be ye ablaze like unto fire, so that ye may consume thick veils and quicken and immortalize cold and veiled bodies through the heat of the divine love. Be ye pure like unto air, that ye may enter the sacred abode of My Friendship.”2
ONE OF the greatest superstitions
of our race is the one held by the
pessimists who insist that what is
commonly regarded as human nature
is unchangeable, that its manifest
weaknesses are fixed and
static. This view is ignorantly misleading
and but panders to the suggestions
of the inferior sovereignty.
In the first place, the real human
nature is by no means the powerless
entity portrayed by the pessimist.
Human nature is definitely
associated with a world infinitely
removed from the realm of instinctive
obedience that characterizes
the lower beings. The animal
spirit, the highest of these lower
orders, has been defined by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “the virtue perceptive,
resulting from the admixture
and absorption of the vital elements
generated in the heart,
which apprehend sense impressions”.
But the human spirit, He
tells us, “consists of the rational
faculty which apprehends general
ideas and things intelligible and
perceptible.” But the Spirit of
Faith, the next stage above that of
the human spirit, He explains,—“is
the life of the spirit of man, when
it is fortified thereby, as Christ (to
1 Bahá’u-llah. Bahá’i Scriptures p. p. 219, 220. 2 Bahá’u’llah, Tablet of Ahmad.
whom be Glory) saith ‘That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit—’”. The human spirit then, according to this exact definition, possesses the power to acquire and reinforce itself by appropriating the eternal gifts of the Spirit of Faith. Thus the faculty of reason may become illuminated, rather united with that Spirit that confers the immortal existence.
In the face of these evident truths, human nature is seen as a distinct creation fully endowed with power, through the exercise of its unique rational faculty and the power of selection and choice resident in the will, to inhibit and ultimately render powerless the inordinate impulses of the lower phase of its nature. To do this, however, it must have recourse to a superior power. This power, happily, has affinity and connection with the noble reality of man, and is the goal of the upward flight of the soul. This power which is no less than the Divine Reality, the Conferer of true existence, has established the station of the Spirit of Faith as a center of Its outpouring, and beyond this yet other stations of Divine Nearness, in the journey of the soul toward its Creator. But since the station of Faith is nearest to man, it is the appointed place of his transformation from the world of nature, just as the vegetable realm raises and transforms the stony particles of the mineral. By attaining the consciousness of the spirit of faith, a consciousness identical with certainty—as contrasted with mere belief, we enter the only Fortress against which Nature’s onslaught is powerless.
“Is it not astonishing that although man has been created for the knowledge and love of God, for the virtues of the human world, for spirituality, heavenly illumination and life eternal, nevertheless he continues ignorant and negligent of all this? Consider how he seeks knowledge of everything except knowledge of God.”
BACK in the fifteenth century Morality Plays were used to give religious and moral instruction to the unlettered masses. One of these, “The Summoning of Everyman”, represents Everyman, a thoughtless and worldly young fellow as summoned by Death to go to the next world. Quite unprepared for this journey whence no traveler returns he seeks advice and comfort from his friends. First he turns to Good Fellowship who though sympathetic declares it quite impossible to go with Everyman on this journey. Worldly Goods is surprised that Everyman should even expect that he would take such a journey with him. Everyman in desperation calls upon his rather neglected companions Good Deeds, Knowledge, Beauty, Discretion, Strength and others. Good Deeds alone is willing to go with Everyman upon his journey, but she, alas, is at the point of collapse and exhaustion through neglect and utterly unable to go. However, acting upon the advice of Knowledge Everyman is able to revive Good Deeds and in the last scene we see Everyman fearlessly going down into the Valley of Death accompanied by Good Deeds alone.
SOME ONE once asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
* “Some Answered Questions,” 1st Edition, chapter 83; 2nd edition, chapter 84.
about those people whose deeds are good and actions praiseworthy–what need such had of the divine teachings? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered that although such actions and efforts are most praiseworthy and approved, alone they are not sufficient. “They are a body of greatest loveliness”, He said, “but without spirit”.*
Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that the first thing necessary is the knowledge of God and after that the love of God. “It is known,” He said, “that the knowledge of God is beyond all knowledge and it is the greatest glory of the human world”. Continuing He said, “Secondly comes the love of God, the light of which shines in the hearts of those who know God, for this is the spirit of life and the eternal bounty.”
But there is a third thing necessary to bring a good deed to perfection. In the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “The third virtue of humanity is the good will which is the basis of good actions.” By a simple illustration ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made this point clear: “A butcher rears a sheep and protects it; but this righteous action of the butcher is dictated by desire to derive profit, and the result of this care is the slaughter of the poor sheep. How many righteous actions are dictated
by coveteousness! But the good will is sanctified from such impurities”. Just as a man is not perfect physically if his hearing, for example, is impaired, so a righteous deed is not perfect unless it possesses these three attributes, the knowledge of God, the love of God and the good will or sincere intention.
Bahá’u’lláh teaches us to say, “Thou hast created me to know Thee and to adore Thee,” and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as already quoted, says, “The fruit of human existence is the love of God”. Simply to perform righteous acts then is for man to fall short of the purpose for which he was created. For the sun to shine and give warmth is doubtless perfection for the sun, but for a man to furnish warmth and food for another with no good will to man or love of God in his heart is an imperfect though a good deed.
There is a further note in this explanation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s which leads us to see the source of all our good deeds. “Moreover”, He said, “if you reflect justly you will see that these good actions of other men who do not know God are also fundamentally caused by the teachings of God; that is to say that the former Prophets led men to perform these actions, explained their beauty to them, and declared their splendid effects; then these teachings were diffused among men, and reached them successively, one after another, and turned their hearts towards these perfections. When men saw that these actions were considered beautiful, and became the cause of
joy and happiness for mankind, they conformed to them. Wherefore these actions also come from the teachings of God”. “But”, added ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “justice is needed to see this and not controversy and discussion.”
DO NOT these words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá help us to see why when we teach our children good morals without the firm basis of the knowledge and the love of God that not only is true religion lost but gradually morality itself becomes corrupted and chaos and confusion ensue? How can any of us be “strong to withstand all trials and temptations” except by the Strength that comes through the knowledge of God and how can we “bear all the swords of the earth” unless the love of God is firm in our hearts? Are we not too prone to be satisfied if we keep the second commandment reiterated by Christ? We forget that he said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment”.
The human race is now at the dawn of its maturity. No longer do we need to walk blindly by the half truths of morality plays. No longer is the truth hidden in parables. We have come to the age when He, the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all Truth. We have come to the dawn of the age when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. Happy is he who whole-heartedly seeks the Source of all Truth in this day for he will surely find.
This is the fourth installment of “Letters Home” describing the author’s visit among the Bahá'is of Persia and her pilgrimage to historic Bahá’i sites in that lomd which gave the Movement its birth. Herein is described her memorable visit to Shaykh Tabarsi.
IN MY last letter we had been heartily welcomed by the Friends of Kafsha Kula, when I had to stop writing.
It was the end of a strenuous day, for before leaving Sári we had packed; gone to be photographed in the beautiful garden given by Abdul Molaki for the new Haziratu’l-Quds, been driven three times into the ditch by an inexperienced driver taking me over the new road built for my coming; met and addressed the Ahbáb of Mafruzac; commemorated the martyrdom of Mulla Ali Jan; said poignant goodbyes, which is always a stirring emotional experience; greeted, in passing, the Friends of Shahid, and then participated in the welcoming ceremonies of Kafsha Kula.
The challenge to science today is to unlock the energies resident in the atom and release them for human utility. If some inspired person could find a method of utilizing the flea power of Persia, the land would become, over-night, the greatest producer in the world. But even the fleas, which made riot with our unaccustomed flavor, were unable to detract from the joy of this memorable meeting.
To our intense relief the rains were holding off although it was November; but when we arose to find a grey morning we were urged
to make an early start for Shaykh Tabarsi, lest bad weather detain us.
IT IS THREE miles across a wide
river ford and through barren rice-paddies
(the crop had been long
harvested) from Kafsha Kula to
the site of the Fort so heroically
defended against an entire imperial
army by three hundred and thirteen
men—not seasoned soldiers, not the
grizzled veterans of many campaigns,
like their opponents, but
youthful students unaccustomed to
arms and accountrements, and long
trained in the cloistered life of
metaphysical argument and disquisition.
In the record of humanity we find no parallel to their accomplishment. Alexander’s army of thirty thousand defeated the Persian forces of six hundred thousand fighting one to twenty; but they were a military organization, reared to “strategems and sports.” Quddus, Mulla Husayn and their followers, without previous training, without adequate supplies, with nothing but a flaming faith and an unquenchable devotion to their Lord, the Báb, repulsed not once, but again and again, one to a thousand, the forces arrayed against them.
Effie Baker, that intrepid and devoted servant of Shoghi Effendi, (whose exploits and experiences in
photographing our historic Bahá’i sites in Persia to illustrate “The Dawn-Breakers” deserves the high appreciation and gratitude of the Bahá’i world), had come, in the course of her far-flung activities, to photograph this sacred place. My visit was of a very different nature.
I was the first Western Baha’i who came, not to carry out an important commission such as hers, but to express, however feebly, that intense love and admiration that the followers of Bahá’u’lláh everywhere feel for these glorious saints and heroes.
IT WAS Friday the tenth of
November that the “little town was
emptied of its folk this pious morn”
to visit the Shrine, and a large
cavalcade, including Bahá’is from
many places in Mazindaran, from
several parts of Persia, together
with the Spiritual Assembly of
Sári, set out across the uncharted
fields for this memorable journey
to Shaykh Tabarsi.
In the darkest days of our oppression and persecution in Persia, when the word Bahá’i was barely whispered, Bahá’u’lláh promised that one day Bahá’is from the West would freely and openly consort with their brethren in this sore-tried land. The miraculous fulfillment of this early promise was the thought uppermost in the mind of every Persian, today.
Some of the descendants of Mulla Ali Jan had arrived from Mafruzac, and since they had the gentlest horse in the community it was chosen for me. It is quite thirty years since my equestrian
* God is the Most Glorious.
exploits, and being still very feeble from my recent prolonged illness, they mounted me on a great pack-saddle astride, with the owner leading his docile mare and Alai, a large and very strong man, literally balancing me by the hand, over rough land and winding roads for six long miles. Let anyone who considers this a mere polite gesture try it soon.
“Such a sight has never been seen in Mazindaran before,” exclaimed Dr. Nadari. Sári, turning with a kind of awe to watch this new army of peace advancing in the footsteps of those aforetime destined by the forefeiture of their lives to challenge the world to the contemplation of peace, gazed in wonder.
Our horses gallantly swam the river, bare-legged Bahá’is guiding them safely to the steep bank opposite. It was in this very spot that the Mulla Husayn implored those who were unprepared for the unprecedented difficulties that lay before them to turn back. Those who finally crossed with him remained to the end.
Sometimes we swarmed afoot and ahorse over a big bare paddy, sometimes we went single file over a narrow bridge, but the sound of prayer and chanting never abated and at every turn we called upon the Greatest Name.
“Allah’u’Abha!* Allah’u’Abha,” cried the granddaughter of Mulla Ali Jan again and again as we wound along the narrow irrigation paths. “That must be our only thought today, our only utterance,” she said.
--PHOTO--
Mrs. Ransom-Kehler and her cavalcade leaving Shaykh Tabarsi.
In due time we reached the village of Arfa, headquarters of the Imperial army besieging the Fort, and at a short distance we dismounted before the Shrine, left, because it is a Muslim tomb, when everything else connected with the Fort was demolished.
At my request, after we had recalled the magnificent history of the spot, the entire party went into the inner room where the world’s greatest hero, the Mulla Husayn lies buried by the side of the old Islamic teacher, Shaykh Tabarsi. There they chanted the Tablet of Visitation revealed for him by the Báb.
Their devotions finished I was permitted to enter the Shrine alone. Who can estimate the meaning of a moment or who recount the miracle of a thought? Into the untrained mind of Brother Lawrence flashed the idea that spring would soon adorn the barren boughs at which he glanced, with verdure, and
* Where Bahá’u’llah, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Baha lie buried.
over him flooded the realization of the Presence of God in which he lived out his life with joy and assurance. No more elevating an incident than the light on a brass kettle reflected into the soul of Jacob Boehme his ecstatic reunion with his Lord. “Dante looked at Beatrice once and ten silent centuries sang.”
MY VISIT to that humble and neglected
spot has pierced life with
a purpose that it did not have before.
To visit our sacred Shrines*
in Palestine is indeed a shaking experience,
for these Eternal Beings
wring the soul with the appalling
testimony of the cumulative horrors
that man has ever heaped upon
God’s Messengers. But after all
these occupy a rank and station
apart from human kind. What
They endured They endured with a
superhuman equipment.
The Mulla Husayn was human like unto us and with every limitation
of humanity attained to the station of divinity; in his ecstatic devotion, his unswerving fidelity, his utter self-immolation it would be hard to find his peer or likeness.
My heart nearly broke as in an abandonment of misery and repentance for all my negligence, unworthiness and arrogance, I fell prostrate upon this hallowed earth and besought God to teach me, at whatever cost, that sublime lesson of humility that had elevated this great devotee to a position of incalculable glory; to kindle within my breast, with the fuel of my very being, if necessary, this light of abandonment in His service that causes every personal wish to cast the shadow of death; to quicken in my soul that life eternal which alone can revitalize this earth into the promised Kingdom of God.
I see no humility, no fire, no life in myself since the utterance of this impassioned prayer. I still go my ways in arrogance, opinionation, and subverted purposes of achievement. But in an unused portion of my being, like a treasure hidden in a field, lies something tremulous and unforgetable, something with a wistful fragrance and tenderness, something that lures and stills me, something strangely startling and tranquilizing—the recollection of how the Mulla Husayn stood with folded arms upon the threshold, like a servant to the man who had been twice preferred before him, and rose from the dead, as it were, that no attention or respect might ever be lacking to that one whom he might so easily have regarded as a usurper
1 “The Dawn-Breakers,” pp. 85, 129, 261-265, 381-382. 2 “The Dawn-Breakers,” Foot-note 2 pp. 413-414.
of his position;1 of how, though numbers wished to acclaim him, he remained indifferent to their adulation; of how, in every instance, before and after the Declaration of his Lord, his eye never deviated from that Figure of Divine Perfection upon which his life was stayed.
No one could kneel upon the Shrine of the Mulla Husayn and arise the same person. The world is still resounding with his challenge,2 raised first, by his glorious namesake, the Imam Husayn: “Is there any who will assist me?”; the earth is still reverberating with the tread of his dauntless feet; leading now the armies of the Supreme Concourse he is still searching for recruits. And as I knelt there something buoyant and eager in me seemed to answer “Here” to his muster-call while ringing down a forgotten vista in my heart I heard the marching order “Mount your steeds, Oh heroes of God!”
Those who stayed behind were gathered in the square before the Haziratu’l-Quds when men and horses had once more safely crossed the river and we returned. The samovars were boiling; tea was passed.
“This day will never be forgotten.” said Abdul Molaki of the Sári Assembly. “Babes carried in their mothers arms today will be tutored to recount this story to an unborn generation.“
“This is what that celestial army died for.” I said; “the unity of East and West, of men and women. of rich and poor, of young and old, of black, white, yellow and brown. Implore God that in that future
when these children recount the story of our pilgrimage, if as you suggest it be brought to memory, my glaring faults, my childish frailties will have been effaced by time. We give no heed to Peter’s violent temper, to the cold and narrow nature of James, to the complaints of Martha; for they are walking in a light that irradiates this gloom. And when my last toll is taken and my earthly pilgrimage complete may the infinite compassion of God—should I ever be recalled—decree that if my faults must live some remembrance of my great devotion to His Holy Cause, of my intense desire to serve the Guardian, may also live beside them.”
BEFORE luncheon was finished a
great stir and commotion announced
the arrival of my convoy
from Babul (Barfarush); sixteen
automobiles conveying the Spiritual Assembly and a large group of Bahá’is. Together with the cars from Sári (for the Spiritual Assembly still continued beside me) we had a procession of nineteen automobiles—a nine day’s wonder in Persia, where even the King is not so escorted. The streets were filled with gaping crowds as we passed; the square surged with an inquiring host when we arrived.
And thus ends one chapter and begins another,—my divine adventure in Babul and the adjoining villages.
I’d be ashamed to tell you how late it is—or how early, as the case may be. Reading this over I am still more ashamed of its egotistical tone; but the pilgrimage to Shaykh Tabarsi is a purely subjective experience.
Mulla Husayn, referred to in the foregoing article was surnamed the Bábu’l-Báb. He was the first to recognize and embrace the new Revelation. The following is one of the stirring statements about him in “The Dawn-Breakers“:
“The circumstances attending his martyrdom evoked the Báb’s inexpressible sorrow, a sorrow that found vent in eulogies and prayers of such great number as would be equivalent to thrice the volume of the Qur’án. In one of His visiting Tablets, the Báb asserts that the very dust of the ground where the remains of the Mulla Husayn lie buried is endowed with such potency as to bring joy to the disconsolate and healing to the sick.”
“Quddus, with his own hands, laid the body in the tomb . . . . He afterwards instructed them to inter the bodies of the thirty-six martyrs who had fallen in the course of that engagement in one and the same grave on the northern side of the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi. ‘Let the loved ones of God,’ he was heard to remark as he consigned them to their tomb, ‘take heed of the example of these martyrs of our Faith. Let them in life be and remain as united as these are now in death.’”
FIRST and foremost among those pioneers of the Bahá’i Faith in Persia who were martyred at the fort of Shaykh Tabarsi stands Quddus, a disciple of the Báb and His chosen companion on His pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. Nabil, in his Narrative of the early days of the Bahá’i Cause,* records the story of the martyrdom of Quddus in these words:
“By the testimony of Bahá’u’lláh, that heroic youth, who was still on the threshold of his life, was subjected to such tortures and suffered such a death as even Jesus had not faced in the hour of His greatest agony. The absence of any restraint on the part of the government authorities, the ingenious barbarity which the tortue-mongers of Bárfurush so ably displayed, the fierce fanaticism which glowed in the breasts of its shi’ah inhabitants, the moral support accorded to them by the dignitaries of Church and State in the capital—above all, the acts of heroism which their victim and his companions had accomplished and which had served to heighten their exasperation, all combined to nerve the hand of the assailants and to add to the diabolical ferocity which characterized his martyrdom. . . .
“What pangs of sorrow He [the Báb] must have felt when He learned of the shameful treatment which His beloved Quddus had undergone in his hour of martyrdom at the hands of the people of Bárfurush; how he was stripped of his clothes; how the turban which He had bestowed upon him had been befouled; how, barefooted, bareheaded, and loaded with chains, he was paraded through the streets, followed and scorned by the entire population of the town; how he was execrated and spat upon by the howling mob; how he was assailed with the knives and axes of the scum of its female inhabitants; how his body was pierced and mutilated, and how eventually it was delivered to the flames!
“Amidst his torments, Quddus was heard whispering forgiveness to his foes. ‘Forgive, O my God,’ he cried, ‘the trespasses of this people. Deal with them in Thy mercy, for they know not what we already have discovered and cherish. I have striven to show them the path that leads to their salvation; behold how they have risen to overwhelm and kill me! Show them, O God, the way of Truth, and turn their ignorance into faith.’”
* Published under the title of “The Dawn-Breakers,” pp. 410, 411.
’ABDU’L-BAHA’S‘ VISIT TO BUDAPEST
The following article, which was translated into Hungarian by Mrs. Irma Szirmai, appears as an introduction in the first Hungarian edition of Dr. Esslemont’s book, “Bahá’u’lláh cmcl the New Era,” recently published in Budapest. The translation of Dr. Esslemont’s book into Hungarian was made by Mr. Georgy Steiner of Gyor, Hungary.
THE readers of the Bahá’i Magazine will be interested to know of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s historic visit to Budapest, Hungary, from April ninth to eighteenth, 1913. Several distinguished statesmen, scholars and business men of Budapest hearing that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Son of Bahá’u’lláh the great World Educator, was passing through Europe from the United States en route to His home in Haifa, Palestine, sent a most cordial invitation urging Him to come to the Magyar Capital and speak of His Father’s Teachings for the oneness of mankind and universal peace.
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, this great teacher belonging to one of the noblest families of Persia, the illumined expounder of the Bahá’i Teachings, arrived at the railway station with His party, He was met by Dr. Ignatius Goldziher, the renowned Orientalist; by Professor Julius Germanus, professor of Persian, Arabic and Turkish languages in the Oriental Institute of Budapest University; by Director Leopold Stark, a very well known engineer, and others. They escorted Him to the Ritz Hotel* where He took rooms facing the beautiful Danube River. With Him were His Persian secretaries, Persian interpreter and two or three other companions.
A few minutes after their arrival,
* Now known as the Dunapalota Hotel.
a delegation of citizens came to welcome this Eastern Visitor officially and He met them in a most friendly way in the lounge. The group included Prelate Alexander Giesswein, one of the most honored and learned thinkers and pacifists of Hungary, then President of the Peace Society and of the Hungarian Esperanto Society, Professor Robert A. Nadler, the renowned painter, the family of Director Stark and several others, among them an American and an Indian notable living in Budapest. They addressed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá saying: “In the name of all present we welcome the blessed Presence of Abdu’l-Bahá. We admire your great life and we offer You our thanks and deep gratitude, that at Your age, You take upon Yourself these long journeys for the sake of helping and comforting humanity. Such labours, such sacrifices as Abdu’l-Bahá endures are our great examples, that we may know how to live and to serve humanity.”
This beloved Visitor responded that thanks be to God, He hoped all of them would be confirmed in the service to humanity! He said that we can render no greater service to man than to spread unity in the world of mankind, and to work for universal peace. He showed how, when the East was in black darkness
and was surrounded on all sides by the gloom of fanaticism, Bahá’u’lláh arose like a sun from the sky of the East and proclaimed the unity of mankind.
Reporters were present and asked many questions about the Bahá’i Teachings for world understanding. Members of the Theosophical Society invited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to speak at their meeting the next evening April tenth. Also, a joint invitation was extended to Him to give a public lecture April eleventh, the event to be under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, the Women’s organizations and the Esperantists. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá smilingly accepted.
EARLY the following morning
‘Abdu’l-Bahá prepared tea Himself
and praised the marvelous view
from His window overlooking the
broad, blue-glistening Danube with
its immense and wonderfully ornamented
suspension bridges, its gayly
decorated steamers and the
beautifully laid-out promenandes.
Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took a walk
across one of these large bridges to
Buda. His personality and dignity
attracted the attention of all who
saw Him; many stopped to greet
Him with reverence and to ask
questions.
All day people visited Him in the hotel and He spoke with them about the spiritual unity of the East and the West. He voiced to them this remarkable thought that it was his hope that Budapest might become a centre for the reunion of the East and West, and that from this city the light might emanate to other places. He also said that thanks be to God the conception of spiritual
life was alive in Budapest, that men search for truth, that they care for the Word of God and long to be guided to the Kingdom Everlasting.
When callers spoke to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about the buildings and the sights of the Hungarian Capital, He kindly replied to them that He came to Budapest to see the objects of interest and buildings of human hearts, and not the buildings of stone and of the city. He said to them speaking symbolically, that He knew of a Country in which there are glorious cities; that in that Country there is but one universal language spoken, and therefore, they would all understand one another without an interpreter. He said they would see There His Holiness Christ and the Prophets and would find good people There just as were around Him here. He told of the delicious fruits There and said they were for them. His visitors were astonished, but when asked if they would like to go with Him to that beautiful Land, they replied: “Yes, we will go with you willingly!“
PROFESSOR Germanus, a young
but already celebrated Orientalist,
brought a group of young Turkish
students to call upon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
and these youth presented Him with
a letter of solemn welcome signed
by all students of the Turkish language
in Budapest. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
spoke to them in perfect Turkish.
They marvelled at His eloquence
and His command of this tongue.
He told them that it was His highest
hope that the East and West
might be united completely. He
made it very clear to them that in
reality, East and West do not exist—that each point on this terrestrial globe is equal, with the same rights; that any point in relation to another point is either East or West; that all are points of one sphere, one country, one humanity. Therefore, He said, He was very happy to visit this country of Hungary which is the standard-bearer of progress to the East, and which unites with the Western culture the Eastern feelings of cordial hospitality to people of other countries. He blessed them and hoped they would, day by day, become more confirmed in service and progress.
Others called and in the afternoon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the homes of several families. He went, in the evening, to the Theosophical meeting where fifty people were awaiting Him. The Chairman greeted Him in these words: “We welcome ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the name of all our brothers and sisters, we are extremely happy that this blessed One has visited us. . . .”
“Abdu’l-Bahá replied that He was greatly pleased to address such a noble spiritual assembly. He called them a noble, spiritual gathering because they were most diligent in their endeavors for peace and fellowship, and He spoke to them about the oneness of mankind. His words were so appealing that the Chairman again thanked Him and in the name of all present invited Him to come to them again on Saturday evening, April twelfth. (He did go to this second meeting and all present again felt His mighty spirit, especially when He prayed for the people of Hungary; in closing He prayed that God
would give them heavenly strength, surround them with heavenly happiness!)
ONLY glimpses of events can be
given in this brief introduction, but
on the evening of April eleventh,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke in the old Parliament
Building to more than one
thousand people. This great hall
was formerly the Hall of the Parliament;
it has two platforms, a higher
and a lower, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stood
on the higher one directly underneath
the coat-of-arms of Hungary—those
ancient, historical arms
held by two white-winged angels.
This great holy teacher was introduced
to the audience by Prelate
Giesswein as Dr. Goldziher stood at
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s right. Suddenly
the people, as if sensing the deep
significance of the moment, burst
into tremendous applause. They
felt, if they did not understand, that
‘Abdu’l-Bahá standing between the
Catholic Prelate and the Jewish
Orientalist represented the reconciliation
of these two great religions.
Dr. Germanus who interpreted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words into Hungarian said that he never saw a more interesting audience. He said that all seats were occupied while many stood in the gallery; aisles and corridors were crowded and a line extended even to the street! Members of Parliament, members of philosophical and philological societies, university professors, artists, Catholic priests, Protestant clergymen, representatives of modern religious movements, women’s organizations, Esperantists, members of social and humanitarian societies,
many nationalities, many races were present—in a word the gathering reflected the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh: one must unite everything that is good and precious in mankind, one must give equality to women, must help the ignorant and oppressed and must lead all humanity to mutual understanding!
After the lecture many approached ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to express to Him their reverence and their delight in what He had said to them. His reply had in it one of the great truths of the Bahá’i Faith. He told these eager listeners that the influence of the words spoken and the confirmation from the Kingdom of God are two perfectly different things: the influence of spoken words on the soul, and the elevation of the soul which can be attained only by the blessing of the Heavenly Kingdom. Words alone cannot bring the great spiritual transformations, only Bahá’u’lláh’s favor and help and the victory of the Holy Spirit can give that great spiritual experience.
After the lecture a dinner was given for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Hotel Pannonia.
‘ABDU’L-BAHA saw many friends
at His hotel the following day, April
twelfth. Mr. Alajos Paikert, founder
and Acting Vice-President of the
Turánian Society called and invited
this great Visitor to give an address
before the members of their society
and friends, on Monday evening,
April fourteenth, Mr. Paikert who
is also one of the founders of the
Society for Foreign Affairs and
organizer of the celebrated Agricultural
Museum in Budapest (also of
the Agricultural Museum in Cairo,
Egypt) praised ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s high aims for peace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him He hoped that he would attain great spiritual power and do much to promote peace and universal brotherhood. He showed how many ways there are to unite souls but none has such a power as the Word of God.
This lecture arranged by the Hungarian Turánian Society took place in the majestic hall of the former House of Magnates in the National Museum Building. As Mr. Paikert told me: “‘Abdu’l-Bahá was introduced by me, and as He ascended the tribune and began to speak, the entire audience of two hundred prominent gentlemen and their ladies, listened breathlessly to Him. He spoke in Persian and His thoughts were interpreted into English, and then Mr. Leopold Stark gave them in Hungarian language. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke of the high culture of Turán about which He knew so well, and showed how it was destroyed by religious inharmony and conflicts. He outlined a constructive plan for enduring peace. When asked which place would be chosen for the centre of peace, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied that it would be the country in which the standard of peace will be established first, that will be the centre! After the lecture ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took supper in the home of Ali Abbas Agha Tabrizi, and the Turkish Consul was one of the guests.
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá, next day, accepted the invitation to honor my home in Budapest with a visit,” said Mr. Paikert. “He came with His friends and we gathered in our
reception hall in my villa on the slope of God’s Mountain, overlooking the Hungarian Capital. He spoke with my family and friends in His mild, dear voice, about the high virtues of family life in the different countries, of lofty moral and spiritual ideals and of under- standing among the nations. We listened, deeply impressed by the extraordinary spiritual personality of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”
Several visits were made by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He went to the homes of Professor Nadler and of Mr. Stark, and He visited the late Count Albert Apponyi in Buda. These two discussed the highest problems of mankind. The writer of this introduction interviewed Count Apponyi and heard him speak twice. He said that his aim too, is an assured peace, based upon justice, peace of soul not at the mercy of unforseen political changes. He said: “Hungary has been, as it were, on the high road of the conflicts that have shaken the world for centuries past. If there is any nation to whose interest it is that a new order should be set up, based upon law and not upon force, upon concord and cooperation and not upon rivalry, if there is any nation to whose special interest it is that peace should be established and consolidated, that nation is Hungary. Peace is not an isolated problem. It is a central star around which all other social problems revolve, as the planets revolve around the sun.”
PROFESSOR Arminius Vambery,
the outstanding Orientalist and
* This visit will be described in a subsequent article on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to Budapest.
erudite scientist, whom both Queen Victoria and King Edward of Great Britain distinguished for many years with their friendship, invited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to his home several times. In a subsequent letter of Professor Vambéry to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, one feels the heat of a flame breaking forth from the heart of a man who has always sought for the great Truth.*
Professor Robert A. Nadler who in 1913, was Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy of Art (and later became Professor in the University of Technical Sciences) has painted a wonderful portrait of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He said to the writer of this introduction: “When I saw ‘Abdul’-Bahá, He was in His seventieth year. I was so impressed and charmed with His Personality that I had the great longing to paint His portrait. He consented to come to my studio, but said He could not give me much time because He was so busy. I marvelled at His expression of peace and pure love and absolute good-will. He saw everything with such a nice eye; everything was beautiful to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, both the outer life of Budapest and the souls of all. He praised the situation of our city, our fine Danube in the midst of the town, good water, good people. Oh, He had so many beautiful thoughts! I was inspired, and I knew I did not have much time, so I concentrated very much. He gave me three sittings.”
It will interest readers to know that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself and His Persian companions said that the portrait was a success. Professor
Nadler is one of only two painters who ever had the opportunity to have ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself sit for a portrait. This painting is not only a strong likeness of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá showing His spiritual power and majesty, but every detail is pleasing. His hand which has blessed and helped so many thousands is shown full of tenderness, the whole portrait vibrates in harmonious colors. In the centuries to come, Hungary will be distinguished as the home of this historical portrait. It now hangs in the Studio of Professor Nadler in the University of Technical Sciences in Budapest, and he says that he is so happy to have the Presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always with Him in his studio!
‘ABDU’L-BAHA was ill for two
days as the cold weather and a
sudden snow storm so unusual at
that time of year, brought on a severe
grippe. However, He insisted
on dressing and meeting all the
friends who knocked at His door.
All the friends, including several
families, came. Among the many
words that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said to
them were these, that they must
never forget the history of Bahá’u’lláh
which He had related to
them. He showed them how much
Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings had
spread in the past sixty years, how
the Bahá’i Movement is known in
the East and in the West. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that since He had been in Budapest He had set a flame aglow, and the day would break when its light would shine visibly to everybody. He explained that the origin of a tree is only a small seed, but if it develops and begins to grow, it will bear a beautiful fruit. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told them that souls would come who would rejoice their hearts and the Cause of God would make great progress in Hungary. He assured them that if they arose in the service of the holy Teachings as they should, that the Hosts of the Omnipotent would come to their assistance and they would be victorious. When asked about meetings, He told them very clearly just how to arrange Bahá’i meetings.
On the morning of April eighteenth, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His party went to the railway station to leave Hungary. A great number of devoted friends were there to bid them farewell,–many Hungarians and also some Turks, Americans, and Indians. They were very sad that He must go, but He consoled them and asked them to follow the Holy Teachings, spread the Glad Tidings and lead people to unity. Each one in his own language begged for a blessing in his endeavor to serve. Then as the train moved out, they continued to gaze at His holy countenance with their arms outstretched in longing!
“In spite of all difficulties Bahá’u’lláh was ever in an exalted state; His face shone continually. He had the presence of a king. One cannot imagine any one with more majesty. One never thought of Him as a prisoner—on the contrary one would have said that He was enjoying the greatest triumph for He drew His strength from Divine Powers which always triumph.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The first installment of these “Diary Notes” was published in the March number. Therein the authors told of their arrival in Haifa, their meeting with Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, and with members of the family of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The second installment published in the April number gave a description of their visit to ‘Akká and the old prison quarters where Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were incarcerated for so many years. Herein is a further description of the barracks at ‘Akká and a brief description of Bahji the house in the country outside of ‘Akká occupied by Bahá’u’lláh during the later years of His life.
FROM ‘Akká we drove to the Garden of the Ridván, the garden which Bahá’u’lláh had made and which He frequented during all the latter years of His life after He had been freed from the strict imprisonment of ‘Akká and when He occupied the house in the country known as Bahji.
He Himself describes this garden in one of His works:
“One day we repaired unto our Green Island. When We entered therein, We found its streams flowing, its trees in full foliage and the sun playing through its interstices.” The vision which He
there beheld was such that “the pen fails to describe.” Later He beheld in holy vision in this garden, “one of the countenances of the Exalted Paradise, standing on a pillar of Light and calling out in the loudest voice saying: ‘O ye concourse of heaven and earth, gaze upon my beauty, my light, my appearance and my effulgence. By God, the True One, I am trustworthiness, its manifestation and its beauty; I am the most great ornament to the people of Bahá; I am the greatest cause for the affluence of the world; and the horizon of tranquility to the people of existence.’”
With such associations is the Ridván Garden hallowed. The island which Bahá’u’lláh refers to is made by the separation and confluence of the river Belus. The flowing streams are little runlets of water from a fountain which plays at intervals. These runlets flow through the center of the garden under a large mulberry tree. It was here Bahá’u’lláh used to sit. Surrounding this central, most sacred portion are green lawns, borders of scarlet geraniums, lofty palms and other sub-tropical trees. In the gardener’s house is the room which Bahá’u’lláh sometimes occupied containing His chair kept in a cedar box.
FROM THE Ridván we drove back to ‘Akká.
The barracks where the Bahá’is were thrown on their arrival in 1868 are thus described by the sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“The season was summer (1868) and the temperature very high. All our people were huddled together on the damp earth floor of the barracks; with little water to drink, and that very bad, with no water with which to bathe, and scarcely enough for washing their faces. Typhoid fever and dysentery broke out among them. Everyone in our company fell sick excepting my brother, an aunt, and two others of the believers. We were not allowed a physician; we could not procure medicine. My brother had in His baggage some quinine and bismuth. With these two drugs and His nursing, He brought us all through with the exception of four who died. These were two months of such awful horror as words cannot picture. Imagine it if you can. Some seventy men, women and children packed together, hot summer weather, no proper food, bad water, and a general attack of the terrible diseases of typhoid and dysentery.
“There was no one with strength to be of any general service but my brother. He washed the patients, fed them, nursed them, watched with them. He took no rest. When at length He had brought the rest of us—the four who died excepted—through the crisis and we were out of danger, He was utterly exhausted and fell sick Himself, as did also my mother and the three others who had heretofore been well. The others soon recovered,
1 Known universally by His Spiritual Name, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which means “The Servant of God.” 2 “Abbas Effendi” by Myron Phelps, pp. 62, 63.
but Abbas Effendi1 was taken with dysentery and long remained in a dangerous condition. By His heroic exertions He had won the regard of one of the officers, and when this man saw my brother in this state he went to the Governor and pleaded that Abbas Effendi might have a physician. This was permitted and under the care of the physician my brother recovered.”2
Bahá’u’lláh was confined in a separate room in these barracks and this room is now much altered and used as part of a prison hospital. Over the door is a brass plate with a statement of Bahá’u’lláh’s confinement there from 1868-1870. One might think of the change in this scene of suffering as symbolic of the kindly action of the hand of time, which so often covers and beautifies a place otherwise too horrible for weak human hearts and minds to contemplate. But surely the sincere soul cannot gaze upon the scenes of such dire sufferings and recall that they were endured patiently and even joyfully, without becoming very thoughtful concerning a faith thus cradled.
After two years spent in the barracks the Bahá’is were removed to a fairly comfortable house with three rooms and a court. The Governor of ‘Akká had been so impressed with their lack of resentment, their kindness and uprightness, and their sorrow at being unable to meet the Bahá’i pilgrims who were constantly coming from Persia in order to meet Bahá’u’lláh that He allowed them this change and freedom to go and come in the city. To this first real dwelling
place of Bahá’u’lláh in ‘Akká we now directed our footsteps. Here we saw the room where Bahá’u’lláh wrote the Aqdas or Book of Laws.
Although the others had the freedom of the city Bahá’u’lláh was confined to the house. Here He remained for seven years. One day He remarked “I have not gazed on verdure for nine years. The country is the world of the Soul, the city is the world of the bodies.” When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá heard this remark He felt moved, in spite of the strict imprisonment, to prepare a place for Bahá’u’lláh in the country. This He accordingly did, renting a large house on the plains of ‘Akká from an absentee land-lord at a very low price, sending laborers to put the garden in order and repair the house and finally, in spite of the strict injunction to the contrary, walking out through the city gate.
Father and Son both seemed possessed of the same kind of power that shone out from Christ, the power that the people felt when no one dared to lay hands on Him for His hour was not yet come. At first Bahá’u’lláh was reluctant to use this power, but finally yielded to the entreaties of a certain Muhammadan Shaykh, who loved Him very much and pleaded persistently that He go out from His long imprisonment. There the rest of His days were spent in that “world of the soul” He so loved.1
IT WAS to Bahji the second house He occupied on the plain of ‘Akká that we next drove. This house has within a few years come into the possession of the Bahá’is and
1 See “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era” by J. E. Esslemont, for a full account in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá of this beautiful incident. 2 Spelled also Acca and ‘Akká. 3 Isaiah 63:10.
has been restored by Shoghi Effendi to the condition in which it was during the time of Bahá’u’lláh. Here we spent the evening and night. Near Bahji is the shrine in which lie the remains of Bahá’u’lláh. Its court contains an indoor garden of fresh greenness, trees pushing up to the open skylight which lets in the gentle motion of outdoor air, vines embroidering all with luxuriant leaf and blossom. Between the shrine and the house are broad stretches of lawn, lofty trees, flowered borders. Everything shows signs of perfect care and cultivation, such care and cultivation as come from deep devotion. About all is an atmosphere of deep, creative peace. One is reminded involuntarily of the scriptural lines with their beautiful symbolism: “the Valley of Achor2 (shall be) a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.”3
In these beautiful gardens and lawns around the shrine one sees a new and unique kind of place of worship, one which extends the atmosphere of the sanctuary to the surrounding out-of-doors. The spiritual charm of this arrangement at Bahji is that the brilliant and stately beauty of the surrounding gardens gently woos the soul away from earthly thought and prepares it for the yet more intense spirituality of the shrine itself. Just in front of the shrine are many interlacing paths where one may prolong the time of preparation before stepping from the kindly beauty of nature to the more lofty and searching worship which the shrine itself inspires.
It was in the house at Bahji that Bahá’u’lláh received Prof. Edward G. Browne the distinguished orientalist from the University of Cambridge who was the first person to come from the Western world to investigate the Bahá’i faith. Before entering the room in which this significant event took place, the visitor may pause and read from the framed copy hanging beside the door Prof. Browne’s account of this meeting. The large apartment with its low divan and few chairs is just as it was on that memorable occasion. Fresh jasmine blossoms strewn on a white square of cloth mark the place where sat the wondrous and venerable figure of Bahá’u’lláh. Of this meeting Prof. Browne wrote: “The face of Him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it . . . . Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before One who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.”
As we entered the room we seemed to realize somewhat the tremendous power which sustained those early followers of Bahá’u’lláh, the power which centered in Him placing Him among those few who, as Carlyle puts it, “through having a higher wisdom, a hitherto unknown spiritual truth are stronger than all that have it not.”
The words which Bahá’u’lláh uttered on this memorable occasion reveal this higher Wisdom which He possessed. They have been often quoted but are so great and timely that they should ring in the ears of every one in these disastrous days, spurring us on to attain a new world order!
“We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of nations—that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled—what harm is there in this? Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come. Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?”
“Oneness of the world of humanity insures the glorification of man. International peace is the assurance of the welfare of all humankind. There are no greater motives and purposes in the human soul.”
THE question, are we our brother’s keepers, is assuming insistant dimensions. It is a modern query in that it is at least four dimensional. It is deep. It is widespread. It has scope, and time is of the essence of the problem.
Whenever a question presents itself in such magnitudes, it commands attention for it manifests itself in absence of equilibrium, in agitation and want. You and I may not be willing to admit that we are our brother’s keepers but we can hardly escape being his banker, his baker, his doctor, or his candlestick maker. We either buy from or sell to him. We either serve him or he serves us. We are his colleagues or his competitors. These inter-relationships are inherent in our present social and business pattern. They bespeak a basic community of interests which is not apparent in the administration of our affairs.
We have learned, quite recently, that no individual, corporation or state can be “splendidly isolated” and altogether self-sufficient. There are always “entangling alliances.” Society, as we have it, is predicated upon a certain degree of cooperation. Just where to cease cooperating and begin competing has been one of the disturbing dilemmas of the past. Now we are wondering just where to stop competing and begin cooperating.
There is a great difference in these two attitudes. The philosophy which sacrifices cooperation to competition is one of acquisition at
all costs. It has been the philosophy of the period of business inflation. It is the philosophy of the jungle, survival of only the strongest, “Devil take the Hindmost”, and “Might is Right.” Its actions are based upon the premise that what is best for the few is, perforce, best for the many. It has functioned, so far, to concentrate wealth, as represented by money and credit, in the hands of the few. These few joyfully accepted the custodianship of this wealth, not as trustees, but as outright owners. Assuming administration of wealth carries with it an obligation, one that has not yet been assumed—that of social responsibility.
Can anyone contemplate social responsibility without being confronted with the question, am I my Brother’s keeper—and to what degree?
It seems that we are answering this question in the affirmative as evidenced by the tremendous relief programs in effect the country over. But we have been forced to these measures by the exigencies of the times. We cannot let our brothers actually starve, for aside from humane considerations, we need them as consumers.
THE OBJECT of life seems somehow
to have skewed itself around
to the aim of having everyone consume
as much of everything as possible.
What cross-eyed conception
of life can this be? Consume things
mightily or let the malelovent
forces of a badly adjusted and poorly
managed way of life consume our substance, our equities, our hopes and our faith in that vaunted theory “that all men are created free and equal.”
To live to consume! Carried to its ultimate this procedure breeds wars which consume human lives. Such action contains the seeds of its own destruction. To consume more than one actually needs becomes a task and carries a penalty. If we eat too much, we are uncomfortable. If we use wastefully too much coal, future generations will pay for our profligacy.
This, by the way, brings in our brother’s children as well as our own. Is it right to force them to pay in the future for what we use now? Many there be who answer an emphathetic “No” to this question. Furthermore, knowledge may advance so rapidly in the immediate future as to make long range planning seem not only foolish but futile, unless such planning deals with the fundamentals of life leaving methods and institutions flexible enough to meet changing conditions.
All of these anomalies and many more arise in an atmosphere of exaggerated competition. In an industrial society, when our brother consumes recklessly, he is an asset. When he does not, he is a liability. We are willing to be our brother’s keepers at least in that we want to keep him consuming. Whether we like it or not, we are keepers, for we either keep ourselves and our brothers at work or in want. In our civilization, just now, there seems to be no “Golden Mean.” Life’s relationships are too closely knit for us to escape responsibility. In
our own bodies, the liver cannot be diseased without affecting the whole, even our thought processes. One sick industry handicaps others. One infected state may endanger the world.
The scientists have found that in dealing with individual electrons and protons, a certain set of laws apply. A single electron seems to have a large degree of “free will.” It may do almost anything. But in dealing with matter as we know it, that is, with large aggregates of electrons and protons, another code of laws applies, and that code is more or less deterministic, so that electrons and protons associated in large numbers, lose free-will, as it were, and are subject to deterministic regulation.
Similarly, an individual as an individual may exercise a large measure of free will in many respects, though bound by some laws of course, but as a member of a society of his kind he lives under a code of laws and one of the obligations he cannot escape is his responsibility to his fellows to contribute his utmost to the general welfare.
Refer to the preamble of our constitution. What were the explicitly expressed purposes of the framers?
“. . . in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, . . .”
Is justice established? Is tranquility insured? Has the general welfare been promoted? Have we secured the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? Rather we seem bound to the wheel
of a faltering economic and social system. Was it not the intention of the constitution framers that citizens should cooperate with each other in order to advance the common weal? And in so doing would not each one be his brother’s keeper to a degree not apparent in our relationships this day?
Is it not more difficult and expensive in every way to compete than to cooperate? If not then why the mergers and trade associations, and why any division of labor at all? Why do we choose the thorniest path?
Competition may have been and may be, at times, the “Life of trade”, but when poison-tipped with greed and selfishness it is also a lethal weapon. We have had an overdose of it individually, commercially, nationally and internationally, and it may take some time to get the poison out of our systems—but it can be done.
But the cooperative attitude cannot be legislated. It can be achieved by mutual agreement among the parties concerned—by “covenants openly arrived at”, individually and collectively. Often the urge springs full-blown from some contingency. A quarrelsome crew will man the pumps when the ship is in distress without benefit of executive coercion. The instinct of self-preservation is a potent energizer. Perhaps we are approaching the situation where it will function in economic, political and social problems to clear the way for better understanding.
But the objection is voiced that these idealistic theories, if such they be, cannot be applied in an industrial civilization. ‘Tis true that they have never been practiced, but
is it equally true that they cannot be? Are we not fast approaching the crisis where we will be willing to try? As other expedients prove inadequate, perhaps we will learn to attack our problems at the roots. Where are these roots found? Surely in the hearts of men.
Let us be honest. Either practically or idealistically is there any justification in our scheme of life for want in the midst of abundance? For greed, envy and hatreds throttling our business, social and economic progress? When and where in the history of mankind has injustice ever paid? After all there is great wisdom in the question. “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
BY WHATEVER name you call it the
society of the future will be more
cooperative and less competitive.
We will stop “robbing Peter to pay
Paul.” By all the signs and
portents we are our brother’s keepers,
and in keeping our brothers we
are keeping ourselves, either in
poverty or well-being. Which shall
it be? Is it not always wise to be
wise? Words of wisdom have often
been spoken. For instance—a new
note of wisdom in Bahá’u’lláh’s
teachings:
“Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country, let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”
“O My Servant! The best of men are they that earn a livelihood by their calling and spend upon themselves and upon their kindred for the love of God, the Lord of the Worlds.”
Both Peter and Paul are our kind. They are our kindred.
THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE, being The Addresses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America, in two volumes. Price, each, $2.50.
BAHÁ'U'LLÁH AND THE NEW ERA, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont, a gifted scientific scholar of England. This is the most comprehensive summary and explanation of the Bahá'í Teachings as yet given in a single volume. Price, $1.00; paper cover, 50 cents.
THE WISDOM TALKS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ in Paris. This series of talks covers a wide range of subjects, and is perhaps the best single volume at a low price in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains in His own words the Bahá'í Teaching. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.
BAHÁ'Í SCRIPTURES. This book, compiled by Horace Holley, is a remarkable compendium of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It contains a vast amount of material and is indexed. This Paper Edition (only ¾-inch thick) Price, $2.50.
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Bound volumes Nos. 15 and 16, covering the years 1924 to 1925 and 1925 to 1926, contain many of the most valuable and instructive Bahá'í teachings compiled from the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, on such subjects as Education, Peace, The Solution of the Economic Problem, Cooperation and Unity, Proof of the Existence of God, and others equally as important. They also contain articles on various phases of the Bahá'i Cause and its teachings contributed by Bahá'í writers and presented with clearness and accuracy, reports of conferences and conventions, Bahá'í News and Travel Notes and other interesting information. Volumes 17, 18 and 19 contain valuable material and information for students of religion, sociology, science, etc., both Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís.
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