The Covenant for Young People/Text

[Page -4]

1 The

Covenant for Young People

Enoch N. Tanyi

[Page -3]r 9" J my The Covenant for Young People

Enoch N. Tanyi

Illustrated by Alexander Leith

GEORGE RONALD - OXFORD

[Page -2]GEORGE RONALD, Publisher 46 High Street, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 2DN

© Enoch N. Tanyi 1991 All Rights Reserved

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Tanyi, Enoch N. (Enoch Nyenti) The covenant for young people. 1. Bahai faith I. Title 297.93

ISBN 0—85398—337—2

To my parents

My grateful thanks to Mrs Mary Tanyi for her helpful suggestions for this book. I am also grateful to Ms Immaculate Kewir for typing the original manuscript.

[Page -1]Table of ~ Contents

[J A Note on How to Use This Book The Purpose of Religion

The Greater Covenant

The Messengers of God

The Covenant of Muhammad

The Covenant of the Báb

[El Bahá’u’lláh: The Promise Fulfilled The Greatness of This Day

Our Response to the Covenant [a The Lesser Covenant

The Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The Centre of the Covenant

The Nature of the Covenant

The Purpose of the Covenant

The Power of the Covenant Firmness in the Covenant

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Page 0]The Bounties and Blessings of Firmness in the Covenant

Opposition to the Bahá’í Faith Breaking the Covenant

A Prayer for Firmness in the Covenant D References

E

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[Page 1]A Note on How to Use This Book

This book about the Covenant is for young readers and for those who are learning English. Each chapter of the book discusses one idea or thought about the Covenant. Each chapter follows on from the one before, so you should try to read each chapter in its correct order.

The Covenant can be hard to understand, so the author has tried to use simple words to explain it. Where difficult words are used, their meaning is explained at the bottom of the page. Sometimes the same word appears later in the book. There was no room to explain the word a second time, so you will need to find it again on the page where it first appeared.

Many quotations from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Bab and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have been used in this book. The small numbers after each quotation tell you to look at the back of the book in the part called ‘References’. Find the number that matches. You will find the name of the book where the quotation can be found and the page number. This will tell you all the things you need to know if you want to find the book yourself.

[Page 2]The Purpose of Religion

Have you ever asked any of your friends about their religion? What did they say? Did some say they were Muslims? Christians? Buddhists? Jews? Hindus? Bahá’ís?

What do you think about all these different religions? Do you think God intended there to be so many?

Did some of your Christian friends answer that they were Roman Catholics or Anglicans or something else? Did your Muslim friends perhaps say that they were Shiahs or Sunnis?

What do you think about these divisions of religions? Do you think God intended the religions to be divided into so many sects?

There is only one God. He loves peace. He wants good things to happen to us.

Religion is a way of life. We worship God and show our love for God and for all the people in the world through religion.

Religion is meant to make us happy and to bring us close to God, both in this world and when we die. Therefore, the purpose of religion is to bring unity, love, peace and progress for God’s children — and we are all God’s Children.

Bahá’ís know that there is only one religion — the religion of God — and that religion is eternal.

[Page 3]DDDUDD

division eternal progress religion sect

worship

part or Section

lasting forever

forward movement

belief in God and worship of God

a group of people who hold certain values

paying honour to

[Page 4]

The ‘ Greater Covenant

The religion of God is always brought to people, to us all, by very special and holy people called Messengers of God. These Messengers are a real blessing to humanity because they come to help us know God better so that we can live happy lives on this earth and after death.

Because He gives us the blessings of a happy life, God expects us to behave in a certain way towards Him. He also wants us to behave in a certain way towards His Messengers, His religion, His creation and other people.

When God gives us His blessings and we agree to behave in a certain'way, a Covenant is formed.

The Covenant God has made with us is that He will never forget us 'and will always send His Messengers to us.

Our part of the Covenant is that we agree to accept each Messenger when He comes.

Each Messenger makes an agreement, a Covenant, with the people that they will accept and obey the Messenger who will come after Him. This is called the Greater Covenant.

D blessings a means or cause of happiness

[Page 5]l] Covenant

D creation

[:I humanity

I] Messengers

an important agreement or promise

between people or between people and God

everything in the world — the earth, plants, animals and people

all people — men and women, young and old, of all colours and from all countries

special and holy people who come from God to tell us about Him and to tell us what He wants us to know

[Page 6]The Messengers of God

The Messengers of God come to bring the religion of God to us. Some of them came a long time ago. Two of them came not so long ago.

We know the names of some of the Messengers of God. Here are a few of them: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Other Messengers are Zoroaster, Krishna and Buddha.

Many people in the world today are followers of one or other of these Messengers. The people who follow Moses are called Jews. Christians follow Jesus Christ, Muslims follow Muhammad and Bahá’ís follow Bahá’u’lláh. The followers of Zoroaster are known as Zoroastrians or Parsees, those of Krishna are known as Hindus and those who follow Buddha are called Buddhists.

Each one of the Messengers tells us something about God and shows us how to come closer to God. This part of God’s message never changes.

Each Messenger also tells us how God wants us to live our lives. Each tells us how to worship God and how to pray, how to treat other people and how to act in certain situations. This part of God’s message does change, because each of the Messengers has come at a different time and to a different group of people. Each group of people can then put into practice the eternal message of God according to its own situation.

El

[Page 7]As we have seen, each Messenger also tells about the coming of the next one — the Greater Covenant. Sometimes a rainbow is used as a symbol of the Covenant. This is because God told Noah that the rainbow was a token of the Covenant between God and Noah and all living things. When we see a rainbow in the sky we are reminded of God’s Covenant.

D symbol a thing that stands for, or represents, something else

El token a mark or sign

[Page 8]The Covenant of Muhammad

We have seen that each Messenger of God makes an agreement with His followers to accept and obey the Messengers of God who come after Him. This agreement is called the Greater Covenant.

For example, the J ews made a Covenant with Moses that they would accept the Messenger after Him. This was J esus Christ. The Christians made a Covenant to accept Muhammad, who came after Christ. The Muslims made a Covenant to accept the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.

Sometimes the followers of the different Messengers do not accept the next Messenger as they have promised. Thus many Jews did not accept Christ when He came, many Christians did not accept Muhammad and many Muslims did not accept the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh. This is why we have so many different religions in the world today. If the followers of each religion had kept their promises, there would now be only one religion in the world.

The Qur’án is the holy book of Islam, the religion of Muhammad. It is recorded in the Qur’án that after Muhammad there would be two trumpet blasts. The trumpet is the symbol of the Messengers of God. This is because when the Messengers speak, the message is carried to every part of the world, just like the sound of the trumpet which can be heard far away.

The two trumpet blasts written of in the Qur’án are the

[Page 9]Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The Báb came first, declaring His mission in 1844. Soon afterwards came Bahá’u’lláh.

El declaring making known, announcing publicly

D mission a task or duty; in this case, the task of the Messenger of God is to tell the people what God wants them to know

[Page 10]

The Covenant Of the Báb

The Báb wrote many times to His followers telling them to follow ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest’ after the Báb was gone. He said that they would have to wait for nine years to see ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest’. The Báb said that the Messenger to come after Him would be called ‘Baha’. Baha means ‘glory’ or ‘splendour’. This is the Covenant of the Báb.

[J manifest easily seen or understood; plainly shown

C] splendour brilliance

[Page 11]Bahá’u’lláh: The Promise Fulfilled

The Covenant of the Báb was fulfilled when Bahá’u’lláh came. Bahá’u’lláh is ‘Him Whom God shall make manifest’. ‘Bahá’u’lláh’ means ‘the Glory of God’ or ‘the Splendour of God’.

God told Bahá’u’lláh of His mission in 1853, nine years after the beginning of the Báb’s mission. Bahá’u’lláh declared His mission in 1863 in the Garden of Riḍván.

The earlier Messengers of God had also spoken about a day in the future when there would be a very great Messenger of God. The followers of each Messenger were told to expect this great Messenger. Bahá’u’lláh is the great Messenger spoken of by all the Messengers.

Bahá’u’lláh wrote, ‘In this most mighty Revelation all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation.’1

I] consummation perfection, completion [3 fulfilled carried out

I: Dispensation the time when the teachings of one Messenger of God are to be followed. The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh is

[Page 12]from the time of His declaration until the coming of the next Messenger of

God. [3 mighty having great power, very great D Revelation making known. In this case, making

God and His teachings known. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh telling us about God and telling us what God wants us to know and to d0.

\\”/4

I j 2::

//\

j

[Page 13]The Greatness of This Day

Bahá’u’lláh came to fulfil the promise of the Báb and all the other Messengers. Therefore His mission and the period in which we are living must be very special and great.

The period of time in which we are living is so great that all the Messengers of the past wished that they could live in these days. These are the days when ‘the promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled.’2

No description of the greatness of this day can be complete. Bahá’u’lláh says, ‘Should the greatness of this Day be revealed in its fullness, every man would forsake a myriad lives in his longing to partake, though it be for one moment, of its great glory — how much more this world and its corruptible treasures!’3

D corruptible something that is able to become evil or rotten

D forsake give up, leave, abandon

'I] holy of God or like God

I: longing wanting very much

[3 myriad a very great number

[Page 14]D partake to take part in

I: recorded written down so that it can be looked at later

I: Scriptures the writings of the different Messengers of God, the holy books of the different religions

[j treasures gold, jewels, things of great value, or highly prized

‘5on o gon

gQXd %0 %O\d

[Page 15]Our Response to the Covenant

We now know that the Greater Covenant is the agreement which a Messenger of God makes with His followers. The agreement is that another Messenger will come and that the people will accept and obey Him.

This means that there are two main parts to the Covenant. The first part is that God will send another Messenger after this one. The second part is that we must accept the new Messenger and obey His laws.

If we do not accept the new Messenger, then we have not kept our part of the Covenant. If we accept the new Messenger but do not obey every law that He gives, then this, tOO, means that we have not kept our part of the Covenant. If we obey the laws of the new Messenger but do not accept Him, then again we have not kept our part of the Covenant.

God has always kept His part of the Covenant. He has sent us many Messengers, one after the other.

Our response to the Covenant is to accept God’s Messengers when they come and to obey them.

[:I obey to do what we are told

D response a reply 01' answer

[Page 16]The

Lesser Covenant

We now know something about the Greater Covenant. This is the Covenant that each Messenger of God makes with His followers that they will accept and obey the next Messenger of God.

There is also another kind of Covenant. This is a Covenant made between the Messenger of God and His followers that they will accept His appointed successors who will lead the people until the next Messenger of God comes. This is called the Lesser Covenant.

In the past, it was not always clear exactly who was to lead the people after the Messenger of God died. The Messenger did not write down who His appointed successor was. Sometimes the people did not understand what the Messenger said. After the death of the Messenger, the followers did not all do exactly as the Messenger had told them. They became divided and disunited. This caused many problems for the followers afterwards.

These problems were solved by Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’u’lláh clearly wrote down, for everyone to see, the name of His successor. He chose His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to be the one all the Bahá’ís were to follow after the death of Bahá’u’lláh.

By following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and obeying Him, the Bahá’ís are faithful to the Covenant. When we obey ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and are faithful to Him, it is exactly the same as obeying God and Bahá’u’lláh.

[Page 17]Bahá’u’lláh also said that. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá should appoint someone to follow Him after He died. This new leader would, if possible, appoint someone else, and so on. This is part of the Lesser Covenant.

' D appointed to put someone in a job or a position of responsibility or importance '3 disunited not acting together, not joined together [3 divided separated into parts I: faithful loyal, true; keeping the promises one has made I] successor someone who comes after another

person, doing the same job or having the same responsibilities

[Page 18]The Station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

There are many stories about the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which show Him to be devoted to God, kind and helpful to all people, and very wise. He also had a sense of humour and enjoyed a good joke.

There is not room in this book to tell about the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but we can think about how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá lived His life and how He taught the Bahá’í Faith. If we learn about the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá we will begin to understand His station.

In our society, people with high positions often treat those working under them very badly. Sometimes they shout at them or make their lives miserable.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had the highest position any human being can have. He was the appointed successor of Bahá’u’lláh. Yet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was never unkind to anyone. He was always patient and loving. He tried to be of service to anyone who needed help. He fed people when they were hungry and He cared for them when they were sick. He even gave away His own clothes when people had none of their own. He treated each person as an honoured guest, even when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was Himself the guest in someone’s home.

The name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá means ‘Servant of the Glory of God’. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had other names and titles, but this is the one He liked to use.

[Page 19]This is what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself said about His station:

My name is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. My qualification is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race my perpetual religion . . . No name, no title, no mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory.4

DDEJ [:1 Ell: DDDDDEJEI

Blessed Perfection commendation devoted

diadem everlasting perpetual

qualification

refulgent

servitude

society

station thraldom

yearning

another name for Bahá’u’lláh praise

loving and loyal, faithful and true a kind of crown

lasting forever

never ending

a skill or quality that makes a person suitable for a position

brightly shining

working for others and helping them

all the people living together in a group

position a person is placed in being of service to someone

wanting very much

[Page 20]The Centre of the Covenant

The Centre of the Covenant is the person or point of authority towards which all the followers of Bahá’u’lláh must turn. Whatever the Centre of the Covenant says, it is the same as if Bahá’u’lláh had said it. All the Bahá’ís must obey the Centre of the Covenant.

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was appointed to be the successor of Bahá’u’lláh, He became the Centre of the Covenant. We have seen how being faithful to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá means being faithful to the Covenant, to Bahá’u’lláh and to God. When Bahá’u’lláh died, all the Bahá’ís had to turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for guidance.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed a successor to follow Him after He died. He appointed His grandson Shoghi Effendi to take care of the Bahá’í Faith and the Bahá’ís. Shoghi Effendi was called the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith because he guarded the Faith and protected it from those people who wished to destroy it. When Shoghi Effendi was appointed Guardian he became the Centre of the Covenant.

After Shoghi Effendi died no other Guardian could be appointed. You might think because of this that there would not be a Centre of the Covenant after Shoghi Effendi. But Bahá’u’lláh had written many years before that the Bahá’ís should elect the Universal House of Justice. This is the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í Faith.

[Page 21]When the Universal House of Justice was elected in 1963, it became the Centre of the Covenant. What this means is that now all the Bahá’ís have to turn to the Universal House of J ustice for guidance. The Bahá’ís have to be faithful to the Universal House of Justice and obey it just as they were faithful to Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and obeyed them.

I] authority a person or group of people who have control over something or over other people

[3 governing ruling I: guidance help or advice

I] supreme highest, most powerful, greatest

[Page 22]The Nature of the Covenant

The nature of something tells us what that thing is made of and what it is like. For example, the nature of fire is to burn, the nature of water is to be wet. So what is the nature of the Covenant? What are its properties? What is it like?

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said that ‘the Covenant is like the sea and the believers as the fishes in the sea. If a fish leaves the water it cannot live.’5

That is it! If you live near the sea or a lake or a river, you might have been on the shore or river bank when a fisherman has landed his catch. You will remember how a living fish gradually dies when it is out of the water. Soon it is dead because the fish cannot live without water.

So the nature of the sea is to give life to the fish. In the same way the nature of the Covenant is to give spiritual life to the Bahá’ís.

D believers in this case, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’ís

I: properties qualities, features

[3 spiritual having to do with the soul or spirit

[Page 23]The Purpose of the Covenant

The purpose of something is the aim of that thing, what it is used for, what it is trying to achieve. The purpose of something is made possible because of the nature of that thing. For example, if the purpose of a fire is to make food so hot that it will cook, then this purpose is fulfilled because the nature of the fire is that it gives off heat.

Another example is the sea. The nature of the sea is that it keeps the fish in it alive. Those fish which are taken out of the sea die. One purpose of the sea,'then, is to keep the fish alive.

We have seen that the nature of the Covenant is to give spiritual life to the Bahá’ís. One purpose of the Covenant, then, is to keep the Bahá’ís spiritually alive. That is, the Covenant keeps the Bahá’ís close to God and helps them to do what God wants.

Another purpose of the Covenant is to keep the Bahá’ís united. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, ‘The purpose of the Covenant was simply to ward off disunion and differences so that no one might say, “My opinion is the true and valid one.” ’6

The unity of the Bahá’í Faith is kept because when people do not agree, they find out what is right by turning to the Centre of the Covenant. No one can say, ‘My way is right and yours is wrong’ because only the Centre of the Covenant can say for certain which way is the right way.

[Page 24]E] achieve to get something done

[3 disunion being separate, not being joined together I: opinion what a person thinks or believes

l] unity being one or whole

I3 valid acceptable, legally right

[:I ward off to keep off

[Page 25]

The

Power of the Covenant

We have seen that the purpose of the Covenant is to make sure that the Bahá’í Faith remains united and one. This purpose is fulfilled through the nature of the Covenant. It is also fulfilled through the power of the Covenant.

The Covenant is very strong. It has the ability to keep people together, to keep them united. We cannot see this power and it is hard to understand. However, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that ‘it moves the hearts’ and ‘dashes into a thousand pieces all the forces of opposition’. ‘It creates new spiritual worlds.’7

Sometimes a person tries to stand against the Covenant, to resist it by insisting on his or her own point of view. .Sometimes a person tries to do something which the Centre of the Covenant says is not right. These people sometimes try to divide the Bahá’í Faith. But the Covenant is so strong that this cannot happen. The power of the Covenant makes certain that those who try to divide the Bahá’í Faith and make sects in it will not succeed.

I: ability the power or means to do a thing

[Page 26]D forces of opposition D insisting

I: resist

[:I succeed

I] united

the power and strength of those people who are against something, in this case, those who are against "the Bahá’í Faith

refusing to give way, to hold strongly to one’s point of view

struggle against

to manage to do what one is trying to do

joined together; acting together as one

[Page 27]

Firmness in the Covenant

It is not enough simply to know what the Covenant is, to know what its purpose is and to understand its power. We must be firm in keeping to our part of the Covenant. That is, we must not be moved away from our acceptance of the Centre of the Covenant by people who try to harm the Bahá’í Faith. We must be very strong and do exactly what the Centre of the Covenant tells us to do.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that ‘firmness in the Covenant means obedience so that no one may say, “this is my opinion”

’8

In the beginning, we might not find it easy to be obedient. We may simply accept that we have to be obedient to the Covenant without being joyful about it. We are obedient with ‘dull resignation’. But as we become more perfect, we begin to find joy in being obedient to the Covenant. We have ‘radiant acquiescence’.

When we are asked to do something and we take a Iong time before we start to do it, then we have obeyed with ‘dull resignation’. But if we are asked to do something and we at once jump up and happily do what we have been asked, then we have obeyed with ‘radiant acquiescence’.

[Page 28]DDDD

acquiescence obedient radiant

resignation

agreeing to something, accepting it doing what one is told to do showing joy and happiness

acceptance of a situation

[Page 29]

The Bounties and Blessings of Firmness in the Covenant

The Báb said, ‘The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity, can ascend t0 the throne of the Most High and be acceptable unto Him.’9

This means that for a deed to reach God and be accepted by Him, the deed must be a good deed and the reason for doing it must also be good and pure. Someone who does a pure deed for a pure reason does not seek any praise or reward for doing it.

Therefore our reason for being firm in the Covenant must be to make God and Bahá’u’lláh happy, out of our love for Them. But God always rewards us when we do things with pure or good aims. Bahá’u’lláh tells us, ‘Supremely lofty will be thy station, if thou remainest steadfast in the Cause of thy Lord.’10

In another place Bahá’u’lláh said, ‘Those who have been faithful to God’s Covenant are of the highest ones in the sight of the exalted Lord.’11

When we are firm in the Covenant, God is happy and He gives us a very high station. This is the cause of our own happiness.

[Page 30]I: ascend

I: bounties I] exalted

[:I lofty D motive

I] purity

D stainless I3 steadfast

throne of the Most High

rise up to

gifts

praised; raised high in rank high, noble, proud

a reason; something that makes us act in a certain way

being clean and spotless; being free from faults

without any marks or spots faithful and true

the Presence of God

[Page 31]Opposition to the Baha i Faith

There are some people who are against the Bahá’í Faith and do not want it to spread to other people. We say that these people are opposed to the Faith. Many of these people do .nothing about their dislike of the Faith. They simply do not feel in their hearts that the Bahá’í Faith is a good thing.

However, a few of them try hard to make sure the Bahá’í Faith does not grow and spread. They do everything in their power to make sure that the Bahá’ís have a difficult time teaching the Faith. They may even attack the Faith by writing books or letters to newspapers. Some people may attack the Bahá’ís themselves and imprison them, or even kill them.

When this happens, it is hard for the Bahá’ís to remain firm in the Covenant. However, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has asked us to do just that! He says, ‘You must make firm the feet at the time when these trials transpire, and demonstrate forbearance and patience. You must withstand them with the utmost love and kindness . . ."2

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has also said that opposition is the ‘confirmation of the Cause, the very source of upbuilding to the Movement’.” This means that when people try to hurt the Bahá’í Faith they actually make it grow more quickly. Therefore, when we find that some people are trying to

[Page 32]stop the Faith from growing, we can still be happy because we know that the Faith will not be harmed but will be stronger as a result.

I] confirmation a proof

[3 demonstrate show clearly

D forbearance control of one’s temper, not becoming angry

D opposed to etruggle against something, to re51st it

I: opposition being against something

I: transpire happen

D trials hardships, tests

I: upbuilding making something grow and get larger

[3 utmost the greatest possible, the very most

D withstand to be able to struggle against or

oppose something successfully

[Page 33]Breaking the Covenant

Sometimes the person who tries to» hurt the Bahá’í Faith is a Bahá’í. When a Bahá’í attacks the Faith or the Covenant, or when a Bahá’í tries to make a different religious group out of the Bahá’í Faith, that person is not being faithful to the Covenant. The purpose of the Covenant is to keep the Bahá’í Faith united. A Bahá’í who is trying to cause disunity is not keeping his or her part of the Covenant.

When this happens, every effort is made to help the Bahá’í to be faithful to the Covenant. If the person does not change, then the Bahá’í is declared to be a Covenant-breaker and is no longer a Bahá’í.

Why do some people break the Covenant? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that some of them ‘are seeking leadership, and in order to reach this position they instil doubts among the friends that they may cause differences, and that these differences may result in their drawing a party to themselves.’14

The only thing a Bahá’í can do that will put him or her outside the Faith is to break the Covenant. This shows us that Covenant—breaking is a very serious thing, the worst thing that a Bahá’í can do.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that we should ‘shun and avoid entirely the Covenant—breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past.’15

[Page 34]The reason we are not to meet with Covenant—breakers is the same reason we do not Visit people when they have a contagious disease. No matter how well we are, we will probably catch the disease of the sick person. If a Bahá’í was to meet with and visit a Covenant-breaker, the Bahá’í might soon be a Covenant-breaker too.

D contagious spreading from person to person '3 declared made known, announced in public I: exerted used

I: exterminate destroy completely, kill off

[3 instil put into the mind little by little I3 render to cause to be; to make

I: seeking looking or searching for

D shun keep clear of

[:I utterly completely, totally

[Page 35]

A Prayer for Firmness in the Covenant

O my Lord and my Hope! Help Thou Thy loved ones to be steadfast in Thy mighty Covenant, to remain faithful to Thy manifest Cause, and to carry out the commandments Thou didst set down for them in Thy Book of Splendours; that they may become banners of guidance and lamps of the Company above, wellsprings Of Thine infinite wisdom, and stars that lead aright, as they shine down from the supernal sky.

Verily art Thou the Invincible, the Almighty, the All-Powerful. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá6

D almighty having much power

|:| aright the right way

I] commandments orders that God gives us E] infinite without end or limit

D invincible not able to be defeated D supernal lofty, very high, heavenly D verily in truth

I: wellsprings constant sources

[Page 36]IO. II. 12.

13. 14.

15. 16.

References

. Bahá’u’lláh, cited in Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of

Bahá’u’lláh (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969), p. 103.

. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

(Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1963), pp. 12—13.

. ibid. p. 197.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 139.

. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, cited in Grundy, Julia M. Ten Days in‘ the

Light of ‘Akká. (Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1979), p. 48.

. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

(Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 2nd ed. 1982), p. 386.

. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Covenant (Oakham: Bahá’í Publishing

Trust, 1988), p. 70.

. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Power of the Covenant (National Spiri tual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada, September 1977), part 2, p. 33.

. The Báb, in Nabfl-i-A‘zam, The Dawn-Breakers (Wilmette,

Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1962), p. 93. Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, p. 246.

Bahá’u’lláh, Covenant, p. 140.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Onward March of the Faith (Oakham: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1975), p. 7.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation, p. 430.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1987), p. 214. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Covenant, p. 132.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections, p. 269.