Transcript:Ruhiyyih Khanum/Speech at Bahá’í World Congress, 1963
| Transcript of: Speaking at the opening of the Bahá’í World Congress in London (1963) by |
| Ruhiyyih Khanum speaking at the opening of the Bahá’í World Congress in London, 1963 (from reel-to-reel tapes of the Congress).Download: mp3, Source: © Gregory C. Dahl |
[0:00] Bahá’u’lláh said, "Make mention of Me on My earth, that in My heaven I may remember thee, thus shall Mine eyes and thine be solaced." What our precious African Hand Enoch Olinga has said has I'm sure touched us all very deeply. He's made us realize the greatness of this Cause, the infinite bounty of being alive in this day, of having heard the name of the Blessed Perfection, of having accepted Him, of having been privileged to serve Him, if only for one second. Today, when I was thinking of this gathering and of the greatness of this occasion, I went back to the words of the Guardian where he had collected all these wonderful titles of Bahá’u’lláh. And it seemed to me that here at this most great Jubilee, the festival of God Himself which is the Riḍván period, that we would do well to remember His names and recite them in our midst.
[1:21] The Judge, the Lawgiver, the Redeemer of mankind, the Organizer of the entire planet, the Unifier of the children of men, the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, the Originator of a new universal cycle, the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, the Creator of a new world order, the Inspirer and Founder of a new world civilization. The Everlasting Father, the Lord of Hosts, the Most Great Name, the Ancient Beauty, the Pen of the Most High, the Hidden Name, the Preserved Treasure, the Most Great Light, the Most Great Ocean, the Supreme Heaven, the Pre-Existent Root, the Day-Star of the Universe, the Speaker on Sinai, the Sifter of Men, the Wronged One of the World, the Desire of the Nations, the Lord of the Covenant, the Spirit of Truth, the Lord of the visible and the invisible.
[3:12] "Behold ye that dwell on earth, and ye denizens of heaven, bear witness, He in truth is your Well-Beloved. He it is Whose like the world of creation hath not seen, He Whose ravishing beauty hath delighted the eye of God, the Ordainer, the All-Powerful, the Incomparable!"
[3:42] Shortly before the eve of this Most Great Jubilee, the night before the feast began some of us went to Bahjí to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh to pray. And we never know, of course, where our experiences come from. But we are privileged to have them. And as I sat in the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and prayed, it seemed to me as if out of that blessed resting place, there were foaming white breakers of bounty spreading out over the entire world. It was a very, very graphic feeling for me. It was just like standing on the shore of the ocean. In fact, we were on the shore of the Most Great Ocean. And seeing these wonderful pearly breakers foaming in one after the other, one after the other, one after the other in mighty waves, and I thought this is like the blessings of Bahá’u’lláh that are descending on the world at the present time. We have won Shoghi Effendi's crusade which he desired to coincide with the end of this hundred-year period from the day of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of Riḍván. And although we suffered very greatly during this crusade through the loss of our precious Shoghi Effendi, as Enoch said he has been with us and he is with us now. Otherwise we would not have sitting here the first House of Justice, those souls whom we all love now, for whom we pray, who we will serve and cherish in every way we can. We would not be able to look back over the last 10 years and count our blessings and see what we have been able to achieve, if Shoghi Effendi had not been with us since his passing.
[5:55] It is very strange that this Congress should be convened in London. You know, it was originally called for Baghdad but that was out of the question for a great many reasons, I'm sure most of which are obvious to all of you. And so we chose the city where he had passed away. Mystery on mystery. And now we are gathered here, the greatest body of the Baháʼís that has ever been in one place at one time in the history of the Faith. We cannot thank God enough for our blessings. And I hope that all those who are here, there are many very active and distinguished believers present. Some of the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, many NSA members, many board members, many distinguished Baháʼí teachers, many representatives of the new groups that have come into the Faith and become enrolled under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh during the last 10 years. I hope that when all of you go back to where you have come from, you will carry a new spirit out into the rank and file of the believers.
[7:15] This is a religion of love. Whatever else it is, we know that the reason that God created man was because He loved him. And He said, "Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee." This is the great primal cord binding man to his Creator, binding the Creator to his creature, the bond of love. This is a religion of love. Everything else is added to it. Don't let us ever forget it. That whatever else Bahá’u’lláh has given us, however precious it is to us, it is dead and lifeless and not needed by the world unless it has love in it. It was His love that breathed this religion into the world. It was the Master's great and overpowering love that made Him, amongst other things, be called our Perfect Exemplar. It was Shoghi Effendi's love for us out of the modesty and simplicity of his blessed heart, his love for us that dealt patiently with us for 36 years and enabled us to build up the world order of Bahá’u’lláh as we now know it, and to lay the foundation for the great, great victories that are to come.
[8:58] In Haifa the other day, as you all know, we had the blessing of having a great many delegates from the first International Baháʼí Convention to elect the members of the House of Justice. And two of the Polynesian Baháʼís were present, members of the South Pacific Assembly. They said something that went like an arrow very deep into my heart. They said the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is simple. And I thought, my goodness, so it is. Why do we make it so complicated all the time? The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is simple. If it weren't simple, it couldn't solve the problems of the world. It wouldn't be big enough to enroll the whole human race under its banner. It would not be able to draw us closer to God, would not be able to bless us and protect us as it does. I think that that is one of the things we should carry back from this great gathering, the essential simplicity of the Faith that God sends for all His creatures so that every single one of them can be blessed by taking hold of the hem of His robe and having a portion of His mercies.
[10:36] We have had amongst so many wonderful blessings during the last 10 years, the fruition of our Guardian's world crusade. This is the closing of the initial epoch of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Divine Plan which began 26 years ago. It seems to have all been timed by Shoghi Effendi because now at the end of that epoch, we start a new epoch and we have been blessed by starting it under the [?] of Bahá’u’lláh's House of Justice. We can never be sufficiently grateful for this. As you know, Shoghi Effendi said that this crusade would be followed by other crusades. If you read his writings, you will see that he has made great promises. And he has also hinted at the nature of the things that must take place at the end of this crusade. So that a wonderful, wonderful period of expansion and consolidation stretches before all the Baháʼís of the world. It is going to be an entirely different Baháʼí world from the one we have known before. Think of it friends. In this room, you have people from all the continents of the world. You have people from so many tribal background, so many religious backgrounds, so many national backgrounds. They all believe exactly what you believe. They are the same kind of Baháʼí that you are. I think as we heard Enoch speaking, it must have occurred to all of us that Africa has a lot to say in the Baháʼí world, and a great deal to do for the other continents of the world. All these blessings are part of those foaming waves of bounty that are pouring in upon us on the occasion of the Most Great Jubilee, the mercies of Bahá’u’lláh, and the blessings of the end of our beloved Guardian's Crusade.
[13:05] We cannot go into detail about what has been accomplished during this Crusade, but I think that this is the moment to mention at least the highlights of what Shoghi Effendi did for us, and what in our response to him, we were able to achieve. You remember, he quoted once the words in the teachings about those who would serve the Faith. The standard of those who should go forth, he said they should be light as the spirit, pure as air, blazing as fire, unrestrained as the wind. The pioneers, the Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, the teachers, and every humble believer who has arisen, on foot often, and by other means of transportation to go out and spread the word of God during the last 10 years have really exemplified the spirit of those words. You remember that the Guardian said that he had a plan of expansion for the World Centre of the Faith. Those who have just come from Haifa know how exquisitely beautiful it is. How during the last 10 years, Shoghi Effendi not only completed the Shrine of the Báb but erected the International Archives Building, made the wonderful, wonderful gardens surrounding the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh in Bahjí, and through the beautification of all the properties there, made that World Centre infinitely precious and infinitely worthy to be the World Centre of our Faith. That was what he did locally. But what he did out from the World Centre and connected with the World Centre was even more significant. The spiritual things were the more important. He named, as you know, a number of people Hands of the Faith. Some of them have passed away. Many of them, thank God, are still alive and present in this room. He strengthened this institution during the last 10 years by giving it protection boards, and teaching boards so that it could function in the way Bahá’u’lláh desired it to, which was to protect and teach the Faith amongst other functions. He created the International Baháʼí Council and said that that would be the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice. Under his ages it grew up, it began to establish relations with the Israel government, and it greatly enhanced the prestige of the World Centre of the Faith. There's no comparison in the greatness of the Cause at the World Centre now at the end of the Crusade, both materially and spiritually, compared to what it was at the beginning of the Crusade in 1953.
[16:19] And now I want to just give you the highlights of some of the victories that we have won through the beloved Guardian's Ten Year Plan. At the beginning of this period in 1953, there were 128 countries enrolled under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh, now there are 259. There were 12 National Spiritual Assemblies, now there are 56 National Spiritual Assemblies. The languages in which the Baháʼí literature had been translated were 71 in 1953. And as you know, this is something to which Shoghi Effendi attached the greatest possible importance; now in 1963, instead of having 71 languages in which we have translated and printed literature, we have 309. 131 are Asiatic languages, 97 are African languages, European languages are 41 and the languages of the two Americas are 40. The Guardian attached great importance that the Cause should have a proper ethnic representation. He said something that I never forgot and I'm sure the Japanese Baháʼí who was sitting opposite him as a pilgrim never forgot it, either. He looked at him and he said the majority of the human race are not white. There is no reason why the majority of people in the Baháʼí Faith should be white. They should be representative of mankind. And this Japanese Baháʼí looked at Shoghi Effendi as if a miracle was taking place, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Here was this white Persian, the head of his Faith, looking at him with this ineffably sweet smile, with all of his kingly dignity and grace and just telling him that there was no reason why the majority of the people inside Baháʼí Faith should be white. They should be representative of the entire human race and the majority of people in the world he said were not white.
[18:45] As I say, Shoghi Effendi attached tremendous importance to the people enrolled under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh. I can't read you all the names that have been added, but I can give you just the highlights. There were 30 races represented in the Baháʼí world community at the beginning of the world crusade. Now there are 71. Amongst them are such precious representatives of mankind, and such unusual ones as the following: the Ainu of Japan, the Australian Aborigines, there is a very distinguished member of that race present at this Congress, the Basque race in Europe, the Berbers. You know friends, that amongst our Moroccan prisoners who are suffering so much, some are Berbers. And I think that this is perhaps the appropriate moment to say that thank God one of the wives of one of these dear and precious Baháʼí prisoners is present at this Congress. May God bless her. [Applause] The Bushmen race have been enrolled under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh. They are a much-persecuted and distinctive group in Africa. The Dayaks are now enrolled in large numbers in the Faith. The Eskimos are represented in the Faith and very active Baháʼís incidentally. We have gypsy Baháʼís now. We have Hamitic Baháʼís. Too many tribes to mention here, a great many of them from Africa, present in this room on this occasion. We have Khmer Baháʼís from Cambodia, an ancient race of that part of the world. We now have a [?] Baháʼí. We have Malagasy Baháʼís and Maori Baháʼís and Mentawaian Baháʼís and Navajo Baháʼís. I understand one is present in this room. And pygmy Baháʼís and Semang, the Malayan Aboriginie race, is also represented now in the Baháʼí Faith. And of course, you know we have Zulu Baháʼís. The minority groups with which contact has been established, which was a work also cherished by Shoghi Effendi, from 15 has now risen to 21.
[21:32] You remember that the Guardian used to often mention the tribes of Africa in the messages he sent out to the Baháʼí world. At the beginning of the Crusade, there were 12 tribes. Now there are 349 tribes. That is the ones we have the names of. It's quite possible that many of these statistics should be adjusted upward because we have not received the last possible word on the subject. We have of the Indians of the American continent, 83 different tribes enrolled in the Faith. We have of the Asiatic district, in other words Southeast Asia, North East Asia and the Pacific Ocean area, we have over 87 races and tribes represented in the Faith. You know, at the beginning of the crusade we had eight national headquarters which belonged to eight of the then existing 12 National Assemblies. Every single NSA in the world now has its national headquarters of its own. It also has its national endowments and in spite of the fact that not all of them have been able to be incorporated nationally, the roll call is very, very high. We had nine national incorporations at the beginning of the Crusade, and now we have 41. Obviously, in Islamic countries and countries where the Baháʼís are persecuted, they cannot secure a national incorporation. We had 22 places in the world, states and provinces and so on, where Baháʼí marriage certificates were recognized in 1953. Now we have 61. We had 14 places where holy days were recognized, now we have 61. We had one publishing trust of which Shoghi Effendi was very proud and was the publishing trust of the British National Assembly and that existed already in '53. Now we have eight in different continents of the globe. We had two Baháʼí temples. One in ʻIshqábád which unfortunately had been confiscated, and the Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette, Illinois. And now we have five temples, the two original ones and of course, the one in Kampala, the one in Sydney, and the one in Germany which is almost entirely finished inside as well as out.
[24:13] There is something that was not listed by Shoghi Effendi at the beginning of the Crusade, and that was schools and institutes, but he used to make announcements about it in his Riḍván messages. I don't think there can have been more than two or three throughout the Baháʼí world in 1953. Now there are 27. These are concrete things. These are not little classes of Baháʼí children. These are institutes and regular schools owned and run by the Baháʼís. And the most extraordinary victory perhaps of all is the increase in centers throughout the Baháʼí world. I could not find any place where Shoghi Effendi said exactly how many centers there were in 1953, but supposing we say there were 2,000. I know shortly after the Crusade began, he turned to someone once in Haifa at the dinner table and said, "Are you ready to travel to 2,000 centers throughout the world to meet the Baháʼís?" Now there are over 13,000 places in the world where the Baháʼís reside. This is a tremendous victory. This is a victory that we lay at the feet of Shoghi Effendi with the utmost humility. The people that are entering the Faith today are coming in in troops as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that they would, and as was the ardent desire of Shoghi Effendi. You remember he told us that we should intensify the teaching work during the latter half of the Crusade, and we have done so. And we find extraordinary progress being made in some countries. India, as you know, has over 90,000 believers. I think there are now in Africa over 60,000, am I Right? Over 60,000. I understand in Southeast Asia there are over 28,000. And somebody said in the other areas that there are, I don't know, 10,000/8,000 in different places. I haven't got the statistics with me, but they will be undoubtedly published in the near future. So that everywhere we look, we see the fulfillment of the Guardians hopes.
[26:38] We won his Crusade, and we have been infinitely, infinitely blessed in the doing of it. Now, what are we going to do for Shoghi Effendi during the next five or 10 years? It's no time to take a vacation. When you are feeling happiest, when you are tired and blissful, you go home and you have some form of refreshment, and you have a good night's sleep, and then you get up the next morning and start all over again. And that is what all of us must do. We can't slacken the pace, particularly at this moment when we have elected the crowning institution of the Baháʼí world. It must have strong pillars underneath it. The pillars must rest on strong assemblies. The assemblies must be composed of enlightened, strong, and enthusiastic believers. We must create new assemblies throughout the world. And all of this depends on the spirit of the Baháʼís, their willingness to serve, their eagerness to serve, above all their faith in Bahá’u’lláh. He has promised that He will always help those who arise to serve Him. And I am sure that the believers in this room, and the believers all over the world are going to face the future now with a fresh determination to win even more marvelous victories than have been won in the past.
[28:21] This is the way we show our love for Bahá’u’lláh, our love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and our gratitude for the bounty of the Divine Plan, and our love for our Guardian who wore himself out and burned himself up in leading the way and showing us how we could go forward and what we must do. And I'm sure that every Baháʼí is going to do his utmost in the years to come.
[Applause]
- Note: The next talk was given by Amoz Gibson and is available here.
