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Spring/Summer 1986

World order

A Psychological Theory of

Martyrdom

Fereshteh Taheri Bethel

Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh (1954-83)

Simin Moghimi Khavari

Mark Tobey and the “Two Powers”

Julie Oeming Badiee

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World Order

VOLUME 20, NUMBERS 3 & 4 • PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

WORLD ORDER IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE, INSPIRE AND SERVE THINKING PEOPLE IN THEIR SEARCH TO FIND RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CONTEMPORARY LIFE AND CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS AND PHILOSOPHY

Editorial Board:

FIRUZ KAZEMZADEH

BETTY J. FISHER

HOWARD GAREY

JAMES D. STOKES

Subscriber Service:

CANDACE MOORE

WORLD ORDER is published quarterly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORLD ORDER, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, IL 60091.

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, or of the Editorial Board. Manuscripts can be typewritten or computer generated. They should be double spaced throughout, with the footnotes at the end. The contributor should send three copies—an original and two legible copies—and should keep a copy. Return postage should be included. Send manuscripts and other editorial correspondence to WORLD ORDER, 415 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.

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WORLD ORDER is protected through trademark registration in the U.S. Patent Office.

Copyright © 1989, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
ISSN 0043-8804

IN THIS ISSUE

2   An Affirmation of Life

Editorial

5   A Psychological Theory of Martyrdom

by Fereshteh Taheri Bethel

25   Prayer

poem by Timothy S. Seibles

27   Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh (1954-83)

by Simin Moghimi Khavari

translated by Carelle L. and Mahmoud

Karimimanesh

42   Out of Siyah-Chal

by Ian Kluge

45   Mark Tobey and the “Two Powers”

by Julie Oeming Badiee

Inside back cover: Authors & Artists in This Issue

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An Affirmation of Life

A MARTYR is one who voluntarily gives up one’s life for one’s faith. Martyrdom implies choice, freedom to buy life at the price of recantation. Millions of innocent victims of war, starvation, or elemental disasters are not martyrs; and while all martyrs are heroes, the reverse is not necessarily true.

During the last eight years over two hundred Bahá’í men and women were martyred in Iran. Every one of them was given a choice between defiance and submission, between proud death and ignoble survival. Every one chose death.

The “modern mind” cannot cope with martyrdom. In a materialist scheme of things death is the ultimate defeat, and a martyr, either sick or deluded. To be consistent, that mentality should, and frequently does, see all life as meaningless since all life ends in death.

To a Bahá’í, martyrdom is affirmation of life. It is the triumph of freedom over necessity, the assertion of the autonomy of the human spirit, the gate from time to eternity.

To the survivors the martyrs bring spiritual enlightenment. They become examples of selfless devotion, of boundless commitment, of active love. They enrich our lives and leave behind them a legacy that transforms the world.

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A Psychological Theory of Martyrdom

BY FERESHTEH TAHERI BETHEL

Copyright © 1989 by Fereshteh T. Bethel.

Introduction

SINCE THE inception of the Bahá’í Faith in 1844, its members have frequently been discriminated against and persecuted for their religious beliefs. With varying degrees of intensity the persecutions have been mostly instigated by the clergy of the Shi‘ah sect of Islam and are often implemented by the government in power.

Between 1979 and 1982 members of the Bahá’í Faith, the largest religious minority in Iran, with no rights under the law, were persecuted by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran because of differences in religious ideologies, beliefs, and convictions. During this period approximately 106 Iranian Bahá’ís, most of whom held Bahá’í administrative and leadership positions, were executed when they refused to recant their faith, thus opening a new chapter of religious martyrdom. In addition, the homes of individual Bahá’ís, along with properties belonging to the Bahá’í Faith, were confiscated, and assets were frozen. Thousands of Bahá’ís lost their employment, students were barred from attending public schools, farmers’ crops were burned, Bahá’í cemeteries were desecrated, and Bahá’í holy places confiscated or demolished.

There are several deeply rooted reasons for the theological differences that led to the persecution and execution of the Iranian Bahá’ís by the Shi‘ah Muslims. A few of them include the following.

First, because the Muslims believe in the finality of the Prophet Muḥammad in the line of the Prophets, they recognize no religion making claims to a new revelation. Therefore, they consider the Bahá’í Faith a threat to the position of Islam, bringing its annulment and a challenge to the power of the Shi‘ah clergy, who are considered viceregents of Muḥammad.

[Page 6] Second, some of the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, such as equal rights and opportunities for men and women, harmony of science and religion, independent investigation of truth, and abolition of the institution of the priesthood have all been considered by the Shi‘ah clergy a challenge to their hold on the masses.

Third, when a society like Iran is under stress, it needs a scapegoat to absorb societal problems. This need translates into the persecution of a group. Between 1979 and 1982 that group was the Bahá’ís.

The persecutions of the Bahá’ís in Iran have been cyclical and have had various degrees of severity during different historical periods. Since the origin of the Bahá’í Faith in 1844, more than twenty thousand followers have been martyred for their adherence to the Bahá’í Faith. The nature of the recent persecutions was considered by the Bahá’ís as being among the worst they have ever experienced. However, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran denied that the Bahá’ís were killed because of religious differences; rather, without presenting any supportive documents to the public, they asserted that the Bahá’ís were killed because they were spies or agents of foreign elements. These types of accusations were variously labeled: Zionism, or subservience to the interests of the imperialistic powers, or involvement in the “corruption of earth” and “warring against Islam and God.” Yet, if the Bahá’ís had recanted their faith, they would have been set free. This alone is sufficient proof of the baselessness of the allegations.

The remarkable thing about the response of the Bahá’ís to their persecution (hardship, torment, torture, suffering, pain) and execution, which are described in psychological terms as severe social stressors, was that it was of an atypical, unconventional, and positive nature, according to numerous reports of Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í observers (used for the purpose of behavioral cross-validation in this study).

In confirmation of the observers’ reports, a study of the personal documents of Bahá’í martyrs in Iran resulted in the formulation of a psychological theory of martyrdom showing that the beliefs and responses of persecuted and executed Bahá’í martyrs were contrary to [Page 7] the explanations of existing psychological theory on severe social stressors. The study regarded persecution and execution as severe social stressors directed at stamping out the beliefs of members of the Bahá’í Faith. The theory proposed that explanations for the atypical beliefs and responses of the Bahá’í martyrs can be found in their written documents. Further, the theory suggests the central importance of the victimized individual’s spiritual reality (nonphysical and nonmaterial reality) as the principle of guidance and support as he or she psychologically attempted to cope with persecution and death.

A search of existing professional literature reveals that there is relatively little psychological documentation on martyrs and martyrdom, for psychological research on the subject generally concentrates on nonempirical studies. Moreover, within the field of religion only brief theoretical papers and non-quantified (nonempirical) studies appear throughout the literature.

According to conventional psychological explanations, persons facing a critical threat, whether physical or psychological, use certain measures to protect their well-being and integrity. Some of the measures are based on instincts and neurophysiological reflexes that nature provides to protect the species facing unpredictable changes. For example, individuals may react by fighting or by fleeing, both of which may be accompanied by rage or fear in the face of inevitable threats to life. Other reactions to severe stressors include social responses that move the individuals to decrease their association and interaction with people of the same sociocultural background, thus becoming solely dependent on themselves to resolve their crises. Still other responses to extreme stress include denial, perplexity, selective attention or even amnesia, avoidance and withdrawal, disillusionment and discontent, and a limited means of coping with events that are based only on intellect or reason. Thus the response does not provide for broader perspective, insight, meaning, and understanding of highly stressful experiences.

Psychoanalytic views have generally considered the expression of meaning and values in the face of persecution and death as defense mechanisms and reaction formations. The implication is that human beings are willing to live merely for the sake of their defense mechanisms and to die compensatorily for their reaction formations. Within such a paradigm individuals are not able to live and die for ideals and values essential to them.

History shows, however, that human response to suffering during a life crisis may reach far beyond the psychological formulations of defenses, compensations, and adaptations that are presented in the professional psychological literature. That is the reason why Viktor Frankl, one of Europe’s leading psychiatrists, asserted that “human life, under any circumstances, never ceases to have a meaning, and that this infinite meaning of [Page 8] life includes suffering and dying, privation and death.” When human beings confront inevitability and suffering, even under the most difficult circumstances, they add a deeper meaning to their lives. In a very critical situation an individual has the chance to either

make use of or to forego the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his suffering or not. . . . It is true that only a few people are capable of reaching such high moral standards . . . but even one such example is sufficient proof that man’s inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.

The fact that human beings can rise above their circumstances means that they can make choices and exercise their fundamental human freedom. As Frankl states, “the conditions do not determine me, but I determine whether I yield to them or brave them.” Human beings can also rise above themselves. This is why Nietzsche’s meaning of transcendence emerged from Zarathustra’s character, who proclaimed, “I am that which must ever surpass itself.” There have been cases where individuals have not perceived their sufferings as a painful phenomenon or as a grievous blow to their esteem but have received them with gratitude and even joy. These individuals, according to historian Arnold Toynbee, realized

that life in this world is not an end in itself and by itself; that it is only a fragment (even if an authentic one) of some larger whole; and that, in this larger whole, the central and dominant . . . feature in the soul’s spiritual landscape is its relation to God.

Hence it is possible for the principle of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain to be overruled by the principle of spiritual attraction and love, which invites the individual to accept pain not for masochistic or compensatory purposes but for spiritual fulfillment.

In contemporary psychology the spiritual reality of human beings and its dynamic influence on their behavior has not been considered because it has not been viewed scientifically. Yet, if the purpose of science is the discovery of truth, the spiritual aspect of men and women as a vital part of their being must also be studied. In discussing human responses to life stress and suffering, ‘Abdu’l-Missagh Ghadirian, a Canadian psychiatrist, asserts that

Faith and belief in spiritual truth, whether it is affected by superstition or maintains its purity, comprises an integral part of human personality. When such an integral part is threatened, the result may not always follow the conventional pattern of stress-response paradigm. . . . The response may surprisingly be the opposite.

The result may be that when a physical or psychological threat to life can be explained in light of some spiritual belief, the enlightenment that it brings about causes the arousal of courage, which, in turn, will put an end to fear and anxiety for whatever the consequences may be. Hence, faith gives a new meaning to suffering, which transforms fear into joy; love is an integral part of this transformation.

This present study, which uses personal documents written by Iranian Bahá’í martyrs between 1979 and 1982, is descriptive and historical. The sample studied consisted of ninety-five personal documents, authored by forty individuals who were later executed for their religious belief and convictions. Included in the sample were twenty-seven wills; three defense statements; three formal reports of persecution; one set of minutes of the [Page 9] eighty-eighth meeting of a Bahá’í youth committee; one poem; and sixty-one letters addressed to family members, relatives, and friends. The documents were gathered during a two-year international search, which included contacts with relatives and friends of the martyrs, the help of a resourceful person residing in England, a personal search of official files of the Persian section of the United States National Bahá’í headquarters, and a review of Bahá’í publications. The written communications were all copies of original documents, or reproductions thereof, translated into English by official translators.

The data in the ninety-five documents reflecting the beliefs and responses of the Bahá’í martyrs were collected using a method called content analysis. Two general hypotheses (Hypotheses 1 and 2) were developed, and fourteen subhypotheses (Hypotheses 1a through 1g; Hypotheses 2a through 2g) were drawn to test these two general propositions. These hypotheses and subhypotheses were tested by analyzing the contents of the martyrs’ documents using frequency and percentage distributions on seven belief components and seven response components. The results indicated that individuals who were martyred because of their distinct beliefs were capable of responding to their unfortunate situation in unique and unconventional ways.

The responses include courage, contentment, acceptance, and even joy. As Ghadirian states, “Faith gives a new meaning to suffering, transforming fear into joy, a process in which love is an important ingredient.” Regarding suffering, Frankl states, “Suffering ceases to be suffering in some way at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” Based on an empirical study on mental health, Theodore A. Kotchen states that a mind is

healthy when it has achieved a sufficient store of “meaning” to enable it to master suffering. . . . Now, meaning is a broad concept; at best it merely locates a syndrome. While various existential authors favor one or more of the components of this syndrome, the following seem to cover the range of current existential writing on the norms of mental health.

What Kotchen refers to is the factors of uniqueness, responsibility, self-affirmation, transcendence, courage, faith-commitment, [Page 10] and world view, all of them appearing in the beliefs expressed by the Bahá’í martyrs.

By interrelating theory, methodology, and data, the following two major hypotheses and fourteen subhypotheses were created and tested.

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Ehsanollah Mehdizadeh     Eskandar ‘Azizi     Habibollah Tahqiqi

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Hypothesis 1

THE first hypothesis (Hypothesis 1) states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that their internalized beliefs, in the face of severe social stressors, follow an unconventially positive stress-belief pattern. An analysis of the seven beliefs listed in Table 1—uniqueness, responsibility, self-affirmation, transcendence, courage, faith-commitment, and world view—yields a significant mean percentage of occurrence of 95.2 percent. The following selections from the documents clearly support this proposition:

Because I’m leaving this world in the path of my belief in the reality of God and the Prophets of all the previous religions, and with belief in His Holiness, the Báb, and His Holiness, Bahá’u’lláh, I am happy.—Yadullah Astani

I’m happy that in belief in the sacred Bahá’í Faith I'm drinking of the cup of martyrdom.—Firuz Naimi

I have faith . . . that all the events and episodes of these past three years have been preordained for the sole purpose of the fulfillment of the divine prophecies and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on [Page 11] earth.—Kamran Samimi

Life is totally in the hands of the Almighty God of mankind. Thus, now you dear ones, like me, should also be pleased with the will of God and consider this event as solely the ordained Will of His.—Hashem Farnush

You and I should remind ourselves of this fact and praise God for it, that this confinement and the bearing of any degree of difficulty and adversity, as long as it is due to faith and belief and not due to any crime, will be sweet and wholesome.—Badiollah Farid

[I] state and endorse my faith and belief in the Oneness of God and the validity of all the Manifestations of God; and my faith and certitude in . . . the Báb, . . . and the Promised One of all ages, . . . Bahá’u’lláh.—Mahmud Faruhar

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Kamran Samimi     Faramarz Samandari     Shiva Mahmudi Asadollahzadeh

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Table 1. Frequency Distribution of
Beliefs of Bahá’í Martyrs by Number
and Percentage of Occurrence

Belief	No. of Occur.a	% of Occur.	Mean %
Uniqueness	93	97.9
Responsibility	88	92.6
Self-affirmation	86	90.5
Transcendence	88	92.6	95.2
Courage	89	93.7
Faith-commitment	94	98.9
World view	95	100.0

^aNumber of appearances of each belief in the
documents. Each belief was evaluated only once in
each document.

Uniqueness. Hypothesis 1a states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs present them as individuals aware of the uniqueness of their situation and their relationship to it. Table 1 shows that this belief —uniqueness—appeared ninety-three times, with a rate of occurrence of 97.9 percent. The following are some examples of the [Page 12] data that support hypothesis 1a:

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Yadullah Astani     Hedayatollah Dehqani     Zhinus Mahmudi

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It is a divine opportunity for all the friends in this blessed land at this time of the history of the Faith. God must have loved us to have showered us with all these calamities. I am deeply grateful to Him for this bounty.—Kamran Samimi

My children, . . . How long is it since I wrote you last? Of course, you will forgive me, for Bahá’u’lláh has occupied all my time. . . . We are living through inestimable days that produce astonishing feelings in us. . . . those long hours that you sit in meetings with the National Spiritual Assembly or the Board Members and assistants, and you never know if the meeting will reach its natural conclusion or not, but you are totally oblivious to the world, to all those amazing events that occur all around us.—Zhinus Mahmudi

They told him just say verbally that “I am not” [a Bahá’í], and tonight you will return home and will embrace your little daughter.—Shlva Mahmudi Asadollahzadeh

None of us has any physical security, whether those who are in the prison or those who are seemingly free.—Jalal ‘Azizi

The enemies of the Faith are determined to put an end to our mortal lives, and we are prepared to sacrifice our lives in the path of our sacred goal.—Hoseyn Khandil

We are physically confined behind the prison bars with a heart full of the love of the Beloved and a soul filled with love of the Friend.—Ehsanollah Mehdizadeh

You can recant in writing, and give it together with a picture and return to the bosom of Islam and be freed. Of course, [Page 13] you know what our answer is.—M. B. (Soheyl) Habibi

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M. B. (Soheyl) Habibi     Hoseyn Motlaq     Masih Farhangi

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Responsibility. Hypothesis 1b states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs present them as individuals responsible for their own existence in the face of severe social stressors, capable of accepting an imposed destiny, enduring it where necessary, and shaping it where possible. This belief—responsibility —appeared eighty-eight times with a 92.6 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 1). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

Only one thing matters: to do the work that I must do. And what pleasure is hidden in these tasks . . . it is higher than kingship—greater than any gratification.—Zhinus Mahmudi

I seek the good pleasure of God and am prepared for martyrdom.—Yadullah Vahdat

We, Bahá’ís of Iran, thanks be to the blessings of God, have recognized the importance of this particular period, and have found our supreme goal. This is the cause of much thanks, because when a person recognizes his goal, and achieving it becomes his volition and action, he will not think of any difficulty. To achieve that goal, he’ll be ready to accept any difficulty and ordeal with heart and soul.—Eskandar ‘Azizi

I have prayed tens of times that God may grant me to drink of the wine of martyrdom and that my sacrifice may result in other friends’ release and return to the warmth and comfort of their homes and families.—Yadullah Vahdat

O my God! May my life be sacrificed for Thy lovers!—M. B. (Soheyl) Habibi

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I feel it indeed a privilege to be here in Iran. I am most grateful to Him for this bounty.—Kamran Samimi

Self-Affirmation. Hypothesis 1c states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs show them as individuals who are aware of their ability to affirm their being with a resolute mind and will. This belief—self-affirmation —appeared eighty-six times, with a 90.5 percent of occurrence (see Table 1). The following are some examples of the data that support hypothesis 1c:

And until the last moment of life we will remain loyal to our covenant.—M. B. (Soheyl) Habibi

Mother, just as I had written you before, do not ask for the head that you have given in the path of the Beloved, remain firm and staunch, and prepare yourself for any episode.—Ehsanollah Mehdizadeh

Don’t mourn for me, because I know all that has taken place ending with my execution is by the Will of God.—Bihruz Sanai

In spite of all these do you for a moment think that I will give up all these for a quiet and restful life anywhere in the world? Would you for a moment think that I am worried or nervous as to what may happen to me? I will not change this for all the world. I am supremely grateful to Him for having provided this opportunity for me to do in my humble way what I could contribute with the rest of the friends.—Kamran Samimi

Behold now! See the greatness of the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh], see what service is, what endurance is, what courage is, what heroism is and finally see what martyrdom is!—Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh

And the rest of us are ready with our lives prepared to be sacrificed.—Zhinus Mahmudi

I said that I was always studying and that investigation of the truth was one of the principles of the Bahá’í Faith and that I had spent my entire life investigating and that I had found the truth and would not, under any circumstance, recant my Faith.—Ziaullah Ahrari

Transcendence. Hypothesis 1d states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs indicate that these individuals are not rigidly confined to a specific world in time. This belief —transcendence—appeared eighty-eight times, with a 92.6 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 1). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

In this glorious journey [referring to his martyrdom], I’m in the company of Hashem Farnush and Bozorg Alaviyan.—Farhang Mavaddat

We are at His Threshold until such time that the soul will leave the body. . . . the true eternal marriage always exists and with the decay of the manifest body, it will not be destroyed.—Hashem Farnush

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I surrender it [my life] for the good of humanity.—Mehdi Anvari

Know, for a truth that the Will of His Holiness, Bahá’u’lláh, had been on this so that a few drops of the blood of this insignificant being would be sacrificed for the nurturance of the tree of His beloved Cause. This itself is an absolute good.—Jadidullah Ashraf

Everything is so unique and full of previously unknown, beautiful feelings that I am extremely pleased. . . . In your opinion, doesn’t it bring joy to the individual who instead of reading the history, is in the middle of history?—Zhinus Mahmudi

One can easily explain this state of detachment and lack of anxiety: absolute trust in His will.—Kamran Samimi

Courage. Hypothesis 1e states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs show that they withstand danger or extreme difficulty without fear and without detracting from the meaning of their own existence. This belief—courage—appeared eighty-nine times, with a 93.7 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 1). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

The rest of us are ready to be sacrificed. . . . Our new Assembly has been formed and again the work has begun. The new Assembly even began its work before the expiration of 24 hours from the time of the arrest of those dear ones, and I have the honor to be at their service—Zhinus Mahmudi

The third group have been elected to replace us as soon as we are arrested. The same provisions are made for all the LSA’s [assemblies].—Kamran Samimi

I swear by Thy might, O God, that all these calamities are sweeter than any nectar and more pleasing than any delight.—Bahá’u’lláh, quoted by Zhinus Mahmudi

Service to the Faith has always been my heart’s desire. . . . Now I find there is another way destined for me to serve the Faith of God. . . . In spite of available opportunities I did not escape, and went to the court to defend the Faith.—Hoseyn Khandil

I have reached the fulfillment of my wish—11:00 p.m., 6/13/81, before my martyrdom.—M. B. (Soheyl) Habibi

Faith-Commitment. Hypothesis 1f states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal their belief in, and commitment to, the validity and attainability of some goal or value set by their own intentions. This belief—faith-commitment—appeared ninety-four times, with a 98.9 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 1). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

I hope that our insignificant blood will water the blessed tree of the Cause of God, that the Faith will soon gain its independence and the Bahá’ís of Iran their freedom, and that future generations will be [Page 16] able to serve the Cause with the greatest comfort.—Tarazollah Khozeyn

The Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] with His New World Order has created a new creation and has given new standards and criterions [sic].—Kamran Samimi

Now that the Will of God has destined it in this manner, I have the utmost pleasure. I’m being executed only because I am a Bahá’í.—Bozorg ‘Alaviyan

Today, every devoted Bahá’í individual must thank the Threshold of God a hundred thousand times, that the Promised Day and the fulfillment of the Divine prophecies have come, and that through the Iranian revolution, everyone has heard about the Divine Cause.—Eskandar ‘Azizi

I beseech Thee, O God, by the sacred blood of the Báb, the Exalted One, to cause us to attain a good ending. I supplicate God to grant me such a degree of faith and power as not to cause my footsteps to falter in the face of tribulations, even of martyrdom, and make me not fail to attain the glorious end, the greatest honor.—Yadullah Vahdat

It is important that you must think and live for the Cause. Together with your regular daily activities, do not forget service to the world of humanity, teaching, and service in the Cause.—Shidrokh Amir-Kiya Baqa

In confession to the oneness of the essence of the conspicuous God and the truth of all the Prophets and Messengers such as His Holiness, Moses; His Holiness, Christ; His Holiness, Muḥammad; and the station of the Guardians of Shi’ah Islam; and the station of the Forerunnership of the Báb; and the Revelator, His Holiness, Bahá’u’lláh; and the station of His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the expounder of the Words of God; and the Beloved Guardian of the Faith, and complete obedience of me, Parviz Firuzi, to the Bahá’í Institutions, I make my will in the last hour of my life.—Parviz Firuzi

World View. Hypothesis 1g states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs show that these individuals existed in three modes of the world: the natural or biological world, the world of relationships among human beings, and the world uniquely present for them in terms of their experience of martyrdom and their chosen attitude toward it. This belief—world view—appeared ninety-five times, with a 100 percent rate of occurrence (see Table l). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

The only request that I have from my wife is for her to publish, in the future, the books I have written, because they are the only trace of my thirty years of labor that have remained behind.—Kamalu’d-Din Bakhtavar

In this “palace” [prison] that my fellow Bahá’ís and I now occupy, I am not sad; rather, I am happier than ever before in all the years of my life.—Sattar Khushkhu

My nice Negat, I have given a watch and a ring, so that they would give them to you. They are supposed to also hand over [Page 17] to you some small items such as: my wallet, Nazi’s and your picture, a pair of glasses, a pullover, a pair of pants, a notebook and newspapers related to my court hearing, sheets and other minor things.—Behruz Sanai

There is no place for worry if a few individuals sacrifice their lives and belongings for this important goal. Glory be unto them whose wealth and lives have been sacrificed in this path.—Eskandar ‘Azizi

In my pocket, I have about four hundred tumans [fifty dollars] which I ask that you spend in the path of God.—Masih Farhangi

I kiss my dear Sahba many and many times; my dear Nava the same way. In my place also caress them more every day and on my behalf kiss their faces many times. I request that, at the beginning, you will not leave my dear mother alone, whose services and the troubles that she has taken are all in front of me and are as manifest as the bright daylight. Also apply the same kindness to your own family and my dear brother.—Hashem Farnush

The Bahá’í individual does not belong to himself. Rather, he belongs to the Bahá’í world.—Yadullah Vahdat

You will be asleep when I am being executed. . . . I wish I could see you and embrace you now for the last time. . . . My dear one, in these last moments of my life, only and only you and Nazi are in front of my eyes. . . . Raise my nice Nazi according to how I would have brought her up myself.—Behruz Sanai

I had started this evening to make a bracelet for my dear Fariba and intended to weave her initials, F. M,, into the design. Unfortunately I had no time to finish it; it was left behind when we were transferred here. I wish I had time to weave bracelets for Fariba and Anita, but this was not to be.—Tarazollah Khozeyn

Ah, those Hamadan friends—may I offer up my life for all of them, for every one of them, for all their heroism and sacrifice that has set forward the Cause by two hundred years.—Zhinus Mahmudi

Please give my deepest affection to all my dear ones and the children. I have been so pleased with all of them and will pray for their well-being and happiness from the worlds beyond. At this very moment, friends and relatives are all in my thoughts, their faces lifelike in my mind.—Masih Farhangi

Overall, dear Zhinus should keep her heart pure and convince herself that her spouse separated from her in a condition which all of his being was in memory of her, of her kindnesses, and those of the dear relatives.—Hashem Farnush

Isn’t it a glorious and golden opportunity for us to be present at this time when we witness the unfoldment of the drama of the Kingdom of God on earth?—Kamran Samimi

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Sattar Khushkhu     Mehdi Anvari     Ziaullah Ahrari

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If one attains to the recognition of truth, he will never be tormented with worries.—Mihdi Anvari

Since I was tried as a Bahá’í, and there were no other allegations, I am extremely happy—Ziaullah Ahrari

There is a finality to this mortal life, and how wonderful that this finality is accompanied by honor, truth, and devotion. . . . I’m happy that my life had a delightful ending.—Hoseyn Motlaq

Every moment we are beholding a portion of the Divine plan and design. It is full of magnificence.—Zhinus Mahmudi

Life here is as exciting and hopeful as ever.—Kamran Samimi

Hypothesis 2

THE second hypothesis (Hypothesis 2) states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that they respond to severe social stressors in an unconventionally positive way. An analysis of seven responses listed in Table 2—acknowledgment and forebearance, perceptivity and full attention, acceptance and affiliation, tolerance and love, certitude and contentment, reliance on personal faith and belief, and reason and reaching beyond reason —yielded a mean percentage of 91.9 percent. The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

It is stated in our Sacred Writings that we Bahá’ís should always observe calmness, dignity and moderation. . . . whatever is in the true essence of my heart is recorded in them [Sacred Wtitings].—Sohrab (Mohammad) Habibi

It always gives me great joy sharing with you the feeling of ecstasy I have for the [Page 19] privilege of being present at this time in the land of the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh].—Kamran Samimi

---

Farhang Mavaddat     Yadullah Vahdat     Shidrukh Amir-Kiya Baqa

---

Right now we are prepared to endure a hundred times more. Only pray that we may be worthy to endure.—Zhiuus Mahmudi

How sweet is that moment, when my heart will become the target of the dart; woe be unto me if the signing of that ordained fate will be delayed.—Habibollah Owji

I have to bring to your attention that basically a Bahá’í believes in the oneness of mankind and the establishment of peace and unity in the world. In most of the countries, the Bahá’í community has been identified with these beliefs and expressions.—Fereydun Faridani

Your Dad is most happy and full of gratitude.—Kamran Samimi

Table 2. Frequency Distribution of
Responses of Bahá’í Martyrs by Number
and Percentage of Occurrence

Response	No. of Occur.a	% of Occur.	Mean %
Acknowledgment and forbearance	90	94.7
Perceptivity and full attention	95	100.0
Acceptance and affiliation	82	86.3
Tolerance and love	78	82.1
Certitude and contentment	84	88.4	91.9
Reliance on personal faith and belief	93	97.9
Reason and reaching beyond reason (faith)	89	93.7

^aNumber of appearances of each type of response
in the documents. Each response type was evaluated
only once in each document.

Acknowledgment and Forbearance. Hypothesis 2a states that the personal documents of [Page 20] the Bahá’í martyrs demonstrate that these individuals acknowledge their predicament and respond to it with forbearance. This response —acknowledgment and forbearance— appeared ninety times, with a 94.7 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

I lay all my affairs in the hands of God. The very first day I came to this prison, I happily accepted evetything that was happening to me in the path of Bahá’u’lláh.—Yadullah Vahdat

I thank God that I am able to sacrifice my life for my religion. . . . I counsel all my children and relatives to be patient and forebearing before the will of God as I, myself, bow my head before His wish and good pleasure.—Hedayatollah Dehqani

During our imprisonment, except for brief periods when we were obliged to test, we have filled our hours with prayers.—Mehdi Anvari

Dear mother, brother and Zhinus, since in our heart we believe in the reality of the

next world and its spiritual nature and confess with all our being to the Will of the Almighty God, then I request of you to abstain, as much as possible, from crying, weeping and moaning.—Hashem Farnush

I beg you not to be perturbed. Rest assured that this has been the Will of God and be pleased with His pleasure and be thankful.—Mohammad Mansuri

Deep down in my heart I feel most happy and serene that all these sufferings and persecutions will only help to bring about the unfailing realization of His lifegiving promise of the triumph of His Cause. This gives me hope, confidence, courage and strength. For all these I am thankful.—Kamran Samimi

Perceptivity and Full Attention. Hypothesis 2b states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that these individuals respond to their situation with perceptivity and full attention. This response appeared ninety-five times, with a 100 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

It is now 11 P.M. We have been transferred from the prison to the court premises. They are about to execute all seven of us. Praised be to God, we are all in the utmost submission to His will and are most content! God willing, we shall have a good ending. I hereby bid farewell to you dear ones and to other members of the family.—Tarazollah Khozeyn

In another hour eight other friends and I will be executed by the firing squad.—Habibollah Tahqiqi

They arrested [me] under the charge of membership in the Assembly of Karaj.—Farhang Mavaddat

It should be understood that our imprisonment was primarily in accordance with the Divine Will. It was destined that we play a minor role in the plan for the proclamation of the Faith of God throughout the world. No other reason for our arrest [Page 21] existed except that we are Bahá’ís.—Hoseyn Khandil

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Jalal ‘Azizi     Bihruz Sanai     Bozorg ‘Alaviyan

---

I know that in another moment I am not here. . . . Pray for the forgiveness of my soul.—Behruz Sanai

In these moments that I’m busy writing this letter, I am in a very good psychological state.—Bozorg ‘Alaviyan

Acceptance and Affiliation. Hypothesis 2c states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that these individuals respond to their suffering with acceptance and affiliative external attitudes (that is, maintaining a position of connection and association with humankind, including people involved in their persecution and death sentence). This response—acceptance and affiliation —appeared eighty-two times, with an 86.3 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

I’m ready for any event that God has endorsed.—Ehsanollah Mehdizadeh

My feelings, dear children, are complete submission and total dedication. Only one thing counts: to do the work that I must do. And what pleasure is hidden in these tasks, this, too, I cannot really describe for you.—Zhinus Mahmudi

In a few hours I will be put before the firing squad together with my spiritual brother, dear Mr. Yadullah Astani. I’m pleased and grateful to everyone. Please pray for the spiritual progress of our souls.—Faramarz Samandari

I pray for those who are judging and taking action against me in this manner, and I hope the truth will come out for all the people.—Hoseyn Motlaq

[Page 22]

If the imprisonment of these wronged ones has caused the proclamation of His Faith, then we hope to be in this prison until the end of our lives.—Yadullah Vahdat

My dearly loved ones, when you see cases like these and when you come across such devoted souls you long for having had a thousand lives to give them in the path of such pure dear souls who are the true manifestations of love, faith, and a new creation.—Kamran Samimi

Tolerance and Love. Hypothesis 2d states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs show that these individuals transformed the fight or flight responses into expressions of tolerance and love. This response —tolerance and love—appeared seventy-eight times with an 82.1 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). Therefore, the Bahá’í martyrs responded with atypical tolerance and love in the midst of persecution and impending execution. The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

I call to mind the poem:

The fire of love is alive

even when Death arrives;

It is a lamp carried from

this house to the other!—Yadullah Vahdat

The flame of love will not be quenched by water and the fire of affection will not be extinguished by storms.—Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh

Words fall short in translating our ecstasy and spiritual experience.—Kamran Samimi

I’m very thankful, and up to now I have been happy.—Farhang Mavaddat

I seek the good pleasure of God and am prepared for martyrdom. I am free of worry.—Yadullah Vahdat

The fire of love cannot be quenched by water nor extinguished by a breeze.—Mehdi Anvari

Certitude and Contentment. Hypothesis 2e states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that these individuals respond with an increased sense of purpose in life, with certitude and contentment of the meaning of their suffering. This response— certitude and contentment—appeared eighty-four times, with an 88.4 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

I want you to know that I lack nothing. There is no sorrow—absolutely no difficulties. I am content, well, fortunate, assured, serene, full of energy, and thankful. Whatever should happen, there could be nothing better.—Zhinus Mahmudi

Every person’s beginning and end are subject to the will of Almighty God, and faith in Him brings solace to the heart and tranquility to the soul and spirit. I feel contented, accepting and disencumbered.—Masih Farhangi

Believe me, I am not disturbed or sad but [Page 23] overwhelmed with inexpressible emotions.—Hedayatollah Dehqani

The impact of the present hardships and persecutions has produced unimaginable and glorious fruits and has helped to discover pure, valiant, devoted, selfless heroes and heroines, gems of human existence, in short it has produced a new creation and has given a second birth.—Kamran Samimi

As time goes by, we realize the greatness of the Cause of God and its teachings more and more. Thanks be to God that I recognized the Divine Cause.—Shidrukh Amir-Kiya Baqa

Reliance on Personal Faith and Belief. Hypothesis 2f states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs show that these individuals respond to their situation with increased reliance on personal faith and belief. This response appeared ninety-three times with a 97.9 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

The means which change this fire [of tribulation] into a rose garden are the rains of reliance on God and the sweet breezes of devotion.—Mehdi Anvari

O God, Thou art aware that I have no other wish than to attain a good end—O God, grant that we may win Thy good pleasure.—Yadullah Vahdat

Personally, I’m not pleased at all that you pray to God for me with such a down feeling and sorrowful approach. I’m not pleased at all. Instead, I request of you that with a heart full of hope, joy, and bliss ask God to assist us during this period, so that we’ll come out victorious from the divine tests. . . . whatever is His Will, we accept and we are pleased with His pleasure.—Eskandar ‘Azizi

Maintain the gem of faith.—Badiollah Farid

Because I consider this episode as only the Will of God, I request of my survivors not to be perturbed by this event and to leave all the matters in His Hand. He doeth what he pleaseth. Always rely on Him.—Manuchehr Farzaneh-Moayyad

We are at His Threshold until such time that the soul will leave the body.—Hashem Farnush

Because the main goal is the progress of the Cause of the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh}, the being or non-being of these servants who are attached to this Great Divine Cause is not important.—Kamran Samimi

Reason and Reaching Beyond Reason (Faith). Hypothesis 2g states that the personal documents of the Bahá’í martyrs reveal that these individuals respond to their situation through reason and by reaching beyond reason to faith in the fulfillment of a noble purpose. This response appeared eighty-nine times with a 93.7 percent rate of occurrence (see Table 2). The following are some examples of the data that support this hypothesis:

[Page 24]

It was His Will, and I saw the mystery of sacrifice with my inner eyes.—Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh

The confirmation of the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] has been tangible. One cannot simply comprehend what power brings this transformation and transmutes the very essence of the individuals.—Kamran Samimi

All these events are for the purpose of the progress of the Cause and the advancement of this blessed Faith.—Shiva Mahmudi Asadollahzadeh

Additional Findings

ADDITIONAL findings revealed that out of ninety-five documents there were seven documents (7.4 percent) written by three individuals who, at the time of writing, did not convey a fully unconventional internalized belief system and a resolute response. Instead of the frequently found congruous response to a belief system, these few documents communicated a lack of harmony between belief and response when the individuals were first persecuted and while they underwent a period of transition, shock, preparation, and adjustment.

Overall, the three authors wrote fourteen documents, seven of which fall into the category of additional findings. One of them wrote two documents. There was a considerable change in response between this author’s first and second communications (his will). The last document contained a more welcoming response to martyrdom. The second author wrote eight letters. The first three indicated a lack of internalization of expected beliefs; the following five communications expressed a gradual change in response that appeared to be more receptive to the proximate execution. The third martyr wrote four letters; three of these communications revealed the author’s questioning of his plight. The last available letter showed a more compatible relationship between the response to death and the commitment to an unconventionally positive belief system.

Conclusion

THE theory of martyrdom emerging from the study of ninety-five documents of Bahá’í martyrs in Iran between 1979 and 1982 affirms that the Bahá’í martyrs’ beliefs and responses in the face of persecution and imminent execution were of an atypical nature and unconventionally positive. The beliefs characterized by uniqueness, responsibility, self-affirmation, transcendence, courage, faith-commitment, and world view sustained and transformed the Bahá’í martyrs’ existence in the presence of severe social stressors. These beliefs, in the light of an inner spiritual reality, created a tolerance for suffering that went far beyond the psychological formulations of defenses, reaction formations, compensatory mechanisms, and adaptation. The martyrs did not respond to suffering with grievous expressions and psychological disturbances but acknowledged it with forbearance. Without losing their perceptivity and full attention of the events, they accepted their fate and continued to manifest affiliative expressions with the external world. They revealed tolerance and love within their predicament. They expressed certitude and contentment regarding their personal choice of sacrifice. They relied on personal faith and belief in the fulfillment of a noble purpose. Indeed, they became a “new creation”; at the core of their being, a psychospiritual dynamic transformation led them to transcend a painful reality and reach their ultimate and most cherished purpose in life—namely, finding true liberty in submission to the Will of God. These words of T. S. Eliot constitute a highly appropriate conclusion:

[Page 25]

a martyrdom is never the design of men; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom.

---

Prayer

(after W. S. Merwin)

It is too easy

to turn in the city

silent as time

believing in how we might

love one another

but if there is a land

where the people know

they are one blood

where the one dream

brings the whole nation

to its knees

may it be

my country

—Timothy S. Seibles

Copyright © 1989 by Timothy S. Seibles

[Page 26]

[Page 27]

Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh
(1954-83)

BY SIMIN MOGHIMI KHAVARI
TRANSLATED BY CARELLE L. AND MAHMOOD KARIMIMANESH

Introduction

ON the night of 18 June 1983 in Shiraz, Iran, following the execution two days earlier of six Bahá’í men ranging in age from twenty-three to sixty, the Bahá’ís suffered another blow. During the evening ten Bahá’í women who had been imprisoned for the “crime” of fostering activities in the Bahá’í community, including the education of youth, were allowed to see their families, as was customary.

What the families did not know was that time had run out. The ten women had been warned, following long interrogations, that they would be subjected to four sessions intended to compel them to recant their faith in Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, and to accept Islam. If by the fourth session they had not signed prepared statements recanting their faith, they would be killed. By 18 June all ten women had refused four times to deny their faith. Hence, following the visiting hours that evening the ten women, including three teenagers, were taken from the visiting room to the prison’s courtyard and hanged.

The Islamic officials made no public announcement of the hangings, nor did they give formal notices to the victims’ families or allow the families to receive the bodies for burial. The ten women included

• Mrs. Nosrat Yaldai, a fifty-four-year-old mother, whose son had been hanged on 16 June.
• Mrs. Ezzat Janami Eshraqi, a fifty-year-old woman, whose husband had been hanged on 16 June.
• Miss Roya Eshraqi, a young woman in her early twenties and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eshraqi.
• Mrs. Tahereh Siyavushi, the thirty-two-year-old wife of one of the men hanged on 16 June.
• Miss Mona Mahmudnezhad, eighteen years old, whose father had been executed on 12 March.
• Miss Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh, twenty-eight years old.
• Miss Shirin Dalvand, a young woman in her early twenties.
• Miss Akhtar Sabet, nineteen years old.
• Miss Simin Saberi, another young woman in her early twenties.
• Miss Mahshid Nirumand, eighteen years old.

In our Winter 1983-84 issue, pages 25-29, we published short accounts of [Page 28] the imprisonment and interrogation of several of the ten women, as a part of the 1984 testimony on the increasingly insidious persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran given to the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives.

Below we publish an account of the life of one of the ten women—Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh. Her character and her devotion to the Bahá’í Faith, like those of all who have given their lives for their faith, indict her executioners and challenge others to continue to work for a world in which one is free to choose and practice his or her religion or belief.

THE EDITORS

Copyright © 1989 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States.

ZARRIN Moqimi Abyaneh was born on the first day of autumn in 1954. Her mother, who was not expecting the baby to be born for some time, had decided to make a short visit to Abyaneh, Iran, her own birthplace. By chance Zarrin was delivered in Abyaneh with the help of a blind midwife. Her father, who had just returned from a trip and had not heard whether the new baby was a boy or a girl, asked the women who had come to help the new mother, “Where is my Zarrin?” And so the new child was named. Fifteen days later Zarrin and her parents returned to their home in Tehran.

Abyaneh is a beautiful mountain village between Isfahan and Kashan; Zarrin’s love for her birthplace was full and unlimited. From the inception of the Bábí and later the Bahá’í faiths, followers have lived in this village. Zarrin’s grandfather, Mohammad Moqimi, had become a Bahá’í in Abyaneh. Zarrin was the third and last child of Hoseyn Moqimi Abyaneh and Ummehani Moqimi Abyaneh (née Salehi).

Zarrin lived the first twenty-one years of her life in Tehran, until she received her bachelor’s degree with honors in English literature from Tehran University. Then she moved to Shiraz, the city of the Báb, the Prophet-Forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith, because her father was supervising the renovation of the Báb’s home and its surrounding buildings. She lived in Shiraz until 18 June 1983, when she was executed.

One of Zarrin’s college friends who is a Christian wrote after Zarrin’s martyrdom that “The only solace for her friends and loved ones is this—to remember that dear Zarrin was devoted in her faith to God and that she attained [Page 29] her lifelong goal, which was a consuming pursuit and desire throughout her short life’s journey.”

From the age of five, Zarrin would stand on a chair at Bahá’í meetings and recite in an clear, expressive voice portions of the Bahá’í writings and poems about the Bahá’í Faith. In her youth she showed her love for the Faith in many ways. One Friday, when Zarrin was about twelve years old, her parents suggested that an exception be made to her attending Bahá’í school, for there had been a heavy snowfall, the roads were closed, no public transportation was available, and the location for the class was far distant.

Zarrin began to cry, saying, “If because of snow I fail to attend Bahá’í school, then how could I be able in the future to serve the Faith?” Compelled by this reasoning, her mother relented and walked with Zarrin to the Bahá’í class. Another time, when Zarrin refused to attend a dance a group of her friends [Page 30] labeled her “fanatic” and called her “mulla” (a Muslim priest). When her sister became upset by this, Zarrin said to her, “Do you know that, according to Rúḥíyyih Khánum, living the commandments of Bahá’u’lláh in this time is exactly like swimming against the current of a river, because the standard of life has changed and human beings have become confused about what is good and what is bad. Thus we must fortify and prepare ourselves.”

Zarrin was very interested in reading and would frequently read until midnight. She was the valedictorian of her high school and consistently achieved superior scores on her college exams. She had committed to memory the entire Kitáb-i-Aqdas. She had a Qur’án the margins of which she had annotated with the meanings of the Arabic phrases. Her heart was pure and innocent; her writings attest to the fact that she was enamored, indeed enthralled, with the Bahá’í Faith. When she was fifteen, she became a Bahá’í school teacher and expressed boundless interest in the stories of those who had been killed for their belief in the Bahá’í Faith. She always taught her students about the lives of such victims. After the executions of Mr. Mehdi Anvari and Mr. Hidayatullah Dehqani in Shiraz in March 1981, Zarrin wrote: “O My God! How can I believe? I only heard of sacrifice from Nabíl’s Narrative. I imagined I must go through the history of 137 years until I could realize the full meaning of self-sacrifice. Unexpectedly it was willed for me: the mystery of absolute consecration was revealed to my heart. Believe me—with my own eyes I beheld the Abhá Kingdom, and there the nearby angels were sprinkling flowers on those bodies so that this area of the celestial garden became the envy of Paradise. The divine musicians were playing the heavenly harps, and the souls of the martyrs sang out in glorious harmony. The messenger-angel of the Invisible World proclaimed, ‘By My beauty! To tinge thy hair with thy blood is greater in My sight than the creation of the universe and the light of both worlds.’”

Zarrin was infinitely kind, dedicated, and merciful. She expressed overflowing courtesy and humility and always spoke gently. One day when her family went to a meeting, Zarrin remained home so her grandmother would not be left alone.

When Zarrin was probably about fifteen, her sister accidentally saw an entry [Page 31] in Zarrin’s journal in which she had described her family as her own treasure chest. Her mother, sister, and brother she had characterized as the gems in her treasure chest, for which she was most grateful. She had written that “if human beings had been allowed to select their own parents, how and where could I have found such a father? Even if I had found him, if justice would be done, I could never have deserved such a father.” Then she had explained that her father was both a poet and a sculptor.

There was a wondrous love between Zarrin and her father. For long hours they would sit together and talk—mostly about early prominent Bábís and Bahá’ís and the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Even though Zarrin strove to maintain the simplest possible life-style and paid no attention to the outward appearances of life, still she was terrified that somehow, suddenly, she might become entangled in materialism. Once her sister wrote from England, saying, “You have no idea how much people here, especially children, spend their time in front of the television.” In reply Zarrin wrote,

Conversely to what you have there, we, fortunately, are free of the evils of television. Of course, moderation should be practiced in everything. Here whenever we begin to develop desires of material possessions, some situation occurs that unsettles us and reminds us that we are still living in the epoch of martyrdom; at that moment we beseech Bahá’u’lláh to endow us with steadfastness along with our tests that we may withstand them with dignity.

When Zarrin was studying at Tehran University, she was also intent on studying the Bahá’í writings. Hence she enrolled in and completed Dr. Riaz Ghadimi’s four-year, advanced-study course entitled “Expansion and Magnification of Bahá’í Knowledge.” As soon as she finished her academic degree, she wanted to go pioneering. Her all-consuming wish was to be able to return to her own birthplace, Abyaneh, and teach in the elementary and high schools. Although most of the villagers favored her plan, the government under the Shah’s reign rejected her application because she was a Bahá’í. She could have found work in Tehran; but, compelled by her desire to pioneer, she went to Shiraz, where her father worked and where she found work as a translator, bookkeeper, and secretary in the Marvdasht Petrochemical Plant.

Yet she still desired to pioneer. Her Bahá’í teacher, Dr. Ghadimi, gave her a gift that he instructed her to open when she arrived at her pioneering post. This gift, even now after her martyrdom, lies unopened on the mantel of her parents’ home. Zarrin had written Dr. Ghadimi, saying,

I know I am one of those faithless students who could never, ever, be worthy of attending your classes—you, the peerless teacher who has taught countless great individuals in our Bahá’í community. It was purely the mercy of Bahá’u’lláh that I, such an undeserving creature, was allowed to learn from your superlative wisdom. . . . I have promised myself that I would write [Page 32] you a letter whenever I had achieved at least some service that was suitable return for all the burdens you have carried to prepare us to serve the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. I think that your precious time should be spent in writing letters to the beloved pioneers who have put aside everything and in teaching those who in the future will pursue such a path. But what shall I do? However long I have waited, that day has not arrived on which I could write you with honor. . . . thus, it has been nearly five years in which I have not written to you.

For two years Zarrin was troubled by her failure to serve the Cause by the standards she had set for herself. Night after night she would pray and weep until finally she had a vision, which she described in this way:

I dreamed that Bahá’u’lláh . . . came to the blessed house of the Báb [in Shiraz], and all the friends in the lane were coming to visit. I also went, but I had not the courage to enter. I stood at the door of the house of the Báb. I saw Bahá’u’lláh and the friends approaching him one by one and then leaving. Then there was no one else, and I was still standing at the door. I saw that Bahá’u’lláh stood up and began to mount the stairs to the room of the Báb. In my heart I said, “O my God! Woe is me! Even now there was an opportunity to meet Him, but I was unworthy.” Suddenly Bahá’u’lláh turned His beautiful face and said, “Come in.” I entered and attained His Presence. He embraced me; He laid my head on His blessed chest; then He held my head and asked, “Why are you so upset? You will finally achieve that which you desire.”

After this dream Zarrin found some peace in her heart.

Since her father was supervising and working on the restoration of the house of the Báb and surrounding buildings belonging to the Faith, the family took up residence in house number 24, which is at the beginning of the lane on which the house of the Báb stood. Zarrin cherished Shiraz itself and that beloved, historical lane. Whenever she went to Tehran, she was always impatient to return to Shiraz. In April 1981 when Sattar Koshkhu, Colonel Yadullah Vahdat, and Ehsanullah Mehdizadeh were martyred, Zarrin had gone to Tehran. When she heard the news, she immediately purchased a return ticket and went back to Shiraz. She always said that Shiraz was a better place for her spiritually.

In 1979, when workers from the government began to demolish the house of the Báb, Zarrin was an attentive observer of each brick and pane; she talked with the men destroying this spiritually and artistically significant edifice. In a letter she described the razing of the house of the Báb:

They have completed a great deal of destruction in this lane. . . . one cannot even imagine that previously there was a roof there or that this was a narrow lane. . . . While I am writing you this letter, the sound of the ravaging bulldozer assaults my ears and my soul . . . of the familiar old lane nothing now remains—of the face of that house only a mound of dust, the opened space, and the half-wrecked walls. What unimaginable feeling overwhelms me. A few nights ago as I was passing the rubble, it occurred to me that even in the rocks and dust here the fragrance of Love lingers. As I stand and look at the ruins, every view of the scene portrays the grandeur of the [Page 33] Báb. What did this Siyyid of Shiraz have that they are so terrorized by even the dust of His threshold, that they hasten to obliterate every trace of Him.? . . . Many have come to watch the destruction. Each of us feels that we have returned to the beginning history of our Faith. . . . you are missing much by not being here to witness this. . . .

At another time Zarrin wrote,

Of course this is certainly the Will of God that this must come to pass. We must only strengthen our determination and be steadfast in prayer at the threshold of God as there is no other way. We must supplicate the Ancient Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] that we may have the steadfastness and ability to live through this period of history and that we may pass these tests honorably. What prayer meetings we are having!

When Zarrin’s sister wrote that she had visited the resting place of Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh and the Guardian of the Cause of God, and there prayed for the Bahá’í friends in Iran, Zarrin replied:

You had written that you had visited the grave of the Guardian. . . . how fortunate you are. . . . we here are the observers of the ruins of the lane of our Beloved. This morning when I went out with Father, we walked on a steep pathway, through the area where the house of the Báb had stood, to the dirt road. I stepped on a piece of rock to which some tile adhered, Suddenly Father said, “Do you know that your foot has stepped on a part of the hallway of the house of the Báb? The place that pilgrims have washed with their tears now lies under our muddy boots. In this way we have learned the lessons of true generosity: they [the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh] have left their homes to their enemies so that we may not concentrate on our possessions and physical life; and the Báb subjected His chest to those moments of mortal peril that the martyrs might learn how to sacrifice their lives.”

When the authorities began to demolish the house of the Báb, they spared the house in which Zarrin and her parents where living because it was not in their plan, but the Moqimis were, nevertheless, in great distress. Of course, it would have been possible for them to leave and move to their home in Tehran, but the Local Spiritual Assembly at Shiraz had encouraged the Bahá’ís not to vacate their residences for as long as it was possible to remain. They stayed like sentries at their posts, even though the government decreed that water and electricity should be disconnected from their home, and a large number of Shiraz gypsies who had been living in the caravansary up the street poured into the house and occupied the basement rooms and some of the upstairs [Page 34] rooms. Zarrin and her parents lived in two rooms. Among these gypsy intruders were an addict and a deranged young man. Each day these two would steal something from the house to sell to support their habits. As soon as these gypsies occupied the house, the Moqimis began to look for another place to live, but each time they found a place, difficulties arose to postpone their moving. Thus it was the Will of God that they remained. Zarrin wrote of these days of hardship:

The situation of water and electricity is the same. Every other day we get water. They have made a hole in the basement wall that adjoins the neighbor’s house, and another hole in the neighbor’s wall that adjoins another house that is next to the faucet. They have passed a hose through these holes. When it is our turn for water, Mother awakens at 4 A.M., lights a lantern, and goes down to the basement where she signals by moving the lantern back and forth near the hole. The neighbors then recognize that we are waiting for water, and they pass the hose to our house. The early morning hours are best for better water pressure. These are exceptional days. Even if they are difficult days, I think these are the most valuable days of our lives. We only entreat Bahá’u’lláh to give us steadfastness. For example, sometimes the gypsy children defecate in the corner of our courtyard, and it smells quite foul. I became very upset. Then suddenly I remembered that Bahá’u’lláh has written, “The air we breathed was laden with the foulest impurities, while the floor [of the prison] on which we sat was covered with filth and infested with vermin. No ray of light was allowed to penetrate that pestilential dungeon or to warm its icy-coldness.”

In another letter Zarrin wrote:

Our invading neighbors are still living here. They thought that when they encroached on our home we would pack up and leave since they themselves knew that living with them would be very difficult for us. Now they are most amazed that seven months have passed and we have remained.

Some time after the Islamic Revolution Zarrin, like other Bahá’ís, was dismissed from her job because of her religion. In one letter she wrote: “now they ate soaking us like dirty clothes so that later they can easily purge the dirt from their midst. . . .” In another letter she described the circumstances of her dismissal:

They have cleaned their office now by firing me, but my discharge was interesting. There were eight Bahá’ís in our office, and they called each of us in separately so that they would obtain confessions from our own mouths that we are Bahá’í; then they would urge us to convert. Each of us eight, with perfect heroism, reaffirmed our declaration of belief in Bahá’u’lláh. None recanted, and this example was broadcast thmughout the office. I was the last one to be called. I spoke for almost twenty minutes with the personnel manager to prove our Blessed Cause [the Bahá’í Faith]. During the discussion our voices were raised, and the people in the adjacent rooms overheard us. The next day when I went to the office, one of my co-workers [Page 35] said, “I heard yesterday that you were reciting verses of the Qur’án,” even though I had not spoken to anyone about this incident. Ultimately this explanation of the Word of God became a unique form of teaching. The day I received my dismissal papers and thus wished to bid farewell to my colleagues, all were saddened, and the women wept. One of the ladies wailed so that I could not quiet her. One of the managers who had several Bahá’ís working under him said, “To outward appearances you are leaving, but in our hearts you will always remain.” Another said while shaking my hand, “From the bottom of my heart I worship the braveness of your character.” It was a marvelous day, since, by the events of that occasion, I felt that I received the recompense for all the time I had worked. In any case, I had never seen anyone get fired with such glory.

Some time later Zarrin wrote that she was unemployed and was not even looking for a job. Even if they had offered her own former position, she would not return because she was so involved with the work of the Bahá’í Faith.

After Zarrin was killed, when the head of her office heard the news, in lamentation he struck his head with both hands, and all the other people working in the offices and factory froze in grief. The driver of the bus service on Zarrin’s route heard the news while on duty. He also reacted by hitting his head with both hands and saying, “O God! Why must I see such an angel, and why should she have been on my route? That now I must writhe with the agony of her martyrdom! How could it be believable? The entire office is now mourning!”

From the beginning of the executions of the Bahá’ís, Zarrin died and was revived with each one who died. Her sister has written that she remembers that, when Zarrin heard the news of the death of Colonel Azamatullah Fahandezh on the television in 1978, it was at lunch time; Zarrin got up from the table, crawled behind the sofa, and started to cry from the depth of her heart. In a letter to Dr. Ghadimi she wrote about the Bahá’í victims:

Dear doctor, the clarion bells of martyrdom strike one after another! I remember, during those days of your guiding words, when everyone was asleep, you used to sing the song of vigil, and we would not wake up. Now Bahá’u’lláh has decided to awaken this sleeping caravan. He is sounding hard and loud the bells of martyrdom. I feel that what I have learned so far has been in the form of letters and words; now I understand its meaning; only now I begin to understand the meaning of history! I feel I should renew my faith! Oh! How can I visualize that our esteemed teacher Mr. [Hashem] Farnush is now a teacher of the angels? . . . What a strange tumult! On the one hand the fire and anguish of separation and on the other the courage and glory of sacrifice. On the one hand the memory of those luminous faces set the heart on fire, and on the other the sight of their loving sacrifice creates wonderment in the mind. Methinks the apostolic age has been renewed, and the heroes of Nabíl’s Narrative resound the call of, ‘Is there any beholder [Page 36] to behold Me?’ in the ears of people made unconscious by the wine of negligence! I never thought I would see such events in my life! . . .

In the minutes of the meetings of the Youth Committee after the executions of Dr. Anvari and Mr. Dehqani, Zarrin wrote:

If to the end of our life we thank Bahá’u’lláh and if every cell in our body turns into gratitude, we would never be able to thank Him as it is worthy of the blessing bestowed upon us these days. We insignificant atoms, we tiny earthly creatures, we birds with our wings bogged in the clay of fancies and imaginings, how did we deserve the bounty of Bahá’u’lláh’s showing us a corner of the greatest event in history? It seems that the heralds of the Kingdom are holding our hands to pull us out of the entanglement of administrative duties, which we consider service, and whisper in our ears, “Behold the grandeur of Bahá’u’lláh, see the true service, the steadfastness, the bravery, and finally, the martyrdom!” . . .

She continued:

The 88th session of the Youth Committee did not come to an end; nay rather its end was a beginning for the young generation who had heard of the greatness of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh but had not seen it, who had read about the Divine Epic, but had not touched it. It was a beginning for future generations to read about the martyrs of Shiraz, Anvari and Dehqani, and discover that no water will quench the fire of His Love and no hurricane will extinguish its flame. So that they may hear from the dwellings of nearness the celestial voice of the martyrs of Shiraz addressing their Beloved,

Such a tender true love as you,

Must have a compassionate consort like me,

To enlighten the world with beauty,

You first must encircle it with the flame of love.

Zarrin displayed great courage. She was ready anywhere to defend the Faith and to prove its truth. When she was arrested, she documented the veracity of the Bahá’í Faith in the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz, in a clear, full voice and using powerful language. When she was still a university student in Tehran, she showed unparalleled resoluteness. She and her father attended a meeting with some eighty Moslem zealots. Although she was the only woman present, she demonstrated the authenticity of the Bahá’í Faith through passages from the Qur’án with decisive reasoning. One of the fanatics was so incensed that this girl, a mere student, was speaking, that he stormed out of the meeting. However, his departure had a positive effect on the rest of the people at the meeting.

Zarrin was fascinated by the life story of Martha Root. When she was [Page 37] interviewed for an article in Áhang-i-Badí‘, (The Song of Badí‘, a monthly Bahá’í magazine), they asked her, “Who of the prominent Bahá’ís of the past would you wish to be?” She answered, “Miss Martha Root, because she never missed a minute to teach the Beloved Cause” One day Zarrin and her sister were wondering about life during the Golden Age of the Bahá’í Faith, and Zarrin said. “I never want to live in that time because everything will have been accomplished then. We won’t have the possibilities for teaching and service at that time.”

Not long before her death Zarrin was selected as an assistant for other Bahá’ís, and she visited those who were imprisoned. At the same time she was teaching three different classes. She was a member of the Youth Committee and the Publication Committee. She described her visit with one of the Bahá’í prisoners in this way:

You have no idea what kind of world that prison is. When a person enters the prison, he feels how worthless the world is. One imagines that this prison is close to the Abhá Kingdom, very close, in that from the faces of the prisoners such a glow radiates that it seems they are looking at us from another world—a world where the value of material things has disintegrated. I spoke with one of the prisoners who said to me, “Zarrin, did you realize that I have achieved my desire?” The prisoner’s eyes shone. In the presence of the grandeur of this soul, I felt debased and worthless; these unknown heroes are carrying the banner of the Faith on their shoulders, and we are merely the spectators. Observing the valor of these souls gave me an astounding feeling that I cannot describe. . . .

Even with encouragement from her parents, Zarrin did not wish to marry because she thought that at this time she could not pay attention to anything other than the Cause. One day her sister suggested to her that, since she still had time and opportunity, she should leave Iran. She answered, “Why are you talking like that? Don’t you realize that the time is short? And the people few? And the work too much? Whatever happens to the other Bahá’ís will happen to me. My blood is surely no thicker than theirs, I shall never leave Iran.” In a letter she wrote:

These days my work load is heavy with meetings, the work that must be finished, and the Bahá’í study classes I am teaching. Occasionally it overcomes me. For now the situation is unique for service, and the hands are few to help. This is a most sensitive period. In any case, I hope that Bahá’u’lláh assists us to follow His Path. . . .

She continued:

But now we are having mysterious days. I mean regarding the house of the Báb. During this predicament we have been teaching the Word constantly. [Page 38] All of this is the Will of God and the glorification of the Cause. Actually it has always been thus; opponents are the catalysts for the most effective proclamation of the Truth.

In December 1982, Zarrin, along with her parents and several other innocent Bahá’ís, was imprisoned for her beliefs. At twelve midnight the Revolutionary Guard poured into the Moqimis’ home, captured them, and led them to prison. After four months Zarrin’s mother was freed, but some time later the Guard returned. While she was fasting and preparing to visit her husband in prison, they threw her possessions into the street. Zarrin’s mother wrote her daughter in England: “Father and Zarrin are in good spirits. I do not know why, whenever I visit Zarrin, she says to me, ‘Mother, do not be hopeful. Wash your hands of me. Prepare yourself.’”

One of Zarrin’s court hearings lasted some eleven hours, during which time she was always blindfolded. Her mother, who was still in prison, became so distraught by the lengthiness of Zarrin’s absence that she fainted. When she awakened, she saw Zarrin standing over her.

One friend, after being freed, wrote the following description of one of Zarrin’s trials:

Zarrin, throughout the series of interrogations and trials, testified with infinite strength and courage. She confessed her belief in the truth of the religions of the past as well as her belief in Bahá’u’lláh, the New Manifestation, and His Cause. During these trials, the knowledge and scholarliness she displayed were so comprehensive that the judges were intimidated because of their own inadequacies.

Zarrin herself wrote that

The trials have continued for hours and days. One day, as usual, they blindfolded me and led me to the courtroom for interrogation again. Unlike other days when I wrote my answers to the interrogations, on this day the questions and answers were oral and focused on the proof of my creed. I answered each question using appropriate documentation from Bahá’í writings and also from the Qur’án. Suddenly, after some time, the chief judge said, “If any of you have any questions, present them now. I myself have become impotent. Now, how do you respond to this mere female? She is confessing that she is a Bahá’í and, in accordance with the specifications in the Qur’án, she states that the Qá’im has appeared. Any of you who has a question or is able to give an answer, give it to her.” Without any questions being tendered, I heard them abruptly get up from their chairs, and then I heard their footsteps leaving the room.

To the judge Who was in charge of my interrogation I said, “Your honor, you have blindfolded me. I do not know what is going on here. Indeed, how many people were here?”

The judge answered, “I have examined you often. Because of your bravery and knowledge I have discussed your case with other judges. They did not believe me. I wanted them to see for themselves in order that they decide [Page 39] your case.” Then the judge asked me, “In your opinion, what do you think will be our decision?”

I answered, “Ultimately, execution. Even so, I have preferred to discuss only the truth with you. Whatever I am aware of, I am imparting to you, so that in the next world, in the Court of Divine justice, I shall not be guilty.”

Later, when they tried to persuade her to recant, as is customary, the judge exclaimed, “Recant or execution!”

Zarrin answered, “I have found the way of Truth and God, and I am unwilling to betray it at any price. Therefore, I kiss the order of the judge.”

In the same manner they had asked Zarrin during another session, “How far are you willing to stand by your belief—even to execution?”

Without hesitation Zarrin responded, “I hope that I shall endure in my belief until the last moment.”

The judge then repeated the demand that she abandon her belief. Repetition of this question became exasperating for Zarrin, and she replied, “Your honor, thus far you have examined me for many days. I have given you decisive and sufficient answers. I think that to repeat that question further is not necessary.” But the judge importunately pressed her. Zarrin began to weep loudly, saying, “With what kind of language should I respond to you so that you will leave me be? My being is Bahá’u’lláh; my love is Bahá’u’lláh; my heart belongs to Bahá’u’lláh!”

The judge was angered and threatened, “I will wrench your heart from your chest!”

Zarrin replied, “Still that heart will chant, Bahá’u’lláh! Bahá’u’lláh!”

The judge became upset and left the room. When he returned, he saw that Zarrin was still crying; he said to her, “Lady, we are human beings; we have feelings.”

Zarrin answered, “With what language shall I tell you? Hours and days I have responded with complete answers. Is it possible to disregard true reality?”

Zarrin had become known to the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz as a prominent propagator of the Bahá’í religion; she was unafraid of any peril. She realized that she was willing to take the ultimate risk. Truly she did not lose her life; she won eternal life.

Another friend who had been Zarrin’s cellmate, wrote Zarrin’s sister when she was released from prison:

One night Zarrin and I walked the corridor of Adelabad Prison. We were discussing the interrogations for about two hours. At the end of our talk Zarrin turned toward me and, with deep remorse, said, “Does this mean that such failure will stay with me the length of my life—that I have been unable to teach even one soul? Does the Blessed Beauty not find me even worthy enough to bestow this bounty of teaching?” I heard that Zarrin was granted her wish during the memorial meeting for her held in Brighton, England, where one person declared his belief in Bahá’u’lláh. In any case, from the blessings of this pure sacrifice of Zarrin and other martyrs, thousands and thousands of souls are becoming spiritually reanimated.

Zarrin had a white scarf that she had washed and prepared in the prison [Page 40] to wear if they wanted to martyr her. Unfortunately, on 18 June 1983, the day of her martyrdom, after visiting with their families, those who were to be killed were not taken back to their cells. From the visiting room the guards led the prisoners directly to the courtyard of their martyrdom. Zarrin, after nearly eight months of difficult and oppressive imprisonment, went to welcome death along with her friends—all singing hymns.

Another close friend of Zarrin’s wrote when she was freed:

She herself would always know that in the hearts of all—especially friends and family—she would have an elevated and esteemed place. Actually, by her conduct in life and her behavior she is worthy of this message of Bahá’u’lláh: “A true man appeareth even as a firmament; its sun and moon are his sight and hearing, and his shining and resplendent character its stars. His is the loftiest station, and his influence educateth the world of being.”

What Zarrin had said of other martyrs is now true of her: “Not only are my pen and my tongue weak and unable, but even words are too insignificant to describe the grandeur of these events.”

Zarrin’s mother, after Zarrin’s death, told her daughter in England:

Saturday, 18 June, as usual, I went to visit Zarrin. I had prepared some cool fruit and took it with me. It was so hot that the sun seemed to be raining fire. When visiting time began, they brought Zarrin to her place behind the security glass. While we were talking, we both became drenched in sweat from the intense heat. Zarrin’s face was not the same as always. She told me, “Dear Mother, pray and beseech God for steadfastness.” But then, because she could not bear to see me upset, she did not say good-bye. Since Zarrin was always telling me not to hope for her freedom, it never occurred to me that these prisoners had been taken to recant for the last time or that it was really the intention of the court to execute them.

The visit ended, and I came home. The next morning, early in the morning, I heard that directly after visiting hours had ended the night before, ten of the women prisoners had been hanged. In desperation I reached the home of one of the Bahá’í friends to see if they knew the names of those hanged. They did not know. I ran out of the house to go somewhere else to find out. In the middle of the lane I saw three Bahá’í friends crying. They knew. One took a list from his pocket. At that moment I realized that Zarrin had been martyred. Moaning and wailing, I ran toward Adelabad Prison, which for the last eight months had been the focus of my life. They gave me permission to go to the morgue. I never thought, after seeing the scene on that day or being part of that moment of history, that I could continue living. That day was such a day for me, and I saw such sights—all are indescribable. That hour, that moment, that scene—I can never portray any of this the way it should be done. I entered the morgue. O my God! Ten angels were sleeping next to each other. All of them were well [Page 41] known to me. I had been their cellmate. Mother and daughter lay side by side. All of them were summer-weight chintz pants and shirts. Some of them still had their chadors [veil-like coverings] tied around their waists; some of the chadors had fallen to the floor. I do not know with what power I still stood on my feet. I looked at each angel individually. Zarrin’s face looked very natural and calm as if this time she was content to have rendered “a service.” I embraced her cold, icy body. I touched my cheek to her cold, delicate cheek. On behalf of all of you I kissed the mark of the noose around her tender, gentle neck. Her face was completely natural and calm. Zarrin had said to her friend in prison, “Tell everyone that no one should wear black on my behalf, nor cry loudly. Only my mother, since I know she cannot forbear, may cry a little.”

And indeed, there was no reason for sadness or tears, for as Bahá’u’lláh had told Zarrin in her dream, she had finally achieved that which she desired.

[Page 42]

Out of the Siyah-Chal

Out of a wretched prison

Carved in the earth has risen

The Sun of God, as once before it rose

Within a stall one winter night,

Beneath the bodhi’s shade, and in a cave

To wake the world out of its grave

And to disclose

Creation re-created by new light.

Each day and every season has its sun:

The gentle rays of spring

Are not the summer’s vivid light; and none

May cling

And hold it still

To force it stay beyond its time and season,

Thinking their reasons greater than God’s Reason,

Their willfulness more potent than His Will.

Calling dusk, ‘dawn’s light’

And dawn, ‘the darkest night’

They sow confusion

From their delusion

Of rightness greater than God’s Right.

Their darkened eyes turn God’s

Words into vicious rods

To bludgeon hearts and minds into dull clods

And beat the spirit down from upward flight.

They damn all human life

To endless, fruitless strife:

Nation slaughters nation

Man wars on woman, generation

Fights generation;

Faith turns on faith, and reason

Says faith is treason

Against the mind.

O God!

The dead and blind war darkly with the blind

And dead, upon the edge of an abyss—

All this

Is ended; for the earth

There is renewal and rebirth

In Siyah-Chal’s foul dungeons, in a cage

Wrecked from the rock, a filthy vermin’s lair,

Deep in a pit of darkness and despair

The world's reborn

Although the world is unaware!

[Page 43]

Into the dark

The jailers flung a living spark

To make it die.

But as they slept in foolishness, there came

The Maid of Heaven with her hands of flame

And touched His head,

And to the worlds and stars she cried

“Behold, God’s new-born Sun!

A new age has begun!”

And from Him rushed a tide,

An endless sea of God’s eternal fire

Rising higher, higher, higher

And in the twinkling of an eye

Swept off the long-dead earth

And the dead sky.

A fiery sea

Of strength burst free—

A flood

of living flame

To kindle new life in the ashes and blood

Of the world, and engulf the shame

Of man-made darkness, chains and cells

To free us from our self-made graves and hells

And to proclaim

Earth’s re-created soul

From pole to pole.

Out of the gruesome dark

Of the hell of the Siyah-Chal

Bahá’u’lláh sails the Crimson Ark

On the infinite swell

Of God’s ocean of light; and he steers

To the new Ararat, where the journey shall end

With the Most Great Peace

And a new mankind;

Where old horrors and fears

And wars shall cease

And the dead will rise from their sleep and the blind

Will be given new sight,

And all of mankind will be joined as one

And dressed in raiments of light.

—Ian Kluge

Copyright © 1989 by Ian Kluge

[Page 44]

[Page 45]

Opposite page: Self-portrait by Mark Tobey

---

Mark Tobey and the “Two Powers”

BY JULIE OEMING BADIEE

Copyright © 1989 by Julie Oeming Badiee.

MARK TOBEY is best known to the twentieth century as a painter of great originality who occupies a special place in modern art. Born in 1890 in Centerville, Wisconsin, Tobey’s career spanned the period in which American art moved from a rather timid provinciality to a position of world dominance. Tobey began his career as a commercial artist in New York about 1912, but he preferred to live and work in Europe or in the American Northwest. During the 1930s Tobey was a visiting artist at Dartington Hall, a progressive school for the arts in Devonshire, England; he also taught at the Cornish School in Seattle. Tobey is often acknowledged as the foremost painter of the “Northwest School,” a group including Morris Graves and Kenneth Callahan, centered around Seattle that explored mystic themes and was particularly interested in uniting Eastern and Western modes of expression. Tobey is best known for his “white writing,” an energetic derivation of the techniques of Eastern calligraphy, including Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese forms. Critical events in the development of Tobey’s style include his acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith about 1918 and a stay in a Zen monastery in Japan in 1934. Tobey’s career reached a high point in Europe in 1958 when he was awarded First Place at the Venice Biennale, the first American painter since Whistler to win such an award. He was also invited to give a retrospective of his work at the Musée des arts décoratifs at the Louvre, an honor never before given a living American artist.

Tobey was recognized and appreciated in Europe to a greater degree than he was in the United States. His delicate, small-sized paintings with their sometimes overt religious imagery ran against the tide of the huge heroic murals of the Abstract Expressionists that dominated the New York School of Abstract Expressionists in the 1950s. In 1962, in a belated recognition of his importance, Tobey was given a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and in 1974 his paintings were the subject of a large show at the National Collection of Fine Arts at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. After his death in 1976 Tobey’s paintings continued to be recognized as in a recent exhibit of his “City Paintings” in the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in 1984 and a growing number of publications analyzing his art.

Although Tobey’s contribution to modern art is now widely recognized, and his paintings are routinely included in surveys of the great masters of the twentieth century, Tobey had a second life commitment beyond that [Page 46] of art, one which was of equal importance to him. For fifty-eight years his association with the Bahá’í Faith sustained and nourished his spirit. In effect, the major achievement of Tobey’s life was to find a way to express what he called “the two powers”—“Bahá’í and Art.”

The difficulties of Tobey’s balancing his religion and his art were exemplified at one of the major triumphs of his career—his one-man show at the Louvre in 1961. At the opening of the show, Tobey, instead of exulting at the concrete evidence of his success, lamented to Marion Hofman, a British Bahá’í and long-time friend, his wish that he had done more for the Bahá’í Faith. Hofman later wrote:

I was privileged to see something of Mark’s humility and dedication to Bahá’u’lláh, when, on the second day of the exhibition, as I was sitting alone to read his catalogue, he came and sat with me. Here, in his hour of triumph in the world, with a great enlargement of his name in his own handwriting surmounting the entrance from the rue de Rivoli, he spoke wistfully of his life as an artist in comparison with a life of direct and active service in the Faith.

On occasion Tobey even considered giving up his art and working full-time in Bahá’í activities. In 1938, when he had returned to the United States after ten years in Europe, Tobey wrote to two Bahá’í friends from Oregon, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bishop:

It was a hard time spiritually for me. . . . I find myself remiss more than I want to say . . . I now see art—or anything like it as a deterrent—and find I should have gone another route long ago! This next year will probably decide many things. I shall make one more attempt to put the Kingdom before all else—if I can’t, well. . . .

. . . . there’s been plenty said on that!

The same theme was repeated much later in an article written for Puget Soundings, a local publication in the Seattle area:

Mark Tobey is a member of Baha-i faith. In discussing this facet of life with him I found that he had strong religious conviction. One day while walking together he told me that he was thinking about quitting painting for awhile and spending his time in preaching. From time to time Tobey would invite me to a Baha-i meeting, where sometimes he would be speaking.

Friends such as Marzieh Gail, an author, historian, and poet and daughter of Ali-Kuli Khan, Persian Consul in the United States during the early years of this century, often heard Tobey agonize over balancing his work as an artist and as a Bahá’í. When she visited Tobey in Basel, Switzerland, during the last decade of his life, she noted that “He spoke of his Bahá’í work, and said that he had his usual problem: how much time to allot to the Faith, how much to his art.”

As Tobey became an internationally famous artist, he had many opportunities to proclaim the Bahá’í Faith. He willingly granted extensive interviews on the influence of the Bahá’í principles and beliefs in his art. Even the shortest analyses of Tobey’s work contain references to the Bahá’í Faith and how its universal outlook affected every aspect of [Page 47] Tobey’s style. Occasionally an inattentive writer might identify Tobey as a “Zen artist,” but most critics who wrote about him realized the influence of the Bahá’í Faith in his work.

However, Tobey was not satisfied just to proclaim the Bahá’í Faith in the world of art critics and gallery goers. For fifty-eight years, he also contributed his services to the Bahá’í Faith in the realms of teaching, administration, and pioneering, an activity that included changing his residence to serve the Faith. The strength of Tobey’s commitment has been illuminated by the recent discovery of a series of remarkable letters Tobey kept among his papers, which were found in his Seattle studio after his death. These documents, owned by the Seattle Museum of Art and made available in the microfilm collection of the Archives of American Art, appear in print here for the first time.

Spanning the years from 1919 to 1954, the letters show Tobey to have been in continuous touch with the World Center of the Bahá’í Faith in Haifa, Israel. Particularly moving are letters between Shoghi Effendi, then newly appointed leader of the Bahá’í Faith and authorized interpreter of the Bahá’í teachings, and the artist, who was living in England and serving as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Great Britain, the national governing body of the Bahá’ís in that country. The letters appear here in chronological order with annotation and commentary. They show how Tobey used his talents throughout his life to serve one of those “two powers” that meant so much to him—the Bahá’í Faith.

The Early Years

TOBEY’S contact with the Bahá’í Faith began in 1918 when he was introduced to Juliet Thompson at a dinner party in New York City. Thompson was an artist and a member of the small Bahá’í community active in New York at that time. Tobey already had a strong interest in religion; at one time in his youth he considered going into the ministry. Just before his encounter with Thompson he had already had a decisive spiritual experience while returning home from a party at the studio of the famous painter Marcel Duchamp in which the importance of art had been discussed. Tobey recalled walking under a street lamp and wondering if ever there could be something greater than art:

I remember one night, after an evening party in Marcel Duchamp’s studio, while waiting for an elevated train, I kept wondering if by chance there might be something else greater than art. This idea remained with me for several days—during which I thought considerably about the expression “the love of God.” What it is, what it could mean to one like myself. This led to a prayer to know about this profound state.

Shortly thereafter, Tobey met Thompson and offered to walk her home. When she asked him to pose for her, he agreed and recounted the following experience:

Upon a wall near where I was seated there was a photograph of a man with a white beard, wearing a white turban—a remarkable face, but I had no curiosity about him. During this period of posing, I had a very strange and powerful dream which concerned this person in the photograph, or seemed to. When I told Miss Thompson about the dream she grew quite excited but didn’t say anything.

The person in the photograph was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet-Founder [Page 48] of the Bahá’í Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been appointed by Bahá’u’lláh as the interpreter of the Bahá’í writings and as the leader of the Bahá’í community. Six years before, in 1912, during His visit to the United States, He spoke about the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith at many churches and societies in New York. His visit had been extensively reported in newspapers across the United States, and He had attracted many new adherents to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Some time later, Thompson invited Tobey to come to Green Acre, a Bahá’í school in Eliot, Maine. A religious and intellectual retreat, Green Acre had been founded by Sarah Farmer, daughter of the prominent New England Transcendentalists, Moses and Hannah Farmer. After becoming a Bahá’í in 1899, Sarah Farmer had turned Green Acre into a Bahá’í school. Here Tobey was introduced to the Bahá’í teachings and studied them in some detail. He enthusiastically recounted his contact with the Bahá’ís there, where he found

a small group of Bahá’ís speaking of a new religion, claiming that the Day of Judgement [sic] was upon us and all the prophesies [sic] were now fulfilled. Also I found out that Miss Thompson was a Bahá’í and had met the man in the photograph while he was in New York in 1912. Gradually it dawned upon me that this little group of people with their prayers, their smiling faces, and their unbounded enthusiasm regarding this new religion really had a new spirit. Anyway, something I couldn’t put exactly into words, but convinced me that what they believed was the truth.

When Tobey returned from Green Acre to New York in 1918, he joined a study group that included several active Bahá’ís who later held important positions in the growing North American Bahá’í community. The membership of this group is preserved in a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in the earliest dated correspondence to be found in Tobey’s papers.

December 9, 1920

Mr. Horace Holley, Doris Holley, Mr. A. W. Randall, Lillian L. Randall, Isobel F. Chamberlain, Mr. Mark Tobey, Marjorie Morten and Mountfort Mills, unto them be the Glory of God, the Most Glorious.

He is God

O ye friends of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!

The supplication which you have offered to the Kingdom of Abhá was in reality a flame which had arisen from enkindled hearts, because the hearts have been in the utmost purity and deeply mindful of the Kingdom, supplicating and imploring at the Supreme Threshold.

In brief, it was a touching melody and a supplication in the utmost sincerity. Rest ye assured that it will bring forth great fruits and thus invisible confirmations will reach ye.

Unto ye be the Glory of Abhá!

(signed) ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás

Dec. 9, 1920, Haifa

c/o Mr. Roy Wilhelm

Translated by Azizullah S. Bahadur, Mt. Carmel, Palestine

[Page 49] Tobey’s papers also contain a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed to him alone. This letter dates from 1919, and it could have been sent in answer to Tobey’s written profession of Faith, a practice common among new believers during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s lifetime. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s reference to his prayer for forgiveness of Tobey’s father and brother indicates that there may have been an uneasy relationship between Tobey and those members of his family:

To his honor, Mr. Mark Tobey c/o his honor Mr. W. Randall, upon him be Bahá’u’lláh’il-Abhá.

HE IS GOD

O thou son of the Kingdom!

The last letter which thou hath written has arrived but the previous letter with the poems hath not been received. Nevertheless thy spiritual sentiments have reached the Holy Land. Rest thou assured. I hope that this year at Green Acre a remarkable life and stir may be witnessed and the friends of God may be so stirred and moved that Green Acre may be animated, the souls may turn toward God and may become attracted by the fragrances of God, that that region may be enlightened with the light of the love of God, the melody of praise and thanksgiving may reach the Supreme Concourse and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá may be gladdened in this Holy Land from the effect of that melody.

From the bounties of God, I supplicate that thy father and brother may be forgiven, may receive a share from His generosity and may be immersed in the ocean of pardon and forgiveness.

Upon thee be Bahá’íl-Abhá.

Translated by Shoghie Rabbani,

Haifa, Palestine;

July 16th, 1919

In 1921, after the death of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the leadership of the Bahá’í Faith passed to His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, the same young man who had translated ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s letter to Tobey. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had appointed Shoghi Effendi Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith and His successor as leader of the Bahá’í community. During this period of transition Tobey made his first pilgrimage to Haifa. In 1925, while living in France, he and some friends took a Mediterranean cruise to Barcelona, Greece, Constantinople, Beirut, and Haifa. The artist remained in Haifa for his first glimpse of Mount Carmel, the Bahá’í Shrines in Haifa, and the ancient city of Akka. In a lengthy description Tobey wrote about the effect this visit had upon him:

Acca, my destination, looked like a shadowy spur of land extending into the sea. Eventually we drove down through the huge gate of entrance into Acca and went to visit the home of the Master [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. There I was welcomed by an aged, bearded servitor of Bahá’u’lláh. . . . The house appeared devoid of furnishings. The light through the high narrow horizontal windows of colored glass decorated the walls opposite with many beautiful colors. In an old chest were many small lanterns, a symbol of journeying, of search in the darkness, for “When the dawn breaks, the lamps of journeying and wayfaring are put out.” How beautiful are these words, the promise fulfilled at the end of the long night, the long, long journey. At last, the radiance coming to spread its beauty everywhere—everywhere and for everyone. The great light given and the gift of the light of life. . . . The Ancient Beauty, He called himself [Bahá’u’lláh]. The light to man, coming from age to age to endure untold affliction, always through a life of sorrow and misunderstandings, calling to man until His last breath released Him [Page 50] from this thorny world. Always over and over has He appeared on the threshold of the world, each time a different face but the same beauty, ancient yet ever-living, ever appearing each time with a message of hope—the day will come. The knowledge of God and His ways, the coming together of the sons of man, the great oneness, to be discovered existing always with us but unrecognized. He, the promise of all ages, at last He appears and from a prison telling us that the time is fulfilled. “Mt. Carmel shall blossom like a rose” . . . These thoughts all associated with my visit to Acca.

Years later, in a newspaper article about his 1968 show at the Hanover Gallery in London, Tobey again recalled that first magical visit to the Bahá’í holy places: “The beginning of everything is very special. I remember, we went in an old surrey along those miles of sand to Acre, it was wonderful. You entered Acre, and it was just a walled city.”

Tobey’s first visit to the Holy Land had a profound effect upon him and inspired his art for the next forty years. He began to include specifically Bahá’í subjects in his art; from then on Tobey’s “two powers” united to determine the course of his creative endeavors. In 1931 when he moved to Devonshire, England, he began the pattern he would follow for the rest of his life: a double commitment to the muse of art and to an active participation in the founding of the new world order promised in the writings of the Bahá’í Faith.

Correspondence with Shoghi Effendi

IN 1932 Tobey entered into what would become a continuous correspondence with Shoghi Effendi. The two exchanged letters until the mid-1950s with Shoghi Effendi consistently exhorting Tobey to teach the Bahá’í Faith in whichever country he might be residing. The form of these letters was always the same—a long letter written by a secretary on Shoghi Effendi’s behalf with a shorter personal note penned by Shoghi Effendi himself at the bottom of the letter. In some cases the note extended up into the margins. Until 1949 all of these letters were handwritten. Considering the volume of Shoghi Effendi’s correspondence and the magnitude of his other duties, these personal notes must have been especially precious to Tobey.

It was while he was a resident at Dartington Hall, a progressive school for the arts in Devonshire, England, where he lived from 1931 through 1938, that Tobey received his first letter from Shoghi Effendi. Dartington Hall was an important center for the arts that had been founded by Mrs. Dorothy Elmhirst and her husband, Leonard. The school became a haven where Tobey could meet kindred souls who shared his interest in uniting East and West; visitors to the school included such intellectuals as the English writer Aldous Huxley and two individuals who would later win the Nobel Prize for literature —the American writer Pearl Buck and the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. During his stay at Dartington Hall, Tobey became extremely active in teaching the Bahá’í Faith in the Devonshire area. In a 1932 letter Shoghi Effendi encouraged Tobey in his teaching efforts, especially those having to do with Mrs. Elmhirst, an important patron of Tobey’s:

Persian Colony

Haifa, Palestine

5.10.32

Dear Mr. Tobey:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge [Page 51] the receipt of your short but very encouraging letter dated September 14th, 1932. He sincerely hopes that wherever you happen to be you will strive to spread the message of love, spirituality and human brotherhood brought to the world by Bahá’u’lláh, for after all this is the only work which is worthwhile and of an abiding effect.

While visiting the Shrines, the Guardian will think of you as well as of Mrs. Elmhirst and ask for both of you divine guidance and help. He trusts that through the reading of the literature you have presented to her she will become acquainted with the spirit and teachings of the Cause and find therein the realization of all her highest hopes and ideals.

In closing may I express Shoghi Effendi’s loving greetings and best wishes for the progress of your work in serving the Cause.

Yours ever sincerely,

Ruhi Afnan

Dear co-worker:

I wish to add a few words in person in order to assure you of my prayers for your success in the efforts you are exerting for the spread of the knowledge of our beloved Faith. I appreciate the opportunities you have and the facilities you enjoy, and I pray that you may be guided to utilize them to the fullest possible extent, and thereby enhance the prestige of the Cause and extend its scope in those regions.

Your true brother

Shoghi

During his second year at Dartington Hall Tobey wrote to Shoghi Effendi requesting a pilgrimage to the Bahá’í Shrines in Haifa and Akka. The following letter, found among his private papers, was Shoghi Effendi’s reply:

Persian Colony

Haifa March 15th, 1933

Dear Bahá’í Friend:

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, and to extend to you his hearty welcome to visit him in Haifa.

It is a great privilege for you to come to the Holy Land and you will certainly enjoy this trip.

The Guardian was pleased to hear that through the endeavors of the Bahá’ís, the Cause is rapidly spreading in Devon. He will be indeed delighted to hear these glad-tidings from you, during your stay at Haifa. He prays for all the dear Friends, and asks Bahá’u’lláh to assist and guide them to fulfill their aim and establish the Faith in their country.

Shoghi Effendi hopes that this letter will reach you in time so as to enable you to make the necessary arrangements for your trip.

With the assurance of [ ] prayers,

Your Bahá’í sister,

Mehranguise Rabbani

With my best wishes for your welfare and spiritual advancement,

Your true brother,

Shoghi

Tobey’s second visit to Haifa cemented his relationship with the young leader of the Bahá’í Faith. He reveled in the special atmosphere at Haifa and wrote about this visit:

Sunday the Guardian had lunch with us. His presence was very powerful. I made him laugh, which seemed to please him. Of course in Haifa many things happen and yet all seems to melt in time which is no time. You are there—that’s enough. Just to sit down in a chair seems as important as going to town. You are released from yourself.

In 1934 Tobey was back at Dartington Hall, ready to prepare for another important journey. Through the invitation of the Elmhirsts, Tobey was to accompany the English potter Bernard Leach on a trip to the Orient. Leach, a friend from Dartington Hall, was [Page 52] the perfect traveling companion for such a trip; he had been born in Hong Kong and was fascinated with developing art forms that would speak of the unity of East and West. Tobey had become enamored of Chinese calligraphy and art through his friendship with Teng Kuie, a Chinese student he had met in Seattle. Leach and Tobey planned to visit Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Japan. Upon learning of this opportunity, Tobey must immediately have written Shoghi Effendi, who replied:

March 14th, 1934

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

It was such a pleasure for the Guardian to receive your welcome letter and to learn of your projected trip to China. He hopes that your stay in that country will be an opportunity for you to do something for the Cause. In Shanghai we have a small group of believers, among them Mr. Ouskouli, originally a Persian, but who has been living since long in China. He is an old and devoted servant of the Cause. You will also find there a young and enthusiastic Chinese believer by the name of Dr. Tsao who, in addition to his many intellectual gifts, is a wonderful soul, so active and so restless. He has already done some valuable translations into Chinese, among them the “Paris Talks” of the Master and the “Some Answered Questions.” Dr. Ouskouli’s address is as follows: P.O. Box 551, Shanghai, China. I am sure he will be delighted to introduce you to Dr. Tsao, who, you may be glad to know, is fully conversant with the English language.

In closing please accept Shoghi Effendi’s best wishes, and be assured of his prayers for your spiritual advancement and physical welfare,

Yours in His Service,

H. Rabbani

May the Beloved bless your efforts, guide your steps and enable you to promote effectively the best interests of His Faith.

Your true brother,

Shoghi

Tobey’s papers do not contain evidence of teaching trips or indicate that he contacted the Bahá’ís of Shanghai, but his firm adherence to the Bahá’í Faith had an important impact on his traveling companion. In his autobiography Beyond East and West, Leach wrote of how his friendship with Tobey changed his life:

Mark Tobey was the profoundest influence in my life. It was through him I became a Bahá’í.

I was first introduced to him at Dartington Hall in Devonshire, in 1932. He was the resident artist; I came as a potter. There was an immediate exchange between us. He talked to me about the Bahá’í Faith, sharing with me his books. I was most moved by Nabil’s narrative and its immediacy, but it took eight years for me to reach acceptance.

Although Leach reports that the idea of the oneness of all religions was at first too difficult for him to grasp, Tobey’s patient teaching sowed the seed which allowed Leach’s faith to flower into a mature understanding of the new religion. Destined to become one of the most important potters of the twentieth century, Leach was only one of many who were profoundly influenced by Tobey’s teaching.

After the journey with Leach to Hong Kong and Shanghai, Tobey traveled to Japan where he spent a month in a Zen monastery in Kyoto. [Page 53]

To Life. Etching. 22" x 27”.

[Page 54] This experience was to have important implications for the development of his later work, most particularly in his deepened understanding of Oriental calligraphy and his more profound grasp of the macrocosms and microcosms of Nature.

Tobey must have been eager to share his new experiences with Shoghi Effendi because he arranged for two scrolls of Chinese calligraphy to be sent to Haifa. A secretary replied on Shoghi Effendi’s behalf:

January 14th, 1935

Dear Mr. Tobey:

I am directed by Shoghi Effendi to inform you of the receipt of your deeply-appreciated message of the 17th of December, and also to thank you for the two Chinese scrolls which you had kindly sent to him some time ago. He has himself placed them in the hall of the Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí, and needless to say they have much beautified the place, and have become an object of attraction and interest to all the visitors.

The Guardian views with great favor your plan to return to England, as the friends there stand in dire need of young and capable believers who can lend effective assistance to their work for the Cause, in both the teaching and administrative fields of service. Your presence among them, [it is] hoped will, as in the past, give them an added stimulus and wider vision to carry on the arduous task which they have set themselves to achieve.

Shoghi Effendi is continually praying at the Holy Shrines for your guidance and assistance, and trusts that as a result you will be enabled to attain the goal of your heart’s desire.

With loving greetings and best wishes,

Yours in His Service,

H. Rabbani

May the Almighty keep and bless you, sustain your efforts, and enable you to extend the scope of your valued, international activities, Your true brother,

Shoghi

Tobey’s attraction to the World Center of the Bahá’í Faith led him to visit Haifa a second time, probably in 1935. His fellow pilgrims were Marzieh Carpenter (later Gail) and her husband Howard, Mountfort Mills, and Marjory Morten. Marzieh Carpenter described Tobey as “slender and timid,” a person who made her “think of a skittish deer that would pause to nibble a leaf from the Guardian’s hand, before vanishing into the forest.” During this stay in Haifa Shoghi Effendi told Tobey that “‘art must inspire. Personal satisfaction is not enough.’” Tobey repeated in several later interviews that Shoghi Effendi had “freed art,” that there was no such thing yet as Bahá’í art, because the Bahá’í civilization had not yet come into being. For Tobey, this insight permitted him to continue developing his personal style, while still including Bahá’í themes in his work.

Tobey returned to England in 1935 where he continued as a resident artist at Dartington Hall. He also continued his Bahá’í activities and was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Great Britain. While not particularly gifted in the attributes required for administration, Tobey was constantly involved in teaching activities. As the following letter shows, his teaching efforts were strongly encouraged by Shoghi Effendi:

December 7th, 1935

Dear Mr. Tobey,

Shoghi Effendi is very happy to receive your letter of November 27th and to learn that you are back again in England after such a long absence. Your return has, no doubt, deeply rejoiced the friends who are in need of your assistance, and will, it is hoped, impart to them a fresh stimulus in their manifold duties and labors for the spread of the Cause throughout Great Britain.

[Page 55]

The Guardian has been also pleased to receive your article on China, and has read it with sustained interest. He trusts that its publication in the next issue of the Biennial will serve to deepen the interest of the friends in teaching the Cause in the Far East, where the number of the believers is still quite negligible, and where we, therefore, need a group of young and capable teachers who would be able to settle in the country and to gradually open it to the Cause.

With regard to Mr. Gordon Bottomley’s statement on the “Dawn-Breakers”; Shoghi Effendi is, indeed, gratified to note that this book has so much interested and impressed him. He trusts that your first contact with this noted English poet will, through its encouraging results, stimulate you to keep it up, and even to make a few more attempts to deepen and confirm his interest in the Message.

With his renewed and loving greetings, and the assurance of his continued prayers on your behalf at the Holy Shrines,

Yours in His Service,

H. Rabbani

Dear and valued co-worker:

I am very pleased to receive your contribution to “The Bahá’í World,” and wish to assure you in person of my appreciation and gratitude for the services you render.

I would urge you to concentrate for a time your efforts on the work in London and help the friends to promote their teaching activities and consolidate the foundations of their institutions. I will especially pray on your behalf. Shoghi

Tobey’s report on China was not published in the 1934-36 volume of The Bahá’í World, but his contributions to the teaching work were mentioned in the report on 1936 Bahá’í activities in the British Isles:

In April, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop went to Devonshire. Lectures were given in Torquay at the Theosophical Society, before a large audience at the Practical Psychology Center; then at half a dozen friendly firesides the Faith was discussed with members of the Oxford Group, psychologists, Theosophists and Anglicans. . . . Mr. Mark Tobey had been ploughing four years for contacts at Dartington Hall, where he teaches painting. He presented Mrs. Bishop and her lecture before a goodly number in his studio. An American-Norwegian home was then offered for successive lectures with the result that before Mrs. Bishop’s departure, the listeners volunteered to form a study class under Mrs. [sic] Tobey’s instruction. Good news has just come that interest is sustained; sixteen are faithful through the summer holiday season, while the autumn is promising, indeed.

It was also during this period that another artist at Dartington Hall became interested in the Bahá’í Faith. The South African painter, Reginald Turvey, a long-time friend of Bernard Leach, had arrived at Dartington Hall in 1932. It was at the school that Turvey met Tobey and learned of the Bahá’í Faith; after three years of study, Turvey had become a Bahá’í. Turvey’s devotion to his new Faith manifested itself upon his return to South Africa and climaxed in the artist’s 1956 pilgrimage to Haifa where Shoghi Effendi called him “the father of the Bahá’ís of South Africa.”

In the following years Tobey received a series of letters praising his teaching efforts and exhorting him to continue:

[Page 56]

September 12, 1936

Dear Mr. Tobey,

Your welcome letter to the Guardian has been duly received together with the enclosed photographs, and has brought much cheer and encouragement to his heart. He is indeed rejoiced to learn of the growing success of your activities on behalf of the Cause, particularly in the teaching field where, he feels, you are called upon to render many distinguished services to the Faith. The group of students you have at last succeeded in establishing in your locality seems to be highly promising, and will, it is hoped, form the nucleus of a strong, united and active Assembly. He is confident that your labors will result in the formation of such an Assembly, provided you persevere in your efforts and strive by every means to maintain, nay deepen the interest of these new-comers. Your idea to invite some London friends to address your group during next winter, he thinks is splendid, as this contact will inevitably serve to stimulate and widen the interest of the students, and will afford them a much-needed opportunity to widen the circle of their Bahá’í acquaintances.

The Guardian would greatly deplore your departure from England, specially now that your painstaking efforts are beginning to bear good fruitage. He would certainly urge you to make every possible effort to prolong your stay, and if possible to permanently settle in England where, he feels, you are admirably qualified to teach, and thus can help rendering effective the new teaching campaign so splendidly organized by the friends in Great Britain under the leadership of their N.S.A.

In closing let me assure you of the Guardian’s prayers for the confirmation and guidance of Mrs. Elmhirst, and of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, all of whom, he hopes, will be assisted in accomplishing notable services for the Cause in Devon.

Assuring you also of his good wishes and ardent prayers for your welfare, protection and guidance,

Yours in His Service,

H. Rabbani

Dear and prized co-worker:

I certainly advise you to extend your beneficent stay, and intensify your meritorious activities and exemplary efforts in the West of England and to persevere until a properly-constituted Assembly is definitely established. Your collaboration in connection with the consolidation of the newly-formed Summer School is no doubt vital and of the utmost benefit to the Cause. My prayers will ever be with you, and I am always eager to hear from you, however heavy the load of correspondence which I carry. Affectionately, Shoghi

July 10, 1937

Dear Mr. Tobey,

Your letter of June 15th addressed to the Guardian was most welcome, and he was indeed happy to know that the work in Torquay is progressing steadily. He trusts that before long a deeply-rooted, effectively-functioning and united Assembly will be established in that center, and that from it the light of the Cause will radiate throughout the South-West of England. He would urge you to concentrate heart and soul on this objective and to never relax in your efforts until some substantial result has been accomplished. The task is surely difficult, and calls for the utmost perseverence, patience and courage. But your devotion to the Cause and your utter consecration to its service are surely forces wherewith you will be able to overcome every obstacle in your way, no matter how insuperable it may first appear.

Take courage, therefore, dear brother, and be confident that with Bahá’u’lláh on your side your task will be made easy, and the burden of your work considerably lightened. Whenever you feel depressed or discouraged over the results of your painstaking efforts do recall to mind His divine promise that though the forces of the entire world be arrayed against His Cause they would be powerless to resist its onward [Page 57] march and to prevent its eventual triumph.

The Faith is God’s, and as such is bound to prevail, even though we fail in our tiny efforts.

With loving greetings to you and to the friends in Torquay,

Yours ever sincerely,

H. Rabbani

May the Beloved bless richly your painstaking efforts and crown them with signal success, and enable you to promote effectively the best interests of His Faith and to consolidate its nascent institutions.

Your true brother,

Shoghi

Feb. 15, 1938

Dear Mr. Tobey,

The Guardian has just received your message of the 8th instant and is indeed pleased to hear from you after such a long silence. He is glad to know that you are keeping in good health and are successful in your academic studies, but feels exceedingly sorry that you are not progressing in your Bahá’í work. He wishes you not to feel discouraged about the immediate prospects of your labors for the Cause, but to draw confidence and strength from the unfailing promises which Bahá’u’lláh has given regarding the future triumph of the Faith.

The Guardian is fully aware of the nature of the obstacles that hinder the progress and expansion of the teaching work in England, but is certain that sooner or later, this country will be stirred up and its people will be quickened spiritually and thus will be prepared to receive the Message. The forces of destruction are already at work, and are paving the way for the expansion and future consolidation of the Cause. The believers need not feel therefore depressed if their teaching results are meagre, but should look ahead at the glorious harvest which the future has in store for them.

Regarding your plans to visit America next summer: the Guardian thinks it would be splendid if you could undertake this trip which, in addition to the physical benefits it would confer upon your health would give you the great spiritual bounty of refreshing your soul through close contact and personal association with the American believers who are indeed the vanguard of the Faith in the West. The recent developments in both the teaching and administrative fields of service in that country have been such as to inspire and stimulate every sincere Bahá’í visitor. May your visit too serve to stimulate you afresh in your services to the Cause in England.

With loving greetings,

Yours ever sincerely,

H. Rabbani

Dear co-worker:

The work you have achieved in England will always be remembered with keen appreciation and gratitude. Your splendid pioneer accomplishments under such difficult circumstances are truly meritorious and praiseworthy. I will pray from the depths of my heart that you may be able to render still greater services in the days to come. Be happy and persevere. Shoghi

The letters from Shoghi Effendi reflect the successful teaching campaign in the Devonshire area in which Tobey clearly had played a major role. However, by 1938, as Shoghi Effendi’s letter indicates, Tobey had become discouraged with teaching opportunities in Devonshire. In addition, the international situation had deteriorated, making a second world war inevitable. In his last letter during that period Shoghi Effendi approved Tobey’s plans to visit the United States, where the artist had frequently spent summers in Seattle, or, for short periods, in New York. Shoghi Effendi’s personal postscript at the end of the 1938 letter seems to indicate his realization that the artist’s pioneering work in England was at an end. Indeed, due to the mounting international tensions, Tobey was unable to return to Dartington Hall in the autumn of 1938 as originally planned.

In early 1939 Tobey’s paintings and personal [Page 58] possessions were sent to him from Dartington Hall, and he settled in Seattle, which became his home during the 1940s. In Seattle Tobey obtained work as an artist in a government-sponsored Works Project Administration project. In 1939 he visited the Bahá’í school at Geyserville in northern California where he stayed during June and July. As a consequence of his long absence, he was dropped from the government project.

During the 1940s Tobey’s career as an artist began to develop at a faster pace. In 1942 he had a one-man show at the Seattle Art Museum. That summer, at the Bahá’í school at Geyserville, he met Arthur and Joyce Dahl, who became important patrons of his work. In the same year Tobey’s painting Broadway won sixth place in a show for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became part of that museum’s permanent collection. In 1943 and 1944 his paintings began to sell at the Willard Gallery in New York, and his work was favorably reviewed by Clement Greenberg, an important critic of the developing New York School. By 1949 Tobey was recognized to the extent that he was included in the Western Round Table discussion on Modern Art sponsored by the San Francisco Art Association. Participants were the famed anthropologists George Boas and Gregory Bateson, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and painters Marcel Duchamp and Mark Tobey.

Although Tobey must have had less and less time for his Bahá’í work, there is no doubt that his services to the Faith continued. He served on the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Seattle (the elected governing body of the Bahá’ís of Seattle) and was often a speaker at public meetings in the Seattle area. At one point he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to help maintain a spiritual assembly in that area.

Tobey also reestablished the contact with the Bahá’í World Center that had been interrupted during World War II. Letters to the artist were now handwritten by Ruhiyyih Rabbani, Canadian wife of Shoghi Effendi. Postscripts from Shoghi Effendi were still appended to the bottom, as in the first one to arrive:

Haifa

February 5th

1949

Dear Bahá’í brother:

Your letter to our beloved Guardian, with enclosures, and dated January 17th, has been received, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.

He very much appreciates the work done by Mr. Per [sic] Hallsten, and hopes it will be found suitable for publication, as it would greatly add to the store—the very limited store—of Bahá’í literature available in Swedish. There is certainly no objection to your writing to the E.T.C. [European Teaching Committee] and inquiring what they plan to do about it, and so on.

He was pleased to hear you are able to make trips up to Canada and see the friends there. They have a heavy teaching schedule, and any help you can give them would be much appreciated.

Life everywhere in the world seems to be increasingly hard. The blindness of humanity seems to be catching up with it—when will men turn to their true haven and refuge and find the peace God has given them in this Revelation? We can only labor lovingly and leave the rest to Him.

Shoghi Effendi assures you of his loving prayers for your success, and the betterment of your affairs in general.

With Bahá’í greetings,

R. Rabbani

May the Almighty bless, sustain and guide you, and enable you to overcome all obstacles in your path, and win great victories in the service of our beloved Faith and [Page 59] its God-given institutions.

Your true brother

Shoghi

The “work done” by Mr. Pehr Hallsten was an important project, initiated by Tobey, to translate The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh into Swedish. Hallsten was a close friend whom Tobey had met in 1939 after returning from England. Through Tobey’s patient teaching and personal example, Hallsten had become a Bahá’í. Anxious to perform some service for the Bahá’í Faith, Hallsten, a linguist, had undertaken the translation of Bahá’u’lláh’s work whose original was written in both Arabic and Persian.

In 1954 Hallsten wrote the following testimony about Tobey’s influence upon him:

To whomever it may concern

I herewith confirm that Mark Tobey has been the absolute and only instrument and factor in my translation of Bahá’u’lláh’s Hidden Words into Swedish.

Through his devotion to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, his sincere desire to promote the publication of this sacred work, having paid for the publication of this work, privately, besides having been through his good and idealistic example and indefatigable efforts to inspire me to do this significant work. Without Mark Tobey my translation could not have been done.

May God reward him for this.

I humbly place this document into his hands as a small tribute to him.

Gothenburg, Sweden

Pehr Hallsten, Professor.

In addition to his proclamation, teaching, and administrative work for the Faith, Tobey was a generous contributor to the Bahá’í Fund. Even after he moved to Basel in 1960, according to a long-time member of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Seattle, checks from Mark Tobey would suddenly appear, often containing just the amount needed to begin an important teaching campaign in the area. Tobey also contributed generously to the Bahá’í World Center, as the following letter shows:

Aug. 5

1951

Dear Bahá’í brother:

The beloved Guardian was very glad to hear from you as it is some time since he had any news of you. Your letter just recently arrived (postmarked May 29), so you see it was a long time on the way.

He thanks you for your generous and loving contribution to the Shrine work, a receipt for which I am enclosing herewith.

Your services to the Faith are much appreciated, you may be sure.

With Bahá’í love,

R. Rabbani

With the assurance of my loving appreciation of your contribution, and of my prayers for your success in the service of our beloved Faith,

Your true brother,

Shoghi

I gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the sum of three hundred dollars from my dear Bahá’í brother, Mr[.] Mark Tobey, to be expended for the construction of the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel.

(signed) Shoghi

August 5, 1951.

Tobey’s final letter from Shoghi Effendi came in 1954, a critical time in Tobey’s career. During this period Tobey was in Seattle (January), New York (February through June), Sweden (August and September), and Paris (October through June of the following year). Shoghi Effendi was clearly pleased that Tobey had returned to Europe:

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Haifa,

Israel,

November 15,

1954

Mr. Mark Tobey.

Dear Bahá’í Brother:

Your letter of October 13th has been received by the beloved Guardian, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.

He is delighted to learn that you are now living in France, and he feels sure you will be of tremendous assistance to the teaching work there. As you know, he has been most anxious to see the Faith progress more rapidly in France, and recently it seems to have made great strides forward.

In whichever town or city you decide to locate, he hopes you will soon find a few searching and receptive souls whom you can confirm in the Teachings; so that, in a short time, there will be a nucleus of active supporters in yet another center in France.

The Guardian assures you of his ardent prayers for the abundant success of all your labors in France, and of his deep appreciation of your devoted and sacrificial services in the past.

With warm Bahá’í greetings,

R. Rabbani

Assuring you of my loving prayers for your success and spiritual advancement, Your true brother, Shoghi

This letter was the last from Shoghi Effendi among the papers in Tobey’s Seattle studio. Three years later, in November 1957, Shoghi Effendi died while on a visit to London. His death must have been a particular blow to Tobey, who had received a great deal of affectionate support from Shoghi Effendi. A copy of the telegram sent from Ruhiyyih Rabbani announcing the death of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá’ís of the world was among the papers kept by Tobey in his Seattle studio.

The Later Years

DURING the final two decades of Tobey’s life, his international artistic reputation continued to grow. Tobey maintained a studio in Seattle but spent most of his time in Europe where his art flourished in a critical atmosphere more accepting than that of his native land. In 1960 he settled in Basel, where he was to spend the rest of his life.

During the 1950s Tobey’s travels did not allow him to stay long enough in one place to render any long-term local services to the Bahá’í Faith. He did, however, attend Bahá’í conferences, including the 1958 International Conference in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, at which the new Bahá’í House of Worship for the European continent was dedicated. In 1953 he had attended the dedication of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. Ten years later he came to the Jubilee Congress of 1963 in London, at which more than six thousand Bahá’ís from all over the world gathered to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Bahá’í Faith. This experience must have been especially meaningful to Tobey because carefully preserved in his private papers are scores of newspaper articles cut from London papers giving daily reports of events at the Congress. It must also have been a particularly emotional time for him as he was able to fulfill a pact with his old friends Bernard Leach and Reg Turvey that they would meet again at the Jubilee Congress after years of separation.

As Tobey became more renowned, his attempts to work within the two worlds that he cherished became more difficult. Tobey understood the essential relationship between his work and his faith, but friends from both worlds often had problems understanding his priorities and interests. Some critics considered Tobey’s symbolism to be “obscure,” or they were uncomfortable with religious themes in an increasingly secular age. At times his adherence to Bahá’í themes led to adverse reactions to his work as in the following review [Page 61] in Art News: “One finds himself annoyed that such a talented artist often pushes his conclusions into obscurity, and this reviewer found himself even more annoyed with the pretentious religious philosophy which Tobey insists on dragging into his titles.”

Some members of the Bahá’í community also showed a lack of understanding of Tobey’s art. When he had his important one-man show at the Musée des arts décoratifs at the Louvre in Paris only a small number of Bahá’ís attended. Bahá’í collectors who bought paintings from him often had to endure derogatory remarks from others who did not comprehend Tobey’s works or realize how they expressed Bahá’í principles.

Tobey was particularly concerned when Bahá’ís viewed his exhibitions more as teaching campaigns than cultural events. His distaste for this method was made clear in a 1962 letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States concerning projected activities during his one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art, a critical event in Tobey’s career:

After consultation with Mr. and Mrs. Dahl, I am writing to ask you not to go ahead with plans for meetings of Bahá’ís in New York at the time of my exhibition there. If my exhibition concerned an attempt to illustrate Bahá’í themes it would be a different matter. However, it doesn’t, although there is a relation which will be explained by Mr. Seitz in the catalogue.

As you well know the Guardian freed art from didactic purposes. “There is no official Bahá’í art.” I think it would always be best if the Bahá’ís would show they like art—respect it—it would be impressive to those non-Bahá’ís who are interested in art. This would be enough and a more rightful way.

New York is the nerve center of painting in the United States, and is very critical and as my painting constitutes my livelihood, there are many things to consider.

In an undated letter to Arthur Dahl written around 1963, Tobey wrote:

“I am, I hope, a Bahá’í, but I am also an artist. But I am not a Bahá’í artist. . . . This is how I feel about it—and not only that they see the paintings but that they are made cognizant of the sayings of Bahá’u’lláh and Shoghi Effendi. The combination will stick.

Tobey often quoted Shoghi Effendi’s assertion, recorded in a letter written on his behalf, that there could not yet be such a thing as “Bahá’í art”: “As regards producing a book of Bahá’í songs, your understanding that there is no cultural expression which could be called Bahá’í at this time (distinctive music, literature, art, architecture, etc., being the flower of the civilisation and not coming at the beginning of a new Revelation), is correct.” Tobey felt that Shoghi Effendi had “freed art” through similar statements: “The believers [Bahá’ís] are free to paint, write and compose [Page 62] as their talents may guide them. . . . As long as they have music for its own sake it is all right, but they should not consider it Bahá’í music.”

Although Tobey was very careful that his paintings not be identified as Bahá’í art, he continually acknowledged the seminal influence of the Faith on his work. He told the famous critic Katherine Kuh:

“I’ve been influenced by the Bahá’í religion which believes there has been but one religion, which renews itself under different names. The root of all religions, from the Bahá’í point of view, is based on the theory that man will gradually come to understand the unity of the world and the oneness of mankind. It teaches that all the prophets are one—that science and religion are the two great powers which must be balanced if man is to become mature. I feel my work has been influenced by these beliefs.”

In spite of misunderstandings and difficulties on the part of others, Tobey must have seen the “two powers” in his own life as two wings of a bird, art and the Bahá’í Faith, that needed to function together. In 1957 he wrote to Arthur Dahl, Jr.:

Now art should be a part of Bahá’í life as I see it, and perhaps it could be in some locale, but not here. One wonders if one should sacrifice to such a degree, but there is one’s nature and one’s livelihood. These questionings are endless, but I have written a few. We all have much to learn. When and if I go to Europe, I hope to settle somewhere where I can put the two to work.

In 1971 Tobey was interviewed for a book on the influence of Japanese art in the West. No doubt the interviewer expected to hear of Tobey’s experience in the monastery in Kyoto or of the influence of Oriental calligraphy on his work. Instead, he got a glowing description of the importance of the Bahá’í Faith:

I found in my life what I call the light. This light is the light of a new age, not the light of old times. I am not considering other things that exist today which we know about and talk about: they are old. And, as for the old, you can read things over and over, and do things again and again, but if a new reality has come, they are no good—they are nothing, that’s all. But if you know where reality is, if you have seen it, found it, and touched it, if you have been near it, then you know. I think that today in Bahá’í—well, that’s where it is. That’s where the world must unite. Things cannot go on much longer without the realization that we are all the same. This may not happen for a while but. . . . Of course, I don’t know what exactly will happen. I’ve studied the Bahá’í faith very hard and I think this is the real truth.

In the same interview Tobey summed up a lifetime of his religious faith and its relationship to his art: “I believe that a considerable amount of what might be called my better work is derived from Bahá’í love. That, I think has had the strongest effect on me.”

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Opposite page: Room in Mark Tobey’s home in Basel. Switzerland.

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By 1960 Tobey had finished his period of wandering and had finally found a home, when he and his companion Pehr Hallsten with secretary Mark Ritter, moved to a house in Basel. Although Tobey’s advancing age (he was now seventy) and language barriers created [Page 63]

[Page 64] difficulties in this German-speaking part of Switzerland, Tobey was still eager to work for the Bahá’í Faith in his new home. He served as chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Basel for sixteen years until his death in 1976.

In an undated letter written just after his move to Basel, Tobey wrote of his desire to contribute to the teaching work of the Bahá’í Faith in his new home:

Well, in the passing of time three people have left my house Bahá’ís. They are all active—many come not knowing they are going to ask—what is Bahá’í? I make no brags, but all this time somewhat in and out I have felt I was placed here to help and perhaps grow some for myself. The same things happened in England—slowly I worked with Bahá’ís there—when I left in 1938 Shoghi Effendi wrote me and said my work in England would never be forgotten. These words are naturally precious to me, but I didn’t expect anything like that again.

Conclusion

TOBEY’S services for the Bahá’í Faith spanned almost six decades of the most formative and important period of the growth of the Bahá’í Faith in the West. Like many other members of the Bahá’í Faith, a religion without a clergy, Tobey often grappled with the desire to excel in his occupation and the deep and recurring need to contribute wholeheartedly to the world order of Bahá’u’lláh. This conflict must have intensified in the last three decades of Tobey’s life when he became a world-class artist who could have easily dropped his Bahá’í activities in favor of a life completely devoted to art. Yet Tobey clearly understood his commitment to the Bahá’í Faith and never lost sight of his ultimate “occupation” as a servant of Bahá’u’lláh. The fortunate preservation of the letters Tobey received from Shoghi Effendi and the record of his contributions over fifty-eight years as a Bahá’í show the continuing centrality of this role in his life and his devotion and sacrifice for the Bahá’í Faith.

In a letter written to his Bahá’í friends Tom and Helen Sousa when the artist was seventy-eight years old, in fragile health, and living in an area where he had never mastered the language, Tobey expressed his unquenchable desire to serve: “Success—ye gods!—So many people for so many demands—so much to keep up or go under. But I still hope to arrange life so I can do more telling about the Cause than ever before. . . .

The following letter from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, although not written to Mark Tobey, can help to provide a possible assessment of Tobey’s life.

Tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to an Artist

Can you paint upon the page of the world the ideal pictures of the Supreme Concourse? The pictures which are in the ideal world are eternal. I desire you to become such an artist. Man can paint those ideal pictures upon the tablet of existence with the brush of deeds.

The holy, divine Manifestations are all heavenly artists. Upon the canvas of creation, with the brush of their deeds and lives and actions they paint immortal pictures which cannot be found in any art museum of Europe or America. But you find the masterpieces of these spiritual artists in the hearts of them that know Him.

Mark Tobey did endeavor to paint upon the tablet of existence not only with a brush of paint but also with a “brush of deeds.” His wish to serve the two powers—art and the Bahá’í Faith—seems to have been fulfilled.

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Authors & Artists

JULIE OEMING BADIEE is an associate professor of art history and chair of the Art Department of Western Maryland College. Her “Entities of a New Creation” appeared in our Winter 1980 issue.

FERESHTEH T. BETHEL is a doctor of psychology intern, whose work includes psychotherapy and counseling for individuals, couples, and families; treating chemically dependent adolescents and adults; and providing forensic psychological services to the judiciary system and the courts. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, where she experienced opposition to the Bahá’í Faith early in life, she became interested in the history and nature of persecution, which led to a doctoral dissertation on the topic.

CARELLE L. KARIMIMANESH, a chemist by training, is an administrative assistant to Profession Publications, a technical publisher specializing in engineering and accounting texts.

MAHMOOD KARIMIMANESH is a construction engineer and general building contractor. His parents, like Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh’s parents, were born in Abyaneh, Iran. His father worked with Zanin’s father, and the two families were like one extended family.

SIMIN MOQIMI KHAVARI, Zarrin Moqimi Abyaneh’s sister, now lives in Canada, where she and her husband run a grocery store.

IAN KLUGE, who holds an M.A. degree in Canadian literature from the University of Alberta, teaches English in Fraser Lake, British Columbia. He has published a volume of poems and two plays and has had some of his poems anthologized.

TIMOTHY S. SEIBLES, who is currently in Vermont College’s Master of Fine Arts writing program, is a writer and an English teacher.

ART CREDITS: Cover design by John Solarz; photograph by Mark Sadan; p. 1, photograph by Steve Garrigues; p. 3, photograph by Delton I. Baerwolf; p. 4, photograph by Charlotte Hockings; pp. 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21, photographs courtesy Bahá’í Persian/American Affairs Office; p. 26, photograph by Steve Garrigues; pp. 29, 41, photograph courtesy Simin Moghimi Khavari; p. 44, photograph courtesy Bahá’í Periodicals Office; p. 53, photograph courtesy National Bahá’í Archives; p. 63, photograph courtesy Paul Slaughter.

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