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[Page 191]

‘WORUD

ORDER

OCTOBER, 1946

Greater Than Any Nation - Horace Holley

The Way of Fulfillment - Marion Holley Hofman

Breakers of the Dawn - Sally Sanor

Heroism, Editorial - Eleanor S. Hutchens

Lady of Tapada, Lady of Lima - Eve B. Nicklin

The Rank-and-File Bahá’í - Gertrude Schurgast

Mandalay - Sydney Sprague

With Our Readers

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THE BAHA’I’ MAGAZINE

[Page 192]World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the firét organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its'title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of W orld Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXVII of the continuous Bahá’í publication.

WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, 111., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Eleanor S. Hulchens, William Kenneth Christian, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.

Editorial Office Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary 69 Annonsrom) Row, WINNE'I‘KA, ILL.

Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, Wmmm ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in U.S.A.

OCTOBER, 1946, VOLUME XII, NUMBER 7

SUBSCRIPTIONS: 81.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 15c. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, 111., under the A'ct of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1946 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE

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The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XII

OCTOBER, 1946

NUMBER 7

Greater Than Any Nation

HORACE HOLLEY

EAR friends of universal

peace, no American can come here to the city of Washington from a residence anywhere else in the United States without being impressed very deeply by this symbol of the great power which America has become, a power which is outstanding among the nations and peoples of the world, a power which if it becomes allied with a great moral purpose and becomes the servant of universal justice, can contribute more than any other people to a reformation of the tragic conditions which exist today.

And no one can enter a hall which is dedicated as a Hall of Nations and look upon these panels which depict the variety of the life of the many peoples of East and West without feeling with great poignancy how hitter and anguished is the cry that arises from the hearts of all these other peoples for some kind of assistance and encouragement, that they may reach up their

hands and feel that they are part of a sustaining strength before they sink down in the desolation of a hopeless time.

In our yet unsuccessful pursuit of universal peace, we have uncovered certain conditions, certain obstacles and requisites which far exceed the capacity of the resources which so far have been publicly devoted to the cause of peace. There are five of these conditions or requisites which I will briefly summarize so that we may share together a rational basis on which to lay the appeal for consideration of the spirit and program of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

The first condition is that universal peace is not an optional policy nor a deferahle ideal. In 1919 when the nations were given their first supreme opportunity to lay the basis of universal peace, a great majority of the peoples of all lands were not yet awakened to the dire menace of the disorder that has overtaken mankind, and therefore they felt

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justification in maintaining the attitude that universal peace, while it might be a mest desirable and worthy ideal, could be deferred as a practicable policy until some later and more convenient time. The result was, in that prevalent atmosphere, those who strove for a peace settlement at Versailles created a League of Nations which was expected to be a strong contribution to interna tional peace but which possessed ,

a structure leaving to each participating nation the right to make its own vital dhoice at every crucial time. In other words, the majority of peoples considered that world peace was a deferable ideal and an optional policy.

Today we realize that it is rather a question of saving a household given over to a consuming flame or finding the ways and means to prevent a flood from overwhelming the city of man’s life. We do not defer action when we realize an emergency of that type. Nor can we defer action in relation to universal peace, when we realize with every faculty of our being that the dislocation of the life of the nations, the races, and the classes has brought about a condition which can lead to even greater destruction than the two World Wars.

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The second requisite is that peace cannot be a partial or a limited affair. We cannot establish peace for two or three nations or peoples and leave outside that realm another world of darkness and retain the blessing of peace for the more powerful or privileged nations which believe that by their own unaided efforts they can retain the foundation of human existence.

Peace is universal and peace is organic and, if in the world today, we say that such and such a people or nation cannot be permitted to have association as equals with the other nations and peoples of the world, let us realize that a physician dealing with an ailing body does not consider that his professional work is done if he estimates that seven-eighths of the body is healthy but that one—eighth of the organism is seriously infected and that somehow he can isolate the infection so that it will not seep into the rest of the organism. The condition of health and the basis of association between peoples and nations is that which comes into being when there is a true world order to which all the nations and peoples are invited to join.

Any nation which will accept that invitation and endeavor sincerely to live up to the terms of its association with other nations

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for universal peace, that nation has been forgiven by God Himself for any of its historic errors, sins 0r crimes; because the determining point is that if we have a sense of suspicion and aloofness which prevents us from cooperating with others on terms of equality, we disclose our unfitness for the association. But if we are ready to participate and make our contribution to the one ideal, then it means that somehow we have attained a condition which others may recognize as one of fitness to work with them.

Therefore, my friends, let us not overlook this requisite that universal peace must embrace the peoples and nations of the entire world, and it cannot be a privilege and a superiority of North America or Europe or any other limited area of mankind.

The third condition or requisite is that universal peace cannot be produced by any international body possessing less authority and sovereignty than any or all of the present national states. That was the fatal weakness of the League of Nations. They used the term “peace” but they did not create a world. They retained the separate and exclusive national units. They retained them because they would not share the sovereignty of their nation and set up a higher sovereignty for mankind as a whole.

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Now peace is not a hy-product of any national policy. It is not something which we can do inadvertently while pursuing a totally different goal. We cannot strive to realize the full power and wealth of our own people as a separate unit and at the same time render true service to the cause of peace.

The world is greater than any nation and mankind is greater than any nation or people. Therefore, this requisite of peace is of vital consequence because it means that we cannot have in this world any real and valid hope that our ideal of peace has been achieved until the nations and peoples have created a world sovereignty which shall be supreme and from which every nation shall derive a secondary and dependent sovereignty adequate for its domestic affairs. The work done at San Francisco did not produce this fundamental requisite of international peace.

International peace will remain ineffective if whatever international body is set up functions only through the formal political channels which remain neutral to the fundamental claims of economics, social philosophy, culture and religion. The time has passed when we can isolate aspects of reality, and by giving them separate terminology and organization consider that

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we have bounded ofi that realm of reality and made it immune to influences from outside. We cannot have an abiding political structure which is not fully superior to the economic order of the people over which it has jurisdiction.

We cannot have a world sovereignty until we have in that body not only the authority but the power and the capacity to bring together all competitive classes, all diverse philosophies of living, all unrelated claims, from whatever source they arise,

and judge them according to the new world standard, approving those things that are of benefit to all humanity and preventing the further operation of those things that exalt one people or nation or class above the others and so make for a new dislocation in the life of mankind. Universal peace implies one standard of truth and justice to which all human affairs can be referred on the practical basis of that which is most useful to world order, and those things that are useful will be the economics or the social philosophy of our future years.

The last requisite is a new spirit in man himself. Whatever type of international structure is raised up to promote and sustain universal peace, no matter how perfect its constitution may he, no matter how complete its state WORLD ORDER

ment of functions and purposes, no matter how many and intricate are its service organizations, it will not have efiective life unless there is a regeneration of human beings themselves. .

We cannot find a substitute for the qualities and the attributes and the virtues of the human soul. We cannot produce a corporation and endow it with our virtue and become immune, if in the achievement of its corporate purpose that body which we have established contravenes the fundamental moral law. We can’t have universal peace Without the conception of a world, a world organism. We cannot have a world organism without world men and women. That is how humanity has evolved from its lower stages and the primitive conditions of the past. F rom age to age human beings have been given a larger vision and made to feel themselves responsible participants in a larger and larger social unit.

Now the world is full of national men and women, and that is why we have strife and war because national men and women are those Who are conditioned to that particular social unit and they obey its needs and behests with the fervor of those who would sacrifice themselves for Almighty God.

We need a world man and a world woman, who will have the

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sustaining force that can take even an imperfect instrument and use it in the name of justice and humanity and lay an enduring basis for universal peace.

Now, where is there in the world any force or combination of forces accessible to the nations and peoples that can realize these conditions of universal peace? They can make charters, but can they regenerate the human soul?

This is not the first age in which society has undergone disintegration and the spirit of man has lost what it had raised up in the past. This is not the first time when human beings have divided against themselves and gone down in the great bitterness and sorrow of mutual defeat. That which raised up the world from the depths of the degradation reached by the ancient Roman Empire was the divine and spiritual force that was manifested in Jesus as the prophet of God.

Through Him there came to human beings a truth, which when they accepted it, which when they sacrificed themselves for it, raised them up to the level of the truth itself and made a new people, a people that could live according to standards of fellowship and justice in complete contrast to the dishonor and despair

of the world.

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ize the full meaning of that episode of the Roman Empire and the coming of Christ because we have in our own historical experience the Way by which alone the world can save itself, when men lose hope and by their human capacity are unable to arrest themselves from the abyss in which their own blindness and materialism have plunged them. Bahá’u’lláh came to the world about the middle of the nineteenth century, and He brought a spirit and a truth which identifies itself with the essential purpose of every prophet of the past, but in accordance with the principle of progressive revelation unfolded to this age, in addition to the truths that Christ could reveal to the people of His day, certain organic principles that pertain to the regeneration and reordering of human affairs. The supreme principle which He revealed was that of the oneness of mankind, and that means all the scattered peoples and races, all the languages, all the classes, all the denominations and sects, all the diversities of human beings in East and West have attained the full degree. of the principle of variety which was the condition of life in the past. Now therefore the law has gone out summoning these sundered and separated peoples together to form the body of

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mankind. That is what the spirit of Revelation means for every responsible human being today, that the fruit and the outcome of every teaching and every devotion of the past is fulfilled now as we come together as brothers in humanity, as co-workers to produce the structure of world

order and the body of international peace.

Men of the tribes of the past could not attain a higher and farther outlook until the spirit had gathered them up and identified them with the principle of human progress under the guidance of God; nor can we reform ourselves and eliminate those prejudices of nation, of class and creed which tear our hearts to ribbons until we meet with our fellow human beings in worship before the throne of the one God, who is the Father of mankind.

This is the promise; this is the assurance which every prophet of the past gave to his people. This is the day toward which the spiritual soul of the great ones always turn, and we need not feel that in a new name, Bahá’u’lláh, there is anything that is alien to the pure truth of our own prior revelation, when we realize that Bahá’u’lláh for the capstone, the arch of His teaching, has made it clear to the mind and heart of modern man that in purpose, in aim, in spirit, in consecration, in

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mission, all the prophets that have come from God are one being and have given the world one revelation in successive stages of human evolution.

So it is that our prophet cries to us through the lips of Bahá’u’lláh and in Bahá’u’lláh we find the prophet of the people to whom perhaps we have been alien all our lives, and in this identification of the spiritual core of life, the recurrence of the one wonderful phenomena and agency of truth, we have our relationship not to an exclusive tribal deity, not to a theological conception that has been invented to give some people a certain advantage, but we have a relationship to the Author of our own being and the Creator of all mankind.

Therefore in the final word of suggestion which I would like to share with you is this truth: that peace is in reality a divine creation. It is an order of Virtue and truth that has descended into this world from a higher realm and when we take this step from our doubt, from our selfishness, from our fear, from our ignorance; take the step from the disordered world which men have created to the universal world which God has created for the human spirit, we have entered the realm of universal peace and we have reached out our finger and we

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have touched a power that will the earth, willing to become a realize its purposes through us servant and promote the prinand through all other human be- ciples of universal peace.

ings and which will bring a

' “Eddress delivered at Bahá’í meeting bleSSlng to every Government, to held in Hall of Nations, Washington Hotel,

every organization on the face of Washington, D. C., December 5, 1945.

Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God. That is why we do not see the signs of God in the hearts of men. The power of the Holy Spirit has no influence. When a divine spiritual illumination becomes manifest in the world of humanity, when divine instruction and guidance appear, then enlightenment follows, a new spirit is realized within, a new power descends and a new life is given.

It is like the birth from the animal kingdom into the kingdom of man. When man acquires these virtues, the oneness of the world of humanity will be revealed, the banner of international peace will be upraised, equality be tween all mankind will be realized and the Orient and Occident will become one.

Then will the justice of God become manifest, all humanity will appear as the members of one family and every member of that family will be consecrated to cooperation and mutual assistance. The lights of the love of God will shine; eternal happiness will be unveiled; everlasting joy and spiritual delight will be attained. —‘ABDU’L-BAH$.

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The Way of Fulfillment

MARION HOLLEY HOFMAN

HE central theme of the

Bahá’í Faith, that religion has been, is and must ever remain the dynamic power advancing civilization, is a concept alien to the twentieth century. As the French novelist, Rolland, has put it: “Faith is one of the feelings which a too civilized society can least forgive; for it has lost it.” Indeed, it is almost impossible to talk about religion at all, for the very words which are basic to the discussion—faith, spirit, God cannot be spoken without being woefully misunderstood.

Our generation is prone to think by exaggeration and opposites. For some, the whole idea of religion has lost its meaning; it is felt to he supernatural and fantastic. By them, the existence of God is not given serious consideration, while religion itself is understood only in terms of ritual, institutionalism, and dogma which the most advanced minds long ago rejected. Harold Laski has spoken for persons of this persuasion; “The decay of the religious spirit,” he writes, “is the natural outcome of historical causes it is now impossible to reverse upon any serious scale.” For such persons as these, and their number is ample, humanity

in its evolution long ago passed the stage where it need give any thought as to the truth or necessity of revealed religion.

There is, on the other hand, the party of tradition. It matters not whether one looks to a Western or Eastern country; it is easy to discover those Who are loyal, indeed fierce protectors of literal interpretation. For this group God does in truth exist, anthropomorphically, in the very image and likeness of man. And simultaneously with such a Creator, there is also a complicated and ancient structure of religion, inherited, static, and unchanging which, like a dam, would hold back the flood of men’s progress in science and society.

For a Bahá’í neither one of these positions is acceptable, for neither of them seems to him realistic or in conformity with the facts which surround us.

Here is a universe infinitely vast, functioning by laws of design, motion, and rhythm; by patterns which recur in infinite order and complexity, sun and atom, large and small,—-—existing without man’s aid and beyond the scope of his understanding. To ascribe all this to accident must indeed stretch the imagina 200

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tion! As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Son of the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote to Dr. ”Forel, a Swiss scientist; “The wise and reflecting will know of a certainty that this infinite universe with all its grandeur and (perfect) order could not have come to exist by itself . . . Motion without a motive force, and an effect without a cause are both impossible . . . (A) process of causation goes on, and to maintain that this process goes on indefinitely is manifestly absurd . . . (It) must of necessity lead eventually to Him who is . . . the All-powerful . . . and the Ultimate Cause . . .”

For the Bahá’í, as for Emerson, God exists! It is the primary truth of life and creation. But by this we do not mean the God created by man in his own image, a God who changes with the times, reflecting merely the capacity and customs of a people. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, “God . . . should be realized as the one power which animates and dominates all things, which are but manifestations of its energy.”

Beyond this realization, the awareness that a Creator exists, no man can go. To conceive for God a form or shape, a place, or any absolute qualities, is to build up a product of human fantasy and invention. For the part can never understand the whole, nor the created comprehend its Crea 201

tor. To a Bahá’í the nature, the reality of God is great and good beyond our comprehension.

In this the Faith agrees with a view expressed by Professor Einstein: “It is enough for me,” he said, “to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature . . .”

Yet, must we stop here? Is this the limit of our understanding? Shall man, Whose distinctive power is his intellect, be thwarted upon the very threshold of discovery? And what usefulness could there be in a belief which, if it were to stop at this point, would have to be described as vague and nebulous?

It is to this crucial area of human experience, the point at which man makes contact with his Creator, that the Bahá’í Faith brings its most valid contribution, which, if it be generally understood and accepted, will transform the lives of our generation and readjust their world wide relationships.

Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of this Faith, has said in a cryptic and challenging sentence: “The root of all knowledge is the knowledge' of God, but this is impos [Page 202]

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sihle save through His Manifestation.” It is in this sentence that we touch the very heart of Bahá’u’lláh’s message, for the principle or creative law which it contains is the distinctive and wholesome basis of His teaching. We Bahá’ís call it the law of progressive Revelation, the law that, at significant periods of humanity’s need and development, the Prophets of God have always appeared and will always appear throughout the evolving course of history. That there is a periodic appearance of those who announce themselves to be God’s Messengers is, we believe, thoroughly substantiated by the record. The fact that Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster or Muhammad lived and taught is verified and undeniable. Their transforming effect upon the lives of millions of followers is equally authenticated. The primary and unparalleled influence of Christ, as the exemplar and the impetus for centuries of Western culture, must be vividly appreciated by anyone who takes the time to consider it.

Here, in the lives of these unique and peerless Figures, some of whom I have named, we may, if we wish, study at first hand the purposes and achievements of those whom Bahá’u’lláh has called Divine Educators. Like mountain peaks they rise above the horizon of history, nor

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can any individual be found to equal them in all the ranks of mankind’s most distinguished and acknowledged leaders. With Whom shall we compare them? Certainly not with military or political leaders, no, not even with artists and philosophers. For in Bahá’u’lláh’s words: “Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth . . . in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His

Glory.”

Bahá’u’lláh has unfolded a tremendous vista. He has shown us the basic law of society’s progression. Like the eternal recurrence of spring to our planet, on which we may rely no matter how severe or prolonged the winter—just so, in the life of mankind,. the great cycles are repeated. Like the spring, summer, the fruition in harvest, fall, and winter ——the cycles of civilization are born, flourish, decline, and are renewed. And just as the purposes of God are fulfilled in this physical universe, which derives its very energy and life from the central orb of the siln,——in the same manner humanity is sustained and revitalized by the central orb of the spiritual sun of

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God’s creative purpose, through the eternal reappearance of a power for which we have no better names than those which Christ gave it; the Holy Spirit, the Word of God.

The basic law which Bahá’u’lláh has revealed is simply this: that from age to age, in periods of about one thousand years, this Divine Power, this Word of God, is renewed among men. And this is accomplished through the person of a human being who becomes the Mouthpiece and the Messenger of God.

While in San Francisco in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave this explanation in His talk at Temple Emanuel. I quote: “What then is the mission of the divine prophets? Their mission is the education and advancement of the world of humanity. They are the real teachers . . . . the universal instructors of mankind. If we wish to discover whether any of these great souls or messengers was in reality a prophet of God we must investigate the facts surrounding his life and history; and the first point of our investigation will be the education he bestowed upon mankind. If he has been an educator, if he has really trained a nation or people, causing it to rise from the lowest depths of ignorance to the highest station of knowledge, then we are sure that he was a prophet. This

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is a plain and clear method of procedure, proof that is irrefutable. We do not need to seek after other proofs.”

Today we live at the culmination of an age-long evolution. We stand on the threshold of new and immense development. Surely, this is the hour for a renewed vision, and for a mature application of enduring spiritual principles to the complex and worldwide problems which we face.

Bahá’ís believe that the laws of God do not fail. The hour of need is the hour of fulfillment. Through Bahá’u’lláh, the Glory of God, as through all the Messengers of the past, God has once again revealed His purpose and reneWed His power for the guidance of mankind.

In the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: . . . “The medieval ages of darkness have passed away and this century of radiance has dawned. . . . Shall we remain steeped in our fanaticisms and cling to our prejudices? . . . Is it not preferable to enjoy feIIOWShip and unity; join in . . . praise to the most high God and extol all His prophets in the spirit of acceptance and true vision? Then indeed this world Will become a

paradise and the promised Day of God will dawn.” '

Talk on Radio Station KYA, April 16. 1944.

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INTO the history of man, some times in our lifetime, and sometimes years removed, but recorded for our fascinated study, come rare and heroic moments. And in one of those moments may be heard a voice which speaks into the blackness of a manmade night to describe the wonders of a day just breaking.

Such a voice was Abraham’s, calling a pagan people to the worship of one God; such a voice was heard when the Christ spoke of brotherly love in the Roman-controlled, hatedominated country of Palestine; or when Muhammad called out across the wilderness of Arabia for men to forsake the idols of their fathers, to offer allegiance and devotion to the one true God.

These were magic moments, and they have passed into history now. But the cycle of day and night and dawn continues, and man continues to need someone to point the way, to herald the day. It usually happens that when someone does voice the unuttered hopes of humanity, most of his hearers turn in violent scorn to persecute him, exile him, imprison

or kill him.

Throughout our history there are men who stand out as the bringers of light, as the ones who break the dawn of the new day. They work out of chaos and superstition into orderliness and intelligent thinking. They are the men who speak of things almost foreign to us—so far away from a consideration of things spir itual have we grown. Just at dawn on the 29th day of May in the year 1892, there died at

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BREAKERS OF THE DAWN

SALLY SANOR

‘Akká, Palestine, at the foot of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land, an exile of Persia, a political prisoner of Turkey.

Nothing unusual happened that day; no great cataclysmic phenomenon of nature occurred. This prisoner had had a fever for many days, and he knew it would he a matter of a short time before he left his family, his friends, his prison wardens and this earth. It was a quiet time; and the grief of those he left was a deep, endless, quiet grief.

The world was getting ready for the new century, and it did not notice so small a thing as the death of a Persian exile. And that was the way it happened; that was the way Mirzá Husayn ‘Ali, titled Bahá’u’lláh, died. Oh, a number of important people went to the funeral, but no urgent, hysterical word flashed out to the

world that a prophet of God had left the world of humanity.

It was simple. A very old man of seventy-five years had lived, had made a momentous declaration, had been put away safely in prison, and, at last, had died.

His life had been one of torture and pain, but He wrote of beauty and love. His concern was for all of humanity, but He was kept isolated from the world. He loved flowers and the fresh green of trees, but his home was a bare prison cell.

He was an exile, but His countrymen set out across the desert wastes to gain no more than a wave of a hand from a window of the prison fortress.

It all began in Persia, just after

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sunset on the 23rd of May in 1844, when a young man said “I am the Bab, the Gate to a new day approaching”, when this youth of twenty-five said “I am the Primal Point, the Herald of One Whom God will make manifest in the fullness of time.”

The world was listening for a voice at that time, but this youth spoke in a foreign tongue, and the Englishspeaking peoples could not understand; this youth spoke of love of all men for all men, and the peoples of the world had established too well their institutions of hate.

So the government had Him shot in order to eliminate the trouble He was causing. Trouble? Well, I suppose it was; He spoke of brotherhood and love. Even now that doctrine is in disrepute. So he was shot. But the Gate through which the truth of God must pass had been flung open.

That was in 1850, and the herald of the dawn was gone. His body was thrown out for the animals to eat, but His words rang clearly across the countries of the Near East. “The time is fast approaching for the advent of Him whom God will make manifest.”

In 1863 came the declaration that the time had come, that the Promised One lived. This was the prisoner, Bahá’u’lláh. This was a man born a nobleman, living as an exile, claiming the position of King of Kings. This was a man kept isolated from the World by two great sovereigns, but who so influenced a changing world that the sun shines forever on lands where men find a new name on their lips, the name Bahá’u’lláh.

From this prison He wrote to the kings and rulers of the earth, entreating them to awaken from their sleep, to busy themselves in preparation for

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the new day. In His prison room He wrote of the establishment of peace in the world, of the necessity for a world court, for an international police force, for the elimination of those prejudices which so haunt our lives.

Inside this prison, three quarters of a century ago, this exile having no contact with the outside world, having no discussions with men of scientific background, living in isolation without the benefit of conferences with men of political vision, this prisoner wrote of an international auxiliary language to promote the understanding and the unity of the peoples of the world. He wrote of a broader citizenship in a world evolving from a nationalistic narrowness into an international unit. He wrote of the vital importance of compulsory education throughout the body of humanity.

Outside this prison, the world was unaware of the prisoner who demanded a devotion such as that which the disciples gave to Christ, such as that which emperors sigh for in vain. Outside this prison, though, the world became slowly aware of a new force in the world. In America a war was fought to establish the germ of a new idea of human freedom; in Russia a system of serfdom was abolished; in South America new republics grew and cast off their role of dependence; in England a literature spoke of economic freedom. The whole of the physical world changed its shape. Ships sailed under the seas, and voices spoke through an ocean. Airplanes filled the skies, and miles became hours.

New words and phrases swept over the prison walls and found their way into the speech of men—words and

phrases such as “world citizen”, “one

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race—human”, “interdependence of nations”, “oneness”, “world peace”.

When the prisoner died, the world was unaware that He had written that men must, 'by their own volition, evolve into the international pattern as provided in the plan of God. But fifty-three years later, the force of events gathered together the representatives of fifty-one nations to plan a charter which would attempt to establish a world unit—peace in that unit —a peace fortified by a world court and education.

He wrote of many things, this man who called himself Prophet. He wrote always toward the core of unity and peace. He explained many things which had been holding men apart for so long. For instance, He said there was only one religion—the religion of God, which has been revealed in progressive steps during the life of man—-and with this, He erased forever any reason for the separation of man on the grounds of religion. He stated that the teachings of these men of religion had varied only in the application of those principles which associate a broader vision to the constantly evolving social consciousness of the body of humanity.

And the men who believe in Him, who call themselves Bahá’ís, hold a greater reverence for these prophets of Cod—these men who promulgated the same spiritual truths, whether they used a Hebrew, an Arabic, or a Persian language for their medium of communication—a greater reverence than those who profess loyalty to the institutional narrowness of a sect of the larger message.

He was a rare man, this exile of ‘Akká. He explained the mysteries which men had conjured up, and then He said that in the end one must

find out for himself whether or not what He had said was true.

He looked upon all men with such great love that He charmed His prison guards and it was necessary to change them frequently.

He was a guest of the world during the years 1817 to 1892. His host was most unwilling and ungracious. His voice spoke the forgotten words of brotherhood and love, but He was called a stirrer up of strife. His song was the song of peace—and He was exiled and imprisoned. He repeated to the weary world of man the spiritual principles of Christ and Muhammad. So they tried to still His voice in the penal colony of ‘Akká, where they sent the most dangerous of criminals, where conditions were so bad, they say, that birds flying over fell dead. And He planted here a seed of love and flowers—and turned the wastes of ‘Akká into a garden of beauty.

When He died on that May morning, the most of the earth greeted this great day of sorrow unaware that He had lived, unmoved that He had died.

The world of humanity looks now to find the dawn of a new day. It struggles painfully and violently in the blackness of a night of unrest and suspicion and hate. Men die for ideals which are unstable and temporal. Men starve while their brothers feast upon the fruit of the land. Bullets fashioned by fathers speed to rest in the hearts of sons.

In the darkness of this night of fear, the voice of the world calls out for the dawn—for the new day.

And Bahá’ís say, “The daWn is here. The night has given way to a brilliant dawn which heralds the brightest day the world has ever known.”

[Page 207]——-&lztorzal’ l Heroism l

HE modern western world has little taste for the kind of heroism which produces martyrs. For nearly eighteen hundred years there has been no cause compelling enough to justify martyrdom. At one time, Christianity was such a cause. The vision of love and unselfishness which Christ gave was in such contrast to the materialism and selfishness of the Hebrew and Roman worlds that His followers were willing to give their lives for the Faith He gave them. Torture and death could not overbalance the exaltation of spirit which the Faith of Christ gave to His followers.

Today the same spirit can be found in the followers of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. The knowledge that God has once again sent His representatives among men to guide them to more abundant life was sufficient to fire the enthusiasm of those who were able to recognize the signs. The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh gave to Their followers a lofty purpose, the bringing of all the races, nations, and creeds of the world into harmony and the building of a civilization dedicated to obedience to God and service to fellow-man. Such

a purpose demands complete loyalty, and Bahá’ís are unhesitating in giving that loyalty. Western Bahá’ís are conscious of the spirit of the Báb, who, at the death of His infant son, prayed, “O my God, my only Desire! Grant that the sacrifice of my son, my only son, may be acceptable unto Thee. Grant that it may he a prelude to the sacrifice of my own, my entire self in the path of Thy good pleasure.” And who, after devoting Himself to giving the teachings revealed to Him, was martyred in Tabríz. They hear the words of Bahá’u’lláh who instructed His followers: “O Son of Man! Ponder and reflect. Is it thy wish to die upon thy bed, or to shed thy lifeblood on the dust, a martyr in My path, and so become the manifestation of My command and the revealer of My light in the highest paradise? Judge thou aright, O servant.” These Bahá’ís think humbly of the many thousands of Persian believers who gave their lives during this last century rather than denounce their Faith. The stories of the singleness of purpose, the heroism, and the joy with which these martyrs lived and died must cause those

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of us Bahá’ís who live in safety to search ourselves. If we were faced with the choice at this very moment between life without the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and death, would we betray the message of God for today? Most of us would like to think that we, too, would stand firm.

In declaring that we would be martyrs if necessary, are we not now giving our lives, dedicating ourselves to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh? From this moment hence, should not all our energy be directed toward obedience to His command, toward worship of God, toward the bringing about of the Kingdom of God for which we have all prayed?

To live so that we never compromise with the irreligion, the hate, the bigotry, or the selfishness of the times requires a new heroism. We must be alert to every opportunity to serve. We must avoid every unworthy thought, every wayward emotion. We must meet every temptation to disobey, to do less than our best, to fail a responsibility with the thought that we would give our lives if necessary, how much easier is this lesser sacrifice, this smaller service. We must never falter nor hold back.

Moreover, we must be filled with such overwhelming love and

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faith that we become like those described by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “These shall labor ceaselessly by day and by night, shall heed neither trial nor woe, shall suffer no respite in their efforts, shall seek no repose, shall disregard all ease and comfort, and, detached and unsullied, shall consecrate every fleeting moment of their lives to the difiusion of the divine fragrance and the exaltation of God’s holy Word. Their faces will radiate the heavenly gladness, and their hearts be filled with joy. Their souls will be inspired and their foundation stand secure. They shall scatter in the world, and travel throughout all regions. They shall raise their voices in every assembly and adorn and revive every gathering. They shall speak in every tongue and interpret every hidden meaning. They shall reveal the mysteries of the kingdom and manifest unto everyone the signs of God. They shall burn brightly in every assembly, and beam forth as a star on every horizon. The gentle breeze waited from the garden of their hearts shall perfume the souls of men, and the revelations of their minds, even as showers, reinvigorate the peoples and nations of

the world.” —E. S. H.

[Page 209]Lady of Tapada, Lady of Lima

EVE B. NICKLIN

Balconies and jasmine-scented patios sound well in poetry and song, but they spelled boredom to women of Lima, Peru. Yeaming to be free of narrow confines within garden walls the first women of Lima started the custom of tapada. Today, the Lady of the Tapada is only a quaint design for silver teaspoons, a brooch, a silver hell, yet, tapada is a symbol, I believe, of the Limenas’ longing for freedom.

From the sixteenth century to the first part of the nineteenth century the Lady of the Tapada was very real indeed. According to Ricardo Palma, early writer of Peruvian traditions, it is difficult to place the exact date of the beginning of the saya (skirt) and manto (veil) of the tapada. We know that it was the typical dress of the Limenas used in'the colonial period, and during the early years of the republic. It never appared in any other part of Europe, springing up spontaneously in Lima as a mushroom in a garden. In January 18, 1535, Lima’s female population did not exceed ten women, all

émigrées from Spain. It was from these ten women that the fashion

sprung, and no one disputes the primacy of this exclusive vogue among Limenan women. Strangely enough, the style did not spread out from the city, not even to Callao, the port of entrance two miles away.

When Limenas wore this dress no one could recognize them, not even the most protective husbands and fathers. Early poets declared that with the saya and manto one girl looked as like another as two drops of rain or two violets.

The saya was usually of a deep blue or black. The manto was formed of a large square of black silk. One end of the square was placed at the back of the belt and tied in front. The other end was brought up over the back of the head and down to the waist; held there with one neatly gloved hand. Only one eye was visible, the left one.

The word tapada is derived from the verb, to conceal or to cover. It was for this reason that the Mexican women baptised the Limenas “Las Enfundadas,” the cover all. The citizens of Lima nicknamed their women The Tapadas. Women who would not

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have dared venture out without chaperone could sally forth for a paseo safely behind their veils. There seemed to be one law, however, that kept the tapada under control. After vespers at seventhirty, police regulations prohibited any women appearing on the street dressed in her saya and manto.

Most foreigners who married Limenas disliked the custom that muffled their wives in veils, and stipulated that they no longer wear them. The ladies agreed readily enough at the time of the engagement, but whether or not it was faithfully carried out we do not know. One can be sure, though, that the women of Lima never willingly renounced the tapada when the wearing of it meant their freedom.

The men of Lima were not without protest, however. The count Nieva (fourth Viceroy of Peru) as well as other Viceroys, dictated laws against the use of tapada. But who was a mere man, even a Viceroy, to legislate against women’s fashions?

At one time, though, it seemed as if the tapada was surely doomed because the church took it in hand. It claimed that many sins were committed because of this “mischievous dress”. Hear ing of this, the capricious Limenas began a conspiracy among themselves, including even the beautiful Dona Teresa, favorite of the court. The conspiracy was naive enough, for the women sim ply neglected their men and their homes. The result was that the church meeting was postponed, the tapada was not abolished, and the Limenas Victoriously declared, “Business postponed is business won.” Husbands were again in favor, homes were no longer neglected, and order reigned again over the city of Lima. It is reported that a wise bishop said, “You meddle in their business and you’ll see how far the water reaches you.”

Time and French fashions proved more powerful than viceroy and church, for after 1850 the saya and manto were discarded, and my Lady of Lima came out from behind her veils.

The young women of Lima are still seeking freedom—a freedom of the spirit. Bahá’í young women of Peru number no more than those first Limenas who started so strange a custom to gain a little liberty of action beyond their patios. These women of today have a finer motive for freedom, and their influence will be farther reaching. They are

[Page 211]LADY OF TAPADA 211

seeking the freedom of all womanhood and manhood from superstition and blind imitation, so that they may discern truth with their own eyes. They are seeking equality with men; yet not dominance, but rather a voice in the kind of government and education that will insure stability for their future families. It is a partnership they want in the building of a better world. Bahá’í young men of Lima, Peru, recognize these ideals as the only foundation for horne, country and world.

These young men and women with the help of interested friends have formed a Universal Friendship Club-—a workshop to put into practice some of their ideas.

The administrative functions of the club embody the plan of

equality not only of men and women but of all races and nationalities. The cultural chairman is a Bahá’í young woman, and she with the help of the honorary president, is in charge of a course of study in human relationships. The secretary of the club is keeping an attractive album of questions and answers under discussion—such questions concerning preparation for life partners and parent-child education. The secretary is also an artist and is painting a representa tive cover page of a young man and woman holding the reins of responsibility. On the inside cover page are the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “The liberty that profiteth you is to be found nowhere except in complete servitude unto God, the Eternal Truth. Whoso hath tasted of its sweetness will refuse to barter it for all the dominion of earth and heaven.”

The club also participates in such activities as social service. In December, 1945 they contributed clothing to European children. The young men bought the wool and the young women

knitted sweaters, dresses and other warm articles of clothing.

A donation was made to help the children of their own city as well.

The chairman of the press committee sponsors a magazine which fosters friendship, and publishes poetry, short stories, articles, songs, cross-word puzzles, and in teresting photography—talent of the members and their friends. It

is financed by advertisements of leading firms and factories.

No group is complete without time for recreation. Small dances are held at the Bahá’í Center, picnics to the mountains, and swimming parties at the beach. In a country where coeducation is not permitted in schools, these get i! i ’1 3 i i

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togethers for young men and women of high ideals is an op portunity to plan, work and play together in a natural, normal way. On a recent excursion into the apple country of Peru we were guests of the owner of an hacienda. This man who had spent ten years in the United States, three of them at Columbia University, had returned to his people to help the peons improve farming methods. After lunch, seated in the grape arbor, there was an opportunity to tell of the

Bahá’í way of life. He exclaimed,

“Why, that is the way I think, and that is the way I do.” With whole-hearted zest he accepted our invitation to come to Lima and attend the Saturday Bahá’í

Charlas which are conducted by the difi‘erent members of the

Bahá’í Community, and also to visit the Wednesday fellowship meetings of the Universal Friend ship Club.

The chairman of the International Committee, one of the first declared Bahá’í believers, is responsible for getting so many young people together. He corresponds with interested friends in other countries, and also welcomes visitors to Lima, Peru. Because Lima is a stop-over for per WORLD ORDER

sons enroute to other countries, the Universal Friendship Club has the privilege of meeting many interesting men and women of other lands. The visitors have brought us messages of goodwill and taken away with them our sincere friendship. It has proved a high adventure in warm understanding.

When you come to Lima, Peru, visit the silver shops and buy a Tapada Lady, most typical of all souvenirs of Lima. Visit,’ also,

the Bahá’í Center—meet the

young woman of today, the Lady of Lima. Learn of her courage in

standing bravely for her ideals in home and community against ridicule and opposition. Meet the young men who salute her, the Lady of Lima:

“Lady Of Tapada, looking out from behind your veil, provocatively, you belong only to the past upon a painted postal card, or on a silver designed brooch to decorate the modern woman’s dress. Lady of Tapada, make way for the free woman of today who holds no veils before her face—Lady of Lima, in equality she walks hand in hand with man, heart with heart, mind with mind planning together a world happiness.”

[Page 213]The Rank-and-File Bahá’í

GERTRUDE SCHURGAST

“T he souls who followed Bahá’u’lláh from every nation have become as one family living in agreement and accord, willing to sacrifice life for each other.” ‘ABDU’L-BAHA

HEY are just plain people

like you and me, these‘

Bahá’ís of the rank-and-file, the

nameless ones whose praise is never sung. They are the GI 1063 of the Bahá’í Faith, and they too are indispensable for victory. God alone knows how much each one of them contributes to it. Some there are, of course, who hide behind the “rank-and-file” to say: “What in the world can I do? I am not a great teacher, not a brilliant speaker, I have no forceful personality; nor do I have any special ability or talent. How can I serve?” So they don’t.

The woman I met the other day was not one of this type. She was a plain woman all right, a humble soul. She had been brought up in a strict church, always had been a staunch adherent to it, up to the moment when she received the call of God.

Her heart told her this was the real thing; but how unhappy she was at first! There were her old church, her lifelong friends. And yet she had to find out; she had to be sure. So she began to read

213

Bahá’í books, she disobeyed those strict church rules for the first time; one of them was never to attend any other church service, not even a lecture. She went to Bahá’í meetings. She convinced herself that this was the call of God. Then she told her family about it, her husband, her children, even her grandchildren. They all became Bahá’ís.

That was when her church ousted her, proclaimed her officially a follower of the Antichrist and her children the innocent victims of the devil. Her former friends, when they met her, looked the other way. One of them died, and she meant to pay a last tribute by going to the funeral; she stepped into a vacuum. She cried and prayed and cried again. And then a great assurance came over her. There was nothing wrong in what she had done. The Christ, not the one in her former church, but the one in her own heart, He Himself nodded approval. And she was no longer lonely. For the friends she had lost, she gained new ones.

Besides there was work to be done. First of all, teaching work. “Upon every participator in this concerted effort,” she read in

[Page 214]

-*ni_.~__‘_mw- . «‘4‘.»,w.*__‘__.____-wx...l.,...__~_..;:.h

214 WORLD ORDER

Shoghi Effendi’s book The Advent of Divine Justice, “unprecedented in the annals of the American Bahá’í community rests the spiritual obligation to make of the mandate of teaching so vitally binding upon all, the all-pervading concern of his life. In his daily activities and contacts, in all his journeys, . . . on his holidays and outings, and on any mission he may be called upon to undertake, every bearer of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh should consider it not only an obligation but a privilege to scatter far and wide the seeds of His Faith, and to rest content in the abiding knowledge that whatever he the immediate response to that Message, and however inadequate the vehicle that conveyed it, the power of its Author will, as He sees fit, enable those seeds to germinate . . . .”

There was a public lecture given by a famous Rabbi in town. She went. All through the talk she thought of a certain Bahá’í book she should give the speaker. When he had finished, she saw him standing there on the platform, surrounded by prominent people. “You cannot go up there,” a fearful voice within her whispered, “you with your eighth grade education”. Sadly she turned away, mechanically followed the crowd out of the hall, out of the building. Halfway

down the street something suddenly compelled her to turn back. The crowd had thinned out by then. A man came walking down he steps alone. It was the

Rabbi.

“Oh,” she told him breathlessly, “I had to tell you how impressed I was by your talk. We Bahá’ís too believe in the brotherhood of man.”

“Bahá’í?” he said, “you say you are a Bahá’í?” He beamed; putting his hand on her shoulder. “I have seen your beautiful Temple in Chicago, you know.”

“May I bring you a Bahá’í book I know you would enjoy?” she asked.

“By all means,” he answered, and so she did.

But there were other ways, too, to express her great overflowing love. More humble ways. There was the cleaning of their Bahá’í Center to be done; she did it. There was some fruit to be canned for her children who were pioneering, some ninety quarts; she did it. A fire broke out in one of the friends’ house. It looked horrible, all black and sooty and dripping with water. There was only one thing to he done; clean it. She did that, too.

And so it goes day after day; always some work claims her, some friend needs her help, be it nursing a sick one or comforting a grief-stricken one. They all

[Page 215]RANK-AND-FILE BAHA’I’ 215

turn to her, and she is always ready for them.

No, I had never heard about her or read about her. I just happened to Visit with her the other day when she served a delicious dinner to a Bahá’í Committee that was meeting in her town. The whole community helped; for we were twenty-seven in all. Later on, she housed four of us; she and her husband went to the basement to sleep. I asked her why she went to so much trouble. “It’s purely selfish,” she answered simply. “My house is blessed by the presence of Bahá’ís.”

“Sometimes,” she told me,” I give the Message to some of my patients”. I looked blank. “Oh,” she explained lightly, “Every so often a doctor calls me to his priVate hospital at night to take care of patients he has operated on.

The money,” she added smilingly, “comes in handy for the Cause too.”

“Where do you get all your strength and energy,” I asked her.

“You wouldn’t believe it, would you,” she said gaily, “that I have had ten operations?”

I just shook my head. “Aren’t the other friends a little jealous of you sometimes,” I asked, “because they may not be working quite so hard?”

“Well, they are all swell,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s true, they criticize me a little. But you know,” she added, “it’s all right, because whatever anybody says, I always take the blame. That keeps us all happy.” '

So spoke my friend, a rankand -file Bahá’í, a quiet, dynamic example of complete dedication

to God.

In the love of God you must become distinguished from all else. You must become distinguished for loving humanity; for unity and accord; for love and justice. In brief, you must become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world; for faithfulness and sincerity; for justice and fidelity; for firmness and steadfastness; for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world; for love toward every "human being; for unity and accord with all people; for removing prejudices and promoting international peace. Finally, you must become distinguished for heavenly illumination and acquiring the destowals of God. I desire this distinction for you. This must be the point of

distinction among you.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHA

[Page 216]

Mandalay

SYDNEY SPRAGUE

ARRIVED in this city, together with my ever faithful

companion, Mirzá Mahram, the first week of April. Here I spent six pleasant weeks. I lived among the native Burmans, and the simple and primitive way of living appealed greatly to me. The whole life of the people is passed out-of-doors: men, women, children, goats, chickens, all together ——the children running about naked. Of a morning I would look out of the window of my little bamboo hut among the trees, and see the Women cooking dinner, and the men weaving silk at very primitive looms. Then, in the evening, they would sit out under the luminous stars, while one would play a weird, appealing air on a rude pipe, and very happy and contented they all seemed. How complicated we make our lives, what slaves we are compared with these people! “Not what we are, but what we shall be thought,” is the question with us. Everything with us must be bought for a price, there all is free as God meant it to be.

The Bahá’ís number several hundreds in Mandalay and are nearly all native Burmans, and a very gentle, kindly race of people they are.

In Rangoon the Bahá’ís are drawn from all classes, and some had had excellent educations. There were doctors, lawyers, and employes in the English government among them. In Mandalay, the larger number of believers are drawn from the silk weavers, and few of them could speak English, though all the children are brought up to do so.

While I was in Mandalay, plans were being drawn up to build a Bahá’í school for the children. The idea is to build a meeting place and school in one. At present the meetings are held in a private house, that of a Burmese widow where I was staying. The room is much too small for the large number who congregate together twice a week, so those who cannot find room in the house hold a meeting out-ofdoors. In these meetings the women took part; this was not the case in Bombay and Rangoon where the conditions are diflerent, but in Mandalay the Buddhist women have always been accustomed to a good deal of liberty and freedom, and now that they have become Bahá’ís they naturally do not abandon that, and their Muhammadan sisters who have also become Ba 216

[Page 217]MANDALAY 217

ha’is are only too glad to enjoy their freedom with them.

There are some impatient reformers who have said to me: “I thought the Bahá’í Movement was going to improve the condition of Oriental women, but I do not see that it has.” Such people must remember that the emancipation of women in the Orient is the most difficult of all reforms to bring about, because of the deep-rooted prejudices that exist. It is a thing that can only be done very gradually. This reform has a prominent place in the Bahá’í program, but were the Oriental Bahá’í women suddenly to throw aside their veils and mingle freely in the world, it would simply stir up enmity and scandal and do more harm than good to their cause.

Bahá’u’lláh has made a law that every girl should be educated as well as every boy. When the Oriental women are sufficiently educated and know what to do with their liberty, then, and only then, should they be emancipated. However, the meeting of Muhammadan and Buddhist women with the men in Mandalay is an answer and proof to all, that this will be the condition of affairs in the future, and that woman shall finally come into her own.

The children, boys and girls of all ages, also take part in

these meetings. They squat on the floor, their hands folded, listening attentively, a good model for some of our restless Western children; the women in their light pink and blue and, green silk robes, their immaculate coiffure, usually crowned with wreaths of white roses, their delicate Japanese type of beauty, made a very pretty picture. The men were dressed in the native silk shirt and white flowing jackets, and silk turbans around their heads. After chanting the Tablets,‘ someone would give a little talk in Burmese. I often addressed them through an interpreter, and it was inspiring to see their radiant spiritual faces turned to me. The meeting ended with tea and cakes being served, and then the pretty custom of children going round with haskets full of flowers and giving handfuls of roses and jasmine to each other. I doubt if any meetings in any other part of the world could be more impressive than these. The meetings of the early Christian Church must have been like this before religion became cold and formal and fashionable.

A remarkable testimony to the unity and harmony existing among these Mandalay Bahá’ís was once given by a Muhammadan. There was a convention of Muhammadans from different

i w l I !l g;

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cities meeting in Mandalay, and certain matters were discussed which ended in angry disputing among them. Finally a prominent Muhammadan got up and said: “I wonder why it is that we Muhammadans can never get together without coming to blows, while the Bahá’í company has lived for years in the greatest peace and harmony, although they come from many different sects.” Of course no one could answer him, but his question must have given them much food for thought.

In spite of this beautiful love, there is much animosity and 0pposition displayed against the Bahá’ís by the other religions in Mandalay. It is a common saying that it is only necessary to go to one Bahá’í meeting to become a Bahá’í, so the greatest effort is made by religious leaders to keep their flocks from attending the meetings at all. Great anger was kindled against my Persian friend, Mirzá Mahram, some five years ago, because of his remarkable success in con r’r

verting people to the Baha 1

Faith. Finally some of the Muhammadans and Buddhists decided that they would make him leave the city or threaten his life if he refused. A band of hoodlums gathered together one evening and with sticks and stones proceeded to march to Mirzá

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Mahram’s house. When they reached it they found him waiting calmly to receive them. He spoke gently to them, but firmly refused to leave Mandalay. How he would have fared at the hands of the infuriated mob it is easy to imagine if a detachment of English soldiers had not arrived in time to keep order. The officer in command advanced towards Mirza Mahram and addressed him angrily: “What did he mean by creating all this disturbance in Mandalay? Why did he come to preach some heretical schism and so anger the population?” Mirzá Mahram explained to him that he was only doing what the early Christian teachers did when they were accused of the same things that he was now being accused of, and he went on then to explain the true mission of the Bahá’í Faith, which so impressed the officer that his whole manner changed, and he held out his hand genially, saying: “There is nothing to find fault with in these teachings; if you get into any new trouble you have a friend in me, and I will order a special detachment of police to protect your house.”

“I thank you,” replied Mirzá Mahram, “but I do not wish for any protection, I have a Higher Protector than even the English government.” However the ofl‘ic cer insisted on placing his men

[Page 219]MANDALAY

around the house to preserve order, and they remained there several days. No more open attacks were made by the populace hostile to the Bahá’í Faith, but often some malicious hand would hurl a stone at some passing Bahá’í. During my stay in Mandalay I was never allowed to go out without some Bahá’í with me, for they feared some injury might befall me.

There is a statement which nearly all western writers on Oriental affairs make—-it is this, that the Oriental has no idea of truth or honesty as we conceive of them in the Occident. I have not seen enough of Orientals in general to either accept or refute this statement, but among the Oriental Bahá’ís whom I did know well I found a sense of integrity and honor often higher than I have found in America or in Europe, as the following incident will show.

One very hot afternoon a young Bahá’í walked to the post office, a distance of over two miles, to get some stamps for me. On his return he gave me the stamps and then said: “Now I must go back again.”

“But why?” I said, “Surely on so hot a day you don’t want to take that long walk again?” “The man at the post office has given me four annas too much,” he replied, “I must return it at once.”

219

Towards the end of my stay in Mandalay, I received a letter from my old friend and brother Bahá’í, M. D , of Paris, stating that he had arrived in Bombay and would soon join me in Mandalay. It was pleasant meeting him again and receiving news from the home circle of Bahá’ís. I say home circle, for it was in Paris that I first became attracted to the Bahá’í Cause. I found D—————, as enthusiastic as I had been over the splendid reception given in Bombay and Rangoon. We stayed nearly a week in Mandalay, he also being a guest of the Widow Mong Taw. I remember how amused D , was that he could never get a glimpse of her. With all that sense of politeness which the Frenchmen possess, he insisted that he must see his hostess to thank her for her hospitality. But the widow could never be found. The most attractive and wellcooked meals were sent to us from somewhere, and everything was kept in perfect order, but the widow remained invisible.’ D—————, began to think she was some mysterious being who had no earthly existence; when, the day before our departure, some friends brought her to see us she seemed much embarrassed, and on D———-—, thanking her profusely she said: “But I have done nothing at all; you would

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do the same for me if I came to see you.”

We had interesting talks with Buddhists and members of the Arya-Samaj, who invited us to speak at one of their meetings. The Arya-Samaj is a society recently started among the Hindus, and attempts to draw them altogether away from idolatry and give them a Unitarian form of

faith.

D , Mirza Mahram, and myself, with perhaps a Buddhist and a Muhammadan Bahá’í, used to take walks through the streets of Mandalay, naturally attracting much attention, for it is not a usual sight in the Orient to see people in Christian, Muhammadan, and Buddhist dress walking together chatting and laughing in a friendly manner. I remember one day when we were walking with a certain doctor, M. ‘Ali, a devoted Bahá’í, a man of position and much respected, that we passed a group of Muhammadans standing at a corner; they beckoned to him and asked

'him who the Sahibs were he was walking with. “The venerable old gentleman is a Persian, born a Shi‘ih Muhammadan”, he said; “one of the two men in European clothes is a Frenchman, born a Jew; the other, an American, born a Christian; while I, as you know, was born a Sunni Muham madan. We have all laid aside

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the old names,” he went on, “which once divided us, and we have become united and are friends and brothers through the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.”

This striking and visible example of Bahá’í unity made a great impression on these Muhammadans, as I am certain it did on many others. It became noised abroad that an unheard of miracle had taken place. A Muhammadan, a Jew, and a Christian, had joined hands and were all teaching the same thing.

If those who read these lines could only realize what animosity exists between the different sects of Islam, such as the Shi‘ih and Sunni, which corresponds to the feeling between Roman Catholics and Protestant Christians in Western countries, they would realize how difficult it is to weld even these sects into one. Then, indeed, would they marvel at the power of the Bahá’í movement, which has done not only this, but has gathered into one fold people of every creed known on the face of the earth.

Our departure from Mandalay was the occasion of a scene which will always remain in my memory. It was a worthy climax to the many wonderful experiences I have been having in India. We, that is to say, Mirzá Mahram, D , and myself, were to leave by the boat which left at

[Page 221]MANDALAY 221

the earliest streak of dawn. We had heard much of the beauties of the Irrawaddy River, and were anxious to return to Rangoon that way. On the eve of our departure, a farewell meeting was held. Every room in the house was full, and the crowd overflowed into the garden. After D , and I had spoken a few words of farewell, an aged Burman, the oldest Bahá’í in Mandalay, arose, and with a voice that shook with emotion, made a most touching and beautiful speech. He told us what our coming had meant to all of them, how much they appreciated our visit, and he spoke of the barrier that had always existed between East and West, which was partly their fault as well as the fault of the English who governed them. He thanked God that he had lived to see the day when, through the manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh, their hearts in the Orient, in far away Mandalay, had been united by so wonderful a love to the hearts of their Western brothers in Europe and America.

By this time, although it was after midnight, the whole assembly, men, women and children, insisted on coming with us to the steamer. Some mistake had been made in ordering the carriages for us, and there were none to be

found. “We will all walk,” they cried—the distance was over two miles. We started off, a curious and picturesque procession. The light of a full moon made it almost as clear as day, and the bright silk robes of the Burmans shimmered and waved in the breeze, and it seemed as though some ethereal army of pink and white was being blown gently down the road. The effect was startling in its beauty. Before we had gone half-way some bullock carts caught up with us, and we finished the journey in these.

On reaching the river bank all grouped themselves around us to say goodbye. The solemnity and the beauty of that scene were indescribable. What a picture it was! The red fezzes and the long white robes of the Muhammadans, the pink and yellow silks of the Burmans, the little children in their bright dresses, the women with their big white combs and wreaths Of jasmine in their hair, standing under the waving palm trees flooded by the glory of the full moon. Again some kind words were uttered, and the tears were streaming down the faces of all as we said goodbye.

This article is the fourth and concluding one in a series relating to the author’s early Bahá’í journey to India.

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WITH OUR READERS

AS WE line up our contents for October we find that several of the contributions were given first as talks before various audiences, but we think in these cases this fact does not detract from their value as printed articles and that our readers who could not hear them will be glad to read them. The leading article7 “Greater Than Any Nation” is an address given in the Hall of Nations in Washington, D. C. at one of the public meetings planned by the Bahá’í Public Meetings Committee. Horace Holley is well known as the secretary of the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly and as a frequent speaker on the Bahá’í platform.

“The Way of Fulfillment” by Marion Holley Hofman was first presented as a radio talk April 16, 1944. Mrs. Hofman now lives in Northampton, England and is well known to Bahá’ís in this country as one who spoke frequently for the Faith and as a contributor to this magazine. Her former home was in California.

Sally Sanor’s contribution from California was first given as a talk in San Francisco. Miss Sanor returned about a year ago from Boise, Idaho, where she had spent three years helping to establish the first Bahá’í assembly in that state, thus assisting in the first seven year plan. This is her first contribution to World Order.

The editorial, “Heroism”, is by Eleanor Sweney Hutchens who has recently been appointed on the editorial committee of World Order.

Mrs. Hutchens’ home is in Palos Heights, Illinois.

From Lima, Peru, Eve Nicklin sends us her contribution, “Lady of Tapada”. Several years ago Miss Nicklin went as a Bahá’í pioneer to Peru. What Peru has given to Miss Nicklin and what she has given to Peru unfolds as we read her stories and descriptions of life in this sister republic of ours. Before going to Peru, Miss Nicklin did Bahá’í work with Leonora Holsapple Armstrong in Brazil. In Lima Miss Nicklin has had a kindergarten and done some teaching of English, and we are told that she is much loved by those with whom she is working and is busy from morning till night. Those who keep their World Order magazines will like to refer to another article by Miss Nicklin published in the May, 1943, issue. Miss Nicklin is grateful to the young people of Lima, whose research provided the historical material used in her article.

In her “The Rank-and-File Bahá’í” Gertrude Schurgast reminds us of the great variety of ways in which a Bahá’í may serve the Bahá’í Faith and the people. Previous articles by Mrs. Schurgast appeared in 1940 and 1941. Her home is in Cincinnati.

“Mandalay” by Sydney Sprague is the concluding number in the series telling of his experiences some forty years ago in traveling in India and Burma and giving the Bahá’í message to the people there. Mr.

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[Page 223]WITH OUR READERS

Sprague is no longer living. His home was in California.

ii * I

Commenting upon the savagery of men and the suflering it entails a friend from Nicaragua writes these suggestions: “Has it ever occurred to us that we have lived in a world that has told us we should ‘fight for our rights’, to ‘fight for democracy’? Could this have been the cause for all the wars, this false philosophy of praising war, upholding the doctrine that ‘might makes right’? This vicious doctrine has inoculated our schoolbooks; it has deluded the minds of our historians and confounded their sense of historical justice; it has played up prejudice against our saner spirit.

“Has it ever occurred to us to try giving our rights, and to give our democracy. The great prophets of the world such as Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and Bahá’u’lláh have taught us clearly to give our rights. The great command of Christ was ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel’, spread the good news of love to all mankind in a world at that time steeped in R0man pride, imperialism, and moral degradation. Similarly, B‘aha’u’llah in our day has pleaded for a unity of the human race by giving our rights in contrast to the false philosophy of fighting for our rights, which has only brought us suffering, misery and death; on the other hand the doctrine of giving our rights offers us peace, progress, prosperity, and prepares the world for unity which can only be achieved by a willingness on the part of each individual to do his share.

“It is only by giving our rights that we shall realize that this world is but

223

one country, and then and only then shall we comprehend the words of the famous statesman prophet of Israel when he said: ‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them’.”

• ‘l *

One of our readers has sent us parts of letters in which a young man tells of his experience with prayer. He has accepted the Bahá’í teachings after being a thorough intellectual skeptic. This was written after he had succeeded in obtaining a job:

“I am positive that a Divine Spirit was working for me all the time, and that what I deemed so important and elusive (a job) was to Him a pittance to be freely given to all who ask. I had never asked before. I had always conceived of prayer as something foolish. I ask you, who was foolish? But prayer had now to me a deeper significance than just asking for material things. Last night I found that prayer is the true world. I sincerely believe now in an after life, where this life will be as death to it, with its all-encompassing radiance. . . .”

Eight years later after some trying experiences he wrote: “I have become joyous. I am happy, not because of anything which has happened but because I have found my way along a thousand dark paths into the eternal light of life.”

1‘ fit 1‘

Many of our readers know Dr. Alaine Locke as a friend of the

Bahá’í Faith and will be interested in the following taken from the Min neapolis Star-Journal sent to us by

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one of our readers. All will be glad to read these steps toward raeial equality.

“The recent appointment of Alaine Locke to a professorship in the department of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin marks a trend which began on a small scale but which is growing in importance. Dr. Locke is a Negro scholar, teacher and author who has for a number of years been head of the department of philosophy at Howard University, the federally financed university for Negros in Washington, D. C. His career has been an unusual one. Born in Philadelphia and educated in Philadelphia schools, he went on to Harvard, where he was graduated in 1907 with a record which won for him a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford. From England he went to Germany, then a center for the study of phil osophy, and in 1911 returned to

teach at Howard. He obtained the doctorate in philoaophy at Harvard in 1917.

“Dr. Locke is not going to Wisconsin to teach problems of race relations, but to teach philosophy. . . Student response to his coming was indicated by an immediate overflow registration for his courses.”

Other Negro scholars are named who are teaching in colleges in which the student body is predominantly white. Then these comments

are added:

“All these men and women have been appointed to the position they now hold because of special competence in their chosen fields. Their students are at the same time learn. ing democracy in what is probably the only way it can be learned, as a part of their environment. Such students will not readily accept dog WORLD ORDER

matic pronouncement on the interiority of this or that racial group, for they will have learned from direct experience that each man is an individual, limited only by his own capacity for achievement and by the extent to which there is opportunity for its development.” l' ‘l‘ i

One of our readers has sent us a bulletin of the men’s class of Riverside church, New York City. This announces that Mr. F. D. Rich would

give a review of two of Archdeacon Townshend’s books, The Promise of All Ages and The Heart of the Gas p.el Our correspondent also tells of a talk given by Etta Mae Lawrence, Baha’ 1 pioneer recently returned from Buenos Aires, before this same men’s club on ladies’ night. Both of these events came about because Mr. Rich had caught the Bahá’í spirit from his cousins in California, and had visited the Temple as well as studied these

books.

5 D l

Educators are now waking up to the fact that twentieth century moral progress has not kept pace with scientific progress. Dr. Ralph Perry of Harvard University is reported to have said recently that tremendous advances have been made in physical science and lesser advances in psychological technology, but the world has yet to assure itself of proper and moral uses of its knowledge.

Speaking to an American audience in 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to the root of the difficulty when He said: “Until the heavenly civilization is founded, no result will be forthcoming from material civilization, even as you observe. See what catastrophes overwhelm mankind.”

—THE EDITORS

[Page 225]

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Bahá’í World Faith

This book contains a representative selection of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is the largest collection of Bahá’í literature in English translation now available in one volume.

A detailed Table of Contents and an Index make the Bahá’í teachings readily accessible for study as well as reading and meditation.

The plan of the book arranges the contents in nine chapters, as follows: Part One—Writings of Bahá’u’lláh Chapter One—The Great Announcement Chapter T wo——The Promised One Chapter Three—T he Life of the Soul Chapter F our—Laws of the New Age Chapter F ive—The Mystery of God

Part Two—-Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Chapter Six—The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh Chapter Seven——Soul, Mind and Spirit Chapter Eight The Loom of Reality Chapter Nine—The Divine Plan

Each of these chapters has been treated as a unit of significance and the sequence of the nine chapters conveys a sense of the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Dispensation in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, His Will and Testament, the Tablets and Addresses of’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

The passages selected have been taken from fifteen different publications as well as, from the National Archives.

Printed on thin light paper and bound in green fabrikoid. 465 pages. Per copy, $1.50.

Bahá’í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois

[Page 226]

Words of Bahá’u’lláh

I ascribed Over the N ine Entrances of the House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois

. The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens.

. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; tum not away therefrom if thou

dcsirest Me.

. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth thereinjs safe and secure.

4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.

. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.

. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?

. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.

. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.

. The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.