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DECEMBER, 1947
, , Bahá’ís Look to the Future BAHA’I “’illiam Kenneth Christian
MAGAZINE The Idea of Social Justice . R. W. Gaines
Beloved Irén: Land of Light
Robert L. Gulick, Jr.
Dawn in the East, Poem Gertrude W. Robinson
F anaticism, Editorial Eleanor S. Hutchens
The Fragrance of Letters Rúḥíyyih Khánum
Security that Endures Maye Harvey Gift
High Lights of the Newer Testament, A Compilation
Marion Crist Lippiu
With Our Readers
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. Garreta Busey, Editor; Eleanor S. Hutchens, Mabel H. Paine, Flora Hones,
Associate Editors.
Publication Office
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.
C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in U.S.A.
Editorial Office Miss Garreta Busey, Editor
503 WEST ELM STREET, URBANA, ILL.
DECEMBER, 194-7, VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 9
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, for United States, its terri: tories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 20c. Foreign subscriptions, $2.25. 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 Act of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1947 by Bahá’í Publfishing Committee. Title registered at U. 5. Patent
Office.
CHANCE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORETED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
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WORLD ORDER
ADOLESCENT boys cease fighting each other when they reach manhood, as it is not seemly for grownup men to settle an argument with their fists. Likewise nations will, as they outgrow their adolescence, gather around a table and dispose of their differences as mature men. In a mature age, which, according to Bahá’u’lláh, we are now approaching, a new world-ethic is required. Conformity to law as stressed in the Old TeStament and the significance of love as stressed in the New Testament find their synthesis in social justice as expressed in the collective conscience of an awakened humanity.
D IVINE LOVE is the highest ideal for the individual. Divine Justice represents the highest attainment for the community. The world . . . has shrunk into one interdependent community. Any decision in snchia community cannot be considered just unless it is partial to none. . . . As long as a world conscience is not produced, world justice is impossible, and without world justice, world peace is unobtainable. Bahá’u’lláh’s world community is imbued with a world conscience and is creating an instrument for the administration of world justice. In this lies its great significance for the modern
world. Excerpt from
This Earth One Country By EMERIC SALA
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WOBLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine 9
VOLUME XIII
DECEMBER, 1947
NUMBER )1
Bahá’ís Look to the Future WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN
ANY people feel that relig ion has nothing to offer modern life except idealism for the very young and consolation for the aged. Bahá’ís do not share such a limited view. In their experience religion is dynamic, applies to all the major phases~of the individual life, and is the unifying force in society. Bahá’ís look to the future with confidence. They know that grave difficulties lie ahead for the people of the world. But their Faith strikes at the roots of modern problems and offers a healing and unifying solution. At the heart of the Bahá’í teachings is a universal moral basis for the building of an enduring and just world order.
We must recognize that, first and foremost, the Bahá’í Faith is 3 revealed religion. It is not an economic system even though its teachings include some principles of economics. It is not a political system even though it
offers a plan for world organization. The Bahá’í Faith is a revealed religion with its basic tenet being a belief in one God, Who reveals His will and purpose for human development in each age of history through a
r! Manifestation. Baha ls recognize Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the
Bahá’í Faith, as the Manifestation of God for our own time.
THE BASIS OF MORAL AUTHORITY
In the last one hundred years human life has undergone many radical changes. Methods of travel and Work, ideas of time and distance have been rapidly altered. Classes, races, and nations can no longer live and work apart from each other. These revolutionary changes upset the old moral values so that now men and women live in great moral confusion. There are several reasons for this. The old moralities Were largely sectional; they tended to apply to a certain race, na 255
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tion, or class. And also, time has shown that the old moralities were suited to a simpler age and not meant for our present complex world.
To condemn all forms of morality and religion would mean that men can now manufacture their own moral law to suit themselves. Bahá’ís reject this idea. The Bahá’í Faith upholds a belief in God, Who speaks His will to men in each age through a chosen Manifestation. The moral law is not manufactured by men and women to suit their own inclinations or to serve as a mask for catch phrases in order to gain power over others. Bahá’ís firmly declare that the moral law originates in the teachings of those few men in history who are the Manifestations of God.
The basis of authority in determining what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, is, for the Bahá’í the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The Bahá’í rejects political tradition as the chief measure of what is good or bad. The Bahá’í rejects economic necessity as the chief measure of good. The Bahá’í rejects class or race or national interests as a fit measure for determining the ultimate good for human beings.
Bahá’ís feel that the moral
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law is the basis of personal happiness and the basis of decency and order in the local, national, and world community. They look at the present World around them —with millions oppressed by fear, misery, and hatred—and reject the idea that any group of scientists, economists, or politicians could formulate an adequate moral force to remove these evils. They are convinced that materialism and the rejection of God are the prime causes of these evils. They recognize the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh as the higher, divine law for the development of humanity in this age.
Perhaps we might summarize it thus: while some men proclaim materialism — the kingdom of man —— Bahá’ís proclaim the
growing World Order of Bahá’u’lláh—the kingdom of God.
THE CHIEF BASIS OF SOCIETY
Some people regard the economic organization of society as the most important factor in the solution of human affairs. They think of man as an economic unit, as if he were valuable only in terms of what he could produce. Such people are apt to regard history as a continuous struggle between economic classes.
Bahá’u’lláh taught that the
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THE FUTURE
chief basis of society is religion, that the moral, divine laws provide the real framework for civilization. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught: “The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit.” The Bahá’í teachings stress the idea that man is a responsible moral being, and the chief purpose of his life is the attainment of spiritual greatness. Because of the approaching maturity of the human race, Bahá’u’lláh has brought us a system of divine economy: laws, principles, and institutions for unifying the people of the world in one religion and one order.
THE INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY
Bahá’ís reject the national, racial, or class struggle theory of history as too limited a view since it ignores the influence of religion and other forms of idealism. Bahá’ís regard history as the evolution of man and society toward higher forms of moral conduct and a wider organization of social life. When men and society repudiate moral values, then class divisions appear as part of the disintegration of an old order. The solution cannot be found in the triumph of one group at the expense of others,
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but the solution grows as men accept a renewed statement of the divine law. Bahá’ís feel that the ethical justification for the changes of individual standards and social forms in history, has been the successive revelations of religion.
THE MEANS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
Bahá’ís completely reject the use of force to bring about a change in human affairs. They reject the principle of violence because it has its roots in lawlessness, it denies human rights due to all men, and it is contrary to the moral law.
Bahá’ís believe in the use of persuasion and the demonstration of Bahá’ís, in their personal conduct and their social relations within the Bahá’í community, of a way of life morally and socially superior to general practice in the modern world. Bahá’ís cannot use secrecy to hide their methods or their ultimate objectives. Anyone can find out what Bahá’ís teach and what they are doing. The Bahá’í teachings condemn deception. There is no secret about the objective of Bahá’ís to unite all the people of the world in one faith and one order.
In the Bahá’í view, any man
or group of men who attempt to divide human beings along ra
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cial, nationalistic, religious, or class lines, are committing the greatest possible evil against the welfare of the human race.
Bahá’ís believe in uniting all men and women, regardless of class, creed, or color, on a spiritual basis. Bahá’ís cannot accept any philosophy which tries to divide society on arbitrary class lines. Bahá’ís teach brotherly love, regardless of who the brother may be. The Bahá’í Faith changes all Classes by establishing a spiritual unity; this is much more effective—it is the divine way.
The Bahá’í position on the means of social change is probably best summarized in this way: Bahá’ís believe in peaceful means, not force; openness, not plots; evolution, not revolution.
ATTITUDE TOWARD GOVERNMENT
Bahá’ís are obliged to obey their government. Bahá’ís do not fear the idea of government; they know that a government is as good or as bad as the people who are in responsible charge. Bahá’ís believe in the necessity of government if justice is to be established throughout the world.
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
show men how a just societyfor all kinds of people—may be
r! evolved. The growing Baha 1
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world community is a laboratory where the principles of Bahá’u’lláh are being applied in human relations, where the future institutions of justice are taking shape, where Bahá’ís are learning how to act justly and to develop methods for the just conduct of their own affairs.
Since Bahá’ís reject the idea that all men are controlled by self—interest, they know from increasing experience that a governing body of men and women can be elected to act as responsible trustees for the whole community. Bahá’ís believe, and strive to practice in their own affairs, the principle that positions in government should go to those men and women who have demonstrated that they can rise above self-interest and serve as “trustees Of the Merciful One among men.” They believe that government—whose members are freely selected and secretly elected by the people—is the natural social agency for attaining “the best beloved of all things” in the sight of God—justice.
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES
The Bahá’í teachings contain some economic principles, but not a system of economics. “The fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with
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THE F UTURE
the world of the heart and spirit.” An economic system must be flexible, evolving and changing according to the needs of the time.
The Bahá’í Faith creates the
vision of a united world composed of various classes and races, each man and woman of which possesses equal human rights. Bahá’ís likewise believe that unless social planners recognize the superior law of God they will not be able to plan justly.
The Bahá’í teachings advocate the organization of society so that extremes of wealth and poverty may be eliminated. To attain this, the men in positions of public responsibility need a high sense of spiritual trusteeship. In this sense, Bahá’ís believe in the principle of equitable distribution of income.
The Bahá’í Faith advocates (1) that the state should be the mediator between capital and labor, (2) that both capital and labor are essential to the welfare of all the people, (3) that both should have their rights and responsibilities clearly defined in law, (4) that various classes, economic as well as social, are inevitable in human society and must realize their mutual interdependence, (5) that labor deserves the security of a share in the profits of business.
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Any economic system, no matter how appealing in theory, will be immoral and unjust unless the men and women responsible for it have a high sense of dedication to the well-heing of humanity. It is to protect men and women from injustice—economic and political—that Bahá’u’lláh has emphatically declared: “The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst
” men.
THE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE
Bahá’ís believe that any rights which are valid, should apply to all people regardless of class, sex, or color. The rights of men and women have their origin in the moral law as revealed by the divine Prophet of the age.
These rights should be written into law, but they are best safeguarded and applied in plans and policy by men and women dedicated to the service of God. Such men and women recognize as their first obligation the shaping of policy closer and closer to the divine standard.
The laws. of God, the Creator, give men their true liberty. Moses enunciated the Ten Commandments. These gave basic
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rights—the right to property, the right to live without fear of lawful murder. Jesus stressed the dignity of man, and from this have come such rights as are implied in the phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Bahá’u’lláh has brought men the right to live in a united world society, the right to be recognized as a spiritual being and not a mere physical and economic mechanism, the right to an education and equal opportunities, the right to worship God through creative work, the right to such self-knowledge as will eliminate useless fears and frustrations, the right to the means of physical health and human necessities, the right to family life and normal human relationships, the right to develop spiritual capacities without the corrosion of ruthless competition or arbitrary authority.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá declared: “There shall be an equality of rights and prerogatives for all mankind.” The Bahá’í insistence upon the divine law and its application everywhere in the world
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grows from two facts. First, Bahá’ís recognize Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God chosen to renew religion in our time. And second, the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh stem from the fundamental principle of the Oneness of Mankind. This principle “represents the consummation of human evolution—an evolution that has had its earliest beginnings in the birth of family life, its subsequent development in the achievement of tribal solidarity, leading in turn to the constitution of the city-state, and expanding later into the institution of independent and sovereign nations.
“The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in establishing it.”
IT Is ENOUGH For thousands of years the human race has been at war. It is enough. Now let mankind for a time at least, consort in amity and peace. Enmity and hatred have ruled. Let the world for a period, exercise love.
—‘Annu’uBAHA
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The Idea of Social Justice
Some of its meanings to a Bahá’í R. W. GAINES
“ HINK not that We have re vealed to you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, 0 men of insight.”
These words of Bahá’u’lláh are of particular significance in regard to the principles of social justice promulgated in the Bahá’í Faith. Social systems, of the past and present, have for the most part been based upon man-made differences between groups of people or classes of society. Thus communism and the various nationalistic “isms” seek to exalt one group or class of mankind to the exclusion of others; they set up a code of laws to accomplish their particular aims. Their goals may be political, economic, cultural, educational, etc.; in many cases, if not in all, a great many of their aims are praiseworthy and their accomplishments meritorious. Certainly the aims and accomplishments of what we broadly call “socialism”, or in recent years “liberalism”, are to a large extent praiseworthy. The social re forms in our own country over the past few decades have undoubtedly accomplished a great deal towards enabling men to live together peacefully and happily. This in spite of the very real unrest, for example between “capital” and “labor”, which now besets us. However, in general, the current systems of social justice fall short of possessing the necessary energy and driving power to weld men into a single harmonious unit. There is no one “ism” which is so broadly based as to be capable of accomplishing the unity of mankind; neither democracy nor communism, neither nationalism nor federalism has this necessary potential energy. So in the midst of all these conflicting ideologies men “whirl like dervishes among the isms”—-—there seems to he no unmoving and stable ground, no “still point of the turning world.” Man turns from one philosophy to another in an effort to satisfy the soul’s innate craving for peace and a sense of direction in his activities.
From what source then, may we expect to find this necessary energy, this “choice wine”? The Bahá’ís, as well as many other
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groups of people who have never heard of the term “Bahá’í”, believe that this fundamental source of energy stems from religion. The great civilizations which have arisen in various parts of the world following the advent of a great religious teacher or Prophet are, to some extent at least, an indication of the potency of religion in this respect. However, as each religion has grown older in time, the efficacy of its transforming influence has waned, until in many cases it has left Only a shell of dogma, superstition, and bigotry in its wake. This does not reflect upon the original validity and genuineness of the spiritual force of that religion but only demonstrates that the energy released by a particular religious revelation is dissipated after a certain period of time, as judged by its manifestations in the temporal and material world, the world of our own experience. When this quantum of energy has been absorbed and there remains only the vestige of its original transforming power, a new package of this same kind of energy will almost certainly be released somewhere in the world. There is a continuity and progressiveness associated with this process, which is peculiar to it
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alone, as A. N. Whitehead and others have pointed out.
The most recent release of this religious energy is found in the Bahá’í religion, which originated in Persia some hundred odd years ago—only yesterday by history’s standards. What then, is the basis of this religion’s potency in effecting social justice, and what are its general teachings in this regard—and what are its accomplishments in the one hundred years of its infant existence?
“O my God, I testify that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I bear witness at this instant to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is no other God but Thee, the Help in peril, the Self-sufficient.”
“Having achieved human birth, a rare and blessed incarnation, the wise man, leaving all vanity to those who are vain, should strive to know God, and Him only, before life passes into death.”
The first is an obligatory Bahá’í prayer; the second is a passage from the Indian Srimad Bhagavatam. Both place an unmistakable emphasis on man’s primary function: to “know”
God. This idea may be fortified
from innumerable other sources,
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SOCIAL JUSTICE 263
from Christ to William Law to Al-Ghazzali. This fundamental necessity of man to know God ( and to love his neighbor, which is correlative) is the root of man’s ability to react to religious influence—to bring about a system of social justice, among other things. The persistent recurrence of this idea in the perennial philosophy of the world’s religions indicates its fundamental importance. That the awareness of this concept, not to mention any comprehension of it based on direct experience, has largely disappeared from the present day world is obvious to all of us. That a reawakening of humanity to the necessity of “knowing God” is imperative to the world’s well-being is given great emphasis by the Bahá’í Faith, and even by contemporary thinkers and philosophers.
“Knowledge (or love) of God” is not a very illuminating phrase to most of us. It is a very subtle concept, but also a very real fact. Some of the thoughts of the Prophets, saints, and philosophers of the world dealing with this idea are both enlightening and interesting—they are informative probably only to the extent the individual can attain to a direct and intuitive awareness of the comprehensions dealt with therein.
“God being as He is, inaccessible, do not rest in the consideration of objects perceptible to the senses and comprehended by the understanding. This is to be content with what is less than God; so doing you will destroy the energy of the soul, which is necessary for walking with Him.”
—ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
“The beginning of all things is the knowledge of God, and the end of all things is strict observance of whatsoever hath been sent down from the empyrean of the Divine Will that pervadeth all that is on earth.”
-Bahá’u’lláh
The fundamental requirement of man is knowledge and love of God. As man attains to this state all other things are added to him. This is the first requirement, this is the unchanging and immutable prerequisite for progress and for man’s advance in all the manifold fields of his endeavor. Religion is the primary and unreflected source of energy through which man may attain to this station. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said: “Each divine revelation is divided into two parts. The first part is essential and belongs to the eternal world. It is the exposition of significance and realities. It is the expression of the
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love of God, the knowledge of God. This is one in all the religions, unchangeahle and immutable. The second part is not eternal: it deals with practical life, transactions and business, and changes according to the evolution of man and the requirements of the time of each Prophet.
“These laws are the reflex on this plane of the divine law and symbolize a medium for turning the thoughts of humanity toward justice. The mundane laws change as the horizon of man extends, till it encompasses the universe.”
It is this first, this essential part of religion, which relates to man’s knowledge of himself and of God, that provides the means of changing and directing man’s nature so that such secondary things as a system of social justice can he brought into existence. Two Hindu quotations bring out this idea nicely:
“Karma (action or deeds) never dispels ignorance, being under the same category with it. Knowledge alone dispels ignorance, just as light alone dispels darkness.”
“Work is for the purification of the mind, not for the perception of Reality. The realization of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the
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least by ten millions of acts.”
Having attained unto knowledge, or at least having determined the source of knowledge and the path thereof, man may safely embark upon the field of action—indeed, any increase in knowledge or perception is only obtainable through a life of action, but this action must be disinterested.
What then are some of the specific Bahá’í principles on social justice which will reduce temptations to self interest and lust for power and will promote the knowledge of God? They may not seem for the most part “new” or “different” as judged in the light of very current history; but it must he remembered that they were first promulgated a century ago in a relatively backward and unenlightened country. However, their “newness” or lack of it has no hearing on their essential validity.
Bahá’u’lláh taught the absolute need for the accomplishment of world peace and the creation of an international government with a central police force. These are perhaps the choicest fruits to be harvested from the tree of his Revelation. That wars are “Cod-eclipsing” in their effect on man is an evident fact. It is home home to those of us who have had no direct experience
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SOCIAL J USTICE 265
of it by, among other things, the realistic novels that have followed both World Wars. The life of men exposed to war has been clearly depicted in all its materialism, its preoccupation with sensual pleasures, annoyance and scorn of, or perhaps mere indifierence to essential religious ideas and ways of life, in the novels of Hemingway, Remarque, Wakeman and others.
Bahá’u’lláh taught that the extremes of economic wealth and poverty should be abolished. The idea of a graduated income tax was put forth long before it came into actual being in this country. The removal of these extremes of wealth and poverty should certainly tend to reduce the rich man’s preoccupation with his own wealth ( at least after he becomes convinced that it is not worth while to try to circumvent these laws) and hence his blindness to knowledge of God. Likewise the poor man’s improved status will allow him sufficient time over that consumed in the pure mechanics of living to meditate and ponder the meaning of life and to act upon the knowledge so gained.
Bahá’u’lláh also promulgated the principles of racial equality, universal compulsory education, equality of man and woman, reconciliation of religion and sci ence, and a universal auxiliary language. Many of these principles are already being put into effect, even if in rather limited application. All of them are common to liberal systems of thought in the world today.
The Bahá’í Faith, unlike the various social ideologies current in the world, does not aim at eventual political or worldly power. It is, like Christianity, fundamentally concerned with a way of life, and is interested in awakening man to the tremendous spiritual forces which can shape that way of life. Its general principles of social justice are for the purpose of outlining the laws necessary to achieve the best possible environment for man in his effort to know God. Bahá’ís are therefore naturally interested in seeing that laws of this general nature are made, but not to. the extent of compromising their position by direct afliliation and membership in any of the political parties whose aims correspond to general Bahá’í principles. Rather, the primary Bahá’í endeavor in the field of organized action (as contrasted to the very powerful indirect action of “living the life” which all Bahá’ís strive to carry out in their daily living) consists of:
1) teaching this Faith throughout the world; 2) organizing and
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perfecting an administrative system which can efiectively coordinate this teaching activity on a world-wide scale, establish the structural basis for Bahá’í communities in all parts of the world, and proclaim these teachings as the necessary basis for a world civilization.
In the one hundred years since the Bahá’í Faith has been in existence a considerable accomplishment of these aims has been achieved, although the achievement to date is but a minuscule part of the eventual scope of this work. There are Bahá’ís in eighty-eight countries throughout the world; there are local administrative units in forty-eight of these countries. Eight of these countries have national administrative organizations which coordinate the activities of the local units. Bahá’í literature has been translated into over forty languages. Several summer schools in both North and South America have been established.
This briefly summarizes the work which Bahá’ís have accomplished on the concrete plane. In many ways it is a very modest achievement, but it has been ac WORLD ORDER
complished without the forceddraft technique of a regimented organization, by people who are working for long-range goals with no thought of immediate or eventual perSOnal power over the affairs of men. It adumbrates an era of social justice in which “the earth will be transformed and humanity arrayed in peace and beauty. Disputes, quarrels and murders will be replaced by harmony, truth and concord; among the nations, peoples, races and countries, love and amity will appear. Cooperation and union will be established, and finally war will be entirely suppressed . . . Universal peace will raise its tent in the center of the earth and the blessed tree of life will spread to such an extent that it will overshadow the East and the West. Strong and weak, rich and poor, antagonistic sects and hostile nations, which are like the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the lion and the calf, will act toward each other with the most complete love, friendship, justice and fairness. The world will be filled with science, with the knowledge of the reality of the mysteries of
beings, and with the knowledge of God.”
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Beloved Iran: Land of Light
ROBERT L. GULICK, JR.
THE departure from Baghdad
had been hurried and hectic because the plane for Iran arrived at an unscheduled time. I had rushed to the airport with the goal of persuading the American pilot to postpone taking off until an ‘Irziqi friend could round up my baggage. The confusion was followed by happy serenity with the discovery that the steward on the plane was a Bahá’í. Repeatedly, I asked the question, “Have we reached Iran yet?” It was as though I were approaching my native land after a long absence. From the instant that we crossed the border, Iran was for me a “land of the heart’s desire.” Soon came the time to fasten our seat belts for the landing in Petsia’s glorious capital. Below was Tihran, “the holy and shining city—the city wherein the fragrance of the Well-Beloveth hath been shed.”
My arrival was wholly unexpected but it happened that another Bahá’í came to the airport that day and he escorted me to the magnificent Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, the Bahá’í headquarters, a building of which the Persians have every right to be proud. The design for the dome was drawn
by a young artist whom I had met at the Feast of Riḍván in Paris. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Iran was in session when I reached the Bahá’í headquarters and the members very generously put aside other business to welcome me. The Assembly graciously invited me to be its guest at one of the better hotels in Ṭihrán, but I chose to reside in the home of one of the esteemed Bahá’ís, Nfiri’d-Din Fath-A’zam, whose son Shidan, is studying agriculture in the United States. The same qualities which have endeared Shidén to the American friends are abundantly manifested by the other members of his family. As we were leaving the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, a young Bahá’í drew near and greeted me with great affection. I afterward learned that, six months before my arrival, he had dreamed of the appearance of a tall American in that very spot accompanied by the same friends who were with me and he even visualized the red automobile in which I was taken although that car had not been purchased until a month before I reached Ṭihrán.
One of the world’s best known statesmen had reminded me that
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the people of Iran had been blessed by the teachings of more than one Divine Messenger and I often reflected on his words and on the special bounty which God has bestowed on beloved Iran. It was here that the Zoroastrian Faith was born, later to be supplanted by Islam. Although represented in the Majlis or Parliament, the Zoroasl trians are today a minor group. The precepts of Zoroaster continue to exert an ennobling influence on the lives of those who have not abandoned Him for the ways of materialism. One of the early teachers of Socrates was a Zoroastrian. At the present time, the Parsees are more numerous in India than in Iran, just as the Buddhists are more in evidence in Japan than in the land of Buddha. Even more striking is the fact that Christianity has never succeeded in winning the allegiance of the neighbors of Jesus.
A guide at the enormous Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico 0110:: explained to me that ninety per cent of the action of the water in creating new formations had been completed. Similarly, there are cities which give the impression that their greatness has passed, that little remains to happen. Ṭihrán is not such a place, for there are everywhere
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signs of wonders to come. Regardless of outward appearances, the people are in reality mines which contain gems of enperb luster and brilliance. The Iranians are abundantly endowed with native intelligence and they have a special facility for “winning friends and influencing people.” They are more understandable to Americans than the nationals of many other countries of Europe and Asia. Perhaps we are more closely related than our geographical positions would indicate; it is claimed that the Persians were originally of the same stock as the Europeans and that they migrated to their present section of the globe about five thousand years ago.
The hospitality of the Persian Bahá’ís is really overwhelming. As a pilgrim in Shíráz, I reposed between silk sheets in a capacious chamber noteworthy for its lovely tapestries. Just before I left, the host apologized—and with a straight faceb—for the trouble and discomfort to which I had allegedly been subjected! In another city, the chairman of the Assembly noticed that I was looking through my possessions for some clean socks and an undershirt; he promptly contributed the articles from his own
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wardrobe. After that, I took pains to conceal my wants.
The spirit of sacrifice shown by the friends in Iran verges on the miraculous. An illiterate man ‘ of considerable wealth recently gave all of his property for the benefit of the Cause. Afterward, he humbly requested a distinguished Bahá’í worker sometime to explain to him the contents of the Most Holy Book of Bahá’u’lláh. At the time of my visit, the Persian Bahá’ís were sending a thousand packages a month for the relief of the needy in Europe. They had already dispatched around fourteen tons of foodstuffs. In one of the Iranian villages, a nine-year-old boy stayed awake one night trying to think of something that he could contribute to relieve distress in another country. He had no money or food to give. When morning came, the idea occurred to him to donate the cloth that had been purchased for his new suit. The Persian boy continued to wear his old clothes and the cloth went to a twelve-year-old German boy who wrote a letter expressing his undying gratitude. This kind act
was made possible by the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
The devotion of the Persians toward the Faith is something marvelous to witness. When I was in Iran, there were meetings
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to discuss the F orty-five Month Plan under which believers are to be dispatched not only to hostile villages and enervating regions but also to nations whose inhabitants hate all Persians, not just Bahá’ís. The first letter that I received from Iran after leaving that country carried the good news that the fifty families required by the Plan had already volunteered! We can learn tavajjuh from the Persians. This may be defined as a steadfast, unwavering love for God in our hearts, an adoration whose existence is proven by daily service to the human race. During my sojourn in Ṭihrán, a curfew ordinance prevented the residents from being on the streets after midnight. This was not an altogether a bad idea as it made it necessary for people to eat dinner not much later than eleven o’clock and it prevented guests from tarrying too long. But how did the friends overcome the curfew problem in order to commemorate the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh at the appointed time of three in the morning? Undeterred, they assembled at eleven and prayed all night! I shall never forget the exquisite chanting of that night.
One meets all kinds of fine people in the Cause of God. Among them are Miss Adelaide
- t
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Sharp and her mother, Americans who have spent the last eighteen years in Tihran. Among the persons to whom Miss Sharp has taught English is a shepherd boy from northeastern Iran. ‘Ali has been using his knowledge of English to familiarize himself with God Passes By and other writings of the Guardian. Later, he will teach his neighbors. I also recall the blind man at Abadih whose rendition of a difficult prayer in Arabic was extraordinarily beautiful.
There are so many points of interest in and around Tihran that one must pick and choose. There is the Culastan Palace with its attractive museum featuring the Peacock Throne. A national museum contains treasures from Persepolis. In the older section of the city, there are everywhere places made sacred by the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, spots sanctified by the blood of martyrs. The Siyéh-Qhél is no more and a modern bank building is arising on that property. I went to the room in which the body of the Báb had been kept. A magnificent boulevard leads in the direction of the Elburz Mountains to ' shimran where the Blessed Beauty used to go in the summertime. Somewhat east of there is the Niyévarén Palace to which the illustrious Badi’ car WORLD ORDER
ried an epistle from Bahá’u’lláh. I also tramped over a part of the extensive land that has been acquired as the site for a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
Karaj, situated about 25 miles from Tihran, has an agricultural college that is conducting research of great importance to the Persian people. It is my hope that under the Fulbright Bill and various other measures, America will find it possible to extend important technical assistance for the economic development of lrén. As a member of the Persian Majlis once remarked to me, the Bahá’ís are the best friends of fran in America. It is my hope that this friendship may be increasingly demonstrated in concrete terms. We are assured of the glorious future of lrén, the “mother of the world and fountain of light unto all its peoples.”
lran impressed me as a land of light, both spiritual and physical. The light of the Faith is at present obscured by the clouds of greed and prejudice and disbelief. I recall majestic Dimavand, a peak of some 18,600 feet which during my first week in Tihran was hidden by mists and lesser mountains. One morning, suddenly and without fanfare, it became visible in all its splendor. Perhaps the day is not so
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tragically distant when the Faith troops. “Let nothing grieve thee, of God will shed its radiance 0 Land of Ti (Ṭihrán),” wrote over the entire planet and the Bahá’u’lláh, “for God hath
slumbering populace will awak- chosen thee to be the source of en and enter the army of life in the joy of all mankind.”
Dawn in the East
GERTRUDE W. ROBINSON
The dawn is in the east, my friend. The night Has been so dark the stars could not be seen, And you have long since ceased to look for light On far horizons where faith dwells serene.
Yet quietly day breaks. Faint lines of rose Illumine clouds, low-hanging, dense and black. Above a storm-drenched earth the wind still blows; Yet to the heart expectancy comes back.
I know that pain and hatred stalk the world; Men cry out “Peace!” and still there is no peace. Fear rules the heart. Great wings are still unfurled To shield from war that can not bring surcease From pain. Yet nights of turbulence must end. Law reigns. The dawn is in the east, my friend.
Fanatieism
“allitoria/
HE tragedy of violent religious fanaticism is sweeping the world again. Accounts of the conflict in India estimate that nearly two hundred thousand lives have been lost in recent weeks through the mutual intolerance of the Moslems and the Hindus. One group seems no more free of hatred and violence than the other.
While there are social differences and cultural differences that separate these peoples, by far the greatest cause of dissension is religious. What a grave misfortune it is that two great religious systems which have been the cause of development and civilization in the world should now be the cause of disunity and chaos. The Hindu faith, so ancient that no one can trace its origin, has throughout the centuries served to bind a people together, expressing the most sublime thoughts and most elevated idealism of an intensely religious race. It has been the mother of art and learning and social order through ages when, without it, there would have been neither law nor social structure. The Moslem faith, likewise, has
served to unite numerous tribes
in Asia and Africa into a common brotherhood. It has been the parent of modern Western science, of learning, and of culture, its influenCe spreading even into Europe and America through its impetus to the Renaissance.
Why do the adherents of these two great religious systems now war with one another? We who have the Judaeo-Christian background do not know which verses of Scripture receive most emphasis in the organized religions of India. But we have translations of those Scriptures and can read these words from the Hindu Scriptures:
“That man, who, guided by affection,
Regards all creatures impar. tially
Considering them worthy of being cherished with loving aid,
Who offers them consolation, gives them food,
Who rejoices in their happiness, grieves in their sorrows,
Has never to suffer misery in the next world."
Does this passage indicate that the Hindu Scriptures condone hatred and bloodshed? Nor do
the Moslems receive permission
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to slay in these verses from the Koran: “Mankind was but one people” . . . 01' “Hold ye fast to the cord of God, all of you; and break not loose from it. Remember God’s goodness toward you. He united your hearts; and by His favor ye became brethren.” The truth lies in the fact that religious fanaticism, in whatever age it is demonstrated, is twisted religion. Fanaticism forgets that the essentials of religion are love for God and love for fellow men. Fanaticism finds it difficult to love, and fastens upon the observance of ritual and belief in exclusive salvation as an easier expression of religious fervor. The world has seen it before. And the fanatic always feels that he is righteous and God-obeying in his fanaticism. How Christ must have wept at the blood that was shed in His name! Outsiders, those who live in other cultures or in other centuries, can see the folly of religious fanaticism; but it is difficult for those who are living in the midst of tumultuous passions to see any similarity of belief, any possibility of compromise. Western scholars can see that in all re 273
ligion there is a core of harmony, hut detachment is necessary for such recognition. Can we judge harshly a people who are being no more bloodthirsty than Westerners were being but a short time ago?
Bahá’ís in India are numbered among both the Moslems and the Hindus and meet together in harmony and love. They have discovered that religion, if it is to be true religion, must unite the hearts. They have come to understand that the differences in the religions of the world are in the ordinances of secondary importance that were revealed to the separate peoples in conformance with their social needs at the time in which the religion was born. They have learned that religion is not static and unchanging, but is growing and developing to meet the needs of a maturing mankind. They have learned that God has once again sent a religion upon the earth, this time one that is world-embracing, that will unite the Jew, the Christian, the Moslem, the Hindu, the Buddhist, in one univer sal faith. —E. S. H.
The F ragrance of Letters RUHIYYIH KHANUM
ROM all over the world letters stream into the Guar dian’s mail bag. Many of them set forth the problems in the life of some individual who no longer
' feels able to cope alone with his
difficulties, sorrows 0r perplexities, and turns with a full heart to the Head of his Faith for help in his hour of need. But many others tell tales of victory, of unquenchable devotion to the Cause of God, of gladness and of gratitude. Some of the passages in this latter kind of letters are worthy indeed of being shared with others who toil in the Vineyard of God all over the world, and of serving to inspire their efforts and cheer their hearts. A few are gleaned from the swelling number of local News Letters and circulars which reach Haifa. All are naturally published with the knowledge of the Guardian.
From the islands of the Caribbean Sea; from the uplands of Central America; from Alaska, England, Australia, the letters pour in from every point of the compass and have during all the
Printed, with permission, from Herald 0/ the South, the Bahá’í magazine of Australia and New Zealand.
war years—a rain of white sheets that bear witness to the greatness of faith and the vitalizing effect a new World Religion is having on the mind and hearts of its followers. Some from scholars, some from humble souls scarce able to express the emotions that well up within them, their very handicap seeming to render infinitely more precious that which they do write——all filled with the same determination, the same love, and the same conviction.
A pioneer, writing from a South American Republic where she had undergone grave hardships from the tropical climate and primitive conditions, and who was now so dangerously ill that it was questionable if she would reach the United States in time for a serious operation, wrote: “If by chance my body should be left in this land, my blood will still cry out the glad tidings of Bahá’u’lláh. May His will be done in all the lives!” The echo is the same that has rung down the centuries in the wake of every world religion. Deeds of religious heroism are not dead. They surged in Persia like a sea less than a hundred
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years ago; they surge on now in the West and the South, wherever the name of Baha is raised.
The Bahá’ís are not a quiescent group of people, they think about their Faith and keep abreast of it. It is no mere lip service which they render their religion, as is clearly shown by the observations of this believer:
“After the Master’s passing I seemed to feel a tendency among the Bahá’ís to emphasize the personal and the miraculous. The group seemed to be becoming ingrown and to take on the qualities of a minor cult. I found, when I returned from my wandering, that the boundaries had been widened astonishingly, and I was ashamed at my lack of faith. Great winds had swept through the Cause, freshening it. It had become an aflair of world importance, rather than a mere aid to personal happiness. I, who have always hated organization, have become enthusiastic about the Bahá’í Administration. To me it is the perfect instrument for the expression of the laWS of Bahá’u’lláh . . . Moreover, it is the only way the people can be schooled for the Kingdom of God on earth. My experience as a member of the U Spiritual Assembly has made me increasingly aware of the
power of the Administration to cause individual and communal growth.”
News from , a most difficult country for outsiders to live in as those not born to the extreme altitude often develop mountain sickness and find a prolonged stay at that height impossible. But the Bahá’í woman pioneering there voices no complaint; on the contrary: “It has been a joy and a tremendous privilege to be here, and as time goes by I only feel a deeper love and a more urgent desire to be able, with the small but devoted group of Bahá’ís E ushered into the Faith, to serve this country and to make to shine within it the Light of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, which it needs so very much . . . Oh, beloved Guardian, what a place for a Bahá’í group; what a place for the great life-giving principles of love and justice Which the Cause not only embodies, but makes dynamic in every life which sincerely seeks this universal truth and consecrates its energies to it . . .
“One becomes weary here with little or no exertion, and when night comes with possible leisure one is often too exhausted to do more than eat the late dinner and go to rest and sleep. Living constantly at an altitude of twelve thousand feet is like liv
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ing on a mountain top. But how I love it—how I wish I could describe its blue, blue skies, its pure air, brilliant sunshine, and the majesty of the Cordillera of the Andes . . . With my whole heart and soul I am prepared to remain and share here the priceless gift of Bahá’u’lláh, which came to me seven years ago, and which is my life and the life of the world.”
Such are some of the physical hardships being met by Bahá’ís with not only a spirit of courage but of joy. In other places they come up against the high, prickly walls of intense racial prejudice. But these hindrances, too, are being overcome as excerpts from letters written from the Southern United States prove: “The South is still difficult territory, although I can see the traditional tendencies and prejudice becoming less strong. We had this fact demonstrated at the public lecture in Jackson (Mississippi). I invited an interested colored girl . . . to attend the lecture, which was held in the ballroom of the hotel. Never before had a colored person been admitted as a guest on this floor. She sat on the front row and in order to make her feel she was wanted, I introduced her to the two people who sat next to her. Their attitude was most friendly. Later,
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when the meeting was opened for questions, I called upon Miss P (the colored girl) to say a word. This talk she gave was so sincere, and showed such a spiritual understanding, that everyone present was deeply touched . . . We all felt that she was the outstanding feature of the evening. These are the miracles which Bahá’u’lláh is performing in order to demonstrate His plan for the oneness of man
' kind.”
Through such acts, however, we are being known, as witness the following incident reported in a radio speech by a Bahá’í teacher: “In a Negro school in North Carolina I found a young colored dean who felt fearful of the frank and happy association he saw in Bahá’í community life. ‘What are you going to do about the Ku Klux Klan? Had you better not compromise here a little in the South? Are you not afraid?’
“A mutual friend answered for us, a distinguished colored woman who had been in the audience: ‘The speaker has no choice,’ she said, ‘the Bahá’í Faith represents sixty countries, not one. It does not compromise on the Jewish question in Germany, nor despise the untouchables in India, nor in Britain bow the knee to class, nor take on
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the religious strife of the Holy Land. Our Klan is a small thing. A world Faith that is true to its claims does not belong to the speaker, nor to her race, nor to even her country: it belongs to
the world.’
“The young man nodded. ‘I see,’ he said, ‘It may be worth dying for.’ ”
From letters one gleans bright and lovely facets of the manysided whole that goes to make up Bahá’í activity and thought. Here is an excerpt from a Regional Teaching Committee’s bulletin (of which there are dozens now to meet the needs of the many believers and the work they undertake): “Senor Pecora Blue Mountain, our Bahá’í brother, a native Peruvian of Inca Indian origin, is making a goodwill tour for South America. He visits the Bahá’ís in the cities through which he passes, shar ing that very valued quality of fellowship and love Bahá’ís know so well. We deeply appreciate the privilege of this contact. While in Birmingham (Alabama) it was arranged for him to give a piano concert of South American music over station WSGN . . ._the first half of the programme consisted of the modern adaptation of ancient native music, while the latter half was given over to the hymns of the Incas, and his closing number was his own very beautiful ‘Melodies in My Heart.’ ” Another News Letter reports his visit with some of the Bahá’ís and their friends in another part of the country and comments: “It was interesting to note a group of three white, three colored, and an Indian enjoying a wonderful spiritual feast while the outside world ached with
pains of discor .” (To be continued)
PERFECTION AND COMPLETE MERCY Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy.
—-‘AnnU’L-BAH£
Security that Endures Glimpses of the Kitdb-i-iqdn MAYE HARVEY GIFT
HAT is the most insistent de mand of people everywhere today? For security. We see this overwhelming desire in many guises. It may he focused upon assurance of food and shelter and provision against the exigencies of illness and old age. It may be an unreasoned clinging to the belief that war will be no more. It may be concerned with man’s faith in human capacities; it may involve questioning the moral order of the universe. Consciously or unconsciously our hearts are reaching out for some evident solicitude for the destiny of the individual soul, for restored confidence in some source of unfailing protection against the fearsome unknown. Where shall you and I look for such assurance? Where is certainty to be found? It has not resulted from our educational system. It has not been discovered by science, titanic though its achievements be. It has been sought for in vain by economists. It continues to elude the political leaders and rulers of the World, time—honored anchors of public safety. It has been born of none of the conflicting ideologies of the moment. What evidence that even the world’s historic religious foundations of the civilizations past, are enduing us with a positive faith, a sense of direction and of security? What agencies, what individuals are coming forward with an adequate answer to our imperative need and our persistent questioning? Many and confusing are the purported so lutions, but that revealed by Bahá’u’lláh is unequalled and satisfying.
We have been, until now, too complacent in careless and luxurious living, too engrOSsed in our self-centered pursuits, to recognize that it is God Who has the plan for our welfare and progress, and that somehow we have missed its import. Now that our puny and shortsighted efforts are reaping their barren results there is none other to whom we can turn. And, as is His wont, the bountiful Creator responds through the mouth of His eternal Instrument, and His answer is voiced before we have perceived our need. Bahá’u’lláh, the divine Messenger for this age, has, in the Kitah-i-iqén, Book of Certitude, been offering the priceless boon of security to our heedless and wayward generation for more than eighty years. Since He speaks the words of God His plan is both practical and of universal application. Nothing less can be the solution for a world becoming helplessly aware for the first time of the interdependence of its many parts. Nothing less can give us a confidence that will not fail.
Consider that Bahá’u’lláh revealed this unique and mighty book of assurance before He announced His mission of prophethood unto mankind. In the year 1862, within the space of two days and two nights, He set forth in less than two-hundred pages the great redemptive scheme of God, condensing, so He tells us, all the Scriptures and their
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elucidation into this brief account. The Kitáb-quz’m is in embryo the Revelation of God to guide us out of our adolescent turmoil into the far-stretching path of maturityinto an age so wondrous that it has been envisioned as the “Millenium,” the “Golden Age,” the “Kingdom of God upon Earth,” and now, more concretely, the “Federation of the World,” the “World Commonwealth.” For a period of forty years Bahá’u’lláh continued to expand the potentialities of this brief work into no less than one hundred volumes of divinely-inspired laws, counsels, prophecies, and epistles t0 the world’s spiritual and political rulers, and to His followers. There is no phase of world civilization, no aspect of individual growth for which He does not provide a pattern. To meditate upon His words is to explore a never-ending panorama of majesty, love, and wisdom.
For those who maintain the sulficiency of the Law of Moses for today, for those who claim that the Teaching of Jesus is adequate if only it were to be practiced, for those who insist that Muhammad brought all that was to be needed in the future, for those who assert that man’s dire need in itself produces the healing remedy, for all these Bahá’u’lláh interprets God’s eternal and immutable law of human progress—the Law of Progressive Revelation, the sending of a succession of related Manifestations of His will and attributes as the guiding, regenerating force in the world. As proof, He holds up the mirror of history to the stately procession of Revelators of the past. Emerging from dim antiquity, Hfid and Sélih, figures un 279
known to most of us, Abraham, the Friend of God; Moses, the Interlocutor and Law-giver; Jesus, the Son, born of the breaths of the Spirit; Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets. From Beings such as these have sprung the great civilizations familiar to all of us. Civilizations that appeared with the bursting life of the springtime, followed by the rich fruitage of summer, then, inevitably, the decay of autumn, finally the oblivion of winter—forecast of the succeeding springtime. Then in our own time comes the B531), the Gate leading from the prophetic cycle of all past Prophets to the age of fulfillment, the age of Bahá’u’lláh. Cycle upon cycle, leading forward and upward, this is the Law of progress. With such a glorious vision of God’s eternal plan, why do we endeavor to stand still? Why do we set our faces toward a springtime that has already yielded its destined fruitage?
Paralleling this pageant of progress is the ever-recurring effort of
jthose entrenched in positions of
leadership to perpetuate their obsolescent institutions and to throttle
God’s evolving and ever-expanding
Faith. In the wake of the life-imparting procession of the High Prophets
skulks this evil crew — Nimrod,
Pharaoh, Herod, Caiaphas, and numberless nameless divines, like unto
“voracious beasts” preying “upon
the carrion of the souls of men.”
The equal of this opposition to the
Bahá’í Revelation is not to be found
in the annals of earlier dispensations.
Bahá’u’lláh, scion of highest Persian
nobility, descendant of Abraham and
Of Zoroastrian kings was stripped of
His wealth, bastinadoed, imprisoned
in a stench-laden underground dun
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geon with thieves and cutthroats, His feet in stocks, His neck weighted with chains the imprint of which He bore all His days, exiled again and again, victim of cowardly jealousy and attempts upon His life by members of His own family, His followers martyred by the thousands,—these are among the tribulations which history records as having pursued this Messenger of God for half a century. Against such a lurid back ground, the Beauty of God shone forth like unto the mid-day sun, pouring His rejuvenating rays of certitude upon a lifeless earth. For Bahá’u’lláh not only reveals the pattern for present-day victorious living, but, by the decree of God, has bequeathed unto the world that mysterious energizing power of the Holy Spirit, enabling his devoted disciples to bring into being the glorious civlization of man’s maturity. This new era has been unfolding imperceptibly, despite formidable setbacks, throughout Bahá’í communities in all parts of the world during the past century. Here are to he found the people of certainty, their eyes upon the resplendent goal to which the path of the world convulsion is inevitably heading, their backs bent to the superhuman undertaking of assisting a weakened, discouraged humanity to reach that goal ere it perishes.
FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD GOVERNMENT
An age whose leaders are grasping frantically at futile expediencies, is seeking collective security in the fallacy of national sovereignty. Airplanes, the atom bomb, as well as innumerable planet-wide enterprises
have outmoded the once valid sovereignty of the separate state. In contrast, Bahá’u’lláh reveals that recognition of the sovereignty of the Prophet of God, and the translation of His Teachings into a world commonwealth is the basis of true security. “. . . .They Who are the Luminaries of truth . . . in whatever age and cycle they are sent down from their invisible habitations of ancient glory unto this world, to educate the souls of men and endue with grace all created things, are invariably endowed wth an all-compelling power, and invested with invincible sovereignty.” (p. 97) “That sovereignty is the spiritual ascendancy which He exerciseth to the fullest degree over all that is in heaven and on earth, and which in due time revealeth itself to the world in direct proportion to its capacity and spiritual receptiveness.” (pp. 107-108) “This sovereignty must needs be revealed and established either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or after His ascension . . .” (pp.110-111) The great Jewish, Christian and Islamic civilizations vindicate this law of universal progress through their unities of family, tribe, city-state and nation, up to the threshold of world federation. Even those who have refused to accept these Prophets, none the less acknowledge their over-powering influence in sweeping away all obstacles, establishing their Cause, and building a foundation of protection and security in each particular age.
The problem of a unifying center that will attract the allegiance and capture the imagination of the masses of humanity is one aspect of world government which has not as yet
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found a solution. Here again, history records that each of the Messengers of God Who has founded a civilization has successfully met this problem according to the capacity of His era. Bahá’u’lláh points the way for this age. “. . consider the welding power of His Word . . . how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the divine springtime . . . have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity . . .” (pp. 112-113) He then reiterates the efforts to obstruct this plan of God. “Though they recognize in their hearts the Law of God to he one and the same, yet from every direction they issue a new command, and in every season proclaim a fresh decree. No two are found to agree on one and the same law, for they seek no God but their own desire . . . In leadership they have recognized the ultimate object of their endeavor . . . With all their power and strength they strive to secure themselves in their petty pursuits, fearful lest the least discredit undermine their authority . . .” (pp. 30-31) Returning to the accomplishment of the Pro phet, He continues, “Observe, how those in whose midst the Satan of self had for years sown the seeds of malice and hate became so fused and blended through their allegiance to this wondrous and transcendent Revelation that it seemed as if they had sprung from the same loins. Such is the binding force of the Word of God, which uniteth the hearts of them that have renounced all else but Him . . .” (p. 112)
Through this power the unities of tribe and nation have come into
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being. Why should we refuse to acknowledge the possibility of the next logical step, unification of all peoples into the great commonwealth? Indeed, Bahá’u’lláh has definitely provided for such an expression of human maturity. The failure of past civilizations to continue their unity indefinitely lay in the fact that their immaturity prevented the Prophet from revealing a complete provision for the continuance of divine authority within His immediate followers. We sense the hint of its coming in the theocracy of early Israel, in in Christ’s commendation of Peter’s derstanding of His Divine authority, in the line of divinely guided Iméms of Islém. In the Kitáb-i-Iqán we read, “Those words uttered by the Luminaries of truth must needs be pondered, and should their signficance not be grasped, enlightenment should he sought from the Trustees of the depositories of Knowledge, that they may expound their meaning, and unravel their mystery. For it behooveth no man to interpret the holy Words according to his own imperfect understanding, nor, having found them contrary to his inclination and desires, to reject and repudiate their truth.” (pp. 181-182) In later writings Bahá’u’lláh applies this principle in the institutions of the center of the Covenant, the Guardianship, and the Universal House of Justice, bases of continued divinely guided interpretation of the Laws of God, and their application to the emerging World Order. It is increasingly evident that Bahá’u’lláh is offering the balm of reconciliation as the refuge to which each and every contending group and individual can turn as the fulfilment of his deepest
282 WORLD ORDER
desire, and as the promise of his
Holy Book.
RECONCILIATION OF WORLD RELIGIONS
One vast arena of insecurity, one of the most stubborn obstacles to
enduring peace is the enmity between the adherents of the world’s differ ent religious systems. The Kitáb-ilqén sweeps away “the age old barriers that have so insurmountably separated the great religions of the world,” laying a “broad and unassailable foundation for the complete and permanent reconciliation of their followers.” (Cod Passes By pp. 139-140) Many are the evidences of the close relationship of these seemingly incompatible Faiths. Their Revelators have appeared in fulfilment of promises of earlier Prophets. Each Manifestation has confirmed the truth of His predecessor, and promised a successor. Each has continued to expand the same fundamental truths, adapting the changing social teachings to the ex igencies of the time. Each has de clared His unity with the others to be so complete as to be the “Return” of the same divine Spirit, so that Jesus could say with equal truth, “I will come again,” and “When He, the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you into all truth,” and Muhammad could utter these words, “I am the first Adam, Noah, Moses and Jesus.” To quote ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘finasmuch as they were agreed and united in purpose and teaching, it is incumbent upon their followers to be likewise unified in love and spiritual fellowship. In no other way will discord and alienation disappear and the oneness of the World of humanity
be established.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 334)
Understanding the symbolic meanings common to all the Holy Books is essential to reconciliation, and according to these Books this could not be brought about until we became mature enough to grasp the realities for which the symbols were employed. The Kitáb-i-fqan unlocks this realm of divine mysteries. Take the symbol of the sun and explore its meanings. “These Suns of truth are the universal Manifestations of God in the worlds of His attributes and names. Even as the visible sun that assisteth . . . in the development of all earthly things . . . so do the divine luminaries, by their loving care and educative influence, cause the trees of divine unity, the fruits of His oneness, the leaves of detachment, the blossoms of knowledge and certitude, and the myrtles of wisdom and utterance to exist and be made manifest.” (pp. 33-34) Again this term is applied to “the divines of the former Dispensation, who live in the days of the subsequent Revelation, and who hold the reins of religion in their grasp. If these divines can be illumined by the light of the latter Revelation they will be acceptable unto Goda and will shine with a light everlasting. Otherwise they will be declared as darkened, even though to outward seeming they be leaders of men, inasmuch as belief and unbelief, guidance and error, . . . are all dependent upon the sanction of Him Who is the Day-Star of Trut .” (p. 36) “In another sense, by the terms ‘sun’, ‘moon’, and ‘stars’ are meant such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed
in every dispensation, such as the
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SECURITY 283
laws of prayer and fasting.” (p. 38)
The “clouds” that obscure the Sun
and prevent our acceptance of God’s Messenger are such things as are contrary to our ordered way of life and to our selfish desires. The appearance of the Prophet “in the image of mortal man, with such human limitations as eating and drinking, poverty and riches, glory and abasement . . . cast doubt in the minds of men, and cause them to turn away.” (p. 72) The changes which the Prophet makes in the ordinances of the old Dispensation also constitute “clouds.”
What is the interpretation of the “City of God,” that refuge for all mankind? “That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus the Gospel; and in the Dispensation of Him Whom God shall make manifest His own Book . . . All the guidance, the blessings, the learning, the understanding, the faith and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven and on
earth, are hidden and treasured within these cities.” (pp. 199-200)
The Kitáb-i-lqén explains the purpose of the rich and varied symbolism common to all the world Scriptures. The Prophets “speak a twofold language. One language, the outward language, is devoid of allusions, is unconcealed and unveiled; that it may be a guiding lamp and a beaconing light whereby wayfarers may attain the heights of holiness and seekers advance in the realm of eternal reunion . . . The other language is veiled and concealed, so that whatever lieth hidden in the heart of the malevolent may be made mani fest and their innermost being be disclosed . . . None apprehendeth the meaning of these utterances except those whose hearts are assured, whose souls have found favour with God, and whose minds are detached from all else but Him.” (pp. 254-5)
To this we add Bahá’u’lláh’s loving counsel, “It behooveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavour, that, by God’s invisible assistance, these dark veils, these clouds of Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder us from beholding the beauty of His shining C‘ountenance . . . that thereby we may attain unto Him Who is the F ountainhead of infinite grace, and in WhOSe presence all the
world’s abundance fadeth into noth- '
ingness . . .” (p. 75) What a glimpse of imperishable security!
In the last analysis, the foundation of collective security is as strong as the individuals who constitute the foundation stones. It is our motives, our deep-seated desires that determine the direction and value of our actions. In the opening pages of the Kitab-i-fqén, its Author reveals, “they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly—their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way.” (p. 3) Then B‘ahé’u’llah utters this much needed explanation “man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the AllClorious . . . unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition
of God and His Prophet.” (pp. 3-4)
234 WORLD ORDER
We approach the threshold of spiritual maturity through practice of the law df independent investigation, through recognition of our responsibility to see with our own eyes, and know of our own knowledge. This pathway is not beyond the reach of any human being. “The understanding of His words . . . are in no wise dependent upon human learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit.” (p. 211) “Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the
' seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His
loving-kindness is waited upon his soul, will . . . the lights of knowledge and certitude envelope his being . . . Then will the manifold favours and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new
life upon the seeker that he will find
himself endowed with a new eye, a
new eat, a new heart, and a new mind.” (pp. 195-196)
This rising above dependence upon the shifting sands of transient material things and the corrupted teachings of the past, into the realm of reliance upon the laws of God’s latest Messenger, this places our feet upon the Rock against which the tempest beats in vain. This is the stronghold of impregnable security.
These are but a few of the life¥iving truths revealed in the Kitah-i qén. “Therefore, 0 brother! kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it With the globe of understanding . . . Thus have We illuminated the heavens of utterance with the splendours of the Sun of divine wisdom and understanding, that thy heart may find peace, that thou mayat be of those who, on the wings of certitude, have
soared unto the heaven of the love of their Lord, the All-Merciful.” (p. 61)
BEAUTIFY YOUR TONGUES
Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty. Beware, O people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblem of His generosity amidst His people . . . Strive, O people, that your eyes may be directed towards the mercy of God, that your hearts may be attuned to His wondrous remembrance, that your souls may rest eonfidently upon His grace and bounty, that your feet may tread the path of His good-pleasure. Such are the counsels which I bequeath unto you. Would
that ye might follow My counsels!
Bahá’u’lláh
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High Lights of the Newer Testament
A Compilation from the Bahá’í Writings
MARION CRIST LIPPETT
THE DIVINE PLAN (for the individual)
Know thou that all men have been created in the nature made
by God . . . Unto each one hath been prescribed a pre-ordained measure . . . All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition.
>s< * *
Every act ye meditate is as clear to Him as is that act when already accomplished . . . This fore-knowledge of God, however, should not be regarded as having caused the actions of men, just as your own previous knowledge that a certain event is to occur, or your desire that it should hap pen, is not the reason for its oc currence.
- * *
Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of all frailties of body or mind . . . Every malady afflicting the body of man is an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and power. When it leaveth the body, however, it will evince such ascendancy, and re 285
veal such influence as no force on earth can equal. >4: * *
The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of a child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befittetb its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation.
=0: * *
Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. . . . If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim of self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their
depths.
- >1: *
The souls of the infidels . . . shall—and to this I bear witness ——-be made aware of the good
things that have escaped them,
and shall bemoan their plight, and shall humble themselves be’
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fore God. They shall continue quafi'ed the choice and incorrupdoing so after the separation of tible wine of faith . . . their souls from their bodies. * * *
- * * How great the multitude of
. . . All men shall, after their truths which the garment of physical death, estimate the words can never contain! How worth of their deeds, and realize vast the number of such verities
all that their hands have wrought as no expression can adequately . . . Well it is with him that hath describe!
The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh
0 SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.
O SON OF THE SUPREME! To the eternal I call thee, yet thou dost seek that which perisheth. What hath made thee turn away from Our desire and seek thine own?
0 SON OF MAN!
Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.
0 SON OF BEING! If poverty overtake thee, be not sad; for in time the Lord of wealth shall visit thee. Fear not abasement, for glory shall one day rest on thee.
O SON OF MAN! Thou dost wish for gold and I desire thy freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. By My life! This is My knowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My way accord with thine?
WITH OUR READERS
WE WELCOME any news of Bahá’í activity in other parts of the world. A friend in Esslingen, Germany, writes, “Many people are today attentively listening to the Bahá’í message. People who have lost their faith in their church 0: philosophy owing to the disastrous events of this dreadful war' are grasping for this message of peace and unity and are endeavoring to get at the root of religious truth.” Helen Frink writes us of this interesting occurrence. In 1917, the late Dr. Charles Frink had written a manuscript which he called The Physician of the Future expressing the belief that man will acquire increased self-mastery, learning to use his mental and spiritual powers in conjunction with his physical powers to greater self-realization. The physicians of the future would help their patients not merely by medication, but by helping thzm to heal their own spirits. He was carrying this manuscript to the printers when he passed a window in an office building with the word, “Bahá’í”. Miss Frink goes on to say, “Upon entering the Bahá’í reading room he was told that Bahá’u’lláh had come as the Universal Healer of all mankind, the Healer of humanity as a whole, of the nations and of the individuals. As evidenced by the article, the writer had already glimpsed the universal aspect of healing, having received these ideas on the intuitive plane. Without the slightest hesitation he, that same
night, embraced the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh; and the following day
the brochure was printed, prefaced with the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”
From Cienfuegos, Cuba, Jean Sil' ver writes: “World Order magazine is like a welcome guest when it arrives and the subject matter becomes more and more interesting. Marzieh Gail’s highly spritual and beautifully written articles I especially enjoy. If possible I hope to add other subscribers to your list soon. Personally the magazine has been my friend ever since its existence, long before it was known as W orld Order. As a matter of fact I devour every word and do not let it out of my hands until I have read it from cover to cover. When one is so far away from familiar haunts as I am it’s like speaking with my dear Bahá’í friends.”
One reader sent this note with her subscription, “1 am enclosing my check to cover a two year extension of my sister’s subscription as well as my own. We feel that World Order is a great comfort to us as we are not near enough to attend Bahá’í meetings; and your articles are invaluable to Bahá’ís situated in isolated places.”
The lead article for December is William Kenneth Christian’s “Bahá’ís Look to the Future.” Readers need no introduction to this former editor and young member of the National Spiritual Assembly.
“The Idea of Social Justice” is,
287
288
we think, the first article submitted to W orld Order by Robert Gaines. He was at one time a member of the Urbana Bahá’í Youth group and is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He has been a mechanical engineer with General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. He, his wife, and his children are living in Pittsfield Village just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Robert G-ulick, contributor of “Beloved Iran: Land of Light”, has led an interesting life. He is the son of one of the early American Bahá’ís and spent his boyhood on a California farm, where his father experi. mented with thousands of varieties of fruit trees. By the time he had gradua'ted from college, he had worked on a ranch and managed a small country grocery. At one time he was supervisor of the Federal Writer’s Project for the ten counties of northern California. He has explored on foot such places as Bad Water, Death Valley, and Mt. Whitney, the lowest and the highest places in the United States. For five years he worked with the customs service in San Francisco. An economist, he was recently with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York. This year he toured Europe and the Near East as an economic observer, but visited as many of the places of Bahá’í interest as he could. The account of his visit to Shíráz appeared recently in Bahá’í News. Now he is back on the University of California campus with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, the Teaching Institute of Economics. The illustration on page one gives us a glimpse of Tihran, which he describes in his article.
WORLD ORDER
“Security that Endures,” a review of the Kitáb-i-fqén by Bahá’u’lláh, continues our series of articles on Bahá’í literature. It was written by Maye Harvey Gift, who taught a course of study on the book at a laboratory session of the Louhelen summer school. Mrs. Gift is one of the Peoria Bahá’ís who compiled the anthology of scientific, sociological, and Bahá’í writings on race relations called Race and Man. Her most recent article for W orld Order was entitled, “Two Facets of One Gem,” for the January, 1947, issue.
everal months ago this department carried' extracts from “The Fragrance of Letters by Rúḥíyyih Khánum, the wife of the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Other parts of the article are reprinted this month by permission of Herald of the South, the Bahá’í magazine for Australia and New Zealand.
The poem, “Dawn in the East” is by Gertrude W. Robinson, whose poems have appeared before in W orld Order, and who is the author of the article on the Bahá’í Temple which appeared in November.
The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh are essential poetry. To emphasize this we have selected some of them to be set up in poetic form for this issue.
Our meditations this month are from Marion C. Lippitt’s compilation, “High Lights of the Newer Testament”, a portion of which we printed last month.
The editorial was written by Mrs. Hutchens, one of the editors living now in Champaign, Illinois.
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Bahá’í Sacred Writings
Works of Bahá’u’lláh
Distributed by Bahá’í Publishing Committee 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
KITAB-HQAN (Book of Certitude)
In this work Bahá’u’lláh reveals the oneness of religion, traces its continuity and evolution through the successive Manifestations of God, and correlates revelation with the major movements of history. Translated by
Shoghi Effendi. HIDDEN WORDS
The essence of all revealed truth, expressed in brief meditations impregnated with spiritual power. Translated by Shoghi Effendi.
THE SEVEN VALLEYS, THE FOUR VALLEYS Treatises On the progress of the soul and the action of spirit on human
being, revealed to disclose the difference between religion and philosophy. Translated by ‘Ali-Kuli Kllén.
EPISTLE TO THE SON OF THE WOLF
The force and significance of divine Revelation opposed by the ruthless deniers in church and state. One of Bahá’u’lláh’s last works, it cites from and recapitulates the meaning of many other Tablets.
TABLETS OF Bahá’u’lláh
The Tablet of Tarézét, Tablet of the World, Words of Paradise, Tablel Of Tajalliyét, Glad Tidings and Tablet of Ishréqét, containing soci I principles and laws, are found in Chapter Four af Bahá’í World Fa‘lh. The Tablet of the Branch and Kitáb-i-‘Ahd, setting forth the station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, are found in Chapter Five of the same work. Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets to the Kings form part of Chapter One of that work.
GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF Bahá’u’lláh
These excerpts were selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi, and offer a representative compilation of words of Bahá’u’lláh: the Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the regeneration of the soul and the transformation of human society.
PRAYERS AND MEDITATIO‘NS BY Bahá’u’lláh
In these passages, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi, the relationship of man to God attained by prayer and meditation has been
firmly established above and beyond the influence of superstition and imagination.
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THE Bahá’í FAITH
Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,
Upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth,
Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice,
Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science, and that'it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society, . . .
Inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
Advocates compulsory education, Abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth,
Exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship,
Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, . . .
Provides the necessary agencies for the estab-lishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
—SHOGHI EFFENDI.
