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WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
March, 1942
• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Center of the Covenant . . Juliet Thompson 405
• True Liberty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bahá’u’lláh 427
• Prayer for the Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . Bahá’u’lláh 428
• A Bahá’í Pioneer in Paraguay, V . . Elisabeth H. Cheney 429
• With Our Readers . . . . 436 • Index . . . . . . . . . . 438
FIFTEEN CENTS
GOD’S PURPOSE IS NONE OTHER THAN TO USHER IN, IN WAYS HE ALONE CAN BRING ABOUT, AND THE FULL SIGNIFICANCE OF WHICH HE ALONE CAN FATHOM, THE GREAT, THE GOLDEN AGE OF A LONG-DIVIDED, A LONG-AFFLICTED HUMANITY. ITS PRESENT STATE, INDEED EVEN ITS IMMEDIATE FUTURE, IS DARK, DISTRESSINGLY DARK. ITS DISTANT FUTURE, HOWEVER, IS RADIANT, GLORIOUSLY RADIANT—SO RADIANT THAT NO EYE CAN VISUALIZE IT.
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WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Stanwood Cobb, Alice Simmons Cox, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Marcia Steward Atwater, Hasan M. Balyusi, Dale S. Cole, Genevieve L. Coy, Mae Dyer, Shirin Fozdar, Marzieh Gail, Inez Greeven, Annamarie Honnold, G. A. Shook.
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MARCH, 1942, VOLUME VII, NUMBER 12
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME VII MARCH, 1942 NUMBER 12
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Center Of The Covenant
Juliet Thompson
- VIBRANT PERSONALITY AND UNIQUE FUNCTION
- OF THE FIGURE WHO HERALDS THE GOLDEN AGE
IN THESE DAYS when a civilization is dying before our very eyes, and when the great Prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, has appeared, standing on the threshold of a new age with a scroll of new commandments in His hand, two other Figures stand with Him, of heart-captivating beauty:—the youthful Báb, His Forerunner, equal in rank with Him as an independent Revelator, and the Son of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “‘Abdu’l-Bahá”, translated, means “Servant of the Glory”, and this is His self-assumed title. Bahá’u’lláh entitled Him “The Master”.
In the language of Shoghi Effendi, the present Guardian
of the Bahá’í Faith, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá “holds not only in the Dispensation
of Bahá’u’lláh, but in the entire field of religious
history, a unique function. Though moving in a sphere of His
own and holding a rank radically different from that of the
Author and the Forerunner of the Bahá’í Revelation, He, by
[Page 406]
virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant
of Bahá’u’lláh forms, together with them, what may be termed
the Three Central Figures of a Faith unapproached in the
world’s spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction with them,
above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from a level
to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after
Him, and for no less a period than a thousand years, can ever
hope to rise.”
Among the many titles conferred by His Father on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is that of “The Mystery of God”. The Guardian, referring to these titles, writes that they “invest Him with a power and surround Him with a halo which the present generation can never adequately appreciate.”
We, of course, are of this generation, and the hearts that are grateful to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have realized with sorrow the truth of the Guardian’s words:—we cannot “appreciate” such grandeur, nor the significance of such a station. We stand too close to this tremendous Figure to envision its overshadowing of the future, and are too imperfect, at our stage of development, to perceive in its fullness the beauty of the Perfect. We have but one hope:—As, in reality, we love and follow the Servant of God, His “halo” shines for us, and, seeing it, we adore “the Mystery”. The heart made bold by love can scale great heights—though not such heights as His.
The Guardian has unveiled for us in one incomparable sentence the meaning of the title, “The Mystery of God”,— leaving it, in its essence, still a mystery. “In the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” he says, “the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfections have been blended and completely harmonized.” Thus He, the Perfect Man, is a bridge between man in his “station of servitude” and that forever mysterious Being, the Manifestation of God. He, indeed, is our link with Bahá’u’lláh.
[Page 407]
To glimpse something of the beauty of the Name,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and of the Master’s choice of it, to understand
why the Guardian calls it “the magic Name”, and to feel its
power over the heart, let us recall the Bahá’í conception of
the station of servitude.
THE SERVANT OF THE GLORY
According to the Bahá’í Teaching, man has no approach to the Essence of Deity save through the Revelator, whose human temple is so pervaded by the burning energy of the Holy Spirit, or creative Word of God, that He is as a sun to His age. The outpourings of light from the Essence mingle with and use His pure Being. Man through Him is made aware of God. Yet even He claims no access to unknowable Deity. And just as the Revelator Himself stands in a World of His own, below the World of Deity, so man is in a fixed station—that of servitude—beyond which he cannot pass. Yet so great is this station of servitude that only the evolved and selfless soul can rise to its high requirements:—true service to God and to man. Bahá’u’lláh has said: “Verily Man is not called Man until he become adorned with the attributes of the Merciful.” And Jesus said: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”
So we see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, destined from birth to fulfill “a unique function in all religious history”, endowed from birth with superhuman perfections, yet choosing a name which places the emphasis on His human nature, identifies Him with man’s station. At the same time He uplifts for us the sublimity of this station, unveiling in His own Being its manifold “new virtues” and the splendor of its future—while forever He towers above it, its Exemplar. “‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Servant of El Bahá, has clad himself in the mantle of servitude and devotion for the beloved of El Bahá. Verily this is a great victory.”
THE PERFECT EXEMPLAR
It is Shoghi Effendi who designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the Perfect Man, the “Exemplar” of the Bahá’í Faith. That is, His life, in its perfection, is not only the pure example to our generation, but to a re-born human race, who will follow Bahá’u’lláh through all the future centuries till the close of His Dispensation. Man, we are told, is now in his “turbulent adolescence”, about to come of age. His maturity will then unfold, his latent spiritual powers, including more subtle senses, will appear, his unclouded reality will radiate the “new virtues”. To such a race as this, unimaginable now, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will still be the Exemplar. And such a race as this will have developed the consciousness wherewith to “adequately appreciate” Him.
Before We consider His great appointment under the Will and Testament of His Father as “Center and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant”, let us look back into that perfect life. Let us look for a moment into His childhood, His tenth year, when a world-shaking event occurred in His presence—and His alone. This was the first Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh made in 1853 in Baghdád, where He, with His Family, then lived in exile,—the exact fulfillment of the Báb’s prophecy that in “the Year Nine” (corresponding with 1853) “He Whom God would make manifest” would announce Himself.
It was in the preceding year, in Ṭihrán, and in a dungeon, that Bahá’u’lláh first woke to His world Mission. Accused as a follower of the Báb who had just been put to death, He, too, sat awaiting death, bowed under heavy chains; when in a dream one night He heard these words, resounding from all sides:
“Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and
[Page 409]
by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen
Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Ere
long will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who
will aid Thee through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived
the hearts of such as have recognized Him.”
When, by the intervention of the Russian ambassador, Bahá’u’lláh was released and returned to His plundered home, and His beggared family, the nimbus of the Prophet rested upon Him. “He returned,” His daughter has said, “a changed Father.” To this “changed Father” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then only a little child, gave up His whole heart.
Of that first Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh, made to His Son alone, we have the account of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Himself, given sixty years later.
“I am the Servant of the Blessed Perfection. In Baghdád I was a child. Then and there He announced to me the Word, and I believed in Him. As soon as He proclaimed to me the Word, I threw myself at His Holy Feet and implored and supplicated Him to accept my blood as a sacrifice in His Pathway.”
The sacrifice, of life at least, was accepted, and prolonged for fifty-six years in prison and exile, within the limitations of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was faithful to a servitude, incessant as the beating of the heart, to God and man. With all who came to Him in the Prison of ‘Akká seeking alms or wisdom, with the countless pilgrims who in the end found their way to that prison, in a vast correspondence with East and West, day and night He labored. He took no rest, allowing Himself but two or three hours of sleep. Even beyond these fifty-six years was the sacrifice prolonged. When the commutation of His life-sentence opened for Him world opportunities, as He traveled throughout Europe and America, His door stood open from dawn to midnight. High and low flocked to that door and none was turned away.
[Page 410]
Forty of those years of exile were passed at the side of His
Father, at times in a close imprisonment all but insupportable
to the flesh. It was in ‘Akká, Syria, a Turkish penal colony,
that Bahá’u’lláh and His family spent these darkest days, confined
in a fortress—He and His Son in chains. To this penal
colony more than seventy disciples had chosen to follow their
beloved Lord, accompanying Him from Adrianople, preferring
captivity with Him to freedom in their own homes. And now, in
the terrible “Barracks” of ‘Akká, during a period of two years,
these were all herded into one room, men, women and children,
with the delicately reared family of Bahá’u’lláh. The room
had an adjoining alcove, in which Bahá’u’lláh was placed.
In the stories we have of those days, through all the intolerable physical misery we hear the high ring of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s gaiety cheering His fellow-prisoners. We see Him nursing with His own hands the sick and the dying among them, as many—in that one room—fell victims to dreadful contagious diseases. When the jailers fastened chains upon Him, we can sense the sweetness of His tones answering their astonished question: “How is it you laugh and sing when prisoners ironed in this way usually cry out, weep and lament?” “I rejoice because you are doing me a great kindness; you are making me very happy. For a long time I have wished to know the feelings of a prisoner in irons, to experience what other men have been subjected to. I have heard of this, now you have taught me what it is. You have given me this opportunity. Therefore I sing and am very happy. I am very thankful to you.”
To skip years:—one of His daughters gave me a little vignette of the bombardment of Haifa during the last war. “When it began,” she said, “the Master gathered us all around Him and told us such enchanting stories that we forgot the guns.”
[Page 411]
Human experience, bitter at best—for Him raised to the
degree of torture—He accepted with divine gallantry, an
ecstatic secret exultation. To the believers of Mázindarán,
singled out at the time for martyrdom, He wrote: “Let things
go by with a smile. . . . This is not the first blood that has
been shed on the plain of Karbilá.”
From the first we find ‘Abdu’l-Bahá decisive and endowed with a strange power. While His Father was still in the dungeon in Ṭihrán and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but eight years old, the wife of Bahá’u’lláh, returning one day from her sister’s house to which she went daily in the hope of receiving news of her husband, found her little son in the street, surrounded by a band of older boys who had gathered to molest Him. “He was standing straight as an arrow in their midst, quietly commanding them not to lay hands on Him. Which, strange to say,” the story ends, “they seemed unable to do.”
Another picture of this commanding power comes down to
us from His early youth. At that time the most terrible crisis
which Bahá’u’lláh and His family ever had to meet, developed
in Adrianople, where again they were on the eve of banishment.
A banishment far more cruel than the three that had
preceded it, for now this uniquely united family was to be
torn asunder, Bahá’u’lláh sent to a distant city, a secret
destination, His wife and children to another secret destination;
forever parted, and forever lost, one to the other.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá sought out the officials. Again and again He
went to them. What he said has not been recorded—only that
“He pleaded”, “He persisted”, and that the officials “seemed
unable to put the measure into execution.” While this measure
was pending, news of it reached the believers of Adrianople
and they rushed in a body to the house of Bahá’u’lláh, frantic
at the thought of separation from Him. One old man seized
a knife and crying, “If I must be separated from my Lord, I
[Page 412]
will go now and join my God,” cut his throat. A scene of wild
confusion followed, during which a cordon of police surrounded
the frenzied crowd and brutally attempted to control
it. It was then that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suddenly appeared in their
midst. We sense a lightning flash of power, a superhuman
force, as we read of His “impassioned and vehement words”,
denouncing the cruelty of the police, demanding the presence
of the governor. “We had never before,” said His sister, in
telling the story, “seen my brother angry.” So swift was the
effect of this anger that the governor was at once sent for.
He hurried to the scene and, witnessing it, said: “We cannot
separate these people. It is impossible.”
Thus it was that seventy devotees found themselves imprisoned in one room with their Divine Beloved.
We are told that from the hour of Bahá’u’lláh’s first Declaration made to His little Son, this Son “seemed to constitute Himself His Father’s special attendant and servant.” At that tender age in Baghdád, His first thought was to protect His Father. With an eagerness that moves the heart, He made a shield of His own young body to ward off the insincere and, while Bahá’u’lláh sat writing those sacred Books which are destined to guide a world, to guard His seclusion from intruders.
As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grew into early manhood in Baghdád it is said His beauty was so great that when He walked in the street ladies screened by their lattices threw roses on Him. Only a few years later we find Him in chains in the fortress of ‘Akká.
As the years went by this imprisonment in ‘Akká became
less and less rigorous, for no governor could resist the unearthly
attractive power which radiated from their captives,
Father and Son. Yet they were never wholly out of danger.
Time after time disturbances brought about with the Persian
[Page 413]
and Turkish governments threatened them with death. Always
confined within the walls of ‘Akká, at first in the Barracks,
later in a small house, later still on one floor of a house, they
were permitted after some years to walk in the streets of that
stark white prison-city, treeless, hot, malarial. Another long
period of years and Haifa, twelve miles from ‘Akká, was
included in their sphere of liberty. Toward the close of His
life, Bahá’u’lláh lived in Bahjí, a beautiful country-place on
the sea near ‘Akká. Its name, chosen by Him, means Joy.
STRONGHOLD OF THE FAITH
The earthly life of Bahá’u’lláh ended in 1892, and from the hour when His Will and Testament was read, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was recognized as the Center and Pivot of His Covenant.
“Thou knowest, O My God,” Bahá’u’lláh prays, “that I desire for Him naught except that which Thou didst desire and have chosen Him for no purpose save that for which Thou hadst intended Him.”
In this unparalleled institution, the Covenant, of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is appointed the Center and the sole Interpreter of the Words of Bahá’u’lláh, in which the Bahá’ís are required to turn to this Center in perfect obedience (that obedience which only love evokes), we find the great stronghold of the Bahá’í Faith. For this function of sole Interpreter implies the reading of the sacred Books by the same divine light that revealed them, and guards the Faith forever from those schisms which have rent other religious systems into countless sects.
And now, in His clear and incisive explanations of His Father’s Will, in His firm insistence that all Bahá’ís strictly adhere to its provisions, we see again in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a tower of strength and commanding power.
For there is nothing more vital to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
than the preservation of its unity. A religion which has for its
[Page 414]
object the establishment of the Oneness of Mankind must be
in itself an organic unity and must, like a sound body, served
by all its cells, remain a living unit through its all-pervading
Spirit.
On the subject of the Covenant ‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes, among many other statements: “Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant to guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there would arise among the Bahá’ís, in one day, a thousand different sects, as was the case in former ages, but in this Blessed Dispensation, for the sake of permanency of the Cause of God and the avoidance of dissension amongst the people of God, the Blessed Beauty (may my life be a sacrifice to Him) has through the Supreme Pen written the Covenant and Testament; He appointed a Center, the Exponent of the Book and the Annuller of disputes. Whatsoever is written by Him is comformable to truth and under the protection of the Blessed Beauty. He is infallible.”
“As to the most great characteristic, and it is a specific teaching of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and not given by any of the Prophets of the Past,—it is the teaching concerning the Center of the Covenant. By giving the teaching concerning the Center of the Covenant, He made a provision against all kinds of differences, so that no man should be able to create a new sect.”
“My purpose is to convey to you that it is your duty to guard the Religion of God, so that none shall be able to assail it outwardly or inwardly. If you see injurious teachings coming from an individual, no matter who that individual may be, even though He be my own son, know ye verily that I am quit of him.”
Thus sternly speaks “the Lover of the East”, who for Himself would accept no title but that of the Servant, in protection of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.
[Page 415]
We now see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, through the appointment of
Bahá’u’lláh, as embodied Authority to all who profess themselves
believers. Yet the great import of this appointment was
not fully revealed till the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself,
when in His own Will and Testament was found the amazing
sequel to His Father’s Will, the further unfolding of the
Master-Plan—the Plan of the Divine Revelator for a New
World Order.
This we will consider later. Let us now turn to other passages in the sacred writings of Bahá’u’lláh referring to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s station of Mystery. For the obedience of the Bahá’ís to their Source of light is of a two-fold nature: a strict obedience to the outer laws through which order will be restored in a chaotic world, and obedience to those inner laws of Spirit, exemplified in the Being of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Without this last deepest obedience the form, however imposing its structure, can never give life to the world.
“Look at me,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—and none but He could dare say this—“Look at me, follow me, be as I am, take no thought for yourselves or your lives, whether ye eat or whether ye sleep, whether ye are comfortable, whether ye are well or ill, whether ye are with friends or foes; . . . for all these things ye must care not at all. Look at me and be as I am; ye must die to yourselves and to the world that ye may be born again and enter the kingdom of heaven. Behold a candle, how it gives its light. It weeps its life away drop by drop in order to give forth its flame of light.”
Of Him, in the Tablet of the Branch, Bahá’u’lláh writes:
“Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance;
for verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most
perfect bounty upon you, and through Him every mouldering
bone is quickened. Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned
towards God, and Whoso turneth away from Him hath turned
[Page 416]
away from My Beauty, repudiated My Proof and transgressed
against Me. He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge
within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance
among His favored servants. . . . We have sent Him down
in the form of a human temple.”
In other Tablets addressed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh writes in His own hand:
“We pray God to illumine the world through Thy knowledge and wisdom.” And in another: “The Glory of God rest upon Thee and upon whosoever serveth Thee and circleth around Thee.” “We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind, a shield unto all who are in heaven and earth, a stronghold for whosoever hath believed in God, the Incomparable, the All-knowing.”
“Praise be to Him,” again writes Bahá’u’lláh to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who had set forth for Beirut, “Who hath honored the land of Bá (Beirut) through the footsteps of Him round Whom all names revolve. . . . Blessed, doubly blessed, is the ground which His footsteps have trodden, the eye that hath been cheered by the beauty of His countenance, the ear that hath been honored by hearkening to His call, the heart that hath felt the sweetness of His love.” In this same Tablet Bahá’u’lláh refers to His Son as “The great, the most mighty Branch of God—His ancient and immutable Mystery.”
Speaking from the heights of His divine humility, and
from His knowledge of the essence of His station of servitude,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá interprets the Tablet of the Branch thus: “I
affirm that the true meaning, the real significance, the innermost
secret of these verses, of these very words, is my own
servitude to the sacred Threshold of the Abhá Beauty, my
complete self-effacement, my utter nothingness before Him.
This is my resplendent crown, my most precious adorning.”
And, in this connection, as the Guardian tells us, He writes:
[Page 417]
“I am, according to the explicit texts of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and
the Kitáb-i-‘Ahd, the manifest Interpreter of the Word of
God. . . . Whoso deviates from my interpretation is a victim
of his own fancy.”
Even should we dare, in the face of such statements, to attempt to lift the veil lowered by a divine hand—to pry into the forbidden—we are wholly incapable of understanding, much less interpreting, these words of Bahá’u’lláh that refer to the Mystery of God. Yet awareness is not forbidden and the Master Himself has shown us the way to awareness.
“Turn with thy breast unto the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” He, Himself, writes, “and then this concealed fact will be disclosed, the Hidden Mystery [be] unveiled to thee.” “O ye friends! Turn the mirrors of your hearts toward mine. Unquestionably the mysteries of this heart shall be reflected upon those hearts and the emotions of this longing one shall become manifest and evident.” “I am the lamp and the love of God is my light. The light hath become reflected in the mirrors of hearts. Therefore turn thou unto thy heart, that is, when it is in the utmost freedom, and behold how the radiance of my love is manifest in that mirror and thou art near unto me. . . . Turn thou unto the Kingdom of Abhá, until thou mayest comprehend my mysteries.”
IN THE IMAGE OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
In the combined activities of meditation and service, in
the outcry for understanding expressed through prayer, and
that other form of outcry, the endeavor to pattern our lives
on His sublime life—and in unity with one another—lies the
secret of approach to this veiled Figure in the midmost heart
of the Covenant which Bahá’u’lláh has taken with his believers.
Herein lies also the secret whereby our Faith may
burn through the thick darkness of the world around us. For
[Page 418]
not till our lives become glowing examples, not till the love
of which His heart is the channel to “quicken mouldering
bones” is reflected into our own hearts; not till we love as
those early heroes, the Dawn-Breakers, loved; not till the
mirrored image of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, God’s “charge within us”,
actually “stands within” us, will we radiate that power which
alone can change the world.
Let us look once more into our beloved Exemplar’s life. First, another fleeting glance into that life bounded by prison walls and yet unlimited; then into His days of freedom when, the doors of His prison having opened through the downfall of two sovereigns, His royal jailers—the Sulṭán of Turkey, the Sháh of Persia—He went forth into the world, the Pioneer of pioneers, embodying in His every act, before the eyes of Europe and America, the Holy Teachings His eloquence spread.
In ‘Akká He was known as the Father of the Poor. Once a week He gathered into His garden the maim, the halt, the blind and the lepers. Here He would walk up and down among them, with His majestic tread and His tender ways, pausing before each one to embrace him, to give to each one some special word of cheer, taking even lepers into His arms. He would then press into the palm of each money enough to sustain him till his next visit. For as He wittily said to a friend who questioned the wisdom of charity: “Assuredly give to the poor. If you give them nothing but words, when they put their hands into their pockets after you have gone, they will find themselves none the richer for you.”
This moving scene in the garden has been witnessed by
many Western pilgrims. It happened once a week, on Friday.
Then He called the poor and the suffering to Him. But
every day and night He went to them, seeking them out Himself
in their own wretched hovels. One of the Persian believers
[Page 419]
said to me: “There is not an alley in ‘Akká I do not
know, nor a prison cell, for I have followed the footsteps of
my Lord.”
Monstrously sinned against, too great was He to claim the right to forgive. In His almost off-hand brushing aside of a cruelty, in the ineffable sweetness with which He ignored it, it was as though He said: Forgiveness belongs only to God.
An example of this was His memorable meeting with the royal prince, Zillah Sulṭán, brother of the Sháh of Persia, Muḥammad ‘Alí Sháh. Not alone ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but a great number of His followers, band after band of Bahá’í martyrs, had suffered worse than death at the hands of these two princes. When the downfall of the Sháh, with that of the Sulṭán of Turkey, set ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at liberty, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, beginning His journey through Europe, went first to Thonon-les-Bains on the Lake of Geneva. The exiled Sháh was then somewhere in Europe, Zillah-Sulṭán, also in exile with his two sons, had fled to Geneva. Thus ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the exonerated and free, and Zillah Sulṭán, the fugitive, were almost within a stone’s throw of each other.
In the suite of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a distinguished European who had visited Persia and there met Zillah Sulṭán. One day when the European was standing on the balustraded terrace of the hotel in Thonon and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was pacing to and fro at a little distance, Zillah Sulṭán approached the terrace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was wearing, as always, the turban, the long white belted robe and long ‘abá of Persia. His hair, according to the ancient custom of the Persian nobility, flowed to His shoulders. Zillah Sulṭán, after greeting the European, immediately asked:
“Who is that Persian nobleman?”
“Abdu’l-Bahá.”
“Take me to Him.”
[Page 420]
In describing the scene later, the European said:
“If you could have heard the wretch mumbling his miserable excuses!”
But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took the prince in His arms.
“All that is of the past,” He answered, “Never think of it again. Send your two sons to see me. I want to meet your sons.”
They came, one at a time. Each spent a day with the Master. The first, though an immature boy, nevertheless showed Him great deference. The second, older and more sensitive, left the room of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, where he had been received alone, weeping uncontrollably.
“If only I could be born again,” he said, “into any other family than mine.”
For not only had many Bahá’ís been martyred during his uncle’s reign (upwards of a hundred by his father’s instigation), and the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá threatened again and again, but his grandfather, Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, had ordered the execution of the Báb, as well as the torture and death of thousands of Bábís.
The young prince was “born again”—a Bahá’í.
Shortly before this meeting of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the brother of the Sháh, the Master had passed through the greatest crisis of His life, when the Sulṭán, ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd, was on the very brink of issuing an order for His execution. An investigating committee had been sent from Constantinople to try ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for treason and had pronounced Him guilty. But it was while they were still on the sea on their way back to Constantinople that the young Turks rose overnight and dethroned the Sulṭán. During those days of waiting for death on the cross, the Italian consul conceived a plan to rescue ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by spiriting Him away on an Italian ship. But in telling the story afterward ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said:
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“I thought: The Báb did not run away, Bahá’u’lláh did not
run away and now neither will I run away. I will not deliver
myself. Then God delivered me! The cannon of God boomed
before the palace of ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd!”
Throughout Europe and America for the greater part of three years—1911, 1912 and 1913—went ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, uplifting with His magic eloquence the Teachings of His Father, speaking on the platform of every church university, synagogue and progressive movement, calling the world to a realization of its essential oneness and to the establishment of universal peace, warning the world of the terrible wars to come should it fail to turn toward peace—and God, serving innumerable individuals; shaking the hearts by His dynamic Love; rousing many to a momentary wakefulness. How drowsy must have been that generation to have fallen again into so sound a sleep!
The effect of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on those multitudes who saw and heard Him certainly promised other results. As He walked among the people, an Immortal in a less than human world, with His ineffable beauty, His scintillating power, His strange, unearthly majesty, eyes full of wonder followed Him.
The poet, Kahlil Gibran, said: “For the first time I saw form noble enough to be the receptacle for Holy Spirit!”
An atheist went to a church to hear Him speak and later eagerly sought Him at His house. When this atheist was asked: “Did you feel the greatness of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?” he indignantly replied: “Would you feel the greatness of Niagara?”
Those who met Him perceived no more than their capacity could register. A society woman exclaimed: “Such beauty—the beauty of strength! And such charm! Why, He is a perfect man of the world!” And another society woman who had talked at length with Him: “You can hide nothing from Him! He looked into my heart and discovered all its secrets.”
A woman in sorrow, passing through a cruel experience,
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said: “He took all the bitterness out of my heart.” A famous
playwright, when he came from the room of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
declared: “I have been in the presence of God!” And Lee
McClung, then Treasurer of the United States, after his meeting
with the Master, groping for words to describe it, said:
“I felt as if I were in the presence of a great Prophet— Isaiah—Elijah—no, that is not it. The presence of Christ—no. I felt as if I were in the presence of my Divine Father.”
The Turkish ambassador, Zia Pasha, a devout Muḥammadan, when told of the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, had scoffed at the thought of a new Prophet. But while ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in Washington Zia Pasha met Him at the Persian Embassy, invited by His Excellency Ali-Kuli Khan, and Madame Khan, and immediately arranged a dinner to be given in His honor at the Turkish Embassy. At this dinner the ambassador rose and, facing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with tears in his eyes, toasted Him as “The Light of the age, Who has come to spread His glory and perfection among us.”
These are only a few examples of the response of the people to the Mystery of God which I myself witnessed in 1912.
After the Master’s return to Syria, during the years of the last World War and under the hot summer sun of Galilee, He, though well over seventy, Himself ploughed the wheatfields of His estate there, that the starving people might have bread.
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ascended in 1921 to His “original
abode”, plunging the Bahá’í world into such grief as is only
felt once in an age, when disciples mourn their Lord, His last
Will and Testament came as a complete surprise, an inestimable
bounty to His confused and desolate believers. For in it
He appointed His own grandson, the beloved Shoghi Effendi,
as the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith and His successor as sole
Interpreter of the sacred Books. So we found our Faith still
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safeguarded from schisms and dissensions—still led through a
Focal Point of “unerring guidance”.
“The mighty stronghold,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says in that most powerful Document, His Will, “shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.” “It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, the Aghṣán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God, to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God” “He is the Interpreter of the Word of God and after Him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.” “Salutation and praise, blessing and glory be upon . . . them that have believed, rested assured, stood steadfast in His Covenant and followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Dayspring of Divine Guidance—for behold! he is the blest and sacred bough that hath branched from the Twin Holy Trees. Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of His shade that overshadoweth all mankind.”
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Shoghi Effendi tells us: “It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Who,
through the provisions of His weighty Will and Testament,
has forged the vital link which must forever connect the age
that has just expired [the “glorious and heroic Apostolic Age”]
with the one we now live in—the Transitional and Formative
period of the Bahá’í Faith. . . .” “His Will and Testament
should be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link
which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God has conceived
in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that
constitute the component parts of the Bahá’í Dispensation.”
(The Apostolic, the Formative and the Golden Age.) “The
creative energies released by the Law of Bahá’u’lláh, permeating
and evolving within the mind of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have,
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by their very impact and close inter-action, given birth to an
instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New
World Order, which is at once the glory and the promise of
this most great Dispensation. The Will may thus be acclaimed
as the inevitable offspring resulting from the mystic intercourse
between Him Who communicated the generating influence of
His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and
chosen recipient.”
As we read in the Will the boldly outlined pattern of a New World Order “which”, in the words of the Guardian, “lies enshrined in the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh,” we are reminded of passages in Isaiah: “and the Government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. . . .”; and, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of His people and healeth the stroke of their wound.” And in the Book of Revelation: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away.”
Now, in this great Document, the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in yet another aspect:— that of the Architect of a Divine Order through which earth will reflect the Kingdom of God Himself—rather, will be the Kingdom of God.
We of the Formative Period see only “as in a glass darkly”
that future, when a bankrupt world, now deluded by the
plans of its leaders into incomparable misery, will at last turn
to the Divine Plan—by which we must build in faithful adherence
to its sublimity. We see its glory but dimly, since its
very nature foreshadows mature man—man evolved to the
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state where his soul, through connection with the world of
Spirit, is the recipient of divine guidance. The Universal House
of Justice, acting in collaboration with the inspired Guardian,
is promised “unerring guidance”. But the culminating point of
this unerring guidance is the Guardian, in his function of sole
Interpreter of the sacred Books.
Thus, in obedience to the Guardian, which is clearly obedience to the Revealed Word, in obedience to the Tablets and the Life-Pattern of our Beloved Master, in true co-operation with and obedience to our Assemblies (the present form of the Houses of Justice) lies the key to our essential unity. We who believe that a group of disciples may, by the grace of God, sound such a depth of oneness as can stabilize the world and may form a spiritual nucleus from which the Brotherhood of Man will grow, have no choice but to obey.
We have seen ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, through His Will and Testament, as well as through His function of Exemplar, the “vital” and “indissoluble link” between the great age of the Bahá’í Messengers and Apostles, our own age and the Golden Age to come. In a letter to a believer the Guardian has been even more explicit.
“Although the bodily Temple has disappeared,” he writes,
“yet His Spirit, nay, the very plans and Institutions He Himself
laid down during His life-time, continue to operate and
function in the present Administrative Era of our Faith. There
is thus close doctrinal as well as historical continuity between
the era of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the present phase of the Administrative
development of the Cause. Both the Temple enterprise
and the Teaching campaign now operating in North, Central
and South America, which constitute the two-fold task set up
before the American Bahá’í Community under the Seven-Year
Plan. Both of them have been established and launched during
the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The Seven-Year Plan is indeed
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but the child of that Divine Plan set up by the Master in His
immortal Tablets revealed to the American believers during
the darkest days of the World War, and its operation and success
are therefore primarily dependent upon the faithful application
of the methods and principles He Himself has defined
and upon the power and guidance centering in His creative
writings.”
And now to return once more to our Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the Mystery of God, the Servant of God and our Exemplar.
What is the servant of the living body but the heart? What is the highest function of the heart but to be the channel of Divine Love?—that Law of Love which, as we are told by Bahá’u’lláh, “is never overtaken by change.” And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s last words to His believers in His Will and Testament concern this mystery of love, without which none can rise to the station of servitude.
“O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation,
conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor
deprives himself of God’s grace. It is incumbent upon everyone
to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness
and sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds
of the world, be they friends or strangers. So intense
must be the spirit of love and lovingkindness, that the stranger
may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference
whatsoever existing between them. For universality is
of God and all limitations earthly. Thus man must strive that
his reality may manifest virtues and perfections, the light
whereof may shine upon everyone. The light of the sun shineth
upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine Providence
fall upon all peoples. The vivifying breeze reviveth
every living creature and all beings endued with life obtain
their share and portion at His heavenly board. In like manner,
the affections and loving-kindness of the servants of the
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One True God must be bountifully and universally extended
to all mankind. Regarding this, restrictions and limitations are
in no wise permitted.
“Wherefore, O my loving friends, consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and friendliness, that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness and estrangement amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you, show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust towards you, show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you, attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity, be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives, sweeten their souls, should they inflict a wound on you, be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful.”
TRUE LIBERTY
We find men desiring liberty, and priding themselves therein. Such men are in the depths of ignorance.
Liberty must, in the end, lead to sedition, whose flames none can quench. Thus warneth you He Who is the Reckoner, the All-Knowing. Know ye that the embodiment of liberty and its symbol is the animal. That which beseemeth man is submission unto such restraints as will protect him from his own ignorance, and guard him against the harm of the mischief-maker. . . .
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.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
PRAYER FOR THE FAST
PRAISE be to Thee, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by this Revelation whereby darkness hath been turned into light, through which the Frequented Fane hath been built, and the Written Tablet revealed, and the Outspread Roll uncovered, to send down upon me and upon them who are in my company that which will enable us to soar into the heavens of Thy transcendent glory, and will wash us from the stain of such doubts as have hindered the suspicious from entering into the tabernacle of Thy unity.
I am the one, O my Lord, who hath held fast the cord of Thy loving-kindness, and clung to the hem of Thy mercy and favors. Do Thou ordain for me and for my loved ones the good of this world and of the world to come. Supply them, then, with the Hidden Gift Thou didst ordain for the choicest among Thy creatures.
These are, O my Lord, the days in which Thou hast hidden Thy servants to observe the fast. Blessed is he that observest the fast wholly for Thy sake and with absolute detachment from all things except Thee. Assist me and assist them, O my Lord, to obey Thee and to keep Thy precepts. Thou, verily, hast power to do what Thou choosest.
There is no God but Thee, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. All praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
A Bahá’í Pioneer in Paraguay
Elisabeth H. Cheney
V
LAST night twenty-two students came to help me celebrate the Feast of Riḍván and afterwards Dr. Pablo Laslo made a little speech of thanks for all of them, and in it he said that he prayed that this house and this occasion might become a “veritable Garden of Riḍván”. He is one of those who could not believe in God before he began coming to the classes. Last night before the feast, we talked about “Science and Religion” and the scientific approach to spiritual things, and I think this did a lot for him toward the finish of clearing away the debris of misunderstanding which had stood between him and the Beloved.
The friends have agreed that they would like to have a class for deeper study. They are to consult together this week and let me know next Monday when it would be possible for them all to come together, that is, all who feel prepared to enter this class.
Beginning on Wednesday evening of next week I have also agreed to open a special class in English for young people who would like to learn this language and who lack the means of doing so now. N— thinks it would be a point of attraction for the present youth group and a means of drawing in other young people. . . . I do not know how it will work out, but I have agreed to give this as a special service, gratis, to young people, specifying, however, that it is for those who are not now studying this language with some professor. There is a membership of ten and they think there will be more next Saturday.
April 29, 1941
Guy Johnson, English attorney, and his German friend, Father Martin, ate supper with me last night. Mr. Johnson is the leader of a group of some 300 Europeans, members of the Friends of the World who are establishing a community about 200 miles north of Asunción. They told me a good deal about their difficulties and plans. . . . We talked about the Bahá’í Faith, of course, and finally both men agreed that they thought their group had tuned in on the light of the new day without knowing its source. It will take them time, of course, to discover with real assurance that the Source of this light is Bahá’u’lláh. I have an invitation to visit this community but do not know how soon this will be possible. . . .
May 6, 1941
I have told the Paraguayan friends about my mother’s
illness and the possibility of my having to return home. One
of them said, “But you cannot leave me yet. I am like a little
child who is just learning to walk. I have never known spiritual
things before. Always I have yearned to know God, but
never before have I known how to find Him. You are like a
spiritual mother and I had hoped that you might guide my
steps until I can grow strong enough to walk alone.”
Another came early Saturday morning to tell me practically the same thing. She said, “You cannot know how much we need you. I have never been able to love people before. Always I have seen their mistakes, their faults, and their lacks. Never before have I been able to understand them and to see the beauty in them. . . . You have prepared the ground and planted the seeds of truth. They must have time to germinate and the little plants which come up must have time to grow and be watered with the words of God and illumined with His love. Otherwise all that you have done may become lost. We do not want it lost because we know that we will lose something infinitely precious.”
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They are not really talking about this servant at all, but
only about that something luminous and inspiring which Bahá’u’lláh
in His mercy and love has deigned to pour through
this inadequate channel. . . .
Human beings are strange. One sees a soul who has suffered unspeakably, such as J—, who saw her beloved husband slowly dying of cold and starvation during the revolution in Spain, in which they were caught while on a visit to that country and who herself nearly died from the same sufferings. As a result of these sufferings she is sweet, strong and a great soul. And then we see another soul who has suffered only a little, and that soul is bitter and ungrateful to God.
Somehow the things I have seen and the experiences I have passed through in South America have deprived me of any great interest in my own comfort and safety. There are things far more important than this. My one desire is to serve Bahá’u’lláh in whatever way may be His first choice for me. . . . But a portion of my heart will always be here with some of the great souls whom I have learned to know intimately.
June 2, 1941
The spiritual birthday of the first Bahá’í in Paraguay was
June 26. He is Sr. Roque Centurión Miranda, best known
author, playwright and producer in this country. The membership
course has not yet been completed, but Sr. Miranda
refused to wait any longer before declaring his Faith. . . . The
second Paraguayan believer declared her faith on Sunday evening,
June 29, clear Josefina Pla. She is truly a precious soul.
I have been trying an experiment in teaching which seems
to be working out favorably. About two months ago at the
request of the Youth Group members I opened a class in English.
This proved so popular that an adult class was added,
each class meeting twice a week. I have built each lesson around
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a Bahá’í principle or a story about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or Bahá’u’lláh
which illustrates a Bahá’í ideal. I have a blackboard improvised
from a long piece of tarpaulin hung on one of my tall doors.
On this I write all the words for each lesson and the class
guesses their meaning from my actions or from objects which I
show them. This method is borrowed from Lydia Zamenhof.
When they have recognized all the words, then I tell the story,
pointing to each word in turn, and the class translates into
Spanish with high delight. As the result of these lessons, six
of these young people are now coming to the Youth Group
and several of the adults are beginning to come to the adult
Bahá’í class. Also I have invitations to visit the homes of two
of the students and to give the Bahá’í Message to their families
and friends. . . .
Sr. Pellorola (prominent Paraguayan sculptor) has been commissioned by one of the colleges to make a large statue of the Christ, and he has asked permission to use the face of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, more youthful and unlined of course, for he says that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s face is the only countenance he has ever seen which portrays the attributes of the Christ.
Sr. Miranda told me that the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have changed his world completely. Before he found these teachings he had lost all desire to live. His wife whom he adored had died just two months before, leaving two little babies, one three and one only a year old. They were orthodox Catholic people. . . . Sr. Miranda said he had found happiness in the Bahá’í Faith such as he had never hoped to encounter.
July 1, 1941.
Sra. Gipps is the high chief questioner in Asunción. . . .
She is so sweet and kind to everyone and so sincere, and she
can ask such breath-taking questions. Her latest of many is:
“But I love goodness. I would not hurt anyone, for I know
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how terrible it is to be hurt. If I can be good without knowing
God, then why do I need God?”
The answer that came to me was: “That is like saying, ‘I have sunshine in my garden. Why do I need the sun?’” . . .
As the war fever rises higher and higher, I find more and more people in dire need of the Bahá’í teachings whether they have the capacity to actually become Bahá’ís at this time or not. Yesterday I was invited to tea at the home of Mr. and Mrs. P. . . . During the conversation she suddenly asked me, “What do Bahá’ís believe about suicide?” By her intent look I knew this was the real reason why she had wanted to talk with me. Her question gave me a chance to explain the reality of this supposedly easy way out and I am quite sure she will think a long time before ever contemplating such an act. . . .
What a bounty it is to know the word of Bahá’u’lláh. I shall never have done thanking God for His manifold bounties . . . and especially I thank Him for His bounty in permitting one so wholly inadequate to serve in bringing His light to a dark land.
July 17, 1941.
There are two more Bahá’ís who seem to be safely born
into the kingdom of God this week. One is Sr. Rafael Cabriza,
a medical man, and the other is Sra. Ella May Gipps, wife of
the director of the Bank of London, and a very excellent
sculptress in her own right. She told me that she feels that
her life has changed completely and that she can never again
be afraid of anything. It is the first time that she has become
really acquainted with God in such a way that she could love
Him and trust in Him.
July 26, 1941.
In teaching the Cause here I find it wise to stress the positive
aspect of the Faith, to use the words of Bahá’u’lláh concerning
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the consorting with the people of all religions with
joy and fragrance, concerning the one foundation of all faiths,
and to show them how through love and appreciation of all
faiths it is possible to attract the hearts to the great point of
world unity, both spiritual and material, which is the Bahá’í
Faith. . . . Spreading the Faith here means living close to the
people, serving them in whatever way may be possible, demonstrating
the love of God in word and action day by day until
the hearts are attracted and begin to grow.
July 31, 1941.
Yesterday I also had the pleasure of seeing President
Vargas of Brazil, who is spending two days on a goodwill
visit to Paraguay. He makes quite a pleasing impression: a
good head and an agreeable face, evidently highly intelligent,
professional in type. . . . He is evidently making an attempt
to unify the South American countries. . . .
This week I received the first Bahá’í News that has reached me in South America and also the first copy of World Order Magazine. It was like a visit with the friends at home.
August 2, 1941.
I have had some trouble with illness again; nothing very
serious and partly due to the change from mid-winter to
spring. . . . It will be a real sorrow to leave the friends here.
I have learned to love each one.
September 3, 1941.
The first five Paraguayan Bahá’ís . . . are now operating
as a unit, planning and helping to present programs, conducting
the nineteen day feasts, etc. They have chosen Sr. Miranda
as temporary chairman until a regular election can be held.
Three more students have expressed their desire to become
Bahá’ís, and the five have suggested a short further course
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of study for them in preparation for membership. The three
include Sr. Jacinto Dias, head of the post office department;
Sr. Jamie Bestard, best known Paraguayan painter and an
exceptionally charming person; and Sr. Manuel Elizacho, retired
college professor. Bahá’u’lláh willing, Paraguay will
have its assembly before a great while. . . . Sra. Gipps has
offered to open her home for meetings when I leave. She
has a large studio, centrally located, which will accommodate
the friends very nicely.
Every day the friends tell me how much Bahá’u’lláh has changed their lives, even those who are not ready for actual membership. I believe that, with the help and protection of Bahá’u’lláh, a large and enthusiastic group will grow up here. . . . I find the Paraguayans the same as the North Americans in that they must grow gradually into a real understanding of the Cause. The five who are confirmed are finding a hundred further meanings in every phase of the Cause to which they were blind at first.
September 11, 1941.
The friends in Paraguay have been growing by leaps and
bounds during this illness of mine. The last three meetings
have been held at my bedside, and the closing one will be held
tomorrow night just before I leave for the steamer to Buenos
Aires. Bahá’u’lláh has used this illness in such a way that the
friends have probably grown more spiritually than they could
do through another six months of direct teaching. They are
so sweet and desperately sincere. Some dozen of them have
been rushing around on a hundred odd errands, mostly concerned
with cutting the almost unimaginable red tape required
to pass from one country to another. Josefina Pla has just
come to mail this.
End.
WITH OUR READERS
THIS month there are bits from letters to share with our readers. Some have come from widely scattered parts of the world, reminding us that the Bahá’í Faith is truly a world religion. Letters like the following are inspiring to the editors and we think, also, to our readers. Mrs. Marcia Steward Atwater, our pioneer in Chile, writes from Santiago de Chile as follows: “I should like to take this opportunity of telling you what a great importance the World Order magazine has had here as a teaching medium and as a means for me to refresh my knowledge of the various aspects of the teaching—as well as deepen and extend it. . . . It might interest you all to know that when I first came to Chile, in one of the darkest moments of trial and test and discouragement, the issue of World Order devoted to youth, came to me—and it was the thought of that radiant youth, and all it implies for the world tomorrow, that served to strengthen my spirit to carry on.”
Our readers will remember previous letters from John Eichenaur, Jr., our youngest Bahá’í pioneer. He has written from Salvador, from Nicaragua, and now comes this request from Honduras: “Please send a World Order subscription to Rosario.” Rosario, he tells us, is a mining town where gold and silver are mined and where “about sixty Americans live permanently, with their homes, club room, school, swimming pool and a very fine and quite large library. . . . The few pamphlets I always carry were not enough to go around.” John has also been in Costa Rica so he is well acquainted with the countries and people of Central America.
We are told that some Assemblies have maps of the Latin American countries posted in their centers so that they can locate our pioneers.
* * *
A letter from Írán brings us
closer to the land of Bahá’u’lláh
and the thousands of Bahá’ís
there. Mr. Salim Y. Noonoo
writes from Ṭihrán: “Although
it is not very regularly that I receive
World Order issues, yet
every time I receive them it is a
solace to the eyes and a sure
[Page 437]
comfort to the heart, for the finished
and impressive articles that
are always found there eloquently
demonstrate in unmistakable terms
the invincible power and celestial
potency with which our beloved
Cause has been invested. Bahá’u’lláh’s
tidings and warnings are
fully exposed and their impending
realization imposingly proclaimed.
The World Order
magazine in its small scope reflects
the ideals of every true believer
and helps to the realization
of the New World Order of
Bahá’u’lláh, which has been heralded
by His Holiness the Báb,
expounded by our beloved Master,
and put into force by our beloved
Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.
The community in Ṭihrán send
you their best wishes for future
advancing steps in His dear services.”
* * *
March (March 2-21) is the Bahá’í month of fasting, the last month in the Bahá’í year, named “Alá”, Loftiness, by the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh revealed many prayers which may be used in this month. We print one of them.
* * *
Most of our space this month is devoted to Miss Juliet Thompson’s article, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant”. This article, we feel sure, will be prized and read carefully by Bahá’ís, especially the newer ones who are growing into the knowledge of the Cause. But none can fail to be inspired by the setting out of the meaning of the Center of the Covenant and the portrayal of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His daily life. Miss Thompson is one of the early American believers and was many times in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In her booklet entitled “‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s First Days in America”, she tells, among other incidents, of her beautiful experience in being permitted to paint ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s portrait. She is the author of the book, “I, Mary Magdalen”, recently published. Her home is in New York City.
In this issue we print the last of the excerpts from the diary letters of Miss Elisabeth Cheney, our Bahá’í pioneer in Paraguay. Illness has obliged Miss Cheney to return to her home in Lima, Ohio, but all who have followed this series of letters believe that the seeds she has sown in Paraguay will bear much fruit. We believe, too, that her letters will inspire others to follow in her footsteps in pioneering.
—THE EDITORS
INDEX
WORLD ORDER
VOLUME SEVEN, APRIL, 1941—MARCH, 1942
TITLES
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, by Juliet Thompson, 405
America’s Mission, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 347
Báb, The, Poem, by Elizabeth Hackley, 188
Báb, The, Poem, by Grace Grifith Harris, 140
Bahá’í Cause Today, The, by Marzieh Gail, 46
Bahá’í Faith Offers, The, (Foreword), 85, 121
Bahá’í Lessons, by Study Outline Committee, 36, 117, 151, 184, 219, 256, 363, 400
Bahá’í, Why I Am a, by Zeah Holden, 275
Beauty, Abandon Not the Everlasting, Poem, by Lorna Tasker, 198
Believe, What Can You? by Charles S. Krug, 391
Christ, His Highness, Called All Men, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 236
Compensation, Poem, by Virginia Moran Evans, 206
Conquest, Poem, by Gertrude W. Robinson, 9
Consultation, The Divine Way of, by Alma Sothman, 177
Creative Individual, The Development of the, by Genevieve L. Coy, 225
Crime and the Treatment of Criminals, by Chester F. Barnett, 157
Day, The New, Poem, Frances Mitchell, 399
Divine Art of Living, The, Compilation, ed. by Mabel Paine, 25, 69, 101, 145, 163, 212
Earth Is One, The, by Opal Howell, 210
Faith, by Henry C. Beecher, 205
God’s Answer, Poem, by Una Morse Gibson, 276
Gratitude and Praise, Compilation, 25
Hear Me, O Lord! Poem, by Ella Louise Rowland, 274, 368
Holy Spirit, The Power of, Compilation, 101
Hope of Earth, The Last Best, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 398
I Know Not What the Fire, Prayer, by Bahá’u’lláh, 306
In His Grasp, by Blanche Young, 281
I, Yahweh, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 34
Judgment of God, The, by Shoghi Effendi, 390
Justice, Universal, and Its Application, by J. M. Haggard, 75
Kings of Earth, The, by Shoghi Effendi, 169
Language for a World Order, A World, by Della C. Quinlan, 297
Latin-American Neighbors, Our, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 322
Laws of Bahá’u’lláh, The, Outline, 36
Liberty, True, by Bahá’u’lláh, 427
Love and Unity, Compilation, 163
Love and Unity, How to Achieve, Compilation, 212
Man, Another Call to, by Jacqueline Summers, 319
Man, The Real Life of, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá., 277
Muhammad, Apostle of God, Outline, 184
Music and the Life of the Spirit, by Robert L. Gulick, Jr., 385
Nations, Enrapture the, by Bahá’u’lláh, 239
Panama Diary, From a, by Louise Caswell and Cora H. Oliver, 10, 64, 96, 136
Paraguay, A Bahá’í Pioneer in, by Elisabeth H. Cheney, 285, 307, 349, 394, 429
Part of Me, Poem, by Clara E. Hill, 110
Prayer and Meditation, Outline, 117
Prayers, by Bahá’u’lláh, 239, 284, 306, 348, 376, 428
[Page 439]
Promised Day Is Come, The, by Shoghi Effendi, 87
Prophets and Chosen Ones, These, by Bahá’u’lláh, 122
Prophets of God, The, by Bahá’u’lláh, 86
Race Unity, Outline, 363
Reincarnation, Outline, 151
Religion and the Evolution of World Unity, by Shoghi Effendi, 355
Religion and Order, by Bahá’u’lláh, 384
Religion for Our Time, by William Kenneth Christian, 123
Religion, Living, and a World Faith, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 181
Religion, A Scientific Approach to, by Howard Luxmore Carpenter, 189
Religion, The Weakened Pillars of, by Shoghi Effendi, 312
Religious Orthodoxy, The Crumbling of, by Shoghi Effendi, 199
Revelation, The Continuity of, Outline, 256
Salvation, Book Review, by Gertrude D. Schurgast, 114
Science and the Open Mind, by Glenn A. Shook, 369
Servants of One God, All Are, by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 377
Sexes, Equality of the, Symposium, by Gertrude Atkinson, Maye Harvey Gift, Della C. Quinlan, and Annamarie K. Honnold, 333
Social Order, Evolution in, by Horace Holley, 17
Social Role of the Man of Knowledge, The, Book Review, by G. A. Shook, 254
Song of the New World, Poem, by Angela Morgan, 162
Speech, by Norman Smith, 107
Spiritual Law, Applications of, Compilation, 69
Study Sources, Bahá’í, by William Kenneth Christian, 325
Sufferance Is the Badge, Book Review, by Garreta Busey, 79
Teach! (Go), Poem, by Gertrude W. Robinson, 393
Temple by the Lake, Poem, by Clara Edmunds-Hemingway, 362
Tests and Afflictions, Compilation, 145
Truth, The Basic Principle of, by Shoghi Effendi, 240
Universal and the Sectarian, The, by National Spiritual Assembly, 41
What We Go Through, by Julia Robinson, 207
White Silk Dress, The, by Marzieh Gail, 261
Will and Testament (under title, Charter for a New World Order), Outline, 400
With Our Readers, ed. by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 38, 82, 119, 153, 186, 221, 258, 294, 330, 365, 402, 436
World Language for a World Order, A, by Della C. Quinlan, 297
World Order, Charter for the New, Outline, 400
World Questions, Bahá’í Answers to, ed. by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 31, 111
World, Song of the New, by Angela Morgan, 162
World Tomorrow, The, Outline, 219
World-Wide Law, The, by Chester F. Barnett, 1
Worship, Whom I, Prayer, by Bahá’u’lláh, 284
Youth Looks Ahead, by Horace Holley, 248
AUTHORS
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words of:—His Highness Christ Called All Men, 236; The Real Life of Man, 277; America’s Mission, 347; All Are Servants of One God, 377 see Divine Art of Living, Compilation
Atkinson, Gertrude, Introduction to Equality of the Sexes, 333
Bahá’u’lláh, Words of:—The Prophets of God, 86; The Prophets and Chosen Ones, 122; Enrapture the Nations, Prayer, 239; Whom I Worship, Prayer, 284; I Know Not What the Fire, Prayer, 306; Magnified, O, Lord, Prayer, 348; I Beg of Thee,
[Page 440]
Prayer, 376; Religion and Order, 384; True Liberty, 427; Prayer for the Fast, 428 see Divine Art of Living, Compilation
Barnett, Chester F., The World-Wide Law, 1; Crime and the Treatment of Criminals, 157
Beecher, Henry C., Faith, 205
Busey, Garreta, I, Yahweh, 34; Sufferance Is the Badge, 79; Living Religions and a World Faith, 181; Our Latin-American Neighbors, 322; The Last Best Hope of Earth, 398
Carpenter, Howard Luxmore, A Scientific Approach to Religion, 189
Caswell, Louise, and Oliver, Cora H., From a Panama Diary, 10, 64, 96, 136
Cheney, Elisabeth H., A Bahá’í Pioneer in Paraguay, 285, 307, 349, 394, 429
Christian, William Kenneth, Religion for Our Time, 123; Bahá’í Study Sources, 325
Coy, Genevieve L., The Development of the Creative Individual, 225
Edmunds-Hemingway, Clara, Temple by the Lake, 362
Evans, Virginia Moran, Compensation, 206
Gail, Marzieh, The Bahá’í Cause Today, 46; The White Silk Dress, 261
Gibson, Una Morse, God’s Answer, 276
Gift, Maye Harvey, Equality of the Sexes, 333
Gulick, Robert L., Jr., Music and the Life of the Spirit, 385
Hackley, Elizabeth, The Báb, 188
Haggard, J. M., Universal Justice and Its Application, 75
Harris, Grace Grifith, The Báb, 140
Hill, Clara E., Part of Me, 110
Holden, Zeah, Why I Am a Bahá’í, 275
Holley, Horace, Evolution in Social Order, 17; Youth Looks Ahead, 248
Honnold, Annamarie K., Equality of the Sexes, 333
Howell, Opal, The Earth Is One, 210
Kirkpatrick, Bertha Hyde, Bahá’í Answers to World Questions, 31, 111; With Our Readers, 38, 82, 119, 153, 221, 258, 294, 330, 365, 436
Krug, Charles S., What Can You Believe? 391
Mitchell, Frances, The New Day, 399
Morgan, Angela, Song of the New World, l62
National Bahá’í Assembly, The Universal and the Sectarian, 41
Oliver, Cora H., and Caswell, Louise, From a Panama Diary, 10, 64, 96, 136
Paine, Mabel, ed. The Divine Art of Living, 25, 69, 101, 145, 163, 212
Quinlan, Della C., A World Language for a World Order, 297; Equality of the Sexes, 333
Robinson, Gertrude W., Conquest, 9; Go, Teach! 393
Robinson, Julia, What We Go Through, 207
Rowland, Ella Louise, Hear Me, O Lord! 274, 368
Schurgast, Gertrude D., Salvation, 114
Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, 87; The Kings of Earth, 169; The Crumbling of Religious Orthodoxy, 199; The Basic Principle of Truth, 240; The Weakened Pillars of Religion, 312; Religion and the Evolution of World Unity, 355; This Judgment of God, 390
Shook, G. A., The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge, 254; Science and the Open Mind, 369
Smith, Norman, Speech, 107
Sothman, Alma, The Divine Way of Consultation, 177
Study Outline Committee, Bahá’í Lessons, 36, 117, 151, 184, 219, 256, 363, 400
Summers, Jacqueline Siefert, Another Call to Man, 319
Tasker, Lorna, Abandon Not the Everlasting Beauty, 198
Thompson, Juliet, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Center of the Covenant, 405
Young, Blanche, In His Grasp, 281
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Shoghi Effendi. Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh toward the end of His earthly mission, this text is a majestic and deeply-moving exposition of His fundamental principles and laws and of the sufferings endured by the Manifestation for the sake of mankind. Bound in cloth. 186 pages. $1.50.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 198 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
Words Of Bahá’u’lláh
Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois
1. THE EARTH IS BUT ONE COUNTRY; AND MANKIND ITS CITIZENS.
2. THE BEST BELOVED OF ALL THINGS IN MY SIGHT IS JUSTICE; TURN NOT AWAY THEREFROM IF THOU DESIREST ME.
3. MY LOVE IS MY STRONGHOLD; HE THAT ENTERETH THEREIN IS SAFE AND SECURE.
4. BREATHE NOT THE SINs OF OTHERS SO LONG AS THOU ART THYSELF A SINNER.
5. THY HEART IS MY HOME; SANCTIFY IT FOR MY DESCENT.
6. I HAVE MADE DEATH A MESSENGER OF JOY TO THEE; WHEREEORE DOST THOU GRIEVE?
7. MAKE MENTION OF ME ON MY EARTH THAT IN MY HEAVEN I MAY REMEMBER THEE.
8. O RICH ONEs ON EARTH! THE POOR IN YOUR MIDST ARE MY TRUST; GUARD YE MY TRUST.
9. THE SOURCE OF ALL LEARNING IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, EXALTED BE HIS GLORY.