| ←Issue 4 | World Order Volume 7 - Issue 5 |
Issue 6→ |
Return to PDF view Proofread once
|
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
August, 1941
• Crime and the Treatment of Criminals . Chester F. Barnett 157
• Song of the New World, Poem . . . . . Angela Morgan 162
• Love and Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compilation 163
• The Kings of Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shoghi Effendi 169
• The Divine Way of Consultation . . . . Alma Sothman 177
• Living Religions and a World Faith, Book Review . Garreta Busey 181
• The Báb, Poem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Hackley 188
• Bahá’í Lessons . . . . . . 184 • With Our Readers . . 186
FIFTEEN CENTS
THAT WHICH THE LORD HATH ORDAINED AS THE SOVEREIGN REMEDY AND MIGHTIEST INSTRUMENTS FOR THE HEALING OF ALL THE WORLD IS THE UNION OF ALL ITS PEOPLES IN ONE UNIVERSAL CAUSE, ONE COMMON FAITH. THIS CAN IN NO WISE BE ACHIEVED EXCEPT THROUGH THE POWER OF A SKILLED, AN ALL-POWERFUL AND INSPIRED PHYSICIAN . . . SOON WILL THE PRESENT-DAY ORDER BE ROLLED UP, AND A NEW ONE SPREAD OUT IN ITS STEAD.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í's of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: 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.
Editorial Office
536 SHERIDAN ROAD, WILMETTE, ILL.
Publication Office
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.
C. R. Wood, Business Manager
Printed in U.S.A.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions, for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 15c. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1941 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
AUGUST 1941, VOLUME VII, NUMBER 5
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME VII AUGUST, 1941 NUMBER 5
Crime and the Treatment
of Criminals
Chester F. Barnett
- ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ EMPHASIZED PREVENTION
- OF CRIME BY SOCIETY THROUGH EDUCATION
JUST as in any other Bahá’í teaching, the principles underlying the handling of crime and the treatment of criminals follow well-defined fundamentals of the Bahá’í Faith.
In former religious Dispensations, with special emphasis
upon the Christian, Divine Revelation concerned itself almost
wholly with the conduct of the individual. However much
man may imagine that a better society would have resulted
if explicit instructions had been given in those Dispensations
about relationships between groups, such as racial, tribal, employers
and employees, and so on, Bahá’u’lláh revealed the
truth that Divine Revelation has been suited to the capacity
of the age. The acquisition of such elements as scientific discoveries
and the means of transportation and communication
which characterize the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
[Page 158]
doubtless furnish the most important clue to the differentiation
in the emphasis in Divine Revelation for this age. In any
event, while those spiritual and humanitarian teachings designed
to mold and influence the life of the individual, found
in religious Dispensations of the past, are reaffirmed and revitalized,
the emphasis is now upon the harmonizing of groups
in the interest of universal peace. The individual Bahá’í must
never overlook the stupendous import of the Administrative
Order functioning as a community group, and, finally, through
the intermediary of national representatives, culminating in a
body comprising the whole of mankind in the commingling
of the Universal House of Justice and a World Commonwealth
as envisaged in the Bahá’í Faith. If ever a component
nation in this world commonwealth attack another nation for
the purpose of conquest, or any other selfish national purpose,
the power of this world commonwealth will be exercised to
curb such unwarranted aggression. Otherwise, the community
of nations would soon be destroyed.
Likewise, in the handling of crime, which strikes at the individual rights of man, and which he as an individual has no right to avenge in any system of organized society, the power of the community through its laws must be invoked to curb the aggressor. Otherwise, any organized community would be destroyed.
CERTAIN RIGHTS OF MAN ABSOLUTE
In the experience of the past, it appears to be the consensus
of mankind that man as an individual has certain absolute rights
whether or not he is a member of any organized society. These
absolute rights are the right of personal liberty, the right of
personal security, and the right of private property. In modern
times, much doubt has been cast upon the absolute quality
[Page 159]
of the right to private property, but a careful analysis of the
tenets of the Bahá’í Faith leads to the conclusion that the right
of private property under the regulation of an ordered society
may still be considered as one of the absolute rights of man.
INDIVIDUAL MAY NOT AVENGE HIS OWN WRONG
The invasion by some members of the group of the rights of other members has always been society’s problem. When such invasion reaches the stage of murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, theft and arson, then there is more at stake than the mere rights of the individual. Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society itself and if not prevented would destroy the rights of man.
The very question which was asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about crime and its treatment betrays a lack of understanding of the far-reaching effect of crime upon society, and if not suppressed, even upon human rights. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked, should a criminal be punished, or forgiven and disregarded? (Some Answered Questions, p. 307)
In His reply to this question He made it plain that punishment
may be either for revenge or for chastisement. When
Christ said: “Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek,
turn to him the left one also,” He laid down the law that man
may not take personal revenge. In interpreting these words
of Christ in the Gospel, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “Then what Christ
meant by forgiveness and pardon is not that, when nations
attack you, burn your homes, plunder your goods, assault your
wives, children, and relatives, and violate your honor, you
should be submissive in the presence of these tyrannical foes
and allow them to perform all their cruelties and oppressions.
No, the words of Christ refer to the conduct of two individuals
towards each other: if one person assaults another, the injured
[Page 160]
one should forgive him. But the communities must protect
the rights of man. So, if someone assaults, injures, oppresses
and wounds me, I will offer no resistance, and I will forgive
him. But if a person wishes to assault Seyyid Manshadi (a
person sitting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and others at table) certainly
I would prevent him. Although for the malefactor noninterference
is apparently a kindness, it would be an oppression to
Manshadi. If at this moment a wild Arab were to enter this
place with a drawn sword wishing to assault, wound and kill
you, most assuredly I would prevent him. If I abandoned
you to the Arab, that would not be justice, but injustice. But
if he injures me personally, I would forgive him.”
SOCIETY OBLIGED TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF MAN
It is quite clear that the offensive element in the personal vindication of a wrong is revenge. But where society for its own protection through due process of law punishes the offender, the offensive element is lacking. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “But the community has the right of defense and of self-protection; moreover, the community has no hatred or animosity for the murderer: it imprisons or punishes him merely for the protection and security of others. It is not for the purpose of taking vengeance upon the murderer, but for the purpose of inflicting a punishment by which the community will be protected.”
JUSTICE,—NOT FORGIVENESS,—BASIS OF TREATMENT OF CRIMINAL
It is a well known fact that in recent years in almost every
community throughout the United States, much sentiment has
been allowed to enter into the treatment of criminals, fostered
by incidents related in Holy Writ, or popular fiction, where
the attribute of forgiveness has been highly dramatized. But
[Page 161]
‘Abdu’l-Bahá has declared that in the punishment for crime
by the community, the attribute of justice is applicable—not
forgiveness. Thus He said: “If forgiveness is one of the attributes
of the Merciful One, so, also, justice is one of the
attributes of the Lord. The tent of existence is upheld upon
the pillar of justice, and not upon forgiveness. The continuance
of mankind depends upon justice and not upon forgiveness.
So if, at present, the law of pardon were practiced in all countries,
in a short time the world would be disordered, and the
foundations of human life would crumble”, also, “Some people
are like blood-thirsty wolves: if they see no punishment forthcoming
they will kill man merely for pleasure and diversion.”
TEACHING IS BEST METHOD OF PREVENTING CRIME
‘Abdu’l-Bahá has stressed the responsibility of the communities (or society) in the prevention of crime, rather than in its punishment. Instead of the elaborate penal laws which are being enacted and the preparation made to deal with crime and the criminal after the fact, elimination of the reason for all such activities should be sought by every means possible. Again, He has pointed the way in this saying: “The community, on the contrary, ought day and night to strive and endeavor with the utmost zeal and effort to accomplish the education of men, to cause them day by day to progress and to increase in science and knowledge, to acquire virtues, to gain good morals, and to avoid vices, so that crimes may not occur.”
The proper interpretation of this Teaching might take a wide range, certainly to the extent of training those in prison to engage in a gainful occupation while in prison, so that they may become law abiding citizens when released, but no release to be countenanced until the law of justice has been fully satisfied.
SONG OF THE NEW WORLD
ANGELA MORGAN
- I sing the song of a new Dawn waking,
- A new wind shaking
- The children of men.
- I say the hearts that are nigh to breaking
- Shall leap with gladness and live again.
- Over the woe of the world appalling,
- Wild and sweet as a bugle cry,
- Sudden I hear a new voice calling—
- “Beauty is nigh!”
- Beauty is nigh! Let the world believe it.
- Love has covered the fields of dead.
- Healing is here! Let the earth receive it,
- Greeting the Dawn with lifted head.
- I sing the song of the sin forgiven,
- The deed forgotten, the wrong undone.
- Lo, in the East, where the dark is riven,
- Shines the rim of the rising sun.
- Healing is here! O brother, sing it!
- Laugh, O heart, that has grieved so long.
- Love will gather your woe and fling it
- Over the world in waves of song.
- Hearken, mothers, and hear them coming—
- Heralds crying the day at hand.
- Faint and far as the sound of drumming,
- Hear their summons across the land.
- Look, O fathers! Your eyes were holden—
- Armies throng where the dead have lain.
- Fiery steeds and chariots golden—
- Gone is the dream of soldiers slain.
- Sing, O sing of a new world waking,
- Sing of creation just begun.
- Glad is the earth when morn is breaking—
- Man is facing the rising sun!
The Divine Art of Living
A Compilation
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LOVE AND UNITY
THE PROPHETS of God one and all, Christ Himself as well as the Blessed Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh), have all appeared and raised the call with the one purpose of transforming the world of man into the Kingdom of God. Their common aim was to turn the earthly into heavenly, darkness into light, things that are satanic into things Divine. They strove to establish the reign of harmony and love amongst the children of men, to unfold to their eyes the fundamental unity of all mankind, to demolish the foundations of differences in the world, and to confer upon it the imperishable blessings of eternal life.
O thou honored one! Ponder in thine heart the world of being. Association, harmony and union are the source of life, whilst differences and division are the cause of ultimate destruction. Shouldst thou reflect on all created things, thou wilt observe that the existence of every being dependeth upon the association and combination of divers elements the disintegration of which will terminate the existence of that being. (Epistles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Bahá’í World, vol. 2, p. 50)
When we ponder deeply on the connection and interdependence
of beings we clearly realize that the life of every
being draws benefit and sustenance from all the other innumerable
existences. This mutual helpfulness is realized either
directly or through mediation and if, for the twinkling of an
[Page 164]
eye, this confirmation and assistance does not descend upon
the living being, it will become non-existent, for all the existing
things are linked together and draw help from each other.
Therefore the greatest foundation of the world of existence is
this cooperation and mutuality. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablet to the
Oriental Friends, Star of the West, vol. 8, pp. 137, 138)
Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual out-pourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifies the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, according to Divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that insures true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly Cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directs the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.
Whatsoever people is graciously favored therewith by God,
its name shall surely be magnified and extolled by the Concourse
from on high, by the company of angels, and the denizens
of the Abhá kingdom. And whatsoever people turneth
its heart away from this Divine love—the revelation of the
Merciful—shall err grievously, shall fall in despair, and be
utterly destroyed. That people shall be denied all refuge,
[Page 165]
shall become even as the vilest creatures of the earth, victims
of degradation and shame.
O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive to become the manifestations of the love of God, the lamps of Divine guidance shining amongst the kindreds of the earth with the light of love and concord. (Epistles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Bahá’í World, vol. 2, p. 50)
LOVE AND UNITY MUST BE ALL-EMBRACING
Should any one contend that true and enduring unity can in nowise be realized in this world inasmuch as its people widely differ in their manners and habits, their tastes, their temperament and character, their thoughts and their views, to this we make reply that differences are of two kinds: the one is the cause of destruction, as exemplified by the spirit of contention and strife which animates mutually conflicting and antagonistic peoples and nations, whilst the other is the sign of diversity, the symbol and the secret of perfection, and the revealer of the bounties of the All-glorious.
. . . Consider the flowers of the garden: though differing in
kind, color, form and shape, yet, inasmuch as they are refreshed
by the waters of one spring, revived by the breath of one wind,
invigorated by the rays of one sun, this diversity increaseth
their charm and addeth unto their beauty. How unpleasing to
the eye if all the flowers and plants, the leaves and blossoms,
the fruit, the branches, and the trees of the garden were all
of the same shape and color! Diversity of color, form and
shape enricheth and adorneth the garden, and heighteneth
the effect thereof. In like manner, when divers shades of
thought, temperament and character, are brought together
under the power and influence of one central agency, the beauty
and glory of human perfection will be revealed and made
[Page 166]
manifest. Nought but the celestial potency of the Word of
God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things,
is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments,
ideas and convictions of the children of men. (Idem, pp. 54, 55)
In the estimation of God there is no distinction of color; all are one in the color and beauty of servitude to Him. Color is not important; the heart is all-important. It matters not what the exterior may be if the heart is pure and white within. God does not behold differences of hue and complexion; He looks at the hearts. He whose morals and virtues are praiseworthy is preferred in the presence of God, he who is devoted to the Kingdom is most beloved. . . .
When the racial elements of the American nation unite in actual fellowship and accord, the lights of the oneness of humanity will shine, the day of eternal glory and bliss will dawn, the spirit of God encompass and the Divine favors descend. Under the leadership and training of God, the real shepherd, all will be protected and preserved. He will lead them in green pastures of happiness and sustenance and they will attain to the real goal of existence. This is the blessing and benefit of unity; this is the outcome of love. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 41, 42, 54)
LACK OF LOVE AND THE REMEDY
Although the body-politic is one family, yet because of
the lack of symmetry some members are comfortable and some
are in the utmost misery; some members are satisfied and some
are hungry, some are clothed with the most costly garments
while some are in need of food and shelter. Why? Because
this family has not that reciprocity and symmetry needed. This
household is not well arranged. . . . Is it possible for a member
of a family to be subjected to the utmost misery and abject
[Page 167]
poverty, and for the rest of the family to be comfortable? It
is impossible, unless the rest of the family be without feeling,
having become spiritually atrophied, inhospitable, unkind.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 8, p. 122)
The disease which afflicts the body-politic is lack of love and absence of altruism. In the hearts of men no real love is found, and the condition is such that unless their susceptibilities are quickened by some power so that unity, love and accord may develop within them, there can be no healing, no agreement among mankind. Love and unity are the needs of the body-politic today. Without these there can be no progress or prosperity obtained. Therefore the friends of God must adhere to the power which will create this love and unity in the hearts of the sons of men. Science cannot cure the illness of the body-politic. Science cannot create amity and fellowship in human hearts. Neither can patriotism or racial allegiance effect a remedy. It must be accomplished solely through the Divine bounties and spiritual bestowals which have descended from God in this day for that purpose. This is an exigency of the times and the Divine remedy has been provided. The spiritual teachings of the religion of God can alone create this love, unity and accord in human hearts. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 166)
From the heaven of God’s Will, and for the purpose of
ennobling the world of being and of elevating the minds and
souls of men, hath been sent down that which is the most effective
instrument for the education of the whole human race.
The highest essence and most perfect expression of whatsoever
the peoples of old have either said or written hath, through
this most potent Revelation, been sent down from the heaven
of the Will of the All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God.
Of old it hath been revealed: “Love of one’s country is an
[Page 168]
element of the Faith of God.” The Tongue of Grandeur
hath, however, in the day of His manifestation proclaimed:
“It is not his to boast who loveth his country, but it is his who
loveth the world.” Through the power released by these
exalted words He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new
direction, to the birds of men’s hearts and hath obliterated
every trace of restriction and limitation from God’s holy
Book. . . .
Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be. . . . The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union. The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. . . .
If any man were to meditate on that which the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God’s holy Will have revealed, he will readily recognize that their purpose is that all men shall be regarded as one soul. . . . If the learned and worldly-wise men of this age were to allow mankind to inhale the fragrance of fellowship and love, every understanding heart would apprehend the meaning of true liberty, and discover the secret of undisturbed peace and absolute composure. (Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings, pp. 95, 218, 260)
The Kings of Earth
Shoghi Effendi
FOR THE TRIALS which have afflicted the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh a responsibility appalling and inescapable rests upon those into whose hands the reins of civil and ecclesiastical authority were delivered. The kings of the earth and the world’s religious leaders alike must primarily bear the brunt of such an awful responsibility. “Every one well knoweth,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself testifies, “that all the kings have turned aside from Him, and all the religions have opposed Him.” . . .
It should not be forgotten that it was the kings of the earth
and the world’s religious leaders who, above all other categories
of men, were made the direct recipients of the Message proclaimed
by both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. It was they who were
deliberately addressed in numerous and historic Tablets, who
were summoned to respond to the Call of God, and to whom
were directed, in clear and forcible language, the appeals, the
admonitions and warnings of His persecuted Messengers. It
was they who, when the Faith was born, and later when its mission
was proclaimed, were still, for the most part, wielding unquestioned
and absolute civil and ecclesiastical authority over
their subjects and followers. It was they who, whether glorying
in the pomp and pageantry of a kingship as yet scarcely restricted
by constitutional limitations, or entrenched within the
strongholds of a seemingly inviolable ecclesiastical power, assumed
ultimate responsibility for any wrongs inflicted by those
whose immediate destinies they controlled. It would be no
exaggeration to say that in most of the countries of the European
[Page 170]
and Asiatic continents absolutism, on the one hand, and
complete subservience to ecclesiastical hierarchies, on the other,
were still the outstanding features of the political and religious
life of the masses. These, dominated and shackled, were robbed
of the necessary freedom that would enable them to either appraise
the claims and merits of the Message proffered to them,
or to embrace unreservedly its truth.
Small wonder, then, that the Author of the Bahá’í Faith, and to a lesser degree its Herald, should have directed at the world’s supreme rulers and religious leaders the full force of Their Messages, and made them the recipients of some of Their most sublime Tablets, and invited them, in a language at once clear and insistent, to heed Their call. Small wonder that They should have taken the pains to unroll before their eyes the truths of Their respective Revelations, and should have expatiated on Their woes and sufferings. Small wonder that They should have stressed the preciousness of the opportunities which it was in the power of these rulers and leaders to seize, and should have warned them in ominous tones of the grave responsibilities which the rejection of God’s Message would entail, and should have predicted, when rebuffed and refused, the dire consequences which such a rejection involved. Small wonder that He Who is the King of Kings and the Vice-gerent of God Himself should, when abandoned, contemned and persecuted, have uttered this epigrammatic and momentous prophecy: “From two ranks amongst men power hath been seized: kings and ecclesiastics.” . . .
The Emperor of the French, the most powerful ruler of
his day on the European continent, Napoleon III, Pope Pius
IX, the supreme head of the highest church in Christendom,
and wielder of the scepter of both temporal and spiritual
authority; the omnipotent Czar of the vast Russian Empire,
[Page 171]
Alexander II; the renowned Queen Victoria, whose sovereignty
extended over the greatest political combination the world
has witnessed; William I, the conqueror of Napoleon III, King
of Prussia and the newly acclaimed monarch of a unified Germany;
Francis Joseph, the autocratic king-emperor of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the heir of the far-famed Holy
Roman Empire; the tyrannical ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz, the embodiment
of the concentrated power vested in the Sultanate and the
Caliphate; the notorious Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, the despotic ruler
of Persia and the mightiest potentate of Shí‘ih Islám—in a
word, most of the preeminent embodiments of power and of
sovereignty in His day became, one by one, the object of
Bahá’u’lláh’s special attention, and were made to sustain, in
varying degrees, the weight of the force communicated by His
appeals and warnings.
It should be borne in mind, however, that Bahá’u’lláh has not restricted the delivery of His Message to a few individual sovereigns, however potent the scepters they severally wielded, and however vast the dominions which they ruled. All the kings of the earth have been collectively addressed by His Pen, appealed to, and warned, at a time when the star of His Revelation was mounting its zenith, and whilst He lay a prisoner in the hands, and in the vicinity of the court, of His royal enemy. In a memorable Tablet, designated as the Súriy—i-Múluk (Súrih of Kings) in which the Sulṭán himself and his ministers, and the kings of Christendom, and the French and Persian Ambassadors accredited to the Sublime Porte, and the Muslim ecclesiastical leaders in Constantinople, and its wise men and its inhabitants, and the people of Persia, and the philosophers of the world have been specifically addressed and admonished, He thus directs His words to the entire company of the monarchs of East and West:
[Page 172]
“O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling
from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung
out of the Crimson Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the
words: ‘There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful,
the All-Wise.’ . . . Fear God, O concourse of kings,
and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime
grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast
hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your
hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your
desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who
perish. Relate unto them, O servant, the story of ‘Alí (the
Báb), when He came unto them with truth, bearing His glorious
and weighty Book, and holding in His hands a testimony
and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him.
Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance
of God in His days and to be guided by the lights which arose
and shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven.
Ye examined not His Cause when so to do would have been
better for you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but
perceive it. Ye remained careless until the divines of Persia—
those cruel ones—pronounced judgment against Him, and
unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes
of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto
Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not
careless henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime. Return,
then, unto God, your Maker, and be not of the heedless . . .
My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its radiance
upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and yet, ye turned not
towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created for Him, O
concourse of kings! Follow, therefore, that which I speak unto
you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and be not of such as
have turned aside. For your glory consisteth not in your sovereignty,
[Page 173]
but rather in your nearness unto God and your observance
of His command as sent down in His holy and preserved
Tablets. Should any one of you rule over the whole
earth, and over all that lieth within it and upon it, its seas, its
lands, its mountains, and its plains, and yet be not remembered
by God, all these would profit him not, could ye but know it
. . . Arise, then, and make steadfast your feet, and make ye
amends for that which hath escaped you, and set then yourselves
towards His holy Court, on the shore of His mighty
Ocean, so that the pearls of knowledge and wisdom, which God
hath stored up within the shell of His radiant heart, may be
revealed unto you . . . Beware lest ye hinder the breeze of God
from blowing over your hearts, the breeze through which the
hearts of such as have turned unto Him can be quickened . . .”
“Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth,” He,
in that same Tablet has revealed, “and beware that ye transgress
not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed. Observe the
injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good heed not
to overstep their limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do injustice
to anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed.
Tread ye the path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight
path. Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments,
that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and
that your minds and hearts may be tranquillized. Heal the dissensions
that divide you, and ye will no longer be in need of
any armaments except what the protection of your cities and
territories demandeth. Fear ye God, and take heed not to outstrip
the bounds of moderation, and be numbered among the
extravagant. We have learned that you are increasing your
outlay every year, and are laying the burden thereof on your
subjects. This, verily, is more than they can bear, and is a
grievous injustice. Decide justly between men, and be ye the
[Page 174]
emblems of justice amongst them. This, if ye judge fairly, is
the thing that behooveth you, and beseemeth your station.
“Beware not to deal unjustly with any one that appealeth to you, and entereth beneath your shadow. Walk ye in the fear of God, and be ye of them that lead a godly life. Rest not on your power, your armies, and treasures. Put your whole trust and confidence in God, Who hath created you, and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succor cometh from Him alone. He succoreth whom He willeth with the hosts of the heavens and of the earth.
“Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will most certainly he called upon to answer for His trust on the day when the Balance of Justice shall he set, the day when unto every one shall be rendered his due, when the doings of all men, be they rich or poor, shall he weighed. . . .
To the Christian kings Bahá’u’lláh, moreover, particularly directs His Words of censure, and, in a language that cannot be mistaken, He discloses the true character of His Revelation:
“O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus,
the Spirit of God, ‘I go away, and come again unto you’?
Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto
you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye
might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence?
In another passage He saith: ‘When He, the Spirit of
Truth, is come, He will guide you unto all truth.’ And yet,
behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn
your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves
with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither
did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God
from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of
[Page 175]
the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by
reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being
wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness
of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the
valley of your corrupt desires. Ye and all ye possess shall pass
away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be
called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who
shall gather together the entire creation. . . .”
The Báb, moreover, in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, His celebrated commentary on the Súrih of Joseph, revealed in the first year of His Mission, and characterized by Bahá’u’lláh as “the first, the greatest, and mightiest of all books” in the Bábí Dispensation, has issued this stirring call to the kings and princes of the earth:
“O concourse of kings and of the sons of kings! Lay aside, one and all, your dominion which belongeth unto God. . . . Vain indeed is your dominion, for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him. . . . O concourse of kings! Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by Us to the peoples of Turkey and of India, and beyond them, with power and with truth, to lands in both the East and the West. . . . By God! If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs, We, in very truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly dominion.”
And again: “Fear ye God, O concourse of kings, lest ye remain afar from Him Who is His Remembrance (the Báb), after the Truth hath come unto you with a Book and signs from God, as spoken through the wondrous tongue of Him Who is His Remembrance. Seek ye grace from God, for God hath ordained for you, after ye have believed in Him, a Garden the vastness of which is as the vastness of the whole of Paradise.”
[Page 176]
So much for the epoch-making counsels and warnings collectively
addressed by the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh to the sovereigns
of the earth, and more particularly directed to the kings
of Christendom. I would be failing to do justice to my theme
were I to ignore, or even dismiss briefly, those audacious, fate-laden
apostrophes to individual monarchs who, whether as
kings or emperors, have either viewed with cold indifference
the tribulations, or rejected with contempt the warnings of the
twin Founders of our Faith. I can neither quote as fully as I
should from the two thousand and more verses that have
streamed from the pen of Bahá’u’lláh and, to a lesser extent,
from that of the Báb, addressed to individual monarchs in
Europe and Asia, nor is it my purpose to expatiate upon the
circumstances that have evoked, or the consequences that have
flowed from, those astounding utterances. The historian of the
future, viewing more widely and in fuller perspective, the
momentous happenings of the Apostolic and Formative Ages
of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, will no doubt be able to evaluate
accurately and to describe in a circumstantial manner the causes,
the implications and the effects of these Divine Messages which,
in their scope and effectiveness, have certainly no parallel in
the religious annals of mankind.
The second selection of excerpts from a general letter written by the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith under the title “The Promised Day Is Come.”
The Divine Way of Consultation
Alma Sothman
IN business or social affairs today, most of us hear constant praise of personality. A prominent lecturer quotes a nationally known banker as saying, “Personality makes the difference between a three thousand dollar a year salary and a twenty-five thousand dollar one.” Not, he emphasizes, the man’s knowledge or integrity. On all sides we are urged to hold our listeners spellbound with our oratory rather than to contribute an intelligent quota of ideas to the common fund of the group or the business organization to which we belong. In our schools and colleges, our educators have measured our value to society in terms of our I.Q.’s, with little or no recognition that society may need a diversity of talent, that the brilliant savant may be neither willing nor able to do other very necessary work in the world.
Many of us work in positions where our salary or security
depends upon our willingness and ability to obey orders, and
to subordinate our experience and ideas wholly to those in
charge even when it is obvious to the observer that something
is going awry and the organization needs overhauling and
repairs. A noted economist points out that many persons today
are deprived of any genuine opportunity to maintain their
integrity in their daily work. Economic pressure, false standards
of leadership, class divisions, the lack of recognition of
the spiritual capacity of man and of the spiritual need of his
daily life, cause this unfortunate condition in which men are
not free to worship God in their daily work or in which they
do not or cannot, seek the highest service for all in the performance
[Page 178]
of their daily duties. Many persons know that the
produce which they sell may injure the health of another, or
that it is not what it is represented to be. Their spiritual integrity
is undermined by the necessity of making a living.
More than a century and a half ago, the makers of the Constitution of the United States guaranteed to all citizens the right of freedom of speech. That right has been cherished and protected in public discussion and debate. Yet we hear Americans expressing their opinions, at times in a half-belligerent tone, that they will have a “say-so” in affairs, and at other times one wonders if freedom of speech is synonymous with ridicule of an opponent or of some personality unpopular with the speaker. So it is that we emerge from the shadows of the present-day civilization into the radiance of the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. Within the shelter of the Faith, we find a new atmosphere, new standards and new obligations, and we feel blowing about us the “winds of tests” and feel the “tempests of trials” even as we attempt to obey the divine command to engage in “frank and loving consultation.” For we bring with us into the Cause our old prejudices, our old viewpoints, our old habits of thinking in terms of personalities, habits that cling at first, like barnacles to a ship, and impede our progress. Slowly we realize that consultation is a divinely-ordained obligation, with a profound, far-reaching effect upon the individual and upon society, and that truly “the All-knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind, He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy.”
Within the Bahá’í group, believers may seek the truth
freely, “for the key-note of the Cause of God,” the Guardian
of the Faith has written, “is not dictatorial authority, but
humble fellowship, not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank
[Page 179]
and loving consultation.” Yet new believers fear consultation.
We have been so long accustomed to the outward appearance
of harmony in various groups, that at first, the possibility of
open friction may trouble us. Will a frank expression of an
opinion offend a friend, or arouse the antagonism of another?
Will it reveal our own weaknesses or our strength, our own
attachment to personality, or our detachment from human
will and desire? But with the unquestioning desire to obey
the divine law, these fears subside, and gradually, but with
joy, we put away the empty shell of outer harmony with
inner discord and frustration to accept the reality of fellowship
within the Cause.
For the practice of consultation is a portion of the “wholesome medicine which the Almighty hand of the unerring Physician hath prescribed.” In obedience to His commands, the believer discovers a new and true freedom—from a sense of inferiority, of false humility, of attachment to personality. At last he has the divine right to seek the truth, and also to express so much of it as he may see, and offer that as his contribution toward the common good. It matters not that others may see the truth flashing from a different facet, or in a different light. For ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said, “out of the clash of conflicting opinions, the truth will emerge.”
Consultation becomes, then, “wholesome medicine” for our egotism, our pride of intellect, or of class or race and of a false conception that our talents are few and so our light must be hidden. It calls for the spiritual capacity to leave all other souls free to seek and to express the truth in their own way. It proves the transforming power that lies in such freedom, as old wounds (that have been buried in the memory) are healed, and a new attitude toward others evolves into a consciousness of the unity of mankind.
[Page 180]
Within every soul lie hidden powers which under the old
world order may lie dormant. But “through the teachings of
this Day-Star of Truth every man will advance and develop
until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the
potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed.”
With the practice of consultation in the right spirit,
our imperfections shall fall away and we shall shape a divine
pattern of society.
It is as if a great artist had before him a block of marble with the figures rough-hewn, imperfect. Skilfully he chisels, guided by the vision in his mind, and shapes the lovely children, the stalwart men, the women guiding and loving, the whole noble band of men and women seeking the promised land. In consultation, under the hand of the Divine Physician a bit of ego falls away here, a piece of pride there, a false concept until we are more nearly fitted to shape the new world order. Consultation becomes the instrument that strikes away the imperfections as well as the wholesome medicine that restores the integrity of men in their equal right before God to seek the truth. Through it, as one of the instruments of the revelation of today, a new fellowship shall be created, and a new race of men shall be called into being, which shall stretch the canopy of social justice over all mankind.
Living Religions and a World Faith
BOOK REVIEW
Garreta Busey
THE AUTHOR of this book sees the great religions groping towards unity. He is aware of the need for a world faith if the contending elements of humanity are to be harmonized. In this work,[1] he considers those tendencies in the various religions to the production of such a universal faith.
William E. Hocking, Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, was at one time director of the Lignan University at Canton, China. An intimate and sympathetic study of most of the living religions has enabled him to speak of them with a just appreciation of the peculiar merits of each. His misapprehensions concerning the nature of the Bahá’í Faith are probably due to the fact that it is still in its infancy and has seemed, no doubt, too unimportant to warrant careful study.
Contention among religions, Professor Hocking believes, is a bar
to the religious consciousness itself, as well as to community life. It
has been the cause of anti-religious campaigns organized by the statesmen
of certain countries. It will prevent that understanding among
men which alone can bring about lasting peace. He says: “And precisely
because we do not want a world state” (even, one might add,
if we do) “we do require a world morale; we can endure the absence
of a world administration just in so far as men of the most diverse
racial and cultural stripe can retain confidence in one another, and
so in the possibility of raising conflict out of the region of strife into
the region of thought and justice. . . . If free adjustments of reason
are ever to replace the adjustments of force and fraud, two conditions
are necessary. First, that this very heterogeneous mankind shall be
able to discuss their issues, i.e. shall be able to think together, because
they have in common science, logic, and the standard of right—they
must have the same God. Second, that they shall come to feel together
in regard to what is good and what constitutes human welfare—they
[Page 182]
must worship the same God. Of these two, the emotional unity is
the more important and far more difficult to realize.”
After an analysis of religion itself and a most interesting discussion of some of the characteristics of the far eastern religions, Professor Hocking devotes his book to a consideration of the ways to a world faith. He discusses three processes, all of which are active today. There is what he calls radical displace of one religion by another. This is well illustrated in the work of many Christian missionaries, who insist that converts abjure completely their old faiths with all their customs and cultures. Such an attitude is based on a belief in special revelation. God has spoken to man through Christ and through Him alone. Once Christ is accepted, all other ways to God are known to be false and must be repudiated. Conversion under this doctrine is very slow and the result for individuals is too often complete dislocation in their native community, economic dependence on the missions, loss of the old cultural associations without access to new.
The second way to a world faith is that of synthesis, the appreciation, even the taking over, by members of one religion of those parts of another which seem good. It is the method of liberalism and of tolerance, which often becomes sentimental or romantic. Its danger lies in relaxation of belief in any one thing and the loss of religious vitality. A religion may grow by accretion, Professor Hocking suggests, but if it does so legitimately, it must maintain a recognizable character of its own; it must take on only elements which have an organic unity with it and are consistent with what it already possesses. This synthetic process does go on, he says, but it is not adequate for the formation of a world faith, because, although it leads to the convergence of different religions, it does not solve the issues between them.
The third way, which Professor Hocking believes to be the most
fruitful, is what he calls reconception. This is not simply the process
of reaching out and taking valuable beliefs from another religion. It
is the constant deepening of understanding, in each faith, of its own
essence, a constant progress towards truth, until, without distortion of
its own outline, one religion grows to include all that is valid in others,
and more besides. This, he says, is the Spirit of Truth, guiding us
[Page 183]
into all truth. That religion which is the best equipped for this process
will become the world faith of the future. Professor Hocking believes
that in Christianity may be found the qualities requisite for
such a destiny, although he admits that it has not yet so well understood
its own essence as to be able to solve its own problems, much less
to replace the other great religions of the world.
It is unfortunate that Professor Hocking is so little acquainted with the Bahá’í Faith. In two short references, he places it among those movements which he calls “infertile aggregates,” seeking “to become universal by liberal selection.” It is true that, in the past, some such mistaken idea of what was then called “the Bahá’í Movement” was prevalent, even among its supporters. Very few of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh were then available in translation, and the full implications of His revelation were not understood by His followers (nor indeed can they yet be grasped, so continuously do they unfold with new meaning in the minds of those who study them). The Bahá’í Faith is not a mere aggregate. It is a new revelation. Bahá’u’lláh speaks, not with the tolerance of a liberal philosopher, but with the authority of a Manifestation of the Divine Will, when He says: “Verily, the Spirit of Truth is come, to guide you into all Truth. Verily, He speaketh not from Himself, nay, but rather from the All-Knowing and Wise. He is the One whom the Son hath glorified . . . Abandon that which is before you, O people of the earth, and take that which is commanded you by Him who is the Powerful, the Faithful.” This may contain terms from the Gospels and from the Qur’án, but its tone is not that of liberal selection.
The Word of Bahá’u’lláh is a new release of spiritual power, creative in its effect on the human understanding. The living principle within it enables men not only to reconceive the old faiths but to grasp a further measure of that knowledge: of God which is the aim of all religion. By its light, not only the various religions, but all aspects of creation may be perceived in their relation to each other and to the Divine Will. But, more than this, it bears within it a fresh spring of Love, a new birth of spiritual passion, for lack of which the human organism is now at the point of death.
- ↑ Living Religions and a World Faith, by William E. Hocking. Macmillan.
BAHÁ’Í LESSONS
Muḥammad, Apostle of God
“Arise, O Muḥammad, for lo, the Lover and the Beloved are joined together and made one in Thee.”
—Gleanings.
I. Prophecies concerning Muḥammad
- A. Old Testament, Gl 22-23; B Proofs 241.
- Ishmael founds nation in Paran, Genesis 21:9-21
- Abraham founds a line of Prophets, Genesis 17:3-7
- The new Prophet among “brethren,” Deut. 18:15-22
- Moses, Jesus, Muḥammad, Deut. 33:2
- Muḥammad’s flight and victory, Isaiah 21:13-17
- Qur’án: 2:118-144; 3:75-80; 26:192-199; 7:156-8
- B. New Testament, WOB 100; BP 241-2, 178 (See Íqán 80, 28; Wisdom 43; WOB 117.)
- Return of Christ, Íqán 21
- Son of Man, Íqán 24-26 (Matthew 24:28-31)
- Signs of Advent, Íqán 24-26
- “Aḥmad,” Traveler’s Narrative, 293-5-Note
- Witness from God, SAQ 57-60 (Revelation 11)
- Era of Muḥammad’s Law, SAQ 77-82 (Rev. 12)
- Qur’án: 61:6 and Note; 7:156
II. Muḥammad’s Station as a Manifestation
- A. Titles indicating Divine Station.
- Apostle, Messenger, Educator, Well-Beloved, Lamp . . . , Gl 67-68, 69; Íqán 28, 149-150, 135; P-M 50, 68, 144; SAQ III, VII; MFC 34, 61; WOB 100, 173, 178, 106
- B. Oneness with God, Gl 54-55 (Íqán 178-9), 66-67, 69-70; Tablets, 104, 123; P-M 50-51; PUP 158-9.
- C. Oneness with Prophets, Íqán 152-4, 161 (Gl 50-51, 59).
- With Jesus, Íqán 20-21 (Gl 21-22)
- With Bahá’u’lláh, Gl 118; P-M 50, PUP 187
- D. Distinction from other Prophets, Gl 52-56 (Íqán 176-181).
- Qur’án: 11:1-3, 20; 33:40, 45; 8:24; 21:92; 42:11; 2:130, 285, 54; 3:3, 73-74, 138; 43:59; 10:16-17; 6:50; 14:12-14; 25:8; 41:5; 17:90-98; 16:104-5
III. Muḥammad’s Particular Mission
- Seal of Prophets, Gl 60; Íqán 168-170; WOB 167; BP 134
- World Message, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf 64; Íqán 40, 185-6; MFC 99ff., 35, 61; PUP 148-9
- Final Warner of Judgment Day, Íqán 114, 116-117; SAQ 57-61
- Qur’án: 42:13-23; 30:54-60; 54:6-8; 37:16-70; 36:67-70; 11:105-110; 53:57-58; 69:1-52; 35:21
- Herald of the Resurrection, Íqán 116-117, 141-144. (Read Gl 40-46; P-M 294-6)
- Paved Way for the Qá’im, WOB 117
- Announced Advent of the Báb, Tablets 98; BP 37, 198
- Announced Advent of Bahá’u’lláh, Gl 102; WOB 106; BP 134, 205; D-Br 260
- Qur’án: 21:104; 89:20-30; 50; 79:1-46; 39:66-75; 55:26-78; 32:4 (1844 A.D.)
IV. Muḥammad’s Testimonies to Mankind
- A. The Qur’án, Íqán 201-202; WOB 102.
- Book of God, Gl 44, 270; Íqán 151-2, 147, 199-200, 203-4
- Guide for mankind until Day of Resurrection, Íqán 209-210, 200-205; SAQ 61
- The City of Certitude, Íqán 199-200
- Confirms truth of Progressive Revelation, Íqán 152-3, 161-2; Wisdom 41-43; BP 127-8; PUP 404
- Promulgated spiritual law, SAQ 27; PUP 397-8, 440, 387, 360
- Records specific ordinances, WOB 21; PUP 440
- Revealed advance scientific truth, 27-28
- Qur’án: 32:1; 12:104; 16:104-5; 14:1; 41:1-7; 5:18; 21:29-90; 21:34; 29:64; 2:136-140 (Íqán 39, 50)
- B. The Imámate, Íqán 201-202; WOB 1102.
WITH OUR READERS
THE friends of World Order continue to send us words of appreciation from time to time and we like to share some of them with our readers. The following from Moncton, New Brunswick, not only brings these far-away Canadian friends nearer but makes us reflect upon how even mistakes are sometimes turned to good: “Through some oversight the renewal of my subscription to World Order sent last December or January was credited to Mrs. . . . who enjoys the magazine so much that I would like you to continue sending it to her. . . . I find the magazine a very valuable help and would not want to be without it.”
And here is a little story, about Canada, too, sent us from our subscription department: “Sometime in April we sent a subscription renewal notice to the Y. M. C. A. in London, Ontario, and they advised us that owing to present conditions they were unable to renew the subscription. In the same mail a Milwaukee friend sent in his renewal order with a remittance of 50 cents in excess requesting that we apply this excess to some library subscription. So with this we extended the London, Ontario, Y. M. C. A. subscription and notified our Milwaukee subscriber of what we had done. We are now in receipt of the following letter from Milwaukee: ‘The enclosed $1.00 may further extend the subscription to the Y.M.C.A. mentioned above. If their readers benefit as much from World Order as I do, I am thankful for the privilege of making them happy.’”
We hear a good deal from
Milwaukee. Their plan of having
a World Order subscription
agent appointed by the Assembly
works well. for in six months
39 subscriptions were sent in and
this excerpt tells something of
the plan: “Not knowing how it
would work out I asked new subscribers
if it would be all right
to have their copies come to the
center with others; then each
month I passed the copies around.
. . . So far this has worked out
successfully, because, when the
[Page 187]
friends see the magazine passed
out they feel that they would like
one too, and that gives me the
opportunity to enroll more subscribers. . .
Our friends like
the magazine and look forward
to it. . . . One of our friends
asks me to tell you that one evening
when she was going home
in the street-car with some copies
of World Order in her hands a
lady seated next her asked about
the magazine and wanted to
know if she might have the
copies.”
This letter from a prominent Rabbi in San Francisco reminds us that World Order finds approval among those of other faiths: “This line is to extend personal thanks for your courtesy in sending your splendid magazine to me. I look upon it as a very personal messenger which keeps me in touch with the ideals and progress of your splendid group.”
* * *
Recently there has come to our desk a reprint of a letter from the North-China Daily News which sets out the fundamental Bahá’í principles and shows their applicability to the needs of the world today. We have not space to print this letter but all rejoice to know that Mr. Ouskouli is helping to keep the Cause alive in China.
We print this month further excerpts from the profound letter which Shoghi Effendi is sending us in installments. This important document is not only a letter from the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith but contains hitherto untranslated words of Bahá’u’lláh and new renderings of others. To those who would understand, it answers the question—What is the meaning of this worldwide devastation? The complete letter is being published as a pamphlet. The fact that, sent section by section, from a war-torn country, over perilous seas, it arrived safely, makes us pause to reflect.
* * *
Mr. Chester F. Barnett who writes the article on Crime, is a member of the Peoria, Illinois, Bahá’í community. He is a lawyer by profession. Readers of World Order will remember his contribution in the April number entitled “The World Wide Law.”
We are privileged to reprint
Angela Morgan’s well known
poem, “Song of the New World,”
which conveys so much awareness
of the world-transforming
Spirit. Grateful mention, also,
[Page 188]
is made of the book review by
Garreta Busey, who has contributed
a number of most interesting
reviews during the past year.
Miss Elizabeth Hackley, author of the tender poem on the Báb, is a member of the Bahá’í community of Urbana.
The subject of consultation has been deeply pondered by Miss Alma Sothman, with a result we are very pleased to offer our readers this month. Miss Sothman is one of the pioneer believers of Omaha.
The compilation from Bahá’í sacred words entitled “The Divine Art of Living” has for its subject this month “Love and Unity,” the very basis and very crown of the Bahá’í teachings and the crying need of the world today. Mrs. Mabel H. Paine of Urbana, Illinois, has been contributing these chapters for a year and a half and the department will be concluded in the September issue. The valued outline on Muḥammad for Bahá’í Study Lessons is contributed by Mrs. Alice Simmons Cox, of the Editorial Committee.
—THE EDITORS
THE BÁB
Elizabeth Hackley
- He is the Door
- Unto the Father’s House, that home of love and peace
- And brotherhood, wherein all strife shall cease
- And sorrow be no more!
- He is the morning Star
- That guides all men unto the dawn of truth,
- To Him Who is the glorious Sun of Truth,
- Love’s avatar!
- He is the Gate of Paradise!
- None but the pure in heart can enter there;
- We find His heaven only when we dare
- To walk His path, the path of sacrifice!
- O Thou Who art the Primal Point
- Of light, illumine us with Thy pure face;
- Cleanse Thou our hearts with Thy redeeming grace;
- And with Thy holiness our souls anoint.
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.
Kitáb-i-Íqán, Translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purpose 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
The Nature of the Bahá’í Faith
THE REVELATION PROCLAIMED BY BAHÁ’U’LLÁH . . . IS DIVINE IN ORIGIN, ALL-EMBRACING IN SCOPE, BROAD IN ITS OUTLOOK, SCIENTIFIC IN ITS METHOD, HUMANITARIAN IN ITS PRINCIPLES AND DYNAMIC IN THE INFLUENCE IT EXERTS ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF MEN.
THE MISSION OF THE FOUNDER OF THEIR FAITH . . . TO PROCLAIM THAT RELIGIOUS TRUTH IS NOT ABSOLUTE BUT RELATIVE, THAT DIVINE REVELATION IS CONTINUOUS AND PROGRESSIVE, THAT THE FOUNDERS OF ALL PAST RELIGIONS, THOUGH DIFFERENT IN THE NON-ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF THEIR TEACHINGS, “ABIDE IN THE SAME TABERNACLE, SOAR IN THE SAME HEAVEN, ARE SEATED UPON THE SAME THRONE, UTTER THE SAME SPEECH AND PROCLAIM THE SAME FAITH.”
HIS CAUSE . . . STANDS IDENTIFIED WITH, AND REVOLVES AROUND, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ORGANIC UNITY OF MANKIND As REPRESENTING THE CONSUMMATION OF THE WHOLE PROCESS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.
THIS FINAL STAGE IN THIS STUPENDOUS EVOLUTION . . . IS NOT ONLY NECESSARY BUT INEVITABLE . . . IS GRADUALLY APPROACHING . . . AND NOTHING SHORT OF THE CELESTIAL POTENCY WITH WHICH A DIVINELY ORDAINED MESSAGE CAN CLAIM TO BE ENDOWED CAN SUCCEED IN ESTABLISHING IT.
