Conference at Badasht: - Baha’u’llah’s role

It was Bahá’u’lláh Who steadily, unerringly, yet unsuspectedly, steered the course of that memorable episode, and it was Bahá’u’lláh Who brought the meeting to its final and dramatic climax. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

1854: Bahá'u'lláh left the city of Baghdad “and went alone into the mountains of Kurdistan”

At one point He left the city and went alone into the mountains of Kurdistan, where He made His abode in caves and grottoes. A part of this time He lived in the city of Sulaymaniyyih. Two years passed during which neither His friends nor family knew just where He was.

Although Bahá'u'lláh was solitary, secluded and unknown in His retirement, the report spread throughout Kurdistan that this was a most remarkable and learned Personage, gifted with a wonderful power of attraction. In a short time Kurdistan was magnetized with His love. During this period Bahá'u'lláh lived in poverty. His garments were those of the poor and needy. His food was that of the indigent and lowly. An atmosphere of majesty haloed Him as the sun at midday. Everywhere He was greatly revered and beloved.

After two years He returned to Baghdad. Friends He had known in Sulaymaniyyih came to visit Him. They found Him in His accustomed environment of ease and affluence and were astonished at the appointments of One Who had lived in seclusion under such frugal conditions in Kurdistan. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

Making pilgrimage to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh on foot

After going for a lengthy stroll on the deck, the Master seated Himself and said:

I have taken 4,600 steps. This is the distance between the city of ‘Akká and the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. I wish to practise walking, that I may be able to travel to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh on foot. In the latter days of my time in the Holy Land, I had grown so weak as to be deprived of the bounty of making pilgrimage on foot.

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha en route to Liverpool, on board the Celtic, 5 December 1912; recorded by Mahmud Zarqani, His secretary and chronicler during His travels in the West; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’, vol. 2: ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Europe 1912-1913)

Bahá’u’lláh was the seventh of a series of Universal Manifestations of God

Question―We have been taught that Bahá’u’lláh was the Seventh of a series of great World (Universal) Manifestations of this present cycle, Christ being the sixth, Melchizedek the fifth, while the first four were before the compilation of our present world history, and of them we have no records; that their teachings were applicable to all mankind under all conditions; while upon the other hand the Manifestations, such as Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Muhammad and the Báb were sent each to a certain people, bringing teachings which were applicable to those certain conditions and people only, while the teachings of the World Manifestations were not limited in their application to peoples. Is this teaching correct?

‘Abdu’l-Baha: Yes, it is correct.

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Some Questions and Answers from ‘Abdu’l-Baha’: written shortly after the interviews with ‘Abdu’l-Baha, from notes taken at the time by Charles Mason Remey while in Haifa, May, 1910; Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 12, Oct. 16, 1910)

December 1888: Nabil submits the finished portions of ‘The Dawn-Breakers’ to Baha’u’llah

Nabil wrote ‘The Dawn-Breakers’ for Bahá'u'lláh. He started the chronicle in 1888 and finished it in about a year and a half. Mirza Musa helped him with it; some parts of the manuscript were reviewed by Bahá'u'lláh, and some by the Master.

Nabil lived in 'Akká then, and when he had brought his narrative down to the point where the story of the Seven Martyrs was ended, he submitted the finished portions to Bahá'u'lláh, Who sent for him on December 11, 1888, a date Nabil records as one he will never forget. On that occasion, his Lord gave him an account of various historical episodes, including the gathering at Badasht.

Nabil wrote: ‘At this stage of my narrative I was privileged to submit to Bahá'u'lláh such sections of my work as I had already revised and completed. How abundantly have my labours been rewarded by Him whose favour alone I seek, and for whose satisfaction I have addressed myself to this task! He graciously summoned me to His presence and vouchsafed me His blessings. I was in my home in the prison-city of 'Akká, and lived in the neighbourhood of the house of Aqay-i-Kalim, when the summons of my Beloved reached me. That day, the seventh of the month of Rabi'u'th-Thani in the year 1306 A.H.,[December 11, 1888 A.D.] I shall never forget.’

1852: Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to Iraq

The Báb was martyred in Tabriz; and Bahá'u'lláh, exiled into Iraq in 1852, announced Himself in Baghdad. For the Persian government had decided that as long as He remained in Persia the peace of the country would be disturbed; therefore, He was exiled in the expectation that Persia would become quiet. His banishment, however, produced the opposite effect. New tumult arose, and the mention of His greatness and influence spread everywhere throughout the country. The proclamation of His manifestation and mission was made in Baghdad. He called His friends together there and spoke to them of God. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

Baha’u’llah testifies that He accomplished “to deliver that whereunto I was bidden by God”

“We verily,” He [Baha'u'llah] Himself has testified, “have not fallen short of Our duty to exhort men, and to deliver that whereunto I was bidden by God, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Had they hearkened unto Me, they would have beheld the earth another earth.” And again: “Is there any excuse left for anyone in this Revelation? No, by God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne! My signs have encompassed the earth, and My power enveloped all mankind, and yet the people are wrapped in a strange sleep!”

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

The reason for the appearance of a Manifestation of God in a given place

The reason for the appearance of a Manifestation of God in a given place is not to honor a particular people or nation. Shoghi Effendi indicates a quite different reason in The Advent of Divine Justice and, more concisely, in a letter to an individual written on his behalf on 23 January 1944:

“The ever-recurring miracle in the establishment of every religion is that such poor instruments accomplish the work of God. It is to demonstrate the fact that God is the power that overcomes every obstacle, and that Revelations are divine in origin, that leads Him to always choose the worst people among whom to manifest His Messenger and the most obscure and helpless of the population -- relatively speaking -- to establish the foundations of His Faith. The Baha'i Dispensation is no exception to this rule, as you yourself have observed.”

Beyond these points is the fact that God, the Almighty Creator, does not have to justify His choice of a race or nationality from which to raise up a Manifestation. As all sacred scriptures tell us, He does as He wills and shall not be asked of His doing, and we bow in humility before Him. Besides, as you must know, conceptions of race, nation, oriental, occidental, and the like reflect earthly limitations and are not qualifications attached to the reality of the soul in the limitless realms of God. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual Baha’i, dated 27, October, 1986; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

Bahá'u'lláh sought justice as a child

While still a child, the Blessed Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh) watched as a government tax-collector, on three separate occasions, accosted His father and demanded, in cruel and unjust manner, the payment of taxes. Unable to bear the injustice of it all, He, though in early childhood, mounted His horse and rode fpr two days until He arrived in Tihran (the capital of Persia). There He sought the dismissal of this unjust and tyrannical tax-collectot. He succeeded in obtaining the necessary papers ordering the dismissal, and returned to His parents.

- Mr. Furutan  ('Story of Baha'u'llah')

The Mansion of Bahji as of 1900s

The Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Bahji as it appeared during the time of the first pilgrimage of the Western believers in the early 1900s. 

(Baha'i News March 1976)

“The Báb wrote a letter containing three hundred and sixty derivatives of the root Baha”

…[when the Báb appeared] Bahá'u'lláh declared the Báb's mission to be true and promulgated His teachings. The Báb announced that the greater Manifestation would take place after Him and called the Promised One "Him Whom God shall make manifest," saying that nine years later the reality of His own mission would become apparent. In His writings He stated that in the ninth year this expected One would be known; in the ninth year they would attain to all glory and felicity; in the ninth year they would advance rapidly. Between Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb there was communication privately. The Báb wrote a letter containing three hundred and sixty derivatives of the root Baha. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

Laws of Bahá'u'lláh: - to obey them “out of love” for Him

It is a vital and urgent duty of the Assemblies, both National and Local, not only to apply the Laws of Bahá'u'lláh with justice and firmness, but to increase the believers' understanding of and devotion to these Laws. In this way they will obey them not through fear of punishment but out of love for Bahá'u'lláh and because their whole lives have been transformed and re-oriented in the Way of God. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, October 11, 1965; United States Supplement to Bahá'í News, No. 97, March 1966; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Bahá'u'lláh sacrificed His life for us –- “so that He might educate us, so that He might make us illumined, so that He might make us heavenly, so that He might change our character, change our lives, so that He might illumine our inmost self.”

The Blessed Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh) loved the friends so much that for their sakes He accepted a thousand difficulties and afflictions. Four times He was exiled. He was banished from one place to another. His properties were confiscated. He gave all -- His family, His relatives, His possessions. He accepted imprisonment, chains and fetters. His holy person was imprisoned in the fortress of Acca until the last moment of His life. He was made to suffer more calamities, afflictions and difficulties than could be enumerated. He had not a moment's rest. He had not an hour's comfort. He was continually under the greatest hardships and ordeals. What great persecutions He endured from His enemies! What great afflictions He bore from His own relatives! He accepted all these trials for our sakes so that He might educate us, so that He might make us illumined, so that He might make us heavenly, so that He might change our character, change our lives, so that He might illumine our inmost self. All these troubles He accepted for our sakes. He did indeed sacrifice His life for us. This love is the real love. This is the inner attachment and the genuine friendship. This is the love which sacrifices one's all, one's life. This is the reality of love. He accepted all these troubles. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk in the Holy Land, November 19, 1921; Star of the West, vol. 13, October 1922)

“He Who hath come from the heaven of divine revelation is the Hidden Secret, the Impenetrable Mystery”

God testifieth that there is none other God but Him and that He Who hath come from the heaven of divine revelation is the Hidden Secret, the Impenetrable Mystery, Whose advent hath been foretold in the Book of God and hath been heralded by His Prophets and Messengers. Through Him the mysteries have been unravelled, the veils rent asunder and the signs and evidences disclosed. Lo! He hath now been made manifest. He bringeth to light whatsoever He willeth, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, invested with transcendent majesty and power.

Blessed is that strong one who will shatter the gods of vain imaginings through the potency of the Name of his Lord, He Who ruleth over all men. 

- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

November 1898: ‘Abdu’l-Baha ends the period of mourning for Baha’u’llah by opening His tomb to pilgrims for the first time

This event which took place on 13 November 1898 was in commemoration of the arrival of Ibrahim Kheiralla (Khayru’llah) to Akka on 11 November 1898 – “the same year that this precious Trust [the precious remains of the Báb] reached the shores of the Holy Land and was delivered into the hands of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He, accompanied by Dr. Ibrahim Khayru'llah, whom He had already honored with the titles of "Baha's Peter," "The Second Columbus" and "Conqueror of America," drove to the recently purchased site which had been blessed and selected by Bahá'u'lláh on Mt. Carmel, and there laid, with His own hands, the foundation-stone of the edifice, the construction of which He, a few months later, was to commence. About that same time, the marble sarcophagus, designed to receive the body of the Báb, an offering of love from the Bahá'ís of Rangoon, had, at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's suggestion, been completed and shipped to Haifa.” (God Passes By)

Kheiralla (who later became a Covenant-breaker) and his wife Marion were among of the first group of American pilgrims who left New York on 22 September 1898. Phoebe Hearst, Robert Turner, and Lua and Edward Getsinger were also in that historic group. In Paris they were joined by May Bolles and Hearst’s two relatives.

From Paris Kheiralla went to Egypt in early October, where he had children to visit. His wife went to England to invite her aunt to accompany them to Akka. After twenty-one days in Egypt Ibrahim Keiralla proceeded to Akka and was first to arrive on 11 November 1898. Anxious to reach Akka, Edward and Lua Getsinger left Paris for Cairo in November. About mid-December Phoebe Hearst also arrived in Cairo. Accompanying her were her butler, Robert Turner; her maid, Amalie M. Bachrodt; her little niece, Agnes Lane; her niece's governess, Julia Pearson; another niece, Anne Apperson; and an old friend, Mrs. Thornburgh. All nine Westerners could not visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha simultaneously, for they would stir up too much suspicion. While Hearst and her relatives and employees remained in Egypt, the Gestingers proceeded to Akka. They arrived on 10 December 1898 and were the first North American Baha’is to visit ‘Abdu’l-Baha. 

(Adapted from ‘The Baha’i Faith in America’, vol. 1, by Robert Stockman)

Bahá'u'lláh's ancestral home in Takur

Two views of Bahá'u'lláh's ancestral home in Takur, in the district of Nur, where He usually spent His summers as a boy.

Baha’u’llah’s sufferings – Yahya’s contribution

I am the one, O Lord, whose heart and soul, whose limbs, whose inner and outer tongue testify to Thy unity and Thy oneness, and bear witness that Thou art God and that there is no God but Thee. Thou didst bring mankind into being to know Thee and to serve Thy Cause, that their station might thereby be elevated upon Thine earth and their souls be uplifted by virtue of the things Thou hast revealed in Thy Scriptures, Thy Books and Thy Tablets. Yet no sooner didst Thou manifest Thyself and reveal Thy signs than they turned away from Thee and repudiated Thee and rejected that which Thou didst unveil before their eyes through the potency of Thy might and Thy power. They rose up to inflict harm upon Thee, to extinguish Thy light and to put out the flame that blazeth in Thy Burning Bush. Their iniquity waxed so grievous that they conspired to shed Thy blood and to violate Thy honour. And likewise acted he [1] whom Thou hadst nurtured with the hand of Thy loving-kindness, hadst protected from the mischief of the rebellious among Thy creatures and the froward amidst Thy servants, and whom Thou hadst set the task of writing Thy holy verses before Thy throne.

Alas! Alas! for the things he perpetrated in Thy days to such an extent that he violated Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, rejected Thy holy Writ, rose up in rebellion and committed that which caused the denizens of Thy Kingdom to lament. Then no sooner had he found his hopes shattered and had perceived the odour of utter failure than he raised his voice and gave tongue to that which caused Thy chosen ones, who are nigh unto Thee, and the inmates of the pavilion of glory, to be lost in bewilderment. 

- Baha’u’llah (‘Ishraqat [Splendours], ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

[1] Mirza Yahya

“The sun of justice hath risen above the horizon of Bahá’u’lláh.”

“God be praised!” ‘Abdu’l Bahá, in His turn, exclaims, “The sun of justice hath risen above the horizon of Bahá’u’lláh. For in His Tablets the foundations of such a justice have been laid as no mind hath, from the beginning of creation, conceived.” “The canopy of existence,” He further explains, “resteth upon the pole of justice, and not of forgiveness, and the life of mankind dependeth on justice and not on forgiveness.” 

- Shoghi Effendi (Quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

The religious and historical significance of Bahá'u'lláh’s Declaration in the Garden of Ridván

The arrival of Bahá'u'lláh in the Najibiyyih Garden, subsequently designated by His followers the Garden of Ridvan, signalizes the commencement of what has come to be recognized as the holiest and most significant of all Bahá'í festivals, the festival commemorating the Declaration of His Mission to His companions. So momentous a Declaration may well be regarded both as the logical consummation of that revolutionizing process which was initiated by Himself upon His return from Sulaymaniyyih, and as a prelude to the final proclamation of that same Mission to the world and its rulers from Adrianople.

Through that solemn act the "delay," of no less than a decade, divinely interposed between the birth of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation in the Siyah-Chal and its announcement to the Báb's disciples, was at long last terminated. The "set time of concealment," during which as He Himself has borne witness, the "signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation" were being showered upon Him, was fulfilled. The "myriad veils of light," within which His glory had been wrapped, were, at that historic hour, partially lifted, vouchsafing to mankind "an infinitesimal glimmer" of the effulgence of His "peerless, His most sacred and exalted Countenance." The "thousand two hundred and ninety days," fixed by Daniel in the last chapter of His Book, as the duration of the "abomination that maketh desolate" had now elapsed. The "hundred lunar years," destined to immediately precede that blissful consummation (1335 days), announced by Daniel in that same chapter, had commenced. The nineteen years, constituting the first "Vahid," preordained in the Persian Bayan by the pen of the Báb, had been completed. The Lord of the Kingdom, Jesus Christ returned in the glory of the Father, was about to ascend His throne, and assume the sceptre of a world-embracing, indestructible sovereignty. The community of the Most Great Name, the "companions of the Crimson Colored Ark," lauded in glowing terms in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', had visibly emerged. The Báb's own prophecy regarding the "Ridvan," the scene of the unveiling of Bahá'u'lláh's transcendent glory, had been literally fulfilled. 

- Shoghi Effendi ('God Passes By')