And now, His Holiness Baha’u’llah, when He ascended, had half a million souls who were self-sacrificing and all were perfectly firm and staunch! Consider what a marvelous potency this will exercise.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, October 5, 1912 San Francisco, California; Star of the West, vol. 10, no. 13, November 4, 1919)
When they exiled us from Persia, from Teheran to Baghdad, the journey was made in thirty stages and in these thirty stages we did not find one Baha’i. Now in every one of these places there are great numbers of Baha’i friends.
Notwithstanding that the ruler of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey opposed the Cause so violently exercising tyranny and oppression thinking to extinguish the Lamp of God yet this Lamp day by day grew in radiance, its power increased and its illumination became greater, until it reached such a degree that now its lights are spread throughout the world even as far as San Francisco, which is very far from Persia. See what this will mean in the future!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, October 5, 1912, San Francisco, California; Star of the West, vol. 10, no. 13, November 4, 1919)
To His [Baha’u’llah’s] Dispensation the sacred books of the followers of Zoroaster had referred as that in which the sun must needs be brought to a standstill for no less than one whole month. To Him Zoroaster must have alluded when, according to tradition, He foretold that a period of three thousand years of conflict and contention must needs precede the advent of the World-Savior Shah-Bahram, Who would triumph over Ahriman and usher in an era of blessedness and peace.
He alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that "a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellowship" should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal "His boundless glory." To Him the Bhagavad- Gita of the Hindus had referred as the "Most Great Spirit," the "Tenth Avatar," the "Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna."
- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Buddah,Krishna, Zoroaster and Related Subjects)
By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door, and every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes. With every piece of bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh affliction, and with every drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of the most woeful of trials. He is preceded in every step He taketh by an army of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of agonizing sorrows.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted
by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The promised Day is Come’) [from Verses]
Verily I say! No one hath apprehended the root of this Cause. It is incumbent upon everyone, in this day, to perceive with the eye of God, and to hearken with His ear. Whoso beholdeth Me with an eye besides Mine own will never be able to know Me.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)
Jináb-i-Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí was a loyal brother of the Blessed Beauty. This great man was known even from his childhood for nobility of soul. He was newly born when his distinguished father passed away, and thus it came about that from the beginning to the end of his days, he spent his life in the sheltering arms of Bahá’u’lláh. He was detached from every selfish thought, averse to every mention except to whatever concerned the Holy Cause. He was reared in Persia under the care of Bahá’u’lláh, and in ‘Iráq as well, especially favored by Him. In the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, it was he who would pass around the tea; and he waited upon his Brother at all times, by day and night. He was always silent. He always held fast to the Covenant of “Am I not your Lord?” He was encompassed by loving-kindness and bounty; day and night he had access to the presence of Bahá’u’lláh; he was invariably patient and forbearing, until in the end he reached the very heights of Divine favor and acceptance.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk; ‘Memorials of the Faithful’)
On His [Bahá’u’lláh’s] release, [from the Siyah-Chal] the Russian Consul is reported to have offered “immediately the protection of his government and every assistance for Baha’u’llah and His family to settle in Russia. Baha’u’llah graciously declined and chose to settle in Baghdad.”
- David Hofman ('Baha’u’llah the Prince of Peace')
That Bahá’u’lláh should, notwithstanding the overwhelming intensity of His Revelation, be regarded as essentially one of these Manifestations of God, never to be identified with that invisible Reality, the Essence of Divinity itself, is one of the major beliefs of our Faith—a belief which should never be obscured and the integrity of which no one of its followers should allow to be compromised.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)
Until the father of Baha’u’llah passed away He did not seek after position or political station. All were surprised at this. Notwithstanding His connection with the government, He would not accept any position. They remarked: "How is it that a young man so intelligent, so keen, so perceptive, so subtle, is not a candidate for lucrative appointments; as a matter of fact, every position is open to Him." The people of Persia are witnesses to this historical fact.
He was most generous; giving abundantly to the poor. He did not refuse any who asked Him. The doors of His house were open to all. He always had many guests. This generosity was conduce to greater astonishment from the fact that He did not seek position or prominence. In commenting upon this His friends said that all His wealth would be given away, for His expenses were many, while His wealth was becoming limited. All were amazed at His conduct and greatly astonished at His doings. Some remarked, "Why is He not thinking of His own affairs?" Some who were wise declared: “This Personage is connected with another world. He has something sublime within Him that is not evident row, but the day will come when that shall be manifested."
In short, the Blessed Perfection was a refuge for every weak one; a shelter for every fearing one; kind to every indigent one; most lenient to all creatures. He became well known in regard to these qualities before His Holiness the Báb, appeared.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (From a talk, 15 April, 1912, at a gathering of Baha’i friends at the home of Mrs. Emor, New York; Star of the West vol. 3, no. 9, August 20, 1912)
Baha'u'llah arrived in Baghdad on 8 April 1853. The journey from Tehran had been very difficult and had lasted three months. After a few days in Baghdad, Baha'u'llah moved to Kazimayn, a Shi'i shrine city which at that time was some five kilometers north-west of Baghdad (it has since become incorporated into the city). The Iranian consul suggested to him that since Kazimayn tended to be full of rather fanatical elements, it would be safer for Baha'u'llah if he lived in Baghdad itself in the mainly Persian-speaking quarters on the west bank of the Tigris river. Baha'u'llah consented to this and rented a house there.
- Moojan Momen ('Baha’u’llah A Short Biography')
The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith states that Bahá'u'lláh visited Haifa four times. The first visit was of short duration, when He disembarked in 1868 from the Lloyd-Triestino steamer. The second visit was for just a few days, and He stayed in Bayt-i-Fanduq, a house in the German colony, part of which still stands today. There is a dated Tablet, in the handwriting of Mirza Aqa Jan, which indicates that Bahá'u'lláh was in Haifa in August 1883, probably the date of this second visit. The third visit was in 1890, and when Edward Granville Browne reached 'Akká, Bahá'u'lláh was in Haifa. In the course of this visit, He stayed, at first, near Bayt-i-Zahlan, near the town, and then He moved to a house in the German colony which was known as the Oliphant house. His tent was pitched on a piece of land opposite that house. His fourth and last visit was in the year 1891. This sojourn was the longest, and it was here in Haifa that members of the Afnan family met him when they came in July, as described in a later chapter. Bahá'u'lláh was then in Haifa for three months, staying in the house of Ilyas Abyad near the German colony, and His tent stood nearby.
- Balyuzi (‘Baha'u'llah - The King of Glory’)
The journey of Bahá'u'lláh and His companions from Gallipoli to Haifa took place between August 21 to 31, 1968, lasting 11 days.
(Adapted from compilation: ‘Holy Places at the Baha’i World
Centre’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
Let us fix our gaze in adoration upon that figure, so inimitably delineated by the Guardian: "the incomparable figure of Baha'u'llah, transcendent in His majesty, serene, awe-inspiring, unapproachably glorious." He Whom, He Himself testifies, the Prophets and Messengers addressed, on the eve of His Declaration as "O Most Great Mystery, O Tabernacle of Immortality!" He, but for Whom, in His own words, "no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the robe of prophethood, nor would any of the Sacred Scriptures have been revealed." Let us call to mind, in His own words, the period of His declaration in Baghdad, the centenary of which is so close upon us: "Arise, and proclaim unto the entire creation the tidings that He Who is the All-Merciful hath directed His steps towards the Ridvan and entered it. Guide, then, the people unto the Garden of Delight which God hath made the Throne of His Paradise . . ." "Rejoice, with exceeding gladness, O people of Baha! as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the entire creation the splendors of His Name, the All-Merciful."
"The mere contemplation," 'Abdu'l-Baha testified, "of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed Beauty would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages -- saints who longed to partake for one moment of its great glory." "How thankful must we be for having been made in this Day the recipients of so overwhelming a favor! Would that we had ten thousand lives that we might lay them down in thanksgiving for so rare a privilege, so high an attainment, so priceless a bounty!" "The holy ones of past ages and centuries have, each and all, yearned with tearful eyes to live, though for one moment, in the Day of God. Their longings unsatisfied, they repaired to the Great Beyond. How great, therefore, is the bounty of the Abha Beauty Who, notwithstanding our utter unworthiness, hath through His grace and mercy breathed into us in this divinely-illumined century the spirit of life, hath gathered us beneath the standard of the Beloved of the world, and chosen to confer upon us a bounty for which the mighty ones of bygone ages had craved in vain."
(Excerpt from a message of the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land to the believers of East and West, Insert December 1962 Baha’i News)
