Jalál, 14 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth

Quote for Reflection:

O Thou kind Lord!
Graciously bestow a pair of heavenly wings unto each of these fledglings and give them spiritual power that they may wing their flight through this limitless space and may soar to the heights of the Abhá Kingdom.
O Lord! Strengthen these fragile seedlings that each one may become a fruitful tree, verdant and flourishing. Render these souls victorious through the potency of Thy celestial hosts, that they may be able to crush the forces of error and ignorance and to unfurl the standard of fellowship and guidance amidst the people; that they may, even as the reviving breaths of the spring, refresh and quicken the trees of human souls and like unto vernal showers make the meads of that region green and fertile.
Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful, Thou art the Bestower and the All-Loving. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ¹

Question for Consideration:

In the prayer, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asks God to enable youth to “crush the forces of error and ignorance” and “unfurl the standard of fellowship and guidance.” What capabilities and behaviors will assist youth to be successful in these endeavors? ²

Gemini Response:

Here are some capabilities and behaviors that can assist youth in fulfilling the goals of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayer:

Developing Knowledge and Understanding:

• Education: Seeking knowledge through education, both academic and spiritual, equips youth to combat ignorance and promote understanding.
• Critical Thinking: Developing critical thinking skills allows young people to discern truth from misinformation and error.
• Open-Mindedness: Maintaining an open mind to different perspectives fosters tolerance, fellowship, and the ability to learn from others.
  

Cultivating Spiritual Qualities:

• Faith and Conviction: A strong foundation in their faith empowers young people to stand up for their beliefs and inspire others.
• Love and Compassion: By embodying love and compassion, youth can build bridges, promote unity, and counter forces of hatred and division.
• Service and Sacrifice: A willingness to serve others and sacrifice for the betterment of society demonstrates commitment and inspires positive change.
  

Taking Action and Leadership:

• Initiative and Courage: Young people who take initiative and demonstrate courage can be effective agents of change.
• Communication and Collaboration: Strong communication and collaboration skills enable youth to work together effectively and inspire others.
• Leading by Example: Living a life that reflects Bahá’í principles serves as a powerful example for others and attracts them to the cause.
  

Remember:

• Spiritual Growth is a Journey: Developing these capabilities is a lifelong process that requires ongoing learning and effort.
• Empowerment and Support: To reach their full potential, young people must be empowered through education, resources, and mentorship.
• Collective Action: Change is often achieved through collective action. Working together, young people can create a more unified and just world.
  

By nurturing these capabilities and behaviors, youth can become powerful forces for good, equipped to combat ignorance and division and promote fellowship, guidance, and a flourishing world. Their actions can embody the spirit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayer and contribute to building the Abhá Kingdom.

ChatGPT Response:

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayer calls for youth to possess spiritual and moral qualities that empower them to overcome challenges and positively influence their communities. To successfully “crush the forces of error and ignorance” and “unfurl the standard of fellowship and guidance,” youth can cultivate the following capabilities and behaviors:

Education and Knowledge

• Continuous Learning: Engaging in lifelong learning to stay informed about various subjects and understanding the world around them.
• Critical Thinking: Developing the ability to analyze information, question assumptions, and make reasoned decisions.
  

Spiritual and Moral Integrity

• Upright Character: Adhering to principles of honesty, integrity, and justice.
• Humility and Service: Prioritizing the well-being of others and engaging in acts of service.
  

Empathy and Compassion

• Active Listening: Understanding and valuing the perspectives and experiences of others.
• Kindness and Support: Offering emotional support and encouragement to those in need.
  

Leadership and Initiative

• Vision and Inspiration: Articulating a clear vision for positive change and inspiring others to join collective efforts.
• Resilience and Perseverance: Overcoming obstacles and setbacks with determination and a positive attitude.
  

Communication and Collaboration

• Effective Communication: Expressing ideas clearly and respectfully in speaking and writing.
• Teamwork: Working collaboratively with diverse groups to achieve common goals.
  

Ethical Decision-Making

• Moral Courage: Making difficult decisions based on ethical principles, even in adversity.
• Responsibility: Taking ownership of actions and their consequences.
  

Creativity and Innovation

• Problem-Solving: Finding creative and effective solutions to complex issues.
• Adaptability: Being open to new ideas and adjusting to changing circumstances.
  

Spiritual Practices

• Prayer and Meditation: Engaging in regular spiritual practices to strengthen their connection with the divine and receive guidance.
• Reflection: Taking time to reflect on personal growth and areas for improvement.
  

By developing these capabilities and behaviors, youth can effectively combat ignorance and error, promote fellowship, and guide their communities toward a more enlightened and harmonious future.

Claude Response:

To address this thoughtful question, let’s consider the capabilities and behaviors that could help youth fulfill the aspirations ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expresses in this prayer:

• Knowledge and education: To counter “error and ignorance,” youth must diligently pursue knowledge, both in secular and spiritual matters. This involves cultivating a love for learning, critical thinking skills, and the ability to discern truth from falsehood.
• Moral courage: “Crushing the forces of error” requires standing up for what is right, even when it’s difficult or unpopular. Youth must develop strong ethical principles and the fortitude to act on them.
• Compassion and empathy: To “unfurl the standard of fellowship,” young people should cultivate compassion for others, including those different from themselves. This involves developing emotional intelligence and seeing things from multiple perspectives.
• Communication skills: Effective “guidance” requires articulating ideas clearly and persuasively. Youth should work on their verbal and written communication skills and active listening.
• Unity-building skills: Promoting fellowship means bringing people together. Youth can develop skills in conflict resolution, team-building, and fostering inclusive environments.
• Service orientation: The prayer’s imagery of “refreshing” and “quickening” others suggests a spirit of service. Youth should cultivate a desire to contribute positively to their communities and the world.
• Spiritual discipline: The prayer’s reference to “spiritual power” implies the importance of prayer, meditation, and reflection to develop inner strength and guidance.
• Resilience and perseverance: Achieving these lofty goals inevitably involves setbacks. Youth need to develop resilience, learn from failures, and persist in their efforts.
• Creative problem-solving: To address complex social issues, youth should cultivate creativity and innovative thinking, finding new solutions to long-standing problems.
• Leadership skills: To “unfurl the standard” of fellowship and guidance, youth need to develop leadership abilities, inspiring and mobilizing others towards positive action.
• Cultural competence: In an increasingly interconnected world, understanding and navigating different cultural contexts is crucial for promoting true fellowship.
• Ecological awareness: The prayer’s natural imagery reminds us of the importance of environmental stewardship. Youth should develop an understanding of ecological issues and sustainable practices.
  

By cultivating these capabilities and behaviors, youth can work towards embodying the aspirations expressed in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prayer and becoming agents of positive change in their communities and the world at large.

Pi Response:

To successfully “crush the forces of error and ignorance” and “unfurl the standard of fellowship and guidance,” youth must develop and demonstrate various capabilities and behaviors. These include:

• Seeking knowledge and wisdom: Acquiring knowledge and understanding, both secular and spiritual, equips youth to discern truth from falsehood and make well-informed decisions.
• Developing spiritual qualities: Cultivating virtues such as love, compassion, justice, and humility enables youth to counteract opposing forces and contribute to unity and fellowship.
• Critical thinking and discernment: Honing the ability to think critically and independently helps youth identify and challenge erroneous beliefs and practices.
• Effective communication: Developing strong communication skills allows youth to share their ideas, perspectives, and values clearly and convincingly, fostering understanding and cooperation among diverse individuals and groups.
• Courage and determination: Having the courage to advocate for what is right and the determination to persevere in the face of adversity is essential for promoting positive change.
• Serving others: Engaging in acts of service and working for the betterment of society allows youth to demonstrate their commitment to the common good and inspire others to do the same.
• Embracing diversity: Recognizing and celebrating the value of diversity enables youth to foster inclusivity and unity, breaking down barriers that divide people.
• Promoting dialogue and collaboration: Encouraging open and respectful dialogue and fostering cooperation among diverse individuals and groups helps build understanding and consensus around shared goals and values.
  

By developing and demonstrating these capabilities and behaviors, youth can become powerful agents of positive change, contributing to their communities’ spiritual and social transformation and the world at large.

1. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young. Edited by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. 1st ed. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1978. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/prayers/bahai-prayers-tablets-children/2#136082805. ↩
2. Ruhi Institute. Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth. 2.1.21.PE July 2022. Vol. Book 5. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 7-9. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#JY1. ↩

Istiqlál, 13 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth

Quote for Reflection:

Man’s life has its springtime and is endowed with marvellous glory. The period of youth is characterized by strength and vigour and stands out as the choicest time in human life. Therefore you should strive day and night so that endowed with heavenly strength, inspired with brilliant motives and aided by His celestial power and heavenly grace and confirmation, you may become the ornaments of the world of humanity, and pre-eminent among those who are initiated into true learning and the love of God. You must be distinguished amidst men by your sanctity and detachment, loftiness of purpose, magnanimity, determination, noble-mindedness, tenacity, the elevation of your aims and your spiritual qualities; that you may become the means of exaltation and glory for the Cause of God and the dawning-places of His heavenly bestowals; that you may conduct yourselves in conformity with the counsels and exhortations of the Blessed Beauty—may my life be offered up for His loved ones—and by reflecting Bahá’í qualities and attributes, you may stand out distinguished from others. ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá eagerly anticipates that each one of you may become even as a fearless lion moving in the pastures of human perfection and a musk-laden breeze wafting over the meads of virtue. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ¹

Question for Consideration:

You have probably heard one expression or another of the popular belief that youth should focus on having fun, for they will have to face the serious matters of life soon enough. Such a notion is clearly not in agreement with the above statement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. What are some of the assumptions underlying this popular belief? ²

Gemini Response:

Here are some of the assumptions underlying the widespread belief that youth should focus on having fun before facing life’s serious matters:

• Linear view of life: This belief assumes life progresses in stages, with carefree youth followed by an inevitable shift to seriousness and responsibility.
• Focus on the future: It prioritizes preparing for the future (work, family) over enjoying and learning from the youth’s present experiences.
• Seriousness vs. Fun: This view creates a false dichotomy between having fun and engaging in meaningful pursuits.
• Maturity and Responsibility: It assumes seriousness and responsibility are qualities only acquired in adulthood, not developed in youth.
• Limited Potential of Youth: This belief underestimates young people’s capacity to contribute meaningfully to society and their growth.
  

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s perspective in the passage offers a different view:

• Potential of Youth: He emphasizes the unique strengths of youth, like vigor and idealism, which can be harnessed for positive contributions.
• Spiritual Development: He encourages young people to focus on spiritual development alongside other pursuits, fostering a fulfilling life.
• Balance and Purpose: He advocates for a balanced approach, integrating enjoyment with striving for noble goals and service to humanity.
  

Remember:

• Youth is a valuable time for learning, growth, and exploration.
• Young people have the potential to make significant contributions to the world.
• Balancing enjoyment with purpose and responsibility can lead to a more fulfilling life.
  

The choice between having fun and focusing on serious matters is false. Young people can and should pursue both. By embracing the approach outlined by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, youth can become a springboard for a life filled with meaning, purpose, and joy.

ChatGPT Response:

The popular belief that youth should focus on having fun because they will have to face serious matters later in life carries several underlying assumptions:

• Finite Time for Enjoyment: It assumes that youth is the only period when one can truly enjoy life and that adulthood, with its responsibilities, is inherently less enjoyable or more burdensome.
• Incompatibility of Fun and Responsibility: It suggests a dichotomy between fun and responsibility, implying that one must choose between the two and cannot coexist.
• Delayed Maturity: It assumes that maturity and the development of virtues such as responsibility, determination, and noble-mindedness can and should be delayed until later in life.
• Lack of Consequence: It implies that actions taken in youth have little to no long-term consequences, thereby encouraging a carefree and possibly reckless attitude.
• Self-Indulgence as a Norm: It normalizes the idea that self-indulgence and the pursuit of pleasure are the primary goals of youth.
• Societal Expectations: It reflects societal expectations and pressures prioritizing short-term gratification over long-term growth and fulfillment.
  

In contrast, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement emphasizes the importance of youth as a time for cultivating virtues, developing a strong moral character, and preparing oneself to contribute positively to society. This perspective suggests that youth is not merely a time for self-indulgence but a foundational period for building a meaningful and purposeful life.

Claude Response:

To analyze the assumptions underlying the widespread belief that youth should focus on having fun before facing serious matters in life, let’s contrast it with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s perspective:

• Limited view of youth potential: Popular belief assumes that young people are incapable of or interested in dealing with serious matters. This assumption underestimates their capacity for meaningful contribution and personal growth.
• Compartmentalization of life stages: There’s an assumption that life is divided into distinct phases – fun/carefree youth followed by serious/responsible adulthood. This overlooks the continuity of personal development.
• Hedonistic prioritization: The belief prioritizes immediate pleasure and enjoyment over long-term growth, character development, and contribution to society.
• Delayed responsibility: It assumes that taking on responsibilities and engaging with important life matters can or should be postponed, potentially hindering the early development of crucial skills and qualities.
• Narrow definition of fulfillment: “Having fun” is presented as the primary source of fulfillment for youth, neglecting other sources like personal growth, service, and pursuing higher ideals.
• Undervaluation of youthful energy: While recognizing youth’s vibrancy, this belief channels it solely towards entertainment rather than harnessing it for personal and societal progress as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suggests.
• Short-term thinking: The popular notion encourages focusing on immediate gratification rather than long-term vision and goal-setting.
• Passive approach to character formation: By emphasizing fun over growth, this belief implies that character development can wait, contrary to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s emphasis on actively cultivating virtues from youth.
  

These assumptions contrast sharply with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s vision of youth as a time of immense potential, vigor, and opportunity for spiritual and intellectual growth. He encourages young people to strive for excellence, contribute to humanity’s progress, and develop noble qualities from an early age.

Pi Response:

The popular belief that youth should focus on having fun before facing serious matters of life is based on several assumptions that differ from the perspective presented by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Some of these assumptions include:

• Limited responsibility: This is the assumption that young people are not yet responsible enough to handle serious matters or contribute meaningfully to society. This notion suggests that youth should enjoy a carefree period before taking on adult responsibilities.
• Negative view of adulthood: An underlying assumption that adulthood is characterized by burdens and difficulties, which young people should avoid as long as possible. This perspective paints a bleak picture of adult life, discouraging youth from embracing maturity and responsibility.
• Lack of lasting impact: The belief that actions and experiences during youth have little effect on an individual’s future development. This view underestimates the formative power of the choices and experiences made during one’s youth.
• Overemphasis on leisure: The idea that fun and leisure are the primary goals of youth rather than personal growth and development. This assumption prioritizes immediate gratification over long-term investments in character and capabilities.
• Disregard for potential: The assumption that young people’s potential and capacities are not yet fully developed suggests they cannot make significant contributions to society or engage in meaningful pursuits during their youth.
  

In contrast, Abdu’l-Bahá emphasizes the importance of utilizing youth’s unique strengths and potential to cultivate virtues, pursue learning, and contribute to the betterment of society. This perspective challenges the above assumptions, highlighting the value of investing in personal growth and social transformation during this critical period of life.

1. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahá’í Prayers and Tablets for the Young. Edited by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. 1st ed. Wilmette, IL: Bahá’i Publishing Trust, 1978. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/prayers/bahai-prayers-tablets-children/1#757246043. ↩
2. Ruhi Institute. Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth. 2.1.21.PE July 2022. Vol. Book 5. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 5-7. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#JY1. ↩

Istijlál, 12 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

The Tablet of Visitation:
THE praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art the Manifestation of Grandeur, and the King of Eternity, and the Lord of all who are in heaven and on earth! I testify that through Thee the sovereignty of God and His dominion, and the majesty of God and His grandeur, were revealed, and the Daystars of ancient splendor have shed their radiance in the heaven of Thine irrevocable decree, and the Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of creation. I testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction “Be Thou” hath been enforced, and God’s hidden Secret hath been divulged, and all created things have been called into being, and all the Revelations have been sent down.
I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored One hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the Desired One hath shone forth, and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee to ascend unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.
I bear witness that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of God. Great, therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy will, and circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne. Woe betide him that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee, and repudiated Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and risen up against Thee, and waxed proud before Thy face, and hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled from Thy rule and Thy dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose names have been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy Tablets.
Waft, then, unto me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy nearness and Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, hast been supreme over all things.
The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty! I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon all men to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
May my spirit be a sacrifice to the wrongs Thou didst suffer, and my soul be a ransom for the adversities Thou didst sustain. I beseech God, by Thee and by them whose faces have been illumined with the splendors of the light of Thy countenance, and who, for love of Thee, have observed all whereunto they were bidden, to remove the veils that have come in between Thee and Thy creatures, and to supply me with the good of this world and the world to come. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Bless Thou, O Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its boughs, and its branches, and its stems, and its offshoots, as long as Thy most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will last. Protect it, then, from the mischief of the aggressor and the hosts of tyranny. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. Bless Thou, also, O Lord my God, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens who have attained unto Thee. Thou, truly, art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is infinite. No God is there save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

Six days before He passed away He summoned to His presence, as He lay in bed leaning against one of His sons, the entire company of believers, including several pilgrims, who had assembled in the Mansion, for what proved to be their last audience with Him. “I am well pleased with you all,” He gently and affectionately addressed the weeping crowd that gathered about Him. “Ye have rendered many services, and been very assiduous in your labors. Ye have come here every morning and every evening. May God assist you to remain united. May He aid you to exalt the Cause of the Lord of being.” To the women, including members of His own family, gathered at His bedside, He addressed similar words of encouragement, definitely assuring them that in a document entrusted by Him to the Most Great Branch He had commended them all to His care.
The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd in a telegram which began with the words “the Sun of Bahá has set” and in which the monarch was advised of the intention of interring the sacred remains within the precincts of the Mansion, an arrangement to which he readily assented. Bahá’u’lláh was accordingly laid to rest in the northernmost room of the house which served as a dwelling-place for His son-in-law, the most northerly of the three houses lying to the west of, and adjacent to, the Mansion. His interment took place shortly after sunset, on the very day of His ascension.
The inconsolable Nabíl, who had had the privilege of a private audience with Bahá’u’lláh during the days of His illness; whom ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá had chosen to select those passages which constitute the text of the Tablet of Visitation now recited in the Most Holy Tomb; and who, in his uncontrollable grief, drowned himself in the sea shortly after the passing of his Beloved, thus describes the agony of those days: “Methinks, the spiritual commotion set up in the world of dust had caused all the worlds of God to tremble.… My inner and outer tongue are powerless to portray the condition we were in.… In the midst of the prevailing confusion a multitude of the inhabitants of ‘Akká and of the neighboring villages, that had thronged the fields surrounding the Mansion, could be seen weeping, beating upon their heads, and crying aloud their grief.”
For a full week a vast number of mourners, rich and poor alike, tarried to grieve with the bereaved family, partaking day and night of the food that was lavishly dispensed by its members. Notables, among whom were numbered Shí‘ahs, Sunnís, Christians, Jews and Druzes, as well as poets, ‘ulamás and government officials, all joined in lamenting the loss, and in magnifying the virtues and greatness of Bahá’u’lláh, many of them paying to Him their written tributes, in verse and in prose, in both Arabic and Turkish. From cities as far afield as Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut and Cairo similar tributes were received. These glowing testimonials were, without exception, submitted to ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Who now represented the Cause of the departed Leader, and Whose praises were often mingled in these eulogies with the homage paid to His Father.
And yet these effusive manifestations of sorrow and expressions of praise and of admiration, which the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh had spontaneously evoked among the unbelievers in the Holy Land and the adjoining countries, were but a drop when compared with the ocean of grief and the innumerable evidences of unbounded devotion which, at the hour of the setting of the Sun of Truth, poured forth from the hearts of the countless thousands who had espoused His Cause, and were determined to carry aloft its banner in Persia, India, Russia, ‘Iráq, Turkey, Palestine, Egypt and Syria. ^{2 3}

1. Bahá’u’lláh. Prayers and Meditations by Baháʼuʼlláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1938. Reprint, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1974, 310-313. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/prayers-meditations/7#120700877. ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed July 2 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/15#038893728. ↩
3. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 124-126. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   

’Idál, 11 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

Say: From My laws the sweet-smelling savor of My garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of Victory will be planted upon the highest peaks. The Tongue of My power hath, from the heaven of My omnipotent glory, addressed to My creation these words: “Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.” Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe. By My life! He who hath drunk the choice wine of fairness from the hands of My bountiful favor will circle around My commandments that shine above the Dayspring of My creation.
Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight! — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz, who with Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh was the author of the calamities heaped upon Bahá’u’lláh, and was himself responsible for three decrees of banishment against the Prophet; who had been stigmatized, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, as occupying the “throne of tyranny,” and whose fall had been prophesied in the Lawḥ-i-Fu’ád, was deposed in consequence of a palace revolution, was condemned by a fatvá (sentence) of the Muftí in his own capital, was four days later assassinated (1876), and was succeeded by a nephew who was declared to be an imbecile. The war of 1877–78 emancipated eleven million people from the Turkish yoke; Adrianople was occupied by the Russian forces; the empire itself was dissolved as a result of the war of 1914–18; the Sultanate was abolished; a republic was proclaimed; and a rulership that had endured above six centuries was ended.
The vain and despotic Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, denounced by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Prince of Oppressors”; of whom He had written that he would soon be made “an object-lesson for the world”; whose reign was stained by the execution of the Báb and the imprisonment of Bahá’u’lláh; who had persistently instigated his subsequent banishments to Constantinople, Adrianople and ‘Akká; who, in collusion with a vicious sacerdotal order, had vowed to strangle the Faith in its cradle, was dramatically assassinated, in the shrine of Sháh ‘Abdu’l-‘Aẓím, on the very eve of his jubilee, which, as ushering in a new era, was to have been celebrated with the most elaborate magnificence, and was to go down in history as the greatest day in the annals of the Persian nation. The fortunes of his house thereafter steadily declined, and finally through the scandalous misconduct of the dissipated and irresponsible Aḥmad Sháh, led to the eclipse and disappearance of the Qájár dynasty. ^{2 3}

1. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed July 2, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/5#304611242. ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed July 2 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/15#402761599. ↩
3. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 123-124. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   
   

Fidál, 10 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

THE first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behooveth everyone who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration.
They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. He that turneth away from them is accounted among the abject and foolish. We, verily, have commanded you to refuse the dictates of your evil passions and corrupt desires, and not to transgress the bounds which the Pen of the Most High hath fixed, for these are the breath of life unto all created things. The seas of Divine wisdom and Divine utterance have risen under the breath of the breeze of the All-Merciful. Hasten to drink your fill, O men of understanding! They that have violated the Covenant of God by breaking His commandments, and have turned back on their heels, these have erred grievously in the sight of God, the All-Possessing, the Most High.
O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

Unique and stupendous as was this Proclamation, it proved to be but a prelude to a still mightier revelation of the creative power of its Author, and to what may well rank as the most signal act of His ministry—the promulgation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Alluded to in the Kitáb-i-Íqán; the principal repository of that Law which the Prophet Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the “new heaven” and the “new earth,” as “the Tabernacle of God,” as the “Holy City,” as the “Bride,” the “New Jerusalem coming down from God,” this “Most Holy Book,” whose provisions must remain inviolate for no less than a thousand years, and whose system will embrace the entire planet, may well be regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind of Bahá’u’lláh, as the Mother Book of His Dispensation, and the Charter of His New World Order.
Revealed soon after Bahá’u’lláh had been transferred to the house of ‘Údí Khammár (circa 1873), at a time when He was still encompassed by the tribulations that had afflicted Him, through the acts committed by His enemies and the professed adherents of His Faith, this Book, this treasury enshrining the priceless gems of His Revelation, stands out, by virtue of the principles it inculcates, the administrative institutions it ordains and the function with which it invests the appointed Successor of its Author, unique and incomparable among the world’s sacred Scriptures. For, unlike the Old Testament and the Holy Books which preceded it, in which the actual precepts uttered by the Prophet Himself are non-existent; unlike the Gospels, in which the few sayings attributed to Jesus Christ afford no clear guidance regarding the future administration of the affairs of His Faith; unlike even the Qur’án which, though explicit in the laws and ordinances formulated by the Apostle of God, is silent on the all-important subject of the succession, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, revealed from first to last by the Author of the Dispensation Himself, not only preserves for posterity the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order must rest, but ordains, in addition to the function of interpretation which it confers upon His Successor, the necessary institutions through which the integrity and unity of His Faith can alone be safeguarded.
In this Charter of the future world civilization its Author—at once the Judge, the Lawgiver, the Unifier and Redeemer of mankind—announces to the kings of the earth the promulgation of the “Most Great Law”; pronounces them to be His vassals; proclaims Himself the “King of Kings”; disclaims any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; reserves for Himself the right to “seize and possess the hearts of men”; warns the world’s ecclesiastical leaders not to weigh the “Book of God” with such standards as are current amongst them; and affirms that the Book itself is the “Unerring Balance” established amongst men. In it He formally ordains the institution of the “House of Justice,” defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates its members as the “Men of Justice,” the “Deputies of God,” the “Trustees of the All-Merciful,” alludes to the future Center of His Covenant, and invests Him with the right of interpreting His holy Writ; anticipates by implication the institution of Guardianship; bears witness to the revolutionizing effect of His World Order; enunciates the doctrine of the “Most Great Infallibility” of the Manifestation of God; asserts this infallibility to be the inherent and exclusive right of the Prophet; and rules out the possibility of the appearance of another Manifestation ere the lapse of at least one thousand years. ^{2 3}

1. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed July 1, 2024.https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/5#495703799. ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed July 1, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/14#973724879. ↩
3. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 122-123. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   
   

Kamál, 09 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quote for Reflection:

O Temple of Holiness! We, verily, have made Thine inmost heart the treasury of all the knowledge of past and future ages, and the dawning-place of Our own knowledge which We have ordained for the dwellers of earth and heaven, that all creation may partake of the outpourings of Thy grace and may attain, through the wonders of Thy knowledge, unto the recognition of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great. In truth, that knowledge which belongeth unto Mine own Essence is such as none hath ever attained or will ever grasp, nor shall any heart be capable of bearing its weight. Were but a single word of this knowledge to be disclosed, the hearts of all men would be filled with consternation, the foundations of all things would crumble into ruin, and the feet of even the wisest among men would be made to slip.
Within the treasury of Our Wisdom there lieth unrevealed a knowledge, one word of which, if We chose to divulge it to mankind, would cause every human being to recognize the Manifestation of God and to acknowledge His omniscience, would enable every one to discover the secrets of all the sciences, and to attain so high a station as to find himself wholly independent of all past and future learning. Other knowledges We do as well possess, not a single letter of which We can disclose, nor do We find humanity able to hear even the barest reference to their meaning. Thus have We informed you of the knowledge of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Were We to find worthy vessels, We would impart unto them the treasures of hidden meanings and apprise them of a knowledge, one letter of which would encompass all created things.
O Inmost Heart of this Temple! We have made thee the dawning-place of Our knowledge and the dayspring of Our wisdom unto all who are in heaven and on earth. From thee have We caused all sciences to appear, and unto thee shall We cause them to return. And from thee shall We bring them forth a second time. Such, indeed, is Our promise, and potent are We to effect Our purpose. Erelong shall We bring into being through thee exponents of new and wondrous sciences, of potent and effective crafts, and shall make manifest through them that which the heart of none of Our servants hath yet conceived. Thus do We bestow upon whom We will whatsoever We desire, and thus do We withdraw from whom We will what We had once bestowed. Even so do We ordain whatsoever We please through Our behest. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

The writings of Bahá’u’lláh during this period, as we survey the vast field which they embrace, seem to fall into three distinct categories. The first comprises those writings which constitute the sequel to the proclamation of His Mission in Adrianople. The second includes the laws and ordinances of His Dispensation, which, for the most part, have been recorded in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book. To the third must be assigned those Tablets which partly enunciate and partly reaffirm the fundamental tenets and principles underlying that Dispensation. ²

In the spring of 1890, Edward Granville Browne, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the eminent orientalist of future years, reached ‘Akka. He had come to visit Baha’u’llah. For the full story of that truly historic visit, the reader is directed to the book, Edward Granville Browne and the Baha’i Faith (by the present writer). But this work will be incomplete without the inclusion of the unique, unparalleled pen-portrait of Baha’u’llah, which Edward Browne has bequeathed to posterity. Indeed, it is the only one of its kind in existence. Today a visitor to Bahji may read this document, affixed to the wall, before venturing into Baha’u’llah’s chamber, and thus try to re-create in imagination the interview granted to the English orientalist:
“………. …my conductor paused for a moment while I removed my shoes. Then, with a quick movement of the hand, he withdrew, and, as I passed replaced the curtain; and I found myself in a large apartment, along the [p. 372] upper end of which ran a low divan, while on the side opposite to the door were placed two or three chairs. Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt head-dress of the kind called taj by dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!
“………. A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued:–‘Praise be to God that thou hast attained! …Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile… We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of [p. 373] bondage and banishment… That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease and differences of race be annulled–what harm is there in this? …Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come… Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?… Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind… These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family… Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind…’” ^{3 4}

1. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/4#102044717 ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 30, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/14#752216217. ↩
3. Balyuzi, Hasan M. Baha’u’llah: The King of Glory. Oxford England: George Ronald, 1980. https://bahai-library.com/balyuzi_bahaullah_king_glory/. ↩
4. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 119-120. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   
   

Jamál, 08 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

O King of Paris! ¹ Tell the priests to ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the Will of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality in His name, the All-Glorious. — Bahá’u’lláh ²

Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. — Bahá’u’lláh ³

Lay aside thy desire, and set then thine heart towards thy Lord, the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and heaven. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁴

O King of Berlin! Give ear unto the Voice calling from this manifest Temple: “Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Everlasting, the Peerless, the Ancient of Days.” Take heed lest pride debar thee from recognizing the Dayspring of Divine Revelation, lest earthly desires shut thee out, as by a veil, from the Lord of the Throne above and of the earth below. Thus counseleth thee the Pen of the Most High. He, verily, is the Most Gracious, the All-Bountiful. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁵

We have been with thee at all times, and found thee clinging unto the Branch and heedless of the Root. Thy Lord, verily, is a witness unto what I say. We grieved to see thee circle round Our Name, whilst unaware of Us, though We were before thy face. Open thine eyes, that thou mayest behold this glorious Vision, and recognize Him Whom thou invokest in the daytime and in the night season, and gaze on the Light that shineth above this luminous Horizon. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁶

Lay not aside the fear of God, and be thou of them that act uprightly. Gather around thee those ministers from whom thou canst perceive the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take thou counsel with them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be of them that act generously. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁷

We pray that, out of His bounty—exalted be He—He may release, through this imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere faces, towards His face, Who is the Mighty, the Bounteous. Ready is He to answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and nigh is He unto such as commune with Him. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁸

Take ye advantage of the Day of God. Verily, to meet Him is better for you than all that whereon the sun shineth, could ye but know it. O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: “Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing.” Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise. — Bahá’u’lláh ⁹

Issue forth from your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous! — Bahá’u’lláh ¹⁰

O concourse of monks! Seclude not yourselves in your churches and cloisters. Come ye out of them by My leave, and busy, then, yourselves with what will profit you and others. Thus commandeth you He Who is the Lord of the Day of Reckoning. Seclude yourselves in the stronghold of My love. This, truly, is the seclusion that befitteth you, could ye but know it. He that secludeth himself in his house is indeed as one dead. It behoveth man to show forth that which will benefit mankind. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

The Proclamation of His Mission had been, as already observed, directed particularly to the kings of the earth, who, by virtue of the power and authority they wielded, were invested with a peculiar and inescapable responsibility for the destinies of their subjects. It was to these kings, as well as to the world’s religious leaders, who exercised a no less pervasive influence on the mass of their followers, that the Prisoner of ‘Akká directed His appeals, warnings, and exhortations during the first years of His incarceration in that city. “Upon Our arrival at this Prison,” He Himself affirms, “We purposed to transmit to the kings the messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Though We have transmitted to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet We do it once again, as a token of God’s grace.”
To the kings of the earth, both in the East and in the West, both Christian and Muslim, who had already been collectively admonished and warned in the Súriy-i-Múlúk revealed in Adrianople, and had been so vehemently summoned by the Báb, in the opening chapter of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’, on the very night of the Declaration of His Mission, Bahá’u’lláh, during the darkest days of His confinement in ‘Akká, addressed some of the noblest passages of His Most Holy Book. In these passages He called upon them to take fast hold of the “Most Great Law”; proclaimed Himself to be “the King of Kings” and “the Desire of all Nations”; declared them to be His “vassals” and “emblems of His sovereignty”; disclaimed any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; bade them forsake their palaces, and hasten to gain admittance into His Kingdom; extolled the king who would arise to aid His Cause as “the very eye of mankind”; and finally arraigned them for the things which had befallen Him at their hands. ¹²

Such in sum are the salient features of the concluding utterances of that historic Proclamation, the opening notes of which were sounded during the latter part of Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment to Adrianople, and which closed during the early years of His incarceration in the prison-fortress of ‘Akká. Kings and emperors, severally and collectively; the chief magistrates of the Republics of the American continent; ministers and ambassadors; the Sovereign Pontiff himself; the Vicar of the Prophet of Islám; the royal Trustee of the Kingdom of the Hidden Imám; the monarchs of Christendom, its patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests and monks; the recognized leaders of both the Sunní and Shí‘ah sacerdotal orders; the high priests of the Zoroastrian religion; the philosophers, the ecclesiastical leaders, the wise men and the inhabitants of Constantinople—that proud seat of both the Sultanate and the Caliphate; the entire company of the professed adherents of the Zoroastrian, the Jewish, the Christian and Muslim Faiths; the people of the Bayán; the wise men of the world, its men of letters, its poets, its mystics, its tradesmen, the elected representatives of its peoples; His own countrymen—all have, at one time or another, in books, Epistles, and Tablets, been brought directly within the purview of the exhortations, the warnings, the appeals, the declarations and the prophecies which constitute the theme of His momentous summons to the leaders of mankind—a summons which stands unparalleled in the annals of any previous religion, and to which the messages directed by the Prophet of Islám to some of the rulers among His contemporaries alone offer a faint resemblance.
“Never since the beginning of the world,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, “hath the Message been so openly proclaimed.” ^{13 14}

1. This is Bahá’u’lláh’s second Tablet addressed to the French Emperor. An earlier Tablet was revealed in Adrianople. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/13#740860871 ↩
2. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/5#314956453 ↩
3. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/6#101578070 ↩
4. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/6#977151416 ↩
5. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/6#182888505. ↩
6. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/6#926103798. ↩
7. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/11#123175592 ↩
8. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/7#227668539 ↩
9. Bahá’u’lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/kitab-i-aqdas/6#649631207. ↩
10. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/5#192805100 ↩
11. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/5#243303440 ↩
12. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/14#539873127. ↩
13. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/14#144493505. ↩
14. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 117-118. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
    
    

Jalál, 07 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

It behoveth everyone to traverse this brief span of life with sincerity and fairness. Should one fail to attain unto the recognition of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, let him at least conduct himself with reason and justice. Erelong these outward trappings, these visible treasures, these earthly vanities, these arrayed armies, these adorned vestures, these proud and overweening souls, all shall pass into the confines of the grave, as though into that box. In the eyes of those possessed of insight, all this conflict, contention and vainglory hath ever been, and will ever be, like unto the play and pastimes of children. Take heed, and be not of them that see and yet deny.
Our call concerneth not this Youth and the loved ones of God, for they are already sore-tried and imprisoned and expect nothing from men such as thee. Our purpose is that thou mayest lift up thy head from the couch of heedlessness, shake off the slumber of negligence, and cease to oppose unjustly the servants of God. So long as thy power and ascendancy endure, strive to alleviate the suffering of the oppressed. Shouldst thou judge with fairness and observe with the eye of discernment the conflicts and pursuits of this transient world, thou wouldst readily acknowledge that they are even as the play which We have described. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

Bahá’u’lláh Himself, as attested by Nabíl in his narrative, had, as far back as the first years of His banishment to Adrianople, alluded to that same city in His Lawḥ-i-Sayyáḥ, designating it as the “Vale of Nabíl,” the word Nabíl being equal in numerical value to that of ‘Akká. “Upon Our arrival,” that Tablet had predicted, “We were welcomed with banners of light, whereupon the Voice of the Spirit cried out saying: ‘Soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted under these banners.’”
The banishment, lasting no less than twenty-four years, to which two Oriental despots had, in their implacable enmity and shortsightedness, combined to condemn Bahá’u’lláh, will go down in history as a period which witnessed a miraculous and truly revolutionizing change in the circumstances attending the life and activities of the Exile Himself, will be chiefly remembered for the widespread recrudescence of persecution, intermittent but singularly cruel, throughout His native country and the simultaneous increase in the number of His followers, and, lastly, for an enormous extension in the range and volume of His writings.
His arrival at the penal colony of ‘Akká, far from proving the end of His afflictions, was but the beginning of a major crisis, characterized by bitter suffering, severe restrictions, and intense turmoil, which, in its gravity, surpassed even the agonies of the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán, and to which no other event, in the history of the entire century can compare, except the internal convulsion that rocked the Faith in Adrianople. “Know thou,” Bahá’u’lláh, wishing to emphasize the criticalness of the first nine years of His banishment to that prison-city, has written, “that upon Our arrival at this Spot, We chose to designate it as the ‘Most Great Prison.’ Though previously subjected in another land (Ṭihrán) to chains and fetters, We yet refused to call it by that name. Say: Ponder thereon, O ye endued with understanding!” ^{2 3}

1. Baháʼuʼlláh. The Summons of the Lord of Hosts : Tablets. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 1st ed. Haifa: Baháʼí World Centre, 2002. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts/9#653038584 ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 28, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/13#335770244. ↩
3. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 113-115. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   
   

Istiqlál, 06 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

What did it profit thee, and such as are like thee, to slay, year after year, so many of the oppressed, and to inflict upon them manifold afflictions, when they have increased a hundredfold, and ye find yourselves in complete bewilderment, knowing not how to relieve your minds of this oppressive thought.… His Cause transcends any and every plan ye devise. Know this much: Were all the governments on earth to unite and take My life and the lives of all who bear this Name, this Divine Fire would never be quenched. His Cause will rather encompass all the kings of the earth, nay all that hath been created from water and clay.… Whatever may yet befall Us, great shall be our gain, and manifest the loss wherewith they shall be afflicted. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

No less a personage than the highly-respected brother-in-law of the Ṣadr-i-A‘ẓam was commissioned to apprize the Captive of the edict pronounced against Him—an edict which evinced a virtual coalition of the Turkish and Persian imperial governments against a common adversary, and which in the end brought such tragic consequences upon the Sultanate, the Caliphate and the Qájár dynasty. Refused an audience by Bahá’u’lláh that envoy had to content himself with a presentation of his puerile observations and trivial arguments to ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá and Áqáy-i-Kalím, who were delegated to see him, and whom he informed that, after three days, he would return to receive the answer to the order he had been bidden to transmit.
That same day a Tablet, severely condemnatory in tone, was revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, was entrusted by Him, in a sealed envelope, on the following morning, to Shamsí Big, who was instructed to deliver it into the hands of ‘Álí Páshá, and to say that it was sent down from God. “I know not what that letter contained,” Shamsí Big subsequently informed Áqáy-i-Kalím, “for no sooner had the Grand Vizir perused it than he turned the color of a corpse, and remarked: ‘It is as if the King of Kings were issuing his behest to his humblest vassal king and regulating his conduct.’ So grievous was his condition that I backed out of his presence.” “Whatever action,” Bahá’u’lláh, commenting on the effect that Tablet had produced, is reported to have stated, “the ministers of the Sulṭán took against Us, after having become acquainted with its contents, cannot be regarded as unjustifiable. The acts they committed before its perusal, however, can have no justification.”
That Tablet, according to Nabíl, was of considerable length, opened with words directed to the sovereign himself, severely censured his ministers, exposed their immaturity and incompetence, and included passages in which the ministers themselves were addressed, in which they were boldly challenged, and sternly admonished not to pride themselves on their worldly possessions, nor foolishly seek the riches of which time would inexorably rob them. ^{2 3}

1. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/11#117412054. ↩
2. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/11#863573265. ↩
3. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 111-112. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.
   
   

Istijlál, 05 Raḥmat (Mercy), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

Canst thou discover anyone but Me, O Pen, in this Day? What hath become of the creation and the manifestations thereof? What of the names and their kingdom? Whither are gone all created things, whether seen or unseen? What of the hidden secrets of the universe and its revelations? Lo, the entire creation hath passed away! Nothing remaineth except My Face, the Ever-Abiding, the Resplendent, the All-Glorious. — Bahá’u’lláh ¹

This is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face of Thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. — Bahá’u’lláh ²

Say: This is the Paradise on whose foliage the wine of utterance hath imprinted the testimony: “He that was hidden from the eyes of men is revealed, girded with sovereignty and power!” This is the Paradise the rustling of whose leaves proclaimeth: “O ye that inhabit the heavens and the earth! There hath appeared what hath never previously appeared. He Who, from everlasting, had concealed His Face from the sight of creation is now come.” From the whispering breeze that wafteth amidst its branches there cometh the cry: “He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is made manifest. The Kingdom is God’s,” while from its streaming waters can be heard the murmur: “All eyes are gladdened, for He Whom none hath beheld, Whose secret no one hath discovered, hath lifted the veil of glory, and uncovered the countenance of Beauty.” — Bahá’u’lláh ³

The Life of the Bahá’u’lláh

The arrival of Bahá’u’lláh in the Najíbíyyih Garden, subsequently designated by His followers the Garden of Riḍván, 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 Sulaymáníyyih, 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 Síyáh-Chál 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 “Váḥid,” preordained in the Persian Bayán 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 “Riḍván,” the scene of the unveiling of Bahá’u’lláh’s transcendent glory, had been literally fulfilled.
Undaunted by the prospect of the appalling adversities which, as predicted by Himself, were soon to overtake Him; on the eve of a second banishment which would be fraught with many hazards and perils, and would bring Him still farther from His native land, the cradle of His Faith, to a country alien in race, in language and in culture; acutely conscious of the extension of the circle of His adversaries, among whom were soon to be numbered a monarch more despotic than Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, and ministers no less unyielding in their hostility than either Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí or the Amír-Niẓám; undeterred by the perpetual interruptions occasioned by the influx of a host of visitors who thronged His tent, Bahá’u’lláh chose in that critical and seemingly unpropitious hour to advance so challenging a claim, to lay bare the mystery surrounding His person, and to assume, in their plenitude, the power and the authority which were the exclusive privileges of the One Whose advent the Báb had prophesied.
Already the shadow of that great oncoming event had fallen upon the colony of exiles, who awaited expectantly its consummation. As the year “eighty” steadily and inexorably approached, He Who had become the real leader of that community increasingly experienced, and progressively communicated to His future followers, the onrushing influences of its informing force. The festive, the soul-entrancing odes which He revealed almost every day; the Tablets, replete with hints, which streamed from His pen; the allusions which, in private converse and public discourse, He made to the approaching hour; the exaltation which in moments of joy and sadness alike flooded His soul; the ecstasy which filled His lovers, already enraptured by the multiplying evidences of His rising greatness and glory; the perceptible change noted in His demeanor; and finally, His adoption of the táj (tall felt head-dress), on the day of His departure from His Most Holy House—all proclaimed unmistakably His imminent assumption of the prophetic office and of His open leadership of the community of the Báb’s followers. ^{4 5}

1. Bahá’u’lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Bahá’í Reference Library, 1935. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/2#155643952. ↩
2. Bahá’u’lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Bahá’í Reference Library, 1935. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/2#844548655. ↩
3. Bahá’u’lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Bahá’í Reference Library, 1935. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/gleanings-writings-bahaullah/2#420703114 ↩
4. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/11#165111088. ↩
5. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 110-111. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.