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File merge of Bahá'í World Volume X. 912 total files joined.
****************Interior of the Tomb of the Báb on Mount Carmel, Haifa, Palestine.
Page 4Color photograph from the Chicago Sunday Tribune of June 17, 1945.
The Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, floodlighted on the occasion of the Centenary of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Page 6Prepared under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada with the approval of Shoghi Effendi
Volume XCopyright 1949, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States.
Reprinted 1981N 0 T E: The spelling of the Oriental words and proper names used in this issue of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD is according to the system of transliteration established at one of the
International Oriental Congresses.Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith this work is dedicated in the hope that it will assist his efforts to promote that spiritual unity underlying and anticipating the ttMost Great Peace"
BAHÁ'U'LLÁHI. Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith 1
II.International Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West 13
III. Excerpts from the Bahá'í Sacred Writings 95
1. Words of Bahá'u'lláh 95IV. The Centenary of a World Faith 131
1. The Significance of the First Bahá'í Century 131
2. A World Survey of the Bahá'í Faith 1424. Bahá'í Centenary Celebrations in the United States of America 158
5. Persia Celebrates the First Hundred Years1816. Bahá'í Centenary Celebrations in the British Isles 188
7. Bahá'í Centenary Celebrations in India 20210. Bahá'í Centenary Celebrations in Australia 222
11. Latin-America Celebrates the Bahá'í Centenary 228
PART TWOI. The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 237
1. The PresentDay Administration of the Bahá'í Faith 237
The Formation of an Organic Religious Community, by Horace
Holley 237A Procedure for the Conduct of a Local Spiritual Assembly 251
The Annual Bahá'í Convention 256The NonPolitical Character of the Bahá'í Faith 259
Concerning Membership in NonBahá'í Religious Organizations 260
Interpretation of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'1 � Bah~ 266 Formation of the Administrative Order 270
Bahá'í Relations with Civil Authority 277Excerpts from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi 279
Important Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the American Believers 286
Selections from CtGod Passes By," by Shoghi Effendi 296
2. The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order 311
Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 312 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly ly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 313 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Persia 324 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria 330
Page 12Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq 339 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S6din346 Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, Issued by the Supreme
Court of New Zealand 349Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Baltimore, Maryland 356 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Birmingham, Alabama 357 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kansas City, Missouri 361 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Atlanta, Georgia 366 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Dayton, Ohio 373 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Denver, Colorado 375 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Báb4'is of Sholapur, India 376 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Koihapur, India 377 Certificate of marriage license issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts authorizing the Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Massachusetts to solemnize IBahá'í marriages 377 Act Passed by the House of Representatives, Massachusetts, authorizing ing Spiritual Assemblies Within the State to Solemnize Bahá'í
Marriages 378Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kari Afghanan, India 380 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia 381 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S6dAn 382 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq 383 Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia 384 Baha Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SudAn 385
Marriage Certificate Issued by the State of Delaware, Authorizing
the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Wilmington to perform a Bahá'í Marriage 386 Text in Persian of the Outline, of Baha Laws Regarding Matters of Personal Status Submitted for Recognition to the Egyptian Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and Si~d~n 387
Permits Issued by the American Military Government in Germany
Authorizing the Bahá'ís to Resume Activities 394
Page 13Decree Printed in the Official Gazette in Egypt in Connection with the Bahá'í Burial Ground at IsmA'iliyyih, Egypt 395 Trust Deed of the Transference of a Property in Ismi'iliyyih, Egypt, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and
Siid~n 396The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 402
Passages Regarding the Temple in America, Taken from "God Passes
By" by Shoghi Effendi and Introduction by Archdeacon Town
shend, M. A 406 !CThe Story of the Bahá'ís and Their Unique Temple of Worship"
Reprinted from ttChicago Sunday Tribune" June 17th, 1945 411
"A New ~T1 Mahal'" Reprinted from "The Magic Powder" by
Earl Hadley 413"The Bahá'í Temple" Reprinted from the "Architectural Concrete
Magazine" 418tcF1ood~Lighting the Temple" by Carl Scheffler 422 4. Bahá'í Calendar, Festivals and Dates of Historic Significance 425
Foreword 425Bahá'í Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting 425
Bahá'í Holy Days on which work should be Suspended 426 Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (vol. II.) Re garding the Bahá'í Calendar 426 Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (vol. II.) Regard ing Bahá'u'lláh 429
Dates of Historic Significance During the First Bahá'í Century. 433
5. Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá'í World 434
Around the World with Bahá'í Youth 434CtYouth~s Role in Future Civilization," a Symposium 441
t!Faith in Action" by John C. Eichenauer, III 454
CtYoth and the Baha Cause" by Esreban Canales Leyton 463
"The Children's Share of Summer School" by Doris Goodrick 465
Random Pages from t~A Baha Child's ABC" 474LI. References to the Bahá'í Faith 477
1. Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania 4782. Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University 480 3. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford 482 4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British ish Academy 483 5. Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth 483
6. Sir Valentine Chirol 4848. Prof. Jowett, Oxford University 485 9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York 485 10. Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes ttudes, Paris 486
11. Charles Baudouin 48713. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston489 14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.J., K.C.J.E 490 15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous 491 16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A 492 17. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C 492
18. Leo Tolstoy 49319. Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva494 20. Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich494
21. General Renato Piola Caselli 49422. Rev. Frederick W. Oakes 495 23. Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Wick,
Scotland 49524. Charles H. Prisk 496 25. Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt 496
26. Shri Purohit Swami 49627. Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College 496 28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., Mi? 497, 498 29. Rev. K. T. Chung 498 30. Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia 499 31. Rev. Griffith J. Sparham 499
32. Ernest Renan 50033. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D H L 501 34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 501 35. Emile Schreiber, Publicist 501
36. Miss Helen Keller 50437. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan 504 38. Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist 504
39. Former President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia 505
40. Archduchess Anton of Austria 50541. Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons 505 42. H.R.H. Princess Olga of Yugoslavia 505
43. Eugen Relgis 50546. Princess Marie Antoinette de Brogue Aussenac 506
47. Late President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University 506 48. Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia 507
49. Ex-Governor William Suizer 50751. Prof. Yone Noguchi 507 52. Prof. Raymond Frank Piper 507
53. Angela Morgan 50755. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia 507 56. A. L. M. Nicolas 508
57. President Eduard Bene~ of Czechoslovakia50858. Sir Ronald Storrs, N.Y.C., M.G., C.B.E sos 59. Col. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal) 510 60. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 511 61. Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakar 512 62. Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar, M.A., P.H.D 512 63. Mrs. Sarojinu Naidu 512
Page 1565. The late Sir John Martin Harvey, D.Litt 513 66. Dr. Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury 514
III. In Memoriam �17
Siyyid Mu~;af& RiSmi 517I. Bahá'í Directory 19451946 �51
1. Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies 551
2. Countries where Bahá'ís are resident: 552
Abyssinia 5523. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada560 4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Localities where Isolated Believers Reside in the United States and Canada 561 5. Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia, Listing Local Spiritual
Assemblies, Groups and Isolated BaM'is5746. Directory of Leading Assemblies in Bahá'í Administrative Divisions
of Persia 580 7. Directory of Localities in India where Bahá'ís Reside, Listing Local
Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Bahá'ís 581
II.Bahá'í Bibliography 583
1. Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's Best Known Writings 583
2. List of BTh's BestKnown Works 5853. Bahá'í Publications of North America in Print 585
a. Writings of Bahá'u'lláh 585 b. Writings of the Báb 586 Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 586 d.Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá 586 e.Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, The Rib and 'Abdu'l-Bahá 537 f.Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi 587 g. Writings of Shoghi Effendi 587 li. Writings on the Bahá'í Faith 589 i. Bahá'í Reprints 590
I. Pamphlets 590k.Outlines and Guides for Bahá'í Study Classes 591
1. Children's Courses 592m. Bahá'í Literature in Foreign Languages 592 n. Periodicals 593
3A. Bahá'í Publications of North America that Are Out of Print 593
4. IBahá'í Publications of Great Britain in Print 600
a. Writings of Bahá'u'lláh 600 b. Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 600 c. Works Compiled from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá 600 d. Writings of Shoghi Effendi 600 e. Writings on the Bahá'í Faith 600 f. Bahá'í Literature in Pamphlet Form 601
4A. Publications of Great Britain that Are Out of Print 601
5. Bahá'í Publications of India in English (Publications in other languages spoken in India, Burma and Ceylon listed elsewhere under name of language) 603
6. Bahá'í Publications in French 603in Russian in German in Bulgarian in Rumanian in Czech in Serbian in Hungarian in Greek in Maori in Spanish in Norwegian in Croatian in Polish in Icelandic in Finnish in Oriental Languages
Persian30. Languages into Which Bahá'í Literature Is Being Translated
Latyjan606 607 610 610 610 611 611 611 611 611 612 612 612 612 612 613 613 614 614 614 615 615 615 615 613 615 615 615 615 615 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616 616
Page 19Bahá'í Literature in Braille (for the Blind) 616 a. Published in America 616 b. Published in France 618 618 c. Published in Czechoslovakia d. Published in Japan 618 618 32. Bahá'í Periodicals.
33. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and Pamphlets published under
Non-Bah6N Auspices 61 834. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by Non-BaLA'i Authors 627 35. References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in Non-BaM'i Publications 630 36. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Encyclopedias and Reference Books 631
III.Transliteration of Oriental Words Frequently Used in Bahá'í Literature 633
Guide to the Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet 635 Notes on the Pronunciation of Persian Words635
IV.Definition of Oriental Terms Frequently Used in Bahá'í Literature 637
PART FOURI. Articles and Reviews 645
1. Speech Delivered at the Opening of the Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition, London, May 20th, 1944, by Sir Ronald Storrs, K.C.M.G., L.L.D., L.C.C 645
2. The Assurance of World Peace 649The Nations Build the Lesser Peace, by George Orr Latimer 6 51
The Most Great Peace, by Dorothy Baker6533. The Call to God: A Meditation, by Archdeacon George Townshend 659 4. Religious Foundations of World Unity, by Dr. Raymond Frank Piper 664 5. What the World Needs Today, by Prof. Stanwood Cobb 672 6. California � Host to the Nations, by Marzieh Gail 679 7. His Japanese Witnesses, by Helen Bishop 684 8. The Meeting of the Americas, by Philip Leonard Green 689 9. Social Basis of World Unity, by Elsie Austin 694 10. Progress in Latin America, by Edna M. True698 11. Getting Ready for the Peace, by Dr. H. 0. Overstreet 709 12. Neuc Arbeir, by Dr. H. Grossmann 714 13. Recent Stirring Years in Chile, by Marcia Steward 717 14. Bahá'í Order and Social Justice, by Prof. K. T. Shah 729 15. Little Did I Dream, by John Carl Eichenauer, III 731 16. Hacia una Religion Universal: el BaM'ismo, by Vicente Donoso Torres 740 17. The Bahá'í Faith and the San Francisco Conference, by Marion Holley 741 18. Religion Comes Again to Mankind, by Dorothy Baker 752 19. The Oneness of Humanity, by William Kenneth Christian 757 20. San Francisco and the Bahá'í Charter, by Shirin Fozdar 761 21. Impresiones de un Delegado Bahá'í Durante su Visita a ios Bahá'ís de los Estados Unidos, by Salvador Tormo 768 22. Pioneer Journeys: Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, by Virginia Orbison 771 23. The Spiritual Conquest of Magallanes, by Artemus Lamb 782 24. Carrying the Faith to the Philippines, by Loulie A. Mathews 784 25. Costa Rica, the Beautiful, by Gayle Woolson 787
Page 2026. Founding the Faith in Puerto Rico, by Ayned McComb 796 27. The Founding of the Bahá'í Faith in Venezuela, by Elisabeth Cheney 797 28. Commemorations Explicit and Implicit, by Christine Lofstedt 799
II.VerseIII. Music 819
IV. Contents of Volume I � Bahá'í Year Book and Volumes II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX � The Bahá'í World 833 V. Maps of Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America, India and Burma, Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada, and of the Bahá'í World 875
Page 21Frontispiece One � Interior view of Báb's Shrine 111
Frontispiece Two � Temple, Tribune picture v
A Scale Model Showing Future Superstructure of the Bib's Shrine 3
Views of the Recently Completed Main Entrance Gate to the Mb's Shrine on Mt. Carmel, Haifa 11
Bahá'í Properties on Mt. Carmel 1 5
Views of the Gardens Which Surround the Resting Places of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í
Family on Mt. Carmel 17San Francisco Bahá'í Peace Committee Exhibit, Yazdi Gift Shop 19
San Francisco Bahá'í Peace Committee Exhibit, American Express Company 19
Bahá'ís of Esslingen, Stuttgart and Neighboring Districts 20
Design for the Grave of Two of Bahá'u'lláh's Distinguished Disciples at I~f&Mn,
Persia 23Design for the Grave of Two of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Distinguished Disciples in Cairo,
Egypt 23Mahb~bu'sh-SliuhadA, the "Beloved of Martyrs" 24 Su1t~nu'sh-Shuhad&, the c!King of Martyrs" 24
Authority issued by Allied Expeditionary Force Military Government 25
Graves attacked by Fanatical Muslims 27
Bahá'ís Still Bitterly Persecuted in Their Native Land 29
The Hadiqatu'r-Ra~mAn of Abidih, Persia, Wrecked and Burned by a Fanatical
Mob 31The Partially Destroyed Haziratu'1-Quds of the Bahá'ís of 'AMdih, Persia 33
A Group of Bahá'í Students from Persia 46
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada with Latin-American Bahá'í Representatives, July 9, 1944 78 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Santiago, Chile, 1944 80 36th Annual Convention. All-American Bahá'í Centenary, May 1925, 1944 facing142 Centenary Banquet, Ballroom, Hotel Stevens, Chicago, Illinois facing 150
Bahá'ís Attending Luncheon in Honor of Latin-American Bahá'í Representatives 156
Bahá'í House of Worship as Theme for Stage Decoration 159
Speakers' Table, Centenary Banquet, Hotel Stevens, Chicago, Illinois 168 Delegates and Friends Attending Centenary Convention, Wilmette, Illinois 169 International Group of Bahá'ís Attending Centenary Celebration, Wilmette, Illinois 175
Bahá'ís of Armed Forces Attending American Centenary Celebration 178
Bahá'ís Gathered in Temple Auditorium May 22, 1944, at 8:00 P. M 180
Room in Shir4z in Which the Báb Declared His Mission 182
Views of Bahá'í Delegates to the Centenary Convention, $hir&z 18 5
Ninety-One Persian Bahá'í Delegates Present at Centenary Celebration in ShirAz 187
Sir Ronald Storrs Opening the Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition in London 190
xxirAGE Centenary Exhibition Held in Bradford, England Exhibition in Alliance Hall, London, Arranged by the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Interior View, Centenary Exhibition, Bradford Another View of Interior of Centenary Exhibit, Alliance Hall, London Bahá'ís Attending the British Annual Convention, London, 1944 1% Bahá'í Administrative Headquarters, Karachi, Illuminated for the Centenary 203 Delegates and Friends Attending Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, Bombay, 1944 205 Guests Attending the Bahá'í Centenary Celebration, Karachi, May 23, 1944 206 Delegates Attending the Twenty-First Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SAd&n, Cairo, 1944 The Men's Meeting, Centenary Celebration, Cairo, 1944 Bahá'í Women Attending the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Faith, Cairo Bahá'í Centenary Celebration in Cairo, May, 1944 Bahá'í Children at Centenary Celebration, Cairo Baha Attending the Annual Convention and Centenary, Cairo.... 215 Bahá'ís of BaghdAd and Other Centers of 'Ir4q Celebrating the Centenary Commemoration tion of the Declaration of the BTh. 219 Bahá'í Women of Baghd6A Celebrating the Centenary Commemoration, May 22, 1944 221 Speakers' Table at Bahá'í Centenary Banquet, Auckland, New Zealand 223 Bahá'í Centenary Banquet, Auckland, New Zealand225 Convention Delegates and Friends Attending the Bahá'í Centenary Banquet,
Sydney, Australia 226Dedication of the Bahá'í National Headquarters of Australia and New Zealand 227 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 244 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and SudAn Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir~q 265 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of India and Burma 266 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New
Zealand 267Completing the Interior of the Dome of the National Bahá'í Headquarters, Tihr~n 268 Water Tower Erected to Supply the National Bahá'í Headquarters Building and
Gardens, Tihrin 278Two of the Reception Rooms in the National Bahá'í Headquarters, Tihr~n 285 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Birmingham, Alabama 287
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kansas City, Missouri 293
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Baltimore, Maryland 299 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Dayton, Ohio304 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Atlanta, Georgia 306 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Denver, Colorado 307
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Secunderabad, India 314
Page 23The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hyderabad, India 315316
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kiriafghanan, India 318
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Koihapur, India 320
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Srinagar, Kashmir, India 322
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Surat, India 323
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lahore, India 323
The First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Sholapur, India 333
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Tanta, Egypt348 Members of the First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Suh4j, Egypt 348 Official United States Navy Photograph, Aerial View of Bahá'í House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois 400
Members of Bahá'í Temple Guides Committee and Guides 407
View of the Bahá'í House of Worship from Chicago Sunday Tribune, January 6, 1946 409 Earl H. Reed, Architect, Guest Speaker on Program of Centenary Celebration, W"ilmette, Illinois 415
Bahá'í House of Worship Illumined for Centenary Celebration, from Wilmette
Life, May 18, 1944 417Mural in Office of Universal Atlas Portland Cement Company, New York 419
Bahá'í Exhibit, Teaneck, New Jersey 419 Bahá'í Exhibit, San Mateo, California 421 Official Navy Photograph, Aerial View of Wilmetre Harbor, Wilmette, Illinois 424
Bahá'í Youth Committee of Hamad~n, Persia 435
Bahá'í Youth Group of Karachi. India 437
Baha Youth of Lima, Peru 439Some Bahá'í Youth Groups in India 443
Bahá'í Youth Group of Koihapur, India 448
Bahá'í Youth Group of Poona, India 449
Bahá'í Youth Group in Kashmir and BahichistAn 451
Bahá'í Youth Attending Symposium at Bombay, India453
Bahá'í Youth Group of Bombay, India 455
Bahá'í Youth Group of Sholapur, India 457
Youth Education Committee of Kirm~n, Persia 459
First Public Youth Meeting, Punta Arenas, Chile461
Bahá'í Character Training Classes, Tihrin 462
Bahá'í Character Training Class for Children Held in a Garden of Tihr~n 464
First Bahá'í Youth Day Held in Guayaquil, Ecuador465
Bahá'í Youth Symposium Held in Shir~z, Persia 466
Bahá'í Youth at Geyserville Summer School 468
Bahá'í Youth at Esslingen School, Germany 469
The First Bahá'í Boarding School in India 471Siyyid MustafA Riimi 518
Mrs. Henrietta Emogene Martin Hoagg 521
'Aziz'u'llAh MesbTh 527
Mubammad Sa'id Adham 529
Page 24'Ali-Asghar Qazvini 531
Lydia Zamenhof 533
Asadu'114h Nadiri 535
Hasan Muhijir-Z4hid 536
Muhammad Jadhb~ni 537
Prof. George W. Henderson 538
John P. Stearns 539
Sultan Nik-A'in 540
'Au-Muhammad Nabili 541
Mabry C. Oglesby 542
Mrs. Esther Tobin 543
Mary Lesch 545
Jamil 1sf &h&ni 547 Bahá'ís and Friends of the Faith in San Salvador, El Salvador 553
The Baha Community of Guatemala City, Guatemala553
Bahá'í Social Gathering, Asunci6n, Paraguay 555
Bahá'ís of San Jos~, Costa Rica 555
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Panama City, Panama 558
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Montevideo, Uruguay 562
First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kingston, Jamaica 565
First Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Guayaquil, Ecuador 567
First Spiritual Assembly of the ]iaM'is of Lima, Peru 577
First Spiritual Assembly of tte Bahá'ís of Punta Arenas, Chile 577
Memorial to John P. Stearns, Lima, Peru 579 Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Havana, Cuba584
Front Cover of "Unidad Mundial" 588
Josephine Kruka with members of first a11-Bahá'í family of Cuba 597 ]lahA'i Community of Santiago da Chile o02 First Bahá'í Latin-American Conference, Panama, 1946 609
Public Meeting, Havana Bahá'í Center 617
Main Plaza of Punta Arenas 620
City and Harbor of Punta Arenas 620
Bahá'ís of Caracas, Venezuela, Celebrating Feast with Elisabeth Cheney 628 Bahá'í Gathering, Montevideo, Uruguay 632
Bahá'í Community of Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic 632
Spiritual Assembly of Bahá'ís of Asunci6n, Paraguay, with Interested Friends 636
Bahá'í Pioneers to Punta Arenas, Chile 638
Bahá'ís and Students of the Faith, Managua, Nicaragua C39-Activities s of the Bahá'ís of Havana, Cuba 641 Bahá'ís Visiting Prisoners of Principe Prison, Havana, Cuba, in 1944 641 An Endowment of the Bahá'í Faith in Egypt 648
Bahá'ís of IslAm's Most Holy City 648
The Headquarters of the Bahá'ís of Quetta, BahichistAn 651
Bahá'ís of 'Amman, Transjordan 655
Page 25Pioneer Family of Egyptian Bahá'ís with Believers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 673
Hamilton Bahá'í Center, Panoramic View 680San Francisco Opera House, Site of United Nations Conference 693
Annual Bahá'í Election, United States and Canada, 194 51946 695
Mrs. Amed6e Gibson's Bahá'í Braille Room 697
Dr. Harry Allen Overstreet 710Scene of Bahá'í Summer School, Yerrinbool, New South Wales 713 Interior Views, Hyde Dunn Memorial Flail, Yerrinbool, New South Wales 718 A Cappella Choir, Louhelen School, Davison, Michigan 721 Recreation Grounds, Louhelen School, Davison, Michigan 727 The Hon. Robert W. Kenney Addressing Audience at Geyserville School 730 Chinese Aviators at Bahá'í International School, Temerity Ranch, Colorado 732
Believers Attending 1945 Sessions, Bahá'í International School 735
Canadian Baha Summer Teaching Conference, Banif, Alberta 742 Delegates and Friends at Annual Bahá'í Convention of India and Burma, Poona,
India 745Attendants at Bahá'í Summer School, Panchgani, India 750 The Hon. Sir. Rarnaswami Mudaliir Visits Bahá'í House of Worship 751 Attendants at Bahá'í Summer School, Karachi, India 753 Bahá'í Teaching Conference, Shark River Hill, New Jersey 759 Teaching Conference, Bahá'í Center, Teaneck, New Jersey 769 The House at Maiden, Massachusetts, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá Rested in 1912 770
Bahá'ís of Caringbah, New South Wales 772Bahá'í Banquet, Schroeder Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 775 Hobart, Tasmania, Bahá'ís 785
Bahá'ís of Northampton, England 785
Notice of Bahá'í Youth Symposium in Store in Havana, Cuba 788
Bahá'í Reading Room, Newark, New Jersey 788 Guest House of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq 795 Site of Meeting Hall of Bahá'ís of BaghdAd, 'Ir~q 798
Commemorative Stamp Honoring the Centenary of the First Telegraphic Message 800
Commemorative Stamps Issued by the United States Government in 1944 801 Map of the Bahá'í Community in Mexico and West Indies 877 Map of the Bahá'í Community in Central America878 Map of the Bahá'í Community in South America 879 Map of the Bahá'í Community in India and Burma880 Map of the Teaching Regions of the World Inside back cover Map of the Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada Inside back cover
Page 26DURING the past twenty years the Bahá'í community of East and West has learned to anticipate each successive volume of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD (the first number was entitled "Bahá'í Year Book") as the best means by which the individual believer may keep abreast of the steady development of the Faith throughout the world. This work, in its illustrations as well as in its text, has recorded as completely as possible the progress of current Bahá'í events and activities over an area now embracing more than seventy-eight t countries. In addition, each volume has presented those t!historical facts and fundamental l principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to this age."
The existence of so many evidences of a newly revealed Faith and Gospel for a humanity arrived at a turning point in its spiritual and social evolution has likewise a profound significance for the non-Eah~'i student and scholar who desires to investigate the world religion founded by the Mb and Bahá'u'lláh. For in these pages the reader encounters both the revealed Word in its spiritual powers, and the response which that utterance has evdked during the first one hundred years of the Bahá'í era. He will find what is unparalleled in religious history � the unbroken continuity of a divine Faith from the Manifestation onward through four generations of human experience, and will be able to apprehend what impregnable foundations the Bahá'í World Order rests upon in the life and teachings of the B~b and Bahá'u'lláh, the life and interpretation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, , and (since the year 1921) in the development of an administrative order under the direction of the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
It is the avowed faith of Baha that this Revelation has established upon earth the spiritual impulse and the definite principles necessary for social regeneration and the attainment of one true religion and social order throughout the world. In THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, therefore, those who seek a higher will and wisdom than man possesses may learn how, amid the trials and tribulations of a decadent society, a new age has begun to emerge from the world of the spirit to the realm of human action and belief.
Page 28Mrs. Stuart W. French, Chairman, San Marino, California.
Mrs. Clyde S. Longyear, Secretary, Los Angeles, California.
Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Little Falls, New Jersey.Mrs. J. Clayton Davenport, Beverly Hills, California.
Sgt. John Carl Eichenauer III, U. S. Army, c/o P. M. New York.
Mrs. Harold Gail, Pedro Valley, California.Mrs. Mariam Haney, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, Oliver, Michigan.
Miss Christine Lofstedt, Altadena, California.Mrs. Anne Lynch, 40 Grand Rue, Geneva, Switzerland.
Editor~ appointed by the National Spiritual Assemblies of
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALANDMAY 23, 1944 signalized the ending of the first century of the Bahá'í Era. That date marked an event of transcendent importance in the evolution of religion and civilization.
From the dawn of the new era one hundred years ago, religion, reborn and revitalized, has been a spirit encompassing all mankind. It has penetrated into every department of human activity, creating influences capable of destroying old, outworn ideas and their instruments and of disciplining and training the masses of human beings for unified association in an ordered and peaceful world. The rise of science, the spread of invention, the revolution in industry, the movement of peoples, the clash of nations and the implacable struggle of social philosophies, alike disclose the motivation of one spiritual impulse and energy which, laying hold on humanity, has been shaping its life in conformity with the possibilities of a new, a greater age.
Denied, even resisted by the prevalent attitude of materialism, this force of transmutation has, while the century closes, manifested its irresistible power by gathering up the peoples of East and West and plunging them into the crucible of a common agony and trial.
Such an outcome can no longer be attributed to controllable human wills, acts and social trends. The groups and organizations, great and small, which so long have maintained the principle of independence and self-sufficiency, even nations and empires, pires, find themselves confronted by menacing conditions both within and without. The universal upheaval is unprecedented.
Its implications can not be grasped except by recognition of this spirit from God and the working of His divine intention. Sovereignty has been transferred from nations to world and from races to mankind. The direction of events has been seized from human will and exercised through its own channels and instruments by the will of God.
Therefore the sects and creeds, reflecting the religious experience of an era that has departed, attached to and dependent on the principle of social isolation and self-suffi-ciency, have been deprived of divine guidance. Hence too the political and economic policies representing the material activity of that same disavowed principle have become ineffective and impotent except in their capacity to undermine the order on which they themselves depend.
Destiny has moved outside and beyond the ancient law of struggle and conflict to be the guardian of a new Dispensation of justice and order. The Bahá'í Faith, fulfilling the hope and vindicating the truth of former Revelations, is the conscious expression of the new, world-unifying spirit in its source, its purpose and its power to regenerate the life of mankind.
THE SOURCE OF FAITHEvery Faith has come into this world from a higher realm. Every Revela 1
Page 2tion has conveyed light from the Sun of truth to the darkness of human hearts and minds. In each Dispensation the life of the soul has been rekindled, releasing capacity for moral conduct, ethical truth and social cooperation.
The life and teaching of the Founder of a religion is the essence and reality of that Dispensation, not the catalogue of dogmas and creeds which afterward registers the progress of disputation among His followers and enthrones the arbitrary authority of a few official religionists over the people.
Bahá'u'lláh has given the world today a fuller measure of spiritual truth, befitting the mature development of humanity and the larger responsibility laid upon men called to establish a world civilization imbued with the spirit of divine law.
"The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being," He declares, tthath ever been and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His lovingkindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, bath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testi-fieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbe-lieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the
Manifestations of Godamidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory."
In these words the touchstone of religious truth and sincerity, the mainspring of faith, has been set up by which the attitude of the individual and the worth of the religious group are being tested in this age as they were divinely tested by the words of
Jesus in His Dispensationor by the commands of Moses in that Dispensation which Christ brought to an end.
The Founders of revealed religion, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh, "are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation," and Bahá'u'lláh warns the people "lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs, and betrayed the
Cause of His Messengers."Thus we may realize today that the successive Faiths have been different stages along the same path of revealed truth. Their relationship is that of one religion in con � tinuity, each later Faith fulfilling all those that preceded it and preparing the way for the future Faith to appear in its destined time.
To conceive of many religions and different faiths existing simultaneously, their mutual tolerance sharing only their separateness of inner purpose, is to identify men's repeated denials of God with obedience to God and their imitations of His merciful Revelations with divine truth itself.
It is when this identification has become complete, and the name of religion connotes some divisive sect, some militant creed or some impotent affirmation of already accepted general ideals, that the Manifestation of God returns to earth with power to destroy error and establish teachings for a new cycle.
The oneness of revealed religion emerges also when we consider the connection between each Faith and its corresponding civilization and culture.
In its primitive purity, religion comes as a creative spirit inspiring human beings to establish a community for the expression of their union in devotion to newly revealed laws.
They feel that their faith opens for them a greater possibility of ordered life than man has ever before achieved. Out of this common experience a great civilization arises, runs its course of development, and decays with the lapse of the motivating sacrifice and loyalty. Once
Page 3A scale model showing the future superstructure of the Báb's Shrine. The present building, constructed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, on the very spot pointed out to Him by Bahá'u'lláh, is to be seen behind the arches of the future arcade. Ii will remain intact, receiving the embellishment of the dome which 'Abdu'l-Bahá envisaged for it in its final state.
the process of dissolution has set in, the civilization can never regain its unity of purpose or restore the vital life of its faith. The disintegration of a civilization reveals a prevalent sickness of soul, for the cycle of religion coincides with the cycle of the civilization it came to found. Until the spirit is renewed by the divine will, the world has no power to heal its own disease.
Attempts to reestablish the old order, or found a new society, by revivals, adaptations and experiments, are vain. Effort to seize the new spirit and render it servant to the maintenance of old ideas, old standards, old forms and old authorities is fruitless. The continued existence of mankind depends upon the return of the Holy Spirit, and this dependence is the basis of true faith.
THE DIVINE PURPOSEThe second illuminating truth conveyed by Bahá'u'lláh is that revealed religion is not only continuous but progressive. The race of man, under the manifest law of the universe, grows and develops. Humanity passes through stages of development and encounters greater opportunity and responsibility as the stage of childhood recedes.
Human capacity emerges and new faculties and talents unfold. This organic process, the divine purpose for mankind, moves forward by successive and enlarging spiritual im
Page 4pulses. At each stage, the soul and mind of the race receives a new influx of inspiration, human consciousness deepens, and when the direction and possibility of the new cycle has become established in the realm of faith, men express their enlarged capacity by forming a greater civilization.
"The All-Knowing Physician," in Bahá'u'lláh's statement, "hath His finger on the puise of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its presentday afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements."
In his capacity of interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings,
Shoghi Effendi, first Guardianof the Bahá'í Faith, has definitely traced the operation of this principle from stage to stage.
ttJust as the organic evolution of mankind has been dow and gradual and involved successively the unification of the family, the tribe, the city-state, and the nation, so has the light vouchsafed by the Revelation of God, at various stages in the evolution of religion, and reflected in the successive Dispensations of the past, been dow and progressive. Indeed, the measure of Divine Revelation, in every age, has been adapted to, and commensurate wii~h, the degree of social progress achieved in that age by a constantly-evolving humanity. The Revelation associated with the Faith of Jesus Christ focussed attention primarily on the redemption of the individual and the molding of his conduct, and stressed, as its central theme, the necessity of inculcating a high standard of morality and discipline into man, as the fundamental unit in human society. Nowhere in the Gospds do we find any reference to the unity of nations or the unification of mankind as a whole.
The Faith of Islam, the succeeding link in the chain of Divine Revelation, introduced, the conception of the nation as a unit and a vital stage in the or � ganization of human society, and embodied it in its teaching."
With the creation of independent nations, replacing the tribal units of earlier faiths, the cycle of world order was Providentially prepared.
The divine purpose has manifested itself anew, the law of the oneness of mankind has been revealed, and the spiritual impulse by which the race can achieve world unification has been communicated through the agency of a new World Faith.
"No sooner had He revealed Himself," Bahá'u'lláh wrote concerning the appearance of the Mb in 1844, t~than the foundations of the kindreds of the earth shook and trembled, and the learned swooned away, and the wise were bewildered, except such as have, through the power of Thy might, drawn nigh unto Thee. ." t(Through that Word," He wrote concerning His own appearance, ~~the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness. Through that Call Thou didst an-flounce unto all Thy servants the advent of Thy most great Revelation and the appearance of Thy most perfect Cause."
'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, who promulgated His Faith through the East and West, exemplified the perfect type of human character, intelligence and soul expressive of the laws and principles of this Wdrld Era. "Humanity has emerged," He said, ctfrom its former state of limitation and preliminary training.
Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the require ments of its maturity. All nations and kindreds will become a single nation.
Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion, will have
Page 5AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH S
one common faith, will be blended into one race, and will become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland, which is the planet itself."
LAWS, PRINCIPLES, TEACHINGS Religion is the depository of spiritual truth. Its laws and principles revealed by the Manifestations of God constitute the reality of man's relations to God, to himself and to other men. What science is to the natural universe religion is to mankind in all that pertains to its spiritual, its supernatural endowment and aim. There is no chaos nor void where truth ceases to exist nor laws to operate, but there is in man a realm of ignorance where he attempts to deny a divine law by substituting human desire and human opinion. The appearance of the new Manifestation brings all spiritual evasion and subterfuge to an end. He creates a condition in which oniy truth can survive.
In the Bahá'í Dispensationwe find laws, principles and teachings, all reflecting the spirit of the new
World Era. In this Dispensationreligion brings fulfilment to feeling, will and reason in balance and harmony.
The western world first learned of the Faith through its principles. 'Abdu'l-Bahá expounded them in the form of general truths acceptable to the enlightened mind whatever its class, creed, race or nation. In one of His public addresses in America He presented the following summary: � "The oneness of the world of humanity.
CCThe protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit.Of the source and meaning of these teachings He said: "His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh has dawned from the horizon of the Orient, flooding all regions with light and life which will never pass away. His teachings embody the divine spirit of the age and are applicable to this period of maturity in the life of the human world.
"Every one who truly seeks and justly reflects will admit that the teachings of the present day emanating from mere human sources and authority are the cause of difficulty and disagreement amongst mankind, the very destroyers of humanity, whereas the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are the very healing of the sick world, the remedy for every need and condition.
In them may be found the realization of every desire and aspiration, the cause of the happiness of the world of humanity, the stimulus and ii-lumination of mentality, the impulse for advancement and uplift, the basis of unity for all nations, the fountain-source of love amongst mankind, the center of agreement, the means of peace and harmony, the one bond which will unite the East and the 'West."
Those who sought no further than this preliminary discussion, conceived of the Faith as a leaven gradually penetrating the masses of mankind, urged and promoted by the enlightened and the idealistic in and through the reformation of the traditional movements and organizations. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, however, plainly set forth the sovereign quality of revealed religion, as, for example, in the following Tablet addressed to
American Baha'is."In the contingent world there are many collective centers which are conducive to association and unity between the children of men. For example patriotism is a collective center; nationalism is a collective center; identity of interests is a collective center; political alliance is a collective center; the union of ideals is a collective center, and the prosperity of the world of humanity is dependent upon the organization and promotion of the collective centers. Nevertheless, all the above institutions are, in reality, the matter and not the substance, accidental and not eternal � temporary and not everlasting.
With the appearance of great revolutions and upheavals, all these collective centers are swept away. But the collective center of the Kingdom, embodying the
Institutes and DivineTeachings, is the eternal collective center. The real Collective Center is the body of the Divine Teachings, which include all the degrees and embrace all the unjversal relations and necessary laws of humanity."
Behind the principles of rational truth, therefore, we look for the deeper implications of law and ordinance.
In studying Bahá'u'lláh'slaws and ordinances, we note that He revealed nothing in the form of a code or constitution.
His teachings represent virtues and attitudes, or deal with matters which He did not intend to be altered during this cycle.
The Bahá'í code will come into existence through the legislative institutions which Bahá'u'lláh created, and whose enactments are subject to revision from time to time as conditions change.
The laws of Bahá'u'lláh include: the obligation of daily prayer; am annual fasting period of nineteen days; prohibition of use of alcoholic liquor or drugs; monogamy; marriage contingent upon the consent of all four parents, or those living; obedience to civil government; obligation to engage in a useful trade, art or profession; prohibition of a clergy in the Ba1~'i Faith.
Other ordinances and directions found in His writings can be summarized as follows: Man's first duty is to know his own self and the conditions of progress and abasement. After maturity has been attained, wealth is needed for the attainment of social personality, and this is to be earned through the practice of a profession, art, trade or craft. Associate in a joyous spirit with the followers of all religions and the members of all races and nations.
The supreme obligation is to attain a good character.
Through trustworthiness mankind will obtain security and tranquillity. Respect possessors of talent.
Meet all obligations due to others. Refrain from slander and backbiting.
To acquire knowledge is incumbent on all, but knowledge must be of matters useful to mankind. Agriculture is of first importance.
Human existence rests upon the two pillars of reward (for obedience to divine command) and punishment (for disobedience to it). Kings and rulers are to uphold religion as the means to world order and peace. Scho6ls must train children in the principles of religion. Celibacy and seclusion from the world are not approved.
Warfare for religious reasons is prohibited.Kings and rulers are exhorted to protect and assist the Bahá'í community. Governments must appoint or elect to office oniy such persons as have character and capacity.
The repentant sinner must turn to God for forgiveness and not to any human being.
The realm of law and ordinance is defined and given a firm basis in the establishment of social institutions with definite functions for the Bahá'í community, and the conveyance of specific authority to be effective after Bahá'u'lláh's ascension. t~The affairs of the peopie are placed in charge of the men of the House of Justice of God. They are the trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of command in His countries.
~ people of God! The trainer of the world is justice, for it consists of two pillars: reward and retribution.
These two pillars are two fountains for the life of the people of the world. Inasmuch as for each time and day a particular decree and order is expedient, affairs are therefore entrusted to the ministers of the House of Justice, so that they may execute that which they deem advisable at the time. Those souls who arise to please God will be inspired by the divine, invisible inspirations. It is incumbent upon all to obey."
The relation of this function to the spiritual realm of the Faith has been placed beyond the possibility of doubt and disagreement.
ccAdministratiye affairs," Bahá'u'lláh declared, "are all in charge of the House of Justice; but acts of worship must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book."
The aim of this term of social and spiritual evolution has been firmly fixed. "Th ministers of the House of Justice must promote the Most Great Peace."
As 'Abdu'l-Bahá explained in His Will and Testament, this House of Justice is art international body whose members are to be
Page 7AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 7
elected by national representatives of the Baha'is.
In the Person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh established authority as Interpreter of His Revelation and Exemplar of the Faith.
The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláhin reality is to be viewed as more than an initial spiritual impulse breathed into the human heart and left to humanity's own devices to direct an& apply throughout an historical epoch. His Dispensation is an organism created to function in and through the entire epoch, for divine guidance has been promised to mankind henceforth, the day of God's Kingdom having dawned.
Shoghi Effendi, Guardianof the Faith, has disclosed this new dimension which religion in its fulfillment has attained. ttFor Bahá'u'lláh, we should readily recognize, has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit, He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as 'Abdu'l-Bahá after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically Laid down a set of laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for the future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unificatiQn of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth."
BIRTH OF A WORLD FAITHThe inmost soul of religion is its reflection of the divine light and iove. The Being men call prophet, messenger or messiah, outwardly a physical man, is inwardly a flame enkindled from a higher world. By Him men arc born from their physical self to their spiritual reality. By His summons a mighty tempest is unloosed which destroys evil attitudes, habits and patterns. To recognize Him is man's supreme blessing, to serve Him is the essence of existence. Through Him God destroys and creates, punishes and rewards, darkens and illumines all things on earth. He sends an ocean of truth to confound men's limited conceptions and lights a sun of love to replace their flickering candles of personal affection. Aside from Him there is no path to God.
The cherished mystery of true faith has been the sacred teaching of the Covenant which the Creator made with man, that He would not abandon the human race but send His messenger to redeem them from age to age for evermore. But the Covenant laid upon human beings the condition that they would remain firm in the Promise and recognize and obey the Lord of the Covenant whenever, wherever, however He might appear.
The proclamation uttered by Mirza 'Au-Muhammad (the Bib) in Shir~z, Persia, one hundred years ago, restored to the world in its night of darkness the power of the Holy Spirit. His manifestation offered to the people of IsUm the fulfillment of their hope; to Christians He was the return of Christ; and to Jews their assured Messiah. Against Him the inveterate forces of fanaticism, materialism and ruthless intolerance inflicted martyrdom six years after He undertook His mission to herald the imminent appearance of Bahá'u'lláh. He left behind Him among the Persian people such intense devotion and faith that thousands underwent torture and death rather than forsake their love for Him. But during that six years the Rib invoked the measure of faith and new spiritual life that was required to prepare the world for the greater Manifestation to follow.
The Báb was martyred in Tabriz on July 9, 1850.After cruel imprisonment in TihrAn, the seizure of His wealth, and exile to
Baglidid, Bahá'u'lláhdeclared His mission in the year 1863, surrounded by a small company of believers who had succeeded in accompanying Him.
From BaghdAd, Bahá'u'lláhwas exiled successively to Constantinople, Adrianople and 'Akka, in the Holy Land, where He remained a prisoner until His ascension in 1892. Under such conditions Bahá'u'lláh revealed the spiritual and social teachings for the world civilization and divine order with which His Dispensation is identified.
A prisoner and an exile, Bahá'u'lláh addressed letters to kings and rulers, to heads of religion, expounding the laws of peace
Page 8and calling upon them to heed the counsels revealed in the Greatest Name of God. The mystery of worship, the realities of faith, the principles of conduct and the evolution of justice and order were given the world in innumerable tablets and books at a time when in th~ countries of Ishin it was a capital offense to even possess a copy of His sacred Word.
From 1892 until 1921, 'Abdu'l-Bahá led the Bahá'í community, guided its development, inspired its efforts, clarified its teachings, unified its members, and preserved its spiritual integrity.
Released from prison by the revolution in Turkey which overthrew the Sul;in, Caliph of IsUm, 'Abdu'1 � Bah& traveled from 1911 to 1913 in Egypt, Europe, the United
States and Canada. Duringthis journey He established the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the West and brought it into contact with innumerable public leaders and organizations.
The result of this unique teaching mission was the enrichment of Bahá'í literature by the recorded addresses He delivered in Paris, London and many cities of North America. Upon the American Baha'is, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid the great responsibility for carrying the Faith to the enda of the world after His earthly work had come to an end.
It was 'Abdu'l-Bahá, likewise, who developed the administrative order of the Faith, guiding the progress of the Bahá'ís in many countries through the early stages of the local and national Bahá'í communities upon which the future international Bahá'í order is to rest.
For He, in addition to His station as Interpreter, was also appointed by Bahá'u'lláh to be the
Center of His Covenantwith mankind. Through Him the formative and evolutionary spirit of this Dispensation carried forward the work of Bahá'u'lláh without interruption for thirty years, assuring the preservation of the fundamental aim and character of the new Faith.
Concerning the nature of the mission bestowed upon Him by Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá declared: "In former cycles no distinct Covenant was made in writing by the Supreme Pen (i.e., the Manifestation); no distinct personage was appointed to be the standard differentiating falsehood from truth But in this Dispensation of the Blessed Beauty (i.e., Bahá'u'lláh), among its distinctions is that He did not leave the people in perplexity. He entered into a Covenant and Testament with the people. He appointed a Center of the Covenant.~~ "One of the enemies of the Cause," 'Abdu'l-Bahá warned, "is he who endeavors to interpret the Words of Bahá'u'lláh and thereby colors the meaning according to his capacity, and collects around him a following, forming a different sect, promoting his own station and making division m the Cause." Acting on this truth, for the protection of the unity of the Faith, and to symbolize forever the fundamental difference between superficial tolerance and oneness of faith,
'Abdu'l-Bahá Himselfexpelled treacherous persons, including members of Bahá'u'lláh's own family, from the Cause.
ttHe is," the Guardian has written, "and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and Pivot of BaLi'-U' 11~h's peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word the Ensign of the Most Great Peace.
Since 1921 the Bahá'ícommunity throughout the world has been unified and directed by the Guardian, within the administrative order set forth and established in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í written
Testament. 'Abdu'l-Baháprovided details for the formation of local, national and Universal
Houses of Justice. Hecreated the Guardianship in a line of succession through His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi; endowed this office with sole authority to interpret the Bahá'í writings after His own departure; made the Guardian the presiding officer of the future International House of Justice; attributed to him the payment of the special donation known as Huquq, and authorized the Guardian to appoint a body to be known as the Hands of the Cause.
"The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá'u'lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this
Page 9AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 9
most great Dispensation," the Guardian explains.During the present formative period, sacred writings of the Faith have been translated into some thirtyfive languages, comprehensive selections made by the Guardian from words of Bahá'u'lláh have been published, works of Bahá'í history made available, the institutions developed, and the Faith carried into thirty or more countries when the light had not penetrated in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í ministry. In North America, properties have been transferred to Bahá'í trustees for educational activities in Eliot, Maine, Geyserville, California and Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, Colorado, in addition to properties dedicated as memorials to 'Abdu'l-Bahá in West
Englewood, New JerseyA vigorous publishing activity has long been maintained, and local communities founded in more than one hundred cities. The spiritual and administrative activities of the American Bahá'í community revolve around the impressive House of 'Worship in "X~i1mette, Illinois, the superstructure of which was constructed in 1930 and 1931, and the exterior ornamentation completed in January, 1943.
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERexpresses itself through a community and not through a church. Since this Dispensation began, the power of the Faith to assimilate and unify diverse peoples has been demonstrated with ever-increasing might.
Nowhere else in the world today does there exist any social body similar to the unique community which has arisen in response to His call. Spread in many parts of the world, separated by difference of language, custom, tradition and outlook as well as by the operation of conflicting political and economic policies in their environment, this community of believers could not be held together by personal agreement but by a power which surrounds them and combines them through a superhuman force.
The Baha community feels itself immersed in a spiritual reality which encompasses it as by an invisible but potent atmosphere or sea. The influence of that surrounding spirit makes itself continuously felt, like the virtue of health in a physical organism which adjusts it to continuous growth and development.
The believers think of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh not as doctrines but as truths which come to life in their application to problems of conduct and human association. The concept of foreignness or the alien in mankind has been replaced by the ideal of fellowship.
Bahá'u'lláh has given assurance that the process of destruction now operating is but the necessary preliminary to the process of construction which will eventually produce the harmonious coordination of the views and feelings, the interests and the institutions, the activities and the aims of all mankind.
On the foundation of spiritual equality before the law and the authority of their Faith, the Bahá'ís maintain their community worship and activity through local, national and international institutions which distribute power and authority in accordance with the natural duties and functions of an ordered society.
All that pertains to daily action is assigned to the local Spiritual Assembly under the principle of decentraliza-don of administrative control.
The local communities are coordinated by aelected by delegates chosen on the basis of proportionate representation. These National Assemblies in turn will be the electoral bodies by whom the members of an International Assembly, or House of Justice, will be selected. In the delegation of authority, the source or reservoir of power lies at the Center of the world community, and duties and functions are assigned downward to the progressively smaller national and local units.
This order follows inevitably from the fact that the whole body of authority was created in and through Bahá'u'lláh and by Him assigned to His ministers and institutions as servants of mankind. Historically, the Bahá'í World Order originated at the Center, unlike those social bodies which develop from local units and whose central institutions reflect a secondary and imperfectly delegated power.
The Bahá'í thus realizes himself as part of a newly-created world, a world raised up by God above the tumults of the past, and en.
Page 10dowed with a new destiny which the forces of disunity can assail but never destroy. The believer need no longer be partisan to the titanic struggles of competitive social values, whether capitalism, communism or state socialism-because e such conflicts can never be resolved.
What the world needs, He has learned, is a new mind and a new heart.
"This Administrative Order," Shoghi Effendi points out, "is fundamentally different from anything that any Prophet has previously established, inasmuch as Baha'i' 11Th has Himself revealed its principles, established its institutions, appointed the person to interpret His Word and conferred the necessary authority on the body designed to supplement and apply His legislative ordinances.
Therein lies the secret of its strength, its fundamental distinction, and the guarantee against disintegration and schism. Alone of all the Revelations gone before it, this Faith has, through the explicit directions, the repeated warnings, the authenticated safeguards incorporated and elaborated in its teachings, succeeded in raising a structure which the bewildered followers of bankrupt and broken creeds might well approach and critically examine, and seek, ere it is too late, the invulnerable security of its world-embracing shelter."
SACRED WRITINGS"The vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it."
� Bahá'u'lláh.available in the English language include the following titles, with a brief description for the information of the seeker: Hidden Words: sayings which summarize the spiritual truths revealed in past
Revelations.Valleys: treatises on the journey of the soul through the stages of experience and unfoldment to its recognition of the divine Friend.
KitTh-.i-fqin: The "Bookof Certitude," interpreting the theme of the oneness of the revealed Faiths and the station of the Manifestation of God.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: addressed dressed to an implacable enemy of the Faith, setting forth Bahá'u'lláh's suffering and recapitulating many of His teachings.
Gleanings From the Writingsof Baha u'lLAh: the Guardian's selection and translation of one hundred and sixty-five passages from the body of Bahá'u'lláh's Writ -ings.
Prayers and Meditationsby Bahá'u'lláh: the Guardian's selection and translation of one hundred and eighty-four passages from Bahá'u'lláh's Writings pertaining to prayer, supplication and the spiritual life.
Of works revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá the American Bahá'ís have available:
Some Answered Questions:His exposition of religious and philosophic questions submitted to Him by an American believer at 'Akka in 1907.
The Promulgation of Universalthe text of the public addresses delivered at Bahá'í gatherings and at publtz meetings in the United States and Canada during His visit from April to December, 1912.
Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: three volumes of collected letters (Tablets) revealed to Bahá'í Assemblies, groups and individual believers during the early years of the Faith in
America.to the Committee on Durable Peace, The Hague, and His Tablet to the late Dr.
Auguste Forel of Switzerland.A one-vcilume collection of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'1 � BaM has been issued under the title of: Bahá'í World Faith.
The published works of t$e first Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, include:
Bahá'í Administration:Spiritual Assembly outlining the administrative order.
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:statements on the Faith in relation to the current period of international struggle and war.
The Advent of Divine Justice:the significance of the teaching mission entrusted to the American Baha'is.
The Promised Day Is Come:Views of the recently constructed main entrance gate to the Bib's Shrine on Mt. Carmel, Haifa. The road shown in the upper picture is the private driveway leading to the Shrine and the Oriental Pilgrim House; that in the lower picture is one of Haifa's main arteries, leading to the towns on Mt. Carmel ridge.
Page 12of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh upon the peoples, races, nations and religions of the modern world; war and revolution realized as punishment of human sins and purification for the blessings of the Day of Justice and Peace.
God Passes By: a summary of the history of the Faith during its first hundred years, with statements on the mission and teachings ngs of the Mb and Bahá'u'lláh, the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and the development of the administrative order.
The most comprehensive presentatidn of the activities and progress of the world community of Bahá'ís will be found in the successive volumes of The Bahá'í World, the
International Bahá'íbiennial record edited under the Guardian's supervision.
Page 13THE two years covered by this survey witnessed the ending of the second World War, the gathering of nations at San Francisco to lay the basis for an era of peace, and the widespread realization of the peoples of East and West what havoc and destruction had been inflicted on mankind, how shattered the structure of civilization, how unbalanced the world's affairs, and how long and painful the road to regeneration, recovery and a sound '~ror1d order.
This was the conflict which the world did not need as warning but incurred as punishment. Warning of disaster had been signalled by World War One clear enough for a child to understand; but humanity had ceased to be a child and failed to become the mature man.
Humanity had arrived at that stage of development which lies between the infant and the adult: the stage when the soul must worship but cannot distinguish between God and His betrayer; when the mind can know, but understands not the difference between knowledge of truth and knowledge of error; when the heart feels urgently the clamor of self-preservation in every awareness of self-sacrifice; when the simple things are complicated so as to serve at once the terror of the slave and the cruelty of the tyrant, and every experience holds up the distorting mirror making beauty to be a beast and a beast to be beauty. Therefore the warning could be evaded, misapplied, buried with pomp beneath the monument of a formula of unity committed to the disunited, until pressure of concern for personal, family or community security could absorb all attention, employ all energy, and conceal the monstrous shape of world insecurity behind a screen of smoke.
Had there been no warning, and no evasion of it, there could have been no punishment. World War Two was punishment and not misfortune because it brought into the arena of military operations a final determination to command not merely the person but the mind and spirit of the vanquished. It opened to the processes of war waged with the infinite resources of the scientific intelligence a subjective difference of attitude and value which can only be resolved through mutual appeal to divine truth and law.
Warfare which had begun by slaying human bodies for the sake of lands ended by destroying lands in order to seize what God bad conferred as His gift to mankind.
The significance of warning is only partly discerned by assuming it threatens suffering. The moral validity of warning consists in the fact that with its threat of punishment for breaking the law stands assurance of reward when the law has been obeyed.
This assurance exists only in the revelation by the prophet of the divine will. Because Bahá'u'lláh offered the kings, the leaders and the peoples the blessing of peace, the road to war could no longer be claimed as a dire neces-sky.
Necessity and pressure in human affairs which produce evil are the clear sign that the divine will has already been manifested and its authority denied.
"What entered the first war were nations and empires.
When these were shattered, the 13conditions for world order had been attained. What entered the second war were theories of the nature of civilization and of man. When these were condemned by destiny, the conditions for a political and economic world order had been transformed.
The second world war released the flood of psychological as well as material destruction which can only be stayed by the power of a world religion. When men denied peace they denied themselves.
Now we may have peace on God's terms or there is no peace.
The selection of San Francisco for the Allied Nations Conference seemed truly providential to the Baha'is.
They recalled the messages which 'Abdu'l-Bahá revealed in city after city during His visit to America in 1912 concerning universal peace � His appeals that its social basis be laid in America and His assurance that the banner of peace would be unfurled in that land.
For example, in Washington, D. C. He said: "May this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international peace.
May it be the first nation to proclaim the universality of mankind." In Cleveland He said: ttThis revered American nation presents evidences of greatness and worth. It is My hope that this just government will stand for peace so that warfare may be abolished throughout the world and the standards of international unity and reconciliation be upraised. This is the greatest attainment of the world of humanity."
In New York: "The powers of earth cannot withstand the privileges and bestowaL which God has ordained for this great and glorious century. It is a need and exigency of the time.
Man can withstand anything except that which is divinely intended and indicated for the age and its requirements.
Now, praise be to God!in all countries of the world, lovers of peace are to be found and these principles are being spread among mankind, especially in this country. There is no doubt that this wonderful democracy will be able to realize it, and the banner of international agreement will be unfurled here to spread onward and outward among all the nations of the world." In
Sacramento 'Abdu'l-Bahádeclared: "The time is ripe. It is time for the abolition of warfare, the unification of nations and governments. It is the time for love. It is time for cementing together the East and the West.
Inasmuch as the Californians seem peace-loving and possessed of great worthiness and capacity, I hope that advocates of peace may daily increase among them until the whole population shall stand for that beneficent outcome. May the first flag of International Peace be upraised in this State.
Unresponsive as the masses of mankind were to the revelation of truth and law through Bahá'u'lláh, He had a hearer and a witness and a perfect responder in 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as if 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been appointed to be a trustee of the true spiritual interests of all humanity.
His words are significant first because they fully express the purpose of the word of Bahá'u'lláh; and second because they are a testimony uttered on behalf of a world that could later, by evolution, attain to a collective and unified obedience to divine truth and will.
But the Bahá'ís during this period had their own communal experience in addition to the public events affecting all peoples. �In their observance of the Centenary of the Declaration of the Mb the various local and national Bahá'í communities felt associated with a pure, clear Spirit through whom the world had been called to God.
They felt that a victory had been won in which human beings can share.
They rose to an hour of lofty elation. Nothing else in human life, they knew, could matter as it matters to be aware of the Person of the Prophet of God, adore God through Him, and through Him learn to know mankind.
With the ending of hostilities the Baha also looked for the restoration of their international spiritual community, sundered by the war. Palestine once more could function as the world center; Burma and Germany regain independence to act; England and France recover from their wounds; Japan and China return to the family of nations; Russia accept the common obligations of mankind and learn the mystery of interdependence: this hope stirred among the Bahá'ís as at the war's end they looked for the coming of the great, the universal peace.
The Bahá'ís also, the most important and far-reaching event in the Centenary programs, received from the Guardian his work
Page 15Bahá'í Properties on Mt. Carmel. Upper vieW shows the new entrance gate to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel, with the Oriental Pilgrim House beyond. Lower view shows the same gate as seen from the gardens surrounding the Resting Place of the Family of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Page 16on the history of the Faith during its first hundred years, ~tGod Passes By."
The structure of this unique document is revealed in its table of contents.
It opens with the Guardian's Foreword which summarizes the events of the first Bahá'í century, explains the significance of the Faith, and defines the purpose and scope of his book.
This is followed by an introduction written by Dr. George Townshend and signed by him with his title and rank then held in the Church of England.
Chapters one to five present the Mission of the Báb and cover the first perioc of Bahá'í history, 1844 to 1853.
Chapters six to thirteen summarize the Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh, the second historical period extending from 1853 to 1892.
The third period represents the Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and chapters fourteen to twenty-one outline its principal events and meanings from 1892 to 1921.
Chapters-twenty-two to twenty-five explain the rise and development of the administrative order, the fourth period, from 1922 to 1944, and the work closes with a chapter entitled Retrospect and Prospect.
What Shoghi Effendi has given us in this volume is a new dimension of spiritual truth � an authentic history of a revealed religion throughout its first one hundred years of action upon human existence. In no previous cycle has this been accomplished: a presentation of the Figure of the Manifestation and of His disciples and
His Exemplar and Interpretercreated by one so spiritually endowed that he can turn back to the Person and the sacred Events and give them actual reproduction at a later time.
By virtue of the Guardian's power to experience the history of the Faith as a living and vital present force and not merely a past event, the days of the Mb and the days of Bahá'u'lláh live for us again. We can in this book behold once more the episode of the Declaration of the Bib, His imprisonment and His execution, the sufferings inflicted upon Bahá'u'lláh, His exile from land to land and eventual incarceration in 'Akka; and the moving record of the Master's services by which the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláhwas firmly planted in East and West. A clear light is thrown upon all the significant epi-.
sodes and events � the revelation of Ba1A'u'-ilili's principal works and an analysis of His essential teachings; the rise and fall of the great betrayers and deniers of God's holy Cause; and the forces which transferred the power of action in the Bahá'í community from Persia to America.
Thanks to this book the Bahá'ís have the infinite privilege of living within a fully unified world � the world of spirit and the world of humanity acted upon by divine forces for a divinely ordained end.
Therefore the Bahá'íshave been able tG look beyond the event and the condition, however disturbing it has been, to the Power which has employed it for its own purpose. The Bahá'ís have looked upon the development of the greatest cQncentration of human energy, science, mechanical equipment and social will the world has ever created, summoned by the dire urgency of battle � a massive force which nothing could withstand; a force able to move mountains and divert seas, command the ether and explode the universe within the atom, all for victory in war. This energy they have seen dissipated, undone and turned into weakness when the supreme issue became not war but peace. They have seen the League of Nations go into receivership, not because peace is impos � sible but because it had not been willed; and they have drawn parallels between the Charter of United Nations and the Bahá'í princi-pie of world order which indicate how far we still are even from the CCL Peace" which has been ordained in this age as the preliminary stage leading to the "Most Great Peace" of divine intention and effect.
ALLIED NATIONS CONFERENCE25, 1945, offered an ideal occasion for bringing the Bahá'í Peace Program to the notice of responsible leaders and the general public throughout America.
The theme of peace had been made dominant in the public teaching plans a the American Bahá'ís throughout the preceding year.
A compilation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í American addresses entitled ttFdti of World Unity" had been reprinted; a new collection of Bahá'í teachings entitled
"Peace:Views of the gardens which surround the Resting Places of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Family on Mt. Carmel.
Page 18A Divine Creation" had been made available; a national committee had distributed by mail, with the help of local Assemblies, more than 25,000 copies of a series of four broadsides on peace; and the local Assemblies had been requested to hold one or more public meetings or conferences on peace.
These efforts to eleyate a spiritual aflirma-don of peace during the final period of the war seemed to culminate in the unique opportunity afforded by so responsible an undertaking as the Allied Nations Conference proposed to carry out.
A Committee on Bahá'íPeace Plan was therefore appointed, with a membership centered in San Francisco, to explore the possibilities for the conduct of a public demonstration of Bahá'í teachings on peace and bring the teachings to the attention of the conference delegates in a suitable manner.
The outcome was profoundly gratifying. No other spiritual concept of peace made such an impression. The committee prepared an admirable pamphlet, ttBah&"r Peace Program," a thirty-minute radio recording on "World Order Is the Goal" was prepared which was not oniy broadcast in San Francisco but later used in nearly forty other cities.
A symposium on the subject of the Bahá'í Peace Program presented Dr. Rudolph HoistS, former delegate to the League of Nations from
Finland, Dorothy BeecherBaker, Marion Holley and Leroy loas to an audience of about 650 persons. A banquet was soon afterward arranged for the friends of Dr. HoistS participating in the Allied Nations Conference.
Some fifty guests were honored, among them HisAmbassador and its delegate to the conference; His Excellency, Ivan Kerno, delegate from CzechoSlovakia and its Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; Dr. Li Shu-Fan, Adviser to the Chinese delegation; Dr. Carlos Rodriguiz Jiminez, Secretary to the Venezuelan delega-don and Consul General; and M. Aiphone Ak, Adviser to the Luxembourg delegation.
Two official observers representing the National Spiritual Assembly attended the con. ference sessions;
Marion Holley and Sylvia Loas.Three Bahá'í exhibits were maintained in San Francisco; at least 4200 copies of the peace pamphlet were presented to conference delegates and San Francisco citizens; the local Assembly of the city conducted for thirteen weeks a series of radio talks on the theme, "Foundations of Universal Peace." Later editions of the pamphlet gave wide distribution of the text throughout the country.
Shortly after the plans for the Allied Nations Conference had been published, the National Assembly addressed the following telegram to the President at the 'White House,
Washington:~tIt is the prayerful hope of the American Bahá'ís that your Excellency, chief magistrate of the American nation and symbol of its destiny at this great turning-point in human history, will be spiritually guided and reinforced to lead the nations and peoples of the world in the inauguration of universal peace.
We recall with reverence and devotion the exalted mission upheld for America by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1912 when He traveled from city to city promulgating the principles of universal peace and in the city of Washington declared: tMay this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement.
May it be the first to upraise the standard of the Most Great Peace and through this nation of democracy may these philanthropic intentions and institutions be spread broadcast throughout the world. Truly this is~ a great and revered nation. Here liberty has reached its highest degree. The intentions of its people are most praiseworthy. They are indeed worthy of being the first people to build the tabernacle of the great peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind. I will supplicate God for assistance and confirmation in your behalf.' May the dire needs of humanity be met by the creation of a new world order through the efforts of the forthcoming conference in San Francisco under your leadership."
REESTABLISHMENT OFGovernment Regiment, U. S. Army, issued a notice certifying that the Stuttgart Bahá'í religious community had been author
Page 19San Francisco Bahá'í Peace Committee Exhibit at Yazdi Gift Shop, Berkeley.
San Francisco Bahá'í Peace Committee Exhibit at American Express Co., San Francisco.
Page 20Bahá'ís of Esslingen, and neighboring districts, Germany, hold a joyful reunion with John Eichenauer present, a young American Bahá'í attached to a Medical Unit of the U. S. Army, on August 26, 1945.
ized to reorganize and to hold religious meetings within the City. This notice, signed by Carvel Busey, served to end the ban which had been laid on the German Bahá'í institutions and activities by the Nazi regime.
We have details concerning this suppression of the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláhin Germany from Bahá'ís who suffered under it, as we in previous years had statements of fact concerning the suppression of Bahá'í activities in southern Russia by the Soviet party.
The last summer school held at Esslingen in 1936 and the National Bahá'í
Convention of Heidelbergin May 1937 demonstrated a culminating point in the history of the Faith in Germany, as they proved the brilliant achievement of a period of strenuous teaching and administrative efforts. The reports about the last meetings of the German pilgrims with the Guardian in Haifa were presented before the Convention and shared by the believers.
The first signs of impending persecutions of the Cause occurred a little earlier in Stutt gart, where a threatening article against the Faith was published in a national socialist youth paper of Stuttgart and the doorplate of the Bah&i-Buro of the town was stolen by unknown culprits.
On May twenty-first, 1937 the Faith and its administrative institutions were interdicted by special order of the Reichsfuhrer SS and chief of the German police Heinrich Himmier, published by the newspapers in June 1937. Events then followed rapidly and the efforts of Mr. Max Greeven to obtain an annulment of that given order were in vain. Also the several personal efforts of Mr. Otto Geidreich, believer of Stuttgart, following the sanie purpose at the Geheime Staatspolizei of his town, had no results..
By confiscation of the stock, all the books and leaflets of the BaM'i-Verlag and the Bah&'i-Esperanto-Eldonelo, as well as "Sonne der Vahrheit" and "La Nova Tago," also the archives of the National Spiritual Assembly and local Assemblies, the greater part of private books and even personal souvenirs were
Page 21lost, while the Geheime Staatspolizei of Heidelberg, by request, explicitly stated that private possession of Bahá'í books and visits among the Triends, even in larger numbers, were not prohibited. Mr. Emil Join, believer of Warnemunde, was not allowed to write to or meet any one of the believers.
In 1939 Mrs. Marta Brauns-Foreof Karis � ruhe, member of the National Spiritual Assembly, had to undergo domiciliary visit, her books and correspondence being confiscated, and she herself cross-examined for four hours in a most rude and scoffing manner. Due to a letter of Mrs. Anna Grossmann of Neckar-gemund, member of the National Spiritual Assembly, found at Mrs. Brauns', Mrs. Gross-mann was questioned by the officer of the Geheime Staatspolizei Gerst of Karisruhe, probably one of the examiners of Mrs.
Brauns� although the letter did not contain any word about the Cause. As no matter of complaint could be found, she was officially admonished f or having kept "suspicious relations to a former member of the National and Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, a certain
Frau Brauns in Karisruhe."A copy of one of the daily prayers of Bahá'u'lláh, mul-tigraphed by Mr. Paul Kohier, believer of Dresden, which was found at the said domiciliary visit, gave basis fdr a sentence of a lower court (Amtagericht) of Dresden, condemning Mr. Kohier to six months of prison. (Some years later he died by an accident.)
The third and most menacing wave of persecutions arose in 1943, when Mrs. Carla Macco, believer of Heidelberg, was suddenly put into prison due to defamatory accusations of a political character. It is to be supposed that the center of all the subsequent trials and persecutions was the said Officer Gerst from the Geheime Staatspolizei of Karisruhe, who had already been the initiator of the second wave of attacks leading finally to the imprisonment of Mr. Kohier.
As the calumnious character of the accusations of Mrs. Macco became evident she was then accused of being an active Baha'i.
Then, based on falsified records of her sayings before the Geheime Staatspolizei, by sentence of the Sondergericlit Mannheim, executed through order of the Amtagericht of Heidelberg from 21.2.1944 she was condemned to six months of imprisonment.
These falsifications also laid basis to the then following accusations and condemnations of a number of other believers, in spite of Mrs. Macco's hardest efforts to prove tefore the courts the mendacity of the records taken by the Geheime Staatspolizei.
An advocation in Mrs. Macco's plea was almost impossible, as nobody was allowed to get in touch with the prisoner and even her advocate had no chance to know the accusations charged upon her, nor partake at the session of the Sondergericht. Only after tnumber of weeks
Dr. iHermann Grossmannand Mrs. Anna Grossmann, from Neckargemun, succeeded in clearing up the facts when they, on their own part, were examined at the Geheime Staatspolizei of Karisruhe, thus being able to give a chance to the son of Mrs. Macco, the late Mr. Fritz Macco, also a devoted believer of Heidelberg, to see his mother and shield her from being transferred to a concentration camp.
On December 1, 1943, the examiner Gcrst came for domiciliary visit to the homes of Miss Elsa
Maria Grossmann and Dr.and Miss Frida Eichler at Heidelberg, believers belonging to the Local Assembly of Heidelberg. Miss Elsa
Maria Grossmann and Frida Lichierwere examined most rudely and in a threatening, manner, Miss Grossmann even menaced by a pistol.
All their private Bahá'í books and literature, and even private correspondence and objects not at all referring to the Cause nor to Bahá'í persons, were taken off and kept.
Dr. Hermann Grossmannlost the greater part of his extremely valuable Bahá'í library and archives, which had to be destroyed, including nearly all his documents and records concerning the development of the Faith in Germany, which he had gathered at great effort over a period of twenty years. Only a part was allowed, at Dr. Grossmann's plea, to be given to the University Library of Heidelberg, which accepted it most gratefully and treated it with care and attention. Thus the University Library of Heidelberg has become the first one in flermany to possess an important collection of materials on the Faith Elsa Maria Grossmann was arrested and without assigning reasons, kept for nine days at Heidelberg in a prison cell, No. 19: Further interrogations were carried
Page 22out by the Geheime Staatspolizei of Karis-ruhe in Heppenheim an der Bergstrasse, Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Esslingen,
Goppingen and Dresden.The diverse examinations entirely agreed on the same truth that all the questioned believers had abstained from any proceeding which might have been contrary to the prohibition of May 21, 1937, and the explanations given to it by the Geheime Staatspolizei of Heidelberg. They also stated clearly the unpolitical attitude of the believers who did not deviate even in the slightest from the principles of the Faith. Neverthe-icss, on May 2, 1944, the first great public judicial proceedings were taken against seven of the believers and friends of the Cause questioned before the Sondergericlit of Darmstadt. Here are the names of the accused: Mr. Hans Gajus Schmidt, believer of Hep-penheim and his wife Mrs. Maragareta Schmidt, the believers Mr. August and Mrs. Maria Ehiers of Klingental near Heppenheim, Mrs.
Marie Schenk of Nieder-Ramstadtand Mrs. Anna Grossmann of Neckargemund, falsely accused of "having continued the organization of the dissolved and prohibited Bahá'í sect," and here the names of the public prosecutor Staatsanwalt Mayer and the judges: Landge-nchtsdirektor Rode, president, Oberamss � richter Dr. Doerr, Landgerichtsrat Dr. Friedrich, assistant judges. The defendants were defended with admirable courage and warm understanding for the Faith by two wellknown counsels, the late Herr Carl Neuschaffer from
Darmstadt and Herr EdwinStrange to say, the persecutions during all that time did not pay attention'to Dr. Gross-mann personally, in spite of his share in the German Bahá'í work.
Thus he got the great chance to fight for the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh at the
Centre of Geheime Staatspolizeiof Karisruhe, as well as before the tribunals of Darmstadt and Heidelberg, where he succeeded in being admitted as a witness for the defendants. He explicitly stated the absolute nonpolitical character of the Faith and the attitude of the believers, pleading for a just treatment of the Ba1A'is, who oniy cling to a Faith, which must be regarded as the firmest foundation for any sound order in their respective countries, as well as in the world as a whole. He asked the Geheime Staatspolizei to make an effort in order to clear up the matter and lead to an abolition of the interdiction.
As a matter of fact, the accusation of staatsfeindlichkeit was not supported further but oniy maintained as a transgression of the prohibition. Thus the persecutions could temporarily be reduced to a iess dangerous character, yet restricting to the least degree any chance of contact for the majority of the believers.
He as well as the accused Baha'is, when asked about the international character of the Cause, stated that the Faith stands for a Universal Order, which does not exclude national order. They further especially opposed the attempt made of regarding the Cause as staatsfeindlich (hostile to the state), a proceeding, which entirely disregarded the attitude of the Ba � hA'is throughout the world, as well as in Germany.
At the Sondergericlit'strial in Darmstadt it happened for the first time that a larger number of Bahá'ís stood before the bar of a German tribunal.
The spirit of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh revealed itself very strongly there and its majesty and power became evident in each one of the believers present. Particularly Mrs. Schweizer showed a most genial and unique manner of spiritual superiority and leadership in picturing the essentials of the Faith. The trial at this court, as well as all examinations at other places, culminated in the question raised by the inquirers if the believers would continue to uphold the Cause, and in their clear confession of the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.On June 27, 1944, there took place a trial before the Amtsgericht of Heidelberg against the two believers Miss Frida Eichler and the twenty-year-old Ruth Espenlaub from Gap-pingen, who both were accused of the same trespasses as the believers before the Sonder-gericht of Darmstadt. This trial, contrary to the one of Darmstadt, had a public character and, strange action of Providence! � while the Bahá'ís were deprived of every possibility of teaching the Cause privately or in a public way, here the public prosecutor gave a clear statement of the history and principles of the Faith, as well as of the claim of Bahá'u'lláh.
The courageous confessionDesign for the Grave of two of Bahá'u'lláh's distinguished disciples, at IsfAhAn, Persia. The joint tomb of the two brothers, the "King of Martyrs" and the "Beloved of Martyrs."
Design for the Grave of two of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í distinguished disciples in Cairo, Egypt.
The monument which will mark the resting places of Mrs. Lua Getsinger, the "Mother Teacher of the West," and Mirza Abu'1 � Fadl, the brilliant teacher and writer on the Faith.
Page 24Mahbiibu'sh-Siauhad&, the ctBeloved of Su1t2inu'sh-Shuhad~' the t~King of Martyrs." Martyrs."
The two famous Bahá'í brothers of Isf~h~n, Persia, who were disciples of Bahá'u'lláh and received their distinguished titles from Him after their tragic and heroic death took place.
also of these believers revealed most emphatically the greatness and victory of the Cause.
The judges had declared before the tribunals that they intended to extinguish the Cause in Germany, but the Almighty Army of Bahá'u'lláh was stronger than the forces of His enemies: lacking any chance to maintain their false accusations and attempts made to the Cause and its believers, the judges had finally to abstain from any condemnation which might have attacked the lives and property of the Baha'is. A part of them was fined and had to pay large sums of money, these were the accused of Darmstadt and Heidelberg. The same happened later on to Dr.
Hermann Grossmann and MissElsa Maria Grossmann, who all of a sudden were sentenced to pay a fine or six months in prison for the first and one month for the latter.
The persecutions seemed to have come to an end and the subsequent political occurrences demonstrated that the enemies of the Cause had really finished their game. At every place in Germany where the light of the Faith had been enkindled, the believers with unceasing endeavor tried to keep the full splendor of its glory. An eventful chapter of the development of the Faith in this country has come to a dose. At the end of this record stand the names of those who lost their lives on the battlefields, amongst them some of our promising Bahá'í youth, or by other war-events. These are, as far as for the moment it can be recorded, their names: Jorg Brauns of Karisruhe, Wilhelm Golimer of Stuttgart, Hansjoorg Kohier of Stuttgart-Unterturkhcim,
Fritz Macco of HeidelbergThe fate of other young friends is still unknown. By other war events died Mrs. Else Gricke and her two little daughters Margot and Rita, all from Leipzig. The fate of four Jewish believers of Frankfort, i.e. Miss Sophie Rothschild from Weinheim and the three Werthheimer sisters is still unknown. They were deported, as far as can be remembered, in November
Page 25thi. is t ��n ~ t . omttsjrt ~h& ~s teXt large �acafly~ Is, We utWwt .4 y tK,e jir w rare to rnrats. aztb 1*24 ret In. netl 4 t ~ ~ ~ P4*~4 GOt 12? Rn. ttV4Sflj s~t . Ohs mt ' at ttw zsni nt I. .snt4 .e i a tj~ ~ ti nvp~m1bL* far t a Iflena% 4inipltn wttts rtp ~R4 ?#t t* 104 lItX&4 ~
:~t~g Ut: #L444*tAuthority issued by Allied Expeditionary Force Military Government, through Carvel
Busey Education and Religion Officer for reorganization of Stuttgart Bahá'í community ity and holding of its religious meetings This official permit, terminating (for Stuttgart at least) the period of dissolution enforced upon the Bahá'í community by the Nazi regime almost ten years ago, was granted on application made by John Eichenauer, III, American Bahá'í serving in the army in a noncombatant capacity.
1941, and it is supposed that they are no longer alive. Up to the last moment before their deportation, friends of Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Neckargemund took care of them, while in the Ghetto, at the risk of their lives. Edith Horn was present at Miss Rothschild's at the very moment when Sophie and her neighbors were called for deportation.
May the sacrifices of their lives and the fact that none of the living believers � as far as the writers of this record are informed � flinched or budged, even for a single moment, in the profession of their faith, become the foundation stone of a new era of development of the Cause in Germany and lead, in connection with the brilliant achievements of the believers all over the world, at the top those of their American friends, to the final establishment of the 'World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, Whose Faith we all love more than our lives.
The permit to resume practice of their re ligion given by the American Army of Occupation in August, 1945, enabled the German Bahá'ís in the western zones to restore their shattered community. Publication of Bahá'í literature was resumed to the extent possible under severe restriction of paper; public gatherings were arranged; and by early
April 1946 the Bahá'íaffairs had been reordered on such a scale that a national convention of Bahá'ís in the American zone was called.
That historic conference elected a National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís for the first time since 1937. The following report was prepared by John Eichenauer III, whose vigorous support of the Baha interests in Germany contributed so much to its early restoration: In accordance with decisions arrived at by seven former N.S.A. members in counsel with two American believers, Sgt. Bruce Davison of Miami, Florida, and Sgt.
JohnEichenauer of Phoenix, Arizona, in an organizational meeting held Sunday evening, 17 March 1946, in the home of Fraulein Anna K6stlin, 1 W'ehrneckarstrassc,
Ess-lingen, a ConventionCall was issued to the Bahá'í Communities, Groups and isolated believers in the American Zone. The 19 delegates of the four communities of Ess-lingen,
Frankfurt, Heidelbergand rrank-fun would come together Saturday and Sunday, 6 and 7 April, in Stuttgart.
On Saturday evening there would be a semi-public meeting (limited because of space) in the Bahá'í Center, 20 Olgastrasse, for the presentation of annual reports. Sunday morning the delegates would meet at the home of Herr Paul Goilmer, 127 Neckarstrasse, to elect the N.S.A. and the rest of the day the N.S.A. would spend in consultation.
Some 1 50 believers from all over the American Zone gathered in a reconstructed, bomb-damaged room, about 5:00 p.m., Saturday, 6 April. Loving hands had converted this workers' dining room at 20 Olgastrasse into a hail of dignity and beauty, an important site of Bahá'í history.
Flowers and green sprigs decorated the tables of the audience and the speaker's rostrum. Many long interrupted friendships were renewed and far-reaching plans were laid for spreading the
Cause.Mr. Eichenauer was presented to the delegates and spoke to them in German.
"Dear Baha friends, on this momentous occasion, let me convey the cordial greetings of our beloved Guardian to each and every one. In a letter dated 13 March and received here on 1 April, he urges everyone to write to him of his experiences during the war and since the end of the war. His address is Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, Post Office Box 155, Haifa,
Palestine."We are very honored in having present with us today a dear Bahá'í brother from Red Bank, New Jersey, Captain Henry Jar � vis, recently returned from long service in the Pacific where he met the Australian Baha'is.
You all know our dear brother from Miami, Florida, Sgt. Bruce Davison, the organizer of the Frankfurt Assembly.
Let me also tell you how privileged I feel to be present with you today.
C(We all know the high purpose of these meetings today and tomorrow, to choose a National Spiritual Assembly that will in time join other National Assemblies in establishing the International House of Justice as directed by Bahá'u'lláh. I urge you all to devote your utmost to the success of this convention thru careful use of the voting privilege and full discussion of common problems and plans for the future, such as public meetings in new. cities, fireside meetings for preparing new believers, publication of literature and preparation of radio programs.
1725 Captain Henry Jarvis, newly arrived from the Orient and America, was introduced and conveyed the following message: (in German) "Dear Bahá'í friends, I am very happy to be here today and to see the re-establish-ment of the N.S.A. I hope that the Bahá'í Faith will flourish and endure in Germany. I left America oniy two months ago and bring greetings from the American Bahá'ís to all German Baha'is."
1730 Tiny, dynamic Fri. Marta Weiss was called upon to give an account of the varied activities of the Esslingen Community.
Outstanding were the series of public meetings held in December with a total attendance of about 400.
1743 Elderly Fri. EdithHorn was timid in appearance but thrilling in her narrative of Bahá'í work in Frankfurt since 1937 and since Sgt. Bruce Davison first contacted them in September, 1945.
Starting with a small group of believers, Sgt.Spiritual Assembly in about six weeks and arranged for Dr. Gross-mann of Heidelberg to speak to an audience of 200 about the Cause.
1751 Dr. Hermann Grossmann, editor of Bahá'í Nachrichten (Bahá'í News) which first came forth on 19 Jan. 46, gave an eloquent discourse on activities in Heidelberg and Neckargemfind and surrounding area. He was fined and falsely accused by the Nazis during the war for his Bahá'í stand and is one of the most active Bahá'ís in Germany today. A doctor of economic science by profession and manufacturer by occupation, lie is Argentine as well as German and speaks English and Spanish and
Page 27Graves attacked by fanatical Muslims. Desecration of the Bahá'í cemetery of AbSdih, Persia, the burial place of the famous Nayriz martyrs.
wishes to travel in South America in the service of the Cause.
1805 * Frau Marta Brauns-Forel, daughter of the famous Swiss scientist Dr. August Ford, gave a moving account of the work accomplished by the Group of five believers in Karisruhe.
She visited Switzerlandfor two months during the winter and contacted Mrs.
Anifa Lynch in Genevaand brought back Bahá'í books and pamphlets printed in German in Switzerland.
1809 Bahá'í endeavors in Gdjipingen, including public meetings she and her invalid husband organized, were reviewed with deep sincerity by Frau Anna H~icker.
1 8 1 6 * * Herr JuliusHenseler outlined the work he and his wife had done as isolated believers in Plochingen, about 15 miles from Stuttgart.
1 82 5 * The continuous surge of energy expended in spreading the Cause in Stuttgart was described by a diminutive but outstanding writer and speaker, Herr
Robert Shuitheiss. Thefirst Military Government permit was secured 14 Aug. 45,
5,000 Bahá'íReligion an introductory pamphlet was published last fall and copies presented to the Minister President (who knew of Consul and Frau Schwarz, 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í hosts in Stuttgart in 1912, and acknowledged the pamphlet very courteously) of the new German Government of Wuerttemberg-Baden and his Ministers, youth activities were stimulated, a Center was established, a public meeting in January (highly publicized with placards in the street cars and street corner kiosks) attracted an audience of over 400, and Sonne der Wahrheit (Sun of Truth), comparable to
World Order Magazineof U. S. and Canada, is almost ready to go to press with a leading article of the history of the Faith in Germany since Dr. Fisher, an American dentist first proclaimed it in Stuttgart in 1905.
1836 Dearly beloved FrauAnna Marie Schweizer, one of the first and oldest believers in Germany narrated some of the trying experiences since 1937, and read parts of a recent letter she reccived from the Guardian regarding his high hopes for tbc inauguration
Page 28She conducts weekly firesides in Zuf-fenhausen, a suburb of Stuttgart.
1847 Dr. Adelbert Mflhlschlegelread a cordial letter of greeting (received in German and Persian) from the Persian N.S.A. to the German believers.
1852 Dr. Adeiheid Ko11er-J~igerreviewed the activities of the Bahá'í youth who organized in several communities last fall and now have a collective attendance of 45 to 50 at weekly meetings throughout the Zone. The Esslingen Group circulates a typewritten bulletin. Youth conferences have been held at NeckargemiFind and Esslingen Summer School with a total attendance of about 200.
1900 * Dr. Grossmann rose to new heights of eloquence in underlining the need for the N.S.A., the importance of our work and how oniy a supreme effort could attract the masses from their disillusion and waywardness.
1915 Another musical number by the Stuttgart Musika Hochschule ensemble prepared everyone for the closing prayer (1 920) read by
Fran Hedwig Schubert.For the next 45 minutes Herr Fred Kohier projected movie films of Esslingen Bahá'í Summer School activities in 1936, and of a conference in Heidelberg before the war.
THE ELECTION OF THE NATIONALNeckarstrasse is one of the main avenues in Stuttgart and was one of the most beautiful. Today it is lined with fire.-gutted and bombed-out buildings.
One leaves the center of the city by this street and after a short walk in the direction of Bad Cannstatt (north), there looms a four-story dwelling which for some unknown reason escaped the destruction of the buildings surrounding it. The street number is 127. The name plate on the entrance to the fourth story apartment is Golimer.
This humble site, the home of the Chairman of the N.S.A. of Stuttgart, saw the rebirth of the
National Spiritual AssemblyThe nineteen delegates and three American visitors, Captain Henry Jarvi~ and
Sgts. Bruce Davison and JohnEichenauer, met in the living room of the-Goilmer apartment about 8:00 a.m. Sunday, 7 April. A beautiful painting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá hanging from one of the walls of the exquisitely furnished chamber watched over the proceedings. Several days before the host and Sgt. Eichenauer invited the Religious Affairs
Officer of Military Governmentfor Wuerttemberg-Baden, Dr. Karl J. Arndt, to be present, but he was not able to accept the invitation because of other pressing duties.
The Convention Officers, Chairman, Dr. Hermann Grossmann, and Secretary, Dr. Adeiheid Koller-Jiiger were elected by the delegates on Saturday previous to the public meeting.
083 6 The Chairman asked the secretary to call the roll of delegates.
The complete list was as follows: 1. Frau Lied Rommel, Esslingen 2. Herr Hermann Rommel,
Esslingen3. Fri. Anna Kastlin, Esslingen 4. FrI. Marta 'Weiss, Esslingen 5. Fri. Edith Horn, Ftankfurt 6. FrI. Diesterweg, Frankfurt 7. Herr Fritz Strauss,
Heidelberg9. Herr Fred Kohier, Stuttgart 10. Herr Eugen Knorr, Stuttgart 11. Herr Paul Goilmer,
StuttgartThe election resulted in the following membership: 1. Dr. Adeiheid Ko11er-J~ger
2. Frau Hedwig SchubertBahá'ís still bitterly persecuted in their native land. Some believers of .Ab6xlih, Persia, injured by a fanatical mob which attacked them, partly destroyed their Administrative Center, and desecrated their burial ground.
7. Herr Eugen Knorr9. FrI. Marta Weiss Two documents are included in this account because of their historic interest.
The first is a letter addressed by Mr. Eichenauer on March 16, 1946 to Dr. Karl Arndt, Religious
Affairs Officer at Wurt-temberg-Badenreporting the plan for holding the convention and election.
The second letter, dated April 9, 1946 was sent to Dr. Arndt by Mr. Eichenauer to record the names of the new National Spiritual
Assembly.Under the authorization of freedom of worship as contained in American Military Government directives, approximately 120 Bahá'ís of the Local Spiritual Assemblies of the cities of Stuttgart, Esslingen, Heidelberg and Frankfurt, will, by 1 April, elect, according to proportionate representation, 19 delegates, who will meet at 127
Neckarstrasse, Stuttgart, on Sunday, 7 April, to elect an administrative, religious body of nine members, to be known as the "National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany," in that so% of the .Bahá'ís in Germany reside in the American
Zone of Occupation.The Chairman of the Stuttgart Assembly, Herr Paul Goilmer, 127 Neckarstrasse, has been authorized by the four Bahá'í Assemblies to make the necessary arrangements for the election. Sgt.
Robert Bruce Davison, AFN, Frankfurt, APO 757, and Sgt.-John C. Eichenauer III, will assist the German Bahá'ís as representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, and as members of the Bahá'í Communities of Miami. Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona.
The two American Bahá'íswill report the results of the election to American Military Government for Wiirtremberg-Baden, to the Bahá'í National Office, 536 Sheridan Road, SXfilmette, Illinois, and to the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, Shoghi Effendi,
Page 30at the World Center of the Faith in Haifa, Palestine.
All will be guided by the ccDec1ara~ don of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada" as annexed under the Seal of the Treasury Department and recorded by the Department of State, City of Washington, in the District of Columbia, 17 May 1929, and the "Treuhandschaftser-kliirung des Nationalen Geistigen Rats der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich of 22 April 1934" (modeled after the previously mentioned document). Both documents are reproduced in "The
Bahá'í World � A BiennialInternational Record, Volume IX, 97, 98, 99 and 100 of the Bahá'í
Era, April19401944 A.D.," which is available at the Bahá'í Library of Stuttgart,
127 Neckar-strasse.This election will constitute the re-estab-lishment of the National Bahá'í Assembly which was dissolved by the Nazi regime on 9 June 1937, when all Bahá'í activities in Germany were interdicted and all literature confiscated, and will accelerate activities in thirty � two Bahá'í Centers in the four Occupied
Zones of Germany.The purpose of this National Bahá'í Assembly shall ever be to promote peaceful relationships among the peoples and nations of the world, as guided by the fundamental principle of the oneness of mankind and other principles of Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder. Bahá'ís the world over support the United Nations Organization, and this National Assembly will contribute its utmost toward its success.
To: Dr. Karl J. Arndt, Religious Affairs Officer, Hq, Office Mu Govt Wtirtt/ Baden,
APO 154, U S Army1. On Saturday evening, 6 April 1946, from 1700 to 2000 hours, the nineteen delegates elected by the Baha Communities of Stuttgart, Heidelberg,
Frankfurt and Ess-lingenmet at the Bahá'í Center, 20 Olga-strasse, Stuttgart, with about 150 members of the Faith who came from various cities in the
American Zone. Annualreports were given of all communities and a moving picture film was shown of Bahá'í Summer School activities at Esslingen before the prohibition in 1937.
2. On Sunday morning the nineteen delegates met at the home of the Chairman of the Local Stuttgart Assembly, 127 Neckar-. strasse, and by secret ballot elected the following persons as members of the National Spiritual Assembly. They in turn elected the following officers: Dr. Hermann Grossmann,
Neckargemiind, ChairmanFri. Edith Horn, Frankfurt Dr. Adeiheid Ko11er-J~iger,
StuttgartFri. Marta Weiss, Esslingen 3. In the afternoon they deliberated upon various items of the agenda, including the editing of Bahá'í Nachricht en, Sonne der Wahrheit magazine, youth activities, teaching activities, etc. It was decided that the Assembly should meet monthly at the direction of the
Chairman.4. In all activities during the two-day Convention, three American Baha'is, members of the occupation forces, acted as observers and counselors: Captain
Henry Jar-vis, Signaland Sgt. John C. Eichenauer, 0MG, Wiirtt/Baden, Stuttgart (Phone 93221 Ext. 546).
SERVICES OF AMERICAN BAHÁ'ÍSIn the restoration of religious rights to the German Bahá'ís we find that outstanding services were rendered by three American believers in the armed forces: Eichen-auer,
Davison and Jarvis. CaptainJarvis also aided and encouraged the Bahá'ís in France while stationed in that country. The written testimony is not complete. Concerning the important services rendered by Mr. Alvin Blurn in New Zealand and also in the Philippines, we have available the text of a brief statement he prepared for World Order Magazine, July, 1946.
On Sept. 1, 1942, my outfit sailed from San Francisco, and twenty-three days later
Page 31The Hadiqatu'r-RahmAn (burial place of the Nayriz martyrs) of AbAdih, Persia, wrecked and burned by a fanatical mob.
I arrived in the harbor of New Meauer on the island of New Caledonia. A few days later, because of adverse war conditions, we moved south to New Zealand, and it was here that I miraculously spent twenty-eight of the thirty-eight months overseas. I say miraculously because my whole division went back to the fighting zone, and just a handful were left.
It was in 1924 that mother and father Dunn came to New Zealand to do pioneer work, and the result of their efforts was a flourishing Bahá'í Community which I contacted through the Public Library.
I was the first American Bahá'í to come to NewThe friends promptly put me to work, and engagements were made to speak before many organizations and groups. The eyes of New Zealanders were particularly on America for the assistance rendered them during the war, and so at the outset, I was in a favorable position and as a soldier of the American Army many doors were opened for me.
On my several iurloughs the Spiritualarranged that I visit other cities in New Zealand.
In Wellington, Mrs. Phillisof Wellington), assisted me greatly, and several talks were given, one to the Theosophists of Wellington. Another furlough enabled me to conduct a series of lectures in Napier.
This was real pioneering as no Bahá'ís are there. The Auckland Assembly arranged for advance publicity before my going there.
A slide of the picture of the Temple was flashed on the screen once every evening for a week at one of the local theatres.
Miss Valerie Joyce, a member of the youth group in Auckland, assisted me. (She is a nurse and stationed at a hospital nearby.) A fine group of people turned out for these lectures, and followup work is to be carried on by the Auckland Assembly.
Later I visited a town one hundred miles north of Auckland known as Whangarei and here was ably assisted by Mrs. Parkins, an isolated believer.
It was while ordering a sign for the Gov-eminent that I got to talking to three young men in the print shop. (They are all Baha'is
Page 32These fellows augmented a youth group I was conducting and a Bahá'í youth group was later formed.
During my stay in New Zealand, I noticed a weekly column written in the Auckland paper known as the tStar.3~ This column was written by the Rev. C. Chandler, and I was attracted by the spiritual quality of his writings and his liberal point of view. I was most fortunate in meeting the Rev. Chandler.
We immediately became fast friends, and he invited me to spend a week end at his home in Cambridge, which I did when I received my next furlough. Cambridge is a little town of about five thousand and just a little bit of old England.
During my stay there I spoke in his church and his parish house.
In celebration of the Bahá'í Centennial in May, 1944, the Community of Auckland decided to give a dinner and invited the outstanding members of leading organizations and thinkers throughout New Zealand. Close to three hundred people attended, and it was a privilege to be asked to be chairman of this occasion. As leading speakers we had the local
Orthodox Jewish Rabbilawyer), Mrs. Owens representing the Maoris (the natives of New Zealand), and Mr. Old-field representing the Quest Club, a liberal, outstanding Christian movement in
New Zealand.It was December 19, 1944, when I left New Zealand.
I landed April 2, 1945, on the Island of Leyte, part of the Philippine Archipelago.
Knowing that I was going to the Philippines, I contacted American friends who wrote inc that there was a group of Bahá'ís in the town of Solano.
This is about 250 miles north of Manila on theI arrived on the Island of Leyte, I found this group could not be contacted by mail because of Japanese occupation. This territory was opened later by the American forces in June, 1945.
When I heard that Solano was cleared, I asked for a three clay pass and, upon receipt of it, hitchhiked to Solano. The history of how this group started is quite interesting. Mrs. Loulie Mathews during a trip around the world left some pamphlets in the public library in Manila (which is now completely destroyed). A Mr. Felix Maddela of Solano picked up these pamphlets and immediately wrote to America for more information about our beloved Faith. Through his efforts quite a few accepted the Faith in Solano, and over $400.00 worth of books had been cob-lected in their Bahá'í Center which was completely destroyed by the conflict that raged in this area.
Not only was the Bahá'í Center destroyed but all of the homes of the Bahá'ís as well as the whole city.
The only thing remaining when they came back from the hills and rice fields where they lived for three years, was a sign 'Bahá'í Reading Room, All Welcome." Out of a group of fifty Bahá'ís twenty failed to return when the conflict subsided.
They were either killed or moved to other areas.Mr. Maddela's hair has turned white and he has become stone deaf because of the bombings there.
Messengers were sent to as many IBahá'ís as possible as telephone facilities were a thing of the past.
A meeting was held early the next morning out of doors in front of the Maddela hut with eleven of the friends present and five non-BaM'is. A short talk was given, and the rest of the four hours at this meeting was spent answering their many questions.
These people are sincere and true Baha'is, and one felt their noble and spiritual presence in spite of the destruction and poverty around them.
They are in desperate need of every material assistance possible, and the American, Australian, and New Zealand Bahá'ís have sent some parcels of food, clothing, and Bahá'í books to these people.
I made another trip to Solano a month later and this time was able to instruct them on how to form an Assembly and Community according to the Administration. I am the first Baha they had met outside of their own community, and our meeting was a joyous one indeed.
It was on October 14, 1945 that I sailed from Manila to the States after spending thirty-eight months of trials and tribulations mingled with glorious and uplifting experiences which Bahá'ís can experience during such times. If I have in any way been able to assist in spreading Bahá'u'lláh's Message, I am grateful indeed that I was chosen as an instrument to do so. A few glimpses into the work of other
Page 33The partially destroyed lja4ratu'1-Quds of the Bahá'ís of AbAdili, Persia. Instigated by the Muslimclergy, mobs sacked property and attacked the believers.
American soldiers can be obtained from these excerpts selected from Mr. Eichenauer's letters and reports.
"If you could have been here today, you would have felt yourselves carried into the realms of paradise. The Bahá'ís of Stuttgart and Esslingen gathered at the Bahá'í Home on the hill overlooking Esslingen and the verdant Neckar valley "That our Division hovered around in this area had something to do with Divine intervention, not because of myself, but in order that some Bahá'í could convey to these friends the greetings from the Baha world without, from which they have been deprived for about eight years, long, hungry, terror-filled years. We were seated in the lecture hail for lunch, with quotations from 'Ahdu'1-13ah~ hanging from the walls. From there I went to an adjoining room to play the organ.
How my heart warmed as the Bahá'í children gathered around. It seems almost unbelievable that out of all this destruction, disorder and chaos, the founda tions of that World Civilization of Bahá'u'lláh have emerged well-anchored, that the fire and zeal of the believers has remained undimmed, and that their plans for the spreading of the Faith in the coming months will make the Bahá'í world sit up and take notice.
C(AS the afternoon wore on Bahá'ís came in droves from Stuttgart and Esslingen, aged and infant, drawn by that irresistible Power of the Cause, that indescribable happiness that pervades every Bahá'í meeting. Here are Friedrich and Anna Marie Schweizer, two pillars of the Cause; there is Paul Goilmer, the National Secretary, who risked so much to preserve Bahá'í relics; there are his two d9ughters, Lilo and Agnes, who both lost their husbands in the war; not far away is Herr Richter of Leipzig, who was on the Russian front, found his way to Denmark, was finally discharged this month and is now looking for his wife and child from one town to the next You are particularly drawn to the youth, Valtrot
Kuebler, Hikegarde Muller, Peter Rommel and many others. Then somebody asks you, tDid you hear from Mason Rerney?'
'Did you write Helen Bishop?'tDid you bear from my brother, who is a prisoner of war in Colorado or Missouri or New York?' You say that literature is on the way and only hope that there are plenty of pamphlets in German for these spiritual beavers to disseminate. If the American believers could only be transported into this environment, realize the hardship and privation that these exemplary souls have undergone and are still undergoing to a lesser degree, they would rise up as a powerful, spiritual radio and television transmitting station to proclaim with undaunted fervor the Message of the Lord of Hosts. Have you ever been seated in your homes reading your Bahá'í books and had fear clutch at your heart because you thought the shuffle of feet outside your apartment was some Gestapo agent coming to check up on your activities?
Did you ever have to bide your pictures of 'Abdu'l-Bahá because you didn't want them confiscated or desecrated?
How long must our beloved Guardian spend his energy directing appeals to the outstanding American believers who fulfill the Seven Year Plan by the skin of their teeth, who pass up so many opportunities to share the Message with their fellowmen that only by the Grace of God is the Instrument of the Cause left in our bands, who have to be pleaded to on bended knees in order to complete a budget that should be many times as large for the tremendous task we have before us. "As these thoughts race through your mind the 70 some odd believers are gathering in the garden for a picture; you hope it will have a galvanizing effect on the American community.
Now they are gathering again in the lecture hail. Hugo has just read a prayer, and now Paul Goilmer is reading from
~Sun of Truth,' a Tabletof 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The meeting over, Anna Marie Schweizer asks you to her Friday evening study class, Dr. Koller mentions her Monday evening class, you realize the need of getting the youth together, you wish you had more time to give to the Cause. Then, when you feel that you could go on living in this exalted atmosphere forever, you are reminded of the end of the day.
You never have felt the warmth that you feel when you shake the hand of each believer and embrace and kiss them and whisper tauf Wiedersehen, AJ1&h-'u'-Abhi.'
And so you leave this spot of Paradise and wend your way back to Cannstatt, eager to share your joy with your Bahá'í brother (Calvin Wilder), who, as early as May 6, without any address whatsoever, helped you search for the Bahá'ís in the spiritual heart of Germany."
"Bahá'í of Wilmette, CalvinWilder and self found 100 Bahá'ís in the Stuttgart, Ess-lingen, Goppingen, Geislingen area." (As reported in the November News, John obtained written authorization for Bahá'í meetings in Stuttgart from Captain Carvel Busey, Religion and Education Officer of the Stuttgart Military
Government Detachment.) Johnhad two interviews with Captain Busey which proved helpful to the Cause.
At the second meetingof the Stuttgart Assembly, and Dr. Adeiheid Keller, another member, were present. Herr Goilmer had filled out the political questionnaire which the Military Government requires.
This questionnaire when completed reveals one's political history for the past ten years, especially as to whether one had joined the Nazi party. (No one absolutely had to join it.) He was given other forms for the other members of the Stuttgart L.S.A. to fill out. Herr Goilmer showed Captain Busey copies of correspondence between the N.S.A. of the U.S. and Canada and Himmier concerning suspension of German Baha activities.
C~Capt Busey said that each Local Assembly would have to apply for authorization and that later on the National Assembly could apply for authorization at USFET in Frankfurt. Eventually the American National Assembly can present the case of all the Bahá'ís in Germany and Austria before the Four Power
Control Commission in Berlin.I am trying to get into Mu. Gov't or UNRRA in order to remain in Germany for 6 months or a year and help bring the Bahá'ís of Europe together."
Page 35From Mara V. Edmonstone, Publicity Chairman of the Miami Bahá'í Assembly, October, 1945: tEAs soon as hostilities ended Bruce Davison got busy in Frankfurt, where he was stationed. He advertised for Baha and received four answers.
Within a week they all met. Among them is Mrs. Horn, who formerly lived in the United States.
She was sent to Frankfurt by the Guardian. The Frankfurt Bahá'ís began holding regular meetings. They are also holding study classes."
From John Eichenauer and Bruce Davison, Heddernheim, Frankfurt, Sept. 27, 1945: "We are planning teaching activities for American Zone, publication of literature, radio and press publicity and coordination with Bahá'í communities in
Europe."This evening we are observing the Feast with the Frankfurt
Baha'is."seven weekly meetings and study classes are being held.
REPORT FROM PERSIA(English translations of reports prepared for this volume by the Persian Assembly have been made by Mrs. Marzieh Gail.
Mrs. Gail has also adapted the material for publication.)
In Persia during recent years the Bahá'ís have been fair game for anyone.
Government orders have been issued against employing them.
They have been reviled in Parliament. They have been libeled in the press.
They have been blackmailed by venal officials. They have been driven away from their places of business.
Their shops have been fouled.Their homes have been broken into; set fire to; raked of everything till nothing but earth was left. They have been humiliated in the streets; affronted; threatened; stoned.
They have been criminally attacked. They have been killed.
The Bahá'ís of Persiaare not prisoners of war in enemy hands. They are not a racial minority.
They are Persian citizens, free, law-abiding, of no political party, representing every Persian type. The treatment they are receiving in their homeland is probably without parallel in modern times. It is meted out to them for one reason oniy: their religious belief.
All the elements which go to make up a civilized community break down at this point. The Bahá'ís call the police; but the police themselves are with the rabble; police and criminals together have raped and Looted side by side. So much for the law.
As for education, inflammatory books libeling the Bahá'ís are published by permission of the Ministry of Education and spread throughout the country. But the Bahá'ís are not allowed to publish anything in Persia. They cannot bring their case to the public.
They are gagged.As for the church: the rnuUAs, from their pulpits, whip their congregations into hating the Baha'is: No one can call himself a Mus-urn who does not kill the Baha'is; kill the Baha'is, and we the mull6s will stand by you.
Then comes the orgy of hate and blood.The Baha'is' only recourse is to report occurrences to their National Spiritual
Assembly. The Assemblythen approaches the National Government authorities: the ShAh himself; the Prime Minister; the members of Parliament; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of the Interior; the
Ministry of Education;the Chief of Police; the Chief of the Gendarmerie; the security officials.
The Assembly with endless dignity and patience suppiy names, dates, details.
The national Governmentauthorities are therefore aware at all times of what is going on. The Assembly then requests the Government to take action.
Occasionally some result is achieved � letters are written; a particularly harsh order is rescinded (having made its effect) but the criminals (even the perpetrators of the martyrdoms at SliAhnid) are not brought to trial, they are not punished, the local officials whose cooperation with the malef actors has made mob rule the order of the clay, are not removed.
This is the life of the Persian Baha'is: security of person and property, even the ordinary, everyday rights of all innocent ctizens in all civilized countries, are not for them.
Bahá'í pioneers in new areas are favorite targets.
The pattern of persecution is generally the same.
An agitator, religious or off-cial, comes to a town and stirs up the populace. There is a period of terror. Then a
Page 36mob gathers. Bahá'í homes or shops are surrounded, maybe wrecked. The police are not to be found, or are with the mob. A Bahá'í tries to telegraph for outside help; the telegraph office refuses to send his message.
A neutral bystander catches an assailant, forces him down to Police Headquarters, oniy to see him released.
A Bahá'í may be beaten until he is maimed for life; if he is killed, his body is mutilated, played with by the mob.
The mischief cannot be localized; it spreads from town to town like flames through straw; it reaches a peak during Muslim religious occasions such as Muliarrarn and Ramad~in; it leaves hidden fires burning for the next conflagration.
The Baha of PersiaGovernment directives against the Bahá'ís are the most potent sources of the uprisings. A general directive of the Prime Minister is as follows: "Among Bahá'í teachers and leaders there are generally to be found Government functionaries and employees. Theji activities and their interference in local affairs lead to an evil outcome. Since the national civil service law strictly prohibits activities and opinions of a political nature in government work, as well as propaganda against th6 official religion of the country or against the national government, and such activity incurs dismissal � it is required that in order to check the propaganda activities of officials and employees of that Ministry, the strongest measures be taken, and in the event of violation the law is to be carried out to its full extent." Bahá'í representatives held several meetings with the Prime Minister regarding this, with the result that the directive was amended to read: "All national officials in accord with general directive No. 744 are to check any religious demonstrations or propaganda as injurious to law and order. Since information has been received to the effect that a number of seditious persons have made use of the said directive to show hostility to others, and this has led to public turmoil, pillage and murder, it is necessary for you to direct that all transgressors be searched out, arrested and heavily penalized." The national Gendarmerie also issued the following statement: "As all officers and men of the Gendarmerie have long been informed a group of seditious perSons are engaged throughout the entire country in molesting and causing injury to another group in the name of religion.
This has resulted in disorders and lack of security throughout the whole country. To put an end to these occurrences repeated and stringent orders have been issued but contrary to expectation events prove that officials of the Gendarmerie have also, whether openly or secretly, given aid to these seditious perSons and are themselves among the aggressors. All officers and men are hereby informed that the gendarmes are guardians of the rights of the Persian people, and that every individual, whatever his religion, should live at peace under law and justice and with the help of the authorities; and that any person seeking in the name of religion to wrong another individual should be arrested without delay and given over to the proper authorities.
Should the slightest neglect of this directive on the part of officials be witnessed, those responsible will be searched out, dismissed, and handed Qver to the court."
In Abddih, Bahá'ís were beaten, and their houses sacked and burned. The disorders spread until martial law had to be declared. Later two preachers again aroused the populace, who began working up another storm by publicly cursing the Baha'is.
The local Chief of Police did nothing. In Alan gih a Baha'i, 'A1i-Akb~r Khaymih � DCz, was constantly persecuted in various ways. Police did nothing.
In Abhar agitators egged on the populace against the Baha'is; in Ardn the entrance of AIY4 Tilib Babrayni's shop was set on fire; gangs raged through the streets, cursing and defaming the Bahá'ís and their principles; the K~shin and irAn Assemblies managed to forestall an outbreak.
In IJdhdn as RamadAn approached, there was talk among the populace of attacking Baha centers, preparing witnesses as to apostasy, and putting a Bahá'í to death.
In Bandar-'Abbds an attack by the S6nnis and others seemed imminent; efforts by the National Bahá'í body averted the danger. Following ShkhMd, where the martyrdoms set off a chain-reaction of persecutions throughout Persia, the inhabitants of Bandar-Jaz began to torment the Baha'is.
They broke down the Ijaziratu'I-Quds wall and publicly
Page 37Police did nothing. Then a mob of two hundred persons collected to wipe out the Baha'is. A leading security officer dispersed them. In Bdbul (formerly BArfunish) a critical situation developed when the Bahá'í community acquired a new building. The populace was incited verbally and in writing against the
Baha'is. InBanddak (Yazdarea) a miilla ordered his congregation from the pulpit to drag the Bahá'ís out of their houses, kilt them and sack their property, saying that he and his fellow divines would protect whoever obeyed.
The few, helpless Bahá'ís in this area awaited death from moment to moment.
Hearing of the Shirvdn,uprisings, two Post and Telegraph officials aroused the populace of BushrAyih.
They spread word that the Bahá'ís had been massacred all through Khuni&in and their property confiscated. The populace fell upon the Baha'is, cursed and beat them, set fire to two shops and seven homes and to the gate of the Bahá'í cemetery, stealing a coffin and then tearing down the building in the center of the graveyard; stoning the houses of other Baha'is; savagely assaulting the women and children. The security officers did nothing beyond attempting to collect protection money from the victims. 'When the Bahá'ís tried to wire Maslihad for justice, the head of the Post and Telegraph office refused to transmit the message.
'Abdu'1-I4usayn Badi'iThe head of the Gendarmerie forbade the driver to take him, and threw his belongings out of the car. Other Bahá'ís sought refuge at the Gendarmerie.
The head security officer and the chief of the Post and Telegraph Office promised to protect them and thus induced them to return home. It later developed that these officials were in collusion with the gangsters and plotting to hand the Bahá'ís over to them. That night thirty persons stormed the house of 'Abdu'r-Ras~1 Hi~shangi; the owner and his wife were beaten; doors were broken in, windows smashed, rooms set afire, about 20,000 tum~ns worth of property stolen, and then two persons, one the chief of the Gendarmerie (ra'is � i-pAsgAh), criminally attacked 'Abbas H&hangi's wife. This official and some of the gendarmes then set rugs and bedding on fire. Government officers icers participating in the outrage were: head of the Gendarmerie; three gendarmes; two officials of the Post and Telegraph Office. A chief instigator was the prayer-leader; when two Báb's urged him to check the turmoil, he said, "I and the peopie have waited many years to see this day, and things shall go even worse with you than this."
In Band ar-S Nb railroad workers and others were urged to assault the Bahá'ís and sack their shops. They attacked QuUm-Ijusayn and 'A~'u'11&h Diy~nat and knifed them. A Soviet citizen caught one of the mob and took him to the police, who sent him to Gurg~n, where he was soon released, returning unpunished to Bahá'u'lláh. This encouraged the rabble to storm the shop of Rashidi in broad daylight. Three Bahá'ís who tried to check them were clubbed and knifed; as a result one, .Aq~y-i-T~'i, is now an invalid. The police did nothing. In Bujn4rd fifteen persons besieged the house of the pioneer Aq&y-i-AkhUqi. The neighbors helped him and the mob dispersed. He had recognized some of them as municipal employees; he therefore appealed to the authorities against them, but was finally obliged to sign a release and the case was closed. Unable to remain in BujnArd, he and his f am-ily left for Maslihad. Then San gsar rose against the Baha'is; in the streets, by day, they heaped insults on the four pioneers,
(Aqiyan 'Ani'u'llAh Ra~mAniy&n'Ali-.Aq& SubbAni, ~asan-Aq&-Yazd~ni and tAl'i-Asghar Uarr), clubbed and stoned them. The following day they fell upon and beat Abmad Sliamsi and tAli DAvar-Parast.
For some time thereafter the EaN'is, in mortal danger, could not leave their houses. The police did nothing. Forbidden to send a telegram, the Bahá'ís managed to telephone Maslihad for help, and secretly dispatched a messenger. The Maslihad Assembly took immediate action, and local authorities there issued stringent orders to Bujn4rd, orders supposedly to be executed by the very persons responsible for the out.-rage. Later, there was mounting terror at Bujniird. The populace was comptetely out of control. Symptoms of an epidemic of fanatical hate began to spread through Khur~s~n.
Barn (Kirm~n): a gang here roamingin search of a Bahá'í victim, ignored the Chief of Police who was trying to check them, and shouted him down.
Authorities finally got the town under control.Burujin reports that the Bahá'ís of Bavir-Ahrnadi were fined eight thousand tAm &ns on the grounds of their being Bahá'ís and they were obliged to pay him that sum for their own protection.
In Ua4rat-i-'Abdu'1-'Azimrelatives of the Bahá'í Uasan-Aqi tried to make him recant. Failing, they aroused the populace against the Baha'is. A mob attacked the house of Dr. ShafA'i.
In Khurram-Abdd (S�ah-Sav~r)the Bahá'ís were abused on the streets. In Khurram-Abdd (Lurist~n) efforts of the Assembly averted a crisis.
In i{~uvaydak (Yazd) four Bahá'í pioneer families had formed an Assembly.
A dervish came to the village and aroused the populace. Authorities were appealed to and checked him, but they made every effort to collect blackmail from the Baha'is.
At three o'clock one morning, a mob from a nearby town came to Darzi-Kuld to attack the Baha'is. The believers had been warned beforehand; they met, chanted prayers, and formed a plan to protect themselves; when the agitators arrived, three Bahá'ís went out to meet them; the leader of the mob said, "We have come to punish you because you do not keep the RamadAn fast"; they answered him gently, saying that in matters of conscience all should be free. They spoke so well that the agitators asked their pardon and returned to their own village, Kiichik-Saniy-i-ShThi.
In Rafsanjdn an old, helpless Baha'i, MuIIA 'Au, was severely beaten. Government officers such as the Director of the Court of Documents, his subordinates and colleagues, Director of the local Court, and Director of the Registry of Documents, and the Rawdili-Kbin (preacher on the persecutions of the holy Jm~ms) and his fellow, continually stirred up the populace. Sudden and horrible bloodshed was imminent. In Karbndbjd noted Bahá'ís were humiliated and beaten by the landowner, QAsim-i-SAIihi. In Ridd � Abdd the manager of the villages incited laborers and land agents to attack and beat Nu~ratu'-11Th Diy&'i; then they forced him to walk at the head of a mob all the way to RafsanI~n. The residents of RAdsar attacked the pio neers, refused to rent them houses and shops and tried to drive them out.
'Abdu'1-Husayn Dargb~m, a leading Bahá'í of Zanjdn was warned by the Chief of Police to leave town because of a possible uprising.
Obliged to absent himself from his business for two weeks, he suffered considerable financial loss. The martyrdoms at ShdhrAd began in the same way: local authorities, instead of curbing the mischief while there was time, demanded that leading Bahá'ís get out of town; seeing this, the populace was encouraged to every excess.
The rabble of Zdbul publicly insulted the Baha'is, saying, "You have been driven out of other towns and we shall do the same." The Bahá'ís as usual bore this with patience.
One night the Muslims fouled the doors of all Bahá'í shops; then, screaming and yelling, they tried to get into the house of 'Izzatu'llAh Ishrati but a neighbor saved him. Two nights later they set fire to Jshrati's house; everything he and his family had was destroyed, even his clothing; his loss totaled fifteen thousand tAm&ns. In San gsar, the mujtahid told his congregation not to trade or intermarry with Baha'is. The Chief of Police collaborated with the agitators here. Bahá'ís were publicly stopped in the streets of Sdri and threatened with property losses and death and "the fate of the Bahá'ís of Shihriid." A mijila said from his pulpit, ~'Every Muslim who kills less than a hundred Baha is not a true Muslim."
In Siydhgil (DilmTh) ascurrilous, anonymous letter against the Bahá'ís was circulated through the mails. In Sir Pin (KirmAn area) a mob beat five Baha'is:
Nu~ratu'1Uh VAthiqi, Dhabihu'llAhSultAni, QuUm-'AIi N&~ni, 'Abdu'1-VahhTh Nit r~ni, and Qulamu'il&h Mawhibati.
Two are now bedridden.The whole town was in turmoil; the residents closed their shops and besieged Police Headquarters and the Telegraph Office.
In the presence of the attackers, the Head of the Department of Justice upbraided the Bahá'í victims and threatened to expel them,
The Police Departmentdoctor refused to treat the injured Baha'is. The Tabriz Spiritual Assembly was able to have priest-instigated uprisings quelled in SN-shvdn and 'Ajabsloir. The 1sf ThAn Assembly did likewise when there was a similarly inspired outbreak in Shah-KiLl.
In Shdhi atthe dedication of a mosque, the inull4s from their pulpits urged on the congregation to kill the Bahá'ís and carry off their property. Inhabitants of several neighboring villages were uniting to make an attack on the Bahá'ís of Sdri: Notices were posted throughout Dizaj near ShAhiad, stating that some ttBahá'í dogs" had been killed in Sh4hMd, their families arrested, and their possessions set on fire, and that nothing was left in their houses but earth, since even the building bricks had been carried away; and that the "dogs of unbelievers" listed in the notice, should be driven from Dizaj at once, or the inhabitants of 5liAhriid would come and kill them and a number of Muslims would be trampled in the confusion. This was signed: The inhabitants of ShThriid.
The Bahá'ís listed were: ttRi~U Birjandi and his sons; ShAh-MbA and Arnru'lhh;
Hasan-UstAd Ibr~him; Bini~Sutr~ Layli with her son 'Abbas; B4n6 Kislivar; 'Au-Muhammad and the rest."
The notices were typed.The oniy typewriters in that area are in Government offices; local officials must therefore have assisted the malefactors.
The attack on the Bahá'ís made in Parliament, purposely vague and insinuating, accused the American advisors of protecting special interests and giving positions to Baha'is; it condemned Dr. Arthur C. Mill-spaugh, administrator general of Persia's finances, as partial and apparently political, and spoke of the Bahá'ís as a divisive factor, secretly attacking IslAm and engaging in politics and furthering the aims of imperialism. The National Assembly's answer was sent to the Head of the Parliament and to every deputy; the text of this answer is given below.
The Azddigdn newspaper viciously at-tackcd thc Baha'is, calling them a ~corrupt faith" and "fit to have their blood shed" and otherwise defaming and libeling us. It stated that the law excluded
Bahá'ís from Governmentpositions. The National Assembly vigorously protested to the Prime Minister regarding this public misrepresentation of a large section of the population, referring to the long persecution, the many inflammatory articles in a controlled press, the barbarity at Sh&hn~d and elsewhere, the official indulgence which made these things possible. The burning by Government officers of Bahá'í books at the frontiers was contrasted with the authorized circulation of such attacks on the Faith as ttBahá'í Pretensions" by Al mad Kasravi, the
"Political ConfessionsAssembly asked that, if such publications were permitted, the Bahá'ís might also be accorded the freedom of the press, in order to refute their defamers.
Two Bahá'ís of Tabas were threatened, persecuted and stoned, until they had to take their families and leave the town. In the Fashandak area, Bahá'ís are deprived of all security.
In 'Irdq, a circular was dispatched to all Government bureaus, protesting the employment of Bahá'ís and calling for their dismissal pursuant to article 2 of the civil service law, and citing other cases of Bahá'í dismissals as listed in the newspaper Iqddm (No. 607). An outbreak was quelled in FirilzkAh.
Firdaws residents, stirred up by agitators from Gurnib&d, burned the entrances of Bahá'í homes, broke into one and beat the owner. Constantly threatened with death, the Bahá'ís gathered together outside of town with a number of gendarmes to guard them.
Mashhad authorities arrested some of the agitators; this angered the rest. Letters were posted on the walls at night, telling the populace to kill the Baha'is. Local authorities, including Qudsi-Niy~, Commander of the Gendarmerie, whitewashed the risings in Fdrdn. In Fasd, Bahá'ís are continually subjected to abuse. In Qurvih-Kurdistdn, a circular directive from the Prime Minister removed the much-persecuted youth, Mas'iad Radavi, from the post of primary school teacher. Teachers in Sir JAn who attended Bahá'í meetings were ordered to be suspended. In Qasr-i-Shirin, the representative of the Ministry of Education in � cited the populace until they fell on the Baha'is, stoned and defamed them.
A policeman who was present did nothing. Police Headquarters finally summoned the Bahá'ís and drove them out of town. In Qum they broke into the house of Dr. S&bir, wrote obscenities on the walls, fouled the rooms, stole furniture and silver. The police did nothing. In the Abarqii quarter notices were written on the walls, warning the populace not to
Page 40sell to the Bahá'ís nor allow thena the use of the public baths. Even the bakers refused them bread. In Kuldh-Darrih (near Qazvin) the rabble who prepared to march on the Bahá'ís were armed with swords, daggers, sickles and shovels, and led by men beating drums and cymbals. in Kafshgar-Kuld a butcher and a farmer tried to kill the Bahá'í Siyyid IbrThim Laq&i, but he was saved by a shepherd.
The nbtorious fanatics of KdshaSn attacked the Bahá'ís at will. One night they burned the entrance ways to Bahá'í homes~ The police did nothing. A threatening letter was posted by night on the house door of Khalilu'11Th Tal&'i, a Bahá'í of Kangdvdr. IA
Kirindn a society, CCTheReligious Society of I(irm&h" was formed, which is a center for agitation against the Baha'is.
In Gui-pdygdn the Chiefof Police did what he could to check the turmoil when two Bahá'í homes were set on fire. h Our gdit the rabble prey freely on the Baha'is.
In Gundbdd (Khuris&n area) the Bahá'ís were driven out and all their possessions confiscated. They were beaten. Two went insane and a third broke down.
Refugees reached Mashhad where the Iocd Bahá'í Assembly made strong representations to the authorities; as a re-suit, 22 residents of Gun~b&d were questioned, 6 arrested, and a meeting was held at which the leading officials there were ordered to maintain the peace. Security was partially reestablished, but many of the believers suffered irreparable ioss. In Mahmzid-Abdd, MAzindar6n, the rabble dug up the grave of a Baha'i, broke open the coffin and scattered the body. In FiraydAn-Kindr they repeatedly fouled the door of a Bahá'ís shop. In Miydn-Ducib seven Bahá'ís were beaten in the streets by a gang.
The rabble roam at will, attacking the Baha'is; the authorities issued an order to expel the believers. In A'fahmAddbdd (Yazd) a Bahá'í house was set on fire. In Mahallit (KAsMn) the 'ulam~ were active against the Baha'is.
In Mu4ain-mad-Abdd, landlords, under pressure, took back the houses they had rented to Bahá'í pioneers. Some of the latter had to leave town. Seven armed persons attempted to attack and kill the family of Valiyu'11Th in Mihriz; they broke in and stole 10,000 ti~m~ns worth of property. Police and gendarmes arrested them; the Bahá'ís were in a state of terror. Ghaff~r
JalAli, prominent Bahá'íof Miydnaj, was a constant target. Muhammad-'Ali Fur4ghi's house was set fire to in Nardq. Leaflets were dropped from minarets and roofs into a crowd of pilgrims at the shrine of Su1t~n-'A1i, urging them to arise against Fur4giai. In Nd'in, Bahá'ís were defamed and stoned, and their houses set on fire.
There was a fanatical outbreak in Nis/odhAr (burial place of 'Umar Khayyam). When trouble started in Nayriz, the Commander of the Gendarmerie force of Jahrum assisted the Baha'is, writing to them as follows: C~To the respected Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Nayriz: Pursuant to your letter No. 168 to check public wrongdoing and the disregard of personal rights, and your appeal that order be preserved in that area: 'We have written Fdtih Nayrizi, Chief of Police there, and also the Head of the Gendarmerie, and issued the necessary orders.
(signed) Commander of Force No. 17."A religious procession in Nayriz surrounded the houses of Baha'is; the mob, with foul language and obscene behavior, attempted aggression; the Baha as usual did not retaliate. Children and youth are constantly affronted in the streets here. One night the rabble fired shots into the bedroom where the children of 'All Asgliar Man~iiri were asleep; mercifully, they were spared. The police did nothing. At Nalddvand school teachers in their classrooms urged their students to rise against Baha children in the school, A teacher, Muj ihid, taught that Baha were atheists and ritually unclean. The Bahá'í doctor Shaf&'i was forbidden use of the public bath; two Bahá'ís were beaten; Dr. Tavakkul was affronted by a gang led by the son of the leading security officer. The Chief of Police in Hamaddn constantly opposes the Baha'is, summoning leading Bahá'í business men to Headquarters for questioning.
One night a gang near Mihdiy-Abdd blasphemed the Faith and beat a Baha'i, 'At4'u'11Th N&iyyih, with chains and their fists, and kicked him.
A Bahá'í woman saved him.a six-year-old child of a Bahá'í family, who was feebleminded, fell into a well and died.
The security officers arrested Mul2am-mad-Ja'farand held them in prison thirtyfive days on the false charge that they had killed the child.
In Yazd Shahriy&r KhAvariwas dismissed from the office of grain distribution for being a Baha'i.
The foregoing shows that efforts have been made to wipe out the Bahá'ís of Persia. It should be remembered in this connection that the Bahá'ís are Persia's largest non-Muslim community; that far from being enemies of their country they have spread its fame around the globe, as a Holy Land, the birthplace of Bahá'u'lláh. That far from being enemies of Islim, they have taught IslAm wherever their own Faith is taught, thereby braving unpopularity in Christian lands. That they are bearing an intolerable situation without retaliation, confident in the Guardian's message to the be-frayed of SliAhriid (sent with his gift of one thousand pounds to the needy amongst them), that the transgressors without exception would be called to account, and that one day the star of happiness would shine for the Bahá'ís of Persia � for God "stand-eth on a watch tower."
MARTYRDOMS AT SHAHR6DThe 15th of Sha'b4n is celebrated by the Shi'ahs as the birthday of the Q4'im. Beginning with the first of this month
(July 22, 1944) the Muslimsof ShAhriid directed their activities against the local Baha community.
They held nightly meetings in mosques, homes, and takiyyihs to decide on the persecutions they would inflict. In the streets and b4zArs of the city, they began openly to curse the Faith.
On the evening of July 25th a mob set fire to the gate of the Haziratu'1-Quds and carried off some of the furniture. On the 2 8th, by night, a great crowd suddenly attacked the house of a believer, intent on killing him and sacking his property, but they dispersed with no damage done.
On Tuesday August 8that eight in the morning, a terrible clamor broke out in the town. The storekeepers and the people from the b&z&rs closed their shops and joined the mob, which swelled to no less than five thousand persons.
They were armed with clubs, stones, knives, daggers, butcher's cleavers.
Some of the friends took refuge at the Police Station, thinking they would be protected. But a police sergeant said, "These are unbelievers � they ought to be destroyed!" At this a policeman rushed on them and beat them with the butt of his rifle.
Meanwhile the mob flung itself at the homes and shops of the Baha'is, carrying off what they could, and making bonfires of the rest, both in the buildings and out on the streets. Then they came upon Aq&y-i-Muhammad-i-JadhlAni, and they surrounded him and beat him with their clubs. A wellintentioned person momentarily saved him, and begged him to run away. He refused and was caught again and this time they fell on him with cleavers and knives.
He fainted and two persons carried him to the office of a doctor who lived nearby on the second floor of a building. The doctor set about treating his wounds; at that moment a part of the mob, on their way back from ransacking the shop of Aq~y-i-~hucU'i, heard what had happened.
They stormed the doctor's office, flung him and the wounded man down to the street, and fell on Aq4y-i-Jadhb4ni with daggers and knives, slashing at his head and body until they thought him dead, and then stoning him till he was hidden to his knees in stones.
Those who had sacked and set fire to the shop of Aq4-i-KhudA'i now turned to the store of Aq4zAdih, looted his property, poured kerosene on the building and set it~ aflame. They passed on to the stores of MuhAjir-Z4dih, Tab4-TabA'i and Athari, pillaged and burnt their merchandise, and then directed themselves against the homes of AqAy-i-N&diri and his neighbor RuhMni. They were shouting "Y~ Ijusayn!"
and tty4 SAhibu'z-Zam&n!", and they started to break in the door of N4diri's house. With his family, he was able to reach the roof and cross over to the house of Aq4 � i-Ruhb6ni. The mob went through the rooms, looking for the occupants; they carried off whatever they could and burned the rest, even to the window frames and the doors. Then they forced their way into Aq~y-i-Ruhb4ni's house, searched out the men, found none, assaulted the women, plundered the house and went on to sack the home of Aq&y-i-Tiby~ni.
Page 42That part of the mob which had first attacked Aq&y-i-JadhbAni, followed the first mob to the home of AqAy-i-N~diri.
Here they assaulted the wife of Aq4-i-Diljii'i and threatened to kill her, drawing a dagger point across her throat. Then one of them caught sight of Aq4-i-N~idiri, and struck with a dagger at his skull, cutting it open. The others, unmoved by the cries of the ter-rifled women and children, closed in with their knives and cleavers, and killed him.
That afternoon a non-Bahá'í managed with great difficulty to enter the house. He found the martyr lying ~with his hands folded, his face and body drenched in blood; the eyes were partly open and looking upward; of the skull, only the forehead was left; the spinal column was torn away, and oniy the shoulders still in place.
Later, the police were notified that a man was lying unconscious on Mirza Street, and they sent out four men to carry him to a hospital.
They laid Aq4-i-Jadhb~nion a stretcher, taking him past the Police Station. It was reported that they dropped their burden several times as they went, to make sure that no life was left in the mutilated body. Before the municipal doctor could see him, he had passed away.
Leaving AqAy-i-N~diri'shome, the mob next attacked the home of AqAy-i-MuMjir. Here they laid hold of a brave young Baha'i, HidAyatu'llAh A'~amiy~n, and assaulted him with daggers, spades and axes, striking at him till he fell unconscious.
Then, thinking him dead, they stoned him and went their way. He lived, however; he was brought to Tihdn for treatment, and his condition is improving.
The mob had thoroughly sacked and looted the homes of Aq4-i-Tiby6ni, Aq~zAdih, Muhammad-i-Ja~b~ni, and Khud4'i, even burning the doors and windows.
Now they stormedthe house of Ijasan-i-MuMjir. Some of them began to loot the place and others climbed up to the flat roof terrace and here, with clubs, daggers and cleavers, they killed Muhijir. Then they tied his feet together with a rope and threw his body down to the courtyard.
Over and over, they raised his body to the roof and threw it down. And then their bloodlust eased and after destroying whit they could of the house, they left.
The National SpiritualAssembly had repeatedly warned the Persian Government, both in writing and in the course of official visits, of the situation. Some days prior to the martyrdom; they had once again protested the issuance by the Prime Minister of a circular of instructions containing statements contrary to the facts and intended to bar the Bahá'ís from employment throughout the country. Their communication had stated that the enemies of the Faith throughout Persia, encouraged by the Prime Mm � ister's instructions, would undoubtedly arise against the believers and perpetrate acts which would dishonor Persia in the eyes of the world. The Assembly had reminded the Prime Minister of the guiltlessness of the Bahá'ís and their good citizenship, urged him to rescind the order, and closed by saying that not even in the days of the tyrant Nisiri'd-Din Sh4h had such a decree against the Bahá'ís been issued.
No result was obtained from our representations.The local officials themselves assisted in the perpetration of these crimes.
Following the martyrdoms, the Guardian directed that the strongest representations be made afresh to the ShTh, the Prime Minister, the Parliament, and the Ministries of Justice and of the Interior. As a resdrlt, the adverse circular referred to above was officially rescinded by the issuance of another order, and officials were detailed from the capital to conduct an investigation in ShAh � rdd.
Considerable effort was required to forestall the enemies of the Faith there, who did all they could to misrepresent the facts in the case; the true situation however, has at last been clarified, with the result that a notorious gangster and some of his accomplices have been arrested, and it is hoped that the other ringleaders will also be brought to justice.
As to public opinion concerning the martyrdoms: the educated classes and nd-tables expressed disgust at the outrage and sympathy for its vi;tims. Except for the ecclesiastical order, very few persons of any class level approved of what had taken place. The press reported these events in detail, expressed horror, and laid the blame on the intrigues of the clergy. Very few newspapers held the Bahá'ís responsible. In Parliament
Page 43reference was made to the occurrences and a vote of censure taken. His Majesty was understood, in the course of a recent address, to allude to the case with reproach.
The names and professions of these three martyrs were: Mu1~ammad-i-JadhbAni, merchant and pioneer from Sangsar; I:Iasan-i--MuMjir-ZAdih, a merchant, resident of
SM-hr~d, and Asadu'llAhN~diri, a government functionary from Tihr&n. Solemn memorial services were held for them throughout Persia.
A message from the beloved Guardian, regarding another martyrdom and received after the martyrdoms at Shfthriid, follows: ~'In speaking of the martyrdom of JinAb-i-QuLAm-~usayn-i-Ri4v~n in Qahfaraj he expressed the greatest sorrow and pity and he wrote to us: The moving account was read. For that wronged and martyred one, that trusted and most obedient servant of the beauteous, self-subsistent Lord, I ask forgiveness and the exalting of his station, from the depths of my heart. Let them console the family on my behalf, and let Aq&y-i-VarquA send them 1,000 frim~ns from the Huq6q funds. Assure them that these calamities, and these hostilities and transgressions of the evil doers and the inimical, will all, according to the unfailing divine promises, vanish away, and the sun of glory and joy and power will shine from the horizon of that land.
The tyrannical will be afflicted with the direst of torments, and that op.-pressed community will wax powerful and gain the victory. Be assured. Be patient."
2. The National SpiritualAs the honored members are aware, on the 16th of DaymAh of the current year the honorable member AqAy-i-LankirAni in the course of a speech made reference to the Baha'is, and most regrettably directed against them defamatory and false accusations.
Although in the opinion of this Assembly, your honored selves and the speaker well knew that these statements were made only for political purposes, to incite feeling against the Baha'is, and that doubtless the honored speaker did not himself believe what he was saying � as the Qur'an tells us, "They said with their lips what was not in their hearts" � nevertheless this Assembly deems it necessary, in order to set forth the true facts in the case, to make the following representations to the revered national
Parliament:From the very inception of the Bahá'í Cause, those who found the progress of this religion detrimental to their own personal aims and material pursuits, arose with all their strength to destroy the followers of His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh.
With all their energies arousing the populace and its leaders against them, they urged them on to kill the Bahá'ís and pillage their property, until finally they shed the blood of over 20,000 followers of this Cause, old and young, men and women, not even sparing infants at the breast. And it was as the poet has written: ttTh is not the point of a thorn but it drips a martyr's blood."
In addition to slaughtering the Bahá'ís and carrying off their property, the adversaries of this Faith did not cease from defaming and calumniating them, and from their pulpits and in their books they called the innocent Bahá'ís now spreaders of atheism and heresy, now partisans of despotism and absolute monarchy, again revolutionaries and anarchists, again the tool of foreign political interests; and yet again they claimed that the very existence of these servants of God was contrary to the good of the nation; or that they had no patriotism; or again they circulated spurious writings such as the CcPolitical Confessions of KinAz Dolgorouki," falsely attributing these to our northern neighbors; and again ascribing the existence of this community to the political requirements of our neighbor to the south. In brief, they have continually held this guiltless peo-pie up before the public gaze, representing them in one form or another as the enemies of society, with the result that most of the population think it pleasing to God that they should either shun the Bahá'ís or heap persecutions on them.
But the Baha'is, who acknowledge His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh, on the testimony of all Sacred Scripture, as the Promised One of all ages and the Establisher of the oneness
Page 44of humanity � and regard His teachings as the cause of brotherhood and peace and concord among all nations and peoples, and as the one remedy for the world's ills, and consider the Sacred Tree as belonging neither to East nor 'West � feel this heavenly power to be beyond the imputations and threats and alarms of men; and with complete patience and forbearance, trusting in God and clinging to His grace, they have borne the heavy load of calumny that a hostile people have imposed on them. Under fire and sword and chains, on the rack, at the point of the spear, they have not flinched. With utter meekness, they have continued to teach the people and set forth the laws of God.
And so the fame of this Cause has spread around the world, and Babui'i communities have been organized in 78 countries of the globe, and the literature of this Faith has been translated into more than 45 languages, even published in Braille, and two great Houses of Worship have been raised in Turkist~n and the United States � so that men of perception acknowledge that the Bahá'í Faith is above the allegations of its enemies, and sanctified from their unseemly charges.
For it is a divine Faith, a divinely-revealed Law, heralded by all the Sacred Scriptures; and in the end mankind will, gathered beneath the teachings of the Life-Giver of men, withdraw their hands from aggression and become as one people, f or-getting old hostilities, extinguishing old fanaticisms and hates. Intelligent observers are aware that in spite of every calamity and persecution, today the followers of many different religions � Buddhist, Brahrnan, Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and many denominations � have come together in this Faith and live as brothers.
This is the mystery concealed in the holy Qur'Thic verse: ttHadst thou spent all the riches of the earth, thou couldst not have united their hearts, but God had-i united them It is indeed regrettable at a time when a great number of progressive nationalities and groups have become members of the Bahá'í Faith, whose Founder was a Persian, and in acknowledging His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh have affirmed their belief in all the Prophets of the past, and consider Persia as their Qiblit and point of adoration, and long some day to visit the homeland of the sacred Founder, and even to be buried in Persian earth � that the Persians themselves, compatriots of Bahá'u'lláh's, still after all these years cannot refrain from hostile acts, and consider this perspicuous Faith as some worldly scheme, and judge of the Bahá'ís � who have freely given up their property and their very lives to teach the people, exalt the Persians, and promote the happiness of men � in such a fashion.
For more than a hundred years, the Bahá'ís have been made the target of every sort of calumny and falsehood, and each man in his own way has attacked this guiltless people, and held them up to ridicule, or spread defamatory and libellous writings against them.
And yet the Bahá'ís have not stooped to answer their persecutors, and have left them to God and to the judgment of the wise. Now, however, that such statements have been made in an official place, the nation's Parliament, they feel obliged to break their silence and offer this communication to that honored body.
In view of the fact that AqAy-i-Lankir-Lni's purpose was avowedly to affirm that the Bahá'ís were taking part in political affairs and working against the welfare of the nation, this Assembly herewith presents in brief the Bahá'í views regarding total abstention from politics, as well as their utter devotion to Persia � homeland of the sacred Founder of their Faith � whose earth is soaked with the blood of thousands of their martyrs. It will thus become clear that the Bahá'ís are entirely innocent of the charges.
They oppose no government or people, nor do they interfere in the political affairs of any nation; to them, all are sustained by the grace of the one God, all are His children and servants. Their utmost desire is to serve this land, their greatest joy is to work for the education and enlightenment and spiritual guidance of their fellow Persians.
His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá, referring to noninterference in political matters, says: c(The community of God do not enter into politics, and they are not concerned with the governments of the world. We are apart from all communities, and with weeping eyes invoke God's grace and bounty on all peoples.
� We are commanded to obey the Government, we shun all enmity and discord. The friends must bring about world unity, they must promote, with the breaths of the All-Merciful, the oneness of all people. We have for partisan groups neither love nor enmity, for to the beloved of God these local strifes, political or religious, are of no import. We are the well-wishers of all, we know norning of illusory ideas. We endeavor to lay the foundations of unity, we abolish hatred among religions and peoples.
We seek universal peace, we desire truth and friend ship and reconciliation among all kindreds and communities.
This is the purpose of the Baha'is; this is the way of the spiritual.
Explain your nonpartisanship and make clear the fact that you are the well-wishers of all men; and spread the
Cause of God."His Holiness Shoghi Rabbani, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, says: "From political affairs and the hostilities of parties and governments, all must both inwardly and outwardly, in speech and in our hearts, completely abstain, keeping ourselves entirely free from every thought of this kind.
With no party should we seek political relationships, with none of these varied and conflicting groups should we affiliate. What connection has the Cause of God with political affairs, what concern with the enmities and discords, whether national or foreign, of nations and peoples? We must, with all dignity and wisdom, ardor and energy, steadfastness and patience, read continually and scrupulously obey, the loving counseis of the beloved Lord. With spiritual instrumentalities, we must improve the character of men, and not hold fast to political and worldly methods. With heavenly powers we must gradually change and subdue the hearts and look to the purifying of minds and souls � not seek after the promotion of our own name and fame, or think of winning a rank and station in this transifory world. We must express in heart and speech our complete nonpartisanship where political parties are concerned, and with word and deed demonstrate that we are the well-wishers of all humanity, whether governments or peoples for this is a fundamental
Bahá'íprinciple. At this time the most important matter, and that which will insure the protection and happiness of the friends, is none other than complete nonintervention in po-utica1 affairs and partisan groups, whether national or foreign. Regarding this, on many occasions Bahá'u'lláh and the Master revealed clear and emphatic teachings, and absolute instructions are set forth in the Bahá'í writings. Any attempt at interpretation of these would be as a mortal poison to the body of the Cause of God, would cast it into many an abyss, sully its pure raiment, completely shut off the spirit of confirmation, greatly afflict the friends, and deprive them of all the bounties of God."
His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá, concerning the future glory of Persia, says: "That ancient land will become the focus of shining grace, and the fame of her might will reach unto the East and the West. And she will be the center for the blessings of the All-Merciful, and the dawning-point of the graces of God. The ancient gloiy will return to her, and the closed doors will be flung wide, for the divine Luminary hath shone in her heaven and the Light of Truth hath raised Its banner above her. The song of the upper world hath sounded and the shining of the Supreme Concourse bath gone forth; the kingdom of God hath raised its tabernacle, the divine laws have been spread abroad.
Ere long thou wilt find that land fragrant with the breaths of holiness, that region glowing with the light of yore. Therefore must the Persians treasure this blessing, and praise the Lord of all creation that He hath vouchsafed to them such bounty and granted such adornment and repose. He bath made the old homeland to be the noblest of nations, and the ancient shelter to be the dayspring of the manifest Light. It is fitting that this bounty be cherished, and the Creator be lauded.
~ Thou pure Lord! Fromthe beginning Thou didst perfume the earth of IrAn with musk, Thou didst make her heart-stirring and full of wisdom and glittering with jewels. From her east, Thy sun did ever scatter light, from her west the moon did glimmer. Her land induceth iove, her heavenly plains are thick with herbs and flowers, her hillsides crowded with rich fruits, her meadows the envy of heaven's gardens; her mind born of the angels, her ardor a clamoring, floorless sea.
Page 46A group of Bahá'í students from Persia who have come to America to continue their studies.
"You will witness how by the confirmations of God, Persia shall burst forth, and her life-giving flood shall make the whole earth fresh and verdant. Those regions are the home of the blessed Tree, the land of the Desired One, and in the end they shall flourish in such wise that all the countries of the globe shall emulate her. Today, although the land of light is as a buried city, ere long it shall be as a house built up, and its everlasting glory shall shine forth.
It shall be a point of pilgrimage for all the world, and the chief nation of the globe, and the people of light shall glory amidst all peoples.
The future of Persia is all majesty and might.All the nations of the world shall look toward Persia with reverent regard; be ye assured, her advancement shall be such as to dazzle the minds of all the wise and great. This is the greatest glad-tidings; tell it to whomsoever thou wilt. This is a promise that shall not fail.
"You who are the well-wishers of the State, and true and obedient to the Government, , and harmonious, be ye occupied in service, and those amongst you who are employed by the Government, conduct yourselves with the utmost rectitude and truth, purity and detachment and Iustice."
There are many such teachings, requiring abstention from all political activity, and also prophesying the future glory of Persia. For the sake of brevity, we have contented ourselves with these few excerpts.
I have the honor to remain, Most respectfully yours, The Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia (Signed)
'Ali-Akbar FunitanParallel with their sufferings the Bahá'ís of Persia are steadily growing.
In the first year of the new century, 23 persons spent their entire time as traveling teachers (one of these was a woman, Ishr6qiyyih Dhabib, who went to 'Iraq). About 140 others pioneered.
Although the persecutions frightened seekers away from meetings, whenever there was relative quiet intensely interested persons would attend. Youth went to advanced teacher's classes under Bahá'í scholars, and then set out on trips.
Although a long waiting period is required of them, hundreds of new
Bahá'ís enrolled. InTihr~n there were as many as 76 teaching meetings a week. Receptions were arranged to acquaint new with old believers. Pioneering has been the order of the day, although the economic situation, primitive conditions, and unbearable local fanaticism obliged some pioneers to leave their posts. The National Spiritual Assembly is doing all it can to insure a steady pioneer effort � making a study of new areas, evaluating past experiences, and assisting settlers until they find positions. The Travel Committee drew up a 3 '/2 Year Plan to coordinate activities; meetings primarily for youth and the most noted older Bahá'ís were held in TihrAn to encourage settlement elsewhere and resulted in many volunteers.
Itinerants served as a liaison between communities.
Receptions honoring returned pioneers were held; their labors were praised and their recommendations studied.
Two Z~ihidTh families were able to settle in British BakchistAn. Dr. MisMh and his family were not able to remain in Afgh~nisdn.
Muhammad-Husayn T4m and family settled briefly in that country, having obtained visitors' visas, but the Afgb~n government did not renew these. Persian believers have, however, been able to maintain residence in other neighboring countries.
Miscellaneous activities of Persian Bahá'ís show the recent picture there: Development of the institution of the 19-Day Feast on a uniform national basis modeled after the procedure which the Guardian has established is a primary concern of the National Bahá'í bodyK A newsletter is provided free at Feasts and sold elsewhere, to deepen the knowledge of the friends. It has proved most popular; one result has been the spontaneous forming of literacy classes among older persons. The Feasts are held in several places on a given date and to each is sent a spokesman who talks on the news of the Faith. Tilirin has a list of 110 such speakers.
Management of the Feasts involves much committee work and constant meetings. At present consultation is provided for by having written suggestions sent in; these are transmitted to the local Bahá'í body, which answers each in writing.
One committee provides food, clothing, fuel and other necessaries for the needy; another arranges for their medical care.
4. Historic Bahá'í ShrinesThe house in which Bahá'u'lláh was born is now completely restored. Period objects to furnish it were searched out by 'Abbas iman. The work, still in progress, had so far cost twenty thousand ti5mAns. A like sum was collected from the believers to repair the Bahá'í cemetery at Ab6xlih, destroyed by a mob; 'Au Aq~ Quds Jiiribchi contributed the iron gate.
Bahá'í sacred and historic sites have long been sought out and purchased. The necessary research takes considerable time. Sites not yet determined are: the sacred house in Tihr&n where 'Abdu'l-Bahá was born; the house in SiyTh-Duhun near Qazvin where the Mb resided briefly. A register of all Bahá'í sites with descriptions and photographs is being prepared, and this will safeguard them in their original form through all time. With the help of the SliThi LSA, important repairs were made at $liaykh Tabarsi; other holy sites were also kept in repair, thousands of him~ins being expended. It is not always possible to purchase these sites; many belong to nonBahá'ís who are not anxious to seii.
The Committee in charge is constantly on the alert for opportunities to acquire them permanently. Where possible Bahá'ís live in them as tenants, keeping them safe and in repair.
At the Guardian's direction, the N.S.A. contributed 700 pounds to the Bahá'ís of Beirut toward purchase of their cemetery. Erection of the tombs of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs was begun. Much of the interior decoration of the Ti-hdn Ija~iratu'1-Quds and almost all wiring and installation of tubing was completed; the large building has indirect lighting and is provided with a stage; a great lamp hangs from the center of the dome. The garden, landscaped, has tree-lined avenues, a pool, a travelers' house and meeting hail, living quarters for a chauffeur, a garage.
Onesource of funds for improvements was a highly successful radio drama staged by Bahá'í youth.
The Temple lands, three million five hundred and eighty thousand square meters in extent, are administered by their own committee. Value of the land increased about one hundred thousand nim~ns when an underground water course was discovered there and a reservoir built. The National Estates Committee reports fifteen properties given to the Faith in one year, four bought and one sold. One of the gifts alone is valued at one million five hundred thousand riyAls. The National Spiritual Assembly has placed funds with the
National Hospice Committeeare being collected; relics and writings of the B~b, Bahá'u'lláh, the Master and the Greatest Holy Leaf are among these, and even a cannon ball from the siege of Tabarsi has been preserved.
Haifa pilgrims brought back instructions to emphasize the advancement of women and of youth, and the urgency of voting and studying the Administrative Order.
The Central Woman's ProgressCommittee was formed in 101; work accomplished included teaching literacy and other subjects to Bahá'í village women.
The National Bahá'í body sent out a circular on the progress of woman, including a translation from the Master's address in Philadelphia, June 9, 1912, and urged the Baha women not to lag behind their sisters of the West, stressing that the Persian Bahá'ís are striving to acquire the good qualities of western peoples, but reject false social standards including various types of dancing and dress current in the West. Literacy, knowledge of the Faith, and general knowledge, are the N.S.A~'s current goals for all Bahá'í women of
Persia.The N.S.A. is doing much to abolish the use of opium. Those using opium may not serve on Assemblies or committees until they have discarded the practice; the buyer, seller and smoker of the drug are all held culpable, and Bahá'í property owners and farmers are urged to abandon cultivation of the opium poppy.
The voting age in Persia was changed from 20 to 21; the age limit for youth is now 30; oniy youth may serve on local youth committees. A function of youth in large centers is to act as a liaison between them and the other local Assemblies in their area.
The Unity of the East and West Committee entertains foreign visitors to the capital, and provides lectures for them in foreign languages. It translates articles into and from Persian and in general is an important link between Bahá'ís around the world.
BRITISH ISLESIn this long-enduring citadel of western civilization the valiant spirit of faith has remained steadfast during the years of war, gathering its forces for a determined proclamation of the religion of God. From reports relating events during the years 19441946 prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, the following passages are chosen for their emphasis on the new and greater plan of action adopted at the
Centenary Convention."Moved and thrilled by the successful opening of the Centenary celebrations, we gathered for the annual Convention, at which occurred another event of the greatest importance, namely the resolution to adopt a Six-Year Plan for teaching the Faith, to terminate at the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the BTh in 1950. The Guardian was asked by cable to fix the goal at which we should aim and replied suggesting the formatiOn of nineteen local assemblies situated in all the various countries of the British Isles. Truly a great task for the energies of a new century. The Guardian subsequently wrote us, emphasizing the importance of the work we were undertaking: tThe English believers stand identified with this Plan.' We are coming, perhaps only rather slowly, to understand what this means, to realize that everything we do as a community, everything in our individual lives, must be entirely devoted to it, so that it must be the primary aim always before us all. It would perhaps be fair to say that, although concrete achievements this year may be small, we have acquired some realization of what the task involves and seen, too, some of the practical difficulties that will have to be overcome. Our next and urgent step is to
Page 49arise, both as a community and as individuals, to carry out the plan, and this depends largely on our being able to realize, to really deeply understand, what the successful conclusion of the Plan means, not oniy to the Bahá'í community, but to the country at large, which is yet unconscious of the new Revelation still so siowiy and so modestly being brought to its notice. So far we seem not entirely ready to take this next step � though one is preparing to go, no pioneer has yet arisen who has cast all other interests aside, moved to a fresh town and settled down to teach the Faith steadily and build up a community.
As. we said, one is just preparing to go, but many more are needed and until, at any rate, a good proportion of the needed pioneers have been speeded on their way, we cannot honestly say that the Six-Year Plan has properly started, because experience in other countries where the Bahá'í community has developed and expanded earlier than here has shown that pioneer settlement is an integral and essential part of the work.
ttllaving so discussed the needs of the plan and what lies before us, let us list the steps which have been taken to bring the Plan into being and to lay its foundations.
The first step was to form a committee to consider the whole situation and the best way to proceed.
They suggested setting a goal of nine pioneers to be settled by Convention of 1946 (hoping by then we should be benefiting by the end of the war and the subsequent changing of jobs, etc.) and a further ten by 1947, after that everyone to go all out to finish forming assemblies in each place settled.
They also listed the places where work had been done and it seemed possible to do more, and some other places where it would be desirable to try and establish communities. They are now engaged in gathering together information about the various places, for the help of pioneers as they arise to go to them.
"Meanwhile, the NationalAssembly, convinced that to strengthen the existing communities is a basic part of the Six-Year Plan work, since it is from their ranks that most of the pioneers and other helpers will come, has urged on the local assemblies the need for striving for ever closer unity amongst the members of their communities, so that not only will they be stronger and function better, but they will also acquire more and more the spiritual attraction which will draw other people to the
Faith.tCTWO more committees were set up to help with the Plan. Firstly, a committee to prepare and distribute a Postal Study Course on the Teachings and on matters useful to Bahá'í teachers, in order to help all the believers, whether in communities or alone, to forward the Plan. Also, after the experience of the Centenary celebrations, it was thought that Bahá'í exhibitions had a very useful function in calling attention of the public to the Faith, especially when such exhibitions can be held in an empty shop in a main street of a town where work is already being done or is about to commence. A committee was therefore appointed to remodel the material used for the Centenary exhibition and make it suitable for general use. This was done and the material has already been in use; it is hope4 that many more of these exhibitions will be held as time goes on and opportunity offers.
"Meanwhile pending the settlement of pioneers, the ordinary teaching work has gone on, in some cases in towns where there is one or more believers already living, in others where there are none, though it is very difficult to work in a town where there is not at least one resident Baha'i.
"The most steady and satisfactory teaching work has been done by two groups, Northampton and Blackburn. Northampton is still unable to find a center, but have kept on with their fortnightly meetings, holding them for part of the year in a caf6 and for a while in private homes, and their meetings are well attended. They have also kept the I 9-Day Feasts regularly and have in fact become an organized community, though still a small one. Blackburn built up interest first by advertisements in a local paper and, even before starting meetings, had twenty inquiries. Last November they started to hold regular fortnightly meetings, which have been well attended. The patient work of one believer over a long period of years is thus finally bearing fruit. Various visiting speakers have helped both groups and both have started a lending library to
Page 50help inquirers. Northampton has two new believers and Blackburn one.
CtLil has also for some� time held regular meetings with an interested attendance, and the one local believer has been helped by a visiting teacher from Manchester, who has gone over to speak at a number of the meetings. For a while a regular series of meetings was held in Nottingham, but results were not very encouraging, though interest in the Faith is there as we know from the large number of answers to advertisements. Visiting speakers went up for some of them, others were taken by two believers, who both live about ten miles away from Nottingham.
It is not easy to keep up a sustained interest when nobody lives there, but we hope to have a pioneer there soon. We held a small Centenary exhibition there. Blackpool is just now waking up and some people are showing interest in the Faith, and a book has been accepted by the public library, with a promise that another may be considered later.
Other places where meetings have been held include Ilkeston, Coventry, Birmingham and Buxton, where we took a halt during Summer School. like-ston also had a small Centenary exhibition, not well attended but very well reported in the local paper, which also noticed the Centenary itself. During the year, work has also been started in Norwich � quite a number of people were contacted whilst a believer in the Army was stationed there and several meetings were held. There is one new believer, who is now alone there.
ttThough no new assemblies have been formed during the year, there have been sixteen new believers, four of them not yet of voting age, and one believer came from America to live here. Against this, three of the believers have passed on and one, an American who accepted the Faith here, has returned to the United States.
Mr. Dowson of Sydney, N.S.W., is working here for some months. He has been in London and is now in Preston, Lancashire, and is able to help in Blackburn.
We have been in contact with several Bahá'ís serving in the U. S. Army here and one is at present a member of the London community. He recently spent a week's leave travelling around from one community or pioneer believer to another, paying short visits � a wonderful way of demonstrating the worldwide unity of the Faith.
CCTh communities have all worked hard during the year. London hoped, of course, to get a lot of new visitors at their meetings after the publicity given by the Centenary celebrations.
Unfortunately, about a fortnight afterwards the flying-bombs started, followed later by the rockets, which con � siderably reduced the attendance at public functions of any sort. They have, however, held their meetings regularly and have had a number of new visitors.
They have experimented with different forms of meeting on the various Sundays of the month, in an effort to appeal to different tastes, having sometimes a talk, sometimes a devotional meeting and sometimes a meeting at which questions are answered. They also held two meetings on weekday evenings in order to meet the convenience of inquirers who could not come on
Sunday afternoons. Their Naw-RjizFeast had a record attendance, larger than ever before, the Center being completely crowded out. They have also held two large public meetings, one a purely Baha one, the other on rather different lincs in cooperation with other organizations. The Bahá'í meeting was held at Ealing and was attended by about forty fresh people, the sublect being tWorld Citizenship.'
It received quite a lot of attention in the local press.
The other meeting, held in a hail in the center of London, was initiated by us but was organized in cooperation with several other organizations interested in the subject, which was ~First Steps towards World Unity.' Three wellknown people, unconnected with any of the organizations, spoke, followed by a Bahá'í who summed up in the spirit of the Teachings, without, however, mentioning the Faith by name. They are intending to hold another such joint meeting. Besides these big meetings, speakers have been sent to various other organizations. Two fireside meetings have been held regularly, one at South Kensington and the other at Ealing.
One public library has accepted a book and one a subscription to New World Order, and one bookseller has held a display of
Bahá'í books. Londonhas had one new believer during the year and three believers
Page 51absent on National Service have also returned to swell their ranks.
"Although many of the friends from other communities attended the national Centenary celebrations in London, the communities also held their own celebrations a little later on. Manchester's effort took the form of an exhibition similar to the London one, combined with a series of public meetings. The exhibition was visited by approximately 200 people and the meetings also attracted a number of interested friends.
They have also been advertising the Faith in Manchester papers regularly and have had both postal inquirers and visitors. They have held their meetings regularly, for a time having also a short devotional meeting prior to th~ public talks.
They also ran a study group for some months.The Youth Group too, has continued to function, holding reguflr meetings and sending its bulletins to young Bahá'ís in various parts of the country. Manchester finished the year with a shop exhibition in Salford and they hope to have others in different districts of Manchester in the near future. They have SIX new believers.
~tBradford, too, held a local Centenary celebration, also in the form of an exhibition, but this time in an empty shop in the center of the town. During a week they obtained 220 names in the visitors' book and a number also did not sign. They finished the week with a public meeting. They have held their public meetings regularly and also had a regular study class. Bradford is badly handicapped still by ill-health and by the number of young members absent on National Serv � ice, but one has just returned to Bradford on discharge from the Army and will be able to help the work there.
"Torquay's Centenary celebration took the form of an exhibition of Bahá'í books in a shop window and they had a bookstall in the entrance to the shop, which is right un derneath their Center. They also held meet ings every evening that week, taken entirely by local speakers, as Torquay was then a prohibited area, which was a great effort for a small community.
They advertised in the local press, which also published articles about the celebrations.
The young people's social evenings, run by Mrs. Matthews and Mrs. 'White, reported on last year, have developed a great deal. The young people are now taking an interest in the Faith and are interesting their parents, some of whom attend the Sunday meetings and are reading Bahá'í books. Also some of the mothers are helping with the social evenings. The little group collaborated in the International Youth Day on March 4th, with other Bahá'í groups all over the world. Not being yet declared Baha'is, they did nor attempt the rather ambitious program mapped out by the International Youth Committee, but they held a social meeting and invited their parents and friends and talks on the Faith were given.
A Bahá'í talk was given to the local Theosophical Society and attempts have been made to establish contacts in Newton Abbot and Exerter, though not yet with much success.
"In spite of the fact that Bournemouth have still not been able to find premises for a center, they have had a suc~essfu1 year, having increased their members by four new believers, one a youth member, and with three more just declaring themselves now. Having no center, their work is mostly done at fireside meetings in private homes and at one time they had as many as five fireside meetings going during a week. Miss South also rented a room at the Psychology Club and gave weekly talks, every alternate one being devoted to the BaWi'i Faith.
"We have not gone in for as much press publicity this year, either in the form of advertisements or otherwise. So far as advertising was concerned, in several towns it seemed that our advertisements were no longer attracting much attention and that all possible inquirers had already written, and it was therefore considered advisable to give them a rest for a little while, with the idea of starting again later if active work was being done there, especially to support a pioneer. At the moment the only ones actually running are in The Esperantist which over several years has brought and continues to bring a small but steady stream of inquirers, and in a Nottingham paper which we are keeping on to pave the way for the pioneer we hope to have there soon.
"Last year's Conventionrecommended that we should continue to employ the pub
Page 52licity agent who helped us for the Centenary. After some negotiation and some delay, this was arranged and he started work.
We soon came to the conclusion, however, that for the present, on account of the great events happening coupled with the small available newspaper space, it was not likely that much publicity could be obtained for the Faith this way and, at the suggestion of the publicity officer himself, the agreement was terminated after three months. One thing which we did, however, at his suggestion has proved quite useful. He obtained messages to the Bahá'í community for
Naw-Riiz from Dame SybilMannin, Mr. Shaw Desmond, Mr. Clifford Bax, Mr. Reginald Sorensen, M.P., and Mr. Christmas Humphreys, president of the Buddhist Society. These messages were featured in advertisements of the Faith which have been appearing weekly in the personal columns of The Times, The Manchester
Guardian and The YorkshirePost. Quite a number of inquiries have been received. An article on the Faith has appeared in Cavalcade and favorable reviews have appeared in the John o' Groats
Journal.ttThere has been another form of publicity, worked by one of the friends.
Mrs. Rideout of Amesburyis a member of the panel of people who regularly report on the B.B.C. religious programs. She frequently quotes from the Baha Writings in her reports and has also urged that the BJ3.C. allow a Bahá'í talk.
eCNew World Order has continued to appear this year, though at rather longer intervals on account of printing difficulties. One number was devoted almost entirely to an account of the Centenary celebrations and a report of the speeches given. The number of annual subscriptions has remained about the same � the communities have taken larger supplies but subscriptions amongst individual believers have not increased.
some time we have had a small cob lection of books which we lend to postal inquirers. During the year some books used a few years ago by the
National Teaching Committeewere added to this small store and now with the addition of some more books it has been formed into a National Lending Library, which is at the service both of inquirers and of those Bahá'ís who do not have access to the library of a local corn � munity, with the special aim of helping pioneers.
"As in previous years, we have been able to hold our various national functions, namely Summer School and the Teaching Conference, Summer School was held at Buxton. Accommodation was limited and was further complicated by staff difficulties, so that we could only take forty people for the Bank Holiday weekend and half that number for the rest of the week.
However, in spite of this the school was a great success. With the Six-Year Plan in mind and the fact that nearly all the people attending were Baha'is, it was devoted exclusively to subjects which would help prepare them for teaching.
The Teaching Conferencewas as itual held in Manchester in January, and was well attended. Everyone remarked that the discussion was more practical and that there was a more alive and active spirit in the gathering.
"On the legal side, we have during the year, continued our efforts to get suitable changes made in our Articles of Association, in order that the Inland Revenue will exempt us from tax. The matter moves very siowiy, mainly because the Chief Inspector of Taxes has not yet approved of the amendments we have suggested. The position is at the moment that we have consulted Counsel on the matter and the solicitor has sent a further letter based on Counsel's suggestions. We are also consulting the solicitor about amending the clause which provides for a Convention of 19 delegates, so that when needed through the progress of the Six-Year Plan, a larger number of delegates may be elected.
ccTowards the end of this year events in the world have moved and we have once more been in touch with some of our fellow believers on the Continent of Europe.
David Hofman visited ParisWe have also corresponded with them and sent two parcels over to them.
We have also received a letter from one of the believers in Lyons and have been in touch again with the International
Bureau at Geneva.ctThe story of the Cause this year started with two important events, the celebration
Page 53of the first Centenary of the Faith, which was a Bahá'í world event, and an event concerning our British community, the adoption of the Six-Year Plan. The first event has come and gone and is now part of our history, the second, even now after the passing of a year, lies almost entirely in the future. The Guardian has said that the Plan constitutes a landmark in the history of the Faith in the British Isles and that the immediate destinies of the entire community depend upon it. These words need surely to be pondered carefully by all of us. Never before has the Bahá'í community in this country been called upon to face so clearly the implications involved in acceptance of the Bahá'í Faith and the responsibility which that entails to spread the Faith to others. We are now confronted with a very definite and concrete task, to establish the Cause in nineteen towns in the British Isles in the coming five years, for a Five-Year Plan is what it has now become, and the job still remains before us. As we have said, the first step is the establishment of pioneers, at least one in all these nineteen places. That must be done before anything else and everything else must yield place to this task.
The Guardian assures us that twhen once a few bold, self-sacrificing individuals have arisen to serve, their example will no doubt encourage other timid wouldbe pioneers to follow in their footsteps' and reminds us that tthe history of our Faith is full of records of the remarkable things achieved by really very simple, insignificant individuals, who become veritable beacons and towers of strength through having placed their trust in God and having arisen to proclaim His Message.'
'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to the English believers, no doubt foreseeing these times we are living in now: tThey must not rest day or night but strive to illumine the children of men, and awaken souis.
This is not the day of silence. This is not the day of rest'."
ThE SIX-YEAR PLANConvention 1944 was held in London during the week of the Centenary celebrations.
It was distinguished by a strong feeling, shared by delegates and other friends alike, that there was need for the community as a whole to enter some clear definitive process in its work, in order to concentrate and direct its energies, which so far were general and largely unrelated, towards some specific goal. This feeling found expression in the following cable to the Guardian: � "Co ention desires Six-Year
Plan terminate Centenarymartyrdom Mb begs you signify goal to be achieved."
To this the Guardian replied: � (twelcome spontaneous decision.
Advisespread over England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire praying signal victory."
Thus was born the Six-Year Plan. Of it the Guardian has said the following in successive communications: � "The Six-Year Plan which the
Englishbelievers have conceived and are now energetically prosecuting constitutes a landmark in the history of the Faith in the British Isles.
It is the first collective enterprise undertaken by them for the spreaA of the Faith and the consolidation of its divinely appointed institutions."
ttThe Plan constitutes a direct and grave challenge to the English Bahá'í community in its entirety.
It should be regarded as the greatest collective enterprise ever launched by the followers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the British Isles. It is, thus far, one of the most significant undertakings embarked upon by the members of the Ba1A'i National Assemblies during the opening years of the second Bahá'í century.
To it, as already observed, the immediate destinies of the community of the English believers are linked, and on it must depend the future orientation and evolution of the institutions which the members of that community are laboring to erect for the diffusion of the principles, and the establishment of the Faith, of Bahá'u'lláh in their country."
So important a task, fraught, as the Guardian indicates, with such implications for the future, at first fell lightly upon the consciousness of the community, and it was oniy as the practical requirements of the Plan came to be understood that the friends began to realize what an enormous undertak
Page 54ing confronted them. Considerations, for instance, such as the f allowing: � 1. In six years the community must be more than doubled, if the nineteen Spiritual Assemblies are to be established.
2. Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire are virgin territories, requiring pioneers to establish the Faith there.
3. The smallness of our numbers and resources makes settling of believers to form communities impracticable, and we shall have to count on a large influx of believers. This seems to indicate that the time has arrived when people will come to the Faith "in troops." Our own knowledge and Vision must be adequate.
The N.S.A. appointed a Committee whose chief function before being dissolved was to suggest a plan of action. This was adopted with minor modifications by the N.S.A. and is now in process of beitig carried out.
Simply, it is this: � In the early stages of the Plan the nineteen new places should be tCpj~~ pointed," and the later stages should be occupied with a continual teaching circuit, directing all the forces of the community towards the development of Spiritual Assemblies round the nineteen pinpoints.
The N.S.A. aims at nine pinpoints by Convention 1946, nineteen by Convention 1947; the remaining three years to be devoted to a concerted effort to bring all nineteen places to community status.
"With regard to the communities: London has had rather a changeful year. Its members have been increased by the return of several evacuated members, now that the war is over and by the removal of several friends from other parts of the country. On the other hand the oniy two pioneers at the moment at work for the Six-Year Plan have been contributed by London. Changes in the London assembly and its officers halfway through the year were caused by their departure together with other resignations for various reasons. Their meetings have varied in form and in time during the year but have not attracted very many people and the community can report only two new believers. On the other hand, London contributed the bulk of the speakers for the Hyde Park venture, reported further on in this report, which was originally organized by the N.S.A. though later turned over to London. In order to contact people for whom Sunday is not a suitable day, they also held periodic meetings on a weekday evening.
They held a large public meeting in a hired hail in July, in conjunction with two other organizations, and they also took an active part in the two meetings organized by the N.S.A. at the time of the UNO meetings.
Both the Preparatory Commissionand the General Assembly of the United Nations met not many yards from the London Center and during the meetings of the latter a large notice of welcome to the delegates was displayed in the Center windows. London is also experimenting with another form of publicity, namely posters in buses. Another attempt to attract people to the Center took the form of an Art Exhibition, which displayed the work of Bahá'í artists and of a friend associated with the Cause for many years.
In this way a number of people were led to make the acquaintance of the Center. Talks have been given to various other organizations.
London has kept all the big feasts and the commemoration meetings have been held and attended by some at the proper times, though repeat meetings have been held for those who could not attend night meetings. Fireside meetings have been held at various times of the year in different parts of London, one of the new believers being a result of the Ealing fireside meetings-~Manchester has been working very hard and can report a good measure of success, with six new believers. Since January their public meetings have grown from just a handful till now they get an average of thirty, and they have also held a number of fireside meetings.
At the beginning of the year they held a shop exhibition in Salford. Not many inquirers followed up their initiate interest at the exhibition by attending meetings, but many must have been made familiar with the Faith. A very important feature of Manchester's work has been the effort to develop Altrincham � over the years much work has been done there and now prospects are so encouraging that Manchester hopes it will be adopted as one of the goal towns of the
Six-Year Plan. Manchester YouthGroup has continued to hold regular meetings and sends its monthly newsletter
Page 55to a very wide circle, both in this country and abroad.
"Bournemouth has had rather a diflicult year. An unhappy situation arose when it was discovered that one believer had not properly understood the Baha teachings on spiritualism.
These were explained and the Guardian also wrote a full explanation, but she withdrew from the Cause and two others followed her, on account of this and other teachings which they found they could not accept. The community has been further weakened in numbers by the departure of two voting members and two youth members for London, and it now finds itself with only just enough members to justify an assembly.
As some of these are often ill and unable to attend assembly meetings, it is very difficult for the assembly to function properly. Nevertheless active teaching work has been done all the time. Most of it has taken the form of fireside meetings, since they arc still unable to find a place for a center, but a big public meeting was held in February, which was very well attended, and Bahá'ís have also spoken to other groups like the Esperantists. The little handful who do the active work in Bournemouth deserve a sin. cere tribute for the way in which they are keeping the community and the teaching work going.
ccTorquay shows a great example of what a small community can do. Though only lust over the minimum number for an assembly, and at that not all members are able to be active, they keep their public meetings going regularly, and their young people's weekly meeting has become not oniy a social evening but also a study class held on a separate evening.
But more than that, they have undertaken active extension work, trying to work up a circle of interested people in Exeter. Regular meetings have been held there since January and Torquay believers have travelled there to hold them, undeterred by the worst of the winter weather. Though they could not find a very suitable hail there and though audiences have been small, they have one or two people who attend regularly and who are trying to help make further contacts.
This is a really fine contribution to the Six-Year Plan by such a small community.
ttBradford suffered more than any other community by the absence of members on National Service and they have been glad to welcome back two of them since the war ended, to help in the community work. Others have still to come home but should arrive before long. Meetings have been held regularly and have been taken both by members of the local community and by visiting speakers.
Bahá'í talks have also been given to other organizations such as the International Friendship League and the Bradford Business Men's Club and have aroused much interest. A well-supported study class has also been held. One of the newspapers has given them periodic writeups. Five members of the Bradford community, which has up till now included Leeds in its area, live in the latter city and they have recently' started intensive teaching work there, fully supported by the Bradford Assembly.
Leeds has been adopted as one of the goal towns of the Six-Year Plan and, as already mentioned, recently a shop exhibition was held for a fortnight in one of the main streets beginning and ending with a big public meeting.
The Leeds believers, helped by other members of the Bradford community, put a lot of hard work into this campaign; it made an excellent beginning to their local teaching, which is being continued by fireside meetings.
"Though many of the wartime difficulties still persist, the Publishing Trust has worked hard during the year. Seven publications have actually been received from the printers during the year, including the 1946 diaries. Several of these are pamphlets, none of them very big books. Three more are at present in the hands of the printer. A long list of books and pamphlets is planned and most of them are in the course of preparation.
t(On the administrative side, we have at last completed the arrangements for the change in the Assembly's Articles of Association as a private company, which we spoke of in last year's report.
The Chief Inspector of Taxes eventually approved the draft submitted to him, and the changed wording has been incorporated in the Articles and approved by the High Court of Justice,
Chancery Division. Thismeans that in future, for taxation purposes, we can be
Page 56accepted as a socalled tcharitable' body, which includes religious bodies, with consequent remission of tax. At the same time the clause regarding the number of delegates to the Annual Convention has been changed to allow of expansion as the number of believers in the country grows.
"At the request of one of the local assemblies the N.S.A. drafted the wording for a marriage certificate, which it is proposed to have printed after the Guardian has approved it. This certificate will of course have no legal standing � it is simply a certificate that a Bahá'í marriage has taken place.
tcThe current Bahá'í year has seen the end of the fighting both in Europe and in the Far East. Already last year we could report being once more in touch with the friends in France and Switzerland. This year letters have been received from believers in Holland, Norway, and Czechoslovakia, and just a few weeks ago the ban on communication with Germany was lifted, so we hope to be hearing from the friends there also very soon. The goode news has just been received that they have reestablished their National Spiritual Assembly, which was suspended in 1937.
"Th end of the war has meant a focussing of public interest more and more on the new organization by which it is hoped that future war will be avoided and the nations come to live harmoniously with each other. The General Assembly of the United Nations Organization held its first meeting in
London in January. Allthe delegates were sent a letter of welcome from the British Bahá'í Community, together with a leaflet containing passages from the 'Writings on the subject of World Government.
One delegate from Ethiopia sent us a letter of thanks. Further, whilst public interest was focussed on efforts to develop international co-opera-non, a public meeting was held on January 9th in London, at Carton Hall, which is very near the place where the UNO General Assembly was meeting. Attendance was not so large as was hoped, as the weather was bad, but discussion was interesting.
A further but smaller meeting on the same lines was held on April 17th.
ttA little while before the UNO meeting, a World Youth Conference was held in London. It was not possible for us to take any part, as the meetings were confined to delegates, except for a big one at the Albert Hall which some Bahá'ís attended.
A letter of good wishes was sent to the Conference and the secretary was asked to place some free literature in the meeting room.
~tFo11owing statements in the House of Commons sympathetic to the idea of world government, both the Foreign Minister, Mr. Bevin, and Mr. Anthony Eden, were sent letters and literature. Mr. Bevin's private secretary sent a cordial letter of thanks.
ceThere have been two new activities in our community life this year, which it is intended will be repeated in coming years. One was the commemoration on September 11th of the anniversary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í first public talk in the West.
The other was the attempt to attract people to the Faith by talking about it at the open air forum in Hyde Park. For a number of Sunday mornings, several London believers gave talks there to good crowds.
Winter weather obliged them to stop for some months but it is intended to start again very soon, as this is a good way of introducing the Faith to large numbers of people.
~Tor the first time for some years we have had a Youth Committee. It has worked entirely by correspondence, as its membership was drawn from all parts of the country.
It has produced a report on methods of attracting young people, which has been sent to all local assemblies, and it is now working on the possibility of producing a Youth Bulletin and also on the program for a Youth Day at Summer School."
EGYrTCairo, a cultural capital of IslAm, has become the seat of one of the most impressive Bahá'í national headquarters yet constructed in East or West. Built to serve as seat of the Centenary celebrations, this Haziratu'1-Quds has created much interest in the Bahá'í message, as the reports of the Egyptian Assembly testify.
~The completion of the Ha~iratu'1-Quds in time for the Centenary, and the magnificent manner in which the sacred occasion was celebrated therein were but a majestic call announcing the glad tidings of the new spirit infused in the body of creation, a new
Page 57inspiration destined to elevate the world of humanity, and a new life exhilarated by the Divine Love. For, just as the building, with its beautiful location, excited the curiosity of the multitudes, the celebrations, in their turn, extended its significance and purpose far and near.
"The banner of the Greatest Name was unfurled, and the Teachings and Principles widely disseminated. Groups of inquirers called at all hours in such increasing numbers that the Bahá'ís scarcely found time to carry on their administrative work.
"The following message dated July 17th, 1945 was received from the Beloved Guardian, through his secretary: � tHe was very happy to read of the wonderful progress made by the Faith in Egypt during the past year in the annual report; likewise the reports of the convention and Centenary celebrations rejoiced his heart, and he felt moved, in view of the activity and devotion of the believers there, to launch them upon a new field of service, namely teaching and establishing the Cause in new localities.
In India, Persia and America wonderful results have been obtained by Bahá'í pioneers and settlers, who, leaving their homes, have founded new areas in places where the Faith was unknown and have been able to raise its banner in many virgin fields.
CH feels that the time has now come for the beloved Egyptian friends to likewise take this important step, and he has therefore contributed one thousand pounds to be used to help finance pioneers and aid in the general teaching work.'
NEW SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIESttAccording to the scheme of teaching the Cause and establishing new
Spiritual Assembliesthrough Bahá'í pioneers and settlers, the National Spiritual Assembly was able to raise the number of existing Spiritual Assemblies to seven by constituting three more Assemblies, one each in Suez, Tanta and Sohag, whereby the number of centers was proportionally increased. Efforts are being made to encourage the believers to settle in more centers where it is hoped Spiritual Assemblies can be formed, and new centers established."
SUDANtcAided by the confirmation of Bahá'u'lláh, two of the believers Hassan Effendi El Saeed of Port-Said, and Rashad Effendi El Hamamsy of Cairo, were able to settle in Kharti~m, Sudan. Accompanied by their families, they left on January 23rd and February 27th, 1944, respectively.
tSince their arrival in Khartiim, the Bahá'ís there were greatly encouraged and inspired. The report of Rashed Effendi, who was transferred back to Egypt after six months stay in Kharti5m, is replete with joyful news. The number of existing, accredited Bahá'ís in Kharnim is nine, and another believer lives in Singa. The Cause is also attracting the interest of still others in this area.
The center in KhartAm is well organized in accordance with Baha
Administration. Meetingsare regularly held on Sundays and the nineteen day Feasts are well attended. They have established a small library, and are in constant communication with the National
Spiritual Assembly.""Sabri Effendi Elias, of Alexandria, was able to return to Ethiopia, after a prolonged absence dating from the outbreak of the Italian war against
Ethiopia in 1935. He(cstopping for a few days in Khartiim he met the Bahá'ís of Sudan, and shared with them the joyful news of the progress of the Cause.
was accompanied by his wife who is likewise giving hearty support in serving the Cause in that country.
Their reports show that the Word of God is being promoted in a wonderful way, and it is our earnest hope that these friends will succeed in obtaining a permanent stay in Ethiopia.
PERSECUTIONS CONTINUECCAS the Cause achieves more progress and spreads its influence over new areas in Egypt, its adherents, in like manner, are exposed to attacks of the ignorant masses, aroused and stirred by their fanatic leaders.
The persecutions instigated during 1944, and particularly since the Centenary celebrations were
Page 58held, testify to the fact that there is an organized and antagonistic movement tending to stop, or at least to impede, the progress of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, which the opponents consider a threat to the Faith of IsUm, and destructive to its authority.
"Motivated by an assumption neither based on sound foundations nor the product of a sincere search for truth the Shari'ah Moslem courts from time to time consider cases of individual Bahá'ís and thereupon issue groundless, misleading and illogical judgments involving the worst consequences they can conceive.
"These verdicts are published in certain newspapers, which to our regret, do not also publish our replies to these false charges. As a result, the fanatic elements find reinforcement and vindication for the attacks they launch against the
Baha'is.Assembly had been newly established, a serious disturbance took place and the Bahá'ís are still suffering from the attacks of the aroused mobs.
A number of them were beaten and even the policemen bad great trouble in dispersing the agitators.
ttAnri-Bahá'í proclamations were circu-lared throughout the city, defaming the Bahá'í Cause, and warning the people against association with the Baha'is. In order to spread the warning to the utmost, the instigators took the occasion of the month of RamadTh, the Moslem month of fasting. This being a seasonal custom they published a timetable in which they quoted many excerpts from the last verdict issued by the Shari'ah courts of Arish, in 1944, by which Bahá'ís are considered heretics, who have deviated from the Moslem religion; being thus apostate, their marriage contracts with Moslems become null. A charge against the instigators was brought by the Bahá'ís and is now under consideration.
BAHÁ'Í MARRIAGE CERTIFICATESt~A Bahá'í marriage certificate issued by the Spiritual Assembly of Cairo was presented by Mohamed Effendi Kamal of Beni-Suef, to the Immigration Department, with a view to obtaining a permanent stay in Egypt for his wife, a Palestinian subject.
(CHis application was not approved, on the ground that the Bahá'í Faith is nor recognized by the Egyptian government, and consequently Bahá'í marriage certificates could not be regarded as legal documents. His wife was thereupon requested to quit Egypt. An appeal has been submitted to high authorities for further consideration.
Negotiations With the"The current persecutions, the frequent judgments issued by the Shari'ah Moslem Courts on cases of Bahá'í individuals, the judgment of the Grand Mufti of IsUm of Egypt by which he proclaimed the independent status of the Bahá'í Faith, and the critical position affecting the affairs of the Bahá'í community in general, have recently been considered by the
National Spiritual Assembly.t~The memorandum is in preparation through which the Bahá'ís hope to receive the sympathetic consideration of the government, whereby, in the light of the facts of the matter, it will not hesitate to extend protection to the Egyptian Baha'is, and give them the right to enjoy the privileges sanctioned by Constitutional Law on an equal footing with other religious communities.
Publishing Activities(cThree committees have been charged with the responsibility of translating Bahá'í literature, and of furnishing articles to the newspapers on every possible occasion.
CCThe tDispcnsarion ofSurvey of the Centenary, as well as other items of interest have been translated into Arabic and are now in process of publication. 'God Passes By' is now being translated.
SUPPORT FROM 'IRAQ"These undertakings were greatly encouraged by the kind message received from 'IrAq, in which the
National Spiritual Assemblyexpressed their desire to share half of the expenses.
"An article was supplied to the Masri (newspaper), commenting on the activities of the Bahá'ís of America in connection with the
San Francisco Conference.the Bahá'ís of Egypt, and dealt mainly with the principles of tFreedom of Thought'; tFreedom of Belief'; ~Oneness of Religion'; and the CAbd t of all Prejudices.'
BAHÁ'Í SCHOOLIt is beautifully situated at Port Eouad, opposite Port Said, on the Eastern bank of the Suez, and overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.
A fifteen day program was held from July 15th to 3 0th.
"Seventeen members from different places in Egypt, attended the school.
Many interesting subjects were studicd, and lectures and debates were also included in the program.
"The results were cxcellent indeed, and it is hoped that a session of the schooi, on a wider scope, will be arranged next year.
'IRAQ In proceeding from country to country to survey the condition of the Baha community, one is constantly reminded how thoroughly the world has prepared for enmity and strife, and how pitifully ineffective has been any preparation even for the idea of peace.
Truth has had to serve in a garrison, and fellowship has been confined in a prison girt by many walls, from racialism to nationalism, and from class interest to prejudice of creed.
In one part of the world the Bahá'í community is oppressed by the state; in another part by the mosque. Marked and conditioned by its own particular tradition, each Bahá'í community to some extent struggles with the psychic ghost of opposition after the actual opposition has ceased.
But the ifiany Bahá'í communities, diverse as they out � wardly may be, weak and ineffective as they may appear, more and more rapidly take on the characteristics of the only true world community that can exist today.
Moral energy and mental clarity steadily increase among the Baha'is, since they are related to the creative power which gathers the peo-pies together to produce mankind.
In 'Idq, as in Egypt and Persia, Isl&m makes the psychological environment in which the Bahá'í community has developed.
Public facilities taken for granted in a country like America are denied the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in 'Iraq where ecciesiasticism has been the law and the court of the state. In such a theatre one can follow the dramatic course of events produced by the meeting of the old era and the new. Those who fail to attain unity with the Manifestation of God in His day can never agree among themselves.
That is why even a handful of true believers eventually become the axis around which the society revolves.
From the report of thet~The Teaching Committee has endeavored to meet the increasing need of
Bahá'í literature. Studygroups were formed and held their sessions daily in the foundation hail of the Haziratu'1-Quds as well as in the homes of the friends in different parts of the city, for that urgent, vital purpose.
The meetings of these groups were presided over and directed by teachers of deep knowledge appointed by the National Teaching Committee to encourage the hungry souTh of the beginners, and the seekers after truth through the Divine nourishment of the Bahá'í revelation.
DISSEMINATION OF LITERATUREAssembly, in discharging its responsibility of diffusing the light of the Bahá'í Faith and in instilling its celestial spirit in the heart of those seekers after its truth, has placed large quantities of Bahá'í books and pamphlets, in various languages at the disposal of the teaching committee which has disseminated them among a great number of people of every religion, race, and rank throughout the country.
"As a direct consequence of these activities, a number of these inquirers were attracted to the Faith and enlisted as believers in the New World
Order of Bahá'u'lláhand became active members in the Bahá'í Community.
CtThe influence of these teaching activities was not restricted to the local areas of
Page 60Baglidid, but has penetrated to other places of the country. Many friends of other centers were stimulated by the Anniversary and rose up, with ~ new zeal, to promote the Bahá'í Message in their respective centers.
!CReports from teachers reaching the National Spiritual Assembly show their splendid activities in the field of teaching, and that people of every shade of opinion have been attracted to the Faith.
The National SpiritualAssembly hopes that in the fulness of time these will become the torch bearers of the Faith of
Bahá'u'lláh.of 'Ir4q, with the cooperation of the teaching committees, have extended valuable assistance to the management and organization of their teaching work, and of utilizing the capacities and talents of the individuals for the welfare of the Faith.
and isolated believers in several localities such as Mosul, Karktik, 'Am~rih and 'Aziziyyih are in constant and direct touch with the National Spiritual Assembly and are receiving their spiritual support. Their report proved that teaching has become their highest goal in life, and their labors have resulted in the fruitage of a few new believers, establishing a firm nucleus for a Bahá'í community. The National Spiritual Assembly confidently hopes that through the confirmations of our beloved Guardian we shall have several new Local Assemblies in the near future.
CHANNELS OF TEACHINGttMeans and channels of teaching in 'Iraq are very limited. Owing to the deep religious fanaticism and ignorance of the large majority of the people of 'IrAq, the only possible means which the difficult environment offers for this important service is through personal contacts and individual teaching. The friends in 'Ir&q cannot overstep this limit for fear of still more repression which may injure the vital progress of the Faith.
"Publicity through newspapers and magazines, a great instrument and very effective system for the promotion of the interests of the Faith, is not available to us. Editors in 'Iraq dare not publish an article in favor of the Faith.
They do not hesitate, however.to publish articles, against the Faith whenever the situation or their interest demand.
ttAnother valuable means for the enlightenment of the public about the Faith is the libraries.
Unfortunately, the librarians in tlrAq do not provide themselves with Bahá'í books with the exception of an English library where Bahá'í books occasionally are found.
"Another important means for teaching is the lecture platform which is strictly denied to the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq. There is no opportunity for any Bahá'í to deliver a speech or give a talk to a group of people in 'Ir~iq. Another more important, more vital instrument for the promotion of the Faith is the press which is strictly forbidden to us. The National Spiritual Assembly has many times approached the authorities for legal permission to print some Bahá'í literature, but each time this was flatly refused.
"It is painful to report that this great deprivation of vital rights has blocked the highway of teaching.
The National Spiritual Assemblyis at the present time following its former way of procuring the Baha literature in the Arabic and Persian languages chiefly from Egypt. Attempts have been made to print some pamphlets abroad but it was found, after experience, that this method costs much more than that of printing in the local press.
ttAnother more useful, more universal instrument for the promotion of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh is the radio broadcast which we can not employ to reach the people.
Were this most effective and comprehensive channel available to us we would have launched a nation wide campaign of teaching the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Radio broadcasting in 'Iraq is a governmental institution and is therefore under the control of the authorities and its use is restricted according to the interests of the government. Hence the only practical means remaining in operation under our disposal is the method of personal contacts and the slow way of individual teaching which is so limited in its use, so narrow in its range, so restricted in its results, especially when capable and meritorious teachers are comparatively few.
Page 61Convention of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir~q, it was resolved to establish a public library in Baghdad, to be chiefly devoted at its inception, to the best current literature, with a section dedicated to the Bahá'í books. Gradually the Baha books may be increased in quantity until, in time, this library will become a Bahá'í bookstall. For some months the National Spiritual Assembly has been looking for a suitable man whose knowledge and experience in teaching can utilize every opportunity offered by this library for teaching the Faith to the enlightened and intellectual classes of the people. The National Spiritual Assembly has taken this matter very seriously, as it believes that this plan would in time be an institution of great benefit and far reaching interest to the Faith. The sum of ID. 2000/ as preliminary budget for the establishment of this vital plan has been al � loted, and the committee concerned is doing its best to find a suitable shop for this purpose.
ADMINISTRATIONAssembly has consecrated a great deal of its endeavors during the year covered by this report to consolidate the administrative order among the Local Assemblies and the National and Local
Committees. The NationalSpiritual Assembly realizes full well the importance of, and the necessity for, the consolidation of the Bahá'í committees and the strict application of the Bahá'í Administrative Order among the Bahá'í institutions. To see that this was developed and established by the committees and individuals, the
National Spiritual Assemblydecided to visit the local assemblies to see how the principles and precepts of the administrative order are being applied and to guide these assemblies to the best way of executing the Laws and Ordinances of the administrative order in discharging their duties and obligations.
The National SpiritualAssembly held a session in the village of 'AvAshiq, where it consulted with the local assembly and the believers of that village, as well as with representatives of the
Bahá'ís of Ic1hy~bih.This session lasted a day long during which time the National Spiritual Assembly had a good opportunity to give them the necessary practical advice and counsel for better organization in their administrative transactions and the invigoration of their spiritual activities.
tcEurthermore the National Spiritual Assembly studies carefully the records of the. sessions of all the local spiritual assemblies as well as all the suggestions made at the Nineteen-day Feasts of all the centers, with the intention of knowing the range and nature of their activities, and is in direct contact and communication with all centers. Moreover, in most meetings of the Nineteen-day Feasts, ].ectures are delivered and explanations are made on the subject of administration for the assistance of the believers and their increased understanding of the scope and range of this sacred Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
COMPLETION OF THE GUEST"At the outset of this year the construction work of the Guest House was progressing well, and nearing completion with the exception of fixing the doors and windows and electric equipment.
Then work was de.-layed and finally stopped on account of the shortage in building materials such as wood, window panes, etc., while the small quantities of building materials which were to be found in the market stores were under the Government control and were not available for civil use.
"At the commencement of the work the authorities where quite reluctant and very strict about supplying the necessary materials for the completion of the Guest House. The building was registered as a personal house in the name of a believer.
But the influx of the Persian pioneers and their lodging in the Guest House provoked and excited the suspicions and apprehension of the authorities and thereupon an order was issued stopping the work, and for a time the UaPratu'1-Quds was visited by many officials in order to be sure that this building is not intended to be used as a rest house or hotel for the Bahá'í visitors and travellers.
tIn the meantime the National Spiritual Assembly was compelled to take immediate action for the evacuation of the Guest House which was actually occupied and over
Page 62crowded by the Persian pioneers, and after great difficulty and energetic efforts, permission for the completion of the Guest House was procured and work was resumed again.
By January of the present year the work was entirely completed. When our beloved Guardian was informed he graciously sent us the following message: ~The glad tidings telling of the completion of the Guest House has been a source of immeasurable pleasure and extreme exhilaration and is at the same time a brilliant proof to the arduous activity, laudable resolution, energetic endeavors and warm enthusiasm.
A copy of the photo of this construction will be placed in a chamber of the blessed Baha and another one will be reproduced in the Bahá'í World ~o that the Bahá'ís of the East and of the 'West as well as the pilgrims 0� the Holy Land might see the high endeavors of the representatives of the Bahá'í community in the City of God and it would be the cause of pleasure and cheerfulness to the Bahá'ís of the East and of the West.'
ccThe total sum expended so far upon the construction of the Guest House amounts to ID. 12000/ � or about $48,000.00 a part of which the friends of 'Tr~q have contributed while the other part is a loan made by the
National Spiritual AssemblyAssembly has made many arduous attempts to get permission for the erection of the Hall which is the third, and last component part of the
UaPratu'1-Quds. Havingsucceeded in procuring the necessary permission from the municipality the plan of the Hall was f or. warded to the
Ministry of Suppliesfor the acquisition of materials. But the Ministry hesitated for a time claiming that this building had been used as a place of worship by the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq.
In this case it could not be built without the knowledge and permission of the Ministry of the Interior, and actually the case was referred to the above two Ministries.
The National SpiritualAssembly is continuing to exert pressure to acquire permission for the erection of the Hall in the way and manner that meets with the blessed wish of our beloved Guardian, who has time and again stressed his wish for the completion of the entire building. In a recent letter dated April 5, 1945 we received from him the following urgent message: "tAnd now it is incumbent upon you to concentrate your minds upon the construction of the Hall and hold fast in all ways and means until the necessary steps for its erection be made and you are honored in the successful completion of this blessed achievement.'
APPLICATION OF THE BANAlCCThe gradual growth and perpetual progress of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and the corresponding decline and disintegration in the fortunes of the existing religious systems and institutions, are two factors of composition and decomposition which, working at the same time and in contrasting directions, have given the followers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh an opportunity to apply and put into practice the Laws and Ordinances of the Most Holy Book.
The National SpiritualAssembly has stressed upon the Bahá'ís the necessity of applying the Laws revealed in the tKidb-.i-Aqdas' especially in regard to marriage, and open declaration of the Faith on the part of the believers in connection with legal transactions and official business. Moreover the National Spiritual Assembly in order to acquaint the believers with the spirit of the Laws and Ordinances of the Most Holy Book has formed study classes for teaching this subject and made it a matter of discussion and study in the Nineteen-day Feasts.
It has also advised the local spiritual assemblies to watch the execution of the Laws in their entirety by the friends, and to penalize those who transgress them.
"In conclusion it should be said that the refusal of the Government to recognize the Bahá'í marriage certificates has caused much trouble to the friends of 'IrAq. This problem we believe will continue to be a source of trouble until the Government recognizes the independent status of the Bahá'í Faith and gives the National
Spiritual Assembliesthe permission of executing the Bahá'í Laws and Ordinances enshrined in the New
World Order."Part of its area overrun by hostile armies, undergoing a great historical change in its political alignment, India, a continent of races and peoples within itself, has witnessed vigorous development of its Bahá'í community. The National Spiritual Assembly has recapitulated a very extensive record in a few words: � The Centenary
Convention"Better administration, unity, consolidation of the newly established assemblies; the training of Bahá'í children and youth; the need of a Bahá'í school; a printing press; the need of literature; a magazine in English; a
Teachers' Training Class;the passage of the Bahá'í Laws in the legislature; a better structure for the National Haziratu'1-Quds; greater individual effort in teaching; development of the Summer School; the drawing up of a 3 � , 4, or 9-Year Plan; application for land for a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar; the provision of a GulastAn wherever there are Baha'is; training in Bahá'í administration; greater supervision over the newer L.S.A.s; sending of teachers to Ceylon; the need on the part of the National members to travel and see into all affairs � these were the subjects discussed at the Convention.
Twenty-Five New AssembliesCCJ~ the field of both pioneering as well as publications we were up against dIfficulties. In pioneering, the problem was a natural law � the ebb after the flood.
The epistles from the Guardian received during the close of the first century reveal, and were responsible for, the heights which the friends in this country scaled under the impetus, and for the success, of the Six-Year Plan that concluded with the termination of the first century. An extract from one of these letters dated October 26, 1943, is given to indicate the measure of the response of the Indian friends to the call of the Guardian.
" � The excellent news you conveyed of the progress of the Faith in so many hitherto virgin territories of India greatly rejoiced the Guardian's heart, and he is proud to ness the manner in which the Indian believers are arising, teaching, and sacrificing for the faith of God. The friends themselves must be astonished at the rapidity with which the devoted pioneers have succeeded in establishing new Spiritual Assemblies; and he hopes that many more souls will, thrilled by these achievements, follow in their footsteps, and thus ensure a truly glorious celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Cause next May.
The eyes of the Bahá'í world are being increasingly attracted by the achievements of the Indian friends, and they have the opportunity of crowning their Centenary Celebrations with a victory outstanding in the records of the ~ah4'is of the East. The Guardian hopes that in this connection many more Bahá'í young people will arise and serve.
They have the advantages of health and freedom from family responsibility which are not always enjoyed by older peo-pie, and they should cooperate to the full with more experienced believers in carrying on the pioneer work of the Cause." There were five assemblies in India at the commencement of the Plan; there were thirty at its close. The resources of the friends were heavily strained.
When a call came for help, there was no response because all those who could respond were already in the field. So, inevitably some of the newly established centers dissolved due to a decrease in their numbers. The first year after the century saw a diminution in the number of our assemblies. The recession continued up till the Convention of 1945. Some ten centers reverted to group status.
The position was realized by the friends at that session. The flow started, never to ebb again. For on this occasion the friends had gained something which they were first without.
That was experience. They had learnt the conditions under which permanent settling could be undertaken. And so the new attempts were undertaken on a new basis."
Page 64Mr. N. Akhtar-Khawari ... Andlieri, Belgaum, Bombay, Hyderabad (Sind), Koihapur, Panchgani, Poona, Sholapur, Deolali, Igatpuri and Lahore Mr. I. BakhtiariAhrnedabad, Hyderabad (Dn), Kariafghanan, Kotah Quetta.
Ujjain, Belgaum, Koihapur, Secunderabad and Surat Mrs. S. Fozdar Ahmedabad, A1ig~rh, Baroda, and Kotah Mrs. Gawliar J. Hakimian Koihapur, Bangalore and Mysore Mr. S. H. Koreshi Kariafghanan and Amritsar Mr. I. Sorooshi Belgaum, Hyderabad, Dn. Sholapur & Secunderabad Mr. K. Izzadyar Calcutta, Kamarhati, Serampur, Gorakhpur, Belgaum, Koihapur, Cawnpore, Allahabad, Panihatti Mr. I. Yaganagi Mr. 'and Mrs. I. Yaganagi.
Dr. M. E. Lukmani Mr. M. Mimi Mr. R. D. Mihrshahi...
Mr. & Mrs. K. Suhayli ....� Calcutta, Gorakhpur, Kamarhati, Scrampur, Cawnporc,
Allahabad and Panihatti.... Koihapur � Hyderabad (Dn), Sholapur, Deolali, Igatpuri, Secunderabad and Surat
� Belgaum and Sholapur� Belgaum, Koihapur, Sholapur � Belgaum, Koihapur, Sholapur � Bombay, Andheri, Poona, Panchgani, Sholapur, Hyderabad
(Sind) and KarachiMr. S. A. Husain Mr. S. Yaganagi Mysore, Vellore Mr. M. H. Sabiri Cawnpore Mr. K. M. Talgeri Mysore, Hubli
Mrs. Shirin Boman NagpurMr. K. H. Payman Vellore t!Q thanks are also due to Mr. Samirni of TihrAn, Persia who while on a trip to India on personal business was bidden by our Guardian to visit the Indian centers m reply to his request for permission to visit the Holy Shrines. Mr. Samimi's visit to the centers in India resulted in wide publicity for the Cause as he spoke in public at very many of the places that he visited. A press report of his talk and an interview are given herewith as specimens:
ACHIEVEMENT OF PEACE AND"The establishment of universal peace and brotherhood, the creation or adoption of an international language as an aid to achieve peace and brotherhood, and the setting up of an international force to maintain world peace � this is the basis and the creed of the Bahá'í faith," observed Mr. A. Sarnirni, M.B.E., Head Interpreter to the
British Embassy in Tihr~nof the East and West Committee � in an address to the local pressmen at the Bahá'í Hall last evening.
"The Bahá'í faith, despite its recent origin, had made astounding progress according to Mr. Samimi.
It had been embraced and accepted by 51 races in 78 countries. Its followers, Mr. Samimi claimed, loved their fellowmen, knew peace of mind and spiritual bliss. Hatred and antagonism were unknown to the Baha'is. They believed in and prac
Page 65CURRENT BAHÁ'Í ACTIVITIES tised in their daily life, peace, unity and brotherhood.
"Most of the Bahá'í activities were conducted at present in the U.S.A. without any priests or clergymen, as the Bahá'ís did not believe in pricstcraft of any sort.
"The Bahá'ís were forbidden from interesting themselves in politics. They were bound, as Baha'is, to carry out the orders of their Government, irrespective of the fact whether it was tyrannical or benevolent. The Bahá'ís possessed sturdy faith in their future and recked not their present persecutiOn at the hands of the fanatic maulvis in the country, concluded Mr. Samimi." � (The Shut Observer, Karachi,
June 24, 1945)Samirni of Tihrin addressed a public meeting in English at the Club House of Model Town, Lahore on Sunday last with Lix Col. Jamal-ud-Din, I.M.S., in the chair. During the course of his address the speaker, who spoke in faultless English observed, that permanent peace could only be established when it was implemented by Divine Power. The prophets who founded the great faiths were the bearers of the Divine Plan which in its essentials never changed. These successive prophets were in reality the true Educators of the human race.
"The speaker explained the basic principles of the Bahá'í Faith which arose in IMn about a century ago an& which had spread all over the world. Quoting
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardianof the Bahá'í Faith, the speaker sMd: tLt there be no misgivings as to the animating purpose of the worldwide Law of Bahá'u'lláh. Ear from aiming at the subversion of the existing foundations of society, it seeks to broaden its basis, to remould its institutions in a manner consonant with the needs of an ever changing world. It can conflict with no legitimate alliances nor can it undermine essential loyalties. It calls for a larger aspiration than any that has yet animated the human race." � (The
Tribune, Lahore)"The oneness of the Bahá'í community is demonstrated in practice throughout the year for whenever there is a Bahá'í in distress, the local and national assemblies succor him.
On the one hand, Bahá'u'lláh has enjoined work upon every one and on the other has bidden those responsible for the administration of the spiritual affairs of the community to see that no one is in want. Thus, whenever a Bahá'í is no longer able to work and in financial straits, the spiritual assembly of the locality where he resides is bound to support him, and if their financial conditions prevent them from rendering him assistance it is the duty of the N.S.A. to help. This principle has been in practice in this country and the community has seen that distress among their less fortunate brethren has been relieved and their sufferings mitigated as far as possible.
Publications"From the small beginning where oniy a pamphlet or booklet was occasionally printed, to the position where thousands of copies of various books in different languages are printed � this indicates progress. During the period May 1944 to July 1945 the following work has been accomplished or undertaken: � Originals
1. Din-i-BahA'i-ovr QidiyTh2. Bish6xit.-i-Uzma � Arabic (with Urdu translation) 3. Survey of the First Bahá'í Century by the
Guardian (Persian)"The Bahá'í Laws regarding personal status are being increasingly applied and enforced. It is not very strange that those who newly embrace the Cause feel somewhat queer when they have to change habits to which they have been accustomed for ages but for those who grasp the truth of these Words of Bahá'u'lláh, the transition is easy. He says: tTrue liberty consisteth in man s submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it. Were men to observe that which we have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they would, of a certainty, attain unto perfect liberty.
Happy is the man that hath apprehended the Purpose of God in whatever He bath revealed from the Heaven of His Will, that pervadeth all created things. Say: The liberty that profiteth you is to be found now here except in complete servitude unto God, the Eternal Truth.
'Who so hath tasted of its sweetness will refuse to barter it for all the dominion of earth and heaven.' The friends are trying to adopt all the commandments which the laws of their country permit and the N.S.A. is also endeavoring to get the Bahá'í Laws recognized by the Government. The local communities are striving to secure a plot of ground to serve as their Gu1ast~n (literally flower garden, meaning a burial ground) to be enabled to carry out the instructions of Bahá'u'lláh with regard to burial of the dead.
Bahá'í SchoolttTh Bahá'í Summer School was held this year in Karachi from October 16th to 31st, both days inclusive. Among the att~ndants Quetta was strongly represented while friends also came from Surat, Bombay, Poona, Hyderabad (Sind), Bahá'u'lláh and Lahore. Quite a large number attended the school from Karachi. The total attendance was about 50. The morning sessions were held every day from 10 1 p.m. and evening sessions from 4 7 p.m. except on Sundays, when the School remained closed. 20th October being the Birthday of the Báb, the School remained closed. On 30th October a written test was held and a Feast was given on the 31st of October.
~tE1evcn lessons on Aqdas and BayAn were given by Mr. M. H. Ilmi and each Lesson Lasted for an hour.
ttNine lessons on the History of the Bahá'í Faith, six lessons on the Twelve
Bahá'í Basic Principlesand three lessons on the Administrative Order of the Baha Faith were given by Mr. N. Ak1~tar-Khawari.
Ten lessons on the Methods of Teaching with special reference to Indian conditions were given by Prof. Pritam Singli. Both the morning and the evening sessions began with Prayers and Reading from the Scriptures and between the lessons there was a recess of half an hour.
"Special features of this year's Summer School were the taking of notes of each lesson by the attendants and then taking a test which was very satisfactory.
The Summer School Committeedecided to present a copy of Munajat-i-'Abdu'1-Bah4 to every one who had attended the School and this was done on 31st October at the time of the reast.
Local Centers"From the reports received from the local centers there is evidence of an ever growing zeal and enthusiasm on the part of the friends in the service of the Cause and a proper administration of its affairs. The response to
Page 67most of the Assembly's requests have been promptly met by a majority of the centers; most of them have shown eagerness to cooperate in the execution of the plans for the progress of the Cause; with more or less vigor they have carried forward the work of Teaching; some have displayed great initiative and originality in presenting the Faith to the public on every opportunity they could get; some of them have followed up such work by establishing study groups to which they have invited receptive and spiritual inquirers; they have observed Bahá'í feasts and anniversaries; they have regularly held the 19-Day feasts; they are endeavoring with all their might and within the limits imposed by the law to pUt the Bahá'í laws into practice; they have infused into their youth a zeal and generated in them a devotion to shoulder the responsibilities they will tomorrow have to assume in a larger measure; they have whenever requested undertaken in behalf of the N.S.A. the publication of Bahá'í literature; they have organized their local libraries; in short, they have demonstrated in a practical manner the working of Bahá'í administration in their centers.
NEWS FROM BURMACrAt this date of writing (the first week of August, 1945) we have not yet received confirmation of news regarding the
Bahá'ís at Burma. Immediatelyafter communication with that country was restored, the N.S.A. received this cable from the Guardian: 'Anxious news dearly beloved
Bahá'í friends Mandalaywas received on the 5th May 1945, considered by the N.S.A. on the 6th May, and immediate action taken to secure some definite knowledge of the Burmese friends.
Four or five different agencies, governmental and otherwise, were approached through correspondence for the desired information but having failed for a fortnight to ascertain anything about them, our N.S.A. resolved at its next session to depute someone to go in� person to Burma and get this knowledge. Dr. Lukmani, the Chairman, of the N.S.A., offered to go, and set out about the end of May. He was not allowed to proceed beyond Chittagong, on the Burma border, however, and the oniy information he could get from there was that the Upper Burma friends were safe. This news, transmitted to the Guardian by cable, brought this reply: joyous gratitude safety dear Burmese friends.
Convey assurance loving remembrance shrines.' After a while these further items of information filtered through but none of them has up to this time been confirmed: � 1. Our beloved brother, Siyyid Mu~;af A Rftmi, had been killed at 'Thingagyun by local men.
2. Another friend, Mr. 'Aziz Abmad, had been killed at Kawlin by the
Japanese.and Mandalay had mostly taken refuge at Daidanaw when the Japanese invaded the country.
4. The Bahá'ís in Upper5. Mr. Khudabux of Kawlin and Siyyid Ab-did Husayn $hir~zi of Rangoon who had been in affluent circumstances were now in a distressing plight.
6. The J-laziratu'1-Quds"We cabled the news contained in items 1, 2 and 6 to the Guardian on 7th July and received this reply: tHearts grief stricken passing supreme concourse distinguished pioneer Faith Bahá'u'lláh dearly beloved staunch high minded noble soul Siyyid Mu~;afd.
Long record his superb services both teaching administrative fields shed lustre on both heroic and formative ages Bahá'í dispensation. His magnificent achievements fully entitle him join ranks hands Cause Bahá'u'lláh. His resting place should be regarded foremost shrine community Burmese believers. Advise holding memorial gatherings throughout India honor his imperishable memory. Urge Indian Burmese Bahá'ís participate construction tomb. Cabling three hundred pounds my personal contribution so praiseworthy purpose' The outstanding traits in the character of Siyyid Mustaf~ Riimi that to our understanding have qualified him for the high station assigned to him by our beloved Guardian are firmness in the Covenants established by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá with their followers to turn to their respectively appointed successors and steadfast service over a period
Page 68of several decades (he accepted the Faith when in his twenties, lived for almost a century), constancy through all the vicissitudes of life and in the face of the onslaught of the enemy, the teaching of the Message to high and low which was the one passion of his long life, and the dedication of his wealth, his time and his talents to the spread of God's
Faith."The most important event in the current history of the Bahá'í community has been the acquisition of a building to serve as the national Bahá'í headquarters, or Ilatatu'l-Quds.
This undertaking was initiated and blessed by a contribution made by the Guardian of the Faith in 1943, followed by donations given by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, Persia, 'IrAq, India and Burma, and also by an individual Bahá'í of Persia. These contributions amounted to a total of over six-thousand five hundred pounds sterling.
The property located atPark, Sydney, was purchased, and the secretariat established there before the end of 1944. It is thus described in the report made by the National Assembly: The building purchased for the T)Ia?Aratu'1-Quds is a sixteen room, two story residence facing the entrance gates to Centennial Park, a public reserve of 600 acres. The entrance is good and the arrangement of the rooms excellent for our purpose. Double doors open from the large reception room into a small library and from the library into a large lecture room. When all the doors of these three adjoining rooms are open the effect is of dignified spaciousness.
Mitch time and energy were devoted by the N.S.A. members and friends in Sydney to preparing the premises for occupation. Mrs. E. M. Axford personally directed and supervised alterations, furnishing and the interior decorating which was necessary. Despite wartime restrictions and shortages which hampered the work on every hand the Secretariat was established in the building by the end of 1944. After much sorting and packing the Secretary and Treasurer for ten years, Miss Hilda Brooks and Mrs. Silver Jackman ire-spectively, spectively, of Adelaide, South Australia, finally despatched all the N.S.A. files, books and belongings to the new Headquarters in Sydney. Miss Brooks, who had also been Keeper of the Archives, reverently carried the Precious Relic, Lock of Bahá'u'lláh's hair, pen cases and pens which had belonged to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, framed specimen of 'Ab-du'1 � Bahá'ís handwriting and various gifts from the Guardian, to Sydney in her personal luggage.
These former officers of the N.S.A. had conducted all the clerical work in their own homes � it was therefore a great joy to them to know that in future N.S.A. officers would enjoy the convenience and dignity of perfectly appointed and equipped offices, thus enabling the clerical work to be accomplished with greater ease and efficiency.
In the rows of files and office equipment at Headquarters they see the fulfilment of their dreams. The new Secretary, Mrs. Dive, now resides in the building.
The Treasurer, Mr. N. Walker lives in Sydney.Social functions are held at the Headquarters and both local and National teaching work is carried out there. Many inquirers have called to ask about the Bahá'í Faith. The name tCHaziratu~1.Quds~~ has brought forth many queries as to its meaning thus providing the believers with opportunities to explain and expound the
Teachings.Significant steps have also been taken in the proclamation of the Faith.
That the teaching work has been influential, and the community has become firmly established, is attested by the degree to which the Bahá'í Faith has become a public symbol of a new spirit in religion.
On the one hand its broad principles and its freedom from race prejudice was noted by the Rev. C. W. Chandler in the Auckland Star of March 18, 1944, while its challenge to the former dispensations has been pointed out by a missionary in an article published in the Adelaide Church Guardian.
The teaching activities carried on during the two years covered by this survey has been summarized in the Assembly's report.
Owing to the war, it has not been possible to increase the tempo of our teaching efforts as we had planned.
The housing shortage brought about by the necessities of war (cessation of building and. increase of city
Page 69populations, through the creation of war industries) makes it extremely difficult for wouldbe settlers to find accommodation if they leave their homes to go to new areas. Travel restrictions have prevented the hoped-for organization of Interstate teaching tours by believers able to give public lectures. 1-lowever the believers have concentrated in their home centers and States and there is not one believer who has not helped in the great cooperative effort called for by the N.S.A. in 1943 and inspired by donations amounting to �87245.0, from the beloved Guardian for the financing of the teaching work.
Many of the friends conduct meetings in their own homes and these have proved very popular and successful, the social atmosphere and the informality of the general discussions being very attractive to inquirers. A new Assembly has been formed at Caringbah, New South Wales, twenty miles from Sydney as a result of the regular visits by Mrs. Mariette Bolton.
This indefatigable worker has also formed study groups at Wollongong and Goulburn and interested some people at Canberra.
Mr. and Mis. Dobbins have done fine work at Albert Park, a suburb of Adelaide,
South Australia. Regularmeetings are held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Featherstone. Six new members have been enrolled as a result of the afternoon and evening home meetings conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Dobbins at Albert Park.
Regular meetings are also conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Fitzner in their home at Joslin, another suburb of Adelaide; six new members have also been enrolled as a result of their meetings.
As settler to Port Elliot,K. Harcus is doing valuable work. Speakers at public meetings arranged by
Miss Harcus were MissH. Fitzner. In Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart weekly meetings provide the opportunity for presenting the Cause publicly, special lectures are advertised in the press and every effort made to attract large audiences..
In Auckland, New Zealand, teaching was given a big boost by the Centennial celebrations; activity has been greater than in any previous year.
The Auckland friends arc deeply indcbted to the indefatigable efforts and infectious enthusiasm of Sgt. Alvin Blum, an American Bahá'í of the U.S. Army Medical Corps.
Sgt. Blurn spoke on the platform of many organizations and in private homes as well as at the regular Bahá'í meetings held at the Fabian Club rooms where he was the principal speaker. In Auckland City he spoke to the following
: � Astrology Group, Women'sfor Social Justice, Rationalist Association, Junior and Senior Chambers of Commerce,
People's University, HigherThought Temple and the Quest Club. To some of these groups and organizations he was invited to speak more than once on various aspects of the Bahá'í Faith. He also gave talks at Howick, an outlying seaside suburb.
Outside Auckland lectures were given at Whangarei by Sgt. Blurn and Mrs. Dulcie Dive and by Mrs. Dive in the Hawkes flay area, Napier, Havelock north and Hastings.
The Faith has had more publicity in Auckland than ever before. This has keen achieved through the Centenary celebrations, the press and cinema advertisements of lectures, socials, lantern slides and occasional articles in commercial magazines.
Youth Groups:The membership of youth groups in Australia and New Zealand has fluctuated greatly and progress has not been maintained. There is however, a small nucleus of Bahá'í Youth in each center which we know will be the starting point for great progress after the war. The 10th Bahá'í World Youth Day was celebrated with success and enthusiasm in Adelaide, Sydney, Hobart and Yerrinbool.
Yerrinbool Summer School:Summer School sessions have been held at ccBolton Place," Yerrinbool, in January and June of each year. The N.S.A. has appointed a committee to take over the entire management of the school. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton have gladly consented to this arrangement and have placed their home ttBolton Place" under the direction of the committee during the school periods.
Page 70Attack on the Faith: An attack on the Bahá'í Faith in the form of an article entitled "Baha'ism � a
Menace to ChristianityH. C. Gurney, M.Sc., a Missionary of the Church Missionary Society working in Persia, which was published in the April and May issues of The Adelaide Church Guardian was replied to in the Bahá'í Magazine Her. aid of the South and in a lecture given by Miss Hilda Brooks at the Bahá'í Center, Adelaide.
The Herald of the South Committee decided to have several hundred copies of the magazine article printed in pamphlet form for free distribution by the believers. Mr. Gurney began his attack with � CCDuring this year that I have been at home in Australia on furlough after eight years' work as a missionary of the
Church Missionary Societyin IrAn (Persia), I have been astonished and very worried to see the way in which the faith known as the Bahá'í Faith is being propagated, and the way this religion is spreading in little groups in our parishes in all the cities of
Australia."In conclusion he wrote: � ttTh Bahá'ís I have met in Australia seem earnest and sincere people, and are a real menace because they seem to preach a better and more united and reformed sort of Christian idealism."
The Bahá'í statement prepared in reply answers each of the arguments and contentions advanced by the missionary.
A REPLY To REV. H. C. GURNEY C.M.S. MISSIONARY IN PERSIA
The Bahá'ís of Adelaidehave read with painful dismay, the article by the Rev. H. C. Gurney, published in the April and May issues of the Adelaide Church Guardian, and entitled "Bald'ism � a
Menace to ChristianityIn the first portion of his article the Rev. Gurney has incorrectly outlined the origin of the Bahá'í Movement, and in the second instalment has strayed still farther from the truth in his statements concerning the aims of the Faith and the actions of its adherents, and has lost his sense of fair play and justice altogether.
The Rev. Gurney, as a Britisher and also as a follower of Jesus Christ, will, the Adelaide Bahá'ís are sure, be ready to allow them to state their case, and to correct those impressions which will otherwise cause many readers to have wrong ideas of the Bahá'í Faith.
Firstly, then, the title itself � ttlBahA'isrn � a Menace to Christianity in Australia," is completely misleading. The Bahá'í Faith is not an rrIsM,~) but is a universal religion in the broadest and fullest sense; and far from being a "menace to Christianity," it acknowledges Christianity as the greatest world religion up to the 19th Century, and looks upon itself as the culminating chapter, as it were, in the teachings of Christ; that is, the fulfilment of His prophecies, and indeed the logical outcome and consummation of all the great world religions.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the Prophet Bah4'-u 'lUli, has written: t~The Bahá'í Message is a call to religious unity, and not an invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality, God forbid! It is the ancient pah cleared of the debris of imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and misunderstanding, and is again made a clear path to the sincere seeker that he may enter therein an assurance, and find that the Word of God is One Word though the speakers were many."
'With regard to the article itself, the Rev. Gurney accuses the Bahá'ís of Persia of showing hatred, opposition and fanaticism towards the Christians, but this is in direct opposition to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, Who has instructed His followers to ~tconsort with the people of all religions with joy and gladness."
Baha'is, in whatever land they may dwell have no wish to speak ill of any religion or religions body; but only to give praise to them for the work which they have accomplished in the past, which has indeed been truly colossal; yet they desire also to stress the point that religions, like everything else in this world, must obey the universal law of change.
Religion must be fluid, not static, for that which is static is moribund, and religion, to be alive, must forever progress.
That is not to say that the teachings ofJesus Christ were not perfect in themselves; but Bahá'ís believe that a Messenger of God will only teach so much as the people of His day are capable of assimilating in their then state of mental and spiritual development.
The teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the same as that of Jesus in its fundamental reality, just as the lessons taught in the High School and University are basically the same as those of the Primary School; they differ oniy in their degree of complexity and advancement.
Jesus built His teachings around the word "Lovn," and Bahá'u'lláh has built His around the word "UNITY," for each Prophet brings His individual, special lesson to humanity.
Jesus could have taught the iesson of UNITY, but.of what avail would it have been to a world yet undiscovered in full, with only the poorest means of communication, and with people having very little knowledge of their brothers in other lands?
Today, men realize as never before that UNITY is needed more than anything else. Mr. Anthony Eden, speaking at the San Francisco
Conference, said: "Theworld today is one large city and our countries are its several parishes."
Does not this show the need for unity, and for religious unity above all else?
How, otherwise, can the apparently insolvable problems of the Moslem and Buddhist, Christian and Jew, not to mention the hundreds of sects within the religious themselves be solved? Only a great world religion can fuse and weld mankind into one universal whole.
What other hope is there for humanity? At the Santhe Chinese representative, Dr. Wellington Koo, speaking on behalf of his Government, said: CCWe are prepared to yield, if necessary, part of our sovereignty to the New International Organization, in the interests of collective security." So must each individual religion be prepared to yield a part of its own exclusive claims for the sake of world unity?
The Rev. Gurney expresses his anxiety at the ignorance of the clergy regarding the Bahá'í Faith. Surely all those who eater the Church should make a study of
Comparative Religions.No book on this subject is complete without some mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
Three of the best known books on Comparative Religion are those written by Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, Mr. A. W. Martin, and Rev. J. Tyssul Davis. Each of these writers speaks of the Bahá'í Faith with unbiassed sympathy.
In his synopsis of the history of the Bahá'í Movement, the Rev. Gurney shows that his knowledge fails in several details, e.g., that the Bib had two sons; that Bahá'u'lláh was the son of the BTh, that Bahá'u'lláh was exiled because of an attempt on the life of the SlaTh of Persia; that the Bahá'ís have borrowed any idea which has appealed to them in any other religion, etc. � all of which statements are without foundation.
Bahá'u'lláh was completely exonerated from haying had anything to do with the attempt on the ShAh's life and was exiled to BaghdAd because the Moslem priests were afraid of the effect of His teachings upon the populace. As for Bahá'ís borrowing ideas from other religions, this suggests that Bahá'ís have manufactured their own faith, whereas they simply try to practise the laws and ordinances laid down by Bahá'u'lláh and are not responsible for the introduction of anything into the Faith.
The Mb had only one son, who died in infancy, and Bahá'u'lláh was the son of a Persian prince.
The Faith of Bahá'u'lláhis a universal one, and so must of necessity gather together the threads of all the great ~'or1d religions because it contains the fundamental reality of all religions; because it is the latest chapter in the series of God's purpose for mankind, as revealed through His Prophets, from age to age.
Thus the Rev. Gurney arrives at the conclusion that ttBahá'ís are Christians when in Christian society, Moslems when among Moslems, etc." By this he suggests that Bahá'ís are not true to their faith; but the facts behind all this are that Bahá'ís are taught to look for the good in evetything and to show love and brotherhood to all men of whatever religion.
Bahá'u'lláh has written: ctReligion must be the cause of unity." If religion brings dis~ension and disagreement, then it were better to have no religion at all.
It is true that Bahá'ís do make a distinction between spiritual teachings that are basic and eternal and those which are merely
Page 72temporal and subordinate to the exigencies of the time. But Jesus Himself made this distinction, changing the temporal laws with regard to divorce and the keeping of the Sabbath day. Indeed, this was one of the main charges which the Jewish priests brought against Him. Yet He declared, "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it." He clearly proves that certain laws must change with the times, but the great eternal laws of God, such as the Law of Love, are immutable.
We ourselves are living at a time when the temporal laws dealing with marriage, divorce, and illegitimacy are being altered to suit the needs of today. But the Golden Rule, which has been given to men by every Prophet right through the ages, still stands and will stand for all time. It is the universal Law of Love towards God and our neighbor, which must stand for all time unalterable.
The Rev. Gurney is again at fault when he says that Bahá'ís do not believe in Christ's promise of the coming of the Holy
Spirit. Do Christiansreally believe in His promise themselves? If so, why should they feel such anger and bitterness towards those who believe that Christ's promise has already been fulfilled?
Are not the Christians eagerly awaiting it? Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the same Holy Spirit Who should come "to lead us into all truth," the Father Who would come to visit His vineyard.
Continuing in the May issue of the Church Guardian, the Rev. Gurney carries his attack still further and throws all fair criticism and unprejudiced judgment to the winds. He plunges headlong into wild statements, which have no vestige of truth. He declares that there is not an original teaching among the principles laid down by Bahá'u'lláh The following list will prove how false such a statement is: � Among the principles laid down by Bahá'u'lláh are: �
(1) Independent Investigation(6) An International Language, an International Coinage, and am International Script.
(7) A World ParliamentWhat other Prophet has given these teachings to the world?
The Rev. Gurney then declares that Bahá'ís have no idea how these principles are to be put into effect.
But on the contrary, Bahá'u'lláh has left a detailed scheme for the economic security of the world.
Bahá'ís are next accused of ignoring the Cross of Christ. Yet there are no people on earth who can appreciate the sufferings of Christ more than the Baha'is, who know of the agonies endured by Bahá'u'lláh and the twenty thousand martyrs to His Cause in Persia, from the vivid and terrifying descriptions given by eye � witnesses.
"Few prayers are enjoined," is another misleading statement, for Bahá'u'lláh's book, "Prayers and Meditations," is a prayer-book containing one hundred and eighty-four prayers for every occasion, every one written by the Manifestation of God Himself, whereas the Church of England Prayer Book, although containing many beautiful prayers, includes only one given by Jesus Himself. The Bahá'ís have also obligatory prayers, which are said daily. Again, the Bahá'í Faith does not prohibit divorce, but on the contrary it makes divorce easier and marriage more difficult.
"The Bahá'í Cause in Persia," says the Rev. Gurney, "is a subtle and partly secret society." This is completely refuted by the fact that on 10th May, 1925, in the Appellate
Religious Court of Bábin Upper Egypt, the verdict was given that the Bahá'í Faith is to be regarded as a distinct religion, wholly independent of the religious systems that have preceded it. "The Bahá'í Faith is a new religion, entirely independent, with beliefs, principles and laws of its own, which differ from and are utterly in conflict with the beliefs, principles and laws of Islam," was the formal declaration of that Court. Trans-. lated into several languages, circulated among Bahá'í communities in East and WTest, this verdict gradually paved the way for the initiation of negotiations between the elected representatives of these communities and the
Page 73civil authorities in Egypt, in the Holy Land, in Persia, and even in the United States of America, for the purpose of securing the official recognition by these authorities of the Fifth as an independent religion.
The statement that the Persian Baha'is, though dealing well with their brothers in the Faith, are quite unscrupulous in their dealings with nonbelievers, is a mischievous and false accusation. This is followed by the remark that "Bahá'ís are trained to argue with members of other religions," and that their arguments cCare clever and subtle enough to upset the ideas of all but the well-trained theologian." The truth is exactly the opposite, for Bahá'ís are forbidden to argue on the grounds that argument causes disunity, whereas the Bahá'í Cause is designed to draw all men together in love and harmony.
"Bahá'ís are sent specially to confuse and break up Christian meetings," is another malicious accusation.
"They worm their way into Christian meetings and will even proceed as far as baptism unless detected beforehand."
This is mere childishness, for what object could any Bahá'í have in being bap-tised as a Christian?
And again, "They do all this with the object of breaking up the Church from within." The following words of Bahá'u'lláh show clearly enough that no Bahá'í may lawfully indulge in any such misconduct.
"Beware lest ye contend with anyone, nay rather strive to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation Dispute not with anyone concerning the things of this world and its affairs, for God hath abandoned them to such as have set their affection upon them." The Christians may be assured that the Bahá'ís have never for one instant entertained such an idea, even if it were possible to do this. The ideals of the Bahá'í Faith are not destructive, but constructive and cooperative. Bahá'ís attend the church service or any other religious meeting with the sole object of worshipping God, Who is the same God, in whatever temple He may be worshipped.
Bahá'ís do indeed CCI.to be Christians," for they pay reverence to Jesus the Christ, the Divine Son of God, and the fact that they believe in the fulfilment of
Hispromise to come again, does not detract one iota from the love and adoration which they humbly offer to Him.
The Rev. Gurney continues: tClts appeal, I think, can only be explained by the claim to unite all religions in one, and the appeal to the principles of peace and brotherhood." Surely this should cause no Lurprise or apprehension to a Christian, whose Master was heralded into the world with the proclamation of "Peace on earth, good will to all men.~~ The Rev. Gurney appeals to the Church of England clergy to make themselves f a-miliar with the Bahá'í teachings. The Bahá'ís of Adelaide heartily endorse this appeal. It is a vast claim that Bahá'u'lláh has made and so mighty a Revelation de � mands from the sincere seeker, deep and earnest study, and an open mind free from prejudice.
'Abdu'l-Bahá says: ttBeware of prc~udice; light is good in whatsoever lamp it is burning. A rose is beautiful in whatsoever garden it may bloom. A star has the same radiance whether it shines from the East or from the West."
SGT. ALVIN BLUM IN NEWGrateful comment and appreciation for the outstanding teaching services of Alvin Blum, of the United States Army Medical Corps, stationed for many months in New Zealand, is expressed on several occasions in the pages of the Bahá'í Quarterly, issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of
Australia and New Zealand.An excerpt from the JuLy, 1945, issue of the Quarterly touches upon some of Sgt.
Blum's teaching activities before he was transferred to the Philippine Islands.
"Teaching in the AucklandSgt. Alvin Blum of the U.S. Army Medical Corps has been mainly responsible for presenting the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to many and varied organizations, groups and meetings.
He did not confine his activities to public lecture rooms; he also spoke in private homes to audiences ranging from one to thirty persons. His main lectures were given to the following organizations in Auckland City: � Astrology
Group, Women's ProgressiveAssociation, Clii.-nese New Zealand Society, Crusade for Social Justice, Rationalist Association,
Junior and Senior Chambersof Commerce, People's University, Higher Thought Temple, and the Quest Club. To many of these. groups and organizations he has been invited to speak more than once on various aspects of the Bahá'í Faith. These lectures are exclusive of the regular monthly meetings held at the Fabian Club rooms, where he was a principal speaker.
He also gave talks at Howick, an outlying seaside suburb. We sincerely offcr our heartfelt thanks to God for sending Sgt. Alvin Blum to our country.
"Sgt. Blum gave a final lecture at the Fabian Club rooms on 15th October, 1944. Over fifty people received special invitations, the majority of whom attended.
Lectures were given at Whangarci (outside the Auckland Area) on the 24th and 25th of July.
� During the year Sgt. Blum addressed groups at the home of Mrs. Vera Alexander, Rama
Rama."Following the publication in this column of a resume of the life of "George
Washington Carver," Ihave received a letter from an American negro living in St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A. By some means or other he must have got hold of the Star of 8/1/43.
His letter betrays something of his broad human sympathy and Christian understanding.
He is an attorney, his age is just over 60, and his name is Louis G. Gregory.
B~ REV. C. W. CHANDLER 'tThe founders of all the world's great religions," he says, "all believed in and acted upon true brotherhood, and set such examples as inspired the early followers of their respective faiths to vindicate their love for humanity by heroic deeds of sacrifice and devotion."
Color is a very superficial thing, and at heart all sincere seekers after truth are actuated by one Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God.
Gregory, my Negro correspondent, continues: !!Th Golden Rule is in all religions.
The Holy Spirit is the one Reality. It is the Power which creates and gives life to mankind and to all besides. The early Christians reflected the idealism and sacrifice of the Exalted Christ, but all religions, when remote from the time of their establishment, show a tendency unmistakable to lapse into forms which lack suhstance, and to substitute dogmas and ceremonials for loving kindness and altruistic deeds."
Ming Tse AgainToday I also received a letter from Ming Tse, my Chinese friend, with whom many of you are already acquainted. As another of these ~t1d" men he sees the failure of institutional religion. Quoting from a source unknown to me, he says: ttNearly half way through the 20th century the nations of the West are no longer so confident of their superiority.
They seek new gods. Science, which alone had given them that superiority, has turned in their hands, for they have not the wisdom to use it aright.
Christianity, which gave to Europe at least the common bond of a spiritual form, has been destroyed by materialism, nationalism and reason, for even their virtues are at war, lacking the guiding Spirit. Christianity has gone � European civilization is going."
Without agreeing that Christianity has gone, I would at least say that institutionally it is in a rapid process of decay. It is just platitudinous and powerless in the face of States organized for destruction.
Both this Negro and this Chinese are feeling as millions are feeling everywhere, namely, that we see more of the shell than of the substance of religion, and that the further we go from our beginnings the deeper lies the pearl beneath the weight of accumulated dogmas, prejudices and misinterpretations.
I feel honored in receiving Gregory's letter, for he knew Dr. Carver, the Negro scientist of whom I wrote on the occasion referred to above. His letter confirms my own deep-rooted conviction, that God is revealing Himself today in most unexpected quarters, that as in the days of Our Lord's earthly pilgrimage, He found more faith in
Page 75outcast Samaritans, Roman Centurions, despised publicans and harlots, than He did in recognized religious leaders, so today, the challenge for true Christian living and courageous witness is coming from outside our churches � not exclusively, but in a measure that should humble our pride, and help us to see that the Holy Spirit is far less orthodox than we ourselves are. The Pneuma tou Theos, or Breath of God, does not discriminate, for whoever humbly waits for the Spirit's prompting, be he white, black or brindle, can be sure of a generous response.
Bahá'u'lláhLouis Gregory is a follower of what is known as the Bahá'í Faith, which was founded by Bahá'u'lláh, a Persian, whose son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was knighted by King George V. "God in His mercy and 'ove," says Gregory, "sends a new prophet or manifestation about every thousand years to renew the spirit of religion, and to give m~nkind new laws in keeping with the needs of the day." I would add that these later recurring manifestations are not in conflict with anything that has gone before. "The teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are the light of the age, and the spirit of the century, and are conferring new life upon mankind."
In the pre-Christian era we stoned our prophets.Today we oniy ignore them. Who is to say that God did not inspire this Persian Seer with a message for today, and that the Christ Spirit did not dwell in him?
Archdcicon Townshend, of County Galway, Ireland, in his "Heart of the Gospel" (published 1940) says: "How many diflicul � ties, hitherto insuperable, would disappear if only there could be kindled again in us the fire that burned in the hearts of the early Christians?"
He concludes his book with this question: 'tWhat adequate plan of action survives for men to work to, save only that prophetically traced long since by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh" In the nonracial discrimination of the Bahá'í Faith, rather than in the 'White Man's Church in America, wherein ttniggers" are not allowed to worship, has my valued correspondent found a spiritual home.
If he has been lost to any branch of the Christian Church, who is to blame?
UNITED STATES AND CANADAAs in the case of other Bahá'í communities, the believers of North America entered the second Bahá'í century with the feeling that a victory had been attained, and that spiritual victory does not end the struggle but prepares the way for greater responsibil-. fry, intensified resistance and weightier tasks.
Following the Centenarycelebrations, the community at the end of the Seven-Year Plan inaugurated in 1937 counted at least one local Assembly in every State and Province, and an Assembly or active nucleus in each country of Central and South America. The Centenary, indeed, for the first time brought together in worship, consultation and action elected representatives of the Bahá'ís of the western hemisphere.
The two years, 19441946, were characterized by three motivations: first, the consolidation of goals already won; second, a bolder public proclamation of the Faith through meetings, radio broadcasts, publicity and selective mailings; and third, a coordination or focussing of different teaching technics for the more effective conduct of a common national program.
The community consciousness reflected two predominant influences specialized to this period: the new degree of understanding of the Faith in its successive epochs and its manifold realities made possible by access to the Guardian's historical survey, "God Passes By"; and the deepening of faith arising from the worldwide tragedy of a war which revealed the inherent lack of peace in all institutions and traditions.
These trends and forces appear at least in outline as one tonsiders some facts emphasized in reports of national committees.
NEW ENDOWMENTShas turned over to them the original deed of gift to the Ole Bull Cottage for transfer of title to the Green Acre Trusteeship.
He also executed a deed of gift transferring the furnishings and equipment of this cottage to the Trustees.
Page 76The Trustees received two deeds, dated May 22, 1944, signed respectively by Elizabeth James and Elizabeth James as sole surviving executrix of the Last Will and Testament of Julia James, deceased, to lots 13 and 12 in Block D of a certain map entitled ~tsecond map, property of the Phelps estate, Teaneck, New Jersey."
The transfer of these two lots to the "Wilhelm Trustee property represents the ful-flulment of the wishes of the late Arthur James, who purchased the lots many years ago in order to protect the adjoining property which was the historic site of the memorable Feast given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1912. Similar purchases of other lots by Mr. Walter
Goodfellow and Mr. RoyC. Wilhelm have already been transferred to the Trustees. This gift now puts the Trustees in possession of 15 lots including Evergreen Cabin, the former National Baha office and the Wilhelm residence and this property will have the one memorial in the United States erected to the memory of our beloved Master.
BoschOn August 1, 1944, John and Louise Bosch, as a further evidence of their continuing generosity, created a deed of gift, transferring to the Trustees title to two adjoining parcels of land comprising five acres of valuable fruit orchard together with several buildings, situated on the East side of the Redwood
Highway.This indenture of trust was signed on the occasion of the 89th birthday of Mr. Bosch and constitutes the first endowment of property in North America in the second Bahá'í Century.
Another piece of property adjoining the main tract of the Bosch Trustee property situated along the Redwood Highway was given to the Trustees this past year by Mrs. Amelia E. Collins.
TempleLegal assistance was given to the Spiritual Assembly of Muskegon to effect its incorporation so that it could take title to a lot given to the
Bahá'í Temple Unity Corporationmany years ago. The abstract of title to Lot 14, Block 10 of the Revised Plat of the City of Muskegon, Muskegon County, Michigan, made by the Title Department of the Muskegon Abstract Company, with final date of December 18, 1913 was forwarded to the Muskegon Assembly and the title to this property is now vested in that incorporated
Assembly.The Trustees are happy to report another generous gift from Mrs. Amelia E. Collins of a lot opposite the Temple on Linden Avenue, described as
Lot 3 in Owners Subdivisionof iots 1 to 10 inclusive, in Block 17, in Lake Shore addition to Wilmette, in the County of Cook,
State of Illinois.As we take stock at the end of this first year of the Second Century, we see that a transition is in process, from the conquest of virgin States and Provinces, to the possibility of an unprecedented expansion of teaching on this continent. In the words of the Guardian: CCA new chapter is now opening, a chapter which ere its termination, must eclipse the most shining victories won so heroically by those who launched the first stage of the Great Plan conceived by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the American believers."
194445 has been a year of unceasing struggle to hold the spiritual prizes already won. At the same time through the organi � zation of Bahá'í groups, through studies, and the initial steps toward a more effective coordination of national and regional teaching, the birth of a new momentum is discerned more promising for the growth of the Faith than any past achievement.
The magnitude of these continental opportunities is best reflected in the accompanying table, which compares the status of the Faith at the opening of the Seven-Year Plan, May, 1937, with its status as of March 1, 1945. Eight years of teaching have carried the American Community from a scattered foothold in half the areas of North America to a rootage in numerous localities of every one, � from
94 Bahá'í communities (Assembliesand Territories, an increase of five times, calling for the most extensive and well-coordinated
Page 77plans to bring to fruition this mighty tree of the
Administrative Order.To study this table, region by region, is to gain a deep and thrilling conviction of the potentialities of collective teaching. The future is boundless, the victories assured, the influence upon America's destiny a solemn promise if we but carry forward our tasks.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF BAHÁ'Í TEACHING IN NORTH AMERICA
Eight Years, May 1, 1937 ComparativeN. J.-Pa.-Del 6 Md.-Va.-W. Va.-Wash. D. C 3
Ohio-Ind.-Ky 8I11.-'Wis..-Mich.-Ia16 Neb. � Mo.-Kan 1 N. Dak.-S. Dak.-Minn 2 N. Car.-S. Car.-Ga 1
Florida 3Calif.-Nev.-Ariz 8 Wyo.-Colo.-N. Ma 2 Mont.-Ida.-Utah 0
Wash. � Ore 410 2 39 2 18 42 7 4 28 2 10 35 8 3 30 3 6 40 6 0 7 0 8 15 11 0 29 7 21 49 23 4 71 9 39 69 4 2 12 2 8 11 5 1 4 2 2 8 3 0 8 2 7 21 3 1 10 1 8 11 3 0 5 1 3 9 3 0 5 0 4 5 2 0 8 0 11 8 18 5 55 5 58 48 4 0 5 0 10 15 4 1 1 0 11 6 5 0 13 1 12 17 1 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Subtotal, U.S.A 68 123 23 330 37 236 413
CANADABritish Columbia 1 1 0 2 2 3 7
Alta.-Sask.--Man 0 3 0 1 0 2 4Ontario 0 1 1 4 1 2 8
Quebec-Maritimes Subtotal,1 4 0 3 1 3 10
Canada2 9 1 10 4 10 29 Total, U.S.&Canada70 132 24 340 41 246 442
INTER-AMERICA UNION CENTENARY CELEBRATION
The elections of the delegates The Latin-American representatives to represent the different who were present at the Latin-American Republics wereCentenary in May were: reported to the Inter-America Dr. Fernando Nova Brazil
Committee through the Senor Esteban Canales
N. S. A., and all matters Leyton Chile of transportation were Srta. Josephina Rodriguez Colombia taken care of by the N. Senor Raoul Contreras Costa S. A. direct. Rica
Page 78National Bahá'í Assembly and Latin-American Representativ Senor Eugenio Gines Cuba
Senor Eduardo GonzalesPioneer Teachers returned from Latin-America were:
Miss Elisabeth CheneyThe Latin-American representatives attending the July All-America Consultations were:
Senor Salvador Tormo ArgentinaCURRENT BAHÁ'Í ACTI Other visitors and Pioneers
from Latin-America included: Mr. Irving Ray Betts Lima,
PeruCanales Leyton, who had remained in the United States, were also present during these consultations.
The reports of the Bahá'í elections in Latin-America on April 21st, 1945 brought the heartening news of the formation of eight new Spiritual Assemblies � namely, in La Paz, Bolivia; Contratacion, Colombia; Punta Arenas, Chile; Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Panama City, Panama; Caracas, Venezuela; and Montevideo, Uruguay.
The following cable sent to the Inter-America Committee by the Guardian was received in Wilmette,
April 3 0th: "Heart-feltcongratulations superb achievement Inter-America Committee opening year second Bahá'í century.
Advise concentrate attention formation Assembly one remaining republic, Nicaragua.
Consolidation newly fledged Assemblies multiplication groups throughout Latin America, reinforcement outpost Magallanes, intensified efforts dissemination literature paramount tasks present year. Praying fervently removal obstacles despatch pioneers fulfilment hopes necessary prelude launching second state (stage?) Divine Plan. Appreciate two photographs each Assembly
Central South Americaadorn walls mansion adjoining Bahá'u'lláh's holy tomb."
1. ARGENTINAThe Community here lost two valuable members, � Erta Mae Lawrence, who returned to New York in June; and Haig Kevorkian, who pioneered in Guayaquil from April 9th to November 4th.
Shirley Warde, the newest pioneer, left Miami on March 5th, 1946, for Buenos Aires, where she is to assist in teaching and spreading the Faith, and to help the Publishing Committee. Because of her background of experience in radio, Mrs. Warde will give special attention to the developing of radio scripts and programs for the different centers.
LA PLATAKevor-kian were married in the Buenos Aires Center, September 22nd, and moved to La Plata to do Extension Teaching, with the hope of establishing a new group.
2. BOLIVIAFlora Hottes, who had been in Bolivia nearly three years, left for her new post in Montevideo in early June. Gwenne Sholtis, the new pioneer for Bolivia, arrived in La Paz on July 16th, and sends very encouraging reports about the development of the Bahá'í activities there.
There are now eleven adults and one youth in the Bahá'í Community. Arturo Cuellar, one of the most active members, translated and forwarded to the Committee in Buenos Aires tcFoundations of World Unity," and Gwenne Sholtis has published at her own expense an excellent small booklet, "La Fe
Baha'i."A group has been started here, and at present there are two declared believers.
3. BRAZILMr. and Mrs. Roy Worley, from the Bábia Community, were in the United States for the summer, and visited Wilmette on September 13th, on their way back from
California to Brazil.During the year, Baha was visited by Mason Remey, Mr. and Mrs. Sala, and Shirley
Warde.was informed by Leonora Armstrong that she was now living permanently in Rio. She was asked to serve as Chairman of the Publishing Committee for Bahá'í literature in Portuguese, and graciously accepted the task. Carol
Page 80Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Santiago, Chile, 1944.
Wood conferred with theShe is home on a visit but plans to return to Rio some time soon. Virginia Orbison arrived in Rio on November 9th, to serve as pioneer. Mary and Edward Bode, also pioneers, arrived here on January 16th, to remain indefinitely.
The Committee is very happy to report the recent formation in Rio, of a group numbering six, � one of these a new believer.
Dr. Tomas W. Sanchez Egea, a Bahá'í from Montevideo, is the Secretary. The
Inter-America Committeerejoices that Leonora Armstrong, who has been "holding the fort" so valiantly for all these years, is now being reinforced and assisted by these newly arrived pioneers.
Mason Remey, Mr. and Mrs. Sala, Gertrude Eisenberg, and Shirley Warde have all visited Rio during the past year.
SAO PAULOGertrude Eisenberg arrived in Sao Paulo October 21st, to start a completely new teaching project.
Gertrude has reported exceptionally interesting and promising contacts, tacts, of which she is taking full advantage. Mason Remey stopped over in Sao Paulo, and spoke to a group whom Gertrude had interested.
4. CHILEArtemus Lamb has been working devotedly to preserve the status of the Spiritual Assembly, which lost several of its members through their departure from the city.
He was greatly assisted, through October, by Esteban Canales; and by Marcia Steward, who visited Punta Arenas from September to
November 10th.here, together with the Punta Arenas friends, has been sponsoring Extension Teaching in Valparaiso, with most gratifying results.
Four new believers were recently reported.Marcia Steward has concentrated her efforts on the teaching work in Valparaiso, where there is now a fine group, two of whom came from Punta Arenas, ready to form a Spiritual Assembly in April. They have recently established an attractive center.
5. COLOMBIALouise Gasweil spent six weeks in Colombia, visiting Call and Medellin on her way to Bogota, where she arrived on November 2 0th.
Elisabeth Cheney arrived in Bogota January 9th, and is to remain here at least until after the April election. She has started regular classes, � one for the Baha'is, and the other for newly-attracted inquirers, � and reports encouraging progress with these.
Mason Remey is just due to visit Bogota.Gayle Woolson arrived in San Jose on October 31st, remaining there until December 5th, during which time the Salas also visited San Jose. Study classes, radio programs, and other activities were resumed, but the friends needed the continued assistance of a resident pioneer. Elisabeth Cheney stopped over in San Jose January 4th, on her way to the Panama Conference, to assist the new pioneer, Evelyn Larson, who has arrived there on December 18th. Gayle Woolson returned to San Jose from Panama, February 26th, and will Fe dividing her time between the friends here and in Panama City.
7. CUBAAccording to the latest reports, there are now sixteen members of the
Community here. Jean Silverreturned to Havana on August 15th, and was soon after joined by Josephine Kruka, who had been in the United States for a holiday.
Both of these pioneers report trips inland to Trinidad, Camaguey, and Santiago, in the interests of the Faith. The first marriage in Cuba, that of Eugenio Gines Vallina and
Srta. Trinidad Hernandezwere among the visitors to Havana during the year.
8. DOMINICAN REPUBLICMontalvo worked intensively in Trujillo, and when the Spiritual Assembly was assured, Louise left for Caracas, Venezuela to be there for the election.
Elaen Marsella arrived in Trujillo on June 24th, to assist Ofelia until the latter was transferred as pioneer to San Salvador in
December.Trujillo was visited by Mason Remey in November, by Mr. and Mrs. Sala in February, and more recently, by Shirley Warde.
9. ECUADORAssembly has carried on valiantly in Guayaquil, since the departure of the two pioneers, � Virginia Orbison to the United States, May 19th; and
-Haig Kevorkian to BuenosVirginia had been working devotedly in Guayaquil since December, and Haig had arrived there from Buenos
Aires on April 9th. Theattractive, well located center has been of great help to this community.
Gwenne Sholtis, VirginiaCheney all passed though Guayaquil for short stays en route to their new posts; and both the Salas and Mason Remey later visited here.
10. GUATEMALAGayle Woolson was in Guatemala City, October 4th to 8th, and Mr. and Mrs. Sala spent six and a half days here from October 31st. Another welcome visitor was Mrs. Amelia Collins, who stopped over for a few days on her way from the Panama Conference.
ii. HAITIThe Committee regrets to report the death of Gerald
McBean on October 25th.Dr. Malcolm M. King was sent as pioneer to Haiti, arriving there on January 4th. He reports very keen interest in the classes which he has been conducting, and is hopeful of some new believers soon. Emeric and Rosemary Sala stopped in Port au Prince, February 8th to 12th.
12. HONDURASGayle Woolson spent several days in Te � gucigalpa, from October 8th, and found the friends eagerly and enthusiastically serving the Cause. There are now twenty-one believers in the community.
13. JAMAICAThe Committee is especially happy that the friends in Kingston could be visited by Dorothy and Frank Baker, and by Mason Remey, as it had not been on the schedule of some of the itinerant teachers.
'William Mitchell has some interesting reports of his Children's Class.
14. MEXICODorothy Baker, representing the N.S.A., spent the period from September 21st to November 24th, consulting with the Spiritual Assembly of Mexico City, assisting them in every way possible, and holding spe-cml classes for the deepening of the knowledge of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. She was greatly assisted by Gayle Woolson, from
September 21st to October4th, and by Octavio Illescas, who remained for a month after Mrs. Baker's departure from Mexico City. With the assistance of these friends, the Spiritual Assembly in Mexico City estThlished a new center, called a meeting of the Community to replace the two members who had resigned from the Assembly, and elected new officers to fill the vacancies. They also reinstated some former members who had been inactive.
The Cause is now firmly established in Mexico City, and a wonderful spirit of unity and harmony prevails. Hascie Cornbleth is awaiting his Mexican permit, to proceed to
MexicoCity, to help the friends with further teaching and spreading of the
Faith.Gwenne Sholtis stopped over in Managua from June 9th to 15th, on her way to Bolivia.
Before leaving Managua, the latter part of August, Dr. Malcolm M. King had succeeded in registering the Faith with the government, and in obtaining from them the right to teach its tenets in that country.
He left a group of eight declared believers. Gayle Woolson was in Managua from October 15th to 3 1st, and Elisabeth Cheney remained there from
October 27th to January5th. Through the efforts of these two pioneers, the membership of the group was increased to eighteen. The Committee is especially happy to report that this group is continuing with their studies of "Administration," and are eagerly anticipating the formation of their Spiritual
Assembly in April.The most important event during the year in Panama was the recent Bahá'í Latin-American Congress, from January 2 1st to the 25th, at which ten countries of Latin America were represented by native believers, and in which seven of the pioneers participated.
All visitors from the various countries took some part in the program, with an attendance at the evening meetings of from forty-seven to one hundred persons. There were classes each morning on ccGod Passes By," ctAdministration~3 and teaching methods in Latin America; and each evening there were Public Talks on various tenets of the Faith, the last meeting held in the large hail of the Inter-American
University.This Conference is being reported in detail in the special Spanish Bulletin and in Bahá'í News, but the Inter-America Committee wishes to report that it was truly an historic occasion, surpassing the highest expectations of everyone. The Committee deeply appreciates all the devoted efforts,
Page 83time, and strength, that were given so unstintingly by the committee in charge, by James Barrett, Hugo Arteagabeitia, and other visiting friends.
Gayle Woolson was in Panama from February 5th to the 26th, assisting the Spiritual Assembly in the Bahá'í activities and teaching work, and contributing greatly to the Publishing and Bulletin Committee work and to the arrangements for the Conference.
Cora Oliver visited the United States and met with the Inter-America Committee when she passed through Wilmette in July 1945.
Gwenne Sholtis, VirginiaCheney stopped over in Panama en route to new posts, and Mrs. Amelia Collins stayed over for special consultation with the Spiritual Assembly, after the Conference. Both the Salas and Mason Remey included Panama City on their itineraries.
COLONThere is a ioveiy group in Colon, as the result of the Extension Teaching work of the Panama City community.
17. PERUEve Nicklin reports a very gratifying growing sense of responsibility on the part of the members of the community, and commends the valuable assistance they were giving with the teaching programs. From last reports there are twenty-two members in the Lima community.
Lima has had many visitors during the last year, including Haig Kevorkian,
Virginia Orbison, GwenneSholtis, Elisabeth Cheney, Emeric and Rosemary Sala, Mason Renwy, and Hugo Arteagabeitia.
18. PARAGUAYElisabeth Cheney arrived in Asuncion on June 16th, to replace Gertrude Eisenberg, who was to leave shortly for her new post in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Elisabeth remained in Asuncion until October 16th, when she left for Nicaragua. At that time, there were nineteen adults and three youths in the community.
19. PUERTO RICOAyned McConab tells of the continued activities of the friends, and the growth of the Faith in Puerto Rico. The Committee.
regrets that the itinerant teachers were not able to include this promising center.
20. EL SALVADORClarence Iverson reported his approaching return to the United States for business reasons, and the Committee hopes he will accept another Latin-American post.
Ofelia Montalvo was transferred from the Dominican Republic to San Salvador arriving there December 4th. There are now fifteen members in this Community.
Visitors to San SalvadorFlora Hottes arrived in Montevideo on June 11th, shortly before the departure from there of Elisabeth Cheney for Asuncion. Elisabeth had been assisting the friends in Montevideo since the preceding February, and in April a Spiritual Assembly was estab-lisbed.
Flora Hates writes warmly and enthusiastically about the community in Montevideo, and plans to remain on there, at least for the rest of this year.
Mason Remey, the Salas, and Shirley Warde all made stopover visits in Montevideo.
22. VENEZUELALouise Baker arrived in Caracas before the April election, and a new Spiritual Assembly was reported from here. Louise remained on as pioneer, and, together with Yolanda Stronach, represented Venezuela at the Panama Conference.
PUBLICATIONS IN SPANISHreport, the Reviewing and Pub � lishing Committee in Buenos Aires was initiating its publishing work in its preparation for publication of the following: Dispensa
Page 84All of these books have now been published in quantity, and currently there is on hand in this distributing center the following Baha literature in Spanish: Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Prayers, Dispensation, Princi-pies,
World Religion, Bahá'íFaith, Dawn of a New Era, and The Bahá'í Peace Plan (this last named is a condensation of the pamphlet which was published in San Francisco during the United Nations Conference, and brought out in Spanish for special use in connection with the Public Talks of the Itinerant Teachers).
The Committee in BuenosAires is currently publishing the following: Wisdom, Sdme Answered Questions, a revised edition of Procedure, and a Study Outline, especially compiled for
Latin America.The Guardian, himself, made a second gift of the Hair of the Bib, which was received early in July. This gift was started on its way from Haifa in January, 1944, in the hands of Dr. Asgarzadeh several months after the locket containing the first gift of the Báb's Hair had been mailed to the National Spiritual Assembly, but before its return to Haifa as the result of a mail plane accident. This first gift was received, however, in time to be displayed with the Portrait of the Báb at the Centenary.
Among other relics received during the year were a locket containing Hair of Bahá'u'lláh and a part of a handkerchief which He used; a rosary, a lock of hair, three handkerchiefs and an autographed photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; a blouse and a scarf worn by the
Greatest Holy Leaf.has undertaken a second aspect of its work � contacting colleges through pamphlet literature. This aspect was not developed last year because of work involved in getting the Bureau first organized.
A special reprint of Dr. R. F. Piper's ccWays to Wholeness" was prepared for the Bureau, and over 200 copies were mailed out with a personal letter to educators. A special list was drawn up for this purpose. The response was very gratifying, and some of the replies received contained such statements as: '~The Bahá'í teachings are both of special timeliness for our generation and of eternal value for all time.~~ The record of college teaching this year may be summed up thus: Dr.
Glenn A.Teachers College (chapel talk) ; Mrs. George R. True: Lanier High School, Jackson, Miss. (assembly talk), Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Ark. (assembly talk);
AllenMcDaniel: Madison College, Harrisonburg, Va. (assembly talk, 1 class), Western
Vir-. ginia State College(chapel talk), Woman s College of the University of North Carolina (class talk), Agricultural and Technical College, Greensboro, N. C. (chapel talk); Stanwood
Cobb: Woman's Collegeof the University of North Carolina (student group), Greensboro College (chapel talk, 1 class), Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, Va. (chapel talk); Mrs.
Marzieh Gail:(as-sembly), Fayetteville (N.C.) Teachers College (assembly), B. E. Smith High School (assembly).
Not all reports of chapel talks contained notations on the number of students and faculty present, but the average attendance was 375 at those college assemblies for which we have a report of attendance.
LOCAL ASSEMBLY INCORPORATIONSThe Legal Committee has reported incorporation of seven more local Assemblies during this two-year period, bringing the total number of incorporated
Assemblies to 47. Theseven are: Birmingham, Alabama; Kansas City, Missouri; Baltimore,
Maryland; At-lanti, Georgia;Dayton, Ohio; Muskegon, Michigan; and Denver, Colorado.
LIBRARY SERVICEThe national committee arranging placement of Bahá'í literature in libraries reported that books were placed the first of
Page 85the two years in 134 public libraries and 43 college and university libraries; for the second year the figures were 163 and 130 respectively.
VISUAL TEACHING MATERIALDuring the winter and spring of 1944 three motion picture films in color were received from the Guardian. These contained beautiful views of the Shrine, the Monuments and the gardens on Mt. Carmel; also, of the Shrine and Mansion at Baha'i, the Garden of RidvTh, and the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Akka. These films were shown at the Centenary, and in order to make copies available to the friends, the Committee was instructed by the National Spiritual Assembly to prepare titles and select scenes to make up a 400 ft. reel.
Kodachrome motion pictures were taken during the Centenary Convention, showing both interior and exterior scenes.
Selections were made from pictures taken by Victor Alexander and Archie Tichenor, members of the Committee, and by a professional photographer who took the interior scenes, to make up two 400 ft. reels. The titling of these pictures was done by Mr. Tichenor.
The Committee has continued to supply sets of Temple slides, 35 mm. size for still projection. The set now consists of 15 Kodachrome views, and 35 black and white views. Through the Temple Librarian and Sales Committee orders have been filled for approximately 65 sets of these slides during the past three years.
They have gone from Palestine to Australia, and from Alaska to the southern tip of Chile.
PUBLIC RELATIONSBy its nature, this committee represents the first stages of an evolution which is in. tended to strengthen the capacity of the American Bahá'í community to act in relation to current events and current public issues.
As peace is the major public issue, the committee laid a basis by recommending the publication of the compilation "Peace a Divine Creation" in 1943.
This year the committee has recommended the reprinting of "Foundations of World Unity," selected talks delivered by the Master in America; and compiled the four peace broadsides which have been mailed to thousands of persons on a national list and have also been distributed by many local Assemblies.
There has been a total of 33,000 sets of the four sheets, or 132,000 individual broadsides, printed between December 1944 and March 15, 1945.
Among the references made to the Faith in non-Bah&i publications, the committee has listed the following: The front cover of Wilmette Life for September 6, 1945 reproduced an aerial photo of the House of Worship and the harbor, with a caption including this reference:
CCThe world-famed Bahá'ífor June, 1945, we find a quotation by 'Abdu'l-Bahá set in a box for special emphasis.
The army paper, Stars and Stripes, August 11,The book entitled "An American Dilemma" refers to the race unity principle of the Faith on page 871, vol. 2.
The pamphlet entitledissued by the CJO Political Action Committee makes a brief reference to the word tCBh~~i~~ A reference to the Báb and to the book by Comte de Gobineau appears in the essay by Matthew Arnold entitled CCA Persian Passion Play," included in Essays in Criticism, First Series, Macmillan Co., 1930.
The magazine, CanadianJournal, March, 1944, contains an article on CcSymbolism and the Humanities" by Sylvia King, with three Temple views, one full page.
The June, 1945, issue of Flying mentions Point Oboe, the code name assigned to the Bahá'í Temple.
"Navigational fixes are given from that landmark" in flights from Glen-view to carriers in Lake Michigan.
The Pure Oil News of February, 1945, featured the Temple in a three page illus � trated article.
A member of the Board of Missions and Church Extension of the Methodist Church is writing a book on different religions which contains a clear and sympathetic article on the Bahá'í Faith.
Page 86appeared in Mind Digest for November, 1945. The author relates a subjective experience in which she states that 'Abdu'l-Bahá appeared to her in vision many years ago.
In Saturday Night, the weekly magazine of Canada, an excellent article about the Cause was published December 8, 1945, using the Toronto Public Meeting as its connection with current news events.
The rotogravure section of the Chicago Sunday Tribune of January 6, 1946, contains a very attractive view of the Temple taken by a staff photographer.
One of the most helpful newspaper references which has ever appeared in this country was the full page, colored photo of the Temple as illumined during the Centenary cele � bration with an extensive article, published in the Chicago Sunday Tribune of June 17, 1945.
Last June a request was received from the publishers of the World Book Encyclopedia for revision of its statement about the Cause written many years ago. The material was corrected, amplified and brought up to date, and it is hoped that the next edition will use this corrected statement.
In August we interested a member of the faculty of a College in Chicago in adding the Bahá'í House of Worship to his lectue on the marvels of architecture delivered before public audiences in many cities.
The Travel Bureau of ChicagoMotor Club from time to time requests a supply of Temple booklets as it distributes copies to members wishing to know about local points of interest.
Marshall Field and Co., Chicago department store, issues a pamphlet entitled "Home Town Tour," which advises the reader to visit the Bahá'í Temple.
Universal Atlas CementCo. of New York some time ago took pictures of the Temple and submitted them to Architectural Record, which published a statement on the Temple in its September number.
The Concrete Manufacturer, a section of Pit eff Quarry Magazine, carried in its September number an article on the work of John J. Earley, including illustration of the House of Worship.
Apparently the Atlas CementCo. likewise supplied this material to the publication.
The Portland Cement Associationof Chicago has prepared an excellent illustrated article on the Temple for its magazine Architectural Concrete, to appear in an early issue.
Redbook Magazine in 1939 carried an article by Hendrik Willem Van Loon, the his, torian, entitled ttSomewhere a Man Is Sitting," which graphically depicts the need of a man of superhuman power who can reconcile men's spiritual and physical needs and thereby save the modern world from the fate of Babylon or
Ninevah or Thebes. Thisclear and enlightened point of view can best be contacted through presentation of a copy of the Guardian's book, ~~God Passes By," and this will be done.
GoodWill Magazine of Cleveknd has requested a photograph of the Temple for use as front cover illustration.
During the fall and winter of 19431944, many local newspapers published an advertisement to promote the sale of government bonds in which a picture of the Temple was used to illustrate the theme of religious free-doria, one of the issues of the war.
The front cover of WJilinettefor September 21 reproduced the new aerial picture of the House of 'Worship on their front cover.
The same issue of W/ilnsette Life ran a photograph of a mural painting in a non-Bahá'í home of the village which illustrates Wilmette harbor and the House of Worship.
In the dining room of Hotel Orrington, Evanston, one end of the room has been recently decorated with a mural of Wilmette harbor and the Temple � a beautiful and impressive view which is attracting much favorable comment.
A good friend of the Cause, Mr. Howard S. Ross of Montreal, conducts a department entitled "The Forum" in The Suburban News, a weekly paper published in that city. His column on September 28 contained a very interesting reference to the Centenary celebration.
The Chicago Daily Tribuneof August 19 ran a half-page photograph of the view from the top of the Tribune tower looking north, and the principal structures visible, including the Bahá'í Temple, are marked by name.
Page 87The Navy aerial picture was used as front cover illustration on the magazine published by the Navy
Air Station of GlenviewTemple illustrations and Baha literature have been given to the editor of National Architect at his request, for a feature article on the
Cause.A notice of Temple meetings and guiding has been placed in a bulletin called the Wet-coiner which a special organization sends to every family who moves to Wilmette, Evanston, Highland Park, Winnetka, Glencoe and Kenilworth. This bulletin is issued annually, and contains data and information useful to new residents in the area.
A passage from words of the Guardian was quoted in Motive of May, 1945, the magazine of the Methodist
Student Movement.Temple pictures have been given to Ca-noco Travel
Bureau, Continental OilCo., for reproduction in their bulletin for tourists.
A misleading statement about the Cause was published in Bergen County Panorama, and the correction of this has been taken up with the civil authorities who sponsored the publication.
My Home Town, the Souyenirof Chicago issued for Service Men and Women, carries an illustration of the Temple as central feature of its page of illustrations of churches.
The book entitled Days With Walt Whit � man, by Edward Carpenter, contains a ref er-ence to the Cause.
There are also Bahá'í references in Sunday After the War, by Henry Miller, published by New Directions and in Persian Gulf Command, by Joel Sayre, Random
House.The projects carried out by the committee in 19451946 included: Preparation and distribution of newspaper articles of editorial nature.
Printing 20,000 sets of ten postcard size reprints of Bahá'í texts to stimulate teaching activities of individual Baha'is.
Printing 50,000 reprints of the color picture of the Temple and Bahá'í article which appeared in the Chicago
Sunday Tribune of JunePreparation, production and distribution of a Bahá'í portfolio for making special contacts.
Distribution of OfficialNavy photograph to 4,000 small town papers, and to about 50 rotogravure sections of large papers.
Mats of this picture made available to Assemblies on request.
PUBLICATIONSThe national Bahá'í publishing office, despite the shortage of paper and the manufacturing difficulties encountered, distributed 393,225 items during the two years, exclusive of copies of the monthly magazine. These items represented 52,666 books, 3 34,145 pamphlets, and 6,414 study outlines.
New books included: Baha'iEffendi; The Bahá'í World, volume IX; Divine Art of Living; Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, by Bahá'u'lláh. Among the pamphlets were: A Bahá'í Child's A. B. C., compiled by Roberta Christian, illustrated by Rochelle Boonshaft; Prophecy
Fulfilled, by ElisabethFaith, compiled by Shoghi Effendi; Headlines Tomorrow, by Marzieh Gail; The Dawn of World Civilization;
Bahá'í Peace Program;The year 194 51946 marked a restoration of a program of public meetings conducted and sponsored by a national committee. This activity was inaugurated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in initiating the series of race unity conferences in 1920. The general theme, "The Price of World Peace Is World Religion," was carried out through a schedule of thirteen meetings. Their programs brought about a close relationship between the national and the local bodies, and involved contributions of service by a number of Bahá'í agencies.
The schedule began with a meeting in Royal York Hotel, Toronto, October 29, 1945, and continued: New
England ConservatoryWashington Hotel, Washington, D. C., December 5; Morehouse University, Atlanta,
January 13, and AnsleyBrooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, March 25; Neighbors of Woodcraft Hall, Portland, Oregon, March 28; Institute of Arts, Detroit, April 1; Continental Hotel,
Chicago, April 11; NationalMeeting, Bahá'í House of Worship, Wil-mette, April 26; and the Annual Bahá'í Congress held in the House of Worship on
April 28.Those speaking on these programs were: Horace Holley, Elsie Austin,
Win. KennethFrom 1944 to 1946 the committee reported a total of 44,666 registered visitors received at the Bahá'í House of Worship and conducted through the building. These visitors came singly, in parties and in organized groups.
In one year 45 organized groups were received, with a total membership of 1,145.
A classification of these groups was made: YWCA, YMCA, religious youth groups, churches, universities, clubs, girl and boy scouts, high schools, play schools and Sunday schools. The registry showed that visitors came from all states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Barbados, Trinidad, Cuba, Bolivia, El Salvador, the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Quebec and BritishColumbia; Lebanon, Australia, China, Persia, Syria, Palestihe, India, England, Wales, Yugoslavia, Holland, Latyja, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Norway.
MASSACHUSETTS MAKES MARRIAGEUnder date of April 10, 1946, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved an tCACt Making Certain Provisions of Law Relating to the
Solemnizing of MarriageApplicable to the Baha'is, So Called." (Chap. 197.)
In most other States the existing statutes have contained provisions under which an incorporated Spiritual Assembly can be authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony. The text of the Act is here cited: � Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. Section thirty of chapter two hundred and seven of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section one of chapter two hundred and fourteen of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-five, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word ttrabbi" in the fourteenth line the words: � , chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Baha'is, � so as to read as follows: � Section 30. Upon application by both of the parties to an intended marriage, when both parties are residents of the commonwealth or both parties are nonresidents, or upon application of the party residing within the commonwealth when one of the parties is a resident and the other a nonresident, a judge of probate or a justice of a district court, or a special judge of probate and insolvency or special justice of a district court, may, after hearing such evidence as is presented, grant a certificate stating that in his opinion it is expedient that the intended marriage be solemnized without delay. Upon presentation of such a certificate, or, in extraordinary or emergency cases when the death of either party is imminent, upon the authoritative request of a minister, clergyman, priest, rabbi, chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Bahá'ís or attending physician, the clerk or registrar of the town where the notice of. intention has been filed shall at once issue the certificate prescribed in section twenty-eight.
Section 2. Section thirty-eight of said chapter two hundred and seven, as most recently amended by chapter one hundred and sixty-two of the acts of nineteen hundred and thirty-zwo, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word ttsocieties" in the twenty-fourth line the words: � , and it may be solemnized among the Bahá'ís by the chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Bahá'ís according to
Page 89the usage of their society, � so as to read as follows: � Section 38. A marriage may be solemnized in any place within the commonwealth by a minister of the gospel who resides in the commonwealth or who if a nonresident is the pastor of a church or denomination duly established in the commonwealth and who is recognized by his church or denomination as duly ordained and in good and regular standing as a minister of such church, or denomination; by a rabbi of the Tsraelitish faith, duly licensed by a congregation of said faith established in the commonwealth, who has filed with the clerk or registrar of the city or town where such. congregation is established, a certificate of the establishment of the synagogue therein, the date of his appointment thereto and of the term of his engagement; by a justice of the peace if he is also clerk or assistant clerk of a city or town, or a registrar or assistant registrar, in the city or town where he holds such office, or, if he is also clerk or assistant clerk of a court, in the city or town where the court is authorized to be held, or, if he has been designated as provided in the following section and has received a certificate of designation and has qualified thereunder, in the city or town where he resides; and it may be solemnized among Friends or Quakers according to the usage of their societies, and it may be solemnized among the Bahá'ís by the chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Bahá'ís according to the usage of their society; but no person shall solemnize a marriage in the commonwealth unless he can read and write the English language.
Churches and other religious organizations shall file in the office of the state secretary information relating to persons recognized or licensed as aforesaid, in such form and at such times as the secretary may require.
Section 3. Said chapter two hundred and seven is hereby further amended by striking out section forty, as appearing in the Ter � centenary Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following section: � Section 40. Every justice of the peace, minister, rabbi, chairman of ~an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Baha'is, and clerk or keeper of the records of a meeting wherein marriages among Friends or Quakers are solern nized shall make and keep a record of each marriage solemnized by him, or in such meeting, and of all facts relative to the marriage required to be recorded by sect5on one of chapt~r forty-six.
He shall also, between the first and tenth days of the month following each marriage solemnized by him, return each certificate issued under section twenty-eight to the clerk or registrar who issued the same; and if the marriage was solemnized in a town other than the place or places where the parties to the marriage resided, return a copy of the certificate, or of either certificate if two were issued, to the clerk or registrar of the town where the marriage was solemnized. Each certificate and copy so returned shall contain a statement giving the place and date of marriage, attested by the signature of the person who solemnized the same or of said chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly of the Bahá'ís or of said clerk or keeper of the records of a Friends or Quaker meeting. The person who solemnized the marriage shall add the title of the office by virtue of which the marriage was solemnized, as ccjustice of the peace, minister of the gospel," "clergyman, priest, "rabbi," or "chairman of an incorporated local spiritual assembly," and his residence. All certificates or copies so returned shall be recorded by the clerk or registrar receiving them.
Section 4. Section forty-two of said chapter two hundred and seven, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "Quakers" in the third line the words: � or Baha'is, � so as to read as follows: � Section 42.
A marriage solemnized by a person professing to be a justice of the peace having authority to solemnize marriages, a minister of the gospel or a rabbi, or solemnized among Friends or Quakers or Bahá'ís according to their usages, shall not be void, nor shall the validity thereof be in any way affected by want of authority in such person or society, or by an omission or by informality in the manner of filing the notice of intention, if the marriage is in other respects lawful and is consummated with a full belief of either of the persons so married that they have been lawfully married.
Approved April 10, 1946.RADIO PROGRAMS and has presented its results in two sum-The he Radio Committee reporting for the manes. The first summary presents the data year 19441945 tabulated the results of a on the special broadcasts arranged during the questionnaire issued to the local Assemblies, week of the Centenary celebrations.
BAHA RADIO BROADCASTSState Assembly Station Date
Alabama Birmingham WSGN May 21
Arizona Phoenix KPHO May 22
Phoenix KOY May 19Arkansas Little Rock KARK May 20
California Los Angeles KFOX (Long Beach) May 21
Pasadena and Aihambra EPAS *Colorado Denver and Colorado Springs KFEL May 21
Connecticut New Haven WELl May 21
D. C Washington WWDC May 21
Delaware Wilmington WILM May 23
Florida Miami WGAM May 21
Georgia Atlanta WAGA May 14
Idaho Boise KIDO May 22
Illinois Danville WDAN May 22
Champaign * *Chicago WJJD (daily spot announcements)
Indiana Indianapolis WISH May 22
Iowa Cedar Rapids (Centenary announcements in news broadcast over two stations; radio script over third station with Doctor Bach, State University broadcasting.)
Kansas Topeka WIBW May 23
Kentucky Louisville WGRC May12 and 22
Louisville WAVE May 23Louisiana New Orleans WSMB May 23
Maine Covered by Mass. BroadcastMaryland Baltimore * May 22
Massachusetts Worcester WAAB May 22
Minnesota Minneapolis and St. Paul WDGY May 23
New York New York City WMCA and WQXR May 21
Yonkers WFAS (White Plains) May 23
North Carolina Greensboro WBIG *
North Dakota Fargo KNOX (Moorehead, Minn.) ... May 14
Ohio Cleveland WIW *
Cincinnati * * *Oregon Portland KWJJ May22 and 25
Pennsylvania Philadelphia WFIL May 17
Philadelphia and West Chester WIBG May 28
Rhode IslandSouth Dakota Sioux Falls KELO May 22
TennesseeTexas Houston * *
Utah Salt Lake City and Laramie, WyoKLO (Ogden) May 21
Vermont Brattleboro WKNE (Keene, N.H.) May 21 Virginia (Combined with Washington, D. C.)
Washington Tacoma KVI May 22
Seattle KIRO May 22W. Virginia Charleston WQKV May 22
Wisconsin Racine WRJN May 16
PRO VINCES � CanadaNova Scotia Halifax * *
Quebec Montreal (and vicinity) CFCF May 21
Prince Edw. LI CharlottetownCECY *
British Columbia Vancouver * May 26
Alberta Edmonton CERN May 28
Calgary * *New Brunswick Moncton CKCW May 23
Saskatchewan Regina .CKRM May 22
Manitoba Winnepeg CKRC May 25
Alaska Anchorage KFQD May 23
Hawaii Honolulu KGU May 22
Mexico Mexico City * *
* Note: � Details as to Call letters, date and time, not yet received from some of the Assemblies Where date of broadcast does not come within the time of Centennial, it means they could not secure time within those dates.
The second summary includes all other radio the year.
1. Total number of stations used: 41 Total number of states having broadcasts: 25 Total number of Provinces having broadcasts: 6 2. Total number of programs: 215 Total number of special announcements: 35 (A.) 4 Thirty minute broadcasts 195 Fifteen minute broadcasts 14 Ten minute broadcasts 2 Five minute broadcasts 34 One minute announcements 1 Two minute announcement (B.) Total number of hours on air: 55 hours, 51 minutes.
3. Total estimated audience (all stations) based upon the primary and secondary coverage of stations used, number of programs, average audience, etc. 9 Million persons 4. The following is a list of the Bahá'í communities carrying broadcasts during the past year:
San Francisco � 3 2 Fifteenminute broadcasts Fargo � 2 8 Fifteen minute broadcasts; S Five minute programs Reno � 22 Fifteen minute broadcasts; Two announcements (one minute) New York � il Fifteen minute broadcasts Regina � i Fifteen minute broadcast Racine, Wis. � 3 Fifteen minute broadcasts time reported to the committee during Washington, D. C. � 1 Fifteen minute broadcast Cleveland � 2 Fifteen minute broadcasts Pasadena � i Fifteen minute broadcast Moncton � 1 Fifteen minute broadcast Cincinnati � i Fifteen minute broadcast; 2 Ten minute programs Madison, Wis. � 1 Fifteen minute broadcast; 1 Ten minute program Jacksonville � i Fifteen minute broadcast Atlanta � 3 Fifteen minute broadcasts Columbus, Ohio � 4 Five minute programs Portsmouth, N. H. � 3 Fifteen minute programs New Haven, Conn. � 3 Fifteen minute programs Flint, Mich. � 2 Fifteen minute programs Jamestown, N. Y. � 1 Fifteen minute program Los Angeles � i 3 Fifteen minute programs; 1 Thirty minute program Fort Wayne, Ind. � 2 Announcements Spokane, Wash. � 1 Two minute announcement Dayton, Ohio � 6 One minute announcements Beverly, Mass. � 24 One hundred word announcements Brattleboro, Vt. � 6 Fifteen minute programs
Page 92minute programs Denver, Colo. � 1 Thirty minute program Minneapolis � i Fifteen minute program New Orleans � i Fifteen minute program
Philadelphia � 2 Fifteenminute programs; 1 Announcement (one minute) Omaha � i Fifteen minute program Albuquerque � 17 Fifteen minute programs Urbana � 4 Fifteen minute programs; 11 Ten minute programs Jackson, Miss. � 1 Fifteen minute program Yonkers, N. Y. � 1 Fifteen minute program Binghamton � 2 Fifteen minute programs Cedar Rapids, Ia. � 3 Fifteen minute programs; 1 Thirty minute program Pittsburgh � i Fifteen minute program Miami � 2 Fifteen minute programs Baltimore � i Fifteen minute program; 1 Thirty minute program HaLifax � 3 Fifteen minute programs Charlottetown, P. E. L � 4 Fifteen minute programs Charleston, W. Va. � 2 Five minute programs 5. The following is a listing of the Bahá'í communities to which the Peace transcription
~tThe Goal Is World Order"(A.) Total time on air if used by all communities would be: 19 hours.
The transcription entitledwas made at a public meeting held in San Francisco during the UNO peace conference.
One of the speakers on the program was the States Attorney General, Mr. Kenny.
TELEGRAM To THE PRESIDENTWhite House, Washington, II. C. It is the prayerful hope of the American Bahá'ís that your Excellency, chief magistrate of the American nation and symbol of its destiny at this great turning-point in human history, will be spiritually guided and reinforced to lead the nations and peoples of the world in the inauguration of universal peace. We recall with reverence and devotion the exalted mission upheld for America by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1912 when He traveled from city to city promulgating the principles of universal peace and in the city of Washington declared: ttM this American democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement.
May it be the first to upraise the standard of the Most Great Peace and through this nation of democracy may these philanthropic intentions and institutions be spread broadcast throughout the world. Truly this is a great and revered nation.
Here liberty has reached its highest degree. The intentions of its people are most praiseworthy. They are indeed worthy of being the first people to build the tabernacle of the great peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind. I will supplicate Cod for assistance and confirmation in your behalf." May the dire needs of humanity be met by the creation of a new world order through the efforts of the forthcoming conference in San Francisco under your leader ship. National Bahá'í Assembly, Geor8e 0. Latimer, Chairman
Horace Holley, SecretarySince both acquirement of knowledge and the sharing of spiritual truth are obligations laid upon Baha'is, their education is conducted in homes, local gatherings and under informal conditions too numerous to recount.
Formal educational institutions have been begun in the United States, England, Germany, Egypt, Persia, India, and Australia and New
Zealand. Between 1944and 1946 conditions prevailing in some of these countries, as in Germany, made the conduct of a Bahá'í school impossible. In England the difficulty arose from the scarcity of suitable accommodations.
In Canada the preliminary work has been done for the institution of a formal school through the conduct of summer conferences for study and discussion. Canada enters the list of countries having Bahá'í schools with the recent announcement that a site has been found in the Laurentian area of Quebec and that land and farm buildings have been acquired for donation to the Ba1A'i community of Canada when its National Assembly is formed.
Information has been received concerning school activities maintained in Australia, Germany, Canada and the United States, in acidi � don to the brief references to schools found in the preceding series of national surveys.
At Yerrinbool, Australia, sessions were conducted in the Hyde Dunn Memorial Hall on the property devoted to Bahá'í service by Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, from
May 28 to June 2, 1944Study of Bahá'í administrative principles, reading of selected Tablets and discussion as well as round table programs were carried on through three daily sessions.
In 1945 the courses presented were on the Guardian's book, God Passes By, with discussion of "Hu-manity's Coming of Age" and CCReligion and 'World Order."
Another school was conducted at Aidgate, South Australia.
In 1944 the dates werepapers were presented on the subjects of Peace, Three Women of the Holy
Family, The Developmentof a World Consciousness, The Measure of Revelation, Youth, The Divine Manifestations, Consultation, Patterns and Plans for
Living.The first school conducted at Sydney, Australia, held sessions on November 4 and 5, 1944. The program, though brief, presented papers which embodied careful research into the Bahá'í teachings: Youth and the New World Order; Christianity and the Baha Faith; Holy Places of the Bahá'í Revelation;
Can Human IntelligenceAt Esslingen, Germany, the school which had been suppressed during the Nazi regime reopened in December, 1945 with a course of three public lectures on: And the Light Is Shining in the
Darkness; The Bahá'íConsiderable public interest was shown, and the believers were encouraged to open introductory classes for inquirers.
The study conference held at Banff, Alberta, Canada, August 19 to 24, 1945, was arranged by the Regional Teaching Committee and formed the third annual session. In 1944, however, the conference was omitted in order to enable more of the Bahá'ís to attend the Centenary meetings and the Convention at
Wilmette.Fine daily classes were held on the Guardian's book, God Passes By and on the subject of Bahá'í Administration. Lectures were delivered on New Horizons in Religion and Preparing for the World of Tomorrow: and a forum provided two sessions on Proclamation of the Bahá'í Faith.
All four schools in the United States held sessions annually during the period under review.
At the Geyserville School, Geyserville. California, the Bahá'í teachings on peace were developed in 1945, the daily subjects being:
The Struggle for PeaceAspects of the Peace; Economic Aspects of the Peace; Spiritual Aspects of the Peace; The Lesser
Peace; Sources for EnduringConcurrently, the distinguished truths of the Bahá'í Faith were expounded and discussed in daily topics: The
Renewal of Faith; GodCrisis and Triumph; Victories of the Bahá'í Faith;
Science and Religion;At the Green Acre School, Eliot, Maine, weekly courses were carried on annually during
July and August. OneBy; Central Figures of the Bahá'í Revelation; The Guardianship and the Administrative Order;
Bahá'í Peace Program; BahaEpistle to the Son of the Wolf; Bahá'í Community Life;
History and PrinciplesSchool, Pine Valley, Colorado, a characteristic session presented these subjects: The Nations
Make the First AdvanceAt the Louhelen School, Davison, Michigan, the summer is divided into a series of separate sessions, some general and some adapted to youth of junior or senior age. The program for 1945 presented: Tablet of fqTh; Deepening the
Spiritual Life; Bahá'í Peacefor Youth Today (a series of seven topics for parent and child) ; The Bahá'í Looks at Universal Peace; Bahá'í
Laws of Living; HistoryMay 23, 1944 brought together the Bahá'ís of all lands in local or national celebration of the Anniversary of the Inauguration of the Faith by the Mb, at �hir4z, Persia. The Spirit descended into humanity in that hour has manifested itself in the most exalted expressions of religious devotion and sacrifice, in the illumination of minds, in the evolution of a world community, and in one hundred years of social tumult which have overthrown the cultures, creeds and political philosophies of the past. For Baha'is, this observance brought deeper recognition of the divine mission of the B~b in establishing, for the first time on earth, the oneness of all the prophets and messengers.
The Bahá'í Centenary was truly the first Holy Day offered to all mankind on equal terms.
The present volume dedicates a special section to the Anniversary.
In this survey only a brief reference can be made. Among the significant results of the Centenary one notes: the "Bahá'í World Survey" compiled by Shoghi Effendi; his incomparable historical work recounting the events and deeper meanings of the first Bahá'í century; construction or purchase of buildings suitable for a national Bahá'í headquarters in a number of countries; publication of centenary volumes by the National Spiritual Assemblies of India, British Isles and the United States; culmination of intensive plans for spreading the Faith to new lands; the association of the Bahá'ís of Latin America and those of North America in an All-American Centenary and Convention; and important developments in the attitude of the public in general toward the idea of a World
Faith.During this two-year period land to the value of $100,000 has been added to the endowment of the Shrine of the Báb on Mr. Carmel.
Work has begun on the construction of the superstructure of the Shrine over the sacred remains of the Manifestation who inaugurated a new dispensation and heralded the coming of
Bahá'u'lláh.GLORIFIED art Thou, 0 Lord my God! Every man of insight confesseth Thy sovereignty and Thy dominion, and every discerning eye perceiveth the greatness of Thy majesty and the compelling power of Thy might.
The winds of tests are powerless to hold back them that enjoy near access to Thee from setting their faces towards the horizon of Thy glory, and the tempests of trials must fail to draw away and hinder such as are wholly devoted to Thy will from approaching Thy court.
Methinks, the lamp of Thy love is burning in their hearts, and the light of Thy tenderness is lit within their breasts.
Adversities are incapable of estranging them from Thy Cause, and the vicissitudes of fortune can never cause them to stray from Thy pleasure.
I beseech Thee, 0 my God, by them and by the sighs which their hearts utter in their separation from Thee, to keep them safe from the mischief of Thine adversaries, and to nourish their souis with what Thou hast ordained for Thy loved ones on whom shall come no fear and who shall nqt be put to grief.
Unto Thee be praise, 0 Lord my God! I entreat Thee, by Thy signs that have encompassed the entire creation, and by the light of Thy countenance that hath illuminated all that are in heaven and on earth, and by Thy mercy that hath surpassed all created things, and by Thy grace that hath suffused the whole universe, to rend asunder
MEDITATIONSthe veils ihat shut me out from Thee, that I may hasten unto the FQuntain-Hcad of Thy mighty inspiration, and to the DaySpring of Thy Revelation and bountiful favors, and may be immersed beneath the ocean of Thy nearness and pleasure.
Suffer me not, 0 my Lord, to be deprived of the knowledge of Thee in Thy days, and divest me not of the robe of Thy guidance. Give inc to drink of the river that is life indeed, whose waters have streamed forth from the Paradise (Ridvan) in which the throne of Thy Name, the All-Merciful, was established, that mine eyes may be opened, and my face be illumined, and my heart be assured, and my soui be enlightened, and my steps be made firm.
Thou art He Who from everlasting was, through the potency of His might, supreme over all things, and, through the operation of His will, was able to ordain all things. Nothing whatsoever, whether in Thy heaven or on Thy earth, can frustrate Thy purpose. Have mercy, then, upon me, 0 my Lord, through Thy gracious providence and generosity, and incline mine ear to the sweet melodies of the birds that warble their praise of Thee, amidst the branches of the tree of Thy oneness.
Thou art the Great Giver, the Ever-For-giving, the
Most Compassionate.Most Great Name, Who hath been sorely afflicted 95
Page 96by such of Thy creatures as have repudiated Thy truth, and Who hath been hemmed in by sorrows which no tongue can describe, to grant that I may remember Thee and celebrate Thy praise, in these days when all have turned away from Thy beauty, have disputed with Thee, and turned away disdainfully from Him Who is the Revealer of Thy Cause. None is there, 0 my Lord, to help Thee except Thine own Self, and no power to succor Thee save Thine own power.
I entreat Thee to enable me to cleave steadfastly to Thy Love and Thy remembrance.
This is, verily, within my power, and Thou art the One that knoweth all that is in me. Thou, in truth, art knowing, apprised of all. Deprive me not, 0 my Lord, of the splendors of the light of Thy face, whose brightness bath illuminated the whole world. No God is there beside Thee, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving.
Magnified be Thy name, 0 Lord my God! Thou art He Whom all things worship and Who worshipeth no one, Who is the Lord of all things and is the vassal of none, Who knoweth all things and is known of none. Thou didst wish to make Thyself known unto men; therefore, Thou didst, through a word of Thy mouth, bring creation into being and fashion the universe. There is none other God except Thee, the Fashioner, the Creator, the Almighty, the Most
Powerful.I implore Thee, by this very word that hath shone forth above the horizon of Thy will, to enable rue to drink deep of the living waters through which Thou hast vivified the hearts of Thy chosen ones and quickened the souis of them that love Thee, that I may, at all tiffies and under all conditions, turn my face wholly towards Thee.
Thou art the God of power, of glory and bounty. No God is there beside Thee, the Supreme Ruler, the All-Glorious, the Omniscient.
Lauded be Thy name, 0 my God! Thou beholdest me in the clutches of my oppressors. Every time I turn to my right, I hear the voice of the lamentation of them that are dear to Thee, whom the infidels have made captives for having believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and for having set their faces towards the horizon of Thy grace and of Thy lovingkindness.
And when I turn to my left, I hear the clamor of the wicked doers who have disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs, and persistently striven to put our the light of Thy lamp which sheddeth the radiance of Thine own Self over all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth.
The hearts of Thy chosen ones, 0 my Lord, have melted because of their separation from Thee, and the souls of Thy loved ones are burnt up by the fire of their yearning after Thee in Thy days. I implore Thee, 0 Thou Maker of the heavens and Lord of all names, by Thy most effulgent Self and Thy most exalted and all-glorious Remembrance, to send down upon Thy loved ones that which will draw them nearer unto Thee, and enable them to hearken unto Thine utterances.
Tear asunder with the hand of Thy transcendent power, 0 my Lord, the veil of vain imaginings, that they who are wholly devoted to Thee may see Thee seated on the throne of Thy majesty, and the eyes of such as adore Thy unity may reioice at the splendors of the glory of Thy face. The doors of hope have been shut against the hearts that long for Thee, 0 my Lord!
Their keys are in Thy hands; open them by the power of Thy might and Thy sovereignty. Potent art Thou to do as Thou pleasest. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Beneficent.
Praise be to Thee, 0 Lord my God! I swear by Thy might! Successive afflictions have withheld the pen of the Most. High from laying bare that which is hidden from the eyes of Thy creatures, and incessant trials have hindered the tongue of the Divine Ordainer from proclaiming the wonders of Thy glorification and praise. With a stammering tongue, therefore, I call upon Thee, 0 my God, and with this my afflicted pen I occupy myself in remembrance of Thy name.
Is there any man of insight, 0 my God, that can behold Thee with Thine own eye, and where is the thirsty one who can direct
Page 97his face towards the living waters of Thy love? I am the one, 0 my God, who bath blotted out from his heart the remembrance of all except Thee, and bath graven upon it the mysteries of Thy Love.
Thine own might beareth me witness! But for tribulations, how could the assured be distinguished from the doubters among Thy servants?
They who have been inebriated with the wine of Thy knowledge, these, verily, hasten to meet every manner of adversity in their longing to pass into Thy presence.
I implore Thee, O Belovedof my heart and the Object of my soul's adoration, to shield them that love me from the faintest trace of evil and corrupt desires.
Supply them, then, with the good of this world and of the next.
Thou art, verily, He Whose grace hath guided them aright, He Who hath declared Himself to be the All-Merciful.
No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, thePraise be to Thee, 0 Lord my God! I beseech Thee by this Revelation whereby darkness hath been turned into light, through which the Frequented Fane hath been built, and the 'Written Tablet revealed, and the Outspread Roll uncovered, to send down upon me and upon them who are in my company that which will enable us to soar into the heavens of Thy transcendent glory, and will wash us from the stain of such doubts as have hindered the suspicious from entering into the tabernacle of Thy unity.
I am the one, 0 my Lord, who bath held fast the cord of Thy lovingkindness, and clung to the hem of Thy mercy and favors. Do Thou ordain for me and for my loved ones the good of this world and of the world to come.
Supply them, then, with the Hidden Gift Thou didst ordain for the choicest among Thy creatures.
These are, 0 my Lord, the days in which Thou hast bidden Thy servants to observe the fast. Blessed is he that observeth the fast wholly for Thy sake and with absolute detachment from all things except Thee. Assist me and assist them, 0 my Lord, to obey Thee and to keep Thy precepts.
Thou, verily, hast power to do what Thou choosest.
There is no God, but Thee, the All-Know-ing, the All-Wise. All praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.
Glorified be Thy name, 0 Lord my God! Thou beholdest my dwelling-place, and the prison into which I am cast, and the woes I suffer. By Thy might!
No pen can recount them, nor can any tongue describe or number them. I know not, 0 my God, for what purpose Thou hast abandoned me to Thine adversaries.
Thy glory beareth me witness!I sorrow not for the vexations I endure for love of Thee, nor feel perturbed by the calamities that overtake me in Thy path.
My grief is rather because Thou de-layest to fulfill what Thou hast determined in the Tablets of Thy Revelation, and ordained in the books of Thy decree and judgment.
My blood, at all times, addresseth me saying: "0 Thou Who art the Image of the Most Merciful!
How long will it be ere Thou riddest me of the captivity of this world, and deliverest me from the bondage of this life?
Didst Thou not promise me that Thou shalt dye the earth with me, and sprinkle me on the faces of the inmates of Thy Paradise?" To this I make reply: "Be thou patient and quiet thyself.
The things thou desirest can last but an hour. As to me, however, I quaff continually in the path of God the cup of His decree, and wish not that the ruling of His will should cease to operate, or that the woes I suffer for the sake of my Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, should be ended. Seek thou my wish and forsake thine own.
Thy bondage is not for my protection, but to enable me to sustain successive tribulations, and to prepare me for the trials that must needs repeatedly assail me. Perish that lover who discerneth between the pleasant and the poisonous in his love for his beloved!
Be thou satisfied with what God hath destined for thee. He, verily, ruleth over thee as LIe willeth and pleaseth.
No God is there but Him, the Inaccessible, the Most
High."Magnified be Thy name, 0 Lord my God! I know not what the water is with which Thou hast created me, or what the fire Thou hast kindled within me, or the clay wherewith Thou hast kneaded me.
The restlessnessof every sea hath been stilled, but not the restlessness of this Ocean which moveth at the bidding of the winds of Thy will. The flame of every fire bath been extinguished except the Flame which the hands of Thine omnipotence have kindled, and whose radiance Thou hast, by the power of Thy name, shed abroad before all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. As the tribu � lations deepen, it waxeth hotter and hotter.
Behold, then, 0 my God, how Thy Light bath been compassed with the onrushing winds of Thy decree, how the tempests that blow and beat upon it from every side have added to its brightness and increased its splendor. For all this let Thee be praised.
I implore Thee, by Thymost ancient sovereignty, to look upon Thy loved ones whose hearts have been sorely shaken by reason of the troubles that have touched Him Who is the
Manifestation of Thineown Self. Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou art, verily, the A11~Knowing, the All-Wise.
0 Thou Whose face is the object of the adoration of all that yearn after Thee, Whose presence is the hope of such as are wholly devoted to Thy will, Whose nearness is the desire of all that have drawn nigh unto Thy court, Whose countenance is the companion of those who have recognized Thy truth, Whose name is the mover of the souls that long to behold Thy face, Whose voice is the true life of Thy lovers, the words of Whose mouth are as the waters of life unto all who are in heaven and on earth!
I beseech Thee, by the wrong Thou hast suffered and the ills inflicted upon Thee by the hosts of wrongful doers, to send down upon me from the clouds of Thy mercy that which will purify me of all that is not of Thee, that I may be worthy to praise Thee and fit to iovc Thee.
Withhold not from me, 0 my Lord, the things Thou didst ordain for such of Thy handmaiclens as circle around Thee, and on whom are poured continually the splendors of the sun of Thy beauty and the beams of the brightness of Thy face. Thou art He Who from everlasting hath sticcored whosoever hath sought Thee, and bountifully favored him who hath asked Thee.
No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Ever-Abiding, the All-Bounteous, the Most
Generous.Lauded be Thy name, 0 Lord my God! Darkness hath fallen upon every land, and the forces of mischief have encompassed all the nations.
Through them, however, I perceive the splendors of Thy wisdom, and discern the brightness of the light of Thy providence.
They that are shut out as by a veil from Thee have imagined that they have the power to put out Thy light, and to quench Thy fre, and to still the winds of Thy grace. Nay, and to this Thy might beareth me witness! Had not every tribulation been made the bearer of Thy wisdom, and every ordeal the vehicle of Thy providence, no one would have dared oppose us, though the powers of earth and heaven were to be leagued against us. Were I to unravel the wo'ndroiss mysteries of Thy wisdom which are laid bare before me, the reins of Thine enemies would be cleft asunder.
Glorified be Thou, then, 0 my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Most Great Name to assemble them that love Thee around the Law that streameth from the good-pleasure of Thy will, and to send down upon them what will assure their hearts.
Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou art, verily, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Praise be unto Thee, Who art my God and the God of all men, and my Desire and the Desire of all them that have recognized Thee, and my Beloved and the Beloved of such as have acknowledged Thy unity, and the Object of my adoration and of the adoration of them that have near access to Thee, and my Wish and the Wish of such as are wholly devoted to Thee, and my Hope and the Hope of them that have fixed their hearts upon Thee, and my Refuge and the Refuge of all such as have hastened towards Thee, and my Haven and the Haven of whosoever hath repaired unto Thee, and my Goal and the Goal of all them that have set themselves towards Thee, and my Object and the Object of those who have fixed their gaze upon Thee, and my Paradise and the
Page 99Paradise of them that have ascended towards Thee, and my LodeStar and the LodeStar of all such as yearn after Thee, and my Joy and the Joy of all them that love Thee, and my Light and the Light of all such as have erred and asked to be forgiven by Thee, and my Exultation and the Exultation of all them that remember Thee, and my Stronghold and the Stronghold of all such as have fled to Thee, and my Sanctuary and the Sanctuary of all that dread Thee, and my Lord and the Lord of all such as dwell in the heavens and on the earth!
Unto Thee be praise for that Thou hast enraptured me by the sweetness of Thine utterances, and set me towards the horizon above which the splendors of the DayStar of Thy face have shone, and caused me to turn unto Thee at a time when most of Thy creatures had broken off from Thee.
Thou art He, 0 my God, Who hath unlocked the gate of heaven with the key of Thy Name, the Ever-Blessed, the All-Pow-erful, the
All-Glorious, the MostGreat, and Inst summoned all mankind to the ocean of Thy presence. No sooner had Thy most sweet voice been raised, than all the inmates of the Kingdom of Names and the Concourse on high were stirred up. By Thy call the fragrance of the raiment of Thy revelation was wafted over such of Thy creatures as have loved Thee, and such of Thy people as have yearned towards Thee. They rose up and rushed forth to attain the Ocean of Thy meeting, and the Horizon of Thy beauty, and the Tabernacle of Thy revelation and Thy majesty, and the sanctuary of Thy presence and Thy glory. They were so inebriated with the wine of their reunion with Thee, that they rid themselves of all attachment to whatever they themselves and others possessed.
These are Thy servants whom the ascendancy of the oppressor hath failed to deter from fixing their eyes on the Tabernacle of Thy majesty, and whom the hosts of tyranny have been powerless to affright and divert their gaze from the DaySpring of Thy signs and the Dawning-Place of Thy testimonies.
I swear by Thy glory, 0 Thou the Lord of all being and the Enlightener of all things visible and invisible! Whoso hath quaffed from the hands of Thy bounteousness the living waters of Thy love will never allow the things pertaining to Thy creatures to keep him back from Thee, neither will he be dismayed at the refusal of all the dwellers of Thy realm to acknowledge Thee. Before all who are in heaven and on earth such a man will cry aloud, and announce unto the people the tumult of the Ocean of Thy bounty and the splendors of the Luminaries of the heaven of Thy bestowals.
Happy indeed is the man that hath turned towards the sanctuary of Thy presence, and rid himself of all attachment to any one except Thyself.
He is truly exalted who hath confessed Thy glory, and fixed his eyes upon the DayStar of Thy lovingkindness. He is endued with understanding who is aware of Thy revelation and hath acknowledged.
Thy manifold tokens, Thy signs, and Thy testimonies.
He is a man of insight whose eyes have been illumined with the brightness of Thy face, and who, as soon as Thy call was raised, hath recognized Thee. He is a man of hearing who hath been led to hearken unto Thy speech, and to draw nigh unto the billowing ocean of Thine utterances.
Behold Thou this stranger, 0 my Lord, who hath hastened to attain his most exalted Home in the shelter of Thy shadowing mercy, and this ailing soui who hath set his face towards the ocean of Thy healing.
Look, then, 0 Thou my God who settest my soui on fire, upon the tears I shed, and the sighs I utter, and the anguish that afflicteth my heart and the fire that con-sumeth my being. Thy glory beareth me witness, 0 Thou, the Light of the world! The fire of Thy love that burneth continually within me hath so inflamed me that whoever among Thy creatures approacheth me, and inclineth his inner ear towards me, cannot fail to hear its raging within each of my veins.
I am so carried away by the sweetness of Thine utterances, and so inebriated with the wine of Thy tender mercies, that my voice can never be stilled, nor can my suppliant hands any longer desist from being stretched out towards Thee. Thou seest, 0 my Lord, how mine eyes are fixed in the direction of Thy grace, and mine ears inclined towards
Page 100the kingdom of Thine utterance, and my tongue unloosed to celebrate Thy praise, and my face set towards Thy face that surviveth all that bath been created by Thy word, and my hands raised up towards the heaven of Thy bounty and favor.
Wilt Thou keep back from Thee the stranger whom Thou didst call unto his most exalted Home beneath the shadow of the wings of Thy mercy, or cast away the wretched creature that bath hastened to at-tam the shores of the ocean of Thy wealth? Wilt Thou shut up the door of Thy grace to the face of Thy creatures after having opened it through the power of Thy might and of Thy sovereignty, or close the eyes of Thy people when Thou hast already commanded them to turn unto the DaySpring of Thy beauty and the Dawning-Place of the splendors of Thy countenance?
Nay, and to this Thy glory beareth me witnessl Such is not my thought of Thee, nor the thought of those of Thy servants that have near access to Thyself, nor that of the sincere amongst Thy people.
Thou knowest, and seest, and hearest, 0 my Lord, that before every tree I am moved to lift up my voice to Thee, and before every stone I am impelled to sigh and lament. Math it been Thy purpose in creating me, 0 my God, to touch me with tribulation, or to enable me to manifest Thy Cause in the kingdom of Thy creation?
Thou hearest, 0 my God, my sighs and my groaning, and beholdest my powerlessness, and my poverty, and my misery, and my woes, and my wretchedness. I swear by Thy might! I have wept with such a weeping that I have been unable to make mention of Thee, or to extol Thee, and cried with such a bitter cry that every mother in her bereavement was bewildered at me, and forgot her own anguish and the sighs she had uttered.
I implore Thee, 0 my Lord, by Thine Ark, through which the potency of Thy will was manifested and the energizing influences of Thy purpose were revealed, and which saileth on both land and sea through the power of Thy might, not to seize me in my mighty sins and great trespasses.
I swear by Thy Glory!The waters of Thy forgiveness and Thy mercy have emboldened me, as bath Thy dealing, in bygone ages, with the sincere among Thy chosen ones, and with such of Thy Messengers as have proclaimed Thy oneness.
I am well aware, 0 my Lord, that I have been so carried away by the clear tokens of Thy lovingkindness, and so completely inebriated with the wine of Thine utverahce, that whatever I behold I readily discover that it maketh Thee known unto me, and it remindeth me of Thy si~gns, and of Thy tokens, and of
Thy testimonies. By Thy Glory!Every time I lift up mine eyes unto Thy heaven, I call to mind 'Thy highness and Thy loftiness, and Thine incomparable glory and greatness; and eyery time I turn my gaze to Thine earth, I am made to recognize the evidences of Thy power and the tokens of Thy bounty. And when I behold the sea, I find that it speaketh to me of Thy majesty, and of the potency of Thy might, and of Thy sovereignty and Thy grandeur. And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence.
I swear by Thy might, 0 Thou in Whose grasp are the reins of all mankind, and the destinies of the nations! I am so inflamed by my love for Thee, and so inebriated with the wine of Thy oneness, that I can hear from the whisper of the winds the sound of Thy glorification and praise, and can recognize in the murmur of the waters the voice that proclaimeth Thy yirtues and Thine attributes, and can apprehend from the rustling of the leaves the mysteries that have been irrevocably ordained by Thee in Thy realm.
Glorified art Thou, 0 God of all names and Creator of the heavens! I render Thee thanks that Thou hast made known unto Thy servants this Day whereon the river that is life indeed hath flowed forth from the fingers of Thy bounty, and the springtime of Thy revelation and Thy presence hath appeared through Thy manifestation unto all who are in Thy heaven and all who are on Thy earth.
This is the Day, 0 my Lord, whose brightness Thou hast exalted above the brightness of the sun and the splendors thereof. I testify that the light it sheddeth proceedeth out of the glory of the light of Thy counte
Page 101nance, and is begotten by the radiance of the morn of Thy revelation.
This is the Day whereon the hopeless have been clothed with the raiment of confidence, and the sick attired with the robe of healing, and the poor drawn nigh unto the ocean of Thy riches.
THE ATTAINMENT OF UNDERSTANDINGNo man shall attain-the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, 0 ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the
Bay~in.The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly � their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way. Then will they be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun of divine knowi-. edge and understanding, and become the recipients of a grace that is infinite and unseen, inasmuch as man can never hope to attain unto the knowledge of the All-Glor-ious, can never quaff from the stream of divine knowledge ~nd wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake of the cup of divine nearness and favour, unless and until he ceases to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets.
Consider the past. How many, both high and iow, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones.
How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned tway from His face � the face of God Himself. Refer ye, to verify this truth, to that which hath been recorded in every sacred
Book.Ponder for a moment, and reflect upon that which hath been the cause of such denial on the part of those who have searched with such earnestness and longing. Their attack bath been more fierce than tongue or pen can describe. Not one single
Manifestation of Holinesshath appeared but He was afflicted by the denials, the repudiation, and the vehement opposition of the people around Him.
Thus it hath been revealed: "0 the misery of men!No Messenger cometh unto them but they laugh Him to scorn."1 Again He saith: "Each nation hath plotted darkly against their Messenger to lay violent hold on Him, and disputed with vain words to invalidate the truth."2 In like manner, those words that have streamed forth from the source of power and descended from the heaven of glory are innumerable and beyond the ordinary comprehension of man. To them that are possessed of true understanding and insight the Sarah of Hiid surely sufficeth. Ponder a while those holy words in your heart, and, with utter detachment, strive to grasp their meaning. Examine the wondrous behaviour of the Prophets, and recall the defamations and denials uttered by the children of negation and falsehood, perchance you may cause the bird of the human heart to wing its flight away from the abodes of heedlessness and doubt unto the nest of faith and certainty, and drink deep from the pure waters of ancient wisdom, and partake of the fruit of the tree of divine knowledge. Such is the share of the pure in heart of the bread that hath descended from the realms of eternity and holiness.
Should you acquaint yourself with the indignities heaped upon the Prophets of God, and apprehend the true causes of the objections voiced by their oppressors, you will surely appreciate the significance of their position.
Moreover, the more closely youobserve the denials of those who have opposed the Manifestations of the divine attributes, the firmer will be your faith in the Cause of God. Accordingly, a brief mention will be made in this Tablet of divers accounts relative to the Prophets of God, that they may demonstrate the truth that throughout all ages and centuries the Manifestations of power and glory have been subjected to such heinous cruelties that no pen dare describe them.
Perchance this may enable a few to cease to be perturbed by the clamour and protestations of the divines and the foolish of this age, and cause them to strengthen their confidence and certainty.
Among the Prophets was Noah. For nine hundred and fifty years He prayerfully exhorted His people and summoned them to the haven of security and peace.
None, however, heeded His call. Each day they inflicted on His blessed person such pain and suffering that no one believed He could survive. How frequently they denied Him, how malevolently they hinted their suspicion against Him! Thus it hath been revealed: "And as often as a company of His people passed by Him, they derided Him.
To them He said: tThough ye scoff at us now, we will scoff at you hereafter even as ye scoff at us. In the end ye shall know.'
~ Long afterward, He several times promised victory to His companions and fixed the hour thereof.
But when the hour struck, the divine promise was not fulfilled. This caused a few among the small number of His followers to turn away from Him, and to this testify the records of the bestknown books. These you must certainly have perused; if not, undoubtedly you will. Finally, as stated in books and traditions, there remained with Him only forty or seventy-two of His foLlowers. At last from the depth of His being He cried aloud: "Lord! Leave not upon the land a single dweller from among the unbelievers."2 And now, consider and reflect a moment upon the waywardness of this people. What could have been the reason for such denial and avoidance on their part? What could have induced them to refuse to put off the garment of denial, and to adorn themselves
Qur'an 11:38.Moreover, what could have caused the nonfulfilment of the divine promise which led the seekers to reject that which they had accepted? Meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you, that you may inhale the sweetness of a spiritual and imperishable fragrance, and that you may acknowledge the truth that from time immemorial even unto eternity the Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, His servants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns. Even as He hath revealed: "Do men think when they say "We believe' they shall be let alone ahd not be put to proof?"3 And after Noah the light of the countenance of H~d shone forth above the horizon of creation.
For well-nigh seven hundred years, according to the sayings of men, He exhorted the people to turn their faces and draw nearer unto the RidvTh of the divine presence. What showers of afflictions rained upon Him, until at last His adjurations bore the fruit of increased rebelliousness, and His assiduous endeavours resulted in the wilful blindness of His peopie. "And their unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers their own perdition."4 And after Him there appeared from the Ridvan of the Eternal, the Invisible, the holy person of SAlib, Who again summoned the people to the river of everlasting life. For over a hundred years He admonished them to hold fast unto the commandments of God and eschew that which is forbidden. His admonitions, however, yielded no fruit, and His pleading proved of no avail. Several times He retired and lived in seclusion. All this, although that eternal Beauty was summoning the people to no other than the city of God. Even as it is revealed: "And unto the tribe of Thami~d We sent their brother $41i1i. ~ my people,' said He, tWor-ship God, ye have none other God beside Him. .' They made reply: ~ ~li1j~, our hopes were fixed on thee until now; f or � biddest thou us to worship that which our fathers worshipped?
Truly we misdoubt 3Qur'in 29:2.that whereunto thou callest us as suspicious.' "~ All this proved fruitless, until at last there went up a great cry, and all fell into utter perdition.
Later, the beauty of the countenance of the Friend of God2 appeared from behind the veil, and another standard of divine guidance was hoisted. He invited the people of the earth to the light of righteousness. The more passionately He exhorted them, the fiercer waxed the envy and waywardness of the people, except those who wholly detached themselves from all save God, and ascended on the wings of certainty to the station which God hail exalted beyond the comprehension of men. It is well known what a host of enemies besieged Him, until at last the fires of envy and rebellion were kindled against Him.
And after the episode of the fire came to pass, He, the lamp of God amongst men, was, as recorded in all books and chronicles, expelled from His city.
And when His day was ended, there came the turn of Moses. Armed with the rod of celestial dominion, adorned with the white hand of divine knowledge, and proceeding from the P6rin of the love of God, and wielding the serpent of power and everlasting majesty, He shone forth from the Sinai of light upon the world.
He summoned all the peoples and kindreds of the earth to the kingdom of eternity, and invited them to partake of the fruit of the tree of faithfulness. Surely you are aware of the fierce opposition of Pharaoh and his people, and of the stones of idle fancy which the hands of infidels cast upon that blessed Tree.
So much so that Pharaoh and his people finally arose and exerted their utmost endeavor to extinguish with the waters of falsehood and denial the fire of that sacred Tree, oblivious of the truth that no earthly water can quench the flame of divine wisdom, nor mortal blasts extinguish the lamp of everlasting dominion. Nay, rather, such water cannot but intensify the burning of the flame, and such blasts cannot but insure the preservation of the lamp, were ye to observe with the eye of discernment, and walk in the way of God's holy will and pleasure.
How well hath a believer of the 'Qur'an 11:61, 62.
2 Abraham.kindred of Pharaoh, whose story is recounted by the All-Glorious in His Book revealed unto His beloved One, observed: "And a man of the family of Pharaoh who was a believer and concealed his faith said: CWi11 ye slay a man because he saith my Lord is God, when He hath already come to you with signs from your Lord? If he be a liar, on him will be his lie, but if he be a man of truth, part of what he threateneth will fall upon you. In truth God guideth not him who is a transgressor, a liar.'
"~ Finally, so great was their iniquity that this self � same believer was put to a shameful death. CCThe curse of God be upon the people of tyranny."
And now, ponder upon these things. What could have caused such contention and conflict? Why is it that the advent of every true Manifestation of God hath been accompanied by such strife and tumult, by such tyranny and upheaval?
This notwithstanding the fact that all the Prophets of God, whenever made manifest unto the peoples of the world, have invariably foretold the coming of yet another Prophet after them, and have established such signs as would herald the advent of the future Dispensation. To this the records of all sacred books bear witness. Why then is it that despite the expectation of men in their quest of the Manifestations of Holiness, and in spite of the signs recorded in the sacred books, should such acts of violence, of oppression and cruelty, have been perpetrated in every age and cycle against all the Prophets and chosen
Ones of God? Even as Hehath revealed: "As oft as an Apostle cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, ye swell with pride, accusing some of being impostors and slaying others."4 Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What could have prompted such behaviour towards the Revealers of the beauty of the All-Glorious?
Whatever in days gone by hath been the cause of the denial and opposition of those people hath now led to the perversity of the people of this age. To maintain that the testimony of Providence was incomplete, that it hath therefore been the cause of the denial of 2Qur'An 40:28.
4Qur'An 2:87.the people, is but open blasphemy. How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His loving providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soui from amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony, and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on His people for having turned away from His chosen One!
Nay, the manifold bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times, through the Manifestations of His divine Essence, encompassed the earth and all that dwell therein. Not for a moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have the showers of His lovingkindness ceased to rain upon mankind.
Consequently, such behaviour can be attributed to naught save the petty-mindedness of such souls as tread the valley of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of remoteness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the dictates of the leaders of their faith. Their chief concern is mere opposition; their sole desire is to ignore the truth. Unto every discerning observer it is evident and manifest that had these people in the days of each of the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth sanctified their eyes, their ears, and their hearts from whatever they had seen, heard, and felt, they surely would not have been deprived of beholding the beauty of God, nor strayed far from the habitations of glory.
But having weighed the testimony of God by the standard of their own knowledge, gleaned from the teachings of the leaders of their faith, and found it at variance with their limited understanding, they arose to perpetrate such unseemly acts.
Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins of authority in their mighty grasp.
Some for the lust of leadership, others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His flight unto the heights of glory. What unspeakable cruelties they that have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue!
Content with a transitory dominion, they have deprived themselves of an everlasting sovereignty. Thus, their eyes beheld not the light of the countenance of the Well-Beloved, nor did their ears hearken unto the sweet melodies of the Bird of Desire. For this reason, in all sacred books mention hath been made of the divines of every age. Thus He saith: tt~~ people of the Book!
Why disbelieve the signs of God to which ye yourselves have been witness?"1 And also He saith: ~O people of the Book! Why clothe ye the truth with falsehood?
Why wittingly hide the truth?"2 Again, He saith: "Say, 0 people of the Book, Why repel believers from the way of God?"3 It is evident that by the t!
of the Book,'' who have repelled their fellowmen from the straight path of God, is meant none other than the divines of that age, whose names and character have been revealed in the sacred books, and alluded to in the verses and traditions recorded therein, were you to observe with the eye of God.
With fixed and steady gaze, born of the unerring eye of God, scan for a while the horizon of divine knowledge, and contemplate those words of perfection which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom, hidden ere now beneath the veil of glory and treasured within the tabernacle of His grace, may be made manifest unto you. The denials and protestations of these leaders of religion have, in the main, been due to their lack of knowledge and understanding.
Those words uttered by the Revealers of the beauty of the one true God, setting forth the signs that should herald the advent of the Manifestation to come, they never understood nor fathomed. Hence they raised the standard of revolt, and stirred up mischief and sedition.
It is obvious and manifest that the true meaning of the utterances of the Birds of Eternity is revealed to none except those that manifest the Eternal Being, and the melodies of the Nightingale of Holiness can reach no ear save that of the denizens of the everlasting realm. The Copt of tyranny can 'Qur'an 3:70.
2Qur'An 3:71.never partake of the cup touched by the lips of the Sept of justice, and the Pharaoh of unbelief can never hope to recognize the hand of the Moses of truth. Even as He saith: t(N knoweth the meaning thereof except God and them that are well-grounded in knowledge."1 And yet, they have sought the interpretation of the Book from those that are wrapt in veils, and have refused to seek enlightenment from the fountainhead of knowledge.
And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus, shining forth from the dayspring of the Spirit, encompassed the world, all the people of Israel arose in protest against Him. They clamoured that He Whose advent the Bible had foretold must needs promulgate and fulfil the laws of Moses, whereas this youthful Nazarene, who laid claim to the station of the divine Messiah, had annulled the law of divorce and of the sabbath day � the most weighty of all the laws of Moses. Moreover, what of the signs of the Manifestation yet to come?
These people of Israel are even unto the present day still expecting that Manifestation which the Bible hath foretold!
How many Manifestationsof Holiness, how many Revealers of the light everlasting, have appeared since the time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of satanic fancy and false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of her own handiwork will appear with such signs as she herself bath conceived! Thus bath God laid hold of them for their sins, hath extinguished in them the spirit of faith, and tormented them with the flames of the nethermost fire.
And this for no other reason except that Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such words as have been revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the coming Revelation. As she never grasped their true significance, and, to outward seeming, such events never came to pass, she, therefore, remained deprived of recognizing the beauty of Jesus and of beholding the face of God. And they still await His coming! From time immemorial even unto this day, all the kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to such fanciful and unseemly thoughts, and
1 Qur'an 3:7.thus have deprived themselves of the clear waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness.
In unfolding these mysteries, We have, in Our former Tablets which were addressed to a friend in the melodious language of JfLijiz, cited a few of the verses revealed unto the Prophets of old.
And now, responding to your request, We again shall cite, in these pages, those same verses, uttered this time in the wondrous accents of 'Ir4q, that haply the sore athirst in the wilds of remoteness may attain unto the ocean of the divine presence, and they that languish in the wastes of separation be led unto the home of eternal reunion. Thus the mists of error may be dispelled, and the all � resplendent light of divine guidance dawn forth above the horizon of human hearts. In God We put Our trust, and to Him We cry for help, that haply there may flow from this pen that which shall quicken the souis of men, that they may all arise from their beds of heedlessness and hearken unto the rustling of the leaves of Paradise, from the tree which the hand of divine power hath, by the permission of God, planted in the Ridvan of the All-Glorious.
To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and manifest that when the fire of the iove of Jesus consumed the veils of Jewish limitations, and His authority was made apparent and partially enforced, He the Revealer of the unseen Beauty, addressing one day His disciples, referred unto His passing, and, kindling in their hearts the fire of bereavement, said unto them: "I go away and come again unto you."
And in another place He said: ~ go and another will come Who will tell you all that I have not told you, and will fulfil all that I have said." Both these sayings have but one meaning, were you to ponder upon the Manifestations of the Unity of God with divine insight.
Every discerning observer will recognize that in the Dispensation of the Qur'an both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed. As to the matter of names, Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am Jesus." He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and words of Jesus, and testified that they were all of God. In this sense,
Page 106neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed from that of Muhammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the Cause of God, uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments. Thus it is that Jesus, Himself, declared: ttj go away and come again unto you."
Consider the sun. "Were it to say now, "I am the sun of yesterday,". it would speak the truth.
And should it, bearing the sequence of time in mind, claim to be other than that sun, it still would speak the truth.
In like manner, if it be said that all the days are but one and the same, it is correct and true. And if it be said, with respect to their particular names and designations, that they differ, that again is true. For though they arc the same, yet one doth recognize in each a separate designation, a specific attribute, a particular character.
Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation, and unity characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that thou mayest comprehend the allusions made by the creator of all names and attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover the answer to thy question as to why that everlasting Beauty should have, at sundry times, called Himself by different names and titles.
Afterwards, the companions and disciples of Jesus asked Him concerning those signs that must needs signalize the return of His manifestation.
'When, they asked, shall these things be? Several times they questioned that peerless Beauty, and, every time He made reply, He set forth a special sign that should herald the advent of the promised Dispensation.
To this testify the records of the four Gospels.This wronged One will cite but one of these instances, thus conferring upon mankind, for the sake of God, such bounties as are yet concealed within the treasury of the hidden and sacred Tree, that haply mortal men may not remain deprived of their share of the immortal fruit, and attain to a dewdrop of the waters of everlasting life which, from BaghdAd, the "Abode of Peace," are being vouchsafed unto all mankind. We ask for neither meed nor reward.
"We nourish your souls for the sake of God; we seek from you neither rec ompense nor thanks."1 This is the food that conferreth everlasting life upon the pure in heart and the illumined in spirit. This is the bread of which it is said: "Lord, send down upon us Thy bread from heaven."2 This bread shall never be withheld from them that deserve it, nor can it ever be exhausted.
It groweth everlastingly from the tree of grace; it descendeth at all seasons from the heavens of justice and mercy. Even as He saith: CtSt thou not to what God likeneth a good word? To a good tree; its root firmly fixed, and its branches reaching unto heaven: yielding its fruit in all seasons."3 0 the pity! that man should deprive himself of this goodly gift, this imperishable bounty, this everlasting life.
It behooveth him to prize this food that cometh from heaven, that perchance, through the wondrous favours of the Sun of Truth, the dead may be brought to life, and withered souls be quickened by the infinite Spirit. Make haste, 0 my brother, that while there is yet time our lips may taste of the immortal draught, for the breeze of life, now blowing from the city of the Well-Beloved, cannot last, and the streaming river of holy utterance must needs be stilled, and the portals of the Ridvan cannot for ever remain open. The day will surely come when the Nightingale of Paradise will have winged its flight away from its earthly abode unto its heavenly nest.
Then will its melody be heard no more, and the beauty of the rose cease to shine. Seize the time, therefore, ere the glory of the divine springtime bath spent itself, and the Bird of Eternity ceased to warble its melody, that thy inner hearing may not be deprived of hearkening unto its call. This is My counsel unto thee and unto tbe beloved of God. Whosoever wisheth, let him turn thereunto; whosoever wisheth, let him turn away. God, verily, is independent of him and of that which he may see and Witness.
These are the melodies, sung by Jesus, Son of Mary, in accents of majestic power in the Ridvan of the Gospel, revealing those signs that must needs herald the advent of the
1 Qur'an 76:9.In the first Gospel according to Matthew it is recorded: And when they asked Jesus concerning the signs of His coming, He said unto them: "Im-mediately after the oppression1 of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the earth shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet."2 Rendered into the Persian tongue,3 the purport of these words is as follows: When the oppression and afflictions that are to befall rnankind will have come to pass, then shall the sun be withheld from shining, the moon from giving light, the stars of heaven shall fall upon the earth, and the pillars of the earth shall quake.
At that time, the signs of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, that is, the promised Beauty and Substance of life shall, when these signs have appeared, step forth out of the realm of the invisible into the visible world, And He saith: at that time, all the peoples and kindreds that dwell on earth shall bewail and lament, and they shall see that divine Beauty coming from heaven, riding upon the clouds with power, grandeur, and magnificence, sending His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Similarly, in the three other Cospels, according to Luke, Mark, and John, the same statements are recorded. As We have referred at length to these in Our Tablets revealed in the Arabic tongue, We have made no mention of them in these pages, and have confined Ourselves to but one reference.
Inasmuch as the Christian divines have failed to apprehend the meaning of these words, and did not recognize their object and purpose, and have clung to the literal interpretation of the words of Jesus, they therefore became deprived of the streaming grace of the Mu1~ammadan Revelation and The Greek word used (Thlipsis) has two meanings: pressure and oppression.
2Matthew 24:2931.The passage is quoted by Bahá'u'lláh in Arabic and interpreted in Persian.
its showering bounties.The ignorant among the Christian community, following the example of the leaders of their faith, were likewise prevented from beholding the beauty of the King of glory, inasmuch as those signs which were to accompany the dawn of the sun of the Muhammadan Dispensation did not actually come to pass.
Thus, ages have passed and centuries roiled away, and that most pure Spirit hath repaired unto the retreats of its ancient sovereignty.
Once more hath the eternal Spirit breathed into the mystic trumpet, and caused the dead to speed out of their sepulchres of heedlessness and error unto the realm of guidance and grace. And yet, that expectant community still crieth out: \Vhen slidi these things be? When shall the promised One, the object of our expectation, be made manifest, that we may arise for the triumph of His Cause, that we may sacrifice our substance for His sake, that we may offer up our lives in His path?
In like manner, have such false imaginings caused other communities to stray from the Kawthar of the infinite mercy of Providence, and to be busied with their own idle thoughts.
Beside this passage, there is yet another verse in the Gospel wherein He saith: c(Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away."4 Thus it is that the adherents of Jesus maintained that the law of the Gospel shall never be annulled, and that whensoever the promised Beauty is made manifest and all the signs are revealed, He must needs reaffirm and establish the law proclaimed in the Gospel, so that there may remain in the world no faith but His faith. This is their fundamental belief. And their conviction is such that were a person to be made manifest with all the promised signs and to promulgate that which is contrary to the letter of the law of the Gospel, they must assuredly renounce him, refuse to submit to his law, declare him an infidel, and laugh him to scorn. This is proved by that which came to pass when the sun of the Muhammadan Revelation was revealed. Had they sought with a humble mind from the Manifestations of God in every Dispensation the true meaning of these words re'Luke 21:33.
Page 108vealed in the sacred books � words the misapprehension of which hath caused men to be deprived of the recognition of the Sadratu'1-Muntah~, the ultimate Purpose � they surely would have been guided to the light of the Sun of Truth, and would have discovered the mysteries of divine knowledge and wisdom.
LOOK WITH MINE OWN E~rsIf it be your wish, 0 people, to know God and to discover the greatness of His might, look, then, upon Me with Mine own eyes, and not with the eyes of any one besides Me.
Ye will, otherwise, be never capable of recognizing Me, though ye ponder My Cause as long as My Kingdom en-dureth, and meditate upon all created things throughout the eternity of God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Omnipotent, the Ever-Abiding, the All-Wise. Thus have We manifested the truth of Our Revelation, that haply the people may be roused from their heedlessness, and be of them that understand.
Behold the low estate of these men who know full well how I have offered up Mine own Self and My kindred in the path of God and for the preservation of their faith in Him, who are well aware how Mine enemies have compassed Me about, in the days when the hearts of men feared and trembled, the days when they hid themselves from the eyes of the loved ones of God and of His enemies, and were busied in ensuring their own security and peace.
We eventually succeeded in manifesting the Cause of God, and exalted it to so eminent a position that all the people, except those who cherished ill-will in their hearts against this Youth and joined partners with the Almighty, acknowledged the sovereignty of God and His mighty dominion.
And yet, notwithstanding this Revelation whose influence bath pervaded all created things, and despite the brightness of this Light, the like of which none of them bath ever beheld, witness how the people of the Bayin have denied and contended with Me.
Some have turned away from the Path of God, rejected the authority of Him in Wham they had believed, and acted insolently towards God, the Most
Powerful, the SupremeProtector, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Others hesitated and halted in His Path, and regarded the Cause of the Creator, in its inmost truth, as invalid unless substantiated by the approval of him who was created through the operation of My Will.
Thus have their works come to naught, and yet they failed to perceive it. Among them is he who sought to measure God with the measure of his own self, and was so misled by the names of God as to rise up against Me, who condemned Me as one that deserved to be put to death, and who imputed to Me the very offenses of which he himself was guilty.
Wherefore, do I plead My grief and My sorrow to Him Who created Me and entrusted Me with His Message. Unto Him do I render thanks and praise for the things He hath ordained, for My loneliness, and the anguish I suffer at the hands of these men who have strayed so far from Him. I have patiently sustained, and will continue to sustain, tEe tribulation that touched Me, and will put My whole trust and confidence in God. Him will I supplicate saying: Guide Thy servants, 0 My Lord, unto the court of Thy favor and bounty, and suffer them not to be deprived of the wonders of Thy grace and of Thy manifold blessings. For they know not what Thou hast ordained for them by virtue of Thy mercy that en-compasseth the whole of creation.
Outwardly, 0 Lord, they arc weak and helpless; inwardly they are but orphans. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the Munificent, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Cast not, 0 My God, the fury of Thy wrath upon them, and cause them to tarry until such time when the wonders of Thy mercy will have been made manifest, that haply they may return unto Thee, and ask forgiveness of Thee for the things they have committed against Thee.
Verily, Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Merciful.Say: Doth it beseem a man while claiming to be a follower of his Lord, the All-Merci-ful, he should yet in his heart do the very deeds of the Evil One? Nay, it ill beseemeth him, and to this He Who is the Beauty of the All-Glorious will bear Me witness.
Would that ye could comprehend it!Cleanse from your hearts the love of worldly things, from your tongues every
Page 109remembrance except His remembrance, from your entire being whatsoever may deter you from beholding His face, or may tempt you to follow the promptings of your evil and corrupt inclinations. Let God be your fear, o people, and be ye of them that tread the path of righteousness.
Say: Should your conduct, 0 people, contradict your professions, how think ye, then, to be able to distinguish yourselves from them who, though professing their faith in the Lord their God, have, as soon as He came unto them in the cloud of holiness, refused to acknowledge Him, and repudiated His truth?
Disencumber yourselves of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof.
Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious
Path.Know ye that by "the world" is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The 'life to come," on the other band, signifieth the things that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is nothing but the world.
Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest. Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him.
Eat ye, 0 people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto him, and be of them that are truly thankful.
0 thou that hast fled thy home and sought the presence of God! Proclaim unto men the Message of thy Lord, that it may haply deter theffi from following the promptings of their evil and corrupt desires, and bring them to the remembrance of God, the
Most Exalted, the MostGreat. Say: Fear God, 0 people, and refrain from shedding the blood of any one. Contend not with your neighbor, and be ye of them that do good. Beware that ye commit no disorders on the earth after it hath been well ordered, and follow not the footsteps of them that are gone astray.
Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him, before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him.
Unless he teacheth his own self, the words of his mouth will not influence the heart of the seeker.
Take heed, 0 people, lest ye be of them that give good counsel to others but forget to follow it themselves. The words of such as these, and beyond the words the realities of all things, and beyond these realities the angels that are nigh unto God, bring against them the accusation of falsehood.
Should such a man ever succeed in influencing any one, this success should be attributed not to him, but rather to the influence of the words of God, as decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. In the sight of God he is regarded as a lamp that imparteth its light, and yet is all the while being consumed within itself.
Say: Commit not, 0 people, that which will bring shame upon you or dishonor the Cause of God in the eyes of men, and be not of the mischief-makers.
Approach not the things which your minds condemn.Eschew all manner of wickedness, for such things are forbidden unto you in the Book which none touch except such as God hath cleansed from every taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified.
Be fair to yourselves and to others, that the evidences of justice may be revealed, through your deeds, among Our faithful servants. Beware lest ye encroach upon the substance of your neighbor. Prove yourselves worthy of his trust and confidence in you, and withhold not from the poor the gifts which the grace of God bath bestowed upon you. He, verily, shall recompense the charitable, and doubly repay them for what they have bestowed.
No God is there but Him.He bestoweth His gifts on whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them.
He is the Great Giver, the Most Generous, theSay: Teach ye the Cause of God, 0 people of Baha, for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds.
Such a deed is acceptable only when he that teacheth the Cause is already a firm believer in God, the Supreme Protector, the Gracious, the Almighty.
He hath, moreover, ordained that His Cause be taught through the power of men's utterance, and not through resort to violence. Thus hath His ordinance been sent down from the Kingdom of Him Who is the Most Exalted, the All � Wise. Beware lest ye contend with any one, nay, strive to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation. If your hearer respond, he will have responded to his own behoof, and if not, turn ye away from him, and set your faces towards God's sacred Court, the seat of resplendent holiness.
Dispute not with any one concerning the things of this world and its affairs, for God hath abandoned them to such as have set their affection upon them. Out of the whole world He bath chosen for Himself the hearts of men � hearts which the hosts of revelation and of utterance can subdue.
Thus hath it been ordained by the Fingers of Baha, upon the Tablet of God's irrevocable decree, by the behest of Him Who is the Supreme Ordainer, the All-Knowing.
0 wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its depths. Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures.. A dewdrop out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and on the earth, suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth from its life-giving waters, and sprinkle therewith all created things, that they may be cleansed from all manmade limitations and may approach the mighty seat of God, this hallowed and resplendent Spot.
Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be all-sufficient for thee. Commune intimately with His Spirit, and be thou of the thankful.
Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call, lay bare before him the pearls of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God, which His Spirit hath sent down unto thee, and be thou of them that truly believe. And should any one reject thine offer, turn thou away from hiffi, and put thy trust and confidence in the Lord, thy God, the Lord of all worlds.
By the righteousness of God! Whoso openeth his lips in this Day and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the realm of God's Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the
Most Powerful.There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the entire human race rise up and war against them.
These are the ones who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven, shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Walk thou in their way, and let no one dismay thee. Be of them whom the tumult of the world, however much it may agitate them in the path of their Creator, can never sadden, whose purpose the blame of the blamer will never defeat.
Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that have believed in Me, and announce unto them tidings of Our most hoiy Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I am come to you, 0 people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. In mine hand
Page 111I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the Lord of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the
Prophets and Messengersof God. If ye find it to be established in truth, if ye believe it to be of God, beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render your works vain, and be numbered with the infidels. It is indeed the sign of God that hath been sent down through the power of truth, through which the validity of His Cause hath been demonstrated unto His creatures, and the ensigns of purity lifted up betwixt earth and heaven.
Say: This is the sealed and mystic Scroll, the repository of God's irrevocable Decree, bearing the words which the Finger of Holiness bath traced, that lay wrapt within the veil of impenetrable mystery, and hath now been sent down as a token of the grace of Him Who is the Almighty, the Ancient of Days. In it have We decreed the destinies of all the dwellers of the earth and the denizens of heaven, and written down the knowledge of all things from first to last. Nothing whatsoever can escape or frustrate Him, whether created in the past or to be created in the future, could ye but perceive it. Say: The Revelation sent down by God hath most surely been repeated, and the outstretched Hand of Our power hath overshadowed all that are in the heavens and all that are on the earth.
We have, through the power of truth, the very truth, manifested an infinitesimal glimmer of Our impenetrable Mystery, and lo, they that have recognized the radiance of the Sinaic splendor expired, as they caught a lightening glimpse of this Crimson Light enveloping the Sinai of Our Revelation.
Thus hath He Who is the Beauty of the All-Merciful come down in the clouds of His testimony, and the decree accomplished by virtue of the Will of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.
Say: Step out of Thy holy chamber, 0 Maid of Heaven, inmate of the Exalted Paradise!
Drape thyself in whatever manner pleaseth Thee in the silken Vesture of Immortality, and put on, in the name of the All-Glorious, the broidered Robe of Light. Hear, then, the sweet, the wondrous accent of the Voice that cometh from the Throne of Thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most High. Unveil Thy face, and manifest the beauty of the black-eyed Damsel, and suffer not the servants of God to be deprived of the light of Thy shining countenance.
Grieve not if Thou hearest the sighs of the dwellers of the earth, or the voice of the lamentation of the denizens of heaven. Leave them to perish on the dust of extinction. Let them be reduced to nothingness, inasmuch as the flame of hatred hath been kindled within their breasts. Intone, then, before the face of the peoples of earth and heaven, and in a most melodious voice, the anthem of praise, for a remembrance of Him Who is the King of the names and attributes of God. Thus have We decreed Thy destiny. 'Well able are We to achieve Our purpose.
Beware that Thou divest not Thyself, Thou Who art the Essence of Purity, of Thy robe of effulgent glory. Nay, enrich Thyself increasingly, in the kingdom of creation, with the incorruptible vestures of Thy God, that the beauteous image of the Almighty may be reflected through Thee in all created things and the grace of Thy Lord be infused in the plenitude of its power into the entire creation.
If Thou smellest from any one the smell of the iove of Thy Lord, offer up Thyself for him, for We have created Thee to this end, and have covenanted with Thee, from time immemorial, and in the presence of the congregation of Our well-favored ones, for this very purpose.
Be not impatient if the blind in heart hurl down the shafts of their idle far?cies upon Thee. Leave them to themselves, for they follow the promptings of the evil ones.
Cry out before the gaze of the dwellers of heaven and of earth: I am the Maid of Heaven, the Offspring begotten by the Spirit of Baha. My habitation is the Mansion of His Name, the All-Glorious. Before the Concourse on high I was adorned with the ornament of His names. I was wrapt within the veil of an inviolable security, and lay hidden from the eyes of men. Methinks that I heard a Voice of divine and incomparable sweetness, proceeding from the right hand
Page 112of the God of Mercy, and lo, the whole Paradise stirred and trembled before Me, ,.n its longing to hear its accents, and gaze on the beauty of Him that uttered them. Thus have We revealed in this luminous Tablet, and in the sweetest of languages, the verses which the Tongue of Eternity was moved to utter in the Qayyiimu'1-Asm&'.
Say: He ordaineth as He pleaseth, by virtue of His sovereignty, and doeth whatso ever He willeth at His own behest. He shall not be asked of the things it pleaseth Him to ordain.
He, in truth, is the Unrestrained, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.
They that have disbelieved in God and rebelled against His sovereignty are the helpless victims of their corrupt inclinations and desires. These shall return to their abode in the fire of hell: wretched is the abode of the deniersl
Page 113Answer. � In regard to this question, theologians and materialists disagree.
The theologians believe that Christ was born of the Holy Spirit; but the materialists think this is impossible and inadmissible, and that without doubt he had a human father.
in the Qur'an it is said:unto her, and he appeared unto her in the shape of a perfect man,"1 meaning that the Holy Spirit took the likeness of the human form, as an image is produced in a mirror, and he addressed Mary.
The materialists believe that there must be marriage, and say that a living body cannot be created from a lifeless body, and without male and female there cannot be fecundation.
And they think that not only with man, but also with animals and plants, it is impossible. For this union of the male and female exists in all living beings and plants.
This pairing of things is even shown forth in the Qur'an: "Glory be to Him who has created all the pairs: of such things as the earth produceth, and of themselves; and of things which they know not."2 That is to say, men, animals, and plants are all in pairs~tcand of everything have we created two kinds." That is to say, we have created all the beings through pairing.
Briefly, then say a man without a human father cannot be imagined. In answer the theoIo~ians say: "This thing is not impossible and unachievable, but it has not been seen; and there is a great difference between a thing which is impossible and one which is unknown.
For example, in former times the telegraph, which causes the East and the West to communicate, was unknown, but not impossible; photography and phonography were unknown but not impossible."
Qur'an, Sun 19.The materialists insist upon this belief, and the theologians reply: C(Is this globe eternal or phenomenal?" The materialist answer, that according to science and important discoveries, it is established that it is phenomenal; in the beginning it was a flaming globe, and gradually it became temperate; a crust was formed around it, and upon this crust plants came into existence, then animals, and finally man.
The theologians say: "Then from your statement it has become evident and clear that mankind is phenomenal upon the globe, and not eternal. Then surely the first man had neither father nor mother, for the existence of man is phenomenal. Is not the creation of man without father and mother, even though gradually, more difficult than if he had simply come into existence without a father? As you admit that the first man came into existence without father or mother � whether it be gradually or at once � there can remain no doubt that a man without a human father is also possible and admissible; you cannot consider this impossible; otherwise you are illogical.
For example, if you say that this lamp has once been lighted without wick and oil, and then say that it is impossible to light it without the wick, this is illogical."
Christ had a mother; the first man, as the materialists believe, had neither father nor mother.3
THE GREATNESS OF CHRISTA great man is a great man, whether born of a human father or not.
If being without a father is a virtue, Adam is greater and more excellent than all the Prophets and Messengers, for he had neither father nor mother.
That which causes honour and This conversation shows the uselessness of discussions upon such questions; the teachings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá upon the birth of Christ will be found in the following chapter.
113greatness, is the splendour and bounty of the divine perfections. The sun is born from substance and form, which can be compared to father and mother, and it is absolute perfection; but the darkness has neither substance nor form, neither father nor mother, and it is absolute imperfection.
The substance of Adam's physical life was earth, but the substance of Abraham was pure sperm; it is certain that the pure and chaste sperm is superior to earth.
Furthermore, in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, verses 12 and 13, it is said: ttBut as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believed on his name.
ccWhich were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God."From these verses it is obvious that the being of a disciple also is nor created by physical power, but by the spiritual reality. The honour and greatness of Christ is not due to the fact that he did not have a human father, but to his perfections, bounties, and divine glory.
If the greatness of Christ is his being fatherless, then Adam is greater than Christ, for he had neither father nor mother. It is said in the Old Testament, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soui."1 Observe that it is said that Adam came into existence from the Spirit of life. Moreover, the expression which John uses in regard to the disciples, proves that they also are from the Heavenly Father.
Hence it is evident that the holy reality, meaning the real existence of every great man, comes from God, and owes its being to the breath of the Holy
Spirit.The purport is that, if to be without a human father is the greatest human glory, then Adam is greater than all, for he had neither father nor mother. Is it better for a man to be created from a living substance or from earth? Certainly it is better if be be created from a living substance. But Christ was born and came into existence from the Holy
Spirit.To conclude: the splendour and honour of the holy souis and the Divine Manifesta-Gen. ii. 7.
dons come from their heavenly perfections, bounties, and glory, and from nothing else.
THE BAPTISM OF CHRISTQuestion. � It is said in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 3 verses 13, 14, 15: c~Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becorneth us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him."
What is the wisdom of this: since Christ possessed all essential perfection, why did he need baptism?
Anssver. � The principle of baptism is purification by repentance. John admonished and exhorted the people, and caused them to repent, then he baptized them.
Therefore it is apparent that this baptism is a symbol of repentance from all sin: its meaning is expressed in these words: ~ God! as my body has become purified and cleansed from physical impurities, in the same way purify and sanctify my spirit from the impurities of the world of nature, which are nor worthy of the
Threshold of Thy Unity!"Repentance is the return from disobedience to obedience. Man, after remoteness and deprivation from God, repents, and undergoes purification: and this is a symbol signifying ttQ God! make my heart good and pure, freed and sanctified from all save thy iove."
As Christ desired that this institution of John should be used at that time by all, he himself conformed to it in order to awaken the people and to complete the law of the former religion.
Although the ablution of repentance was the institution of John, it was in reality formerly practised in the Religion of God.
Christ was not in need of baptism; but as at that time it was an acceptable and praiseworthy action, and a sign of the glad tidings of the Kingdom, therefore be confirmed it. However, afterwards he said the true baptism is not with material water, but it must be with spirit and with water. In this case water does not signify material water, for elsewhere it is explicitly said baptism is with spirit and with fire; from which it is clear that the reference is not
Page 115to material fire and material water, for baptism with fire is impossible.
Therefore the spirit is the bounty of God, the water is knowledge and life, and the fire is the love of God. For material water does not purify the heart of man: no, it cleanses his body; but the heavenly water and spirit, which are knowledge and life, make the human heart good and pure; the heart which receives a portion of the bounty of the Spirit becomes sanctified, good, and pure. That is to say, the reality of man becomes purified and sanctified from the impurities of the world of nature. These natural impurities are evil qualities: anger, passion, worldliness, pride, lying, hypocrisy, fraud, self-love, etc. Man cannot free himself from the rage of the carnal passions except by the help of the Holy Spirit.
That is why he says baptism with the spirit, with water, and with fire is necessary, and that it is essential; that is to say, the spirit of divine bounty, the water of knowledge and life, and the fire of the love of God. Man must be baptized with this spirit, this water, and this fire so as to become filled with the eternal bounty. Otherwise, what is the use of baptizing with material water?
No, this baptism with water was a symbol of repentance, and of seeking forgiveness of sins.
But in the cycle of Bahá'u'lláh there is no longer need of this symbol; for its reality, which is to be baptized with the Spirit and Love of God, is understood and established.
THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISMQuestion. � Is the ablution of baptism useful and necessary, or is it useless and unnecessary? In the first case, if it is useful, why was it abrogated, and in the second case, if it is useless, why did John practise it?
Answer. � The change in conditions, alterations, and transformations; are necessities of the essence of beings; and essential necessities cannot be separated from the reality of things.
So it is absolutely impossible to separate heat from fire, humidity from water, or light from the sun, for they are essential necessities.
As the change and alteration of conditions are necessities for beings, so laws also are changed and altered, in accordance with the changes aixd alterations of the times. For example, in the time of Moses, his Law was conformed and adapted to the conditions of the time; but in the days of Christ these conditions had changed and altered to such an extent that the Mosaic Law was no longer suited and adapted to the needs of mankind, and it was therefore abrogated.
Thus it was that Christ broke the Sabbath and forbade divorce. After Christ, four disciples, among whom were Peter and Paul, permitted the use of animal food forbidden by the Bible, except the eating of those animals which had been strangled, or which were sacrificed to idols, and of blood.'
They also forbade fornication.They maintained these four commandments. Afterwards Paul permitted even the eating of strangled animals, those sacrificed to idols, and blood, and oniy maintained the prohibition of fornication.
So in chap. 14 verse 14 of his Epistle to the Romans, Paul writes: ccj know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteerneth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean."
Also in the Epistle of Paul to Titus, chap. I verse 15: 'tUnto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled."
Now this change, these alterations, and this abrogation are due to the impossibility of comparing the time of Christ with that of Moses. The conditions and requirements in the later period were entirely changed and altered. The former laws were therefore abrogated.
The existence of the world may be compared to that of a man, and the Prophets and Messengers of God to skilful doctors. The human being cannot remain in one condition: different maladies occur which have each a special remedy.
The skilful physician does not give the same medicine to cure each disease and each malady, but he changes remedies and medicines according to the different necessities of the diseases and constitutions.
One person may have a severe illness caused by fever, and the skilled doctor will give him cooling remedies; and when at some other time the condition of this person has changed, and fever is replaced by chills, without doubt the skilled doctor will dis-'Acts xv. 20.
Page 116card cooling medicine and permit the use of heating drugs; this change and alteration is required by the condition of the patient, and is an evident proof of the skill of the physician.
Consider, could the Law of the Old Testament be enforced at this epoch and time? No, in the name of God! it would be impossible and impracticable; therefore most certainly God abrogated the laws of the Old Testament at the time of Christ.
Reflect also, that baptism in the days of John the Baptist was used to awaken and admonish the people to repent from all sin, and to watch for the appearance of the Kingdom of Christ.
But at present in Asia, the Catholics and the Orthodox Church plunge newly-born children into water mixed with olive oil, and many of them become ill from the shock; at the time of baptism they struggle and become agitated.
In other places, the clergy sprinkle the water of baptism on the forehead.
But neither from the first form nor from the second do the children derive any spiritual benefit.
Then what result is obtained from this form? Other peoples are amazed, and wonder why the infant is plunged into the water, since this is neither the cause of the spiritual awakening of the child, nor of its faith or conversion, but it is oniy a custom which is followed. In the time of John the Baptist it was not so; no, at first John used to exhort the people, and to guide them to repentance from sin, and to fill them with the desire to await the manifestation of Christ. 'Whoever received the ablution of baptism, and repented of sins in absolute humility and meekness, would also purify and cleanse his body from outward impurities. With perfect yearning, night and day, he would constantly wait for the manifestation of Christ, and the entrance to the Kingdom of the Spirit of God.1
To recapitulate: our meaning is that the change and modification of conditions, and the altered requirements of different centuries and times, are the cause of the abrogation of laws. For a time comes when these laws are no longer suitably adapted to conditions. Consider how very different are 'i.e. of Christ, whom the Muslims frequently designate by the title of Riihu'lldh, the Spirit of God.
the requirements of 'the first centuries, of the middle ages, and of modern times.
Is it possible that the laws of the first centuries could be enforced at present?
It is evident that it would be impossible and impracticable. In the same manner, after the lapse of a few centuries, the requirements of the present time will not be the same as those of the future, and certainly there will be change and alteration.
In Europe the laws are unceasingly altered and modified; in bygone years, how many laws existed in the organisations and systems of Europe, which are now abrogated! These changes and alterations are due to the variation and mutation of thought, conditions, and customs.
If it were not so, the prosperity of the world of humanity would be wrecked.
For example, there is in the Pentateuch a law that if any one break the Sabbath, he shall be put to death. Moreover, there are ten sentences of death in the Pentateuch. Would it be possible to keep these laws in our time?
It is clear that it would be absolutely impossible.
Consequently there are changes and modifications in the laws, and these are a sufficient proof of the supreme wisdom of
God.This subject needs deep thought. Then the cause of these changes will be evident and apparent.
Blessed are those who reflect!Question. � The Christ said: CC~ am the living bread which came down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die." What is the meaning of this utterance?
Answer. � This bread signifies the heavenly food and divine perfections. So, "Jf any man eateth of this bread" means if any man acquires heavenly bounty, receives the divine light, or partakes of Christ's perfections, he thereby gains everlasting life. The blood also signifies the spirit of life and the divine perfections, the lordly splendour and eternal bounty. For all the members of the body gain vital substance from the circulation of the blood.
In the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6 verse 26, it is written: "Ye seek me, not because ye
Page 117saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled."
It is evident that the bread of which the disciples ate and were filled, was the heavenly bounty; for in verse 33 of the same chapter it is said: "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."
It is clear that the body of Christ did not descend from heaven, but it came from the womb of Mary; and that which descended from the heaven of God was the spirit of Christ. As the Jews thought that Christ spoke of his body, they made objections, for it is said in the 42nd verse of the same chapter: ccAnd they said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?"
Reflect how clear it is that what Christ meant by the heavenly bread w~s his spirit, his bounties, his perfections, and his teachings; for it is said in the 63rd verse: "It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing."
Therefore it is evident that the spirit of Christ is a heavenly grace which descends from heaven; whosoever receives light from that spirit in abundance, that is to say the heavenly teachings, finds everlasting life. That is why it is said in the 35th verse: "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst:" Notice that "coming to him" he expresses as eating, and "belief in him" as drinking. Then it is evident and established that the celestial food is the divine bounties, the spiritual splendours, the heavenly teachings, the universal meaning of Christ. To eat is to draw near to him, and to drink is to believe in him.
For Christ had an elemental body and a celestial form.
The elemental body was crucified, but the heavenly form is living and eternal, and the cause of everlasting life; the first was the human nature, and the second is the divine nature.
It is thought by some that the Eucharist is the reality of Christ, and that the Divinity and the Holy Spirit descend into and exist in it. Now when once the Eucharist is taken, after a few moments it is simply disintegrated, and entirely transformed. Therefore how can such a thought be conceived?
God forbid! certainly it is an absolute fantasy.To conclude: through the manifestation of Christ, the divine teachings which are an eternal bounty, were spread abroad, the light of guidance shone forth, and the spirit of life was conferred on man.
Whoever found guidance became living, whoever remained lost was seized by enduring death. This bread which came down from. heaven was the divine body of Christ, his spiritual elements, which the disciples ate, and through which they gained eternal life.
The disciples had taken many meals from the hand of Christ; why was the last supper distinguished from the others? It is evident that the heavenly bread did not signify this material bread, but rather the divine nourishment of the spiritual body of Christ, the divine graces and heavenly perfections of which� his disciples partook, and with which they became filled.
In the same way, reflect that when Christ blessed the bread and gave it to his disciples saying, CCThis is my body," and gave grace to them, he was with them in person, in presence, and form.
He was not transformed into bread and wine; if he had been turned into bread and wine, he could not have remained with the disciples in body, in person, and in presence.
Then it is clear that the bread and wine were symbols which signified: I have given you my bounties and perfections, and when you have received this bounty, you have gained eternal life and have partaken of your share and your portion of the heavenly nourishment.
MIRACLESQuestion. � It is recorded that miracles were performed by Christ: are the reports of these miracles really to be accepted literally, or have they another meaning?
It has been proved by exact science that the essence of things does not change, and that all beings are under one universal law and organisation from which they cannot deviate; and therefore that which is contrary to universal law is impossible.
Answer. � The Holy Manifestationsare the sources of miracles and the originators of wonderful signs. For them, any difficult and
Page 118impracticable thing is possible and easy. For through a supernatural power wonders appear from them, and by this power, which is beyond nature, they influence the world of nature.
From all the Manifestations marvel-bus things have appeared.
But in the Holy Books an especial terminology is employed; and for the Manifestations these miracles and wonderful signs have no importance; they do not even wish to mention them. For, if we consider miracles a great proof, they are still only proofs and arguments for those who are present when they are performed, and not for those who are absent.
For example, if we relate to a seeker, a stranger to Moses and Christ, marvellous signs, he will deny them and will say: "Won-derful signs are also continually related of false gods by the testimony of many people, and they are affirmed in the Books.
The Brahmans have written a book about wonderful prodigies from Brahma."
He will also say: ttHow can we know that the Jews and the Christians speak the truth, and that the Brahmans tell a lie? For both are generally admitted traditions, which are collected in books, and may be supposed to be true or false." The same may be said of other religions: if one is true, all are true; if one is accepted, all must be accepted. Therefore miracles are not a proof. For if they are proofs for those who are present, they fail as proofs to those who are absent.
But in the day of the Manifestation the people with insight see that all the conditions of the Manifestation are miracles, for they are superior to all others, and this alone is an absolute miracle. Recollect that Christ, solitary and alone, without a helper or protector, without armies and legions, and under the greatest oppression, uplifted the standard of God before all the people of the world, and withstood them, and finally conquered all, although outwardly he was crucified.
Now this is a veritable miracle which can never be denied. There is no need of any other proof of the truth of Christ.
The outward miracles have no importance for the people of Reality. If a blind man receive sight, for example, he will finally again become sightless, for he will die, and be deprived of all his senses and powers.
Therefore causing the blind man to see is comparatively of little importance, for this faculty of sight will at last disappear.
If the body of a dead person be resuscitated, of what use is it since the body will die again?
But it is important to give perception and eternal life, that is, the spiritual and divine life. For this physical life is not immortal, and its existence is equivalent to nonexistence.
So it is that Christ said to one of his disciples: "Let the dead bury their dead"; for ttThat which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.~~ Observe: those who in appearance were physically alive, Christ considered dead; for life is the eternal life, and existence is the real existence.
Wherever in the Holy Books they speak of raising the dead, the meaning is that the dead were blessed by eternal life; where it is said that the blind received sight, the signification is that he obtained the true perception; where it is said a deaf man received hearing, the meaning is that he acquired spiritual and heavenly hearing. This is ascertained from the text of the Gospel where Christ said: CcTh are like those of whom Isaiah said, They have eyes and see not, they have ears and hear not; and I healed them."
The meaning is not that the Manifestations are unable to perform miracles, for they have all power.
But for them inner sight, spiritual healing, and eternal life are the valuable and important things.
Consequently, whenever it is recorded in the Holy Books that such an one was blind and recovered his sight, the meaning is that he was inwardly blind, and that he obtained spiritual vision, or that he was ignorant and became wise, or that he was negligent and became heedful, or that he was worldly and became heavenly.
As this inner sight, hearing, life, and healing are eternal, they are of importance. What, comparatively, is the importance, the value, and the worth of this animal life with its powers?
In a few d~ys it will cease like fleeting thoughts.
For example, if one relights an extinguished lamp, it will again become extinguished; but the light of the sun is always luminous. This is of importance.
Page 119Question. � What is the meaning of Christ's resurrection after three days?
Ansiver. � The resurrections of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body.
All their states, their conditions, their acts, the things they have established, their teachings, their expressions, their parables, and their instructions have a spiritual and divine signification, and have no connection with material things.
For example, there is the subject of Christ's coming from heaven: it is clearly stated in many places in the Gospel that the Son of man came from heaven, he is in heaven, and he will go to heaven.
So in chapter 6 verse 38 of the Gospel of John it is written: ccFor I came down from heaven"; and also in verse 42 we find: "And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?" Also in John, chapter 3 verse 13: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."
Observe that it is said CCTh Son of man is in heaven," while at that time Christ was on earth.
Notice also that it is said that Christ came from heaven, though he came from the womb of Mary, and his body was born of Mary. It is clear, then, that when it is said that the Son of man is come from heaven, this has not an outward but an inward signification; it is a spiritual, not a material fact. The meaning is that though, apparently, Christ was born from the womb of Mary, in reality he came from heaven, from the centre of the Sun of Reality, from the Divine World, and the Spiritual Kingdom. And as it has become evident that Christ came from the spiritual heaven of the Divine Kingdom, therefore his disappearance under the earth for three days has an inner signification, and is not an outward fact.
In the same way, his resurrection from the interior of the earth is also symbolical; it is a spiritual and divine fact, and not material; and likewise his ascension to heaven is a spiritual and not material ascension.
Beside these explanations, it has been established and proved by science that the visible heaven is a limitless area, void and empty, where innumerable stars and planets revolve.
Therefore we say that the meaning of Christ's resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies his teachings, his bounties, his perfections, and his spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after his martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest.
No, rather it was lost; for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and, when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting his counsels into practice, and arising to serve him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and his bounty appeared; his religion found life, his teachings and his admonitions became evident and visible.
In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body, until the life and the bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it. Such is the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, and this was a true resurrection.
But as the clergy have neither understood the meaning of the Gospels nor comprehended the symbols, therefore it has been said that religion is in contradiction to science, and science in opposition to religion; as, for example, this subject of the ascension of Christ with an elemental body to the visible heaven is contrary to the science of mathematics. But when the truth of this subject becomes clear, and the symbol is explained, science in no way contradicts it; but, on the contrary, science and the intelligence affirm it.
THE DESCENT OF THE HOLYQuestion. � W hat is the manner, and what is the meaning, of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, as described in the Gospel?
Answer. � The descent of the Holy Spirit is not like the entrance of air into man; it is an expression and a simile, rather than an exact or a literal image. No, rather it is like the entrance of the image of the sun into the mirror; that is to say, its splendour becomes apparent in it.
Page 120After the death of Christ the disciples were troubled, and their ideas and thoughts were discordant and contradictory; later, they became firm and united, and at the feast of Pentecost they gathered together, and detached themselves from the things of this world. Disregarding themselves, they renounced their comfort and worldly happiness, sacrificing their body and soul to the Beloved, abandoning their houses, and becoming wanderers and homeless, even f or-getting their own existence. Then they received the help of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit became manifested; the spirituality of Christ triumphed, and the love of God reigned.
They were given help at that time, and dispersed in different directions, teaching the Cause of God, and giving forth proofs and evidences.
So the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles means their attraction by the Christ Spirit, whereby they acquired stability and firmness.
Through the spirit of the love of God they gained a new life, and they saw Christ living, helping, and protecting them. They were like drops and they became seas, they were like feeble insects and they became majestic eagles, they were weak and became powerful.
They were like mirrors facing the sun; verily, some ot the light became manifest in them.
THE HOLY SPIRITis the Bounty of God, and the luminous rays which emanate from the Manifestations; for the focus of the rays of the Sun of Reality was Christ; and from this glorious focus, which is the Reality of Christ, the Bounty of God reflected upon the other mirrors which were the reality of the apostles.
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles signifies that the glorious divine bounties reflected and appeared in their reality.
Moreover, entrance and exit, descent and ascent, are characteristics of bodies and not of spirits. That is to say, sensible realities enter and come forth, but intellectual subtleties and mental realities, such as intelligence, love, knowledge, imagination and thought, do not enter, nor come forth, nor descend, but rather they have direct connection.
For example, knowledge, which is a state attained to by the intelligence, is an intellectual condition; and entering and coming out of the mind are imaginary conditions; but the mind is connected with the acquisition of knowledge, like images reflected in a mirror.
Therefore, as it is evident and clear that the intellectual realities do not enter and descend, and it is absolutely impossible that the Holy Spirit should ascend and descend, enter, come out, or penetrate, it can only be that the Holy Spirit appears in splendour, as the sun appears in the mirror.
In some passages in theis spoken of, signifying a certain person; as it is currently said in speech and conversation that such a person is an embodied spirit, or he is a personification of mercy and generosity.
In this case it is the light we look at, and not the glass.
In the Gospel of John, in speaking of the Promised One who was to come after Christ, it is said in chapter 16, verses 12, 13: ~ have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak."
Now consider carefully that from these words, "for he sWill not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak," it is clear that the Spirit of Truth is embodied in a man who has individuality, who has ears to hear and a tongue to speak. In the same way the name ttSiit of God" is used in relation to Christ; as you speak of a light � meaning both the light and the lamp.
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRISTIt is said in the Holy Books that Christ will come again, and that his coming depends upon the fulfilment of certain signs: when he comes it will be with these signs. For example, CCTh sun will be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power
Page 121and great glory." Bahá'u'lláh has explained these verses in the Kitáb-i-Iqdn:1 there is no need of repetition: refer to it and you will understand these sayings.
But I have something further to say upon this subject.
At his first coming also, Christ came from heaven, as it is explicitly stated in the Gospel. Christ himself says: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.~~ It is clear to all that Christ came from heaven, although apparently he came from the womb of Mary. At the first coming he came from heaven, though apparently from the womb; in the same way also, at his second coming, he will come from heaven, though apparently from the womb.
The conditions that are indicated in the Gospel for the second coming of Christ are the same as those that were mentioned for the first coming, as we before said.
The Book of Isaiah announces that the Messiah will conquer the East and the West, and all nations of the world will come under his shadow, that his Kingdom will be established, that he will come from an unknown place, that the sinners will be judged, and that justice will p~cvail to such a degree that the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the sucking child and the asp, shall all gather at one spring, and in one meadow, and one dwelling.2
The first coming was also under these conditions, though outwardly none of them came to pass.
Therefore the Jews rejected Christ, and, God forbid!
bid! called the Messiah masikb,3 considered him to be the destroyer of the edifice of God, regarded him as the breaker of the Sabbath and the Law, and sentenced him to death. Nevertheless each one of these conditions had a signification that the Jews did not understand: therefore they were debarred from perceiving the truth of Christ.
The second coming of Christ also will be in like manner: the signs and conditions which have been spoken of all have meanings, and are not to be taken literally. Among other things it is said that the stars will fall upon the earth. The stars are endless and innumerable, and modern mathematicians have established and proved scientifically that the globe of the sun is estimated to be about one million and a half times greater than the earth, and each of the fixed stars to be a thousand times larger than the sun. If these stars were to fall upon the surface of the earth, how could they find place there? It would be as though a thousand million of Himalaya mountains were to fall upon a grain of mustard seed. According to reason and science this thing is quite impossible.
What is even more strange is that Christ said: "Perhaps I shall come when you are yet asleep, for the coming of the Son of man is like the coming of a thief." Perhaps the thief will be in the house and the owner will not know it. It is clear and evident that these signs have symbolic signification, and that they are not literal.
They are fully explained in the Kitáb-i-Iqdn: refer to it.
THE NEED OF DIVINE EDUCATIONIN THE books of the prophets certain glad-tidings are recorded which are absolutely true and free from doubt.
The East has ever been the dawning-point of the Sun of Reality. All the prophets of God have appeared there. The religions of God have 'Kitáb-i-iqdn: one of the first works of JIah&'-u'll4h, written at Eaghd&d, before the declaration of his manifestation.
2 In these conversations, as the reader will have already observed, 'Abdu'l-Bahá desires rather to indicate the meaning of certain passages of the Scriptures. than to quote the exact text.
been promulgated, the teachings of God have been spread and the law of God founded in the East. The Orient has always been the center of lights. The West has acquired illumination from the East but in some respects the reflection of the light has been greater in the Occident. This is especially true of
Christianity. His HolinessChrist appeared in Palestine and His teachings were Masilzh � Le. the monster.
In Arabic there is a play upon the words Masib, the Messiah, and rnasikh, the monster.
Page 122founded there. Although the doors of the Kingdom were opened in that country and the bestowals of divinity were spread broadcast from its center, the people of the West have embraced and promulgated Christianity more fully than those in the East.
The Sun of Reality shone forth from the horizon of the East but its heat and ray are most resplendent in the West where the radiant standard of His Holiness Christ has been upraised.
I have great hopes that the lights of Bahá'u'lláh's appearance may also find the fullest manifestation and reflection in these western regions; for the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are especially applicable to the conditions of the people here. The western nations are endowed with the capability of understanding the rational and peerless words of Bahá'u'lláh and realizing that the essence of the teachings of all the former prophets can be found in His utterance.
The teachings of His Holiness Christ have been promulgated by His Holiness BaLi'-u '11Th who has also revealed new teachings applicable to present conditions in the world of humanity.
He has trained the people of the East through the power and protection of the Holy Spirit, cemented the souls of humanity together and established the foundations of international unity.
Through the power of His words the hearts of the people of all religions have been attuned in harmony.
For instance, among the Baha in Persia there are Christians, Muhammadans, Zoroastrians, Jews and many others of varying denominations and beliefs who have been brought together in unity and love in the cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
Although these people were formerly hostile and antagonistic, filled with hatred and bitterness toward each other, bloodthirsty and pillaging, considering that animosity and attack were the means of attaining the good-pleasure of God, they have now become iov-ing and filled with the radiant zeal of fellowship and brotherhood, the purpose of them all being service to the world of humanity, promotion of international peace, the unification of the divine religions and deeds of universal philanthropy.
By their words and actions they are proving the verity of His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh.
Consider the animosity and hatred existing today between the various nations of the world. What disagreements and hostilities arise, what warfare and contention, how much bloodshed, what injustice and tyranny!
Just now there is war in eastern Turkey, also war between Turkey and Italy. Nations are devoted to conquest and bloodshed, filled with the animus of religious hatred, seeking the good-pleasure of God by killing and destroying those whom they consider enemies in their blindness.
How ignorant they are!That which is forbidden by God they consider acceptable to Him. God is love; God seeketh fellowship, purity, sanctity and longsuffering; these are the attributes of divinity. Therefore, these warring, raging nations have arisen against divinity, imagining they are serving God. What gross ignorance this is! What injustice, blindness and lack of realization! Briefly; we must strive with heart and soul in order that this darkness of the contingent world may be dispelled, that the lights of the Kingdom shall shine upon all the horizons, the world of humanity become ii-lumined, the image of God become apparent in human mirrors, the law of God be well established and that all regions of the world shall enjoy peace, comfort and composure beneath the equitable protection of God. My admonition and exhortation to you is this: Be kind to all people, love humanity, consider all mankind as your relations and servants of the most high God. Strive day and night that animosity and contention may pass away from the hearts of men, that all religions shall become reconciled and the nations love each other, so that no racial, religious or political prejudice may remain, and the world of humanity behold God as the beginning and end of all existence. God has created all and all return to God. There-fare love humanity with all your heart and soul. If you meet a poor man, assist him; if you see the sick, heal him; reassure the afirighted one, render the cowardly noble and courageous, educate the ignorant, associate with the stranger.
Emulate God. Considerhow kindly, how lovingly He deals with all and follow His example. You must treat people in accordance with the divine precepts; in other words, treat them as
Page 123kindly as God treats them, for this is the greatest attainment possible for the world of humanity.
Furthermore, know ye that God has created in man the power of reason whereby man is enabled to investigate reality. God has not intended man to blindly imitate his fathers and ancestors.
He has endowed him with mind or the faculty of reasoning by the exercise of which he is to investigate and discover the truth; and that which he finds real and true, he must accept.
He must not be an imitator or blind follower of any soul. He must not rely implicitly upon the opinion of any man without investigation; nay, each soui must seek intelligently and independently, arriving at a real conclusion and bound only by that reality.
The greatest cause of bereavement and disheartening in the world of humanity is ignorance based upon blind imitation. It is due to this that wars and battles prevail; from this cause hatred and animosity arise continually among mankind. Through failure to investigate reality the Jews rejected His
Holiness Jesus Christ.They were expecting His coming; by day and night they mourned and lamented, saying, "0 God! hasten thou the day of the advent of Christ," expressing most intense longing for the Messiah but when His Holiness Christ appeared they denied and rejected Him, treated Him with arrogant contempt, sentenced Him to death and finally crucified Him. Why did this happen?
Because they were blindly following imitations, believing that which had descended to them as a heritage from their fathers and ancestors; tenaciously holding to it and refusing to investigate the reality of Christ. Therefore they were deprived of the bounties of His Holiness whereas if they had forsaken imitations and investigated the reality of the Messiah they would have surely been guided to believing in Him.
Instead of this, they said, "We have heard from our fathers and have read in the old testament that His Holiness Christ must come from an unknown place; now we find that this one has come from Nazareth."
Steeped in the literal interpretation and imitating the beliefs of fathers and ancestors they failed to understand the fact that although the body of Jesus came from Nazareth, the reality of the Christ came from the unknown place of the divine Kingdom.
They also said that the sceptre of His Holiness Christ would be of iron, that is to say He should wield a sword. When His Holiness Christ appeared, He did possess a sword but it was the sword of His tongue with which He separated the false from the true; but the Jews were blind to the spiritual significance and symbolism of the prophetic words. They also expected that the Messiah would sit upon the throne of
David whereas His Holinessthe Christ had neither throne nor semblance of sovereignty; nay, rather, He was a poor man, apparently abject and vanquished; therefore how could He be the veritable Christ?
This was one of their most insistent objections based upon ancestral interpretation and teaching.
In reality His HolinessChrist was glorified with an eternal sovereignty and everlasting dominion, spiritual and not temporal.
His throne and kingdom were established in human hearts where he reigns with power and authority without end. Notwithstanding the fulfillment of all the prophetic signs in His Holiness, the Jews denied Him and entered the period of their deprivation because of their allegiance to imitations and ancestral forms.
Among other objections, they said, "We are promised through the tongue of the prophets that His Holiness Christ at the time of His coining would proclaim the law of the Torah whereas now we see this person abrogating the commands of the pentateuch, disturbing our blessed sabbath and abolishing the law of divorce. He has left nothing of the ancient law of Moses, therefore He is the enemy of Moses."
In reality His HolinessHe spread the book of Moses throughout the world and established anew the fundamentals of the law revealed by him. He abolished certain unimportant laws and forms which were no longer compatible with the exigencies of the time, such as divorce and plurality of wives.
The Jews did not comprehend this, and the cause of their ignorance was blind and tenacious adherence to imitations of ancient forms and teachings; therefore they finally sentenced His Holiness to death.
Page 124They likewise said, tcThrough the tongues of the prophets it was announced that during the time of Christ's appearance the justice of God would prevail throughout the world, tyranny and oppression would be unknown, justice would even extend to the animal kingdom, ferocious beasts would associate in gentleness and peace, the wolf and the Iamb would drink from the same spring, the lion and the deer meet in the same meadow, the eagle and quail dwell together in the same nest; but instead of this, we see that during the time of this supposed Christ the Romans have conquered Palestine and are ruling it with extreme tyranny, jim-tice is nowhere apparent and signs of peace the kingdom are conspicuously absent." These statements and attitudes of the Jews were inherited from their fathers; blind allegiance to literal expectations which did not come to pass during the time of Jesus Christ. The real purport of these prophetic statements was that various peoples symbolized by the wolf and Iamb between whom love and fellowship were impossible would come together during Messiah's reign, drink from the same fountain of life in His teachings and become His devoted followers.
This was realized when peopies of all religions, nationalities and dispositions became united in their beliefs and followed Christ in humility, associating in love and brotherhood under the shadow of His divine protection. The Jews, being blind to this and holding to their bigoted imitations, were insolent and arrogant toward His Holiness and crucified Him.
Had they investigated the reality of Christ they would have beheld His beauty and truth.
God has given man the eye of investigation by which he may see and recognize truth. He has endowed man with ears that he may hear the message of reality and conferred upon him the gift of reason by which he may discover things for himself.
This is his endowment and equipment for the investigation of reality. Man is not intended to see through the eyes of another, hear through another's ears nor comprehend with another's brain. Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in the cr2ative plan of God. Therefore fore depend upon your own reason and judgment and adhere to the outcome of your own investigation; otherwise you will be utterly submerged in the sea of ignorance and deprived of all the bounties of God. Turn to God, supplicate humbly at His threshold, seeking assistance and confirmation, that God may rend asunder the veils that obscure your vision. Then will your eyes be filled with illumination, face to face you will behold the reality of God and your heart become completely purified from the dross of ignorance, reflecting the glories and bounties of the Kingdom.
Holy souls are like soil which has been plowed and tilled with much earnest labor; the thorns and thistles cast aside and all weeds uprooted.
Such soil is most fruitful and the harvest from it will prove full and plenteous.
in this same way man must free himself from the weeds of ignorance, thorns of superstitions and thistles of imitations, that he may discover reality in the harvests of true knowledge. Otherwise the discovery of reality is impossible, contention and divergence of religious belief will always remain and mankind, like ferocious wolves will rage and attack each other in-hatred and antagonism. We supplicate God that He may destroy the veils which limit our vision and that these becloudings which darken the way of the manifestation of the shining lights may be dispelled in order that the effulgent Sun of Reality may shine forth.
We implore and invoke God, seeking His assistance and confirmation. Man is a child of God; most noble, lofty and beloved by God his creator. Therefore he must ever strive that the divine bounties and virtues bestowed upon him may prevail and control him. Just now the soil of human hearts seems like black earth, but in the innermost substance of this dark soil there are thousands of fragrant flowers latent. We must endeavor to cultivate and awaken these potentialities, discover the secret treasure in this very mine and depository of God, bring fbrth these resplendent powers long hidden in human hearts. Then will the glories of both worlds be blended and increased and the quintessence of human existence be made manifest.
Page 125We must not be content with simply following a certain course because we find our fathers pursued that course. It is the duty of everyone to investigate reality, and investigation of reality by another will not do for us. If all in the world were rich and one man poor, of what use are these riches to that man? If all the world be virtuous and a man steeped in vice, what good results are forthcoming from him?
If all the world be resplendent and a man blind, where are his benefits? If all the world be in plenty and a man hungry, what sustenance does he derive?
Therefore every man must be an investigator for himself. Ideas and beliefs left by his fathers and ancestors as a heritage will not suffice, for adherence to these are but imitations and imitations have ever been a cause of disappointment and misguidance.
Be investigators of reality, that you may attain the verity of truth and life.
You have asked why it was necessary for the soui that was from God to make this journey back to God. Would you like to understand the reality of this question just as I teach it or do you wish to hear it as the world teaches it? � for if I should answer you according to the latter way, this would be but imitation and would not make the subject clear.
The reality underlying this question is that the evil spirit, Satan or whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature in man. This baser nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two expressions, one is the expression of nature, the other the expression of the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. Look at it clearly, casting aside all superstition and imagination.
If you should leave a man uneducated and barbarous in the wilds of Africa, would there be any doubt about his remaining ignorant?
God has never created an evil spirit; all such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively speaking, this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of nature.
It is evident therefore that man is in need of divine education and inspiration; that the spirit and bounties of God are essential to his development. That is to say, the teachings of Christ and the prophets are necessary for his education and guidance. Why?
Because they are the divine gardeners who till the earth of human hearts and minds. They educate man, uproot the weeds, burn the thorns and remodel the waste places into gardens and orchards where fruitful trees grow.
The wisdom and purpose of their training is that man must pass from degree to degree of progressive unfoldment until perfection is attained. For instance, if a man should live his entire life in one city, he cannot gain a knowledge of the whole world. To become perfectly informed he must visit other cities, see the mountains and valleys, cross the rivers and traverse the plains. In other words, without progressive and universal education, perfection will not be attained.
Man must walk in many paths and be subjected to various processes in his evoiu-tion upward.
Physically he is not born in full stature but passes through consecutive stages of foetus, infant, childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Suppose he had the power to remain young throughout his life. He then would not understand the meaning of old age and could not believe it existed. If he could not realize the condition of old age he would not know that he was young. He would not know the difference between young and old without experiencing the old. Unless you have passed through the state of infancy how would you know this was an infant beside you? If there was no wrong how would you recognize the right?
If it were not for sin how would you appreciate virtue?
If evil deeds were unknown how could you commend good actions? If sickness did not exist how would you understand health?
Evil is non � existent; it is the absence of good; sickness is the ioss of health; poverty the lack of riches. When wealth disappears you are poor; you look within the treasure box but find nothing there.
Without knowledge there is ignorance; therefore ignorance is simply the lack of knowledge. Death is the absence of life.
Page 126Therefore on the one hand we have existence; on the other, nonexistence, negation or absence of existence.
Briefly; the journey of the soui is necessary.The pathway of life is the road which leads to divine knowledge and attainment. Without training and guidance the soui could never progress beyond the conditions of its lower nature which is ignorant and defective.
RELIGION: ESSENTIAL AND NONESSENTIALT HE world of existence is an emanation of the merciful attribute of God. God has shone forth upon the phenomena of being through His effulgence of mercy and He is clement and kind to all His creation. Therefore the world of humanity must ever be the recipient of bounties from the eternal Lord; even as His Holiness Christ has declared, "Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven." For His bounties like the light and heat of the sun in the material heavens descend alike upon all mankind. Consequently man must learn the lesson of kindness and beneficence from God Himself. Just as God is kind to all humanity, man also must be kind to his fellow creatures. If his attitude is just and loving toward his fellow men, toward all creation, then indeed is he worthy of being pronounced the image and likeness of God.
Brotherhood or fraternity is of different kinds.It may be family association, the intimate relationship of the household. This is limited and subject to change and disruption.
How often it happens that in a family love and agreement are changed into enmity and antagonism.
Another form of fraternity is manifest in patriotism.
Man loves his fellowmen because they belong to the same nativity. This is also limited and subject to change and disintegration, as for instance when sons of the same fatherland are opposed to each other in war, bloodshed and battle. Still another brotherhood or fraternity is that which arises from racial unity, the oneness of racial origin, producing ties of affinity and association. This likewise has its limitation and liability to change, for often war and deadly strife have been witnessed between people and nations of the same racial lineage.
There is a fourth kind of brotherhood, the attitude of man toward humanity itself, the altruistic love of humankind and recognition of the fundamental human bond. Although this is unlimited it is nevertheless susceptible to change and destruction.
Even from this urn-versal fraternal bond the looked-for result does not appear.
What is the looked-for result? Lovingkindness among all human creatures and a firm, indestructible brotherhood which includes all the divine possibilities and significances in humanity. Therefore it is evident that fraternity, love and kindness based upon family, nativity, race or an attitude of altruism are neither sufficient nor permanent since all of them are limited, restricted and liable to change and disruption. For in the family there is discord and alienation; among sons of the same fatherland strife and internecine warfare are witnessed; between those of a given race, hostility and hatred are frequent; and even among the altruists varying aspects of opinion and lack of unselfish devotion give little promise of permanent and indestructible unity among mankind.
Therefore the Lord of mankind has caused His holy divine Manifestations to come into the world.
He has revealed His heavenly books in order to establish spiritual brotherhood, and through the power of the Holy Spirit has made it practicable for perfect fraternity to be realized among mankind. And when through the breaths of the Holy Spirit this perfect fraternity and agreement are enablished amongst men, this brotherhood and love being spiritual in character, this lovingkindness being heavenly, these constraining bonds being divine, a unity appears which is indissoluble, unchanging and never subject to transformation.
It is ever the same and will forever remain the same.
For example consider the foundation of the brotherhood laid by His
Holiness Christ. Observeconducive to unity and accord and how it brought various souls to a plane of uniform attainment where they were willing to sacrifice their lives for each other. They were content to renounce possessions and ready to joyously forfeit life itself. They lived together in such love and fellowship that even Galen, the famous Greek philosopher, who was not a Christian, in his work entitled "The Progress of the Nations" says that religious beliefs are greatly conducive to the foundation of real civilization. As a proof thereof he says, ~tA certain number of people contemporaneous with us are known as Christians.
These enjoy the superlative degree of moral civilization.
Each one of them is a great philosopher because they live together in the utmost love and good-fel-lowship.
They sacrifice life for each other. They offer worldly possessions for each other. You can say of the Christian people that they are as one person.
There is a bond amongst them that is indissoluble in character."
It is evident therefore that the foundation of real brotherhood, the cause of loving cooperation and reciprocity and the source of real kindness and unselfish devotion is none other than the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Without this influence and animus it is impossible. We may be able to realize some degrees of fraternity through other motives but these are limited associations and sub-lea to change.
When human brotherhood is founded upon the Holy Spirit, it is eter-nil, changeless, unlimited.
In various parts of the Orient there was a time when brotherhood, lovingkindness and all the praiseworthy qualities of mankind seemed to have disappeared.
There was no evidence of patriotic, religious or racial fraternity but conditions of bigotry, hatred and prejudice prevailed instead. The adherents of each religion were violent enemies of the others, filled with the spirit of hostility and eager for shedding of blood. The present war in the Balkans furnishes a parallel of these conditions.
Consider the bloodshed, ferocity and oppression manifested there even in this enlightened century; all of it based fundamentally upon religious prejudice and disagreement. For the nations involved belong to the same races and na tivities, nevertheless they are savage and merciless toward each other. Similar deplorable conditions prevailed in Persia in the nineteenth century. Darkness and ignorant fanaticism were widespread; no trace of fellowship or brotherhood existed amongst the races.
On the contrary, human hearts were filled with rage and hatred; darkness and gloom were manifest in human lives and conditions everywhere. At such a time as this His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh appeared upon the divine horizon, even as the glory of the sun, and in that gross darkness and hopelessness of the human world there shone a great light. He founded the oneness of the world of humanity, declaring that all mankind are as sheep and that God is the real and true shepherd.
The shepherd is one and all people are of his flock.
The world of humanity is one and God is equally kind to all. What then is the source of unkindness and hatred in the human world? This real shepherd loves all his sheep. He leads them in green pastures.
He rears and protects them. What then is the source of enmity and alienation among humankind? Whence this conflict and strife? The real underlying cause is lack of religious unity and association for in each of the great religions we find superstition, blind imitation of creeds, and theological formulae adhered to instead of the divine fundar mentals, causing difference and divergence among mankind instead of agreement and fellowship. Consequently strife, hatred and warfare have arisen, based upon this divergence and separation.
If we investigate the foundations of the divine religions, we find them to be one, absolutely changeless and never subject to transformation. For example each of the divine religions contains two kinds of laws or ordinances. One division concerns the world of morality and ethical institutions. These are the essential ordinances.
They instill and awaken the knowledge and love of God, love for humanity, the virtues of the world of mankind, the attributes of the divine kingdom, rebirth and resurrection from the kingdom of nature.
These constitute one kind of divine law which is common to all and never sublect to change. From the dawn of the .4~ :'iic cycle to the present day this
Page 128The second division comprises laws and institutions which provide for human needs and conditions according to exigencies of time and place. These are accidental, of no essential importance and should never have been made the cause and source of human contention.
For example during the time of His Holiness Moses � Upon Him be peace!
� according to the exigencies of that period divorce was permissible. During the cycle of His Holiness Christ inasmuch as divorce was not in conformity with the time and conditions
His Holiness Jesus Christabrogated it. In the cycle of Moses plurality of wives was permissible but during the time of His Holiness Christ the exigency which had sanctioned it did not exist, therefore it was forbidden. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness and desert of Sinai; therefore His ordinances and commandments were in conformity with those conditions. The penalty for theft was to cut off a man's hand. An ordinance of this kind was in keeping with desert life but not compatible with conditions of the present day. Such ordinances therefore constitute the second or nonessential division of the divine religions and are not of importance for they deal with human transactions which are ever changing according to the requirements of time and place. Therefore the intrinsic foundations of the divine religions are one. As this is true, why should hostility and strife exist among them? Why should this hatred and warfare, ferocity and bloodshed continue?
Is this allowable and lustified? God forbid!CREATION is the expression of motion. Motion is life.
A moving object is a living oblect whereas that which is motionless and inert is as dead.
All created forms are progressive in their planes or kingdoms of existence under the stimulus of the power or spirit of life. The universal energy is dynamic. Nothing is stationary in the material world of outer phenomena or in the inner world of intellect and consciousness.
Religion is the outer expression of the divine reality. Therefore it must be living, vitalized, moving and progressive.
If it be without motion and nonprogressive it is without the divine life; it is dead. The divine institutes are continuously active and evolutionary; therefore the revelation of them must be progressive and continuous. All things are subject to reformation.
This is a century of life and renewal. Sciences and arts, industry and invention have been reformed. Law and ethics have been reconstituted, reorganized.
The world of thought has been regenerated. Sciences of former ages and philosophies of the past are useless today. Present exigencies demand new methods of solution; world problems are without precedent. Old ideas and modes of thought are fast becoming obsolete. Ancient laws and archaic ethical systems will not meet the requirements of modern conditions, for this is clearly the century of a new life, the century of the revelation of the reality and therefore the greatest of all centuries.
Consider how the scientific developments of fifty years have surpassed and eclipsed the knowledge and achievements of all the former ages combined.
Would the announcements and theories of ancient astronomers explain our present knowledge of the sun-worlds and planetary systems? Would the mask of obscurity which beclouded mediaeval centuries meet the demand for clear-eyed vision and understand-rng which characterizes the world today? In view of this, shall blind imitations of ancestral forms and theological interpretations continue to guide and control the religious life and spiritual development of humanity today? Shall man gifted with the power of reason unthinkingly follow and adhere to dogma, creeds and hereditary beliefs which will not bear the analysis of reason in this century of effulgent reality? Unquestionably this will not satisfy men of science, for when they find premise or con
Page 129clusion contrary to present standards of proof and without real foundation, they reject that which has been formerly accepted as standard and correct and move forward from new foundations.
The divine prophets have revealed and founded religion.
They have laid down certain laws and heavenly principles for the guidance of mankind.
They have taught and promulgated the knowledge of God, established praiseworthy ethical ideals and inculcated the highest standards of virtue in the human world. Gradually these heavenly teachings and foundations of reality have been beclouded by human interpretations and dogmatic imitations of ancestral beliefs.
The essential realities which the prophets labored so hard to establish in human hearts and minds while undergoing ordeals and suffering tortures of persecution, have now well nigh vanished. Some of these heavenly messengers have been killed, some imprisoned; all of them despised and rejected while proclaiming the reality of divinity. Soon after their departure from this world, the essential truth of their teachings was lost sight of and dogmatic imitations adhered to. Inasmuch as human interpretations and blind imitations differ widely, religious strife and disagreement have arisen among mankind, the light of true religion has been extinguished and the unity of the world of humanity destroyed.
The prophets of God voiced the spirit of unity and agreement. They have been the founders of divine real-fry. Therefore if the nations of the world forsake imitations and investigate the reality underlying the revealed Word of God they will agree and become reconciled. For reality is one and not multiple.
The nations and religions are steeped in blind and bigoted imitations. A than is a Jew because his father was a Jew.
The Mu-$ammadan follows implicitly the footsteps of his ancestors in belief and observance. The Buddhist is true to his heredity as a Buddhist. That is to say they profess religious belief blindly and without investigation, making unity and agreement impossible.
It is evident therefore that this condition will not be remedied without a reformation in the world of religion. In other words the fundamental reality of the divine religions must be renewed, reformed, revoiced to mankind.
From the seed of reality, religion has grown into a tree which has put forth leaves and branches, blossoms and fruit. After a time this tree has fallen into a condition of decay.
The leaves and blossoms have withered and perished; the tree has become stricken and fruitless. It is not reasonable that man should hold to the old tree, claiming that its Life forces are undiminished, its fruit unequalled, its existence eternal. The seed of reality must be sown again in human hearts in order that a new tree may grow therefrom and new divine fruits refresh the world. By this means the nations and peoples now divergent in religion will be brought into unity, imitations will be forsaken and a universal brotherhood in the reality itself will be established.
Warfare and strife will cease among mankind; all will be reconciled as servants of God. For all are sheltered beneath the tree of His providence and mercy. God is kind to all; He is the giver of bounty to all alike, even as His Holiness Jesus Christ has declared that God ttsendeth rain on the just and on the unjust"; that is to say, the mercy of God is universal. All humanity is under the protection of His love and favor, and unto all He has pointed the way of guidance and progress.
Progress is of two kinds, matetial and spiritual.The former is attained through observation of the surrounding existence and constitutes the foundation of civilization. Spiritual progress is through the breaths of the Holy Spirit and is the awakening of the conscious soui of man to perceive the reality of divinity. Material progress insures the happiness of the human world. Spiritual progress insures the happiness and eternal continuance of the soui. The prophets of God have founded the laws of divine civilization.
They have been the root and fundamental source of all knowledge. They have established the principles of human brotherhood or fraternity which is of various kinds, such as the fraternity of farhily, of race, of nation and of ethical motives. These forms of fraternity, these bonds of brotherhood are merely temporal and transient in
Page 130association. They do not insure harmony and are usually productive of disagreement. They do not prevent warfare and strife; on the contrary they are selfish, restricted and fruitful causes of enmity and hatred among mankind.
The spiritual brotherhood which is enkindled and established through the breaths of the Holy Spirit unites nations and removes the cause of warfare and strife. It transforms mankind into one great family and establishes the foundations of the oneness of humanity. It promulgates the spirit of international agreement and insures universal peace. Therefore we must investigate the foundation reality of this heavenly fraternity.
'We must forsake all imitations and promote the reality of the divine teachings. In accordance with these principles and actions by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, both material and spiritual happiness shall become realized. Until all nations and peoples become united by the bonds of the Holy Spirit in this real fraternity, until national and international prejudices are effaced in the reality of this spiritual brotherhood, true progress, prosperity and lasting happiness will not be attained by man. This is the century of new and universal nationhood. Sciences have advanced, industries have progressed, politics have been reformed, liberty has been proclaimed, justice is awakening.
This is the century of motion, divine stimulus and accomplishment; the century of human solidarity and altruistic service; the century of universal peace and the reality of the divine Kingdom.
Page 131ON THE 23rd of May of this auspicious year, 1944, the Bahá'í world will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
It will commemorate at once the hundredth anniversary of the inception of the BAJA Dispensation, of the inauguration of the Bahá'í Era, of the commencement of the Bahá'í Cycle, and of the birth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The weight of the potentialities with which this Faith, possessing no peer or equal in the world's spiritual history, and marking the culmination of a universal prophetic cycle, has been endowed, staggers our imagination.
The brightness of the millennial glory which it must shed in the fullness of time dazzles our eyes.
The magnitude of the shadow which its Author will continue to cast on successive Prophets destined to be raised up after Him eludes our calculation.
Already in the space of less than a century the operation of the mysterious processes generated by its creative spirit has provoked a tumult in human society such as no mind can fathom. Itself undergoing a period of incubation during its primitive age, it has, through the emergence of its slowly-crystallizing system, induced a fermentation in the general life of mankind designed to shake the very foundations of a disordered society, to purify its lifeblood, to reorientate and reconstruct its institutions, and shape its final destiny.
To what else can the observant eye or the unprejudiced mind, acquainted with the signs and portents heralding the birth, and accompanying the rise, of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh ascribe this dire, this planetary upheaval, with its attendant destruction, misery and fear, if not to the emergence of His embryonic World Order, which, as He Himself has unequivocally proclaimed, has cede ranged the equilibri in of the world and revolutionized inanizind's ordered life"?
To what agency, if not to the irresistible diffusion of that world-shaking, world-energiz-ing, world-redeeming spirit, which the B~b has affirmed is rrvibratiisg in the innermost realities of all created things" can the origins of this portentous crisis, incomprehensible to man, and admittedly unprecedented in the annals of the human race, be attributed? In the convulsions of contemporary society, in the frenzied, worldwide ebullitions of men's thoughts, in the fierce antagonisms inflaming races, creeds and classes, in the shipwreck of nations, in the downfall of kings, in the dismemberment of empires, in the extinction of dynasties, in the collapse of ecclesiastical heirarchies, in the deterioration of time-honored institutions, in the dissolution of ties, secular as well as religious, that had for so long held together the members of the human race � all manifesting themselves with ever-increasing gravity since the outbreak of the first World 'War that immediately preceded the opening years of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh � in these we can readily recognize the evidences of the travail of an age that has sus 131
Page 132tamed the impact of His Revelation, that has ignored His summons, and is now laboring to be delivered of its burden, as a direct consequence of the impulse communicated to it by the generative, the purifying, the transmuting influence of His Spirit.
It is my purpose, on the occasion of an anniversary of such profound significance, to attempt in the succeeding pages a survey of the outstanding events of the century that has seen this Spirit burst forth upon the world, as well as the initial stages of its subsequent incarnation in a System that must evolve into an Order designed to embrace the whole of mankind, and capable of fulfilling the high destiny that awaits man on this planet.
I shall endeavor to review, in their proper perspective and despite the comparatively brief space of time which separates us from them, the events which the revolution of a hundred years, unique alike in glory and tribulation, has unrolled before our eyes. I shall seek to represent and correlate, in however cursory a manner, those momentous happenings which have insensibly, relentlessly, and under the very eyes of successive generations, perverse, indifferent or hostile, transformed a heterodox and seemingly negligible offshoot of the Shaykhi school of the Ithn4-'Ashariyyih sect of Shi'ah IslAm into a world religion whose unnumbered followers are organically and indissolubly united; whose light has overspread the earth as far as Iceland in the North and Magellanes in the South; whose ramifications have spread to no less than sixty countries of the world; whose literature has been translated and disseminated in no less than forty languages; whose endowments in the five continents of the globe, whether local, national or international, already run into several million dollars; whose incorporated elective bodies have secured the official recognition of a number of governments in East and West; whose adherents are recruited from the diversified races and chief religions of mankind; whose representatives are to be found in hundreds of cities in both Persia and the United States of America; to whose verities royalty has publicly and repeatedly testified; whose independent status its enemies, from the ranks of its parent religion and in the leading center of both the Arab and Muslim worlds, have proclaimed and demonstrated; and whose claims have been virtually recognized, entitling it to rank as the fourth religion of a Land in which its world spiritual center has been established, and which is at once the heart of Christendom, the holiest shrine of the Jewish people, and, save Mecca alone, the most sacred spot in IslAm.
It is not my purpose � nor does the occasion demand it, � to write a detailed history of the last hundred years of the Baha Faith, nor do I intend to trace the origins of so tremendous a Movement, or to portray the conditions under which it was born, or to examine the character of the religion from which it has sprung, or to arrive at an estimate of the effects which its impact upon the fortunes of mankind has produced.
I shall rather content myself with a review of the salient features of its birth and rise, as well as of the initial stages in the establishment of its administrative institutions � institutions which must be regarded as the nucleus and herald of that World Order that must incarnate the scm1, execute the laws, and fulfill the purpose of the Faith of God in this day.
Nor will it be my intention to ignore, whilst surveying the panorama which the revolution of a hundred years spreads before our gaze, the swift interweaving of seeming reverses with evident victories, out of which the hand of an inscrutable Providence has chosen to form the pattern of the Faith from its earliest days, or to minimize those disasters that have so often proved themselves to be the prelude to fresh triumphs which have, in turn, stimulated its growth and consolidated its past achievements.
Indeed, the history of the first hundred years of its evolution resolves itself into a series of internal and external crises, of varying severity, devastating in their immediate effects, but each mysteriously releasing a corresponding measure of divine power, lending thereby a fresh impulse to its unfoldment, this further unfoldment engendering in its turn a still graver calamity, followed by a still more liberal effusion of celestial grace enabling its upholders to accelerate still further its march and win in its service still more compelling victories.
Page 133THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH '33
In its broadest outline the first century of the Bahá'í Era may be said to comprise the Heroic, the Primitive, the Apostolic Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and also the initial stages of the Formative, the
Transitional, the IronAge which is to witness the crystallization and shaping of the creative energies released by His Revelation.
The first eighty years of this century may roughly be said to have covered the entire period of the first age, while the last two decades may be regarded as having witnessed the beginnings of the second. The former commences with the Declaration of the B&b, includes the mission of Bahá'u'lláh, and terminates with the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The latter is ushered in by His Will and Testament, which defines its character and establishes its foundation.
The century under our review may therefore be considered as falling into four distinct periods, of unequal duration, each of specific import and of tremendous and indeed unappraisable significance. These four periods are closely interrelated, and constitute successive acts of one, indivisible, stupendous and sublime drama, whose mystery no intellect can fathom, whose climax no eye can even dimly perceive, whose conclusion no mind can adequately foreshadow. Each of these acts revolves around its own theme, boasts of its own heroes, registers its own tragedies, records its own triumphs, and contributes its own share to the execution of one common, immutable Purpose. To isolate any one of them from the others, to dissociate the later manifestations of one universal, all-embracing Revelation from the pristine purpose that animated it in its earliest days, would be tantamount to a mutilation of the structure an which it rests, and to a lamentable perversion of its truth and of its history.
The first period (18441853), centers around the gentle, the youthful and irresistible person of the B~b, matchless in His meekness, imperturbable in His serenity, magnetic in His utterance, unrivaled in the dramatic episodes of His swift and tragic ministry.
It begins with the Declaration of His Mission, culminates in His martyrdom, and ends in a veritable orgy of religious massacre revolting in its hideousness.
It is characterized by nine years of fierce and relentless contest, whose theatre was the whole of Persia, in which above ten thousand heroes laid down their lives, in which two sovereigns of the Q6j6.r dynasty and their wicked ministers participated, and which was supported by the entire Shi'ah ecclesiastical hierarchy, by the military resources of the state, and by the implacable hostility of the masses.
The second period (18531892) derives its inspiration from the august figure Bahá'u'lláh, preeminent in holiness, awesome in the majesty of His strength and power, unapproachable in the. transcendent brightness of His glory. It opens with the first stirrings, in the soui of Bahá'u'lláh while in the Siy~h-ChM of TihrTh, of the Revelation anticipated by the Bib, attains its plenitude in the proclamation of that Revelation to the kings and ecclesiastical leaders of the earth, and terminates in the ascension of its Author in the vicinity of the prison-town of 'AkM. It extends over thirty-nine years of continuous, of unprecedented and overpowering Revelation, is marked by the propagation of the Faith to the neighboring territories of Turkey, of Russia, of 'Ir&q, of Syria, of Egypt and of India, and is distinguished by a corresponding aggravation of hostility, represented by the united attacks launched by the shAh of Persia and the Sul~n of Turkey, the two admittedly most powerful potentates of the East, as well as by the opposition of the twin sacerdotal orders of Shi'ah and Sunni IsUm.
The third period (18921921) revolves around the vibrant personality of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, mysterious in His essence, unique in� His station, astoundingly potent in both the charm and strength of His character.
It commences with the announcement of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, a document without parallel in the history of any earlier Dispensation, attains its climax in the emphatic assertion by the Center of that Covenant, in the City of the Covenant, of the unique character and far-reaching implications of that Document, and closes with His passing and the interment of His remains on Mt. Garmel.
It will go down in history as a period of almost thirty years' duration, in which tragedies and triumphs have been so intertwined as to eclipse at
Page 134one time the Orb of the Covenant, and at another time to pour forth its light over the continent of Europe, and as far as Australasia, the Far East and the North American continent. The fourth period (19211944) is motivated by the forces radiating from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, that
Charter of Bahá'u'lláh's NewWorld Order, the offspring resulting from the mystic intercourse between Him Who is the Source of the Law of God and the mind of the One Who is the vehicle and interpreter of that Law. The inception of this fourth, this last period of the first Bahá'í century synchronizes with the birth of the Formative Age of the Bahá'í Era, with the founding of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh � a sys-tern which is at once the harbinger, the nucleus and pattern of His World Order. This period, covering the first twenty-three years of this Formative Age, has already been distinguished by an outburst of further hostility, of a different character, accelerating on the one hand the diffusion of the Faith over a still wider area in each of the five continents of the globe, and resulting on the other in the emancipation and the recognition of the independent status of several communities within its pale.
These four periods are to be regarded not oniy as the component, the inseparable parts of one stupendous whole, but as progressive stages in a single evolutionary process, vast, steady and irresistible. For as we survey the entire range which the operation of a cen-tury-old Faith has unfolded before us, we cannot escape the conclusion that from whatever angle we view this colossal scene, the events associated with these periods present to us unmistakable evidences of a slowly maturing process, of an orderly development, of internal consolidation, of external expansion, of a gradual emancipation from the fetters of religious orthodoxy, and of a corresponding diminution of civil disabilities and restrictions.
Viewing these periods of Bahá'í history as the constituents of a single entity, we note the chain of events proclaiming successfully the rise of a Forerunner, the Mission of One Whose advent that Forerunner had promised, the establishment of a Covenant generated through the direct authority of the Promised One Himself, and lastly the birth of a System which is the child sprung from both the Author of the Covenant and its appointed Center.
We observe how the Bib, the Forerunner, announced the impending inception of a divinely-conceived Order, how Bafr4' � u'llAh, the Promised One, formulated its laws and ordinances, how 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the appointed Center, delineated its features, and how the present generation of their followers have commenced to erect the framework of its institutions. 'We watch, through these periods, the, infant light of the Faith diffuse itself from its cradle, eastward to India and the Far East, westward to the neighboring territories of 'Jriq, of Turkey, of Russia, and of Egypt, travel as far as the North Ama-wan continent, illuminate subsequently the ifiajor countries of Europe, envelop with its radiance, at a later stage, the Antipodes, brighten the fringes of the Arctic, and finally set aglow the Central and South
American horizons. Wewitness a corresponding increase in the diversity of the elements within its fellowship, which from being confined, in the first period of its history, to an obscure body of followers chiefly recruited from the ranks of the masses in Shi'ah Persia, has expanded into a fraternity representative of the leading religious systems of the world, of almost every caste and color, from the humblest worker and peasant to royalty itself.
We notice a similar development in the extent of its literature � a literature which, restricted at first to the narrow range of hurriedly transcribed, often corrupted, secretly circulated, manuscripts, so furtively perused, so frequently effaced, and at times even eaten by the terrorized members of a proscribed sect, has, within the space of a century, swelled into innumerable editions, comprising tens of thousands of printed volumes, in diverse scripts, and in no less than forty languages, some elaborately reproduced, others profusely illustrated, all methodically and vigorously disseminated through the agency of worldwide, properly constituted and specially organized committees and Assemblies. We perceive a no
Page 135iess apparent evolution in the scope of its teachings, at first designedly rigid, complex and severe, subsequently recast, expanded, and liberalized under the succeeding Dispensation, later expounded, reaffirmed and amplified by an appointed Interpreter, and lastly systematized and universally applied to both individuals and institutions. We can discover a no less distinct gradation in the character of the opposition it has had to encounter � an opposition, at first kindled in the bosom of Shi'ah IslAm, which, at a later stage, gathered momentum with the banishment of Bahá'u'lláh to the domains of the Turkish Sulvin and the consequent hostility of the more powerful Sunni hierarchy and its Caliph, the head of the vast majority of the followers of Mu1~ammad � an opposition which, now, through the rise of a divinely appointed Order in the Christian 'West, and its initial impact on civil and ecclesiastical institutions, bids fair to include among its supporters established governments and systems associated with the most ancient, the most deeply entrenched sacerdotal hierarchies in Christendom.
We can, at the same time, recognize, through the haze of an ever-widening hostility, the progress, painful yet persistent, of certain communities within its pale through the stages of obscurity, of proscription, of emancipation, and of recognition � stages that must needs culminate in the course of succeeding centuries, in the establishment of the Faith, and the founding, in the plenitude of its power and authority, of the world-embracing
Bahá'í Commonwealth. Wecan likewise discern a no 'ess appreciable advance in the rise of its institutions, whether as administrative centers or places of worship � institutions, clandestine and subterrane in their earliest beginnings. emerging imperceptibly into the broad daylight of public recognition, legally protected, enriched by pious endowments, ennobled at first by the erection of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of ~Ishq&Md, the first Bahá'í House of Worship, and more recently immortalized, through the rise in the heart of the North American continent of the Mother Temple of the West, the forerunner of a divine, a slowly maturing civilization. And finally, we can even bear witness to the marked improvement in the conditions surrounding the pilgrimages performed by its devoted adherents to its consecrated shrines at its world center � pilgrimages originally arduous, perilous, tediously long, often made on foot, at times ending in disappointment, and confined to a handful of harassed Oriental fol-. lowers, gradually attracting, under steadily improving circumstances of security and comfort, an ever swelling number of new converts converging from the four corners of the globe, and culminating in the widely publicized yet sadly frustrated visit of a noble Queen, who, at the very threshold of the city of her heart's desire, was compelled, according to her own written testimony, to divert her steps, and forego the privilege of so priceless a benefit.
B~ SHOGHI EFFENDITHUS drew to a ciose the first century of the Bahá'í era � an epoch which, in its sublimity and fecundity, is without parallel in the entire field of religious history, and indeed in the annals of mankind.
A process, God-impelled, endowed with measureless potentialities, mysterious in its workings, awful in the retribution meted out to every one seeking to resist its operation, infinitely rich in its promise for the regeneration and redemption of human kind, had been set in motion in ShirAz had gained momentum successively in Tihr~n, BaghdAd, Adrianople and 'Akka, had projected itself across the seas, poured its generative influences into the West, and manifested the initial evidences of its marvelous, world-energizing force in the midst of the North American continent.
It had sprung from the heart of Asia, and pressing westward had gathered speed in its resistless course, until it had encircled the earth with a girdle of glory. It had been
Page 136generated by the son of a mercer in the province of Firs, had been reshaped by a nobleman of Niir, had been reinforced through the exertions of One Who had spent the fairest years of His youth and manhood m exile and imprisonment, and had achieved its most conspicuous triumphs in a country and amidst a people living half the circuin-ference of the globe distant from the land of its origin.
It had repulsed every onslaught directed against it, torn down every barrier opposing its advance, abased every proud antagonist who had sought to sap its strength, and had exalted to heights of incredible courage the weakest and humblest among those who had arisen and become willing instruments of its revolutionizing power.
Heroic struggles and matchless victories, interwoven with appalling tragedies and condign punishments, have formed the pattern of its hundred year old history.
A handful of students, belonging to the Shaykhi school, sprung from the Ithn4-'Ashariyyih sect of Shi'ah IslAm, had, in consequence of the operation of this process, been expanded and transformed into a world community, closely knit, clear of vision, alive, consecrated by the sacrifice of no less than twenty thousand martyrs; supranational; nonsectarian; nonpolitical; claiming the status, and assuming the functions, of a world religion; spread over five continents and the islands of the seas; with ramifications extending over sixty sovereign states and seventeen dependencies; equipped with a literature translated and broadcast in forty languages; exercising control over endowments representing several million dollars; recognized by a number of governments in both the East and the West; integral in aim and outlook; possessing no professional clergy; professing a single belief; following a single law; animated by a single purpose; organically united through an Administrative Order, divinely ordained and unique in its features; including within its orbit representatives of all the leading religions of the world, of various classes and races; faithful to its civil obligations; conscious of its civic responsibilities, as well as of the perils confronting the society of which it forms a part; sharing the sufferings of that society and confident of its own high destiny.
The nucleus of this community had been formed by the BTh, soon after the night of the Declaration of
His Mission to Mulli~Iusayn in Shiriz. A clamor in which the Sh6h, his government, his people and the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy of his country unanimously joined had greeted its birth. Captivity, swift and cruel, in the mountains of Adhirbiyjdn, had been the lot of its youthful Founder, almost immediately after His return from His pilgrimage to Mecca. Amidst the solitude of MTh-Kii and Chihriq, He had instituted
His Covenant, formulated Hislaws, and transmitted to posterity the overwhelming majority of His writings.
A conference of His disciples, headed by Bahá'u'lláh, had, in the hamlet of Badasht, abrogated in dramatic circumstances the laws of the Islamic, and ushered in the new,
Dispensation. In TabrizHe had, in the presence of the Heir to the Throne and the leading ecclesiastical dignitaries of .Adhirb4yj An, publicly and unreservedly voiced His claim to be none other than the promised, the long-awaited QA'im.
Tempests of devastating violence in M6zindarin, Nayriz, Zanj in and Tihr~n had decimated the ranks of His followers and robbed Him of the noblest and most valuable of His supporters.
He Himself had to witness the virtual annihilation of His Faith and the loss of most of the Letters of the Living, and after experiencing, in His own person, a series of bitter humiliations, He had been executed by a firing squad in the barrack-square of Tabriz. A blood bath of unusual ferocity had engulfed the greatest heroine of His Faith, had further denuded it of its adherents, had extinguished the life of His trusted amanuensis and repository of His last wishes, and swept Bahá'u'lláh into the depths of the foulest dungeon of TihrAn.
In the pestilential atmosphere of the Siy~h-ChM, nine years after that historic Declaration, the Message proclaimed by the B~b had yielded its fruit, His promise had been redeemed, and the most glorious, the most momentous period of the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í era had dawned. A momentary eclipse of the newly risen Sun of Truth, the world's greatest Luminary, had ensued, as a
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result of Bahá'u'lláh's precipitate banishment to 'Ir4q by order of N~i~iri'd-Din ShAh, of His sudden withdrawal to the mountains of Kurdist4n, and of the degradation and confusion that afflicted the remnant of the persecuted community of His fellow-dis-ciples in Baghdad. A reversal in the fortunes of a fast declining community, following His return from His two-year retirement; had set in, bringing in its wake the recreation of that community, the reformation of its morals, the enhancement of its prestige, the enrichment of its doctrine, and culminating in the Declaration of His Mission in the garden of Naj ibiyyih to His immediate companions on the eve of His banishment to Constantinople. Another crisis � the severest a struggling Faith was destined to experience in the course of its history � precipitated by the rebellion of the BTh's nominee and the iniquities perpetrated by him and by the evil genius that had seduced him, had, in Adrianople, well nigh disrupted the newly consolidated forces of the Faith and all but destroyed in a baptism of fire the community of the Most Great Name which Bahá'u'lláh had called into being. Cleansed of the pollution of this CCMOSt Great Idol," undeterred by the convulsion that had seized it, an indestructible Faith had, in the strength of the Covenant instituted by the Báb, now surmounted the most formidable obstacles it was ever to meet; and in this very hour it reached its meridian glory through the proc-larnation of the Mission of Bahá'u'lláh to the kings, the rulers and ecclesiastical leaders of the world in both the East and the 'West. Close on the heels of this unprecedented victory had followed the climax of His sufferings, a banishment to the penal colony of 'Akka, decreed by Sul~n 'Abdu'1-'Aziz. This had been hailed by vigilant enemies as the signal for the final extermination of a much feared and hated adversary, and it had heaped upon that Faith in this fortress-town, designated by Bahá'u'lláh as His CCMOSt Great Prison," calamities from both within and without, such as it had never before experienced. The formulation of the laws and ordinances of a newborn Dispensation and the enunciation and reaffirmation of its fundamental damental principles � the warp and woof of a future Administrative Order � had, however, enabled a slowly maturing Revelation, in spite of this tide of tribulations, to adVance a stage further and yield its fairest fruit.
The ascension of Bahá'u'lláh had plunged into grief and bewilderment His loyal supporters, quickened the hopes of the betrayers of His Cause, who had rebelled against His God-given authority, and rejoiced and encouraged His political as well as ecclesiastical adversaries.
The Instrument He had forged, the Covenant He had Himself instituted, had canalized, after His passing, the forces released by Him in the course of a forty-year ministry, had preserved the unity of His Faith and provided the impulse required to propel it forward to achieve its destiny. The proclamation of this new Covenant had been followed by yet another crisis, precipitated by one of His own sons on whom, according to the provisions of that Instrument, had been conferred a rank second to none except the Center of that Covenant Himself.
Impelled by the forces engendered by the revelation of that immortal and unique Document, an nnbreachable Faith (having registered its initial victory over the Covenant-breakers), had, under the leadership of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, irradiated the West, illuminated the Western fringes of Europe, hoisted its banner in the heart of the North American continent, and set in motion the processes that were to culminate in the transfer of the mortal remains of its Herald to the Holy Land and their entombment in a mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, as well as in the erection of its first House of Worship in Russian Turkist~n.
A major crisis, following swiftly upon the signal victories achieved in East and West, attributable to the monstrous intrigues of the Arch-breaker of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant and to the orders issued by the tyrannical 'Abdu'1-Hamid, had exposed, during more than seven years, the Heart and Center of the Faith to imminent peril, filled with anxiety and anguish its followers and postponed the execution of the enterprises conceived for its spread and consolidation. 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í historic journeys in Europe and America, soon after the fall
Page 138of that tyrant and the collapse of his r6gime, had dealt a staggering blow to the Covenant-breakers, had consolidated the colossal enterprise He had undertaken in the opening years of His ministry, had raised the prestige of His Father's Faith to heights it had never before attained, had been instrumental in proclaiming its verities far and wide, and had paved the way for the diffusion of its light over the Far East and as f at as the Antipodes.
Another major crisis � the last the Faith was to undergo at its world center � provoked by the cruel JamM P~shi and accentuated by the anxieties of a devastating world war, by the privations it entailed and the rupture of communications it brought about, had threatened with still graver peril the Head of the Faith Himself, as well as the holiest sanctuaries enshrining the remains of its twin Founders. The revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, during the somber days of that tragic conflict, had, in the concluding years of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í ministry, invested the membets of the leading Bahá'í community in the West � the champions of a future Administrative Order � with a world mission which, in the concluding years of the first Bahá'í century, was to shed deathless glory upon the Faith and its administrative institutions.
The conclusion of that long and distressing conflict had frustrated the hopes of that military despot and inflicted an ignominious defeat on him, had removed, once and for all, the danger that had overshadowed for sixty-five years the Founder of the Faith and the Center of His Covenant, fulfilled the prophecies recorded by Him in His writings, enhanced still further the prestige of His Faith and its Leader, and been signalized by the spread of His Message to the continent of Australia.
The sudden passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, marking the close of the Primitive Age of the Faith, had, as had been the case with the ascension of His Father, submerged in sorrow and consternation His faithful disciples, imparted fresh hopes to the dwindling followers of both Mirza Ya1~y~ and Mirza Mu]iam-mad-'Ali, and stirred to feverish activity political as well as ecclesiastical adversaries, all of whom anticipated the impending dismemberment of the communities which the Center of the Covenant had so greatly inspired and ably led. The promulgation of His Will and Testament, inaugurating the Formative Age of the Bahá'í era, the Charter delineating the features of an Order which the Báb had announced, which Bahá'u'lláh had envisioned, and whose laws and principles He had enunciated, had galvanized these communities in Europe, Asia, Africa and America into concerted action, enabling them to erect and consolidate the framework of this Order, by establishing its local and national Assemblies, by framing the constitutions of these Assemblies, by securing the recognition on the part of the civil authorities in various countries of these institutions, by founding administrative headquarters, by raising the superstructure of the first House of Worship in the West, by establishing and extending the scope of the endowments of the Faith and by obtaining the full recognition by the civil authorities of the religious character of these endowments at its world center as well as in the North American continent.
A severe, a historic censure pronounced by a Muslim ecclesiastical court in Egypt bad, whilst this mighty process � the laying of the structural basis of the Bahá'í world Administrative Order � was being initiated, officially expelled all adherents of the Faith of Muslim extraction from Ishm, had condemned them as heretics and brought the members of a proscribed community face to face with tests and perils of a character they had never known before.
The unjust decision of a civil court in Baghdid, instigated by Shi'ah enemies, in 'IrAq, and the decree issued by a still more redoubtable adversary in Russia had, moreover, robbed the Faith, on the one hand, of one of its holiest centers of pilgrimage, and denied it, on the other, the use of its first House of Worship, initiated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and erected in the course of His ministry.
And finally, inspired by this unexpected declaration made by an agelong enemy � marking the first step in the march of their Faith towards total emancipation � and undaunted by this double blow struck at its institutions, the followers of Bahá'u'lláh, already united and fully equipped through the agencies of a
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firmly established Administrative Order, had arisen to crown the immortal records of the first Baha century by vindicating the independent character of their Faith, by enforcing the fundamental laws ordained in their Most Holy Book, by demanding and in some cases obtaining, the recognition by the ruling authorities of their right to be classi-fled as followers of an independent religion, by securing from the world's highest Tribunal its condemnation of the injustice they had suffered at the hands of their persecutors, by establishing their residence in no less than thirty-four additional countries, as well as in thirteen dependencies, by disseminating their literature in twenty-nine additional languages, by enrolling a Queen in the ranks of the supporters of their Cause, and lastly by launching an enterprise which, as that century approached its end, enabled them to complete the exterior ornamentation of their second House of Worship, and to bring to a successful conclusion the first stage of the Plan which 'Abdu'l-Bahá had conceived for the worldwide and systematic propagation of their Faith.
Kings, emperors, princes, whether of the East or of the West, had, as we look back upon the tumultuous record of an entire century, either ignored the summons of its Founders, or derided their Message, or decreed their exile and banishment, or barbarously persecuted their followers, or sedulously striven to discredit their teachings. They were visited by the wrath of the Almighty, many losing their thrones, some witnessing the extinction of their dynasties, a few being assassinated or covered with shame, others finding themselves powerless to avert the cataclysmic dissolution of their kingdoms, still others being degraded to positions of subservience in their own realms.
The Caliphate, its archenemy, bad unsheathed the sword against its Author and thrice pronounced His banishment. It was humbled to dust, and, in its ignominious collapse, suffered the same fate as the Jewish hierarchy, the chief persecutor of Jesus Christ, had suffered at the hands of its Roman masters, in the first century of the Christian Era, almost two thousand years before. Members of various sacerdotal orders, hi'ah, Sunni, Zoroastrian and Christian, had fiercely assailed the Faith, branded as heretic its supporters, and labored unremittingly to disrupt its fabric and subvert its fofindations. The most redoubtable and hostile amongst these orders were either overthrown or virtually dismembered, others rapidly declined in prestige and influence, all w~re made to sustain the impact of a secular power, aggres � sive and determined to curtail their privileges and assert its own authority. Apostates, rebels, betrayers, heretics, had exerted their utmost endeavors, privily or openly, to sap the loyalty of the followers of that Faith, to split their ranks or assault their institutions. These enemies were, one by one, some gradually, others with dramatic swiftness, confounded, dispersed, swept away and forgotten. Not a few among its leading figures, its earliest disciples, its foremost champions, the companions and fellow-exiles of its Founders, trusted amanuenses and secretaries of its Author and of the Center of His Covenant, even some of those who were numbered among the kindred of the Manifestation Himself, not excluding the nominee of the BTh and the son of Bahá'u'lláh, named by Him in the Book of His Covenant, had allowed themselves to pass out from under its shadow, to bring shame upon it, through acts of indelible infamy, and to provoke crises of such dimensions as have never been experienced be any previous religion.
All were precipitated, without exception, from the enviable positions they occupied, many of them lived to behold the frustration of their designs, others were plunged into degradation and misery, utterly impotent to impair the unity, or stay the march, of the Faith they had so shamelessly forsaken. Ministers, ambassadors and other state dignitaries had plotted assiduously to pervert its purpose, had instigated the successive banishments of its Founders, and maliciously striven to undermine its foundations.
They had, through such plottings, unwittingly brought about their own downfall, forfeited the confidence of their sovereigns, drunk the cup of disgrace to its dregs, and irrevocably sealed their own doom.
Humanity itself, perverse and utterly heedless, had refused to lend a hearing ear to the insistent appeals and warnings sounded
Page 140by the twin Founders of the Faith, and later voiced by the Center of the Covenant in His public discourses in the West. It had plunged into two desolating wars of unprecedented magnitude, which have deranged its equilibrium, mown down its youth, and shaken it to its roots. The weak, the obscure, the downtrodden had, on the other hand, through their allegiance to so mighty a Cause and their response to its summons, been enabled to accomplish such feats of valor and heroism as to equal, and in some cases to dwarf, the exploits of those men and women of undying fame whose names and deeds adorn the spiritual annals of mankind.
Despite the blows leveled at its nascent strength, whether by the wielders of temporal and spiritual authority from without, or by black7hearted foes from within, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh had, far from breaking or bending, gone from strength to strength, from victory to victory. Indeed its history, if read aright, may be said to resolve itself into a series of pulsations, of alternating crises and triumphs, leading it ever nearer to its divinely appointed destiny. The outburst of savage fanaticism that greeted the birth of the Revelation proclaimed by the BTh, His subsequent arrest and captivity, had been followed by the formulation of the laws of His Dispensation, by the institution of His Covenant, by the inauguration of that Dispensation in Badasht and by the public assertion of His station in Tabriz.
Widespread and still more violent uprisings in the provinces, His own execution, the blood bath which followed it and ]lahA'u'llAh's imprisonment in the SiyTh-ChAI had been succeeded by the breaking of the dawn of the Bahá'í Revelation in that dungeon. Bahá'u'lláh's banishment to 'IrAq, His withdrawal to KurdistAn and the confusion and distress that afflicted His fellow-disciples in Bagh-d~id had, in turn, been followed by the resurgence of the B&bi community, culminating in the Declaration of His Mission in the Najibiyyih Garden. SultAn 'Abdu'I-'Aziz's decree summoning Him to Constantinople and the crisis precipitated by Mirza Yahy~ had been succeeded by the proclamation of that Mission to the crowned heads of the world and its ecclesiastical leaders. Bahá'u'lláh's banishment to the penal coiony of 'Akka, with all its attendant troubles and miseries, had, in its turn, led to the promulgation of the laws and ordinances of His Revelation and to the institution of His Covenant, the last act of His life.
The fiery tests engendered by the rebellion of Mirza Muhammad-'Ali and his associates had been succeeded by the introduction of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the West and the transfer of the Bib's remains to the Holy Land. The renewal of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í incarceration and the perils and anxieties consequent upon it had resulted in the downfall of 'Abdu'1-Hamid, in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í release from His confinement, in the entombment of the BTh's remains on Mt. Carrn$, and in the triumphal journeys undertaken by the Center of the Covenant Himself in Europe and America. The outbreak of a devastating world war and the deepening of the dangers to which Jam&1 ThsM and the Covenant-breakers had exposed Him had led to the revelation of th~ Tablets of the Divine Plan, to the flight of that overbearing Commander, to the liberation of the Holy Land, to the enhancement of the prestige of the Faith at its world center, and to a marked expansion of its activities in East and West. 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í passing and the agitation which His removal had provoked had been followed by the promulgation of His Will and Testament, by the inauguration of the Formative Age of the Bahá'í era and by the laying of the foundations of a world-embracing Administrative Order. And finally, the seizure of the keys of the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh by the Covenant-breakers, the forcible occupation of His House in BaghdAd by the Slii'ah community, the outbreak of persecution in Russia and the expulsion of the Bahá'í community from Jsl&m in Egypt had been succeeded by the public assertion of the independent religious status of the Faith by its followers in East and West, by the recognition of that status at its world center, by the pronouncement of the Council of the League of Nations testifying to the justice of its claims, by a remarkable expansion of its international teaching activities and its
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literature, by the testimonials of royalty to its Divine origin, and by the completion of the exterior ornamentation of its first House of Worship in the western world.
The tribulations attending the progressive unfoldment of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh have indeed been such as to exceed in gravity those from which the religions of the past have suffered.
Unlike those religions, however, these tribulations have failed utterly to impair its uflity, or to create, even temporarily, a breach in the ranks of its adherents. It has not oniy survived these ordeals, bitt has emerged, purified and inviolate, endowed with greater capacity to face and surmount any crisis which its resistless march may engender in the future.
Mighty indeed have been the tasks accomplished and the victories achieved by this sorely-tried yet undefeatable Faith within the space of a century! Its unfinished tasks, its future victories, as it stands on the threshold of the second Bahá'í century, are greater still.
In the brief space of the first hundred years of its existence it has succeeded in diffusing its light over five continents, in erecting its outposts in the furthermost corners of the earth, in establishing, on an impregnable basis its Covenant with all mankind, in rearing the fabric of its world-encompassing Administrative Order, in casting off many of the shackles hindering its total emancipation and worldwide recogni-ton, in registering its initial victories over royal, political and ecclesiastical adversaries, and in launching the first of its systematic crusades for the spiritual conquest of the whole planet.
The institution, however, which is to constitute the last stage in the erection of the framework of its world Administrative Order, functioning in close proximity to its world spiritual center, is as yet unestablished. The full emancipation of the Faith itself from the fetters of religious orthodoxy, the essential prerequisite of its universal recognition and of the emergence of its World Order, is still unachi4ved.
The successive campaigns, designed to extend the beneficent influence of its System, according to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Plan, to every country and island where the structural basis of its Administra dYe Order has not been erected, still remain to be launched. The banner of Y~ Bah6.'-u'1-Abh& which, as foretold by Him, must float from the pinnacles of the foremost seat of learning in the Islamic world is still un-hoisted. The Most Great House, ordained as a center of pilgrimage by Bahá'u'lláh in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas, is as yet unliberated.
The third Mashriqu'l-Adhkarto be raised to His glory, the site of which has recently been acquired, as well as the Dependencies of the two Houses of Worship already erected in East and West, are as yet unbuilt. The dome, the final unit which, as anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is to crown the Sepulcher of the Báb is as yet unreared. The codification of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of the Bahá'í Revelation, and the systematic promulgation of its laws and ordinances, are as yet unbegun. The preliminary measures for the institution of Bahá'í courts, invested with the legal right to apply and execute those laws and ordinances, still remain to be undertaken.
The restitution of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Bahá'í world and the recreation of the community that so devotedly reared it, have yet to be accomplished.
The sovereign who, as foreshadowed in Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book, must adorn the throne of His native land, and cast the shadow of royal protection over His long-persecuted followers, is as yet undiscovered. The contest that must ensue as a result of the concerted onslaughts which, as prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, are to be delivered by the leaders of religions as yet indifferent to the advance of the Faith, is as yet unfought. The Golden Age of the Faith itself that must witness the unification of all the peoples and nations of the world, the estab-lisliment of the Most Great Peace, the inauguration of the Kingdom of the Father upon ear di, the coming of age of the entire human race and the birth of a world civilization, inspired and directed by the creative energies released by Bahá'u'lláh's 'World Order, shining in its meridian splendor, is still unborn and its glories unsuspected.
'Whatever may befall this infant Faith of God in future decades or in succeeding centuries, whatever the sorrows, dangers and tribulations which the next stage in its
Page 142worldwide development may engender, from whatever quarter the assaults to be launched by its present or future adversaries may be unleashed against it, however great the reverses and setbacks it may suffer, we, who have been privileged to apprehend, to the degree our finite minds can fathom, the significance of these marvelous phenomena associated with its rise and establishment, can harbor no doubt that what it has already achieved in the first hundred years of its life provides sufficient guarantee that it will continue to forge ahead, capturing loftier heights, tearing down every obstacle, opening up new horizons and winning still mightier victories until its glorious mission, stretching into the dim ranges of time that lie ahead, is totally fulfilled.
2.A SURVEY of the international Bahá'í community made by
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardianappointed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been summarized in a statement received by the National Spiritual Assembly which provides the essential facts of the present spread and facilities of the faith, now celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of its birth in Persia.
Bahá'ís have established residence in seventy-eight countries, fifty-six of them being sovereign states.
Bahá'í literature has been translated and published in forty-one languages.
Bahá'í literature in addition is being translated into twelve more languages.
In the worldwide community of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh, thirty-one different races are represented.
Five different NationalBahá'í Assemblies, and sixty-one local Bahá'í Assemblies located in ten different countries, have become incorporated and legally empowered as reli-. gious societies to hold property.
The international Bahá'íendowments now held in Palestine have an estimated value of onehalf million pounds sterling.
The national Bahá'í endowments held in the United States at present are considered to be worth one million, seven hundred thousand dollgrs.
The area of land in the Jordan Valley dedicated to the Bahá'í shrines in Palestine is over five hundred acres.
The site purchased for the future Bahá'í Temple in Persia comprises three and onehalf million square meters.
The cost of the structure of the first Bahá'í Temple in the West, located on Lake Michigan near Chicago, has up to the present amounted to one million three hundred thousand dollars.
Bahá'í Assemblies are functioning in every state and province of North America.
Members of the Faith reside in thirteen hundred localities of the United States and Canada.
in five states of the United States, officers of Bahá'í Assemblies have been authorized by the civil authorities to conduct legal marriage rites according to the Bahá'í form.
Bahá'í Centers have been established in every republic of Latin America, fifteen of which now possess Spiritual
Assembly.the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh now stretches from Anchorage, Alaska, to Magallanes, the world's southernmost city.
Sixty-two Bahá'í centers have been established in India, twenty-seven having a Spiritual Assembly.
Among the Baha historic sites purchased in Persia are: the home of Bahá'u'lláh in TihrAn; the Bib's shop in Biishihr the burial place of Quddiis; a portion of the village of Chihriq; three gardens in Badasht; the place where TThirih was confined.
National Baha administrative headquarters have been founded in Tihr~n, Persia; Delhi, India; Cairo,
Egypt; Baghd4d, 'Iraq;Period of the Báb's Ministry (18441853): 1. 'Iraq 2. Persia
Period of Bahá'u'lláh's3. Burma 8. tPalestine 4 ~ 9. ~ 5. Egypt 10. tSyria 6. India 11. Turkey 7. tLebanon 12. '~Turkisdn Period of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í
MinistryAssembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma 1927 1933
Page 1441.Arabic6.German 2.Burmese7.Persian 3.Chinese8.Spanish 4.English9.Urdu
5.FrenchEnglish, Esperanto, In process of translation � 1.Kinarese8.
2.Latvian9.by Brentano Inc., New York.. 1,000 Printed by the American
Bahá'í PublishingJanuary, 1929 5,000 March, 19302,000 June, 19312,000 June, 19325,000 May, 1937 (Revised Edition)5,000
November, 1938 (RevisedLANGUAGES IN WHICH DR. The Hidden Words, J. E. ESSLE-MONT'S !CBAHA~U~LLAHby Bahá'u'lláh AND THE NEW The Kidb-i-fqin, by
ERA" HAS BEEN TRANSLATED ANDBah~i'u'11ThPRINTED The Seven Valleys, by Bahá'u'lláh 3. Arabic The Siiratu'1-Haykal,
4. Armenian by Bahá'u'lláh1. Abyssinian The Ishr~q~t, by Bahá'u'lláh 2. Albanian Words of Wisdom, by
Bahá'u'lláhSome Answered Questions, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Divine Philosophy, by
'Abdu'1 � BaMSome Discourses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Excerpts from the Promulgation of Universal Peace, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Book of PrayersThe Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Shoghi Effendi The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, by
Shoghi EffendiThe Advent of Divine Justice, by Shoghi Effendi Bahá'u'lláh and the New
Era (English, Esperantoand Japanese transcriptions) Essai sur le Behaisme
Security for a FailingEstimated value of Bahá'í national endowments in the United States of
America$1,768,539.33 Area of land purchased as the sire of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of Persia 3,589,000 sq. meters Area of land surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Car mel 140,600 sq. meters Area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in 'Akka 1,000 sq. meters Area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in the district of Gaza,
Palestine 10,530 sq. meters Area of land dedicated to the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the B&b in the Jordan Valley 2,354,108 sq. meters
Page 147Area of land dedicated to the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the Bib in Palestine and registered in the name of the Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States of America and Canada. 50,000 sq. meters Total cost of the structure of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette, Iii. (19211943) $1,342,813
AMERICAN BAHÁ'Í PROPERTIES HELDLand, including pine grove where 'Abclu'1 � Baha gave the unity feast in 1912 Geyserville Bahá'í School, Geyserville, Calif ornia
Bosch House�$1,482,012.91 21,526.42 � 89,000.00 � 75,000.00 � 42,000.00 � 51,500.00 � 7,000.00 � 500.00 TOTAL $1,768,539.33
DATA REGARDING THE BAnAlCost of Temple property $51,500 Area of Temple property 6.97 acres Materials used in ornamentation: crystalline quartz, opaque quartz and white Portland cement Total-cost of the structure of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhk&r in Wilmetre, Iii. (19211943) $1,342,813 Height from floor of basement to culmina tion of the dome ribs 191 feet Depths of caissons120 feet Diameter at the foundation floor. .204 feet Height of dome 49feet Outside diameter of dome90feet Inside diameter of dome72feet Number of sections of ornamentation, com prising the dome and ribs 387 Perforation of dome surface30% Height of mainstory pylons45 feet Seating capacity of Auditorium1,600 Number of Temple visitors from June 1932-October
October 1941 130,000Letter addressed by Bahá'ís of 'Ishqabad to the Bahá'ís of Chicago 1902
Page 148Petition addressed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá by the "House of Spirituality" of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, appealing for permission to construct a Baha Temple in America.
March 1903Delegates of various American Bahá'í Assemblies meet in Chicago and choose a site for the Temple
Nov. 1907Contract awarded for the sinking of nine caissons (completed 1921) Dec. 1920 Contract awarded for the construction of the basement structure (completed
1922) Aug. 1921Contract awarded for the erection of the superstructure (completed May 1931)
Aug. 1930Contract awarded for the ornamentation of the dome (completed January 1934)
June 1932Ornamentation ~of the clerestory com pleted July 1935 Ornamentation of the gallery unit com pleted Nov. 1938 Ornamentation of the mainstory begun.. April 1940 Ornamentation of the mainstory com pleted July 1942 Steps placed in positionDec.
1942Total height 452 feet Inside diameter of dome 137feet
St. Paul's in London:Total height366feet Inside diameter of dome112feet
St. Sophia in Constantinople:Total height180feet Inside diameter of dome107feet
Pantheon in RomeInside height 144 feet Inside diameter of dome 142 feet
PRINCIPAL BANAl HISTORICHouse of the Mb in ShiMz and several ad-laming houses.
Ancestral Home of Bahá'u'lláhHouse of Bahá'u'lláh in Tihdn. House owned by the Mb's maternal uncle in
Shir~z.Shop belonging to the B~b in &shihr. A quarter of the village of Ghihriq in AdhirMyj~n.
House of I-I&ji Mirza J~ni in K6sMn where the Rib stayed on His way to Tabriz.
Public bath used by the Báb in $hir~z and some adjacent houses.
Half of the house owned by V4tid in Nayriz.The three gardens rented by Bahá'u'lláh in Badaght.
Burial-pike of Qudd~sHouse of Mahmiid Kh&n-i-Kalantar in TilirAn, where TAhirih was confined.
Public bath visited by the Báb when in Unimiyyih, Adhir&iyj~n.
House owned by Mirza Ijusayn-'Aliy--i-Niir in Tihr~n, where the Mb's remains were concealed.
The B~byiyih in MashliadKhur~s~n. The house owned by Mulh ~usayn in Mashliad
Khur~s4n.The residence of the Su1t~nu'sh-Shuhad4 (King of Martyrs) and of the
Mahb& bu'sh-Shuhad~ (BelovedSpot where the heads of two hundred martyrs were buried in AMdih, FArs.
House where the Mb's remains were concealed in Qum.
Site of martyrdom and burial-place of the erSeven Martyrs" of 'Iraq, in Sullin-AbAd, 'Ir&q.
Page 149THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH Site of martyrdom and burial-place of the "Four Martyrs" of 'Jr&q, in Su1tAn-Ab~d, 'Iraq.
Caravansarai occupied by the B11 in Zanj~n. Burial-place of Ashraf and his mother
Zan-jim.House where the E~b's remains were concealed in Kirm~nshTh.
Room occupied by Valid and other rooms in the Fort of Kh&jih in Nayriz.
Land adjoining the Fort of Khijih, site of the martyrdom of Vabid and some of his companions.
DATES OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCEb4jAn Summer 1847 Incarceration of the Rib in Chihriq, Adhir biyjAn April1848
Conference of BadaslitJune1848Interrogation of the Mb in Tabriz Adhhir b~iyj~n July 1848 Martyrdom of the Bib in
Tabriz AdlihirbAyj~n July 9, 1850 Attempt on the life of
Nisiri'd-DinEstablishment of the first Bahá'í center in the West February 1894 Arrival of the first group of Western pil grims in 'Akk6.December 10, 1898 Arrival of the B&b'sremains in the
Holy LandJanuary 31,1899Reincarceration of'Abdu'1-Bah& in 'AkkiAugust 20,1901 Commencement of the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Istq4bAb. 1902 Release of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from His incarceration September 1908 Interment of the Báb's remains on Mt. Garmel March 21, 1909 Opening of the first American
Bahá'í Convention March 21, 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í departure for
Egypt September 1910 'Abdu'l-Bahá'sof the cornerstone at the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Adhkir in Wiln-xette, Ill., by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Bali May 1, 1912Commencement of the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette,
Ill December 1920 Passingof 'Abdu'l-Bahá ... November 28, 1921 Verdict of the Muhammadan Court in Egypt denouncing the Faith to be an independent religion.
May 10, 1925 Martha Root's30, 1926 Resolution of the Council of the League of Nations upholding the claim of the Bahá'í community to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in BaghdAd March 4, 1929 Passing of the Greatest Holy
Leaf July 19321942 Centenary celebration and opening of first All-American Bahá'í
ConvenTHE Centenary came upon us very much like the sunrise which, long before our parent orb soars above the horizon, casts its premonitory rays over the earth and awakes and excites the face of creation.
First it was the entering of the one hundred and first year of our history, on March 2 1st, 1944, that made our pulses beat quicker, for the glorious time was near. Then it was just ahead of us. Hearts began to sing with expectation; our paces accelerated; daily tasks began to glow in the Light of expectation � the very hours seemed to be running on swifter feet to meet the Day of Days, May 2 2nd. We were enveloped in a veritable storm of rushing and as the eve before that sacred eve that saw the inception of the Bahá'í Era fell, preparations were moving to a climax; already the pilgrims had arrived; already the rooms and halls were spotless and waiting to welcome the throng of believers who would pour in on the morrow; already the Shrines were adorned with candlesticks and vases to receive the lights and the flowers destined for the great feast on the following night.
There was little sleep for any one � for what need had we of sleep at such a time as this? We were riding the wave of joy that the celebrations cast before them. Everything must be perfect. Messages must be delivered to this and that person, last minute instructions carried out, the final polishing applied to everything in sight, the hundreds and hundreds of roses, freshly cut, placed in water that they might be in their prime next day.
Over a hundred and fifty Bahá'ís gathered during the morning and afternoon of the 2 2nd. A great tent, a gift of the Indian believers during 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í lifetime, had been pitched near the Oriental Pilgrim House on Mt. Carmel as a meeting place for the women and children.
The opening ceremony of the centenary commemoration was to take place at exactly two hours and eleven minutes after sunset, in the Shrine of the beloved Martyr Prophet of Shir~z, at the very moment when one hundred years earlier He had said to the youthful Mulli Ijusayn "Behold, all these signs are manifest in me!" and had then proceeded, with dignity and majesty, to lift the veil on a new era in human history.
The Guardian had already proceeded after dusk to the Holy Tombs to himself arrange the disposition of the flowers and lights. With his own hands he had copiously sprinkled the thresholds and floors with the fragrant and intense perfume made of the essence of damask roses. The believers were then summoned, the women entering the eastern, the men the western, side of the 13~b's Shrine.
As the men tiled past the Guardian he anointed the hand of each with that same sweet scented oil.
What a vision greeted our eyes as we entered the door! The whitewashed walls, the simple arches curving above the two thresholds of the inner shrine of the BTh, (which face each other and permit a full view of the floor beneath which His body rests), were flooded with brilliant light. The center chandelier, crystal, ~oid and blue, hung glistening with candles; on either side of it electrically lighted chandeliers blazed; beneath the apex of each arch over the two thresholds globes of pale roseate glass glowed; at the head and at the foot of His resting place great candelabra raised their nine burning fingers in long rows; at the corners of the beautiful paisiey shawl stretched in the middle of the rich rugs that cover the floor of this inner shrine stood five-armed candlesticks, making pyramids of flames; along the sides other candles flickered until glass, silver, polished
Page 151brass and light seemed to sparkle from threshold to threshold. Over the wide space thus formed hundreds and hundreds of crimson and apricot-hued roses lay, a veritable carpet of flowers. To the left and right of this band of light and flowers stood two immense, ornate vases from which sprang, fountain-like, huge clusters of deep red leaves and blossoms. The two thresholds were thickly spread with white jasmine on one side and white roses on the other, amidst which were interspersed vases of flowers in vivid tones of red and blue.
In the upper corners of the western room stood great bunches of Easter lilies, casting their delicate and poignant fragrance into the already rose-laden air.
It seemed to me at least, (as I gazed into that shimmering crucible of light and color), that mighty, invisible bells were ringing somewhere, in some world we could not see, and that their voices were crying: C!Ring out the old, ring in the new Ring out the false, ring in the true Ring out the want, the care, the sin Ring in the love of truth and right Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace."
Ring out the old, ring in the new! in peal on peal of joyous thunder.
One hundred years of glory � but of bloodshed, of persecution, of abasement � had passed.
A new hundred years was rising up before us, not more blessed � for that could never be � but bringing the seeds of the first to fruition; bringing nearer to the world the day when the Kingdom of God shall come on earth as it is in heaven.
As I listened to the voice of the Guardian chanting I thought of the One that lay beneath that flower-strewn brilliant floor; of 1-us youthfulness, His gentleness, His bitter trials and disappointments; of how they put Him before a firing squad and riddled His breast with bullets.
I thought of the day the Master, then an old man, with His silvery hair flying about His beautiful face, had laid the little casket containing the Bib's earthly remains away for all time in a great marble sarcophagus in the vault beneath that floor, and how He had then bowed His head on its lip and wept and sobbed from an over filled heart until all those who stood in reverence at that solemn moment, wept with Him.
How small, how unworthy we seemed to be in that room on such an occasion!
Great things come like a thief in the night and find us unprepared and then other men, at other times, look back and say CCWht a blessing for those who were there; what an hour to have been aliVe!'
We then left the Shrine of the Bib and entered the adjacent Tomb of 'Abdu'1 � Baha, He who had built that Shrine and who had said that every stone of it had been raised and placed in position through infinite pains on His part and the shedding of many tears. A century had now passed since His birth on the self same night the Báb declared His mission, and the loving hands of the Guardian had decked His tomb, too, with candles and flowers, oniy here the roses were a carpet of deep violet-pink, spreading the whole length of His resting place.
On very rare occasions in life is it given to people to climb out of themselves, to surmount for even a few seconds the bonds of time, of self, and the limitations they impose. But for a few brief hours we seemed to have cast the world behind us and become free of the trammels of the flesh. So great was the joy, so simple and compelling the beauty of those moments when we attained the apex of our expectations, when we could, if only for one instant, in one great inner flash, see the panorama of spiritual events in their proper perspective, that it lifted us up into the realm of eternal reality, the World of God, where there is neither past nor present nor future, but only the truth of His creation and the brightness of His worlds of everlasting life. We stood before the GLean of His Bounty � yet how little seemed the measures 'we possessed with which to take away our portion!
Slowly the world and its burden of living came back to us and tightened its coils about us once again. We had pilgrimaged our beyond our limitations; for a few hours, (or for a few moments, each according to his own capacity), we had been free; now, happy, excited, grateful, we returned to earth again.
Long after midnight the meetings lasted, the men in the presence of the
Page 152Guardian,, the women foregathered in the pavilion pitched for them. The friends feasted with elated hearts. Poems and prayers were chanted and readings from the Centenary Review written by Shoghi Effendi himself for this great anniversary.
As we listened, the trials and sufferings of the Founders of our Faith seemed very near and real on this day when their followers the world over were tasting some of the first fruits of triumph.
As scenes of sorrow, of bitter deprivation and persecution rose before us, so too, intermingled with them like light with shadow, was the ever-present pictrnte in the mind's eye of what the believers elsewhere were doing on this glorious occasion!
The friends gathered in the white Mother Temple of the West, radiant, joyous faces, representative of all North America, every State and every Province, and those of the Latin American Republics too, gazing for the first time on western soil, in the New World, on the portrait of the holy Bab; the lofty-domed auditorium of the Temple hugging them in a peace and security known to the outer world.
The Indian believers, excited, enthused, reaping the reward of a truly stupendous effort which swept the Cause forward within the space of a few years into many virgin States, and multiplied centers and assemblies in an almost miracu-bus manner.
The British friends, convening their convention and courageously and determinedly launching upon a weeklong public
Centenary ExhibitionThe Egyptian Baha'is, foregathered in their newly completed National Administrative Headquarters, proudly stepping forth in their true colors in a mighty stronghold of IsUm. The 'Ir&q believers, firm, devoted, persevering, holding their celebrations likewise in their own Headquarters in that city blessed beyond measure of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation of His glory in one of its gardens. And last, but not by any means least, our thoughts hovered about that little House in Shir~z where He, the Mb, declared Himself, now the Mecca of the eager Persian representatives of His Faith who pilgrimaged there to do Him honor, to glorify His humility, to beweep His sufferings, to laud His precious life, to recall His sorrows and death, and to place on the floor of the room in which He first asserted His world-shaking claims, a silken carpet in the name of "Shoghi, the Servant of His Threshold", as well as to convene, during nine days, their annual convention in the precincts of that scared House.
Though the center of the Faith was deprived, because of war, of welcoming on a befitting scale representatives from distant parts of the Bahá'í world, yet did it receive a full portion of blessing and give out, once again, to the body of the Cause that never-failing animus which, ever since Bahá'u'lláh's arrival in 'Akka in 1868, has radiated from this unique spot. As the heart pumps blood with force and strength to the furthermost capillaries of the system, so the Guardian distributed to all the members of the Bahá'í world news, glad tidings, hopes and instructions for the future. It was so thrilling to hear, (it was almost vocal, the sense of nearness was so acute), the news that poured in from the delegates in all the
Bahá'í conventions, Eastand West; reports of successes, numbers, new undertakings, good wishes, requests for prayers, expressions of devotion and gratitude.
Time and space faded away and we all seemed to be in the same place inwardly, as indeed, we are, if we but saw with the eye of the spirit.
May the 23rd, our festivities continued on Mt. Carmel; in the morning the women, in the afternoon, the men, visited the International Archives. With what memories we gazed upon the portraits of the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh.
Their writings, their robes, their relics appeared in a new light. How swiftly the hundred years seemed to have passed as I held the precious dress of the Mb in my hands, of green taffeta � (green beloved by Him no doubt as the emblem of His sacred lineage, His kinship to Mul?ammad). His hair was there too, a few short, fine, brown strands; parings from His nails, kept for over ninety years by devout followers of His; a little box containing fragments of wood from the original casket enclosing His remains and which had been preserved since the day 'Abdu'l-Bahá entombed them for the last time.
It seemed as if oniy a few days ago He must have been alive and walking
Page 153THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 153
the streets of $hir4z � not possibly a whole century ago! As we all gathered close to view these historic mementos of the martyr Prophet of our Faith, we could feel the times changing.
Some there were amongst us who had known Bahá'u'lláh Himself, daughters of one of his half-brothers; one, the oldest of these, had herself from her childhood waited upon the mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and been with her when she died and had likewise been present in the Mansion, at Baha, during Bahá'u'lláh's last illness and when
He ascended. Alreadythose days of nearness were receding; when these old women passed away who would stand amongst us and with weeping eyes say t~yes, I remember seeing that in His hand Most of the adults present had known 'Abdu'l-Bahá personally for long years.
But soon that generation too will be rolled away into the past and no living memory amongst us recall Him. 'We all felt our privilege very keenly as we gazed on these things in the archives, which are at present lodged in the rooms adjoining the BTh's and the Master's tombs.
From the days when Bahá'u'lláh resided in Baha, and these old women had entered His presence and seen these very tAjs, we now looked upon with such reverence, on His own blessed head, there was already a gap. We younger ones looked upon them with envious eyes. You saw the face of the Prophet!
You waited on, listened to the voice of, and received gifts from, the King of Kings! And it was oniy day before yesterday!
Already the day before that is gone. No one is left who can touch the relics of the Rib with tremulous lips and flowing eyes and say "I saw Him!"
And yesterday is gone too. Though so many knew the beloved Master, though so many present had received their names and the names of their chidren from Him and had still in their homes many a gift of His, or a tablet, or something used by Him � yet for us who are younger is that a closed door too, now.
That was yesterday, gone for ever. The Perfect Exemplar is laid away to rest. 100 years ago He was born. These are His things, these the shoes, the fez, the robes, the watch He wore � but He is gone. And even as we perceived these things we perceived our own privileges too.
Our day too has its special sweetness, for we are still near.
Near in point of time to these three glorious figures, and very near and folded still in the intimate phase of the Cause. We enter within the Shrines; we stand close, close to the sacred resting places; we are near the Guardian; he comes to us,speaks to the friends, chants in the Holy Tombs, walks the garden paths; the pilgrims cluster behind him, ask their questions, are often alone with him day after day and have his discourse and his presence all to themselves.
And yet, in thirtyfive years, what immense changes have swept over Mt. Carmel since 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid the Rib's body to rest in
1909. The Master Himselfis now laid away beneath the floor of the adjoining shrine � but this we know is not His permanent resting place.
Two Oriental Pilgrim Housesare built in the vicinity of the Tomb, one during His days, one added by the Guardian. But these, we may well suppose, will some day give way to the requirements of a far greater inflow of pilgrims. The terraces the Master envisaged, and Himself commenced, now stretch from the Shrines to almost join the main road of the German Colony � but they are but a skeleton, constructed by Shoghi Effendi in anticipation of the mighty scheme of approach to the Rib's Sepulchre which must some day be undertaken.
On the other side of the main highway, running now to the crest of Mt. Carmel and passing behind the Shrines, are the newiy laid out gardens which surround the beautiful monuments marking the graves of the Master's Family, all built since His sister passed away in 1932, and where His mother, His brother and His wife now also rest.
Change is swiftly sweeping over this old mountain of the prophets. Since the day when Bahá'u'lláh pointed with His own hand to the spot, and instructed His beloved Son to bring the BAt's body and bury it there, events have leaped forward. We can only suppose they will go on doing so at an ever increasing tempo.
From the crown of the mountain to the German colony at its foot the lands of the Shrine now stretch, approximately 140,000 square meters, all permanently dedicated to the Báb's Resting Place and exempted from taxation by Government and Municipality alike.
Page 154So as we intimately visited the archives, held our meetings informally together, and saw what the requirements of almost two hundred people were, our minds naturally turned to the future and we envisioned the days, perhaps nearer than we realize, when thousands will be pilgrims, and the days beyond those days, hanging as yet on the dim fringes of time, when millions will be pilgrims. And our celebrations seemed infinitely near and precious, and we knew the time was not far off when others would be envying us our days as we envied those who said ~ remember when Bahá'u'lláh wore that in the Mansion" or "I remember when the Master returned with those from America. ~ On the afternoon of the 23rd the Guardian recapitulated (in the men~s meeting) the thrilling and moving history of the remains of the Mb from that black night when, following upon His martyrdom, they were thrown out on the edge of the moat of Tabriz for animals to devour and were later rescued and concealed for sixty lunar years, through the direct and unsparing vigilance of both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, till they were finally entombed by the Master himself.
For those six decades they were a heavy, one might almost say a heart-break-ing, load on their� minds.
Moved from place to place; always in the gravest danger should their whereabout become known to the enemies of the Faith; at one time their repository broken open by thieves; at another their exact place of concealment lost to the knowledge of all save Bahá'u'lláh, and a very few of His relatives, who were in exile with Him, they made the journey, secret, circuitous, over half a century in duration, from Tabriz to Haifa in security. Now, on the Centenary of the Bib's
Declaration, the Guardianannounced for the first time that a design had been made at his instruction and accepted by him for the completed structure of the Shrine, comprising a columned arcade enclosing the original building on four sides and surmounted by a lofty dome, resting on an intermediary eight-sided story. This concept was pursuant with the wishes of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í who had desired that the building should be surmounted by a dome. But not one stone of the stones hiessed by his tears and labours should ever be removed. His structure was the core, sacred and precious beyond the embellish-merits of art, and it was now to be enclosed in a shell of beauty befitting the station and glory of the bioved Martyr-Herald of our Faith, and yet revealing the original building on all sides.
This announcement, accompanied by an exhibition of the model, was made together with the glad tidings that the next and third Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Bahá'í world would be constructed, circumstances permitting, in Tihr~n on the large area of land already purchased for that purpose by the Persian friends, and that these two mighty tasks were amongst the first undertakings which must be launched upon in the course of the second Bahá'í century.
After another visit � at the hour of twilight � to the twin tombs of the Rib and the Master, the Baha'is, men and women, gathered in the hail of the Oriental Pilgrim House to hear the record of a prayer chanted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and to view the motion picture taken of Him in 1912 during His visit to America.
The majestic figure, with unutterably sweet and beautiful face and the sad and loving eyes, moved the hearts of us all.
This was followed by colored lantern slides showing views of the Bahá'í Temple in Wilmette, the friends gathered on its steps at convention time, the National Baha Headquarters, various conferences and summer school groups, and other Bahá'í prop-eWes.
Gasps of delight and enthusiasm could be heard as the believers gazed on the great white House of Worship resting on green swards, flanked by the blue waters of Lake Michigan, and surrounded by lofty trees.
On May the 24th, all the pilgrims and believers proceeded to Babji, near 'Akka, where, in the afternoon, the final meeting of our centennial celebrations was held in the shadow of Bahá'u'lláh's Tomb.
The Baha'is, gathered about the Guardian on the lawn, listened to his discourse on the progress made by the Faith and to the narrative of those trials and episodes that distinguished the lifetime of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, many of which were vivid in the memories of those present. As the sun westered into the sea, we entered the Holy Tomb.
Page 155THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 155
Green and white wove a pattern of peace and calm into the gathering dusk of the interior. The bushes and vines and tall, slender trees stood still and ethereal in the little center garden.
Only the small inner room of the Shrine, beneath the floor of which Bahá'u'lláh's remains rest, was brilliantly lighted with flickering candles, oldfashioned frosted globe chimney lamps and electricity, the nature of the outer room, with its large skylights, precluding any illumination there owing to the blackout regulations.
It was His Faith's anniversary we were celebrating. We came to Him with hearts full of gratitude and realization.
The Bib had said: CCF all that hath been exalted in the Bayin is but as a ring upon My hand, and I Myself am, verily, but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest He turneth it as He pleaseth, for whatsoever He pleaseth, and through whatsoever He picaseth." And yet the one hundred years gone by were from the declaration of His Herald's mission.
This was not really Bahá'u'lláh's anniversary; that would come in 1963. 1963 � what would His Faith have given to the world by then?
We stood under the shadow of war, in a darkness brought by war.
All the evil, all the ruin and sorrow and suffering He had cautioned us against for forty years, the godlessness, perversity and blindness He had seen waxing within men's hearts, had come to fruition. The centenary of our Cause had fallen in the midst of a world convulsion that carried on its flood waters ever greater treasures of our youth, our wealth, our optimism, our hopes away into oblivion. In the nineteen years ahead, before we again gathered for a hundredth anniversary in His Holy Tomb, what of good and ill would befall humanity? How much would the Bahá'ís accomplish during these two priceless decades that lay before them?
We had done much � and yet so little! 'Well over half a century ago Bahá'í � u'11&h had written: C(And if the friends had been doing that which they were commanded, now most of those on earth would be adorned with the robe of faith."
Somewhere in the past there had been giievous failures on our part.
Would we now take wing?Would we at last become completely, utterly Baha'is, men of the New Creation, breathing the rarified air of those mountain tops Bahá'u'lláh discovered to our eyes and whose paths He had laid down for our feet? Everything we had: There before us, strong, assured, tried in the fires of suffering and tempered to a fine point, stood our leader, our Guardian. Both we and the Cause were safe in such hands as his.
A doer to his finger tips; a man of vision, iron determination, indomitable courage; a man who never hesitated before any danger or compromised with any circumstance, however overpowering and compelling it might teem to be. In a world of halftones, of muddied values, his standard was fleckless, his eye sharp and true, his voice unfaltering.
Our treasury was full: A wealth of literature was ours, neither open to question as to authenticity nor open to misinterpretation.
Our foundation was laid by the blood of martyrs, by the spread of the Faith for a hundred years until almost every land on the planet had received some tiding of its message.
Our Administration, thanks to the tireless and persistent insistence of Shoghi Effendi, bad at last emerged from its em � bryonic state and was rapidly growing into the suitable medium it was designed to be for the expression of Bahá'í community life and the furtherance of the welfare of mankind. Youth marched under our banner. The insignificant, the obscure, the unqual � ified bad discovered, particularly during the last seven years of teaching enterprise in the New World, that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh was a golden talisman that opened doors no humble man ever dreamed he would pass through. We had begun to taste the sweetness of the power God confers on those who go forth to serve Him and had seen indeed that CCshould a man, all alone, arise in the name of Baha and put on the armor of His love, him will the Almighty cause to be victorious, though the forces of earth and heaven be arrayed against him." We had come to know that there are spiritual as well as physical laws in this world and that our Faith can launch the frailest bark into the wildest torrent and yet steer it safely to victory.
The measure of success or the measure of failure which the next nineteen years must
Page 156Miss Jeanne Bolles was hostess at a luncheon held July 15, 1944, at the Hotel Stevens, Chicago, in honor of Latin-American representatives to the All-American
B~h~'i Centenary Convention attending the July Sessions.
hold for the Cause directly, and for humanity indirectly, depends on our wills.
What do we Bahá'ís intend to do? How firmly are we going to grasp the sword of action? How daring are our hearts? Victory, like Spring, must come, but will it be our victory or that of others, who will look back with scorn and pity on us and say that such an opportunity as lay between the years 1944 and 1963 the Baha of those days let slip between their fingers!
PRESS NOTICESLondon, Sunday (R) . � Sir Ronald Storrs presided in the Alliance Hall, 'Westminster, yesterday at the opening of the centenary exhibition of the Baha religion, which has two million followers, half of whom are in Persia and eight thousand in the United States.
Sir Ronald referred to the Bahá'í doctrine of universal brotherhood and peace and noted that its teaching was that divine revelation is progressive with the development of the human race.
The celebrations will continue until next Saturday.
Haifa, Sunday. � The 100th anniversary of the day when the Mb declared his mission in Shir~z (Persia) will be commemorated here by members of the Bahá'í faith from all over the Middle East at a threeday celebration beginning tomorrow night and ending at the shrine and mansion at Baha (near Acre) an
Wednesday.The first gathering will take place at the tomb of the MI, on the slopes of Mount
Page 157THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 157
Carmel at 2 hours and 11 minutes after sunset tomorrow, the exact hour when the ]3&b declared his mission 100 years ago. After readings and chantings, the gathering will return to the nearby Oriental Pilgrims House where
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardianof the Bahá'í faith, will deliver an address. On Tuesday, there will be a ceremonial unveiling of a model of the complete shrine of the tomb.
In Persia, the occasion will be commemorated during a nine-day celebration.
The Palestine PostHaifa, Monday. � Some 200 Bahaists from Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Syria, the Lebanon and Egypt gathered here today for the begin-fling of the threeday Bahá'í centenary celebrations which will start shortly before 10 o'clock tonight.
This evening electric lights and hundreds of candles illuminated the shrine off Mountain Road on the slopes of Mount
Carmeluntil blackout time. Inside the shrines, huge floral decorations of roses and lilies covered the Persian carpets over the tombs of the B~b and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, where the gathering will take place tonight.
Led by Shoghi Effendi(the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá), who is the t~Guardian of the Cause," the Bahaists will assemble at the tomb of the Rib at the exact hour tonight when the Mb declared his mission 100 years ago. There will be readings and chantings of Bahá'í prayers and teachings followed by the reading of a centenary reView at the Oriental Pilgrims House where Shoghi Effendi will also address the gathering.
Tonight's celebrations are expected to continue until 2 or 3 o'clock tomorrow morning and will be continued in the afternoon with a solemn unveiling of the model showing the entire shrine which will be completed as soon as conditions will permit the carrying out of the elaborate construction.
Tomorrow night, a film of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (who was the son of the revelator Bahá'u'lláh) taken in America, will be shown at the Pilgrims House and there will alsb be slides showing the completed
Bahá'í House of WorshipMAY 23rd, 1944, marks the completion of a century so illimitable in its promise for the future of humanity, that neither we who have glimpsed its brilliance, nor the world which sustains the impact of its force, c~n truly claim to have grasped more than a fragment of its import. However earnestly we ponder the Bahá'í Faith, � ttrhat priceless gem of Divine Revelation enshrining the Spirit of God and incarnating His Purpose for mankind in this age,"~ we can oniy partially conceive the majestic process inaugurated by Bahá'u'lláh or our part in its unfoldment at this pivotal hour. For ours is a climax never to be repeated: the struggle of birth to project on this planet the very body of humanity, the organic and universal Form in which for untold centuries the spirit of man has sought to clothe itself. Whether we be conscious of it or not, ours is the delicate and challenging task to participate in "the unification of the whole world, the final object and the crowning glory of human evolution."
Nothing that we see, as we look back upon fifty years of Bahá'í history on this continent, is unrelated to this tremendous mission.
No preparation which our nation has undergone for leadership; no experience, suffering, doubt, or achievement through which the American people have passed; no smallest project or inconspicuous aspiration of the American Bahá'í Community; no heroic endeavor, no mighty and ceshining deeds" but have borne their own direct relation to the unfolding process of World Order and World Civilization.
CC~fl Great Republic of the West has been singled All quotations not otherwise identified are from the writings of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.
Italicized quotations are from the Divine Plan Tablets by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
out and been invested with a unique, inescapable, a weighty and most sacred responsibility."
Tonight we are met to appraise America s heritage as the citadel of universal peace. Already, through previous speakers, we have seen the planting in North America of the potent seed of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.
We have watched its rootage in faithful hearts, and seen them bestirred to remarkable activity.
We have witnessed with awe and humility the results of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í journey and ceaseless exertions. And now we come to the climax of the Master's labors, His ctclarion call" sounded in ttthose destiny-shaping Tablets" of the Divine Plan "where-in, in bold relief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted to the American Bahá'í
Community."Although we have just completed in the Seven Year Plan the preliminary stage of this vast assignment, learning through the strenuous period of its development some hint of what it means to labor for the triumph of God's Cause, yet the full significance of these words from the Guardian can oniy be guessed: "The promulgation of the Divine Plan," he wrote in 1936, "... is the key which Providence has placed in the hands of the American believers whereby to unlock the doors leading them to fulfill their unimaginably glorious Destiny."
We are too close to this unseen but all-compelling process. For seven years we have moved to its rhythm, manifested its influence, hungered for its goals, and demonstrated all unwittingly its latent power. The victories we have won, the territories of our conquest, the key cities which brighten the horizon of the Western Hemisphere, the swelling ranks of erthe heavenly armies" of
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Bahá'í House of Worship used as theme for stage decoration at performance of Chicago Ladies Grand Piano Symphony Orchestra Wednesday evening, May 24, 1944, at Orchestra Hall, Chicago. The chorus ttThe Voices of All Nations," sing the new musical composition, "The Making of the Temple." Antoinette Rich conducting.
Bahá'u'lláh � all these proclaim the confirming and irresistible energy of a Plan which enshrines, in every phrase and conception, the Divine Will for the uniting of nations in this Promised
Day.these world-creating messages began. !!Bebold the portals which Bahá'u'lláh hat/a opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain. The full measure of your sir cress is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended.
I fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your achievements."
From the first moment of their appearance, the Tablets of the Divine Plan carried a life-imparting force. Conceived by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the dark course of the first World War, from March 26th to April 11th, 1916, and from February 2nd to April 22nd, 1917, they were designed in two matchless cycles, each consisting of seven Tablets, addressed to the five regions of the Northeastern, Southern,
Central, and Westernand to the "Ae bit and Meetings," the "believers and maidservants in the U. S. and Canada."
Travel ye to the East and to the West of the world and summon the ~eo pie to the Kin gdoin of God Thus through this superhuman service the rays of peace and conciliation may illumine and enlighten all the regions and the world of humanity may find peace and composure." This was the essence of the Master's call, as He arrayed for our support the methods of victory, enumerated every far-flung goal, quickened our spirits with heavenly ambition, and revealed for our daily sustenance nine prayers of unexcelled beauty and might.
The first regenerating impulse of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í work in far-off Palestine seems to have been reflected in the Eighth Bahá'í Con
Page 160vention of 1916, although no outward sign reached this country for several months. Every session, so runs the record, carried a vision of "the new kingdom which is to appear upon the earth," while "the gales of the Holy Spirit swept the room at times like the rushing of a mighty wind." The effect of the earliest Tablets published in September, 1916, was instantaneous. Within three months reports were coming from ttsoldiers at the front," while the Ninth Convention envisioned the initial framework of teaching on a national scale.
Not until 1919, however, did the American Bahá'ís witness the complete and glor-jous panorama of the Divine Plan, released to the sessions of a Convention which 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself described as "the Convention of the Covenant." It was the signal for one of the brightest chapters of teaching history. In a few years the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh "encircled the globe, encompassing thereby the whole earth with a girdle of shining glory." "Forsaking home, kindred, friends and position," the Guardian has written, tta handful of men and women, fired with a zeal and confidence which no human agency can kindle, arose to carry out the mandate which 'Abdu'l-Bahá had issued: Martha Root, ttstar~servant~~ the "first" and "finest fruit" of the Formative Age; Hyde Dunn, ccAustra1ia~s spiritual conqueror"; and all those other "stout � hearted disciples" who hastened in the closing years of the Master's life to implant the Faith in such distant regions as Alaska, the West Indies, South America, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania.
But brilliant as were their exploits, and however great our pride in such instant response by the American Baha'is, it is a fundamental fact that the Divine Plan was to undergo "a period of incubation of well-nigh twenty years while the machinery of a divinely-appointed Administrative Order was being laboriously devised and its processes set in motion." For long, under the guidance of Shoghi Effendi, our efforts were committed to other tasks � the erection of administrative institutions and the completion of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Their bearing upon the Tablets of the Divine Plan we scarcely grasped, or that of America's world mission would be vast and demanding beyond the vision or capacity of individuals to discharge.
Yet how otherwise, save by an all-encompassing effort of collective will, save by tcutter~~ and "continuous consecration" and the harnessing of ~aI1 available resources," should we hope to accomplish the rebirth and reorganization of mankind?
The intimations of a new era in the progress of the Faith began to sound through the Guardian's messages from 193 2, when the deeds of the Dawn-Breakers first opened to our view in the stirring pages of Nabil. This book, the (cessential adjunct to (a) reconstructed teaching program," stirred latent longings soon to find release through Shoghi Effendi's pleas "to the American believers, the spiritual descendants of the heroes of God's ~ ttThe flew hour has struck," he cabled in 1935, t!calling for nationwide, systematic, sustained efforts in teaching field."
Painstakingly he prepared us. Yet who could guess, at the Convention of 1936, the whole thrilling and terrible pathway which beckoned the Faith and the world, jn the closing years of the first Bahá'í century? ~ entering outer fringes most perilous stage its existence. Opportunities (of) present hour unimaginably precious. Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination this glorious century embrace (the) light (of the) Faith of Bahá'u'lláh and establish structural basis of His
World Order."From such a summons there was no return! In that hour the American Community embarked upon the fulfillment of the Divine Plan, embodying their pledge in an initial phase, the Seven Year Plan, adopted in 1937.
It was the signal for intercontinental expansion, and for an unprecedented growth in North America destined to eclipse the achievements of forty previous years of Bahá'í history.
A Faith which, for so long a period, had been administratively confined within the boundaries of twenty-six States and
Provinces (including Hawaiiand the District of Columbia), now dared the conquest in seven years of the remaining thirty-four areas of the United States, Canada, and Alaska. With
Page 161THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 161
evermounting strength it engulfed the land, claiming by 1939 the ten virgin areas which had lacked even a single Baha'i; going on to initiate far-flung projects and campaigns; perfecting its instruments in local, regional, and national teaching committees; organizing methods of stimulus and support; and calling into the ranks of its ~~trai1breakers" a swiftly growing host of pioneers and settlers � ttveteran believers" and ceneophytes~~ c%talwart warriors" of "every class, race, age and outlook" � who contributed the decisive share to this vast enterprise.
No one who participated in the Seven Year Plan can ever forget its momentum, the peaks of confirmation, of exhilarating triumph; the taut and perplexing crises; the obstacles hurled up by depression and war; the perilous threat of ioss which was met and surmounted in the sixth year; until finally, on March 28, 1944, the cycle was crowned in glorious victory! Strenuous and rich was this experience, whose every year returns to memory endowed with a bright particular tale.
What, then, was accomplished?Statisti-. cally it is a compelling record: the conquest of thirty-four virgin States and Provinces'~ through the formation of thirty-eight
Local Spiritual Assemblies;from seventy to one hundred and thirty-six; eight times as many groups as in 1937, and three and a half tim~s the number of isolated Baha'is; with participation in the campaign by 293 pioneers and 336 members of Regional
Committees.Yet, if we estimate the Seven Year Plan alone in quantitative terms, we shall forego its profoundest goals, revealed from month to month in the surging outpour of the Guardian's words. To Shoghi Effendi ours was no ordinary teaching program. tCGod~S own Plan has been set in motion," he affirmed. "It is gathering momentum with every passing day." cc~ Whatever may befall them in the future they should, at ne time forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely-appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable To which Colorado was later added.
Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compel-ling Will Reflections such as these should steel the resolve of the entire Bahá'í community, and arouse them to rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine Charter whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá."
Tonight, we acclaim with grateful hearts the consummation of this ttcrowning crusade," the ttgreatest collective enterprise ever launched in the course of the history of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh." We have reached the first milepost in the unfoldment of America's spiritual destiny.
Around us, in this great Convention Hall, is proof of our effort. The fruits garnered in every virgin State and Province are here represented. The sessions of this All-America Convention rest, for the first momentous time, on the ~~structural basis" of Bahá'u'lláh's World Order. "The record" is "complete, the roll call filled, and the mighty task victoriously concluded." It is in hours like these that the potency of the Bahá'í Faith is unveiled to our eyes. What words can ever express our privilege, to be its supporters in the day of upbuilding?
Only seven swiftly-passing years are measure of America's devotion to the enthralling vision of the Divine Plan. In that brief space the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh has been forever anchored to our native soil. Yet, in the estimate of the Guardian, tcthe immensity of the task still to be performed staggers our fancy and inflames our' imagination."
For the course of the second century is destined to carry the American believers "beyond the W"estern Hemisphere to the uttermost ends of the earth."
With the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who has blessed our continent with tciitl primacy" and linked its fortunes to the unfolding power of His Covenant, I close: rerhe hope which 'Abdu'l-Bahá cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended yoitr efforts in America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused throughout the East and the West and the ad&eut of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five ccmtinents of the globe.
Please God, ye may achieve it."Friday, May 19, 1944 8.00 P. M. Recorded Musical Program from 7.30 P. M.
Symphony in D Minor Cesar FrancA
Chorus: CCACHIEVFD Is THE GLORIOUS WORK." From the "CREATION" Haydn
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF WORSHIPHARRY C. KINNE, President Wilmette Village Board f!The Most Important Matter Is to Found a Tern pie"
MRS. CORINNE TRUE~~The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens."
"The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom 1f thou desirest Me."
"My iove is My stronghold; he that enterest therein is safe and secure."
"Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
Page 163THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 163
CCTby heart is My Home; sanctify it for My descent."
~ have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?"
ccMake mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee."
~ rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.~~ "The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory."
BAHÁ'Í CENTENARY PROGRAMSaturday, May 20, 1944 8.00 P. M. Recorded Musical Program front 7.30 P. M.
Selections from Symphony No. S in C Minor Beethoven
"THE HOLY CITY" Adecins
SUNG BY RICHARD CROOKSWill and Testament of Bahá'u'lláh Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Writings of the Guardian By MRS. ELLA G. COOPER, MRS. EMOGENE HOAGG, ALFRED OSBORNE, SIEGFRIED SCHOPPLOCHER, ELI POWLAS, ALI-KULI KNAN, N. D.,
ESTABAN C. LEYTONPhotographs of the Will and Testament of Bahá'u'lláh and Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; Tablets and Relics from National Bahá'í Archives
Description by EnWIN W. MATTOONVoice Record of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Moving Picture Film of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Film of Holy Places in PalestineOf Tribute and Centenary Souvenir to Members of the Faith Prior to 1912
By EDNA TRUE0 My beloved friends! You are the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behooves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory. The very members of your body must bear witness to the loftiness of your purpose, the integrity of your life, the reality of your faith, and the exalted character of your devotion. For verily I say, this is the Day spoken of by God in His Book.
� The BA1~Sunday, May 21, 1944 3.30 P. M. Recorded Musical Program from 2.45 P. M.
Aria: TERVENT Is M~ LONGING"Address yourselves to the promotion and tranquility of the children of men. Bend your minds and wills to the education of the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply the dissensions that divide it may, through the power of the Most Great Name, be blotted out from its face, and all mankind become the upholders of one Order, and the inhabitants of one City. Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness s and iove.
� Bahá'u'lláhMonday, May 22, 1944 8.00 p: M. Recorded Musical Program from 7.30 P. M.
Symphony No. 4 in A Major (Italian) Mendelssohn
Selections from Symphony No. 6 in B MinorTchailzowsky
Chorus: "THE HEAVENS ARE TELLING." From the ttCREATION" Haydn
Selections from "PARSIFAL" Wiagner
THE LoRD'S PRAYER Malotte
SUNG BY JOHN CHARLES THOMASThis is May 23, the annivdrsary of the Message and Declaration of His Holiness the BTh. It is a blessed day and the dawn of manifestation, f or the appearance of the BTh was the early
Page 165THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 165
light of the true morn whereas the manifestation of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá'u'lláh, was the shining forth of the sun. Therefore it is a blessed day, the inception of the heavenly bounty, the beginning of the divine illumination.
� 'Abdu'l-Bahá 9A0 P. M.Meeting for members of the Bahá'í Faith All praise, 0 my God, be to Thee � B ahd'u'lldh Reading, ANTHONY Y. Swro 0 concourse of creation! 0 people! Construct edifices in every city in the Name of the Lord of Religion � Bahá'u'lláh The century is great and the age belongeth to His Majesty, the Merciful, the Clement
� ' Abdu'l-BaháReadings, MRS. FRED MORTON o friends of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His co-sharers and partners � 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Reading, HARLAN OBERIt is the power of God, the divine favor of Bahá'u'lláh which has drawn you together.
� ' Abdu'l-BaháReading, PAUL F.. HANEY Many a chilled heart, 0 my God, hath been set ablaze � Bahá'u'lláh
Reading, CHARLOTTE LINFOOTNow the day has arrived in which the edifice of God, the divine sanctuary, the spiritual temple, shall be erected in America! I entreat God to assist the confirmed believers in accomplishing this great service and with entire zeal to rear this mighty structure which shall be renowned throughout the world. The support of God will be with those believers in that district that they may be successful in their undertaking, for the Cause is great and great; because this is the first Mashriqu'1 � Adhk4r in that country and from it the praise of God shall ascend to the Kingdom of Mystery and the tumult of His exaltation and greetings from the whole world shall be heard!
� 'Abdu'l-Bahá 10.00 P. M.Meeting for members of the Baha Faith In Shir~z, Persia, Two Hours, Eleven Minutes After Sunset,
May 22, 1844Say: God sufliceth all things above all things � The Báb The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork
� Psalm of DavidBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven � Jesus
Readings, OLIVIA KELSEYGod is the Light of the heavens and of the cart h � M4ammad Reading, Louis G. GREGORY
Page 166Monday, May 22, 1944 (Continued) This night, this very hour will, in the days to come � The Báb 0 thou who art the first to believe in Me! � The BeTh I am the Mystic Fane which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared � The Báb I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things � The Báb Readings, ALBERT R. WINDTJST This is the anniversary of the Message and Declaration of His Holiness the Báb � 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Reading, HONOR KEMPTONPraise be to Thee, 0 my God, that Thou hast revealed Thy favors and Thy bounties
� Bahá'u'lláhReading, MARY A. MCCLENNEN This night, this very hour, will in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals. Render thanks to God for having graciously assisted you to attain your heart's desire, and for having quaffed from the sealed wine of His utterance.
� The BAtTuesday, May 23, 1944 8.00 P. M. Recorded Musical Program from 7.30 P. M.
Selections from Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Beethoven
St. John's Passion: "IT Is FULFILLED Bach
SUNG BY MARION ANDERSONThe Bahá'í Faith in America to 1912 Growth of the American Bahá'í Community
ALBERT R. WINBUST to 1944'Abdu'l-Bahá in America America and the Most Great Peace
MRS. HAROLD GAIL ROWLAND ESTALLAll men have been created to carry forward ag ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and lovingkindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Say: 0 friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him who is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which they themselves have been created.
� Bahá'u'lláhTHE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 167
BAHÁ'Í CENTENARY PROGRAMWednesday, May 24, 1944 8.00 P. M. Recorded Musical Program from 7.30 P. M.
SOUTH AMERICAN FESTIVAL MusicBahá'u'lláh's Gift to South America The Spirit of Inter-AineHean Fellowship
SR. OCTAYJO ILLESCAS MRS. EDWARD ROSCoE MATHEWS
Historical Backgrounds of American UnityPHILIP LEONARD GREEN The Bahá'í Faith in South America
Guest Speaker MRS. STUART W. FRENCH There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you.
� Bahá'u'lláhThursday, May 25, 1944 Ballroom, Hotel Stevens, Chicago 6.30 P. M.
BANQUETIN CELEBRATION OF THE COMING OF THE CAUSE OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH
TO THE WESTERN WORLD � CHICAGO, 1894Chairman Religious Foundations of World Unity
ALBERT R. WINDIJST DR. RAYMOND FRANK PIPERThe vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome e medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can ever cleanse and revive it? The Word of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far-reaching a change.
� Bahá'u'lláhThe speakers table at the Centennial Banquet, held in the Hotel Stevens, Chicago, Illinois, May 25, 1944.
BAHA CENTENARY PROGRAMThe believers of God throughout all the Republics of America, through the Divine power, must become the cause of the promotion of the heavenly teachings and the establishment of the oneness of humanity.
� 'Abdu'l-BaháThe All-America Bahá'í Centenary Program Is Conducted by the Centenary Committee of the National Sp~r~tual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 536 SHERIDAN ROAD, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS U.S.A.
Page 169Session of Thirty-sixth Annual Bahá'í Convention, May 19 to 25, 1944.
Page 170Excerpts from Words of Welcome by MR. HARRY C. KINNE, Chairman,
Wilinette Village BoardMr. Chairman, members and friends : � It is indeed a pleasure and an honor for me to address you on the opening of the meeting of your anniversary celebration, and to welcome the many guests as well as my friends and neighbors this evening Please feel w:lcorne When people ask me where is Wilmette? I tell them: "jf you want to locate 'XJilmette, just locate the Bahá'í Temple. There is where Wilmette is!"
We, in Wilmette, regard the Bahá'í Tern-pie as a great monument and a great influence for good in our immediate community
SPECIAL SESSI LATIN-AMERICANIt would, indeed, be an unpleasant task to serve as President of a Village where there are no churches One cannot serve the public without recognizihg and being grateful for the influence of these fine institutions; neither can one who so serves forget the aid and assistance rendered by the many good citizens of this community who are Baha'is.
This institution has cooperated with us in every possible way, and I am glad to appear before you to thank you all for that cooperation.
On behalf of our Board, I am glad to greet you and to wish you the continued success and influence which you so richly deserve.
ON HELD FORTHE Latin American delegates who could not get their transportation matters arranged in time to get here for the Centenary Convention were extended an invitation by the National Spiritual Assembly to attend a special centenary session held for them from July 9th to the 16th, 1944. It was an echo of the convention which vibrated that same intense spirit of unity, love and brotherhood expressed amongst all the friends, and that same profound reverence and awe felt upon seeing the majesty and beauty of the Temple and the portrait of the Mb.
Through the careful and excellent planning of the Centenary Committee and the kindness and hospitality of the friends in the Temple area, this special session was a great success.
The honored guests were: Sr. Salvador Tormo, Argentina Srta. Clara Luz Montalvo,
El SalvadorDr. Fernando Nova, Brazil The Sunday July 9th session was opened with musical selections at 12:45 p.m. in Foundation Hall in the Temple, after which there were the readings of prayers and writings in commemoration of the Martyrdom of the Mb. Then followed the showing of the portrait of the BTh, this also in Foundation Hall. After the friends were seated, the recording of the readings of the
Centenary CommemorationAt 3:30 p.m. the public meeting was held in Foundation Hall. The speaker was Mrs. Dorothy Baker, on the subject ttA Message for the Americas." Mr. Philip Sprague acted as chairman.
Immediately after the public meeting, the delegates met with the National Spiritual Assembly at the Haziratu'1-Quds.
At 6 p.m. there was a buffet supper and reception in the Temple, with invitation to the Bahá'í friends in the Temple area. At 7:45 an evening program was held in Foundation Hall.
Mr. Allen B. McDaniel acted as chairman. The Latin American representatives were extended a formal greeting and presented with the Centenary souvenir pictures of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and of the Temple. The speakers were Mrs. Corinne True, subject: "History of the Temple;" Mr. Carl Scheffler, subject: "History of the North
AmericanTHE CENTENAP ~' OF A WORLD FAITH 171
Community"; Mrs. MargeryFollowing this was the playing of the record of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í voice, the showing of the film of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America in 1912, and the colored films of the Holy Shrines and the gardens of Mt. Carmel. Explanatory comments about the Holy Shrines and the gardens were made by Miss Jeanne WAles while the film was being shown.
All addresses of the evening were translated into Spanish. After the evening meeting, the Latin American representatives and pioneers were again permitted to see the portrait of the Bib and a display of the sacred documents in the archives room.
Monday, July 10, 1944 � Pictures of the delegates were taken with the National Spiritual Assembly. In the afternoon, a meeting of the delegates with Miss Edna True, Miss
Gwenn Sholtis and Mrs.Gayle Woolson was held to review the votes made by the National Spiritual Assembly in regard to the Latin American teaching work, based on the Consultation had by the Latin American delegates and the National Spiritual Assembly at convention. This meeting was held in preparation for the meeting to be held with the National Spiritual Assembly the following day so as to avoid repetition and to give these delegates an idea of what was already taken up with the National Spiritual Assembly by the delegates who attended the convention.
At 6 p.m., the delegates were guests of the Wilmette Community at a picnic supper held on the beach.
After the supper the friends gathered together on the Lake Michigan beach sands and the Latin American friends gave informal talks about their countries and their joy and gratitude felt upon being here.
Tuesday, July 11 � ConsultationDinner guests of the Chicago Spiritual Assembly, then attended evening meeting at the Chicago Center with the Community. The delegates were each invited to speak.
Wednesday, July 12 � Consultationwas attended with the Wilmette Community in the Temple. Some Persian friends who had recently arrived in the United States also attended.
These friends had celebrated the Centenary Commemoration in India, and Dr. F. Asgharzadeh who had brought with him nine Centenary badges used at the Convention at India, gave one to each of the nine Latin American representatives present. He also told of his recent visit with the Guardian.
Thursday, July 13 � Tripto Milwaukee as guests of the Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, Whitefish
Bay and Shorewood Cornmunit�es. Thefriends were met by Mrs. Devah Ingold, Mr. Clarence Niss and son, Hamilton, at the station and taken on a sightseeing tour on their way to the lake home of Mr. and Mrs. Niss where the friends spent a large part of the day.
Later in the afternoon, all went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hautz, after which the supper given at the Milwaukee Center, in collaboration of the four neighbor communities, was attended. After the supper, the Nineteen Day Feast program was Imid, then the Latin American friends were asked to speak. About one hundred persons were present.
Friday, July 14 � This day was spent in taking care of transportation matters and getting passports ready for the return trip of the delegates.
In spite of the many transportation obstacles, the efficient handling of these problems by Edna True resulted in excellent arrangements to get the delegates comfortably off on their way to their respective countries without any delay, even to the expressed amazement of the Pan American Airways Office. The kind and helpful assistance of Mr. Mattoon was indispensable.
In the evening the delegates were dinner guests of the Evanston Community and then an informal meeting was held at the home of Miss Virginia Russell.
Mr. Carl Scheffler was requested to speak to the friends about the early days of the establishment of the Cause in North
America.American friends and pioneers with the Persian friends were luncheon guests of Miss Jeanne Bolles. In the afternoon, the Pan American Union meeting was attended.
The important contact made at this meeting was their Washington representative who asked for a report
Page 172of the Bahá'í activities in Latin America and of the Centenary Convention.
His comment was that he did not know that the Bahá'í Faith was carrying on its activities on such a large scale.
At 6 p.m. the friends were dinner guests of Mrs. Enos Barton.
Sunday, July 16 � Latin American,friends were luncheon guests of Dr. Edris Rice-Wray.
The Public meeting at the Temple was attended in the afternoon. After the meeting the friends were shown the Sacred ReLcs in the archives room.
Dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Hassan who gave a Persian dinner for Latin
American, North Americanand Persian Baha'is. Afterwards, the moving pictures taken at the Convention were shown. This beautiful
BAHÁ'Í TEMPLE FOR CENTENARTHE carved white surface of the nine-sided Bahá'í House of Worship, inscribed with symbols representing every ancient faith, brilliantly floodlighted nightly for the Centenary celebration to begin May 19, emblazons in a struggling world Bahá'u'lláh's teachngs for the unity of races, classes, nations and creeds as members gather from all parts of North and South America to honor their martyred spiiKtual hero, the Bib, who prepared the way in Persia one hundred years ago for the spread of a world faith.
Rising above the sbDre of Lake Micligan at Wilmette, north of Chicago, the first oriental dinner and the seeing of the Centenary Convention films, and the union of the three Americas and Persia represented by the attending friends was a befitting close of this historic occasion.
The Latin American delegates were deeply touched and expressed their pro{ound gratitude and appreciation for the kindness, hospitality and generosity demonstrated by the North American friends. They felt that this experience has brought about a greater spirit of unity cementing the three Americas and that their carrying back this n3w fitt and wider vision will exert great influence in their countries.
Mrs. Gayle Woolson served as interpreter and hostess representing the Nafonal Spiritual Assembly for this session.
GAYLE WooLsoNBahá'í shrine in the western world offers its own intrinsic beauty as evidence of the power which has in one century created a following in more than sixty countries, translated its sacred writings into forty-one languages, and proved that Christian, Jew, Muhammadan and nonsectarian sc!entist can be assaciated in an organic community where traditional barriers separating the peoples have been swept away.
Public meetings devoted to the principles of world unity will be held in the Temple on May 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24, the Centenary concluding with a banquet Thursday eve-fling, May 25, in the Hotel Stevens, Chicago.
BAHÁ'Í CENTENARY BANQUETTHE final meeting and was the largest number fitting climax to the of Bahá'ís ever to be so week's celebration of assembled in one room the Bahá'í Centenary in this part of the world.
was the banquet held The seven days preceding Thursday eve-fling, May had been busy with meetings twenty-fifth, in the of the convention during Grand Bahá'u'lláh of the the day and public gatherings Stevens Hotel, Chicago. in the evening. Because This banquet commemorated of the great number of the fiftieth anniversary Bahá'ís who came to Wilmette of the establishment for the Centenary � more of the Bahá'í Faith in the Western World. The gathering
Page 173THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 173
than sixteen hundred, including delegates and visitors � there was not space enough in the Foundation Hall of the House of Worship for all to gather in one group to hear and see the programs.
The large overflow had been comfortably accommodated on the audkoriun-i floor where a public-address sys-tern carried the voices of the speakers and the music to the hundreds gathered under the stately dome.
But the Grand Ballroomof the Stevens Hotel was large enough to hold all the Baha Centenary participants at one time. It was a festive and joyous occasion. The immenseness of the gold and crystal room, and the many tables of guests all happily conversing with one another were thrilling to see. One could feel the buoyant spirit borne of joy and hope which pervaded the entire atmosphere; and truly the varied races and nationalities were joined unitedly with one purpose in mind and with fealty to one great and divine Cause. The love and understanding engendered by a world-embracing Faith was pcrfectly exemplified; and those present thrillingly felt the oneness of mankind actually put into practice.
It is what can be done when people join their hearts in justice and love under the firm guidance of the principles of Bahá'u'lláh.
During the serving of dinner the soft music of a string ensemble came from the balcony of this beautifully ornamented room.
After dinner the program began with a welcoming address by Albert R. Windust of Chicago, the chairman, who brought out the importance of this celebration commemorating the fifty years since the Bahá'í Faith was first brought to the attention of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere at the Parliament of Religions of the 'World's Columbian
Exposition in Chicago.Dr. R. F. Piper of Syracuse, N. Y., the guest-speaker, was the first to address the audience.
Following Dr. Piper, Missof Washington, D. C., gave an address, "The Social Basis of 'World Unity," in which she explained the need for the application of the Bahá'í tenets as a necessity for the regeneration of human hearts and characters as the first step to a needed social change.
Ar nine-thirty a radio broadcast began with a vocal selection by Walter Olitzki of the Metropolitan
Opera Company of New Yorkof Schools for the Canal Zone, Panama. Mr. Osborne spoke for the number of delegates who came from
Latin and South AmericaHe stressed unity in diversity as being evidenced by the Bahá'ís attending the centenary in contrast to the barriers of racial and religious prejudice that are still exercised so generally in the world today. Immediately following, Dr. Fernando Nova of Baha, Brazil, spoke. It was necessary to break his address, because of the termination of radio time, by a. concluding soio, "The Lord's Prayer," by Mr. Olitzki. After this Dr. Nova resumed his address for the banquet audience.
More short talks followed; one by a nineteen-year-old Persian youth, a fourth generation Ba-hi'i; another by Miss Hilda Yen of Chungking, China, who had just recently declared her acceptance of the World Faith of
Bahá'u'lláh.To have attended this thrilling Centenary Banquet was a privilege as well as a glorious experience. It was an inspiration to the Ba-hi'is to continue relentlessly their labors of spreading and strengthening the Bahá'í Faith in the Western world.
Page 174WE ARE speaking to you from the ballroom of the Stevens Hotel. As a special broadcast, we are bringing you a portion of the program of the Bahá'í banquet which is being held here tonight. This banquet closes the weeklong convention of the Bahá'ís of the 'Western Hemisphere, and the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Bahá'í Faith. The convention and the anniversary meetings have been held in the Bahá'í Temple at Wilmette, the newiy completed house of worship, which has been acclaimed the world's most b2autiful structure and a masterpiece of architecture.
Gathered here in the banquet hail are delegates from thirty-one countries, forty-four states of our nation, and fivc provinces of Canada, from eleven republics of Central and South America, and even from the far-flung outposts of Alaska and
Hawaii.The guests assembled have just heard an address by Dr. Raymond Frank Piper, Professor of Philosophy, the University of Syracuse.
The chairman, Mr. Albert R. Windust, is one of the first Bahá'ís of Chicago and one of the group who originally conceived the idea of building a great universal house of worship here in the heart of the American continent.
Now he is about to introduce the next guest on tonight's program, so we turn our microphone over to Mr.
Albert Windust.We are very happy to be able to share with our friends of the radio audience a portion of this last evening of the moncien-tous celebration that has brought us all together from many parts of the world. During the week of our Centenary celebration, we have heard many languages spoken beneath the all-sheltering dome of the Ba-Broadcast Broadcast over station WCFL, Chicago, from~ahi'i Centenary Banquet, Hotel Stevens, May 25, h6'i Temple, but there are two languages we all understand � the language of the spirit and that of music. We greet you in both and here, to make our greeting in music heard, is Walter Olitzki, baritone of the Metropolitan Opera Company and onc of our Baha guests at this Centenary.
Mr. Olitzki sings for you, as his first number, the beautiful Aria by Handel, ttWhere Etc You 'Walk,". � and it is a tribute in song to the revitalizing influence of the prophet when he walks the earth.
Thank you, Walter Olitzki, for that beautiful interpretation.
Our next guest is a man who stands midway between north and south, our delegate from Panama, that vital link between North and South America. We thought it fitting that he should speak on this occasion for both the Americas, since, through his republic, flows the great spiritual stream of Bahá'í spirit and brotherhood, from our shores to those of our Latin-Amer-ican coworkers for the unity of all men. Mr. Alfred Osborne was educated at our own University of Chicago and is today supervisor of schools in the Canal Zone. I am very happy to present to you, Mr. Alfred E. Osborne.
INTERVIEW OFI am one of a number of delegates from Latin-America and the 'vVest Indies.
Many of us are in the United States for the first time. Two of us have come from as far south as Brazil and Chile.
In spite of extreme difficulties due to the present war conditions, we all managed somehow to get transportation, for doors miraculously opened to permit us to be present at the All-America
Bahá'í Centenary.I am sure that the other delegates from Central and South America feel the way I do. I wish it had been possible for all the believers in our countries and all the believers in the United States, in fact, all those people who have never even heard of the Bahá'í Faith to have been present during this Cen
Page 175THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 175
International group of Bahá'ís attending the Centenary Celebrations in Wilmette, May, 1944.
tenary Celebration and to have seen for themselves that a pattern of life based on unity and fellowship has actually been set up and is being practiced today by hundreds and thousands of believers throughout the world, representing various backgrounds in race, religion, nationality and culture.
We all have desired a new world in which love and justice, peace and harmony, shall prevail. There is not a single person who has not prayed and longed for the Kingdom of heaven on earth, Still we do know that the old barriers of prejudice, of race, class and creed, separate the members of the human family. The sad fact is this: that although our material civilization has brought us closer together, has reduced or removed the physical barriers of distance and place, yet the peoples of the earth have not yet learned to cooperate with one another and live in peace and harmony.
To witness, therefore, some of the events of the Centenary observance which indicate that human nature can certainly change, that new social values can be deliberately created; that in fact, the new world is already in existence in the worldwide Bahá'í family, should be tidings of great joy and hope to a world weighed down with grave social problems and faced with serious postwar adjustments. In the Bahá'í Teachings we read this state � ment: "Today the world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God." For the past week I have been living in the world of God.
In the Bahá'í Temple Isaw the people of various racial, religious and cultural backgrounds assembled to worship God and to celebrate the one hundredth Anniversary of God's new Revelation to mankind. But more than that, I saw these people actively demonstrate the cardinal principle of the Bahá'í Faith ~tthav religion is man's attitude toward God reflected in his attitude towards his fdllowman."
For here, under the dome of the Bahá'í Temple, all are equal not only in the eyes of God but also in the eyes of one another.
In the Bahá'í House of Worship there is no difference of race, no difference of color, no difference of creed, no difference of class.
There in Foundation Hallduring the Convention sessions the highest type of democracy was in evidence.
Every delegate, regardless of his education, social status, color or nationality, had the right and the privilege of contributing to the deliberations of the Convention. And each contribution was given consideration regardless of its source. Here was an assembly composed of delegates not motivated by sectional interests, not seeking the favors of their constituents, not
Page 176previously instructed as to their voting, their attitudes or their decisions; not concerned with their own locality; but delegates working for the welfare of the whole world community; interested as much in the problems of Brazil as those of the United States, of Jamaica as those of Canada; willing to alter pre-concervcd ideas in the light of consultation and majority thinking; and voting oniy for those un-nominated individuals whom they felt possessed those intellectual, moral and spiritual qualities requisite for service on the Baha
National Spiritual Assembly.I was thrilled to see the spirit of true fe11owshi~ lived and practiced during every moment of the Centenary.
Even around the dining tables under the huge tent was man attitude toward God reflected in his attitude toward his fellow man." Here were various groups speaking various languages but even between those with whom there was no communication through the spoken word, there was complete understanding though the language of the heart. One of the Latin-American delegates expressed this truth nicely when he facetiously reminded us of Bernard Shaw's expression "that the United States and England were separated by the same language," but the North and South American countries represented at the Bahá'í Centenary were united in spite of different languages.
In different localities of the world where religious and racial prejudices have been such strong barriers that it has been absolutely impossible for people to meet together in the spirit of understanding and fellowship, today under the banner of the
Bahá'í Faith the Muhammadanand Jew; the Buddhist and the Christian; the Occidental and the Oriental; the Black and the White, the rich and the poor all find their differences dissolved in the penetrating light of Bahá'u'lláh's message for this age. This Teaching creates the consciousness of the oneness of the world and proves that we are all members of the same human family, despite superficial differences in color and physiognomy.
In the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Son of the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, "The lovers of mankind, these are the superior man, of whatever nation, creed, or color they may be....
God is no respecter of persons on account of either color or race.
Inasmuch as all were created in the image of God, we must bring ourselves to realize that all embody divine possibilities."
This Teaching creates the consciousness of the essential unity of all revealed religion and shows that the Prophets are one in spirit, one in purpose and one in the source of their power.
According to this marvelous teaching each Prophet fulfills the promise given by his predecessor, enlarges the scope of truth and gives assurance that another Prophet will come at the end of the era.
One picture that stands out vividly in my mind is the enthusiastic photographing on the Temple grounds of the believers, representing various racial backgrounds.
In these photographs were the believers from Iran, France, Central and South America, China, Canada, Cuba, Hawaii, Alaska, Jamaica, Mexico and the United States.
Surely this was eloquent evidence of the unity in diversity which is one of the cardinal principles of the Bahá'í Faith.
These thousands of believers in the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, gathered together from all parts of the world, were able to conquer physical distance through the marvelous means of transportation available today. They came to the Centenary not as strangers from distant lands but as members of one loving, all-embracing Bahá'í family. And that is what it means to be a Baha.
To be a Bahá'í is to find in every distant land a home, in every stranger a friend, in every fellow human being, a true brother.
For the Bahá'í is already a citizen of the world.He believes and practices the admonition of Bahá'u'lláh, who has written: "The world is but one country and mankind its citizens."
ccy are all leaves of one tree and the fruits of one branch."
"Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this that he loves his kind."
Mr. Windust speaks: I think we have all felt this week as Mr. Osborne has stated, that we have experienced a preview, as it were, of the new world that we shall all live in some day, and which is
Page 177THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 177
today already a very tangible world populated by the Bahá'ís around the globe.
Pd like to introduce to you now some other citizens of this new Bahá'í world, citizens from its far-flung ramparts, and representing its varied races.
First, from the nerve-center of our own North America, I'd' like to introduce Miss Elsie Austin, an attractive young attorney from Washington, D. C. Miss Austin was the first Negro woman to be appointed assistant attorney general of Ohio.
She is now in Washington with the federal government and is connected with many national educational groups. Miss Austin.
INTERVIEW OFThe BábS'i Centenary has had a profound effect upon all of us. It is something to see people who represent every traditional separation come together and practice a belief.
It convinces one that the Bahá'í faith is that force which is powerful enough to make men turn from old resentments and entrenched aversions to establish together needed social patterns for new spiritual and material achievements.
Mr. Windust speaks: Now we swing down into South America, to hear from Seijor Eduardo Gonzales L6pez, our delegate from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Sefior L6pez is a graduate of Ecuador College. He has been broadcasting for the past nine months on the Quito radio. He is attending the Bahá'í Centenary and came to this country for that purpose just a few days ago. He will speak in Spanish and it will be translated.
Sefior L6pez.I should like to tell you, friend of the Americas, that which we witnessed in Wil-mette, Illinois, in the United States, during the past week, was not just a spectacle of a large group of people coming together from all over the western hemisphere � not simply a convention � not just the celebration of the Bahá'í centenary � it was much more. What we witnessed during that centenary celebration was the fruit, the first harvest, of the seed sown by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in North America. This seed was cultivated by the North American Baha'is, and then borne by the spiritual wind to the South American continent.
This seed was sown on good soil and is now bearing fruit. It can be clearly seen that because of the meeting at this centenary celebration of the two Americas in real brotherhood and fellowship, that the seed was not sown in vain.
The North American Bahá'ísare fortunate indeed in being the means by which this work has been accomplished � and the means by which the southern hemisphere will become illuminated.
To the North American Baha'is, therefore, is the glory of the first harvest, but in the future it will be for all the Americas, both North and South, and all will be joined in the fulfillment of that prophetic utterance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, that "the standard of peace and brotherhood will be raised in the
Americas."Mr. Windust speaks: Again from South America, and deep in that continent, we bring you our delegate from Baha, Brazil, who is Dr. Fernando Nova. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Nova is the city physician of Baha. He has just arrived in this country to attend the Bahá'í convention and will remain here for three months for medical research.
Dr. Nova.I think this Bahá'í Convention has been a powerful spectacle.
I wish many people could have had the opportunity to see what it has been my privilege to see.
They would surely be attracted to these teachings. I have seen a demonstration of faith which has been an inspiration, and which will be an inspiration to the people of Brazil when they hear about it. It will bring more clearly an understanding of brotherhood and peace to the people of Brazil. I have just arrived from Baha, Brazil, and yet because of the friendliness and fellowship of the people at the convention, I feel a nearness, a closeness
Page 178Group of Bahá'ís in the armed forces attending the American Centenary Celebrations, May, 1944, held at the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois.
to the North Americans.I intend to remain among you for about three months and I hope to become better acquainted with you.
Ordinarily it takes several weeks to get into this country because of all the necessary government regulations, but by the grace of God the way was opened up to me and I came in three days and was able to witness this great demonstration of brotherhood on the shores of Lake
Michigan in North America.Greetings to all the North Americans from a South American brother.
Mr. W/indust speaks: Here with us, too, is a young man who is not a delegate but a guest at our celebration. From faraway Tihr~n, in fdn, nine of these Persian youths, all Baha'is, recently came to America to study in our colleges. Eight of them have been with us this past week, and I want you to meet now,
Firi~z Kazem-Zad~. Althoughonly nineteen, Firiiz is a fourth-generation Bahá'í and comes from the land where the Bahá'í revelation was first proclaimed.
I want you to meet FirxzI have visited many countries of Europe and Asia, and in all those countries I have been among the Baha'is, and I saw a very definite difference between those Bahá'í communities and the people who surrounded them.
The main difference was this � that the Bahá'í community was entirely free of the prejudices that existed all around it. They brought together all nation&, races, and classes of people. They established a pattern of the New World Order, the only pattern which can work, and which I saw in action in this most glorious convention.
I saw all these delegates gathered from so many places, working in perfect unity as the parts of one organism; the administrative organism which is destined to change the face of the Americas and in the years to come, of the world.
Radio broadcast ended with Dr. Nova's interview because of termination of the halfhour radio time.
Page 179THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 179
Mr. W/indnst speaks: From another faraway land, we have had as our guest, Miss Hilda Yen, of Chungking, China.
Miss Yen represented China at the League of Nations in 1935 and 1937.
She is an aviatrix, and, after her experience in the battle of Hongkong and her escape to Free China, she flew to this country to lecture on how to win universal peace. She is a brand new Bahá'í and I am sure we would all like to hear her impressions of this Centenary celebration. Miss Yen.
INTERVIEW OFFive years ago I was in the United States travelling and lecturing on China, on world federal government and on world peace. I was at that time flying the plane "The Spirit of New China," and on one of my trips I crashed. Upbn recovering from this accident I had a realization that the first life I had lived (before the accident) had been for China. But what I think of now as my second life I dedicated to the service of God and of all mankind. Since then I have been in China again and was in the battle of Hong Kong. I escaped from there to "Free China," and flew over to this country last year.
Since coming to your country again I have found a faith, a religion in action, that will bring into reality the oneness of mankind and all the good things men are entitled to. I have found, at last, a group of sincere people who actually practice what they preach and do not just pay lip service to the brotherhood of man.
I find that I agree with all of their teachings and have just recently embraced this faith.
1883, December 10 � A letter on "The Báb and Their Prophet" published in the New York Sun.
1893, September 23 � Referenceto Bahá'u'lláh in Address by Dr. Jessup in the Parliament of Religions,
Columbian1894, Green Acre founded by Sarah J. Farmer, Eliot, Maine, as a universal platform for the discussion of religions.
1898, Mrs. Phoebe Hearst's party of pilgrims visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akka.
1903, A petition was addressed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá signed by all American Bahá'ís requesting authority to construct a House of Worship.
1903, June 7 � 'Abdu'l-BaháA's Tablet was revealed to the American Baha'is, through the Chicago Assembly, stating that the time had come to construct a Bahá'í Temple in America.
1904, A compilation ofwas prepared and published by the Board of Counsel of New York.
1907, November 26 � The first Bahá'í Convention convened in Chicago.
1908, April 9 � Chicago Assemblypurchased the first lots of the plot of land chosen for the House of Worship at Wilmette, Illinois.
19081909 � The Bahá'í Publishing1909, Bahá'í Temple Unity, corporate body representing the American Bahá'ís in the construction of the Temple, was incorporated in Illinois.
1910, March 21 � The first number of Bahá'í News was published in Chicago.
This bulletin later became Star of the West, then The Bahá'í Magazine, and is now World Order.
1912, April 11 � 'Abdu'l-Bahá1921, May 19, 20, 21 � Race Amity Conferences were inaugurated by Mrs. Agnes Parsons in Washington, D. C., under the direction of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Page 180ttThe Centenary of the Bahá'í Faith." View of Bahá'ís gathered in the Temple Auditorium 8:00 P.M. Monday, May 22, 1944, after the seats in the Temple Foundation Hall were completely filled. A public address system reproduced the program for this overflow audience.
1921, November 28 � Ascension1924, December � The first number of Bahá'í News Letter, later
Bahá'íBahá'í Office was established by the National Spiritual Assembly at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine.
1926, The Bahá'í Year Book, Volume One, was published.
Later volumes were entitledSpiritual Assembly adopted its Declaration of Trust.
1927, The first session of a Baha School was conducted on the Bosch property, Geyserville,
California.Indenture of Trust executed by Bahá'í Temple Unity transferring the Temple property to trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly was recorded in Cook County,
Illinois.of Trust executed by Green Acre Fellowship transferring the Green Acre propzrty to trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly was recorded in York County, Maine.
1930, May 9 � The NationalSpiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada: Palestine Branch, was established as a religious society in
Palestine.1931, May 1 � The superstructure of the Bahá'í House of Worship was completed.
Page 181THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 1931, The first session of a Bahá'í School was conducted on the Eggleston property, Davison,
Michigan.of Trust was executed by Roy C. Wilhelm transferring property in West Englewood, New Jersey, to trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly for the construction of a Memorial commemorating the American visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
1935, September 27 � TheIndenture of Trust executed by Shoghi Effendi transferring the house at Maiden, Massachusetts, bequeathed to him by Maria P. 'Wilson, to trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly, was recorded in Middlesex County,
Massachusetts.Indenture of Trust executed by John and Louise Bosch transferring the property used by the Geyserville Bahá'í School to trustees for the benefit of the
NationalAssembly was recorded in Sonoma County, California.
1936, July 1 � Appointmentof first Inter-America Committee by the National Spiritual AssemNy and the beginning of organized and coordinated effort to establish the Faith in the Republics of Central and South America.
1939, October 1 � NationalBahá'í Office established at 536 Sheridan Road, Wil-mette, Illinois.
1939, October 30 � The Indentureof Trust executed by Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews transferring the property used by the International Bahá'í
School at Pine Valleynear Colorado Springs, was recorded in El Paso County, Colorado.
1943, January 8 � The exterior ornamentation and circular steps of the House of Worship were completed.
1944, March 28 � Completionof Teaching plan to establish an Assembly in every State and Province of North
America.IT WAS a May evening in Shir~z. Through the dusk, by two's and three's, at intervals, men were coming; unobtrusively, they went through the door of a house and joined the throng of persons inside. They were silent, too moved for speech; they had come here from all over Persia, in secret, at the risk, perhaps, of their lives (in a short time, some of their fellows were to be killed by mobs in Persian streets).
They had come here to share in the joy of this night.
One hundred years ago, less half an hour, in an upper room of the House next door, the youthful Mb had declared His mission. Then, only two persons on the planet knew of His Faith.
Tonight its CentenaryVoices that had been raised in prayer were stilled.
And now the men, who included 90 Convention delegates and the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, poured rose water on their hands. Silently, they took off their shoes and stepped into the courtyard of the sacred House next door.
They circumambulated the House; through the shadows, they heard the chanting of the Visitation Tablet, that begins, "The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self rest upon Thee.
They performed the pilgrimage rites set forth in the
Tablet of Pilgrimage(Lawb-i-Uaii). Then they climbed the stairway to the Threshold of the Room where, one hundred years ago tonight, the Bib's disclosure had been received by His first disciple; where a message destined for the whole human race had blazed out before one man, leaving him dazzled and as if he had lost his mind. Here in the
Declaration Chamber, Jinib-i-Varqihad spread out a precious carpet, the Guardian's gift.
At the exact moment when the hundredThe room in Shir4z in which the Báb declared His Mission in 1844, on May 22; on the evening of this same day, one hundred years later, the Delegates to the Annual Baha Convention, with Other Believers, visited this Sacred and Historic Spot.
years were completed � that is, at two hours and eleven minutes after sunset � the members of the National Spiritual Assembly on behalf of the Guardian, and all the delegates, one after the other, knelt down and kissed the Threshold.
Then a portion of the Guardian's new letter, beginning, ccGreeting and glory rest upon I-us Herald, the Peerless One," and (tO Holy night, upon thee of all praises be the best and most glorious!"
was chanted, and afterward, very humbly and prayerfully, and bowing low, the men took leave of the sacred House, returned next door, and till dawn they listened to the chanting of prayers, the recitation of Bahá'í odes, and readings from Bahá'í history and from the new Centenary letter of the Guardian. Then as it grew light they went away, by two's and three's, to their appointed homes.
The Bahá'í Centenary celebrations of Persia were set in motion by a detailed letter
Page 183THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 183
from the Guardian, dated Qudrat 18, year 100, to the National Spiritual Assembly. The NSA, however, did not at the time risk the distribution of this letter. Everywhere, the annual election of Convention delegates was held as usual, and the list of delegates reported to the National Spiritual Assembly. Only then did each delegate receive confidential instructions from the National body, telling him to proceed to Shir~z on the appointed date, and to keep his destination a secret even from his immediate family. For it was thoroughly understood that any rumor of the projected celebrations at ShirAz might prevent their being held at all.
This excerpt from the Guardian's instructions was included with the communication to the delegates: That the lunar date of the Declaration was no longer to be observed, but the solar; that is, the evening of May 22 (which in the year 60 fell on the evening preceding the 5th of JamAdiyu'1 � Avval and tip to now had been so observed in the East; the lunar year, as is known, contains only 354 days, and in the course of a few years differs considerably from the solar). That the festivals should continue for one full week, and coincide with the National Convention.
That the delegates were to meet in the holy city of Thir~z, to be vigilant and cautious, and to gather in all humility at the sacred Threshold, observing the pilgrimage procedure and commemorating the exact moment of the Declaration.
The Guardian likewise directed that they should read the first siirih of the Qayy6m-1-Asm6.', revealed by the Báb in the presence of Mull4 ~usayn on that long ago night.
That every member of the National Assembly should be present on his behalf, as this would rejoice his heart. That although the convening of such a gathering at the sacred House seemed most duff cult at the time, nevertheless it was an essential obligation.
That no newspaper notices or telegraphic communications referring to the event should be permitted.
That if the Convention could not meet in ShirAz a neighboring spot should be designated but that the presence of the delegates at the sacred House on the Declaration evening was an absolute necessity.
That all participants should behave in such a way as not to excite the suspicions of the authorities or the violence of the masses � for otherwise the enemies of the Faith would initiate plots and disturbances and frustrate this purpose.
The Guardian's directions stressed the heavy responsibility of the National Spiritual Assembly and the exalted character of the Festival, and warned the friends repeatedly of the danger, and of the need for courage and caution.
And so Persia celebrated the birth of the new Faith.
The weeklong festival was proclaimed all over the country, to Central Assemblies, Local Assemblies, groups, and isolated believers.
Not a man, woman or child was left out. Everywhere the new date, the evening of May 22, went into effect, for this is "the inception of the Badi' calendar, and the opening of the first century of the Bahá'í era, and the commencement of the manifestation of the Promised One of all sacred Scripture, and the Birth of the Center of the Covenant of the
AbhA Beauty, His Holinessdate of the Centenary celebration was: the day of '1dM, the day of Kalimit, of the month of 'Azamat, of the year V~v, of the 6th VThid, of the first Kull-i-Shay'.
Paradoxically, while the Bahá'ís of Persia lack printed books � the publication of Bahá'í books being forbidden by the Persian Government � and the Bahá'ís of the West are rich in these, nevertheless the Persian Bahá'ís are, for language reasons, momentarily the sole possessors of wonderful texts such as the Odes of Bahá'u'lláh, and writings of the Guardian such as the Centenary account made especially for them, and other treasured material which, when time permits, will be available around the world. Again, while the Bahá'ís of other countries read the Teachings in one language, the Persian iBahá'ís must read in two � Persian and Arabic.
Where abstruse texts such as the writings of the Bib are concerned average communities must enlist the aid of Persian Bahá'í scholars, of which fortunately there are many. We find, for example, that in the town of Khurram-Shahr the noted teacher Tar~zu'L1ih Sarnandari postponed his departure to assist the friends there in rehearsing the difficult texts.
Page 184CCTO plunge in the sea of Divine utterance and make the soui ascend to the worlds of the spirit," the NSA had written the Bahá'ís of Persia, was the purpose of their
Centenary Festival. Thereality, not the outer form, of their gatherings, was what counted. When, for example, it proved unwise to convene one large gathering in some locality, several meetings were held there simultaneously.
Everything was conducted quietly and with dignity; no telegrams or greeting-cards were exchanged; during the Centenary period, work was as usual abstained from on two days, that of the Declaration of the BTh, and the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, on which latter day the festivals were discontinued and befitting commemorations held.
Only competent and carefully-rehearsed readers and singers were used on the programs; in laying down this requirement as to perfection of delivery, the NSA had explained, "for this increases joy and spirituality, whereas the lack of it causes in the hearer weariness and dejection." The NSA likewise directed that two days in the series were to be given over to and managed by the Bahá'í Youth.
A mimeographed program of impressive size (36 pages) was sent out by the National Spiritual Assembly all over Persia.
This contained some of the actual texts to be used during the celebrations.
They included: nine prayers of the B&b; excerpts from the Bib's Tablet to Muhammad ShAh, revealed at MThii; the first chapter of the BTh's Commentary on the S&ih of Joseph
(Qayyiimu'1-AsmA') ;excerpts from the Persian Bay~n; two Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh on the Declaration of the BTh; the Tablet Ay tiitiyAn-i-Hind-i-jin; the Tablet "0 nightingales of God"; Odes of Bahá'u'lláh; The Master's Tablet directing that only the Declaration of the Mb, nor His own Birth, be celebrated; excerpts from the Guardian's Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh and from
The Unfoldment of WorldCivilization, both translated into Persian (respectively on the station of the Bib, and the unity of the human race); Nabil's account of the Declaration; the song AbhA'iyin bishArat.
In addition to these texts the programs featured others, including the prayers of the Guardian, the Tablet of Carmel, poems by Bahá'í poets, and appropriate speeches.
For a closeup of many hundreds of gatherings held that week in Persia, here are a few typical details from reports sent in to the NSA by Central Assemblies all over the country: In Shiriz, two women and ten men planned the Festival.
Fearing that the Bahá'ís might be attacked should they meet in one place � that their concerts, chants and general air of rejoicing would cause an outcry � they arranged for the friends to meet simultaneously in large private homes throughout the city. In crowded sections, so as not to arouse attention, group singing and concerts were replaced by violin and vocal soios. Children, youth and adults participated in the programs, and in spite of the great Bahá'í crowds, there was no trouble from the public. The pilgrimage to the sacred House, described above, was fol � lowed by the annual Convention, which met from 'Azamat 6 to 15 and elected these men to the National Spiritual
Assembly:Afnin, and his wife were especially active in contributing to the success of the celebrations. Hosts in the selected homes defrayed all expenses involved. A final reception, attended oniy by the Local Spiritual Assembly, its committee members and their wives, and the Convention delegates, and given by Fadlu'llAh Hakim-J~n, numbered more than 300 guests.
In Rasht the children, pupils of the f a-mous character-building classes, played a prominent role.
A little girl of five, Rawshan RAfat, pupil of the first class in character-building, recited a poem; a seven year old boy, Muhammad-Rich KhAvari addressed the large gathering on The Behavior of the Bahá'í Child; a boy of eight, R~ihu'11Ah Nabili, spoke on The Abandonment of Prejudice and Fanaticism; a boy of nine, Shams-i-Din Fad&'i, spoke on the Declara-don of the Báb; another child described the death of H~ji SulaymAn KhAn another
Page 185THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 185
Views of the Bahá'í Delegates to the Centenary Convention, taken in the Ha~iratu'1-Quds of Shir~z May, 1944.
Page 186The tiny members of the first and second CMracter-Building classes, wearing a special uniform, sang a chant of the Guardian's.
The youth of Rasht were hosts on two nights, arranging every detail of the program themselves. Some took part in the program, some greeted the guests, others were ushers, others served the refreshments. They had set up the speakers' table between two large drawing-rooms, and had been lavish with flowers, costly furnishings, artistic Light-effects.
They chanted prayers and Tablets, served fruits, sweets, salted nuts, tea; had a girls' choir, a violin recital, and the radio. They sang Bahá'í songs to specially written music (not the popular tunes sometimes adopted).
The girls were active contributors; a girl speaker, Mu'aziz SamadAni, spoke on the deeds of Bahá'í youth, in particular MullA Ijusayn, from the dawn of Bahá'í history.
At an adult meeting, a woman speaker T6M KMnum SamadAni, was much applauded for her address on noted Bahá'í women.
Women were also prominent in 'Tdq. (The point is stressed because, up to nine years prior to the Centenary, the women of Persia still wore the veil.) Here Kh4num Nim-T~ij and KMnum QA'im-Maq~mi entertained at their homes and KMnum JhtisMm-ZAdih at the local Haziratu'1-Quds.
On the night of Bahá'u'lláh's Ascension the friends met at the lidme of RiThan-giz KhThum MuhAjirin, remaining in prayer until 4:30 in the morning. Here as elsewhere, the friends rejoiced that there was no trouble from the public.
In Burdjird, however, an Assembly member met with difficulties which seemed to presage trouble for the Faith; for caution's sake, the celebrations were temporarily discontinued on the second night, but were resumed as the rumors against Bahá'í activities subsided.
DuriTh included in its celebrations a daylong picnic, and the recitation of the poems of TAhirili,
Varqi, and CentenaryKhurram-Shahr could meet oniy at night, because of the intense heat. In Shahmirz~d and Damghin, the public was reported surprised and impressed by the Festival; in contrast to the past, when they rose up and protested against every meeting of Baha'is, they now began to investigate the Faith. In AMdAn, where the friends are chiefly day laborers and small wage-earners, they gathered hightly in two meeting places, and eighteen of the believers financed the celebrations. NonBahá'ís were invited to be present, and the public began to appreciate the greatness of the Faith and the unity of the believers.
Sangsar presented a breakfast and Luncheon on the Declaration Day to a large number of the friends, and children from the Character-Building classes put on an educational play. Community leaders, municipal and government authorities, leading merchants, were much impressed by these activities; a special day was arranged for them, on which they heard talks on the Centenary, attended a play given by the children and expressed their appreciation.
In a Persian garden hung with electric lights, its avenues carpeted with precious rugs, the Bahá'ís of HamadAn celebrated as guests of BahA'-i-Din 'Ali-Zidih. The speakers' platform was decorated with sacred portraits; over the gathering was hung the Greatest Name, and directly below it a large, electrically-lit sign in which was cut this verse: "Awake for H~shidar hath now revealed His Cause; Jerusalem and Mecca are bowing toward Shiriz." The guests, some of whom were Muslims, were welcomed with rose-water and other perfumes. With many watching from neighboring rooftops, the Festival opened at the exact moment when the hundred years reached its end, when the large audience rose and listened with deep emotion as the recorded voice of the Master filled the garden.
On succeeding days other believers opened their homes to the crowds of celebrants. The sixth of these festivals, on 'Azamat 11, was held at the home of M1isi Khayy~m, where courtyard and balcony were decorated with Portraits and lights, with rugs and silken drapes; among the guests on this occasion were three high-ranking American officers, who had expressed interest in the Festival; they were accompanied by two interpreters, one of whom was a Baha'i. The
Page 187The ninety-one Persian Bahá'í Delegates who were present at the Centennial of the Faith, celebrated in Shiniz in conjunction with the Annual Convention, May, 1944.
program was translated for them, and they were given two copies in English of a Tablet (the LAhAy).
Another of the meetings, at the home of Habibu'11Th IttiMdi-yyih, was attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim guests, and on this occasion, too, neighbors watched from the rooftops.
The ninth meeting, put on by the youth, was especially effective because it was held at the Haziratu'1-Quds, where for some time owing to local disturbances the friends had not been able to meet. The believers were so pleased with the decorations used by the youth that five persons purchased some of these, such as the branched lighting-fix-tures and the portrait frames of inlaid work, for the permanent use of the building. The Bahá'í library of Sadr-i-Sudiir was officially opened and dedicated on this occasion.
The weeklong Festivalmade a great impact on the public all over Persia, inspired the friends and brought them close to their fellows in seventy-seven other countries of the globe. Cables and other communications added to their joy; these came from the Guardian of the Faith, and from 'Ir~q, the United States and Canada, India, Egypt and the Sudan, Australia and New Zealand, Bahrayn, a group of Persian students in the United States; later an a letter from
Fir6z KAzim-Z~dih, Bahá'íPersian student at Stanford University, describing the Centenary Celebrations which he attended at Wil-mette, also arrived and was officially circulated.
Prior to the Festival, the Bahá'ís of India obtained permission from their Government for fifty Persian Bahá'ís to be present at their Centenary; the fifty were selected, and prepared to leave, but unfortunately their visas arrived too late for them to make the journey.
In brilliant drawing-rooms and auditoriums, in cool gardens, with lights and flowers, tapestries and handwoven rugs, with songs, chants, addresses, recitations from Bahá'í history, with fragrant tea in wasp-waisted glasses, candies, saffron-colored rice dishes � the great holiday crowds of Bahá'ís throughout Persia celebrated the first hundred years of their Faith.
Page 188It was a memorable spring. It meant that whole planet opening to their message. And their religion, once driven out of Persia and so, welcoming one another, they poured out almost obliterated, had won the victory. The rose-water in the Persiap way; a few months Bahá'ís could see now that they had no way later, some were as generously to pour out to go but forward; they could see the their blood.
BAHÁ'Í CENTENARY CELEBRATIONSTHE Guardian of the Faith sent a cable to the British Convention of 1943, urging deliberation upon ttprompt effectual meas ures befitting celebration
May 1944prepare outstanding events forty-five year history
Faith British Isles."A committee comprising Mr. Baha'i, Mary Basil Hall, Miss Pinchon and Mrs. Slade, worked throughout the year and produced a small book entitled c~The Centenary of a 'World Faith." The war time publishing difficulties were all surmounted, and the task done.
Planning and carrying out a befitting celebration of the Centenary was a much more complicated matter, involving constant consultation, trial and adjustment to what was possible in war time.
The result was a magnificent success, and the Guardian himself said it was the outstanding event of the Faith in these islands since the Master's presence here in 191213. The major occasions were in the capital, but celebrations were held by local Bahá'í communities as well. In addition to corresponding members from Bournemouth, Bradford, Manchester and Torquay, the committee responsible for the celebrations was composed of Mr. St. Barbe Baker, David Hofman, Mrs. Hyett, Miss Isenthal, Mrs. Stevens. The brunt of the work inevitably fell on the London members, and all the friends there worked hard and enthusiastically.
For some months prior to the Centenary date, a publicity agent, engaged by the N.S.A., had been at work, and occasional references to the Faith were seen in newspapers and magazines. As the spring of 1944 unfolded, posters, strictly conforming in size and number to war time regulations, appeared in and about London.
The centenary was listed as one of the coming public functions.
It was important to have some person of eminence to open the celebrations, and we were very happy indeed when Sir Ronald Storrs consented to do so. His qualifications for such a duty are outstanding (he mentions them in his introductory remarks), and the Guardian requested that his appreciation of Sir Ronald's ~~nobIe courageous act," should be conveyed to him.
The main feature of the week's celebrations was an exhibition, open every day, and the scene of some interesting evening functions. In addition a public meeting was held at Denison House, and the regular occasions of the annual Convention took place at the Bahá'í
Centre.The exhibition was housed in Alliance Hall, at the very heart of 'Westminster.
Five minutes walking would have brought one to the Houses of Parliament, 'Whitehall, or in another direction, Buckingham Palace. The Hall was long and well proportioned; panelled in oak and well lit. A raised dais at one end formed a platform for speakers. Behind it was a large map of the world. From many points coloured streamers radiated to side panels, on which were pinned the telegrams and messages from Bahá'í centres around the globe. There was a large display of Bahá'í literature, one interesting exhibit being copies of Dr. Esslemont's book
Page 189THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 189
ceBah~~u~1Uh and the New Era" in thirty-three languages.
Sayings of Bahá'u'lláh on human unity and world peace, were presented side by side with the most up to date statements by the world's leaders.
The lower end of the hail was occupied by exhibits personal to the Founders of the Faith.
A robe worn by Bahá'u'lláh; a robe of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's; a ring presented by Him to Lord Lamington and by Lady Lamington to the Bahá'í community.
There were large photographs of the Master; an original and beautiful specimen of the work of the famed calligraphist Mishkin; photographs of the
Temple; of Dr. Essle-mont;of occasions during the Master's visits to England.
Many people visited the exhibition, and a great deal of literature was taken away. The main items were packed and sent to other centres for use in local exhibitions.
The programme follows:at Alliance Hall, Palmer Street, S.W/. 1, by Sir Ronald Storm, K.C.M.G., LL.D., L.C.C. Exhibition open till 9:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 21STHouse, Vauxhall Bridge Road, SOW. 1; at 6:30 p.m. Doors open 6:00 p.m.
In the Chair: Mary Basil Hall.Speakers: W. Tudor Pole, Shaw Desmond, Hannen Swatter, Dr. Harold Moody and Bahá'í speakers.
Exhibition open 11:00 � 6:00 p.m.Exhibition open ii :00 � 9:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Lecture. C!PALESTIN13~~ by Richard St. Barbe Baker, illustrated with lantern slides.
THURSDAY, MAY 25THExhibition open 11:00 � 9:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Lecture. !!BEAUTY
ANDExhibition open 11:00 � 9:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. V!THE SONG
OF HEAVEN"� Readings from Bahá'í Scriptures, with music. Programme arranged by David Hofman.
SATURDAY, MAY 27THExhibition open 11:00 � 2:00 p.m. 7:00 fi.m. CTHE DAWN OF THE NEW AGE" � A dramatisation of Bahá'í History.
AHA'i CENTENARYB~ Sm. RONALD STORKS, K.C.M.G., LL.D., L.C.C. THE following are extracts from the speech made by Sir Ronald Storrs, who opened the Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition at the Alliance Hall, Palmer Street, 'Westminster, London, SW. 1, on Saturday afternoon, May 20: cdt is a high honour for an Anglican Englishman to have been chosen to open the Centenary of a World Faith," said Sir Ronald, and claimed three qualifications: "I am an M.A. of the same university, Cambridge, and a scholar of the same college, Pembroke, as Edward Browne, who was not only the finest Persian scholar of the age but the best-loved foreigner in Iran and throughout the Bahá'í world; secondly, because I had the honour of Abbas Effendi's friendship from 1909 until his death; thirdly, I am the latest from that Front � of Haifa, 'Akka, Bazhd&d, Tihr~n, Isphahan and ShirAz." Sir Ronald
Page 190Sir Ronald Storrs opening the Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition in London, Alliance Hall, Westminster, May 20th, 1944.
then went on to tell dramatically and poignantly the story of the Báb, the centenary of whose declaration was being celebrated. CCWhy is 1944 the Centenary of this Faith? Because 100 years ago, all but two days, a young merchant of ShirAz, Sayyid 'Au-Muhammad, not yet 25 years old, declared to one follower that he was the bearer of a new message to mankind.
He described himself as the Bib, meaning gate, or door, of this dispensation.
His followers soon multiplied, but lie spent most of his life in captivity, until in 1 8 50 he was condemned, like Christ, Socrates and other religious innovators, to death.
His execution was marked by a startling portent, which is thus recorded in a contemporary Persian tTll'
Narrative':"An iron nail was hammered into the middle of the staircase of the very ccli wherein they were imprisoned, and two ropes were hung down. By one rope the Mb was suspended and by the other rope Ak~ Mu-harnmad-'Ali, both being firmly bound in such wise that the head of that young man was on the Mb's breast. The surrounding housetops billowed with teeming crowds. A regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files. The first file fired; then the second file, and then the third file discharged voi-leys. From the fire of these volleys a mighty smoke was produced. When the smoke cleared away they saw that young man standing and the Mb seated by the side of his amanuensis, Ak~ Sayyid Husayn, in the very cell from the staircase of which they had suspended them. The bullets had merely cut the ropes.
To neither one of them had the slightest injury resulted.
ttAkA J4n Beg, of Khamsa, colonel of the bodyguard advanced; and they again bound the Rib together with that young man to the same nail. The Mb uttered certain words which those few who knew Persian under
Page 191THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 191
Centenary Exhibition held in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, 1944, showing exterior view of shop window on one of the main streets.
Page 192Exhibition in Alliance Hall, London, May 2027, 1944, arranged by the Bahá'ís of the British Isles as part of their Centenary Celebrations.
stood, while the rest heard but the sound of his voice. The colonel of the regiment appeared in person. Suddenly he gave orders to fire. At this volley the bullets produced such an effect that the breasts of the victims were riddled, and their limbs, but not their faces, which were but little marred."
Speaking of his personal experiences and contact with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Sir Ronald said: "My first connection with the Bahá'í Faith dates from the beginning of this century, when it was my fortune and honour to become the Arabic pupil of Edward Browne.
C!MY first glimpse of Abbas Effendi was in the summer of 1909, when I drove round the Bay of Acre in an Arab cab, visited him in the barracks and marvelled at his serenity and cheerfulness after 42 years of exile and imprisonment. I kept touch with him through my confidential agent, Husain Bey Ruhi, son of a Tabriz martyr, and the tPersian Mystic' of my book !OT lent ations'
"After the Young Turkwas released. He visited Egypt in 1913, when I had the honour of looking after him, and of presenting him to Lord Kitchener, who was deeply impressed by his personality � as who could fail to be? Then war cut him off from us and it might have gone hard with him in Haifa but for the indirect interposition of His Majesty's Government.
ttWhen, in his famous victory drive to the North, Allenby captured Haifa, he detached me from Jerusalem to organise the British Administration there. On the evening of my arrival I visited my revered friend. I found him sitting in spotless white. He placed at my disposal the training and talents of his community, and I appointed one or two to positions of trust, which they still continue to deserve. Later, he visited me in Jerusalem, and was held in great esteem and respect by the High Commissioner, Lord Samuel.
In Egypt he presented me with aTHE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 193
Interior view of Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition held in Bradford, England, 1944.
Dr. Esslemont's photograph appears in the upper foreground.
Page 194Bahá'í Centenary Exhibition, Alliance Hall, London, England, May 20th to 27th, 1944.
(Note large photograph of Dr. Esslemont, the Scottish Baha'i, whose book ttBahA'u'11Th and the New Era" has been translated into more than forty languages.)
beautiful specimen of writing by the celebrated Bahá'í calligraphist, Mislikin-Qalam, and with his own Persian pen box; in Palestine with an exquisite little Bokkara rug from the tomb of the B45: all three, alas, destroyed by fire in Cyprus. When, on November 29, 1921, he was buried, 10,000 men, women and children, of many varying races and creeds, walked in the funeral procession up Mount Carmel, to lay his body in the exquisite cypress-avenued shrine.
"Telegrams reached HaifaMr. Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, desired the High Commissioner for Palestine to convey to the Bahá'í Community on behalf of His Majesty's Government their sympathy and condolence on the death of Sir 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas, K.B.E., and Field Marshal Lord Allenby telegraphed likewise from Egypt.
"With 'Abbas Effendi thet~J have not lost contact with the Bahá'í world, and I hope I never shall. Recently I had the honour of receiving at the British Legation in TihrAn, a deputation of the Bahá'í Community, headed by Samimi, the respected Chief Munshi of the Legation, and Varga, President of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Later I was received by the Council at a tea, so sumptuous that the remembrance adds a sting to my British Ration Card. My diary of April 5, 1943, at Shir~z, tells me: tAfter luncheon, off to visit the House of the Bib, leaving the car for the narrow winding streets, and shown over by Faziullali Benana and the curator. A small but perfect courtyard, with a little blue tiled, eight feet square tank, six large red goldfish, a tiny orange tree and runner carpets round the sides, and a narrow deep well. Above, His bed and His sitting rooms (for which our hosts took off their shoes), and on the second floor the room in which in 1844 He declared His mission, to a solitary disciple.'
"What can 1 say more?THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 195
Some of the Friends who attended the British Annual Bahá'í Convention held in London, May, 1944.
the great Dr. Jowett, of Balliol, wrote: CThis is the greatest light the world has seen since Christ, but it is too great and too close for the world to appreciate its full import.' Already over many parts of the globe there
PUBLIC MEETING ATare Bahá'ís actively, honourably, peaceably employed.
'tMay this auspicious Centenary prove pro. pitiou~ also for the early restoration of world peace.~~ DENISON HOUSE, ROAD, LONDON,
ON MAY 23, 194423, 1844, being the actual day on which the Báb declared His mission) a public meeting was held at Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, S.W.1. Mrs. Basil Hall, daughter of Lady Blomfield, with whom 'Abdu'l-Bahá stayed when he visited London in 1912, was the chairman at this historic meeting, which she opened with these words: ttj the name of the Bahá'ís I bid you a very sincere welcome. We meet at a time when the revival of religion is needed.
Nearly all the physical means for uniting mankind already existing: transport, radio, international organisation, the project of the universal auxiliary language and the fact that nations are interdependent is accepted, oniy one thing is lacking: the will of the nations to unite, and that can only come by the power of the holy spirit, and it is by a new outpouring of this mighty power that we give you glad tidings today. Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed that religion is one and not many and that the truth of religion is progressively revealed to mankind through the ages by the manifestations of God � the purpose being
Page 196to cQmbine men together in spirit and in social unity, and this can oniy come about by universal love and understanding of the search after truth through constructive discussion which will abolish all prejudice and superstition, because truth is one and no part of truth can counteract another, although there are as many aspects of truth as there are minds to perceive them.
~CWe believe that rivalry among religions is the negation of religion itself and wholly alien to the divine purpose and hostile to the design of God. These false rivalries have arisen mainly through ignorance, but partly through lust for power and claims to the monopoly of grace and through intolerance with regard to superimposed doctrines. The inward truth of religion is one but the various forms of worship express the differing natures of men. Variety is in harmony with nature. In a ucautiful garden you do not see only roses or lilies, you see many kinds of flowers and trees and that is what makes the garden beautiful. It is oniy the weeds of prejudice and superstition that must be rooted out. They cause contempt and hatred, and the oniy good and wholesome kind of rivalry there could be is a contest to remove these barriers and a race towards wider unities. There are many signs of this today and we rejoice in these signs.
The Bahá'í faith is not merely one of many sects and many churches, it is the unifying force. Unity and not uniformity is our motto. Our faith is eminently reasonable and practical. There is nothing vague in the programme. To become a Bahá'í you don't only not have to renounce your former faith, you must not renounce it. Your own religion becomes more real and profound when you realise its majestic continuity with all other faiths. The search after truth is one of our main principles.
No one is asked to believe anything blindly. By your presence here today you have proved yourselves seekers after the truth.
It is difficult to grasp its magnitude at first, but we hope what you hear today will interest you profoundly. Now I am going to call on other speakers who will give you the tradition of this wonderful religion.~~ The other speakers at this meeting, which aimed at presenting an outline of the Bahá'í Faith and the views of one or two eminent personalities who have contacted it on what the Bahá'í teachings have to off?r the world, were: W. Tudor Pole, Shaw Desmond,
Hannen Swaffer, Sir WilliamHornell, the Rev. Walter Winn, and Dr. Harold Moody.
The Bahá'í speakers were: Hasan Baha'i, David Hofman,
Norman Smith, an AmericanBahá'í over here with the United States Army and who was in London during the Centenary celebrations, and Miss Vivian Isenthal, who read some messages sent to the meeting.
Hasan Bahá'í gave the following account of the life and mission of the Bib, which is reprinted in full since this day commemorated the declaration of the Bib: "This week all over the world the Bahá'ís are celebrating the Centenary of the Declaration of the Bib. Who was the Báb and what were His claims?
Very briefly, the BTh was a young merchant who declared to a seeker after truth, on the eve of May 23, 1844, that He was the promised one awaited by the world of Islam and that He had come to herald the advent of a still mightier revelation. He had only six years of ministry, of which four years were spent in prison, and in July, 1850, he was shot. That is the life of the Báb in very bare outline.
CCLCt us now see something more of Him in the different periods of His life. First of all, when He was a child, we have the testimony of His old tutor to the extraordinary powers that this child of seven possessed. This is not a matter of rumour or legend, there is the testimony of the man who was His tutor and who in later years followed and defended His cause. He was very bright, intelligent, kind and considerate, and one day this tutor despaired of having anything to impart to this very intelligent child and took Him to His uncle, who was His guardian, and told him that twith all my learning I have nothing to impart to this child.'
"Next we see Him on the evening of May 23, 1844.A young man of 24, in search of the promised Deliverer, arrived at the gates of $hirAz, the famous city in South Persia, and was met by the BTh, who invited him to His house.
This invitation was given with such grace and courtesy that he could not
Page 197THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 197
but accePt it and there in His own house the Báb declared to this seeker that He was the one whom he was seeking. He produced proofs, and in the words of the speaker who said: ~ sat spellbound by His utterance, f or-getful of time. I was blinded by the dazzling splendour of this revelation excitement, joy, awe and wonder stirred the depths of my soul the universe seemed but as a handful of dust in my grasp.
"At last the Báb arose, and in a voice that thrilled His amazed guest, declared: tThis night, this very hour, will in the days to come be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals.
Do thou render thanks to God for having graciously assisted thee to attain thine heart's desire, and for having quaffed from the sealed wine of His utterance.
Well is it with them that attain thereunto.'"Seventeen others came of their own accord, met the BTh, accepted Him, and to them He gave the name of the Letters of the Living. They were the first ministers of His faith and He sent them out to teach and to spread the glad tidings. Here are a few extracts from the farewell address He gave theni: C~4~ beloved friends, you are the bearers of the name of God in this day You are witnesses of the Dawn of the promised Day of God Purge your hearts of worldly desires and let angelic virtues be your adorning. The days when idle worship was deemed sufficient are ended.
The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity can ascend unto the throne of the Most High Beseech the Lord, your God, that no earthly entanglements, no wordly affections may tarnish the purity or embitter the sweetness of the grace that flows through you.
I am preparing you for the advent of a mightyScatter throughout the length and breadth of this land, and with steadfast feet and sanctified hearts prepare the way for His coming.'
"They went out and practically all of them gave up their lives in the path of the new cause.
tcNext we see Him under arrest, confined to the house of His uncle, and then we see Him in prison in the mountains of North'West st Persia, under the charge of a very rough warden, noted for his brutality; but such was His charm that this same warden opened the prison doors to all visitors.
And so they took Him to the castle of Chihriq, and there again the warden of that castle, notorious for his rough methods, yielded to the charm of his prisoner.
"Finally, they decided to put an end to His life.Persecution was raging all over the land; 10,000 suffered martyrdom. They brought Him to Tabriz, and with a faithful follower He was shot by 750 rifles, but when the smoke cleared, there was no sign of the Bib.
He was sitting in a chamber close by, finishing a conversation that had been rudely interrupted earlier in the day. He was led out again. The first regiment refused to fire again. A second regiment was called, and this time the Báb was killed.
Although the Báb was killed, although nearly all of His Letters of the Living had suffered martyrdom and 10,000 had died for this cause, and although it seemed that its enemies had succeeded in extinguishing the Light of the Báb, neverthekss the cause lived. Now we will hear the rest of what happened."
Mr. David Hofrnan then gave an able presentation of the life and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. "The reason why the cause of the Báb flourished," he said, ttwas that it came from God and could not be extinguished."
Speaking of the application of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh to the needs of this day, he said: "The very first thing which Bahá'u'lláh says to mankind today is this: law and order must first be established, then civilization can follow. Bahá'u'lláh's plan for world reconstruction starts with the human being.
A firm foundation can only come thrAugh faith, through religion. Wherever the power of religion has failed in the past, society has decayed. Therefore Bahá'u'lláh shows mankind how to restore himself to a knowledge of why he is here, and where he is going." Mr. Hofman concluded his talk with these words: cdt is on the foundation of oneness that the Bahá'í faith raises a structure of unity; a world parliament, to be elected by the nations of the world; a supreme tribunal; an international auxiliary language; a world economic system, functioning for the benefit of the whole human
Page 198race: these are the outward signs of world order, the delineation of that Kingdom of God promised to mankind from the beginning of its history: 'The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens!'
It is on that spiritual truth that the Bahá'í faith offers to mankind today a plan for world reconstruction."
The Rev. Walter Winn spoke next and said that he was surprised to have been invited to take part in the iteeting as he was a nonconformist, with more than a tendency to spiritualism and that he had grave doubts about himself and therefore about the universe at large, "but on the other hand," he said, "I claim to be a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and I am here because I believe that my Master would tell me to come, and to say to you that the principles contained in your great and wonderful literature are the principles of Christianity. As I read the account of that most remarkable founder of yours, I said, my mind for sixty years has been traveling in this direction. I have read your books and there isn't a bit of difference between your conclusions and the actual teaching of Jesus Christ, and consequently we can all be one. There need be no division. There is nothing cranky about those books There is nothing cranky in the brain of that great man who founded this wonderful movement. Get on with it. Don't rely upon big temples and big buildings.
Circulate your ideas.They will saturate and some morning they will become dynamite, and the sooner the better.
was preaching in a Yorkshire town one morning and again in the evening. After the morning service I took a walk and I heard some people singing ~tAII hail the power." I said that's me, so in I went.
I sang 4ith sincerity.I enjoyed the service, but after it there was a communion service, so I kept my seat. One of the deacons asked me to leave, because he had no evidence that I was one of the elect.
I got up and walked out.And I will take good care not to walk back. It is that division that is the curse of the world today.
You will not get rid of war, or the terrible inequalities of life until the divisions among religions are cured."
Mr. Winn recounted some amusing anecdotes and brought laughter into a meeting which by its very nature was solemn. 'Abdu'l-Bahá loved laughter and happiness, and this certainly seemed to draw the audience and the speakers closer together.
Mr. Tudor Pole's moving and intimate memoirs of 'Abdu'l-Bahá followed, and are given here as fully as possible. He said: "I don't propose to tell you the story &f the life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, you can find his history set forth in the excellent books available at the Bahá'í Centres. But as very few present have had the great privilege of meeting and talking with tAbdu'1-Bah4 you may be interested in one or two reminiscences with regard to this wonderful teacher who did not wish to accept the title of tmaster' or tprophet' but who simply desired to be known as a servant of the Father. I remember in the spring of 1919, when the Great War that was to end all wars was over, visiting CAbd 'lB ii' at his home near Haifa, on the slopes of Mount Carmel, when I tried to congratulate him, in the belief that a final Armageddon had been fought and won, he told me that the war just ended had sown the seeds for a far greater struggle than anything that had yet happened in human history and that I should live to witness this catastrophic event. 'Abdu'l-Bahá added that so far as the material issues were concerned, aerial warfare would prove the decisive factor. You may imagine my consternation.
I reminded 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í of what he had said in Paris in March, 1913, which I will read to you: tDo you know in what Day you are living? Do you realize in what Dispensation you are alive? Have you not heard in the Holy Scriptures that at the consummation of the ages there shall appear a Day which is the Sun of all the past Days? This is the Day in which the Lord of Hosts has come down from heaven on the clouds of glory! This is the Day in which the inhabitants of all the world shall enter under the shelter of the Word of God.
This is the Day whose real sovereign is HisThis is the Day when the East and the West shall embrace each other like unto two lovers. This is the Day in which war and contention shall be forgotten. This is the Day in which nations and governments will enter into an eternal bond of amity and conciliation.
ThisTHE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 199
Century is the fulfilment of the Promised Century.'
~ asked how he could reconcile this statement with the reference to the coming of a still greater Armageddon than the Great War of 1914 to 1918. This was his reply: CNO word spoken by my father or by myself has been spoken in vain.'
It is clear, therefore, that this great seer foresaw not only the tribulations through which we are now passing, but also the coming of the Most Great Peace before the present century ends. Out of the darkness of our grave afflictions will be born the light of the new Day. This Day is even now approaching.
~'Let me tell you the story that is well known but is worth repeating in regard to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í presence at the time of the British attack upon Haifa in the summer of 1918. Some of us in Allenby's army were much alarmed by the information brought out of Haifa by our Intelligence agents, to the effect that the enemy intended to crucify 'Abdu'l-Bahá and his family before evacuating the city.
It transpired that the Bahá'ís in Haifa gathered round their great leader and many of them encamped in the gardens round his house. One of those present told me later that during this period of extreme tension 'Abdu'1-I3ahi used these words: ~A11 is well, the power of the spirit is with us. Not a single shell from the British guns will fall within the city, which will be taken undamaged within 48 hours and its people. freed.'
As a matter of fact, owing to the incorrect sighting of the guns, the British shells were falling harmlessly into the bay, and the prophecy just referred to was fulfilled.
"I remember an occasion when 'Abdu'l-Bahá took me to see the 'Akka prison house where he and his father and the family had been confined for nearly 40 years, and how he spoke about the Lord's Prayer in these words: tRemember there is prophecy as well as petition in the great prayer which
His Holiness the Christgave to the world. The prophecies in the Lord's Prayer will be hal-filled, and perhaps more quickly than is realised; His kingdom shall come, His will shall be done on earth; daily bread shall be given to all; sins shall be forgiven and as each one turns to seek the kingdom that is within, so shall all good things be added to him.'
tLay the foundation of your affection,' said 'Abdu'l-Bahá, C~i~ the very centre of your spiritual being, at the very heart of your consciousness, and let it not be shaken by adverse winds.'
cDo not expect to find peace without until you have attained that inward peace which is built on the rock of Faith, and so cannot be shaken by outer tribulations.'
cTbe Bahá'í teaching does not ask a man to desert the Faith of his forefathers but to live it, in unity and fellowship with all men irrespective of their colour, caste or creed, for we are all leaves of one tree.'
�Ere long,' says Bahá'u'lláh, God will sail His Ark upon thee.'
"Have we each begun to prepare a harbour within, in order to receive the Ark of the Covenant of Peace, so that the New Day may be manifested through us?"
Shaw Desmond expressed his pleasure at being on a platform that was ttessentially international" and made a witty and eloquent speech, of which there is, unfortunately, no available record.
Hannen Swaffer also made a characteristic speech, in which he recalled receiving a visit from Mrs. Hanford Ford, in whom he met a very gracious and charming lady who was obviously breathing the spirit of what I heard for the first time when I heard of the Bahá'í Faith.
I have since read and found out a lot about your community and I know it to be one of those great movements which are destined to build the magnificent future out of the unhappy past.
~cIt is time," he said, ttthat there was brought into being a great world movement to merge differences in religion and to share the building up of the future."
Mr. Swaffer recounted picturesquely the story of the gods who, as a jest, broke up the diamond of truth and scattered it over the earth and then, watching the earth's inhabitants from their celestial heights, laughed to see how they eagerly ran to gather up the fragments, each one thinking that his fragment was the whole truth.
Sir William Hornell spoke very briefly and with a touching humility, warmth and sincerity.
He recalled Martha Root's"In the students' union of the University I arranged for a meeting, to which there came Chinese students and some members of the University staff. Martha Root gave her mes � sage. She is dead; the University is a looted shell, but the memory of that evening abides. I have many friends among the Bahá'ís and what has impressed me most is their kindness to one another and also to those outside their pale, and it is that spirit which I think is going to contribute a great deal to the success of the movement. I venture in all humility to warn the Bahá'ís not to be carried away by the slogans and clich6s of the market place. I have read in one of your books that 'Abdu'l-Bahá concluded his message to the congress of races in London with these words: CCLCt brotherhood be felt and seen among you and carry ye its quickening power throughout the world."
"To this I would say tAmen'."Dr. Harold Moody brought greetings from the League of Coloured Peoples and his own personal greetings.
He spoke oniy a few words, but made a deep impression on the audience by the calm dignity of his personality and the beautiful quality of his voice. He said, ttj feel you are engaged upon a great movement.
You have triumphed over many difficulties and I am convinced you are determined to go on to still greater triumphs and I want to say God bless and prosper you. Out of this revelation something is going to come for the benefit of humanity.
It rests upon every one of us to play our part effectively. You want not only to have a great faith but to practice that faith day by day in your lives In the world that is dawning no one is too young and no one too old to heal the breaches which divide mankind."
Norman Smith spoke with moving simplicity of Bahá'u'lláh's claim to nothing but the hearts of mankind. 'tAddressing the Kings and rulers of the earth, Bahá'u'lláh told them He had not come to wrest their kingdoms from them. tMy mission is to capture and keep the hearts of men'."
He spoke of the Bahá'ís meeting in the Bahá'í Temple on the shores of Lake Michigan on this day, and concluded by saying: "It is the Bahá'í message to make everyone happy and enjoy the fruits of the spiritual conquest of the hearts and minds of all mankind, so that all men might live as brothers and the kingdom of God shall be established on earth."
Miss Isenthal closed the meeting with reading a message from Sir John Martin Harvey (who had originally accepted to be present at the meeting), sent very shortly before his death.
MESSAGESFrom J. D. BERESFORD (author) Although I am not a member of your Assembly, I am glad to have this opportunity of saying how profoundly I am in agreement with your fundamental aim of the unification of mankind, and with your general beliefs as to the means by which alone that unity can be obtained.
I would subscribe more particularly to those statemenzs made by Bahá'u'lláh in ccHidden Words," in which he stresses the need for simplicity in our faith.
For I believe that in their preoccupation with ritual and dogma, the churches' neglect to teach such first principles is responsible for much of presentday materialism and its disastrous results in the present world war.
I send you, therefore, my most sincere good wishes for the enlargement of your Assembly and the spread of your faith, and assure you that many of us have similar aims, and are ready to add our endeavours to yours, whether by practice, speaking or writing.
From DAME SYBIL THORNDIKEMay I send greetings to the Bahá'ís at their Centenary.
I have read your booklet with much interest and the faith expressed in it is so close to the faith I hold and mast Christians hold, that I feel sure the good you are doing is great. I wish I could be at the meeting but evenings are my working hours when in the theatre which is almost always.
Good wishes for good cooperation.I trust the centenary of your Bahá'í community will be celebrated in May with a renewed faith in the spiritual unity of all mankind and the "glory that shall be revealed in us." I am sure it has given inspira-.
Page 201THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 201
don to many in the past 100 years and that it continues to do so now when once again we blast and mutilate and destroy, for it reaches beneath the evil that men do � to the imperishable common things of our deeper life wherein there is the reconciliation of divinity and the source of ultimate harmony.
These days of tragedy are also times of endurance, fortitude and courage.
They are times of great opportunity to bear witness still to those principles upon which true peace alone can find foundation.
I trust, therefore, there will be the notes of hope and confidence during your celebration and that in the next century your Movement will continue to serve the truest needs of our common humanity and bring nearer that World Commonwealth which is the destiny of the race.
From the late SIR JOHN MARTIN HARVEY, D.Litt.
You honour me with a request that I should add my small brick to the exalted edifice of the Bahá'í teaching.
Its happy creed so passionately urged and so convincingly stated is an inspiration to all who work and who, in the words of Kipling, have real-ised the. significance of t~No one shall work for money and no one shall work for fame, but all for the joy of the working."
I would like to add my conviction to your teaching that Crabsolute equality is a chimera" which, socially, is entirely impracticable. It has become a slogan to many workers, reliance upon which will oniy lead to a cruel disillusionment.
The oniy ctequa1~ ity" is that which any man may attain by being prominent in his work. It has been truly said that "every man can do some one thing better than any other man." So let our ambition be, no matter how humble our work may appear, to be of the aristocracy of work. And if to "work is to pray" may not this noble ambition to be among the elect of the workers of the world, bring us by steps to the dream of your great Teacher of a Great Universal Peace, against which if any government among you take up arms to destroy that peace, "the whole human race," he tells, "shall resolve with every power at its disposal to destroy."
From SIR ERNEST BENNETT,The Bahá'í Faith claims to offer a fresh presentation of Christ's teaching � sincere and unequivocal.
Its three million adherents may, with God's help, form a great spiritual nucleus for the furtherance of a Faith which will definitely refuse to acqUiesce in war, just as our Christian forefathers refused to acquiesce in slavery, and at length triumphed over a great evil.
From DR. HEWLETT JOHNSON,I read with interest the social programme of your movement demonstrating the best education for everyone, equal status for men and women and the like and also your encouragement of scientific research and emphasis on the need for a World Commonwealth, together with the 6neness of mankind.
I am in complete agreement with those aims and wish you well in the pursuit of them.
From HANNEN SWAnKERBahá'ís have to offer to Mankind something without which there can be no New World, no social order based on equality, no idealism in which all can share. It is a religion which opposes that sectarianism which nar-tows faith into prejudice and keeps knowledge within the limits of what does not deny Orthodoxy.
Creeds are the enemy of all who can see beyond them. Rituals arc as repetitionary as a praying-wheel.
Both cause divisions where there should be brotherhood.
In the New World of our dreams there can be no differences of caste or creed or colour. Because it not oniy proclaims that selfevident truth but shows how one can live up to it, the Bahá'í faith shines like a torch amid darkness, and is a signpost pointing out, in a wilderness of delusion and deceit, a path that, however rocky, leads to a land of bounty that all may share, a land of hope in which all will one day find happiness.
Page 202rrl IHIS night," the Bib had declared, when He revealed His Mission, "this very hour will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals." In accordance with this promise, in spite of the conflagration that was raging in the world, various countries had made preparations to befittingly celebrate this Festival.
India was one of these.Burma, unfortunately, was still cut off from us. Due instructions were received from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith a year in advance, regarding the nature and scope of the proposed celebrations.
His secretary wrote on June 22, 1943 to theof India: t~ � The Guardian feels that the N.S.A. must from now on coordinate its plans and set in motion its preparations for the centenary celebrations.
The believers must hold gatherings f or the Ba-h~'is at exactly 2 hours and 11 minutes after sunset on May 22nd 1944 as this is the exact time when the B&b declared His mission to Mull& Husayn.
They should also a?range to hold public gatherings on May 23rd and enlist the support of prominent friends of the Faith as speakers, together with Bahá'í speakers, on that occasion. They should, as far as possible, hold festive gatherings at this time, give banquets � at which friends of the Cause and believers are present, obtain as much space in the press of India as possible, and in general devise ways and means of making this a glorious and memorable celebration.
He would also like to have the N.S.A. publish in conjunction with the centenary, a pamphlet giving a brief outline of the Faith's origin and teachings and major events in India since its establishment there, and a detailed outline of the accomplishments of the Indian Bahá'í community, its early history, its development, etc."
The National SpiritualAssembly followed the lines indicated by the Guardian. Two committees were appointed: one in charge of the celebrations, the other to compile the history of the Bahá'í Cause in India during the first century. They commenced their task in right earnest.
Delhi was first fixed as the site of the national celebrations. A bulletin was issued in August 1943.
It touched briefly on the origin of the Faith, gave a summary of its aims and teachings from the Guardian's writings, referred to the forthcoming celebrations projected at the capital during May 1944, and requested those who were in sympathy with its objects and intended to participate in the forthcoming proceedings, to give prior notice to the committee in charge of the arrangements.
The second bulletin was issued in March 1944.Delhi had been considered unsuitable due to its excessive heat during May and Bombay fixed as the venue of the national celebrations.
This bulletin referred to the sacrifice in human life on which the foundation of the Cause had been laid, gave a summary of the Teachings from the Guardian's pen, and concluded with an invitation to the well-wishers of humanity to join the forthcoming celebrations in Bombay from the 24th to the 26th of May. A supplement contained tributes to the Faith from eminent non-BaM'is.
Five thousand invitations were printed and sent out on the eve of the celebrations. One thousand posters were displayed all over Bombay. Streamers were suspended over busy Street intersections.
Five thousand handbills were distributed. A colored slide was displayed in each of these nine leading cinemas for the week ending with the conclusion of the celebrations: Metro, Ero~, Empire, Majestic, Roxy, Palace, Broadway, Strand, and Andlieri.
Fifteen thousand copies of "The World Religion" by Shoghi Effendi and five thousand copies of "Religion of the Future" by K. T. Shad were printed and distributed free.
Page 203Bahá'í Administrative Headquarters, Karachi, India, illuminated for the Centenary, M4 2426, 1944.
Five hundred copies of a pamphlet in memory of the services in India of Miss Martha Root, international Bahá'í teacher, were published and distributed free.
One thousand copies of the first section, covering a period of 5 0 years, of the history of the first Bahá'í century in India were printed and distributed free at the celebrations and later in response to the inquiries arising from th& Press articles.
So wide was the publicity that the India News Parade, a News Film Department of the Government of India, considered the function important enough to be filmed. A copy of the film was sent to the Guardian. It shows Mr. Nagindas Master, the Mayor of Bombay, ascending the platform and in � augurating the local lectures at Bombay at the Sundarabai Hall on the 23rd May; Mr. Taunton inaugurating the national celebrations at the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall on the 24th, several of the speakers at the public addresses on the three days and inmates of the Institution for the
Blind the Baha'is.The blest evening, the eve prior to the 23rd of May 1944, arrived.
The members of the National Spiritual Assembly, the delegates to the Convention, and a large number of friends had gathered in Bombay to celebrate the Centenary of the Faith whose impact upon society had shaken it to its very foundations.
The Bombay Bahá'í hail where the friends met was tastefully decorated and brilliantly lighted.
Those that had assembled bowed their heads in gratitude at the bounty of having been guided to the path of Truth.
They greeted and congratulated each other and in a spirit of reverent humility and pious devotion ushered in that momentous, that fateful hour when, 2 hours and 11 minutes after sunset, a hundred years ago, the gates of Heaven had once again
Page 204204 THE BAH opened and mankind been assured that though he had forgotten his God, God had not forsaken him.
The packed hail was hushed.An atmosphere of consecration and a thankfulness too deep for words prevailed. In a spirit of prayer the following program was carried out: 1. A prayer by the B~b
2. Sdrih-i-Mulkon the Declaration of the BTh 5. A talk on the significance of this Day, by N. Akhtar � Khawari 6. Closing Prayer.
The meeting lasted unto well past the middle of the night and even at that late hour the friends were loth to leave it. PROGRAMME FOR 24TH MAY, 1944 C. J. HALL, 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M.
WELCOME ADDRESSPROGRAMME FOR 25TH MAY, 1944 C. J. HALL, 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. PRESIDENT: 'Pr. B. S.
MOONJE � Principal of Dharma.PROGRAMME FOR 26TH MAY, 1944 C. J. HALL, 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. PRESIDENT: ~MR. G.
L. MEHTAMR. H. M. MANJI (~ Those marked with an asterisk are non-BaM'is) At 6.00 P.M., on the 24th May, Mr. I. H. Taunton, I.C.S., Adviser to the Government of Bombay, Department of Education, the inaugurator of the meeting, Mrs. S. Fozdar, the President of the Reception Committee, and the speakers mounted the platform. This was one of the scenes of our celebrations that was "shot" by the Government Film Department that of itself had volunteered to film our proceedings.
Mrs. S. Fozdar in welcoming the audience on the inauguration day, dwelt on the importance of the occasion, the early persecutions of the followers of the Faith and its spread throughout the world. She told how, in the past, religion had renewed itself whenever the world had become corrupt, and how history had repeated itself in this age. She touched upon the Principles of the Cause and wound up with a passionate appeal to the hearers to respond to Bahá'u'lláh's Message.
Two thousand printed copies of this address were distributed. A microphone had been provided to carry the voice of the speakers to the farthest corners of the large hail. Representatives of the leading papers were present.
Mr. Taunton, in inaugurating the lectures, said that he had been interested in the Bahá'í teachings by his mother thirty years ago when she had placed a Bahá'í book in
Page 205THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 205
Delegates and Friends attending the Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma held at Bombay, May 28, 1944, following the Centenary Celebrations.
his hand and asked him to study it. After getting acquainted with the Bahá'í tenets he had felt confident that nations could come to a peaceful settlement by the plan of Bahá'u'lláh.
Who could deny, he said, the need f or Universal Brotherhood, Universal Peace, Universal Education, The Oneness of Mankind,
A Universal LanguageIn order to understand the importance of this Message man must free his mind from prejudices.
He was followed by Mr. K. T. Shah, the wellknown economist who, in spite of indifferent health had been kind enough to attend, and who, speaking on "The Economic Foundations of Peace," said "Nations must be federated under a world federal system ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its vast resources." ~tSuch a plan," said Prof. Shah, "had been visualised by Bahá'u'lláh, the centenary of whose faith they were celebrating."
Mr. Koreshi, who followed, spoke on the ccNeed of a Universal Religion."
After a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Taunton, and he and the speakers were garlanded, the meeting terminated. Light refreshments were served to the audience and pamphlets distributed among them.
The need for a common religion which would be free from all the defects and blemishes of the existing religions, and which should appeal to the intellects and. hearts of all was emphasised by Dr. B. S. Moonje, presiding over the second day session of the Bahá'í Centenary celebrations held at the Sir Cowasji Jehangir Hall, Bombay, on Thursday, the 25th May, 1944. The proper description of what was now termed religion, he added, was "dharma."
Amplifying the meaning of the word "dharma," Dr. Moonje said it was that which brought about fixation and maintenance of the universe and which led to visible pros
Page 2060 Guests attending the Bahá'í Centenary Celebrations, Karachi, India, May 23rd, 1944.
Page 207perity and ultimate absolution into the original spirit of all creations on earth.
Dr. Moonje further stated that he had heard of the Bahá'í Faith many years ago when he was attending an All Faiths' Conference.
He had great admiration for the Bahá'í teachings, and had felt very happy to be given the opportunity to participate in the celebrations.
He asserted that in a country like India torn by dissension and prejudices the Bahá'í Message of unity and nonviolence was very essential, and he assured the audience that India needed the Baha teachings so badly that he on his part was quite prepared to protect it even with the sword if necessary.
Prof. T. Reuben, speaking on 'tReligion of the Future," said that the world was now passing through cruel and inhuman times, the tragedy moving on with dreary futilities. It was not a question of East or 'West, he said.
Historical religions had not been able to achieve unity among mankind, and if humanity intended to get rid of this wicked and brutal age, what was necessary, he added, was a faith based on the firm bedrock of universal unity. Religion should be spiritual and not ritual.
The Bahá'í Faith, said Mr. Abbas Au Butt, recognised the unity of God and His power, while condemning all superstitions. He traced the growth and spread of the Faith in the Far
East and West.Dr. K. K. Bhargava, speaking on t'Science and Religion," said that science had ignored things like human emotions and spirit.
Mr. G. L. Melita, President, Indian Merchants' Chamber, presided over the lectures delivered on the 26th May at the Sir C. J. Hall.
Mr. Manu Subedar, B.A., B.Sc., M.L.A. (Central), leading economist and Bar-at-Law, spoke on "Prelude to World Society."
Prof. Pritam Singli was the next spea1.~er. His subject was "Economics of the Bahá'í Faith."
Diwan Bahadur RamaswamiSastri, Ex � Sessions Judge, Madras, followed him.
His subject which he explained in detail was CC1 di and the Bahá'í Cause."
On the 26th of May, in another section of the city addresses in the vernacular were being given for the benefit of those who did not know English. In the Marwari Vidalaya Hall, four Bahá'ís spoke in Urdu, Hindi and Gujarati.
Dr. Moonje who had consented to preside was unable to come; so Mr. A. Butt took the chair.
Pamphlets in the vernaculars were distributed among the audience after the lectures.
In the evening of the 24th of May, Mrs. S. Fozdar spoke through the Bombay radio. The appreciation of the Baha community of India is gratefully tendered to the Director of Broadcasting who despite the short notice and the current war restrictions on radio talks allowed our message to be broadcast.
On the night of the 29th and 30th of May, dinners were given to a few from among the wellknown citizens of Bombay as rationing reguhtions restricted the number of guests at any party to fifty.
On the first night Mrs. S. Fozdar spoke to the guests; Mr. Abdullali Fadil on the second. Mr.
Shuaib Koreshi, Ministerof Bhopal State, who was present on the first night, thanked the Baha and expressed his appreciation for their ceaseless labors in strengthening the foundations of world unity.
On the night of the 29th and the afternoon of the 3 0th the friends, too, were entertained at a repast. The Guardian had cabled �300 as his "contribution
Centenary Celebrationsand banquet for delegates friends gathered commemorate historic occasion~~ and the friends from different places seated at the same table rendered thanks to RaM' � u'll&h for having granted them the dual bounty of material and spiritual food.
The inmates of two Homes for the Blind were fed on the 25th and 26th of
May.Bombay, Tuesday, "Mahatma Gandhi told me many years ago that the Bahá'í Faith was a solace to mankind and that he had
Page 208many friends among Baha'is" said the Mayor of Bombay, Mr. Nagindas Master, presiding over a spiritual meeting held in connection with the Bahá'í Centenary celebrations at the Bal Sunderbai Hall this evening. He stated that the little he knew of the Bahá'í Faith had interested him a great deal. It stood for spirituality and selflessness and its tenets, if they were more widely accepted, would usher a new order of things into the world and give to it the peace and ordered Government that was so dire a need today. The Mayor concluded with a prayer that peace may come to the world and guide mankind to the happiness and tranquility that it so greatly lacked today.
Mrs. Shirin Fozdar, the Chairman of the Reception Committee, gave history of the religions of the world, making the plea that religious belief was responsible for the greatness of nations and peoples, who deteriorated in proportion to their loss of faith.
This period of religious and material decline had invariably been the birth of some great Prophet who had striven to lead the nations once again to the path of religious righteousness.
A hundred years ago the great Bahá'u'lláh was born and his mission was to bring faith to an irreligious world � a world which today found itself in the midst of an international conflict, the like of which it had never known before. The Prophet of the Bahá'ís had predicted the wave of calamity that the world had today seen fulfilled.
He had predicted a World Federation of Powers that would lead modern civilization from chaos to order. Every unit of the Federation would disarm completely. There would be one international monetary system, one language and one police force.
Raw material would be held in trust for the smaller nations by the Federation.
Women would have equal rights with men. This would lead to universal brotherhood in which everyone would live happily forever after.
8.was celebrated leaving the loveliest memories in the hearts of the participants in Egypt.
For future generations the magnitude of that occasion will be found in illustrious records, flooded with spiritual delight and hope, which the growing community of the Bahá'í Faith can cherish during dreary days of worldwide disaster.
The golden fruit of thegrew and ripened through the heroic sacrifice of twenty thousand believers.
The glad tidings which, coincident with the Declaration of the Mb, announced the birth of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Center of the Mighty Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, heralded the new stage of divine civilization towards which the world of humanity is advancing speedily. The mighty link which 'Abdu'l-Bahá shaped in His Will and Testament has joined together the first, yet most remarkable age of this Creative Revelation, with the destined future stages of its evolution which, in due time, under the guidance of the Guardian of the Cause, will lead to the consummation of the New World Order of
Bahá'u'lláh. the GloryThus the tragic times in the course of which the Centenary was celebrated can never dim its light.
On the contrary future generations will testify to the mighty Power of the Faith which held aloft the torch of its rlaims during the most stormy age in the history of the world.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CENTENARYIn 1943, nearly a year before the Centenary, the National Spiritual Assembly devoted serious consultation to the question of celebrations. For many reasons the prospects offered little hope of success. The Haziratu'1-Quds was still in course of corn
Page 209THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 209
Delegates attending the 21st Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and %d~tn, held in Cairo, May 2021, 1944.
pletion and no one could guess when it would be ready. On the other hand, to hold the celebrations in a suitable hotel was a matter beyond our financial resources.
Such was the position that kept us fluctuating between hope and despair.
COMPLETION OF HAZfRATU'L-QtYDSBy the end of 1943, our hopes for the completion of the Ua~iratu'1-Quds were renewed by the gracious contributions which continued to flow from the beloved Guardian. Although materials were difficult to procure, the work was carried on without cessation until the third story was completed.
The carpentering was entrusted to three committees, in Cairo, Beni-Suef, and Port Sa'id. Electrical installments were contributed by the friends of Beni-Suef, and the plaster by Part
Sa'id.Concerning the dome, there seemed no prospect whatever of being able to construct it in time. Funds were lacking, materials were unprocurable; and, moreover, the cele brations were swiftly approaching and only twenty days remained. But the irresistible power of Bahá'u'lláh made all things possible beyond our fondest expectations. The following cable dated April 21 was received from the beloved Guardian: '~Wiring through Anglo-Palestine Bank five hundred pounds for (the) dome (of) Ua?ira.
Proceed immediately with construction."Upon the receipt of that cable materials were miraculously procured, work was carried on even by night by special permission � and the dome was completely finished just two hours before the programs were scheduled to commence!
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CENTENARYFollowing is the first message of the National Spiritual Assembly regarding this matter circulated among the Bahá'ís in
Egypt:The men's meeting, in the central hail of the new Egyptian National Baha Headquarters, during the Centenary Celebrations held in Cairo, May, 1944.
Bahá'í women attending the Hundredth Anniversary of the Faith, held in Cairo.
Page 211THE CENTENARY OF A WORLD FAITH 211
this greatest Revelation will ciose, will soon strike announcing the termination of an unparalleled age of heroism. The spirits of those who gave up their lives for the sake of this day are now moving around us to console their eyes with the panorama of the heavenly blossoms which were profusely watered by their pure blood, and to behold how the Cause of God is deepening its roots and stretching out its branches to overshadow the peoples of the world.
ttStupendous is the Day, and great is the sign of God in this Majestic Dispensation! How mysterious that the radiance of the first and formative stage of our Faith has shed its beams upon the worldwide progress of its second stage! How miraculous the way its penetrating light is spreading and ushering in the Golden Age decreed by Bahá'u'lláh, whose advent was heralded by all the
Prophets of God!CtO Faithful! Now that you stand between two historic ages � witnesses of the first and trustees of the second, the spiritual tree of the first and the divine fruit of the second, you should thank your Lord that you have been blessed with such a bounteous gift, which is the glory of the ages.
"The glad tidings of the Day to you is that you should cast aside the old and prepare yourselves for the new age which is swiftly approaching!
The glad tidings, 0 steadfast in the covenant, is that you should turn away at once from that which was once the cause of grief to the heatts.
The glad tidings to you, 0 Symbol of love and unity, is that each one of you should hasten to embrace his brother with sheer iove and eagerness! Shut your eyes against shortcomings, and cling unto love and unity! Let our sign on this blessed occasion be the praise of one another!
"The occasion is incomparably unique and precious. It imposes upon us the obligation of advancing towards it with united efforts and perfect oneness so tht't the light of the wonderful Order of our Faith may shine upon the world, so that the people may witness in the unity of this growing community the example of love, unity, and cooperation.
"The forces of discord are tearing humanity, and the elements of corruption are upsetting the structure of life. The torch of hope seems as if quenched in the hearts and the candle of spiritual delight extinguished. Therefore, 0 Light-holders, let the flame of hope reblaze in the world, and blow through the trumpets of life the psalms of faithfulness, and the melodies of the Kingdom of the Father whereby hopes may be restored to wandering humanity!
"Exalted be our Lord that He made you His Trustees and the Heirs of His
Grace.(CD friends: "As we are drawing closer to that momentous day the National Spiritual Assembly desires to announce that preparations for the celebrations are being adequately planned.
"A bead committee of Mohamed Sa'id, Chairman, Hussein Ruhi, Abul Fetouh Bat-tab, and Mohamed MustaTh, members, has been appointed.
It is charged with the formation of such subcommittees as various activities may require. It is also empowered to contact the Local Assemblies and groups on matters relative to the celebrations.
The National SpiritualAssembly fervently prays for your success under the guidance of our beloved Guardian, may our souls be a ran-soin for him.~~
CELEBRATIONS RECEIVE PERMISSION OFIn accordance with the law, the National Spiritual Assembly approached the authorities concerned through the following letter dated May 13:
(CTJ~ Ma'mour of WailiAssembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt have the honor to inform you that on the occasion of the Centenary of the Bahá'í Faith, the Bahá'ís will hold their celebrations in their headquarters, No. 6 Fouad
Shafik Street."The program is arranged for the 22nd and 23rd of May inclusive, and will be attended by Bahá'ís only the expected number of whom will be approximately four hundred.
in view of the fact that the program includes refreshments and meals, tents will be pitched alongside the building for that purpose.
(Signed) Mohamed Sa'idThe following was received through the local authorities:
CCH E. the Assistant Police~tWith reference to your excellency's letter dated 15th Inst. concerning the permission applied for by the Bahá'ís to hold their religious celebrations on Monday and Tuesday, 22nd and 23rd Inst. in their headquarters, No. 6 Fouad Shafik Street, on the occasion of the Bahá'í Centenary and the inauguration of their headquarters, I have no objection to these celebrations being held provided that they are devoted to the purposes detailed in the application.
(rArrangements should, therefore, be made so as to observe those celebrations and to maintain order and public security.
"An officer should attend them and send a daily report to reach this office on the morning of the following day.
Foi~]r7Joj~{ Blow,' the third ~The Inevitable,' the fourth !The Plain,' the fifth The Catastrophe,' and the others CThe Stunning Trum p4-Blast,' eThe Near Event,' ~The Great Terror,' tThe Trumpet,' The Bugle,' and the like, so that all the fieo pies of the earth may know, of a certainty, and may witness, with outward and inner eyes, that He Who is the Lord of Names bath prevailed, and will continue to prevail, under all conditions, over all men." The most important of these Tablets, together with the celebrated
SAriy-i-Haykal (the SAriliof the Temple), He, moreover, ordered to be written in the shape of a pentacle, symbolizing the temple of man, and which He identified, when addressing the followers of the Gospel in one of His Tablets, with the ~tTemp1e" mentioned by the Prophet Zechariah, and designated as "the resplendent dawning-place of the All-Merciful," and which the hands of the power of Him Who is the Causer of Causes" had built.
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. Alludedto in the KitTh-i-fq~n; the principal repository of that Law which the
ProphetIsaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the renew heaven" and the C mew earth," as frthe Tabernacle of God," as the CrHoIy City," as the rfBride,~~ the frNew Jerusalem coming down from God," this rfMost 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 WorldRevealed soon after Bahá'u'lláh had been transferred to the house of tOdi Khamm~r (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 en.-shrining 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 nonexistent; 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'an 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 Redeemerof mankind � announces to the kings of the earth the promulgation of the
Most GreatLaw"; pronounces them to be His vassals; proclaims Himself the erKing of Kings"; uisclaims 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 rrBook of God" with such standards as are current amoffgst them; and affirms that the Book itself is the C!Un~ erring Balance" established amongst men. In it He formally ordains the institution of the fCHouse of Justice," defines its functions, fixes its revenues, and designates its members as the ~~Men of Justice," the !rDeputies of God," the rCTrustees of the All-Merci-Ju4" 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 In fallibility" 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.
In this Book He, moreover, prescribes the obligatory prayers; designates the time and period of fasting; prohibits congregational prayer except for the dead; fixes the Qiblili; institutes the ~Juqiiqu'11Ah (Right of God); formulates the law of inheritance; ordains the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar; establishes the Nineteen Day Feasts, the Bahá'í festivals and the Intercalary Days; abolishes the institution of priesthood; prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy, monasticism, penance, the use of pulpits and the kissing of hands; prescribes monogamy; condemns cruelty to animals, idleness and sloth, backbiting and calumny; censures divorce; interdicts gambling, the use of opium, wine and other intoxicating drinks; specifies the punishment for murder, arson, adultery and theft; stresses the importance of marriage and lays down its essential conditions; imposes the obligation of engaging in some trade or profession, exalting such occupation to the rank of worship; emphasizes the necessity of providing the means for the education of children; and lays upon
Page 303THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 303
every person the duty of writing a testament and of strict obedience to one's government.
Apart from these provisionsfollowers to consort, with amity and concord and without discrimination, with the adherents of all religions; warns them to guard against fanaticism, sedition, pride, dispute and contention; inculcates upon them immaculate cleanliness, strict truthfulness, spotless chastity, trustworthiness; hospita1it~, fidelity, courtesy, forbearance, justice and fairness; counsels them to be t~even as the fingers of one hand and the limbs of one body"; calls upon them to arise and serve His Cause; and assures them of His undoubted aid. He, furthermore, dwells upon the instability of human affairs; declares that true liberty consists in man's submission to His commandments; cautions them not to be indulgent in carrying our his statutes; prescribes the twin inseparable duties of. recognizing the rrDayspring of God's Revelation" and of observing all the ordinances revealed by Him, neither of which, He affirms, is acceptable without the other.
The significant summons issued to the Presidents of the Republics of the American continent to seize their opportunity in the Day of God and to champion the cause of justice; the injunction to the members of parliaments throughout the world, urging the adoption of a universal script and language; His warnings to William I, the conqueror of Napoleon III; the reproof He administers to Francis Joseph, the
Emperor of Austria; Hisreference to Crthe lamentations of Berlin" in His apostrophe to fr/he banks of the Rhine"; His condemnation of C!the throne of tyranny" established in Constantinople, and His prediction of the extinction of its rroutward splendor" and of the tribulations destined to overtake its inhabitants; the words of cheer and comfort He addresses to His native city, assuring her that God had chosen her to be the source of the joy of alt mankind"; his prophecy that rrthe voice of the heroes of Khurdsdn" will be raised in glorification of their Lord; His assertion that men ~ endued with mighty valor" will be raised up in Kirmin who will make mention of Him; and finally, His magnanimous assurance to a perfidious brother who bad afflicted Him with such anguish, that an frever~f urgiving, all-bounte-ous" God would forgive him his iniquities were he only to repent � all these further enrich the contents of a Book designated by its Author as fr/he source of true felicity," as the t~Unerring Balance," as the trStraight Path" and as the rrquickener of mankind."
The laws and ordinances that constitute the major theme of this Book, Bahá'u'lláh, moreover, has specifically characterized as rethe breath of life unto all created things," as rtthe mightiest stronghold," as the "fruits" of His rfTree,~~ as rrthe highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples," as Crthe lamps of His wisdom and loving-providence," as r7he sweet smelling savor of His garment," as the "keys" of His ~rmercy~~ to His creatures. This Book," He Himself testifies, "is a heaven which We have adorned with the stars of Our commandments and prohibitions." "Blessed the man," He, moreover, has stated, erwho will read it, and ponder the verses sent down in it by God, the Lord of Power, the Almighty. Say, 0 men! Take hold of it with the hand of resignation. ...
By My life! It hath been sent down in a manner that amazeth the minds of men. Verily, it is My weightiest testimony unto all people, and the proof of the All-Merciful unto all who are in heaven and cdl who are on earth."
And again: erBIessed the palate that savoreth its sweetness, and the ~erceiv-ing eye that recognizeth that which is treasured therein, and the understanding heart that comprehend eth its allusions and mysteries. By God! Such is the majesty of what bath been revealed therein, and so tremendous the revelation of its veiled allusions that the loins of utterance shake when attempting their description."
And finaHy: ~!In such a manner hath the Kitáb-i-Aqdas been revealed that it atirewleth an embraceth all the divinely appointed Dispensatio'ns. Blessed those who peruse it! Blessed those who apprehend it!
Blessed those who meditate upon it! Blessed those who ponder its meaning! So vast is its range that it bath encompassed all men ere their recognition of it. lire long will its sovereign flower, its pervasive influence and the greatness of its might be manifested on earth."
Page 304Members of the recently incorporated Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Dayton, Ohio.
The formulation by Bahá'u'lláh, in His Kitáb-i-Aqdas, of the fundamental laws of His Dispensation was followed, as His Mission drew to a ciose, by the enunciation of certain precepts and principles which lie at the very core of His Faith, by the reaffirmation of truths He had previously proclaimed, by the elaboration and elucidation of some of the laws He had already laid down, by the revelation of further prophecies and warnings, and by the establishment of subsidiary ordinances designed to supplement the provisions of His Most Holy Book. These were recorded in unnumbered Tablets, which He continued to reveal until the last days of His earthly life, among which the "IshrAq~t"
(Splendors), the ~tBsMdt" (Glad(Words of Paradise), the ttLawh~i~Aqdas~~ (Most Holy Tablet), the
"Lawh-i-Duny~" (Tabletof the World), the ~ (Tablet of Maqsiad), are the most noteworthy. These Tablets � mighty and final effusions of His indefatigable pen � must rank among the choicest fruits which His mind has yielded, and mark the consummation of His forty-year-long ministry.
Of the principles enshrined in these Tab.-lets the most vital of them all is the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the human race, which may well be regarded as the hallmark of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation and the pivot of His teachings. Of such cardinal importance is this principle of unity that it is expressly referred to in the Book of His Covenant, and He unreservedly proclaims it as the central purpose of His Faith. ~~ We, verily," He declares, ~~have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth."
~~So potent is the light of unity," He further states, ~~that it can illuminate the whole earth." ~AI one time," He has written with reference to this central theme of His Revelation, CrWJe spoke in the language of the lawgiver; at another in that of the truth seeker and the mystic, and yet Our supreme purpose and highest wish hath always been to disclose the glory and sublimity of this station." Unity, He states, is the goal that erexcelleth every goal"
Page 305THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 305
and an aspiration which is ~~the monarch of all aspirations." f!The world," He proclaims, is but one country, and mankind its citizens." He further affirms that the unifica-don of mankind, the last stage in the evolution of humanity towards maturity is inevitable, that ~soon will the present day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead," that frthe whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy," that rrthe day is approaching when it will have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly blessings."
He deplores the defectiveness of the prevailing order, exposes the inadequacy of patriotism as a directing and controlling force in human society, and regards the !!Iove of mankind" and service to its interests as the worthiest and most Laudable objects of human endeavor. He, moreover, laments that rethe vitality of men's belief in God is dying out in every land," that the Cjace of the world" is turned towards rrwaywardness and unbelief"; proclaims religion to be era radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world" and !cthe chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world"; affirms its fundamental purpose to be the promotion of union and concord amongst men; warns lest it be made ~ source of dissension, of discord and hatred"; commands that its principles be taught to children in the schools of the world, in a manner that would not be productive of either prejudice or fanaticism; attributes re1 he way-weirdness of the ungodly" to the Cf decline of religion"; and predicts ccconvulsions~~ of such severity as to ~~cause the limbs of mankind to quake."
The principle of collective security He unreservedly urges; recommends the reduction in national armaments; and proclaims as necessary and inevitable the convening of a world gathering at which the kings and rulers of the world will deliberate for the establishment of peace among the nations.
Justice He extols as CCthe light of men" and their e~guardian,3~ as tethe revealer of the secrets of the world of being, and the stand-ard-bearer ard-bearer of love and bounty"; declares its radiance to be incomparable; affirms that upon it must depend ~~the organization of the world and the tranquility of mankind." He characterizes its rrtwo pilIars~~~~ef reward and punishinent" � as ~1�the sources of life" to the human race; warns the peoples of the world to bestir themselves in anticipation of its advent; and prophesies that, after an interval of great turmoil and grievous injustice, its daystar will shine in its full splendor and glory.
He, furthermore, inculcates the principle of moderation in all things"; declares that whatsoever, be it ~~Liberty, civilization and the like," repasseth beyond the limits of moderation~~ must f!exercise a pernicious influence upon men"; observes that western civilization has gravely perturbed and alarmed the peoples of the world; and predicts that the day is approaching when the ~~flame" of a civilization carried to excess" Twill devour the cities."
Consultation He establishes as one of the fundamental principles of His Faith; describes it as rrthe lamp of guidance," as fCthe bestower of understanding," and as one of the two ~~luminaries" of the C!heaven of Divine wisdom."
Knowledge, He states, is teas wings to man's life and a ladder for his ascent"; its acquisition He regards as cumbent upon every one"; considers eearts, crafts and sciences" to be conducive to the exaltation of the world of being; commends the wealth acquired through crafts and professions; acknowledges the indebtedness of the peoples of the world to scientists and craftsmen; and discourages the study of such sciences as are unprofitable to men, and C rhe gin with words and end with wards."
The injunction to consort with all men in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship" He further emphasizes, and recognizes such association to be conducive to !m~ and concord," which, He affirms, are the establishers of order in the world and the quickeners of nations. The necessity of adopting a universal tongue and script He repeatedly stresses; deplores the waste of time involved in the study of divers languages; affirms that with the adoptiob of
Page 306Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Atlanta, Georgia, incorporated December 11, 1945.
such a language and script the whole earth will be considered as "one city and one land"; and claims to be possessed of the knowledge of both, and ready to impart it to any one who might seek it from Him.
To the trustees of the House of Justice He assigns the duty of legislating on matters not expressly provided in His writings, and promises that God will rejns pire them with whatsoever lie willeth."
The establishment of a constitutional form of government, in which the ideals of republicanism and the majesty of kingship, characterized by Him as crone of the signs of God," are combined, He recommends as a meritorious achievement; urges that special regard be paid to the interests of. agriculture; and makes specific refcrence to rethe swiftly appearing newspapers," describes them as rr the mirror of the world" and as rran amazing and potent phenomenon," and prescribes to all who are responsible for their production the duty to be sanctified from malice, passion and prejudice, to be just and fair-minded, to be painstaking in their inquiries, and ascertain all the facts in every situation.
The doctrine of the Mostfurther elaborates; the obligation laid on His followers to ctbh towards the government of the country in which they reside with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness," He reaffirms; the ban imposed upon the waging of holy war and the destruction of books He reemphasizes~ and He singles
Page 307THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 307
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Denver, Colorado, incorporated February 25, 1946.
out for special praise men of learning and wisdom, whom He extols as to the body of mankind, and as the greatest gifts" conferred upon the world.
Nor should a review of the outstanding features of Bahá'u'lláh's writings during the latter part of His banishment to 'Akka fail to include a reference to the Lawh-.i-.Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), in which He sets forth the fundamentals of true philosophy, or to the Tablet of Visitation revealed in honor of the Im~m Ijusayn, whose praises He celebratesin glowing language; or to the CCQti and Answers" which elucidates the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; or to the ~tLawh-i-Burh4n" (Tablet of the Proof) in which the acts perpetrated by ~liaykh Muhammad-BAqir, surnamed !!Dhpb~~ (Wolf), and Mir Muhammad-~usayn, the Im~m-Jum'ih of EfTh~n, sur named reRaqsIad~ (She-Serpent), are severely condemned; or to the Lawh-i--Karmil (Tab-let of Carmel) in which the Author significantly makes mention of rihe City of God that hat/i descended from heaven," and prophesies that rrerelong will God sail His Ark" upon that mountain, and rrwill manifest the people of Ba/nh" Finally, mention must be made of His Epistle to $liaykh Muhammad-Taqi, surnamed c(Ibn4Dhi~b~~ (Son of the Wolf), the last outstanding Tablet revealed by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh, in which He calls upon that rapacious priest to repent of his acts, quotes some of the most characteristic and celebrated passages of His own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.
With this book, revealed about one year prior to His ascension, the prodigious achievement as author of a hundred volumes, re
Page 308positories of the priceless pearls of His Revelation, may be said to have practically terminated � volumes replete with unnumbered exhortations, revolutionizing principles, world-shaping laws and ordinances, dire warnings and portentous prophecies, with soul-uplifting prayers and meditations, illuminating commentaries and interpretations, impassioned discourses and homilies, all interspersed with either addresses or references to kings, to emperors and to ministers, of both the East and the West, to eccie-slastics of divers denominations, and to leaders in the intellectual, political, literary, mystical, commercial and humanitarian spheres of human activity.
C!We verily," wrote Bahá'u'lláh, surveying, in the evening of His life, from His Most Great Prison, the entire range of this vast and weighty Revelation, rrhave not fallen short of Our duty to exhort men, and to deliver that whereunto I was bidden by God, the Almighty, the All-Praised."
rels there any excuse," He further has stated, frleft for any one in this Revelation?
No, by God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne! My signs have encompassed the earth, and my power enveloped all mankind."
Page 309reAnd now as I look into the future, I hope to see the friends at all times, in every land, and of every shade of thought and character, voluntarily and joyously rallying round their local and in particular their national centers of activity, upholding and promoting their interests with complete unanimity and contentment, with perfect understanding, genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor. This indeed is the one joy and yearning of my life, for it is the fountainhead from which all future blessings will flow, the broad foundation upon which the security of the Divine Edifice must ultimately rest." �
SHOGHI EFFENDI.THE 192627 National Spiritualmethods and relationships Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bahá'í collective of the United States association. The provision and Canada completed both in the Declaration a task which, while pertaining toand in the ByLaws for the outer and more materialamend-ments in the future aspects of the Cause, will permit the National Spiritual nevertheless has a special Assembly to adapt this significance for its spiritdocument to such new administrative and inward sacred purpose. elements or principles This task consisted in as the Guardian may at creating in a legal form whichany time give forth. The gives proper substance Declaration, in fact, and substantial character is nothing more or less to the administrative than a legal parallel processes embodied in of those moral and spiritual the Bahá'í Teachings. laws of unity inherent The form adopted was that in the fullness of the known as a Voluntary Trust,Bahá'í Revelation and making a species of corporation it the fulfillment of recognized under the commonthe ideal of Religion law and possessing a in the social as well long and interesting history.as spiritual realm. Because, The famous Covenant adoptedin the Bahá'í Faith this by the Pilgrim Fathers perfect correspondence on the Mayflower, the exists between spiritual first legal document and social laws, the in American history, is Bahá'ís believe that of the same nature as the administrative success Declaration of Trust is identical with moral voted by the National success; and that nothing Spiritual Assembly. This less than the true Bahá'í spirit Declaration of Trust, of devotion and sacrifice with its attendant By-Laws,can inspire with effective is published for the informationpower the worldwide of the Bahá'ís of the body of unity, revealed world. Careful examination by Bahá'u'lláh. Therefore of the Declaration and it has seemed fitting its ByLaws will reveal and proper to accompany the the fact that this documentDeclaration of Trust contains no arbitrary with excerpts from the elements nor features letters of Shoghi Effendi new to the Bahá'í Cause. which furnished the source On the contrary, it representswhence the provisions a most conscientious effortof the Declaration were to reflect those very drawn, and which furthermore administrative principlesgive due emphasis to and elements already set that essential spirit forth in the letters without which any and of the Guardian, Shoghi every social or religious Effendi, and already form is but a dead and determining the soulless body.
HORACE HOLLEY.Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 313By THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADAYork City, N. Y., Carl Scheffler of Evanston, Ill., Roy C. Wilhelm of West Englewood, N. J., Florence Morton of 'Worcester, Mass., Amelia Collins of Princeton, Mass.,
Ali-Kuli Khan of New YorkCity, N. Y., Mountfort Mills of New York City, N. Y., and Siegfried Schopilocher of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, duly chosen by the representatives of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada at the Annual Meeting held at San Francisco, Calif.,
on April 29, April 30, May 1, and May 2, 1926, to be the National Spiritual Asscmb1~ of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, with full power to establish a Trust as hereinafter set forth, hereby declare that from this date the powers, responsibilities, rights, privileges and obligations reposed in said National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada by Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, its Interpreter and Exemplar, and by Shoghi Effendi, its Guardian, shall be exercised, administered and carried on by the above-named
National Spiritual Assemblyand their duly qualified successors under this Declaration of Trust.
The National SpiritualAssembly in adopting this form of association, union and fellowship, and in selecting for itself the designation of Trustees of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, does so as the administrative body of a religious community which has had continuous existence and responsibility for over eighteen years. In consequence of these activities the National Spiritual Assembly is called upon to administer such an ever-increasing diversity and volume of affairs and properties for the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, that we, its members, now feel it jboth desirable and necessary to give our collective functions more definite legal form.
This action is taken in complete unanimity and with full recognition of the sacred rela tionship thereby created.
We acknowledge in behalf of ourselves and our successors in this Trust the exalted religious standard established by
Bahá'u'lláh for Bahá'íadministrative bodies in the utterance: ~~Be ye Trustees of the Merciful One among men"; and seek the help of God and His guidance in order to fulfill that exhortation.
ARTICLE IThe name of said Trust shall be the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United
States and Canada.Sharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of our fellow Bahá'ís to establish, uphold and promote the spiritual, educational and humanitarian teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character and selfless love revealed in the lives and utterances of all the Prophets and
Messengers of God, Foundersof the world's revealed religions � and given renewed creative energy and universal application to the conditions of this age in the life and utterances of Bahá'u'lláh � we declare the purposes and objects of this Trust to be to administer the affairs of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh for the benefit of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada according to the principles of Bahá'í affiliation and administration created and established by Bahá'u'lláh, defined and explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and amplified and applied by Shoghi Effendi and his duly constituted successor and successors under the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
These purposes are to be realized by means of devotional meetings; by public meetings and conferences of an educational, humanitarian and spiritual character; by the publication of books, magazines and newspapers; by the construction of temples of universal worship and of other institutions and edifices for humanitarian service; by supervising,
Page 314The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Secunderabad, India.
unifying, promoting and generally administering the activities of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in the fulfillment of their religious offices, duties and ideals; and by any other means appropriate to these ends, or any of them.
Other purposes and objects of this Trust are: a. The right to enter into, make, perform and carry out contracts of every sort and kind for the furtherance of the objects of this Trust with any person, firm, association, corporation, private, public or municipal or body politic, or any state, territory or colony thereof, or any foreign government; and in this connection, and in all transactions under the terms of this Trust, to do any and all things which a copartnership or natural person could do or exercise, and which now or hereafter may be authorized by law.
b. To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust established by law or otherwise or under any will or other with any gift, devise, or bequest in which a trust or trusts is or are established in any part of the world as well as in the United States and Canada; to receive gifts, devises or bequests of money or other property.
c. All and whatsoever the several purposes and objects set forth in the written utterances of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, under which certain jurisdiction, powers and rights are granted to National Spiritual
Assemblies.d. Generally to do all things and acts which in the judgment of said Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual AssemlAy of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, are necessary, proper and advantageous to promote the complete and successful administration of this Trust.
ARTICLE LIISection 1. All persons, firms, corporations testamentary instrument in connection and associations extending credit to, con
Page 315THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 315
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hyderabad (Peccan),India.
tracting with or having any claim against the Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, and the members thereof, of any character whatsoever, whether legal or equitable and whether arising out of contract or tort, shall look solely to the funds of the Trust and to the property of the Trust estate for payment or indemnity, or for the payment of any debt, damage, judgment or decree or any money that may otherwise become due or payable from the Trustees, so that neither the Trustees nor any of them, nor any of their officers or agents appointed by them hereunder, nor any beneficiary or beneficiaries herein named shall be personally liable therefor.
Section 2. Every note, bond, proposal, obligation or contract in writing or other agreement or instrument made or given under this Trust shall be explicitly executed by the National Spiritual Assembly, as Trustees by their duly authorized officers or agents.
ARTICLE IVThe Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, shall adopt for the conduct of the affairs entrusted to them under this Declaration of Trust, such bylaws, rules of procedure or regulations as are required to define and carry on its own administrative functions and those of the several local and other elements composing the body of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, not inconsistent with the terms of this instrument and all in accordance with the explicit instructions given us to date by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, which instructions are already known to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada and accepted by them in the government and practice of their religious affairs.
ARTICLE VThe central office of this Trust shall be located in the Village of Wilmette, State of
Page 316The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hyderabad (Sind), India.
Illinois, United Statesof America, the site of the Baha House of Worship.
ARTICLE VIThe seal of this Trust shall be circular in form, bearing the following description:
National Spiritual Assemblymay be amended by majority vote of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, provided that at least thirty (30) days prior to the date fixed for said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each mem-her of the Assembly by the
Secretary.ARTICLE I authority in the administration of this Trust. It shall endeavor to stimulate, THE National Spiritual unify and coordinate the Assembly, in the fulfilmentmanifold activities of of its sacred duties the local Spiritual Assemblies under this Trust, shall (hereinafter defined) have exclusive jurisdictionand of individual BaN'is and authority over all in the United States and the activities and affairs ofCanada and by all possible means the Bahá'í Cause throughout assist them to promote the United States and the oneness of mankind.
Canada, including paramountIt shall be charged with the roc
Page 317ognition of such local Assemblies, the scrutiny of all membership rolls, the calling of the Annual Meeting or special meetings and the seating of delegates to the Annual Meeting and their apportionment among the various electoral districts. It shall appoint all national Bahá'í committees and shall supervise the publication and distribution of Bahá'í literature, the reviewing of all writings pertaining to the Bahá'í Cause, the construction and administration of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its accessory activities, and the collection and disbursement of all funds for the carrying on of this Trust. It shall decide whether any matter lies within its own jurisdiction or within the jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly. It shall, in such cases as it considers suitable and necessary, entertain appeals from the decisions of local
Spiritual Assembliesand shall have the right of final decision in all cases where the qualification of an individual or group for continued voting rights and membership in the Bahá'í body is in question. It shall furthermore represent the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in all their cooperative and spiritual activities with the Bahá'ís of other lands, and shall constitute the sole electoral body of the United States and Canada in the formation of the Universal House of Justice provided for in the Sacred Writings of the Bahá'í Cause. Above all, the National Spiritual Assembly shall ever seek to attain that station of unity in devotion to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh which will attract the confirmations of the Holy Spirit and enable the Assembly to serve the founding of the Most Great Peace.
In all its deliberation and action the National Assembly shall have constantly before it as Divine guide and standard the utterance of Bahá'u'lláh: � "It behooveth them (i.e., Spiritual Assemblies) to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to consider themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth.
It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly."
ARTICLE IIThe Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, for whose benefit this Trust is maintained, shall consist of all persons resident in the several States, Provinces, Territories or Federal Districts of the United States and Canada who are accepted by the
National Spiritual Assemblyas fulfilling the requirements of membership in the Bahá'í Community under the following qualifications set forth by the Guardian of the Faith: a. Full recognition of the stations of the ]3~b as Forerunner, of Bahá'u'lláh as Author and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as True Exemplar of the Bahá'í religion; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of Bahá'í Administration throughout the world.
b. Attainment of the age of 21 years.c. Declaration of faith to, atid enrollment by, the local Spiritual Assembly if resident in the area of jurisdiction of any local Assembly recognized by the the National Spiritual
Assembly.d. Declaration of faith to the National Spiritual Assembly on the membership form provided for those residing outside any such area of local Bahá'í jurisdiction.
ARTICLE IIIshall consist of nine members chosen from among the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, who shall be elected by the said Bahá'ís in manner hereinafter provided, and who shall continue in office for the period of one year, or until their successors shall be elected.
ARTICLE IVThe officers of the National Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman,
Vice-Chairman, Secretaryand Treasurer, and such other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs.
The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
Page 318The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kiriafghaman, India.
ARTICLE VThe first meeting of a newly-elected National l Assembly shall be called by the member r elected to membership by the highest number of votes or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the member selected by lot from among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent t Chairman shall be chosen. All subsequent t meetings shall be called by the Secretary of the Assembly at the request of the Chairman or, in his absence or incapac-fry, , of the Vice-Chairman, or of any three members of the Assembly; provided however, , that the Annual Meeting of the Assembly y shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by a majority vote of the Assembly, as hereinafter provided.
ARTICLE VIFive members of the National Assembly present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those present t and constituting a quorum shall be sufficient t for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these ByLaws, and with due regard to the principle of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institution n of a Spiritual Assembly. The transactions s and decisions of the National Assembly y shall be recorded at each meeting by the Secretary, who shall supply copies of the minutes to the Assembly members after each meeting, and preserve the minutes in the official records of the Assembly.
ARTICLE VIIWhenever in any locality of the United States and Canada, be it municipality, township ship or county, the number of Bahá'ís resident dent therein recognized by the National Spiritual Assembly exceeds nine, these may on April 21st of any year convene and elect by plurality vote a local administrative body of nine members, to be known as the Spiritual ual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of that community.
munity. Every such Spiritual Assembly shall be elected annually thereafter upon each successive cessive 21st day of April. The members shall hold office for the term of one year and until their successors are elected and qualified.
When, however, the number of BaM is in any authorized civil area is exactly nine,
Page 319THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 319
these may on April 21st of any year, or in successive years, constitute themselves the local Spiritual Assembly by joint declaration. Upon the recording of such declaration by the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, said body of nine shall become established with the rights, privileges and duties of a local Spiritual Assembly as set forth in this instrument.
Section 1. Each newly-elected local Spiritual Assembly shall at once proceed in the manner indicated in Articles IV and V of of these ByLaws to the election of its officers, who shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other off cers as the Assembly finds necessary for the conduct of its business and the fulfilment of its spiritual duties.
Immediately thereafter the Secretary chosen shall transmit to the Secretary of the National Assembly the names of the members of the newly-elected Assembly and a list of its officers.
Section 2. The general powers and duties of a local Spiritual Assembly shall be as set forth in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi
Effendi.Section 3. Among its more specific duties, a local Spiritual Assembly shall have full jurisdiction of all Bahá'í activities and affairs within the local community, subject, however, to the exclusive and paramount authority of the National Spiritual Assembly as defined herein.
Section 4. Vacancies in the membership of a local Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by election at a special meeting of the local Bahá'í community duly called for that purpose by the Assembly. In the event that the number of vacancies exceeds four, making a quorum of the local Assembly impossible, the election shall be held under the supervision of the National Spiritual
Assembly.Section 5. The business of the local Assembly shall be conducted in like manner as provided for the deliberations of the National Assembly in Article VI above.
Section 6. The local Assemblyshall pass upon and approve the qualifications of each member of the I3ahA'i community before such members shall be admitted to voting membership; but where an individual is dissatisfied with the ruling of the local Spiritual Assembly upon his Bahá'í qualifications, such individual may appeal from the ruling to the National Assembly, which shall thereupon take jurisdiction of and finally decide the case.
Section 7. On or before the 1st day of February of each year the Secretary of each local Assembly shall send to the Secretary of the National Assembly a duly certified list of the voting members of the local Bahá'í community for the information and approval of the National
Assembly.Section 8. All matters arising within a local Bahá'í community which are of purely local interest and do not affect the national interests of the Cause shall be under the primary jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly of that locality; but decision whether a particular matter involves the interest and welfare of the national Bahá'í body shall rest with the National Spiritual
Assembly.Section 9. Any member of a local Baha community may appeal from a decision of his Spiritual Assembly to the National Assembly, which shall determine whether it shall take jurisdiction of the matter or leave it to the local Spiritual Assembly for reconsideration.
In the event that the National Assembly assumes jurisdiction of the matter, its finding shall be final.
Section 10. Where any dissension exists within a local Bahá'í community of such character that it cannot be remedied by the efforts of the local Spiritual Assembly, this condition shall be referred by the Spiritual Assembly for consideration to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose action in the matter shall be final.
Section 11. All questions arising between two or more local Spiritual Assemblies, or between members of different Baha communities sh&1I be submitted in the first instance to the National Assembly, which shall have original and final jurisdiction in all such matters.
Section 12. The sphere of jurisdiction of a local Spiritual Assembly, with respect to residential qualification of membership, and voting rights of a believer in any Bahá'í community, shall be the locality included within the civil limits of the municipality, township or county.
Page 320The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Koihapur, India.
All differences of opinion concerning the sphere of jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly or concerning the affiliation of any Baha or group of Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada shall be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose decision in the matter shall be final.
ARTICLE VIIIThe members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be elected at an annual meeting to be known as the National Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United
States and Canada. ThisConvention shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by the National Assembly.
The National Conventionshall be composed jointly of representatives chosen by the Bahá'ís of each State, Province, Territory or Federal District under the principle of proportionate representation, and the members of the National Spiritual
Assembly.Notice of the annual meeting shall be given by the National Assembly sixty days in advance in the Convention Call which sets forth the number of delegates assigned to the various electoral units in proportion to the number of Bahá'ís resident in each such unit, to a total number of one hundred seventy-one delegates for the Bahá'ís of the United
States and Canada.Section 1. All delegates to the Convention shall be elected by plurality vote. Bahá'ís who for illness or other unavoidable reasons are unable to be present at the election in person shall have the right to transmit their ballots to the meeting by mail. The meeting held in each State, Province, Territory or Federal District for the election of delegates shall be called by the
National Spiritual Assemblyand conducted by the Bahá'ís present under whatever procedure may be uniformly laid down by said body.
Immediately after the meeting a certified report of the election containing the name and address of each delegate shall be transmitted to the National Spiritual
Assembly.Section 2. All delegates to be seated at the Convention must be recognized Bahá'ís and residents of the State or Province represented by them.
Page 321THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 321
Section 3. The rights and privileges of a delegate may not be assigned nor may they be exercised by proxy.
Section 4. The recognition and seating of delegates to the National Convention shall be vested in the
National Spiritual Assembly.Section 5. Delegates unable to be present in person at the Convention shall have the right to transmit their ballots for election of the members of the National Assembly under whatever procedure is adopted by the National body.
Section 6. If in any year the National Spiritual Assembly shall consider that it is impracticable or unwise to assemble together the delegates to the National Convention, the said Assembly shall provide ways and means by which the annual election and other essential business of the Convention may be conducted by mail.
Section 7. The presiding officer of the National Spiritual Assembly present at the Convention shall call together the delegates, who after roll call shall proceed to the permanent organization of the meeting, electing by ballot a chairman, a secretary and such other officers as are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the
Convention.Section 8. The principal business of the annual meeting shall be consultation on I3ahA'i activities, plans and policies, and the election of the nine members of the National
Spiritual Assembly. Membersof the National Assembly, whether or not elected delegates, may take a full part in the consultation and discussion but only delegates may participate in the election of Convention officers or in the annual election of the members of the national body. All action by the delegates, other than the organization of the Convention, the transmission of messages to the Guardian and the election of the National Assembly, shall constitute advice and recommendation for consideration by the said Assembly, final decision on all matters concerning the .affairs of the Bahá'í Faith in the United States and Canada being vested solely in that body.
Section 9. The general order of business to be taken up at the Annual Convention shall be prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly in the form of an agenda, but any matter pertaining to the Bahá'í Faith introduced oduced by any of the delegates may upon motion and vote be taken up as part of the Convention deliberations.
Section 10. The election of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote of the delegates recognized by the outgoing National Spiritual Assembly, i.e., the members elected shall be the nine persons receiving the greatest number of votes on the first ballot cast by delegates present at the Convention and delegates whose ballot has been transmitted to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly by mail. In case, by reason of a tie vote or votes, the full membership is not determined on the first ballot, then one or more additional ballots shall be taken on the perSons tied until all nine members are elected.
Section ii. All official business transacted at the National Convention shall be recorded and preserved in the records of the
National Assembly.Section 12. Vacancies in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by a plurality vote of the delegates composing the Convention which elected the Assembly, the ballot to be taken by correspondence or in any other manner decided upon by the National
Spiritual Assembly.Assembly has been given in these ByLaws exclusive and final jurisdiction, and paramount executive authority, in all matters pertaining to the activities and affairs of the Bahá'í Cause in the United States and Canada, it is understood that any decision made or action taken upon such matters shall be subject jn every instance to ultimate review and approval by the Guardian of the Cause or the Universal House of Justice.
ARTICLE XWhatever functions and powers are not specifically attributed to local Spiritual Assemblies in these ByLaws shall be considered vested in the National Spiritual Assembly, which body is authorized to delegate such discretionary functions and powers as it deems necessary and advisable to the local Spiritual Assemblies within its jurisdiction.
Page 322The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Srinagar, Kashmir, India.
ARTICLE XLIn order to preserve the spiritual character and purpose of Bahá'í elections, the practice of nominations or any other electoral method detrimental to a silent and prayerful election shall not prevail, so that each elector may vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold.
Among the most outstanding and sacred duties incumbent upon those who have been called upon to initiate, direct and coordinate te the affairs of the Cause as members of local or national Spiritual Assemblies are: � To win by every means in their power the confidence and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve; to investigate and acquaint themselves with the considered views, the prevailing sentiments and the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn obligation to promote; to purge their deliberations and the general conduct of their affairs of selfcontained aloofness, the suspicion of secrecy, the sri-fling g atmosphere of dictatorial assertiveness and of every word and deed that may savor of partiality, seif-centeredness and prejudice; and while retaining the sacred right of final decision in their hands, to invite discussion.
ventilate grievances, welcoin& advice, and foster the sense of interdependence and copartnership, , of understanding and mutual confidence between themselves and all other
Baha'is.These ByLaws may be amended by majority jority vote of the National Spiritual Assembly bly at any of its regular or special meetings, provided that at least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each member of the Assembly by the Secretary.
Note: The above ByLaws include all amendments adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly to March 13, 1945.
Page 323THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 323
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Surat, India.
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lahore, India.
Page 324~~Y~ZJ~i,b ) ~ ~; 4 � � . .-,j ~ 'I. / , ,
/ J-jCrV -~,-L'k'I. ~ -'(~yf~, '(~yf~, ~ ~/Lb;)~L~IJA Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Page 325.. � ' " � S d~ ~ � ~ � 4~4L~ v.5, 41�~
Page 326.,,I~ ;~J &~nJ%' � ) ~' � (~ Lo., I, � ~ ~ ~ � (p
Page 327THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 327
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Page 329THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 329
{ L.4 ~' ~ ~' jj~~~i',' J~5 ~ ~ -,4,W4V &k -b~fr~ d�."
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Page 330THE DECLARATION AND BYLAWS OF THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ'ÍS OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIAW IR, Marta Blanche Brauns-Forel, Karisruhe i. B.; Paul Ferdinand
Colhner, Stuttgart; MaxSchwarz-Solivo, Stuttgart, er-khiren hiermit als der durch die Abgeordne � ten der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich anI~ss1ich der Jalirestagung in Stuttgart am 22. April 1934 ordnungsm~issig gew~ih1te und mit alien Vollmachten zur Errichtung der naclifolgenden Treuhandschaft ausge-stattete Nationale
Geistige Rat des Bahá'íin Deutschland und dsterreich, das 'torn heuti-gen Tage an die diesem Rate durch
Bahá'u'lláh, den Begriinderdes Baki'i-Glaubens, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, den Ausleger und das Vorbild, und Shoghi Effendi, den Hfiter desselben, iibertragenen Befugnisse, Verantwortlich-keiten, Rechte, Vorreclite und Pflichten von dem vorgenannten
Nationalen GeistigenRat und semen ordnungsm~issig besteilten Nach-folgern gem~ss dieser Treuhandschaftser-klirung ausgeflbt, verwalter und fortgefiihrt werden sollen.
Die Annahme dieser Formdes Zusam-menschlusses, der Vereinigung und Gemein-. schaft, ut-id die Zulegung der
Bezeichnung als Treultinderder Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich erfolgt durch den Natio � nalen Geistigen Rat a's dem seit melir als dreiundzwanzig Jahren bestehenden und verantwortlichen
Verwaltungskbrper einer Religionsgemeinschaft.zur Verwaltung der st~ndig mannigfacher und umfangreicher werden-den
Angelegenheiten und Vermbgenswerteder Bahá'í in Deutschland und desterreich, weshaib wir als dessen Mitglieder es fUr wfinschenswert und notwendig erachten, unserer gemeinsarnen T~itigkeit eine fester umrissene, gesetzm~ssige Form zu geben. Wir tun dies in vdlliger Einmiitigkeit und in voller Erkenntnis der damit geschaffen heiligen Bindung. Wir anerkennen fur tins und unsere Nachfolger in dieser Treuhand-schaft die erhaben~ religi6se Richtschnur, die fur BahA'iVerwaltungskbrperschaften in dem Worte Bahá'u'lláh's zum Ausdruck kommt: ,,Seid
TreuMnder des Barmherzi-genunter den Menschen", und suchen den Beistand Gottes und Seine Fiihrung, damit wir dieser Ermalinung folgen kannen.
ARTIKEL IDie genannte Trcuhandgemeinschaft fiihrt die Bezeichnung, ,,der
Nationale Geis-tige RatWir teilen die Ideale unserer Mit-Bahá'í und arbeiten mit Amen an der Aufrichtung, Erhaltung und Farderung der geistigen, er-ziehlichen und menschenfreundlichen Leh-ren menschuicher IBruderschaft, strahienden Glaubens, erhabenen CIiarakters und selbst-loser Liebe, wie sie im Leben und in den Xusserungen alley
Propheten und Botschaf-terder Offenbarungs-religionen in cler Welt, geoffenbart und mit erneuter Kraft und allumfassender Geltung fur die Gegebenheiten dieses Zeitalters durch das Leben und die Worte Bahá'u'lláh's verkiindet worden sind. Wir erkiaren als Zweck und Gegenstand dieser Treuhandge-meinschaft die Verwaltung der Angelengen-heiten der Sache Bahá'u'lláh's zum Besten der Bahá'í in Dcutschland irnd dsterreich
Page 331THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 331
gam~iss den von Bahá'u'lláh gesehaffenen und eingeftihrten, von 'Abdu'l-Bahá nTher bestimmten und erhuterten und von Shoghi Effendi und dessen nach dem Willen und Testament 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í ordnungsm~ssig eingesetzten Naclifolger und Naclifolgern erweiterten und angewandten Grunds~itzen fur die Bah&i-Zugehdrigkeit und -Verwalt-ung.
Der ErfUllung dieses Zweckessollen Andachtszusammenkfinfte, difendiche Ver-sammiungen und Zusamrnenkiinfte erzich � lichen, menschenfreundlichen und geistigen Charakters, die Verdifentlichung von Biichern, Zeitschrif ten und Zeitungen, die Erriclitung von Tempein aligemeiner An-betung und anderer Einrichtungen und Bauten fUr menschenfreundliche Dienste, die {Yberwacbung,
Vereinheidichung, Fdr-derungund ailgemeine Verwaltung der Angelegenheiten der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich in Erfiillung ihrer religi6sen Dienste, Pflicbten und Ideale, sowie jedes sonstige diesen Zielen oder cinem von ilinen fdrderliche Mittel dienen.
Weiterer Zweck und Gegenstanddieser Treuhandgemeinschaft ist: a. des Reclit, mit irgendwelchen Per-sonen, Unternehmungcn, Vereinigung-en, privaten, bffendichen oder ge-meindlichen Kbrperschaf ten, dem Staat oder irgendwelchen seiner L~inder, Gebiete oder Kolonien oder mit irgendwelchen frernden Regierungen in jeder Art und Weise Vertr~ige abzuschuiessen, zu voliziehen und zu erfijilen, die zur F6rderung der
Ziele dieser Treuhandschaftdienen, und im Zusammenhang damit und bei alien Verriclitungen, die im Ralimen dieser Treuhandschaft erfolgen, alles und jedes zu tun, was eine Geseilsehaft oder natiirliche Person zu tun oder auszuUben vermag und was gegen-w~rtig oder kiinftig vom Gesetz zu-gelassen ist, b. bei alien durch Gesetz oder anderswie erricliteten
Verbiinden oder Nach-ilissentand sonstigen letztwilligen Verfiigungen in Verbindung mit Schenkungen,
Vermichtnissen oder Auflassungenjeder Art, in weichen em oder melirere Treuh~inder in irgend einem Teil der 'Melt sowohi Ms auch in
Deutschland und Osterreichbestelit werden, aufzutreten und als emp � fangsberechtigt zu gelten und Schen � kungen,
Vermachtnisse oder Auflas-sungenin Geld oder sonstigen Verrn6genswerten anzunehmen, c. alles und was immer in den schrift-lichen Ausscrungen Bahá'u'lláh's, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, Shoghi Effendi's und seiner ordnungsmiissigen Nachfolger, durch die den Nationalen Geistigen R~iten gewisse Spruchrechte,
Befug-nisse und GerechtsamegewThrt sind, an verschiedenen Zwechen und Zielen niedergelegt ist, d. gemeinhin alles zu tun und zu be-wirken, was nach Ansiclit der be-naunten Treuh~inder d. h. des
Natio-nalen Geistigen Ratsder Bahá'í in Deutschland und Osterreich zur Fbrderung der volisuindigen und erfoigreichen
Verwaltung dieser Treu-handgemeinschaftund Vereini-gungen gegeniiber, die den Treultindern ci. li. dem Nationakn Geistigen Rat und den Mitgliedern desselben in ihrer Eigenschaft als soiche Kredit gewThren, Vert6ige mit ihnen schijessen oder irgendwelche An-spriiche gegen sie, gleiciviel weicher Art, ob rechtlich oder billig, zu Reclit oder zu Unreclit, haben, gilt lediglich clas Treu-handvermbgen und der Treuhandbesitz als Masse fur Zahiung oder Sicherstellung bezw. fur die Begleichung irgendwelcher Schulden,
Ersatzanspriiche, Auflagenund Bescheide oder irgendwelcher Betdge, die in sonstiger Weise seitens der Treuhiinder geschuldet oder zahibar werden kdnnten, sodass weder die TreuMnder, noch irgend-einer von ihnen, noch irgendeiner ihrer kraft dieses ernannten Beamten oder Beauftragten, noch irgendwelche hierin genannte Berech-tigte, sei es einzeln oder gemeinsarn, persbn-lich dafiir haften.
Page 3322. Absclonitt. Alle Bescheinigungen, Schuldanerkenntnisse,
Antriige, schriftlichen Verpflichtungenund Vertr~ige oder sonstig-en Vereinbarungen und Urkunden, die im Ralimen dieser Treuhandschaft getroffen oder gegeben werden, werden ausdriicklich vom Nationalen
Geistigen Rat a's Treu-kinderdurch dessen ordnungsm~issig er-michtigte Beamte und Beauftragte you-zogen.
ARTIKEL IVDie Treuhiinder, d. h. der Nationale Geistige Rat, nelimen fUr die Durchfflhrung der ilim in dieser Treuhanclschaftserkliirung anvertrauten Obliegenheiten die zur
Fest-legung und Erledigungder eigenen Ver-waltungsaufgaben wie auch derjenigen der verschiedenen 6rtlichen und sonstigen Glie-derungen, die die
Bahá'í in Deutschlandund dsterreich verk6rpern, erforderlichen Satz-unger,
Bestimmungen und Dienstvorschrift-engem~iss den Zwecken dieser Einrichtung und in Obereinstimmung mit den seitheri-gen ausdriicklichen, den Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich bereits bekannten und von ilinen in der Fiihrung und Handhabung ilirer religi5sen Angelegenheiten fibernom-men Weisungen
Shoghi Effendi's des Hiitersdieser Treu-handgemeinschaft befindet sich an dem-jenigen Ort, der durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat von Zeit zu Zeir bestimmt wird.
ARTIKEL VIDas Siegel dieser Treuhandgemeinschaft besitzt runde Form und zeigt folgende In-schrift:
Dci' Nationale GeisligeRat tier Bahá'í in Deutschland und tisterreich e. V. Treuhandschaftserkldrung 1935.
ARTIKEL VIIkann durch absoluten Mehrhcitsbeschluss des Nationalen Geistigen Rats der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich in jeder be-sondern Versammiung, die zu diesem Zwecke ordnungsm~issig einberuf en wor-den ist, erginzt werden, vorausgesetzt, dass mindestens dreissig Tage vor dem fur die Versammiung festgesetzten Zeitpunkt eine Abschrift der vorgeschlagenen
Erg~nzung oder Erg~nzungenan Iedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekretiir miaels eingeschricbenen Brief es versandt wird.
SATZUNG DES NATIONALEN GEISTIGEN RATSRat besitzt in Erfiillung seiner geheiligten Pflichten im Rahmen dieses TreuhandverhMtnisses aus-schujessliches Spruch-und d Hoheitsreich fiber alle Veranstaltungen und Angelegen-heiten der
Bahá'u'lláh in Deutschlandund Osterreich unter Einschluss der Oberhoheit in bezug auf die Verwaltung dieser Treu-handschaft. Er soil darnach streben, die (nachstehend erliiuterte) Arbeit der iirt-lichen Geistigen Riite sowie diejenige der-einzelnen Bahá'í in Deutschland und bster-reich alizuspornen, zusammenzufassen und gleichzurichten, und sie in jeder nur m6g-lichen Weise in der F6rderung der Einheit der Menschheir unterstiitzen. Ilim obliegt die Anerkennung derartiger
5rtlicher Rare, die Priifundoder be-sonderer sonderer Versammiungen und die Einsetzung der
Abgeordneten zur Jahrestagungund ihre ziffernm~issige Verteilung auf die ver-schiedenen BaM'i-Gemeinden. Er ernennt s~imt1iche nationalen Bah&'i-Ausschiisse und iiberwacht die Verbffentlichung und Ver-teilung vom Bahi'i-Schrifttum, die Uber-prilfung aller die Bahá'u'lláh betreffenden Schriften, den Bau und die Verwaltung des ailgemeinen Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's und serner Nebeneinriclitungen und die Erhebung and Verwendung aller Gelder zur Fortfiihrung dieser Treuhandschaft. Er entscheidet, ob irgendwelche Angelegenheiten dem Bereiche sernes cigenen Spruchrechtes oder demjenigen ernes
6rtlichen Geistigen Ratesangeh5ren. Er nimmt in Nilen, die ihm geeignet und notwendig erscheinen,
Berufungen aus Entscheidungen5rtlicher Geistiger REite an und besitzt das Recht zur endgiil
Page 333THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 333
The first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Sholapur, India.
tigen Entscheidung in alien flillen, in denen dieoder einer Gruppe, st~indig das Wahireclit auszuiiben oder
Mitglied der BaM'i-GemeinschaftEr vertritt die Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich fiberall, wo es sich urn die Zusammenarbeit und geistige BeUitigung mit den Bahá'í anderer Linder handelt, und bildet das alleinige Wahiorgan der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich bei Schaffung des in den heiligen Schrif ten der
Sadie vorgesehenen UniversalenVor alkm aber soil der Nationale Geistige Rat nets jene Stufe der Einheit in Ergebenheit, gegeniiber der Of-fenbarung Bahá'u'lláh's erstreben, die die Best~itigung des Heiligen Geistes anzieht und den Rat zum Dienste an der Begriin-dung des Gr6ssten Friedens flihig machen wird.
Bei alien semen Beratungen und Handlungen soil der Nationale Geistige Rat a's g6ttlichen Fiihrer und Massstab st~indig die
Ausserung Bahá'u'lláh'svor Augen haben: ,,Es geziemt ihnen. (d. h. den Geistigen R~iten), die Vertrauten des Barmherzigen unter den Menschen zu sein und sich ilk Gottes auserwThlte Hiitter von allem, was auf Erden ist, zu halten.
Es obliegt ihnen, miteinander zu beraten und auf die
Be-lange der Diener Conesacht zu haben, urn Seiner Selbst willen, wie sie auf die eigenen Belange achten, und das zu wThlen, was geziemend ist und schicklich."
ARTIKEL IIund bsterreich, zu deren Gunsten diese Treuhandschaft erriclitet ist, umfassen alle in Deutschland und t5sterreich wolinhaften ]?ersonen, die vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat als den Er-fordernissen zum stimmberechtigten
Mit-glied ciner Bahi'i-Gemeindewerden will, muss a. in dem Ortsgebiet wolinen, das durch den Rechtsbereich des artlichen Geis-tigen Rates gemiss dern zweiten
Abschnitt des Artikels VII dieser Satzung bestimmt ist, b. das einundzwanzigste Lebensjahr vol-lendet haben, c. zur Zufriedenheit des artlichen Geis-tigen Rates, die zon der Zustimmung durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat ablflngt, dargetan haben, dass er den folgenden
BahA'i-Glaubensforderun-genund -bhiuchen geniigt: voile Anerkennung der Stufe des Vorhiufers (des
B&b), des Begrflnders (Bahá'u'lláh's)und 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, des Erkhirers und waliren Vorbildes des Bah&'i-Glaubens, vorbehaitlose Annalime von allem, was durch ilire Feder geoffenbart ist, und Unterwerf-ung darunter, treucs und standhaftes Festhalten an alien Teilen des gehei-ligten
Willens 'Abdu'l-Bahá'íund enge Verbundenheit sowohi mit dem Geiste als audi mit der Form der gegenw~irtigen BaM'i-Vcrwaltung in der Welt.
ARTIKEL IIIRat besteht aus neun aus dem Kreise der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich gewThlten Mitgliedern, die von den genannten Bahá'í in der weiter unten beschriebenen Weise gewThlt werden und Rh die Dauer eines Jalires oder dis zur Wall ihrer
Naclifolger im ArnteDie gcschiftsftihrenden Mit glieder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates bestehen aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer, Sekret~ir und Rechner und was sonst zur geeigneten Fiihrung seiner Geschiifte an Amtern fur n6tig erachtet wird.
Die ge-sch~iftsfiihrenden Mitglieder werden mit absoluter Stimmenmehrheit durch s~imt1iche Ratsmitglieder in geheimer Abstimmung gewThlt.
ARTIKEL Vdes neugewiihlten Nationalen Geistigen Rates wird durch das-= jenige Mitglied cinberufen, das bei der Wall die h6chste Stimmenzahl erhalten hat, oder, soweit zwei oder melirere Mitglieder die gleiche Stimmenzahl aufweisen, durch das unter diesen ausgeloste
Mitglied. Dieses Mitgliedwerden durch den Sekretiir des Rates auf Ersuchen des Vorsirzers oder, bei dessen Abwesenheit oder Verhinderung des stellvertretenden Vorsitzers oder drejer be-liebiger Ratsmitglieder cinberufen, wobei jedoch die Jalirestagung, wie weiterhin fest-gelegt, in bezug auf Zeitpunkt und Ort von der Versammiung durch absoluten Melir-heitsbeschluss festgelegt wird.
ARTIKEL VIRat ist beschluss-fahig, sobald fiinf Mitglieder desselben in etner Sitzung anwesend sind, und die durch diese gefassten, absoluten Mehrheitsbe-schiflsse gelten, soweit niclit diese Satzung an Anderes bestimmt, in gebiihrendem Hinblick auf den in der Einrichtung der geistigen R~ite enthaltenen
Grundsatz der Einheitund aufrichtigen Gemeinschaft a's ausreichend zur Fiihrung der GeschMte. Die Verhandlungen und Entscheidungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates sind bei jeder Sitzung durch den Sekretiir zu protokol-lieren, der den Ratsmitgliedern nach jeder Sitzung Abschriften der Protokolle zusteilt und die Protokolle unter den offiziellen Urkunden des Rates aufbewahrt.
ARTIKEL VIIWo immer in Deutschland und bster-reich, in einer Stadt oder ciner Thndlichen Gtmeinde, die Zahi der darin wohnenden, vom
Nationalen Geistigenneuen tibersteigt, k6nnen diese am 21. April eines Jalires zusammenkommen und mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit eke 5rtliche Verwaltungsk6rperschaft von neun Personen als Geistigen Rat der betreffenden
Gemeinde wdhlen. Jedersoiche Geistige Rat wird darauf allj ~ihr1ich an jedem folgenden 21. Tag des
Aprils gew~ih1t. DieMitglieder bleiben fur die Dauer eines Jahres und bis zur Wahi und Benennung ilirer Naclifolger im
Amte.Soweit dagegen die Zahi der Baha 'i in ciner Gemeinde genau neun betdgt, kbnnen sich diese am 21.
April eines Jahres und in den nachfolgenden Jaliren durch gemein-same Erkliirung zum brtlichen Geistigen
Page 335THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 335
Rat ernennen. Durch Beurkundungeiner soichen Erkiarung seitens des Sekrefiirs des Nationalen Geistigen Rats gilt der besagte Neunerrat als mit alien Recliten,
Vorrech-ten und Pflichtencines artlichen Geistigen Rates, wie sie in dieser Satzung festgelegt sind, eingesetzt.
1. Abschnitt. Jeder neugewThlte brt-liche Geistige Rat verf~ihrt sofort gem~iss den in den Artikein IV und V dieser Satzung enthaltenen Anweisungen fiber die Wahi seiner geschuiftsfiihrenden Mitglieder, die aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer, SekreUr und Rechner und was der Rat sonst fur die Fiihrung seiner Ge-sch~ifte und die Erfilliung seiner Geistigen Pflichten an Amtern fUr nbtig eracliten mag, bestehen. Unmittelbar darnach libermittelt der gew~h1te Sekret~ir dem
Sekret~r des Nationalender Mitglieder des neugewThlten Rates und eine Liste seiner gesch~iftsfiihrenden
Mitglieder.2. Abs chnitt. Die aligemeinen Befug � nisse und Pflichten cines artlichen Geistigen Rates ergeben sich aus den Schrif ten Bahá'u'lláh's, 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í und Shoghi
Effendi's.3. Abschnitt. Unter die besonderen Pilichten cines artlichen Geistigen Rates f~i11t das voile Spruchrecht tiber alle B~M'i-Veranstaltungen und � Angelegenheiten in-nerhaib der Gemeinde, unbeschadet der hierin erkhirten ausschuiesslichen
Oberhoheit des Nationalen4. Abs cknitt. Ausscheidende Mitglieder cines 6rtlichen Geistigen Rates werden auf einer zu diesem Zwecke durch den Rat ordnungsm~ssig cinberufenen, besonderen Gemeindeversammiung durch Wahi erg~inzt. Falls die Zahi der ausscheidenden Mitglieder haher als vier ist, sodass die IBeschlussflihig-keit des arlichen Rates entflillt, wird die Wahi unter der
Oberaufsicht des Natio-nalen5. Absch'nitt. Die GescLifte des 5rt-lichen Rates werden in gleicher Weise gefiihrt, wie oben in Artikel VI fur die Verhandlungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates festgelegt ist.
6. Abs chnitt. Der brtliche Rat fiber � priift und anerkennt die Eignung jedes Mitglicdes der BahA'i-Gemeinde vor dessen Zulassung als wahlberechtigtes Mitglied, doch steht es jedern, der mit dem Befund des 6rtlichen Geistigen Rates ilber seine Eignung als Bahá'í unzufrieden ist, frei, gegen den Befund beim Nationalen Geistigen Rat Berufung cinzulegen, der den Fall auf-greift und endgiiltig dariiber entscheidet.
7. Abs clanift. Am oder vor dem ersten Tag imsendet der Sekretir jedes brtlichen Rates dem Sekret~ir des
Nationalen GeistigenRates cine ord � nungsm~ssig beglaubigte Liste der stimm-berechtigten Mitglieder der BahA'i-Gemeinde zur
Unterriclitung und Gutheissung8. Abs chnitt. Alle sich innerhaib ciner BahA'i-Gemeinde ergebenden Angelegen-heiten von rein artlichen Interessen, die nicht die nationalen Belange der Sache berilliren, unterstehen in erster Instanz dem Spruch-recht des betreffenden artlichen Geistigen Rates, doch liegt die Entscheidung dariiber, ob in einem Fall durch die Angelegenheit die Belange und die Wohlfahrt der nationalen Bah&'i-Gemeinschaft berfilirt werden, heim Narionalen
Geistigen Rat.9. Abschnitt. Jedem Mitglied einer BahA'i-Gemeinde steht es frei, gegen eine Entscheidung seines
Geistigen Rates beim Nationaleneinzu-legen, der dartiber befindet, ob er die Sadie zur Entscheidung aufgreifen oder sic beim 6rtlichen Geistigen Rat zur nochmaligen Erw~igung belassen will. Greift der Natio-nale Geistige Rat die Sadie zur Entscheidung auf, so ist seine Findung endgiiltig.
10. Abschnitt. Bestehen innerhaib ciner Bah~i'i-Gemeinde Meinungsverschiedenheit-en, die nicht durch die Berniihungen des artlichen Geistigen Rates beigekgt werden kbnnen, so ist die Angelegenheit durch den Geistigen Rat dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate zur Erw~igung zu jiberweisen, des-Sen Vorgehen in der Sache dann endgiiltig ist.
11. Abs chnitt. Alle Streitfragen zwischen zwei oder melireren brrlichen Geistigen R~iten oder zwischen Mitgliedern verschied-ener BahA'i-Gemeinden sollen in erster In-stanz dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate unter-. breitet werden, dem bei alien derartigen Angelegenheiten das erste und Ietzte Spruch-reclit cigen ist.
12. Absch'nitt. Der Rcchtsbereich der einzelnen 5rtlichen Geistigen Riite in bezug
Page 336auf die 5rdiche Befindung zur Mitglied-schaft und Wahibereclitigung eines Ghiu-bigen in einer Bahi'i-Gemeinde entspricht der durch die verwaltungsrechtlichen Gren-zen einer Stadt oder einer liindlichen Ge-meinde bezeichneten Gemarkung, doch k6nnen Baha'i, die in angrenzenden, abseits liegenden oder vorst~dtischen Bezirken wohnen und regelm~ssig an den
Versamm-lungen dec Bahi'i-Gemeindenin ihrer Heimatgemeinde in die vom angrenzenden Geistigen Rat ge-fiihrte Mitgliederrolle eingeschrieben werden und volles Wahlrecht geniessen.
Alle Auffassungsverschiedenheitenin be-zug auf das Rechtsgebiet eines artlichen Geistigen Rates oder beziiglich der Anglie-derung irgend eines Bahá'í oder einer
Gruppe in Deutschlandund desterreich sind dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat zu unterbreiten, desen Entscheidung in der Sache endgiiltig ist.
ARTIKEL VIIIdes Nationalen Geistigen Rates, auf der die Wahi seiner Mitglieder erfolgt, fiihrt die Bezeichnung Nationaltagung der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich. Zeitpunkt und Ort flir die Ablialtung bestimn-it der Nationale Geistige Rat, der alle BaM'i-Gemeinden durch ihre Geistigen R~ite sechzig Tage zuvor von der Versammiung in Kenntnis setzt. Der
Na-tionale Geistige Ratteilt jedein Geistigen Rat gleichzeitig die von ihm der Bah&'i-Ge--meinde gem~iss dem Grundsatz der Ver-Liltnisvertretung zugeteilte Anzahl von
Ab-geordneten zur Nationaltagungmit, wobei die Gesamtzahl der Abgeordneten, die die Na~ tionaltagung darstellen, neunzehn betragen soil.
Nach Empfang dieser Benachrichtig-ungberuft jeder artliche Geistige Rat inner � haib cines angemessenen Zeitraumes und unter Beaclitung ordnungsniiissiger und aus-reichender Ankdndigung eine Versammiung der in seiner Rolle verzeichneten stimm-berechtigten Mitglieder zwecks Wahi ilires oder ihrer Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung em, worauf die Sekretiire der einzelnen brtlichen
Geistigen R~ite dem Sekretiirdes Nationalen Geistigen Rates sp~itestens dreis-sig Tage vor dem Zeitpunkt der Tagung die
Namen und Anschriften1. Abs chnitt. Alle Tagungsabgeordneten sind mit relativer Stimmenmelirheit zu w~ih1-en. Mitglieder, die durch Krankheit oder andere unvermeidliche Griinde verhindert sind, an der Wahi persanlich teilzunehmen, haben das Recht, ihre Stimrne brieflich oder telegrafisch in einer Weise abzugeben.
die dem Ortlichen Geistigen Rat geniigt.2. Absehuitt. Alle fur die Tagung em-zusetzenden Abgeordneten miissen als stimmberechtigte Mitglieder der von ihnen vertretenen Bah6hi-Gemeinden eingetragen sein.
3. Abs c/nitt. Die Rechte und Vorrechte der Abgeordneten kannen weder iibertragen noch abgetreten werden.
4. Abschnitt. Die Anerkennung und Einsetzung der Abgeordneten zur National-tagung erfolgt im Nationalen Geistigen Rate.
5. Abs chnitt. Soweit Abgeordnete niclit pers5nlich an der Tagung teilnehmen kan-nen, haben sie das Reclit,
Mitglieder des Na-tionalenGeistigen Rates schriftlich oder telegrafisch zu den vom Nationalen Geisti-gen
Rat festzusetzenden Bedingungenfur undurchfiihrbar oder nicht geraten, so setzt der Nationale Geistige Rat die Mittel und Wege fur die briefliche oder telegrafische Durchfiihrung der GescMfte der National-tagung fest.
7. Abs chnitt. Das auf der National-tagung anwesende vorsitzende, gesch~ifts-fiihrende
Mitglied des NationalertGeistigen Rates ruft die Abgeordneten auf, die darauf zur endgiiltigen Ordnung der Versammiung schreiten, einen Vorsitzenden, Schriftfiihrer und was weiter an Amtern filr die geeignete Fillirung der Gesch~fte der Tagung erfor-derlich ist, withien.
8. Abschnitt. Die Hauptaufgabe der Na � tionaltagung ist die Wahi der neun Mit � glieder zum kommenden Nationalen
Geisti-gen Rate, die Entgegennahmeder Bericlite fiber die finanzielle und sonstige T~itigkeit des ausscheidenden
Nationakn Geistigen RatesTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 337
und Beratung fiber dieim aligemeinen, selbstverstiind-lich in {Ybereinstimmung mit den von Shoghi Effendi ansgedrikkten Grunds~itzen der Bah&'i-Verwaltung, wonach alle Bera-tungen und Handlungen der Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung ausser der Wahi der Mitglieder zum kommenden Nationalen Geistigen Rate nur Ratschhige und Emp � fehiungen zur Beaclitung durch den genann-ten Rat darstellen, w~ihrend die Entscheid-ung in alien Fragen, die die Angelegenheiten der
Bahá'u'lláh in Deutschlandund dster-reich betreffen, ausschuiesslich bei dieser Kbrperschaft liegt.
9. Abschnitt. Die auf der Nationaltag � ung anzunehmende Gesch~ittsordnung wird durch den. Nationalen Geistigen Rat vorbe-reitet, doch kbnnen alle auf die Sache bezfig-lichen Angelegenheiten die von irgend cinem Abgeordneten vorgebraclit werden, auf Antrag, fiber den abzustimmen ist, als Punkt der Tagungsberatungen aufgenommen werden.
10. Abs c/mitt. Die Wahi der Mitglieder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates erfolgt mit relativer Stimmenmelirheit durch die vom ausscheidenden
Nationalen GeistigenRat anerkannten Abgeordneten, d. li. aN ge-wThlt gelten diejenigen neun Personen, die im ersten Wahigang der bei der Tagung an-wesenden Abgeordneten sowie derjenigen Abgeordneten, deren Stimme dem Sekret~ir des
Nationalen GeistigenRates schriftlich oder telegrafisch tibermittelt worden ist, die gr5sste Anzahl Stimmen erhalten haben. Falls infolge Stimmengleicliheit die voile Mitgliedszahl niclit im ersten Wahigang erreicht wird, finden em oder mehrere weitere Wah1g~inge stat, bis samtliche neun Mitglieder gewThlt sind.
11. Abs chnitt. Alle bei der Nationall � tagung ofliziell behandelten Angelegenheiten sind unter die Protokolle des Nationalen Geistigen Rates aufzunehmen und mit die-sen zu bewahren.
12. Abs chnitt. Nach Schiuss der Na-tionaltagung und his zur Einberufung der n~chsten Jalirestagung wirken die Abgeord-neten als zu besonderem Dienste in der Ar-beit fur die Sache beflihigte beratende K~5r-persehaft fort, in jeder Weise bemiiht, zum einheitlichen Geiste mid zu fruchtbringen der T~itigkeit des Nationalen Geistigen Rates wihrend des Jahres beizutragen.
13. Abschnitt. FreigewordeneGeistigen Rates werden mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit seitens der Abgeordneten der Nationaltagung, die den Rat seinerzeit gewThlt haben, neu besetzt, wobei die Wahi in brieflicher oder irgend sonstiger durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat bestimmter Form erfolgt.
ARTIKEL IXGeistigen Rat durch diese Satzung in irgendwelchen, die T~tigkcit und die
Angelegenheiten der Bahá'u'lláhin Deutschland and Osterreich betreffenden Fragen ausschliessliches und hachstrichterliches Spruchrecht sowic you-ziehende Oberhoheit iibertragen ist, gilt dies mit der Weisung, dass alle beziiglich soldier Fragen getroffenen Entscheidungen oder er-folgten Massnahmen in jedem Falle dem Hitter der Sadie oder dem Universalen Hause der Gerechtigkeit zur endgflltigen Priifung und Billigung zu unterbreiten sind.
ARTIKEL Xdurch diese Satzung nicht ausdriickli'ch den brt-lichen Geistigen R~iten iibertragen sind, gel-ten sie als dein Nationalen Geistigen Rate verliehen, wobei dieser Kdrperschaft das Recht zur tYbertragung soldier beliebiger Verrichtungen und Befugnisse zustelit, die zie innerhaib ihres Spruchrechtes als fur artliche Geistige Rlie erforderlich und rat-sam erachtet.
ARTIKEL XIder Bah4'i-Wahlen soil weder der Brauch der Wahlvorschhige noch irgend em sonstiges, eine stille und von Gebeten getragene Wahi beeintr~ichtigendes Wall-verfahren aufkommen, sodass jeder Withier fUr niemanden stimmen soil, als wen ihm Gebet und Uberlegung eingegeben baben.
Zu den hervorragendsten und geheiligt-sten Pilicliren derer, die berufen werden, die Angelegenheiten der Sadie als Mitglieder brtlicher oder nationaler Geistiger Rite auf-zugreif en, zn fflhren und gleichzurichten, gehbrt:
Page 338auf jede nur n-i6gliche Weise das Ver-trauen und die Zuneigung derer zu ge-winnen, denen zu dienen sie das Vorreclit haben; die Meinungen, vorherrschenden Empfindungen und die persbnlicbe titer-zeugung derienigen, deren Wohiergehen zu f6rdern ihre fejerliche Pflicht ist, zu erforschen und sich mit ihnen vertraut zu machen; ihre Erw~igungen und die alige-meine Fiihrung ilirer Angelegenheiten von verschlossener Teilnahmslosigkeit, dent Anschein der Heimlichkeit, dem ersticken-den Dunstkreis diktatorischer Bestim � mungen und von alien Worten und Handlungen zu reinigen, die den Eindruck von Parteilichkeit,
Selbstsucht und Vorur-tedenerwecken kannen, und unter Vorbehalt des geheiligten
Recites Thdgiiltigereinzuladen, Besch-werden nachzugehen, Ratschhige zu begrils-sen und das Gefiihi der gegenseitigen Abh~ingigkeit und Mitbeteiligung, des
Ver �siiindnisses und wecliselseitigen Vertrauens unter sich und alien fibrigen Bahá'í zu pilegen.
ARTIKEL XIIin jeder regelm~issigen oder besonderen Sitzung mit absoluter Stimmen-melirheit erg~inzt werden, vorausgesetzt, dass mindestens vierzehn Tage var dem fur die betreffende
Versamrnlung festgesetzten Zeitpunktan jedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekret~ir mitch Einschreibebriefes versandt wird.
In alien F~iI1en, in denen fiber den durch den Wortlaut ausgedriickten Sinn dieser Treuhandschaftserkliirung und Satzung Un-kiarheit bestcht, ist der englische 'Wortlaut der Declaration of Trust and By Laws der Bahá'í der Vereinigten Staten und Kanadas zu Rate zu ziehen.
Stuttgart, den 10. Februar 1935.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 339
� ~ ~ ~2~$ ~ ~ -~~z&k z&k ~4Y~ ~ A I ,,tA.
�1 d%.~~% ~~'t3~ Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq.
Page 340Am), ~ ~J2 -~-h---Q2'LX:~&iiJJ1 &iiJJ1 .Ifl-~l-1~w~Ai~.
~ VY&j~, l'LA~h.J;J ~L& ~ - -�'~��~.j)) �'~��~.j)) ~y2jZ1 jy~~y ~ � ~A1
Page 341THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 341
~U~L~3Q~ ~ ~ C. ~c~44~ ~c~44~ ~ ~ 1) ~ I 'C}3-~A 4, ~9' ~ ~i~jx~Vv~
A~YW(~C21~U1 '' : 4 � ;~ c4js;~ C)
JA~j~r~A4~ K'~iL~~ (~) ~ (V.) �4~o &A, ~i~ � j&~~ jj1~J~jL~) Y~~? ~ Cv) U~L~J,A
Page 345~ ______ 7~/~ -I I '4~ ~ ~L%~ ~A; � cA~ ~ � ~L-4~J ~ ~ ~L)j~ ' ~q,~'~%q ~ ~4 ~ v~A~k~ dQA-~(C~u I(a~
� ,;'~ ~f~4~; J2?L~f� ~ Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S~idin.
Page 347THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 347
4&d)4P~' 4~'Ah ~4';~~'{ 4 ~ ~~~�%4~4') ~Ji '/ � ~-~d~ ~' A d~dJ,L 4;:f 'Lj~,~ ~C4-~44AP, " )~/)A4t~' L pg
Ltbj~P~1cThe Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Tanta, Egypt, established in April. 1944.
Memhers of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Suh~j, Egypt, established April, 1944.
Page 349Certificate of Incorporation of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.
Page 350THE Trustees, i.e., the Spiritual Assembly, recognize that this action has been taken in full unanimity and agreement. They acknowledge for themselves and on behalf of their successors the sacred meaning and universal purpose of the Bahá'í Faith, the teachings and principles of which fulfill the divine promise of all former revealed religions.
ARTICLE Hin administering the affairs of the Bahá'í Religion under this Corporation for the benefit of the Bahá'ís of in accordance with the religious teachings and administrative principles of this Faith, the Spiritual Assembly shall act in conformity with the functions of a local Spiritual Assembly as defined in the ByLaws adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly and published by that body for the information and guidance of Bahá'ís throaghout the United States and
Canada.The Spiritual Assembly, in the fulfilment of its obligations and responsibilities under this Corporation, shall have exclusive jurisdiction and authority over all the local activities and affairs of the Bahá'í community of ., including paramount authority in the administration of this Corporation. It shall be responsible for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of 41 Bahá'í teaching, whether written or oral, undertaken throughout the local community.
It shall make available the published literature of the Faith. It shall represent the community in its relations to the National Spiritual Assembly, in its relation to the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, to other local Bahá'í communities, and to the general public in � It shall be charged with the recognition of all applicants requesting membership in the local Bahá'í community. It shall pass upon the right of any and all members of the community whose membership is in question to retain their status as voting members of the community. It shall call the meetings of the community, including the Bahá'í Anniversaries and Feasts, the Meetings of consultation, and the annual meeting at which the members of the Assembly are elected.
It shall appoint and supervise all committees of the Baha community. It shall collect and disburse all funds intended for the maintenance of this Corporation.
It shall have full and complete custody of the headquarters or meeting place of the Baha community.
It shall have exclusive authority to conduct Bahá'í marriage ceremonies and issue Bahá'í marriage certificates within the area of its jurisdiction.
It shall report to theannually, or when requested, the membership roll of the Bahá'í community, for the information and approval of the national
Bahá'í body. The SpiritualAssembly, however, shall recognize the authority and right of the National Spirituall Assembly to declare at any time what activities and affairs of the Bahá'í community of are national in scope and hence subject to the jurisdiction of the National Bahá'í body. It shall likewise recognize the right of any member of the community to appeal to the National Spiritual Assembly for review and decision of any matter in which the previous decision of the local Spiritual Assembly is felt by the member to be contrary to the explicit teachings of the Bahá'í Faith or opposed to its best interests.
It shall, on the other hand, have the authority and right to appeal from the decision of the National Assembly to the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith for review and final decision of any matter related to the faith in
ARTICLE IVThe Spiritual Assembly, in administering this Corporation, shall ever bear in mind the ideals upheld in the Sacred Writings of the Bahá'í Faith respecting the relationships of a Spiritual Assembly to its Baha community, respecting the relations of Bahá'ís to one another in the community, and the relationships of Bahá'ís to all non-Bah~'is,
Page 353THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 353
without prejudice of race, creed, class or nationality.
The Assembly shall therefore above all recognize its sacred duty to maintain full and complete unity throughout the Bahá'í community, to relieve and comfort the sick and distressed, to assist the poor and destitute, to protect the orphans, the crippled and the aged, to educate the children of Bahá'ís according to the highest religious and intellectual standards, to compose differences and disagreements among members of the community, to promulgate the principles of Divine Civilization revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, and to promote in every way possible the Bahá'í aim of the oneness of mankind.
It shall faithfully and devotedly uphold the general Bahá'í activities and affairs initiated and sustained by the National
Spiritual Assembly. Itshall cooperate wholeheartedly with other local Spiritual Assemblies throughout North America in all matters declared by the National Spiritual Assembly to be of general Bahá'í importance and concern. It shall rigorously abstain from any action or influence direct or indirect, that savors of intervention on the part of a Bahá'í body in the matters of public politics and civil jurisdiction.
It shall encourage intercourse between the Bahá'í community of and other recognized Bahá'í communities, issuing letters of introduction to Bahá'ís traveling from and passing upon letters of introduction issued by other Bahá'í Assemblies.
It shall regard its authority as a means of rendering service to Bahá'ís and non-Bah?is and not as a source of arbitrary power. While retaining the sacred right of final decision in all matters pertaining to the Bahá'í community, the Spiritual Assembly shall ever seek the advice and consultation of all members of the community, keep the community informed of all its affairs, and invite full and free discussion on the part of the community of all matters affecting the
Faith.The Baha of.. ., for whose benefit this Corporation has been established, shall consist of all persons resident in who are recognized by the Spiritual Assembly as having fulfilled the requirements of voting membership in this local Bahá'í community. To become a voting member of this Bahá'í community a person shall a. Be a resident of as defined by the area of jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly, as provided hereinafter in this instrument.
b. Have attained the age of 21 years.c. Have established to the satisfaction of the Spiritual Assembly, subject to the approval of the National Spiritual Assembly, that he (or she) possesses the qualifications of Bahá'í faith and practice required under the following standard: Full recognition of the Station of the Forerunner (the Mb), the Author (Bahá'u'lláh), and 'Abdu'l-Bahá the Exemplar of the Bahá'í religion; unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed 'by Them; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í sacred Will and Testament; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of Bahá'í administration throughout the world.
ARTICLE VIshall consist of nine Trustees chosen from among the Baha of .,
who shall be elected by these Bahá'ís in a manner hereinafter provided and who shall continue in office for the period of one year, or until their successors shall be elected.
ARTICLE VIIof a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the entire membership of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
ARTICLE VIIIThe first meeting of a newly-elected Assembly shall be called by the member elected to membership by the highest number of votes or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the member selected by lot from among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent Chairman shall be chosen. All subsequent meet
Page 354ings shall be called by the Secretary of the Assembly at the request of the Chairman or, in his absence or incapacity, of the Vice-Chairman, or of any three members of the Assembly; provided however, that the Annual Meeting of the Assembly shall be held on April 21, in accordance with the administrative principles recognized by all Bahá'í
Assemblies.Section 1. Five members of the Assembly present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those present and constituting a quorum shall be sufficient for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these ByLaws, and with due regard to the principle of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institu-non of a Spiritual Assembly. The transactions and decisions of the Assembly shall be recorded at each meeting by the Secretary, who shall have the minutes adopted and approved by the Assembly, and preserve them in the official records of the Assembly.
Section 2. Vacancies in the membership of the Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by election at a special meeting of the local Bahá'í community duly called for that purpose by the Assembly.
In the event that the number of vacancies exceeds four, making a quorum of the Spiritual Assembly impossible, the election shall be under the supervision of the National Spiritual
Assembly.The sphere of jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly, with respect to residential qualification of membership, and voting rights of a believer in the Bahá'í community, shall be the locality included within the civil limits of
ARTICLE XSection 1. In the event that any decision of the Assembly is unacceptable to any member or members of the community, the Assembly shall after endeavoring to compose the difference of opinion invite the said member or members to make appeal to the national Bahá'í body and notify that body of the condition of the matter and the readiness of the Assembly to become party to the appeal.
Section 2. In the same manner, if any difference arises between the Assembly and another local Assembly, or Assemblies, in North
America, the Assemblyshall report the matter to the national Bahá'í body and inform that body of its readiness to make joint appeal together with the other Assembly or
Assemblies.Section 3. If, however, the result of such appeal is unsatisfactory to the Spiritual Assembly, or the Assembly at any time has reason to believe that actions of the National Spiritual Assembly are affecting adversely the welfare and unity of the Bahá'í community of ., it shall, after seeking to compose its difference of opinion with the national body in direct consultation, have the right to make appeal to the Guardian of the
Faith.shall likewise have the right to make complaint to the National Spiritual Assembly in the event that matters of local Bahá'í concern and influence are referred to the national body by a member or members of the local community without previous opportunity for action by the local
Assembly.The Annual Meeting of the Corporation at which its Trustees shall be elected shall be held on April 21, at an hour and place to be fixed by the Assembly, which shall give not less than fifteen days' notice of the meeting to all members of the local Bahá'í community.
Section 1. The Assemblyshall accept those votes transmitted to the Assembly before the election by members who by reason of sickness or other unavoidable reason are unable to be present at the election in person.
Section 2. The election of members to the Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote.
Section 3. All voting members of the local Baha community are eligible for election as members of the Spiritual Assembly.
Section 4. The Assemblyshall prepare an agenda for the Annual Meeting in which shall be included reports of the activities of the Assembly since its election, a financial statement showing all income and expenditure of its fund, reports of its committees
Page 355and presentation of any other matters pertaining to the affairs of the
Baha community. TheAssembly, both preceding and following the annual election, shall invite discussion and welcome suggestions from the community, in order that its plans may reflect the community mind and heart.
Section 5. The result of the election shall be reported by the Spiritual Assembly to the National
Assembly.shall arrange for regular meetings of the Bahá'í community throughout the year at intervals of nineteen days, in accordance with the calendar incorporated in the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith.
ARTICLE XIIIThe seal of the Corporation shall be circular in form, bearing the following description: The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 7 ., Corporate Seal.
ARTICLE XIVThese ByLaws may be amended by majority vote of the Spiritual Assembly at any of its regular or special meetings, provided that at least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each member of the Assembly by the
Secretary.With amendments adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly to March 13, 1945.
Page 356Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Baltimore, Maryland.
Page 357THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 357
C~TIFICKI~X 07 flO~T~OR~IONW0, uxe undorsign*O. ~r~e~ee~ of tM ~pir1ti�a1 Mse4~bi,~ of' t~@ ~aaa~i8 o~ Bir~i~g~am~ ~1a~m&~ ~*fl being of f~U. ago �*~A citizens or ~he U4t~.d Statoa o? A~e~Io~, and residents. of t~t1* St~*~ or A1at8I~a~ 4estri~.8 t~ tQrm ft oor Lien ~rau~nt to b~* 1aw~ of A1abama~ prov~,d1ag tar~ ~. 1nqo~porat~.on ~t Churc~s ~z~4 Soai~t~iea contained in Airtic~ 3,~ of C~pter 7~ S.otio~ia 1Z4 ~ 130, inc1usive~ or Tit~.e 10. ~$ ~z. 004e or Alabaaa ot 1940, 40 ~eroby ~iake ~nd 3ign t~i~ C,Ufio~te a~d certify am ~o3~1owe~ TIRS?: Th~ p~rpos. ~ad:ob~1.~t8 fat.whictx t~e oQrp~~-tioi~ ~ Is forzaed Ia t~ a4 niat~~x ~t~o .Itairs of the Bahá'í aeli;I~#, for ~J~e ben*fit~ of ~ba Ba~1a'i~8 of tM ~t~7 o~ B ing~am. A~abn~, Sai aooord~n0e wit~i tbe ~e1igio~a tea0h�n~ e~ ,4�~iist~at%i. pr1~ � e�p1ea ot ~�iia FaitIi~ SRCOND: Tkze name Qt ~e oOi~j~Or~1O~ is to b.
'~T~!3 S?~ITUAL A8B~LY 0? ?H~ BAR&' I~ 07 RflUIINO~AM, AUBA)~&~'
TH~D: The territ~o?7 �n w~toh its &ot~vit1. ar.. ~ eip&~.3.y to ~@ cozidu*~e4 is ~ ~S~i-gt UIW~�MM* &~id the ooun~ta~ wki4OI~ tile OQ~pOr&tiOn is t~a axarcia. X~ t~iiwt~0no ~.s ~.er.ra*~ Qour~t~y, In tho St&l~. of A1abeiaa~ _________ _______________________________________________________ Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Birmingham, Alabama.
Page 3588~Y3~ The tlae fo~ ~io14kg Its xinwl ua�tiag ~s to be 0* tA. tw.aty-ttz.~ d.~ of Ap~I1 IA ~#h 7~*.
8XVW1~I The oowpor.t4oz~ 5ha11 mar. U~. pow.~ ~o q~4r. an~ hol4 r~aJ~ pwop.aiy e*d p z'so*ia~. pwop.tt.y, to ~eeeW� PZopOWtg by 41t?~ ~ 411 0: 4V~8U, aM hold ~s same Iii ao.tozw~.4
w~th all 1.wftal coMitlosa, a4 to .zgteis. ssoh ot~,r pow.wa u at. AA.IA.at te pw1Y.~e ootp.Pa~tQas.
UZGWXI Th. ahet of ~k. 8~frt~ua~ Aa..~)4 �t t~o ~ t� of ~t. OIt~y et RLwaLabea, Albeg, 4aLilM t. b~
Page 359THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 359
La~@wpQ~.~4, B~ a A.*~J~*4 ~i*1t ot t~. ~tft 4q St June ~44A~, .4opI~4 a o1t~~oa *~4~It~t*~# Left L.a~oa, aM .J*t*4 IN ~ .~ W~7~ W~ as ~ at Th. $pI*k~taa1 A �
A~ 94A~~XA~ll flLk~ IA ~Y~i ~3S~ 1U~ T~I PJ?t 2~t ~4 MIL
Q~Lr AI, it. L II(77Z~, JuAge of ProMte of J.tt�nn Cnatp, ~flna, �0 tzrOy serUfy tnt tti to.lintag Certirint. at In � RQrpofltkOn of '?nw LrItiau4 �.sabLy ot tias Balaa'U of Its � Ltwzsa, AWbantm. s �4. d la ay oflloo ca ~ay or 1944, n4 4'fly r.#ofleG in fl,oor4 or Lnoar*oratioas, Toluat 4/, raa.93c7 & tQrt~vr **flSy Vast Mid oorporatUw, ~bo Cpkfltnl Ase&~biy of tat. 5.aVta c~t BtztJai~hAa~ .4*baqt, tin o4npXist with tie w.qa1r~nats *4 ArttoXe 3, of 2~a;ter 7~ ot TitI. 10, of t~e CoGs at ~1abna, of 1.40, an i ta�s t 4ay orc~x t~e 7 ba~~A ~ X~n~&B (~i~y~ In ~0~4~x~e ~ trie ~eUj~c~us te~on~xxg~ and &~~iY0 Prifl&4p~,A3 ~L ~&�~t 1i~j.Q~a, ~Ud ~ ~a~o~iW w~ ~e fun~r~ ~d & ~o~aa Spi iti&~ 2a~ ~ne La*~ &~Q~ by t~e ~at~fl~1. ~p it~ja.2t A~semb~t~ 0� t~i3 ~oJia4B a~4 p~b:i~ e by tfl ~ 00 y ~ in ~&~io~ and ~u�dane. ~ ~a'�~ ~t~rot~gneut ~ ~fl~te~ 8t~tes ~$ ke~�c~ ~d Can&dp~. ~ p~inc~pate &r~ ~ ~Jiz r~y means p~ 4evet~on&t ~ie 1n~i~, ~y ~ et~g an~1 cOnt~ren~s ~i an �du~tiOfla~i, fl ,n~tLT�S.n ~X~L ~1~UA1 X~1&1'.
i~e ~orp~r~te s.X8�rs ~f~tn�ac~V ~ ~ orait~ ~i&i ~p~r~iua ABse~w1y k~d ~o ~a e1~ted ~ ~u~u ~ar~ner 8~ ~be ~ ~i ~ftC?�t~. z~y � Xawa m~y b~ ~ by tne $p1~i~a1 A~e~1y :~r t~e zr~ in~e~n.a ~emer~'t ox tne cpoz~6~.
~n1g rpQ~&t~tofl ~a4 ~&~e powe? to ~o1d~ p~xona~@ ~i~d ~ ~itIt t~ z0Ua~t&te ax~i p~z'so~aX pr~erty ~y do~i~e, ~1XVor tx etL1~r covey.noe; to. ~ort~age or ~11, ri~v'~t o~ dZ~J~QBo 01 �Zs propeity Qr ~ny p~~t ~ por~or~ tt~reox, w~r ~aJ~ o~ ps~oz~*�, ~ �x~ve ~#er ~o ~ke ~nd a~c~p~ 4~n 2.o~s, ii~ ~naI~t hare powez' to x~t ~ ~,oa*e p~~rtyan~ ~&u n~v~p~we ~ .11 @~ &i~y p&~# of i.4.d p~~xty b.3.d fo? t�~Mr m~e p~ae~ oi~ o~ 1.a.d to be ua4 ~o: ~ta~s o~ porahip or i~ ~ P~XpQa
Page 364V fi �m~ for The P b~trment of' to hutanito* ,and to Ov)':a ~ if huinxity~ w�th9at �mn~ 'ze ,4 ~ltr~y~v~, wt&~ ~'o t our ha '4o \ ' V~nn~ City, Mo,, thRd~y and year Jut ilcre~4, IOWN P. ~SUiThROD Record&r. 13y izffiXtU~2A ~ A-~
Page 366Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Atlanta, Georgia.
Page 367THE, WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 367
GEORGIA, ~UL~OR CQUITY.The Petition of DAV!E~ ~. RUXR~ T)Q~IS ~BL~1I?, K88~X ROBKMSON~ ESTILLE LIND3RY, ~flUIE OWNIIIGHAN, TI~EREM 3MGG.
NAi~GARXT ~U5ES QLGA WDm *14 Ti~JW{ 0, 8MITR V.3PO~fU11T �k~Owaa P.~~oii.ve 4.etre to ob~a~n a ~havt~ew tQr~ a religloua Qorpoi'ation to be kn~,wn ~i
U~ ~P~IXT2AL M$WLY OF T~i~ MKA'XSOV ATLAJTA, GEORGIA, ~#C, t*w a p.?lod o% ~hfrty-t1're (35k y*~s. wt~x the pridlege .1
a~ ~h zp1i~a~fl*n th.w.ot~ aM frm ~ta. te 1~1i'w~ aa Ia now o~ may h.z'.a~Cter be provided b7 l*. Th ~1n.1pa1 .ftl#o of th ~ta~1an~ ahell b 1o,a~.6 In Pultei O.uz~ty~ ~.osg~&.
O~i~1o~ #h41 i~t b *rganIi~ o~ *p.v*~,4 E~ p.,ufl2~a~7 ~ ~ ~id ahall b*~ ~e ~qita1 ateok.
?b. .bJ.sts sn4 pw'pue. t*v whih th. C.@~M4~ Is fomod a~ to a4sjnU~v ~h. affafre of ~he 3aM'~. ~.11g1aa tow t~i bn~t~ t the Jab.' Is at the Vlt7 ,f Aflant&, Q,rg1~, In a.sovdariee with the veXig1.~m ).*h5i~g .ti4 �i~Utatl~$.vo pwlxwlpl.u of tig. P.L~h.
~'h Olp@Pat&OP ghe.11 ha~e ~ ~9 W~*~sV 4os~s-tio~s, , ~nte~ 4.dse~ x4 ~ a~4 shalZ ei4.~y 41 w~gb~. uz~1 pOwewe~ .a~4 be iibJoe~ ~. aW~ 1iuL~&tio~i.. ~t th# ~3.wp.,a~on A.t wg 4h. 5ta~b. .t Qoigla, Qpv#v4 Jznaw7 U.
Page 368~R58, and ~11 Am dm9nt~ tb.v.$~, whto1~ m.~' h�mt~ev ~. .A.PW-ed, , �x@aptlng t~hue wS~t.~ w?t~ aiid 1~ta%1o~s r.~**Siw ~o 4I&p1t~1 s~ok1 aai4 *t~h? ~*t~*s *~0b p.wttaizit ~ Us @i.gan1a~ shafl ha~o ezo1i*.W~ #iitbov�~y t* oon4ti~ DM~ I 5**11*4 �.zemoziiee .nd iau 1~M'~, ~*vz1a. o.r~f1eas.. wi.~h1~
.WOft of 1~u J1Wigi4~1oxx~1k~a umb~sh1p �g a~$4 ~IowpO~~#�a .h42. b* self-)tWPO~Ifttt?~g, , *~i4 ~ha11 b o~u~p~..tI or ~. Zi~ � eM sioh ~th.~s aa said ~iiRo~p7wttor. sh~.1~ � t any t1~ at t~.w *h. oY(ariiz~t5~eu et ~a1A CQ~7oV~%,~r~, 4.QtBnM., e.eov4Xa~g t MW1~ !h. rLghta �~ ay ~b.w 1~ ~i. O.tp*~i .h*U *@~ be ..~1gnab1w ~ ad hit w1~h~s .ha1~. .aa. v1t)~ 3d. d.sth, wat*a~i~t~.n, Ow t0~�n&fl.m~ ot~ w~emb�~h1p fo~ ~y
Gauge.,ot. o* a ia~ .v1~y of tb. m~mbm~ o~ 4h ~o~.pwe~tien~, ~M, �~h.w in f*wm or 1~i eubp~azw~~ �t~~ J~i-La~wi z~ ~bawt.r, s� �t tw.~, ~ r,~ zq v.aa~i~ LPWQV.d by tl~ &fffraat~e ,@t. of � mA4 QWLt7 o*. t~. ,m.inb.aa .f ~. Cowpowa~to~i, a*fl Lild d�epo~e a! any *v all ~t it# aat.te, ~ 4Sae.1v. aM U~Mt.
Its �f!~1ze,THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 369
.9.David S,. ~izh., 644 Y~wgtn1s Ave. N.E.c i~t1ant&, GOOr~A~ Ports Ebb.rt, 1247 ~.11* Av.. 5.W~, A1~1~rt~, G.owSia, J1,4. Rob.w~won5 5Q7 J~M.on Ar.. EE.~, A~1ar~ta~ Q.o~ia, ~14~di~ Ow~ningh.m, 1q62 ~u~1Ld Ar., LE,, Atlanta, ~*eorgia, Th~.s. B~a48 478 Pa~w 8�~ SW., At1antp~1 G.orgla, Na~g&r,t ThAhe1 44 V1r~.*i1a ATe, N.E~, At1a,~t~, GoOrSI&, Olga Finkg, ~247 8.11. Ar�. SW., At~a~ita, Q@wg~a, ~reJ~ 0. Smith, 57~ Ng. Av.. N.E., AtXau~s, G.orgia.
10. K If aM wba~ .t44 Covpor~tIon~ for a~y ~� ~!Isn whate,.r~ abail 114utds~, ot~ o�a~e to tilat as � body oo).po~!St., 0' to tiA~*t1on ma � i*iigio~. ergsni2at1oz~, �th tifl. ~o all P?oP.~t7~ 30107 1141 �tf#ote, @f what.v.w kind ox �hawRot.z~ ~X� .~1.h Cp~xm11ou, att.w 4iu*bmwglng It~s w~ obltg.tiona nd 1I~bili~ie., uhall '.et in RaUona15pS.i.1t~u4 AsSainbl7 *1 the h)~4~'1s .t the Unj~td ~tat.a and. ~*xa4a~ �~u *uoo.unorw. M W3~Z?OY~. ?et�tS.onewg pva~ tQ bin lnipowporat�4 und.w thq nam and s~y1� f@2'.sald, w1th~ R1~ ~2i. p9W.?5,p~!ivi1.(.s al4 lmiti.p h.v.ln set foi.th, N54 a awe nq~ QV may he*#aft�w bo. .llow#4 & Covpor,~t Ian of s1iu11e~z~ character wi44~' tho lawn ~t 001 Ns*a-How.X~. ~14g. A~1.*tk, G.,
Page 370The tor.~oing P.f~1tkn ~f Dayl4 8. Th*h., Doi~Ls ~bb,wt~ ~gst. i'~Ql~GrtS0fl, ~*te11e LiMn~~, Bi~di. Oinm1r~ghaui, ThwOia bragg, Ma~a~.,t Ruh.~ O1gR FJ~k., T.va1~ C~ ~it~ praying that they be i~n~owperat,d wid*r the name arid ityl. of
TUK $flJt1)E~1AL A8K~L)~ OF T~E MM'Z5hAving been pi~a# ed tio ~he Ooiwt~ aiid t~ Rppaw1~g WM~ Appliaat4on Li 1.g1tiua1~.1y within ~he p~aav1.w *~d lnt.n6X.ii .t tha lawe o( ~h�. ~ aM that the n0~ 9* ~h ~zopied C*w � pi'atLon 1. ~ t~. ~an Qf m~iy othz' **is~1i~g oo~pwatSos r.~i.t,re4 on t~b. r~sx.5 of the 80wet37 #f 8~�~#, IT ZS O~tP~P AJ~ ADJUDGED th~ th. App11.atta~ .1
�a�4 P. 1~io,~i.ra ~� ar~4~ M ~ba~ th a*.SA and their au.c..a.rn aM aae~pu, b~ aM th.y tk.w.by m~ ~aM 4 oonst1tut~4 a 2,ady oo~powat. wi4er th. nau. and st4. of
T~K ~?IBI?UAL AS8mNLY OP T~ IAM&' 2~5Tow a period ot thfrty.~tt~. (RI) y~a~ wtth the pst~l~~.~. f r.zi@a1., aM W�th 4~L ~h w1g~~a, pvw., pI.Iirll.g.. *~ S*~wz~it~.a 4Iow.4 ,.wpowaelone b7 ~b laws of thu 8~.t. lLlz 437 1b4.
~b.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 371
~'IJ~IJS .RS A ZDAVZTe I~ of the DA~1Y.~PC1~ ~U~A4~Y, ~ lnwhicb t~ S r5IT'S ~~erti ~0flt~~ tftf~I for ~ ana t~-~t~ tb~re ~ teen ~ with 8~id ~pap~r the ~o~it ~r ~ub2i3hin~ r~ ~ (4) ~n~r~i ~ at ~ A~io~i or ~ ~er, ~ ~ ~ ~AUI~t1z OF AWLM~TA, G1~O1UIA, ~ ~ h~r~on..
J.T~ W~m.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 373
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Dayton, Ohio.
Page 374A.LAR1IcII* OI~ INCOR?O1~AflON FIL&fl MW? ~E ACCOMPAN1W BY FOLLOWJNG
DLSJG~AT1ON OF AWiT.~ ~Cowity~ Ob~o, a ~i.tu~.d pes*~ ~ resident of in.kR cowity. being the county ~ ~'hich the prIm~ipeI offict~ ~ h~ 'is tocat~d, ~s h&eby appointed a* ~h~ perse~ on whom pt.ces., tax notices ~nd ~em~ui. .ga~nat ,aiLTh~ ~ tua1AS3e~~.pI' the ~h~1 ~ Th ~'4r1tw~i 4ss~n~4y ~t ~h ~ha~ ts 1~ ytot~ Ofr~o, / � AL.. ~ .1~
U~('~6 GcntIemes~ I hereby accept the apjoi~tmen# aa the r~preaen~tve of your cornp~y Qp~rn wI~o~i~ p~oce*s, t~ ~otkea. or de~mds ui&ybe ,erv~d.
jut' ~ Sb~e of Ohio,Nra~fly ~ppe.xed b~iore m~, d~e ~nder~ign~d. ~ Notary Public in &~d kr .akt C~ty.
tb~ ueu~ei ~ .~wha adaaowk4~d ~he ugnrng d the 5~rc~omg ~ be hia free a~t s~4 .k~3 br the ~iset and purp~iie~ th~ii~ mentioned.
(p42 I Notary PuUi~ in ~ fa~THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 375
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Denver, Colorado.
Page 376Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Sholapur, India.
Page 377THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 377
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Koihapur, India.
v� Tx � 4C4e~c9 o'~ ~4~ecAnL ~*n4irs O{ t, 'r4&, dvtW *4 a~ A4ico'$*%0t44 tocot. 4iA4Anot ~i~ei~b� o{ tlz Boha'44 o" otteAvh7lq. jiL~a.tcAn~t, tin cU~A '~aq4Mab1. of V~e 404m M'te 41z ,nt-in o{ -iui4etttAn M~ Mm {iAued.~.hatt ~t once i.cn~z tIa ~t4~ $nsanv~$ed 4m *ecA40fl t4eat.j � eAqM. SEC ION 2. Sec4A4E Q4a�-ei4M $ oG~d eM4L-tn tn MmndMd 'md oe.,oqt, ac iwot 4zc6fi4SAj msntd4d ~qj on& hwvi~wd oVxA -4~n $ 41z.
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CeAtwtic6 o{ ~te~*ton, -thc ~m'usoqe. 14 tn Mhe4 M~tCCtC. .~o4u4a. md 44 comtnPwkttd wiSh a 4AM Mt-t$ o{ evthe~ o~ th*, ~ooqn o& ,iq.nisd tMt tbeq h~ Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Page 382U~atz L~ 34t, rK'~o'4' LI %s3W J~iWIc~,JI ~ ~ ~$2I,~uwI;jWyrj !J-y
II I.~ Cy,CSL4JI,CZLOJI, J~~$2BjrUW JIj 0LZtJ%12$ i~5 K, ~ 5Ac2. crtIjJIWL&JJLsW 0� hWL cok~~cJ~5J/Ik,J *J~ oW~ 41 joL s$JI o~&L~iJI ~L~.iI~Jc( Li,. vi JU5� ~ cLW�WL'~J jJ~*~~ ~ r
Page 392, aLl, aLl, cj~ 72Al4z j~Lc.fljje..Lc.a,. ap~~S( rt ~ojL a-Nj ~ cyLj*~~~,c 4L~a.L ijztc...~..
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tSIy re" r~�S2j~~~I J'~Lsj,-er '~WLt4 frjJ~, o!,4~ ~ r&~ LS~J ff~JLrt,X.G!r
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Page 3934~�.~; I. (~) 4 ~3y ~ ~ ~ iA ' L ~ (v~ ~~U-~-'
~ I.JJ~dJ I ~flAOTKREI?~ flANKrUkT AIMAIN fist $6. Cn I), ~w.i MA Govt t.jI. APO ~65.
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APO U~Lrmy?0 ~&ibK yr MAY GJNC~ENt flit it te o.wttTy tt~t ths 3fl1~ART i3alia i rtUgtt~tR a~ntiatty s ben aV by tMa rnadqan~r3 4* r..re~n1 ~ n& to ~l4 retj~t~ns na~tixgS it ~ Cit
~ Ndl 4OLISmt 14 Wnknrstzan.~ �s tb* Ohntm&A~r tine tn4 $~1fltwJ Atwgably et fle ~~%$ 0t tufl is rntoniblt Cer The ixt~nC te~ip1ia* ef tais Sr#nP atd r Its x � rtditt~~. ra r. I Mfr~4 )twv.4tMa? flea (A&nr Of f test.
Permits issued by the American Military Government in Germany authorizing the Bahá'ís to resume activities.
Page 395~ y A.~. ~ ~, ~ 4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ )~ ~ ~AK~4 t ~ j~ ~ J~&94~ ~ JA ii~~ ~g4 ~ ~.b ~~At Deci~ce printed in the Official Gazette in Egypt in connection with the Bahá'í burial ground at Jsrn~'i1iyyih, Egypt.
Page 396~ ��'~~NL*~ V L I ~ .~ ~ A ~n ~ v ~ ~ ~ K K ~
V~JV~ ~ +~Q(~YAAr ~ ~' 4~X1 j ~, ;.~ -(~~i~Id (~~i~Id ~ ~ ~ ~) ~ ~ ~ ~' Y ~ ; ~A;
Page 400Aerial photograph of Bahá'í House of Worship taken by Navy photographer from the Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois � Official Navy Photograph.
Page 401Visible Embodiment of the Universality of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh
FOREWORDMANY discerning minds have testified to the profoundly significant change which has taken place during recent years in the character of popular religious thinking. Religion has developed an entirely new emphasis, more especially for the layman, quite independent of the older sectarian divisions.
Instead of considering that religion is a matter of turning toward an abstract creed, the average religionist today is concerned with the practical applications of religion to the problems of human life. Religion, in brief, after having apparently lost its influence in terms of theology, has been restored more powerfully than ever as a spirit of brotherhood, an impulse toward unity, and an ideal making far a more enlightened civilization throughout the world.
Against this background, the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar stands revealed as the supreme expression of all those modern religious tendencies animated by social ideals which do not repudiate the reality of spiritual experience but seek to transform it into a dynamic striving for unity. The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar when clearly understood, gives the world its most potent agency for applying mystical vision or idealistic aspiration to the service of humanity. It makes visible and concrete those deeper meanings and wider possibilities of religion which could not be realized until the dawn of this universal age.
The term "Mashriqu'l-Adhkar"means literally, ttDawning-place of the praise of God."
To appreciate the signi&ance of this Bahá'í institution, we must lay aside all customary ideas of the churches and cathedrals of the past. The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar fulfills the original intention of religion in each dispensation, before that intention had become altered and veiled by human invention and belief.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkaris a channel releasing spiritual powers for social regenera-don because it fills a different function than that assumed by the sectarian church.
Its essential purpose is to provide a community meeting-place for all who are seeking to worship God, and achieves this purpose by interposing no manmade veils between the worshiper and the Supreme. Thus, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is freely open to people of all Faiths on equal terms, who now realize the universality of Bahá'u'lláh in revealing the oneness of all the Prophets.
Moreover, since the Bahá'í Faith has no professional clergy, the worshiper entering the Temple hears no sermon and takes part in no ritual the emotional effect of which is to establish a separate group consciousness.
Integral with the Temple are its accessory buildings, without which the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar would not be a complete social institution. These buildings are to be devoted to such activities as a school for science, a hospice, a hospital, an asylum for orphans. Here the circle of spiritual experience at last joins, as prayer and worship are allied directly to creative service, eliminating the static subjective elements from religion and laying a foundation for a new and higher type of human association.
HORACB HaLLEY.The Beloved of the Lord and the Handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.
My well-beloved friends: Ever since that remarkable manifestation of Bahá'í solidarity and self-sacrifice which has signalized the proceedings of last year's memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a steady and continuous support of the Plan which can alone ensure, ere the present year draws to its close, the resumption of building operations on our beloved Temple.
Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to forego what may be regarded as the most valuable and sacred possession in the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have set your hearts to achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Bahá'í brother, Ziaoulhh Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh has been already shipped to your shores, with our fondest hope that the proceeds from its sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the American believers already accumulated on the altar of Baha sacrifice.
I have longed ever since to witness such evidences of spontaneous and generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a confidence that has never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in that land.
I need not stress at this moment the high hopes which so startling a display of unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple has already aroused in the breasts of the multitude of our brethren throughout the East. Nor is it I feel necessary to impress upon those who are primarily concerned with its erection the gradual change of outlook which the early prospect of the construc-don of the far-famed Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America has unmistakably occasioned in high places among the hitherto sceptical and indifferent towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh. Neither do I need to expatiate upon the hopes and fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the evening of her life, with deepening shadows caused by failing eyesight and declining strength swiftly gathering about her, yearning to hear as the one remaining solace in her swiftly ebbing life the news of the resumption of work on an Edifice, the glories of which she has, from the lips of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, learned to admire. I cannot surely overrate at the present juncture in the progress of our task the challenging character of these remaining months of the year as a swiftly passing opportunity which it is in our power to seize and utilize, ere it is too late, for the edification of our expectant brethren throughout the East, for the vindication in the eyes of the world at large of the realties of our Faith, and last but not least for the realization of what is the Greatest Holy Leaf's fondest desire.
As I have already intimated in the course of my conversations with visiting pilgrims, so vast and significant an enterprise as the construction of the first Mashriqu'1-Adbk6x of the West should be supported, not by the munificence of a few but by the joint contributions of the entire mass of the convinced followers of the Faith.
It cannot be denied that the emanations of spiritual power and inspiration destined to radiate from the central Edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will to a very large extent depend upon the range and variety of the contributing believers, as well as upon the nature and degree of self-abnegation which their unsolicited offerings will entail. Moreover, we should, I feel, regard it as an axiom and guiding principle of Bahá'í administration that in the conduct of every specific Baha'i
Page 403THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 403
activity, as different from undertakings of a humanitarian, philanthropic, or charitable character, which may in future be conducted under Bahá'í auspices, oniy those who have already identified themselves with the Faith and are regarded as its avowed and unreserved supporters should be invited to join and collaborate.
For apart from the consideration of embarrassing complications which the association of nonbelievers in the financing of institutions of a strictly Bahá'í character may conceivably engender in the administration of the Bahá'í community of the future, it should be remembered that these specific Baha institutions, which should be viewed in the light of Bahá'u'lláh's gifts bestowed upon the world, can best function and most powerfully exert their influence in the world only if reared and maintained solely by the support of those who are fully conscious of, and are unreservedly submissive to, the claims inherent in the Revelation of IBaM'u'IlAh. In cases, however, when a friend or sympathizer of the Faith eagerly insists on a monetary contribution for the promotion of the Faith, such gifts should be accepted and duly acknowledged by the elected representatives of the believers with the express understanding that they would be utilized by them only to reinforce that section of the Bahá'í Fund exclusively devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes. For, as the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh extends in scope and in influence, and the resources of Bahá'í communities correspondingly multiply, it will become increasingly desirable to differentiate between such departments of the Bahá'í treasury as minister to the needs of the world at large, and those that are specifically designed to promote the direct interests of the Faith itself.
From this apparent divorce between Bahá'í and humanitarian activities it must not, however, be inferred that the animating purpose of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh stands at variance with the aims' and objects of the humanitarian and philanthropic institutions of the day. Nay, it should be realized by every judicious promoter of the Faith that at such an early stage in the evolution and crystallization of the Cause such discrimi nating and precautionary measures are inevitable and even necessary if the nascent institutions of the Faith are to emerge triumphant and unimpaired from the present welter of confused and often conflicting interests with which they are surrounded. This note of warning may not be thought inappropriate at a time when, inflamed by a consuming passion to witness the early completion of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar we may not only be apt to acquiesce in the desire of those who, as yet uninitiated into the Cause, are willing to lend financial assistance to its institutions, but may even feel inclined to solicit from them such aid as it is in their power to render. Ours surely is the paramount duty so to acquit ourselves in the discharge of our most sacred task that in the days to come neither the tongue of the slanderer nor the pen of the malevolent may dare to insinuate that so beauteous, so significant an Edifice has been reared by anything short of the unanimous, the exclusive, and the self-sacrificing strivings of the small yet determined body of the convinced supporters of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
How delicate our task, how pressing the responsibility that weighs upon us, who are called upon on one hand to preserve inviolate the integrity and the identity of the regenerating Faith of DaM'-u'lUh, and to vindicate on the other its broad, its humanitarian, its all-embracing principlesi True, we cannot fail to realize at the pres-cut stage of our work the extremely limited number of contributors qualified to lend financial support to such a vast, such an elaborate and costly enterprise. We are fully aware of the many issues and varied Bahá'í activities that are unavoidably held in abeyance pending the successful conclusion of the Plan of Unified Action. We are oniy too conscious of the pressing need of some sort of befitting and concrete embodiment of the spirit animating the Cause that would stand in the heart of the American Continent both as a witness and as a rallying center to the manifold activities of a fast growing Faith.
But spurred by those reflections may we not bestir ourselves and resolve
Page 404as we have never resolved before to hasten by every means in our power the consummation of this all-absorbing yet so meritorious task? I beseech you, dear friends, not to allow considerations of number, or the consciousness of the limitation of our resources, or even the experience of inevitable setbacks which every mighty undertaking is bound to encounter, to blur your vision, to dim your hopes, or to paralyze your efforts in the prosecution of your divinely appointed task.
Neither, do r entreat you, suffer the least deviation into the paths of expediency and compromise to obstruct those channels of vivifying grace that can alone provide the inspiration and strength vital not oniy to the successful conduct of its material construction, but to the fulfillment of its high destiny.
And while we bend our efforts and strain our nerves in a feverish pursuit to provide the necessary means for the speedy construction of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhk~r, may we not pause for a moment to examine those statements which set forth the purpose as well as the functions of this symbolical yet so spiritually potent Edifice? It will be readily admitted that at a time when the tenets of a Faith, not yet fully emerged from the fires of repression, are as yet improperly defined and imperfectly understood, the utmost caution should be exercised in revealing the true nature of those institutions which are indissolubly associated with its name.
Without attempting an exhaustive survey of the distinguishing features and purpose of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar I should feel content at the present time to draw your attention to what I regard as certain misleading statements that have found currency in various quarters, and which may lead gradually to a grave misapprehension of the true purpose and essential character of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
It should be borne in mind that the central Edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar round which in the fullness of time shall cluster such institutions of social service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant, should be regarded apart from these Dependencies, as a House solely designed and entirely dedicated to the worship of God in accordance with the few yet definitely prescribed principles established by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kidb-i-Aqdas.
It should not be inferred, however, from this general statement that the interior of the central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration of religious services conducted along lines associated with the traditional procedure obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues, and other temples of worship. Its various avenues of approach, all converging towards the central Hall beneath its dome, will not serve as admittance to those sectarian adherents of rigid formulz and manmade creeds, each bent, according to his way, to observe his rites, recite his prayers, p~rform his ablutions, and display the particular symbols of his faith within separately defined sections of Bahá'u'lláh's
Universal House of Worship.Far from the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar offering such a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian observances and rites, a condition wholly incompatible with the provisions of the Aqdas and irreconcilable with the spirit it inculcates, the central House of Bahá'í worship, enshrined within the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will gather within its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual atmosphere, oniy those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshippers of the one true God, as manifested in this age in the Person of Bahá'u'lláh. To them will the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Bahá'í Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but progressive. Theirs will be the Conviction that an all-loving and ever-watchful Father Who, in the past, and at various stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His Message and the Manifestations of His Light to mankind, cannot at this critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which
Page 405THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 405
neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having recognized in Bahá'u'lláh the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of His House, and congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creed, to render homage to the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth, and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and Prophets Who, from time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in varying measure, mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of heavenly Guidance.
But however inspiring the conception of Bahá'í worship, as witnessed in the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it cannot be regarded as the sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as designed by Bahá'u'lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the
Bahá'í community. Divorcedfrom the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Bahá'íworship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meager and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshipper.
It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshipper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to facilitate and promote.
Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá'í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu'1-Aclhk6r, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá'í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the potency, of the unique position of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as one of the outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá'u'lláh.
Dearly-beloved friends!May we not as the trustees of so priceless a heritage, arise to fulfill our high destiny?
Haifa, Palestine.B~ ARCHDEACON TOWNSHEND, M. A. ON the lake shore at Wilmette stands the completed Temple of Praise, a sign of the Spirit of the Most Great Peace and of the Splendor of God that has come down to dwell among men.
The walls of the Temple are transparent, made of an open tracery cut as in sculptured stone, and lined with glass.
All imaginable symbols of light are woven together into the pattern, the lights of the sun and the moon and the constellations, the lights of the spiritual heavens unfolded by the great Revealers of today and yesterday, the Cross in various forms, the Crescent and the nine pointed Star (emblem of the Bahá'í Faith). No darkness invades the Temple at any time; by day it is lighted by the sun whose rays flood in from every side through the exquisitely perforated walls, and by night it is artificially illuminated and its ornamented shape is etched with light against the dark. From whatever side the visitor approaches, the aspiring form of the Temple appears as the spirit of adoration; and seen from the air above it has the likeness of a Nine-Pointed Star come down from heaven to find its resting place on the earth.
G. Townshendsignificant has been the erection of the superstructure and the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the first Masliri-qu'1-Adhk4r of the West, the noblest of the exploits which have immortalized the services of the American Bahá'í community to the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.Consummated through the agency of an efficiently functioning and newly established Administrative Order, this enterprise has itself immensely enhanced the prestige, consolidated the strength and expanded the subsidiary institutions of the community that made its building possible.
Conceived forty-one years ago; originating with the petition spontaneously addressed, dressed, in March 1903 to 'Abdu'l-Bahá by the
"House of Spirituality"of the Bahá'ís of Chicago � the first Bahá'í center established in the 'Western world � the members of which, inspired by the example set by the builders of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Ishqabad, had appealed for permission to construct a similar Temple in America; blessed by His approval and high commendation in a Tablet revealed by Him in June of that same year; launched by the delegates of various American Assemblies, assembled in Chicago in November, 1907, for the purpose of choosing the site of the Temple; established on a national basis through a religious corporation known as the ccBah6?i Temple Unity,"
Page 407THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 407
Members of Bahá'í Temple Guides Committee and guides, October, 1944.
which was incorporated shortly after the firstheld in that same city in March, 1909; honored through the dedication ceremony presided over by !Abdu'l-Bahá Himself when visiting that site in May, 1912,~this enterprise � the crowning achievement of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the first Bahá'í century � had, ever since that memorable occasion, been progressing intermittently until the time when the foundations of that Order having been firmly laid in the North American continent the American Bahá'í community was in a position to utilize the instruments which it had forged for the efficient prosecution of its task.
At the 1914 American Baha'iConvention the purchase of the Temple property was completed. The 1920 Convention, held in New York, having been previously directed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to select the design of that Temple, chose from among a number of designs competitively submitted to it that of Louis J. Bourgeois, a French-Canadian architect, a selection that was later confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself. The contracts for the sinking of the nine great caissons supporting the central portion of the building, extending to rock at a depth of 120 feet below the ground level, and for the construction of the basement structure, were successively awarded in December, 1920 and August, 1921. In August, 1930, in spite of the prevailing economic crisis, and during a period of unemployment unparalleled in American history, another contract, with twenty-four additional sub-con-tracts, for the erection of the superstructure was placed, and the work completed by May 1, 1931, on which day the first devotional service in the new structure was celebrated, coinciding with the 19th anniversary of the dedication of the grounds by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The ornamentation of the dome was started in June, 1932 and finished in January, 1934. The ornamentation of the clerestory was completed in 1935, and that of the gallery unit below it in November, 1938.
The mainstory ornamentation was, despite the outbreak of the present war, undertaken in April, 1940, and completed in July, 1942; whilst the eighteen circular steps were placed in position by December, 1942, seventeen months in advance of the centenary celebration of the Faith, by which time the exterior of the Temple was scheduled to be finished, and forty years after the petition
Page 408of the Chicago believers had been submitted to and granted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
This unique edifice, the first fruit of a slowly maturing Administrative Order, the noblest structure reared in the first Bahá'í century, and the symbol and precursor of a future world civilization, is situated in the heart of the North American continent, on the western shore of Lake Michigan, and is surrounded by its own grounds comprising a little less than seven acres. It has been financed, at cost of over a million dollars, by the American Bahá'í community, assisted at times by voluntary contributions of recognized believers in East and West, of Christian, of Muslim, of Jewish, of Zoroastrian, of Hindu and Buddhist extraction. It has been associated, in its initial phase, with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and in the concluding stages of its construction with the memory of the Greatest
Holy Leaf, the PurestThe structure itself is a pure white nonagonal building, of original and unique design, rising from a flight, of white stairs encircling its base; and surmounted by a majestic and beautifully proportioned dome, bearing nine tapering symmetrically placed ribs of decorative as well as structural significance, which soar to its apex and finally merge into a common unit pointing skyward. Its framework is constructed of structural steel enclosed in concrete, the material of its ornamentation consisting of a combination of crystalline quartz, opaque quartz and white Portland cement, producing a composition clear in texture, hard and enduring as stone, impervious to the elements, and cast into a design as delicate as lace. It soars 191 feet from the floor of its basement to the cui-mination of the ribs, clasping the hemispherical dome which is forty-nine feet high, with an external diameter of ninety feet, and one-third of the surface of which is perforated to admit light during the day and emit light at night. It is buttressed by pylons forty-five feet in height, and bears above its nine entrances, one of which faces 'Akka, nine selected quotations from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as the Greatest Name in the center of each of the arches over its doors. It is consecrated exclusively to worship, devoid of all ceremony and ritual, is provided with an auditorium which can seat 1600 people, and is to be supplemented by accessory institutions of social service to be established in its vicinity, such as an orphanage, a hospital, a dispensary, for the poor, a home for the incapacitated, a hostel for travelers and a college for the study of arts and sciences.
It had already, long before its construction, evoked, and is now increasingly evoking, though its interior ornamentation is as yet unbegun, such interest and comment, in the public press, in technical journals and in magazines, of both the United States and other countries, as to justify the hopes and expectations entertained for it by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Its model exhibited at Art centers, galleries, state fairs and national expositions � among which may be mentioned the Century of Progress Exhibition, held in Chicago in 1933, where no less than ten thousand people, passing through the Hall of Religions, must have viewed it every day � its replica forming a part of the permanent exhibit of the Museum of
Science and Industryin Chicago; its doors now thronged by visitors from far and near, whose number, during the period from June, 1932 to October, 1941 has exceeded 130,000 people, representing almost every country in the world, this great cisilent Teacher" of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, it may be confidently asserted, has contributed to the diffusion of the knowledge of His Faith and teachings m a measure which no other single agency, operating within the framework of its Administrative Order, has ever remotely approached.
rrwhen the foundation of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is laid in America," 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself has predicted, ~~and that Divine Edifice is completed, a most wonderful and thrilling motion will appear in the' world of existence From that froint of light the spirit of teaching, spreading the Cause of God and promoting the teachings of God, will permeate to all parts of the world." C tQuf of this Mashriqu'l-Adhkar," He has affirmed in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, without doubt, thousands of Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's will be born." ~It marks," He, furthermore, has written, rrthe inception of the Kingdom of God on earth." And again: ~it is the manifest Standard waving in the
Page 409The Bahá'í House of Worship. Reprinted from the Chicago Sunday Tribune, January 6, 1946.
Page 410!rThousa,sds of Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's" He, when dedicating the grounds of the Temple, declared, � will be built in the East and in the West, but this, being the first erected in the Occident, has great importance." reThis organization of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar" He, referring to that edifice, has moreover stated, ~will be a model for the coming centuries, and will hold the station of the mother."
"Its inception," the Architect of the Temple has himself testified, "was not from man, for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, so the Temple's architect, through all his years of labor, was ever conscious that Bahá'u'lláh was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory."
ttlnto this new design," be, furthermore, has written, tC is woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá'í teaching of unity � the unity of all religions of all mankind, There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, and circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all the religions into one." And again: ttA circle of steps, eighteen in all, will surround the structure on the outside, and lead to the auditorium floor. These eighteen steps represent the eighteen first disciples of the Báb, and the door to which they lead stands for the Báb Himself."
"As the essence of the pure original teachings of the historic religions was the same in the Bahá'í Temple is used a composite architecture, expressing the essence in the line of each of the great architectural styles, harmonizing them into one whole."
cdt is the first new idea in architecture since the 13th century," declared a distinguished architect, H. Van Buren Magonigle, President of the Architectural League, after gazing upon a plaster model of the Temple on exhibition in the Engineering Societies Building in New York, in June 1920. "The Architect," he, moreover, has stated, tthas conceived a Temple of Light in which structure, as usually understood, is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream. It is a lacy envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light � light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing of faery."
C(J~ the geometric forms of the ornamentation," a writer in the wellknown publication Architectural Record has written, ttcovering the columns and surrounding windows and doors of the Temple, one deciphers all the religious symbols of the world. Here are the swastika, the circle, the cross, the triangle, the double triangle or six pointed star (Solomon's seal) � but more than this � the noble symbol of the spiritual orb the five pointed star; the Greek Cross, the Roman cross, and supreme above all, the wonderful nine pointed star, figured in the structure of the Temple itself, and appearing again and again in its ornamentation as significant of the spiritual glory in the world today."
"The greatest creation since the Gothic period," is the testimony of George Grey Barnard, one of the most widely-known sculptors in the United States of America, "and the most beautiful I have ever seen."
(clvInTh is a new creation," Prof. Luigi Quaglino, ex-professor of Architecture from Turin declared, after viewing the model, "which will revolutionize architecture in the world, and it is the most beautiful I have ever seen. Without doubt it will have a lasting page in history. It is a revelation from another world."
"Americans," wrote SherwinCody, in the magazine section of the New York Times, of the model of the Temple, when exhibited in the Kevorkian Gallery in New York, !cwill have to pause long enough to find that an artist has wrought into this building the conception of a Religious League of Nations." And lastly, this tribute paid to the features of, and the ideals embodied in, this Temple � the most sacred House of Worship in the Bahá'í world, whether of the present or of the future � by Dr. Rexford New-comb, Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois:
CCThis 'Temple of Light'opens upon the terrain of human experience nine great doorways which beckon men and women of every race and clime, of every faith and convic
Page 411THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 411
tion, of every condition of freedom or servitude to enter here into a recognition of that kinship and brotherhood without which the modern world will be able to make little further progress The dome, pointed in form, aiming as assuredly as did the aspiring lines of the medieval cathedrals tdward
THE STORY OF UNIQUEhigher and better things, achieves not only through its symbolism but also through its structural propriety and sheer loveliness of form, a beauty not matched by any domical structure since the construction of Michelangelo's dome on the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome."
THE BAHÁ'ÍS AND THEIR TEMPLEReprinted from the Chicago Sunday Tribune, June 17, 1945 A Tribune color studio photo of the Bahá'í temple of worship at Wilmette, Ill. taken at night under the illumination of artificial lights, appears on rage one of the Picture Section of this issue of The
Tribune.A GREAT white dome of sugary delicacy lifts into the sky above Wilmette, ILL Like the beautiful Taj Mahal, it is oriental in feeling and yet classical in its unique nine-sided base, and of a serene, cosmopolitan majesty.
It is the Baha temple of worship.Perhaps you have seen it while driving northward from Chicago up the shore of Lake Michigan. Perhaps you have wondered what it means � who built it, and why.
The truth is an amazing story. The temple is in appreciable part a gift from the people of Persia.
Much has been heard of American charity toward the east, but who ever heard of the east sending money to the west?
The story really begins in far-off Persia in the year 1844, when a new messiah was announced to a bewildered and unbelieving world.
His name was Bahá'u'lláh � meaning "theBahá'u'lláh's life was like those of earlier prophets in many ways. Not oniy did he suffer long persecution, which seemed to stimulate his spirit, but his coming was heralded by a precursor, who has been compared with
John the Baptist.The forerunner was a direct descendant of Mohammed and called himself the Bib (the Gate). At the age of 2i, in 1844, he suddenly felt a divine command upon him. He spread the news, and 18 disciples who had Ioined him were sent by him to different parts of ,Per.sia and Turkestan to proclaim thc imminent appearance of the new messiah. The Báb himself went to Mecca, where he proclaimed the new faith to the Mohammedan kader, who rejected the BTh's authority, symbolizing the turning of Islam's back on the new religion.
As the years went on the alarm and hatred in the hearts of the orthodox and of government officials caused more and more ruthless suppression of the Mb and his disciples. Houses of the BTh's many believers were pillaged and destroyed.
Women were seized and carried off and thousands of believers were put to death. Many were beheaded, hanged, blown from the mouths of cannon, burned, or chopped to pieces. And yet the response to the Bib's teachings increased.
Finally on July 9, 1850, the Bib himself, then 31, fell a victim to the fanatical fury of his persecutors. At the time of this martyrdom Mirza Husayn 'Au was well known as one of the most fearless exponents of the new faith. He came of a wealthy and distinguished family in the capital city, Teheran, and he possessed an almost unbelievable power of attraction which was felt by all who knew him. His face had a look of profound wisdom, and even at the age of 13 he had often been known to discuss intricate religious questions in large gatherings in such a way as to hold his listeners in awed silence.
After suffering a severe imprisonment in a dungeon because of his unorthodox convictions, and once the torture of the bastinado � caning on the soles of the feet � Mirza Musayn 'Au had a dream in which a voice told him he was to be the great prophet announced by the Báb and thru '*hom the
Page 412and began to teach all who came to him about the new faith. After being exiled to Mesopotamia by the shah he spent two years in lonely meditation in the wilderness. Later he was sent to Turkey, and from there to 'Akka in the Holy Land, thus fulfilling in 1868, believe his followers, a prophecy made in both the Old and New Testaments.
During all this time Bahá'u'lláh wrote and taught with astounding wisdom and with a factual knowledge far beyond his apparent education and which his disciples attributed to his being the direct mouthpiece of God. His understanding of things in the western world, totally alien to his surroundings, was amazing, and he wrote a series of letters to the principal crowned heads of Europe, the pope, the $li&h of Persia, and the President of the United States, announcing his divine mission and calling on them to help establish true religion, just government, and international peace.
Bahá'u'lláh taught evolution, equal rights for women, prohibition of intoxicating liquors, free universal education, the abolition of begging, and government relief for the poor. And, adapting Christian principles to modern conditions, he strongly advocated the uniting of people of all races, religions, nationalities, classes, languages, and customs into a peaceful, harmonious world community.
After he died in 1892 at the age of 75 his son and successor, 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Servant of Bah&), became by his will the interpreter and exemplar of the faith.
In the years since Bahá'u'lláh died his faith has been spreading siowiy but steadily � much in the manner of Christianity in its first century. In the early days of the new religion "many thousands" of the believers perished as martyrs. Today the Bahá'ís number nearly a million in Persia.
In Turkestan, in America, in India and Burma they are to be counted by the thousand, while in France, Switzerland, Italy, and even in Germany they are reported to have centers and to be making headway.
Chicago, centrally situated and from which the Columbian exposition in 1893 launched the new faith in the new world, was Logically chosen as the site of the first American Baha house of worship.
And so the devoted Bahá'ís all over the world � most of them in Persia (Iran) � chipped in, and that is where the great white temple in Wilmette came from.
When the temple with its surroundings at Wilmette is completed it will include a hospital and dispensary, a school for orphan children, a hospice, a college for higher scientific education, and beautiful gardens and fountains between the outlying buildings and the temple.
There is no classical term of architecture to describe the temple.
It is unique among structures, aitho in it one may recognize characteristics of widely separated lands and civilizations.
In the delicate tracery of its ornamental exterior, viewed as a whole and not closely analyzed, and in certain of its arches, the oriental influence may be observed. In the outline of the great windows of its gallery is a suggestion of the Gothic. Students of architecture have identified in the design touches of Egyptian, Greek, Romanesque, Arabic, Gothic, renaissance, and modern.
Land for the project was acquired between 1908 and 1912. Actual work began in 191 8 with the sinking of nine great steel and concrete caissons reaching 120 feet to bedrock.
The number nine, beginning with the caissons, has been repeated thruout the imposing nonagon from the base to the apex of the ribs of its vast dome.
With caissons and foundation structure completed, it was necessary to suspend operations while funds were collected for the superstructure.
In April, 1931, the superstructure was finished. In 1935 the clerestory (windowed point directly beneath the dome) was completed, and in 1937 and 1938 final touches were given to the gallery section.
Since 1938 the nine pylons and nine faces of the main story have been finished.
Before construction was stopped for the war's duration in 1942, circular steps leading to the nine outside doors were corn pleted � the last exterior work remaining. Four or five years of work remain to be done on the interior.
The completion of the exTHE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 413
tenor ornamentation by May, 1944, the Baha centenary, was one of the three tasks undertaken by American believers in 1937. The other two � also successfully carried out � were the formation of a Bahá'í assembly in each state and Canadian province, and establishment of Bahá'í groups in every South and Central American country.
Including $40,000 for the steps, about $1,500,000 has been spent on the temple. Major items included: Land, $125,000; caissons, $200,000; superstructure, $400,000; external decorations for the dome, $170,000; gallery section, $125,000; grading, $1 5,000; tunnels and areaways, $10,000 and first floor ornamentation, $175,000. Construction has proceeded as money became available; the faith does not approve of mortgages.
The temple's diameter is 202 feet to the outside of the stairs. The interior diameter is 153 feet.
It is 135 feet from the main floor to the ceiling of the dome, which itself has an interior diameter of 75 feet. The dome has outer and inner shells of glass, supports of steel and aluminum, and outer ornamentation � four layers in all.
There is a story connected with the external ornamentation.
Designs were prepared by Architect Louis Bourgeois, who spent 20 years on plans for the temple.
(He died at Wilmette Aug. 19, 1930, at the age of 74, without having seen the building rise above its foundation.) But there was no practical method of executing the designs satisfactorily except at prohibitive cost. Made of metal, the ornaments would have needed upkeep thru the centuries to prevent possible corrosion. Carved of stone � an excessively costly process � they would have lacked the desired flowing lines.
John J. Earley, an architectural sculptor of Washington, D. C., was called upon when the problem appeared insoluble. A master craftsman, Earley had collaborated with Lorado Taft, late Chicago sculptor, on the Fountain of Time which stands at the Midway entrance to Washington park on Chicago's south side. His other achievements included a reproduction of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tenn.; beautiful buildings of the University of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, the Church of the Sacred Heart in Washington, and the Thomas A. Edison memorial tower at Menlo Park, N. J. Earley made it possible, with a cement method, to carry out the designs.
Translating the Bourgeoisplans into curved surfaces and giving them depth, he produced clay models from which plaster molds were made.
Into the molds was poured a mixture of white cement and ground quartz. Hardening around a core of reinforcing steel, each casting was cured and then polished by hand. Some of these decorative units were as long as 2 5 feet. They emerged with more delicate lines than carved stone and are stronger than any natural stone except the hardest types of granite.
The Báb4'is plan eventually to construct a house of worship in every city, to symbolize their conception of the universality of true faith. The Bahá'í community includes representatives of all races, classes, nationalities, and creeds.
A NEW ttTAJ MAHAL"ANOTHER adventure in beauty with white cement is the remarkable Bahá'í Tem-pie on the shore of Lake Michigan at Wil-mette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The concrete superstructure of the building is covered with precast lace-like Architectural Concrete Slabs made with glistening quartz aggregates set off in a matrix of Atlas White cement and reinforced with steel. Although lace-like in style, the strength is adequate, and the large dome is relatively thinner than an eggshell. This building, the outgrowth of a movement for a temple inaugurated in 1903, was designed by the late Louis Bourgeois, of Wilmette, formerly of West Englewood, N. J. Construction began in the latter year and was resumed in 1929 after a lapse in the Twenties.
The Architectural ConcreteSlabs were executed by Mr. Earley. The estimate for doing the job in concrete was one-tenth that of the estimated cost in natural stone.
Page 414The dome of the temple, finished in 1934, was described in the Chicago Tribune, as the seventh largest in the world.
It comes after the Pantheon in Rome, St. Peter's in Rome, Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Santa Sophia in Constantinople, St. Paul's in London, and the United States Capitol in Washington.
The Bahá'í dome is 93 feet in diameter, which is three feet less than that of the rotunda in Washington. It is one foot larger than that of the Invalides in Paris, where Napoleon Bonaparte lies.
The external decoration of the remainder of the building has now been completed. This work, although differing in design and significance, is kindred in its white serenity to the Taj Mahal at Agra, India, often called the "world's most beautiful building."
From reTI5e Magic Powder"THE design and construction of the Bahá'í Temple conveys an impression of deep and sincere religious conviction. Like the Dome of the Rock in the Mosque court at Jerusalem, on the site of Abraham's sacrifice and the Temple of Solomon; like the pillared holy places of Egypt, Greece and Rome; like
Amiens and St. Peter'sand even resembling the solidity of Moses' mountain, it signifies the Divine aspirations of mankind.
Here rich symbolic elements of fine and staunch material have been skillfully interwoven to form an impressive mass which unmistakably tells the Bahá'í story in terms of Architecture.
Accomplishment of this end was the dominant task of Louis J. Bourgeois, the Architect. And he met it well, as one performing a prolonged act of faith.
So expressive is the structure that this observer has been largely able to derive from it his limited understanding of the philosophical and religious background from which it emerged. It affords striking example of effective cooperation of those who build with those for whom they build. Some tC11~~ has indeed been cast over the enterprise.
A definite program, so essential in any building process, was presented, comprehended, and is in process of realization in a manner not often seen in this age of overnight construction "miracles."
The program is broad, fresh and vital � and so is its architectural answer.
But what of the needs stated in this program?edifices in the most beautiful manner possible"; the Guardian said that around the central edifice, C C~sha11 cluster � institutions of social service," and, "higher scientific education", but "the central building will be devoted solely � to prayer and worship", that it, "must have nine si&s, doors, fountains, paths, gateways, columns, and gardens " � "with the ground floor, galleries and domes."
And finally, cCThus science will be the handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual gifts on all humanity."
Such are the bare outlines of a noble architectural program.
During forty years, so much of it has been accomplished in a planned and orderly fashion, as to leave little doubt but that in good time, the complete vision will be actualized. By 1944, as required, the fabric has been erected and the exterior finished as well.
The manner of doing has called forth admiration on every side. Without world wide support and sacrifice this would not have been possible � many, like the humble shopman in distant India who gave his sleeping mat, have contributed in free will fashion.
Hundreds of minds and hands have been utilized in the building of the Temple � Architects', Engineers', Builders', Sculptors', skilled
Craftsmen's and Labourers'.Last but not least the members of the Faith itself, acting through their democratically constituted Executive Committee should be mentioned, numbering five thousand active workers in North America alone. Each has
Page 415THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 415
Mr. Earl H. Reed, guest speaker on May 19, 1944, for the Centenary program dedicated to the "Universal House of 'Worship." Mr. Reed's address was entitled "The Architect's
Design."had a share in developing this important regional home of a universal religious concept.
By 1909 the Wilmette site had been purchased. It is admirably suited to effective carrying out of the central portion of the program. Free views are afforded of the nine sided structure from many directions and it is displayed to full advantage. Processes of architectural planning have been adequate to produce a satisfying mass and at the same time a functional result.
The first floor was wisely raised high above Lake Michigan and adjoining streets so that the dome, soaring one hundred sixty-one feet above it, becomes a landmark of great distinction, dominating the region.
This also made possible the securing of extensive floor areas in the ground floor for auditorium, radiating alcoves and utilities, without destroying the simple and powerful effect of the domed Hall of Worship. Technological advances in ventilation, air conditioning and lighting have greatly extended the potentialities for use of this subterranean space.
This observer well remembers first seeing, about 1920, the large plaster model of the Temple which had been prepared to present the architect's conception.
Like many fellow architects he was struck by the origi
Page 416nality of the design and the bold beauty of the dome. A fine design inevitably undergoes processes of modification and refinement during its developmental stages. The Temple was no exception. The thinning down of its girth at the behest of 'Abdu'l-Bahá was an act of technical intelligence, which at one stroke assured a soaring grace to the structure, eliminated unneeded space and reduced costs of construction to a practicable basis.
The same doubts assailed this observer as many others regarding the novel axial relationship of the inviting segmented entrances with the central mass behind � for passage to the Hall of Worship is effected directly toward and through each of the nine, four pointed bases, of the superstructure supports.
But rigid technical investigation and the judgment of passing time have confirmed the correctness of this disposition of the encircling entrance vestibule mass. Through it the edifice gains a most unusual quality of aliveness.
He remarked year by year, the successive steps of construction � the sinking of the caisson wells to bedrock in 1921, the completion of the fort-like lower portion containing the auditorium, and then of upper portions and the galleries. Finally the dome itself was raised and received its distinguished ornamentation.
Not until recently did close examination reveal to this observer that the best known building methods and materials had been applied to assure long life and continued comeliness to this unique structure.
In common with other religious buildings, Bahá'í Temple includes in its composition many symbolisms. Intertwined curved forms signifying cosmic unity; the out-giving meanings of the many fine sculptured pierced openings; sides numbered to the greatest digit for nine world religions and eighteen encircling steps; inwrought swastika, cross, crescent and star; carved utterances such as ttThc earth is but one country and mankind its citizens." Diverse motives of historic styles have been employed. High flung, above all, are the pointed segmental ribs of the dome, lending spiritual character to the whole in a fashion heretofore untried.
A beautiful design ignobly executed would have constituted a negation of the principles underlying the Ba1A'i Faith. But the Temple structure, a work of the late Major H. J. Burt, was skillfully and solidly designed in harmony with the architect's intent. The Hall of Worship, though incomplete, is already impressive with its exposed, rhythmical, concrete members. Such stark structure is much admired by moderns today.
Yet the practical policies adopted for the Temple, require that it be clothed in richer material to bring human scale to its vast volume and an atmosphere of divine worship through subtly controlled lighting, modulated space enclosure, and color.
The architectural committee, of which Mr. Allen B. McDaniel has long been a member, made a most fortunate move when it chose for the exterior, the brilliant white, cast-concrete product, of the Earley Studio. How its quartz aggregate was developed and the steps of its modelling, casting and ingenious attachment to the structure were worked out form a fascinating chapter of the history of the building of the Temple. This observer is not aware of the existence of a finer example of cast-concrete application than the present one. By way of appraisal, one has only to examine the perfection of the encircling steps, each laid onehalf inch from the next for drainage, and allowance for expansion, as are all other cast sections. In the dome they are ten feet square in places, carefully reinforced with steel, here as everywhere else, and they weigh up to three and onehalf tons. As completion stages are entered upon, many complex problems of material selection will be encountered � may the committee be equally successful with these.
In the not too distant future, judging from the astonishing growth rate of membership in the Faith, numerous other architectural problems of more general nature must also be met and solved.
For instance that of a landscape setting in order to merge the monumental domed mass of the Temple into its small scale suburban location; the arranging of entrance approaches and most important of all, the location and disposition of social service and educational elements in completion of the ensemble. That decisions in these matters will be wisely made as to order and method, also seems certain.
Page 417THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 417
View of Illumined House of Worship, Front Cover Design Wilinette Life, May 18, 1944.
Page 418No attempt has or will be made here to attach a label of historic style to Bahá'í Temple. It is vital and universal in spirit, befittingly Oriental in its intricacy of treatment, and the dome ornament is vigorously modern.
A modest statement by the architect contains this passage, t~th structural lines which originated in the faith of all religions are the same but so covered over are they with decoration picturing creed upon creed and superstition after superstition, that we must needs lay them aside and create a new form of ornament." Thus did be succeed in weaving into the Temple a notable expression of "unity of all religious mankind," creating thereby a monument to universal peace among men.
Louis J. Bourgeois passed away just before the starting of the work on the superstructure in 1930. He had completed his design, including fullsized drawings of remarkable accuracy, we are told. Some reached a length of one hundred nine feet and involved tremendous effort. From his studio home on Lake Michigan, just east of the Temple, he had hoped to enjoy the supreme satisfaction of an architect � that of viewing day by day, the progressive realization of his architectural dreams.
French Canadian by birth and trained in Paris, he had assisted Louis II. Sullivan, the Chicago master, and other architects, erected churches in Canada, and participated in the Hague Peace Palace competition during an active professional life. He was a member of the Bahá'í Faith and the design of the Temple was his culminating work.
In its interest and in order to consult with the Leader of the Faith, he made a pilgrimage to Palestine where he left some original drawings.
His vivid spirit lives on within these walls which he never saw. A fellow architect feels it a privilege to pay Louis J. Bourgeois tribute on the occasion of the Centenary of the Baha Faith which he served so well.
Address delivered on the program of the Bahá'í Centenary, May 1925, 1944.
THE BAHÁ'Í TEMPLEON the shores of Lake Michigan in the beautiful suburb of Wilmette, 14 miles north of Chicago, stands one of the most imposing and unusual edifices in America. This is the Bahá'í House of Worship, better known as Bahá'í Temple, designed by Louis Jcan Bourgeois. It is the second temple of the worldwide religious faith, the first having been constructed in Ishqabad, Russia, early in this century. The faith originated in Persia some 100 years ago, and is named after Bahá'u'lláh, a Persian of noble family who died in 1892 at 'Akka, Palestine, after 40 years of exile and imprisonment.
His eldest son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, came from the Holy Land westward, first through Egypt and then to Europe and America in 1912 and 1913, speaking in many churches and universities.
He laid stress on the principles of independent search for truth: the oneness of mankind; the abolition of racial, patriotic, political and religious prejudices; universal peace; the harmony of science and religion; the essential oneness of all religions; the betterment of morals; economic righteousness s and justice; universal education; and the equality of men and women. The Tern-pie has been dedicated to these principles and has been built by people in all lands who are working for these principles.
It is open to all religions, sects and peoples.So unusual in conception and complicated in design was the project, the architect did not risk presentation by drawings alone but at the time designs were being considered by the building committee he submitted a beautiful white plaster model of the entire structure.
H. Van Buren Magonigle, architect of New York City, upon examination of the model gave the following description of the temple: ~tMr. Bourgeois has conceived a Temple of Light in which structure as usually understood is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream; it is a lacy envelope enslirining an idea, the idea of light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light � light
Page 419THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 419
Office of Universal Atlas Portland Cement Co., New York City, showing portion of mural which illustrates Bahá'í House of Worship.
Bahá'í exhibit arranged by Teaneck Assembly, March, 1944.
Page 420which shall partly consume the forms and make it a thing of faery."
Symbolic of the principles of the Bahá'í caus~ are the geometric forms of the ornamentation covering the columns and surrounding windows and doors of the temple. Here are the circle, the triangle, the double triangle or six-pointed star, the five-pointed star, the Greek cross, the Roman or Christian cross, the swastika cross and the nine-pointed star. The figure 9, largest digit, recurs not only in the ornament but in the structure itself.
In designing this structure the architect refused to let himself be bound by common practices. He knew it would be impracticable to use a material that required cutting and carving to give him the pierced and highly ornamented surfaces he visioned and that a material which could be molded such as concrete or metal was especially adapted to such work. The prolect was built over a period of some 20 years as funds became available. This permitted ample time for investigation of materials proposed for the exterior surface before a decision had to be made. The caissons on which the building is supported were completed in 1921, the basement in 1922. The superstructure was not started until 1930. During this period samples of various materials were placed on the property to test their durability, weathering and discoloration.
The architect had met and interested John J. Earley of the Earley Studio, Washington, D. C., in the project and Mr. Earley submitted a fullsize sample of the dome ornamentation cast in concrete with a surface of exposed aggregate. It was found that the design with its intricate ornamentation and repetition of forms and details was especially adapted to concrete, plastic when placed and becoming durable and strong upon hardening.
The edifice rests upon a great circular platform which constitutes the basement. The basement wall is 204-ft. 8-in, outside diameter. A central basement space 72 ft. in diameter and 27 ft. high, free from interior columns and having a domed ceiling, was used for regular services during the years additional funds were being raised and the superstructure was being built. Corn-pletely letely surrounding the building is a series of 18 steps supported on the sloping deck of the basement. The first story of the superstructure is a nine-sided unit, each side constituting an entrance arch buttressed by pyions or towers. The nine symmetrical sides form a series of concave arcs intersecting the line of the circle marked by the towers. Above the main story are the gallery, the clerestory and the dome. The gallery unit, likewise nine-sided, sets back from the main story. It repeats the effect of the entrance arches below in its series of nine window arches, but the nine smaller towers of this level rise at points midway between the lower towers. The clerestory and dome, set back from the outer line of the gallery, form circles and not nonagons but their circumference is divided into nine convex arcs by nine ribs. These spring from the base of the clerestory to meet above the dome and coincide vertically with the towers of the gallery.
The main auditorium is a clear circular opening 72 ft. in diameter and 105 ft. high above the main floor surmounted by the dome 36 ft. in radius. There are no intermediate floors, the galleries circumscribing the open space.
Nine concrete caissons or piers 6 ft. in diameter were sunk to bedrock at 1 24 ft. Each pier is flared at the top to carry a steel grillage supporting four steel columns which support the dome and also portions of the galleries and first-floor framing. The dome s inner and outer system of framing are independent and not connected in any way, so that unequal expansion and contraction will not affect the structure.
The inner framing supports a waterproof dome of wire glass and will eventually support an ornamental interior dome. The outside framing supports the pierced cast stone exterior dome.
Backup of all exterior walls and pyions is of reinforced concrete cast in place. Due to the unusual shapes involving the curved walls and arches over the windows as well as the curved surfaces of the pylon; considerable formwork of a complicated nature was required. All forms for the cast-in-place backup walls wee constructed of wood. At the time the walls were constructed it was
Page 421Bahá'í exhibit in Ross Radio Shop, San Mateo, California, featured during the United Nations Conference held in San Francisco, 1945.
not known when it would be possible to place the exterior decorative material.
The concrete was therefore carefully controlled to withstand severe weathering indefinitely. Workability was varied in relation to the size and shape of members. There are columns and mullions from 30 to 47 ft. high, and some sections only 4 in. thick.
Increased workability was obtained where necessary by reducing the amount of coarse aggregate. Aggregates and concrete were tested at frequent intervals to control their quality.
As it turned out these walls were exposed for periods from three years to over 1 0 years but in no case did they show any effects of weathering.
The untimely death of the architect occurred about the time construction on the superstructure was started. He had, however, completed his design including fullsized drawings of all exterior ornamentation, great drawings of remarkable beauty and accuracy, some reaching a length of 109 ft. Mr. Earley worked over the archi tect's designs of ornamentation, which were in the flat, and simplified certain details as a result of his studies of their final effect in depth.
The first step was the modeling and carving of the original clay model for each section. The sculptor made a tracing of the architect's original fullsized drawing � or each surface and then transferred this design on to the clay surface.
From this outline he modeled and carved the fullsize clay model. Plaster of paris impressions were taken of the clay surfaces and from these a plaster of paris model, well reinforced with hemp, jute and steel rods, was made. The plaster model was then carefully carved to give the final surface texture and modeling.
From the model, plaster of paris molds were made which provided the negative of the final cast section.
All precast members were made in a plant at Ross-lyn,
Va.In the lower section of the dome the precast sections are about 10 ft. square, S in. thick and weigh between 3 and 3� tons
Page 422each. Near the top of the dome the sections are about 3x10 ft. Each concrete section is separated from the adjacent sections by '/2 in. spaces, allowing room for each to expand, contract and move without affecting the others.
While most of the ornamented facing on the lower stories is also precast, some of the plainer surfaces such as around the windows and lower sections of the flY-Ions were cast in place. Plaster molds were used for these areas also and the same materials used for the concrete as in the precast work.
All surface concrete is of the exposed aggregate type produced by brushing and washing to reveal the aggregate. Aggregates are white crystalline quartz and a clear translucent quartz, crushed and carefully screened and proportioned to exact grading. White portland cement was used in the surface. The surfaces are extremely pleasing and full of life due to the scintillating effect of the quartz.
The final stage was production and erection of the 1 8 circular steps at the base of the structure.
These consist of 91 8 precast sections and are continuous around the building. A better conception of the amount involved can be had when it is realized that they are equivalent to a single step about two miles long.
They were placed on concrete carriages cast on the sloping deck of the basement.
Every operation in the production of the decorative concrete was closely controlled to produce a structure meeting the requirements of the members of the Bahá'í faith who look upon their temple as a building which is to last indefinitely.
The vision of the architect has materialized and what many technical men had deemed im~racti-cable when they viewed the model in 1920 has become a reality.
From Architectural Concretein Wil-mette, Illinois, has frequently been referred to as the Temple of Light.
This descriptive appellation may have been inspired by the lacy stone ornamental surfaces which reflect the sun rays in an ever changing pattern, or the effect of the light within the structure, which is unique because the perforations in the outer envelope of stone permit the infiltration of the sunlight.
The unique beauty of the structure itself, standing above its surroundings, the inspiring sweep of lines that delineate its majestic form, the general theme of its graceful forms that conceal its size, but which stagger up to massive proportions, call forth from all who see it, expressions of awe and wonder. It is so utterly unlike the common concept of a building as to, at first, seem almost unreal, yet it exerts a singular power of attraction that draws to its portals a steady stream of visitors who seek almost involuntarily to enter and to learn its meaning.
The simile of light and truth has always been a part of the human expression of religious concept.
The Teachings of the Prophets, the great Founders of the world religions, were commonly called the Light of God. The use of light combined with the structural elements of the Baha House of Worship was a basic concept of its designer, hence the ornamental form which, because of the deep carving of the surface, reveals the ornament in deep relief, so that the ever changing play of light and shadow creates a form poem of singular charm and impressive beauty.
As the sunlight moves over its surfaces from dawn to sunset, and as it stands silhouetted against the ever changing sky and the cloud pattern, it inspires ever new feelings of wonderment and awe. Not, however, until at the time of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the Faith, when the trustees undertook to make the first experiment with artificial lighting of the exterior of the building was the truly exquisite ethereal character of the whole structure revealed. The lighting installations were oniy temporary and therefore in no sense perfect.
The equipment used was oniy roughly adaptedto the purpose, yet the effect was simply astounding.
A feeling of unreality, of a building that was not of the earth, but which seemed to be a vision, overpowered every one.
It arrested the step of every person, no one could walk past without stopping again and again to gaze at it. The entire form glowed as though made of luminous material and there was a feeling of vibration that seemed to make it alive.
The very fact that this effect could be obtained by equipment so inadequate gives promise of a future development that may in itself become most significant.
In this experiment it was found impossible to actually illuminate the dome of the structure. This was due partly to the nature of the equipment found available in this war period and to the curve of the surfaces of the dome.
There is every reason to believe that this will not prove to be an insolvable problem and one may be assured that in the not too far distant future the fully illumined House of Worship will stand in the night as well as in the day time, a powerful beacon to guide mankind toward the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
CARL SCHEFFLEROfficial Navy Photograph � Aerial view of Wilmette Harbor, Wilmette, Illinois.
Page 425AMONG different peoples and at different times many different methods have been adopted for the measurement of time and fixing of dates, and several different calendars are still in daily use, e.g., the Gregorian in Western Europe, the Julian in many countries of Eastern Europe, the Hebrew among the Jews, and the Muhammadan in Muslim countries.
The BTh signalized the importance of the dispensation which He came to herald, by inaugurating a new calendar.
In this, as in the Gregorian Calendar, the lunar month is abandoned and the solar year is adopted.
The Bahá'í year consists of 19 months of 19 days each (i.e., 361 days), with the addition of certain ttintercalary days" (four in ordinary and five in leap years) between the eighteenth and nineteenth months in order to adjust the calendar to the solar year. The B~b named the months after the attributes of God.
The Báb4'i New Year, like the ancient Persian New Year, is astronomically fixed, commencing at the March equinox (March 21), and the Bahá'í era commences with the year of the Bib's declaration (i.e., 1844 A.D., 1260 A.H.). In the not far distant future it will be necessary that all peoples in the world agree on a common calendar.
It seems, therefore, fitting that the new age of unity should have a new calendar free from the objections and associations which make each of the older calendars unacceptable to large sections of the world's population, and it is difficult to see how any other arrangement could exceed in simplicity and convenience that proposed by the 13Th.
BAHÁ'Í FEASTS, ANNIVERSARIESFeast of Ridvan (Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh), April 21-May 2, 1863.
Feast of NAWRUZ (New Year), March 21.Fasting season lasts 19 days beginning with the first day of the month of 'AlA', March 2 � the feast of Nawruz follows immediately after.
42SThe first day of Ri4vTh, The ninth day of RkvTh, The twelfth day of RiQv in, The anniversary of the declaration of the Báb, The anniversary of the birth of Bahá'u'lláh, The anniversary of the birth of the Bib, The anniversary of the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, The anniversary of the martyrdom of the Bib, The feast of Nawruz.
NOTE: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in one of His Tablets addressed to a believer of Nayriz, Persia, has written the following: "Nine days in the year have been appointed on which work is forbidden. Some of these days have been specifically mentioned in the Book. The rest follows as corollaries to the Text. Work on the Day of the Covenant (Fete Day of 'Abdu'l-Bahá), however, is not prohibited. Celebration n of that day is left to the discretion of the friends. Its observation is not obligatory. The days pertaining to the AbhA Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh) and the Primal Point (the B~b), that is to say these nine days, are the oniy ones on which work connected with trade, commerce, industry and agriculture is not allowed. In like manner, work connvcted with any form of employment, whether governmental or otherwise, should be suspended."
As a corollary of this Tablet it follows that the anniversaries of the birth and ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are not to be regarded as days on which work is prohibited.
. The celebration of these two days, however, is obligatory.
Bahá'ís in East and West, holding administrative positions, whether public or private, should exert the utmost effort to obtain special leave from their superiors to enable them to observe these nine holy days.
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL GLEANEDThe Badi' Calendar (Bahá'í Calendar) has been taken by me from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas', one of the works written by the Mb. As I have observed in these days that certain believers are inclined to regard the year in which Bahá'u'lláh departed from BaghdAd to Constantinople as marking the beginning of the Badi' Calendar, I have requested Mirza Aq~ JAn, the amanuensis of Bahá'u'lláh, u'114h, to ascertain His will and desire concerning cerning this matter. Bahá'u'lláh answered and said: tThe year sixty A.H. (1844 A.D.), the 'rear of the Declaration of the Mb, must
FROMbe regarded as the beginning of the Badi' Calendar.' The Declaration of the Báb took place on the evening preceding the fifth day of Jam~diyu'1-Avva1, of the year 1260 A.14.
It has been ordained that the solar calendar be followed, and that the vernal Equinox, the day of Nawruz, be regarded as the
New Year's Day of the Badi' Calendar. Theyear sixty, in which the fifth day of Jams-diyu'1-Avval diyu'1-Avval coincided with the sixty-fifth day after Nawruz, has accordingly been regarded as the first year of the Badi' Calendar.
dar. As in that year, the day of Naw-Ritz,BAHÁ'Í CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 427
the vernal Equinox, preceded by sixty-six days the date of the Declaration of the Bib, I have therefore, throughout my history, regarded the Naw-Riiz of the year sixty-one A.H. (the Nawruz immediately following the Declaration of the Bib) as the first Naw-Riiz of the Badi' Calendar.
I have accordingly considered the Naw-Riiz of this present year, the year 1306 A.H., which is the 47th solar year after the Declaration of the Bib, as the 46th Naw-Rfiz of the Badi' Calendar.
Dayshad left the fortress of 'Akka and was dwelling in the house of Malik, in that city, He commanded me to transcribe the text of the Badi' Calendar and to instruct the believers in its details. On the very day in which I received His command, I composed, in verse and prose, an exposition of the main features of that Calendar and presented it to Him.
The versified copy, being now unavailable, I am herein transcribing the version in prose. The days of the week are named as follows:
English NameThe names follows: of the months, which are the same as the days of each month, are Month as
Arabic Nameto March 1 inclusive � four in ordinary and five in leap years.
Page 428The first day of each month is thus the day of Ba1A, and the last day of each month the day of 'AI&.
The BTh has regarded the solar year, of 365 days, 5 hours, and fifty odd minutes, as consisting of 19 months of 19 days each, with the addition of certain intercalary days. He has named the New Year's Day, which is the Day of Nawruz, the day of Bah4, of the month of Baha. He has ordained the month of 'AU' to be the month of fasting, and has decreed that the day of Naw-Ri2iz should mark the termination of that period. As the BTh did not specifically define the place for the four days and the fraction of a day in the Badi' Calendar, the people of the Baydn were at a ioss as to how they should regard them. The revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in the city of 'Akka resolved this problem and settled the issue. Bahá'u'lláh designated those days as the "Ayyim-i-H&' and ordained that they should immediately precede the month of 'AU', which is the month of fasting.
He enjoined upon His followers to devote these days to feasting, rejoicing, and charity. Immediately upon the termination of these intercalary days, Bahá'u'lláh ordained the month of fasting to begin. I have heard it stated that some of the people of the Baydn, the followers of Mirza Yahy~, have regarded these intercalary days as coming immediately after the month of 'AU', thus terminating their fast five days before the day of Naw-Riiz.
This, notwithstanding the explicit text of the Baydn which states that the day of Naw-Riiz must needs be the first day of the month of Baha, and must follow immediately after the last day of the month of 'AU'. Others, aware of this contradiction, have started their fasting on the fifth day of the month of 'AU', and included the intercalary days within the period of fasting.
Every fourth year the number of the intercalary days is raised from four to five. The day of Nawruz falls on the 21st of March oniy if the vernal Equinox precedes the setting of the sun on that day.
Should the vernal Equinox take place after sunset, Naw-Riiz will have to be celebrated on the following day.
The Báb has, moreover, in His writings, revealed in the Arabic tongue, divided the years following the date of His Revelation, into cycles of nineteen years each. The names of the years in each cycle are as follows: 1. Alif A. 2. BA' B. 3. Ab Father.
4. DAI D. 5. Báb Gate.Nine teen cycles constitute a period called Kull-i-Shay'.
The numerical value ot the word ttV~hid" is nine teen, that of crKu11~ i-5hay' " is 361. t~Vihid" signifies unity, and is symbolic of the unity of God.
The BTh has, moreover, stated that this system of His is dependent upon the acceptance and good-pleasure of "H. Whom God shall make manifest." One word from Him would suffice either to establish it for all time, or to annul it forever.
For instance, the date of the 21st of April, 1930, which is the first day of Ridvan, and which according to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas must coincide with the ccthirteenth day of the see � ond Bahá'í month," and which fell this year (1930) on Monday, would, according to the system of the Badi' Calendar, be described as follows: ~cThe day of Kam~t1, the day of Qudrat, of the month of Jalil, of the year Baha'i, of the fifth VThid, of the first KulI-i-$hay'."
Page 429BAHÁ'Í CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 429
HISTORICAL DATA GLEANED FROM NABIL'Sarrival latter part Jam~diyu'th-Th4ni,Qullu'r-Ta'Am 1269 A.H.
March 12-April 10, 1853A.D. 'departure for Sulayrn&niyyih on Wednesday, April 10, 1854 A.D. � Rajab 12, 1270 Prayers A.H.
Qa~idiy-i-Varq6NyyihBefore reaching Su1aym~niyyih, He lived for a time on the Sar-Galti mountain.
During His absence from Bagbd~d, His family transferred their residence from
House of Hiji 'AlL-MadadNabil arrived at BaghdAd Sahifiy-i-Shattiyyih Haft-V~di
6 months after Bahá'u'lláh's (Seven Valleys) Tafdeparture for Su1aym~iniyyih.sir-i-HA Lawh-i-IJ&iyyih
C. BAGHDADarrived from Su1aym~niyyih Sub~&na-Rabbiya'1-'AU on Wednesday, March 19, Shikkar-Shikan-Shavand 1856 A.D. � Rajab 12, 1272 HAr-i-'Uj A.H. ib
Ha1ih-Ha1ib-Y~ BishAratdeparture from Mazra'iy-i-Vash-sMsh: Period Thursday, March 26, 1863 A.D. � ShavvM 5, 1279 A.H. House of
Hiji 'Au-MadadTablet of the Holy Mariner (in old Baghd4d) revealed while in the Mazra'iy-i-Vashsh~ish. House of
SulaymTh-i-Ghann~mC. BAGHDAD � continued departure from Basbd&d for Constantinople, Wednesday afternoon (first day of RisivAn), April 22, 1863 A.D. � Dhi'1--Qa'dih 3, 1279 A.H.
Works Revealed DuringSiiriy-i-$abr revealed on first day of Malhhu'1-Quds
Ridvan. (Holy Mariner)(Garden of RisivAn), April 22, 1863 A.D. � Dhi'1-Qa'dih 3, 1279 A.H. arrival of Bahá'u'lláh's Family at Garden of Ri4vAn on eighth day after first of Ridvan.
departure from Garden of Ridvan for Constantinople last day of Ridv ~n, at noon on
Sunday, May3, 1863 A.D. � Dhi'1-Qa'dih 14, 1279 A.H. length of overland journey from Garden of Ridvan to Samsiin on Black Sea: 110 days.
Sdriy-i-5abrFirayj it (arrival early afternoon � stayed seven days), arrived on Sunday, May 3, 1863 A.D. � Dhi'1-Qa'dih 14, 1279 A.H. (Firayj~t is about 3 miles distant from BaghdAd) Judaydili, Dili-'AbMs, Qarih-Tapih, SalAhiyyih (stayed two nights),
DAst-KhurmAt6Thwuq, Karkiik (stayed two days), Irbil, Z~b River, Bahá'u'lláh, Mosul (stayed 3 days),
ZAkhi~Jazirib, Nisibin, ~asan-Aq~, M~rdin, Diy&r-Bakr, Ma'dan-Mis, KMrpiit (stayed 2 or 3 days), Ma'dan-Nuqrih, SivAs, Amasia, (stayed 2 days) IlAhiyyih (while approaching Sam-s6n, ccLawh~i~Hawdaj~~ was revealed), (last day of overland journey), Sims6n (stayed 7 days),
Black Sea port. Sailedin a Turkish steamer about sunset for Constantinople Sinope (arrived next day about noon), Black Sea port; stayed few hours, AnyAbuli (arrived next day).
Page 431BAHÁ'Í CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 431
[). CONSTANTINOPLE1863, A.D. Rabi' u'l-Avval 1280 A.H. Length of sea voyage from Stmsin to
Constantinople 3Length of journey from Constantinople to Adrianople 12 days.
Works RevealedPishi (3-story, near Sul-0~ Muhammad Mosque) 3 months 1. Kikhik-Chakmachih (3 hours from Constantinople � spent one night) 2. Buyfik-Chakrnachih (arrived about noon)
3. Salvariarrival on Saturday, December 12, 1863 A.D. � Rajab 1, 1280
NH.of stay: 4 8 months, 22 Length of overland journey from Constantinople to Adri-anople: 12 days.
Departure from Adri-anople on1. KhAn-i-'ArAb (caravanserai, two-story, near house of 'Izzat-AqA) 2. House in Mur~diyyih quarter, near Tak-yiy-i-Mawlavi 3. House in MurAdiyyih quarter, near house 2 4. Kh&niy-i-Amru'lUb (several stories, near
Sultan-Salim Mosque)2 years, 2 months, 5 days 3 months 2 or 3 months
432 THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD2. Kash&nih (arrived about noon. Lawh-i-Ra'is (Tablet of Ra'is) was revealed in this place) 3. Gallipoli (length of journey from Adrianople to Gallipoli about 4 days) (after a few days' stay sailed before noon in Austrian steamer for
Alexandria, Egypt)Madelli (arrived about sunset � left at night) Smyrna (stayed 2 days, left at night) Alexandria (arrived in the morning, transshipped and left at night for Haifa) Port Said (arrived morning, left the same day at night) Jaffa (left at midnight) Haifa (arrived in the morning, landed and after a few hours left on a sailing vessel for 'Akka) F. 'AKKA arrival on Monday, August 31, A.D. 1868 � Jam~diyu'1-Avvall2,1285A.H. vvall2,1285A.H.
Purest BranchBAHÁ'Í CALENDAR AND FESTIVALS 433
OF HISTORICbiyj~n Summer 1847 Incarceration of the Báb in Chihriq, Adhir
MyjAn April1848to Kurdist&n April 10, 1854 Return of Bahá'u'lláh from
Kurdisdn March 19, 1856Declaration of the Mission of Bahá'u'lláh April 22, 1863
Arrival of Bahá'u'lláhin 'Akka August 31, 1868 Death of the Purest Branch
June 23, 1870May 29, 1892 First public reference to the Faith in Amer ica September 23, 1893 Establishment of the first Bahá'í centre in the West February 1894 Arrival of the first group of Western pilgrims in
'Akka December 10, 1898Reincarceration of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akka August 20, 1901 Commencement of the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Lshq~Md.. 1902 Release of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from His incarcer ation September 1908 Interment of the IB&b's remains on Mt.
Carmel March 21, 1909vention March 21, 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í departure for Egypt September 1910 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í arrival in London September 4, 1911 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í arrival in America April 11, 1912 Laying of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette, Ill, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Baha May 1, 1912'Abdu'1 � Bahá'ís return to~ the Holy Land December 5, 1913 Unveiling of the Tablets of the Divine
Plan April 1919Commencement of the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette, Ill
December 192028, 1921 Verdict of the Mubammadan Court in Egypt denouncing the Faith to be an independent religion May 10, 1925 Martha Root's first interview with Queen Marie of Rumania.
January 30, 1926Resolution of the Council of the League of Nations upholding the claim of the Bahá'í community to the House of Bahá'u'lláh in BaghdAd March 4, 1929 Passing of the Greatest
Holy Leaf July1942 Centenary celebration and opening of first All-American
Bahá'í ConventionSOME of the Bahá'í youth were scattered around the world during these years. They had strange experiences in faraway places.
There was Duncan McAlear, Sergeant with the U. S. Medical Corps, walking down the road to Neufch%teau near Bastogne. It was just before the Battle of the Bulge. They had given him the afternoon off, and he had two plans, one to teach the Faith to someone � anyone who came along; the other to visit the only ice cream parlor in Neuf-ch&teau and eat ersatz ice cream with ersatz cookies. He sat in the ice cream parlor and he saw an old man and woman coming. They approached a GI, asked something, got a curt "No," went on to another GI, asked again. Finally they came to Duncan.
They looked hopeful. But they spoke Flemish and Duncan's
French was Massachusetts.He listened, though, and they said, ttWe are seeking to recover an opportunity that we let go by." He told them to sit with him and have ersatz ice cream and cookies. He said, ccWh t opportunity?"
They said, "Long ago in Brussels, a woman brought us a teaching. It was the answer to all our desires. But we let it go by. Now we keep asking the American soldiers if they ever heard of Martha
Root."Later they said, 'tln those days we were afraid; afraid of being excommunicated, losing everything. Now we have lost everything anyhow: the spiritual and the material. We want to learn about Martha Root's Faith and then we can die."
That was how Duncan went home with them, talking till midnight, overstaying his leave and being punished for it. But he was able to tell them what they wanted.
Young Rustam Paymin, born in Yazd, Persia, came to New York City from Tilirin. Shortly thereafter, when he had just reached twenty-one, he was elected a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly. Chairman also of the New York youth group, Rustam is a link uniting the youth of the United States, India (where he has many friends), and Persia. In Persia, he reports, the National Youth Committee is a very important body; as many as 210 youths have served at one time on this Committee and its thirteen subcommittees.
In the Bahá'í year 101, local youth committees opened libraries for the sale and rental of books in ten cities and towns.
The first national Baha Youth Conference met in Tihr~n and among other things made plans to facilitate the education of Bahá'í youth in outlying districts.
Some of the youth correspond with youth in other countries; others arrange teaching meetings, or musical programs, others organize classes in Arabic or English, or for literacy, others put out bulletins, or collect clothing and funds for the needy. An annual youth symposium is held here as elsewhere. Its theme is always designed, Rustam says, to make life in Persia healthier and happier." In 1944 the theme was, "How can you contribute to the people's health and hygiene?" Youth were asked to contribute money, medicines, soap, medical teaching hours, hail space for lectures on hygiene, funds or labor to build a public bath, etc. The TibrAn Haziratu'1-Quds is equipped with playing 434
Page 435fields and tennis courts; fifty-one Armenian youth rent the grounds and equipment on certain days.
Some of the Bahá'ís are outstanding athletes.The youth of Tilirin have a novel teaching method.
They form groups of five, and each group makes friends with one or two nonBahA'is.
Refraining at first from religious discussion, they eventually tell the newcomers of the Faith.
There are about sixty such groups in Tihr~n.The example of the American believers is a great stimulus to the Persians.
The youth have gone out and pioneered under terrible hardships, both because of primitive living conditions and primitive behavior in backward areas. Two of the martyrs in the first year of the second century were pioneer youth.
Eta Mae Lawrence of NewYork City went out as a Bahá'í pioneer to Buenos Aires, Argentina. On arrival, she knew no Spanish; she had no job, and almost no money. She wanted to take the next boat home.
In great discouragement, she went to the tomb of Mrs. May Maxwell. "It is back in a little, deep, silent graveyard," Etta Mae says. ccTrees intertwine above the grave. When you go in, the bell on the cemetery gate rings and a little girl comes out and asks if you want to buy flowers.
You try to choose the ones May would have liked � small, dainty flowers. Her grave is like the Temple at Wilmette � it differs so from its surroundings."
She wept and prayed there at the tomb. Afterward, her problems were solved.
She obtained a secretarial job at the American Embassy, learned Spanish, and, although youngest of the nine, was elected chairman of ti~e Local Spiritual Assembly. The biggest problem confronting the friends there, she says, was the long wartime working hours, from eight in the morning till eight at night. There was little time to study and living costs were such that it was difficult to purchase books. The young Assembly, four of whom were in their early twenties, was weighted down with administrative tasks.
In July, 1944, the youth group were directed to prepare a monthly newsletter; this was brought out in the form of a � our-page mimeographed bulletin, containing messages from the Guardian and excerpts from English Bahá'í texts not yet available in Spanish.
The youth also furnished Baha speakers for an organization known as "El Grupo de Labor" open to all faiths, On Baha Youth Day, March 4, 1945,
Etta Maeaddressed the Symposium, which was followed by a tea. Sr. Oscar Aguirre's subject on this occasion, ttGod's Plan for the Peace of the World," was a typical theme; Haig and Antranik Kevorkian were the other speakers. A reporter from the Standard Newspaper of Buenos Aires interviewed the youth and a very favorable article resulted. Before she left, the friends discussed the possibility of founding a summer school; at Eta Mae's suggestion, they cabled the Guardian, and received an answering cable warmly encouraging the project. Three of the Bahá'ís have beautiful adjoining gardens, totalling several hundred acres, on the outskirts of the town; the school has now been founded here, and meets Sundays all through the summer. Eisa Mae hopes to arrange for American prefabricated houses to be shipped to Buenos Aires and marketed there; this would greatly benefit the Baha'is.
The youth of Argentina really study and know the Teachings, she says.
An eighteen-year old Argentinian, whose chief source of education has been the Bahá'í writings, can speak brilliantly on the Faith.
Santiago, Chile, celebrated Bahá'í Youth Day at the home of one of the youth.
Marcia Steward and RobertoMany nationalities were represented, and the guests included a famous Chilean actress, journalists and other professional men, all young and of great capacity, requesting further information and Bahá'í books. The youth of Punta Arenas celebrated the day with a public meeting at the Hotel
Cosmos.In Lirna, Peru, the youth committee chairman Alejandro Franco spoke at the Bahá'í Youth Day celebration on "Youth's R6le in the World of Tomorrow."
A young woman, the most recent Bahá'í there, spoke on woman's future rOle.
Jorge Sarco, visiting Baha'ifrom Guayaquil Ecuador, presented the Bahá'í Teachings.
A number of youth in Lima had expressed the desire to learn English; Alejandro Franco invited them to the Bahá'í Center for this purpose. A club ultimately named "The Universal Fellowship Club" and complete with officers, regulations and emblem, was formed by them. They meet at the Center four times a month for educational games and discussion in English.
Their main theme for 1945 was "The kind of world in which I'd like to live."
Topics discussed from the Bahá'í standpoint included Superstition, Prejudices, Crime and the Treatment of Criminals. Most of these youth attend the Cultural Institute and share the Bahá'í principles learned with their fellow students.
Guayaquil's first Ba1A'iYouth Day (1945) was held in the guest house of Mrs. Anita McGill. Nine nationalities were represented.
Eduardo Gonzales, member of the first Spiritual Assembly in Guayaquil, spoke on "Facing our Responsibilities,"
Lauro Sanchez on "WhyI am a Baha'i," and Virginia Orbison, visiting teacher, concluded. Most of the members of the present community in Guayaquil are in their twenties.
Evelyn Larson, Chicagopioneer to Caracas, Venezuela, attended in Panama the first Bahá'í Latin American
Conference.Bahá'í Youth Day, 1945, was held by the Bahá'ís of Havana, Cuba in the auditorium of "Radio Universal," and broadcast over CMBF. Twenty-one year old Cantos de la Torre was chairman. Carmelo Perez, chairman of the youth committee, spoke on the history of the Faith, and Dr. Walker Blomquist on Bahá'í principles and the r6le of Babi'i youth.
The program was advertised by a press notice in the Havana Post and by handpainted placards displayed throughout the city.
Because youth are specifically called upon by Shoghi
Effendi in 'tThe Adventof Divine Justice" to participate effectively CC% both the teaching and administrative spheres of
Bahá'í activity," Aynedand Lucien Mc-Comb of New York longed to respond at once. Their plans were ultimately limited by the peacetime draft � Lucien could not leave the United States. They therefore chose Puerto Rico for their pioneering labors, gave up their jobs, sold their furniture and joined the two resident pioneers, Miss Jones and Mrs. Disdier.
Lucien obtained a good position in Puerto Rico and for four years their home was the Bahá'í center.
The first Local SpiritualAssembly was established in San Juan, and today four other towns on the
Page 437Island also have resident Baha'is. The young Sr. Marcelino Castro, first Puerto Rican believer, is now chairman of the all-Puerto Rican Assembly of San Juan, and has carried the Teachings to his relatives in Juncos. Sr. Castro first came to the McCombs to study English; they taught him by having him compare the Spanish and English editions of Esslemont, and he soon declared his faith. Jeffrey, the McComb's little son, was the first child born of Bahá'í pioneers in the West Indies, and grew up speaking Spanish. The McCombs, well liked because they made every effort to respect local customs, reached hundreds of persons through conversations, literature, public meetings including Bahá'í Youth Day, and the radio. Most of those attracted were young. They write: ""We, the Bahá'í youth of the world, have the great privilege today of being able to take a large part in the promulgation of the Faith we are the ones who can best attract other youth."
North American youth, those who remained at home, were hard at work, in their summer schools, particularly Louhelen; at youth conferences; on group and individual teaching circuits; on the air. They also taught the Faith in colleges; in this field Persian youth, such as Drs. Hiashang, Manfichihr J&vid and Earhang J&vid at the University of Illinois,
FiriXz KAzim-Z~idih of Moscowat Stanford University, 'Izzat Amin-Amin at the University of Washington, Shi-d&n Fath-A'zam now at the College of Agriculture, Davis, California, and, arriving in February 1946, Jainshid Fozdar of India at the University of California, were also active. Youth in the Armed Forces such as John Eichenauer and Bruce Davison, and, including the women's branches of the service, brought the Teachings to thousands. The story of these years is not yet told.
Seymour Weinberg, WarrantOfficer, j.g., became a Bahá'í in Augusta, Georgia, early in 1944.
Articles by him concerning the Faith appeared in the Augusta Herald, on which he served briefly as a columnist. With the chaplain's permission, he placed Bahá'í literature in the chapel at Daniel Field, Georgia. A new Commanding Officer forbade him to teach the Faith, but modified the order when Seymour pointed out that it constituted a restriction of his personal
Page 438liberty; he was therefore allowed to teach with caution, and to give literature only to those requesting it. Hundreds of persons requested it. Not yet a Baha'i, he asked the Unitarian minister at Charleston, S. C., to have the Bahá'í teacher Mrs. ALa Kruger address an evening forum there.
"Oh those people in the clouds!" was the minister's comment, but he extended the invitation and about one hundred persons came.
Seymour was furious with himself during the brisk question and answer period that followed; he already believed in the Faith but had no arguments to support his views; following this he bought several armloads of Bahá'í books and began to study in earnest.
William Towart was a conscientious objector. Beatrice Rainboth visited his camp at Elkton, Oregon, holding crowded Bahá'í firesides for three days. Towart and another C. 0., Michael Jaymir, became
Baha'is.William, now realizing the basic philosophy of pacifism was anarchistic, requested noncombatant service. Previously 1 � A, he was classified by the examining psychiatrist as 4F (rejected), because he had remained two and onehalf years in Conscientious Objectors' camps. He offered to pioneer for the Faith, and the
National Teaching Committeesuggested Providence, Rhode Island. Here, in April, 1944, still in his twenties, he became chairman of the Local
Spiritual Assembly. Williamwas trained as a Congregationalist minister; before the war he was in charge of three churches in Ashland, Maine.
Bahá'í youth of Winnipeg often invite speakers, such as Professor Craig of United College, to address their meetings at the Baha Center. Emeric Sala and others have addressed Dr. Craig's classes in comparative religion, and Mr. Sala also spoke to the institution's Economics Club on "Bahá'í Views on the Economic Question."
Marion Met-calfe, student at the college, became a Baha'i. Winnipeg youth work with other youth organizations throughout the city. Three members attended meetings of the
Canadian Youth Commission(Manitoba Branch) and contributed to the Commission's study of "Youth and Religion."
The Local Spiritual Assemblyappointed Mrs. Jean Johnston as a delegate to the continuing Winnipeg subcommittee of this organization; in connection with a popular ethnic concert held in the City Auditorium under their auspices, Mrs. Johnston made many friends for the Faith. United College also invited Rowland Estall to address its Student Christian Association, and Emeric Sala to speak before the interRacial Fellowship of the University of
Manitoba. Bahá'í YouthCoulson, daughter of Bahá'í parents and living in Manchester, England, started a youth group there early in 1944. Nine youth, including children, attend the monthly gatherings, which feature a business meeting, a talk and refreshments.
Brenda also writes a monthly letter to young people in England and abroad; twenty-four of these are sent out, and received as far away as the United States, Alexandria and Suez.
Brenda addressed a meeting at the Manchester Bahá'í
Center on ttA Young Bahá'í Looksat Czechoslovakia." Her talk was translated into Czech and printed in the Czech national newspaper. In token of their appreciation
Karel Capek's book "Masaryk TellsHis Story" was sent her by the Czech Foreign Office.
Torquay reports its celebration of Bahá'í Youth Day. It sponsors social gatherings for youth and their parents, as well as study classes.
The present Bahá'í youth of Germany were very young when, two years prior to the outbreak of war, all Bahá'í teaching was forbidden in their country. Hedwig Hessel-mejer of the Stuttgart youth group reports that a good many local Bahá'ís had their books seized by the Gestapo; her own home was not searched and the family were able to keep their Bahá'í library.
Meetings were banned, but people read the Teachings in their houses. If anyone knocked, they hid the books.
Hedwig often discussed religion with such of her friends as she could trust, but many were atheists or rigidly sectarian. Stuttgart was heavily bombed from the air. After a bombing, the Bahá'ís would read the Teachings and thus gain courage to help the others.
Hedwig is glad that the Bahá'ís of Germany can now meet in freedom.
Page 439Youth of Lima, Peru, and members of the Universal Friendship Club, whose weekly meetings are held in Miss Nicklin's home, the Bahá'í pioneer for Peru.
In Alexandria, Egypt, girls now participate in Baha Youth Day celebrations, which are held at the Haziratu'1-Quds.
The youth meet Sundays to study the Faith tinder two teachers appointed by the Local Spiritual
Assembly. Committeesrun by the youth are: Literary Committee � to translate Bahá'í newsletters into and from foreign languages, and prepare discussion subjects for the meetings; Service Coin-mittee � to serve refreshments at Feasts, etc.; Correspondence Committee � to contact other
Bahá'í youth; TravelCommittee � to arrange weekend trips to outlying districts. The youth do much of the Assembly's office work; they are in charge of the Library and the Archives, and serve in the Accounting Department of both the Local and
National Assemblies. Forthe first time in Egypt, they published a wall calendar (year 102), selling it widely. The Guardian wrote them his appreciation of the five copies presented to him.
Authorities refused theMaterial for art impressive first issue had been completed, but the entire project had to be suspended. The Werriwa Baha Youth Group, i.e., the youth of Ycrrinbool and Tahmoor, hold meetings regularly. During the
8th annual Bahá'í SummerSchool at Yerrinbool, (which meets in January), the youth arranged a threeday program. The cctennis afternoons" could well be copied elsewhere: youth from Yerrinbool, Wok longong, Bowral and Wingello come to these, for tennis and other games as well as discussions on the Faith in the Hyde-Dunn Memorial
Hall. Bahá'í Youth Daywas celebrated with a tennis tournament at CtBoltdn Place" and a talk followed by discussion. One of the youth, Shirley Smith, declared her wish to become a Baha'i. A message from the American, Henry Jarvis, for the youth of today, was featured.
Sydney circularized thirty youth organizations, inviting representatives to the Youth Day celebrations (1945); talks were given by the Principal, Sydney
Conservarorium of MusicHigh School, on "Edf and Youth"; by a representative of the Women's League of Health (a physical culture display item by youth followed this); a member of the Aborigines 'Welfare Board and the secretary
Page 440of the National Spiritual Assembly also participated; young artists supplied the music. About seventy persons attended, and following dinner were shown through the beautiful
National Headquartersof the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand. The program, continuing on the next day, featured four talks by youth on themes suggested by the youth of North America. Hobart observed Bahá'í Youth Day as a public meeting at the Lord Mayor's Courtroom.
The Junior Red Cross, the Quakers, the League of Nations and two Bahá'í speakers shared the program, which was followed by a dinner at the Bahá'í
Center. The AucklandDay, Adelaide youth sent out letters and airgraphs to individuals in the service and to the National Youth Committees of the British Isles and of Persia. Two gifts of �5 each, by Mrs. W. H. Hawthorne and Jim Heggie, went toward founding a youth lending library which was already in use by Youth Day. Other youth organizations, Uni � versity students, High School teachers, business girls, the press, musicians, were present. Lucy Trueman was chairman, and the musical program included the radio artist James Duncan. A buffet supper and social gathering followed.
In India the youth are organized wherever aexists. Teaching is their main concern; they are considered the most effective teachers of other youth. They correspond with youth in other countries, and attend classes for deepening in the Faith. Under India's Six Year Plan which established so many new groups and assemblies, the following youth pioneered: Muhammad IrshAd of Calcutta, to
Serampur; 'Azizu'114hNawA-Yazd~n of Bombay, to Sholapur; Kaykhusraw Manavi of Bombay, to Sholapur;
'Azizu'114h Tashak-kuriof Bombay, to Sholapur; Khudidid Suhayli of Bombay, to Koihapur; Mrs. Khud6xl6xl Suhayli of Poona, to
Koihapur; Gushtasp Yiginigiof Poona, to Surat; Baha J. Z. Mahalliti of Poona, to Mysore; Baha Ayd6n of Persia, to Quetta;
Miiru'llAh Akhtar-Khivariof Persia, to Quetta; 'Au Sulhjii of Persia, to Quetta; MihrbAn Akh tan of Karachi, to Lahore.
(And later) Muhammad Hayitfrom Delhi, to Jarnmu; 'Abdu'r � Rahmin from Delhi, to Nagpur, where Mr. and Mrs. MihrUn Bomas are also teaching.
A youth, Jamshid Th6bit, served six months as assistant to the secretary of the National
Spiritual Assembly, 194445. Youth symposiums were held February 26, 1945, in Calcutta, Bombay, Poona, Pancligani, Koihapur, Sholapur, Karachi, Srinagar and Ujjain. Many of these meetings were reported in the press, and a wide circle of non-Bahá'ís thus learned of the raith.
On this day the youth of the cities named wrote jointly to the Guardian. Excerpts from his reply follow: "It pleased him greatly to see that there are so many active Bahá'í youth groups in India, and his heart was particularly rejoiced to receive messages from such far-off centers as Kashmir and BalAchist4n, where, a few years ago, there were practically no Bahá'ís at all! He hopes that in the years that lie ahead of us � years of unrest, of trouble; of transition for the whole world � that the Bahá'í youth will increasingly rise to meet the challenge of the times, and to carry the message of Bahá'u'lláh, through both teaching and example, all over India, and, indeed, Asia He hopes you will study the teachings deeply, their spiritual moral, and administrative precepts, and at the same time take as active a part as possible in the life of your respective Bahá'í communities.
At Pancligani, a bill station 63 miles fromAssembly established a youth hostel where children of Bahá'í parents could live together and profit from their earliest years by Bahá'í precept and practice. At present the children will attend school elsewhere, but it is hoped that the hostel will eventually develop into a Bahá'í school. Founded August 1, 1945, its inauguration was attended by the National
Spiritual Assembly. Theprogram that day makes a not inappropriate conciu-sion to this short survey of Bahá'í youth around the world; we quote: were chanted and talks on the Bahá'í principles given. The command to parents to educate their children, giving
Page 441preference in this matter to daughters; the obligation of the state to undertake this work where the parents failed, recovering the cost from them where they were financially able; the necessity of learning some art, craft or trade; the discarding of that learning which begins in words and ends in words, were stressed.
There were seventeen students at the start; it was a small begin � ning truly, but does not the mighty tree spring from the tiny seed? Telegrams of congratulations and donations from the friends were a proof of the support of the Indian Bahá'í community to this institution and the following cable from the Guardian an assurance of its final success: tDelighted praying steady progress newly founded institution loving appreciation.'
YOUTH'S ROLE IN FUTURE CIVILIZATIONA GENERATION ago it might have seemed that science could manage the world and guide it into permanent prosperity, happiness, and a secure civilization.
But such does not seem to be the case now. Science has proved itself to be a marvelous instrument for material progress; but it is certain that no ideal civilization based upon justice and mutuality can be established by means of science alone.
"Science is one of the wings with which humanity must fly; but religion is the other," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Religion is a necessary force, for religion is dynamic in the influence it exerts on both the hearts and minds of men.
In "Security for a FailingWorld," by Stanwood Cobb, a noted educator and writer, a Baha'i, the first chapter is entitled, ~~Js the
Intelligence of Man CapableThe intellect of man can plan and create, but it is not, in the vast majority of men, a force capable of Governing the emotions. On the contrary, the intellect with most of us serves chiefly as a tool or instrument with which to gain the things we want. Thus the intellect tends to become the servant of man s emotional nature rather than its ruler. Of course, there are some men who by the force of their intellects can completely govern their emotional natures, but they are so rare that they are called philosophers.
When man's social standing or economic security is involved, man's action tends to be founded upon his most basic emotions of egoism and greed. Take for example the fallacy of saying education alone will soive race and class prejudice, the abolishment of which is one of the basic principles for world peace.
The drawback is the fact that when pressure of public opinion comes to bear, or when having racial or class prejudices becomes too comfortable to obliterate, man acts according to the way he feels rather than the way he knows intellectually to be right. In such cases education merely makes him more clever and subtle in rationalizing his prejudice. If education alone fails, what then?
What can govern the emotions?It is religion. Has not religion proved its ability to do this in the past?
Indeed it has; and it will prove its ability to do this again in the future. Recall in history, how often in the name of religion, for its cause, men have been able to overcome their emotions of fear of death, to withstand persecutions, to sacrifice their all for religion � how it has changed their lives into pious ones, enabling man to acquire a zealous desire to serve. Christ called it "btl" In considering the effect of religion upon men it is necessary to differentiate between nature religions and revealed religions.
Na-mire religions, religions which have evolved through man's own naive concepts concern
Page 442ing the cosmic forces that surround and condition him, rise no higher than their source. Revealed religions, religions that are revealed by the Manifestations of God, the Mouthpieces or Messengers of God, have a very striking effect upon the lives of their adherents.
Who were those who proclaimed to express the Will of God? We who are of Christian background will know Christ did, and Moses.
With deeper study into history, we find that Zoroaster did, so did Krishna, Buddha, Muhammad, the Mb, and Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. But you may ask, were they all really
Messengers of God? Investigateand find out! Christ said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Each One just mentioned lived in utmost poverty, were humble men and yet have been able to change the lives, the hearts of men, even many hundred years after Their passings. All based Their Teachings on the Love of the One God. Each established great civilizations and have been able to do so without military power, political influence, or monetary backing; no one but a Manifestation of God has been able to do this!
Each Manifestation of God gave spiritual laws and social laws. The spiritual laws are the same for all time; they have never changed. All religions teach that we must do good, that we must be generous, sincere, truthful, law-abiding, and faithful. All this is reasonable and logically the only way in which humanity can progress.
The social laws are given to the utmost capacity of the people of the time in which these laws are presented; the capacity of thd people determines the necessary laws to be given by the Manifestation, just as the condition of the patient determines the necessary remedy to be prescribed by the doctor.
In the time of Moses, there were ten crimes punishable by death.
When Christ came this was changed; the old axiom of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" was converted into t(love your enemies, do good to them that hate you." In the former days the punishment for theft was cutting off the hands, which was necessary for that time. In our time, this law cannot be applied.
One will also discover that revealed religions reach their zeniths and then decline and come to an end, due primarily to the fact that manmade rituals and misinterpretations creep in. But by God's infinite mercy, religion is renewed by another
Manifestation.It is easier to perceive the dechne in other religions than to become aware that the period of decline has been reached in one's own religion. Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, the fact is that Christianity, compared with its dynamic power in past centuries, manifests an evident decline of spiritual force. In the Western world science ousted religion as the directive force of society, and religious skepticism has grown with great rapidity.
A century ago in this country, God was recognized as the guiding power in all human affairs. The Name of God was on the tips of the tongues of the founders of our country.
We moderns are very conscious of the comforts and pleasures which science has brought us, but we are too little conscious of God as the one power which animates and dominates all things.
Christ said, ttBy this shall all men know that ye are My disciples: if ye have love one to another." However, Christianity today has not only become split into division after division, into an increasing number of sects, which are bitterly opposed to each other, but also strife exists between Christians, Moslems, Jews, and Buddhists. "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples A great stumbling block to many, in the way of religious unity, is the difference between the revelations given by the different Manifestations.
What is commanded by one is forbidden by another; how then can both be right, how can both be proclaiming the Will of God? Surely the Truth is one and cannot change. Yes, absolute Truth is one and cannot change; but the absolute Truth is infinitely beyond the present range of human understanding. Our conceptions of Truth must constantly change, whether from a religious or scientific standpoint. Each Manifestation proclaimed a former teacher and promised the return of another. Our earlier, imperfect ideas will, by the Grace of God, be replaced as time goes on
Page 443by more and more adequate conceptions through these
Manifestations. Justas a man's concept of a dog changes during his lifetime. To a baby, a dog was something that was soft and furry and that liked to lick him.
To a boy, a dog was a faithful companion which wagged its tail when happy and liked to chase cats.
To a young man, a dog was an animal with four legs, usually of the wolf family or in the case of the Chow from the bear.
To a scientist, a dog is of the phylum, Chordata; subphy-lum, Vertebrata; and of the class, Mammalia. Of the Mammalia, a dog is of the Eutheria, under that of the Monodephia, because it is nourished before birth by a placenta unlike the Marsupials who carry their young in a pouch; and so on. Describing a dog as a carnivorous domesticated mammal, the sci � entist would go on to say that his bone structure is such and such, and that his circulatory, digestive, respiratory, reproductive, and nervous systems are thus and so. In such a way does the scientist change his boyish, imperfect ideas, for more adequate conceptions.
And so it is with religion.The religion of God is one religion, and all the Manifestations have taught it; but religion, like science, is a living and growing thing, not lifeless and unchanging.
For example, in the teachings of Moses we see the bud; in those of Christ, the flower; in those of Bahá'u'lláh, the fruit. The flower does not destroy the bud; nor does the fruit destroy the flower. It destroys not, but fulfills. The budscales must fall in order that the flower may bloom; and the petals must fall that the fruit may grow and ripen. It would be foolishly sentimental to say, ttOh, but the flower was so beautiful," and then refuse the fruit when the bearing of the fruit is the very purpose of the flower. It would be foolishly sentimental to say, ttOh but I admire my high school teacher," then refuse to graduate and go on to college when the very purpose of the high school teacher was to prepare the student for college. It would be foolishly sentimental to say, "Oh, but I love Christ" and then refuse to accept the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, when the very purpose of Christ was to prepare His followers for Him, as Christ promised.
Science alone fails to give us a secure civilization; the intellect of man fails, owing to the fact that the emotions rule the intellect. Religion is necessary to control the emotions, so that the emotions can properly use the intellect as a tool to reap the benefits of science in order to establish world peace.
Religion is renewed and revealed periodically, especially at the most trying and darkest hours, and has been able to raise mankind to a high level of civilization because of its dynamic power to influence both heart and mind, because true religion appeals both to heart and mind.
All great civilizations were founded, directly or indirectly, by the revealers of religion, the Manifestations of
God.Of all times, we are in dire need of a Divine Physician. We now live in a dark hour. But some of us are beginning to see the Light, to see that the dawn is breaking.
PART IITHERE is no revealed religion whose Founder has not reserved a part of His Book for prophecies concerning One Whom God would manifest subsequent to Him. All religious scriptures contain prophecies regarding the time of the end, known as the Day of Judgment or the Day of Resurrection, when the Promised One would appear and bring the Kingdom of God upon earth.
Moreover, all peoples are awaiting two Manifestations Who must be contemporaneous. In the Bible, the Jews have a promise of the Lord of Hosts and the Messiah.
In the Gospels, the return of Christ and Elijah is promised. In IslAm, the Mihdi and the Messiah; and it is also true of the other religions.
The Bahá'í Message is that this great day, awaited by all, has indeed come; and
Page 445that through the advent of the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh, the promise of all the ages has been fulfilled, and the age which is the consummation of all past Revelation ushered in. The prophetic cycle has ended, and the cycle of fulfillment begun.
In the year 1844 in Shiriz, Persia, One who is known as the Bib, which means Gate, announced to eighteen men who had been awaiting and searching for the
Promised One, that Hewas a mouthpiece of God and that he had been entrusted with the Divine Mission of warning the people of the approach of the time of the end, the coming of that great hour which would witness the descent of the Spirit of God spoken of in the Holy Scriptures.
In His books He extolled the name, mentioned the signs, pointed to His Revelation, alluded in symbolic language to the exact time of
His appearance. Theseeighteen men, the first disciples of the Báb, He sent to all parts of Persia to announce tp the people His own Revelation as a Prophet of God and to prepare them for the advent of the One Who was to follow, Whom the Báb referred to as "Him
Whom God Shall Make Manifest."So fearlessly and eloquently did these followers proclaim the Message, that the news of the appearance of the Bib rapidly spread to all parts of the land.
Persia was at that time perhaps the dark. est country, her people the most degenerate, ignorant, and superstitious, in the civilized world; and they were held in submission by the fanatic and corrupt Moslem clergy, who exercised undisputed authority over the masses. In word they professed belief in God and in His Prophet, Muhammad; in deed they denied His Teaching and had come to be opposed to every new and liberal idea, devoted oniy to maintaining their own position of leadership. As the BThi Faith grew and the commotion stirred up in Shir4z began to spread to other cities and provinces, the clergy saw in it a threat to their authority; and so they arose to put out the light of the new Faith. For a time they refrained from open hostility, realizing that this would defeat their purpose, and sought to win the support of governmental authorities by circulating false rumors accusing the 1Mb of political claims.
The conversion of an even greater number of men of eminent rank, recognized for their learning and wisdom, who openly acknowledged their belief in the truth of the B&b's claims, served to bring the Cause to the attention of the multitudes.
Soon a wave of inquiry swept over the whole country and large congregations gathered to hear the Message of the Prophet of Sbir~z.
Finally the situation reached such proportions that the ShAh himself was no longer able to ignore it; and so he delegated one of the most trusted and influential of his subjects to investigate the matter. This man, Vahid by name, in the course of three interviews, was so completely won over by the arguments and personality of the BTh, that he returned merely a written report to the Court and arose to dedicate his life to the service of the Faith, for which he later became a martyr.
The clergy, determined to halt the progress of the B~bi Cause, enlisted the support of the grand vizar of the Sli~h, and in turn, of the local governments, by implanting in them a fear of their ultimate downfall, should the Cause of the Báb succeed in awakening the people to demand the needed reforms in the church and state. They were successful in precipitating a series of tragedies which followed one upon the other and to all outward seeming extinguished the light of the Faith.
The B~b was imprisoned in a remote northern province in a mountain fortress and except for a brief moment when He was called to Tabriz to appear before a group of ecclesiastical and state dignitaries who hoped to force Him to abandon His claim or, by ridicule, cause the people to abandon their belief, He spent the remaining years of His life in prison. From here He wrote warnings and appeals in anticipation of the approaching hour of his martyrdom and of the appearance of the One Who was to follow, whose advent the Báb characterized as ttlhe Fruit and ultimate purpose of His Own Dispensation."
Meanwhile in three different sections of Persia, wars raged against the Báb's.
Civil and ecclesiastical forces joined and undertook the systematic plunder and massacre of the Báb community.
The imprisonment of theBib had become a signal for the commencement of a reign of terror which swept over the whole country. So brutal was that reign of terror in which over 20,000 followers of the Bib were put to death under the most cruel and revolting tortures, that a noted French publicist wrote, (cAll Europe was stirred to pity and indignation."
In 1850 the BTh, then in His 31st year, fell a victim to the fanatical fury of persecutors and was martyred by a firing squad in Tabriz.
For the moment the flame which had burned so fiercely and intently for nine years seemed extinguished, but it was destined to blaze forth once again through the Revelation of the One foretold by the Báb.
Bahá'u'lláh, whose name means the Glory of God, was born in 1817 in TihrAn, a member of one of the most prominent families of Persia. He turned aside from material comfort and security and embraced the Cause of the Mb, becoming one of its most fearless exponents. He succeeded in enlisting many of the learned doctors and divines of His native province in the service of the new Faith. He became recognized for His wisdom and eloquence in answering the questions and arguments of all who caine to Him.
During one of the uprisings against the B&bis, Bahá'u'lláh was arrested and forced to suffer four months in the prison dungeon of Tihnin. Upon His release it was decided that He should be exiled to Baghdad, 'Iraq.
Here Bahá'u'lláh brought the Báb community into unity, strengthened and guided it, instilling new faith and courage in the hearts of its members. It was here in the year 1863 that Bahá'u'lláh announced that I � Ic was the One foretold by the Báb, Whose advent all of the peoples of the earth were expecting.
He announced that He was the inaugurator of the long awaited Millennium, the One promised by all the Prophets of the past, Whose dispensations were a preparation for His Own. Those who arose to proclaim the truth of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh became thenceforth known as Baha'is.
Bahá'u'lláh, forced to leave His native land in 1853, spent almost his entire life a prisoner and an exile, suffering banishment from Baghd~id to Constantinople, then to Adrianople, and finally to imprisonment in 'Akka, Palestine. Each succeeding banishment ment and imprisonment saw not the diminishing in the number of His followers and the dissolution of His Cause, but rather their increase and an ever greater unity. In
Adri-anople, Bahá'u'lláhproclaimed His Mission to the world's secular and ecclesiastical leaders � the
Christian and Moslemclergy and the kings, who because of the authority and ascendency they had assumed, were responsible for the inunediate destinies of their followers and subjects. As Bahá'u'lláh addressed these epistles, calling them to embrace His Truth, His followers were already spreading His Message beyond the confines of Persia � to Egypt, to the Caucasus, and to
Syria.Bahá'u'lláh's banishment to 'Akka, lasting twenty-four years, to which the ShAh of Persia and the Su1~n of Turkey condemned Him, is a period which saw~ changes in many ways in the life and activities of Bahá'u'lláh � cbiefly in the tremendous extension of the range and volume of His Writings. These constitute the sequel to the proclamation of His Mission initiated in Adrianople, the Revelation of the Laws and Ordinances of His Dispensation, and the reaffirmation and elucidation of the fundamental Laws and
Principles of His Eaith. Bahá'u'lláhHimself affirmed that never since the beginning of the world has the Message of God been so openly proclaimed.
In the year 1892 Bahá'u'lláh passed from this world, and with His ascension a period unparalleled in the world's religious history drew to a close.
Prophecies foretelling the advent of the Faith had been fulfilled, the fundamental laws and principles � the foundation for the world order destined to arise � had been enunciated; and finally, Bahá'u'lláh had provided for the preservation of the unity and integrity of His
Faith.Through the Covenant established by Bahá'u'lláh in which His son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, was appointed the sole interpreter of the Bahá'í Teachings, the Faith was protected from the disasters resulting from division which has afflicted the religions of the past. After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, His followers turned to 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the explanation and the decisions regarding the understanding and application of the laws
Page 447and principles of the Faith. Under the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Faith was spread throughout many countries. Baha communities were established in the western world, in France, in Germany, in England, and in the United States, as well as in the East. After 'Abdu'l-Bahá release from prison which He shared for forty years with His Father, Bahá'u'lláh, He undertook a three-year journey to the West, to Europe, and America, speaking before large audiences in churches, synagogues, and before peace societies upon the basic and distinguishing features of His Father's Faith.
And in the city of 'Ishqabad, Russia, the first Bahá'í House of Worship, initiated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, was completed. In Wilmette, Illinois, plans for the construction of the first Bahá'í Temple of the West were made and the cornerstone laid by 'Abdu'1-. Bali.
Through Him every barrier that threatened to halt the progress and development of the Faith was cut down, the Teachings were amplified, and the features of the Ba1i~'i Administrative Order � which Bahá'ís believe is the pattern for future world order � were delineated.
Upon the death of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the year of 1921, His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, was appointed through his Will and Testament, the first Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, and in him the authority as interpreter of the Teachings rests. Under the guidance and direction of Shoghi Effendi, the Faith has expanded and developed; today Bahá'ís are residing in seventy-eight countries of the world and Bahá'í literature has been translated and published in forty-one languages. And so already, only one hundred years after its birth, the BaU'i Faith can be seen to be the world Faith, uniting the peoples of every race and nationality.
PART III� Charles Monroe loas know the conditions extant in the world at the period of the inception of the Bahá'í Faith. That the condition of the world has been altered more during this first century of the Bahá'í era than during any corresponding period in the history of mankind cannot be disputed.
Bahá'u'lláh brought principles and plans which in His age would be termed revolutionary.
This issue of world peace is one. One hundred years ago � or even fifty years ago, for that matter � real world peace and unity was an unheard-of thing.
Today our greatest desire is the planning and organization of a strong and durable peace. This is the thought foremost in the minds of all men, as whichever way we turn, we are confronted with peace plans � plans which are based upon economic interdependence � plans which are based upon political cooperation � plans which are based upon geographical proximity.
When we think of the manifold peace proposals today, we come to the conclusion that surely one of these will meet our needs.
But is this the case?In order to answer this question we must have some definite objective towards which we are striving. Our first desire is that this should be a lasting peace; we also wish that all men be included in this peace; and finally, we are desirous of its being a cooperative peace. Will the plans which are being put forth throughout the world today assure these results?
The peace plans of the economists will not. One chief reason is that the peace of the economist consists solely of a group of agreements among the various governments. They cannot stand alone without the backing of the individual citizen; and the citizen will not stand behind pieces of paper bearing astronomical figures which he does not comprehend and which do not directly affect him.
Nor will a geographical peace achieve these results.
When one speaks of a geographical peace, it necessarily entails exclusive characteristics. In other words, there might be peace, for example, among the Americas, while the countries of the Orient
Page 448remained in a state of disunion. This condition might be likened to a sick body � if one part of the body is ill, the remainder of the body is affected. Therefore, the final peace must include all nations and peoples of the world.
Likewise, a political peace is inadequate. Agreements made by governments ignore the fact that men will retain their inbred feelings of hatred, animosity, and prejudice. With these conditions existing, men will never be able to live together amicably.
Now, why is it that none of these plans could achieve the desired results?
There is one chief reason, and that is the fact that they all overlook the most important element of any durable peace � the individual. The true peace must be one in which all men will be able to live together in a friendly and loving world. In order to achieve this, the minds and hearts of men must be altered � men must learn that they are all the leaves of one tree and the fruits of one garden � that they are, in reality, equal to one another. Manmade plans are incapable of doing this!
ttGod alone ordereth all things and is all powerful."
Therefore, a divine plan is in order � a plan which bears the power of God to alter man's inner being.
It is this plan which Bahá'u'lláh has brought to the world in its darkest days. Bahá'u'lláh has brought God's plan for world peace!
The foremast criterion of a true and lasting peace is the unity of mankind. This unity does not mean a signing of pacts by the nations of the world; but it means a bond of unity which ties all men one to another.
Americans, for example, must realize that the people on the other side of the globe are their neighbors, not foreigners; that they are the same type of men as are the Americans.
Biologically and spiritually, men are all the same, wherever they may happen to be born. It is merely a figment of man's imagination which creates the differences which cause our present lack of unity. Religion is one unifying force, for
Page 449it alone is the cause of love and affection. Therefore, religion is the only road to the unity of mankind.
How, then is this most great unity to be achieved?
In the first place, according to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, prejudices of all sorts must be obliterated and forgotten. This is imperative in order that men may face each other with clear minds and untainted consciences.
In reality, however, this elimination of prejudice is not so great a task, for when we analyze prejudice, when we tear it down to its roots, we find that there is really no cause whatsoever for prejudice.
Religious prejudice, which is so rampant in the world today, was never meant to be so by the One Object of the adoration of all the religions. Nay, one of the teachings of Jesus Christ was that one should "be in 'ave and charity with all men." What a far cry from this are the conditions which exist today, for now there is animosity and division even among the followers of Christ. However, when men realize the unity of God, religious prejudice will pass out of existence.
In the same way, racial prejudice is an illusory thing. It is superstition, pure and simple.
What folly it is that we should think that the color of a man's skin could affect his inner being! What greater folly it is that we should think that one particular color of skin should naturally entail a greater intellect and a finer moral character.
As previously mentioned, all men are one and the same in the eyes of God.
Again, we see that national prejudice is false. But I need not go into this � we know that God created no territorial boundaries! Thus it is that prejudice, one of the chief causes of animosity and warfare among men, is a mere nothing which will disappear as a puff of smoke into the sky when analyzed. Its absolute banishment is one of the steppingstones to world peace.
Another steppingstone is that there must be equal educational opportunities throughout the world and that there must be a universal language established.
The necessity of these things is selfevident.One of the hindrances to unity in the world, today is the fact that we cannot understand the other people of the world. Education and a common language will eliminate this barrier.
Page 450The third steppingstone is an economic one. Bahá'u'lláh tells us that there must be an equal access of the means of existence for all. There must be no extremes of wealth and no extremes of poverty.
There must be a cooperation between labor and capital. However, it is not a socialistic state which we foresee, for the Bahá'ís recognize that humanity, like a great army, requires generals, captains, various other officers., each with his own appointed duties.
Degrees are absolutely necessary to insure an orderly organization.
These are but three of the larger and firmer steppingstones to the true peace which lies at the end of this trail.
Let us now see what form God's ordered world is going to take. In the first place, it will include all the peoples of the world, none will be excibded.
All the nations of the world will surrender supreme sovereignty to the central international government. However, each member state will, at the same time, remain autonomous. This type of organization can best be visualized by comparing it with our governmental form, in the United States.
Here each state is sovereign in all matters which pertain only to the citizens within its borders. However, our federal government makes the decisions when two or more states are concerned.
Recreate the United Stateson a grander scale, and you have a World Federation with a strong world government.
To this world government, the states will cede their privilege of making war.
Also, the member states will disarm. This govern-inent will naturally need funds with which to function.
Therefore, it will have a taxing power. Moreover, economic barriers will be removed in order that there may be free and unhampered trade among the nations.
At the head of the world government wiii be anwith powers adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable authority on every member of the world organization.
His duty will be to carry out decisions of the legislature and to act quickly in times of emergency.
The legislative branch of the government will be composed of a World Parliament whose members shall be elected by the citizens of their respective states and whose nominations shall be confirmed by the government of their countries. In this way, we will have a truly representative governing body.
Finally, and of greatest importance, there will be a Supreme Tribunal established by the peoples and governments of every nation, composed of members elected from each country.
The members of this great council, who have been elected by the peo-pie and approved by the government of their countries, will assemble in unity and accord. All disputes of an international character will be submitted to this Court, its work being to arrange by arbitration everything which otherwise would be a cause of war. A majority vote of this body will carry a measure; and, since it is a truly representative body, its decisions will be binding upon all parties concerned. However, if one of the nations does nor wish to obey, there will be an international police force to enforce the decisions of the International Tribunal. In this way, we shall have a strong world government continually conscious of the best interests of all the peoples of the world.
Thus it is that world peace will come to pass!Thus it is that men some day will live together in concord and in harmony!
Thus it is that the world will eventually be organized as one corporeal body!
This is God's plan for world peace!TODAY youth has become heir to a world which is economically, socially, politically, and religiously in a state of complete collapse. How can youth hope to rebuild this broken down civilization?
Will it be worth restoring; and furthermore, will this restoration last and not fall into ruins again in a few decades?
Innately youth is full of enthusiasm, courage, love of adventure, anxious to conquer new frontiers, ready for every challenge.
The establishment of a World Order based on the Laws of God, as given to man by the Prophet for this day, Bahá'u'lláh, � this is the greatest challenge ever presented to youth.
Youth needs a goal, an ideal upon which to set its aim. Paul Baker, a former religious director at Fiske University, in his article on "The Mind of Youth," says that some great challenges are needed to offer the young people. A great crusade with high motives behind it lifts youth to its greatest heights.
Young people are capable of great hardships, suffering, sacrifice, and service. � there is in youth potentialities of greatness and nobleness, which are drawn out only by a great task.
Man, through God's mercy, is the only creature on earth which is the possessor of freewill, that is, he can turn toward God through
God's divine Messengersor he can reject God and His Prophets. This is all a part of the Spiritual Challenge. Youth must in this day investigate Truth for himself. And during this investigation, what will he find? That every person, every group, the scientist, the economist, the politician, has a different idea, a different standard for Truth. How can he be certain then what the standard should be?
Every criterion for truth which man possesses is subject to error and fault. Bahá'u'lláh tells us that the oniy standard of truth which is infallible is the standard given to man by God through his Holy Manifestations, or Prophets. This is the standard that we must use today, the standard for re-educa tion, for economics, the standard upon which the laws for human relations, the laws governing national and international problems must be based.
We hear a great deal today about unity; but I wonder how many people realize just what that very small word implies? 'Abdu'l-Bahá has drawn a very clear and beautiful picture of this unity which starts in the very depths of the earth with the minerals themselves being gradually assimilated by the vegetable kingdom; the vegetable, in turn, is raised to the station of the animal kingdom by its assimilation into that kingdom; and the animal is, in turn, absorbed into the very tissues of the human; and how is man uplifted? What is the purpose of his creation?
The cycle must be rounded out and completed in some manner; there must be some great cause in the back of this ordered creation.
Man must in this day realize the aim and purpose of his entire existence � to know and to iove God and through his love for God, love his fellow men.
Before true universal Peace can be established there must be a complete unity of conscience. Not just a superficial unity which consists in saying or thinking "Oh, yes, we are agreed there must be an end to war." � ttWe are ready to love everyone."
are willing to observe the rights and privileges of all men." This unity must be realized in the very hearts and souis of men. 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that this spiritual unity which emanates only from the Prophet of God is the perfect unity, that it creates such a condition in mankind that each one will make sacrifices for the other, that the utmost desire will be to forfeit life and all that pertains to it in the behalf of another's good. This unity has been demonstrated in the past. We are acquainted with the dynamic power of the Prophets of the past; we know the great history of this World Faith, of the thousands of martyrdoms of people who were not spiritually blind, who as in the times of the previous Prophets,
Page 453Bahá'í Youth attending the Symposium held in Bombay, India, February 25th, 1945, in honor of International Bahá'í Youth Day.
knew the oniy way to establish a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. We also know the plan which Bahá'u'lláh gave to the world nearly a century ago. What kinds of persons were they who so willingly and gladly gave up their lives that a Great Truth might live? They were men of the same character as those who must put into practice this new plan of living, This plan can oniy become effective if carried out by a people who are living truly spiritual lives, by a people willing to forsake personal aims and to dedicate themselves to universal goals and ideals, willing not only to dedicate their intelligence and strength, but also their lives.
For when the Prophet of God comes, He changes the very heart of man and this unity, this faith, and this obedience to the laws of God must be carried into every degree of existence, into the political sphere, the business world, the world of arts and sciences, For it is not enough to have a belief in religion, that belief must be transmuted over into everyday living.
Religion guides the individual in his relation to his fellowmen, The test of true religion lies in the influence it has on our lives, It must produce in our hearts a love of God which must be transmuted into iove for man; it must produce a sense of security and true happiness for man.
We cannot deny that religion as it is today has failed to guide youth and to give it the security which is its crying need. Youth cannot be imprisoned by the narrow theological doctrines of manmade religion. Youth cannot accept a religion which is so different from the scientific and logical principles which are the foundation of education today.
The revolt of modern youth seemingly against religion is at bottom not revolt against religion, but against the trappings and dogma that conceal the true God. The solution must be not in an unnatural limiting of life, but rather in the spontaneous motivation which can oniy come from a religion which youth freely adopts and holds to with complete loyalty.
Yes, this civilization can be rebuilt � this old world order will be changed through the will of God.
Man will, by his own volition, live on a higher spiritual plane and abide by the teachings of true religion. Then will the most Great Peace which Bahá'u'lláh prophesies descend on mankind.
'What greater challenge, what greater crusade could be given to youth?
Bahá'í Youth has accepted this challenge, Into this great world wide movement the youth of many countries, of many races, of many hereditary religions are throwing themselves with deep sincerity and earnest endeavor. The Baha Youth have found in the teachings of Ba1A' � u'llAh, the fulfillment of all the prophetic cycles of the past and the great spiritual truths restated in modern terms for this modern world, Through the teachings of
Page 454Bahá'u'lláh, youth can assume the opportunities and responsibilities of this day, for Bahá'u'lláh has given the plans, the purpose, the standards, and ideals for the building of a new race of man and a new civilization.
lBahá'í Youth all over the world are able to look forward to the future of civilization with security in their hearts, with clear and untroubled minds, because they know that out of the ashes of this confused and chaotic state will arise a new world through the power of the Spirit emanating from God and released to this modern world by Bahá'u'lláh.
FAITH IN ACTIONthem and with the cohorts of the Supreme Concourse, make them victorious, so that each one of them may become like unto a regiment and conquer these countries through the love of God and the illumination of the divine teachings." � 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
These lines are from a prayer in the Tablets of the Divine Plan revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá (The Servant of the Glory), for the carrying of the
Message of Bahá'u'lláhThe first part of this Plan was completed with the establishment of the Baha Faith in every State and Province in North America, and in every
Latin American Republic.With the emergence of Europe, Asia and Africa from the perilous night of war, the stage is set for the fulfilling Tablets of the Plan calling for the anchoring of the
Administrative Orderin every country of these sorely-afflicted continents.
Let us review some of the initial steps made in this worldwide teaching campaign by Bahá'ís in the military services.
There were soldiers, sailors, merchant seamen, WAGS,
WAVES and a Woman Marinein the United States forces, not to mention service personnel of Canada,
Australia, Great BritainWell over 200, they participated at once in the disintegration of the old order of nationalism and prejudice and in the inauguration of a new era of international cooperative undertakings. Front line aidmen and rear echelon Joe; suppiy troops and intelligence person-ne', white and Negro, young and old, officers and enlisted men, they reached every continent and traversed every ocean in laying the foundations of the world civilization envisaged by the Divine Architect of this Era, Bahá'u'lláh of M~zindar~n.
First let us hear from the South Pacific. A Chicago
Baha'i, Technical SergeantEdwin H. Koyl (attached to a medical Unit) writes from New Guinea, "Lonely as life is here, I often think of the significance of all that is transpiring.
I say lonely because that is about the only effect this war has had on me in a negative way. Others have given their lives, some have given their limbs, their speech, their eyes.
Just as the Guardian said about a decade ago; ours is to be a spiritual martyrdom, and in place of physical blood oftimes I have bled spiritually. It was a trying experience, I say, was, because I can look back on what seems to be the worst of it. (He wrote on 18 June 1945.) We always figure it that way until we find ourselves in another Cll~ But you and I know that there is always something to be gained from such experiences. I have tried my best not to let the message of each incident and trial escape me; time will tell how well I have succeeded.
ttMy present position is a very pleasant one, has been for the past several months. We have a small but efficient setup that administers primary medication to a large group of service troops. Each day is filled with its responsibilities to be discharged, and each night finds us one day nearer the Lesser Peace and those we love.
~ find plenty to keep me busy. It seems that there is always just a little more to do than I have time for. Is not that an ideal situation? Idle time is spent running movies for the officers three nights a week, playing volley ball, writing letters and read
Page 455ing. As to the latter, through the generosity of Mrs. Julia Shows, I am now enjoying cGod Passes By.' Have received the Chicago Bahá'í News regularly, the National not so often. I would like very much to be furnished with a list of the Bahá'í communities in the Philippine Islands.
CeIt can now be told that I am stationed at Mime Bay at the southeastern tip of New Guinea. It is a beautiful spot, truly one of the spots of the South Pacific.
Were there snow on the mountains opposite I would feel right at home.
Green jungle, blue sky, and bluer water, cocoanut palms � oh, how romantic!
Except for ten weeks in Biak (I) have been here over nineteen months.
t~Remember me to the Community, and tell them that if perchance I cannot make the Outer Drive in '45, surely I can make one-one-six
(Chicago Bahá'í Centeris located at 116 Michigan Avenue) in '46. 'Till then may God be with you!
Your Bahá'í brother, EdwinKoyl." (This letter was written to the editor of Chicago Bahá'í News, Mr. I. W.
Steven.)on Saipan, another Chicago Babi'i, Joseph F. Peter, writes in a letter to Mrs. loas,
Chicago Bahá'í ServicemenCorrespondent, "Do you know Patti Pettit? (From Bucyrus, Ohio.) Well, he is now on Tinian and I've already arranged for transportation there � even got Saturday off, too � I hope Joe (Joe Tierno of the New York Community) can make it with me � he is trying. The way we are going now we're liable to form an Assembly � if we only had six more, and (if) I (were) a few months older!!! Clement Perry (of the Cleveland Bahá'í Community) has so far supplied us with all the addresses, but he is still all alone (on New Guinea). 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that all parts of the world must be visited including the islands of the Pacific and a good number have been visited already. "For a man can withstand anything except that which was divinely intended."
(Quoted from Chicago Baha'iwrites, "Tomorrow I'm heading for Tinian with a friend of mine in my outfit. When I first heard that Paul was on Tinian I asked my friend if he wanted to come along to Tinian to look over the island � he asked if I knew Paul � I said no, he asked if I had ever
Page 456written him � I said no � did I know what he looked like � nope! ! � he was really floored, but when Paul walked out of the hut I knew him instantly and my friend remarked to me later, our greeting was like that of two lost brothers. By now my friend has almost finished Esslemont (Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era,' by Dr. J. E. Esslemont) and I'm looking forward to a very pleasant weekend on Tinian with Paul,
Harry (a New Orleans Baha'i)and my friend. The most pleasant seven months of my life was spent in Honolulu where I had a chance to meet all the friends including some from Maui and Hawaii and especially Miss Agnes Alexander who shared many of her experiences in Japan and other countries with me."
Still another ChicagoBaha'i, Lt. Ernest A. Thayer, D. C., U.S.N.R., writes, ~ left my home and last station on March 8. I reported for sea transportation on March 17 at San Francisco (and) waited until April 4 when I started ship hiking and island-hopping across the Pacific. The first stop was Pearl Harbor, next Eniwetok, then Guam and finally to my ship on May 14.
"It was all very interesting, sometimes rather rugged physically, but I came through in good health and good spirits. I must say though that I failed to find that wellknown so customarily associated with South Sea islands, so I can eliminate a few spots from my itinerary if I ever take a peace time world cruise.
ttMy ship is large and comfortable, if such can be said about life on a ship. It is really not bad at all but any residence in the tropics gets monotonous, especially because of its limitation. The temperature is well over 100 degrees right now, and I have found that, even though I have been here only a short time, the body adjusts itself quite well, because the other day in a mild typhoon the thermometer dropped to 82 and every one was quite chilly.
"This is a repair ship which does all kinds of repairs for other ships.
Due to the nature of work, the personnel is highly specialized, and in general the officers and men in charge are of good type intellectual ly. This is good in some ways, but I seem to stand alone, mentally and spiritually, with respect to Baha'i.
These men are either sat. isfied with what they have or have a tendency to ignore spiritual values altogether, so my opportunity to pioneer among them is very limited." (From Chicago Bahá'í News,
September 1945.)A member of the Cleveland Community, Pfc. Clement J. Perry (with a suppiy unit) writes on August 31, 1945 from Manila, c(Yesterday I was in my tent and in came Dick Sulim (of Sandusky, Ohio community).
We were glad to see each other and we talked a long time about the gang and old times. He is located roughly five miles away from me; it sure is shorter than the 1,000 miles that we were separated prior to my moving."
Corporal Joe Tierno, 176thStation Hospital, of New York City writes on 18 August 1945 from
Saipan, ttPaul Petitis on a neighboring island (Tinian). Joe Peter went to visit him by boat, I followed by plane. Paul has paid us a return visit by boat.~~ From Luzon, P. I., Pfc.
Richard T. Sulim (with a medical unit) from Sandusky, Ohio writes on 5 July 1945, tcSo far I haven't run into any Bahá'ís in Manila, though there must be many.
However, the city is in such a state of ruin that life is far from normal.
�I was talking to one of the Hindu guards out here the other night who has lived in the Islands for nineteen years. He said that at the time he left India there were very many Baha in that country. I am still working in the dispensary and enjoying it all very much. We have a good gang to work for. Among other things I am writing a book with one of the bouts out here about life in the Army in the Philippines. Also, I have an opportunity to study calculus at the Philippine Institute, two nights a week. Then, also, I am studying a correspondence course in Elementary Analysis from the University of Wisconsin.~~ These informal accounts portray the daily life of and demonstrate the deep feeling of fellowship that exists among Baha'is, some of whom know each other oniy by correspondence.
Their common bond is belief in the Elixir of the Divine Physician of this age of maturity of the human race. Yesterday oceans separated them, today they are stationed near each other, but ever present is
Page 457the spiritual tie of "one universal Cause, one common Faith." Regardless of race, color, social or economic background, tcA11h~~ AbLY' (God the Glorious) is the password to happiness for any Bahá'í in over seventy countries of the world. One feels that the early Christians, Muhammadans and Jews must have had the same close brotherhood in their religious activities. 'Would that all religions might reexamine and emulate the lives of their first believers and martyrs.
Bahá'ís have the obligation to share their treasure with all interested in raising the moral, social and economic standards of the whole human race.
Opportunities are many: The first sergeant (a Catholic) would like to know just how this Faith is different from Christianity.
(Basic spiritual verities are the same in both � the belief in one God and the brotherhood of man � but different material laws and institutions designed for the needs of a world civilization are needed today.) A buddy wonders why you give up alcoholic beverages. (Either we abide by every Law of the Prophet or we compromise our loyalty.
Man cannot obey two masters.) Another fellow says, "All you do is eat, sleep and drink religion." Of course, we don't aim to be fanatics, but we do believe religion should be the guiding force in human life, that our actions should be motivated by a desire to serve humanity, that moderation should be practiced in all things. If religion does not influence our daily life, it is no more than a coat we wear on Sunday and take off the rest of the week.
And now a word from a veteran of North Africa and Italy. Pfc. Charles
H. McAllister (of NewYork City), Medical Detachment. He writes from Naples, "By my new address you can see I am not with the 386th Engineers any more.
We were saddened and broken hearted when we were informed that we were to be separated and sent to two different organizations.
Our Colonel did his best to keep us together but to no avail. We
Page 458were as one family and practically everyone in the battalion had heard of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
They were particularly interested in the principle of the oneness of mankind.
We discussed it not on one, but on many occasions.
I often read to them from 'The Advent of Divine~'Since I have been in Naples I have found a music teacher and I have been taking voice lessons for about six months.
Her name is Signora Asunta Cimmino Vingiani. Her husband speaks French; so I gave him a copy of tBahA~u~11Ah and the New Era' in French. After reading it through he said to me, tThis is the religion for the Italian people. Every Italian should have this book in his home.' I also gave away a copy of tThe Hidden Words' and The Seven Valleys' in French; so you can see that the teaching horizon is very bright.
Aside from my regular duties and music lessons, I find time to sing with the orchestra, and work with Special Service and the Red Cross in presenting programs for the GI's.
So, until next time, your Bahá'í brother, Charles."
A Milwaukee Baha'i, TechnicalSergeant R. C. Niss, writes, "In my work, survival and combat in Arctic and wet, cold condi-rions (Aleutian Islands), I have come across a few
Alaskan Eskimos and Indiansand rather than telling them specifically about the Faith, I drew out from them their ideas and feelings in order to better understand them.
In fact, this idea has guided most of my Army interests. From a virtual ignorance of people, their ideas, habits and feelings, I feel I have a small foothold now of understanding them.
Nothing of my Army career have I regretted for the association with such different personalities has gained me much. Yet with seventy-three points I should be on my way home after four and onehalf years and will that be a happy day!" (October 5, 1945.)
Quite a few Bahá'ís served in Germany. From Launsbach by Giessen and Frankfurt we have a fine account from
Sergeant Robert BruceOn 22 August 1945, he writes, ~ have seen my brother twice (they are both from Miami, Florida) over here and have given the
Message to most of the boys in my outfit and to at least a dozen civilians in every town we've been in, and in this town, many, many more than a dozen. Three people I've met have heard of it before.
Before our recent great change in personnel most of the boys knew that I was forever and without condition plugging racial equality." Not having any addresses of Bahá'ís in Frankfurt, Sgt. Davison inserted the following notice in the Frankfurter
Rundschau of September8, 1945, "Bahá'ís in Frankfurt wollen sich bitten in Verbind setzen mit Sgt.
R. B. Davison, 156 Infant Medical Detachment Heddernheim,
Romerstadt Strasse."In a few days he was visited by several Baha'is. The first meeting in seven years was held Friday, 14 September 1945 at the home of Herr Barthel, 14 Wohlerstrasse, and by the end of the month the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Frankfurt was in the process of formation due to his exceptional zeal, On October 7, he wrote, ~I was shipped to Europe in December of 1944 with the 70th Infantry Division.
Our unit had just eighty-eight days of combat, one of which my brother spent with me. It was the 17th of
February near Forbach.We talked Bahá'í a few minutes, read a prayer together and then worked the whole day, bandaging and evacuating the freshly wounded till we dripped with sweat. (Sgt. Davison was a front-line aidman.)
(Since the first meeting) we have met weekly in the following order: Herr Barthel's, Friday, 21 September; Niedernan 58, 28 September; and now our regular� place of meeting,
Gutleut Strasse 121, Friday5th October. I spoke on September 14, twelve present; Fri. Edith Horn and I spoke 21st, 16 present; Dr. Hermann Grossman spoke on the 28th and 5th of October with 22 and 18 present respectively." Bruce's weapons are a winning smile, a marvelous personality and-an extraordinary grasp of German acquired in only a few months.
Lix Richard A. McGurdy(of the Lima, Ohio, community, with a medical unit), served in western Germany and writes on January 26, 1945, "As you probably have already surmised, I am in a forward medical station, having mostly liaison duties. At the dispensary (in Paris) we had some real dis
Page 459Youth Education Committee of Kirm4n, Persia, 1945.
cussions, there being a Jew, a Buddhist and several Christians among the medics. Earlier I had met a Muhammadan soldier in one of the depots.
So we could surely talk unity and peace from several angles. You can well imagine.
At Mereville, one English-speaking Frenchwoman is writing to Barbie (his wife) about it. In Paris, the dispensary clerk (an instructor in French at home) and I met some friends near the Bastik and in the course of the evening I showed pictures of the Temple, among which was a photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá which they questioned me about.
Much to my amazement the clerk explained the Cause, mostly in French, and later these people passed the Message on (I only caught the word Baha occasionally) to a cafe owner who remarked that Paris needed such a Faith.
This French woman who also spoke fairly good English, asked me several times ~f I would come and tell her more Bahá'í and introduce her to other Bahá'ís in Paris. tYou will take me, yes?' was her last request. But my orders ended my Paris trips."
Later, he writes from Recklinghausen, Germany, ttIweekend before last I spent a few days with Cap't. (Connie) Baker (also of Lima), my first Baha contact since I left Barbie last August in Greenville, Pa. We did have a splendid time � he is with the 25th General Hospital in Belgium � not far from Maastricht or
Liege."David Ned Black-(of Binghamton, N. Y.), attached to a Field Hospital, writes on October 6, "I have yet to meet any Bahá'ís overseas, although it has been possible to tell many people of the Faith and, on occasion, to follow up their inevitable interest. In England, or among Army personnel, these contacts are not unusual. They occur more frequently than they did at home; due, perhaps, to our encountering more people; due, more likely to the awareness of world needs which the war has forced.
"It struck me as unique, however, that my first contact on the Continent should be a Belgian woman who spoke no English. Our convoy had stopped before her home for a noon break and she brought us fresh bread and coffee. Contrary to some experiences we had had with civilians, she determinedly refused payment of any kind.
Page 460This was intriguing. With much pantomime, and my limited French, she told me of her three sons, dead in Germany, and of her unwavering faith that a better world was at hand. At that point we should have moved on, but I was impelled to try to tell this lady about the Ba1A'i Faith.
As our convoy started to move, one of the lead trucks discovered a need for repairs. They took over an hour, during which I tried to convey Bahá'u'lláh's Message, with some success.
She wanted to know more than there was time to tell, so I left her a copy, in English, of tBahá'í
Teachings for a WorldFaith.' She assured me that she had a friend who could translate it to her. As we drove away she stood turning the pamphlet in her hands and smoothing it, waving now and again until we were out of sight.
"There was the German who worked for us who wanted to talk politics.
When I told him that tEin Reich, em yolk, em flihrer' should be superseded by tDie Erde is nur em Lande, und die Gemainschaft ist das yolk,' he responded enthusiastically, saying that friends should be chosen by the responding of heart to heart regardless of birth, color, or politics.
He, too, was enthusiastic over the Bahá'í principles.
tcThere have been all kinds of encounters with people who, while not yet Bahá'ís still show great awareness of the spirit of this age. They always seem glad to hear of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and, regardless of speech barriers, it always seems possible to give the Message wherever it is necessary.
I know something of what the man must have felt who, although he knew no Persian, protested the tinterruptions' of the interpreter who was translating as 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke. That man's sympathetic comprehension was founded on a spiritual understanding which required oniy the Master. Words were superfluous.
ttj believe the Teachings hold something of that same power, even in our hands. It has often happened that as soon as my halting translation into French or German has established one of the principles of Bahá'u'lláh as the basis for conversation, a bond of understanding comes into being which bridges the difficulties my ignorance of these languages has caused. Comprehension flows faster than words can follow. It is much like rolling a hoop which requires oniy an occasional tap in the right direction to keep it bowling along!
"Of all my experiences in Europe, this impresses me as being most significant. Wherever, whenever, it has seemed right to tell a fellow man of the Bahá'í Faith, those differences of birth, race, nationality, education, religion, language, and all of the other accidental variations of circumstance which are commonly thought to obstruct understanding, have vanished. We are two men talking together of the values in life which shall always matter; rejoicing that, in our time, these truths have been brought to maturity, and struck with new power, through their enunciation by a Manifestation of God.
"The language of the heart transcends speech and, through the increased understanding which study of the Faith brings, a Bahá'í is well schooled in this tongue. It does not require words. There was a Mongolian who came to us, shot through the chest from side to side. He was uneasy among strange people and strange experiences, but our eyes met in friendship and we understood each other. And he quieted enough so that we could help him.
ccThere was a Nazi, dying, who needed a hand to hold.
What are the politics of Death? The look he gave me before he closed his eyes could have been read in any country.
ceStatistically I have distributed over a hundred pamphlets tBaM'i Teachings for a World Faith,' discdminately, always to someone who either read English himself, or who knew a friend who would translate for him.
Of the leaflet, tThe World Faith of Bahá'u'lláh,' Shoghi Effendi's summary, I have given sixty or seventy away. And it has ken possible to speak of the Faith to perhaps fifty or sixty others to whom it was not practicable to give literature. Allah'-u'AbM!
Ned."Others who served in Germany are Pfc. Ray H. Edwards (of Los Angeles, Calif.) 58th
Field Hospital; Sgt.First public meeting for Youth held under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile, July, 1945.
Grade Ambrose Dumler (of Milwaukee, Wis.), 32ndDuncan Mc-Alear (of Boston, Mass.) with the 546th AntiAircraft
Artillery; and Lix JoelTwo Bahá'í medical soldiers were on Hospital Ships;
Technician Third GradeA number of American Bahá'í soldiers contacted the
British Baha'is: CorporalSgt. Donald P. Kinney; and Sgt. Henry H. Tellerman.
Exceptional have been the activities of Corporal Alvin Blum in New Zealand, and in the Philippines.
An American Ba1A'isoldier aided in the establishment of the first Local Assembly in the Republic of Panama. Pfc.
Elmer Duckett of Monrovia, Calif., contacted the Bahá'ís in India. A few Bahá'í servicemen were given the extreme privilege to make the pilgrimage to the World Center of the
Faith in Haifa, PalestineAs one reflects upon the exploits of these adventurers in the path of God one is reassured that there is tremendous power in this Faith which impeL its followers, regardless of capacity, social or economic status, to spend their utmost in the establishment of the institutions which are a pattern for a future society. We cannot but remain convinced that the prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh is being fulfilled, that the world is siowiy but surely becoming one country and mankind its citizens.
Stuttgart, Germany 21 October, 1945.Bahá'í Character-Training Classes from two of the twelve districts in Tihrin, Persia, in which children's training work is regularly conducted. Such classes throughout the city are attended by more than sixteen hundred children and youth under the age of eighteen.
Page 463Foreword: Before expressing my modest opinions upon this subject, I desire to make it clear that in speaking of the youth, I do not only refer to people of 21 years of age, or less, but to those up to approximately 30 years of age. Also, I wish to state that the Bahá'í community of Punta Arenas, of which I have the privilege to belong, is composed in the majority of people of this age.
J FIRMLY believe that the greatest responsibility for the most successful progress of our beloved Cause in the near future rests upon the young people of this great World Community, and upon the labor they exert will depend especially the swift establishment of the Faith. It has been my observation, during my short experience as a Bahá'í teacher, that when young people enter the Cause, they embrace it with more sincerity, more loyalty and enthusiasm, than the older peopie, and thereby achieve more efficient work in the spread of the Teachings.
It is very natural and logical that this should be so, not only here in my country of Chile, but in any land, inasmuch as the youth are less attached to prejudices and traditions of the past. Once they enter the Faith and come to understand its true im � portance, they devote their best energies toward the attainment of such high purposes as the unfolding, by every means within their reach, of the sacred Teachings of our Well-Beloved Bahá'u'lláh, the oniy remedy which can save this so very sick body of mankind.
Many of the friends who read these humble statements will know already of the growing victories which are being won by our beloved Faith in this isolated tip of the Continent.
This is due to the great efforts put forth by the young members of this Community under the wise guidance of our experienced and excellent teachers, Mrs. Marcia
Steward and Mr. ArtemusLamb, with whom I have had the privilege of coi-laborating.
It is for this reason that I make a fervent call to all the dear friends who have the privilege of imparting the sacred Teachings of our beloved Bahá'u'lláh, to devote and concentrate their greatest efforts in attracting and preparing the young people in our Cause, for upon them depends the greatest and swiftest success of the establishment of the Bahá'í Faith.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES IN MAGALLANES,In Punta Arenas, the most southerly city of the world, a public meeting for the Youth was held for the first time, on July 29, 1945. Participants on this occasion were the youth members of this community, several members of the Assembly and various young peopk interested in the
Cause.The meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Artemus Lamb and was arranged by Sr. Esteban Canales Leyton, Srta. Rosy Vo-danovic and Sr. Hugo Arteagabeitia, members of the Assembly, who read interesting extracts from the Bahá'í Writings, selected for this occasion.
Srta. Nelly Andrade gave a beautiful program of piano compositions, after which tea was served.
It was an interesting and friendly gathering which was distinguished by the cordial and happy spirit which reigned throughout the event.
In the same city, on the 4th of August, another meeting was held for the Youth and other people interested in the Cause, consisting of a tea which was given at the Hotel Cosmos. After tea was served, Mr. Lamb showed the slides of the Temple which had recently been received from the United States. Sr. Esteban Ganales gave explanations of the views which were projected.
Due to the excellent publicity which thehas given the Cause in the newspapers and radio of this locality, the professor of History of the
Page 464In the garden of a home ~n Tihr&n, Persia, the children of a Bahá'í Character-Training Class present a play demonstrating the purposes of their class meetings. There are one hundred and eleven Character-Training Classes in the city of Tihr~n, conducted by ninety-one teachers.
Page 465First ccBah4~i Youth Day" Meeting held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, March 17, 1945.
High School of this city gave his pupils the task of investigating the Faith. In this way, about 400 students are acquiring a sound knowledge of it.
Later Mr. Artemus Lamband Sr. Esteban Canales interviewed this professor, Sr. Ren6 Ramirez, who proved to be very interested personally in the Cause and is now reading its literature.
THE CHILDREN'S SHARE OFSessions afford valuable opportunities to observe in detail the methods of Bahá'í teachers of children, who, gathered together from several States and Provinces, are working together in true Bahá'í harmony.
At the Geyserville School session of 1945 the children shared in the practical application of Bahá'í community life, as the pupils in the older classes provided, through their handicraft proiects, some of the equipment needed for the classes for the younger children.
The ages of the children ranged from the nursery group, who were from two to five years old, through the primary grade aged from six to eight, the intermediate from nine to eleven, the high intermediate from eleven to thirteen, and the junior youth from thirteen to fifteen.
The teachers were well qualified for their work, having had experience in their own communities, and they were not restricted as to their methods of teaching.
One very important feature was the general assembly for the children, before they went to their separate classes. This was conducted by the supervisor of the children's study classes. Volunteers were called upon to recite prayers, and it was an inspiration to see the junior youth respond
Page 466i f I Bahá'í Youth Symposium held in Shiriz lkrsia, 1945.
Page 467They will so soon be shouldering their share of the Bahá'í work for this second century.
Volunteers were also asked to lead in singing, and even the little nursery tots would step up in front of the class and lead with one of the simple Bahá'í songs which the children had selected. A few words of inspiration about the Bahá'í Teachings or perhaps a short quiz would follow.
One morning the children were asked what they thought the title "Hidden Words" meant, and a seven-year-old promptly answered, "I think it means hidden truth."
The songs and prayer and the kindly, cheerful little chat with the children seemed to set the tone for the day's work. This work was divided into two morning class periods, from 9:30 to 12:15, including the assembly; the first period for study and the second period for handicraft. Some of the classes were held outdoors on or near a large porch.
The nursery tots had an enclosed outdoor play yard, with swings and a sand box.
The classes for the nursery tots are very important.
There are families who come to Summer School every year and their children start in the nursery and come on up through the classes. The nursery work requires two teachers in attendance at all times.
The special project for the nursery children was to teach them cooperative play. During the first period they played in the sand box and the swing, sang nursery songs, played with toys and were entertained by the teacher reading stories. Simple handicraft was given them during the second period.
Expression painting was perhaps the most interesting of the handicrafts. For this the washable water paints were used. These come in powder form and are mixed with water as required.
Most paint stores carry this paint under brand names. Some schools get kalsomine paints, which are mixed with water, instead of the special water paints prepared for children.
Poster paint, which is mixed with water, may also be used. If the children spill this paint on their clothing, it can be washed out if laundered within twelve hours.
For paper we used what the newspapers call newsprint.
Some newspapers have butt ends of rolls that they will sell and others have scrap which' they will gladly donate for children's classes.
'Wallpaper is also a splendid material, as the back is plain and the texture is good. Discontinued lines may be purchased cheaply, or ends of rolls left over from papering rooms may be used. The pieces should be about 18 by 24 inches.
In our classes these sheets were thumbtacked to easels which had been made by the junior youth class as a handicraft proiect.
Each child was allowed to select his own color and those of four and five years of age were allowed to have two colors. Small brushes with long handles were given them. No suggestion was made as to what they should paint nor were they asked what they were painting until they finished. Some finished in five minutes and wanted to do something else, others worked at it for some time. When the picture was completed, the children were encouraged to tell what it was and then their name and the name of the picture was written in the corner.
No attempt whatever was made to help them with the painting or to correct anything they painted.
There is a paint also which can be given to the children for finger painting. For this form they simply apply the paint with a finger instead of using a brush.
These expression paintings are of great value to experts trained in diagnosing mental and nervous conditions of children. Sometimes children are cured of nightmares and nervous upsets by thus expressing themselves freely. They seem to transfer the strange confusions in their young minds to the paper and are relieved of nervous tension.
Clay modeling was much enjoyed by the children.We made this clay by mixing 2 cups of salt with 1 cup of flour and adding water to make a stiff dough.
A little of the powder used for making the water paints gave it the necessary color interest. The vegetable colorings sold in the markets for coloring cake frostings and candies can be used, and are harmless if the children try to eat any of the clay. If this clay is worked back into a ball and wrapped in a wet cloth it can be used repeatedly. Commercial clay
Page 468Group of Bahá'í Youth attending Geyserville, California Summer School Session, 1944.
from the toy stores was used also at Geyser-yule.Bright colored paper which can be purchased d at the stationery store has many uses in handicraft projects. If it is cut into small patterns, designs, such as triangles, , crescents, squares, circles, etc., the children paste them onto a gray background, arranging the different shapes to make a picture.
. Strips of the colored paper can be pasted to make paper chains to use for decorating the hail when they exhibit their work; or they can be woven into mats, allowing g the children free expression in color combinations.
Whenever the children tired of what they were doing, they were allowed to do something g else. Sometimes they liked to stop their work and look at bright pictures in a story book. Five minutes is a long time for the youngest ones when there are so many attractions such as the swing and the sand box and the toys. It was found most helpful to give the children a simple lunch, such as graham crackers and milk or fruit juice when the change was made between the class periods. This not only applied to the nursery tots but the older ones were found to benefit by it also.
The special theme of study for the chii-dren n past the nursery age was to learn a little more about the spiritual stations of the Mb, Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Sho � ghi Effendi.. In one class this was carried out by teaching and reviewing for several days, and then having the children question each other. For instance, one child would be given the topic of the Báb and the other children told to prepare questions to ask him the following day. 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that children should question each other in class. Some very unique questions were asked. The children's questions approached the sublect from angles that had not occurred d to the instructor. One child asked if the Bil were still living when 'Abdu'l-Bahá 5 was first sent to prison. They also wanted definite historical data about the difficulties the believers had in moving the body of the Báb from the time of His martyrdom until 'Abdu'l-Bahá placed it in the shrine. They seemed to respond to stirring g events, action and evident facts.
In another class the children were told to give the Message of the Faith to a visitor who came in. This they readily did, and one boy brought out a copy of ttBahA~u)11Ah and the New Era" and showed her the chapters containing the answers to her questions. She asked what kind of a religion it was and who it was for, and one small boy told her
Page 469Bahá'í Youth at Esslingen School, Germany, August, 1945.
it was a "public religion," and that it was for everybody.
An interesting study of the ttHidden Words" was made in one class. Each child would be given a description of a Hidden Word and asked to find it and read it in class next day. As an example, one of the verses of the C(Hidd Words" tells where God has stored His jewels.
The children enjoyed this and thought it a great joke on themselves that they had to read the book of ttHidden 'Words" several times in order to find these particular verses. Each one was asked to find his own verse without help from the other members of the class.
'Abdu'l-Bahá said that it was well for children to receive prizes for their work in school.
In one class in preparation for this, points were given each day for work assigned the day before.
At the end of Summer School two of the children in the class tied for first place. The two stood up in front of the class and had an exciting quiz contest to decide which one should receive the prize. This had been decided on at the beginning of the class when the children asked what would happen in case two of them had the same number of points. Children not only work much harder when a prize is to be given but ate much easier to discipline; for instance, points c~n be taken away for unruly behavior.
The handicraft classes for the otder children produced some very useful and ornamental articles.
The macaroni plaques were particularly interesting.
For these, macaroni in the form of letters of the alphabet was used.
All stores do not have it, but stores selling fancy groceries, especially Italian stores will have it. A pound is sufficient for a dozen or more children.
The children sorted these macaroni letters out to make verses of the ttHidden Words." Plaques about 6 by 8 inches were cut of plyboard, and painted with shellac. If the plyboard cannot be obtained, then wall board made of processed paper can be used; plaster board should not be used unless the edge is bound with tape.
This wall board must then be painted with shellac or sizing. The macaroni letters are then fastened on with mucilage. The mucilage should be used freely. Any stain it makes on the board will be covered with paint later. Flower or scroll decorations can be added by using letters such as ttu" and ttv" for the petals and tr for the stems; or some of the letters can be broken to make interesting outlines and patterns.
These arc allowed to dry until the next day, then enamel paints are used
Page 470in several colors for the background, the letters and the decorations.
These are very attractive.Plaster plaques and book ends in interesting shapes and designs were purchased and the children painted them with oil paints.
These plaques were first lacquered with shellac.Then a large plate was placed in the center of the table and various colors and shades of oil paint that comes in tubes was squeezed out on this plate. Brushes were dipped in turpentine while using these paints. When the paint hardened on the plate over night, the brushes dipped in turpentine would soften it. Small brushes were used for both the plaster and macaroni plaques. The work on these plaques was carefully supervised by a competent instructor and the children were taught to clean their brushes.
They turned out very creditable work.The boys in the junior youth class were instructed in the making of work tables for the different classes. They also made the easels for the nursery class and enameled tm cans in bright colors for holding the water paints the children used.
One of the projects for girls in junior youth class was the making of bean bags and stuffed toys for the nursery class.
For the fairy play given this year, the girls made butterfly wings of yellow crepe paper and pasted bright spots of color on them. Head bands with antennae were made of cardboard. The making of the costumes was volunteer work which they did during their free time in the afternoon.
The meaning of prayer was the study theme for another class. The story of los the Shepherd Boy, with its great wealth of spiritual symbolism, was used to illustrate the need of our being alone once a day to remember that God gives us everything we have, and that we should iove God more than worldly wealth. The story is in several parts scattered through different study outlines, and Bahá'í books and magazines. The instructor told it to the children in simple words. Then the children made a cardboard panorama illustrating the scene of the king leaving his castle for a horse-b ck ride and finding the simple shepherd boy where he had waited by th~ road for hours in order that he might look on the face of the king he loved so well.
For this panorama, a long work table, about 30 by 64 inches, was covered with two large sheets of cardboard. Plain white paper such as newsprint or wrapping paper would do if cardboard is not available.
The children sketched in the road and the grass with crayons. The castle was made of cardboard. A square box and some long narrow boxes for towers was very effective. Corrugated paper such as bottles are wrapped in made good roofs. For the sheepfold and the shepherd's hut the children wanted to use some long narrow sticks which they had found. These they glued together and glued to the table and it was very realistic. The horse, the men, the sheep and the trees were cut from cardboard ahd thumbtacked to the table.
If no one in the class sketches, the necessary pictures can be obtained from the children's picture books or by watching for pictures in the advertisements in magazines and newspapers.
If heavy cardboard is difficult to obtain, the sides of cereal boxes may be used by gluing two printed sides together to make one good firm piece of cardboard. The pictures may be traced from the magazine with thin paper and transferred to the cardboard with carbon paper, cut out and colored on both sides with crayon.
These figures will stand erect if they are bent at the bottom. For instance, split the trunk of the tree lengthwise for about one-fourth of an inch then crease one side of the trunk forward and the other side backward, two thumbtacks will then hold it to the table so it will stand erect.
A paste made of flour and water or a wallpaper paste, which is obtained dry and mixed as needed, would do just as well as glue or thumbtacks.
It is a good object lesson for the children if they learn to substitute simple homemade materials for those which are sometimes difficult to obtain in stores for one reason or another.
The lake with the swans was part of the panorama and the children made the lake of white paper colored blue with crayon and tacked the cardboard swans securely to it. T his panorama could have been made by using a mirror for the lake, small pieces of
Page 471The first Bahá'í Boarding School in India. Opening of the new Baha Children's Hostel at Panchgani, a bill station, August 1st, 1945.
foliage for trees and modeling animals and men out of the homemade clay we used for the nursery handicraft. The children planned the placing of the objects in the panorama and learned a lesson in Bahá'í consultation at the same time. No one child decided the placing of any of the figures, and, in case they were not unanimous in their decision, a vote was taken and the minority readily accepted the decision of the majority.
Something of proportion and perspective can be taught them when they are selecting the pictures, so that they will not have the sheep as large as the lake and so that they will understand why the objects in the foreground can properly be large in proportion to those in the background in order to convey the sense of distance.
An entertainment put on by the children forms part of the Summer School program, and the children who made the panorama also worked out a play based on the story of los the Shepherd Boy as their contribu � lion. Another class put on a one-part play of a little girl who falls asleep and learns of the Bahá'í principles through the fairies, and wakes to find that her mother has been n~ading "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Er.~."
This was very attractive, as it gave the Bahá'íThe easels were brought on the stage for the nursery children the night of the entertainment and they sang nursery songs and painted a picture.
Each child then explained to the audience what his picture represented.
The older girls had learned a new song for the occasion and there were prayers in English, Spanish and Arabic. The nursery paintings were displayed on the walls and the handicraft was spread out on tables. The children decorated the hail with crepe paper streamers. This was volunteer work on the part of the children, which they did in the afternoon after their last rehearsal of their two plays.
The story of Los the Shepherd Boy, being in four parts, would either require a stage curtain and several changes of scenery or, as in our case, a very simple handling. Children, the world over, love to dress up in discarded clothing or old pieces of cloth and work out their own plays. So it was decided to have the children put on the play just as they would if they were playing out in the orchard without any audience.
All but one child came on stage. One of them said, tWhat can we play?
There'sAnother said, ~Paul is coming over with a new game for us." Then Paul came in carrying a bundle of old clothes and said, ~ found these things in the attic. Let's put on the play of los the
Shepherd Boy." Anotherchild says, "Paul, why don't you tell the story again before we start the play?"
Then all of them sat down and Paul told in his own words the story of the simple shepherd boy who so longed to see the good and wise king of his land that he stood for hours by the road where he had heard the king was to pass, and refused to be driven away by the king's men. The king could not forget the boy who so loved him that his only wish was to gaze on his face, and he finally sent for ios to live in the castle. There the members of the king's court became very jealous of the favors showered on los, and when they observed that every night at midnight los went to a tiny room in the tower and locked tile door, they went to the king and reported that no doubt ios was hiding jewels and money there and would later run away. That night the king and his court followed Tos to learn his secret. They then found that he went to this room only to put on his old shepherd's clothes and to meditate on the fact that he was a very humble man, and that all he had was what his beloved king had given him.
The king decided to test los and calling his court together they went for a ride. Suddenly the king emptied a box of jewels out cnto the sand. Everypne but los got down and hastily searched the sand for jewels. los remained by the king's side. When the king asked him why he didn't pick up the jewels, los said, ~ King, I do not wish for wealth. I oniy want to stay by your side to gaze on your face and to guard you." The king was so convinced of los' sincerity that he appointed him to guard his only son.
On the palace grounds there was a lake with some very beautiful swans in it. The king loved these swans very much.
One day the king's son killed one of the swans with a bow and arrow and then quickly gave the bow to Los and ran away when he saw his father coming through the forest. Los refused to tell what had happened because he wished to spare the king the grief of knowing that his son had done this terrible thing. Although the king loved los so dearly, he felt he could no longer trust him and los was banished from the king's presence.
In time the ldng'~ son could no longer bear the burden on his conscience and he confessed to his father that los was innocent. The king at once went to los' hut to bring him back, but long grieving had made los very ill and the king found him on his death bed. Supremely happy knowing the king loved him, los died after gazing lovingly on the king's face once more.
The story being told, the children jumped up and sorted out the clothes Paul had brought in, and put them on. Some of these were lengths of cloth and some parts of old costumes that had been stored at the Summer School. There was a long black coat for the king and a fine long stick for his royal sceptre.
los had a large piece of burlap to wrap around him and another long stick for his shepherd's crook. The king also carried a long stick for a sceptre.
Later a long blue coat was given to ios when he came to live in the castle. The king's men wore uniforms that were made of lengths of cloth with a neck opening cut in them so that they hung down an equal length front and back. The king's son also wore one of these with a short black jacket over it. The box of jewels can be any small hard substance that will not roll when emptied out. We used paper clips and the audience was much amused. They enjoyed this unexpected device because they knew it represented the imaginative makeshifts children produce in their undirected play.
For scenery the children simply pointed to one corner of the stage and said, "That chair will be the shepherd's hut, and the one in this corner can be the castle." When a change of scene was required, they stopped and one said, "Now what comes next?", and someone else said, CCWhy don't you remember, this is where The dialogue was written out by the teacher, but the children were not required to learn it word for word. They were allowed to change it as they wished. They did change it somewhat at each rehearsal and improved it immensely.
They were alsoreassured that it would be all right if they needed to prompt each other the night of the play, as long as they did it simply, just as children would do if they were playing alone.
The audience went into gales of laughter when one of the youngsters had trouble getting his costume on and another child had to help him. It was so natural that some thought it had purposely been made part of the play.
'When the last act was finished they gathered in a group and said, ttThat was fun! Let's have Paul save these things for us so we can play it again."
Then one said, tCI wonder why 'Abdu'l-Bahá told that story." Another said, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that Bahá'u'lláh was our spiritual king." Then they talked about it being necessary to be like los and iove Bahá'u'lláh more than jewels, and money, and to go alone once a day to remember that they had nothing of their own selves, that Bahá'u'lláh gave them everything.
Then they trooped off the stage, one of them saying, t~I'm hungry, let's go home to supper.~~ The children worked hard practicing for the play, and during the few days of preparation, seeds of spiritual truth were sown that will inevitably bear fruit.
The junior yduth gave an entertainment another evening.
They demonstrated how Baha ethics could be applied to games to insure fair play. This they did by playing a game of quoits on the stage and then settling a dispute which arose.
Later they held a class session on the stage, with one of the girls acting as a new pupil. They were studying the CcDawn Breakers," and when the new member asked questions, they answered her by reading from the "Dawn Breakers" and the Bible; thus demonstrating the principle of independent investigation of the truth.
Then they dismissed the class to hold a party to which the audience was invited.
First the A B C game was played. This was to be in the form of quotations from ttHidden Words," and to be given in order of the alphabet. It was explained that the articles such as Ctth~~ need not be counted. For instance; the verse beginning "The bird," could be counted for the letter "b." Also the salutations need not be counted, and the letter "x" could be used in a word beginning with ~tcx~~ In a few cases, such as the letter C%,, it was necessary to find the word in the middle of the sentence. The audience entered into the spirit of it and found a verse for each letter, though many of the verses were not taken from the tcHid den Words." The class then posted a list of the verses, showing that the verses could all be found in the
"Hidden Words."A paper with a quotation from the Teachings was then passed to every one with in � structions to make the names of countries from the letters in this quotation.
The quotation used began "The world is but one country."
A prize was given to the one making the longest list of countries. The prizes offered were carrots, beautifully decorated with ribbons!
The entertainment wound up with a quiz program.Invitations were passed out to about twenty-five of the audience. These friends were lined up and questioned by the children. The questions asked were such as this � "Who was the Seventeenth Letter of the Living? What was the name of the Twelfth Imim?"
This was a lot of fun for those who were privileged to look on. The grand prize given for this contest was a carrot combined with white paper, to make a beautiful calla lily.
The reward the children received for giving this evening's entertainment could only be guessed at by trying to estimate the value of such research work as the children had to do to make up their games and the quiz contest.
An immense amount of work can be accomplished with a class that meets every day: but it was not all work for the children. In the afternoon there was swimming in the river; educational and comedy films were rented for them; a weiner roast was held by the river, there were hikes in the hills and time for games in the orchards; nature study excursions were combined with class work. Some of the Geyserville residents sent their children to the Summer School, and one woman volunteered her services to assist with the nursery work. One very impressive thing was the children's love of singing. We would go down to class in the morning to find them singing as they set out the chairs, or to find a group singing
Page 474as they were waiting to be taken out on an excursion.
Several of them expressed a desire for some new songs.
One mother was inspired to open a Summer School for children in her home during vacation, and invited the neighbor children to attend mornings.
Two teachers can manage a group of this kind by alternating class periods.
One teaches the larger class while the nursery children receive instruction in handicraft; then the older children are taught handicraft while the nursery class is taught simple Bahá'í ethics, such as kindness to animals. However, it is much more successful to divide the children into at least three age groups.
Part of the bounty of teaching children is in the questions they ask, which must be written down in your notebook and looked up, in order to be sure they are given the correct answer. It is a highly technical and very responsible work to teach the Bahá'í Faith to little children.
They must be given the correct outer teachings, and then in God's own time the inner teachings will be revealed to them.
New visual methods, new adaptations of old methods await the Bahá'í teacher who will step into this almost entirely unexplored field of teaching � unexplored and precious, this teaching of the Bahá'í Faith to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í children.
'Abdu'l-Bahá said, "The education of children is one of the most great services. All these children are mine. If they are educated and illumined, it is as though my own children were so characterized."
RANDOM PAGES FROMA is for 'Abdu'l-Bahá The name 'Abdu'l-Bahá means "Servant of God."
'Abdu'l-Bahá knew that the way to be happy was to serve and help other people.
B is for the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh The Báb was a very good and gentle man called a Prophet. He was sent by God to teach the people to be good and tell them about the coming of another great, loving Teacher, called Bahá'u'lláh.
God sent the great Prophet, Bahá'u'lláh, to teach all the people in the world how to love each other and live happily together.
L is for Love Love is the most beautiful and precious thing there is. It is God's 'ove for the world that makes Him send the Prophets.
It is our iove for God that makes us love and help each other. Jr is love which brings us the greatest joy and happiness.
M is for Manifestation A Manifestation, or Prophet, is a Messenger from God, sent by Him to teach men how to live good and happy lives. There have been many Manifestations of God. Some of thePr names are: Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, The Bib, Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh is the Manifestation of God for our time.
o is for Oneness People from all countries, with different colored skin and speaking different languages, were made by God and are loved by Him. We must all learn this and act like brothers and sisters who love each other. Unity is a good word for oneness.
Page 475de Brogue Aus-same Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University
Luther BurbankDr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College,
OxfordRev. K. T. Chung Rt. Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston Prof. James Darmesteter, ~cole des Hautes ttudes,
ParisProf. Jowett, Oxford University Prof. Dimitry Kazarov,
University of SofiaRokuichiro Masujima, Do yen of Jurisprudence of Japan Mr. Renwick J. G. Millar Prof. Herbert A. Miller,
Bryn Mawr College TheRev. Frederick W. Oakes HI.R.H. Princess Olga of Yugoslavia
Sir Flinders Petrie, Arcl6eoloProf. Dr. Jan Rypka Lord Samuel of Carmel, G.C.B., G.B.E. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P. Prof. Benoy Kurnar Sarkar, M.A., Ph.D. tmile Schreiber, Publicist Prof. Had Prasad Shastri, D.Litt.
Col. Raja Jai PrithviRev. Griffith J. Sparharn Sir Ronald Storrs, N.y.C., MG., C.B.E.
Ex-Governor William SuizerIndeed a great light came to me with the message of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It came as all great messages come at an hour of dire grief and inner conflict and distress, so the seed sank deeply.
My youngest daughter finds also great strength and comfort in the teachings of the beloved masters.
We pass on the message from month to month and all those we give it to see a light suddenly lighting before them and much that was obscure and perplexing becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before.
That my open letter was balm to those suffering for the cause, is indeed a great happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God accepted my humble tribute.
The occasion given me to be able to express myself publicly, was also His Work � for indeed it was a chain of circumstances of which each link led me unwittingly one step further, till suddenly all was clear before my eyes and I understood why it bad been.
Thus does He lead us finally to our ultimate destiny.
Some of those of my caste wonder at and disapprove my courage to step forward pronouncing words not habitual for Crowned Heads to pronounce, but I advance by an inner urge I cannot resist. With bowed head I recognize that I too am but an instrument in greater Hands and reioice in the knowledge.
Little by little the veil is lifting, grief tore it in two. And grief was also a step leading me ever nearer truth, therefore do I not cry out against grief!
May you and those beneath your guidance be blessed and upheld by the sacred strength of those gone before you.
A woman1 brought me the other day a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength and beauty.
She gave it to me because she had learned 'Miss Martha L. Root. � Editor.
I was in grief and sadness and wanted to help. She put it into my bands saying: c(You seem to live up to His teachings." And when I opened the Book I saw it was the word of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, prophet of love and kindness, and of his father the great teacher of international goodwill and understanding � of a religion which links all creeds.
Their writings are a great cry toward peace, reaching beyond all limits of frontiers, above all dissension about rites and dogmas. It is a religion based upon the inner spirit of God, upon the great, not-to-be-over-come verity that God is love, meaning just that. It teaches that all hatreds, intrigues, suspicions, evil words, all aggressive patriotism even, are outside the one essential law of God, and that special beliefs are but surface things whereas the heart that beats with divine love knows no tribe nor race.
lit is a wondrous Message that Bahá'u'lláh and his son 'Abdu'l-Bahá have given us. They have not set it up aggressively, knowing that the germ of eternal truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread.
There is only one great verity in it: Love, the mainspring of every energy, tolerance toward each other, desire of understanding each other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.
It is Christ's Messagetaken up anew, in the same words almost, but adapted to the thousand years and more difference that lies between the year one and today.
No man could fail to be better because of thisIf ever the name of Bahá'u'lláh or 'Abdu'l-Bahá comes to your attention, do not put their writings from you. Search out their Books, and let their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into mine.
One's busy day may seem too full for religion.Or one may tave a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of these gentle, wise and kindly men are compatible with all religion, and with no religion.
Seek them, and be the happier.REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 479
Of course, if you take the stand that creation has no aim, it is easy to dismiss life and death with a shrug and a "that ends it all; nothing comes after."
But how difficult it is so to dismiss the universe, our world, the animal and vegetable world, and man. How clearly one sees a plan in everything.
How unthinkable it is that the miraculous development that has brought man's body, brain and spirit to what it is, should cease. Why should it cease? Why is it not logical that it goes on? Not the body, which is only an instrument, but the invisible spark or fire within the body which makes man one with the wider plan of creation.
My words are lame, and why should I grope for meanings When I can quote from one who has said it so much more plainly, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, whom I know would sanction the use of his words: "The whole physical creation is perishable. Material bodies are composed of atoms. When these atoms begin to separate, decomposition sets in. Then comes what we call death.
c!This composition of atoms which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of attraction which holds these atoms together is withdrawn, the body as such ceases to exist.
""With the soui it is different. The soul is not a combination of elements, is not composed of many atoms, is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal.
"It is entirely out of the order of physical creation; it is immortal!
The soul, being an invisible, indivisible substance, can suffer neither disintegration nor destruction. Therefore there is no reason for its coming to an end.
CCCd the aim of creation: is it possible that all is created to evolve and develop through countless ages with merely this small goal in view � a few years of man's life on earth?
Is it not unthinkable that this should be the final aim of existence?
Does a man cease to exist when he leaves his body? If his life comes to an end, then all previous evolution is useless. All has been for nothing.
All those eons of evolution for nothing! Can we imagine that creation had no greater aim than this?
"The very existence of man's intelligence proves his immortality. His intelligence is the intermediary between his body and his spirit. When man allows his spirit, through his soul, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all creation; because man being the culmination of all that went before, and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower already-evolved world within himself.
Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soui, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of creation!"
Thus does 'Abdu'l-Bahá explain to us the soul � the most convincing elucidation I know.
(From the Toronto DailyAt first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves. We think He is something or somebody definite, outside of us, whose quality, meaning and so-to-say ccpersona1ity~~ we can grasp with our human, finite minds, and express in mere words.
This is not so. We cannot, with our earthly faculties entirely grasp His meaning � no more than we can really understand the meaning of Eternity.
God is certainly not the old Fatherly gentleman with the long beard that in our childhood we saw pictured sitting amongst clouds on the throne of judgment, holding the lightning of vengeance in His hand.
God is something simpler, happier, and yet infinitely more tremendous. God is All Everything. He is the power behind all beginnings.
He is the inexhaustible source of supply, of love, of good, of progress, of achievement. God is therefore Happiness.
His is the voice within us that shows us good and evil.
But mostly we ignore or misunderstand this voice.Therefore did lie choose his Elect to come down amongst us upon earth to make clear His word, His real meaning. Therefore the Prophets; therefore Christ, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh, for man needs from
Page 480time to time a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the true God. Those voices sent to us had to become flesh, so that with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand.
Those who read their Bible with "peeled eyes" will find in almost every line some revelation.
But it takes long life, suffering or some sudden event to tear all at once the veil from our eyes, so that we can truly see.
Sorrow and suffering are the surest and a.~so the most common instructors, the straightest channel to God � that is to say, to that inner something within each of us which is God.
Happiness beyond all understanding comes with this revelation that God is within us, if we will but listen to His voice. We need not seek Him in the clouds.
He is the All-Father whence we came and to whom we shall return when, having done with this earthly body, we pass onward.
If I have repeated myself, forgive me. There are so many ways of saying things, but what is important is the truth which lies in all the many ways of expressing it. (From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, Monday, September 27, 1926.)
trLately a great hope has come to me from one, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I have found in His and His Father,
Bahá'u'lláh's Messageof Faith all my yearning for real religion satisfied.
If you ever hear of Bahá'ís or of the Bahá'í Movement which is known in America, you will know what that is. 'What I mean: these Books have strengthened me beyond belief and I am now ready to die any day full of hope. But I pray God not to take me away yet for I still have a lot of work to do."
tcThe Bahá'í teaching brings peace and understanding.
"It is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope.
"Jr accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open.
"Saddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied by their intolerance towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá'í teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood: ~tUnity instead of strife, hope instead of condemnation, love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men.
"The Bahá'í teaching brings peace to the soul and hope to the heart.
CCT those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering."
1934."More than ever tpday when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder."
CCTO those searching for light, the Bahá'í Teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and good will with all men."
1936.H. Phelps' 'Abbas Eftendi, pages xi-xx; 1903 rev. 1912 � I have often heard wonder expressed by Christian ministers at the extraordinary success of BThi missionaries, as contrasted with the almost complete failure of their own. (CHOW is it," they say, "that the Christian doctrine, the highest and the noblest which the world has ever known, though supported by all the resources of 'Western civilization, can only count its converts in Mu-bammadan lands by twos and threes, while B4biism can reckon them by thousands?" The answer, to my mind, is plain as the sun at midday.
Western Christianity, save in the rarest cases, is more 'Western than Christian, more racial than religious; and by dallying with doctrines plainly incompatible with the obvious meaning of its Founder's words, such as the theories of tcracial supremacy, imperial destiny," "survival of the fittest," and the like, grows steadily more rather than less
Page 481REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 481
material. Did Christ belong to a "dominant race," or even to a European or C~white race'~?
I am not arguing that the Christian religion is true, but merely that it is in manifest conflict with several other theories of life which practically regulate the conduct of all States and most individuals in the Western world, a world which, on the whole, judges all things, including religions, mainly by material, or to use the more popular term, "practical," standards.
There is, of course, another factor in the success of the Báb propagandist, as compared with the Christian missionary, in the conversion of Muhaznmadans to his faith: namely, that the former admits, while the latter rejects, the Divine inspiration of the Qur'an and the prophetic function of Muliiammad.
The Christian missionary must begin by attacking, explicitly or by implication, both these beliefs; too often forgetting that if (as happens but rarely) he succeeds in destroying them, he destroys with them that recognition of former prophetic dispensations (in-cluding the Jewish and the Christian) which Muhammad and the Qur'an proclaim, and converts his Muslim antagonist not to Christianity, but to Skepticism or Atheism. What, indeed, could be more illogical on the part of Christian missionaries to Mul?amma-dan lands than to devote much time and labor to the composition of controversial works which endeavor to prove, in one and the same breath, first, that the Qur'an is a lying imposture, and, secondly, that it bears witness to the truth of Christ's mission, as though any value attached to the testimony of one proved a liar! The Mbi (or Baha'i) propagandist, on the other hand, admits that Muhammad was the prophet of God and that the Qur'an is the Word of God, denies nothing but their finality, and does not discredit his own witness when he draws from that source arguments to prove his faith. To the Western observer, however, it is the complete sincerity of the Mbis, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admirable conduct towards mankind and especially towards their fellow believers, which constitutes their strongest claim on his attention.
Introduction to MyronH. Phelps' 'Abbas Effendi, pages xii-xiv � It was under the influence of this enthusiasm that I penned the introduction to my translation of the Traveller's
Narrative.This enthusiasm condoned, if not shared, by many kindly critics and reviewers, exposed me to a somewhat savage attack in the Oxford Magazine, an attack concluding with the assertion that my Introduction displayed "a personal attitude almost inconceivable in a rational European, and a style unpardonable in a university teacher."
(The review in question appeared in the Oxford Magazine of May 25, 1892, page 394, "the prominence given to the Mb in this book is an absurd violation of historical perspective; and the translations of the Traveller's Narrative a waste of the powers and opportunities of a Persian
Scholar.") Increasingage and experience (more's the pity!) are apt enough, even without the assistance of the Oxford Magazine, to modify our enthusiasm; but in this case, at least, time has so far vindicated my judgment against that of my Oxford reviewer that he could scarcely now maintain, as he formerly asserted, that the B&bi religion tthad affected the least important part of the Muslim World and that not deeply." Every one who is in the slightest degree conversant with the actual state of things (September 27, 1903), in Persia now recognizes that the number and influence of the BThis in that country is immensely greater than it was fifteen years ago.
A Traveller's Narrative, page 3 09 � The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu'1-'Ayn is in any country and any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a country as Persia it is a prodigy � nay, almost a miracle. Alike in virtue of her marvelous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid eloquence, her fearless devotion and her glorious martyrdom, she stands forth incomparable and immortal amidst her countrywomen. Had the Mbi religion no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient � that it produced a heroine like Qurratu'1-'Ayn.
Page 482Narrative, pages ix, x � 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 headdress of the kind called t4j 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 jetblack 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 List attained! Thou hast came 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-uf of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment.
That all nations should become one in path 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 Innnan race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind.
These strifes and this bloodshed and discard 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.
Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides many others, I heard from Baha Let those who read them consider well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely to gain or lose by their diffusion.
Introduction to A Traveller'sNarrative, pages xxxv, xxxvi � Seldom have I seen one whose appearance impressed me more. A tall, strongly built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white turban and raiment, long black locks reaching almost to the shoulder, broad powerful forehead, indicating a strong intellect, combined with an unswerving will, eyes keen as a hawk's and strongly marked but pleasing features � such was my first impression of 'Abbas Effendi, ttThe Master" ('AghA) as he par excellence is called by the B~bis.
Subsequent conversation with him served oniy to heighten the respect with which his appearance had from the first inspired me. One more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians and the Muhammadans, could, I should think, be scarcely found even amongst the eloquent, ready and subtle race to which he belongs. These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father's followers.
About the greatness of this man and his power no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt.
B~ DR. J. ESTLIN CARPENTER, D. LrrT.Religions, pages 70, 71 � From that subtle race issues the most remarkable movement which modern Muhammadanism has produced. Disciples gathered round him, and the movement was not checked by his arrest, his imprisonment for nearly six years and his final execution
Page 483REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 483
in 1850. It, too, claims to be a universal teaching; it has already its noble army of martyrs and its holy books; has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion which will go round the world?
B~ THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, D. LITT., D.D.of Races and Religions, (1914) � There was living quite lately a human being' of such consummate excellence that many think it is both permissible and inevitable even to identify him mystically with the invisible Godhead.
His2 combination of mildness and power is so rare that we have to place him in a line with supernormal men. We learn that, at great points in his career after he had been in an ecstasy, such radiance of might and majesty streamed from his countenance that none could bear to look upon the, effulgence of his glory and beauty.
Nor was it an uncommon occurrence for unbelievers involuntarily to bow down in iowiy obeisance on beholding His Holiness.
The gentle spirit of the Mb is surely high up in the cycles of eternity.
Who can fail, as Professor Browne says, to be attracted by him? CCHis sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misf or-tune; his complete self-negation; the dim ideal of a better state of things which can be discerned throu'gh the obscure mystic utterances of the Baydn; but most of all, his tragic death, all serve to enlist our sympathies on behalf of the young prophet of $hiriz."
ttfl sentait le besoin d'une r6forme pro-fond 5 introduire dans les moeurs publiques.
II s'est sacrifi6 pour 1'humanit6; pour elle ii a donn~ son corps et son &me, pour elle ii a suM les privations, les affronts, les injures, Ia torture et le martyre."
(Mons. Nicolas.)If there has been any prophet in recent times, it is to Bahá'u'lláh that we must go. Character is the final judge. Bahá'u'lláh was a man of the highest class � that of prophets.
'Bahá'u'lláh.B&b. But he was free from the last infirmity of noble minds, and would certainly not have separated himself from others. He would have understood the saying: tWould God all the Lord's people were prophets!"
What he does say, however, is just as fine: "I do not desire lordship over others; I desire all men to be even as I am."
The day is not far off when the details of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í missionary journeys will be admitted to be of historical importance. How gentle and wise he was, hundreds could testify from personal knowledge, and I, too, could perhaps say something.
I will oniy, however, give here the outward framework of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í life, and of his apostolic journeys, with the help of my friend Lutfull&h.... During his stay in London he visited Oxford (where he and his party � of Persians mainly � were the guests of Professor and Mrs. Cheyne), Edinburgh,
Clifton and Woking. Itis fitting to notice here that the audience at Oxford, though highly academic, seemed to be deeply interested, and that Dr. Carpenter made an admirable speech.
B~ PROFESSOR ARMImuusTestimonial to the Religion of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. (Published in Egyptian Gazette, Sept. 24, 1913, by Mrs. J. Stannard.) � I forward this humble petition to the sanctified and holy presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas, who is the center of knowledge, famous throughout the world, and loved by all mankind. 0 thou noble friend who art conferring guidance upon humanity � May my life be a ransom to thee!
The loving epistle which you have condescended to write to this servant, and the rug which you have forwarded, came safely to hand. The time of the meeting with your Excellency, and the memory of the benediction of your presence, recurred to the memory of this servant, and I am longing for the time when I shall meet you again. Although I have traveled through many countries and cities of IsUm, yet have I never met so lofty a character and so exalted a personage as your Excellency, and I can bear witness that it is not possible to find such another. On this account, I am hoping that the ideals and ac
Page 484complishments of your Excellency may be crowned with success and yield results under all conditions; because behind these ideals and deeds I easily discern the eternal welfare and prosperity of the world of humanity.
This servant, in order to gain firsthand information and experience, entered into the ranks of various religions, that is, outwardly, I became a Jew, Christian,
Muhanmadan and Zoroastrian.I discovered that the devotees of these various religions do nothing else but hate and anathematize each other, that all their religions have become the instruments of tyranny and oppression in the hands of rulers and governors, and that they are the causes of the destruction of the world of humanity.
Considering those evil results, every person is forced by necessity to enlist himself on the side of your Excellency, and accept with joy the prospect of a fundamental basis for a universal religion of God, being laid through your efforts.
I have seen the father of your Excellency from afar. I have realized the self-sacrifice and noble courage of his son, and I am lost in admiration.
For the principles and aims of your Excellency, I express the utmost respect and devotion, and if God, the Most High, confers long life, I will be able to serve you under all conditions.
I pray and supplicate this from the depths of my heart.
Your servant,Political Problems of Indian Defense, chapter XI, page 116. (The Revival of BAbiismQ � When one has been like Sa'id, a great personage, and then a common soldier, and then a prisoner of a Christian feudal chief; when one has worked as a navvy on the fortifications of the Count of Antioch, and wandered back afoot to Shir&z after infinite pain and labor, he may well be disposed to think that nothing that exists is real, or, at least, has any substantial reality worth clinging to. Today the public peace of Persia is no longer subject to such violent perturbations.
At least, as far as we are concerned, the appearances of peace prevail, and few of us care or have occasion to. look beyond the appearances. But for the Persians themselves, have the conditions very much changed? Do they not witness one day the sudden rise of this or that favorite of fortune and the next day his sudden fall?
Have they not seen the At~bak-i-A'zam twice hold sway as the SMh's all-powerful Vazir, and twice hurled down from that pinnacle by a bolt from the blue? How many other ministers and governors have sat for a time on the sears of the mighty and been swept away by some intrigue as sordid as that to which they owed their own exaltation?
And how many in humbler stations have been in the meantime the recipients of their unworthy favors or the victims of their arbitrary oppression?
A village which but yesterday was fairly prosperous is beggared today by some neighboring landlord higher up the valley, who, having duly propitiated those in authority, diverts for the benefit of his own estates the whole of its slender suppiy of water.
The progress of a governor or royal prince, with all his customary retinue of ravenous hangers-on, eats out the countryside through which it passes more effectually than a flight of locusts.
The visitation is as ruinous and as unaccountable.
Is it not the absence of all visible moral correlation of cause and effect in these phenomena of daily life that has gone far to produce the stolid fatalism of the masses, the scoffing skepticism of the more educated classes, and from time to time the revolt of some nobler minds?
Of such the most recent and perhaps the noblest of all became the founder of
B~biism.was not the first, and still less the last, of a long line of martyrs who have testified that even in a country gangrened with corruption and artophied with indifferentism like Persia, the soul of a nation survives, inarticulate, perhaps, and in a way helpless, but still capable of sudden spasms of vitality.
Page 485REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 485
Chapter XI, page 124 � Sociallyone of the most interesting features of B~ibiism is the raising of woman to a much higher plane than she is usually admitted to in the East. The ]3~b himself had no more devoted a disciple than the beautiful and gifted lady, known as Qurratu'1-'Ayn, the ccc it of the Eyes," who, having shared all the dangers of the first apostolic missions in the north, challenged and suffered death with virile fortitude, as one of the Seven Martyrs of Tihr4n. No memory is more deeply venerated or kindles greater enthusiasm than hers, and the influence which she yielded in her lifetime still inures to her sex.
B~ HARRY CHARLES LIJKACHof the East, (Macmillan & Co., London, 1913.) � Bah&'iism is now estimated to count more than two million adherents, mostly composed of Persian and Indian $hi'ihs, but including also many Sunnis from the Turkish Empire and North Africa, and not a few Brahmans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists and Jews.
It possesses even European converts, and has made some headway in the United States.
Of all the religions which have been encountered in the course of this journey � the stagnant pools of Oriental Christianity, the strange survivals of sun-worship, and idolatry tinged with Muhammadanism, the immutable relic of the Sumerians � it is the only one which is alive, which is aggressive, which is extending its frontiers, instead of secluding itself within its ancient haunts. It is a thing which may revivify Isl4m, and make great changes on the face of the Asiatic world.
B~ PROFESSOR JowETT ofof Balliol, the translator of Plato, studied the movement and was so impressed thereby that he said: CCTh B4bite Bahá'í movement may not impossibly turn out to have the promise of the future." Dr. J. Estlin
Carpenter quotes Prof.Edward Caird, Prof. Jowett's successor as Master of Ealliol, as saying, "He thought Bibuism (as the Bahá'í movement was then called) might prove the most important religious movement since the foundation of Christianity." Prof.
Carpenter himself gives a sketch of the Bahá'í movement in his recent book on Comparative Religions and asks, (cHas Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion that will go around the world?"
(Excerpt from an article by Louise Drake W;ight.)When spending the winters of 19067 in Alassio, Italy, I often met the late professor Lewis Campbell, professor of Greek in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for many years, who was an eminent pupil of Dr. Benjamin Jowett, late master of
Balliol College and Professorof Greek in the University of Oxford, also Doctor of Theology of the University of Leyden, Holland.
Because of Professor Campbell'sprofound spiritual and intellectual attainments he was highly honored as one who spoke with truthful authority and his noted translations of Greek poetry endeared him to all. From him I first heard of the Bahá'í Revelation, the significance of which had been indelibly impressed upon him by Dr. Jowett's deep convictions concerning it, and I wrote down some very telling sentences which Professor Campbell quoted from Dr. Jowett's words to him.
CCTJITh Baha Movementis the greatest light that has come into the world since the time of Jesus Christ. You must watch it and never let it out of your sight.
It is too great and too near for this generation to comprehend. The future alone can reveal its import."
B~ ALFRED W. MARTINReligion and the Religion of the Future, pages 8191 � Inasmuch as a fellowship of faiths is at once the dearest hope and ultimate goal of the Bahá'í movement, it behooves us to take cognizance of it and its mission.
Today this religious movement has a million and more adherents, including people from all parts of the globe and representing a remarkable variety of race, color, class and creed.
Page 486It has been given literary expression in a veritable library of Asiatic, European, and American works to which additions are annually made as the movement grows and grapples with the great problems that grow out of its cardinal teachings.
It has a long roll of martyrs for the cause for which it stands, twenty thousand in Persia alone, proving it to be a movement worth dying for as well as worth living by.
From its inception it has been identified with Bahá'u'lláh, who paid the price of ipro-longed exile, imprisonment, bodily suffering, and mental anguish for the faith He cherished � a man of imposing personality as revealed in His writings, characterized by intense moral earnestness and profound spirituality, gifted with the selfsame power so conspicuous in the character of Jesus, the power to appreciate people ideally, that is, to see them at the level of their best and to make even the lowest types think well of themselves because of potentialities within them to which He pointed, but of which they were wholly unaware; a prophet whose greatest contribution was not any specific doctrine He proclaimed, but an informing spiritual power breathed into the world through the example of His life and thereby quickening souis into new spiritual activity.
Surely a movement of which all this can be said deserves � nay, compels � our respectful recognition and sincere appreciation.
Taking precedence over all else in its gospel is the message of unity in religion.
� It is the crowning glory of the Bahá'í movement that, while deprecating sectarianism in its preaching, it has faithfully practiced what it preached by +efraining from becoming itself a sect. Its representatives do not attempt to impose any beliefs upon others, whether by argument or bribery; rather do they seek to put beliefs that have illumined their own lives within the reach of those who feel they need illumina-don.
No, not a sect, not a part of humanity cut off from all the rest, living for itself and aiming to convert all the rest into material for its own growth; no, not that, hut a leaven, causing spiritual fermentation in all religions, quickening them with the spirit of catholicity and fraternalism.
�Who shall say but that just as the little company of the Mayflower, landing on Plymouth Rock, proved to be the small beginning of a mighty nation, the ideal germ of a democracy which, if true to its principles, shall yet overspread the habitable globe, so the little company of Bahá'ís exiled from their Persian home may yet prove to be the small beginning of the worldwide movement, the ideal germ of democracy in religion, the Universal
Church of Mankind?and Literary Sketch" (translated by G. K. Nariman), and incorporated in Persia and Parsis, Part I, edited by G. K. Nariman.
Published under patronage of the Persian League, Bombay, 1925. (The
MarkerLiterary Series for Persia, No. 2.) � The political reprieve brought about by the S6f is did not result in the regeneration of thought. But the last century which marks the end of Persia has had its revival and twofold revival, literary and religious. The funeral ceremonies by which Persia celebrates every year for centuries � the fatal day of the 10th of Muharram, when the son of 'Au breathed his last at Karbil& � have developed a popular theater and produced a sincere poetry, dramatic and human, which is worth all the rhetoric of the poets. During the same times an attempt at religious renovation was made, the religion of BAbjism. Demoralized for centuries by ten foreign conquests, by the yoke of a composite religion in which she believed just enough to persecute, by the enervating influence of a mystical philosophy which disabled men for action and divested life of all aim and objects, Persia has been making unexpected efforts for the last fifty-five years to remake for herself a virile ideal. BAbjism has little of originality in its dogmas and mythology. Its mystic doctrine takes its rise from $~fism and the old sects of the 'Aijides formed around the dogma of divine incarnation. But the morality it inculcates is a revolution. It has the ethics of the West.
It suppresses lawful impurities which are a great barrier dividing
Isl4m from Christendom.REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 487
Oriental degeneration.It seeks to reconstitute the family and it elevates man and in elevating him exalts woman up to his level. B~biism, which diffused itself in less than five years from one end of Persia to another, which was bathed in 1852 in the blood of its martyrs, has been silently progressing and propagating itself.
If Persia is to be at all regenerate it will be through this new faith.
B~ CHARLES BAunotrINStudies, Part Ill, page 131. (Allen & Unwin, London, 1924.) � 'We Westerners are too apt to imagine that the huge continent of Asia is sleeping as soundly as a mummy. We smile at the vanity of the ancient Hebrews, who believed themselves to be the chosen people.
We are amazed at the intolerance of the Greeks and Romans, who looked upon the members of all races as barbarians.
Nevertheless, we ourselves are like the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans.
As Europeans we believed Europe to be the only world that matters, though from time to time we may turn a paternal eye towards America, regarding our offspring in the New World with mingled feelings of condescension and pride.
Nevertheless, the great cataclysm of 1914 is leading some of us to undertake a critical examination of the inviolable dogma that the European nations are the elect. Has there not been of late years a demonstration of the nullity of modern civilization � the nullity which had already been proclaimed by Rousseau, Garlyle, Ruskin, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche? We are now inclined to listen more attentively to whispers from the East. Our self-complacency has been disturbed by such utterances as that of Rabindranath Tagore, who, lecturing at the Imperial University of Tokio on June 18, 1916, foretold a great future for Asia.
The political civilization of Europe was tccarnivorous and cannibalistic in its tendencies." The East was patient, and could afford to wait till the West, tthurry after the expedient," had to halt for the want of breath. "Europe, while busily speeding to her engagements, disdain. fully casts her glance from her carriage window at the reaper reaping his harvest in the field, and in her intoxication of speed, cannot but think him as slow and ever receding backwards. But the speed comes to its end, the engagement loses its meaning, and the hungry heart clamors for food, till at last she comes to the loAely reaper reaping his harvest in the sun. For if the office cannot wait, or the buying and selling, or the craving for excitement � love waits, and beauty, and the wisdom of suffering and the fruits of patient devotion and reverent meekness of simple faith. And thus shall wait the East till her time comes."
Being thus led to turn our eyes towards Asia, we are astonished to find how much we have misunderstood it; and we blush when we realize our previous ignorance of the fact that, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, Asia gave birth to a great religious movement � a movement signalized for its spiritual purity, one which has had thousands of martyrs, one which Tolstoy has described.
H. Dreyfus, the French historian of this movement, says that it is not "a new religion," but "religion renewed," and that it provides "the only possible basis for a mutual understanding between religion and free thought." Above all, we are impressed by the fact that, in our own time, such a manifestation can occur, and that the new faith should have undergone a development far more extensive than that undergone in the same space of time nearly two thousand years ago, by budding Christianity.
At the present time, the majority of the inhabitants of Persia have, to a varying extent, accepted the ]lThiist faith. In the great towns of Europe, America, and Asia, there are active centers for the propaganda of the liberal ideas and the doctrine of human community, which form the foundations of BaM'iist teaching.
We shall not grasp the full significance of this tendency until we pass from the description of BaM'iism as a theory to that of Bah&'iism as a practice, for the core of religion is not metaphysics, but morality.
The Bah~i'iist ethical code is dominated by the law of love taught by Jesus and by all the prophets.
In the thousand and one details of practical life, this law is subject to manifold interpretations.
That of Bahá'u'lláh is unquestionably one of the most corn
Page 488prehensive of these, one of the most exalted, one of the most satisfactory to the modern mind.
That is why Bahá'u'lláh is a severe critic of the patriotism which plays so large a part in the national life of our day. Love of our native land is legitimate, but this love must not be exclusive. A man should iove his country more than he loves his house (this is the dogma held by every patriot); but Bahá'u'lláh adds that he should love the divine world more than he loves his country. From this standpoint, patriotism is seen to be an intermediate stage on the road of renunciation, an incomplete and hybrid religion, something we have to get beyond. Throughout his life Bahá'u'lláh regarded the ideal universal peace as one of the most important of his aims.
Bahá'u'lláh is in this respect enunciating a novel and fruitful idea.
There is a better way of dealing with social evils than by trying to cure them after they have come to pass. We should try to prevent them by removing their causes, which act on the individual, and especially on the child. Nothing can be more plastic than the nature of the child.
The government's first duty must be to provide for the careful and efficient education of children, remembering that education is something more than instruction. This will be an enormous step towards the solution of the social problem, and to take such a step will be the first task of the Baytu'1 � 'Ad'1 (House of Justice). ttlt is ordained upon every father to rear his son or his daughter by means of the sciences, the arts, and all the commandments, and if any one should neglect to do s5, then the mem-hers of the council, should the offender be a wealthy man, must levy from him the sum necessary for the education of his child. When the neglectful parent is poor, the cost of the necessary education must be borne by the council, which will provide a refuge for the unfortunate."
The Baytu'1-'Ad'1, likewise, must prepare the way for the establishment of universal peace, doing this by organizing courts of arbitration and by influencing the governments.
Long before the Esperantists had begun their campaign, and more than twenty years before Nicholas II had summoned moned the first Hague congress, Bahá'u'lláh was insisting on the need for a universal language and courts of arbitration.
He returns to these matters again and again: "Let all the nations become one in faith, and let all men be brothers, in order that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men may be strengthened.
What harm can there be in that? It is going to happen. There will be an end to sterile conflicts, to ruinous wars; and the Great Peace will come!" Such were the words of RaM'-u'lUh in 1890, two years before his death.
While adopting and developing the Christian law of iove, Bahá'u'lláh rejected the Christian principle of ascetism. He discountenanced the macerations which were a nightmare of the Middle Ages, and, whose evil effects persist even in our own days.
BaM'iism, then, is an ethical system, a system of social morality. But it would be a mistake to regard BahA'iist teaching as a collection of abstract rules imposed from without.
BaM'iism is permeated with a sane and noble mysticism; nothing could be more firmly rooted in the inner life, more benignly spiritual; nothing could speak more intimately to the soui, in low tones, and as if from within.
Such is the new voice that sounds to us from Asia; such is the new dawn in the East. We should give them our close attention; we should abandon our customary mood of disdainful superiority. Doubtless, Bahá'u'lláh's teaching is not definitive. The Persian prophet does not offer it to us as such. Nor can we Europeans assimilate all of it; for modern science leads us to make certain claims in matters of thought � claims we cannot relinquish, claims we should not try to forego.
But even though Bahá'u'lláh's precepts (like those of the Gospels) may not fully satisfy all these intellectual demands, they are rarely in conflict with our scientific outlooks. If they are to became our own spiritual food, they must be supplemented, they must be relived by the religious spirits of Europe, must be rethought by minds schooled in the Western mode of thought. But in its existing form, BaM'iist teaching may serve, amid our present chaos, to open for us a road leading to solace and to comfort; may' restore our confidence in the spir
Page 489REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 489
itual destiny of man.It reveals to us bow the human mind is in travail; it gives us an inkling of the fact that the greatest happenings of the day are not the ones we were inclined to regard as the most momentous, not the ones which are making the loudest noise.
B~ DR. HENRY H. JEssur, D.D.of Religion; Volume II, 13th Day, under Criticism and
Discussion of MissionaryExposition of 1893, at Chicago. Edited by the Rev. John Henry Earrows, RD.
(The Parliament PublishingCompany, Chicago, 1893.) � This, then, is our mission: that we who are made in the image of God should remember that all men are made in God's image. To this divine knowledge we owe all we are, all we hope for.
We are rising gradually toward that image, and we owe to our fellowmen to aid them in returning to it in the Glory of God and the Beauty of Holiness.
It is a celestial privilege and with it comes a high responsibility, from which there is no escape.
In the Palace of Baha'i, or Delight, just outside the Fortress of 'Akka, on the Syrian coast, there died a few months since, a famous Persian sage, the B~bi Saint, named Bahá'u'lláh � the "Glory of God" � the head of that, vast reform party of Persian Mus-urns, who accept the New Testament as the Word of God and Christ as the Deliverer of men, who regard all, nations as one, and all men as brothers. Three years ago he was visited by a Cambridge scholar and gave utterance to sentiments so noble, so Christlike, that we repeat them as our closing words: "That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bands of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religions 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 tMost Great Peace' shalt come. Do not you in Europe need this also? Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he ioves his kind." ______
B~ THE RIGHT HON. THEand the female sex also lent their consecration to the new creed and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Qazyin, Zarrin-Thj (Crown of Gold) or Quarratu'1-'Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), who, throwing off the veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide, is one of the most affecting episodes in modern history.
The lowest estimate places the present number of B&bis in Persia at half a million. I am disposed to think, from conversations with persons well qualified to judge, that the total is nearer one million.
They are to be found in every walk of life, from the ministers and nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the groom, not the least arena in their activity being the Mussulman priesthood itself. It will have been noticed that the movement was initiated by Siyyids, I3Ajis and Muihis, i.e., persons who, either by desaent, from pious inclination, or by profession, were intimately concerned with the Mi4xammadan creed; and it is among even the professed votaries of the faith that they continue to make their converts.
Quite recently the Báb's have had great success in the camp of another enemy, having secured many proselytes among the Jewish populations of the Persian towns.
I hear that during the past year (1891) they are reported to have made 1 ~O Jewish converts in Tihr~n, 100 in Hamad&n, SO in K&sh4n, and 75 per cent of the Jews at GulpAyigAn.
The two victims, whose names were TLiji MirzaIjusayn, have been renamed by the B~bis: Suldnu'sh-$huhad4', or King of Martyrs, and Mab-biibu'sh-$irshadA', or Beloved of Martyrs � and their naked graves in the cemetery have become places of pilgrimage where many a tear is shed over the fate of the ttMartyrs of It is these little incidents, protruding from time to time their ugly features, that prove Persia to be not as yet quite redeemed, and that somewhat staggers the tall-talkers about fr~nian civiliza-don.
If one conclusion more than anotherhas been forced upon our notice by the retrospect in which I have indulged, it is that a sublime and murmuring [?3 devotion has been inculcated by this new faith, whatever it be. There is, I believe, but one instance of a ]3&b'i having recanted under pressure of menace of suffering, md he reverted to the faith and was executed within two years.
Tales of magnificent heroism illumine the bloodstained pages of Báb history.
Ignorant and unlettered as many of its votaries are, and have been, they are yet prepared to die for their religion, and fires of Smithfield did not kindle a nobler courage than has met and defied the more refined torture-mongers of TihrAn. Of no small account, then, must be the tenets of a creed that can awaken in its followers so rare and beautiful a spirit of self-sacrifice. From the facts that EAbjism in its earliest years found itself in conflict with the civil powers and that an attempt was made by E4bis upon the life of the ShAh, it has been wrongly inferred that the movement was political in origin and Nihilist in character.
It does not appear from a study of the writings either of the B~b or his successor, that there is any foundation for such a suspicion. The charge of immorality seems to have arisen partly from malignant inventions of opponents, partly from the much greater freedom claimed for women by the Bib, which in the oriental mind is scarcely dissociable from profligacy of conduct. If B~biism continues to grow at its present rate of progression, a time may conceivably come when it will oust Muixammadanism from the field in Persia. Since its recruits are won from the best soldiers of the garrison whom it is attacking, there is greater reason to believe that it may ultimately prevail.
The pure and suffering life of the Rib, his ignominious death, the heroism and martyrdom of his followers, will appeal to many others who can find no similar phenomena in the contemporaneous records of IsUm.
Br SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND(1923.) � The story of the Mb, as Mirza 'Au-Mu-$ammad called himself, was the story of spiritual heroism unsurpassed in Svabhava's experience; and his own adventurous soul was fired by it. That a youth of no social influence and no education should, by the simple power of insight, be able to pierce into the heart of things and see the real truth, and then hold on to it with such firmness of conviction and present it with such suasion that he was able to convince men that he was the Messiah and get them to follow him to death itself, was one of those splendid facts in human history that Svabhava loved to meditate on. This was a true hero whom he would wish to emulate and whose experiences he would profit by. The B&b's passionate sincerity could not be doubted, for he had given his life for his faith. And that there must be something in his message that appealed to men and satisfied their souls, was witnessed to by the fact that thousands gave their lives in his cause and millions now follow him.
If a young man could, in oniy six years of ministry, by the sincerity of his purpose and the attraction of his personality, so inspire rich and poor, cultured and illiterate, alike, with belief in himself and his doctrines that they would remain staunch, though hunted down and without trial sentenced to death, sawn asunder, strangled, shot, blown from guns; and if men of high position and culture in Persia, Turkey and Egypt in numbers to this day adhere to his doctrines, his life must be one of those events in the last hundred years which is really worth study. And that study fortunately has been made by the Frenchman Gobineau and by Professor E. G. Browne, so that we are able to have a faithful representation of its main features.
Thus, in only his thirtieth year, in the year 1 8 50, ended the heroic career of a true God-man.
Of the sincerity of his conviction that he was God-appointed, the manner of his death is the amplest possible proof. In the belief that he would thereby save others from the error of their present beliefs he willingly sacrificed his life. And of his power of attaching men to him, the passionate devotion of hundreds and even thousands of men who gave their lives in his cause is corn4ncing testimony.
Page 491REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 491
He himself was but "a letter out of that most mighty book, a dewdrop from that limitless ocean."
The One to come would reveal all mysteries and all riddles. This was the humility of true insight.
And it has had its effect.His movement has grown and expanded, and it has yet a great future before it. During his six years of ministry, four of which were spent in captivity, he had permeated all Persia with his ideas.
And since his death the movement has spread to Turkey, Egypt, India and even into Europe and America. His adherents are now numbered by millions.
ttTh Spirit which pervades them," says Professor Browne, "is such that it cannot fail to affect most powerfully all subject to its influence."
For many years I have been interested in the rise and progress of the Bahá'í Movement. Its roots go deep down into the past and yet it looks far forward into the future. It realizes and preaches the oneness of mankind. And I have noticed how ardently its followers work for the furtherance of peace and for the general welfare of mankind. God must be with them and their success therefore assured.
Excerpt from Modern Mystics.The martyrdom of the 13Th took place on July 9, 1850, thirty-one years from the date of his birth.
His body was dead. His spirit lived on. Ijusayn had been slain in battle.
Qudd~s had been done to death in captivity. But Bahá'u'lláh lived. The One who shall be made manifest was alive.
And in him and in others had been engendered such iovc for the Báb and what he stood for as, in the words of the chronicler, no eye had ever beheld nor mortal heart conceived: if branches of every tree were turned into pens, and all the seas into ink, and Earth and Heaven rolled into one parchment, the immensity of that love would still remain untold.
This love for the Cause still survived. And it was sufficient. Bahá'u'lláh was, indeed, despoiled of his possessions, deserted by his friends, driven into exile from his native land andr even in exile, confined to his house. But in him the Cause was still alive � and more than alive, purified and ennobled by the fiery trials through which it had passed.
Under the wise control, and direction of Bahá'u'lláh from his prison-house, first at Bazhd~d and then at 'Akka in Syria, there grew what is now known as the Bahá'í Movement which, silently propagating itself, has now spread to Europe and America as well as to India and Egypt, while the bodily remains of the Mb, long secretly guarded, now find a resting place on Mount Carmel in a Tomb-shrine, which is a place of pilgrimage to visitors from all over the world.
Excerpt from The Christian22, 1913: "'Abdu'l-Bahá at Oxford" � 'Abdu'l-Bahá addressed a large and deeply interested audience at Manchester College, Oxford, on December 31. The Persian leader spoke in his native tongue, Mirza Ahmad Solirab interpreting. Principal Estlin Carpenter presided, and introduced the speaker by saying that they owed the honor and pleasure of meeting 'Abdu'l-Bahá to their revered friend, Dr. Cheyne, who was deeply interested in the Bahá'í teaching.
The movement sprung up during the middle of the last century in Persia, with the advent of a young Mu1~ammadan who took to himself the title of the B~b (meaning door or gate, through which men could arrive at the knowledge or truth of God), and who commenced teaching in Persia in the year 1844. The purity of his character, the nobility of his words, aroused great enthusiasm. He was, however, subjected to great hostility by the authorities, who secured his arrest and imprisonment, and he was finally executed in 1850. But the movement went on, and the writings of the Mb, which had been copious, were widely read. The movement has been brought into India, Europe, and the United States. It does not seek to create a new sect, but to inspire all sects with a deep fundamental love. The late Dr. Jowett once said to him that he had been so deeply impressed with the teachings and character of the E&b that he thought B~biism, as the
Page 492present movement was then known, might become the greatest religious movement since the birth of Christ.
B~ REV. J. TYSSIJL DAVIS, B.A.of Religions. Excerpts from Chapter X: Bahd'iism � The Religion of Reconciliation. (The Lindsey Press, London, England.) � The Bahá'í religion has made its way because it meets the needs of its day. It fits the larger outlook of our time better than the rigid exclusive older faiths.
A characteristic is its unexpected liberality and toleration. It accepts all the great religions as true, and their scriptures as inspired. The IlaM'iists bid the followers of these faiths disentangle from the windings of racial, par-ticularist, local prejudice, the vital, immortal thread, the pure gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element of life. Instances are quoted of people being recommended to work within the older faiths, to remain, vitalizing them upon the principles of the new faith.
They cannot fear new facts, new truths as the Creed-defenders must.
They believe in a progressive revelation. They admit the cogency of modern criticism and allow that God is in His nature incomprehensible, but is to be known through
His Manifestations. Theirethical ideal is very high and is of the type we Westerners have learnt to designate "Christlike." CCWht does he do to his enemies that he makes them his friends?" was asked con � cerning the late leader. What astonishes the student is not anything in the ethics or philosophy of this movement, but the extraordinary response its ideal has awakened in such numbers of people, the powerful influence this standard actually exerts on conduct. It is due to four things: (1) It makes a call on the Heroic Element in man. It offers no bribe.
It bids men endure3 give up, carry the cross. It calls them to sacrifice, to bear torture, to suffer martyrdom, to brave death.
(2) It offers liberty of thought. Even upon such a vital question as immortality it will not bind opinion.,
its atmosphere is one of trust and hope, not of dogmatic chill. (3) It is a religion of love. teNotwitlistanding the interminable cata logue of extreme and almost incredible sufferings and privations which this heroic band of men and women have endured � more terrible than many martyrdoms � there is not a trace of resentment or bitterness to be observed among them. One would suppose that they were the most fortunate of the people among whom they live, as indeed they do certainly consider themselves, in that they have been permitted to live near their beloved Lord, beside which they count their sufferings as nothing" (Phelps).
Love for the Master, love for the brethren, love for the neighbors, love for the alien, love for all humanity, love for all life, love for God � the old, well-tried way trod once before in Syria, trodden again. (4) It is a religion in harmony with science. It has here the advantage of being thirteen centuries later than IsUm. This new dispensation has been tried in the furnace, and has not been found wanting.
It has been proved valid by the lives of those who have endured all things on its behalf. Here is something more appealing than its logic and rational philosophy.
ttTo the Western observer" (writes. Prof. Browne), "it is the complete sincerity of the B~bis, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admIrable conduct toward mankind, especially toward their fellow-believers, which constitute their strongest claim on his attention."
"By their fruits shall ye know them!" We cannot but address to this youthful religion an All Hail! of welcome. We cannot fail to see in its activity another proof of the living witness in our own day of the working of the sleepless spirit of God in the hearts of men, for He cannot rest, by the necessity of His nature, until He hath made in conscious reality, as in power, the whole world His own.
fly HERBERT PUTNAMThe dominant impression that survives in my memory of 'Abdu'l-Bahá is that of an extraordinary nobility: physically, in the head so massive yet so finely poised, and the modeling of the features; but spiritually,
Page 493REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 493
in the serenity of expression, and the suggestion of grave and responsible meditation in the deeper lines of the face. But there was also, in his complexion, carriage, and expression, an assurance of the complete health which is a requisite of a sane judgment. And when, as in a lighter mood, his features relaxed into the playful, the assurance was added of a sense of humor without which there is no true sense of proportion.
I have never met any one concerned with the philosophies of life whose judgment might seem so reliable in matters of practical conduct.
My regret is that my meetings with him were so few and that I could not benefit by a lengthier contact with a personality combining a dignity so impressive with human traits so engaging.
I wish that he could be multiplied ITranslated from a letter to Mine. Isabel Grincvskaya, Oct. 22, 1903.
I am very glad that Mr. V. V. Stassov has told you of the good impression which your book has made on me, and I thank you for sending it. I have known about the Báb's for a long time, and have always been interested in their teachings.
It seems to me that these teachings, as well as all the rationalistic social religious teachings that have arisen lately out of the original teachings of Brahmanism, Buddhism,
Judaism, Christianityand IsUm distorted by the priests, have a great future for this very reason that these teachings, discarding all these distorting incrustations that cause division, aspire to unite into one common religion of all mankind.
Therefore, the teachings of the BThis, inasmuch as they have rejected the old Mu-bammadan superstitions and have not established new snperstitions which would divide them from other new superstitions (unfor-tunately something of the kind is noticed in the exposition of the Teachings 0� the Báb), and inasmuch as they keep to the principal fundamental ideas of brotherhood, equality and love, have a great future before them.
In the Mubammadan religion there has been lately going on an intensive spiritual movement. I know that one such movement is centered in the French colonies in Africa, and has its name (I do not remember it), and its prophet. Another movement exists in India, Lahore, and also has its prophet and publishes its paper
Review of Religions.Both these religious teachings contain nothing new, neither do they have for their principal object a changing of the outlook of the people and thus do not change the relationship between the people, as is the case with Bibjism, though not so much in its theory (Teachings of the Mb) as in the practice of life as far as I know it. I therefore sympathize with Bibjism with all my heart inasmuch as it teaches people brotherhood and equality and sacrifice of material life for service to God.
Translated from a letter to Frid ul Khan Wadelbekow.
(This communication is dated 1908 and is found among epistles written to Caucasian Muhammadans.)
In answer to your, letter which questions how one should understand the term God. I send you a collection of writings from my literary and reading club, in which some thoughts upon the nature of God are included. In my opinion if we were to free ourselves from all false conceptions of God we should, whether as Christians or Muhammadans, free ourselves entirely from piaur-ing God as a personality. The conception which then seems to me to be the best for meeting the requirements of reason and heart is found in 4th chap. St. John, 71215 that means God is Love.
It therefore follows that God lives in us according to the measure or capacity of each soul to express His nature. This thought is implicit more or less clearly in all religions, and therefore in Muhammadanism.
Concerning your second question upon what awaits us after doath I can oniy reply that on dying we return to God from whose Life we came. God, however, being Love we can on going over expect God only.
Concerning your third question, I answer that so far as I understand Ts1~im, like all other religions, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc., it contains great basic
Page 494truths but that these have become corrupted by superstition, and coarse interpretations and filled with unnecessary legendic descriptions.
I have had much help in my researches to get clear upon Mu#ammadan-by a splendid little book "The Sayings of
Muhammad."The teachings of the Báb's which come to us out of IsUm have through Bahá'u'lláh's teachings been gradually developed and now present us with the highest and purest form of religious teaching.
B~ DR. EDMUND PRIVATThe practical and spiritual understanding between nations, the realization of the unity of mankind above all barriers of language and religion, the feeling of responsibility towards all who suffer from grief or injustice are oniy different branches of the same central teaching which gives the Bahá'í Movement such a faithful and active family of workers in so many countries.
La superstition, 1'intol6rance er 1'alliance des pr&tres avec la tyrannie s6vit en IslAm comme ailleurs.
La grande lumi&re s'assom-kit dans la fum& t~n~breuse des formes vides et des passions fanatiques.
Ii y eut plusicurs fois des rtveils et des retours ~ la purct6 du message.
Chez nous, en Perse, le Báb v&ut en saint et mourut en martyr ~ Tabriz, ii y a pr~s d'un si&le. Bahá'u'lláh lui succ6da, exil6 de Perse, emprisonn6 par ic sultan turc. Ii proclamait que 1'unit6 divine exciut les rivalit6s. La soumission & Dieu doit rap-procher les hommes. Si la religion les s~pare, c'est qu'elle a perdu son principal sens.
En plein milieu du dix-neuvi&me si&le, au temps des Lamartine et des Victor Hugo, le grand saint musulman fixait aux Baha, ses disciples, un proggamme a des principes plus actuels que jamais.
L'Islim a toujours proclam6 ce dogme avec majest~, mais les religions luttent en brandissant le nom d'un proph&te ou d'un autre, an lieu d'insister sur leur enseigne-ment, qui pourrait les rapprocher.
Bahá'u'lláh tachait de faire tomber les parois, non pas Mahom6tisme avant tout, mais vraiment 14dm, c'estA-dire soumission commune ~ La volontd supreme.
On ne parlait alors ni d'un Wilson, ni d'un Zamenhof, mais 1'exik de Baha i mon-trait aux g~n6rations futures le chemin qu'elles devajent prendre. Son fils 'Abdu'l-Bahá r6pandit plus tard son message en Europe et en Am6rique.
M~me un libre penseur comme Auguste Ford s'y rallia de grand cocur.
Le cercie amica~ des Bahá'í s'~tend aurour du monde.
En Perse, un million d'entre eux sou-tiennent des 6coles, fameuses dans le pays. (From La Sagesse de l'Orient, Chap. III.)
B~ DR. AUGUSTE FORELQue dois-je ajouter aujourd'hui en ao(it 1 92 1, apr~s les horribles guerres qui viennent de mettre 1'humanit~ ~ feu et ~ sang, tout en dtvoilant plus que jamais la terrible f6rocitd de nos passions haineuses? Rien, sinon que nous devons demeurer d'au-tant plus fermes, d'autant plus in~bran1ab1es dans notre lutre pour ic Bien social.
Nos enfants ne doivent pas se ddcourager; us doi-vent au contraire profiter du chaos mondial actuel pour aider ~ la p6nible organisation supdrieure et supranationale de L'humanit4 a 1'aide d'une f6d&ation universelle des peuples.
En 1920 seulement j'ai appris ~ con-naitre, ~ Karisruhe, la religion supraconfes-sionnelle et mondiale des Bahá'ís fond6e en Orient par le person Bahá'u'lláh ii y a 70 C'est la vraie religion du Bien social humain, sans dogmes, ni pr~tres, reliant entre eux tous les hommes sur notre petit globe terrestre.
Je suis devenu Babd'i.Que certe religion vive et prosp&c pour le bien de 1'hu-rnanit~; c'est Ii~ mon voeu Ic plus ardent.
B~ GENERAL RENATO PIOLAHaving been engaged all of his life in the training of men, he does this (i.e., write on the subject of religion) more as a of a flock" might do, in hope of persuading his friends and brothers to turn spontane �
Page 495REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 495
ously to the Illumined Path of the Great Revelation.
B~ REV. FREDERICK W. OAKES The Enlightener of human minds in respect to their religious foundations and priv'ileges is of such vital importance that no one is safe who does not stop and listen for its quiet meaning, and is to the mind of men, as the cooling breeze that unseen passes its breath over the varying leaves of a tree. Watch it! And see how uniformly, like an unseen hand passing caressingly over all its leaves: Full of tender care and even in its gifts of love and greater life: Caresses each leaf. Such it is to one who has seated himself amid the flowers and fruit trees in the Garden Beautiful at 'Akka, just within the circle of that Holy and Blessed shrine where rests the Mortal part of the
Great Enlightener. Hishandiwork is there, you touch the fruit and flowers his hand gave new life's hopes to, and kneeling as I did beside Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Marvelous Manifestation, felt the spirit's immortal love of Him who rests there.
While I could not speak the words of the Litany, my soui knew the wondrous meaning, for every word was a word of the soul's language that speaks of the Eternal love and care of the Eternal Father.
So softly and so living were the reflections from his beautiful personality, that one needed not spoken words to be interpreted.
And this Pilgrim came away renewed and refreshed to such a degree, that the hard bands of formalism were replaced by the freedom of love and light that will ever make that sojourn there the prize memory and the Door of revelation never to be closed again, and never becloud the glorious Truth of Universal Brotherhood. A calm, and glorious influence that claims the heart and whispers to each of the pulsing leaves of the great family in all experiences of life, "Be not afraid. It is I!" � And makes us long to help all the world to know the meaning of those words spoken by
The Great Revealer, "Letus strive with heart and soul that unity may dwell in the world." And to catch the greatness of the word "Strive," in quietness and reflection.
B~ RENWICK J. G. MILLAR Editor of Jo/on O'Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland I was in Chicago for only some ten days, yet it would take a hundred chapters to describe all the splendid sights and institutions I was privileged to see.
No doubt Chicago has more than its fair share of alien gangsters and gunmen, and the despicable doings of this obnoxious class has badly vitiated its civic life and reputation.
But for all that it is a magnificent city � in many respects probably the finest in America; a city of which its residents have innumerable reasons to be proud....
Every day indeed was filled up with sightseeing and the enjoyment of lavish hospitality. One day, for example, I was entertained to lunch at the Illinois Athletic Club as the guest of Mr. Robert Black, a prosperous Scot belonging to Wigtonshire, who is in the building trade.
He is an ex-presi-dent of the St. Andrew's Society.
Mr. Falconer and other Scots' friends were present, and they were all exceedingly kind and complimentary.
I could not, in short, have been treated with more distinction if I had been a prominent Minister of State instead of a humble Scottish journalist out on a mission of fraternity and good will.
On the same day I met by appointment Mr. Albert R. Windust with whom I went out to see the Bahá'í Temple which is in course of being erected at Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan.
It is about an hour's ride out on the elevated railway. Only the foundation and basement have so far been constructed, and the work was meanwhile stopped, but, we understand, is now shortly to be resumed.
I have no hesitation in saying that when completed this Temple will be one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world. I had the privilege of an introduction to the architect, a Frenchman, M. Bourgeois, who speaks English fluently. We spent a considerable time with him in his beautiful studio overlooking the Lake, and he did me the honour of showing me the plans of the Temple, drawings which cost him years of toil, and they are far beyond anything I could have imagined in beauty
Page 496M. Bourgeois, who is well advanced in years, is a genius and mystic � a gentleman of charming personality.
In all that I had the pleasure of seeing in his studio I had a privilege that is given to few.
My signature is in his personal book, which contains the names of some of the great ones of the earth! Mr. Windust, who is a leading Bahá'í in the city, is a quiet and humble man, but full of fine ideas and ideals.
He treated me with the utmost brotherly courtesy. How is it, I kept asking myself, that it should be mine to have all this privilege and honour? There was no reason save that they told inc I had touched the chords of truth and sincerity in referring to and reviewing the Bahá'í writings and principles in a few short articles in this Journal. The Temple is designed to represent these principles � universal religion, urn-versal brotherhood, universal education, and the union of science and religion. Meantime the Chicagoans are seemingly indifferent to all its spiritual significance; but some day they will wake up to a realisation of the fact that its symbolism will mark the city as one of destiny in the world.
B~ CHARLES H. PRISKHumanity is the better, the nobler, for the Bahá'í
Faith. It is a Faiththat enriches the soul; that takes from life its dross.
I am prompted thus to express myself because of what I have seen, what I have heard, what I have read of the results of the Movement founded by the Reverend Bahá'u'lláh. Embodied within that Movement is the spirit of world brotherhood; that brotherhood that makes for unity of thought and action.
Though not a member of the Bahá'í Faith, I sense its tremendous potency for good. Ever is it helping to usher in the dawn of the day of "Peace on
Earth Good Will to Men."By the spread of its teachings, the Bahá'í cause is slowly, yet steadily, making the Golden Rule a practical reality.
With the high idealism of Bahá'u'lláh as its guide, the Bahá'í Faith is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Countless are its good works. For example, to the pressing economic prob lems it gives a new interpretation, a new solution. But above all else it is causing peoples everywhere to realize they are as one, by heart and spirit divinely united.
And so I find joy in paying this little tribute to a cause that is adding to the sweetness, the happiness, the cleanness of life.
B~ PROF. HART PRASAD SYIASTRI, D.Lirr.My contact with the Bahá'í Movement and my acquaintance with its teachings, given by Ijadrat-i-Bah6'u'lHh, have filled me with real joy, as I see that this Movement, so cosmopolitan in its appeal, and so spiritual in its advocacy of Truth, is sure to bring peace and joy to the hearts of millions.
Free from metaphysical subtleties, practical in its outlook, above all sectarianism, and based on God, the substratum of the human soul and the phenomenal world, the Bahá'í Movement carries peace and illumination with it. As long as it is kept free from orthodoxy and church-spirit, and above personalities, it will continue to be a blessing to its followers.
B~ Sum PUROHIT SWAMII am in entire sympathy with all of the principles that the Bahá'í Movement stands for; there is nothing which is contrary to what I am preaching. I think at this stage of the world such teachings are needed more than anything else.
I find the keynote of the Teachings is the spiritual regeneration of the world.
The world is getting more and more spiritually bankrupt every day, and if it requires anything it requires spiritual life. The Bahá'í Movement stands above all caste, creed and color and is based on pure spiritual unity.
B~ PROF. HERBERT A. MILLER InThe central drive of the Bahá'í Movement is for human unity. It would secure this through unprejudiced search for truth, making religion conform to scientific discovery and insisting that fundamentally all religions are alike. For the coming of i.ini
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versal peace, there is great foresight and wisdom as to details. Among other things there should be a universal language; so the Bahá'ís take a great interest in Esperanto though they do not insist on it as the ultimate language.
No other religious movement has put so much emphasis on the emancipation and education of women. Everyone should work whether rich or poor and poverty should be abolished. What will be the course of the Bahá'í Movement no one can prophesy, but I think it is no exaggeration to claim that the program is the finest fruit of the religious contribution of Asia.
Shoghi Effendi's statement cannot be improved upon.
The Bahá'ís have had the soundest position on the race question of any religion. They not oniy accept the scientific conclusions but they also implement them with spiritual force.
This latter is necessary because there is no other way to overcome the emotional element which is basic in the race problem.
~ have not said enough perhaps in the first paragraph.
Please add the following: The task of learning to live together, though different, is the most difficult and the most imperative that the world faces.
The economic problem will be relatively easy in comparison. There are differences in the qualities of cultures but there are no differences in qualities of races that correspond. This being recognized by minorities leads them to resist methods of force to keep them in subordination. There is no solution except co5peration and the granting of self-respect."
B~ VISCOUNT HERBERT SAMUEL, G.C.B., M.P. In John O'London's Weekly, March 25th, 1933.
It is possible indeed to pick out points of fundamental agreement among all creeds. That is the essential purpose of the Bahá'í Religion, the foundation and growth of which is one of the most striking movements that have proceeded from the East in recent generations.
2.If one were compelled to choose which of the many religious communities of the world was closest to the aim and purpose of this Congress, I think one would be obliged to say that it was the comparatively little known
Bahá'í Community. Otherfaiths and creeds have to consider, at a Congress like this, in what way they can contribute to the idea of world fellowship.
But the Bahá'í Faith exists almost for the sole purpose of contributing to the fellowship and the unity of mankind.
Other communities may consider how far a particular element of their respective faith may be regarded as similar to those of other communities, but the Bahá'í Faith exists for the purpose of combining in one synthesis all those elements in the various faiths which are held in common. And that is why I suggest that this Bahá'í community is really more in agreement with the main idea which has led to the summoning of the Congress than any particular one of the great religious communities of the world.
Its origin was in Persia where a mystic prophet, who took the name of the Báb, the "Gate," began a mission among the Persians in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. He collected a considerable number of adherents.
His activities were regarded with apprehension by the Government of Persia of that day. Finally, be and his leading disciples were seized by the forces of the Persian Government and were shot in tbe year 1850. In spite of the persecution, the movement spread in Persia and in many countries of Isl4m. He was followed as the head of the Community by the one who has been its principal prophet and exponent, Bahá'u'lláh. He was most active and despite persecution and imprisonment made it his life's mission to spread the creed which he claimed to have received by direct divine revelation. He died in 1892 and was succeeded as the head of the Community by his son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who was born in 1844. He was liVing in Haifa, in a simple house, when I went there as High Commissioner in 1920, and I had the privilege of one or two most interesting conversations with him on the principles and methods of the Bahá'í
Faith. Hedied in 1921 and his obsequies were attended by a great concourse of people.
I had the honour of representing His Majesty the King on that occasion.
Since that time, the Bahá'í Faith has secured the support of a very large number of communities throughout the world.
At the present time it is estimated that there are about eight hundred Ba1A'i communities in various countries. In the United States, near Chicago, a great Temple, now approaching completion, has been erected by American adherents of the Faith, with assistance from elsewhere. Shoghi Effendi, the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is now the head of the community.
He caine to England and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, but now lives in Haifa, and is the center of a community which has spread throughout the world.
(Introductory address delivered at the Bahá'í session of the World Congress of Faiths, held in London, July, 193 6.)
B~ LORD SAMUEL OF CARMEL, G.C.B.,C.B.E. In 1920 II was appointed as the first High
Commissioner for Palestineunder the British Mandate, and took an early opportunity of paying a visit to 'Abdu'l-Bahá Effendi at His home in
Haifa.I had for some time been interested in the Bahá'í movement, and felt privileged by the opportunity of making the acquaintance of its Head. I had also an official reason as well as a personal one.
'Abdu'l-Bahá had been persecuted by the Turks.A British r~gime had now been substituted in Palestine for the Turkish. Toleration and respect for all religions had long been a principle of British rule wherever it extended; and the visit of the High Commissioner was intended to be a sign to the population that the adherents of every creed would be able to feel henceforth that they enjoyed the respect and could count upon the goodwill of the new Government of the land.
I was impressed, as was every visitor, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í dignity, grace and charm.
Of moderate stature, His strong features and lofty expression lent to His personality an appearance of majesty. In our conversation He readily explained and discussed the principal tenets of Baha'i, answered my inquiries and listened to my comments.
I remember vividly that friendly interview of sixteen years ago, in the simple room of the villa, surrounded by gardens, on the sunny hillside of
Mount Carmel.I was glad I had paid my visit so soon, for in 1921 'Abdu'l-Bahá died.
I was only able to express my respect for His creed and my regard for His person by coming from the capital to attend His funeral. A great throng had gathered together, sorrowing for His death, but rejoicing also for His life.
B~ REV. K. T. CHUNG (From Rev. K. T. Chung's Preface to the Chinese version of Dr. Esslemont's
Book.)Last summer upon my return from a visit to Japan, I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehier on the boat. It was learnt that this lady is a teacher of the Bahá'í Cause, so we conversed upon various subjects of human life very thoroughly. It was soon found that what the lady imparted to me came from the source of Truth as I have felt inwardly all along, so I at once realized that the Bahá'í Faith can offer numerous and profound benefits to mankind.
My senior, Mr. Y. S. Tsao, is a well-read man. His mental capacity and deep experience are far above the average man. He often said that during this period of our country when old beliefs have lost their hold upon the people, it is absolutely necessary to seek a religion of all-embracing Truth which may exert its powerful influence in saving the situation. For the last ten years, he has investigated indefatigably into the teachings of the Bahá'í Cause. Recently, he has completed his translations of the book on the New Era and showed me a copy of the proof.
After carefully reading it, I came to the full realization that the Truth as imparted to me by Mrs. Ransom-Keller is veritable and unshakeable.
This Truth of great value to mankind has been eminently translated by Mr. Tsao and now the Chinese people have the opportunity of reading it, and I cannot but express my profound appreciation for the same. Should the Truth of the Bahá'í Faith be widely disseminated among the Chinese people, it will naturally lead to the coming of the Kingdom of
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Heaven. Should everybody again exert his efforts towards the extension of this beneficent influence throughout the w,orld, it will then bring about world peace and the general welfare of humanity.
B~ PROF. DIMITRY KAZAROVUne des causes principales de la situation actuelle du monde c'est que 1'humanit~ est trop en arri&e encore dans son d6veloppe-ment spirituel. Voila pourquoi tout enseig-nement qui a pour but ~ ~vei11er et fortifier la conscience morale et religieuse des hommes est d'une importance capitale pour 1'avenir de notre race. La BaM'iisme est un de ces enseignements.
Ii a ce m&rite qu'en portant des principes qui sont communs de toutes Les grandes religions (et sp&ialement du christianisme) cherche ~ ics adapter aux conditions de la vie actuelle a ~ la psychologie de 1'homme moderne. En outre ii travail pour 1'union des hommes de toute nationalit6 et race dans tine conscience morale et re-ligieuse commune.
Ii n'a pas 'a pr~tention d'~tre autant une religion nouvelle qu'on trait d'union entre les grandes religions ex-istantes: cc sur quoi ii insiste surtout Ce fl'CSt pas d'abandoner 'a religion ~i laquelle nous appartenons d6j?t
pour en chercher une autre, maTh ~ farie in effort pour trouver dans cette m~rne religion 1'd6ment qui nous unit aux autres et d'en faire la force d6termi-nante de notre conduite toute enti&e. Cet 6l6ment (commun ~ toutes les grandes religions) c'est la conscience que nous sommes avant tout des etres spirituels, unis dans une m~me entit6 spirituelle dont nous ne sommes que des parties-unies entre elles par 1'attribut fondamental de cette entit~ spirituelle � 4 savoir l'amour. Manifester, r6aliser, d&-velopper chez nous et chez les autres (sur-tout chez les enfants) cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle a 1'amour comme son attribut fondamental c'est la chose prin-cipale que nous devons poursuivre avant tout a par toutes les manifestations de notre activit6. C'est en meme temps le seul moyen par lequel nous pouvons esp&er de r6aliser une union toujours grandissant parmi les hommes.
Le BaM'iisme est un des enseignements qui cherche ~ &veiller chez nous � n'importe h queue religion nous appartenonS � jUstement cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle.
Ii y a plus de 20 ans un groupe d'hommes et femmes de diff~rentes nationalit6s a religions, anim~s par le d&ir de travailler pour 1'union des peuples, ont commenc6 ~t publier journal en esperanto sous le titre "Uni-versala Unigo."
Le premier article du premier numero de ce journal 6tait consacr6 au BaM'iisme a son fondateur. Ii me semble que ce fait est une preuve 6clatante de cc que je viens de dire sur le Bahi'iisme.
B~ REV. GRIFFITH J. SPARHAMIn his book A League of Religicms, the Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, formerly minister of the Theistic Church in London, and at present minister of a Unitarian Church in Bristol, England, the writer sets out to demonstrate that each great religious movement in the world has contributed something of peculiar importance to the spiritual life of man. Thus, he says, the great contribu-don of Zoroastrianism has been the thought of Purity; of Bralimanism that of
Justice; of Muhammadanismthat of Submission; of Christianity that of Service; and so on. In each instance he lays his finger on the one thing ~ar excellence for which the particular religious culture seemed to him to stand, and tries to catch its special contribution in an epigrammatic phrase.
Coming, in this way, to BaM'iism, he names it "the Religion of Reconciliation."
In his chapter on Bah&'iism he says: ctThe Bahá'í religion has made its way because it meets the need of the day. It fits the larger outlook of our time, better than the rigid older faiths.
A characteristic is its unexpected liberality and toleration.
It accepts all the great religions as true and their scriptures as inspired."
These, then, as he sees BahA'iism, are its essential features: liberality, toleration, the spirit of reconciliation; and that, not in the sense, as Mr. H. G. Wells has it in his Soul of a Bishop, of making a "collection" of approved portions of the world's varied and differing creeds, but in the sense, as he also
Page 500puts it in the same book, of achieving a great 'tsimplification."
ttBahA'iists," says Dr. Davis, Czbid the followers of these (that is, the world's) faiths disentangle from the windings of racial, par-ticularist, local prejudices, the vital, immortal thread of the pure gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element to life."
That is Dr. Davis's interpretation of the genius of Bah?iism, and that it is a true one, no one who has studied Bahi'iism, even superficially, can question, least of all the outsider. Indeed one may go further and assert that no one who has studied Bah~i'iism, whether superficially or otherwise, would wish to question it; particularly if he approaches the subject from a liberal and unprejudiced point of view. In the last act of his Wandering Jew, Mr. Temple Thurston puts into the mouth of Matteos, the Wandering Jew himself, the splendid line, 'tAll men are Christians � all are Jews." He might equally well have written, (CAll men are Christians � all are Baha'is." For, if the sense of the Unity of Truth is a predominant characteristic of liberally-minded people, whatever may be their religious tradition, it is predominantly a characteristic of Bah&'i-mm; since here is a religious system based, fundamentally, on the one, simple, profound, comprehensive doctrine of the unity of God, which carries with it, as its necessary corollary and consequence, the parallel doctrine of the unity of Man.
This, at all events, is the conviction of the present writer; and it is why, as a Unitarian, building his own faith on the same basic principles of divine and human unity, he has long felt sympathy with and good will toward a religious culture which stands on a foundation identical with that of the faith he holds. And a religion that affirms the unity of things must of necessity be a religion of reconciliation; the truth of which in the case of Bah&'iism is clear.
B~ ERNEST RENANPassage tir6 de Renan ceLes Ap6tres, p�,~ Edition L6vy, Paris, 1866 Notre si&cle a vu des mouvements reli-gieux tout aussi extraordinaires que ceux d'autrefois, mouvements qui ont provoqu~ autant d'enthousiasme, qui ant eu d6j~, proportion gar.d6e, plus de martyrs, et dont l'avenir est encore incertain.
Je ne park pas des Mormons, secte ~i quciques 6gards si sotte et si abjecte que 1'on h~site & la prendre at serieux.
Ii est instructif, cependant, de voir en plein 1 9~me si~c1e des milliers d'hommes de notre race vivant dans le miracle, croyant avec une foi aveugle des merveilles qu'ils disent avoir vues a touch~es. Ii y a d6j~ toute une litt6rature pour montrer 1'accord du Mormonisme et de la science; ce qui vaut micux, cette religion, fond6e sur de niaises impostures, a su accomplir des pro-diges de patience et d'abn~gation; dans cinq cents ans des docteurs prouveront sa divinit6 par les mersreilles de son ~tab1issement.
Le BAbisme, en Perse, a 6t6 un ph6nom&ne autrement consid&able. Un homme doux et sans aucune pr&ention, une sorte de Spinoza modeste et pieux, s'est vu, presque malgr6 lui, dev6 au rang de thaumaturge d'incar � nation divine, et eat devenu le chef d'une secte nombreuse, ardente et fanatique, qui a failli amener une rdvolution comparable ~i celle de l'Ishim. Des milliers de martyrs sont accourus pour lui avec l'all6gresse au-devant de Ia mart. Un jour sans pareil pent-6tre dans 1'histoire du monde fat celui de Ia grande boucherie qui se fit des B~bis, ~i Tdh4ran. "0 vit cc jour-I~ dans les rues et les bazars de T6h&an," dit un narrateur qui a tout su d'original, ~ spectacle que Ia population semble devoir n'oublier jamais. Quand la conversation encore aujourd'hui se met sur cette mati&re, on peut juger 1'ad-miration m&16e d'horreur que Ia foule 6prouve et que les ann~es Wont pas Jiminuce. On vit s'avancer entre les bourreaux des en-fants et des feinmes ics chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec des m&zhes allum6es, flam-bantes, fich~es, dans its blessures. On trainait les victimes par des cordes et on les faisait marcher ?i
coups de fouct. Enfants et femmes s'avan~aient en chantant un verset qui dit: En v&it6 nous venons de Dieu et nous retournons & Lui. Leurs voix s'61e-vajent, 6clatantes, au-dessus du silence pro. fond de Ia Loule. Quand un des supplici6s tombait et qu'on le faisait relever ~t coups de
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fouet ou de baYonnette, pour peu que Ia perte de son sang qui ruisselait stir tous ses membres liii laissflt encore un peu de force, ii se mettait ~ danser et criait avec un sur-croi d'enthousiasme: "En v6riv6 nous sommes ~ Dieu et nous retournons
~i Lni." Quciques-unsdes enfants expir&ent pendant le trajet; les bourreaux jet6renv leurs corps sous les pieds de leurs p&es a de leurs soeurs, qui march&ent fi&ement dessus et ne icur donn&ent pas deux regards. Quand on arriva au lieu d'ex6cution, on proposa encore mx victimes La vie pour leur abjuration.
Un bourreau imagina de dire ~ un p~re que, s'il ne c~dait pas, ii couperait la gorge ~i ses deux fib sur sa poitrine. C'&aient detix petits gar~ons dont l'ain6 avait 14 ans a qui, rouges de leur sang, les chairs ca1cin~es, 6coutaient froidernent le dialogue; le p&e r6pondit, en se couchant par terre, qu'il dtait pr6t a Pain6 des enfants, r6clamant avec emportement son droit d'ainesse, de-manda ~ 6tre 6gorg6 ic premier.' Enfin tout fut achev& La nuit tomba sin un amas de chairs informes; ks t~res 6taient attach6es en paquets au poteau justicier et les chiens des faubourgs se dirigeaient par troupes tie ce c6t6.
Cela se passait en 1852.La secte de Mozdak sous Chosro~s Nousch fut &ouff6e dans tin parcil bain de sang.
Le d6voue-x-nent absolu est pour les nations naives la plus exquise des jouissances a une sorte de besoin. Dans 1'affaire des B~bis, on vit des gens qui 6taient ~ peine de la secte, venir se d6noncer eux-m&rnes afin qu'on les adjoignit aux patients. II en si doux ~t l'homme de souffrir pour qucique chose, que dans him des cas l'app&t du marcyre suflit pour faire croire.
Un disciple pA fur ic campagnon de sup-puce du Bib, suspendu ~ c6t6 de lui aux remparts de Tabriz et attendant Ia mort, n'avait qu'un mot ~ La bouche: CCES.tu content de moi, maitre?"
1 Un autre d6tail quo je tiens de source premi&re est celui � ci: Quciques sectaires, qu'on voulait amener ~ r&ractation, furent attachds ~ La guenle de canons arnorc~s d'une m&he longue a brolant lentement. On leur proposait de couper la mache, s'ils reniajent le E~b. Eux, les bras tendus vers Ic feu, le sup � pliajent de se h&ter et de venir bien vite consoinmer leur bonheur.
Br HON. LILIAN HELEN MONTAGUE, J.P., DEL.As a Jewess I am interested in the Bahá'í Community.
The teaching lays particular stress on the Unity of God and the Unity of Man, and incorporates the doctrine of the Hebrew Prophets that the Unity of God is revealed in the Unity of Men. Also, we seem to share the conception of God's messengers as being those people who in their deep reverence for the attributes of God, His beauty, His truth, His righteousness and His justice, seek to imitate Him in their imperfect human way. The light of God is reflected in the soui of him who seeks to be receptive. Like the members of the Baha community, we Jews are scattered all over the world, but united in a spiritual brotherhood. The Peace ideal enumerated by the Hebrew Prophets is founded on faith in the ultimate triumph of God's justice and righteousness.
B~ PROF. NORMAN BENIWICH"Palestine may indeed be now regarded as the land not of three but of four faiths, because the Bahá'í creed, which has its center of faith and pilgrimage in Acre and Haifa, is attaining to the character of a world-re-ligion. So far as its influence goes in the land, it is a factor making for international and inter-religious understanding."
B~ EMILE SCI-IREIHERTrois pro phdtes (From Les Achos, Paris, France, Septembcr 27, 1933.)
Alors que le marxisme so'vi6tique proclame le mat6rialisme historique, alors que les jeunes gdn6rations sionistes sont 6galement de plus en plus indiff&rentes aux croyances 6tablies, une nouvelle religion est n& en Orient, a sa doctrine prend, dans les circonstances ac-tuelles, un int6rat d'autant pius grand que, s'6cartant du domaine purement philoso-phique, elle pr&zonise en 6conomie politiquc
Page 502des solutions qui coincident curieusement avec les pr6occupations de notre 6poque.
Cette religion, de plus, est par essence antiraciste.
Elle est n6e en Perse, vers 1840, et les trois proph&tes successifs qui Pont pr&h6e sont des Persans, c'est-&-dire des musulmans de naissance.
Le premier, le cr6ateur, s'appelait le Bab. Ii pr&ha vers 1850, et pr6conisa, outre la r&onciliation des difT4rents cultes qui divi-sent 1'humanit6, Ia lib6ration de La femme, r~duite aujourd'hui encore un quasi escia-vage dans tout 1'Islam.
Une Persane d'une rare beaut6, et qui, chose rare chez les musulmanes, 6tait dou6e d'un grand talent oratpire, r6pondant au nom diflicile ~i prononcer de Qourratou-'l-'Am, 1'accompagna dans ses r6unions, n'h6si-tant pas, en donnant elIe-m&me 1'exemple, ~ pr6coniser la suppression du voile pour les femmes.
Le BTh et elle r6ussirent ~ convaincre, ~i 1'~poque, des dizaines de milliers de Persans et le shah de Perse les emprisonna 1'un a 1'autre, ainsi que la plupart de leurs partisans. Le BTh fut pendu. Sa belle collaboratrice fut ~trang16e dans sa prison.
Leurs disciples furent exilAs ~ Saint-Jean-d'Acre, devenue temple du "BahA'iisme."
C'est ainsi que j'ai visit6 Ia maison du successeur du Mb, Bahá'u'lláh, transform6e aujourd'hui en temple du tcBhA~iisme~~ Vest ainsi que s'intitule cette religion, qui est plutOt une doctrine philosophique, car elle ne comporte ni culte d6fini, ni surtout de clerg~. Les pr&res, disent les BaM'istes, sont tent6s de fausser, dans un but de lucre, 1'id~a1isme d&int6ress5 des cr6ateurs de religions.
Bahá'u'lláh, Ic principal des trois pro-phates, r6pandit sa doctrine non seulement en Orient, mais dans beaucoup de pays d'Eu-rope, et surtout aux Etats-Unis oii son influence fut telle que le nombre des Bahi'i-istes attient aujourd'hui plusicurs millions. II fut pers6cut6 par les Perses a mourut en exile.
Son fils, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, lui succ6da a formula, d'apr&s les principes de son p&e, Ia doctrine 6conomique du Bah?iisme; elle indique une prescience 6tonnante des 6v~nements qui se sont d&oul6s depuis: Ia guerre d'abord, Ia crise ensuite. Ii mourut peu apr~s la guerre, ayant vu la r~aIisation de La premkre partie de ses pro-ph6ties.
L'originalit6 du Bah&iisme est de chercher a faire passer dans le domaine pratique, et plus particuli&ement dans le domaine social, les principes essentiels du judaYsme, du ca-tholicisme a de 1'islamisme, en les combi-nant et en les adaptant aux besoins de forte epoque.
La Bah~i'iisme proclame que les rapports sociaux deviennent fatalement impossibles dans une soci6t6 oii 1'id6alisme individuel ne donne pas une base certaine aux engagements qui lient les hommes entre eux.
L'individu se sent de plus en plus isol6 au mileau d'une jungle sociale qui menace, ~ beaucoup d'6gards, son bien-etre a sa se-curit6. La bonne volontd et 1'honnetet6, ne produisant plus dans sa vie et dans son travail le r6sultat qu'il attend, tendent ~ perdre pour lui toute valeur pratique.
De Ii nais-sent, scion les caractres, 1'indiff6rence et le d&ouragement, ou 1'audace, le manque de scrupules qui tendent ~ se procurer par tous les moyens, mdme les plus r~pr6-hensibles, les b~n6fices mat6riels n&essaires ~ 1'existence.
La soci~t~, n'6tant plus soumise ~ aucun contrOle, ni politique ni moral, devient ian vaisseau sans gouvernail ofl personne ne peut plus rien pr6voir a qui est sujet ~i des crises de plus en pius fr6quentes et de plus en plus violentes. L'6poque actuelle, d6clarent les proph&es persans, marque la fin d'une chili-sation qui ne sen plus les int6r~ts de 1'hu-. manit6.
File aboutit ~ la faillite cornpkte des institutions morales et mat6rielles destin6es ~ assurer ie bien-etre et la s6curit6 des hommes, c'est-~-dire 1'ttat, 1'~g1ise, le Commerce et 1'Industrie.
Le principe fondamental d'oh peut venir le saint de Ia civilisation engag& dans des voics qui conduisent ~i sa destruction est la solidarit6 des nations a des races. Car 1'interp6n&ration des peuples est devenue telle qu'iI leur est impossible de trouver isol6-ment la voic de Ia prosp6rit6.
Ces proph6ties, qui pouvaient paraitre cx-cessives Ct quelque peu pessimistes ~ 1'~poque oii elles ont &~ faites, vers 1890, ne sont pas, les ~v~nements 1'ont prouv6, de simples j6r~miades.
Ii rest~ & examiner comment, partant de ces donn&s, qui ne sont cjue trop
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exactes, le IBah~'iisme, con~u dans la Perse lointaine et si arn6r6e ~ 1'~poque, aboutit aux m&mcs conclusions que la plupart des 6conomistes modernes qui, dans Ics diff6rents pays de civilisation occidentale, proclament qu'en dehors d'une collaboration interna-tionale ii Wy a pas d'issue possible ~ Ia crise actuelle entrainant tous les peuples ~ une mis&e toujours plus grande.
Une religion rCdconomique~~ (From Les Achos, Paris, France, September 28, 1933.)
Les principes du Bahi'iisme, formul6s par son principal proph&e, Bahá'u'lláh, peuvent paraitre s6rieusement compromis en un temps oii la fr6n6sie nationaliste, r6cemment aggrav6e de racisme, semble en dloigner de plus en pius 1'application.
Toute Ia question est de savoir si ceux qui sont en faveur aujourd'hui, dans tant de pays, sont susceptibles de r6soudre le pro-bkme non pas de la prosp4rit6, mais simple-ment du logement et de la f aim, dans les diff&~ntes nations qui nient par leurs th6o-ries et tous leurs actes a solidarit6 des peuples a des races.
Une nouvelle guerre mondiale sera sans doute n6cessaire pour que 1'humanit~, qui n'a pas encore compris la leqon de 1914, se rende enfin compte que les solutions de violence et de conquete ne peuvent engendrer que la ruine g6n6rale, sans profit pour aucun des bellig6rants.
Quoi qu'il en soit, les principales pens6es 6conomiques de Bahá'u'lláh, telles qu'clles ant 6t6 formul6es ii y a un demisi&le, prou-vent que Ia sagesse a Ic simple hon sens ont cela de commun avec les 6crevisses, c'esr qu'il Lair arrive fr6quemtnent de marcher ~ reculons.
Voici les principaux pr6ceptes de cc rnoderne Marc-Aurele: t~L'dvo1ution humaine se divise en cycles orgauiques, correspondant ~ la dur& d'une religion, laquelle est d'environ un millier d'ann6es.
Un cycle social nouveau commence toutes les fois qu'apparait un proph&e dont 1'influence et les enseignements renou � vellent la vie int&ieure de 1'homme a font dderler ~ travers le monde une nouvelle vague de progr~s.
"Chaque nouveau cycie d6truit les croy-ances et les institutions us&s du cycle pr&~-dent et fonde sur d'autres croyances, en 6troite conformit~, celles-h, avec les besoins actuels cle 1'humanit6, une civilisation nou-velle.
"L'iniluence de chaque proph~te s'est, dans le passe, hmit6e i tine race ou une religion, en raison de I'isolement g6ographique des r~gions et des races, maTh le si6cle dans lequel nous entrons n~cessite Ia cr6ation d'un ordre organique s'&endant an monde entier.
Si le vicil esprit de tribu persiste, Ia science de-truira le monde, ses forces destructrices ne pouvant etre contr6l&s que par une hu-manit6 unie travaillant pour Ia prosp6rit6 et le bien commun.
"La loi de Ia lutte pour la vie n'existe plus pour 1'homme d&s qu'il devient conscient de ses pouvoirs spirituels a moraux.
Elle est alors rempIac~e par Ia loi plus haute de Ia coop6ration. Sous cette Ioi, 1'individu jouira d'un statut beaucoup pius large que celui qui est accord~ aux citoyens passifs du corps politique actuel. L'administration publique passera des mains de partisans politiques qui trahissent la cause du peuple aux mains d'hommes capables de consid6rer une charge publique comme une mission sacree.
(cLa stabilit6 &onomique ne d6pcnd pas de 1'application de tel plan socialiste ou communiste plus ou moms th~orique, mais du sentiment de Ia solidarid morale qui unit tous les bommes et de cette conception que 'Cs richesses ne sont pas la fin de Ia vie, mais statement un moyen de vivre.
"L'important n'est pas en une aveugic soumission g~n6rale ~ tel syst~me politique, ~i tel r~glement, qui ont pour effet de sup-primer chez 1'indiviclu tout sentiment cJe responsabilit6 morale, mais en un esprit d'entr'aide et de coop6ration. Ni le principe d~mocratique, ni le principe aristocratiquc ne peuvent fournir s6par~rnent ~ Ia soci6td une base solide. La democratie est impuis-sante contre les querelles intestines et 1'aris-tocratie ne subsiste que par Ia guerre.
IJne combinaison des deux principes est donc n&essaire.
"En cette p6riode de transition entre le 'dcii ige de Ia concurrence et 1'&e nouvelle
Page 504de la coop&ation, la vie m~me de 1'huma-nit6 est en p6ril. Les ambitions nationalistes, la lutte des classes, Ia peur et le convoitises 6conomiques sont autant de forces qui pous-sent ~t une nouvelle guerre internationale. Tous les Gouvernements du monde doivent soutenir et organiser une assembl6e dont les membres sojent 6lus par 1'dite des nations. Ceux-ci devront mettre au point, au.-dessus des ~goYsmes particuliers, le noveau statut &onomique du monde en dehors duquel tous Les pays, maTh surtout 1'Europe, seront conduits aux pires catastrophes."
'Abdu'l-Bahá, son successeur, reprenant la doctrine de son pare, concluait dans un dis-cours prononc6 ?~ New-York en 1912: "La civilisation mat6rielle a atteint, en Occident, le plus haut degr6 de son d~ve1op-pement. Mais c'est en Orient qu'a pris nais-sance et que s 'est d6velopp6e Ia civilisation spirituelle.
Un lien s'6tablira entre ces deux forces, et leur union est la condition de 1'immense progr&s qui doit ~tre accompli.
"Hors de h, la s6curit~ et la contiance feront de plus en pius d6faut, les luttes et les dissensions s'accroitront de jour en jour a les divergences entre nations s'accentue-ront davantage. Les pays augmenteront constamment lears armements; la guerre, puis Ia certitude d'une autre guerre mondiale angoisseront de plus en plus les esprits. L'unit~ du genre humain est le premier f on-dement de toutes les vertus."
Ainsi park 'Abdu'l-Bahá en 1912, et tout se passa comme ii 1'avait pr~dit.
Mais ces paroles n'ont pas vicilli; dies pourraient, sans le moindre changement, ~tre r6p6t6es en 1933. Aujourd'hui, comme ii y a vingt ans, la menace de Ia guerre est de nouveau suspendue an-dessus de nos tetes et les causes de haines a de conflits s'accu-mulent & tel point que, ski existe vraiment un flux et un reflux des id&s, on peut presque conclure, avec une certaine dose d'optimisme, pie nous n'avons jamais 6t~ si pr~s de venir aux id6es de coop6ration qui, seules, peuvent nous sauver.
(Excerpt from a letter dated October 29, 1934.)Malgr6 les tristesses de notre dpoque a peut-etre m~me ~ cause d'elles, je reste ~ vaincue que ks id6es ~ 'a fois divines et humaines qui sont I'essence du BahA'iismc finiront par triompher, pourvu que chacun de ceux qui en comprennent 1'immense in � t6r~t continue quoi qu'il advienne ~ les d6-fendre et & les propager.
B~ Miss HELEN KELLER(In a personal letter written to an American Bahá'í after having read something from the Braille edition of Bahá'u'lláh and the
New Era.)The philosophy of Bahá'u'lláh deserves the best thought we can give it. I am returning the book so that other blind people who have more leisure than myself may be "shown a ray of Divinity" and their hearts be "bathed in an inundation of eternal love."
I take this opportunity to thank you for your kind thought of me, and for the inspiration which even the most cursory reading of Bahá'u'lláh's life cannot fail to impart.
What nobler theme than the "good of the world and the happiness of the nations" can occupy our lives? The message of universal peace will surely prevail. It is useless to combine or conspire against an idea which has in it potency to create a new earth and a new heaven and to quicken human beings with a holy passion of service.
B~ DR. RQKtIICHIRQ MASUJIMANo superstition can play with it. Japan is the oniy country in the world where religious tolerance has always existed. The Japanese Emperor is the patron of all religious teachings.
The Bahá'í publications now form part of His Majesty's Library as accepted by the Imperial House.
"The search for truth and universal education inculcated by the Bahá'í Teachings, if soundly conducted, cannot fail to interest the Japanese mind. BahA'iism is bound to permeate the Japanese race in a short time."
B~ SIR FLINDERS PETRIE(In a letter to the Daily Sketch, London, England, December 16, 1932.)
The Ba1A'i Movement of Persia should be a welcome adjunct to true Christianity; we
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must always remember how artificial the growth of Latin Christian ideas has been as compared with the wide and less defined beliefs native to early Christian faith.
B~ FORMER PRESIDENT MASARYK(In an audience with an American Bahá'í journalist in Praha, in 1928.)
Continue to do what you are doing, spread these principles of humanity and do not wait for the diplomats. Diplomats alone cannot bring the peace, but it is a great thing that official people begin to speak about these universal peace principles. Take these principles to the diplomats, to the universities and colleges and other schools, and also write about them.
It is the people who will bring the universal peace.
B~ ARCHDUCHESS ANTON OFArchduchess Anton of Austria, who before her marriage was Her Royal Highness Princess Ileana of Rumania, in an audience with Martha L. Root, June 19, 1934, in Vienna, gave the following statement for The Bahá'í World, Vol. V: ~ like the Bahá'í Movement, because it reconciles all Faiths, and teaches that science is from God as well as religion, and its ideal is peace."
Br DR. HERBERT ADAMS GIBBONS(Excerpt from personal letter dated May 18, 1934.)
I have had on my desk, and have read several times, the. three extracts from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í
Message of Social Regeneration.Taken together, they form an unanswerable argument and plea for the oniy way that the world can be made over. If we could put into effect this program, we should indeed have a new world order.
"The morals of humanity must undergo change. New remedy and solution for human problems must be adopted. Human intellects themselves must change and be subject to the universal reformation." In these three sentences we really have it all.
Br H. R. H. PRINCESS OLGAH. R. H. Princess Olga, wife of H. R. H. Prince Regent Paul of Yugoslavia, daughter of H. R. H. Prince Nicholas of Greece and cousin of His Majesty King George II of Greece, is deeply interested in religion and in education, and her wonderful kindnesses to every one have been commented upon beautifully in several English books and magazines as well as by the Balkan press.
~ like the Bahá'í Teachings for universal education and universal peace," said this gracious Princess in her charming villa on the Hill of Topcidor, Belgrade, on January 16, 1936; "I like the Bahá'í Movement and the Young Men's Christian Association, for both are programs to unite religions. Without unity no man can live in happiness." Princess though she is, she stressed the important truth that every man must do his job!
~ are all sent into this world for a purpose and people are too apt to forget the Presence of God and true religion.
I wish the Bahá'í Movement every success in the accomplishment of its high ideals."
B~ ETJGEN RELGISNous avons trac~ dans ces pages seulement La signification du BahA'iisme, sans examiner tous ses principes et son programme pratique dans lequel sont harmonis6es avec 1'id6al re-ligieux ties aspirations a les objectifs de la science sociale." Mais on doit attir6r Fat-tention de tous les esprits libres sur ce mouvement, dont les promoteurs ont le m6rite d'avoir contribu6 ~ la clarification de I'ancienne controverse entre Ia religion et 'a science � et d'avoir donn6 ~i maint homme un peu de leur tokrance a de leur opti-misme: "L'humanit6 6tait jusqu'ici rest6e dans le stade de 1'enfance; elk approche maintenant de la maturit6" ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Washington, 1912).
Qui osera r6p6ter aujourd'hui, dans la m&JAe des haines nationales et sociales, cette sentence de progr~s?
C'est un Oriental qui nous a dit cela, a nous, orgueilleux ou scep-tiques Occidentaux.
Nous voudrions voir aujourd'hui, dans 1'Allemagne hitl6riste, dans les pays terroris6s par le fascisme, paralys6s
Page 506par Ia dictature politique, � un spectacle &crit par le suisse Auguste Ford d'apr&s l'anglais Sprague qui a vue en Birmanie a en mdc, des Bouddhistes, des Mahom6tans, des Chr&iens et des Juifs, qui allajent bras-dessus bras-dessous, comme des fr&es, Ctau grand &onnement de la population qut n a jamais vu une chose pareille!"
B~ ARTHUR HENDERSONI have read the pamphlet on the New World Order by Shoghi Effendi. It is an eloquent expression of the doctrines which I have always associated with the Bahá'í Movement and I would like to express my great sympathy with the aspirations towards world unity which underlie his teaching.
B~ PROF. DR. V. LESNY 1.The conditions are so changed now, since the technique of the present time has destroyed the barriers between nations, that the world needs a uniting force, a kind of super-religion. I think Bah&'iism could de-veiop to such a kind of religion.
I am quite convinced of it, so far as I know the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
There are modern saviors and Bahá'u'lláh is a Savior of the twentieth century. Everything must be done on a democratic basis, there must be international brotherhood. We must learn to have confidence in ourselves and then in others. One way to learn this is through inner spiritual education, and a way to attain such an education may be through
Bahi'iism.I am still of the opinion that I had four years ago that the Bahá'í Movement can form the best basis for international goodwill, and that Bahá'u'lláh Himself is the Creator of an eternal bond between the East and the West.
The Bahá'í Teaching is a living religion, a living philosophy.
I do not blame Christianity, it has done a good work for culture in Europe, but there are too many dogmas in Christianity at the present time. Buddhism was very good for India from the sixth century B.C. and the Teachings of Christ have been good for the whole world; but as there is a progress of mind there must be no stopping and in the Bahá'í Faith one sees the continued progress of religion.
B~ PRINCESS MARIE ANTOINETTEA cette dpoque oti 1'humanit~ semble sortie d'un long sommeil pour revivre & 1'Esprit, consciemment ou inconsciemment, 1'homme cherche et s'dance ~ la poursuite de i'm-visible et de sciences qui nous y conduisent.
L'angoisse religieuse aussi n'a jamais 6t~ pius intense.
Par sa grande ~vo1ution 1'homme actuel est pret ~i receroir le grand message de Bahá'u'lláh dans son mouvement synth&ique qui nous fait passer de 1'ancienne compr6-hension des divisions ~ La comprehension modern oti nous cherchons ~ sujyre les ondes qui se propagent traversant toute limitation humaine et de la cr6ation.
Chaque combat que nous livrons ~ nos penchants nous d6gage des ~rni1es qui sdpa-rent le monde visible du monde invisible a augmente en nous cette capacit6 de perceptiOn a de s'accorder aux longueurs d'ondes les plus vari~es, de vibrer au contact des rytlimes les pius divers de la crdation.
Tout ce qui nous vient directement de la nature est toujours harmonie absolue. Le tout est de capter 1'dquilibre de toute chose et lui donner la voix au moyen d'un instrument capable d'~mettre les m&mes harmonies que notre ~me, ce qui nous fait vibrer et devenir le lien entre le passd a l'avenir en attaignant une nouvelle &ape correspondant ~ 1'6volution du monde.
En religion, la Cause de Bahá'u'lláh, qui est la grande r~v~1ation de notre 6poque, est la meme que celle du Christ, son temple et son fondement les memes mis en harmonie avec le degr6 de maturit6 moderne.
E~ DAVID STARR JORDAN'Abdu'l-Bahá will surely unite the East and the West: for He treads the mystic way with practical feet.
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B~ PROF. BOGDAN POPOVITCHThe Bahá'í Teaching carries in its Message a fine optimism � we must always in spite of everything be optimists; we must be optimists even when events seem to prove the contrary!
And Bahá'ís can be hopeful, for there is a power in these Teachings to bring to humanity tranquillity, peace and a higher spirituality.
B~ EX-GOVERNOR WILLIAM'While sectarians squabble over creeds, the Bahá'í Movement goes on apace.
It is growing by leaps and bounds. It is hope and progress. It is a world movement � and it is destined to spread its effulgent rays of enlightenment throughout the earth until every mind is free and every fear is banished. The friends of the Bahá'í Cause believe they see the dawn of the new day � the better day � the day of Truth, of Justice, of Liberty, of Magnanimity, of Universal Peace, and of International Brotherhood, the day when one shall work for all, and all shall work for one.
B~ LUTHER BURBANKI am heartily in accord with the Bahá'í Movement, in which I have been interested for several years. The religion of peace is the religion we need and always have needed, and in this Bahá'í is more truly the religion of peace than any other.
B~ Paor. YONE NOGUCHII have heard so much about 'Abdu'l-Bahá, whom people call an idealist, but I should like to call Him a realist, because no idealism, when it is strong and true, exists without the endorsement of realism. There is nothing more real than His words on truth. His words are as simple as the sunlight; again like the sunlight, they are universal.
� No Teacher, I think, is more important today than 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
B~ PROFESSOR RAYMOND FRANKare a stirring fusion of poetic beauty and religious insight.
I, like another, have been "struck by their comprehensiveness."
I find they have extraordinary power to pull aside the veils that darken my mind and to open new visions of verity and life.
B~ ANGELA MORGANOne reason I hail with thanksgiving the interpretation of religion known as the Bahá'í Faith and feel so deep a kinship with its followers is that I recognize in its Revelation an outreach of the Divine to stumbling humanity; a veritable thrust from the radiant Center of
Life.Every follower of this faith that I have ever met impressed me as a living witness. to the glory at the heart of this universe. Each one seemed filled with a splendor of spirit so great that it overflowed all boundaries and poured itself out upon the world here in this moment of time, by some concentrated act of 'ove toward another human being.
B~ ARTHUR MOOREThe lovely peace of Carmel, which still attracts mystics of different faiths, dominates Haifa. On its summit are the Druses in their two villages; at its feet the German Templars, whose avenue leads up to the now large and beautiful terraced property of the Persian Bahá'ís on the mountainside. Here the tombs of the BM, and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, set in a fair garden, are a place of international pilgrimage. On Sundays and holidays the citizens of Haifa of all faiths come for rest and recreation where lie the bones of that young prophet of $hir4z who nearly a hundred years ago preached that all men are one and all the great religions true, and foretold the coming equality of men and women and the birth of the first
League of Nations.are resolutely firm in their religion. 'Their firmness does not have its roots in ignorance. The Persian inborn character causes them to see things somewhat too great, slightly exaggerated, and their dissensions with the ruling IsUm make
Page 508them a little bitter towards it. Everything else in their characters is accounted for as due to their Teachings; they are wonderfully ready to help and happy to sacrifice. Faithfully they fulfill their office and professional duties.
Long ago they already solved the problem of the Eastern woman; their chii-dren are carefully educated. They are sometimes reproached for their lack of patriotism. Certainly, as specifically Persian as the Shi'ih Faith, the Bahá'í Faith can never become; but the Bahá'í Religion like Christianity does not preclude the love of one's fatherland....
Are the Europeans not sufficiently patriotic!According to my experiences, the Bahá'ís in that respect, are very unjustly criticized by their Mubammadan brothers. During the centuries the Shi'ih Religion has developed a deep national tradition; with this the universal Bahá'í Faith will have a hard battle. Nevertheless, the lack of so great numbers is richly recompensed by the fervor and the inner spirit of the Persian Bahá'í
Community. The Bahá'íworld community will educate characters which will appear well worthy of emulation by people of other Faiths, yes, even by the world of those now enemies of the Bahá'í
Cause.The experience acquired in the West, for me was fully verified also in the Persian Orient. The Bahá'í Faith is undoubtedly an in-unense cultural value. Could all those men whose high morality I admired and still admire have reached the same heights oniy in another way, without it? No, never I Is it based oniy on the novelty of the Teachings, and in the freshness of its closest followers?
B~ A. L. M. NICoLAS Je ne sais comment vous remercier ni comment vous exprimer Ia joie qui inonde mon coeur.
Ainsi donc, ii faut non seulement admettre mais aimer et admirer Ic Bab. Pauvre grand Proph&te n6 au fin fond de Ia Perse sans aucun moyen d'instruction et qui seul au monde, entour6 d'ennemis, arrive par Ia force de son g~nie ~ cr&r �une religion universelle et sage. Que Bahá'u'lláh lui aft, par la suite, succ6d6, soit, mais je veux qu'on admire Ia sublimit6 du Bib, qui a d'ailleurs pay~ de sa vie, de son sang 'a r~farme qu'il a pr&h&. Citez-moi un autre exemple, sem-blable. Enfin, je puis mourir tranquille. Gloire & Shoghi Effendi qui a calm6 mon tourment et mes inqui6tudes, gloire ~t lui qui reconnais la valeur de Siyyid 'Au-Muhammad dit le B~b.
Je suis si content que je baThe vos mains qui ont trac6 mon adresse sur 1'enveloppe qui m'apporte le message de Shoghi.
Merci, Mademoiselle. Merci du fond du cocur.I have followed it (the Bahá'í Cause) with deep interest ever since my trip to London to the
First Races Congressin July, 1911, when I heard for the first time of the Bahá'í Movement and its summary of the principles for peace. I followed it during the war and after the war. The Bahá'í Teaching is one of the spiritual forces now absolutely necessary to put the spirit first in this battle against material forces.
The Bahá'í Teaching is one of the great instruments for the final victory of the spirit and of humanity.
2.The Bahá'í Cause is one of the great moral and social forces in all the world today. I am more convinced than ever, with the increasing moral and political crises in the world, we must have greater international coordination. Such a movement as the Bahá'í Cause which paves the way for universal organization of peace is necessary.
B~ Sn~ RONALD STORKS, N.y.C., M.G., G.B.E. I met 'Abdu'l-Bahá first in 1900, on my way out from England and Constantinople through Syria to succeed Harry
Boyle as Oriental Secretaryto the British Agency in Cairo. (The episode is fully treated in my Orientations, published by Ivor Nicholson and Watson.) I drove along the beach in a cab from Haifa to 'Akka and spent a very pleasant hour with the patient but unsubdued prisoner and exile.
When, a few years later, He was released and visited Egypt I had the honour of look
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ing after Him and of presentingwho was deeply impressed by His personality, as who could fail to be? The war separated us again until Lord Al-lenby, after his triumphant drive through Syria, sent me to establish the Government at Haifa and throughout that district. I called upon 'Abbas Effendi on the day I arrived and was delighted to find Him unchanged.
I never failed to visit Him whenever I went to Haifa. His conversation was indeed a remarkable planning, like that of an ancient prophet, far above the perplexities and pettiness of Palestine politics, and elevating all problems into first principles.
He was kind enough to give me one or two beautiful specimens of His own handwriting, together with that of Mishkin � Qalam, all of which, together with His large signed photograph, were unfortunately burned in the Cyprus fire.
I rendered my last sad tribute of affectionate homage when in 1921 I accompanied Sir Herbert Samuel to the funeral of 'Abbas Effendi. We walked at the head of a train of all religions up the slope of Mount Carmel, and I have never known a more united expression of regret and respect than was called forth by the utter simplicity of the ceremony.
(From an address delivered at the opening of theMy first connection with the Bahá'í Faith dates from the beginning of this century, when it was my fortune and honour to become the Arabic pupil of Edward Browne.
My first glimpse of 'Abbas Effencli was in the summer of 1909, when I drove round the Bay of Acre in an Arab cab, visited him in the barracks and marvelled at his serenity and cheerfulness after 42 years of exiie and imprisonment. I kept touch with him through my confidential agent, 1-Lusayn ]3ey Ruhi, son of a Tabriz martyr, and the ttPersian Mystic" of my book rrOrientations~ After the Young Turk Revolution, 'Abbas Effendi was released.
He visited Egypt in 1913, when I had the honour of looking after him, and of presenting him to Lord Kitchener, er, who was deeply impressed by his personality � as who could fail to be?
Then war cut him off from us and it might have gone hard with him in Haifa but for the indirect interposition of His Majesty's Government.
When, in his famous victory drive to the North, Allenby captured Haifa, he detached me from Jerusalem to organise the British Administration there. On the evening of my arrival I visited my revered friend. ~ found him sitting in spotless white. He placed at my disposal the training and talents of his community, and I appointed one or two to positions of trust, which they still continue to deserve." Later, he visited me in Jerusalem, and was held in great esteem and respect by the High Commissioner, Lord Samuel.
In Egypt he presented me with a beautiful specimen of writing by the celebrated Baha calligraphist, Mishqin Qalam, and with his own Persian pen box; in Palestine with an exquisite little Bokkara rug from the tomb of the BTh: all three, alas, destroyed by fire in Cyprus. When, on November 29, 1921, he was buried, 10,000 men, women and children, of many varying races and creeds, walked in the funeral procession up Mount Carmel, to lay his body in the exquisite cypress-avenued shrine.
Telegrams reached HaifaMr. Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, desired the High Commissioner for Palestine to convey to the Bahá'í Community on behalf of His Majesty's Government their sympathy and condolence on the death of Sir 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'AhMs, K.I3.E., and Field Marshal Lord Allenby telegraphed likewise from Egypt.
With 'Abbas Effendi theI have not lost contact with the Bahá'í world, and I hope I never shall.
Recently I had the honour of receiving at the British Legation in Tihr~n, a deputation of the Bahá'í Community, headed by Samimi, the respected Chief Munshi of the Legation, and Varga, President of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Later I was received by the Council at a tea, so sumptuous that the remembrance adds a sting to my British Ration Card.
My diary of April 5, 1943, at $hir&z, tells me:"After luncheon, off to visit the House of the IB~b, leaving the car for the narrow winding streets, and shown over by Faziullali 3enana and the curator. A small but perfect courtyard, with a little blue tiled, eight feet square tank, six large red goldfish, a tiny orange tree and runner carpets round the sides, and a narrow deep well. Above, His bed and His. sitting rooms (for which our hosts took off their shoes), and on the second floor the room in which in 1844 He declared His mission, to a solitary disciple."
What can I say more? Half a century ago the great Dr. Jowett, of Balliol, wrote: ttThis is the greatest light the world has seen since Christ, but it is too great and too close for the world to appreciate its full import." Already over many parts of the globe there are Bahá'ís actively, honourably, peaceably employed.
May this auspicious centenary prove propitious alsn for the early restoration of world peace.
B~ COL. RAJA JAT PRTTHVIEven as early as 1929 or perhaps even a little earlier, I used to hear the names of Bahá'u'lláh and BahA'iism; and in 1929 when I undertook a lecturing tour in Europe on the humanistic methods of promoting peace and unity among races, nations and individuals, my attention was once again drawn to Bahá'u'lláh and his teachings by my friend Lady Blomfield, who gave me some books, too, on the subject. But my eyes were then too weak to permit any reading, and the need and urgency of some expert treatment for my eyes was in fact an additional reason for my leaving for Europe.
Besides, I was then too full of my own philosophy of "Hu-manism," and was too busy with my own programme of lectures for Europe, and did not acquaint myself with any full details about the Baha and their tenets and principles.
Perhaps, I imagined that the Bahá'ís were some sort of religious or philosophical mystics, and I was not particularly interested in any mere mysticism or in any merely theoretical creed, however much its conclusions might be logical and satisfying to the intellect.
When afterwards, in 1933, the Second Parliament of Religions or the World
Fellowship of Faithswas held in Chicago � a conference inspired by the high ideals of mutual understanding, goodwill, co-opera-tion and peace and progress, and I went there to attend and participate in the conference, my attention was again drawn to the Bahá'í Faith by some of its followers there, who took me to their temple at Wil-mette, Illinois, which was then under construction but was nearly finished, and showed me the nine gates and chambers of worship for the nine principal religions of the world. Naturally enough, I took it that BahA'iism was something like theosophy, which is interested in studying and comparing the respective merits of religions and in recognising their respective greatness, and which can therefore appeal only to the in � tellectual section of mankind and hardly appeal to the masses.
Later, in 1936, however, while I was in Rangoon, I had an opportunity, rather, the opportunity was thrust upon me � to acquaint myself more fully with the tenets and teachings of BaM'iism.
Mr. S. Schop-flocher, a Bahá'í from Canada, who was on a lecturing tour, was then in Rangoon, and I was asked to introduce him to the public and to preside over a lecture of his. Therefore I secured a few books on the subject, and on reading them, I was struck with the remarkable fact that BahA'iism is a faith, which not merely recognises the respective merits of the world religions, but goes a step further and teaches that all religions are One, all the religious seers, saints and prophets are the religious seers, saints and prophets of One religion only, that all mankind is One, and that we must think and feel and act in terms of brotherhood.
CCWC must realise," as a Bahá'í very beautifully puts it, "that, as the aeroplane, radio and other instruments have crossed the frontiers drawn upon the map, so our sympathy and spirit of oneness should rise above the influences that have separated race from race, class from class, nation from nation and creed front creed. One destiny now controls all human affairs. The fact of world-unity stands out above all other interests and considerations."
Page 511REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 511
Sometime back, in this year, Mr. N. R. Vakil, a Bahá'í gentleman of Surat, gave me a copy of the book, The Bahá'í
World:19361938. Though I have not been able to read the whole book through, I find it is a mine of information, a regular cyclopzdia on the subject.
It is interesting to read that the origin of the faith was in Persia, where a mystic prophet who took the name of "Bab" (which means "") began the mission among the Persians in the early part of the nineteenth century, that he and his disciples were persecuted by the Persian Government and were finally shot in 1850, that, notwithstanding the persecution, the movement spread under the able and inspiring leadership of Bahá'u'lláh, its principal prophet and exponent, that on his death in 1892 he was succeeded by his son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who continued the work till 1921, when, on his death, his grandson, Shoghi Effendi, became the head of the community � a community now numbering nearly a million and spread in all the five continents of the world.
Though the traditionally orthodox Hindus, Muslims, Christians, etc., may not agree to call themselves Bahá'ís or even to subscribe to its main tenet, viz.,
that all religions are One, I think that the really enlightened among them can have no conscientious objection and will indeed wholeheartedly subscribe to it. Another important aspect of the Bahá'í Faith is its absolutely nonpolitical nature. In the Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh Shoghi Effendi categorically rules out any participation by adherents of the Faith, either individually or collectively, in any form of activity which might be interpreted as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government. So that no government need apprehend any sort of danger or trouble from Bah&iism.
On the whole, the perusal of the Book The BaN'!World: 19361938 has deeply impressed me with the belief that the principles of BaM'iism, laying stress as they do on the Oneness of mankind, and being directed as they are towards the maintenance of peace, unity and cooperation among the different classes, creeds and races of people, will go a long way in producing a healthy atmosphere in the world for the growth of Fellowship and Brotherhood of Man.
Further, I see no harm in the followers of other faiths accepting these main principles of BahA'iism, wherein, I think, they can find nothing against the teachings of their own prophets, saints and seers. I rather think that by accepting these main principles of Bah&'iism they will help in hastening the establishment of a New World Order, an idea perhaps first clearly conceived by Bahá'u'lláh and which every thinking man will now endorse as a ~tconsummation to be devoutly wished for."
AN ARTICLE IN THE JANUARYIRELAND � The death of 'Abbas Effendi, better known since be succeeded his father, Bahá'u'lláh, thirty years ago as 'Abdu'l-Bahá, deprives Persia of one of the most notable of her children and the East of a remarkable personality, who has probably exercised a greater influence not only in the Orient but in the Occident, than any Asiatic thinker and teacher of recent times. The best account of him in English is that published in 1903 by G. P. Putnam's Sons under the title of the Life and Teachings of 'Abbas Effendi compiled by Myron H. Phelps chiefly from information supplied by ]lahiy-yih KMnum. She states that her brother's birth almost coincided with the ttmanifesta-don" of Mirza 'Au Muhammad the B~b (24th May, 1844), and that she was his junior by three years. Both dates are put three years earlier by another reputable authority, but in any case both brother and sister were mere children when, after the great persecution of the B~bis in 1852 their father Bahá'u'lláh and his family were exiled from Persia, first to Baghd&d (185263) then to Adrianople (18638), and lastly to 'Akka (St. Jean d'Acre) in Syria, where Bahá'u'lláh died on 28th May, 1892, and which his son 'Abdu'l-Bahá was oniy permitted to leave at will after the Turkish Revolution in 1908. Subsequently to that date he undertook several extensive journeys in Europe and America, visiting London and
Page 512in 1912, Budapest in 1913, and Paris, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Budapest in the early summer of 1914.
In all these countries he had followers, but chiefly in America, where an active propaganda had been carried on since 1893 with very considerable success, resulting in the formation of important
Bahá'í Centers in NewYork, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities. One of the most notable practical results of the Bahá'í ethical teaching in the United States has been, according to the recent testimony of an impartial and qualified observer, the establishment in Bahá'í circles in New York of a real fraternity between black and white, and an unprecedented lifting of the ttcolor bar," described by the said observer as "almost miraculous."
Ample materials exist even in English for the study of the remarkable personality who has now passed from our midst and of the doctrines he taught; and especially authoritative are the works of M. Hippolyte Dreyfus and his wife (formerly Miss Laura Clifford Barney), who combine intimacy and sympathy with their hero with sound knowledge and wide experience. In their works and in that of Mr. Myron H. Phelps must be sought those particulars which it is impossible to include in this brief obituary notice.
B~ RT. HON. M. R. JAYAKAR,EaM'iism insists on points which constitute the essentials of the several creeds and faiths which have divided and still divide the human family.
It seeks thereby to establish human unity. It inculcates pursuit of truth through the miasma of superstitions old and new. These features ought to secure for BahA'iism an enduring place in the religions of the world.
It is one of the noblest contributions which Asia has made to human civilization.
The history of its martyrdom in Tihdn is a glorious chapter, indicating how much suffering the awakened human spirit can endure for the sake of its convictions. In the world as one sees it today, divided and torn asunder by warring ambitions, EahA'iism has undoubtedly a great part to play.
B~ PROF. BENOY KUMAR SARKAR, M.A., Ph.D. For over a quarter of a century, � since my American days, � I have been under the conviction that the Bahá'í movement serves to expand the intellectual and moral personality of every individual that comes into contact with it. The movement has set in motion some of those currents of thought and work which lead to the silent but effective conversion of men and women to humaner and world-embracing principles of daily conduct.
Because of these creative forces in the social domain the Bahá'í movement is to be appreciated as one of the profoundest emancipators of mankind from the tradition of race-chauvinism and etlino-re. ligious bigotry.
With best wishes and greetings, I remain, Cordially Yours,
Benoy Sarker.(Hyderabad, Deccan, February 1, 1941.) The founder of the Bahá'í Faith is undoubtedly one of the Great Seers of the Modern Age. The Gospel that he enunciated and the programme that he enjoined upon his followers are singularly like a prophecy of the ideal and dream that inspire the heart of youth with (the) quest for a brave new world built upon equity, fellowship and peace.
In the midst of all the tragic horror of hate and bloodshed that surround us today, his message to humanity does indeed fulfill the meaning of his name, and carries the ttglory of God" into the darkness.
B~ JULES BoisMirza 'Au-Muhammad, the Báb, or the portal of a new wisdom, � a young man, brave, handsome, and tempered like a steel blade, the finest product of his country. This new Alexander, "the beloved of the worlds," subjugator of souls, died in 1850 at the age of thirty-one, having shed no blood but his own, a martyr of spotless iove, of universal charity.
The B~bis, his partisans, were "beheaded, hanged, blown from the mouth of cannons,
Page 513REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 513
burnt, or chopped to pieces."Their homes were burned, their womenfolk carried off or executed. Still the movement progressed. Scarcely had the Báb's mission begun, � he was allowed a bare two years of preaching, � when he was cast into prison, questioned, bastinadoed, disfigured, then tried for heresy before a clerical court, and finally put to death.
The B&b was led to the scaffold at Tabriz with a young devotee who had implored to share his fate. About two hours before noon the two were suspended by ropes, under their armpits, in such a manner that the head of the disciple rested against the breast of his beloved master. Armenian soldiers received the order to fire; but when the smoke cleared, the Rib and his companion were found to be unscathed.
The bullets had merely severed the ropes by which they were suspended.
Amazed by what they considered a miracle, the soldiers were unwilling to fire again. They were replaced by a more docile squad, and this time the volley took effect. The bodies of both victims were riddled by bullets and horribly mutilated, but their faces, spared by a strange caprice of destiny, bore an expression of radiant transfiguration.
All Europe was stirred to pity and indignation.The event occurred on the ninth of July, 1850; among the t~litterateurs" of my generation, in the Paris of 1890, the martyrdom of the Bib was still as fresh a topic as had been the first news of his death. We wrote poems about him. Sarah Bernhardt entreated Catulle Mend&s for a play on the theme of this historic tragedy. When he failed to suppiy a manuscript, I was asked to write a drama entitled "Her Highness the Pure," dealing with the story of another illustrious martyr of the same causer � a woman,
Qurratu'1-'Ayn, the PersianJoan of Arc and the leader of emancipation for women of the Orient.
Her case was unique. Had it been admissible for a woman to be a Malidi, or a (point" Qurratu'1-'Ayn, � who bore resemblance to the medirval HMoYse and the neoplatonic Hypatia, � would have been recognized as the equal of the DAb.
Such virile courage and power did she inherit that all who saw and heard her were uplifted to a new understanding of the mission of her sex.
A poeress, philosopher, linguist, and theologian, an early convert of the Bib, she threw aside her veil, despite the immemorial custom of Asia, carried on controversies with the most learned scholars of her country, discomfited them, and won recognition as their master. Imprisoned, anathematized, driven from town to town, stoned in the streets, she defied, singlehanded, a SjPh who "through his decree could slaughter a thousand men each day," � and often did so. To her executioners she said, "You may kill me as soon as you please, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women." Then, having donned her choicest robes, as if to join a bridal party, she was dragged into a garden and strangled by a negro.
The Bib had exhorted the people to purify themselves that they might welcome the Divine Sun, of whom he was the Radiant Morn.
When the Rib declared his mission in 1844, Mirza ~usayn-'Ali, a young man of twenty-seven, the son of a vizier, and of royal descent, boldly espoused the perilous cause.
Prison and exile soon became his portion. Scenes were enacted during this period which recall the Terror in France, with its horrors and its heroism.
Baha'is, previously members of antagonistic sects, have manifested toward every one, even their enemies, a spirit of help and amity. We can only be glad that persecutions have diminished and that a gentle and ennobling influence has regenerated the Orient, from Syria to Burma. It is quite possible that BahA'iism has a mission to pacify and spiritually quicken races and tribes which we have so far been unable to evangelize.
By the late SIR JOHN MARTINYou honour me with a request that I should add my small brick to the exalted edifice of the Bahá'í teaching.
Its happy creed so passionately urged and so convincingly stated is an inspiration to all who work and who, in the words of Kipling, have
Page 514realised the significance of "No one shall work for money and no one shall work for fame, but all for the joy of the working."
I would like to add my conviction to your teaching that reabsolute equality is a chimera" which, socially, is entirely impracticable.
It has become a slogan to many workers, reliance upon which will oniy lead to a cruel disillusionment.
The only ttequality~~ is that which any man may attain by being prominent in his work. It has been truly said that man can do some one thing better than any other man." So let our ambition be, no matter how humble our work may appear, to be of the aristocracy of work. And if to "work is to pray" may not this noble ambition to be among the elect of the workers of the world, bring us by steps to the dream of your great Teacher of a Great Universal Peace, against which if any government among you take up arms to destroy that peace, ~'the whole human race," he tells, !chall resolve with every power at its disposal to destroy."
B~ DR. HEWLETT JOHNSON,I read with interest the social programme of your movement demonstrating the best education for everyone, equal status for men and women and the like and also your encouragement of scientific research and emphasis on the need for a World Commonwealth, together with the oneness of mankind.
I am in complete agreement with those aims and wish you well in the pursuit of them.
Page 515Siyyid Mugafi belonged to a noble family of Baghdad, 'Iraq. His father had settled in Madras.
When Su1aym~in KMn IlyAs, popularly known as JamAl Effendi, the first Bahá'í teacher sent by Bahá'u'lláh to India in 1875 arrived at that town Siyyid.
Mu~;af 5 was in his early twenties. He was very spiritual and very careful in the observance of his religious duties. The moment, therefore, he came in contact with the commanding personality of Jam~1 Effendi, he was attracted to him.
He sat and listened to his talks which presented religious truth from quite a different angle from that in vogue at the time.
He was convinced and enamoured of this new Revelation and when JamAl Effendi left Madras he accompanied him and travelled with him throughout India and Burma.
On reaching Burma in 1878 he left the company of JamM Effendi and settled in Rangoon where he married in a well-to-do Indo-Burman family of traders. His broth-ers-in-law were all very prosperous and be joined them in their bu;iness.
Prior to the arrival of Jam&1 Effendi in Burma, another Persian youth from Shiriz, HAji Siyyid Mehdi, had settled in Rangoon and had married in a rich Persian-Burman family.
Although he was from a Bahá'í family, being alone and not very learned, he was quiescent. When Jam6.1
Effendi came he found support and rendered every possible help to that teacher of the Divine Faith.
JamM Effendi succeeded in establishing two Bahá'í groups, one in Rangoon and the other in Mandalay.
Siyyid Mu~;afi who was an erudite scholar and knew Muslim theology very well, followed up bis teacher's work and under the direction of 'Abdu'l-Bahá succeeded in developing those Bahá'í groups into fullfledged spiritual Assemblies.
For a long time, however, owing to his business he could devote oniy a part of his time to the service of the Faith; but in 1910 the link connecting him with worldly affairs broke abruptly. The firm of which he was a partner failed, and, soon after, his wife died. He was now once mare entirely detached and he devoted his whole time to the service of the Divine Faith. In 1899 he carried to the Holy Land, with other Baha, the marble casket made by the Bahá'ís of Mandalay for the Holy Remains of the Bib. He was received by 'Abdu'l-Bahá most graciously and was the recipient of special favours.
Besides consolidating the centres at Rangoon and Mandalay he was assisted to establish a new centre in Daidanaw, a village in the township of Kungyangoon.
It so happened that the headman of Daidanaw was embroiled in some legal case and he was in trouble.
In the court of Rangoon when his bail application was admitted there was no one to stand surety for him because he was a stranger to the place. One of the Bahá'ís of Rangoon, 'Abdu'1-Karim by name, happened to be in the court. He at once offered himself and another friend as sureties for the headman.
This impressed the headman and his companions and they inquired of 'Abdu'1-Karim to which Faith he belonged and when told of Bahá'u'lláh and His Great Message they evinced a great desire to hear it in detail.
They were brought to Siyyid Mustaf~ who convinced them about the truth of the new Revelation. The headman and his party went back to their village and related their unique experience to the people. The elders of the village held a consultation and decided to invite Siyyid Mugaf~ to their village to teach them the new Faith of God. Siyyid Mu~;af& did it in. his own convincing manner and the whole village embraced the Cause en masse. Siyyid Mu~;af& set about 517
Page 518Siyyid Mu~af A Rami of Burma, named by the Guardian as one of the Hands of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, u'11~h, contributed his imperishable services from the year 1875, when he embraced the Faith through the inspired efforts of JamAl Effendi, the first teacher sent to India by the instruction of Bahá'u'lláh. He was nearly ninety-nine years old at the time of his tragic death at Thingagyun.
bettering the lot of these people. With financial aid from Rangoon Bahá'ís he started a school in the village and translated many important books such as the "Book of Iqan," the
"Hidden Words" and "SomeAnswered Questions," into Burmese for their edification.
He supervised the tianslation into Urdu of "Maoi1a-i-Sayy~h" which was printed undcr the title of ttMbu1-Hay~t." He compiled in Urdu "Almayarus-Sahih" (The True Criterion) which proved a great aid to Bahá'í teachers in India.
In addition he translated into Burmese "Bahá'í Prayers" and wrote "Lessons in Religion" in that language.
In 1911 when a religious conven don was held at Allababad and leaders of various religions were asked to speak on their religious ideals, Siyyid Mu~;afi wrote a thesis on the Bahá'í Faith, which our ever dearly remembered brother the late Mr.
Raugnath Narayanrao Vakilread at the convention, and was freely distributed among the mixed audience.
The thesis told the people of India in plain words the history and the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith for world religion and incidentally showed that the differences in the various warring communities of India could not be eliminated unless religion and politics were stopped from meddling with each other's affairs.
Page 519Siyyid Mu~af A had a very sweet temper. He was an erudite scholar and knew the religious books of the Jews, the Christians, the Muslims and the Buddhists.
He had a talent for bringing out their teachings in the light of the Bahá'í Message in his own sweet way and in such a convincing manner that a beginner became enamoured and con � vinced. He might not, for worldly considerations, join the Bahá'í Fold; but he knew for certainty in his heart of hearts, that no other Faith could redeem the world at the present time of the ills that had beset it. Throughout his life Siyyid Mu�tafi served the Cause of humanity by showing the pea-pie the true path of felicity and salvation as taught by Bahá'u'lláh and many were the souis that found the elixir of life at his hands.
Siyyid MustafA had a unique capacity that most teachers lack. He was a great administrator.
He would not only teach his beginners but would lead them to form themselves into a group and thus lay the foundation of a Spiritual Assembly, the first unit in the
New World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.Power to teach and power to organize are two chief capacities which make a perfect ]lah&'i teacher and Siyyid Mu~tafi possessed both in abundance.
Siyyid Mu~af& passed the two greatest tests which confronted every person who claimed to be a Baha'i.
On the occasion of thewhen the N~iqi4in spread their nefarious propaganda which had its ramifications in Bombay and in other Bahá'í centers in India, Siyyid Mu~af 4 stood valiantly for the Covenant of God and so firmly countered their efforts that it was not oniy prevented from spreading outside the area of Bombay but was driven out of that city also.
Again, when in 1921 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed to the Supreme Concourse and according to His last "Will and
Testament" Shoghi Rab-baniwas appointed the first Guardian of the Cause of God and the N~qi~Iin had once more started their efforts by bringing in quotations from the "Aqdas," Siyyid Mustaf~ stood like a mountain and vigorously taught the friends to follow the 'tWill and Testament" of the great Master, showing them from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh that the N~quiz Akbar had forfeited his privilege by disobeying the Commandments of RaM'-u'llAh so explicitly given in the "Book of Covenant."
Siyyid Mu~;af~ visited the Holy Land twice during the time of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and once after His passing.
He was loved by the great Master and was the recipient of many loving tablets from Him. Siyyid Mu~vaf~ was entirely detached from the world and what it contains. I-fe loved and adored the beloved Guardian to such a degree that in all his actions in his daily life he followed his example.
He knew that the beloved Guardian ioved and appreciated nothing but work and service for the Divine Faith and he worked and worked for it day and night unmindful of his health or welfare.
He was about 99 years of age at the time of his death but his spiritual being was as young or even younger than the spirit of a youth of 22 years.
If he heard that there was an inquirer he would walk long distances and visit the inquiring soul and many a time he succeeded in scraping away the dross and bringing out the reality buried beneath the litter and rubbish of tradition and imitation. His method was to make the inquirer, in the first instance, self-sufficing in his search for the truth. He would remove his doubts about his capability to understand religious sublects.
He would eliminate from his mind the attitude of dependence upon socalled religious leaders. He would then lead him to sift out the truth from the motley of dogmas and manmade beliefs inherited from the ancestors. He would build his argument on the knowledge of the inquirer and convince him of the Truth proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.
The beloved Guardian'scablegram is a fitting tribute to a life spent in the service of the
Divine Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.The cablegram runs: "Hearts griefstricken passing Supreme Concourse distinguished pioneer Faith Bahá'u'lláh, dearly beloved staunch high minded noble soul Siyyid MugafA. Long record his superb services (in) both teaching (and) administrative fields shed lustre on both heroic and formative ages (of)
Bahá'í Dispensation.His magnificent achievements fully entitle him join ranks (of the) Hands of (the)
Cause (of) Bahá'u'lláh.place should be regarded foremost shrine (in the) community of Burmese believers Advise holding (of) memorial gatherings throughout India (to) his imperishable memory. Urge Indian (and) Burmese Bahá'ís participate construction (of his) tomb. Cabling three hundred pounds (as) my personal contribution (for) so praiseworthy (a) purpose."
SHOGHI RABBANIttEmogene~~ as she was familiarly known to the Baha'is, passed away December 15, 1945, after more than forty-seven years as an active national and international Baha teacher.
She was born in the small California mining town of Copperopolis on the 27th of September in the year 1869. Her father, Dr. Martin, having died when she was very young, and her mother having remarried, she went to live with an aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Wright, in San Francisco, where later she was graduated from the Irving Institute, a select boarding school for young ladies of those days.
In her early twenties she married John Ketchie Hoagg, who died in San Francisco in 1918.
A few years after her marriage Emogene went to Europe to pursue her musical studies, remaining there several years.
Upon her return to California she visited at the home of a family friend, Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst, in Pleasanton, and it was there, in 1898, that she first heard of the Bahá'í Faith. Dr. and
Mrs. Edward Christopher Getsingerhad come from Chicago hoping to interest Mrs. Hearst in the new Revela-don.
Emogene was so attracted by Mrs. Getsinger's earnest manner that she sought daily lessons with her, resulting in Emo-gene's instant acceptance of the Faith.
Concerning this she wrote: CCMY interest augmented from ksson to lesson.
The first commune, ~O my God, give me knowledge, faith and love,' was constantly on my lips, and I believe those Words from the Fountain of Eternal Light awakened my soul and mind to a faith that has never wavered."
In this way Emogene became the first confirmed believer in California.
Mrs. Hearst herself had been deeply impressed by the Bahá'í story and decided to include in the Egyptian tour she was planning for the fall of that year a special trip to 'Akka to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá and further investigate the Revelation. Emogene accompanied Mrs. Hearst as far as Paris and then proceeded to Italy to continue her vocal course. At Milan, in 1899, she received her first Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá in acknowledgment of her letter of acceptance of the Faith which she had written before leaving California.
However, it was not until November, 1900, in company with Mrs. Helen Ellis Cole, of New York, and Miss Alma Albertson, that she had an opportunity to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Those fourteen days at 'Akka and Haifa were her ~tspiritual baptism." Afterward, at 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í suggestion, she spent a month in Port Sa'id in order to study the. Bahá'í interpretation of the Bible with the renowned Persian teacher, Mirza Abu'1-Fadl. Of that period Emogene wrote; "I knew no one at Port Sa'id and met none but Bahá'ís during my stay there; but I was not lonely for I was treated as a sister by the kind friends.
For four weeks Mirza Abu'1-Fadl received me at the home of Nur'-u'lIah Effendi twice a day, morning and evening, and gave me such explicit instruction on the Bible that for the first time this Book became an open page.
It was not without difficulty that I got the explanation. Sometimes Nur'u'llah Effendi would give me the meaning in Italian, and at other times Abmad Yazdi Effendi would translate into French.
Then I would put their words into English. After about two weeks Anton FE-fendi 1-laddad was sent to Port Sa'id, and he translated directly into English. Almost every evening five or six of the IlahA'i brothers would meet with us to hear Mirza Abu'1-FaQl's explanations.
Those were wonderful days, � to think that I, an American woman, was able to meet with these Bahá'í brothers of a different nationality and in a foreign country, and to feel so perfectly at home, just as though I had been with my own family! Probably to them it was yet a more novel experience to be able to meet with an unveiled sister. All this has been brought about by the power of Bahá'u'lláh. I was still at Port Sa'id at Christmas time and was honored at dinner by the presence of Mirza
Abu'1-Fadl, Alimad Yazdidid not wish to go into the large dining-room at the hotel, so we had a private room and he entertained us by relating Bahá'í incidents in his life."
This intensive study was the beginning of Emogene's long labor of 'ove, an exhaustive compilation titled "The Three Con" ditions of Existence: Servitude, Prophethood, and Deity," which was not finished until shortly before her death.
Going back in January, 1903, to California, where occasional Bahá'í meetings had been held in the Oakland home of Mrs. Helen S. Goodall and her daughter, Emogene Ipined with them in establishing regular weekly gatherings.
Then, during the absence of Mrs. Goodall and her daughter on a visit to Akka in 1907 and 1908, she carried on the meetings in her own home, and in addition started a second weekly group especially for study.
In the absence of Mrs. Goodall in November of 1907, Emogene represented California at a consultation meeting in the home of Mrs. Corinne True in Chicago. Nine communities responded to the call for the purpose of initiating the Bahá'í Temple work. Mrs. True has recorded: "Emogene's flaming spirit of devotion was one of the pioneer pillars to accomplish that great step in the progress of the Faith in this country."
The intervening years until the end of the Firstplaces from California to Washington, D. C., and even to Italy, Egypt and the Holy Land.
When the Teaching Tabletsof 'Abdu'1-. BaM reached the United States Emogene felt an urge to go to Alaska. ReceiVing a cablegram of confirmation from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, she was encouraged to undertake the long and difficult trek in the cold North.
No doubt the most unique of her many teaching endeavors was this one made with Miss
Marian Elizabeth Jackof New Brunswick. From San Francisco, in July, 1919, they took steamer to Nome and St. Michael, reaching those ports on the 26th, thence up the Yukon River to Fairbanks, on to Dawson and Whitehorse in Canada, down to Skagway and Juneau in Alaska. Then Miss Jack remained in Juneau while Emogene alone, in September, made the circuit by water over to Cordova, Valdez, Seward and Anchorage, all of which places gave her excellent newspaper publicity.
The long, leisurely trip up the Yukon aboard the "Julia B" was filled with amusing happenings as well as excitement.
To begin with, all of Emogene's baggage, except one suitcase, had been accidentally left behind in Seattle, but, as noted in her diary: "Extra wraps and even Indian moccasins will be loaned by the Captain, sweaters by the Purser, and all sorts of things are convertible into necessary robes for the night. The freedom from worry about baggage is a noticeable feature of our travels; in fact, this is a splendid region in which to practice not thinking about what one wears and what one eats.~~ Everywhere along the route
Emogene and Miss Jackhad met the dwellers m the towns and Indian villages, either on the tier if the stop were a short one or, if longer, in the hotel lobbies, dining-rooms, lodge halls or movie theaters, which latter would sometimes run slides announcing a Bahá'í talk. Miss Jack would set up her easel anywhere and begin sketching. She made friends through her smiles and merry quips, and Emogene would soon introduce the subject of the Bahá'í Revelation.
Where public lectures were given pamphlets would be distributed, and usually an ice cream ~ would fol-'ow at the drug store or in a private home.
At Ruby they held an impromptu meeting on the sidewalk.
At Tenana the Messagewas given to a Chinese who owned the restaurant where they had their meals.
Mr. Lee asked for literature, and to every patron he would hand a pamphlet, saying: CtThis is very good. You read. Do you lot of good."
At Cordova Emogene wrote in her diary: ttWhile I gave oniy one public talk, the whole town was astir with the
Message.It really rejoices one to know that the hearts are being prepared so opportunely, and that all we have to do is to lend our services.
"Some of the women at Anchorage helped to arrange talks at the Women's Club, the City Club, before the Pioneers (women and men), also at the picture show, and the High School Auditorium.
They thought it was wonderful to travel and teach without taking pay, and that it was a privilege to hear the addresses. I stand in awe at the power of the Spirit that will provide these means and opportunities."
Emogene returned to Juneauthe Christmas holidays, a series of dinner and teaching engagements ensued at many private homes and, on the evening of the 30th, she spoke at a public meeting in
Odd Fellows Hall. On NewYear's Eve she and Miss Jack attended the reception given by Governor and Mrs. Riggs.
Late that same eveningRalston, of San Francisco, arrived from New York in order to accompany Emogene on some short trips out of Juneau.
After a hurried jaunt to Sitka, Wrangell and Ketch-kan, fraught with near disaster due to inclement weather and severe storms, they retraced their steps to Juneau, and at the invitation of the Mayor held one public meeting in the
City Council Chambers.During their stay in Sitka it was the Greek holiday season~ with a dance every evening. Since they could, therefore, not obtain a hail, Mrs. Ralston wondered what they could do. Nothing daunted, Emogene replied: "Well, if we cannot get a hail on account of a masked ball, we will go to the ball.
There we are sure to see everyone, and some may be willing to listen to us." Not
Page 523only did they go to the ball, but they did interest a number of persons and, moreover, they were invited to be two of the five judges of the best sustained character of the eve-fling.
At Wrangell they had two meetings in Van Arta's Barber Shop. The proprietor was a devout Bible student and offered his shop for meetings "any evening after 8:30 and on Sunday afternoons."
As they were about to leavepresented to each of them a little pin made of Alaska gold, at the same time thanking them for having "brought much to him in the Teachings."
In a letter from W~rangell to a friend in Washington, D. C., dated January 15, 1920, Emogene wrote: (Cone must adapt the way to the needs, and the main thing is to have the people learn about the Faith. I know I shall miss the pioneer spirit of Alaska. I certainly like it here."
From Juneau Emogene and Mrs. Ralston began the homeward journey, sailing
February 24th from VancouverThough Emogene was not the first LBaM'i teacher to visit Alaska and spend some time there, she was truly a pioneer in the sense that she opened new territory and sowed the seed for future garners.
Her entire tour of Alaska, by boat and rail, covered eight months and a total of more than six thousand miles, not including the sea voyage from San Francisco to Nome.
Almost immediately Emogeneleft for Italy, later for Haifa, but was back in Italy by November of 1920.
In 1921, at Naples, she met Mr. and Mrs. Stuart W. French, who were en route from California to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá. When they returned to Italy they went with Emogene, according to 'Abdu'l-Bahá instructions, to Rome and Florence to call upon those whom she had interested in the Faith, and for several successive years their paths crossed in various parts of Europe.
In 1928, at Miss JuliaCulver's earnest plea, and with the approval of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, Emogene went to Geneva, Switzerland, to assist in conducting the affairs of the International
Bahá'íBureau. * Under her efficient supervision the Bureau was soon functioning smoothly, and in 193 0 she and Miss Culver were elected joint treasurers. Capable coworkers they had in Mrs. Anne Lynch and Miss Margaret Lentz, who selflessly served many years.
Shoghi Effendi, in 1931, summoned Emo-gene to Haifa for the purpose of typing the voluminous manuscript of "The Dawn-Breakers" which he. was then translating into English from the original Persian. Upon completing that arduous and important task she returned to Geneva and remained there until 1935.
Then, in the United States again and under the direction of the National Teaching Committee, Emogene traveled through the Middle West and South, to Green Acre in Maine, to the Louhelen Bahá'í School in Michigan; and, when Shoghi EIT endi inaugurated the Seven Year Plan for the American Baha'is, she entered enthusiastically into that campaign. In 1940 she accepted an assignment to Cuba, under the Inter-Amer-ica Committee, for which she familiarized herself with Spanish and taught in Havana with much effect.
She was quite a linguist, as a matter of fact. She had translated Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, the Hidden Words, and other 'Writings, into Italian; helped Miss Margaret Lentz with her translation of the Kitáb-i-'Ahd, and the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, into German; and assisted Mine. Rao with the French translation of Bahá'u'lláh and the New
Era.Following the Cuban mission, Emogene had a few months' rest in California, also with friends in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Washington, D. C. She was thus able, in May, 1944, to attend the Thirty-Sixth Annual Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada at Wilmette, Illinois, and the Baha Centenary commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Bahá'í Faith. Returning to Washington, she had expected to start on a teaching trip to Green Acre, Montreal, and Florida; but, because of rapidly failing health, she instead retired to her home in Charleston, South Carolina. Yet she was not idle. Whenever
~See The Bahá'í Wor1d~Volume IV, page 257, for a "Short History of the International Bahá'í Bureau in Geneva, Switzerland," by H. Emogene Hoagg.
Page 524she could sit up, she applied herself painstakingly to the completion of her Compilation, from her bed she taught the visitors who called upon her, and to the end she was a tireless worker in the Bahá'í field.
Emogene was in her seventy-seventh year at the time of her death. Upon receiving the announcement, Shoghi Effendi cabled the National
Spiritual Assembly:~tDeepIy grieved passin.g (of) staunch, exemplary pioneer (of the) Faith,
Emogene Hoagg. Record(of) national (and) international services unforgettable.
Reward (in) Ablia KingdomEmogene during her illness had been lovingly cared for by Miss Josephine Pinson of Charleston, the dear Bahá'í friend to whom Emogene had intrusted the manuscript of her book, with the request that she type it for publication.
Of those last hours Miss Pinson penned a beautiful account which she sent to Emogene's relatives and intimate friends, with the further information that her body would rest in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. Briefly, Miss Pinson wrote: 'tThe ~oy with which Emogene announced her imminent departure cannot be described in words. All my experiences connected with her sickness and passing are very sacred to me, and I feel it was a great privilege and blessing to have been the one to serve her in her last days. But her glorious departure overshadows all other sentiments, and I wish all could have shared it with me. She wore an expression of supreme happiness until she was freed from the cage of this world."
Letters from many friends have borne witness to the extraordinary qualities of Emogene's mind and spirit. A few excerpts follow: Mrs. Corinne True, of Wilmette, Illinois, wrote: etEmogene was always such a vital character, full of doing things for others, and never considering herself."
Miss Agnes Alexander, of Honolulu, wrote: "Emogene was one of the glorious souls of the early days of the Faith who stood firm in the Covenant of her Lord."
Mrs. Kathryn Frankland, whose home is in Berkeley, California, wrote: ttWh and wherever we were to gether, whether she were sick or well, Emo-gene was always engaged in research for her Compilation, which was her very life.
'Abdu'1-Eah~i loved her very much, and His daughters simply adored her, for her sense of humor always buoyed them up in times of depression."
Mr. George Orr Latimer, of Portland, Oregon, wrote: "I would say that one of Emogene's outstanding qualities was her firmness in the Covenant; another, the clarity of her teaching, both in the early days of the Faith in America and when she was instructed, by the Guardian, to teach the Bahá'í Administrative Order to believers young in the Faith and so bring them ciose to the spirit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá."
Mrs. Stuart W. French, of San Marino, California, wrote: ccWhen I take up a copy of tThe Dawn-Breakers' I think of Emogene's eager fingers typing word for word that wonderful book, striving to approach that spiritual energy which always actuated the Guardian and which he longed to see in others. Her loyalty and devotion, generosity, modesty and, above all, her deep penetration into, and brilliant explanations of, the Revelation, were a priceless bounty to those who studied with her.~~ Mrs. Anne Lynch wrote from Geneva, Switzerland, where she is still serving at the International Bahá'í
Bureau:"How much Emogene suffered physically, and how her spirit always remained unbroken I How many of us owe to her our spiritual training!"
Miss Margaret Lent; at present in the United States, wrote: (COne afternoon at the
International Bahá'í Bureauin Geneva, when we were entertaining our little group of Bahá'í students, and also some guests from out of town, Maria, a young woman from the Balkans whom Emogene had attracted to the Faith with patient and loving teaching, was sitting in the reception room downstairs, just having finished smoking one of her innumerable cigarettes.
When Emogene came down shortly before the arrival of the guests, she was shocked by the odor of the smoke.
Andwhat did she do? Did she send Maria away? No! She fetched some attar of rose and sprinkled it on Maria lavishly. And lo and behold, no smoke could be sensed any more, only the most lovely fragrance of roses!"
Miss Josephine Kruka wrote from Havana,"Our glorious Faith has lost a most profound teacher. Emogene tried her best to make us realize that much of our understanding we must get through the heart, that we must study and meditate. She had the greatest passion for studying the Teachings and imparting them to others. Indeed, she used to say that she never felt well except when she was teaching."
Mr. Philip G. Sprague, of New York, one of the younger generation of Baha'is, wrote: ccEmogene~s passing was a real blow to me, because I had been very close to her for many years.
She was a great believer, and I think almost had more strength of character than anyone else I have ever known. I have never known any other person to have such adaptability and determination in meeting the problems of life."
Another tribute was from Mr. Charles Mason Remey, of Washington, D. C.; ttEmogene's virtues were many. Perhaps her outstanding human virtue was her keen and most delightful sense of humor. This never failed her and was a constant source of pleasure and joy to all who were near her.
... She went deeply and penetratingly into the Teachings as but few others have done. This made her a Bahá'í teacher of Bahá'í teachers! I feel that her chief contribution to the Faith in this country was her teaching among the believers themselves.
Many had their beliefs and understanding vastly deepened by Emogene."
The foregoing appraisals afford an insight into Emogene's dominant traits of character. Many more could be mentioned; for instance, her extreme fondness for animals and insistence that they be treated kindly and never abused.
A strong sense of justice was a virtue Emogene possessed in large measure. In all her years of association with the Bahá'í women of the Orient she did not reconcile herself to the restrictions under which they were obliged to live, for she believed they were entitled to the same privileges the women of the Occident enjoy. One of her cherished dreams was to be able to share in the building of a Bahá'í school for girls an Mr.
Carmel.In a precious Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, which Emogene always had with her, occur these several verses as translated by Anton Effendi 1-laddad.
~ thou who art rejoiced at the Glad Tidings oftq received thy last letter in which thou showest thy wistful consent to the good pleasure of God, thy resignation to His Will, and thy evanescence in the way of His wish.
~O maidservant of God!I assuredly know thy spiritual feelings, thy merciful thoughts, thy firmness in the Cause of God, and thy straightforwardness in the Testament of God.
"It is incumbent upon thee to have good patience and to endure every grave and difficult matter.
Patience is one of the gifts of God, an attribute of the elect, and a mark of the righteous.
tC] supplicate God to bestow upon thee a power and a blessing to enable thee to guide sincere servants and devoted maidservants to enter the Garden of E1-Abha. This is better unto thee than that which is in existence in this world of creation.
This is a fact!"Be tranquil because of My love to thee and My prayers for thee, and rejoice at all times and under all circumstances.
~ maidservant of God!How excellent is that sentence thou hast written in thy letter: 'It behooveth me to eliminate self (or egotism) so that I will not desire anything but the Will of God.' I-low good is this prayer, and how beautiful is this invocation. Aught else beside this makes it impossible for man to be confirmed by the abundance of the gift of God; neither will he succeed in becoming an humble and submissive servant or a laborer in His Great Vineyard.
"May salutation and praise be upon thee!"Such were the creative words addressed to Emogene by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as long ago as 1902. Like fertile seeds, sown in the pure soil of her heart, watered by her conviction, and warmed by the sunshine of His love,
Page 526they brought forth their harvest of humility, patience, steadfastness, fortitude, and superlative happiness.
'AZIZ'U'LLAH MESBAHand A. Q. FAIZI The Guardian's telegram after the passing away of Mesbah, ttThe Lamp of Guidance": CtDeeply grieved passing distinguished promoter faith 'Aziz'u'llAh Mesbah.
His magnificent historic services imperishable.Assure relatives, friends fervent prayers advancement his soui AbhA Kingdom.
Advise friends hold befitting memorial gatherings loving recognition his manifold achievements. Shoghi
Rabbani."To possess a saintly life and to purge one's self of all human desires in an age when passions are predominant, and in a country where retrogression and decay have taken it to the abyss of misery and confusion, is a prodigious phenomenon never to be expected except amongst those who are born again through the iove of God. Mesbali is forever glorified by such a life.
In the days when the standard of knowi � edge in Persia was the corrupted theological course of ages gone by, and those who studied the modern arts and sciences were considered heathens, and strongly opposed, Mesbah left his country with the intention of continuing his studies in the French universities of Beirut.
There he proved himself not oniy an ardent scholar and an example of virtue, but also a very promising poet both in Arabic and Persian. Having gained a firm foundation in French, Arabic and Persian literature, he went on to Paris where he continued his studies, helped the orientalists in their research works and aided the early believers of that city in translating the tablets from the Arabic and Persian into the French language. He crowned all his efforts and services by attaining the presence of the Master, and, in the sunshine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í love and encouragement, Mes-bah's learning bore its finest fruit � the love for and desire to serve mankind.
The Master appreciated his erudition and highly praised his extreme sense of courtesy.
Having perceived in that youthful countenance the splendid soul of a steadfast servant of God and a staunch promoter of the Cause, He very kindly recommended him to return to Tihr&n and participate in the Bahá'í educational activities.
Posts of outstanding fame and excellent prospects were already awaiting him, when he arrived in
Persia, but Mesbah'ssoui soared beyond all lucrative pursuits, temporary rank and worldly desires, and above all his one aim was to carry out his Beloved's wishes.
The Spiritual AssemblyMaster had instructed Mesbah to consult concerning his future activities, found in him a mighty pillar for their education institutions.
He entered that glorious field of service and sacrifice, accepting a very scanty salary and carrying the heaviest weight of responsibilities.
During his many years of service as the Head Master of the Tarbiyat Schools, he was a living example of a martyr's constancy. Endless sufferings and unlimited hardships were inflicted upon him by the many who were too shortsighted to perceive the glorious ideals towards which he was untiringly striving, but these oniy served to demonstrate the sublimity of his character and the exaltedness of his endurance. Of what Mesbah had to face during those years, it suffices to say that the Tarbiyat schools, although financially supported by the Bahá'ís themselves, were under strict orders of the Persian Ministry of Education � a ministry which was a beehive of the archenemies of the Cause and the refuge of the notorious covenant-breakers who constantly endeav-oured to abate the prestige of the Bahá'í institutions and even encourage the irresponsible mobs of the streets and the incorrigible children of other schools to cause endless troubles for the students of the Bahá'í Schools. It was the same ministry which caused the publication of certain ignominious books and magazines which were not oniy the meanest standard of authorship, but also remained as an eternal shame to the press and publications of Persia.
Taking all the difficulties in view, we may realize through what a therny path Mesbah had to pass and how the AbliA confirmations bestowed upon him manifold achievements
Page 527'Aziz'u'llih MesbTh, distinguished promoter of the Cause, teacher and poet.
and historical successes.He defended the schools, protected the children and lifted up the souls of his colleagues. He recruited the ablest teachers and managed to raise the standard of teaching in the Bahá'í Schools much higher than that of other schools, so much so that the graduates of our institutions were envied everywhere for their knowledge as well as for their character. The constant abortive attempts of the enemies helped to increase their own jealousy, and pricked to the quick at the lofty prestige of the Bahá'í Schools, they did their utmost to raise the hand of their temporarily mighty King against them, and he, ignorant of the Divine wrath and the effect of children's supplications to the Almighty, permitted himself to be an instrument in their hands.
No one knows what passed in the heart of Mesbah when he saw his lifetime work fall to pieces, but this we do know that he did not give way to disappointment. Full of certitude in his Master's promises, be brought hope to his scattered and sorrow-stricken children by his repeated and emphatic assertions that ere long from the depth of this ruined nest of hearts, there would arise institutions glorified in the name of God, worldwide in fame, humanitarian in their objectives, and divine in their eternal salvation of the children of mankind.
Although nothing could weaken Mesbah's mighty soul, his thirty successive years of labour in the schools, greatly affected his physical health. His eyes failed him too, and it was only the light of his insight which helped to soften the pain he felt at their loss.
It was hard to believe that our schools were closed, so long as Mesbali was still among us, for in him there was a living school from which the people could learn how to sacrifice their whole lives for a divine ideal, how to hold firm to the hem of the Centre of the Covenant and how to be stead
Page 528After the closing of the schools, Mesbah continued teaching in the classes arranged by the local and national educational committees, and sometimes he went on some most memorable teaching trips in Persia.
When the call for pioneers was raised he encouraged his two elder sons to leave Persia while he, with the rest of his family, settled in one of the villages around Tihdn.
There he spent his last days before he took his flight to the eternal Kingdom and thus to the very end our Head Master followed the path of the Beloved Master.
With his passing away,grandeur and a Homeric splendour. In his poems one would regain the lost paradise and would hear the far-off echoes of the battle drums of God's Heroes who fought the darkness of bygone ages and broke through to the dawn of this new and glorious day of God.
In the midst of his loneliness and constant plights, being of an extremely quiet and forebearing nature, Mes.-bali took refuge in his Beloved's love, at whose threshold he poured forth his pearls of tears. Scholars and men of genuine understanding have judged his poems as unapproachable by any of his contemporaries and to be placed with the eternal classics of Persia. Yet such was the humility and detachment of Mesbah that none of his poems have been published.
But in any meeting or gathering, the friends would persuade him to recite to them some lines of his poems. Streams of joyful tears would flow down their cheeks when he enthusiastically sang his love to the Master: t~An effulgence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í countenance made my sorrow-laden heart the envy of the promised paradise. Out of pure grace, the Divine Cupbearer filled my chalice with the wine of His covenant. Do you consider it madness to be enchanted by such a glorious beauty? Hasten then and fetch my chains!
Should the waves of calamities encircle me, my heart never yields to fear and dismay, for His love is my ship and my shore.
0! Beloved, make my heart a shrine of divine mysteries, for the books of the sages and their learnings fail to quench the thirst of my soui."'~ * These lines are nor the exact translation of his verses.
Fame and praise were shunned by him, but our Beloved has put his name on the wings of fame and made it soar and blaze in the horizons of eternity.
A soul illumined by such a stupendous cause of light, a heart brimful with the Master's love and a memory so vastly and beautifully furnished with a tremendously great number of the divine tablets, verses of the previous Holy writings as well as selections from the world's classics, could only produce poems such as Mesbah's. Though the many references make the lines of his poems too deep for a quick understanding, yet the inherent appeal, the music of meters and rhymes and the hue of the highly spiritual subjects attract the souTh and possess the hearts of the readers and listeners. The love of Baha, his soni inspiring muse, has made each word a shining gem, each line a perfect row of illustrious pearls and each piece a galaxy of eternal stars.
Mesbab was a lighthouse for thousands who were bewildered in the dark and stormy seas of circumstances.
The light diffused from such a sublime soui had the most assuaging effect on those who were in spiritual crises. Knowledge, talent and resolution were combined in him with an extreme sense of detachment, condescension and pure intention. In the obscure path of life he left traces from which the undisturbed melodies of complete consent and utter resignation to the will of God are eternally echoed.
MUHAMMAD SKID ADHAM"Hearts greatly stricken (by the) passing (away of the) distinguished servant (of the) Faith, beloved Mi4xammad Sa'id.
His meritorious services (are) unforgettable (and) his reward (is) great (in the) AbM Kingdom. Praying ardently (for the) progress (of) his soui. Assure friends (and) his relatives (of my) heartfelt sympathy, (and) advise friends (to) hold befitting memorial gathering (in) honor (of) his imperishable memory.
From this cable of belovedof the Ba1A'i Cause, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt, all may know for a certainty of the loyalty and devotion of this great soui. No
Page 529wonder that Bahá'ís everywhere were deeply shocked on hearing the sad news of his passing ~~through the gate into the city" of Life and Light on September 5, 1945.
Mt4iammad Sa'id was one of the pillars of the Religion of Bahá'u'lláh, and indeed might well be considered a cornerstone of the Bahá'í Movement in Egypt.
All Baha'is, as a rule, have interesting records as to how the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh became the most important thing in life to them, but the story of Muhammad Sa'id carries a specially meaningful note. He lived in Alexandria, and was by profession a teacher in a government school. During Nawruz (Bahá'í New Year) of 1912, he saw 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who had just returned to
Ramich, (near Alexandria)after his spiritual mission in the British Isles and Europe. He had never met, or even seen, 'Abdu'l-Bahá before this time, but was instantly attracted to Him. Without any plan, in fact almost unconsciously as if moved by a higher power, He followed 'Abdu'l-Bahá one day until He reached the Nozha Garden where Bahá'ís of different nationalities had gathered for a spiritual meeting and Feast. There Mu~xammad Sa'id witnessed an impressive, inspiring, and, what was to him, an unsurpassed scene, manifesting amazingly how 'Abdu'l-Bahá was revered, the supreme respect for Him so evident and constant, and a devotion which became an indelible picture which was always with hint There, in that Garden, Muhammad Sa'id received the blessings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as He welcomed him in a voice so powerful, so penetrating, yet spiritually sweet, a voice unlike any other voice, a voice denoting rare spiritual pre-immanence and which called him to the Heavenly Way of the Kingdom. The great privilege of participating in that Feast in the Presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá inspired this great soui for life.
Thereafter he met 'Abdu'l-Bahá regularly during all the time He spent in Ramleh
(19101911). Healso met Mirza Abu'1-Fadl, one of the renowned teachers of the Bahá'í Cause who was also in Ramleh at that time.
Muhammad Sa'id was an earnest seeker after knowledge, and so once he was convinced of the importance of the Bahá'í Faith, that it was in truth the religion of the New Age, a Revelation direct from God the Almighty, he diligently studied and prayed until he became well informed and had a remarkably deep understanding of its outer and inner significances.
Because of this rich spiritual endowment, and, because of his complete trustworthiness, his innate capacity and his great sincerity and faithfulness in his Bahá'í services, he became a very much honored servant of the Bahá'í Cause even long before the establishment of Baha Spiritual Assemblies.
Muhammad Sa'id manifested at all times vigor and intensity in his services.
He established in Alexandria (that important city with one of the most magnificent harbors around the Mediterranean) through his service and sacrifice, a worthy Bahá'í Center representative of the Cause. Here the faithful Muhammad Said and the Baha friends of Alexandria, welcomed Bahá'í visitors from the East and from the West on their way to or from the Bahá'í Holy Shrines in the Holy Land.
One, always manifest, proof of his loyalty to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh was his alertness and his ever-watchful attitude in protecting the friends from the peril of doubts and the influence of the enemies of the Cause.
His firmness was exemplary, and from his life's story many of the young people of the future will learn what it means to be a loyal follower of the
Bahá'í Faith.In 1922 the government transferred him to a teaching position in Cairo, Egypt.
Here he added many pages to his already distinguished record of loving service to the Ba1A'i Cause. Although-every hour and even every minute outside of his teaching work was given to the Cause, yet he would often take time off from his duties to cooperate heartily in the Arabic translation of the Iqan, the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'1 � Bah&, the Addresses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Europe and America, as well as many pamphlets and booklets on the Bahá'í
Movement.Muhammad Sa'id was chairman of both the Local Spiritual Assembly of Cairo, and the
Bahá'í National SpiritualAssembly of Egypt, thus fot several years his responsibilities were very great, as likewise were his devotion and faithfulness.
The Commemoration, in May 1944, of the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Bahá'í Faith, necessarily made additional demands on his time and strength, and they grew increasingly greater as the plans for this historic event matured. By his own noble endeavors, he encouraged all members of committees and others cooperating, � re-suiting in a completely successful and very beautiful termination of this memorable occasion.
His brilliant, informative and inspiring address at the time of the opening of the first session, as well as his almost constant services all through the sessions and thereafter, constitute a notable achievement in his life.
In October 1944 he retired from government service with the thought ever-present in his mind of dedicating his entire life to serving the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, but only about a year passed before he was called to serve in that Upper Realm, and his wish, expressed in his beautiful address at the time of the reinterment of the remains of Mrs. Lua Moore Getsinger in the
Bahá'í Cemetery in Cairoin 1942, and again over the body of Dr. Saich in 1943, that he might at last lie beside them and other loved Bahá'ís in the Garden of God, was fulfilled tAnd his reward is great in the
AbhA Kingdom."187?-July 10th, 1945 'Ali-Asghar was a truly remarkable man judged by any standard. He possessed that rarest of all combinations, a spiritual, pious nature and a sound, discreet, well-balanced mind. He was a native of Qazvin, Persia, and although he modestly disclaimed any right to be considered a learned man, he possessed the greatest of all forms of learning � a deep knowledge of the sacred texts, both of hUm and the Bahá'í
Faith.As a young man he earned his living through having the Oriental equivalent of a pharmacy. But he was restless; he wanted
Page 531to really understand the Qur'an; he inquired of the local priests, but was not satisfied by their answers. He decided to buy himself a stock of nuts and seeds and sell them in the Street to passers by � hoping to con � tact some human being who could satisfy his intense desire to grasp the meaning of the prophecies of IslAm.
One day a Dervish bought some of his wares, he asked him questions, each day a new one; at last the man informed him he was leaving Qazvin.
'Au-Asgliar said he would go with him and be a Dervish too; he left his native town and, as it turned out that the Dervish was a Baha'i, he slowly enlightened him about the new Faith. Finding his wife unresponsive to this new spiritual movement which had set his soui ablaze, he left her and his only child, a son named hlbrThim, and set out in the direction of the Holy Land. For some time he sojourned with the Bahá'ís of Alex-andretta and then came to Haifa shortly after the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
With a heart stirred by grief and fully dedicated to his Faith, he offered himself as a servant to Shoghi Effendi. At that time the Guardian was a young man, stunned by the double blow of his grandfather's death and his own sudden elevation to the lofty position of being His successor.
For 25 years the trials and tribulations which inevitably overtake one occupying so high an office surged about Shoghi Effendi, and for 2 5 years 'Ali-Asgliar was always there, loyal, understanding, ready for any task that might be allotted to him by his overburdened and much loved master.
His functions were many: he became lovingly known as ccM~11i " or �tteacher~~ as he used to instruct, the Bahá'í children in the Persian language and writing and in the teachings.
His pupils included members of the household, of the community, and young servants in need of instruction.
He was the Postman of the Guardian; day after day, year after year, going to and from the
PostOffice in the heat of summer and the storm of winter, with all the heavy and important correspondence and cables of this World Center.
He was the ever-vigilant watchman of the home of the Master, keeping the household accounts, solicitous of its every interest, the friend of every friend of the Guardian, the enemy of every enemy of the Cause.
Whatever the Guardiandid was sure to find a sound, crystal-clear echo of approval in the heart of the old man who served him with such unique devotion � and such loyalty was not unrewarded: 'Ali-Asghar received many confidences from Shoghi Effendi, was given the most important messages to transmit, was trusted to a degree that made him the envy of every one, high and 'ow alike. He was greatly esteemed by the pilgrims and admired and respected by the townspeople.
It was a touching sight to see him, stooped with age, almost blind with myopia, his hair and beard turning white, going faithfully about his duties, carrying the heavy brief case of mail back and forth from the Post Office; serving the Guardian's guests tea; bringing the cakes for the Feast Days; even on occasion bent double with the bread for the entire house on his back, during the war days when it was rationed and all the complicated cards were in his trustworthy hands.
One would have thought that such constant service was sufficient of a gift for him to make to the Cause of God; but no, he would go himself, when his health was failing, in spite of every remonstrance, up to the terraces of the Shines and in the heat, with a labourer, render his share of active hard work to the Holy Tombs.
He would often turn up with some present for the Guardian, some fresh fruit, something he wished to offer to the House or the Pilgrim House � every thought flowed towards homage to, and protection of, what he loved best in this world.
During the last year of his life, when he was over seventy-five, it became clear that his splendid constitution was being attacked by an incurable disease.
It was then, more than ever before, that he tasted the real depths of Shoghi Elfendi's affection for him.
Up until the last day of his life the Guardian was as solicitous for the comfort of his servant as the servant had been for 25 years for the comfort of his lord. Foreseeing the rapidly approaching end, and wishing him to catch a glimpse of how great was to be his reward, Shoghi Effendi sent him word that he was cabling the Persian believers about him and referring to him as ccthe lion of the forest of the love of God." The nearest possible English for this beautiful metaphor in the arabic language is ~ it is a pale tribute beside the original!
'A1A~ Asgliar, in hospital, terribly weak and suffering greatly, smiled when he heard this. Then he made his will, having understood that the curtain must be falling on his earthly life. The Centenary review of the Faith in Persian, written by the Guardian, he had had copied out in beautiful long hand; this was to be bound, with his money and given as a gift to Shoghi Effendi; his books were to be given (he had marked each one), to the house as an endowment for the Man's meeting room; all his effects, few as they were, were for the House; he left �40 for the Guardian to dispose of. This was all that lie had after a quarter of a century work!
Shoghi Effendi himself annointed the body of his faithful friend and servant; his was the first hand to stretch out to raise his coffin; he sent the flowers of the Shrine for his grave; he cabled
Persia:"Distinguished servant, blessed house, lionhearted, steadfast, vigilant, indefatigable 'A1i-A~ghar ascended Abh4 Kingdom. Twenty-five years exemplary, unforgettable service triumphantly ended. His innumerable services rendered Persian pilgrims merit holding memorial gatherings throughout Persia.
Inform all believers.Such a man is a worthy example, not oniy for all those who serve the Cause at its World Center to follow, but for every Baha'i.
So keenly was this felt by many who came in contact with him that in the end the pilgrims would write to him and sign them6elves "the servant of the servant of the House."
Page 533"Y~-Bahi'u'1-AbhA' is there any remover of difficulties save God!
Say, Praise be to God!Such must have been the glad refrain ringing in the heart and soul of Lydia Zamenhof during her last hours on earth. She must have known that her moment of death was fast approaching. Fervent in her faith and unwavering in her courage, through untold sufferings and persecutions her shining countenance was ever turned towards the eternal goal, until, triumphant and victorious, her spirit winged its flight to its everlasting home.
The youngest of three children, Lydia Zamenhof was born in Warsaw, Poland, on January 29, 1904. Her parents were liberal-thinking Jews, and they afforded their son and daughters good educations. Adam became the outstanding eye specialist of that city; Sofia was a physician; and Lydia received her LL.M. degree from the
University of Warsaw.It was inevitable that Lydia Zamenhof should be an idealist. Her father, Dr. Ludwig L. Zamenhof, was the eminent inventor of Esperanto; and her mother, Kiara Zilbernik, was his selfeffacing yet devoted and encouraging helpmeet.
Love for all humanity pervaded the atmosphere of their humble home, and together the parents reared their children in the spirit of world unity and brotherhood.
It followed naturally that, when she received her LL.M. degree in 1925, Lydia decided not to practice law, but to devote her time to the spread and teaching of Esperanto.
As an authorized instructor of the International Gseh-Institute of Esperanto at The Hague, she traveled and taught in many countries in Europe.
She became the most popular instructor of the Institute, next to Father Andrew Cseh, its founder. In France, where she had spent a
Page 534In 1913, when Lydia was nine years of age, she attended her first Universal Esperanto Congress, held in Berne, Switzerland.
In the "Christian Commonwealth"for September 3, 1913, J. M. Warden published an interview with Dr. Zamenhof, who said: C�j feel greatly interested in the Bahá'í movement, as it is one of the great world-move-ments which, like our own, is insisting upon the brotherhood of mankind, and is calling on men to understand one another and learn to 'ove each other." At another occasion he said, "The personality of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His work I esteem most highly. I see in Him one of the greatest benefactors of the whole human race."
This was probably the first contact of Dr. Zamenhof with the Bahá'í Faith.
It was through Martha Root, the flaming Hand of the Cause of God, that Lydia Za-menhof came into the fold of Bahá'u'lláh. This self-sacrificing handmaid of the Blessed Perfection took advantage of every opportunity to contact the family of Dr. Zamen-hof.
Lydia was the oniy one who responded to the call of the Glory of God.
In April, 1926, Miss Root was the official representative of the Bahá'ís at the unveiling of a monument on the grave of Dr. Zamenhof in Warsaw. It was there that Lydia said to her, 'tlt seems to me that Esperanto is only a school in which future Bahá'ís educate themselves. The Bahá'í Movement is a forward step, it is larger."
Several months later, the eighteenth Universal Esperanto Congress was held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
On August 2 a Bahá'í EsperantoMartha Root, again an official representative of the Bahá'í Faith, spoke on ccThe Positive
Power of Universal Religion." LydiaIn the city of Edinburgh, where, in the memorable year 1913, 'Abdu'l-Bahá delivered His classic address bef ore the Esperantists, Lydia Zamenhof attended her first Ba1A'i meeting as a believer.
Afire with the Message, she set herself to the difficult task of learning the English language in order that she might partake in a fuller measure of the Sacred Writings translated for us by the beloved Guardian. From that time forward her Life was devoted to a twofold purpose � spreading the Message of Bahá'u'lláh's, and teaching Esperanto.
With the acceptance of the Bahá'í Faith, troubles began for Lydia. Branded by some of her relatives as a Thetrayer" of the Jewish religion, she was reviled and persecuted for her belief in the unity of God and the brotherhood of man. So deep-rooted was her love for God, however, that she remained steadfast and firm against all opposition and her fervor and ardor in the Path of Bahá'u'lláh increased with the passing of time.
God had bountifully endowed Lydia with many talents.
Her magnetic charm was unequalled. She was a born instructor and speaker, and her ability as a translator and writer was unexcelled. Early in her career she rendered into Esperanto the famous work of Sienkewicz, "QUO Vadis?", "Iridiono" by the classic Polish author, Krasinski, and several novels by B. Prus. When she embraced the religion of Bahá'u'lláh, she dedicated her talents entirely to the Bahá'í Cause. Many of her inspiring articles were published in Esperanto and English periodicals with worldwide circulation.
Included among her translations are: Bahá'u'lláh and the New
Eraon Durable Peace, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Some Answered QuestionsShe also translated into the Polish language t~Bah?u'11Ah and the New Era" and
"Hidden Words."Za-menhof to visit this country. She arrived on September 29, and on October 2 she began her first Esperanto class in America. With the cooperation of the Esperanto As
Page 535Asadu'llih Nadiri, formerly of Tihr~n, suffered martyrdom in Sh6.hriid, Persia, August 8, 1944.
sociation of North America, she conducted Cseh-method courses in the following cities:
New York 55studentsShe also spoke over the radio, and before gatherings in colleges, churches, and other cultural and social groups, in the following localities:
BaltimoreAnn Arbor, Roseville, Marysvilie, and Flint � all in Michigan Chicago, Urbana, and Maywood � all in Illinois
BostonIn all, she came in personal touch with about 1500 people during her short stay in the United States. Thus were made many more contacts for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Through her untiring efforts victory after glorious victory was harvested in His Name. One of the outstanding results of her visit was the undertaking of the Esperanto translation of ccThe Dawn-Breakers" by an
American Baha. Herencouragement and invaluable assistance in this task was a contributing factor to its successful completion.
To live constantly before the public was a sacrifice for Lydia Zamenhof, for she was of a retiring nature, and liked to be alone. Her face in repose bore the expression of sadness which has become a characteristic of the Jewish countenance through centuries of persecution.
But when the Name of Bahá'u'lláh was mentioned, or of the language of her father's invention, as if through a miracle her whole personality changed. The tiny gnat became a mighty falcon, and she forgot her own self as with shining eyes and vibrant
Page 536I4asan Mubijir-Z4hid, merchant of Shihr~d, Persia, was one of three Bahá'ís martyred on August 8, 1944.
voice she launched into discussions or recounted her experiences in her field of service. Especially did her face become illumined as she told of her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, her precious moments with the Greatest Holy Leaf, her talks with the beloved Guardian, her communion with God in the Sacred Shrines.
On November 28, 1938, Lydia Zamenhof returned to her native land. The outbreak of the war was imminent, and her loving heart yearned to be with her brother and sister in time of hardship. Upon her return to Warsaw she finished the Polish translation of "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era." Many of us remember her as she sat on the porch of Green Acre, devoting every spare moment to this work. tShoghi Effendi," she confided, her face aglow, "has told me that I must hurry and finish this as soon as possible."
In one of her first letters written after her return to her home, she described how her brother, Dr. Adam Zamenhof, had let her CCconfiscate~~ his typewriter so that she might complete the manuscript, because her own machine did not have
Polish characters. Tosuch painstaking work did she devote her entire self.
In her last letter to this country, dated August 18, 1939, Lydia Zamenhof wrote, CCNOW there are five Bahá'ís in Poland, including myself. Considering the smallness of our numbers, each new soui is all the more important and is accepted with such great joy." She went on to tell of her plans to attend the National
Esperanto Congress in Lwowearly in September, and then to go to the Netherlands for several weeks. Neither the Congress nor the trip ever took place, for Poland was invaded two days after the letter was received.
After that, only indirectly could we hear from her, in spite of efforts of the International Red Gross. At first she and her family, together with all
Page 537Muhammad Jadhb6ni, one of the Bahá'ís martyred in Shilirtid Persia, August 8, 1944.
of the other Jews of Warsaw, were herded into the Ghetto.
In 1942, the Zarnenhof family was taken to a concentration camp. Previous to this, all of the professional Jewish men of Warsaw were shot to death. Included among them was her brother, Dr. Adam Zamenhof. In August, 1944, Dr. Sofia Za-menhof was shot to death. A few days later, exactly eighteen years after she attended her first Bahá'í meeting, Lydia Zamen-hof, together with many other Jews, was cremated in the Jewish death-camp in Tre-blinka, near Warsaw. This sad news was relayed to the Guardian, who replied by cablegram: (CHeartily approve nationwide observance for dauntless Lydia Zamenhof. Her notable services, tenacity, modesty and unwavering devotion fully merit high tribute from American believers. Do not advise, however, that you designate her a martyr."
In a second message, dated April 20, 1946, the Guardian, through his secretary, wrote: ccShe certainly deserves to be remembered by us all for her services to the Faith and her loyalty and devotion! Her death is a great loss, as she was so well able to serve and teach in different languages and different countries.
It seems too terrible to contemplate what her end must have been!"
To the very end of her life Lydia Zamen � hof remained a heroine, ever thoughtful of the welfare and safety of others. When it became evident that the lives of the inhabitants of the Ghetto were doomed, the non-Jewish Esperantists of Warsaw approached her with offers to hide her from the invaders. She declined, for she wished to remain with her family.
Besides, she said, violent death is the punishment for those who are caught hiding Jews, and she would not think of endangering the lives of her beloved Esperantist friends.
So it was that she met her death.Prof. George W. Henderson Of her untimely and tragic end Father Andrew Cseh wrote, under date of
FebruaryAccording to information received she had a terrible death. How will God ever punish the guilty ones? Their crime truly exceeds every heretofore known measure.~~ When we call to mind the self-sacrifice, the perseverance, the devotion and loving service of Lydia Zamenhof in her zealous and untiring efforts in the Path of God, we can but think of the words revealed by
Bahá'u'lláh:"Blessed is he that hath set himself towards Thee, and hasted to attain the DaySpring of the lights of Thy face. Blessed is he who with all his affections hath turned to the Dawning-Place of Thy Revelation and the Fountainhead of Thine inspiration.
Blessed is he that hath expended in Thy path what Thou didst bestow upon him through Thy bounty and favor. Blessed is he who, in his sore longing after Thee, hath cast away all else except Thyself. Blessed is he who hath enjoyed intimate communion with Thee, and rid himself of all attachment to any one save Thee."
GEORGE W. HENDERSONProfessor George W. Henderson, Henderson Business College, Memphis, Tenn., ascended to his eternal home December 24, 1944. Then ended a mortal career which in two ways bore a similitude to that of the Master.
The length of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í ministry as Center of the Covenant was twenty-nine years. George Henderson's Bahá'í life, at a different time, covered exactly the same length. At the Master's funeral no Bahá'í spoke, making way for non-Bah&i orators of various faiths, Christian, Jewish, and Moslem, all so eager to pay their tributes of veneration to their beloved teacher and the "Father of the Poor." The only Bahá'í speaker at the obsequies of His devoted fol
Page 539lower was Limited to a few minutes because of a similar condition.
Months before, Georgewas aware of his proximate end, remarking that he had much work but little time, as he would not outlive the year. He proceeded to set his house in order.
He incorporated his school so that its services might survive him. He also provided that, agreeable to the wishes of the Baha'is, it might always be used by them.
Despite stormy weather the funeral assembled a capacity audience.
There were prayers for the departed. Remarks touching his success as educational pioneer and in discovering Bahá'u'lláh, whose Glory now encircles the earth, were feelingly given. His bold proclamation of faith; his humble and grateful acknowledgment of it as the foundation and motivating power of his life's work received mention.
There followed an array of distinguished speakers from the clergy, the field of education, religious and secular, the officialdom of his native state. Most impressive of these was that of a venerable clergyman of the white race who left a sick bed to attend, exposing himself to further perils through taxi shortage on a stormy day. With tear dimmed eyes and faltering voice, he pictured his great love for his brother; how they had spent long hours together meditating and conversing about the mysteries of the divine worlds. His former Sunday school teacher told of the bright promise of his youth. The dean related his connections with faculty and students.
A state official, described the esteem of Tennessee, also how he fQund him an ideal companion. Another clergyman suspended a rule of his church to eulogize George Henderson.
The pastor of the church which he often attended brilliantly portrayed him as a planter, builder, writer, and father, in all of which he was par excellent.
The aroma of flowers, the spiritual atmosphere, the fine opportunity to teach the oneness of humanity to an interracial gathering, Tennyson's beautiful poem, "Crossing the Bar," added ~oy to solemnity.
This tribute has come from Haifa: "He (the Guardian) was sorry to hear Prof. Henderson had passed away. No doubt he will now find himself in that happy state promised by the Beloved as the reward of His faithful servants. The Guardian will pray for his spiritual advancement and that his deeds in the South may bear fruit."
JOHN P. STEARNSOur beloved and unforgettable teacher and pioneer, John P. Stearns, passed away at Lima, PerC, on November 7, 1944.
Page 540He was and always will be so near to our hearts that we can hardly believe he has gone.
John was from Jamestown, New York, where he sold his business in 1940, and decided to come to Ecuador as a pioneer.
We consider ourselves as the first harvest of the seed he has sown.
We proudly affirm that his sacrifice shall not be in vain. John's loving kindness and the Faith he gave us will live on forever and ever.
JOHN P. STEARNSThe greatest of at1 things is the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto
His Word."Leafing through the pages of some of John's Bahá'í books, we found these words underlined, and realized anew how much these particular teachings possessed and controlled his thinking � "the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His
Cause."We, here in Lima, PerA, knew John Stearns during one year of terrible suffering, and yet the things we remember most are: his fortitude; his patient endurance; his smiling answers to our solicitous questions about his health, CcI~m feeling fine," or when the pain was worse, "So-so"; his brave humor � calling the radium needles in his tongue his phonograph needles. His oniy impatience was when he thought we were doing too much for him.
We all wished we could do much more.John came to Lima from Quito, Ecuador, just a few days before Christmas 1943, to enter the Institute de Radioter~pia. After months of treatment, once coming very near to death, he recovered miraculously. He then went into business with Mr. Ray
Page 541'Au-Muhammad Nabili, President of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma of 19441945, died in KirmAn, Persia, in 1945.
Betts, manager of the Cremrica. It was because of this association with John that Ray became a confirmed believer in the Bahá'í Faith.
The men with whom he worked spoke of John as a quiet man, a man who constantly sought divine direction in the daily performance of his duties, a man whose life was a testament to his Convictions.
John wanted to live, making great plans for the future, but his destiny was not this physical work, but a freer, fuller work in the world beyond. Soon it became evident that his ailment was returning, and he passed away November 7, 1944. With simple Bahá'í ceremony we, his Bahá'í friends and business associates buried him in the British cemetery here in Lima, Pent Now, his helpfulness and his prayers live on, not only in memory we believe, but in actuality, pervading two South American countries.
This cable from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada came to comfort our hearts: ("Accept) our heartfelt sympathy (for the) grievous ioss (of this) self-sacrificing Bahá'í pioneer, John Stearns.
His death lights one more spiritual beacon illuminating (the) path (to) unity (of the) Americas (in) Bahá'u'lláh's
Revelation."SultAn Nik � A'in was born in Yazd, Persia, and although his father was a Baha'i, he was a staunch Muslim during his early years. When he came of age, he accepted the Cause and was enabled to render it valuable services. He was President of the Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly of Yazd for a period and was alleged to be the leader of the friends in the case wherein they were unjustly accused by
Page 542the enemies of the Cause and thrown into prison in Yazd and at Tihr~n, for a period of five years.
He was acquitted once during this period but the enemies of the Cause exerted every effort until they succeeded in putting him again under chains.
When he was set at liberty he emigrated to Quetta in Baluchist4n in obedience to the instructions of the Guardian to the general body of the friends in Persia.
In conjunction with other Bahá'ís of Quetta he succeeded in establishing an Assembly in that centre in the year 100 of the Bahá'í Era and in purchasing a building to serve as the local Ua;iratu'l.-Quds. He died at Quetta of heart failure on the 27th May, 1944 and was buried there.
MABRY C. OGLESBYThe connection of Mabry C. Oglesby with the Faith, goes back to 1913 when he and his wife heard the Bahá'í Message and shortly thereafter accepted it. They studied under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. Harlan F. Ober, and during the annual convention of 1917 held in Boston, received a great confirmation.
Mr. Oglesby was an able and active advocate of the Faith. In his life, he sincerely endeavored to express the Bahá'í principles. He was greatly loved by the more than ten thousand members of the national labor organization to which he belonged.
For about fifteen years he was one of the national representatives of his coworkers in conference with the management of the company regarding wages and working conditions.
His insight, courage and fairness made him outstanding.
His influence both in the Bahá'í Cause and in his daily work, was for unity and peace. Through his position he bad the opportunity of meeting many people of all walks of life.
He was kind to all and forthright in his statements and was continually engaged in offering the Bahá'í
Message.Although he was unable to take so long a journey, Mr. Oglesby sent his wife and daughter to visit the Sacred Shrines on Mt. Carmel. They were the third and fourth among the Ba1x~'is of the colored race to make such a journey from the West, and enjoyed the privilege of meeting the Guardian, as the two former visitors had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The devotion and sacrifice of this pilgrimage, as is true of all such sacrifices, were the means of releasing great spiritual forces which strengthened the bond of race unity, a phase of the teaching work in which they were most active.
One of the brightest memories of his life was a motor trip, in which he was accompanied by Mrs. Oglesby and two of his white Bahá'í friends, to attend the
Convention in Wilmette.Social gatherings and meetings for the promulgation of the Faith were arranged in many cities both on the iQurney to Wilmette and on their return to Boston.
Mr. Oglesby was for nearly fourteen years a member of the Spiritual Assembly of Boston, Massachusetts.
In this capacity, and also as a delegate to the Bahá'í National Conventions, his services were always constructive, always touching the heights of reality.
From his first confirmation, he became aware of the tremendous spiritual power in the Bahá'í Cause and he dedicated himself to its service. Through his devotion he became eloquent, and his radiant face and impassioned utterances will long be remembered.
Memorial services were held in Boston after his death on May 19, 1945.
The tributes paid to him by his associates were most illuminating and revealed the esteem in which he was held. The hearts of many who were present were attracted by the inspiring IBahá'í service.
During the winter of his life he was beset with many illnesses, losses, and afflictions of various kinds. Neither he nor his wife ever wavered in the face of annoying persecutions and trials, but attained the bounty of divine protection.
There are many who will miss him in this world; more will welcome him on the Shining Shore.
Mrs. Esther TobinTobin, who will ever be remembered as the one inspired to find the dedication stone of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in the Western World, ascended to the AMA Kingdom April twenty-eighth, 1944. On October ninth of the year previous she commemorated her eightieth birthday.
Mrs. Tobin was born in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until shortly after the death of her husband in 1892. She then moved to Chicago with her two small sons, John and Harold, and her half-sister and brother.
At first she had a difficult time supporting herself and family by means of dressmaking. Although extremely busy, her spirit of determination and faith in prayer became a silver lining to the ciouds of worry and despair.
Daily she prayed for spiritual guidance in meeting her many problems with her little ones.
Mrs. Tobin felt that her prayers had been answered when she met Paul K. Dealy, one of the early believers in the Bahá'í
Faith in America. Sherecognized his great faith and spiritual power as a teacher. After attending his classes she was convinced that Bahá'u'lláh was the ttSon of Man" and the tCL rd of the Vineyard" promised by Jesus Christ, and the "Everlasting Father," the ccPrince of Peace" promised by Isaiah to come in the "latter days." She not only accepted the Bahá'í Message, but wanted others to hear the glad-tidings of the fulfillment of that great Event.
Regarding the finding and delivery of the dedication stone: according to her nurse* for three and a half years before her departure, Mrs. ToWn mentioned the following: One day while sitting alone and busy with dressmaking in the home of one of the believers, she heard a voice questioning, "Do you believe in immortality?"
She replied, ttYes I do."The voice said, "Then, get a stone." A few days later the voice again came, but louder than before, CCDO you believe in immortality?"
Again she replied, ttYes I do." And the voice said, "Get a stone."
Mrs. Tobin delayed carrying out the request. Again the voice came a third time and commanded her to obtain a stone. She began looking around and was inspired to go to a place where a building was under construction. Here the contractor, after hearing her request, told her to select any stone that she wanted.
She chose a very large one and started away with it in a small hand-drawn express wagon. About half way to the Temple site, the wagon collapsed, but a kindly milkman helped her carry the stone to the foot of the hilt on which the House of ~ tt7~gfr8 Tobin told me of the incidents mentioned and added that when 'Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in Chicago she presented Him with a bouquet of white roses and some grapefruit. He requested one of His attendants to save the seed from the latter to be planted at His borne in Haifa. She also contributed for the Shrine of the Thib on Mt. Carmel. 'Abdu'l-Bahá promised that Mrs. Tobin, with her whole family would be blessed." � Gertrude Triebwasser, nurse to Mrs. Tobin during her long illness.
Worship now stands. Two boys assisted in getting the stone to the top of the, bill.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited the Temple site in 1912, to dedicate the grounds, He saw this stone, and when a hole had been dug by representatives of many nations, He had it placed therein, and it became the object around which the ceremony of dedication of the Temple site revolved.
During the years following that Event and the building of the Temple, the stone was carefully preserved, and finally imbedded in the cement floor of the basement at the spot where 'Abdu'l-Bahá dedicated it. As one visits that sacred place and gazes at the unpolished, rough piece of natural rock and remembers its significance coupled with the greatness of the One Who blessed it by His Word and Presence, one gratefully recalls the faith and effort of the humble soul inspired to bring it there for that unique and remarkable occasion.
MISS MARY LESCHwill ever be remembered for her service to the Bahá'í Faith, especially in the vital task of publishing and distributing the literature of the Cause, during the years from 1910 to 1922, in America.
This was a service without remuneration rendered outside the time spent in earning a livelihood.
In the early days of the Faith, this service was freely given by Mr. and Mrs. Agnew, until ill health made it impossible for them to continue.
Miss Lesch graciously shouldered the labor it involved, and continued until the National Spiritual Assembly relieved her by creating a Committee to handle the ever-increasing responsibility and labor.
In 1911, the Star of the West advertised twenty-six publications of the Faith.
Some tine later an edition of The Bahá'í Proofs, by Mirza Abu'I-Fa~ll, and an American edition of Some Answered Questions, were added to the list handled by Miss Lesch.
By the year 1919 her capable management had accumulated enough funds to undertake the publication of the Addresses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, delivered in America in 1912.
The editing of this work of over fivehundred pages was entrusted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Howard MacNutt of Brooklyn, and printing and binding was done by the undersigned.
During the period of production word was received from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to name the compilation The Promulgation of Universal Peace. This was a fitting climax to a decade and more of service to the Faith, and a splendid memorial to her who rendered it. Mary Lesch was the sister of George Lesch, one of the beloved early believers, and Secretary of the
House of Spiritualityin Chicago, who died in 1918. In a Tablet to Miss Lesch, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote: "Do not grieve for thy dear brcther who has ascended from this mortal world to the eternal realm.
That drop has hastened to the limitless ocean and that wandering bird has flown to the shelter and nest of the Supreme Concourse. Thou shalt find him at the effulgent gathering in the Kingdom of Mysteries."
In response to a message reporting the passing of Mary Lesch on March 24, 1945, the Guardian cabled as follows: ttDeeply grieve passing of indefatigable, staunch pioneer of the Faith in the Day of the Covenant. The record of her services imperishable, her reward great in the
AbM Kingdom."546 THE B Mr. John Aducat, Mariton, R. D., N. J. Mr. James Agnew, Chicago,
Ill.Mrs. Deborah Alexander, New York, N. Y. Mr. Edwin C. Anderson, Kenosha, Wis.
Mrs. Daisy Ashenfelter, Toledo, 0.Mr. Adoiphe G. Bechtold, Brooklyn, N. Y. Mrs. Margaret Eeckhart, Los Angeles, Cal.
Mr. J. F. Behrens, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Mr. Julio Veve Benetez,
Jtincos, Puerto RicoMr. Achill Bippart, East Orange, N. J. Mr. Aaron Blau, Philadelphia,
Pa.Mr. Fred W. Clark, Newark, N. J. Mr. Joseph Clevenger,
New YorkMrs. Henrietta C. Cosh, New Rochelle, N. Y. Mr. Heber S. Cowman, Arlington,
Va.Mrs. Luda Dabrowski, Greenville, S. C. Mrs. Catherine DeMoure, Peoria, Ill.
Miss Adrienne deVere, Chicago, Ill.Mr. Robert Fairley, Vancouver, B. C. Mrs. Ella Federcell, Maui, T. H. Mr. Nels Flatekyal, Armstrong, B. C. Mr. Andrew D. Fleming, New York, N. Y. Mr. Renee Fooks, Montclair, N. J. Mr. Arthur Foster, Jersey City, N. J. Dr. L. T. Gilmer, Milwaukee,
Wis.Mrs. M. Grandison, Washington, D. C. Mr. Fred Gaulke, Milwaukee,
Wis.Mrs. Emily Gustin, Johnstown, N. Y. Mrs. Anna Hair, Portland,
Ore.Mr. Edward Harris, Carmichael, Sask. (1941, not previously reported) Mr. Frank Harvey, Toronto,
CanadaMrs. Albert D. Heist, Geneva, N. Y. Mrs. Arthur L. Held, Berkley,
Mich.Miss Millie B. Herrick, Binghamton. N. Y. Mr. Ernest Higman, Medford,
Mass.Mr. Lawrence Hyatt, New York, N. Y. Mr. Charles Ittncr, Oklahoma
CityMrs. Mary McKee, Brooklyn, N. Y. S/Sgt. John Mackett, Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.
Mrs. Eva Martin, NorthMrs. Kate Muzzy, Binghamton, N. Y. Mr. Andrew J. Nelson, Racine, Wis.
Mr. Gust A. Nordquist, Seattle, Wash.Jamil 1sf Th4ni, April 1910-June, 1944. Jamil I~flMni passed away in Haifa after a sudden severe illness. He was the younger son of Mirza 'AnAyatu'-11Th 11Th IsfAhAni who visited the United States many years ago and will be remembered by American and Persian pilgrims a Mrs. Judson M. Saunders, New Haven, Conn.
Mr. Augustus T. Sawyer, Fitchburg, Mass.Mrs. Rose N. Steinecke, St. Louis County, Mo. Mrs. Emma B. Stott, Los Angeles, Cal.
Mrs. Robert Sully, Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Samuel Taft, Boston,
Mass.Mrs. Carlos Van Bergen, Newark, N. J. Miss Anna E. Van Blarcum, Montclair, N. J. Mr. I. R. Van Valer, Irvington, N. J. Mrs. Gertrude H. Weeks, Portland, Ore.
Mrs. Clara Wenzel, Milwaukee,Mr. Edward Westland, Bogota, N. J. Mrs. Florence Etta White, Greenville, S. C. Mr. Charles E. Wilkes,
Urbana, OhioMr. Edward H. Young, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Gertrude Zollinger,
Toledo, OhioNational Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand, 2 Lang Road, Centennial Park, Sydney, N.S.W., AUSTRALIA.
Cable ccNtBh�':i~~ Sydney.National Spiritual Assembly of the Báb's of Egypt and S6chin, P. 0. Box 29, Faggala, Cairo, EGYPT.
Cable ttBahA'i," Cairo.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, I Victoria Street, London, S. W. I, ENGLAND.
Cable "Bahá'í ," London.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria, Care Herr Alfred Kohier, Unterturkheim (14a), Wallmerstrasse, Stuttgart, GERMANY.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, P. 0. Box 8, Poona, INDIA.
Cable National Hotel, Poona.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of lr~q, P. 0. Box 5, Baglid&d, IRAQ.
Cable "Bahá'í ," Baghd&d. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persi2, Care Zikru'llAh Khadim, Tihr~n, PERSIA.
Cable ~tRowh~ni" care Zikru'lUh Kbadirn, TihrThNational Spiritual Assembly of the Báb's of the United States and Canada, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, Ill., U. S. A. Cable "Bahá'í ," Wilmette.
International Bahá'í Bureau, 40 Grand Rue, Geneva, SWITZERLAND.
Cable t~BaM'i," Geneva.Sabri Elias, care S. Elias, P. Box 1865, Alexandria,
Egypt.Anchorage: Honor Kempton, the Book Cache, Box 1156.
ARABIA � JeddahLa Plata: Marie Kevorkian, care Sr. Barros, Calle Peru 428, Buenos Aires.
AUSTRALIA � "Adelaide, S. A.: Mr. H. Fitzner, Box 447 D. G.P.O. ]3ooleroo Centre, S. A.: Mr. D. A. Brooks, ttRockwood."
Brisbane, Queensland:Harvey, W. A.: Mrs. C. dunn, Udoc Road. Healesyille, Victoria: Miss P. Hancock, ~~Glaremont."
Melbourne, Victoria: Mrs. E. Wheeler, Box L1237, Elizabeth Street, P. 0.
Mt. Helena, W. A.: Mrs. B. A. Bunney. Perth, W. A.: Mrs. A. Miller, 73
Berwick.rsydney, N. S. Wa Mrs. L. Hutchinson-Smith, Piccadilly Arcade, Castlereagh Street.
Wollongong, N. S. Wa Mrs. D. Reid, 46 Rosemont St. Yerrinbool, N. S. W.: Mrs. M. Boltow, "Bolton
Place."Valparaiso: Care C. B. Petersen, Casilla 3200.
Page 553Bahá'ís and friends of the Faith in San Salvador, El Salvador.
The Bahá'í Community of Guatemala City, Guatemala, May, 1944.
Page 554Canton: Mr. C. S. Liu No. 56 Eu Hing Road, Shamean.
Shanghai: Mr. H. Onskouli, P. 0. Box 551.P. de Maldonado, Calle 13 No. 469. Cartagena Contratacion
~Mogotes: Gabriel SilvaSrta. Maria Cruz Palma, 18 A Norte Contigua No. 62.
ERITREA �Orl6ans: Mile. M. Gascoin, 22 Rue de la Bretonnerie
(Loiret).~Paris: Miss Edith Sanderson, 9 rue de 1' Annonciation, Paris 16 eme.
GERMANY �Berlin: Theo. Lehne, Daligow -Doberirz, Parkstr 24.
Darmstadt: Fr. Marie Schenk,Frankfurt a.m.: Fri. Ursula Muller, Sec., Waidmannstr 41.
Geislingen/Steige: HerrBahá'í social gathering, Asuncion, Paraguay, April, 1945.
Bahá'ís of San Jos6, Costa Rica.Heidelberg: Fri. Elsa M. Grossmann, 1. Sec. Neckargemund,
Friedrich Eberstr 39.Heilbronn: Fr. Marie Ott, Raabeweg. Heppenheim a.d.b.: Hans Gajus Schmidt,
Postfach 41.Kussnach: Herr U. Fr. Carl Wutemberger, K. Amt Waldshut
Baden.Leipzig: Fr. Martha Matzold, Plausigerstr 6 II links.
Lich/Oberhessen: Fr. JohannsRostock/Mecklbg.: Fr. Lieselotte Jenzch, Massmannstr 31.
Schwerin: Herr Karl Klitzing, Yungferus � sieg 21.
Seeheim a.d.b.: Herr U. Fr. Horny, Ph. Marzstr, 8.
Stockenbausen: Fr. ErnaZwickau: Fri. Else Becker, Auerbach b. Zwickau, Ernst
Thalmannstr 84.Amesbury, Wiltshire: care of Mrs. Rideout, The Cottage,
West Amesbury House.Birmingham: Mr. J. Marshall, 67 Nansen Road, Alum Rock.
Blackburn: Care of Mrs.Bloxwich: Walsall, Staffs, Mr. M. McLean, 130 Broad
Lane.Miss S. Jewell, 74 the Crescent, Healcaze; also Mrs. D. Weeks, 42 Oakwood Road, Henleaze.
Bushey, Hertfordshire:Dahaddie, Dairy, Ayrshire: Miss F. Champion, care of Mrs. Douglas Gordon.
Fishpool, Nottinghamshire:Mr. and Mrs. A. Nazar, Jalal, Nottingham Road, Larch Farm.
Hereford, Herefordshire:~ London: Miss M. Weilby, 1 Victoria St., London, S. W. I.
~Manchester: Miss AdaNorthampton: Miss J. Howes, 30 Sandiland Road, Headlands.
Norwich: Miss E. Bird, 18 Lower Clarence Rd.,Miss E. Richardson, Epworth, Fernicigh Ave., Mapperley.
Painswick, Gloucestershire:Puncknoll, nr. Dorchester, Dorset: Mr. R. St. Bark Baker, Greenleaze.
Roath Park, Cardiff: Mrs. R. Jones, 55 Albany Rd. Ruislip, Middlesex: Mrs. H. Toy; 24 King's End.
Sacriston, Co. Durham: Miss H. Strong, ModelMiss E. Eastgate, 5 Richmond Road, off Tudor Hill.
Thetford, Norfolk: Mrs. and Miss Stockley, Mundford.
'~Torquay: Mrs. Stevens,Sr. Carlos Contreras, Avenida de Los Arboles, No. 101.
HAITI � ~Port-au-Prince:Mr. C. Moll, care I. P. C. ~?Dhiyabih: Mr. Ibrahim Faraj, P. 0.
Box 5,Sotik: Mrs. T. Preston, Kapkimolwa Estate, P. 0. B. Sotik.
LEBANON �Pueblo: G. 0. Alarcon, Arda. 3, Oriete 608. Vera Cruz: Jose T. Gutierrez,
Calle Con-stitucion 2325Spiritual Assembly of the Bah4 NEW ZEALAND � 4Auckland:
Mr. P. Leadley, P. 0.Oslo: Miss Johanna Schubarth, Prof. Dali's gt. I. PALESTINE � 'Akka: The Mansion,
Baha.Jaffa: Mr. A. Ir&ni. Majdal: Mr. M. MurAd.
Samrih: Mr. H. Tabrizi.Balboa, Canal Zone: Mr. Osborne, Box K. Christobal, Canal Zone: Mr. C. E. Hamilton, P. 0. 13. 1775.
'Panama City: Miss JulieRegal, Navy 121, Box 59 F. P. o. N. Y. L. Caswell, P. 0.
PARAGUAY � '~Asuncion: Sra.Leningrad: Mrs. I. Grinevskaya, Prospect Nahimson, No. 10, log. 32.
SouTI-AFRICA �Amanzimtoti: Mrs. A. F. Carey, P. 0. South Coast,
Natal.Hobart: Miss Gretta G. Lamprill, P. 0. Box 292 C. Queenstown: Mr. E. W. Handley, P. 0. Box 16.
Woodbridge: Mrs. "C"1945-George George 0. Latimer, Chairman Allen B. McDaniel, Vice-Chairman
Horace Holicy, SecretaryOhio, Indiana, Kentucky Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin,
IowaKansas, Missouri, Nebraska Minnesota, North Dakota,
South DakotaThe Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Montevideo, Uruguay.
WASHINGTON, D. C.Members of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kingston, Jamaica, established in the closing months of the First Bahá'í Century.
Park RidgeThe first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Guayaquil, Ecuador, formed on April 20, 1945. Photographed with the members of the Assembly are the two teachers who helped in the establishment of this Bahá'í Assembly.
TEXASEast Willeston, L. I. Farmingdale, L. I. Glenwood Landing, L. I. Great Neck, L. I. Hempstead, L. I. Hempstead Gardens, L. I. Locust Manor, L. I. Lynbrook, L. I. Port Washington, L. I. Queens Village, L. I. Sea Cliff, L. I.
AuburnMAd, 4. 'Abdu'IlAh-Ab4d, 5. Hadrat-i-'Abdu'1-'A?im (Rayy), 6. KMni-AMd, 7. 9iy~-A1Ad, 8. Qulhak, 9. Tajrish, 10. Fishandak, 11. Gatihdih, 12. Sliahr-i-Qum, 13.
Dam~vand, 14. Ch&16s, 15.Karal, 16. Kh4dim-AbAd-i-B~N-Sa1m~n, 17. 'Jsmat-Ab&d-i-B&b~-Sa1m~n, 18. Zar-Mn, 19. tladiqih, 20. Miyk-AlAd, 21.
S~vih, 22. MahalUt, 23.GROUPS: 1. Misgar-Ab Ad, 2. 'Ali-Abid, 3. IsmA'il-AMd, 4. Sharif-Abid, 5. Maq-stid-ANd, 6. Jal&liyyih, 7. KamMiyyih, 8. QaI'ih-Naw, 9. Kabir-Ab&d, 10. 'Adi-AMd, ii. Muzaffariyyih, 12. SMur, 13.
ChihAr-TAqi, 14. Var~min, 15. Dilij4n, 16. Adirdn, 17. Daw TCih Sufk, 18.
Kalak, 19. Garm-Darrili, 20. Q4han-i-Qum, Qum, 21. Qa1'ih-Hasan-Kh~n, 22. Jiiqin,
23. Pishvi (TmAm-Z&IihKarkaluid, 28. Mishkin-Ab~d, 29. Lqir-AMd, 30. Mihdi-AbAd, 31. Silih-AbAd, 32. Mihr-Ab&d, 33. Kalirizak, 34. Dawlat-ANd, 35. Fath-AMd, 36. QaI'ih Sulay-m&n-Kh&ni 37. KiShak, 38. D&vt~diyyih, 39. Qal'ih SM~r, 40. R~imjin,
41. Vasmili �N~r, 42. Muhammad-Ab~d, 43. Kahr-Dash 44 Hisak, 45. Hamid~nak, 46.
Qal'ih-Murghi, 47. Jah4n-Ab~d, 48.AhmadAbAd, 49. Baha'i, SO. RuMt-Karim, 51. Haft-J6y, 52. 'Azim-ibAd, 53. lYnn, 54. Ki1~n-i-Dam~vand, 55.
Shimshak, 56. Maygiin, 57. Kan, 58. Kali-gAn,GarinsAr, 61. Uq1~n-Tappih, 62. Riid-Mm, 63. GiliyArd, 64. H~ji-AMd, 65.
Amin-Atid.Khurramiy-i-Qun-quri, 6. Dihbid, 7. Dirghuik, 8. K&shkik 9. Najaf-Ab~d-i-Sufl4, 10. Himmat-A1Ad, 11. Vazir-Ab~d, 12. Sury~n-i-Bav~n&t, GROUPS: 1. Isfand-Ab~d, 2. Baliman, 3. Chin~r, 4. SutAcl, 5. 'A1i-AbAd-i-SufU, 6. Fir&ghih, 7. 'AbbAs-Ab&d-i-IBahman, 8. 'Abbis-Abid-i-H~ji-'A1i-KMn 9 Say-d~in, 10. Munj-i-BavAnAt, 11. Siirmaq, 12. Chir-i-BavAn~t.
Page 575BAFIA'f DIRECTORY, 19 III. Disriucr: KASHAN 1. KASHAN 2 Natanz, 3.
Nash-ANd, 4. Yazdil, 5. Mashg~n, 6. VAdiqAn, 7.MAzg&n, 11. Fath-AJAd, 12. Ar&n. GROUPS: 1. Visq&naq~n-i-J~isb, 2. Ear-zuk, 3. Aby~inib, 4. Kajg&n, 5. Gir4g&n-i-J~sb, 6. Tarq, 7. Hanjan.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.1. KIRMAN, 2. Rafsanj~in, 3. Bandar-'AbbAs, 4. Sirj~n, 5. Barn, 6. An&r, 7. Rhar,
8. Hasan � Ab&d (Khurram-AMd:name given by the Master), 9. Ni.iq, 10. Khabraqti', 11. Bahá'u'lláh.
GROUPS: 1. Zarand, 2.Qaryatu'I-'Arab, 5. Langar, 6. Bahr~mjird, 7. Bift, 8. Bastak-i-Bandar-'Abb&s, 9. Minib.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.ChatrAd, B~riz, 5. Jiruft, 6. DAvaran, 7. Qan~t-i--Ghass4n, 8.
KjibbanTh, 9. Hurmuzd-Akid, 10. J6p~ir, 11. RaI?mat-AMd-i-Rafsanj~in, 12. Jinnat-Ab&d-i-Rafsanj&n, 13. 'AlL-AbAd-i-Rafsanj4n, 14. Rustam-AlAd-i-Rafsanj&n, 15. Kiihpanj, 16. Garmustij, 17. Ahmadi, 18. SarbuMn-i-Rivar, 19.
Biy~d, 20. MTh6n, 21.Kakin, 5. KuUh-Darrih, 6. IshtiMrd 7 Abliar, 8. T4kist~n (Siy&duhun), 9. Zanj&n. GROUPS: 1. Amin-AlAd, 2. Ya'qTh-AJAd, 3. ShahristAn, 4. 'Ali-Ridi-Ab&d, 5. Avaj, 6. $hin~t 7 Khurram-Darrih, 8. Biiyin, 9. Khurram-A1Ad-i-Dasht4bi, 10. Dastgirdak, 11. Mur&d-Tappih, 12.
~hutur-KMn-i-A1am~t, 13.DihkMraq~n (Adhar-Shalir), 10. Shishav~n, 11. 'Ajab Slur, 12. Mihr-AMd, 13.
Hiraw-AMd, 14. Ruvisht 15. Bunib, 16. Mar4hih, 17. .Aqiih-Dizaj, 18.
Qijil(x, 19. MiyAn-Du'~b, 20. NawrAzlh, 21. S~vujbu1agli (Mah-ATAd), 22. Rid?iyyih (UrAmiy-yih), 23. $iPhp&, 24. Khuy, .25. Vishlaq, 26. Pirkandi, 27. fvuqli, 28. Marand, 29.
ZunOz, 30. SaysAn, 31.Malik-Kandi, 4. Misligin-Slialir, 5. Qah-ram&nlii, 6. Qubaydih, 7. Kundulaj, 8.
AstamM, 9. KMmnih, 10.Hadd~dAn, 15. GirdiLq~n, 16. Kh4nMghi, 17. Q&vsh6q, 18. Qarah-$hirin, 19.
Sliaraf-Kh&nih 20. Ast~ri, 21. B~jstin-Ab~id, 22.
Hirav~n-Kha1khA1.Amir-ibid, 4. Ijusayn-Ab~d, 5. 'Izz-Abid, 6. 'Au-AMd, 7. Tharaf-Ab&d, 8. Mihdi-Ab4d-i-Rust~q, Rust~q, 9. 'Asr-Ab~d, 10. Mariyam-Ab&d, 11. K&hih-Biyiik, 12.
Khurramsh4h 13.18. Manshid, 19. Hurmuzak, 20. Marvast, 21. Dahaj, 22. Q~sim-AbAd, 23. Hasan-AMd-i-Qutb-Ab4d, 24. Ikh-Ab&d, 25. Na'im-AMd, 26. Rahmat-Abid, 27.
An~rak.Fir6z-AlAd, 3. $adr-AIAd, 4. Nusrat-Ab2, 5. Mali-xrnid-AMd, 6.
kluijat-AbAd, 7. Muham-mad-kb Ad-.i-ChThak, 8. Hasan-Ab&d-i-H6mih, 9. KMvidak, 10. Mihriz, 11.
G&vsMd, 12. Hidish, 13.Bunift-i-S&d4t, 14. Mazra'iy.-i-Siyyid-Mirz4, 15. Shahr-i-B4bak, 16.
Hidt, 17. HarTharjin, 18.1. ISFAHAN, 2. Najaf � ibAd, 3. Ardist~n, 4. ZavArih, 5. Budijin, 6. Qahfirukh 7.
Dastjird-i-Im~m-Z~dih, 8. SAmin, 9.Tir~n, 15. Mu-~ammadiyyih, 16. Kishih, 17. MAsi-AbAd, 18. Kata, 19. Kurd-i-Suil~, 20. Murgh-Chin~r 21 Shahrak, 22. Talkhib, 23.
CMdigAn, 24. Chaygin,(Qunishih), 26. N&'in, 27. ChamgurdAn, 28. Isfarj&n, 29. Shahr-i-Kurd, 30. Julfi.
GROUPS: 1. Dizaj, 2. Rustam-Ab4d, 3.Qahnaviyyih, 17. Darrih-Shiir, 18. Kutuk, 19. T&r, 20. Ghukhih,
21. MArchili-Khurt 22Muhammad-AIAd, 23. NanAd-gin, 24. KLiz&n, 25. Adirj~n, 26. Miy~in-Dasht 27 Katih-Shiir, 28. Hasan-Ab~d, 29. Namingird, 30. Nis~tr, 31. Akhurih, 32. Mubirakih, 33. Dilinaw-MubArakib.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.Jarquviyyih, 2. I14h-AMd, 3. Payk4n-i-Ast&nih, 4. Qand-Ab, 5. %ish-Jav~n, 6. Mihdi-Atnid-i-Karvan, 7. Gird~b, 8. Barjir'i, 9. Aliini.
IX. DISTRICT: FiRs12 Jahrum, 13. Firt~zi � Marv-clasht, 14. KAzir6n, 15. Lfrist~n, 16. Eay4&', 17. Qaryiy-i-Dih-Piy~lih, 18. Alirum, 19. Faqib-Masnan
20 Khurmi~j.1. HAMADAN, 2. Mirza, 3. Ti~ysargin, 4. NaNvand, 5. Amz~jird, 6. Baha, 7.
IAliIin, 8. ~usayn-Ab~id,Siri-Qamish, 13. Khush4b-i-'Ulyi ira Sufl4, 14. Uch-Tappih, 15. Jamshid-AlAd, 16, Qiziljahkand, 17.
Mirz~-His&ri. GROUPS: 1. Avarsm~n, 2.Kushg-Abid, 7. Qizi1.-Ab~d, 8. DiMr-AIAd, 9. Ukink, 10. Q~dir-Kha1aj, 11.
Q~Mq-Tappih, 12. M~niz&n, 13. Tusk, 14. Asad � Ab&d, 15. Dizaj, 16. DibdavAn, 17. Amir-ANd.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.JiirAb, 2. Qarahbul4q, 3. Shaykh-JAn, 4. GumbadTh, 5. Hamih-Kisi.
XL DISTRICT: QA'JNAT1. BIRJAND 2 SarchAli, 3. Asiy4Mn, 4. Dastjird, S KhAnik 6. Zirk.
GROUPS: 1. Mirza, 2. Bidisk, 3. Naw-firist, 4. Durukhsh 5 Ridvan, 6. Mud, 7 KMsf 8 QalTh-Kiih (Chishmih), 9. Niik, 10. Nawz&d.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.Khalaj-AbAd, 4. Gul~AygTh, 5. Sli~h-AIAd, 6. Mashhad-i-Zulf-AbAd, 7. Varq~, 8. Khumayn.
GROUPS: 1. ~Iusayn � AbAd-i-FarahAn, 2.1 RASHT 2. Bandar-i-Pahlavi, 3. LAhi-un, 4. Riadsar, 5. Shahsav~r, 6. SiyThkal, 7. Sangar, 8. B~z-Qa1'ih, 9. AsiyThar. GROUPS: 1.
Gh~iziyTh, 2. LangarAd, 3. 9iy~'bar, 4. Ri~dMr, 5. Manjil, 6. Khur-ram-Ab~d, 7. ShahristAn-Shahsav~r, 8. Miy~n-Kii-Mahallih, 9. Talih-Sad, 10. Marz-Lat, 11. Darj~n, 12. Sawma'ih-SarA, 13.
Miy~n-KiSh.~asan-Kiy&-dih, 2. Liy&k, 3. Birisih-Biir, 4. Q44i-Mahallih, 5. BAHÁ'Í 6 KhalkhAli-Mahallih, 7.
Kapiirch4l.Members of the first Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly of Peru, established in the City of Lima, April, 1944.
The first Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas, Chile, the world's southernmost city, established April, 1945.
Page 5781. AHVAZ, 2. Abid~n 3 Khurram-Sliahr (Mu1~ammarih), 4. Many~ii, 5.
SMih-Ab~d (Andimishg), 6. Saf4'iyyih.Qusbih, 4. Masjid-i-Sulaym&n, 5. Nalir � Kut, 6. Tungih, 7. BihbaMn, 8. R4mhur-muz, muz, 9. Fayliyyih, 10.
Chamtang, 11.1. KIRMANSHAH, 2. Khurram-AIAd, 3. Bur6jird, 4. Sanandaj,
5. Qasr-i-ShirinKirind, 3. SliTh-Ab~d, 4. Dinavar, 5. 1 Um-i-Pusht-i-Kt~ah, 6.
Khusrawvi, 7. Gil4n � i-Gharb, 8. 'Au-gudarz, 9. Durtid, 10. Qal'ih-Mu?affari.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.QiiclAn, 4. Shirav~n, 5. Mul?ammad-AMd-i-Darigaz, 6. Bujniird, 7. NaysMb& (Ridvan), 8. Sabzav&r (Khadd'), 9.
Turbat-i-Haydariyyih, 10. Pitraw, 11.(Khayru'1-Qur63, 20. Farim&n. GROUPS: 1. Sarakhs, 2.
Nasr-Ab~d-i-Jim, 3. TayyibAt, 4. B~kharz, 5. Isfar~'in, 6. Ma'm~ri, 7. Dastgird, 8. R~h-AbAd, 9. Sarval&yat, 10. Ma'dan, 11. Sudkharv, 12. Kushk-B~t, 13. RuNt � i-Gaz, 14.
Juvayn, 15. D&varzan, 16. Z4vih, 17.Marghz4r, 18. Iziasan-AEAd, 19. Khayr-Abid, 20. Miy~ndihi, 21. MagiPn, 22.
KThhk, 23. RawshaMvand, 24. Sur&y~tn, 25. Surund, 26. Tabas, 27. Hasan-AMd-i-Mahvil4t, 28. Fay~I-AMc1-i-Mahvi1at, 29.
K~hi~.B&jgir~n, 5. Luff-AlAd, 6. J&jarm, 7. Safi-Ab4d, 8. Ja'far-Ab~d, 9. Mihnih, 10. 'Au, 11. Furshih, 12. Sih-Qal'ih, 13. Gazin, 14. BijistTh, 15. B~ghdihiA, 16. BarakGb.
XVII. DISTRICT: SANGSAR1. SANGSAR, 2. Sliahmirz~d, 3. ShThri~d, 4. Simn~n, 5. D~mtAn, 6. FirAz-KAh.
GROUPS: 1. Aftar, 2. Chiishm 3 Abr, 4. Pindar-i-DudAngib.
XVIII. DISTRICT: SARiKafshgar-KulTh, 7. Rawshan-Thih, 8. fval, 9 Bihshahr 10.
Pul-i-Sifid, 11. Darzi-KuUh, 12. S~rii-Ku1&h. GROUPS: 1. Amrih, 2. Az~id-Gu1ih, 3. Birinjist&nak, 4. SliirgTh S Adhandih, 6. KiiMn, 7. Zir~b, 8. Tirdsh, 9. Vahij~.
ISOLATED BELIEVERS: 1.Amir-AlAd, 2. 'Issi-Sand6q, 3. AbAk-Sar, 4. Ji$ybar-i-Sari.
XIX. DISTRICT: BANDAR-I-GAZ1. BANDAR-I-GAZ, 2. Bahá'u'lláh, 3. Gurg~n (Istir-Ab~d), 4. Gunbad-QTh&.
GROUPS: 1. GumisMn, 2.1. BABUL (B~rfur6sh), 2. 'Arab-Khayl, 3. Balinamir, 4. IB~bu1sar (Bandar-i-Mashhadsar), 5. Firaydiin-Kirnir, 6. Mab-miid-AbAd, 7. Amul, 8. Kiyi-KM~.
GROUPS: 1. Diyar-KA1A, 2. TAkur-i-Niir, 3. Kap&chAl, 4. Naw-Shalir, 5. Surkhih-RtXd.
XXI. DISTRICT: ZAHIDAN1. NAYRIZ, 2. Fas~. GROUPS: 1. Dhib, 2. IsghlAn4t.
Page 579Asadu'-11&h-Zkdih 11&h-Zkdih 7. Yazd Yazd Dr.
Kay-KhusrawLOCAL SPIRITUAL ASS 1. Ahmedabad, Secretary,
Bahá'í Pan-chal, Post2. Aligarh, Secretary, Dr. M. S. IBurney, Railway
Road.4. Bangalore, Secretary, S. A. Hussain, 44 Madhavaraya Mdr. Road, Fraser Town (Rabbanian).
5. Belgaum, Secretary, P. G. Chandavar-kar, Bahá'í House, Opp. Social Club.
6. Bombay, Secretary, Kixudaraham Pay. man, p. 0. Box No.
470 (Rabbanian).7. Calcutta, Secretary, M. A. Latiff, P. 0. Box No. 8940.
8. Delhi, Secretary, Jafarali Sidiqi, Islam Nagar, Qarol
Bagh.10. Hyderabad (DN), Secretary, Au Ak-bar, 13. 0. Box No. 139.
11. Hyderabad (Sind), Secretary, H. Be-hishty, Shirazian House, School Road, Hirabad
(Rabbanian).12. Kamarhati, Secretary, Mujibar Raliman, c/o Dr. Wali Md, Balutalaya, 24, Par-ganas (Bengal).
13. Karachi, Secretary, F. J. Yazelimedi, Bahá'í
Hall, Deepchand Obja14. Kariafghanan, Secretary, Md. Hanif, P. 0. Ehattian,
Gurdaspur.15. Koihapur, Secretary, K. M. Talgeri, P. 0. Box No. 37 (Rabbanjyan).
16. Pancligani, Secretary,17. Poona, Secretary, Habibullah Behi, P. 0. Box No. 8 (Rabbanian).
1 8. Quetta, Secretary, N. Akhtar-Khawari, P. 0. Box 11 (Rabbanian).
19. Seramore, Secretary,20. Sholapur, Secretary, (Mrs.) Ruhingiz Naj jar, P. 0. Box No. 39 (Rabbanian).
21. Srinagar, Secretary, Md. Khalil, c/o Photographer Habibullab, Near Thana Shergarhi.
22. Ujjain, Secretary,23. Vellore, Secretary, A. Parthasarthy, P. 0. Box No. 16 (Rabbanian).
V Amritsar, Gulam Md. Sani, Parja St., Hathi Gate.
2. Bahá'u'lláh, Md. Husain3. Bahá'u'lláh U. P., Mr. M. I. K. Ghori, No. SR193790,
Stenography Class No.S S. T. B. 4. Baroda, Mr. Paul Samual, Ishwarlal Chawi, Pensionpura,
Camp Baroda.5. Benares, Mr. S. Ghatterjea, c/o Chatter-jee & Chatterjee,
Registered Accountants6. ]lulandshahr, Mr. Irtiza Hasain, Govt. High School.
7. Cawnpore, Faquir Md.8. Chatanali, Md. Yasin Khan, Sultanpur, Oudli.
9. Chittagong, Amirul Islam, Noormahal, Dewan Bazar.
2. Abdul Rahim Abdul Hai, Court Road, Post Satkania,
Chit-tagong.12. Hoshiarpur, Major S. H. Au, Military Hospital.
13. Igatpuri, H. Jehangir,14. Jammu, S. Karmat Au Shah, Near Fur-ani Mandi.
15. Jodhpur, A. Sidiqi, Superfine Art Decorators,
Station Road.16. Kadvai, Nuruddin Nakhwa Bliubal, Dist. Ratangiri,
Ilaghab Sangmshwar.18. Kohkand, Dr. M. A. Khan, Dera Bugti Dispensary.
19. Kotab, Mr. Gurdip Singh,22. Madras, K. Rangaswami, 15/2 Bunder St., George
Town.23. Mysore, Jamshed Mahallati, Bahá'í House, No. 44 Govt. House Road, Nazarabad.
24. Nagpur, Mr. Abdul Rahman,25. Nohar, Samiu'1-Hasan Zaidi, Station Master,
Nohar.Ishaq, B. Sc., Govt. High School, Bahawalpur State.
27. Rajkot, R. V. Doshi,29. Savanoor, Nazarali Valibhai, Merchant, Savanur, Dist. Dharwar.
30. Secunderabad, P. 0.Members of the Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly of Havana, Cuba, 19451946.
La wh-i-RiTh.Sbh and HAjI Mirza Aq&si. N. ft � The Báb Himself states in one passage of the
Persian Bay&n that HisThe titles in this section include those Bahá'í works which have been approved as authentic and reliable and which likewise are in print and available at the date this list is made. They are published and distributrd by Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilinette, Illinois.
(a) WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH Kitáb-i-iqdnEffendi. An interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures of the past to demonstrate the oneness of the Prophets and their significance as the expression of the Will of God. 198 pp. Bound in cloth $2.50
Hidden Words. Translatedby Shoghi Effendi. The essence of the teachings of all the prophets 54 pp. Bound in fabrikoid$ koid$ .60 Paper cover 25 The Seven Valleys and
The Four Valleys. Twotreatises revealed by Bahá'u'lláh on the nature of spiritual evolution.
Newtranslation 1945 by Ali-Kuli Khan, N.D. 62 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $ .75 Paper cover 50 Gleanings front the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Excerpts from the Sacred Writings of Bahá'u'lláh selected by the Guardian of the Faith. This work presents the largest volume of IBahá'u'lláh's writings avail able in the English language 354 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $2.00
Prayers and Meditations(by Bahá'u'lláh). Translated by Shoghi Effendi. This supreme book of devotions is issued in the same style as the Gleanings 348 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $2.00
Three Obligatory DailyIi&ayers. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 14 pp. Paper cover.
Per copy $ .10 Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. One of the last of the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh. Contains history and teachings.
185 pp. Bound in cloth $1.50 (b) WRITINGS OF THE Báb Address to the Letters of the Living, from Dawn-Breakers.
(c) WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁBarney. An exposition of fundamental spiritual and philosophic problems. 350 pp. Bound in cloth $1.50
Promulgation of UniversalMacNutt. Public addresses delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá throughout the United States in 1912. 492 pp.
Boundin cloth $2.50 Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Edited by Albert Windust.Intimate letters written by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in reply to questions addressed by individuals and groups.
Bound in cloth. Volumes I, II, III.(Tablet to the Committee on Durable Peace, the Hague, and Tablet written by 'Abdu'1 � BaM to the late Dr. Ford of Switzerland.)
48 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $1.00 Paper cover 50
'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York.Selected addresses delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Go-lumbia University, a number of churches, and at public meetings of peace societies. 78 pp. Paper cover $ .50
Foundations of World Unity.Teaching Tablets revealed to Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during 19161917. 51 pp. Self cover. .$ .15 Will and Testament of
'Abdu'l-Bahá. Selectedpassages from the document constituting the authority under which the Bahá'ís have, since the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921, administered their collective activities. These excerpts are accompanied by passages from the Writings of the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh which reveal the continuity of the Faith, and by passages from the communications of Shoghi Effendi explaining the significance of the Will and Testament itself.
A pamphlet, uniform in size and appearance with the series of 'World Order letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Sold in lots of ten copies only $1.00 (d) WORKS COMPILED FROM
WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH72 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $ .75 Paper cover 35
The Reality of Man52 pp. Paper cover $ .50
Ba/id'! Writings56 pp. Red paper $ .50
Bahá'í World Faithand 'Abdu'l-Bahá 466 pp. Bound in cloth $1.50
Page 587132 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $1.25 (e) WORKS COMPILED FROM WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH,
THE Báb AND 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ24 pp. Linen cover. Ten copies $1.00 (f) WORKS COMPILED FROM WRITINGS
OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH, 'ABDU'L-BAHÁSelected Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi
EffendiBound in paper. Sold oniy in set of three. Price per set. $ .25
Peace: A Divine Creation28 pp. Self cover. Ten copies $1.00 (g) WRITINGS OF SHOGHI
EFFENDIThe letters written by Shoghi Effendi to the American Bahá'í community, from January, 1922, to July, 1932, in his capacity of Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, to encourage, guide and instruct the believers in carrying out the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'L � Baha concerning the organic development of the Bahá'í community, the volume also contains excerpts from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Wilt and an Appendix consisting of the Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and ByLaws for local
Spiritual Assemblies.By Shoghi Effendi. A letter (dated February 27, 1929) from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith explaining the continuity of the Faith after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and relating Bahá'í institutions to the ideal of world order and peace. 16 pp. Paper covers Sold only in quantity. 10 copies $1.00
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:By Shoghi Effendi. This letter (dated March 21, 1930) develops the subject with remarks on the distinguishing features of Bahá'í world order, and on the essential differences between the Bahá'í Faith and ecclesiastical organizations. 16 pp. Pape'r covers. Sold only in quantities. 10 copies $1.00
The Goal of a New WorldIn this communication (dated November 28, 1931) the Guardian analyzes the existing international, political, economic and social problems, points to the signs of impending chaos, and emphasizes the guiding principles of world order established by Bahá'u'lláh. 32 pp. Paper covers. Sold oniy in quantity. 10 copies $ .50 The Golden Age of the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Byletter (dated March 21, 1932) referring to the spiritual importance of America in the new world order.
24 pp. Paper covers. Sold oniy in quantity. 10 copies. $1.00
The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.By Shoghi Effendi. A letter addressed to the Bahá'ís of the West, dated February 7, 1934. In this letter the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith clarifies, with numerous quotations from Bahá'í sacred writings, the spiritual station and.
mission of Bahá'u'lláh, the Bib, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the nature of the World
Order which Bahá'u'lláhestab lished. 66 pp. Bound in cloth 75 Bound in paper25
The Unfoldment of WorldShoghi Effendi. A letter dated March 11, 1936, giving an analysis of the death of the old order and the birth of the new.
46 pp. Paper covers $ .15This book contains the seven successive World Order letters from Shoghi Effendi, February, 1929, to March, 1936. 226 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $1.50
The Advent of Divine Jusilce.A general letter written by Shoghi Effendi to the American Baha'is, dated December 25,
Page 588Cover page of the "Unidad Mundial," monthly publication of the Bahá'ís of Costa Rica, under the supervision of the Spiritual Assembly of San Jos6.
Page 5891938. This communication emphasizes the Bahá'í teachings in the encouragement and protection of racial and religious minorities, the quality of integrity in administrative bodies, and the virtue of chastity.
78 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $ .75 Paper cover 25 Spiritual Pot en ci es of That Consecrated Spot.
This letter, from Shoghi25, 1939, conveys to the Bahá'ís of the West, the significance of the interment of members of Bahá'u'lláh Family near the Shrine on Mount Carmel.
8 pp. Self cover $ .10 Messages frcnn the Guardian.
Messages from Shoghi Effendito the American Baha'is, between the years 19321940, written in the form of cablegrams and as postscripts to letters written through his Secretary. This text has not been included in Bahá'í Administration or The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh but was published for the Bahá'ís in Bahá'í News.
80 pp. Bound in paper cover $ .20
The Promised Day Is Come.Latest letter from Shoghi Effendi. Interprets world events in the light of Bahá'í teachings and contains many passages from Bahá'u'lláh not before translated by Shoghi Effendi. 136 pp. Paper cover $ .40
God Passes By: A SurveyEffendi. 412 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $2.50 (h) WRITINGS ON THE BAHÁ'Í
FAITHby Shoghi Effendi. This work is essential to a true understanding and appreciation of the spiritual character of the Bahá'í Faith. The text was written by an eyewitness to many of the most moving incidents of the early days of the Faith, and contains a detailed account of the martyrdom of the BTh on July 9, 1850. 736 pp. Standard Edition, bound in leather, net $7.50
Translation of FrenchMcBride P&igord 84 ppBound paper $ 75
A Traveller's Narrative.Browne, M.A., M.B. The Episode of the Rib written by a contemporary Persian scholar, the manuscript having been presented to the translator by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Printed from the original plates by Cambridge University
Press.178pp. Boundincloth $2.50 Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. By J. E. Es-slemont.
An authoritative and comprehensive survey of Bahá'í history and teachings as related to present religious, scientific and social conditions in Europe and America, with many quotations from the writings. New edition revised by the National Spiritual Assembly under the direction of Shoghi Effendi 350 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $ .75 Paper cover 50
The Promise of All Ages.The author traces the true spiritual content of religion through the Dispensations of the past, to culminate in the World Order revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. Originally published in London,
England.American edition, 254 pp Bound in cloth$1.50 The Heart of the Gospel.
By George Towns-hend.The author of The Promise of All Ages has in this new work reverently examined the New Testament as the Gos-pci of one Revelation in the series of Revelations which mark man's progress along the path. Bound in fabrikoid.
188in the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh developed by ten different contributors to a symposium published in World Order Magazine.
68 pp. Paper cover $ .25Lessons prepared especially for children by a Persian Bahá'í teacher. 98 pp. Paper cover $ .75
Page 590By Virgie Vail. A book dealing with prophecy referring to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Bound in dark blue fabrikoid stamped in gold. 262 pp., per copy, $1.50 Appreciations of the Bábd'i
Faith66 pp. Paper cover. Five copies $ .75
Security for a Failing134 pp. Paper cover $ .90
The Bahá'í Centenary 18441944254 pp. Bound in fabrikoid $2.00 (i) BAHÁ'Í REPRINTS The following titles provide reprints of some of the passages in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi which throw clear light on important current problems and situations.
No. 1. The Image of God.Baha. Address delivered at the Fourth Annual Conference of the
National AssociationPeople. Chicago, April 30, 1912. 4 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $1.50 No. 2. Christians, Jews and Muijainmadans. By
'Abdu'l-Bahá. ExcerptsBy 'Abdu'l-Bahá. An answer to a question addressed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Laura Clifford Barney in 1907 and incorporated into the work published under title of Some Answered Questions.
8 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00 No. 4. Religion a Living Organism. By Shoghi Effendi.
Excerpts from a letter addressed to the Bahá'ís of the West by the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith on March 21, 1930. 8 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00 No. 5. A Pattern for Future Society. By Shoghi Effendi.
Excerpt from a letter addressed to the Bahá'ís of the West by the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith on March 11, 1936. 4 pp. Self coven 100 copies $1.50 No. 6. The Destiny of America. By Shoghi Effendi.
Excerpt from The Adventof Divine Justice, a communication from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, addressed to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, dated December 25, 1938. 8 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00 (j) PAMPHLETS
The World Religion8 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $1.00 The World Moves On to
Its Destiny4 pp. 100 copies $ .50 A World Survey, The Ba/id'!
Faith12 pp. Self cover. 100 copies � $1.50 � $2.00
The Bahá'í Faith14 pp. Self cover. 25 copies $1.00 Babd'i Teachings for a
World Faith 16 pp. Paper8 pp. 100 copies $1.00 The Victory of the Spirit
By Dorothy Baker32 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00 The Bahá'í Principle of
Civilization28 pp. Self cover. 100 copies...... $2~OO The Lesser and the Most
Great Peace32 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00 The Bahá'í Te'm pie House of Worship of a
World Faith36 pp. Self cover, lO copies $1.00
The Bahá'í Temple16 pp. Self cover, lO copies $ .50
The Bahá'í Movement48 pp. Paper cover, lO copies $1.00
Declaration of Trust20 pp. Paper cover. lO copies $1.00
The Oneness of Mankind24 pp. Self cover. 100 copies. $2.00
The Manifestation32 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $1.50 Religion and the New
Age24 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00
Prophecy Fulfilled32 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00
The Dawn of World Civilization4 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $1.50
Religion Returns28 pp. Self cover. 100 copies $2.00
Feast Day and Anniversary4pp. lOOcards$1.00 25 cards SO (k) OUTLINES AND GUIDES
FOR BAHÁ'Í STUDY CLASSES8 pp. Self cover, Per copy $
Bahá'í ProcedureRevised edition 1942, 116 pp. Paper cover $ .75
Bahá'í Study Co'urse36 lessons. 40 pp. Paper cover $ .50 Study &utline for the Kit db-i-iqdn (Bahá'u'lláh's Book of
Certitude)Revised edition 1942, 6 pp $ .20 Study Guide for the Dawn-Breakers ~ pp. Paper cover 25
Study Outline on Public26 pp. Paper cover $ .35 Introduction to the Study of the Qur'an
Prepared by Study OutlineNo. 80 to No. 104, 25 pp. Paper cover $ .35
Deepening the Spiritual.10. 70 pp. Paper cover $ .50
Page 592Course of Study Based on Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era
Prepared by Mrs. Gertrude18 pp. Paper cover $ .25
The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh � A8 pp. Paper cover $ .15
Information About the Baha'i20 pp. Paper cover $ .25 Muhammad and the Founding of Isldm Prepared by the Study Outline
Committee53 pp. Paper cover $ .60 Introduction to the Ba/ni'!
Teachings A Ten-Lessonand the New Era, price with books $ .75
Study Outline � God Passes4 pp. Paper cover $ .10
Training for Bahá'í Teaching8 pp. Paper cover $ .15
(1) CHILDREN'S COURSESFifteen lessons. With pictures $ .20
To Live the LifeTwenty-four lessons for children of six to ten $.35
Comprehensive Study Outlinefor Children Twenty-five lessons. For children in intermediate and upper grades. Paper cover $ .50
Child's Prayer Book36 pp. Self cover $ .15
Study Course for Bahá'u'lláh36 pp. Paper cover $ .50 Manual of Suggestions for
Organizing a5 pp. Paper cover $ .15
A Bahá'í Child's A B C29 pp. Bound heavy red paper $ .75 (in) BAHÁ'Í LITERATURE
INPaper cover. $1.50 La Sabiduria de 'Abdu'l-Bahá (The Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá). Paper cover $ .50 La Dispensacion de Bahá'u'lláh (The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh). Paper cover $ .75
French(Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era). Paper cover $ .75 Le Vrai Bahá'í (What is a Bahá'í from chapter V of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era). Papercover $ .25
Les Paroles Cachdes (ThePaper cover $ .35 L'tconomie Mondiale de Bahá'u'lláh by
Horace Holley (World Economyof Bahá'u'lláh). Self cover $ .10
ChineseTijdperk (Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era). Paper cover $ .50
EsperantoParolado de Mb (Words of the Báb addressed to the Letters of the Living). Four-page leaflet. Self cover.
30 copies $1.00and the New Era).Bound in cloth. $1.00 Paper cover $ .75
Russianunder the direction of Shoghi Effendi. Bound in cloth.
Volume I, for the period April, 1925 � April, 1926.
Published under-the title of "Bahá'í Year Book." 174 pp., net $ .75 Volume II, April, 1926 � April, 1928. 304 pp., net $1.50 Volume III, April, 1928 � April, 1930. 378 pp., net$2.50 Volume IV, April, 1930 � April, 1932. 548 pp., net $2.50 Volume V, April; 1932 � April, 1934. 712 pp., net $2.50 VoLume VI, April, 1934 � April, 1936. 772 pp., net $3.00 Volume VII, April, 1936 � April, 1938. 892 pp., net $3.00 Volume VIII, April, 1938 � April, 1940.
1040 pp., net $5.00 Volume IX, April, 1940 � April, 1944, four years, 1036 pp., net $10.00
World Order MagazinePublished monthly, the public organ of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís df the United
States and Canada.Bound volumes, net $2.00 Volumes I to X available.
Star of the West andSingle copies at special price per copy while available$ .10 Volt I to XH � 1 9 issues per volume.
Vols. XIII to XXV � 1 2(a) WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH Book of Ighan, The. Translated by Ali-Kuli Khan. Superseded by Shoghi Effen � di's translation entitled Kitáb-i-lqdn or Book of Certitude.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Translated byKinib-i-'Ahd, Lawlj-i-.Aqdas). 27 pp. Post Svo., ~� x 71/2.
Bound in paper.by 'Ali � Kuli-KhAn. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago.
Superseded by a new translation.Source of Spiritual Qualities, The. Four-page leaflet.
Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1924.from the Arabic by An;un IjaddiQ. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1900.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh.(b) WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy (com-piled by Isabel F. Chamberlain). Tudor Press, Boston, 1916.
'Abdu'l-Bahá in London, edited by Eric Hammond.A record of public and private addresses delivered in 1911. 134 pp. Post Svo., S x 7%. Paper binding.
Definition of Love, byD. Storey. A charmingly bound book, compiled from the words of 'Abdu'1-
Page 594594 Bah~. 96 pp., 16 mo., 43,74 x 6. Bound in white parchment stamped in gold. Also bound in paper.
Letter from St. Jean D'Acre, A. The Unity Press, 19O~.
Thetter of Love" from 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas to the Beloved in America. Bahá'í Publishing Society, 1902.
Letter and Tablet to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace: The Hague. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1920. Now included in The
Bahá'í Peace Program.Letters to the Friends in Persia. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, January 21, 1906.
Mysterious Forces of Civilization.A work addressed to the people of Persia nearly forty years ago to show the way to true progress. 132 pp. Royal 8vo., 63/4 x 9'/2. Bound in black cloth.
Prayers and Tablets. 1906.Compiled from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í public addresses in America.
Superseded by Revisedof 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The. Four-page leaflet. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1924.
Strikes, a supplement toby 'A1i-Ku1i-Kh~n. Cambridge, Mass., January 3, 1906.
Tablet to the Beloved of God of the Occident. Translated by Alimad I~fTh~ni (A1~imad Sohr~b), Washington, D. C., September 8, 1906.
Tablet to the East andI~f6.h~ni (Alimad Sohr~b). The Bahá'í Assembly of Washington, D.C. Tab1~ts by 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas to the House of Justice of Chicago, to the Ladies' Assembly of Teachiug, and others.
Tablets Containing Instructions.Translated by M. A. E. Washington, D. C., August 29, 1906.
Tablets Containing GeneralTablets from 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas to E. E. Wrestling Brewster. Bahá'í Publishing Society, 1902.
Unveiling of the DivineTranslated by 'Ali-Kuli Kh~n. Bahá'í Board of Council, New York, 1901.
Wisdom Talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.by Horace Hol-ley, Brentano's, New York, 1923. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, New York, 1929.
Bahá'í Prayers. The Bib, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 210 pp. 16 mo., 33/4 x 6.
Bound in blue cloth and also bound in blue paper. 1929.
Bahá'í Prayers by Bahá'u'lláhand 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 16 pp., 3'2 x 5. Gray paper cover.
Prayers, Tablets, Instructions, etc., gath~ ered by American visitors in 'Akka, 1900.
Prayers Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.Containing also prayers revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 108 pp., 3 x 5�2' Black paper cover.
Page 595revealed by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 34 pp. Paper cover.
Prayers Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, The Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, translated by Shoghi Effendi.
24 pp., pocket size, linen cover.and 'Ab � du'1-Bahd. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Boston, 1923.
Bahá'í Calendar. Dailyexcerpts from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Privately printed in Honolulu, New York and other cities.
Bahá'í Calendar compiled from the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 1916.
Bahá'í Calendar f6r 1932.Compilation No. 9. Available in different languages.
Compilation of UtterancesA compilation of the Utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Mariam Haney and Louis Gregory, to assist the progress of interracial amity, 1927.
Life Eternal. CompiledA compilation of passages on nature from Bahá'í Sacred Writings and from the Bible, selected by Frances Esty. Bound in colored linen.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh(the complete letters to October 18, 1927, are included in Bahá'í
Administration). Bahá'í(e) BOOKS ABOUT THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH Bahá'í Revelation, The, by Thornton Chase. This book contains a most excellent compilation of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, gathered from various translations and arranged so as to be consecutive as to subjects.
182 pp. Crown Svo., 5~/~ x 8. Bound in green cloth.
Bahd'iisrn � the Modern SocialReligion, by Horace Holley, Mitchell Kennerley, New York, 1913.
Coming of the Glory, byPinchon. An interesting narrative giving the spirit and the principles of the Bahá'í Movement. 144 pp., Post 8vo., 41/2 x 6 ~. Bound in blue cloth.
Do'a: The Call to Prayer, by Ruth Ellis Moffatt.A study of the mystical science of prayer and meditation, with a compilation of prayers chosen from a number of religions.
126 pp. Bound in paper.Life and Teachings of 'Abbas Effendi, The, by Myron H. Phelps. Published by Putnam & Sons.
Mysficism and the Bahá'íMessage, The, by Nathan Ward Fitzgerald. Ta. coma, 1905.
Page 59659 Oriental Rose, The, by Mary Hanford Ford. A vivid presentation of historical aspects of the Bahá'í Movement. 214 pp. Post Svo.,
512 x 734. Bound in blue cloth.Portals to Freedom, by Howard Ives. 266 pp. Bound in cloth.
My Pilgrimage to the Land of Desire, by Marie A. 'Matson.
Social Principles, The, by Horace Holley. Laurence J. Gomme, New York, 1915.
Truth of It, The, by ArthurHerrick. 226 pp. Royal 8vo., 6'/2 x 9. Bound in red cloth.
Whence Comes the Light?in America, from the diary of Juliet Thompson. 40 pp. Printed by The Roycrofters.
Paper cover.Booklets. S Nos. Translated by Ahmad Sohr~b. Seattle, 1921.
Addresses delivered before the New York and Chicago Assemblies, by 'Abdu'1-Karim Effendi. Translated by
Ahmad SohrTh. Persian-AmericanStates Government pamphlet showing the registration of the Bahá'ís as an organized religious body.
Bahá'í Faith, The, by a Methodist Layman, questions and answers suggested by personal experience.
Bahá'í Congress, April29-May 2, 1916, a combination program and compilation, Chicago,
Ill.Bahá'í Hymns and Poems, by Louise R. Waite. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1904, New York, 1927.
Bahá'í Message. CompiledBahá'í House of Worship, The. A brief description of the Bahá'í Temple at Wil-mette, Illinois.
Illustrated. 8 pp. Bahá'í Hymnal, words and music by Louise R. Waite.
Paper.Bahá'í Mart yrd orns in Persia in the Year 1903 A. D., by klaii Mirza.
Ijaydr-'Ali. Translatedby Yinis Khin. Baha Pub-lisbing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Bahá'í Movement, The.Articles originally published in Vedic Magazine of
Lahore.BAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPHY Bahá'í Movement, The:
Its Spiritual Dynamic, by Albert Vail, reprint of a magazine article.
Bahá'í Movement, The.A pamphlet outlining the history and aims of the Cause.
Bahá'í Movement in ItsBahá'í Persecutions in Persia, reprint of letter written to the SMh of
Persia, Ri4iShTh Pahiavi, July, 1926, by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Bahá'í Religion, The, a reprint of the two Bahá'í papers presented at the
Conference on Some LivingReligions within the British Empire. Paper, 24 pp. Bahá'í Revelation and Reconstruction, The, by
Charles Mason Remey.Mason Remey. (Seven bound pamphlets.) Washington, D. C., 1917.
Bahá'u'lláh and His Message, by J. F. Essle-mont, briefly outlining the spiritual message of the New Day.
Before Abraham Was I Am, by Thornton Chase, an explanation of the Station of the Prophet.
Bird's Eye View of the World in the Year 2000, a reprint of article by Orrol Harper in The
Bahá'í Magazine.Brilliant Proof, The, by Mirza Abu'1-Fadl of Gulp6yigAn, a refutation of an attack on the Cause by a Protestant missionary. Contains both English and Persian text.
Call of God, The, by George Latimer, the significance of the return of the
Messenger.Coin pilation, No. 9, available in: English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Hungarian, Yiddish.
Miss Josephine Kruka, Cuba, and members of family of Bahá'í teacher in the first
A1I-Bahá'í Cuba.of the Bahá'í Movement, by Charles Mason Remey. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1917.
Daily Lessons ReceivedDawn of Knowledge and the Most Great Peace, by Paul Kingston Dealy.
The Bahá'í Cause and ancient prophecy.by AI3mad Sohdb. Persian-American Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 1924.
First Obligation, The, by Lady Blomfield.Flowers Culled from the Rose Garden of 'A/id by Three Pilgrims in 1908.
From the World's GreatestGreen Acre, a reprint of articles published in The
Bahá'í Magazine.Hymns of Peace and Praise, by Louise R. Waite. Chicago, 1910.
In Spirit and in Truth, by A. S. Agnew.F. Kappes and Dr. Sarah Clock), by Dr. Susan I. Moody, Union Press, Camp
Karachi.Chase. An interesting account of a visit to Haifa in 1907.
Knowing God Through Love, by Abu'1-Fa4l. Farewell address. ]lah&'i Assembly, Washington.
Hornoculture, by StanwoodLetters written on behalf of the reFriends~~ of IsJdhdn, Persia, to the American Believers, by Mirza 'Abdu'1-~usayn.
Light of the World, by a group of Pilgrims. The Tudor Press, Boston, 1920.
Martinists' Report, by M. Gabriel Sasi. An address concerning the Bahá'í Religion delivered at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
Mart yrdorns in Persia in 1903, by IjiAji Mirza ~aydar-'A1i, relating the circumstances in which seventy Persian Bahá'ís were martyred.
Map Showing Travels of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh.Maxims of Bahd'iisin, by Antun Haddid. Board of Council, New York.
Message of the Kingdom of God, The, by James F. Brittingham. 1907.
Message from 'AIZIZd, AntunNotes Taken at 'Akka, by Corinne True. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Observations of a Bahá'íValue, by Mamie Seto. Republished under title The Spirit nal Meaning of Adversity.
Races of Men � Many or One, The, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. 40 pp., paper cover.
Rays from the Sun of Truth,BAHÁ'Í Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, The, Isabella D. Brittingham.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1902.Spirit of World Unity, The, selections from words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America on religious, racial and scientific subjects.
24 pp. Paper cover.of the Bahá'ís of the United States a;sd Canada, selections from words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The
National Spiritual Assembly.Table Talks at 'Akka, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas, by Arthur S. Agnew. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Table Talks with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Mr. and Mrs. George
Winterburn. Bahá'í Publishingto the Mountain of God, by Charles Mason Remey. Private printing.
TThe Gardener, The (from notes by L.H. C.B.). Rangoon Standard Press, 1930.
Ten Days in the Light of 'Akka, by Julia M. Grundy. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Twelve artkles introductory to the study of the Bahá'í teachings, by Charles
Mason Remey.Persian-American Bulletin, Wash -ington, D. C., 1912.
Utterances of Two YoungViews of Haifa, 'Akka, Mt. Cannel and Other Places.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago.in 1899, by Margaret B. Peake. Grier Press, Chicago, 1911.
What Is a Bahá'í by Dr.J. E. Esslemont. American edition published by Louis Bourgeois, Chicago, 1921.
What Is the Bahá'í Faith?A brief explanation by the late Dr. J. E. Esslemont, author of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era." Available in many languages.
What Went Ye Out For to See? by Thornton Chase, a letter written in reply to an inquiry from a Christian.
Whence?World Economy of Bahá'u'lláh, The, by 1-brace Holley.
Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1931. The Bahá'í explanation of current world depression and unrest. 32 pp. Paper cover.
(g) OUTLINES AND GUIDESfor Children. A series of thirty-six lessons in four sections, for teachers holding Bahá'í study and discussion classes for children.
Bahá'í Teachings ConcerningChrist. Compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee, 19281929.
Bahá'í Teachings on Economics.A compilation prepared by the National Teaching Committee. 16 pp.
God and His ManifestationsOutlines for Study of Scriptures, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Bahá'í classes and meetings, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. Mimeographed.
Questions and Topics for Discussion in Bahá'í classes and meetings, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. Mimeographed.
Study of Outlines of Science, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National
Bahá'í Teaching Committee.Administration. 28 pp. Twenty Lessons in the Bczhd'i Revelation. A valuable supplement to the Bahá'í Study Course and for the individual research of advanced Baha students.
Conditions of Existence, Servitude, Pro phet-hood, Deity. Compiled by Einogene Hoagg.
Children's Course in Baha'iTitles in this list are now in print and have been approved by an official Ba/ad'! body.
Those 'marked rppp~ are p-ubllshed by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust, I Victoria St., London, S. W. I. (a) WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, The. (See list 3.) B.P.T., 1944.
(b) WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁpublished in the British Isles under the title Talks by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Given in Paris.Unfoldment of World Civilization, The. (See list 3.) B.P.T., 1943.
(e) WRITINGS ON THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, by J. E. Esslemont.
New edition with slight modification and new translations. (See list 3.)
Gee. AlIen and Unwin, 1939.Centenary of a World Faith, The. A short history of the Bahá'í Faith issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Great Britain on the occasion of the Centenary of the Declaration by the
Báb of His Mission. WithKji~Anum). A rich compilation of episodes in various periods of the history of the Faith. The life stories of members of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í family, as related to Lady Blomfield; 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í visit to Paris and London; documents from the officials concerned relating to the intervention of the British Government in 19 17, to forestall the impending threat of crucifixion. B.P.T., 1940.
Drtnna of the Kingdom, The, by Parvine (Mrs. Basil Hall). A play based on a plot outlined by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Weradale Press, 1933.
Heart of the Gospel, The, by George Towns-hend.A restatement of the Bible in terms of modern thought and need. Lindsay Drummond, 1939.
Page 601BAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPHY 6 Portals to Freedom, by
Howard Colby Ives. (SeeOriginally published under the pen name of ~Christophi1." New edition. Lindsay Drummond, 1939.
Security for a FailingThe Renewal of Civiliz~ition, by David Hof-inan, 1945.
(f) BAHÁ'Í LITERArUREAbdu'l-Bahá � A Study of a Chr~st1ike Character, by George Townslien& Re � printed from the Church of Ireland Gazette.
Bahá'í Faith, The. An introductory booklet.Commentary on the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, A, by David Hofrnan. George Ronald, 1943.
Guide to the Administrative Order, A, by H. M. Baha'i. A brief and simple outline of the origin, principles and institutions of the Administrative Order.
B.P.T., 1941.Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, The � A commentary, by
George Townshend.Message of Bahá'u'lláh, The. A considerably revised edition of Bahá'u'lláh and H~s Message, by J. E. Esslernont.
Some Bahá'í Prayers.Designed for use equally by Bahá'ís and sympathizers of the Faith. B.P.T., 1945.
Some Special Bahá'í Pryers and Tablets. Containing the Obligatory Prayers and oLhers of interest chiefly to Baha'is.
Bahá'í Faith, The. An introductory booklet.(a) WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London, edited by Eric Hammond.
(See list 3A.)Letter from St. Jean L"Acre, A. The Unity Press, 1906.
Mysterious Forces of Civilization, The. (Sec list 3A.) Cope and Fenwick, 1910.
Traveller's Narrative, A. Translated by E. G. Browne. (See list 3.)
Cambridge University Press, 1891.Bahá'í Revelation, The, by Mrs. Scaramucci. The Priory Press, 1911.
Brief Account of the Bahá'í Movement, A, by Ethel J. Rosenberg. The Priory Press, 1911.
Brief Sketch of Bahd'iism, A, by Ethel J. Rosenberg, 1905.
Page 602Members of the Bahá'í Community of Santiago, Chile, 1944.
First Obligation, The, by Lady Blomfield. 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the ~Save the Children Eund."
Living Religions and the Bahá'í Movement, by Dr.Reading of the Hands of His Excellency 'Abdu'l-Bahá, A, by C. W. Child. Reprinted from ~The International
Psychic Gazette." Theof the Bahá'í Teaching, by George G. Andr6. Supplement to ~The Christian Commonwealth," June 25th, 1913.
Story 'of the Bahá'í Movement, The, by Sydney Sprague.
The Priory Press, 1907.Universal Religion, The, by E. T. Hall. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, 1927.
What Is a Baha'i, by J. E. Esslemont. A reprint of chapter three of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era." Kenneth Mackenzie, 1919.
Wise Man from the East, A, by Felicia R. Scatcherd.
The Unity Press, 1912.(c) BOOKS ABOUT THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH Abdu'1 � Baha in Egypt, by Ahmad Sohr~b. Rider and
Co.Ba! "i Da uin � Manc/oester, The, the beginning of the Bahá'í Cause in
Manchester. ManchesterLife and Teachings of 'Abbas Effendi, The, by Myron H. Phelps. Putnam, 1904.
Reconciliation of Racesand Religions, The, by T. K. Cheyne. Adams and Charles Black, 1914.
Religions of the Empire, edited by W. Loftus Hare.
Addresses delivered by rcpresenta-tives of the several religions invited to participate in the Conference on
Some Living ReligionsUniversal Religian: Bahd'iism, The, by Hip-polyte Dreyfus.
(See list 3A.)Year with the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, A, by Sydney Sprague. The Priory Press, 1908.
Splendor of God, The, compiled by Eric Hammond, "The Wisdom of the East Series," John Murray, 1909.
The Corning of the Glory, by Florence E. Pinchon.(Publications in other languages spoken in India, Burma and Ceylon listed elsewhere under name of language)
Bahá'u'lláh and The~K/laat the Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty, by Martha L. Root.
The Goal of a New WorldBahá'u'lláh et 1'Lre nouvelle. Le Baydn Arabe, traduit Gen~ve, 1932. par A. L. M. Nico-las.
Du Re~gne de Dieu a de Librairie Ernest Leroux, l'Agneau, par Gabriel Paris.
Sacy. 12 Juin, 1902 (brochure).Le Baydn Persan, traduit Essai sur le Bahd'iisme, par A. L. M. Nico-las.
son Histoire, sa Por-Me Librairie Gcuthner, Paris.
sociale, par Hippolyte 4 volumes: Dreyfus. 2&me ~dition. 1911 ~ 1914.
Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1934. Le But d'nn Nonvel Ordre Mondial, kttre de Shoghi Effendi. Traduction de
Uon604 THE BAHÁ'Í W Karakeya. Librairie Ernest
Leroux, Paris, 1936 (brochure).de Bahá'u'lláh, par Horace Holley. Traduction de Gabriel des lions. 2~me 6dition. Paris, 1936 (brochure).
Le Livre des Sept Preuves, translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, Paris, 1902.
Le Mcwhreqou'l-Azlzar, d'Achqabad, par HippolyteL'Apitre au This dii Loup, par Bahá'u'lláh. Traduction fran~aise par Hippolyte
Dreyfus. Librairie ErnestGleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (manuscript).
Les Lefons A Saint-Jean:~Les Pr6ce fifes du Ba/od'iisine, traduit par H. Dreyfus et H. Chirazi. 1906.
Le VraJ Baha'i. Le cinquiaineand The New Era. Traduc-tion par Edward Roscoe Mathews (bro-chure).
L'Oeuvre de Bahá'u'lláh, traduction fran-~aise par Hippolyte Dreyf us: Tome I: La tr~s sainte Tablette. � Les
Parolescach6es. � Les Sept Valides dii Voyage vers Dieu. � La Lettre sur le
Bay~tn. Tome II:Tablette de Bahá'u'lláh, 6crite ~ Adrianople pour ian des Croyants de Qazvin (bro-chure).
Trois Lettres d des Persans, par 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Juin-Juillet, 1907 (brochure).
Vers l'Apogde de Ia Race Huinaine, lettre de Shoghi Effendi traduite de 1'anglais.
Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1936 (brochure).Baha at various times, taken from Paris Talks and other sources. 1925. Florence.
Bahá'u'lláh e Ia Nuova Era. Translation of J. E. Esslemont's book.
Che Cosa e ii Movimento Bahá'í (Leaflet.) Parole 1/el ate (Hidden Words). Florence, Discorsi di 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Paris Talks). 1926.
I Principti Baha'i. Booklet translation of the Some Answered Questions (in preparation).
Bahá'í Principles as given by 'ABDU'L-BAHÁAlegineene Beginselen der Bahá'í Beweging. Pamphlets and Leaflets in Dutch Taal pub-Amsterdam, m, 1914. lished in Pretoria, S. A. Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Rotterdam, Kitáb-i-Iqdn. Rotterdam, 1937.
1933.Do Verborgen Woorden (Hidden Words), See also "Publications in North America.~~ Rotterdam, 1932.
Page 605Bahá'u'lláh ag hans Budskab (Bahá'u'lláh and Vhs Message), by J. B. Esslemont. Translated ed into Danish by Johanne Sbrensen.
Copenhagen. December, 1926.1-Ivad er Bahá'í Bevagelsen? (What is the Bahá'í Movement?), by J. E. Esslemont.
Translated into Danish by Johanne S6ren-sen.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Nyt Nor-Kitáb.-i-Iqdn (manuscript).
disk Forlag. Copenhagen, 1932. Hidden Words (in manuscript).
10.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, 1932. Kitáb-i-iqdn. Helsingfors, 1936.
What Is the Bahá'í Faith?Algumas Per guntas Respondidas, por 'Abdu'l-Bahá (manuscript).
Discursos em Paris, por 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Pars, 1923.A Religido M-undial, por Shoghi Effendi (pamphlet).
Rio de Janeiro, 1940.(pamphlet, 9). Some Answered Questions (in preparation).
12.F jaW Ti! Fshehura (Hidden Words), New Kitáb-i--Iqdn, Tiran~, 1932.
York.Detyrat e Domosdoshe Besnikvet Baha'i, 1932. Libri i Bes~s, Tiran~, 1932.
Page 606BAHÁ'Í PUBLICATIONS IN ESP Bahá'u'lláh: Ka&itaj vortoj, ella perso lingvo tradukis lutfu'llAh S. Hakim, John E. Esslemont, London, I3rita Esperantista Asocio, jaro ne indikata, 80, 39 pp~ Ka&itaj vorto], ci 'a angla lingvo tradukis Vasily J. Erosenko, Japanujo, loko kaj jaro ne indilkataj, 80, 23 pp.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Baha (Bahaaj!)instruoj, loko kaj jaro ne indikataj, 80, 16 pp. Kompilajo, vortoj de Bahá'u'lláh kaj 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Wandsbek, Germany, Babaa Esperanto-Eldonejo, jaro ne indikata, 8~, 16 pp. Esslemont, Dr. J. E.: Bahá'u'lláh ka) hi nova epoizo, el 'a angla originalo tradukita de Lidja Zamenhof,
Weinheim (Germany), Baha'iLa lumo de Ia Ba-haja (bahaa!) rivelajo, London, Brita Es-perantista Asocia, 1919, go, 28 pp. Bahá'u'lláh kaj Lia Misio,
Hamburg, Esperanto Komitatode Ia Baha Movado. 1926, ~O, 22 pp. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: La esenco de la Bahaismo, Wandsbek, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1929, 8~, 8 pp. Historfo, instruoj kaj valoro de hi Bahd'i-movado.
Hamburg, Esperanto Komitato de 'a Bahaa-movado, 1925, 80, 8 pp. Kliemke, Dr. Ernst: Bahaismo ka] politiko, la stata idealo lai% la instruoj de Bahá'u'lláh, Wandsbek, Germany, Baha Esper-anto-Eldonejo, 1929, 8~, 8 pp.
Miihlschlegel, Adelbert:sala Kongresa de Esperanto en Genevo, Stuttgart, 1925, go, 4 pp.
Root, Martha: Bahaajsciencaj pruvoj de vivo post inorto. Praha, 1927, 80, 7 pp� Bahaaj pruvo] di vivo post mono, Wands-bek, Germany, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1928, ~a, ~ pp. S.S.: La Historio de l'Bahaj'a (Baha!) Mo-vado, Universala Fido, esperantigita de William W. Mann, London, the Priory Press, 1907, 8~, 24 pp. Lidja Zamenhof: Homo, Dio, Prof do, Wein-heim,.
Baha Esperanto-Eldonelo, 193 1, 8~, 8 pp. Kio estas La Baha movado?
Genf. 1925, go, 8 pp. Kio estas hi Baha movado?Wandsbek, jaro ne indikata, go, 4 pp. La Nova Tago. La interns-wia bahaa esper-anto-gazeto.
Weinheim (Germany),Answered Questions (in manuscript). Dawn-Breakers,
The. Translated by RoanU. Orloff (in manuscript). Parolado de Báb (Words of the B~b addressed to the Letters of the Living). For information on German and Esperanto Bahá'í literature and magazines please address Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Neckarge-miind b/Heidelberg, Gbringstr. 37. Germany.
14.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Bahá'u'lláh, by Isabel Era. Printed in Latvia, Grinevskaya. Leningrad, 1930. 1912.
Bah'iyyat, by M. Blanovsky.Lessons in Religion, by Moscow, 1914. Hidden Words $haykh Muhammad of Bahá'u'lláh. Riga, 1934.
Page 607Talk of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York. 'Ishqabad, 1922.
Tablet to the Hague, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. London, 1922.
No. 9. (Compilation.)New York, N. Y. Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ed. A. H. Tumansky, M6-moires de 1'Academie Imp6riale de St. Petersburg 1899 VIII seric vol. III, No. 6.
Works of Bahá'u'lláh, ed. A. H. Tumansky, St. Petersburg, 1892.
Some Answered QuestionsBahá'u'lláh: Tablelt von Ishrdqdt, Tablett von Tardzdt, Work des Paradieses, Tab-left von TajallAydi,
Frolr Botschaften. Ausdem Englischen von A. Braun und E. Ruoff. Stuttgart,
Selbstvcrlag der Bahi'i-Vereinigung.Uebersetzung von 'Ali-Kuli Khan, Deutsch von W. Herrigel.
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah~'i-Bundes, 1921, go, 123 p. Bahá'u'lláh: Verbor gene Work, Worte der W/eislxit und Gebete. Nach der
Engli-schen von A. Braunand E. Ruoff. Stuttgart, Verlag der Bah&'i-Vereinigung, 1916, 8~, 104 p. Bahá'u'lláh: Verbor gene
Worte, Worte der Weisheitvon Shoghi Effendi, Deutsch von Alice Schwarz und W. Her-rigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah&'i-Bundes, 1924, 8~, 109 p. Bahá'u'lláh: Das heilige Tablett, geoffenbart in
Eatd&d. Aus dem Englischenvon W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung, 1911, s~, 8 p.
Bahá'u'lláh: Das Tabledvom Zweig. Aus dern Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Her-ausgegeben von den Bahá'ís in Zuffen � hausen.
Oline Jahr, go, S p.der Liebe und des Friedens fur unsere Zeit (Ansprachen in Paris). Aus dem Englischen von W. Her-rigel.
rigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der Bahi'i-Vereinigung.
1914, s~, 172 p. 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Ansprachen, gehalten im Herbst 1911 in Paris. Aust dem Engli-schen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Dcutschen Bahi'i-Bundes, 1921, 8~, 196 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: BeantworteteAusgabe von L. Clifford Barney, Deutsch von W. Herrigel.
Stuttgart. Verlag des Dcutschen Bah~i'i-Bundes G.m. b. H. 1929, go, VIII und 392 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Fine Botschaftan die Juden. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, im Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung.
1913, go, ~5 p.Deutsch von Fanny Knobloch. 1906, ohne Angabe des Ortes, 80, 12 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Tabelle1906, ohne Angabe des Ones, go, 8 p. Bahd'iperlen (Worte von Bahá'u'lláh und 'Abdu'l-Bahá).
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschenvom Deutschen Bah&'i-Na-tionairat, Stuttgart, Mirza 1930, g0, 15 p. Shoghi Effendi: An die Geliebten des Herrn und an die Dienerinnen. des
Barmherzigen608 THE BAHA in der ganzen Welt. Aus dem Englischen. Herausgegeben vom Deutschen Bah&'i-Nationairat,
Stuttgart, April 1930an die Freunde Gottes und an die Dienerinnen des Barm-herzigen im Abendland.
Aus dem En-glischen von A. Schwarz. Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jahres.
8% 4 p. Blomfield, Sitirili, undAn � gabe des Ortes und des Jahres, g0, 32 p. Brittingliam, Isabella, D.: Die Off enbarung von Bahá'u'lláh. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel.
Stuttgart, Selbstverlagund Layld. Nach Bahá'u'lláh's Erz~ih1ung in den CCSib TMern." Deutsch von E. M. Gr. und Dr. H. Gr.
Wandsbek, Weltgemein-schaft, 1926, go g p. Chase, Thornton: Die Bahd'ioflenbaruug.
Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel.Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah4'i-Bundes, Bundes, 1925, ~O, XVI � 168 p.
Chase, Thornton: Rue Abrahamwar, war Ich. Aus dem Englischen von V. Her-rigel.
Stuttgart, Verlag derStuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, 1920, go, 40 p. Dreyf us, Dr. Hippolyte:
Bdbismus und Bahd'ismus.Frankfurt a.M. Neuer Frankfurter Verlag G.m.b.H., 1909, s~, 61 p. Esslemont, Dr. John E.: Bahá'u'lláh und das
Neue Zeitalter. Deutschvon H. K. und W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah&'i-Bundes, 1927, go,
VIII + 431 p.Esslemont, Dr. John F.: Was ist em Bahá'í Aus dem Englischen flbersetzt und her-ausgegeben von der Bah&'i-Arbeitsge-meinschaft Esslingen. Oline Jalir.
(ver-vielfaltigt), 40, 20 p. Esslemont, Dr. John E.:
Der W'eg zum Frieden.von der Ba1A'i-Arbeitsge-meinschaft Esslingen. Ohne Jahr, 80, 8 ~,�
Fa4l, Mirza Abu'1: Geschicl9teAus dem Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Herausgegeben von der Bahá'í � Vereinigung Zuffenhausen, ohne Jahr, 8~, 45 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Die soziale F rage und i/ore L6sung hn Sinne tier Bahd'i-Lehre. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, 1923, 8~, 12 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Die HahN-Be-wegung, ihre Geschichte, Lehren und
Be-deutung. HerausgegebenHamburg, 1926, ~O, s p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Das lVesen der Bahd'i-Lehre.
Oline Angabe des Ortes und des Jalires. 80, 8 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Bahd'i-Erzie-hung. Wandsbek,
Weltgemeinschaft, DeutscherZweig, 1924, 8~, S p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Rosen gdrtlein-. Lehrstunden.
Lehrproben zur BahA'i-Er-ziehung.Herausgegeben von der Weltge-meinschaft, Wandsbek, ohne Jalir, 8~, 12 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann:
Chanan. Eine ErzThlungaus unserer Zeit. Wandsbek, 1927, s~, S Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Am Morgen einer nenen
Zeit, Verlag StreckerDie BahA'i-Bewegung, ilir Zweck und Ziel. Stuttgart,
Selbstverlag dex BaM'i-Vereinigung.1915, S~, 30 p. Hartmann, Pauline: Bahd'i-Weltanschauung, Verlag des Geistigen Nationairats der Deutschen Baha'i.
E. V., 8~, 24 p. W. H.: Die Bahd'i-Bezvegung ins Ailge � meinen und ihre grossen W'irkungen in Indien.
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Babi'i-Bundes, 1922, 8~, 56 p.
Page 609The first Bahá'í Latin-American Conference, Panama, 1946. Bahá'í representatives were present from the United States, Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, the Canal Zone and Panama.
W. H.: Die Zeichen unserer Zeit irn Lichte der Bibel mid der Bahd'i-Lehre.
Stuttgart, Verlag der Babi'i-Vereinigung. 1916, 8~, 16 p.
Holley, Horace: Die Wellwirtschaftvon Bahá'u'lláh. Aus dem Englischen. 30 p. Geneva, 1934.
Kliernke, Dr. Ernst (Heinrichnacherziihlt. Aus dem En-glischen von Dr. H. Gr. Wandsbek, Welt-gemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1924, ~Q, 8 p.
Mtihlschlegel, Adelbert80. Ohne Angabe des Ortes, September, 1924, go, B p.
Miihlschlegel, Adelbert:Stuttgart, BahA'i-Bund, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, 80, 8 p. Najrnajer, Marie von:
Qurratu'l-'Ayn. Em BUdPhelps, Myron H.: 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas, Leben und Lebren.
Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deut-schen BaM'i-Bundes, 1922, 8~, 248 p.
Remey, Charles Mason:von W. H., Verlag des Deutschen BahA'i-Bundes, Stuttgart, 1923, 8~, 32 p.
Remey, Charles Mason:und des Jahres. s~, 8 p. Rosenberg, Ethel J.: Die Bahd'i-Lelore, deren ethische urn! soziale Begriffe.
Aus dem Englischen von Er. Schweizer. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BaM'i-.Vereinigung, 1908, 80, 8 p. S. S.: Fin Jahr uister den Bahá'í in Indien und
Birma. Aus dem Englischenvon W. H. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung, oline Jalir, 8~, 46 p.
Page 610S. S.: Die Geschichte der BaIad'i-Bewegung. Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart Selbstverlag der Bah&'i-Vereinigung, 1913, Zweite auflage, 1913, 80, 22 p. A Dritte auflage, 1919, 80, 22 p.
Scbwarz, Alice: DieBaM'i-Bundes, 1919, go 35 p. Wright, A. H.: 13db und seine Secte in Per-sien, Leipzig.
Religi6se Lichtbliclze.Stuttgart, Verlag der Bahá'í � Vereinigung, 1916, 8~, 16 p. Erweiterte Auflage, Stuttgart,
1928, Verlag des DeutschenBahA'i-Bundes, go, 24 p. Die Ceschichte vom kleinen Vogel und an-dere Erzdhlnngen aus km Leben 'Abdu'l-Bahá's.
Wandsbek, Weltgemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, ~O, S p.
Aus Leben und Lehredes Bahd'ismus. Hamburg, BahA'i-Verlag, 1918, 80, 42 p.
Die Bahd'i-Bewegung.Bah&'i-Bundes, ohne Jalir, 80, 4 p. Was ist die Bahd'i-Bewegwng?
Flugblatt. Ohne Angabe10 p. Die Bahá'í Lebre, 1933, Schmal go, 4 p. An der Schwelle eines neucs Zeitalters. Flugblatt.
Stuttgart, W. H. OhncEsslingen (vervielfliltigt) 40, 54 p. Weihnachtsbeilage fur Kinder. Dezember 1921.
Beilage zur Sonne der Walirheir, 80, 8 p.und Satznng des Nationalen Geistigen Rates der Bahá'í in Deutsch!and und Cesterreich nebsi Satz-ung des Geistigen Rates der Bahá'í in Stuttgart.
Herausgegeben vom Nationalen GeistigenRat der Bahá'í in Deutschland und Oesterreich e. V., Stuttgart, 1935, g0, 32 p.
Nabil's Narrative: TheSeven Valleys (in manuscript). Kitáb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript).
17.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Bucharest, Ce Este Miscareg Baha'i, Bucharest, 1934.
1934.Kitáb-i-iqdn (in manuscript). World Religion, Prague, 1937.
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Prague, 1932. E. G. Hbflin and Milos Wurm: Zier Hrntti Some Answered Questions (in manuscript). Mirovdho.
Bahajsk~ Zjeveni (No. 9). Pamphlets, 1934.Hidden Words, Belgrade, 1936. Book ~ Prayers, Belgrade, 1936.
Kitáb-i-iqdn (in manuscript). World Religion, Belgrade, 1937. World
Economy of Bahá'u'lláhBahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Budapest, Hidden Words (in manuscript).
1933.Te Whakati/zenga Pahai, Pamphlet by G. G. Paul, Auckland, New Zealand, 1933.
23.BAHÁ'Í PUBLICATIONS IN S El Kitáb-i-fqdn. Bahá'u'lláh. Oraciones Baha'i. Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Las Oraciones Obligatorios.Cant estacion a Unos Pregiintas, by Mexico City Assembly, Mexico, D. F., 1940.
La Republica Veniderala Unidad Mundial, by Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas,
Chili.El Seindero Que Conduce Hacia Dios. Dora-El El Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
thy Baker. Translated by Francisco Base de La Comunidad Baha'i.
Acker. La Religion Mundial.Gleanings from the Wiitings of Bahá'u'lláh (manuscript).
Advent of Divii'te JusticeBahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Geneva, 1940. The Hague Tablet (manuscript).
Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (manu-Some Answered Questions (manuscript).
script).Bahá'í Ia Uusi Akka By Shoghi Effendi. Translated
by J. E. Esslemont. Translatedby Helmi Jaalovaara.
by Helmi Jaalovaara. Tayttynyt Enn4tsius (Prophecy Helsinki, 1940. fulfilled by Elizabeth Cheney). Translated by Mitd on Bahá'í usko? Mr. Urho Toivola.
(What is the Bahá'í Faith?) Some Answered Questions
Translated by Helmi (under translation).Will and Testament of Bahá'u'lláh, The. 'Ishq~b~d and Cairo.
Ad'iyiy-i-Ha4rat-i-Ma~ab~dbTraveller's Narrative, The. London and T~ishkand, 1916. Bombay.
Prayers from 'Abdu'l-Bahá.Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The. Bombay and Cairo.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, The. Bahá'u'lláh.Kashfit'1 � Ghitd', compiled by Siyyid Mihdi Gu1p~yigini.
'Ishqabad.Risdlly-i--Istidldliyyih, by Mirza. Abu'1-Fa~ll, Egypt.
Istidldliyyiy-i-Afshdr.Travels of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The. Vol. 1 and 2, Mirza Ma1~mud Zarp~ni. Bombay.
Early Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, The, compiled by Baron Rosen, St. Petersburg.
Memorials of the Faithful, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Haifa.~ Baha. Table talks collected by Laura C. Barney. Kegan, Paul, London, 1908.
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Twenty-twopage booklet written in Persian on the Bahá'í Tem-pie. Published by the Bahá'í Assembly of Washington, D. C.
Hadiqatu'I-Bahd'iyyih.Cairo. lrtibdt-i-Sharq va Gharb. Tihr~n, 1931. Questions and Answers (Appendix to Kitáb-i-A qdds). Tihr~n.
Bahd'iism and Socialism.Poems by Nayyir. Tihr~n, 1930. Istidldliyyih, I and II, by Na'im, Tabriz, 1911 and 1912.
Magdliy-i-Bahd'i. Delhi, 1915. Poems by Na'im.Translation of Ishrdqdt, Bishdrdt, Kalimdt, Tardzdt, TajalUydt, of Bahá'u'lláh.
Agra, 1918.Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Mrs. I. D. Brittingham.
Rangoon, 1902.Javdb-i-Qddiydnihd. Rangoon, 1908. Burhdn-i-Sarih.
Agra.Talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Europe, The. Translation anonymous. Cairo.
flahd'u'lldh and the New Era, by Dr. J. E. Esskmont.
Cairo, 1930.Talk in New York. B~ki~i, 1922, 'Ishqabad, 191 6 Bahá'í Hareketi. Istanbul, 1930.
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Istanbul, 1932.Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. The Promulgation of Universal Peace 1.
HEBREWBahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Bombay, 1932. Superseded by new edition.
Dawn of a New Day.A Letter to the Women of Japan, by Agnes B. Alexander. 1916.
R~e1igion of Love. 1917.Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, translated by Dr. Inouye. 1918.
The Bahá'í Revelation, translated by Dr. Inouye.The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by I. Brit-tingham, translated by V. M. Swami. Rangoon, 1906.
Bahá'u'lláh and the NewBahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Karachi, 1938. Universal
Peace.Cheney. Bahá'í Peace Program, 'Abdu'I � Baha. Divine Philosophy,
'Abdu'l-Bahá. ExcerptsPublic meeting held in the Bahá'í Center, April 23rd, 1944, Havana, Cuba.
Goal of a New World Order, The, by Shoghi Effendi.
Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, The, by Shoghi Effendi.
Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, The, byA Letter to the Blind Women in Japan, by Agnes B. Alexander.
Seek and It Shall be GivenThe Bahá'í House of Worship, Pamphlet published by the Bahá'í Publishing
Committee.Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Isabella D. Brittingliam.
The Manifestation, by Albert P. Entz-minger.Divine Art of Living, The, compiled by Mary M. Rabb.
Why I Believe in God and(b) PUBLISHED IN FRANCE Essai sur le Bahci'iisrne, by Hippolyte Dreyfus.
(c) PUBLISHED IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA Bahá'u'lláh kaj la Nova Epoko, by J. F. Esslemont (in Esperanto).
(d) PUBLISHED IN JAPAN Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, by J. E. Esslernont.
(In Japanese Baha'i.)Bahá'í News. The bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and
Burma.Bulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Idq.
Bahá'í News Letter. TheBulletin of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.
Bulletin, Internationalunder the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Address:of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles.
New World Order. OfficialPublished monthly 193 81940. Reissued as a quarterly magazine beginning in 1943.
World Order. OfficialYears that Change the Adams, Rev. Isaac: Persia World, 19411948. Kosmon hy a Persian, 1900. Addison,Press, Los Angeles.
James Thayer: The Christian Andrews, Fannie Fern:
Approach to the Moslem. The Holy Land Under Mandate.
Columbia Univer-sky Press,Houghton, Miffhin Go., Boston, N. Y., 1942. 1931.
Annual Report, by NearAllen, Devere: The Fight East College Asso., 193 for Peace. Mac-millan 03 1.
Co., N. Y., 1930.World Bible, (pp. 448449). New York, N. Y. BalIou, Robert 0.: The Bible of the World. Viking Press, N. Y., 1939.
Barrows, Rev. John Henry:Barton, Geo. A. Religions of the World. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1917, 1930.
Baudouin, Charles: ContemporaryStudies. Fr. Translation, E. and C. Paul. E. P. Dutton, 1925.
Bell, Archie: The SpellBenjamin, S. C. W.: Persia and the Persians. Ticknor and Co., Boston, 1886.
Ben-Horen, Eliahu: TheBowen, Win. C.: The Church at Work in the Modern World. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1936.
Bibesco, Princess G. V.:Byng, Edward J.: The World of the Arabs. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1944.
Carpenter, J. E.: ComparativeChapman, John Jay and His Letters, compiled by M. A. De Wolfe Howe.
Houghton, Muffin, Boston, 1937.of Religion. Ferguson, Chas. W.: The Confusion of Tongues. Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., Garden City, N. Y., 1928.
Ferguson, Chas. W.: The New Books of Revelation, 1929, Garden City, N. Y. Gaxyani, M. J.: A Brief History of Bahá'u'lláh, The Founder of the Bahá'í Religion. San Diego, Calif.,
1914.of Orchestral Music and Its Times. Grosset and Dunlap, N. Y., 1942.
Howen, Herbert H.: Asia,Harmon, W. W.: Microcosm, Macrocosm. Pub. by Author, Boston, 1915.
Harrison, Marguerite~glide in Palestine. Houghton, Muffin, Boston, 1924.
Hayes, Canton J. H.: AMain plaza of the southernmost city of the world, Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile.
View of the city and harbor of Punta Arenas, where the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in this southern tip of Chile was established on April 21, 1945.
Page 621Higgins, Harold H.: Shadows to the Unseen. The Driftwood Press, Montpelier, Vt., 1937.
History of the Nineteenth Century Year by Year, 3 volumes, (see p. 1131).
P. F. Collier and Son, N. Y., 1902.Hocking, Win. Ernest: Living Religions and a World Faith. Macmillan, N. Y., 1940.
Holmes, John Haynes: Palestine:Hoover, W. I. T.: Religionisnss and Christianity. The Stratford Co., Boston, 1924.
Hubbard, Elbert: Selectedof Nationalism in the East. Harcourt, Brace, N. Y., 1929.
Malcolm, Napier: FiveReligion and the Religion uf the Future. Appleton Co., N. Y., 1926.
Mason, Myra: Where DoAmerican Corn., World Youth Peace Congress, N. Y., 1928.
McKibben-Harper, Mary, M. D.; The Doctor Takes a Holiday. Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1941.
Miller: Bahd'iism: ItsMott, Francis J. Christ the Seed. Beau-champ, 1939.
Muzumdar, Dr. H. T.: The United Nations of the World. Universal Pub.
Co., 1942.and Religious Conferences at the Colunibian Exposition.
Oliphant, Laurence: Haifa, or Life in Modern Palestine.
Harpers, 1 887.of Religions. Translated from French. G. P. Putnam Sons, London and N. Y., 1909.
Religious Bodies, 1926:Journey, New York, Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1932.
Rudhyar, D.: Cycle of Culture and Sacri-ft cc. Harbinson and Harbinson, Oceano, Calif.
Rudhyar, D.: Synthetic Drama as a Seed of Civilization.
Harbinson and Harbin-son, Oceano, Calif.of Religion. Pasadena, Calif. and Vanguard Press, N. Y., 1928.
Singer, Caroline and Cyrusand Modern History, 2 vols. F. H. Revell Co., N. Y., Chicago, 1904.
Page 622Titus, Murray T.: The Young Moslem Looks at Life. Friendship Press, N. Y., 1937.
Todd, A. J.: Theories of Social Progress. Macmillan, N. Y., 1924.
Vail, Albert: Heroic Lives.Wi!-lett, Clark and Co., Chicago and New York, 1938. (p. 222.)
Wilson, Sir Arnold: Persia.Wilson, S. G., Rev.: Bahd'iism and Its Clahns. Fleming Revell Co., N. Y., 1915.
Wilson, S. C, Rev.: PersianGiant: Walt Whitman and His Times. Harper, N. Y. and London, 1941.
Wons, Anthony: Tony'sof Man's Knowledge. Grosset and Dunlap, N. Y., 1927.
World Fellowship, edited by Charles F. Weller.The Spirit of Iddm. Christophers, London, W.V Aslibee, C. R.: A Palestine Notebook, Doubleday, Page, 1923.
Baedekar, Karl: Baedekar'sBrowne, Edward G.: Materials for the Study of the Bahá'í
Religion. Cambridge UniversityBrowne, Edward G.: A Persian Anthology. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London, 1927.
Browne, Edward G.: History of Persian Literature in Modern Times. Cambridge University Press, 1924.
Browne, Edward G.: A Literary History of Persia. 4 volumes.
Cambridge, 1924.of the Báb. 2 volumes, one in Persian. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1891.
Browne, Edward G.: The Persian Revoin � lion. Cambridge, 1910.
Browne, Edward G.: Hastings'Canney, A.: An Encyclopedia of Religions. Routledge, London, 1921.
Carpenter, J. B: ComparativeDonaldson, Dwight M., D.D., Ph.D.: The Shi'ite Religion. Luzac Co., London, W.C. 1, 1933.
EIwell-Surton, L. P.: Modern irdn. Geo. Rutledge Sons, Ltd., London, 1941.
Reprint, 1942.Faiths and Fellowships, being the Proceedings of the World Congress of Faiths held in London, July 317, 1936. Pub.
by J. M. Watkins, London, W.C. 2.Hughes, Thomas Patrick, B.D., M.R.A.S.: Dictionary of Isldm. Pub, by W. H. Allen and Co., London, 1865.
Husayn (Mirza of HamadAn):Jackson, A. V. Williams: Persia, Past and Present.
Macmillan, London, 1906.Kennedy, J. Ma The Religions and Philosophies of the East. Werner Laurie, London, 1911.
Kisch, F. H. (Colonel), C.B.E., D.S.O.: Palestine Diary. 1938.
Lammens, H., Professor of Arabic at St. Joseph'sTranslated from the French by Sir E. Dennison Ross. E. P. Dutton, London, 1929.
Linton, Bishop J. H., D.D.: Persian Sketches.Markham, Clements R.: A General Sketch of the history of Persia. Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1874.
Maud, Constance E.: Sparks Among the Stubble. P. Allen & Co., 1924.
Mears, I. & L. E.: Creative Energy. John Murray, London, 1931.
Nariman, G. K.: Persia and Parsis. Bombay, 1925.O'Leary, DeLacy: hUm at the Crossroads. Kegan, Paul. London, 1923.
Phelps, M. H.: Life andPole, W. Tudor: Private Dowding. John Watkins, London, 1917.
Pole, W. Tudor: Some Deeper Aspects of the War. Taylor Bros., Bristol, 1914.
Religions of the Empire.Religious Systems of the World. Swan, Son � nenschcin and Co., London, 1908.
Radhakrishnar, Surripalli:Sheil, Lady: Glimpse of Life and Manners in Persia.
John Murray, London, 1856.of Brotherhood, and Its Place in the Evolution of Creeds. Longmans, Green, London, 1912.
Storrs, Sir Ronald: Orientations.Sykes, P. Ma A History of Persia. 2 volt, London, 1915.
Underhull, Evelyn: TheLife of the Spirit and the Life Today. Wetheren and Co., London, 1925.
Usslier, John: JourneyYounghusband, Sir F.: The Gleam. John Murray, 1923.
Younghusband, Sir F.: Modern Mystics. John Murray, 1935.
Younghusband, Sir Francis:Balteau, M. J.: Le Bdb'isnse: Lecture Jait par M. I. B. d hi S6ance dii 22 Ma), 1896. Acad6mie Nationale de Reims, Reims, 1897.
Bibesco, Princesse: LesVoyage en Perse comprenant I'~pisode du B~b et son martyre.
Page 624Fagnan, M. E.: Revue Critique de l'Histo ire 4 de Littdrature, 1887.
Furon, Raymond: La Perse.Religions et les Philosophies dims l'Asie Centrale.
Paris, 1924 and 1928.Huart, C.: La Religion de Bab. Paris, 1889. Lammens, Henri, S. J.: L'Isldm � Croyances et Institutions Imprimerie Cathol. Beirut, 1926.
Lammens, Henri, S. J.: La Syrie. Vol. I. Imprimerie Cathol. Beirut, 1921.
La Palestine. Maison de la Bonne Presse, Paris, 1922.
Larousse Universal (vide t�B~b,3~ "Báb's"). LeNicolas, A. L. Ma Essai sur le Shaykhisine. Vol. 1. Shaykh A1~mad-i-A~&i'i.
Paul Geutliner, Paris, 1910.Nicolas, A. L. Ma Essaf sin-le Shaykhisine. Vol. 2. Siyyid K&?im-i-Rashti.
Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1914.Nicolas, A. L. M.: Essai sur le Sldaykhisme. Vol. 3. La Doctrine. Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1911.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Essai sin' le Shaykiaisme. Vol. 4. Science de Dieu. Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1911.
Nicolas, A. L. M.: Religions et Socidt6s. Alcan, Paris, 1905.
Privat, Dr. Edmund: La Sagesse de l'Orient. Cli.Gdndrale des Religions, 6dit. 1924, Lib. Aristide Quillet, 278, U. St. Germain, Paris (p. 260).
Reinach, Salomon: Orpheus, Histoire Odni-rate des Religions, 6dit. 1909, Lib. Alcide Picard, 18 et 20 rue Soufflot, Paris (p. 246).
Renan, Ernest: Les ApOtres.tie l'Institute des Lan gues Orientales. Vol. I, III. By Baron Victor
Rosen.1933, Librairie lion, 8, rue Garan � ci~re, Paris (p. 207).
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Religionen des Orients.Clemen, C.: Die nichtchristlichen Kultur-religionen, Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1921. Vol. I, p. 7, Vol. II, p. 100104.
Scheurlen, Paul: Die Sektender Gegenivart, Stuttgart, Queliverlag der Ev. Gesell-schaft, 1921, pp. 169175.
Geheime Gesellschaften, herausgegeben von P. Ch.Martens, Bad Schmiedeberg, Verlag von F. E. Banmann, oline Angabe des Jalires, p. 272.
Fore!, August: Die Medizinzur Kultur, Leipzig, Anzengruber-Verlag, 1924, pp. 132/33, 157, 163.
Forel, August: KleinePhilosophie JiTh Jeder-mann, Dresden, Kaden & Co., 1928, pp. 24ff.
Forel, August: fler wahre Sozialismus der Zukunjt,
Berlin, Verlag DeutscherForel, August: Testament, Lausanne, tdi-tion de La Libre Pens6e International, 1931, p. 13.
Anfstrebende Kulturbewekungen, herausge-geben von Karl Dopf, Hamburg, Signal-Verlag, 1927, II Lieferung, pp. 3538.
Tolstoj und der Orient, herausgegeben von Paul Birnkoff, Zurich and Leipzig, Rot-apfel-Verlag, 1925, pp. 86, 9599, 120, 123, 262, 264, 265.
Seboenaich, General von: Paldistina, Halber-stadt, H. Meyer's Buchdruckerei, 1926, pp. 103105.
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Das Reich Gottes auf Erden, herausgegeben von Rudolf Burkert, Niemes, Druck von A. Bienert, 1929, p. 27.
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Rbmer, Dr. Hermann: Die Bdbi-Baha$'i. Potsdam.Orient-Mission 1912, go, VII. 192 p. Rbmer, I-Termann, in: Die Propaganda f ii,' asiatische
Religionen im Abendland.Rdmer, Hermann, in: Evangelisches Missions Magazin 1908, ctDer Behaismus," P. 91f.
Rosen, V.: Sendschreihen des Bahá'u'lláh. Petersburg, Akademie, 1908, Vol. I. von Sigsfeld, Viktoria, in: Der Werdegang der Mensehen des neuen Tages.
Finster-lingen i/B. Oberliclit-Verlag.chic und Gegenwart. "B&bismus," t�BaMismus," Band I, von Alfr. Bertholet, Herm.
Hont, Faber, Stephen, herausgeg. von Herm. Gunkel, Leop. Zscharnach.
Page 627BAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPHY Tflbingen, Verlag J. C. B. Mirza. Paul Siebert, 1927.
Spengler, Oswald, in:Tisdall, D., in der Zeitschrift rf Reich Christ?' (Dr. Lepsius-Potsdam). 1908. Artikel: "Der Islam in Persien," p. 17sf.
Tolstoj, Leo, in: Tolstoj und der Orient.344. Berlin, Volksverband der Biicherfreunde, Weg-weiser-Verlag, G.m.b.H., 1930.
Welt-Missions-Konferenz, Edinburgh, 1910, in:IV, p. 1 if. Wright, A. H., in: Zeitschrijt der Deutschen Morgenldndischen
Gesellsehaft 1851. Ar-tikel:of Forty Nations). Vol. II, chap. "The Baha Sanctuary"; voi. Ill, pp. 17477, chap. "Impressions of Bahá'ís in Harnad~n and Tihrdn," 1935.
RUMANIANIllustreret Danslz Konversationsleksikon. Copenhagen, 1933.
Salmonsens Konversationsleksilzon.Ora Libro, edited by V. Blejer & F. Cense. Warszama, 1937.
V7vo de Zamenhof , by Edmond Privat, Rick-mansworth, England, 1937.
Veterano? by Ismaci GomesAmerican Journal of Theology, Jan., 1902. American Astrology, Apr., 1938; Nov., 1939; Dec., 1939; Sept., 1940.
American Mercury, June, 1941; Sept., 1941. Amerika Esperantisto, June, 1912; Feb., 1913; Feb., 1914; July-Aug.,
1918; Apr.,Eleven of the first Venezuelan Bahá'ís in Caracas celebrate a feast with Elisabeth Cheney, of Christian Century, Oct. 22, 1941; Jan. 12, 1944; July 26, 1944; Aug. 16,
1944; Jan.Contemporary Review, Aug., 1869; Oct., 1869; Mar., 1912; Aug., 1944.
Contemporary Review Advertiser, Dec., 1885.Current Literature, July, 1901; Sept., 1911; June, 1912.
Eclectic Magazine, Feb., 1886; Sept., 1896.Fortnightly Review, June, 1911; Apr., 1912; June, 1913.
Forum, July, 1925.Independent, Apr., 1912; July, 1912; Sept., 1912; Dec., 1921.
Journal of the American Concrete Institute, July, 1933; Man-Apr., 1934.
Journal of Air Law, Jan., 1934.Missionary Review, Oct., 1902; Feb., 1904; Mar., 1904; May, 1906; Oct., 1911; Oct, 1914; Aug., 1919; Oct., 1921.
Moslem World, Oct., 1931.North American, Apr., 1901; June, 1912. Open Court, June, 1904; Aug., 1915; Oct., 1915; Nov., 1915; Aug., 1916; Oct., 1916; Nov., 1916; Mar., 1931. Pittsburgh Courier, Apr., 1945. Outlook, June, 1901; June, 1912; Dec., 1920; Dec., 1921.
Psychology Magazine, May, 1930. Ref erence Shelf, Vol. 19, No. 8, 1941.
(Ref-erence to World OrderReview of Reviews, Feb., 1901; Jan., 1909; June, 1912; Feb., 1922.
Scientific American, Aug., 1920.Tilden's, Dr. Health Revieiv and Critique, Oct., 1938.
Time, July 20, 1931; May 24, 1943. Unity, Feb., 1918; Dec., 1921; Apr., 1929; July, 1944.
WJilmette Life, July, 1936; May, 1937; Sept. 14, 1933; May 18, 1944.
Winnetka Talks, Oct., 1937.Christian Commonwealth, Jan. 1, 1913; Jan. 22, 1913; Jan. 29, 1913; Feb. 12, 1913.
Clifton Chronicle and Directory, Jan., 1913.Journal of the Royal Asiatic Soc., Vol. XXI, 18891892.
Journal of the Royal AsiaticTown and Country News, Nov. 24, 1933. Vedic Magazine (Lahore), Vol. 8, No. 9.
FRENCH MAGAZINESBulletin M~langes Asiatique, Vol. IV. Bulletin de l'Acad~inie Impdriale de St. Petersburg, Vols. VIII, IX.
Journal Asiatique, VoLJournal Asiatique, Vol. X. L'Ann6e Philosoph~que, Vol. III, 1869.
L'Illustration, SeptemberRevue Critique d'Histoire et de Litt6rature, April 18, 1887.
Revue de 1'Histoire des Religions, Vol.Revue du Monde Musulman, IX, 339341. Revue Moderne, 18~51866.
SWISS MAGAZINESSiifi Quarterly, March, 1928 (published in English).
NETHERLAND MAGAZINESJournal of the German Oriental Society, Vol. V, 1811.
Page 630630 Oriental Literaturzeitung, 1909. Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, Vol. XXII, 337.
BULGARIANLe Rouge et le Noir, November, 27, 1935. Brussels.
BRAZILIAN MAGAZINESCorrezo do Brasil, Nov. 11, 1935. Pernambuco Esperantista, Dec., 1943; July-Aug., 1943; Sept.-Nov., 1943.
RUMANIANAmerican Esperantist, May-June, 1943. Journal of the Columbian Educational Association of the District of Columbia, May, 1943.
Pub. at Washington, D. C. (p. 14.)of International Relations, Los Angeles. (pp. 486, 487.)
World Philosophy, February,Religions of the World, The, Vol. I, pp. 351360. Pub. by Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 193 8. Calcutta, India.
Global Thinking, Nov., 1944; Apr., 1945. The14, 1934. London. Kaisar-i Hind, December 31, 1933. Bombay. Religious Education, September, 1932. Chicago.
SPANISHLa Prensa, December 15, 1935. Buenos Aires, Argentina, S. A. Tiempos Nuevos, January, 1936. Barcelona, Spain.
Pau, January 15, 1936.New Orient, January, 1926. New York. Open Court, July, 1931. Chicago. The Religious Highway, April, 1933. Tokyo. Oregon Mineralogist, January, 1934. Portland,
Oregon.of Speech, March-April, 1934. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The China Critic, MayNew York. World Unity, November, 1933 (and successive issues).
New York.(All references are noted regardless of degree o Columbia Encyclopedia.
Columbia Univ. Press, 1933.Edited by Houtsma and others, Luzac & Co., London, 1933.
Encyclopedia of Religion, An. E. P. Dutton & Co., 1921.
Encyclopedia of SocialScience. Macmillan. Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion, and Ethics.
History of Religions.New International Yearbook, The. Funk and Wagnalls, 1933, and in annual vol. umes.
New Lamed History, The,United Stales Census of Reflgions Bodies, 1916, 1926, 1936.
Webster's BiographicalMembers of the first Bahá'í Community of the Dominican Republic entertain their friends at an evening gathering in Giudad Trujillo.
Page 633Amru'11Th Amul Anzali AqA Aqdas 'ArabistAn Asm~i' 'AvAsh
iq Ay~di Azal 'Azamat 'Aziza as in tas u.. as (o) aw. asin (e) in in account best short mown a as in 1. as (ee) 6. as (oo) in in arm meet moon The C!'~~ added to the name of a town signifies "belonging means native of Shiriz.
to." Thus, ShiriziThe emphasis in Persian words is more or less evenly distributed, each syllable being equally stressed as in French.
Far example, do not say Tabriz or Tabarsi; stay as long on one syllable as on the next: Tabriz; Ta-bar-si. (While there are many exceptions to this rule, it is the most generally correct method of treating the question of stress.)
A frequent mistake is the failure to distinguish between broad and flat tta~s.~~ This differentiation makes the language especially musical and should be observed: in the word AfnAn, for example, pronounce the first tta~~ as in mat, and the second syllable to rhyme with on. Americans are apt to pronounce short ~ plus C!~~ like the verb form are; this is a mistake; !!~5 should be pronounced as in the name of Harry � cf. Tarbiyat.
The same differentiation should be observed in the case of long and short "i" and long and short "u." As the guide to the transliteration indicates, short "i" is like ece~~ in best, and long "i" like "ce" in meet; for example, IbrThim is pronounced
Eb-riThe Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Asuncion, Paraguay, with some interested friends, 1945.
hem; Is1~m is Ess � lahm.Short "u" being like in short, and long "u~9 being like in moon, the following would be pronounced: Quddiis � Qod-dooss; BArfunish � BAr � fo-roosh.
Pronounce "aw" to rhyme with oh, or mown; NAWRUZ is No-Rooz.
The following consonants may be pronounced like v dh z z d. The following consonants may be pronounced like ss th s s Zb is pronounced like the "s" in pleasure. jjj~ is pronounced like ttch" in Scotch loch or German nachi. Do not pronounce it as ~ Westerners are as a rule incapable of pronouncing gfi and 'tq"; a guttural French "r" will serve here; otherwise use hard �'g" as in good.
H and $, approximately like the English aspirate "h," should never be dropped.
Tihr~n is Teh-ron; madrisih is mad � res-seh; Mibrib is Meh-rob.
In the case of double letters pronounce each separately: 'Abbas.
The character transliterated (') represents a pause; it is not unlike the initial sound made in pronouncing such a word as every. The word Bahá'í is phonetically as follows: a as in account; a as in father; (9, pause; "i" as ee in meet.
The character transliterated (') may also be treated as a pause.
N.E. As Persian often indicates no vowel sounds and as its pronunciation differs in different localities throughout Persia and the Near East as well as among individuals in any given locality, a uniform system of transliteration such as the above, which is in use by Bahá'í communities all over the world, is indispensable to the student.
Page 637Adib: literally "the learned." Agh~n: literally "branches."
Denotes sons an4 descendants of Bahá'u'lláh. AfnAn: literally cctwigs.~~ Denotes the rela-dons of the Bib.
A.H.: "After Hijirab."Date of Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina, and basis of Muhammadan chronology.
Akbar: tCGrtr~~ 'AmA: literally ~t1ight cloud," symbolizes the CCFit
Invisible Substance."AqA: "Master." Title given by Bahá'u'lláh to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
A'?am: C Q�fl~ greatest."BTh: ~~c t" Title assumed by Mirza 'Au-Muhammad, after the declaration of His Mission in ~hir~z in May, 1844 ND.
Bab: Follower of the Báb.Baha: "Glory," "splendor," "light." Title by which Bahá'u'lláh (Mirza ljusayn-'Ali) is designated.
BaN'i: Follower of Bahá'u'lláh. BahaDenotes that part of the Plain of 'Akka where the Shrine and the Mansion of Bahá'u'lláh are situated.
Bani-H~shim: The family from which Muhammad descended.
Bahá'u'lláh: "Remnantof God"; title applied both to the Mb and to u'I1Th.
Bay~in: "Utterance," "explanation."Title given by the Báb to His Revelation, particularly to His Books.
Big: Honorary tide, lower tide than Khzin."Endowed with constancy"; a title given to Prophets who revealed a book and instituted religious laws.
FarmAn: "Order," "command" (troyal decree."Its length differs in different parts of the country according to the nature of the ground, the local interpretation of the term being the distance which a laden mule will walk in the hour, which varies from three to four miles. Arabicised from the Persian sang," and is supposed to be derived from pieces of stone (sang) placed on the roadside.
ttFourth Heaven": One of the stages of the invisible
Realm.t~Guarded Tablet": Denotes the Knowledge of God and of His Manifestation.
UAii: A Mubanimadan who has performed the pilgrimage to Mecca.
kla4ratu'1-Quds: Bahá'íH6wdah; A litter carried by a camel, mule, horse or elephant for traveling purposes.
11: "Clan."ImAm: Title of the twelve Sh'i'ih successors of Muhammad. Also applied to Muslim religious leaders.
'37Bahá'í pioneers to Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile.
Left to right: EstabanJmAm � Jum'ih: The leading im~m in a town or city; chief of the mull&s.
TmAm-Z~cIih: DescendantsThe title of Bahá'u'lláh's epistle to the uncle of the 13Th.
Ishr~q~t: literally "effulgences."Isrif ii: The Angel whose function is to sound the trumpet on the Day of
Judgment.JThiliyyib: The dark age of ignorance among the Arabs before the appearance of Muhammad.
Jam6l-i-.MubArak: literally ttthe Blessed Beauty," applied by certain Bahá'ís to Bahá'u'lláh.
Jamil-i-Qidam: literally "the ancient Beauty."K a'bih: Ancient shrine ~t Mecca. Now recognized as the most holy shrine of Isl4m.
Kabir: literally "" Kar-KhudA: Chief of a ward or parish in a town; headman of a village.
Kalantar: ttM" Kalim: "One who discourses."who has performed the pilgrimage to Karbili Kawthar: A river in Paradise, whence all the other rivers derive their source.
KMn: ttPrince" 'lord," ttnobleman," ttchief-tam."
Kitáb-i-Aqdas: literallyKulib: The Persian lambskin hat worn by government employees and civilians.
Madrisih: Religious college.Mashriqu'l-Adhkar: literally "the dawning place of the praise of God." Title designating Bahá'í House of Worship.
Masjicl: Mosque, temple, place of worship.Mayd~n: A subdivision of a farsakh. A square or open place.
Mihdi: Title of the Manifestation expected by Ishm.
Mibrib: The principal place in a mosque where the imim prays with his face turned towards Mecca.
Mi'r&j: "Ascent," used with reference to Muhammad's ascension to heaven.
Mirza: A contraction of Amir-Z&dih, meaning son of Amir. When affixed to a name it signifies prince; when prefixed simply Mr. Mislikin-Qalam: literally "the musk-scented pen.
Mu'adhdhin: The one who sounds the AJMn the Mulianimadan call to prayer.
Mujtahid: Mul?ammadan doctor-of-law. Most of the mujtahids of Persia have received their diplomas from the most eminent jurists of KarbiU and
Najaf.DEFINITIONS OF ORIENTAL TERMS 639
Bahá'ís and four students of the Faith, Managua, Nicaragua, Mulid: Mubanirnadan priest.
Mustagli~th: tCH Who is invoked." The numerical value of which has been assigned by the Báb as the limit of the time fixed for the advent of the promised Manifestation.
Nabil: ~cLcarned~~ CtbI~~applied to the Bahá'í New Year's Day; according to the Persian Calendar the day on which the sun enters Aries.
Nuq;ih: "Point"Pah1av~n: "Athlete," c(charnpion~~; term applied to brave and muscular men.
Qidi: Judge; civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical.
QA'im: "He Who shall arise."Qiblih: The direction to which peopie turn in prayer: especially Mecca, the Qiblili of all Muhammadans.
Qur'an: ttSacrifice."Sadratu'1-Muntah~: the name of a tree planted by the Arabs in ancient times at the end of a road, to serve as a guide.
As a symbol it denotes the Manifestation of God in His Day.
SThibu'z-ZamAn: ttLord of the Age"; onc of the titles of the promised
Q~t'im.SarkAr-i � Aq~: literally the (cHonorabic Master," applied by certain Bahá'ís to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
(!S?al of the Prophets": One of the titles of Muhammad.
"Seventh Sphere": Thehighest stage of the invisible Realm. Denotes also the
Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh.$jaykhu'l-IsIArn: Head of religious court, appointed to every large city by the 5Mb.
Sirit: literally ttbridge" or "path," denotes the religion of God.
Siyyid: Descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.Tajalliy4t: literally "splendors." Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh.
Page 640640 THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD Tar~z~t: literally "ornaments."
Title of one of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh.'Urvatu'l-Vuthq~: literally "the strongest handle," symbolic of the Faith of God.
Vali-'Ahd: "Heir to the throne."Varaqiy-i-'U1y~: literally "the most exalted Leaf," applied to Bahá'í Kh&num, sister of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Varq~: literally ttthe dove."Zaynu'I-Muqarrabin: literally ~tthe Ornament of the favored."
Page 641DEFINITIONS OF ORIENTAL TERMS 641
Some activities of the Bahá'ís in Havana, Cuba. Some of the Bahá'í Youth who were present in the C(Radio Universal" Broadcasting Station when a Bahá'í program was given over the air, 1945.
Prisoners of Principe Prison, Havana, shown with the group of Bahá'ís who visited them and lectured to them on the Faith, 1944.
Page 642B~ SIR RONALD STORKS, K.C.M.G., L.L.D., L.G.C. IT is a high honour for an Anglican Englishman to have been chosen to open the Centenary of a non-Christian � though far from antiChristian � world Faith. I can claim but three qualifications.
I am an M.A. of the same university as Edward Browne of Cambridge and a scholar of the same college, Pembroke. Edward Browne was not oniy the finest Persian scholar of the age but the best loved foreigner in lr~n and throughout the Bahá'í world; secondly, I had the honour of 'Abbas Effendi's friendship from 1909 until his death; thirdly, I am the latest from that front � of Haifa, 'Akka, Eaghd~d, Tihr&n, Ispahan and $hir&z. Of this � if you will bear with me � later.
Many of my hearers are already believers, initiates, adept; it is not my intention to give information to those that know, but for those interested rather than acquainted, I shall propound a very brief summary of the origin, development and principles of what is now known as the Bahá'í religion.
Why is 1944 the "Centenary" of this Faith? Because 100 years ago, all but two days, a young merchant of Shir~z, Sayyid 'Au-Muhammad, not yet 25 years old, declared, to one follower, that he was the bearer of a new message to mankind.
He described himself as the ]3~b � one of the many Arabic words adopted by the Persian language � meaning gate, or door, of this dispensation. His followers soon multiplied, but he spent most of his life in captivity, until in 1850 he was condemned, like Christ, Socrates and other religious innovators, to death. His execution was marked by a startling portent, which is thus recorded in a contemporary Persian "Traveller's
Narrative":UAn iron nail was hammered into the middle of the staircase of the very cell wherein they were imprisoned, and two ropes were hung down. By one rope the Mb was suspended and by the other rope Ak~ Muhammad 'Au, both being firmly bound in such wise that the head of that young man was on the Mb's breast. The surrounding housetops billowed with teeming crowds. A regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files. The first file fired; then the second file, and then the third file discharged volleys. From the fire of these volleys a mighty smoke was produced. When the smoke cleared away they saw that young man standing and the Mb seated by the side of his amanuensis Ak& Sayyid Ijusayn in the very cell from the staircase of which they had suspended them.
The bullets had merely cut their thongs. To neither one of them had the slightest iniury resulted.
"Akka JAn Beg of Khamsa, colonel of the bodyguard, advanced; and they again bound the Báb, together with that young man, to the same nail. The BTh uttered certain words which those few who knew Persian understood, while the rest heard but the sound of his voice. The colonel of the regiment appeared in person. Suddenly he gave orders to fire. At this volley the bullets produced such an effect that the breasts (of the victims) were riddled, and their limbs, but not their faces, which were but little marred."
645For more than a decade B~bists were persecuted, prosecuted, executed, until it seemed as if the Belief must perish, through the extermination of all believers. But in April, 1863, Bahá'u'lláh, a nobleman of Persia, who had fervently championed the Faith of the Bib, and who had undergone imprisonment and exile, declared at BaghdAd that He was that same great Educator whose coming the E~b had foretold. From Eaghd&d he disappeared into a mountain retreat: for although crconversation enriches the understanding, solitude is the school of genius. He was, as a schismatic, removed by the Ottoman authorities to Istanbul, to Edirneb (Adrianople) and finally to the penal barracks of the ancient and picturesque Palestine port of 'Akka � known by its Phoe-rncian builders as Accho, and by the Crusaders as St. Jean d'Acre, where he died in 1892. Bahá'u'lláh so developed and extended the original B~bist faith, that be was regarded as its second Founder; and believers took from him their present universal name of Baha'is. This is what Edward ]3rowne wrote, after his visit to Bahá'u'lláh in 1890: ~ found myself in a large apartment, along the upper end of which ran a iow divan.
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 headdress of the kind called t&j 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 jetblack 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 iove which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.
Bahá'u'lláh appointed his eldest son 'Abdu'l-Bahá � 'tSlave of the Glory" (born in Tihr~n a few hours after the Mb's original proclamation) as his successor. He preferred to be called by his second name, 'Abbas Effendi; and is remembered by Bahá'ís as "The Master." 'Abbas Effendi remained a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire until 1908 when the Young Turks changed the r6gime and set free all the political and religious prisoners of the Sulv~n. In the meantime the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh bad reached the Western World. In Europe and America there were groups of devoted and zealous followers spreading the message.
'Abbas Effendi after his release went to Egypt, and in 1911 visited Europe.
He was in London in September.Next in April, 1912, he set out on a tour of the United States and went through that vast country from coast to coast. December of that year saw him again in London. The following year he was on the Continent.
He thus brought Bahi'iism dramatically before the Western World. Soon after his return to the Holy Land, the world plunged into war. During the war years 'Abbas Effendi strove hard to relieve distress and for this a Knighthood of the British Empire was conferred upon him by His
Majesty's Government.He passed away on November 28th, 1921, mourned by peo-pie of all races, religions and classes. On his death in 1921 he was succeeded by Shoghi Effendi, educated at Balliol College, Oxford, the present Guardian of the Faith, who resides at Haifa, the centre of world Bah&iism.
What is "the Faith"? Very broadly, the application of Relativity to Religion.
Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive, with the development of the human race; the thesis indeed of Christianity, relative to Judaism: "religious truth is not absolute, but relative; that the Founders of all past religions, though different in the non-essen-tial aspects of their teachings 'abide in the same Tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, utter the same speech and proclaim the same IFaith.'
The Bahá'í year is divided into 19 months of 19 days, with four intercalary days for ordinary years and live for Leap Year.
The first day of each month is observed as a feast, dedicated successively to spiritual, practical and social affairs.
There is no priesthood in Bah?iism. Observance depends entirely upon the degree
Page 647of devotion of each individual believer. As 'Abbas Effendi said; "Behold a candle, how it iltumines; it weeps its life away drop by drop, in order to give its flame of light." But I have myself seen their great temple at Wilmette, near Chicago. The architect was a French Canadian: a happy symbolic union of the mighty Latin and AngloSaxon civilizations.
The total number of world Bahá'ís is estimated at some two millions, of which about eight thousand are in the United States.
In Persia itself there are nearly a million; no longer persecuted but not yet accepted or recognized with the four official religions: Iskm, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, because Isl&m only recognizes the last three. There are some 800 Local Spiritual Assemblies scattered mainly over the 'Western World. All of these are enriched by such Bahá'í institutions as Summer Schools. Ladies and gentlemen will learn without surprise that in 1937 Germany suppressed all summer schools and the whole Bahá'í organization, and confiscated their archives.
May I add, before concluding, some personal details?
My first connection with BahA'iism dates from the beginning of this century, when it was my fortune and honour to become the Arabic pupil of Edward Browne.
My first glimpse of 'Abbas Effendi was the summer of 1909, when I drove round the Bay of Acre in an Arab cab, visited him in the Barracks and marvelled at his serenity and cheerfulness after 42 years of exile and imprisonment.
I kept in touch with him through my confidential Agent, Husain Bey Ruhi, son of a Tabriz martyr, and the (cpersian Mystic" of my book Orientaflons.
After the Young Turk revolution, 'Abbas Effendi was released.
He visited Egypt in 1913, when I had the honour of looking after him, and of presenting him to Lord Kitchen-Cr, who was deeply impressed by his personality � as who could fail to be?
Then war cut him off from us and it might have gone hard with him in Haifa but for the indirect interposition of His Majesty's Government.
When, in his famous victory drive to the North, Allenby captured Haifa, he detached i-ne from Jerusalem to organize the British Administration there.
On the evening of my arrival I visited my revered friend. ttj found him sitting in spotless white.
He placed at my disposal the training and talents of his community, and I appointed one or two to positions of trust, which they still continue to deserve." Later, he visited me in Jerusalem, and was held in great esteem and respect by the High Commissioner, Lord Samuel.
In Egypt he presented me with a beautiful specimen of writing by the celebrated Bahá'í calligraphist, Misliqin Qalam, and with his own Persian pen box; in Palestine with an exquisite little Bokhara rug from the tomb of the Mb; all three alas destroyed by fire in Cyprus. When, on November 29th, 1921, he was buried, 10,000 men, women and children, of many varying races and creeds, walked in the funeral procession up Mount Carmel, to lay his body in the exquisite cypress-avenued shrine.
Telegrams reached HaifaMr. Winston Churchill, then Secretary of the State for the Colonies, desired the High Commissioner for Palestine to convey to the Bahá'í Community on behalf of His Majesty's Government their sympathy and condolence on the death of Sir 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas K.B.E.; and Field Marshal Lord Allenby telegraphed likewise from Egypt.
With 'Abbas Effendi theI have not lost contact with the Bahá'í World, and I hope I never shall.
I had recently the honour of receiving at the British Legation in TibrAn, a deputation of the Bahá'í Community headed by Samimi, the respected Chief Munshi of the Legation, and Varga, President of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Later I was received by the Council at a tea � so sumptuous that the remembrance adds a sting to my British Ration Card. My diary of April 5th, 1943, at $hir~z tells me: t'Aft luncheon off to visit the House of the BTh, leaving the car for the narrow winding streets, and shown over by Fazlullah BenTh and the curator. A small but perfect courtyard, with a little blue tiled 8 feet square tank, six large red ~go1d' fish, a tiny
Page 648I ______ _________ ____________________ I 1 I I _____ J. � c9a#t~ Wj~?La~fW~ ci IL i t�-~ t�~ F' r r * [ L d,n. I I � ~� 4; I
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Page 831Brief History of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America.
Extracts from Mashriqu'l-AdhkarEuropean and American Cities Visited by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms Frequently Used in Bahá'í Literature.
Dr. J. E. Esslemont.The Relation of the Baha Cause to Modern Progressive Movements.
The Unity of Civilization.A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá'í Faith and Outline of Bahá'í
History.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
PART TWOSoul, Mind, Spirit and the Essence of Divinity A Statement on Presentday Administration of the Baha Cause.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Spirit and Form of Babi'i Administration.Address of 'Abdu'l-Bahá delivered at Bahá'í Convention, Chicago, 1912.
The Structure of the Bahá'í Temple.Address delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Dedication of the Mashriqu'1-Aclhkh Grounds, May, 1912.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'TWq~b5d.Queen Marie of Rumania pays tribute to the beauty and nobility of the Bahá'í Teachings.
PART THREEBahá'í Groups with names and addresses of correspondents.
Bahá'í Groups.Section One � List One: Bahá'í Publications of America.
Section Two � List Two: Bahá'í Publications of England.
� List Three: Bahá'í Literature in French.� List Five: Partial List of Bahá'í Literature in Oriental Languages.
Page 835Section Three � Alphabetical list of Bahá'í books and pamphlets.
Section Four � References to the Bahá'í Movement in Non-Bahá'í works.
Section Five � References to the BaJA'i Movement in Magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms frequently used in Baha literature.
Guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the Persian alphabet.
PART FOURIntroduction to The Proinul ga/ion of Universal Peace.
Poem~c!A Prayer."The Bahá'í Religion � Papers read at the Conference of Some Living Religions Within
the British Empire, 1924.The Bahá'í Cause at the Universal Esperanto Congresses at Edinburgh and Danzig.
On the Borders of Lake Leman.Translation of a Letter from the Israclitish Assembly of Bahá'ís of Tihrin, Persia.
InterRacial Amity.Appendix � Tablet to America revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í Persecutions in Persia � An Appeal to His Imperial Majesty RiQ& 5fi~h Pahiavi.
Appendix One � Summary of Bahá'í Teachings.Appendix Two � Excerpts from Letters of Bahá'u'lláh to the Su1~n of Turkey and the ShAh of Persia.
Appendix Three � Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá concerning Persia.
VOLUME IIIBahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
The Dawn of the Bahá'í Revelation. (From Nabil's Narrative.)
Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and 'West.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá fad.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Text of Bahá'í application for civil recognition by the Palestine Administration,
Page 836Facsimile of Bahá'í marriage certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assernblics of the Bahá'ís of Persia and Egypt.
Baha Calendar and Festivals.Green Acre and the Bahá'í Ideal of Interracial Amity.
References to the Baha Faith.The Case of Bahá'u'lláh's Housein Bagh&d before the League of Nations.
Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Non-Bahá'í works.
References to the Bahá'í Faith In Magazines.Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURBahá'u'lláh's Divine Economy: a Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh: A Reflection, by G. Townshend.
'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to Woking, England.Impressions of Haifa, by Alaine Locke, A.B., Ph.D. The World Vision of a Savant, by Dr. Auguste Henri Ford.
The Cultural Principles of the Bábi'i Movement, by Dr. Ernst Kliemke.
The Relation of the B~b to the Traditions of IslAm, by Wanden Mathews LaForge.
The Bahá'í Movement in German Universities, by Martha L. Root.
The City Foursquare, by Allen B. McDaniel.The Races of Men � Many or One, by Louis G. Gregory.
Haifa � and the Baha'is, by Dr. John Haynes Holmes.
A Visit to Rustum Vamb&y, by Martha L. Root.The Bahá'í Cause at the XXth Universal Congress of Esperanto at Antwerp, Belgium, August, 1928, by Martha L. Root.
Shrines and Gardens, by Beatrice Irwin.Bahá'u'lláh and His Teachings, Reprinted from the Japan Times and Mail.
'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Rabbi, by Willard P. Hatch.Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, by Leonora Holsapple.
A Trip to Tahiti, by Louise Bosch.Bahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Certificate of Incorporation by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
Documents related to the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States and Canada as a recognized Religious Society in
Palestine.Petition addressed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada to the Prime Minister of the Egyptian Government.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Facsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Persia and of Egypt.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration tion of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the Palestine Government incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada as a Religious
Society in Palestine.Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation, The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
The Masbriqu'I-Adbk~r.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Page 838Further Developments in the Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House: Extracts from the Minutes of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.
Minutes of the Sixteenth Session: November 1929.Minutes of the Twenty-first Session: November 1931.
Extracts from the Report to the Council of the League of Nations.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Additional Material gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Baha'i
Calendar.Historical Data gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá'u'lláh.
Short History of the International Bahá'í Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland.
In Memoriam.Officers and Committees of the National Spirittial Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Baha Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.
List of the Bib's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books by nonBahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-BaM'i Writers.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature. Glossary.
PART FOURThe Goal of a New World Order: A Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Way of the Master, by G. Townshend.Italy and the Bahá'í Cause, by General Renato Piola Cascili.
The World Economy of Bahá'u'lláh, by Horace Halley.
Education as a Source of Good Will, by President Bayard Dodge.
Unity through Diversity: A Bahá'í Principle, by Alain Locke, A.B., Ph.D. A Short Chronicle of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to London, 19111912, by Lady Blomfield.
Professor Auguste Forel and the Bahá'í Teaching, by Stanwood Cobb.
A Tribute from Dr. Edmund Privat.The First Fruits of Victory, by Keith Ransom-Keller.
Where Is the Key to World Unity, by Louise Drake Wright.
A Visit to Baha'i, by Nancy Bowditch.Appreciations of the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha L. Root.
The Supreme Affliction, by Alfred E. Lunt The Bahá'í Movement and North American University Circles, by Martha L. Root.
Bahá'í Ideals of Education, by Stanwood Cobb.Man and Mankind on the Way of Progress, by Lidja Zamenhof.
The Epidemic of the Persian Jews, by A. J. Wienberg.
The Younger Generation, by Manjiyyih Nabil Carpenter.
Light on Basic Unity, by Louis G. Gregory.Science and Religion, compiled by Loulie A. Mathews.
A Bahá'í Traveler in Palestine, by Walter B. Guy, M.D. Dr. David Starr Jordan, by Willard P. Hatch.
Song Offerings.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.The Passing of Bahá'í KIninum the Most Exalted Leaf.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Genealogy of the BAItFacsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of th~ Bahá'ís of Persia and of Egypt.
The Spirit and Form of the Baha Administrative Order.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Dedara-tion tion of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
India and Burma.Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the IBahá'ís of Esslingen,
Germany.Map of Bahá'í holdings surrounding and dedicated to the shrine of the BTh on Mt. Carmel and tentative design of terraces.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Spell of the Temple.The Prolect of Ornamenting the Bahá'í Temple Dome.
Architectural Concrete of the Exposed Aggregate Type.
God-Intoxicated Architecture.Model of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar at the Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933.
References to the Bahá'í Faith, by: Archduchess Anton of Austria, Charles Baudouin, Prof. Norman Bentwich, Prof.
E. G. Browne, Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, General Renaro Piola Caselli, Rev. T. K.
Page 841Cheyene, Valentine Chirol, Rev. K. T. Chung, Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston, Prof. James Darmesteter, Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, Dr. Auguste Ford, Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, Dr. Henry H. Jessup, Prof. Jowett, Prof. Dimitry Kazaroxr, Helen Keller, Harry Charles Lukach, Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania, Alfred W. Martin, President Masaryk, Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Mr. Renwick J. G. Millar, Prof. Herbert A. Miller, The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, Rev. Frederick W. Gakes, Sir Flinders Petrie, Charles H. Frisk, Dr. Edmund Privat, Herbert Putnam, Ernest Renan, Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, Emile Schreiber, Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, Rev. Griffith J. Sparham, Shri Purohit Swami, Leo Tolstoy, Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Sir Francis Younghusband.
Further Developments in the case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in Baghdad.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXII session of the Permanent Mandates Commission ion of the League of Nations: Nov. 3 to Dcc. 6, 1932.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXIV session of the Permanent Mandates Commission ion of the League of Nations: Oct. 23 to Nov. 4, 1933.
Note.Additional Material gleaned from Na/oil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Baha'i
Calendar.Historical Data gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá'u'lláh.
Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá'í World.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of tbe
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the Báb's BestKnown NVoi-ks.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books by non-Bah?i Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-BaM'i Writers.
References by Bahá'ís in non-Bahá'í Publications.Transliteration of Oriental 'Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURThe Administrative Order in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, from a letter of Shoghi
Effendi.The Descent of the New Jerusalem, by G. Townshend.
The Spiritual Basis of World Peace, by Horace Holley.
Page 843In the Footsteps of the Pioneers, by Keith Ransom-Kehier.
The Orientation of Hope, by Alain Locke.La Foje et Ia Science Unies par 1'Art, by Marie Antoinette Aussenac, Princess de Brogue.
Religion and Social Progress, by Keith Ransom-Keller.
Prince Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, by Martha L. Root.
A Religion of Reconciliation, by Rev. Griffith J. Sparham.
The Men of the Trees, by Richard St. Barbe Baker.Les ProNames du Monde et la Foje Baha'i, by 'Au Afdalipur.
The Baha Movement, the Greatness of Its Power, by Martha L. Root.
Der Sinn Unserer Zeit, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.The Re-florescence of Historical Romance in Nabil, by Mary Maxwell.
William Miller, Student of Prophecy, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A New Cycle of Human Power, by Marion Holley.The Nature of the Divine Manifestations, by Glenn A. Shook.
Religious Education for the Young, by Mrs. M. H. Inouyc.
Why Do I Espouse the Bahá'í Cause? by Chi Kao Fujisawa.
Count Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha L. Root.
A Chinese View of the Baha Cause, by Chan S. Liu.Vernunft und Glaube, by Dr. Adelbert Miihlschlegel.
Influence of Astronomy on Religious Thought, by Giorgie Abetti.
1-laifa Calling, by Florence E. Pinchon.Taking the Message to the Maori People, by Keith Ransorn-Kebler.
Only a Word, by Laura Dreyfus-Barney.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 844Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia, Declaration and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Germany and Austria.Declaration of Trust and ByLaws, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Jr&q. Text of Authorization Issued for Registration by the Mixed Court in Egypt of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Egypt.ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of New York.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New
York.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Petition of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Esslingen, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Ess-lingen, en, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Karachi,
India.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Calcutta, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Delhi,
India.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of Bahá'ís of Rangoon,
Burma.Certificate of Registration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Daida-naw, aw, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mandalay, ay, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Auckland, nd, New Zealand.
Documents Related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, as a Recognized Religious
Society in Palestine.Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, Palestine Branch, as a Recognized Religious Society in Palestine.
Text of Application to the Palestine Government for Incorporation of the Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Page 845Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, Palestine Branch.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the word "Baha'i."
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the name Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir&q. Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Outline of Bahá'í Laws regarding matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Ba1A'is of Egypt.
Text of the Farm6.n issued by sul;Sn 'Abdu'1-'Aziz banishing Bahá'u'lláh to 'Akka, Palestine.
Text of the Resolution presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Map showing Travels of the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh.Map showing Section of Route followed by Bahá'u'lláh on His Journey from
BaghdAd to Constantinople.Map showing Path of Travel of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the United States of America and Canada, 1912.
Facsimile of Tablet addressed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Chicago "House of
Justice."The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Bahá'í Temple � Why built near Chicago?The Five Billion Carat Gem Bahá'í Temple at Wilmette, Ill.
Temple Echoes from the World's Fair.Bahá'í Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Na/Al's Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.BabVi Youth � An Estimate and Survey of International Events.
Bahá'í Youth in Persia.Prof. E. C. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Esdin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British Academy.
Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Hungarian Academy of Pestli.
Harry Charles Lukach.Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Haures ttudes, Paris.
Charles Baudouin.Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedlesron.
Sir Francis Younghusband, KC.S.I.; K.C.LE.Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Prisk.Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P. Rev. K. T. Chung.
Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia.The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L. Prof. Norman Bentwicb, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
Jimile Schrciber, Publicist.Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Page 847Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
Ex-Governor William Suizer.Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praba, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the U5ted States
and Canada.Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the Báb's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and Pamphlets by non-Bahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by nonBahá'í Writers.
References to the I3ahA'i Faith by Baha in non-BaM'i Publications.
Transliteration of Oriental "Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet, and Notes on the
Pronunciation of Persian Words.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURSpiritual Perspectives, by Prof. Raymond Frank Piper.
Splendor at the Core, by Angela Morgan.IBaM'i-Glaube und Christentum, by Dr. Eugen Schmidt.
BaM'ismo kaj Ia Socia Froblemo, by Prof. Paul Christaller.
Bahá'u'lláh's Ground Plan of World Fellowship, by Archdeacon George Town-shend.
nd.Die Babi'is und meine Erfahrungen, by Prof. Dr. J. Rypka.
Impressions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Louise R. Waite.Zwei Heilige Grabst~itten, by Dr. Adelbert Miiblschlegel.
In Praise of Words, by Helen Bishop.Some Memories of the Sojourn of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Paris, by Lady Blomfield.
Racial Likenesses and Differences: the Scientific Evidence and the Bahá'í Teachings, by Louis G. Gregory.
Denmark's Oriental Scholar, by Martha L. Root.'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Historic Meeting with Jane Addams, by Ruth J. Moffetc.
The Soul of Iceland, by Martha L. Root.Em Junger Glaube wird Bekannt, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
South America: Journey Taken in the Interest of the Bahá'í Cause, by Loulie A.
Mathews.Russia's Cultural Contribution to the Bahá'í Faith, by Martha L. Root.
A Bahá'í Incident from the Netherlands, by Louise Drake Wright.
Mr. Harald Thilander and his Publications for the Blind in Sweden, by Nellie S.
French.The Modern Miracles of Palestine, by Beatrice Irwin.
A New Future for Radio, by Shirley Warde.Map of the United States of America Showing Bah6 'i Centers.
VOLUME VIISurvey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Commemoration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to America.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 850Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the IBahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá'ís of Persia.Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Egypt.Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Australia and New Zealand.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kenosha, Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Racine, Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Detroit, Michigan, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Milwaukee, , Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cleveland, , Ohio, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Minneapolis, Minn., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bombay, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Poona, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Adelaide, Australia.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the World Order Magazine.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Baha Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir6q.
Certificate of Marriage issued by the Palestine Government and delivered to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Haifa for official registration.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Page 851Translation of the Record of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í voice.
Map of Ba1A'i holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated ated to the shrine of the Bib on Mt. Carmel.
The Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Progress of Temple Ornamentation.References to Bahá'í House of Worship in U. S. Steel News.
When Bahá'ís Build a Temple.Bahá'í Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nab/i's Narrative (Volume II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.The World Activities of Bahá'í Youth, 1936 to 1938.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Youth, 1937 to 1938.Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of the British
AcademyProf. Arminius Vambdry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
Harry Charles Lukach.Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes ttudes, Paris.
Charles Baudonin.Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedlesron.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous.
Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Prisk.The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
tmile Schreiber, Publicist.Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugo4avia.
Ex � Governor William Suizer of New York.Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups Alphabetically listed according to
Nations.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United
States and Canada.Addresses of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the BTh's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith on Books and Pamphlets by nonBahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-Bah&i Writers.
References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in nonBahá'í Publications.
Page 855Transliteration of Oriental 'Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of Persian Alphabet and Notes on the
Pronunciation of Persian Words.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURThe Seven Valleys by Bahá'u'lláh; A Meditation, by G. Townshcnd.
The World of Heart and Spirit, by Horace Holley.A Session at the World Congress of Faiths, by Helen Bishop.
Importance de 1'Id6e Spirituelle dans la Vie Actuelle, by Lucienne Migette.
Racial Amity in America, by Louis G. Gregory.Dawn over Mount Hira, by Mar4liyyih Nabil Carpenter.
The Bahá'í Faith and Eastern Scholars, by Martha L. Root.
The Unity of Nations, by Stanwood Cobb.Baha'i, from "La Sagesse de 1'Orient," by Dr. Edmund Privat.
Sources of Community Life, by Marion Halley.A Brief Account of Thomas Breakwell, by May Maxwell.
Unity of Races, by Genevieve L. Coy.The Fulfillment of Religion, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A World Community, by George 0. Latimer.Baha Radio Program, delivered over Station !CWHN~ New York.
The Bust of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Mrs. Stannard.The NonPolitical Nature of the Bahá'í Cause, by Emily M. Axford.
Teaching the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh in Distant Lands, by Nellie S. French.
Two Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst from cCPersia by a Persian."
A Tribute from Iceland, by H6lrnfridur Arnad6ttirMap of the United States and Canada Showing Bahá'í Centers.
VOLUME VIIIIL Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
International.Martha Roofs Travels in India, Burma, and Australia, Her Death in Honolulu.
The Baha Faith in Persia.Persecution and Deportation of the Bahá'ís of Caucasus and Turkistzin.
The Bahá'í Faith in Australia and New Zealand.Important Developments in the Bahá'í Community of North America.
Bahá'í Summer Schools.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Annual report, 19381939.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Supplementary report, 19381939.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Annual report, 19391940.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Supplementary report, 19391940.National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Annual report, 193 8193 9.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Annual report, 193 91940.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia. Annual report, 19381939.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia. Annual report, 193 91940.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir&q. Annual report, 193 81940.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma. Annual report, 19381940.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.
Annual report, 19381940.Excerpts from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.Explanation of the Rebukes Addressed by God to the Prophets.
Explanation of the Verse of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. "There Is No Associate for the Dawning � Place of Command in the Supreme Sinlessness.~~
Perfections Are Without Limit.The Existence of the Rational Soul After the Death of the Body.
Eternal Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of God.
Page 857LV. Transfer of the Remains of the Brother and Mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Mt. Carmel.
The Spiritual Potencies of that Consecrated Spot.The Burial of the Purest Branch and the Mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
V. The Passing of Munirih Kitinum the Holy Mother.
Episodes in the Life of Munirih KMnum.A Procedure for the Conduct of the Local Spiritual Assembly.
The Annual Bahá'í Convention.Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá'í Religious Organizations.
Bahá'ís and War.Excerpts from The Wit! and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Excerpis from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.2. The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.
Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iriq.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S~din.
Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bak'is of Egypt and &6dAn.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles.
Memorandum and Articles of Association of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Sydney, Australia.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Vancouver, B. C., Canada.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco, California, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lima, Ohio, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Columbus, Ohio, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of, the Bahá'ís of Phoenix, Arizona, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Portland, Oregon, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual AssemMy of the Bahá'ís of Jersey City, New Jersey, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A. Corporation Declaration by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Peoria, Illinois, U. S. A. Corporation Declaration by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Winnetka, Illinois, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Seattle, Washington, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A. Certificate of Formation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mexico City, Mexico.
Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Baha Faith in the City of Mexico.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Government of the Commonwealth h of Australia covering the Name 'tBahi'i" and the Symbol of the Greatest Name.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S4din.
Baha Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SAMn.
Page 859Marriage License issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Ill., to solemnize Bahá'í Marriages, es, with explanatory letter.
Text in Persian of the Outline of Bahá'í Laws regarding Matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government ent by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SAd&n. Map of Bahá'í holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the BTh on Mt. Carmel.
3. The Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Baha Texts for the Nine Outer Doors of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Bahá'í Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal Authorities of Wilmette, Illinois.
Envelope and Article related to the Cachet used by the Postal Authorities ies of Wilmette, Illinois.
Letter of the Postmaster of 'Wilmette, Illinois, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
The Temples of the Ages.Two Articles on the Bahá'í Temple published in Finland.
4. Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Bahá'í Holy Days on which work should be suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narralive (Vol. II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.2. Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
3. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British
Academy.5. Prof. Arminius Varnb6ry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
6. Sir Valentine Chirol.9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
10. Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes 1~tudes, Paris.
11. Charles Baudouin.12. Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. 13. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.L; K.G.I.E. 15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous.
16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A. 17. 1-lerbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C. 18. Leo Tolstoy.
19. Dr. Edmund Privar, University of Geneva.23. Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat 24. Charles H. Prisk.
25. Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt.28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P. 29. Rev. K. T. Chung.
30. Prof. Dimitry Kazaroy, University of Sofia.33. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L. 34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
35. Ilmile Scbreiber, Publicist.37. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doycn of Jurisprudence of Japan.
38. Sir Flindcrs Petrie, Archaeologist.47. Late President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
48. Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
49. Ex-Governor William Suizer.55. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
56. A. L. M. Nicholas.58. Sir Ronald Storrs, N.y.C., M.G., C.B.E. 59. Col. Raja Jai Pritlivi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal).
60. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
61. Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakar.3. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the
United States and Canada.6. Directory of Leading Assemblies in Bahá'í Administrative Divisions of
Persia.7. Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
8. List of the Bib's BestKnown Works.Outlines and Guides for Bahá'í 2. Bahá'í Publications of England.
3. Bahá'í Publications of India and Burma.27. Bahá'í Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
America.29. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and Pamphlets Published under
Non-Bahá'í Auspices.30. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by NonBahá'í 'Writers.
31. References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in Non-BaM'i Publications.
32. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Specialized Reference Works.
III. Transliteration of Oriental "Words frequently used in Baha Literature.
Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of Persian Alphabet and Notes on the Pronunciation of Persian Words.
IV. Definition of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOUR4. International Báb Congress Day at the Panama-Pacific International
Exposition.5. Bahá'í Message to the Universities of Northern India, by Martha L. Root.
6. Essai sur les Diff6rentes Formes de Pri&es, by Lucienne L. Migette.
7. Crisis of the World Psyche, by Wilfrid Barton.10. The Well of Happiness, by George Townshend.
11. Bahá'ís and War, by David Hofman.12. Conf&rence dans un cercie Bahá'í a Paris, le 19 Mars, 1939, by Madame J. Montefiore.
13. Rejoice, 0 Israel, by Alice Simmons Cox.14. Pioneer Introduction of the Bahá'í Faith to the Netherlands, by Louise
Drake Wright.15. An Interview with A. L. M. Nicolas of Paris, by Edith Sanderson.
16. Yucatan 1939, by Loulie A. Mathews.17. The Scriptures of Different Faiths, by Pritam Singli.
18. Faith and the Man, by Louis G. Gregory.19. Appreciation by Leaders of Thought, by RuhAniyyih Moffett.
20. A Journey to the Arctic, by Nellie S. French.21. TThirih's Message to the Modern World, by Martha L. Root.
A Brief Commentary, by Marian Little.22. A Brief Survey of the Literature of the Bahá'í Faith in English, by
William Kenneth Christian.23. John Ebenezer Esslemont, His Life and Service, by Jessie E. Revell.
24. A Letter from Finland, by V~iin5 Rissanen.V. Maps of Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada, of Central and South America, and of the Bahá'í World.
Page 865II. International Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
III. Excerpts from the Bahá'í Sacred Writings.1. PresentDay Administration of the Bahá'í Faith.
Introductory Statement.A Procedure for the Conduct. of the Local Spiritual Assembly.
The Annual Ba1A'i Convention.Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá'í Religious Organizations.
Bahá'ís and War.A Commentary on The 1K/ill and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Promised Day Is Come.2. The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.
Foreword.Certification of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S4d~n.
Page 866ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the City of New Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Berkeley, Calif.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Bingbamton, N. Y. Certificate of Incorporation of the of Flint, Mich.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Helena, Mont Certificate of Incorporation of the of Honolulu, T. II.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Indianapolis, md.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Miami, Fla.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Oakland, Calif.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Pasadena, Calif.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Richmond Highhnds, Wash.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Springfield, Ill.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of St. Paul, Minn.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Urbana, Ill.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Evanston, Ill.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Ahmedabad, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Andlieri, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Bai~ga1ore, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Baroda, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Elyderabad, Sind, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Panchagani, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Serampore, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Vellore, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of San Jos6, Costa Rica.
Certificate of Incorporation of the of Quetta. Bakchisdn,
SpiritualAssembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the Assembly of the
Baha'isBahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual ual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Baha Marriage Certificate adapted and enforced by the National Spiritual ual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SudAn.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual ual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SAd~in.
Minister's License issued by the State of Ohio authori7ing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lima to solemnize Bahá'í Marriages.
Minister's License issued by the State of Ohio authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cincinnati to solemnize Bahá'í Marriages.
Minister's License issued by the State of Ohio authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cleveland to solemnize Bahá'í Marriages.
Text in Persian of the Outline of Bahá'í Laws regarding Matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government ent by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and Sfid4n.
Text of Letter from the United States War Department granting permission ion to use the Bahá'í emblem of the Greatest Name on Baha graves.
Text of Letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Health Allotting a Burial Ground for the Baha Community of Cairo.
Facsimile of Document Related to the Formation of the First Bahá'í Association Established in Persia, 1319, A. H. Trust Deed by which Villa Safwan at Port � Fouad was conveyed to the property of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt on December 27th, 1943.
3. The Institution of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhkir.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Bahá'í Temple, House of Worship of a World Faith.
The Bahá'í Temple and the Development of the Faith in America.
The Realization of the Architect's Design.Bahá'í Hoiy Days on which work should be suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.5. Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá'í World.
Introductory Statement.A Tribunal Grants English Bahá'í Exemption from Combatant Service.
An American Youth Faces a Draft Board.2. Prof. B G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
3. Dr. J. Esdin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British
Academy.5. Prof. Arminius Vambdry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
6. Sir Valentine Chirol.9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
10. Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes etudes, Paris.
11. Charles Baudouin.12. Dr. Henry H. Jessiw, D.D. 13. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.L, K.C.I.E. 15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous.
16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A. 17. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C. 18. Leo Tolstoy.
19. Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva.28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P. Lord Samuel of Carmel, G.C.B., C.B.E. 29. Rev. K. I Chung.
30. Prof. Dimitry Kazaroy, University of Sofia.33. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L. 34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
55. ]mile Schreiber, Publicist.37. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
38. Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist.47. Late President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
48. Prof. I3ogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
49. Ex-Governor William Suizer.55. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
56. A. L. M. Nicolas.�8. Sir Ronald Storrs, N.y.C., M.G., C.B.E. 59. Col. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal).
60. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
61. Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakar.62. Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar, M.A., Ph.D. 63. Mrs. Sarojinu Naidu.
64. Jules Bois.3. Hiji Mirza Buzurg Afn&n 'AI&i. 4. Miss Margaret Stevenson.
5. Mary J. Revell.3. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Localities Where Isolated Believers Reside in the U. S. A. and Canada.
5. Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.6. Directory of Leading Assemblies in Bahá'í Administrative Divisions of
Persia.7. Directory of Localities in India W~here Bahá'ís Reside.
II. Bahá'í Bibliography.1. Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
2. List of the Mb's BestKnown Works.d. Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
c. Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
ahA.f. Works Compiled from Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and
Shoghi Effendi.3A. Baha Publications of America That Are Out of Print.
Page 872c. Works Compiled from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
d. Writings of Shoghi Effendi.30. Languages in which Bahá'í Literature is being translated.
a. Krnarcse.33. References to the Báb~'i Faith in Books and Pamphlets Published
Under Non-BabA'i Auspices.34. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by nonBahá'í Authors.
35. References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in non-BaM'i Publications.
36. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Encyclopedias and Reference Books.
III. Transliteration of Oriental Words Frequently Used in Bahá'í Literature.
Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of Persian Alphabet and Notes on the Pronunciation of Persian Words.
IV. Definitions of Oriental Terms Used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOUR1. The Bahá'í Principle of Civilization, by Horace Holley.
2. Joined by God, by George Townshend.4. The Concept and Goals of Human Progress, by Stanwood Cobb.
5. The Beloved Returns, by Helen Bishop.7. The Bahá'í Faith in the Colleges, by Dorothy Baker.
8. Ways to Wholeness, by Raymond Frank Piper.1G. The Prayers of Bahá'u'lláh, by Ruhiyyih Khan~m.
11. Two Glimpses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Roy C. Wilhelm.
12. The Lesser and the Most Great Peace, by George Orr Latimer.
13. The White Silk Dress, by Marzieh Gail.14. Charter for World Peace, by Alice Simmons Cox.
Page 87415. The Bahá'í Faith and Problems of Color, Class and Greed, by Elsie Austin.
16. Broadcasting the Bahá'í Message, by Mildred Mottahedeh.
17. Our Heritage from Bahá'u'lláh, by William Kenneth Christian.
18. IsUm and the Scientific Spirit, by Robert L. Gulick, Jr. 19. Mirza Abu'1-Fadl in America, by Ali-Kuli Khan and Marzieh Gail.
20. The "B&bi" Movement, Flowering from Islamic Soil, by Ernest G. Dodge.
21. By the Mouth of His Prophets, by Maye Harvey Gift.
22. The Importance of the Bahá'í Faith Today, by George W. Goodman.
23. Accelerated Progress in Race Relations, by Louis G. Gregory.
24. Chile and Three Crucial Years, by Marcia Steward.
25. Pioneer Journey, by Virginia Orbison.27. Haiti, the Magic Isle, by Ainelie Pumpelly Bates.
28. El Peru, by Eve B. Nicklin.29. The Story of th~ Bahá'í Faith in Cuba, by Eugenio Gin~s.
30. Alaska, Our New Frontier, by Orcella Rexford.31. La Fe Bahá'í in Guatemala, by Edelberto Torres.
32. La Aurora de un Nuevo Dia, by Diego B. Garcia Monge.
II. Verse.V. Maps of Mexico, 'West Indies, Central and South America, India and Burma, Teaching ng Regions of the United States of America and Canada, and of the Bahá'í World.
Page 875MAPS OF THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD 879
Page 880