Factors that effected Bahá’u’lláh’s “ultimate deliverance” from Síyáh-Chál

Now that He [Bahá’u’lláh] had been invested, in consequence of that potent dream, with the power and sovereign authority associated with His Divine mission, His deliverance from a confinement that had achieved its purpose, and which if prolonged would have completely fettered Him in the exercise of His newly-bestowed functions, became not only inevitable, but imperative and urgent. Nor were the means and instruments lacking whereby his emancipation from the shackles that restrained Him could be effected. 

• The persistent and decisive intervention of the Russian Minister, Prince Dolgorouki, who left no stone unturned to establish the innocence of Bahá’u’lláh;
• the public confession of Mullá Shaykh ‘Alíy-i-Turshízí, surnamed ‘Azím, who, in the Síyáh-Chál, in the presence of the Hájibu’d-Dawlih and the Russian Minister’s interpreter and of the government’s representative, emphatically exonerated Him, and acknowledged his own complicity; 
• the indisputable testimony established by competent tribunals; 
• the unrelaxing efforts exerted by His own brothers, sisters and kindred,—all these combined to effect His ultimate deliverance from the hands of His rapacious enemies. 
• Another potent if less evident influence which must be acknowledged as having had a share in His liberation was the fate suffered by so large a number of His self-sacrificing fellow-disciples who languished with Him in that same prison. For, as Nabíl truly remarks, “the blood, shed in the course of that fateful year in Tihrán by that heroic band with whom Bahá’u’lláh had been imprisoned, was the ransom paid for His deliverance from the hand of a foe that sought to prevent Him from achieving the purpose for which God had destined Him.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Persecution of the Baha’is in Iran: 1977-1986: - Messages from the Universal House of Justice to National Spiritual Assemblies in chronological order

 June 14, 1977: Murder of an Iranian Home-Front Pioneer

15 December 1978: The Grave Peril Facing Baha'is and Holy Places in Iran

12 January 1979: Persecution of the Baha'is of Iran

26 February 1979: Refutation of False Accusations Against Iranian Baha'is

10 May 1979: Seizure of the House of the Báb

23 May 1979: Call for Prayers for the Baha'is of Iran

15 June 1979: The Increasing Dangers Facing Iranian Baha'is

17 July 1979: Conversion of Iranian National Baha'i Headquarters into an Islamic University

20 August 1979: Effects of Baha'i Actions on the Situation in Iran

9 September 1979: Demolition of the House of the Bab

20 September 1979: Omission of Baha'is as Recognized Religious Minority from Iranian Constitution

17 October 1979: Refutation of Accusations against Iranian Baha'is

19 November 1979: Demolition of the House of the Bab and Adjacent Baha'i Properties

30 June 1980: Ominous Increase in Pressures on Iranian Baha'is

1983: The Universal House of Justice moved to its permanent Seat

 2 February 1983 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

TO THE FOLLOWERS OF BAHA'U'LLAH IN EVERY LAND WE BOW OUR HEADS IN INFINITE GRATITUDE TO THE BLESSED BEAUTY FOR HIS ALL-EMBRACING CONFIRMATIONS ENABLING HOUSE JUSTICE OCCUPY ITS NEWLY CONSTRUCTED PERMANENT SEAT. THIS AUSPICIOUS EVENT SIGNALIZES ANOTHER PHASE IN PROCESS FULFILMENT SAILING GOD'S ARK ON MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD AS ANTICIPATED IN TABLET CARMEL, WONDROUS CHARTER WORLD SPIRITUAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRES FAITH BAHA'U'LLAH.

THIS HIGH POINT HISTORY STRUGGLING FAITH NOW EMERGING FROM OBSCURITY, THIS CRUCIAL HOUR SUFFUSED WITH UNTOLD POTENCIES GENERATED BY SOUL-STIRRING SACRIFICES BELOVED BRETHREN IRAN, MARKED BY VISIT MEMBERS HOUSE JUSTICE TWIN HOLY SHRINES AND FIRST GATHERING COUNCIL CHAMBER TOGETHER WITH HANDS CAUSE AMATU'L-BAHA RUHIYYIH KHANUM 'ALI-AKBAR FURUTAN AND COUNSELLOR MEMBERS INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE TO OFFER PRAYERS HUMBLE THANKSGIVING. LET ALL REJOICE. LET PRAISES ANCIENT BEAUTY RESOUND. MAY UNRELENTING EFFORTS FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HASTEN ADVENT THAT DAY WHEN WONDROUS POTENTIALITIES ENSHRINED IN TABLET CARMEL WILL BE FULLY REVEALED AND WHEN FROM GOD'S HOLY MOUNTAIN, AS ENVISAGED BELOVED GUARDIAN, WILL STREAM FORTH RIVERS OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES WITH ALL-CONQUERING POWER AND MAJESTY.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)

June 1877: The Termination of Baha'u'llah's Confinement in 'Akka

IN EARLY DAYS OF JUNE 1877 BAHA'U'LLAH LEFT CITY 'AKKA AND TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN MAZRA'IH.  O MARK CENTENARY THIS TERMINATION CONFINEMENT ANCIENT BEAUTY WITHIN WALLS PRISON CITY WE CALL UPON HIS FOLLOWERS ALL LANDS DEVOTE NINETEEN DAY FEAST OF NUR COMMEMORATION HISTORIC EVENT, REDEDICATING THEMSELVES URGENT TASKS BEFORE THEM, SO THAT PENT-UP ENERGIES HIS PRECIOUS FAITH MAY BE RELEASED TO REACH EVER GREATER NUMBER SEEKING SOULS IN EVER WIDER CIRCLE THEIR FELLOWMEN.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 24 March 1977 to all National Spiritual Assemblies; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)

1977: Initiation of Broadcasting by First Baha'i Radio Station in the Baha’i World

15 December 1977 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

REJOICE ANNOUNCE INITIATION FULL TIME BROADCASTING FIRST RADIO STATION BAHA'I WORLD 12 DECEMBER IN OTAVALO, ECUADOR. HAIL VISION LABOURS ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY ECUADOR IN ACHIEVING THIS MILESTONE BAHA'I PROCLAMATION TEACHING DEEPENING. OFFERING PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD BAHA'I RADIO ECUADOR WILL FULFIL ITS PROMISE AS LANDMARK CAUSE AND SERVICE PROGRESS PEOPLES LATIN AMERICA.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, ‘1963-1986’)

1975: Acquisition of the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha' in 'Akka

House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha' in 'Akka-1920s
(Baha'i Media Bank)

9 January 1975 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

JOYOUSLY ANNOUNCE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION LENGTHY DELICATE NEGOTIATIONS RESULTING ACQUISITION BY PURCHASE HOLY HOUSE CENTRE COVENANT 'ABDU'L-BAHA BIRTHPLACE BELOVED GUARDIAN SHOGHI EFFENDI. HISTORIC PROPERTY ADJACENT BARRACKS MOST GREAT PRISON COMPRISES LAND AREA APPROXIMATING SEVEN THOUSAND SQUARE METRES INCLUDES OTHER STRUCTURES WITHIN COMPLEX ASSURING PERMANENT PROTECTION HOUSE VISITED BY MANY PILGRIMS TURN CENTURY SCENE HISTORIC VISIT FIRST GROUP WESTERN PILGRIMS. PLANS BEING PREPARED RESTORATION HOLY HOUSE BEAUTIFICATION GROUNDS AS ADDITIONAL PLACE PILGRIMAGE WORLD CENTRE WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES FUNDS PERMIT. OFFER HUMBLE THANKSGIVING BAHA'U'LLAH THIS GREAT BLESSING. 

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, ‘1963-1986’)

1973: Establishment of the International Teaching Centre

5 June 1973 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

ANNOUNCE ESTABLISHMENT HOLY LAND LONG ANTICIPATED INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE DESTINED EVOLVE INTO ONE THOSE WORLD-SHAKING WORLD-EMBRACING WORLD-DIRECTING ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS ORDAINED BY BAHA'U'LLAH ANTICIPATED BY 'ABDU'L-BAHA ELUCIDATED BY SHOGHI EFFENDI. MEMBERSHIP THIS NASCENT INSTITUTION COMPRISES ALL HANDS CAUSE GOD AND INITIALLY THREE COUNSELLORS WHO WITH HANDS PRESENT HOLY LAND WILL CONSTITUTE NUCLEUS ITS VITAL OPERATIONS. CALLING UPON HOOPER DUNBAR FLORENCE MAYBERRY 'AZIZ YAZDI PROCEED HOLY LAND ASSUME THIS HIGHLY MERITORIOUS SERVICE. OFFERING PRAYERS HEARTFELT GRATITUDE SACRED THRESHOLD THIS FURTHER EVIDENCE ORGANIC EVOLUTION ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER BAHA'U'LLAH.

With loving Baha'i greetings,

The Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, ‘1963-1986’)

1973: Purchase of Mansion of Mazra’ih

Mansion of Mazra’ih, 1952
(Baha'i Media Bank)

15 March 1973 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

OCCASION NAW-RUZ 130 JOYOUSLY ANNOUNCE BAHA'I WORLD ACQUISITION BY PURCHASE MANSION MAZRA'IH RESULT SEVERAL YEARS PATIENT PERSISTENT DETERMINED NEGOTIATIONS THEREBY ADDING TO BAHA'I ENDOWMENTS HOLY LAND FIRST RESIDENCE BAHA'U'LLAH AFTER NINE YEARS SPENT WALLED PRISON CITY 'AKKA. CONTROL THIS HOLY SITE REACQUIRED BY BELOVED GUARDIAN AFTER LAPSE MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS WHEN HE SECURED LEASE MANSION 1950 EXTENDED TO PRESENT TIME. PURCHASE INCLUDES LAND AREA APPROXIMATING TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND SQUARE METRES HIGHLY SUITABLE EXTENSION GARDENS CULTIVATION. OFFERING PRAYER THANKSGIVING SACRED THRESHOLD THIS GREATLY CHERISHED BOUNTY.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice, ‘1963-1986’)

1967: Assumption by the Universal House of Justice of Representation of the Baha'i International Community at the United Nations

17 October 1967 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

MORROW SIX INTERCONTINENTAL CONFERENCES INAUGURATING PROCLAMATION PERIOD ANNOUNCE BAHÁ'Í WORLD SIGNIFICANT STEP DEVELOPMENT RELATIONS UNITED NATIONS THROUGH ASSUMPTION BY UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE FUNCTION REPRESENTATION BAHÁ'Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAPACITY NON- GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION AT UNITED NATIONS. TAKE THIS OCCASION EXPRESS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES AND MILDRED MOTTAHEDEH GRATEFUL LOVING APPRECIATION MANY YEARS DEVOTED TIRELESS SUCCESSFUL SERVICES AS REPRESENTATIVE AND OBSERVER RESPECTIVELY.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963 to 1986)

Background info:

In 1947 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada was accredited to the United Nations as a national non-governmental organization qualified to be represented at United Nations Conferences through a designated observer.  One year later the eight existing National Spiritual Assemblies were recognized collectively as an international non-governmental organization under the title "The Baha'i International Community."  Each National Spiritual Assembly designated the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States as its representative at the United Nations.  Mrs Mildred Mottahedeh, who also served as a member of the International Baha'i Council from 1961 to 1963, was the observer for the Baha'i International Community for nearly twenty years.  The Baha'i International Community, which now includes at least five million believers, 165 National Spiritual Assemblies, and approximately twenty thousand Local Spiritual Assemblies, maintains offices in New York and Geneva that are responsible for relations between the Baha'i International Community and the United Nations.

(Footnotes provided in ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986)

1986: Visit to the World Center by Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and consultation with the Universal House of Justice

Members of the Universal House of Justice at the Mansion of Bahji with the Honorable Sir Thomas Davis Prime Minister the Cook Island: (second from right front), who visited the Baháí World Center in August 1986.
(The Baháí World 1986-1992)

8 August 1986

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

IN HUMBLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S UNABATING CONFIRMATIONS, WE INFORM FRIENDS EVERYWHERE PRIVATE VISIT TO BAHÁ’f WORLD CENTER PRIME MINISTER COOK ISLANDS SIR THOMAS DAVIS AND LADY DAVIS 3 AND 4 AUGUST. OCCASION MADE HISTORIC BY PRIME MINISTER’S INITIATIVE IN REQUESTING CONSULTATION WITH UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE REGARDING WORLD PEACE.

VISIT ALSO MARKED MOST CONCRETE RESPONSE TO DATE BY POLITICAL LEADER TO PEACE STATEMENT RELEASED TO PEOPLES WORLD LAST OCTOBER. DURING CONSULTATIONS WHICH TOOK PLACE ON FIRST DAY IN COUNCIL CHAMBER FOLLOWING PRIME MINISTER’S VISIT SHRINE BÁB AND ON SECOND DAY AT MANSION BAHJÍ FOLLOWING HIS VISIT SHRINE BAHÁ'ULLÁH, SIR THOMAS DISCUSSED HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT WORLD PEACE AND HIS DESIRE FOR PRACTICAL ACTION CONSONANT WITH CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING VAST PACIFIC AREA.

OCCASION ALSO ENABLED LADY DAVIS, LEADING MEMBER COOK ISLANDS NOBILITY AND ONE OF FIRST BAHÁ’ÍS THAT COUNTRY, TO UNDERTAKE BRIEF PILGRIMAGE THUS SPIRITUALLY ENHANCING TOTAL UNPRECEDENTED EXPERIENCE ASSOCIATED WITH VISIT TO WORLD CENTER THESE TWO DISTINGUISHED PERSONS. WHILE SIR THOMAS MET WITH US IN COUNCIL CHAMBER, LADY DAVIS WAS RECEIVED AT SEAT INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTER. PUNCTUATED BY BANQUET AT SEAT UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE, THEIR ACTIVITIES AT WORLD CENTER ENDED WITH LUNCH AT MAZRA'IH. SUBSEQUENTLY SIR THOMAS AND LADY DAVIS TRAVELED TO JERUSALEM WHERE THEY WERE ENTERTAINED BY OFFICIALS GOVERNMENT ISRAEL. THEY DEPARTED HOLY LAND ON MORNING 5 AUGUST.

ONCE AGAIN ACTION BY LEADER FROM PACIFIC OCEAN CALLS TO OUR MINDS ONE OF BAHÁ’ULLÁH’S MOST TRENCHANT ASSERTIONS CONCERNING POWER HIS CAUSE: “SHOULD THEY ATTEMPT TO CONCEAL ITS LIGHT ON THE CONTINENT,” HE WROTE, “IT WILL ASSUREDLY REAR ITS HEAD IN THE MIDMOST HEART OF THE OCEAN, AND, RAISING ITS VOICE, PROCLAIM: ‘I AM THE LIFEGIVER OF THE WORLD!’”

Universal House of Justice

(Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

July 1985: Inauguration of the Office of Public Information at the Baha’i World Center

11 July 1985 

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

GREATLY PLEASED ANNOUNCE INAUGURATION PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE WORLD CENTRE WITH BRANCH OFFICE SOON TO BE ESTABLISHED NEW YORK.  THIS NEW AGENCY BAHA'I INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO EXTEND SCOPE CO-ORDINATE WORLD-WIDE ACTIVITIES DESIGNED INCREASE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE AIMS ACHIEVEMENTS CAUSE BAHA'U'LLAH. PROFOUNDLY GRATEFUL BLESSED BEAUTY FURTHER DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENTS HIS UNIQUE ORDER.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)

Based at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, with a branch office in Paris, the Baha’i International Community’s Office of Public Information (OPI) oversees and organizes public information activities throughout the worldwide Bahá’í community in conjunction with a network of National Public Information Officers (NPIOS) who carry out the external affairs and public information work of National Spiritual Assemblies.

The Haifa office receives dignitaries and other important visitors to the Bahá’í World Centre. From Ridván 2003 to 2004, the office arranged 253 special visits for some 2,291 dignitaries, leaders of thought, and prominent people from 81 countries. The visitors covered a broad range of professions and included diplomats, religious leaders, military officials, educators and students, journalists, business people, and members of civil society and nongovernmental organizations.

The office received 16 ambassadors from 15 countries as well as government ministers from Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.

The office also received film crews, reporters, journalists, producers, and photographers from both local and international television and radio stations. Media coverage centered greatly on the Shrine of the Báb and surrounding terraces. 

(The Bahá’í World 2003-2004)

‘Abdu’l-Baha comments on the “the utmost justice” that He received from Sultan Abdu’l-Hamid concerning the Commission of Inquiry

O thou who art firm in the Covenant! An article in the Broadway Magazine of September, 1906, written by G. A. Dobson and published in New York, was read. It is entitled, “The Strangest Religion in New York.” Unquestionably, you get that magazine and read it. The writer complains of the Ottoman government and its treatment towards the Bahai community. There is no doubt that this article will be read by His Excellency the Turkish Minister or the members of the Legation. The truth is that His Imperial Majesty the Sultan Abdu’l-Hamid Khan hath exercised the utmost justice toward Abdu’l-Baha. Although the internal and external enemies entered into an alliance, wrote reports full of pure calumnies and baseless impositions, became themselves the complainers and witnesses, a body of examiners came from Constantinople for the investigation of the true situation and that committee of commissioners became united with the outside and inside enemies, ratifying all the impositions and adding to those some more important matters, yet His Imperial Majesty Abdul Hamid Khan—may God assist him! —acted with deliberation until it became known and evident that all these calumnies were founded upon rancor and hostility. Therefore, he hath treated us, until the present time, with the utmost justice and because of this treatment we are exceedingly happy. If there were any other king beside His Imperial Majesty Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan, he would exercise his authority in another way in the face of these unjust imputations and the conspiracies of the external and internal foes. Nevertheless, the justice and equity of the Sultan prevented the attacks of the enemies and the reports of the people of oppositions and falsehood from producing any effect. Therefore, all the friends must pray from their hearts in behalf of their Imperial Majesties the Padeshah of the Ottomans and the Shah of Persia. As in these days His Imperial Majesty Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan is in a state of illness and indisposition, therefore the believers of God, in meetings and assemblages, in private and public, but invoke from the Threshold of Oneness swift recovery for him. The friends and strangers must know and realize that all the believers of God have the utmost love for His Majesty the Padeshah of the Ottoman empire and that they are entreating for him protection and confirmation. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  ('Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 3')

Conditions under which a “Revelation, hailed as the promise and crowning glory of past ages and centuries” was born

A Revelation, hailed as the promise and crowning glory of past ages and centuries, as the consummation of all the Dispensations within the Adamic Cycle, inaugurating an era of at least a thousand years’ duration, and a cycle destined to last no less than five thousand centuries, signalizing the end of the Prophetic Era and the beginning of the Era of Fulfillment, unsurpassed alike in the duration of its Author’s ministry and the fecundity and splendor of His mission—such a Revelation was, as already noted, born amidst the darkness of a subterranean dungeon in Tihrán—an abominable pit that had once served as a reservoir of water for one of the public baths of the city. Wrapped in its stygian gloom, breathing its fetid air, numbed by its humid and icy atmosphere, His feet in stocks, His neck weighed down by a mighty chain, surrounded by criminals and miscreants of the worst order, oppressed by the consciousness of the terrible blot that had stained the fair name of His beloved Faith, painfully aware of the dire distress that had overtaken its champions, and of the grave dangers that faced the remnant of its followers—at so critical an hour and under such appalling circumstances the “Most Great Spirit,” as designated by Himself, and symbolized in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian, and Muhammadan Dispensations by the Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush, the Dove and the Angel Gabriel respectively, descended upon, and revealed itself, personated by a “Maiden,” to the agonized soul of Bahá’u’lláh. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1938: Proof of “the celestial potency” of the North American Baha’i Community

A community, relatively negligible in its numerical strength; separated by vast distances from both the focal-center of its Faith and the land wherein the preponderating mass of its fellow-believers reside; bereft in the main of material resources and lacking in experience and in prominence; ignorant of the beliefs, concepts and habits of those peoples and races from which its spiritual Founders have sprung; wholly unfamiliar with the languages in which its sacred Books were originally revealed; constrained to place its sole reliance upon an inadequate rendering of only a fragmentary portion of the literature embodying its laws, its tenets, and its history; subjected from its infancy to tests of extreme severity, involving, at times, the defection of some of its most prominent members; having to contend, ever since its inception, and in an ever-increasing measure, with the forces of corruption, of moral laxity, and ingrained prejudice—such a community, in less than half a century, and unaided by any of its sister communities, whether in the East or in the West, has, by virtue of the celestial potency with which an all-loving Master has abundantly endowed it, lent an impetus to the onward march of the Cause it has espoused which the combined achievements of its coreligionists in the West have failed to rival. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

circa 1938 Baha’i community in Germany: “Its voice, alas, is now silenced, its institutions dissolved, its literature banned, its archives confiscated, and its meetings suspended.”

In the heart of the European continent a community which, as predicted by ‘Abdu’l Bahá, is destined, by virtue of its spiritual potentialities and geographical situation, to radiate the splendor of the light of the Faith on the countries that surround it, has been momentarily eclipsed through the restrictions which a regime that has sorely misapprehended its purpose and function has chosen to impose upon it. Its voice, alas, is now silenced, its institutions dissolved, its literature banned, its archives confiscated, and its meetings suspended. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

In a Tablet to Czar of Russia, Alexander II, Bahá’u’llah proclaims His station

In the Tablet addressed to the Czar of Russia, Alexander II, we read: “O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful… 

Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud: ‘Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!’ He Who is the Father is come, and the Son [Jesus], in the holy vale, crieth out: ‘Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!’, whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: ‘The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.’” 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’)”

1951: First National Baha'i Convention of South America

(Baha'i News, August 1951)

1951: First National Baha'i Convention of Central America

(Baha'i News, August 1951)

Exterior and interior views of the Fort of Shaykh Tabarsí

Exterior and interior views of what was once the Fort of Shaykh Tabarsí in Mázindarán, Irán. It was here that the “lion-hearted Mullá Husayn" sacrificed his life for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. The tomb of Shaykh Tabarsí is shown in the interior view. The building in the center remains from those days of heroism in 1849. (Baha’i News, August 1949)