First Message from the Universal House of Justice -- April 30, 1963: Presented by a member of the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is assembled in Royal Albert Hall, London

"All praise, O my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all glory and majesty, of greatness and honour, of sovereignty and dominion, of loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou wiliest Thou causest to draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou conferrest the honour of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will. From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise."

Beloved friends:

On this glorious occasion, the celebration of the Most Great Jubilee, we raise our grateful thanks to Bahá'u'lláh for all His bounties showered upon the friends throughout the world. This historic moment marks at one and the same time the fulfilment of Daniel's prophecy, the Hundredth Anniversary of the Declaration of the Promised One of all ages, the termination of the first epoch of the Divine Plan of 'Abdu'l-Bahá designed to establish the Faith of God in all the world, and the successful conclusion of our beloved Guardian's world-encircling Crusade, enabling his lovers and loved ones everywhere to lay this glorious harvest of victory in his name at the feet of the Blessed Beauty. This Most Great Jubilee is the crowning victory of the lifework of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Cause of God. He it was, and he alone, who unfolded the potentialities of the widely scattered, numerically small, and largely unorganized Bahá'í community which had been called into being during the Heroic Age of the Faith. He it was who unfolded the grand design of God's Holy Cause, set in motion the great plans of teaching already outlined by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, established the institutions and greatly extended the endowments at the World Centre, and raised the Temples of America, Africa, Australasia and Europe, developed the Administrative Order of the Cause throughout the world, and set the Ark of the Cause true on its course. He appointed the Hands of the Cause of God.

First Baha'i meeting-place in Australia

Mr. and Mrs. Dunn's first flat in Avoca Street, Randwick, Sydney, N.S.W. First Baha'i meeting-place in Australia. (The Baha'i World, 1932-1934)

May 22nd, 1844: The Báb Declares His Divine Mission to Mulla Husayn

The time was the hour before sunset, on the 22nd day of May, 1844. The participants were the Bab, a twenty-five year old siyyid, of pure and holy lineage, and the young Mulla Husayn, the first to believe in Him. Their meeting immediately before that interview seemed to be purely fortuitous. The interview itself was protracted till the hour of dawn. The Host remained closeted alone with His guest, nor was the sleeping city remotely aware of the import of the conversation they held with each other. No record has passed to posterity of that unique night save the fragmentary but highly illuminating account that fell from the lips of Mulla Husayn.

"I sat spellbound by His utterance, oblivious of time and of those who awaited me," he himself has testified, after describing the nature of the questions he had put to his Host and the conclusive replies he had received from Him, replies which had established beyond the shadow of a doubt the validity of His claim to be the promised Qá'im. "Suddenly the call of the Mu'adhdhin, summoning the faithful to their morning prayer, awakened me from the state of ecstasy into which I seemed to have fallen. All the delights, all the ineffable glories, which the Almighty has recounted in His Book as the priceless possessions of the people of Paradise -- these I seemed to be experiencing that night. Methinks I was in a place of which it could be truly said: 'Therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us;' 'no vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor any falsehood, but only the cry, "Peace! Peace!"'; 'their cry therein shall be, "Glory to Thee, O God!" and their salutation therein, "Peace!", and the close of their cry, "Praise be to God, Lord of all creatures!"' Sleep had departed from me that night. I was enthralled by the music of that voice which rose and fell as He chanted; now swelling forth as He revealed verses of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', again acquiring ethereal, subtle harmonies as He uttered the prayers He was revealing. At the end of each invocation, He would repeat this verse: 'Far from the glory of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, be that which His creatures affirm of Him! And peace be upon His Messengers! And praise be to God, the Lord of all beings!'"

First National Convention of the Baha'is of Eastern Malaysia and Brunei

Historic first National Convention of the Baha'is of Eastern Malaysia and Brunei held at he "Uma Orang Ulu", Kuching April 28-30, 1972. One hundred and seventy attended from Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak including Hand of the Cause of God Mr Jalal Khazeh representing the Universal House of Justice, Counsellor Dr. C.J. Sundram, and Auxiliary Board member Mrs. Grete Fozdar. (Baha'i News July 1972)

1969: Bahji from the air

Bahji from the air looking northeast, 1969 (Baha'i News April 1969)

circa 1932: Persian Baha'i Marriage Certificate

Baha'i Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia. (The Baha'i World 1932-1934)

The Báb announces that “through” God’s “Most Great Name … the hidden secrets of God, the Most Exalted, were divulged and… the essence of all knowledge was revealed” to humanity

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I invoke Thee by Thy Most Great Name through which the hidden secrets of God, the Most Exalted, were divulged and the kindreds of all nations converged toward the focal centre of faith and certitude, through which Thy luminous Words streamed forth for the quickening of mankind and the essence of all knowledge was revealed from that Embodiment of bounty. May my life, my inmost being, my soul and my body be offered up as a sacrifice for the dust ennobled by His footsteps. 
(The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb, p. 199)

First National Convention of the Baha'is of the Malagasy Republic

During Ridvan 1972, the historic first National Convention of the Baha'is of the Malagasy Republic was held. This is located to the east of Africa, the Island of Madagascar. The photographs were taken in fron of the national Haziratu'l-Quds in Tananarive. The Universal House of Justice was represented by Hand of the Cause Dr. Muhajir. Among those attending were: Continental Counsellor S. Fatheazam; Auxiliary Board member R. Thandrayen, E. Lutchmaya representing the mother Assembly, that of the Indian Ocean, and the Mother-Pioneer of the Island, Mrs. M. Munsif. (Baha'i News, November 1972)