circa 1925: Baha'i Orphanage in Tokyo, Japan

Baha'i Orphanage in Tokyo, Japan, circa 1925 -- earthquake orphans (Star of the West, vol. 16, no. 2, May 1925)

Governments Receive Peace Statement

The Bahamas

His Excellency Sir Gerald Cash, the Governor General of the Bahamas (second from right), was presented a copy of the peace statement on October 24, 1985, by a delegation of three members of the Notional Spiritual Assembly of the Bahamas. (Baha'i News, February 1986)

Australia

Dr. Rudolf Kirchschlaeger, the President of Austria (second from right),receives the peace statement from a three-member delegation comprised of members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria. The presentation was made in October 1985. (Baha’i News, February 1986)

Grenada

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Grenada present the Universal House of Justice's peace statement, 'The Promise of World Peace,' to Sir Paul Scoon (left), the Governor General of Grenada, during a ceremony in October 1985.(Baha’i News, February 1986)

Guatemala

Guatemala's head of state, Gen. Oscar Humberto Mejia V. (third from left),receives a five-member Baha'i delegation who presented him with a special copy of 'The Promise of World Peace.' in October 1985. (Baha’i News, February 1986)

Baha'i Development Projects Worldwide as of April 1986

Baha'i Development Projects Worldwide as of April 1986 (Baha'i News April 1986)

Haji Muhammad-Karim Khan, the arch-enemy of the Bab

Haji Muhammad-Karim Khan, arch-enemy of the Bab. (The Baha'i World 1932-1934)

April 1985: First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Ciskei

Members of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Ciskei, elected at Ridvan 1985. (Baha'i News, October 1985)

First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mali, April 1985

The members of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mali, elected at Ridvan 1985. (Baha'i News, September 1985)

Baha’u’llah describes (in a prayer) the extreme hardships of “that terrible journey” from Tihran to Baghdad in 1853 and the “woes and trials” He endured in the Siyah-Chal (just prior to the journey)

In a prayer revealed by Him at that time [during the journey], Bahá'u'lláh, expatiating upon the woes and trials He had endured in the Siyah-Chal, thus bears witness to the hardships undergone in the course of that "terrible journey": "My God, My Master, My Desire!... Thou hast created this atom of dust through the consummate power of Thy might, and nurtured Him with Thine hands which none can chain up.... Thou hast destined for Him trials and tribulations which no tongue can describe, nor any of Thy Tablets adequately recount. The throat Thou didst accustom to the touch of silk Thou hast, in the end, clasped with strong chains, and the body Thou didst ease with brocades and velvets Thou hast at last subjected to the abasement of a dungeon. Thy decree hath shackled Me with unnumbered fetters, and cast about My neck chains that none can sunder. A number of years have passed during which afflictions have, like showers of mercy, rained upon Me.... How many the nights during which the weight of chains and fetters allowed Me no rest, and how numerous the days during which peace and tranquillity were denied Me, by reason of that wherewith the hands and tongues of men have afflicted Me! Both bread and water which Thou hast, through Thy all-embracing mercy, allowed unto the beasts of the field, they have, for a time, forbidden unto this servant, and the things they refused to inflict upon such as have seceded from Thy Cause, the same have they suffered to be inflicted upon Me, until, finally, Thy decree was irrevocably fixed, and Thy behest summoned this servant to depart out of Persia, accompanied by a number of frail-bodied men and children of tender age, at this time when the cold is so intense that one cannot even speak, and ice and snow so abundant that it is impossible to move." (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 108)