The “distinct gradation in the character of the opposition” the Faith encountered during 1844-1944

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 Islám, which, at a later stage, gathered momentum with the banishment of Bahá’u’lláh to the domains of the Turkish Sulṭán and the consequent hostility of the more powerful Sunní hierarchy and its Caliph, the head of the vast majority of the followers of Muhammad—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. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Preface to God Passes By’)

Following Mullá Husay’s recognition of the Báb, “the enrollment of the seventeen remaining Letters of the Living” commenced after forty days

With this historic Declaration the dawn of an Age that signalizes the consummation of all ages had broken. The first impulse of a momentous Revelation had been communicated to the one “but for whom,” according to the testimony of the Kitáb-i-Íqán, “God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory.” Not until forty days had elapsed, however, did the enrollment of the seventeen remaining Letters of the Living commence. Gradually, spontaneously, some in sleep, others while awake, some through fasting and prayer, others through dreams and visions, they discovered the Object of their quest, and were enlisted under the banner of the new-born Faith. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By)

1982: Delegates to Canadian National Baha'i Convention

(Baha'i Canada, July-August 1982)

circa 1920s: View of Bahji at beginning of Shoghi Effendi's ministry

Left to right: House occupied by Covenant-breakers, Balcony of the Mansion, Entrance to Baha'u'llah's Tomb, Pilgrim House. 

(The Baha'i World 1954-1963)

The “apparent evolution in the scope” of the teachings of the Faith during 1844-1944

We perceive a no less 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. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Preface to God Passes By’)

“no less than half” of Nabil’s narrative is devoted to the first nine years of Baha’i Era

Little wonder that the immortal chronicler of the events associated with the birth and rise of the Bahá’í Revelation has seen fit to devote no less than half of his moving narrative to the description of those happenings that have during such a brief space of time so greatly enriched, through their tragedy and heroism, the religious annals of mankind.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

October 1848: Mulla Husayn and his companions enter the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi

Mulla Husayn and his companions entered the Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi and were attacked that night by a body of horsemen from Qadi-Kula.

- Moojan Momen  (The Baha’i World, vol. 18)