Location of the entrance to Siyah-Chal (Black Pit) and its close vicinity to the Shah's palace

The area marked "X" shows the location of the entrance to Siyyah-Chal (Black Pit) in Tihran and its close vicinity to the Shah's palace (in the background)

1939: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada

Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, for the years 1939-1940 (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

1953-1963: The Cause of God “took firm root” in the Caribbean by the settlement of 27 Knights of Baha’u’llah during the Ten Year Crusade

Yet it was not until the successive Plans of the beloved Guardian, culminating in the Ten Year Crusade, when 27 Knights of Bahá'u'lláh settled throughout this vast area, that the Cause took firm root. By 1963 the countries and islands of the Caribbean claimed less than 400 localities and only 147 Local Spiritual Assemblies. (The Universal House of Justice, excerpt from a message dated May 1971, to the Friends of God gathered in the Caribbean Conference; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha’i World Community – by the Universal House of Justice)

There were 101 National Spiritual Assemblies in the world as of Ridvan 1971

The Nine Year Plan is well advanced, and this Ridvan will witness the establishment of seven more National Spiritual Assemblies, five in Africa, one in South America and one in the Pacific, bringing the total number of these exalted bodies to 101. (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 1971 message to the Baha’i World; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha’iWorld Community – by the Universal House of Justice)

November 1981: Inauguration of Radio Baha’i in Peru

WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS AUSPICIOUS INAUGURATION RADIO BAHÁ'Í DEL LAGO TITICACA DAY COVENANT AND SIMULTANEOUS OPENING MUHAJIR TEACHING INSTITUTE FIRST MUSIC FESTIVAL PRAYING HOLY THRESHOLD INCREASING CONFIRMATIONS YOUR ASSEMBLY CO-OPERATING ASSEMBLIES ECUADOR BOLIVIA RADIO COMMISSION ALL STAFF LOVING GREETINGS THIS IMPORTANT STEP GROWTH FAITH ALTIPLANO. KINDLY ASSURE MICHAEL STOKES OUR PRAYERS HIS BEHALF. (The Universal House of Justice, cablegram to the National Spiritual Assembly of Peru; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963 to 1986’)

November 1, 1845: Probably the first European newspaper reference to the Báb and the persecution of the Bábis

The Times (London), November 1, 1845

We have been favored with the following letter, dated Bushire, August 10:

A Persian merchant, who has lately returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, had been for some time endeavoring here to prove that he was one of the successors of Mahomet, and there had a right to demand of all true Mussulmans to mention him as such in their profession of faith; he had already collected a good number of followers, who secretly aided him in forwarding his views. On the evening of the 23d of June last, I have been informed from a creditable source, four persons being heard at Shiraz repeating their profession of faith according to the form prescribed by the new impostor were apprehended, tried, and found guilty of unpardonable blasphemy. They were sentence to lose their beards by fire being set to them. The sentence was put into execution with all the zeal and fanaticism becoming a true believer in Mahomet. Not deeming the loss of beards a sufficient punishment for the believers in the impostor, they were further sentenced on the next day to have their faces blacked and exposed throughout the city. Each of them was led by a Mirgazah (executioner), who had made a hole in his nose and passed through it a string, which he sometimes pulled with such violence that the unfortunate fellows cried out alternatively for mercy from the executioner and for vengeance from Heaven. It is custom in Persia on such occasions for the executioners to collect money from the spectators, and particularly from the shopkeepers in the bazaar. In the evening, when the pockets of the executioners were well filled with money, they led the unfortunate fellows to the city gage, and there told them

"The world was all before them where to choose

Their place of rest, and Providence their guide."

After which the Mollahs at Shiraz sent men to Bushire with power to seize the impostor, and take him to Shriaz, where, on being tried, he very wisely denied the charge of apostasy laid against him, and this escaped from punishment. (The Times (London), November 1, 1845)

1971: The “imposition of disabilities” to “outright oppression” that a number of Baha’i communities experienced

Restrictive measures, directed against the Faith, and varying in severity from outright oppression to imposition of disabilities make virtually impossible the achievement of the goals of the Nine Year Plan in a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East, in North West Africa, along the fringes of East Africa and certain areas in South East Asia. (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 1971 message to the Baha’i World; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha’i World Community – by the Universal House ofJustice)

1908: The Baha'i Temple under construction in Ishqabad, Russia, is mentioned in an American newspaper

The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) · Sun, Feb 2, 1908 · Page 37

April 1938: Sacramento's first Spiritual Assembly is established

The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Sacramento, California, USA, 1938 (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

April 21, 1963: The Universal House of Justice is elected for the first time

1938: A Local Spiritual Assembly is formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, 1938 (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

1939: First Baha'i Summer School in Iran

Views of the first Baha'i Summer School in Iran, held in the vicinity of Tihran, in 1939 (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

1939: Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the City of Vancouver, Canada

Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the City of Vancouver, Canada, 1939 (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

The amazing growth of the Faith during the first 50 years of the Formative Age – 1921 to 1971

That first half-century of the Formative Age has seen the Bahá'í Community grow from a few hundred centres in 35 countries in 1921, to over 46,000 centres in 135 independent states and 182 significant territories and islands at the present day, has been marked by the raising throughout the world of the framework of the Administrative Order, which in its turn has brought recognition of the Faith by many governments and civil authorities and accreditation in consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and has witnessed the spread to many parts of the world of that "entry by troops" promised by the Master and so long and so eagerly anticipated by the friends. (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 1971 message to the Baha’i World; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha’i WorldCommunity – by the Universal House of Justice)

A late 19th Century prison in Iran

A late 19th Century prison in Iran. The person forth from the left marked 'X' was a well-known Baha'i teacher (The Baha'i World 1936-1938)

1890: Baha’u’llah’s tent was raised on Mount Carmel

In that same year[1890] Bahá’u’lláh’s tent, the “Tabernacle of Glory,” was raised on Mt. Carmel, “the Hill of God and His Vineyard,” the home of Elijah, extolled by Isaiah as the “mountain of the Lord,” to which “all nations shall flow.” Four times He visited Haifa, His last visit being no less than three months long. In the course of one of these visits, when His tent was pitched in the vicinity of the Carmelite Monastery, He, the “Lord of the Vineyard,” revealed the Tablet of Carmel, remarkable for its allusions and prophecies. On another occasion He pointed out Himself to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as He stood on the slopes of that mountain, the site which was to serve as the permanent resting-place of the Báb, and on which a befitting mausoleum was later to be erected. (Shoghi Effendi, ‘God Passes By’)

A major earthquake took place in Shiraz after the martyrdom of the Báb – reference made in the Book of Revelations

“And the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.” [Rev. 11:13]

This earthquake occurred in Shíráz after the martyrdom of the Báb. The city was in a turmoil, and many people were destroyed. Great agitation also took place through diseases, cholera, dearth, scarcity, famine and afflictions, the like of which had never been known.

“And the remnant was affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven.” [Rev. 11:13]

When the earthquake took place in Fárs, all the remnant lamented and cried day and night, and were occupied in glorifying and praying to God. They were so troubled and affrighted that they had no sleep nor rest at night. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Some Answered Questions’)

Early 1930's: The House of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad after restoration

The House of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad after restoration in early 1930's

Quddús was twenty-two years old when he recognized the Báb

The last, but in rank the first, of these Letters to be inscribed on the Preserved Tablet was the erudite, the twenty-two year old Quddús, a direct descendant of the Imám Hasan and the most esteemed disciple of Siyyid Kázim. (Shoghi Effendi, ‘God Passes By’)

A Tablet from the Báb before His declaration to Mulla Husayn

Known as “Fi’s-Sulúk I” (On the Virtuous Journey I), this very early work was written before the declaration of the Báb and even before the death of Siyyid Kázim. A short text, it was most likely written for Mullá Hasan and is mentioned in the Kitábu’l-Fihrist. In the text the Báb refers to a work by Siyyid Kázim with a similar title. Unlike Siyyid Kázim’s work, the Báb’s focuses on the inner and mystical meanings of religious law, turning ritual action into a spiritual journey. The mediating category is love for the four layers of the divine covenant in the Islamic Dispensation. (Nader Saiedi, ‘Gate of the Heart – Understanding the Writings of the Báb’)

The “progressive stages in the tumultuous and tragic ministry" of the Báb – the “One Whose age inaugurated the consummation of all ages, and Whose Revelation fulfilled the promise of all Revelations.”

The Báb—“the Point,” as affirmed by Bahá’u’lláh, “round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve”—was the One first swept into the maelstrom which engulfed His supporters. Sudden arrest and confinement in the very first year of His short and spectacular career; public affront deliberately inflicted in the presence of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Shíráz; strict and prolonged incarceration in the bleak fastnesses of the mountains of Ádhirbayján; a contemptuous disregard and a cowardly jealousy evinced respectively by the Chief Magistrate of the realm and the foremost minister of his government; the carefully staged and farcical interrogatory sustained in the presence of the heir to the Throne and the distinguished divines of Tabríz; the shameful infliction of the bastinado in the prayer house, and at the hands of the Shaykhu’l-Islám of that city; and finally suspension in the barrack-square of Tabríz and the discharge of a volley of above seven hundred bullets at His youthful breast under the eyes of a callous multitude of about ten thousand people, culminating in the ignominious exposure of His mangled remains on the edge of the moat without the city gate—these were the progressive stages in the tumultuous and tragic ministry of One Whose age inaugurated the consummation of all ages, and Whose Revelation fulfilled the promise of all Revelations. (Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 28 March 1941; ‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

April 2013: The newly elected members of the Universal House of Justice

The newly elected members of the Universal House of Justice are (left to right) Paul Lample, Firaydoun Javaheri, Payman Mohajer, Gustavo Correa, Shahriar Razavi, Stephen Birkland, Stephen Hall, Chuungu Malitonga, and Ayman Rouhani (The American Baha'i May-June 2013)

The shop used by the Bab during His days in Bushihr, Persia

The shop which was used by the Bab during His days in Bushihr, Persia. (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

1996: The “first step in the acquisition of sites sanctified by the residence of the Master in the cities of Europe”

The National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies in Europe were notified in a letter dated 28 October 1996 of the acquisition of the apartment at 4, Avenue de Camoens in Paris, in which 'Abdu'lBaha stayed during His visit to the city. The House of Justice noted:

“This marks the first step in the acquisition of sites sanctified by the residence of the Master in the cities of Europe during the three visits He made to that continent, between 1911 and 1913, for the purpose of spreading the Message of Baha'u'llah, sites which are second only in holiness to those places in Istanbul and Edirne where the Manifestation of God Himself blessed the soil of the European continent.”
(The Baha’i World 1996-1997)

1938: First Baha'i Summer School in India

The First Baha'i Summer School of India held at Simla. In the center is Martha Root, beloved teacher of the Faith throughout East and West, who was touring India and Panama. (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)