Mother nature’s instant reaction to the execution of the Báb

The very moment the shots were fired a gale of exceptional violence arose and swept over the city. From noon till night a whirlwind of dust obscured the light of the sun, and blinded the eyes of the people. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

The Christian Sám Khán, the colonel of the Armenian regiment, refused to participate in the second attempt to execute the Báb

Sám Khán, likewise, remembering, with feelings of awe and wonder, the reassuring words addressed to him by the Báb, ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and swore, as he left the courtyard, never again, even at the cost of his life, to repeat that act. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1850: The first attempt to execute the Báb failed

Sám Khán [the Christian colonel of the Armenian regiment] accordingly set out to discharge his duty. A spike was driven into a pillar which separated two rooms of the barracks facing the square. Two ropes were fastened to it from which the Báb and one of his disciples, the youthful and devout Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí-i-Zunúzí, surnamed Anís, who had previously flung himself at the feet of his Master and implored that under no circumstances he be sent away from Him, were separately suspended. The firing squad ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men. Each file in turn opened fire until the whole detachment had discharged its bullets. So dense was the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles that the sky was darkened. As soon as the smoke had cleared away the astounded multitude of about ten thousand souls, who had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, beheld a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe.

The Báb had vanished from their sight! Only his companion remained, alive and unscathed, standing beside the wall on which they had been suspended. The ropes by which they had been hung alone were severed. “The Siyyid-i-Báb has gone from our sight!” cried out the bewildered spectators. A frenzied search immediately ensued. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1850: The governor of Ádhirbáyján refused the Prime Minister’s order to execute the Báb

Confronted with a flat refusal by the indignant Prince to perform what he regarded as a flagitious crime, the Amír-Niẓám commissioned his own brother, Mírzá Ḥasan Khán, to execute his orders. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1850: Prime Minister of Persia issued “an explicit order from his sovereign” to the governor of Ádhirbáyján… to execute the Báb” in Tabriz

The siege of Zanján was still in progress when he [Persia's Prime Minister), dispensing with an explicit order from his sovereign, and acting independently of his counsellors and fellow-ministers, dispatched his order to Prince Hamzih Mírzá, the Hishmatu’d-Dawlih, the governor of Ádhirbáyján, instructing him to execute the Báb. Fearing lest the infliction of such condign punishment in the capital of the realm would set in motion forces he might be powerless to control, he ordered that his Captive be taken to Tabríz, and there be done to death. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By)

The Báb had “foreshadowed His own approaching death”: - “the sixth Naw-Rúz after the declaration of His mission would be the last He was destined to celebrate on earth.”

A fast ebbing life, so crowded with the accumulated anxieties, disappointments, treacheries and sorrows of a tragic ministry, now moved swiftly towards its climax. The most turbulent period of the Heroic Age of the new Dispensation was rapidly attaining its culmination. The cup of bitter woes which the Herald of that Dispensation had tasted was now full to overflowing. Indeed, He Himself had already foreshadowed His own approaching death. In the Kitáb-i-Panj-Sha‘n, one of His last works, He had alluded to the fact that the sixth Naw-Rúz after the declaration of His mission would be the last He was destined to celebrate on earth. In His interpretation of the letter Há, He had voiced His craving for martyrdom, while in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ He had actually prophesied the inevitability of such a consummation of His glorious career. Forty days before His final departure from Chihríq He had even collected all the documents in His possession, and placed them, together with His pen-case, His seals and His rings, in the hands of Mullá Báqir, a Letter of the Living, whom He instructed to entrust them to Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Karím-i-Qazvíní, surnamed Mírzá Aḥmad, who was to deliver them to Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

The “tragedy of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán”: - “one of the grimmest scenes witnessed in the course of the early unfoldment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh”

To the tide of calamity which, during the concluding years of the Báb’s ministry, was sweeping with such ominous fury the provinces of Persia, whether in the East, in the South, or in the West, the heart and center of the realm itself could not remain impervious. Four months before the Báb’s martyrdom Tihrán in its turn was to participate, to a lesser degree and under less dramatic circumstances, in the carnage that was besmirching the face of the country. A tragedy was being enacted in that city which was to prove but a prelude to the orgy of massacre which, after the Báb’s execution, convulsed its inhabitants and sowed consternation as far as the outlying provinces. It originated in the orders and was perpetrated under the very eyes of the irate and murderous Amír-Niẓám, supported by Mahmud Khán-i-Kalantar, and aided by a certain Husayn, one of the ‘ulamás of Kashán. The heroes of that tragedy were the Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán, who represented the more important classes among their countrymen, and who deliberately refused to purchase life by that mere lip-denial which, under the name of taqíyyih, Shí‘ah Islám had for centuries recognized as a wholly justifiable and indeed commendable subterfuge in the hour of peril. Neither the repeated and vigorous intercessions of highly placed members of the professions to which these martyrs belonged, nor the considerable sums which, in the case of one of them—the noble and serene Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, the Báb’s maternal uncle—affluent merchants of Shíráz and Tihrán were eager to offer as ransom, nor the impassioned pleas of state officials on behalf of another—the pious and highly esteemed dervish, Mírzá Qurbán-‘Alí—nor even the personal intervention of the Amír-Nizám, who endeavored to induce both of these brave men to recant, could succeed in persuading any of the seven to forego the coveted laurels of martyrdom. The defiant answers which they flung at their persecutors; the ecstatic joy which seized them as they drew near the scene of their death; the jubilant shouts they raised as they faced their executioner; the poignancy of the verses which, in their last moments, some of them recited; the appeals and challenges they addressed to the multitude of onlookers who gazed with stupefaction upon them; the eagerness with which the last three victims strove to precede one another in sealing their faith with their blood; and lastly, the atrocities which a bloodthirsty foe degraded itself by inflicting upon their dead bodies which lay unburied for three days and three nights in the Sabzih-Maydán, during which time thousands of so-called devout Shí‘ahs kicked their corpses, spat upon their faces, pelted, cursed, derided, and heaped refuse upon them—these were the chief features of the tragedy of the Seven Martyrs of Tihrán, a tragedy which stands out as one of the grimmest scenes witnessed in the course of the early unfoldment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Little wonder that the Báb, bowed down by the weight of His accumulated sorrows in the Fortress of Chihríq, should have acclaimed and glorified them, in the pages of a lengthy eulogy which immortalized their fidelity to His Cause, as those same “Seven Goats” who, according to Islamic tradition, should, on the Day of Judgment, “walk in front” of the promised Qá’im, and whose death was to precede the impending martyrdom of their true Shepherd. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1992: “the widest diversity of human beings ever to have assembled on a Bahá’í occasion”

7 June 1992

To the Bahá’ís of the World

As we reflect on the events which a few days ago marked the commemoration in the Holy Land of the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha’u’llah, we feel impelled to express to the Bahá’í world our sense of wonderment at the exalted character of what transpired. The nature of the Anniversary was in itself awe-inspiring and evocative of profound emotion. But the gathering of some 3,000 Bahá’ís, including 113 Knights of Bahá’u’lláh, representing no less than 200 countries and dependent territories—the widest diversity of human beings ever to have assembled on a Bahá’í occasion—filled the eyes with the vision of a garden of humanity that overwhelmed the senses, inducing a spirit of beauty, joy and splendor. Bahjí was never more resplendent. And we offer prayers of thanksgiving to our beloved Lord that so fitting an assemblage could have been realized on this special Anniversary, indicating the amazing extent to which the pervasive power of His influence has triumphed throughout the world.

May the evident blessings flowing from this heavenly experience infuse the dear friends everywhere with new strength and fresh encouragement, emboldening their efforts and enlarging their capacity to proclaim the Name and promote the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh during the course of the Holy Year so auspiciously begun.

The Universal House of Justice

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

“stupendous developments”: - Ridvan 1988 to Ridvan 1989

We look back with feelings of humble gratitude and heightened expectations at the stupendous developments which have taken place in so brief a period.

• One such development has been the adoption of the architectural design conceived by Mr. Faríburz Sahbá for the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, which launches a new stage towards the realization of the Master’s and the Guardian’s vision for the path along which the kings and rulers will ascend the slopes of Mount Carmel to pay homage at the resting place of Bahá’u’lláh’s Martyr-Herald. Other developments include:
• the approval by the central authorities in Moscow of the application submitted by a number of Bahá’ís in ‘Ishqábád to restore the Local Spiritual Assembly of that city;
• the initiation of steps to open a Bahá’í Information Center in Budapest, the first such agency of the Faith in the Eastern Bloc;
• the establishment of a branch of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information in Hong Kong in anticipation of the time when the Faith can be proclaimed on the mainland of China.

 Also outstanding among these developments have been

• the successful cosponsorship by the Bahá’í International Community of the “Arts for Nature” program in London held to benefit the work of the World Wide Fund for Nature;
• the signing of an agreement in Geneva establishing formal working relations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Bahá’í International Community;
• the official approval of a Bahá’í curriculum for public schools in New South Wales, Australia;
• the immense stream of visitors to the Temple in New Delhi, swelling to some four million since that edifice’s inauguration in December 1986, and including an unusual number of high government officials and other prominent persons from many lands, among them China, the Soviet Union and countries of the Eastern Bloc.

These, added to numerous other highlights of this single year, merge with the overall record of accomplishments thus far in the Six Year Plan, presenting a dynamic picture of accelerated activity throughout the Bahá’í world.

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan 1989 Message to the Bahá’ís of the World; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

Assassination of the Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga and four members of his family

Enoch Olinga and his wife Elizabeth
during a Baha'i conference in Brazil in 1977

17 September 1979

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

WITH GRIEF-STRICKEN HEARTS ANNOUNCE TRAGIC NEWS BRUTAL MURDER DEARLY LOVED GREATLY ADMIRED HAND CAUSE GOD ENOCH OLINGA BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN COURTYARD HIS KAMPALA HOME. HIS WIFE ELIZABETH AND THREE OF HIS CHILDREN BADI, LENNIE AND TAHIRIH HAVE ALSO FALLEN INNOCENT VICTIMS THIS CRUEL ACT. MOTIVE ATTACK NOT YET ASCERTAINED.  HIS RADIANT SPIRIT, HIS UNWAVERING FAITH, HIS ALL-EMBRACING LOVE, HIS LEONINE AUDACITY IN THE TEACHING FIELD, HIS TITLES KNIGHT BAHA'U'LLAH, FATHER VICTORIES CONFERRED BELOVED GUARDIAN, ALL COMBINE DISTINGUISH HIM AS PRE-EMINENT MEMBER HIS RACE IN ANNALS FAITH AFRICAN CONTINENT URGE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BEFITTING TRIBUTE HIS IMPERISHABLE MEMORY. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL AND SOULS FOUR MEMBERS HIS PRECIOUS FAMILY.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

September 1979: Demolition of the House of the Báb

PERSECUTION OF THE BAHA'IS, THE LARGEST RELIGIOUS MINORITY IN IRAN, HAS TAKEN A NEW TURN. EARLY YESTERDAY MORNING A CROWD OF OVER 100 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT FOR RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS IN SHIRAZ, AND ACCOMPANIED BY 25 REVOLUTIONARY GUARDSMEN AND 10 OTHER ARMED MEN, ATTACKED THE MOST HOLY HOUSE OF THE BAB WHICH WAS ORDAINED BY BAHA'U'LLAH, THE FOUNDER OF THE BAHA'I FAITH, TO BE A PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE FOR HIS FOLLOWERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND IS REGARDED BY THEM AS THE MOST HALLOWED SPOT IN IRAN. THIS CROWD, WHICH HAD THE KEY TO THE HOUSE, SMASHED AND DISMANTLED DOORS AND WINDOWS, DESTROYED ORNAMENTAL PLASTERWORK, BREACHED THE WALLS AND HACKED TO PIECES A TREE IN THE COURTYARD. THIS MORNING THE WORK OF DEMOLITION IS BEING CONTINUED BY A GROUP OF WORKMEN AND IT IS CLEAR THAT THE PURPOSE IS TO RAZE TO THE GROUND THE HOUSE OF THE BAB AND TWO ADJACENT HOUSES WHICH ALSO BELONG TO THE BAHA'I COMMUNITY. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 9 September 1979 to all National Spiritual Assemblies; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986)

(The Baha'i International Community)

Historical Data Gleaned from Vol. II of Nabil’s Narrative Regarding Baha’u’llah – first year in Baghdad & almost two years at Sulaymaniyyih

Baghdad mid 19th Century

A. Baghdad

• Baha’u’llah’s arrival was in the latter part of Jamadiyu’th-Thani 1269 A.H. (March 12-April 10, 1853, A.D.)
• Baha’u’llah’s departure for Sulaymaniyyih took place on Wednesday, April 10, 18 54 A.D. (Rajab 12, 1270 A.H.)

Works revealed during this period:

• Qullu’t-Ta’am [also referred to as Kullu’t-Ta’am (Tablet of All Food)]

Houses occupied during this period:

• House of Haji Ali-Madad (in old Baghdad)

B. Sulaymani'yyih

• Before reaching Sulaymaniyyih, Baha’u’llah lived for a time on the Sar-Galu mountain.
• During His absence from Baghdad, His family transferred their residence from House of Haji 'Ali-Madad to that of Sulayman-i-Ghannam.
• Nabil arrived at Baghdad 6 months after Baha’u’llah’s departure for Sulaymaniyyih.

Works revealed during this period:

• Prayers
• Qasidiy-i-Varqa’iyyih
• Saqiyas-Ghayb-i-Baq

Houses occupied during this period:

• House of Sulayman-i-Ghannam

(The Baha’i World 1932-1934)

1850 - The “epic story of the Zanján upheaval”: - “a sombre glory unsurpassed by any episode of a like nature in the records of the Heroic Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”

Zanján circa 1930's

c1930's: views of the mosque built for Hujjat by his supporters

• We recall, likewise, the contrast between the disorder, the cursing, the ribald laughter, the debauchery and shame that characterized the camp of the enemy, and the atmosphere of reverent devotion that filled the Fort, from which anthems of praise and hymns of joy were continually ascending.
• Nor can we fail to note the appeal addressed by Hujjat and his chief supporters to the Sháh, repudiating the malicious assertions of their foes, assuring him of their loyalty to him and his government, and of their readiness to establish in his presence the soundness of their Cause;
• the interception of these messages by the governor and the substitution by him of forged letters loaded with abuse which he dispatched in their stead to Tihrán;
• the enthusiastic support extended by the female occupants of the Fort, the shouts of exultation which they raised, the eagerness with which some of them, disguised in the garb of men, rushed to reinforce its defences and to supplant their fallen brethren, while others ministered to the sick, and carried on their shoulders skins of water for the wounded, and still others, like the Carthaginian women of old, cut off their long hair and bound the thick coils around the guns to reinforce them;
• the foul treachery of the besiegers, who, on the very day they had drawn up and written out an appeal for peace and, enclosing with it a sealed copy of the Qur’án as a testimony of their pledge, had sent it to Hujjat, did not shrink from throwing into a dungeon the members of the delegation, including the children, which had been sent by him to treat with them, from tearing out the beard of the venerated leader of that delegation, and from savagely mutilating one of his fellow-disciples.

1850: Zanján’s “ghastly tragedy” - “certain outstanding features” and “high lights” of that “mournful episode” and “bloody contest”

A brief reference to certain outstanding features of this mournful episode, endowing the Faith, in its infancy, with measureless potentialities, will suffice to reveal its distinctive character.

• The pathetic scenes following upon the division of the inhabitants of Zanján into two distinct camps, by the order of its governor—a decision dramatically proclaimed by a crier, and which dissolved ties of worldly interest and affection in favor of a mightier loyalty;
• the reiterated exhortations addressed by Hujjat to the besieged to refrain from aggression and acts of violence;
• his affirmation, as he recalled the tragedy of Mázindarán, that their victory consisted solely in sacrificing their all on the altar of the Cause of the Sáhibu’z-Zamán, and his declaration of the unalterable intention of his companions to serve their sovereign loyally and to be the well-wishers of his people;
• the astounding intrepidity with which these same companions repelled the ferocious onslaught launched by the Sadru’d-Dawlih, who eventually was obliged to confess his abject failure, was reprimanded by the Sháh and was degraded from his rank;
• the contempt with which the occupants of the Fort met the appeals of the crier seeking on behalf of an exasperated enemy to inveigle them into renouncing their Cause and to beguile them by the generous offers and promises of the sovereign;
• the resourcefulness and incredible audacity of Zaynab, a village maiden, who, fired with an irrepressible yearning to throw in her lot with the defenders of the Fort, disguised herself in male attire, cut off her locks, girt a sword about her waist, and, raising the cry of Yá Sáhibu’z-Zamán!” rushed headlong in pursuit of the assailants, and who, disdainful of food and sleep, continued, during a period of five months, in the thick of the turmoil, to animate the zeal and to rush to the rescue of her men companions;
• the stupendous uproar raised by the guards who manned the barricades as they shouted the five invocations prescribed by the Báb, on the very night on which His instructions had been received—an uproar which precipitated the death of a few persons in the camp of the enemy, caused the dissolute officers to drop instantly their wine-glasses to the ground and to overthrow the gambling-tables, and hurry forth bare-footed, and induced others to run half-dressed into the wilderness, or flee panic-stricken to the homes of the ‘ulamás—

these stand out as the high lights of this bloody contest. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Duration of terms of service for members of Continental Boards of Counsellors will be of 5 years

29 June 1979

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

MOMENT PROPITIOUS ANNOUNCE DURATION TERMS SERVICE MEMBERS CONTINENTAL BOARDS COUNSELLORS AS ANTICIPATED IN ANNOUNCEMENT ESTABLISHMENT THAT INSTITUTION AND IN CONSTITUTION UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE. DECISION NOW TAKEN THAT TERMS WILL BE OF FIVE YEARS STARTING DAY COVENANT 26 NOVEMBER 1980. SUPPLICATING ANCIENT BEAUTY DIVINE BLESSINGS DEVELOPMENT THIS ESSENTIAL INSTITUTION BAHA'I ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER.

 UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

1961: First National Convention of the Baha'is of Costa Rica, San Jose

Attended by Hand of the Cause Dhikru'llah Khadem

(The Baha'i World 1954-1963)

1961: Publicity in Australian press relating to the first Baha'i Temple of the Pacific area

(The Baha'i World 1954-1963)

1962: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany

(The Baha'i World 1954-1963)

1977: Appointment of architects for Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in India and restoration of House of ‘Abdu’llah Pasha in Akka

14 October 1977

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

HAVE MUCH JOY IN ANNOUNCING APPOINTMENT TWO DISTINGUISHED BAHA'I ARCHITECTS FROM CRADLE FAITH:  FARIBURZ SAHBA AS ARCHITECT MASHRIQU'L- ADHKAR INDIA, AND RIDVANU'LLAH ASHRAF AS ARCHITECT FOR RESTORATION SACRED RESIDENCE BELOVED MASTER KNOWN AS HOUSE OF 'ABDU'LLAH PASHA. SUPPLICATING DIVINE CONFIRMATIONS THESE TWO HISTORIC ENTERPRISES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

June 1977: Commemoration of the Centenary of the Termination of Bahá’u’lláh’s Confinement in ‘Akká

Mansion of Mazra'ih c.1930
(Baha'i Media Bank)

IN EARLY DAYS OF JUNE 1877 BAHÁ’U’LLÁH LEFT CITY ‘AKKÁ AND TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN MAZRA‘IH.  TO MARK CENTENARY THIS TERMINATION CONFINEMENT ANCIENT BEAUTY WITHIN WALLS PRISON CITY WE CALL UPON HIS FOLLOWERS ALL LANDS DEVOTE NINETEEN DAY FEAST OF NÚR 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, Ridván 1977) 

In the early afternoon of Saturday, 11 June 1977, the pilgrims and the friends serving at the World Center made their way to Mazra‘ih to visit the Mansion which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had rented a century ago for the use of Bahá’u’lláh, His first residence after leaving the prison city of ‘Akká.  While there, each was privileged to visit and offer prayers in the very room occupied by the Blessed Beauty; later they repaired to the gardens at Bahjí. 

Meanwhile the Hands of the Cause present in the Holy Land, the members of the Universal House of Justice and the Counselor members of the International Teaching Center were paying their respects to the memory of Bahá’u’lláh at the House of ‘Abbúd in ‘Akká and at the Garden of Ridván. The rooms Bahá’u’lláh had occupied were visited and prayers of thanksgiving for His release from confinement were offered in these Holy Places. They then journeyed north to Mazra‘ih for prayers at that Holy Spot, and afterwards joined the other friends in the Haram-i-Aqdas at Bahjí for the formal program of the Commemoration of this great event in the history of the Heroic Age of the Cause. 

Prayers were recited; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s account of the end of Bahá’u’lláh’s confinement and Shoghi Effendi’s narrative from God Passes By were read; and finally, just as the sun was casting its last light over the Mediterranean, the friends made their way in the utmost reverence to the Most Holy Shrine for the chanting of the Tablet of Visitation.  

The remembrance of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His splendor, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty!  I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon all men to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (Bahá’u’lláh)

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

1976: First visit by a Baha’i reigning monarch to the resting place of the Shoghi Effendi

5 October 1976

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

WITH FEELINGS IMMENSE ELATION ANNOUNCE BAHA'I COMMUNITIES ALL CONTINENTS JOYFUL NEWS FIRST VISIT BY BAHA'I REIGNING MONARCH TO RESTING PLACE BELOVED SHOGHI EFFENDI WELL NIGH NINETEEN YEARS FOLLOWING HIS PASSING. HIS HIGHNESS MALIETOA TANUMAFILI II OF WESTERN SAMOA COURSE HIS RECENT VISIT LONDON ATTAINED THIS INESTIMABLE BOUNTY. HIS HIGHNESS ACCOMPANIED BY SMALL DELEGATION FRIENDS HEADED BY HAND CAUSE GIACHERY INCLUDING HANDS CAUSE KHADEM VARQA AND FIVE MEMBERS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY UNITED KINGDOM PROCEEDED CEMETERY PARTICIPATED DEEPLY MOVING HIGHLY DIGNIFIED VISITATION RESTING PLACE SIGN GOD ON EARTH WHOSE LIFELONG HEROIC LABOURS ACHIEVED WORLD-WIDE SPREAD GLORIOUS CAUSE BAHA'U'LLAH.  FOLLOWING PRAYERS DEVOTIONS AND EXPRESSIONS APPRECIATION GRATITUDE BY HIS HIGHNESS HE MET WITH RADIANT SPIRIT LARGE GATHERING BELIEVERS ASSEMBLED PRECINCTS GRAVE TO WELCOME HIM AND TO WHOM HE CONVEYED GREETINGS HIS FELLOW SAMOAN BAHA'IS AND HIS HOPE GROWTH FAITH FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH ALL OVER WORLD. IN HOLY LAND SYNCHRONIZING WITH THESE EVENTS HANDS CAUSE OTHER MEMBERS, INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE JOINED MEMBERS HOUSE JUSTICE SPECIAL VISIT BAHJI WHERE FERVENT PRAYERS WERE OFFERED SACRED THRESHOLD MOST HOLY SHRINE IN THANKSGIVING HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT WHICH REPRESENTS PRELUDE TO FULFILMENT LONG CHERISHED DESIRE 'ABDU'L-BAHA AND SHOGHI EFFENDI WITNESS PILGRIM KINGS PAY THEIR HUMBLE TRIBUTE AT HOLY SHRINES FOUNDERS OUR FAITH IN SPIRITUAL HEART PLANET. FERVENTLY PRAYING THIS JOYOUS NEWS WILL STRENGTHEN RESOLVE SUPPORTERS MOST GREAT NAME EVERY LAND REDOUBLE THEIR EFFORTS TO FORGE AHEAD HOWEVER ARDUOUS THE TASKS HOWEVER SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE THE OBSTACLES UNTIL EVERY GOAL WORLD- WIDE PLAN IS SPEEDILY AND FULLY CONSUMMATED.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

Baha’u’llah identifies the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá as “the first, the greatest and mightiest” of the books revealed by the Báb

...the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá—the Báb’s commentary on the Súrih of Joseph—characterized by the Author of the Íqán as “the first, the greatest and mightiest” of the books revealed by the Báb…

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’ included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

1934: “ample proof of the growing momentum with which the invincible community of the Most Great Name is marching forward to ultimate victory”

• The international status which the Religion of God has thus far achieved…
• The unprecedented impetus which the illustrious deeds of the American believers have lent to the onward march of the Faith;
• the intense interest which the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West is fast awakening among divers races and nations;
• the rise and steady consolidation of Bahá’í institutions in no less than forty of the most advanced countries of the world;
• the dissemination of Bahá’í literature in no fewer than twenty-five of the most widely-spoken languages;
• the success that has recently attended the nation-wide efforts of the Persian believers in the preliminary steps they have taken for the establishment, in the outskirts of the capital-city of their native land, of the third Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world;
• the measures that are being taken for the immediate formation of their first National Spiritual Assembly representing the interests of the overwhelming majority of Bahá’í adherents;
• the projected erection of yet another pillar of the Universal House of Justice, the first of its kind, in the Southern Hemisphere;
• the testimonies, both verbal and written, that a struggling Faith has obtained from Royalty, from governmental institutions, international tribunals, and ecclesiastical dignitaries;
• the publicity it has received from the charges which unrelenting enemies, both new and old, have hurled against it;
• the formal enfranchisement of a section of its followers from the fetters of Muslim orthodoxy in a country that may be regarded as the most enlightened among Islamic nations—

these afford ample proof of the growing momentum with which the invincible community of the Most Great Name is marching forward to ultimate victory. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From the weighty treatise known as ‘The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh’, February 8, 1934; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

A British document concerning the miraculous circumstance pertaining to the execution of the Báb in Tabriz, Persia, 1850

An official letter dated July 22,1850, from Sir Justin Sheil, Queen Victoria's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tihran, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Palmerston. It reads:

“The founder of the sect has been executed at Tabreez. He was killed by a volley of musketry, and his death was on the point of giving his religion a lustre which would have largely increased his proselytes. When the smoke and dust cleared away after the volley, Bab was not to be seen, and the populace proclaimed that he had ascended to the skies. The balls had broken the ropes by which he was bound but he was dragged [1] from the recess where after some search he was discovered and shot. His death, according to the belief of his disciples, will make no difference as Bab must always exist.” 

(Document F.O. 60/152/88 in the archives of the Foreign Office at the Public Records Office in London, England, quoted by Hand of the Cause John Ferraby in ‘All Things Made New’)

[1] Not literally, of course

The King of Persia sent special envoy to investigate the claims of the Báb

Muhammad Shah

…men’s interest increased, and in all parts of Persia some [of God’s] servants inclined toward Him [the Báb], until the matter acquired such importance that the late king Muhammad Sháh delegated a certain person named Siyyid Yahyá of Daráb, who was one of the best known of doctors and Siyyids as well as an object of veneration and confidence, giving him a horse and money for the journey so that he might proceed to Shíráz and personally investigate this matter.

When the above-mentioned Siyyid arrived at Shíráz he interviewed the Báb three times. In the first and second conferences questioning and answering took place; in the third conference he requested a commentary on the Súrih called Kawthar [Qur’án 108], and when the Báb, without thought or reflection, wrote an elaborate commentary on the Kawthar in his presence, the above-mentioned Siyyid was charmed and enraptured with Him, and straightway, without consideration for the future or anxiety about the results of this affection, hastened to Burújird to his father Siyyid Ja’far, known as Kashfí, and acquainted him with the matter. And, although he was wise and prudent and was wont to have regard to the requirements of the time, he wrote without fear or care a detailed account of his observations to Mírzá Lutf-‘Alí the chamberlain in order that the latter might submit it to the notice of the late king, while he himself journeyed to all parts of Persia, and in every town and station summoned the people from the pulpit-tops in such wise that other learned doctors decided that he must be mad, accounting it a sure case of bewitchment.  

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)