The “other tribulations which, before and immediately after this dreadful episode [Siyah-Chal], touched Baha’u’llah

And what of the other tribulations which, before and immediately after this dreadful episode, touched Him?

• What of His confinement in the home of one of the kad-khudás of Tihrán
• What of the savage violence with which He was stoned by the angry people in the neighborhood of the village of Níyálá?
• What of His incarceration by the emissaries of the army of the Sháh in Mázindarán, and His receiving the bastinado by order, and in the presence, of the assembled siyyids and mujtahids into whose hands He had been delivered by the civil authorities of Ámul?
• What of the howls of derision and abuse with which a crowd of ruffians subsequently pursued Him?
• What of the monstrous accusation brought against Him by the Imperial household, the Court and the people, when the attempt was made on the life of Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh?
• What of the infamous outrages, the abuse and ridicule heaped on Him when He was arrested by responsible officers of the government, and conducted from Níyávarán “on foot and in chains, with bared head and bare feet,” and exposed to the fierce rays of the midsummer sun, to the Síyáh-Chál of Ṭihrán?
• What of the avidity with which corrupt officials sacked His house and carried away all His possessions and disposed of His fortune?
• What of the cruel edict that tore Him from the small band of the Báb’s bewildered, hounded, and shepherdless followers, separated Him from His kinsmen and friends, and banished Him, in the depth of winter, despoiled and defamed, to ‘Iráq?

Severe as were these tribulations which succeeded one another with bewildering rapidity as a result of the premeditated attacks and the systematic machinations of the court, the clergy, the government and the people, they were but the prelude to a harrowing and extensive captivity which that edict had formally initiated. Extending over a period of more than forty years, and carrying Him successively to ‘Iráq, Sulaymáníyyih, Constantinople, Adrianople and finally to the penal colony of Akká, this long banishment was at last ended by His death, at the age of over three score years and ten, terminating a captivity which, in its range, its duration and the diversity and severity of its afflictions, is unexampled in the history of previous Dispensations. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

“For three days and three nights no manner of food or drink was given to Bahá’u’lláh”

“For three days and three nights,” Nabíl has recorded in his chronicle, “no manner of food or drink was given to Bahá’u’lláh. Rest and sleep were both impossible to Him. The place was infested with vermin, and the stench of that gloomy abode was enough to crush the very spirits of those who were condemned to suffer its horrors.” “Such was the intensity of His suffering that the marks of that cruelty remained imprinted upon His body all the days of His life.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

Eight-year-old ‘Abdu’l-Bha was allowed to see Baha’u’llah while in Siyah-Chal

“‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” writes Dr. J.E. Esslemont, “tells how one day He was allowed to enter the prison-yard to see His beloved Father when He came out for His daily exercise. Bahá’u’lláh was terribly altered, so ill He could hardly walk. His hair and beard unkempt, His neck galled and swollen from the pressure of a heavy steel collar, His body bent by the weight of His chains.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

Bahá’u’lláh describes the awful conditions of the Black Pit

“We were consigned,” He wrote in His “Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,” “for four months to a place foul beyond comparison. As to the dungeon in which this Wronged One and others similarly wronged were confined, a dark and narrow pit were preferable.... The dungeon was wrapped in thick darkness, and Our fellow prisoners numbered nearly a hundred and fifty souls: thieves, assassins, and highwaymen. Though crowded, it had no other outlet than the passage by which We entered. No pen can depict that place, nor any tongue describe its loathsome smell. Most of these men had neither clothes nor bedding to lie on. God alone knoweth what befell Us in that most foul-smelling and gloomy place!” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

Bahá’u’lláh was “for nearly half a century… under the domination of the two most powerful potentates of the East”

What of Bahá’u’lláh, the germ of Whose Revelation, as attested by the Báb, is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of the Bábí Dispensation? Was He not—He for Whom the Báb had suffered and died in such tragic and miraculous circumstances—made, for nearly half a century and under the domination of the two most powerful potentates of the East, the object of a systematic and concerted conspiracy which, in its effects and duration, is scarcely paralleled in the annals of previous religions? 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

October 2000: The Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS) was launched on the Internet

In October, the Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS) was launched on the Internet with the intention of reaching both Bahá’í and non-Bahá’í audiences with news stories about developments throughout the Bahá’í world. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (Ridvan 2001 message to the Bahá’ís of the World; (Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

2000: The “restoration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Indonesia after a lapse of almost three decades”

With the greatest of happiness we extend our loving greetings to you on the long-awaited occasion of the restoration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Indonesia after a lapse of almost three decades.

Your Bahá’í community owes its origin to the arrival in Batavia over a century ago of Jamal Effendi and Mustafa Rumi and their subsequent travel to many parts of the region. It entered a period of accelerated growth during the Ten Year Crusade, aided by an influx of dedicated pioneers from other lands, including the Hand of the Cause Rahmatu’llah Muhajir, but its progress was arrested by the enforced dissolution of the elected Bahá’í institutions.

Although deprived of their institutions, members of your community held fast to the Cause of God in the face of misunderstanding and hostility in some quarters. We are moved to express our admiration and gratitude for the heroism and tenacity manifested during the years of adversity. Who can doubt that it was this fidelity and steadfastness which attracted the limitless blessings of Bahá’u’lláh through which the barriers to your progress have been removed? Our profound gratitude is offered also to the dear friends who guided your activities with consummate wisdom during the years of deprivation, most recently as members of the Bahá’í Committee for Indonesia, and whose endeavors were powerfully reinforced by the Continental Counselors and their helpers. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated Ridván 157, addressed to the Bahá’ís of Indonesia; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001’)

1999: Latvia’s first National Spiritual Assembly

It is with profound happiness that we greet the dear friends who are gathered for the first National Convention of the Bahá’ís of Latvia. This significant achievement is the fruit of the united efforts of all the friends in the Baltic States, together with the assistance of the many dedicated souls who have visited your country, beginning with Miss Martha Root, who first brought the light of Bahá’u’lláh's Revelation to Latvia during her visit to Riga in April 1927. Today, your community has acquired the strength to elect its own National Spiritual Assembly, and stands ready to carry forward the noble work of the Cause. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated Ridvan 156, addressed to the Bahá’ís of Latvia; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001')

1999: Lithuania’s first National Spiritual Assembly

It is with exceeding gladness that we greet the dear friends of Lithuania on the historic occasion of their first National Bahá’í Convention. The emergence of the independent National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Lithuania is a cause of rejoicing for the whole Bahá’í world. This precious victory for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is the fruit of the self-sacrificing endeavors of the devoted believers, whether native Lithuanians, pioneers or traveling teachers, who have raised up a dynamic national Bahá’í community where, just a decade ago, there were only two believers in the entire country. Looking even further back, we can see the foundations of this achievement in the travels of Miss Martha Root, who planted the seeds of Bahá’u’lláh's Teachings in her visit to Kaunas in April 1927. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated Ridvan 156, addressed to the Bahá’ís of Lithuania; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

Excruciating cruelties inflicted upon Bahá’u’lláh during His ministry

“The cruelties inflicted by My oppressors,” He Himself in His anguish has cried out, “have bowed Me down, and turned My hair white. Shouldst thou present thyself before My throne, thou wouldst fail to recognize the Ancient Beauty, for the freshness of His countenance is altered and its brightness hath faded, by reason of the oppression of the infidels. I swear by God! His heart, His soul, and His vitals are melted!” “Wert thou to hear with Mine ear,” He also declares, “thou wouldst hear how ‘Alí [the Báb] bewaileth Me in the presence of the Glorious Companion, and how Muhammad weepeth over Me in the all-highest Horizon, and how the Spirit [Jesus] beateth Himself upon the head in the heaven of My decree, by reason of what hath befallen this Wronged One at the hands of every impious sinner.” “Before Me,” He elsewhere has written, “riseth up the Serpent of wrath with jaws stretched to engulf Me, and behind Me stalketh the lion of anger intent on tearing Me in pieces, and above Me, O My Well-Beloved, are the clouds of Thy decree, raining upon Me the showers of tribulations, whilst beneath Me are fixed the spears of misfortune, ready to wound My limbs and My body.” “Couldst thou be told,” He further affirms, “what hath befallen the Ancient Beauty, thou wouldst flee into the wilderness, and weep with a great weeping. In thy grief, thou wouldst smite thyself on the head, and cry out as one stung by the sting of the adder.... By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door, and every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes. With every piece of bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh affliction, and with every drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of the most woeful of trials. He is preceded in every step He taketh by an army of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of agonizing sorrows.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

1993-1996: “some 10,600 friends arose to serve the Faith outside the bounds of their homelands”

In June 1993 we raised the call for pioneers, both long-term and short-term, and traveling teachers for the Three Year Plan. We are now happy to announce that some 10,600 friends arose to serve the Faith outside the bounds of their homelands during the three years, evoking our admiration and pride. Of particular significance was the number of youth who dedicated periods of service to the Faith.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 15 September 1996 to the Baha’is of the world; 'Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001')

African Bahá’í history

Baha'i Temple in Kampala, Uganda

African Bahá’í history had its beginnings in Egypt, which was opened to the Faith during the period of the ministry of Bahá’u’lláh; it gathered momentum during the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when Bahá’í localities were established in South Africa and Tunisia. But the early effects of these spiritual endowments became more obvious with the remarkable success of the two-year Africa Project (1951―53) when 16 territories were opened, bringing to 25 the total number of countries and islands in which Bahá’ís resided; this preceded the opening of the 33 virgin territories called for in the beloved Guardian's Ten Year Global Crusade, a period of astonishing development in Africa that evoked the admiration and praise of Shoghi Effendi as many people from different tribes entered the Cause, a number of administrative institutions were formed, and it became possible to raise up the Mother Temple of Africa in the heart of the continent. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated Ridvan 153 addressed to the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Africa; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

1993: A “copiously annotated English translation” of the Kitab-Aqdas: - “the "Unerring Balance," the "Straight Path," the "quickener of mankind," the "source of true felicity"; “that priceless treasury enshrining for all time the brightest emanations of the mind of Bahá’u’lláh, the Charter of His World Order, the chief repository of His laws, the Harbinger of His Covenant”

5 March 1993

To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas―the Book described in such exalted terms by the Guardian of the Cause of God as "that priceless treasury enshrining for all time the brightest emanations of the mind of Bahá’u’lláh, the Charter of His World Order, the chief repository of His laws, the Harbinger of His Covenant, the Pivotal Work containing some of His noblest exhortations, weightiest pronouncements, and portentous prophecies, and revealed during the full tide of His tribulations, at a time when the rulers of the earth had definitely forsaken Him"―this Most Holy Book, we have the honor to announce, will, in a copiously annotated English translation, be released to the Community of Bahá at Naw-Rúz.

Bahá’u’lláh's own designations of the Book―the "Unerring Balance," the "Straight Path," the "quickener of mankind," the "source of true felicity"―indicate its phenomenal importance, an importance which staggers the mind when viewed in light of the realization that this Book is, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, the "principal repository of that Law which the Prophet Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the 'new heaven' and the 'new earth,' as 'the Tabernacle of God,' as the 'Holy City,' as the 'Bride,' the 'New Jerusalem coming down from God.'" Such metaphors of hope have been recited from sacred scriptures down the ages, have fired the imagination and excited the expectations of unnumbered generations, and now, at long last, in this new Dispensation, have been given tangible form by the Promised One of All Ages in this Mother Book of His Revelation.

1992: The Bahá’í World Congress in New York City: “27,000 multifarious participants from almost 180 countries”

3 December 1992

To the Bahá’ís of the World

The Bahá’í World Congress held in New York, the second major event of the Holy Year, ended on the Day of the Covenant in a blaze of celestial glory. Far exceeding the brightest expectation anyone might have entertained, it was a triumph of the spirit in which, on all continents, the friends in their magnificent diversity witnessed a solidarity of the Bahá’í world community at a level new to their experience. Our hearts have not the capacity to contain, nor our minds the language to express, our joy and gratitude at the conspicuous outpouring of divine confirmations which made possible such a spectacular celebration and proclamation of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.

The unity engendered among the 27,000 multifarious participants from almost 180 countries evinced a new dynamic, which signifies a stage of evolvement of the Faith which was not evident before. We noted with immense gratification the magnetic and transformative effects of this manifestation of unity arising from a quality of personal conduct which, on such a vast, collective scale as was realized at the World Congress, certainly indicated the new stature of a people becoming seasoned in the truths and virtues of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh; and in this we recognize one of the enduring gifts of the Holy Year.

As for those who devoted their specialized talents and expertise towards meeting the programmatic and logistical challenges of this conglomerate occasion, and the thousands of eager volunteers who staffed the event, our admiration and loving appreciation know no bounds.

Vitalized by such evidences of the potency of the Covenant as the Congress displayed, may the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, wherever they reside and whatever their personal circumstances, derive fresh courage and demonstrate new determination in carrying forward the momentum so magnificently reinforced by the astounding success of the proclamation raised in the City of the Covenant.

The Universal House of Justice

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

Hands of the Cause of God at their 1958 Conclave

(The Baha'i World 1992-1993)

Spread of the Faith by the time of the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, 1892

At the time of the passing of Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’í community was contained within the borders of no more than fifteen countries, the vast majority of its members living in His native Iran. The community now [1992] embraces the entire planet. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 26 November 1992: To the Bahá’ís of the World; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)

1983: The Universal House of Justice occupied its newly constructed Seat

2 February 1983

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

TO THE FOLLOWERS OF BAHA'U'LLAH IN EVERY LAND WE BOW OUR HEADS IN INFINITE GRATITUDE TO THE BLESSED BEAUTY FOR HIS ALL-EMBRACING CONFIRMATIONS ENABLING HOUSE JUSTICE OCCUPY ITS NEWLY CONSTRUCTED PERMANENT SEAT. THIS AUSPICIOUS EVENT SIGNALIZES ANOTHER PHASE IN PROCESS FULFILMENT SAILING GOD'S ARK ON MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD AS ANTICIPATED IN TABLET CARMEL, WONDROUS CHARTER WORLD SPIRITUAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRES FAITH BAHA'U'LLAH.

THIS HIGH POINT HISTORY STRUGGLING FAITH NOW EMERGING FROM OBSCURITY, THIS CRUCIAL HOUR SUFFUSED WITH UNTOLD POTENCIES GENERATED BY SOUL-STIRRING SACRIFICES BELOVED BRETHREN IRAN, MARKED BY VISIT MEMBERS HOUSE JUSTICE TWIN HOLY SHRINES AND FIRST GATHERING COUNCIL CHAMBER TOGETHER WITH HANDS CAUSE AMATU'L-BAHA RUHIYYIH KHANUM 'ALI-AKBAR FURUTAN AND COUNSELLOR MEMBERS INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE TO OFFER PRAYERS HUMBLE THANKSGIVING. LET ALL REJOICE. LET PRAISES ANCIENT BEAUTY RESOUND. MAY UNRELENTING EFFORTS FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HASTEN ADVENT THAT DAY WHEN WONDROUS POTENTIALITIES ENSHRINED IN TABLET CARMEL WILL BE FULLY REVEALED AND WHEN FROM GOD'S HOLY MOUNTAIN, AS ENVISAGED BELOVED GUARDIAN, WILL STREAM FORTH RIVERS OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES WITH ALL-CONQUERING POWER AND MAJESTY.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

19th century: Some examples of European interests in the Cause of the Báb

The Czar of Russia, a contemporary chronicler has written, had even, shortly before the Báb’s martyrdom, instructed the Russian Consul in Tabríz to fully inquire into, and report the circumstances of so startling a Movement, a commission that could not be carried out in view of the Báb’s execution. In countries as remote as those of Western Europe an interest no less profound was kindled, and spread with great rapidity to literary, artistic, diplomatic and intellectual circles. “All Europe,” attests the above-mentioned French publicist, “was stirred to pity and indignation … Among the littérateurs of my generation, in the Paris of 1890, the martyrdom of the Báb was still as fresh a topic as had been the first news of His death. We wrote poems about Him. Sarah Bernhardt entreated Catulle Mendès for a play on the theme of this historic tragedy.” A Russian poetess, member of the Philosophic, Oriental and Bibliological Societies of St. Petersburg, published in 1903 a drama entitled “The Báb,” which a year later was played in one of the principal theatres of that city, was subsequently given publicity in London, was translated into French in Paris, and into German by the poet Fiedler, was presented again, soon after the Russian Revolution, in the Folk Theatre in Leningrad, and succeeded in arousing the genuine sympathy and interest of the renowned Tolstoy, whose eulogy of the poem was later published in the Russian press. 

- Shoghi Effendi ('God Passes By')

1982: First radio Baha’i station in North America: - WLGI, located at the Louis Gregory Baha'i Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina

13 December 1982 

To the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of United States

HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS ACHIEVEMENT LONG AWAITED STEP ESTABLISHMENT FIRST BAHA'I RADIO STATION NORTH AMERICA ENABLING YOU PIONEER MODEL PROGRAMME CONSOLIDATION UPLIFTMENT BAHA'I COMMUNITY SOUTH CAROLINA. PRAYING YOUR WISE MOBILIZATION BOUNTEOUS RESOURCES FOR MEDIA DEVELOPMENT IN UNITED STATES BEHALF BELOVED FAITH PROVIDING FURTHER IMPETUS TEACHING SOUTHERN STATES.

LOVING GREETINGS,

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

The passing of Hand of the Cause Paul Haney due to automobile accident

5 December 1982 

To National Spiritual Assemblies

WITH STRICKEN HEARTS ANNOUNCE SUDDEN IRREPARABLE LOSS THROUGH AUTO-MOBILE ACCIDENT 3 DECEMBER HIGHLY DISTINGUISHED GREATLY PRIZED HAND CAUSE GOD STAUNCH DEFENDER COVENANT PAUL HANEY.

THIS DISTINGUISHED SERVANT BAHA'U'LLAH WAS BLESSED CHILDHOOD THROUGH ATTAINMENT PRESENCE 'ABDU'L-BAHA. HIS NATURAL GENTLENESS, GENUINE HUMILITY, UNAFFECTED UNBOUNDED LOVE, HIS UPRIGHTNESS, INTEGRITY HIS SINGLE-MINDED DEVOTION CAUSE SINCE YOUTHFUL YEARS, HIS UNFAILING RELIABILITY, METICULOUS ATTENTION DETAIL, CHARACTERIZED HIS HISTORIC SERVICES BOTH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS. SPANNING MORE THAN HALF CENTURY HIS TIRELESS LABOURS INCLUDED LONG-TIME MEMBERSHIP AMERICAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. SINCE 1954 HE CONSECRATED HIS ENERGIES AS MEMBER UNIQUE COMPANY CHIEF STEWARDS FAITH AND LATER AS MEMBER BODY HANDS CAUSE RESIDING HOLY LAND AT ONE OF MOST CRITICAL PERIODS BAHA'I HISTORY. LAST DECADE HIS EARTHLY LIFE WAS FULLY DEDICATED DEVELOPMENT NEWLY FORMED INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CENTRE.  GENERATIONS YET UNBORN WILL GLORY IN HIS IMPERISHABLE ACHIEVEMENTS AND BE INSPIRED BY HIS UNIQUE FORTITUDE.

ARDENTLY SUPPLICATING HOLY THRESHOLD PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. ADVISE HOLD THROUGHOUT BAHA'I WORLD INCLUDING ALL MASHRIQU'L-ADHKARS MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BEFITTING HIS HIGH RANK AND HIS MERITORIOUS SERVICES.

UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

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

circa 1930: The Shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazindaran, Iran, where the body of Mulla Husayn was interred

(The Baha'i World 1932-1934)

1852: Death of Persia’s Prime Minister responsible for ordering the execution of the Báb

The prime instigator of the Báb’s death, the implacable Amír-Niẓám, together with his brother, his chief accomplice, met their death within two years of that savage act. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1852 & 1855: Death of all seven hundred and fifty soldiers who participated in the execution of the Báb

In that same year [1852] no less than two hundred and fifty of the firing squad, that had replaced Sám Khán’s regiment, met their death, together with their officers, in a terrible earthquake, while the remaining five hundred suffered, three years later, [1855] as a punishment for their mutiny, the same fate as that which their hands had inflicted upon the Báb. To insure that none of them had survived, they were riddled with a second volley, after which their bodies, pierced with spears and lances, were exposed to the gaze of the people of Tabríz. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

1852: Two years after the execution of the Báb Shiraz experienced an earthquake “foreshadowed in no less weighty a Book than the Revelation of St. John”

In Shíráz an “earthquake,” foreshadowed in no less weighty a Book than the Revelation of St. John, occurred in 1268 A.H. which threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc amongst its people, a havoc that was greatly aggravated by the outbreak of cholera, by famine and other afflictions. 

- Shoghi Effendi  ('God Passes By')

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')