January 25, 2011

Facsimile of Letters of Recommendation issued in 1852 by the Turkish Legation in Tihran and delivered to Baha'u'llah prior to His departure for Baghdad


Facsimile of Letters of Recommendation issued in 1852 by the Turkish Legation in Tihran and delivered to Baha'u'llah prior to His departure for Baghdad (The Baha'i World 1930-1932)

January 21, 2011

First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq 1931-1932

The First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq, 1931-1932 (The Baha'i World 1930-1932)

January 15, 2011

April 22, 1898:The Baha'is of Mandalay, Burma, with the marble casket offered by them for the remains of the Bab

The Baha'is of Mandalay, Burma, with the marble casket offered by them for the remains of the Bab, April 22, 1898.

On the morning of March 21st 1909, the day of Naw-Ruz, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had the marble sarcophagus -- gift of the Bahá'ís of Rangoon -- carried up the mountain and placed in the vault. That evening He laid in the sarcophagus the wooden casket which contained the inseparable remains of the Báb and the disciple who had died with Him. A solitary lamp lit the scene, so poignant and yet so exultant. The Báb had been cruelly maligned, cruelly wronged, cruelly put to death. His torn and smashed body had had no home for many long years. Now the heart of Carmel was receiving it forevermore. Of this event Zechariah had written: 'Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord'. How mysteriously and indubitably had his prophecy come true. 'The Branch' had built 'the temple of the Lord', had raised His 'tabernacle' on His Mountain -- on Carmel -- the Mountain of God. 
(Balyuzi, ‘Abdu'l-Baha - The Centre of the Covenant’)

January 14, 2011

New York City, December 10, 1883: Probably the first newspaper reference to the Baha'i Faith in the United States

A page from the Sun, published in New York City, December 10, 1883, is probably the first newspaper reference to the Baha'i Faith in the United States. Note the column headed "The Babs and Their Prophet".(highlighted for ease of recognition) (The Baha'i World 1930-1932)

January 3, 2011

April 21, 1922: Shrines of Baha'u'llah and the Bab were electrically illuminated for the first time


On the first day of Ridvan [1922], although Shoghi Effendi himself had left Haifa, the Shrines of both Baha'u'llah and the Bab were electrically illuminated for the first time, pursuant to arrangements made before the Master's ascension, but, again, supervised by Shoghi Effendi himself. 
(Ruhiyyih Khanum, 'The Priceless Pearl')