…we announce with great joy the election, this Ridván, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Iraq, restored after more than thirty years of stifling oppression, to take its rightful place in the international Bahá’í community.
- The Universal House of Justice (Ridván 2004 message to the Bahá’ís of the World; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
One night, after supper, the Imám-Jum’ih, whose curiosity had been excited by the extraordinary traits of character which his youthful Guest had revealed, ventured to request Him to reveal a commentary on the Súrih of Va’l-‘Asr. His request was readily granted. Calling for pen and paper, the Báb, with astonishing rapidity and without the least premeditation, began to reveal, in the presence of His host, a most illuminating interpretation of the aforementioned Súrih. It was nearing midnight when the Báb found Himself engaged in the exposition of the manifold implications involved in the first letter of that Súrih. That letter, the letter ‘váv’ upon which Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í had already laid such emphasis in his writings, symbolised for the Báb the advent of a new cycle of Divine Revelation, and has since been alluded to by Bahá’u’lláh in the “Kitab-i-Aqdas” in such passages as “the mastery of the Great Reversal” and “the Sign of the Sovereign.” The Báb soon after began to chant, in the presence of His host and his companions, the homily with which He had prefaced His commentary on the Súrih. Those words of power confounded His hearers with wonder. They seemed as if bewitched by the magic of His voice. Instinctively they started to their feet and, together with the Imám-Jum’ih, reverently kissed the hem of His garment. Mullá Muḥammad-Taqíy-i-Haratí, an eminent mujtahid, broke out into a sudden expression of exultation and praise. “Peerless and unique,” he exclaimed, “as are the words which have streamed from this pen, to be able to reveal, within so short a time and in so legible a writing, so great a number of verses as to equal a fourth, nay a third, of the Qur’án, is in itself an achievement such as no mortal, without the intervention of God, could hope to perform. Neither the cleaving of the moon nor the quickening of the pebbles of the sea can compare with so mighty an act.”
- Nabil (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)
To enumerate a few of the outstanding features of this moving drama will suffice to evoke in the reader of these pages, already familiar with the history of the Faith, the memory of those vicissitudes which it has experienced, and which the world has until now viewed with such frigid indifference.
these, as well as other tribulations, proclaim, on the one hand, the nature of the ordeal and the indignities He suffered, and point, on the other, the finger of accusation at those mighty ones of the earth who had either so sorely maltreated Him, or deliberately withheld from Him their succor.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)
The world’s appreciation of Bahá’u’lláh came perhaps most explicitly into focus on 29 May 1992, the centenary of His death, when the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies met in solemn session to pay tribute to Him, to His teachings and to the services rendered to humanity by the community He founded. On that occasion, the Speaker of the Chamber and spokespersons from every party rose, successively, to express their profound admiration of One who was described in their addresses as the Author of “the most colossal religious work written by the pen of a single Man”, a message that “reaches out to humanity as a whole, without petty differences of nationality, race, limits or belief”.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 26 November 2003, addressed to the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in the Cradle of the Faith; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
During the initial months of the Plan, National Spiritual Assemblies proceeded with relative ease to divide the territories under their jurisdiction into areas consisting of adjacent localities, called clusters, using criteria that were purely geographic and social and did not relate to the strength of local Bahá’í communities. Reports received at the World Centre indicate that there are now close to 17,000 clusters worldwide, excluding those countries where, for one reason or another, the operation of the Faith is restricted. The number of clusters per country varies widely—from India with its 1,580 to Singapore, which necessarily sees itself as one cluster. Some of the groupings are sparsely populated areas with only a few thousand inhabitants, while the boundaries of others encompass several million people. For the most part, large urban centers under the jurisdiction of one Local Spiritual Assembly have been designated single clusters, these in turn being divided into sectors, so as to facilitate planning and implementation.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 17 January 2003 to the Bahá’ís of the World; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
And what of the other tribulations which, before and immediately after this dreadful episode, touched Him?
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,” 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’)
“‘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’)
“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’)
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’)
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)
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’)
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')
- 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)
“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’)
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')
 |
| Baha'i Temple in Kampala, Uganda |
- 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)
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.
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)
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)
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’)
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')
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’)
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’)
