November 1957: Hands of the Cause of God

Hands of the Cause of God shortly after the passing of Shoghi Effendi

November 28, 1921: The Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha

April 1942: First Spiritual Assembly in the Province of Manitoba, Canada

Members of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1942 (Baha'i News, August, 1942)

1943: First Spiritual Assembly in Alaska

First Alaskan Spiritual Assembly was formed in Anchorage, 1943 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

Baha'u'llah's Passport

Baha'u'llah's Passport

At the time of His exile from Persia, in 1269 A.H., this passport, made out in the name of Mirza Husayn 'Aliy-i-Nuri, was issued to Bahau'llah and His Family. (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

Badi (Wonderful): Pride of Martyrs, Apostle of Baha’u’llah

Born Aqa Buzurg-i-Nishapuri, the son of a devoted Babi, he was later given the title Badi' (unique, wonderful) by Baha’u’llah. Reputed to be a wild, unruly youth, he had no interest in his father's affairs until, during the visit to his home of a traveling teacher, Mulla Muhammadi-Zarandi (Nabil-i-A'zam), he listened to some verses from a long poem by Baha’u’llah and was so entranced that he devoted the balance of his life to serving Him. After his conversion he set out to visit Him, traveling on foot from Mosul to 'Akka. It was during this visit that he was chosen to deliver a letter (Tablet) from Baha’u’llah to Nasiri'd-Din Shah . (The A to Z of the Baha’i Faith by Hugh Adamson)

Shoghi Effendi describes these events in the following passage:

Aqa Buzurg of Khurasan, the illustrious "Badi" (Wonderful); converted to the Faith by Nabil; surnamed the "Pride of Martyrs"; the seventeen year old bearer of the Tablet addressed to Nisiri'd-Din Shah; in whom, as affirmed by Baha’u’llah, "the spirit of might and power was breathed," was arrested, branded for three successive days, his head beaten to a pulp with the butt of a rifle, after which his body was thrown into a pit and earth and stones heaped upon it. After visiting Baha’u’llah in the barracks, during the second year of His confinement, he had arisen with amazing alacrity to carry that Tablet, alone and on foot, to Tihran and deliver it into the hands of the sovereign. A four months' journey had taken him to that city, and, after passing three days in fasting and vigilance, he had met the Shah proceeding on a hunting expedition to Shimiran. He had calmly and respectfully approached His Majesty, calling out, "O King! I have come to thee from Sheba with a weighty message"; whereupon at the Sovereign's order, the Tablet was taken from him and delivered to the mujtahids of Tihran who were commanded to reply to that Epistle - a command which they evaded, recommending instead that the messenger should be put to death. That Tablet was subsequently forwarded by the Shah to the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople, in the hope that its perusal by the Sultan's ministers might serve to further inflame their animosity. For a space of three years Baha'u'llah continued to extol in His writings the heroism of that youth, characterizing the references made by Him to that sublime sacrifice as the "salt of My Tablets." 

(Shoghi Effendi, 'God Passes By')

Baha'u'llah's prison cell in 'Akka

Baha'u'llah's incarceration in the prison of 'Akka, Nabil attests, extended from 31 August 1863 to 13 October 1870, a period of two years, two months and five days. After nine years He was permitted to move beyond the walls of the city. (The Baha'i World 1976-1979)

On the left is entrance to Baha'u'llah's room in the prison

A view of the interior of Baha'u'llah's room in the prison.

1954: Baha’i women in Iran “became eligible for service as members of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies.”

The progressive clarification of the details of the laws concerning membership of the Houses of Justice has been accompanied by a gradual implementation of their provisions. For example, based on the texts available to the believers at the time, membership of local Houses of Justice was initially confined to men. When the Master began to elaborate on the difference between the levels of this Institution, He clarified that the exclusion of women applied only to the Universal House of Justice. Thereafter, women became eligible for service as members of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies. Women in the West, who already enjoyed the benefits of education and opportunities for social involvement, participated in this form of service much sooner than, for instance, their Bahá'í sisters in Iran who were accorded this right only in 1954, "removing thereby the last remaining obstacle to the enjoyment of complete equality of rights in the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Persian Bahá'í Community". It is important to note that the timing of the introduction of the provisions called for by the interpretations of 'Abdu'l Baha and the Guardian in relation to the Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, rather than constituting a response to some external condition or pressure, was dictated by the principle of progressive implementation of the laws, as enjoined by Bahá'u'lláh Himself. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated 31 May 1988) 

The ruins of the House of the Báb

The House of the Báb in Shiraz, the holiest Baha'i shrine in Iran, was demolished in 1981.

House of 'Abdu'l-Baha in Akka between 1897 to 1908

The House of 'Abdu'l-Baha in Akka, which was His official residence from 1897 to 1908, was acquired in 1975. The building, known locally as the house of 'Abdu'llah Pasha, was the birthplace of Shoghi Effendi. Restoration of the house began in December 1977. (The Baha'i World 1976-1979)

The “primary reason why the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh chose to appear in Persia” – the Guardian explains

… the primary reason why the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh chose to appear in Persia, and to make it the first repository of their Revelation, was because, of all the peoples and nations of the civilized world, that race and nation had, as so often depicted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sunk to such ignominious depths, and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its contemporaries. For no more convincing proof could be adduced demonstrating the regenerating spirit animating the Revelations proclaimed by the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh than their power to transform what can be truly regarded as one of the most backward, the most cowardly, and perverse of peoples into a race of heroes, fit to effect in turn a similar revolution in the life of mankind. To have appeared among a race or nation which by its intrinsic worth and high attainments seemed to warrant the inestimable privilege of being made the receptacle of such a Revelation would in the eyes of an unbelieving world greatly reduce the efficacy of that Message, and detract from the self-sufficiency of its omnipotent power. 

(Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice)

Fort Tabarsi: The well used by the Bábís

The well used by the Bábís in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in Mazindaran, Iran. (The Baha'i World 1938-1940)

As of November of 1934, the Kitab-i-Iqan was translated into 8 languages

I am directed by the Guardian to request you to kindly mail to his address five copies of the Urdu translation of the “Kitab-i-Iqan” (Book of Certitude). You will certainly be interested to know that the Iqan has already been translated and published into Russian, English, French, German, Chinese, Albanian, Urdu and Braille. Steps have also been taken for its rendering and publication into Arabic, Armenian, Swedish and Danish. 
(From a letter dated November 27, 1934, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; ‘Dawn of a New Day’)

The incredible volume of the Verses of God revealed by Baha’u’llah during His time in Baghdad -- “in a single day and night, the equivalent of the Qur’án!”

The enormous expansion in the scope and volume of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, after His return from Sulaymáníyyih, is yet another distinguishing feature of the period under review. The verses that streamed during those years from His pen, described as “a copious rain” by Himself, whether in the form of epistles, exhortations, commentaries, apologies, dissertations, prophecies, prayers, odes or specific Tablets, contributed, to a marked degree, to the reformation and progressive unfoldment of the Bábí community, to the broadening of its outlook, to the expansion of its activities and to the enlightenment of the minds of its members. So prolific was this period, that during the first two years after His return from His retirement, according to the testimony of Nabíl, who was at that time living in Baghdád, the unrecorded verses that streamed from His lips averaged, in a single day and night, the equivalent of the Qur’án! As to those verses which He either dictated or wrote Himself, their number was no less remarkable than either the wealth of material they contained, or the diversity of subjects to which they referred. A vast, and indeed the greater, proportion of these writings were, alas, lost irretrievably to posterity. No less an authority than Mírzá Áqá Ján, Bahá’u’lláh’s amanuensis, affirms, as reported by Nabíl, that by the express order of Bahá’u’lláh, hundreds of thousands of verses, mostly written by His own hand, were obliterated and cast into the river. “Finding me reluctant to execute His orders,” Mírzá Áqá Ján has related to Nabíl, “Bahá’u’lláh would reassure me saying: ‘None is to be found at this time worthy to hear these melodies.’ ...Not once, or twice, but innumerable times, was I commanded to repeat this act.” 
(Shoghi Effendi, ‘God Passes By’)

circa 1920's: City of Ishqabad, Russia, and the Baha'i Temple in the background

circa 1920's: A view of a portion of the city of Ishqabad, Russia, and the Baha'i Temple in the background

1st Newspaper Mentions Baha'u'llah's Words at World's Fair in Sept. 1893 -- The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) • Sun, Sept. 24, 1893 • Page 2

1st Newspaper that mentioned Baha'u'llah's Words at World's Fair in Sept. 1893 -- The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) · Sun, Sept. 24, 1893 · Page 2

1941: First Canadian Baha'i Summer Conference

First Canadian Baha'i Summer Conference, Montreal, 1941 (The Baha'i World 1940-1944)

1967: First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Cameroon

First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Cameroon, 1967 (Baha'i World News Service)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá's description of Tahirih

And amongst them [“certain persons (that) appeared amongst the Bábís who had a strange ascendancy and appearance in the eyes of this sect”] was she who was entitled Qurratu’l-‘Ayn [Tahirih] the daughter of Hájí Sálih, the sage of Qazvín, the erudite doctor. She, according to what is related, was skilled in diverse arts, amazed the understandings and thoughts of the most eminent masters by her eloquent dissertations on the exegesis and tradition of the Perspicuous Book, and was a mighty sign in the doctrines of the glorious Shaykh of Ahsá. At the Supreme Shrines she borrowed light on matters divine from the lamp of Kázim, and freely sacrificed her life in the way of the Báb. She discussed and disputed with the doctors and sages, loosing her tongue to establish her doctrine. Such fame did she acquire that most people who were scholars or mystics sought to hear her speech and were eager to become acquainted with her powers of speculation and deduction. She had a brain full of tumultuous ideas, and thoughts vehement and restless. In many places she triumphed over the contentious, expounding the most subtle questions. When she was imprisoned in the house of [Mahmúd] the Kalantar of Tihrán, and the festivities and rejoicings of a wedding were going on, the wives of the city magnates who were present as guests were so charmed with the beauty of her speech that, forgetting the festivities, they gathered round her, diverted by listening to her words from listening to the melodies, and rendered indifferent by witnessing her marvels to the contemplation of the pleasant and novel sights which are incidental to a wedding. In short in elocution she was the calamity of the age, and in ratiocination the trouble of the world. Of fear or timidity there was no trace in her heart, nor had the admonitions of the kindly-disposed any profit or fruit for her. Although she was of [such as are] damsels [meet] for the bridal bower, yet she wrested preeminence from stalwart men, and continued to strain the feet of steadfastness until she yielded up her life at the sentence of the mighty doctors in Tihrán. But were we to occupy ourselves with these details the matter would end in prolixity. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)

May 1971 – countries and islands of the Caribbean: 2,500 localities, 500 Local Spiritual Assemblies, and 16 National Spiritual Assemblies

Now Bahá'ís are to be found in over 2,500 localities, more than 500 Local Assemblies and 16 National Spiritual Assemblies have been formed, and there have been hundreds of concrete achievements which have brought about our recognition as an independent Faith. (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)

April 22, 1863: Baha’u’lláh enters the Najíbíyyih Garden in Baghdad -- “subsequently designated by His followers the Garden of Ridván”

Twenty-seven days after that mournful Tablet[“Tablet of the Holy Mariner”] had been so unexpectedly revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, and the fateful communication, presaging His departure to Constantinople had been delivered into His hands, on a Wednesday afternoon (April 22, 1863), thirty-one days after Naw-Rúz, on the third of Dhi’l-Qádih, 1279 A.H., He set forth on the first stage of His four months’ journey to the capital of the Ottoman Empire. That historic day, forever after designated as the first day of the Ridván Festival, the culmination of innumerable farewell visits which friends and acquaintances of every class and denomination, had been paying him, was one the like of which the inhabitants of Baghdád had rarely beheld. A concourse of people of both sexes and of every age, comprising friends and strangers Arabs, Kurds and Persians, notables and clerics, officials and merchants, as well as many of the lower classes, the poor, the orphaned, the outcast, some surprised, others heartbroken, many tearful and apprehensive, a few impelled by curiosity or secret satisfaction, thronged the approaches of His house, eager to catch a final glimpse of One Who, for a decade, had, through precept and example, exercised so potent an influence on so large a number of the heterogeneous inhabitants of their city.

Secretaries of Shoghi Effendi

Shoghi Effendi had difficulty in securing suitable secretarial support. At some times family members assisted, while at others, Western Baha’is served as secretaries during extended periods spent in Haifa. They included 'Azizu’llláh S. Bahádur (19241), Soheil Afnán (1924-1930), Rúhí Afnán (1926-1933), H. Rabbáni (1931-1940), Mehrenguiz Rabbáni (1932), J.E. Esslemont (1925), and Ethel J. Rosenberg (1927). Later, secretarial support was given the Guardian by Rúhíyyih Khánum, and in the 1950s, Amelia Collins (1951), Leroy Ioas (1952-1957), and Jessie Revell (1953). 
(Prepared by Graham Hassall, Preface to ‘Messages to the Antipodes, Communications from Shoghi Effendi to the Baha’i Communities of Australasia’)

'Abdu'l-Baha's carriage

'Abdu'l-Baha's carriage in front of His House in Haifa

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)