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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
467 stories in the library.
After Siyyid Kázim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn prayed and fasted for forty days and set out to find the Promised One. At the gate of Shíráz the Báb welcomed him, and that night He declared His mission.
On the voyage to Mecca a jealous shaykh abused the passengers, and the Báb most of all. When the captain ordered him thrown overboard, the Báb held on to him and begged the captain to forgive him.
After a dream, a young Shíráz shopkeeper, ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb, follows Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí out of the city. His furious father beats Mullá ‘Alí, but later repents, and after his son’s martyrdom he is taught the Faith by Bahá’u’lláh.
The Báb’s three maternal uncles took different paths: Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí raised Him and died one of the Seven Martyrs of Tehran; Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad received the Kitáb-i-Íqán; the youngest believed some years later.
Ḥájí Mullá Ismá‘íl-i-Qumí, a disciple of Siyyid Káẓim named Sirru’l-Vujúd at Badasht, was kept from Ṭabarsí by illness and later met martyrdom in Tihrán, forgiving his executioner.
Mirza Qurban-‘Ali, a revered dervish of Barfurush who embraced the Cause through Mulla Husayn, was arrested in Tihran, boldly defended his faith before the Amir-Nizam, and was beheaded as the second of the Seven Martyrs.
The second to believe in the Báb carried His message to the shrine cities of Iraq, was tried in Baghdad by Sunni and Shiite clerics, and died at forced labor near Istanbul, the first Bábí to die for his faith.
After Siyyid Kázim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn returned to Karbilá, urged his fellow disciples to scatter in search of the Promised One, and refused their offer to accept him instead. He became the first to believe in the Báb.
The titles the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave to Quddús, with an outline of his life: pilgrimage with the Báb, confinement in Sárí, leadership at Shaykh Ṭabarsí and martyrdom in Bárfurúsh in 1849.
A disciple of Siyyid Kázim, Shaykh Ḥasan met the Báb in Karbilá, later served Him as a scribe and go-between, and, as the Báb had promised, met Bahá’u’lláh in Karbilá in 1851.
Sent by Muhammad Shah to investigate the Báb, the renowned divine Siyyid Yahya of Darab met Him three times in Shiraz and was won over by His commentary on the Surih of Kawthar. He later gave his life at Nayriz.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s memorial of Táhirih: the learned woman of Qazvín who recognized the Báb, taught boldly in Karbilá and Baghdád, appeared unveiled at Badasht, and was put to death in Tihrán.
An overview of the Báb’s mission, from His declaration in 1844 and His call to prepare for “Him Whom God shall make manifest” to His martyrdom in the barracks square of Tabríz in 1850.
Persia, the birthplace of the Bahá’í Revelation, has occupied a unique place in the history of the world.
The hostility aroused by the claim of Bábhood was redoubled when the young reformer proceeded to declare that He was Himself the Mihdí (Mahdi) Whose coming Muḥammad had foretold.
On reaching His twenty-fifth year, in response to divine command, He declared that “God the Exalted had elected Him to the station of Bábhood.”
Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e.
The Báb has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Báb is not merely that of the herald or forerunner.
When the Báb declared His mission in 1844, Bahá’u’lláh, Who was then in His twenty-seventh year, boldly espoused the Cause of the new Faith, of which He soon became recognized as one of the most powerful and fearless exponents.
On the 9th of July, 1850, the Báb Himself, Who was then in His thirty-first year, fell a victim to the fanatical fury of His persecutors.
This last quotation reveals the spirit which animated the Báb’s whole life.
In consequence of these declarations of the Báb and the alarming rapidity with which people of all classes, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were eagerly responding to His teaching, attempts at suppression became more and more ruthless and determined.
An important part of the Báb’s teaching is His explanation of the terms Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hell.
In His Writings the Báb tells His followers that they must be distinguished by brotherly love and courtesy.
The first eighteen disciples of the Báb (with Himself as nineteenth) became known as “Letters of the Living.”
The Writings of the Báb were voluminous, and the rapidity with which, without study or premeditation, He composed elaborate commentaries, profound expositions or eloquent prayers was regarded as one of the proofs of His divine inspiration.
Esslemont's short account of the Báb's early life: born in Shíráz in 1819, raised by a maternal uncle, a merchant from the age of fifteen, and noted as a youth for His piety and nobility of character.
When the ‘ulamás of Isfáhán condemned the Báb, the governor, Manúchihr Khán, sent Him out of the city with five hundred horsemen, then had Him brought back in secret to his own residence, where he waited on Him in person.
Told by the Báb to await the promised Husayn in Karbilá, the aged Shaykh Hasan-i-Zunúzí met Bahá'u'lláh there in October 1851 and became one to whom He confided the secret He would later reveal in Baghdád.
On the eve of the Báb's arrival at Káshán in 1847, Hájí Mírzá Jání dreamed that the Báb would be his Guest for three nights. The next day the dream came true, and the escort agreed to leave the Báb in his care over Naw-Rúz.
As the Báb approached Tabríz under guard, one youth ran barefoot from the city to meet Him. The guards let him through, and the Báb dismounted, embraced him and wiped away his tears.
On the eve of Naw-Rúz 1848 ‘Alí Khán, warden of the castle where the Báb was held, dreamed that the Prophet Muhammad was coming to visit Him. At sunrise he met Mullá Ḥusayn at the bridge, arriving on foot as in the dream.
When merchants in Búshihr tried to reopen a finished sale of indigo to win a discount, as was their custom, the Báb refused to bargain and took the goods back rather than yield. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recounted the episode.
A man entrusted goods to the Báb to sell at a fixed price and was sent more than he had asked. The Báb explained that the goods had once reached that value, and refused to take back the excess.
On His way to Mecca, the Báb stopped His servant from chasing a Bedouin who had stolen His writings, explaining that the papers were destined to reach places they could never otherwise have reached.
In 1847, while held at the village of Kulayn near Tihran on His way into exile, the Báb receives a sealed letter and gifts from Bahá'u'lláh, and His grief gives way to joy and confidence.
Told by Mullá Ḥusayn that the name of the Promised One could not be revealed, Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Muqaddas withdrew to pray in Iṣfahán and, in a vision, recognized the face of a Youth he had seen weeping in prayer at Karbilá.
On the morning of His martyrdom in July 1850, the Báb was led through the streets of Tabriz amid insults while three leading clerics, refusing even to see Him, supplied the warrants for His execution.
Mullá 'Alíy-i-Basṭámí followed Mullá Ḥusayn to Shíráz, sensed that his friend had found the Promised One, and on the third night of prayer was led by a vision to the Báb, becoming one of the Letters of the Living.
Imprisoned in Chihríq, the Báb was so grieved by news of the fate of the defenders of Ṭabarsí that He languished in sorrow for five months; He then wrote in praise of Mullá Ḥusayn, Quddús and their companions.
Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí recalls going at dawn with his teacher Siyyid Kázim to visit a Youth from Shíráz in Karbilá, and later recognizing that Youth as the Báb.
Muhammad Big, who led the escort taking the Báb to Tabríz, recalled how at Milán an old woman brought a sick child to the Báb, the child was healed, and about two hundred people there believed.
When the Báb asked Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Karím in Shíráz whether he was seeking the Manifestation, he wept, and later told his friends how a vision of Siyyid Kázim and, years afterward, a white bird that spoke those very words to him in prayer had prepared him for that moment.
Mullá Husayn walked from Mashhad to visit the Báb in the castle of Máh-Kú, arriving at Naw-Rúz 1848. The Báb sent him on to Mázindarán, where, reading a manuscript shown him by his host Quddús, he found “God’s hidden treasure.”
After the death of Siyyid Kázim, Mullá Ḥusayn urged his fellow disciples to scatter in search of the Promised One. He spent forty days in prayer at the Masjid-i-Kufih, then travelled by way of Búshihr to Shíráz.
In July 1850 the Báb and His young follower Anís were suspended before a regiment in the barracks square of Tabríz. The first volley only cut their ropes; the second took their lives, and a dust storm darkened the city.
On the day before His martyrdom in Tabríz, a youth, Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, surnamed Anís, forced his way through the crowd and begged to follow the Báb. That night the Báb chose him to share His martyrdom.
Though the Báb was under guard in Tabríz, Ḥájí ‘Alí-‘Askar was admitted to His presence again and again, fulfilling Mullá Ḥusayn's promise that he would meet the Báb seven times.
Sent by the governor of Fárs to arrest the Báb, the leader of an armed escort met Him on the road. Moved by His words, he begged the Báb to flee, but the Báb gave Himself up and rode ahead of His escort to Shíráz.
‘Alí Khán, the harsh warden of the castle of Máh-Kú, saw the Báb praying by the river at dawn while the gates were still shut, then found Him seated in His room. The Báb's words changed his heart, and his severity gave way to humility.
In a Tablet for His host in Káshán, the Báb prayed that Hájí Mírzá Jání's tongue be loosed to serve His Cause, and His unschooled host became able to hold his own against the most learned divines of the city.
In July 1848 Mullá Ḥusayn raised the Black Standard and set out from Mashhad with his companions. Attacked near Bárfurúsh, he held back until the enemy had killed several of them, then charged, and a single stroke of his sword put the attackers to flight.
Muḥammad Sháh summoned the Báb from Iṣfahán to Ṭihrán, but his Prime Minister, Ḥájí Mírzá Áqásí, had Him halted at Kulayn and sent instead to the fortress of Máh-Kú. On the way to Tabríz His escort came to love Him.
In Káshán the learned Siyyid ‘Abdu’l-Báqí heard the Báb revealing verses yet was unmoved and never asked who He was; when he learned days later, the Báb had gone, and he lived out his days in seclusion.
In Isfahán, a city famed for its clergy, the first to accept the Báb was a humble sifter of wheat, who later set out with his sieve to join the defenders of Shaykh Ṭabarsí; the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh both refer to him.
A retelling of the Báb's life: His childhood in Shiraz, His declaration to Mulla Husayn in 1844, His imprisonment, and His martyrdom in Tabriz in 1850, together with His promise of Him Whom God shall make manifest.
Khadíjih Bagum, the wife of the Báb, tells Munírih Khánum of the night in 1846 when the chief of police seized the Báb from their home in Shíráz, and of the years of isolation that followed.
After Sám Khán's regiment failed to harm the Báb, the Nasiri regiment carried out His execution in Tabríz in 1850. Nabíl records how, within three years, every member of that regiment had perished.
A children's introduction to the Báb through the words of people who knew Him: His schoolteacher, a visitor who met Him in Karbilá, and His wife, who saw Him praying late at night.
During an asthma attack, seven-year-old Brently sits on his grandfather's lap and hears how the Báb sent His pens and seals to Bahá'u'lláh, with a blue scroll bearing the word Bahá in 360 forms.
The life of Mullá Ḥusayn, the first to believe in the Báb: his mission to Tihrán, his walk to the prison of Máh-Kú, the defense of Fort Shaykh Ṭabarsí, and his death in 1849.
Ṭáhirih studies the books of Shaykh Ahmad, travels to Karbilá, and sees the Báb in a dream. Without ever meeting Him, she sends Him a message and becomes the only woman among the Letters of the Living.
In 1846 the Báb was warmly welcomed in Isfahán. When jealous clerics called for His death, the governor, Manúchihr Khán, secretly sheltered Him; after the governor died, the Báb was sent to Máh-Kú.
In the summer of 1848 eighty-one Bábís gathered at Badasht as the guests of Bahá'u'lláh. There Táhirih appeared unveiled and declared that the fetters of the past were burst asunder.
Muhammad Shah sends his most learned servant, Vahíd, to question the Báb. Over three meetings Vahíd's doubts fall away, and when the Báb offers, unasked, to explain the very chapter of the Qur'an he had in mind, he becomes His follower.
On the morning of His martyrdom in Tabríz, a volley of 750 rifles left the Báb unharmed, and He was found finishing His interrupted conversation. Sám Khán withdrew his regiment, and another regiment carried out the execution.
At dawn in Karbilá, Siyyid Kázim takes a friend to visit a Youth in a green turban. Three days later he points to a ray of sunlight on that Youth's lap, and the friend later learns He was the Báb.
The stern warden 'Alí Khán sees the imprisoned Báb praying by the river, then finds the prison door shut and the Báb seated in His room. His heart is changed, and he brings in the Bábí who had been sleeping outside the town.
On 9 July 1850 the Báb and His companion were suspended before a regiment in Tabríz. When the smoke of the first volley cleared, the Báb was gone from the wall, untouched.
In Shíráz in May 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn, searching for the Promised One, was welcomed into the Báb's home. There the Báb showed him the signs he sought and wrote a commentary on the Súrih of Joseph.
As a child in Shíráz, the Báb would not recite the opening words of the Qur'án until He knew their meaning, then explained them so well that His teacher brought Him back to His uncle, saying He needed no teachers.
In the summer of 1848 the Báb was brought from Chihríq to Tabríz and questioned before the Crown Prince and the leading divines. He declared Himself the promised One, and was afterwards beaten on the feet at the home of the Shaykhu'l-Islám.
In Iṣfáhán the Báb was the guest first of the Imám-Jum'ih and then of the governor, Manúchihr Khán. He wrote a commentary on a Súrih of the Qur'án with great speed, and told the governor how His Cause would be preserved.
In 1847 the Báb was taken from Iṣfáhán toward Ṭihrán and then sent to the fortress of Máh-Kú, and later to Chihríq. At both prisons the wardens and the people of the district came to revere Him, and at Máh-Kú He wrote the Persian Bayán.
During the Báb's nine months in the castle of Máh-Kú, its strict warden, 'Alí Khán, saw Him at prayer outside the locked castle, came to Him in humility, and opened the castle to His visitors.
On 9 July 1850 in Tabríz, the first volley fired at the Báb and Anís cut only their ropes, and the Báb was found back in His room finishing a conversation. A second regiment carried out the execution.
In 1844 the Báb sailed with Quddús from Búshihr to Arabia. On the road to Mecca a Bedouin stole His writings, and beside the Black Stone He declared His station to the Shaykhí scholar Mírzá Muḥíṭ-i-Kirmání.
After Mullá Ḥusayn recognised the Báb in Shíráz in May 1844, seventeen more seekers found Him, each by his own search. The last was Quddús, whose arrival the Báb foretold the night before.
In July 1848, at the Báb's bidding, Mullá Ḥusayn left Mashhad wearing the Báb's green turban, with the Black Standard carried before him, and led his companions to the shrine of Shaykh Ṭabarsí in Mázindarán.
Muḥammad Sháh sent the learned Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí to Shíráz to investigate the Báb. At their third meeting the Báb revealed, unasked, the commentary Siyyid Yaḥyá had silently resolved to request, and he embraced the Báb's Cause.
Brought before the clergy of Tabríz and the heir to the throne in 1848, the Báb took the seat reserved for the prince and declared Himself the promised One. A retelling from Nabíl's Dawn-Breakers.
In the prison of Chihríq, after months of grief for the martyrs of Shaykh Tabarsí, the Báb named His attendant Sayyáh, the Traveller, and sent him to visit their resting-place on His behalf. On the way back, in the depth of winter, Sayyáh came to Bahá'u'lláh's house in Tihrán.
At Badasht each believer received a new name without knowing who had given it. Hájí Mullá Ismá'íl-i-Qumí, named there Sirru'l-Vujúd, missed the defence of Tabarsí through illness and later died in Tihrán as one of the Seven Martyrs.
On His way from Chihríq to Tabríz, the Báb was the guest of Malik Qásim Mírzá at Urúmíyyih. The prince offered Him one of his wildest horses, and before the whole town the horse stood still beneath Him.
Siyyid Baṣír, a blind and learned man of Mooltan in India, accepted the Báb's message as soon as he heard it. He travelled to Persia, met Bahá'u'lláh at Núr, taught fearlessly among the learned, and was put to death by a prince.
Mullá Muhammad-'Alí, a learned divine of Zanján, sent a trusted disciple to Shíráz to look into the claims of the Báb. When he read the writings the man brought back, he declared his faith and closed his books.
Horsemen sent to bring the Báb to Shíráz in chains met Him on the road from Búshihr. Their captain hid their errand, but the Báb told them plainly who He was, refused the captain's offer of escape, and rode ahead of them to Shíráz.
Ordered to keep the Báb in strict confinement at Máh-Kú, the warden 'Alí Khán watched the local people come to love his Prisoner, and after a strange vision he relaxed his discipline and let pilgrims in.
Esslemont's account of the Báb's birth in Shíráz on 20 October 1819, His upbringing by a merchant uncle after His father's death, and a youth noted for piety, nobility of character and faithful observance of prayer.
Nabíl's account of the evening of 22 May 1844, when the Báb met Mullá Ḥusayn outside the gate of Shíráz, brought him to His house, and declared His mission to him, the first to believe in Him.
In Tabríz on July 9, 1850, the young believer Anís begged to die with the Báb. The first volley only cut their ropes; before the second, the Báb held up the youth's example to the watching crowd.
The Báb and Quddús spent about two months on a rough sea voyage from Búshihr to Jiddah. Through storms and hardship they remained calm, the Báb revealing writings and Quddús taking them down.
Though the Báb's writings convinced him, Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥaydar-'Alí was tormented by doubts whenever he was alone, until a dream left him assured, joyous and thankful.
When the Báb was brought to Tabríz in 1847, crowds acclaimed Him and a crier warned that anyone who approached Him would be imprisoned. Yet Ḥájí ‘Alí-‘Askar was admitted to His presence seven times, as Mullá Ḥusayn had foretold.
After a dream, young ‘Abdu’l-Vahhab left his shop in Shíráz to follow Mullá ‘Alí, a disciple of the Báb. His angry father beat Mullá ‘Alí, but years later Bahá'u'lláh brought the father to the Faith and he was forgiven.
Mírzá Qurbán-‘Alí, a much-loved man of Mázindarán, accepted the Báb through Mullá Husayn. Arrested in Tihrán, he told the chief minister that he had judged the Báb fairly, and he gave his life as one of the Seven Martyrs.
After years of searching, Mullá ‘Alí became the second to believe in the Báb. Sent to announce His coming in Iraq, he was arrested, tried and imprisoned, and he died the first Bábí to give his life for his faith.
As a child in Shíráz, the Báb would not recite the first words of the Qur'án until He knew their meaning, and then He explained them so well that His teacher took Him home to His uncle.
When the Báb was brought to Tabríz to be questioned by the leading religious scholars, He told them plainly that He was the promised One, and He did not take back His words.
In Iṣfáhán the Báb stayed with the city's chief religious leader and then with its governor. He wrote an explanation of a chapter of the Qur'án with amazing speed, and told the governor how God's Cause would be kept safe.
The Báb was sent to a far-off mountain castle so that His followers could not reach Him. Instead, the warden and the townspeople came to love Him, and the same thing happened at a second prison.
'Alí Khán, the strict warden of the fortress of Máh-Kú, let almost no one see his Prisoner, the Báb, until something he saw one morning at dawn changed his heart.
In Tabríz in 1850 a regiment fired at the Báb and His young follower Anís, but the bullets only cut their ropes. The Báb was found in His room, calmly finishing a conversation.
The Báb sailed for two months with Quddús to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. On the way a thief took His writings, and in Mecca He told a well-known scholar who He was.
One by one, eighteen seekers found the Báb, each by his own search, and became His first followers, the Letters of the Living.
At the Báb's request, Mullá Ḥusayn set out from Mashhad wearing the Báb's green turban, with a black flag carried before him, and led his companions to the shrine of Shaykh Ṭabarsí.
Sent by the king to test the Báb, the scholar Siyyid Yaḥyá silently resolved to ask for a commentary on the Súrih of Kawthar. At their third meeting the Báb offered to reveal exactly that.
Brought before the religious leaders of Tabríz and the young prince, the Báb sat in the seat kept for the prince and told them that He was the promised One.
In 1850 Vaḥíd and his companions held a small fort near Nayríz against a large army, until the army's leaders tricked him with a promise sworn on the Qur'án and then broke it.
The warden of Máh-Kú was ordered to keep the Báb shut away. The people nearby came to love the Prisoner, and after a strange vision the warden himself became gentle and let visitors in.
The Báb was born in Shíráz in 1819 and raised by His uncle. As a young merchant He was known for His good character and for never failing in His prayers.
Mullá Ḥusayn was searching for the Promised One. Outside the gate of Shíráz a Youth in a green turban welcomed him, took him home, and that night declared that He was the Báb.
Anís, a young believer in Tabríz, begged to stay with the Báb to the end. Before He was martyred, the Báb told the watching crowd that they should have followed the youth's example.
Mullá Ḥusayn had been searching for the Promised One. Outside the gate of Shíráz he was welcomed by the Báb, who invited him home and showed him the signs he was looking for.
When soldiers in Tabríz fired at the Báb, the bullets only cut the ropes, and He was found in another room. The soldiers laid down their arms and would not fire again.
In 1872, on her way to 'Akká, Munírih Khánum stayed in Shíráz and asked Khadíjih-Bagum, the wife of the Báb, about her marriage. She recalled her dreams, her life with the Báb, and the night Mullá Ḥusayn came.
Mírzá Asadu'lláh, a government official of Khuy, accepted the Báb after He described a dream Asadu'lláh had told no one. The Báb named him Dayyán and "the third Letter to believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest," and he later attained Bahá'u'lláh's presence in Baghdád.
The Báb sent Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí to live in Karbilá, promising that he would behold "the promised Husayn." In 1851, in Karbilá, Bahá'u'lláh took the old man by the hand and told him the promise had been fulfilled.
On the night He declared His mission in Shíráz, the Báb called Mullá Ḥusayn, the first to believe in Him, the Bábu'l-Báb, "the gate of that Gate." Mullá Ḥusayn went on to carry the Báb's message to Tihrán and Khurásán, and fell at Shaykh Ṭabarsí.
Siyyid Káẓim addressed the young scholar of Qazvín as Qurratu'l-'Ayn, "Solace of the Eyes." At Badasht in 1848 Bahá'u'lláh gave her the name Táhirih, the Pure One, and the Báb addressed her by it.
Quddús was the last of the Letters of the Living and the Báb's chosen companion on His pilgrimage to Mecca. At Badasht Bahá'u'lláh gave him the name Quddús. The Báb gave him the title of the Last Name of God.
Esslemont records that the Báb composed His voluminous Writings with great rapidity, without study or premeditation. He went on writing while confined in the mountain fortresses of Máh-Kú and Chihríq, and in His Writings He called Himself a dew-drop from a limitless ocean.
On the night of His Declaration in Shíráz in May 1844, the Báb revealed in Mullá Ḥusayn's presence the first chapter of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', the book Bahá'u'lláh called the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books in the Bábí Dispensation.
A Traveller's Narrative describes Bahá'u'lláh's youth in Ṭihrán, His learning without schooling, and how, when the Báb's Cause became known, He taught it to His family and friends and then carried it to Mázindarán.
Years later, the wife of the Báb told Munírih Khánum of the dreams that came before their marriage, of His hours of prayer, and of the night Mullá Ḥusayn came to their home in Shíráz.
Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí raised the Báb after His father's death, stood surety for Him before the governor of Shíráz, and in 1850 gave his life in Tihrán rather than deny Him.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes the Báb's early years in a few lines: raised in Shíráz by His uncle, a merchant in Búshihr, and known for godliness and piety long before He made any claim.
Khadíjih Bagum, the wife of the Báb, told Munírih Khánum how His uncles and aunts revered Him before His Declaration, and how He called the papers He asked for each evening the Book of the accounts of all the peoples of the world.
The Báb, Siyyid 'Alí-Muḥammad, was born in Shíráz on 20 October 1819 to parents who were both descendants of the Prophet Muḥammad. His father died while He was an infant, and His maternal uncle raised Him.
In Some Answered Questions, 'Abdu'l-Bahá notes that all Shíráz knew the Báb had studied in no school, yet as a young merchant He confounded the learned clergy of Persia, and He calls this the greatest proof that the Báb was a perfect Educator.
In Búshihr a man left goods with the Báb to be sold at a fixed price. The Báb sent him more than that price, because the goods had once been worth more, and refused to take back the difference.
In Karbilá, Siyyid Káẓim broke off his lesson when the young Báb sat down by the door, and said the Truth was more manifest than the ray of light on that lap. He would not say the name, and his students did not understand.
J. E. Esslemont describes the young Báb as noted for beauty, charm of manner, piety and nobility of character, faithful in prayer and fasting, and living in the spirit of the Prophet's teachings as well as the letter.
The Báb told Mullá Ḥusayn that the last of His first eighteen disciples would arrive the next night. The next evening a travel-stained youth recognised the Báb in the street by His gait. He was Quddús, the last of the Letters of the Living and the first in rank.
On the evening of 22 May 1844 the Báb met Mullá Ḥusayn outside the gate of Shíráz and took him to His house. That night He declared that He was the One Mullá Ḥusayn had been seeking, and revealed the first chapter of His commentary on the Súrih of Joseph.
In 1844 eighteen disciples came, each by their own search, to believe in the Báb. Before they dispersed He called them together, spoke of the greatness of the new Day, and gave each of them a task.
In December 1844 the Báb reached Mecca on pilgrimage with Quddús and there openly declared His mission. On His return to Persia the news stirred both devotion and fierce opposition, and His years of imprisonment and exile began.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells how the Báb, in His twenty-fifth year, declared Himself the Gate, the channel of grace from a great Person still hidden, and how most opposed Him while a few seekers arose to spread His Cause.
In Shíráz in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn would not tell Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastámí whom he had found. Mullá ‘Alí prayed for three nights until a vision led him to the Báb, Who then sent him out as "the first to leave the House of God."
In Iṣfahán in 1844 Mullá Ṣádiq asked Mullá Ḥusayn to name the Promised One. Told only that God's door is never closed to a seeker, he prayed alone, and in a vision saw the face of a Youth he had often seen praying in Karbilá.
In Ṭihrán in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn learned from a young student of Núr about a son of Mírzá Buzurg who fed the hungry and befriended the poor. He sent Him a scroll by the student's hand, and Bahá'u'lláh, reading it, affirmed its truth.
In Karbilá, Siyyid Káẓim took his disciple Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí to visit a Youth from Shíráz whom he treated with deep reverence. Years later, when Shaykh Ḥasan heard the call of the Báb, he knew at once that it was the same Youth.
After Siyyid Káẓim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn urged his fellow disciples to scatter and search for the Promised One, spent forty days in prayer and fasting at the mosque of Kúfih, and then travelled by way of Búshihr to Shíráz.
After Siyyid Káẓim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn refused his fellow disciples' offer to accept him as the promised One, spent forty days in prayer and fasting at the mosque of Kúfih, and set out on the search that led him to the Báb.
Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá'í gave his life to preparing people for the coming of the Promised One and chose Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí to carry on his work. Before he died, Siyyid Káẓim urged his disciples to scatter far and wide in search of Him.
Vaḥíd, the learned divine whom Muḥammad Sháh sent to investigate the Báb, became His follower. In 1850 he taught openly in Nayríz, was besieged in the Fort of Khájih, and was killed after his enemies broke an oath sworn on the Qur'án.
Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ʻAlí, the uncle who had raised the Báb, was among fourteen believers arrested in Ṭihrán in 1850. He refused a ransom and the Grand Vazír's offer of freedom, and asked to be the first of the Seven Martyrs to die.
In His youth the Báb worked as a merchant in Búshihr. A visitor recalled His humility and courtesy, and told how He insisted on paying a client the full value of an article, above the price the man had asked.
In Ṭihrán in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn gave a student from Núr a scroll to hand to Bahá'u'lláh at dawn. Bahá'u'lláh read it aloud, declared that its words had the same regenerating power as the Qur'án, and sent Mullá Ḥusayn a gift of tea and sugar.
While a prisoner in the mountain fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb revealed the Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih, the Seven Proofs, in answer to a questioner. Shoghi Effendi calls it the most important of the Báb's polemical works.
Quddús, the last of the eighteen Letters of the Living, went with the Báb on His pilgrimage to Mecca. Held captive in Sárí and later besieged at Shaykh Ṭabarsí, he wrote a vast commentary on a single letter of the Qur'án.
Ṭáhirih's learning made her father wish she had been a son. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls how she studied, debated, recognized the Báb through a dream, and taught His Cause in Karbilá and Baghdád.
Muḥammad Sháh sent Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, the most learned divine in Persia, to investigate the Báb. After three meetings in Shíráz he became a believer, and the Báb named him Vaḥíd.
Mírzá Muḥammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, called Anís, was confined by his stepfather for his love of the Báb. In a vision the Báb promised that he would share His martyrdom, and on 9 July 1850 he died beside Him in Tabríz.
In A Traveller's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records the Grand Vizier's order, the volleys that left the Báb unharmed, His death under a second regiment, and how persecution only made the Faith grow.
After the martyrdom of the Báb in 1850, believers hid His remains in shrines and houses in Ṭihrán for nearly fifty years, then carried them to the Holy Land, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them to rest on Mount Carmel in 1909.
Siyyid Ḥusayn-i-Yazdí, the Báb's amanuensis, spent His last night with Him in the barracks of Tabríz and was told not to confess his faith, so that he could later tell what he alone knew. In 1852 he was martyred in Ṭihrán.
In Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Dr. J. E. Esslemont told English-speaking readers how the Báb and a young follower were suspended in the barrack square of Tabríz, survived the first volley, and were killed by a second regiment.
Forty days before He was taken from Chihríq to Tabríz, the Báb gave His writings, pen-case, seals and rings to Mullá Báqir, a Letter of the Living, to be passed through Mírzá Aḥmad to Bahá'u'lláh in Ṭihrán.
After the martyrdom, the bodies of the Báb and His companion were left under guard beside the moat of Tabríz. Ḥájí Sulaymán Khán had them carried away by night, and at Bahá'u'lláh's instruction they were later brought to Ṭihrán and kept hidden.
Sám Khán, the Christian colonel ordered to execute the Báb, begged to be freed from shedding His blood. When his regiment's volley left the Báb unharmed, he marched his men out of the barracks and swore never to take part again.
On the night before His martyrdom, in a cell in the barracks of Tabríz, the Báb spoke with His companions with joy and cheerfulness, and chose the youth Mírzá Muḥammad-'Alí to share His martyrdom.
Mírzá Taqí Khán, the Amír-Niẓám, ordered the Báb's execution against the advice of his own counsellors. Within two years he lost the Sháh's favour and was put to death in the bath of Fín, near Káshán.
Sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, the learned Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, known as Vaḥíd, met Him three times in Shíráz. At the third meeting the Báb revealed, unasked, the commentary Vaḥíd had silently resolved to request.
A gifted student of Siyyid Káẓim, Ṭáhirih sent a sealed letter to the Promised One by a relative who had set out to find Him. On receiving it, the Báb named her one of the Letters of the Living, though she never met Him.
When news of the Báb reached Zanján, the learned Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí sent a trusted disciple to Shíráz to investigate. When the disciple returned, Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí refused to let another's verdict decide his belief; he read the Báb's words for himself and accepted the new Faith.
The Báb gave His followers a new calendar of nineteen months of nineteen days, each month named after an attribute of God, with Naw-Rúz as its first day. Bahá'u'lláh confirmed it in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and fixed the place of the extra days before the Fast.
In November 1849, grieving for the martyrs of Shaykh Ṭabarsí, the Báb sent His attendant Sayyáh from Chihríq to visit their resting-place, asking him to return before Naw-Rúz, "the only one I probably shall ever see again."
The Báb inaugurated a new calendar of nineteen months, named after the attributes of God. In the Bayán He made the last month the month of fasting, set Naw-Rúz at its close, and designated Naw-Rúz the Day of God.
Confined in 1847 in the remote fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb won the love of the people of the district, who looked each morning for a glimpse of Him, and of its stern warden, 'Alí Khán, who after a strange vision relaxed his discipline.
Sent by the Báb to Ṭihrán in 1844, Mullá Ḥusayn entrusted a scroll of the Báb's writings to a student from Núr, who carried it at dawn to Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh at once affirmed its truth, and the news brought the Báb great joy.
Ṭáhirih never met the Báb. She sent a sealed letter with her sister's husband to the Promised One he was sure to meet, and on receiving it the Báb named her one of the Letters of the Living.
Brought from Chihríq to Tabríz in 1848, the Báb appeared before the Crown Prince and the leading clergy of Ádhirbayján and openly declared Himself the Promised One. Afterwards He was beaten and sent back to Chihríq.
After reading a single page of the Báb's writings, Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí of Zanján pledged his allegiance before the city's assembled clergy. Named Ḥujjat by the Báb and told to proclaim His teachings from the pulpit, he did so and was held in Tehran for it.
After the governor of Fárs had Him arrested and brought to Shíráz, the Báb was called by the Imám-Jum'ih, Shaykh Abú-Turáb, into the pulpit of the Masjid-i-Vakíl on a Friday to answer before the congregation the charges spread against Him.
In Iṣfáhán, a city famed for its divines, the first to accept the Báb's message was a sifter of wheat. Years later, sieve in hand, he set out to join the defenders of Shaykh Ṭabarsí, where he was martyred.
Sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, the learned Vaḥíd resolved to ask, only in his heart, for a commentary on the Súrih of Kawthar. At their third meeting the Báb offered it unasked and wrote it before him.
Moved from Máh-Kú to the castle of Chihríq under a warden ordered to admit no one, the Báb won over both the warden, Yaḥyá Khán, and the Kurds of the district, and seekers again came to Him in numbers.
Imprisoned in the frontier castle of Máh-Kú, the Báb won the hearts of the townspeople. The stern warden, 'Alí Khán, was changed by a vision of the Báb at prayer and came to let His followers visit Him freely.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records how the beatings, banishments and killings of the Báb's followers in Persia made the new Faith more widely known, and explains why force fails against matters of conscience.
Ḥusayn Khán, governor of Fárs, had two of the Báb's disciples tortured and ordered the Báb struck in his presence. Later, on the night he had the Báb arrested again, plague broke out in Shíráz and the governor fled.
May the glances of Him Whom God shall make manifest illumine this letter at the primary school.
This is an epistle from this lowly servant to the All-Glorious Lord—He Who hath been aforetime and will be hereafter made manifest.
O ‘Abdu’s-Sáhib! Verily God and every created thing testify that there is none other God but Me, the Almighty, the Best Beloved...
This is an Epistle from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, unto Sulaymán in the land of Masqát, to the right of the Sea.
All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur and splendour be unto Thee.
All men have proceeded from God and unto Him shall all return.
All praise be to God Who hath, through the power of Truth, sent down this Book unto His servant, that it may serve as a shining light for all mankind...
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. All praise be unto God Who was Ever-Existent ere created things were called into being, when there was no one else besides Him.
Are ye wickedly scheming, according to your selfish fancies, an evil plot against Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance of God?
As a token of pure justice, We have indeed sent tidings unto every Prophet concerning the Cause of Our Remembrance, and verily God is supreme over all the peoples of the world.
As this physical frame is the throne of the inner temple, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter.
As to those who deny Him Who is the Sublime Gate of God, for them We have prepared, as justly decreed by God, a sore torment.
As to those who have debarred themselves from the Revelation of God, they have indeed failed to understand the significance of a single letter of the Qur’án, nor have they obtained the slightest notion of the Faith of Islám …
At the time of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, wert thou to perform thy deeds for the sake of the Point of the Bayán, they would be regarded as performed for one other than God …
At the time of the manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest everyone should be well trained in the teachings of the Bayán, so that none of the followers may outwardly cling to the Bayán and thus forfeit their allegiance unto Him.
Be thou content with the commandment of God, the True One, inasmuch as sovereignty, as recorded in the Mother Book by the hand of God, is surely invested in Him Who is His Remembrance...
Be Thou patient, O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, for God hath indeed pledged to establish Thy sovereignty throughout all countries and over the people that dwell therein.
Better is it for a person to write down but one of His verses than to transcribe the whole of the Bayán and all the books which have been written in the Dispensation of the Bayán.
By My glory!
Consecrate Thou, O my God, the whole of this Tree unto Him, that from it may be revealed all the fruits created by God within it for Him through Whom God hath willed to reveal all that He pleaseth.
Consider how at the time of the appearance of every Revelation, those who open their hearts to the Author of that Revelation recognize the Truth, while the hearts of those who fail to apprehend the Truth are straitened by reason of their shutting themselves out from Him.
Consider the manifold favours vouchsafed by the Promised One, and the effusions of His bounty which have pervaded the concourse of the followers of Islám to enable them to attain unto salvation.
Do men imagine that We are far distant from the people of the world?
Do not say, ‘How can He speak of God while in truth His age is no more than twenty-five?’
Do Thou ordain for me, O Lord, every good thing Thou hast created or wilt create, and shield me from whatever evil Thou abhorrest from among the things Thou hast caused or wilt cause to exist.
Doth it seem strange to the people that We should have revealed the Book to a man from among themselves in order to purge them and give them the good tidings that they shall be rewarded with a sure stance in the presence of their Lord?
Everyone is eagerly awaiting His appearance, yet since their inner eyes are not directed towards Him sorrow must needs befall Him.
This is an Epistle from Him Who is the true, the undoubted Leader.
O Sherif!...
The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed.
Glory be unto Him Who knoweth all that is in the heavens and in the earth.
Fear ye God and breathe not a word concerning His Most Great Remembrance other than what hath been ordained by God, inasmuch as We have established a separate covenant regarding Him with every Prophet and His followers.
From the beginning that hath no beginning all men have bowed in adoration before Him Whom God shall make manifest and will continue to do so until the end that hath no end.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art in truth the King of kings. Thou dost confer sovereignty upon whomsoever Thou willest and dost seize it from whomsoever Thou willest.
Glorified be Thy Name, O Lord!
Glorified is He besides Whom there is none other God. In His grasp He holdeth the source of authority, and verily God is powerful over all things.
He is God, the Supreme Ruler, the Sovereign Truth, He Whose help is implored by all.
Glory be to Thee, O God! Thou art the God Who hath existed before all things, Who will exist after all things and will last beyond all things.
He is the Almighty. Glory be unto Him Who is the Lord of all that are in the heavens and on the earth; He is the All-Wise, the All-Informed.
Glory be unto Thee, O God. How can I make mention of Thee while Thou art sanctified from the praise of all mankind.
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord!
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God! I beg Thee to forgive me and those who support Thy Faith. Verily Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Forgiver, the Most Generous.
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God!
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord, Thou Who hast brought into being all created things, through the power of Thy behest.
God, besides Whom there is none other true God, saith: Indeed, whoso visiteth the Remembrance of God after His passing, it is as though he hath attained the presence of the Lord, seated upon His mighty Throne.
God had, in truth, proposed Our Mission unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid thereof.
God hath, at all times and under all conditions, been wholly independent of His creatures.
God is sanctified from His servants and no direct relationship ever existeth between Him and any created thing, while ye have all arisen at His bidding.
God loveth those who are pure. Naught in the Bayán and in the sight of God is more loved than purity and immaculate cleanliness....
God, of a truth, revealed unto Me in the sacred house of the Ka’bah, ‘Verily, I am God, no God is there but Me.
God testifieth that there is none other God but Him. His are the kingdoms in the heavens and on the earth and all that is between them.
God testifieth that there is none other God but Him, the Almighty, the Best Beloved.
Gracious God! Within the domains of Islám there are at present seven powerful sovereigns ruling the world. None of them hath been informed of His [the Báb’s] Manifestation, and if informed, none hath believed in Him.
In the Name of God, the Lord of overpowering majesty, the All-Compelling.
He—glorified be His mention—resembleth the sun.
Hearken unto the Voice of Thy Lord calling from Mount Sinai, ‘Verily there is no God but Him, and I am the Most Exalted One Who hath been veiled in the Mother Book according to the dispensations of Providence.’
How can I praise Thee, O Lord, for the evidences of Thy mighty splendour and for Thy wondrous sweet savours which Thou hast imparted to Me in this fortress, in such measure that nothing in the heavens or on the earth can compare with them?
How great the number of people who deck themselves with robes of silk all their lives, while clad in the garb of fire, inasmuch as they have divested themselves of the raiment of divine guidance and righteousness …
How numerous the souls raised to life who were exposed to dire humiliation in Thy Path for exalting Thy Word and for glorifying Thy divine Unity!
How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science, yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their faith …
How veiled are ye, O My creatures, ... who, without any right, have consigned Him unto a mountain [Mákú], not one of whose inhabitants is worthy of mention...
I adjure Thee by Thy might, O my God! Let no harm beset me in times of tests, and in moments of heedlessness guide my steps aright through Thine inspiration.
I am aware, O Lord, that my trespasses have covered my face with shame in Thy presence, and have burdened my back before Thee, have intervened between me and Thy beauteous countenance …
I am the Mystic Fane which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared.
I beg Thee to forgive me, O my Lord, for every mention but the mention of Thee, and for every praise but the praise of Thee, and for every delight but delight in Thy nearness, and for every pleasure but the pleasure of communion with Thee …
I beg Thy forgiveness, O my God, and implore pardon after the manner Thou wishest Thy servants to direct themselves to Thee.
I implore Thee by the splendour of the light of Thy glorious face, the majesty of Thine ancient grandeur and the power of Thy transcendent sovereignty to ordain for us at this moment every measure of that which is good and seemly and to …
I swear by the most holy Essence of God—exalted and glorified be He—that in the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest a thousand perusals of the Bayán cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by Him Whom God shall make manifest.
If at the time of the appearance of Him Whom God will make manifest all the dwellers of the earth were to bear witness unto a thing whereunto He beareth witness differently, His testimony would be like unto the sun …
Immeasurably exalted art Thou, O my God, above the endeavours of all beings and created things to praise Thee and recognize Thee.
Immeasurably glorified and exalted art Thou. How can I make mention of Thee, O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation; and how can I acknowledge Thy claim, O Thou, before Whom every created thing standeth in awe.
In the manifestation of the Apostle of God all were eagerly awaiting Him, yet thou hast heard how He was treated at the time of His appearance, in spite of the fact that if ever they beheld Him in their dreams they would take pride in them.
In the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Holy.
In this Revelation the Lord of the universe hath deigned to bestow His mighty utterances and resplendent signs upon the Point of the Bayán, and hath ordained them as His matchless testimony for all created things.
Indeed We conversed with Moses by the leave of God from the midst of the Burning Bush in the Sinai and revealed an infinitesimal glimmer of Thy Light upon the Mystic Mount and its dwellers, whereupon the Mount shook to its foundations and was crushed into dust...
A short prayer of the Báb, the last of the prayers given in Selections from the Writings of the Báb, beginning "Is there any Remover of difficulties save God?"
Issue forth from your cities, O peoples of the West and aid God ere the Day when the Lord of mercy shall come down unto you in the shadow of the clouds with the angels circling around Him, exalting His praise and seeking forgiveness for such as have truly believed in Our signs.
It behooveth you to await the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall manifest.
It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God’s tender mercy …
It is not permissible to ask questions from Him Whom God will make manifest, except that which well beseemeth Him.
It is recorded in a tradition that of the entire concourse of the Christians no more than seventy people embraced the Faith of the Apostle of God.
It is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer, supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents.
Know thou that in the Bayán purification is regarded as the most acceptable means for attaining nearness unto God and as the most meritorious of all deeds.
He is God, the Sovereign Ruler, the Ever-Living, He Whose help all men implore.
Thou art God, no God is there but Thee. Lauded and glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art supreme over the realm of being and Thy power pervadeth all created things.
Lauded be Thy Name, O God. Thou art in truth our Lord; Thou art aware of whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth.
Lauded be Thy Name, O Lord our God! Thou art in truth the Knower of things unseen. Ordain for us such good as Thine all-embracing knowledge can measure.
Let Me set forth some rational arguments for thee. If someone desireth to embrace the Faith of Islám today, would the testimony of God prove conclusive for him?
Likewise consider the manifestation of the Point of the Bayán.
Magnified be Thy Name, O God. Thine in truth are the Kingdoms of Creation and Revelation, and verily in our Lord have we placed our whole trust.
No created thing shall ever attain its paradise unless it appeareth in its highest prescribed degree of perfection.
O Concourse of the faithful!
O God our Lord! Protect us through Thy grace from whatsoever may be repugnant unto Thee and vouchsafe unto us that which well beseemeth Thee.
O Hour of the Dawn! Ere the resplendent glory of the divine Luminary sheddeth its radiance from the Dayspring of this Gate, call thou to mind that the appointed Day of God will indeed be at hand in less than the twinkling of an eye.
O King of Islám!
O Lord! Enable all the peoples of the earth to gain admittance into the Paradise of Thy Faith, so that no created being may remain beyond the bounds of Thy good-pleasure.
O Lord! Render victorious Thy forbearing servants in Thy days by granting them a befitting victory, inasmuch as they have sought martyrdom in Thy path.
O Lord! Thou art the Remover of every anguish and the Dispeller of every affliction. Thou art He Who banisheth every sorrow and setteth free every slave, the Redeemer of every soul.
O Lord! Unto Thee I repair for refuge and toward all Thy signs I set my heart. O Lord! Whether travelling or at home, and in my occupation or in my work, I place my whole trust in Thee.
O My God! I have failed to know Thee as is worthy of Thy glory, and I have failed to fear Thee as befitteth my station.
O My God, my Lord and my Master! I have detached myself from my kindred and have sought through Thee to become independent of all that dwell on earth and ever ready to receive that which is praiseworthy in Thy sight.
O My God, O my Lord, O my Master! I beg Thee to forgive me for seeking any pleasure save Thy love, or any comfort except Thy nearness, or any delight besides Thy good-pleasure, or any existence other than communion with Thee.
O My God! There is no one but Thee to allay the anguish of my soul, and Thou art my highest aspiration, O my God.
O My servants! This is God’s appointed Day which the merciful Lord hath promised you in His Book; wherefore, in very truth, glorify ye abundantly the name of God while treading the Path of the Most Great Remembrance...
O People of Persia! Are ye not satisfied with this glorious honour which the supreme Remembrance of God hath conferred upon you?
O People of the Bayán! Be on your guard; for on the Day of Resurrection no one shall find a place to flee to. He will shine forth suddenly, and will pronounce judgement as He pleaseth.
O People of the Bayán! If ye believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest, to your own behoof do ye believe. He hath been and ever will remain independent of all men.
O People of the earth!
O People of the earth! To attain the ultimate retreat in God, the True One, are we to seek a Gate other than this exalted Being?...
O People of the Qur’án! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit unto the Remembrance of God and unto this Book.
O Peoples of the earth!
O Peoples of the earth!
O Peoples of the earth! Verily the true God calleth saying: He Who is the Remembrance is indeed the sovereign Truth from God, and naught remaineth beyond truth but error, and naught is there beyond error save fire, irrevocably ordained...
O Peoples of the East and the West!
O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn! I recognize in Thee none other except the ‘Great Announcement’—the Announcement voiced by the Concourse on high.
O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn! Say: Verily I am the One Who is hailed in the Mother Book as the ‘Great Announcement’.
O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn!
O Qurratu’l-‘ayn!
O Spirit of God!
O Thou cherished Fruit of the heart! Give ear to the melodies of this mystic Bird warbling in the loftiest heights of heaven.
O Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love.
O Thou the Supreme Word of God!
O Thou who art the chosen one among women! He is God; glorified is the splendour of His light.
O ye concourse of the believers! Utter not words of denial against Me once the Truth is made manifest, for indeed the mandate of the Báb hath befittingly been proclaimed unto you in the Qur’án aforetime.
O ye kinsmen of the Most Great Remembrance!
O ye peoples of the earth!
O ye peoples of the earth! During the time of My absence I sent down the Gates unto you. However the believers, except for a handful, obeyed them not.
O ye peoples of the earth! Hearken unto My call, ringing forth from the precincts of this sacred Tree—a Tree set ablaze by the pre-existent Fire: There is no God but Him; He is the Exalted, the All-Wise.
O ye servants of God! Verily, be not grieved if a thing ye asked of Him remaineth unanswered, inasmuch as He hath been commanded by God to observe silence, a silence which is in truth praiseworthy.
O Ye unto whom the Bayán is given!
O Ye who are invested with the Bayán!
O Ye who are invested with the Bayán! Ye shall be put to proof, even as those unto whom the Qur’án was given.
On the Day of Resurrection when He Whom God will make manifest cometh unto you, invested with conclusive proofs, ye shall hold His Cause as being devoid of truth …
The Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', the Báb's commentary on the Súrih of Joseph, whose first chapter He revealed on the night of His Declaration in May 1844, and its opening words as given in Selections from the Writings of the Báb.
Ponder likewise the Dispensation of the Apostle of God which lasted twelve hundred and seventy years till the dawn of the manifestation of the Bayán.
Ponder upon the people unto whom the Gospel was given.
Praise be to God that He hath enabled us to become cognizant of Him Whom God shall make manifest in the Day of Resurrection, so that we may derive benefit from the fruit of our existence and be not deprived of attaining the presence of God.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord, my Best Beloved! Make me steadfast in Thy Cause and grant that I may be reckoned among those who have not violated Thy Covenant nor followed the gods of their own idle fancy.
Praise be unto Thee, O Lord. Forgive us our sins, have mercy upon us and enable us to return unto Thee.
Praised and glorified art Thou, O God! Grant that the day of attaining Thy holy presence may be fast approaching.
Recite ye as much as convenient from this Qur’án both at morn and at eventide, and chant the verses of this Book, by the leave of the eternal God, in the sweet accents of this Bird which warbleth its melody in the vault of heaven.
Rid thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer: Say: God sufficeth all things above all things …
Say, by reason of your remembering Him Whom God shall make manifest and by extolling His name, God will cause your hearts to be dilated with joy, and do ye not wish your hearts to be in such a blissful state?
Say, God is the Lord and all are worshippers unto Him. Say, God is the True One and all pay homage unto Him. This is God, your Lord, and unto Him shall ye return.
Say, God shall of a truth cause your hearts to be given to perversity if ye fail to recognize Him Whom God shall make manifest; but if ye do recognize Him God shall banish perversity from your hearts...
Say, He Whom God shall make manifest will surely redeem the rights of those who truly believe in God and in His signs, for they are the ones who merit reward from His presence.
In the Name of Thy Lord, the Creator, the Sovereign, the All-Sufficing, the Most Exalted, He Whose help is implored by all men.
He is God, the Sovereign Lord, the All-Glorious. Say: Praise be to God Who graciously enableth whomsoever He willeth to adore Him.
Say, verily God hath caused all created things to enter beneath the shade of the tree of affirmation, except those who are endowed with the faculty of understanding.
Say, ye will be unable to recognize the One True God or to discern clearly the words of divine guidance, inasmuch as ye seek and tread a path other than His.
Send down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayán, upon its root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth.
Should a person lay claim to a cause and produce his proofs, then those who seek to repudiate him are required to produce proofs like unto his.
Should it be Our wish, it is in Our power to compel, through the agency of but one letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our Cause....
Since all men have issued forth from the shadow of the signs of His Divinity and Lordship, they always tend to take a path, lofty and high.
Since that Day is a great Day it would be sorely trying for thee to identify thyself with the believers.
Since thou hast faithfully obeyed the true religion of God in the past, it behooveth thee to follow His true religion hereafter, inasmuch as every religion proceedeth from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
This is that which We have revealed for the First Believer in Him Whom God shall make manifest, that it may serve as an admonition from Our presence unto all mankind.
Take heed to carefully consider the words of every soul, then hold fast to the proofs which attest the truth.
The acts of Him Whom God shall make manifest are like unto the sun, while the works of men, provided they conform to the good-pleasure of God, resemble the stars or the moon...
The angels and the spirits, arrayed rank upon rank, descend, by the leave of God, upon this Gate ...’ and circle round this Focal Point in a far-stretching line.
The Bayán shall constitute God’s unerring balance till the Day of Resurrection which is the Day of Him Whom God will make manifest.
The Day of Resurrection is a day on which the sun riseth and setteth like unto any other day.
The divine Revelation associated with the advent of Him Who is your promised Mihdí hath proved far more wondrous than the Revelation wherewith Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, was invested.
The evidence set forth by God can never be compared with the evidences produced by any one of the peoples and kindreds of the earth; and beyond a shadow of doubt no evidence is set forth by God save through the One Who is appointed as His supreme Testimony.
The evidences which the people demanded from the Apostle of God through their idle fancy have mostly been rejected in the Qur’án, even as in the Súrih of the Children of Israel [Súrih XVII] it hath been revealed: ‘And they say …
The glory of glories and the most resplendent light rest upon Thee, O my God.
The glory of Him Whom God shall make manifest is immeasurably above every other glory, and His majesty is far above every other majesty.
The Lord hath, in truth, inspired Me: Verily, verily, I am God, He besides Whom there is none other God, and I am indeed the Ancient of Days...
The One true God may be compared unto the sun and the believer unto a mirror.
The people, during the absence of the Báb, re-enacted the episode of the Calf by setting up a blaring figure which embodied animal features in human form ...
The reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is this, that thou mayest give thy best attention to the remembrance of God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with His Spirit, and not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved.
The recognition of Him Who is the Bearer of divine Truth is none other than the recognition of God, and loving Him is none other than loving God.
The revelation of the Divine Reality hath everlastingly been identical with its concealment and its concealment identical with its revelation.
The substance of this chapter is this, that what is intended by the Day of Resurrection is the Day of the appearance of the Tree of divine Reality …
There is no doubt that the Almighty hath sent down these verses unto Him [the Báb], even as He sent down unto the Apostle of God.
There is no paradise, in the estimation of the believers in the Divine Unity, more exalted than to obey God’s commandments, and there is no fire in the eyes of those who have known God and His signs …
This Book which We have sent down is indeed abounding in blessings and beareth witness to the Truth, so that the people may realize that the conclusive Proof of God in favour of His Remembrance is similar to the one wherewith Muḥammad …
This Religion is indeed, in the sight of God, the essence of the Faith of Muḥammad; haste ye then to attain the celestial Paradise and the all-highest Garden of His good-pleasure in the presence of the One True God …
This Remembrance is indeed the glorious Remnant of the Light of God, and He will be best for you, if ye in very truth remain faithful to God, the Most Exalted...
Thou art aware, O My God, that since the day Thou didst call Me into being out of the water of Thy love till I reached fifteen years of age I lived in the land which witnessed My birth [Shíráz].
Thou beholdest how vast is the number of people who go to Mecca each year on pilgrimage and engage in circumambulation, while He, through the potency of Whose Word the Ka’bah [the sanctuary in Mecca] hath become the object of adoration, is forsaken in this mountain.
Thou hast asked concerning the fundamentals of religion and its ordinances: Know thou that first and foremost in religion is the knowledge of God.
Thou knowest full well, O my God, that tribulations have showered upon me from all directions and that no one can dispel or transmute them except Thee.
Thou seest, O my Lord, my dwelling-place in the heart of this mountain and Thou dost witness my forbearance.
Through Thy revelation, O my God, Thou hast enabled me to know Thee, and through the radiance of Thine effulgent splendour Thou hast inspired me with Thy remembrance.
Throughout eternity Thou hast been, O my Lord, and wilt ever remain the One true God, while all else save Thee are needy and poor.
Thy letter hath been perused. Were the truth of this Revelation to be fully demonstrated with elaborate proofs, all the scrolls that exist in the heaven and on the earth would be insufficient to contain them.
Twelve hundred and seventy years have elapsed since the declaration of Muḥammad, and each year unnumbered people have circumambulated the House of God [Mecca].
Unto every people We have sent down the Book in their own language.
Verily God hath caused the people of the Bayán to be called into being through the power of Him unto Whom the Bayán was revealed, in preparation for the Day when they will return to their Lord.
In the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most High. Verily I am God, no God is there but Me, and aught except Me is but My creation.
Verily I am Thy servant, O my God, and Thy poor one and Thy suppliant and Thy wretched creature.
Verily, on the First Day We flung open the gates of Paradise unto all the peoples of the world, and exclaimed: ‘O all ye created things!
Verily such as ridicule the wondrous, divine Verses revealed through His Remembrance, are but making themselves the objects of ridicule, and We, in truth, aid them to wax in their iniquity.
Verily We made the revelation of verses to be a testimony for Our message unto you.
Vouchsafe unto me, O my God, the full measure of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and through the attractions of Thy resplendent light enrapture our hearts, O Thou Who art the Supreme Evidence and the All-Glorified.
Whenever the faithful hear the verses of this Book being recited, their eyes will overflow with tears and their hearts will be deeply touched by Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance for the love they cherish for God, the All-Praised.
Worship thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise.
Ye perform your works for God from the beginning of your lives till the end thereof, yet not a single act is for the sake of Him Who is the Manifestation of God, to Whom every good deed reverteth.
In the first chapter of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', revealed on the night of His Declaration in 1844, the Báb calls on the kings to carry His verses to the peoples of Turkey and India and to lands in the East and the West.
In the Persian Bayán, revealed in the fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb asks the believer, after each prayer, to beg God's mercy and forgiveness for his parents, and promises a thousandfold recompense.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells of the Báb's martyrdom in the barrack square of Tabríz in 1850. The first regiment's volleys left Him and His young companion unharmed; a second regiment then carried out the sentence.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells how the Báb was sent to the mountain castle of Máh-Kú and held there nine months, and how its warden, 'Alí Khán, out of love for the family of the Prophet, let some people speak with Him.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records how in 1844, in His twenty-fifth year, the Báb began in Shíráz to declare Himself the Gate, and how a few Shaykhí divines turned to Him while most of the learned opposed Him.
Touching the individual known as the Báb and the true nature of this sect diverse tales are on the tongues and in the mouths of men, and various accounts are contained in the pages of Persian history and the leaves of European chronicles.
These things have been put to the proof, and the greatest proof is this very transaction.
In A Traveler's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells how Siyyid Yaḥyá of Dáráb, sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, met Him three times in Shíráz and was won over when the Báb wrote a commentary on the Súrih of Kawthar in his presence.
When the Báb set out on a camel from Jaddih to Mecca, Quddús chose to walk beside Him all the way, holding the bridle by day and keeping watch over Him every night.
As boys, two brothers of Isfahan served the Báb at their father's banquet. Grown into honest, generous merchants, they were put to death in 1879, and Bahá’u’lláh named them the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs.
After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Bahá’u’lláh to Constantinople.
The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh are most comprehensive in their range, dealing with every phase of human life, individual and social, with things material and things spiritual, with the interpretation of ancient and modern scriptures …
The following particulars regarding the marriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were kindly supplied to the writer by a Persian historian of the Bahá’í Faith:— During the youth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the question of a suitable marriage for Him was naturally one …
In many of His conversations Christ speaks of the future Manifestation of God in the third person, but in others the first person is used.
Two brothers of Isfahan who met the Báb as boys and later Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad became prosperous merchants, renowned for their honesty and for spending their wealth on the poor and on Bahá’u’lláh’s companions.
In Baghdad in 1862 the Báb's eldest uncle, still doubtful of his Nephew's claim, brought his questions to Bahá'u'lláh, Who answered them in two days and two nights with the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the Book of Certitude.
A life of Bahá'u'lláh for children: His boyhood in Tihrán, His refusal of His father's post, the Báb's letter brought by Mullá Ḥusayn, prison and exile, and His declaration in the Garden of Riḍván.
A grandfather tells his grandson how the Báb's eldest uncle, unsure that his Nephew could be a Messenger of God, took his questions to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, and how the Kitáb-i-Íqán was revealed in two days and two nights.
Mírzá Ḥasan, a relative of the Báb, was a merchant and scholar who came to love Bahá'u'lláh deeply. He settled near Bahjí to be close to Him, and died soon after Bahá'u'lláh's passing.
The Báb's three uncles came to His Faith at different times: one early, who died among the Seven Martyrs of Ṭihrán; one after Bahá'u'lláh answered his questions in the Kitáb-i-Íqán; and one some years later.
As boys, two brothers of Isfahan served the Báb at their father's banquet. They grew up to be honest, generous merchants and devoted Bahá'ís, were put to death in 1879, and were named by Bahá'u'lláh the King and the Beloved of Martyrs.
The Báb told Shaykh Ḥasan to wait in Karbilá, where he would see the promised Ḥusayn. Years later, at the gate of a shrine there, Bahá'u'lláh took him by the hand.
Khurshíd Begum, who was given the title of Shamsu’d-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun, was mother-in-law to the King of Martyrs.
This distinguished man was one of the greatest of all the Báb’s companions and all the loved ones of Bahá’u’lláh.
The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh were born two years apart but on consecutive days of the lunar calendar. In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh names Their births among the four great festivals and says the two days are accounted as one.
In A Traveller's Narrative, 'Abdu'l-Bahá records the Báb's words calling Himself a dewdrop from a limitless ocean and pointing to One yet to come. Shoghi Effendi explains how the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván fulfilled the Báb's prophecy.
The Báb foretold the coming of "Him Whom God shall make manifest," pointing to the year nine and to a span of nineteen years. Shoghi Effendi shows how both were fulfilled, in the Síyáh-Chál and in the Garden of Riḍván.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls how a daughter born after the Báb's prayer for a childless follower came to the Holy Family, and how, at Bahá'u'lláh's request, 'Abdu'l-Bahá took her as His wife.
“One year before ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd was dethroned, he sent an extremely overbearing, treacherous and insulting committee of investigation. The chairman was one of the governor’s staff, Árif Bey, and with him were three army commanders…
“After two years of the strictest confinement permission was granted me to find a house so that we could live outside the prison walls but still within the fortifications. Many believers came from Persia to join us but they were not…
“With the advent of the Young Turks’ supremacy, realized through the Society of Union and Progress, all the political prisoners of the Ottoman Empire were set free. Events took the chains from my neck and placed them about Hamíd’s;…
Cleanliness and sanctity in all conditions are characteristics of pure beings and necessities of free souls.
O ye beloved of God, know that steadfastness and firmness in this new and wonderful Covenant is indeed the spirit that quickeneth the hearts which are overflowing with the love of the Glorious Lord; verily …
O ye friends of God! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is day and night thinking of you and mentioning you, for the friends of God are dear to Him.
Today there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the “Most Great Peace.”
What is real unity? When we observe the human world we find various collective expressions of unity therein. For instance, man is distinguished from the animal by his degree or kingdom.
This recent war has proved to the world and the people that war is destruction while Universal Peace is construction; war is death while peace is life; war is rapacity and bloodthirstiness while peace is beneficence and humaneness …
Both in the Persian and Arabic Writings of the Primal Point—may the life of all men be offered up for Him—there are several …
After the construction of the Báb’s Shrine on Mount Carmel, it was the wish and intention of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—may our lives be sacrificed for His holy dust—to open a path that would lead directly from the Shrine to the German Avenue.
Bahá’u’lláh indicated in many ways that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to direct the Cause after His own ascension.
The essential joyousness of the Bahá’í religion finds expression in numerous feasts and holidays throughout the year.
Bahá’u’lláh teaches that everyone endowed with the Station of Prophethood is given sufficient proofs of His Mission, is entitled to claim obedience from all men and has authority to abrogate, alter or add to the teachings of His predecessors.
In bringing about the emancipation of women as in other matters, Bahá’u’lláh counsels His followers to avoid methods of violence.
After the Báb’s martyrdom, His remains, with those of His devoted companion, were thrown on the edge of the moat outside the city wall.
In 1904 and 1907 commissions were appointed by the Turkish Government to inquire into the charges against ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and lying witnesses gave evidence against Him.
In April 1911 Louis G. Gregory visited the Tomb of the Báb on Mount Carmel, where the pilgrims removed their shoes and heard prayers chanted, and that evening met the believers of Haifa.
In 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid the remains of the Báb in the Shrine He had built on Mount Carmel. Twelve years later, after His own funeral, His coffin was lowered into a vault beside that of the Báb in the same Shrine.
On Naw-Rúz 1909, after the Báb's remains had been hidden and moved for decades, 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them with His own hands in the Shrine He had built on Mount Carmel, and wept so that all who were present wept with Him.
For nearly sixty years believers kept the remains of the Báb hidden from His enemies. On Naw-Rúz 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them with His own hands in a tomb on Mount Carmel, on the spot Bahá'u'lláh had chosen, and wept over the casket.
On Naw-Rúz 1909, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the casket holding the remains of the Báb and His companion in the marble sarcophagus on Mount Carmel with His own hands, and wept so that all present wept with Him.
A Western pilgrim describes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on Mount Carmel in 1909 moving the remains of the Báb into the marble sarcophagus with His own hands, and weeping aloud as the believers wept with Him.
November 7th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I will speak to you today of Bahá’u’lláh.
15 Rue Greuze, Paris, November 10th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: Tonight I will speak of the evolution or progress of the spirit.
15 Rue Greuze, Paris, December 1st When I arrived in Paris some time ago for the first time, I looked around me with much interest, and in my mind I likened this beautiful city to a large garden.
Friday, October 20th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: In the past, as in the present, the Spiritual Sun of Truth has always shone from the horizon of the East.
November 9th In the Gospel according to St John, Christ has said: ‘Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.’
Today, at table, let us speak for a little of proofs.
In the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Revelation of St.
We have before explained that what is most frequently meant by the Holy City, the Jerusalem of God, which is mentioned in the Holy Book, is the Law of God.
As for the Báb—may my soul be His sacrifice!—at a youthful age, that is to say, when He had reached the twenty-fifth year of His blessed life, He stood forth to proclaim His Cause.
O Friends of the Pure and Omnipotent God! To be pure and holy in all things is an attribute of the consecrated soul and a necessary characteristic of the unenslaved mind.
O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings of God! I have read thy letter addressed to Mrs. Lua Getsinger.
O thou exalted bough of the divine Lote-Tree! ...When thou art disdained and rejected by the wicked doers be not cast down; and at the power and stiffneckedness of the presumptuous be neither vexed nor sick at heart; for such is the way of heedless souls, from time out of mind.
O ye who have turned your faces toward the Exalted Beauty!
O army of God! A letter signed jointly by all of you hath been received. It was most eloquent and full of flavour, and reading it was a delight.
Glory be unto Thee, O Thou whose mercy hath encompassed all things, whose gift is made perfect, whose power hath encircled the world, whose proof is demonstrated, whose signs have become manifest, whose words are promulgated …
O ye beloved friends of Abdul-Baha! The detailed letter which you have written was received and it was read with the greatest attention.
O ye Cohorts of God! A letter which was signed by you in general was received. Its content was of the utmost beauty, sweetness, eloquence and perfection.
O ye real companions! Day and night Abdul-Baha is engaged in the remembrances of the friends, and time after time doth he associate with them and behold their blessed faces.
“Moral life consists in the government of one's self. Immortality is government of a human soul by the Divine Will.”
We looked again at the faces of the Blessed Perfection and the Báb in the inner room.
At dinner a violent rainstorm swept in from the sea. “May we all live in the Sea of Reality and be filled with the Love of God. Thank God we are in the Ark of the Covenant. See what great blessings God has showered upon us. How many…
“When you give the Message of this Manifestation many say, 'This is nothing new—I prefer the home of my old religious belief which has been so serviceable and trustworthy.'” ‘Abdu'l-Bahá answered …
“What is the Second Coming of Christ in this Dispensation?” ‘Abdu'l-Bahá answered: “In the Book of the Zend-Avesta the Zoroastrians are awaiting the Coming of two Manifestations. Also, in the Old Testament Scriptures there is the…
Indeed, the Greatest Holy Leaf, the Trust of Bahá’u’lláh amongst us, was the emblem of His boundless grace, a luminary shining in the heaven of tender mercy and gracious providence …
The Guardian trusts that the explanation he has given by wire regarding the suspension for a period of nine months of Bahá’í religious festivity has been made clear.
70 ...as a further testimony to the majestic unfoldment and progressive consolidation of the stupendous undertaking launched by Bahá’u’lláh on that holy mountain, may be mentioned the selection of a portion of the school property…
We rejoiced greatly to learn of the unity among the friends, their staunchness, their ardour, and the fact that they have established a Spiritual Assembly.
The purport of your letter is highly indicative of your steadfastness in His Cause, of your unswerving constancy in the Covenant, of having set your face toward Shoghi Effendi, the authorized Point to whom all must turn …
Brethren and fellow-mourners in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh! A sorrow, reminiscent in its poignancy, of the devastating grief caused by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sudden removal from our midst, has stirred the Bahá’í world to its foundations.
Your letter has come, and I myself and the Holy Family were infinitely grieved to learn of the sufferings you have undergone, being made as you were the targets of such injustice, malevolence and aggression.
The Pen of the divine Ordainer has so decreed that this house of sorrows should be encompassed by unending calamity and pain.
Unfortunately it is impossible, within the space at our disposal, to describe in detail the progress of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world.
The title “Bahá’u’lláh” is the Arabic for “Glory of God,” and this very title is frequently used by the Hebrew prophets for the Promised One Who is to appear in the last days.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, to the responsible position of “Guardian of the Cause” (Valiyy-i-Amru’lláh).
Early in his ministry the Guardian added three rooms to the Shrine of the Báb, paid for by Haji Mahmud Qassabchi of Iraq. One of the Shrine's doors is named after him.
Between 1948 and 1953 Shoghi Effendi raised an arcade, drum and golden dome around the plain stone Shrine 'Abdu'l-Bahá had built for the Báb on Mount Carmel. When it was finished he called it the "Queen of Carmel."