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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."
By 'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1886 · Cambridge University Press
Bahá'u'lláh's ministry (1853–1892) · public domain
'Abdu'l-Bahá's first-person account of the Báb and the Bábí movement, translated by E.G. Browne.
About 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh and, by His Father's explicit Covenant, the appointed Centre of the Faith and authoritative interpreter of His Writings. Travelled to Egypt, Europe, and North America between 1911 and 1913, founding the Western Bahá'í community.
1844–1921 · Centre of the Covenant
Stories by era covered
Featured figures
“assemblies, meetings, conferences, inns, mosques, and colleges.”
From Altar and Chair
“learned and accomplished scholars of the divines of Núr”
From Altar and Chair
“manifest and apparent amongst men.”
“and he became the confederate of those shaykhs and”
“Every day he secretly wrote a dispatch to Ṭihrán; he made compacts with the shaykhs, and sent diplomatic notes to the Persian ambassador at Constantinople. But his accusations had”
Memorials of the Faithful
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1915
Some Answered Questions
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1908
The Promulgation of Universal Peace
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1922
Paris Talks
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1912
Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1909
Bahá'í World Faith
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1943
'Abdu'l-Bahá in London
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1912
Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá
The chief divine of Núr sent two of his ablest doctors, Mullá 'Abbás and Mírzá Abu'l-Qásim, to overcome Bahá'u'lláh in argument. They heard Him, gave up their pulpits and standing, and served His Cause; the divine himself declined to debate Him.
In Baghdád a Persian consul and hostile shaykhs summoned the divines of Karbilá and Najaf to move against Bahá'u'lláh and His fellow exiles. The foremost of them, Shaykh Murtadá, refused to pronounce them infidels, and the scheme failed.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
How Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí of Zanján, called Ḥujjat, accepted the Báb after reading His writings, and how the believers of Zanján, besieged by the army, were at last deceived by oaths sworn on the Qur'án and put to death.
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.
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.
In His letter to the Sháh of Persia, quoted in A Traveller's Narrative, Bahá'u'lláh wrote that for nearly fifteen years His persecuted followers had assailed no one, and explained that true victory means conquering one's own heart.
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.
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.
When he reached Hamadán his character became known, and, as he was of the clerical class, the doctors vehemently pursued him, handed him over to the government, and ordered chastisement to be inflicted.
Then the Royal Command was issued that their Reverences the learned doctors and honorable and accomplished divines should write a reply to that epistle.
I know not how long they shall ride the steed of desire and wander erringly in the desert of heedlessness and error.
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.
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