Loading…
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
Loading…
"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
By Shoghi Effendi · 1938 · Bahá'í Publishing Trust
Formative Age (1921–1957) · in copyright
Foundational letters on the Bahá'í administrative order.
About Shoghi Effendi
Eldest grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and, by His Will and Testament, the appointed Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. Translated foundational Bahá'í texts into English; supervised the construction of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel; directed the global expansion of the Faith.
1897–1957 · Guardian
Stories by era covered
Featured figures
“The administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an”
From An Instrument, Not a Substitute: Shoghi Effendi on the Administrative Order
“instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.”
From An Instrument, Not a Substitute: Shoghi Effendi on the Administrative Order
“Dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the”
From An Instrument, Not a Substitute: Shoghi Effendi on the Administrative Order
“purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount”
From An Instrument, Not a Substitute: Shoghi Effendi on the Administrative Order
“to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can”
From An Instrument, Not a Substitute: Shoghi Effendi on the Administrative Order
The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation
Cited in Authoritative HistoryNabíl-i-A'ẓam · 1932
The Chosen Highway
Secondary RetellingLady Blomfield · 1940
Portals to Freedom
Secondary RetellingHoward Colby Ives · 1937
The Diary of Juliet Thompson
Secondary RetellingJuliet Thompson · 1947
World Order
Secondary RetellingWorld Order Editors · 1935
The Promulgation of Universal Peace
Primary Source'Abdu'l-Bahá · 1922
Bahá'u'lláh bestowed upon His eldest Son a constellation of titles unique in religious history — the Most Great Branch, the Master, and, most mysterious of all, Sirru'lláh, the Mystery of God. Shoghi Effendi unfolds what these names mean, and how the One on whom they were conferred chose, in the end, to be known by a single humble name of His own.
In *The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh*, Shoghi Effendi insisted on a single, load-bearing distinction: the administration of the Cause is *an instrument and not a substitute* for the Faith. To separate the spiritual teachings from the institutions, he warned, would be to mutilate the body of the Cause itself.
See also: all sources · editorial process · library stats