The Name 'Abdu'l-Bahá Chose
Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, (1944), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
A retelling drawing on God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi (His titles and the Book of the Covenant), H. M. Balyuzi's 'Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant and Adib Taherzadeh's The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh (His choice of the name). His own words are quoted from Shoghi Effendi's The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.
During His lifetime Bahá'u'lláh gave His eldest Son, 'Abbás, exalted titles. Shoghi Effendi records in God Passes By that He alone was accorded the privilege of being called "the Master," an honour from which Bahá'u'lláh excluded all His other sons, and that Bahá'u'lláh conferred on Him the unique title of "Sirru'lláh" (the Mystery of God). Bahá'u'lláh also called Him the Most Great Branch, and in the Book of the Covenant, read aloud on the ninth day after His ascension in 1892, He directed His family and followers to turn to Him.
After the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh, the Master did not use these titles. Balyuzi records that, when His opponents accused Him of placing Himself on a par with Bahá'u'lláh, He declared that from then on He was to be known as 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Servant of Bahá, and that His station was the station of servitude. Taherzadeh writes that He urged the believers to call Him only by this name.
In a letter to some believers in America He wrote: "My name is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My qualification is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My reality is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My praise is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race my perpetual religion... No name, no title, no mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except 'Abdu'l-Bahá. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory."
He held to this in America in 1912. After speakers at a reception in New York had called Him a prophet, He remarked that He had often said He was the servant of Bahá, and He wished they would not use such words. At another meeting a written question asked whether He was the Founder's successor "in the same manner as the Pope of Rome." He replied: "I am the servant of Bahá'u'lláh the Founder and in this I glory. No honour do I consider greater than this and it is my hope that I may be confirmed in servitude to Bahá'u'lláh. This is my station."
This is a retelling. For the fuller account, see God Passes By by Shoghi Effendi and 'Abdu'l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant by H. M. Balyuzi.
Cite this story
Effendi, S.. (1944). *God Passes By*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/
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