The Book of the Covenant

*A retelling based on **God Passes By** by Shoghi Effendi (chapter XIV, "The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh") and on Adib Taherzadeh's **The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh**. The passages in quotation marks are from the Kitáb-i-'Ahd itself, in the authorized English translation published in Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh.*

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Bahá'u'lláh set down His Will and Testament in a document He named "the Book of My Covenant," the Kitáb-i-'Ahdi, usually called the Kitáb-i-'Ahd. Shoghi Effendi records that it was written entirely in His own hand. Adib Taherzadeh notes that it was probably written at least a year before Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, since He alludes to it as the "Crimson Book" in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Bahá'u'lláh kept it in His own possession and did not share its contents during His lifetime. During His last illness He entrusted it to His eldest Son, 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

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Bahá'u'lláh ascended on 29 May 1892. On the ninth day afterwards the document was unsealed in the presence of nine witnesses chosen from among His companions and members of His family. That same afternoon it was read before a large company assembled in His Most Holy Tomb, including His sons, some of the Báb's kinsmen, pilgrims and resident believers.

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The Book opens: "Although the Realm of Glory hath none of the vanities of the world, yet within the treasury of trust and resignation We have bequeathed to Our heirs an excellent and priceless heritage. Earthly treasures We have not bequeathed, nor have We added such cares as they entail."

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It calls the peoples of the world to love and unity: "O ye that dwell on earth! The religion of God is for love and unity; make it not the cause of enmity or dissension." It asks the believers to pray for kings, forbids conflict and contention, and exhorts them "to serve all nations and to strive for the betterment of the world."

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At its centre is the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

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Nineteen years earlier, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh had written: "When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." The Kitáb-i-'Ahd now named the One meant: "The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsán, the Afnán and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch." It adds that the object of the verse in the Aqdas "is none other except the Most Mighty Branch."

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Shoghi Effendi writes that this document "can find no parallel in the Scriptures of any previous Dispensation, not excluding that of the Báb Himself."

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Taherzadeh compares the Kitáb-i-'Ahd to an examination paper. A teacher answers his pupils' questions all year, but on the day of the examination he is silent and they must answer for themselves. Bahá'u'lláh had explained His teachings to all who asked, yet He kept the name of His successor a secret until His passing. When the contents of the Book were made public, the community was tested: those who held to its provisions remained faithful, and those who violated them broke the Covenant.

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*This is a retelling. For the full account, see **God Passes By** by Shoghi Effendi, chapter XIV, and **The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh** by Adib Taherzadeh. The text of the Kitáb-i-'Ahd is published in **Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh**.*

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