'Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablet to The Hague

A retelling based on the Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at The Hague, dated 17 December 1919. Its opening part is in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (no. 227); the fuller text, including the passage on the League of Nations, is in Bahá'í World Faith. Passages in quotation marks are 'Abdu'l-Bahá's words in the published English translation.

The Central Organization for a Durable Peace, based at The Hague, worked during the First World War for a peace that would last. Its Executive Committee wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá more than once while the war was on. Those letters never reached Him. When one of them, dated 11 February 1916, finally arrived in Haifa after the war, He wrote that it "has just come to hand, and immediately an answer is being written." His reply is dated 17 December 1919.

He began by praising their aim: "Your intention deserves a thousand praises, because you are serving the world of humanity, and this is conducive to the happiness and welfare of all." The recent war, He wrote, had proved "that war is destruction while universal peace is construction; war is death while peace is life."

Then He told them what their effort needed. "At present universal peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice strong."

The teachings of Bahá'u'lláh

He reminded them that Bahá'u'lláh had proclaimed universal peace fifty years earlier, while He was a prisoner in the fortress of 'Akká, and had written of it to the sovereigns of the world. But, 'Abdu'l-Bahá explained, Bahá'u'lláh's teachings "were not limited to the establishment of universal peace." Among the others He named were the independent investigation of reality; the oneness of the world of humanity; that religion must be the cause of fellowship and love, for "if it becomes the cause of estrangement then it is not needed"; that religion must agree with science and reason; that "religious, racial, political, economic and patriotic prejudices destroy the edifice of humanity"; a universal auxiliary language; the equality of women and men; voluntary sharing of one's property with others; the education of every child; and justice.

Of the equality of women and men He wrote: "The world of humanity has two wings—one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly."

He also wrote of the new League of Nations. "Although the League of Nations has been brought into existence, yet it is incapable of establishing Universal Peace. But the Supreme Tribunal which His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh has described will fulfil this sacred task with the utmost might and power." He described how it would be formed: the parliament of each nation would elect two or three of its best-qualified people, their election would be confirmed by the government, and the members of the Tribunal would be chosen from among these delegates, so that "all mankind will thus have a share therein."

Near the end of the Tablet He wrote: "Today nothing but the power of the Word of God which encompasses the realities of things can bring the thoughts, the minds, the hearts and the spirits under the shade of one Tree."

Shoghi Effendi, in God Passes By, calls this a Tablet "of far-reaching importance," and records that 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent it to The Hague "by the hands of a special delegation."

This is a retelling. For the full text, see the Tablet to The Hague in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Bahá'í World Faith.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. *Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá*. Bahá'í World Centre. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19287