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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."
113 stories on this theme.
The Bahá’í glad tidings disclose a vision of the Bounty of God and of the future progress of humanity, which is surely the greatest and most glorious Revelation ever given to mankind, the development and fulfillment of all previous Revelations.
The position of Bahá’u’lláh among the Prophets is unprecedented and unique, because the condition of the world at the time of His advent was unprecedented and unique.
The endeavor in the following chapters will be to set forth, as far as possible, fairly and without prejudice, the salient features of the history and more especially of the teachings of the Bahá’í Cause …
In the Book of Aqdas, revealed in Akká in 1873, Bahá’u’lláh appealed to America as follows:— O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein ...
In making appointments, the only criterion must be fitness for the position.
Training in arts, sciences, crafts and useful professions is regarded as important and necessary.
In order that the power of spiritual healing may be brought fully into operation certain requirements are necessary on the part of the patient, of the healer, of the patient’s friends and of the community at large.
Bahá’u’lláh states that a person should be free to dispose of his possessions during his lifetime in any way he chooses, and it is incumbent on everyone to write a will stating how his property is to be disposed of after his death.
Abbás Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (i.e.
Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, Who afterwards assumed the title of Bahá’u’lláh (i.e.
Persia, the birthplace of the Bahá’í Revelation, has occupied a unique place in the history of the world.
According to the Bahá’í teaching the human body serves a temporary purpose in the development of the soul, and, when that purpose has been served, is laid aside …
Education and religion are alike based on the assumption that it is possible to change human nature.
Bahá’u’lláh indicated in many ways that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was to direct the Cause after His own ascension.
The thing of paramount importance in education is character training.
The hostility aroused by the claim of Bábhood was redoubled when the young reformer proceeded to declare that He was Himself the Mihdí (Mahdi) Whose coming Muḥammad had foretold.
Bahá’u’lláh says, in the Book of Aqdas:— Be the essence of cleanliness among mankind ... under all circumstances conform yourselves to refined manners ... let no trace of uncleanliness appear on your clothes....
Amid these troublous times, however, the Cause of God will prosper.
One of the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that true science and true religion must always be in harmony.
During the past century scientists have devoted an immense amount of study to the struggle for existence in the plant and animal world, and, amid the perplexities of social life …
The prayers which Bahá’u’lláh has ordained as a daily obligation for Bahá’ís are to be said privately.
The journey to Constantinople lasted between three and four months, the party consisting of Bahá’u’lláh with members of His family and twenty-six disciples.
“Prayer,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “is conversation with God.” In order that God may make known His Mind and Will to men, He must speak to them in a language which they can understand, and this He does by the mouths of His Holy Prophets.
Bahá’u’lláh says:— O people of God! I exhort you to courtesy. Courtesy is indeed ... the lord of all virtues. Blessed is he who is adorned with the mantle of Uprightness and illumined with the light of Courtesy.
Bahá’u’lláh teaches that the universe is without beginning in time.
God, and God alone, has the power to do whatever He wills, and the greatest proof of a Manifestation of God is the creative power of His word—its effectiveness to change and transform all human affairs and to triumph over all human opposition.
After much negotiation, at the request of the Persian Government, an order was issued by the Turkish Government summoning Bahá’u’lláh to Constantinople.
On reaching His twenty-fifth year, in response to divine command, He declared that “God the Exalted had elected Him to the station of Bábhood.”
According to the teaching of the Prophets, disease and all other forms of calamity are due to disobedience to the Divine Commands.
In order to attain to the Bahá’í life in all its fullness, conscious and direct relations with Bahá’u’lláh are as necessary as is sunshine for the unfolding of the lily or the rose.
There are, of course, difficulties in the way of the student who seeks to get at the truth about this Cause.
In the matter of divorce, as in that of marriage, the instructions of the Prophets have varied in accordance with the circumstances of the times.
Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e.
Education—the instruction and guidance of men and the development and training of their innate faculties—has been the supreme aim of all the Holy Prophets since the world began …
The bearing on health of these commands relating to the simple life, hygiene, abstinence from alcohol and opium, etcetera, is too obvious to call for much comment, although their vital importance is apt to be greatly underestimated.
The Bahá’í teaching is based on moderation, not as asceticism.
Under the inspired guidance of Shoghi Effendi the Bahá’í Cause grew steadily in size and in the establishment of its Administrative Order, so that by 1951 there were eleven functioning National Spiritual Assemblies.
One of the social principles to which Bahá’u’lláh attaches great importance is that women should be regarded as the equals of men and should enjoy equal rights and privileges, equal education and equal opportunities.
This terrible imprisonment lasted four months, but Bahá’u’lláh and His companions remained zealous and enthusiastic, in the greatest of happiness.
The nineteenth month, following immediately on the hospitality of the intercalary days, is the month of the fast.
The essential joyousness of the Bahá’í religion finds expression in numerous feasts and holidays throughout the year.
As a means of promoting religious unity Bahá’u’lláh advocates the utmost charity and tolerance, and calls on His followers to “consort with the people of all religions with joy and gladness.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes:— When Christ appeared, twenty centuries ago, although the Jews were eagerly awaiting His Coming, and prayed ever day, with tears, saying: “O God, hasten the Revelation of the Messiah,” yet when the Sun of Truth…
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contain two different types of reference to the question of true social order.
During His own lifetime Bahá’u’lláh appointed a few tried and trusted friends to assist in directing and promoting the work of the Movement, and gave them the title of Ayadiyi-Amru’lláh (lit.
The Báb has been compared to John the Baptist, but the station of the Báb is not merely that of the herald or forerunner.
He teaches that there are also many methods of healing without material means.
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regard the descriptions of Heaven and Hell given in some of the older religious writings as symbolic, like the Biblical story of the Creation, and not as literally true.
Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the world is to bring about Unity—Unity of all mankind in and through God.
The Writings of Bahá’u’lláh are most comprehensive in their range, dealing with every phase of human life, individual and social, with things material and things spiritual, with the interpretation of ancient and modern scriptures …
The work of healing the sick, however, is a matter that concerns not the patient and the practitioner only, but everyone.
While we are commanded to overlook the faults of others, and see their virtues, we are commanded, on the other hand, to find out our own faults and take no account of our virtues.
Bahá’u’lláh teaches that everyone endowed with the Station of Prophethood is given sufficient proofs of His Mission, is entitled to claim obedience from all men and has authority to abrogate, alter or add to the teachings of His predecessors.
The importance of the press as a means of diffusing knowledge and educating the people, and its power as a civilizing force, when rightly directed, are fully recognized by Bahá’u’lláh.
In the Bahá’í view the child’s nature is not like so much wax that can be molded indifferently to any shape according to the will of the teacher.
Bahá’u’lláh also advocated the establishment of an international court of arbitration, so that differences arising between nations might be settled in accordance with justice and reason, instead of by appeal to the ordeal of battle.
The interpretation of prophecy is notoriously difficult, and on no subject do the opinions of the learned differ more widely.
In the little book of Hidden Words, in which Bahá’u’lláh gives in brief the essence of the prophetic teachings, His first counsel refers to the individual life: “Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart.”
But if the essence is unknowable, the manifestations of its bounty are everywhere apparent.
Bahá’u’lláh tells us that the life in the flesh is but the embryonic stage of our existence, and that escape from the body is like a new birth through which the human spirit enters on a fuller, freer life.
When asked on one occasion: “What is a Bahá’í?” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied: “To be a Bahá’í simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.”
To know the Manifestation of God means also to love Him. One is impossible without the other. According to Bahá’u’lláh, the purpose of man’s creation is that he may know God and adore Him.
As to the manner of His coming at the end of the age, Christ said:— And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
In bringing about the emancipation of women as in other matters, Bahá’u’lláh counsels His followers to avoid methods of violence.
Bahá’u’lláh, like Muḥammad, forbids His followers to lead lives of monastic seclusion.
According to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:— A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator—one who receives the full light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it over the human world, as the earth’s atmosphere receives and diffuses the warmth of the sun’s rays.
The unification of the world of humanity, the welding together of the world’s different religions, the reconciliation of Religion and Science, the establishment of Universal Peace …
One other feature of the Bahá’í organization must be specially mentioned, and that is the absence of a professional priesthood.
As a religious body, Bahá’ís have, at the express command of Bahá’u’lláh, entirely abandoned the use of armed force in their own interests, even for strictly defensive purposes.
Devotion to God involves implicit obedience to His revealed Commands even when the reason for these Commands is not understood.
The essential oneness of all the myriad forms and grades of life is one of the fundamental teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
The unity of humanity as taught by Bahá’u’lláh refers not only to men still in the flesh, but to all human beings, whether embodied or disembodied.
The real Bahá’í will not only believe in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, but find in them the guide and inspiration of his whole life and joyfully impart to others the knowledge that is the wellspring of his own being.
Many are the wars which have been fought over pieces of territory whose possession has been coveted by two or more rival nations.
It has been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks the interruption of the true spiritual influence and serves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into the world.
The Bahá’í teaching is at one with science and philosophy in declaring the essential nature of God to be entirely beyond human comprehension.
In the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah are several references to a man called the Branch.
That the world, during the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries, has been passing through the death pangs of an old era and the birth pangs of a new, is evident to all.
The “Coming of the Lord” in the “last days” is the one “far-off divine event” to which all the Prophets look forward, about which Their most glorious songs are sung.
In the last half century or so, however, a change has come over the spirit of the times, a New Light of Truth has arisen which has already made the controversies of last century seem strangely out of date.
The word “Day” in such phrases as “Day of God” and “Last Day” is interpreted as meaning “Dispensation.”
Christ spoke much in parables about a great Day of Judgment when “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father ... and ... shall reward every man according to his works” (Matt. xvi, 27).
In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation with God becomes possible, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone.
All things manifest the bounty of God with greater or less clearness, as all material objects exposed to the sun reflect its light in greater or less degree.
All the signs of the times indicate that we are at the dawn of a new era in the history of mankind.
According to the Bahá’í teachings, riches rightly acquired and rightly used are honorable and praiseworthy.
Bahá’u’lláh also confirms the biologist who finds for the body of man a history reaching back in the development of the species through millions of years.
The title “Bahá’u’lláh” is the Arabic for “Glory of God,” and this very title is frequently used by the Hebrew prophets for the Promised One Who is to appear in the last days.
Bahá’u’lláh gives the assurance that, through harmonious cooperation of patients, healers and the community in general, and by appropriate use of the various means to health, material, mental and spiritual, the Golden Age may be realized …
The Day of Judgment is also the Day of Resurrection, of the raising of the dead.
Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on many occasions foretold with surprising accuracy the coming of the Great War of 1914–1918.
If we study the story of the “ascent of man” as recorded in the pages of history, it becomes evident that the leading factor in human progress is the advent, from time to time …
‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, to the responsible position of “Guardian of the Cause” (Valiyy-i-Amru’lláh).
The power of spiritual healing is doubtless common to all mankind in greater or less degree, but, just as some men are endowed with exceptional talent for mathematics or music, so others appear to be endowed with exceptional aptitude for healing.
In all ages the Prophets of God have foretold the coming of an era of “peace on earth, goodwill among men.”
With the development of the Bahá’í administrative order since the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Nineteen Day Feast, observed on the first day of each Bahá’í month, has assumed a very special importance …
According to Bahá’í philosophy it follows from the doctrine of the unity of God that there can be no such thing as positive evil.
The most potent means of healing is the Power of the Holy Spirit. ...
The different religious communities have failed to unite in the past, because the adherents of each have regarded the Founder of their own community as the one supreme authority, and His law as the divine law.
We live in a world, however, where from time immemorial obedience to the commands of the Prophets has been the exception rather than the rule; where love of self has been a more prevalent motive than love of God …
On no subject are the Bahá’í teaching more imperative and uncompromising than on the requirement to abstain from faultfinding.
What is the cause of this sudden awakening throughout the world?
Like all the other Prophets, Bahá’u’lláh states His own Mission in the most unmistakable terms.
After the Báb’s martyrdom, His remains, with those of His devoted companion, were thrown on the edge of the moat outside the city wall.
Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablet of Tarazát:— Verily, Honesty is the door of tranquillity to all in the world, and the sign of glory from the presence of the Merciful One.
“Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden.”
Having glanced at the principal causes of war and how they may be avoided, we may now proceed to examine certain constructive proposals made by Bahá’u’lláh with a view to achieving the Most Great Peace.
Another proposal frequently and powerfully advocated by Bahá’u’lláh was that a Universal League of Nations should be formed for the maintenance of international peace.
In a letter to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, written in 1919, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind.
When woman’s point of view receives due consideration and woman’s will is allowed adequate expression in the arrangement of social affairs …
One of the most important instructions of Bahá’u’lláh in regard to the economic question is that all must engage in useful work.
The Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are very numerous and are mostly in the form of letter to believers and inquirers.
The Writings of the Báb were voluminous, and the rapidity with which, without study or premeditation, He composed elaborate commentaries, profound expositions or eloquent prayers was regarded as one of the proofs of His divine inspiration.