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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."
93 stories on this theme.
After Siyyid Kázim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn prayed and fasted for forty days and set out to find the Promised One. At the gate of Shíráz the Báb welcomed him, and that night He declared His mission.
Haji Mirza Haydar-'Ali tells of a man so afraid of being found with the Kitáb-i-Íqán that he hid it in a stable manger, until he reflected on the fearlessness of its Author and became a believer.
If thou wishest the divine knowledge and recognition, purify thy heart from all beside God, be wholly attracted to the ideal, beloved One; search for and choose Him and apply thyself to rational and authoritative arguments.
In the day of Christ all nations were expecting that His Holiness Christ should come from heaven, and He came from heaven, though outwardly He came from the womb of Mary.
Thou hast questioned how thou canst accept this divine Cause, for thou art a member of the church.
Know thou, that letter sent to thee by me, was only because of my perfect love for thee and my pity upon thee, for I had the desire that the fragrance of the Holy Spirit …
Shouldst thou come with the whole of thy being to God and be attracted to the lights of the Kingdom of God and be enkindled by the fire of the love of God, then wilt thou see that which thou canst not see today …
As a boy, Ibn-i-Asdaq travelled with his father to Baghdad and met Bahá'u'lláh, who revealed a prayer for him. Years later he became one of the four Hands of the Cause named by Bahá'u'lláh.
After a dream, a young Shíráz shopkeeper, ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb, follows Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Basṭámí out of the city. His furious father beats Mullá ‘Alí, but later repents, and after his son’s martyrdom he is taught the Faith by Bahá’u’lláh.
The Báb’s three maternal uncles took different paths: Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí raised Him and died one of the Seven Martyrs of Tehran; Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad received the Kitáb-i-Íqán; the youngest believed some years later.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán, a Balúch mystic whose long search for a spiritual guide ended in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh; he settled near Him in the Holy Land and passed away beside the Shrine of the Báb.
A respected scholar of Isfahán gave up every comfort to serve Bahá’u’lláh and the believers in ‘Akká; after Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension, unable to bear His absence, he wasted away and died.
After Siyyid Kázim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn returned to Karbilá, urged his fellow disciples to scatter in search of the Promised One, and refused their offer to accept him instead. He became the first to believe in the Báb.
A disciple of Siyyid Kázim, Shaykh Ḥasan met the Báb in Karbilá, later served Him as a scribe and go-between, and, as the Báb had promised, met Bahá’u’lláh in Karbilá in 1851.
Shaykh Ismá‘íl, a Sufi leader of Kurdistán, persuaded Bahá’u’lláh to come to Sulaymáníyyih, where he and his disciples asked Him for the poem that became the Qasídiy-i-Varqá’íyyih.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s memorial of Táhirih: the learned woman of Qazvín who recognized the Báb, taught boldly in Karbilá and Baghdád, appeared unveiled at Badasht, and was put to death in Tihrán.
The life of Thornton Chase, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called “the first American believer,” from his long spiritual search to his service in Chicago, and the Master’s visit to his grave in 1912.
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 …
The interpretation of prophecy is notoriously difficult, and on no subject do the opinions of the learned differ more widely.
But if the essence is unknowable, the manifestations of its bounty are everywhere apparent.
Bahá’u’lláh enjoins justice on all His followers and defines it as:—“The freedom of man from superstition and imitation, so that he may discern the Manifestations of God with the eyes of Oneness, and consider all affairs with keen sight.”—Words of Wisdom.
Riding in the country near Núr, Bahá’u’lláh came upon a lonely young dervish cooking by a brook. After a loving conversation the dervish, Mustafá, recognised His station and followed Him on foot, singing a love-song he had composed.
Told by Mullá Ḥusayn that the name of the Promised One could not be revealed, Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Muqaddas withdrew to pray in Iṣfahán and, in a vision, recognized the face of a Youth he had seen weeping in prayer at Karbilá.
Mullá 'Alíy-i-Basṭámí followed Mullá Ḥusayn to Shíráz, sensed that his friend had found the Promised One, and on the third night of prayer was led by a vision to the Báb, becoming one of the Letters of the Living.
When the Báb asked Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Karím in Shíráz whether he was seeking the Manifestation, he wept, and later told his friends how a vision of Siyyid Kázim and, years afterward, a white bird that spoke those very words to him in prayer had prepared him for that moment.
Told he might visit Bahá’u’lláh once he owed no man anything, the Egyptian merchant ‘Abdu’l-Karím spent five years paying his debts, arrived at Haifa penniless, and was found at the dock by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
In Baghdad in 1862 the Báb's eldest uncle, still doubtful of his Nephew's claim, brought his questions to Bahá'u'lláh, Who answered them in two days and two nights with the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the Book of Certitude.
Shaykh Ahmad becomes sure from the Qur'an that the Promised One will soon appear. He travels far and wide to tell people, and at last asks Siyyid Kazim to carry on his work.
Riding in the countryside, Bahá'u'lláh met a dervish who said he was cooking God. After Bahá'u'lláh spoke with him, the dervish left his cooking things behind to follow Him, chanting a love-song he had made in His praise.
Curious about the Zoroastrian fire temple near his school, Ashok travels back in his Time Capsule to see Zarathustra heal King Vishtaspa's horse and teach good thoughts, good words and good deeds.
Silly travels in his Time Capsule to Kapilavastu and watches Prince Siddhartha save a swan, leave his palace to seek the meaning of suffering, and become the Buddha, teaching people to be loving, humble, kind and generous.
In Shíráz in May 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn, searching for the Promised One, was welcomed into the Báb's home. There the Báb showed him the signs he sought and wrote a commentary on the Súrih of Joseph.
Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán, a Balúch dervish, searched far and wide for a true guide and found none until he attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh in the Most Great Prison. He went back to share the news with his old friends, then settled near Bahá'u'lláh.
Nabíl's account of the evening of 22 May 1844, when the Báb met Mullá Ḥusayn outside the gate of Shíráz, brought him to His house, and declared His mission to him, the first to believe in Him.
Wary after years of disappointed hopes, Howard Colby Ives was persuaded to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the Hotel Ansonia, where he was called into the Master's room and, in a long silence with Him, found the faith he had sought.
Howard Colby Ives asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá why he should believe in Bahá’u’lláh. After a long silence the Master spoke of the sincerity a minister's heart must have, and only months later did Ives realize his question had been answered.
Reluctantly brought to hear ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Boston in 1912, William Randall carried Him some grape juice and was asked to sit. After twenty restless minutes the Master spoke words that became a turning point in his life.
As a young boy, Ibn-i-Asdaq travelled with his father to Baghdad and met Bahá'u'lláh several times. Bahá'u'lláh revealed a prayer for him, and years later named him a Hand of the Cause of God.
Ḥájí Muḥammad Khán, a wandering seeker from Sístán, found what he had long searched for when he heard the call of Bahá'u'lláh. He shared the news with his old friends and then came to live near Bahá'u'lláh.
Mírzá Muhammad, a respected young scholar of Iṣfahán, left a comfortable life to serve the believers and travellers in the prison-city of 'Akká, and after Bahá'u'lláh's passing he wasted away with longing.
Mirza Yusuf, nephew of the martyr Vahid, searched for years before becoming a Bahá'í. In 1902 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent him to teach in America, and later gave him his uncle's name.
Mullá Ḥusayn was searching for the Promised One. Outside the gate of Shíráz a Youth in a green turban welcomed him, took him home, and that night declared that He was the Báb.
Mullá Ḥusayn had been searching for the Promised One. Outside the gate of Shíráz he was welcomed by the Báb, who invited him home and showed him the signs he was looking for.
Howard Colby Ives went to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá what renunciation means. The Master talked about something else on the walk back, and then asked Howard a question of His own.
On a long trolley ride, Howard Colby Ives noticed the young woman beside him looking at his book, so he moved it over to share. By the end of the ride she wanted to know who had written it.
Among the exiles, neighbors, and prisoners there was also a second Mír Imád, the eminent calligrapher, Mishkín-Qalam.
In the flower of tender youth, Muḥammad-‘Alí, the illumined, heard the cry of God, and lost his heart to heavenly grace.
Sháh-Muḥammad, who had the title of Amín, the Trusted One, was among the earliest of believers, and most deeply enamored.
Khurshíd Begum, who was given the title of Shamsu’d-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun, was mother-in-law to the King of Martyrs.
This distinguished man was one of the greatest of all the Báb’s companions and all the loved ones of Bahá’u’lláh.
In Shíráz in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn would not tell Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastámí whom he had found. Mullá ‘Alí prayed for three nights until a vision led him to the Báb, Who then sent him out as "the first to leave the House of God."
In Iṣfahán in 1844 Mullá Ṣádiq asked Mullá Ḥusayn to name the Promised One. Told only that God's door is never closed to a seeker, he prayed alone, and in a vision saw the face of a Youth he had often seen praying in Karbilá.
In Karbilá, Siyyid Káẓim took his disciple Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí to visit a Youth from Shíráz whom he treated with deep reverence. Years later, when Shaykh Ḥasan heard the call of the Báb, he knew at once that it was the same Youth.
After Siyyid Káẓim's death, Mullá Ḥusayn urged his fellow disciples to scatter and search for the Promised One, spent forty days in prayer and fasting at the mosque of Kúfih, and then travelled by way of Búshihr to Shíráz.
Sent by Muḥammad Sháh to investigate the Báb, the learned Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, known as Vaḥíd, met Him three times in Shíráz. At the third meeting the Báb revealed, unasked, the commentary Vaḥíd had silently resolved to request.
Howard Colby Ives, a minister who had long searched for God without finding Him, met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912. His doubts did not end that day; certainty came months later, after the Master had left America.
A gifted student of Siyyid Káẓim, Ṭáhirih sent a sealed letter to the Promised One by a relative who had set out to find Him. On receiving it, the Báb named her one of the Letters of the Living, though she never met Him.
Shaykh Aḥmad-i-Aḥsá'í and his successor Siyyid Káẓim-i-Rashtí taught that the Promised One would soon appear. Before he died, Siyyid Káẓim urged his disciples to scatter and seek Him, and in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn's search ended in Shíráz.
Between 1904 and 1906 Laura Clifford Barney made several long visits to 'Akká and put her questions to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, often at the lunch table. His replies, written down and corrected by Him, became Some Answered Questions.
When news of the Báb reached Zanján, the learned Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí sent a trusted disciple to Shíráz to investigate. When the disciple returned, Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí refused to let another's verdict decide his belief; he read the Báb's words for himself and accepted the new Faith.
In the summer of 1901 a young Englishman met May Bolles in Paris and within three days accepted the Bahá'í Faith. On pilgrimage to 'Akká he told 'Abdu'l-Bahá that the mill he worked for relied on child labour, and resigned at the Master's word.
Howard Colby Ives, an unhappy minister, met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York in 1912. Months of study and turmoil followed, and when his Brotherhood Church had to close, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to him that it had happened to free him to call people to the Kingdom.
Sent by the Báb to Ṭihrán in 1844, Mullá Ḥusayn entrusted a scroll of the Báb's writings to a student from Núr, who carried it at dawn to Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh at once affirmed its truth, and the news brought the Báb great joy.
Ṭáhirih never met the Báb. She sent a sealed letter with her sister's husband to the Promised One he was sure to meet, and on receiving it the Báb named her one of the Letters of the Living.
Mírzá Muḥammad, a scholar of good family in Iṣfáhán, gave up a life of comfort to go to the prison of 'Akká, where he served Bahá'u'lláh, the believers and the travelling pilgrims day and night.
Muriel Ives Barrow Newhall recalled that when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked Bahá’u’lláh why He had never clearly designated the universal language, Bahá’u’lláh replied, "Because no one ever asked Me."
After 'Abdu'l-Bahá blessed a youth by patting his shoulder, a seeker at the same table silently wished for the same sign; the Master left the room, then returned and placed His hands on the seeker's shoulders.
Howard Colby Ives made a special journey to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá about renunciation. On the walk back the Master spoke only of horizons; then, in His room, He asked Ives whether he was interested in renunciation.
On a trolley to Newark, Howard Colby Ives shared his copy of Some Answered Questions with the young woman beside him. At the end of the ride she asked who the author was, and the next Sunday she came to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
'Abdu'l-Bahá recalled hearing a cleric tell of Ḥájí Muḥammad-Taqí of Kirmán, a Bábí of Karbilá whose goodness even his opponents admitted, and of the verse the clergy's own test produced at the Shrine of Ḥusayn.
October 28th The Creator of all is One God. From this same God all creation sprang into existence, and He is the one goal, towards which everything in nature yearns.
Today, at table, let us speak for a little of proofs.
In this material world time has cycles; places change through alternating seasons, and for souls there are progress, retrogression and education.
It is recorded in a tradition that of the entire concourse of the Christians no more than seventy people embraced the Faith of the Apostle of God.
O My God, O my Lord, O my Master! I beg Thee to forgive me for seeking any pleasure save Thy love, or any comfort except Thy nearness, or any delight besides Thy good-pleasure, or any existence other than communion with Thee.
O Ye unto whom the Bayán is given!
O Ye who are invested with the Bayán! Ye shall be put to proof, even as those unto whom the Qur’án was given.
Ponder upon the people unto whom the Gospel was given.
Say, ye will be unable to recognize the One True God or to discern clearly the words of divine guidance, inasmuch as ye seek and tread a path other than His.
O spiritual youth! Praise thou God that thou hast found thy way into the Kingdom of Splendours, and hast rent asunder the veil of vain imaginings, and that the core of the inner mystery hath been made known unto thee.
O thou who art captivated by the truth and magnetized by the Heavenly Kingdom!
O seeker of Truth!
O thou bird who art warbling in the Garden of the Guidance of God!
O thou seeker after the Beauty of the True One! What thou hast written was perused. It indicated thy yearning and advancement toward the Kingdom of God.
O thou seeker of the Heavenly Kingdom! This world resembles the human body and the Kingdom of God is like the spirit of life.
O thou who art advancing toward God! Verily I read thy letter of wonderful expression and eloquent composition and thanked God that He hath poured upon thee the bounty of guidance and hath made thy heart a lamp of piety.
O thou who art preparing to receive knowledge from the Herald of the Kingdom!
O thou wooer of Truth and attracted one toward the Kingdom of God!
O thou yearning one! Be thou a physician to every sick one and teach thou every ignorant one; that is, show thou to others the way of the Kingdom and guide them to life eternal.
O ye who are advancing towards the Kingdom of God!
O ye who are longing for the beauty of El-ABHA!
In a parable from The Seven Valleys, a lover fleeing a watchman scales a garden wall and finds his beloved there, and sees that what seemed tyranny was a hidden mercy.
Riding in the countryside of Núr, Bahá’u’lláh met a dervish cooking his food. After Bahá’u’lláh spoke with him tenderly about the true nature of God, the dervish left his utensils behind and followed His horse, singing for joy.