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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."
38 stories where excellence appears.
Thy letter was received. Praise be to God it imparted the good news of thy health and safety and indicated that thou art ready to enter into an agricultural school.
Challenged by Fatḥ-'Alí Sháh to match a celebrated master's calligraphy, Mírzá 'Abbás-i-Núrí, the father of Bahá'u'lláh, copied it, added lines of his own, and was honoured with the name Mírzá Buzurg.
On the evening of April 21, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá toured the Library of Congress with the Parsons and insisted on seeing each part thoroughly, until the superintendent ordered that the lights be left on.
During the Second World War the Guardian wrote God Passes By, his review of the first Bahá'í century, racing to finish it in time for the Centenary. Rúhíyyih Khánum, who proofread it with him late into the night, recorded what the work cost him.
In 'Akká in 1909 Juliet Thompson gave 'Abdu'l-Bahá her mother's wish that she give up teaching the Faith for her painting. He told her to do both, and gave her a message about her two arts to take home.
In 1903 the Bahá'ís of Chicago asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá's permission to build a House of Worship in America. Shoghi Effendi traces the forty years, through economic crisis and war, until its eighteen outer steps were set in place in December 1942.
The Guardian fixed the site of the International Archives on Mount Carmel with strings on the ground, planted its gardens first, and had the builders raise it from the rear with five metres to work in. It was completed in 1957.
When a car given to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reached port as a weekend began, Shoghi Effendi went to officials' homes for their signatures and had it at the Master's door though it was not a business day.
To design the dome and arcade of the Shrine of the Báb, Shoghi Effendi turned to a Canadian architect who was also his father-in-law, William Sutherland Maxwell.
Shoghi Effendi worked for eight months to translate Nabíl's Persian history of the Báb and His followers into English, and in 1932 it was published as The Dawn-Breakers.
Shoghi Effendi translated The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh into English, and worked hard all his life to make his English as good as it could be.
Mullá Zaynu'l-'Ábidín, once the leading cleric of Najaf-Ábád, became a follower of the Báb and of Bahá'u'lláh, who named him Zaynu'l-Muqarrabín. His careful copies of Bahá'u'lláh's Tablets became a standard for checking published texts.
Alain Locke, the first Black Rhodes Scholar and a Harvard-trained philosopher, played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance. After becoming a Bahá'í he served for years on the Faith's race amity committees.
Shoghi Effendi went to Oxford to perfect his English for translating the sacred Writings. In 1935 he published Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, a selection of passages he had translated, which Professor Norman Bentwich and Queen Marie of Romania, among others, praised.
Quddús, the last of the eighteen Letters of the Living, went with the Báb on His pilgrimage to Mecca. Held captive in Sárí and later besieged at Shaykh Ṭabarsí, he wrote a vast commentary on a single letter of the Qur'án.
When the believers in 'Iráq were hiding their faith, Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá Baghdádí openly served Bahá'u'lláh, later hosted pilgrims in Beirut, and stayed firm in the Covenant, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls in Memorials of the Faithful.
Ṭáhirih's learning made her father wish she had been a son. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recalls how she studied, debated, recognized the Báb through a dream, and taught His Cause in Karbilá and Baghdád.
Shoghi Effendi went to Oxford to perfect his English so that he could translate the Bahá'í writings. Rúḥíyyih Khánum describes his notebooks, his reading and the care with which he chose every word.
Muḥammad Sháh sent Siyyid Yaḥyá-i-Dárábí, the most learned divine in Persia, to investigate the Báb. After three meetings in Shíráz he became a believer, and the Báb named him Vaḥíd.
Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl, head of a religious college in Ṭihrán, became a Bahá'í in 1876 and spent the rest of his life teaching the Faith, from Egypt to Paris to Green Acre, yet he wept when believers praised him.
Two brothers of Iṣfáhán, later titled the King and the Beloved of Martyrs by Bahá'u'lláh, built a prosperous business, gave generously to the poor and to Bahá'u'lláh's exiled companions, and were renowned for their honesty.
Mishkín-Qalam, the leading calligrapher of Persia, heard of the Faith and set out to find Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople, wrote the Most Great Name in many forms, endured years of imprisonment in Cyprus, and remained firm in the Covenant.
Ustád Báqir and Ustád Aḥmad, carpenter brothers from Káshán, followed Bahá'u'lláh into exile and worked at their craft in the prison of 'Akká. 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that they were never neglectful of duty, never at fault.
One June day in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá slept long enough to keep His audience waiting. He told them He had awoken with one word on His lips, ‘Imtiyáz’ (Distinction), and would speak on that subject.
Toward the end of 1942 Shoghi Effendi asked his father-in-law, the Canadian architect William Sutherland Maxwell, to design the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb. Built with stone cut in Italy, it was completed in 1953.
Shoghi Effendi spent eight months translating the first part of Nabíl's narrative and almost two years preparing The Dawn-Breakers, published in 1932, which deeply stirred the Bahá'ís of the West.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum records that early in his ministry Shoghi Effendi sent the American believers his revised translation of The Hidden Words, and describes the long study of English behind his translations.
O true companions! All humankind are as children in a school, and the Dawning-Points of Light, the Sources of divine revelation, are the teachers, wondrous and without peer.
The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind and draweth down the grace and favour of the All-Merciful …
Ye should consider the question of goodly character as of the first importance.
As to the organization of the schools: if possible the children should all wear the same kind of clothing, even if the fabric is varied.
O thou servant of the One true God! In this universal dispensation man’s wondrous craftsmanship is reckoned as worship of the Resplendent Beauty.
Thy letter was received. I hope that thou mayest be protected and assisted under the providence of the True One, be occupied always in mentioning the Lord and display effort to complete thy profession.
O heavenly one! The maid-servant of God ... hath praised thee!
O thou bird of pleasing tones! Thy little book of poems, which were very sweet, was read. It was a source of joy, for it was a spiritual anthem and a melody of the love of God.
O thou plant in the Garden of the Kingdom! God created man in the utmost perfection, for He inscribed the edict of the divine likeness on his brow.
O thou who art near to the Threshold of ABHA! I have considered what thou hast written to Mirza ...... as well as the letter addressed to me.
O thou who art sweet tongued! Thy poem is a wonder to the minds and intellects and thy composition an evidence of the gift of the great Lord.