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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."
921 stories where love appears.
When the landlord in New York complained about His many visitors, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not argue but moved out, showering the staff with such love that they felt ashamed and begged Him to stay.
When a man ill with tuberculosis was shunned even by his family, the Master visited him every day, brought him delicacies, read to him, and was alone with him when he died.
An unhappy visitor from New York asks why ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always greets her in ‘Akká with “Be happy!” and what the spiritual life is. His answer stays with her, and she learns to know the spiritual life.
In Washington in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, though weary, was so moved by the love between Black and white friends at the Dyers’ home that He spoke, likening their union to a string of pearls and rubies.
A woman visiting the Master in Haifa in May 1910 told Him she had had many sorrows. He told her to forget them, then shared Persian tea with her and gave her a package to take away.
Feny Paulson travelled from Montana to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Salt Lake City and spent a dismal night at the YWCA. His first words to her were about luxury and comfort, and He told her He was her father.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave freely of love, time, food, money and more while gladly accepting deprivation for Himself. In America He left fine rooms for a simple apartment, yet tipped generously and spoke without pay.
In October 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited Charles Tinsley, a Black believer in San Francisco confined to bed with a broken leg, and told him a parable of a ruler who trained through hardship the subject he loved.
A recollection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s majestic presence, of the love that flowed from Him to everyone near Him, and of His constant adjuration: “Do as I do. Be as I am.”
Before speaking at New York’s Bowery Mission in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had two thousand-franc notes changed into quarters, and He pressed a gift of silver into the hand of each man there.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá loved laughter. Once He laughed so heartily that His turban became disarranged; He told Juliet Thompson and May Maxwell that they rested Him, and He could not tell one joke for laughing.
On His first morning in Washington, amid many interviews, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent half an hour with Agnes Parsons’ young son Jeffrey, looking at his toys, books and pictures before they went up to the roof to see the view.
Chains, locusts, the bombardments of Haifa and the threat of death could not shake ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s calm. Lua Getsinger wrote of the calm majesty with which He went about among the people, whose only hope and help He was.
Prayer sustained ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through deep sorrow and grave danger. At times He prayed through an entire night, and He often prayed that His conditions might become more severe so that His strength to meet them might increase.
In 1906, on the anniversary of the Báb's Declaration, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá helped prepare a feast for over two hundred guests and, serving them, asked each to forgive anyone who had wounded him during the past year.
Howard Colby Ives recalled how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá listened patiently to a clergyman's long questions, then spoke to him with such love that the visitor was transformed, and sent him off with an armful of roses.
Lady Blomfield told of seeing broad rays of golden light pour from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá over a London congregation as He spoke, flooding some people and avoiding others completely.
At a Christmas party for the poor in London in 1912, some children took ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for Father Christmas. At East Sheen three little children sat quietly on His knee while He spoke of the purity of children’s hearts.
In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi called racial prejudice the most vital and challenging issue before the American Bahá'ís, asked both races for a supreme effort, and gave minorities priority when votes or qualifications were equal.
Worn out after seeing a hundred and forty people and speaking at the Mortens’ home in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went up to rest, but crowds followed. When Juliet Thompson asked to shut the door, He gently said to let them come.
On pilgrimage in ‘Akká in 1909, Juliet Thompson stayed up late instead of resting as the Master had asked, and argued about whether the New York Assembly was united. The next morning ‘Abdu’l-Bahá looked deep into her eyes and took her hand in a clasp of love.
On 13 September 1911, nine days after arriving in London, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the home of Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper and described the meeting as a reflection of the heavenly concourse.
God has created the world as one—the boundaries are marked out by man.
The magnet of your love brought me to this country.
During the last six thousand years nations have hated one another, it is now time to stop.
The Universal Races Congress was good, for it was intended for the furtherance and progress of unity among all nations and a better international understanding.
To most men who have not heard the message of this teaching, religion seems an outward form, a pretence, merely a seal of respectability.
In an apartment in Cadogan Gardens sits a spiritually illumined Oriental, whose recent advent in London marks the latest junction of the East and West.
We have met together to bid farewell to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and to thank God for his example and teaching, and for the power of his prayers to bring Light into confused thought, Hope into the place of dread, Faith where doubt was …
When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was asked if he recognized the good which the Theosophical Society has done.
At ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s table in ‘Akká an American pilgrim sat among people of many races who had come to love one another, and heard the Master speak of meeting again in the worlds of God.
Howard Colby Ives recalls how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá met every questioner first with silence, listening so completely that He seemed to listen with the speaker’s own ears.
An early pilgrim saw that in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s house, followers of religions who would ordinarily not even eat together lived in perfect love and harmony.
When Mírzá Mihdí, the Purest Branch, died in 'Akká in 1870, Shaykh Maḥmúd asked for the honour of washing his body while the grieving Most Great Branch kept watch outside the tent. He was buried beyond the city walls.
Leroy Ioas recalls how Shoghi Effendi praised even the gardeners, looked at people's good deeds rather than their shortcomings, and bore with great forgiveness the suffering caused by relatives who had turned away from the Cause.
Urged on by the Master's enemies, the governor of Haifa visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wearing Bahá’u’lláh’s cloak and spectacles. The Master said nothing and treated him with courtesy, and later hastened to free him from prison.
A woman asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for a special work. He entrusted to her the orphaned son of her worst enemy, and she wept that she now knew what the Bahá’í Cause means.
On Christmas night 1912 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to about a thousand homeless men at a Salvation Army shelter in Westminster. He left money for another dinner on New Year’s night, and the men rose to cheer Him.
When Yúnis Khán handed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a poem full of exalted titles, the Master was deeply grieved and said He considered Himself lower than every believer. Seeing Yúnis Khán's distress, He then comforted him.
The Vazír dreamed that his son Bahá’u’lláh swam in a limitless ocean, with a multitude of fishes clinging to His hair. A soothsayer explained the dream, and after meeting the boy praised Him greatly.
I have come from distant lands to visit the meetings and assemblies of this country.
O thou son of the Kingdom! If one possesses the love of God, everything that he undertakes is useful, but if the undertaking is without the love of God, then it is hurtful and the cause of veiling one’s self from the Lord of the Kingdom.
The Spiritual Meeting of men and the Spiritual Meeting of women in Chicago are indeed endeavoring to serve.
O people of the world! The dawn of the Sun of Reality is assuredly for the illumination of the world and for the manifestation of mercy.
Today I am most happy, for I see here a gathering of the servants of God.
You have written that there were several meetings of joy and happiness, one for white and another for colored people.
If we look with a perceiving eye upon the world of creation, we find that all existing things may be classified as follows: First—Mineral—that is to say matter or substance appearing in various forms of composition.
When the darkness of ignorance and heedlessness concerning the realm of eternity and bereavement from the True One had encircled the universe, then the resplendent Luminary dawned and the brilliant Light illumined the horizon of the East.
Organize ye Spiritual Assemblies; lay ye the foundation of union and concord in this world; destroy ye the fabric of strife and war from the face of the earth; construct ye the temple of harmony and agreement …
The spiritual love of God maketh man pure and holy and clotheth him with the garment of virtue and purity.
If any differences of opinion may arise in those regions you must keep yourself entirely aloof and show forth love and kindness to all, saying it is better to refer to the ordained Center all the affairs.
O friend! Be set aglow with the fire of the love of God, so that the hearts of the people will become enlightened by the light of thy love.
Today there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the “Most Great Peace.”
The advent of the prophets and the revelation of the Holy Books is intended to create love between souls and friendship between the inhabitants of the earth.
What is real unity? When we observe the human world we find various collective expressions of unity therein. For instance, man is distinguished from the animal by his degree or kingdom.
Thank God for guiding thee unto the Straight Path, manifesting unto thee the Evident Light.
The Supper of the Lord which His Highness the Spirit ate with the apostles was a heavenly supper and not one of material bread and water, for material objects have no connection with spiritual objects.
In the estimation of historians this radiant century is equivalent to one hundred centuries of the past.
This recent war has proved to the world and the people that war is destruction while Universal Peace is construction; war is death while peace is life; war is rapacity and bloodthirstiness while peace is beneficence and humaneness …
A biography of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, from His childhood in Tehran and long years of exile and imprisonment to His ministry as Center of the Covenant, His journeys to the West, His writings and His passing in Haifa in 1921.
Mary Maxwell of Montreal married Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937 in a simple, private wedding; as Rúḥíyyih Khánum she later served as a Hand of the Cause and travelled to 185 countries and territories.
Four brothers living near Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad were drawn to Him by watching Him come and go, and later bore captivity in Mosul with patience. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá remembers each of them and their uncle.
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.
Two brothers who shared Bahá'u'lláh's exile died in each other's arms in the ‘Akká barracks, and He gave up His prayer carpet to pay for their burial. ‘Abdu'l-Bahá also recalls their brother Pahlaván Riḍá.
Muḥammad-Ibráhím, a coppersmith and poet from Káshán, came to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, was exiled to Mosul, and spent his last years in Haifa serving travellers. His elegy for the King of Martyrs moved all to tears.
Three brothers from Tabríz gave their hearts to Bahá’u’lláh: Hájí Hasan was killed for proclaiming the Faith in Ádhirbáyján, while Hájí Ja‘far and Hájí Taqí followed Him into the ‘Akká prison.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá remembers Mírzá Ḥasan, the great Afnán, a learned kinsman of the Báb who settled near Bahjí, studied the stars by night, and did not long survive the passing of Bahá’u’lláh.
‘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.
Driven from Yazd for his faith, Mullá Mihdí set out with his two sons for the Holy Land, teaching along the way. Sick, his feet torn, he reached Mazra‘ih and died close by the Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh.
Jináb-i-Muníb, a gifted calligrapher and singer from Káshán, walked beside Bahá’u’lláh’s howdah from Baghdád to Constantinople; later, gravely ill on the exile to ‘Akká, he was put ashore at Smyrna, where his grave lies.
Mocked in Káshán for his faith, the poet Mírzá Mihdí came to Baghdad, stayed behind to guard the Holy House, endured exile in Mosul, and at last reached the ‘Akká prison, where he spent his final days in joy.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls how He sensed a holy soul in a carriage approaching ‘Akká and went to the city gate to meet the Afnán, and how, after the Afnán died in India, his body was at last laid to rest near Baghdád.
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.
Imprisoned in Tihrán with other disciples of the Báb, Muḥammad-Ḥusayn-i-Marághi’í would not say a word under torture; at the execution he embraced the body of the friend who had taught him the Faith and begged to be martyred at once.
A renowned mujtahid of Najaf met Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, then taught the Faith in Qá’in, Ṭihrán, Bukhárá and Ishqábád through persecution and poverty, until he died far from his homeland.
Nabíl of Zarand, poet and teacher, sought Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, Adrianople and ‘Akká, waited in a cave on Mount Carmel until the prison gates opened, and could not bear to live after His ascension.
Mullá Muḥammad-‘Alí met Bahá’u’lláh in Ṭihrán before the Báb’s Declaration. Driven from Qá’in for his faith, he lived in poverty in Nazareth, trading needles for eggs, and at last made his home in ‘Akká near Bahá’u’lláh.
After his father was killed for his faith near Káshán, ‘Alí-Akbar attained Bahá’u’lláh’s presence in ‘Iráq, later crossed deserts and mountains with his wife to reach Him again, and stayed loyal to the Covenant.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, a man of constant prayer in Baghdád, whom He healed at Bahá’u’lláh’s bidding, and who later died on the road to Mosul, longing to reach his Lord.
Shaykh Salmán slipped out of arrest in Tihrán when a stranger mistook him for someone else. Every year afterwards he walked from Persia to Bahá'u'lláh, carrying the believers' letters and bringing back His Tablets.
Siyyid Ismá‘íl of Zavárih swept the doorstep of Bahá'u'lláh's house in Baghdad with his own turban each dawn. Transformed by His words, he at last gave up his life beside the river, an act Bahá'u'lláh recalls in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.
After the upheaval at Nayríz, the learned Siyyid Ja‘far-i-Yazdí met public humiliation with joy and endured daily beatings. Freed at last, he reached Bahá'u'lláh, Who revealed the Súriy-i-Nush in his honor.
An overview of the Báb’s mission, from His declaration in 1844 and His call to prepare for “Him Whom God shall make manifest” to His martyrdom in the barracks square of Tabríz in 1850.
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.
A prosperous builder in Ṭihrán left his work and possessions for the Faith, lost even his bride, walked on foot to the Most Great Prison singing an ode Bahá’u’lláh had written down for him, and ended his days content in a cave near Haifa.
Each year before winter set in, 'Abdu'l-Bahá arranged for the poor of 'Akká to receive cloaks at a clothing shop, adjusting the garments on some of them Himself and keeping a record of those He helped.
Agnes Parsons, in whose Washington home ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed in April 1912, recorded His gifts to her family: an ink well for her son, an illuminated manuscript for her husband, and a pair of glasses for her.
On the evening of her wedding Munírih Khánum received Bahá’u’lláh’s blessing, then awaited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the bridal room. The service was very simple, with no choir, decorations or cake, just cups of tea.
Before leaving London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá married a young Persian couple, asking each whether they loved the other with all their heart and soul. The writer recalls the simplicity of His own wedding and His words on the holiness of marriage.
O Leaf of Paradise! Loose your tongue at all times in gratitude for the blessings of the Beloved of the Worlds, for you are always mentioned in His Glorious and Sanctified Presence, and you are ever in the hearts of His maidservants.
Your touching words in connection with the sudden removal of the Greatest Holy Leaf from their midst have greatly alleviated the burden of sorrow that weighs so heavily upon their hearts and have demonstrated that in their great and …
May the Light of Union radiate with greater clearness and brilliancy day by day among the people in your great country—for to this country God has given much and much is expected from it.
O my well-beloved sister, O Most Exalted Leaf! Thou didst leave for Akká to remain but two days or so and then return, but now thou hast been gone from us for quite a while.
My sister and beloved of my soul! Here on the slopes of Mount Carmel, by the cave of Elijah, we are thinking of that Most Exalted Leaf, and the beloved and handmaids of the Lord.
My sister, for a considerable period, that is, from the day of Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension, had grown so thin and feeble, and was in such a weakened condition from the anguish of her mourning, that she was close to breakdown.
All praise be to the Abhá Beauty, the Best-Beloved, the Desire of the world, for having enabled His well-assured leaves to remain firm in the Cause of God and steadfast in His love, even as immovable mountains …
My great love for the Greatest Holy Leaf and my attachment to each one of you prompt me to add these few words in person and to express to you my gratitude for the expression of your valued sympathy.
O my spiritual sister! Thou didst go away to Haifa, supposedly for only three or four days. Now it becometh apparent that the spiritual power of the Shrine hath brought thee joy and radiance, and even as a magnet is holding thee fast.
At the exalted Threshold of our Lord, the Best-Beloved of the world, I fervently beseech Him to graciously keep that assured leaf and the other handmaids of the Merciful safe and secure under the shelter of His bounty and grace.
O my spiritual sister! God be praised, through the Ancient Beauty’s grace and bounty, we have set foot safe and sound upon this shore, and arrived in this town ...
The Guardian of the Cause of God has received your letter of 21 July 1932, telling of your and the other friends’ profound distress on receiving word of this calamity, this dire ordeal, that is, the ascension of the Most Exalted Leaf, that brightest fruit of the Eternal Tree.
O my affectionate sister! God be praised, through His grace and favour, my health and well-being are now restored, but it is very hard for me to bear thine absence.
The Guardian’s anguish, because of this tragic occurrence, is such that it can neither be plumbed nor described in words.
Your highly impressive and touching message brought much relief to my weary soul.
O my dear sister!
O my dear sister! It is quite a while now, since thou hast left us, and gone away to Nazareth and Haifa. This journey hath lasted too long.
O my cherished sister! Thou art never absent from my thoughts. I speak of thee and call thee to mind at all times.
O well-loved friend, The emotions that have possessed my grieving heart are such that they cannot be put into words, and tongue and pen are helpless to describe them.
The Festival of Ridván is come and the splendour of the light of God is shining from the invisible horizon of His mercy.
O my sister in the spirit, and the companion of my heart! God willing, the climate of Haifa hath proved favourable.
You should not think that the record of those meetings can ever be blotted out from the pages of history or that the memory of those gatherings can fade from the face of the world.
I feel prompted to offer my sincere best wishes to you and to express the agony of separation that has deeply affected me.
O My Leaf! Hearken thou unto My Voice: Verily there is none other God but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
O thou my affectionate sister! In the daytime and in the night-season my thoughts ever turn to thee. Not for one moment do I cease to remember thee.
O thou Greatest and Most Merciful Holy Leaf!
I greatly value the expression of your loving sympathy and am greatly relieved by the sentiments your message conveyed.
O ye who share my anguish and are my comforters in my distress and bereavement!
These nine months during which the Guardian has asked the friends to discard feast days, are meant to be months of mourning for the passing away of the Greatest Holy Leaf.
Dear and deeply spiritual sister!
GREATEST HOLY LEAF’S IMMORTAL SPIRIT WINGED ITS FLIGHT GREAT BEYOND.
The ascension of the Greatest Holy Leaf is, indeed, an irreparable loss to us all and will continue to be deeply felt for many, many long years.
106 ...He was deeply touched by the strong attachment of the friends to one who, besides being the beloved daughter of Bahá’u’lláh, exemplified perhaps more than anyone the true spirit that animates His teachings. His sincere hope is…
The ascension of Him Who was the Temple of the Covenant, the setting of Him Who was the Orb of harmony, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, may our lives be sacrificed for the wrongs He suffered, was the most dire calamity, and the most dread of ordeals.
We rejoiced greatly to learn of the unity among the friends, their staunchness, their ardour, and the fact that they have established a Spiritual Assembly.
That supreme affliction, the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, was the direst of ordeals; it was an anguish of mourning.
Dear sister, beloved of my heart and soul! The news of thy safe arrival and pleasant stay in the land of Egypt has reached me and filled my heart with exceeding gladness.
Despite our overwhelming sorrows and afflictions, our heart-burning and depth of woes, you are always in our thoughts and we call to mind your cheerful face.
Indeed, you have adorned yourself with the qualifications of faithfulness and are striving to fulfil the requirements of servitude to the Abhá Threshold.
It is my earnest hope that you, His distinguished leaf, together with the other maidservants of the All-Merciful in that land …
O thou my loving, my deeply spiritual sister! I trust that by the grace and loving-kindness of the one true God thou art, and wilt be, kept safe and secure beneath the sheltering shadow of the Blessed Beauty.
The letter that you wrote in your burning grief, on the passing of the world’s Beloved, the Orb of the Covenant—wrote with weeping eyes and a heart afire, has come.
May my life be sacrificed for those leaves who are steadfast in the Covenant of God—they whom the slander of the slanderer hinders not from holding fast to His divine Testament.
O Díyá! It is incumbent upon thee, throughout the journey, to be a close, a constant and cheerful companion to my honoured and distinguished sister.
Praise be to God that through the gracious assistance of the Abhá Kingdom those devoted friends have been enabled to achieve that which befits the glory of the Cause of God and the protection of the community of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh.
The Pen of the divine Ordainer has so decreed that this house of sorrows should be encompassed by unending calamity and pain.
From this hallowed and snow-white Spot, this blessed, heavenly Garden, wherefrom the fragrance of God is diffused to all regions, I hail you with salutations, most tender, most wondrous, and most glorious, and impart to you the most joyful tiding.
O thou my affectionate sister! God be praised, according to what we hear the climate in that land hath proved not unfavourable.
It is a very long time since we have had any news from you and we are quite longing to have one of your interesting and beautiful letters, that brings us always comfort because of your sincerity, your love for the Cause and your constant energy in the work for the Cause.
Your short and loving note of June 25th has been received.
Your numerous letters written to the beloved Guardian and myself have all arrived and brought with them the sweet perfume of your devotion, sincerity, strong faith and active and beautiful services you are inexhaustibly rendering to the Cause of God.
It always cheers my heart to hear from the dear friends whose hearts are so full of love and devotion, and desire to serve this Blessed Cause which has been proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh to all the world, so that all national, racial …
A number of your spiritual sisters, namely the handmaidens who have embraced His Cause, have arrived here from Paris and the United States on pilgrimage.
Abbás Effendi, Who afterwards assumed the title of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (i.e.
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.
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.
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.”
Bahá’u’lláh’s mission in the world is to bring about Unity—Unity of all mankind in and through God.
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.
The following particulars regarding the marriage of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were kindly supplied to the writer by a Persian historian of the Bahá’í Faith:— During the youth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the question of a suitable marriage for Him was naturally one …
‘Abdu’l-Bahá attaches the greatest importance to regular meetings of the believers for united worship, for the exposition and study of the teachings and for consultation regarding the progress of the Movement.
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.
This last quotation reveals the spirit which animated the Báb’s whole life.
Esslemont records that Persian believers who walked to 'Akká to see Bahá'u'lláh were refused entry to the city, and stood on the plain outside the third moat, from where they could see the windows of His quarters.
To someone who asked whether prayer was necessary, since presumably God knows the wishes of all hearts, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:— If one friend loves another, is it not natural that he should wish to say so?
The Bahá’í doctrine of the unity of mankind strikes at the root of another cause of war, namely, racial prejudice.
In order to see clearly how the Most Great Peace may be established, let us first examine the principle causes that have led to war in the past and see how Bahá’u’lláh proposes to deal with each.
An important part of the Báb’s teaching is His explanation of the terms Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hell.
He was then in His seventieth year, and His long and arduous labors, culminating in these strenuous Western tours, had worn out His physical frame.
Never, perhaps, did the world seem farther away from religious unity than in the nineteenth century.
Bahá’u’lláh constantly urges men to realize and give full expression to the perfections latent within them—the true inner self as distinguished from the limited outer self, which at best is but the temple, and too often is the prison of the real man.
In an account by 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in *Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era*, the Master tells how, after Bahá'u'lláh three times declined to leave 'Akká with the words "I am a prisoner," an Arab shaykh of the city pleaded with Him for a whole hour until He consented to go to the mansion of Mazra'ih.
In His Writings the Báb tells His followers that they must be distinguished by brotherly love and courtesy.
In consequence of this and other equally unfounded charges, in 1901, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His family, who for more than twenty years had been allowed the freedom of the country for some miles around Akká, were again, for over seven years …
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.
In all ages the Prophets of God have foretold the coming of an era of “peace on earth, goodwill among men.”
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.
On no subject are the Bahá’í teaching more imperative and uncompromising than on the requirement to abstain from faultfinding.
“Ye are all fruits of one tree, the leaves of one branch, the flowers of one garden.”
When woman’s point of view receives due consideration and woman’s will is allowed adequate expression in the arrangement of social affairs …
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.
Arrested on the way to Fort Shaykh Ṭabarsí and brought before the clergy of Ámul, Bahá’u’lláh interceded for His companions and offered Himself to receive the bastinado in their place.
In 1955 John and Audrey Robarts gave Shoghi Effendi a springbok-skin kaross from Bechuanaland. After the Guardian's passing, Rúhíyyih Khánum showed John Robarts that it had been his prayer mat.
As the Báb approached Tabríz under guard, one youth ran barefoot from the city to meet Him. The guards let him through, and the Báb dismounted, embraced him and wiped away his tears.
Lady Blomfield recalls how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, arriving home very tired after a crowded meeting, suddenly ran up the stairs to the flat and told the astonished friends that through the power of Bahá’u’lláh all things can be done.
In Baghdád Bahá’u’lláh sent gifts to the poor of His neighbourhood, stopped each day to greet an eighty-year-old woman who waited for Him in the road, and arranged a daily allowance for her when He left the city.
A Persian pilgrim brought his wife, who was not a Bahá’í, on the long journey to Haifa. Some travellers were rude to her, but the Greatest Holy Leaf waited outside to embrace her, seated her beside herself and gave her own ring.
On the first Western pilgrimage, a young American said she was now an orphan because her parents did not believe. Munírih Khánum embraced her and brought her to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who told her that the ties of the spirit are all.
When the authorities in Adrianople planned to part Bahá'u'lláh from His family and followers, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pleaded, persisted and at last vehemently protested, until the governor declared that the exiles could not be separated.
In April 1912 John Bosch set out to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and, after a detour to Washington, found Him in New York. The Master told him that with him it was the heart that speaks, and welcomed him as one of the family.
On 22 April 1863 crowds of believers and admirers wept in the streets of Baghdad as Bahá'u'lláh left His house and was ferried across the river to the garden that His followers named the Garden of Riḍván.
When Bahá’u’lláh was a child, His father dreamed that He swam in a limitless ocean with a multitude of fishes clinging to His hair. A renowned soothsayer interpreted the dream as a sign of His future ascendancy.
In 1835 Bahá’u’lláh married Ásíyih Khánum. Known as the Father of the Poor and the Mother of Consolation, they cared for the needy while His father's fortunes collapsed and the family moved to a rented house in Tehrán.
While Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned in the Síyáh-Chál, His servant Isfandíyár, though hunted by a hundred officers, found the scattered family and refused to flee until he had paid every debt of the household.
In 1848 Bahá’u’lláh visited Mullá Ḥusayn and his companions at the shrine of Shaykh Ṭabarsí. Mullá Ḥusayn received Him with rapturous love, and He counselled them, sent for Quddús and promised them victory.
On pilgrimage to 'Akká in 1901, William and Wendell Dodge were told to bow, clasp their hands and avoid smiling before the Master. When they came in smiling instead, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá embraced them and told them to be natural.
On her 1906 pilgrimage to ‘Akká, Florence Khan longed to gaze fully upon ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s face; that evening, as He paced His room revealing Tablets, He twice stood still in the doorway.
As a boy newly arrived in Tehran from Qum, the future Hand of the Cause Faizi enrolls at the Bahá'í Tarbiyat School and, following his friends, finds his way to a Friday Bahá'í class that shapes his whole life.
Imprisoned in Chihríq, the Báb was so grieved by news of the fate of the defenders of Ṭabarsí that He languished in sorrow for five months; He then wrote in praise of Mullá Ḥusayn, Quddús and their companions.
In New York in 1912, John Bosch rode beside ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the way to a luncheon at the Kinneys’ home, and the Master slept on his shoulder for the whole drive.
May Bolles, one of the first Western pilgrims, recalls her journey from Marseilles by way of Port Said to Haifa and the morning she first met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
In 1920, while Shoghi Effendi was resting in Paris on his way to England, the pilgrim Núru’d-Dín Mumtází met him at a gathering, and Shoghi Effendi later visited his party and chanted a prayer for their pilgrimage.
On March 25, 1912, with His daughter Rúhá Khánum seriously ill, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bade farewell to the grieving friends at Alexandria and sailed on the S. S. Cedric with six companions, among them Shoghi Effendi.
On her first pilgrimage in 1923, the twelve-year-old Mary Maxwell stood guard at the door of her sleeping mother, May Maxwell, only to learn that the visitor she had challenged was Shoghi Effendi.
When the infant Shoghi Effendi woke crying one night, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had him brought so that He could comfort him, and told the Greatest Holy Leaf, “See, already he has dreams!”
When the young Shoghi Effendi took up 'Abdu'l-Bahá's pen and tried to write, the Master drew him close and told him it was time to play, for he would write a lot in the future.
Visiting ‘Akká in 1905, the American pilgrim Mary Lucas watched ‘Abdu’l-Bahá listen gravely to His two-year-old granddaughter's troubles, and gently prompt her when she forgot a word while chanting Him a Tablet.
Jináb-i-Fáḍil's 1924 account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's life, from His birth on the night of the Báb's declaration through the exiles and His years in 'Akká to His release by the Young Turk revolution of 1908.
In 'Akká 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked May Maxwell whether she would like a child, and she answered that she chose whatever God chose. In 1910 her daughter Mary was born, and the Master urged her to raise the child as a real Bahá'í.
Early one morning at an inn in Dublin, New Hampshire, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called in a ragged old man, cheered him, and gave him His own trousers, then went back to His dictation as if nothing had happened.
In April 1913 about fifty children in Esslingen, Germany, lined up with flowers to welcome 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He gave them chocolates and sweets, spoke to them all, and was photographed seated in their midst.
When Bahá'u'lláh withdrew to the mountains for two years, the young 'Abdu'l-Bahá prayed, read the writings of the Báb and helped His family. After His Father returned, He helped Him by receiving those who came to visit.
On the night Bahá'u'lláh moved to the Mansion of Bahjí, Nabíl and Hájí Muḥammad-Ṭáhir followed Him to circumambulate it and found its paths crowded with a mysterious throng. Bahá'u'lláh later named them Bulbul and Bahháj.
Visiting His Father's shepherds in the hills, the seven-year-old 'Abdu'l-Bahá was told He should leave them a present, so He gave them all the sheep. Bahá'u'lláh laughed and said that one day He would give Himself away.
A governor of 'Akká who tried to shut the Bahá'ís' shops was suddenly dismissed. 'Abdu'l-Bahá visited him, comforted him, and sent his family safely to Damascus, and the humbled governor wrote to beg His pardon.
Ásíyih Khánum shared fifty years of Bahá'u'lláh's life, through exile and imprisonment. Her daughter and granddaughter remember her gentleness, her unselfishness and her simple, prayerful life.
A man who once set out to kill a Bahá'í becomes a believer, walks six months to 'Akká, and passes unseen through the guarded prison gate into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh.
A children's class teacher uses a prism to show how God's attributes are like the colours hidden in white light, then asks each child to live out one attribute during the week.
Bahá'u'lláh's family lives happily in Tihrán until the day He is arrested and cast into an underground prison, where He comes to know that God has given Him a mission for the whole world.
Lonely on her family's farm, eight-year-old Twinkle prays for a brother or sister. A visit from Sparkle, Aunt Sally's adopted daughter, shows her that loving and being kind to others can make them family.
In 1912 Nettie Tobin, a Chicago Bahá'í with little money, hauled a stone a builder had rejected all the way to the House of Worship site, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá used it at the dedication.
When Bahá'u'lláh was a child, His father dreamed that He swam in a huge ocean while many fishes held on to His hair and followed Him. A wise man explained what the dream meant.
After Bahá'u'lláh's passing, 'Abdu'l-Bahá made a garden by His Father's Shrine and carried water for it Himself. On Holy Days He led the pilgrims, carrying pots of flowers, to the Shrine.
A children's story with invented characters, based on events in Yazd in 1982: when an official comes to seize the Bahá'ís' furniture, a carpenter and his neighbors gladly give it all up for the sake of God.
A children's introduction to the Báb through the words of people who knew Him: His schoolteacher, a visitor who met Him in Karbilá, and His wife, who saw Him praying late at night.
A fable for children: jealous of her dark twin, Moonshine tells Nightshadow that the creatures fear her, and Nightshadow leaves the sky, until Moonshine learns that each sister is needed and begs her forgiveness.
A grandmother tells Sanam how, as a girl in Tihrán, she saw Bahá'u'lláh led through a hostile crowd, and heard Him tell His guards to let an old woman cast her stone.
Túbá Khánum, a daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, recalls how in 'Akká her grandfather Bahá'u'lláh let the children choose cloth for their frocks, saved sweets for them and promised picnics at the Riḍván.
During an asthma attack, seven-year-old Brently sits on his grandfather's lap and hears how the Báb sent His pens and seals to Bahá'u'lláh, with a blue scroll bearing the word Bahá in 360 forms.
As a small Mohawk boy in Ontario, Jim Loft was waved to by 'Abdu'l-Bahá from a passing train. Years later, as a Bahá'í, he returned to his reserve at the Guardian's request to teach the Faith.
Shoghi Effendi's boyhood in the household of his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá: his name, morning prayers and breakfast with the Master, the Tablet telling him to memorize and chant prayers, and the surname Rabbani.
Ṭáhirih studies the books of Shaykh Ahmad, travels to Karbilá, and sees the Báb in a dream. Without ever meeting Him, she sends Him a message and becomes the only woman among the Letters of the Living.
Boys who had shouted and thrown sticks at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's party in New York came to meet Him. He welcomed each one, called the only black boy a black rose, and gave them all chocolates.
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.
Carrie's family must sell her mare, Lady, who is to be given away in a drawing at the horse show. Carrie spends her savings on tickets and loses, but the winner, an old school friend of her father's, asks her to keep and care for Lady.
A grandfather tells his grandson how the Báb's eldest uncle, unsure that his Nephew could be a Messenger of God, took his questions to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, and how the Kitáb-i-Íqán was revealed in two days and two nights.
A little girl in America tells her mother that Jesus is in the world again. Out walking, she points to a picture of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in a shop window, and her mother sets out at once for Paris to see Him.
At dawn in Karbilá, Siyyid Kázim takes a friend to visit a Youth in a green turban. Three days later he points to a ray of sunlight on that Youth's lap, and the friend later learns He was the Báb.
Theresa cannot go to the party for Bahá'u'lláh's Birthday, so she shares the day with the animals on her family's farm and finds them, for once, all gathered together in peace.
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.
After his old cat dies, Tommy takes comfort in words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. When his friend Adam's mother dies, Tommy finds the courage to tell Adam he is sorry, and the two boys go back to building their fort.
When a little girl was ill, 'Abdu'l-Bahá brought her two pink roses. After she passed away, He consoled her mother by describing the Garden of God, where the Divine Gardener transplants a little tree to a more beautiful place.
During a day in the Garden of Junaynih with the pilgrims, Bahá'u'lláh sends them to welcome 'Abdu'l-Bahá as He arrives from 'Akká, and says that with the Master's presence the garden has become truly most delightful.
Tommy, a poor boy with no money for a gift, asks God to help him. He rakes an old lady's leaves and asks for her roses instead of pay, so that he can give them to the teacher he loves.
Gran'pa tells George and Ann how, as a homeless man with no purpose, he walked thirty miles to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and how the Master's loving welcome gave him a new life of work and service.
Visitors from far countries who stayed on while the Master taught were invited to lunch with Him. So often were there nineteen at table that Lady Blomfield's household came to expect it, and He often served the guests with His own hands.
In His last days 'Abdu'l-Bahá still gave alms to the poor, blessed a servant's wedding and received visitors. He passed away in the early hours of 28 November 1921, with two of His daughters beside Him.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls her mother Ásíyih Khánum's marriage to Bahá'u'lláh, her forty mules of wedding treasures, and their life of caring for the poor. The jewelled buttons were later exchanged for bread on the road to exile.
In May 1922 the Greatest Holy Leaf went with Lady Blomfield and a party of ladies to the barracks of 'Akká, where she and her family had once been imprisoned, and listened as the rooms of the captivity were described.
On 17 September 1911, at the invitation of Archdeacon Wilberforce, 'Abdu'l-Bahá addressed the congregation of St. John the Divine, Westminster, and the congregation knelt to receive His blessing.
Visiting 'Akká in May 1922, Lady Blomfield wrote to her daughter about the small house where Bahá'u'lláh and His family had lived, and about sleeping in the room that had been Ásíyih Khánum's.
In 1852, while Bahá'u'lláh lay chained in an underground dungeon in Tihrán, His wife went out late at night to learn whether He still lived, and their daughter waited in the dark with her baby brother.
For two years after Bahá'u'lláh withdrew from Baghdád, His family did not know where He was. His daughter Bahíyyih Khánum remembered those hard years and the day He came home dressed as a dervish.
Exiled from Tihrán in midwinter, Bahá'u'lláh's family travelled four weeks to Baghdád. Ásíyih Khánum sold her last treasures for the journey, washed the family's clothes with her own hands, and once, in the dark, made Him a cake with salt instead of sugar.
On pilgrimage, Corinne True met the martyr's widow who served tea to the Master's family each morning, and marvelled at His household of over forty people of many races and nations, where no word of dispute was heard.
A cleaning woman, ashamed of her rough, work-worn hands, meant only to touch 'Abdu'l-Bahá's robe and slip away. He took her hand, raised her up, looked at it with deep love, and said one word: “Sacrifice!”
During the Báb's nine months in the castle of Máh-Kú, its strict warden, 'Alí Khán, saw Him at prayer outside the locked castle, came to Him in humility, and opened the castle to His visitors.
In 1851 Bahá'u'lláh visited Karbilá. There He met the aged Shaykh Ḥasan-i-Zunúzí, whom the Báb had sent to wait in that city to see the promised Ḥusayn, and confided His secret to him.
After Mullá Ḥusayn recognised the Báb in Shíráz in May 1844, seventeen more seekers found Him, each by his own search. The last was Quddús, whose arrival the Báb foretold the night before.
In 1849 the defenders of Fort Ṭabarsí came out on a prince's oath sworn on the Qur'án. The oath was broken, and Quddús was handed over to his enemies in his native town of Bárfurúsh and killed in its public square.
Before leaving America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá refused the believers' money and asked that the presents they brought for His family be sold for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, saying the love of God is the best of all gifts.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the night Bahá’u’lláh came home to His family in Baghdád after more than two years as a dervish in the mountains, and how the young Abbas Effendi threw Himself at His Father’s feet, weeping.
When some of His Persian companions remarked that there was better tea than the one Corinne True served in Chicago, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá drank it and said it was very good because it had been prepared with love.
After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá saved Haifa’s people from wartime starvation, the British knighted Him in 1920. He came to the ceremony quietly, not in the elegant car sent for Him but in the horse-drawn carriage that His faithful servant Isfandíyár brought for Him.
Visiting the poet Elizabeth Gibson Cheyne and her invalid husband, Dr T. K. Cheyne, in Oxford, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was moved to tears by her loving care and called her an angelic woman.
Thornton Chase recalls a meal in ‘Akká in 1907: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would not eat until all His guests were served, then bade them begin with “Bismillah!” and spoke of the love that had drawn them together.
Through the spring and summer of 1912 the California Bahá’ís longed for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to come west, while His messages wavered between hope and doubt, until in August He wired John Bosch that He would travel to the West.
In 1922, while Shoghi Effendi was away from Haifa, the Greatest Holy Leaf headed the affairs of the Faith. Her reply to one friend's letter asked for complete unity and looked for his return.
On a train journey from Salt Lake City to California in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Peter's spiritual education and remembered seeing, as a child in Tihrán, the learned Vahíd fall at the muddy feet of a servant of the Báb.
On 13 May 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá lay ill in New York with a high fever. Asked by Juliet Thompson whether He must still go to the peace meeting at the Hotel Astor, He answered that He worked by the confirmations of the Holy Spirit, and went.
Believers who came into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh found they could not look steadily at His face. One pilgrim spilt his tea without noticing, and a Cambridge scholar wrote that he could never forget it.
In Haifa in July 1909 Juliet Thompson watched 'Abdu'l-Baha dictate Tablets. He answered a believer whose father had driven him out, and told Carrie Kinney, who had said nothing of her own trouble, that the reply was for her too.
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.
Haifa, 1909. When 'Abdu'l-Bahá left for 'Akká without her, Juliet Thompson spoke her submission to His Will aloud on Mount Carmel. His Tablet to her repeated the very words she had spoken there.
In 1912 Lua Getsinger, asked by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to go to California, walked through poison ivy so that she could not travel. He sent her an apple and a pomegranate to cure her, and she went.
Two brothers died on the same night in the barracks of 'Akká. The guards demanded payment to bury them, and the exiles had no money, so Bahá'u'lláh gave the prayer carpet that had been placed beneath His feet to be sold.
Gloria Faizi explains the Master's wide love through an example He once gave: a crushed letter from a beloved is no less precious for its condition, and so we can love anyone as God's creature.
Taken reluctantly to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Harry Randall found the Master accepting a tea invitation he had never given. At the tea He went straight to Harry's frail wife, Ruth, whose doctor found her healed the next day.
'Abdu'l-Bahá passed away in Haifa on 28 November 1921. At His funeral some ten thousand people of every religion and race followed His coffin up Mount Carmel to the Shrine of the Báb, where He was laid to rest.
'Abdu'l-Bahá tells how Nabíl-i-Zarandí, who had spent his life in the service of Bahá'u'lláh, was overwhelmed with grief when Bahá'u'lláh passed away in 1892, and could not bear to live on without Him.
When the Bahá'ís begged for a day to celebrate as His, 'Abdu'l-Bahá would not let it be His birthday, which belonged to the Báb, and gave them 26 November instead. A tablet of His calls the believers to be firm.
Bahá'u'lláh entered the Garden of Riḍván outside Baghdád on April 22, 1863. The river overflowed, and His family could not join Him there until the ninth day, which Bahá'ís now keep as a Holy Day.
A man twice prevented from seeing 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote a heartbreaking letter showing that he thought himself rebuffed. When it was translated, the Master at once put on His coat and, deeply grieved, went out alone.
At their first meeting in New York in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat knee to knee with Howard Colby Ives, wiped away his tears, told him one must always be happy, and laughed.
Leroy Ioas recalls how Shoghi Effendi embraced and kissed Charles Dunning, the plainly dressed Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Orkney Islands, and seated him beside himself at dinner.
When a group of boys came to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in New York, He greeted the only Black boy among them as “a black rose,” and the other boys looked at him with new eyes.
Howard Colby Ives describes how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught souls: He never argued, pressed a point or told him what to believe, but showed by His own voice and manner how one should be.
In April 1911 Louis G. Gregory visited the Tomb of the Báb on Mount Carmel, where the pilgrims removed their shoes and heard prayers chanted, and that evening met the believers of Haifa.
The third Hidden Word in Arabic — Bahá'u'lláh's word that the human soul was created out of His love, engraved with His image and shown His beauty.
The fifth Hidden Word in Arabic — Bahá'u'lláh's brief reciprocal of love between God and the soul.
The third Hidden Word in Persian — Bahá'u'lláh's tender injunction that the believer plant naught but the rose of love in the garden of the heart, hold fast to the nightingale of affection and desire, and treasure the companionship of the righteous.
The ninth Hidden Word in Arabic — Bahá'u'lláh's image of His love as a stronghold: he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish.
In New York in June 1912, before a few days' rest at Montclair, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the friends of His wish to give an outdoor feast of unity, like a Persian garden, at which all would be His guests.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls how, after Bahá’u’lláh withdrew from Baghdád, her brother ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved deeply and spent His days copying and memorizing the tablets of the Báb.
Struggling to give up smoking, Howard Colby Ives asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for help. Instead of a lecture, the Master told him not to let it trouble him, and two days later the desire left him for seven years.
Munírih Khánum recalls how Bahá’u’lláh summoned her from Iṣfahán, her guarded journey by way of Mecca to ‘Akká, and her simple wedding to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, at which Bahá’u’lláh Himself chanted the prayers.
Ibn-i-Asdaq begged Bahá’u’lláh for the station of utter self-sacrifice. In a Tablet of January 1880, Bahá’u’lláh answered that service to the Cause is the greatest of deeds and that one may live and yet be counted a martyr.
Myron Phelps, a visitor to ‘Akká, describes a crowd of the poor, blind and aged waiting in the street, and the Master coming out to give each of them coins and a kindly word.
In 1907 Corinne True watched from her window as the Master gave money and words of kindness to two or three hundred of the poor of ‘Akká, as He did every Friday morning.
On pilgrimage in 1909, Ethel Rosenberg asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá how the friends could increase their numbers. He answered that they should love each other very much, for love is the foundation of everything.
In a letter to the friends in Denver and in talks in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá counselled that the Faith be taught through sociability, pure deeds and sweet speech, through love and sacrifice for one another, and with care for the listener’s needs.
Besides His own family, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s household included orphan children and widows of martyrs, and Mary Lucas saw in it a home where everything was done in the spirit of love.
A man in ‘Akká hated ‘Abdu’l-Bahá so much that he turned his back whenever they met. When a narrow street forced them face to face, the Master told him his hatred could never be as strong as His love.
Dr. Florian Krug raged against his wife Grace’s new faith and threatened to have ‘Abdu’l-Bahá thrown out of his house. When the Master came, He asked him, ‘Dr. Krug, are you happy?’ and his opposition ended.
At Thonon in 1911 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá embraced the exiled prince Ẓillu’s-Sulṭán, whose family had persecuted the Bahá’ís, and asked to meet his sons; the elder of them later became a Bahá’í.
In Paris a man from India told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that his aim in life was to spread the message of Krishna. The Master did not argue; He replied that Krishna’s message, like that of all God’s prophets, is the message of love.
On the morning of 20 September 1912, before leaving Minneapolis, 'Abdu'l-Bahá urged the friends to love one another, visit each other and act on God's commandments rather than be Bahá'ís in word alone.
When Dr Yúnis Khán handed the Master a believer's poem addressing Him in exalted terms, 'Abdu'l-Bahá was grieved and affirmed His servitude, then comforted him with such loving words that his anguish turned to joy.
A floor maid came out of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s suite with her arms full of roses He had given her, and showed them to Ella Quant, exclaiming, “See what He gave me!”
In a Tablet about backbiting, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells how Christ, passing a dead animal with His apostles, saw only the whiteness of its teeth, and calls this the conduct of the real Bahá’ís.
In New York in 1912, Lua Getsinger told Grace Robarts that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wished her to marry Harlan Ober, a man she scarcely knew. Grace obeyed, and the Master Himself performed their marriage.
With four months left in the Nine Year Plan, Dr Muhájir sent Jenabe Caldwell to Germany. A letter from the National Assembly drew forty-five German volunteers, who joined fifteen Alaskans in street teaching that succeeded once they prayed for loving hearts.
Nine days before His passing, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed a talk in Haifa to John Bosch, the only Westerner present, explaining that hearts can speak without words and that real love shows itself in self-sacrifice.
In April 1912 John Bosch hurried from California to New York to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. When he said he had come three thousand miles to see Him, the Master laughed and answered that He had come eight thousand miles to see John.
On a drive near Thonon in August 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bought violets from peasant children and stopped at a waterfall. When Juliet Thompson wished she could follow Him all her life, He told her to be happy in the present.
On 19 April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to three hundred homeless men at the Bowery Mission in New York, then stood at the end of the aisle and pressed coins into the hand of each man as he filed past.
In New York in April 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent for Juliet Thompson's grieving mother, who had opposed her daughter's work for the Faith, and comforted her. The next day she told Juliet that all her bitterness had gone.
At Thonon in August 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told Juliet Thompson, through His interpreter, that He bore witness to the purity of her heart and had sent for her out of nothing but affection.
On 4 July 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá took Juliet Thompson and other pilgrims to Bahjí, sat on the floor to sweeten the children's tea, led the pilgrims to the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh, and told them that the world is one.
In 'Akká in July 1909, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called Juliet Thompson to His room and asked for the messages she had brought from the American believers. She asked His prayers for her godchild, her brother and a friend.
Julia Grundy, an early pilgrim, described a simple supper in ‘Akká at which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá welcomed and seated each guest, anointed them with attar of rose and served them Himself.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá told the artist Juliet Thompson that, though she was not eloquent, she taught well, because her heart taught and her feeling made people ask what she had.
In Chicago, as John Bosch was paying his hotel bill before leaving for the West Coast, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took his hand, brought him up to His room, and sent him off with a big cake and armfuls of fruit.
As Mrs C prepared to leave the household of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká, He came to bid her farewell and asked her, when she returned to New York, to talk to people about the love of God.
The poet Kahlil Gibran, Juliet Thompson's neighbor, asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to sit for him and came to love Him deeply. Years later, seeing the Master on film, he wept before the gathering.
Mary Maxwell, who grew up in Montreal, married Shoghi Effendi in Haifa in 1937 with no celebration and no elaborate ceremony. Known afterwards as Rúḥíyyih Khánum, she served the Faith for the rest of her life.
Four brothers in Baghdad came to love Bahá'u'lláh by watching Him come and go near their house. They accepted the Faith at once, and later bore captivity and famine in Mosul with patience.
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.
Two brothers followed Bahá'u'lláh from Adrianople into the prison of 'Akká, where both fell ill and died on the same night. Bahá'u'lláh had the prayer carpet from under His feet sold to pay the guards for their burial.
Mírzá Ḥasan, a relative of the Báb, was a merchant and scholar who came to love Bahá'u'lláh deeply. He settled near Bahjí to be close to Him, and died soon after Bahá'u'lláh's passing.
Ḥájí Mullá Mihdí, who made rose-water in Yazd, was driven from his city for his faith. He set out with two of his sons to reach Bahá'u'lláh, teaching along the way, and died at Mazra'ih, close to the Mansion.
Jináb-i-Muníb, a poet and calligrapher who had once loved an easy life, walked with Bahá'u'lláh's party from Baghdad to Constantinople, and later, though gravely ill, went with Him into exile and died at Smyrna.
Mírzá Mihdí of Káshán was mocked in his home town for his faith, went to Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád, endured exile in Mosul, and at last reached the prison of 'Akká, where he died.
From a rooftop in 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá saw a distant carriage and sensed that a holy being was in it. It was the Afnán, Ḥájí Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí, whose burial years later near Baghdád 'Abdu'l-Bahá guided by letter.
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.
Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar studied for years without finding joy until he found the new Faith. Mocked and often arrested in Ṭihrán, he stayed calm and faithful, and he was kept safe from harm.
On a drive near Lake Geneva in 1911, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bought all the violets a group of village children were selling. Later, when Juliet wished she could follow Him all her life, He told her to be happy in the present.
At a mission hall in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to three hundred homeless men, then shook each man's hand and gave him coins for a night's bed.
When Ásíyih Khánum married Bahá'u'lláh, forty mules carried her wedding treasures. Together they cared for the poor, and when hard times came, her jewels paid for food and her gold buttons were traded for bread.
In May 1922 the Greatest Holy Leaf visited the old barracks in 'Akká where her family had been imprisoned, and Lady Blomfield wrote that her eyes were charged with memories.
In September 1911 Archdeacon Wilberforce invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to speak at his London church, and the whole congregation knelt to receive His blessing.
On a visit to 'Akká in 1922, Lady Blomfield slept in the room that had belonged to Ásíyih Khánum, the wife of Bahá'u'lláh, and wrote to her daughter about the peaceful feeling of that room.
In 1852, while Bahá'u'lláh lay chained in the Black Pit, His wife went out late at night to learn whether He was still alive, and six-year-old Bahíyyih Khánum waited in the dark holding her baby brother.
For two years Bahíyyih Khánum and her family did not know where Bahá'u'lláh had gone, until news of a holy dervish in the mountains led to His return.
'Alí Khán, the strict warden of the fortress of Máh-Kú, let almost no one see his Prisoner, the Báb, until something he saw one morning at dawn changed his heart.
One by one, eighteen seekers found the Báb, each by his own search, and became His first followers, the Letters of the Living.
Quddús, the leader of the believers at Fort Ṭabarsí, was betrayed by a broken promise and killed in his home town. On his last day he prayed for the people who hurt him and spoke of his death as his wedding.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed away in Haifa, about ten thousand people of every religion and race followed His coffin up Mount Carmel to the Shrine of the Báb.
Nabíl followed Bahá'u'lláh from 'Iráq to 'Akká, teaching His Cause wherever he went. When Bahá'u'lláh passed away in 1892, Nabíl's grief was more than he could bear.
The friends wanted to celebrate 'Abdu'l-Bahá's birthday, but that day belonged to the Báb. So He gave them 26 November, the Day of the Covenant. In one of His tablets He urged the believers to be firm.
When Bahá'u'lláh went to the Garden of Riḍván, the river overflowed, and His family could not join Him there until the ninth day.
A lady who could not walk longed to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá. When He heard about her wish, He went to her home to see her.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá's ship reached New York in April 1912, reporters came on board to ask why He had come. He told them He had come for universal peace and the unity of humankind.
In Boston in 1912, a speaker warned a large audience that a false Christ had come to America. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, speaking next, told them of the truth of all the Prophets of God, and especially of Christ.
On December 5, 1912, many friends came aboard the ship Celtic in New York to say goodbye to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. In His last words to them He said that the whole earth is one globe and all nations are one family.
Nettie Tobin had no money to give, so she brought a stone the builders did not want to the land for a House of Worship. On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set her stone in the ground with His own hands.
When two Japanese Bahá'ís came to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá in San Francisco, He was very happy and said that their meeting was an historic event.
In a San Francisco synagogue, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about Moses and then asked His Jewish listeners why they should not also praise Christ and Muḥammad.
Louis Gregory had not been invited to a luncheon for 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Washington, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for him and gave him the seat of honor beside Himself.
In city after city on His journey across America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá met the children, hugged and blessed them, and gave them flowers and sweets.
'Abdu'l-Bahá could stay only two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul. In that time He spoke at His hotel, a club, a synagogue and two friends' homes.
In a large church in Philadelphia, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about two pathways, the way of nature and the way of religion, and said that religion must bring people together.
In Pittsburgh in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught that laws should help the poor and that the rich should give to them from willing hearts.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited about four hundred poor men at the Bowery Mission, called them His friends and companions, and placed a coin in every hand.
After traveling across America and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and welcomed the many friends and visitors who came to see Him before He sailed away.
As He left a country house in Milford, 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked at the green countryside all around and began to cry, because He was remembering the sufferings of His Father, Bahá'u'lláh.
When 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from New York in December 1912, so many friends came to say goodbye that the ship's lounge overflowed. He asked them to live by His teachings, and they waved to Him as the ship sailed away.
A woman's friend warned her that going to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá might be a trap. He told her it was a trap, but a trap that sets people free.
In a New York church crowded with two thousand people, a crying woman held on to the hem of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's robe, and He comforted her with loving words.
A crowd of boys came to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York. The only Black boy among them was afraid he would not be welcome, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá greeted him, loud enough for all to hear, as a black rose.
'Abdu'l-Bahá asked Lua Getsinger to take food to a sick, poor man and care for him. She ran from the dirty house, and He sent her back, telling her He had done it for the man many times.
Howard Colby Ives invited 'Abdu'l-Bahá to speak at the church he had named the Brotherhood Church. When 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on brotherhood, Howard felt ashamed of how little he had lived the word.
A few days before 'Abdu'l-Bahá sailed from America, Howard Colby Ives sat close to Him as He gave His last instructions to His friends, and later put all of the words into his book.
Howard Colby Ives wished he could meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá alone, without even an interpreter. At a crowded New York hotel, 'Abdu'l-Bahá called him over, sent everyone out, and sat with him in silence.
In 1937 Mary Maxwell of Montreal married Shoghi Effendi in Haifa. Almost no one knew beforehand, and there was no celebration, no wedding dress and no reception.
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.
At noisy family lunches in the Master's house, the children watched for the mouthful of food the Greatest Holy Leaf would give to one of them. Shoghi Effendi usually got it.
In 'Akká a small boy, Shoghi, walked up to his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who greeted him with a quiet nod; the boy kissed the hem of His robe and ran off to play.
On a July morning in 1909 at Bahjí, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sat on the floor among four children, sweetened their tea and fed it to them. Later, looking out over the sea, He said that America and the Holy Land are one.
A boy of about thirteen, the only Black boy in a group visiting 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York, was afraid he might not be welcome. 'Abdu'l-Bahá called him "a black rose" in front of everyone.
In 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá united two American Bahá'ís in marriage. At the wedding, before guests from many countries, He chanted a prayer for them.
On the winter journey into exile from Tihrán to Baghdád, Ásíyih Khánum cared for her family with her own hands, and one night made Bahá'u'lláh a cake in the dark, using salt instead of sugar.
A visitor began complaining to 'Abdu'l-Bahá about his country. 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him to speak well of everyone and reminded him of a story about Jesus and a dog.
During her 1909 pilgrimage, Juliet Thompson, held back by shyness, was called to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room. As she wept, He wiped away her tears and said to her, “Speak. Speak to Me!”
When Helen Goodall, Ella Cooper and Harriet Wise came from California to New York in 1912, they found ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sitting on the steps of the house where He was staying, waiting for them. Days later He spoke to them of the kindness of God.
After His Friday-morning gifts to the poor of ‘Akká in 1907, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told Corinne True that some of them were His enemies, yet He was kind to them, and explained how scarce work was in the city.
In Chicago in 1912 young Leroy Ioas bought white carnations for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá but asked his father to present them. After the talk, the Master turned to the boy and gave him the red rose from His own coat.
Near the end of Louis Gregory’s pilgrimage, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expressed the wish that he and Louisa Mathew, a white English pilgrim, should marry. They did, and their marriage endured many pressures as a symbol of the unity of the races.
In ‘Akká, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger to care for a poor, sick friend of His. When she fled the filthy house, He sent her back to clean it, bathe the man and feed him, as He Himself had done many times.
Worn out by years of travel-teaching with no home of their own, Mable Ives (Rizwanea) agreed to spend one day in prayer before deciding to stop, and was brought to submission, gratitude and love for her circumstances.
On her pilgrimage May Bolles heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tell how Bahá’u’lláh stayed three days with a poor hermit in his cave and shared his dry meat, dark bread and spring water as though it were a banquet.
Mary Revell of Philadelphia secretly hoped to kiss the hem of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s robe, as a Bahá’í in Iran had asked her to. The Master crossed the crowd and stood before her just long enough.
On her 1898–99 pilgrimage May Bolles found joy in the Master’s presence, then spoke unkindly of a fellow believer. His gentle, compassionate gaze at supper moved her to tears, and His smile restored her.
When the Cedric reached New York on 11 April 1912, reporters came aboard to ask 'Abdu'l-Bahá why He had come. He told them His object was universal peace and the unity of humankind.
'Abdu'l-Bahá visited Boston three times in 1912. He addressed the Unitarian conference at Tremont Temple and the Free Religious Association at Ford Hall, spoke to journalists about peace, and later stayed a week at Malden.
On December 5, 1912, Mahmúd's Diary records, a great crowd of believers from New York and other cities filled the lounge of the SS *Celtic* to bid 'Abdu'l-Bahá farewell. In His parting address He summed up the teaching of His American journey: the whole earth is one globe, and all nations one family.
On May 1, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá dug the ground for the House of Worship at Wilmette with a golden trowel, American delegates and Eastern believers continued the digging, and He set in place the stone Nettie Tobin had brought.
When two Japanese Bahá'ís called on 'Abdu'l-Bahá in San Francisco on 4 October 1912, He called their meeting an historic event, brought about through the power of Bahá'u'lláh.
In July 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá learned that the mother of Mrs Zieglar, unable to walk, longed to see Him. On His return to New York He went straight to her home.
On October 12, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to some two thousand people at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He honoured Moses, showed how Christ and Muḥammad had upheld Him, and asked why Jews should not now praise Them in turn.
On April 23, 1912, at a Washington luncheon given in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's honor by Ali-Kuli Khan, the Master asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, and gave him the seat of honor at His right.
In Washington, Chicago, Kenosha, St. Paul, San Francisco and New York, Mahmúd's Diary records 'Abdu'l-Bahá meeting children during His 1912 journey: embracing and kissing them, taking them on His lap, and giving them flowers and sweets.
In September 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent two days in Minneapolis and St. Paul, speaking at His hotel, the Commercial Club, a synagogue and the homes of Albert Hall and Dr Clement Woolson.
In June 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at two churches in Philadelphia. At the Baptist Temple He described the pathway of nature and the pathway of religion, and set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
On May 7, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent a day in Pittsburgh. At the Hotel Schenley He met visitors, set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh at an evening meeting, and then spoke with a group of philosophers, doctors and journalists.
In April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Bowery Mission in New York to about four hundred poor men, telling them that Jesus Himself had been poor and that the poor are very dear to God. Then He stood at the door and gave each man a coin.
After His journey to California and back, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned to New York in November 1912 and received crowds of friends and seekers until He sailed on the Celtic on 5 December.
As 'Abdu'l-Bahá left a country estate at Milford, Pennsylvania, in June 1912, He looked at its lush greenery and wept, remembering the sufferings of Bahá'u'lláh.
On December 5, 1912, believers crowded aboard the Celtic in New York to bid 'Abdu'l-Bahá farewell. He gave them His parting words, and as the ship sailed, a throng stretching as far as the eye could see waved goodbye.
In Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, a woman told 'Abdu'l-Bahá that a friend had warned her the meeting might be a trap. He answered that it was a trap, but one that frees people.
After 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at the Church of the Ascension in New York in April 1912, a weeping woman in the crowd held fast to the hem of His robe, and He calmed her with loving words.
In Chicago in November 1912 a visitor from Russia began complaining to 'Abdu'l-Bahá about his country. The Master told him to speak ill of no one and reminded him of Christ's words about a dead dog.
Another of those who left their homeland to become our neighbors and fellow prisoners was ‘Abdu’l-Ghaffár of Iṣfáhán.
This man of God came from the district of Tafrísh. He was detached from the world, fearless, independent of kindred and stranger alike.
Áqá Ṣidq-‘Alí was yet one more of those who left their native land, journeyed to Bahá’u’lláh and were put in the Prison.
'Abdu'l-Bahá remembers His uncle Mírzá Músá, Áqáy-i-Kalím, the true brother of Bahá'u'lláh, who shared His exiles from Ṭihrán to 'Akká and remained steadfast to the very end.
Yet another of the emigrants and settlers was the valiant Jamshíd-i-Gurjí, who came from Georgia, but grew up in the city of Káshán.
Among the exiles, neighbors, and prisoners there was also a second Mír Imád, the eminent calligrapher, Mishkín-Qalam.
This man, noble and high-minded, was the son of the respected ‘Abdu’l-Faṭṭaḥ who was in the Akká prison.
Muḥammad-Muṣṭafá was a blazing light.
The late Pidar-Ján was among those believers who emigrated to Baghdád.
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.
Sulaymán Khán was the emigrant and settler who was given the title of Jamálí’d-Dín.
One of the emigrants who died along the way to the Holy Land was Zaynu’l-Ábidín of Yazd.
This distinguished man was one of the greatest of all the Báb’s companions and all the loved ones of Bahá’u’lláh.
On pilgrimage to 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá noticed that Robert Turner, Phoebe Hearst's butler, was absent, asked for him, and rose to greet him with words of love. Shoghi Effendi later praised the tenacity of his faith.
In 1872, on her way to 'Akká, Munírih Khánum stayed in Shíráz and asked Khadíjih-Bagum, the wife of the Báb, about her marriage. She recalled her dreams, her life with the Báb, and the night Mullá Ḥusayn came.
Munírih Khánum writes that the fifty years of her married life with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and His love, mercy and bounty, could never be adequately described.
Ṭúbá Khánum, a granddaughter of Bahá'u'lláh, recalls His last illness at Bahjí in 1892, His final words to the believers and the family, and the nine days of mourning the Master arranged after His passing.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls how her mother, May Maxwell, was broken by grief after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and how a pilgrimage to Haifa in 1923 to meet Shoghi Effendi restored her.
No one could claim to be ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s teacher, yet Bahá’u’lláh approved His answers to religious questions with “very good”; His wisdom and love brought a change of heart to people such as Horace Holley.
Nabíl-i-Zarandí left his family in youth, sought out Bahá'u'lláh, and spent his life travelling and teaching at His direction. 'Abdu'l-Bahá records his devotion and his grief at Bahá'u'lláh's passing.
Pidar-Ján, a poor old believer in Baghdád, sold socks for a living but was so absorbed in prayer that thieves took them from his outstretched hands. The friends called him Father Dear.
Dr J. E. Esslemont, who had been 'Abdu'l-Bahá's guest in Haifa, describes His peaceful passing and a funeral attended by about ten thousand people of many faiths, which he saw as proof that His life's work had not been in vain.
On Friday, 25 November 1921, 'Abdu'l-Bahá went to the noon prayer and gave alms to the poor. On Sunday, unable to leave the house, He received the Muftí and the Mayor of Haifa, and early on Monday He passed away.
After 'Abdu'l-Bahá's passing, Shoghi Effendi, stricken with grief, left the Holy Land for a time and placed the affairs of the Faith under the headship of the Greatest Holy Leaf, Bahíyyih Khánum, who administered them in consultation with the Holy Family.
After Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked the chronicler Nabíl to select passages from Bahá'u'lláh's Writings to form the Tablet of Visitation, the text now recited in the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb.
Túbá Khánum, a daughter of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, remembers Bahá'u'lláh's last illness at Bahjí, His farewell to the family, and the nine days of mourning in which the Master received more than five hundred guests and gave to the poor.
Six days before His ascension in May 1892, Bahá'u'lláh called the believers and pilgrims at the Mansion of Bahjí to His bedside, thanked them for their services, and prayed that God would assist them to remain united.
Nabíl of Zarand left his home as a youth to teach the new Faith, wrote odes in praise of Bahá'u'lláh and travelled on His errands. From 1888 he wrote the chronicle published in English as The Dawn-Breakers.
On the Tuesday after 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed away in Haifa in November 1921, no fewer than ten thousand people of every religion and race followed His coffin up Mount Carmel, where nine speakers of the Muslim, Jewish and Christian Faiths gave funeral orations.
When Bahá'u'lláh was a child, His father, the Vazír Mírzá Buzurg, dreamed of Him swimming in a limitless ocean with a multitude of fishes clinging to His hair. A soothsayer said the ocean was the world of being.
Years later, the wife of the Báb told Munírih Khánum of the dreams that came before their marriage, of His hours of prayer, and of the night Mullá Ḥusayn came to their home in Shíráz.
Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid 'Alí raised the Báb after His father's death, stood surety for Him before the governor of Shíráz, and in 1850 gave his life in Tihrán rather than deny Him.
'Abdu'l-Bahá would not let His birthday be kept, for May 23 belonged to the Báb's Declaration. When the Bahá'ís begged for a day of His own, He gave them November 26. Star of the West records how they kept it.
In December 1898 the first pilgrims from the West began to reach 'Akká to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá. One of them, Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper, later described entering the prison-city by night with Phoebe Hearst and being led up to the Master by candlelight.
The Báb told Mullá Ḥusayn that the last of His first eighteen disciples would arrive the next night. The next evening a travel-stained youth recognised the Báb in the street by His gait. He was Quddús, the last of the Letters of the Living and the first in rank.
In Ṭihrán in 1844 Mullá Ḥusayn learned from a young student of Núr about a son of Mírzá Buzurg who fed the hungry and befriended the poor. He sent Him a scroll by the student's hand, and Bahá'u'lláh, reading it, affirmed its truth.
Nabíl-i-A'ẓam, who was in the Garden of Riḍván in 1863, recalled the roses heaped each morning in Bahá'u'lláh's tent and the night Bahá'u'lláh spoke of the nightingales.
Bahá'u'lláh entered the Garden of Riḍván on 22 April 1863. That same day the Tigris overflowed, and the rest of His family could not join Him until the ninth day, which Bahá'ís now keep as a Holy Day.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, then eighteen, arranged His Father's stay in the Garden of Riḍván and crossed the Tigris with Him. There, The Chosen Highway relates, Bahá'u'lláh confided to Him that He was "He Whom God shall make Manifest."
When Agnes Parsons made her pilgrimage in 1920, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to arrange a convention in Washington for amity between the white and colored races. It met in May 1921, and Mountfort Mills read a message from the Master to it.
In 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent Lua Getsinger to care for a poor, sick friend of His. She fled the filthy house, and He sent her back to clean it and to bathe and feed the man, telling her to see in him the image and likeness of God.
On Christmas night 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to about a thousand homeless men at the Salvation Army shelter in Westminster, and left money so that they could have another dinner on New Year's night.
On 29 September 1911, the eve of His departure for Paris, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave His farewell address to London at the Passmore Edwards Settlement, telling some four hundred and sixty people that the whole earth is one home.
Louis Gregory, an African American lawyer, and Louisa Mathew, an Englishwoman, met as pilgrims in 1911. 'Abdu'l-Bahá expressed the wish that they marry, and on 27 September 1912 they became the first interracial Bahá'í couple in America.
In Paris on 28 October 1911 'Abdu'l-Bahá compared humanity to a garden. A garden where every plant was the same would be dull, He said, and the diversity of the human family should be the cause of love and harmony.
During her 1905 pilgrimage to 'Akká, Julia Grundy recorded 'Abdu'l-Bahá telling His guests at dinner that they were all of one family, joined in spiritual relationship, and serving a Feast where believers of East and West sat together.
In Baghdád, after His return from Sulaymáníyyih, Bahá'u'lláh answered the mystical questions of Shaykh Muḥyi'd-Dín, a Ṣúfí judge of Khániqayn, with the Seven Valleys, which describes the soul's journey toward God in seven stages.
In December 1919 'Abdu'l-Bahá answered a wartime letter from the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at The Hague. He praised their aim and set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh on which a lasting peace must rest.
In Baghdád, about 1858, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Hidden Words as He paced the banks of the Tigris in meditation. He described the book as the inner essence of what had been revealed to the Prophets of old.
Mírzá Muḥammad-'Alíy-i-Zunúzí, called Anís, was confined by his stepfather for his love of the Báb. In a vision the Báb promised that he would share His martyrdom, and on 9 July 1850 he died beside Him in Tabríz.
Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, healed in Baghdád through words given by Bahá'u'lláh, stayed behind as bidden when the exiles left the city. After Bahá'u'lláh reached Mosul he could bear the separation no longer, ran after Him, and died on the open plain.
In December 1898 the first of fifteen Western pilgrims, travelling in three parties arranged by Phoebe Hearst, reached 'Akká and met 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Shoghi Effendi saw in their visit the opening of a new epoch for the Faith in the West.
In November 1849, grieving for the martyrs of Shaykh Ṭabarsí, the Báb sent His attendant Sayyáh from Chihríq to visit their resting-place, asking him to return before Naw-Rúz, "the only one I probably shall ever see again."
Mírzá Asadu'lláh Káshání and other companions pitched Bahá'u'lláh's tent in the Garden of Riḍván, cooked and made tea, held the tent ropes through days of wind, and kept watch at night during the twelve days of 1863.
Bahá'u'lláh crossed the Tigris to the Garden of Riḍván on 22 April 1863 with three of His sons. The river overflowed that day, and the rest of His family joined Him only on the ninth day, 30 April.
'Abdu'l-Bahá was eighteen when He crossed the Tigris with Bahá'u'lláh to the Garden of Riḍván in 1863. Shoghi Effendi records that He had recognized His Father's station while still a child.
Ásíyih Khánum, whom Bahá'u'lláh called Navváb, lost her wealth and home when He was imprisoned in Ṭihrán, and shared His exile. In 1863 she and the rest of the family joined Him in the Garden of Riḍván on the ninth day.
Nabíl recalled that each morning in the Garden of Riḍván roses were heaped in Bahá'u'lláh's tent, and He sent them to His friends in Baghdád. A flooded river kept His family from joining Him there until the ninth day.
In 1844, riding in the district of Núr, Bahá'u'lláh stopped to speak with a dervish cooking by a brook. The dervish left his utensils behind, followed Him on foot, and sang: "Thou art the Light of Truth."
For nearly sixty years believers kept the remains of the Báb hidden from His enemies. On Naw-Rúz 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá laid them with His own hands in a tomb on Mount Carmel, on the spot Bahá'u'lláh had chosen, and wept over the casket.
On 23 April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Howard University in Washington to an audience of Black and white listeners. He told them there are no whites and blacks before God, and compared humanity to a garden of many-colored flowers.
On 10 September 1911, His first Sunday in England, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke from the pulpit of the City Temple in London at the invitation of its pastor, R. J. Campbell. It was the first public address of His life.
Returning to Paris from her 1898–99 pilgrimage to 'Akká, May Bolles established, at 'Abdu'l-Bahá's instruction, the first Bahá'í centre on the European continent, where Thomas Breakwell, Hippolyte Dreyfus and Laura Barney came to the Faith.
Returning to Baghdád from Kurdistán in 1856, Bahá'u'lláh found the Bábí community dispirited and divided. Through His counsels and His writings He restored its faith and reformed its conduct.
Robert Turner, Phoebe Hearst's butler, went with her party on the first Western pilgrimage to 'Akká. When he was missing from a gathering, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for him, rose to greet him and had him sit with the other pilgrims.
In Baghdád 'Abdu'l-Bahá grew into a youth beloved by all who knew Him. The Chosen Highway records how, before the exile of 1863, He shielded His Father, arranged His move to the Garden of Riḍván and set out with Him on the journey to Constantinople.
When Bahá'u'lláh left Baghdád in 1863, friends and strangers wept in the streets. On the day He rode out of the Garden of Riḍván, an eyewitness wrote, believers and unbelievers alike sobbed and lamented.
Lady Blomfield recalls meals with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in her London home: He served guests with His own hands, shared a poor workman’s gift of dry bread, and seated the humblest guests at His right hand.
John Bosch, a Swiss-born believer who felt he could not be a speaker, told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that all he did was give away pamphlets and books; the Master assured him that with him it was the heart that speaks.
On 5 May 1912 in Chicago, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called each of some 35 children to Him with great tenderness, told them they were His spiritual children, and invited them all to Lincoln Park for a photograph.
On 23 May 1912 Alice Breed baked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a cake with sixty-eight candles; but He, who had forbidden the celebration of His birthday, spoke only of the Báb’s Declaration and soon left the festivities.
While ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was staying at the Maxwell home in Montreal in 1912, little Mary Maxwell slipped into His room as He rested, pushed up His eyelids, and He took her in His arms.
Fred Mortensen, a former street tough, rode under and on top of railway trains to reach Green Acre and meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who, on hearing how he had come, kissed his cheeks and his dirty hat.
On pilgrimage in 1911 Louis Gregory heard ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urge the races to intermarry; the next year the Master encouraged his marriage to Louisa Mathew, the first marriage between a Black and a white Bahá’í.
Agnes Parsons told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá she had tried not to dwell on her late mother, and He said she had done right, for the spirit of the departed rejoices in the joy of the loved one.
When May Maxwell fell ill on pilgrimage, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá cancelled the pilgrims’ meeting on Mount Carmel, saying none of them could be happy unless all the beloved were happy.
When Stanwood Cobb arrived in Haifa ill with dysentery, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent His own physician, visited him Himself, and said He wished He could take the illness upon Himself.
Asked why His guests always came away with shining faces, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá smiled and said that in everyone He looked upon He saw only His Father’s Face.
Asked what a Bahá’í is, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered that it means to love all the world, to love and serve humanity, and to work for universal peace and brotherhood.
When Howard Colby Ives, then a Unitarian minister, impatiently disputed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s interpretation of Christ’s words, the Master looked at him with love and said softly that Ives should try his way and He would try His.
Asked how one should live, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered, “Be kind to everyone.” He told Juliet Thompson never to let anyone speak unkindly of another in her presence.
Out driving in London, Mrs Thornburgh-Cropper asked 'Abdu'l-Bahá whether He longed to be back with His family in Haifa. He told her and Lady Blomfield that they were as beloved to Him as His own.
A man who had resolved to end his life saw 'Abdu'l-Bahá's picture in a shop window and walked thirty miles to find Him in London. The Master welcomed him and gave him new hope.
In the mountains of Kurdistan, Bahá'u'lláh stopped to help a crying boy who had been punished for poor writing. His copy was so beautiful that the schoolmaster knew its writer was no ordinary dervish.
On a carriage ride near Thonon-les-Bains, 'Abdu'l-Bahá stopped at an old inn, where children selling violets clustered around Him. He gave them francs from His pocket.
Anna Kunz, one of the last pilgrims to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in 1921, later recalled above all His great simplicity, His humility and His boundless love.
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.
On May 23, 1912, over a hundred guests gathered at the Breed home in Cambridge, where a cake with sixty-eight candles awaited 'Abdu'l-Bahá; He spoke only of the Báb's Declaration and soon left.
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.
Howard Colby Ives recalls a Sunday in New York in April 1912 when some twenty or thirty boys from the East Side came to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and He welcomed the only Black boy among them, before them all, as a black rose.
On pilgrimage in 'Akká, Lua Getsinger was sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to care for a sick, poor friend of His, and fled from the filthy house. He sent her back, telling her He had done this for the man many times.
On May 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke on brotherhood at the Brotherhood Church in Jersey City, where Howard Colby Ives was the unpaid minister. Ives, who had named the church, felt ashamed of how little he had lived the word.
On December 2, 1912, three days before He sailed from America, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave His last instructions to a group of friends in New York. Howard Colby Ives, sitting close to Him, later quoted the talk in full.
A group of boys from New York's East Side came to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The only Black boy among them feared he might not be welcome, and the Master greeted him before them all as "a black rose."
In April 1912 Howard Colby Ives went without an appointment to the Hotel Ansonia in New York. 'Abdu'l-Bahá beckoned him across a crowded room, sent everyone else out, and sat with him alone.
On 17 July 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá united Harlan Ober and Grace Robarts in marriage. At the evening ceremony, performed by Howard Colby Ives before guests from many lands, the Master chanted a prayer for the couple.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls her marriage to Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937: a visit to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, a simple ceremony in the room of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and no celebration at all.
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 once described to Rúḥíyyih Khánum the noisy family lunches of his childhood, when the grandchildren watched for the mouthful of food the Greatest Holy Leaf would give to one of them. It usually went to him.
In 'Akká in 1899 the American pilgrim Ella Goodall Cooper watched the small Shoghi Effendi walk up to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who greeted him with a silent nod; the boy kissed the hem of His robe and ran off to play.
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.
Salle de l’Athenée, St Germain, Paris, November 9th I wish to express my gratitude for your hospitality, and my joy that you are spiritually minded.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 12th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I have spoken to you of some of the principles of Bahá’u’lláh: The Search after Truth and The Unity of Mankind.
Friday evening, October 20th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: Numerous meetings are held in Paris every day for different purposes, to discuss politics, commerce, education, art, science and many other subjects.
Thursday, October 26th God’s greatest gift to man is that of intellect, or understanding.
November 8th All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled and noble precepts admired.
November 6th This is in truth a Bahá’í house. Every time such a house or meeting place is founded it becomes one of the greatest aids to the general development of the town and country to which it belongs.
November 2nd ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: How beautiful the weather is today, the sky is clear, the sun shines, and the heart of man is made glad thereby!
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 17th In the conduct of life, man is actuated by two main motives: ‘The Hope for Reward’ and ‘The Fear of Punishment’.
October 27th The basis of the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the Unity of Mankind, and his greatest desire was that love and goodwill should live in the heart of men.
November 15th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: You are all very welcome, and I love you all most dearly.
October 16th and 17th, 1911 When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere.
November 3rd Paris is becoming very cold, so cold that I shall soon be obliged to go away, but the warmth of your love still keeps me here.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 13th All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world’s sickness.
97 Cadogan Gardens, London, Saturday, January 4th, 1913 What a power is love!
4 Avenue de Camöens, Wednesday, October 25th I regret much that I have kept you waiting this morning, but I have so much to do in a short time for the Cause of the love of God.
15 Rue Greuze, Paris, December 1st When I arrived in Paris some time ago for the first time, I looked around me with much interest, and in my mind I likened this beautiful city to a large garden.
November 23rd ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: You should all be very happy and thankful to God for the great privilege that is yours.
October 21st ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I hope you are all happy and well.
November 11th I spoke yesterday of the first principle of the Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘The Search for Truth’; how it is necessary for a man to put aside all in the nature of superstition, and every tradition which would blind his eyes to the existence of truth in all religions.
October 22nd ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: It is a lovely day, the sun shines brightly upon the earth, giving light and warmth to all creatures.
November 9th In the Gospel according to St John, Christ has said: ‘Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.’
November 1st Today is a day of rejoicing in Paris! They are celebrating the Festival of ‘All Saints’. Why do you think that these people were called ‘Saints’?
October 24th An Indian said to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘My aim in life is to transmit as far as in me lies the message of Krishna to the world.’
November 21st Ferocity and savagery are natural to animals, but men should show forth the qualities of love and affection.
November 26th I am deeply touched by the sympathetic words which have been addressed to me, and I hope that day by day true love and affection may grow among us.
On April 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to several hundred poor and homeless men at the Bowery Mission in New York, called them His friends and comrades, and afterwards placed silver coins in each man's hand.
At the Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn in June 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá praised a pulpit open to every belief, and said that religious discord comes from ancestral imitations, not from the one reality all religions share.
On June 2, 1912, speaking for the second time at the Church of the Ascension in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá described the church as a collective center and the Manifestations of God as the real Collective Centers of mankind.
On June 15, 1912, in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the Bahá'ís that He did not want them distinguished by wealth or worldly success, but by love, justice, steadfastness and service to humanity.
At the Church of the Divine Paternity in New York on May 19, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá taught that religions are many but the reality of religion is one, that religion must agree with science, and that it must bring unity.
At a Washington synagogue on 8 November 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá argued that Christ had spread the Torah and the name of Moses throughout the world, and that Christians and Jews should therefore love one another.
At the Town Hall in Fanwood, New Jersey, on 31 May 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá traced the weakness of religion to the hatred between sects and to blind imitation, and said that the Prophets, as true shepherds, come to unite people.
On 5 December 1912, before sailing from New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to the believers who crowded aboard the Celtic to say goodbye, telling them that the earth is one native land and asking them to offend no heart.
At Green Acre on 16 August 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá described four ways of reaching knowledge and showed that none is reliable alone, spoke on love and the immortality of the spirit, and prayed for the recovery of Sarah Farmer.
At the Hotel Plaza in Chicago on 3 May 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that philosophers can educate only a few, while the Prophets of God bestow universal education, and He commended Bahá'u'lláh's Hidden Words.
On April 23, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá addressed Howard University in Washington, D.C., one of the foremost Black universities in the country. Rejoicing to see white and black seated together, He told them that before God there are no whites and blacks, and that humanity is a garden whose many-colored flowers are its adornment.
On April 30, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Hull House, the Chicago settlement house founded by Jane Addams in 1889. With Miss Addams presiding, He spoke to a crowded hall of white and Black listeners on the unity of the races, whose differences of color He likened to the flowers of one garden.
Addressing the NAACP's Fourth Annual Conference in Chicago on April 30, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that color is accidental, that the true measure of a person is spirit and intelligence, and that the purity of the heart is what matters.
On October 7, 1912, at the Japanese Independent Church in Oakland, California, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the Japanese Young Men's Christian Association that all war has come from prejudice, recalling a religious war He had seen in Rumelia.
At the Krug home on Park Avenue, New York, on July 15, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá contrasted thanks spoken by the tongue with thanks felt in the heart and shown in deeds, and asked the friends to love one another.
On October 12, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. He praised Moses and asked His Jewish hearers why they, in turn, should not acknowledge Christ and Muḥammad.
At a dinner at the Parsons home in Washington on April 22, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told how a Zoroastrian high priest lost his prejudice against Muḥammad, and compared it with the power that had brought East and West to one table.
On 1 October 1911 in London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá performed the marriage of Mírzá Yuhanna Dáwúd and Núr Mahal Khánum, telling them He had never before united anyone in marriage except His own daughters.
At Naw-Rúz 1863, in His tent outside Baghdád, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Tablet of the Holy Mariner. His companions were filled with sorrow when they heard it, and the next day He was told He must go to Constantinople.
Rene made a basket of flowers for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. When she saw another girl leaving His room with it, she was upset at first, then came to understand the true meaning of giving.
When Ridvaniyyih Khánum’s little daughter died, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá comforted her with the image of a Divine Gardener moving a young tree to a better place. Lady Blomfield adds that after her own mother died, a friend dreamed of seeing her young and joyful in a garden.
In Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10, it is said: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and…
Question.—In verse 22 of chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians it is written: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
You question about eternal life and the entrance into the Kingdom.
Question.—Those who are blessed with good actions and universal benevolence, who have praiseworthy characteristics, who act with love and kindness toward all creatures, who care for the poor …
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord!
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God! I beg Thee to forgive me and those who support Thy Faith. Verily Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Forgiver, the Most Generous.
God hath, at all times and under all conditions, been wholly independent of His creatures.
I beg Thee to forgive me, O my Lord, for every mention but the mention of Thee, and for every praise but the praise of Thee, and for every delight but delight in Thy nearness, and for every pleasure but the pleasure of communion with Thee …
Immeasurably exalted art Thou, O my God, above the endeavours of all beings and created things to praise Thee and recognize Thee.
It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God’s tender mercy …
It is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer, supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents.
Thou art God, no God is there but Thee. Lauded and glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art supreme over the realm of being and Thy power pervadeth all created things.
Let Me set forth some rational arguments for thee. If someone desireth to embrace the Faith of Islám today, would the testimony of God prove conclusive for him?
O Lord! Enable all the peoples of the earth to gain admittance into the Paradise of Thy Faith, so that no created being may remain beyond the bounds of Thy good-pleasure.
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 My God! There is no one but Thee to allay the anguish of my soul, and Thou art my highest aspiration, O my God.
O Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love.
Praised and glorified art Thou, O God! Grant that the day of attaining Thy holy presence may be fast approaching.
Thou knowest full well, O my God, that tribulations have showered upon me from all directions and that no one can dispel or transmute them except Thee.
Thou seest, O my Lord, my dwelling-place in the heart of this mountain and Thou dost witness my forbearance.
Through Thy revelation, O my God, Thou hast enabled me to know Thee, and through the radiance of Thine effulgent splendour Thou hast inspired me with Thy remembrance.
Verily I am Thy servant, O my God, and Thy poor one and Thy suppliant and Thy wretched creature.
Vouchsafe unto me, O my God, the full measure of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and through the attractions of Thy resplendent light enrapture our hearts, O Thou Who art the Supreme Evidence and the All-Glorified.
Whenever the faithful hear the verses of this Book being recited, their eyes will overflow with tears and their hearts will be deeply touched by Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance for the love they cherish for God, the All-Praised.
O peoples of the world! The Sun of Truth hath risen to illumine the whole earth, and to spiritualize the community of man.
O thou dear handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received and its contents noted. Thou didst ask for a rule whereby to guide thy life.
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 …
O handmaid of God!... To the mothers must be given the divine Teachings and effective counsel, and they must be encouraged and made eager to train their children, for the mother is the first educator of the child.
Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings.
As to thy question regarding the education of children: it behoveth thee to nurture them at the breast of the love of God, and urge them onward to the things of the spirit, that they may turn their faces unto God …
O thou daughter of the Kingdom! Thy letter dated 5 December 1918 was received.
O thou who hast drawn nigh unto the spirit of Christ in the Kingdom of God!
O lover of humankind! Thy letter hath been received, and it telleth, God be praised, of thy health and well-being.
O captive of the love of God! The letter which thou didst write at the time of thy departure hath been received.
O thou believer in the oneness of God! Know thou that nothing profiteth a soul save the love of the All-Merciful, nothing lighteth up a heart save the splendour that shineth from the realm of the Lord.
O thou son of the Kingdom! Thy most agreeable letters, with their pleasing style, ever gladden our hearts. When the song is of the Kingdom, it rejoiceth the soul.
O thou flame of God’s love! What thou hast written hath brought great joy, for thy letter was as a garden from which roses of inner meanings spread abroad the sweet exhalations of the love of God.
O ye who are strongly attracted! O ye who are mindful! O ye who are advancing unto the Kingdom of God!
Grieve thou not over the ascension of my beloved Breakwell, for he hath risen unto a rose garden of splendours within the Abhá Paradise, sheltered by the mercy of his mighty Lord, and he is crying at the top of his voice …
O ye illumined loved ones and ye handmaids of the Merciful!
O ye two seekers after truth! Your letter was received and its contents noted.
O ye who are the chosen ones of the Abhá Kingdom!
O living flame of heavenly love! Thine heart hath been so fired with the love of God that from ten thousand leagues afar its warmth and radiance may be felt and seen.
O thou possessor of a seeing heart! Although, materially speaking, thou art deprived of physical sight, yet, praise be to God, spiritual insight is thine.
Praise be to Him through Whose splendours the earth and the heavens are aglow, through Whose fragrant breathings the gardens of holiness that adorn the hearts of the chosen are trembling for joy, to Him Who hath shed His light and brightened the face of the firmament.
Thou seest me, O my God, bowed down in lowliness, humbling myself before Thy commandments, submitting to Thy sovereignty, trembling at the might of Thy dominion, fleeing from Thy wrath, entreating Thy grace, relying upon Thy forgiveness, shaking with awe at Thy fury.
It is daybreak, and from the rising-point of the invisible realms of God, the light of unity is dawning; and streaming and beating down from the hidden world of the Kingdom of oneness there cometh a flood of abounding grace.
O ye the sincere loved ones of the Abhá Beauty! In these days the Cause of God, the world over, is fast growing in power and, day by day, is spreading further and further to the utmost bounds of the earth.
O thou who art enamoured of the breaths of God! I have read thy letter, which cried out with thy love for God and thine irresistible attraction to His Beauty, and its wondrous theme did cheer my heart.
O my spiritual loved ones!
O thou who art carried away by the love of God! The Sun of Truth hath risen above the horizon of this world and cast down its beams of guidance.
O ye lovers of truth, ye servants of humankind! Out of the flowering of your thoughts and hopes, fragrant emanations have come my way, wherefore an inner sense of obligation compelleth me to pen these words.
Praise be to Him Who hath rent the dark asunder, hath blotted out the night, hath drawn aside the coverings and torn away the veils; Whose light thereupon shone out, Whose signs and tokens were spread abroad, and His mysteries laid bare.
O ye who have turned your faces toward the Exalted Beauty!
O ye servants of the Blessed Beauty!... It is clear that in this day, confirmations from the unseen world are encompassing all those who deliver the divine Message.
O ye roses in the garden of God’s love! O ye bright lamps in the assemblage of His knowledge! May the soft breathings of God pass over you, may the Glory of God illumine the horizon of your hearts.
The teaching work should under all conditions be actively pursued by the believers because divine confirmations are dependent upon it.
The Lord of all mankind hath fashioned this human realm to be a Garden of Eden, an earthly paradise.
O ye who are steadfast in the Covenant!
O ye sons and daughters of the Kingdom! Your letter was received. From its contents it was known that, praise be to God, your hearts are in the utmost purity and your souls rejoice in the glad tidings of God.
O ye concourse of the Kingdom of Abhá!
O Thou, my God, Who guidest the seeker to the pathway that leadeth aright, Who deliverest the lost and blinded soul out of the wastes of perdition, Thou Who bestowest upon the sincere great bounties and favours …
O thou who art dear, and wise! Thy letter dated 27 May 1906 hath been received and its contents are most pleasing and have brought great joy.
O thou who art serving the world of humanity! Thy letter was received and from its contents we felt exceedingly glad.
O ye two favoured handmaids of the Lord! The letter from Mother Beecher hath been received, and truly it spoke for you both, wherefore I address the two of you together.
O handmaid of God, who tremblest even as a fresh and tender branch in the winds of the love of God!
O handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received, bringing its news that an Assembly hath been established in that city.
O thou who art steadfast in the Covenant, and staunch! The letter which thou didst write ... hath been shown to me, and the opinions expressed therein were most commendable.
The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the assembly.
O ye true friends! Your letter hath been received and it brought great joy. God be praised, ye had made ready an entertainment and established the feast which is to be held every nineteen days.
Thy letter hath been received. Thou didst write of the Nineteen Day festivity, and this rejoiced my heart. These gatherings cause the divine table to descend from heaven, and draw down the confirmations of the All-Merciful.
O servant of the One true God! The Lord be praised, the loved ones of God are found in every land, and are, one and all, neath the shadow of the Tree of Life and under the protection of His good providence.
O thou who hast sought illumination from the light of guidance!
Strive with heart and soul in order to bring about union and harmony among the white and the black and prove thereby the unity of the Bahá’í world wherein distinction of colour findeth no place, but where hearts only are considered.
O thou who hast an illumined heart! Thou art even as the pupil of the eye, the very wellspring of the light, for God’s love hath cast its rays upon thine inmost being and thou hast turned thy face toward the Kingdom of thy Lord.
O thou who art pure in heart, sanctified in spirit, peerless in character, beauteous in face!
O thou dear handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received, and its contents were noted.
O thou memento of him who died for the Blessed Beauty! In recent days, the joyful news of thy marriage to that luminous leaf hath been received, and hath infinitely gladdened the hearts of the people of God.
O ye my two beloved children! The news of your union, as soon as it reached me, imparted infinite joy and gratitude.
O thou whose heart overfloweth with love for the Lord!
O God, my God!
O thou who hast bowed thyself down in prayer before the Kingdom of God!
O ye two believers in God! The Lord, peerless is He, hath made woman and man to abide with each other in the closest companionship, and to be even as a single soul.
O handmaids of the Lord! The spiritual assemblage that ye established in that illumined city is most propitious.
Thou didst write as to the children: from the very beginning, the children must receive divine education and must continually be reminded to remember their God.
In the Persian Bayán, revealed in the fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb asks the believer, after each prayer, to beg God's mercy and forgiveness for his parents, and promises a thousandfold recompense.
Writing home from Constantinople while her husband Ali-Kuli Khan was away, Florence Khan described with humour her quiet life, her devotion to him, and the ‘guardians’ he had set to watch over her.
Soon after reaching London in 1911, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warmly greeted the Rev. R. J. Campbell; on 10 September He gave His first public address in the West from the City Temple pulpit and wrote a tribute in its Bible.
Shaykh Maḥmúd, a religious leader of 'Akká, went to the barracks to kill Bahá'u'lláh and was twice turned back by messages that read his intentions. After a dream recalled a childhood prophecy, he returned and became a devoted believer.
In a 1922 talk printed in the Star of the West, Martha Root remembered Mírzá Ḥaydar-'Alí, who endured years of prison, set out as a very old man from the Holy Land for Persia without even a donkey, and was called the Angel of the believers.
When little Leslie Armstrong of Montreal died in January 1913, his parents recalled that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had filled the boy's hands with fruit, kissed him, and said he would be a shining light for God.
In 1911 Louis G. Gregory spent four days in London on his way home from visiting 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The London Bahá'ís wrote that a few such men, aflame with God's Word, could change the problems between the races.
Back from Haifa in the spring of 1922, Mountfort Mills told the American Bahá'ís at their convention about meeting Shoghi Effendi, the young Guardian appointed in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will.
In early 1922 the Star of the West printed the first detailed American accounts of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Haifa on 28 November 1921 and of His funeral on Mount Carmel.
The first issue of the Star of the West, then called Bahai News, carried a photograph of Mírzá Mihdí, the Purest Branch, and an account of his fatal fall in the barracks of 'Akká and his one request to Bahá'u'lláh.
At his last meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the United States, Stanwood Cobb was embraced and told three times, “Be on fire with the love of the Kingdom!” He later reflected that these nine words summed up the Master’s teaching.
Visiting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in ‘Akká in 1908 while troubled by depression, Stanwood Cobb was visited in his room by the Master, Who sat beside him and held his hand. From that moment, Cobb wrote, his depressive moods left him for good.
Stanwood Cobb took his elderly father to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Boston and was shocked when his father spent the interview expounding his own spiritual views. The Master smiled and listened, and the father came away feeling he had had a wonderful interview.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls that strife grieved Bahá’u’lláh because of the unhappiness it brought others, and that He would take the blame upon Himself to restore peace.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum recalls her marriage to Shoghi Effendi on 25 March 1937: a quiet visit to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, a ring, and no celebration, flowers or wedding dress.
Announce on my behalf respectful greeting to the maid-servant of God, Madam ........., and say …
Express my affection to Mrs. ... and say: “The grace of God hath chosen thee and distinguished thee for His love, that thou mayest thank Him, a thousand times in every moment. Because of this bounty, you must choose to serve the maid-servants of the Merciful.”
Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I supplicate unto Thee, O Thou my Helper! I invoke Thee, O Thou my Refuge! I utter to Thee my agonies, O Thou my Physician, and entreat Thee with all my heart, my soul and my spirit, saying: O my God!
“It is hoped that wonderful effects will be displayed in the future, that the friends of God may live and act in accord with the heavenly teachings, in order that the region of America may become the Paradise of Abha, that desert and…
My God! My God! I am a servant, miserable, humbled, submissive and low at the door of Thy Oneness, supplicating Thee with a heart full of Thy love and a face rejoiced at Thy glad-tidings!
O attracted maid-servant of God! The epistle written (and sent) through Mirza...... was received.
“O Compassionate God! Thanks be to Thee for Thou hast awakened and made (me) conscious. Thou hast given me a seeing eye and favored me with a hearing ear; hast led me to Thy Kingdom and guided me to Thy Path. Thou hast shown me the…
O God! Grant Washington happiness and peace! Illuminate that land with the light of the faces of the friends, make it a paradise of Glory, let it become an envy of the green gardens of the earth!
O Lord! O Beloved! The truthful servant, Mr. ........, abandoned home, left his native land and crossed the great ocean until he reached the shore of the Holy Land and arrived at the Blessed Spot.
“O loving God! I am a young child, a suppliant, a captive. Be Thou my refuge, my support, my protector. I am in distress: give me the means of tranquillity. I am needy: bestow upon me the treasure of the Kingdom. I am dead: give me the…
O maid-servant of God! Thy letter reached me and I prayed God to bless thee by His heavenly blessing in thy marriage with Mr. ........ and to confirm both of you with comfort and repose and the turning of your heart to the Kingdom of God.
O my dear friend!
O my dear, intimate friend!
O my God, my God! I am a servant attracted to Thee, humbly coming to the door of Thy Oneness and addressing the kingdom of Thy mercy.
O my Lord! O my Lord! I am a child of tender years. Nourish me from the breast of Thy mercy, train me in the bosom of Thy love, educate me in the school of Thy guidance and develop me under the shadow of Thy bounty!
O my spiritual beloved! The days of association and intimacy are not forgotten and the sweetness of that love and meeting is still tasted in my heart.
O my spiritual friends! What you have written is perused, all of which was an entreaty and invocation unto God and a desire for devotion unto the Most High.
O my tender friend! Verily, the union between myself and thee is on a solid foundation and a well made basis. Neither the winds can remove it nor the events of time annihilate it.
O thou dear friend! The maid-servant of God ........ hath remembered thee in her letter and hath thus made my heart busy with thy thought.
O thou advancing maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received and I was informed of its contents. Thanks be to God! thou art guided to the Light of guidance and hast attained to this most great gift.
O thou at whose mention I am rejoiced! By God, the True One, verily pure hearts are as clear and brilliant mirrors which imprint the one on the other, and hearts discover the secrets of hearts.
O thou attracted maid-servant of God! This is a blessed address.
O thou bearer of the Great-tidings of the Kingdom of God! Thy letter was received.
O thou beloved maid-servant of God! The letter, which thou hast forwarded through Mrs. ........ was received.
O thou beloved of my heart! Verily, my soul longs for thee, for the lamp of the love of Baha’ is lighted within thy heart and I love to look upon thy face, for it is glittering with the light of guidance among the creatures.
O thou bird warbling in the Garden of the Love of God!
O thou blooming rose in the garden of the Love of God! Verily, the heavenly angels address thee from the Supreme Horizon, saying …
O thou bright pearl! Endeavor, and spare no effort, and hasten to the Kingdom of thy Lord, the Lord of the shining and clear evidences and arguments.
O thou candle of the Love of God!
O thou candle shining by the light of the Love of God! That which thou hast inscribed and conceived of in thy mind was manifest and clear.
O thou confident leaf!
O thou cup overflowing with the Wine of the Love of God! Know, verily, that the doors of the Kingdom are being opened to the East and West.
O thou darling dear! Turn thy face toward the Supreme Kingdom and chant thou this commune: O Thou Pure God!
O thou daughter of the Kingdom! Thank and praise God that He hath cause thee to drink from the cup of the gifts and caused thee to suckle from the bosom of guidance while yet very young and didst possess but a few years of age.
O thou dazzling gem by the light of the Love of God!
O thou dear and honorable! I received thy last letter through his honor ........ and its contents imparted to me spiritual joy, for it indicated the high and good friendship between thee and the respectful maid-servant of God, .........
O thou dear maid-servant of God! Thy likeness (photograph) was received through Mrs. .......... and was seen. The light of faith shone in thy brow and the smile of the Kingdom in thy face.
O thou dear one! Blessed art thou, for thou hast entered into the bosom of the training of God and drunk the cup of knowledge while thou art young in age among girls.
O thou dear servant of God! Thy letter was received and its contents noted.
O thou dear sister! The letter arrived at a time when—praise be to God! —calamities and sufferings in the path of God have surrounded us from every direction and arrows and darts are flying from every bow.
O thou dear wise man! They letter was considered. Its contents were in the utmost of beauty and great joy was realized therefrom.
O thou faithful and confident! Thanks be to God that thou hast obtained that which was sought by all prophets and holy souls; namely, the knowledge of God and the love of god.
O thou faithful maid-servant of God! What thou has written me hath been seen. Indeed thou belongest to the Kingdom and thou turnest towards the Horizon of Abha.
O thou faithful one!
O thou favored maid-servant in the Threshold of the Almighty!
O thou favored maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received. Thou hast expressed joy on account of thy visit to the friends of Chicago.
O thou flame of the Love of God! What thou hast written caused joy, for that letter was like unto a rose-garden whose roses of significances bestowed the sweet odor of the love of God upon the nostrils.
O thou flower of the Rose-Garden of the Love of God! The letter which thou hast written was read.
O thou flower perfumed by the Breaths of the Love of God!
O thou Glorious Lord!
O thou handsome child! Thy spiritual father and thy good mother sent me thy radiant picture and I rejoiced on seeing it.
O thou herald of the Kingdom of God!
O thou ignited candle! The real light is the light of the love o God.
O thou illumined maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received. Praise be to God! that thou art assisted and confirmed and, through the light of the love of God, thou art an ignited candle.
O thou illumined youth! Thank thou God, for that the tongues spoke in thy praise and the pends moved with thy love, thy knowledge and thy enkindlement by the fire of the love of God.
O Thou kind God! That scattered assembly is Thine, and that gathering of friends is of Thee. Their eyes are opened, their hearts in tune with Thy love, and their ears in communion with Thy hidden mysteries.
O thou lamp glowing with the fire of the Love of God! Know that the garden drew near and the paradise hath been adorned with the sweet-basils of the knowledge of God.
O thou lamp ignited by the fire of the Love of God! I ask God to make thee a sign of love, standard of agreement, means of union and harmony and spreader of peace among the people.
O thou lamp who art enkindled with the fire of the Love of God!
O thou my beloved friend! For a long time thou didst have the longing to visit the Blessed Spot and the yearning to meet this imprisoned one.
O thou my dear friend! I am now viewing the flowers in the little garden and remembering thy rose-like face. This material rose, although it is beautiful and fragrant, yet it cannot be compared with the beauty of the friends.
O thou my spiritual companion! Two letter have reached me from you, and the contents of both I have considered.
O thou peerless, matchless, glorious martyr!
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 pure and spiritual one!
O Thou Pure God! Gaze providently at the beloved ones and the dear maid-servants in Chicago. Confer upon them Thy bounty and grace.
O thou pure soul who art kindled by the fire of the love of Baha’!
O thou rose of the Rose-Garden of the Love of God! His Holiness Christ—may my spirit be His sacrifice! —said in the Gospel, “Many are called, but few chosen.”
O thou seeker of the Divine Kingdom!
O thou seeker of the Kingdom! Thou hast forwarded thy photograph and it was considered. In thy face a brilliant light is apparent and that sparkling light is the love of God.
O thou servant of Baha’! Thy visit is accepted and thy name ever mentioned in the presence of Abdul-Baha. I forget thee not for a moment but remember thee always.
O thou servant of the True One! Thy letter was received. The meeting which was arranged with the utmost union in the studio of Miss ......... was in reality spiritual, merciful and illumined.
O thou sign of the Kingdom and the bird singing with the most wonderful melodies in the rose-garden of Paradise!
O thou slave of the Beauty of ABHA! Thy letter was received. Praise be to God! It indicated thy firmness and steadfastness in the love of God—therefore, it was the cause of happiness.
O thou son of the associate and companion of Abdul-Baha! You brought many letters with you from those regions, but on account of the great disturbance it was not possible to write the answers.
O thou son of the Kingdom! Consider the bounty of the Lord and the gifts of thy Creator.
O thou speaker in the remembrance of God! Verily I say unto thee, O servant of God!
O thou spiritual clarion! The voice of the physical clarion may travel the distance of three miles, but the harmony of the spiritual Clarion reacheth to the East and the West.
O thou spiritual friend!
O thou spiritual lad! May God uphold thee and edify thee in the flower of thy youth and in the spring-time of thy life and may He illumine thy face with the lights of advancement unto God and turning unto the Kingdom of God.
O thou spiritual maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received and its contents became known. God willing, the vision will become actualized.
O thou spiritual man and merciful being! I have read thy brilliant letter which showeth the utterance of thy praise upon the Beauty of El-ABHA, the Most Glorious.
O thou spiritual temple whose heart is drawn unto the Horizon of Certainty!
O thou that mirror in which the Light of Guidance is printed!
O thou that virtuous soul and individual who art ready for the confirmation of the Holy Spirit!
O thou tree planted in the Garden of the Love of God! Although thou art absent in body, yet, praise God! thou art present in spirit and art illuminated by the lights of the Divine Love.
O thou who are enkindled by the fire of the Love of God! Verily, I received thy good and beautiful letter and I found it to be a sign of thy love and an evidence of thy being attracted to the Beauty of El-ABHA.
O thou who are firm in the Covenant! Thou has written regarding the articles and papers which are written by the believers of God and the forwarding of them to this land for correction.
O thou who art a young tree in the Garden of the Love of God!
O thou who art advanced toward the Kingdom! Thy letter was received and its contents created joy, for it showed thy faith and assurance.
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 advancing toward the Divine Kingdom! What thou hast written was understood and noted. Thou hast asked concerning the station of this servant.
O thou who art advancing toward the Threshold of Mercifulness!
O thou who art advancing unto the Face of God!
O thou who art agitated as oceans by the winds blown from the direction of the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art always calling on God! Thank thou God for He hath guided thee to the path of His Kingdom and provided thee with the fruit of the Tree of Life, which is planted in the middle of the Ferdowee (i.e., the highest Paradise).
O thou who art assuredly believing in God!
O thou who art attached to the Beauty of God! Verily, I was rejoiced when I read thy excellent letter, which portrayed a spiritual attraction and a rejoicing at the (news) of the merciful Kingdom!
O thou who art attracted by the Breath of God!
O thou who art attracted by the brilliant lights of the Merciful One, shining from the Supreme Kingdom!
O thou who art attracted by the Fragrances of God and enkindled with the Fire wherein Moses, the Speaker, found Guidance!
O thou who art attracted by the Fragrances of the Kingdom of El-Abha!
O thou who art attracted by the Love of God! In the Persian tongue has thou written a letter; I was happy to read it.
O thou who art attracted by the Word of god to the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art attracted to God!
O thou who art attracted to the Beauty of Abha! For a period of time no news hath been outwardly received from thee, but spiritual communications are continual (between us).
O thou who art attracted to the Beauty of God! Thy letter was received. I ask from God, supplicating and entreating in the Threshold of Oneness, that thy utmost desire may become realized.
O thou who art attracted to the Beauty of the Deity!
O thou who art attracted to the Fire of the Love of God! I am cognizant of all thou hast written in thy letters.
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of God!
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of Holiness!
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of the Garden of the Covenant and art speaking the praise of the Orb of the Universe!
O thou who art attracted to the Light of Guidance!
O thou who art attracted to the Word of God!
O thou who art attracted toward the Kingdom!
O thou who art attracted unto the Beauty of ABHA!
O thou who art baptized by the Spirit of the Love of God! Be rejoiced with this great bounty and gladdened by this mighty gift!
O thou who art calling in the cities, the bearer of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art calling in the Name of God and heralding unto the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art commemorating the praises of God!
O thou who art controlled by the attraction of the Fragrances of God!
O thou who art controlled by the attractions of the Fragrance of God!
O thou who art directed toward the Light of Guidance!
O thou who art enkindled with the fire of the Love of God!
O thou who art exhilarated by the Wine of the Love of God—young in age and old in soul!
O thou who art favored in the Kingdom of the almighty! The letter that thou hast written with the utmost eloquence, compassion, humility and submission of heart and spiritual emotions, hath been read.
O thou who art firm in the Covenant and Testament! Thy letter \\\ was received and its contents became known. Thou hast written regarding the election of a committee.
O thou who art firm in the Covenant of God! Mayest thou enjoy this cup which is overflowing with the pure wine of the love of God!
O thou who art firm in the Covenant! The means of communication being severed, your letter of \\\ was received only in these days.
O thou who art honored and dear! Thy letter was received and was the source of pleasure, for thou hast not forgotten this imprisoned one and remembered Acca.
O thou who art kindled as a lamp with the Fire of the Love of God!
O thou who art kindled by the Fire of Guidance which blazed and burnt in the Tree of Sinai!
O thou who art kindled by the fire of the Love of God! Rejoice through the fragrance of God and be attracted by the melodies of the holy birds in the garden of the gifts of God!
O thou who art kindled with the fire of the Love of God! Blessed art thou, for thy letter was presented at the Blessed Spot and was read by Abdul-Baha with a delight and love which is journeying out towards all directions.
O thou who art longing for the Heavenly Kingdom! Mrs. ......... became the guide and directed thee to the path of the Kingdom and informed thee of my love.
O thou who art longing to witness the lights from the Beauty of El-ABHA!
O thou who art made happy by the Fragrances of God! Verily, I have not forgotten thee and will never forget thee.
O thou who art nurtured from the breasts of the Kingdom of God, who wert brought up in the lap of the Guidance of God!
O thou who art rejoiced at the explanation of the maid-servant of God .........!
O thou who art rejoiced by the Appearance of God!
O thou who art rejoiced by the Divine Glad-tidings! Verily I have received thy last letter and thanked God that thou didst reach Paris protected and guarded (by Him).
O thou who art remembered by Abdul-Baha!
O thou who art set aglow with the Fire burning in the Tree of Sinai!
O thou who art set aglow with the Fire of the Love of God! Verily, I read thy long letter and was informed of thy visions, which art for whosoever follows the path of the Kingdom of God.
O thou who art shining with the Kingdom’s Lights! Verily, I am informed of thine earnest desire for the Kingdom of God, thy sparkling by the love of God and thy longing for the service of the sacred and effulgent Threshold.
O thou who art sincere in the Religion of God!
O thou who art speaking the praise of god in that vast and extensive region!
O thou who art supplicating unto God! Verily I mention thee always and shall never forget thee forever and ever.
O thou who art turned to the Kingdom! Thou shouldst establish a divine and heavenly transaction. By God the Truth!
O thou who art uttering the mention of God!
O thou who art wholly advancing unto God!
O thou who dost believe in the Unity of God! Know verily nothing will benefit a person save the love of the Merciful One.
O thou who has sought shelter in the Impregnable Cave! Verily, the glad-tidings of God have encompassed Abdul-Baha from all directions.
O thou who hast acknowledged the Kingdom of God!
O thou who hast approached toward God!
O thou who hast gained illumination from the Light of Guidance!
O thou who hast humbled thyself before the Kingdom of God! Blessed art thou that thine heart is attracted to the Beauty of God, is illumined with the light of knowledge and the ray of the Kingdom hath shone within it.
O thou whom I mention with my heart and tongue!
O thou whose face is illumined with the Light of the Love of God!
O thou whose face is radiant with the light of the Love of God!
O thou whose heart hath been filled with the love of the Beauty of God!
O thou whose heart is filled with the Love of God! I was informed of thy longing for meeting (me) and that thy breast is boiling with the love of God.
O thou whose heart is moved by a breeze blowing from the Garden of El-Abha!
O thou whose heart is overflowing with the love of God! Verily, I received thy beautiful letter and praised God for kindling the fire of His love in thy heart and cheering thy spirit with the cup of the gift of thy Lord.
O thou whose heart is soaring in the sky of the love of God!
O thou whose nostrils are perfumed with the Fragrances of God!
O thou yearner after the Kingdom of God! The maid-servant of God, Aseyeh, hath mentioned thy name in her letter, praising and commending thee.
O thou yearner after Truth! I know in what condition thou art, and how much thou longest for the meeting. The real meeting consists in the communication of heart.
O ye beloved of God and His sincere friends! By the life of God!
O ye beloved ones of Abdul-Baha! This servant longeth to write a special Tablet to each one of the friends of God—but what can be done!
O ye beloved servants of Abdul-Baha and the maid-servants of the Merciful One!
O ye blessed maid-servant of the Beauty of Abha! If ye have written letters to Abdul-Baha and answers to them are delayed, know ye of a certainty that untold hindrances have been the cause.
O ye children of the Kingdom! It is New Year; that is to say, the rounding of the cycle of the year.
O ye crying voices in the region of America! Make level the path of the Covenant of God! Be firm in the Alliance of God!
O ye dear children! Your father is compassionate, clement and merciful unto you and desireth for you success, prosperity and eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
O ye dear friends and maid-servants of God! A good fragrance is coming from the rose-garden of Kenosha and a pleasing breeze is blowing from the orchard of the hearts of the friends and maid-servants of the Merciful.
O ye dwellers of the Kingdom! Thank ye God that ye have turned your faces toward the Kingdom of Abha, and are yearning for the outpouring of the Exalted Realm.
O ye esteemed maid-servants of God, and ye revered beloved ones (or men believers) of the Merciful!
O ye friends of God and daughters of the Kingdom! The letter you have written was considered. It caused abundant spirit and fragrance.
O ye friends of this prisoner!
O ye friends! Thank God that the Light of Truth shone in that city, the bounty of guidance was granted, the fire of the love of God was ignited and the veil of superstition was burned away.
O ye illumined faces! O ye divine souls! and O ye spiritual temples!
O ye maid-servants of His Majesty, the Lord—daughters and sons of the Kingdom!
O ye maid-servants of the Merciful!
O ye members of the shining assembly! The letter which was written by you, was not a letter, but a musk sack.
O ye my divine friends!
O ye real friends of Abdul-Baha! From the gathering of those illuminated faces and flowers of the rose-garden (of God) in Camp Mineola utmost joy and fragrance (to me) was the result.
O ye seekers of Truth! Your letter was received and its contents became known. The new Kingdom hath raised its tents in all regions and hath enveloped East and West, but the blind ones cannot see and the deaf ones cannot hear.
O ye servants of God and maid-servants of the Merciful! The letter, which was in reality the congratulation for the entrance of the day of the anniversary of His Highness the Promised One, was received.
O ye servants of the True One and the maid-servants of the Merciful!
O ye shining faces and spiritual beings! Verily, I was rejoiced at beholding those merciful faces in whose brows the lights of guidance shine on account of their turning unto the Kingdom of El-Abha!
O ye sincere ones! O ye favored ones! O ye beseeching ones! O ye supplicating ones!
O ye sons of the Kingdom! At a time when conditions were most difficult and oppressive and the reception of letters hard and impracticable, your letter was received.
O ye spiritual assembly! As ye were gathered in the meeting of hospitality with the utmost longing for the knowledge of God, that meeting was mentioned in the divine Kingdom and you became favored with special bounty.
O ye spiritual friends of Abdul-Baha! Your long letter was considered and its contents were a source of happiness.
O ye spiritual ones! O ye heavenly ones! The assembly which you have established in that city is a splendor from the congregation of the Supreme Concourse.
O ye two advancers towards the Kingdom of God!
O ye two birds in the open-space of the Love of God! Verily I read your letter and I inhaled therefrom a spiritual fragrance which perfumes the nostrils of the spirit.
O ye two kind and beloved maid-servants of God! A splendour from the Supper of the Lord was cast upon the table that ye have spread and the spiritual food descended.
O ye two lamps of the Love of God! Your letter to ........ was read and its contents considered. Its meanings expressed the feelings of spiritual hearts and emanated from the spring of the conscience.
O ye two truthful believers! Your letter was received. Its contents were faith, certainty and sincerity. It was an evidence of perceiving eyes, attentive ears and acute mind.
O ye verdant and flourishing leaves of the Blessed Tree!
O ye who are attracted! O ye who are united! O ye who are believers and assured!
O ye who are attracted to the Heavenly Kingdom! O ye who are enlightened by the Light of Guidance! O ye lamps lighted by the Light of Love and Affection!
O ye who are considering the Kingdom of your august Savior! I know the ardor which enflames you both with the desire to present yourselves in the Sacred Place and I desire, also, to see you both.
O ye who are set aglow with the fire of God’s Love! Blessed are ye for having been chosen by God for His love, in this new age, and joy be to you for having been guided to the Great Kingdom!
O ye who are sincere! O ye who are firm in the Covenant of God in this new cycle! Verily I praise God for that He confirmed you in the service of the Cause of God in His great vineyard.
‘Abdu'l-Bahá sent for me. I went to Him in the little room where He writes. He said, “Be strong! Be firm! You are not leaving Me; it is only your body that is going away. Your spirit will always be here. I shall always see you. There is…
‘Abdu'l-Bahá came in to see us unexpectedly. He said, “I wish I might he with you always, hut unfortunately other things claim My time and keep Me sway from you. But My heart is filled with love and the thought of you. The important…
Tonight we met ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and a large number of believers from all parts of the East at the Feast, or Supper, under the shadow of the Blessed Perfection.
The question was asked, “What is real Faith?” “Faith outwardly means to believe the Message a Manifestation brings to the world and accept the fulfillment in Him of that which the Prophets have announced. But, in reality, Faith embodies…
“Moral life consists in the government of one's self. Immortality is government of a human soul by the Divine Will.”
“God has favored us by bringing us together again at His Table. May His Mercy and Bounty make night as day and make the Day everlasting! For night and day are according to the motions of the earth, but, in relation to the sun, day and…
We looked again at the faces of the Blessed Perfection and the Báb in the inner room.
In Julia Grundy's pilgrim notes from 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá is asked how we can love someone whose personality is unpleasant. His answer points to Christ, who loved even those who crucified Him, and to the tree whose fruit is love.
“How can we love another whose personality is unpleasant?” “See how the enemies of Christ persecuted and crucified Him, yet He loved them all. Man is like a tree. The tree lives to produce fruit. The fruit of man is love. It is easy for…
“Today we will speak about Obedience! The Manifestation of God is a perfect example of real obedience. Like Him, we must sacrifice everything; every plan, every longing and ideal must be given up completely to the Will of God. We must…
Julia Grundy records a private talk with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 'Akká in 1905. He told her she would be a source of guidance to others and, when she regretted leaving, said she would never be absent.
‘Abdu'l-Bahá sent for me. I found Him in a little room opening from the courtyard. He was sitting upon a raised chair, His beautiful face, majestic in repose and strength, turned toward the only window.
At dinner a violent rainstorm swept in from the sea. “May we all live in the Sea of Reality and be filled with the Love of God. Thank God we are in the Ark of the Covenant. See what great blessings God has showered upon us. How many…
“The disciples of Jesus, passing along the road and seeing a dead dog, remarked how offensive and disgusting a spectacle it was. Then Christ turning to them said, 'Yes, but see how white and beautiful are his teeth'—thus teaching that there is some good in everything.”
In an English village the Master gave so many sixpences to children that His hostesses tried to turn away a late visitor with his babies, until ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came out and embraced them all.
On a drive meant to show Him New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid His head on John Bosch's shoulder and slept for nearly half an hour, waking just as the car stopped at the Kinneys' home.
An imposing motor-car was sent to bring ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the ceremony at which He was knighted, but seeing the sorrow of His old coachman Isfandiyar, He went in His own carriage instead.
Hand of the Cause John Robarts explains a Hidden Word of Bahá’u’lláh through the image of a young fruit tree that must be brought out into the sunshine and rain of God's love.
Boys who had followed the Master's party noisily on the way to the Bowery Mission came to see Him; He welcomed each one, called a dark-skinned boy a black rose, and shared chocolates.
At table with His guests, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá received a poor workman's dinner of dry bread and a shrivelled apple, left His own luncheon untasted, and shared the gift with everyone present.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the order that sent Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdad to Constantinople, the grief of His followers, and how the family went to live in tents in a friend's garden until the departure.
When the order came banishing the exiles from Adrianople to 'Akká, one despairing believer tried to take his own life. Bahá'u'lláh would not leave until the Governor promised to care for him and send him on.
When cables brought news of May Maxwell's death in Argentina, Shoghi Effendi broke it to her daughter, Rúḥíyyih Khánum, with great tenderness, and comforted her until she was laughing through her tears.
Before visiting the Master's home, Amelia Collins's husband anxiously asked her how he should behave. She told him that in the family of 'Abdu'l-Bahá simplicity reigns and nothing but love is accepted.
After Juliet Thompson lost her temper with her mother and stormed out, 'Abdu'l-Bahá greeted her by asking whether her mother was happy, and sent her straight home to her.
'Abdu'l-Bahá helped carry the coffin of a beloved friend who had taken his own life. He taught that God never gives us a burden greater than we can carry, and that in hard times we should remember that this too will pass.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, who felt children were nearer to the Kingdom of God than adults, listened attentively as a granddaughter of about two chanted a Tablet, gently chanting any word she missed.
'Abdu'l-Bahá often spoke with His arm around a child, and urged parents to give their children the best education they could afford and to encourage spirituality in them.
At a Washington luncheon held in His honour in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been on the guest list, and seated him at His right hand before the meal began.
Speaking to Mary Hanford Ford of the confinement of His family’s life in ‘Akká, the Master explained that a heart full of the love of God knows no prison.
Speaking through an interpreter to an early pilgrim, the Master rejoiced that the believers were becoming more united, and urged them to love one another and sacrifice themselves for each other.
On 27 November 1921 the Master sent the friends to the Shrine of the Báb for the Day of the Covenant and received Haifa’s officials; that night, the last of His life, He asked after everyone’s health.
Learning that Juliet Thompson's mother was grieving, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent for her in the midst of a thunderstorm. Though exhausted, He welcomed and comforted her, and the next day she said all her bitterness had gone.
At the Bowery Mission in New York, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed some four hundred of the city’s poorest men, shook every hand and placed coins in each palm; back at His hotel a moved chambermaid resolved to give as He had given.
John Robarts tells of George, an African Bahá’í whose wife opposed the Faith. With only one room in their house, she waited under the banana tree during his meetings, and became a Bahá’í during the rainy season.
Annamarie Honnold describes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s love for every human being, and records His counsel to the pilgrim Anna Kunz and her husband in 1921 to be affectionate to all, like a shepherd with his sheep.
A coal miner who had walked many miles to hear ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in California grew impatient with the interpreter, insisting that nothing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said needed translating.
Leroy Ioas recalls how Shoghi Effendi gave the aged Corinne True a purse once used by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with a gold coin inside bearing the year of her first visit to the Master.
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.
A Canadian pilgrim asked whether translators could replace the nightingale and the rose for readers in the Arctic; Shoghi Effendi said the sacred texts must be translated exactly, then gave her attar of rose for the friends in Canada and for the Inuit.
While Bahá’u’lláh lived as a dervish in the mountains, His family in Baghdád sold their only rug to buy a donkey for a Bábí who set out to find Him; months later He came home.
In a prayer for a memorial gathering, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Fáṭimih Begum, widow of the King of Martyrs: her sufferings after his martyrdom, her patience, and her years of humble service in the Holy Land.
Hurrying to breakfast without her morning prayers, Lua Getsinger met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the hallway, and He told her never to eat material food in the morning until she had had spiritual food.
Dick Grover recalls Zylpha Gray of Springfield, Massachusetts, who told an Underground Railroad story and how a childhood question about salvation was answered years later when she heard God's Prophets described as branches of one tree.
At his first meeting with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Howard Colby Ives could not speak; after a long silence the Master placed His hand upon his breast, saying that it was the heart that speaks.
Bahíyyih Khánum recalls the day soldiers surrounded the family's house in Adrianople with orders to separate Bahá’u’lláh from His family, and the week ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent pleading until the family was allowed to go with Him.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited a widow who had come from California to Massachusetts to see Him after her son was killed, and told her that the son's only grief was his mother's tears.
Thomas Breakwell died in June 1902, hardly a year after becoming a Bahá’í. Yúnis Khán recalls how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him of the death, though no news of it had passed through his hands, and wrote a prayer of visitation for Breakwell.
On the slow journey through the fields and mountains of Turkey, the melodious chanting of Jinab-i-Munib brought joy to those who travelled with Bahá'u'lláh and testified to his love for Him.
Túbá Khánum recalls her little sister Ruh-Angiz, whom Bahá’u’lláh promised to love more than all the rest. After His passing the child longed to go to Him, and the next year she passed away.
On pilgrimage in ‘Akká, May Bolles (Maxwell) spoke against a fellow-believer. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew of it at once; at supper His gaze of compassion moved her to tears, and then He smiled and called her name.
An early pilgrim called ‘Roy’ was struck by the love and harmony among the Bahá’ís in the Most Great Prison. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him that the more the believers are united, the more they receive God’s confirmation.
Harry Randall did not want to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but he carried Him a glass of grape juice and was told to sit down. After twenty restless minutes the Master spoke to him of the intellect and the heart.
Staying in a village near London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave sixpences to the poor children who followed Him. When His hostess and another guest turned away a man who had walked six miles with his babies, the Master came out and embraced them all.
In spring ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wanted to visit the Chicago zoo. Though warned that mother animals hide their young from strangers, He went ahead alone, and each mother brought out her babies to show Him.
In San Francisco ‘Abdu’l-Bahá kept delaying His departure for a reception in Berkeley, to His hostess’s dismay, until a poor stranger who had walked fifteen miles to see Him rang the bell.
Each week ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked from ‘Akká to visit Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí. When His Father asked Him to ride, He rode, but dismounted as soon as He sighted the Mansion.
When someone criticized Lua Getsinger to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, He answered the critic with a smile: "But she loves her Lord."
A man in 'Akká denounced 'Abdu'l-Bahá and hid his face from Him, yet for twenty-four years the Master sent him food, clothing and a doctor, until the man came weeping to beg His forgiveness.
When a poor Black man who often visited 'Abdu'l-Bahá at His Paris hotel was turned away by the management, the Master had him sought out and said He had come to establish the standard of Bahá'u'lláh.
In 1909 a pilgrim asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whether He would come to America if the believers built the Temple quickly. In 1911 He wrote that they must first put away their differences if they longed for His visit.
On 23 May 1912, after speaking at a university in Worcester, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá joined the Boston Bahá’ís at Alice Breed's home to commemorate the Declaration of the Báb, spoke about the Báb's life, and lit the first candle on a birthday cake.
Dr Yúnis Khán recalls how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, sensing a fragrance from one sealed envelope, had it opened first; it held a violet picked from Thomas Breakwell's grave, and the Master wept.