Baha'i Month - Mashiyyat

The Mashrak-el-Azkar of Ishkabad

Washington, D. C.,

October 12, 1908.

To the House of Spirituality of Bahais, 

Chicago, Ill.

Brothers in the service of Abha:-

As you have arisen for the construction of the first Mashrak-el-Azkar in America, and, as I have recently visited Ishkabad and seen there the great Mashrak-el-Azkar of the east, of which we in the west have heard so much, I take it upon myself to write to you a description of this edifice, hoping to share with you the great blessing of meeting with the friends in those parts and of beholding this Temple which is a testimony of their sacrifice and unity.

As you know, Ishkabad is in Russian Turkestan, just north of the Elbruz mountains, which separate the desert plain of western Turkestan, on the north, from Persia on the south. The city itself lies on the plain a short distance from the mountains, which here are quite rugged and rocky. The town is quite modern in aspect, being laid off with gardens and broad streets, which meet at right angles. Rows of trees along the sidewalks remind one of a western city, while the buildings and the waterways, which flank the streets and are fed with water coming from the nearby mountains, are strikingly oriental.

I could hardly believe that this city had sprung up almost entirely during the past half-century. It was but a huddle of mud huts, when Baha'o'llah first directed some of his followers to settle there. Now this is replaced by a large and prosperous city of buildings of brick and stone.

The Mashrak-el-Azkar stands in the center of the city, surrounded by a large garden, which is bounded by four streets. It rises high above the surrounding buildings and trees, its dome being visible for miles, as the traveler approaches the city over the plain. The building in plan is a regular polygon of nine sides. One large doorway and portico, flanked by turrets, facing the direction of the Holy City (Akka), forms the principal motive of the facade, while the dome dominates the whole composition.

The walls of the Temple are of brick covered with a firm and hard stucco, [p. 154] which in that climate resists quite well the action of the elements, while the floors are concrete supported by iron or steel beams.

In plan the building is composed of three sections: the central rotunda, the aisle or ambulatory which surrounds it, and the loggia which surrounds the entire building. Read Full

What He Wants to Say?

Dawn Prayer

O' my God and my Master!  I am Thy servant and the son of Thy servant.  I have risen from my couch at this dawntide when the Daystar of Thy oneness hath shone forth from the Dayspring of Thy will, and hath shed its radiance upon the whole world, according to what had been ordained in the Books of Thy Decree.

Praise be unto Thee, O my God, that we have wakened to the splendors of the light of Thy knowledge.  Send down, then, upon us, O my Lord, what will enable us to dispense with anyone but Thee, and will rid us of all attachment to aught except Thyself.  Write down, moreover, for me, and for such as are dear to me, and for my kindred, man and woman alike, the good of this world and the world to come.  Keep us safe, then, through Thine unfailing protection, O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation and the Desire of the whole universe, from them whom Thou hast made to be the manifestations of the Evil Whisperer, who whisper in men's breasts.  Potent art Thou to do Thy pleasure.  Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Bless Thou, O Lord my God, Him Whom Thou hast set over Thy most excellent Titles, and through Whom Thou hast divided between the godly and the wicked, and graciously aid us to do what Thou lovest and desirest.  Bless Thou, moreover, O my God, them Who are Thy Words and Thy Letters, and them who have set their faces towards Thee, and turned unto Thy face, and hearkened to Thy Call.

Thou art, truly, the Lord and King of all men, and art potent over all things.

Tall, Slender, Graceful - Asiyih Khanum

In about 1832, Baha'u'llah's older sister Sarih married Mirza Mahmud, a son of a minister of the Shah of Persia for the town of Yalrud, which is located near Baha’u’llah’s ancestral place, Takur in the northern province of Mazindaran. Three years later in about October 1835, Baha'u'llah himself, at the age of eighteen, married the sister of Mirza Mahmud, Asiyih Khanum who was then about sixteen years old. She was reported to have been beautiful, kind and caring. Baha’u’llah’s older sister had an active and supporting role in her Brother’s wedding arrangements.

This is how Bahiyyih Khanum, Asiyih Khanum’s daughter, recalled her mother many years later during a conversation with lady Blomfield, a Baha’i from the West who had gone on pilgrimage to Holy Land:

‘I wish you could have seen her as I first remember her, tall, slender, graceful, eyes of a dark blue --a pearl, a flower amongst women . . . 
I have been told that even when very young, her wisdom and intelligence were remarkable. I always think of her In those earliest days of my memory as queenly in her dignity and loveliness, full of consideration for everybody, gentle, of a marvellous unselfishness, no action of hers ever faded to show the loving- kindness of her pure heart; her very presence seemed to make an atmosphere of love and happiness whenever she came, enfolding all comers In the fragrance of gentle courtesy.' 

After the fall from power and death of Baha'u'llah's father in 1839, the family lost their home and Baha'u'llah had to rent a house in the 'Udlajan Quarter of Tehran for His wife, mother and most of His step-mothers and their children. It was here that the couple's surviving children were born (they had seven children in all but only three survived to adulthood). Their eldest surviving son was born in 1844 and was named ‘Abbas after his grandfather but is better known by the title he took later in life as ‘Abdu'l-Baha (the servant of Baha'u'llah). Next in 1846 came a daughter, named Fatimih Sultan Khanum, who in later years was known by the titles Bahiyyih Khanum and the Greatest Holy Leaf, and then in 1850 a son, Mirza Mehdi, who was later given the title the Purest Branch by Baha’u’llah.

Source

Who Are Covenant-Breakers

601. Covenant-Breakers, Defined

"People who have withdrawn from the Cause because they no longer feel that they can support its Teachings and Institutions sincerely, are not Covenant-breakers—they are non-Bahá’ís and should just be treated as such. Only those who ally themselves actively with known enemies of the Faith who are Covenant-breakers, and who attack the Faith in the same spirit as these people, can be considered, themselves, to be Covenant-breakers. As you know, up to the present time, no one has been permitted to pronounce anybody a Covenant-breaker but the Guardian* himself."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, March 30, 1957)

602. Covenant-Breaking is a Spiritual Disease

"… Covenant-breaking is truly a spiritual disease, and the whole view-point and attitude of a Covenant-breaker is so poisonous that the Master likened it to leprosy, and warned the friends to breathe the same air was dangerous. This should not be taken literally; He meant when you are close enough to breathe the same air you are close enough to contact their corrupting influence. Your sister should never imagine she, loyal and devoted, has become a 'carrier'."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, July 29, 1946)

603. Covenant-Breaking Like Contagious Consumption and Cancer

"… Thou hadst asked some questions; that why the blessed and spiritual souls, who are firm and steadfast, shun the company of degenerate persons. This is because, that just as the bodily diseases like consumption and cancer are contagious, likewise the spiritual diseases are also infectious. If a consumptive should associate with a thousand safe and healthy persons, the safety and health of these thousand persons would not affect the consumptive and would not cure him of his consumption. But when this consumptive associates with those thousand souls, in a short time the disease of consumption will infect a number of those healthy persons. This is a clear and self-evident question."

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Tablet to an individual believer, October 1921: Star of the West, Vol. XII, No. 14, p. 

233)

Source

Bahá’í Elections

The three core values on which Bahá’í institutions are based are respect for the inherent dignity of each person, the unity and solidarity of persons collectively, and the inherent justice and fairness of the institutions. 

These three distinct values operate at individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels, but they are conceptually connected to one another. Second, the instrumental value of Bahá’í electoral institutions lies in how well they perform the following four functions: selecting the most desirable representatives; legitimating Bahá’í administrative institutions; fostering virtues among individual participants; and fostering unity and solidarity in the community as a whole. 

These may be called the selection, legitimation, education, and integration functions of elections. 

(source)

But, the Big Question is.......Is this in practice?

Relation of the Believers

One of the greatest problems in the Cause is the relation of the believers to each other; for their immaturity (shared with the rest of humanity) and imperfections retard the work, create complications, and discourage each other. And yet we must put up with these things and try and combat them through love, patience and forgiveness individually, and proper administrative action collectively.
(Shoghi Effendi, The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá’í Community, p. 449)

The Cause is manifest, it shineth resplendent as the sun, but the people have become veils unto themselves. We entreat God that He may graciously assist them to return unto Him. He is, in truth, the Forgiving, the Merciful.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 79)

Commentary on the Will & Testament of Abdul-baha

This Commentary by Joel B. Marangella sheds light on both the text and the tragic historic events surrounding this Sacred Document of the Baha'i Faith. The book recounts the intrigue that took place at the Baha'i World Center in 1957 that stifled the growth of this infant Faith, threatened to permanently diminish its prestige in the eyes of the world and destroyed the very safeguard built into the Faith that was to prevent it from falling into false leadership. 

Despite the darkness that has befallen this most recent revelation from God, this brilliant Commentary reveals the truth of what remains alive and well today, the true sign of God on earth who alone maintains the spirit and meaning of the Baha'i teachings. The Will and Testament of Abdul-BahÃ, is the vital and eternal link between Baha'u'llah and the sacred Administrative Order that is the true channel of the spirit. 

This book by Mr. Marangella clearly illuminates important passages within it that have been misunderstood, overlooked or intentionally distorted.The question may well be asked, what is so threatening about this book that millions of Baha'is around the world won't be allowed by their leadership to read it? 

Surely, all Baha'is must recognize the fundamental principle of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith, to exercise their human right of an unfettered, independent investigation of truth.Mr. Marangella's book also includes the complete Will and Testament of Abdul- Baha, which can be read along with the Commentary, as well as a Summary of the Baha'i Faith by the author, recognized by Orthodox Baha'is as the third Guardian of Baha'i Faith. 

This Summary gives the uninitiated an authoritative treatise on the history and teachings of the Baha'i Faith.

What is a Greater Joy?

The life of animals is more simple than that of man. Animals have all their needs supplied for them. All the grasses of the meadows are free to them. The birds build their nests in the branching trees and the palaces of kings are not so beautiful. If earthly needs are all then the animals are better supplied than man. But man has another food, the heavenly manna of the knowledge of God. All the divine prophets and Manifestations appeared in the world that this heavenly manna, might be given to man. This is the food which fosters spiritual growth and strength and causes pure illumination in the souls of men. They become filled with the breaths of the Holy Spirit. They increase in the knowledge of God and in those virtues which belong to the world of humanity. They attain to the very image and likeness of God.

What greater joy is there than this? When they invoke God’s favour at the divine threshold their minds become open, they enter into spiritual pleasures and make discoveries. By this they enjoy ecstasies of the Spirit and see the world illumined. They are filled with insight. They become fully attuned to the bounties of God and see them face to face, acquiring in themselves the virtues of the Manifestations. – 

(Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 4, p. 160.)

Sweetness of the Hand

The Master sometimes made His points through telling stories. 
Julia Grundy recorded the following story of His: 
‘A master had a slave who was completely devoted to him. 
One day he gave the slave a melon which when cut open looked most ripe and delicious. The slave ate one piece, then another and another with great relish (the day being warm) until nearly the whole melon had disappeared. 
The master, picking up the last slice, tasted it and found it exceedingly bitter and unpalatable.
 “Why, it is bitter! Did you not find it so?” he asked the servant.
 “Yes, my Master,” the slave replied, “it was bitter and unpleasant, but I have tasted so much sweetness from thy hand that one bitter melon was not worth mentioning.”’ (Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 167)
Source

Solution Through the Use of Prayers

The below five steps were suggested by the beloved Guardian Shoghi Effendi to a believer as a means of finding a solution through the use of prayer.

This statement belongs to the category of statements known as “pilgrims notes”, and as such has no authority, but since it seems to be particularly helpful and clear it was felt that believers should not be deprived of it.

1st Step: Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of contemplation for a few minutes.

2nd Step: Arrive at a decision and hold this. This decision is usually born during the contemplation. It may seem almost impossible of accomplishment but if it seems to be as answer to a prayer or a way of solving the problem, then immediately take the next step.

3rd Step: Have determination to carry the decision through. Many fail here. The decision, budding into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or a vague longing. When determination is born, immediately take the next step.

4th Step: Have faith and confidence that the power will flow through you, the right way will appear, the door will open, the right thought, the right message, the right principle, or the right book will be given to you. Have confidence and the right thing will come to your need. Then, as you rise

from prayer, take at once the 5th step.

5th Step: Act as though it had all been answered. Then act with tireless, ceaseless energy. And as you act, you, yourself, will become a magnet, which will attract more power to your being, until you become an unobstructed channel for the Divine power to flow through you.

Many pray but do not remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision through, still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their need.

But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true are these words “Greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered” and greater than the way it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out.

Shoghi Effendi, Principles of Bahá’í Administration, p. 91.

Source

Aqsá Mosque

Index term: Aqsá Mosque

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O Emperor of Austria! He Who is the Dayspring of God's Light dwelt in the prison of 'Akká at the time when thou didst set forth to visit the Aqsá Mosque. Thou passed Him by, and inquired not about Him by Whom every house is exalted and every lofty gate unlocked. We, verily, made it a place whereunto the world should turn, that they might remember Me, and yet thou hast rejected Him Who is the Object of this remembrance, when He appeared with the Kingdom of God, thy Lord and the Lord of the worlds. We have been with thee at all times, and found thee clinging unto the Branch and heedless of the Root. Thy Lord, verily, is a witness unto what I say. We grieved to see thee circle round Our Name, whilst unaware of Us, though We were before thy face. Open thine eyes, that thou mayest behold this glorious Vision, and recognize Him Whom thou invokest in the daytime and in the night season, and gaze on the Light that shineth above this luminous Horizon.
Reference

Days of the Guardian

One evening Shoghi Effendi came over, and he was rather, …, hadn’t been well. He was rather disturbed, badly disturbed, in fact. And he sat down, pushed his plate aside, and Ruhiyyih Khanum said, “Shoghi Effendi, won’t you eat? You haven’t eaten all day. You’re hungry. You’re getting weak. You should eat. And then you can talk to the friends later about your cablegram and the matters you want to talk about.” So he said, well, all right, and he pulled his plate back and the servant gave him some food. He ate one or two mouthfuls, and then he pushed it back and started to talk. Well, Shoghi Effendi, we who lived there got to knew if Shoghi Effendi was well or if he was happy, just your whole life was around that of Shoghi Effendi. And if he was well, you got up in the morning and everything was fine. If he was happy, everything was sunshine. Sometimes you got up in the morning and everything was wrong. Why was it wrong? You didn’t know, but you found out during the day that Shoghi Effendi wasn’t well. So this is when he pushed his plate aside, again without eating, and he started to talk. And he said, “You know, shortly before Bahá’u’lláh passed away, the Master went to see him in Bahji, and He went up to His room and He found His papers all over the floor. So the Master collected them, put them in a neat order, laid them on a divan, and said, Bahá’u’lláh, I collected your papers and put them in order, and I‘ve put them out here so that you can have them. Bahá’u’lláh took them in His hands and threw them all over the floor again and said, “It doesn’t make any difference. It’s all done.” I don’t want to these papers any more. No more papers!” That was said before Bahá’u’lláh passed away. So, he said, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, shortly before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away (‘Abdu’l-Bahá was always very meticulous in everything He did), and they found His papers scattered around in His room, and his secretaries collected them and put them in order for Him – put them together – and they took them to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who took the papers and threw them and said, “I‘m done with the papers. It doesn’t make any difference now. It’s all finished now. I don’t want any more papers.” And shortly after, He passed away.
He said, “I‘m so tired of these papers, I don’t want them anymore. I just don’t want these papers any more. I don't want them.” Well, we talked to Shoghi Effendi and said, “Don’t talk that way! How can you say these things! You are going to kill your friends here.” And I said to Shoghi Effendi, “Why don’t you give these papers to Ruhiyyih Khanum and myself. Give them to us. We‘ll do something with them. We‘ll handle them. We‘ll digest them. We‘ll give you an outline, and so all you have to do is give us the answers, so that if a person raises a question, we‘ll give it to you, and all you have to do is say, “Tell him so-and-so. Tell him so-and-so.” And I said, “Shoghi Effendi, no Guardian of this Cause in the future is going to be able to do what you’re doing. No Guardian can receive all these people and give them personal audiences, give them personal contact and answer personal questions, and deal with the personal problems. I said, they have to in the future deal through the intermediaries. Why don’t you just set up now to have an audience with the pilgrims, one hour in the afternoon. Just one hour. Talk to everyone, have a general talk, and then it’s all finished and you can have a little time, so you can rest a little bit, so you won’t have so many burdens, and you’re not so pressed So I talked along that line and Shoghi Effendi said, “Well, it is not time for any change now.” And that was it.
(In the Days of the Guardian – a Talk by Hand of the Cause of God Leroy Ioas in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1958) ::: source :::

Guardian Letter to Ruhiyyih Khanum

Read Full Letter

Belief of Orthodox Bahá'ís

1) We are the "true Bahá'ís" We have not altered the true Faith of God. We believe just the same as all Bahá'ís believed before 1957 that the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh requires obedience to the Guardian of the Cause of God. We believe the present Guardian is Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand.

2) Orthodox Bahá'ís have all of the Institutions of the Cause of God as set forth in the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá, including the Hands of the Cause of God, and an international body with the Guardian at its head, the International Bahá'í Council, which is destined in time to become the Universal House of Justice.

3) The Orthodox Baha'is, being under the shade of the Tree of Covenant are divinely guided and blessed. The "table of heaven is prepared" for them, "the angels of heaven" are their "assistants and helpers", and "the life of the Holy Spirit is breathing upon" them (from `Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 214). 

The Guardian's web page is at www.bahai-guardian.com.

Amazing Way to Teach

Is this the way to teach the Baha'i Faith?

Guardian never would have approved this.

CLICK  for detail.

Power of God

Bahá’í Calendar Associated with a Lunar Calendar

The friends in the West had always known, through books such as God Passes By and The Dawn-Breakers, that many Bahá’í historical dates were recorded and mentioned based on the lunar calendar of Islam. They had been also aware that a few Bahá’í anniversaries were being observed in some countries in the East in accordance with the lunar calendar, while the rest adhered to the dates of the solar calendar.

The Writings and Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh, such as those published in ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh’, clearly stipulate that Tehran was indeed the “mother of the world,” “the source of the joy of all mankind,” “the holy and shining city” and “the land of resplendent glory.” What other city had been so praised by the Blessed Beauty? It seems Tehran was destined to be the meridian of the future World Order. To an Oriental pilgrim Shoghi Effendi once said that the Prophet Muhammad had called Mecca “the mother of villages,” but Bahá’u’lláh had conferred the title “mother of the world” to His native city.

As to the question of the observances of the Twin Birthdays, as indicated in Note 138 of The Kitáb-i-Aqdas (pages 224–225), what Bahá’u’lláh meant by the two birthdays being as one day (in Questions and Answers #2) was that they should fall on two consecutive days. This is confirmed in a letter written on behalf of the Guardian. To explain fully this provision in the Aqdas, I will quote the following passage from Note 138 mentioned above:

“In the Muslim lunar calendar these [i.e. the anniversaries of the Births of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb] fall on consecutive days, the birth of Bahá’u’lláh on the second day of the month of Muharram 1233 A.H. (12 November 1817), and the birth of the Báb on the first day of the same month 1235 A.H. (20 October 1819), respectively. They are thus referred to as the ‘Twin Birthdays’ and Bahá’u’lláh states that these two days are accounted as one in the sight of God (Q&A 2).”

Mullá Husayn: A Student of Siyyid Kázim

Sword of Mulla Husayn

The story of Mullá Husayn begins in the year 1840 in Karbilá, 'Iráq. At the time he had already been a student of Siyyid Kázim for five years. Siyyid Kázim was a teacher of the Qur'án who was preparing the people for the coming of a new Prophet of God.
One day Siyyid Kázim said to his followers, "I wish that one of  you would go to the city of Isfahán, and deliver a message to a great man there named Hájí Siyyid Muhammad Báqir. If one of you can get him to support our teachings, it will greatly help to spread our Cause". Many times Siyyid Kázim repeated this rquest, but no one offered to make the journey.

At this time Mullá Husayn was only twenty-two years old. He was one of the youngest of Siyyid Kázim's students, but certainly one of his best. He sat in Siyyid Kázim's classes quietly and humbly. He was always the last one to arrive before each lecture, and the first one to leave after it was finished. He never stayed after the lecture to ask questions or argue as did many of the others. Ever since childhood he had studied to gain more knowledge--especially about religion and the subject of law.

One day, in 1840, Siyyid Kázim again repeated the question to his students: "Will someone arise and take this Message to Hájí Siyyid Muhammad Báqir in Isfahán?" Still, nobody offered to go, except a man whom Siyyid Kázim did not consider intelligent enough to do it properly. At that moment he turned to Mullá Husayn and said, "You are the one I have chosen. Arise and carry out this mission. With the help of God you will succeed."
Mullá Husayn was filled with joy! He had been too humble to offer himself, but when he was called upon to serve God in this way, he jumped to his feet, kissed the hem of   Siyyid Kázim's coat, and immediately left on his journey to Isfahán.

In a few day' time, Siyyid Kázim received a letter from Mullá Husayn containing the Hájí's declaration of support. When the letter was handed to him, he was lecturing to his followers. However, he read the letter and the declaration to all the men present. He immediately wrote an answer to Mullá Husayn, and also read that to his students. In this letter he praised Mullá Husayn so highly for his service that a few of Siyyid Kázim's followers thought that Mullá Husayn must be the Promised One. The letter was written with such love and tenderness that it was clear that Siyyid Kázim was saying goodby to Mullá Husayn. He knew that he would never see him again on this earth. Siyyid Kázim died on the 31st of December 1843.

It was on the 22nd of January 1844, twenty-two days after the death of Siyyid Kázim, that Mullá Husayn returned to Karbilá. For three days he received visitors at his home, all of whom expressed their sorrow because of the passing of Siyyid Kázim. After listening to their cries he invited the most trusted and outstanding ones to tell him what Siyyid Kázim had told them to do before he died. They told him that Siyyid Kázim had said over and over, "You must leave your homes, travel far and wide, purify your hearts, and search for the Promised One. The only way you can find Him is to search. You must pray to make your hearts pure---and search." Read Full

Center of the Covenant

Abdu'l-Bahá has received no greater hospitality than that accorded him by the clergy in America.   Pulpits in so many churches have been opened to him that on account of the time it has been possible for him to accept comparatively few of these invitations to address religious congregations.   The doors of various secular societies and associations have also been opened to Abdu'l-Bahá and in many conferences he has voiced the message of the peace of the Covenant of which his life of service is the Center.

Many people have been drawn to Abdu'l-Bahá by a spiritual force which they could not explain; a force which affected them so deeply as to make them observe that a change had been produced in their very souls.   These people are now realizing the reason why Abdu'l-Bahá's presence and words have a spiritual effect that no other man's presence nor words have.   This is because he stands in his mission, quite distinct from other men.   In his life of service to mankind is centered the great power of the Divine covenant.

The Covenant of God has ever been the source of man's spiritual enlightenment in past ages; it is the source of his spiritual enlightenment in this present day, and it will be the source of his spiritual enlightenment during the ages to come. Read Full

MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD

Cablegram of 24 December 1951, reviews "chain of recent historic events heralding long anticipated rise and establishment of the World Administrative Center of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the Holy Land" including among others the "creation of the International Bahá’í Council" and the acquisition of properties in the vicinity of the Báb’s Sepulcher destined to serve as the site of future edifices envisaged by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to house auxiliary agencies revolving around the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the House of Justice.

" This cablegram also announces the first contingent of twelve Hands of the Cause, including Mason Remey, which he points out "paralleled preliminary measure of the formation of the International Council destined to culminate in the emergence of the Universal House of Justice."  (MESSAGES TO THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD 1950-1957 by Shoghi Effendi).

Quddus: Fellow-Pilgrim of the Bab on Haj to Mecca

“Quddus, immortalized by Him [the Bab] as Ismu'llahi'l-Akhir (the Last Name of God); on whom Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet of Kullu't-Ta'am later conferred the sublime appellation of Nuqtiy-i-Ukhra (the Last Point); whom He elevated, in another Tablet, to a rank second to none except that of the Herald of His Revelation; whom He identifies, in still another Tablet, with one of the ‘Messengers charged with imposture’ mentioned in the Qur'án; whom the Persian Bayan extolled as that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight Vahids revolve; on whose ‘detachment and the sincerity of whose devotion to God's will God prideth Himself amidst the Concourse on high;’ whom 'Abdu'l-Bahá designated as the ‘Moon of Guidance;’ and whose appearance the Revelation of St. John the Divine anticipated as one of the two ‘Witnesses’ into whom, ere the ‘second woe is past,’ the ‘spirit of life from God’ must enter” (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 49) – such a person showed incredible humility towards the Bab as documented below by the great historian Nabil:

"Upon His arrival in Jaddih, the Báb donned the pilgrim's garb, mounted a camel, and set out on His journey to Mecca [to perform His pilgrimage]. Quddus, however, notwithstanding the repeatedly expressed desire of his Master, preferred to accompany Him on foot all the way from Jaddih to that holy city. Holding in his hand the bridle of the camel upon which the Báb was riding, he walked along joyously and prayerfully, ministering to his Master's needs, wholly indifferent to the fatigues of his arduous march. Every night, from eventide until the break of day, Quddus, sacrificing comfort and sleep, would continue with unrelaxing vigilance to watch beside his Beloved, ready to provide for His wants and to ensure the means of His protection and safety." (Nabil, The Dawn-Breakers, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi, p. 132) (For a brief account of his life please visit Baha'i Talks, Messages and Articles)

Baha'i Faith and Zoroastrianism

In 19th-century Iran, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, was acclaimed by a significant number of Zoroastrian converts, mainly from Yazd and Kerman, as the promised Sháh Bahrám Varjávand, a Zoroastrian messianic king foretold in several Pahlavi and New Persian texts. Later, still other Zoroastrians, primarily from the Írání Zoroastrian community in India, were won over to the nascent faith. (There were actually few converts from among the Parsis.) Indeed, Zoroastrians were among the first non-Muslim converts to the Bahá'í Faith in its formative era.

Recognition of the advent of this promised saviour depended greatly on one's perception and acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh's fulfilment of Zoroastrian prophecies. This fulfilment was not literal at the level of text, which required certain prodigies to establish prophetic warrant, and had laid out a scenario wherein the Zoroastrian religion and the vanquished Sasanian empire would be restored and the golden age of Zoroastrianism reign triumphant. 

Sháh Bahrám was supposed to be a Zoroastrian warlord, who would fight an apocalyptic battle of cosmic proportions. But Bahá'u'lláh was a prisoner and exile during his forty-year ministry (1852-92). He did not restore Sasanian Iran, nor did he re-establish the Zoroastrian religion. Nor did he reinvest Zoroastrian high priests with their former authority, nor has the golden age of Zoroastrian Iran been revived as the messianic era, the Renovation. A messiah is supposed to be a victor, not a victim. In Judaism, for example, the notion of a crucified messiah was absurd, incredible. (St. Paul calls the idea of a crucified messiah a "scandal" among Jews.) In traditional Zoroastrian terms, an imprisoned messiah was no messiah at all. Drawing from the Jewish ideal of the three highest offices (tria munera), which gave rise to an expectation of three messiahs at the time of John the Baptist (note the three questions addressed to the Baptist in the first chapter of the gospel of John), Bahá'u'lláh was neither a "royal" messiah, nor was he a "priestly" messiah. But was he a "prophetic" messiah? Read More

Kalimat (Words), The Month

Words ( Kalimat) is the standard for the Bahá'í month we are currently honoring, from July 13 until August 1, when the month of Perfection (Kamal) gets the spotlight. Until then, there are a number of things that we may do as Bahá'ís to honor The Báb, Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, and the three Guardians who have all worked so diligently and fearlessly for the propagation of this Most Great Revelation.  
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” -- Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version, John 1:1 page 103 --  

One may interpret that as saying that the Word was the beginning of all this, this planet,  the several continents, the history of humans with all their false starts and small victories. Words, words, words are in the forefront in this day. We have words flowing incessantly on the Internet, along with Instant Messaging ruling our lives. Words form the bulk of what we are told by the News Media every second of every day. Words, words, words.  Perhaps an overload of words is what we see around us. For better or worse, words  dominate.   

Words are our primary means of expressing ourselves, guided by our individual egos,  cultural upbringing, parental images, and education from the school of hard knocks.  Words can be the source of goodness or evil. Ever since the failings of Adam and Eve introduced, according to Biblical tradition, the element of evil into the world, humans have been on a limited spiritual quest to overcome the evil and replace it with the goodness that God has reflected toward us through His several Manifestations during the Adamic Cycle. We are now in the Bahá'í Cycle and have been given instructions through the twin Manifestations of The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh that will eventually lead us away from the human tendency to elevate ourselves above each other, and attain the peace foretold of old. Read Further