1. Persia, the birthplace of the Bahá'í Revelation, has
occupied a unique place in the history of the world. In the
days of her early greatness she was a veritable queen among
nations, unrivaled in civilization, in power and in splendor.
She gave to the world great kings and statesmen, prophets and
poets, philosophers and artists. Zoroaster, Cyrus and Darius,
Háfiz and Firdawsi, Sa'dí and `Umar Khayyam are but a few of
her many famous sons. Her craftsmen were unsurpassed in skill;
her carpets were matchless, her steel blades unequaled, her
pottery world famous. In all parts of the Near and Middle East
she has left traces of her former greatness.
Yet, in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries she had sunk to a
condition of deplorable degradation. Her ancient glory seemed
irretrievably lost. Her government was corrupt and in
desperate financial straits; some of her rulers were feeble,
and other monsters of cruelty. Her priests were bigoted and
intolerant, her people ignorant and superstitious. Most of
them belonged to the Shí'ih sect, of Muhammadans, but there
were also considerable numbers of Zoroastrians, Jews and
Christians, of diverse and antagonistic sects. All professed
to follow sublime teachers who exhorted them to worship the
one God and to live in love and unity, yet they shunned,
detested and despised each other, each sect regarding the
others as unclean, as dogs or heathens. Cursing and execration
were indulged in to a fearful extent. It was dangerous for a
Jew or a Zoroastrian to walk in the street on a rainy day, for
if his wet garment should touch a Muhammadan, the Muslim was
defiled, and the other might have to atone for the offense
with his life. If a Muhammadan took money from a Jew,
Zoroastrian or Christian he had to wash it before he could put
it in his pocket. If a Jew found his child giving a glass of
water to a poor Muhammadan beggar he would dash the glass from
the child's hand, for curses rather than kindness should be
the portion of infidels! The Muslims themselves were divided
into numerous sects, among whom strife was often bitter and
fierce. The Zoroastrians did not join much in these mutual
recriminations, but lived in communities apart, refusing to
associate with their fellow countrymen of other faiths.
Social as well as
religious affairs were in a state of hopeless decadence.
Education was neglected. Western science and art were looked
upon as unclean and contrary to religion. Justice was
travestied. Pillage and robbery were of common occurrence.
Roads were bad and unsafe for travel. Sanitary arrangements
were shockingly defective.
Yet,
notwithstanding all this, the light of spiritual life was not
extinct in Persia. Here and there, amid the prevailing
worldliness and superstition, could still be found some
saintly souls, and in many a heart the longing for God was
cherished, as in the hearts of Anna and Simeon before the
appearance of Jesus. Many were eagerly awaiting the coming of
a promised Messenger of God, and confident that the time of
His advent was at hand. Such was the state of affairs in
Persia when the Báb, the Herald of a new era, set all the
country in commotion with His message. Early Life Mírzá `Alí
Muhammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e.
Gate), was born at Shíráz, in the south of Persia, on the
20th of October 1819 A.D. He was a Siyyid, that is, a
descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. His father, a well-known
merchant, died soon after His birth, and He was then placed
under the care of a maternal uncle, a merchant of Shíráz,
who brought Him up. In childhood He learned to read, and
received the elementary education customary for children. At
the age of fifteen He went into business, at first with His
guardian, and afterward with another uncle who lived at
Búshihr, on the shore of the Gulf of Persia.
As a youth He was
noted for great personal beauty and charm of manner, and also
for exceptional piety, and nobility of character. He was
unfailing in His observance of the prayers, fasts and other
ordinances of the Muhammadan religion, and not only obeyed the
letter, but lived in the spirit of the Prophet's teachings. He
married when about twenty-two years of age. Of this marriage
one son was born, who died while still an infant, in the first
year of the Báb's public ministry.
Baha'u'llah and
The New Era, pages 11-14
2. The distinguished
orientalist, the late Professor Edward G. Browne, of the
University of Cambridge, visited Baha'u'llah
at Bahjí
in the year 1890, and recorded his impressions as follows: -
"... my conductor paused for a moment while I removed
my shoes. Then, with a quick movement of the hand, he
withdrew, and, as I passed, replaced the curtain; and I found
myself in a large apartment, along the upper end of which ran
a low divan, while on the side opposite to the door were
placed two or three chairs. Though I dimly suspected whither I
was going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation
had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a
throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that
the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met
the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a
felt head-dress of the kind called 1taj1 by dervishes (but of
unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a
small white turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can
never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes
seemed to read one's very soul; power and authority sat on
that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face
implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down
in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to
belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed
myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love
which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain!
A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued:
-- "Praise be to God that thou has attained! ... Thou has
come to see a prisoner and an exile. ... We desire but the
good of the world and happiness of the nations; yet they deem
us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and
banishment. ... That all nations should become one in faith
and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity
between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity
of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled
-- what harm is there in this? ... Yet so it shall be; these
fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the
`Most Great Peace' shall come. ... Do not you in Europe need
this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold? ... Yet do
we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more
freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on
that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind. ...
These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and
all men be as one kindred and one family. ... Let not a man
glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory
in this, that he loves his kind. ..."
Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which,
besides many others, I heard from Beha. Let those who read
them consider well with themselves whether such doctrines
merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely
gain or lose by their diffusion."
3.
"I testify before God," proclaims Bahá'u'lláh,
"to the greatness, the inconceivable greatness of this
Revelation. Again and again have We in most of Our Tablets
borne witness to this truth, that mankind may be roused from
its heedlessness." "In this most mighty
Revelation," He unequivocally announces, "all the
Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their
final consummation." "That which hath been made
manifest in this préeminent, this most exalted Revelation,
stands unparalleled in the annals of the past, nor will future
ages witness its like." "He it is," referring
to Himself He further proclaims, "Who in the Old
Testament hath been named Jehovah, Who in the Gospel hath been
designated as the Spirit of Truth, and in the Qur'án
acclaimed as the Great Announcement." "But for Him
no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the robe of
prophethood, nor would any of the sacred scriptures have been
revealed. To this bear witness all created things."
"The word which the one true God uttereth in this day,
though that word be the most familiar and commonplace of
terms, is invested with supreme, with unique
distinction." "The generality of mankind is still
immature. Had it acquired sufficient capacity We would have
bestowed upon it so great a measure of Our knowledge that all
who dwell on earth and in heaven would have found themselves,
by virtue of the grace streaming from Our pen, completely
independent of all knowledge save the knowledge of God, and
would have been securely established upon the throne of
abiding tranquillity." "The Pen of Holiness, I
solemnly affirm before God, hath writ upon My snow-white brow
and in characters of effulgent glory these glowing, these
musk-scented and holy words: `Behold ye that dwell on earth,
and ye denizens of heaven, bear witness, He in truth is your
Well-Beloved. He it is Whose like the world of creation hath
not seen, He Whose ravishing beauty hath delighted the eye of
God, the Ordainer, the All-Powerful, the Incomparable!'"
Shoghi Effendi,
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh page 100
4. "This is
the King of Days," He thus extols the age that has
witnessed the advent of His Revelation, "the Day that
hath seen the coming of the Best-beloved, Him Who through all
eternity hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World."
"The world of being shineth in this Day with the
resplendency of this Divine Revelation. All created things
extol its saving grace and sing its praises. The universe is
wrapt in an ecstasy of joy and gladness. The Scriptures of
past Dispensations celebrate the great jubilee that must needs
greet this most great Day of God. Well is it with him that
hath lived to see this Day and hath recognized its
station." "Were mankind to give heed in a befitting
manner to no more than one word of such a praise it would be
so filled with delight as to be overpowered and lost in
wonder. Entranced, it would then shine forth resplendent above
the horizon of true understanding."
Shoghi Effendi,
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh page 101
5. Tablet of
Visitation
The praise which
hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which
hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon
Thee, O Thou Who art the Manifestation of Grandeur, and the
King of Eternity, and the Lord of all who are in heaven and on
earth! I testify that through Thee the sovereignty of God and
His dominion, and the majesty of God and His grandeur, were
revealed, and the Day-Stars of ancient splendor have shed
their radiance in the heaven of Thine irrevocable decree, and
the Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth above the horizon of
creation. I testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy
Pen Thine injunction "Be Thou" hath been enforced,
and God's hidden Secret hath been divulged, and all created
things have been called into being, and all the Revelations
have been sent down.
I bear witness,
moreover, that through Thy beauty the beauty of the Adored One
hath been unveiled, and through Thy face the face of the
Desired One hath shone forth, and that through a word from
Thee Thou hast decided between all created things, causing
them who are devoted to Thee to ascend unto the summit of
glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.
I bear witness
that he who hath known Thee hath known God, and he who hath
attained unto Thy presence hath attained unto the presence of
God. Great, therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath
believed in Thee, and in Thy signs, and hath humbled himself
before Thy sovereignty, and hath been honored with meeting
Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy will, and
circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne. Woe betide
him that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee,
and repudiated Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and
risen up against Thee, and waxed proud before Thy face, and
hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled from Thy rule and Thy
dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose names have
been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy
Tablets.
Waft, then, unto
me, O my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy mercy
and Thy loving-kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that
they may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the
courts of Thy nearness and Thy presence. Potent art Thou to do
what pleaseth Thee. Thou, truly, hast been supreme over all
things.
The remembrance
of God and His praise, and the glory of God and His splendor,
rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art His Beauty! I bear witness that
the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like
Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an
ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and
fetters; at another Thou wast threatened by the sword of Thine
enemies. Yet, despite all this, Thou didst enjoin upon all men
to observe what had been prescribed unto Thee by Him Who is
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
May my spirit be
a sacrifice to the wrongs Thou didst suffer, and my soul be a
ransom for the adversities Thou didst sustain. I beseech God,
by Thee and by them whose faces have been illumined with the
splendors of the light of Thy countenance, and who, for love
of Thee, have observed all whereunto they were bidden, to
remove the veils that have come in between Thee and Thy
creatures, and to supply me with the good of this world and
the world to come. Thou art, in truth, the Almighty, the Most
Exalted, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most
Compassionate.
Bless Thou, O
Lord my God, the Divine Lote-Tree and its leaves, and its
boughs, and its branches, and its stems, and its offshoots, as
long as Thy most excellent titles will endure and Thy most
august attributes will last. Protect it, then, from the
mischief of the aggressor and the hosts of tyranny. Thou art,
in truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. Bless Thou, also, O
Lord my God, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens who have
attained unto Thee. Thou, truly, art the All-Bountiful, Whose
grace is infinite. No God is there save Thee, the
Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
(Bahá'u'lláh:
Prayers and Meditations, pages 310-313)
