Archive for January, 2010

The light of unity

The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Daystar of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. The One true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these words.

 Bahá’u’lláh

Prayer for the seven Bahá’í leaders

 

Their names are worth knowing. They are in front, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Saeid Rezaie, and, standing, Fariba Kamalabadi, Vahid Tizfahm, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, and Mahvash Sabet. They were photographed several months before their arrest in the spring of 2008.

It is reported that the trial in Tehran of the seven Bahá’í leaders began on Tuesday, January 12th in Iran, or Monday evening Pacific Coast time in the United States. They have been in prison for two years because they are Bahá’ís. Here is a special prayer for the freedom of Bahá’ís who are imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. Bahá’u’lláh instructs that believers must detach themselves from all things and recite this Tablet nine times:

“He is, in truth, the Omnipotent, the Unconstrained!
    O Lord of Names and Fashioner of the Heavens!
Free Thy lovers from the prison of the enemy.
    Verily, Thou art the Sovereign Ordainer of Thine irrevocable decree,
He Who alone shineth resplendent on the horizon of creation.
    O Everlasting Root!  By the life of the All-Glorious,
deprive them not of hope, nay rather aid and assist them.
    Verily, Thou rulest as Thou pleasest and within Thy grasp lie the kingdoms of creation.
The fangs of Thine enemies have been whetted, ready to bite into the flesh of Thy lovers.
    Protect these companions,
O Thou Who rulest over all humankind and art the Judge on the Day of Judgment.”

          – Bahá’u’lláh

Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord, and remember His servants even as He doth remember thee

Native American Bahá'ís celebrate at a Bahá'í conference in Montreal, Canada in 1995.

Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord, and remember His servants even as He doth remember thee, undeterred by either the clamor of the heedless ones or the sword of the enemy…. Spread abroad the sweet savors of thy Lord, and hesitate not, though it be for less than a moment, in the service of His Cause. The day is approaching when the victory of thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful, will be proclaimed.

Bahá’u’lláh 

Say: O men! This is a matchless Day. Matchless must, likewise, be the tongue that celebrateth the praise of the Desire of all nations, and matchless the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight. The whole human race hath longed for this Day, that perchance it may fulfil that which well beseemeth its station, and is worthy of its destiny. Blessed is the man whom the affairs of the world have failed to deter from recognizing Him Who is the Lord of all things.

As early as 1920 Bahá'ís in the United State were holding meetings to promote race unity. This one occurred in Springfield , Massachusetts in 1921 and was attended by 1200 people.

Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every day. Its tribulation is continually deepening. From the moment the Suriy-i-Ra’is (Tablet to Ra’is) was revealed until the present day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the hearts of its peoples been at rest. At one time it hath been agitated by contentions and disputes, at another it hath been convulsed by wars, and fallen a victim to inveterate diseases. Its sickness is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the  true Physician is debarred from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are regarded with favor, and are accorded full freedom to act. …The dust of sedition hath clouded the hearts of men, and blinded their eyes. Erelong, they will perceive the consequences of what their hands have wrought in the Day of God. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Informed, as bidden by One Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty.

Bahá’u’lláh

Photos courtesy of Médiathèque baha’ie at http://bahai-biblio.org

The waters of everlasting life have, in their fullness, been proffered unto men.

The Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, the World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith, with the Monument Gardens in the foreground.

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The Best-Beloved is come. In His right hand is the sealed Wine of His name. Happy is the man that turneth unto Him, and drinketh his fill, and exclaimeth: “Praise be to Thee, O Revealer of the signs of God!” By the righteousness of the Almighty! Every hidden thing hath been manifested through the power of truth. All the favors of God have been sent down, as a token of His grace. The waters of everlasting life have, in their fullness, been proffered unto men. Every single cup hath been borne round by the hand of the Well-Beloved. Draw near, and tarry not, though it be for one short moment.

Blessed are they that have soared on the wings of detachment and attained the station which, as ordained by God, overshadoweth the entire creation, whom neither the vain imaginations of the learned, nor the multitude of the hosts of the earth have succeeded in deflecting from His Cause. Who is there among you, O people, who will renounce the world, and draw nigh unto God, the Lord of all names? Where is he to be found who, through the power of My name that transcendeth all created things, will cast away the things that men possess, and cling, with all his might, to the things which God, the Knower of the unseen and of the seen, hath bidden him observe? Thus hath His bounty been sent down unto men, His testimony fulfilled, and His proof shone forth above the Horizon of mercy. Rich is the prize that shall be won by him who hath believed and exclaimed: “Lauded art Thou, O Beloved of all worlds! Magnified be Thy name, O Thou the Desire of every understanding heart!”

Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Bahá, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House, proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the splendors of His name, the All-Merciful. God is Our witness. Were We to reveal the hidden secrets of that Day, all they that dwell on earth and in the heavens would swoon away and die, except such as will be preserved by God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Such is the inebriating effect of the words of God upon Him Who is the Revealer of His undoubted proofs, that His Pen can move no longer. With these words He concludeth His Tablet: “No God is there but Me, the Most Exalted, the Most Powerful, the Most Excellent, the All-Knowing.”

 Bahá’u’lláh

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The house above, on the right, was built by the German Templers in the mid-19th century as part of their settlement of Mount Carmel. They settled there in anticipation of the return of their Lord, which they expected would be during their lifetimes. Carved over the arched doorway are the words “Der Herr ist nahe” (The Lord is near). It is located on Hagefen Street near the head of David Ben Gurion Avenue, at the base of Mount Carmel, and near the entrance plaza to the 19 terraces that adorn the Shrine of the Báb. 

This is the Day whereon the true servants of God partake of the life-giving waters of reunion

The sea gate in Akká through which Bahá’u’lláh, His family and a few followers passed in August 1868 upon their arrival at their place of exile and imprisonment.

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Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens. This is the Day whereon the true servants of God partake of the life-giving waters of reunion, the Day whereon those that are nigh unto Him are able to drink of the soft-flowing river of immortality, and they who believe in His unity, the wine of His Presence, through their recognition of Him Who is the Highest and Last End of all, in Whom the Tongue of Majesty and Glory voiceth the call: “The Kingdom is Mine. I, Myself, am, of Mine own right, its Ruler.”

Attract the hearts of men, through the call of Him, the one alone Beloved. Say: This is the Voice of God, if ye do but hearken. This is the Day Spring of the Revelation of God, did ye but know it. This is the Dawning-Place of the Cause of God, were ye to recognize it. This is the Source of the commandment of God, did ye but judge it fairly. This is the manifest and hidden Secret; would that ye might perceive it. O peoples of the world! Cast away, in My name that transcendeth all other names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this Ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean that surgeth in My name, the All-Merciful.   Thus instructeth you He with Whom is the Mother Book.

Bahá’u’lláh