Photo courtesy of Médiathèque baha’ie at  www.bahai-biblio.org.  

O God, Who art the Author of all Manifestations, the Source of all Sources, the Fountain-Head of all Revelations, and the Well-Spring of all Lights! I testify that by Thy Name the heaven of understanding hath been adorned, and the ocean of utterance hath surged, and the dispensations of Thy providence have been promulgated unto the followers of all religions.

I beseech Thee so to enrich me as to dispense with all save Thee, and be made independent of any one except Thyself. Rain down, then, upon me out of the clouds of Thy bounty that which shall profit me in every world of Thy worlds. Assist me, then, through Thy strengthening grace, so to serve Thy Cause amidst Thy servants that I may show forth what will cause me to be remembered as long as Thine own kingdom endureth and Thy dominion will last.

This is Thy servant, O my Lord, who with his whole being hath turned unto the horizon of Thy bounty, and the ocean of Thy grace, and the heaven of Thy gifts. Do with me then as becometh Thy majesty, and Thy glory, and Thy bounteousness, and Thy grace.

Thou, in truth, art the God of strength and power, Who art meet to answer them that pray Thee. There is no God save Thee, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.  

Bahá’u’lláh

Sunday, February 7th, Bahá’ís and their friends in communities around the globe gathered in special devotional meetings called at the request of the Universal House of Justice and their National Spiritual Assemblies to say prayers on behalf of the seven Bahá’í leaders who were arrested in Iran nearly two years ago, as well as for ten others more recently arrested. Sunday marked the second day of the trial for these seven friends, following their arraignment on January 12th. The very charges against them reveal the government’s thinly veiled motive of religious persecution:

espionage for the benefit of foreigners,

spreading anti-government propaganda,

organizing and propagating an illegal administration,

collaboration with Israel,

collecting classified documents and providing them to foreigners with the intention of disturbing the country’s security,

conspiracy to undermine the internal and external security of Iran to tarnish its reputation in the international arena, and

spreading corruption on earth.

No other religion has followers more law abiding and less likely to act against the laws of their government than the followers of Bahá’u’lláh. No other religion has followers less likely to be involved in politics.

In every country where any of this people reside, they must behave towards the government of that country with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness. This is that which hath been revealed at the behest of Him Who is the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.

Bahá’u’lláh

 ~

Furthermore each and every one is required to show obedience, submission and loyalty towards his own government. Today no state in the world is in a condition of peace or tranquillity, for security and trust have vanished from among the people. Both the governed and the governors are alike in danger. The only group of people which today submitteth peacefully and loyally to the laws and ordinances of government and dealeth honestly and frankly with the people, is none other than this wronged community. For while all sects and races in Persia and Turkestan are absorbed in promoting their own interests and only obey their governments either with the hope of reward or from fear of punishment, the Bahá’ís are the well-wishers of the government, obedient to its laws and bearing love towards all peoples.

 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

 ~

There is one fundamental point which Shoghi Effendi wishes me to emphasize. By the principle of non-interference in political matters we must not mean that only corrupt politics and partial and sectarian politics are to be avoided. But that pronouncement on any current system of politics connected with any government must be shunned. We should not only take side with no political party, group or system actually in use, but we should also refuse to commit ourselves to any statement which may be interpreted as being sympathetic or antagonistic to any existing political organization or philosophy. The attitude of the Bahá’ísmust be one of complete aloofness. They are neither for nor against any system of politics. Not that they are the ill-wishers of their respective governments but that due to certain basic considerations arising out of their teachings and of the administrative machinery of their Faith they prefer not to get entangled in political affairs and to be misinterpreted and misunderstood by their countrymen.

“In the light of this principle it becomes clear that to contribute articles on current political affairs to any newspaper must inevitably lead the writer to express, directly or in an indirect manner, his view and his criticisms on the subject. He is, in addition, always liable to be misinterpreted and misunderstood by the politicians. The best thing to do, therefore, is simply not to write on current policies at all.

from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi

 

Bahá’ís have these fundamental principles engrained into them, especially so in a country where its enemies would welcome any legitimate reason to harm them. Instead, spurious charges such as the above must be invented.

Whensoever the light of Manifestation of the King of Oneness settleth upon the throne of the heart and soul, His shining becometh visible in every limb and member. At that time the mystery of the famed tradition gleameth out of the darkness: “A servant is drawn unto Me in prayer until I answer him; and when I have answered him, I become the ear wherewith he heareth….” For thus the Master of the house hath appeared within His home, and all the pillars of the dwelling are ashine with His light. And the action and effect of the light are from the Light-Giver; so it is that all move through Him and arise by His will. And this is that spring whereof the near ones drink, as it is said: “A fount whereof the near unto God shall drink….”

Bahá’u’lláh, from The Seven Valleys, quoting a tradition of Islam and a passage from the Qur’an

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

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

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 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.

~

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

~

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. 

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.

~

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