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“In the Bahá’í family, the married couple are true partners…they navigate life’s challenges—whether spiritual, material, or social”

In the Bahá’í family, the married couple are true partners; one is not subordinated to the other. Together they navigate life’s challenges—whether spiritual, material, or social—through prayer, study, consultation, and reflection on action. Consider, for example, decisions pertaining to the education of children. The Bahá’í Writings acknowledge the mother as the first educator of the child and uphold her prerogatives in this regard. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observes, “truly it is the mothers who determine the happiness, the future greatness, the courteous ways and learning and judgement, the understanding and the faith of their little ones.” Yet, the father also bears responsibility for their education and upbringing, and cannot abdicate such a vital duty and leave it to the mother alone. And while, to support the mother in this role and ensure she is not disadvantaged by it, the father bears a corollary obligation to support the family financially, this does not mean roles are inflexibly fixed. Based on their understanding of the Teachings, the couple determine the best way to manage the family’s affairs in response to different personal and social circumstances. Each stage of married life will present corresponding challenges and opportunities a couple must strive to manage, cooperatively and effectively, while ensuring both the wife and husband’s spiritual, intellectual, and professional progress. 

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 19 March 2025 to the Bahá’ís of the World; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

“A twofold process” bringing to “a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet”: – “an integrating” and a “fundamentally disruptive”

A twofold process, however, can be distinguished, each tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated barriers that seek to block humanity’s progress towards its destined goal. The constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish. The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’)

The reason the Báb encountered intense opposition from the divines

There are many authentic traditions showing that the Qá’im on His appearance would bring new laws with Him and would thus abrogate Islám. But this was not the understanding of the established hierarchy. They confidently expected that the promised Advent would not substitute a new and richer revelation for the old, but would endorse and fortify the system of which they were the functionaries. It would enhance incalculably their personal prestige, would extend their authority far and wide among the nations, and would win for them the reluctant but abject homage of mankind. When the Báb revealed His Bayán, proclaimed a new code of religious law, and by precept and example instituted a profound moral and spiritual reform, the priests immediately scented mortal danger. They saw their monopoly undermined, their ambitions threatened, their own lives and conduct put to shame. They rose against Him in sanctimonious indignation. They declared before the Sháh and all the people that this upstart was an enemy of sound learning, a subverter of Islám, a traitor to Mhammad, and a peril not only to the holy church but to the social order and to the State itself.

- Shoghi Effendi (Introduction to 'The Dawn-Breakers')

‘The Dawn-Breakers’ book currently available contains the first half of Nabil’s chronicle – “parts of the manuscript were reviewed and approved, some by Bahá’u’lláh, and others by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”

His [Nabil] chronicle was begun in 1888, when he had the personal assistance of Mírzá Músá, the brother of Bahá’u’lláh. It was finished in about a year and a half, and parts of the manuscript were reviewed and approved, some by Bahá’u’lláh, and others by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The complete work carries the history of the Movement up to the death of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892.

The first half of this narrative, closing with the expulsion of Bahá’u’lláh from Persia, is contained in the present volume. Its importance is evident. It will be read less for the few stirring passages of action which it contains, or even for its many pictures of heroism and unwavering faith, than for the abiding significance of those events of which it gives so unique a record.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Introduction to ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)

The awesome effects of the “onrushing winds of the grace of God” that Bahá’u’llah’s Revelation has brought to the world

“The onrushing winds of the grace of God,” He, in the Súratu’l-Haykal, proclaims, “have passed over all things. Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can carry. And yet the peoples of the world have denied this grace! Every tree hath been endowed with the choicest fruits, every ocean enriched with the most luminous gems. Man, himself, hath been invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge. The whole creation hath been made the recipient of the revelation of the All-Merciful, and the earth the repository of things inscrutable to all except God, the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. The time is approaching when every created thing will have cast its burden. Glorified be God Who hath vouchsafed this grace that encompasseth all things, whether seen or unseen!” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Quoting Bahá’u’lláh in ‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’)

The growing “capacity” of the “world of being” for the "potentialities" of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh

“The heights,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself testifies, “which, through the most gracious favor of God, mortal man can attain in this Day are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess, the capacity for such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Quoting Bahá’u’lláh in ‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’)

Báhá’u’lláh’s Tablets to “the emperors of the West and the potentates of the East”: - the “diversity of the subjects touched upon”

No less amazing is the diversity of the subjects touched upon in these Tablets.

• The transcendent majesty and unity of an unknowable and unapproachable God is extolled, and the oneness of His Messengers proclaimed and emphasized.
• The uniqueness, the universality and potentialities of the Bahá’í Faith are stressed, and the purpose and character of the Bábí Revelation unfolded.
• The significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s sufferings and banishments is disclosed, and the tribulations rained down upon His Herald and upon His Namesake recognized and lamented.
• His own yearning for the crown of martyrdom, which they both so mysteriously won, is voiced, and the ineffable glories and wonders in store for His own Dispensation foreshadowed.
• Episodes, at once moving and marvelous, at various stages of His ministry, are recounted, and the transitoriness of worldly pomp, fame, riches, and sovereignty, repeatedly and categorically asserted.
• Appeals for the application of the highest principles in human and international relations are forcibly and insistently made, and the abandonment of discreditable practices and conventions, detrimental to the happiness, the growth, the prosperity and the unity of the human race, enjoined.
• Kings are censured, ecclesiastical dignitaries arraigned, ministers and plenipotentiaries condemned, and the identification of His advent with the coming of the Father Himself unequivocally admitted and repeatedly announced.
• The violent downfall of a few of these kings and emperors is prophesied, two of them are definitely challenged, most are warned, all are appealed to and exhorted. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

Why some recognize the Cause of God and others are deprived of that blessing – Baha’u’llah explains

Be thankful to God for having enabled you to recognise His Cause. Whoever has received this blessing must, prior to his acceptance, have performed some deed which, though he himself was unaware of its character, was ordained by God as a means whereby he has been guided to find and embrace the Truth. As to those who have remained deprived of such a blessing, their acts alone have hindered them from recognising the truth of this Revelation. We cherish the hope that you, who have attained to this light, will exert your utmost to banish the darkness of superstition and unbelief from the midst of the people. May your deeds proclaim your faith and enable you to lead the erring into the paths of eternal salvation. The memory of this night will never be forgotten. May it never be effaced by the passage of time, and may its mention linger for ever on the lips of men.

- Baha'u'llah  (Words of Baha’u’llah addressed to some pilgrims and a few resident believers on January 8, 1889, quoted by Nabil in the ‘Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

“The essence of belief in Divine unity”

The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who is the Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one and the same. By this is meant that whatever pertaineth to the former, all His acts and doings, whatever He ordaineth or forbiddeth, should be considered, in all their aspects, and under all circumstances, and without any reservation, as identical with the Will of God Himself. This is the loftiest station to which a true believer in the unity of God can ever hope to attain. Blessed is the man that reacheth this station, and is of them that are steadfast in their belief.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

Some of the Baha’i “convictions underpinning” “the principle of the oneness of humankind”

…Bahá’ís across the globe, in the most unassuming settings, are striving to establish a pattern of activity and the corresponding administrative structures that embody the principle of the oneness of humankind and the convictions underpinning it, only a few of which are mentioned here as a means of illustration:

• that the rational soul has no gender, race, ethnicity or class, a fact that renders intolerable all forms of prejudice, not the least of which are those that prevent women from fulfilling their potential and engaging in various fields of endeavour shoulder to shoulder with men;
• that the root cause of prejudice is ignorance, which can be erased through educational processes that make knowledge accessible to the entire human race, ensuring it does not become the property of a privileged few;
• that science and religion are two complementary systems of knowledge and practice by which human beings come to understand the world around them and through which civilization advances;
• that religion without science soon degenerates into superstition and fanaticism, while science without religion becomes the tool of crude materialism;
• that true prosperity, the fruit of a dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual requirements of life, will recede further and further out of reach as long as consumerism continues to act as opium to the human soul;
• that justice, as a faculty of the soul, enables the individual to distinguish truth from falsehood and guides the investigation of reality, so essential if superstitious beliefs and outworn traditions that impede unity are to be eliminated;
• that, when appropriately brought to bear on social issues, justice is the single most important instrument for the establishment of unity;
• that work performed in the spirit of service to one’s fellow human beings is a form of prayer, a means of worshipping God.

Translating ideals such as these into reality, effecting a transformation at the level of the individual and laying the foundations of suitable social structures, is no small task, to be sure. Yet the Bahá’í community is dedicated to the long-term process of learning that this task entails, an enterprise in which increasing numbers from all walks of life, from every human group, are invited to take part. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 2 March 2013 to the Bahá’ís of Iran; authorized translation from Persian; Online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

“the watchword of the entire body of the American believers”: - “Freedom from racial prejudice, in any of its forms”

Freedom from racial prejudice, in any of its forms, should, at such a time as this when an increasingly large section of the human race is falling a victim to its devastating ferocity, be adopted as the watchword of the entire body of the American believers, in whichever state they reside, in whatever circles they move, whatever their age, traditions, tastes, and habits. It should be consistently demonstrated in every phase of their activity and life, whether in the Bahá’í community or outside it, in public or in private, formally as well as informally, individually as well as in their official capacity as organized groups, committees and Assemblies. It should be deliberately cultivated through the various and everyday opportunities, no matter how insignificant, that present themselves, whether in their homes, their business offices, their schools and colleges, their social parties and recreation grounds, their Bahá’í meetings, conferences, conventions, summer schools and Assemblies. It should, above all else, become the keynote of the policy of that august body which, in its capacity as the national representative, and the director and coordinator of the affairs of the community, must set the example, and facilitate the application of such a vital principle to the lives and activities of those whose interests it safeguards and represents. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

Introducing a New Site: 'The Unfoldment of World Civilization'

Passages in sequential order from a letter by Shoghi Effendi known as ‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’, March 11, 1936

In 1936 he wrote The Unfoldment of World Civilization; once again, as he so often did, Shoghi Effendi links this to the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It was a further exposition of the state of the world, the rapid political, moral and spiritual decline evident in it, the weakening of both Christianity and Islam, the dangers humanity in its heedlessness was running, and the strong, divine, hopeful remedy the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh had to offer. Important and educative as these wonderful letters of the Guardian were they provided, in their wealth of apposite quotations from Bahá'u'lláh's own words which the Guardian had translated and lavishly cited, spiritual sustenance for the believers, for we know that the World of the Manifestation of God is the food of the soul. They also contained innumerable beautifully translated passages from the beloved Master's Tablets. All this bounty the Guardian spread for the believers in feast after feast, nourished them and raised up a new strong generation of servants in the Faith. His words fired their imagination, challenged them to rise to new heights, drove their roots deeper in the fertile soil of the Cause. 

- Ruhiyyih Khanum  (‘The Priceless Pearl’)

circa 1986: Delegates to Canadian National Baha'i Convention

“the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bahá’í Era”: - “the furthermost limits in the organization of human society”

• The emergence of a world community,
• the consciousness of world citizenship,
• the founding of a world civilization and culture—

all of which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bahá’í Era—should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘The Unfoldment of World Civilization’, included in ‘The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh)

Stories about Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi and others – pdf downloadable

Other Compilations...

References to the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad and its designation as “a center of pilgrimage”

The House of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad after
restoration in early 1930's

Within its walls

• the “Most Great House of God,”
• His “Footstool” and the “Throne of His Glory,”
• “the Cynosure of an adoring world,”
• the “Lamp of Salvation between earth and heaven,”
• the “Sign of His remembrance to all who are in heaven and on earth,”
• enshrining the “Jewel whose glory hath irradiated all creation,”
• the “Standard” of His Kingdom,
• the “Shrine round which will circle the concourse of the faithful” was irrevocably founded and permanently consecrated.
• Upon it, by virtue of its sanctity as
• Bahá’u’lláh’s “Most Holy Habitation” and
• “Seat of His transcendent glory,”
• was conferred the honor of being regarded as a center of pilgrimage second to none except the city of ‘Akká, His “Most Great Prison,” in whose immediate vicinity His holy Sepulcher, the Qiblih of the Bahá’í world, is enshrined.

 - Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

June 15, 1955: Festival of Faith, San Francisco

Photograph taken during the reading of prayers of all Faiths at the Festival of Faith, San Francisco, June 15, 1955, preceding the Tenth Anniversary celebration of United Nations. Standing at the far right is Arthur L. Dahl, Jr., who read the Bahá’í prayer. In the background is the 1500-voice choir and the UN flag. 

(Baha’i News, August 1955)

“This is what is worthy of the Bahá’ís” – counsel from ‘Abdu’l-Baha

This is what is worthy of the Bahá’ís: that they be infinitely kind to one another and ready to lay down their lives for each other. For service to the loved ones of God is servitude to His threshold, and consideration shown to the friends is one of the hallmarks of the beloved of the All-Merciful. God, in the loftiness and sublimity of His Lordship, is exalted above and completely independent of all things. The servitude of God’s servants, however, is acceptable and pleasing in His sight. Praised be God that ye have attained thereunto. The recompense for this praiseworthy deed and laudable effort is with Him Who is the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving. And this recompense consisteth of heavenly confirmation, of divine assistance and gracious favour. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)