Public and private feasts hosted by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Akka - described by one of His secretaries

Two types of feasts were held in ‘Akka. One was the public feast, which was held in either the Garden of Ridvan or the Mansion of Bahji. The other was a special feast observed for the pilgrims at the House of ‘Abdu'l-Baha.

At the public feasts it was typical for one type of food to be served, such as Chinese kebab or pot kebab, [1] the selection and preparation of which was under the direction of the Master. In such cases He would appear for just a few minutes to supervise the service. The absolute simplicity and cleanliness of the dinner table created an atmosphere of love and spirituality. This type of feast was normally held on Holy Days.

The special or private feasts for the pilgrims were distinctive and beautiful events. The table was wonderfully decorated with flowers of assorted colours which not only revived the spirit but also stimulated the appetite. This feast was, in all its details, conducted and supervised by the Master. He would summon the friends to the table, seat each one individually, moving fluidly around the table and serving each guest with His own hand. Then He would leave the room briefly, allowing the friends to concentrate on the food. He would then return, and while speaking of happy things, replenish any plate in need of another helping. Here, there were multiple types of food, all Persian dishes but placed on the table in European style, [2] which looked very appetizing. Since the number of guests usually exceeded the table placements and chairs, the food was served in two sittings.

1920: Shoghi Effendi at Oxford, England

The class of 1920, Balliol College, Oxford. Shoghi Effendi is standing behind the third man in the second row, counting from left to right (to the left of the man with striped tie) (The Baha'i World 1954-1963)

Source of evil thoughts

Question: What is the source of evil thoughts that disturb those who do not wish to entertain them?

Answer [by 'Abdu'l-Baha]: “They come from other minds; they are reflected. One should not become a mirror for them - to reflect them; neither should one try to control them, for this is impossible; it only aggravates the difficulty, causing more to appear.

One should constantly turn the mirror of his heart squarely toward God so that the Light of the Sun of Truth may be reflected there.

This is the only cure for attacks of evil thoughts. The face of the mirror should be turned toward God, and the back of the mirror toward the evil thoughts.”

-' Abdu'l-Baha  (From a table talk by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Daily Lessons Received at Akka January 1908”, by Helen Goodall and Ella Goodall Cooper)

1984: Delegates to Canadian National Baha'i Convention

(Baha'i Canada, June-Sept. 1984)

Baha’u’llah explains how during His time “most of the peoples of the earth would have… been adorned with the ornament of His guidance”

The Pen of Revelation, O Dhabíh, hath, in most of the divinely-revealed Tablets, recorded these words: We have admonished all the loved ones of God to take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained with the dust of reprehensible conduct. We have, moreover, exhorted them to fix their gaze upon whatsoever hath been revealed in Our Tablets. Had their inner ears been attentive to the Divine counsels which have shone forth from the Day Spring of the Pen of the All-Merciful, and hearkened unto His Voice, most of the peoples of the earth would have by now been adorned with the ornament of His guidance. What had been pre-ordained, however, hath come to pass. 

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

1953: The nine terraces below the Shrine of the Bab

Scene from the terrace immediately in front of the Shrine of the Bab, looking down the nine terraces and Carmel Ave in the Bay of Haifa (Baha'i News April 1953)

The remarkable “interview” that became the start of the Baha’i Era

The opening scene of the initial act of this great drama was laid in the upper chamber of the modest residence of the son of a mercer of Shíráz, in an obscure corner of that city. The time was the hour before sunset, on the 22nd day of May, 1844. The participants were the Báb, a twenty-five year old siyyid, of pure and holy lineage, and the young Mullá Husayn, the first to believe in Him. Their meeting immediately before that interview seemed to be purely fortuitous. The interview itself was protracted till the hour of dawn. The Host remained closeted alone with His guest, nor was the sleeping city remotely aware of the import of the conversation they held with each other. No record has passed to posterity of that unique night save the fragmentary but highly illuminating account that fell from the lips of Mullá Husayn. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

“no less than half” of Nabil’s narrative is devoted to the first nine years of Baha’i Era

Little wonder that the immortal chronicler of the events associated with the birth and rise of the Bahá’í Revelation has seen fit to devote no less than half of his moving narrative to the description of those happenings that have during such a brief space of time so greatly enriched, through their tragedy and heroism, the religious annals of mankind.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

A rich person: - is one who possesses the love of God and His Chosen Ones

…it is related that on a certain day, one of the companions of Sádiq [the sixth of the Shi’ih Imams] complained of his poverty before him. Whereupon, Sádiq, that immortal beauty, made reply: “Verily thou art rich, and hast drunk the draught of wealth.” That poverty-stricken soul was perplexed at the words uttered by that luminous countenance, and said: “Where are my riches, I who stand in need of a single coin?” Sádiq thereupon observed: “Dost thou not possess our love?” He replied: “Yea, I possess it, O thou scion of the Prophet of God!” And Sádiq asked him saying: “Exchangest thou this love for one thousand dinars?” He answered: “Nay, never will I exchange it, though the world and all that is therein be given me!” Then Sádiq remarked: “How can he who possesses such a treasure be called poor?”

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

The awesome attributes of the “Letters of the Living, and their companions”

The heroes whose deeds shine upon the record of this fierce spiritual contest, involving at once people, clergy, monarch and government, were the Báb’s chosen disciples, the Letters of the Living, and their companions, the trail-breakers of the New Day, who to so much intrigue, ignorance, depravity, cruelty, superstition and cowardice opposed a spirit exalted, unquenchable and awe-inspiring, a knowledge surprisingly profound, an eloquence sweeping in its force, a piety unexcelled in fervor, a courage leonine in its fierceness, a self-abnegation saintly in its purity, a resolve granite-like in its firmness, a vision stupendous in its range, a veneration for the Prophet and His Imáms disconcerting to their adversaries, a power of persuasion alarming to their antagonists, a standard of faith and a code of conduct that challenged and revolutionized the lives of their countrymen. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

The Baha’i Faith and the “the flowering of the arts”

The beloved Guardian made it clear that the flowering of the arts which is the result of a divine revelation comes only after a number of centuries. The Bahá'í Faith offers the world the complete rebuilding of human society -- a rebuilding of such far-reaching effect that it has been looked forward to in all the revelations of the past and has been called the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. The new architecture to which this revelation will give birth will blossom many generations hence. We are now merely at the beginning of this great process.

The present time is a period of turmoil and change. Architecture, like all arts and sciences, is undergoing very rapid development; one has only to consider the changes that have taken place in the course of the last few decades to have some idea of what is likely to happen during the years immediately ahead. Some modern buildings have, no doubt, qualities of greatness and will endure, but very much of what is being constructed now may be outgrown and may appear ugly but a few generations hence. Modern architecture, in other words, may be considered a new development in its primitive stage. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 18 July 1974 to an individual; compilations: ‘The Importance of the Arts in Promoting the Faith’)

The first nine years of the Baha’i Era “may well rank as unique in the whole range of man’s religious experience”

In sheer dramatic power, in the rapidity with which events of momentous importance succeeded each other, in the holocaust which baptized its birth, in the miraculous circumstances attending the martyrdom of the One Who had ushered it in, in the potentialities with which it had been from the outset so thoroughly impregnated, in the forces to which it eventually gave birth, this nine-year period may well rank as unique in the whole range of man’s religious experience.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

What Christ would have done if He had appeared among the lawless tribes of Arabia

You should likewise consider in fairness the following: If Christ Himself had been placed in similar circumstances [like Muhammad’s] and among such lawless and barbarous tribes; if for thirteen years He and His disciples had patiently endured every manner of cruelty at their hands; if they were forced through this oppression to forsake their homeland and take to the wilderness; and if these lawless tribes still persisted in pursuing them with the aim of slaughtering the men, pillaging their property, and seizing their women and children—how would Christ have dealt with them? If this oppression had been directed towards Him alone, He would have forgiven them, and such an act of forgiveness would have been most acceptable and praiseworthy; but had He seen that cruel and bloodthirsty murderers were intent upon killing, pillaging, and tormenting a number of defenceless souls and taking captive the women and children, it is certain that He would have defended the oppressed and stayed the hand of the oppressors.

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)