New compilation: Passages about Bahá’u’lláh from Bahá’í Writings & Literature – vol. 1

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Prepared by: Baha’i Multimedia Resources

Bahá’u’lláh defines the characteristics of “the true servant of God”

“He is the true servant of God,” He, in another passage has written, “who, in this day, were he to pass through cities of silver and gold, would not deign to look upon them, and whose heart would remain pure and undefiled from whatever things can be seen in this world, be they its goods or its treasures. I swear by the Sun of Truth! The breath of such a man is endowed with potency, and his words with attraction.” 

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

Occasions when during prayer and meditation one’s heart becomes touched by the memory of a departed soul

Someone present asked how it was that in prayer and meditation the heart often turns with instinctive appeal to some friend who has passed into the next life.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá answered:

“It is a law of God’s creation that the weak should lean upon the strong. Those to whom you turn may be the mediators of God’s power to you, even as when on earth. But it is the One Holy Spirit that strengthens all men.”

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘’Abdu’l-Baha in London’)

Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga

Ways of teaching the Faith - 2009: “two developments are occurring in all parts of the globe”: (1) “the practice of discussing the principles and precepts of the Faith in a general way”; (2) “the habit of conversing with friends and acquaintances on matters of spiritual import”

2009

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

Your email letter of 14 February 2009, in which you describe some concerns felt by members of your community regarding different ways of teaching the Faith, has been received by the Universal House of Justice. We have been asked to convey the following.

In your letter, you raise various questions relating to teaching, with reference to different opinions held by members of the Bahá’í community. As mentioned in the 2008 Ridván message, the friends everywhere are learning how best to apply a range of approaches and methods in sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, in keeping with the receptivity of their listeners. In this context, the House of Justice has been pleased to see that two developments are occurring in all parts of the globe, irrespective of the nature of the society in question.

First, the practice of discussing the principles and precepts of the Faith in a general way, which has resulted in a great many admirers of the Cause but few enrolments, is being complemented by an increasingly direct approach to sharing Bahá’u’lláh’s Message. More often than not, the friends have found the presentation of the Faith outlined in Book 6 of the Ruhi Institute most useful in this respect. It is clear, however, that those making such a presentation need to avoid the trap of reducing it merely to a series of points of information that are enumerated for the listener. Results worldwide leave little doubt that the heart of the listener is touched when the teacher understands the logic underlying the presentation and is prepared to offer it in its fullness. That so many believers who have been taught the Faith in this way have, through study of the courses of the institute, become active supporters of the Cause in their communities stands as ample testimony to the validity of the method. This development represents an important milestone, indeed, in the progress of the Faith.

The “station occupied by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the significance of His position in this holy Dispensation”

The only known color photograph
of Abdu’l-Bahá

An attempt I strongly feel should now be made to clarify our minds regarding the station occupied by ‘Abdu’l Bahá and the significance of His position in this holy Dispensation. It would be indeed difficult for us, who stand so close to such a tremendous figure and are drawn by the mysterious power of so magnetic a personality, to obtain a clear and exact understanding of the role and character of One Who, not only in the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh but in the entire field of religious history, fulfills a unique function. Though moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically different from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Bahá’í Revelation, He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, forms together with them what may be termed the Three Central Figures of a Faith that stands unapproached in the world’s spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction with them, above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after Him, and for no less a period than a full thousand years, can ever hope to rise. To degrade His lofty rank by identifying His station with or by regarding it as roughly equivalent to, the position of those on whom the mantle of His authority has fallen would be an act of impiety as grave as the no less heretical belief that inclines to exalt Him to a state of absolute equality with either the central Figure or Forerunner of our Faith. For wide as is the gulf that separates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from Him Who is the Source of an independent Revelation, it can never be regarded as commensurate with the greater distance that stands between Him Who is the Center of the Covenant and His ministers who are to carry on His work, whatever be their name, their rank, their functions or their future achievements. Let those who have known ‘Abdu’l Bahá, who through their contact with His magnetic personality have come to cherish for Him so fervent an admiration, reflect, in the light of this statement, on the greatness of One Who is so far above Him in station. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah; included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)