“Bahá’u’lláh taught that the Prophet, or ‘Manifestation of God,’ is the Light-bringer of the spiritual world, as the sun is the light-bringer of the natural world.” – Dr. Esslemont

Just as the material sun shines over the earth and causes the growth and development of material organisms, so also, through the Divine Manifestation, the Sun of Truth shines upon the world of heart and soul, and educates the thoughts, morals and characters of men. And just as the rays of the natural sun have an influence which penetrates into the darkest and shadiest corners of the world, giving warmth and life even to creatures that have never seen the sun itself, so also, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the Manifestation of God influences the lives of all, and inspires receptive minds even in places and among peoples where the name of the Prophet is quite unknown. 

(‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era)

Steps a “true seeker” needs to take to recognize the latest Manifestation of God - Baha'u'llah explains

O My brother! When a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this Day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the Divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error. 

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

Baha'i Community of Canada - as of 1954

 

(The Baha'i World 1950-1954)

Three kinds of martyrdom - by Hand of the Cause George Townshend

It is said there are three kinds of martyrdom: 

• one is to stand bravely and meet death unflinchingly in the path of God without wavering or under torture denying for an instant their faith.
• The second is little by little to detach one's heart entirely from the world, laying aside deliberately and voluntarily all vanities and worldly seductions, letting every act and word become a speaking monument and a fitting praise for the Holy Name of Baha'u'llah.
• The third is
• to do the most difficult things with such self-sacrifice that all behold it as your pleasure.
• To seek and to accept poverty with the same smile as you accept fortune.
• To make the sad, the sorrowful your associates instead of frequenting the society of the careless and gay.
• To yield to the decrees of God and to rejoice in the most violent calamities even when the suffering is beyond endurance.

He who can fulfill these last conditions becomes a martyr indeed. 

(‘The Baha’i World 1950-1954')

Introducing a new daily site

Daily Inspirations from Baha'i Writings & Literature

‘Abdu’l-Baha explains the meaning of a passage from the New Testament: - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John, 1:1)

...it is recorded in the Gospel of St. John, that in the beginning there was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Now the majority of Christians accept this principle as a matter of belief, but we give an explanation and exposition which is accepted by reason, and in such a way that no one may find occasion to reject it.

The Christians have made this statement the foundation of the Trinity—but philosophers deny it as mere superstition, stating that the Trinity as regards the identity of the Divinity is impossible; and in turn the Christians do not give a satisfactory explanation and interpretation to be accepted by philosophers.

As the former base their whole exposition of this subject upon the authority of the Holy Scriptures, the latter do not accept it, saying, "Is it possible to have three in one, and one in three?"

We explain this subject as follows: The eternality of the Word is not an eternality of time, for if this were an eternality of time, the Word would have been accidental, and not eternal. By the Word we mean that this creation with its infinite forms is like unto letters, and the individual members of humanity are likewise like unto letters.

A letter individually has no meaning, no independent significance, but the station of Christ is the station of the Word. Complete and independent significance is implied in a word. That is why we say Christ is the Word. By complete significance we mean that the universal bestowals of the perfection of Divinity are manifest in Christ.

Decorative feature designed for the Shrine of the Báb by Hand of the Cause William Sutherland Maxwell

 

('Fragrance of Glory', by Michael Day)

The mystery of Sacrifice – ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains

Ye have asked regarding the word of the “Ransomed Ones”. The mystery of “Ransom” (or Sacrifice) is a most great subject and is inexhaustible.

Briefly it is as follows: The moth is a sacrifice to the candle. The spring is a sacrifice to the thirsty one. The sincere lover is a sacrifice to the loved one and the longing one is a sacrifice to the beloved. The point lies in this: He must wholly forget himself, become a wanderer (in the Abode of the Beloved) enamoured with His Tresses. He must consign to oblivion the body and soul, the life, comfort and existence. He must seek the good pleasure of the True One; desire the Face of the True One; and walk in the Path of the True One. He must become intoxicated with His Cup, resigned in His Hand and close the eyes to life and living, in order that he may shine like unto the Light of Truth from the Horizon of Eternity. This is the first station of sacrifice.

The second station of sacrifice is as follows: Man must become severed from the human world, be delivered from the contingent gloominess, the illumination of mercifulness must shine and radiate in him, the nether world become as non-existent and the Kingdom become manifest. He must become like unto the iron thrown within the furnace of fire. The qualities of iron, such as blackness, coldness and solidity which belong to the earth disappear and vanish while the characteristics of fire, such as redness, glowing and heat, which belong to the Kingdom become apparent and visible. Therefore, iron hath sacrificed its qualities and grades to the fire, acquiring the virtues of that element.

Likewise, when the souls are released from the fetters of the world, the imperfections of mankind and that animalistic darkness, and have stepped into the Realm of Abstraction, have partaken a share from the outpouring of the Placeless and have acquired lordly perfections, they are the “ransomed ones” (or the martyrs) of the Sun of Truth, who are hastening to the altar of heart and soul. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2)

The Báb fulfilled the “Greater Covenant into which… God had, from time immemorial, entered, through the Prophets of all ages, with the whole of mankind, regarding the newborn Revelation”

To this period of incarceration in the fortresses of Máh-Kú and Chihríq—a period of unsurpassed fecundity, yet bitter in its humiliations and ever-deepening sorrows—belong almost all the written references, whether in the form of warnings, appeals or exhortations, which the Báb, in anticipation of the approaching hour of His supreme affliction, felt it necessary to make to the Author of a Revelation that was soon to supersede His own. Conscious from the very beginning of His twofold mission, as the Bearer of a wholly independent Revelation and the Herald of One still greater than His own, He could not content Himself with the vast number of commentaries, of prayers, of laws and ordinances, of dissertations and epistles, of homilies and orations that had incessantly streamed from His pen. The Greater Covenant into which, as affirmed in His writings, God had, from time immemorial, entered, through the Prophets of all ages, with the whole of mankind, regarding the newborn Revelation, had already been fulfilled. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

Assignment from ‘Abdu’l-Baha

O friends of God! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the embodiment of servitude and is not Christ; He is the servant of the world of humanity and is not its chief; He is utter nothingness and is not possessed of any existence; He is pure evanescence and is not ever-abiding. These discussions will yield no result or benefit: We must set all such debates and controversies entirely aside—nay, we must consign them to oblivion and arise to accomplish that which is enjoined and required in this Day. These are mere words bereft of inner meaning; they are mere superficialities devoid of all reality.

That which is true and real is this: that we become united and agreed in our purpose and arise

• to flood this darksome world with light,
•  to banish all enmity and foreignness from among the children of men,
• to perfume and revive the world with the sanctified breezes of the character and conduct of the Abhá Beauty,
• to cast the light of divine guidance upon East and West,
• to raise the tabernacle of the love of God and gather all people under its sheltering shadow,
• to confer peace and composure upon every soul beneath the shade of the blessed Tree,
• to show forth such love as to astonish the enemy,
• to turn ravenous and bloodthirsty wolves into the gazelles of the meadows of the love of God,
• to cause the oppressor to taste the sweet savour of meekness,
• to teach them that kill the submission and acquiescence of those that suffer themselves to be killed,
• to spread abroad the verses of the one true God,
• to extol the virtues and perfections of the all-glorious Lord,
• to raise to the highest heaven the cry of “O Thou the Glory of Glories!”, and
•  to cause the call of “The earth shall shine with the light of her Lord!” [Qur’án 39:69] to reach the ears of the denizens of His Kingdom. Herein is reality!

Herein is guidance! Herein is service! Herein is the exaltation of the world of humanity! 

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

The Bayán (Exposition) – The Báb’s “monumental repository of the laws and precepts of the new Dispensation”, consisting “of about eight thousand verses”, “primarily… a eulogy of the Promised One”

Within the walls of that same fortress the Bayán (Exposition)—that monumental repository of the laws and precepts of the new Dispensation and the treasury enshrining most of the Báb’s references and tributes to, as well as His warning regarding, “Him Whom God will make manifest”—was revealed. Peerless among the doctrinal works of the Founder of the Bábí Dispensation; consisting of nine Váhids (Unities) of nineteen chapters each, except the last Váhid comprising only ten chapters; not to be confounded with the smaller and less weighty Arabic Bayán, revealed during the same period; fulfilling the Muhammadan prophecy that “a Youth from Bani-Háshim … will reveal a new Book and promulgate a new Law;” wholly safeguarded from the interpolation and corruption which has been the fate of so many of the Báb’s lesser works, this Book, of about eight thousand verses, occupying a pivotal position in Bábí literature, should be regarded primarily as a eulogy of the Promised One rather than a code of laws and ordinances designed to be a permanent guide to future generations. This Book at once abrogated the laws and ceremonials enjoined by the Qur’án regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce and inheritance, and upheld, in its integrity, the belief in the prophetic mission of Muhammad, even as the Prophet of Islám before Him had annulled the ordinances of the Gospel and yet recognized the Divine origin of the Faith of Jesus Christ. It moreover interpreted in a masterly fashion the meaning of certain terms frequently occurring in the sacred Books of previous Dispensations such as Paradise, Hell, Death, Resurrection, the Return, the Balance, the Hour, the Last Judgment, and the like. Designedly severe in the rules and regulations it imposed, revolutionizing in the principles it instilled, calculated to awaken from their age-long torpor the clergy and the people, and to administer a sudden and fatal blow to obsolete and corrupt institutions, it proclaimed, through its drastic provisions, the advent of the anticipated Day, the Day when “the Summoner shall summon to a stern business,” when He will “demolish whatever hath been before Him, even as the Apostle of God demolished the ways of those that preceded Him.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

“the transgressions of the parents will affect four generations of their descendants.” – ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains

Thou hadst asked about the meaning of the statement “the transgressions of the parents will affect four generations of their descendants.” Know thou that spiritual diseases are like physical ones. Thou seest that if a person is afflicted with a chronic physical illness, traces of his ailment will linger in three or four generations of his offspring. Likewise, should he be afflicted with a spiritual disease, that of an immoral character, this will have a great influence on his progeny, for upbringing exerteth an astounding influence and that person’s character will be passed on to his descendants. A powerful force is thus needed to eliminate that influence. By this “transgression” is meant immorality and heedlessness of God. In truth, this transgression is the breaking of the Covenant, the abasement resulting from which will linger in the descendants for four generations.

And now, I hope that thou shalt become the cause of the illumination of souls, so that they may acquire a heavenly nature, and that thy goodly character may exert its influence upon a vast number of people. 

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

The basis on which they pronounced the death sentence against the Báb – ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains

…consider the basis on which they pronounced the death sentence against the Most Exalted One, the Báb—may my life be a sacrifice unto Him! Mullá Muhammad-i-Mamaqání cried out, “O people! In the Qur’án God saith: ‘No doubt is there about this Book: It is a guidance unto the God-fearing’ [Qur’án 2:2]; that is, it guideth aright all humanity. It is also clearly stated: ‘But He is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets.’ [Qur’án 33:40] How can we regard such an explicit statement as the source of error, while it is guidance itself? This person who claimeth to be a descendant of the Prophet hath indeed destroyed the foundation laid down by Him!” He then mentioned, one by one, some of the laws revealed in the Bayán—laws that were later abrogated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Thereupon, he ordered the emblem of the Báb’s noble lineage to be removed from His head, [1] and issued, without hesitation and with the utmost malice, the sentence of His death. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Light of the World’)

[1] His turban

A dialogue between Baha’u’llah and the Maid of Heaven

O Pen! Announce unto the Maid of Paradise:

“By God! This day is thy day. Come forth as thou willest, and array thyself as thou pleasest with the broidered robe of names and the silken vesture of immortality. Emerge then from thine eternal habitation even as the sun that dawneth from the countenance of Bahá. Descend from thy lofty heights and, standing betwixt earth and heaven, lift the veil of concealment from thy luminous face and shine forth above the horizon of creation as the black-eyed Damsel, that haply the most great veil may be torn away from the eyes of these people and they may behold the Scene of transcendent glory, the Beauty of God, the Most Holy, the Most Powerful, the Best-Beloved.”

“O Ancient Beauty! The unbelievers, verily, are lost in the stupor of idle fancy and are powerless to turn their eyes towards the most hallowed Court. Through the sovereign potency of Thine inviolable protection, Thou hast shielded me beneath the veils of light and guarded my beauty from the gaze of Thine enemies. Thine is the power to command; Thou ordainest as Thou pleasest through Thy word ‘Be’, and it is.”

“O Maid of Bahá! Step forth from the court of eternity, but let not thy most pure gaze linger upon the faces of mortal men. I swear by the one true God! None save them that are possessed of true insight can ever hope to behold thee in this most sublime vision. Leave the kingdom of names on thy right and the dominion of attributes on thy left, and shine forth by My leave above the horizon of Mine inviolable protection, divested of all that hath been created in the realm of Revelation and shorn of all that hath appeared in the kingdom of creation, that thou mayest manifest the beauteous image of God in all regions. Intone, then, the sweetest of melodies betwixt earth and heaven, that all existence may be detached from aught save the face of thy Lord, the Most Holy, the Most Gracious, the Well-Beloved. Beam forth above the horizon of the Riḍván with the beauty of the All-Merciful, and let thy fragrant locks flow upon thy bosom, that the perfume of the garment of thy most gracious Lord may be diffused throughout the world. Hide not thy luminous form from the eyes of the concourse of Revelation, and withhold not thine ethereal veil of holiness from the gaze of the people. Present thyself, then, before the Throne with thy locks flowing, thine arms bejewelled, thy countenance blushing, thy cheeks aglow, and thine eyes adorned, and take hold of the snow-white chalice in My most exalted Name. Proffer then to the denizens of the realm of eternity the crimson wine of Mine all-glorious Beauty, that haply the concourse of Revelation may sanctify their souls in this most august Festival by virtue of this pure draught, and that they may emerge from behind the veil of concealment through the power of Mine almighty and all-powerful, Mine all-subduing and self-subsisting sovereignty.”

1844: Conditions in Shiraz immediately after the Declaration of the Báb – described by historian A. L. M. Nicolas

“This city [Shiraz] became the arena for passionate discussions which profoundly troubled the general peace. The curious, the pilgrims, the scandal-mongers met there commenting upon the news, approving or blaming, exalting the young Siyyid [the Báb], or, on the contrary, heaping upon him maledictions and insults. Everyone was excited and enervated. The Mullás saw with bitter anxiety the growing number of adherents to the new doctrine and their resources diminished correspondingly. It became necessary to act, as prolonged tolerance would empty the Mosques of their believers who were convinced that since Islám did not defend itself, it acknowledged defeat. On the other hand, Husayn Khán, governor of Shíráz, Nizámu’d-Dawlih, feared that, in letting things drift, the scandal would become such that later it would be impossible to suppress it; that would be to court disgrace. Besides, the Báb did not content himself with preaching, he called to himself men of good-will. ‘He who knows the Word of God and does not come to His assistance in the days of violence is exactly like those who turned away from the testimony of his holiness Husayn, son of ‘Alí, at Karbilá. Those are the impious ones!’ (Kitab-i-Baynu’l-Haramayn.) The civil interests concurring with the interests of heaven, Nizámu’d-Dawlih and Shaykh Abú-Turáb, the Imám-Jum’ih agreed that humiliation should be inflicted upon the innovator such as would discredit him in the eyes of the populace; perhaps thus they might succeed in quieting things.” 

- A. L. M. Nicolas’ (“Siyyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad dit le Báb,” pp. 229–230; Footnotes to chapter 8 provided by Shoghi Effendi in 'The Dawn-Breakers')

Passages from the Baha’i Writings: - to read and reflect upon --> daily and every other day

Every day:

Daily Verses of God - revealed by Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb

Every second day:

Counsels and Explanations by 'Abdu'l-Baha

Spiritual Food for Thought -- from 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and Universal House of Justice

Every second-day – from the Baha’i Writings --> with suggested descriptive headings:

Vision and Insight from the Baha'i Sacred Writings

Baha’u’llah’s station: – some excerpts from ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’

• “a faint reflection” of God’s Reality within Baha’u’llah was revealed to humanity
• Baha’u’llah’s station and significance of this Day
• “the gate of heaven” hath been unlocked
• “Through Baha’u’llah’s “captivity the standards of Thine [God’s] almighty power were hoisted”; Baha’u’llah’s station: “Thou art, in very truth, the Self-Subsisting as testified by the tongue of God, the All-Glorious, the one alone Beloved; and Thou art the Desire of the world…”
• The Báb asking God’s blessing for the “Tree of the Bayan” “to be made into a magnificent Scroll" to be offered to Baha’u’llah

Events transpiring through God’s “Name”

Glory be to Thee, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by Thy Name,

• through which Thou didst lift up the ensigns of Thy guidance, and didst shed the radiance of Thy loving-kindness, and didst reveal the sovereignty of Thy Lordship;
• through which the lamp of Thy names hath appeared within the niche of Thine attributes, and He Who is the Tabernacle of Thy unity and the Manifestation of detachment hath shone forth;
• through which the ways of Thy guidance were made known, and the paths of Thy good pleasure were marked out;
• through which the foundations of error have been made to tremble, and the signs of wickedness have been abolished;
• through which the fountains of wisdom have burst forth, and the heavenly table hath been sent down;
• through which Thou didst preserve Thy servants and didst vouchsafe Thy healing;
• through which Thou didst show forth Thy tender mercies unto Thy servants and revealedst Thy forgiveness amidst Thy creatures—

I implore Thee to keep safe him who hath held fast and returned unto Thee, and clung to Thy mercy, and seized the hem of Thy loving providence. Send down, then, upon him Thy healing, and make him whole, and endue him with a constancy vouchsafed by Thee, and a tranquillity bestowed by Thy highness.

Thou art, verily, the Healer, the Preserver, the Helper, the Almighty, the Powerful, the All-Glorious, the All-Knowing. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

“I yield Thee such thanks…” – by Baha’u’llah

Praise be to Thee, O my God, that Thou hast revealed Thy favours and Thy bounties; and glory be to Thee, O my Beloved, that Thou hast manifested the Day-Star of Thy loving-kindness and Thy tender mercies.

• I yield Thee such thanks as can direct the steps of the wayward towards the splendours of the morning light of Thy guidance, and enable those who yearn towards Thee to attain the seat of the revelation of the effulgence of Thy beauty.
• I yield Thee such thanks as can cause the sick to draw nigh unto the waters of Thy healing, and can help those who are far from Thee to approach the living fountain of Thy presence.
• I yield Thee such thanks as can divest the bodies of Thy servants of the garments of mortality and abasement, and attire them in the robes of Thine eternity and Thy glory, and lead the poor unto the shores of Thy holiness and all sufficient riches.
• I yield Thee such thanks as can enable the Heavenly Dove to warble forth, upon the branches of the Lote-Tree of Immortality, her song: “Verily, Thou art God. No God is there besides Thee. From eternity Thou hast been exalted above the praise of aught else but Thee, and been high above the description of any one except Thyself.”
• I yield Thee such thanks as can cause the Nightingale of Glory to pour forth its melody in the highest heaven: “‘Alí (the Báb), in truth, is Thy servant, Whom Thou hast singled out from among Thy Messengers and Thy chosen Ones, and made Him to be the Manifestation of Thyself in all that pertaineth unto Thee, and that concerneth the revelation of Thine attributes and the evidences of Thy names.”
• I yield Thee such thanks as can stir up all things to extol Thee, and to glorify Thine Essence, and can unloose the tongues of all beings to magnify the sovereignty of Thy beauty.
• I yield Thee such thanks as can fill the heavens and the earth with the signs of Thy transcendent Essence, and assist all created things to enter the Tabernacle of Thy nearness and Thy presence.