A “new stirring throughout all created things” – as a result of Baha’u’llah’s Declaration in the Garden of Ridvan

Thou didst wish to celebrate the Day of Ridvan with a feast, and to have those present on that day engage in reciting Tablets with delight and joy, and thou didst request me to send thee a letter to be read on that day. My letter is this:

O ye beloved, and ye handmaids of the Merciful! This is the day when the Day-Star of Truth rose over the horizon of life, and its glory spread, and its brightness shone out with such power that it clove the dense and high-piled clouds and mounted the skies of the world in all its splendour. Hence do ye witness a new stirring throughout all created things.

See how, in this day, the scope of sciences and arts hath widened out, and what wondrous technical advances have been made, and to what a high degree the mind's powers have increased, and what stupendous inventions have appeared.

1907: Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel

(Photos by Thornton Chase, 'In Galilee')

The "'Dawn-Breakers' of Nabil'": one of the three books every “Bahá'í should master…and be able to explain their contents to others”

... Shoghi Effendi hopes that you will exert all your effort to deepen your knowledge of the literature of the movement, until you become fully acquainted with its spirit and tenets. Unless you do obtain such a firm hold you will never be able to teach others and render real service to the promulgation of the Faith. Of special importance is the Book of the Íqán which explains the attitude of the Cause towards the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society. Besides this there is Some Answered Questions of the Master and the 'Dawn-Breakers' of Nabil. Every Bahá'í should master these books and be able to explain their contents to others. Besides their importance, they are interesting and most absorbing.

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 9, 1932; compilations: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

New Site: Insights from ‘The Dawn-Breakers’

From the book: ‘The Dawn-Breakers’ by Nabil-i-‘Azam, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith.

Excerpts from the book, including footnotes, will be uploaded daily in chronological order until the upcoming Bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. Thereafter they will be uploaded 2 to 3 times a week…

“All calamities and afflictions have been created for man so that he may spurn this mortal world…”

O thou servant of God! Do not grieve at the afflictions and calamities that have befallen thee. All calamities and afflictions have been created for man so that he may spurn this mortal world—a world to which he is much attached. When he experienceth severe trials and hardships, then his nature will recoil and he will desire the eternal realm—a realm which is sanctified from all afflictions and calamities. Such is the case with the man who is wise. He shall never drink from a cup which is at the end distasteful, but, on the contrary, he will seek the cup of pure and limpid water. He will not taste of the honey that is mixed with poison.

Praise thou God, that thou hast been tried and hast experienced such a test. Be patient and grateful. Turn thy face to the divine Kingdom and strive that thou mayest acquire merciful characteristics, mayest become illumined and acquire the attributes of the Kingdom and of the Lord. Endeavour to become indifferent to the pleasures of this world and to its comfort, to remain firm and steadfast in the Covenant and to promulgate the Cause of God.

This is the cause of the exaltation of man, the cause of his glory and of his salvation. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

Ways in which a Baha’i can help improving the conditions of humanity - The Universal House of Justice explains

It is understandable that Bahá'ís who witness the miserable conditions under which so many human beings have to live, or who hear of a sudden disaster that has struck a certain area of the world, are moved to do something practical to ameliorate those conditions and to help their suffering fellow-mortals.

There are many ways in which help can be rendered. Every Bahá'í has the duty to acquire a trade or profession through which he will earn that wherewith he can support himself and his family; in the choice of such work he can seek those activities which are of benefit to his fellow-men and not merely those which promote his personal interests, still less those whose effects are actually harmful.

There are also the situations in which an individual Bahá'í or a Spiritual Assembly is confronted with an urgent need which neither justice nor compassion could allow to go unheeded and unhelped. How many are the stories told of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in such situations, when He would even take off a garment He was wearing and give it to a shivering man in rags.

First Baha'i World Congress at Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom, 28 April - 2 May 1963

(Baha'i Media Bank)

Bahá'u'lláh’s “influence permeates all living beings”

Bahá'u'lláh found the world in a "strange sleep". But what a disturbance His coming has unloosed! The peoples of the earth had been separated, many parts of the human race socially and spiritually isolated. But the world of humanity today bears little resemblance to that which Bahá'u'lláh left a century ago. Unbeknownst to the great majority, His influence permeates all living beings. Indeed, no domain of life remains unaffected. In the burgeoning energy, the magnified perspectives, the heightened global consciousness; in the social and political turbulence, the fall of kingdoms, the emancipation of nations, the intermixture of cultures, the clamour for development; in the agitation over the extremes of wealth and poverty, the acute concern over the abuse of the environment, the leap of consciousness regarding the rights of women; in the growing tendency towards ecumenism, the increasing call for a new world order; in the astounding advances in the realms of science, technology, literature and the arts -- in all this tumult, with its paradoxical manifestations of chaos and order, integration and disintegration, are the signs of His power as World Reformer, the proof of His claim as Divine Physician, the truth of His Word as the All-Knowing Counsellor. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a Tribute to Bahá’u’lláh on the Centenary of His Passing, May 1992; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001)

A new site: Insights from Baha’u’llah’s Prayers and Meditations

A humble attempt to highlight some of the many spiritual realities that are embedded in the various passages of the book: 'Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’. Highlighted excerpts are cross-referenced to the Roman numerals of the original passages.

1963-1970: Responses from the Universal House of Justice to questions by believers

See answers listed chronologically and alphabetically