Tribute to the Shrine of the Báb – by Shoghi Effendi

This magnificent edifice stands facing Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Great Prison, extolled by the Pen of Glory as the ‘Heaven of heavens’, and looks toward the Qiblih of the people of Bahá, that Spot within the vale of security and peace, the plain of ‘Akká, round which circle in adoration the Concourse on high. To her right are the hills of Galilee in which nestles the childhood home of the beautiful Christ, and the locality by the banks of the Jordan River where He Who is the Spirit (Jesus Christ) was called to prophethood; and on her left, on the crest of Carmel, are to be found the Cave of Elijah and the exalted Spot which was blessed by the footsteps of the Most Holy Abhá Beauty and was ennobled through the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel from the treasury of the Pen of Glory. Behind her stand the twin Mounts of Zion and Olives and the holy and ancient city of Jerusalem, within whose walls lie the site of the martyrdom and the burial place of Jesus Christ, the seat of the Throne of David, the glorious Temple of Solomon and the Aqsa Mosque which ranks third among the shrines of the Islamic world. Beyond these there rises Mount Sinai, the cradle of the Jewish Faith, that Sacred Mount, the Paran of light, that holy land where He Who conversed with God (Moses) heard the Voice from the Blessed Tree. And further beyond lies the Arabian Peninsula, the land of Hijaz, the cradle of the Muhammadan Dispensation, with the two cities of Batha and Yathrib, the noble Mecca and the bright Medina, one enshrining the Qiblih of Islam and the other the Resting-place of Him Who is the Lord of mankind (Muhammad) – upon Him be countless salutations and praise.

High, immeasurably high, is this Shrine, the lofty, the most great, the most wondrous. Exalted, immeasurably exalted, is this Resting-place, the fragrant, the pure, the luminous, the transcendent. Glorified, immeasurably glorified, is this Spot, the most august, the most holy, the most blessed, the most sublime.

Unto thee, O Queen of Carmel, be the purest and most tender salutations, and upon thee rest the fairest and most gracious blessings! Glorified be He Who has ordained the place of thy Seat and honoured it with His footsteps, and has made mention of thee in His Holy Writ. How great is the potency of thy might, a might which has bewildered the souls of the favoured ones of God and His Messengers! 

I behold thee as in a dream, established upon thy glorious throne, robed in white, crowned in gold, resplendent with the lights shining within thee and around thee, calling aloud in ringing tones and lifting up thy voice between earth and heaven. 

I see the souls of the holy ones and of the dwellers of the realms above hastening towards thee with utmost devotion, love and attraction, pointing to thee, circling around thee, inhaling the fragrance of thy blossoms and flowers, seeking blessing from the earth of thy precincts, and bowing their foreheads to the ground in recognition of the majesty and glory which surround the Trust of God reposing in thy heart, and the Pearl that lies enshrined within thy bosom.

Blessed, immeasurably blessed is the one who visits thee and circles around thee, who serves at thy threshold, waters thy flowers, inhales the fragrance of holiness from thy roses, celebrates thy praise and magnifies thy station for the love of God, He Who has created thee in this most hallowed and luminous, this most exalted, august and wondrous age.  

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter to the Baha’is of the East, Naw-Rúz 1955, authorized translation from Persian by the Baha’i World Centre, quoted by ‘Ali Nakhjavani in ‘Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of his pen’)