1953: Baha'i Pioneers to Africa

 
Taken at the African Intercontinental Conference 

(Baha'i News. April 1953) 

Circumstances in which Baha’u’llah “received the first intimation of His sublime Mission” – comparison to those of other Manifestations of God

It was in such dramatic circumstances, recalling the experience of Moses when face to face with the Burning Bush in the wilderness of Sinai, the successive visions of Zoroaster, the opening of the heavens and the descent of the Dove upon Christ in the Jordan, the cry of Gabriel heard by Muhammad in the Cave of Hira, and the dream of the Báb, in which the blood of the Imam Ḥusayn touched and sanctified His lips, that Bahá’u’lláh, He “around Whom the Point of the Bayán hath revolved,” and the Vehicle of the greatest Revelation the world has yet seen, received the first intimation of His sublime Mission, and that a ministry which, alike in its duration and fecundity, is unsurpassed in the religious history of mankind, was inaugurated. It was on that occasion that the “Most Great Spirit,” as designated by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, revealed itself to Him, in the form of a “Maiden,” and bade Him “lift up” His “voice between earth and heaven”—that same Spirit which, in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian, and Muḥammadan Dispensations, had been respectively symbolized by the “Sacred Fire,” the “Burning Bush,” the “Dove,” and the “Angel Gabriel.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Messages to America’)

New Site: Baha’i Prayers ~ individual needs

A selection from prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb , and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for various personal needs

The “Revelation of the Manifestation of God is the standard for all knowledge”

While it may often be the part of wisdom to approach individuals or an audience from a standpoint of current knowledge, it should never be overlooked that the Revelation of the Manifestation of God is the standard for all knowledge, and scientific statements and theories, no matter how close they may come to the eternal principles proclaimed by God's Messenger, are in their very nature ephemeral and limited. Likewise, attempting to make the Bahá'í Faith relevant to modern society is to incur the grave risk of compromising the fundamental verities of our Faith in an effort to make it conform to current theories and practices.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 21 July 1968 to a National Spiritual Assembly; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)

Forgiveness

Some excerpts from the Baha'i Writings with suggested descriptive headings

1986-1992: The “main objectives and expectations of the Six Year Plan”

The organic growth of the Cause of God, indicated by recent significant developments in its life, becomes markedly apparent in the light of the main objectives and expectations of the Six Year Plan:

• a vast expansion of the numerical and financial resources of the Cause;
• enlargement of its status in the world;
• a world-wide increase in the production, distribution and use of Baha'i literature;
• a firmer and world-wide demonstration of the Baha'i way of life requiring special consideration of the Baha'i education of children and youth, the strengthening of Baha'i family life and attention to universal participation and the spiritual enrichment of individual life;
• further acceleration in the process of the maturation of local and national Baha'i communities and a dynamic consolidation of the unity of the two arms of the Administrative Order;
• an extension of the involvement of the Baha'i world community in the needs of the world around it; and the pursuit of social and economic development in well-established Baha'i communities.

These are some of the features of the Six Year Plan which will open on 21 April 1986 and terminate on 20 April 1992. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated2 January 1986 to the Baha'is of the world; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

Islamic tradition concerning knowledge and its tremendous release when the Qá’im appears – Baha’u’llah confirms

It is related in the ‘Biháru’l-Anvar,’ the ‘Aválím,’ and the ‘Yanbú” of Ṣádiq, son of Muḥammad, that he spoke these words: ‘Knowledge is seven and twenty letters. All that the Prophets have revealed are two letters thereof. None thus far hath known any besides these two letters. But when the Qá’im shall arise, He will cause the remaining five and twenty letters to be made manifest.’ Consider: he hath declared Knowledge to consist of seven and twenty letters, and regarded all the Prophets, from Adam even unto the ‘Seal,’ as Expounders of only two letters thereof, and as having been sent down with these two letters. He also saith that the Qá’im will reveal all the remaining five and twenty letters. Behold from this utterance how great and lofty is His station. His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets, and His Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones.

- Baha’u’llah  ('The Kitáb-i-Íqán,'; also, footnotes to chapter 3 of the Dawn-Breakers provided by Shoghi Effendi)

January 1845: The Báb’s vision as He entered the city of Medina

There [in Medina] came to Him also the vision of those holy men, those pioneers and martyrs of the Faith, who had fallen gloriously on the field of battle, and who, with their life-blood, had sealed the triumph of the Cause of God. Their sacred dust seemed as if reanimated by the gentle tread of His feet. Their shades seemed to have been stirred by the reviving breath of His presence. They looked to Him as if they had arisen at His approach, were hastening towards Him, and were voicing their welcome. They seemed to be addressing to Him this fervent plea:

“Repair not unto Thy native land, we beseech Thee, O Thou Beloved of our hearts! Abide Thou in our midst, for here, far from the tumult of Thine enemies who are lying in wait for Thee, Thou shalt be safe and secure. We are fearful for Thee. We dread the plottings and machinations of Thy foes. We tremble at the thought that their deeds might bring eternal damnation to their souls.”

“Fear not,” the Báb’s indomitable Spirit replied: “I am come into this world to bear witness to the glory of sacrifice. You are aware of the intensity of My longing; you realise the degree of My renunciation. Nay, beseech the Lord your God to hasten the hour of My martyrdom and to accept My sacrifice. Rejoice, for both I and Quddús will be slain on the altar of our devotion to the King of Glory. The blood which we are destined to shed in His path will water and revive the garden of our immortal felicity. The drops of this consecrated blood will be the seed out of which will arise the mighty Tree of God, the Tree that will gather beneath its all-embracing shadow the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Grieve not, therefore, if I depart from this land, for I am hastening to fulfil My destiny.” 

- The Báb  (Quoted by Nabil, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)