“Immeasurably exalted is the station conferred upon” ‘Abdu’l-Baha by Baha’u’llah: - “present generation can never adequately appreciate”

From such clear and formally laid down statements, incompatible as they are with any assertion of a claim to Prophethood, we should not by any means infer that ‘Abdu’l Bahá is merely one of the servants of the Blessed Beauty, or at best one whose function is to be confined to that of an authorized interpreter of His Father’s teachings. Far be it from me to entertain such a notion or to wish to instill such sentiments. To regard Him in such a light is a manifest betrayal of the priceless heritage bequeathed by Bahá’u’lláh to mankind. Immeasurably exalted is the station conferred upon Him by the Supreme Pen above and beyond the implications of these, His own written statements. Whether in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the most weighty and sacred of all the works of Bahá’u’lláh, or in the Kitáb-i-‘Ahd, the Book of His Covenant, or in the Súriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch), such references as have been recorded by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh—references which the Tablets of His Father addressed to Him mightily reinforce—invest ‘Abdu’l Bahá with a power, and surround Him with a halo, which the present generation can never adequately appreciate.

• He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant,
• His most exalted handiwork,
• the stainless Mirror of His light,
• the perfect Exemplar of His teachings,
• the unerring Interpreter of His Word,
• the embodiment of every Bahá’í ideal,
• the incarnation of every Bahá’í virtue,
• the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient Root,
• the Limb of the Law of God, the Being “round Whom all names revolve,”
• the Mainspring of the Oneness of Humanity,
• the Ensign of the Most Great Peace,
• the Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation—

styles and titles that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name ‘Abdu’l Bahá.

• He is, above and beyond these appellations, the “Mystery of God”—an expression by which Bahá’u’lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which, while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of Prophethood, indicates how in the person of ‘Abdu’l Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized. 

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

A new Baha'i site: Baha'i explanations for spiritual seekers

Insights from Baha'i Writings concerning life

“The spiritual endowments of Africa”

The spiritual endowments of Africa derive naturally from the creative forces universally released by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, but these have been marvelously enhanced by the continent's direct associations with the Channels of such forces: the ship transporting the Blessed Beauty on His exile to the Holy Land touched briefly its northern shores; the Center of the Covenant spent extended periods in Egypt before and after His historic visit to the West. The continent was also twice crossed from south to north by the beloved Guardian. Bahá’u’lláh favored the black peoples by making a specific reference to them when, as the Master testified, He compared them to the "black pupil of the eye" through which "the light of the spirit shineth forth." 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated Ridvan 153 addressed to the Followers of Bahá’u’lláh in Africa; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1986-2001)