in the sacred country of 'Irán - May they study this
Communication!
O ye tested ones! O ye seeking to draw nigh unto [God]! May my being and
what my Lord hath vouchsafed unto me be a sacrifice unto thee and to thy
steadfastness! I swear by the righteousness of God! The Abhá Beauty, with
the denizens of the sacred chambers in the All-Highest paradise on His right
hand, and the sanctified angels and cherubim from the most glorious retreats on
His left, send thee greetings, praise thy deeds and actions, and glory in thy
steadfastness, the immensity of thy love and the greatness of thy loyalty to
this most awesome, most transcendent Cause! O friends! Do ye not hear the
acclamation of the Concourse on High and, above them, the King of Grandeur and
majesty beyond the All-Glorious tabernacle, calling to thee in these
words:[2] "O
concourse of My loved ones and trusted ones! Ye are the chosen in My land! Ye
are the inheritors of My Kingdom! Ye are the protectors of My Cause. Ye are
steadfast on My Path. Ye seek to unravel My mysteries. Ye seek to spread abroad
My Law, and to unfurl my banner. Ye proclaim the glad tidings of My sanctified
and all-pervasive sovereignty, which is still hidden from the eyes of mankind.
"Upon thee, O my loved ones, be My gracious greetings and My
loving providence and a myriad salutations and praise, for thou hast been
steadfast in My Covenant, have laid firm hold of My Sure
Handle,[3] dispersed
the ranks of mine enemies, wert utterly detached of any one save Me and because
ye went forward, accepting with thy bodies and thy spirits the arrows of My
tribulations and decree. Thou hast cast away the covering veil from off the
countenance of My Cause. Thou art raising up the edifices to My glory and to My
Might; ye are implementing the provisions of My Book and are expounding the
hidden mysteries of My
Shari'ah.[4]
At all times, ye have sought assistance in My Name, the All-Subduing, the
Omnipotent, the All-Effulgent, the Transcendent and the Peerless.
"O ye candles of My love in My realm! O ye the banners of My
glory and victory in My lands! Be ye truly steadfast in My
Cause,[5] for I am
truly powerful when I lay hold in divine
punishment[6] and I am
strong in
retribution.[7] I shall
aid thee as I aided thee in the past. Verily, I shalt fulfil thy aspirations by
virtue of Mine omnipotence, which penetrateth all throughout the earth. Behold!
The dawn of victory hath appeared. Be patient, as I am
patient."[8]
O ye assisters of the Cause of
God![9] The Centre of
Covenant-breaking, the Pivot of dissension, after a period of forty years,
during which time, he had lain in a corner in his nethermost state of
humiliation, having witnessed, in forty territories, the lights of divine
confirmation
descending,[10]
eventually, with an empty hand and with a heart full of sighs, returned unto his
abode, disappointed, in perdition, and in a sorry
state.[11] The Great
Branch was transformed into the Greater Firewood. One can see him in the
nethermost
region;[12] the rod
of divine
chastisement[13] and
wrath, as wielded by the All-Subduing Avenger, hath laid hold of him. This is
what our Master had warned openly and privily. Exalted indeed are the promises
contained in His truth-bearing, holy and wondrous utterances! He, as the Ancient
Beauty - glorified be His Greatest Name - hath said,
"If but a moment he turneth away, he shalt become utterly
non-existent",[14]
hath now, outwardly, become non-being. It hath now gone unto the depths of the
earth.[15] Where now
is he and his conspiratorial adjutants, his falsifying Ambassadors, his lying
trustees, his tremulous followers, who were wont to travel in the lands many a
year, who sought in vain to extinguish the light of God with the breathings of
their mouths[16] and
who purposed to attack the sanctity of God's covenant with their ingrained
hatreds and malice? What evil they did conceive! What atrociousness they
perpetrated! Their efforts were brought to nought. Their company was dispersed.
Their aspirations met with utter despondency. Their foundations have been
destroyed. None have they to aid
them.[17] God's
decree came upon them and made them join those who are lost. Even their mention
will become non-existent, and their traces will vanish. Ye shalt hear no voice,
nor any whisper of them. God will make them utterly forgotten.
O ye steadfast lovers of the Ancient Beauty! Ponder awhile. Reflect
deeply on the evidences of divine ascendancy and the penetrating power of His
might, which is most extraordinary and amazing. Consider most profoundly the
events and the vicissitudes of this Great Cause. Recall its past events and
stages. What great difficulties came to pass since its inception from the
horizon of that
land,[18] full of
turmoil and tribulation! What violent assaults, what forceful attacks, were
perpetrated against its beauteous Body by friend and foe! From the beginning of
the Divine Theophany in the year
sixty[19] until our
day, this incomparable Plant, which the Hand of Divine Power hath planted in the
garden of the World, hath been encompassed by such troubles, been beaten upon by
such storms, and assaulted by such whirlwinds, that their like is unheard of and
unrecorded in any history whatever. In the beginning, the wicked divines
unfurled the banner of the most great animosity, misled the unjust and ignorant
nation and motivated the masses to perform infinite assaults and aggressions
against the Faith of God. From another corner, the pillars of the oppressive
Qájár[20]
government unleashed the hand of pillage against it, and inflicted upon the
sacred realities and institutions of the Wronged One great injuries. That
government suspended the sinless and holy Body of Its Herald in the
air,[21] and with the
bullets of hatred and rancour, lacerated His luminous breast and caused twenty
thousand of His followers to drink the chalice of martyrdom. In yet another
part, the Ottoman
Sultán,[22]
the pivot of the Khaliphate, joined forces with the earlier most
inveterate enemy,[23]
and imprisoned the Divine Lawgiver. They banished Him from land to land until,
eventually, He was exiled to the "most desolate
city."[24] For
forty years, they made
Him[25] drink the
poison of every tribulation. In 'Iráq, in Constantinople, in the
Land of Mystery[26]
and in the Most Great
Prison,[27] such
wrong and oppression was permitted against Him, that the like of it hath not
been seen by the eye of creation or heard by the ear of all the nations. The
heads of government and the masses of the people aided each other, and, for
ninety years, in its homeland, in neighbouring territories and here in the Holy
Land, with all their power, girded up their loins to extinguish this light, to
disperse this assemblage, destroy this divine Foundation and belittle and cast
aspersion on this Sacred Name. They never rested until the lightning of Wrath
took them and the winds of perdition came upon them. They fell and were hurled
from the heights of glory and power to the nether reaches of humiliation and
degradation.[28] The
hands of the divines, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá',
the Centre of the Covenant of the Self-Subsisting and Living God, lost their
authority and their degradation became apparent. In His own words: "This
glory shall be turned into the most abject abasement, and this pomp and might
converted into the most complete subjugation. Their palaces will be transformed
into prisons, and the course of their ascendant star terminate in the depths of
the pit. Laughter and merriment will vanish, nay more, the voice of their
weeping will be
raised."[29]
The Qájár dynasty was uprooted. Its chain of succession was
broken.[30] Its star
set forever.[31] The
blood-spilling
monarch,[32] who
suspended the Most pure, the Most sinless Temple of Divine
Meekness[33] and who
directed bullets of hatred against His Holy Chest, was hurled to the nethermost
abyss,[34] and his
family and grandchildren are scattered all over the world. The evil
'Abdu'l-Hamíd, who
afflicted the Wronged One and His Glorious Branch in the Greatest Prison with
all manner of troubles - he himself was ensnared in turmoil and was dethroned,
jailed and
extinguished.[35] In
a short time, the foundations of the Ottoman
Empire[36] were
shaken[37] and the
Khaliphate
terminated.[38] The
Sultánate became a
Republic.[39] Ancient
glory changed into palpable dishonour. Our God, the All-Glorious Lord spoke in
truth. May His utterance remain exalted, He saith: "O concourse of
divines! Because of you the people were abased, and the banner of Islám
was hauled down, and its mighty throne
subverted."[40]
O ye loved ones of His Holiness 'Abdu'l-Bahá'!
The collapse of the mighty Khaliphate, the destruction of the foundations
of the Sultánate, the abrogation of
the Islámic
Laws,[41] the
abolishment of the Shari'at courts in
Constantinople,[42]
the separation of state from religion in Turkey, the humiliation of the
divines[43] of the
Faith of the Prophet, the Chief of the Apostles of God - upon His Self be a
myriad salutations and praise! - and all that will come to pass in the future
in the neighbouring lands upon the wicked divines, whether pertaining unto the
Shí'íh or Sunní sects - all of the above are
the direct spiritual consequences of the conspicuous injustices perpetrated by
those twin perfidious monarchs, who were the supporters of the divines in those
twin countries. In the Súrih revealed for
Amín[44] these
exalted words have
descended:[45]
"O concourse of Islám! Verily,
Muhammad, the Apostle of God, wept sore by
reason of your wrong doings, for ye followed your vain desires and turned away
from sure
guidance.[46] Ere
long, ye will see the consequences of your deeds. For my Lord is as a Guardian
on a
watchtower."[47]
O Concourse of Bahá! Consider and reflect! The
enemies[48] of the
Cause of Jesus Christ - May my spirit be a sacrifice to the wrongs He suffered!
- who were the primary instigators and the real cause of the martyrdom of that
Sinless Soul, although they acted against Christ, that Peerless Beauty, for only
a limited number of days and encircled and captured Him, yet with what a
humiliation those enemies were
afflicted![49] The
Emperor of Rome[50]
embarked on an attack against these enemies and turned the glorious House of
Worship of that Faith, the exalted
Temple,[51] to dust!
Jerusalem was utterly destroyed and the poor nation was to endure a scattering
throughout the
earth.[52] It is well
nigh two thousand years that the Israelites, as a consequence of this enormous
injustice,[53] have
been writhing with great sufferings, and have been spread throughout [the
earth].[54] Yet now,
in this all-glorious
century,[55] this
gracious Dispensation, the scroll of their humiliation is at an end, and their
requital is completed. As a result of the overshadowing beneficence of the
Divine Teachings, the ancient glories will be restored unto
them.[56] Again,
ponder with discernment: although the enemies of Christ were engaged only a mere
few years in opposition and antagonism, yet they were afflicted with such a
great degradation for twenty centuries! Howbeit, in this Supreme Theophany and
Most excellent religious cycle, which is the glory of all past ages and
centuries, what will be visited upon its enemies, who, for seventy years, have
inflicted such unheard of sufferings upon the Blessed Beauty, His Herald, and
His Most Great, Most Honoured Branch. What retribution will befall them in the
realm of the visible! My pen truly trembles at its attempt to even refer to what
shall befall the oppressors! My heart truly cries over them for their
degradations, their sufferings and all that will transpire in this transcendent,
this luminous, this Great Dispensation!
Let me resume my
theme.[57] In truth,
the Divines, the rulers and the kings, each according to their part, attacked
the Faith of the Wronged One of the World from all sides. They endeavoured
mightily to shed the blood of the meek ones of the earth through murder and the
banishment and exile of the Founders of this clearly Divine Cause. But, it
should be evident that these assaults and attacks, though ferocious and violent
in their own right, what transpired within the Community of the followers of the
One God, as a result of the deeds of those who claimed adherence and affection
unto it, and even by persons related unto the Holy Tree, who had branched forth
from the Sacred Plant, were many times and many categories greater and more
virulent when compared to the assaults emanating from outside the Faith from the
external foes who held the reins of power. A person related to the Divine Tree,
honoured with being a brother of the Supreme Manifestation of
God,[58] whose
mention was recorded in many a communication from the Pen of the Point of the
Bayán[59] -
May the spirit of all beings be a sacrifice unto His true lovers! - he, who was
a Mirror of the Bábí Dispensation, who was to obtain a faint
glimmer of the Splendour of Sinai, whose care was entrusted, by the decree of
the Báb, to the Ancient Beauty, Bahá'u'lláh -
May the spirits of all those near unto God be a sacrifice to His Sovereignty! -
and who, for a certain number of years, was, at the behest of the Life-Giver of
the world, a person for the Bábís to turn to and to refer to -
such a person denied and waxed proud. He arose to oppose. He did such wrongs and
inflicted such cruelty that no pen is able to depict them and no paper can bear
their narration! He perpetrated such an assault, and he caused the drinking of
such a poison that no eye hath witnessed it, nor no ear hath heard. In
Adrianople, he caused such a great convulsion and tumult that he was able to
shake the faith of a number [of believers] and cause them to wander lost. He was
able to cheer up the inveterate enemies, and to give hope to the sect of
Karím
Khán.[60]
The Concourse on High shed tears of
blood[61] because of
his wrongdoing and the party of the faithful and steadfast ones heaved a sigh of
lamenting. The earthquakes of the day of
Wrath,[62] as
predicted in the Tablet of
Nasír,[63]
came to be fulfilled and the tremours of the Afflictive Period made their
effects felt. The wasting blasts
blew[64] and, for a
time, the Sun of the Heaven of Truth was eclipsed by his hatred. The Star of the
Heaven of Divinity was momentarily veiled by the clouds of his
rancour.[65] He
caused Bahá'u'lláh to drink such a poison of
suffering[66] that
His Tongue of Divine Grandeur revealed this heart-rending utterance in one of
His Tablets: "I wish I had been non-existent and My Mother had not borne
Me! I swear by God! If any one were to become cognizant of what befell [Me], He
would assuredly seek to dwell in the wilderness and would flee from anyone
seeking his company. Furthermore, He would not eat anything, until at last he
would give his life as a ransom for love of this incandescent and Luminous
Beauty! All that hath appeared externally is not anything in my sight that I
should mention it. Rather, what hath befallen Me inside - this is that which the
Concourse of heaven cannot bear. The entirety of existence cannot bear it
either. I swear I cannot mention even a letter of it, for if I were to reveal a
letter thereof, all the heavens and the earth will be cloven
asunder!"[67]
Also in the Tablet of the
Dove,[68] these two
verses disclose His sufferings and tragedies: "My tears, when flowing, are
indeed the real Flood of Noah. The burning of My heart is indeed what reminds
one of the Abrahamic Fire Jacob suffered; the least of My sorrows and all that
befell Job is but part of My
sufferings!"[69]
Soon after, another assault was launched against the temple of the
Cause of the All Beneficent Lord by one who claimed to be a believer and who was
related to the Beauty of the Merciful God. The tornado of tests blew fiercely
again, and the dust clouds of Covenant-Breaking were upraised. In the Prison of
the Quickener of the
World,[70] he who
arose following the Setting of the Sun of
Pre-existence,[71]
the Most Great
Convulsion[72] came
to pass. A son, amongst the sons of Bahá'u'lláh, the
Ancient Beauty, who, for many a year, had drunk the milk of divine providence
from the breast of loving-kindness, who had grown up in the cradle of Divine
Overseeing, who had been described and known as the
Ghusn-i-Akbar,[73]
who had been explicitly referred to in the Book of the Covenant and in the
Scroll of the Divine Testament, to whom Bahá'u'lláh
had referred to with these honorific and special words: "We have chosen
the Akbár [the Greater] after the A'zám [the
Most
Great]"[74] -
such a person broke the Divine
Covenant![75] The
fire of his envy burned with an amazing conflagration. He got hold of the axe of
hatred and used it against the roots of the Blessed
Tree.[76] He brought
about joy and exultation amongst the disfigured
Yahyá community and also brought about
happiness and a fresh excitement amongst the despairing enemies of former times.
He caused the Stainless Spirit of God to be hurt in the All-highest Paradise and
engulfed all the denizens of the cities of eternity in sorrow, wailing and
lamenting. He besmirched the name of this Most Holy Faith with the stains of
calumniation and
obloquy.[77] A new
upheaval was enacted. He caused the Joseph of
Bahá[78] to
again be
imprisoned.[79] He
engaged continually in perversion of the Words of God. He created misgivings
continuously and spread letters of hellfire to all parts, night and day. He tore
apart the veil of decorum and modesty. He ignited a heart-burning fire in the
heart of the oppressed Bahá'ís. The most pure, the most
gentle heart of the Centre of the Covenant melted as a result of his wrongdoing.
He used to weep all the while from his pain and lamentations. In numerous
Tablets, and diverse prayers, the Pen of the Covenant hath continually moved in
description of His sorrows caused by that Breaker of the Covenant of the
Luminary of all the World, some of which will be mentioned here. "So much
was I afflicted with sorrow that I spent all night in wailing and communing with
God. So intense was the fever created by My pain, that, in the morning, a most
strange effect was visible on My face from the burn. It became obvious to Me
that My pain hath afflicted My liver so that some of its consequence was visible
on My face."
Now, O ye who seek to discover the secrets of the Divine! O ye who
support the Cause of the All-Merciful God! Ponder a little. These afflictive
difficulties, these successive assaults, these awesome disturbances, these
various tribulations, these internal rebellions, all of which descended upon the
Cause of God from the beginning of the divine Revelation, and continuing for
over ninety years, and inflicted upon it by both acquaintances and adversaries
alike -- did any of these at all create a breach in this mighty edifice, this
immovable fortress? Could any of these create a disruption or confounding of the
foundations of the Shari'ah of God? Nay, I swear by the Lord of
Might! Dissension did not lead unto schisms. Those seeking rebellion and
separatism did not succeed in creating obliteration and dissolution. Although
certain of those who would fain have recognized the radiance of the Sinaic
Splendour did faint away and die; though certain important pillars of this
Edifice self-destructed and the majority of the
aghsán,[80]
the offshoots of the Tree that belongeth neither to the East nor to the
West,[81] did fall
upon the dust of degradation and cut themselves off from the Trunk of the Divine
Lote-Tree, - yet, despite all of this, the foundation of this Temple was
unshaken and unaffected. The Divine Tree could never be uprooted. Deadly toxin
could never poison the Fountainhead of this Most Precious Cause. The blasting
gales could never afflict this Incomparable Plant. The most incisive sword could
not cleave asunder the united assemblage created by God. The most ferocious
winds failed to quench the Resplendent Candle. Every fair one will testify, and
every discerning one will confess to this verity: in past cycles, internal
differences, religious disputes, partisan argumentations and antagonisms - all
would immediately result in permanent schisms and abiding denominations, and
would eventuate in big breaches in the foundations of the divine Edifice. Then
the primal oneness would be lost. The Cause initiated by God would be destroyed
and its efficacy enfeebled. But in this Supreme Revelation, this most consummate
and complete Dispensation, despite a current of tribulations and a succession of
troubles and calamities and the occurrence of unheard of difficulties, the Faith
of God was providentially vouchsafed protection from those ailments which
impinged upon previous Religions.
Consider carefully: after the Martyrdom of His Holiness, the Spirit of
God[82] and His
Ascension to the Supreme Concourse, the divergences of opinion amongst the
disciples[83]
generated dissensions and all these disputes were progenitors of great schisms
among the concourse of Christ's followers. Gradually these breaches
intensified. The quarrels and conflicts reached a crescendo and ever newer sects
and denominations came to be created. The leading men of the Oriental and
Occidental Churches upraised the banners of revolt against each other. The
Religion of God became divided into fissiparous sects. They were all adrift and
in dispersion. All these divisions persist unto our day. Again: At the
commencement of Islám, immediately after the Sinless and Pure Spirit of
His Holiness, the seal of the Prophets,
Muhammad - upon Him be the choicest
salutation and praise! - ascended from amongst His companions, a grievous
difference occurred relating to that most fundamental of their beliefs, that is,
relating to the matter of succession and
viceregency.[84] This
difference led to the formation of factions. These schisms generated numerous
parties, denominations, and
sects.[85] The
passage of time did not assuage the intensity of these differences and nothing
could impede the permanence of lasting denominationalism and schism. But in this
wondrous Dispensation, which, in all aspects, is to be distinguished from the
past Shari'ahs and religions, even though more than 90 years have
elapsed since the Effulgent
Luminary[86] arose in
Persia, and in spite of fearful events, mighty afflictions, the apostasy of
those related to the Sacred Tree itself and the revolt of some pillars of the
Community, yet, by virtue of most decisive Texts, the most firm admonitions and
warnings, as revealed by God, the existence of unequivocal, incontrovertible,
and firm testaments, the specific appointment and identification of an
adjudicator who would act as the authoritative interpreter of God's Holy
Words[87] - as a
result of all this, the unity of the divine Faith proved unassailable and the
enemies were all brought to extinction and defeat. The sacred institutions and
holy ordinances - all remained sacrosanct from the stain and spoliation of the
rebellious and recalcitrant. Differences and disturbances, which are the
essential prerequisites and sine qua non of growth and evolution within
the Body of the Cause, did not, unlike in the past, result in the disjunction
and fracture of the Temple of the Cause. All those difficulties were transformed
by God into mechanisms for the purification of its vesture, strengthening of its
constituent elements, and the discarding of unhealthy and insalubrious entities
from the Community of the People of
Bahá.[88]
Even though
diversity[89]
in the Faith of Him Who vouchsafeth secret Bounties is bound to happen in
all ages, yet the absence of dissection and schism in the company of the
followers of the Light of the World is a distinguishing characteristic of this
luminous Cause and one of the particularities of this Glorious Dispensation.
Where is the misbegotten Karím and his colleagues? Where is to be found
Azal and his followers? Where is the Arch-breaker, his friends and cohorts?
Where are their futile plans? Where are their degraded associations? Where are
their false promises? Whither are their vain conspiracies? Where is gone their
ever-vanishing and transient power? All their hopes were brought to nought. All
their deeds were of no avail. The angels of retribution beat upon their mouths
and hurled them all into the midmost fire. Their story remaineth as a lesson for
those observers who have a clear vision. Nothing hath remained in the kingdom of
God except the lights that radiate from His luminous and incandescent
Countenance and the traces and effects of His All-Conquering All-Pervasive,
All-Potent Faith.
O ye who seek to praise the Greatest Name! This precious and beloved
Faith of God is held firmly in the grasp of the One Who is the Luminary of All
Existence and the concourse of the People of Bahá are held in the
protective hand of the Absolute, the All-Possessing One! His Unseen Hand worketh
ever more. All earthly turmoil and revolution is but the start of the
proclamation of the Divine Shari'ah. The rays emanating from the
heaven of confirmation are truly dazzling and the signs of the grandeur of the
Cause evident far and near. This Day is that fearful aforementioned Day of
Separation[90] and
all things declare the glad tidings of the Golden Age of the Cycle of the Lord
of Destiny. A discerning eye is essential if one wisheth to behold the lights of
this Day and to assimilate and appreciate these heretofore unknown verities. Who
can flee from His Sovereignty? Who can escape from His Authority? Who can fail
not to be conquered by His Victory? The events and vicissitudes of the first
Bahá'í Century are the pivotal points for drawing lessons in
relation to future events. They are the clear mirror for seeing the future
transpire.
Consider again: After the passing of our kind Father,
'Abdu'l-Bahá', the Centre of the Covenant, - may My
spirit be a sacrifice to His lovers! - certain degraded, vain and unfaithful
ones, among them their chief, the Great Raven, the Redolent Droplet, the
miserable Avarih,[91]
-- what an uproar they caused! What foul noises were raised by them! What
senseless ravings were disseminated by them! What plottings were conceived by
them! What staunch efforts they exerted in order that the Sacred Cord of the
Divine Testament be broken apart and a breach be created in the divine
Guardianship, so that they might be able to accomplish what the wicked groups of
the past failed to achieve. But God did cut off their tongue. And soon will God
cause them to join the company of those who acted unjustly in the past and waxed
vainglorious. Then they will learn their true abode!
O friends of God! I adjure thee to remain steadfast on this awesome
Cause. I adjure thee to defend its Holy sacraments. I adjure thee to summon
mankind to this Great Announcement and to implement its glorious Laws. I adjure
thee to follow this Broad and Straight Path! I adjure you to lay firm its
foundations and to persist in unraveling its mysteries, and to continue avoiding
and shunning every one who is an enemy of this Unique, scintillating and all
Glorious Name.[92] In
this wise, will thy stations become disclosed unto thee. The lights of thy glory
will then shine and darkness will thereby be dispelled from thy lands. All the
hidden matters latent in the Cause will thereby be revealed, thy enemies will be
vanquished and all the promises of your Lord and Master will be fulfilled. Thy
country will then become a part of the Most Exalted Paradise and a mirror
reflecting the lights radiating from the Abhá Kingdom.
All Glory to this approaching Day, a Day All-Effulgent, Most Holy, Most
Blessed, Most Great!
The Servant of His Threshold, Shoghi.
December, 1937; [Masa'il (Questions), 94 B.E.]
"Among them was his honor, Hájí Nasír, who, unquestionably, was a brilliant light that shone forth above the horizon of resignation. After he had suffered martyrdom, they plucked out his eyes and cut off his nose, and inflicted on him such indignities that strangers wept and lamented, and secretly raised funds to support his wife and children." (MW's note).