Tarázu’lláh Samandarí (1874-1968) – “Ornament of God”; “The Divine Adornment”; Hand of the Cause; a "strong pillar" and an outstanding example of “obedience and dedication”; "an Apostle of the Crimson Ark"; a "strong pillar of the luminous Faith of God"; a "Knight of the arena of detachment"; a "foremost exemplar for the righteous"; "a true herald of the Greatest Name"; "the most distinguished of friends"; "the shining lamp among Bahá’i teachers"; “exemplary service to the Lord of Hosts”; “precious remnant of the Heroic Age”

Tarázu’lláh (Ornament of God) was the name given by Bahá’u’lláh to the son of Samandar,[1] one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh, and Ma’súmih Khánum Farhádí, both from families of early Bábís. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called him Mírza Taráz and bestowed upon him many honorifics including Taráz-i-Iláhí (The Divine Adornment). The beloved Guardian addressed him as Jináb-i-Samandarí and appointed him a Hand of the Cause, one of the twelve in the first contingent, on December 24, 1951.

Tarázu’lláh Samandarí was born in 1874, in Qazvín, Persia, and was brought up by his parents and his grandmother, who was one of the companions of that immortal early heroine of the Faith, Táhirih. His upbringing is described by ‘Abdu'l-Baha, in a prayer revealed for him:

“...I supplicate before the Throne of Thy mercifulness and the threshold of Thy oneness that Thou mayest rain down Thy manifold confirmations and favours upon this servant of Thine who was born in the cradle of Thy love, nourished from the breast of Thy knowledge, reared in the lap of Thy servitude, nurtured in the bosom of Thy life-giving Faith, until such time as he was fully developed through the outpourings of Thy bounty, attained maturity through Thy loving kindness and turned his face with devotion toward Thy countenance, with his heart wholly centred on Thee and his reliance completely placed in Thee ...”

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God admonishes the generation that mistreated the Báb: “All that is on earth hath been created for Him”

“How veiled are ye, O My creatures,” He [the Báb], speaking with the voice of God, has revealed in the Bayán, “...who, without any right, have consigned Him unto a mountain [Mákú], not one of whose inhabitants is worthy of mention.... With Him, which is with Me, there is no one except him who is one of the Letters of the Living of My Book. In His presence, which is My Presence, there is not at night even a lighted lamp! And yet, in places [of worship] which in varying degrees reach out unto Him, unnumbered lamps are shining! All that is on earth hath been created for Him, and all partake with delight of His benefits, and yet they are so veiled from Him as to refuse Him even a lamp!” 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

The Greatest Holy Leaf: - In her teens she was “entrusted by the guiding hand of her Father with missions that no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform”

And when at a later time this revered and precious member of the Holy Family, then in her teens, came to be entrusted by the guiding hand of her Father with missions that no girl of her age could, or would be willing to, perform, with what spontaneous joy she seized her opportunity and acquitted herself of the task with which she had been entrusted! The delicacy and extreme gravity of such functions as she, from time to time, was called upon to fulfill, when the city of Baghdád was swept by the hurricane which the heedlessness and perversity of Mírzá Yaḥyá had unchained, as well as the tender solicitude which, at so early an age, she evinced during the period of Bahá’u’lláh’s enforced retirement to the mountains of Sulaymáníyyih, marked her as one who was both capable of sharing the burden, and willing to make the sacrifice, which her high birth demanded. 

- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 17 July 1932; ‘Baha’i Administration’)

'Abdu'l-Baha at Bahji

Meaning of “hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations”

One of the great events which is to occur in the Day of the manifestation of that Incomparable Branch [Bahá’u’lláh] is the hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations. By this is meant that all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race, and become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland, which is the planet itself. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day is Come)

“every created thing is a sign of the revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token of the Almighty.”

Know thou that every created thing is a sign of the revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token of the Almighty. Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of all, hath willed to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and attributes, each and every created thing hath, through the act of the Divine Will, been made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is this revelation that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be discovered that doth not reflect His splendor. Under such conditions every consideration of proximity and remoteness is obliterated.... Were the Hand of Divine power to divest of this high endowment all created things, the entire universe would become desolate and void.

Behold, how immeasurably exalted is the Lord your God above all created things! Witness the majesty of His sovereignty, His ascendancy, and supreme power. If the things which have been created by Him -- magnified be His glory -- and ordained to be the manifestations of His names and attributes, stand, by virtue of the grace with which they have been endowed, exalted beyond all proximity and remoteness, how much loftier must be that Divine Essence that hath called them into being?...

- Baha'u'llah ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')

1847: While the Báb was in the hamlet of Kulayn, 10 miles south of Tihran, He received “a sealed letter together with certain gifts” from Bahá’u’lláh

While in the hamlet of Kulayn, the Báb received three believers from Tihran. One of them who had been closely associated with Bahá'u'lláh in Tihran, had been commissioned by Baha’u’llah to present to the Báb “a sealed letter together with certain gifts which, as soon as they were delivered into His hands, provoked in His soul sentiments of unusual delight. His face glowed with joy as He overwhelmed the bearer with marks of His gratitude and favour.”

“That message, received at an hour of uncertainty and suspense, imparted solace and strength to the Báb. It dispelled the gloom that had settled upon His heart, and imbued His soul with the certainty of victory. The sadness which had long lingered upon His face, and which the perils of His captivity had served to aggravate, visibly diminished. He no longer shed those tears of anguish which had streamed so profusely from His eyes ever since the days of His arrest and departure from Shiraz. The cry "Beloved, My Well-Beloved," which in His bitter grief and loneliness He was wont to utter, gave way to expressions of thanksgiving and praise, of hope and triumph. The exultation which glowed upon His face never forsook Him until the day when the news of the great disaster which befell the heroes of Shaykh Tabarsi again beclouded the radiance of His countenance and dimmed the joy of His heart.”

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

The Báb elaborates on His name: - Alí-Muhammad

In Qayyúmu’l-Asmá, Surih al-Qarabih [kinsmen], verse 14, tire Báb reveals:

“Verily, We have named this Remembrance by two Names from the divine Self, after two Beloved Ones among Our servants in the heavens.” 

(Provisional translation, Footnotes to ‘The Báb in Shiraz, An Account by Mírzá Habíbu’lláh Afnán’, provided by Ahang Rabbani)

“The darkness of error that has enveloped the East and the West is, in this most great cycle, battling with the light of Divine Guidance.”

How clearly and strikingly the following words of ‘Abdu’l Bahá are being demonstrated at this hour: “The darkness of error that has enveloped the East and the West is, in this most great cycle, battling with the light of Divine Guidance. Its swords and its spears are very sharp and pointed; its army keenly bloodthirsty.” “This day,” He, in another passage has written, “the powers of all the leaders of religion are directed towards the dispersion of the congregation of the All-Merciful, and the shattering of the Divine Edifice. The hosts of the world, whether material, cultural or political are from every side launching their assault, for the Cause is great, very great. Its greatness is, in this day, clear and manifest to men’s eyes.”

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

A Baha'i Teaching: We should “gather together in meetings” and “read the verses of God”

The friends of God, one and all, are remembered by the Supreme Pen: The bounties of the Source of Bounty are at every moment visibly descending. It behooveth the friends in whatever land they be, to gather together in meetings, and therein to speak wisely and with eloquence, and to read the verses of God, for it is God's Words that kindle love's fire and set it ablaze." 

- Baha’u’llah (From a Tablet; compilations: ‘Baha’i Meetings, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; Baha’i Library Online)

'Abdu'l-Baha: - "I am the lamp and the love of God is my light"

I am the lamp and the love of God is my light. This light hath become reflected in the mirrors of hearts. Therefore turn thou unto thy heart, that is, when it is in the utmost freedom, and behold how the radiance of my love is manifest in that mirror, and thou art near unto me. Recite the Greatest Name at every morn, and turn thou unto the Kingdom of Abha, until thou mayest apprehend my mysteries.

-‘Abdu'l-Baha (Tablets of ‘Abdu'l-Baha vol. 3)

The relationship between God and nature

The Master went into another room where a young man with a striking personality and pleasing appearance asked Him in what school He had studied philosophy.

The Master answered: “In the same school where Christ studied.”

He then asked the Master, “What is the relationship between God and nature?”

The Master replied:

Some of the philosophers believe that God is the Supreme Reality and that every human being has a spark of this divine reality within him; that He Himself is in a state of utmost power and that all things manifest Him according to their different capacities. Therefore they hold that the Supreme Being is dispersed into infinite forms. This is the position of Plato. But we say that existence as conceived by man or comprehended through human reason or intellect is a characteristic of matter. Matter is like unto essence, while existence is its manifestation. The body of man is essence and existence is dependent upon it. This human body is matter while existence is a power conditioned on matter.

But it is not so with the Essential Self-Existent One. His existence is true existence which is self-subsistent, not an intellectually perceived and comprehended existence; it is an Existence by which all created things come into being. All things are like unto His handiwork and are dependent upon Him. We refer to Him as Self-Existent because we need to make use of a term but we do not mean that that Being can be contained within our comprehension. What is intended is the Reality from Whom all things emanate, the Reality through Whom all things exist. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, August 9, 1912, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani, His secretary and chronicler during His travels in the West; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)

How to be a friend to many people

One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race. If, however, we look at people from the standpoint of their faults, then being a friend to them is a formidable task." 

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

May 1926: Delegates and friends attending the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada at San Francisco

“The world of humanity has two wings… one is the female, the other is the male”

In proclaiming the oneness of mankind He [Bahá’u’lláh] taught that men and women are equal in the sight of God and that there is no distinction to be made between them. The only difference between them now is due to lack of education and training. If woman is given equal opportunity of education, distinction and estimate of inferiority will disappear. The world of humanity has two wings, as it were: One is the female; the other is the male. If one wing be defective, the strong perfect wing will not be capable of flight. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, 9 June 1912; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

1910: Delegates and friends in attendance at the first annual conference of the Persian-American Educational Society

Bahá’u’lláh is God’s “Most Great Name”; “no tongue can describe” the extent of His sufferings

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Him Who is Thy Most Great Name, Who hath been sorely afflicted by such of Thy creatures as have repudiated Thy truth, and Who hath been hemmed in by sorrows which no tongue can describe…

- Bahá’u’lláh (Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh)

Lydia Zamenhof, youngest daughter of Dr. Ludwig Zamenhof, creator of the Esperanto language

Why majority of Jews didn’t believe in Jesus as their Messiah

The Jews were expecting the appearance of the Messiah, looking forward to it with devotion of heart and soul but because they were submerged in imitations they did not believe in His Holiness Jesus Christ when he appeared. Finally they rose against Him even to the extreme of persecution and shedding His blood. Had they investigated reality they would have accepted their promised Messiah. These blind imitations and hereditary prejudices have invariably become the cause of bitterness and hatred and have filled the world with darkness and violence of war. Therefore we must seek the fundamental truth in order to extricate ourselves from such conditions and then with illumined faces find the pathway to the kingdom of God.

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (Baha'i World Faith')

The obstacle which prevents the so-called religious man from accepting the teachings of God is literal interpretation. Moses announced the coming of Christ. The Israelites were awaiting him with the greatest impatience and anxiety, but when he came they called him Beelzebub. "The conditions laid down in the Bible for the coming of the expected one were not fulfilled," they said. They did not understand that the conditions were symbolical.

For instance, it is written -- "He will come from an unknown place." Jesus came from Nazareth. "How can this be the Messiah?" they reasoned. "It is written -- he will carry an iron scepter, that is to say, his shepherd's staff will be a sword. This man has no sword. It was prophesised -- he will be seated on the throne of David; behold this man has not so much as a mat whereon to sit. He was to spread the law of Moses; this man, on the contrary, seeks to destroy it. How can he be the promulgator of God's law?" they scornfully laughed.

'Abdu'l-Baha at Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1912

How a human soul can become nearer to God – ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains

Nearness to God is dependent upon purity of the heart and exhilaration of the spirit through the glad tidings of the Kingdom. Consider how a pure, well-polished mirror fully reflects the effulgence of the sun, no matter how distant the sun may be. As soon as the mirror is cleaned and purified, the sun will manifest itself. The more pure and sanctified the heart of man becomes, the nearer it draws to God, and the light of the Sun of Reality is revealed within it. This light sets hearts aglow with the fire of the love of God, opens in them the doors of knowledge and unseals the divine mysteries so that spiritual discoveries are made possible. All the Prophets have drawn near to God through severance. We must emulate those Holy Souls and renounce our own wishes and desires. We must purify ourselves from the mire and soil of earthly contact until our hearts become as mirrors in clearness and the light of the most great guidance reveals itself in them.

The Báb’s first visit to Tabriz created “an intense excitement on the part of the populace”

His [the Prime Minister’s] orders to ‘Alí Khán, the warden of the fortress of Máh-Kú, were stringent and explicit. On His way to that fortress the Báb passed a number of days in Tabríz, days that were marked by such an intense excitement on the part of the populace that, except for a few persons, neither the public nor His followers were allowed to meet Him. As He was escorted through the streets of the city the shout of “Alláh-u-Akbar” resounded on every side. So great, indeed, became the clamor that the town crier was ordered to warn the inhabitants that any one who ventured to seek the Báb’s presence would forfeit all his possessions and be imprisoned. 

- Shoghi Effendi (‘God Passes By’)

1907: The Most Great Prison in Akka, Israel

Photo was taken by Hand of the Cause, Roy C. Wilhelm in 1907 

(Baha'i News, January 1965)

Story for Children: The little girl who saw ‘Abdu’l-Baha

There was once a little child who saw ‘Abdu’l-Baha. She lived in America, and her story is rather strange, for she knew about Him before she actually saw Him. He was far across the ocean when she said to her mother one day, “Mummy, if Jesus were here what would you do?”

Her mother answered, “I would go to Him as fast as I could!”

“Well, Mummy, He is here in the world somewhere,” she told her mother.

“Now Precious, what do you mean? How do you know?”

Her little girl then said," He told me so Himself, so He must be here."

The mother was puzzled because her daughter was so sure, and the mother prayed that she would know what it all meant.

The next day, the child asked her mother why she had not gone to see Lord Jesus." He's told me two times that He is here," she insisted.

December 1938: Shoghi Effendi writes a general letter to the Baha’is of North America which appears in 1939 under the title of ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’

Immediately after the publication of this diamond-mine of communion with God [Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh], unsurpassed in any religious literature of the world, Shoghi Effendi set to work on a longer general letter than he had ever before written, which appeared in 1939 under the title of The Advent of Divine Justice. With a kind but firm hand Shoghi Effendi held up before the face of the North American Community the mirror of the civilization by which they were surrounded and warned them, in terms that riveted the eye and chilled the heart against its evils, pointing out to them a truth few of them had ever pondered, namely, that the very evils of that civilization were the mystic reason for their homeland having been chosen by God as the cradle of His World Order in this day. As the warnings contained in The Advent of Divine Justice are an integral part of the vision and guidance Shoghi Effendi gave to the faithful throughout his ministry, they cannot be passed over in silence if we are to obtain any correct understanding of his own mission. In no uncertain terms he castigated the moral laxity, political corruption, racial prejudice and corrosive materialism of their society, contrasting it with the exalted standards inculcated by Bahá'u'lláh in His Teachings, and enjoined by Him upon His followers. It warned them of the war so soon to come and admonished them to stand fast, in spite of every trial that might in future afflict them and their nations, and discharge their sacred trust by prosecuting to a triumphal outcome the Plan they had so recently inaugurated throughout the Western Hemisphere. 

- Ruhiyyih Khanum (‘The Guardian of the Baha'i Faith’)

It is interesting to know that this document – the Advent of Divine Justice – became known among the early Baha’is in the West as “the Bible of Baha'i pioneers”. 

- Marzieh Gale (‘Arches of the Years’)