Book: Baha'u'llah The King of Glory - by Hand of the Cause H. M. Balyuzi

From the book cover:

These pages will relate the story of Bahá'u'lláh, as well as the story of the retrogression of a nation under the yoke of the Qájárs.' With these words Mr. Balyuzi introduces this biography of the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. The life and times of Bahá'u'lláh are presented in their historical setting both in Iran and in the world at large. Much of its story is taken from the unpublished memoirs of His companions who themselves observed the events they describe. Details are given of Bahá'u'lláh's ancestry and family, His several journeys when banished from Iran, with the names of those who accompanied Him to Constantinople and into the citadel of 'Akká; the horrific martyrdom of Badí, His messenger to the Shah; the background of the marriage of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His eldest son; the machinations of the Azalís in Constantinople which brought Him anxiety and sorrow in His last years; and the closing months of His life at Bahjí.

Preface

Prior to anything else in this preface, I must express my deepest and ever-abiding gratitude to the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Body of the Baha'i World Community, for their gracious encouragement at every stage, without which this book could never have been written. I am also most grateful for the approval accorded to I my translations from Scriptures.

Next, I wish to offer my sincere and grateful thanks to the Hands of the Cause resident in the Holy Land, for devoting much of their time to read and review for publication this book, which is the first of four volumes on the life and times of Baha'u'llah. This volume presents a complete biography.

“The prime requisites for them that take counsel together”

The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Baha shall be vouchsafed to them. 

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

October 1921: Group of Baha'is in Manchester, England with Shoghi Effendi

Top row standing, left to right: Albert Joseph, John Craven, Jim Birch, and H. Jarvis. Second row standing, left to right: Rebecca Hall, Lucy Hall, Mrs. Heald, Mrs. Chessell, Jeff Joseph, Oliver Jarvis, Mrs. Hofere, and Mrs Birch. Sitting, left to right: Nora Crossley, James Chessell with Helen Chessell, Shoghi Effendi, E.T. Hall, Z. Azgarzadeh, Mr. Heald, Norman Craven, Mrs. Craven. Front sitting, left to right: Harold Taylor, Edward R. Hall, Ronald Craven, and Mabel Chessell.

Daily situations one encounters – what course of conduct to follow?

It is neither possible nor desirable for the Universal House of Justice to set forth a set of rules covering every situation. Rather it is the task of the individual believer to determine, according to his own prayerful understanding of the Writings, precisely what his course of conduct should be in relation to situations which he encounters in his daily life. If he is to fulfil his true mission in life as a follower of the Blessed Perfection, he will pattern his life according to the Teachings. The believer cannot attain this objective merely by living according to a set of rigid regulations. When his life is oriented towards service to Baha'u'llah, and when every conscious act is performed within this frame of reference, he will not fail to achieve the true purpose of his life.

Therefore, every believer must continually study the sacred Writings and the instructions of the beloved Guardian, striving always to attain a new and better understanding of their import to him and to his society. He should pray fervently for Divine Guidance, wisdom and strength to do what is pleasing to God, and to serve Him at all times and to the best of his ability. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer October 17, 1968: National Baha’i Review, No. 47, November 1971; Compilation: Lights of Guidance)

‘Abdu’l-Baha recalls His life – Part 1: from an interview given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the Weekly Budget, London, September 23rd, 1911

The Most Great Prison Akka, Israel in 1907 (Baha'i News Jan. 1965)

At nine years of age, I accompanied my father, Bahá’u’lláh, in His journey of exile to Baghdád, seventy of His disciples going with us. This decree of exile, after persistent persecution, was intended to effectively stamp out of Persia what the authorities considered a dangerous religion. Bahá’u’lláh, with His family and followers, was banished, and travelled from one place to another. When I was about twenty-five years old, we were moved from Constantinople to Adrianople, and from there went with a guard of soldiers to the fortressed city of Akká, where we were imprisoned and closely guarded.

We had no communication whatever with the out-side world. Each loaf of bread was cut open by the guard to see that it contained no message. All who believed in the Bahá’í manifestation, children, men and women, were imprisoned with us. There were one-hundred and fifty of us together in two rooms and no one was allowed to leave the place with the exceptions of four persons, who went to the bazaar to market each morning, under guard. The first summer was dreadful. Akká is a fever-ridden town. It was said that a bird attempting to fly over it would drop dead. The food was poor and insufficient, the water was drawn from a fever-infected well and the climate and conditions were such, that even the natives of the town fell ill. Many soldiers succumbed and eight out of ten of our guard died. During the intense heat, malaria, typhoid and dysentery attacked the prisoners, so that all, men, women and children, were sick at one time. There were no doctors, no medicines, no proper food, and no treatment of any kind. I used to make broth for the people… 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Abdu'l-Baha in London’)

The Báb suffered more than anyone before Him

In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered, nor any transgressor endured what I have endured! I render praise unto God and yet again praise Him. I find Myself free from sorrow, inasmuch as I abide within the good-pleasure of My Lord and Master. Methinks I am in the all-highest Paradise, rejoicing at My communion with God, the Most Great. Verily this is a bounty which God hath conferred upon Me; and He is the Lord of unbounded blessings. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

We should thank Baha’u’llah for allowing us to “offer Him the Right of God”

Thank thou and bless thou the Lord for He hath allowed thee to offer Him the Right of God [1].  This is verily a special favour on His part, for thee; praise Him then for this commandment that is set forth in the Scriptures of thy Lord, of Him that is the Ancient of Days. Verily is He the Loving, the Tender, the Ever-Bestowing.

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

[1] Huququ’llah

Prayer for Believers - Assistance for the “American friends”

O Thou Creator! Bring the American friends nigh unto the Kingdom of Abha and suffer their deeds and actions to be in conformity with the Commandments and Exhortations written in the Tablets. Make them firm in Thy Love and steadfast in Thy Cause. Attract them unto the Baha’i Beauty and cause them to attain infinite warmth and fervor. Bestow upon them a firm footing and give them a heavenly power in order that they may engage in Thy service and spread the Signs of the Kingdom.

Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty! Thou art the Compassionate, the Gracious, the Seer!

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet, Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 3, April 28, 1911)

Servitude and majesty of the Manifestation of God

Thou seest me, O my God, writhing in anguish upon the dust, like unto a fish. Deliver me, have mercy upon me, O Thou Whose aid is invoked by all men, O Thou within Whose grasp lie the reins of power over all men and women. Whenever I ponder my grievous shortcomings and my great trespasses, despair assaileth me from every direction, and whenever I pause to meditate upon the ocean of Thy bounteousness and the heaven of Thy grace and the day-star of Thy tender compassion, I inhale the fragrance of hope diffused from right and left, from north and south, as if every created thing imparteth unto me the joyous tidings that the clouds of the heaven of Thy mercy will pour down their rain upon me. By Thy might, O Thou Who art the Mainstay of the sincere ones and the Desire of them that enjoy near access unto Thee! Thy manifold favours and blessings and the revelations of Thy grace and loving-kindness have truly emboldened me. How, otherwise, can utter nothingness magnify the Name of Him Who hath, by a word, brought creation into being, and how can an evanescent creature extol Him Who hath demonstrated that no description can ever express Him and no word of praise magnify His glory? He hath from everlasting been immeasurably exalted above the understanding of His creatures and sanctified from the conceptions of His servants.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Ishraqat [Splendours], ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

Doors to the Shrine of the Báb – Named after eminent believers

The main floor of the Shrine of the Báb is made of nine rooms, six of which were created at the time of ‘Abdu’l-Baha and three during the early years of the Guardian’s ministry between 1928 and 1930. Beneath the central room of these nine rooms are precious remains of the Bab and in an adjacent room those of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

The exterior doors to the eight rooms surrounding the central room were named by both ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi after certain eminent believers:

1. By ‘Abdu’l-Baha:

• Bab [door]-i-Amin: named after Hand of the Cause Haji Amin
• Bab-i-Fadl: named after Mirza Abu’l-Fadl
• Bab-i-Bala: named after Ustad Aqa Bala (a Baha’i mason who contributed to the Shrine’s construction)
• Bab-i-Ashraf: named after Ustad Aqa Ali-Ashraf (a Baha’i mason who contributed to the Shrine’s construction)
• Bab-i-Karim: named after Ustad ‘Abdu’-Karim (a Baha’i mason who contributed to the Shrine’s construction)

 2. By Shoghi Effendi:

• Bab-i-Qassabchi: named after Haji Mahmud Qassabchi who provided the funding for the construction of the three additional rooms.
• Bab-i-Maxwell: named after Hand of the Cause Sutherland Maxwell, the architect of the superstructure of the Shrine
• Bab-i-Giachery: named after Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery who acted as liaison with the various Italian companies involved
• Bab-i-Ioas: the door to the second floor octagon: named after Hand of the Cause Leroy Ioas who oversaw much of the final work.

(Adapted from: A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha’i Faith by Peter Smith; and The Baha’i Faith 1844-1963 Information and Comparative, compiled by the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land)

How to view the understanding of other Baha’is with respect to the Faith

A clear distinction is made in our Faith between authoritative interpretation and the interpretation or understanding that each individual arrives at for himself from his study of, its teachings. While the former is confined to the Guardian, the latter, according to the guidance given to us by the Guardian himself, should by no means be suppressed. In fact such individual interpretation is considered the fruit of man's rational power and conducive to a better understanding of the teachings, provided that no disputes or arguments arise among the friends and - the individual himself understands and makes it clear that his views are merely his own. Individual interpretations continually change as one grows in comprehension of the teachings. - The Universal House of Justice  (‘Wellsprings of Guidance’)

Her Majesty Queen of Rumania: First Baha'i Queen

By the “virtue of the love… [that one] cherisheth for God” one should “arise to rehabilitate the conditions in all regions and to quicken the dead with the living waters of wisdom and utterance”

As the process of the disintegration of a lamentably defective world order gathers momentum in all parts of the planet, engendering hopelessness, confusion, hostility, and insecurity, the hearts of the friends everywhere must be assured, their eyes clear-sighted, their feet firm, as they work patiently and sacrificially to raise a new order in its stead. The guidance of Bahá’u’lláh is the foundation upon which you build. His instruction is clear: “This servant appealeth to every diligent and enterprising soul to exert his utmost endeavor and arise to rehabilitate the conditions in all regions and to quicken the dead with the living waters of wisdom and utterance, by virtue of the love he cherisheth for God, the One, the Peerless, the Almighty, the Beneficent.” 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 9 November 2018 addressed to the Baha’is of the world)

September 17, 2024 - A western pilgrim sees ‘Abdu’l-Baha for the first time

To describe 'Abdu'l-Baha so that the reader may form any mental picture of Him that would in any way do Him justice, is as impossible as to try to paint a sunbeam. The artist may put the ray of yellow light in exactly the right place and with most beautiful effect; but no matter how great his skill, he cannot catch the real essence of the sunbeam -- that golden luminosity, which is like an elixir of life, is uncatchable, unpaintable. So it is with the likeness of 'Abdu'l-Baha. His expression is ever changing; each thought and emotion is mirrored forth and the face becomes so illumined that words are but as the dull, lifeless paint which cannot reproduce the sunbeams -- yet, some idea can be gathered from them.

When I first saw ‘Abdu’l-Baha I was alone and I came face to face with Him all unexpectedly. He stood not even four feet from me. It was in the upper court, with the blue sky overhead and the sunlight shining down brightly upon Him, the hour being but a little after "high noon." I might have thought Him any other member of His family, as His sons-in-law were often passing to and fro, but every atom of my being, my heart and soul cried out, "This is He." The face of my dreams of Him stood before me with that same heavenly smile of welcome. The Light of Infinite Love was radiating from His countenance. Majestic, and yet sublimely tender, He was looking right into my eyes. I gave a start as if I had suddenly plunged into an ocean, then stood transfixed. It seemed as if I had come upon Him unawares and saw the "Glory of the Lord" shining forth around Him; and I know I must have felt as did Mary Magdalene when Christ revealed Himself to her in her vision after the crucifixion -- "The Risen Lord." He motioned me to pass on. I could not. A sense of my great unworthiness made me bow my head – then He passed by me. He was dressed white. His hair fell in soft waves His shoulders and His head was crowned with a white turban bound around with a white cloth. His step was firm and kingly.

The Tablet of Visitation for the Báb and Baha’u’llah

The Visitation Tablet for the Tombs of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh is in three parts: first part was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh to a believer who could not make the Pilgrimage. A few days after the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh The Master asked Nabil to arrange selections to be chanted in the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh. Of the Tablet of Visitation the first part is not addressed to God but to Bahá'u'lláh Himself. The second part is a prayer revealed by Bahá'u'lláh addressing God and the remaining paragraphs refer again to Bahá'u'lláh and not to God directly. It has been used ever since as the Visitation Tablet. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Comments by Shoghi Effendi, recorded by Mary Maxwell [Ruhiyyih Khanum] during pilgrimage with May Maxwell, 1937; “Haifa Notes”)

Courtyard of the House of the Báb in Shiraz, showing the orange tree and reflecting pool and, on the left, a well.

September 14, 2024 -'Abdu'l-Baha walking up to His room near the Shrine of the Báb

Shoghi Effendi’s smile is a precious bounty

His face is beautiful, as it is so pure in expression and so impersonal, yet at the same time tender and majestic...I saw large grey-blue eyes...His nose is a combination of what it was in the pictures of him as a little boy - he still looks much like that! - and the sort of ridged nose of the Master. His years seem no more than forty-eight instead of sixty. He had a small, greying moustached, tightly clipped. His mouth is firm and pure, his teeth white and beautiful. His smile is a precious bounty... 

(Recorded by a pilgrim in 1956; quoted by Ruhiyyih Khanum in ‘The Priceless Pearl’)

“the core of religious faith”

. . . the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling that unites man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Bahá'u'lláh has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer to merely accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality, which he can acquire chiefly by the means of prayer. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 8 December 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, published in "Bahá'í News" 102, August 1936; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, The Importance of Prayer, Meditation and the Devotional Attitude)

Marriage Certificate of Bahá'u'lláh

Condition of one’s “heart, which is the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of His revelation”

Meditate on what the poet hath written: “Wonder not, if my Best-Beloved be closer to me than mine own self; wonder at this, that I, despite such nearness, should still be so far from Him.”... Considering what God hath revealed, that “We are closer to man than his life-vein,” the poet hath, in allusion to this verse, stated that, though the revelation of my Best-Beloved hath so permeated my being that He is closer to me than my life-vein, yet, notwithstanding my certitude of its reality and my recognition of my station, I am still so far removed from Him. By this he meaneth that his heart, which is the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of His revelation, is forgetful of its Creator, hath strayed from His path, hath shut out itself from His glory, and is stained with the defilement of earthly desires.

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

circa 1912, Tihran, Iran: Lillian Kappes, Dr. Sarah Clock, Dr. Susan Moody, and Tahirih Khanum

The station of Christ – is Jesus the only Son of God?

As regards to your questions concerning the station of Jesus Christ, and His return as explained in the Gospel. It is true that Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of God, but this, as explained by Bahá'u'lláh in the 'Íqán, does not indicate any Physical relationship whatever. Its meaning is entirely spiritual and points to the close relationship existing between Him and the Almighty God. Nor does it necessarily indicate any inherent superiority in the station of Jesus over other Prophets and Messengers. As far as their spiritual nature is concerned all Prophets can be regarded as Sons of God, as they all reflect His light, though not in an equal measure, and this difference in reflection is due to the conditions and circumstances under which they appear. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, November 29, 1937; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Haifa 1953

We need a Mediator to communicate with God

A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator -- one who receives the full light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it over the human world, as the earth's atmosphere receives and diffuses the warmth of the sun's rays.

If we wish to pray, we must have some object on which to concentrate. If we turn to God, we must direct our hearts to a certain center. If man worships God otherwise than through His Manifestation, he must first form a conception of God, and that conception is created by his own mind. As the finite cannot comprehend the Infinite, so God is not to be comprehended in this fashion. That which man conceives with his own mind he comprehends. That which he can comprehend is not God. That conception of God which a man forms for himself is but a phantasm, an image, an imagination, an illusion. There is no connection between such a conception and the Supreme Being.

If a man wishes to know God, he must find Him in the perfect mirror, Christ or Bahá'u'lláh. In either of these mirrors he will see reflected the Sun of Divinity.

As we know the physical sun by its splendor, by its light and heat, so we know God, the Spiritual Sun, when He shines forth from the temple of Manifestation, by His attributes of perfection, by the beauty of His qualities and by the splendor of His light. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (From a talk to Mr. Percy Woodcock, 'Akká, 1909; quoted by Dr. John Esslemont in ‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era’)

1934: “ample proof of the growing momentum with which the invincible community of the Most Great Name is marching forward to ultimate victory”

The international status which the Religion of God has thus far achieved, moreover, imperatively demands that its root principles be now definitely clarified.

• The unprecedented impetus which the illustrious deeds of the American believers have lent to the onward march of the Faith;
• the intense interest which the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West is fast awakening among divers races and nations;
• the rise and steady consolidation of Bahá’í institutions in no less than forty of the most advanced countries of the world;
• the dissemination of Bahá’í literature in no fewer than twenty-five of the most widely-spoken languages;
• the success that has recently attended the nation-wide efforts of the Persian believers in the preliminary steps they have taken for the establishment, in the outskirts of the capital-city of their native land, of the third Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Bahá’í world;
• the measures that are being taken for the immediate formation of their first National Spiritual Assembly representing the interests of the overwhelming majority of Bahá’í adherents;
• the projected erection of yet another pillar of the Universal House of Justice, the first of its kind, in the Southern Hemisphere;
• the testimonies, both verbal and written, that a struggling Faith has obtained from Royalty, from governmental institutions, international tribunals, and ecclesiastical dignitaries;
• the publicity it has received from the charges which unrelenting enemies, both new and old, have hurled against it;
• the formal enfranchisement of a section of its followers from the fetters of Muslim orthodoxy in a country that may be regarded as the most enlightened among Islamic nations—

these afford ample proof of the growing momentum with which the invincible community of the Most Great Name is marching forward to ultimate victory. 

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

High-level features of the third period of the first Baha’i century: -1892–1921

The third period (1892–1921) revolves around the vibrant personality of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, mysterious in His essence, unique in His station, astoundingly potent in both the charm and strength of His character. It commences with the announcement of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, a document without parallel in the history of any earlier Dispensation, attains its climax in the emphatic assertion by the Center of that Covenant, in the City of the Covenant, of the unique character and far-reaching implications of that Document, and closes with His passing and the interment of His remains on Mt. Carmel. It will go down in history as a period of almost thirty years’ duration, in which tragedies and triumphs have been so intertwined as to eclipse at one time the Orb of the Covenant, and at another time to pour forth its light over the continent of Europe, and as far as Australasia, the Far East and the North American continent.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘Preface to God Passes By’)

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)

November 1845: The first known printed reference to the Revelation of the Báb

The Times of London carries an item on the arrest and torture of Quddus, Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani, Mulla ‘Ali-Akbar-i-Ardistani and Mulla Abu-Talib in Shriraz in June. This is the first known printed reference to the Revelation. A similar article is printed on 19 November. 

(A Basic Baha’i Chronology by Glenn Cameron and Wendi Momen)

The “highest ideals in human relationships” are “harmony, unity and love”

Wherever there is a Bahá'í family, those concerned should by all means do all they can to preserve it, because divorce is strongly condemned in the Teachings, whereas harmony, unity and love are held up as the highest ideals in human relationships. This must always apply to the Bahá'ís, whether they are serving in the pioneering field or not. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 9 November 1956 to the National Spiritual Assembly of Central America; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Divorce)