'Abdu'l-Baha on Mount Carmel

Manifestations of God & the station of Baha’u’llah

O Lord! The tongue of my tongue and the heart of my heart and the spirit of my spirit and my outward and inmost beings bear witness to Thy unity and Thy oneness, Thy power and Thine omnipotence, Thy grandeur and Thy sovereignty, and attest Thy glory, loftiness and authority. I testify that Thou art God and that there is none other God besides Thee. From everlasting Thou hast been a treasure hidden from the sight and minds of men and shalt continue to remain the same for ever and ever. The powers of earth can never frustrate Thee, nor can the might of the nations alarm Thee. Thou art the One Who hath unlocked the door of knowledge before the faces of Thy servants that they may recognize Him Who is the Day-Star of Thy Revelation, the Dawning-Place of Thy signs, the Heaven of Thy manifestation and the Sun of Thy divine beauty. In Thy holy Books, in Thy Scriptures and Thy Scrolls Thou hast promised all the peoples of the world that Thou Thyself shalt appear and shalt remove the veils of glory from Thy face, even as Thou didst announce in Thy words unto Thy Friend [Muhammad] through Whom the Day-Star of Revelation shone brightly above the horizon of Hijáz, and the dawning light of divine Truth shed its radiance among all men, proclaiming: ‘The Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.’ [Qur’án 83:6] And before Muhammad Thou didst impart this glad-tiding unto Him Who conversed with Thee, [Moses] saying: ‘Bring forth thy people from the darkness into the light and remind them of the days of God.’ [Qur’án 14:5] Moreover Thou didst proclaim this truth unto the Spirit [Jesus] and unto Thy Prophets and Thy Messengers, whether of the remote or more recent past. If all that which Thou hast sent down in glorification of this Most Great Remembrance, this Great Announcement, were to stream forth from the wellspring of Thy most august Pen, the inmates of the cities of knowledge and understanding would be dumbfounded, except such as Thou wouldst deliver through the potency of Thy might and wouldst protect as a token of Thy bountiful favour and Thy grace. I bear witness that Thou hast in truth fulfilled Thy pledge and hast made manifest the One Whose advent was foretold by Thy Prophets, Thy chosen ones and by them that serve Thee. He hath come from the heaven of glory and power, bearing the banners of Thy signs and the standards of Thy testimonies. Through the potency of Thine indomitable power and strength, He stood up before the faces of all men and summoned all mankind to the summit of transcendent glory and unto the all-highest Horizon, in such wise that neither the oppression of the ecclesiastics nor the onslaught of the rulers was able to deter Him. He arose with inflexible resolve and, unloosing His tongue, proclaimed in ringing tones: ‘He Who is the All-Bountiful is come, riding aloft on the clouds. Advance, O people of the earth, with shining faces and radiant hearts!’

Great indeed is the blessedness of him who attaineth Thy presence, drinketh the wine of reunion proffered by the hand of Thy bounteousness, inhaleth the fragrance of Thy signs, unlooseth his tongue in celebrating Thy praise, soareth high in Thy heavens, is carried away by the sweetness of Thy Voice, gaineth admittance into the most exalted Paradise and attaineth the station of revelation and vision before the throne of Thy majesty. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

Prayer for Group: - To receive God's mercy

Lauded be Thy Name, O God. Thou art in truth our Lord; Thou art aware of whatsoever is in the heavens and on the earth. Send down then upon us a token of Thy mercy. Verily Thou art unsurpassed among them that show mercy. All praise be unto Thee, O Lord. Ordain for us from Thy presence that which will comfort the hearts of the sincere among Thy servants. Glorified art Thou, O God, Thou art the Creator of the heavens and the earth and that which lieth between them. Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Most Holy, the Almighty, the All-Wise. Magnified be Thy Name, O God, send down upon them who have believed in God and in His signs a mighty succour from Thy presence such as to enable them to prevail over the generality of mankind. 

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

January 1845: The Báb arrives in Medina from Mecca

The last act of the Báb in Mecca was to address a Tablet to the Sharif (Sherif) of Mecca, in which He proclaimed His advent and His Divine mandate. Quddus delivered it together with a volume of the Writings of the Báb. But the Sharif was preoccupied and ignored the communication put in his hands. On the road to the city of the Prophet (Medina) the Báb composed a Tablet known as Sahifiy-i-Baynu’l-Haramayb (The Epistle Between the Two Shrines). It was in answer to the questions posed by Muhammad-Husayn-i-Kirmani, known as Muhit, who had pretensions to leadership of the Shaykhi sect after the death of Siyyid Kazim. From Medina the Báb proceeded to Jiddah, where He took a boat bound for the port of Bushihr. He arrives in Bushihr in about late April early May of 1845. 

(Adapted from ‘The Bab, Herald of the Day of Days’, by Balyuzi and ‘A  Basic Baha’i Chronology’, by Glenn Cameron)