Bahiyyih Khanum - 'Abdu'l-Baha's sister: The Greatest Holy Leaf

The "real purpose" of Summer Schools

Shoghi Effendi feels that the real purpose of these Summer Schools is to deepen the knowledge of the friends. Lectures are very essential for they give a wonderful picture of the subject-matter. But it is not sufficient to have a picture; the friends should deepen their knowledge and this can be achieved if together with the lectures there are study classes and seminar work carried on by the same lecturer.

The world is undoubtedly facing a great crisis and the social, economic and political conditions are becoming daily more complex. Should the friends desire to take the lead in reforming the world, they should start by educating themselves and understand what the troubles and problems really are which baffle the mind of man. It is in these Summer Schools that this training should be provided for the friends. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 27 January 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, published in ‘Bahá'í News’ 63, June 1932; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 1, Centers of Baha’i Learning)

1912: Abdu'l-Baha with His entourage and Arthur P. Dodge walking along Riverside Drive, New York

Attributes of the Spiritual World

… the spiritual world … is the Kingdom of complete attraction and affinity. It is the Kingdom of the One Divine Spirit, the Kingdom of God. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, 12 April, 1912, New York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

A small wool money purse which belonged to the Báb

The Báb’s parents

In His early childhood He lost His father, Siyyid Muhammad-Riḍá, a man who was known throughout the province of Fárs for his piety and virtue, and was held in high esteem and honour. Both His father and His mother were descendants of the Prophet, both were loved and respected by the people.

- Nabil  (‘The Dawn-Breakers’; translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi)

The Great Being saith: The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two luminaries of consultation and compassion. Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Consultation)

Some believers in America in 1910

1. Dr. Augur; 2. Mrs. Augur's maid; 3. Mrs. Coombs; 4. Miss Fletcher of NY City; 5. Mr. Remey; 6. Mrs. Sutherland; 7. Mrs. Rowland; 8. Mr. Struven; 9. Mrs. Augur; 10. Agnes Alexander; 11. Miss Johnson; 12. Virginia Rowland

Qualities to strive for while arising to serve ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Unity amongst the friends, selflessness in our labors in His [‘Abdu’l-Baha’s] Path, detachment from all worldly things, the greatest prudence and caution in every step we take, earnest endeavor to carry out only what is His Holy Will and Pleasure, the constant awareness of His Presence and of the example of His Life, the absolute shunning of whomsoever we feel to be an enemy of the Cause ... these, and foremost among them is the need for unity, appear to me as our most vital duties, should we dedicate our lives for His service. Should we in this spirit arise to serve Him, what surer and greater promise have we than the one His Glorious Father, Bahá'u'lláh, gives us in His Most Holy Book: -- "Verily, We behold you from Our Realm of Effulgent Glory, and shall graciously aid whosoever ariseth for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Celestial Concourse and a company of Our chosen angels." 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Excerpt from a message dated January 21st, 1922 in ‘Baha'i Administration’)

Birth of Baha’u’llah - November 12, 1817

There was born a Child in an ancient and noble family of Núr, whose father was Mirzá Abbás, better known as Mirzá Buzurg, a favoured minister of the Crown. That Child was Bahá'u'lláh. At the hour of dawn, on the second day of Muharram, in the year 1233 A.H. [12 November 1817 A.D.] the world, unaware of its significance, witnessed the birth of Him who was destined to confer upon it such incalculable blessings. 

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

Jamal Effendi - The spiritual father of India and Burma -- the first Baha'i teacher sent to India and Burma by Baha'u'llah in 1875

The man whom Providence had destined to become the spiritual father of the subcontinent of India and of Burma was a nobleman of the same province of Iran which had been the home of the ancestors of Bahá'u'lláh. His name was Sulayman Khan and he was a native of Tunukabun. But when he set out in the world to serve the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, he left behind the garb of a nobleman and attired in the garment of a humble man of the cloister travelled far and wide. 'Abdu'l-Bahá says that he 'was given the title of Jamali'd-Din'. He became known as Jamal Effendi.

Sulayman Khan was the son of 'Isa Khan-i-Tunukabuni. 'Isa Khan was a man of substance and influence in his area of Mazindaran. But his son decided to try his luck in Tihran. It was in the capital city of Iran, the city in which Bahá'u'lláh was born, that Sulayman Khan had his tryst with fate. There he met his destiny, which was not to rise to high position in the temporal realm, but to scale spiritual heights. He gave his allegiance to Bahá'u'lláh, donned the garb of a dervish and took to the road. Forsaking his wealth, his earthly attachments, his position and station in life, and possessing an Ottoman passport, he roamed for a long time over the Ottoman domains, making his way to the Holy Land. 

(H.M. Balyuzi, 'Eminent Baha'is in the Time of Baha'u'llah')

“Here for a time he rested, under the protection of the Ancient Beauty; here he gained the honor of entering the presence of Bahá'u'lláh, and listened to momentous teachings from His holy lips. When he had breathed the scented air, when his eyes were illumined and his ears attuned to the words of the Lord, he was permitted to make a journey to India, and bidden to teach the true seekers after truth. Resting his heart on God, in love with the sweet savors of God, onfire with the love of God, he left for India. There he wandered, and whenever he came to a city he raised the call of the Great Kingdom and delivered the good news that the Speaker of the Mount had come. He became one of God's farmers, scattering the holy seed of the Teachings. The sowing was fruitful. Through him a considerable number found their way into the Ark of Salvation... To this day, in India, the results of his auspicious presence are clear to see, and those whom he taught are now, in their turn, guiding others to the Faith.” 

('Abdu'l-Baha, 'Memorials of the Faithful')

To investigate “the reality of gospels”

If a Christian sets aside traditionary forms and blind imitation of ceremonials and investigates the reality of the gospels, he will discover that the foundation principles of the teachings of His Holiness Christ were mercy, love, fellowship, benevolence, altruism, the resplendence or radiance of divine bestowals, acquisition of the breaths of the Holy Spirit and oneness with God. 

- 'Abdu'l-Baha  (‘Foundations of World Unity’)

1844: The “culmination of a universal prophetic cycle”

The weight of the potentialities with which this Faith, possessing no peer or equal in the world’s spiritual history, and marking the culmination of a universal prophetic cycle, has been endowed, staggers our imagination.

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

Bahá’u’lláh’s awesome station – the Báb explains

This is an epistle from the letter Thá [1] unto Him Who will be made manifest through the power of Truth—He Who is the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved—to affirm that all created things as well as myself bear witness for all time that there is none other God but Thee, the Omnipotent, the Self-Subsisting; that Thou art God, there is no God besides Thee and that all men shall be raised up to life through Thee.

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

[1] This is the first letter of Thamarih which means “fruit.” Shoghi Effendi, in his writings, refers to the Báb as the Thamarih (fruit) of the Tree of God’s successive Revelations. (See Shoghi Effendi’s letter to the Bahá’ís of the East dated Naw-Rúz 110, page 5.)

Hand of the Cause: Aqa Muhammad-i-Qa'ini, surnamed Nabíl-i-Akbar (1829-1892) - by 'Abdu'l-Baha

There was, in the city of Najaf, among the disciples of the widely known mujtahid, Shaykh Murtadá, a man without likeness or peer. His name was Áqá Muhammad-i-Qá’iní, and later on he would receive, from the Manifestation, the title of Nabíl-i-Akbar. [not Nabíl-i-Zarandí the author of 'The Dawn-Breakers'] This eminent soul became the leading member of the mujtahid’s company of disciples. Singled out from among them all, he alone was given the rank of mujtahid — for the late Shaykh Murtadá was never wont to confer this degree.

He excelled not only in theology but in other branches of knowledge, such as the humanities, the philosophy of the Illuminati, the teachings of the mystics and of the Shaykhí School. He was a universal man, in himself alone a convincing proof. When his eyes were opened to the light of Divine guidance, and he breathed in the fragrances of Heaven, he became a flame of God. Then his heart leapt within him, and in an ecstasy of joy and love, he roared out like leviathan in the deep.

With praises showered upon him, he received his new rank from the mujtahid. He then left Najaf and came to Baghdád, and here he was honored with meeting Bahá’u’lláh. Here he beheld the light that blazed on Sinai in the Holy Tree. Soon he was in such a state that he could rest neither day nor night.

Purpose of Man’s Creation

The purpose of the creation of man is the attainment of the supreme virtues of humanity through descent of the heavenly bestowals. The purpose of man's creation is, therefore, unity and harmony, not discord and separateness. If the atoms which compose the kingdom of the minerals were without affinity for each other, the earth would never have been formed, the universe could not have been created. Because they have affinity for each other, the power of life is able to manifest itself, and the organisms of the phenomenal world become possible. When this attraction or atomic affinity is destroyed, the power of life ceases to manifest; death and nonexistence result. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk on 12 April, 1912, New York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

A passage to memorize: - The effect of "pure and goodly deeds"

The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’; included in Ruhi Book 1) 

Book: - Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah

• 
  "He is indeed pleased to know that the Book of Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh has been out in time to enable the friends to read it during the Fast, and he has every hope that the perusal of such a precious volume will help to deepen more than any other publication, the spirit of devotion and faith in the friends, and thus charge them with all the spiritual power they require for the accomplishment of their tremendous duties towards the Cause..." (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, ‘Directives from the Guardian’)
• A “diamond-mine of communion with God, unsurpassed in any religious literature of the world…” (Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum, ‘The Priceless Pearl’)
• "It contains nearly two hundred selections – prayers which reveal the infinite bounty of God’s purpose for man – spiritual understanding, steadfastness, unity, immortality, capacity for human service, awareness for the providential nature of this age when all things are made new." (Hand of the Cause Horace Holley)
• “… a companion volume [to Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah], comparable in richness and complementary in material, namely, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh. Again we find the Guardian's former professor, Bayard Dodge, writing to him with a shrewd appraisal of what such a work involves: "The translation of deep and poetic thoughts, such as those in the Prayers and Meditations , requires an enormous amount of hard work...I have told you before how much I marvel when I see the quality of English that you use." "When he had received the Gleanings Professor Dodge had written to the Guardian: "You have mastered English in such a remarkable way that I am sure the sayings do not lose their meaning and charm because of translation." And when Shoghi Effendi's translation of The Hidden Words reached him he had written, again with singular insight into what such a work signifies "I realize how exceedingly difficult it is to translate beautiful Oriental thoughts into English and I congratulate you for the quality of the language which you have used." (Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum, ‘The Priceless Pearl’)

The Great Being saith: The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two luminaries of consultation and compassion. Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Consultation)

An illuminated Seal of Baha'u'llah