Days of Há (Ayyám-i-Há)

My God, my Fire and my Light! The days which Thou hast named the Ayyam-i-Ha (the Days of Ha, Intercalary days) in Thy Book have begun, O Thou Who art the King of names, and the fast which Thy most exalted Pen hath enjoined unto all who are in the kingdom of Thy creation to observe is approaching. I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by these days and by all such as have during that period clung to the cord of Thy commandments, and laid hold on the handle of Thy precepts, to grant that unto every soul may be assigned a place within the precincts of Thy court, and a seat at the revelation of the splendors of the light of Thy countenance. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah’)

Testing our Baha’i knowledge: - Which disciple of the Báb accompanied Him on His pilgrimage to Mecca in 1844?

Answer

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’)

1918: First Photograph of the Master after World War I

This photograph was taken by Lieut. H. E. Eckersley in the Garden of Bahji in the latter part of the month of October, 1918. It is the first photograph of the Master after the war.

October 1911: Howard Colby Ives' first encounter with the Baha'i Faith

It was in October of 1911 when there came to me those first stirrings of influences which were to change the course of my life. I picked up a copy of Everybody's Magazine from a casual bookstall and found therein a rather complete article concerning 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His projected visit to America. I shall never forget the thrill this somewhat commonplace story gave me-commonplace, I mean, in comparison with the reality of that story as future months were to unfold it to me. Again I heard the inner voice which since very early youth has come to me again and again: "Come along up." I read and re-read the story. Here was a Man who had indeed found a Truth for which He was not only willing to die but had died, a living death covering almost sixty years of torture, banishment and imprisonment, and who had seen many thousands of His followers willingly and joyfully face a martyr's death. And above all-O happy marvel!-here was a man who placed money where it belonged, beneath His feet. He never took up a collection! I read and re-read that glorious and tragic story and filed it in my voluminous twenty-five volume scrap-book. There may have been a vague purpose in my mind of making that story the background of a sermon some day. To such human uses do we often put the skyey glimpses God vouchsafes us. Which is well; or would be if those celestial visions found utterance in our lives as well as through our lips.

- Howard Colby Ives  (Portals to Freedom)

Suffering of Mary - Mother of Christ

…reflect upon the state and condition of Mary. So deep was the perplexity of that most beauteous countenance, so grievous her case, that she bitterly regretted she had ever been born. To this beareth witness the text of the sacred verse wherein it is mentioned that after Mary had given birth to Jesus, she bemoaned her plight and cried out: “O would that I had died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!” I swear by God! Such lamenting consumeth the heart and shaketh the being. Such consternation of soul, such despondency, could have been caused by no other than the censure of the enemy and the cavilings of the infidel and perverse. Reflect, what answer could Mary have given to the people around her? How could she claim that a Babe Whose father was unknown had been conceived of the Holy Ghost? Therefore did Mary, that veiled and immortal Countenance, take up her Child and return unto her home. No sooner had the eyes of the people fallen upon her than they raised their voice saying: “O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy mother.”  

- Baha’u’llah  ('The Book of Certitude')

Huqúqu'lláh is the "source of blessings", the "mainspring of God's loving-kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men"

As to the Huqúqu'lláh: This is the source of blessings, and the mainspring of God's loving-kindness and tender love vouchsafed unto men. Verily He can dispense with whatsoever hath been and will be. Until two years ago the matter of Huquq was undisclosed. When it was revealed it was by virtue of His grace. If a person be privileged to fulfil that which is prescribed in the Most Holy Book, it would assuredly be better for him, and to his greater behoof. However the observation of this injunction dependeth upon one's circumstances. Verily He speaketh the truth and guideth aright. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Huququ’llah)

A quote to memorize: One's vision

O Man of Two Visions! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.  

- Baha'u'llah  (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)

Use of the Guardian’s writings during devotional portion of 19-Day Feasts

Concerning the matter of the devotions at Nineteen Day Feasts. We see no contradiction in the three statements of the beloved Guardian. In essence they all describe exactly the same procedure, namely, that the Feast is opened with devotional readings, that is to say prayers and meditations, from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb and the Master. Following this passages may be read from other Tablets, from the Holy Scriptures of previous Dispensations, and from the writings of the Guardian. It is clear, however, that the beloved Guardian would not wish his own words to be read as part of an arranged devotional programme in which they would be interspersed among words of Holy Scripture. In other words, at the Nineteen Day Feast, where words of the Guardian are to be read they should follow any selections from the Scriptures and not be mixed with them. This does not mean, however, that subsequently in the Feast, any of these types of writings may not be read as suitable during the consultation. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From letter of the Universal House of Justice to the Hands of the Cause of God, August 25, 1965: cited in a letter from the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, October 15, 1972; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Human body is like a horse which carries the personality and spirit

... you should not neglect your health, but consider it the means which enables you to serve. It - the body - is like a horse which carries the personality and spirit, and as such should be well cared for so it can do its work! You should certainly safeguard your nerves, and force yourself to take time, and not only for prayer and meditation, but for real rest and relaxation. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated November 23, 1947 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; printed in compilation: ‘Spiritual Foundations’)

A divine principle: “Love Me, that I may love thee”

O Son of Being! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Hidden Words')

The substance from which the Manifestation of God is made

The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover.…

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

Bahá’u’lláh is a descendant of Abraham, Zoroaster, Jesse, and King Yazdigird

He derived His descent, on the one hand, from Abraham (the Father of the Faithful) through his wife Katurah, and on the other from Zoroaster, as well as from Yazdigird, the last king of the Sasaniyan dynasty. He was moreover a descendant of Jesse, and belonged, through His father, Mirza Abbas, better known as Mirza Buzurg -- a nobleman closely associated with the ministerial circles of the Court of Fath-'Ali Shah -- to one of the most ancient and renowned families of Mazindaran.

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

1910: ‘Abdu’l-Baha advises holding National Convention at Ridvan

O ye friends and the maid-servants of the Merciful!

If it is your intention to have the general Convention in Chicago on the day of Naw-Ruz, so that delegates might be sent there from everywhere to deliberate and discuss matters pertaining to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, to proclaim the oneness of the kingdom of humanity, to explain the Divine Teachings and to elucidate and expound the Exhortations of the Blessed Perfection, -- it is better to open this Convention during the Feast of Ridvan; for the Feast of Ridvan is greater and more important and the temperature at that time mild and balmy. Therefore, proclaim ye to all parts that all the delegates and friends gather in Chicago during that blessed day.

Upon ye be Baha'u'l-Abha!

(signed) Abdul-Baha Abbas.

(Star of the West, Vol. 1, no. 3, April 28, 1910)

Never have I seen anyone work as hard as Shoghi Effendi

Colorized Photo of Shoghi_Effendi

Never have I seen anyone work as hard as Shoghi Effendi, and it must be very trying to him with his universal creative energy, his world horizon, his soaring ideals, to say nothing of the unfathomable depths of knowledge and wisdom which flow like undulated waves through his sacred entity at all times, it must be a cruel restraint that he has not a greater vehicle or channel through which to pour all this power throughout the world...

- May Maxwell  (From a letter to Katherine Baldwin, Honolulu. February 1939)

Not to allow “thorns of hate or… thistles of malice” to enter one’s heart

Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.

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

“the opening decade of the first Bahá'í century”

…memory of the glorious Báb, the immortal Quddus, the lion-hearted Mulla Husayn, the erudite Vahid, the audacious Hujjat, the illustrious seven martyrs of Tihran and a host of unnumbered heroes whose lifeblood flowed so copiously in the course of the opening decade of the first Bahá'í century… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated March 16, 1949; ‘Citadel of Faith’)

House of Baha'u'llah’s father in Tihran

“be so ablaze… with the fire of the love of God”

O Friends! You must all be so ablaze in this day with the fire of the love of God that the heat thereof may be manifest in all your veins, your limbs and members of your body, and the peoples of the world may be ignited by this heat and turn to the horizon of the Beloved. 

- Bahá’u’lláh  (The Compilation of Compilations, vol.2, The Individual and Teaching: Raising the Divine Call)

The spread of the Cause is similar to the growth of early Christianity – ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains

In the afternoon ‘Abdu’l-Baha met some of the friends who had called at the San Francisco house, but it was not until evening that He met the entire assembly at the Baha'i headquarters in the Lick Building. After expressing His happiness at finding Himself in such a well-organized assembly in the distant West, He compared the spread of the Cause to the growth of early Christianity and spoke of the small number of Baha'is at the time of the exile from Persia. There were thirty stages on the way from Tihran to Baghdad, He said, and in those thirty stages they did not find one Baha'i, and yet now in each one of them there are great numbers of Baha'i friends. Despite the fact that the governments of Persia and Turkey united in tyranny and oppression to extinguish the lamp of God, yet its radiance extended throughout the world, even as far as San Francisco, half way around the world from Its birthplace. He exhorted the believers, few though they might be, to strive day and night to give forth the summons of God, inviting the souls to the Kingdom; otherwise God would create those who would hoist the standard and conquer the cities of the hearts. These meetings were for the Baha'is and were quite informal.

- Ella Cooper  (Unpublished manuscript, October 4, 1912)

Agnes Alexander - First Baha’i to set foot on Hawaiian soil; first Baha’i to settle in Japan, and first Baha’i to teach the Faith in Korea

Baha'i Saints, Heroes, Martyrs and Administrators - by Hartmut Grossman

Notes of a talk given by Universal House of Justice Member Hartmut Grossman to the first group of Baha’i Pilgrims to enter the Cell of Baha’u’llah after a break of eight years. This talk was given on the evening of October 30th, 2003.

The Universal House of Justice views the re-opening of the Cell of Baha’u’llah as being a very significant event, so much so that prior to the pilgrims’ visit, all of the members went to the Cell as a Body to say special prayers.

We should remember the suffering that occurred at this prison - the prison designated by Him as the Most Great Prison, which is deeply significant considering the conditions under which He suffered in the ‘Black-Pit’, the Siyah-Chal, in Tehran. He had just arrived when he was forced to sell His carpet, the carpet He used to sleep on, to pay for the funeral expenses of one of the members of His entourage. Even after paying the expenses, the body was still treated very disrespectfully, but He had to make the attempt. It was while confined to this Cell that He sacrificed His son. Many, many other afflictions were faced by Him there.

Many events of note also took place in this Cell, one of which was His giving the Tablet to the Shah of Persia to Badi for its delivery. Baha’u’llah had written the Tablet prior to His arrival in Acco, but there was not a believer at that time who exhibited the necessary levels of devotion and sacrifice. So to give the Tablet to Badi, He bound the eyes of the guards so that Badi could be smuggled into His presence and safely back out again. The second Tablet to Napoleon and the Tablet to Queen Victoria were also written from this Cell.

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Heart of the Planet

The World Center of the Faith located in Israel “… geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet…”. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Messages to America; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I)

God’s Teachings are the highest means for order and security of all peoples

They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

The Dawn-Breakers: - One of the three books every “Bahá'í should master…and be able to explain their contents to others”

...Shoghi Effendi hopes that you will exert all your effort to deepen your knowledge of the literature of the movement, until you become fully acquainted with its spirit and tenets. Unless you do obtain such a firm hold you will never be able to teach others and render real service to the promulgation of the Faith. Of special importance is the Book of the Íqán which explains the attitude of the Cause towards the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society. Besides this there is Some Answered Questions of the Master and the 'Dawn-Breakers' of Nabil. Every Bahá'í should master these books and be able to explain their contents to others. Besides their importance, they are interesting and most absorbing.

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 9, 1932; compilations: ‘Lights of Guidance’)