You are very welcome, very welcome, all of you! In the divine Holy Books
there are unmistakable prophecies giving the glad tidings of a certain Day
in which the Promised One of all the Books would appear, a radiant
dispensation be established, the banner of the Most Great Peace and
conciliation be hoisted and the oneness of the world of humanity
proclaimed. Among the various nations and peoples of the world no enmity
or hatred should remain. All hearts were to be connected one with another.
These things are recorded in the Torah, or Old Testament, in the Gospel,
the Qur'an, the Zend-Avesta, the books of Buddha and the book of
Confucius. In brief, all the Holy Books contain these glad tidings. They
announce that after the world is surrounded by darkness, radiance shall
appear. For just as the night, when it becomes excessively dark, precedes
the dawn of a new day, so likewise when the darkness of religious apathy
and heedlessness overtakes the world, when human souls become negligent of
God, when materialistic ideas overshadow spirituality, when nations become
submerged in the world of matter and forget God--at such a time as this
shall the divine Sun shine forth and the radiant morn appear.
Consider to what a remarkable extent the spirituality of people has been
overcome by materialism so that spiritual susceptibility seems to have
vanished, divine civilization become decadent, and guidance and knowledge
of God no longer remain. All are submerged in the sea of materialism.
Although some attend churches and temples of worship and devotion, it is
in accordance with the traditions and imitations of their fathers and not
for the investigation of reality. For it is evident they have not found
reality and are not engaged in its adoration. They are holding to certain
imitations which have descended to them from their fathers and ancestors.
They have become accustomed to passing a certain length of time in temple
worship and conforming to imitations and ceremonies. The proof of this is
that the son of every Jewish father becomes a Jew and not a Christian; the
son of every Muslim becomes a follower of Islam; the son of every
Christian proves to be a Christian; the son of every Zoroastrian is a
Zoroastrian, etc. Therefore, religious faith and belief is merely a
remnant of blind imitations which have descended through fathers and
ancestors. Because this man's father was a Jew, he considers himself a
Jew. Not that he has investigated reality and proved satisfactorily to
himself that Judaism is right--nay, rather, he is aware that his
forefathers have followed this course; therefore, he has held to it
himself.
The purpose of this is to explain that the darkness of imitations
encompasses the world. Every nation is holding to its traditional
religious forms. The light of reality is obscured. Were these various
nations to investigate reality, there is no doubt they would attain to it.
As reality is one, all nations would then become as one nation. So long as
they adhere to various imitations and are deprived of reality, strife and
warfare will continue and rancor and sedition prevail. If they investigate
reality, neither enmity nor rancor will remain, and they will attain to
the utmost concord among themselves.
During the years when the darkness of heedlessness was most intense in the
Orient and the people were so submerged in imitations that nations were
thirsting for the blood of each other, considering each other as
contaminated and refusing to associate--at such a time as this Baha'u'llah
appeared. He arose in the Orient, uprooting the very foundations of
imitations, and brought the dawn of the light of reality. Through Him
various nations became united because all desired reality. Inasmuch as
they investigated reality in religion, they found that all men are the
servants of God, the posterity of Adam, children of one household and that
the foundations of all the Prophets are one. For inasmuch as the teachings
of the Prophets are reality, Their foundations are one. The enmity and
strife of nations, therefore, are due to religious imitations and not to
the reality which underlies the teachings of the Prophets. Through
Baha'u'llah the nations and peoples grew to understand and comprehend
this. Therefore, hearts became united, and lives were cemented together.
After centuries of hatred and bitterness the Christian, Jew, Zoroastrian,
Muslim and Buddhist met in fellowship, all of them in the utmost love and
unity. They became welded and cemented because they had perceived reality.
The divine Prophets are conjoined in the perfect state of love. Each One
has given the glad tidings of His successor's coming and each successor
has sanctioned the One Who preceded Him. They were in the utmost unity,
but Their followers are in strife. For instance, Moses gave the message of
the glad tidings of Christ, and Christ confirmed the Prophethood of Moses.
Therefore, between Moses and Jesus there is no variation or conflict. They
are in perfect unity, but between the Jew and the Christian there is
conflict. Now, therefore, if the Christian and Jewish peoples investigate
the reality underlying their Prophets' teachings, they will become kind in
their attitude toward each other and associate in the utmost love, for
reality is one and not dual or multiple. If this investigation of reality
becomes universal, the divergent nations will ratify all the divine
Prophets and confirm all the Holy Books. No strife or rancor will then
remain, and the world will become united. Then will we associate in the
reality of love. We will become as fathers and sons, as brothers and
sisters living together in complete unity, love and happiness; for this
century is the century of light. It is not like former centuries. Former
centuries were epochs of oppression. Now human intellects have developed,
and human intelligence has increased. Each soul is investigating reality.
This is not a time when we shall wage war and be hostile toward each
other. We are living at a time when we should enjoy real friendship.
Fifty years ago Baha'u'llah sent Epistles to all the kings and nations of
the world, at a time when there was no mention of international peace. One
of these Epistles was sent by Him to the president of the American
democracy. In these communications He summoned all to international peace
and the oneness of the human world. He summoned mankind to the
fundamentals of the teachings of all the Prophets. Some of the European
kings were arrogant. Among them was Napoleon III. Baha'u'llah wrote a
second Epistle to him, which was published thirty years ago. The context
is this: "O Napoleon! Thou hast become haughty indeed. Thou hast become
proud. Thou hast forgotten God. Thou dost imagine that this majesty is
permanent for thee, that this dominion is abiding for thee. A letter have
we sent unto thee for acceptance with thy greatest love; but, instead,
thou hast shown arrogance. Therefore, God shall uproot the edifice of thy
sovereignty; thy country shall flee away from thee. Thou shalt find
humiliation hastening after thee because thou didst not arise for that
which was enjoined upon thee, whereas that which was a duty incumbent upon
thee was the cause of life to the world. The punishment of God shall soon
be dealt out to thee."
This Epistle was revealed in the year 1869, and after one year the
foundations of the Napoleonic sovereignty were completely uprooted.
Among these Epistles was a very lengthy one to the _Sh_ah of Persia. It
was printed and spread broadcast throughout all the countries. This
Epistle was revealed in the year 1870. In it Baha'u'llah admonished the
_Sh_ah of Persia to be kind to all his subjects, summoning him to dispense
justice, counseling him to make no distinction between the religions,
charging him to deal equally with Jew, Christian, Muslim and Zoroastrian
and to remove the oppression prevailing in his country.
At that time the Jews were greatly oppressed in Persia. Baha'u'llah
especially recommended justice for them, saying that all people are the
servants of God, and in the eye of the government they should be equally
estimated. "If justice is not dealt out, if these oppressions are not
removed and if thou dost not obey God, the foundations of thy government
will be razed, and thou shalt become evanescent, become as nothing. Thou
shouldst gather all the learned men, and then summon Me. There I shall be
present. I will then advance proofs and evidences as to My validity. I
will manifest My proof and anything that you may ask. I am ready. But if
no attention is paid to this book, thou, like unto the kings who became
nonexistent, shalt likewise become nonexistent." The _Sh_ah did not answer
this Epistle of the Blessed Perfection. Then God destroyed the foundations
of his sovereignty.
Among those to whom Baha'u'llah wrote was the Sultan of Turkey. In it He
arraigned him, saying, "Verily, thou didst incarcerate and make Me a
prisoner. Dost thou imagine that imprisonment is a loss to Me, that
imprisonment is a humiliation for Me? This imprisonment is a glory for Me
because it is in the pathway of God. I have not committed a crime. It is
for the sake of God that I have received this ordeal. Therefore, I am very
happy; I am exceedingly joyous. But thou must wait; God will send thee a
punishment; thou shalt receive retribution. Erelong thou shalt observe how
ordeals shall descend upon thee like rain, and thou shalt become
nonexistent." And even so it was.
Likewise, He sent messages to the other kings and crowned heads of the
earth, summoning all of them to love, equity, international peace and the
oneness of humanity in order that mankind might become unified and agreed;
that strife, warfare and sedition should pass away; that bitterness and
enmity might cease and all arise to serve the one God.
In brief, two kings arose against Baha'u'llah: the _Sh_ah of Persia and
the Sultan of Turkey. They imprisoned Him in the fortress of Akka in order
to extinguish His light and exterminate His Cause. But Baha'u'llah while
in prison wrote severe letters of arraignment to them. He declared that
imprisonment was no obstacle to Him. He said, "This imprisonment will
prove to be the means of the promotion of My Cause. This imprisonment
shall be the incentive for the spreading of My teachings. No harm shall
come to Me because I have sacrificed My life, I have sacrificed My blood,
I have sacrificed My possessions, I have sacrificed all and for Me this
imprisonment is no loss." And just as He declared, so it came to pass. In
prison He hoisted His banner, and His Cause spread throughout the world.
It has reached America. Now the Cause of Baha'u'llah is extending to all
nations of the earth. You go to Asia, and wherever you travel you will
find Baha'is. You go to Africa, Europe; there you will find the Cause of
Baha'u'llah. In America it is just beginning to grow and spread.
These two kings could not do anything to withstand Baha'u'llah, but God
through Him was capable of destroying both of them. I, too, was in prison.
God removed the chains from my neck and placed them around the neck of
'Abdu'l-Hamid. It was done suddenly--not a long time, in a moment as it
were. The same hour that the Young Turks declared liberty, the Committee
of Union and Progress set me free. They lifted the chains from my neck and
threw them around the neck of 'Abdu'l-Hamid. That which he did to me was
inflicted upon him. Now the position is precisely reversed. His days are
spent in prison just as I passed the days in prison at Akka, with this
difference: that I was happy in imprisonment. I was in the utmost elation
because I was not a criminal. They had imprisoned me in the path of God.
Every time I thought of this, that I was a prisoner in the pathway of God,
the utmost elation overcame me. 'Abdu'l-Hamid is now suffering punishment
for his deeds. Because of the sins he committed, he is now in prison. This
is retribution for his acts. Every hour he is mortified anew and his
ignominy revived. He is in the utmost sorrow and disappointment while I am
in perfect happiness. I was happy that--praise be to God!--I was a prisoner
in the Cause of God, that my life was not wasted, that it was spent in the
divine service. Nobody who saw me imagined that I was in prison. They
beheld me in the utmost joy, complete thankfulness and health, paying no
attention to the prison.
6 July 1912
Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York