Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which
human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of
city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully
established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is
striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in
state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to
maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of
human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can
best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life.
"A new life," Baha'u'llah proclaims, "is, in this age, stirring within all
the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause, or
perceived its motive." "O ye children of men," He thus addresses His
generation, "the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His
Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human
race... This is the straight path, the fixed and immovable foundation.
Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the
world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless
centuries undermine its structure." "The well-being of mankind," He
declares, "its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its
unity is firmly established." "So powerful is the light of unity," is His
further testimony, "that it can illuminate the whole earth. The one true
God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these
words... This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration is the
monarch of all aspirations." "He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful," He,
moreover, has written, "cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding
the entire human race as one soul and one body. Haste ye to win your share
of God's good grace and mercy in this Day that eclipseth all other created
days."
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Baha'u'llah, implies the
establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds
and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy
of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the
individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded.
This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world
legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind,
ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and
will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy
the needs and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world
executive, backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions
arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and
will safeguard the organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world
tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and final verdict in
all and any disputes that may arise between the various elements
constituting this universal system. A mechanism of world
inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed
from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous
swiftness and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve
center of a world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying
forces of life will converge and from which its energizing influences will
radiate. A world language will either be invented or chosen from among the
existing languages and will be taught in the schools of all the federated
nations as an auxiliary to their mother tongue. A world script, a world
literature, a uniform and universal system of currency, of weights and
measures, will simplify and facilitate intercourse and understanding among
the nations and races of mankind. In such a world society, science and
religion, the two most potent forces in human life, will be reconciled,
will coeoperate, and will harmoniously develop. The press will, under such
a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the diversified
views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously manipulated by
vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated from
the influence of contending governments and peoples. The economic
resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials
will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coeordinated and
developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably
regulated.
National rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease, and racial
animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding
and coeoperation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently
removed, economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished,
and the inordinate distinction between classes will be obliterated.
Destitution on the one hand, and gross accumulation of ownership on the
other, will disappear. The enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war,
whether economic or political, will be consecrated to such ends as will
extend the range of human inventions and technical development, to the
increase of the productivity of mankind, to the extermination of disease,
to the extension of scientific research, to the raising of the standard of
physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of the human brain, to
the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of the planet, to
the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any other agency
that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life of the
entire human race.
A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising
unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending
and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the
curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the
available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in
which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its
universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common
Revelation--such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the
unifying forces of life, is moving.
"One of the great events," affirms 'Abdu'l-Baha, "which is to occur in the
Day of the manifestation of that incomparable Branch is the hoisting of
the Standard of God among all nations. By this is meant that all nations
and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine
Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a
single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races
and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men
will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith, will be blended
into one race and become a single people. All will dwell in one common
fatherland, which is the planet itself." "Now, in the world of being," He
has moreover explained, "the Hand of Divine power hath firmly laid the
foundations of this all-highest bounty, and this wondrous gift. Whatsoever
is latent in the innermost of this holy Cycle shall gradually appear and
be made manifest, for now is but the beginning of its growth, and the
dayspring of the revelation of its signs. Ere the close of this century
and of this age, it shall be made clear and evident how wondrous was that
spring-tide, and how heavenly was that gift."
No less enthralling is the vision of Isaiah, the greatest of the Hebrew
Prophets, predicting, as far back as twenty five hundred years ago, the
destiny which mankind must, at its stage of maturity, achieve: "And He
(the Lord) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more ...And there shall come forth a rod out of the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots... And he shall
smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips
shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf
and the young lion and the fatling together... And the sucking child shall
play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on
the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea."
The writer of the Apocalypse, prefiguring the millenial glory which a
redeemed, a jubilant humanity must witness, has similarly testified: "And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.'"
Who can doubt that such a consummation--the coming of age of the human
race--must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a world civilization
such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human mind conceived? Who is it
that can imagine the lofty standard which such a civilization, as it
unfolds itself, is destined to attain? Who can measure the heights to
which human intelligence, liberated from its shackles, will soar? Who can
visualize the realms which the human spirit, vitalized by the outpouring
light of Baha'u'llah, shining in the plenitude of its glory, will
discover?
What more fitting conclusion to this theme than these words of
Baha'u'llah, written in anticipation of the golden age of His Faith--the
age in which the face of the earth, from pole to pole, will mirror the
ineffable splendors of the Abha Paradise? "This is the Day whereon naught
can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face
of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused
every soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing
sovereignty. We have then called into being a new creation, as a token of
Our grace unto men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
This is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out: 'Great is thy
blessedness, O earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy God,
and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne!' The realm of glory
exclaimeth: 'Would that my life could be sacrificed for thee, for He Who
is the Beloved of the All-Merciful hath established His sovereignty upon
thee, through the power of His name that hath been promised unto all
things, whether of the past or of the future.'"
Shoghi.
Haifa, Palestine,
March 11, 1936.