bereavement! In these past few months, from the day of the passing of that
fairest fruit of the Undying Tree, of the setting of that wondrous Star in
the heavens of endless glory, and of that bright Ray from the well spring
of pre-existent light, ['Abdu'l-Baha], the Ancient Beauty, the Most Great
Name--may the spirits of the Concourse on High be sacrificed for Him--has
witnessed what has come upon me, whom she had surrounded at all times with
her loving-kindness, her unceasing favours, and what a wound this loss has
inflicted on my suffering heart. This parting from her has left my whole
being in turmoil, burning with the fire of my love and longing for her.
When, in the morning and the evening, I call her beloved face to mind, and
let her smiles, that nourished the spirit, pass again before my eyes, and
I think over all her bounty to me, all her unnumbered kindnesses, and
remember that astonishing meekness she showed in her sufferings--then the
flames of yearning love are kindled yet again, and sighs come out of my
heart, and tears flow from my eyes, so that all control is lost and I sink
into a sea of anguish without end.
Bearing witness to this, at this very moment, is her own pure and radiant
soul, her bright and sacred spirit, that soars in the atmosphere of the
invisible realm, and gazes, from beyond the throne of the Most High, upon
me and upon those others on earth who are enamoured of her well-beloved
name.
O thou Scion of Baha! I weep over thee in the night season, as do the
bereaved; and at break of day I cry out unto thee with the tongue of my
heart, my limbs and members, and again and again I repeat thy well-loved
name, and I groan over the loss of thee, over thy meekness and ordeals,
and how thou didst love me, over the sufferings thou didst bear, and the
terrible calamities, and the wretchedness and the griefs, and the
abasement, and the rejection--and all this only and solely for the sake of
thy Lord and because of thy burning love for those, out of all of
creation, who shared in thine ardour.
Whensoever, in sleep, I call to mind and see thy smiling face, whensoever,
by day or night, I circumambulate thine honoured tomb, then in the
innermost depths of my being are rekindled the fires of yearning, and the
cord of my patience is severed, and again the tears come and all the world
grows dark before my eyes. And whensoever I remember what blows were
rained upon thee at the close of thy days, the discomforts, trials and
illnesses--and I picture thy surroundings now, in the Sanctuary on High, in
the midmost heart of Heaven, beside the pavilions of grandeur and might;
and I behold thy present glory, thy deliverance, the delights, the
bounties, the bestowals, the majesty and dominion and power, the joy,
thine exultation, and thy triumph--then the burden of my grieving is
lightened, the cloud of sorrow is dispelled, the heat of my torment
abates. Then is my tongue loosed to praise and thank thee, and thy Lord,
Him Who did fashion thee and did prefer thee to all other handmaidens, and
did give thee to drink from His sweet-scented lips, Who withdrew the veil
of concealment from thy true being and made thee to be a true example for
all thy kin to follow, and caused thee to be the fragrance of His garment
for all of creation.
And at such times I strengthen my resolve to follow in thy footsteps, and
to continue onward in the pathway of thy love; to take thee as my model,
and to acquire the qualities, and to make manifest that which thou didst
desire for the triumph of this exalted and exacting, this most
resplendent, sacred, and wondrous Cause.
Then intercede thou for me before the throne of the Almighty, O thou who,
within the Company on High, dost intercede for all of humankind. Deliver
me from the throes of my mourning, and confer upon me and those who love
thee in this nether world what will remove our afflictions, and bring
assurance to our hearts, and quiet the winds of our sorrows, and console
our eyes, and fulfil our hopes both in this world and the world to come--O
thou whom God hast singled out from amongst all the countenances of the
Abha Paradise, and hast honoured in both His earth and His Kingdom on
high, and of whom He has made mention in the Crimson Book, in words which
wafted the scent of musk and scattered its fragrance over all the dwellers
on earth!
O thou Greatest Holy Leaf! If I cry at every moment out of a hundred
mouths, and from each of these mouths I speak with a hundred thousand
tongues, yet I could never describe nor celebrate thy heavenly qualities,
which are known to none save only the Lord God; nor could I befittingly
tell of even the transient foam from out the ocean of thine endless favour
and grace.
Except for a very few, whose habitation is in the highest retreats of
holiness, and who circle, in the furthermost Sanctuary, by day and by
night about the throne of God, and are fed at the hand of the Abha Beauty
on purest milk--except for these, no soul of this nether world has known or
recognized thine immaculate, thy most sacred essence, nor has any
befittingly perceived that ambergris fragrance of thy noble qualities,
which richly anoints thy brow, and which issues from the divine wellspring
of mystic musk; nor has any caught its sweetness.
To this bear witness the Company on High, and beyond them God Himself, the
Supreme Lord of all the heavens and the earths: that during all thy days,
from thine earliest years until the close of thy life, thou didst
personify the attributes of thy Father, the Matchless, the Mighty. Thou
wert the fruit of His Tree, thou wert the lamp of His love, thou wert the
symbol of His serenity, and of His meekness, the pathway of His guidance,
the channel of His blessings, the sweet scent of His robe, the refuge of
His loved ones and His handmaidens, the mantle of His generosity and
grace.
O thou Remnant of the divine light, O thou fruit of the Cause of our
All-Compelling Lord! From the hour when thy days did set, on the horizon
of this Snow-White, this unique and Sacred Spot, our days have turned to
night, our joys to great consternation; our eyes have grown blind with
sorrow at thy passing, for it has brought back that supreme affliction yet
again, that direst convulsion, the departing of thy compassionate Brother,
our Merciful Master. And there is no refuge for us anywhere except for the
breathings of thy spirit, the spotless, the excellently bright; no shelter
for us anywhere, but through thine intercession, that God may inspire us
with His own patience, and ordain for us in the other life the reward of
meeting thee again, of attaining thy presence, of gazing on thy
countenance, and partaking of thy light.
O thou Maid of Baha! The best and choicest of praises, and the most
excellent and most glorious of salutations, rest upon thee, O thou solace
of mine eyes, and beloved of my soul! Thy grace to me was plenteous, it
can never be concealed; thy love for me was great, it can never be
forgotten. Blessed, a thousand times blessed, is he who loves thee, and
partakes of thy splendours, and sings the praises of thy qualities, and
extols thy worth, and follows in thy footsteps; who testifies to the
wrongs thou didst suffer, and visits thy resting-place, and circles around
thine exalted tomb, by day and by night. Woe unto him, retribution be his,
who disputes thy rank and station, and denies thine excellence, and turns
himself aside from thy clear, thy luminous and straight path.
O ye distracted lovers of that winsome countenance! It is meet and fitting
that in the gatherings of the loved ones of God and the handmaids of the
Merciful in all the countries and lands of the East, these shining words
and clear tokens from the Supreme Pen and His Interpreter's wonder-working
hand--verses which were revealed for that priceless treasure of the
Kingdom--should be repeatedly recited, most movingly with devotion and
lowliness, and great attention and care, so as to perpetuate her blessed
memory, and extol her station, and out of love also for her incomparable
beauty.
May the honoured members of the Central Assembly of Iran circulate these
Writings, immediately and with great care, to the countries of the East,
through their Local Spiritual Assemblies; for this task is a great bounty
especially set apart for the trustees of His devoted loved ones in that
noble homeland. May God reward them with excellent rewards, in both this
world of His, and in His Kingdom.
25: Moved by an unalterable devotion to the ...
(57) Moved by an unalterable devotion to the memory of the Greatest Holy
Leaf, I feel prompted to share with you, and through you with the
concourse of her steadfast lovers throughout the West, these significant
passages(58) which I have gleaned from various Tablets revealed in her
honour by Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha.
Impregnated with that love after which the soul of a humanity in travail
now hungers, these passages disclose, to the extent that our finite minds
can comprehend, the nature of that mystic bond which, on one hand, united
her with the Spirit of her almighty Father and, on the other, linked her
so closely with her glorious Brother, the perfect Exemplar of that Spirit.
The memory of her who was a pattern of goodness, of a pure and holy life,
who was the embodiment of such heavenly virtues as only the privileged
inmates of the uppermost chambers in the Abha Paradise can fully
appreciate, will long live enshrined in these immortal words--a memory the
ennobling influence of which will remain an inspiration and a solace amid
the wreckage of a sadly shaken world.
Conscious of the predominating share assumed, in recent years, by the
American believers in alleviating the burden which that most exalted Leaf
bore so heroically in the evening of her life, I can do no better than
entrust into their hands these prized testimonies of the Founder of our
Faith and of the Centre of His Covenant. I feel confident that their
elected representatives will take whatever measures are required for their
prompt and wide circulation among their brethren throughout the West. They
will, thereby, be contributing still further to the repayment of the great
debt they owe her in the prosecution of a mighty and divinely-appointed
task.
26: It was through the arrival of these pilgrims, ...
(59) It was through the arrival of these pilgrims,(60) and these alone,
that the gloom which had enveloped the disconsolate members of
'Abdu'l-Baha's family was finally dispelled. Through the agency of these
successive visitors the Greatest Holy Leaf, who alone with her Brother
among the members of her Father's household had to confront the rebellion
of almost the entire company of her relatives and associates, found that
consolation which so powerfully sustained her till the very close of her
life.
27: With 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension, and more ...
(61) With 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension, and more particularly with the passing
of His well-beloved and illustrious sister the Most Exalted Leaf--the last
survivor of a glorious and heroic age--there draws to a close the first and
most moving chapter of Baha'i history, marking the conclusion of the
Primitive, the Apostolic Age of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.
28: The Fund associated with the beloved name ...
(62) The Fund associated with the beloved name of the Greatest Holy Leaf
has been launched. The uninterrupted continuation to its very end of so
laudable an enterprise is now assured. The poignant memories of one whose
heart so greatly rejoiced at the rearing of the superstructure of this
sacred House [the House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois] will so energize
the final exertions required to complete it as to dissipate any doubt that
may yet linger in any mind as to the capacity of its builders to worthily
consummate their task.
29: BLESSED REMAINS PUREST BRANCH AND ...
(63) BLESSED REMAINS PUREST BRANCH AND MASTER'S MOTHER SAFELY TRANSFERRED
HALLOWED PRECINCTS SHRINES MOUNT CARMEL. LONG INFLICTED HUMILIATION WIPED
AWAY. MACHINATIONS COVENANT-BREAKERS FRUSTRATE PLAN DEFEATED. CHERISHED
WISH GREATEST HOLY LEAF FULFILLED. SISTER BROTHER MOTHER WIFE 'ABDU'L-BAHA
REUNITED ONE SPOT DESIGNED CONSTITUTE FOCAL CENTRE BAHA'I ADMINISTRATIVE
INSTITUTIONS AT FAITH'S WORLD CENTRE. SHARE JOYFUL NEWS ENTIRE BODY
AMERICAN BELIEVERS.
30: O loved ones of God, These two precious ...
(64) O loved ones of God, These two precious and most exalted
treasures,(65) these two keepsakes of the sacred Beauty of Abha, have now
been joined to the third trust from Him, that is, to the daughter of Baha
and His remnant, the token of the Master's Remembrance.
Their resting-places are in one area, on an elevation close by the Spot
round which do circle the Concourse on High, and facing the Qiblih of the
people of Baha--Akka, the resplendent city, and the sanctified, the
luminous, the Most Holy Shrine.
Within the shadow of these honoured tombs has also been laid the remains
of the consort(66) of Him round Whom all names revolve.
For joy, the Hill of God is stirred at so high an honour, and for this
most great bestowal the mountain of the Lord is in rapture and ecstasy.
31: His nine-year-old son, later surnamed the ...
(67) His(68) nine-year-old son, later surnamed the 'Most Great Branch',
destined to become the Centre of His Covenant and authorized Interpreter
of His teachings, together with His seven-year-old sister, known in later
years by the same title(69) as that of her illustrious mother, and whose
services until the ripe old age of four score years and six, no less than
her exalted parentage, entitle her to the distinction of ranking as the
outstanding heroine of the Baha'i Dispensation, were ... included among
the exiles who were now bidding their last farewell to their native
country.
32: ...as a further testimony to the majestic ...
(70) ...as a further testimony to the majestic unfoldment and progressive
consolidation of the stupendous undertaking launched by Baha'u'llah on
that holy mountain, may be mentioned the selection of a portion of the
school property situated in the precincts of the Shrine of the Bab as a
permanent resting-place for the Greatest Holy Leaf, the 'well-beloved'
sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the 'Leaf that hath sprung' from the 'Pre-existent
Root', the 'fragrance' of Baha'u'llah's 'shining robe', elevated by Him to
a 'station such as none other woman hath surpassed', and comparable in
rank to those immortal heroines such as Sarah, Asiyih, the Virgin Mary,
Fatimih and Tahirih, each of whom has outshone every member of her sex in
previous Dispensations.
33: The raising of this Edifice will in turn ...
(71) The raising of this Edifice(72) will in turn herald the construction,
in the course of successive epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, of
several other structures...
These Edifices will, in the shape of a far-flung arc, and following a
harmonizing style of architecture, surround the resting-places of the
Greatest Holy Leaf, ranking as foremost among the members of her sex in
the Baha'i Dispensation, of her Brother, offered up as a ransom by
Baha'u'llah for the quickening of the world and its unification, and of
their Mother, proclaimed by Him to be His chosen 'consort in all the
worlds of God'.
IV: PASSAGES FROM LETTERS WRITTEN ON BEHALF OF SHOGHI EFFENDI
1: Your touching words in connection with the ...
(73) Your touching words in connection with the sudden removal of the
Greatest Holy Leaf from their(74) midst have greatly alleviated the burden
of sorrow that weighs so heavily upon their hearts and have demonstrated
that in their great and irreparable loss the friends are faithfully
sharing their sorrow and grief.
The passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, so tragic in its suddenness, has,
indeed, divested the Holy Family of its unique adornment and the Baha'i
world at large of one of its noblest and most precious members. She was to
us all not only a true friend but the real embodiment of those traits and
characteristics, of that genuine and profound love that was born of God,
and that we had learned to admire in the Master...
In this great loss that the followers of the Faith both in East and West
have come to suffer our Guardian's share is the greatest and perhaps the
most cruel. His sole comfort, in this great calamity, is to see the
friends unitedly working for the spread of a Cause for which our departed
_Kh_anum had given up all her life, and for the triumph of which she
cherished the highest hopes. The expressions of zealous enthusiasm and
hope, of genuine self-abnegation and love that the American believers and
especially our precious sister Mrs Agnes Parsons demonstrated in their
last Convention meeting have greatly brightened the closing days of her
life.(75) Shoghi Effendi trusts that her memory will increasingly serve to
cheer and hearten the friends in their ever-widening activities.
2: The passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, so ...
(76) The passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf, so cruel in the feelings of
unalterable grief that it has evoked, is, indeed, a tremendous loss to us
all and particularly to our Guardian. Her presence among us was such a
source of inspiration and joy that we cannot too deeply grieve the
immensity of our loss. She was a real mother to every one of us, a
comforter in our pains and anxieties, and a friend in our moments of utter
loneliness and despair. But alas! We failed to appreciate adequately what
her presence among us meant and it is only now, when she has gone for
ever, that we come to realize the irreparable character of our loss.
And yet, however deep our consciousness of her unexpected removal from our
midst may be, we cannot but feel certain that from her heavenly retreat
she is continually showering her blessings upon everyone of us and is
interceding on our behalf so that we may recover our energies and
unanimously arise and dedicate our lives to the service of her Father's
glorious Cause.
Her memory will, assuredly, continue to inspire us for many, many long
years and will prove, when the hour of adversity is at its darkest, to be
our best sustainer.
May her glorious spirit inspire us with faith and hope, steel our energies
and enable us to make every sacrifice in the path lighted by her saintly
and eventful life.
3: The ascension of the Greatest Holy Leaf is, ...
(77) The ascension of the Greatest Holy Leaf is, indeed, an irreparable
loss to us all and will continue to be deeply felt for many, many long
years. Her presence among us was such a source of blessings and
inspiration! She was to every one of us not only a friend but a real
mother, through whose maternal care and love we had learned to feel and
experience that consuming love which is born of God and which alone can
galvanize the souls of men.
Her departure from our midst, though cruel and heart-rending in its
immediate results cannot but ultimately serve the very best interests of
the Cause. For this invincible Faith of God has, ever since its inception
in darkest Persia, grown and flourished amidst all sorts of tribulations
and sufferings and has welcomed all these as providential forces destined
to ensure its unity, promote its interests and consolidate its work.
Let us, therefore, not remain disconsolate and hopeless and withstand in a
heroic way the shock occasioned by the passing of our beloved _Kh_anum.
Her ascension is a challenge to us all, a challenge to our faith, to our
sincerity and to our love.
May her memory continue to strengthen and deepen our spiritual insight and
enable us to render the Faith as many services as we can.
4: His grief is too immense and his loss too ...
(78) His grief is too immense and his loss too heavy to be adequately
expressed in words. But the many letters of condolence he has already
received, and especially your message that indicated your profound
attachment to our departed _Kh_anum, greatly comforted his sorrow-stricken
heart and gave him the assurance that in this calamitous event the friends
are amply sharing his grief.
However irreparable and heart-rending our loss may be, we cannot but thank
God for having released our beloved Holy Leaf from the oppression and
bondage of this world. For more than eighty years this Exalted Leaf bore
with a fortitude that bewildered every one who had the privilege of
knowing her, sufferings and tribulations that few of our present-day
believers did experience. And yet, what a joy and what a saintlike
attitude she manifested all through her life. Her angelic face was so
calm, so serene in the very midst of sufferings and pains. Not that she
lacked tenderness of heart and sympathy. But she could overcome her
feelings and this because she had put all her trust in God.
And now that she has gone for ever we should rejoice at the thought that
she is still living in our hearts and is animating our soul with a
devotion, a courage, and a hope of which we are in such a dire need in
these days of sufferings and hardships.
May the memory of her saintly life inspire you with faith and hope, cheer
and strengthen your heart and make of you a servant worthy to promote and
consolidate the interests of the Faith!
5: The irreparable loss which the Faith has ...
(79)
The irreparable loss which the Faith has suffered through the passing of
the Greatest Holy Leaf is too immense to be adequately expressed in words,
and we cannot fully realize its significance at the present stage of the
evolution of the Cause. Future generations stand in a better position to
appreciate what her significance was during the early days of the
Revelation and especially after the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha.
And now that she has gone for ever and is in direct communion with God we
should rejoice at the thought that from the Realm Above she is watching
over us all and is sending us her blessings.
May the memory of her saintly life be our comforter in our hours of
sadness and despair, and may we learn through her example how to live the
true life of the spirit, of self-abnegation and of service.
6: In these days, when we are all mourning the ...
(80) In these days, when we are all mourning the loss of our beloved
Greatest Holy Leaf, Shoghi Effendi's sole comfort is to see the friends as
ever devoted and active and striving day and night to promote the
teachings of the Cause.
However cruel our separation from Bahiyyih _Kh_anum may be, especially at
a time when her presence among us was such a source of inspiration and
strength, yet we feel confident that from her Heavenly Retreat she is
sending us her blessings and is quickening our weary souls.
Concerning the suspension of festivities for a period of nine months it
should be made clear that what is meant by this is that all gatherings,
whether outdoor or indoor, which are not of a strictly devotional
character should be abolished all through the period of our mourning.
However, meetings and services that are wholly spiritual as well as those
that are necessary for the carrying on of the administration should
continue to be held as usual.
7: Your message of condolence and sympathy, ...
(81) Your message of condolence and sympathy, dated July 22nd, 1932 which
so fully conveyed your profound grief at the loss occasioned by the
unexpected passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf was received and read with
great interest. The Guardian's sorrow was much relieved and the burden of
his agonizing pain immensely alleviated. He sincerely hopes that out of
the pangs of this crushing calamity the Faith will strengthen its
foundations and extend the sphere of its ever-widening influence.
Our loss is, indeed, immense and even irreparable. But our joy should also
be great, for the Greatest Holy Leaf has at least been released from the
bondage of this world after more than eighty years of continued suffering.
It would take me too long to relate in their fullness those incidents
which eloquently proclaim her as one of the greatest sufferers the world
has yet seen. And yet, with what a fortitude she bore all these
tribulations for she was confident in the grace of God.