of ordeals; it was an anguish of mourning. The parting with mankind's
Beloved set fire to the hearts of all His lovers, and the souls of the
believers dissolved in its burning. Even the beauteous dwellers in the
Abha Paradise cried out and wept, and in their empyrean abode the Maids of
Heaven moaned and lamented. The gems of holiness fell a prey to crushing
grief, the essences of sanctity bowed down in sorrow.
That One whom the world has wronged could rest neither day nor night. From
moment to moment, at the hands of every betrayer, yet another cruel arrow
was shot into His heart, and ever and again, from one or another
assailant, He was calumny's target. In the dark of the night, out of the
depths of His bosom, could be heard His burning sighs, and when the day
broke, the wondrous music of His prayers would rise up to the denizens of
the realm on high.
That Prisoner, grievously wronged, would hide His pain, and keep His
wounds from view. In the depths of calamity He would smile, and even when
enduring the direst of afflictions He would comfort the hearts. Although
He was hemmed about with disasters, and living at the whirlwind's core of
grief, He would still proclaim the Cause of God, and protect the Holy
Faith, and He brought God's Word to the ears of those in East and West. He
trained and nurtured friends of such a kind that whensoever their names
were on His lips or spoken in His presence, His blessed face would glow
and His whole being would radiate with joy. Many and many a time He would
express His trust and confidence. In the gatherings held toward the close
of His days, He would repeatedly tell of the apostles of Jesus. Among
other things He would say that when the Spirit(161) left this nether world
and hastened away to the glorious Kingdom, He had but twelve disciples,
and even of these, one was cast off; and that this small number, because
they sacrificed all they had for Jesus, and immersed themselves in the
radiance of that sweet and comely Being, and lost themselves in Christ,
they lit the world. 'Now when I depart,' He would say, 'I have loyal loved
ones that number 50,000 or more, and each one of these is a mighty
fortress to guard the edifice of God, each one, for the Ark of the Faith,
is strong as armour-plate. They are rooted firm as the high mountains,
they are bright and rising stars, they are jewels, they are pearls.'
Today, God be thanked, these qualities are radiating from the faces of the
righteous, and shining upon their brows.
That blessed Being perfected His bounties for the people of Baha, and His
grace and favour were extended to those of all degrees. In the best of
ways, he manifested at the end what had been shown forth at the beginning,
crowning all His gifts with His Will and Testament, in which He clearly
made known the obligations devolving upon every stratum of the believers,
in language most consummate, comprehensive and sound, setting down with
His own pen the name of Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Cause and
interpreter of the Holy Writ. The first of His bounties was the light He
shed, the last of His gifts was that He unravelled the secrets by lifting
the veil.
God be praised, all the beloved of God's Beauty are immersed in an ocean
of bounty and grace, all are receiving abundant bestowals from the lights
that radiate from that Countenance of glory.
39: The good news that the Word of God is ...
(162) The good news that the Word of God is being raised up, and His Cause
glorified, and that His friends, on fire with love for Him, are arising to
spread His sweet savours abroad--is coming in steadily from every quarter
of the globe.
All are firmly rooted in the Faith, steadfast, turning with complete
devotion to him who is the appointed and designated Centre, the Guardian
of the Cause of God, the Chosen Branch, His Eminence Shoghi Effendi; are
founding Assemblies, conducting meetings, teaching most eloquently and
with all their energies, presenting proofs, disseminating the doctrines of
the Divine Beauty and the counsels of 'Abdu'l-Baha. It is certain that ere
long the light of these Teachings will illumine the earth and gladden the
hearts of the people of Baha.
40: All the virtues of humankind are summed ...
(163) All the virtues of humankind are summed up in the one word
'steadfastness', if we but act according to its laws. It draws to us as by
a magnet the blessings and bestowals of Heaven, if we but rise up
according to the obligations it implies.
God be praised, the house of the heart is lit by the light of unswerving
constancy, and the soul's lodging is bedecked with the ornament of
faithfulness.
Steadfastness is a treasure that makes a man so rich as to have no need of
the world or any person or any thing that is therein. Constancy is a
special joy, that leads us mortals on to lofty heights, great progress,
and the winning of the perfections of Heaven. All praise be to the
Beloved's holy court, for granting this most wondrous grace to His
faithful people, and to His favoured ones, this best of gifts.
41: It is clear how that most dire of calamities, ...
(164) It is clear how that most dire of calamities, that most great
disaster which was the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha, may our souls be
sacrificed for His meekness, has set our hearts on fire and dissolved our
very limbs and members in grief. Darkness settled on our souls, of blood
were our tears. Even the essences of sanctity cried out in fear, and the
gems of holiness moaned and lamented, while our own inner selves fell to
ashes, and there was no peace left in the soul, no patience in the heart.
No more does the ardent nightingale carol its joyous songs, and the sweet
and holy melodies of the immortal dove are hushed. That gleaming Moon is
hidden now behind the clouds of everlasting life, that Orb of the high
heavens sank down at the setting point of glory and rose into the skies of
the world that we see not, and above the realm of the placeless He is
casting forth His rays.
With His departure, these afflicted ones were plunged into a sea of pain,
and beaten and blown about in a whirlwind of anguish more violent than the
spoken or the written word can tell. Our days wear away in tears, our
nights in sighing, and it is this storm of grief and regret and yearning
that has kept us from writing before now, even to send you our love.
It is certain that the people of Baha, who are the dwellers of the Crimson
Ark and breast the seas of the Lord, and who have attained to the bounties
of the Abha realm, and who are steadfast in the Covenant--they, men and
women alike, young and old alike, share with these homeless ones the
anguish of our bereavement and this direst of ordeals. We could hear, with
the ear of the spirit, the wailing of those lovers of Him Who was the
Ravisher of hearts, those like us scorched by the fires of separation, and
from our own sad hearts we would lift our cries of sorrow to the heavens,
and weeping would send up our entreaties in such words as these, to the
threshold of the luminous Beauty of God:
O kind Lord! O Comforter of anguished hearts!
Send down Thy mercy upon us, and Thy grace, bestow upon us patience, give
us the strength to endure. With Thy generous hand, lay Thou a balm upon
our sores, grant us a medicine for this never-healing woe. Console Thou
Thy loved ones, comfort Thy friends and handmaids, heal Thou our wounded
breasts, and with Thy bounty's remedy, restore our festering hearts.
With the gentle breeze of Thy compassion, make fresh and green again these
boughs, withered by autumn blasts; restore Thou to flourishing life these
flowers, shrivelled by the blight of bereavement.
With tidings of the Abha Paradise, wed Thou our souls to joy, and rejoice
Thou our spirits with heartening voices from the dwellers in the realm of
glory.
Thou art the Bounteous, Thou art the Clement; Thou art the Bestower, the
Loving.
From the first dawning of the new light, that noble land shone with the
rays of the Great Announcement, and was lit by the sunbeams of the Ancient
Beauty. Like heavy rains, the bounties beat upon that sacred place, and
out of clouds of mercy, grace showered down upon that region of
resplendence, bringing freshness and new greenery, and the trees of being
then turned verdant, and there burst forth blossoms of the spirit, and
wind-flowers of true knowledge blew, and mystic myrtles grew and
flourished. And from out of that land came musk-laden gales, scenting with
their perfume the other lands as well, and scattering far and wide the
musk-deer sweetness of heavenly mysteries.
So it was that _Kh_urasan became the grove of the lions of God, and a
nesting-place for the birds of the Ridvan Paradise. The Ancient Beauty
singled out that blessed land for special favour, extending to it
uncounted blessings and gifts. Now in wondrous and most sweet voice, again
with the tracings of His exalted pen, and on the head of each one of the
beloved in that bright region, He set a crown of imperishable glory, and
He robed each one with His bestowals and grace, and wrapped each one in a
mantle of spiritual perfections. Of them all He spoke the highest praise,
and to all He gave abundant blessings, as is proved by the text of His
scrolls and Tablets. And whenever that sacred King of all the world would
speak of _Kh_urasan, His being would stir for joy, and His luminous face
would grow still brighter with exceeding gladness. His bounties never
ceased, and from clouds of grace His favours continually showered down
upon that land.
Then came the era of the Covenant, and that full cup was passed from hand
to hand, and the Sun of the Covenant rose up, shedding abroad on the
horizon of unity the rays of servitude and thraldom, and lighting up the
hearts of humankind. New life was breathed into the body of the world, and
into the human soul came a fresh measure of delight. The hearts of the
people of Baha rejoiced to hear the glad-tidings from the Abha Kingdom,
and the minds of those who had sought shelter under the Tree of holiness
were illumined with beams of fidelity and faith. Once again, the loved
ones in that region were inebriated with the wine of the Primal Covenant,
and in their firmness and steadfastness and loyalty they led the field.
They showed forth such constancy as to astonish the mind, and they
manifested such power and endurance as to raze the piled-up doubts of the
doubters to the ground. Of the poisoned winds of violation there was no
trace left in all that land. The hopes of the disaffected were blighted,
and the centre of violation clearly witnessed the defeat of all his aims
and plans.
It is certain that those who have caught the fragrance blowing from the
Abha Paradise, those who have heard the nightingale singing from the
immortal gardens and taken delight therein, those who have trembled for
joy, and whose souls have been renewed when the breezes of holiness out of
the bowers of the All-Merciful were wafted over them--will find the raven's
croaking and cawing a wearisome thing, and can only turn from it and flee
away.
For thirty long years, from the hour of Baha'u'llah's ascension until His
own immaculate spirit passed into the light of the all-highest realm,
'Abdu'l-Baha rested neither night nor day. Single and alone, a prisoner, a
victim of tyranny, He rose up to reform the world--to refine and train and
educate the human race. He watered the tree of the Faith, He sheltered it
from the whirlwind and the lightning bolt, He protected God's holy Cause,
He guarded the divine law, He defeated its adversaries, He frustrated the
hopes of those who wished it ill.
All His life long, that quintessence of eternal glory, that subtle and
mysterious Being, was subjected to trials and ordeals. He was the target
of every calumny, of every false accusation, from enemies both without and
within. To be a victim of oppression was His lot in this world's life, and
all He knew of it was toil and pain. In the dark of the night, He would
sigh out His grief, and as He chanted His prayers at the hour of dawn,
that wondrous voice of His would rise up to the inmates of Heaven.
Under such conditions, He trained and with His own hand fostered a number
of souls who would stand as a mighty fortress protecting the Cause, and as
armour-plate for the Ark of the Covenant. With awesome power, these would
scatter the forces of illusion, and with heavy blows, strike down the
false rumours of the people of doubt. God be praised, that labour bore
fruit, and the meaning of those toilsome efforts became plain. Those
blessed souls rose up in all their loyalty, and with their steadfastness
and long-suffering they served as shining examples for the children of
salvation.
His bounties, His favours to the people of Baha were made perfect, and
extended to every class and kind. And as at the beginning, so at the end:
His final bestowal of all, a crowning adornment, was His Will and
Testament. Here, to Baha'is of every degree, in the clearest, most
complete, most unmistakable of utterances, He described the obligation of
each one, explicitly appointed, irrefutably and in writing, the Centre of
the Faith, designating the Guardian of the Cause and the interpreter of
the Holy Book, His Eminence Shoghi Effendi, appointing him, the Chosen
Branch, as the one toward whom all must turn. Thus He closed for all time
the doors of contention and strife, and in the best of ways and in a most
perfect method He pointed out the path that leads aright.
Thus by its very roots He pulled out the tree of mischief and dissension.
He razed the structure of violation to the ground. He left no margin for
error, no room for doubts. And thus He crowned the first of all His
loving-kindnesses with this last of them. Let us praise and thank God for
this supreme gift, this great bounty.
Following that disaster of His passing, that dire ordeal, Shoghi Effendi,
the Guardian of the Cause, was overwhelmed by such never-ending grief and
by his now heavy burden and supreme responsibility, that his sensitive
heart could bear it no more. And so, after making the necessary
arrangements, he sent out a letter expressing his wish to be alone for a
time, in a quiet and secluded place, away from the noise and turmoil of
everyday life--there to pray and supplicate and urgently beg for help from
the realm of the All-Glorious.
With this in mind, he has gone on a journey, leaving us to loneliness and
grief. Our hope is that very soon, the good results of this journey will
become apparent, and that the friends will rejoice to see the important
benefits that it will yield; that he will soon come home, and that once
again correspondence with him can be resumed, and the doors of access will
be opened wide.
42: All praise to the omnipotent Lord, that in ...
(165) All praise to the omnipotent Lord, that in this auspicious day He
Who is the Sun of bounty has shone out so fair and bright as to light up
the world of the hearts. He has burned away the veils of waywardness and
ignorance. He has struck off the fetters of baseless myths and ignoble
concepts that chained the people hand and foot. He has cleansed and
burnished the mirrors of men's souls, sullied by the dust and rust of this
dark world. He has opened wide the door to that Celestial Tavern of
matchless wine, and He is freely pouring out the immortal draught of
knowledge and perception and love. He has hoisted the banner of oneness,
and destroyed the foundations of estrangement. Under the sway of His
unity, the many-coloured races and diverse religions have tasted the
rose-red wine of His love, and are aliens no more. Those pure in spirit
who have set eyes upon Him, and approached the place He dwells in,
reflecting Him have shone out like mirrors, and cleaving to Him alone,
they have detached their hearts from all else but Him. They have heard,
with their inner ears, His words, and they have noted His ways, and
forgotten all else. They are ever soaring upward, out of the lower world
to the world above, and they are fit to be told the mysteries, and they
understand them.
Such a day, then, is a day for praise and thanks, a time of benedictions
and blessings, a time to wash away the stains of earth's defilement.
Let us turn our hearts to the world aloft, and cup our hands and
supplicate our matchless Loved One, and urgently entreat Him, saying:
O Thou Kind Bestower, O Nourisher of our souls and hearts!
We have no aim, except to walk Thy path; we have no wish, except to bring
Thee joy. Our souls are united, and our hearts are welded, each to each.
In offering Thee our thanks and praise, in following Thy ways and soaring
in Thy skies, we are all one.
We are helpless, stand Thou by us, and give us strength.
Thou art the Protector, the Provider, the Kind.
43: Indeed, you have adorned yourself with the ...
(166) Indeed, you have adorned yourself with the qualifications of
faithfulness and are striving to fulfil the requirements of servitude to
the Abha Threshold. You have been inebriated with the wine of the love of
God, have quaffed your fill at the banquet of loyalty to His Faith and
have caused the seekers of truth, those that are sore athirst for the
life-giving waters of His grace, to drink from the heavenly stream of true
understanding. This was indeed most fitting and appropriate. For in this
grievous calamity, this distressing bereavement, the best consolation and
solace that the spiritual souls could offer is to dedicate themselves to
the service of the Cause, to diffuse widely the sweet savours of holiness,
to become wanderers in the path of that heavenly Best-Beloved, to let
their whole beings burn and melt, and be enkindled with the fire of His
love. Such indeed is the effective remedy, the most potent cure for this
irreparable agony, for this aching of the heart and soul. There is no
other remedy.
Praise be to God that the effusions of celestial aid from the Abha Kingdom
are unceasing and the outpourings of heavenly grace from the Concourse on
High uninterrupted. You should not think that your memory may ever, even
for a moment, be removed from the minds of these oppressed ones, or that
your remembrance may fade from the hearts of these exiled servants. The
Abha Beauty bears me witness and 'Abdu'l-Baha is my testimony that no word
can possibly express how indissoluble are the ties of spiritual communion
and fellowship that bind us to the loved ones of God and to the handmaids
of the Merciful.
44: The deep heart's love and the longing of the ...
(167) The deep heart's love and the longing of the soul of this wronged
one for those spiritual beloved ones, and in particular for those who are
kin to the peerless Holy Tree of sanctity and oneness, cannot be told in
words, and my most ardent wish is that I might correspond with each one of
you, but our alarm and grief over this momentous happening, this terrible
affliction and ill-omened agony, this inexorable divine decree, the
passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha--may our souls be offered up for all the wrongs He
bore!--has left us wretched, desolate, to such a degree that there is no
peace in the spirit, no will to endure in the heart.
This is an earthquake which shook the foundations of our lives, this is a
wailing and an uproar within the Company on High. The lightning bolt of
this departure has set the very world aflame, and the fires of this
leave-taking have scorched the whole earth.
The grieving dwellers in the courts of holiness have rent their garments
of long-suffering, and the household of the Most High have put on mourning
dress. Truly the people of Baha and those who are kin to the divine
Lote-Tree are sharing with us the pangs of this bereavement, this direst
of torments, and are partners in anguish of those who suffer here.
Now that this dread event has come upon us all, it is to be hoped that new
stirrings and wondrous new vibrations will be felt; that a renewed
staunchness and fidelity, an ever more vigorous firmness and loyalty, will
take over and astound the world. Thus all will clearly understand that
even though that sacred and mysterious Being has laid aside the garment of
His mortal life, even though that Bird of eternity has abandoned the cage
of this earth, still is His spirit in our midst, still is He watching over
us all from the realm of the All-Glorious, ever is He gladdening the
hearts of the beloved, and to the souls of those who are fast-rooted in
the Covenant, ever is He bringing tidings of great joy.
45: The good news has come that the Will and ...
(168) The good news has come that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
may our lives be sacrificed for His meekness, has been read at the
meetings of the friends, and we here are rejoiced to learn of their unity
and their steadfastness and loyalty, and of their directing themselves
toward the designated Centre, the named and specified Guardian of the
Cause of God, the interpreter of the Book of God, the protector of His
Faith, the keeper of His Law, Shoghi Effendi. This news brought extreme
joy.
It is certain that enlightened and sensitive minds and spiritual hearts
will continually obtain illumination from the Centre of Mysteries, and beg
for bounties in abundance from Him Who is the Celestial Beauty
Unconstrained. The ear of their intellect is hearkening to the divine call
from the Company on High, and they drink the draught of faithfulness from
bounty's cup. To them, all that is not the Beloved is nothing at all, and
from whatever is not the good-pleasure of God, they veil their eyes. They
worship truth, they seek reality, and they are intoxicated with the wine
of His love.
God be praised, you have attained these bestowals. Now is the time for
zeal and ardour, the season of fervour and joy. Thoughts must be focused
on one Centre, opinions united on a single point, to publish abroad the
Teachings of God and to act in accord with the counsels of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
so that the light of divine confirmations may wax ever brighter, and the
bounties of divine favour and success appear on every side, and that in a
brief period, great progress will be made, and secrets now hidden will be
divulged, and joy and radiance will appear.
It is to be hoped that out of the concealed and manifest favour of the
Abha Beauty, He will generate a new spirit in His loyal loved ones, and
make them to radiate a new and wondrous joy. This indeed does not seem far
from the outpourings of His bounties and bestowals.
46: In this noblest of all ages the Sun of grace ...
(169) In this noblest of all ages the Sun of grace and loving-kindness has
shone out from the divine day-spring with such resplendent glory and is
casting His beams so bright and far, that He has lit up all the earth and
made the hearts and minds of men to be as sanctified mirrors and
reflectors of holiness--this to such a degree that from turning their faces
unto that bright Orb, that Star of the loftiest heaven, those illumined
beings have received abundant grace and have been enabled to understand
the secret of God's oneness, and the mystery of His unity, and to become
alert to subtle realities.
Praised be God the Beloved that He has disclosed, through His invisible
bounties and visible grace, such secrets, and drawn such veils aside.
Words have taken on new meaning, and meaning itself has been adorned with
the divine. A clear Covenant makes our duty plain; an explicit and lucid
Text explains the revealed Book; a specifically named Centre has been
designated, toward whom all must turn, and the pronouncement of him who is
the Guardian of the Cause and the interpreter of the Book has been made
the decisive decree. All this is out of the grace and favour of our
Beloved, the All-Glorious, and the loving-kindness of Him from the
splendours of Whose servitude earth and heaven were illumined.
'Abdu'l-Baha, may our lives be sacrificed for His meekness, has filled to
overflowing the cup of bounty for the people of Baha, and encompassed with
His grace persons of every degree. He has destroyed the very basis of
disunity, ruined any attempts at dissension and mischief, and clearly
pointed out to all the highway of guidance, now and for evermore.