For, just as in the realm of the spirit, the reality of the Bab has been
hailed by the Author of the Baha'i Revelation as "The Point round Whom the
realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," so, on this visible
plane, His sacred remains constitute the heart and center of what may be
regarded as nine concentric circles, paralleling thereby, and adding
further emphasis to the central position accorded by the Founder of our
Faith to One "from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all
that was and shall be," "the Primal Point from which have been generated
all created things."
The outermost circle in this vast system, the visible counterpart of the
pivotal position conferred on the Herald of our Faith, is none other than
the entire planet. Within the heart of this planet lies the "Most Holy
Land," acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Baha as "the Nest of the Prophets" and which
must be regarded as the center of the world and the Qiblih of the nations.
Within this Most Holy Land rises the Mountain of God of immemorial
sanctity, the Vineyard of the Lord, the Retreat of Elijah, Whose return
the Bab Himself symbolizes. Reposing on the breast of this holy mountain
are the extensive properties permanently dedicated to, and constituting
the sacred precincts of, the Bab's holy Sepulcher. In the midst of these
properties, recognized as the international endowments of the Faith, is
situated the most holy court, an enclosure comprising gardens and terraces
which at once embellish, and lend a peculiar charm to, these sacred
precincts. Embosomed in these lovely and verdant surroundings stands in
all its exquisite beauty the mausoleum of the Bab, the shell designed to
preserve and adorn the original structure raised by 'Abdu'l-Baha as the
tomb of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith. Within this shell is enshrined
that Pearl of Great Price, the holy of holies, those chambers which
constitute the tomb itself, and which were constructed by 'Abdu'l-Baha.
Within the heart of this holy of holies is the tabernacle, the vault
wherein reposes the most holy casket. Within this vault rests the
alabaster sarcophagus in which is deposited that inestimable jewel, the
Bab's holy dust. So precious is this dust that the very earth surrounding
the edifice enshrining this dust has been extolled by the Center of
Baha'u'llah's Covenant, in one of His Tablets in which He named the five
doors belonging to the six chambers which He originally erected after five
of the believers associated with the construction of the Shrine, as being
endowed with such potency as to have inspired Him in bestowing these
names, whilst the tomb itself housing this dust He acclaimed as the spot
round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration.
To participate in the erection of the superstructure of an edifice at once
so precious, so holy; consecrated to the memory of so heroic a Soul; whose
site no one less than the Founder of our Faith has selected; whose inner
chambers were erected by the Center of His Covenant with such infinite
care and anguish; embosomed in so sacred a mountain, on the soil of so
holy a land; occupying such a unique position; facing on the one hand the
silver-white city of Akka, the Qiblih of the Baha'i world; flanked on its
right by the hills of Galilee, the home of Jesus Christ, and on its left,
by the Cave of Elijah; and backed by the plain of Sharon and, beyond it,
Jerusalem and the Aqsa mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam--to
participate in the erection of such an edifice is a privilege offered to
this generation at once unique and priceless, a privilege which only
posterity will be able to correctly appraise.