Commemorations

Ascension of Baha’u’llah

Commemorations, Local Baháʼí Communities, National and International Connections -

Ascension of Baha’u’llah

Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day-star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me will arise and serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose. Gleanings, p.137

 

Chapter 13  God Passes By  Shoghi Effendi

Already nine months before His ascension Bahá’u’lláh, as attested by ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, had voiced His desire to depart from this world. From that time onward it became increasingly evident, from the tone of His remarks to those who attained His presence, that the close of His earthly life was approaching, though He refrained from mentioning it openly to any one. On the night preceding the eleventh of Shavvál 1309 A.H. (May 8, 1892) He contracted a slight fever which, though it mounted the following day, soon after subsided. He continued to grant interviews to certain of the friends and pilgrims, but it soon became evident that He was not well. His fever returned in a more acute form than before, His general condition grew steadily worse, complications ensued which at last culminated in His ascension, at the hour of dawn, on the 2nd of Dhi’l-Qa‘dih 1309 A.H. (May 29, 1892), eight hours after sunset, in the 75th year of His age. His spirit, at long last released from the toils of a life crowded with tribulations, had winged its flight to His “other dominions,” dominions “whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen,” and to which the “Luminous Maid,” “clad in white,” had bidden Him hasten, as described by Himself in the Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá (Tablet of the Vision), revealed nineteen years previously, on the anniversary of the birth of His Forerunner.

Six days before He passed away He summoned to His presence, as He lay in bed leaning against one of His sons, the entire company of believers, including several pilgrims, who had assembled in the Mansion, for what proved to be their last audience with Him. “I am well pleased with you all,” He gently and affectionately addressed the weeping crowd that gathered about Him. “Ye have rendered many services, and been very assiduous in your labors. Ye have come here every morning and every evening. May God assist you to remain united. May He aid you to exalt the Cause of the Lord of being.” To the women, including members of His own family, gathered at His bedside, He addressed similar words of encouragement, definitely assuring them that in a document entrusted by Him to the Most Great Branch He had commended them all to His care.

The news of His ascension was instantly communicated to Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd in a telegram which began with the words “the Sun of Bahá has set” and in which the monarch was advised of the intention of interring the sacred remains within the precincts of the Mansion, an arrangement to which he readily assented. Bahá’u’lláh was accordingly laid to rest in the northernmost room of the house which served as a dwelling-place for His son-in-law, the most northerly of the three houses lying to the west of, and adjacent to, the Mansion. His interment took place shortly after sunset, on the very day of His ascension.

For a full week a vast number of mourners, rich and poor alike, tarried to grieve with the bereaved family, partaking day and night of the food that was lavishly dispensed by its members. Notables, among whom were numbered Shí‘ahs, Sunnís, Christians, Jews and Druzes, as well as poets, ‘ulamás and government officials, all joined in lamenting the loss, and in magnifying the virtues and greatness of Bahá’u’lláh, many of them paying to Him their written tributes, in verse and in prose, in both Arabic and Turkish. From cities as far afield as Damascus, Aleppo, Beirut and Cairo similar tributes were received. These glowing testimonials were, without exception, submitted to ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Who now represented the Cause of the departed Leader, and Whose praises were often mingled in these eulogies with the homage paid to His Father.

Declaration of the Bab

Commemorations, Local Baháʼí Communities, National and International Connections -

“God,” said He, “is My witness, O people! I am come to you with a Revelation from the Lord, your God, the Lord of your fathers of old. Look not, O people, at the things ye possess. Look rather at the things God hath sent down unto you. This, surely, will be better for you than the whole of creation, could ye but perceive it. Repeat the gaze, O people, and consider the testimony of God and His proof which are in your possession, and compare them unto the Revelation sent down unto you in this Day, that the truth, the infallible truth, may be indubitably manifested unto you. Follow not, O people, the steps of the Evil One; follow ye the Faith of the All-Merciful, and be ye of them that truly believe. What would it profit man, if he were to fail to recognize the Revelation of God? Nothing whatever. To this Mine own Self, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, will testify.” Bahá’u’lláh: Gleanings, Pages: 144-147

May 23, 1844, signalizes the commencement of the most turbulent period of the Heroic Age of the Bahá’í Era. It only  spanned  nine short years . It was ushered in by the birth of a Revelation whose Bearer posterity will claim as being the “Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve,” and terminated with the first stirrings of a still more potent Revelation, “whose day,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms, “every Prophet hath announced,” for which “the soul of every Divine Messenger hath thirsted,” and through which “God hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets”…

The significant event that occurred on this day happened in the upper chamber of the modest residence of the son of a mercer of Shiraz, in an obscure corner of that city. The time was the hour before sunset, on the 22nd day of May, 1844. The participants were the Báb, a twenty-five year old siyyid, of pure and holy lineage, and the young Mulla Husayn, the first to believe in Him. Their meeting that night had been Ordained by God. The interview itself lasted until the hour of dawn. The Host remained alone with His guest, and the sleeping city was totally unaware of the significance of the conversation they held with each other. No record has passed to posterity of that unique night, only the enlightening  account that fell from the lips of Mulla Husayn.

“I sat spellbound by His utterance, oblivious of time and of those who awaited me,” he himself has testified, after describing the nature of the questions he had put to his Host and the conclusive replies he had received from Him, replies which had established beyond the shadow of a doubt the validity of His claim to be the promised Qa’im. “Suddenly the call of the Mu’adhdhin, summoning the faithful to their morning prayer, awakened me from the state of ecstasy into which I seemed to have fallen. All the delights, all the ineffable glories, which the Almighty has recounted in His Book as the priceless possessions of the people of Paradise – these I seemed to be experiencing that night. Methinks I was in a place of which it could be truly said: `Therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us;’ `no vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor any falsehood, but only the cry, “Peace! Peace!”‘; `their cry therein shall be, “Glory to Thee, O God!” and their salutation therein, “Peace!”, and the close of their cry, “Praise be to God, Lord of all creatures!”‘ Sleep had departed from me that night. I was enthralled by the music of that voice which rose and fell as He chanted; now swelling forth as He revealed verses of the Qayyumu’l-Asma’, again acquiring ethereal, subtle harmonies as He uttered the prayers He was revealing. At the end of each invocation, He would repeat this verse: `Far from the glory of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, be that which His creatures affirm of Him! And peace be upon His Messengers! And praise be to God, the Lord of all beings!'”

“This Revelation,” Mulla Husayn has further testified, “so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to have benumbed my faculties. I was blinded by its dazzling splendor and overwhelmed by its crushing force. Excitement, joy, awe, and wonder stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among these emotions was a sense of gladness and strength which seemed to have transfigured me. How feeble and impotent, how dejected and timid, I had felt previously! Then I could neither write nor walk, so tremulous were my hands and feet. Now, however, the knowledge of His Revelation had galvanized my being. I felt possessed of such courage and power that were the world, all its peoples and its potentates, to rise against me, I would, alone and undaunted, withstand their onslaught. The universe seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp. I seemed to be the voice of Gabriel personified, calling unto all mankind: `Awake, for, lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise, for His Cause is made manifest. The portal of His grace is open wide; enter therein, O peoples of the world! For He Who is your promised One is come!'”

This illustrious Soul arose with such power that He shook the supports of the religion, of the morals, the conditions, the habits and the customs of Persia, and instituted new rules, new laws and a new religion. Though the great personages of the State, nearly all the clergy, and the public men arose to destroy and annihilate Him, He alone withstood them and moved the whole of Persia.

The Twelve Days of Riḍván

Commemorations, Local Baháʼí Communities, National and International Connections -

The Twelve Days of Riḍván

The worldwide Bahá’í community joyfully celebrates the twelve-day Festival of Riḍván in early spring each year. This year, 2024, Riḍván begins at sunset on April 20th and ends at sunset on May 1st. Bahá’u’lláh has ordained Riḍván as the “Most Great Festival” and the “King of Festivals.” During these twelve days in 1863, He declared that He was the Manifestation of God for this day, the “One Whom God shall make manifest” as foretold by the Báb.  

This momentous declaration signalized the beginning of the Bahá’í Faith, and thereby sent spiritual reverberations across the universe from the city of Baghdad. He spent the last twelve days of his sojourn in Iraq in that garden, because the Turkish authorities had decreed that He would be further exiled to Constantinople (now called Istanbul). Bahá’u’lláh called the beautiful Najibiyyih Garden the “Garden of Riḍván,” which is the word in Arabic for “paradise.” 

Three Holy Days            

During the Riḍván festival, Bahá’u’lláh designated three of the twelve days as holy days on which work should be suspended. The first day of Riḍván commemorates when Bahá’u’lláh left the city to stay in the Garden of Riḍván on the banks of the Tigris River, where He would say farewell to his many friends and followers before his imminent departure.  

“Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Baha, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House, proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the splendors of His name, the All-Merciful.” (Bahá’u’lláh, “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh,” p. 35)

On the ninth day of Riḍván, the rest of His family arrived in the garden. Bahá’u’lláh received countless visitors seeking His presence to bid him farewell. Every day the gardeners cut roses as gifts for the visitors, and piled them in a heap in Bahá’u’lláh’s tent. 

“Consider these nightingales. So great is their love for these roses, that sleepless from dusk till dawn, they warble their melodies and commune with burning passion with the object of their adoration. How then can those who claim to be afire with the rose-like beauty of the Beloved choose to sleep?” (Shoghi Effendi, “God Passes By,” p. 153)

On the twelfth day at noontime, Bahá’u’lláh mounted his red roan stallion with dignity and majesty, as He departed from Baghdad with His family and a small band of His followers. His journey to His next place of exile in the city of Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, would take four arduous months.

 Significance of the Festival of Riḍván

Although Bahá’u’lláh’s departure from Iraq for further exile appears as sorrowful, yet it was a momentous and joyful moment of spiritual significance, because He openly declared for the first time that He was the Promised One of all ages.

“The promised Day of God is come! He Who is the Manifestation of the Adored One hath been established upon the throne of His name, the All-Loving, and the sun of His bounty hath cast its rays upon the seeing and seen alike. Wherefore renounce ye, O denizens of the realms of limitation, that which ye possess, adorn your temples with His glorious vesture, and behold with untainted vision Him Who is the luminous Beauty of God seated upon the throne of glory in His transcendent, His almighty and all-subduing sovereignty. All praise be to the Best Beloved, Who hath revealed His hidden beauty with such manifest authority! “ (Bahá’u’lláh, “Days of Remembrance,” no. 10, para. 3, p. 40)

Ayyám-i-Há, the Fast, and the Naw-Rúz Celebration

Commemorations, Local Baháʼí Communities, National and International Connections, News from Around the Region -

Spiritual Regeneration in Anticipation of Spring

As we celebrate Naw-Rúz this year on the 21st of March, 2023, we end the month of fasting with the joyful anniversary of the spring equinox, which marks the beginning of the Bahá’í new year.  

The pre-spring festivities began with the intercalary days of Ayyám-i-Há.  During these additional four days between the Bahá’í months, we expressed our generosity, compassion, friendship, and love through acts of service, parties, and gift giving. 

This joyful festival readied us for the fast, which is a time of prayer, abstinence, self-improvement, restraint, and contemplation. With the conclusion of the month of fasting, we gather in community to welcome the new year with our families and friends, as we break the fast once more at sunset on the 20th of March.

What is Ayyám-i-Há?

“Let the days in excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting. We have ordained that these, amid all nights and days, shall be the manifestations of the letter Há, and thus they have not been bounded by the limits of the year and its months. It behooveth the people of Bahá, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name; and when they end—these days of giving that precede the season of restraint—let them enter upon the Fast.” – Bahá’u’lláh, “The Kitáb-i-Aqdas,” para.16.

The Spiritual Benefits of the Fast

“No protector is there but Thee, no place to flee to except Thee, no refuge to seek save Thee. Cause me to taste, O my Lord, the divine sweetness of Thy remembrance and praise.” – Bahá’u’lláh, “Bahá’í  Prayers,” p. 256.

“This is, O my God, the first of the days on which Thou hast bidden Thy loved ones to observe the Fast. I ask of Thee by Thy Self and by him who hath fasted out of love for Thee and for Thy good-pleasure—and not out of self and desire, nor out of fear of Thy wrath—and by Thy most excellent names and august attributes, to purify Thy servants from the love of aught except Thee and to draw them nigh unto the Dawning-Place of the lights of Thy countenance and the Seat of the throne of Thy oneness. Illumine their hearts, O my God, with the light of Thy knowledge and brighten their faces with the rays of the Daystar that shineth from the horizon of Thy Will.” – Bahá’u’lláh, “Bahá’í Prayers,” p. 259.

Entering the Spiritual Springtime with Naw-Rúz

“At the time of the vernal equinox in the material world a wonderful vibrant energy and new life-quickening is observed everywhere in the vegetable kingdom; the animal and human kingdoms are resuscitated and move forward with a new impulse. The whole world is born anew, resurrected. Gentle zephyrs are set in motion, wafting and fragrant; flowers bloom; the trees are in blossom, the air temperate and delightful; how pleasant and beautiful become the mountains, fields and meadows.

“Likewise, the spiritual bounty and springtime of God quicken the world of humanity with a new animus and vivification. All the virtues which have been deposited and potential in human hearts are being revealed from that Reality as flowers and blossoms from divine gardens. It is a day of joy, a time of happiness, a period of spiritual growth. I beg of God that this divine spiritual civilization may have the fullest impression and effect upon you. May you become as growing plants. May the trees of your hearts bring forth new leaves and variegated blossoms. May ideal fruits appear from them in order that the world of humanity, which has grown and developed in material civilization, may be quickened in the bringing forth of spiritual ideals.” – ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “The Promulgation of Universal Peace,” 21 April 1912, Talk at Studio Hall, 1219 Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C.

Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Commemorations -

Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born on May 22, 1844. He passed away quietly in his home in Haifa, Israel on November 28, 1921 at 1:00 a.m. He was 77 years old. When we commemorate His ascension, we can recite the prayer that He revealed that is designated the “Tablet of Visitation for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” and which is intoned when visiting His Shrine and in private prayer.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá led a remarkable life. When He was just nine years old, He was a witness to the persecution and imprisonment of His Father, Bahá’u’lláh, in the Síyáh-Chál in Tehran, Persia.  He accompanied His family into exile, initially in Baghdad, and then later in Constantinople, Adrianople, and finally to the prison city of Akka, Palestine. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s imprisonment ended in 1908. In 1911, He journeyed to Egypt, Europe, and North America to carry the message of the Bahá’í Faith in person to the western world.  

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not only the Center of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, He was also designated as the Interpreter of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, and is regarded as the perfect Exemplar of every Bahá’í virtue.

 In “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” Shoghi Effendi enumerates His many appellations:

“He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Centre and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word, the embodiment of every Bahá’í ideal, the incarnation of every Bahá’í virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being “round Whom all names revolve”, the Mainspring of the Oneness of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation—styles and titles that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.” 

In 2021, the Universal House of Justice commissioned the following video to celebrate ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s historic life and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of His ascension:

https://www.bahai.org/exemplar/

 

Day of the Covenant

Commemorations -

Day of the Covenant

The Day of the Covenant is a Bahá’í holy day that is celebrated this year on Sunday, November 26, 2023. On this day, Bahá’ís across the globe celebrate the appointment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Center of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.  He was designated as the successor to lead the Faith after Bahá’u’lláh’s passing. In the Kitáb-i-‘Ahd (Book of the Covenant), Bahá’u’lláh specifically names ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to succeed Him, thereby securing the Faith from schism and disunity.

Early in His ministry, the Bahá’ís wanted to honor ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by celebrating His birthday. But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was born on May 22, 1844, which is the same day when the Báb declared His mission to Mulla Husayn. This is the Declaration of the Báb, which is another holy day. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not want to cause confusion, and so He suggested instead that the believers honor Him as the Center of the Covenant in November of each year.

The Day of the Covenant is one of the holy days on which work is not required to be suspended. 

In one of His talks published in “The Promulgation of Universal Peace,“ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains the importance of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh: 

“As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, a specific teaching not given by any of the Prophets of the past: It is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the Covenant. By this appointment and provision He has safeguarded and protected the religion of God against differences and schisms, making it impossible for anyone to create a new sect or faction of belief. To ensure unity and agreement He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world, including the interpreter and explainer of His teachings, so that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine Words.”
Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 455-456.

South Montgomery County, TX Bahá’i Community Celebrations for the Birth of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh

Commemorations, Local Baháʼí Communities, News from Around the Region -

South Montgomery County, TX Bahá’i Community Celebrations
for the Birth of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh

On Wednesday (10/26/22) about 25 sincere souls, including several friends of the Faith, met in Ridgewood Park in The Woodlands along the road which is aptly named Interfaith Way, where we communed with nature, engaged in many meaningful conversations, enjoyed refreshments, and learned about the writings and teachings of the blessed Báb. Conversations were held in Spanish and English.

People came together from as far away as Bolivia, Canada, and Mexico. One couplewill soon leave for Qatar. We are far-flung citizens of the world, who were magnetized to come together and celebrate the birth of the Báb.   As Bahá’u’lláh said on this precious day in 1891 when He hosted a similar celebration, “This is the day on which His Holiness the Báb was born and shed illumination upon the world. Hence, let there be joy and gladness a thousand-fold.”(As recounted by Mírzá Habíbu’lláh Afnán. See Rev. of Bahá’u’lláh, Vol. 4, p. 334.)

On Thursday (10/27/22) we again gathered, this time in a room at the South Regional Library to celebrate Bahá’u’lláh’s birthday. As we sat together in a circle of friends, we heard the story of the life of the Blessed Beauty. To cast some light upon such an exalted Figure can merely touch upon aspects of a momentous life. The chosen readings called upon the metaphor of trees to turn our focus on Bahá’u’lláh’s ardent love of nature.

After our devotions, we went outside to walk across the lawn of the park next to the library, where the Bahá’is of Montgomery County South planted two trees to commemorate the bicentennial births of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb in 2017 and 2019, respectively, with beautiful plaques placed below the trees to identify them. These two trees flower in the spring, and they flank a statue to honor veterans of war and those who have died in the fruitless conflicts that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh have beensent by God to end forever.

These twin Luminaries call us to universal peace and brotherhood. “He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind itscitizens.” (Tablet of Maqṣúd, Bahá’u’lláh.)

 The Twin Holy Birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh

Commemorations -

 The Twin Holy Birthdays of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh

 The twin birthdays of The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh fall on Monday and Tuesday , October 16 and October 17 of this year (2023). With the implementation of the Badí‘ Calendar in 2015, these most significant birthdays are now celebrated worldwide as a two-day festival of joy and celebration.

The Báb

Siyyid Ali-Muhammad, whose title is The Báb (the Gate), was born in Shiraz, Iran on 20 October 1819. He was a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad, and therefore had the privilege to wear a green turban. As a precocious child, His learning and depth of understanding of spiritual matters astounded and perplexed His teachers. 

The Báb declared His mission in 1844, at the age of 25, as a Manifestation of God in fulfillment of Muslim prophecies. He announced Himself to be the Qa’im, the long-promised Messiah of the Muslims. Yet He declared that His primary mission was as the Forerunner of Baha’u’llah, whom He designated as “He Whom God shall make manifest.” 

After only six more years, the Báb was executed in 1850, yet He transformed the lives of tens of thousands of souls during his tragically brief ministry. He ushered in the age of fulfillment of many religious prophecies that promise the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.

“I am, I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One Whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at Whose mention you have risen, Whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of Whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily, I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word, and to pledge allegiance to My person.”
                                         Words of the Báb, quoted in “God Passes By,” by Shoghi Effendi

Bahá’u’lláh 

Bahá’u’lláh (The Glory of God), whose birth name is Mirza Husayn-Ali, was born in Tehran, Iran on 12 November 1817. He was two years older than the Báb. When He was a young man, the son of a prominent government minister in the court of the Shah of Iran, He was known as “the father of the poor,” due to His selfless dedication to giving aid to the poor and needy. 

Immediately when presented with the text of one of the Báb’s writings, Bahá’u’lláh became a devoted follower of the new Bábi religion, although He and the Báb never met in person. After the martyrdom of the Báb and the violent persecution of the Bábis in Iran, Bahá’u’lláh was exiled to Iraq, where He revitalized the Bábi community and began to reveal sacred scriptures that would swell to over 100 volumes during His lifetime. 

In 1863, Bahá’u’lláh declared that He was the Promised One of all ages, the Manifestation of God that the Báb had called “Him Whom God will make manifest.” Soon after His declaration, He was further exiled to Constantinople, Adrianople, and finally to the penal colony of Akka in Palestine, where He remained a prisoner for the rest of His earthly life. 

Although a prisoner, Bahá’u’lláh called all mankind across the world to unity and universal peace. He outlined a blueprint for the regeneration of worldwide governance based on the spiritual principles of justice and equity, the equality of women and men, the oneness of religion, the preservation and stewardship of the natural world, the abolition of all forms of prejudice, the agreement of science and religion, universal education of children, and many other divine teachings that Baha’is are inspired to bring into this suffering world through their dedicated action across the globe.

The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath come to build anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of cities!
                                                              Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh: XLV

The Badí‘ Calendar

According to the Muslim calendar, which is a lunar calendar, the birthday of The Báb falls on the first day of the month of Muharram and the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh falls on the second day of that month. The Baha’is of the Middle East have always celebrated the two birthdays on the successive two days of Muharram, while the Baha’is in other countries had two separate celebrations on the fixed days of the solar calendar: 20 October for the Báb and 12 November for Bahá’u’lláh. When the Universal House of Justice announced the worldwide implementation of the Badí‘ calendar in 2014, Baha’is around the world began to celebrate the two birthdays on successive days that coincide with the lunar designations of Muharram.

The Badí‘ calendar is unique in the world, because it incorporates aspects of both the solar and lunar calendars, and reconciles and unites them into one coherent calendar. Some of the Baha’i holy days are fixed and based on the solar calendar, while others have dates that move according to the lunar calendar, because the twelve months of the lunar calendar equal 354 days. 

The first day of the Baha’i new year, Naw Ruz, occurs on the vernal equinox, which is usually on March 21. The Universal House of Justice has chosen Tehran, the birthplace of Bahá’u’lláh, as the location to measure the vernal equinox astronomically and precisely. The Twin Birthdays are then calculated for celebration eight lunar months after Naw Ruz. The equinox does not occur at exactly the same time each year, and so the entire Badí‘ calendar is continuously adjusted to accommodate the natural variability in the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the moon, and the exact astronomical cycles of the sun.

“The adoption of a new calendar in each dispensation is a symbol of the power of Divine Revelation to reshape human perception of material, social, and spiritual reality. Through it, sacred moments are distinguished, humanity’s place in time and space re-imagined, and the rhythm of life recast.“
                                                              The Universal House of Justice, 10 July 2014 

Summary explanation of the Badí‘ Calendar: https://www.bahaiblog.net/articles/holy-days-bahai-calendar/bahai-badi-calendar-overview/

 

Juneteenth in Fort Worth

Commemorations -

People from all walks of life, backgrounds and races contributed to Dr. Opal Lee’s tireless effort to bring racial healing and justice to Fort Worth, Texas. A group of Bahá’í friends gathered to walk with Opal in her annual Walk for Freedom. This effort to gather the friends together was organized by the Fort Worth City Cluster Area Teaching Committee and a couple of other friends. Approximately 12 friends gathered in the early morning at Evans Avenue plaza near downtown Fort Worth to join Opal in her annual 2.5 mile walk through downtown, to recognize the 2.5 years it took for the news of freedom to reach all enslaved people in the United States. Ms. Opal Lee continues the mission to educate the country about freedom by walking these 2.5 miles annually.

Many of these same walkers joined others near Panther Island for a music & food festival with international and local artists to celebrate the accomplishments and historical significance of June 19, 1865. The committee and Bahá’í friends staffed a Bahá’í Faith booth where conversation and reading material were shared, and new relationships built.

An exciting new relationship that is building out of that effort is a new initiative of a group of Bahá’í friends who are volunteering at Opal Lee’s Farm (https://www.unityunlimited.org/opals-farm.html.) where her urban farm is providing farm-fresh, nutritious food for residents of the city. The five-acre urban farm east of downtown addresses local food deserts and revitalizes the health of local neighborhoods.

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Martyrdom of the Báb

Commemorations -
  • Shrine of the Bab

Martyrdom of the Báb, “Essence of Essences”

Born in Shiraz, a city in southern Iran, on 20 October 1819, the Báb was the symbolic gate between past ages of prophecy and a new age of fulfillment for humanity. His purpose was to awake the people to the fact that a new period in human history had begun. It was to unify the entire human race and the emergence of a world civilization of spiritual and material prosperity. The Báb’s message aroused hope and excitement among people. Although a number of prominent Muslim clerics accepted the Báb, many others felt threatened by His growing influence and feared losing their authority. They denounced the Báb’s teachings as heretical and set out to destroy Him and His followers. As a result, the Báb was banished—from city to city, from prison to prison. But no plan they devised could prevent His influence from spreading. In every place He was sent, His grace and the magnetic attraction of His personality won the admiration of civic leaders and townspeople. Prison governors and soldiers guarding him became His followers.

In 1850, Mirza Taqi Khan (Grand Vizier of Nasiri’d-Din Shah) ordered the Báb’s execution. Directly quoted from “God Passes By” Shoghi Effendi writes, “The farrásh-báshí ( the head attendant) had abruptly interrupted the last conversation which the Báb was confidentially having in one of the rooms of the barracks with His amanuensis Siyyid Husayn, and was drawing the latter aside, and severely rebuking him, when he was thus addressed by his Prisoner: “Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall it be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention.” To the Christian Sám Khán–the colonel of the Armenian regiment ordered to carry out the execution–who, seized with fear lest his act should provoke the wrath of God, had begged to be released from the duty imposed upon him, the Báb gave the following assurance: “Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you of your perplexity.” Sám Khán accordingly set out to discharge his duty.

A spike was driven into a pillar which separated two rooms of the barracks facing the square. Two ropes were fastened to it from which the Báb and one of his disciples, the youthful and devout Mírzá Muhammad-`Alí-i-Zunúzí, surnamed Anís, who had previously flung himself at the feet of his Master and implored that under no circumstances he be sent away from Him, were separately suspended. The firing squad ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men. Each file in turn opened fire until the whole detachment had discharged its bullets. So dense was the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles that the sky was darkened. As soon as the smoke had cleared away the astounded multitude of about ten thousand souls, who had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, beheld a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe. The Báb had vanished from their sight! Only his companion remained, alive and unscathed, standing beside the wall on which they had been suspended. The ropes by which they had been hung alone were severed. “The Siyyid-i-Báb has gone from our sight!” cried out the bewildered spectators. A frenzied search immediately ensued. He was found, unhurt and unruffled, in the very room He had occupied the night before, engaged in completing His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. “I have finished My conversation with Siyyid Husayn” were the words with which the Prisoner, so providentially preserved, greeted the appearance of the farrásh-báshí, “Now you may proceed to fulfill your intention.” Recalling the bold assertion his Prisoner had previously made, and shaken by so stunning a revelation, the farrásh-báshí quitted instantly the scene, and resigned his post. Sám Khán, likewise, remembering, with feelings of awe and wonder, the reassuring words addressed to him by the Báb, ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and swore, as he left the courtyard, never again, even at the cost of his life, to repeat that act. Áqá Ján-i-Khamsíh, colonel of the body-guard, volunteered to replace him. On the same wall and in the same manner the Báb and His companion were again suspended, while the new regiment formed in line and opened fire upon them. This time, however, their breasts were riddled with bullets, and their bodies completely dissected, with the exception of their faces which were but little marred. “O wayward generation!” were the last words of the Báb to the gazing multitude, as the regiment prepared to fire its volley, “Had you believed in Me every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you.” Nor was this all. The very moment the shots were fired a gale of exceptional violence arose and swept over the city. From noon till night a whirlwind of dust obscured the light of the sun, and blinded the eyes of the people. In Shíráz an “earthquake,” foreshadowed in no less weighty a Book than the Revelation of St. John, occurred in 1268 A.H. which threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc amongst its people, a havoc that was greatly aggravated by the outbreak of cholera, by famine and other afflictions. In that same year no less than two hundred and fifty of the firing squad, that had replaced Sám Khán’s regiment, met their death, together with their officers, in a terrible earthquake, while the remaining five hundred suffered, three years later, as a punishment for their mutiny, the same fate as that which their hands had inflicted upon the Báb. To ensure that none of them had survived, they were riddled with a second volley, after which their bodies, pierced with spears and lances, were exposed to the gaze of the people of Tabríz. The prime instigator of the Báb’s death, the implacable Amír-Nizám, together with his brother, his chief accomplice, met their death within two years of that savage act.”

In 1909, after being hidden away for more than half a century, the Báb’s remains were finally interred on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. Today, entombed in an exquisite golden-domed Shrine, encompassed by spectacular terraced gardens and fountains, the Báb rests in conspicuous glory, a symbol of the triumph of the Cause that He heralded.

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