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/