Shoghi Effendi:
Recollections
by Ugo Giachery
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chapter 11 | start page | single page | chapter 13 |  |
Chapter 12
XII
Embellishments to the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
ONE evening, Shoghi Effendi came to the dinner-table with an expression of inner joy and determination on his face. After the usual greetings and before we started our meal, he looked around and said: 'Early tomorrow morning we all shall go to Bahji; I am asking every available man to be there, as we have some very important work to do.' This was the beginning of one week of intense labour which completely changed the nature and aspect of the grounds - already described as a 'sea of sand' - into a garden and paradise of incomparable beauty.
The reader can hardly imagine what took place in those blessed days. All able-bodied men were there at the appointed hour. Shoghi Effendi with his masterly skill, already demonstrated in his beautification of the surroundings of the shrine of the Báb followed a plan preconceived in his mind. Assisted by his chauffeur, who carried a ball of string and some wooden pickets, he traced all the paths, nine in number, which like a fan were to radiate from the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh towards a semicircular line (130 degrees; that is, about one-third of an arc) one hundred and ten metres away.
Guided by the strings which marked the paths, some of the gardeners dug small trenches in which to plant hedges of thyme. The widest path was the one leading from the 'circle' to the door of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh. With a joyous expression on his face, Shoghi Effendi said: 'Finally we have a dignified way to reach the Shrine, the approach to which I shall further beautify.' A group of small dilapidated buildings cluttering the south end of the space between the Mansion of Bahji and the Shrine was in no time torn down and the stone used to build a level platform in front of the Mansion on the side of the main entrance.
Everyone was working with alacrity and high spirits, as we were conscious of the process of purification of that holy ground - often blessed by the presence of God's Manifestation - and of the creation of the 'Haram-i-Aqdas',[*] to surround forever that Most Sacred Spot. Each one was doing a chore; personally, I was helping Shoghi Effendi with the tracing of the paths and the star shaped flower beds. I was so entranced with his speed and resolution in giving form to a life-long dream that I had no eyes for anything else but him.
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* The outer sanctuary of Bahá'u'lláh's Shrine.
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The word magic cannot well define what was taking place at every moment. It was like a powerful and ever-present force of enchantment creating beauty in a hundred places at the same time. Shoghi Effendi was moving about directing, counselling, cautioning, encouraging, explaining, demonstrating how to do apparently impossible things, and rejoicing in the transformation of the land under our very eyes. In the afternoon a drizzle came down but he would not leave the grounds, determined to accomplish as much as was possible before sunset. Markers and trees placed by the previous owners, who had never permitted either the purchase of the land or extension of the gardens around the Shrine, were removed. Young trees were brought in and planted along the paths; the outer semicircular line was doubled to make a wide tree-bordered avenue. Iron gates, steps, stone decorations, flowering plants, top soil and grass seeds were brought from Haifa, from Mt. Carmel, the Ridvan Garden, and the Master's House to give consistency to the superb embellishment plan.
During the night Shoghi Effendi developed a cold but in the morning he returned to work, feverish and suffering from all the inconvenience brought by the rheum. For three additional days he did not give up; there was ground to level, trees and borders to plant, and a hundred other details, all well established and correlated in his mind, and which only he would be able to accomplish. The sand was disappearing; the stones from the demolished buildings were already covered with good soil; hedges, pedestals and flower-beds were in place, and the neglected area, which for over half a century had been a scourge to the sanctity of the Holy Tomb, was not only cleansed and purified but had acquired also the beauty and the fragrance of a true 'Holy Court', worthy of the 'Dust' of the Founder of God's Most Holy Faith!
By the end of the fourth day, the sacred precincts of the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world had taken on the appearance of a beauteous, entrancing garden, looking as if it had been there from ancient times, and much as we see it today. Our triumphal return to Haifa could be compared to the return of the Argonauts after securing the Golden Fleece.
In the days which followed, Shoghi Effendi made further plans for embellishment and arranged for the gate, which had been prepared for the foot of the terraces leading from the Shrine of the Báb to Carmel Avenue, to be erected at the end of one of the nine paths leading from the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh to the circle. For this was the path that ran through the high trees, often used by the Blessed Beauty, to shade and cool Himself during the high temperatures of the summer months.
The wrought-iron panels meant for the sides of that gate were utilized, together with the proper masonry, to fence the western side of the new garden which had been built upon the rubble of the destroyed buildings. The stone used for the support of the gate and its accessories was durable Italian granite, called 'breccia of Brescia', the same material that was used in the construction of King Victor Emmanuel's memorial monument in Rome. Here I would like to add that the aqueduct which crosses the property was exposed before the beautification of the grounds began. It would have crossed the path where the Italian gate was erected, but was, with the consent of the Antiquities Department, covered over when the levelling of the ground took place. Italian marble came once more to the assistance of the embellishment plan, providing steps for the different levels, pedestals for ornaments, and some delicate columns with capitals, which are still in the outer and inner sanctuaries of the Shrine.
The magnificent Collins gate, entrance to the broad path leading to the door of the Shrine, was obtained by Shoghi Effendi in England - a gift to him by the beloved Hand of the Cause and Vice-President of the International Bahá'í Council, Amelia E. Collins.[*] It was erected in the following months, together with the pyramidal-obelisks and the flower-urns of lead, which border the path on each side. It was Shoghi Effendi's ardent desire to pave this most important path, leading to the Holy of Holies, with white Carrara marble. He had spoken to me of this, but perhaps because of the high cost, or the exposure of the marble to the hot sun which would alter its structure, he abandoned the idea, I believe temporarily, until his complete plan could go into action. Instead, he resorted to the use of the small white pebbles from the Sea of Galilee, such as he had used on the path between the second and third gates leading to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel, and at the house of 'Abdu'l-Bahá at 7 Persian Street.
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* See memorial article, The Bahá'í World, vol. XIII, pp. 834-41
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These pebbles are almost white and perfectly shaped: a phenomenon which I have rarely observed on the shores of other oceans, seas, and banks of rivers. The first time I beheld them, I was entranced by their whiteness and the regularity of their shape and size, and the thought came to me that it could not have been otherwise, as provident nature had readied the most perfect ground to hold the feet of the Christ and His fishermen apostles.
The following year, when the spring rains came in deluge, lashing the grounds under a strong north-east wind, a good part of the new garden was flooded. This called for an immediate remedy and Shoghi Effendi had the answer ready. Why not build a sort of impediment in the form of an embankment which would prevent the rain water from settling in the gardens? This first embankment took the form of a mortarless terrace, which became an excellent point of observation. This so pleased the Guardian that he added a second one and made plans for the third, which was not completed until after his passing. Gates and steps were made available to allow visitors to climb to the very top, with three broad paths, one on each terrace, which were bordered with cypress trees and reached to the main gate at the south-west end of the huge rampart. In no time the side of the terraces looking towards the Shrine were landscaped with row upon row of geraniums, making the earth appear as if on fire with their innumerable red-flaming blossoms. On admiring the beauty of the whole project, there came to my mind a description I had read some time before of the Sumerian terraces of ancient Babylonia, famed for their beauty and magnificence. This was another expression of the imagination of Shoghi Effendi which was manifested with practicality and brilliance.
The various smaller wrought-iron gates and the dozens and dozens of lamp-posts placed all around the newly expanded gardens were produced in Italy at the request and to the specifications of Shoghi Effendi himself. When I returned to the Holy Land two years later, and visited the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh one day after sunset, I was overcome by the serene beauty of the whole garden, lit by the generous system of illumination that the Guardian had developed, which added an element of mystery and wonder. It is like fairyland, I was repeating to myself, overwhelmed by the bliss of silence and solitude - the true 'Celestial City', where the certainty of God's presence was filling my soul with rapture and joy.
Shortly after sunset on the very day of His ascension, 29 May 1892, the earthly remains of Bahá'u'lláh were laid to rest in the most northerly room of a series of three dwellings used by members of His family. The interment consecrated that humble dwelling as the most Holy Spot on earth for the followers of His Faith. This one-storey building, adjacent and to the west of the Mansion, was a very simple structure of local stone, built in the Arab manner resembling a cube with a flat roof, a rather modest and unpretentious sepulchre for a Divine Messenger, the universality of Whose Message would in due time attract pilgrims from the four corners of the globe.
On my first pilgrimage, when visiting the room used by Abdu'l-Bahá in the pilgrim house at Bahji - the most southerly of the three dwellings - I was shown a large quantity of architectural drawings and other papers, contained in a wooden coffer, which, it seems, had been there untouched for half a century.
They were shown to me probably because the papers and drawings were written or illustrated in Italian. It was the project of a monumental tomb for Bahá'u'lláh, made by an Italian engineer and architect, Henry Edward Plantagenet, a descendant of the Royal Family which ruled England from 1154 to 1485. This gentleman, who was born and lived in Florence, Italy, had been engaged by the Ottoman government to build the Syrian railroad, and had spent some years in that country.
From the drawings it was evident that he had been requested by some other member of Bahá'u'lláh's family to prepare the project. Obviously, he was inspired by some Babi conception, for the monument consisted of a large structure in the form of a five-pointed star, the same shape as the pentagram used by the Báb in some of His Tablets and Writings. I have said 'some other member of the family', because 'Abdu'l-Bahá had a different plan which He was able to carry out in part. To protect and embellish the exterior north and west walls of the inner Shrine, a facade was made of soft local stone carrying out prevalent motifs of Arab architecture - a skilful execution of stereotomy - which lends great dignity to the unadorned and informal original structure.
The handsomeness of the simple facades, topped by the pyramidal red-tiled roof, cannot escape the keen observer. When I approached that holy building for the first time, I was deeply touched by the simple beauty of its appearance; in that simplicity there was a greatness which expressed good taste, gracefulness and a symmetry conveying classic harmony. In my youth, in my native Sicily, I was given the opportunity to learn how to appreciate the beauty of the Islamic arts, particularly of architecture, which used cut sandstone to erect some of the jewel-like buildings still in existence.
That night, and later on, in discussing with Shoghi Effendi the details of his plan, I voiced my praise for the facades of the Shrine and I became intimately happy in learning how much he valued its simple beauty. This was the point of departure for the embellishment of Bahá'u'lláh's Sepulchre: 'The building as fortified by Abdu'l-Bahá will not be touched; it will remain as the core of the new structure to surround the whole area, an inestimable gem representing the focal point of adoration for all the present and future followers of Bahá'u'lláh.' Shoghi Effendi was considering ways and means by which this might be accomplished, and after considerable discussion of a number of possibilities he finally contemplated surrounding the Sepulchre with a colonnade which would dramatize it from far and near: a total of ninety-five monolithic columns of Carrara marble, of Doric design, with capitals inspired by the purest existing examples of that order; all the columns arrayed in pairs, two in depth, over a platform of the same marble, accessible by a series of five steps, the whole ensemble 'like arms stretching ready to embrace'.
On several evenings the Guardian spent some time explaining the concept he had in mind, in order that I might secure drawings and estimates of cost. Each of the ninety-five columns would be six metres tall, supporting a carved capital - the weight of which would come close to a half metric ton - and each shaft, with the base and the capital, would stand up in the air almost seven metres; that, added to the height of the platform, would make an awesome complex whose brilliant majesty would glorify and enshrine the precious and sacred Holy of Holies.
On the evening of 4 March 1952, at the dinner-table, Shoghi Effendi turned to me and said: 'When the dome [of the Báb's Shrine] is finished, your work is not finished. We cannot hope to build the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh now - that is impossible - but we can do something intermediate. The Master added a wall around to reinforce the original room. We cannot leave it for an indefinite time in this manner.'
Then, turning to Larry Hautz, he added: 'If you succeed in getting this land around the Shrine - it is very extensive - it will be a great blow to the Covenant-breakers. You will not only have dealt them a terrible blow, but you will have paved the way for the construction of what is going to be the intermediate stage between the present structure of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh and the final building, which will be on a scale far greater than the Shrine of the Báb.' Towards the end of the evening, he returned to this subject and added:
'We expect to get fifty acres at Bahji ... [permitting] avenues One hundred metres long, all smooth paths converging; we shall keep on building it, we shall build around it: a semicircular, double colonnade with columns all of marble. Preferably ninety-five in number, white, with ornaments, flower-beds, lawns and hedges.'
A detailed request, embodying this preliminary concept of the Guardian, was sent to Italy for scale drawings and estimates. The drawings for the columns with related bases and the capitals, when completed, were sent to Shoghi Effendi with reasonable estimates of cost. The price asked at that time was most moderate compared with the mounting costs some five years later. In his message of 30 June 1952, the Guardian told the Bahá'ís of the world: "The assistance required for the acquisition of extensive properties, comprising both lands and houses, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Most Holy Tomb in Bahji, and for the embellishment of the approaches of that hallowed Shrine - the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world - as a necessary prelude to the ultimate erection of a befitting Mausoleum to enshrine the remains of God's Supreme Manifestation on earth, must be generously and systematically extended."[20] I well remember how pleased he was when a generous and prompt contribution - perhaps the first to that project - was sent by a loving and dedicated Persian believer. Shoghi Effendi, however, later abandoned the project of constructing this colonnade and concentrated on the embellishment of the surroundings of the Sepulchre of Bahá'u'lláh, including new wrought-iron gates for the entrance to the Shrine on the south side and for the Haram-i-Aqdas.
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[20] See MBW p.32
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During this time Shoghi Effendi started to experiment with red bricks, produced in Israel, for the erection of some gate-posts and lower walls in the area around the Mansion of Bahji - a substitute for costly marble brought from Italy. The use of bricks pleased him considerably, particularly because of the quaint aesthetic effect which blended well with the nature of the ground and the general landscape.
The Guardian's plan to extend the gardens to the east of the terraces, in the same semicircular pattern he developed on the west side, was one of his cherished wishes that he was not able to accomplish during his lifetime, as the long-protracted negotiations for acquisition of the land - which became available only a few months before his passing - did not permit him to see his dream come true in all its glory.
The entrance door to the Shrine - of hard wood, quite sturdy, with metal hinges and handmade lock - must have been placed there for many decades before Shoghi Effendi started his programme of embellishment. It was a rather strange door which did not hang perpendicularly and was difficult to operate because the hinges of each half-door were not perfectly aligned, thus giving to the whole door an inclination of several degrees. I believe this was originally done in order to let the lashing northern rains of the Palestinian winters drain away faster. That door was plain and unadorned, not really befitting the sublimity of the edifice to which it was attached, and therefore needed to be replaced. To shelter the entrance from the rain, the Guardian, some years before, had erected a protecting canopy of heavy wooden beams and planks, one end resting on the wall, the other on two slender columns of white marble, supported by two masonry posts. I had returned to Italy from my fourth visit, when I received from Shoghi Effendi a sketch for a new door and a request to secure a scale drawing and estimate of cost.
Tuscany, one of the central provinces of Italy, has been known for centuries for the skill of its artisans, heirs to the Renaissance artist-craftsmen working in the ateliers of the most renowned masters of that time. Metal, wood, marble, leather, silk and many objects attest the good taste and refinement of their makers. Tuscany became, therefore, the place where the door of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh would be executed, and the city of Pistoia - once famous for the most luxurious carriages produced there until the beginning of this century - was chosen.
After inquiring among architects and artists, it was possible to find a reliable carpenter and cabinet-maker. His name was Saiello Saielli, and he was a willing and intelligent craftsman who fulfilled to the letter Shoghi Effendi's expectation. Being an expert in wood, Mr. Saielli was helpful in selecting the proper kind of well-seasoned oak, possessing the best grain, free of any blemish or imperfection.[*]
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* Mr. Saielli made also the wooden core of the bronze door and the balustrade of the International Archives. See page 161.
Owing to the climate of the Holy Land, and particularly of Akka, the structural frame of the door was to be built with layers of wood placed so that they would compensate for any stress or pull caused by heat, cold or humidity, thus preventing the slightest warping. Before the door was started and during the months it was executed, I made many visits to Pistoia to consult and decide upon certain technical details, the decorative motives, and the finishing of the oak and the hardware, such as copper nails, a bronze lock and hinges. Each half-door was divided in four quadrangular panels in addition to the base plinth; and within the centre of each panel was carved a nine-petal rosette with turned-up edges, a reminder in its grace and design of the oriental lotus flower. To ensure that these floral panels would be perfectly equal, we arranged to have a sculptor make a model panel in its right measurements, first of clay and, after approval, of gypsum, so that the carver would have a perfect example to follow in every detail. The result was excellent as can be seen by all those who have the good fortune to visit the Qiblih of our Faith. The general decorative scheme was completed by semi-spheral knobs of wood, distributed symmetrically around the door frame, and by protective doornails in the plinth; rosettes, knobs and doornails were gilded by hand, thus enhancing the beauty of the polished oak. To prevent inconveniences that may develop in the use of either iron or bronze hinges, it was decided to use ball-bearing hinges; these were placed under and above the half-doors and will outlast the durability of the oak itself.
I was not in Haifa when the door arrived, but I soon learned that the beloved Guardian was overjoyed by its simplicity, perfect execution and highly decorative beauty, and he gave instruction to have it put up at once; a cable of appreciation came in the days following, bringing much cheer to my heart.
It is not possible to recollect in detail all the improvements and beautifications which Shoghi Effendi, himself, planned and executed particularly with reference to the gardening and the addition of ornamental objects throughout the whole area. My heart is deeply moved whenever I walk around the gardens and see all the things he accomplished with so much love and such boundless eagerness: a living reminder of the happy days when he was on this earth.
A good many years ago, the believers of Rangoon, Burma, shipped an alabaster sarcophagus - as they had done for the remains of the beloved Bab[*] - to be used in the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh, to gather in it His mortal remains. It reached the shores of the Mediterranean, but because of the unsettled situation in the Near East area, it could never be brought to its destination. The beloved Guardian asked me at one time - in the late 'forties - to arrange for its transportation to the Holy Land, but the worsening political situation did not permit the consummation of the plan. The sarcophagus is now in good hands waiting for the opportunity to be sent to its rightful destination and thus fulfil another wish of the Guardian, as part of his plan to beautify that Holy Shrine.
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* See page 54 acc.Rangoon.Burma
In future, as the world Bahá'í membership increases and means become abundant, no doubt the erection of a magnificent mausoleum, as envisaged and desired by Shoghi Effendi, will be an impellent necessity accomplished by the enthusiastic support of every believer from every land of the globe. Then, the twin Spiritual Centres of the Faith, Haifa and 'Akka, will irradiate their resplendent glory with a potency that nothing on earth shall be able to surpass.
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