Topic: The Needfor a Universal Language
Page 1 This newsletter is dedicated to all seekers after the Eternal Truth. Among the things which are conducive to unity and concord and will cause the whole earth to be regarded
as one country is that the divers languages be reduced to one language and in like manner the scripts used in the world be confined to a single script. It is incumbent upon all nations to appoint some men of understanding and erudition to convene a gathering and through joint consultation choose one language from among the varied existing languages, or create a new one, to be taught
to the children in all the schools of the
world.1
Thus Bahá'u'lláh clearly states the importance of
a common language and script to the "unity and concord" of all the peoples of
the world, so that the earth may "be regardedas one country." On
the subject of its importance, He further states:
The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and absolutely essential. It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and
action.2
Anyone who reflects deeply upon these words will see that it is indeed
"obligatoryand absolutely essential." The practical advantages
to the increased ease of communication from one part of the world to another is
obvious to men and women whose business is on an international level. Indeed,
the advantages are obvious to anyone who travels extensively. Notice, too, that
Bahá'u'lláh gives instruction as to how this is to be
accomplished, that "through joint consultation" the leaders of the world should
"chooseone language from among the varied existing languages, or
create a new one." Furthermore, He states that it is "to be taught to
the children in all the schools of the world." Thus, within one generation
His purpose should be accomplished, and as stated in the final quote on this
subject, the earth will "be regarded as one country and one home." The
final quotation on this subject from God's Messenger for this age follows, in
which He also relates the importance of one language to the unity of the
world:
From the beginning of time the light of unity hath shed its divine radiance upon the world, and the greatest means for the promotion of that unity is for the peoples of the world to understand one another's writing and speech. In former Epistles We have enjoined upon the Trustees of the House of Justice either to choose one language from among those now existing or to adopt a new one, and in like manner to select a common script, both of which should be taught in all the schools of the world. Thus will the earth be regarded as one country and one home. The most glorious fruit of the tree of knowledge is this exalted word: Of one tree are all ye the fruit, and of one bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this that he loveth his country, let him rather glory in this that he loveth his kind.3
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1 Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of
Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 165-166. 2 Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of
Bahá'u'lláh, p. 166. 3 Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of
Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 127-128.
