The Child of the Covenant

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The Child of the Covenant:
A Study Guide to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha

by Adib Taherzadeh

chapter 40

start page

single page

Chapter 41

Appendix 1:

The Administrative Order

by Shoghi Effendi

A word should now be said regarding the theory on which this Administrative Order is based and the principle that must govern the operation of its chief institutions. It would be utterly misleading to attempt a comparison between this unique, this divinely-conceived Order and any of the diverse systems which the minds of men, at various periods of their history, have contrived for the government of human institutions. Such an attempt would in itself betray a lack of complete appreciation of the excellence of the handiwork of its great Author. How could it be otherwise when we remember that this Order constitutes the very pattern of that divine civilization which the almighty Law of Bahá'u'lláh is designed to establish upon earth? The divers and ever-shifting systems of human polity, whether past or present, whether originating in the East or in the West, offer no adequate criterion wherewith to estimate the potency of its hidden virtues or to appraise the solidity of its foundations.

The Bahá'í Commonwealth of the future, of which this vast Administrative Order is the sole framework, is, both in theory and practice, not only unique in the entire history of political institutions, but can find no parallel in the annals of any of the world's recognized religious systems. No form of democratic government; no system of autocracy or of dictatorship, whether monarchical or republican; no intermediary scheme of a purely aristocratic order; nor even any of the recognized types of theocracy, whether it be the Hebrew Commonwealth, or the various Christian ecclesiastical organizations, or the Imamate or the Caliphate in Islam — none of these can be identified or be said to conform with the Administrative Order which the master-hand of its perfect Architect has fashioned.

This new-born Administrative Order incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, without being in any sense a mere replica of any one of them, and without introducing within its machinery any of the objectionable features which they inherently possess. It blends and harmonizes, as no government fashioned by

[page 409]

mortal hands has as yet accomplished, the salutary truths which each of these systems undoubtedly contains without vitiating the integrity of those God-given verities on which it is ultimately founded.

The Administrative Order of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh must in no wise be regarded as purely democratic in character inasmuch as the basic assumption which requires all democracies to depend fundamentally upon getting their mandate from the people is altogether lacking in this Dispensation. In the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Faith, in the enactment of the legislation necessary to supplement the laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the members of the Universal House of Justice, it should be borne in mind, are not, as Bahá'u'lláh's utterances clearly imply, responsible to those whom they represent, nor are they allowed to be governed by the feelings, the general opinion, and even the convictions of the mass of the faithful, or of those who directly elect them. They are to follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of their conscience. They may, indeed they must, acquaint themselves with the conditions prevailing among the community, must weigh dispassionately in their minds the merits of any case presented for their consideration, but must reserve for themselves the right of an unfettered decision. 'God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,' is Bahá'u'lláh's incontrovertible assurance. They, and not the body of those who either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been made the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation. Moreover, he who symbolizes the hereditary principle in this Dispensation has been made the interpreter of the words of its Author, and ceases consequently by virtue of the actual authority vested in him, to be the figurehead invariably associated with the prevailing systems of constitutional monarchies.

Nor can the Bahá'í Administrative Order be dismissed as a hard and rigid system of unmitigated autocracy or as an idle imitation of any form of absolutistic ecclesiastical government, whether it be the Papacy, the Imamate or any other similar institution, for the obvious reason that upon the international elected representatives of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh has been conferred the exclusive right of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the Bahá'í writings, Neither the Guardian of the Faith nor any institution apart from the International House of Justice can ever usurp this vital and essential power or encroach upon that sacred right. The abolition of professional priesthood with its accompanying sacraments of baptism, of communion and of confession of sins, the laws requiring the election by universal suffrage of all local, national, and international Houses of Justice, the total absence of episcopal authority with its attendant privileges, corruptions and bureaucratic tendencies, are further

[page 410]

evidences of the non-autocratic character of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and of its inclination to democratic methods in the administration of its affairs.

Nor is this Order identified with the name of Bahá'u'lláh to be confused with any system of purely aristocratic government in view of the fact that it upholds, on the one hand, the hereditary principle and entrusts the Guardian of the Faith with the obligation of interpreting its teachings, and provides, on the other, for the free and direct election from among the mass of the faithful of the body that constitutes its highest legislative organ.

Whereas this Administrative Order cannot be said to have been modelled after any of these recognized systems of government, it nevertheless embodies, reconciles and assimilates within its framework such wholesome elements as are to be found in each one of them. The hereditary authority which the Guardian is called upon to exercise, the vital and essential functions which the Universal House of Justice discharges, the specific provisions requiring its democratic election by the representatives of the faithful — these combine to demonstrate the truth that this divinely revealed Order, which can never be identified with any of the standard types of government referred to by Aristotle in his works, embodies and blends with the spiritual verities on which it is based the beneficent elements which are to be found in each one of them. The admitted evils inherent in each of these systems being rigidly and permanently excluded, this unique Order, however long it may endure and however extensive its ramifications, cannot ever degenerate into any form of despotism, of oligarchy, or of demagogy which must sooner or later corrupt the machinery of all man-made and essentially defective political institutions.

Dearly-beloved friends! Significant as are the origins of this mighty administrative structure, and however unique its features, the happenings that may be said to have heralded its birth and signalized the initial stage of its evolution seem no less remarkable. How striking, how edifying the contrast between the process of slow and steady consolidation that characterizes the growth of its infant strength and the devastating onrush of the forces of disintegration that are assailing the outworn institutions, both religious and secular, of present-day society! The vitality which the organic institutions of this great, this ever-expanding Order so strongly exhibit; the obstacles which the high courage, the undaunted resolution of its administrators have already surmounted; the fire of an unquenchable enthusiasm that glows with undiminished fervour in the hearts of its itinerant teachers; the heights of self-sacrifice which its champion-builders are now attaining; the breadth of vision, the confident hope, the creative joy, the inward

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peace, the uncompromising integrity, the exemplary discipline, the unyielding unity and solidarity which its stalwart defenders manifest; the degree to which its moving Spirit has shown itself capable of assimilating the diversified elements within its pale, of cleansing them of all forms of prejudice and of fusing them with its own structure — these are evidences of a power which a disillusioned and sadly shaken society can ill afford to ignore.

Compare these splendid manifestations of the spirit animating this vibrant body of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh with the cries and agony, the follies and vanities, the bitterness and prejudices, the wickedness and divisions of an ailing and chaotic world. Witness the fear that torments its leaders and paralyzes the action of its blind and bewildered statesmen. How fierce the hatreds, how false the ambitions, how petty the pursuits, how deep-rooted the suspicions of its peoples! How disquieting the lawlessness, the corruption, the unbelief that are eating into the vitals of a tottering civilization!

Might not this process of steady deterioration which is insidiously invading so many departments of human activity and thought be regarded as a necessary accompaniment to the rise of this almighty Arm of Bahá'u'lláh? Might we not look upon the momentous happenings which, in the course of the past twenty years, have so deeply agitated every continent of the earth, as ominous signs simultaneously proclaiming the agonies of a disintegrating civilization and the birthpangs of that World Order — that Ark of human salvation — that must needs arise upon its ruins?

The catastrophic fall of mighty monarchies and empires in the European continent, allusions to some of which may be found in the prophecies of Bahá'u'lláh; the decline that has set in, and is still continuing, in the fortunes of the Shi'ih hierarchy in His own native land; the fall of the Qajar — dynasty, the traditional enemy of His Faith; the overthrow of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the sustaining pillars of Sunni Islam, to which the destruction of Jerusalem in the latter part of the first century of the Christian era offers a striking parallel; the wave of secularization which is invading the Muhammadan ecclesiastical institutions in Egypt and sapping the loyalty of its staunchest supporters; the humiliating blows that have afflicted some of the most powerful Churches of Christendom in Russia, in Western Europe and Central America; the dissemination of those subversive doctrines that are undermining the foundations and overthrowing the structure of seemingly impregnable strongholds in the political and social spheres of human activity; the signs of an impending catastrophe, strangely reminiscent of the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, which threatens to engulf the whole structure of present-day civilization — all witness to the tumult which

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the birth of this mighty Organ of the Religion of Bahá'u'lláh has cast into the world — a tumult which will grow in scope and in intensity as the implications of this constantly evolving Scheme are more fully understood and its ramifications more widely extended over the surface of the globe.

A word more in conclusion. The rise and establishment of this Administrative Order — the shell that shields and enshrines so precious a gem — constitutes the hall-mark of this second and formative age of the Bahá'í era. It will come to be regarded, as it recedes farther and farther from our eyes, as the chief agency empowered to usher in the concluding phase, the consummation of this glorious Dispensation.

Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abha Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá'u'lláh. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor coloured. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the 'Most Great Peace'; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium — the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá'u'lláh.
Shoghi[357]

[357 Shoghi Effendi, World Order, pp. 152-7.]

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Appendix 2:

The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice

This document is online at bahai-library.com/uhj_constitution.

[page 426]

Appendix 3:

Guide to Paragraphs in the Will and Testament

The following guide, which is presented in two sections, provides an easy reference linking passages of the Will and Testament to chapters of this book. In the first section, the paragraphs of the Will and Testament are listed in order and show in which chapters of The Child of the Covenant they are discussed. In the second section, the order is reversed, with the chapters of The Child of the Covenant appearing in order and indicating which paragraphs of the Will and Testament are covered in each chapter. The Will and Testament consists of 56 paragraphs. These are shown here as 1-WT up to 55-WT. The subject matter in each paragraph is discussed in one or more chapters of the book.

Will & Testament Paragraphs	Opening lines of paragraph of Will & Testament	Chapters in Child of the Covenant
1-WT	All-Praise to Him who, by the Shield of His Covenant...	4
2-WT	Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon...	27
3-WT	O ye beloved of the Lord! The greatest of all things...	5, 6, 7, 8
4-WT	And still another of His trials was the hostility...	9, 10, 11
5-WT	O ye that stand fast and firm in the Covenant!	12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 24
6-WT	What deviation can be greater than breaking the Covenant!	16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
7-WT	A few months ago, in concert with others...	22
8-WT	According to the direct and sacred command of God...	22
9-WT	In like manner, the focal Centre of Hate...	21
10-WT	O God, my God! Thou seest this wronged servant of Thine...	22, 24
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11-WT	In short, O ye beloved of the Lord!	26
12-WT	O God, my God! Shield Thy trusted servant from the evils...	40
13-WT	O ye that stand fast in the Covenant. When the hour cometh...	25
14-WT	In these days, the most important of all things is the guidance...	25
15-WT	The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all earthly things...	25
16-WT	O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one...	27, 35
17-WT	The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God...	13, 28, 29, 31
18-WT	O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the guardian...	35
19-WT	The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number...	36
20-WT	O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated...	35
21-WT	The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse...	32
22-WT	This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction...	33, 39
23-WT	O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation, conflict...	24
24-WT	Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples...	24
25-WT	And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained...	38
26-WT	O Lord, my God! Assist thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith...	??
27-WT	O friends of 'Abdu'l-Bahá! The Lord, as a sign of His infinite bounties...	39
28-WT	O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon you to be submissive...	39
29-WT	This is my counsel and the commandment of God unto you...	39
30-WT	O my Lord, my heart's desire, Thou Whom I ever invoke...	22
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31-WT	Yet now Thou seest them, O Lord, my God!	23
32-WT	Adversities have waxed still more severe as they rose...	12, 16, 22, 23
33-WT	Lord! Thou seest all things weeping me and my kindred rejoicing...	22
34-WT	I call upon Thee, O Lord my God! with my tongue...	23
35-WT	Thou art the Powerful...	23
36-WT	O dearly beloved friends! I am now in very great danger...	23, 24, 38
37-WT	It is incumbent upon these members...	38
38-WT	And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles	26, 24, 30
39-WT	In short, according to the explicit Divine Text...	26
40-WT	Gracious God! After Mirza Badi'u'llah had declared...	16
41-WT	My purpose is, however, to show that it is incumbent...	30
42-WT	O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart...	24
4O	God, My God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets...	24
4 ?	O my God! my Beloved, my heart's Desire! Thou knowest...	22
45-WT	Thou seest, O my God! how my long-suffering...	22
46-WT	Lord! My cup of woe runneth over...	22
47-WT	Thou art, verily, the Merciful...	22
48-WT	O ye the true, the sincere, the faithful friends...	21
49-WT	When, in all parts of the earth, the enemies of God...	12
50-WT	Thereupon the loved ones of the Lord arose	22
51-WT	And as they lost their cause, grew hopeless	22
52-WT	Hence, the beloved of the Lord must entirely shun them...	24, 30
53-WT	Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance...	25
54-WT	O ye faithful loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Bahá...	31
55-WT	For he is, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the guardian of the Cause...	29, 31, 38
28	The Guardian and the Universal House of Justice under the Protection of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh	17
29	Covenant-Breakers' Attacks on Shoghi Effendi	17, 55
30	Rebellion of Shoghi Effendi's Relatives	38, 41, 52
31	Turning to Shoghi Effendi	17, 54, 55
32	Hands of the Cause of God	21
33	The Hands of the Cause during the Ministry of the Guardian	20, 22
34	The Hands in the Service of the Guardian	17
35	Successor to Shoghi Effendi	16, 18
36	Shoghi Effendi's Statements about Future Guardians	19
37	The Chief Stewards, the Custodians	—
38	The Universal House of Justice	17, 25, 36, 37, 55
39	Huququ'llah, Obedience to Government, Supreme Tribunal	22, 27, 28, 29
40	Steadfastness in the Covenant	12

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Bibliography

'Abdu'l-Bahá. Memorials of the Faithful. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971.

— Risaliy-i-Ayyam-i-Tis'ah.

— Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1978.

— Some Answered Questions. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981.

— Tablets of the Divine Plan. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1977.

— The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Wilmette, III.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971.

The Bab. Persian Bayan.

— Selections from the Writings of the Bab. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1976.

Bahá'í Prayers: A Selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1991.

Bahá'í World, The. vol. 13. Haifa: The Universal House of Justice, 1970.

Bahá'u'lláh. Amr va Khalq.

— Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust 1988.

— Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1983.

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— The Kitab-i-Aqdas. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1992.

— Kitab-i-Iqan. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1989.

— Majmu'iy-i-Alwah .

— Mu'assisy-i-Ayadiy-i-Amru'llah.

— Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1978.

Balyuzi, H. M. 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Oxford: George Ronald, 1971.

— Bahá'u'lláh, The King of Glory. Oxford: George Ronald, 1980.

Blomfield, Lady [Sara Louise]. The Chosen Highway. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1967.

Chapman, Anita Ioas. Leroy Ioas: Hand of the Cause of God. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998.

Collins, Amelia. A Tribute to Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust.

Compilation of Compilations, The. Prepared by the Universal House of Justice 1963-1990. 2 vols. [Sydney]: Bahá'í Publications Australia, 1991.

Fadil-i-Mazandarani, Asraru'l-Athar.

Fadi-i-Yazdi, Manahiju'l-Ahkam.

Giachery, Ugo. Shoghi Effendi: Recollections. Oxford: George Ronald, 1973.

Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur.

Huququ'llah. Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. Oakham: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, rev. edn. 1989.

Khatirat-i-Afnan.

Lights of Guidance: A Bahá'í Reference File. Compiled by Helen Hornby. New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 2nd edn. 1988.

Mahmud-i-Zarqani. Mahmud's Diary. Oxford: George Ronald, 1998.

Ma'idiy-i-Asmani. Compiled from the Writings by 'Abdu'l-Hamid-i-Ishraq Khavari, New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1984.

The Ministry of the Custodians, 1957-l963: An Account of the Stewardship of the Hands of the Cause. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1992.

Nabil-i-A'zam. The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1970.

Rabbani, Ruhiyyih. The Priceless Pearl. London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969.

Rahiq-i-Makhtum.

Shoghi Effendi. The Advent of Divine Justice. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1990.

— Bahá'í Administration. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1968.

— Citadel of Faith: Messages to America 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í
Publishing Trust, 1965.

— God Passes By. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, rev. edn. 1974.

— Messages to America. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1947.

— Messages to the Bahá'í' World. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971.

— The Promised Day is Come. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, rev. edn. 1980.

— The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá'í Community: The Messages of the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981.

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Star of the West. Rpt. Oxford: George Ronald, 1984.

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Taherzadeh, Adib. The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford: George Ronald, 1992.

— The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 1. Oxford: George Ronald, 1974.

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— The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 3. Oxford: George Ronald, 1983.

— The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 4. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987.

The Universal House of Justice. Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1968-1973. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976.

— Wellspring of Guidance. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976.

Yunis Khan. Khatirat-i-Nuh-Salih.

[page 434]

References

A Note from the Publisher
1. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 144.

Preface
2. Ibid.
3. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 328.
4. Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Administration, p. 90.
5. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 25 March 1930, quoted in Compilation, vol. 1, p. 366.

Introduction
6. Matt. 16:18.
7. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 245.
8. For more information on the manner of revelation of Tablets, see Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 1, pp. 23-4.
9. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 134.
10. See Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 4, pp. 143, 149-53.
11. Bahá'u'lláh, in Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 135.
12. Maidiy-i-Asmani, vol. 5, pp. 98-9.
13. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 98.
14. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament, p. 15.
15. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p.8.
16. Shoghi Effendi quoted in Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 54-5.
17. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 144 .
18. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 328.
19. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 4.
20. ibid. pp. 19-20.
21. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 324.

Chapter 1
22. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, p. 77.
23. ibid.
24. ibid.
25. ibid.
26. ibid. p. 78.
27. Iqtiddarat, p. 85.
28. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 100.
29. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 173.
30. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 3.
31. ibid. p. 211.

[page 435]

Chapter 2

32. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, pp. 40-l.
33. See 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 95.
34. See Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 2.
35. Blomfield, Chosen Highway, pp. 39-40.
36. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 188.
37. Bahá'u'lláh, in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 148.
38. There is a further reference to him to chapter 13.
39. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, p. 24.

Chapter 3
40. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 121.
41. ibid. para. 174.
42. Quoted by Fadil-i-Yazdi in his Manahiju'l-Ahkam, vol. 2, p. 657.
43. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 1.
44. ibid. p. 2.
45. Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Administration, p. 90.
46. Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic no. 4.
47. The full text of this Tablet, with an explanation of its significance, is given in Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 1, chapter 14.
48. Bahá'u'lláh, in Bahá'í Prayers, pp. 223-4.
49. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, p. 87.

Chapter 4
50. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 221.
51. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 144.
52. ibid. p. 153
53. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 245.
54. Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 131.
55. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 173.
56. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet of Ahmad, Bahá'í Prayers, p. 211.
57. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 337-8.

Chapter 5
58. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 9.
59. Ma'idiy-i-Asma'ni, vol. 9, p. 128.
60. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 100-l.
61. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 190.
62. ibid.
63. From an unpublished compilation, Iranian National Bahá'í Archives, no. 18, p. 41.
64. Gleanings, p. 287.
65. ibid. p. 272.
66. As an example, see the message of Shoghi Effendi dated 4 June 1957, 'Call to Hands of the Cause and National Assemblies', in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 122-3.
67. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 329-30.

[page 436]

Chapter 6

68. The Bab, Selections, p. 59.
69. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 52-4.
70. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Nabil, Dawn-Breakers, pp. 583-4.
71. Nabil, ibid. pp. 368-75.
72. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 22.
73. Quoted in Blomfield, Chosen Highway, p. 45.
74. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 109.

Chapter 7
75. ibid. p. 117.
76. ibid. p. 118-20.
77. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 120.

Chapter 8
78. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 133.
79. Quoted in ibid. pp. 147-8.
80. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 149.
81. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Risaliy-i-Ayyam-i-Tis'ah, p. 330.
82. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 35.
83. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 155.
84. ibid. p. 156.
85. ibid. p. 157.
86. ibid. pp. 159-61.
87. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 161.
88. ibid.
89. ibid. pp. 161-2.
90. ibid. pp. 170-l.
91. ibid. pp. 180-2.
92. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 185.
93. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 345.
94. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 184.
95. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Asrau'l-Athar, vol. 4. p. 349.
96. Persian ambassador, quoted in ibid. p. 186.
97. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid.
98. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 203.
99. ibid. p. 148.

Chapter 9
100. Nabil, Dawn-Breakers, p. 433.
101. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 583.
102. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 184.
103. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 22-4.
104. The Bab, Selections, p. 149.
105. The Bab, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 100.
106. ibid.
107. ibid.
108. The Bab, Selections, p. 3.
109. The Bab, quoted in Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 171.
110. ibid. p. 154.

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111. ibid. p. 158.
112. The Bab, Selections, p. 98.
113. The Bab, quoted in Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf , pp 154-5.
114. The Bab, Selections, p. 157.
115. ibid. p. 131.
116. ibid. p. 155.
117. The Bab, Persian Bayan, III, 7.
118. ibid. III, 15.
119. The Bab, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 25.
120. The Bab, quoted in Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 154-5.
121. ibid., p. 152.
122. ibid, p. 174.
123. The Bab, Selections, p. 104.
124. ibid. p. 100.
125. The Bab, quoted in Bahá'u'lláh Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 151.
126. ibid. p. 141
127. ibid.
128. ibid. p. 152.
129. The Bab, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 29.
130. The Bab, Selections, p. 85.
131. The Bab, quoted in Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 153.

Chapter 10
132. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 164.
133. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 248.
134. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 112-13.
135. ibid, p. 117.
136. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 2.
137. Nabil, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 113.
138. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 115.
139. Greatest Holy Leaf, quoted in Blomfield, Chosen Highway, pp. 50-2.
140. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 176-7.
141. ibid. p. 173.
142. ibid., p. 22.
143. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 133.
144. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Balyuzi, King of Glory, pp. 183-4.
145. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 168.

Chapter 11
146. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 165-6.
147. Quoted in ibid. p. 167.
148. Quoted in ibid. p. 167.
149. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, p. 76.
150. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 167-8.
151. ibid pp. 168-9.

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152. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 77-8.
153. 2 Thess. 2:3,4, 8.

Chapter 12
154. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 326-31.
155. ibid. p. 323.
156. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-Salih, pp. 51-2.

Chapter 13
157. Khatirat-i-Afnan, pp. 165-6.
158. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, p. 328.
159. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-Salih, pp. 59-60.
160. ibid. pp. 40-3.
161. Ma'idiy-i-Asmani, vol. 5, pp. 98-9.

Chapter 14
162. Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic no. 5.
163. ibid. Arabic no. 42.
164. Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Prayers, p. 71.
165. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 53.
166. Bahá'u'lláh, Lawh-i-Tibb (Tablet of Medicine) in Majmu'iy-i-Alwah.
167. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 280.
168. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in Compilation, vol. 2, p. 211.
169. From a letter of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 28 March 1953, in ibid. p. 223.
170. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 256-8.
171. ibid. pp. 260-l.
172. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, pp. 63-6.
173. ibid. pp. 259-65.
174. ibid. pp. 570-3.

Chapter 15
175. Rahiq-i-Makhtum, vol. 2, p. 850.
176. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 242.
177. Ma'idiy-i-Asmani vol. 8, p. 40.
178. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 251.
179. As an example, see chapter 12, the story of Haji Muhammad Tahir-i-Malmiri's first meeting with Mirza Muhammad-'Ali.

Chapter 16
180. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 285.

Chapter 17
181. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 334-5.
182. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, p. 216.
183. ibid. pp. 250-6.
184. Memoirs of Haji 'Ali Yazdi.

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Chapter 18
185. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 222.
186. ibid. p. 219.
187. Quoted in Balyuzi, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 27l-2.
188. Quoted in Browne, Materials, p. 171.

Chapter 19
189. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, pp. 309-10.
190. ibid. pp. 313-15.
191. Owen, My Perilous Life in Palestine, pp. 230-5.

Chapter 20
192. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, pp. 45-7.
193. 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 275-6.
194. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, pp. 174-5.

Chapter 21
195. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 37.

Chapter 22
195. Translation of Fadil-i-Mazandarani, Asraru'l-Athar, pp. 361-3.

Chapter 23
197. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, pp. 216-22.
198. Quoted in Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 67.
199. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, pp. 131-4.
200. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in ibid. p. 135.
201. ibid.
202. ibid.
203. ibid. pp. 135-6.
204. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, pp. 227-8.
205. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjutu's-Sudur, pp. 251-2.

Chapter 24
206. 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Star of the West, vol. 12, no. 14, p. 233.
207. ibid.
208. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament, para. 38.
209. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, p. 210-11.
210. Yunis Khan, Khatirat-i-Nuh-i-Salih, pp. 357-8.

Chapter 25
211. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 278.
212. Ma'idiy-i-Asmani, vol. 4, p. 47.
213. ibid. pp. 123-4.
214. ibid. vol. 1, p. 69.
215. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 335.
216. 'Abdu'l-Bahá Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 51.
217. Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Administration, p. 66.
218. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 343.

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219. Bahá'u'lláh, Amr va Khalq, vol. 3, p. 121.
220. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, p. 257.
221. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 16.
222. 'Abdu'l-Bahá Selections, pp. 251-2.

Chapter 26
223. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 222.
224. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 251.
225. ibid. p. 249.
226. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, pp. 141-2.
227. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 251.
228. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets p. 128.
229. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 8-9.
230. Quoted in Star of the West, vol. 12, no. 19, p. 303.
231. ibid. pp. 294-5.

Chapter 27
232. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 5.
233. Cooper, quoted in ibid. pp. 5-6.
234. ibid. p. 17.
235. ibid. p. 39.
236. Quoted in ibid. pp. 40-1.
237. ibid. p. 42-3.
238. See chapter 29.
239. Mahmud-i-Zarqani, Mahmud's Diary, p. 268.
240. Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 48.

Chapter 28
241. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 386.
242. Message of Shoghi Effendi to the 1936 American Convention, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to America, p. 6.
243. Letter of Shoghi Effendi, October 1953, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, p. 169.
244. Letter of Shoghi Effendi, April 1954, in ibid. p. 63.

Chapter 29
245. Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, pp. 53-4.
246. ibid.
247. Shoghi Effendi, quoted in ibid. p. 57.
248. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, p. 320.
249. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 327.
250. Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, p. 53.
251. Letter from Nellie French to Albert Windust, 20 April 1948.
252. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, Bahá'í News, May 1934.
253. Quoted in Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 119.

[page 441]

Chapter 30
254. Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words, Persian no. 69.
255. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Will and Testament, para. 17.
256. Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, pp. 120-1.
257. Cablegram of Shoghi Effendi, 5 April 1952, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 24-5.
258. Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, pp. 121-2.
259. ibid. pp. 122-3.
260. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 3 June 1957, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 120-2.

Chapter 31
261. Mills, quoted in Giachery, Shoghi Effendi, p. 189.
262. Ransom-Kehler, in ibid. pp. 192-3.
263. Giachery, in ibid. pp. 16-20.
264. Collins, A Tribute to Shoghi Effendi.

Chapter 32
265. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 278.
266. Unpublished compilation, Iran National Bahá'í Archives, no. 27, p. 281.
267. Bahá'u'lláh, Iqtidarat, p. 249.
268. Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words, Persian no. 56.
269. Unpublished compilation, Iran National Bahá'í Archives, no. 15, p. 385.
270. Bahá'u'lláh, Mu'assisy-i-Ayadiy-i-Amru'llah, p. 11.
271. ibid. p. 12.
272. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 83.
273. From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, 19 May 1969.

Chapter 33
274. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 24 December 1951, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World. p. 20.
275. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 9 January 1951, in ibid. p. 8.
276. ibid. p. 7.
277. Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 253.
278. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 29 February 1952, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 20-1.
279. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 26 March 1952 in ibid. pp. 132-3.
280. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 27 March 1957, in ibid. p. 174.
281. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 6 April 1954, in ibid. pp. 58-60.
282. Letter of Shoghi Effendi, October 1957, in ibid. pp. 127-8.
283. ibid. p. 130.

Chapter 34
284. Chapman, Leroy Ioas, pp. 187-90.
285. ibid. pp. 193-7.

[page 442]

286. Cablegram from Shoghi Effendi, 4 June 1957, in Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá'í World, pp. 122-3.

Chapter 35
287. Haydar-'Ali, Bihjatu's-Sudur, pp. 441-3.
288. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 49.
289. ibid. pp. 53-6.
290. ibid. p. 57.
291. ibid. pp. 49-5 1.

Chapter 36
292. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 68.
293. The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 11.
294. Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 147-8.
295. The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 86-7.
296. The Universal House of Justice, Messages from the Universal House of Justice, pp. 40-1.
297. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 147.
298. Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, p. 261.

Chapter 37
299. Rabbani, Priceless Pearl, p. 447.
300. ibid.
301. 'Proclamation by the Hands of the Cause to the Bahá'ís of East and West', 25 November 1957, in Bahá'í World, vol. 13, pp. 341-3.
302. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 47.
303. Conclave Message 1961, in Ministry of the Custodians, pp. 321-2.
304. Cablegram from the Hands of the Cause, 21 April 1963, in ibid. pp. 425-6.

Chapter 38
305. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 68.
306. ibid. pp. 128-9.
307. ibid. p. 125.
308. ibid. p. 68.
309. Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'í Administration, p. 88.
310. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, pp. 172-3.
311. 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in the Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, pp. 84-5.
312. The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 11.
313. ibid. p. 41.
314. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, p. 302.
315. ibid. pp .79-80.
316. 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Compilation, vol. 1, p. 416.
317. Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Corinne True, translated by the Bahá'í World Centre, 1977. The original translation was made by Ameen Farid on 29 July 1909.
318. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, p. 80.
319. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 28 July 1936, in Compilation, vol. 2, p. 369.

[page 443]

320. From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 29 June 1976 in ibid. p. 371.
321. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 5.
322. Letter written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of the East, Naw-Ruz 111-1954, in Compilation, vol. 1, pp. 341-2.
323. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 52.
324. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, pp. 69-70.
325. ibid. pp. 129-30.
326. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, quoted in Introduction to Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 5.
327. From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 27 May 1966, in Compilation, vol. 1, p. 358.
328. 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in the Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 84.
329. Bahá'u'lláh, in Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 245.
330. From letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 18 April 1941, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1604, p. 483.
331. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, pp. 6-7.
332. Letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of Persia, 27 November 1929, translated from the Persian in Compilation, vol. 1, p. 333.
333. Letter of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of Persia, 27 November 1929, translated from the Arabic in ibid. pp. 333-4.

Chapter 39
334. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 56.
335. Bahá'u'lláh, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 30-1.
336. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, p. 219.
337. Mahmud-i-Zarqani, Mahmud's Diary, pp. 414-15.
338. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 97.
339. Bahá'u'lláh, in Huququ'llah, no. 18.
340. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 4 April-3 May 1927, in ibid. no. 80.
341. Bahá'u'lláh, in ibid. no. 9.
342. ibid. no. 27.
343. Unpublished, Iran National Bahá'í Archives, no. 27, pp. 206-7.
344. Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets, pp. 22-3.
345. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, p. 241.
346. 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections, pp. 293.
347. ibid.
348. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, p. 40-1.
349. From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 17 June 1933.

Chapter 40
350. Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, para. 1.
351. Bahá'u'lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic no. 59.
352. ibid. Persian no. 27.

[page 444]

353. ibid. Persian no. 26.
354. ibid. Arabic no. 42.
355. ibid. Persian no. 11.
356. Bahá'u'lláh, in Bahá'í Prayers, p. 4.

Appendix 1
357. Shoghi Effendi, World Order, pp. 152-7.

[page 445]