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USBN #202 December 1947 p2
There is no objection to performing a Baha'i marriage for two non-Baha'is, if they desire to have our simple ceremony. This, on the contrary, is yet another way of demonstrating our liberality.
Baha'u'llah has clearly stated the consent of all living parents is required for a Baha'i marriage. This applies whether the . parents are Baha'is or non-Baha'is, divorced for years, or not. This great law He has laid down to strengthen the social fabric, to knit closer the ties of the home, to place a certain gratitude and respect in the hearts of children for those who have given them life and sent their souls out on the eternal journey towards their Creator. We Baha'is must realize that in present- day society the exact opposite process is taking place: young people care less and less for their parents' wishes, divorce is considered a natural right, and obtained on the flimsiest and most unwarrantable and shabby pretexts. People separated from each other, especially if one of them has had full custody of the children , are only too willing to belittle the importance of the partner in marriage also responsible as a parent for bringing those children into this world. The Baha'is must, through rigid adherence to theBaha'i laws and teachings, combat those corrosive forces which are so rapidly destroying home life and the beauty of family relationships , and tearing down the moral structure of society.
The point the Indian NSA called to your attention about the Marriage Tablet is correct; part of it is Baha'u'llah's, part of it 'Abdu’l-Baha’s.
October 25, 1947
[See page 7 Baha'i News for February, 1947. The Marriage Prayer as reprinted is attributed to 'Abdu'l-Baha, whereas in reality the text consists of two separate Tablets. The text up to "the Lord of the worlds!" is by Baha'u'Hah, and the remaining text is a Tablet by 'Abdu'l-Baha. - USBN editor]
Here is the text as printed in the February 1947 USBN. It is now found in the U.S. Prayer Book as two separate Marriage Prayers, but the section - - - -
"And we greet and salute those of the Bayan who became the people of Baha, those who expended their efforts for the upraising of this luminous Faith, and whom the blame of the blamer did not withhold from God.
is not included.
The 1906 pilgrim notes of Ali-Kuli Khan refers to the Tablet of Baha’u’llah as a homily to read during the wedding ceremony and is a slightly different translation.
The version below from the Feb 1947 USBN is by Marzieh Gail from the Marriage Certificate used by the Assemblies in Persia.
He is the Bestower, the Bounteous!
"Praise be to God, the Ancient, the Ever-Abiding, the Changeless, the Eternal! He Who hath testified in His Own Being that verily He is the One, the Single, the Untrammeled, the Exalted. We bear witness that verily there is no God but Him; acknowledging His oneness, confessing His singleness. He hath ever dwelt in unapproachable heights, in the summits of His loftiness, sanctified from the mention of aught save Himself, free from the description of aught but Him.
"And when He desired to manifest grace and beneficence to men, and to set the world in order, He revealed observances and created laws; among them He established the law of marriage, made it as a fortress for well-being and salvation, and enjoined it upon us in that which was sent down out of the heaven of sanctity in His Most Holy Book. He saith, great is His glory: 'Marry, 0 people, that from you may appear he who will remember Me amongst My servants; this is one of My commandments unto you; Obey it as an assistance to yourselves.'
"And we greet and salute those of the Bayan who became the people of Baha, those who expended their efforts for the upraising of this luminous Faith, and whom the blame of the blamer did not withhold from God. Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds!
"He is God! O peerless Lord! In Thine almighty wisdom Thou hast enjoined marriage upon the peoples, that the generations of men may succeed one another in this contingent world, and that ever, so long as the world shall last, they may busy themselves at the Threshold of Thy oneness with servitude and worship, with salutation, adoration and praise. 'I have not created spirits and men, but that they should worship Me.'1 Wherefore, wed Thou in the heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love, and make them the means of attracting perpetual grace; that from the union of these two seas of love a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life. 'He hath let loose the two seas, that they meet each other: Between them is a barrier which they overpass not. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny? From each He bringeth up greater and lesser pearls:'2
0 Thou kind Lord! Make Thou this marriage to bring forth coral and pearls. Thou are verily the AllPowerful, the Most Great, the Ever-Forgiving! "
(signed) 'Ayn-'Ayn
1 Qur'cin 51:56.
2 Qur'an 55:9-22.
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