Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Charles Mason Remey, The Baha'i Movement: A Series of Nineteen Papers, bahai-library.com.
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The Bahai Movement
A Series of Nineteen Papers
BY
CHARLES MASON REMEY

Published in the Ninety-fifth Year after
the Birth of Baha’o’llah

Second Edition

PRESS OF
D. MILANS & SONS
WASHINGTON, D. C.

PREFACE

THESE papers treating of the Bahai Movement have been written at various times and places during the
past two years, some typewritten copies of which have been circulated among people interested in the
work. Because of the growing interest in the Bahai Cause and the increasing demand for literature upon
the subject, it now seems advisable to publish these articles in book form, in the hope that they may be
of service to those who desire more knowledge of the Bahai teaching.

C. M. R.

21 March, 1912,
Washington, D. C.

In the Persian and Arabic languages each letter has a numerical value and each name or word has as its
numerical value the sum of the values of its component letters. A=l, B=2, H=5. Thus 9 is the numerical
value of the name Baha, and this number, which is the greatest of simple numbers, is used by the Bahais
as a symbol of the name.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
I INTRODUCTION 1
II. THE BAB 6
III. BAHA’O’LLAH 14
IV. ABDUL-BAHA 25
V. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE WORD OF GOD 35
VI. RELATION OF THE BAHAI MOVEMENT TO THE RELIGIONS OF 42
THE PAST
1. CHRISTIANITY 43
2. JUDAISM 45
3. ISLAM 47
4. ZOROASTRIANISM 49
5. HINDUISM 51
6. BUDDHISM 53
7. MODERN THOUGHT 55
RESUMÉ 57
VII. THE BAHAI SACRED WRITINGS 59
VIII. SOCIAL REFORMS, LAWS AND ORDINANCES 64
IX. THE NEED OF THE TIMES 72
X. ORIENTAL-OCCIDENTAL UNITY 76
XI. ETERNAL LIFE 80
XII. HEAVEN AND HELL 83
XIII. SCIENCE AND RELIGION 88
XIV. THE SUPERNATURAL 90
XV. EDUCATIONAL ASPECT OF THE BAHAI TEACHING 91
XVI. THE BAHAI MOVEMENT AND THE ECONOMIC QUESTIONS OF 94
THE DAY
XVII. THE EVOLUTION OF MAN 96
XVIII. THE METHOD OF TEACHING AND THE GROWTH OF THE BAHAI 98
MOVEMENT
XIX. A PERSONAL TESTIMONY 103

[page 1]

I.
INTRODUCTION

At the present time the religious world is in a state of change. It has broken away from the cold and
hard creed and dogma of the past, and it is awakening to, and reaching out for, a broader conception of
truth — the universal religion. This, the universal religion, is what The Bahai Movement offers to the
world.
While there are many philosophies, (religion, because of man’s limitations, has taken upon itself
many and varying forms of thought) from the spiritual view-point there is but one religion. There is but
one God and there is but one spiritual relation between HIM and the individual souls of men. The
knowledge of the spiritual relation between the Creator and the created is the one only and true religion.
It is the basic principle of all religious systems, and, shorn of the superstitions and imaginations of the
past, it will be the religion of the future.
Through knowing, understanding and living the principles of The Kingdom, men will become
united; the various religions, sects, and cults will cease to exist as such, and all men will live as brothers.
The Bahai Movement is actually bringing about this millennial condition. Through its teaching and
influence the spiritual limitations of an undeveloped humanity are disappearing, and the Truth, which is
the love of God, is manifesting itself here on this earth as brotherhood among men.
This present day is characterized by a great spiritual awakening, the like of which has never before
been in the world. This awakening is manifest among all people, in all countries, and under all
conditions. During the past sixty-five

[page 2]

years the world has entered upon a new spiritual era: people who have made a study of the religious
work of today realize this fact, notwithstanding their own personal view-points. In the Christian world
we see the effect of this awakening in so convincing a manner that illustrations are unnecessary. In the
other religions the same is clearly and strikingly visible in the many changes and movements which, in
these latter years have characterized Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. This spiritual awakening
is universal. It manifests itself differently under varying conditions, social, racial and religious, but
considered as a whole, it indicates that now the soul of the world is awake and searching, and that
nothing short of the universal truth will appease its hunger and quench its thirst. It is this universal soulneed which the Bahai teaching is meeting and satisfying.
The teachers and prophets, the founders of the world-religions, have been seers as well as channels
of truth to the people of their days. Through spiritual understanding and wisdom, they foresaw this
latter-day universal awakening and demand for truth. They also foresaw the supply for this demand in
the coming of another channel of divine grace, the Latter-Day Messiah. This, the greatest of all
manifestations, they prophesied would arise with spiritual understanding and power, reveal and
demonstrate the universal truth, which exists in all religions, and unite all men and establish the
universal religion, the Kingdom of God on earth. That this manifestation, the greatest of all GOD’S
Messengers, has come is the message that the Bahai Movement is giving to the world.
There was a time when the religions of the world were considered as isolated and separate

[page 3]

one from another, with no connection whatever; but now, in the light of this new teaching, all are seen to
have emanated from the one source — which is GOD. As parts of one great body, they are organically
connected. Each has been a step leading humanity to a higher conception of the Creator and preparing
souls for the time when all men would unite, worshipping HIM in spirit and in truth. Thus one prophet
appeared, building upon the foundation of His predecessors, fulfilling their prophecies and
accomplishing the hopes of their followers by leading humanity on, a stage further, in soul development.
Each prophet prepared the way for the coming of the succeeding prophetic dispensation. In this way
have all religious movements of the past been integral parts of the foundation of God’s Kingdom here on
earth, whose completed structure now is appearing in the Revelation of Baha’o’llah, in which the
prophecies, hopes and fruits of all religions are realized.
The Bahai Movement offers to the world a teaching applicable to the modern needs of humanity. It
offers religion renewed. All truth emanates from “The Word of God” and through GOD’S mouth-pieces,
His anointed ones, it comes into the world for the soul-quickening of humanity. The teachings of all
religions in their beginning were pure but, as time passed, man-created philosophy and thought crept in
killing the pure spirit of truth until, finally, little remained save creed, dogma and ceremony. So, a purer
conception of truth being needed, another divine revelation appeared. To-day the creeds and dogmas of
the past are without spiritual potency. A new spiritual quickening is necessary, and, as of old, GOD has
again revealed His Word, that all men, of all nations

[page 4]

and of all races, may receive more abundantly than ever before, His spirit. This He has accomplished
through the three inspired leaders of the Bahai Movement; through The Bab, who was the herald and the
First Point of this Revelation; through Baha’o’llah, who was the revealer of The Word; and now through
Abdul-Baha, who is the expounder of The Word, in whom all things are fulfilled.
Going back to the dawn of history one finds the family to be the unit of civilization. Later on, many
families are found uniting under a patriarch, forming a clan or tribe. Still later are found federations of
clans or tribes, from which nations have come into existence. Now the next step is the absorbing of all
nations and races into one great world people. This is the order of the progress of mankind, and in the
fruit of the teachings of Baha’o’llah is seen the beginning of this great end. Civilization is the product of
religion. Each of the world’s civilizations had its birth in a religious movement. Civilization has always
been the fruit of the spiritual awakening of a people who, by political and geographical barriers, were
isolated from external influences. In this day geographic, political and social barriers have, through
travel and communication, been obliterated until now man is limited only by the confines of this planet.
We are on the threshold of an universal epoch. That which affects one people politically, socially or
financially, affects the whole world, and the great universal civilization so rapidly advancing is casting
its signs before. In the Bahai teaching is the spiritual power to unite men’s souls. It is forming a spiritual
nucleus from which will spring the univer-

[page 5]

sal civilization to be, of the magnitude of which we can now form no conception.
Today, has begun a new order of things upon the earth. Mankind is attaining spiritual maturity, and
is demanding more spiritual food than the old forms and dogmas of religion can give him. Through
spiritual enlightenment, ignorance is being dispelled, causing a change of soul — a change in man’s
nature — and this change is being felt the world round. The mission and object of the Bahai Movement
is the uniting of men of all nations, religions and races in the love of GOD and the brotherhood of man.
Its teaching is constructive. It fulfills the highest hopes of the religions of the past, and is uniting all men
in the great universal religion of the future.

[page 6]

II.
THE BAB.

Mirza Ali Mohammed, known as The Bab,* was born in October, 1819, in the city of Shiraz, in
southern Persia. His father, a Seyed or descendant of the prophet Mohammed, died during his infancy,
whereupon the young child was adopted into the family of an uncle, a man of virtue, who reared Him,
giving Him such elementary education in the Persian language as was customary among the sons of the
merchant class to which He belonged. On attaining maturity Mirza Ali Mohammed went into business
with His uncle and was for some time located in Bushire upon the Persian Gulf. As a young man He was
noted for purity, gentleness, and charm. Even those who afterwards opposed and persecuted Him and
His followers so cruelly, never attacked His personal character. Much religious meditation, they
claimed, had unbalanced His mind.
On May 23d, 1844, moved by the Spirit of God, Mirza Ali Mohammed gave His teachings to the
world. At that time from various parts of Persia, were gathered together in Shiraz eighteen prepared
souls, men of wisdom to whom it had been given to understand spiritual realities, and to these chosen
disciples Mirza Ali Mohammed revealed His mission. He was the door (“Bab”) or forerunner of a great
prophet and teacher soon to appear. He, The Bab, had been divinely sent as a herald to warn the people
of the coming of The Promised One and to exhort them to purify themselves and prepare for His advent.
One — whom He entitled “He whom God

___________________

* “Bab” is the Arabic and Persian word for door or gate.

[page 7]

shall manifest,” the Latter-Day Messiah, promised in all the revealed writings of the past — was soon to
come and establish The Kingdom of God upon earth.
These eighteen first disciples of The Bab were known as “The Letters of The Living”. They, with
Himself as “The Point,” formed the nucleus for the dissemination of the new teaching. As soon as The
Bab had instructed these disciples in His simple doctrines, He sent them into various parts of Persia with
the commission to teach and to proclaim His appearance. He then, with one of His followers, went upon
the annual pilgrimage to Mecca where, before a concourse of over one hundred thousand pilgrims
assembled from all parts of the Moslem world. He made His first public declaration. When He returned
to Bushire, His cause was known in many parts of the country, and was so rapidly gaining adherents that
the members of the Mussulman clergy became alarmed lest through the rise of this new cult they might
lose their hold over the people. Then were The Bab’s travels, teachings, and trials increased.
From Bushire The Bab went to Shiraz where He was roughly treated by the Moslems, placed under
guard and ordered to remain within the confines of His house. There, nevertheless, many had access to
Him, were attracted, and believed in His teaching, men of prominence and learning as well as those of
the more humble walks of life. The world about him was against Him, yet through the power of Divine
Love He overcame all obstacles and won the hearts of the people.
The Bab next journeyed to Esphahan, where by that time He had many followers. There He was
received by the governor of the city, a

[page 8]

Christian, who openly acknowledged belief in Him and befriended Him in many ways, giving Him
facilities for meeting and teaching the people. This aroused the anger of the clergy to such a degree that
the priests sought to put The Bab to death. Then it was that the governor concealed Him in the official
quarters where He remained for some time in safety.
The friendly governor dying suddenly, and The Bab’s whereabouts becoming known, an order was
issued by the government in Teheran for Him to be conveyed thither. Accordingly, under guard He
proceeded toward the capital. In the cities and villages along the route of travel His message had
preceded Him, and wherever He went he found eager listeners and seekers whose souls He won. Even
His captors could not resist the spirit which flowed from Him, and many of them became His friends and
staunch supporters.
The ministers of state being informed of the rapid growth of the Babi Movement and fearing lest The
Bab’s presence in Teheran would agitate the clergy and possibly produce a religious uprising, another
order was issued to the effect that He should not approach the city but tarry in a town not far distant.
From there He was soon removed to the fortress of Maku in the extreme northwestern part of Persia. On
this long, cross-country journey The Bab passed through many cities and, as always, His fame spread
widely, and many believed and followed in His path.
Among the most prominent of The Bab’s followers was Kurratu l’Ayn, poet, orator and heroine of
the cause, who, after an eventful career in which she stood forth as a powerful exponent of the new faith,
suffered a martyr’s

[page 9]

death. As a woman many decades ahead of her time, her life and example are an inspiration to all, and
especially to her sisters of the Orient who, through the cause for which she died, are now being lifted
from their former condition of ignorance and oppression into one of knowledge and freedom.
As one listens to the accounts of the lives of the early Babis, (The Bab’s adherents were known as
Babis) of their missions and labors, sufferings and martrydoms, he sees the wonderful spirit of the love
of God which actuated them as they responded to the call. One is thrilled as he realizes that the days of a
vital and a burning faith, such as moved the apostles and fathers of old, have again come to pass, for this
latter-day religion is bearing the same manner of spiritual fruit as the religions of the past bore in their
earlier days.
The daily increase in the numbers of The Bab’s followers caused the Persian authorities to remove
Him from Maku to a more remote imprisonment in the castle of Chih-rik, where He could be more
closely guarded and would be less likely to communicate with the outside world. At length, His
following having attained to great proportions, the clergy became thoroughly alarmed and instigated a
heresy trial or public examination of His doctrines. This investigation was held in Tabriz by the
authority of the governor of the province, and before the tribunal The Bab was brought a prisoner. All
manner of insults and indignities were heaped upon Him, and finally He was flogged, one of the chief
mullahs applying the rods with his own hands. After this The Bab was returned to his former prison in
the fortress of Chih-rik.
About this time began the early persecutions

[page 10]

and massacres of the Babis in Persia. Aroused by their priests, the fanatical Moslems fell upon the
believers in many parts of the land, pillaging and burning their homes, and torturing and murdering men,
women and children. These crimes are too revolting to be mentioned in detail. The heart seems to stand
still when listening to the accounts of the marvelous courage and fortitude of even the children, not to
mention that of the women and men. These souls with the greatest calmness and joy submitted to the
most fiendish tortures and death rather than recant, or deny their faith, when denial would have saved
them. One’s heart beats rapidly when he realizes that through this suffering these martyrs were lighting
the way that people might be prepared to meet the One promised to appear and establish The Kingdom
upon earth.
Sometimes Babi fugitives banded themselves together to resist the attacks of the Moslems, and in
some instances they defended themselves bravely only to be slaughtered in the end by the overwhelming
number of their adversaries. That “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” is again proven to
the world, for with the shedding of each drop of Babi blood the cause gained numbers of adherents.
People who knew little or nothing of The Bab and His teachings, save that a great prophet’s forerunner
had come, were confirmed in the faith and went forth to serve, and to die when called upon.
Islam is the state religion of Persia, therefore that which shakes its power produces a like effect in
the workings of the government. At length, seeing the cause to be steadily on the increase, the prime
minister of the state ordered that The Bab be killed, hoping thus to put an end to the matter and to place
himself in security

[page 11]

with the clergy and the people. Accordingly, The Bab was again removed from the prison of Chih-rik
and taken to Tabriz, the seat of the local government of the province. Here, on the 9th of July, 1850, He
suffered martrydom.
The Bab, with one of His most devoted followers, a youth of noble family, was conducted to an open
square in the city and there the two were bound and suspended by ropes against a wall. A company of
Armenian Christian soldiers was drawn up and the order to fire given. When the smoke cleared,
however, to the astonishment of all present it was found that the aim had been too high, and instead of
harming the captives the ropes had only been severed and the two captives had dropped to the ground
unhurt. So great was the consternation caused by this incident that the commander of the executing
company refused to take further part in the affair, and another company, of native soldiers, was ordered
out and The Bab and His disciple were again suspended before the wall. The ensuing volleys riddled
both bodies with bullets, and death was instantaneous. Later, the remains were cast out into a moat and
there exposed to public view as a warning of the fate which awaited those who followed the new faith.
By night the body of The Bab was removed by some of the faithful, and after being swathed in silk it
was disguised as a bale of merchandise and deposited in a place of safety. As conditions and wisdom
demanded, from time to time this hiding place was changed, and finally, on the 21st of March, 1909, in
the presence of a notable gathering of pilgrims from various parts of both the Orient and the Occident,
the body of The Bab was laid to rest by Abdul-Baha, in

[page 12]

a sarcophagus, in the crypt of the shrine of The Bab in the Holy Land.
Although The Bab was without learning and schooling, save that of a very elementary nature, yet He
was so richly endowed with spiritual or inspirational wisdom that He discomfited the learned mullahs
until they feared discussion with him, lest the people should see the weakness of their arguments and the
strength of His teachings. He wrote with the greatest rapidity and fluency, dictating both in public and
private His many treatises upon intricate theological questions.
During the four years of The Bab’s imprisonment His numerous letters and epistles were, with the
greatest difficulty, smuggled out of the prison and sent to the followers in various parts of the country.
These writings contain His injunctions to the believers for their guidance and protection until the coming
of “Him whom God shall manifest.”
The Bab’s ordinances were given for the people of his time only, and were commensurable with the
needs and conditions of the believers during the interim between his manifestation and the manifestation
of the greater One to come. The Bab was the “First Point” of this revelation, the precursor of the greater
One. In his teachings He reiterated again and again that, when “He whom God shall manifest” appeared,
all should turn unto Him, and that He would reveal teachings and ordinances which would replace the
Babi sacred literature.
It is a matter of importance to note that the one great event for which the Babi Movement paved the
way, was the manifestation of Baha’o’llah, treated of in the next chapter. It should not be considered as
a later development of the

[page 13]
Babi cause, but rather the Bab’s mission should be considered as simply introductory to it. Running
through The Bab’s writings are found countless allusions to the spiritual power, splendor and glory of
Baha’o’llah, who was then in the world, but unknown to men. He was the inspiration of The Bab, to
Whom The Bab continually testified in the most eloquent and stirring of his verses, and of Whom He
bore witness by a life of suffering and imprisonment, crowned by martyrdom.

[page 14]

III.
BAHA’O’LLAH

Mirza Hussein Ali of Noor, more widely known as Baha’o’llah, was born in Teheran, Persia, on the
12th of November, 1817. His family was one of wealth and note, His father as well as other relatives,
having been ministers of the government, serving in various official capacities.
During Baha’o’llah’s youth, His father died, leaving Him, the eldest son, as the head of the family.
Being of a contemplative disposition, the public life which His father had led had no allurements for
Baha’o’llah. He chose instead, one of comparative retirement, managing the family estates and affairs,
and supervising the education of His brothers and sisters. Even in His youth the marks of wisdom and
distinction were upon Him.
In His home Baha’o’llah was taught the Persian language, and wisdom, knowledge and the deepest
of spiritual mysteries were His, through His own studies, meditations and inspirations. Later, these basic
principles of being are revealed in His writings with power and force. These truths are the foundation of
the Bahai cause. They are living, spiritual principles, for they appeal to and satisfy the soul, and meet all
of the moral and spiritual needs of life.
Baha’o’llah never attended any school or institution of learning. His knowledge was inspirational. It
came from the source of all knowledge, and is the source of knowledge for all.
At the time The Bab made His declaration and sent his disciples forth from Shiraz, Baha‘o’llah, then
about twenty-seven years of age, was residing in Teheran. When the glad tidings of

[page 15]

The Bab’s manifestation reached the capital, Baha’o’llah was among the first to respond to the call, and
He, in turn, proclaimed the cause, upholding it firmly. He visited the city of Noor, the home of His
family, and other neighboring cities and towns, where He engaged in expounding The Bab’s teachings,
later returning to Teheran, there again to take up His work.
The Bab and Baha’o’llah had no family connection whatever, the former being of Arabic-Persian
descent, while the latter was of ancient Persian lineage. These two never met in person, yet in spirit they
were intimate even in Their deepest thoughts and inspirations. Between Them a correspondence was
established which was carried on up to the last days of The Bab’s mission here on earth.
When, during His imprisonment in Chih-rik, The Bab foresaw the approaching day of His removal
to Tabriz and His martyrdom, He sent by faithful followers to Baha’o’llah a package containing a
number of His writings, His pencase and seal ring. At that time, though Baha’o’llah was known only as
His staunch supporter, yet The Bab saw in Him divine signs not yet manifest to others.
It was not long after The Bab’s martyrdom that a great calamity befell the believers. A certain
enthusiast, who (though a believer in The Bab) was quite ignorant of the teachings, became unbalanced
through brooding over the persecution and slaughter of his brother believers, and in the hope of being
able to better their condition made an attempt upon the life of the Shah of Persia. The guilty one was
immediately killed by the royal attendants. Without inquiring further into the matter, his crime was
taken, by the Shah and his ministers, as a dem-

[page 16]

onstration of the Babis, as a body, against the government. Then the innocent were made to suffer for the
guilty. This was the beginning of a season of the most bloody massacres and horrible torture of the
believers. Even to be suspected of being a Babi was — in many cases — sufficient to cause the
extinction of a whole family. In Teheran some eighty believers were handed over by the government to
the Moslems to be killed, each being subjected to some unique torture before the final slaying.
It was a time of greatest trial and test for the Babis. Each calamity was followed by one, more
terrible; yet through all, the wonderful hope of The Promised One to come and their enthusiastic love
and devotion to the memory of their martyred master, The Bab, upheld and strengthened them to meet
every kind of persecution.
In the midst of these troubles Baha’o’llah came boldly to the front. He was placed under arrest, and
spent four months in chains in the dungeon of one of the Teheran prisons. Later on, it being proved that
He was innocent of any plot against the government, He was sent by the royal order into exile to
Baghdad in Asiatic Turkey. There it was thought He would be so far removed from the Babis in Persia
as to destroy His prestige as leader among them. These events occurred in 1852, the ninth year after the
declaration of The Bab.
Baha’o’llah’s exile to Baghdad marks an important epoch in the development of the cause, for from
that time He stands preeminent as a power in that persecuted community.
After the fury of the massacres of 1851-1852, the Babis were in a deplorable condition. Many of the
disciples and personal associates of The Bab had been martyred, while, on account

[page 17]

of the troubles, the few remaining ones who had personally been taught by Him were all but cut off from
association with the younger followers. It had not been possible to disseminate, beyond a very limited
circle, the writings of The Bab, so that the vast majority of the believers knew little of His real teachings.
In addition, they were actuated by a powerful spirit of devotion to their cause; a devotion which, because
of its very intensity, at times led them into difficulties. Here and there arose false claimants for The
Bab’s successorship, all of which led to confusion and trouble.
This was the condition that prevailed when Baha’o’llah reached Baghdad. Immediately He directed
His attention and energy toward bringing knowledge and assurance to the followers. He taught them the
real significance of The Bab’s teachings and little by little, through understanding, their undirected
enthusiasm found power in restraint and strength. Thus He prepared them to recognize by their spiritual
faculties, The One whose coming The Bab had proclaimed.
The Babis now increased in firmness and steadfastness, especially those in Baghdad. As the fame of
Baha’o’llah spread abroad, men of learning came to converse with Him and listen to His teachings, and
of these many believed. As the believers increased in number, the anger of the Moslem clergy was
aroused and this, in turn, gave rise to other serious difficulties. Baha’o’llah was then led to seek a
solitary retreat in the mountain fastness of Kurdistan, where He remained for two years in spiritual
preparation for His coming manifestation and ministry.
Upon Baha’o’llah’s return to Baghdad, great was the joy of the Babis. By that time they

[page 18]
were realizing their spiritual strength, and they welcomed their teacher with all the fervor and
enthusiasm of Oriental devotees.
Believers from various parts of Arabia and Persia now came to Baha’o’llah, seeking knowledge from
Him. Then they went forth again to teach with a deeper understanding than before, and with a renewed
zeal and fervor; and the cause grew in strength.
These developments were closely watched by the Moslem priests. Fearful of the loss of their own
hold upon the people, which they saw waning as the light of the new teachings spread, the priests incited
the government against Baha’o’llah, with the determination to do all they could to curb His power.
Accordingly, after some correspondence between the Persian and Turkish governments, an international
arrangement was formulated, by which Baha’o’llah was ordered to proceed to Constantinople, there to
await the pleasure of the Ottoman Sultan, to whom he became temporally subject.
Upon hearing that their chief was to be removed from Baghdad, the believers became wild with
grief, the greatest consternation prevailing among them. A number of them prepared to accompany Him
in His further exile. When, in obedience to the summons of the Sultan, Baha’o’llah left Baghdad
previous to starting on His long journey, He encamped a short distance from the city in the Garden of El
Rizwan. There He was surrounded by some of His most devoted followers — believers in The Bab.
To the most trusted of these followers Baha’o’llah, during His twelve days of sojourn in El Rizwan,
revealed Himself and His mission: that He was The Promised One foretold by The Bab; that He was the
One promised

[page 19]

by all the prophets to appear in the latter days and establish GOD’S Kingdom, the great universal
brotherhood of nations; that He was the One through whose inspired guidance the difficulties of the
believers would be removed; by steadfastly and unitedly following Whose injunctions those blessings
for which the believers had hoped, suffered and prayed would be realized. This hope He extended to the
adherents, exhorting them to renew their energies, faith and assurance.
The Manifestation of Baha’o’llah took place in April, 1863, nineteen years after the declaration of
The Bab.* This was the goal toward which all the Babis had directed their attention, beyond which no
one had seen. Now, having attained to the meeting of The Promised One, the believers found themselves
upon the threshold of an outlook so vast, and of a work so great, that it was only with the sustaining
power of their new teacher that they were able to face the difficulties which confronted them.
The period of preparation over, the trusted believers found themselves in the full light of the day of
GOD, compared with which the preparative light of The Bab had been but as a few rays.
Traveling overland by caravan, through Irak-Arabi and Asia Minor to Samsaon on the Black Sea,
and from there by ship, Baha’o’llah and His band of followers, after a fatiguing journey, reached
Constantinople.
Here the exiles remained for several months under governmental surveillance, before they were sent
under military escort to Adrianople, in

___________________

* In the writings of The Bab are certain verses prophetic of the rise of Baha’o’llah in the ninth year of
the Babi cause, and of His manifestation in the nineteenth year of the same. These prophecies were
given symbolically, in such manner as to be understood only by the faithful.

[page 20]
the interior of Roumelia. There, it was thought, Baha’o’llah would be so far removed from the world
which His cause was agitating as practically to destroy His power as a religious leader, thus striking a
fatal blow at the new faith. It is to be noted that each attempt upon the part of the temporal powers to
oppose this cause marks an epoch in the demonstration of its spiritual power.
Baha’o’llah and His exiled followers remained in Adrianople for five years, during which time the
cause grew and the believers attained to moral and spiritual virtues, their faith manifesting itself in their
daily lives. This was a time of growth and preparation. Through personal contact, those who were with
Baha’ollah grew in the shadow of His wisdom, while those at a distance had their souls made strong and
steadfast through His written teachings; for in Him all found the realization of the spiritual power, glory
and majesty of “Him whom God shall manifest”.
While in Adrianople Baha’o’llah directed His power to bringing the believers to a realization of His
mission. The cause under The Bab’s inspiration was more or less local, being confined to a few Islamic
countries. Its character and institutions were commensurable with the conditions to which it ministered.
It fulfilled its purpose and when this was accomplished in the appearance of Baha’o’llah, the Babi
Movement, as such, ceased to exist.
With the manifestation of Baha’o’llah, not only did the followers cease to be known as Babis,
becoming Bahais in name, but in the deepest spiritual sense did they receive from Baha’o’llah that soulquickening touch, which created within them the power to go forth to all the

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world, carrying the message of peace, attracting people of all nations and religions, and fulfilling that
which He sent them forth to accomplish.
Dating from the time of the declaration of Baha’o’llah in the Garden of El Rizwan, the cause
assumes a universal or a world character; for it must be understood that the teachings of Baha’o’llah are
not limited to the needs of certain conditions and countries, nor to the oriental peoples. He comes, The
One promised by all religions, for all peoples under all conditions, both oriental and occidental. His
teaching is universal; it is for the whole world.
Baha’o’llah achieved His work only under the greatest difficulties. Among those followers who
accompanied Baha’o’llah in exile was His half-brother, who failed to comprehend Him and the scope
and magnitude of His mission. This man resented Baha’o’llah’s growing power, and his opposition,
together with the spread of the faith, created troubles with the Turkish government, which increased
until an order was issued separating him from the believers, and sending Baha’o’llah a prisoner, to the
fortress of Akka on the coast of Syria.
It was in the summer of 1868 that Baha’o’llah and about seventy of His followers, men, women and
children, were taken in captivity; overland to Gallipoli, where they were embarked in a ship sailing for
Egypt. Arriving in the harbor of Alexandria, the exiles were transferred to another vessel which landed
them in Haifa, but a few miles across the bay from Akka, a distance which was covered in small boats.
Akka is the Acre of the time of the crusaders, more anciently known as Ptolemais. Her antiquated
ramparts and crumbling fortifications, the scenes of some of the bloodiest combats of mili-

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tary history from the ancient times of the Phoenicians down to the Napoleonic war in Syria, testify to an
earthly power which is of the past; while her name, so intimately connected with the Bahai cause, to-day
is most closely associated with that great constructive movement for spiritual power and peace, the glad
tidings of which were first sent forth to all the world from behind her prison gates.
For some years prior to Baha’o’llah’s arrival, the fortress of Akka had been used as a prison and a
place of exile to which the Sultan of Turkey sent his political opponents. The deadly climate of that
fever-stricken rock slowly but surely accomplished the desired destruction of many of these unfortunate
ones.
Here Baha’o’llah and His people were thrust into two rooms of the barrack prison. With poor and
insufficient food, and water not fit to drink, fever and sickness broke out among the believers. Their
sufferings were most intense, yet through all they were spiritually in the greatest joy and peace, for they
realized that only by meeting the very worst of this world’s conditions, could Baha’o’llah relieve and
change those conditions; while, as for themselves, they were only too happy and contented to share His
sufferings.
It was during this close confinement of Baha’o’llah within the prison of Akka that He made His
declaration to the world. This was done by sending a series of epistles, written in Adrianople, to the
rulers and potentates of the earth. In these missives He clearly states His mission, and He announces to
all this latter-day call of The LORD — the call of unity, harmony, and peace.
Very soon the officials and officers of the city began to realize the greatness of Baha’o’llah. and
some among them believed in Him. His

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fame as a teacher spread, and actuated by that veneration for wisdom, so peculiar to the Orient, many
sought His presence, to be awakened to those truths the existence of which they previously had not
realized.
After two years of close confinement in prison, Baha’o’llah was given the liberty of the city and
allowed to live in a house provided for Him and His family. His followers entered into various
occupations in the town and vicinity, and the material condition of the community was greatly improved.
In the early days of the imprisonment of Baha’o’llah in Akka, when He was most closely guarded
and with the greatest difficulty His communications were transmitted to those outside the prison. His
followers often journeyed from Persia overland, for months, to obtain but a glimpse of Him standing at
His barred window or to gaze at Him from afar as He walked upon the parapet of the prison, and then
they returned to their homes with renewed fervor and zeal in promulgating His cause. Later, these
pilgrims from various countries had access to Him, and, quickened by His power, went forth to proclaim
His Cause in the uttermost parts of the earth.
Besides those who saw Him personally, Baha’o’llah reached thousands in distant lands, and satisfied
their thirst for knowledge, through His tablets, which were epistles of exhortation, advice and
explanation written in response to letters from believers and seekers.
Baha’o’llah wrote also general treatises relating to matters both religious and secular. In these
inspired writings are found the basic principles upon which are built the institutions of the Bahai faith.
During the latter years of His ministry, Baha-

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’o’llah was allowed to spend much time in the country in the vicinity of Akka, even visiting Haifa and
Mt. Carmel. At the villa of Behje (situated on the plain of Akka) He departed this life in the month of
May, 1892, after forty years of hardship, imprisonment, and exile, that the soul of the world might be
quickened with the life of the spirit. The tomb of Baha’o’llah, at Behje, is greatly venerated by the many
pilgrims who yearly visit it from all parts of the world.
Through Baha’o’llah this great teaching was given to man. His function was that of the revealer.
Though as a man He lived a life in harmony with the conventions of His oriental environment, yet as
The Revelator, the mouthpiece of The Spirit, His teachings are universally applicable to all peoples
under all conditions. With the close of His ministry the latter-day revelation was complete as a
revelation. The next step in the development of the cause was that of explaining, establishing and
demonstrating these revealed truths in the world of practicality. For the accomplishment of this, Abdul-
Baha, the son of Baha’o’llah, was the chosen instrument.

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IV.
ABDUL-BAHA.

Abdul-Baha Abbas, also known as Abbas Effendi, the eldest son of Baha’o’llah, was born in
Teheran, Persia, on the 23d day of May, 1844, the very day upon which The Bab made His declaration
to the disciples in Shiraz.
At a very early age Abdul-Baha was called upon to share the sufferings of his father. When
Baha’o’llah’s persecution began with His imprisonment in Teheran and exile to Baghdad, His property
was confiscated, even to personal effects, while the members of His family suffered intensely for the
bare necessities of life.
Abdul-Baha’s schooling was interrupted in his childhood by these persecutions, and afterward he
never attended any school. However, through the constant companionship of his father, from whom his
inspiration came, and from his loving service to all people both high and low, an understanding, wisdom
and knowledge are his which are of God.
Abdul-Baha accompanied Baha’o’llah upon His winter journey from Teheran to Baghdad, and
during the years of exile there was constantly at his father’s right hand, serving and helping Him in His
work of teaching the people.
Abdul-Baha was the first to recognize the divine power of Baha’o’llah. He was the first soul
quickened by the spirit of Baha’o’llah, and the first to arise in the service of the Kingdom. In Abdul-
Baha’s life of devotion to the cause and his practice of the precepts of Baha’o’llah, the perfect life of
The Spirit is manifest, and in him all things are found to be accomplished.

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In Adrianople Abdul-Baha took upon himself the task of relieving Baha’o’llah of all possible cares
of daily life, so that He might devote Himself entirely to His mission. During the imprisonment in Akka,
when hardship and sickness were encompassing the believers on every side, it was Abdul-Baha, who,
through his buoyancy of spirit, gave courage to the distressed ones. It was he who nursed the sick and
through the touch of his hand imparted strength to the weak, while the light of his great love illumined
all and empowered them to overcome their ills.
In the written testament of Baha’o’llah, as well as in His verbal teachings, which have come down to
us through those who were near to Him, He appointed His son Abdul-Baha to succeed Him in His
spiritual mission, and designated Him as the one who should complete His work in the world. The
father’s mantle has fallen upon the shoulders of the son. The staff of Baha’o’llah is now in the hands of
Abdul-Baha, and the Spirit of God, which spoke through Baha’o’llah revealing TRUTH to the world, is
now manifesting to the world through Abdul-Baha’s life of service to God and to man.
Abdul-Baha is the center of the Bahai cause. He is the one to be emulated. Through following him
the Believers will attain to the spiritual fullness of the Bahai life. Abdul-Baha is the beloved son into
whose hands has been intrusted the guidance of the people of The Kingdom.
Abdul-Baha’s mission is that of the explainer, the establisher. Through his life of service he is
teaching and leading the people to the realization of the revelation of Baha’o’llah. By his life of example
he is teaching the heart of mankind and infusing spiritual consciousness into humanity.
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Abdul-Baha comes with the power of God to live and manifest the life of The Kingdom. This he is
demonstrating to the world, for through his ministry all things as revealed and intended by Baha’o’llah
are being accomplished.
Almost his entire life Abdul-Baha has passed under the temporal law as an exile and a religious
prisoner. At times he was only under military surveillance, and again imprisoned behind barred doors.
Yet despite these physical hindrances his spiritual work has prospered and his message of glad tidings
has gone the world round, taking with it the peace of the Spirit to thousands of souls of every race and
religion.
That Abdul-Baha’s mission is a purely spiritual one needs no further demonstration than that which
is already visible in the world. With all of the worldly powers against him, but with the power of God
with him, he is accomplishing that which he was sent to accomplish, for from him is emanating that
power which is uniting men’s hearts and drawing into The Kingdom the hungering souls from all
peoples. Abdul-Baha is harmonizing Christians, Jews, Moslems, Zoroastrians, Buddhists and Hindus in
the one and the true faith, the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man. The results of his work
prove his cause.
The name Abdul-Baha signifies the title of its bearer, “The Servant of God”. Abdul-Baha makes but
one claim for himself, that of absolute servitude in the path of God. The Spirit of Baha’o’llah is the
source of Abdul-Baha’s inspiration and his strength. He seeks no prestige nor prominence for himself.
His demonstration to the world is through deeds. His method of teaching is through deeds. His

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mission is to establish the deeds of The Kingdom in the lives of his followers.

With the passing of Baha’o’llah (May, 1892) began Abdul-Baha’s divine mission as “The Center of
the Covenant”. When he arose invested with the power of the Spirit, began the third and final period of
the establishment of The Kingdom here among men.
Abdul-Baha is an exile from his country and, until the re-establishment of the Turkish Constitution
in the summer of 1908, he was a religious prisoner, held in the fortress of Akka. With this political
change, he — with many other prisoners and exiles — was freed and is no longer under military
surveillance.
Since his release Abdul-Baha has made but few changes in his daily life. Now it is possible for many
more of his followers to visit him than formerly, consequently his duties and labors are increased. He
has given up his residence in Akka and, after residing for some months in the neighboring town of
Haifa, he has gone to Egypt, from whence he is at present carrying on his work.*
During every phase of the progress of The Cause, Abdul-Baha has done nothing needlessly to agitate
the fanatical peoples who surround him. In every way he and his family observe the oriental conventions
of life, in order to maintain harmony and amicable relations with the surrounding people. He is changing
the world by infusing spiritual wisdom into men’s souls. He teaches and reaches the people through
leading them rather than by trying to force them, through winning souls by the spirit

___________________

*Since the first edition of this book was published, Abdul-Baha has visited America where he travelled
and taught extensively. At the present time (March, 1913) he is on a similar mission in Europe.
[page 29]

rather than by trying to bring to bear the more objective forces of the outer world.
As there were a few of The Bab’s professed followers, who failed in the days of Baha‘o’llah to
recognize in Him the divine power by virtue of which He was The Bab’s successor, so there are also a
few followers of Baha’o’llah, whose eyes have not been opened during the ministry of Abdul-Baha to
the spirit manifesting within him, and who have failed to see in him the successor of Baha’o’llah.
These opposing people have at times made much trouble for Abdul-Baha. During the years of his
imprisonment, through false reports concerning his work, made to the government by these people (led
by his own half-brother), the Turkish officials imagined the Bahais were plotting against the Ottoman
power. Thus, much distress was created.
Sometimes, on account of the troubles brought on by the opposing people, it has been impossible for
the believers to visit Abdul-Baha. Once, some of his followers were cast into prison, and at another time
some of the believers were forced to flee from the Holy Land and seek refuge in Egypt. Nevertheless,
through all trials and troubles Abdul-Baha has gone steadily forward accomplishing his work, the
number of his opposers decreasing and the number of his sympathizers increasing, until now he has
clearly shown to all that his cause is not dependent upon earthly prosperity for its growth, nor does
opposition hinder its spread.
The Bahais have the uttermost esteem, love and veneration for Abdul-Baha. To them he is friend,
counselor, and spiritual guide.
In looking toward him as the expounder of divine wisdom his followers are worshipping the

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Divine Light which is manifesting through his life of service to God and man. They are not deifying his
human personality, for that he holds in common with all men.
Abdul-Baha does not wish to call the attention of people to his personality, nor to himself as a man,
save to demonstrate to them the principles of the higher life for which he stands. He not only does not
seek personal prestige, but even anything suggestive of this is extremely odious to him. For example, he
has repeatedly requested the believers not to use in connection with his name the terms “Lord” or
“Master”, which are so often applied in the Orient to spiritual teachers. In fact, any demonstration of
personal adoration is offensive to him.
Abdul-Baha stands as the exponent of a spiritual principle, a great divine power. This, and this only,
he desires the world to recognize.
Many beautiful and touching incidents are related by the people of Akka of the way in which,
through long-suffering and kindness, Abdul-Baha has won the hearts of those who, because of their
prejudice, formerly were his enemies. Caring for the sick and protecting the oppressed form a large part
of his daily duties. One of the titles applied to him by the indigent Arabs is “Father of the Poor”.
While Abdul-Baha’s method of teaching and moving people is through the heart and is gentleness
itself, nevertheless, conditions often make it necessary for him to be stern. Some of the native Arabs, and
others with whom he has relations need to be dealt with by a loving but firm hand.
Abdul-Baha administers justice, but with such kindness that the individual realizes it is done in the
true spirit of paternal training; and instead

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of offending the guilty one the opposite effect is produced, and a lasting good accomplished.
Abdul-Baha is married. He has four daughters, three of whom have husbands and families. Abdul-
Baha is teaching through his home life as a devoted husband and a loving father, a lesson to both the
people of the East and of the West. He is teaching the Oriental, monogamy and that woman should be
man’s intellectual, moral and spiritual companion as well as the mother of his children; and he is
teaching the Occidental, in these days of marital unrest, that marriage should be founded upon a spiritual
basis and not alone upon a physical one.
While imprisoned Abdul-Baha received a stipend from the Turkish government. Now that he is
freed, this no longer continues. He holds cultivated lands in the vicinity of Akka which render him an
income. His personal needs and those of his family are few. In reality, that which he possesses is for the
benefit of all, while he is but the guardian of it. No one knows of the many children he is educating; how
many needy and infirm ones he is clothing, housing and feeding. Abdul-Baha is demonstrating to the
world that there is neither virtue nor disgrace in either riches or poverty; and that man, either in need or
in plenty, should utilize his little or his much glorifying God through serving humanity.
There are many expenses in connection with the carrying on of the work. Those whose souls are in
the cause contribute in various ways, of which few, if any, are known. The American Bahais can testify
that Abdul-Baha very rarely permits any of them to share in carrying the burden of the work in the East,
though in rare instances he has accepted contributions for this purpose.
While his personality Abdul-Baha wishes

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sacrificed, for the cause for which he stands, nevertheless the people look at the outer person, and each
returning pilgrim from Akka is asked many questions regarding Abdul-Baha, the man.
Abdul-Baha expresses perfect manhood. The vigor of a fully-developed physical, intellectual, and
spiritual power is apparent in his every movement; yet with this is a delicacy, a sensibility and an
intuition which denote the inspiration that dominates him. In him is all of the dignity and majesty of the
king combined with the humbleness of the servant, and upon his brow is the strength and force of the
ancient Mosaic type of man, counterbalanced by the gentleness of a child.
In Abdul-Baha’s presence one becomes conscious of the deepest feeling of respect, veneration and
even awe, yet not the awe which holds one at a distance, for within Abdul-Baha’s soul there burns such
a fire of divine love that very few escape its power of attraction.
The awakened soul realizes that Abdul-Baha understands the spiritual condition of men, and that he
is the divine physician who, through the love of God, is healing the souls of men of the disease of
ignorance and superstition and inharmony. He ministers to each in accordance with the needs of the
individual. Often, at the time, one does not understand why Abdul-Baha acts and advises as he does, but
later all becomes clear when, through carrying out his instructions, one sees the depth of his
understanding and realizes the profoundness of his wisdom.
Abdul-Baha seeks always to remove the cause of trouble. His vision penetrates into the soul and
understands its condition. His balm is summed up in the word LOVE. Divine love annihilates worry and
kills fear, and when it takes pos-

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session of the soul it is as though another and a new dimension were added to the individual, and old
conditions of doubt and uncertainty are replaced by poise and assurance. Abdul-Baha’s mission is to
teach men to bring the love of The Kingdom into everyday life, and to manifest it in every thought, word
and deed.
It is in the little things and the numerous details of life that the test comes in applying spiritual
teachings. In the life of Abdul-Baha it is through the seemingly small things that his great spirit
manifests itself, and goes out with a penetrating power to the souls of those who allow themselves to
come within the radius of its activity. In his presence it is as if a refreshing breeze, a spiritual force,
proceeded from the heart of Abdul-Baha to that of the seeker— an indescribable force carrying strength
to the weak and guidance to the strong.
Abdul-Baha’s every word, look and gesture bespeaks his spirit, and while his spirit is the most
elusive and difficult of all things to express in words, when once perceived it is the most tangible of
realities, for it is the very essence of the life of the soul which is proceeding from him who is the center
of guidance.
Often the face of Abdul-Baha in repose, bears an expression as if caused by a great weight of sorrow
impossible to describe. No soul can fathom the depths into which he sees, nor the profoundness of his
realization of the suffering condition of man. He feels the hungering and the thirsting of the soul of
humanity for spiritual rest, and upon his brow is written her silent agony. However, when Abdul-Baha
speaks he is fairly charged with the positive life-forces of The Kingdom. In every glance and movement
he manifests the joy of the Lord, and as he shows

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forth this love and joy in his many deeds of kindness, his spirit penetrates the hearts of those who come
in contact with him, and they in turn go forth filled with the spirit to work and to serve in his path.
The pilgrim discovers in Abdul-Baha one who impresses his hearers not by projecting his own ideas
or personality upon them, but by calling forth a response from within the soul of each individual seeker.
The direct influence of the will of one personality upon another is transitory and without lasting benefit.
But how different is the message of the spirit speaking through the life and the words of Abdul-Baha,
who has sacrificed his will to the will of God. He has a message for every soul, and as the seeker meets
spiritually with the soul of Abdul-Baha, a new force is added to his nature and he goes forth quickened,
alive and aflame with the love of God.

Through The Bab the way was made ready and prepared for the coming of the Lord, the Latter-Day
Messiah, Baha’o’llah. Through Baha’o’llah, in whom God was Manifest, divine knowledge was
revealed to man, the laws of The Kingdom given to the world, and Abdul-Baha was appointed, “The
Center of the Covenant”. Now through Abdul-Baha’s life of service to God and man, the way is made
plain for all and the Kingdom of God established upon earth.

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V.
THE MANIFESTATION OF THE WORD OF GOD.

“That which is the cause of everlasting life, eternal honor, universal enlightenment, real salvation
and prosperity, is first of all, the knowledge of God.” Abdul-Baha.

“The root of all knowledge is the knowledge of God: Glory be to Him! And this knowledge is
impossible save through His Manifestation.” Baha’o’llah.

It is written: “In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with God, and The Word was
God.” It is through the Word of God manifested in the temple of man, that men’s souls become
quickened with the spiritual life, attain divine knowledge, receive spiritual assurance, and are enabled to
rise above the condition of ignorance and ascend the scale of advancement and civilization. The Word,
or the Spirit of God, spoke through all the prophets or manifestations.
Infinite Deity is beyond the comprehension of man: yet, through the manifestation of The Spirit of
The Deity, man is enabled to come into touch with God, to comprehend and to know His characteristics
and His attributes, and to obtain Divine Knowledge which is eternal life. By this is not meant that the
essence of the Infinite Deity is contained nor confined in the personality of the revelator, but that the
soul of the prophet is as a clear mirror which mirrors forth, or manifests, all of the divine attributes.
Everywhere in the world of nature is seen the result of God’s creative power, yet this has never
awakened nor brought spiritual quickening, divine joy, nor com-

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fort to the soul of man. This is because God’s creation, though it emanates from Him, yet it does not
manifest Him. The heart of man is only divinely quickened, and spiritually satisfied, through the coming
to humanity of the Manifestation of God or The Word Revealed.
The Manifestation of “The Word” or of “The Spirit,” through the prophets or “Chosen Ones,” is the
unique source of the spiritual enlightenment of men. This source is of God, not of man. Though the
prophets and divine teachers were men, their spiritual power and strength was not because of any human
virtue or wisdom. Their power to change men’s natures, and to create great spiritual awakenings in the
world was due to the Spirit of God which spoke through them. The Word of God is a life-giving, a
creative power. Through it, slumbering humanity is quickened with spiritual wisdom, and the souls of
men are lifted from the condition of ignorance to that of knowledge and wisdom. The advancement of
the world of humanity is due to the quickening power of The Word. From it proceeds the very seed of
civilization and progress and through it man is divinely quickened and born into The Kingdom of God.
The great power of the world’s divine teachers has been due to their divine wisdom and inspiration.
These Manifestations have each arisen as teachers among men. As they found sympathetic souls
prepared for the spiritual messages which they brought, they revealed truths, always giving in proportion
to the capacity of their disciples to receive.
In the ministry of each prophet is seen a certain development, and unfoldment of his teaching. This is
due to the spiritual unfoldment and development of the souls of his followers, for

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speaking through each prophet was the Perfect Eternal Word, which in itself is above unfoldment and
development. Men can comprehend this only as their souls develop. Therefore each prophet revealed
himself little by little, as he prepared his followers to receive him in the fullness of his mission.
The inner spiritual teachings of the Divine Manifestations have been one and the same in substance,
differing only in degree. The degree of the spiritual knowledge manifested has been always
commensurate with the degree of the spiritual capacity of the people to whom the prophet ministered.
The outer teachings, including the divine laws and ordinances of the divine revelators, have differed in
every age. These specific instructions have always been given in conformity with the material condition
peculiar to the various ages.
Through the harmony of the spiritual law and the material law, as exemplified in the lives and
teachings of the Manifestations, humanity has come under divine guidance, the direct result of which has
been a higher state of development of morals and all social relations.
Thus, from the purely spiritual view-point the Bahais regard all the prophets as the same, because of
the one eternal, unchangeable truth which they, one and all, manifested; whereas, viewed from the
human standpoint, these spiritual teachers are seen to be different personalties, giving different teachings
and establishing different religious systems.
The laws and ordinances, as given to the world by the prophets, though material have had a deep
spiritual effect upon man. They were given through divine wisdom; and by obedience to them, the living
out of the same by men, the

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conditions were created which were necessary for the fuller and unhampered spiritual unfoldment of
humanity. It is for this reason that each revelator has insisted that the people follow his commands. It
was for their own good that he commanded this. Their welfare depended upon following his injunctions.
Supply and demand go hand in hand in spiritual matters, as science has proven them to do on the
material plane. At the time of the coming of each divine manifestation there was a certain spiritual need
among men. With each “Coming”, the ministering to that need was the unique mission of the prophet.
The difference in the missions or the fields of work of the prophets, naturally differentiates them into
the world manifestations, those whose teachings and ordinances were directly applied to the whole
world, such as the Melchizadek type, Christ and Baha’o’llah, and the more local manifestations, those
whose teachings and laws were applicable only to certain people under certain conditions, such as
Zoroaster, Moses, Mohammed and others. Some prophets founded new religious systems which
previously had not existed, while there were others who re-established and confirmed the faith of the
people in the teachings and institutions of a former prophet. Of these latter the Hebrew prophets after
Moses are examples.
As there are cycles of growth, fruition and decay in life on the physical plane, there are also the
cycles of birth, development, fruition, decay in religious systems or dispensations.
As the cycles or seasons in the physical world are due to the condition of the material earth, so the
cycles or seasons in the religious world

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are due to the condition of the world of humanity.
Every religion has had its birth in the advent of its divine founder. Through the labors of its early
adherents it grew and developed, bringing forth its fruits in the institutions and civilization which grew
up and formed about it. This was its golden age. Then followed a period in which the faith of the people
grew cold, spirituality waned, morals suffered, and religion losing its spirit became a form. Thus the
souls of the people became starved and their condition needed the ministration of another prophet, who
in due time appeared and lifted them a step higher and nearer toward the coming of The Kingdom upon
earth.
In this way each prophet has been a link in the great chain of revelators, completing the work and
fulfilling the words of his predecessors and preparing the way for others to come after him. Thus have
all manifestations of the past prepared the way for the latter-day coming of The Lord, accomplished in
the coming of Baha’o’llah, whose mission was to unite those now following many systems, into one
brotherhood and one universal faith.
The prophets have been seers as well as sources of divine life. Through spiritual understanding they
were able to indicate in their teachings the material signs and conditions as well as the more spiritual
ones, which would characterize the advent of succeeding manifestations.
The “return” of the prophets does not refer to the return to this world of a “personality”. It refers to
the return in another personality, of the impersonal Spirit, the Word or Spirit of God which spoke
through the prophets of the past. With the passing of centuries people ceased

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to differentiate between the personality of a manifestation and the Spirit of God which spoke through
him, hence, instead of looking for the return of The Spirit manifesting through another personality, in
these latter days the people of each religion are mistakenly looking for the personal, individual return of
their own special prophet.
The mission of each divine revelator has been to announce and to prepare the way for the
brotherhood of The Kingdom among men. Each accomplished his mission, speaking and teaching
through symbols and parables commensurable with the conditions of his day; each quickened the souls
of the people with divine life and each foretold the coming of the great Latter-Day Messiah who was to
establish The Kingdom of Peace upon earth.
In the coming of The Bab, Baha’o’llah and Abdul-Baha is found the fulfillment of the divine
promises of God, given to the peoples of the past ages, and in it is the beginning of that age of divine
enlightenment and spiritual wisdom for which men have long hoped and prayed. In the light of their
inspired teachings all religious teachings of the past are understood and seen to be as parts of one great
divine plan for the spiritual enlightenment of the world, and in the Bahai revelation is realized, also, that
power which is binding and uniting the peoples of all races and religions in one universal religion, which
is The Kingdom of God upon earth.
Resurrection and judgment pertain to the coming of a manifestation. These terms should be
understood spiritually. Through the Word revealed, souls are quickened and the spiritually dead are
given divine life. The day of each prophet is the time of judgment for those souls

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who hear his message, whether they accept the truth or reject it.
To-day is the time of judgment prophesied in all of the holy books of all peoples. The call of The
Lord has gone forth. The people are hearing it. Some are awake to it and are arising to serve, while other
souls are not yet sufficiently aroused to realize what has come into the world.
That The Word of God has again been manifested to man and that “The One” promised in the holy
writings of all religions has come in the flesh and has established the new and the divine order of things,
The Kingdom of God on earth, is the message which the Bahais are giving to the world.

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VI.
RELATION OF THE BAHAI MOVEMENT
TO THE RELIGIONS OF THE PAST

The people of each religion expect the return of the Spirit which shone through their prophet in the
past, and the universal establishment of their own religion. The Word of God speaking through all the
prophets gave the same message of the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of The Kingdom
upon earth.
As time passed, and the spirit of the teachings became weak, the people ceased to regard their
prophet as a human being, the medium through whom the Spirit of God manifested and was revealed.
They began to deify the human personality of the prophet and instead of expecting the return of the same
Spirit, manifesting through another personality, they began to look for the return in person of their guide
or prophet. Thus the Christians believe in the corporeal descent of Jesus from the heavens (interstellar
space), instead of the appearance of the Christ Spirit, which was the divine power in Jesus that He
promised would again manifest upon earth at the end of His dispensation. In the same way the Jews look
for the personal return of Elijah “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” and the
Moslems look for the personal and corporeal return of the Imam Mahdi.
As the Bahai message is being given to the people of each of these religions, they are being called
back to the original teachings of their individual prophet. They realize that the voice of the Spirit spoke
through Him, and they understand all the prophets to be manifestations of the

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one Spirit of God to the people of their times, and in this day they see the manifestations again of this
same Divine Spirit through the founders of the Bahai movement, by which are realized all the promises
and prophecies of all the religions regarding the Latter-Day “Coming,” and The Kingdom upon earth.

CHRISTIANITY AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The Bahais believe that in Jesus appeared “The Word,” or The Spirit of God. This differentiated Him
from other men. By virtue of the Divine Spirit which spoke through Him, he was The Christ, the
manifestation of God among men. Through Him souls became spiritually quickened, were reborn, and
were lifted from the condition of spiritual ignorance (sometimes called sin), into one of spiritual
enlightenment (sometimes called salvation).
Like the mission of every prophet, that of Jesus The Christ was a three-fold one. First, He fulfilled
the prophecies of the prophets who preceded Him and proclaimed His coming. Thus, in Him was the
consummation of the former dispensations. Second, He was the unique source of divine enlightenment
to the people of His dispensation, and through the power of His word he founded His cause. Third, He
prepared the way for the coming of the great Latter-Day Messiah, Baha’o’llah, God manifesting Himself
as The Father, whom He and all prophets foretold would arise in the fullness of time and establish The
Kingdom of God upon earth.
Jesus explains the divine plan for the spiritualization of the world in its entirety in the parable of the
“householder which planted a vineyard” (St. Matt. XXI, 33-41), in which the householder is symbolic of
God, the creator of the

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world. The “vineyard” symbolizes the people of the world, while the “husbandmen” are the leaders of
the people. His “servants” represent the prophets sent by the Lord to call the world to righteousness and
divine obedience, all of whom the people persecuted and rejected. His “son” is Jesus, The Christ, whose
teaching was refused by the world which crucified Him. “When the Lord therefore of the vineyard
cometh” refers to the coming of the Latter-Day Messiah, Baha’o’llah, while “he will miserably destroy
those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits
in their seasons,” is prophetic of the great outpouring of divine grace through this new revelation, which
will be so great as to overcome and dispel the great power of evil (spiritual ignorance) which is
dominating humanity. This day is the time of the world’s turning from humanity to divinity. Baha’o’llah
has brought to the world a New Day, for with His coming, old conditions passed away and a new
dispensation was ushered into existence. The law of equity, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,”
and the Christ law of mercy and love have for centuries been known to man, but the power to enable the
world in general to live according to the Christ law has been given to all humanity only through
Baha’o’llah.
When God came to the world manifesting Himself as the “Son,” Jesus Christ, the world rejected
Him, “but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name.” To those individual souls He gave His peace, but not to the world, because
the world did not receive Him. This He announced when He said: “Think not that I am come to send
peace on

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earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword/’ Here again, as well as in other instances, Christ states that
His dispensation was to be a militant one, which would in the end of the age be followed by another, a
triumphant dispensation of divine grace and peace here on earth. Now Baha’o’llah has brought that
peace to the world. He is “The Prince of Peace,” who has come to the world and has established the
foundation of peace on earth. How clearly Isaiah, the prophet, saw this coming of the Lord when He
wrote, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His
shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.”
No one touched by the spirit of Christianity can fail to recognize that the Bahai teaching is only the
perfection of Christianity, for to be a real Christian in spirit is to be a Bahai, and to be a real Bahai is to
be a Christian. As one reads the words of Christ and the testimony of the apostles, who received from
him many teachings, there stands out one promise above all other things — his second coming among
men — another appearance of the Christ spirit. The Word of God in the temple of man. This
manifestation to be the beginning of the end of the old order of human differences and at the same time
to usher in the new order of divine peace here on earth. All is summed up in the promise “The Kingdoms
of this world are become the Kingdoms of Our Lord, and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and
ever.”

JUDAISM AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The Bahais regard the Hebrew prophets as revealers of divine truth. Through these various

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channels The Word was revealed, souls were quickened with divine life and obeyed the divine laws, and
the way was prepared for the coming of The Kingdom on earth. These prophets from the earliest,
Abraham, down to the last, Malachi, formed a complete chain. Each built upon the foundation of the
teachings of His predecessors; each ministered to the spiritual needs of the people of his day, and each
extended to humanity the promise of the coming of the Messiah, at the end of the days, and of the
righting of all things in the establishment of the reign of God among men.
As one reads the Hebrew Scriptures, the prophecies of the coming Messianic Dispensation are found
to be the one great thread running through all. In this promise is heard the one divine voice of The Word
of God speaking through the personalities of the many prophets or mouthpieces, or channels of truth.
In the Jewish holy books are found prophecies pertaining in particular to two manifestations of “The
Word,” to come. The so-called first and second comings of the Messiah; those relating to the first
coming were fulfilled in the coming and mission of Jesus, The Christ, while those regarding the second
coming are fulfilled in these latter days in the coming of “The Ancient of Days”, Baha’o’llah with His
precursor, The Bab, in whom was The Spirit of Elijah (Malachi IV:5), and His “Servant, The Branch”,
(Zech. III:8), who is Abdul-Baha.
It was through the study of the prophecies regarding the second coming, as recorded by the prophet
Daniel, that the Millerites learned that the Messiah was to come in the year 1844. They expected His
miraculous appearance in the clouds and were disappointed. The Bab came and Ab-

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dul-Baha was born at this appointed time, fulfilling prophecy, but in a manner not anticipated by men.
The country of Carmel and Sharon in the Holy Land, to which Baha’o’llah was sent in exile, and where
He lived and taught, was the place designated by the ancient seers of Biblical fame, where the “Ancient
of Days” would appear. The glory of the Lord of Hosts to come, and the power and majesty of His
spiritual rule upon earth are testified to by prophet and psalmist in the most inspiring passages of
Hebrew sacred writ, while the peace, prosperity and general upliftment of humanity resulting therefrom
are most vividly depicted.
The mission of the Jewish people was a religious one. From the seed of the progenitor of this people
have come the founders of great religions of the past, as well as the founders of the great religion of the
present and future. From Abraham, through the line of Isaac came Moses and Jesus; through Ishmael
came Mohammed and The Bab; while from the line of another son (Abraham had six sons other than
Isaac and Ishmael) was descended Jesse,* from whom descended Baha’o’llah.

ISLAM AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The prophet Mohammed taught submission to the will of God. Islam means “Submission”.
Mohammed arose in Arabia at a time of spiritual need when the people were sunken in ignorance and
superstition. Through his guidance, idolatry and immorality were changed into the worship of the one
God, and into high moral standards. He brought a code of laws and ordinances

___________________

*Not Jesse, the father of David, but another of the same name, This point was explained to the writer by
Abdul-Baha at Haifa. May, 1910.

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perfectly adapted to the spiritual and material needs of the people of His day. These people, because of
their extreme degradation, had been untouched both by Judaism and Christianity. They needed a
teaching and a code of laws suited to their own special condition.
The rise of the Moslem civilization has had no parallel in history. United under the standard of the
belief in one God and the immortality of the soul, the fierce sons of the Arabian desert, in an incredibly
short time, evolved into a highly cultured people, their sciences, arts and literature having contributed
much toward our present western civilization.
As division, superstition and decay crept into the Moslem Church the people retrograded, until in a
few centuries after the death of Mohammed the spirit of his teaching was a thing of the past, and
Moslem civilization was in a decline.
Islam, like Christianity and every other religion, can not be judged by its later followers. The student
must go to its source in order to ascertain its truths. In Christianity, the history of the divisions and wars
between the churches is one thing, and the teaching of Christ is another thing. So it is in Islam. The
present condition of its people, and the condition to which the prophet called them are indeed very
different. The Moslems look for three manifestations in the latter days (it being literally expressed in
their teachings as three trumpet calls). According to the traditions of Islam, seven years and forty years,
respectively, were to separate these calls or comings. This corresponds to the missions of The Bab and
of Baha’o’llah which lasted seven, and forty years.
Islam teaches of a day (a time or period) of spiritual resurrection and judgment, and of the

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coming of the Christ, preceded by the Mahdi (director or guide), and of the establishment of The
Kingdom upon earth.
The Moslem believes the latter-day time of spiritual awakening or resurrection, through the giving
forth of the Word of God, to be the time of the world’s judgment, the people being their own judges, as
they choose to accept or to reject the newly revealed truth. This time was to be accompanied by certain
signs similar to those mentioned in the Bible, such as: The coming of the spirit of Anti-Christ (which is
infidelity), decay of religious faith among men, and the accompanying demoralization which this must
bring with it.
Many Moslems have come into the Bahai faith, accepting The Bab as the promised Mahdi and
Baha’o’llah as the Christ (Spirit), who was to come, for both have fulfilled their prophecies and
traditions of which there are many. According to them, The Bab appeared from the East and made his
public declaration at Mecca, at the place and time prophesied (1844 A. D. or 1260 A. H.), and taught
during the anticipated length of time. Also, Baha’o’llah arose in Irak and went to Akka and Carmel in
Syria. His mission lasted 40 years. The many details are so clearly traced in tradition and prophecy, that
it is very easy for the orthodox Moslem to realize the truth of the claims of both, and to see in their
missions the fulfillment of the Islamic prophecies.

ZOROASTRIANISM AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The present Zoroastrians, or Parsees, are but the remnant of a once powerful people. During the
many vicissitudes of war and national decay their ancient political power has become dis-

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sipated, and through contact with peoples of other religions their original religious teaching has lost its
purity, and a lifeless formalism has taken the place of its once vital spiritual force. As for the sacred
literature of the Zoroastrians, it, like themselves, is now but fragmentary; the elements necessary to give
it complete comprehensive form are lost.
Although many connecting links are missing in Zoroastrian holy writ, nevertheless its spirit is clear
and apparent. Zoroaster taught a pure monotheism and the future existence and immortality of the soul,
all of which He explained to the people in familiar terms and parables. The physical sun, which is the
source of all physical life, He used as the symbol for the sun of truth, the manifestation of God, the
source of all spiritual life, while the stars symbolized the lesser prophets. Purity is a fundamental
teaching in Zoroastrianism. Both spiritual and physical purity are taught in its laws and ordinances,
which were given in terms couched to meet the need of mankind in that ancient day. Fire being the great
cleanser, it is the emblem used to denote spiritual purity, for it is through the spiritual fire of the love of
God that men’s souls are purified and quickened into eternal life. Zoroaster is pictured as bringing down
from heaven the divine fire with which to purify mankind. The spiritual meaning of this is apparent,
although for centuries the understanding of these truths was lost and the people ignorantly adhered to the
outer forms, worshipping the sun, the stars and fire, hence the terms applied to them, “Sun and Fire
Worshippers”.
The same idea of resurrection or quickening, spiritual judgment and The Kingdom of God on earth,
expressed in other religious teach-

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ings, are found in Zoroastrianism. The end of the Zoroastrian dispensation, it was foretold in their sacred
literature, would be characterized by spiritual impurity, therefore the need of another manifestation to
bring to earth the divine fire of the love of God for the purification of all people. The teaching has a
number of prophecies regarding the coming of the great Latter-Day Prophet, spoken of as Shah Bahram,
and the purification of the people of the earth by fire — the fire of the spirit.
The expectation of this coming of the prophet is symbolized in the Zoroastrian worship, when the
people turn to worship to the rising sun. As the same physical sun rises and sets again and again, giving
life to the earth, so does the sun of God’s truth rise in each prophetic day and through the personality of
the prophet of that day gives life to the souls which receive the rays of its spiritual warmth and power.
The Zoroastrians who are now hearing of the message of the Bahai Movement are realizing that it is
the fulfillment of the prophecies and the spirit of their own religion, and through this teaching they are
coming into touch with kindred spirits in all the world. Thus they are arising to perform their service in
this great work of uniting all men in the love of The Kingdom.

HINDUISM AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The origin of Hinduism (Brahmanism), on account of the lack of annals and records in its literature,
is practically lost to history. As it now is, Hinduism is a most complex system of philosophical thought,
manners and customs. It lacks that unity of spirit and of form which the teaching originally possessed. In
all religious systems men’s ideas have gradually re-

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placed the inspired wisdom of the founders. In Hinduism this is particularly true, so much so that it is
only with the greatest difficulty that the original spirit and teaching can be traced. Even some of the most
learned students of Hindu philosophy, have doubted that originally Hinduism was a revealed teaching,
for since its sacred books contain no chronicles, the personalities of the revealers have been lost.
Of the truth in the original Hindu teachings, however, there is no doubt, for the voice of the Spirit,
the source of all religion, speaks yet today through its holy books, the Vedas, despite the lapse of time
since they were written.
According to the teaching in the most ancient of the Hindu sacred books, God the creator, is all in
all, beside whom there is none other. Sacrifice is taught as the means of attaining nearness to God.
Material sacrifice is the symbol for the sacrifice of all worldly desires and passions which separate
men’s souls from God, the highest attainment being that perfect at-onement with God which the giving
up of every desire and passion alone can bring. Since God only is all in all, only the life in Him can be
without change or end. This is eternal life.
The teaching in its original purity was a simple monotheism. The divine spirit spoke to the people
through the mediumship of different personalities at different times. These inspired souls arose as the
need for their teachings became evident among men, to whom they were sent as spiritual guides.
This thought is most clearly expressed in one of the Hindu sacred books, the “Bhagavad-Gita” or the
Lord’s Song, in which it is written, “Whenever there is decay of righteousness and there is exaltation of
unrighteousness, then I

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Myself come forth. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil doers, for the sake of firmly
establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age. The foolish disregard Me when clad in human
semblance, ignorant of My supreme nature, the great Lord of beings.” The Hindus have here the promise
of the coming of a great incarnation, Krishna, to occur in this day. He was to arise and establish
universal righteousness and destroy spiritual ignorance or sin.
The latter-day Krishna was to lead the people back to the spirit of pure teaching as given by His
predecessors, (former manifestations of the spirit of the Lord) and through spiritual wisdom and power
was to overcome all unrighteousness establishing in its place spiritual enlightenment. Those illumined
Hindus whom the Bahai cause is reaching see in Baha’o’llah the incarnation of the spirit of God and
they accept him as their promised one, Krishna.
Thus, the Bahai teaching confirms the Hindu in the fundamental truth of his own religion, and it
frees him from the superstition and caste which have for centuries kept his people in a state of both
spiritual and physical bondage. Under this influence he attains to the real spirit of sacrifice as given in
his ancient teachings, and to the real emancipation of the soul, which is in truth the fundamental tenet of
the most ancient Hindus.

BUDDHISM AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

Buddhism stands in the relation to Hinduism very much as Christianity does to Judaism. Chrisitanity
sprang from Judaism as the mother religion, in like manner Buddhism came out from Hinduism. As
Christianity and Judaism evolved two widely differing systems of philosophy, so have Buddhism and
Hinduism evolved

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two theological systems, which not only do not resemble each other, but are in direct opposition. Jesus,
the Christ, came not to destroy but to fulfill the law and prophets. Guatama, The Buddha, had no
intention of departing from the true spiritual and original precepts of the teachings of Hinduism. His
mission was to teach the people the divine significance of the past teachings, which had become to them
but an empty form. Through Him millions of souls have received God’s truth in the measure of their
capacity, and according to the degree their condition demanded.
The Buddha taught of the one God, and of the life eternal. The state of nearness to God is termed
nirvana, by the Buddhists. It is synonymous with the word heaven as used in the holy writings of other
religions. Gautama wrote no books. The events of His life, and His words and teachings were recorded
by His disciples and have been handed down to the people of succeeding generations.
Of the original teachings of The Buddha much has been lost, and replaced by the doctrines and
beliefs of men who came after Him. In fact the latter-day Buddhist teachings, so rich in the ramifications
and speculations of philosophical thought, bear about as much resemblance to the original spiritual
teachings of The Buddha, as the present day multiplicity of creeds of any one of the world religions
bears to the real teachings of its founder.
The Buddhists, like the Bahais, consider all religions to be, from the spiritual standpoint, one
religion. They are without religious prejudice. They welcome all high elevating thought and teaching
irrespective of its source. They believe Gautama, The Buddha, to have been one of a se-

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ries of inspired souls sent to the peoples of various ages for divine training and guidance. As there were
Buddhas who preceded Him, so there would be Buddhas who would succeed Him. They expect the
coming of Maitrêya, or the great Fifth Buddha, whose coming, according to their traditions, is now due.
His work is to be with all mankind and through Him the earthly conditions of the past are to change and
be replaced by an age of divine wisdom and understanding.
The following excerpt from the recorded teachings of Gautama to His disciple Ananda, given just
previous to His death, explains in a few words much of his teaching, “I am not the first Buddha who
came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. I came to teach you the truth, and I have founded upon earth The
Kingdom of Truth. Gautama Siddhartha will die, but Buddha will live, for Buddha is the truth and the
truth cannot die. He who believes in the truth and lives in it is My disciple, and I shall teach him. The
religion which I have preached to you will flourish so long as my disciples cling to the truth, and lead a
life of purity. In due time another Buddha will arise, and He will reveal to you the selfsame eternal truth
which I have taught you”. Ananda said: “How shall we know Him?” Gautama replied: “He will be
known as Maitrêya, which means, ‘He whose name is Kindness’.”

MODERN THOUGHT AND THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

During the past sixty or seventy years so-called “Modern Thought” has entered into the fold of every
religion, preparing the people for a broad, universal conception of God’s truth, a conception unfettered
by the mental limitations of past ages. Although it is called “Modern

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Thought,” it is in reality the most ancient thought, for it is the resurrection of the spirit which the
religions originally possessed, and which during so many centuries was lost to humanity.
Modern Thought has been as a plough, which has prepared the religious ground of the world to
receive the spiritual seeds of The Kingdom. Modernism has uprooted ancient creed and dogma, and
along with this uprooting, the faith of many has been shaken and much spiritual seeking has resulted.
Now the Bahai teaching is sowing the seeds of a live faith in men’s souls. It is demonstrating to the
world that faith, religion and spirituality are vital and necessary forces in the world of humanity, and that
they have nothing in common with the superstitions and imaginations of the past. The Modern
Thoughtists of all races and religions are teaching the same principles as held by the followers of the
Bahai cause. They realize that humanity as a whole is now passing through a period of spiritual rebirth,
and this is the beginning of the age of spiritual wisdom, which is the millennium. In the great spiritual
organism of the universe, the various parts and members are organically united and linked together as
are the organs of the body. As there have been great changes and upheavals in the evolution of the
material world, due to material causes, so there have been great phases of change and development in
the evolution of the spiritual world, due to the action of spiritual causes.
The present day awakening, as seen in all of the many branches of Modern Thought, and the coming
of another revelation are the direct result of certain great changes taking place in the spiritual realm of
existence, which are being pro-

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duced by spiritual causes. In the early morning when the sun is yet below the horizon, the heavens are
illumined by its rays and the coming of day is evident to all. As the sun slowly rises, those upon the high
places first see it, later those in the valleys see it also; and when it is at its zenith the whole country is
receiving its rays and basking in its warmth.
So it is when the sun of truth manifests here upon earth for the guidance of the people. The
manifestation or revelator, is preceded by the signs of spiritual awakening, which show the people that a
new spiritual day or era is at hand. Those illumined souls of high spiritual discernment first recognize in
the revealer or prophet, the source of the light of God; later, the people in general awaken to His spiritual
power and wisdom and finally, through His teaching, both material and spiritual bounties are
forthcoming to the world.
This wave of modernism which has swept over the world, dispelling the night of spiritual ignorance
and superstition, is the first twilight of the great day of God upon earth. Already many illumined souls
are seeing in the inspired revealers of the Bahai religion the light of the world to be and its point of
diffusion. Later on, the whole world will realize that which now only the few see. Then, all humanity
will be the recipients in full of the much anticipated bounties of The Kingdom of God upon the earth.

Resumé.

As the people of the various religions come into the spirit of the Bahai Cause, their faith in the truth
of their own religion is augmented rather than lessened, for the spirit of this present

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day teaching is the same as that which actuated the early fathers of the ancient religions.
The Bahai Movement teaches severance. In his heart man must be severed from the world and its
passions. His dependence must be upon God though outwardly he must live in the world, there fulfilling
his material mission in life.
In the Bahai life, severance is comprised in the rebirth of the Christian, the spirit of obedience of the
Jew, the submission of the Moslem, the purification of the Zoroastrian, the sacrifice of the Hindu, the
renunciation of the Buddhist, and the “living in harmony with the divine” of the Modern Thoughtist. In
the Bahai movement, is summed up all of the spiritual essence of the religions of the past, which is now
given in a form most applicable to the present day needs of man, and adequate to cope with the modern
universal problems.

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VII.
THE BAHAI SACRED WRITINGS

The Bab.

The book of The Bab, or His collective writings, is known as “The Beyan”. That the mission of The
Bab was introductory to the advent of Baha’o’llah is most clearly stated in this book, in which the
coming of “Him whom God shall manifest” is the one great theme. In it The Bab exhorts the people
spiritually to prepare themselves to meet and to recognize and to adhere to, Baha’o’llah when He should
appear. He left certain laws and ordinances for the guidance of His followers until the advent of
Baha’o’llah, all of which should be abrogated, with the promised coming. These writings, calculated to
meet and minister to the local conditions which were chiefly Islamic, have as yet not been translated into
English.

Baha’o’llah.

The writings of Baha’o’llah are numerous and are in general, comparatively brief treatises. Of these
a number have been translated and published in the Occidental languages, while others still remain in the
original Persian and Arabic texts.
One of the first books translated and published in English was the Kitabu’l-Ighan (The Book of
Assurance). This was written by Baha’o’llah during His exile in Baghdad, and was a reply to certain
theological questions asked by a learned Mussulman divine. While the expression is couched in terms
peculiar to Islamic thought, yet, deeper than these terms, are revealed uni-
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versal spiritual teachings the essence of which appeals to the people of any religion.
In the Book of Assurance, Baha’o’llah quotes familiar texts from the Old and New Testaments of the
Bible, and from the Koran of Mohammed, and He explains the spiritual truths contained in these three
books, relative to the end and passing of the old dispensations, the coming of the Messiah, and the
ushering into existence of the new dispensation of The Kingdom upon earth. He demonstrates the
oneness of the teachings of the Jewish, Christian and Mussulman Holy literature regarding this Latter-
Day advent of the Lord.
In the Suratu’l Hykl (Chapter upon the Temple or Body) Baha’o’llah treats of His calling, His arising
in response thereto, and His mission here among men.
In The Book of the Seven Valleys, Baha’o’llah explains the different stages of the spiritual progress
or development of the soul of man. These stages He divides into seven, which He terms “Valleys”. This
book was written to elucidate certain truths from the standpoint of Mysticism. In order to appreciate it,
one must understand and be in sympathy with the spirit and teachings of the Mystics.
In the Lawhu’l-Akdas (The Holy Tablet) Baha’o’llah explains His cause to the Christian world. He
demonstrates that now is the time of the end spoken of by Jesus, The Christ, and He exhorts the
Christians to consider the importance of this day and of its cause. He demonstrates the necessity for
relinquishing dependence upon the creeds and customs of the past ages, and exhorts all to adhere to the
pure truth of the words of Jesus which, when understood, will confirm the truth revealed again in this
day.

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The Hidden Words (in two parts, one translated from the original Arabic text and the other from the
Persian) contain the essence of the spiritual truths revealed by the divine revelators of the past. In these
utterances the fundamental divine truths are again revealed to humanity in terms applicable to the
exigencies of this age. Each verse is replete with spiritual significances, and in each is hidden a message,
or word, for the hungry soul.
The Tablets of Tarazat, Tajalleyat and Ishrakat, contain exhortations regarding the conduct of man.
In these books Baha’o’llah dwells upon those virtues, through the practice of which spiritually awakened
man will evolve and attain to the state of nearness to God.
In the Kitabu’l-Akdas (Book of the Law) Baha’o’llah outlines both the material and spiritual laws for
the guidance of the people of the coming dispensation. He provides for governmental laws based upon
divine laws. These laws are not arbitrary. They are given with divine wisdom and their virtue will
become apparent as men live in accordance with their statutes, for through so doing, the source of the
ills of the day will disappear. The ordinances of the Bahai cause aim at the eradication of wrong-doing
rather than the chastisement of those who perpetrate wickedness.
The Kitabu’l-Ahd (Book of the Testament) is the will and testament of Baha’o’llah to His followers.
In this document He provides for the guidance of His followers after His passing, by appointing His
beloved son, Abdul-Baha, to be the Center of His Covenant, towards whom all of the faithful should
turn.
Baha’o’llah left many other writings to the world. These are, for the greater part, in the

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form of epistles or “Tablets,” written to individuals. Noteworthy among these are the “Epistles to the
Kings”, written just previous to His arrival at Akka, and sent from this prison to all parts of the world,
during His incarceration.
In these Tablets Baha’o’llah declares His Cause to the kings and potentates of the earth, exhorting
them to turn to The Kingdom and to The Promised One whom God had sent to establish peace upon
earth, to abolish warfare, and to give their attention to the establishment of those institutions which
would benefit their subjects.

Abdul-Bahá.

The writings of Abdul-Baha are for the greater part epistles (“Tablets”) written to individuals, or to
assemblies of the followers. These are explanatory of the revealed writings of Baha’o’llah. A number of
Abdul-Baha’s lessons upon various spiritual subjects have been collected, translated and published by
one of his followers, under the title of “Some Answered Questions”. This work is of value to the student
who desires an insight into the spirit of the teaching. Abdul-Baha’s mission is that of amplifying and
applying the truth as revealed by his father. This, Abdul-Baha is accomplishing by his life of service and
example even more than by his words. His Life is his book. From him is proceeding that power of
understanding which is enabling his followers to realize and to attain to the spiritual admonitions of
Baha’o’llah.
In reading the translations of the writings of The Bab, Baha’o’llah and Abdul-Baha, the westerner
should always bear in mind two things: 1st, these original writings were in the symbolic and florid style
of the Persian or Arabic tongues, many of the expressions and similes of

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which are untranslatable and, perforce, have been rendered literally, consequently much of the rich
poetic oriental expression is out of harmony with the more matter-of-fact occidental tongue, through
which, in translation, it is forced to express itself; 2d, many of these writings were sent to people in
intellectual conditions foreign to those to which we are accustomed here in the west. The object of these
teachers being to make spiritual connection with souls, they sometimes employ one line of thought and
terminology, and sometimes another, from an entirely different point of view. For instance, in order to
reach a Mussulman the argument must be Islamic, whereas to reach a Christian, it must be Christian, etc.
In studying these writings let the reader first familiarize himself with all the conditions under which
they were written: the writer, the people to whom he was writing, their previous religious training, the
tongue, etc.; then he will understand the spiritual wisdom of the writings, the truth of which will not be
obscured by expression, names or terminology.

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VIII.
SOCIAL REFORMS, LAWS, AND ORDINANCES

Not only did Baha’o’llah reveal spiritual laws and principles for the people of the world, but He also
outlined social reforms for the more material guidance and well-being of mankind.
The spiritual or religious foundation is the essential foundation; social reforms are the fruit of
spiritual growth. Up to the present time but few of the proposed institutions of the Bahai faith have been
established. Now is the time for spiritual seed sowing, later will come the time of spiritual fruitage and
harvest. Now the believers are establishing the spiritual institutions of the teachings, spreading the
message, enkindling faith and love in men’s hearts. The future will see materialized the fruit of the
labors of the Bahais of today when, added to the present development of the movement, will be all the
institutions to round out the work, thus accomplishing the complete design, as outlined by Baha’o’llah.
The Ordinances of the Bahai faith are in accord with the natural laws governing human relations and
affairs, and are so ordered as to bring forth the highest and most perfect physical, moral and spiritual
development of all who place themselves within the sphere of influence. These laws are to be followed
by the people from choice, not by compulsion. As people know and understand the wisdom of the
precepts of Baha’o’llah, they will from volition, and for their own welfare and that of those about them,
desire to live according to His advice.
Perfect liberty and freedom in religious thought and belief is to be allowed every one.

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The Bahais are exhorted to mingle freely with people of all creeds, and in no way to shut themselves off
from those of other beliefs. Neither should they criticise nor denounce the teachings nor the followers of
other religious movements. Through fraternal intercourse, kindness, and loving service to all humanity,
the believers in this latter-day revelation will eventually demonstrate its truth to all the world.
While the Bahais are commanded not to interfere with the religion of others, other people are
advised to relinquish those creeds and customs which separate them into many divisions, in order that all
may come into the one great spiritual unity of The Kingdom. All things find their birth in unity. The life
of any being or organization of beings is dependent upon this principle. Therefore, how important is
unity, and of the various kinds how all-important is spiritual and religious unity, for it is the foundation
of all unity and of the progress of the world.
With the development of the spiritual world-unity, Baha’o’llah anticipated various universal
institutions for the great benefit of humanity. He exhorted the rulers and governments of the world to
abolish warfare and establish peace; to settle international difficulties by arbitration rather than by
bloodshed. In order to facilitate international understanding and unite all people, Baha’o’llah advocated
a universal language, which would itself be instrumental in the promotion of mutual understanding and
sympathy between peoples.
From Baha’o’llah’s writings, it does not seem to have been His idea that the kings of this earth
should cease to exist, but rather that all governments should be established upon a system of
representation, without which no government

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can uphold the rights of the people. The followers of Baha should be law-abiding citizens in whatever
country they may dwell and they should be loyal supporters of all just and righteous governments.
One of the institutions of The Bab was the rearrangement of the calendar. This change was
confirmed by Baha’o’llah, and the new calendar is beginning to be used by Bahais. Eventually it will
supersede the many systems now current. The Bahai Era begins with the year 1844 A. D. or 1260 A. H.
The first day of the Bahai year falls on March 21st, the day upon which the sun enters the sign of Aries,
and is commonly known as the first day of spring. The year is divided into nineteen months of nineteen
days each, making in all 361 days to which are added four (every fourth year five) intercalary days, to
complete the 365 or 366 days of the year.
The Bahais have nothing in their own religion to exclude those holding different views. They have
no form of membership, no formulated creed nor institutions to differentiate them outwardly from other
people. Their work is ever inward rather than outward, and for the benefit of all rather than a few. In this
religion there is no priesthood. Teaching is given without money and without price. All are teachers,
each in his own sphere of life. Those, able and fitted to do so, go forth as speakers, while others teach
quietly by their deeds, and by speaking the message when they find a hearer. While the cause asks only
for the hearts of its followers, nevertheless, when the heart is in the work there comes the desire to give
and to do something material for the movement. The giving of tithes for carrying on the Bahai work is a
privilege, not an obligation.

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Baha’o’llah, like all of the world’s religious teachers, laid great stress upon prayer and fasting. Both
are necessary for the development of the soul. Through prayer the soul is brought into communion with
God and receives the spiritual sustenance necessary for its life and well-being. Through fasting the soul
becomes freed from the materiality of the flesh; it then apprehends higher things, becomes conscious of
divine realities, and receives the spiritual life forces to a higher degree than possible under the normal
condition of the body.
Baha’o’llah clearly states that seeking refuge in creed and dogma, and faith without works, are not
acceptable. The Bahais have no forms or ceremonials, such as have characterized the religions of the
past. Prayer is made individually by the suppliant to God. Prayer, supplemented by a pure and useful life
in this world, forms the elements of true worship. Every one should have an occupation, which conduces
to the welfare of humanity, the diligent pursuance of which is in itself an act of worship.
The Bahai teaching encourages marriage, while asceticism and celibacy are discouraged. Monogamy
is taught, and among the believers in the Orient is gradually replacing the systems of polygamy which
have always existed there. The body should be developed, not mortified, because it is the medium
through which the spirit works. A good and perfect body is desirable.
The executive affairs of the Bahai cause will eventually be presided over by a synod, known as the
“House of Justice”. Its members will be selected by the people. These members are to be qualified by
spiritual characteristics and wisdom. They will be the trustees of the people. Their mission will be to
serve the people in the numer-

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ous avenues of Bahai activity, in charitable and philanthropic works, and all the practical institutions
which make for the welfare of the people and the cause. The House of Justice will meet at stated times
and in various parts of the world, for the performance of its work. In addition to this general or central
House of Justice for all the world, there will be assemblages in each community for the carrying on of
local service.
Baha’o’llah strongly denounced the taking of opium and kindred drugs. The Bahais do not use
intoxicating liquors as beverages, and among them even the use of tobacco is discouraged. Gambling is
forbidden, as having a demoralizing effect upon the people. In fact all excesses, tending to weaken the
body and the moral force of man, should be eschewed by him.
Individual advancement and personal incentive are to be fostered and encouraged, but the general
weal of the mass is even more to be considered. The weak and unfortunate ones are to be protected from
the greedy ones. Profit in business is to be sought, but one person has no right to enrich himself at the
expense of another. When the ordinances of Baha’o’llah are established there will be fewer extremes of
wealth and poverty. The people will be better off than they are now. The Bahai cause is prepared to meet
and to reform the many human ills which the humanitarian thinkers and workers of the day are striving
to eradicate. This is being accomplished through the spiritualizing method of changing the natural
hardness of men’s hearts by infusing into them the Love of God.
In the Bahai cause woman holds a position equal to that of man. She is not denied any rights.
Through the Bahai teaching the women in the oriental countries are already reaping the

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benefits of education and are advancing in many ways, which customs of their former religion would
close to them. It is hardly necessary here to mention those laws touching upon hygiene and the education
of both sexes, and the admonitions forbidding mendicity, slavery, cruelty to animals and other offences,
because, though in the Orient the need for them is yet very great, our western civilization has already
accomplished these reforms.
While religion and state will never be reunited upon the old lines of creed and dogma, the Bahais
look forward to the time when the states, or governments of the nations, will be founded upon a spiritual
foundation — when the material laws of men will be founded and enforced according to the principles
of the divine laws of God. Religion is necessary to man. Nations, as well as individuals, have at times
tried to live without religion and the results have always been disastrous. The divine foundation is the
only foundation upon which to build any institution that shall endure. The ideal government rests upon
this foundation, which is not a union of church and state, but a union of religion and state.
Eventually, in every Bahai center there will be a building (temple) set apart for The Lord’s use.
Grouped about this, as a center, will be various institutions for the benefit of man — hospitals, homes,
hospices, colleges, and other philanthropic enterprises. All of these buildings together, will constitute the
Mashrak-El-Azcar: (literally “The dawning place of the mentions of God”).
The central building, or Temple proper, will be a nine-sided structure surmounted by a dome, and
surrounded by gardens. The number 9 is

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symbolic of the Spirit of God Manifest. The Temple will be a sanctuary for the reading or chanting of
the “Holy Words,” for meditation and for prayer, a place of universal worship open to all, in which
people of all races and religions can worship God individually, in spirit and in truth, without the
intermediary of church, priest or ritual.
The practical institutions of the Mashrak-El-Azcar will afford the opportunity for the establishment
in the world of all branches of those progressive works for which the Bahai cause stands. In this day,
religion is to be the direct source of inspiration in all secular affairs. The Bahai faith stands as the
promoter of advancement in every line of human activity and development, and therefore every phase of
these innumerable activities will draw its life from, and be an integral part of, the Mashrak-El-Azcar. In
the Bahai teaching one finds exhortations to prayer and worship, upon the one hand, and exhortations to
work and service to humanity upon the other. “Faith without deeds is not acceptable,” therefore the
Bahai religious work includes all work and service needful to man. This faith stands for all material and
social progress. This idea is developed in the Mashrak-El-Azcar.
The Mashrak-El-Azcar is the symbolic expression of the prophet or the manifestation of God. The
central building or place of worship may be compared to the heart or the innermost point of illumination,
while the surrounding institutions may be compared to the fruit of (or service and good works performed
by) the manifestation. Within the house of worship the people will find their inspiration, while through
the surrounding institutions they will manifest this inspiration to the world, by loving service to
humanity.

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Not long since, in the city of Eshkabad, in Russian Turkestan, such a Mashrak-El-Azcar was built.
This work represents the combined efforts of the Bahais throughout the Orient. Its architectural beauty
and size testify to the loving offerings of those believers, while the idea for which it stands is far above
the conception of the surrounding people.
In this service, of the Mashrak-El-Azcar, as well as many others the Bahais are laying a foundation,
of whose existence the world in general is now not aware, for the alleviation of many human evils. The
people of the future will understand the far-sightedness of these people of to-day in their effort to bring
all secular affairs under spiritual guidance.
The Bahais of the west are following in the steps of their oriental brethren. In the city of Chicago a
movement has been started for the erection there of the first Mashrak-El-Azcar in the Occident. Already
an extensive building site has been purchased, overlooking Lake Michigan, and it is hoped that soon the
building will be begun. Offerings for this work have been sent from the Bahais in all parts of the world.
The Mashrak-El-Azcar represents the sum total of all the Bahai activities. Abdul-Baha has repeatedly
written to the believers in America, that of all works the building of the Mashrak-El-Azcar is the most
important. It is the foundation for the new order of the spiritual Kingdom upon earth, therefore its
importance cannot be overestimated. When it stands accomplished, it will be as a haven of rest to those
who seek communion with God within its sacred precincts; while outwardly, it will be as a banner
manifesting to the world the service and the purpose of the Bahai cause.

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IX.
THE NEED OF THE TIMES

Living, spiritual religion is the cause of social reform. It precedes and is the leader of human
progress, and is the basis of civilization. Lifeless religion, of theology and form, precedes and is the
cause of social and moral degradation. It retards human progress, and is the destroyer of civilization.
Live religion produces peace and harmony. Dead religion makes warfare and discord.
Each of the world’s spiritual teachers was in advance of the people of his time. Each was
independent of the thought and institutions of his day, and was a creator of thought, morals and social
advancement. This progressive spirit characterized each of the great religious movements during its
earlier days.
Later, religion ceased to be an independent institution (a leader of the people), and it became a
dependent institution, dependent upon and catering to the thought of the people of the day. Its mission as
a leader and a creator of thought and morals was at an end, and instead of elevating the people, it
retarded their progress and became the cause of stagnation and disintegration. Advancing civilization
has had no more subtle or persistent enemy to contend with than lifeless religious systems.
Foremost among the world problems of the day is the abolition of war and the establishment of
Peace. National, racial and religious hatred have been the principal causes of warfare. The present
different religious teachings or philosophies, not only are not working for Peace upon earth, but through
their influence upon men are

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actually holding people at variance, dividing humanity, and in many cases have been the direct cause of
war. Since the Bahai teaching is striking a fatal blow at these prejudices, it is not only eliminating the
cause of strife, but, in place of this enmity, it is planting a virile and growing unity between all peoples.
The Bahai principle of unity is not merely negative, a suspension of inharmony, it is a positive force
for unity, which, as it grows, transmutes destructive forces into constructive forces. It stands for, and is a
promoter of, all of the universal progressive movements uniting nations, which the world now needs.
Through it, the differences between eastern and western thought, manners and customs, and the lack of
confidence between all people, are being changed and replaced by oneness of thought and action and by
confidence and fraternity.
The Bahai Cause stands for:
The Unity of all Religions.
The Political Unity of nations.
The Social Unity of all classes, peoples and races.
The Unity of Languages in one universal language.
Universal Suffrage.
The Advancement of all Material Institutions, conducive to the general welfare of man; his
enlightenment and progress.
World Peace.
All of which is to be established upon the foundation of spiritual unity between peoples.
In this day, the peoples of the world are being drawn together by all of the material forces of
civilization. Commerce and political relations have brought people of all nations, races and religions
together, upon the plane of their outer

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activities, but as yet they form a heterogenous mixture, having no inner or spiritual ground upon which
to build a fundamental unity. Such a spiritual meeting ground of unity is now the most needed thing in
the world. The time is at hand for the people of the world to unite in all matters, most of all in religion,
since it is the most potent factor in shaping character. The good character of nations has been made by
religion and it has been destroyed through the lack of it.
The theologies of the past have nothing to offer the world today as the solution of this mighty
problem. Each of them was evolved under conditions of the past, and has no relation to, power or
influence upon, the present universal world-needs.
The day of dependent religion is at an end, and this world is now ripe for the leadership of a virile
religious movement: a religion ahead of the times, one whose teaching is independent of, and not limited
by the current thought of man; that will lead the world onward, infusing into it the spiritual force to
reform its institutions, and unite all races and nations, oriental and occidental, in faith in God and
confidence in one another, thus making a firm spiritual foundation for the coming great worldcivilization.
“The Bahai teaching is not an eclectic philosophy, neither is it a sect. It is a living spiritual religion.
Because of its soul inspiring qualities, it appeals alike to the unschooled and the learned, to the masses
and the few. The Bab, Baha’o’llah and Abdul-Baha stand out as divine teachers and leaders,
independent of the world’s attitude and thought. They are not building a theological system from
intellectual

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material. Like all world movers they were far ahead of their times. Peace, arbitration and an international
language, in fact a universal civilization, were unthought of by the world, when these teachers, over a
half century ago, announced their spiritual message, in which is incorporated the solution of all the
teeming questions which now occupy the minds of some of the greatest thinkers and philanthropists of
the age. Upon every hand people are clamoring to understand more clearly the principles of peace to
which the Bahai leaders and their followers have borne witness by trials and suffering and death.
The Bahai cause is ministering to the great spiritual need of the day, by planting in the soul of the
world a living religion of brotherhood. Because of this universal need, this cause is destined to grow
until it envelops the whole world, uniting all men and leading them onward toward the age of spiritual
enlightenment, prosperity, and peace.

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X.
ORIENTAL-OCCIDENTAL UNITY.

The Orient can truly be said to be the mother of the human race. From her heart went forth those
great racial wave movements which have peopled the earth. In her mountain fastnesses the prophets
communed with God and received His life-giving truth (which has been the inspiration of all mankind),
and in her valleys and upon her plains civilization had its dawn.
The Occident can with equal truth be said to be the son, or man-child of the mother Orient. Both
materially and spiritually the Occident has received its physical life and its religious inspiration from the
Orient, the fruit of which is the present occidental civilization.
During many centuries the peoples of the East and those of the West have been separated by barriers,
racial, religious, geographic and political. So complete has been this segregation, that these two halves
of humanity have developed along different lines of thought, manners and customs, until the very
natures and characteristics of these peoples have become, in general, distinct and foreign to each other.
Now, in these latter days, through the breaking down of the former material barriers, the oriental and
occidental peoples are being forced one upon the other. Through international relations, the increase of
foreign commerce, and the travel and mingling of people, the Orientals and Occidentals are daily
coming into closer relations upon the material plane of life. As yet, however, this is but a superficial
mingling, void of any basic unity.
Without any trust, confidence or affinity for one another, the Oriental and Occidental are at

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variance in almost every way. That which will destroy this variance is the spiritual confidence, trust, and
mutual affinity, which the Bahai faith is creating between the East and the West. Through the
establishment of such practical institutions of service as will demonstrate this spiritual unity, the greatest
material and spiritual benefit to all humanity will result, for, springing from this spiritual foundation will
be all of those religious, political, and social activities, for which the Bahai cause stands, and which will
eventually unite in one civilization all the peoples of the world.
The Bahai cause stands for spiritual unity manifested in every phase and activity of life. The Bab,
Baha’o’llah and Abul-Baha stand pre-eminent as lovers and servants of humanity. Their mission was
that of spiritual uniting and life giving, therefore their teachings influence every phase and detail of life.
With the fruition of this cause, the great Orient-Occident problem will be solved. Through this Bahai
spiritual unity encompassing all peoples, oriental and occidental characteristics will so blend that a new
world type of man will be evolved: one which will embody, not only the present existing virtues of the
East and the West, but most of all, the highest spiritual possibilities of humanity, which can come to
light only as people unite and live according to divine law applied to every phase of life.
The stages of development through which collective man passes are parallel and analogous to those
through which he passes as an individual. Until the state of physical maturity is reached, individual men
and women are content to live apart from one another. Each is developing his or her own mental and
physical characteristics,
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and, normally, two different and distinct types, masculine and feminine, are the result.
When maturity is reached, the reason for the difference in the characteristics of man and woman
becomes apparent. Affinity and union take place between these differing natures and a great change is
produced in each. One supplies what the other lacks, and two rounded out and more perfect lives is the
result, and further, through this love union of man and woman, the way is made for the birth of other
human beings. When two parents are united by the bonds of a complete love, their children come into
this world under the highest possible auspices for both bodily and soul development, and in their natures
are found magnified the combined virtues of both parents.
In this day, the human race is reaching the stage of maturity, the Orient along her own characteristic
lines, and the Occident along his own characteristic lines. Now their future development depends upon
their union, both spiritual and physical. These two halves of humanity, eastern and western, must unite
and become as one in every respect, spiritual and material, in order that each may reach its highest
development. From this union will come the future universal world-type of man, who will combine in
himself all the human virtues and the highest spiritual possibilities.
Such an union between the East and West can never be accomplished upon any foundation other
than a spiritual one. When the Occident and the Orient meet on a common spiritual ground, then an
intellectual and social unity in all of its forms with all of its institutions, will result.
By brute force a man can dominate a woman while the souls of both are suffering, although

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neither may be aware of this condition. In the perfect marriage, neither the man nor the woman
dominates the other. Through love, they become as one soul in two bodies. So must it be between the
Occident and the Orient. Many oriental countries have been held by occidental nations through force.
This has not been conducive in any way to the solution of this world problem. Under a regime of force,
both peoples, the dominant and the dominated, suffer from lack of unity. Each remains within itself, its
life forces and possibilities undeveloped, pent up, and suffering for lack of the expression which only the
freedom of harmony can give.
In the coming epoch of religious, racial and national unity, for which the Bahai cause is paving the
way, there will be no question of “supremacy” over one another. All peoples will be members of one
harmonious world-family, each working to protect and help the other! Under this order, which is the
order of God’s Kingdom, the highest civic and national institutions will be evolved, and the masses of
the people will attain to a high state of spiritual, moral and physical development. Thus, humanity will
attain to a state of civilization and advancement, of the greatness of which no one can now form any
conception.

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XI.
ETERNAL LIFE

Eternal life is the condition of the spiritually alive or divinely quickened soul.
To be merely alive to physical, animal and human things is not life according to religious
terminology. To be alive in the spiritual sense is to be conscious of the Spirit of God manifest, to believe
in Him, and to do according to His will. The soul is an indestructible entity which exists after its
separation or freedom from the material body. Yet mere natural existence, either here or in the life
beyond, is not life from the spiritual or divine view-point.
Through “The Manifestation,” the soul of natural man is quickened with divine or eternal life, which
is as a new and a higher dimension added to his human nature. By virtue of this divine quickening, the
spiritually-born soul comes directly under divine guidance. Though in the world, yet it lives in a higher
realm than before — the divine realm — from which it receives life, and a force that characterizes it
with higher qualities. Thus, through the baptism of the spirit or the Word of God revealed, the soul
passes from the condition of natural darkness into one of divine light, from the condition of spiritual
ignorance or death, into that of spiritual awakeness or eternal life.
Eternal life is not a condition to which the soul attains through its own virtue or through evolution
from the natural plane. It is a gift and a bounty from God bestowed upon natural man through
Revelation. It is given through God’s mercy and favor, not through His justice. There is evolution upon
the natural plane, confined to that plane, and also evolution upon the

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spiritual plane, confined to that plane, but there is no evolution from one plane to the other. In the Divine
Kingdom, before as well as after death, there is progression towards perfection of the type of perfect
spiritual manhood. There is nothing to which the soul may evolve beyond perfect spiritual manhood, for
spiritual man is the highest being of God’s creation, above which there is no creation. Male and female
are conditions of the physical realm and not of the spiritual kingdom. By virtue of the Holy Spirit,
manifesting through the revealer, the souls of His followers are lifted from the lower to the higher plane,
from natural manhood to spiritual manhood, they become characterized with divine qualities, and they
show forth in their lives the fruits of the Spirit.
As metal is heated in the fire and so partakes of the characteristics of the fire until it is like the fire,
so the soul, through the revealed word, becomes characterized by divine characteristics. As with the
metal, the source of the heat being outside of it, the moment it is removed from the fire it loses the
characteristics of the fire, so it is with the human soul, for when it separates itself from God’s Word,
divine characteristics cease to emanate from it. The source of divine life is not in man but in The Word
revealed, and of man’s divine enlightenment, in his dependence upon The Word.
Good actions and good deeds characterize the quickened soul, but good actions and good deeds are
not in themselves a proof that a soul is divinely quickened. Many souls without faith or spiritual
assurance lead exemplary lives from the ethical standard, while, upon the other hand, many souls sunken
in crime and depravity become touched by the spirit and are born into The

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Kingdom, and bring forth the fruits of the divine life.
Life in its highest and fullest sense, exists in that soul in which all of the life forces, both divine and
material, reach their highest development. Neither a physically perfect man nor a highly educated man is
upon the highest plane until he is quickened, and alive to the divine realities. The perfect type of
manhood has an all-round physical, psychical, intellectual and divinely spiritual development. As souls
are dedicated to God’s service and become cleansed and pure from earthly conditions, then the deepest
mysteries of The Kingdom become clear to them. All doubts and fears are dispelled by faith and
assurance, while all inharmonious conditions are replaced by harmonious ones through the love of God
burning in the soul. This is Eternal Life.
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XII.
HEAVEN AND HELL.

Heaven and hell, salvation and sin, light and darkness, are terms employed to differentiate the two
spiritual conditions of the soul of man.
The spiritually quickened soul, alive with the life of the Spirit, is that condition called heaven, while
the unawakened soul, not yet conscious of the bounty of God, nor alive in His Spirit, is that state of
spiritual lethargy or darkness called hell. These two conditions apply to the life of the soul in this world,
as to the soul in the great beyond. As there are conditions of both spiritual awakeness and spiritual
slumber here in this life, so there are these same conditions in the realm of the immaterial into which the
soul passes upon leaving this body.
God’s mercy is never wearied. As for those souls who go out into the great beyond without being
spiritually awakened here, for their quickening He has ways and means unknown to us. Reward and
punishment are of two kinds, natural and spiritual. In the world of nature every good act, in accord with
her laws, produces a good effect, and every violation of nature’s principles has a harmful, or detrimental
effect upon the individual. The reward and punishment, the good or the bad effect following the good or
bad action of man, is inevitable; it is according to fixed law. Likewise, according to the divine law he
advances spiritually, and when he violates that law he suffers spiritually. Spiritual conditions, however,
are more far reaching than material conditions, for they are not limited to this earthly plane; they are
eternal.
The greatest blessing which can descend upon

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man is the knowledge of God. The greatest calamity is to be deprived of this knowledge. Through God’s
mercy He has given man the blessing of knowing Him. He has also given man free will to accept or
reject this blessing as he wills, therefore divine knowledge or ignorance comes to man, as reward or
punishment for his choice.
A soul in this world may reject the light and be spiritually deprived, and at the same time be totally
ignorant of its state of deprivation. From the spiritual view-point a soul may be in darkness and in
spiritual torment, but because of the lack of spiritual perception this soul may not realize its own
condition.
As darkness is but the absence of light, so ignorance is but the absence of knowledge, and spiritual
death but the absence of spiritual life. Evil has no life nor positive existence. It is negative, it is the
absence of positive light. Thus darkness, ignorance and death are negative and have no power within
themselves, while light, knowledge and life are positive powers, containing those elements which dispel
their opposites.
As there are many degrees of spiritual enlightenment for the soul while it inhabits the physical body,
so are there many degrees for it in the realms beyond this world. In this world man is endowed with the
freedom of choice. When Divine Grace is offered him, he can accept or reject it as he chooses. Thus, his
responsibility is great. Choice between light and darkness — divine illumination and ignorance exists,
however, here in this world only. In the realms beyond, these earthly conditions do not exist. There the
soul can exercise no free choice, as only the good exists. There, spiritual progress and develop-

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ment are also possible, but do not depend upon the will of the individual, but wholly upon the mercy and
bounty of God. It is only in this life that man can voluntarily choose to accept the life of the Spirit and
through this choice attain to divine blesings.
The Kingdom of Heaven is, both here and hereafter, for those souls who are alive in The Lord.
Through revelation the divine promise has been extended to man at various times through the ages, that
in the fullness of time the quickening spirit of The Lord, through the Latter-Day Messiah, would be so
poured out upon all men of all races, that the vast majority of mankind would be illumined and
quickened and be in the state called heaven. The past conditions of spiritual ignorance and darkness
would pass, and the day of divine wisdom, or great age would come. The “end of the world,” “the
destruction of the world,” and similar terms used in holy writ, are symbolic of the end of the ages of
spiritual darkness and sin, and the ushering into existence of the new epoch of general spiritual
illumination. The coming age of peace, prosperity, and divine enlightenment will be The Kingdom of
God upon earth.
The Kingdom hereafter, is that state of life in which the spiritually illumined souls find themselves
after passing from the physical body. Man’s objective senses, being of the plane of this natural realm,
convey to the mind only conceptions of conditions peculiar to this material world, therefore, of that
immaterial condition of the soul in the existence beyond this world, man can form no mental conception
whatever. As the soul attains to a greater and fuller divine life, it becomes conscious and is assured of
the perpetuity and eternalness of the state of awakening,

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and has no doubt as to the reality of the life eternal, yet can not form a mental conception of that
condition because it is beyond the scope of man’s imagination.
Before the physical birth of the child into this world, it is developing its physical organs, the utility
of which do not become apparent until birth. During its pre-natal life, through the mother, the child is
nourished by life forces from the world into which it is to be born.
So it is with the spiritual life of the soul. While in this body, the soul is developing spiritual virtues
and faculties, the need for, and virtue of which do not now appear, but which will become apparent
when it enters into the life beyond. Again like the child, the soul, while in this body, is spiritually
nourished with force from that realm or condition into which it will be born or enter, upon leaving its
prior condition.
The Bahai believes that, while so-called death in a sense separates souls for a time, there is a
spiritual link binding all together. The souls in the realm beyond, retain remembrance of things here, as
well as of those near to them. Through intercession there, souls here are helped. All quickened souls are
spiritually united. This tie is eternal. It is not dependent upon physical means. All souls, born of the
spirit, are different members of one great spiritual body, and whether those members are on this earth or
in the realm beyond, there is a connection between them which death does not sever. Natural ties are
severed when the soul leaves the body, but spiritual ties are eternal. Through the sincere prayers of
others a soul is helped while here in this world, and likewise, through the intercession of others, a soul
having passed from this life is helped on his spiritual way in the realm beyond;

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for progress is not confined to this earthly existence. The souls, too, who have passed on, are able
through their intercessions to help those here on earth. All of this is possible because the pervading spirit
of God is uniting the souls of The Kingdom at all times and under all conditions.
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XIII.
SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

Natural or material science is classified knowledge of the human, animal, vegetable and mineral
kingdoms; religion, or spiritual science, is classified knowledge of the life of the spiritual, or divine
kingdom, and the laws which govern it. There is no inharmony nor conflict between these two realms,
for there is perfect accord throughout the whole of God’s creation. Natural science teaches men how to
live properly upon this human plane. Through observing its laws and living in accord with them, man
attains to a high state of material, physical, psychic, and intellectual development. On the other hand, the
prophets have revealed to humanity the laws which govern the spiritual kingdom of souls. As people live
in accord with these divine laws, their souls develop spiritually and they attain to a high state of general
development, for with the spiritual development, follows an evolution in the natural or material
development of man. When men understand the realities of both the natural and divine realms, they will
find no conflict between religion and science.
The reason that science and religion have contended in the past, with each other, is because religious
teachings have contained so many imaginations and superstitions as to make them inpossible of
acceptance to men of science. To be sure, these superstitions did not exist in the purity of the teachings
as given by the prophets themselves. Superstitions are the impediments which religion has gathered as it
has been handed down through the ages. Science finds only this dross a contradiction of her knowledge,
but the spiritual teachings, though they deal with

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a higher realm, are in perfect accord with natural science.
The Bahai teaching is logical and reasonable. It is free from superstition and is compatible with
modern science. There is in it spiritual force, which is its very life and essence. This transcends mere
intellect, logic and reason, although it is in perfect accord and harmony with them.
One great work which the Bahai cause is accomplishing is the harmonizing of science and religion.
It shows scientific people that true religion not only is not opposed to science, but that it is itself
scientific, and that man needs more than mere intellectual food — he needs spiritual knowledge. Not
until man adds the spiritual to the intellectual has he that perfect balance, by virtue of which he attains to
highest development. The Bahai teaching is bringing a stronger, firmer and more vital faith into the
religious world. Through the spirit of this movement, people of the old established religions realize that
they have nothing to fear from the world of modem scientific thought. Under this influence, the old
superstitions are dropping away, but the pure, untarnished truth is standing supreme.
The realization that there is no conflict between the material and divine realms, that material truth
and divine truth are in perfect accord, frees man from superstition and fear, and gives him faith and
assurance, opening before him the door to the highest possibilities and development.

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XIV.
THE SUPERNATURAL
Miracles form no part of the Bahai teaching.
The prophets were endowed with powers, both natural and spiritual, through which they
accomplished that which was impossible to ordinary man. The unusual things which they did were for
the instruction and education and spiritual quickening of those about them. The miracles ascribed to
them have been a great test of faith for the people of after generations, for to many, miracles are not a
proof of divinity.
A material phenomenon seemingly outside the domain of natural law, would not prove to thinking
people that the doer was divine. In these days of physical and psychological experiment and research no
one would ascribe divine powers to the physicist or the psychologist who astonished the world with
discoveries and demonstrations.
Many wonderful things are recorded by the Bahais, illustrative of the spiritual powers of the
founders of their religion, but these form no part of the teaching nor are they ever mentioned as proofs,
for, if so, they would prove a stumbling block rather than an attraction to truth seekers.
The great and wonderful miracle, performed by the prophets and manifestations of the past and the
present, is their power to implant in the souls of men the love of God, to quicken humanity with divine
life and, with all of the earthly forces against them, to accomplish their divine work. This is a real, a
spiritual miracle.

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XV.
EDUCATIONAL ASPECT OF THE BAHAI TEACHING.

In order to produce world unity, the superstitions and prejudices of past ages must be removed from
men’s minds. Lack of education, creates narrowness and prejudice; education, brings broadness of view,
and sympathy with others.
The past systems of narrow education have tended more towards perpetuating than eradicating
inharmony between men. The followers of the different religious systems, being at variance with one
another, have in their educational systems handed down to coming generations the prejudice, ignorance
and dogmatism of past generations, thus instilling into the children all the soul-retarding elements which
encumbered the natures of the parents. The natural tendency of man has been to remain upon the old
level of inharmony rather than to arise therefrom by his own will.
Now, in this enlightened age, there has appeared in the world simultaneously with the Bahai
revelation, a new order of educational methods. Former dogma and prejudice are no longer taught to
children, and the minds of the youths of this generation are not thus limited and handicapped.
In fact, in this day, in freeing our educational system from the superstition, prejudice and dogma of
the past, the mistake has been made of eliminating, also, all spiritual precepts from the general
instruction of children. Thinking educators are beginning to see the demoralizing results of the lack of
spiritual instruction in the present system; for in the people of this genera-

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tion is manifest, to an alarming degree, the inroads of certain vices against which they are unable to
protect themselves because of the want of moral and spiritual training and poise.
It is an all-round education, for which the Bahai cause stands. Man is a combination of several
natures and his general well-being depends upon a balanced training and development. Bodily he must
train and develop his physical powers in order to have a good and perfect organism through which to
manifest the higher man. Physically and mentally he must train and develop the powers of perception,
memory and reason, that he may have mental organism through which to manifest the higher spiritual
man. Man’s spiritual training and soul development is the most important of all education. This is the
highest and greatest power within his being; therefore its importance cannot be overestimated. By
religious and spiritual training is not meant the teaching of doctrine or creed, but rather, inculcating into
man the knowledge of the Truth.
When man has attained to the Bahai conception of education, he is indeed educated in every sense of
the word. This is the only education which fully fits man for the life here, as well as for the life
hereafter.
The Bahai teaching stands for the higher education of woman. In some recent instructions sent to the
Orient, Abdul-Baha has exhorted the Bahais to give their daughters every possible educational
advantage, telling them it was even more necessary that their girls should be educated than their boys,
because women are the mothers and the natural teachers of men, and it is of the greatest importance to
the race that they be highly educated. Already several Bahai

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women physicians and nurses are working in Persia. Their work is of the greatest importance among the
women, because they are able to penetrate into the seclusion of the family life of the people, in ways not
open to men.
Several other Americans, Bahais, have gone to Persia as teachers, and are associated there with the
educational work. Quite recently a girls’ school was opened by the Bahais in Teheran, and from the last
accounts, there were more scholars than could be accommodated. In addition to this, educational work is
being carried on in all of the oriental countries, where there are congregations of Believers. Each year
brings Bahai students to Europe and America, who after completing their studies return to their own
countries as teachers.
Through liberal education and the diffusion of knowledge and wisdom, both spiritual and material,
the superstitions and limitations of the past will cease to exist, all people will be in sympathy with
humanity as a whole, and each individual will consider himself a citizen of the world rather than
exclusively of one country, and one people.

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XVI.
THE BAHAI MOVEMENT AND THE
ECONOMIC QUESTIONS OF THE DAY.

With the expansion of civilization and the peopling of the world, the field for conquest is so rapidly
diminishing that already a great change has been produced in the economic conditions of the world.
Owing to the present international conditions, and the nearness of nations, war is assuming an aspect
more detrimental to all parties than it has ever had in the past. Arbitration must in the end supplant
national conquest and warfare.
Likewise, the warlike methods upon which the world’s commerce has been conducted will ere long
become obsolete, because of the passing of the conditions which made those methods possible.
Commercial relations are now becoming so intimate between nations, that co-operation must eventually
take the place of the present warfare of illegitimate competition, in the business world.
The Bahai cause teaches co-operation in all affairs. Through working together for the good of the
mass, rather than for the aggrandizement of the individual, the Bahais anticipate that national and
economic affairs will be so regulated that comparatively little misery will exist in the world. There will
not be the extremes of wealth and poverty which now exist and all people, both rich and poor, will be
better off than now.
Through the stable financial conditions which co-operation between capital and labor will bring
about (co-operation for the best good of all concerned), the laborer will be assured of a livelihood and
will be enabled to get the best out of life, and, upon the other hand, the capitalist will be less on the
defensive and less burdened than

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he is now. Because of the co-operation of all classes, the wealthy will occupy themselves more with
matters pertaining to the general welfare of the people, rather than seeking mainly their own individual
enjoyment.
As people come into the spirit of the Bahai teaching and see the virtue of co-operation, and act upon
this principle, the great economic problems which now threaten the world with dire calamities will
disappear and give place to institutions for the highest good of mankind, through which all people will
live in harmony, in happiness and in plenty. The Bahais believe that eventually the whole world will
recognize the power of the spiritual principle of co-operation, and will apply it in matters of every day
life, thus solving life’s mighty economic problem in all of its details.

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XVII.
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN.

The Bahais teach the existence of five kingdoms, planes, divisions or kinds of creation:
(1) The mineral kingdom, or material plane in which there is no life or spirit, in the ordinary
acceptance of the term.
(2) The vegetable kingdom or physical plane, in which there is the lowest form of spirit or life. This
plane is characterized by the principle of growth and fruition, by virtue of which organisms develop and
propagate their kind.
(3) The animal kingdom or psychical plane, the organisms of which are differentiated from those of
the vegetable plane by the power to apprehend conditions outside of themselves.
(4) The human kingdom, that of man, which is differentiated from the animal condition by the
intellectual faculty, by virtue of which man comprehends ideas in the abstract.
(5) The divine kingdom, or condition of spiritual illumination, which is differentiated from the
human, or natural, or unspiritually quickened state of the soul, by consciousness of God. By virtue of
this higher life, the quickened soul apprehends spiritual realities, lives in spiritual communion with the
divine, and is of the order of The Kingdom of God. Unlike the vegetable, animal and human kingdoms,
which are dependent for existence upon earthly conditions, the spiritual life of the soul is dependent
upon those peculiar to the divine realm. These conditions are eternal, therefore the life of divinely
quickened souls is eternal. The spiritual condition in which those souls live is not confined to an earthly
realm.
Beyond and above all created kind is the Holy
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Spirit of God, uncreated and infinite, unknowable to man save through Its Manifestation, the mediator
between God and His children here upon earth. Divinely quickened man is the highest of the creatures,
above which there is no creation. From his beginning man was created man — a distinct species. In the
early days of man upon earth, in many respects he more resembled the animal than he did the man type
of to-day. But from his first appearance there was in him that human spirit, apart and of a different kind
from the animal, which, though at first hidden, has evolved into the type of man that we now know. In
the coming age of divine development, humanity will continue evolving to a far higher state than it now
has attained. Man, never having been anything but man, can never evolve out of the kingdom of his own
kind and species. He will, however, be approaching nearer and nearer to the perfect type of spiritual
manhood and perfection.

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XVIII.
THE METHOD OF TEACHING AND THE
GROWTH OF THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

The method of Bahai teaching is constructive, in every sense. In presenting this cause to a soul, the
teacher’s first step is to confirm the seeker in the truth of his own religion, and upon that, as a
foundation, place this latter-day teaching. Argument and dispute have no place in this cause. The
teaching is quietly yet fearlessly given, and then the matter is left with the listener and God. People are
not urged or enticed, but rather, through love, are attracted to the cause.
It has been found, when two or more souls come together to discuss religious matters with perfect
love in their hearts, the result is always uplifting and conducive to edification. When people meet
together for religious discussion without this spirit of true charity in their hearts, the result is always
distressing, and it would have been better had they not met. This principle of the power of love the
Bahais understand, and they rely upon it and not upon arguments presented from the plane of intellect
alone.
In order to combat evil the soul should be filled with love and truth. Fear, together with all its
attending destructive forces, disappears in the presence of faith and assurance. The Bahai teaching is one
of joy and gladness. True spirituality is profound yet not depressing, and while uplifting, is free from
levity. Truth and love are in the world to lift people up from suffering and depression, and should,
therefore, be presented as they are, full of joy. The Bahais are taught at all times to manifest in their
thoughts, words and actions the joy of the Lord. It is only by

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showing forth a joyful and happy spirit, and by loving service to humanity, that suffering and seeking
souls are attracted and brought under the power of the quickening spirit of the cause. Through kind and
loving service to all humanity, to friend and foe alike, the Bahais have a most powerful weapon with
which to combat religious prejudice and spiritual ignorance. Even the most difficult people are won
through continued kindness. Once attracted, the hungry soul recognizes and accepts the Truth. The
Bahai teachers find that when a soul is reached by their teaching, whether a Christian, Moslem, Jew or
Buddhist, the truth at once appeals to his inner nature, and he will usually say, “This is exactly what I
have always believed”.
Having no organization, ritual, or priesthood after the manner of other religions, the Bahais are
opposing the work of no other religious bodies. It is a world-wide movement, the spirit of which is
working unhindered and unbound by confines and barriers of sect and ism. The Bahais see and
recognize truth and spiritual beauty wherever found, and through this attitude of love and tolerance for
all, they find at every hand, among the people of other religious bodies, the opportunity of sharing the
spirit of their faith.
Often people inquire whether affiliation with the Bahai cause necessitates the giving up of church
membership. The advice is always that no human or religious relations should be severed, but that these
relations should become as avenues for giving forth the message and the spirit of the Bahai faith. People
having church relations continue to mingle with church people. However, they do not remain silent
about the new light which has come to them. When

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ever they find prepared souls, they give them the glad tidings of the coming of The Lord in His
Kingdom, and thus they diffuse the knowledge and spirit of the Truth.
Where there are several sympathizers in the work in the same vicinity, regular meetings are
established. At these reunions the sacred writings are read, the teachings are explained, and seekers are
welcomed. As these groups increase in numbers, they become known as “Assemblies.” In the assemblies
certain people are usually selected to serve. These confer together and arrange for meetings,
publications, and other matters in connection with the carrying on of the work.
There is no distinction such as teacher or pupil. All are teachers and at the same time all are pupils.
Contributions are not solicited. The cause must first find root in the hearts of the people, then the people
will of themselves arise to serve it. When a soul realizes the greatness of the privilege of aiding the
Bahai work, then he assists, in the measure in which he is able, his own heart being his guide.
The Bahais are working toward the great end of uniting all races and religions in the Love of the
Lord. They are impelled by no other motive than the Love of God. They are not looking for results,
theirs is the satisfaction of service, and there is no other satisfaction or pleasure which can approach that
joy, the joy of serving God.
One of the questions the Bahais are often asked, is regarding the number of those who profess this
faith. The reason for their inability to answer is quite clear to those who realize that the object of this
movement is to leaven the whole lump of humanity, with its numerous divisions, rather than to
precipitate another sect upon

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the many already existent. Having no form of membership, the Bahais make no attempt to estimate their
number. Their strength is a spiritual strength, not to be measured numerically. Even were it possible to
know the exact number of Bahais in the world, this reckoning would be of short duration because the
movement is growing continually, interest in it is increasing, and the hearts of people are daily becoming
more attracted, and more confirmed in the truth.
The Bahais are widely distributed throughout the world. During the days of The Bab, His cause was
confined principally to Persia, though He had adherents also in Turkey and in neighboring countries.
With the rise of Baha‘o’llah, this field of work was extended. The Bahai teachers went north into
Caucasia, Russia and Turkestan, south into India, east into Burma and later on into China. With
Baha‘o’llah’s exile in Turkey, Roumelia and Syria, His cause spread in those countries as well as in
Egypt and in Arabia.
The establishment of the Bahai cause in the West has been accomplished under the ministry of
Abdul-Baha. In the year 1894, a small group of people in the city of Chicago became interested in the
Revelation. Later, similar groups were formed in New York, Washington, and San Francisco. In the
winter of 1898-99, the first band of American Bahai pilgrims crossed the seas to visit Abdul-Baha, then
in exile in the Holy Land. Up to that time the communication between the American Bahais and Abdul-
Baha had been by writing only. Then, with the added impetus of Abdul-Baha’s personal touch, these
American pilgrims returned to the West with renewed zeal and desire to spread the cause.
From the enthusiasm of this first band of trav-

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elers, new centers of the teaching were founded in France, England and America. From these as a
nucleus have developed Believers, in all parts of the United States, in Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, Japan
and Australia, as well as in various parts of Germany, Switzerland and Italy. During this period of
growth, several Bahai teachers from the Orient have traveled through Europe and America, instructing
and teaching the people and helping to establish new centers. Likewise, teachers from the Occident have
traveled and taught in the oriental countries. Quietly and slowly the cause has grown amid all varieties
of human conditions, among peoples of every religion, race and clime. In the growth and progress of the
Bahai Movement is demonstrated its universal spiritual power. Accepted by people of every condition, it
is making inroads into their souls, as leaven; it is uniting these many heterogeneous elements into one
homogeneous world-people.

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XIX.
A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

In the preceding chapters of this book I have attempted to give a general résumé of the history and
teaching of the Bahai cause, and the work now being accomplished. Here it is my desire to relate to the
reader a few of my own experiences in connection with this cause. During the past twelve years, it has
been my privilege to visit Abdul-Baha several times and to travel extensively among the Bahais in
foreign lands. It is with the desire of sharing the inspiration received from Abdul-Baha and from his
followers, that I am presuming to record these personal observations.
My first visit to Abdul-Baha was in the winter of 1901. At that time the cause in the West was in its
infancy and was passing through a critical period of its growth. But few of the words of Baha’o’llah and
Abdul-Baha had been translated, and the believers, though fired with faith and a great desire to
disseminate the teachings had as yet, learned but little of the spiritual principles of the cause.
Consequently there was a general lack of harmony of ideas among the adherents, which caused much
confusion. It was against such odds that Abdul-Baha was heroically struggling.
At that time he was in comparative ease, having been allowed to leave the prison city of Akka with
its unhealthy climate, and was spending the winter in the neighboring town of Haifa. Notwithstanding
this betterment in the conditions of Abdul-Baha’s outer life, one felt the weight which was upon his soul
and saw how his spirit was taxed in his endeavor to teach and train the people in the way of The
Kingdom.

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I recall an incident which showed the stress under which he, at that time, was laboring. One night
after a busy day of teaching and letter writing he had gathered twenty or more of us at his table for the
late evening meal. We were about half through with the repast, when some one made an allusion to
some difficulty among the believers in America. Abdul-Baha looked very serious, then in evident
distress of both mind and body he arose from the table and left the room. As he went through the door
his aba (cloak) fell from his shoulders to the floor. Gathering it up I hurriedly followed him to the terrace
in front of the house. Scarcely touching him I slipped the cloak over his shoulders. He did not notice the
incident, so troubled and absorbed was he as he passed out into the night.
For over a year before I first met Abdul-Baha, I had been a believer in the Bahai cause, so when I
went to him it was not to have my faith established but rather to have it confirmed, and to gain
knowledge. In the accomplishment of this, Abdul-Baha helped through his understanding of me. From
the moment I met him I realized he understood me perfectly, as an old friend. Thus a bond was
established, which has always been a source of joy, delight, and help to me, for each visit I have had
with him, and every tablet (letter) and message received from him, has strengthened this understanding
and has demonstrated to me again and again, Abdul-Baha’s all-penetrating spiritual sight and wisdom.
Notwithstanding the distance and circumstances which separate Abdul-Baha from his friends, when they
receive his tablets they find advices and admonitions peculiarly applicable to them in their needs of that
moment.
During the eleven days I remained in Haifa,

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I had this phase of Abdul-Baha’s personality deeply engraved on my mind. All was not easy to
understand. I had various spiritual ups and downs until shortly before I left him, then everything became
very clear and my spiritual rapport with him was established. The moment of our parting was a happy
one for me, because I felt that I was carrying away with me something which could never be destroyed,
a spiritual friendship which would grow eternally, both here and in the future realm.
Early in the summer of 1901, shortly after my first visit, an order was issued sending Abdul-Baha
back to the prison city of Akka. There he remained for seven years, with the exception of a short period,
when upon several occasions he was permitted to visit the tomb of Baha’o’llah at Behje, a mile or two
beyond the city gates. During this period of imprisonment, it was at times with the utmost difficulty that
pilgrims were able to see Abdul-Baha, nevertheless this was a great period of growth in the cause.
Abdul-Baha worked diligently with his pen and the result of his labors became apparent among the
Bahais in all parts of the world.
Six years elapsed between my first and second visits to Abdul-Baha, during which interim he had
been confined to the fortress. Knowing that some recent pilgrims had remained nine days in Akka, I had
rather set my mind upon a visit of the same length. On reaching Haifa I was told that, on account of the
troublous conditions surrounding Abdul-Baha, I would be able to remain with him but a few hours. At
first the thought of so short a visit was a keen disappointment. Upon second thought, however, my
mental attitude changed

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and I realized fully that Abdul-Baha understood and was planning for the best.
Whether one is benefitted by meeting Abdul-Baha depends upon really meeting him spiritually. It is
the open, unprejudiced and seeking souls which unite with the soul of Abdul-Baha. When this spiritual
contact is effected, the personal visit to him is not essential for enlightenment, for, with spiritual
connection between the souls of Abdul-Baha (the heart of the Bahai movement) and the believers (the
members of the body of the movement), these souls are one with him, and through this unity his divine
wisdom and love go forth to all his followers.
Although my second visit with Abdul-Baha was very short, I would not have wished it otherwise.
Again I left him in great joy with my soul overflowing with the love of The Kingdom, which he so
freely radiates. The one great lesson which he taught me at that time was dispelling (negative) fear with
(positive) assurance.
The natural tendency of man is often to fear people and to shut himself away from them. This
becomes a habit and one which causes much ill ease, and this condition I was just beginning to realize.
Not from anything which Abdul-Baha said to me, but through the way in which he received and treated
me I saw clearly that I could not serve him in the cause and continue to remain inwardly aloof from
people. I saw that it was because of Abdul-Baha’s freedom from constraint, and through his fearlessness
and his friendly way of approaching people, his frank expression of love, faith and assurance, that he
was able to reach the souls of men and impart to them his courage and wisdom.
Abdul-Baha throws himself into the lives of

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all about him. Through this contact he undoubtedly suffers much, nevertheless, thus he is enabled to
reach the people and to minister to them. His fearlessness, combined with gentleness and humility in
approaching people, was a lesson to me, for in his method I saw the way in which Abdul-Baha’s
followers must live in order to do his work among men.
My next visit to Abdul-Baha was at the culmination of his troubles and difficulties just previous to
the fall of the former despotic Ottoman power, and the re-establishment of the constitutional government
in the midsummer of 1908. Upon arriving in Haifa, I found that some recent American pilgrims had not
been able to meet Abdul-Baha, but had returned to America happy in having seen him from a distance as
he walked upon an elevated balcony on his house within the fortifications of Akka. Four Arabs, recent
converts to the faith, on account of their belief had for several months been confined in the prison of the
fortress. Others of the Bahais, in order to avoid pending trouble, by Abdul-Baha’s advice had sought
temporary refuge in Egypt, while those remaining in Syria were all but panic stricken by the trouble and
persecutions which were daily descending upon the Bahai community from the hands of the
unscrupulous government officials.
After remaining several days in Haifa, word came from Abdul-Baha for me to go to Akka and
proceed to the house of a certain Persian gentleman, one of the oldest and most faithful of the believers.
In the guise of a native Syrian and with the assistance of one of the oriental Bahais, I entered the prison
city, passing through the various guarded gates without being halted. Once established in the privacy of
the house of

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the friend, Abdul-Baha having the freedom of the city within the fortifications, came to see me several
times.
Though under the most severe physical difficulties, Abdul-Baha was visibly in the greatest spiritual
strength and power. In strong contrast with the fear and terror of his followers, impossible to describe,
Abdul-Baha stood forth in the greatest of joy of soul and tranquility of spirit. He radiated calmness and
assurance, and through his strength the community of the friends was saved from despair and from the
disaster which would have accompanied the loss of hope at such a moment. This situation was dramatic
in the extreme. It was shortly followed by the tragic downfall of the government that for forty years had
held Abdul-Baha a prisoner.
Several months later I was again permitted to travel in Syria and visit Abdul-Baha. Although it had
not been long in point of time since my previous visit, yet the conditions surrounding Abdul-Baha had
so changed as to make the previous time seem, by comparison, to have been in a former decade. Abdul-
Baha was free. The uttermost liberty existed. Akka had ceased to be a penal colony and the gates were
no longer guarded.
The Bahais had not yet recovered from their first ecstasy of joy over the freedom of Abdul-Baha, yet
through all this manifest jubilation he was conducting his work as usual. It was then that I realized, to
the extent of my capacity, how far above this world’s conditions Abdul-Baha stands. Not discouraged by
criticism, persecution, calamity; not elated by applause, commendation nor good fortune, he stands apart
from the world upon a firm rock, the spiritual foundation of The Kingdom. By

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virtue of this severance from all save God, he is enabled to change the current of the world’s thought
from materiality to spirituality, and to create in men’s souls the fire of God’s love.
Almost two years after the great change in Turkey, I again went to Syria. In coming in contact with
Abdul-Baha each soul receives the message, or the lesson, for which it is then ready and prepared to
receive. Previously my attention had been chiefly called to those principles for which Abdul-Baha
stands, which are so clearly manifested in his life, while his personality, as a man in the world, had
impressed me but little. Now, this which previously I had allowed to pass almost unnoticed was to be
my chief lesson.
I saw the exquisite beauty of Abdul-Baha’s personality from lines of physical strength and
refinement in his face, to his trained thought and judgment. His dignity and carriage, his mental grasp of
things both great and small, and the manner in which he dealt with them in proportion to their
importance, were all of the deepest interest to me.
In his person one sees at once the power of the spirit as well as its gentle, refining qualities, a
combination of strength and delicacy, of masculine and feminine qualities; the balanced combination of
dignity, humility, forcefulness .and gentleness.
Whatever may be one’s mental conception of Abdul-Baha, one must invariably readjust it from time
to time. Under his guidance, his followers are growing in spiritual stature, and as the perceptive powers
of the soul increase, one sees more and more clearly Abdul-Baha’s spiritual power and divine mission.
Were one to visit him many times, each time his former

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idea would be laid aside for a clearer and a more defined conception.
My last visit with Abdul-Baha was in September, 1911, during his sojourn in London, England.
There he was in the vortex of western civilization, sought by many people from various walks of life,
both high and low. Under these conditions his spirit shone forth with greater brilliancy than ever before.
It is natural and easy for the western mind to weave a halo of sentiment and romance about the
personality of a persecuted religious leader, exiled and imprisoned for his faith under the corrupt rule of
an oriental despot; but, when this same spiritual teacher comes into the limelight of western thought and
customs, the people see him from a different angle; things which they but imagined about him are
dispelled, and his real virtues stand out more strikingly visible than ever.
Abdul-Baha, stripped of his accustomed oriental environment, appeared more clearly than ever to be
the master of the spiritual situation. I heard him give the first public address that he had ever made,
before a vast concourse of about 2,000 souls, and I was also with him during a number of personal
interviews granted to various truth seekers. At all times under these unaccustomed conditions he drew
unto himself all people, and through his love, wisdom and power, gave them spiritual assurance and
satisfaction.
One afternoon some one asked Abdul-Baha regarding the relation of his mission to that of the great
Manifestation, Baha’o’llah. He replied by saying, “Baha’o’llah is the root of the tree of The Kingdom,
while I am the branch, branched from that pre-existent root. The fruit

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of the tree appears upon the branches, not upon the roots.”

The most potent of all factors in moving humanity is love; it is at the same time the most elusive and
the most difficult of all things to define. We know it only through its characteristics, and these we never
fail to recognize. So it is with true religion. There is a spiritual force, which is divine love, working in it
that is its very life force. When one feels his soul responding to this, he realizes that he has come into
contact with a higher realm, and though he cannot describe this awakening in so many words, it is none
the less to him the most real of all things.
In these latter days, when “prophets” and “new religions” are so abundant, one naturally wonders
how to distinguish truth from error, and how to recognize the Lord’s anointed one from among many
men. The difficulty was solved almost two thousand years ago by him who said, “By their fruits ye shall
know them”.
To him who has traveled and lived among the Bahais and has seen the effect of this cause upon the
lives of peoples of every race and religion, there can be no doubt as to the divine source of its teachings,
for in the fruits of the Bahai cause is manifest its truth.
It has been my privilege to travel among, and to associate with, the Bahais in many foreign
countries, and I can testify to the spiritual qualities manifested in their lives. Often I have been in a
position where I have been obliged to place myself entirely in the hands of strange men, whose language
I could not speak, the only thing which we had in common being our faith. I say the only thing was our
faith, yet this was everything because that faith was large enough to encompass all things.

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Western travelers whom I have met in the oriental countries have been surprised that I trusted myself
in out-of-the-way places and along unfrequented routes of travel, alone with the oriental people as my
sole companions and friends. When one is surrounded by friends, his personal welfare is seldom a
subject of worry. I can truthfully state that never have I felt more at ease and free from care than when I
have been with the oriental Bahais. Wherever I happened to be with them, I have always had a warmth
of hospitality and kindness lavished upon me. This was not because of any other reason than that I was
of their faith.
Between the Bahais of the East and those of the West there exists the strongest tie. Since it was
through the suffering, pain, and trials of the Bahais of the Orient that this faith had its first growth and
was brought to the West, the western Bahais look toward their eastern brothers and sisters with deepest
feelings of love and gratitude. Western Bahais have in their souls a strong love for the eastern Bahais
and a burning desire to go to them sharing with them all the practical things of the western civilization.
Upon the other hand, in the growth of the Bahai cause here in the West the oriental Bahais see the
result of their labors, for these believers are their spiritual offspring. They see the fruit of their bloody
persecution and great sufferings, and with open and joyful hearts they are anxious to receive into their
very lives their western brothers and sisters, learning from them and in turn pouring out upon them, all
of that wealth of devotion, love, and spiritual assurance, which the people of the East have and which the
people of the West need.

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Among the Bahais there is a practical demonstration of a combined religious and secular unity. Good
works are not done under the name of “charity” nor “philanthropy”. Rather, it is “reciprocation” and
“interdependence”. Each gives what he has to give, and through the spirit of giving and doing in loving
service, ones own nature unfolds and he himself receives abundantly.
Particularly in the Orient the contrast between the Bahais and other people is very striking. There,
the average Orientals and Occidentals, meet without mingling, each remaining foreign to the other, but
the opposite is true with these very same people when they are touched by the Bahai spirit, for then we
see them associating with one another as members of one family, having the same interests and desires,
and united in the same works.
Among the oriental Bahais there is a love and a devotion to this cause and its principles, impossible
to describe. It is beyond comprehension to understand, yet one recognizes it.
In many countries and among people of every race and of every religion I found such a warm
welcome and had such friendship and devotion showered upon me, simply because I was a Bahai, that I
felt and saw the blending process at work, uniting the East and the West. This is a force working
independently of material conditions. I saw it working under all conditions and amid all surroundings,
from those of the half-naked jungleman living in his hut, to those of the cultured man of wealth dwelling
in his palace. This spiritual love, which is of God, is the strongest power in creation. In its uniting force
is the foundation of accord and harmony upon which the Orient and the Occident are

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meeting. From this movement will appear, as fruits, all of those social institutions between the East and
the West, which will materially demonstrate the truths which the Bahais now witness as spiritual
realities.
In Persia I found the Bahais struggling against great opposition upon the part of those surrounding
them, in their work of uplifting and educating woman. While in that country, I met Bahai women who
are doing great work for their own sex. Until recently this work, for the most part, has been very quietly
done, in fact almost in secret, on account of the persecution by the Moslems, whose traditions regarding
the seclusion and oppression of women, the Bahais are undermining.
I found the Persian believers to be most stanch and courageous people. While the great massacres
and martyrdoms of the Bahais in that land are probably now a thing of the past, nevertheless the Bahais
are still under persecution and even in these days it sometimes leads to loss of life.
Many men whom I met had been eyewitnesses to the massacres of the 80’s, in which so many of our
people died for their faith, while others with whom I talked had lost both family and property. One
impression which I recall very vividly, was the calm way, free from any trace of rancor, in which the
Persian Bahais referred to the losses and afflictions visited upon them by the enemies of the cause.
Instead of causing embitterment, these troubles have had a most spiritualizing effect upon the believers,
for the persecution has been as a fire which has taken everything from them save the love of God, with
which their hearts are ablaze.
After a visit among these people, one

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feels spiritually better and stronger than before, absorbing a force from them which gives courage in
moments of weakness and guidance in moments of strength. This is the spirit which abides with those
who are in reality severed from all save God. It is this spirit which is manifest in the life and teaching of
Abdul-Baha, and in the lives of those who in spirit follow the principles for which he stands.

اختر نصًّا ثانيًا لقراءته بالتوازي — ترجمةً، أو أيّ نصٍّ آخر.