# Pilgrims' Notes

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Abdu'l-Bahá, Pilgrims' Notes, Bahá'í Publishing Trust of India, 1988, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Pilgrims' Notes
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá
> Shoghi Effendi
> Universal House of Justice
> published in Lights of Guidance
> 
> Bahá'í Publishing Trust of India, 1988
> 
> The following excerpts on pilgrims' notes are taken from the
> one-volume encyclopedia of Bahá'í quotations Lights of Guidance: A
> Bahá'í Reference File (Compiler Helen Hornby; New Delhi: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1988/1994). See also some comments on Pilgrims' Notes in the
> letter from the International Teaching Centre.
> 
> Click on any of the numbers to go to a selection below:
> 
> 147
> 1431
> 1432
> 1433
> 1434
> 1435
> 1436
> 1437
> 1438
> 1439
> 
> 147 PILGRIM'S NOTES
> "Regarding the notes taken by pilgrims at
> Haifa. The Guardian has stated that he is unwilling to sign the notes of any
> pilgrim, in order that the literature consulted by the believers shall not be
> unduly extended... This means that the notes of pilgrims do not carry the
> authority resident in the Guardian's letters written over his own
> signature. On the other hand, each pilgrim brings back information and
> suggestions of a most precious character, and it is the privilege of all the
> friends to share in the spiritual results of these visits."
> 
> (Shoghi Effendi: Directives of the Guardian,
> Page: 54)
> 
> 1431. Any Narrative Not Authenticated by a Text Should Not Be
> Trusted
> 
> "Thou has written concerning the pilgrims and pilgrims' notes. Any
> narrative that is not authenticated by a Text should not be trusted.
> Narratives, even if true, cause confusion. For the people of Bahá, the Text,
> and only the Text, is authentic."
> (Abdu'l-
> Bahá: from a previously untranslated Tablet)
> 
> 1432. Privilege of Friends to Share Results of These Visits
> 
> "Regarding the notes taken by pilgrims at Haifa. The Guardian has stated
> that he is unwilling to sign the notes of any pilgrim, in order that the
> literature consulted by the believers shall not be unduly extended... This
> means that the notes of pilgrims do not carry the authority resident in the
> Guardian's letters written over his own signature. On the other hand each
> pilgrim brings back information and suggestions of a most precious
> character, and it is the privilege of all the friends to share in the
> spiritual results of these visits."
> (From a
> letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the United States: Bahá'í News, No. 281, p. 4, July 1954)
> 
> 1433. Pilgrims' Notes Are Hearsay and Cannot Claim the Authority of
> the Sacred Text
> 
> "The instructions of the Master and the Guardian make it very clear that
> Pilgrims' notes are hearsay and cannot claim the authority and binding
> power of the Sacred Text.... Moreover, the fact that the pilgrim writing of
> his experience is a reliable or well-known believer, or that the reported
> statement seems to be repeated in the notes of several pilgrims, does not
> in itself confer authority upon the pilgrim's note in question."
> 
> (From a letter written on behalf of the
> Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, January 23, 1980)
> 
> 1434. The Notes of Pilgrims Are for Their Own Use
> 
> "Shoghi Effendi has often said that the notes of the pilgrims should be for
> their own personal use and bear absolutely no authority. What he desires
> to convey to the friends at large he will always say in his general letters."
> 
> (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi
> Effendi to an individual believer, February 26, 1933)
> 
> 1435. The Difference Between Talks and Tablets
> 
> "Shoghi Effendi has laid down the principle that the Bahá'ís should not
> attribute much importance to talks reported to have been given by the
> Master, if these have not in one form or other obtained His sanction.
> "Bahá'u'lláh has made it clear enough that only those things that have been
> revealed in the form of Tablets have a binding power over the friends.
> Hearsays may be matters of interest but can in no way claim authority.
> This basic teaching of Bahá'u'lláh was to preserve the Faith from being
> corrupted like Islam which attributes binding authority to all the reported
> sayings of Muhammad. "This being a basic principle of the Faith, we
> should not confuse Tablets that were actually revealed and mere talks
> attributed to the founders of the Cause. The first have absolute binding
> authority while the latter can in no way claim our obedience. The highest
> thing this can achieve is to influence the activities of the one who has
> heard the saying in person. "Those talks of the Master that were later
> reviewed by Him, corrected or in some other form considered authentic by
> Himself, such as the `Some Answered Questions', these could be
> considered as Tablets and therefore be given the necessary binding power.
> All the other talks such as are included in Ahmad's diary or the diary of
> pilgrims, do not fall under this category and could be considered only as
> interesting material to be taken for what they are worth. "For this
> reason Shoghi Effendi has not been encouraging the publication of reported
> sayings that were not authenticated by the Master Himself. And when he
> said that they may be published if quotation marks are taken away, Shoghi
> Effendi tried to prevent the friends from considering as actual words of
> the Master things that were not authenticated by Him."
> 
> (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi
> Effendi to the United States Publishing Committee, December 29, 1931)
> 
> 1436. Stories Told About Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> "He would also urge you to attach no importance to the stories told about
> Abdu'l-Bahá or to those attributed to Him by the friends. These should be
> regarded in the same light as the notes and impressions of visiting
> pilgrims. They need not be suppressed, but they should not also be given
> prominence or official recognition."
> (From a
> letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the United States and Canada, October 2, 1935)
> 
> 1437. Only Signed or Sealed Tablets Are Considered Authentic
> 
> "According to the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh no authority can be attached to
> a mere hearsay, no matter through whom it may come. The Tablets that
> bear the seal or signature of Bahá'u'lláh and the Master are the only parts
> of the literature that have any authority and that constitute the basis of
> our belief. All other forms of literature may bear points of interest but
> they cannot be considered as authentic. This is the view that Shoghi
> Effendi took towards the talks of Abdu'l-Bahá that Ahmad Sohrab had
> incorporated in his book, and it is the attitude that he would take towards
> any other reported saying, naturally unless the Master has appended His
> signature to that talk and thereby given it the authority of a Tablet such
> as is the case with `Some Answered Questions' that was actually
> corrected by Him."
> (From a letter written
> on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, November 18, 1931)
> 
> 1438. Pilgrim's Notes Reporting the Master's Words on Embracing and
> Kissing
> 
> "The pilgrim's note reports the Master as saying: `Women and men must
> not embrace each other when not married, or not about to be married. They
> must not kiss each other... If they wish to greet each other, or comfort
> each other, they may take each other by the hand.' In a letter to an
> individual written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi it is said: `The Master's
> words to ..., which you quoted, can certainly be taken as the true spirit of
> the teachings on the subject of sex. We must strive to achieve this exalted
> standard.' (October 19, 1947)"
> (From a
> letter of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the United States, February 10, 1974)
> 
> 1439. Haifa Notes Collected by Mrs. Maxwell
> 
> "With reference to the Haifa notes collected by dear Mrs. Maxwell: These
> have exactly the same status as all other pilgrims' notes, and as such
> there should be no objection to their circulation among the believers.
> While these notes taken down by the pilgrims do not constitute as official
> pronouncements made by the Guardian, and therefore should not be
> imposed on the friends, those who wish to share them with the members
> of the Community should, under no circumstances, be prevented from doing
> so. Though not strictly official, and in some instances inaccurate and
> misleading, these notes, as experience has shown, can be of tremendous
> help, guidance and inspiration to many individual believers, and their value
> as such should therefore be readily admitted."
> 
> (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi
> Effendi to an individual believer, April 28, 1939)
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views20898 views since posted 2003-09-22; last edit 2022-02-17 17:00 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../compilation_pilgrims_notes;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> — *Pilgrims' Notes (Used by permission of the curator)*