A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.

The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas

  • Author:

  • Bahá’u’lláh

  • Source:
  • Bahá’í World Centre, 1992 edition
  • Pages:
  • 254
Go to printed page GO
Page 169
 

8. and when the Sun of Truth and Utterance shall set, turn your faces towards the Spot that We have ordained for you # 6
 
Bahá’u’lláh ordains His resting-place as the Qiblih after His passing. The Most Holy Tomb is at Bahjí, ‘Akká. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes that Spot as the “luminous Shrine”, “the place around which circumambulate the Concourse on High”.
 
In a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi uses the analogy of the plant turning in the direction of the sun to explain the spiritual significance of turning towards the Qiblih:
 
…just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight—from which it receives life and growth—so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Bahá’u’lláh, when we pray; … we turn our faces … to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.