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.
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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 »
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10: Render thanks to the Lord that among that race thou art the first… |
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Render thanks to the Lord that among that race thou art the first
believer,
1
that thou hast engaged in spreading sweet-scented breezes, and hast
arisen to guide others. It is my hope that through the bounties and favours of
the Abhá Beauty thy countenance may be illumined, thy disposition pleasing,
and thy fragrance diffused, that thine eyes may be seeing, thine ears
attentive, thy tongue eloquent, thy heart filled with supreme glad-tidings, and
thy soul refreshed by divine fragrances, so that thou mayest arise among that
race and occupy thyself with the edification of the people, and become filled
with light. Although the pupil of the eye is black, it is the source of light.
Thou shalt likewise be. The disposition should be bright, not the appearance.
Therefore, with supreme confidence and certitude, say: “O God! Make me a
radiant light, a shining lamp, and a brilliant star, so that I may illumine the
hearts with an effulgent ray from Thy Kingdom of Abhá….”
(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) [10] |
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This Tablet was addressed to one Mrs. Pocohontas in Washington. According to Fádil Mazandarání, the recipient of the Tablet was a black woman. See “Tárí-i-Zuhúu’l-Ḥaq”, vol. 8, part 2, p. 1209 (Ṭihrán: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 132 B.E.). Additional information provided by the Archives of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States indicates that Mr. Louis Gregory, in a history of the Washington, D.C. Bahá’í community, mentions a black Bahá’í, Mrs. Pocohontas Pope, who is likely the same person. Mrs. Pope learned of the Bahá’í Faith through Alma and Fanny Knobloch and Joseph and Pauline Hannen. There is, at present no other information on Mrs. Pope.
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