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THE SPIRITUAL POTENCIES OF THAT CONSECRATED SPOT 31 |
The transfer of the sacred remains of the brother and mother of our
Lord and Master ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Mount Carmel and their final interment
within the hallowed precincts of the Shrine of the Báb, and in the immediate
neighborhood of the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, constitute,
apart from their historic associations and the tender sentiments they arouse,
events of such capital institutional significance as only future happenings,
steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can
adequately demonstrate.
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The circumstances attending the consummation of this long, this profoundly
cherished hope were no less significant. The swiftness and suddenness
with which so delicate and weighty an undertaking was conducted; the
surmounting of various obstacles which the outbreak of war and its inevitable
repercussions necessarily engendered; the success of the long-drawn out
negotiations which the solution of certain preliminary problems imposed;
the execution of the plan in the face of the continued instability and
persistent dangers following the fierce riots that so long and so violently
rocked the Holy Land, and despite the smoldering fire of animosity kindled in
the breasts of ecclesiastics and Covenant-breakers alike—all combined to
demonstrate, afresh and with compelling power, the invincible might of the
Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
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The Purest Branch, the martyred son, the companion, and amanuensis
of Bahá’u’lláh, that pious and holy youth, who in the darkest days of
Bahá’u’lláh’s incarceration in the barracks of ‘Akká entreated, on his
death-bed, his Father to accept him as a ransom for those of His loved
ones who yearned for, but were unable to attain, His presence, and the
saintly mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, surnamed Navváb by Bahá’u’lláh, and the
first recipient of the honored and familiar title of “the Most Exalted Leaf,”
separated in death above half a century, and forced to suffer the humiliation
of an alien burial-ground, are now at long last reunited with the Greatest
Holy Leaf with whom they had so abundantly shared the tribulations of
one of the most distressing episodes of the Heroic Age of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh. Avenged, eternally safeguarded, befittingly glorified, they
repose embosomed in the heart of Carmel, hidden beneath its sacred soil,
interred in one single spot, lying beneath the shadow of the twin holy Tombs,
and facing across the bay, on an eminence of unequalled loveliness and beauty,
the silver-city of ‘Akká, the Point of Adoration of the entire Bahá’í world,
and the Door of Hope for all mankind. “Haste thee, O Carmel!” thus proclaims
the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, “for lo, the light of the countenance of God,
the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath
been lifted upon thee.” “Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon
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thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the
day-spring of the evidences of His Revelation.”
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The machinations of Badí’u’lláh—the brother and lieutenant of the Focal
Center of sedition and Arch-Breaker of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, the
deceased Muḥammad-‘Alí—who with uncommon temerity and exceptional
vigor addressed his written protest to the civil authorities, claiming the
right to oppose the projected transfer of the remains of the mother and
brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have been utterly frustrated. So foolish a claim,
advanced by one who in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has been
denounced as an “alert and active worker of mischief,” and whose life has
been marked by so many instances of extravagance, of betrayal and folly,
has been summarily rejected by the fairness and justice of the civil
authorities, in whose custody the notorious Sadhíj, the daughter of that same
Badí’u’lláh, is still retained, as a direct result of her ceaseless
instigations to rebellion and terrorism, and whose acts constitute a clear and
double violation of the civil law of the land and of the spiritual ordinances
of Bahá’u’lláh, in Whose Faith she professes to believe.
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Unabashed by his appalling mistakes and blunders; undeterred by the
galling failure of his persistent efforts, in conjunction with his brother,
to establish, in the days following the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, their alleged
right to the custody of the Most Holy Tomb; unrestrained by the memory
of the abortive attempt of Muḥammad-‘Alí to retain the Mansion of
Bahá’u’lláh as a private residence for himself and his family; unchastened
by the spiritual and material misery into which he and his kindred have
sunk; and impotent to perceive the contrast between that misery and the
consolidating strength and ever-enhancing prestige of the institutions
heralding the birth of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh at its international
center, he has, with characteristic insolence, dared to raise once again his
voice against the resistless march of events that are steadily accelerating
the expansion and establishment of the Faith in the Holy Land.
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For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized,
that the conjunction of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with
those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies
of that consecrated Spot which, under the wings of the Báb’s overshadowing
Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
which will be reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal center
of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-directing administrative
institutions, ordained by Bahá’u’lláh and anticipated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and
which are to function in consonance with the principles that govern the
twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice.
Then, and then only, will this momentous prophecy which illuminates the
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concluding passages of the Tablet of Carmel be fulfilled: “Ere long will
God sail His Ark upon thee (Carmel), and will manifest the people of Bahá
who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.”
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To attempt to visualize, even in its barest outline, the glory that must
envelop these institutions, to essay even a tentative and partial description
of their character or the manner of their operation, or to trace however
inadequately the course of events leading to their rise and eventual
establishment is far beyond my own capacity and power. Suffice it to say that
at this troubled stage in world history the association of these three
incomparably precious souls who, next to the three Central Figures of our
Faith, tower in rank above the vast multitude of the heroes, Letters, martyrs,
hands, teachers and administrators of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, in such a
potentially powerful spiritual and administrative Center, is in itself an event
which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land
which, geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart
of the entire planet, of some of the brightest gems of that World Order now
shaping in the womb of this travailing age.
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For such as might undertake, in the days to come, the meritorious and
highly enviable pilgrimage to these blessed shrines, as well as for the benefit
of the less privileged who, aware of the greatness of their virtue and the
pre-eminence of their lineage, desire to commune with their spirits, and to
strive to acquire an added insight into the glory of their position, and to
follow in their footsteps, let these testimonies written by Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá be their inspiration and guidance in their noble quest:
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“At this very moment,” Bahá’u’lláh testifies, “My son is being washed
before My face, after Our having sacrificed him in the Most Great Prison.
Thereat have the dwellers of the Abhá Tabernacle wept with a great weeping,
and such as have suffered imprisonment with this Youth in the path of
God, the Lord of the promised Day, lamented. Under such conditions My
Pen hath not been prevented from remembering its Lord, the Lord of all
nations. It summoneth the people unto God, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
This is the day whereon he that was created by the light of Bahá
has suffered martyrdom, at a time when he lay imprisoned at the hands of
his enemies.”
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“Upon thee, O Branch of God!” He solemnly and most touchingly, in
that same Tablet, bestows upon him His benediction, “be the remembrance
of God and His praise, and the praise of all that dwell in the Realm of
Immortality, and of all the denizens of the Kingdom of Names. Happy art
thou in that thou hast been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament,
until Thou didst sacrifice thyself before the face of thy Lord, the
Almighty, the Unconstrained. Thou, in truth, hast been wronged, and to
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this testifieth the Beauty of Him, the Self-Subsisting. Thou didst, in the
first days of thy life, bear that which hath caused all things to groan, and
made every pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee, and
draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn.”
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“Glorified art Thou, O Lord, my God!” He, in a prayer, astoundingly
proclaims, “Thou seest me in the hands of Mine enemies, and My son bloodstained
before Thy face, O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all
names. I have, O my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me,
that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united.”
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“Blessed art thou,” He, in another Tablet affirms, “and blessed he that
turneth unto thee, and visiteth thy grave, and draweth nigh, through thee,
unto God, the Lord of all that was and shall be…. I testify that thou
didst return in meekness unto thine abode. Great is thy blessedness and the
blessedness of them that hold fast unto the hem of thy outspread robe….
Thou art, verily, the trust of God and His treasure in this land. Erelong will
God reveal through thee that which He hath desired. He, verily, is the
Truth, the Knower of things unseen. When thou wast laid to rest in the
earth, the earth itself trembled in its longing to meet thee. Thus hath it
been decreed, and yet the people perceive not…. Were We to recount the
mysteries of thine ascension, they that are asleep would waken, and all
beings would be set ablaze with the fire of the remembrance of My Name,
the Mighty, the Loving.”
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Concerning the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’u’lláh
has written: “The first Spirit through which all spirits were revealed,
and the first Light by which all lights shone forth, rest upon thee, O Most
Exalted Leaf, thou who hast been mentioned in the Crimson Book! Thou
art the one whom God created to arise and serve His own Self, and the
Manifestation of His Cause, and the Day-Spring of His Revelation, and the
Dawning-Place of His signs, and the Source of His commandments; and
Who so aided thee that thou didst turn with thy whole being unto Him, at
a time when His servants and handmaidens had turned away from His Face.
…Happy art thou, O My handmaiden, and My Leaf, and the one mentioned
in My Book, and inscribed by My Pen of Glory in My Scrolls and Tablets.
…Rejoice thou, at this moment, in the most exalted Station and the
All-highest Paradise, and the Abhá Horizon, inasmuch as He Who is the Lord
of Names hath remembered thee. We bear witness that thou didst attain
unto all good, and that God hath so exalted thee, that all honor and glory
circled around thee.”
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“O Navváb!” He thus, in another Tablet, addresses her, “O Leaf that
hath sprung from My Tree, and been My companion! My glory be upon
thee, and My loving-kindness, and My mercy that hath surpassed all beings.
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We announce unto thee that which will gladden thine eye, and assure thy
soul, and rejoice thine heart. Verily, thy Lord is the Compassionate, the
All-Bountiful. God hath been and will be pleased with thee, and hath singled
thee out for His own Self, and chosen thee from among His handmaidens
to serve Him, and hath made thee the companion of His Person in the day-time
and in the night-season.”
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“Hear thou Me once again,” He reassures her, “God is well-pleased with
thee, as a token of His grace and a sign of His mercy. He hath made thee
to be His companion in every one of His worlds, and hath nourished thee
with His meeting and presence, so long as His Name, and His Remembrance,
and His Kingdom, and His Empire shall endure. Happy is the handmaid
that hath mentioned thee, and sought thy good-pleasure, and humbled
herself before thee, and held fast unto the cord of thy love. Woe betide him
that denieth thy exalted station, and the things ordained for thee from
God, the Lord of all names, and him that hath turned away from thee, and
rejected thy station before God, the Lord of the mighty throne.”
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“O faithful ones!” Bahá’u’lláh specifically enjoins, “Should ye visit the
resting-place of the Most Exalted Leaf, who hath ascended unto the Glorious
Companion, stand ye and say: ‘Salutation and blessing and glory upon
thee, O Holy Leaf that hath sprung from the Divine Lote-Tree! I bear
witness that thou hast believed in God and in His signs, and answered His
Call, and turned unto Him, and held fast unto His cord, and clung to the
hem of His grace, and fled thy home in His path, and chosen to live as a
stranger, out of love for His presence and in thy longing to serve Him.
May God have mercy upon him that draweth nigh unto thee, and remembereth
thee through the things which My Pen hath voiced in this, the most
great station. We pray God that He may forgive us, and forgive them that
have turned unto thee, and grant their desires, and bestow upon them,
through His wondrous grace, whatever be their wish. He, verily, is the
Bountiful, the Generous. Praise be to God, He Who is the Desire of all
worlds; and the Beloved of all who recognize Him.”
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And, finally, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself in one of His remarkably significant
Tablets, has borne witness not only to the exalted station of one whose
“seed shall inherit the Gentiles,” whose Husband is the Lord of Hosts, but
also to the sufferings endured by her who was His beloved mother. “As to
thy question concerning the 54th chapter of Isaiah,” He writes, “This
chapter refers to the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As a
proof of this it is said: ‘For more are the children of the desolate, than the
children of the married wife.’ Reflect upon this statement, and then upon
the following: ‘And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited.’ And truly the humiliation and reproach which
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she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one can refute. For the
calamities and afflictions mentioned in the whole chapter are such afflictions
which she suffered in the path of God, all of which she endured with patience
and thanked God therefor and praised Him, because He had enabled her to
endure afflictions for the sake of Bahá. During all this time, the men and
women (Covenant-breakers) persecuted her in an incomparable manner,
while she was patient, God-fearing, calm, humble and contented through
the favor of her Lord and by the bounty of her Creator.”
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