23 May 1912
TALK BY ABDU’L-BAHA’ AT HOME OF MR. AND MRS. FRANCIS W. BREED
367 HARVARD STREET, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
Scientific knowledge is the highest attainment upon the human plane, for science is the discoverer of realities. It is of two kinds: material and spiritual. Material science is the investigation of natural phenomena; divine science is the discovery and realization of spiritual verities. The world of humanity must acquire both. A bird has two wings; it cannot fly with one. Material and spiritual science are the two wings of human uplift and attainment. Both are necessary—one the natural, the other supernatural; one material, the other divine. By the divine we mean the discovery of the mysteries of God, the comprehension of spiritual realities, the wisdom of God, inner significances of the heavenly religions and foundation of the law.
This is 23 May, the anniversary of the message and Declaration of the Báb. It is a blessed day and the dawn of manifestation, for the appearance of the Báb was the early light of the true morn, whereas the manifestation of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, was the shining forth of the sun. Therefore, it is a blessed day, the inception of the heavenly bounty, the beginning of the divine effulgence. On this day in 1844 the Báb was sent forth heralding and proclaiming the Kingdom of God, announcing the glad tidings of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh and withstanding the opposition of the whole Persian nation. Some of the Persians followed Him. For this they suffered the most grievous difficulties and severe ordeals. They withstood the tests with wonderful power and sublime heroism. Thousands were cast into prison, punished, persecuted and martyred. Their homes were pillaged and destroyed, their possessions confiscated. They sacrificed their lives most willingly and remained unshaken in their faith to the very end. Those wonderful souls are the lamps of God, the stars of sanctity shining gloriously from the eternal horizon of the will of God.
The Báb was subjected to bitter persecution in Shíráz, where He first proclaimed His mission and message. A period of famine afflicted that region, and the Báb journeyed to Iṣfahán. There the learned men rose against Him in great hostility. He was arrested and sent to Tabríz. From thence He was transferred to Mákú and finally imprisoned in the strong castle of Chihríq. Afterward He was martyred in Tabríz.
This is merely an outline of the history of the Báb. He withstood all persecutions and bore every suffering and ordeal with unflinching strength. The more His enemies endeavored to extinguish that flame, the brighter it became. Day by day His Cause spread and strengthened. During the time when He was among the people He was constantly heralding the coming of Bahá’u’lláh. In all His Books and Tablets He mentioned Bahá’u’lláh and announced the glad tidings of His manifestation, prophesying that He would reveal Himself in the ninth year. He said that in the ninth year “you will attain to all happiness”; in the ninth year “you will be blessed with the meeting of the Promised One of Whom I have spoken.” He mentioned the Blessed Perfection, Bahá’u’lláh, by the title “Him Whom God shall make manifest.” In brief, that blessed Soul offered His very life in the pathway of Bahá’u’lláh, even as it is recorded in historical writings and records. In His first Book, the Best of Stories, He says, “O Remnant of God! I am wholly sacrificed to Thee; I am content with curses in Thy path; I crave nought but to be slain in Thy love; and God, the Supreme, sufficeth as an eternal protection.”
Consider how the Báb endured difficulties and tribulations; how He gave His life in the Cause of God; how He was attracted to the love of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh; and how He announced the glad tidings of His manifestation. We must follow His heavenly example; we must be self-sacrificing and aglow with the fire of the love of God. We must partake of the bounty and grace of the Lord, for the Báb has admonished us to arise in service to the Cause of God, to be absolutely severed from all else save God during the day of the Blessed Perfection, Bahá’u’lláh, to be completely attracted by the love of Bahá’u’lláh, to love all humanity for His sake, to be lenient and merciful to all for Him and to upbuild the oneness of the world of humanity. Therefore, this day, 23 May, is the anniversary of a blessed event.
Abdu’l-Baha’, The Promulgation Of Universal Peace
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On this date in 1844 AD The Bab (in English “Door” or “Gate”) made His proclamation. The Bab was the biblically prophesied return of John the Baptist who was to come as the Herald of the advent of the second Christ, and both the Qa’im (Ariser) and Mahdi (Rightly Guided One) of Islam. The Bab was also prophesied in both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran by His Name, His Address (from where He would come forth), and His Mission. To learn all of these Proofs go to www.bahaifireside.org.
From Entry By Troops:
The Advent Date of The Bab as witnessed to in the Great Pyramid of Giza and prophesied of in the Holy Bible:
Measuring 1843.217891867748 P” up the Ascending Passageway from the Zero Point, you come to the upper end of the Grand Gallery of Religions at the Altar Stone. (see Figure 19) This junction is at the East – West Center Line, marking the end of the Christian Era and calendar on March 21st, 1844 AD and bringing us into the New Age. The Baha’i Era and calendar were inaugurated by the Bab who made his Proclamation on May 23rd, 1844 AD. This date corresponds exactly with the date given by Daniel in the Bible of 2300 days/years from 457 BC to March 21st, 1844 (Daniel 8:13, 14) for the return of Jesus as the Bab (Door or Gate in John 10:7, 9), for the cleansing of the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is symbolized by the Ante-chamber in the Great Pyramid and the Altar by the Great Step. The Sanctuary was cleansed by the blood of the Bab on the Altar just inside the Door of the Sanctuary and by the blood of ten thousand of his followers in Glorious martyrdom, during the years represented by the length of the Altar Stone (the Great Step) in the Pyramid.
The Bab, meaning Door or Gate, closed the door to the Prophetic Age and opened the door to the Age of Fulfillment. His Revelation was of the potency of the Sanctuary and he is therefore the return of Jesus to earth in the Sanctuary which he had entered in heaven (Hebrews 9:24). Like John the Baptist, he prepared the way for the Advent of the Glory of the Lord—Baha’u’llah (see the 43rd chapter of Ezekiel).
The calendar instituted by the Bab for the New Age has 19 days to the month and 19 months to the year, plus four and one-quarter intercalary days, with leap years having five (one year = 19 months of 19 days plus four and one-quarter intercalary days). Therefore there are 19.22328763 Baha’i months in one solar year.
From UHJ.net:
The Bab was the Holy Soul promised to come from the line and issue of Muhammad, the son of Ishmael the son of Abraham.
This line of Ishmael was the Holy line of sacrifice, set up and established to protect the line of David throughout all the independent and warring dynasties; if ONLY all Jews, Christians, and Muslims knew this, peace, union and harmony would capture all the hearts of mankind and knit them as one–all would be united as one being upon this divided earth and wars and hatred, poverty, ignorance and prejudice would vanish like the night shade of dusk upon the morning suns brilliantly gleaming rays of light, hope, trust and salvation.
In the Name of God, the Lord of overpowering majesty, the All-Compelling.
Hallowed be the Lord in Whose hand is the source of dominion. He createth whatsoever He willeth by His Word of command “Be,” and it is. His hath been the power of authority heretofore, and it shall remain His hereafter. He maketh victorious whomsoever He pleaseth, through the potency of His behest. He is in truth the Powerful, the Almighty. Unto Him pertaineth all glory and majesty in the kingdoms of Revelation and Creation and whatever lieth between them. Verily, He is the Potent, the All-Glorious. From everlasting He hath been the Source of indomitable strength and shall remain so unto everlasting. He is indeed the Lord of might and power. All the kingdoms of heaven and earth and whatever is between them are God’s, and His power is supreme over all things. All the treasures of earth and heaven and everything between them are His, and His protection extendeth over all things. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and whatever lieth between them, and He truly is a witness over all things. He is the Lord of Reckoning for all that dwell in the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. Verily, He is the Supreme Protector. He holdeth in His grasp the keys of heaven and earth and of everything between them. At His Own pleasure doth He bestow gifts, through the power of His command. Indeed His grace encompasseth all, and He is the All-Knowing.
Say: God sufficeth unto me; He is the One Who holdeth in His grasp the kingdom of all things. Through the power of His hosts of heaven and earth and whatever lieth between them, He protecteth whomsoever among His servants He willeth. God, in truth, keepeth watch over all things.
Immeasurably exalted art Thou, O Lord! Protect us from what lieth in front of us and behind us, above our heads, on our right, on our left, below our feet and every other side to which we are exposed. Verily, Thy protection over all things is unfailing.–The Bab
The sacrifice of the Bab and 10,000 Babi’s, an act of unbridled love for God, illuminates all mankind even up unto this very day. Hagar the Handmaiden and her son Ishmael were chosen by God and sacrificed by Abraham into the wilderness of Arabia. Hagar was an Egyptian princess and Ishmael thereby inherited the rights of a spiritual pharaoh of the line of the great pre-Mosaic dynasties of Egypt united with the seed of Abraham and promised to be a Great Nation with 12 princes, who are the 12 Imams descended in succession from Ali and the daughter of Muhammad the Holy Fatimah. All 12 of these and Muhammad Himself sacrificed and gave their lives as a SHIELD and a TARGET for the arrows of men in protection of the line of King David that continued in their dispensation in the Middle Kingdom of Islam that was ordained by God to come between the dispensation of David of that of Moses and Christ and that of David of the line of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha that continues today.
The first Imam, Ali, protected the line of David by insuring the marriage of the Exilarch, (exiled monarch of David), Bostanai to the Sassanian princess Dara, thus uniting the line of David with the greatest of the pre Muslim dynasties descended from Cyrus the Great and Sassan. In the Book of Isaiah it is prophesied that the Messiah would be of the line of Cyrus, as well as that of David, when Cyrus is mentioned as the “anointed” messiah of the Lord. This is accomplished through the FEMALE line of Cyrus and the MALE Line of David–that all prophecy in the Bible that God has spoken is TRUE! Baha’u’llah descends from this union of David and the Persian princess.
The Bab is descended on the other Hand from the Imam Husayn who wed Dara’s sister Shar-banu who is known as the mother of nine Imams, as the rest of the 12 are directly descended from her and Husayn.
When the corrupt killers of God’s Holy Family and the ill-wishers and destroyers of His Cause came to Kill the Davidic King Bostanai, Imam Husayn and about 70 of his followers sacrificed their lives on the plain of Karbila so the line of David should continue, prosper, and live. When asked by what authority the Imams ruled, Husayn replied, shortly before he gave his life in holy sacrifice and martyrdom, following in the footsteps of Jesus and bearing the same cross all were commanded to bear, that “We Imams rule by the authority of the throne of David, and if we lack anything the Holy Spirit sends it to us!”
Thus Muhammad Himself revealed in the Koran that “God exalted some of the prophets above that of the others and to David He gave the Psalms”, showing the exaltation of Christ and the lineage of Baha’u’llah that Muhammad, Ishmael, and the Imams gave and sacrificed their lives for, the line of King David of God’s Justice that all Muslims were to lovingly submit to as Islam means “submission”, and thus these true ones willingly gave their lives for God that His Covenant to David should last for ever.
At the time of the appointed hour in 1844 after the prescribed time allotted of the 2300 evenings and mornings (years) had passed away, the Bab arose from this same Holy Lineage with 10,000 saints (see Jude) and became the shield for the Jewish Kingship Christ had promised and prophesied. The Bab made his death the life for all the world by sacrificing his all, and that of the best that Persia had to offer, so that those Christian brothers of the West should know the Hidden Treasure of Persia, where Daniel and the Davidic King went into captivity, that the throne and lineage of Christ were held safe in the high mountains of that country until today, so all men could be saved from self destruction at this appointed hour!
No pen can adequately write, nor can any tongue recount the greatness of the love, devotion and sacrifice of the true Cause of Islam, Ishmael, Muhammad, the Imams, and the Bab to preserving the line of David to save the Christian West unto this day today. All the people of the world owe a debt of thanks to God and praise and gratitude to those holy souls, the Dawn-breakers, that willingly and knowingly gave their lives; and Shoghi Effendi as well, who was martyred in London on November 4 of 1957, from this same line of sacrifice of the Bab, so that the great grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Baha could be here alive in the world today, so all mankind could elect the Supreme Tribunal, or House of the Lord, and bring peace, as the promised olive BRANCH, to a beleaguered and war weary world.
NOW the light has shined through the HOLY GATE OF GOD–Bahá’u’lláh has COME! BAB means door or Gate and none enter this Kingdom but through the narrow one. Herein follows the precious word of the Master ‘Abdu’l-Baha concerning this Holy Bab (Gate), and how in his sacrifice alone, and his undying, unending servitude and never-ending love, the very breaths and musk-scented breezes and very blood united the East and the West in the eternal and everlasting bonds of affection and cooperation, mutual trust and firmness in the One, the True, the Everlasting Covenant of God. For Paul has written: “That God shall be all and all to everyone!”
As for the Bab–may my soul be His sacrifice!–at a youthful age, that is to say, when He had reached the twenty-fifth year of His blessed life, He stood forth to proclaim His Cause. It was universally admitted by the Shi’is that He had never studied in any school and had not acquired knowledge from any teacher; all the people of Shiraz bear witness to this. Nevertheless, He suddenly appeared before the people, endowed with the most complete erudition. Although He was but a merchant, He confounded all the ulama of Persia. All alone, in a way which is beyond imagination, He upheld the Cause among the Persians [Iranians], who are renowned for their religious fanaticism. This illustrious Soul arose with such power that He shook the supports of the religion, of the morals, the conditions, the habits and the customs of Persia, and instituted new rules, new laws and a new religion. Though the great personages of the State, nearly all the clergy, and the public men arose to destroy and annihilate Him, He alone withstood them and moved the whole of Persia.
Many ulama and public men, as well as other people, joyfully sacrificed their lives in His Cause, and hastened to the plain of martyrdom.
The government, the nation, the doctors of divinity and the great personages desired to extinguish His light, but they could not do so. At last His moon arose, His star shone forth, His foundations became firmly established, and His dawning-place became brilliant. He imparted divine education to an unenlightened multitude and produced marvelous results on the thoughts, morals, customs and conditions of the Persians. He announced the glad tidings of the manifestation of the Sun of Baha [Baha’u’llah, Christ returned in the potency of the Everlasting Father seated upon the Throne of David] to His followers and prepared them to believe [like John the Baptist, who was the forerunner for Jesus Christ that prepared the way for him as well].
The appearance of such wonderful signs and great results; the effects produced upon the minds of the people, and upon the prevailing ideas; the establishment of the foundations of progress; and the organization of the principles of success and prosperity by a young merchant, constitute the greatest proof that He was a perfect Educator. A just person will never hesitate to believe this.
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The Golden Rule
The 12 Fruits Of God’s Covenant – God’s 12-Point Moral Compass For Humanity – Directing All To The Axis Of LOVE