Compare these splendid manifestations of the spirit animating this vibrant body of the Faith of Baha"u"llah with the cries and agony, the follies and vanities, the bitterness and prejudices, the wickedness and divisions of an ailing and chaotic world. Witness the fear that torments its leaders and paralyzes the action of its blind and bewildered statesmen. How fierce the hatreds, how false the ambitions, how petty the pursuits, how deep-rooted the suspicions of its peoples! How disquieting the lawlessness, the corruption, the unbelief that are eating into the vitals of a tottering civilization!
Might not this process of steady deterioration which is insidiously invading so many departments of human activity and thought be regarded as a necessary accompaniment to the rise of this almighty Arm of Baha"u"llah?
Might we not look upon the momentous happenings which, in the course of the past twenty years, have so deeply agitated every continent of the earth, as ominous signs simultaneously proclaiming the agonies of a disintegrating civilization and the birthpangs of that World Order-that Ark of human salvation-that must needs arise upon its ruins?
The catastrophic fall of mighty monarchies and empires in the European continent, allusions to some of which may be found in the prophecies of Baha"u"llah; the decline that has set in, and is still continuing, in the fortunes of the _Sh_i"ih hierarchy in His own native land; the fall of the Qajar dynasty, the traditional enemy of His Faith; the overthrow of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the sustaining pillars of Sunni Islam, to which the destruction of Jerusalem in the latter part of the first century of the Christian era offers a striking parallel; the wave of secularization which is invading the Mu?ammadan ecclesiastical inst.i.tutions in Egypt and sapping the loyalty of its staunchest supporters; the humiliating blows that have afflicted some of the most powerful Churches of Christendom in Russia, in Western Europe and Central America; the dissemination of those subversive doctrines that are undermining the foundations and overthrowing the structure of seemingly impregnable strongholds in the political and social spheres of human activity; the signs of an impending catastrophe, strangely reminiscent of the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, which threatens to engulf the whole structure of present-day civilization-all witness to the tumult which the birth of this mighty Organ of the Religion of Baha"u"llah has cast into the world-a tumult which will grow in scope and in intensity as the implications of this constantly evolving Scheme are more fully understood and its ramifications more widely extended over the surface of the globe.
A word more in conclusion. The rise and establishment of this Administrative Order-the sh.e.l.l that shields and enshrines so precious a gem-const.i.tutes the hall-mark of this second and formative age of the Baha"i era. It will come to be regarded, as it recedes farther and farther from our eyes, as the chief agency empowered to usher in the concluding phase, the consummation of this glorious Dispensation.
Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is G.o.d"s immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Baha"u"llah Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abha Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its inst.i.tutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of "Abdu"l-Baha. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cl.u.s.ter are the Ma_sh_riqu"l-A_dh_kar and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and b.u.t.tress its structure are the twin inst.i.tutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Baha"u"llah. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the "Most Great Peace"; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium-the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of G.o.d Himself, the Kingdom of Baha"u"llah.
SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine, February 8, 1934.
THE UNFOLDMENT OF WORLD CIVILIZATION
The Unfoldment of World Civilization
To the beloved of G.o.d and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the West.
Friends and fellow-heirs of the grace of Baha"u"llah:
As your co-sharer in the building up of the New World Order which the mind of Baha"u"llah has visioned, and whose features the pen of "Abdu"l-Baha, its perfect Architect, has delineated, I pause to contemplate with you the scene which the revolution of well-nigh fifteen years after His pa.s.sing unfolds before us.
The contrast between the acc.u.mulating evidences of steady consolidation that accompany the rise of the Administrative Order of the Faith of G.o.d, and the forces of disintegration which batter at the fabric of a travailing society, is as clear as it is arresting. Both within and outside the Baha"i world the signs and tokens which, in a mysterious manner, are heralding the birth of that World Order, the establishment of which must signalize the Golden Age of the Cause of G.o.d, are growing and multiplying day by day. No fair-minded observer can any longer fail to discern them. He cannot be misled by the painful slowness characterizing the unfoldment of the civilization which the followers of Baha"u"llah are laboring to establish. Nor can he be deluded by the ephemeral manifestations of returning prosperity which at times appear to be capable of checking the disruptive influence of the chronic ills afflicting the inst.i.tutions of a decaying age. The signs of the times are too numerous and compelling to allow him to mistake their character or to belittle their significance. He can, if he be fair in his judgment, recognize in the chain of events which proclaim on the one hand the irresistible march of the inst.i.tutions directly a.s.sociated with the Revelation of Baha"u"llah and foreshadow on the other the downfall of those powers and princ.i.p.alities that have either ignored or opposed it-he can recognize in them all evidences of the operation of G.o.d"s all-pervasive Will, the shaping of His perfectly ordered and world-embracing Plan.
"Soon," Baha"u"llah"s own words proclaim it, "will the present day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth and is the Knower of things unseen." "By Myself," He solemnly a.s.serts, "the day is approaching when We will have rolled up the world and all that is therein, and spread out a new Order in its stead.
He, verily, is powerful over all things." "The world"s equilibrium," He explains, "hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this Most Great, this new World Order. Mankind"s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System, the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed." "The signs of impending convulsions and chaos," He warns the peoples of the world, "can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing Order appeareth to be lamentably defective."
Dearly-beloved friends! This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined in the Revelation of Baha"u"llah, whose fundamental principles have been enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less than the complete unification of the entire human race. This unification should conform to such principles as would directly harmonize with the spirit that animates, and the laws that govern the operation of, the inst.i.tutions that already const.i.tute the structural basis of the Administrative Order of His Faith.
No machinery falling short of the standard inculcated by the Baha"i Revelation, and at variance with the sublime pattern ordained in His teachings, which the collective efforts of mankind may yet devise can ever hope to achieve anything above or beyond that "Lesser Peace" to which the Author of our Faith has Himself alluded in His writings. "Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace," He, admonishing the kings and rulers of the earth, has written, "hold ye fast unto this the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependents." Expatiating on this Lesser Peace, He thus addresses in that same Tablet the rulers of the earth: "Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions... Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice."
The Most Great Peace, on the other hand, as conceived by Baha"u"llah-a peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, cla.s.ses and nations-can rest on no other basis, and can be preserved through no other agency, except the divinely appointed ordinances that are implicit in the World Order that stands a.s.sociated with His Holy Name. In His Tablet, revealed almost seventy years ago to Queen Victoria, Baha"u"llah, alluding to this Most Great Peace, has declared: "That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician.
This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error... Consider these days in which the Ancient Beauty, He Who is the Most Great Name, hath been sent down to regenerate and unify mankind. Behold how with drawn swords they rose against Him, and committed that which caused the Faithful Spirit to tremble. And whenever We said unto them: "Lo, the World Reformer is come," they made reply: "He, in truth, is one of the stirrers of mischief."" "It beseemeth all men in this Day," He, in another Tablet, a.s.serts, "to take firm hold on the Most Great Name, and to establish the unity of all mankind. There is no place to flee to, no refuge that any one can seek, except Him."
Humanity"s Coming of Age
The Revelation of Baha"u"llah, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should, if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race.
It should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man"s collective life on this planet.
The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture-all of which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Baha"i Era-should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop.
That mystic, all-pervasive, yet indefinable change, which we a.s.sociate with the stage of maturity inevitable in the life of the individual and the development of the fruit must, if we would correctly apprehend the utterances of Baha"u"llah, have its counterpart in the evolution of the organization of human society. A similar stage must sooner or later be attained in the collective life of mankind, producing an even more striking phenomenon in world relations, and endowing the whole human race with such potentialities of well-being as shall provide, throughout the succeeding ages, the chief incentive required for the eventual fulfillment of its high destiny. Such a stage of maturity in the process of human government must, for all time, if we would faithfully recognize the tremendous claim advanced by Baha"u"llah, remain identified with the Revelation of which He was the Bearer.
In one of the most characteristic pa.s.sages He Himself has revealed, He testifies in a language that none can mistake to the truth of this distinguishing principle of Baha"i belief: "It hath been decreed by Us that the Word of G.o.d and all the potentialities thereof shall be manifested unto men in strict conformity with such conditions as have been foreordained by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise... Should the Word be allowed to release suddenly all the energies latent within it, no man could sustain the weight of so mighty a revelation... Consider that which hath been sent down unto Mu?ammad, the Apostle of G.o.d. The measure of the Revelation of which He was the Bearer had been clearly foreordained by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Powerful. They that heard Him, however, could apprehend His purpose only to the extent of their station and spiritual capacity. He, in like manner, uncovered the Face of Wisdom in proportion to their ability to sustain the burden of His Message. No sooner had mankind attained the stage of maturity, than the Word revealed to men"s eyes the latent energies with which it had been endowed-energies which manifested themselves in the plenitude of their glory when the Ancient Beauty appeared, in the year sixty, in the person of "Ali-Mu?ammad, the Bab."
"Abdu"l-Baha, elucidating this fundamental verity, has written: "All created things have their degree or stage of maturity. The period of maturity in the life of a tree is the time of its fruit-bearing... The animal attains a stage of full growth and completeness, and in the human kingdom man reaches his maturity when the light of his intelligence attains its greatest power and development... Similarly there are periods and stages in the collective life of humanity. At one time it was pa.s.sing through its stage of childhood, at another its period of youth, but now it has entered its long-predicted phase of maturity, the evidences of which are everywhere apparent... That which was applicable to human needs during the early history of the race can neither meet nor satisfy the demands of this day, this period of newness and consummation. Humanity has emerged from its former state of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moral standards, new capacities. New bounties, perfect bestowals, are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and blessings of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity."
The Process of Integration
Such a unique and momentous crisis in the life of organized mankind may, moreover, be likened to the culminating stage in the political evolution of the great American Republic-the stage which marked the emergence of a unified community of federated states. The stirring of a new national consciousness, and the birth of a new type of civilization, infinitely richer and n.o.bler than any which its component parts could have severally hoped to achieve, may be said to have proclaimed the coming of age of the American people. Within the territorial limits of this nation, this consummation may be viewed as the culmination of the process of human government. The diversified and loosely related elements of a divided community were brought together, unified and incorporated into one coherent system. Though this ent.i.ty may continue gaining in cohesive power, though the unity already achieved may be further consolidated, though the civilization to which that unity could alone have given birth may expand and flourish, yet the machinery essential to such an unfoldment may be said to have been, in its essential structure, erected, and the impulse required to guide and sustain it may be regarded as having been fundamentally imparted. No stage above and beyond this consummation of national unity can, within the geographical limits of that nation, be imagined, though the highest destiny of its people, as a const.i.tuent element in a still larger ent.i.ty that will embrace the whole of mankind, may still remain unfulfilled. Considered as an isolated unit, however, this process of integration may be said to have reached its highest and final consummation.
Such is the stage to which an evolving humanity is collectively approaching. The Revelation entrusted by the Almighty Ordainer to Baha"u"llah, His followers firmly believe, has been endowed with such potentialities as are commensurate with the maturity of the human race-the crowning and most momentous stage in its evolution from infancy to manhood.
The successive Founders of all past Religions Who, from time immemorial, have shed, with ever-increasing intensity, the splendor of one common Revelation at the various stages which have marked the advance of mankind towards maturity may thus, in a sense, be regarded as preliminary Manifestations, antic.i.p.ating and paving the way for the advent of that Day of Days when the whole earth will have fructified and the tree of humanity will have yielded its destined fruit.
Incontrovertible as is this truth, its challenging character should never be allowed to obscure the purpose, or distort the principle, underlying the utterances of Baha"u"llah-utterances that have established for all time the absolute oneness of all the Prophets, Himself included, whether belonging to the past or to the future. Though the mission of the Prophets preceding Baha"u"llah may be viewed in that light, though the measure of Divine Revelation with which each has been entrusted must, as a result of this process of evolution, necessarily differ, their common origin, their essential unity, their ident.i.ty of purpose, should at no time and under no circ.u.mstances be misapprehended or denied. That all the Messengers of G.o.d should be regarded as "abiding in the same Tabernacle, soaring in the same Heaven, seated upon the same Throne, uttering the same Speech, and proclaiming the same Faith" must, however much we may extol the measure of Divine Revelation vouchsafed to mankind at this crowning stage of its evolution, remain the unalterable foundation and central tenet of Baha"i belief. Any variations in the splendor which each of these Manifestations of the Light of G.o.d has shed upon the world should be ascribed not to any inherent superiority involved in the essential character of any one of them, but rather to the progressive capacity, the ever-increasing spiritual receptiveness, which mankind, in its progress towards maturity, has invariably manifested.
The Final Consummation
Only those who are willing to a.s.sociate the Revelation proclaimed by Baha"u"llah with the consummation of so stupendous an evolution in the collective life of the whole human race can grasp the significance of the words which He, while alluding to the glories of this promised Day and to the duration of the Baha"i Era, has deemed fit to utter. "This is the King of Days," He exclaims, "the Day that hath seen the coming of the Best-Beloved, Him Who, through all eternity, hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World." "The Scriptures of past Dispensations," He further a.s.serts, "celebrate the great jubilee that must needs greet this most great Day of G.o.d. Well is it with him that hath lived to see this Day and hath recognized its station." "It is evident," He, in another pa.s.sage explains, "that every age in which a Manifestation of G.o.d hath lived is divinely-ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized as G.o.d"s appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique, and is to be distinguished from those that have preceded it. The designation "Seal of the Prophets"
fully revealeth its high station. The Prophetic Cycle hath verily ended.
The Eternal Truth is now come. He hath lifted up the ensign of power, and is now shedding upon the world the unclouded splendor of His Revelation."
"In this most mighty Revelation," He, in categorical language, declares, "all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation. That which hath been made manifest in this preeminent, this most exalted Revelation, standeth unparalleled in the annals of the past, nor will future ages witness its like."
"Abdu"l-Baha"s authentic p.r.o.nouncements should, likewise, be recalled as confirming, in no less emphatic manner, the unexampled vastness of the Baha"i Dispensation. "Centuries," He affirms in one of His Tablets, "nay, countless ages, must pa.s.s away ere the Day-Star of Truth shineth again in its mid-summer splendor, or appeareth once more in the radiance of its vernal glory... The mere contemplation of the Dispensation inaugurated by the Blessed Beauty would have sufficed to overwhelm the saints of bygone ages-saints who longed to partake, for one moment, of its great glory."
"Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future "in the shadows of the clouds,"" He, in a still more definite language, affirms, "know, verily, that in so far as their relation to the Source of their inspiration is concerned, they are under the shadow of the Ancient Beauty.
In their relation, however, to the age in which they appear, each and every one of them "doeth whatsoever He willeth."" "This holy Dispensation," He, alluding to the Revelation of Baha"u"llah, explains, "is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory."
Pangs of Death and Birth
Dearly-beloved friends: Though the Revelation of Baha"u"llah has been delivered, the World Order which such a Revelation must needs beget is as yet unborn. Though the Heroic Age of His Faith is pa.s.sed, the creative energies which that Age has released have not as yet crystallized into that world society which, in the fullness of time, is to mirror forth the brightness of His glory. Though the framework of His Administrative Order has been erected, and the Formative Period of the Baha"i Era has begun, yet the promised Kingdom into which the seed of His inst.i.tutions must ripen remains as yet uninaugurated. Though His Voice has been raised, and the ensigns of His Faith have been lifted up in no less than forty countries of both the East and the West, yet the wholeness of the human race is as yet unrecognized, its unity unproclaimed, and the standard of its Most Great Peace unhoisted.
"The heights," Baha"u"llah Himself testifies, "which, through the most gracious favor of G.o.d, mortal man can attain in this Day are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess, the capacity for such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men."