Within the heart of this planet lies the “Most Holy Land,”
acclaimed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “the Nest of the Prophets” and which must be
regarded as the center of the world and the Qiblih of the nations. Within this
Most Holy Land rises the Mountain of God of immemorial sanctity, the Vineyard
of the Lord, the Retreat of Elijah, Whose return the Báb Himself symbolizes.
Reposing on the breast of this holy mountain are the extensive properties
permanently dedicated to, and constituting the sacred precincts of, the Báb’s
holy Sepulcher. In the midst of these properties, recognized as the
international endowments of the Faith, is situated the most holy court, an
enclosure comprising gardens and terraces which at once embellish, and lend a
peculiar charm to, these sacred precincts. Embosomed in these lovely and
verdant surroundings stands in all its exquisite beauty the mausoleum of the
Báb, the shell designed to preserve and adorn the original structure raised by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the tomb of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith. Within this shell
is enshrined that Pearl of Great Price, the holy of holies, those chambers
which constitute the tomb itself, and which were constructed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Within the heart of this holy of holies is the tabernacle, the vault wherein
reposes the most holy casket. Within this vault rests the alabaster sarcophagus
in which is deposited that inestimable jewel, the Báb’s holy dust. So precious
is this dust that the very earth surrounding the edifice enshrining this dust
has been extolled by the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, in one of His
Tablets in which He named the five doors belonging to the six chambers which He
originally erected after five of the believers associated with the construction
of the Shrine, as being endowed with such potency as to have inspired Him in
bestowing these names, whilst the tomb itself housing this dust He acclaimed as
the spot round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration.
- Shoghi
Effendi (From a message dated March 29, 1951; Citadel of the Faith)
