April 30

In these days one of the essential requirements of the Faith which will attract divine blessings and lead to the protection of the servants at His Threshold, is to set aside a suitable place to serve as a centre for Bahá'í activities in each of the localities where believers reside. In such a centre, even if it is among the most modest of locations, all gatherings of the friends should be held, such as those for the reading of the Tablets, for prayers and supplications, for the meetings of the Local Spiritual Assembly, for the teaching work, for the delivery of talks, for commemorations, for festivals and for the Feasts. If the location is suitable, it would be light upon light if in the future the edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár could also be erected on that spot. That centre should be named Hazíratu'l-Quds, so that the musk-scented breaths of the fervent prayers offered therein, and the sweet breeze of spiritual discussions and worthy enterprises wafted from the Hazíratu'l-Quds may spread to neighbouring regions, and impart healing and fragrance to the nostrils of a sorely-afflicted world. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (Translated from a letter of Shoghi Effendi to the friends in Iran and the East, dated July 1925; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol.III, Social and Economic Development)

April 29

“As we passed that morning through the town of Mardín,” [on the way to Constantinople] … [a] fellow-traveler relates, “we were preceded by a mounted escort of government soldiers, carrying their banners, and beating their drums in welcome. The mutisárrif, together with officials and notables, accompanied us, while men, women and children, crowding the housetops and filling the streets, awaited our arrival. With dignity and pomp we traversed that town, and resumed our journey, the mutisárrif and those with him escorting us for a considerable distance.” “According to the unanimous testimony of those we met in the course of that journey,” Nabíl has recorded in his narrative, “never before had they witnessed along this route, over which governors and mushírs continually passed back and forth between Constantinople and Baghdád, any one travel in such state, dispense such hospitality to all, and accord to each so great a share of his bounty.” Sighting from His howdah the Black Sea, as He approached the port of Sámsun, Bahá’u’lláh, at the request of Mírzá Áqá Ján, revealed a Tablet, designated Lawḥ-i-Hawdaj (Tablet of the Howdah), which by such allusions as the “Divine Touchstone,” “the grievous and tormenting Mischief,” reaffirmed and supplemented the dire predictions recorded in the recently revealed Tablet of the Holy Mariner. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By)

April 28

The same tokens of devotion shown Bahá’u’lláh at the time of His departure from His House, and later from the Garden of Ridván, were repeated when…accompanied by members of His family and twenty-six of His disciples, He left Firayját, His first stopping-place in the course of that journey [to Constantinople] … In Kárkúk, in Irbíl, in Mosul, where He tarried three days, in Nisíbín, in Mardín, in Díyár-Bakr, where a halt of a couple of days was made, in Khárpút, in Sívas, as well as in other villages and hamlets, He would be met by a delegation immediately before His arrival, and would be accompanied, for some distance, by a similar delegation upon His departure. The festivities which, at some stations, were held in His honor, the food the villagers prepared and brought for His acceptance, the eagerness which time and again they exhibited in providing the means for His comfort, recalled the reverence which the people of Baghdád had shown Him on so many occasions. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 27

…calamities encountered in God’s pathway are, to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but favour and grace, and in one of His Tablets the all-glorious Beauty hath declared: ‘I never passed a tree but Mine heart addressed it saying: “O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee!”’ These were the words of the Most Great Name. This is His path. This is the way to His Realm of Might. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

April 26

No Revelation from God has ever taught reincarnation; this is a man-made conception. The soul of man comes into being at conception; we do not believe it goes on to another planet. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 1 April 1946 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation ‘Reincarnation and the Nature and Progress of the Soul’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

April 25

Our hearts rejoiced at thy letter concerning a school for girls.

Praised be God that there is now a school of this type in Tihran where young maidens can, through His bounty, receive an education and with all vigour acquire the accomplishments of humankind. Erelong will women in every field keep pace with the men. Until now, in Persia, the means for women's advancement were non-existent. But now, God be thanked, ever since the dawning of the Morn of Salvation, they have been going forward day by day. The hope is that they will take the lead in virtues and attainments, in closeness to the Court of Almighty God, in faith and certitude -- and that the women of the East will become the envy of the women of the West. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)

April 24

In truth thou art now rendering a great service to the basic foundations of the Cause of God, inasmuch as the cornerstone of its structure is the promotion of His Faith, the awakening of the people, the diffusion of the divine teachings and the education of mankind, and all this dependeth on instructing the friends in the teaching work. I beseech God that within a short time thou mayest be able to acquaint the children of the Abhá Paradise with the divine mysteries and truths and to rend asunder the veils of idle imaginings, that each one of them become a fluent speaker and be able to guide many others to the Cause of God. Then will the outpourings of the heavenly bounties become manifest and the invisible hosts of the Kingdom, armed with conclusive proofs and evidences, will conquer the realms of the inner realities and domains of the hearts of men, even as a single seed developing into seven ears of grain. 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá  (From a Tablet, The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith)

April 23

He [Baha’u’llah] alone is meant by the prophecy attributed to Gautama Buddha Himself, that “a Buddha named Maitreye, the Buddha of universal fellowship” should, in the fullness of time, arise and reveal “His boundless glory.” To Him the Bhagavad-Gita of the Hindus had referred as the “Most Great Spirit,” the “Tenth Avatar,” the “Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna.” 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 22

On no previous occasion, since the inception of the Faith, not even during the days when the Báb in Isfáhán, in Tabríz and in Chihríq was acclaimed by the ovations of an enthusiastic populace, had any of its exponents risen to such high eminence in the public mind, or exercised over so diversified a circle of admirers an influence so far reaching and so potent. Yet unprecedented as was the sway which Bahá’u’lláh held while, in that primitive age of the Faith, He was dwelling in Baghdád, its range at that time was modest when compared with the magnitude of the fame which, at the close of that same age, and through the immediate inspiration of the Center of His Covenant, the Faith acquired in both the European and American continents. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 21

The prestige of the community, and particularly that of Bahá’u’lláh, now began from its first inception in Kurdistán to mount in a steadily rising crescendo. Bahá’u’lláh had scarcely gathered up again the reins of the authority he had relinquished when the devout admirers He had left behind in Sulaymáníyyih started to flock to Baghdád, with the name of “Darvísh Muhammad” on their lips, and the “house of Mírzá Músá the Bábí” as their goal. Astonished at the sight of so many ‘ulamás and Súfís of Kurdish origin… thronging the house of Bahá’u’lláh, and impelled by racial and sectarian rivalry, the religious leaders of the city… began to seek His presence, and, having obtained completely satisfying answers to their several queries, enrolled themselves among the band of His earliest admirers. The unqualified recognition by these outstanding leaders of those traits that distinguished the character and conduct of Bahá’u’lláh stimulated the curiosity, and later evoked the unstinted praise, of a great many observers of less conspicuous position, among whom figured poets, mystics and notables, who either resided in, or visited, the city. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 20

During the seven years that elapsed between the resumption of His [Baha’u’llah’s] labors and the declaration of His prophetic mission—years to which we now direct our attention—it would be no exaggeration to say that the Bahá’í community, under the name and in the shape of a re-arisen Bábí community was born and was slowly taking shape, though its Creator still appeared in the guise of, and continued to labor as, one of the foremost disciples of the Báb. It was a period during which the prestige of the community’s nominal head steadily faded from the scene, paling before the rising splendor of Him Who was its actual Leader and Deliverer. It was a period in the course of which the first fruits of an exile, endowed with incalculable potentialities, ripened and were garnered. It was a period that will go down in history as one during which the prestige of a recreated community was immensely enhanced, its morals entirely reformed, its recognition of Him who rehabilitated its fortunes enthusiastically affirmed, its literature enormously enriched, and its victories over its new adversaries universally acknowledged. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 19

The return of Bahá’u’lláh from Sulaymáníyyih to Baghdád marks a turning point of the utmost significance in the history of the first Bahá’í century. The tide of the fortunes of the Faith, having reached its lowest ebb, was now beginning to surge back, and was destined to roll on, steadily and mightily, to a new high water-mark, associated this time with the Declaration of His Mission, on the eve of His banishment to Constantinople. With His return to Baghdád a firm anchorage was now being established, an anchorage such as the Faith had never known in its history. Never before, except during the first three years of its life, could that Faith claim to have possessed a fixed and accessible center to which its adherents could turn for guidance, and from which they could derive continuous and unobstructed inspiration. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (‘God Passes By’)

April 18

You must likewise bear in mind that you are now a wholly independent National Body, and must consider the administration of the affairs of the Faith within your jurisdiction as your separate problem. There is no more need for you to follow every single rule laid down by the American National Spiritual Assembly, than there is for the British or the Australian and New Zealand National Spiritual Assemblies to do this. Uniformity in fundamentals is essential, but not in every detail. On the contrary, diversity, the solving of the local situation in the right way, is important. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 4 November 1948 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the NSA of Canada; ‘Messages to Canada’)

April 17

Bahá'u'lláh found the world in a "strange sleep". But what a disturbance His coming has unloosed! The peoples of the earth had been separated, many parts of the human race socially and spiritually isolated. But the world of humanity today bears little resemblance to that which Bahá'u'lláh left a century ago. Unbeknownst to the great majority, His influence permeates all living beings. Indeed, no domain of life remains unaffected. In the burgeoning energy, the magnified perspectives, the heightened global consciousness; in the social and political turbulence, the fall of kingdoms, the emancipation of nations, the intermixture of cultures, the clamour for development; in the agitation over the extremes of wealth and poverty, the acute concern over the abuse of the environment, the leap of consciousness regarding the rights of women; in the growing tendency towards ecumenism, the increasing call for a new world order; in the astounding advances in the realms of science, technology, literature and the arts -- in all this tumult, with its paradoxical manifestations of chaos and order, integration and disintegration, are the signs of His power as World Reformer, the proof of His claim as Divine Physician, the truth of His Word as the All-Knowing Counsellor. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a Tribute to Bahá’u’lláh on the Centenary of His Passing, May 1992; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1986-2001)

April 16

Regarding your questions concerning the Bahá'í attitude on various economic problems, such as the problem of ownership, control and distribution of capital, and of other means of production, the problem of trusts and monopolies, and such economic experiments as social co-operatives: the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá do not provide specific and detailed solutions to all such economic questions, which mostly pertain to the domain of technical economics, and as such do not concern directly the Cause. True, there are certain guiding principles in Bahá'í Sacred Writings on the subject of economics, but these do by no means cover the whole field of theoretical and applied economics, and are mostly intended to guide future Bahá'í economic writers and technicians to evolve an economic system which would function in full conformity with the spirit, and the exact provisions of the Cause on this and similar subjects. The International House of Justice will have, in consultation with economic experts to assist in the formulation and evolution of the Bahá'í economic system of the future. One thing, however, is certain: that the Cause neither accepts the theories of the Capitalistic economics in full, nor can it agree with the Marxists and Communists in their repudiation of the principle of private ownership and of this vital sacred right of the individual. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 10 June 1939 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Economics, Agriculture, and Related Subjects)

April 15

...concerning those passages in "The Hidden Words" in which Bahá'u'lláh refers to man as "Son of Spirit", "Son of existence", "Son of humanity", etc., the word "son" used in this connection is a kind of collective noun meaning mankind and has, therefore, no connotation of any sex differentiation between man and woman whatever. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 19 January 1935 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation ‘Hidden Words: References of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

April 14

... the validity of a Bahá'í marriage is conditioned upon the consent of the two parties and their parents only. So that in case the other members of your family show any dislike or opposition to your sister's union with ....., their approval does under no circumstances invalidate it. Your parents' approval would be sufficient, even though all the rest of your family may violently oppose it. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 31 March 1937, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to two believers; compilation: ‘Consent of Parents to Marriage’, prepared by the Research Department)

April 13

Consider the harmful effects of discord and dissension in a family; then reflect upon the favours and blessings which descend upon that family when unity exists among its various members. What incalculable benefits and blessings would descend upon the great human family if unity and brotherhood were established! In this century when the beneficent results of unity and the ill effects of discord are so clearly apparent, the means for the attainment and accomplishment of human fellowship have appeared in the world. His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh has proclaimed and provided the way by which hostility and dissension may be removed from the human world. He has left no ground or possibility for strife and disagreement. First He has proclaimed the oneness of mankind and specialized religious teachings for existing human conditions. 

- ‘Abdu'l-Bahá  (From a Tablet, published in "Star of the West" vol. 17, no. 7, October 1926; The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. I, Family Life)

April 12

…Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá enjoined Bahá’ís to be obedient to the government of their land. Unity, order, and cooperation are the basis for sound and lasting change. Even civil disobedience, in the form of a conscious decision to violate the law to effect social change, is not acceptable for Bahá’ís—whatever merit it appears to have had in particular political settings. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 27 April 2017 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

April 11

...and next is the propagation of learning and the promulgation of Bahá'í rules of conduct, practices and laws. At this time, when the nation has awakened out of its sleep of negligence, and the Government has begun to consider the promotion and expansion of its educational establishment, let the Bahá'í representatives in that country arise in such a manner that as a result of their high endeavours in every hamlet, village and town, of every province and district, preliminary measures will be taken for the setting up of institutions for the study of sciences, the liberal arts and religion. Let Bahá'í children without any exceptions learn the fundamentals of reading and writing and familiarize themselves with the rules of conduct, the customs, practices and laws as set forth in the Book of God; and let them, in the new branches of knowledge, in the arts and technology of the day, in pure and praiseworthy characteristics -- Bahá'í conduct, the Bahá'í way of life -- become so distinguished above the rest that all other communities, whether Islamic, Zoroastrian, Christian, Judaic or materialist, will of their own volition and most gladly enter their children in such advanced Bahá'í institutions of learning and entrust them to the care of Bahá'í instructors.

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter to the believers in the East, translated from Persian; compilation: ‘Science and Technology’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and attached to a Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, dated 13-August 1997)

April 10

... the elector ... is called upon to vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired him to uphold ... 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 27 May 1927 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, published in ‘Bahá'í Administration’; The Compilation of Compilation, Vol. III, Sanctity and Nature of Baha’i Elections)

April 9

As regards ...'s claim to have direct revelations from God; such visions and communications as he may receive cannot, from the standpoint of the Cause, be well considered in the nature of a direct and authoritative revelation from God such as experienced by Divine Prophets and Messengers. There is a fundamental difference between Divine Revelation as vouchsafed by God to His Prophets, and the spiritual experiences and visions which individuals may have. The latter should, under no circumstances, be construed as constituting an infallible source of guidance, even for the person experiencing them.

The Guardian wishes you to fully explain and clarify this point to ... that he may have no illusion regarding the true Bahá’í attitude on this and similar matters. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated November 1, 1940, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Spiritualism, Reincarnation and Related Subjects’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, published in ‘Baha’i Institutions’ a compilation by India Publishing Trust, 1973)

April 8

We have no doubt that the Bahá'í world community will accomplish all these tasks and go forward to new achievements. The powers released by Bahá'u'lláh match the needs of the times. We may therefore be utterly confident that the new throb of energy now vibrating throughout the Cause will empower it to meet the oncoming challenges of assisting, as maturity and resources allow, the development of the social and economic life of peoples, of collaborating with the forces leading towards the establishment of order in the world, of influencing the exploitation and constructive uses of modern technology, and in all these ways enhancing the prestige and progress of the Faith and uplifting the conditions of the generality of mankind. 

- The Universal House opf Justice  (Ridvan 1983, message to the Bahá'ís of the World; compilation: ‘Science and Technology’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and attached to a Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, dated 13-August 1997)

April 7

He is very glad to know that you have liked "The Dawn- Breakers", for his greatest reward is to see that this work, which has cost him much labour and anxiety, is helping the friends to understand better and more fully the spirit that animates the Movement and the exemplary life of the heroic souls that ushered it into the world. The Guardian sincerely hopes that by reading this book the friends will be stirred to greater activity and a higher measure of sacrifice, that they will obtain a deeper realization of this Cause whose spread and ultimate victory is entrusted to their care. As some who have read the book have remarked, no one can become familiar with those lives and not be inspired to follow in their way.

It is surely true that the spirit of those heroic souls will stir many artists to produce their best. It is such lives that in the past inspired poets and moved the brush of the painters. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 20 June 1932, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual) [29] The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, The Importance of Arts in Promoting the Faith)

April 6

We can truly say that this Cause is a cause that enables people to achieve the impossible! For the Bahá'ís, everywhere, for the most part, are people with no great distinguishments of either wealth or fame, and yet once they make the effort and go forth in the name of Bahá'u'lláh to spread His Faith, they become, each one, as efficacious as a host! Witness what Mustafa Roumie accomplished in Burma, and a handful of pioneers achieved, in a decade, in Latin America! It is the quality of devotion and self-sacrifice that brings rewards in the service of this Faith rather than means, ability or financial backing. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 11 May 1948 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand) The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Teaching Among Aboriginal and Indigenous People)

April 5

The Bahá'í Faith… unequivocally maintains the principle of equal rights, opportunities and privileges for men and women, insists on compulsory education, eliminates extremes of poverty and wealth, abolishes the institution of priesthood, prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy and monasticism, prescribes monogamy, discourages divorce, emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one's government, exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship, urges either the creation or the selection of an auxiliary international language, and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind. 

- Shoghi Effendi (From a statement to the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine, 14 July 1947; included in compilation: ‘Science and Technology’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and attached to a Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, dated 13-August 1997)

April 4

It is often exceedingly difficult, well-nigh impossible to distinguish between true guidance and psychic phenomena. Through the power of concentration, prayer and meditation and the effects produced one can, however, feel the direct spiritual guidance of God. Purity of heart is an indispensable condition. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 14 January 1938, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Spiritualism, Reincarnation and Related Subjects’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, published in ‘Baha’i Institutions’ a compilation by India Publishing Trust, 1973)

April 3

About the consent of parents for marriage: this is required before and also after the man or woman is twenty-one years of age. It is also required in the event of a second marriage, after the dissolution of the first whether through death or through divorce.

The parental consent is also a binding obligation irrespective of whether the parents are Bahá'ís or not, whether they are friendly or opposed to the Cause. In the event of the death of both parents, the consent of a guardian is not required. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 10 October 1936, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Consent of Parents to Marriage’, prepared by the Research Department)

April 2

He was very sorry to hear that you are contemplating separation from your husband. As you no doubt know, Bahá'u'lláh considers the marriage bond very sacred; and only under very exceptional and unbearable circumstances is divorce advisable for Bahá'ís.

The Guardian does not tell you that you must not divorce your husband; but he does urge you to consider prayerfully, not only because you are a believer and anxious to obey the laws of God, but also for the sake of the happiness of your children, whether it is not possible for you to rise above the limitations you have felt in your marriage hitherto, and make a go of it together.

We often feel that our happiness lies in a certain direction; and yet, if we have to pay too heavy a price for it in the end we may discover that we have not really purchased either freedom or happiness, but just some new situation of frustration and disillusion. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 5 April 1951 to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Divorce)

April 1

The Guardian fully appreciates your desire to go forth as a pioneer at this time, and to help establish the Faith in the virgin areas, but you should not go against the wishes of your husband, and force him to give up everything in order that you might serve the Faith in this manner. We must bear in mind the wishes and the rights of those who are closely connected in our lives.

If your husband wishes you to remain where you are, certainly there is a vast field for teaching there.... 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 31 July 1953 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)