April 19

'Abdu'l-Bahá's position in the Faith is one for which we find "no parallel" in past Dispensations. For example, Bahá'u'lláh, in addition to His reference to the Centre of His Covenant as the "Mystery of God", states that 'Abdu'l-Bahá should be regarded as God's "exalted Handiwork" and "a Word which God hath adorned with the ornament of His Own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that there is therein..." And from Shoghi Effendi we have the incontrovertible statement that the Guardian of the Faith while "overshadowed" by the "protection'' of Bahá'u'lláh and of the Bab, "remains essentially human", whereas in respect of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Shoghi Effendi categorically states that "in the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized." 

(From a letter dated 3 June 1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

April 18

Though at the present time, it may be difficult for the believers to appreciate the reason for the circumscription of membership on the Universal House of Justice to men, we call upon the friends to remain assured by the Master's promise that clarity of understanding will be achieved in due course. The friends, both women and men, must accept this with faith that the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh will aid them and the institutions of His World Order to see the realization of every principle ordained by His unerring Pen, including the equality of men and women, as expounded in the Writings of the Cause. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated May 31, 1988)

April 17

All blessings are divine in origin, but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research, which is an eternal gift producing fruits of unending delight. Man is ever partaking of these fruits. All other blessings are temporary; this is an everlasting possession. Even sovereignty has its limitations and overthrow; this is a kingship and dominion which none may usurp or destroy. Briefly, it is an eternal blessing and divine bestowal, the supreme gift of God to man. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)

April 16

The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no individual may presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves to be of the order of subjects, submissive and obedient to the commandments of God and the laws of the House of Justice. Should any deviate by so much as a needle's point from the decrees of the Universal House of Justice, or falter in his compliance therewith, then is he of the outcast and rejected. 

('Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Establishment of the Universal House of Justice)

April 15

 Thou hast written of that meeting held in the quarter where standeth the city gate of ‘Abdu'l-'Azím. Do not call it a meeting. Call it a confluence of holy souls; a convocation of those who love the Lord; a retreat for the people of the All-Merciful; a palace-hall for all who sing His praise. For the members of that gathering are each one a lighted taper, and that council a mansion of the moon and stars. It hath been blessed by the Lord of all mankind, and hath made current the Feast as set forth in the Most Holy Book. 

('Abdu'l-Bahá, from a Tablet to an individual believer, translated from the Persian; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Nineteen Day Feast)

April 14

He [Baha’u’llah] promulgated the adoption of the same course of education for man and woman. Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study, thereby promoting unity of the sexes. When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. Without equality this will be impossible because all differences and distinction are conducive to discord and strife. Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it. Mothers will not give their sons as sacrifices upon the battlefield after twenty years of anxiety and loving devotion in rearing them from infancy, no matter what cause they are called upon to defend. There is no doubt that when women obtain equality of rights, war will entirely cease among mankind. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

April 13

Consider what is happening in the world. Darkness has so enveloped humankind — cruelty, oppression, prejudice — as to overwhelm the heart. But in every land, including your own, there are many individuals whose commitment to constructive principles, to love, to equity and fairness, and to a world-embracing vision, is so strong that they are motivated to sacrifice worldly advantage for the betterment of others and for a future in which justice will reign. In so doing, such souls evoke the admiration of others as they slowly, perhaps imperceptibly, but with undeniable effect, enlighten minds and create the environment necessary for the realization of unity in diversity. We thank God that you, followers of Bahá’u’lláh, are among those souls. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a message dated 13 May 2014 to the Baha’is in Iran)    

April 12

As I have already stated, in the course of my references to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s station, however great the gulf that separates Him from the Author of a Divine Revelation it can never measure with the distance that stands between Him Who is the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant and the Guardians who are its chosen ministers. There is a far, far greater distance separating the Guardian from the Center of the Covenant than there is between the Center of the Covenant and its Author. 

(Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated February 8, 1934; ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

April 11

If they were to do nothing else, the effects which Bahá’u’lláh’s life and writings have already had should command the earnest attention of anyone who believes that human nature is fundamentally spiritual and that the coming organization of our planet must be informed by this aspect of reality. The documentation lies open to general scrutiny. For the first time in history humanity has available a detailed and verifiable record of the birth of an independent religious system and of the life of its Founder. Equally accessible is the record of the response that the new faith has evoked, through the emergence of a global community which can already justly claim to represent a microcosm of the human race. 

(From a document entitled “Baha’u’llah”, commissioned by and prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice)

April 10

The progressive clarification of the details of the laws concerning membership of the Houses of Justice has been accompanied by a gradual implementation of their provisions. For example, based on the texts available to the believers at the time, membership of local Houses of Justice was initially confined to men. When the Master began to elaborate on the difference between the levels of this Institution, He clarified that the exclusion of women applied only to the Universal House of Justice. Thereafter, women became eligible for service as members of Local and National Spiritual Assemblies. Women in the West, who already enjoyed the benefits of education and opportunities for social involvement, participated in this form of service much sooner than, for instance, their Bahá'í sisters in Iran who were accorded this right only in 1954, "removing thereby the last remaining obstacle to the enjoyment of complete equality of rights in the conduct of the administrative affairs of the Persian Bahá'í Community". It is important to note that the timing of the introduction of the provisions called for by the interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian in relation to the Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, rather than constituting a response to some external condition or pressure, was dictated by the principle of progressive implementation of the laws, as enjoined by Bahá'u'lláh Himself. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated May 31, 1988)

April 9

The hope which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended your efforts in America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused throughout the East and the West and the advent of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five continents of the globe.... 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated June 15, 1946; ‘Messages to America’) 

April 8

…it should be acknowledged that systematic study of the Faith will be a natural outgrowth of the culture of Bahá’í community life, in which the habit of reading the writings is fostered by the institute process and complemented by local deepening classes, conferences, winter and summer schools, and special gatherings devoted to specific subjects. So, too, will training needed to carry out programs of social and economic development take place at the grassroots of the community. Much learning is still required, however, in developing human resources that can effectively participate in the discourses of society… 

(From a letter dated 4 January 2009 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to NSA of Australia)

April 7

A continent [Europe] occupying such a central and strategic position on the entire planet; so rich and eventful in its history; so diversified in its culture; from whose soil sprang both the Hellenic and Roman civilisations; the mainspring of a civilisation to some of whose features Bahá'u'lláh Himself paid tribute; on whose southern shores Christendom first established its home; along whose eastern marches the mighty forces of the Cross and the Crescent so frequently clashed; on whose south-western extremity a fast evolving Islamic culture yielded its fairest fruit; in whose heart the light of the Reformation shone so brightly, shedding its rays as far as the outlying regions of the globe; the well-spring of American culture; whose northern and western fringes were first warmed and illuminated, less than a century ago, by the dawning light of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh; in whose heart a community, so rich in promise, was subsequently established; whose soil was later sanctified by the twice-repeated visit of the appointed Centre of His Covenant; which witnessed, in consequence of the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of His Faith, the erection of two of the foremost pillars of the future Universal House of Justice… 

(Shoghi Effendi, ‘The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha'i Community’)

April 6

'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian progressively have revealed, in accordance with divine inspiration, the meaning and implications of Bahá'u'lláh's seminal teachings. Their interpretations are fundamental statements of truth which cannot be varied through legislation by the Universal House of Justice. 

(The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated May 31, 1988)

April 5

By the sublimity and serenity of their faith, by the steadiness and clarity of their vision, the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the sanctity of their morals, and the unique example of their community life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable corruptions, paralyzed by its haunting fears, torn by its devastating hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries demonstrate the validity of their claim to be regarded as the sole repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the complete deliverance, the fundamental reorganization and the supreme felicity of all mankind. 

(Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated July 28, 1939; ‘Messages to America’)

April 4

“One night in a dream,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself, recounting His soul-shaking experience of the first stirrings of His prophetic Mission, in the Year Nine, in that abominable pit, has written, “these exalted words were heard on every side: ‘Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Ere long will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him’.” 

(Shoghi Effendi from a letter dated June 15, 1946; ‘Messages to America’)

April 3

Be not concerned with the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world... Exert yourselves; your mission is unspeakably glorious. Should success crown your enterprise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plenitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established.... 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated June 15, 1946; ‘Messages to America’)

April 2

The first epoch [1921-1944] witnessed the birth and the primary stages in the erection of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith — the nucleus and pattern of its World Order — according to the precepts laid down in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will and Testament, as well as the launching of the initial phase of the world-encompassing Plan bequeathed by Him to the American Bahá’í Community. That epoch was characterized by a twofold process aiming at the consolidation of the administrative structure of the Faith and the extension of the range of its institutions. It witnessed on the one hand, the emergence and the laying of the groundwork of that embryonic World Order whose advent was announced by the Báb in the Bayán, whose laws were revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and whose features were delineated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament. It was marked on the other hand by the launching, in the Western Hemisphere, of the first stage of a Plan whose original impulse was communicated by the Herald of our Faith in His Qayyúmu’l-Asmá, to whose implications the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation alluded in His Tablets, and whose Charter was revealed by the Center of His Covenant in the evening of His life. 

(Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated June 5, 1947; ‘Citadel of Faith’)

April 1

Born in Persia, November 12, 1817, Bahá’u’lláh began at age 27 an undertaking that has gradually captured the imagination and loyalty of several million people from virtually every race, culture, class, and nation on earth. The phenomenon is one that has no reference points in the contemporary world, but is associated rather with climactic changes of direction in the collective past of the human race. For Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be no less than the Messenger of God to the age of human maturity, the Bearer of a Divine Revelation that fulfills the promises made in earlier religions, and that will generate the spiritual nerves and sinews for the unification of the peoples of the world. 

(From “Baha’u’llah”, a document commissioned by and prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice)