Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 4, 2025
Recent events, the triumphant consummation of a series of historic enterprises, such as the construction of the superstructure of the Báb’s Sepulcher, the dedication of the Mother Temple of the West, the world-wide celebrations of the Holy Year, the convocation of four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences launching the Ten Year Crusade, the unprecedented dispersal of its valiant prosecutors over the face of the globe, the extraordinary progress of the African and Pacific campaigns, the rise of the administrative order in the Arabian Peninsula in the heart of the Islámic world, the discomfiture of the powerful antagonists in the Cradle of the Faith, the erection of the International Archives, heralding the establishment of the seat of the World Administrative Order in the Holy Land, served to inflame the unquenchable animosity of its Muslim opponents and raised up a new set of adversaries in the Christian fold and roused internal enemies, old and new Covenant-breakers, to fresh attempts to arrest the march of the Cause of God, misrepresent its purpose, disrupt its administrative institutions, dampen the zeal and sap the loyalty of its supporters.
Of a more serious nature, and productive of still greater repercussions, was the unlawful seizure by the Shí’ahs of ‘Iráq, at about the same time that the keys of the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh were wrested by the Covenant-breakers from its keeper, of yet another Bahá’í Shrine, the House occupied by Bahá’u’lláh for well nigh the whole period of His exile in ‘Iráq, which had been acquired by Him, and later had been ordained as a center of pilgrimage, and had continued in the unbroken and undisputed possession of His followers ever since His departure from Baghdád.
The conclusion of this terrible conflict, the first stage in a titanic convulsion long predicted by Bahá’u’lláh, not only marked the extinction of Turkish rule in the Holy Land and sealed the doom of that military despot who had vowed to destroy ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but also shattered once and for all the last hopes still entertained by the remnant of Covenant-breakers who, untaught by the severe retribution that had already overtaken them, still aspired to witness the extinction of the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant.
Following the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—may our lives be offered up for His holy Dust—the Covenant-breakers, using every means in their power, busied themselves in spreading false reports. No calumny, no slander did they spare.
Conscious of the necessity of constructing, as a first step, a broad and solid base upon which the pillars of that mighty structure could subsequently be raised; fully aware that upon these pillars, when firmly established, the dome, the final unit crowning the entire edifice, must eventually rest; undeflected in their course by the crisis which the Covenant-breakers had precipitated in the Holy Land, or the agitation which the stirrers of mischief had provoked in Egypt, or the disturbances resulting from the seizure by the Shí’ah community of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdád, or the growing dangers confronting the Faith in Russia, or the scorn and ridicule which had greeted the initial activities of the American Bahá’í community from certain quarters that had completely misapprehended their purpose, the pioneer builders of a divinely-conceived Order undertook, in complete unison, and despite the great diversity in their outlook, customs and languages, the double task of establishing and of consolidating their local councils, elected by the rank and file of the believers, and designed to direct, coordinate and extend the activities of the followers of a far-flung Faith.
Carmel, as well as in Latin America; the repeated contributions made for the erection of that Sepulcher, for the extension of Bahá’í international endowments and the institution of the Hazíratu’l-Quds in Kampala; the marvellous loyalty demonstrated in connection with the repeated defection of members of the Holy Family and the nefarious activities of Covenant-breakers, both old and new; as well as the share a number of these Hands have had in administering a stunning defeat to the enemies of the Faith who, so boldly and shamelessly sought, through legal action, to challenge the authority of the Guardian of the Faith, and to publicly humiliate, the institution created through the provisions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament; the further unfoldment of the European project through the initiation of the two historic Conferences held in the Low Countries and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the convocation of the fateful Conference in Rome, heralding the formation of the Italo-Swiss National Assembly—the fairest fruit of that mighty Project—these stand out as the distinctive, the unforgettable, the infinitely meritorious achievements which posterity will record as the noblest exploits immortalizing the concluding years of the Second Seven Year Plan, and conferring untold benefits on its executors throughout the length and breadth of the Great Republic of the West.
Shield Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty Stronghold of Thy Faith and protect Thy secret Sanctuary from the onslaught of the ungodly. Thou art in truth the Mighty, the Powerful, the Gracious, the Strong. “O God, my God! Shield Thy trusted servants from the evils of...” O God, my God!
Short-sighted action prompted by blind, uncontrollable animosity, resulted in the irretrievable curtailment of long-standing privileges extended to the Covenant-breakers during the course of six decades on the occasion of the celebration of the Bahá’í Holy Days.
How powerless the gods, when the general depravity was so glaring as to call out the terrible invective of Paul, the cosmopolitan traveller, the shrewd observer, the pure-hearted Christian missionary, indicting not a few, but a whole people: "Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ... being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affections, unmerciful."
You must take heed of the cursed sin of self-love, which is placed in the forefront, as the cause of all the catalogue of sins here named; "Because men are lovers of themselves, therefore they are covetous," etc., and therefore they are covenant-breakers. A self-seeker cannot but be a covenant-breaker: this is a sin you must hate as the very gates of hell.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking