Life and Significance of the Role of The “Bab” in the Baha'i Faith

"It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God’s tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God’s method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future!" — The Báb,

The Promised One - A Story from the Baha'i Faith

Reading 1

I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade.

— Epistle to Muhammad Shah, Selections from the Writings of the Báb

The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover.

— Epistle to Muhammad Shah, Selections from the Writings of the Báb

“The Bab” by Naim Z, Naim S & Negin

Reading 2

In its broadest outline the first century of the Bahá’í Era may be said to comprise the Heroic, the Primitive, the Apostolic Age of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and also the initial stages of the Formative, the Transitional, the Iron Age which is to witness the crystallization and shaping of the creative energies released by His Revelation.

The first period (1844–1853), centers around the gentle, the youthful and irresistible person of the Báb, matchless in His meekness, imperturbable in His serenity, magnetic in His utterance, unrivaled in the dramatic episodes of His swift and tragic ministry. It begins with the Declaration of His Mission, culminates in His martyrdom, and ends in a veritable orgy of religious massacre revolting in its hideousness. It is characterized by nine years of fierce and relentless contest, whose theatre was the whole of Persia, in which above ten thousand heroes laid down their lives, in which two sovereigns of the Qájár dynasty and their wicked ministers participated, and which was supported by the entire Shí’ah ecclesiastical hierarchy, by the military resources of the state, and by the implacable hostility of the masses.

Shogi Effendi, God Passes By, p. xiv.

Reading 3

Days of Remembrance

Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh for Bahá’í Holy Days

Declaration of the Báb

Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l-Khuld

(Tablet of the Immortal Youth)

That concealed Word upon which the souls of all the Messengers of God and His Chosen Ones have ever depended hath manifested itself out of the invisible world into the visible plane. No sooner had this hidden Word shone forth from the Realm of inmost being and absolute singleness to illumine the peoples of the earth than a breeze of mercy wafted therefrom, purifying all things from the stench of sin and arraying the countless forms of existence and the reality of man with  the vesture of forgiveness. So great was the wondrous grace which pervaded all things that through the utterance of the letters “B” and “E” the gems that lay hid within the repositories of this contingent world were brought forth and made manifest. Thus were the seen and the unseen joined in one garment, and the hidden and the manifest clothed in a single robe; thus did utter nothingness attain the realm of eternity, and pure evanescence gain admittance into the court of everlasting life.

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He is the Ever-Abiding, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.

This is the eve of that Day from whose horizon the ancient Morn hath dawned forth with the splendour of the light beaming from that effulgent horizon. Say: This is the Day whereon God established the Covenant concerning Him Who is the voice of Truth by sending forth the One  Who imparted unto humankind the glad-tidings of this Great Announcement. This is the Day whereon the Most Great Sign appeared and proclaimed this mighty Name, captivating thereby all created things with the reviving breezes of the verses of God. Happy the one that hath recognized his Lord and is numbered with them that have attained His presence.

Reading 4

Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants and all abide by His bidding!

— Selections from the Writings of the Báb

Baha'i Prayer, The Remover of Difficulties

Reading 5

O Lord! Unto Thee I repair for refuge and toward all Thy signs I set my heart. O Lord! Whether travelling or at home, and in my occupation or in my work, I place my whole trust in Thee.

Grant me then Thy sufficing help so as to make me independent of all things, O Thou Who art unsurpassed in Thy mercy! Bestow upon me my portion, O Lord, as Thou pleasest, and cause me to be satisfied with whatsoever Thou hast ordained for me.

Thine is the absolute authority to command.

— Selections from the Writings of the Báb

Rid thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer:

Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth or in whatever lieth between them but God, thy Lord, sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.

— Selections from the Writings of the Báb

God is Sufficient

A beautiful rendition of the prayer God is Sufficient in 3 languages: Chinese, English and Arabic.

Reading 6

The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit.

— Persian Bayán, Selections from the Writings of the Báb

11:30 Discussion

In review

The Báb (The Gate, 1918-1850)

• Born October 20, 1819, in Shiraz, Persia. His name was Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad. He was a descendant of Muhammad from both parents.
• He had innate knowledge from God and did not need schooling.
• On May 23^rd, 1844, The Báb declared that He was the One Whose coming the people have been eagerly awaiting. He was 25 years old.
• Mulla Husayn was the first of the 18 Letters of the Living who recognized the Báb. The Letters of the Living would spread the Faith and were called Bábi’s.
• His Holy Book was called the Bayan.
• He foretold the coming of Báhá’u’lláh (Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest)
• Imprisoned in 1847 and executed July 9^th, 1850. He was 30 years old.
• He is buried in Haifa at the Bahá’í World Center.

11:55 Closing