'Abdu'l-Baha
The “vibrant personality of Abdu'l-Bahá, mysterious in His
essence, unique in His station, astoundingly potent in both the charm and
strength of His character.”
-
Shoghi Effendi (God Passes By)
10/10/2010
“One Who, not only in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh but in the entire field of religious history, fulfills a unique function.”
'Abdu'l-Baha in New York, 1912
An attempt I strongly feel should now be made to clarify our minds regarding the station occupied by Abdu'l-Bahá and the significance of His position in this holy Dispensation. It would be indeed difficult for us, who stand so close to such a tremendous figure and are drawn by the mysterious power of so magnetic a personality, to obtain a clear and exact understanding of the role and character of One Who, not only in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh but in the entire field of religious history, fulfills a unique function. Though moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically different from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Bahá'í Revelation, He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, forms together with them what may be termed the Three Central Figures of a Faith that stands unapproached in the world's spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction with them, above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after Him, and for no less a period than a full thousand years, can ever hope to rise.
- Shoghi Effendi (The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
- Shoghi Effendi (The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
10/09/2010
"Sirru'llah" (the Mystery of God)
'Abdu'l-Baha in front of Memorial Church where He paused during a tour of the Leland Stanford Junior University campus on 8 October 1912 and read the inscription on the stone plaque which reads: "... erected by Jane Stanford to the glory of God and in loving memory of her husband Leland Stanford"
He alone had been accorded the privilege of being called
"the Master," an honor from which His Father had strictly excluded
all His other sons. Upon Him that loving and unerring Father had chosen to
confer the unique title of "Sirru'llah" (the Mystery of God), a
designation so appropriate to One Who, though essentially human and holding a
station radically and fundamentally different from that occupied by Bahá'u'lláh
and His Forerunner, could still claim to be the perfect Exemplar of His Faith,
to be endowed with super-human knowledge, and to be regarded as the stainless
mirror reflecting His light.
-
Shoghi Effendi (God Passes By)
9/25/2010
9/12/2010
Him Who hath branched from this mighty Stock
'Abdu'l-Baha in a garden in Haifa
O people of the world! When the Mystic Dove will have winged
its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its hidden
habitation, refer ye whatsoever
ye understand not in
the Book to Him Who hath branched from this mighty Stock [‘Abdu’l-Baha].
-
Baha'u'llah (The Kitab-i-Aqdas)
9/03/2010
"The appointed Center of His [Baha'u'llah's] Faih..."
'Abdu'l-Baha
The appointed Center of His [Baha'u'llah's] Faih and the Delineator of its future
institutions
- Shoghi Effendi (God Passes By)
7/31/2010
7/18/2010
'The Incarnation of Every Baha'i Virtue'
Taken on the eve of departure from Budapest to Vienna, 1913
7/15/2010
6/24/2010
"The Apple of Mine [Baha'u'llah's] Eye"
'Abdu'l-Baha
"We pray God to illumine the world through Thy
knowledge and wisdom ..."
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in
The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
6/14/2010
6/11/2010
"The Expounder of the Book"
'Abdu'l-Baha
"That which has come forth from the Center of the
Covenant you must take fast hold of. That which issues from my lips and that
which is written with my pen is the Reality. With this you can irrigate the
vineyard of God. With this you can make the tree of the Cause of God become
verdant. Through this the Name of the Kingdom of God will be spread all over
the world. Through this the Sun of Reality will shine. Through this the clouds
of Mercy will pour down."
-‘Abdu’l-Baha
(Excerpt from some instructions given by Abdul-Baha to several friends in
America, July, 1912, which received his personal signature; Star of the West,
Vol. 11, No. 14, Nov. 23, 1920)
5/29/2010
The Most Mighty Branch
This portrait of 'Abdu'l-Baha was taken in New York city, on December 2nd, 1912
"There hath branched from the Sadratu'l-Muntaha this
sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that
hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow."
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by Shoghi
Effendi in The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
5/28/2010
5/23/2010
The Trust of God
Photograph taken in 1912 during 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to the United States
"He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within
you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favoured servants
..."
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in the World Order of Baha'u'llah)
5/15/2010
5/11/2010
4/27/2010
4/24/2010
4/18/2010
"...a Shelter for All Mankind..."
'Abdu'l-Baha
"We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind, a shield
unto all who are in heaven and on earth, a stronghold for whosoever hath
believed in God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by
Shoghi Effendi in The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
4/17/2010
The Most Great Favour, The Most Perfect Bounty
'Abdu'l-Baha
"Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance;
for verily He is the most great Favour unto you, the most perfect bounty upon
you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened"
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet of the Branch)
4/15/2010
The Most Great Branch
'Abdu'l-Baha during 1860's
"O Thou Who art the apple of Mine eye! My glory, the
ocean of My loving-kindness, the sun of My bounty, the heaven of My mercy rest
upon Thee."
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The World Order of Baha'u'llah)
4/12/2010
The Center of the Covenant
'Abdu'l-Baha
"When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book
of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed,
Who hath branched from this Ancient Root."
- Baha'u'llah (The Kitab-i-Aqdas)
4/11/2010
The Mystery of God
'Abdu'l-Baha, portrait taken in Paris 1911
"He is ... the "Mystery of God" -- an
expression by which Bahá'u'lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which,
while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of
Prophethood, indicates how 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."
- Shoghi Effendi (from a
letter of 8 February 1934, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh -
Selected Letters")
4/10/2010
'Abdu'l-Baha Abbas
'Abdu'l-Baha, portrait taken in Paris
"Thou knowest, O my God, that I desire for Him naught
except that which Thou didst desire, and have chosen Him for no purpose save
that which Thou hadst intended for Him. Render Him victorious, therefore,
through Thy hosts of earth and heaven... Ordain, I beseech Thee, by the ardor
of My love for Thee and My yearning to manifest Thy Cause, for Him, as well as for
them that love Him, that which Thou hast destined for Thy Messengers and the
Trustees of Thy Revelation. Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the
All-Powerful."
- Baha'u'llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in 'The World Order of Baha'u'llah')
4/09/2010
The Master
'Abdu'l-Baha
"My name is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My qualification is
'Abdu'l-Bahá. My reality is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My praise is 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom
to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to
all the human race my perpetual religion... No name, no title, no mention, no
commendation have I, nor will ever have, except 'Abdu'l-Bahá. This is my
longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my
everlasting glory."
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in 'The World Order of Baha'u'llah')
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