Baha'i Holy Day May 22nd - May 23rd: Declaration of the Bab in 1844.

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This coming week Baha'i communities will observe a Holy Day (May 22nd to May 23rd). Baha'is gather to recite prayers and recall the Declaration of the Bab.

"All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur and splendour be unto Thee…

"I bear witness that Thou Thyself alone art the sole expression of Thine attributes, that the praise of no one besides Thee can ever attain to Thy holy court nor can Thine attributes ever be fathomed by anyone other than Thyself.

"Glory be unto Thee, Thou art exalted above the description of anyone save Thyself, since it is beyond human conception to befittingly magnify Thy virtues or to comprehend the inmost reality of Thine Essence. Far be it from Thy glory that Thy creatures should describe Thee or that any one besides Thyself should ever know Thee.

"I have known Thee, O my God, by reason of Thy making Thyself known unto me, for hadst Thou not revealed Thyself unto me, I would not have known Thee. I worship Thee by virtue of Thy summoning me unto Thee, for had it not been for Thy summons I would not have worshipped Thee."

—The Báb: Selections from the Báb, Pages: 202-203

 

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It was about an hour after sunset when my youthful Host began to converse with me.

"Whom, after Siyyid Kazim," He asked me, "do you regard as his successor and your leader?"

"At the hour of his death," I replied, "our departed teacher insistently exhorted us to forsake our homes, to scatter far and wide, in quest of the promised Beloved. I have, accordingly, journeyed to Persia, have arisen to accomplish his will, and am still engaged in my quest."

"Has your teacher," He further enquired, "given you any detailed indications as to the distinguishing features of the promised One?"

"Yes," I replied, "He is of a pure lineage, is of illustrious descent, and of the seed of Fatimih. As to His age, He is more than twenty and less than thirty. He is endowed with innate knowledge. He is of medium height, abstains from smoking, and is free from bodily deficiency."

He paused for a while and then with vibrant voice declared: "Behold, all these signs are manifest in Me!"

He then considered each of the above-mentioned signs separately, and conclusively demonstrated that each and all were applicable to His person. I was greatly surprised, and politely observed:

"He whose advent we await is a Man of unsurpassed holiness, and the Cause He is to reveal, a Cause of tremendous power. Many and diverse are the requirements which He who claims to be its visible embodiment must needs fulfil. How often has Siyyid Kazim referred to the vastness of the knowledge of the promised One! How often did he say: `My own knowledge is but a drop compared with that with which He has been endowed. All my attainments are but a speck of dust in the face of the immensity of His knowledge. Nay, immeasurable is the difference!'"

No sooner had those words dropped from my lips than I found myself seized with fear and remorse, such as I could neither conceal nor explain. I bitterly reproved myself, and resolved at that very moment to alter my attitude and to soften my tone. I vowed to God that should my Host again refer to the subject, I would, with the utmost humility, answer and say:

"If you be willing to substantiate your claim, you will most assuredly deliver me from the anxiety and suspense which so heavily oppress my soul. I shall truly be indebted to you for such deliverance."

THE DAWN-BREAKERS---Chapter III

 

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On the day of the annual celebration of the Bab’s Declaration, held on Mount Carmel, when representatives of all different religions, such as Jewish, Zoroastrian, Christian and Mohammedan Baha’is were seated around the table and Abdul-Baha was serving them all personally:

“There are different gatherings and various meetings held in the world which apparently are in the utmost degree of arrangement and order; in the palaces of the kings many feasts and banquets are held which are incomparable and peerless; also, in the castles of the opulent ones great entertainments are presented and various kinds of foods and victuals are served; the singing of melodious tunes and playing of musical instruments exhilarate and deeply affect the concourse. Associations for political affairs are formed and convivial banquets for pleasure and gratification are offered; assemblages for exhibition of arts and sciences, literature and acquirements are established; meetings for the promotion of industry and commercial matters are being held; extraordinary conventions and religious congresses are arranged. But all these assemblages and different gatherings are not to be compared with and equal to this, our meeting. Although from those gatherings and conferences certain results and effects are produced which render great service to the human world and make mankind progress and develop on the plane of civilization, promulgate the attributes and virtues of the world of humanity; yet the results are limited, the fruits thereof are finite and the signs are bounded; whereas the traces, the lights and the results of this gathering are unlimited, boundless and infinite, for it is held on the Supreme Spot (the Tomb of the Bab) and under the shadow of the Blessed Beauty.

“This feast is one eternal! It has connection with and relation to the soul and body; it shall be continued everlastingly. At least an hundred thousand feasts shall follow this one. All the other gatherings shall be forgotten, whereas the commemoration and celebration of this meeting shall remain and be duly observed forever throughout endless ages; it is under the merciful glances of the Blessed Beauty.

“Once His Holiness Christ gathered the disciples together, and having offered to them the Lord’s Supper, He advised them, admonished them and uttered certain teachings to them, and then He said this was ‘The Lord’s Supper.’ Now, as this meeting is held under the shadow of the Blessed Beauty, it should be called ‘The Lord’s Sustenance,’ and as the consequences of ‘The Lord’s Supper’ continued until the present time, so we hope that the results and effects of this ‘Lord’s Sustenance’ may also become permanent and perpetual. In fact, there is no meeting better than this, for it is held in the vicinity of the Supreme Spot and the faces are so brilliant and radiant! What is there superior to this?”

~ Abdul-Baha

Declaration of the Bab

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