Mirrored from
www.bahai-library.org
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WITH THE PASSING OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ, the Apostolic Age of the Causereached its
end. The Divine intervention that had begun seventy-seven yearsearlier on the
night the Báb declared His mission to Mullá Husayn— and 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself
was born — had completed itswork. It had been, in the words of Shoghi Effendi,
"a period whosesplendours no victories in this or any future age, however
brilliant, canrival...."[50] Ahead
laythe thousand or thousands of years in which the potentialities that
thiscreative force has planted in human consciousness will graduallyunfold.
Contemplation of so great a juncture in the history of civilization bringsinto
sharp focus the Figure whose nature and role have been unique in
thissix-thousand-year process. Bahá'u'lláh has called'Abdu'l-Bahá "the
Mystery of God". Shoghi Effendi has described Himas "the Centre and
Pivot" of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, the"perfect Exemplar" of the
teachings of the Revelation of God for the age ofhuman maturity, and "the Mainspring
of the Oneness of Humanity". Nophenomenon in any way comparable to His
appearance had accompanied any ofthe Divine Revelations that had given birth to
the other great religioussystems in recorded history; all of these had been
essentially stagespreparing humanity for its coming of age. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
wasBahá'u'lláh's supreme Creation, the One that made
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everything else possible. Anunderstanding of this truth moved a perceptive
American Bahá'íto write:
Now a message from God must be delivered, and there was nomankind to hear this message. Therefore, God gave the world'Abdu'lBahá. 'Abdu'l-Bahá received the message ofBahá'u'lláh on behalf of the human race. He heard the voice ofGod; He was inspired by the spirit; He attained complete consciousness andawareness of the meaning of this message, and He pledged the human race torespond to the voice of God. ...to me that is the Covenant —that there was on this earth some one who could be a representative of an asyet uncreated race. There were only tribes, families, creeds, classes, etc.,but there was no man except 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, asman, took to Himself the message of Bahá'u'lláh and promisedGod that He would bring the people into the oneness of mankind, and create ahumanity that could be the vehicle for the laws of God.[51]
Beginning His mission as a prisoner of a brutal, ignorant regime
andrelentlessly assailed by faithless brothers who ultimately sought His
death,the Master single-handedly created of the Persian Bahá'ícommunity a
brilliant demonstration of the social development the Causecould produce,
inspired the expansion of the Faith across the Orient, raisedup communities of
devoted believers throughout the West, designed a Plan forthe world-wide expansion
of the Cause, won the respect and admiration ofleaders of thought wherever His
influence reached, and providedBahá'u'lláh's followers throughout the world
with a vast bodyof authoritative guidance as to the intent of the Faith's laws
andteachings. On the slopes of Mount Carmel He erected with enormous pain
anddifficulty the Shrine housing the mortal remains of the martyred Báb,the
focal point of the processes by which the life of our planet willgradually be
organized. Through it all, in every least occasion of a lifefilled with cares
and demands of every sort — a life exposed at alltimes to examination by enemy
and friend alike — He ensured thatposterity will possess that treasure of which
poets, philosophers andmystics have dreamed all down the ages, a demonstration
of unshadowed humanperfection.
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41]
And finally, it was 'Abdu'l-Bahá who made certain that the DivineOrder
conceived by Bahá'u'lláh for the unification of thehuman race and the
institution of justice in humanity's collective lifewould be provided with the
means required to realize its Founder's purpose.For unity to exist among human
beings — at even the simplest level— two fundamental conditions must pertain.
Those involved must first ofall be in some agreement about the nature of
reality as it affects theirrelationships with one another and with the
phenomenal world. They must,secondly, give assent to some recognized and
authoritative means by whichdecisions will be taken that affect their
association with one another andthat determine their collective goals.
Unity is not, that is, merely a condition resulting from a sense of
mutualgoodwill and common purpose, however profound and sincerely held
suchsentiments may be, any more than an organism is a product of some
fortuitousand amorphous association of various elements. Unity is a phenomenon
ofcreative power, whose existence becomes apparent through the effects
thatcollective action produces and whose absence is betrayed by the impotence
ofsuch efforts. However handicapped it often has been by ignorance
andperversity, this force has been the primary influence driving theadvancement
of civilization, generating legal codes, social and politicalinstitutions,
artistic works, technological achievements without end, moralbreakthroughs, material
prosperity, and long periods of public peace whoseafterglow lived in the
memories of subsequent generations as imagined"golden ages".
Through the Revelation of God to humanity's coming of age, the
fullpotentialities of this creative force have at last been released and
themeans necessary to the realization of the Divine purpose have
beeninstituted. In His Will and Testament, which Shoghi Effendi has described
asthe "Charter" of the Administrative Order, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set out
indetail the nature and role of the twin institutions that are His
appointedSuccessors and whose complementary functions ensure the unity of
theBahá'í Cause and the achievement of its mission throughout theDispensation,
the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice. He laidparticularly strong
emphasis on the authority thusconveyed:
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Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him not, neitherobeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and againstthem hath rebelled against God; whoso opposeth him hath opposed God; whosocontendeth with them hath contended with God....[52]
Shoghi Effendi has explained the significance of this extraordinaryText:
The Administrative Order which this historic Document hasestablished, it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character,unique in the annals of the world's religious systems. No Prophet beforeBahá'u'lláh, it can be confidently asserted,... hasestablished, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to theAdministrative Order which the authorized Interpreter ofBahá'u'lláh's teachings has instituted, an Order which ...must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any previous religion, safeguardfrom schism the Faith from which it has sprung.[53]
Before the reading and promulgation of the Will and Testament, the
greatmajority of the members of the Faith had assumed that the next stage in
theevolution of the Cause would be the election of the Universal House
ofJustice, the institution founded by Bahá'u'lláh Himself in theKitáb-i-Aqdas
as the governing body of the Bahá'íworld. An important fact for present-day
Bahá'ís to understandis that prior to this point the concept of Guardianship
was unknown to theBahá'í community. There was wide-spread rejoicing at the
newsof the unique distinction that the Master had conferred on Shoghi
Effendiand the continuing link with the Founders of the Faith that his
rolerepresented. Until then, however, there had been no appreciation
ofBahá'u'lláh's intent that such an institution should emerge orof the
interpretive function it would have to perform — a functionwhose vital
importance has since become readily apparent and which hindsightmakes clear was
implicit in certain of His Writings.
What was entirely beyond the imagination of anyone then living, whetherfaithful
or ill-disposed, was the transformation in the life of the Causethat the Will
of the Master set in motion. "Were ye to know what will cometo pass after
Me," 'Abdu'l-Bahá had declared, "surely would ye praythat my end be
hastened"?[54]
NOTES
[50] The
Bahá'í World, vol. XV(Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1976), p. 132.
[51]
Horace Holley, Religion for Mankind(London: George Ronald, 1956), pp.
243-244.
[52 Will
and Testament of'Abdu'l-Bahá (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust,1991), p.
11.
[53]
Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, op.cit., p. 326.
[54]
Shoghi Effendi, Bahá'íAdministration (Wilmette: Bahá'íPublishing Trust,
1998), p. 15.