The night preceding her departure from Tihran a large meeting was held in the Haziratu’l-Quds; the friends, deeply moved by her words of farewell, voiced their thanks and appreciation and love through a member of the Spiritual Assembly. On Friday, September 22 a large escort of friends accompanied her to the Baha'i village of Hasan-Abad, a few miles out of town on the road to Qum; refreshments were served, many pictures taken, and after a last farewell Keith and her party continued on to Qum, escorted by a number of Tihran friends and a delegate from the Tihran Spiritual Assembly. That night was spent in Qum, and a meeting was held of the Qum Baha'is and the delegation of welcome that had come on ahead from Kashan; Keith further met several Qum officials and discussed the teachings with them. (The Baha’i World 1932-1934)
9/5/12
9/4/12
September 1916: Five of the Fourteen Tablets of the Divine Plan were first published in the Star of the West magazine
Fourteen Tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha during the First World War, addressed to the Baha'is in North America and received by them in 1919, which Shoghi Effendi has called the 'mandate' and 'the supreme charter for teaching'. They are addressed either to the Baha'is of the United States and Canada as one body or to one of five regional areas of North America.
The 'mandate' was to carry the 'fame of the Cause of God' to the East and to the West and to spread the Glad Tidings of the coming of Baha'u'llah throughout the five continents of the world. In all, 'Abdu'l-Baha mentioned some 120 territories and islands to which the message of Baha'u'llah was to be carried.
The first eight Tablets were revealed between 26 March and 22 April 1916, and the final six between 2 February and 8 March 1917. Of the first group, five Tablets reached America and were published in the 8 September 1916 issue of Star of the West. After that, communication with the Holy Land was cut off and the rest of the Tablets remained in the vault under the Shrine of the Báb until the end of the war. They were dispatched to America and unveiled in a ceremony during the 'Convention of the Covenant' held at the Hotel McAlpin in New York in April 1919.
An immediate response to the Tablets was made by Martha Root who began her world travels, and by Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn, who arose to move to Australia. However, it was not until 1837 when Shoghi Effendi gave the American believers the First Seven Year Plan that the Divine Plan began to be generally implemented. (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)
The 'mandate' was to carry the 'fame of the Cause of God' to the East and to the West and to spread the Glad Tidings of the coming of Baha'u'llah throughout the five continents of the world. In all, 'Abdu'l-Baha mentioned some 120 territories and islands to which the message of Baha'u'llah was to be carried.
The first eight Tablets were revealed between 26 March and 22 April 1916, and the final six between 2 February and 8 March 1917. Of the first group, five Tablets reached America and were published in the 8 September 1916 issue of Star of the West. After that, communication with the Holy Land was cut off and the rest of the Tablets remained in the vault under the Shrine of the Báb until the end of the war. They were dispatched to America and unveiled in a ceremony during the 'Convention of the Covenant' held at the Hotel McAlpin in New York in April 1919.
An immediate response to the Tablets was made by Martha Root who began her world travels, and by Mr. and Mrs. Hyde Dunn, who arose to move to Australia. However, it was not until 1837 when Shoghi Effendi gave the American believers the First Seven Year Plan that the Divine Plan began to be generally implemented. (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)
9/3/12
September 1939: The Passing of Hand of the Cause Martha Root
Martha Root, Hand of the Cause, whom, in 1942, Shoghi Effendi called ‘that archetype of Baha'i itinerant teachers and the foremost Hand raised by Baha'u'llah since 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing' and to whom he awarded the title of 'Leading Ambassadress of His Faith and Pride of Baha'i teachers, whether men or women, in both the East and the West.’
Martha Root was the first to arise in response to the call of 'Abdu'l-Baha in The Tablets of the Divine Plan. She travelled around the world four times over a period of twenty years, travelling four times to China and Japan, three times to India, and visiting every major city in South America. She spoke of the Baha'i Faith to 'kings, queens, princes and princesses, presidents of republics, ministers and statesmen, publicists, professors, clergymen and poets, as well as a vast number of people in various walks of life, and contacted, both officially and informally, religious congresses, peace societies, Esperanto associations, socialist congresses, Theosophical societies, women's clubs and other kindred organizations . . . '. Her eight successive audiences with Queen Marie of Rumania resulted in the Queen becoming a Baha'i. Her death in Honolulu in September 1939 'brought to a close a life which may well be regarded as the fairest fruit as yet yielded by the Formative Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah .' (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)
Martha Root was the first to arise in response to the call of 'Abdu'l-Baha in The Tablets of the Divine Plan. She travelled around the world four times over a period of twenty years, travelling four times to China and Japan, three times to India, and visiting every major city in South America. She spoke of the Baha'i Faith to 'kings, queens, princes and princesses, presidents of republics, ministers and statesmen, publicists, professors, clergymen and poets, as well as a vast number of people in various walks of life, and contacted, both officially and informally, religious congresses, peace societies, Esperanto associations, socialist congresses, Theosophical societies, women's clubs and other kindred organizations . . . '. Her eight successive audiences with Queen Marie of Rumania resulted in the Queen becoming a Baha'i. Her death in Honolulu in September 1939 'brought to a close a life which may well be regarded as the fairest fruit as yet yielded by the Formative Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah .' (Wendi Momen, A Basic Baha’i Dictionary)
9/2/12
September 1848: Muhammad Shah issues an edict for the arrest of Baha’u’llah. News of the death of the Shah cancelled the decree.
Bahá'u'lláh states in one of His Tablets that after leaving Badasht, He travelled to Nur by easy stages. He visited Shah-rud, the district of Hizarjarib, Jaz (Gaz) - to the south of Bandar-Jaz (Bandar-Gaz) on the Caspian Sea - and Ashraf - 'village by village, town by town' - until He arrived at Nur. It was probably while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz during the course of this journey that the following incident occurred. 'Abdu'l-Bahá has related that when Bahá'u'lláh arrived at Bandar-Jaz, He was taken ill. In this sea-town lived a Bábí, named Mirza Masih, a man of superior qualities. 'Abdu'l-Bahá describes him as 'spirit personified', one who, 'having read just one verse from the pen of the Primal Point, observed: "Just let this Báb be mine; you may have everyone else"'. At this very time, while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz, Mirza Masih passed away. Bahá'u'lláh held a memorial meeting for him, and also wrote a prayer of visitation for this, wonderful man.
It was while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz that the edict came from Muhammad Shah ordering His arrest. Bahá'u'lláh was at this time the guest of some of the notables of the town, and these, together with the Russian agent at Bandar-Jaz, who was a Persian, came to Bahá'u'lláh offering Him a passage in a Russian ship which was at anchor there. But Bahá'u'lláh did not accept it and did not run away. Next day, Bahá'u'lláh was the guest of a notable of that area. The Russian agent had also been invited to that banquet. Many of the prominent men of that district of Mazindaran were there to meet Bahá'u'lláh. Then a courier arrived, bringing news of Muhammad Shah's demise. The edict of Muhammad Shah for Bahá'u'lláh's arrest had lost its authority. (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah – ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’; The Baha’i World, vol. 18)
It was while Bahá'u'lláh was at Bandar-Jaz that the edict came from Muhammad Shah ordering His arrest. Bahá'u'lláh was at this time the guest of some of the notables of the town, and these, together with the Russian agent at Bandar-Jaz, who was a Persian, came to Bahá'u'lláh offering Him a passage in a Russian ship which was at anchor there. But Bahá'u'lláh did not accept it and did not run away. Next day, Bahá'u'lláh was the guest of a notable of that area. The Russian agent had also been invited to that banquet. Many of the prominent men of that district of Mazindaran were there to meet Bahá'u'lláh. Then a courier arrived, bringing news of Muhammad Shah's demise. The edict of Muhammad Shah for Bahá'u'lláh's arrest had lost its authority. (H.M. Balyuzi, Baha'u'llah – ‘Baha’u’llah, The King of Glory’; The Baha’i World, vol. 18)
9/1/12
September 1846: The Báb is arrested in the dead of night, all His books and documents confiscated and subsequently released on condition of His leaving Shiraz
Husayn Khan [the governor of Shiraz], vindictive, relentless, exasperated by the reports of his sleepless agents that his Captive's power and fame were hourly growing, decided to take immediate action. It is even reported that his accomplice, Haji Mirza Aqasi, had ordered him to kill secretly the would-be disrupter of the state and the wrecker of its established religion. By order of the governor the chief constable, Abdu'l-Hamid Khan, scaled, in the dead of night, the wall and entered the house of Haji Mirza Siyyid Ali, where the Báb was confined, arrested Him, and confiscated all His books and documents. That very night, however, took place an event which, in its dramatic suddenness, was no doubt providentially designed to confound the schemes of the plotters, and enable the Object of their hatred to prolong His ministry and consummate His Revelation. An outbreak of cholera, devastating in its virulence, had, since midnight, already smitten above a hundred people. The dread of the plague had entered every heart, and the inhabitants of the stricken city were, amid shrieks of pain and grief, fleeing in confusion. Three of the governor's domestics had already died. Members of his family were lying dangerously ill. In his despair he, leaving the dead unburied, had fled to a garden in the outskirts of the city. Abdu'l-Hamid Khan, confronted by this unexpected development, decided to conduct the Báb to His own home. He was appalled, upon his arrival, to learn that his son lay in the death-throes of the plague. In his despair he threw himself at the feet of the Báb, begged to be forgiven, adjured Him not to visit upon the son the sins of the father, and pledged his word to resign his post, and never again to accept such a position. Finding that his prayer had been answered, he addressed a plea to the governor begging him to release his Captive, and thereby deflect the fatal course of this dire visitation. Husayn Khan acceded to his request, and released his Prisoner on condition of His quitting the city.
Miraculously preserved by an almighty and watchful Providence, the Báb proceeded to Isfahan (September, 1846), accompanied by Siyyid Kazim-i-Zanjani. (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 12)
Miraculously preserved by an almighty and watchful Providence, the Báb proceeded to Isfahan (September, 1846), accompanied by Siyyid Kazim-i-Zanjani. (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 12)
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