This book is a selection from some of the chief writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Quite literally these are gleanings intended to convey the spirit of Bahá'u'lláh's life and teachings, and not bring together a cross-section of all His writings.
Key sentences may give us a first hint of the spirit of the book. "Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self." "All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization." "That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.
The religion with the universal aims suggested by these sentences had its origin in Persia in the last century. Bahá'u'lláh was born in 1817 and died in 1892. He was the son of a Persian nobleman and born to wealth and luxury. Yet the major part of His life was spent in imprisonment and exile. He knew intimately torture and the dungeon, scorn and hunger, poverty and betrayal. The story of His life and of the Faith which bears His name (for Bahá'í means "a follower of Bahá") is intensely dramatic and, until recent years, was little known in the west.
About the first half of the nineteenth century, many Christians were stirred by the hope of the return of Christ. This expectancy, latent in the teachings of the New Testament, found its most vivid expression in the Millerites but it by no means was limited to humble Christians nor was it limited to America. Europe too was stirred by this phenomenon. A group of German Templars left their native land and settled permanently at the foot of Mount Carmel, to await their Lord.
What most Westerners do not understand at all, is that at the same time a wave of expectancy swept through Islám. Emerson would have understoon this, but few other Americans were prepared at the time to consider any other world faith with even a modicum of sympathy. yet the fact remains that in Islám some students and theologians felt that Islamic prophecies indicated an end of the laws of the Qur'án and a begining of a new spiritual age. The thinking of these theologians was that the "Lord of the Age", to use the Islamic phrase, would appear.
In 1844 a young merchant of Shíráz named Siyyid 'Alí Muhammad suddenly began to teach a new faith in Persia. he assumed the title of th Báb, which literally means "the Gate." The force of the Báb's character and utterance was like a bombshell in that backward, priest-ridden land. Pleasant academic discussions as to the meaning of the traditions of Islám were at an end. A flame of interest in the Báb and devoted acceptance of Him swept the country. The astonished priests reacted with orthodox fury. They arrested and imprisoned the Báb and instigated systematic massacres of His followers.
The Báb taught that a new spiritual era was at hand. He criticized vehemently the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty of the Muslim clergy. he urged the hightest standard of character. And He promised that within nineteen years "Him Whom God would make manifest" would begin to teach and bring to men the basic laws and principles for a new age. The degenerate clergy, long corrupted by their powerful positions in the church-state of Persia, feared and hated the movement initiated by the Báb. It was as if a strong, clean wind had suddenly swept through the dank atmosphere of a room long closed. The massacres of the Bábís find their parallel in the bloody holidays of ancient Rome. Hypocrisy and tyranny tried to destroy faith by the sword. The Báb was soon arrested and imprisoned in a remote mountain village. On July 9, 1850 hatred found its climax when the Báb was publicly martyred in the barracks spuare of the city of Tabríz. An attempt was made to completely exterminate the new faith in Persia. Bloody scenes multiplied throughout the country, and surviving faithful went underground.
The consternation of the priesthood during these years had been deepened by the fact that many of their own outstanding members had accepted the teachings of the Báb. Also outstanding men in other walks of life had accepted Him. Among these was Mírzá Husayn 'Alí, a young man of eminent and wealthy family. Ignoring the jubes of family and class, Mírzá Husayn 'Alí, Who is known to history as Bahá'u'lláh ("the Glory of God"), publicly championed the Báb. In the nation-wide campaign to exterminate the faith, Bahá'u'lláh's position had caused Him to be spared. But in 1852 when two crazed young Bábí's made an attempt to kill the Sháh, Bahá'u'lláh was imprisoned for four months in the Siyáh Chál, a dreadful underground prison in Tihrán. Bahá'u'lláh's innocence was clearly proven in the courts. But this incidents is of great historic significance because, during the imprisonment, Bahá'u'lláh became aware that He was the Promised One fortold by the Báb.
Immediately after being released from prison, He was exiled to Baghdád by the Persian government, in and effort to remove from the country the last effective leader of the detested new faith. Bahá'u'lláh was an exile in 'Iráq for about tem years. During this time He transformed the outlook and character of the followers of the Báb. His own fame spread to such an extent that scholars and men of renown visited Him in increasing numbers.
To this first exile period belong two of Bahá'u'lláh's most famous books. One is a very small book of penetrating meditations entitled Hidden Words. In epigrammatic sentences, each prefaced by a salutation, Bahá'u'lláh restated the essential spiritual truths which have been taught by the Founders of all the world religions. No complicated theology mars the directness of the passages. It is the voice of God speaking directly to the heart of man.
"O son of Spirit!"
"The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behoveth thee to be. Verily justice is my gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes."
The other outstanding work of this period was the Kitáb-i-Íqán, the English subtitle of which is the "Book of Certitude." This book is one of the major keys to understanding the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. The great theme is this: in every age God reveals His will and purpose for human destiny through a chose individual or Manifestation. Religion thus progressively evolves. The spiritual aspects of man' relation to God are not changed from age to age but restated and clarified. The social part of religion undergoes changes in every age because the conditions of life change. Thus Moses made certain laws which Jesus later changed or ignored, to the horror of the priests and the orthodox. The evolutionary principle in world religion is Bahá'u'lláh's first challenging contribution to the spiritual unity of mankind.
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