Twelfth Day of Ridvan

Home , Shoghi Effendi, Spiritual Assembly

Celebration Program

Program 1. Opening song (audio or video) 2. Introduction a. Welcome b. Historical Account 3. Prayers and Writings 4. Short Talk on the Unfoldment of a Divine Promise

This program consists of three parts. This is a suggestion that can be modified as one sees fit. I. The first part is an introduction that begins with a song related to Ridvan. The link to the song is provided below. Following the song, a brief introduction can be given about the historical events. Below are some excerpts that can be used to prepare a brief historical account. The accompanying pdf document with pictures has selected images that can be used. The numbering of the headings below corresponds to the picture/slide in the accompanying pdf document.

II. The second part is that of prayers and selected Writings. The selected Writings are excerpts from Tablets of Bahaullah revealed for the occasion of Ridvan. You might wish to include some songs in this part. A few suggestions on songs and videos that relate to unity have been provided below.

III. The third part consists of a brief talk the promise Bahaullah gave about a peaceful world and how it has unfolded so far. The aim is to show the major progress and development of the Faith. The talk concludes with a few excerpts from the Ridvan 2021 Message. For this part, you will find brief texts that can be read beforehand so to convey the story with your own words. A few images are also available in the accompanying pdf document.

The program is then concluded with a prayer. Naturally, the prayers can be extended with (additional or replacing) prayers read by the friends or songs performed live (or both).

Brief Historical Account 1. Song The song is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkO5aULBYqw The video is available at https://youtu.be/KR07TSo6wcI

2. Departure from the Ridvan Garden Image: Garden of Ridvan – view from the river

The afternoon of departure arrived. What am I to say? When the pen wanted to describe this mood, the pen broke and the paper was torn. (A Lifetime with Bahá’u’lláh, A.H. Ashchi, Translated by Ahang Rabbani)

The departure of Baha’u’llah from the Garden of Ridvan, at noon, on the 14th of Dhi’l-Qa’dih 1279 A.H. (May 3, 1863), witnessed scenes of tumultuous enthusiasm no less spectacular, and even more touching, than those which greeted Him when leaving His Most Great House in Baghdad. “The great tumult,” wrote an eyewitness, “associated in our minds with the Day of Gathering, the Day of Judgment, we beheld on that occasion. Believers and unbelievers alike sobbed and lamented. The chiefs and notables who had congregated were struck with wonder. Emotions were stirred to such depths as no tongue can describe, nor could any observer escape their contagion.” (A Flame of Fire, A.Q. Faizi)

3. Departure from the Ridvan Garden Image: Tents of Bahaullah

… Ahmad begged Baha’u’llah to be amongst His companions in exile, but Baha’u’llah did not accede to this request. He chose a few people and instructed the others to stay to teach and protect the Cause emphasizing that this would be better for the Faith of God. At the time of His departure, those who were left behind stood in a row and all were so overcome with sorrow that they burst into tears. Baha’u’llah again approached them and consoled them saying: “It is better for the Cause. Some of these people who accompany me are liable to do mischief; therefore I am taking them with Myself.” One of the friends could scarcely control his anguish and sorrow. He addressed the crowd reciting this poem of Sa’di: “Let us all rise to weep like unto the clouds of the Spring Season. On the day when lovers are separated from their Beloved, one can even hear the lamentations of stones.” Baha’u’llah then said, “Verily this was said for this day.” (A Flame of Fire, A.Q. Faizi)

2 4. The Arabian Stallion Image: An example of Kajavih (Howdah)

At last the mules were loaded, the kajavihs (howdahs) were settled on them, the ladies and children took their seats in the Kajavihs, and towards sunset the red roan stallion was brought out for Baha’u’llah to mount. (Bahá’u’lláh, The King of Glory, HM Balyuzi p. 175)

Mounted on His steed, a red roan stallion of the finest breed, the best His lovers could purchase for Him, and leaving behind Him a bowing multitude of fervent admirers, He rode forth on the first stage of a journey that was to carry Him to the city of Constantinople. “Numerous were the heads,” Nabil himself a witness of that memorable scene, recounts, “which, on every side, bowed to the dust at the feet of His horse, and kissed its hoofs, and countless were those who pressed forward to embrace His stirrups.” “How great the number of those embodiments of fidelity,” testifies a fellow-traveler, “who, casting themselves before that charger, preferred death to separation from their Beloved! Methinks, that blessed steed trod upon the bodies of those pure-hearted souls.” “He (God) it was,” Baha’u’llah Himself declares, “Who enabled Me to depart out of the city (Baghdad), clothed with such majesty as none, except the denier and the malicious, can fail to acknowledge.” These marks of homage and devotion continued to surround Him until He was installed in Constantinople. (God Passes By, p. 155)

All those whose narratives have come down to us state that seeing Baha’u’llah in the saddle, and about to depart, evoked from the vast crowd heart-rending, unbearable cries of distress. The call: ‘Allah-u-Akbar’ – ‘God is the Greatest’ – rang out time and again. People threw themselves in the path of His horse, and as Aqa Rida expresses it, ‘it seemed as if that heavenly steed was passing over sanctified bodies and pure hearts’. On that day for the first time they witnessed Baha’u’llah’s splendid horsemanship. During all those years in Baghdad, although horses were never unavailable, Aqa Rida states that Baha’u’llah had always chosen to ride a donkey. Another symbolic sign of the divine authority that He now visibly wielded was the change in His headgear, on the first day of the Festival of Ridvan – the day He left His house in Baghdad for the last time, to take His residence in the Najibiyyih prior to His departure for the capital of the Turkish Empire. It was then seen that He was wearing a taj (crown), finely embroidered. (Bahá’u’lláh, The King of Glory, HM Balyuzi p. 176)

Prayers & Excerpts from the Bahai Writings

5. Prayers and Excerpts from the Bahai Writings

I. Should the people of the world resolve, one and all, to extol the days that We passed in the garden of Najíb Páshá, which hath been designated as the Garden of Riḍván,

3 they would find themselves utterly incapable thereof and would confess to their powerlessness.

Verily, the eye of creation hath never beheld the light of those days, nor hath the gaze of humankind ever witnessed their like. The approach of Him Who is the Desire of the world, His entrance into that garden, His ascent upon the throne of utterance, and the words that streamed forth from the mouth of His will at that moment shall forever transcend every earthly mention. Any attribute that might be ascribed unto them, any praise wherewith they might be extolled will fail to do justice to the dust that hath been ennobled by His footsteps, how much less to His mighty throne, His manifest establishment thereon, and His pervasive and all-embracing utterance. Indeed, the splendours of that Day elude the understanding and comprehension of the peoples of the world.

II. That garden hath been named after its caretaker, who was called Riḍván. Those were the days whereon the All-Merciful cast the splendour of all His names over all who are in His heaven and on His earth. Some among His chosen ones had the honour of witnessing those days and beholding that which was manifested therein. In the arrival and departure of the Ancient Beauty, the signs and tokens of God were made clear and evident, and the light of Revelation was made to shine forth in the plenitude of its glory. Verily, His majesty was exalted, His power magnified, and His sovereignty revealed.

III. He is the Ever-Abiding. It is the Festival of Riḍván, the vernal season wherein the Beauty of the All-Glorious was revealed betwixt earth and heaven. In this wondrous Day the gates of Paradise were flung open before the faces of all people, at the behest of Him Who is the All-Praised, and the outpourings of divine mercy rained down from the clouds of celestial favour upon His countless embodiments and manifestations in the world of being.

IV. Release yourselves, O nightingales of God, from the thorns and brambles of wretchedness and misery, and wing your flight to the rose-garden of unfading splendour. O My friends that dwell upon the dust! Haste forth unto your celestial habitation. Announce unto yourselves the joyful tidings: “He Who is the Best-Beloved is come! He hath crowned Himself with the glory of God’s Revelation, and hath unlocked to the face of men the doors of His ancient Paradise.” Let all eyes rejoice, and let every ear be gladdened, for now is the time to gaze on His beauty, now is the fit time to hearken to His voice. Proclaim unto every longing lover: “Behold, your Well- Beloved hath come among men!” and to the messengers of the Monarch of love impart the tidings: “Lo, the Adored One hath appeared arrayed in the fullness of His glory!” O lovers of His beauty! Turn the anguish of your separation from Him into the joy of an everlasting reunion, and let the sweetness of His presence dissolve the bitterness of your remoteness from His court.

Song – Waves of One Sea - The song is available at https://youtu.be/O2OU776PGMk

V. Behold how the manifold grace of God, which is being showered from the clouds of Divine glory, hath, in this day, encompassed the world. For whereas in days past every lover besought and searched after his Beloved, it is the Beloved Himself Who now is calling His lovers and is inviting them to attain His presence. Take heed lest ye forfeit so precious a favour; beware lest ye belittle so remarkable a token of His grace. Abandon not the incorruptible benefits, and be not content with that which perisheth. Lift up the veil that obscureth your vision, and dispel the darkness with which it is enveloped, that ye may gaze on the naked beauty of the Beloved’s face, may behold that which no eye hath beheld, and hear that which no ear hath heard.

VI. Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose-Garden of changeless splendour a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervour of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavour to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savours of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest.

VII. He is the Most Holy, the Most Glorious. All praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! This is one of the days of Thy Riḍván Festival whereon a servant of Thine hath extended an invitation to the Manifestation of Thine Essence and the Revealer of Thy Sovereignty, and hath decked forth a place in the prison to receive Thine all-glorious Beauty, O Thou Who art the Lord of earth and heaven! All glory be to this hour wherein He Who is the Dayspring of Thy transcendent might hath directed His steps from one room of the prison to another. I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the King of Names and Creator of earth and heaven, to write down for such of Thy loved ones as have been debarred from entering the precincts of Thy mercy and standing before the throne of Thy might the recompense decreed for such as have attained Thy presence and beheld Him Who is Thy Beauty. Thou hearest, O Lord, their sighs and lamentations in their separation and remoteness from Thee. I beseech Thee to ordain for them all the good Thou dost possess. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Praised.

VIII. Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen Ones and Thy

5 Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.

I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by the name of Him round Whom circleth in adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that Thou wilt graciously assist them that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed abroad Thy praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.

Since Thou hast guided them, O my Lord, unto the living waters of Thy grace, grant, by Thy bounty, that they may not be kept back from Thee; and since Thou hast summoned them to the habitation of Thy throne, drive them not out from Thy presence, through Thy loving-kindness. Send down upon them what shall wholly detach them from aught else except Thee, and make them able to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness, in such wise that neither the ascendancy of the oppressor nor the suggestions of them that have disbelieved in Thy most august and most mighty Self shall be capable of keeping them back from Thee.

Song – One Tree - The song is available at https://youtu.be/nS1RBSrOGng

The Gradual Fulfilment of a Divine Promise

6. The Promise to Bahaullah Image: The Black Pit in Teheran

When Bahaullah was incarcerated in the Black Pit in Tehran, He was given a promise.

One night, in a dream, these exalted words were heard on every side: “Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Erelong will God raise up the treasures of the earth—men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.

7. The Promise Image: Room in which Bahaullah received EG Brown.

At the Garden of Ridvan, Bahaullah Declared His Mission, setting in motion a process that will, ultimately, fulfil the promise Bahaullah made at the end of His life when meeting E.G. Brown.

6 “That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled — what harm is there in this? … Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come.… Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.

8. The Strength of the Bahai Community in 1892 Image: The Shrine of Bahaullah

At the time of His ascension, Christ had raised up twelve men and four women. There were to be sure a few others beside these, but they had not reached the station of certitude. And among these twelve men, one became His sworn enemy: Judas Iscariot, who, notwithstanding his position as the chief of the Apostles, arose to have Him killed. The most prominent among the remaining eleven was Peter, and even he failed to stand firm in the face of trials, since, according to the explicit text of the Gospel, he thrice denied Christ at the hour of His martyrdom, to the point of entirely recanting his faith in the last instance. It was only after the cock crowed that he was reawakened and made contrite and repentant. Whereas from the inception of this Cause to the present day, perhaps close to twenty thousand men, women, and children have offered up their lives in the path of God. Many of them, under the threat of the sword, raised the cry of “Yá Bahául-Abhá!” Many were told that, if they publicly recanted their faith, they would keep both their lives and their possessions, and yet they answered with the cry of “Yá Bahául-Abhá!” Thus, at the time of Bahá’u’lláh’s ascension, more than two hundred thousand souls had taken shelter beneath His blessed shadow and had attained the station of certitude. The renown of Christ did not even reach, in His own lifetime, Assyria, Chaldea, Asia Minor, or the regions of Syria, whereas Bahá’u’lláh’s renown, in His own lifetime, had spread throughout East and West. (Twelve Table Talks given by Abdu’l-Bahá in Akká)

9. The Perfect Example Image: Picture of Abdul-Baha

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the perfect example of all the Teachings of His Father. The Guardian says that “Bahá’u’lláh’s inscrutable purpose, we must ever bear in mind, has been so thoroughly infused into the conduct of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and their motives have been so closely wedded together, that the mere attempt to dissociate the teachings of the former from any system which the ideal Exemplar of those same teachings has established would amount to a repudiation of one of the most sacred and basic truths of the Faith.”

10. Achievements During the Ministry of Abdul-Baha Image: Picture of Abdul-Baha

7 During the Ministry of Abdul-Baha, He, among many other things, achieved • Through Him the Covenant, that “excellent and priceless Heritage” bequeathed by the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation, had been proclaimed, championed and vindicated. • Through the power which that Divine Instrument had conferred upon Him the light of God’s infant Faith had penetrated the West, had diffused itself as far as the Islands of the Pacific, and illumined the fringes of the Australian continent.

11. Holy Remains of the Bab Image: The Shrine of the Bab

• Through His unrelaxing vigilance the holy remains of the Báb, brought forth at long last from their fifty-year concealment, had been safely transported to the Holy Land and permanently and befittingly enshrined in the very spot which Bahá’u’lláh Himself had designated for them and had blessed with His presence.

12. The Formal Inauguration of the Administrative Order Image: Hand of the Cause Haji Akhund

• In pursuance of His instructions, and in conformity with the principles enunciated and the laws ordained by His Father, the rudimentary institutions, heralding the formal inauguration of the Administrative Order to be founded after His passing, had taken shape and been established. • The first official Baháʼí consultative body was organized under ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's direction by Hand of the Cause Hají Ákhúnd in Tehran in 1897; by 1899 it was an elected body. Because of the difficulties in Iran caused by persecution of the Baháʼí Faith, the

13. The Writings of Abdul-Baha Image: Tablet in the handwriting of Abdul-Baha

• Through His unremitting labors, as reflected in the treatises He composed, the thousands of Tablets He revealed, the discourses He delivered, the prayers, poems and commentaries He left to posterity, mostly in Persian, some in Arabic and a few in Turkish, the laws and principles, constituting the warp and woof of His Father’s Revelation, had been elucidated, its fundamentals restated and interpreted, its tenets given detailed application and the validity and indispensability of its verities fully and publicly demonstrated.

14. Tablets of the Divine Plan Image: Tablet of the Divine Plan to the Northeastern States in Persian and Arabic, on the front and reverse of a postcard, and bearing the original signature of Abdu'l-Baha

8 • And lastly, through the mandate He had issued to a valiant community, the concerted achievements of whose members had shed so great a lustre on the annals of His own ministry, He had set in motion a Plan which, soon after its formal inauguration, achieved the opening of the Australian continent, which, in a later period, was to be instrumental in winning over the heart of a royal convert to His Father’s Cause, and which, today, through the irresistible unfoldment of its potentialities, is so marvellously quickening the spiritual life of all the Republics of Latin America as to constitute a befitting conclusion to the records of an entire century. (From God Passes By)

15. The Guardian of the Faith Image: Shoghi Effendi at the time he attended Oxford University

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, continued the realization of His Grandfathers Divine Vision. The development of the Faith, having entered the Formative Age, achieved the following during its initial epochs

The summary below of achievements for the first four epochs are excerpts from a compilation prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and is available at https://bahai-library.com/uhj_epochs_formative_age.

16. The First Epoch of the Formative Age: 1921-1944/46 Image: NSA of Germany and Austria in the mid-1930's.

The first epoch of this Age witnessed the "birth and the primary stages in the erection of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith." The epoch was characterized by concentration on the formation of local and national institutions in all five continents, thereby initiating the erection of the machinery necessary for future systematic teaching activities. This epoch was further marked by the launching, at the instigation of the Guardian, of the First Seven Year Plan (1937-1944) … the first systematic teaching campaign of the Bahá’í community and inaugurated the initial stage of the execution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Divine Plan in the Western Hemisphere.

17. The Second Epoch of the Formative Age: 1946-1963 Image: Map of Goals for the Ten-Year World Crusade

This epoch extended the developments of the first epoch by calling for the consummation of a laboriously constructed Administrative Order," and was to witness the formulation of a succession of teaching plans designed to facilitate the development of the Faith beyond the

9 confines of the Western Hemisphere and the continent of Europe. … The culminating event of the epoch was the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.

18. The Third Epoch of the Formative Age: 1963-1986 Image: Members of the first Universal House of Justice, elected in 1963

The period of the third epoch encompassed three world plans, involving all National Spiritual Assemblies, under the direction of the Universal House of Justice… This third epoch witnessed the emergence of the Faith from obscurity and the initiation of activities designed to foster the social and economic development of communities. The institution of the Continental Boards of Counsellors was brought into existence leading to the establishment of the International Teaching Centre. Assistants to the Auxiliary Boards were also introduced. At the World Centre of the Faith, the historic construction and occupation of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice was a crowning event.

19. The Fourth Epoch of the Formative Age: 1986-2000 Image: Pictures of National Spiritual Assemblies from around the world

[T]he fourth epoch of the Formative Age … highlighted the significant developments that had taken place in the "organic growth of the Cause of God" during the course of the recently completed third epoch. Whereas national plans had previously derived largely from the World Centre, in this new epoch the specific goals for each national community will be formulated, within the framework of the overall objectives of the Plan, by means of consultation between the particular National Spiritual Assembly and the Continental Board of Counsellors.

20. Fifth Epoch: 2001 - Present Image: Pictures of Core Activities and Houses of Worship

The Universal House of Justice associated the fifth, and current, epoch with the enriching of devotional life in Bahá’í communities through the erection of national Houses of Worship, and the development of the functions of institutions at the World Centre. The following was written regarding the inauguration of the new epoch in the Houses 2001 Riḍván message: "Such a freshness of vitality as was displayed at this historic gathering came to be understood as a manifestation of the rising quality of activity throughout the community. Pursuit during the past year of the essentials for advancing the process of entry by troops confirmed this observation.

21. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 Let there be no doubt about the advance represented by the emergence of this framework: the implications for harmonizing and unifying the endeavours of the entire Bahá’í world and propelling its onward march were of great consequence.

10 22. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 Souls assisting and accompanying one another along a shared path, constantly widening the circle of mutual support, became the pattern to which all efforts aimed at developing capacity for service aspired. Even the interactions of the friends among themselves and with those around them underwent a change, as awareness was raised of the power of meaningful conversations to kindle and fan spiritual susceptibilities.

23. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 And signiﬁcantly, Bahá’í communities adopted an increasingly outward-looking orientation. Any soul responsive to the vision of the Faith could become an active participanteven a promoter and facilitator—of educational activities, meetings for worship and other elements of the community-building work; from among such souls, many would also declare their faith in Bahá’u’lláh.

24. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 A vision of personal and collective transformation occurring simultaneously, founded on study of the Word of God and an appreciation of each person’s capacity to become a protagonist in a profound spiritual drama, had given rise to a sense of common endeavour.

25. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 All this, our sisters and brothers in faith, is but a fraction of the tale we could recount of what your devotion to Him Who was the Wronged One of the World has brought forth. We can but echo the poignant words once voiced by the beloved Master when, overcome with emotion, He cried out: “O Bahá’u’lláh! What hast Thou done?”

26. Excerpts from the Ridvan Message 2021 The Divine Plan enters a new epoch and a new stage. The page is turned.

27. Closing Prayer

O Thou compassionate Lord, Thou Who art generous and able! We are servants of Thine sheltered beneath Thy providence. Cast Thy glance of favor upon us. Give light to our eyes, hearing to our ears, and understanding and love to our hearts. Render our souls joyous and happy through Thy glad tidings. O Lord! Point out to us the pathway of Thy kingdom and resuscitate all of us through the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Bestow upon us life everlasting and confer upon us never-ending honor. Unify mankind and illumine the world of humanity. May we all follow Thy pathway, long for Thy good pleasure and seek the mysteries of Thy kingdom. O God! Unite us and connect our hearts with Thy indissoluble bond. Verily, Thou art the Giver, Thou art the Kind One and Thou art the Almighty.