From the Editor's Desk

3 That evening, He placed the Báb’s From the Editor’s remains in a marble sarcophagus in Desk the middle room. According to Shoghi Eff endi, JOHN S. HATCHER When all was fi nished, and the earthly remains of the Martyr- T A M C: Prophet of Shíráz were, at long last, C B safely deposited for their everlasting B B rest in the bosom of God’s holy mountain, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who had cast aside His turban, removed His To commemorate the Bicentenary of shoes and thrown off His cloak, bent the Birth of the Báb, our cover is graced low over the still open sarcophagus, by the photo “Terraces of Light, Light His silver hair waving about His upon Light.” The title refers to the dark head and His face transfi gured and nights the Báb spent imprisoned in the luminous, rested His forehead on mountain fortress of Mahku, where He the border of the wooden casket, was not allowed even a candle. and, sobbing aloud, wept with such The nineteen terraces, which ascend a weeping that all those who were the holy mountain and embrace the present wept with Him. That night Shrine of the Báb, were fi rst envisioned He could not sleep, so overwhelmed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then instigated by was He with emotion. (God Passes Shoghi Eff endi, and fi nally designed By 276) and completed by renowned architect Fariborz Sahba, in consultation with The room where the Bab’s casket lies the Universal House of Justice. Natu- is in the second row of six rooms with- rally, the focal point of the terraces is in the modest building, constructed of the Shrine of the Báb, the “Queen of stone from a nearby site. “Every stone Carmel,” which contains the sacred of that building, every stone of the road remains of the “Primal Point” and His leading to it . I have with infi nite young companion Anís, who were tears and at tremendous cost, raised martyred together in 1850, in Tabriz. and placed in position” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The spot for this edifi ce was chosen qtd. in God Passes By 276). In 1929, by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, during a tr ip three more rooms were built behind to Mount Carmel with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. the second row, thereby placing the It wasn’t until the 21st of March 1909, remains of the Báb and Anís at the pre- however, that the Báb’s remains were cise center of the nine-room structure. fi nally laid to rest within the simple In 1921, the remains of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá structure erected by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were interred in the middle room, next Himself. to the Báb’s resting place, until such 4 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019 time as an appropriate shrine could more abstruse and important Súrihs be built for Him alone. As announced of the Qur’án, summarize all previous this year (176 BE) in the Ridván letter divine Revelation during the Prophetic from the Universal House of Justice, (or Adamic) Cycle. The Báb is thus the the site for the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá point of confl uence between these two has already been selected, the architect important periods in the advancement chosen, and pictures of the model are of civilization and humanity’s spiritual available for all to see. evolution. The idea of nine terraces leading up While symbolism is plentiful relat- to the Shrine of the Báb and the nine ing to the Báb, the Shrine of the Báb, ascending from it to the top of Mount and the terraces that ascend Mount Carmel was instigated by Shoghi Carmel, for the purposes of this intro- Eff endi, who also guided architect duction, let us examine three deeper Sutherland Maxwell in constructing meanings that are especially apt in this a beautiful domed superstructure to Bicentenary year. The fi rst of these— house the original stone shrine. and relatively unknown to most con- The whole story and evolution of temporaries—is the symbolic allusion the Shrine of the Báb and its terraces to climbing this holy mountain as a has yet to be told in full. Mysteries of mystical act of ascending to God. This signifi cance and meaning could lead idea was popularized in a work by us to wonder, for example, why the St. John of the Cross in the sixteenth Shrine of the Báb is the focal point century.1 of the Bahá’í gardens on Mt. Carmel, St. John of the Cross was a Spanish while the Qiblih (Point of Adoration) Catholic mystic and poet. He com- of the Bahá’í Faith is the Shrine of posed a poetic treatise titled Ascent of Bahá’u’lláh—which is currently a Mount Carmel, which portrays how simple garden house outside the city the individual can—through intense of ‘Akká. One answer is that this is prayer, refl ection, and adherence to the what Bahá’u’lláh Himself desired and ascetic life—attain the presence of, or designated. Another answer lies in the union with, the Beloved (Christ, in the Báb’s own declaration that He was the context of St. John’s masterpiece). long-awaited Qá’im of Islam, as well as the herald of a worldwide Resur- rection prophesied in all the Abra- O night that guided me hamic religions. His station is that of O night more lovely than the dawn the “Primal Point,” the beginning of O night that joined a new era—the Bahá’í Era—as well as a new Cycle in human history des- 1 The sacred importance of Mount tined to last no less than fi ve hundred Carmel can be traced back to the fi fteen thousand years. In addition, the Báb’s century BCE, and it plays a part in Juda- Writings, many of which explain the ism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá’í Faith. From the Editor’s Desk 5 The Beloved with the lover hermits who lived on Mount Carmel in Lover transformed in the Beloved the thirteenth century. The similarity in tone and imagery Upon my fl owery breast of St. John’s verses to the “Ode of the Which I kept whole for himself Dove”—a poem Bahá’u’lláh composed alone while He was dwelling in the moun- There he stayed sleeping tains of Sulaymáníyyih (and which is and I caressed him, translated and included in this issue)— And the fanning of the cedars might seem remarkable. However, made a breeze there seems to be a common theme and spiritual process within mystic poetry, The breeze from the turret no matter to what religion, gender, or While I was parting his locks culture its authors belong. This can be With his gentle hand seen in the poems of Rumi regarding He was wounding my neck “the Friend,” in the poems of Ṭáhirih And causing all my senses to be regarding the Báb, and in the verses suspended of Bahá’u’lláh regarding the Ḥúríyyih (the Maid of Heaven). I remained myself and forgot St. John’s verses are also reminis- myself cent of many of Bahá’u’lláh’s state- My face I reclined on the lover, ments that comprehension of the mys- All ceased and I abandoned tic or hidden signifi cances of scripture myself is ultimately a matter of “purity of Leaving my cares heart” rather than intellect alone: “The forgotten among the lilies.2 understanding of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise Because this magnifi cent opus is simi- dependent upon human learning. They lar to Persian and Arabic mystic poetry depend solely upon purity of heart, written around the same period, one chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit” could imagine some Islamic or Moor- (Kitáb-i-Íqán ¶ 233). ish infl uence here, especially since St. A second important meaning of John lived in those parts of Spain that Mount Carmel relates to Shoghi Ef- had been governed by the Caliphate of fendi’s description of the nature of Cordoba. But the main reason for his this holy site as the symbolic center of symbolic use of the ascent of Mount the earth. In a letter written 29 March Carmel was his membership in the 1951, Shoghi Eff endi states that “just Carmelite Order, a monastic order as in the realm of the spirit, the reality that be traced back to a community of of the Báb has been hailed by the Au- thor of the Bahá’í Revelation as ‘The 2 Trans, P. Silverio de Santa Teresa and Point round Whom the realities of the ed. E. Allison Peers, 10. 6 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019 Prophets and Messengers revolve,’ so, of the spiritual infl uence emanating on this visible plane, His sacred remains from this sacred spot concludes with constitute the heart and center of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s observation that “the may be regarded as nine concentric tomb itself housing this dust” is the circles, paralleling thereby, and adding “spot round which the Concourse on further emphasis to the central position high circle in adoration” (95). accorded by the Founder of our Faith to A third meaning of this sacred spot One ‘from Whom God hath caused to is conveyed by the terraces that em- proceed the knowledge of all that was anate from the Shrine of the Báb, as and shall be,’ ‘the Primal Point from conceived of by architect Fariborz which have been generated all created Sahba.

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