Lawh-i- Karmil (Tablet of Carmel)

Presentation of Tablet of Carmel at Irfan Colloquium

Dr. Sateh Bayat Louhelen Bahá’í School, October 2001

In presenting this mighty Tablet we will discuss the below topics.

Contents The circumstances surrounding its revelation ...... 2 The Significance of this Day of God and Titles of Bahá’u’lláh ...... 4 Glad-Tidings of His Coming from the scriptures of the past...... 6 His commandment to carry His Message to all the corners of the world ...... 8 Glad-Tidings of future institutions of the Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Cause of God...... 10 The style and language of the Tablet of Carmel ...... 12 Supplemental material ...... 15

1 The circumstances surrounding its revelation

Bahá’u’lláh left Adrianople on the next and last step of His exile at the command of the Ottoman Caliph Sultan Abdu’l Aziz to Akka. He left Adrianople on the 12th of August 1868 and journeyed to Gallipoli. This journey took a few days. After a few days stay in Gallipoli He sailed in an Austrian Steamer before noon arriving in Madelli about sunset, leaving at night for Smyrna where He stayed 2 days before traveling to Alexandria. At this time Nabil-i-Azam was a prisoner with a Christian physician Faris Effendi. They wrote petitions and letters to Bahá’u’lláh and in answer a Tablet was revealed. Faris was particularly honored Bahá’u’lláh changed ships at Alexandria. This was also an Austrian Lloyd Triestino steamer bound for Port Said and then onto Jaffa and . He arrived at Haifa on 31st August and disembarked for a few hours. This was his first visit to Haifa on his way to the Prison City of Akka. His second visit to Haifa was 15 years later in August 1883 when he moved residence to the Mansion of Bahji. He visited Haifa for a few days and stayed at a house in the German Templar colony in the Bayt-i-Funduq. His third visit was in 1890, the same time that Edward Granville Browne, the orientalist, visited Bahá’u’lláh in Akka. In the course of this visit, He stayed first at Bayt-i-Zahlan, near the town, and then He moved to a house in the German colony, which was known as the Oliphant House. His tent was pitched on a piece of land opposite that house. His fourth and last visit was a year before His passing, in the summer of 1891, when He stayed for 3 months. This time he stayed in the house of Ilyas- Abyaz near the German colony. Two happenings of note were that, one day, while standing by the side of some lone cypress trees nearly half-way up the slopes of , Bahá’u’lláh pointed to an expanse of rock immediately below Him, telling ‘Abdu’l- Bahá that on that spot He would like the mausoleum that would enshrine the Blessed remains of the Martyr-prophet, the Bab, to be built. On a summer day when His tent was pitched in the vicinity of the Carmelite monastery, Stella Maris on a promontory nearby, He summoned His amanuensis and then revealed in a loud and clear voice the Tablet of Carmel. This mighty Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh was revealed in Arabic and He chanted the words of that Tablet with supreme majesty and power. The forceful tone of His exalted language sounded all around, so that even the monks, within the walls of the monastery, heard every word uttered by Him. Such was the commotion created on that historical occasion, …the earth seemed to shake, while all those present were overpowered by His mighty and wondrous spirit. In the course of that same day Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, local believers and Persian pilgrims visited the upper Cave of in the nearby Carmelite monastery, thus hallowing both these sites. It was a day of rare significance.

2 Although the policy of Sultán ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd was harsher than ever; although he constantly insisted on his Captive’s strict confinement, still, the Blessed Beauty now lived, as everyone knows, with all power and glory. Some of the time Bahá’u’lláh would spend at the Mansion, and again, at the farm village of Mazra’ih; for a while He would sojourn in Haifa, and occasionally His tent would be pitched on the heights of Mount Carmel. Friends from everywhere presented themselves and gained an audience. The people and the government authorities witnessed it all, yet no one so much as breathed a word. And this is one of Bahá’u’lláh’s greatest miracles: that He, a captive, surrounded Himself with panoply and He wielded power. The prison changed into a palace, the jail itself became a Garden of Eden. Such a thing has not occurred in history before; no former age has seen its like: that a man confined to a prison should move about with authority and might; that one in chains should carry the fame of the Cause of God to the high heavens, should win splendid victories in both East and West, and should, by His almighty pen, subdue the world. Such is the distinguishing feature of this supreme Theophany. –'Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 27 In years to come, a House of Worship will be built on the site of the promontory. Some time later Bahá’u’lláh visited the lower cave of Elijah. Elijah was traditionally believed to have lived there. In the 1800’s there were some action-motivated Protestant pietists of Wurttemberg, Germany . One root of the movement sprang from Revd. J. A. Bengel who predicted that the second coming of Christ would occur in 1837. But disagreements on interpretation of the scriptures were blunted by disappointment. Some came to the Holy Land to establish a home for God, a Temple of God in the Holy City. So Hardegg, Hoffman came to Haifa in 1868 and settled in several colonies. All firmly believed in a glorious future for the Holy Land. Der Herr ist nahe 1871. God is nigh. How unfortunate that their ideas of the circumstances surrounding the coming of the Messiah did not coincide with the situation of this Prisoner and consequently they deprived themselves of the blessing of His recognition.

3 The Significance of this Day of God and Titles of Bahá’u’lláh

“ALL glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat.” Jews at the time of Moses couldn’t bear to look at Mount Sinai. Relating to that we read, “He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come”. In the Holy traditions it was written “I was a hidden treasure”. Now we read in the Tablet, “Konto Kanzan makhfian”, i.e., the Hidden treasure is now come. Asking Zion not to hesitate and halt like in previous times, Bahá’u’lláh tells the Christians to haste. “Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God”, the City of God being the New Jerusalem addressed in Revelation of St. John. “New Jerusalem” is the title for the Christians, “Jerusalem” is the title for the Jews and the “Celestial Kaaba” is for the Muslims. In one statement thus He addresses the three followers of the Book and tells them that He is their Promised One and their Point of Adoration. The Beloved Bab also uses the same terms, “City of God and Kaaba” in His Tablet addressed to Muhammad Shah. And the beloved Guardian has interpreted the meaning of the “City of God and the celestial Kaaba” as the Shrine of the Bab. -- Bahá’u’lláh, Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p.90

When Bahá’u’lláh came to this prison in the Holy Land, the wise men realized that the glad tidings which God gave through the tongue of the Prophets two or three thousand years before were again manifested, and that God was faithful to His promise; for to some of the Prophets He had revealed and given the good news that “the Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land.” All these promises were fulfilled; and it is difficult to understand how Bahá’u’lláh could have been obliged to leave Persia, and to pitch His tent in this Holy Land, but for the persecution of His enemies, His banishment and exile. His enemies intended that His imprisonment should completely destroy and annihilate the blessed Cause, but this prison was in reality of the greatest assistance and became the means of its development. The divine renown of Bahá’u’lláh reached the East and the West, and the rays of the Sun of Truth illuminated the entire world. Praise be to God! though He was a prisoner, His tent was raised on Mount Carmel, and He moved abroad with the greatest majesty. Every person, friend or stranger, who came into His presence used to say, “This is a prince, not a captive.” This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God hath attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true God! Sinai is circling round the Dayspring of Revelation, while from the heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard proclaiming: “Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh

4 the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That which had been announced in the holy Writ of God, the Most Exalted, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved, is made manifest.” Carmel, in the Book of God, hath been designated as the Hill of God, and His Vineyard. -Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 145

5 Glad-Tidings of His Coming from the scriptures of the past

In the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Bahá’u’lláh, after citing the prophetic references made in the Psalms and the Books of Isaiah and Amos, concerning Akka, Jerusalem, Palestine and Zion, states: “Carmel, in the Book of God, hath been designated as the Hill of God, and His Vineyard. It is here that, by the grace of the Lord of Revelation, the Tabernacle of Glory hath been raised. Happy are they that attain thereunto; happy they that set their faces towards it.” The beloved Guardian states that the Tablet of Carmel represents the ‘Charter of the World Spiritual and Administrative Centers of the Faith on that mountain’. Since ancient times Mt. Carmel has been considered as the ‘Vineyard of God’, the nest of the prophets and the site of the cave of Elijah, referred to in the Old and New Testaments in relation to the return of Elijah and the coming of the Messiah in the “Glory of the Father”. Bahá’u’lláh Himself designates this mountain as the seat of God’s Throne. “This is the Day whereon Sinai hath smiled at Him Who conversed upon it, and Carmel at its Revealer, and the Sadrah at Him Who taught it. Fear ye God, and be not of them that have denied Him.” Amos saith: “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His Voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.” It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God.” --Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p.48

1:2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. -- , Bible: Amos

“Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. O how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation --a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: ‘Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.’ Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will

6 God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.

The Most Great Law is come, and the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David. Thus hath My Pen spoken that which the histories of bygone ages have related.”

At this time, however, David crieth aloud and saith: ‘O my loving Lord! Do Thou number me with such as have stood steadfast in Thy Cause, O Thou through Whom the faces have been illumined, and the footsteps have slipped!’

The Breath hath been wafted, and the Breeze hath blown, and from Zion hath appeared that which was hidden, and from Jerusalem is heard the Voice of God, the One, the Incomparable, the Omniscient. Lend an ear unto the song of David. He saith: ‘Who will bring me into the Strong City?’ The Strong City is Akká, which hath been named the Most Great Prison, and which possesseth a fortress and mighty ramparts... Peruse that which Isaiah hath spoken in His Book. He saith: ‘Get thee up into the high mountain, O Zion, that bringest good tidings; lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: “Behold your God! Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him.” This Day all the signs have appeared. A great City hath descended from heaven, and Zion trembleth and exulteth with joy at the Revelation of God, for it hath heard the Voice of God on every side.

No less enthralling is the vision of Isaiah, the greatest of the Hebrew Prophets, predicting, as far back as twenty five hundred years ago, the destiny which mankind must, at its stage of maturity, achieve: “And He (the Lord) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more ...And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots... And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together... And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” - Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 205

7 His commandment to carry His Message to the corners of the world

“O how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation --a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: ‘Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.’ Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.” - Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, XI

“The hour is ripe to undertake the preliminaries for the erection of the octagonal first unit of the superstructure, another milestone in the process set in motion sixty years ago by Bahá’u’lláh’s visit to Mount Carmel. This process which gathered momentum through the transportation of His Holiness, the Báb’s remains to the Holy Land after fifty years’ concealment, through the erection of the sanctuary by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the darkest years of His Ministry, through the entombment of the remains by Him on the morrow of His forty year incarceration, through the commencement of the construction of the arcade on the fortieth anniversary of the interment of the Holy Dust, through the termination of the parapet on the eve of the Centenary of the Báb’s martyrdom, must be accelerated through the erection of the dome, attaining consummation through the emergence of the institutions of the world administrative center of the Faith in the vicinity of its world spiritual Center, signalizing the sailing of the Divine Ark on God’s Mountain, prophesied in the Tablet of Carmel.” - Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950-1957, p. 57

“The international Bahá’í endowments on Mt. Carmel have been greatly enhanced by the signature of a contract with the Israeli Authorities for the acquisition of an area of thirty-six thousand square meters, situated on the promontory of Mt. Carmel, overlooking the Cave of Elijah, as well as the spot sanctified by the footsteps of Bahá’u’lláh and associated with the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel, for the price of one hundred and eight thousand dollars, to serve as the site for the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the Holy Land, the entire sum having been donated by Amelia Collins, Hand of the Cause and outstanding benefactress of the Faith. It is indeed my fervent and constant prayer that the members of this firmly- knit, intensely alive, world-embracing Community, spurred on by the triple impulse generated through the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel by Bahá’u’lláh and the Will and Testament as well as the Tablets of the Divine Plan bequeathed by the Center of His Covenant—the three Charters which have set in motion three distinct processes, the first operating in the Holy Land for the development of the institutions of the Faith at its World Center and the other two, throughout

8 the rest of the Bahá’í world, for its propagation and the establishment of its Administrative Order—may advance from strength to strength and victory to victory. May they hasten, by their present exertions, the advent of that blissful consummation when the shackles hampering the growth of their beloved Faith will have been finally burst asunder, when its independent status will have been officially and universally recognized, when it will have ascended the throne and wielded the scepter of spiritual and temporal authority, when the brightness of its glory will have illuminated the whole earth, and its dominion will have been established over the entire planet.” - Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950-1957, p. 78

9 Glad-Tidings of future institutions of the Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Cause of God

This Tablet contains significant allusions to establishment of the World Centre of the Bahá’í Faith. “Then, and then only, will this momentous prophecy which illuminates the concluding passages of the Tablet of Carmel be fulfilled: “Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee (Carmel), and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.” --Messages to the Bahá’í World 1950-1957”, p. 20

In this great Tablet [of Carmel] which unveils divine mysteries and heralds the establishment of two mighty, majestic and momentous undertakings -- one of which is spiritual and the other administrative, both at the World Centre of the Faith -- Bahá’u’lláh refers to an “Ark”, whose dwellers are the men of the Supreme House of Justice, which, in conformity with the exact provisions of the Will and Testament of the Centre of the Mighty Covenant, is the body which should lay down laws not explicitly revealed in the Text. --Shoghi Effendi, “The Bahá'í World”, vol. XIV, p. 438

“I cannot at this juncture overemphasize the sacredness of that holy Dust embosomed in the heart of the Vineyard of God, or overrate the Unimaginable potencies of this mighty institution founded sixty years ago, through The operation of the Will of, and the definite selection made by the Founder of our Faith, on the occasion of His historic visit to that holy mountain, nor can I lay too much stress on the role which this institution, to which the construction of the superstructure of this edifice is bound to lend an unprecedented impetus, is destined to play in the unfoldment of the World Administrative Center of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and in the efflorescence of its highest institutions constituting the embryo of its future World Order.

THE CENTER OF NINE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

For, just as in the realm of the spirit, the reality of the Bab has been hailed by the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation as “The Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve,” so, on this visible plane, His sacred remains constitute the heart and center of what may be regarded as nine concentric circles, paralleling thereby, and adding further emphasis to the central position accorded by the Founder of our Faith to One “from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be,” “the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things.” The outermost circle in this vast system, the visible counterpart of the pivotal position conferred on the Herald of our Faith, is none other than the entire planet. Within the heart of this planet lies the “Most Holy Land,” acclaimed by Abdu’l-Bahá as “the Nest of the Prophets” and which must be regarded as the center of the world and the

10 of the nations. Within this Most Holy Land rises the Mountain of God of immemorial sanctity, the Vineyard of the Lord, the Retreat of Elijah, Whose return the Bab Himself symbolizes. Reposing on the breast of this holy mountain are the extensive properties permanently dedicated to and constituting the sacred precincts of the Bab’s holy Sepulcher. In the midst of these properties, recognized as the international endowments of the Faith, is situated the most holy court, an enclosure comprising gardens and terraces which at once embellish, and lend a peculiar charm to, these sacred precincts. Embosomed in these lovely and verdant surroundings stands in all its exquisite beauty the mausoleum of the Bab, the shell designed to preserve and adorn the original structure raised by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the tomb of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith. Within this shell is enshrined that Pearl of Great Price, the holy of holies, those chambers which constitute the tomb itself, and which were constructed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Within the heart of this holy of holies is the tabernacle, the vault wherein reposes the most holy casket. Within this vault rests the alabaster sarcophagus in which is deposited that inestimable jewel, the Báb’s holy dust. So precious is this dust that the very earth surrounding the edifice enshrining this dust has been extolled by the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, in one of His Tablets in which He named the five doors belonging to the six chambers which He originally erected after five of the believers associated with the construction of the Shrine, as being endowed with such potency as to have inspired Him in bestowing these names, whilst the tomb itself housing this dust He acclaimed as the spot round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration.” -Shoghi Effendi: Citadel of Faith, 95-96

11 The style and language of the Tablet of Carmel

This mighty Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh was revealed in Arabic and He chanted the words of that Tablet with supreme majesty and power. The forceful tone of His exalted language sounded all around, so that even the monks, within the walls of the monastery, heard every word uttered by Him. Such was the commotion created on that historical occasion … the earth seemed to shake, while all those present were overpowered by His mighty and wondrous spirit. It was done in a commanding oratory style. On one hand Bahá’u’lláh aided by the Most Great Spirit is the Lord of creation, and His relationship with His creation whether of mineral, plant or human world are direct. So we have the words of Bahá’u’lláh that all created things rejoice in his Coming and his Presence. Hence it seems He is having a dialogue with the earth, mountain, stones and trees in various Tablets. Nevertheless the nature of this remains a mystery to us. On the other hand, Manifestations in the past and present have used a symbolic language when They seem to be addressing cities, mountains and rivers, when in actuality they are addressing a “people” or followers of a religion represented by that locality. For example, Christ addresses Jerusalem, saying “O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem why dost thou kill all Prophets sent to you?” Bahá’u’lláh addresses “the banks of the River Rhine” (German people), seeing it covered with gore. He addresses the Land of Tá (Persia) since Teheran is its capital, the Land of Khá (Khurasan), which Abdu’l-Bahá states is the larger area of Khurasan that is the present Afghanistan, when its peoples would lament, and the people of Bahá rejoice. In the Tablet of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh states that the voices of all created things and that of the Concourse on High address Carmel, asking it “Haste ye, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.” Here Bahá’u’lláh is addressing the Christians, because Carmel houses the cave of Elijah, who John the Baptist was the return of, and John the Baptist was the harbinger, the forerunner of Christ. Elijah was the greatest of the Prophets who went to heaven in a chariot of fire, whose return has been expected. His return also represents Bahá’u’lláh’s forerunner, the Beloved Bab. Therefore, the Concourse on High is reminding the Christian souls that their Promised One has come and their time of separation is over, “May they haste towards this time unlike their past hesitation in accepting His first Coming. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on high, were heard calling aloud: “Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.” -Tablet of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh

12 The Christian souls are rejoicing, i.e., these are the Christians who have accepted Bahá’u’lláh. “Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come!” -Tablet of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh Zion represents the followers of Moses, because it was on Mount Zion that Moses donned the garment of Prophethood. The Burning Bush represented the Most Great Spirit who Moses communicated with. When Bahá’u’lláh asks Carmel to address Zion and “announce the joyful tidings” of His Coming, He is asking the Christians to embrace their brethren the Jews and help in the recognition of the Supreme Manifestation of God for today. Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled.” -Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh

“Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus exclaimed: ‘May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast directed towards me Thy steps.” -Tablet of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh This passage illustrates that the new Revelation will now revive the Christian spirit in this Faith and in the same way a dry and desolate Carmel will flourish and blossom as indeed the Bahá’í gardens on Mount Carmel has achieved. This shows the symbolic language uniting the physical with the spiritual world.

“Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: ‘Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee. And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things.’ No sooner had her voice reached that most exalted Spot than We made reply: ‘Render thanks unto thy Lord, O Carmel. He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears. ‘Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come!” -Tablet of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh

“The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of .”

13 -Amos 1:2, Bible (KJV)

“Carmel in the Books of God is termed “The Heap of God,” “The Vine of God” and sometimes the Heap of Wilderness (bewilderment); and this is the station for the bounty of the Manifestation.” -Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh to an Oriental Jew, https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/node/466/

The Tent of Glory was raised upon it (Carmel) in these days. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it; the Bahá of Carmel and Sharon. O Lord, this is a mountain to which Thou hast given the name Carmel in the Torah. Verily, I address thee with all spiritual love and gladness from this my residence at the base of Mount Carmel, which is blessed through all ages by the prophets, as recorded in the ancient Books.

14

Supplemental material

Developing Distinctive Bahá’í Communities -- 2

In 1909 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself interred the Bab’s remains in the sepulcher on Mount Carmel known as the Shrine of the Bab. (p. 9) The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 20 The Bahá’í International Fund

“Emergence of independent sovereign state in Holy Land, synchronizing with the rise and consolidation of the Administrative Center of the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh of which the establishment of the International Bahá’í Council and the construction of the superstructure of the Bab’s Sepulcher constitute the initial major evidences, as well as the projected acquisition of extensive properties in close neighborhood of the Most Holy Tomb of Bahá and the precincts of the Shrine of Mount Carmel, Haifa, essential to their preservation, resulting from far- reaching changes in the newly-established state, demand henceforth reorientation and necessitate increasing financial support by Bahá’í National Communities of East and West, through curtailment. The hour is ripe to undertake the preliminaries for the erection of the octagonal first unit of the superstructure, another milestone in the process set in motion sixty years ago by Bahá’u’lláh’s visit to Mount Carmel. This process which gathered momentum through the transportation of His Holiness, the Báb’s remains to the Holy Land after fifty years’ concealment, through the erection of the sanctuary by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the darkest years of His Ministry, through the entombment of the remains by Him on the morrow of His forty year incarceration, through the commencement of the construction of the arcade on the fortieth anniversary of the interment of the Holy Dust, through the termination of the parapet on the eve of the Centenary of the Báb’s martyrdom, must be accelerated through the erection of the dome, attaining consummation through the emergence of the institutions of the world administrative center of the Faith in the vicinity of its world spiritual Center, signalizing the sailing of the Divine Ark on God’s Mountain, prophesied in the Tablet of Carmel. -Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950-1957, p.6

Preliminary steps taken in preparation of final design for the Mashriqu’l- Adhkár on Mount Carmel by President of the International Bahá’í Council, specifically appointed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to be its architect. -Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Bahá’í World: 1950-1957, p.13

First, inauguration most holy worldwide enterprise unprecedented in annals of the Faith, construction in heart of Mount Carmel superstructure of the Báb’s Sepulcher. Second, creation of International Bahá’í Council in precincts Holy Shrine, forerunner of International House of Justice, supreme legislative

15 organ of nascent, divinely-conceived, world-encircling Bahá’í Administrative Order. Third, acquisition, restoration and embellishment of historic sites associated with incarceration of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, recognition their sacred character, exemption from taxes by newly formed State, accessibility to appreciative general public. Fourth, initiation of formal negotiation with central municipal authorities of same State with twofold purpose: preserve for posterity immediate directly threatened neighborhood Most Holy Tomb of the Founder of the Faith on outskirts of Akká, and acquire extensive, sorely needed properties in vicinity of Báb’s Sepulcher destined serve as site of future edifices envisaged by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to house auxiliary agencies revolving around twin institutions of Guardianship and House of Justice. Fifth, preparation of design of future Mashriqu’l-Adhkár on Mount Carmel, outstanding indispensable feature unfoldment … -Shoghi Effendi [April, 1955]

We look back with feelings of humble gratitude and heightened expectations at the stupendous developments which have taken place in so brief a period. One such development has been the adoption of the architectural design conceived by Mr. Faríburz Sahbá for the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, which launches a new stage towards the realization of the Master’s and the Guardian’s vision for the path along which the kings and rulers will ascend the slopes of Mount Carmel to pay homage at the resting place of Bahá’u’lláh’s Martyr-Herald. Other developments include: the approval by the central authorities in Moscow of the application submitted by a number of Bahá’ís in ‘Ishqábád to restore the Local of that city; the initiation of steps to open a Bahá’í Information Centre in Budapest, the first such agency of the Faith in the Eastern Bloc; the establishment of a branch of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information in Hong Kong in anticipation of the time when the Faith can be proclaimed on the mainland of China.

“… It calleth aloud and saith: “O people! By the righteousness of God! I have attained unto Him Who hath manifested me and sent me down. This is the Day whereon Sinai hath smiled at Him Who conversed upon it, and Carmel at its Revealer, and the Sadrah at Him Who taught it. Fear ye God, and be not of them that have denied Him. Withhold not yourselves from that which hath been revealed through His grace. Seize ye the living waters of immortality in the name of your Lord, the Lord of all names, and drink ye in the remembrance of Him, Who is the Mighty, the Peerless.” -Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Each Passover, a special cup of wine is filled and put on the seder table. During the Seder, the door of the house is opened and everyone stands to allow Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu ha-Navi) to enter and drink. At every bris, a chair is also set aside for Elijah. At the conclusion of Shabbat, Jews sing about Elijah, hoping he

16 will come “speedily, in our days...along with the Messiah, son of David, to redeem us.”

Elijah is a heroic figure in Jewish tradition. It is he who stands up to King Ahab, whose Phoenician wife has introduced the worship of the idol Baal into the Jewish Kingdom.

Elijah curses Ahab, “As the Lord lives, the God of Israel who I serve, there will be no dew or rain except at my bidding” (I Kings 17:1). Afterward, God tells the prophet to hide from the King in a brook known as Wadi Cherith. Meanwhile, as Elijah warned, the country suffers a serious drought.

After trying to track Elijah down for three years, Ahab’s top aide, Obadiah, finds the prophet. Knowing that Elijah’s curse had been fulfilled, Obadiah is hesitant to turn him in, but he is also afraid of what the King would do if he does not. Elijah makes the decision easy by promising to go before Ahab that day. He agrees not out of fear of the King, but because God has commanded him, “Go, appear before Ahab, then will I send rain upon the earth” (18:1).

When Elijah meets Ahab he challenges the 450 priests of Baal imported by Jezebel to a contest at Mt. Carmel to prove whose god is the true God. The priests and Elijah slaughter a bull as a sacrifice and call on god to consume it. The priests try a variety of prayers, dances and even self-mutilation, but nothing happens. Elijah then calls on God to prove his power and a great fire comes from the sky and burns the bull. The Israelites who witness the act declare, “The Lord, He [alone] is God” (Adonai, hu ha-Elohim, [I Kings 18:39]), a commitment to monotheism recited today seven times at the end of the Yom Kippur service each year. Elijah then tells the people to kill the priests, and they obey.

Despite his “victory,” Elijah sees no change in the kingdom and has to flee to the desert to escape the wrath of Jezebel. God then comes to Elijah again and reassures him that he is not alone, that others have resisted the temptation to worship idols. Elijah is told to go to the mountain of Horeb where he witnesses a series of examples of God’s power -- an earthquake, powerful wind and fire -- before being instructed to return to the city (19:12).

Elijah is not too popular with King Ahab. In another incident, Ahab decides he wants to buy a vineyard adjacent to his winter palace in Jezreel, but the owner, Navot, rejects his offer. The King returns home depressed and tells his wife what has happened. She is shocked that a King would allow himself to be treated this way and decides on a scheme whereby she gets two men to testify that Navot has cursed God and the King. Navot is convicted of blasphemy and treason, and stoned to death, allowing the King to seize Navot’s land.

Elijah is sent by God to the vineyard to confront Ahab. “Have you murdered and also inherited?” He curses Ahab’s descendants and his wife, saying “I will cut off

17 every male in Israel belonging to Ahab” and “The dogs will devour Jezebel in the field of Jezreel” (21:23).

Years later, after Ahab has died and been succeeded by his son Jehoram, a rebel leader named Jehu kills Jehoram and orders Jezebel to be captured and thrown out a palace window. When the soldiers go outside, all they find are her skull, hands and feet. As prophesized by Elijah, the rest of her was eaten by dogs.

Given his career as a prophet, it should not be surprising that it should end in a miraculous way. When Elijah returned from his sojourn in the desert he ran across a young man plowing a field named . He took Elisha under his wing to be his successor.

One day Elisha becomes aware that Elijah’s time on earth is nearly over. They are walking together and, when they reach the Jordan River, Elijah strikes the water with his cloak and the river parts to allow them to cross. Later, the prophet asks Elisha what he can do for him before he goes and Elisha asks for “a double portion of your spirit.”

Elijah replies that it is a difficult request, but “If you see me as I am being taken from you, this will be granted to you; if not, it will not” (2:9-10). Then a fiery chariot, drawn by fiery horses, comes out of the sky and takes Elijah away to the heavens. Elisha picks up the cloak Elijah dropped and strikes it against the river, causing the waters again to separate. Seeing this, Elijah’s followers proclaim, “Elijah’s spirit now rests on Elisha” (2:15).

Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu HaNavi)

Elijah’s Cave

Elijah is considered a prophet by both Judaism and Islam. He served as the inspiration for the birth of the Carmelite Order (see related article). According to tradition Elijah lived in a cave on Mt. Carmel during the 9th century, in the reign of King Ahab.

In Judaism, Elijah is a heroic figure. The people of Israel started worshiping the idol Baal (a nature god), at the insistence of Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife. Elijah stressed monotheism and said that there was no reality except the God of Israel. As punishment for the worship of Baal he prophesied a great drought, which lasted three and a half years.

According to the story a contest of strength to determine the true deity was held. A sacrificial bull was placed on the altar and four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal called on their god to deliver fire, but to no avail. Then, Elijah’s prayers are answered and the bull is consumed by fire. The people take this as a sign and

18 slay the prophets of the false god. Rain begins to fall, ending the drought, and Elijah flees Jezebel’s wrath. Later, Elijah is taken up to the heavens in a chariot drawn by fiery horses.

In the Jewish faith Elijah’s memory is preserved in a variety of ways. At the Passover Seder a cup of wine is placed on the table, and a door is left open to allow Elijah the Prophet to enter and drink. At every Brit (circumcision ceremony) a seat is set for Elijah. And Jews sing of Elijah at the end of Shabbat, singing “speedily, in our days...along with the Messiah, son of David, to redeem us.”

Elijah’s Cave is located just a short walk from the National Maritime Museum (the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum is just below the National Maritime Museum). The cave is also accessible via a steeply inclined path, from the Carmelite Church on Stella Maris Rd.

Abdu’l-Bahá in London -- 1

The Government thought that the tomb of the Bab, an imposing building on Mount Carmel, was a fortification erected with the aid of American money, and that it was being armed and garrisoned secretly. (p. 117)

Divine Philosophy -- 3

Verily, in the future these rays will be used ‘for the healing of the nations.’” The prison officials of Acca ultimately granted him the liberty of the fortressed city and he pitched his tent upon the Mount of Carmel in the land of Sharon, the very spot where, according to the ancient prophecies, the Glory of God would be manifested in the latter days. (p. 7)

The government suspected that the tomb of the Bab, an imposing building on Mount Carmel, was a fortification erected with the aid of American money and that it was being armed and garrisoned secretly. (p. 19)

One day as I was standing near the border of a little stream on Mt. Carmel, I noticed a number of locusts that had not yet developed full wings. (p. 187)

Memorials of the Faithful -- 4

Some of the time Bahá’u’lláh would spend at the Mansion, and again, at the farm village of Mazra’ih; for a while He would sojourn in Haifa, and occasionally His tent would be pitched on the heights of Mount Carmel. (p. 27)

Although the royal farman specifically decreed that Bahá’u’lláh was to be held in solitary confinement within the Akka fortress, in a cell, under perpetual guard; that He was never to set foot outside; that He was never even to see any of the

19 believers -- notwithstanding such a farman, such a drastic order, His tent was raised in majesty on the heights of Mount Carmel. (p. 28)

Later he came on to Haifa, where he made his home in a cave on Mount Carmel. (p.34)

He moved to Haifa and lived, a firm believer, near the Haziratu’l-Quds by the Holy Shrine on Mount Carmel till his final breath, when death came and the carpet of his earthly life was rolled up and put away. This man was a true servant of the Threshold, a good friend to the believers. (p. 141)

Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá -- 1

Another of his slanders was that the Shrine on Mount Carmel was a fortress that I had built strong and impregnable -- this when the building under construction compriseth six rooms -- and that I had named it Medina the Resplendent, while I had named the Holy Tomb [1] Mecca the Glorified. (p. 217)

Some Answered Questions -- 1

Praise be to God! though He was a prisoner, His tent was raised on Mount Carmel, and He moved abroad with the greatest majesty. (p. 32)

Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v2 -- 3

Among the fictions was that the building upon Mt. Carmel was purposed to be a fort, built with perfect solidity and strength, assigned it to be the “illumined city” and made the Holy Tomb, the Sacred Mecca; when in truth that is a building containing six vaults. (p. 337)

2 The Tomb of the BAB on Mt. Carmel.] (p. 337)

1 The Tomb of the BAB on Mt. Carmel.] (p. 449)

Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v4 -- 1

Verily, I address thee with all spiritual love and gladness from this my residence at the base of Mount Carmel, which is blessed through all ages by the prophets, as recorded in the ancient Books. (p. 685)

The Will and Testament -- 1

One of their many calumnies was that this servant had raised aloft a banner in this city, had summoned the people together under it, had established a new sovereignty for himself, had erected upon Mount Carmel a mighty stronghold,

20 had rallied around him all the peoples of the land and made them obedient to him, had caused disruption in the Faith of Islam, had covenanted with the following of Christ and, God forbid, had purposed to cause the gravest breach in the mighty power of the Crown. (p. 7)

Women on the House of Justice -- 1

The pure body of His Holiness, the Supreme (The Bab), after sixty years of homeless wandering and placelessness, was established on Mt. Carmel, the mountain of the Lord, in the Supreme Station, and in Chicago there was held (at the same time) the Convention of the delegates of the Mashrek-el-Azkar and Mr. Charles Haney and Mrs. Miriam Haney arrived in Chicago and were present in that holy meeting. of national and local budgets. (p. 10)

Japan Will Turn Ablaze -- 1

Mount Carmel, Haifa, August 4, 1914. (p. 12)

Lights of Guidance -- 2

Among the many evidences which reveal this process may be cited, on the one hand, the continual increase of lawlessness, terrorism, economic confusion, immorality and the growing danger from the proliferation of weapons of destruction, and on the other, the world-wide, divinely propelled expansion, consolidation and rapid emergence into the limelight of world affairs of the Cause itself, a process crowned by the wonderful efflorescence of Mount Carmel, the mountain of God, whose Divine springtime is now so magnificently burgeoning.” (p. 126)

The erection of the Bahá’í Temple in ‘Ishqabad, and the building on Mt. Carmel of a mausoleum marking the resting-place of the Bab were the two remaining ones.” (p. 485)

Guidance for Bahá’í Radio -- 1

Our effort to conserve money from the Fund must be intensified, if we are to achieve all of the great tasks before us, such as the construction of the terraces on Mt. Carmel and the buildings on the Arc.

Victory Promises -- 2

3) [Messages to the Bahá’í World, page 44] +P6 [Photograph of the Shrine of the Bab occupies most of this page with the caption:] THE SHRINE OF THE BAB

21 “The Queen of Carmel enthroned on God’s holy mountain crowned with glowing gold, robed in shimmering white and gilded with emerald green, enchanting every eye . . .” (p. 6)

52) * * * * * * * * * +P22 [A large portion of this page is occupied by a drawing of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice with this caption:] THE SEAT OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE MT. CARMEL, HAIFA, ISRAEL “. . . the living waters of everlasting life will stream forth from that fountain-head of God’s World Order upon all the warring nations and peoples of the world to wash away the evils and iniquities of the realm of dust and heal man’s age-old ills and ailments.” (p. 22) Construction of the Bab’s Sepulcher Then and only then will this holy edifice, symbol and harbinger of a world civilization as yet unborn, and the embodiment of the sacrifice of a multitude of the upholders of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, release the full measure of the regenerative power with which it has been endowed, shed in all its plenitude the glory of the Most Holy Spirit dwelling within it, and vindicate, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the truth of every single promise recorded by the pen of Abdu’l-Bahá pertaining to its destiny. No more befitting consummation for this magnificent enterprise can be envisaged than that this noble edifice, whose cornerstone has been laid by Abdu’l-Bahá’s own hands, the preliminary measure for whose construction synchronized with the formal interment of the Bab’s remains on Mt. Carmel, within whose walls the first Centenary of the birth of His ministry has been celebrated, whose interior ornamentation has coincided with the construction of the arcade of His Sepulcher, should be on the occasion of, the Centenary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic Mission in the Siyah-Chal of Tihran. (p. 71)

The construction of the mausoleum of the Bab, synchronizing with the birth of that state, and the progress of which has been accompanied by these successive manifestations of the good will and support of the civil authorities will, if steadily maintained, greatly reinforce, and lend a tremendous impetus to this process of recognition which constitutes an historic landmark in the evolution of the World Center of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh -- a process which the newly formed Council, now established at its very heart, is designed to foster, which will gather momentum, with the emergence in the course of time of a properly recognized and independently functioning Bahá’í court, which will attain its consummation in the institution of the Universal House of Justice and the emergence of the auxiliary administrative agencies, revolving around this highest legislative body, and which will reveal the plenitude of its potentialities with the sailing of the Divine Ark as promised in the Tablet of Carmel. (p. 95)

Dawn of a New Day -- 4

22 March 20, 1938 ======Resting Place of Holy Mother It will surely please and interest the believers to know that the Holy Mother’s remains have been laid to rest in a spot in the vicinity of, and overshadowed by the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf on Mt. Carmel. (p. 70) 2 ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S MINISTRY (Re: World Objectives) “As to the three aims which Shoghi Effendi has stated in his America and the Most Great Peace to have been the chief objectives of Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry, it should be pointed out that the first was: The establishment of the Cause in America; the erection of the Bahá’í Temple in Ishqabad, and the building on Mt. Carmel of a mausoleum marking the resting-place of the Bab, were the two remaining ones.” (p. 1)

No sooner had the news of the transfer of the remains of the Bab and of His fellow-sufferer been communicated to Bahá’u’lláh than He ordered that same Sulayman Khan to bring them to Tihran, where they were taken to the Imam- Zadih-Hasan, from whence they were removed to different places, until the time when, in pursuance of Abdu’l-Bahá’s instructions, they were transferred to the Holy Land, and were permanently and ceremoniously laid to rest by Him in a specially erected mausoleum on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. (p. 54)

It was, too, during the days of Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment to Adrianople that a Tablet was addressed by Him to Mulla Ali-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadi and Jamal-i- Burujirdi, two of His well-known followers in Tihran, instructing them to transfer, with the utmost secrecy, the remains of the Bab from the Imam-Zadih Ma’sum, where they were concealed, to some other place of safety -- an act which was subsequently proved to have been providential, and which may be regarded as marking another stage in the long and laborious transfer of those remains to the heart of Mt. Carmel, and to the spot which He, in His instructions to Abdu’l-Bahá, was later to designate. (p. 177)

And finally, it was during that period that the first pilgrimages were made to the residence of One Who was now the visible Center of a newly-established Faith -- pilgrimages which by reason of their number and nature, an alarmed government in Persia was first impelled to restrict, and later to prohibit, but which were the precursors of the converging streams of Pilgrims who, from East and West, at first under perilous and arduous circumstances, were to direct their steps towards the prison-fortress of Akka -- pilgrimages which were to culminate in the historic arrival of a royal convert at the foot of Mt. Carmel, who, at the very threshold of a longed-for and much advertised pilgrimage, was so cruelly thwarted from achieving her purpose. (p. 177)

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Akka, itself, flanked by the “glory of Lebanon,” and lying in full view of the “splendor of Carmel,” at the foot of the hills which enclose the home of Jesus Christ Himself, had been described by David as “the Strong City,” designated by Hosea as “a door of hope,” and alluded to by Ezekiel as “the gate that looketh towards the East,” whereunto “the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East,” His voice “like a noise of many waters.” (p. 184)

Another pilgrim, Ustad Isma’il-i-Kashi, arriving from Mosul, posted himself on the far side of the moat, and, gazing for hours, in rapt adoration, at the window of his Beloved, failed in the end, owing to the feebleness of his sight, to discern His face, and had to turn back to the cave which served as his dwelling-place on Mt. Carmel -- an episode that moved to tears the Holy Family who had been anxiously watching from afar the frustration of his hopes. (p. 188)

After he had been washed in the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, he “that was created of the light of Bahá,” to whose “meekness” the Supreme Pen had testified, and of the “mysteries” of whose ascension that same Pen had made mention, was borne forth, escorted by the fortress guards, and laid to rest, beyond the city walls, in a spot adjacent to the shrine of Nabi Salih, from whence, seventy years later, his remains, simultaneously with those of his illustrious mother, were to be translated to the slopes of Mt. Carmel, in the precincts of the grave of his sister, and under the shadow of the Bab’s holy sepulcher. (p. 189)

In that same year Bahá’u’lláh’s tent, the “Tabernacle of Glory,” was raised on Mt. Carmel, “the Hill of God and His Vineyard,” the home of Elijah, extolled by Isaiah as the “mountain of the Lord,” to which “all nations shall flow.” (p. 194)

In the course of one of these visits, when His tent was pitched in the vicinity of the Carmelite Monastery, He, the “Lord of the Vineyard,” revealed the Tablet of Carmel, remarkable for its allusions and prophecies. (p. 194)

Nor should a review of the outstanding features of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings during the latter part of His banishment to Akka fail to include a reference to the Lawh-i- Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), in which He sets forth the fundamentals of true philosophy, or to the Tablet of Visitation revealed in honor of the Imam Husayn, whose praises He celebrates in glowing language; or to the “Questions and Answers” which elucidates the laws and ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas; or to the “Lawh-i-Burhan” (Tablet of the Proof) in which the acts perpetrated by Shaykh Muhammad-Baqir, surnamed “Dhi’b” (Wolf), and Mir Muhammad- Husayn, the Imam-Jum’ih of Isfahan, surnamed “Raqsha” (She-Serpent), are severely condemned; or to the Lawh-i-Karmil (Tablet of Carmel) in which the Author significantly makes mention of “the City of God that hath descended from heaven,” and prophesies that “erelong will God sail His Ark” upon that mountain, and “will manifest the people of Bahá.” (p. 219)

24

He it was Who had been commissioned to undertake, as soon as circumstances might permit, the delicate and all-important task of purchasing the site that was to serve as the permanent resting-place of the Bab, of insuring the safe transfer of His remains to the Holy Land, and of erecting for Him a befitting sepulcher on Mt. Carmel. (p. 241)

The thirty-nine delegates, representing thirty-six cities, who had assembled in Chicago, on the very day the remains of the Bab were laid to rest by Abdu’l-Bahá in the specially erected mausoleum on Mt. Carmel, established a permanent national organization, known as the Bahá’í Temple Unity, which was incorporated as a religious corporation, functioning under the laws of the State of Illinois, and invested with full authority to hold title to the property of the Temple and to provide ways and means for its construction. (p. 262)

Embittered by his abject failure to create a schism on which he had fondly pinned his hopes; stung by the conspicuous success which the standard-bearers of the Covenant had, despite his machinations, achieved in the North American continent; encouraged by the existence of a regime that throve in an atmosphere of intrigue and suspicion, and which was presided over by a cunning and cruel potentate; determined to exploit to the full the opportunities for mischief afforded him by the arrival of Western pilgrims at the prison-fortress of Akka, as well as by the commencement of the construction of the Bab’s sepulcher on Mt. Carmel, Mirza Muhammad-’Ali, seconded by his brother, Mirza Badi’u’llah, and aided by his brother-in-law, Mirza Majdi’d-Din, succeeded through strenuous and persistent endeavors in exciting the suspicion of the Turkish government and its officials, and in inducing them to reimpose on Abdu’l-Bahá the confinement from which, in the days of Bahá’u’lláh, He had so grievously suffered. (p. 263)

As he (Mirza Majdi’d-Din) himself informed me in Haifa he did all he could to acquaint him (governor) fully with the construction work on Mt. Carmel, with the comings and goings of the American believers, and with the gatherings held in Akka. (p. 264)

They further accused Him of harboring designs inimical to the interests of the state, of meditating a rebellion against the Sultan, of having already hoisted the banner of Ya Bahá’u’l-Abha, the ensign of revolt, in distant villages in Palestine and Syria, of having raised surreptitiously an army of thirty thousand men, of being engaged in the construction of a fortress and a vast ammunition depot on Mt. Carmel, of having secured the moral and material support of a host of English and American friends, amongst whom were officers of foreign powers, who were arriving, in large numbers and in disguise, to pay Him their homage, and of having already, in conjunction with them, drawn up His plans for the subjugation of the neighboring provinces, for the expulsion of the ruling authorities, and for the ultimate seizure of the power wielded by the Sultan himself. (p. 266)

25 Meanwhile the members of the Commission had, on a certain Friday, gone to Haifa and inspected the Bab’s sepulcher, the construction of which had been proceeding without any interruption on Mt. Carmel. (p. 271)

Thus ended the reign of the “Great Assassin,” “the most mean, cunning, untrustworthy and cruel intriguer of the long dynasty of Uthman,” a reign “more disastrous in its immediate losses of territory and in the certainty of others to follow, and more conspicuous for the deterioration of the condition of his subjects, than that of any other of his twenty-three degenerate predecessors since the death of Sulayman the Magnificent.” CHAPTER XVIII Entombment of the Bab’s Remains on Mt. Carmel Abdu’l-Bahá’s unexpected and dramatic release from His forty-year confinement dealt a blow to the ambitions cherished by the Covenant-breakers as devastating as that which, a decade before, had shattered their hopes of undermining His authority and of ousting Him from His God-given position. (p. 273)

Within a few months of the historic decree which set Him free, in the very year that witnessed the downfall of Sultan Abdu’l-Hamid, that same power from on high which had enabled Abdu’l-Bahá to preserve inviolate the rights divinely conferred on Him, to establish His Father’s Faith in the North American continent, and to triumph over His royal oppressor, enabled Him to achieve one of the most signal acts of His ministry: the removal of the Bab’s remains from their place of concealment in Tihran to Mt. Carmel. (p. 273)

In the same year that this precious Trust reached the shores of the Holy Land and was delivered into the hands of Abdu’l-Bahá, He, accompanied by Dr. Ibrahim Khayru’llah, whom He had already honored with the titles of “Bahá’s Peter,” “The Second Columbus” and “Conqueror of America,” drove to the recently purchased site which had been blessed and selected by Bahá’u’lláh on Mt. Carmel, and there laid, with His own hands, the foundation-stone of the edifice, the construction of which He, a few months later, was to commence. (p. 275)

The long-drawn out negotiations with the shrewd and calculating owner of the building-site of the holy Edifice, who, under the influence of the Covenant- breakers, refused for a long time to sell; the exorbitant price at first demanded for the opening of a road leading to that site and indispensable to the work of construction; the interminable objections raised by officials, high and low, whose easily aroused suspicions had to be allayed by repeated explanations and assurances given by Abdu’l-Bahá Himself; the dangerous situation created by the monstrous accusations brought by Mirza Muhammad-’Ali and his associates regarding the character and purpose of that building; the delays and complications caused by Abdu’l-Bahá’s prolonged and enforced absence from Haifa, and His consequent inability to supervise in person the vast undertaking He had initiated -- all these were among the principal obstacles which He, at so critical a period in His ministry, had to face and surmount ere He could execute in

26 its entirety the Plan, the outline of which Bahá’u’lláh had communicated to Him on the occasion of one of His visits to Mt. Carmel. (p. 275)

The most joyful tidings is this,” He wrote later in a Tablet announcing to His followers the news of this glorious victory, “that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab ... after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel... (p. 276)

In the Bahá’í writings, the term ‘Ark’ is often used to signify the Cause of God, or the Covenant, and Bahá’u’lláh, the Holy Mariner. For example, the Bab in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá has lauded the community of the Most Great name, the Bahá’ís, as the companions of the Crimson-colored Ark. But the ‘Ark’ in the tablet of Carmel, according to Shoghi Effendi signifies the Ark of the law of God. He explains that the sailing of the Ark upon Mount Carmel is an allusion to the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme legislative body of the Bahá’í Faith from which the law of God will flow to all mankind. The members of the House are the occupants of the Ark.

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