History

This book examines the story of the Báb (“the Gate”), a young uneducated merchant in Persia, Who shocked His nation with a new Revelation from God. Part 1 explained His remarkably modern teachings and presented the opening portion of His heroic story (1844 to 1846).

This book, Part 2, continues His eventful career, and brings His heroic ministry to its astounding climax (1846 to 1850). Preparing the way perfectly for the next Divine Educator, Bahá’u’lláh, in 1852, the Báb may well be the most effective Divine Educator in history. The Báb and tens of thousands of followers were cruelly martyred by the forces of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, the Báb’s Cause grew into the Bahá’í Faith, with over five million followers in the world today. Drawing on new research findings, this book completes the heroic, mysterious, tragic and powerful story of the Báb.

In 1844 a charismatic young Persian merchant from Shiraz, known as the Báb, electrified the Shí'ih world by claiming to be the return of the Hidden Twelfth Imam of Islamic prophecy. But contrary to traditional expectations of apocalyptic holy war, the Báb maintained that the spiritual path was not one of force and coercion but love and compassion. The movement he founded was the precursor of the Bahá'í Faith, but the Báb's own voluminous writings have been seldom studied and often misunderstood. Gate of the Heart offers the first in-depth introduction to the writings of the Báb.

“The sun of Bahá has set.” These were the opening words of the telegram announcing the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet and Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Who passed from this earthly life in the early hours of May 29, 1892. As the news traveled, throngs of mourners from all walks of life descended upon the fields surrounding the Bahjí compound where He had spent His final years on earth as a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. Within twenty-four hours His sacred remains had been interred in a modest building that was to be the Point of Adoration, the Qiblih, toward which millions of His followers continue to turn in daily prayer.

In the pages of this book historian Michael V. Day takes the reader through the last years of Bahá’u’lláh’s life—in ‘Akká, Mazra‘ih, and Bahjí—highlighting pivotal moments and texts associated with the establishment of His shrine. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, including eyewitness accounts, the author paints vivid pictures of the daily life of the Manifestation and of those in His orbit; of His final days and illness; of His ascension and funeral, and of the period of mourning that followed. While there are many details that remain beyond our reach as we peer through the lens of history at these momentous events, the accounts pieced together here offer us a great deal to ponder and invite deep, meditative reflection.

Roy Wilhelm’s life story is a rich and varied one that takes the reader from the coffee farms of Costa Rica to Wall Street to the picturesque environs of the properties that remain associated with his life and the Faith he held so dearly. He was a shrewd businessman with a keen intellect and a wide range of interests. The extent of his services to the Faith and the establishment of its institutions in North America is hard to overstate. A pivotal figure in laying the groundwork for the establishment of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, Roy was also a dynamic and effective teacher of the Faith who shared its message with many people, including Martha Root and Curtis Kelsey. Shouldering massive responsibility for the well-being and functioning of the early American Bahá’í community throughout the years of the first World War and the Great Depression, he was called upon time and time again by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and later Shoghi Effendi to rise to numerous roles and challenges. When one reads of his wisdom, discretion, and generosity, it is no surprise that the beloved Guardian described him as an “immovable pillar” and a “Herald of the Covenant,” and posthumously appointed him as a Hand of the Cause of God.

This book shines a light on a remarkable heroine of the Bahá´í Faith. Alma Knobloch (1864–1943) one of the three Knobloch sisters, raised up the first African-American community in North America, and was instrumental in the growth of the Bahá’í community in Germany. In His Tablets of the Divine Plan, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: ‘Likewise Miss Knobloch travelled alone to Germany. To what a great extent she became confirmed!’ Besides pioneering to Germany for thirteen years, Alma also taught early believers in Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic, as well as future Hand of the Cause Hermann Grossmann, and the first European martyr, Adam Benke. Many of the Tablets from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Alma and other believers in Germany from 1908 to 1920 are published in English in this book for the first time.

Since the Islamic Revolution began in 1979, millions of Iranians have fled to Turkey seeking refuge from religious and political persecution. In 1988, I was one of them. For more than four decades, Baha'is in Iran have been stripped of all human rights. This is my story about what life was like living under Islamic rule. It's a story about determination, perseverance, and Faith. I was 25 when I fled Iran with two friends. We crossed the forbidding Zagros Mountains in the height of winter, seeking asylum in Turkey. More than a year later, I arrived in America, speaking little English, knowing no one, and understanding little about the country except what I gleaned from television.

One More Mountain is the inspirational true story of young man willing to risk it all and provides a never-before-seen look at what life in Iran is still like for those who have no power, no voice, and no freedoms.

The Diary of Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Zarqání, the translation of the famous account of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's journey across America.

In the spring of 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá set off from Alexandria on His historic journey to America. Among his small entourage was Mírzá Mahmúd-i-Zarqání, who became, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, 'the chronicler of His travels'. Mírzá Mahmúd went everywhere with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, making extensive notes not only of the Master's many public talks and conversations with individuals but also of the new sights and experiences they found in America as well as the daily routines of eating, writing letters and travelling.

As the Bahá’í community becomes an ever more familiar figure on the international landscape, attention has been increasingly attracted to the teachings of its founder, Bahá’u’lláh. In this groundbreaking study, Nader Saiedi addresses key controversies and problems in the current academic literature about Bahá’u’lláh’s writings. Saiedi approaches the subject from sociological, historical, philosophical, spiritual, and theological perspectives and draws on the vast body of previously untranslated original Persian and Arabic texts. Analyzing selected works that represent the three stages of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation, he argues for the conceptual continuity of Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching throughout His life, from the inception of His mission in Tehran’s Siyah-Chal dungeon to the last books He wrote in exile in Ottoman Palestine.

Logos and Civilization is a timely, original, and probing investigation of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, whose visionary insights into the spiritual, social, economic, and political dimensions of humanity in the context of globalization have only begun to attract the attention they merit.

One can only wonder at the awe experienced by those who attained the presence and were blessed to spend time in the company of the Holy Family of the Bahá’í Faith. Among the sweetest and most approachable accounts left by those who made pilgrimages to the Holy Land are those of children and youth, who in the earliest days of their lives came face to face with these illumed beings.

In A Child in the Holy Land, Gisu Mohadjer collects stories of encounters with the members of the Holy Family. These stories are tinged with tenderness, kindness, love, and laughter, and they offer us a small window into the extraordinary life of the holy household as seen through the eyes of children. It is hoped that families and readers of all ages will treasure this collection and revisit it often for inspiration and solace and to deepen their love for the Holy Family.

This study of Bahá’u’lláh’s Súrih of the Temple is intended to provide the reader with tools to gain insight into the complex symbols and structure that underlie any attempt at interpreting the meaning and purpose of this critical work. To this end, Hatcher unravels the major symbols employed by Bahá’u’lláh, and explains the challenging framework whereby complex matter has been framed by Him into a dialogue between Himself, as He lies imprisoned in the Siyáh-Chál, and the Holy Spirit, personified as the Maid of Heaven.