The Bahá’í Revelation

Two hours after sunset on May 23, 1844, in Shiraz, Persia, a world-changing event took place. Illumined by flickering lamplight in an upstairs room of a modest home, an earnest seeker conversed with a mysterious Youth.

Creation revolutionized

I testify that no sooner had the First Word proceeded, through the potency of Thy will and purpose, out of His mouth, and the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths. …

In ways that most people don’t yet realize, in ways that a few awakened souls are trying to understand, the impact of this revelation broke down barriers obstructing human progress and infused a new capacity into every man, woman and child on the planet, the germination of a new human race.

… Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness. …

Soon eighteen others joined that first seeker, recognizing the Báb as the Promised One that they had been awaiting. He sent them out to share the message of the new Day with the people of Persia and beyond. They endured many hardships and setbacks, encountering fierce resistance from proud clergy and their unwitting followers. But the message appealed to thousands who were willing to open their minds and hearts to embrace this newly-revealed Cause of God. They became known as Bábís.

… Through that Call Thou didst announce unto all Thy servants the advent of 
Thy most great Revelation and the appearance of Thy most perfect Cause. 

- Bahá’u’lláh

After six turbulent years during which the Báb was mostly confined in prison, He and most of the early Bábís were killed. However, central to His teachings was that He was the Announcer, the Herald of yet a greater Prophet, “He Whom God shall make manifest,” extolling Him in words such as these:

I Myself am, verily, but a ring upon the hand 
of Him Whom God shall make manifest—glorified be His mention! 
He turneth it as He pleaseth, for whatsoever He pleaseth, 
and through whatsoever He pleaseth. 
He, verily, is the Help in Peril, the Most High.

God will cause oceans of living water to stream forth 
from the presence of Him Whom God shall make manifest…

- The Báb

A second Revelation

Nineteen years after the Báb’s declaration, in the year 1863 in a garden on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, a second Revelation was announced.  Amidst the verdant trees, blooming roses and singing nightingales, Bahá’u’lláh (“The Glory of God”), the most prominent and beloved follower of the Báb, announced to a few Bábís that the prophecy had been fulfilled in His person.  This announcement came on the eve of Bahá’u’lláh’s exile to Constantinople and house arrest in that city and later in Adrianople, followed by further exile and imprisonment in Akka, Palestine.  News of the announcement spread among the Bábís, and they or anyone else who accepted Bahá’u’lláh became known as Bahá’ís.

The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh are considered Twin Manifestations of God, and their Revelations collectively are known as the Bahá’í Revelation. This Revelation was recorded in the writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, a unique phenomenon in the history of religion.  In each instance, as the Prophet revealed scripture, He wrote it with His own hand, or else reviewed and approved copies written by His secretary.  The collected writings could fill over a hundred volumes, and they cover every aspect of spiritual and material topics, ranging from prayers, praise and glorification of the Almighty, to expository treatises of philosophical questions, to laws and guidance for humanity.  Beyond the words, beyond the pages, is the hidden spirit of the Revelation which has affected the whole creation.

Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding 
of the omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame, 
and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things 
proclaim the evidences of this worldwide regeneration.
- Bahá’u’lláh

Such a powerful regeneration must certainly be obvious, even if we don’t know the cause.  And indeed, it is.  If you consider the year 1844 as the starting point, the dawn of a new age, and look at what has happened since, you will view history with a new understanding.

What hath God wrought?

On May 24th, 1844, just a few hours after the Declaration of the Báb, the world’s first commercial telegraph message was sent: “What hath God wrought?” Since that time we’ve seen the telephone, phonograph, photography, radio, motion pictures, television, satellites, cell phones, and the Internet.  Indeed, the number of inventions of all kinds increased enormously since the mid 1850s, as seen in this chart of the number of patents filed in the USA since the 1790s.

Underlying these inventions has been an explosion of scientific observation and discovery leading to new theories in physics, such as relativity, quantum, and unified field theories.  Space exploration and new telescope technology have given us a vastly expanded understanding of our universe.  At the microscopic level, biologists have unlocked the secret of life in DNA, and are making rapid advances into the realms of biochemistry,  biotechnology and genetics. 

And yet sadly, some discoveries and technologies have been perverted and used against humanity.  We invent and build ever more powerful machines of war and weapons of mass destruction.  The collective wealth of nations, expanding minute by minute, ends up in fewer and fewer hands, creating deep rifts between classes, peoples, and nations.  Crime, divorce, suicide, and substance abuse statistics show alarming trends.  Surely this Revelation must have an answer to the deepest ills besetting humanity, should it not? Indeed, it does.

Purpose

In fact, the purpose of this Revelation is to dignify the human experience and raise civilization to lofty new heights, to new levels of unity.  The message of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh is a healing message, to bring us together, to unite us as one people serving one God. 

He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body. Haste ye to win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this Day that eclipseth all other created Days.
 - Bahá’u’lláh

How will this be achieved?  We each have a part to play.  Through this Revelation, God shows us what needs to be done—and gives us what we need—to heal the ills of humanity and build a new world.  We must share this vision, and act on it.

It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding 
to strive to translate that which hath been written 
into reality and action. 
- Bahá’u’lláh