Editor's Note: At the height of the Islamic revolt some 30 years ago, when uncertainty had thoroughly enveloped the Baha'i community of that land, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran issued a letter which appears below in translation. This letter was inscribed on the heart of every Baha'i of Iran and remains to this day one of the most celebrated documents of the era. Iran Press Watch is pleased to offer this translation, and to note that the original text is posted on our Persian page, at: http://www.iranpresswatch.org/fa/
Keep the Candles Burning!
To the devotees of the Greatest Name in the Cradle of the Faith, upon them be the Glory of God!
In the midst of this agitated, worried and troubled world, in which the pillars of material civilization are trembling, the global order has been disturbed, and nations have become engulfed in a severe and varied storm of calamities and tribulations, the people of Baha – those chosen ones of the All-Glorious and the promulgators of divine civilization – a civilization that is neither of the East nor of the West – who behold the fulfillment of explicit divine apostrophes with their outward eyes – have, with the utmost gratitude, joy, resignation and detachment, placing their whole trust in God and remaining completely detached from all else besides Him, risen to carry out the mighty spiritual mission entrusted to them during the formative age of the Faith of God; and are engaged in discharging their sacred duty with respect to propagating the healing message of Baha'u'llah and inaugurating the foundations of the divine civilization foretold by the Heavenly Father.
In the cradle of the Faith, the fulfillment of divine prophesies, which are all instrumental in paving the way for the appearance and maturation of latent spiritual forces and achieving the most brilliant and noblest of ideals by the people of Baha, has created conditions which compel these frail, longing ones to address each and every one of you brave, true and sacrificing friends with our hearts filled with love, sincerity, servitude and humility; to beseech you to arise under these momentous and critical circumstances , and "laying hold on this Sure Handle"[1] of divine teachings and sacred verses, to arise and fulfill in these days that which is worthy of your station. We are firmly confident that your chosen representatives, the members of the Local Spiritual Assemblies, have, like unto immovable and mighty mountains, stood against the storm of difficulties and trials, are rendering their services with constancy and perseverance, and are grateful to their Lord for the Will of God. As the Supreme Pen has revealed, they "are not apprehensive of trials and adversities, nor do they flee away from that which is ordained by God."[2] They are at all times mindful of the luminous verses revealed from the sacred Pen, "Verily God hath made adversity as a morning dew upon His green pasture, and a wick for His lamp which lighteth earth and heaven."[3]
They act in accordance with the divine admonitions and pursue their devoted services to the last breath; to them, returning alive from the path which leads to their Beloved is not considered a sign of true love.
And you admirers of the Greatest Name, you candles of love and fidelity, this day is your day. Each and every one of the beloved friends who are scattered throughout this blessed land – a land where every mountain and meadow is reddened by the blood of the Heroic Age – must be cognizant of his present critical condition, and must arise to that which is worthy of service to the Threshold of the Almighty in these days.
No matter how severe the events which the future holds, nor how continuous the blows of calamities and the repulsion of difficulties which lay ahead, you must increase the degree of your perseverance and raise high with your loving arms the banners of victory above your faithful hearts. Do not look at your weakness or feebleness; rather fix your gaze upon the grandeur and sovereignty of your Almighty God, and rely on the divine confirmations of the Lord of all creation. Concentrate all your thoughts solely on your sacred spiritual responsibilities, but do not look to any individual or institution. In other words, every one of you devoted friends should consider himself the only person in the entire world who is wearing the luminous crown of divine teachings and the only one who holds in his hands the life-giving banner of the Cause of Baha'u'llah for the world of humanity; so that he may strive, with a firm resolution, unflinching determination, steadfast steps and hopeful heart, to tread his undeviating path in the chosen highway of God and, with a brilliant countenance and head held high, continue with an unwavering attitude to focus his radiant gaze on the golden horizon of the Cause of God.
Beloved and cherished friends, the Holy Writings and sacred passages on living a Baha'i life and on the life of a Baha'i family are so abundant and plentiful that each one of those dear souls have surely repeatedly come across them and have committed to memory the exhortations of the Sanctified Figures of the Faith and those of the beloved Guardian on this subject. That which we particularly wish to draw to your attention at this point is that today, more than ever before, Baha'i families must pay attention to the importance of living a Baha'i life and draw sufficient benefit from this stronghold. The more severe probable future difficulties become, the greater will the significance of this point become.
We must build a temple of love and devotion in every Baha'i household, and in it heal and comfort our hearts and souls from the ills of the world by reciting prayers and soul-stirring blessed verses. We must hold a spiritual feast every day and every night; rejoice with a heavenly spirit; sing songs of sacrifice and self-offering; and engage in praise, glorification and submissiveness to the Compassionate God. If we have lost our schools, we must turn our homes into divine centers of learning and endeavor to teach our youth and children. Give them lessons in morality, and prepare and train them for their spiritual services. If we have lost our printing house and publications, we must turn to the ocean of the treasury of the Holy Writings and satisfy our souls' thirst with the sweet-tasting waters of prayer and meditation. We must bear in mind that if the friends are barred and deprived of freedom in the birthplace of the Greatest Name [Baha'u'llah], the cry of Ya Baha'u'l-Abha is being raised in over one hundred thousand places throughout the world, and the teachings of Baha'u'llah are spreading to all corners of the earth both through the soldiers of the army of God and through private and public media. Thus, every day more and more of the inhabitants of this planet are raising the cry of "Here am I" [4] as they join the great band of the champion-builders of the world of tomorrow and attain a certitude of heart that to establish a civilization worthy of man will require the creation of a new breed of human beings with a new spirit and under a new and wondrous divine world order. This is that same mighty mission which the Faith of Baha'u'llah has entrusted to our age; attaining a golden future is the ultimate goal toward which humanity is moving under the effect of the unifying forces of the Cause of God.
Just as the life-giving blood of the martyrs of the Prophetic Age of the Faith resulted – as attested by the beloved Guardian – in diffusion of God's Cause throughout all regions of the world, it is destined, at this point in the Formative Age of the Faith, that calamities and difficulties be inflicted upon the fellow countrymen of the Greatest Name [Baha'u'llah] in the Cradle of the Faith and that evident sacrifices and self-abnegation by each and every one of those dear ones should serve as the fountainhead of the new spiritual energies that will accelerate the movement of human society toward the exalted objectives of the Cause of God.
The beloved and dear friends throughout the whole of the blessed country of Iran should therefore consider the mysteries enshrined in "My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy."[5] They must pray with utmost devotion and sincerity, and render thanks and gratitude to their Lord for granting this bounty – out of His infinite mercy and affection – to our generation; so that by enduring these calamities and by giving our possessions and lives in the path of God, we may bestow eternal glory upon our insignificant earthly lives. "Is there a greater bounty than this? Nay, by God!"
Beloved and adored friends, in an attempt to summarize the humble desires of our Assembly, we convey to you the following:
No matter how dark the horizon may appear for the near future, you, as the soldiers of the army of life, must keep the candles of love and faith lit in the sanctuary of your hearts, lest they may be extinguished through the winds of oppression and injustice.
May we be sacrifices for each and every one of those candles of love and fidelity.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran
Dey 1358 [January 1980]
[1] Kitab Aqdas, K117. From the Qur'an, 2:256: "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold [or handle - a title of the Prophet - al-'urwat al-wuthqa], that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things." [Yusuf 'Ali translation]
[2] Baha'u'llah, Lawh Shikar Shikan, Bahá'í World, Vol. 18 (1979-83), page 11
[3] Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 17. This passage was previously revealed in Baha'u'llah's Tablet to the Shah of Iran.
[4] cf Genesis 22:7, in which Isaac, at the point of being sacrificed by Abraham at God's command, says "Here am I". This is also part of the ceremony of the hajj – the Islamic Pilgrimage. See also the Baha'i Long Obligatory Prayer: "I entreat Thee by Thy footsteps in this wilderness, and by the words 'Here am I. Here am I' which Thy chosen Ones have uttered in this immensity, and by the breaths of Thy Revelation, and the gentle winds of the Dawn of Thy Manifestation, to ordain that I may gaze on Thy beauty and observe whatsoever is in Thy Book. "
[5] Baha'u'llah, Arabic Hidden Words, No. 51.
[Translation and annotation by Iran Press Watch. This translation benefited from a previous rendering by Gloria Yazdani.]
NPR recently interviewed Farhad Sabetan, spokesman of the Baha'i International Community, on the involvement of Iranian Baha'is in their country's politics, specifically in relation to last week's election.
In an attempt to distract the public from Iran's real issues, anti-Baha'i propaganda is once again flourishing. Baha'is have previously been scapegoated for political conflicts and are a recurring element in Iranian conspiracy theories about the British, Americans, Russians, and Israelis.
Few incidents in Iran of recent decades have been more shocking than the group execution of ten Bahá’í women in Shiraz on 18 June 1983. Their crime? Teaching children following the government’s ban on Bahá’í pupils from attending schools.
All of the women had been interrogated and tortured in the months leading up to their execution. The youngest of those killed was Muna Mahmudnizhad, pictured left, a 17-year old schoolgirl who because of her youth and innocence became, in a sense, a symbol for the group. In prison, she was lashed on the soles of her feet with a cable and forced to walk. Yet she would not be swayed from her Faith, even to the point of kissing the hands of her executioner and then the rope before putting it around her own throat. Muna’s story inspired a best-selling song and music video in Canada, and is now being made into a major feature film. Oscar-nominated actress from House of Sand and Fog, Shirin Agdashloo, has committed to playing the role of Muna’s mother in the film.
Editors' Note: Today, June 18, marks the anniversary of martyrdom of 10 brave and devoted Baha'i ladies in Shiraz. Iran Press Watch is pleased to mark their sacrifice of love with the following essay.
For each and every man, woman and child, who has ever championed the cause of equal rights for humanity and of the freedom to believe and to co-exist in peace, may the songbirds eternally sing salutations and praise; and may those dear souls forever be remembered with gratitude and reverence.
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