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Maps and More

path through open gates“Despite the schemes of His foes and the hardships of His exile, Bahá’u’lláh openly proclaimed the divine guidance revealed to Him. In over one hundred volumes, He delivered teachings on subjects ranging from the nobility of the soul to the prerequisites for the nations of the world to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
                    – The Story of Baha’u’llah








From the pen of Baha’u’llah
In The Story of Baha’u’llah

Chapter 36: Unlocking the Doors of Heaven
 The Hidden Words – spiritual essence of previous revelations distilled into brief verses; “ethical heart” of Baha’u’llah’s teachings.

Chapter 39:  A Paradox Resolved
Book of Certitude (Kitab-i-Iqan) – a central work. Baha’u’llah presents divine Messengers, their tribulations, and unique vision of their Revelations as related pieces of one religion.

Chapter 46: O Kings of the Earth! Tablet of the Kings – responsibilities of rulers.


Chapter 50:  For the Healing of All the World
Baha’u’llah’s Tablets to specific world leaders

Chapter 54: The Keys of My Mercy
Most Holy Book (Kitab-i-Aqdas) – Baha’u’llah’s most important book – laws and principles for Baha’is, groundwork for Bahá'í institutions; vision for civilization. Also topic of evil.

Chapter 64: These Fruitless Strifes, These Ruinous Wars

Chapter 65: The King of Days
Baha’u’llah on requirements for peace among nations.

Chapter 66: The Holy Mountain and the Martyrs of Yazd
Purpose of religion; Christ; Golden rule

Chapter 67: A Pattern for the Future
Highlights System of Governance for Baha’is

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More from the Pen of Baha’u’llah




More Maps

















MAPS:
  • Click Maps to Enlarge


Persia – Identifies places in The Story of Baha’u’llah: Part One


Baha’u’llah’s Exiles 1853 -1892 Places in The Story of Baha’u’llah: Part Two


Baha’u’llah’s Exiles overlaid on modern map


Walled City of Acre

Glossary and
Pronunciation Guide
goto link


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Excerpt:
Unlocking the Doors of Heaven

. . . . In a garden spot on the riverbank, Babi carpenters built a small hut for Baha’u’llah. The roof was made of palm leaves and thornbushes. Inside Baha’u’llah could meditate or dictate to His amanuensis in private. But as often as not He could be seen outside, the soft folds of His red aba moving with each step as he paced along the banks of the river.

                The great Tigris stretched for more than a thousand miles and reached back through countless eras of human history. . . . So many peoples had walked in the fertile black soil left by the Tigris and had journeyed in its fast-flowing waters. But it was the journey of life itself in every age that filled people’s hearts with questions . . .

                God had given answers through His Prophets at different times and in different places, said Baha’u’llah. Now Baha’u’llah revealed anew the heart of these divine teachings. . . . God’s eternal answers to humanity’s deepest questions. The voice that spoke in the verses revealed by Baha’u’llah was the Voice of God – the One Great Creator Who loved His creation:

                O SON OF MAN! * Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My        essence, I knew My love for thee, therefore I created thee, have engraved in thee Mine      image and revealed to thee My beauty.

                O SON OF BEING! Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance          and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My    favor upon thee.

This was Revelation – the Word of God, and there was nothing more powerful. Baha’u’llah called it “the master key for the whole world.” With this key, He said, “the doors of the hearts of men, which in reality are the doors of heaven, are unlocked.” “True loss,” He would write, “is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.”

                The verses were copied carefully by hand and passed among the Babis. In small groups here and there they gathered together to share the new writings. One gathering place was a bakery. By day it was filled with the heat of ovens, the noise of the grinding stone, and the fragrance of warm loaves of bread. But in the quiet at the end of the day’s work, Babi friends would draw close around the light of a sesame oil lamp. Those who could read would recite verses to the others.

                As they listened to the Hidden Words in the fading light of evening, the Babis heard the Voice of God calling them to turn to Him, and in doing so, to discover their own true selves. For it was the mystical connection between the soul and its Creator that was at the heart of all religion:

                ‘O SON OF MAN! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.’”

                O MY SERVANT! Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concelaed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer’s knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.                                  
- The Story of Baha’u’llah

*In original Arabic or Perian of these writings, words such as “man” and “son” are used in a generic sense to encompass all humankind.


Excerpt:
O Kings of the Earth!

howdah            The kings and rulers of nations were the most powerful people on the planet. Their subjects obeyed them as they would obey God, and the lives of millions were entrusted to their care. ‘God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the people,’ wrote Baha’u’llah, ‘that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, and punish the wrongdoers . . .’

. . . . ‘Compose your differences,’ He further instructed them, ‘and reduce your armaments. . . heal the dissensions that divide you and ye will no longer be in need of any armaments except what the protection of your cities and territories demandeth. . .’ ‘. . .Rest not on your power, your armies, and treasures,’ He advised. ‘Put your whole trust and confidence in God, Who hath created you, and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succour cometh from Him alone. . .’


. . . .‘If ye stay not the hand of the oppressor . . . what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men? What is it of which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food and drink that ye pride yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the diversity and the cost of the ornaments with which ye deck yourselves?

           If true glory were to consist in the possession of such perishable things, then the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over you, because it supplieth you, and bestoweth upon you, these very things, by the decree of the Almighty. In its bowels are contained, accor-ding to what God hath ordained, all that ye posses. From it, as a sign of His mercy, ye derive your riches. Behold then your state, the thing in which ye glory! . . .

. . . Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God. . .’”

 - The Story of Baha’u’llah

stairs in house of abbud