Message to the believers in the Cradle of the Faith

9 June 2006 

To the believers in the Cradle of the Faith through the Friends in Iran

Faithful and chosen friends of God,

The community of the Most Great Name the world over is filled with excitement and joy as a result of the launching of the new Five Year Plan. The loving messages of the delegates of the various National Conventions to the Bahá’í World Centre speak of the determination of the Bahá’ís everywhere to accelerate the process of entry by troops through the launching of intensive programmes of growth in no less than 1,500 clusters around the world. Many of these messages contained the joyful and soul-stirring news that the account of the steadfastness of the believers in Iran in the face of the current oppression and their faithfulness to the divine Teachings have assisted in creating a spiritual atmosphere in those gatherings. The messages received also indicate that your self-sacrifices in promoting the interests of the Faith under the current difficult conditions are a shining example of sacrifice, a source of spiritual strength and an effective means of encouragement for other lovers of Bahá’u’lláh in the uttermost corners of the world, making them more determined in their efforts to teach the Faith and serve the Cause. Note how the forces emanating from the forbearance of the dear Bahá’ís in Iran in these calamitous days have further clarified the meaning of the statement “Should they attempt to conceal its light on the continent it will assuredly rear its head in the midmost heart of the ocean and, raising its voice, proclaim: “I am the life-giver of the world!” and prepared the means for its material advancement. In this regard, recalling the divine promise made by the pen of the Blessed Beauty in reference to the persecutions inflicted on the Manifestation of God Himself is a source of upliftment to the soul. He states,

"For now, however, they have hidden Me behind a veil of darkness, whose fabric they have woven with the hands of idle fancy and vain imagination. Erelong shall the snow-white hand of God rend an opening through the darkness of this night and unlock a mighty portal unto His City. On that Day shall the people enter therein by troops, uttering what the blamers aforetime exclaimed, that there shall be made manifest in the end that which appeared in the beginning." 

The House of Justice assures you that your steadfastness, courage and perseverance are continually called to mind with love and appreciation. 

“These woes, afflictions, sufferings, imprisonment and toil are recorded in the divine court, and their recompense is abundant and irrevocable decreed. He, verily, rewardest without measure those who are patient”.  [provisional translation] 

Ridván Message 2006

Ridván 2006 

To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

Ridván 2006 is a moment charged with a spirit of triumph and anticipation. The followers of Bahá’u’lláh everywhere can take rightful pride in the magnitude of their accomplishments during the Five Year Plan now drawing to a close. And towards the future they can look with a confidence that is conferred only on those whose resolve is steeled through experience. The entire Bahá’í world is stirred at contemplating the scope of the five-year enterprise that lies ahead, the depth of consecration it will demand, and the results it is destined to achieve. Our prayers join yours as you turn in gratitude to Bahá’u’lláh for the privilege of witnessing the unfoldment of His purpose for humanity.

In our message of 27 December 2005 to the Counsellors gathered in the Holy Land, transmitted on that same day to all National Spiritual Assemblies, we delineated the features of the Five Year Plan that will stretch from 2006 to 2011. The friends and their institutions were urged to study the message thoroughly, and its content is no doubt well familiar to you. We now call upon each and every one of you to bend your energies towards ensuring that the goal of establishing over the next five years intensive programs of growth in no less than 1,500 clusters worldwide is successfully met. That in the months following the Counsellors’ departure from the World Centre the groundwork for the Plan’s launch was laid so rapidly and systematically in country after country is an indication of the eagerness with which the Bahá’í community is taking up the challenge presented to it. While there is no need for us to elaborate further on the requirements of the Plan here, we feel compelled to offer for your reflection a few comments on the global context in which your individual and collective efforts will be pursued.

More than seventy years ago Shoghi Effendi penned his World Order letters in which he provided a penetrating analysis of the forces operating in the world. With an eloquence that was his alone, he described two great processes that have been set in motion by Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, one destructive and the other integrative, both of which are propelling humanity towards the World Order He conceived. We were cautioned by the Guardian not to be “misled by the painful slowness characterizing the unfoldment of the civilization” being laboriously established or to be “deluded by the ephemeral manifestations of returning prosperity which at times appear to be capable of checking the disruptive influence of the chronic ills afflicting the institutions of a decaying age.” No review of the course of events in recent decades can fail to acknowledge the gathering momentum of the processes he analyzed then with such precision.