Message to Bahá’í Youth in Iran

29 January 2014

To the Bahá’í youth in the Cradle of the Faith

Almost a year has passed since we called the Bahá’í youth throughout the world to a higher recognition of the significant contribution they are to make to the regeneration of the world and the unity of its peoples, and invited them to join those in the vanguard of service to humankind. In doing so they were asked to recognize that countless other young people aspire to the same vision of unity, justice, and prosperity by which they themselves have been galvanized. To consider this critical responsibility, we encouraged them to participate together with their close friends in an unprecedented series of 114 conferences spanning the globe.

The conferences were an occasion for the participants to reflect on the astonishing powers and unique capacities associated with the period of youth and to consider deeply those societal forces that exert themselves on the youth—forces that aim to distract them from significant social change, weaken their commitment to service, ensnare them in consumerism, and dissuade them from belief in their own God-given capacity and that of others. The participants considered, too, practical ways in which to counter those effects, build bonds of friendship and profound connection, promote unity, and equip themselves with the concepts needed to succeed in constructing a new world through collective endeavour.

The admirable response of the Bahá’í youth and thousands of their friends offered another glimpse of the fulfilment of Bahá’u’lláh’s hope that in the heyday of life and their prime of youth souls would arise in service. By any measure—the strenuous and at times heroic efforts they made to attend, the depth of understanding and insight they attained, or the enthusiasm and determination they demonstrated to transform their world and serve their society—the initial outcome of these gatherings was extraordinary.

Centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Return to the Holy Land

5 December 2013

To the Bahá’ís of the World

Dearly loved Friends,

When He arrived in the Holy Land, exactly one hundred years ago today, at the conclusion of His “epoch-making journeys” to Egypt and the West, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá eschewed any ceremony or fanfare just as He had at His departure. But between His going and His return, a defining period in Bahá’í history had unfolded—a “glorious chapter”, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, during which “seeds of undreamt-of potentialities” had been sown, “with the hand of the Centre of the Covenant Himself”, in the “fertile fields” to the west.

The accounts of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s travels and of the effect He had on those who met Him are legion. Some went to extraordinary lengths to enter His presence—going by boat, by foot, or even under railway trains—and, by the urgency of their desire to see Him, imprinted themselves on the consciousness of future generations of adults and children. The testimonies of those who were transformed by even a brief, sometimes near wordless encounter with their beloved Master remain deeply stirring. In the wide array of visitors He received—rich and poor, black and white, indigenous and émigré—the universal embrace of His Father’s Faith was unmistakably in evidence. It is impossible to adequately gauge the full scope of what ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá accomplished within this period. Many of the seeds He planted, and which He nurtured towards maturity through an extensive correspondence that He maintained until the end of His life, would blossom into a steadfast community capable of bearing the great weight of work in the years to come, supporting the first structures of national Bahá’í administration and beginning to act on the Master’s longing that the divine teachings be brought to every city and shore.