See The Light Of His Glory

Day 1

Narrator (Slide of Akka with the boats)

In the Tablet of Visitation, we address Bahá’u’lláh in these words:

“Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulations. At one time Thou wast in chains and fetters; at another Thou was threatened by the sword of Thine enemies..”

Let us sing together a song inspired by the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, addressing His Father:

O Bahá’u’lláh,

O Bahá’u’lláh, O Bahá’u’lláh

What hast Thou done?

O Bahá’u’lláh,

O Bahá’u’lláh, O Bahá’u’lláh

What hast Thou done?

May my life be sacrificed!

May my life be sacrificed!

May my life be sacrificed for Thee

May my soul be offered up!

May my soul be offered up!

May my soul be offered up

for Thy sake

O Bahá’u’lláh,

O Bahá’u’lláh, O Bahá’u’lláh

What hast Thou done?

O Bahá’u’lláh, O Bahá’u’lláh

How full were Thy days,

how full were Thy days

With trials and tribulations!

How severe the ordeals,

how severe the ordeals

How severe the ordeals Thou didst endure!

O Bahá’u’lláh!

How solid the foundation

Thou hast laid

O Bahá’u’lláh!

How glorious the banner

Thou didst hoist

Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’u’lláh

The glorious banner Thou didst hoist!

O Bahá’u’lláh

O what hast Thou done?

O Bahá’u’lláh!

Song and song text on overhead

Narrator

“Wert thou to ponder in thine heart” states Bahá’u’lláh, “the behaviour of the Prophets of God thou wouldst assuredly and readily testify that there must needs be other worlds besides this world... How could such Souls have consented to surrender themselves unto their enemies if they believed all the worlds of God to have been reduced to this earthly life? Would they have willingly suffered such afflictions and torments as no man hath ever experienced or witnessed?” (Gleanings)

Narrator

Today I would like to introduce you to two people. They were both Christians. They were both Westerners, and both prominent in their fields. They both came in close contact with the Person of the Manifestation of God for our time. They were so impressed by their encounters that they were impelled to leave for future generations an account of their experience, accounts which will remain indelible in the annals of human history. The first person I would like to introduce to you is Dr Schlimmer. Let him, in his own words, tell you his story.

Pause for Dr Schlimmer.

My name is Schlimmer. I am an Austrian doctor. I worked at the court of the Shah of Persia, Nasirid-din Shah, for 9 years, between the years of 1852 and 1861. I would like to tell you the most fascinating memory I have of my life in Iran. One night, in 1852 at the royal palace in Teheran, Nasirid-din Shah had contracted a fever and was sleeping in his bed, and I was attending to him. Suddenly he heard the voice and cries of a group of people and he became very frightened. He called one of his servants and rebuked him, asking what the noise was. The servant said: “This is the voice of the Babi prisoners who are saying their prayers together.”

Narrator

Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned, together with several followers of the Báb, among thieves and assassins in the darkest dungeon. His feet were placed in stocks and a chain was placed around His neck. So heavy was this chain that His blessed neck broke under its weight. In those grim surroundings, Bahá’u’lláh uplifted them by teaching them a prayer. One row of prisoners would sing; “God is sufficient unto me. He is the All-Sufficing.”

From the second row of prisoners would come the eager reply; “In Him let the trusting trust”.

Song (slide of Siah Chal)

God is sufficient unto me. He is the All-Sufficing.

Let the trusting trust Him.

Pause for Dr Schlimmer.

So I was very surprised and asked: “Your Majesty, if these people are praying, they must be believers in God and Islam. So why have they been imprisoned?”

The Shah said: “These are the followers of the Báb. The Báb claimed that He was a new Messenger Who had come to renew religion and improve the world. I arrested Him and He was tried by the clergy and the clergy sentenced Him to death.” Then he turned to me and said: “Do you want to see them in prison?” I said yes.

Then the mother of the Shah came in and said angrily: “There’s one person called Mirza Husayn Ali, Bahá’u’lláh, Who is responsible for all this. If He were destroyed then the whole country would find rest.”

Then I was taken to the prison which was a pit. I had a translator. We went through a very steep tunnel probably around 40 meters underground. The prison guard then opened the metal lock and held up a light. I asked the guard which one was their leader, who was called Bahá’u’lláh?

He pointed to a Person sitting on the right. I saw a Man who, in addition to a heavy chain around His legs, had a very heavy chain round His neck. He had His arms resting on the floor, as though trying to reduce the weight of the chains a little. I said to Him: “I am a doctor of the Shah. I have come to ask after Your health.” He raised up one of His hands which was immersed up to His wrists in mud and dirt, and pointed to the prisoners and said: “You yourself can see the state every one is in and tell him that our condition is itself the best answer to your question.”

I asked: “What have You done that You have suffered such a plight?”

He raised His head, took a deep breath and said: “Our crime is belief in the One True God and His Messenger and love and service to the human race.”

I realised that this was the plight of believers in God in a country whose civilisation had one day been the envy and the model for the world.

Narrator

It was in the stench-filled gloom of this dungeon that the light of Divine Revelation first broke out, destined to transform the face of the planet for ever, and to enlighten the whole of mankind. It was here that the Holy Spirit, personified in a Maiden, appeared to Bahá’u’lláh, and bade Him proclaim His Message to mankind for the first time. Pointing her finger to His head and addressing the whole of creation, she announced:

“By God. This is the Best Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His Glory unto all who are in the Kingdoms of revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.”

Song (song text on overhead and slide of Siah Chal)

By God. This is the Best Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not.

This is the Beauty of God amongst you and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand.

This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His Glory unto all who are in the Kingdoms of revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.

Narrator

The light that dawned in that black pit, embraced the whole of mankind, and illuminated the furthermost parts of the planet. Let us now hear that same prayer sung by the peoples of the earth, one hundred years later, and witness with our own eyes the supreme evidence of the truth of Baha’u’llah’s vision and the creative power of His Word: “So powerful is the light of unity”, He states, “that it can illuminate the whole earth.”

Opening ceremony video

Day 2

Narrator

Bahá’u’lláh says:

“I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge. I cheer the faint and revive the dead. I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way. I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight.” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh)

Song (Royal Falcon) plus song text on overhead plus slide of Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh

Slide of Bahji 1

In the evening of Bahá’u’lláh’s life, in 1890 in the Mansion of Bahji outside Akka, Professor Edward Granville Browne, the famous orientalist of Cambridge University, had the honour of attaining His presence. He is the second person I would like to introduce to you. Let him talk to you personally of his experience.

Pause for Browne

Slide 2

Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. (Slide 3 Bahá’u’lláh’s room) In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable Figure....The face of Him on Whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain! A mild dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued; (Slide 4 Crown of Bahá’u’lláh) “Praise be to God that thou hast attained!...Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile...We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment...That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled...what harm is there in this?...Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the `Most Great Peace’ shall come...Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind...”

Narrator

Come and behold Him

tell of His story,

lift up your voices to the King of Glory.

See the light of His Glory, O people,

shining before you,

Bahá’u’lláh.

Lord of Lords, King of Kings,

He is Wondrous, Everlasting Father:

Bahá’u’lláh.

Rejoice, Rejoice,

This is the promised Day,

The Most Great Peace shall come (X2)

Lift your eyes and behold the New Creation,

Word of God Eternal:

Bahá’u’lláh.

Ancient Voice of the Wronged One is calling:

Enter now the Kingdom,

Bahá’u’lláh.

Rejoice, Rejoice,

This is the promised Day,

The Most Great Peace shall come (X2)

Song (song text on overhead)

Narrator

“In this most mighty Revelation”, proclaims Bahá’u’lláh, “all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest and final consummation.”

As the consummation of all the Dispensations within the Adamic cycle (according to the Beloved Guardian in “God Passes By”), this Revelation signalises the end of the Prophetic era, or the cycle of prophethood, which lasted 6000 years - 6000 years of prophethood, 6000 years of prophecies, 6000 years of humanity’s collective infancy and childhood, 6000 years of preparation, 6000 years of expectation.

And It originates and inaugurates a new universal cycle, the cycle of Baha, the cycle of glory, the cycle of accomplishment and fulfilment, the cycle of fruit-bearing, the cycle of maturity and adulthood, which will last for at least 500,000 years.

“A new life is, in this age,” announces Bahá’u’lláh, “stirring within all the peoples of the earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive.”

Regarding the cause of this new life, Bahá’u’lláh proclaims:

“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.”

Regarding its motive affirms Bahá’u’lláh:

“The potentialities inherent in the station of man, the full measure of his destiny on earth, the innate excellence of his reality, must all be manifested in this promised Day of God.”

The beloved Guardian, with his powerful and divinely inspired pen explains the station of Bahá’u’lláh:

“He Who in such dramatic circumstances was made to sustain the overpowering weight of so glorious a Mission was none other than the One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, as the Judge, the Lawgiver and Redeemer of all mankind, as the Organizer of the entire planet, as the Unifier of the children of men, as the Inaugurator of the long-awaited millennium, as the Originator of a new “Universal Cycle,” as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace, as the Fountain of the Most Great Justice, as the Proclaimer of the coming of age of the entire human race, as the Creator of a new World Order, and as the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization.

To Israel He was neither more nor less than the incarnation of the “Everlasting Father,” the “Lord of Hosts” come down “with ten thousands of saints”; to Christendom Christ returned “in the glory of the Father,”; to Islam the Great Announcement of the advent of the Lord of Lords and the meeting with Allah in the day of judgement, the day when “mankind shall stand before the Lord of the Worlds”; to Shiah Islam the return of Imam Husayn; to Sunni Islam the descent of the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ); to the Zoroastrians the promised Shah-Bahram Who would truimph over Ahriman (the evil force) and would usher in an era of blessedness and peace; to the Hindus the reincarnation of Krishna, the tenth Avatar; to the Buddhists the fifth Buddha, Maitreye”.

Now let us sing, expectation fulfilled, and prophecies in harmony.

Song (song text on overhead)

O King of Kings and Lord of Lords, O Wonderful, O Counsellor, O Comforter, Tenth Avatar, Glory.

“When righteousness is weak and faints, and unrighteousness exalts in pride, then my Spirit arises on earth. For the salvation of those who are good, for the destruction of evil in men, for the fulfilment of the kingdom of righteousness, I come to this world, from age to age.”

Lord of Hosts

“And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. To order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even for ever.”

O Shah-an-Shah, O King of Kings, O Lord of Hosts with ten thousand saints, O Most Great Name, O Hidden Name, O Promised One, O Shah Bahram.

“When a thousand two hundred and some years have passed from the inception of the religion of the Arabian, and the overthrow of the kingdom of Iran, and the degradation of the followers of My religion, a descendant of the Iranian kings will be raised up as a Prophet.”

O World Saviour, usher in an era of peace.

O Maitreye, O Fifth Buddha, O Maitreye

“ I am not the first Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely Enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths which I have taught you. He will preach His religion-glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a religious life wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim.”

O Christ returned in the Glory of the Father. O Prince of Peace, O Comforter, Almighty God. Glory.

“ And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, and I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying....”

Glory, the Glory of God. Glory of Glories, Glory to God

O Spirit of Truth, O Son of Man come again in the Glory of the Father. O Lawgiver, O Redeemer, O Unifier. O Great Announcement, Liqa’u’llah (= meeting with God), Imam Husayn returned.

“And in the Holy Qur’an, God says: God is the light of the Heavens and the Earth. His light is like a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp encased in glass, the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive of neither the east nor the west, whose oil is beginning to burst into light, though no fire has touched it. Light upon light. God guideth whomsoever He willeth to His light, and of all things, God is knowing.”

O Sifter of Men, O Supreme Heaven, O Promised One of All.