12 Days Of Ridvan

It was 1863 in Baghdad, when the order from Constantinople came. Baha’u’llah, the leader, counselor and comforter of the followers of the martyred Bab was to be exiled once again. Ten years, previously, the Shah of the Persian Empire launched a wholesale persecution of the Babis. Over 20,000 were slain. Their crime? They were heretics, followers of the youthful Bab, who proclaimed a new dispensation a new revelation and was executed for this crime against Islam in 1850.

Bahá’u’lláh, whose name means The Glory Of God, was exiled, his wealth, property and social status stripped from him. It was only the intervention of the Russian ambassador that kept him from being executed as well. Or maybe it was something else…

In The Black pit of Tehran, the Siyah-Chal, a huge underground dungeon, which once served as a reservoir, Baha’u’llah and other Babis were imprisoned. There, Baha'u’llah was summoned to the role of prophet and messenger. He was to be the Promised One, the fulfiller of all the prophecies and promises of past religions.

In His own words,” While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above my head. Turning my face, I beheld a Maiden…. suspended in the air before me…Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivate the hearts and minds of men…pointing with her finger unto my head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying:” By God! This is the best beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you, an the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand…”

Exiled from his home, poisoned and scarred by his imprisonment, Bahá’u’lláh went to Baghdad and in ten short years won the love and respect of the people of that city along with revivifying the broken Babi community. Fearful of His influence and persuasive power, the clerics and rulers of the Persian Empire pressured the ruler of the Ottoman Empire to move Baha’u’llah, his followers and family away from their border. He was commanded to leave Baghdad and move to Constantinople, where his case would be judged.

The Babi community was devastated, city officials, friends and followers crowded His modest house . All sought a last visit with Bahá’u’lláh . Twenty-six days after the summons from Constantinople, He went to the Najibiyyih Garden, where He and his companions stayed for twelve days. It was under these circumstances when Baha’u’llah, the Manifestation of God, the Promised One of all ages, the Prophet-Founder of The Baha’i Faith announced His mission.

Baha’u’llah stepped into the footsteps of Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, the Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, and His herald, the Bab.

He inaugurated a new spiritual dispensation, fulfilled the ancient Covenant between humanity and its Creator and brought a new message to the world.

His message is one of unity, of peace, of the equality of men and women.He explains the essential harmony between science and religion and the progressive nature of Revelation.

He is the King, the All-Knowing, the Wise! Lo, the Nightingale of Paradise singeth upon the twigs of the Trees of Eternity, with holy and sweet melodies, proclaiming to the sincere ones the glad tidings of the nearness of God, calling the believers in the Divine Unity to the court of the Presence of the Generous One, informing the severed ones of the message which hath been revealed by God, the King, the Glorious, the Peerless, guiding the lovers to the seat of sanctity and to this resplendent Beauty.

Verily this is that Most Great Beauty, foretold in the Books of the Messengers, through Whom truth shall be distinguished from error and the wisdom of every command shall be tested. Verily He is the Tree of Life that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great....
Baha'u'llah's 'Tablet of Ahmad'

The Twelve Days of Ridvan (Paradise) celebrated by Baha’is all over the world goes from April 21 to May 2.

Ridvan, a Gift to the World
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