Mystic Gems – the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Among the most well-known works of Bahá’u’lláh are the Hidden Words. They are written in brief “gem-like utterances”,[1] 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian. …
200th anniversary articles
A Mountain of Roses: The Ridvan Festival
The second exile of Bahá’u’lláh by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, this time from Baghdad to Constantinople, is not remembered as a time of sorrow. …
Prophet and Seer
Is it possible to see the future? All of us can predict the future to a small degree, simply on the basis of past experience. Yet …
The Oneness of Religion
The oneness of religion is a core principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. The following is an incomplete introduction. The principle is perhaps also one of the most …
Bahá’u’lláh in Kurdistan: The Holy Man on the Mountain
For two years, Bahá’u’lláh’s whereabouts were unknown to his friends and family. After their arrival in Baghdad, the dispirited remnants of the followers of the Bab …
As Mild As Milk – The Human Power of Speech
We live in a time where increasingly shouting down those who think differently than we do is the “normal” of public discourse. Words are bludgeons …
Human Nature: What Does It Mean to Be Human?
What does it mean to be human? We rarely think about it. Yet implicitly and explicitly our actions are based on assumptions or beliefs about …
Against Religious Fanaticism and Hatred
Bahá’u’lláh condemned religious fanaticism and hatred, perhaps most strikingly in the following passage: Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand …
No Human Being is Unclean
Bahá’u’lláh abolishes the concept of “uncleanness”. In different cultures, at different times, human beings and things have been held to be “unclean” – in the specific …