By the BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, 515 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the post office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Staff - ALBERT R. WINDUST-GERTRUDE BUIKEMA-DR. ZIA M. BAGDADI Honorary Member-MIRZA AHMAD SOHRAB Terms: $1.50 per year; 10 cents per copy Make Money Orders payable to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A. Address all communications to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U.S. A. O thou Star of the West! HE IS GOD! Be thou happy! Be thou happy! Shouldst thou continue to remain firm and eternal, ere long, thou shalt become the Star of the East and shalt spread in every country and clime. Thou art the first paper of the Bahais which is organized in the country of America. Although for the present thy subscribers are limited, thy form is small and thy voice weak, yet shouldst thou stand unshakable, become the object of the attention of the friends and the center of the generosity of the leaders of the faith who are firm in the Covenant, in the future thy subscribers will become hosts after hosts like unto the waves of the sea; thy volume will increase, thy arena will become vast and spacious and thy voice and fame will be raised and become world-wide-and at last thou shalt become the first paper of the world of humanity. Yet all these depend upon firmness, firmness, firmness! (Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS. Vol. IX Massa'ul 1, 74 (December 12, 1918) No 15 "FOURTEEN PEACE POINTS" FOR BAHAIS TO DISCUSS ALLAH'O’ABHA! Some years ago, Abdul-Baha gave the following principles or "points" in a Tablet to Mr. C. Mason Remey, dated March 5, 1914. They speak for themselves "In those public meetings, universal and not particular principles must be discussed; those principles which I have expounded in the public meetings. Only that identical program must be followed: (1) The oneness of the world of humanity. (2) The investigation of Reality. (3) The essential unity of the Religions of God. (4) The abandonment of religious, denominational, racial and patriotic prejudices. (5) The conformity of divine Religion with reason and science. (6) The Religion of God must become the cause of amity and love amongst mankind, otherwise it is better to forswear it. (7) Equality between man and woman. (8) The essential necessity of the confirmation of the Holy Spirit. (9) The demonstration of divinity and inspiration. (10) The power of the (spiritual) influence of BAHA'O'LLAH. (11) The underlying unity of all existing faiths. (12) The dawn of the Sun of Reality from the horizon of Persia. (13) Universal peace. (14) Universal language: The education of the children of all the Religions, under a universal standard of instruction and a common curriculum. "Questions of this nature must be propounded in the public meetings." -The Editors. Tablets revealed by Abdul-Baha in the winter of 1916-17 (Continued from page 171) dent that that blessed Personage was cause the believers of God are confirmed conducive to the illumination of the peninsula of Arabia, and the cause of the guidance and progress of those tribes who ascended to the supreme apex of eternal felicity. Consequently, do thou not wonder at the ridicule of the ignorant ones and the blame of the witless. Those who are ignorant have always cast reproach upon those who are wise. Convey longing greeting to all the believers of God. Upon thee be greeting and praise! ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS. (Signed in Persian and in English) TABLET TO MRS. PAGE (A letter dated Haifa, Syria, Jan. 26, 1917, enclosing the following Tablet, was received recently from Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, through Joseph H. Hannen.) Mrs. Arthur Page. O thou respected maid-servant of God! Thou hast written that since two years the fragrance of the rose-garden of BAHA'O'LLAH is being diffused in Detroit, Michigan, and two ministers have invited Bahai speakers to their churches, so that they may speak about divine principles and cause the irradiation of the light of guidance. Praise be to God, the Bahais are characterized with such qualities and attributes that they are the object of the praise and commendation of all nations; they are the means of the proclamation of the oneness of the world of humanity and the promotion of the ideals of universal peace. Today, the most great foundation of real civilization is this, and this is conducive to the tranquillity of the world of creation. In this glorious century, this basis is most firm and strong. But there must needs be the power of the Kingdom in order to establish these principles. Be with the heavenly power, I hope they may enkindle the candles of the oneness of the world of humanity in all the societies of mankind, the anthem of universal peace may reach the East and the West, religion may become the means of goodfellowship amongst the people, justice and equity may unfurl their flags on the apex of the world, religion and science may correspond with each other and be conducive to the promotion of peace and salvation, ignorant prejudices. may be dispelled and the lights of Reality be diffused. Upon thee be greeting and praise! (Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS. TABLET TO ALBERTA HALL (Translated by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, December 19, 1916, and mailed, but returned from Constantinople. Remailed upon the opening of the doors of the Holy Land and received recently in America.) To Miss Alberta Hall. O thou maid-servant of God! Although in body thou art weak and ill and, like unto Job, the object of many trials, yet (Praise be to God!) thou art strong in spirit and in the utmost health and joyousness. The peculiarities of this physical world are illness and diseases, and the essences of the universe of God are health and vigor. The body is like unto the lamp and the spirit like unto the light. Praise be to God, that the light is in the utmost brilliancy no matter if the lamp is somewhat affected. May the illumination of the light remain eternal eternal and undying. Thank thou God that the light of thy spirit is burning with the oil of the love of God and its flame is becoming brighter day by day. Upon thee be greeting and praise! ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS. Chicago Assembly celebrates the Day of Abdul-Baha BY JEAN MASSON. ON the evening of November 26th, the Bahai Assembly of Chicago celebrated Abdul-Baha's Day, the Day of the Covenant, with a feast given in Grill Hall of the Stevens Building, on Wabash Avenue. There followed the wonderful, unforgettable, altogether impressive words of the Manifestation, read from the Kitabel-Akdas, proclaiming the station of Abdul-Baha: "When the ocean of My Presence and One hundred of the friends of Abdulthe Book of Origin is achieved to the Baha participated in this Feast of the end, turn your faces toward 'Him-WhomAppointment of the Covenant-friends God-hath-purposed,' who hath branched of various nations and races. It was a rememberable occasion-one to leave its ineffaceable impress. The armistice had been declared. It seemed as if the universal peace, so long and so faithfully anticipated by Bahais, were really established. The prophecies of BAHA'O'LLAH and Abdul-Baha were be ing swiftly and unerringly fulfilled. The world was a new world, a transformed world, and Bahais rejoiced. A spirit of sweet communion, a spirit ual fragrance, pervaded and dominated the feast. Its theme was the Covenant. Prayer the compelling words of the Center of the Covenant-opened the meeting: "Bring them together again, O Lord, by the power of Thy Covenant and gather their dispersion by the might of Thy promise and unite their hearts by the dominion of Thy love and make them love each other, so that they may sacrifice their spirits, expend their money, and scatter themselves for the love of one another. "O Lord, cause to descend upon them quietness and tranquillity. Shower upon them the clouds of Thy mercy in great abundance and make them to characterize themselves with the characteristics of the spiritual. "O Lord, make us firm in Thy noble command and bestow upon us Thy gifts, through Thy bounty, grace and munifi cence. "Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Merciful and the Benevolent." from this Pre-Existent Root. "When the Nightingale soareth from the grove of praise and repaireth to the furthermost concealed destination, refer ye that which you understand not from the Book, to the Branch extended from this firm Root." There were other significant, prophetic, commemorative readings, in which the Revelation is so prolificwords familiar and thrilling to the heart of the whole Bahai world, once heard-never again to be forgotten. Mr. Vail spoke upon the meaning of the Covenant, prefacing his address with a Tablet, revealed by BAHA'O'LLAH to Abdul-Baha: "O thou my Greatest Branch, thy letter was surely presented before this oppressed one and We heard that which thou hast communed with God, the Lord of the worlds. "Verily, We have ordained thee the guardian of all the creatures and a protection to all those in the heavens and earths and a fortress to those who believe in God, the One, the Omniscient. "I beg of God to protect them by thee; to enrich them by thee; to nourish them by thee and reveal to them that which is the dawning point of riches to the people of creation and the ocean of generosity to those in the world and the rising point of favor to all nations. Verily, He is the Powerful, the All-Knowing and the Wise! "I beg of Him to water the earth and all that is in it by thee, that there may And no meeting is complete without mention of this institution. Mrs. True presented the subject. Indeed, this seems to be the subject of subjects for Mrs. True's presentation, so long and so intimately has she dwelt with it, so spring up from it the flowers of wisdom and revelation and the hyacinths of science and knowledge. Verily, He is the friend to those who love Him, and an assistant to those who commune with Him. "There is no God but Him, the deeply has she penetrated into its mysMighty and the Magnified!" The passing of the old, the establishment of the new Covenant among men, which is but the completion of spiritual evolution in the human race-the estab lishment of the new civilization upon the earth-the supreme function of the Covenant in that establishment-all Mr. Vail eloquently dwelt upon in his approach of a subject, today so infinitely beyond our complete comprehension. Dr. Bagdadi spoke effectively of the dynamic, unifying power of the Covenant and the absolute necessity of a Center toward which all can turn in unity and harmony and love. He cited the numerous sects of Christianity and other established religions, as a resultant of the absence of an authoritative Center after the passing of the founder. In the Bahai Movement, no opportunity exists for schisms or disastrous counter movements, for he who turns his face from the Center of the Covenant is not a Bahai, has no place in the Bahai Movement. The true Bahai keeps his face fixed unalterably upon that radiant Center, from which there is no wavering, neither shadow of turning. So Dr. Bagdadi. Today, when all Bahais are looking with fervent hope toward the East and the possibility of the coming of AbdulBaha again to America and the possibility of his laying the corner-stone of the great Temple, the Mashrekol-azkar occupies much of the thought of Bahais. teries. A feature of this Feast of the Covenant was the large contingent of our colored friends present, deeply moved by the pervasive spirit of good-fellowship, so typical of all Bahai meetings, where the different races unite in worship. Khanom. Musical numbers interspersed the readings. There was chanting by Zeenat Dr. Bagdadi sang a Persian poem, composed several years ago by Bahai students at Beirut College, in praise and glorification of the Center of the Covenant. After each verse an Arabic refrain was taken up by a chorus of voices: "Fal-ya-ish Ghusnol-baka Hazraty Abdul-Baha!" ("Long live the Branch of Eternity, His Holiness AbdulBaha!") Today, because of our childish and superficial understanding, inadequately, irreverently, perhaps, we pay homage before the shrine of the Covenant. And yet, in all sincerity we offer our allegiance. Adequately shall future generations worship, gathered under the dome of of the great Mashrekol-azkar—monument to the glory of BAHA'O'LLAH and the spiritual supremacy of His Cove nant. Future generations-shall they not remember, that we too worshipped, undeviatingly, before the Holy of Holies; that we sang, while our hearts thrilled with emotion, "Long live the Branch of Eternity, His Holiness Abdul-Baha?" |