Consider the hour at which the supreme Manifestation of God revealeth Himself unto men. Ere that hour cometh, the Ancient Being, Who is still unknown of men and hath not as yet given utterance to the Word of God, is Himself the All-Knower in a world devoid of any man that hath known Him. He is indeed the Creator without a creation. For at the very moment preceding His Revelation, each and every created thing shall be made to yield up its soul to God. This is indeed the Day of which it hath been written:   "Whose shall be the  Kingdom this Day?" And none can be found ready to answer! Bahá’u’lláh,  Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh , p. 15

Bahá’ís believe that Bahá’u’lláh is the Messenger of God for this day. His teachings are the basis of the Bahá’í Faith, whose primary aim is the unity of mankind. Born in 1817, Bahá’u’lláh was a member of one of the great patrician families of Persia. The family could trace its lineage to the ruling dynasties of Persia's imperial past, and was endowed with wealth and vast estates. Turning His back on the position at court which these advantages offered Him, Bahá’u’lláh became known for His generosity and kindliness which made Him deeply loved among His countrymen. Engulfed in the waves of violence unleashed upon the Bábis after the Báb's execution Bahá’u’lláh suffered not only the loss of all His worldly endowments but was subjected to imprisonment, torture, and a series of banishments. The first was to Baghdad where, in 1863, He announced Himself as the One promised by the Báb. From Baghdad, Bahá’u’lláh was sent to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and finally to Acre, in

O CZAR of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise,…' He Who is the Father is come, and the Son (Jesus), in the holy vale, crieth out: 'Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!' whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: 'The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.' Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice…. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned…. Blessed be the king whose sovereignty hath withhel

O KING! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow…. Can any one speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high and low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath strengthened…. I have seen, O Shah, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear heard… How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me… By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me, and the bare rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not complain, but will endure patiently as those endued wi

O EMPEROR of Austria! He who is the Dayspring of God's Light dwelt in the prison of 'Akká, at the time when thou didst set forth to visit the Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem). Thou passed Him by, and inquired not about Him, by Whom every house is exalted, and every lofty gate unlocked. We, verily, made it (Jerusalem) a place whereunto the world should turn, that they might remember Me, and yet thou hast rejected Him Who is the object of this remembrance, when He appeared with the Kingdom of God, thy Lord and the Lord of the worlds. We have been with thee at all times, and found thee clinging unto the Branch and heedless of the Root. Thy Lord, verily, is a witness unto what I say. We grieved to see thee circle round Our Name, whilst unaware of Us, though We were before thy face…. Bahá’u’lláh,  The Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh , p. 35

O KING of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the will of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality, in His name, the All-Glorious…. Say: He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light… O King! We heard the words thou didst utter in answer to the Czar of Russia, concerning the decision made regarding the war (Crimean War)…. Thou didst say: 'I lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of the oppressed, who were drowned in the Black Sea, wakened me.‘…. We testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry but the promptings of thine own passions…. For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought…. Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By My Life! It shall not endure; nay, it shall

O ye leaders of religion! Who is the man amongst you that can rival Me in vision or insight? Where is he to be found that O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring balance established amongst men. In this most perfect balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed, while the measure of its weight should be tested according to its own standard, did ye but know it….  dareth to claim to be My equal in utterance or wisdom? No, by My Lord, the All-Merciful! All on the earth shall pass away; and this is the face of your Lord, the Almighty, the Well-Beloved. O concourse of divines! When My verses were sent down, and My clear tokens were revealed, We found you behind the veils. Those divines…who are truly adorned with the ornament of knowledge and of a goodly character are, verily, as a head to the body of the world, and as eyes to the nat

What did Bahá’u’lláh write to Pope Pius IX? O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained….   He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him (Jesus) without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth and heaven. Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined…Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom,

1. The fall from power of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the consequent loss of his empire. 2. The defeat of Germany in two bloody wars, resulting in the ‘lamentations of Berlin’. 3.   The success and stability of Queen Victoria’s reign. 4.   The dismissal of Ali Pasha as prime minister of Turkey. 5.   The overthrow and murder of Sultán Abdu’l-Aziz of Turkey. 6. The breakup of the Ottoman Empire, leading to the extinction of the ‘outward splendor’ of its capital, Constantinople. 7.   The downfall of Nasiri’d-Din Shah, the Persian monarch. 8.   The advent of constitutional government in Persia. 9. A massive (albeit temporary) decline in the fortunes of monarchy throughout the world. 10.   A worldwide erosion of ecclesiastical authority. 11.   The collapse of the Muslim Caliphate. 12. The spread of communism, the ‘movement of the left’, and its rise to world power. 13. The catastrophic decline of that same movement (Communism), triggered by the collaps