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.... Yet do We see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind.... These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family.... Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind....
One hundred years ago, Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, proclaimed in
clear and unmistakable language, to the kings and rulers of the world, to its
religious leaders, and to mankind in general that the long-promised age of
world peace and brotherhood had at last dawned and that He Himself was the
Bearer of the new message and power from God which would transform the
prevailing system of antagonism and enmity between men and create the spirit
and form of the destined world order.
At that time the splendour and panoply of the
monarchs reflected the vast power which they exercised, autocratically for the
most part, over the greater portion of the earth. Bahá'u'lláh, an exile from
His native Persia for His religious teaching, was the prisoner of the
tyrannical, all-powerful Sultán of the Ottoman
Empire. In such circumstances He addressed the rulers of the world. His Tablets
to particular kings and to the Pope, although delivered, were either ignored or
rejected, their wise counsels and dire warnings went unheeded, and in one
instance the bearer was cruelly tortured and killed.
Bahá'u'lláh, viewing that old world and seeing it `at the mercy of rulers so
drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage'
declared that `...the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily
increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned,
inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective.' Although
painting in sombre tones the `divine chastisement'
which would assail most of those rulers and engulf in ruin the peoples of the
world, He nevertheless left no doubt about the outcome. `Soon', He declared,
`will the present day order be rolled up and a new one spread out in its
stead.' Since the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh in 1892, in the Holy Land, the
rolling up of the old order has become the daily experience of mankind and no
abatement of this process is discernible. The essence of Bahá'u'lláh's
World Order is the unity of the human race. `O ye children of men', He writes,
`the fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to
safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race...' And He
warns, `The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable
unless and until its unity is firmly established.' The achievement of this
unity is Bahá'u'lláh's declared mission and the aim
of all Bahá'í activity. Its outline and structure are indicated in the
following passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá'u'lláh
and Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith:
The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh, implies the
establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and
classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its
state members and personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that
compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must,
as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members
will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire
resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be
required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs and adjust the relationships
of all races and peoples. A world executive, backed by an international Force,
will carry out the decisions arrived at, and apply the laws enacted by, this
world legislature, and will safeguard the organic unity of the whole
commonwealth. A world tribunal will adjudicate and deliver its compulsory and
final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise between the various
elements constituting this universal system. A mechanism of world
inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from
national hinderances and restrictions, and
functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect
regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve centre of a world
civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life will converge
and from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world language will
either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages and will be
taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary to their
mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a uniform and universal
system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and facilitate
intercourse and understanding among the nations and races of mankind. In such a
world society, science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life,
will be reconciled, will co-operate, and will harmoniously develop. The press
will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the
diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously
manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and
will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples. The
economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials
will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be co-ordinated
and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably
regulated.
National rivalries, hatreds and intrigues will cease, and racial animosity and
prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding and co-operation. The
causes of religious strife will be permanently removed, economic barriers and
restrictions will be completely abolished, and the inordinate distinction
between classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the one hand, and gross
accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear. The enormous energy
dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political, will be
consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions and
technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to the
extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the
raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of
the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of
the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any
other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life
of the entire human race.
A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable
authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the
ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its
miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy
on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of
Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by
its allegiance to one common Revelation--such is the goal towards which
humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.
Bahá'u'lláh's message is one of hope, of love, of
practical reconstruction. Today we reap the appalling results of our forebears'
rejection of His divine call; but today there are new rulers, new people, who
perchance may hear and avoid or mitigate the severity of impending catastrophe.
It is with this hope and believing it to be its sacred duty, that the Universal
House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá'í Faith,
proclaims again, through publication of these selected passages, the essence of
that mighty call of a century ago. In the same hope and
belief the Bahá'ís throughout the world will do their utmost during this
centenary period to bring to the attention of their fellow-men the redeeming
fact of this new outpouring of divine guidance and love. We believe they
will not labour in vain.
Haifa,
1967