Ridván: The Most Great Festival
O my brother! Take thou the step of the spirit, so that, swift as the twinkling of an eye, thou mayest flash through the wilds of remoteness and bereavement, attain the Ridván of everlasting reunion, and in one breath commune with the heavenly Spirits. For with human feet thou canst never hope to traverse these immeasurable distances, nor attain thy goal. Peace be upon him whom the light of truth guideth unto all truth, and who, in the name of God, standeth in the path of His Cause, upon the shore of true understanding. -The Kitáb-i-Íqán
Riḍván is an annual festival marking the anniversary of the period in 1863 when Bahá’u’lláh spent 12 days in a garden on the banks of the River Tigris in Baghdád, preparing His friends and family for a new and wondrous stage in the unfoldment of God’s Plan.
During this time, His many admirers in the city came to bid Him farewell, as He was about to depart on the next stage of His decades’ long banishment from place to place. Bahá’u’lláh announced to the friends gathered with Him during those days that He was God's Messenger for a new age, foretold in the world's scriptures. He called the garden they were gathered in "Riḍván," meaning "paradise."
The Riḍván period was also a time when Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed the foundational spiritual principles that lie at the heart of His teachings—signaling the coming of a new stage in the evolution of the life of humanity, characterised by peace and an end to violence.
This year, the first day of Riḍván commences at sunset on Wednesday 20 April.
The above photo showing a historical view of Baghdad and the Tigris River, has been sourced from the Baha’i Media Bank (© Copyright Baha’i International Community)
