Celebrating the dawn of a new era
On the night of October 20, 1819, in the ancient city of Shiraz, Persia, the world was blessed with the birth of a child destined to change the course of human history—the Báb. His arrival marked the dawn of a new era, one that would set the stage for the unification of humanity and the emergence of Bahá'u'lláh’s Revelation. This year, the Twin Holy Days are celebrated on November 2nd & 3rd, with the 2nd being the Birth of the Báb. To honour this sacred Holy Day, we share below, some excerpts and quotations that reflect the exalted dispensation of the Báb.
““I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendour can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade.””
The Báb: Inaugurator of a separate religious Dispensation
To highlight the significance of the Birth of the Báb, it is fitting to draw on the words of the beloved Guardian, whose writings shed light on the magnitude of the Bab’s dispensation.
“The marvelous happenings that have heralded the advent of the Founder of the Bábí Dispensation, the dramatic circumstances of His own eventful life, the miraculous tragedy of His martyrdom, the magic of His influence exerted on the most eminent and powerful among His countrymen, to all of which every chapter of Nabíl’s stirring narrative testifies, should in themselves be regarded as sufficient evidence of the validity of His claim to so exalted a station among the Prophets.”
“Dearly-beloved friends! That the Báb, the inaugurator of the Bábí Dispensation, is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God, that He has been invested with sovereign power and authority, and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophethood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Bahá’u’lláh insistently proclaims and which its followers must uncompromisingly uphold. That He is not to be regarded merely as an inspired Precursor of the Bahá’í Revelation, that in His person, as He Himself bears witness in the Persian Bayán, the object of all the Prophets gone before Him has been fulfilled, is a truth which I feel it my duty to demonstrate and emphasize…Indeed the greatness of the Báb consists primarily, not in His being the divinely-appointed Forerunner of so transcendent a Revelation, but rather in His having been invested with the powers inherent in the inaugurator of a separate religious Dispensation, and in His wielding, to a degree unrivaled by the Messengers gone before Him, the sceptre of independent Prophethood…”
Shoghi Effendi - The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, 1934
The Báb: Herald of a New Day, Harbinger of Divine Light
As we reflect on the life and mission of the Báb, these quotes from Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Báb Himself shed light on His exalted station and the significance of His Revelation.
““The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover.… I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God.””
““Behold from this utterance how great and lofty is His station! His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets, and His Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones.””
““The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth, the splendour of Whose light shineth throughout all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá Luminary.””
The following articles, previously shared on Bahá'í Aotearoa for the Birth of the Báb, include excerpts from the book Days of Remembrance and may be of interest to readers as we celebrate these joyous and blessed Twin Holy Days.
Feature image: The Shrine of the Báb, Haifa, Israel.
