Baha’i

Revealed by Baha'u'llah in Adrianople and sent to Mirza Ahmad Yazdi who was travelling from Baghdad to see Him, the Tablet of Ahmad is one of the prayers identified by Shoghi Effendi as having been invested with a 'special potency and significance'.H. Richard Gurinsky explores the Tablet of Ahmad to discover its significance and importance in the lives of Baha'is today. Taking each verse in turn, he reflects on the many levels of meaning that every phrase holds and draws the reader into a deep meditation on the import of Baha'u'llah's words.

Vol 1 - Early Years 1870-1922Beginning with their childhood years, this is the story of May Bolles and Sutherland Maxwell; their youth, their meeting and courtship in Paris; their marriage;their first pilgrimages; the birth of their daughter and the historic visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to their home in Montreal in 1912.One family, bonded in their love for the Bahá'í Faith and for each other, committed through decades of uninterrupted service to the promotion and establishment of that Faith worldwide. They were born during the Heroic Age of the Faith the parents during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh, the child during the Ministry of Abdu'l-Bahá and they lived to serve the Guardian of the Cause during the early decades of the Formative Age at the most critical time of his ministry. The mother became a beloved handmaid and distinguished disciple of Abdu'l-Bahá, of whom He wrote that her company uplifts and develops the soul. The father was a noble, cultured and saintly man, an outstanding architect, not only of the Shrine of the Báb but also as a partner in the largest and most preeminent architectural firm in Canada during the first quarter of the 20th century. And the daughter grew up to play a unique role in history as the wife of the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. Their names were May Bolles, William Sutherland and Mary the Maxwells of Montreal.Volume I (Early Years) covers the years 1870-1922, beginning with the childhood years of May Bolles and Sutherland Maxwell; their youth, their meeting and courtship in Paris; their marriage and their first pilgrimages. It tells the story of the birth of their daughter and the historic visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to their home in Montreal just before World War I. It also describes the early development and training of young Mary, the family's activities during the war years, the reception of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá which ended the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Faith.The book draws on over 1,600 personal letters between May, Sutherland and Mary Maxwell (Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum), together with about 1,400 letters which the three Maxwells exchanged with their relatives and some of the early Bahá'ís. It includes citations from the 195 Tablets, letters and cables from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Greatest Holy Leaf to members of the family, which have never been transcribed before. It also contains extracts from Rúhíyyih Khánum's notebooks, the memoirs of her mother, sketches made by her father, and articles and photographs related to the period.

As 'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís secretary and translator from 1918 to 1920, and then at Balliol College Oxford, the young Shoghi Effendi was being prepared to become the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.As World War I drew to its close, Shoghi Effendi, a young graduate of the American University of Beirut, returned home to Haifa in the Holy Land to be of service to his beloved grandfather, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the head of the Bahá'í Faith. From late 1918 to mid-1920 Shoghi Effendi became the chief secretary and translator of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's voluminous correspondence with Bahá'ís in Western countries as well as India and Japan, and accompanied 'Abdu'l-Bahá in his meetings in Haifa and 'Akká with officials, enquirers and pilgrims. All this prepared him for directing the growth and development of the Bahá'í Faith as its Guardian - a responsibility that would be bestowed upon him on the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.Shoghi Effendi himself was unaware of this future event. He longed to perfect his command of the English language that he might be of better service to his beloved grandfather, and to fulfil this purpose he applied and was admitted to Balliol College at Oxford University, one of the greatest centres of learning in the world. His studies at the University, and his visits to the Bahá'í communities in England, are described in this book.This updated and expanded edition was originally published as Shoghi Effendi in Oxford.

The Maxwells of Montreal Volume II (Middle and Late Years) covers the years 1923-1952. Beginning with the early ministry of the Guardian and the pilgrimage of May and her daughter in 1923/4, it describes Mary's education as a young Bahá'í, her pilgrimage during her adolescence and the growth of the youth movement in Montreal, as well as the family's services to the Bahá'í Faith in Canada and the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. It then moves to Europe, where May in France and Mary in Germany contributed to the advancement of these Bahá'í communities between 1935 and 1937. But in 1937 Mary's marriage to Shoghi Effendi changed the lives of the family for ever. As Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum she would be called to extraordinary heights of service and sacrifice. The final part of the book (Late Years) gives an account of May's heroic services before her passing in Argentina in 1940, and describes Sutherland's remarkable architectural achievement as architect of the Shrine of the Báb during his final years in the Holy Land.This volume, like Volume I, draws on the over 1,600 personal letters between May, Sutherland and Mary Maxwell (Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum), together with about 1,400 letters which the three Maxwells exchanged with their relatives and some of the early Bahá'ís. It includes the last Tablet May Maxwell received from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and citations from letters and cables from Shoghi Effendi to members of the family which have never been transcribed before. It also contains extracts from Rúhíyyih Khánum's notebooks, sketches made by her father, and articles and photographs related to the period. One family, bonded in their love for the Bahá'í Faith and for each other, committed through decades of uninterrupted service to the promotion and establishment of that Faith worldwide. Of the mother, 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote that 'her company uplifts and develops the soul'. The father, a noble, cultured and saintly man, was an outstanding architect not only of the Shrine of the Báb but as a partner in the most preeminent architectural firm in Canada during the early 20th century. And the daughter grew up to play a unique role in history as the wife of the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. They were the Maxwells of Montreal.

Shoghi Effendi Through the Pilgrim's Eye tells the story of the Guardian's ministry from 1922 when the young Shoghi Effendi, just 24 years old, was charged with guiding the affairs of a worldwide Faith. Rather than a biography, it draws on the diary entries and letters (many now published for the first time) of the many pilgrims and visitors to the Bahá'í Holy Places in Haifa and 'Akká, as well as the accounts of those who worked to assist the Guardian in his many extraordinary achievements.As in all such cases, these recollections must be taken in the spirit of pilgrim notes - interesting and thought-provoking highlights and observations, but not any part of the Bahá'í Sacred Text. They do, however, provide unique insights and inspiration.Volume I (1922-1952) covers the years when the Guardian was laying the foundations of the Bahá'í Administrative Order destined to culminate in the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, while at the same time planning and carrying out the extension and development of the Shrines of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, translating the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh as well as The Dawn-Breakers and writing his own major works, as well as facing challenges to his authority and responding to the confiscation of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad and the persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran and Egypt. The volume ends just before the dramatic decade that was to begin in 1953 with the celebration of the Bahá'í Holy Year, the first intercontinental conferences and the launching of the ten-year worldwide spiritual plan to carry the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh to every place on the planet.Pilgrims include:Agnes AlexanderEffie BakerMúsá and Samíhíh Banání Victoria Bedekian Lady Blomfield Nancy BowditchTed Cardell Stanwood and Nayyan CobbAmelia Collins Genevieve Coy Ethel Dawe Alice DoolittleSabrí EliasJohn EsslemontNell French 'Alí-Akbar FurútanUgo Giachery Hermann, Anna & Elsa GrossmannPhilip HainsworthLarry Hautz James HeggieEmogene Hoagg Leroy IoasMarion JackDhikru'lláh KhádemAli-Kuli Khan and Florence Abu'l-Qásim KhurásáníRom LandauMay and Mary Maxwell Sutherland MaxwellMargery McCormickMuhammad MustafaNew Zealand Bahá'ísSadie and Bertha OglesbyMabel and Sylvia PaineAziz Panahi Keith Ransom-KehlerMason RemeyMartha RootEthel RosenbergEmeric SalaFred and Lorol Schopflocher May and Isabelle Stebbins Habíb Taherzadeh Juliet ThompsonGeorge Townshend Corinne TrueGladys and Ben WeedenAlbert Windust

Door of Hope is an indispensable guide to the history and sites of pilgrimage of the Bahá'í Faith in the Holy Land. The author lived at the Bahá'í World Centre for twenty-five years, and used the opportunity to make the subject of this book his special study. He methodically examined the geography, archaeology and history of all that relates to the Bahá'í Faith, as well as the results of Jewish, Christian and Bahá'í scholarship.The text is enriched by a unique collection of historic photographs and drawings which will prove both fascinating and of great value for Bahá'í pilgrims and visitors, as well as those who have not had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land.