Baha'i Library Forum

Dear ones, is it appropriate to say the prayer for the hands of Cause of God for the Counselors today?

Thanks.

Interesting question...

I don't know of any quotations that would directly answer this, but while the Hands of the Cause and Counsellors both belong to the "learned" of Baha with shared responsibilities, the Universal House of Justice did mention not being able to appoint more Hands ("The Universal House of Justice sees no way in which additional Hands of the Cause of God can be appointed.", at http://en.bahaitext.org/MUHJ63-86/59/Es ... Counselors ), and as also per the fact of the Counsellor terms being only 5 years, as opposed to being a life-time appointment, I think it is clear that these are separate institutions, so we cannot at least call the Counsellors as fully equivalent to Hands of the Cause. See also http://bahai-library.com/uhj_institution_counsellors#3a for more on the history of these institutions.

While I don't know of prayers for the "learned", which does include the Counsellors (e.g., see http://bahai-library.com/writings/bahau ... ml#note183 ), if you were looking for sacred verses, however, there are such as the following:

Happy are ye, O ye the learned ones in Bahá. By the Lord! Ye are the billows of the Most Mighty Ocean, the stars of the firmament of Glory, the standards of triumph waving betwixt earth and heaven. Ye are the manifestations of steadfastness amidst men and the daysprings of Divine Utterance to all that dwell on earth. Well is it with him that turneth unto you, and woe betide the froward. This day, it behoveth whoso hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of everlasting life from the Hands of the loving-kindness of the Lord his God, the Merciful, to pulsate even as the throbbing artery in the body of mankind, that through him may be quickened the world and every crumbling bone.

(Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, par. 173, emphasis added)

"Blessed are the rulers and the learned among the people of Bahá. They are My trustees among My servants and the manifestations of My commandments amidst My people. Upon them rest My glory, My blessings and My grace which have pervaded the world of being. In this connection the utterances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are such that from the horizon of their words the light of divine grace shineth luminous and resplendent."

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 221, emphasis added)

"Abase not the station of the learned in Bahá and belittle not the rank of such rulers as administer justice amidst you."

(Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Hikmat, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pp. 138-139, emphasis added)

Note that the latter quotation was explicitly cited at http://bahai-library.com/uhj_institution_counsellors#10 in connection to the Counsellors.

Best wishes,
Brett

On the other hand, I do recall, that "hand of the Cause", in lower-case, may have been used in a sense not specific to the officially appointed Hands, but I can't be sure of this, and don't have a citation for it.

Thank you so much, Brettz.