Iranian Expatriates, Letter to, following 1979 Iranian Revolution

Explanatory Note:

  On 10 February 1980, the Universal House of Justice addressed a letter in Persian to the Iránian believers residing in countries outside Irán. The National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom prepared a translation into English, the text of which was sent to all National Spiritual Assemblies on 29 July 1980 with the following explanatory note: "The message includes several quotations from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi hitherto untranslated into English. The English text of these passages, as they appear in the attached translated message, have been checked and approved at the World Centre, and may be regarded by the friends as authorized texts. Passages previously published and included in the message can be found in the following publications: The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p.146 and p.33; The Promised Day is Come, p.1; and Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p.35 and p. 219."

The world is encircled with calamities. Even if at times some good may be evident, it is inevitable that a great calamity followeth — and yet no one on earth hath perceived its origin.... The world is in travail and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then and only then will the Divine Standard be unfurled and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.

Chaos and confusion are daily increasing in the world. They will attain such intensity as to render the frame of mankind unable to bear them. Then will men be awakened and become aware that religion is the impregnable stronghold and the manifest light of the world, and its laws, exhortations and teachings the source of life on earth.

It is the wish of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and that which attracts His good-pleasure, and indeed it is His binding command that Bahá'ís, in all matters, even in small daily transactions and dealings with others, should act in accordance with the Divine Teachings. He has commanded us not to be content with lowliness, humility and meekness but rather to become manifestations of utter nothingness and selflessness. Loyalty and fidelity, compassion and love are exhortations of old. In this supreme Dispensation the people of Bahá are called upon to sacrifice their very lives. Notice the extent to which the friends have been required, in the Sacred Epistles and Tablets as well as in our Beloved's Testament, to be righteous, well-wishing, forbearing, sanctified, pure, detached from all else save God, severed from the trappings of this world and adorned with the mantle of a goodly character and divine attributes. Before all else they must sanctify their hearts and purify their motives, otherwise all efforts in furthering any enterprise will be fruitless. They must eschew affectation and imitation, for every man of understanding will instantly detect their loathsome odour. They must not neglect the special times they should set aside for meditation, reflection and prayer, for without the blessings and confirmations of God, success, progress and development are difficult, nay impossible. You cannot imagine what influence is exerted on the hearts of men by genuine love, sincerity and purity of motive, but such an effect can only be produced when strivings and efforts are made every day by every individual. Let not the stranger, the envious and the enemy have cause to attribute the sublimity of the Faith in the past and in its early days to the appearance of outstanding and sanctified souls and the perseverance of martyrs whose absence today implies the necessary decline, weakening, scattering and annihilation of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.

Whatever occurreth in the world of being is light for His loved ones and fire for the people of sedition and strife. Even if all the losses of the world were to be sustained by one of the friends of God, he would still profit thereby, whereas true loss would be borne by such as are wayward, ignorant and contemptuous. Although the author of the following saying had intended it otherwise, yet We find it pertinent to the operation of God's immutable Will: "Even or odd, thou shalt win the wager." The friends of God shall win and profit under all conditions, and shall attain true wealth. In fire they remain cold, and from water they emerge dry. Their affairs are at variance with the affairs of men. Gain is their lot, whatever the deal. To this testifieth every wise one with a discerning eye, and every fair-minded one with a hearing ear.

      Having attained the stage of fulfilment and reached his maturity, man standeth in need of wealth, and such wealth as he acquireth through crafts or professions is commendable and praiseworthy in the estimation of men of wisdom. If wealth and prosperity become the means of service at God's Threshold it is highly meritorious, otherwise it would be better to avoid them. Turn to the Book of the Covenant, the Hidden Words, and other Tablets, lest the cord of your salvation become a rope of woe which will lead to your own destruction. How numerous are those negligent souls, particularly from among your own compatriots, who have been deprived of the blessings of faith and true understanding. Witness how, no sooner had they attained their newly-amassed wealth and status, than they became so bewitched by them as to forget the virtues and true perfections of man's station. They clung to their empty and fruitless life-style. They had naught else but their homes, their commercial success, and their ornamental trappings of which to be proud. Behold their ultimate fate. Many a triumphal arch was reduced to a ruin, many an imperial palace was converted into a barn. Many a day of deceit turned into a night of despair. Vast treasures changed hands and, at the end of their lives, they were left only with tears of loss and regret.

...all that perisheth and changeth is not, and hath never been, worthy of attention, except to a recognized measure.

The liberation of this meek and innocent band of His followers from the fetters of its bondage and the talons of the people of tyranny and enmity must needs be preceded by the clamour and agitation of the masses. The realization of glory, of tranquility, and of true security for the people of Bahá will necessitate opposition, aggression and commotion on the part of the people of malevolence and iniquity. Therefore, should the buffeting waves of the sea of tribulation intensify and the storms of trials and tribulations assail that meek congregation from all six sides, know of a certainty and without a moment's hesitation that the time for their deliverance has drawn nigh, that the age-old promise of their assured glory will soon be fulfilled, and that at long last the means are provided for the persecuted people of Bahá in that land to attain salvation and supreme triumph. A firm step and an unshakeable resolve are essential so that the remaining stages may come to pass and the cherished ideals of the people of Bahá may be realized on the loftiest summits, and be made manifest in astounding brilliance. "Such is God's method, and no change shalt thou find in His method."