The Bah

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The Baháí FaithAn Introduction
Independent investigation of truth

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The Baháí Faith
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Baháulláh says

• That which the Lord hath ordained as the
  sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the
  healing of all the world is the union of all its
  people in one universal Cause and one common
  Faith.
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God is unknowable in Essence
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God is the creator
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Baháulláh says

• O SON OF MAN!
• I loved thy creation, hence I created thee.
  Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy
  name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.
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Covenant
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Manifestation
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Baháulláh Manifestation for today
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Baháulláh says

• This is the Day in which Gods most excellent
  favours have been poured out upon men, the Day in
  which His most mighty grace hath been infused
  into all created things. It is incumbent upon all
  the peoples of the world to reconcile their
  differences, and, with perfect unity and peace,
  abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care
  and loving-kindness.

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Oneness of humanity
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Oneness of humanity
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Abdul-Bahá says

• When the thought of war comes, oppose it by a
  stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred
  must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of
  love.

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Abdul-Bahá says
Baháulláh has drawn the circle of unity, He
has made a design for the uniting of all the
peoples, and for the gathering of them all under
the shelter of the tent of universal unity.
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Life of Baháulláh
Tehran in 1817
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Baháulláhs sufferings
Citadel of Akka The Most Great Prison
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Baháulláh wrote

• Remember My days during thy days, and My
  distress and banishment in this remote prison.
  And be thou so steadfast in My love that thy
  heart shall not waver, even if the swords of the
  enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens
  and the earth arise against thee.

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Baháulláhs triumphs
Room where Baháulláh passed away in 1892
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Baháulláhs passing
Baháulláh's shrine in Akka
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Baháulláh passing

• The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound
  with chains that mankind may be released from its
  bondage, and hath accepted to be made a prisoner
  within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole
  world may attain unto true liberty. He hath
  drained to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all
  the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding
  joy, and be filled with gladness. This is of the
  mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most
  Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O
  believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be
  exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions,
  that ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath
  come to build anew the whole world, behold, how
  they that have joined partners with God have
  forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of
  cities!

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Station of the Báb
The appearance of the Báb resembles the dawn,
for the dawn holds the promise of the sun. The
dawn of the Báb promised the rising of the Sun of
Truth that is to envelop the whole world.
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Life of the Báb
Public flogging in Persia. A bare backed man tied
to a wooden stockade is publicly flogged in front
of a crowd of men in a public square in Persia.
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The Bábs prayers

• Is there any Remover of difficulties save God?
  Say Praise be God! He is God! All are His
  servants, and all abide by His bidding!

Say God sufficeth all things above all things,
and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but
God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the
Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.

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Shrine of the Báb
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Covenant of Baháulláh
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Life of Abdul-Bahá
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Baháí laws
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Prayer
I bear witness, O my God, that Thou has created
me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify,
at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy
might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is
none other God beside Thee, the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting. Baháulláh
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Backbiting and calumny
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Baháulláh says

• O Companion of my throne! Hear no evil, and see
  no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and
  weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it
  spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of
  others that thine own faults may not appear
  great and wish not the abasement of anyone, that
  thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the
  days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting
  moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart
  unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature
  sanctified, so that, free and content, thou
  mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair
  unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal
  kingdom for evermore.

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Alcohol substance abuse
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Baháulláh says

• O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost
  thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made
  thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of
  the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why
  seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me?
  Out of the clay of love I moulded thee, how dost
  thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight
  unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing
  within thee, mighty, powerful and
  self-subsisting.

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Education of children
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Abdul-Bahá says

• Therefore, the beloved of God and the
  maid-servants of the Merciful must train their
  children with life and heart and teach them in
  the school of virtue and perfection. They must
  not be lax in this matter they must not be
  inefficient. Truly, if a babe did not live at all
  it were better than to let it grow ignorant, for
  that innocent babe, in later life, would become
  afflicted with innumerable defects, responsible
  to and questioned by God, reproached and rejected
  by the people. What a sin this would be and what
  an omission!

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The work of a Baháí

1. The Individual
2. The Community
3. The Institutions of the Faith

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The individual
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The community
Indigenous people at a Bahá'í study circle in
Bolivia
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The institutions of the Faith
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Epilogue
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Abdul-Bahá said

• They must justify their claim of being Baháís
  by deeds and not by name. He is a true Baháí who
  strives day and nigh to progress and advance
  along the path that transcends the human, whose
  most ardent desire is to live and act in such a
  manner as to enrich and illumine the world, whose
  aim in life is to behave in a manner that will be
  a cause of infinite progress.

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Prayer for spiritual growth

• O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my
  heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs
  in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I
  will no longer be sorrowful and grieved I will
  be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no
  longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble
  harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant
  things of life.
• O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to
  myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.