An In-depth Study of the Lives of Women Closely Related to the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh

This collection of gems from the Baha'i writings is a much-loved classic that has been familiar to generations of Baha'is for over 60 years. Now available to the general public for the first time, the book is a guide to the spiritual development and walking a spiritual path with practical feet. Among the wealth of subjects the book explores are learning to know, love, and trust God; the purpose of life; the importance of prayer and meditation; developing faith and certitude; learning to cope with life's difficulties with patience and confidence; and the importance of service to humanity-to name only a few. Spiritual seekers of any faith tradition will find here timeless wisdom and inspiration that can help them better understand and appreciate the divine art of living.

The first full-length biography of one of the greatest women in world religious history. Her towering spiritual strength offers readers an unrivaled model of sacrifice and service to one's faith.Born in Tehran, Bahiyyih Khanum (18461932) was the daughter of Baha'u'llah (18171892), Prophet and Founder of the Baha'i religion. Because Baha'u'llah's teachings were seen in His homeland as a heretical threat to the established order, He and His immediate family and a small group of followers were exiled for some forty years. Meanwhile, thousands of other followers were exterminated in an effort to eradicate the new faith.From the age of seven, Bahiyyih Khanum accompanied her father in exile to Baghdad, Constantinople, Adrianople, and eventually 'Akka, suffering all of the privations her father suffered. Yet she played a unique and crucial role in supporting her family; assisting members of the religion during periods of unspeakably brutal persecution; managing the small band's household under prison conditions; and, later in life, working with Baha'u'llah's successors to establish the Baha'i Faith as a universally recognized world religion. Her confident and resilient response to hardship and suffering, her acceptance of administrative responsibility, her exemplary leadership, and her capacity to deal constructively with change were exceptional.

Eighteen-year-old Morrigan has always felt different, like she didn’t belong in small-town Oklahoma where she grew up. But on an outing with her friends to the deep, gem-filled Alabaster caves, Morrigan discovers that she’s much more than just different, she’s magical. When she learns the dark truth about her ancestry from her grandparents, a devastating accident transports grief-stricken Morrigan to Partholon and into the keep of the Sidetha, where she is regarded as the Light Bringer, the Goddess Adsagsona’s Chosen One. Luckily for her, many strangely familiar priestesses and otherworldly beings are there to offer her guidance in her new world, including a brazen, handsome centaur High Shaman named Kegan. As she tries to make sense of the powers swirling inside her—and confront her growing feelings for Kegan—she must fight against the lurking darkness that threatens to permeate her very soul.

In the 19th century, countless individuals believed a new Revelation was imminent. In Persia, the Báb fulfilled the prediction by several clerics of the appearance of the Promised Qa'im. Tahirih of Qazvin, a gifted teacher, was at the vanguard of spreading the Báb's teachings. She unceasingly proclaimed the Bábí Faith and brought a deeper understanding of its teachings to the rapidly growing numbers of its converts. Her vibrant poetry gave voice to her spiritual longing and passion, and its freshness reflected the vitality of the new spiritual teachings. She emerged as the most outspoken of the Baacute;biacute; leaders. The authorities responded by having her murdered in the dead of night. The memory of her life survives in her poems. At the same time, many Americans believed the Second Coming of Christ was imminent. Several churches and movements emerged, some founded by women. Among them were Ellen G. White, a theological thinker who shaped the beliefs of the Adventist movement, Sojourner Truth, who came up from slavery to electrify audiences with her salvation preaching, and Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Church of Christ Science; these women leaders were prefigured in the 18th century by 'Mother' Ann Lee, founder of the Shakers, and the long forgotten female 'exhorters'. The Calling by Hussein Ahdieh and Hillary Chapman describes Tahirih in a fresh, new manner, juxtaposing and interweaving her life and work with that of her American contemporaries women whose existence she was probably not aware of, but who shared with her a spiritual bond and vision of progress and justice.

In 1844, a young merchant from Shiraz called Sayyid ‘Ali-Muhammad declared himself the ‘gate’ (the Bab) to the Truth and, shortly afterwards, the initiator of a new prophetic cycle. His messianic call attracted a significant following across Iran and Iraq. Regarded as a threat by state and religious authorities, the Babis were subject to intense persecution and the Bab himself was executed in 1850. In this volume, leading scholars of Islam, Baha’i studies and Iranian history come together to examine the life and legacy of the Bab, from his childhood to the founding of the Baha’i faith and beyond. Among other subjects, they cover the Bab’s writings, his Qur’an commentaries, the societal conditions that underlay the Babi upheavals, the works of Babi martyr Tahirih Qurratu’l-‘Ayn, and Orientalist Edward Granville Browne’s encounters with Babi and Baha’i texts.