The year 2013 marks the hundredth anniversary of ‘Abdu’l- Bahá’s
return to the Holy Land from His historic trip to Egypt and the West. He left
Haifa for Egypt in September 1910 and returned there three years later. The
person “invested … with the responsibility” to attend “to the multitudinous
details arising out of His protracted absence from the Holy Land” (‘BAHÍYYIH
KHÁNUM’, A compilation from Bahá'í sacred texts and writings of the Guardian of
the Faith and Bahíyyih Khánum's own letters, made by the Research department at
the Bahá'í World Centre [henceforth “BK”] p. 39) was His honoured sister, Bahíyyih
Khánum, [1] the Greatest Holy Leaf. In the words of Shoghi Effendi: “At the
time of His [‘Abdu’l- Bahá’s] absence in the western world, she was His
competent deputy, His representative and vicegerent, with none to equal her” (BK
28).
The centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s return to the Holy Land after
His protracted absence coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the
establishment of the Universal House of Justice. As we gather to celebrate
these landmarks, we take time to ponder upon the life of a most remarkable
woman in the history of religion, focus attention on the outstanding services she
rendered and on the significance of the site Shoghi Effendi chose for her
burial place. It was his choice of a specific spot on Mount Carmel that
determined the location of the Arc, around which are built the institutions of
the world administrative centre of the Faith, the Seat of the Universal House
of Justice occupying its centre top.
The Greatest Holy Leaf
Born in Tihran to Bahá’u’lláh and Ásíyih Khánum in 1846, she
was named Fatimih at birth. She was later called Bahíyyih. In a Tablet revealed
in her honour, Bahá’u’lláh confirms that she appeared in His name. “Verily she
is a leaf that hath sprung from this preexistent Root. She hath revealed
herself in My name and tasted of the sweet savours of My holy, My wondrous pleasure”
(BK p. v). The full text of Bahá’u’lláh’s original Arabic of the above is
inscribed around the circular dome of the Greatest Holy Leaf’s monument on
Mount Carmel (Ibid).
