July 17, 2019

‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Center of the Covenant – by Juliet Thompson

Juliet Thompson in her studio
'Abdu’l-Baha: Vibrant Personality and Unique Function of the Figure Who Heralds the Golden Age

In these days when a civilization is dying before our very eyes, and when the great Prophet, Baha’u’llah, has appeared, standing on the threshold of a new age with a scroll of new commandments in His hand, two other Figures stand with Him, of heart-captivating beauty: - the youthful Báb, His Forerunner, equal in rank with Him as an independent Revelator, and the Son of Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha. “’Abdu'l-Baha", translated, means "Servant of the Glory", and this is His self-assumed title. Baha'u'llah entitled Him ‘The Master’".

In the language of Shoghi Effendi, the present Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, 'Abdu'l-Baha "holds not only in the Dispensation of Baha'u'lIah, but in the entire field of religious history, a unique function. Though moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically different from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Baha'i Revelation, He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant of Baha'u'llah forms, together with Them, what may be termed the Three Central Figures of a Faith unapproached in the world's spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction with Them, above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after Him, and for no less a period than a thousand years, can ever hope to rise."

Among the many titles conferred by His Father on 'Abdu'l-Baha is that of "The Mystery of God". The Guardian, referring to these titles, writes that they "invest Him with a power and surround Him with a halo which the present generation can never adequately appreciate."