The Shrine of the Bab in the time of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Whose small white room can be seen high up to the left of the Shrine.
The Seat of His Throne
"He verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears."
~ Extract from the Tablet of Carmel, by Baha'u'llah
Tablet of Visitation
(Extract)
(Read at the Shrine of the Bab)
"Great, therefore, is the blessedness of him who hath believed in Thee, and in Thy signs, and hath humbled himself before Thy sovereignty, and hath been honored with meeting Thee, and hath attained the good pleasure of Thy will, and circled around Thee, and stood before Thy throne."
~Baha'u'llah
The Mountain
"This mountain [Carmel] is where Israel’s prophets passed their nights in prayers.
Every step of it has been blessed by the footsteps of the prophets . . .
This land will be the envy of the world, the centre of arts and sciences.
‘Akká and Haifa will be connected and all the vacant lands will be cultivated.
All these caves that you see have been the abode of the prophets, step by step.
Every atom of this soil is holy.
All the prophets, while praying, longed to reach this day and give the glad tidings of the coming of the Lord.
They prophesied that the Lord of Hosts would come and the tent of the Lord would be pitched on Mount Carmel . . .
In all these mountains and caves the prophets of God prayed at night, shed tears, and longed to be with us in these days of the Blessed Beauty."
~ 'Abdu'l-Baha
The Task
"Every stone of that building, every stone of the road leading to it, I have with infinite tears and at tremendous cost, raised and put in position."
~ 'Abdu'l-Baha
A Prayer
(Revealed when the Shrine and 'Abdu'l-Baha were under threat of extinction.)
O God, my God! Thou seest me plunged in an ocean of anguish, held fast to the fires of tyranny, and weeping in the darkness of the night.
"Sleepless I toss and turn upon my bed, mine eyes straining to behold the morning light of faithfulness and trust.
"I agonise even as a fish, its inward parts afire as it leapeth about in terror upon the sand, yet I ever look for Thy bestowals to appear from every side."
Tablet of Visitation
Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Baha
(Extract)
"O God, my God! Lowly and tearful, I raise my suppliant hands to Thee and cover my face in the dust of that Threshold of Thine, exalted above the knowledge of the learned, and the praise of all that glorify Thee.
"Graciously look upon Thy servant, humble and lowly at Thy door, with the glances of the eye of Thy mercy, and immerse him in the Ocean of Thine eternal grace.
~ 'Abdu'l-Baha
The Fragrant
(Extract from Ode to the Shrine of the Bab)
"High, immeasurably high is this Shrine,
the lofty, the most great, the most wondrous.
Exalted, immeasurably exalted is this Resting-place,
the fragrant, the pure, the luminous, the transcendent.
Glorified, immeasurably glorified is this Spot,
the most august, the most holy, the most blessed, the most sublime....
Upon thee, O Queen of Carmel, be the purest, the most tender salutations,
the fairest, the most gracious blessings!
Glorified is He Whose footsteps have ennobled the spot whereon thou standest,
Who ordained thy Seat, and Who extolled thee in His Tablet and Book. "
~Shoghi Effendi