Thousand

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the Words of God have innumerable significances and mysteries of meanings -- each one a thousand and more.
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 155)

every day of the cycle of the Blessed Beauty is in reality equal to one year, and every year of it is equal to a thousand years.
(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 67)


Nabil spent some time thus esteemed and in high favor, but the love he had for God was past all concealing. It burst from his heart, flamed out and consumed its coverings.
A thousand ways I tried
My love to hide  --
But how could I, upon that blazing pyre
Not catch fire!
(Memorials of the Faithful, p. 2)


'Bid them recite: "Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!" Tell them to repeat it five hundred times, nay, a thousand times, by day and by night, sleeping and waking, that haply the Countenance of Glory may be unveiled to their eyes, and tiers of light descend upon them.'
(Baha'u'llah, God Passes By, p. 119)

With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief.
(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 51)


it is incumbent upon the friends that are fast and firm in the Covenant and Testament to be ever wakeful lest after this wronged one is gone this alert and active worker of mischief may cause disruption, privily sow the seeds of doubt and sedition and utterly root out the Cause of God. A thousand times shun his company.
(The Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 21)

Thank God that -- praise be to God! -- the glass of thy life and heart hath become bright with the lamp of guidance, and the chalice of hope and desire hath overflowed with the wine of the love of God. This is an attainment and blessing that, if thou give thanks a thousand centuries and cycles, thou wilt not be capable of doing justice. Therefore, in the utmost of joy, gladness, rejoicings and endless happiness thou must open thy tongue in thanksgiving and glorifying the Lord of mercy and become the cause of enlightenment.
(Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Vol. III, p. 689)

It is necessary for them to meditate, to meditate for a thousand thousand years, that haply they may attain unto a sprinkling from the ocean of knowledge,
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 126)

A month in 'Akká is better than a thousand years elsewhere.
(The Prophet Muhammad, quoted in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 179)

And he that saith in 'Akká: 'Glorified be God, and praise be unto God, and there is none other God but God, and most great is God, and there is no power nor strength except in God, the Exalted, the Mighty,' God will write down for him a thousand good deeds, and blot out from him a thousand evil deeds, and will uplift him a thousand grades in Paradise, and will forgive him his transgressions.
(The Prophet Muhammad, quoted in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 180)

The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise which human tongue or pen can render are all the product of man's finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations. Ten thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice, "Thou shalt never behold Me!"
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 62)

I testify, O my God, that if I were given a thousand lives by Thee, and offered them up all in Thy path, I would still have failed to repay the least of the gifts which, by Thy grace, Thou hast bestowed upon me.
(Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 20)

In these days, praise be to God, the power of His Word hath obtained such ascendancy over men, that they dare breathe no word. Were they to encounter one of the companions of God who, if he could, would, freely and joyously, offer up ten thousand lives as a sacrifice for his Beloved, so great would be their fear, that they forthwith would profess their faith in Him, whilst privily they would vilify and execrate His name!
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 77)

But once having been honoured with God's supreme distinction, and having been vouchsafed His bountiful grace, they would, if they were able, have freely offered up ten thousand lives in His path!
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 156)

At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One, at every step he throweth a thousand heads at the feet of the Beloved.
(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 8)

In like manner, it is related that on a certain day, one of the companions of Sadiq complained of his poverty before him. Whereupon, Sadiq, that immortal beauty, made reply: "Verily thou art rich, and hast drunk the draught of wealth." That poverty-stricken soul was perplexed at the words uttered by that luminous countenance, and said: "Where are my riches, I who stand in need of a single coin?" Sadiq thereupon observed: "Dost thou not possess our love?" He replied: "Yea, I possess it, O thou scion of the Prophet of God!" And Sadiq asked him saying: "Exchangest thou this love for one thousand dinars?" He answered: "Nay, never will I exchange it, though the world and all that is therein be given me!"
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 131)


The steed of this Valley is patience; without patience the wayfarer on this journey will reach nowhere and attain no goal. Nor should he ever be downhearted; if he strive for a hundred thousand years and yet fail to behold the beauty of the Friend, he should not falter.
(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 5)


One speck of chastity is greater than a hundred thousand years of worship and a sea of knowledge.
(Baha'u'llah, quoted in The Universal House of Justice, Day of the Covenant 26 November 2003 message to the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the Cradle of the Faith, p. 4 -- from Ocean)


There was once a lover who had sighed for long years in separation from his beloved, and wasted in the fire of remoteness. From the rule of love, his heart was empty of patience, and his body weary of his spirit; he reckoned life without her as a mockery, and time consumed him away. How many a day he found no rest in longing for her; how many a night the pain of her kept him from sleep; his body was worn to a sigh, his heart's wound had turned him to a cry of sorrow. He had given a thousand lives for one taste of the cup of her presence, but it availed him not. The doctors knew no cure for him, and companions avoided his company; yea, physicians have no medicine for one sick of love, unless the favor of the beloved one deliver him.
(Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 13)


It is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer, supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents. Thereupon God's call will be raised: 'Thousand upon thousand of what thou hast asked for thy parents shall be thy recompense!'
(Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 94)

I swear by the most holy Essence of God -- exalted and glorified be He -- that in the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest a thousand perusals of the Bayan cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by Him Whom God shall make manifest.
(Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 103)


One consecrated soul is preferable to a thousand other souls.
(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 80)



O ye friends of God! Today is the day of union and this age is the age of harmony in the world of existence. "Verily, God loveth those who are working in His path in groups, for they are a solid foundation." Consider ye that he says "in groups," united and bound together, supporting one another. "To work," mentioned in this holy verse, does not mean, in this greatest age, to perform it with swords, spears, shafts and arrows, but rather with sincere intentions, good designs, useful advices, divine moralities, beautiful actions, spiritual qualities, educating the public, guiding the souls of mankind, diffusing spiritual fragrances, explaining divine illustrations, showing convincing proofs and doing charitable deeds. When the holy souls, through the angelic power, will arise to show forth these celestial characteristics, establishing a band of harmony, each of these souls shall be regarded as one thousand persons and the waves of this greatest ocean shall be considered as the army of the hosts of the Supreme Concourse.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 401)

Say, God hath, according to that which is revealed in the Book, taken upon Himself the task of ensuring the ascendancy of any one of the followers of the Truth, over and above one hundred other souls, and the supremacy of one hundred believers over one thousand non-believers and the domination of one thousand of the faithful over all the peoples and kindreds of the earth
(Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 153)


By God, besides Whom is none other God! Should anyone arise for the triumph of our Cause, him will God render victorious though tens of thousands of enemies be leagued against him.
(Baha'u'llah, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 57)
Whensoever holy souls, drawing on the powers of heaven, shall arise with such qualities of the spirit, and march in unison, rank on rank, every one of those souls will be even as one thousand, and the surging waves of that mighty ocean will be even as the battalions of the Concourse on high.
(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 260

Whensoever holy souls, drawing on the powers of heaven, shall arise with such qualities of the spirit, and march in unison, rank on rank, every one of those souls will be even as one thousand, and the surging waves of that mighty ocean will be even as the battalions of the Concourse on high....
("Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sec. 207, p. 260)


0 ye believers of God! Be not concerned with the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world. Five grains of wheat will be endued with heavenly blessing, whereas a thousand tons of tares will yield no results or effect. One fruitful tree will be conducive to the life of society, whereas a thousand forests of wild trees offer no fruits. The plain is covered with pebbles, but precious stones are rare. One pearl is better than a thousand wildernesses of sand, especially this pearl of great price, which is endowed with divine blessing. Ere long thousands of other pearls will be born from it. When that pearl associates and becomes the intimate of the pebbles, they also all change into pearls.
(Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 95)

"O Tahirih!" exclaims in his book on the Bábís the great author and poet of Turkey, Sulayman Nazim Bey, "you are worth a thousand Násiri'd-Dín Sháhs!"
(God Passes By, p. 76)

"the Letters of the Living, the chosen disciples of the Báb, whose station is ten thousand times more glorious than any which the apostles of old have attained"
(Baha'u'llah, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 63)


"How thankful must we be for having been made in this Day the recipients of so overwhelming a favor! Would that we had ten thousand lives that we might lay them down in thanksgiving for so rare a privilege, so high an attainment, so priceless a bounty!"
(Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 110)

These Perspicuous Verses

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- Baha'u'llah's announcement that the prophecies in the Holy Books are fulfilled.


(work in progress)




In many of His Writings, Baha'u'llah announces that He has fulfilled the prophecies of all religions:  

"Verily, He Who was hidden in the knowledge of God and is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures hath appeared."

"He Whose advent hath been foretold in the heavenly Scriptures is come"

"He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled.


"The Comforter Whose advent all the scriptures have promised is now come that He may reveal unto you all knowledge and wisdom.


"He that was hidden in the Treasury of Knowledge, and inscribed by the Pen of the Most High in His Books, and His Scriptures, and His Scrolls, and His Tablets, is come!

One of the most well-known of  Baha'u'llah's Tablets on this theme is found in both the Tablet of Ishraqat ("Splendors") and in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, addressed to one of the great oppressors of His faith. 


This Tablet begins with these words:

Among others, these perspicuous verses have, in answer to certain individuals, been sent down from the Kingdom of Divine knowledge: "O thou who hast set thy face towards the splendors of My Countenance! Vague fancies have encompassed the dwellers of the earth and debarred them from turning towards the Horizon of Certitude, and its brightness, and its manifestations and its lights. Vain imaginings have withheld them from Him Who is the Self-Subsisting. They speak as prompted by their own caprices, and understand not. Among them are those who have said: 'Have the verses been sent down?' Say: 'Yea, by Him Who is the Lord of the heavens!' 'Hath the Hour come?' 'Nay, more; it hath passed,  by Him Who is the Revealer of clear tokens! Verily, the Inevitable is come, and He, the True One, hath appeared with proof and testimony. The Plain is disclosed, and mankind is sore vexed and fearful. Earthquakes have broken loose, and the tribes have lamented, for fear of God, the Lord of Strength, the All-Compelling.' Say: 'The stunning trumpet blast hath been loudly raised, and the Day is God's, the One, the Unconstrained.' 'Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?' Say: 'Yea, by the Lord of Lords!' 'Is the Resurrection come?' 'Nay, more; He Who is the Self-Subsisting hath appeared with the Kingdom of His signs.' 'Seest thou men laid low?' 'Yea, by my Lord, the Exalted, the Most High!' 'Have the tree-stumps been uprooted?' 'Yea, more; the mountains have been scattered in dust; by Him the Lord of attributes!'

I have not included the entire tablet, because the Universal House of Justice has asked that Baha'i writers not publish the entire text of Baha'i Scriptures they are commenting on.  In this Day we have only the Text itself, without full annotations, so the people can read for themselves without the imposition of the views of others.  You can read the entire Tablet, at the links above to the Ishraqat and Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, and I'll have the link again at the end of this post.



It should be noted that the word "perspicuous," which rhymes with the word "conspicuous," means something that is clearly expressed and easily understood. The original words Shoghi Effendi here translates as "perspicuous verses," he has also translated as "words of consummate power and wisdom" and as "firm and conclusive verses".



This Tablet contains a number of the signs of the end times:


THE HOUR


Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth (John 5:28)



And that "the Hour" will indeed come - there is no doubt of it - and that God will wake up to life those who are in the tombs (Quran 22:7)


THE MOUNTAINS SCATTERED IN DUST; THE PLAIN
And they will ask thee of the mountains: Say: my Lord will scatter them in dust; and he will leave them a level plain (Quran 20:106)


the day when We cause the mountains to pass away, and thou seest the earth a levelled plain (Qur'an 18:47)


And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:9)

The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
(Psalms 104:31)



Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed (Isaiah 40:4)




THE VERSES HAVE BEEN SENT DOWN
Now have we sent down to you manifest signs [verses] Qur'an 24:34


THE INEVITABLE
The 56th Surih of the Qur'an is The Inevitable, and begins, "When the inevitable event comes to pass"


EARTHQUAKES HAVE BROKEN LOOSE
there shall be earthquakes in diverse places (Mark 13:8)


Verily, the earthquake of the last Hour will be a tremendous thing! (Qur'an 22:1)


STUNNING (OR DEAFENING) TRUMPET-BLAST
Hence, bethink yourselves of the Last Hour, when the trumpet of judgment shall be sounded with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke! And so, that which must come to pass will on that day have come to pass; and the sky will be rent asunder (Qur'an 69:13)

But when the stunning trumpet-blast shall arrive,
On that day shall a man fly from his brother,
And his mother and his father,
And his wife and his children (Qur'an 80:34)


THE CATASTROPHE
22:1 Catastrophe


THE RESURRECTION
22:7-10 Resurrection


THE SELF-SUBSISTING
20:110 The Self-Subsisting (i.e. God) will appear


MEN LAID LOW
69:7 Men will be laid low


TREE-STUMPS UPROOTED
54:20 and 69:7 Tree stumps will be uprooted


THE BALANCE IS SET
55:6-9 Balance is set (also see Isaiah 40:12-15). (I understand this to mean when a scale is calibrated; the Prophet and His Book are that by which all else is measured.)


THE STARS WILL FALL
81:2 Stars will fall


3:11 and 45:4 Those endued with discernment


7:105 and 20:23 Drew forth His hand


THE CRIER WILL CRY OUT
50:40 The Crier will cry out


THE PROMISED TIME
21:103 The promised time will come


52:45 The day when men will swoon away


20:102 There will be a blast on the Trumpet


DARKNESS WILL BE CHASED AWAY BY THE LIGHT OF DAWN
81:18 Darkness chased by light of the dawn


36:51 Trumpet will blast, dead will speed from their graves


THE HEAVENS WILL BE CLEFT ASUNDER
25:27 and 55:37 and 77:9 Heavens will be cleft asunder


MEN GATHERED TOGETHER
11:105 Men will be gathered together


THE WICKED WILL BE GATHERED TOGETHER BLIND
20:102 The day when the wicked will be gathered together, blind




25:11 Gardens in Paradise / mystic roses
39:71-72 Unbelievers/ impious burn in hell (also see Matthew 13:50)


These are all signs of the Judgment Day, the Last Day, the Promised Day, the Day when God will come to the earth. As Baha’u’llah says on p. 132, “all the signs appeared.” And I understand that to be His message in this Tablet.


Also, on p. 212 of God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi quotes a Tablet from Baha’u’llah in which He states that He designated His Tablets to the Kings by these names – Trumpet, Bugle, Catastrophe, Plain, etc., and that he wrote these in the shape of the human temple (GPB p. 213), which He identifies with the Temple in Zechariah (6:12-13) that is built by the “Man whose name is the Branch” which in this instance, as in Isaiah 4:2, refers to Baha’u’llah. Also, Isaiah 11:1-10 says the “resting-place” of the Branch will be glorious.



A number of these terms refer to Baha'u'llah's Tablets to the Kings and Rulers of the earth:



 Baha'u'llah refers to a number of prophecies, from the Old and New Testaments, and from the Qur'an.  Among them are these:

"Never since the beginning of the world," Bahá'u'lláh Himself affirms, "hath the Message been so openly proclaimed." "Each one of them," He, specifically referring to the Tablets addressed by Him to the sovereigns of the earth -- Tablets acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as a "miracle" -- has written, "hath been designated by a special name. The first hath been named 'The Rumbling,' the second 'The Blow,' the third 'The Inevitable,' the fourth 'The Plain,' the fifth 'The Catastrophe,' and the others 'The Stunning Trumpet-Blast,' 'The Near Event,' 'The Great Terror,' 'The Trumpet,' 'The Bugle,' and the like, so that all the peoples of the earth may know, of a certainty, and may witness, with outward and inner eyes, that He Who is the Lord of Names hath prevailed, and will continue to prevail, under all conditions, over all men." The most important of these Tablets, together with the celebrated Suriy-i-Haykal (the Surih of the Temple), He, moreover, ordered to be written in the shape of a pentacle, symbolizing the temple of man, and which He identified, when addressing the followers of the Gospel in one of His Tablets, with the "Temple" mentioned by the Prophet Zechariah, and designated as "the resplendent dawning-place of the All-Merciful," and which "the hands of the power of Him Who is the Causer of Causes" had built.  (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 212)

THE SPLENDORS OF MY COUNTENANCE
The original Arabic word here translated as splendors is anwar, sometimes written anvar (this is a difference between Persian and Arabic pronunciation).


HORIZON OF CERTITUDE
Afaq al-yaqeen. “Afaq” here translated as “horizon” is elsewhere translated by Shoghi Effendi as firmament, Dayspring, heaven, orient, fountain, realm, apex, dawning-place, daystar, meridian splendor, heights, high summit, sanctuary, kingdom.  Yaqeen, which is related to the word “iqan,” here translated as “certitude,” is elsewhere translated by Shoghi Effendi as absolute certitude, positive knowledge, assurance.


AND ITS BRIGHTNESS, AND ITS MANIFESTATIONS AND ITS LIGHTS
In the original, these words rhyme: Ishraqat, zuhurat, anvarat.


HIM WHO IS THE SELF-SUBSISTING
One of the titles of God, Qayyum. As Siyyid Kazim admonished his disciples before the Advent of the Bab, “Verily I say, after the Qá'im the Qayyum will be made manifest.” (The Dawn-Breakers, p. 41) The Short Obligatory Prayer ends with the word Qayyum.


PROMPTED BY THEIR OWN CAPRICES
Shoghi Effendi also translates this word, prompted by their own desires, prompted by their vain imaginings.

The House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha

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THE HOUSE OF 'ABDU'LLAH PASHA
The house in 'Akká that 'Abdu'l-Bahá rented in 1896 and that served as His residence until He moved to Haifa in 1910. Historical photograph from media.bahai.org

"Some of the most poignant, dramatic and historically significant events of the Heroic Age of our Faith are associated with this house, which derives its name from the Governor of 'Akká who built it and used it as his official residence during his term of Office, from 1820 to 1832.... It was in this house that ['Abdu'l-Baha's] celebrated table talks were given and compiled, to be published later under the title "Some Answered Questions." In this house and in the darkest hours of a period which the beloved Guardian describes as 'the most dramatic period of His ministry,' 'in the heyday of His life and in the full tide of His power' He penned the first part of His Will and Testament.... In this house was born the child ordained to hold the destiny of the Faith in his hands for thirty-six years and to become its 'beloved Guardian,' the child named 'Shoghi' by his Grandfather, who grew up under His loving and solicitous care ...."
[As Thornton Chase, the First American Baha'i, wrote of his Pilgrimage, when he visited Abdu'l-Baha in this house:] 

'We did not know we had reached our destination until we saw a Persian gentleman, and then another and another, step out at the entrance and smile at us. We alighted and they conducted us through the arched, red brick entrance to an open court, across it to a long flight of stone steps, broken and ancient, leading to the highest story and into a small walled court open to the sky, where was the upper chamber assigned to us, which adjoined the room of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The buildings are all of stone, whitewashed and plastered, and it bears the aspect of a prison.'

"As we contemplate the extraordinary focusing of powerful forces and events upon this house, we eagerly anticipate the day when it will be restored and made ready for pilgrims, who may inhale from its atmosphere, its grounds and sacred walls, the fragrances of a glorious past."(The Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963 to 1986, Message 157)

"Freedom is not a matter of place. It is a condition. I was thankful for the prison, and the lack of liberty was very pleasing to me, for those days were passed in the path of service, under the utmost difficulties and trials, bearing fruits and results. Unless one accepts dire vicissitudes, he will not attain. To me prison is freedom, troubles rest me, death is life, and to be despised is honour. Therefore, I was happy all that time in prison."(`Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 120)

~ ~ ~
O House! Who climbed your stairway? When the Master was a prisoner our spiritual forbears came to you in the night, hearts pounding, souls reaching and hoping: Lua and Sarah, and Phoebe and Robert, and Louis, and Laura, and Thornton -- the first in the West to hear the voice of their Shepherd, Christ, in His "New Name."
We hear their footsteps now, the dust crackling beneath their feet. We hear their spirits, crushing doubt, opening the doors of their hearts to the Light of the New Jerusalem.
A child was born here, too --one promised by Isaiah. He ran up and down your stairs, his praises of God filling the courtyard.
- The courtyard? His voice filled the earth, and fills it still, and will for ages to come!
O Palm Tree, witness of servitude and grandeur, bearer of beauty and joy! How sweet your form, how dear your shadow, caressing the room of the Beloved! We, too, would press our cheek against that wall, feel its coolness against our face, inhale its fragrance, and seek to hear the soul-uplifting Voice within, charting destinies, answering questions, granting certitude.

The Significance of the name "Ayyam-i-Ha"

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The Ayyam-i-Ha -- What are these "Days of the Letter Ha"?

The letter Ha, or H, is one of the first two letters of Baha'u'llah's Name, promised in the Holy Books.  It is one of the characters in the Baha'i ringstone symbol.  The central portion of the ringstone symbol is a series of four interlocking lines linked to four somewhat oval shapes.  These four ovals are the Arabic letter H, or "Ha", and the four lines are each the Arabic letter B.

Baha'u'llah identifies His name with these two letters in the closing words of the Book of Certitude: "Revealed by the 'Ba' and the 'Ha'." (1)

In one of His tablets Baha'u'llah states that the Arabic letter "Ba" looks like a lock of hair 
and that the letter "Ha" looks like a rosebud
and He mentions the beauty of these two letters when they are linked together, stating that a spirit flows through these letters of His Name like the vibration of a flute.  (2)

The Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem explains in one of his essays the significance of the letter B.  He points out that the Book of Genesis begins with the Hebrew letter B, and that every one of the 114 Surahs of the Qur'an begins with the letter B. (3)

In some of His Writings Baha'u'llah comments on the letter "B", for example, in the second paragraph of the Tablet of Ishraqat (4)

In like manner, the Bab and Baha'u'llah also comment on the significance of the letter "H" or "Ha".  In the Surih of the Temple, Baha'u'llah writes of this Arabic letter "Ha":

"O First Letter of this Temple, betokening the Essence of Divinity! We have made thee the treasury of My Will and the repository of My Purpose unto all who are in the kingdoms of revelation and creation. This is but a token of the grace of Him Who is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting." (5)  

We see here that Baha'u'llah Himself explains that the letter "Ha" signifies "the Essence of Divinity."

Baha'u'llah designated the days preceding the Fast as "the manifestations of the letter 'Ha'." (6) As further explained in the Notes to the Most Holy Book:

"Known as the Ayyam-i-Ha, (the Days of Ha), the Intercalary Days have the distinction of being associated with "the letter Ha". . . The letter "Ha" has been given several spiritual meanings in the Holy Writings, among which is as a symbol of the Essence of God. (7)

Likewise, the Bab interpreted the significance of the letter "Ha", and Baha'u'llah quotes a verse from it in the Book of Certitude:

"Likewise, in His interpretation of the letter 'Ha,' He craved martyrdom, saying: 'Methinks I heard a Voice calling in my inmost being: "Do thou sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as Husayn, peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake."'" (8)

The "Ayyam-i-Ha" are days to be spent in praise of God.  Baha'u'llah directs His loved ones "with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name" during them.(9)

As one of the Baha'i friends has written:

"Bahá’u'lláh has designated the intercalary days 'amid all the nights and days' as manifestations of the letter 'Ha'–that is, as Days of the Divine Essence. These extra days stand apart from the ordinary cycle of weeks and months and the human measure of time. They are not 'bounded by the limits of the year and its months' – just as the infinite reality of the divine Essence of God is unbounded and cannot be captured or comprehended within the cycle of time or any other human measurement.

"Thus Ayyám-i-Há can be thought of as days outside of time, days that symbolize eternity, infinity, and the mystery and unknowable Essence of God Himself. Contemplation during these days of the timeless mystery of the Essence of God provides us the 'joy and exultation' with which to 'sing His praise and magnify His Name.'" (10)
___________

NOTES
(1) (The Book of Certitude, p. 257, paragraph 288)
(2) http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/BAHA%27-ALLAH/rashh-i%20%60ama%27/RASHH1YES.htm
(3) Zikrullah Khadem, the Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God, p. 303
(4)(Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 101)
(5)(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, paragraph 1.37, p. 20; see also p. 237, footnote 3)
(6)(The Most Holy Book, p. 25, paragraph 16)
(7) (The Most Holy Book, p. 178, Note 28)
(8)(Baha'u'llah, The Book of Certitude, p. 231, paragraph 259)
(9) (The Most Holy Book, p. 25, paragraph 16)
(10) http://hdcommittee.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/ayyam-i-ha/

Pleasing God And Being Well-Pleased With God

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One of the wonderful challenges God gives us in this life is to learn to submit to His Will, and to do so joyfully -- to learn to be content with His Will.

There is a lovely incident recorded by the great Baha'i author and translator, Marzieh Gail, about pleasing God, and being pleased with God. In her book Arches of the Years she writes about the time she wrote a letter to Abdu'l-Baha: 

Before He came to Washington, Marzieh had written Him, in block letters, penciled, undoubtedly an adult holding her fist. Her message went, 'Dear Abdul-Baha, I love you. I hope you will come to see us.' And He had written a line in Persian on it, turning it into a Tablet, and signed it, and sent it back:
'O God, make her who is pleasing to God (Marzieh), well-pleased with God (Razieh). Insha'llah I shall see her.' (The words pleased with and pleasing to God are from the Qur'án, 89:28.) With Him, there was room for every one, no matter how heavy His own work load, or how weary His body, no matter how small the person was, or how unnoticed by the world.

The lovely verse from the Qur'an is from the Surih of the Daybreak:

Return to thy Lord, pleased, and pleasing him:
Enter thou among my servants,
And enter thou my Paradise.

“Pleased” is razieh, and “pleasing Him” is marzieh.

There are various ways in the Writings of Baha'u'llah in which Shoghi Effendi has translated marzieh – pleasing to God, and razieh – pleased with God. It is very revealing. The first passage will have been memorized by anyone who has embarked on the Ruhi study classes. Baha'u'llah is here quoted on page 25 of The Advent of Divine Justice:

The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly [marzieh] conduct.

Shoghi Effendi's translation of this beautiful word is not bound by dictionary translations. His lyrical pen translates marzieh in these beautiful ways:

The fruits of the tree of man have ever been and are goodly deeds and a praiseworthy [marzieh] character.
(Baha'u'llah, p. 26, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf)

This people need no weapons of destruction, inasmuch as they have girded themselves to reconstruct the world. Their hosts are the hosts of goodly deeds, and their arms the arms of upright [marzieh] conduct.
(Baha'u'llah, p. 74, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf)


...those souls who are well assured, pleased [razieh], and pleasing unto God [marzieh]...
(Baha'u'llah, p. 121, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf)

This can best be achieved through pure and holy deeds, through a virtuous life and a goodly [marzieh] behavior.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah XLII, p. 94)


O friends! Help ye the one true God, exalted be His glory, by your goodly deeds, by such conduct and character as shall be acceptable in His sight [marzieh].
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah CXXVI, p. 272)


His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly [marzieh] character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah CXXVIII, p. 299)


Say: O people of God! That which can ensure the victory of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, His hosts and helpers on earth, have been set down in the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such conduct and character, as are acceptable in His sight [marzieh].
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah CXXXI, p. 287)

It is challenging to attain, not only to God being pleased with us; but to razieh—being pleased with that which God chooses to bestow on us. These beautiful passages from Baha'u'llah's Writings express razieh:

I render thanks unto Thee, and My Spirit is grateful for whatsoever hath befallen me in the path of Thy good-pleasure. I am well pleased [razieh] with that which Thou didst ordain for Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to suffer.
(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah XXXIX, p. 89)


O SON OF SPIRIT!
Ask not of Me that which We desire not for thee, then be content [razieh] with what We have ordained for thy sake, for this is that which profiteth thee, if therewith thou dost content thyself. (Arabic Hidden Words 18)


O SON OF BEING!
Seek a martyr's death in My path, content [razieh] with My pleasure and thankful for that which I ordain, that thou mayest repose with Me beneath the canopy of majesty behind the tabernacle of glory.
(Arabic Hidden Words 45)




At one time I found Myself on the heights of mountains; at another in the depths of the prison of Ta (Tihran), in chains and fetters. By the righteousness of God! I was at all times thankful unto Him, uttering His praise, engaged in remembering Him, directed towards Him, satisfied with His pleasure [razieh], and lowly and submissive before Him.
(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 79)


Perish that lover who discerneth between the pleasant and the poisonous in his love for his beloved! Be thou satisfied [razieh] with what God hath destined for thee. He, verily, ruleth over thee as He willeth and pleaseth.
(Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah VIII, p. 11)


I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content [razieh] with that which Thou didst desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy bounteousness and favor. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah XXXVIII, p. 54)


I implore Thee, O Thou Who art inscrutable to all except Thee, and can be comprehended through naught else save Thyself, by the wrongs which He Who is the Day-Spring of Thy Cause hath suffered at the hands of the ignoble among Thy creatures, and by what hath befallen Him in Thy path, to grant that I may, at all times, be wholly dissolved in Thee [razieh], and fix my gaze upon the horizon of Thy will and be steadfast in Thy love.
(Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah CXXXV, p. 223)




I implore Thee, O my Lord, by Thy name the splendors of which have encompassed the earth and the heavens, to enable me so to surrender my will [razieh] to what Thou hast decreed in Thy Tablets, that I may cease to discover within me any desire except what Thou didst desire through the power of Thy sovereignty, and any will save what Thou didst destine for me by Thy will.
(Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah CL, p. 241)

~ ~ ~
Razieh is also transliterated as Rá�íyih, as shown in this authorized translation of a tablet by Baha'u'llah prepared under the supervision of the Universal House of Justice after Marzieh Gail wrote the above section:

He is God, Glorified be He, Grandeur and Might are His!
    On the morning of the blessed Friday we proceeded from the Mansion and entered the Garden. Every tree uttered a word, and every leaf sang a melody. The trees proclaimed: 'Behold the evidences of God's Mercy' and the twin streams recited in the eloquent tongue the sacred verse 'From us all things were made alive'. Glorified be God! Mysteries were voiced by them, which provoked wonderment. Methought: in which school were they educated, and from whose presence had they acquired their learning? Yea! This Wronged One knoweth and He saith: 'From God, the All-Encompassing, the Self-Subsistent.'
      Upon Our being seated, Ráá¸�íyih, upon her be My glory, attained Our presence on thy behalf, laid the table of God's bounty and in thy name extended hospitality to all present. In truth, all that which stimulateth the appetite and pleaseth the eye was offered, and indeed that which delighteth the ear could also be heard as the leaves were stirred by the Will of God, and from this movement a refreshing voice was raised, as if uttering a blissful call inviting the absent to this Feast. God's power and the perfection of His handiwork could enjoyably be seen in the blossoms, the fruits, the trees, the leaves and the streams. Praised be God who hath thus confirmed thee and her.
      In brief, all in the Garden were recipients of the choicest bountiesand in the end expressed their thanksgiving unto their Lord. O that allGod's beloved would have been present on this day!
      We beseech God, exalted be He, to cause to descend upon thee at every moment, a blessing and a mercy and a measure of divine grace from His presence. He is the Forgiving, the All-Glorious.
      We send greetings to His loved ones, and supplicate for each one of them that which is worthy of mention and is acceptable in His presence. Peace be upon thee, and upon God's sincere servants. Praise be to Him, the Lord of all mankind.

Rá�íyih, who is mentioned in this Tablet, was a sister of Munirih Khanum, the wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The dinner was given on behalf of her husband who was not present at the time. He was her cousin Siyyid 'Ali...

(Cited in Adib Taherzadeh, "The Revelation of Baha'u'llah" Volume IV, p. 14)
 

Official Statement

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With the Bishop Hugh, O.S.B.and Fr. Benedict, O.S.B.
26th April, 2012,
Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
Official Statement  From 23rd to 26th April, 2012a Canonical Visitation of the community at Papa Stronsaywas undertaken by the local OrdinaryRt. Rev. Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B.accompanied byV. Rev. Benedict Hardy, O.S.B.
The Visitation was positively received by the community.Its outcome will be formally announced in due course,pending canonically required consultations.

Seminary Lightning Storm

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 On Wednesday night, we had a quite spectacular storm here in Denton, Nebraska, where Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary is located.  I was woken up by a loud thunder clap, and was unable to get back to sleep due to all the flashing and thunder.  So I went to my window to have a better look, and decided to get our camera out to take some photos and video.  There were rather a lot of photos, and you can see them all on our Facebook page, but I will put a few here as well.  This first photo was taken while there was no lightning - it was pitch-black.  All the pictures after that were taken during the same night, so the sun is not shining in any of them:
 The darkness of the night.  All the following photos were taken during the same dark night.
   For a fraction of a second everything is as bright as a summer day!
A faint shadow of God's almighty power can be seen in the nature He created!
Some video footage of the storm.  There were a lot of smaller flashes which the camera didn't pick up, but you can get the idea.

Regina Cæli Lætare, Alleluia!

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We sang a beautiful version of the Regina Cæli today at Mass, which I would like to share with you.  It was composed by Gregor Aichincer (1564 - 1628) and is for four voices.

Regina cæli, lætare, alleluia:
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
Regina cæli, lætare, alleluia:
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia,
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
Regina cæli, lætare, alleluia:

This was sung at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska.  One of the FSSR seminarians was a part of the choir.

O Columba spes Scotorum

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12 May 562 - 12 May 2012

 Saturday, 12 May 2012,the 1450th Anniversaryof  St. Columba'sarrival in  Scotland.


Columba chose as his place of settlement the island of Hy or Iona, generally  known as Hy-Columbkille~ the island, that is, of Columba ~a part of the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. The landing was effected on Whitsunday, the 12th of May 562.

 The island formed at that time the boundary between the Dalriadan Picts on one side, and the northern Picts on the other, and must in consequence have had a peculiar attraction for St Columba, as a central point for his missionary labours. On the eastern side of the island soon arose the cells of the monks, constructed of wood and earth.

Such was the obscure and insignificant beginnings of St Columba and his monks in Scotland.They were destined in the course of time to bestow upon millions of men the benefits of  religion, culture, and civilisation. 

 St. Columba at the fort of Bruide, king of the Northern Picts.

In honour of St Columba

 

Os mutorum, lux cecorum, pes clausorum,Mouth of the dumb, light of the blind, foot of the lame,porrige lapsis manum.to the fallen stretch out your hand.Firma vanum et insanum corrige.Strengthen the senseless, restore the mad.
O Columba spes ScotorumO Columba, hope of Scots,nos tuorum meritorumby your merits' mediation, interventu beatorum make us companions fac consortes angelorum.of the blessed angels. Alleluia.Alleluia.
(From the Inchcolm Antiphoner- written in Scotland  about 1340).

 

Jesus and Mary go with ye!

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Afore ye go.Fr. Anthony Mary and the Brothersbefore they depart for the 80 mile pilgrimagebetween Notre Dame Cathedral in Parisand Notre Dame Cathedral in Chartres, France.The pilgrimage begins tomorrow 
and closes on Monday 28, May. 
With banners flying. Br. Seelos bearing the banner ofthe Most Holy Redeemer on Golgotha.The sturdy wooden banner hafts were made by our friend Surik. Thank you!
  "Make Her known!"Blessed Pius IX gave Redemptorists the commandto "Make Her known".Mr. Esteben with the banner of 
the Mother of Perpetual Succour.
"Few but good!"The little band takes to the sea to join 
the throng of 15,000 pilgrims.
In this storm battered boat they are an image of a missionary monastery:a religious family afloat on the sea of the world holding aloft the banners of Jesus Crucified 
and Most Holy Mary;They are making for the Port of Salvation themselves,and they want to take others with them, as they go.Afore ye go, and when ye go, and as ye go:Jesus and Mary go with ye!

Does Two Integer arrays Come from one sequence

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Question:There is a list of int arrays; the next int array is the explanation of the previous one.For example, if the first one is [1], the next int array would be [1, 1], it means the previous array has a number one, the next array would be [2, 1], means the previous array has two one, and so on.11 12 11 2 1 11 1 1 2 2 13 1 2 2 1 1
So the question would be: given a two int arrays A and B, you need determine whether they come form one sequence? In other word, whether you can induce from A to B, or from B to A?
Answer:It seems that we can just induce from A, and get its next int array, and its next's next array, if one int array equals B, then we can return true.But this problem is that what if A and B don't come from one sequence, when we stop?We don't know.
In this problem, we can think reversely, if we starts from A, and get A's previous array, if it equals B, we can return true, if not, we continue. But if not, when we stop?
The first case: we can’t conclude previous array from the curry array:Two cases:1.      When the current int array has odd numbers, we stop, as it's impossible to get its previous array. The reason is simple: (a[i], b[i]) describes one item of previous array, if current array has odd numbers, (a0, b0) .. (a[n], b[n]), a[n+1], a[n+1] can't describe one item of previous array.2.      When the current int array has even digits, but have some invalid pairs, such as (0 1). Another case: if we deduce from A, and get it's parent, and its parent's parent, what if we get A again, if we continue, it will loop for ever. So in this case, we should return false, why?
A's parent array A[p'] is unqiue, A[p']'s parent A[p''] is also unique...A[p'']A[p']A <--.....A[p'']A[p']A <--So the whole array sequence would be a loop. if we search from A, and meet A again, and no B during the path. So B would not be in the sequence.
Also remember that if the previous process determines whether B is in front of A in one sequence, we still need determine whether A is in front of B in some sequence.
Code:The complete algorithm/test code and also many other algorithm problems and solutions are available from https://github.com/programmer-plus.

package org.codeexample.sameSequence;import java.util.ArrayList;import java.util.List;import org.codeexample.common.Utils;public class AlgorithmSameSequnce {	/**	 * see	 * http://programer-tips.blogspot.com/2011/08/         * two-integer-arrays-from-same-sequence.html	 * <p>	 * 	 * @param arrayA	 * @param arrayB	 * @return	 */	public static boolean isInSameSequnce(int[] arrayA, int[] arrayB) {		return isInSameSequnce(Utils.toList(arrayA), Utils.toList(arrayB));	}	/**	 * see	 * http://programer-tips.blogspot.com/2011/08/         * two-integer-arrays-from-same-sequence.html	 */	public static boolean isInSameSequnce(List<Integer> listA,			List<Integer> listB) {		List<Integer> listACopy = new ArrayList<Integer>(listA);		if (isInSameSequnceImpl(listA, listACopy, listB))			return true;		List<Integer> listBCopy = new ArrayList<Integer>(listB);		return isInSameSequnceImpl(listB, listBCopy, listA);	}	private static boolean isInSameSequnceImpl(List<Integer> listA,			List<Integer> interim, List<Integer> listB) {		List<Integer> previous = getPrevious(interim);		if (previous.equals(listB))			return true;		// meet listA again		if (previous.equals(listA))			return false;		if (previous.isEmpty())			return false;		return isInSameSequnceImpl(listA, previous, listB);	}	/**	 * Return the previous array, for example, the previous array of [2, 1]	 * would be [1, 1], the previous of [1, 2, 1, 1] would be [2, 1]. <br>	 * If the list is invalid or can't induce its previous array, return one	 * empty list.	 * 	 * @param list	 * @return	 */	private static List<Integer> getPrevious(List<Integer> list) {		ArrayList<Integer> result = new ArrayList<Integer>();		// if the list has odd number, return empty list;		if (list.size() % 2 == 1)			return result;		for (int i = 0; i <= list.size() - 2;) {			int times = list.get(i++);			// no previous row for input [0, 1],			if (times == 0)				return new ArrayList<Integer>();			int digit = list.get(i++);			for (int j = 0; j < times; j++) {				result.add(digit);			}		}		return result;	}}

Is Successive Array?

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Question:
Given an unordered int list, except 0, each number can appear only once, 0 can be regarded as any number. Now we need determine whether the digits from the list are logically successive,
For example, 3, 2, 1 would be considered as successive.0, 3, 1 also is successive, as 0 can be regarded as 2.0, 0, 3, 1 also is successive as 0, 0 can be regarded as (0, 2), or (2, 4).
Answer:First, simplify this question, if there can be only one 0, and can't be considered as any number. How we determine whether the array is successive?
In this case, we can get the maximum and minimum of this array, if (max - min) = (length of the array -1), then this array is considered as successive. This is very straightforward.
So back to the original problem, suppose the length of the array is n, and there is x 0, and thus n-x non-zeros, so we can get the inequality:  if (max - min) <= (n -1), this array is successive.0, 3, 1 ==> (3-1) = len -1 = 20, 0, 3, 1 ==> (3-1) < len - 1 = 3
Code:The complete algorithm/test code and also many other algorithm problems and solutions are available from https://github.com/programmer-plus.

package org.codeexample.successiveArray;public class SuccessiveArray {/*** see http://programer-tips.blogspot.com/* 2011/08/is-array-successive.html* <p>* Determine whether the unordered array is logically successive, 0 can be* regarded as any number. For example, [0, 3, 1] is successive, as 0 can be* regarded as 2.* * @param array* @return*/public static boolean isArraySuccessive(int[] array) {int min = Integer.MAX_VALUE, max = Integer.MIN_VALUE;for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {int temp = array[i];if (temp == 0)continue;if (temp < min) {min = temp;}if (temp > max) {max = temp;}}return (max - min) <= (array.length - 1);}}

Implementation Variants of Singleton Pattern

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Singleton is one of the most common design patterns, but it has many implementation variants: lazy Instantiation, eager Instantiation, static holder idiom, and etc. Static holder idiom is my favorite.

package org.codeexample.javacode.singletons;import java.io.Serializable;public class SinletonVariants {}/** * When the singleton class is referenced, its instance would not be created, * and also Java guarantees that the class initialization is atomic. *  * So using the static holder idiom, we combine the benefit of lazy * instantiation and no further synchronization after the instance is created, * <p> * My favorite, always use this one. */class SingletonHolderIdiom {	private SingletonHolderIdiom() {	}	private static class SingletonHolder {		private static final SingletonHolderIdiom instance =         new SingletonHolderIdiom();	}	public static SingletonHolderIdiom getInstance() {		return SingletonHolder.instance;	}}/** * To maintain the singleton guarantee, you have to declare all instance fields * transient and provide a readResolve method that directly return the static * instance, also you must use eager instantiation. * <p> * see Effective Java 2nd Edition: <br> * Item 3: Enforce the singleton property with a private constructor or an enum * type */class SerializableSingleton implements Serializable {	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;	private static SerializableSingleton instance = new SerializableSingleton();	private SerializableSingleton() {	}	public static SerializableSingleton getInstance() {		return instance;	}	// readResolve method to preserve singleton property	private Object readResolve() {		return instance;	}}/** * This variant avoids the drawback of eager instantiation, as no resources are * allocated before the instance is actually accessed, but further * synchronization might seem unnecessary and expensive after the instance is * already constructed. *  */class SingletonLazyInstantiation {	private static SingletonLazyInstantiation instance;	private SingletonLazyInstantiation() {	}	public static synchronized SingletonLazyInstantiation getInstance() {		if (instance == null) {			instance = new SingletonLazyInstantiation();		}		return instance;	}}/** * This would initialize this singleton class eagerly, when the class is loaded * at first time. Thus, it may happen that the singleton instance is constructed * even if it is not accessed. This is a drawback, especially when the * construction is complex and time/resource consuming. The good part of this * variant is its simplicity. *  */class SingletonEagerInstantiation {	private static SingletonEagerInstantiation instance =     new SingletonEagerInstantiation();	private SingletonEagerInstantiation() {	}	public static SingletonEagerInstantiation getInstance() {		return instance;	}}