‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the Covenant,
Plus a Significant Statement on Branchhood
One of the very important Tablets written by ‘Abdu'l-Bahá and
devoted to the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh is dated July
22,1919, and addressed to Mary Lesch. A copy of the document can be found in
the Star of the West, Vol. 10, Number 14, pages 268-270,
but it is being reproduced in its entirety here. [NOTE: Where the original
text employed lower case letters for the pronouns related to the Manifestation,
they have been changed to capitals. –FDS]
With the modifications identified in the note, the Tablet reads as
follows:
"To the maid-servant of God, Miss Mary
Lesch,
He
is God!
“O thou maid-servant of God!
"Thy letter was received and its contents indicated firmness in
the Covenant. Therefore, the hope is entertained that thou wilt be assisted
under all conditions, for today that which is most important is firmness in the
Covenant and the Testament and otherwise Bahá’í unity will
not be preserved. If Bahá’í unity could be preserved
through something else, undoubtedly the Blessed Beauty would have commanded it.
"In accordance with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which is the supreme authority and the Kitáb-i-Ahd which is the last book of the Blessed Beauty written by His supreme pen, all are addressed in a clear and explicit manner.
"First He addresses the Aghsáns, then the
Afnáns and the relatives and finally the rest of the friends and bids
them to turn their faces toward the Center of the Covenant. And the verses
which have been revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas ordering all to turn after
His Ascension to "Him who is branched from the Pre-Existent Root" are
explicitly recorded in the Kitáb-i-Ahd as having for their object the
Center of the Covenant. And in another special Tablet the authenticity of which
is admitted by every one, it is recorded that if the center of violation whose
proper name He mentions, deviates the least from the shadow of the Cause, he at
once loses the station of Branchhood. How could it be more explicit? Now it
must be either said that the Blessed Beauty has done wrong and has led the
people to error for He ordered them to obey a person who ought not to have been
obeyed, or on the other hand it must be said that the least deviation from the
Covenant and the Testament entails deprivation from the bounties of the
Luminary of the world. One of the two alternatives must be true and there is no
third one to it.
"In fine, Bahá’í unity cannot be preserved save through the
Covenant of God. Today the stirring power in the body of the world is the
Covenant, and if this Covenant is made ineffective, what power will be able to
stir it? The statement which was made orally by His Holiness Christ to
Peter--that "thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church"--this declaration preserved for a thousand years Christian unity.
After the lapse of a thousand years, due to political questions, dissensions
happened. Now, if this Word of Christ has preserved the unity of Christendom
for a thousand years, consider what will be done by the Kitáb-i-Ahd
which has been revealed by the Supreme Pen. But superficial, restless souls,
who at first were firm in the Covenant and have written epistles with reference
to their firmness and detachment from violators and have considered them as
outcasts from the Threshold of the Almighty--and these epistles are still
extant--these persons like unto Judas Iscariot, have for personal interests and
financial motives, deviated from the Covenant. They followed the people of
craft and stained their hands with the blood of Christ. Be admonished, 0 ye who
possess intelligence!
"If at all thou art
firm and steadfast in the Covenant, strengthen and fortify thy relationships
with the Convention [sic] [Covenant], and from whomsoever thou inhalest the
odor of violation, avoid his company and keep aloof, that thou mayest remain
safe and protected under the protection of the Covenant, and, like unto a
candle, be ignited with the light of steadfastness.
"I am kind to all
people and do not attack anyone. I pray on behalf of all that all may gather
under His divine protection. This Covenant and Testament have been entered into
by the Blessed Beauty and I have not taken any such part. Let them answer Him
and I have no objection. My duty is to be kind to everyone; vengeance is
reserved for the Blessed Beauty and not for myself. As
I am kind to everyone, I mention only the good characteristics of a person and
if a word is written, the intention is the setting forth of truth and the
preservation of the religion of God, so that Bahá’í i unity
may be preserved. If any persons desire to upset this unity, they are free and
let them present their answers to the Blessed Beauty in the
"'0 ye, my friends! Have I, through My Supreme Pen and the
explicit verses of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas commanded obedience or
disobedience? Have I not ordered the center of violation to obey and to turn his
face (towards Him)? Why have ye turned away from My
manifest and irrefutable Center? I have given the command to turn your faces
toward Him, how have ye turned away? Why have ye upset
Bahá’í unity?'
"What will they answer?
“The friends must be
very attentive and then whatever they deem advisable, they may perform. I have
nothing to impose. In
"Do not grieve for thy
dear brother who has ascended from this mortal world to the eternal realm and
do not feel depressed. That drop has hastened to the limitless ocean and that
wandering bird has flown to the shelter and next of the Supreme Concourse. Thou
shalt find him at the effulgent gathering in the
"As to the dream thou
didst have that thy brother appeared fully dressed, clothing is the ornament of
man and that is the bounty of the Merciful. As to the bundle he had in hand, it
is his benevolent deeds, and his serious look denoted his purpose to make thee
realize the following fact: ‘consider to what bounty I have attained!
Praise be to God, that I am safe and well and have on
me the garment of piety and carry in my hand the bundle of my deeds. I am alive
and not dead. Consider closely, I am living and have not passed away. Be thou
attentive.’
"Upon
thee be Bahá-El-Abhá!"
(Signed)
‘Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas
(Translated by
Shoghi Rabbani, Acca, Palestine, July 22,1919.)
*****************
A few
brief observations:
First, the third Guardian in his article "Irrefutable Evidence
that Shoghi Effendi, the First Guardian of the Bahá’í
Faith, Appointed a Successor" has commented on ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's
statement regarding the station of Branchhood, noting that Branchhood "is
a spiritual station attained through fidelity to the Covenant of
Bahá’u’lláh and conversely, even when once attained,
is lost upon 'the least deviation
from the Covenant.”
Second, I think it
is instructive that ‘Abdu'l-Bahá points out the importance of firmness
in the Covenant for Bahá’í unity to be preserved. So an
understanding of what is meant by "firmness in the Covenant" is
essential.
Third, I think it
is also important to note that ‘Abdu'l-Bahá identifies "superficial,
restless souls, who at first were firm in the Covenant and have written
epistles with reference to their firmness and detachment from violators and
have considered them as outcasts from the Threshold of the Almighty--and these
epistles are still extant--these persons like unto Judas Iscariot, have for
personal interests and financial motives, deviated from the Covenant."
What I find
interesting about this statement is that Mason Remey has been accused by
sans-Guardian believers of being ego-driven or, as Taherzadeh labeled him on
page 386 of The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh
,"an ambitious individual." Yet who was it between 1957-1963 that
assumed that they could serve as a collective Guardian of the Cause and could
therefore deviate from the Covenant that had been established and start one of
their own--a Hands-made covenant that essentially said that if you disagreed
with the Hands of the Faith you were deemed a Covenant-breaker? It was, of
course, 26 of the 27 Hands of the Faith. Their deviation from the Covenant has
subsequently been sanctioned by the headless Universal House of Justice. And
now, contrary to the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá, that
body -- the sans-Guardian UHJ -- is looked upon by its followers as the
“Center of the Cause” or as the "present-day Head of the
Faith."
Truly, as
‘Abdu'l-Bahá wrote to Mary Lesch: "In fine,
Bahá’í unity cannot be preserved save through the Covenant
of God."
Or is it indeed a
matter, as ‘Abdu'l-Bahá suggested for an erroneous conclusion, "that
the Blessed Beauty has done wrong and has led the people to error for He
ordered them to obey a person who ought not to have been obeyed"? Or
is it, (again as ‘Abdu'l-Bahá said): "that the least
deviation from the Covenant and the Testament entails deprivation from the
bounties of the Luminary of the world"? The Master says in the Lesch
Tablet: "One of the two alternatives must be true and there is no third
one to it."
The Covenant calls
for A PERSON to be the interpreter who will prevent schism. The sans-Guardian
organization in
--Frank Schlatter