Stories for the Day of the Covenant

One of my dear friends has asked if I have any stories to share, for the upcoming celebration of the Day of the Covenant.

1. It was the custom of Shoghi Effendi to walk on Mount Carmel, and at times he invited the Persian men believers to walk with him.  They would walk a few paces behind him, out of respect.  Ali-Kuli Khan was a member of one of these groups of men, and at one point Shoghi Effendi stopped, and turned to the men, and said, "Although I am Abdu'l-Baha's successor, I am not His equal.  His station is far greater than my own."  Then he turned, and continued walking.  Ali-Kuli Khan burst into tears.  When he finished weeping, one of his fellow pilgrims asked him, "What Shoghi Effendi said was very beautiful, but why did it have such an effect on you?"  Ali-Kuli Khan answered, "Many years ago, I was here on Pilgrimage during the days of Abdu'l-Baha.  One day I was walking with Him on the slopes of Mount Carmel, and He stopped, at that very same spot, and turned to me and said, "Although I am the Successor to Baha'u'llah, I am not His equal.  His station is far, far greater than My own."  And of course, as we were walking behind the beloved Guardian, I recalled the sweetness of that moment.  And then I saw that we were approaching that spot where the Master had spoken, and to my astonishment, Shoghi Effendi stopped, and spoke at that same spot.  And when he said what he did, then I understood the greatness of this Cause."

2. Marzieh Gail writes about the circumstances at the time of the passing of the Prophet Muhammad, and that He did not make a written Covenant appointing His Successor.  He had already verbally appointed His son-in-law, Ali:

"As Muhammad lay dying, He called for writing materials to appoint His successor again; but 'Umar said, 'Pain is deluding God's Messenger; we have God's book, which is enough.' And they wrangled at His bedside, whether to bring the materials or no. And the Prophet sent them from Him. He was praying in a whisper, when He ascended." ("Dawn Over Mount Hira," p. 8) 

The same thing almost happened in the Baha'i Faith, but it was prevented by the written Covenant of Baha'u'llah, appointing His Successor, Abdu'l-Baha.  Toward the end of His life, one day when He was alone in His room with Abdu'l-Baha in the Mansion of Bahji, Baha'u'llah directed Abdu'l-Baha to gather up all of His Tablets, which were in various places around the room, and to place them all in His two leather briefcases.  This command was given in such a tone, that Abdu'l-Baha instantly understood that this signified that Baha'u'llah would soon be leaving this world, and He burst into tears.  As Abdu'l-Baha was gathering the Tablets and placing them in the two briefcases, He was weeping.  However, there was one Tablet Baha'u'llah did not direct Abdu'l-Baha to put into the briefcases--His Last Will and Testament.  This document, which does not bear a date, nor Baha'u'llah's signature or seal, was written by Baha'u'llah entirely in His own hand. In it, He directs all of the believers to turn to Abdu'l-Baha.  Baha'u'llah directed Abdu'l-Baha to keep this document personally, and separate from His other Tablets.  A few weeks later, Baha'u'llah ascended to the immortal realm.  On the following day, Abdu'l-Baha was washing the sacred body of Baha'u'llah and wrapping it in shrouds, to prepare the body for burial.  Mirza Muhammad-Ali, Abdu'l-Baha's younger brother, was desirous of leadership. He had even claimed, during Baha'u'llah's lifetime, to be a Manifestation of God.  Seeing his opportunity, he said, while Abdu'l-Baha was washing the sacred body of Baha'u'llah, that the water might spill on the two briefcases, and he suggested that he move them.  Abdu'l-Baha was deeply involved in the sacred act of washing His Father's body, and He hardly noticed, and motioned His assent.  Mirza Muhammad-Ali stole those Tablets, most of which are still not in the hands of the Faith.  He looked through all of them for some Writing with which he could undermine Abdu'l-Baha's authority, and claim leadership for himself.  Baha'u'llah's foresight prevented this from happening, and assured that Abdu'l-Baha would be the Head of the Faith.

3. When Abdu'l-Baha wrote His own Will and Testament, He placed it in an envelope which He addressed in His own handwriting to Hazrat-i-Ghusn-i-Mumtaz, Shoghi Effendi.  "Hazrat" is the highest form of honorific.  "Ghusn" means "Branch" and refers to Shoghi Effendi's lineage, as a male descendant of Baha'u'llah.  "Mumtaz" means, according to the standard Arabic-English dictionary:  Distinguished, differentiated, exquisite, select, choice, rare, outstanding, superior, first-rate, first-class, top-notch, exceptional, excellent, privileged, special, extra.  It also means "chosen," and as you can see, Shoghi Effendi selected the most humble translation of his title.  In a classroom in the Arabic-speaking and Persian-speaking world, the best student is the "mumtaz" student. In the Will and Testament, the Guardian of the Cause is the "distinguished" ("mumtaz") member of the Universal House of Justice. Abdu'l-Baha spoke of this same Arabic word in one of His talks in New York City, on the subject of "distinction". When the envelope was opened, Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament was found, and within it was enfolded the Will and Testament of Baha'u'llah.  In one of his World Order letters, Shoghi Effendi speaks of "their Will" as one Will and Testament.

4. The Greatest Holy Leaf, Abdu'l-Baha's sister, played a pivotal role in the protection of the Covenant, at several times during her life.  Here is a compilation of a few of her written
statements about the Covenant of Abdu'l-Baha. There is a beautiful essay written about her here.

5. At one time early in Abdu'l-Baha's ministry, before the public announcement of the final rupture with the Covenant-breakers living at the Mansion of Bahji, when pilgrims would come to the Holy Land, the Covenant-breakers would try to turn them against Abdu'l-Baha.  They would see a new pilgrim, and invite him to come back to the Mansion of Bahji in the evening. They would then hold a feast in his honor, flatter him, and tell him how his fame as a teacher and great Baha'i had preceded him. Then, gradually, they would instil the poison.  They would claim that Abdu'l-Baha had taken too much authority, and should He not share more of the leadership of the Faith with His brothers, who were, after all, also sons of the Manifestation?  And in this way, they dampened the zeal of a number of the friends, and even turned a few against the Covenant.  One day, one of the Covenant-breakers saw Abdu'l-Baha, and with arrogance and glee announced to Him that they had invited one of the new pilgrims to a feast in his honor, and that they would succeed in turning him against the Master. Abdu'l-Baha smiled, and said, "Not this one.  The more you speak to him against Me, the more extreme he will become in the ardor of his love for Me.  You will see."  And this is exactly what happened. The Covenant-breakers tried to instil the poison, but the believer refuted them, quoting from the Writings on the Covenant, and he became even stronger in his devotion to the Master.  This is an expression of the truth of the verse in the Valley of Love, where Baha'u'llah writes that for the true lover "deadly poison is a balm to him," and as He also wrote "We are possessed of such power which, if brought to light, will transmute the most deadly of poisons into a panacea of unfailing efficacy."  And this power of transformation is a power resident in His Cause, and this is what all of the believers can do.  We are unlikely to hear from a Covenant-breaker, but whenever we hear a single word or even a breath that is even a slight challenge to the Covenant, we can pray and turn our hearts to God, and ask the assistance of the Concourse on High to transform this poison into a healing medicine within us--that we may become even stronger in our devotion to the Covenant, and more faithful in our deeds, to the guidance of the Universal House of Justice.