Irfán Colloquia
Louhelen Bahá'í School
Davison, Michigan · USA
October 8–11, 2015
Papers from this session
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Alwah-i-Salman: An Introductory Review
This presentation includes introducing Shaykh Salman who served as the messenger between the Blessed Beauty and believers, a general review of some of the important Tablets of Baha'u'lláh addressed to Sheykh Salman, and content analysis of one of those Tablets, Madinatu'l-Tuhid (Tablet of Divine Unity).
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Examining Inherent Oneness of Phenomena
In this session, we will examine conceptualizations of a number of phenomena (science, religion, physical and abstract things, ...) at different levels of granularity. We will look at these through the lens of systems theory. The goal is to highlight how, despite diversity of phenomena, at a deep level they are inherently one.
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Haj Mehdi Arjmand: A Biographical Review
Annual sessions of Irfan Colloquia were established about 18 years ago in honor and memory of Haj Mehdi Arjmand. Irfan has enjoyed continuous support and sponsorship of the grandchildren of Haj Mehdi Arjmand. Haj Mehdi Arjmand is arguably one of the most successful, most skilled and most eminent Baha'i teachers of Iran. He embraced the Baha'i Faith as a young man. He was from a Jewish background and as such had not learned the Farsi language. To be able to understand the readings during Baha'i gatherings, he decided to learn Farsi. With his innate ability and keen intellect, he taught both Farsi and Arabic to himself and mastered the Old and New Testaments as well as the Qur'an. His mastery of scriptures made him a respected and renowned teacher in Baha'i communities. When Dr. Holmes traveled from America and took up residence in the city of Hamadan in order to convert the Jews to Christianity, the LSA of Hamandan asked Haj Mehdi to represent the Baha'is in religious debates with Dr. Holmes. Weekly meetings that lasted at least one and a half years resulted in Dr. Holmes becoming respectful of Baha'i revelation and confessing to Haj Mahdi's mastery of the Holy books. Haj Mehdi published a collection of his talks with Dr. Holmes in a comprehensive book titled "Golshan-i-Haqayeq" which can be translated as "Flower Garden of Truth". He became the honored recipient of several tablets from Abdu'l-Baha. A brief account of his life and teaching activities, cursory look at the contents of his book, and a review of some of the tablets he received from Abdu'l-Baha are included in this presentation.
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Holy Places and Historic Sites Mentioned in Memorials of the Faithful
Memorials of the Faithful is not merely a book devoted to the hagiography of some believers and historical narrative of their lives, rather a depository of matchless beauty in Persian writing, an exquisite text of profound meaning, and a testimonial to the devotion to the Cause of God and the Covenant, of some believers among whom were low as well as high in rank, poor and rich, semi-literate and learned. In the book Memorials of the Faithful, `Abdu'l-Bahá, in the course of portraying the life history of some believers, has cited many villages, cities, and sites, some of which were blessed by the foot-steps of the twin manifestations of God for this age, and others are important due to being the scene of significant historical events of the Faith. In this paper four such places are selected from among them and their niche in history is further elaborated. These are: (1) The Most Great House in Baghdád, (2) The ruins of Madaen, located some thirty km south of Baghdád, on the banks of Tigris, where Blessed Beauty visited many times, and once graced the palaces of great kings of Sassanid dynasty which were destroyed by the army of Arab invaders and subsequently lost their glory, (3) Surroundings of the Sheikh Tabarsi's tomb where Bahá'u'lláh visited once, (4) City of Mosul in the northern Iraq at the banks of River Tigris which is built on the ruins of the ancient and historical city of Nineveh where a number of believers and the Holy family were kept as captives for several years, and Bahá'u'lláh's caravan in His exile to the seat of the Ottoman Empire passed through it.
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 17, pp. 305–324
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A Look at the Imagery and Parables Used in the Persian Tablet of Ahmad
The Persian Tablet of Aḥmad is neither a long Tablet by any standard nor is a short Tablet. It was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople in the second year of His sojourn in that city, and is addressed to a believer in the cause of the Báb, named Aḥmad from Káshán. Aḥmad was one of the four brothers who pursued life in four different directions; one became a famous martyr in the Bayán Dispensation, another one became a devoted servant of Bahá'u'lláh, the third one never showed any interest in the claims of the Báb or Bahá'u'lláh. However Aḥmad travelled to Baghdád and resided there and was among those who were exiled to Adrianople with Him; and he had an ample opportunity to associate with Bahá'u'lláh and gain wisdom and receive spiritual bounties from Him. But, instead he was much like a man who did not differentiate between pearl and stone, an imagery used in the Tablet, became inclined towards Mirzá Yaḥyá Azal. At the end, he despite much association with the Blessed Perfection, failed to recognize His Beauty. This Tablet is addressed to Aḥmad and discusses the conditions for eternal salvation. In this Tablet, Bahá'u'lláh warns him against idle fancies and vain imaginings which are great obstacles in the way of recognition of the truth. Tablet of Aḥmad is written in a lucid and simple language. One cannot find even one reference to Qur'ánic verses and past Islamic traditions, Persian or Arabic poems and verses, historical facts, Arabic prose, references to the past philosopher's opinions, references to mystics and their beliefs; though there are several hints. The most important objective for this Tablet, seems to be the persuasion of Aḥmad to recognize the station of Bahá'u'lláh, through the means of reasoning. In this Tablet, He refers to the recognition of God and states that it is nothing more than the recognition of His manifestation. Practically the whole content of the Tablet is applicable to the peoples of the world who have abandoned searching for the truth in this time or any period of time. As of now, we do not have an authorized translation of the Tablet into English. However, the Guardian translated selected passages from this Tablet which constitute half of the Tablet. The author made an effort to provisionally translate the remaining passages in a manner and style which would be compatible with those of the Guardian. This provisional translation will be used in the discussions of this paper. In this tablet the use of imagery and the use of parables are very prominent. Often times for clarifying a point, particularly abstract subjects, one might resort to the use of the images familiar in the material world; this is the case for the Persian Tablet of Aḥmad. These two features in particular, but not exclusively, will be discussed in this paper.
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Memorials of the Faithful: The Virtues of Inner and Outer Transformation
Abdu'l-Baha wrote "The most vital duty, in this day, is to purify your characters, to correct your manners, and improve your conduct". This paper will investigate the virtues identified for the faithful individuals mentioned in Memorials of the Faithful and how they exemplified character, manners and conduct. The Seven Valleys will "be used as a guide for human conduct." (Promulgation of Universal Peace, page 244)
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 17, pp. 179–204
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Parallels in the Ministries of Táhirih and St. Paul
In the preface to Memorials of the Faithful `Abdu'l-Bahá's work that immortalizes the lives of sixty-nine early Bahá'ís Marzieh Gail, the translator, states that the book is more than a collection of brief biographies of early Bahá'ís; it is somehow also a book of personality and character types. With the concept of 'types' in mind I compared the stories of the early believers of the Bahá'í Faith as presented in Memorials of the Faithful to the lives of early believers in Christianity as recorded in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In the course of this study I noticed a striking parallel between the life of Táhirih, the only woman among the Báb's Eighteen Letters of the Living and the last entry in Memorials of the Faithful, and the life of the Apostle Paul of early Christianity; that being that both are recognized in their respective religions for initiatives that contributed significantly to distinguishing the new Revelation from the old. This paper explores this and other parallels in the lives and ministries of Táhirih and Paul and suggests that, though different in gender and religion and separated by 1800 years, in many ways Táhirih and Paul may be seen as representing a similar type of early believer in a New Dispensation.
Published in Lights of Irfán, Vol. 17, pp. 37–64
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Phenomenon of Newly Emerging Entities and the Twofold Process
The following words of Bahá'u'lláh launch this session: I testify that no sooner had the First Word proceeded, through the potency of Thy will and purpose...than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths. Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation...