Pilgrimage: the journey and its inward fruits

In this Cause there are two kinds of travelers - pilgrims and tourists. The pilgrims are those who after the visit to the Holy Tomb are surrounded with the Glances of the Mercy of the Almighty, their hearts become the caskets for the Jewels of the Treasury of God, and their spirits stirred by the Breaths of the Holy Spirit; but the tourists are those who just come to see the places, showing in all things a historic interest and probably after their departure they will write a booklet.

Praise be to God, you have circumambulated with spirit and body, soul and heart, inward and outward, the Center of Lights, the circumambulating point of the righteous, the place of prostration for lovers, the Kaaba of mystics, the shelter of the fearful, and the refuge of the spiritual ones, and you have gained new firmness and steadfastness.

O handmaiden of God! The Divine Physician of hearts and the Healer of bodies and souls arrived at the Luminous Threshold with perfect eagerness and joy, and his arrival became the cause of delight to the essences of being. … The influence of this pilgrimage will become evident and manifest in the future, for when he returns from this rose garden, he will, God willing, take with him the holy fragrances and the sweet scents of intimacy as a gift.

The Holy Land at this time is not at peace; therefore thy presence here is pledged for another time. Strive night and day to serve the Cause of God. This is the same as visiting the holy places, and the same as meeting all the friends of God and the maidservants of the Merciful.

The Lord hath ordained that those of you who are able shall make pilgrimage to the sacred House, and from this He hath exempted women as a mercy on His part. He, of a truth, is the All-Bountiful, the Most Generous.

O Amin, the Blessed Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him) explicitly stated in the Tablets that whoever intends to visit the Holy Land must have the means. Therefore explain this to the friends. Many souls who do not have the means encounter hardship during their presence and return journey, and this causes them distress, and that distress prevents the attainment of the fruits of pilgrimage.

Whenever the means of your voyage are prepared so that you can travel with joy and tranquility to visit the Holy Threshold (of the Bab) and the Blessed Garden (tomb of Baha'u'llah) undoubtedly we will meet each other with perfect joy.

As for others who in these days request permission to attain the presence, since pilgrims are arriving in waves, wisdom does not permit it in these days - they should postpone it to next year.

The honored Afnans of the Sacred Tree were with us for some time and were blessed to visit the Pure Shrine. The intention was that they would be blessed with the great bounty of circumambulation here longer, but due to your being alone, and especially since Mirza Badi' mentioned some slight illness, therefore the honored ones requested to return.

Now I am setting out for the Western countries, but the friends should don the pilgrim's garb for the Blessed Shrine and present themselves at the Holy Threshold. They have permission even if this servant is in the furthest corners of the world, for the essential purpose is pilgrimage to the Blessed Shrine and the Most Exalted Station. Making the journey for these two is necessary.

These three spots are those to which one should journey.

As for other places of martyrs and holy ones, if someone wishes to draw near to God through visiting those spots, this is beloved by God but not obligatory.

The friends who are in Shiraz should consider visiting the House at least once a month an absolute obligation and duty. Indeed if this servant were in Fars he would certainly circumambulate once a week even if opponents would stone him.

It is not necessary to undertake special journeys to visit the resting-places of the dead. If people of substance and affluence offer the cost of such journeys to the House of Justice, it will be pleasing and acceptable in the presence of God.

Thou didst mention the pilgrimage to the House of God. Until now its ordinance hath been and remaineth concealed. We beseech God to reveal that which will draw people near unto Him.

There are and have been adversaries of the Baha'i Cause and Teachings, who wanted to see a contradiction between the Teachings of the First Unity, which intended to turn the places of birth of the Prophets into holy places, and the Teachings of the "Qa'imu'z-Zaman" (Baha'u'llah), Who ordained that the tombs should be places of pilgrimage. This is an error and an injustice. The Holy Book of Bayan of the Bab is provisional, and was to be partly added to, partly replaced by the Blessed Perfection Baha'u'llah, according to the Prophet Bab's own instruction, Who ordained in writing that the "Man Yuzhiruhu'llah" should and would reveal the eight missing chapters of the nineteen chapters of the Bayan.

God hath prescribed pilgrimage to the House for men, apart from women, that ye may be thankful. Visit ye the Point and then the Living Guides, that through them ye may draw nigh unto God, your Lord. Whosoever visiteth the Primal Point, God will surely grant him the reward of two thousand martyrs - will ye not fear Him?

O My servants, grant protection!

Then the sixteenth - O My servants, you shall ascend to My House - that is the House of Him Whom God shall make manifest. That is My House, so do not purchase what surrounds it except according to what you are able to raise up.

And if thou visitest the First Letter, it is equal to ninety-five pilgrimages, then five for each one, as God hath bound Himself to grant this if thou believest in what God hath revealed in the Bayan and awaitest the appearance [...] according to what God promised them in their first [manifestation].

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To thee do I voice My plaint regarding those who prevented me from visiting thee and arriving at the carpet of thy glory. For by Him in Whose hand is my soul, if God were to give me all that is on earth, I would give it to enter your sanctuary, for it is a piece of the gardens of Paradise and its ruling flows according to the ruling of the Holy One in the blessed spot for those who behold with their own eyes the ruling of the Bayan.

As to Myself, I shall, accompanied by Quddus and My Ethiopian servant, proceed on My pilgrimage to Hijaz. I shall join the company of the pilgrims of Fars, who will shortly be sailing for that land. I shall visit Mecca and Medina, and there fulfil the mission with which God has entrusted Me.

On the first day of Dhi'l-Hijjih I was honored to reach the House of God. I stayed twenty-seven days in that sacred land and performed the circumambulation of the House on behalf of the owners. May God in His grace and mercy accept it.

Thy Lord hath prescribed mercy for thyself, and God beareth witness concerning thee in the sacred month of pilgrimage to the House as one performing 'Umrah. God witnesseth naught for those who come save the word of chastisement. God shall soon judge between Me and them with truth on the Day of Decision, and thy Lord is not unjust to His servants.

Therefore, O thou present one in the city, ask my mother -- if she be content -- then appoint someone to restore the exterior of the House with stones of righteousness, for it is indeed an ancient House. Then charge one skilled in the naskh hand to inscribe with gold the Surah of Ria¸van upon twelve gilded leaves; for I desire that what is commonly recited at the pilgrims' return be replaced with the verses of truth.

He praised the manner and the devotion of the old Pilgrims with distaff in hand, making the journey to the holy Shrines on foot. He delivered himself of the opinion that throughout all his life he has been longing to visit Mecca.

Blessed is the soul that hath turned for the sake of God and attained the fragrance of Yathrib and Batha. The divine fragrances waft from those lands and the light of His Cause shineth forth from its horizon.

Blessed art thou, inasmuch as that which the All-Merciful hath sent down in the Qur'an - "The pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto God for all who are able to make the journey thither" - hath attracted thee.

After hearkening to the blessed word "Pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto God for mankind," he turned toward the divine command until he attained the privilege of visiting the Most Great House of God.

And we beseech Him to enable all to attain to pilgrimage to the House this year - "Pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto God for mankind." The intoxication of this blessed word's Kawthar has so overtaken the servants that throughout ages and centuries they have turned towards it from near and far regions, such that chronic illnesses, great hardships and trials did not prevent them - they hastened with their lives and reached their goal.

Praise be sanctified above the ways of the peoples of the world and the intimations of all who dwell within the realm of possibility, befitting that omnipotent Sovereign Who, through the blessed Word "Pilgrimage to the House is incumbent upon men for the sake of God," hath in every year so attracted and drawn vast multitudes that they forsake their children, their offspring, their wealth and all they possess, and with a hundred thousand longings and yearnings endure the hardships and calamities of land and sea, of desert and mountain, that they might attain to that Spot which is the object of that blessed Word.

I beseech God to assist thee in that which pleaseth Him, and likewise that permission be granted when appropriate, that we may together undertake the pilgrimage to the House and attain that which hath been revealed in the Book. Convey greetings, praise and mention to all the friends in that land. It is hoped that all the believers, through the attraction of the blessed verse "Pilgrimage to the House is a duty unto God for mankind," may set forth toward the ultimate goal, namely the House of God, the Lord of all beings, and attain the honor of circumambulation.

Blessed art thou, O thou who hast turned, for having sought to visit the House and circumambulate round about it and to act according to what thou wert commanded in the Book of God, Originator of all things and Creator of earth and heaven.

Proclaim unto the people the Most Great Pilgrimage to this Beauty, around Whom circumambulate the Most Great House of God, then the profane and sacred precincts, then the Ancient Temples who prostrated themselves to none save the Face that hath shone forth from the holy horizon.

Then he washes his face and says:

O my Lord! This is my face which I have cleansed by Thy will. I beseech Thee, by the sovereignty of Thy singleness and the wonders of the names of the Manifestations of Thy Cause, to purify it from all else besides Thee. Then preserve it from turning to any but Thee and from gazing upon those who have not sought Thy manifest, pure, mighty and gracious Beauty.

When thou desirest to make the pilgrimage, perform ablutions as thou wert commanded in the Book, then turn thy face toward the Throne and say: The praise which hath proceeded from Thy Most Exalted Self, and the glory which hath dawned from Thy Most Resplendent Beauty, be upon Thee, O Manifestation of Grandeur, Sovereign of Immortality, and King of all who are in earth and heaven!

When thou arrivest at the gate of the first sanctuary, pause and magnify thy Lord God as thou turnest thy face toward His face, and say: "O my God! I have sought Thee through Thyself and desired Thy proof through that wherewith Thou hast called me by Thy mercy.

… Then enter with effaced verses and manifest signs, for if in that station thou callest to mind any remembrance save the remembrance of thy Lord, the angel will cry out "Return!

Prostration is absolutely not permitted to any direction. According to the explicit text of the Book of God, prostration is confined to the Most Exalted Shrine [of the Bab], the Most Holy and Blessed Shrine [of Baha'u'llah] and the Blessed House. Prostration in any other direction is not permitted.

O thou who art yearning for the pathway of the Friend! Glad tidings upon glad tidings that thou art permitted to visit the Court of Divine Oneness, and a thousand joyous tidings that thou mayest don the pilgrim's garb to circumambulate the holy and purified Sanctuary.

He seeks permission for thy presence in the blessed white spot and thy honor in pressing thy face upon the dust of the Most Exalted Threshold and covering thy brow with the luminous earth.

You had written concerning the kind companion, his honor Mr. Victor Harvell who wishes to render possible the pilgrimage to the Holy Land of a group of the friends; this wish is a lofty one and highly praise-worthy. But if he could succeed to select next year some of the devoted friends of America and England who would first attain the honor of visiting the Holy Land and thence proceed to Persia, particularly Teheran, it would be very appropriate and would be pregnant with splendid results.

When this turning and journeying occurred in the contingent world, the pilgrim house came into being - and it is the first guest-house of the world, the shelter of the chosen ones and the near ones, and the homeland of the people of Baha. A hundred thousand blessings be upon the one who gained permission and was honored to visit that place.

This is a Book from Us to one who has sought the Desired One and turned with his face toward the face of the Adored One, and traversed land and sea until he entered the City which God has made the point of circumambulation of the Concourse on High and the favored angels, and attained the presence before the Countenance and visited the Ancient Beauty after most of the servants were prevented from attaining His presence.

Blessed art thou for having forsaken thy home out of longing for the precincts of God, and for having turned toward that place wherefrom was raised the call in remembrance of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Loving. Thou didst hasten unto the Beloved until thou didst enter the sacred court and circumambulate the House.

Thou didst depart and traverse the path until thou didst arrive at this Spot which God hath made the object of circumambulation for the Concourse on High and the angels brought nigh.

Thou art he who left thy home, turning thy face toward the House of God, the Most High, in the All-Glorious Horizon, and traversed land and sea until thou didst arrive at the Most Great Prison, which God hath made the point of adoration for the world.

O thou who art a pilgrim to the Holy Sepulcher, praised be God who hath aided, sustained and confirmed thee and bestowed upon thee His favors, fulfilled His mercy and removed thy sorrows. He hath guided thee throughout both land and sea, walked thee through vast ravines, deserts and valleys, enabled thee to enter the fragrant Holy Spot, and to circumambulate that Spot around which the Concourse on High have circled.

O thou who hast visited the Most Exalted Shrine and circled round the Supreme Horizon! Praise be to God that thou hast made a worthy effort, traversed wilderness and desert, and reached thy goal. Thou hast laid thy brow at the Luminous Threshold and perfumed thy face and hair with the sacred dust of that Holy Court.

O servant of God! His honor Shaykh Rahmani, despite extreme weakness, traversed great distances and endured the hardships and difficulties of travel until he arrived at the shore of the Holy Land and perfumed his nostrils with the dust of the threshold of the Holy Shrine.

O friend! His honor Haji endured the hardship of sea voyage and traversing the desert, ascending and descending mountains, and hastened forward eagerly toward the Blessed Spot until he pressed his forehead to the Luminous Threshold and his eyes were illumined by witnessing the Greater Signs, and his heart, like a rose garden and meadow, received great bounty from the favors of the Most Glorious.

You traversed plain and desert, mountain and sea, and arrived at the true Ka'bah, the destination of the Beloved. You circumambulated around the center of infinite circles and perfumed your nostrils with the holy fragrances of the sacred dust.

O thou pilgrim with musk-scented breath! Cut thyself loose from attachment to all save God, and like unto a bird of the Garden of Eternity, spread thy wings and take flight from this cage of darkness to the most exalted Summit and the Abha Kingdom, that thou mayest become familiar with the mysteries of the Realm of Might and attain awareness and knowledge of the realities of Divine Lordship. Praise be to God that thou hast crossed mountains and hills, traversed seas, circumambulated the Point round which circle the Kerubim of the Supreme Concourse, made the dust of the Holy Threshold a healing collyrium for thine eyes, and perfumed thy face, hair, locks and entire being with the Sacred and Purified Dust.

Having crossed deserts and traversed seas, thou hast reached the blessed spot, the sacred valley of Tuva in the holy land, the Valley of Security at the Sinai of divine manifestation. Thou didst attain the presence of the Most Exalted Threshold, circumambulated the gathering place of the Concourse on High, found new life, attained a boundless spirit, and became a new creation.

O thou maidservant of the Most Glorious Threshold!

Give thanks unto God that thou wert blessed with a son who, turning his face toward God, traversed mountain, plain and desert, and like the wind crossed the wilderness, until he attained unto the sacred soil of the holy shrine, making his inner vision clear and his sight pure and free from every dust.

O handmaid of God! Your husband Mashhadi Khalil has traversed mountains, hills, deserts and seas, running with steadfastness until he pressed his face and eyes against the Sacred Threshold, illumining his sight and perfuming his senses. In this blessed Spot, he always remembered you and made you happy with his prayers for your welfare.

O handmaid of God! His honor Aqa Muhammad-Hasan, praise be to God, reached the Most Great Refuge safe and protected, and for a time took up residence under the shelter of the Ancient Beauty. He drank of the sealed wine and tasted the sweetness of the favors of that Well-Known Lord.

O spiritual youth and divine child! Verily thy father and mother both crossed seas and lands until they attained the honor of standing before the Most Exalted and Supreme Threshold and circumambulated the point around which circle the Concourse on High. They were blessed with a heavenly, divine and spiritual blessing whose lights shine forth from their foreheads.

The relatives of your honor have safely and securely arrived at, attained to, visited and been honored at the blessed spot of the sacred valley, the Valley of Ayman, the wilderness of Sinai and the Mount of Revelation to Moses which is mentioned in the verse of the Qur'an.

O servant of God! Your pure-hearted son traversed the desert until he prostrated his face upon the sacred dust of the Holy Threshold and perfumed his nostrils in that luminous place. There he opened his tongue in supplication and entreaty and sought assistance and bounty for you.

When the visitor reached the Holy Land and was conferred the honor of attaining unto the Threshold of the All-Merciful, he called you to remembrance and inhaled, on your behalf, the fragrance of that dust, kissed the threshold, and was made the recipient of Divine favor.

O relatives and connections of Jinab-i-Zair, the pilgrim to the Ka'bah of the Intended One, the beloved Jinab-i-Rustam Tirandaz. When he reached the holy threshold and made the sacred dust the collyrium of his insight's eye, he remembered you and loosed his tongue in mentioning you, and from the circumambulation point of the Supreme Concourse he especially beseeched assistance and grace for each one of you.

O ye verdant and confident leaves!

Jinab-i-Aqa Muhammad Isma'il was twice blessed to attain the Sacred Threshold, and on your behalf he also visited with perfect supplication. Through great bounty he was enabled to be present on the fourth day of the Feast of Sacrifice, and with all the divine friends, in complete humility and submissiveness, he carried a jug of flowers and from the public garden to the Holy Shrine, turning toward that Sacred Threshold, he offered prayers and supplications.

The final glad tidings is that on Saturday morning the 15th of Safar, acting as your spiritual representative, I attained unto visitation and circumambulation and was adorned with acceptance.

O true friends and beloved handmaidens of God! Mr. Munir has donned the pilgrim's garb to reach the Blessed Shrine, to perfume his face and hair with the dust of the Sacred Threshold, to inhale the holy fragrances from that musk-scented dust, to kiss the Sacred Threshold on behalf of Abdul-Baha, and to seek confirmation and success for this servant from the Court of the Divine Unity.

O my God, my Beloved, my Goal! This servant of Thine has journeyed from distant lands and far-reaching regions, crossing plains, deserts and wilderness, traversing mountains, hills and territories, until he reached the sacred and luminous Spot, the blessed white Land, the place of circumambulation of the Supreme Concourse - may the spirit of existence be sacrificed for this exalted Threshold.

O Lord! He has hastened to Your sacred precincts and arrived at the wellsprings of Your favors and been honored at the circumambulation point of the Supreme Concourse and visited the Most Holy and Exalted Spot and rubbed his forehead in the dust of Your pure Threshold and communed with You with his heart and spirit and being, saying: "Lord!

The oceans of divine affection that surge within the hearts of spiritual souls are but a drop created, by His will, from the sea of His mercy. Be not thou sorrowful. Thy journey hath been accepted, thy turning approved, and the Tongue of God beareth witness that thy visitation at the Most Holy Court is adorned with the fairest of ornaments.

O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of the Covenant! With the utmost joy and fragrance didst thou arrive at the blessed, luminous Shrine, where thou didst inhale the sweet fragrances from the rose-garden of the All-Merciful and attain to the ultimate hopes and spiritual desires.

Therefore in these days he hastened from there to visit the Holy Threshold at this circumambulation point of the Supreme Concourse, and brightened his eyes and perfumed his nostrils from the dust of the pure threshold.

O friends of the Lord God! His honor Mashhadi Yusuf has attained the presence at the Holy Threshold of the Joseph of the Kingdom of the Most Glorious Beauty - may my spirit, my being, and my essence be sacrificed for Him - and has been blessed with circumambulating the radiant Holy Shrine.

O divine friends! Jinab-i-Aqa Musa and Aqa Qanbar-'Ali traversed long distances, mountains, deserts and seas to reach the blessed and luminous Shrine. After attaining the presence at the Sacred Threshold, they hastened to the realm of Egypt and met with this center of poverty and nothingness.

O you who gaze upon the Most Glorious Kingdom! His honor Mirza Varqa, upon him be the Glory of God the Most Glorious, has for some time been blessed with pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine and has been intimate with the holy fragrances.

You attained the presence of the Luminary of the horizons, circumambulated the gathering place of the Supreme Concourse, were blessed to visit the sacred and blessed Threshold of the Exalted One (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him), and associated with 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Thou hast, for some time, been a companion of these enraptured souls and hast associated with these yearning ones in this Most Great Prison. Praise be to God, for thy brow hath been illumined and thy sight brightened by the dust of the sacred Shrine. Time and again, thou hast attained the honour of visiting the Exalted Threshold---that Spot round which circle the celestial Concourse, that Sanctuary of the denizens of the Abha Kingdom---and hast detected the sweet scents of holiness.

O musk-scented pilgrim! For some time you were a companion and intimate friend of this servant of the Sacred Threshold in the Holy Land, and you were close and familiar with the friends of the Ancient Beauty. At night you were occupied with the remembrance of the All-Merciful Lord in the gathering of the Merciful, and during the day you attained the honor of visiting the Holy and Pure Shrine and acquiring boundless spiritual bounties.

O servant of God! For some time now you have been here and attained the blessing of visiting the Threshold that is the point of circumambulation of the Concourse on High, and met with the friends, and tarried in this Most Great Prison.

Now to the Holy Shrine, from every direction - from Iran, Turkistan, East and West, Europe and America - the friends are continuously arriving without any obstacle or hindrance. All are prostrate before `Abdu'l-Baha at the Holy Threshold in utmost supplication and entreaty, receiving infinite bounties.

Praise be to God that you have crossed the mountains and deserts, the lands and the seas and attained to the visit of the Holy Tomb with joy and fragrance. You traversed this long distance till you reached the Blessed Spot and became assisted and confirmed.

The Bahai friends traverse long distances in order to visit the Holy Tomb and to sense the fragrances of holiness. If they should arrive at the threshold and find the guardian away they would become sad and disheartened.

O Persian handmaiden of the Lord God! For some time you have been blessed to visit the holy dust of the Wronged One of the horizons, and you have rubbed your face and hair at the threshold of the court of the All-Knowing Lord and performed pilgrimage, finding shelter and refuge in the sacred precinct.

Thou, praise be to God, whenever thou art sorrowful and grief-stricken, canst make pilgrimage to the Holy Shrine and become joyful through beholding that sacred spot and remembering the favors of the Blessed Beauty.

O distracted one! That radiant countenance - offer a hundred thousand thanks in every breath that you have become the companion of the lovers of the Beloved's face, and have traversed towns and wilderness and sea until you reached the blessed luminous spot, and circumambulated around the Most Great Sanctuary, and were blessed with the bounty of providing water for the pilgrims and [serving] the Sacred Mosque.

Aqa Muhammad Ibrahim and Haji Ghulam-'Ali, along with two others - upon them be the peace and favors of God - arrived intending to visit the House, and praise be to God, they attained the Most Great Pilgrimage. This year was very pleasant for the pilgrims. In truth it was a blessed journey. Blessed are they who have attained.

In this year, through the wondrous favors of God--glorified be His majesty--a number of Afnan turned toward and attained the presence of the Blessed Tree, and achieved that which was recorded in the divine Books and Scriptures.

Give thanks unto God for having enabled thee to circumambulate the Most Great House and to attain unto the Most Great Pilgrimage.

Blessed art thou for having attained unto the Most Great Pilgrimage. By the Beauty of the Wronged One, Who speaketh between the heavens and the earth: Mina yearneth for thy presence, and the Hill hath moved from its place in its longing to behold thy countenance, and the Station longeth for thy station, and the Sacred Monument perceiveth what thou hast been given by God, the All-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful.

I bear witness that thou hast visited the Sanctuary of God and circumambulated the Holy Kaaba in the ascension of eternity above the Lote-Tree of the Utmost Boundary, nigh unto the Most Glorious and Most Luminous Pavilion - that Station beyond which all names and attributes are cut off.

Therefore this condition in itself is the ultimate desire of lovers, and when the heat of this state surges in hearts, it merits the honor of circumambulating the Sacred Threshold.

For example, one of the gifts of God is to be able to pay a visit to the Holy Tomb, but man cannot fully realize it while in this world. But when he enters the World of the Kingdom, there the blessings and gifts will become evident and clear.

Regarding your question about the state of one who claims that these pilgrims to the Ka'bah of the Divine Purpose go as Muslims and return as infidels, or who interprets this, or claims "I am a certain person" - I call God, His angels, His Messengers, His Prophets, His chosen ones, the denizens of His realms of glory, and the bearers of His throne to witness that such words proceed only from those who wander in the wilderness of heedlessness and pride, and who tread the paths of wickedness and evil.

Joy be unto thee for having kissed the dust of the City, beheld its walls and traces, and walked upon ground that was honored by the footsteps of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Omnipotent. Would that thou hadst brought me a handful of its earth! By My life! It would be dearer to Me than all that hath been created on earth. My heart soars with longing for it at the mere mention of its name - how much more to behold it and arrive therein! Blessed art thou and blessed are We, but woe unto the idolaters who have come between Us and it, and have caused Us to be deprived of the City of God, the Mighty, the Most High, the Most Great....

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