Happy Naw-Ruz - The Baha'i New Year

Baha'i World News
On March 21, Baha'is around the world will mark Naw-Ruz - their new year - a date that this year coincides with the 100th anniversary of the interment of the remains of the Bab on Mount Carmel.
On Naw-Ruz in 1909, 'Abdu'l-Baha, then the head of the Baha'i Faith, laid to rest the mortal remains of the Bab. 'Abdu'l-Baha personally placed the precious trust in its place in a building he had had constructed on Mount Carmel in Haifa.
The original structure was later surrounded by a formal colonnade and crowned with a golden dome to make it a fitting burial site for the Bab, the first of two Messengers of God associated with the Baha'i Faith. Both lived in the 19th century, with the Bab's mission being to announce the imminent coming of Baha'u'llah, considered by Baha'is the long-awaited promised one of all religions.
The Bab was executed in the public square in Tabriz, Persia (now Iran), in 1850, and His remains were hidden in that country for nearly 50 years until being secretly brought to the Holy Land and hidden another decade before being laid to their final rest.
Baha'u'llah was also from Persia but was banished from His native land and eventually exiled to the Acre-Haifa area. Before His passing in 1892, Baha'u'llah gave instructions to 'Abdu'l-Baha to have the remains of the Bab brought from Persia and interred at a specific site on Mount Carmel.
'Abdu'l-Baha thus arranged for the purchase of the land; the building of an adequate structure for the interment; and a road to the site on what at that time was still a rough, undeveloped mountainside. The Baha'is of Rangoon, Burma, sent a sarcophagus to use for the entombment.
The circumstances of that significant event 100 years ago are described in the Baha'i history "God Passes By":
"'Abdu'l-Baha had the marble sarcophagus transported with great labor to the vault prepared for it, and in the evening, by the light of a single lamp, he laid within it, with his own hands - in the presence of believers from the East and from the West and in circumstances at once solemn and moving - the wooden casket containing the sacred remains of the Bab. ..."

تزامن نيروز هذا العام مع الذّكرى المئويّة لدفن رفات حضرة الباب على جبل الكرمل

اليوم الموافق 21 آذار/ مارس يشير البهائيون في جميع أنحاء العالم إلى يوم النّوروز- رأس سنتهم- على أنّه تاريخ يتزامن هذا العام مع الذّكرى المئويّة لدفن رفات حضرة الباب على جبل الكرمل.
ففي نوروز عام 1909، قام حضرة عبدالبهاء، مرجع البهائيين من بعد حضرة بهاءالله، بوضع رفات حضرة الباب في مثواها الأخير. وأودع حضرته بنفسه تلك الوديعة الثّمينة في مرقدها في مبنى كان قد شيّده على جبل الكرمل في حيفا.
وفي وقت لاحق، تمّ إحاطة المبنى الأصلي بالأعمدة وتوّج بقبّة ذهبيّة ليكون مرقدّا لائقًا بالباب، أوّل الرّسولين المرتبطين بالدّين البهائي. وقد عاش كلّ منهما في القرن التّاسع عشر، وكانت مهمّة الباب الإعلان عن قرب مجيء بهاءالله الذي يعتبره البهائيّون موعود جميع الأديان الذي طال انتظاره.

أُعدم الباب عام 1850 في ساحة عامّة في تبريز في بلاد فارس (إيران حاليًّأ) ، وكانت رفاته مخبّأة في تلك البلاد نحو 50 عامًا، حتّى تمّ إحضارها سرًّا إلى الأرض المقدّسة حيث خُبّئت عقدًا آخر قبل أن تستقرّ في مقامها الأخير.

كان حضرة بهاءالله من بلاد فارس أيضًا، لكنّه أُبعد عن وطنه الأصلي وفي نهاية المطاف نفي إلى منطقة عكا وحيفا. وقبل صعوده في عام 1892، وجّه عبدالبهاء لإحضار رفات الباب من بلاد فارس ودفنه في موقع معيّن على جبل الكرمل. وعليه، رتّب عبدالبهاء لشراء الأرض، وتشييد بناء ذو هيكل مناسب للدّفن، وشقِّ طريق تؤدّي إلى الموقع الذي كان لا يزال في ذلك الوقت منطقة جبليّة وعرة. وأرسل بهائيّو رانجون في بورما تابوتًا مرمريًا ليتم استخدامه للدّفن.
:وُصفت الظّروف التي واكبت هذا الحدث الهام قبل 100 عام في كتاب التّاريخ البهائي “القرن البديع” بما يلي

“أمر حضرة عبدالبهاء بنقل التّابوت المرمري بجهد فائق إلى القبو المعدّ له، وفي المساء وضع فيه بيديه التّابوت الخشبي الحاوي لرفات حضرة الباب المقدّسة ورفات رفيقه، ولقد تمّ ذلك في ضوء قنديل واحد وعلى مشهد من أحبّاء الشّرق الغرب في احتفال جليل محرّك للمشاعر والوجدان.”

مترجم من موقع أخبار الجامعة البهائية العالمية

The Báb ,The Herald of Bahá'u'lláh

Baha'is around the world observed a holy day - the Birth of the Báb - on 20 October.It is one of nine holy days on which Baha'is suspend work.
The Báb was born on 20 October, 1819 in Shiraz, Iran. His real name was 'Ali-Muhammad. He was a descendent of the prophet Muhammad through both His father and mother. He was raised by His uncle Hájí Mirzá Siyyid 'Ali, a merchant. As a child, He showed uncommon wisdom, although He received little formal schooling. He became a merchant and earned a high reputation for fairness. In 1842 He married Khadíjih-Bagum and they had one son, Ahmad, who died in infancy.

On May 23, 1844 he announced Himself to be The Báb , It is an Arabic word means “the Gate”. He proclaimed Himself to be the Promised One foretold in the great religions, and said that the Mission of His Dispensation was to alert the people to the imminent appearance of the Messenger of God awaited by all the peoples of the world, namely Bahá’u’lláh .
He was indeed a gate to the knowledge of God and to a new era in human existence. He called upon all people to purify their hearts from earthly vanities so that they could recognize Him Whom God would soon manifest.
Thousands upon thousands of people accepted the Message of The Báb and began to follow His Teachings. But the government of Iran and the powerful clergy who ruled over the masses rose against Him. They imprisoned Him and His followers were subjected to swift and savage persecution.

On July 9, 1850 The Báb was brought before a firing squad in the barracks square of Tabríz, along with a young follower. Some 20,000 of His followers perished in a series of massacres throughout Persia. His remains were hidden by His followers and in 1899 transferred to Palestine in the sepulchre on Mount Carmel known as the Shrine of The Báb. Today, the majestic building with the golden dome, overlooking the Bay of Haifa, Israel, and set amidst beautiful gardens, is the Shrine where The Báb's earthly remains are entombed.

Although The Báb was the Herald of Bahá'u'lláh, He was also a Manifestation of God as all other previous Manifestations such as Mohammed and Jesus.

Prayers:
“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!”
(The Báb)

“Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.”

(The Báb)