10.Work for all: no idle rich and no idle poor. “Work in the spirit of service is worship.”
11.Abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth: care for the needy.
12.Recognition of the Unity of God and obedience to His commands as revealed through His divine Manifestations.
The history of the Bahá’í Cause, mirroring as it does the spiritual history of modern times, confirms these principles and shows how they have permeated the minds and hearts of its followers throughout the world.
Outline of Bahá’í History
The history of the past eighty years makes a startling record of momentous events, radical changes and new world issues emerging apparently without definite order and meaning, capable of many conflicting interpretations. But if one observes how action is expressive of thought, how thought is moved by will and desire, and how will and desire are formed by the quality of the personal or group understanding, it will become evident that an era so profoundly active in all directions and on all planes can only be accounted for by the presence of some Influence felt in the very soul of the world.
The history of the Bahá’í Cause is the explanation of this Influence—its swift movement and penetration from the heights to the depths of humanity. The Bahá’í Cause is more than an incident in history;—it is a clear Light illuminating the spiritual powers to which peoples, consciously or unconsciously, now respond. Apart from the Bahá’í Cause, modern world movements and tendencies seem sinister anarchy; but from within the Cause they assume perfect order and fullness of meaning.
The day will surely come when historians, working in the Light of the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, will produce the true and complete narrative of these significant years, a narrative co-ordinating the visible events with their subtler causes, and bringing into unity the mental and moral as well as social issues involved. Meanwhile, the simplest statement recording the conditions under which the Bahá’í Movement was born and developed will be deeply moving to those who would know life as the path- way to God.
To read this record aright, one must discern the fruit latent in the seed and shaping in the bud. Without Bahá’u’lláh, the episode of the Báb has no lasting result or outcome; without ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the influence of Baha'u'llah has no adequate instrument; without the application of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s final instructions His sacrifice would not serve to unify and renovate the world.
The first significant Bahá’í date is May 23, 1844.
At that time evidences of the dawn of a new Day were visible on every hand. Witnesses to this dawn arose in all countries and among all peoples, testifying in the name of poetry, art, science, philosophy and religion to the presence of a new, transforming Spirit. Materialists worked in hope to reform the body of society, while mystics felt the nearness of their Lord. From farthest East to farthest West the surfaces of habit and tradition broke asunder, and people tended to center around new and higher ideals.
The supreme expression of this universal awakening revealed itself in the heart of a radiant Youth of Persia known now as the Báb (i. e., Gate or Door) . To this Youth came the clear realization of His mission to proclaim the coming of a mighty Educator, the One longed for by all peoples, who would quicken the souls, illumine the minds, unify the consciences and remold the customs of mankind. The life of the Báb from May 23, 1844, to July 9, 1850, exemplified the pure spiritual destiny of the Prophets and Messengers of old. Through Him a large portion of the Muslim population of Persia became imbued with true faith, but against Him gathered the fanatic hatred of the Muslim clergy and the desperate fear of the civil rulers, and by their combined ef-