To a student of history the degeneracy of a nation once so
powerful and so illustrious seems pitiful in the extreme. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who in
spite of the cruelties heaped on Bahá’u’lláh, on the Báb, and on Himself, yet
loved His country, called their degradation “the tragedy of a people”; and in
that work, “The Mysterious Forces of Civilisation,” in which He sought to stir
the hearts of His compatriots to undertake radical reforms, He uttered a
poignant lament over the present fate of a people who once had extended their
conquests east and west and had led the civilisation of mankind. “In former
times,” he writes, “Persia was verily the heart of the world and shone among
the nations like a lighted taper. Her glory and prosperity broke from the
horizon of humanity like the true dawn disseminating the light of knowledge and
illumining the nations of the East and West. The fame of her victorious kings
reached the ears of the dwellers at the poles of the earth. The majesty of her
king of kings humbled the monarchs of Greece and Rome Her governing wisdom
filled the sages with awe, and the rulers of the continents fashioned their
laws upon her polity. The Persians being distinguished among the nations of the
earth as a people of conquerors, and justly admired for their civilisation and
learning, their country became the glorious centre of all the sciences and
arts, the mine of culture and a fount of virtues. ...How is it that this
excellent country now, by reason of our sloth, vanity, and indifference, from
the lack of knowledge and organisation, from the poverty of the zeal and
ambition of her people, has suffered the rays of her prosperity to be darkened
and well-nigh extinguished?”
Other writers describe fully those unhappy conditions to
which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘Introduction to ‘The
Dawn-Breakers’)
