KING OF ALL FESTIVALS


The Garden of Paradise
on the "Verdant Isle" near Akka,
better known as the Garden of Ridvan










Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The doors of the Kingdom are open.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
Armies of angels are descending from heaven.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Sun of Truth is rising.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Heavenly Food is being sent from above.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Trumpet is sounding.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Banner of the Great Peace is floating far and wide.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Light of the Oneness of Humanity is burning brightly.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Fire of the Love of God is blazing.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
The Holy Spirit is being outpoured.
Glad Tidings! Glad Tidings!
For Everlasting Life is here.
O ye that sleep awake!
O ye heedless ones learn wisdom!
O blind receive sight!
O deaf hear!
O dumb speak!
O dead arise!
Be Happy!
Be Happy!
Be full of
JOY.

- Abdu’l-Baha


 Verily, all created things 

were immersed in the sea of purification when, 

on that first day of Ridvan, 

We shed upon the whole of creation the splendours of Our most excellent Names

 and Our most exalted Attributes.

- Baha'u'llah


Dear Angels,

There is no
doubt that each of us intends to celebrate in style the Greatest of Festivals. Therefore, you are invited to a virtual pilgrimage, a special meditative session for the celebration of each of the three special Days of the Festival of Ridvan.




Thou seest, O my Lord, the assemblage of Thy loved ones, the company of Thy friends, gathered by the precincts of Thine all-sufficing Shrine, and in the neighborhood of Thine exalted garden, on a day among the days of Thy Ridvan Feast -- that blessed time when Thou didst dawn upon the world, shedding thereon the lights of Thy holiness, spreading abroad the bright rays of Thy oneness, and didst issue forth from Baghdad, with a majesty and might that encompassed all mankind; with a glory that made all to fall prostrate before Thee, all heads to bow, every neck to bend low, and the gaze of every man to be cast down. They are calling Thee to mind and making mention of Thee, their breasts gladdened with the lights of Thy bestowals, their souls restored by the evidences of Thy gifts, speaking Thy praise, turning their faces toward Thy Kingdom, humbly supplicating Thy lofty Realms.

- Abdu'l-Baha




CELEBRATION PROGRAM - FIRST DAY OF RIDVAN

Imagine that you are eagerly waiting,
as you stand near the prison-city of Akka, the waving of a Hand, so blessed.

 

 

Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Bahá, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House, proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the splendors of His name, the All-Merciful. God is Our witness. Were We to reveal the hidden secrets of that Day, all they that dwell on earth and in the heavens would swoon away and die, except such as will be preserved by God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

- Baha'u'llah

Verily, all created things were immersed in the sea of purification when, on that first day of Riḍván, We shed upon the whole of creation the splendours of Our most excellent Names and Our most exalted Attributes. This, verily, is a token of My loving providence, which hath encompassed all the worlds. Consort ye then with the followers of all religions, and proclaim ye the Cause of your Lord, the Most Compassionate; this is the very crown of deeds, if ye be of them who understand.
- Baha'u'llah

VIDEO - The Festival of Ridvan

TABLET - April 22, 1863

VIDEO - Queen of Carmel

 
 


CELEBRATION PROGRAM - NINTH DAY OF RIDVAN

Today, try to imagine that you are circling, in spirit, the "Verdant Isle" where the KING OF GLORY enjoyed sitting while hearing the whispers of the realms above.




The Festival of Ridvan is come and the splendour of the light of God is shining from the invisible horizon of His mercy. The overflowing grace of the Lord of oneness is pouring down copiously from the unseen world and the glad-tidings of the Kingdom are coming in from all countries. The resplendent morn that betokens the advancement of the Cause of God and heralds the exaltation of His Word is dawning in every region.

Praise be to God that the fame of the Ancient Beauty — may my life be offered up for His loved ones — has been noised abroad in the world and the glory of His Cause is spread far and wide throughout the East and the West. These joyous developments will indeed gladden the hearts of His loved one.
- Bahiyyih Khanum

TABLET - Declaration

VIDEO -   History



CELEBRATION PROGRAM - TWELFTH DAY OF RIDVAN



Finally, imagine that you sit in the colorful,
sun-filled garden where this Prince of Peace occasionally pitched His tent,
tending to the needs of the devoted souls
who had bound their lives so inextricably to His.





Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

- Baha'u'llah

Cry out before the gaze of the dwellers of heaven and of earth: I am the Maid of Heaven, the Offspring begotten by the Spirit of Bahá. My habitation is the Mansion of His Name, the All-Glorious. Before the Concourse on high I was adorned with the ornament of His names. I was wrapt within the veil of an inviolable security, and lay hidden from the eyes of men. Methinks that I heard a Voice of divine and incomparable sweetness, proceeding from the right hand of the God of Mercy, and lo, the whole Paradise stirred and trembled before Me, in its longing to hear its accents, and gaze on the beauty of Him that uttered them. Thus have We revealed in this luminous Tablet, and in the sweetest of languages, the verses which the Tongue of Eternity was moved to utter in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá.
- Baha'u'llah

 
And whenever I chose to hold my peace and be still, lo, the voice of the Holy Ghost, standing on my right hand, aroused me, and the Supreme Spirit appeared before my face, and Gabriel overshadowed me, and the Spirit of Glory stirred within my bosom, bidding me arise and break my silence. If your hearing be purged and your ears be attentive, ye will assuredly perceive that every limb of my body, nay all the atoms of my being, proclaim and bear witness to this call: "God, besides Whom is none other God, and He, Whose beauty is now manifest, is the reflection of His glory unto all that are in heaven and on earth."
- Baha'u'llah

We will now mention unto thee Trustworthiness and the station thereof in the estimation of God, thy Lord, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. One day of days We repaired unto Our Green Island. Upon Our arrival, We beheld its streams flowing, and its trees luxuriant, and the sunlight playing in their midst. Turning Our face to the right, We beheld what the pen is powerless to describe; nor can it set forth that which the eye of the Lord of Mankind witnessed in that most sanctified, that most sublime, that blest, and most exalted Spot. Turning, then, to the left We gazed on one of the Beauties of the Most Sublime Paradise, standing on a pillar of light, and calling aloud saying: "O inmates of earth and heaven! Behold ye My beauty, and My radiance, and My revelation, and My effulgence. By God, the True One! I am Trustworthiness and the revelation thereof, and the beauty thereof. I will recompense whosoever will cleave unto Me, and recognize My rank and station, and hold fast unto My hem. I am the most great ornament of the people of Bahá, and the vesture of glory unto all who are in the kingdom of creation. I am the supreme instrument for the prosperity of the world, and the horizon of assurance unto all beings." Thus have We sent down for thee that which will draw men nigh unto the Lord of creation.
- Baha'u'llah



TABLET -
The Divine Springtime is come

VIDEO - The Ridvan Tablet of Baha’u’llah


Be wonderfully blessed !

Loesha

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