Guest Author - Sandy Mullins

The first month of the Baha’i Calendar called Baha (Splendor) starts March 21 at sundown. It is also the end of the fast for Baha’is and the start of the Baha’i New Year (Naw Ruz). The Baha’i (Badi) Calendar months are named after attributes or qualities of God. Though out all the writings of the Manifestations of God (Prophets) these qualities and/or terms are used throughout.

Gods' Splendor is all around us, if you just look you can see the splendor of Gods’ creation. Let us take a look at how the previous Manifestations of God have used the word Splendor:

From Buddha, we have these words:
”By day the sun shines.
By night the moon is bright.
Amoured shines the warrior.
In meditation the brahman glows.
But all day and all night,
The Buddha shines in splendour.”
Dhammapada - Sayings of the Buddha 3

From the Hebrew Writings (Old Testament), we have these words:
”Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall laud Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts. The glorious splendour of Thy majesty, and Thy wondrous works, will I rehearse. And men shall speak of the might of Thy tremendous acts; and I will tell of Thy greatness. They shall utter the fame of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness.”
Kesuvim (Writings), Tehillim (Psalms), 145, 4-7

Then, with Muhammed in the Qu’ran:
”Nor strain thine eyes in longing for the things We have given for enjoyment to parties of them, the splendor of the life of this world, through which We test them: but the provision of thy Lord is better and more enduring.”
The Qur'an, Surah 20

Baha’u’llah, the latest manifestation of God tells us:
”From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured.”
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 60

”For We perceive the fragrance of the Day whereon He Who is the Desire of all nations hath shed upon the kingdoms of the unseen and of the seen the splendor of the light of His most excellent names, and enveloped them with the radiance of the luminaries of His most gracious favors -- favors which none can reckon except Him, Who is the omnipotent Protector of the entire creation.”
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 32

”We ask thee to reflect upon that which hath been revealed, and to be fair and just in thy speech, that perchance the splendors of the daystar of truthfulness and sincerity may shine forth, and may deliver thee from the darkness of ignorance, and illumine the world with the light of knowledge.”
Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 10

Abdu’l-Baha the son of Baha’u’llah we hear:
”The Divine Nature is seen in the Manifestations and its Light and Splendor are visible in extreme glory.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 24

”The more the world of humanity develops, the more the effulgences or emanations of divinity will become revealed, just as the stone when it becomes polished and pure as a mirror will reflect in fuller degree the glory and splendor of the sun.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 261

”Although they are of different kinds, various colors and diverse forms and appearances, yet as they drink from one water, are swayed by one breeze and grow by the warmth and light of one sun, this variation and this difference cause each to enhance the beauty and splendor of the others.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 295

”The splendors of the perfections, bounties, and attributes of God shine forth and radiate from the reality of the Perfect Man, that is to say, the Unique One, the universal Manifestation of God. Other beings receive only one ray, but the universal Manifestation is the mirror for this Sun, which appears and becomes manifest in it, with all its perfections, attributes, signs, and wonders.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 323

”The knowledge of the Reality of the Divinity is impossible and unattainable, but the knowledge of the Manifestations of God is the knowledge of God, for the bounties, splendors , and divine attributes are apparent in them.”
Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 323

Finally from Baha’u’llah:
”We ask thee to reflect upon that which hath been revealed, and to be fair and just in thy speech, that perchance the splendors of the daystar of truthfulness and sincerity may shine forth, and may deliver thee from the darkness of ignorance, and illumine the world with the light of knowledge.”
Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 10

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