Baha'i House of Worship
Give a little, share a little ~ for the hearts, anticipating. (repeat)
All must raise this Dawning Place of the Praise of God! (repeat)
~
Chorus: Dawning Place of the Praise of God! Dayspring of beauty's eternal song!
Dawning Place of the Praise of God! Let's build up this Temple of glorious Love.
~
We'll "erect temples with infinite architectural beauty."
They'll be works of "art with pleasing porportion and handsome and attractive appearances."(1)
(repeat these last two lines)
Day by day, and week by week, we'll build it most creatively. (repeat)
And when it's done, when it's done. (repeat)
We'll direct our steps to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, and enter and seat ourselves therein.
Listen in silence to the verses of God, the Mighty, All-Praised and Sovereign.
(repeat these last two lines)
~
The spiritual centre of our Baha'i community, dedicated to worship and serving all humanity.
Open to all nations, and all religions, too. This dawning place of love, of learning and truth.
One of the most vital institutions in the world,
Forging the bonds of unity, this strand of precious pearls.
The lovers of God are encompassed by this temple's inspiration.
Making the believers so steadfast and firm.
~
A city so called ~ Santiago, in Chile, South America.
In every nation ever ready. Yes, these are what holy dreams are.
~
Chorus: Dawning Place of the Praise of God! Dayspring of beauty's eternal song!
Dawning Place of the Praise of God! Let's build up this Temple of glorious Love.
~
We'll "erect temples with infinite architectural beauty."
They'll be works of "art with pleasing porportion and handsome and attractive appearances." (1)
(repeat these last two lines)
Day by day, and week by week, we'll build it most creatively. (repeat)
And when it's done, when it's done. (repeat)
We'll direct our steps to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, and enter and seat ourselves therein.
Listen in silence to the verses of God, the Mighty, All-Praised and Sovereign.
(repeat these last two lines)
~
The spiritual centre of our Baha'i community, dedicated to worship and serving all humanity.
Open to all nations, and all religions, too. This dawning place of love, of learning and truth.
One of the most vital institutions in the world,
Forging the bonds of unity, this strand of precious pearls.
The lovers of God are encompassed by this temple's inspiration.
Making the believers so steadfast and firm.
~
Give a little, share a little ~ for the hearts, anticipating. (repeat)
All must raise this Dawning Place of the Praise of God! (repeat)
~
References:
(1) "God willing, in all the states of America in the future there will be erected Temples with infinite architectural beauty, art, with pleasing proportion and handsome and attractive appearances; especially in New York." (Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 415)
~
"Blessed is he who, at the hour of dawn, centring his thoughts on God, occupied with His remembrance, and supplicating His forgiveness, directeth his steps to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and, entering therein, seateth himself in silence to listen to the verses of God, the Sovereign, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Say: The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is each and every building which hath been erected in cities and villages for the celebration of My praise. Such is the name by which it hath been designated before the throne of glory, were ye of those who understand." (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 116)
~
"They who recite the verses of the All-Merciful in the most melodious of tones will perceive in them that with which the sovereignty of earth and heaven can never be compared. From them they will inhale the divine fragrance of My worlds -- worlds which today none can discern save those who have been endowed with vision through this sublime, this beauteous Revelation. Say: These verses draw hearts that are pure unto those spiritual worlds that can neither be expressed in words nor intimated by allusion. Blessed be those who hearken." (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 117)
~
"The doors will be open to all sects -- no differentiation; and by God's help this temple will prove to be to the body of human society what the soul is to the body of man. For when these colleges for the study of higher sciences, the hospital, the orphanage and the hospice are built,its doors will be opened to all nations, races and religions, with no line of demarkation and its charities will be dispensed without regard to race or color. Its gates will be flung wide to mankind; prejudice toward none, love for all. The central building will be dedicated to prayer and worship and thus for the first time religion will become harmonized with science and science will be the handmaid of religion -- both showering their spiritual gifts on all humanity. In this way the people will be lifted out of the quagmires of slothfulness and bigotry." (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 14)
~
"It befitteth the friends to hold a gathering, a meeting, where they shall glorify God and fix their hearts upon Him, and read and recite the Holy Writings of the Blessed Beauty -- may my soul be the ransom of His lovers! The lights of the All-Glorious Realm, the rays of the Supreme Horizon, will be cast upon such bright assemblages, for these are none other than the Mashriqu'l-Adhkars, the Dawning-Points of God's Remembrance, which must, at the direction of the Most Exalted Pen, be established in every hamlet and city... These spiritual gatherings must be held with the utmost purity and consecration, so that from the site itself, and its earth and the air about it, one will inhale the fragrant breathings of the Holy Spirit." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, passage 55, p. 94)
~
"Thou hast asked about places of worship and the underlying reason therefor. The wisdom in raising up such buildings is that at a given hour, the people should know it is time to meet, and all should gather together, and, harmoniously attuned one to another, engage in prayer; with the result that out of this coming together, unity and affection shall grow and flourish in the human heart." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, passage 58, p. 95)
~
"'Abdu'l-Bahá hath long cherished the desire that a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar be upraised in that region. Praised be God, thanks to the strenuous efforts of the friends, in recent days the joyful news of this hath been announced. This service is highly acceptable at the Threshold of God, for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar inspiriteth the lovers of God and delighteth their hearts, and causeth them to become steadfast and firm.
This is a matter of the utmost significance. If the erection of the House of Worship in a public place would arouse the hostility of evil-doers, then the meeting must, in every locality, be held in some hidden place. Even in every hamlet, a place must be set aside as the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, and even though it be underground.
Now, praised be God, ye have succeeded in this. Engage ye in the remembrance of God at dawn; rise ye up to praise and glorify Him. Blessed are ye, and joy be yours, O ye the righteous, for having established the Dawning-Point of the Praises of God. Verily I ask of the Lord that He make you standards of salvation and banners of redemption, rippling high over the valleys and hills." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, passage 59, p. 95)
~
"Although to outward seeming the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is a material structure, yet it hath a spiritual effect. It forgeth bonds of unity from heart to heart; it is a collective centre for men's souls. Every city in which, during the days of the Manifestation, a temple was raised up, hath created security and constancy and peace, for such buildings were given over to the perpetual glorification of God, and only in the remembrance of God can the heart find rest. Gracious God! The edifice of the House of Worship hath a powerful influence on every phase of life. Experience hath, in the east, clearly shown this to be a fact. Even if, in some small village, a house was designated as the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, it produced a marked effect; how much greater would be the impact of one especially raised up." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, passage 60, p. 96)
~
"O Lord, O Thou Who dost bless all those who stand firm in the Covenant by enabling them, out of their love for the Light of the World, to expend what they have as an offering to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the dayspring of Thy wide-spread rays and the proclaimer of Thine evidences, help Thou, both in this world and the world to come, these righteous these upright and pious ones to draw ever nearer to Thy sacred Threshold, and make bright their faces with Thy dazzling splendours.
Verily art Thou the Generous, the Ever-Bestowing." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, passage 61, p. 96)
~
Bahá'í Houses of Worship: SPIRITUAL BEACONS FOR HUMANITY
As a gathering place for prayer and meditation, Bahá'í Houses of Worship are the religious buildings that most closely approximate the role of the church, the temple or the mosque. Yet they are also something more. As envisioned by Bahá'u'lláh, local Houses of Worship will someday be the focal point for a community's spiritual life--and an expression of its humanitarian concern. So far, seven Houses of Worship have been built--at least one on each continent, a token of the Faith's global progress.
At the present stage of the Faith's development, Bahá'ís have focused on creating and developing the social and spiritual institutions of community life rather than on the construction of physical buildings in every community. Yet those Houses of Worship which have been constructed stand as beacons calling the world to a new mode of religious worship and life. Each temple has its own distinctive design, and yet conforms to a set of architectural requirements that give a unifying theme. All Bahá'í Houses of Worship must have nine sides and a central dome.
The first House of Worship was built in Russia, in the city of Ashkhabad in Central Asia. Completed around 1908, the Ashkhabad House of Worship served the Bahá'í community of that region until 1938, when the site was appropriated by the Soviet Government. The building was demolished in 1962 after being damaged by an earthquake. The first House of Worship in the West was completed in 1953, in Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A., on the shores of Lake Michigan, just north of Chicago. Other Bahá'í Houses of Worship were subsequently built in Kampala, Uganda; near Sydney, Australia; outside Frankfurt, Germany; overlooking Panama City, Panama; and in Apia, Western Samoa.
The newest House of Worship was completed in 1986 in New Delhi, India. Since that time the structure has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. In a few short years the New Delhi temple has become one of the world's major attractions, drawing more than two and a half million visitors a year..
All Houses of Worship are open to people of every religion. There are no sermons, rituals or clergy. Around the world, more than 120 sites have so far been set aside for future Houses of Worship. Ultimately, every local Bahá'ís community will have its own House of Worship. Like the first one in Ashkhabad, each will become the focus of community life, as well as a center for social, scientific, educational, and humanitarian services. The next House of Worship will be built in Santiago, Chile.
To contribute to the building of the Baha'i House of Worship in Santiago, Chile, please contact your Local or National Baha'i Assembly Treasurer. Please note: only declared Baha'is have the privilege of contributing to this Fund.