I Blog Poetry and Prose

Feast of Ridvan

Istijlál (Majesty), 15 Bahá (Splendor) 176 B.E. - Thursday, April 4, 2019

GROUP

Blogging Circle of Friends   (E) A group for WDC bloggers. #1901868 by Lyn's a Witchy Woman

DAY 2328: Use these words in your post today: shadow, night, feast, ascension, hour, life and genius. Have fun.

Festival of Ridvan

In about seventeen day the Festival of Riḍván begins, during which Baha'is across the world celebrate the Declaration of Baha'u'llah. Riḍván, which means paradise, last twelve days and the first, ninth, and twelfth day are Holy Days. This festival began in 1863, just before Baha'u'llah left Baghdad. The festival was held in a garden on an island outside the city. The garden was called Ridvan or Paradise by those who attended or visited Baha'u'llah while he was on that island.

"It is the Festival of Riḍván, the vernal season wherein the Beauty of the All-Glorious was revealed betwixt earth and heaven. In this wondrous Day the gates of Paradise were flung open before the faces of all people, at the behest of Him Who is the All-Praised, and the outpourings of divine mercy rained down from the clouds of celestial favour upon His countless embodiments and manifestations in the world of being."

Baha'u'llah1

In the shadows of evening,
I contemplate Feast of Paradise.

How wonderful it must have been
to be present at the hour
when Baha'u'llah proclaimed
that He was the one foretold by the Bab;
that He was the Promised on of All Religions.

Each night roses bloomed
and nightingales sing
celebrating the Declaration
of the King of kings,
the Lord of Hosts,
and the one who fulfilled
the Promises of all the Holy Books.

Poet's Note

I meditate on the meaning of the scriptures revealed by Baha'u'llah. I am not a genius. I am a poet attempting to write ode to the Baha'u'llah, the Glory of God, and The Bab, the Gate of God. I am a poet attempting to proclaim my faith before the ascension of my soul into the spiritual world, where life is eternal. I write a best I can of what I can understand.

Footnotes
1  Days of Remembrance, Ridvan: Section 24.