Dawn-Breakers-Need to study

Read and master "Dawn-Breakers"

Young Bahá’ís to master “Dawn-breakers”

"...as to what subjects within the Faith you should concentrate on he feels that the young Bahá’ís should gain a mastery of such books as the "Dawn-breakers", "God Passes By", the "Íqán", "Some Answered Questions" and the more important Tablets. All aspects of the Faith should be deeply studied."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, in Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 143)

Dawn-Breakers to be mastered by every Bahá’í & read over and over again

"Books such as..."The Dawn-Breakers" should be mastered by every Bahá’í. They should read these books over and over again."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 106)

Should master and be able to explain contents of Dawn-Breakers

"Shoghi Effendi hopes that you will exert all your effort to deepen your knowledge of the literature of the Movement, until you become fully acquainted with its spirit and tenets. Unless you do obtain such a firm hold you will never be able to teach others and render real service to the promulgation of the Faith. Of special importance is the Book of the Íqán which explains the attitude of the Cause towards the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society. Besides this there is Some Answered Questions of the Master and The Dawn-Breakers of Nabíl. Every Bahá’í should master these books and be able to explain their contents to others. Besides their importance, they are interesting and most absorbing."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 9, 1932, in Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 102 and in Lights of Guidance, no. 1931)

Should read and read over again Dawn-Breakers by every soul desiring to serve Movement or consider self an active member

"Books such as the Íqán, Some Answered Questions, the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Nabíl’s Narrative and Dr. Esslemont’s book should be read and read over again by every soul who desires to serve the Movement or considers himself an active member of the group."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 109)

Read and master the "Dawn-Breakers" in order to teach and be sustained in life and activities

Youth to master and digest facts in Dawn-Breakers for teaching and sustenance to their spiritual life and activities in service of Cause

"I would strongly urge you to utilize, to the utmost possible extent, the wealth of authentic material gathered in Nabíl’s stirring narrative and to encourage the youth to master and digest the facts recorded therein as a basis for their future work in the teaching field, and as a sustenance to their spiritual life and activities in the service of the Cause."

(Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 78)

Publication of Dawn-Breakers promised to the arouse friends to greater self-sacrifice and a more determined way of teaching

"Shoghi Effendi undertook the translation of the Dawn-Breakers only after being convinced that its publication will arouse the friends to greater self-sacrifice and a more determined way of teaching. Otherwise he would not have devoted so much time to it."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 105)

Young people to be encouraged to read–rather study–Dawn-Breakers

"Reading about the life and activities of those heroic souls is bound to influence our mode of living and of the importance we attach to our services in the Cause. Shoghi Effendi therefore hopes that the friends will read, nay rather study that book, and encourage their young people to do that as well."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 105)

Life of individuals in Dawn-Breakers to affect every one who reads and impel them to follow in their footsteps of sacrifice in path of the Faith

"Shoghi Effendi found great pleasure and spiritual upliftment while working on the translation of Nabíl’s Narrative. The life of those who figure in it is so stirring that every one who reads those accounts is bound to be affected and impelled to follow their footsteps of sacrifice in the path of the Faith."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 113)

"The reading of the Dawn-Breakers is sure to arouse the friends to renewed zeal and added perseverance in spreading the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Consider to what extent the Bab and those early leaders of the Faith suffered. It was not through a blind religious zeal but because they desired to bring about for the future generations that promised era that the Faith of the Bab promised to start - an era of peace, good-will and full realization of the spiritual significance of the life of man upon the earth. They suffered that we may be happy. They died that we may live in perfect bliss. What a sacred debt, therefore, we owe to them! How much we ought to labour to repay them for their sacrifices, and how willing and earnest we should be in consecrating our life in the path they trod!"

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, no. 1928)

Dawn-Breakers to be studied by the friends, especially the youth, to inspire and carry them through troubled days

"The Guardian believes, therefore, that it should be studied by the friends, especially the youth who need some inspiration to carry them through these troubled days."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 113)

Knowing life of heroes in "The Dawn-Breakers" to create urge to follow footsteps and achieve same

"Knowing the life of those heroes will create in us the urge to follow their footsteps and achieve the same."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 106)

The Dawn-Breakers to inspire greater activity and energy in serving Cause and teaching

"The Guardian sincerely hopes and prays that the study of the Dawn-Breakers will inspire the friends to greater activity and more exerted energy in serving the Cause and spreading its message in that town."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, p. 24)

Dawn-Breakers to be used as companion and for strength against distress and attacks

"Feel impelled appeal entire body American believers to henceforth regard Nabíl’s soul-stirring Narrative as essential adjunct to reconstructed Teaching program, as unchallengeable textbook in their Summer Schools, as source of inspiration in all literary and artistic pursuits, as an invaluable companion in times of leisure, as indispensable preliminary to future pilgrimage to Bahá’u’lláh’s native land, and as unfailing instrument to allay distress and resist attacks of critical, disillusioned humanity."

(Shoghi Effendi, cablegram dated June 21, 1932, This Decisive Hour, sec. 2.1; also in Messages to America 1932-1946, p. 1)

Study classes to memorize incidents in Dawn-Breakers to use them in teaching (in demonstrating the Faith’s motivating spirit)

"Shoghi Effendi would advise the friends in Rostock to hold regular study classes and read that book with great care, committing its salient facts to memory, so that while teaching the Cause, they may be able to show the motivating spirit of the Faith by referring to some incidents of those early days."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, p. 24)

The life of heroes of Faith (in Dawn-Breakers) to teach us of true sacrifice (in order to teach and travel-teach with more dedication)

"The life of those heroes of the Faith should teach us what true sacrifice is, and to what extent we should forego our personal and worldly interests while endeavoring to carry the divine message to the four corners of the earth."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, p. 24)

The Dawn-Breakers mentioned in connection with inspiring vision, capacity, and understanding

"I certainly advise you to concentrate next year on the “Dawn-Breakers”, as well as on the needs, the principles and the purpose of Bahá’í Administration. The Cause in your land is still in its formative period. It needs men and women of vision, of capacity and understanding. May your newly-established school render inestimable services in this as well as in other fields of activity. I will pray for your high endeavours from the depths of my heart. Rest assured and persevere."

(Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 79)

Narrative arouse friends to greater sacrifices and more intensive service; Persian friends had to endure both physical and moral persecution, but the Western ones primarily only moral

"...If those heroic deeds have made such an impression upon you, would not the reading of the narrative arouse the friends to greater sacrifices and stimulate them to more intensive service? It was not mere physical torture that the friends in Persia had to endure but also moral persecution for they were cursed and vilified by all the people, especially when they ceased to defend themselves ... the Master used to say sometimes that the western friends will be severely persecuted but theirs will be primarily moral...."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny, p. 425)

What the Dawn-Breakers shows

The Dawn-Breakers to show how the Faith was ushered into the world and how its early adherents heroically faced martyrdom and suffering to establish Cause throughout world

"The...book will show you how the Faith was ushered into the world and how its early adherents heroically faced martyrdom and suffering in their desire to establish the Cause throughout the world."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 106)

"If you study the history of Nabil you will see how the Faith has been fed by the constant sacrifices of the friends. Under hardships, persecutions and constant worries has the Message of Baha'u'llah been established throughout the world."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Living the Life, p. 5, from a letter dated 30 November 1932 written to an individual believer)

The life of heroes of Faith (in Dawn-Breakers) to teach us of true sacrifice in order to teach and travel-teach with more dedication

"The life of those heroes of the Faith should teach us what true sacrifice is, and to what extent we should forego our personal and worldly interests while endeavoring to carry the divine message to the four corners of the earth."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, p. 24)

Use of the Dawn-Breakers in study classes

Study classes to memorize incidents in Dawn-Breakers to use them in teaching (in demonstrating the Faith’s motivating spirit)

"Shoghi Effendi would advise the friends in Rostock to hold regular study classes and read that book with great care, committing its salient facts to memory, so that while teaching the Cause, they may be able to show the motivating spirit of the Faith by referring to some incidents of those early days."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 2, p. 24)

Dawn-Breakers to be used in teaching, as textbook, arts inspiration, and preliminary to pilgrimage

"Feel impelled appeal entire body American believers to henceforth regard Nabíl’s soul-stirring Narrative as essential adjunct to reconstructed Teaching program, as unchallengeable textbook in their Summer Schools, as source of inspiration in all literary and artistic pursuits, as an invaluable companion in times of leisure, as indispensable preliminary to future pilgrimage to Bahá’u’lláh’s native land, and as unfailing instrument to allay distress and resist attacks of critical, disillusioned humanity."

(Shoghi Effendi, cablegram dated June 21, 1932, This Decisive Hour, sec. 2.1; also in Messages to America 1932-1946, p. 1)

Note

"Certainly, the Guardian cannot have intended, when he commended Nabil’s Narrative to the friends as a source of inspiration, that there were not other sources by which their imagination could be stimulated."

(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice, email dated 10 February 1998 to an individual believer)

Specific uses of the Dawn-Breakers for the arts

Use Dawn-Breakers to arrange stories for children

"With 'The Dawn-Breakers' in your possession you could also arrange interesting stories about the early days of the movement which the children would like to hear."

(From a letter dated October 19, 1932, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, quoted in Bahá’í Education, no. 111)

Use of motifs in Dawn-Breakers in dance

"Mark Tobey reports [of his second pilgrimage, in 1932] that the Guardian said he has translated The Dawn-Breakers so that dancers would have Bahá’í motifs for the dance, as he believed that this art would be first to be developed along Bahá’í lines."

(Excerpt from a pilgrim note by Mark Tobey (painter) contained in the “In Memoriam” submitted for The Bahá’í World, XVII, 1976-79) (note: pilgrim’s notes cannot be considered as necessarily authentic, though they may be of interest)

To categorize

"Urge all English speaking Believers concentrate study Nabil's immortal Narrative as essential preliminary to renewed intensive Teaching Campaign necessitated by completion Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Strongly feel widespread use of its varied rich and authentic material constitutes most effective weapon to meet challenge of a critical hour. Unhesitatingly recommend it to every prospective visitor of Bahá'u'lláh's native land."

(Shoghi Effendi, cable published in Baha'i News, No. 56 - October-November 1931, p. 2)

"Our Guardian wishes me to express his lively satisfaction at the efficiency and promptness with which the National Spiritual Assembly have undertaken the publication of "Nabil's Narrative . The plan you have conceived to further the means for its production has met with his unqualified approval, and he hopes that the response of the believers, not only among the English speaking Bahá'ís, but the friends throughout the world, will be such as to repay fully the painstaking efforts which you have exerted to insure its success...

"Our Guardian trusts that a careful reading of Nabil's Narrative will not only serve to familiarize the American believers with the character of the stirring events that have marked the birth of the Cause in that land, but will serve to deepen their realization of the spirit that animated those who have achieved such immortal renown on its soil."

(Shoghi Effendi, cable published in Baha'i News, No. 56 - October-November 1931 - p. 3)

"I urge you to maintain the closest contact with the believers in Germany and particularly with the National Assembly, to study and digest the chapters of Nabíl's narrative as they appear in "The Sun of Truth" that you may obtain a fuller grasp of the purpose, the influence and the moving episodes of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh."

(In a postscript by Shoghi Effendi, Light of Divine Guidance, vol. 1, p. 75)

"Indeed the chief motive actuating me to undertake the task of editing and translating Nabíl's immortal Narrative has been to enable every follower of the Faith in the West to better understand and more readily grasp the tremendous implications of His exalted station and to more ardently admire and love Him."

(Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 123)

"Utilize, as extensively as you possibly can, the wealth of material which Nabil's stirring and precious narrative contains, and let it be your chief instrument wherewith you can feed the flame of enthusiasm that glows in every Baha'i heart and upon which the success of your magnificent, your incessant efforts must ultimately depend."

(Postscript in the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi appended to an unpublished letter dated 17 November 1932 written on his behalf to an individual believer; in Walking Together on a Path of Service)

"Nabil's narrative is not merely a narrative; it is a book of meditation.  It does not only teach.  It actually inspires and incites to action.  It quickens and stimulates our dormant energies and makes us soar on a higher plane. It is thus of an invaluable help to the historian as well as to every teacher and expounder of the Cause."

(From an unpublished letter dated 8 June 1933 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; in Walking Together on a Path of Service)

See also

• History - Need to study