Leo Tolstoy
Tablets[edit]
Letters from about Baha'i Faith[edit]
- https://bahai-library.com/books/appreciations.html#34 (also cited in part at https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_faith_bahaullah and https://bahai-library.com/uhj_ministry_custodians&chapter=7#419 and Tolstoy's tribute mentioned at https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_statistics_1844-1950#34 )
Praise by Tolstoy attests great progress of Faith of Bahá'u'lláh under the leadership of `Abdu'l-Bahá[edit]
"Nor can this subject [on ministry of `Abdu'l-Bahá] be dismissed without special reference to the names of those men of eminence and learning who were moved, at various stages of `Abdu'l-Bahá's ministry, to pay tribute not only to `Abdu'l-Bahá Himself but also to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Such names as Count Leo Tolstoy...attest, by virtue of the tributes associated with them, the great progress made by the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh under the brilliant leadership of His exalted Son..."
- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 316-317)
A drama "The Báb" by a Russian poetess aroused the genuine sympathy and interest of Tolstoy, whose eulogy of the poem was later published in the Russian press[edit]
"A Russian poetess, member of the Philosophic, Oriental and Bibliological Societies of St. Petersburg, published in 1903 a drama entitled "The Báb," which a year later was played in one of the principal theatres of that city, was subsequently given publicity in London, was translated into French in Paris, and into German by the poet Fiedler, was presented again, soon after the Russian Revolution, in the Folk Theatre in Leningrad, and succeeded in arousing the genuine sympathy and interest of the renowned Tolstoy, whose eulogy of the poem was later published in the Russian press."
- (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 56)
'Abdu'l-Bahá was to have received a letter from Tolstoy who indicated he wished to write a book about Bahá'u'lláh[edit]
"The same questioner [inquiring about Esperanto] said: "I have read much of Tolstoy and I see a parallel between his teachings and yours. In one of his books he speaks of the Enigma of Life, and describes how life is wasted in our endeavour to find the Key. But Tolstoy goes on to say: `There is a man in Persia who holds the secret.'"
"Yes," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "I received a letter from Tolstoy, and in it he said that he wished to write a book upon Bahá'u'lláh."
- (Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London, "Tolstoy", pp. 94-95)
