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Ivan
Lloyd of Baha’i Faith Art graciously gave me
permission to use his beautiful paintings for my blog, which is profoundly
humbling given the quality of his art and its importance to the Faith.His beautifully masterful artwork has been noticed by the Universal House of Justice, which stated, in a Department of the Secretariat letter in 1996:
“The Universal House of Justice wishes you success as you continue your series of paintings depicting Baha’i History. Be assured that the House of Justice will offer ardent prayers in the Holy Shrines that you may be divinely confirmed in your artistic endeavors."
That is quite a compliment.
On his contact page, Ivan explains his worthy mission:
"We have created this website in the spirit of service to illustrate the early history of the Heroic Age of the Baha’i Faith.
"When you purchase prints, notecards and books through our Website Baha’i Faith Art, your support helps sustain our teaching efforts. This enables us to continue creating new artwork and additional teaching material. ..."
Through his elegant artwork, Ivan's art speaks to our heart.
In fact, on his history page, you will most likely be moved to tears, as Ivan recounts the early history of our Faith with beautiful illustrations that only intensify the story told.
In the Battle for Fort Tabarsi, Ivan recounts how the slaughter of Bábís integral to the establishment of the Cause affected the Báb:
"... When the news of the martyrdom of Mulla Husayn and his closest friend Quddus reached the Bab he suffered such grief that his pen of revelation was silenced for several months."
Ivan explains the importance of Mulla Husayn in the establishment of the Cause of God:
"In the Kitab-i-Iqan Bahá'u'lláh wrote, 'But for Mulla Husayn God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor have ascended the throne of eternal glory.'"
Ivan's Web site should inspire all Bahá'ís to learn more about their history, especially those of us in the West, for many of us have been blessed to live in societies that promote and protect religious freedom.
Yet our Faith required heroic efforts to emerge into the light from the spiritual darkness enshrouding Persia.
Mulla Husayn's importance to that heroism is explained by Ivan:
"On May 22nd 1844, this meek theologian became the first to acknowledge the Bab’s claim to be the Gate to the Hidden Imam at a moment which defines the birth of the Baha’i faith.Lastly, I discovered that he has magnificent lithographs from Day Spring Studios.
"... He established the first teaching center in Mashhad where thousands flocked to learn more about the new faith. ..."
Please visit his unforgettable Web site.
(The portrait of Mulla Husayn and the Martyrdom of Mulla Husayn are used by permission of Ivan Lloyd, Baha’i Faith Art, and may not be reproduced in any form. If you desire use of his lithographs, please contact him. Thank you.)
by Glenn Franco Simmons
5/7/09
When art and/or music are used to convey the Bahá'í teachings, the results can be inspiring.Such is the case with Bahá'í Faith Art, where the Faith's glorious Heroic Age is retold with a magnificent artistic nobility that is glorious, sublime and transcendent.
As explained by the Bahá'í International Community, the Báb's mission -- which started the Heroic Age -- came amid a religious reawakening:
"Millennial fervor gripped many peoples throughout the world during the first half of the 19th century; while Christians expected the return of Christ, a wave of expectation swept through Islam that the 'Lord of the Age' would appear.
"Both Christians and Muslims envisioned that, with fulfillment of the prophecies in their scriptures, a new spiritual age was about to begin."
"In 1844," Ivan Lloyd of Bahá'í Faith Art states, "a youth named Siyyid Ali Muhammad of Shiraz revealed He was The Báb, or the Gate, to the Hidden Imam and later proclaimed to be the return of The Promised Qaim Himself.
"The Báb heralded a New Age of Fulfillment and the first to believe in the Báb's station was Mulla Husayn who traveled around Persia to proclaim 'Zahabuz Zahman' (The Promised One has come)."
The Bahá'í International Community explains the Báb's mission:"In some respects, the Báb's role can be compared to that of John the Baptist in the founding of Christianity. The Báb was Bahá'u'lláh's herald: His principal mission was to prepare the way for Bahá'u'lláh's coming."
"The religious authorities and mullahs of Persia became increasingly alarmed at the popularity of the Báb and perceived His followers as a threat to their positions of authority."
What followed was a horrific persecution
because the Báb, as Ivan noted, "proposed breaking away from the established laws of Islam by introducing far-reaching concepts such as the equality of men and women, racial equality and the unity of Mankind."
J.E. Esslemont wrote about the Báb's mission in "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era":
"An important part of the Báb's teaching is His explanation of the terms Resurrection, Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hell."
"By the Resurrection is meant, He said, the appearance of a new Manifestation of the Sun of Truth.
"The raising of the dead means the spiritual awakening of those who are asleep in the graves of ignorance, heedlessness and lust.
"The Day of Judgment is the Day of the new Manifestation, by acceptance or rejection of Whose Revelation the sheep are separated from the goats, for the sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him.
"Paradise is the joy of knowing and loving God, as revealed through His Manifestation, thereby attaining to the utmost perfection of which one is capable, and, after death, obtaining entrance to the Kingdom of God and the life everlasting.
"Hell is simply deprivation of that knowledge of God with consequent failure to attain divine perfection, and loss of the Eternal Favor.
"He definitely declared that these terms have no real meaning apart from this; and that the prevalent ideas regarding the resurrection of the material body, a material heaven and hell, and the like, are mere figments of the imagination.
"He taught that man has a life after death, and that in the afterlife progress towards perfection is limitless."
For such teachings, He was denounced, as the Bahá'í International Community notes:
"The boldness of the Báb's proclamation -- which put forth the vision of an entirely new society -- stirred intense fear within the religious and secular establishments.
"Accordingly, persecution of the Bábis quickly developed. ...
"... Swift and savage persecution at the hands of the dominant Muslim clergy followed this announcement.
"The Báb was arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and finally on July 9, 1850, was executed in the public square of the city of Tabriz."
More than 20,000 Bábis were then martyred throughout Persia.
Out of this new religion was born the Bahá'í Faith, founded by Bahá'u'lláh, who said this about the Báb:
"Behold what steadfastness that Beauty of God hath revealed.
"The whole world rose to hinder Him, yet it utterly failed.
"The more severe the persecution they inflicted on that Sadrih [Branch] of Blessedness, the more His fervour increased, and the brighter burned the flame of His love.
"All this is evident, and none disputeth its truth.
"Finally, He surrendered His soul, and winged His flight unto the realms above."
European scholar A.L.M. Nicolas, who studied and translated the Báb's writings, said of the Báb:
"His life is one of the most-magnificent examples of courage which it has been the privilege of mankind to behold. ..."
(The 1979 photo of the House of the Báb in Shiraz -- demolished in the same year, 1979 -- and the photo of the room where the Declaration of the Báb took place on May 23, 1844 comply with permitted uses from the Bahá'í International Community's copyright restrictions as stated on this link. These sites were destroyed since the advent of Iran's Islamic Revolution. The oil paintings are used with the gracious permission of Ivan Lloyd and cannot be reproduced without his permission. The first depicts Mulla Husayn Teaching in Isfahan and the second is titled "The Seven Martyrs of Tehran.")
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