It seems that whenever the name of the Tigris River is mentioned in the news nowadays, it is connected to another sad incident in the ongoing Iraqi conflict. Just last week I came across this Reuters FACTBOX article mentioning the killing of a fisherman as he was fishing on the Tigris, in Mosul. This was just one of some fifteen deadly incidents reported in this article, all on a single day of this conflict — a depressing statistic for a land that is mentioned with such regularity in the Holy Scriptures of the world’s major Faiths.

Baha’i history, too, is interwoven with this land. One hundred and forty-five years ago, in 1863, the banks of the Tigris River witnessed the Festival of Ridvan at which Bahá’u'lláh fulfilled the prophecies of earlier religions. It was here that Bahá’u'lláh, the Promised One of all ages, declared Himself to mankind.

Prior to this, around the year 1857, this same river set the scene for the revelation of The Hidden Words, described by Shoghi Effendi as a “marvelous collection of gem-like utterances…with which Bahá’u'lláh was inspired, as He paced, wrapped in His meditations, the banks of the Tigris. Revealed in the year 1274 A.H., partly in Persian, partly in Arabic…the significance of this dynamic spiritual leaven cast into the life of the world for the reorientation of the minds of men, the edification of their souls and the rectification of their conduct can best be judged by the description of its character given in the opening passage by its Author:

This is that which hath descended from the Realm of Glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue.

Today, Baha’is celebrate the last day of the Festival of Ridvan. They reflect on the momentous happenings that occurred on the banks of that famous river, and eagerly try to inform friends and colleagues of their world-changing significance.

I will conclude this piece with some passages from The Hidden Words:

1. O SON OF SPIRIT!
My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.

9. O SON OF BEING!
My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure, and he that turneth away shall surely stray and perish.

28. O SON OF SPIRIT!
Know thou of a truth: He that biddeth men be just and himself committeth iniquity is not of Me, even though he bear My name.

(Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)