1875 (In the year)
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At the request of Baha'u'lláh,`Abdu'l-Bahá wrote The Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a treatise on the establishment of a just, progressive and divinely-based government. [SDCv; Baha'u'llah on the Circumstances of the Composition of "The Secret of Divine Civilization" a provisional translation of a Tablet by Bahá'u'lláh by Adib Masumian]
It was lithographed in Bombay in 1882. It was first published in English under the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization in London in 1910. [SDCv] It was re-issued in 1918 and later translated as The Secret of Divine Civilization by Marzieh Gail and published by the Bahá'í Publishing Trust in Wilmette in 1957.
See Marzieh Gail's Summon Up Remembrance pg46-47 for a description of Persia at the time. The nation was ostensibly ruled by a self-serving monarch who had little regard for the county or its people. The government administered the chessboard where Russia and England played out their competing imperialistic designs to increase their respective spheres of influence. Through bribery and intrigue, they contended to raise up ministers who would do their bidding. They thwarted the progress of the nation by manipulating the clergy to oppose any Western ideas, threatening that such would threaten Islam. If required these measures were supplemented with the bribery of the ulamas, accepted eagerly either for their personal gain or for contributions to their communities. Thus Iranians were kept divided, deprived, and ignorant; all the better to exploit them. [SUR62]
Shoghi Effendi called The Secret of Divine Civilization "`Abdu'l-Bahá's outstanding contribution to the future reorganization of the world". [WOB37]
See the English translation of the message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís of Iran dated 26 November 2003 in which they make reference to this book.
See a comment about the book.
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Secret of Divine Civilization (book); - Publishing; * Publications; - First publications; Corruption; Reform; Iran, General history; * `Abdu'l-Bahá (chronology); * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Writings and talks of; * `Abdu'l-Bahá, Basic timeline; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Adib Masumian; Akka, Israel; Mumbai, India; India; Iran; Mysterious Forces of Civilization (book) |
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