was born on October 20, 1819 in Shiráz, Persia. By all accounts He was a remarkable child of superior intelligence; as a merchant He was renowned for His honesty and generosity, gentleness and kind humor.

On the evening and morning of May 22-23, 1844, He declared to Mullá Husayn, a Muhammadan priest, that He was the promised Qa'im ("One Who Shall Arise") of Islámic Scriptures. At that time, He also foretold of One greater than Himself... that He was the Gate - the Báb - through Whom "Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest" would emerge - the Promised One of all the Prophets. Like John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, The Báb suffered torture and eventual martyrdom for His religion. His execution was carried out on July 9, 1850 by firing squad in Tabriz, Persia. He had not yet reached His thirty-first birthday. His Dispensation continued for approximately three more years after His death, until It too began to fade.

was of the nobility and the son of a Persian Minister of the Sháh. He was born in Tihrán, Persia on November 12, 1817. He was renowned in His district for His gentleness, innate intelligence, and many kindnesses. Despite having received only a basic education, and as a youth, He was still able to confound the learned Muslim priests, easily answering complex questions posed to Him. It is He of Whom The Báb spoke as "Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest".

Upon the declaration of the Báb's mission, Bahá'u'lláh readily became a Bábí - a follower of the Báb. He was tortured and imprisoned for His beliefs, and it was during one of these incarcerations, - wearing a steel collar and two notoriously heavy chains around His neck - that God made known to Him the time for His own Declaration was at hand. From then until nearly forty years had passed, Bahá'u'lláh revealed "as a copious rain" all that would be needed by His followers - in Tablets, books, poems and prayers... answering many of the questions that have plagued mankind for centuries.

Throughout those years, He and His family endured a series of banishments and imprisonments - from Tihrán to Baghdad to Constantinople (Istanbul) to Adrianople (Edirne) and finally to the prison city of 'Akká (Acre) in Palestine (now Israel). It was here that He revealed the Mother Book of the Bahá'í Faith - The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Shortly before His passing, He was allowed to leave 'Akká prison and enjoy the pleasures of nature He had been denied for so long. Following a short illness, He passed from this life on May 29, 1892 in Báhjí, Israel where He is buried and where devoted followers make pilgrimage to His Shrine.

was the firstborn son of Bahá'u'lláh and His beloved wife, Ásíyih Khánum. He came into this world on the very night and at approximately the very hour that the Báb was revealing His station. He was but eight years old when His beloved Father was imprisoned for the first time. He was the only one allowed to visit His Father during that time, and fainted when He saw what the ravages of imprisonment had physically done to Bahá'u'lláh . It was 'Abdu'l-Bahá who instinctively realized the station as a Manifestation of God that His Father personified.

With His mother, sister and brother, He suffered all the banishments and exiles of His Father, and they developed a most unique and spiritual Father-Son relationship. Throughout His Father's Ministry, and throughout the rest of His life, 'Abdu'l-Bahá became the embodiment of His name, serving Bahá'u'lláh in multiple capacities.

In His Will and Testament, Bahá'u'lláh entrusted the Cause of God into the able hands of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, thus protecting the nascent Faith from the schisms that had quickly arisen in former Dispensations. It was to 'Abdu'l-Bahá alone that the believers were to turn for interpretation of the Bahá'í Sacred Writings.

Justifiably so, 'Abdu'l-Bahá is - and was in His lifetime- referred to as "The Master", for His teaching skills were extraordinary. More so, when one realizes that being moved from place to place as He had been, precluded any chance of formal schooling.

After the passing of His Father, although He and His family were allowed free access to the countryside around 'Akká, He remained a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. However, His formal incarceration was reinstated in1901. While guiding the Faith from prison through letters and Tablets, after seven years, He was freed and subsequently traveled abroad teaching and bolstering the believers in the West, while continuing His Ministery in the East.

'Abdu'l-Bahá passed from this life quietly in His sleep during the night of November 28, 1921 in Haifa, Israel, where He is buried. As did His Father before Him, in His own Will and Testament, He named His successor.

Shoghi, meaning "one who longs"; Effendi, an Arabic title given to someone as a sign of respect - was the eldest grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. He was born to His eldest daughter and her husband on March 1, 1897 in the prison city of 'Akká, and from infancy onward was under the loving guidance and protection of his beloved Grandfather.

He received his higher education in Western colleges, the last being in Oxford, England. It was here that Shoghi Effendi was notified of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.

At twenty-four, he was now the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. His attendance at colleges of the West served him well, for he developed not only a great mastery of the English language, but an understanding of Western customs as well. During his years of Guardianship, the Bahá'í Faith grew from a small movement in the Middle East to a truly global religion.

Shoghi Effendi translated the first of the Sacred Writings into English; he directed the many activities of the Bahá'í communities of both the East and the West; he continued the work his beloved Grandfather began in implementing the religious laws and spiritual principles revealed by his Great-Grandfather, Bahá'u'lláh; and, although he wrote only one book - God Passes By, the definitive history of the first 100 years of the Bahá'í Faith - his many letters to the believers have been compiled into books which are definitive and inspirational guidelines to this day.

Shoghi Effendi did not live to see the seating of the first Universal House of Justice, whose nine members were elected in April, 1963. He passed from this life in London on November 4, 1957, after thirty-six years of devoted service to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Shoghi Effendi had no heir, but left the Cause of God in the trust of the Hands of the Cause, spiritually guided men and women, to carry on the work of the Faith until the Universal House of Justice could be elected.