Discovering the Sea

Discovering the Sea “The Covenant of God is like unto a vast and fathomless ocean.”1 —’Abdu’l-Bahá

by Jacqueline Mehrabi illustrated by Susan Reed

Bahá’í Publishing 401 Greenleaf Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 Copyright © 2015 by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States

All rights reserved. Published 2015 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper ∞ 18 17 16 15 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mehrabi, Jacqueline, author.

Discovering the sea / by Jacqueline Mehrabi ; illustrated by Susan Reed. pages cm Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-61851-093-8 (alk. paper) 1. Bahai Faith—Juvenile literature. 2. Covenants—Religious aspects—Bahai Faith—Juvenile literature. 3. Bahai Faith— Doctrines—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

BP366.M434 2015 297.9’3432—dc23 2015021226

Cover and book design by Patrick Falso Illustrations by Susan Reed

To Kalim, Pari and Vahid and all our friends in Orkney

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Contents Note to the Reader.......................................................... viii 1. After the Ice Age......................................................... 1 2. Immersed in the Sea.................................................... 7 3. Callum comes to Dinner............................................. 11 4. Covenants................................................................. 15 5. Finfolk....................................................................... 19 6. A Priceless Heritage................................................... 25 7. Magnus and Moira...................................................... 31 8. Questions.................................................................. 37 9. A Fresh Start............................................................. 43 10. Erland and Natasha.................................................... 45 11. A Pure Heart............................................................. 51 12. Covenant-Breakers.................................................... 53 13. The Cave.................................................................. 59 14. The Sacred Bough and Divine Fragrances.................... 63 15. On the Farm............................................................. 67 16. Hands of the Cause of God........................................ 73 17. With Mum................................................................. 77 18. Being a Fish.............................................................. 81 19. A Watery World......................................................... 85 20. Suffering.................................................................. 89 21. The Committee of Investigation.................................. 97 22. Martyrs and Miss Rose............................................. 103 23. Peter and Badí........................................................ 107 24. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Dream............................................... 111 25. Inspiration............................................................... 115 26. The Guardian........................................................... 119 27. The Right of God..................................................... 123 28. “My love is My stronghold”....................................... 127 29. The Seal Who Cried................................................. 131 30. Callum Returns....................................................... 137 31. A Picnic.................................................................. 141 32. Lighting Candles...................................................... 149 33. Attract Them to Yourselves...................................... 157 34. Exam Results.......................................................... 161 vi

35. The Universal House of Justice................................. 165 36. Music..................................................................... 171 37. A Good Summer..................................................... 179 Study Section The Eternal Covenant..................................................... 185 Bahá’u’lláh.................................................................... 186 The Greater Covenant ................................................... 188 The Lesser Covenant (1)................................................ 189 The Lesser Covenant (2)................................................ 190 The Universal House of Justice....................................... 191 Bahá’ís......................................................................... 193 Images......................................................................... 194 Glossary for the Study Section....................................... 197 Glossary for the Story.................................................... 201 References and Notes................................................... 207 Bibliography.................................................................. 215

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Note to the Reader Discovering the Sea is a work of fiction inspired by the Bahá’í Faith, an independent world religion that began in 1844 in Persia (present-day Iran). Since its inception, the Bahá’í Faith has spread to 235 nations and territories and has been accepted by more than five million people.

Bahá’ís believe that there is only one God, that all the major world religions come from God, and that all the members of the human race are essentially members of one family. A brief glossary is included on p. 201 for readers who might be unfamiliar with some of the terms used.

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-1-

After the Ice Age

T

hat summer Fern had an idea. Well, more of a feeling really.

It happened while she was sitting on the end of the pier on a small island in Orkney, where she lived in the north of Scotland. With her were her sister, Moira, who was eleven, her brother Magnus, thirteen, and Alice, who was fifteen and her best friend. Fern had just celebrated her sixteenth birthday.

It was very quiet, with just the sound of the sea gently lapping beneath their feet. Small fish were swimming among the rocks in the clear, cold water, and the ocean floor was a waiting world of seaweed and surprises.

“I’ve counted eleven different shades of blue!” announced Moira. Fern smiled. Moira was always counting things.

“Altogether,” added Moira. “Everything in the sea and the sky.”

Fern looked at the sea with respect. It had been there long before man. It had carved out these islands, constantly changing their shape, the waves retreating every now and then to view the effect before returning as though 1

to perfect their art. If she concentrated, she was sure she could feel the earth gently changing beneath her at that very moment.

Her thoughts flew back to around nine thousand years ago, after the end of the last Ice Age. She imagined being one of the hunter-gatherers who were believed to have been living in these islands at the time—building her tent on the shore from driftwood and animal hides, then moving on, her flimsy shelter returning to the earth and leaving no trace for future historians to find.

Then she imagined being somebody’s daughter five thousand years ago, living in one of the little stone houses that still stood on a wind-swept shore on the main island of Orkney. The houses had stone beds and shelves and even drains and looked comfortable enough to move into, except none of them now had a roof. When first found under the drifting sand there were beads from broken necklaces scattered over the earthen floors, evidence of the inhabitants having left in a hurry—either from an attack by pirates or a tidal wave sweeping across the vast expanse of the Atlantic from an unseen and (at the time) undiscovered America. Fern’s mother said that when she was a child she used to play in those houses before the National Trust put up barriers to preserve them.

The massive circle of standing stones on the islands was also erected in Neolithic times. Fern imagined dancing round the giant stones under the moon, or standing in the middle in awe of the sun, which never completely set so far north on a midsummer’s night. As well as being places of worship, some scientists believed that stone circles could have been calendars or even calculators to measure the heavens.

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It was comforting to think that while many past civilizations and inventions had totally disappeared, the sea was still here, rising and falling with the pull of the moon, a link with the very beginning of things.

“Where are you?” exclaimed Alice, giving Fern a gentle poke, having asked her twice what the time was.

“Just coming to the Picts!” laughed Fern, thinking about the tribe of dark-haired, tattooed adventurers calling themselves Orcs who had landed on the islands around two thousand years ago and were thought to have named the land after themselves—Insi Orc, islands of the tribe of the boars. The boar was known to be both strong and brave.

The name had quite a ring about it, thought Fern, saying it aloud several times and hearing it float away on the wind. Later, with the coming of the Vikings, the name had changed to Orkneyjar, Seal Islands. Nowadays, this has been shortened to Orkney.

Fern explained what she was thinking about.

“Orkney even had its own kings in the time of the Picts,” she added, and smiled as she thought of her little brother Nabíl, one of the twins, who was four, and how a visitor had recently asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. “I am going to be the King of Orkney,” Nabíl had solemnly declared, “because there isn’t one!”

It was also in the time of the Picts, Fern recalled, that the first Christian monk came to live as a hermit in Orkney in the sixth or seventh century AD. It was said that he found shelter on this very island. He was the first Christian to come here, and her family was the first on the island to recognize Bahá’u’lláh, the One promised by Christ and all the Messengers of God. The thought gave her a warm 3

fellow-feeling toward the monk. She hoped the islanders living at the time had been friendly toward him.

“Well, I wish I had lived just after the Picts,” said Magnus, interrupting her thoughts. “In the time of the Vikings!”

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The Sacred Bough and Divine Fragrances

M

agnus and Fern were with Papy in the garden and had just finished reading the second verse of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. It was about His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said would be the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith after He died. “‘. . . most wondrous, unique and priceless pearl,’” read Fern. “‘. . . blest and sacred bough,’” added Magnus. “‘Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind,’” finished Fern.

Magnus wondered what it must have been like to have been a boy like Shoghi Effendi, destined to become the Guardian of the Faith. It was impossible to know, of course, because Shoghi Effendi was unique, as it said in the Will. And while Magnus knew that everyone was different from one another in some way, the uniqueness of Shoghi Effendi was special. His shade sheltered all mankind—everyone, whatever they believed. It was there, waiting for people to take shelter under it.

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“And,” Papy was saying, “Shoghi Effendi was only a child when these words were written about him, no more than ten or so. You see, the Will is in three parts, written at different times. This first part was hidden underground to keep it secret and safe. The original copy has water marks on it caused by the damp. The reason why ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote it then was because His life was in danger and He knew He could be killed any day. That story is told later on in the Will.”

“But how did ‘Abdu’l-Bahá know?” asked Magnus. “How did He know that Shoghi Effendi was the right one to be the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith when he hadn’t even grown up yet?”

“Although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not a Manifestation of God, His station was far above that of ordinary human beings,” said Papy. “He knew things we will never know.”

“Why did He keep His Will a secret?” persisted Magnus.

“Because He wanted to protect young Shoghi Effendi from the Covenant-breakers, who were still living in ‘Akká, and may have harmed him if they had known,” said Papy.

“But we won’t think about them! Do you know what it means in this same passage when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that Shoghi Effendi came from the Twin Holy Trees? “ Magnus shook his head.

“The Twin Holy Trees were the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh,” explained Papy. “Through his mother, Shoghi Effendi was descended from the Holy Family of Bahá’u’lláh. And through his father, from the Holy Family of the Báb. So ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes Shoghi Effendi as coming from the Twin Holy Trees.”

“That fits in with the imagery of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá being called the Most Mighty Branch,” said Fern.

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“And Shoghi Effendi being called the blest and sacred bough,” said Papy, his eyes shining. He had loved Shoghi Effendi ever since he had first read about him in the Will, and how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had asked the friends to take the greatest care of His beloved grandson so that nothing would ever sadden his radiant nature. *** While Papy was thinking, Magnus had been reading the rest of the second paragraph.

“Look, Papy,” he said, “it also mentions the Hands of the Cause here. I didn’t know there were Hands of the Cause then.”

“We know of four in the time of Bahá’u’lláh,” said Papy, wishing he could remember their names.22 “‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed more, but He only announced that they were Hands of the Cause after they had died. The rest were appointed by Shoghi Effendi much later. Look how beautifully ‘Abdu’l-Bahá talks about them! He says they have spread Divine Fragrances!”

“And that they kindled ‘the Fire of the Love of God in the very hearts and souls of His servants,’” said Fern, leaning over to read the words.

“They did that,” said Papy. “They were always traveling around the world, inspiring and encouraging the believers, even in the most isolated places—kindling the fire of the love of God in people’s hearts and souls. Did you know that some of the Hands of the Cause even came here, to Orkney? There were seven that I know of.”23 Fern knew that Shoghi Effendi’s widow, Hand of the Cause Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, had visited the islands, but not about the others. All these visits had 65

happened before she was born. But they would have left divine fragrances, she thought. Those were forever.

Mum came out with Papy’s medicine.

“I can see I’ll have to rescue this poor man from the two of you!” she said, smiling at Papy, who was beginning to flag but did not want to admit it. Since his legs had given out and he could not help on the farm anymore, life had become very boring for him, especially when Fern was away at school. He loved it when she was home.

As Fern wheeled him back into the house, she asked him if he had heard anything from Callum.

“He came over the other day,” said Papy. “And he said he’ll come back tomorrow.”

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End of this sample.

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