{"id":53998,"date":"2026-04-28T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?p=53998"},"modified":"2026-04-21T02:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:36:47","slug":"ninth-day-ridvan-unity-human-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/ninth-day-ridvan-unity-human-family\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ninth Day of Ridvan: Proclaiming the Unity of the Human Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Baha\u2019is follow the teachings of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a>, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith, and every year Baha\u2019i communities around the world joyously commemorate their Faith\u2019s teachings of love and unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Baha\u2019is will observe the ninth day of the annual Ridvan festival (ridvan<\/em> means paradise) \u2013 a day with a joyful special significance which makes it holy for every Baha\u2019i. Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a> wrote<\/a> that this great announcement \u2013 the coming of a new Divine prophet to humanity, described as \u201cthe Tongue of the Ancient of Days\u201d \u2013 should be seen as \u201cthe Day of supreme felicity:\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Baha, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House, proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the splendors of His name, the All-Merciful. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Joining Together in Unity on the Ninth Day of Ridvan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ninth Day of Ridvan began during the period when the Tigris River reached flood stage in the spring of 1863. In late April Baha\u2019u\u2019llah and a handful of his followers crossed over the river to the Najibiyyih garden, a park-like setting on an island filled with rose bushes and the lilting songs of nightingales. There they set up their tents and prepared spiritually for their imminent overland journey to Constantinople (now Istanbul) \u2013 Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s next place of government-imposed exile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that fragrant island they began to observe a divine springtime, that holiest of human celebrations, when a new prophet of God has come. Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, in a speech<\/a> he gave in the United States in 1912, described it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This time of the world may be likened to the equinoctial in the annual cycle. For, verily, this is the spring season of God. In the Holy Books a promise is given that the springtime of God shall make itself manifest; Jerusalem, the Holy City, shall descend from heaven; Zion shall leap forth and dance; and the Holy Land shall be submerged in the ocean of divine effulgence \u2026 It is a day of joy, a time of happiness, a period of spiritual growth. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s declaration of his mission to a few followers in the Garden of Ridvan gave new inspiration to everyone around him, infusing the entire gathering in that garden of paradise with joy and life. Each year Baha\u2019is commemorate these joyous emotions during the twelve-day Ridvan Festival, and Baha\u2019i communities all over the world host parties and gatherings that welcome everyone in the spirit of the unity of the human family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the ninth day after Baha\u2019u\u2019llah reached the Ridvan garden, when the Tigris River had receded sufficiently from its spring flood stage, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s family and many other followers could finally cross the river by boat to join him in that Garden of Paradise. As a result, Baha\u2019is celebrate the Ninth Day of Ridvan each year because it commemorates the unity of the human family and the great joy of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s declaration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Outside the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad, Iraq.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Even though they had reunited on the island, though, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s family had no idea what would happen next. Exiled by a vicious Persian despot \u2013 Nasiri\u2019d-Din Shah \u2013 and two of his most hostile ministers, Mirza Aqasi and Amir-Nizam, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, his family and his followers would soon embark on their forced exile, a treacherous four-month journey to an unknown future in a foreign land with an alien language and culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: Ridvan: A Joyous Day for Baha\u2019is and the World<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impoverished, reviled by officials and made homeless by their decrees, they had no idea what tests, trials and tortures Constantinople might hold. Rumors swirled \u2013 that Baha\u2019u\u2019llah and all his followers would be imprisoned, tortured or killed. The capitol of the Ottoman Empire, an unknown future awaited them in Constantinople, infamous at the time for its Turkish prisons and their harsh, brutal treatment of captives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But regardless of the dangers ahead, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah remained joyous. The historian Nabil wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One night, the ninth night of the waxing moon, I happened to be one of those who watched beside His blessed tent. As the hour of midnight approached, I saw Him issue from His tent, pass by the places where some of His companions were sleeping, and begin to pace up and down the moonlit, flower-bordered avenues of the garden. So loud was the singing of the nightingales on every side that only those who were near Him could hear distinctly His voice. He continued to walk until, pausing in the midst of one of these avenues, He observed: \u201cConsider these nightingales. So great is their love for these roses, that sleepless from dusk till dawn, they warble their melodies and commune with burning passion with the object of their adoration. How then can those who claim to be afire with the rose-like beauty of the Beloved choose to sleep?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, in his powerful declaration in the garden of Ridvan, announced the universal call<\/a> of a new spiritual revelation to humanity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Take heed lest anything deter thee from extolling the greatness of this Day \u2013 the Day whereon the Finger of majesty and power hath opened the seal of the Wine of Reunion, and called all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baha\u2019is follow the teachings of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith, and every year Baha\u2019i communities around the world joyously commemorate their Faith\u2019s teachings of love and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":80358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[3019],"series":[2856],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53998"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53998"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89231,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53998\/revisions\/89231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53998"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=53998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}