Falcons: Symbols of Spiritual Souls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"family](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2021\/12\/30113206\/spiritual-meaning-symbolism-falcons-4.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00edy-i-Qazv\u00edn\u00ed was one of the earliest followers of the Bab<\/a>, the forerunner of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, and Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a>, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBaha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s son, Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe was an excellent friend and comrade, happy, delightful; favored by Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h, respected by the friends, shunning the world, trusting in God. There was no fickleness in him, his inner condition was always the same: stable, constant, firmly rooted as the hills.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nHe was so patient and serene despite the suffering he endured for spreading the revolutionary teachings of the Baha\u2019i Faith, such as the independent investigation of truth, the abolition of all forms of prejudice, the agreement of science and religion, and the equality of women and men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One time, while he was at his home in Qazv\u00edn, Iran, \u201che was caught by the malevolent and they beat him so brutally over the head that the effects stayed with him till his dying hour.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAbdu\u2019l-Baha said<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThey abused and tormented him in many ways and thought it permissible to inflict every kind of cruelty upon him; yet his only crime was to have become a believer, and his only sin, to have loved God. As the poet has written, in lines that illustrate the plight of \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed:<\/strong><\/p>By owls the royal falcon is beset.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>They rend his wings, though he is free of sin.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\u2018Why\u2019\u2014so they mock\u2014\u2018do you remember yet<\/strong><\/em><\/p>That royal wrist, that palace you were in?\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>He is a kingly bird: this crime he did commit.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>Except for beauty, what was Joseph\u2019s sin?<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nThe \u201croyal falcon\u201d symbolizes \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed, a noble and magnanimous man with a big heart, who did not deserve the taunts and abuse of the \u201cowls\u201d\u2014 those people who were prejudiced against the Baha\u2019is and inflicted harm upon them. But like the falcon, \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed remained strong with a smile on his face despite the fact that he was ill until the day he died.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"falcon](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2021\/12\/30113453\/spiritual-meaning-symbolism-falcon-720x720.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAnother early Baha\u2019i and royal falcon who endured intense suffering was Jin\u00e1b-i-Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1hu\u2019l-A\u1e63daq. Because Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1h openly shared the teachings of the Baha\u2019i Faith, he and other Baha\u2019is were imprisoned at Fort \u1e6cabars\u00ed in Iran where they went eighteen days without food and withstood the onslaught of cannon balls from siege guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was later taken to the chiefs of M\u00e1zindar\u00e1n to be killed when,\u201cGod put it into one man\u2019s heart to free him from prison in the middle of the night and guide him to a place where he was safe<\/strong>,\u201d <\/strong>Abdu\u2019l-Baha recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDespite the traumatic ordeals he faced, Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1h remained staunch in his faith and shared the Baha\u2019i principles even more widely after he was free. Abdu\u2019l-Baha said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe was like a surging sea, a falcon that soared high. His visage shone, his tongue was eloquent, his strength and steadfastness astounding. When he opened his lips to teach, the proofs would stream out; when he chanted or prayed, his eyes shed tears like a spring cloud. <\/strong><\/p>His face was luminous, his life spiritual, his knowledge both acquired and innate; and celestial was his ardor, his detachment from the world, his righteousness, his piety and fear of God. \u2026He was a great personage, perfect in all things.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nThe Falcon: A Symbol of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"falcon\"](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2021\/12\/30112422\/spiritual-meaning-symbolism-falcons-3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThese consecrated souls were not the first royal falcons. They were inspired by the light of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, who Baha\u2019is believe is the latest messenger sent from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baha\u2019u\u2019llah wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\nI was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nBah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h suffered 40 years of imprisonment, torture and exile for annoucing that a new revelation had been born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/media.bahaiteachings.org\/2022\/01\/04143755\/spiritual-meaning-symbolism-falcons.jpg\")
Prison Cell of Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h, c. 1921<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn English, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah means \u201cThe Glory of God,\u201d and Baha\u2019is believe that His coming is foretold in many of the world religions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00edy-i-Qazv\u00edn\u00ed was one of the earliest followers of the Bab<\/a>, the forerunner of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, and Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a>, the prophet and founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s son, Abdu\u2019l-Baha<\/a>, said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was an excellent friend and comrade, happy, delightful; favored by Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h, respected by the friends, shunning the world, trusting in God. There was no fickleness in him, his inner condition was always the same: stable, constant, firmly rooted as the hills.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n He was so patient and serene despite the suffering he endured for spreading the revolutionary teachings of the Baha\u2019i Faith, such as the independent investigation of truth, the abolition of all forms of prejudice, the agreement of science and religion, and the equality of women and men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One time, while he was at his home in Qazv\u00edn, Iran, \u201che was caught by the malevolent and they beat him so brutally over the head that the effects stayed with him till his dying hour.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Abdu\u2019l-Baha said<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They abused and tormented him in many ways and thought it permissible to inflict every kind of cruelty upon him; yet his only crime was to have become a believer, and his only sin, to have loved God. As the poet has written, in lines that illustrate the plight of \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed:<\/strong><\/p> By owls the royal falcon is beset.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> They rend his wings, though he is free of sin.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> \u2018Why\u2019\u2014so they mock\u2014\u2018do you remember yet<\/strong><\/em><\/p> That royal wrist, that palace you were in?\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p> He is a kingly bird: this crime he did commit.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> Except for beauty, what was Joseph\u2019s sin?<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The \u201croyal falcon\u201d symbolizes \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed, a noble and magnanimous man with a big heart, who did not deserve the taunts and abuse of the \u201cowls\u201d\u2014 those people who were prejudiced against the Baha\u2019is and inflicted harm upon them. But like the falcon, \u00c1q\u00e1 \u2018Al\u00ed remained strong with a smile on his face despite the fact that he was ill until the day he died.<\/p>\n\n\n Another early Baha\u2019i and royal falcon who endured intense suffering was Jin\u00e1b-i-Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1hu\u2019l-A\u1e63daq. Because Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1h openly shared the teachings of the Baha\u2019i Faith, he and other Baha\u2019is were imprisoned at Fort \u1e6cabars\u00ed in Iran where they went eighteen days without food and withstood the onslaught of cannon balls from siege guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He was later taken to the chiefs of M\u00e1zindar\u00e1n to be killed when,\u201cGod put it into one man\u2019s heart to free him from prison in the middle of the night and guide him to a place where he was safe<\/strong>,\u201d <\/strong>Abdu\u2019l-Baha recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the traumatic ordeals he faced, Ismu\u2019ll\u00e1h remained staunch in his faith and shared the Baha\u2019i principles even more widely after he was free. Abdu\u2019l-Baha said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was like a surging sea, a falcon that soared high. His visage shone, his tongue was eloquent, his strength and steadfastness astounding. When he opened his lips to teach, the proofs would stream out; when he chanted or prayed, his eyes shed tears like a spring cloud. <\/strong><\/p> His face was luminous, his life spiritual, his knowledge both acquired and innate; and celestial was his ardor, his detachment from the world, his righteousness, his piety and fear of God. \u2026He was a great personage, perfect in all things.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n These consecrated souls were not the first royal falcons. They were inspired by the light of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, who Baha\u2019is believe is the latest messenger sent from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baha\u2019u\u2019llah wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Bah\u00e1\u2019u\u2019ll\u00e1h suffered 40 years of imprisonment, torture and exile for annoucing that a new revelation had been born. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In English, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah means \u201cThe Glory of God,\u201d and Baha\u2019is believe that His coming is foretold in many of the world religions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nThe Falcon: A Symbol of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n