Elucidation of the Meaning of "The Greatest Name"

By Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, with words of Abdu'l-Baha

(copied by May Maxwell)

In every age the Manifestations have revealed a Name by which Their followers could call upon the Infinite Power of the Almighty. This name expresses the attributes of God, and His Revelation for that age. It is the epitome of that mysterious Power which the Messenger of God has brought to earth.

In the time of the Jews it was Jehovah. In the time of Buddhah it was OM. In the time of the Christians it was Christ. In the Book of Revelations it says, "In that Day I will write upon them My new Name."

Now in this great Day that Blessed Bab has revealed this New Name of ABHA, which is in the Persian and Arabic language, the superlative of Glory, the Most Glorious.

The Name by which Baha'is call upon the Power of the God (in worship) is Allah'u'Ahba, meaning God the Most Glorious; and in the Book of Akdas, the most Holy Book of Baha'u'llah, we are instructed to call upon the Power of the Greatest Name 95 times, preferable at dawn, but sometimes during the day.

The wisdom of repeating the Greatest Name 9 times before each prayer and 95 times daily, is as follows: Abdu'l-Baha said that there is in man a power of concentration not fully developed, which power rightly directed can lead him to great heights of knowledge, understanding and illumination. Prayer and supplication are the ladder, He said, "by which the soul ascends and as the power of sustained communion with God develops the capacity to receive the influx of The Holy Spirit and to penetrate, the hidden mystery unfolds". Prayer and communion is the only direct approach of the should to God, and Baha'u'llah has likened it unto "a river of milk" which is the perfect nutriment, and the more we partake of this lifegiving food, the more the soul shall advance in the path of God and the greater will be its progress.

Abdu'l-Baha has likened the power of concentration to a cubic crystal. He said, "If you place a ruby, the hardest stone, in a seven times heated furnace, the heat will have no effect, but if you place that ruby in a cubic crystal in the rays of the mid-day sun, it will be dissolved." This, He has likened to the powers of concentration in man. He said, "Whatsoever man concentrates upon, he will draw to himself." Therefore in prayer and supplication he must close the door to all the outer world and turn his whole being to the Focal Point, the Manifestation of God in his day and thus draw into his soul the burning rays of the Sun of Truth, the Infinite Love, Light Beauty and Perfection of God.

Therefore, before each prayer, man should repeat the Greatest Name 9 times and each morning he should repeat it 95 times (successively) seeking the Divine Beloved with all his heart and soul.

(Copied by M.S. Perry; 1945)