The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá:

Abstract: This paper compares the contents of the Wills of Bahá'u'lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which Shoghi Effendi terms Their “twin Covenants.” It also examines the Bahá'í Writings which explain “the broad nature of the authority conferred on the Universal House of Justice” and the infallibility which is an inherent part of that authority. Further, it compares the lofty imagery in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh speaking of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as “this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness,” with similar beautiful imagery in the Master’s description of Shoghi Effendi, as “the blest and sacred bough.” It examines the Guardian’s writings which demonstrate that although the Guardianship is not expressly mentioned in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, it was always part of His plan of World Order; that this Institution must not be seen as an “innovation” that came into being solely through the instrumentality of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but rather that Bahá'u'lláh, no less than ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is the Author of this institution. Shoghi Effendi explains that the Guardianship must not be divorced from the plan of world order adumbrated by Bahá'u'lláh Himself in the Most Holy Book, that to do so would be a mutilation of the truth; and that this is also the intention of Shoghi Effendi when writing that “divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh would be mutilated.”

Online at abs.bahai.org.uk/bsr-e20250507.