power which they exercised, autocratically for the most part, over the
greater portion of the earth. Bahá’u’lláh, an exile from His native Persia
for His religious teaching, was the prisoner of the tyrannical,
all-powerful Sulṭán of the Ottoman Empire. In such circumstances He
addressed the rulers of the world. His Tablets to particular kings and to
the Pope, although delivered, were either ignored or rejected, their wise
counsels and dire warnings went unheeded, and in one instance the bearer
was cruelly tortured and killed.

Bahá’u’lláh, viewing that old world and seeing it ‘at the mercy of rulers
so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best
advantage’ declared that ‘...the strife that divides and afflicts the
human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and
chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be
lamentably defective.’ Although painting in sombre tones the ‘divine
chastisement’ which would assail most of those rulers and engulf in ruin
the peoples of the world, He nevertheless left no doubt about the outcome.
‘Soon’, He declared, ‘will the present day order be rolled up and a new
one spread out in its stead.’ Since the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892,
in the Holy Land, the rolling up of the old order has become the daily
experience of mankind and no abatement of this process is discernible. The
essence of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order is the unity of the human race. ‘O ye
children of men’, He writes, ‘the fundamental purpose animating the Faith
of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the
unity of the human race...’ And He warns, ‘The well-being of mankind, its
peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established.’ The achievement of this unity is Bahá’u’lláh’s declared
mission and the aim of all Bahá’í activity. Its outline and structure are
indicated in the following passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi,
great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh and Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith: