As Christians get ready to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, a symbol of the ultimate triumph of good over evil, Bahai’s celebrate the birth of a new Revelation from God, a resurrection in itself. Today is the first day of “Ridvan” which translates as “Paradise”.  The Bab had prepared people for the coming of Baha’u’llah and on these days in 1863, Baha’u’llah and his companions set up tents in an island garden outside of Baghdad where he formally declared His mission as the Promised One of all previous revelations. A mountain of roses was stacked in the center from all the flowers that were brought by visiting dignitaries and people of all backgrounds, so the rose has informally become a symbol of Ridvan.

The period of celebration lasted for 12 days, and Baha’is now celebrate them as the “12 Days of Ridvan”, with today being the first.  

Below are excerpts from a Tablet Baha’u’llah revealed to celebrate this occasion.  It gives us some sense of the significance of the Day when God reveals His Will to humanity once again- 

Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens. This is the Day whereon the true servants of God partake of the life-giving waters of reunion, the Day whereon those that are nigh unto Him are able to drink of the soft-flowing river of immortality, and they who believe in His unity, the wine of His Presence, through their recognition of Him Who is the Highest and Last End of all, in Whom the Tongue of Majesty and Glory voiceth the call: “The Kingdom is Mine. I, Myself, am, of Mine own right, its Ruler.”

Attract the hearts of men, through the call of Him, the one alone Beloved. Say: This is the Voice of God, if ye do but hearken. This is the Day Spring of the Revelation of God, did ye but know it. This is the Dawning-Place of the Cause of God, were ye to recognize it. This is the Source of the commandment of God, did ye but judge it fairly. This is the manifest and hidden Secret; would that ye might perceive it.

O peoples of the world! Cast away, in My name that transcendeth all other names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this Ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean that surgeth in My name, the All-Merciful. Thus instructeth you He with Whom is the Mother Book.