Ridvan celebrates Baha’u’llah’s time in 1863 in the garden of Ridvan in Baghdad when He publicly declared His station as a Manifestation of God. The Ridvan Festival is 12 days long and is also the time of year when Baha’is elect their governing bodies.
The 2020 in-person Australian Baha’i Choral Festival had to be cancelled but this video captures a performance in Maori based on the words of Abdu’l-Baha and it’s called “Moananui-a-Kiwa”. Sung by members of the Australian Baha’i Choral Festival, this song is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Baha’i Faith in Australia. This piece is by Daniel James MacDonald and Vahid Qualls, and was conducted by Lorraine Manifold.
An English translation of the words sung reads:
O Thou Pure and Omnipotent God! O Thou My Kind Lord! Grant me such power as to enable me to withstand the onslaught of the people and kindreds of the world and give me such might as to cause the waves of my endeavours like unto the Pacific Ocean to reach the shores of both East and West.
Abdu’l-Baha
You can find out more about the Australian Baha’i Choral Festival here.
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Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.
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