envisages in the Aqdas, in which He testifies to its revolutionizing effect on the life of humanity and reveals the laws and principles which govern its operation.
The features of the “
new World Order” are delineated in the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and in the letters of
Shoghi Effendi and the
Universal House of Justice. The institutions of the present-day Bahá’í
Administrative Order, which constitute the “structural basis” of
Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order, will mature and evolve into the
Bahá’í World Commonwealth. In this regard, Shoghi Effendi affirms that the Administrative Order “
will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigour, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind”.
This is a reference to
Mírzá Yaḥyá, known as Ṣubḥ-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity), a younger half-brother of Bahá’u’lláh, who arose against Him and opposed His Cause. Mírzá Yaḥyá was nominated by
the Báb to serve as a figure-head for the
Bábí community pending the imminent manifestation of the
Promised One. At the instigation of
Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Iṣfahání (see note
192), Mírzá Yaḥyá betrayed the trust of the Báb, claimed to be His successor, and intrigued against Bahá’u’lláh, even attempting to have Him murdered. When Bahá’u’lláh formally declared His Mission to him in
Adrianople, Mírzá Yaḥyá responded by going to the length of putting forward his own claim to be the recipient of an independent Revelation. His pretensions were eventually rejected by all but a few, who became known as
Azalís (see note
177). He is described by Shoghi