BURNS NIGHT 2012

Today, 25 January, is the 253rd anniversary of the birth of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. Here in Leicester, as in innumerable places all over the world, people of all sorts (many of whom have never set foot in Scotland) will be celebrating Burns Night.

I've never been to a Burns Supper. But then, as a teetotal vegetarian who can't stomach neeps (as turnips are called for this purpose), I might be considered a bit picky over the fare on offer. And I've never worn a kilt; in fact the only way you've ever get me into a kilt is if I'm buried in one. But even though I've never bought into the memorabilia and paraphernalia that surround Robert Burns, still his poetry and songs hit home with me, for q variety of reasons. Back in 1979, when I was just 19, the Bahá'ís whom I first got to know in Glasgow often spoke about the perceived connection between the unity and solidarity of the whole human race that is expressed in Burns's poetry and the same core teaching of the Bahá'í Faith. Of course, all sorts of people and ideologies - religious, political, secular, social and more - claim ownership of Burns, or have hitched their waggon to his star, but I'd like to think that this instance was (and continues to be) more honest, insightful and sincere. It certainly worked for me and got me to appreciate and understand Burns in ways I never had before ... and it gave a route into the Bahá'í Faith that still illustrates its appeal and relevance to Scots.

Burns's universalism (which is, of course, but one facet of his writing) took on particular and personal significance for me when I was working on a book about 'Abdu'l-Bahá's 1913 visit to Edinburgh. The Seven Candles of Unity (1991) by Anjam Khursheed, acknowledges the resonance that Scots Bahá'ís feel with the spirit of Robert Burns. In that context, the book quotes his well-known words which foretell the inevitable overturning of prejudice and tyranny and the coming together of all the world's peoples:

Then let us pray that come it may,

As come it will for a' that

That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth

Shall bear the gree an' a' that,

For a' that an' a' that,

It's comin' yet for a' that,

That man to man, the world o'er

Shall brithers be for a' that.

George Reid MSP & Carrie Varjavandi

Perhaps the single most significant occasion on which this connection with the legacy of Robert Burns was demonstrated was when Carrie Varjavandi, a member of the Dundee Baha'i community was invited to address the Scottish Parliament during its weekly short Time for Reflection session on 18 January 2006. Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, George Reid MSP made a direct connection between the fundamental principles of the Bahá'í Faith and the words of Robert Burns:

The Bahá'í belief in the unity of mankind matches our commitment to build an inclusive society in Scotland. It recalls the words of Robert Burns [which were quoted] at the Opening of the Parliament in 1999: "That man to man, the world o'er, Shall brithers be for a' that."

Find out everything you wanted to know about Robert Burns (but were afraid to ask) on the Guardian Edinburgh website.