“All-praise
to Him Who, by the Shield of His Covenant, hath…”

All-praise to Him Who, by the Shield of His Covenant,
hath guarded the Temple of His Cause from the darts of doubtfulness,
Who by the Hosts of His Testament hath preserved the Sanctuary of His
Most Beneficent Law and protected His Straight and Luminous Path,
staying thereby the onslaught of the company of Covenant-breakers,
that have threatened to subvert His Divine Edifice; Who hath watched
over His Mighty Stronghold and All-glorious Faith, through the aid of
men whom the slander of the slanderer affects not, whom no earthly
calling, glory and power can turn aside from the Covenant of God and
His Testament, established firmly by His clear and manifest words,
writ and revealed by His All-glorious Pen and recorded in the
Preserved Tablet.

Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that
primal branch of the Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out, blest,
tender, verdant and flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most
wondrous, unique and priceless pearl that doth gleam from out the
twin surging seas; upon the offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, the
twigs of the Celestial Tree, they that in the Day of the Great
Dividing have stood fast and firm in the Covenant; upon the Hands
(pillars) of the Cause of God that have diffused widely the Divine
Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed His Faith, published
abroad His Law, detached themselves from all things but Him, stood
for righteousness in this world, and kindled the Fire of the Love of
God in the very hearts and souls of His servants; upon them that have
believed, rested assured, stood steadfast in His Covenant and
followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Dayspring
of Divine Guidance—for behold! he is the blest and sacred bough
that hath branched out from the Twin Holy Trees. Well is it with him
that seeketh the shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind.

“O ye beloved of the Lord! The
greatest of all things is the…”

O ye beloved of the Lord! The greatest of all things is
the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His Law,
the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto His Word. Ten thousand
souls have shed streams of their sacred blood in this path, their
precious lives they offered in sacrifice unto Him, hastened wrapt in
holy ecstasy unto the glorious field of martyrdom, upraised the
Standard of God’s Faith and writ with their life-blood upon the
Tablet of the world the verses of His Divine Unity. The sacred breast
of His Holiness, the Exalted One, (may my life be a sacrifice unto
Him) was made a target to many a dart of woe, and in Mazandarán,
the Blessed feet of the Abhá Beauty (may my life be offered up
for His loved ones) were so grievously scourged as to bleed and be
sore wounded. His neck also was put into captive chains and His feet
made fast in the stocks. In every hour, for a period of fifty years,
a new trial and calamity befell Him and fresh afflictions and cares
beset Him. One of them: after having suffered intense vicissitudes,
He was made homeless and a wanderer and fell a victim to still new
vexations and troubles. In ‘Iráq, the Day-Star of the
world was so exposed to the wiles of the people of malice as to be
eclipsed in splendor. Later on He was sent an exile to the Great City
(Constantinople) and thence to the Land of Mystery (Adrianople),
whence, grievously wronged, He was eventually transferred to the Most
Great Prison (Akká). He Whom the world hath wronged (may my
life be offered for His loved ones) was four times banished from city
to city, till at last condemned to perpetual confinement, He was
incarcerated in this Prison, the prison of highway robbers, of
brigands and of manslayers. All this is but one of the trials that
have afflicted the Blessed Beauty, the rest being even as grievous as
this.

“According to the direct and
sacred command of God we are…”

According to the direct and sacred command of God we are
forbidden to utter slander, are commanded to show forth peace and
amity, are exhorted to rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and
harmony with all the kindreds and peoples of the world. We must obey
and be the well-wishers of the governments of the land, regard
disloyalty unto a just king as disloyalty to God Himself and wishing
evil to the government a transgression of the Cause of God.

“O God, my God! Thou seest
this wronged servant of Thine,…”

O God, my God! Thou seest this wronged servant of Thine,
held fast in the talons of ferocious lions, of ravening wolves, of
bloodthirsty beasts. Graciously assist me, through my love for Thee,
that I may drink deep of the chalice that brimmeth over with
faithfulness to Thee and is filled with Thy bountiful Grace; so that,
fallen upon the dust, I may sink prostrate and senseless whilst my
vesture is dyed crimson with my blood. This is my wish, my heart’s
desire, my hope, my pride, my glory. Grant, O Lord my God, and my
Refuge, that in my last hour, my end, may even as musk shed its
fragrance of glory! Is there a bounty greater than this? Nay, by Thy
Glory! I call Thee to witness that no day passeth but that I quaff my
fill from this cup, so grievous are the misdeeds wrought by them that
have broken the Covenant, kindled discord, showed their malice,
stirred sedition in the land and dishonored Thee amidst Thy servants.
Lord! Shield Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty Stronghold
of Thy Faith and protect Thy secret Sanctuary from the onslaught of
the ungodly. Thou art in truth the Mighty, the Powerful, the
Gracious, the Strong.

“O God, my God! Shield Thy
trusted servants from the evils of…”

O God, my God! Shield Thy trusted servants from the
evils of self and passion, protect them with the watchful eye of Thy
loving kindness from all rancour, hate and envy, shelter them in the
impregnable stronghold of Thy Cause and, safe from the darts of
doubtfulness, make them the manifestations of Thy glorious Signs,
illumine their faces with the effulgent rays shed from the Dayspring
of Thy Divine Unity, gladden their hearts with the verses revealed
from Thy Holy Kingdom, strengthen their loins by Thy all-swaying
power that cometh from Thy Realm of Glory. Thou art the
All-bountiful, the Protector, the Almighty, the Gracious!

O ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the hour
cometh that this wronged and broken winged bird will have taken its
flight unto the celestial concourse, when it will have hastened to
the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will have been either
lost or hidden neath the dust, it is incumbent upon the Afnán,
that are steadfast in the Covenant of God, and have branched from the
Tree of Holiness; the Hands, (pillars) of the Cause of God, (the
glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the friends and loved
ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul
and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His
Cause and to promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a
moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in
every land, pass by every clime and travel throughout all regions.
Bestirred, without rest and steadfast to the end they must raise in
every land the triumphal cry “O Thou the Glory of Glories!”
(Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá), must achieve
renown in the world wherever they go, must burn brightly even as a
candle in every meeting and must kindle the flame of Divine love in
every assembly; that the light of truth may rise resplendent in the
midmost heart of the world, that throughout the East and throughout
the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word of
God, that the sweet savors of holiness may be diffused, that faces
may shine radiantly, hearts be filled with the Divine spirit and
souls be made heavenly.

In these days, the most important of all things is the
guidance of the nations and peoples of the world. Teaching the Cause
is of utmost importance for it is the head corner-stone of the
foundation itself. This wronged servant has spent his days and night
in promoting the Cause and urging the peoples to service. He rested
not a moment, till the fame of the Cause of God was noised abroad in
the world and the celestial strains from the Abhá Kingdom
roused the East and the West. The beloved of God must also follow the
same example. This is the secret of faithfulness, this is the
requirement of servitude to the Threshold of Bahá!

The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all
earthly things, forsook all their cares and belongings, purged
themselves of self and passion and with absolute detachment scattered
far and wide and engaged in calling the peoples of the world to the
Divine Guidance, till at last they made the world another world,
illumined the surface of the earth and even to their last hour proved
self-sacrificing in the pathway of that Beloved One of God. Finally
in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. Let them that are
men of action follow in their footsteps!

O my loving friends! After the passing away of this
wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsán
(Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the
Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhá
Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the youthful branch branched
from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from
the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness,—as he
is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of
God, he unto whom all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the
Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the
expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the
first-born of his lineal descendants.

The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the
Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be
universally elected and established, are both under the care and
protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring
guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be offered up
for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God. Whoso obeyeth him
not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth
against him and against them hath rebelled against God; whoso
opposeth him hath opposed God; whoso contendeth with them hath
contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God;
whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath
disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, separateth himself and turneth
aside from him hath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned
aside from God. May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the vengeance
of God rest upon him! The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable
and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of
God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon
all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of the
Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and
subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him
and be lowly before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True
One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His word
and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition. Beware,
beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh)
be repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious
and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed
and poisoned others. No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth
dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay
rather, even as impure gold, would he seize upon divers measures and
various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of
Bahá. My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God
must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to
oppose and protest against the guardian of the Cause of God cast him
out from the congregation of the people of Bahá and in no wise
accept any excuse from him. How often hath grievous error been
disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt
in the hearts of men!

O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon the
guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own life-time him that
shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his
passing. He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment
from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in
himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should
the first-born of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in
himself the truth of the words:—“The child is the secret
essence of its sire,” that is, should he not inherit of the
spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his
glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he
(the guardian of the Cause of God), choose another branch to succeed
him.

The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own
number nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the
important services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God.
The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by
majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these,
whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to
the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause of God hath
chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as
the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished. (secret
ballot)

O friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be
nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must
be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or
without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God disobey and seek
division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he
will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.

The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to
diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote
learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times
and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly
things. They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their
manners, their deeds and their words.

This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the
direction of the guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually
urge them to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to
diffuse the sweet savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the
world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the
universe to be illumined. To disregard, though it be for a moment,
this absolute command which is binding upon everyone, is in no wise
permitted, that the existent world may become even as the Abhá
Paradise, that the surface of the earth may become heavenly, that
contention and conflict amidst peoples, kindreds, nations and
governments may disappear, that all the dwellers on earth may become
one people and one race, that the world may become even as one home.
Should differences arise they shall be amicably and conclusively
settled by the Supreme Tribunal, that shall include members from all
the governments and peoples of the world.

O ye beloved of the Lord! In this sacred Dispensation,
conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor
deprives himself of God’s grace. It is incumbent upon everyone
to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness
and sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the
world, be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of
love and loving-kindness, that the stranger may find himself a
friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing
between them. For universality is of God and all limitations earthly.
Thus man must strive that his reality may manifest virtues and
perfections, the light whereof may shine upon everyone. The light of
the sun shineth upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine
Providence fall upon all peoples. The vivifying breeze reviveth every
living creature and all beings endued with life obtain their share
and portion at His heavenly board. In like manner, the affections and
loving-kindness of the servants of the One True God must be
bountifully and universally extended to all mankind. Regarding this,
restrictions and limitations are in no wise permitted.

Wherefore, O my loving friends! Consort with all the
peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost
truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, good-will and
friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy
ecstasy of the grace of Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and
rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement
amidst the peoples and kindreds of the world may give way to the
Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you
show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show
justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to
yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them,
should they poison your lives sweeten their souls, should they
inflict a wound upon you be a salve to their sores. Such are the
attributes of the sincere! Such are the attributes of the truthful.

And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath
ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must
be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers. Its
members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of
knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s faith
and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this House is meant the
Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries, a secondary
House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of
Justice must elect the members of the Universal one. Unto this body
all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and
regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By
this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the
guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished
member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its
deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of
the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the guardian
of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel
him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead.

“O ye beloved of the Lord! It
is incumbent upon you to be submissive…”

O ye beloved of the Lord! It is incumbent upon you to be
submissive to all monarchs that are just and show your fidelity to
every righteous king. Serve ye the sovereigns of the world with
utmost truthfulness and loyalty. Show obedience unto them and be
their well-wishers. Without their leave and permission do not meddle
with political affairs, for disloyalty to the just sovereign is
disloyalty to God himself.

This is my counsel and the commandment of God unto you.
Well is it with them that act accordingly.

“By the Ancient Beauty! This
wronged one hath in no wise…”

By the Ancient Beauty! This wronged one hath in no wise
borne nor doth he bear a grudge against any one; towards none doth he
entertain any ill-feeling and uttereth no word save for the good of
the world. My supreme obligation, however, of necessity, prompteth me
to guard and preserve the Cause of God. Thus, with the greatest
regret, I counsel you saying:—“Guard ye the Cause of God,
protect His law and have the utmost fear of discord. This is the
foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my life be
offered up for them). “His Holiness, the Exalted One, (the Báb)
is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the
Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá
Beauty, (may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the
Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine
Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.”
Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not
expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of
Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority
doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God himself.
Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord,
hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the
Covenant. By this House is meant that Universal House of Justice
which is to be elected from all countries, that is, from those parts
in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found, after the
manner of the customary elections in Western countries such as those
of England.

“O ye beloved of the Lord!
Strive with all your heart to shield…”

O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive with all your heart to
shield the Cause of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for
souls such as these cause the straight to become crooked and all
benevolent efforts to produce contrary results.

O God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets and Thy
Messengers, Thy Saints and Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have
declared conclusively Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones and set forth
clearly all things unto them, that they may watch over Thy Faith,
guard Thy Straight Path and protect Thy Resplendent Law. Thou art,
verily, the All-knowing, the All-wise!

“Whosoever and whatsoever
meeting becometh a hindrance to…”

Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance to
the diffusion of the Light of Faith, let the loved ones give them
counsel and say: “Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the
gift of Teaching. It draweth unto us the Grace of God and is our
first obligation. Of such a gift how can we deprive ourselves? Nay,
our lives, our goods, our comforts, our rest, we offer them all as a
sacrifice for the Abhá Beauty and teach the Cause of God.”
Caution and prudence, however, must be observed even as recorded in
the Book. The veil must in no wise be suddenly rent asunder. The
Glory of Glories rest upon you.

O ye the faithful loved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!
It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi,
the twig that hath branched from the fruit given forth by the two
hallowed and Divine Lote-Trees, that no dust of despondency and
sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax
greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become
even as a fruitful tree.

For he is, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the
guardian of the Cause of God, the Afnán, the Hands (pillars)
of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto
him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth
away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him,
hath denied the True One. Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these
words, and like unto them that have broken the Covenant after the Day
of Ascension (of Bahá’u’lláh) advance a
pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the
door of false interpretation. To none is given the right to put forth
his own opinion or express his particular convictions. All must seek
guidance and turn unto the Center of the Cause and the House of
Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in
grievous error.

The Glory of Glories rest upon you!

Letter of January 21st, 1922.

Dearly beloved brethren and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

At this early hour when the morning light is just
breaking upon the Holy Land, whilst the gloom of the dear Master’s
bereavement is still hanging thick upon the hearts, I feel as if my
soul turns in yearning love and full of hope to that great company of
His loved ones across the seas, who now share with us all the agonies
of His separation.

It is idle for me to emphasize how much the sorrowful
ladies of the Holy Household look forward to the work that lies
before the friends in the American continent, who in the past have
rendered so glorious a service to His Cause and will now, faithful to
His special love for them, carry on their mission still more
gloriously than ever before. True, the shock has been too terrible
and sudden for us all to recover from in so short a time, but
whenever we recall His Sayings and read His Writings, hope springs in
our hearts and gives us the peace that no other material comfort can
give.

How well I remember when, more than two years ago, the
Beloved Master turning to a distinguished visitor of His, who was
seated by Him in His garden, suddenly broke the silence and said:—“My
work is now done upon this plane; it is time for me to pass on to the
other world.” Did He not in more than one occasion state
clearly and emphatically:—“Were ye to know what will come
to pass after me, surely would ye pray that my end be hastened?”
In a Tablet sent to Persia when the storm raised years ago by that
Committee of Investigation was fiercely raging around Him, when the
days of His incarceration were at their blackest, He reveals the
following:—“Now in this world of being, the Hand of
Divine Power hath firmly laid the foundations of this all-highest
Bounty and this wondrous Gift. Gradually whatsoever is latent in the
innermost of this Holy Cycle shall appear and be made manifest, for
now is but the beginning of its growth and the dayspring of the
revelation of its Signs. Ere the close of this Century and of this
Age, it shall be made clear and manifest how wondrous was that
Springtide and how heavenly was that Gift!”

With such assuring Utterances and the unmistakable
evidences of His sure and clear knowledge that His end was nigh, is
there any reason why the followers of His Faith, the world over,
should be perturbed? Are not the prayers He revealed for us
sufficient source of inspiration to every worker in His Cause? Have
not His instructions paved before us the broad and straight Path of
Teaching? Will not His now doubly effective power of Grace sustain
us, strengthen us and confirm us in our work for Him? Ours is the
duty to strive by day and night to fulfill our own obligations and
then trust in His Guidance and never failing Grace. Unity amongst the
friends, selflessness in our labors in His Path, detachment from all
worldly things, the greatest prudence and caution in every step we
take, earnest endeavor to carry out only what is His Holy Will and
Pleasure, the constant awareness of His Presence and of the example
of His Life, the absolute shunning of whomsoever we feel to be an
enemy of the Cause … these, and foremost among them is the need for
unity, appear to me as our most vital duties, should we dedicate our
lives for His service. Should we in this spirit arise to serve Him,
what surer and greater promise have we than the one His Glorious
Father, Bahá’u’lláh, gives us in His Most
Holy Book:—“Verily, We behold you from Our Realm of
Effulgent Glory, and shall graciously aid whosoever ariseth for the
triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Celestial Concourse and a
company of Our chosen angels.”

How dearly all the Holy Leaves1
cherish that memory of the departed Master, as He commented upon the
fresh tidings that poured in from that continent, admiring the
untiring activity of the friends, the complete subordination of their
material interests to those of the Cause, the remarkable spread of
the Movement in their midst and their staunch firmness in the
Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. It is these
encouraging reflections of the Master about His loved ones in America
and the tests intellectual rather than physical which He said He
would send to them to purify them and make ever brighter than
before—it is these comments and promises of His that make of
the Movement in that land such a potential force in the world today.
The Beloved Master’s cable to the friends in that region is a
clear indication of the presence of those counteracting forces that
may usher in those storms of tests that the Master Himself has said
will ultimately be for the good of the Cause in that land.

And finally, the ladies of the Sacred Household and we,
the rest of His kindred and family, will pray at His Hallowed Shrine
for every one of you and He will surely watch over and enhance in the
course of time that noble part of His heritage that He has bequeathed
to His friends in the Far West; friends from whom in return He
expects so much and whom He has loved and still doth love so dearly.

Your sincere co-worker in His Cause,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
January 21st, 1922.

Letter of March 5, 1922.

Dear fellow-workers in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh:—

It is with words of regret and disappointment that I
desire to open this letter because of my inability, in view of my
manifold and pressing duties, to respond individually and in writing
to the many messages of love and sympathy and of hope that you have
so affectionately sent me since our Beloved’s passing from this
World. I am sure I am voicing the sentiments of the bereaved ladies
of the Household when I say that however desirous we may be to
correspond separately with every one of you, the grave
responsibilities and manifold duties now devolved upon us make it
regrettably impossible to express in written messages to every friend
what we constantly feel in our hearts, and pray for when visiting His
sacred Shrine.

At this grave and momentous period through which the
Cause of God in conformity with the Divine Wisdom is passing, it is
the sacred duty of every one of us to endeavor to realize the full
significance of this Hour of Transition, and then to make a supreme
resolve to arise steadfastly for the fulfilment of our sacred
obligations.

The Mission of the Cause

Great as is the love and paternal care which our beloved
Master is extending to us from on High, and unique as is the Spirit
that animates today His servants in the world, yet a great deal will
depend upon the character and efforts of His loved ones on whom now
rests the responsibility of carrying on His work gloriously after
Him. How great is the need at this moment when the promised
outpourings of His grace are ready to be extended to every soul, for
us all to form a broad vision of the mission of the Cause to mankind,
and to do all in our power to spread it throughout the world! The
eyes of the world, now that the sublime Personality of the Master has
been removed from this visible plane, are turned with eager
anticipation to us who are named after His name, and on whom rests
primarily the responsibility to keep burning the torch that He has
lit in this world. How keenly I feel at this challenging hour in the
history of the Cause the need for a firm and definite determination
to subordinate all our personal likings, our local interests, to the
interests and requirements of the Cause of God! Now is the time to
set aside, nay, to forget altogether, minor considerations regarding
our internal relationships, and to present a solid united front to
the world animated by no other desire but to serve and propagate His
Cause.

It is my firm conviction which I now express with all
sincerity and candor, that the dignity and unity of the Cause
urgently demands—particularly throughout the American
continent—that the friends should in their words and conduct
emphasize and give absolute prominence to the constructive dynamic
principles of Bahá’u’lláh, rather than
attach undue importance to His negative Teachings. With hearts
cleansed from the least trace of suspicion and filled with hope and
faith in what the spirit of love can achieve, we must one and all
endeavor at this moment to forget past impressions, and with absolute
good-will and genuine cooperation unite in deepening and diffusing
the spirit of love and service that the Cause has thus far so
remarkably shown to the world. To this attitude of good-will, of
forbearance and genuine kindness to all, must be added, however,
constant but unprovocative vigilance, lest unrestricted association
with the peoples of the world should enable the very few who have
been definitely pronounced by the Master as injurious to the body of
the Cause, to make a breach in the Movement. Not until, however, an
unmistakable evidence should appear, manifestly revealing the evil
motives of a certain individual or group of individuals, is it
advisable to make the matter public; for an untimely declaration that
shall give rise to open differences among the friends is far more
detrimental than forbearing still further with those who are
suspected of evil intentions. As the Master so fully and consistently
did throughout His lifetime, we must all make a supreme effort to
pour out a genuine spirit of kindness and hopeful love to peoples of
various creeds and classes, and must abstain from all provocative
language that may impede the effect of what true and continued
kindness can produce.

Does not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wish us, as He
looks down upon us with loving expectation from His glorious Station,
to obliterate as much as possible all traces of censure, of
conflicting discussions, of cooling remarks, of petty unnecessary
observations that impede the onward march of the Cause, that damp the
zeal of the firm believer and detract from the sublimity of the
Bahá’í Cause in the eyes of the inquirer? In
order, however, to insure fair and quick and vigorous action whenever
such an evil activity is revealed and has been carefully ascertained,
the best and only means would appear to be, for the careful observer,
once he is assured of such an evil action, and has grown hopeless of
the attitude of kindness and forbearance, to report it quietly to the
Spiritual Assembly representative of the friends in that locality and
submit the case to their earnest and full consideration. Should the
majority of the members of that Assembly be conscientiously convinced
of the case—and this being a national issue affecting the body
of the friends in America—it should, only through the
intermediary of that Assembly, be cautiously communicated to that
greater body representing all the Assemblies in America, which will
in its turn obtain all the available data from the local Assembly in
question, study carefully the situation and reserve for itself the
ultimate decision. It may, if it decides so, refer to the Holy Land
for further consideration and consultation.

Local and National Spiritual
Assemblies

This clearly places heavy responsibilities on the local
as well as national Assemblies, which in the course of time will
evolve, with the Master’s power and guidance, into the local
and national Houses of Justice. Hence the vital necessity of having a
local Spiritual Assembly in every locality where the number of adult
declared believers exceeds nine, and of making provision for the
indirect election of a Body that shall adequately represent the
interests of all the friends and Assemblies throughout the American
Continent.

A perusal of some of the words of Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the duties and functions of
the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the
local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of
their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave
responsibility which rests upon them.

Addressing the members of the Spiritual Assembly in
Chicago, the Master reveals the following:—“Whenever ye
enter the council-chamber, recite this prayer with a heart throbbing
with the love of God and a tongue purified from all but His
remembrance, that the All-powerful may graciously aid you to achieve
supreme victory:—‘O God, my God! We are servants of Thine
that have turned with devotion to Thy Holy Face, that have detached
ourselves from all beside Thee in this glorious Day. We have gathered
in this spiritual assembly, united in our views and thoughts, with
our purposes harmonized to exalt Thy Word amidst mankind. O Lord, our
God! Make us the signs of Thy Divine Guidance, the Standards of Thy
exalted Faith amongst men, servants to Thy mighty Covenant. O Thou
our Lord Most High! Manifestations of Thy Divine Unity in Thine Abhá
Kingdom, and resplendent stars shining upon all regions. Lord! Aid us
to become seas surging with the billows of Thy wondrous Grace,
streams flowing from Thy all-glorious Heights, goodly fruits upon the
Tree of Thy heavenly Cause, trees waving through the breezes of Thy
Bounty in Thy celestial Vineyard. O God! Make our souls dependent
upon the Verses of Thy Divine Unity, our hearts cheered with the
outpourings of Thy Grace, that we may unite even as the waves of one
sea and become merged together as the rays of Thine Effulgent Light;
that our thoughts, our views, our feelings may become as one reality,
manifesting the spirit of union throughout the world. Thou art the
Gracious, the Bountiful, the Bestower, the Almighty, the Merciful,
the Compassionate.’”

In the Most Holy Book is revealed:—“The Lord
hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established
wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Bahá, and
should it exceed this number it does not matter. It behooveth them to
be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard
themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on
earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have
regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even
as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet
and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye
put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye
that perceive.”

Furthermore, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reveals the
following:—“It is incumbent upon every one not to take
any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must
assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto
it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise
every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will
follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.”

“The prime requisites for them that take counsel
together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from
all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and
lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in
difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be
graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen
Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day,
assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital
necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The
members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no
occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained
when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion
and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no
account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the
right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only
after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion, a
decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord
forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices
must prevail.”

Enumerating the obligations incumbent upon the members
of consulting councils, the Beloved reveals the following:—“The
first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of
the assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must
manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of
one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of
one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should
harmony of thought and absolute unity be non-existent, that gathering
shall be dispersed and that assembly be brought to naught. The second
condition:—They must when coming together turn their faces to
the Kingdom on High and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must
then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and
moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search
out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness
and persistence in one’s views will lead ultimately to discord
and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members
must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no
wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he
must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of
opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey
and submit to the majority. It is again not permitted that any one of
the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the
meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be
not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from being
enforced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with
love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least
trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon
darkness…. If this be so regarded, that assembly shall be of God,
but otherwise it shall lead to coolness and alienation that proceed
from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual
matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of
children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout
all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of
the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should
they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the Grace of the Holy
Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that assembly shall become
the center of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation
shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new
effusion of Spirit.”

So great is the importance and so supreme is the
authority of these assemblies that once ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
after having himself and in his own handwriting corrected the
translation made into Arabic of the Ishráqát
(the Effulgences) by Sheikh Faraj, a Kurdish friend from Cairo,
directed him in a Tablet to submit the above-named translation to the
Spiritual Assembly of Cairo, that he may seek from them before
publication their approval and consent. These are His very words in
that Tablet:—“His honor, Sheikh Faraju’llah, has
here rendered into Arabic with greatest care the Ishráqát
and yet I have told him that he must submit his version to the
Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, and I have conditioned its publication
upon the approval of the above-named Assembly. This is so that things
may be arranged in an orderly manner, for should it not be so any one
may translate a certain Tablet and print and circulate it on his own
account. Even a non-believer might undertake such work, and thus
cause confusion and disorder. If it be conditioned, however, upon the
approval of the Spiritual Assembly, a translation prepared, printed
and circulated by a non-believer will have no recognition whatever.”

This is indeed a clear indication of the Master’s
express desire that nothing whatever should be given to the public by
any individual among the friends, unless fully considered and
approved by the Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and if this (as
is undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains to the general
interest of the Cause in that land, then it is incumbent upon the
Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the consideration and approval of
the national body representing all the various local assemblies. Not
only with regard to publication, but all matters without any
exception whatsoever, regarding the interests of the Cause in that
locality, individually or collectively, should be referred
exclusively to the Spiritual Assembly in that locality, which shall
decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national interest, in which
case it shall be referred to the national body. With this national
body also will rest the decision whether a given question is of local
or national interest. (By national affairs is not meant matters that
are political in their character, for the friends of God the world
over are strictly forbidden to meddle with political affairs in any
way whatever, but rather things that affect the spiritual activities
of the body of the friends in that land.)

Full harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the
various local assemblies and the members themselves, and particularly
between each assembly and the national body, is of the utmost
importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the
solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working of
the spiritual activities of His loved ones.

Committees of the National Assembly

Large issues in such spiritual activities that affect
the Cause in general in that land, such as the management of the
“Star of the West” and any periodical which the National
Body may decide to be a Bahá’í organ, the matter
of publication, or reprinting Bahá’í literature
and its distribution among the various assemblies, the means whereby
the teaching campaign may be stimulated and maintained, the work of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the racial question
in relation to the Cause, the matter of receiving Orientals and
association with them, the care and maintenance of the precious film
exhibiting a phase of the Master’s sojourn in the United States
of America as well as the original matrix and the records of His
voice, and various other national spiritual activities, far from
being under the exclusive jurisdiction of any local assembly or group
of friends, must each be minutely and fully directed by a special
board, elected by the National Body, constituted as a committee
thereof, responsible to it and upon which the National Body shall
exercise constant and general supervision.

The time is indeed ripe for the manifold activities,
wherein the servants and handmaids of Bahá’u’lláh
are so devoutly and earnestly engaged, to be harmonized and conducted
with unity, cooperation and efficiency, that the effect of such a
combined and systematized effort, through which an All-powerful
Spirit is steadily pouring, may transcend every other achievement of
the past, however glorious it has been, and may stand, now that, to
the eyes of the outside world the glorious Person of the Master is no
more, a convincing testimony of the potency of His everliving Spirit.

Your brother and co-worker in His Cause,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
March 5, 1922.

Letter of Circa May, 1922 (undated).

IN THE NAME OF GOD

This servant, after that grievous event and great
calamity, the ascension of His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
to the Abhá Kingdom, has been so stricken with grief and pain
and so entangled in the troubles (created) by the enemies of the
Cause of God, that I consider that my presence here, at such a time
and in such an atmosphere, is not in accordance with the fulfilment
of my important and sacred duties.

For this reason, unable to do otherwise, I have left for
a time the affairs of the Cause both at home and abroad, under the
supervision of the Holy Family and the headship of the Greatest Holy
Leaf2
until, by the Grace of God, having gained health, strength,
self-confidence and spiritual energy, and having taken into my hands,
in accordance with my aim and desire, entirely and regularly the work
of service I shall attain to my utmost spiritual hope and aspiration.

The servant of His Threshold,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
Circa May, 1922 (undated).

Our Common Servitude

May I also express my heartfelt desire that the friends
of God in every land regard me in no other light but that of a true
brother, united with them in our common servitude to the Master’s
Sacred Threshold, and refer to me in their letters and verbal
addresses always as Shoghi Effendi, for I desire to be known by no
other name save the one our Beloved Master was wont to utter, a name
which of all other designations is the most conducive to my spiritual
growth and advancement.

Haifa, Palestine.
Circa May, 1922 (undated).

Letter of December 16, 1922

To the loved ones of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
throughout the continent of America.

Dear fellow-workers in the Holy Vineyard of Bahá!

Now that my long hours of rest and meditation are
happily at an end, I turn my face with renewed hope and vigor to that
vast continent the soil of which is pregnant with those seeds that
our beloved Master has so tenderly and so profusely scattered in the
past. Prolonged though this period has been, yet I have strongly felt
ever since the New Day has dawned upon me that such a needed
retirement, despite the temporary dislocations it might entail, would
far outweigh in its results any immediate service I could have humbly
tendered at the Threshold of Bahá’u’lláh.

I am now confident that the energies of my beloved
brethren and sisters across the seas, far from being damped by my
sudden disappearance from the field of service, will henceforth be
fully maintained, nay redoubled in their intensity, that we may all
together carry triumphantly to the uttermost corners of the world the
glorious Standard of Bahá.

Bereft of all news whatsoever during my hours of restful
seclusion, I now feel the more the thrill of the various tidings, few
but indeed promising, that have been awaiting my return to the Holy
Land. The work of the noble Edifice that the mighty hands of the
All-wise Master has reared in this world can suffer no delay, nor can
its foundations be made to totter, whatever the apparent obstacles
its enemies in their impotent wrath and despair may throw in its way.
We need not wait too long, for already from various quarters there
comes the news that the awful promises of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
regarding the Covenant-breakers have been strikingly fulfilled!

But it behooves us not to dwell for a moment on these
doomed and darkened efforts, for the shining light of the Master’s
unfailing guidance is beckoning us to more constructive service, to
nobler and worthier achievements.

We have, not a long time ago, with tearful eyes
commemorated the world over the passing hour of our beloved Master.
Would to God it has marked in our lives, which we all have
consecrated to His service, a fresh, solemn and unswerving resolution
of devotion and fidelity to His Cause

Your brother and co-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
December 16, 1922.

Letter of December 23rd, 1922

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, the
elected representatives of all believers throughout the continent of
America.

Esteemed co-workers in the Vineyard of God:

To have been unable, owing to unforeseen and unavoidable
circumstances, to correspond with you ever since you entered upon
your manifold and arduous duties is to me a cause of deep regret and
sad surprise! I am however assured and sustained by the conviction,
never dimmed in my mind, that whatsoever comes to pass in the Cause
of God, however disquieting in its immediate effects, is fraught with
infinite Wisdom and tends ultimately to promote its interests in the
world. Indeed, our experiences of the distant past, as well as of
recent events, are too numerous and varied to permit of any misgiving
or doubt as to the truth of this basic principle—a principle
which throughout the vicissitudes of our sacred mission in this world
we must never disregard or forget.

I cannot refrain from expressing in this, my first
letter to you my deep gratitude and great pleasure in learning how
promptly, thoroughly and admirably you have conducted the affairs of
the Cause in that land. Of the sincerity of your efforts, of the
determination with which you have faced your delicate and difficult
task, I have never doubted for a moment, as I knew too well of the
ardent spirit of service and fellowship which the sudden passing of
our Beloved had infused in all his followers everywhere. But great
was my surprise to know how the ever-present Hand of the Master has
removed so speedily all the difficulties in our way and how the light
of His Divine Guidance caused the darkness of doubts, of fears and
mistrust to vanish.

The efficient manner in which you have carried out my
humble suggestions has been a source of great encouragement to me and
has revived confidence in my heart. I have read and re-read the
reports of your activities, have studied minutely all the steps you
have taken to consolidate the foundations of the Movement in America,
and have learned with a keen sense of satisfaction the plans you
contemplate for the further rise and spread of the Cause in your
great country. I very highly approve of the arrangements you have
made for centralizing the work in your hands and of distributing it
to the various committees, who each in its own sphere, have so
efficiently and thoroughly undertaken the management of their own
affairs.

What has given me still greater pleasure is to learn
that the members of this Central Body which has assumed so grave a
responsibility and is facing such delicate and difficult tasks,
command individually and collectively not only the sympathy of their
spiritual brethren and sisters but who also can confidently rely on
their active and whole-hearted support in the campaign of service to
the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. It is indeed as
it should be, for if genuine and sustained cooperation and mutual
confidence cease to exist between individual friends and their local
and national assemblies, the all-beneficent work of the Cause must
cease and nothing else can enable it to function harmoniously and
effectively in future.

True, the Cause as every other movement has its own
obstacles, complications and unforeseen difficulties, but unlike any
other human organization it inspires a spirit of Faith and Devotion
which can never fail to induce us to make sincere and renewed efforts
to face these difficulties and smooth any differences that may and
must arise.

I look forward with fervent hope to hear of these
renewed efforts on your part and of the strong determination which
you will never suffer to slacken, to maintain at any cost the unity,
the effectiveness and the dignity of the Cause.

May I through you express my heartfelt gratitude to the
members of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Building
Committee, Mr. Alfred E. Lunt, Mrs. Corinne True, Dr. Zia Bagdadi,
Mr. Charles Mason Remey, Mr. Louis Bourgeois, Mr. Leo Perron for
their incessant labors in speeding the work of this noble Edifice
which when raised and completed will prove to be the most powerful
factor in the promulgation of the Cause in America.

Will you also extend to the members of the Publishing
and Reviewing Committees, Mr. William H. Randall, Mr. Mountfort
Mills, Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm, Mr. Albert R. Vail, Miss Edna True, Mrs.
Marjory Morten and Mr. Alfred E. Lunt, my high appreciation for the
very efficient management of their departments and their devotion to
a work which if consistently maintained cannot fail to impress and
attract a vast number of the enlightened public. Regarding the Star
of the West, I wish to congratulate in particular the members of the
Publishing Committee on the quality of their work. I have perused
with particular interest the last numbers of the Magazine and am glad
to note an encouraging improvement in its management, its style, its
general presentation and the nature and number of its articles.

To the members of the Teaching Committee, Mr. William
Randall, Mrs. Agnes S. Parsons, Mr. Albert Vail, Mr. Louis G. Gregory
and Mrs. Mariam Haney I offer my very best wishes and assure them of
my constant prayers on their behalf, that their services to such a
vital department in the affairs of the Cause, so primary and
immediate in its importance, may be crowned with brilliant success.

For the members of the Children’s Educational Work
Committee, Mrs. Grace Ober, Mrs. Louise Boyle, Mrs. Victoria
Bedikian, Mrs. Hebe Struven, Mrs. Grace Foster, Mr. Stanwood Cobb and
Mr. Allen McDaniel, I supplicate Divine Assistance, that He may
graciously aid them in a work which was so near and dear to the
Master’s heart and enable them to assist in the rise of future
devoted and efficient servants to the Cause of God.

On behalf of all the members of these Committees, I
shall pray at the Three Hallowed Shrines, that they may become
purified channels of His Grace and instruments of His Divine Plan for
this world. For my part, I shall not fail to offer my humble share of
help and assistance to every one of them in their respective work and
would welcome from each a special report on their present activities
and of their plans for the future.

Awaiting from you all the joyous news of the deepening
as well as the spreading of the Cause for which our beloved Master
has given His time, His life, His all, and remembering your labors of
love and service every time I lay my head upon the Sacred Thresholds,

I am, as ever, your brother in His Service,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
December 23rd, 1922.

P.S. I would be pleased and gratified if you could
inform all the various local spiritual assemblies of my wish and
desire to receive as soon as possible from every local assembly a
detailed and official report on their spiritual activities, the
character and organization of their respective assemblies, accounts
of their public and private gatherings, of the actual position of the
Cause in their province, and of their plans and arrangements for the
future. Pray convey to all of them my best wishes and the assurance
of my hearty assistance in their noble work of service to mankind.

SHOGHI.

Letter of January 12, 1923

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Beloved co-workers in the Cause of God!

In the midst of your unceasing labors for the progress
of the Movement in that country, I am sure you would welcome every
now and then such news as shall breathe a fresh spirit into your
activities and stimulate you to further effort for the promotion of
His Cause.

Only the other day, in the course of my study of various
Bahá’í documents, I came, as if by mere chance,
across a very important message from our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
bearing no date, and revealing no sign as to exactly where, how and
to whom it was given, written in the Master’s own handwriting
upon a leaflet that seemed ordinary and ill-preserved in appearance
but which on close study proved of the profoundest interest to all
believers in the East as well as in the West. As to the authenticity
of these remarkable words, so clearly and forcibly written, there is
no doubt whatsoever, and the measure of assurance it shall inspire in
the loved ones of Persia and the spirit of hopeful encouragement it
shall breathe in the friends of the West, have urged me to
communicate it to you, that subject to your consideration and
consent, it may be published3
amongst the friends and redouble their confidence in the very
remarkable share the West is destined to contribute to the immediate
spread of the Movement throughout the world.

Recently, I have rendered it myself into English and
enclosed is a copy of the full translation.

Star of the West

May I also mention in passing the fact that since my
return to the Holy Land I have directed and emphatically urged in my
letters, the friends in Persia, Turkestan, Caucasus, Great Britain,
India, Egypt and Syria to subscribe, through their respective
Assemblies, to the Star of the West, report regularly to that paper
and through their Assemblies the news of their activity and
contribute every now and then carefully written articles approved and
sanctioned by the same Assemblies.

I trust that this measure will react favorably on the
Star of the West and will serve to stimulate the members of the
Publishing Committee to further activity in their sphere of service
to the Cause.

Awaiting eagerly your letters and wishing you the
fullest success in your very arduous duties,

I am your devoted brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 12, 1923.

Letter of January 16, 1923.

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.

Beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

Our dear friend, Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mázindarání,
accompanied by his family, has gladly and gratefully responded to the
kind invitation of the American friends to visit them once more and
extend his helping hand to the many friends who are so faithfully
laboring throughout that continent for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

Deeply appreciative of the sentiments of warm and
abiding affection which his co-workers of that land have abundantly
shown him in the past, fired with the zeal of service which the
passing of our Beloved has kindled in every heart and hopeful of the
immediate future of the Cause in those regions, he is proceeding to
America with the sole purpose of promoting far and wide and with
greater efficiency and vigor the all-important work of teaching.

As to the extent of his sojourn, the details of his
travel, his plan for visiting the various spiritual centers and all
other matters related to his visit, I have left them all to his own
discretion, that he may, after consultation with the various
Spiritual Assemblies, do as he deems best and most serviceable to the
interests of the Cause in that land.

That all the friends may realize more fully the urgent
and supreme necessity of teaching the Cause in these days; that they
may arise to inaugurate a more strenuous, systematized and extensive
campaign of service—these are the high aims he has set before
himself and which he intends, with the unfailing help and
wholehearted support of every believer in America, to achieve in the
immediate future.

May his second visit to your shores mark, in its
character and results, a new and memorable era in the history of the
Cause in that great country!

Your brother and co-worker,

SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine.
January 16, 1923.

Letter of January 17th, 1923

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Dear friends:

It is a great pleasure for me to share with you the
translation4
of some of the prayers and Tablets of our beloved Master, the reading
of which I trust will inspire you and strengthen you in your work of
service to His Cause.

I trust that in the course of time I will be enabled to
send you regularly correct and reliable translations of the various
prayers and Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which will unfold to your eyes a new
vision of His Glorious Mission on earth and give you an insight into
the character and meanings of His Divine Teachings.

I shall await very eagerly any suggestions you would
like to give me on this point and on all other matters that pertain
to the interests of the Cause in America, and I assure you again of
my readiness and wish to be of help and service to those faithful and
devoted servants of Bahá’u’lláh in that
land.

Your brother and co-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 17th, 1923.

Letter of February 13, 1923

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Dearest friends:

I have just completed the translation of a number of
selections5
from the Master’s soul-stirring Words to His loved ones in
Persia, revealed some twenty-five years ago, and during the darkest
days of His incarceration in the prison city of Akká.

You will realize, as you read them, the unshakable
confidence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the inevitable
growth of the Cause, even in the most perilous days of His life.
Their perusal will enable you all to grasp more fully the
significance of this Movement and its dynamic power, the urgent need
for sustained unity and harmony amongst the friends, and the glory of
the station that awaits in the world to come every faithful servant
of Bahá’u’lláh.

May they contribute their share to the unfolding of the
Spirit of the Cause in that land, and may they infuse in all the
friends that ardent spirit of service and fellowship that will enable
them to fulfill their glorious destiny in this world!

Your brother and co-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
February 13, 1923.

Letter of March 12, 1923

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout America, Great Britain, Germany, France,
Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australasia.

Fellow-workers in the Vineyard of God!

Over a year has elapsed since that calamitous Hour, when
the glorious Person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was veiled
from mortal eyes and His Spirit ascended to the Kingdom of Glory; and
I feel that the time is now ripe to take those fresh and momentous
decisions which will enable us to fulfill, speedily and faithfully,
the last wishes of our departed Master.

The year has been to the outside world a year of fear
and suffering, of disillusion and turmoil. To us, however, the
bereaved followers of a gracious and loving Master, it has been,
despite the passing cares which His sudden departure must necessarily
entail, a period of hope, of wholesome activity, marked throughout
with a spirit of undiminished confidence in His power and of fidelity
to His Cause.

From the East and from the West, from the North and from
the South, the unnumbered servants of Bahá’u’lláh,
disdainful of the evil machinations of the enemies of His Cause, the
breakers of His behests, have rallied to His Standard, and risen with
one accord to carry on the great Work He has entrusted to their
charge. All-hail to that undying spirit of fidelity which burns and
shall burn unceasingly, in the breasts of His loved ones! Great shall
be their reward, and blissful the hour, when after a toilsome life of
service, they are gathered to the glory of Bahá, and partake
in their Beloved’s Presence, of the joy of eternal Reunion.

Condition of the World

But great achievements still await us in this world, and
we feel confident that, by His grace and never-failing guidance, we
shall now and ever prove ourselves worthy to fulfill His great
Purpose for mankind. And who can fail to realize the sore need of
bleeding humanity, in its present state of uncertainty and peril, for
the regenerating Spirit of God, manifested this Day so powerfully in
this Divine Dispensation? Four years of unprecedented warfare and
world cataclysms, followed by another four years of bitter
disappointment and suffering, have stirred deeply the conscience of
mankind, and opened the eyes of an unbelieving world to the Power of
the Spirit that alone can cure its sicknesses, heal its wounds, and
establish the long-promised reign of undisturbed prosperity and
peace.

Responsibility of Bahá’ís

Now surely, if ever, is the time for us, the chosen ones
of Bahá’u’lláh and the bearers of His
Message to the world, to endeavor by day and by night, to deepen,
first and foremost, the Spirit of His Cause in our own individual
lives, and then labor, and labor incessantly to exemplify in all our
dealings with our fellow-men that noble Spirit of which His beloved
Son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has been all the days of His life
a true and unique exponent. The sayings of our beloved Master have
been noised abroad, His name has filled all regions, and the eyes of
mankind are now turned expectant towards His disciples who bear His
name and profess His teachings. Shall we not by our daily life
vindicate the high claims of His teachings, and prove by our services
the influence of His undying Spirit? This surely is our highest
privilege, and our most sacred duty.

Let us, with a pure heart, with humility and
earnestness, turn afresh to His counsels and exhortations, and seek
from that Source of Celestial Potency all the guidance, the spirit,
the power which we shall need for the fulfillment of our mission in
this life.

Behold, the station to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
is now calling His loved ones from the Realm of Glory:—

“It behooveth the loved ones of God to be enamored
of one another and to sacrifice themselves for their fellow-workers
in the Cause. They should yearn towards one another even as the sore
athirst yearneth for the Water of Life, and the lover burneth to meet
his heart’s desire.”

Such is the sublime, the glorious position He wishes us,
and all the peoples and kindreds on earth, to attain in this world;
how much more to achieve unity and common understanding among
ourselves, and then arise to herald with one voice the coming of the
Kingdom and the salvation of mankind.

With unity of purpose firmly established in our minds,
with every trace of personal animosity banished from our hearts, and
with the spirit of whole-hearted and sustained fellowship kindled in
our souls, can we hope to deliver effectively the Message of
Bahá’u’lláh, and execute faithfully the
various provisions of our Beloved’s Will and Testament.

Steadfast in our faith, firm in our union, abounding in
our hope, fervent in our spirit, and selfless in our labors, let us
arise and with prayerful hearts make another and supreme effort to
fulfill these last words of our Beloved, His most cherished desire:

“O ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the
hour cometh that this wronged and broken winged bird will have taken
its flight unto the Celestial Concourse, when it will have hastened
to the Realm of the Unseen, and its mortal frame will have either
been lost or hidden neath the dust, it is incumbent upon the Afnán
that are steadfast in the Covenant of God and have branched from the
Tree of Holiness, the Hands of the Cause of God (the glory of the
Lord rest upon them), and all the friends and loved ones, one and
all, to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul and in one
accord to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His Cause and to
promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a moment,
neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land,
pass by every clime, and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred,
without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land
the triumphal cry of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá,
must achieve renown in the world wherever they go, must burn brightly
even as a candle in every meeting, and must kindle the flame of
Divine Love in every assembly; that the Light of Truth may rise
resplendent in the midmost heart of the world, that throughout the
East and throughout the West a vast concourse may gather under the
shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savors of Holiness may be
diffused, that faces may shine radiantly, hearts be filled with the
Divine Spirit and souls be made heavenly. In these days the most
important of all things is the guidance of the nations and the
peoples of the world. Teaching the Cause is of utmost importance, for
it is the head corner-stone of the foundation itself. This wronged
servant has spent his days and nights in promoting the Cause, and
urging the peoples to service. He rested not a moment, till the fame
of the Cause of God was noised abroad in the world, and the Celestial
Strains from the Abhá Kingdom roused the East and the West.
The beloved of God must also follow the same example. This is the
secret of faithfulness, this is the requirement of servitude to the
Threshold of Bahá.”

We need but glance at the Words of Bahá’u’lláh
and the Epistles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to realize the
great privilege of teaching the Cause, its vital necessity, its
supreme urgency, and its wide-reaching effects. These are the very
words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:—

“In these days, the Holy Ones of the Realm of
Glory, dwelling in the all-highest Paradise, yearn to return unto
this world, and be of some service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh
and prove their servitude to the Threshold of Abhá beauty.”

What a wondrous vision these words unfold to our eyes!
How great our privilege to labor in this Day in the Divine Vineyard!
Is it not incumbent upon us to arise and teach His Cause with such an
ardor which no worldly adversity can quell, nor any measure of
success can satiate?

Election of Local Assemblies

And, now that this all-important Work may suffer no
neglect, but rather function vigorously and continuously in every
part of the Bahá’í world; that the unity of the
Cause of Bahá’u’lláh may remain secure and
inviolate, it is of the utmost importance that in accordance with the
explicit text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book, in
every locality, be it city or hamlet, where the number of adult (21
years and above) declared believers exceeds nine, a local “Spiritual
Assembly” be forthwith established. To it all local matters
pertaining to the Cause must be directly and immediately referred for
full consultation and decision. The importance, nay the absolute
necessity of these local Assemblies is manifest when we realize that
in the days to come they will evolve into the local Houses of
Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on which the
structure of the Master’s Will is to be reared in future.

Duties of Spiritual Assemblies

The matter of Teaching, its direction, its ways and
means, its extension, its consolidation, essential as they are to the
interests of the Cause, constitute by no means the only issue which
should receive the full attention of these Assemblies. A careful
study of Bahá’u’lláh’s and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets will reveal that
other duties, no less vital to the interests of the Cause, devolve
upon the elected representatives of the friends in every locality.

It is incumbent upon them to be vigilant and cautious,
discreet and watchful, and protect at all times the Temple of the
Cause from the dart of the mischief-maker and the onslaught of the
enemy.

They must endeavor to promote amity and concord amongst
the friends, efface every lingering trace of distrust, coolness and
estrangement from every heart, and secure in its stead an active and
whole-hearted cooperation for the service of the Cause.

They must do their utmost to extend at all times the
helping hand to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the orphan, the
widow, irrespective of color, caste and creed.

They must promote by every means in their power the
material as well as the spiritual enlightenment of youth, the means
for the education of children, institute, whenever possible, Bahá’í
educational institutions, organize and supervise their work and
provide the best means for their progress and development.

They must make an effort to maintain official, regular,
and frequent correspondence with the various Bahá’í
centers throughout the world, report to them their activities, and
share the glad-tidings they receive with all their fellow-workers in
the Cause.

They must encourage and stimulate by every means at
their command, through subscription, reports and articles, the
development of the various Bahá’í magazines, such
as the “Star of the West” and the “Magazine of the
Children of the Kingdom” in the United States of America, the
“Bahá’í News” of India, the “Sun
of the East” (Khurshid-i Khavar) in Turkestan, the “Star
of the East” in Japan, the “Sun of Truth” in
Germany.

They must undertake the arrangement of the regular
meetings of the friends, the feasts and the anniversaries, as well as
the special gatherings designed to serve and promote the social,
intellectual and spiritual interests of their fellow-men.

They must supervise in these days when the Cause is
still in its infancy all Bahá’í publications and
translations, and provide in general for a dignified and accurate
presentation of all Bahá’í literature and its
distribution to the general public.

These rank among the most outstanding obligations of the
members of every Spiritual Assembly. In whatsoever locality the Cause
has sufficiently expanded, and in order to insure efficiency and
avoid confusion, each of these manifold functions will have to be
referred to a special Committee, responsible to that Assembly,
elected by it from among the friends in that locality, and upon whose
work the Assembly will have to exercise constant and general
supervision.

These local Spiritual Assemblies will have to be elected
directly by the friends, and every declared believer of 21 years and
above, far from standing aloof and assuming an indifferent or
independent attitude, should regard it his sacred duty to take part
conscientiously and diligently, in the election, the consolidation
and the efficient working of his own local Assembly.

National Assemblies

Regarding the establishment of “National
Assemblies,” it is of vital importance that in every country,
where the conditions are favorable and the number of the friends has
grown and reached a considerable size, such as America, Great Britain
and Germany, that a “National Spiritual Assembly” be
immediately established, representative of the friends throughout
that country.

Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and
coordinate by frequent personal consultations, the manifold
activities of the friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by
keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate
measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that
country.

It serves also another purpose, no less essential than
the first, as in the course of time it shall evolve into the National
House of Justice (referred to in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
Will as the “secondary House of Justice”), which
according to the explicit text of the Testament will have, in
conjunction with the other National Assemblies throughout the Bahá’í
world, to elect directly the members of the International House of
Justice, that Supreme Council that will guide, organize and unify the
affairs of the Movement throughout the world.

It is expressly recorded in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
Writings that these National Assemblies must be indirectly elected by
the friends; that is, the friends in every country must elect a
certain number of delegates, who in their turn will elect from among
all the friends in that country the members of the National Spiritual
Assembly. In such countries, therefore, as America, Great Britain and
Germany, a fixed number of secondary electors must first be decided
upon (95 for America, including the Pacific Islands; 95 for Germany;
and 19 for Great Britain). The friends then in every locality where
the number of adult declared believers exceeds nine must directly
elect its quota of secondary electors assigned to it in direct
proportion to its numerical strength. These secondary electors will
then, either through correspondence, or preferably by gathering
together, and first deliberating upon the affairs of the Cause
throughout their country (as the delegates to the Convention), elect
from among all the friends in that country nine who will be the
members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

This National Spiritual Assembly, which, pending the
establishment of the Universal House of Justice, will have to be
re-elected once a year, obviously assumes grave responsibilities, for
it has to exercise full authority over all the local Assemblies in
its province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends,
guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and control and supervise the
affairs of the Movement in general.

Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in
that country such as the matter of translation and publication, the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Teaching Work, and
other similar matters that stand distinct from strictly local
affairs, must be under the full jurisdiction of the National
Assembly.

It will have to refer each of these questions, even as
the local Assemblies, to a special Committee, to be elected by the
members of the National Spiritual Assembly, from among all the
friends in that country, which will bear to it the same relation as
the local committees bear to their respective local Assemblies.

With it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point
at issue is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for
the consideration and decision of the local Assembly, or whether it
should fall under its own province and be regarded as a matter which
ought to receive its special attention. The National Spiritual
Assembly will also decide upon such matters which in its opinion
should be referred to the Holy Land for consultation and decision.

With these Assemblies, local as well as national,
harmoniously, vigorously, and efficiently functioning throughout the
Bahá’í world, the only means for the
establishment of the Supreme House of Justice will have been secured.
And when this Supreme Body will have been properly established, it
will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay down the
principle which shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the
affairs of the Cause.

Annual Election of Assemblies

Pending its establishment, and to insure uniformity
throughout the East and throughout the West, all local Assemblies
will have to be re-elected once a year, during the first day of
Ridván, and the result of polling, if possible, be declared on
that day.

In order to avoid division and disruption, that the
Cause may not fall a prey to conflicting interpretations, and lose
thereby its purity and pristine vigor, that its affairs may be
conducted with efficiency and promptness, it is necessary that every
one should conscientiously take an active part in the election of
these Assemblies, abide by their decisions, enforce their decree, and
cooperate with them wholeheartedly in their task of stimulating the
growth of the Movement throughout all regions. The members of these
Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their own likes and
dislikes, their personal interests and inclinations, and concentrate
their minds upon those measures that will conduce to the welfare and
happiness of the Bahá’í Community and promote the
common weal.

The Bahá’í Fund

And as the progress and execution of spiritual
activities is dependent and conditioned upon material means, it is of
absolute necessity that immediately after the establishment of local
as well as national Spiritual Assemblies, a Bahá’í
Fund be established, to be placed under the exclusive control of the
Spiritual Assembly. All donations and contributions should be offered
to the Treasurer of the Assembly, for the express purpose of
promoting the interests of the Cause, throughout that locality or
country. It is the sacred obligation of every conscientious and
faithful servant of Bahá’u’lláh who desires
to see His Cause advance, to contribute freely and generously for the
increase of that Fund. The members of the Spiritual Assembly will at
their own discretion expend it to promote the Teaching Campaign, to
help the needy, to establish educational Bahá’í
institutions, to extend in every way possible their sphere of
service. I cherish the hope that all the friends, realizing the
necessity of this measure, will bestir themselves and contribute,
however modestly at first, towards the speedy establishment and the
increase of that Fund.

The need for the centralization of authority in the
National Spiritual Assembly, and the concentration of power in the
various local Assemblies, is made manifest when we reflect that the
Cause of Bahá’u’lláh is still in its age of
tender growth and in a stage of transition; when we remember that the
full implications and the exact significance of the Master’s
world-wide instructions, as laid down in His Will, are as yet not
fully grasped, and the whole Movement has not sufficiently
crystallized in the eyes of the world.

It is our primary task to keep the most vigilant eye on
the manner and character of its growth, to combat effectively the
forces of separation and of sectarian tendencies, lest the Spirit of
the Cause be obscured, its unity be threatened, its Teachings suffer
corruption; lest extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible
freedom on the other, cause it to deviate from that Straight Path
which alone can lead it to success.

The Most Essential Obligation

But let us be on our guard—so the Master
continually reminds us from His Station on high—lest too much
concern in that which is secondary in importance, and too long a
preoccupation with the details of our affairs and activities, make us
neglectful of the most essential, the most urgent of all our
obligations, namely, to bury our cares and teach the Cause,
delivering far and wide this Message of Salvation to a
sorely-stricken world.

To His valiant combatants on earth, who at times may
feel disheartened, our ever-victorious Commander, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
gives us the following assurance:

“O ye servants of the Sacred Threshold! The
triumphant Hosts of the Celestial Concourse, arrayed and marshalled
in the Realms above, stand ready and expectant to assist and assure
victory to that valiant horseman who with confidence spurs on his
charger into the arena of service. Well is it with that fearless
warrior, who armed with the power of true Knowledge, hastens unto the
field, disperses the armies of ignorance, and scatters the hosts of
error, who holds aloft the Standard of Divine Guidance, and sounds
the Clarion of Victory. By the righteousness of the Lord! He hath
achieved a glorious triumph and obtained the true victory….”

With such inspiring words as these, are we to remain any
longer unmoved and inactive? His trumpet-call resounds on every side,
and summons us to service; are we to tarry and hesitate? His voice is
calling aloud from every land; let us march on, unfettered and
unafraid, and fulfill our glorious Destiny.

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
March 12, 1923.

Transliteration of Bahá’í
Terms

P.S. On another page6
is given the list of the best known and most current Bahá’í
terms, and other Oriental names and expressions, all properly and
accurately transliterated, the faithful spelling of which by all the
Western friends will avoid confusion in future, and insure in this
matter a uniformity which is greatly needed at present in all Bahá’í
literature. The full code will be duly communicated to the various
National Assemblies, and the transliteration of the Oriental terms
mentioned in the English letters sent out by the Haifa Spiritual
Assembly will provide a correct and reliable supplement to the
above-mentioned list. I feel confident that all the friends will from
now on follow this system and adhere scrupulously and at all times to
this code in all their writings.

Letter of April 8th, 1923.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful, the accredited delegates to the Annual Convention of
America, Chicago, Illinois.

Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

On this auspicious occasion, when the elected
representatives of the Bahá’í Community
throughout the continent of America, gathered for the first time
within the Foundation Hall of the stately edifice of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, are assembled to take
counsel together regarding those vital issues that confront the Cause
of Bahá’u’lláh in that land, may I, as one
of your humble fellow-workers in the field of service, offer you from
the very depths of my heart my brotherly love and sincere greetings,
and assure you of my fervent prayers for the success of your
deliberations and the attainments of your hearts’ desire.

You stand at this challenging hour in the history of the
Cause at the threshold of a new era; the functions you are called
upon to discharge are fraught with immense possibilities; the
responsibilities you shoulder are grave and momentous; and the eyes
of many peoples are turned, at this hour, towards you, expectant to
behold the dawning of a Day that shall witness the fulfilment of His
divine Promise.

Forgetful of the past and its vicissitudes, conscious of
the need for renewed and combined effort, freed from all earthly
limitations and motives, with every lingering trace of ill-feeling
forever banished from our hearts, freshly united and determined, let
us join in deep and silent communion with the ever-watchful Spirit of
our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and with humility and
earnestness supplicate for the guidance that will enable us to fulfil
the task which is now committed to our charge. May this year’s
Convention, by the range of its activities, by the character of its
proceedings, by its faithful adherence to the divine Instructions of
our loving Master, and above all by its radiant spirit of enthusiasm
and true fellowship, prove itself one of the greatest landmarks in
the history of the Cause in America.

May the all-pervading Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh
so permeate the souls of its members as to cause it to mirror forth
the glories and the splendors of the Celestial Concourse.

Your devoted brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
April 8, 1923.

Letter of April 9th, 1923.

To the members of the American National Spiritual
Assembly.

Dearest friends:

I have lately received your long-awaited reports on the
present situation of the Movement in that land, and have read them
all, together with their enclosures, with the utmost care and deepest
interest.

I am much impressed and feel deeply gratified to learn
of your devoted and unremitting labors, individually and collectively
in the field of service to the Cause; of your constant vigilance and
watchful care in upholding its fundamental principles and guarding
its essential interests; of the efficiency, faithfulness and vigor
with which you are conducting the administration of its affairs
throughout that land.

Many and grave may be the obstacles, whether from within
or from without, which we shall have to encounter in the days to
come, but we feel sure that if we but maintain consistently before
our eyes a broad and noble vision of its significance and vital
necessity in these days, and above all of its universality and
all-conquering power, we shall be enabled to surmount them, one and
all, and by the Power of Faith, carry the Ark of the Covenant to its
Haven of Safety and Triumph.

It is, I firmly believe, of the utmost urgent importance
that, with unity of purpose and action firmly established in our
midst, and with every trace of the animosity and mistrust of the past
banished from our hearts, we should form one united front and combat,
wisely and tactfully, every force that might darken the spirit of the
Movement, cause division in its ranks, and narrow it by dogmatic and
sectarian belief.

National Spiritual Assemblies

It is primarily upon the elected members of the National
Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world
that this highly important duty devolves, as in their hands the
direction and management of all spiritual Bahá’í
activities have been placed and centralized, and as they constitute
in the eyes of the people of their country the supreme body in that
land that officially represents, promotes and safeguards the various
interests of the Cause, it is my fervent prayer and my most cherished
desire, that the unfailing guidance of Bahá’u’lláh
and the blessings of our beloved Master will enable them to set a
high and true example to all other Bahá’í
institutions and local Assemblies, and will show them what absolute
harmony, mature deliberation and whole-hearted cooperation can
achieve.

Should such a representative and responsible body fail
to realize this fundamental requisite for all successful achievement,
the whole structure is sure to crumble, and the Great Plan of the
Future, as unfolded by the Master’s Will and Testament, will be
rudely disturbed and grievously delayed.

Regarding the management of the Star of the West, as I
have already intimated, this Bahá’í organ as well
as other similar publications, far from being regarded as the special
organ of a certain group or particular locality, should fall under
the exclusive control of the National Spiritual Assembly, which,
aided by a special committee, shall minutely guide and judiciously
scrutinize all the information it gives, the character of the
articles and translations it publishes, and the tone and language it
assumes in all its issues….

Reports of Activities

I shall always await from the members of the National
Spiritual Assembly, collective, official and comprehensive reports on
their manifold activities, sent to me at frequent intervals, and
bearing upon the inner and outward currents of the Movement, the
relations of Assemblies to one another, and the general standing and
the various aspects of the progress of the Cause throughout the land.
I would welcome more specific reports sent to me by the various
committees of the National Spiritual Assembly, enclosed in the
National Assembly’s letter, and approved by all its members.

Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

I have read with keen interest all the enclosures
regarding the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, have
shared the up-to-date news they contained with the friends throughout
the East, and note with particular pleasure the completion of the
Basement Section, with its spacious Foundation Hall ready for the
holding of meetings and the gatherings of friends. Though the
prospect of the immediate resumption of building activity does not
seem bright at present, yet I hope and pray that these difficulties
will soon disappear, and the work of this unique Edifice, stimulated
and advanced in time by the zeal and self-sacrifice of the friends
the world over, will soon attain its glorious consummation. I beg to
enclose my humble contribution of 19 pounds, as my share of the
numerous donations that have reached the Temple Treasury in the past
year.

Pray convey to the members of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
Committee the highest sense of my appreciation for their devoted and
strenuous labors, and my constant prayers for the success of the task
which they have set themselves to accomplish.

With regard to the situation in Persia, and the
condition of the friends in that land, I have requested the Ṭihrán
Spiritual Assembly to send me immediately an authoritative and full
report of the exact situation, whereupon I shall duly inform you of
the exact steps to be taken to insure the well-being and safety of
the tried believers in Persia….

The holding of State Congresses, Amity Conventions, and
other universal associations of the friends in America, will
naturally fall within the province of the National Spiritual
Assembly, which will direct and supervise the work of them all by the
aid of special committees, each constituted for a specific purpose.
The matter of receiving Orientals is left entirely in the hands of
the National Spiritual Assembly, whose special committee for this
purpose will have to investigate all the questions arising in this
connection in future. Please convey to the members of the newly
constituted Library Committee my deep appreciation of their labors in
this important field of service, and assure them of my prayers for
their success.

Touching the point raised in the Secretary’s
letter regarding the nature and scope of the Universal Court of
Arbitration, this and other similar matters will have to be explained
and elucidated by the Universal House of Justice, to which, according
to the Master’s explicit instructions, all important and
fundamental questions must be referred. At present the exact
implication and full significance of the provisions of the Master’s
Will are as yet imperfectly understood, and time will serve to reveal
the wisdom and the far-reaching effects of His words.

I am enclosing on a separate sheet the full
authoritative code, widely adopted by contemporary Orientalists
throughout the world, which will serve as a basis for the
transliteration of Bahá’í terms and Oriental
names.7

Remembering you all in my hours of visit and prayer at
the Three Holy Shrines, and wishing you success from all my heart,

I am your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
April 9th, 1923.

Letter of April 27th, 1923.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Beloved fellow-workers in the Cause:

I am not sure whether I have sent you before a copy of
this glorious Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh
for His beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, written in His own
blessed handwriting, and which we found among his papers and
documents soon after the Master’s Ascension. It reveals in
terms of touching tenderness the unique station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
and constitutes an unchallengeable evidence of His supreme authority.

I am also enclosing my rendering of various passages of
the Kitáb-i-Aqdas8
which you may feel at liberty to circulate amongst the friends.

Wishing you all success in your work,

I am your devoted brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
April 27th, 1923.

Letter of May 6th, 1923

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

My friends and fellow-workers in the Cause of God!

Your most welcome message, imparting the glad news of a
successful Convention, has rejoiced my heart and fortified my hope in
this year of active service, that has just unfolded itself before
you.

I am certain that, as the newly elected representatives
of the Bahá’í Community throughout America, you
are, one and all, well aware of your mighty responsibilities, and
fully realize the tremendous need for a full understanding amongst
the friends, and their active and sustained cooperation in spreading
far and wide the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh
throughout that vast continent.

I fervently hope that in collaboration with our wise,
able and devoted brother, Jináb-i-Fádil, you will
inaugurate a brilliant and vigorous campaign of Teaching, that shall
by its very splendor banish the darkness of differences and
contention that so impede the majestic and onward march of the Cause
in every land.

Central Fund

That you may reinforce this Teaching Campaign—so
vitally needed in these days—and conduct, properly and
efficiently, the rest of your manifold activities, spiritual as well
as humanitarian, it is urgently necessary to establish that Central
Fund, which if generously supported and upheld by individual friends
and local Assemblies, will soon enable you to execute your plans with
promptness and vigor.

It is my earnest prayer, in the day-time and in the
night season, that the ever-guiding Hand of our loved and departed
Master may graciously aid you to surmount every obstacle, and will
lead, through you,—His chosen ones in that land,—the Ark
of His Cause, to its promised haven of glory and triumph.

With heartfelt congratulations and best wishes,

I am your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
May 6th, 1923.

P.S. I enclose a copy of my translation9
of Bahá’u’lláh’s Words of Wisdom,
which you will feel at liberty to circulate amongst the friends.

Letter of November 14, 1923.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout America, care of the members of the American
National Spiritual Assembly.

Fellow-laborers in the Divine Vineyard:

Upon my return, after a forced and prolonged absence, to
the Holy Land, it is my first and most ardent wish to renew and
strengthen those ties of brotherly love and fellowship that bind our
hearts together in our common servitude to His sacred Threshold.

The two years that have elapsed since the passing of our
beloved Master have been for the Cause, as well as for mankind, years
of deep anxiety and pain. The momentous changes that are taking place
in the history of both have proved so swift and far-reaching as to
arouse in certain hearts a strange misgiving as to their stability
and future.

On one hand the remarkable revelations of the Beloved’s
Will and Testament, so amazing in all its aspects, so emphatic in its
injunctions, have challenged and perplexed the keenest minds, whilst
the ever-increasing confusion of the world, threatened as never
before with disruptive forces, fierce rivalries, fresh commotions and
grave disorder, has well-nigh overwhelmed the heart and damped the
zeal of even the most enthusiastic believer in the destiny of
mankind.

And yet, how often we seem to forget the clear and
repeated warnings of our beloved Master, who, in particular during
the concluding years of His mission on earth, laid stress on the
“severe mental tests” that would inevitably sweep over
His loved ones of the West—tests that would purge, purify and
prepare them for their noble mission in life.

The Cause of Human Suffering

And as to the world’s evil plight, we need but
recall the writings and sayings of Bahá’u’lláh,
who, more than fifty years ago, declared in terms prophetic the prime
cause of the ills and sufferings of mankind, and set forth their true
and divine remedy. “Should the Lamp of Religion be hidden,”
He declares, “Chaos and confusion will ensue.” How
admirably fitting and applicable are these words to the present state
of mankind!

Ours is then the duty and privilege to labor, by day and
by night, amidst the storm and stress of these troublous days, that
we may quicken the zeal of our fellow-men, rekindle their hopes,
stimulate their interest, open their eyes to the true Faith of God
and enlist their active support in the carrying out of our common
task for the peace and regeneration of the world.

Let us take heart and be thankful to our beloved
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as we remember His manifold
blessings and unfailing care and protection, ever since the hour of
His departure from our midst. The flames of sedition, so maliciously
kindled in the past by those who have dared to flout His will, are
gone out for ever, and the fondest hopes of these evil plotters are
now abandoned, doomed never to revive. He has indeed redeemed His
promise!

It seemed not a long time ago that their agitation, so
violently renewed immediately after the passing of our Beloved, would
for a time confuse the Divine Message of Bahá’u’lláh,
obscure His Covenant, retard the progress of His Cause, and shatter
its unity; and yet how well we see them all today, not through our
efforts, but by their own folly, and above all, by the intervention
of the hidden hand of God, reduced to the vilest and most humiliating
position.

And now, with the Cause purified and inwardly
victorious, its principles vindicated, its enemies silenced and sunk
in unspeakable misery, may we not, henceforth, direct all our efforts
to collective action and constructive achievement, and, in utter
disregard of the flickerings of their fast-fading light, arise to
carry out those urgent measures that will secure the outward and
complete triumph of the Cause.

I, for my part, as I look back to the unfortunate
circumstances of ill-health and physical exhaustion that have
attended the opening years of my career of service to the Cause, feel
hardly gratified, and would be truly despondent but for the
sustaining memory and inspiring example of the diligent and ceaseless
efforts which my fellow-workers the world over have displayed during
these two trying years in the service of the Cause.

I cherish the hope that, from now on, the Beloved may
bestow upon me all the strength and vigor that will enable me to
pursue over a long and unbroken period of strenuous labor the supreme
task of achieving, in collaboration with the friends in every land,
the speedy triumph of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
This is the prayer I earnestly request all my fellow-brethren and
sisters in the Faith to offer on my behalf.

Let us pray to God that in these days of
world-encircling gloom, when the dark forces of nature, of hate,
rebellion, anarchy and reaction are threatening the very stability of
human society, when the most precious fruits of civilization are
undergoing severe and unparalleled tests, we may all realize, more
profoundly than ever, that though but a mere handful amidst the
seething masses of the world, we are in this day the chosen
instruments of God’s grace, that our mission is most urgent and
vital to the fate of humanity, and, fortified by these sentiments,
arise to achieve God’s holy purpose for mankind.

Your brother in His Service,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
November 14, 1923.

Letter of November 26, 1923.

To the members of the American National Spiritual
Assembly.

Friends and fellow-workers in the Vineyard of God!

After a long and unbroken silence, it gives me the
greatest joy to be enabled to correspond again with my dearly-beloved
co-workers of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Your three letters, dated June 8th, July 10th and
October 12th, have been safely received, and to each I have given my
earnest and fullest attention. Their perusal which reflects only a
certain amount of your activities together with the study of the
enclosed communications and circulars and of the detailed and
admirable report of the proceedings of the Annual Convention have all
served to heighten my admiration for the thoroughness, the ability,
and the devotion with which you are conducting the affairs of the
Cause of God in that land.

How often I have wished and yearned to be nearer to the
field of your activities and thus be able to keep in a more constant
and closer touch with every detail of the manifold and all-important
services you render. I cherish the hope that erelong the facilities
in the means of communication and transport will serve to draw us
still nearer to one another, and fulfill, though partially, this
long-desired wish.

The Annual Convention

I have been made happy and grateful to learn from your
first letter that “throughout the sessions (of the last
Convention) the atmosphere was one of great detachment and
spirituality combined with practical vision and purpose.” I am
deeply convinced that if the Annual Convention of the friends in
America, as well as the National Spiritual Assembly, desire to become
potent instruments for the speedy realization of the Beloved’s
fondest hopes for the future of that country, they should endeavor,
first and foremost, to exemplify, in an increasing degree, to all
Bahá’ís and to the world at large the high ideals
of fellowship and service which Bahá’u’lláh
and the beloved Master repeatedly set before them. They can claim the
admiration, the support and eventually the allegiance of their
fellow-countrymen only by their strict regard for the dignity, the
welfare, and the unity of the Cause of God, by their zeal, their
disinterestedness, and constancy in the service of mankind, and by
demonstrating, through their words and deeds, the need and
practicability of the lofty principles which the Movement has
proclaimed to the world.

The efforts you have displayed, and the considerable
success you have achieved in consolidating the forces of the Movement
in the United States and Canada have been a source of inspiration to
every one of us, and, I am certain, will spur the friends throughout
the East to combined and sympathetic activity for the promotion of
the Cause.

My fervent prayer at the three Holy Shrines is that the
bountiful Lord may bless His American friends who constitute the
vanguard of His host in the Western world, and prosper them in their
material affairs and pursuits, that the Cause which stands today in
sore need of material help and assistance may advance, rapidly and
unhindered, towards the fulfillment of its destiny.

The Bahá’í Fund

With regard to the Bahá’í Fund,
recently established amongst the friends, I trust that the matter now
stands clear to every one throughout the country. As I have
previously intimated, although individual friends and local
Assemblies are absolutely free to specify the object and purpose of
their donations to the National Spiritual Assembly, yet, in my
opinion, I regard it of the utmost vital importance that individuals,
as well as local Assemblies, throughout the land should, in view of
the paramount importance of National Teaching and as an evidence of
their absolute confidence in their national representatives,
endeavor, however small at first, to contribute freely towards the
upkeep and the increase of the National Bahá’í
Fund, so that the members of the National Assembly may at their full
discretion expend it for whatever they deem urgent and necessary.

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

Concerning the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
I shall always recall with pride and gratitude the self-sacrifice of
the American friends and, in particular the devoted services of our
dear Bahá’í sister, Mrs. True, and our beloved
brethren, Dr. Bagdadi, Mr. Remey and Mr. Bourgeois, whose persistent
efforts and devoted services are in the eyes of all friends highly
praiseworthy. I would feel indeed disheartened were the friends to
think for a moment, that its work should fall into abeyance, nay,
rather they should do all in their power (and I trust their
fellow-brethren and sisters throughout the East may share in their
stupendous efforts) to provide for the steady and uninterrupted
progress of the work, until the day may come when this sublime
Edifice, raised in its majestic splendor in the very heart of the
continent, may be yet another evidence of the triumph and vitality of
the Cause.

Your reference to the friends in Akron, Ohio, and their
harmonious participation in the proceedings of the Convention have
rejoiced my heart, for it has removed another obstacle in the way of
the rapid and vigorous development of the Cause in those regions.

The beneficent services and unremitting labors of that
selfless and able teacher of the Cause of God,
Jináb-i-Fádil-i-Mazandarání, the details
of whose travels and activities I have followed with deep interest,
have been to me a constant source of hope and real encouragement, and
my hope is that the seeds he has so wisely sown may with your support
yield in the not distant future an abundant harvest.

Green Acre

I was delighted to hear of the progressive activities of
that dearly-beloved spot, Green Acre, upon which the Master has
bestowed His tender care and loving-kindness, and of which we are all
hopeful that it may become, while the work of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
is in progress, the focal center of the devotional, humanitarian,
social and spiritual activities of the Cause. The sacrifice of the
time, energy and money made by our dearly beloved friends, Mr. and
Mrs. Randall, Mr. and Mrs. Schopflocher, and those who have helped
them in their task, I shall never forget, and will fervently pray on
their behalf that our Beloved may fulfill their heart’s desire.
I feel that no interference with its present organization should be
attempted, as it enjoys in its present condition unique opportunities
for the diffusion of the Bahá’í spirit and the
promotion of the Word of God.

I am glad to report that the situation of the houses in
Baghdád is free from immediate danger, though the issue
has not yet been definitely determined. I wish in this respect to
express my high admiration and deep gratitude for the promptness,
caution, and care with which you, and particularly Mrs. Parsons and
Mr. Mills, have approached and handled this delicate question. I
shall inform you of any future developments in this matter.

With regard to the Star of the West, I have been
impressed by the beauty and force of the various articles contributed
to the Journal by Mr. Horace Holley and Mr. Stanwood Cobb, and would
indeed welcome with genuine satisfaction an even more active
participation on their part in the editorial section of the Bahá’í
Magazine.

I have addressed a few days ago a cable to the secretary
of the National Spiritual Assembly, requesting the friends to
exercise restraint and caution in the use and distribution of the
record of the Master’s voice. In my view, it should be used
only on special occasions and be listened to with the utmost
reverence. The dignity of the Cause, I am sure, would suffer from too
wide and indiscriminate use of one of the most precious relics of our
departed Master.

Regarding the short film of the Master, for which, as
well as for the record of His voice, I am deeply indebted to the
selfless efforts and services of my dear brother, Mr. Roy C. Wilhelm,
it would be undoubtedly better to combine it with other films
representing various scenes in the history of the Cause, taken in
countries visited by the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As this would take considerable
time and preparation and would entail much expense I wonder whether
it would be an expense and burden to you to forward only to the Holy
Land one copy of the actual film, as it would impart untold happiness
and consolation to the bereaved ladies of the Holy Household.

I am gratified to peruse the able and masterly work of
my dear fellow-worker, Mr. Horace Holley, a work10
which I have no doubt will by virtue of its subject matter, its
comprehensiveness and uniqueness arouse widespread and genuine
interest in the Movement. I am looking forward eagerly to similar
productions by the pen of such able and gifted servants of
Bahá’u’lláh.

I am enclosing for all the friends recent translations
of those highly significant utterances of Bahá’u’lláh,
revealed some fifty years ago, and pregnant with His divine wisdom.
His ringing call to humanity in its hour of peril sounds prophetic in
these days of utter gloom.

I am forwarding also a copy of the transliterated
Oriental terms with few corrections of minor type errors. I am
confident that the friends will not feel their energy and patience
taxed by a scrupulous adherence to what is an authoritative and
universal, though arbitrary code for the spelling of Oriental terms.

Committees of the National Assembly

The diligent efforts exerted by the various committees
of the National Spiritual Assembly, those for National Teaching, for
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the Star of the
West, the National Library, for the reviewing and publication of
Bahá’í literature, for education, for the
National Archives and the Race Amity Conventions, have cheered and
heartened me in the discharge of my manifold duties, and constitute
in themselves a convincing evidence and inspiring example to the
Bahá’í world of the efficient spiritual
administration of the affairs of the Bahá’í
world.

As to the spiritual activities of the “Children of
the Kingdom” in America, my hope and prayer is that they may
grow to become efficient servants of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
Their devotion and self-sacrifice, their readiness to help the cause
of the Bahá’í Temple, their activity in
connection with the Bahá’í Magazine are all
unmistakable signs of the glorious future of the Cause in that land.
May the care and loving-kindness of the Heavenly Father guide them,
protect them and aid them in their future mission in life.

The Greatest Holy Leaf, the Holy Mother, and the other
ladies of the Holy Household wish to join me, one and all, in
expressing to every one of you their deep thankfulness and their
highest appreciation for the efficient and admirable manner with
which you are coordinating the dynamic forces of the Cause, and
conducting its affairs throughout America.

The sum of 100 English pounds which you have offered to
the Cause through me, I must acknowledge with deep appreciation and
gratitude, and wish to inform you that a part of it has been directly
expended for the furthering of the interests of the Cause throughout
the world, and the rest for the embellishment of the Well-Beloved’s
Shrine on Mount Carmel.

With deep gratitude, and hoping to hear from you, singly
and collectively, I am your true brother,

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
November 26, 1923.

Letter of January 4th, 1924.

To the members of the American National Spiritual
Assembly.

My dearest friends:

On November 28th I received the following communication
from the President of the National Spiritual Assembly of Great
Britain:

“I have now to bring to your notice, though
possibly you are already aware of it, a matter which is of the first
importance in the opinion of the National Spiritual Assembly as you
will see from one of the paragraphs of the enclosed minutes of its
first meeting, which was held on October 13th. So far the programme
of the conference on the ‘Living Religions within the British
Empire’ is in a somewhat nebulous condition, but I have
ascertained from Miss Sharples, the honorary secretary of the
committee of organization, that the conference has been approved by
the authorities of the British Empire Exhibition 1924 and will last
for ten days, covering the last week of the month of September and
the first three days of October. It is proposed that all religions
taught and practiced throughout the British Empire shall be
represented at the conference, including the Christians, Muhammadans,
Buddhists, Brahma Somaj, Theosophists and others, and that each one
in turn shall have at its disposal a day or part of a day for a
meeting to expound its principles and deal with its organization and
objects.”

In their last letter, the members of the National
Spiritual Assembly of Great Britain further informed me that the idea
of the above-mentioned conference has originated with the
Theosophical Society, but these having later dropped its management,
the organization of the conference passed into the hands of the
School of Oriental Studies and the Sociological Society. You will
also note from the enclosed copy of a letter addressed by the same
Miss Sharples to the President of the British National Spiritual
Assembly that the time offered to the Bahá’í
representatives will be very limited, and that most probably the
allotted time will be just sufficient to read their papers or deliver
their address and engage in the discussion that might arise after
their formal presentation of the Cause.

As the British Empire Exhibition, of which this
conference forms a part, is itself a semi-official undertaking, and
receives actually the generous support and active participation of
the government authorities throughout the British Empire, I feel that
the opportunities now offered to the Bahá’í world
should not be missed, as this chance, if properly utilized, might
arouse and stimulate interest among the enlightened public.

As so much will depend upon the nature and general
presentation of the theme, rather than upon the personality of the
reader or speaker, I feel that, first and foremost, our attention
should be concentrated on the choice and thorough preparation of the
subject matter as well as on the proper drafting and the form of the
paper itself, which might possibly have to be submitted afterwards to
the authorities of the conference.

I feel the necessity of entrusting this highly important
and delicate task to a special committee, to be appointed most
carefully by the National Spiritual Assembly of America, and
consisting of those who by their knowledge of the Cause, their
experience in matters of publicity, and particularly by their power
of expression and beauty of style will be qualified to produce a
befitting statement on the unique history of the Movement as well as
its lofty principles.

I am enclosing an article on the Bahá’í
Movement which I trust might serve as a basis and example of the
paper in question. An account of the most salient features of the
history of the Cause, a brief but impressive reference to its many
heroes and martyrs, a convincing and comprehensive presentation of
its basic principles, and a characteristic survey of the Master’s
life, as well as a short but graphic description of the present
position and influence of the Movement both in the East and the West,
should, in my opinion, be included and combined into one conclusive
argument. Its length should not surpass that of the enclosed article,
and its general tone, expression and language should be at once
dignified, sober and forceful.

The greatest care and caution must be exercised in
choosing those who can best provide and fulfill the above mentioned
requisites and conditions.

I shall be most pleased to offer my views and
suggestions once the paper has assumed its final shape, and wish you
to obtain the assistance and advice of those whom you think able to
judge amongst the friends in England and elsewhere.

Mr. Simpson, the President of the British National
Spiritual Assembly, writes that Miss Grand from Canada has suggested
the names of Dr. Watson and Mr. J. O. McCarthy of Toronto to
represent the Canadian Bahá’ís. I would be
pleased to receive your views as to who should represent Canada at
the Conference. India is the only other country within the British
Empire that can send a native Bahá’í
representative to the conference, and it is rather unfortunate that
the United States of America should have to be excluded, as the
speakers at the conference must necessarily be subjects of the
British Empire.

I am enclosing recent translations11
of the prophetic and most remarkable words of Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá which I trust you will all find
of great value and interest in the great work you are doing for the
Cause.

May this great project yield an abundant harvest for the
Cause, and your efforts be richly blessed by the guiding Spirit of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Your fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 4th, 1924.

Letter of February 23, 1924.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout America.

My dear fellow-workers:

I gather from various sources that the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh, in the course of its sure yet
toilsome march towards the salvation of the world, has encountered of
late further obstacles, which in the eyes of some appear to retard
its progress and hinder its growth. I have learned with feelings of
sadness and surprise that some vague sense of apprehension, a strange
misconception of its immediate purpose and methods, is slowly gaining
ground, steadily affecting its wholesome growth and vigorous
development throughout the continent.

Though such signs should appear from time to time, and
however unrepresentative they be of the vast and growing mass of its
convinced and zealous supporters, the world over, what, I wonder,
could have caused this uneasiness of mind? Are such misgivings
possible, though on the part of but a few, in the face of the
remarkable manifestations of so remarkable a movement? To what extent
do they form a part of those mental tests and trials destined at
various times by the Almighty to stir and reinvigorate the body of
His Cause, and how far are they traceable to our imperfect state of
understanding, to our weaknesses and failings?

Divine Destiny and Human Frailty

That the Cause of God should, in the days to come,
witness many a challenging hour and pass through critical stages in
preparation for the glories of its promised ascendancy in the new
world has been, time and again, undeniably affirmed by our departed
Master, and is abundantly proved to us all by its heroic past and
turbulent history. And yet, if it is the lot of the chosen ones of
God, the people of Bahá, to face adversity and suffer
tribulation before achieving ultimate victory, are we to believe that
whatever befalls us is divinely ordained, and in no wise the result
of our faint-heartedness and negligence?

Surely now, if ever, is the time to turn our eyes
inwardly, to bestir ourselves, to invoke the Most Great Name, and
standing together, summon to our aid and support all the faith, the
strength, and the courage that we shall need to meet our pressing
obligations and discharge our trust.

The Plight of Mankind

The plight of mankind, the condition and circumstances
under which we live and labor are truly disheartening, and the
darkness of prejudice and ill-will enough to chill the stoutest
heart. Disillusion and dismay are invading the hearts of peoples and
nations, and the hope and vision of a united and regenerated humanity
is growing dimmer and dimmer every day. Time-honored institutions,
cherished ideals, and sacred traditions are suffering in these days
of bewildering change, from the effects of the gravest onslaught, and
the precious fruit of centuries of patient and earnest labor is faced
with peril. Passions, supposed to have been curbed and subdued, are
now burning fiercer than ever before, and the voice of peace and
good-will seems drowned amid unceasing convulsions and turmoil. What,
let us ask ourselves, should be our attitude as we stand under the
all-seeing eye of our vigilant Master, gazing at a sad spectacle so
utterly remote from the spirit which He breathed into the world? Are
we to follow in the wake of the wayward and the despairing? Are we to
allow our vision of so unique, so enduring, so precious a Cause to be
clouded by the stain and dust of worldly happenings, which, no matter
how glittering and far-reaching in their immediate effects, are but
the fleeting shadows of an imperfect world? Are we to be carried away
by the flood of hollow and conflicting ideas, or are we to stand,
unsubdued and unblemished, upon the everlasting rock of God’s
Divine Instructions? Shall we not equip ourselves with a clear and
full understanding of their purpose and implications for the age we
live in, and with an unconquerable resolve arise to utilize them,
intelligently and with scrupulous fidelity, for the enlightenment and
the promotion of the good of all mankind?

Humanity, torn with dissension and burning with hate, is
crying at this hour for a fuller measure of that love which is born
of God, that love which in the last resort will prove the one solvent
of its incalculable difficulties and problems. Is it not incumbent
upon us, whose hearts are aglow with love for Him, to make still
greater effort, to manifest that love in all its purity and power in
our dealings with our fellow-men? May our love of our beloved Master,
so ardent, so disinterested in all its aspects, find its true
expression in love for our fellow-brethren and sisters in the faith
as well as for all mankind. I assure you, dear friends, that progress
in such matters as these is limitless and infinite, and that upon the
extent of our achievements along this line will ultimately depend the
success of our mission in life.

The New World Order

And as we make an effort to demonstrate that love to the
world may we also clear our minds of any lingering trace of unhappy
misunderstandings that might obscure our clear conception of the
exact purpose and methods of this new world order, so challenging and
complex, yet so consummate and wise. We are called upon by our
beloved Master in His Will and Testament not only to adopt it
unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to all the world. To attempt to
estimate its full value, and grasp its exact significance after so
short a time since its inception would be premature and presumptuous
on our part. We must trust to time, and the guidance of God’s
Universal House of Justice, to obtain a clearer and fuller
understanding of its provisions and implications. But one word of
warning must be uttered in this connection. Let us be on our guard
lest we measure too strictly the Divine Plan with the standard of
men. I am not prepared to state that it agrees in principle or in
method with the prevailing notions now uppermost in men’s
minds, nor that it should conform with those imperfect, precarious,
and expedient measures feverishly resorted to by agitated humanity.
Are we to doubt that the ways of God are not necessarily the ways of
man? Is not faith but another word for implicit obedience,
whole-hearted allegiance, uncompromising adherence to that which we
believe is the revealed and express will of God, however perplexing
it might first appear, however at variance with the shadowy views,
the impotent doctrines, the crude theories, the idle imaginings, the
fashionable conceptions of a transient and troublous age? If we are
to falter or hesitate, if our love for Him should fail to direct us
and keep us within His path, if we desert Divine and emphatic
principles, what hope can we any more cherish for healing the ills
and sicknesses of this world?

Pending the establishment of the Universal House of
Justice, whose function it is to lay more definitely the broad lines
that must guide the future activities and administration of the
Movement, it is clearly our duty to strive to obtain as clear a view
as possible of the manner in which to conduct the affairs of the
Cause, and then arise with single-mindedness and determination to
adopt and maintain it in all our activities and labors.

The Foundation of the House of
Justice

The various Assemblies, local and national, constitute
today the bedrock upon the strength of which the Universal House is
in future to be firmly established and raised. Not until these
function vigorously and harmoniously can the hope for the termination
of this period of transition be realized. It devolves upon us whose
dearest wish is to see the Cause enter upon that promised era of
universal recognition and world achievements, to do all in our power
to consolidate the foundations of these Assemblies, promoting at the
same time a fuller understanding of their purpose and more harmonious
cooperation for their maintenance and success.

Let us also remember that at the very root of the Cause
lies the principle of the undoubted right of the individual to
self-expression, his freedom to declare his conscience and set forth
his views. If certain instructions of the Master are today
particularly emphasized and scrupulously adhered to, let us be sure
that they are but provisional measures designed to guard and protect
the Cause in its present state of infancy and growth until the day
when this tender and precious plant shall have sufficiently grown to
be able to withstand the unwisdom of its friends and the attacks of
its enemies.

Let us also bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause
of God is not dictatorial authority but humble fellowship, not
arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and loving consultation.
Nothing short of the spirit of a true Bahá’í can
hope to reconcile the principles of mercy and justice, of freedom and
submission, of the sanctity of the right of the individual and of
self-surrender, of vigilance, discretion and prudence on the one
hand, and fellowship, candor, and courage on the other.

Duties of Elected Representatives

The duties of those whom the friends have freely and
conscientiously elected as their representatives are no less vital
and binding than the obligations of those who have chosen them. Their
function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult not only
among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they
represent. They must regard themselves in no other light but that of
chosen instruments for a more efficient and dignified presentation of
the Cause of God. They should never be led to suppose that they are
the central ornaments of the body of the Cause, intrinsically
superior to others in capacity or merit, and sole promoters of its
teachings and principles. They should approach their task with
extreme humility, and endeavor, by their open-mindedness, their high
sense of justice and duty, their candor, their modesty, their entire
devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and
humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and
respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real
affection. They must, at all times, avoid the spirit of
exclusiveness, the atmosphere of secrecy, free themselves from a
domineering attitude, and banish all forms of prejudice and passion
from their deliberations. They should, within the limits of wise
discretion, take the friends into their confidence, acquaint them
with their plans, share with them their problems and anxieties, and
seek their advice and counsel. And, when they are called upon to
arrive at a certain decision, they should, after dispassionate,
anxious and cordial consultation, turn to God in prayer, and with
earnestness and conviction and courage record their vote and abide by
the voice of the majority, which we are told by our Master to be the
voice of truth, never to be challenged, and always to be
whole-heartedly enforced. To this voice the friends must heartily
respond, and regard it as the only means that can insure the
protection and advancement of the Cause.

Election of Delegates

Again I earnestly appeal to every one of you, and renew
my only request with all the ardor of my conviction, to make, before
and during the coming Convention, yet another effort, this time more
spontaneous and selfless than before, and endeavor to approach your
task—the election of your delegates, as well as your national
and local representatives—with that purity of spirit that can
alone obtain our Beloved’s most cherished desire. Let us recall
His explicit and often-repeated assurances that every Assembly
elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment
is, in truth, appointed of God, that its verdict is truly inspired,
that one and all should submit to its decision unreservedly and with
cheerfulness.

Let us first strive to fulfill these conditions,
difficult yet essential, in our lives, so that, contented and
assured, we may make of this new year of activity a year of abundant
blessings, of unprecedented achievements.

May this dearest wish be fulfilled!

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
February 23, 1924.

Letter of September 24, 1924.

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the Continent of America:

Dear friends:

I return to the Holy Land with an overpowering sense of
the gravity of the spiritual state of the Cause in the world. Much as
I deplore the disturbing effect of my forced and repeated withdrawals
from the field of service, I can unhesitatingly assure you that my
last and momentous step was taken with extreme reluctance and only
after mature and anxious reflection as to the best way to safeguard
the interests of a precious Cause.

My prolonged absence, my utter inaction should not,
however, be solely attributed to certain external manifestations of
unharmony, of discontent and disloyalty—however paralysing
their effect has been upon the continuance of my work—but also
to my own unworthiness and to my imperfections and frailties.

I venture to request you to join me in yet another
prayer, this time more ardent and universal than before, supplicating
with one voice the gracious Master to overlook our weaknesses and
failings, to make us worthier and braver children of His own.

Our Inner Life

Humanity, through suffering and turmoil, is swiftly
moving on towards its destiny; if we be loiterers, if we fail to play
our part surely others will be called upon to take up our task as
ministers to the crying needs of this afflicted world.

Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition
of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of
teaching—no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its
character—not even by the staunchness of our faith or the
exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in
the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the
Abhá Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly
and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely,
the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror
forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal
principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.

Looking back upon those sullen days of my retirement,
bitter with feelings of anxiety and gloom, I can recall with
appreciation and gratitude those unmistakable evidences of your
affection and steadfast zeal which I have received from time to time,
and which have served to relieve in no small measure the burden that
weighed so heavily upon my heart.

I can well imagine the degree of uneasiness, nay of
affliction, that must have agitated the mind and soul of every loving
and loyal servant of the Beloved during these long months of suspense
and distressing silence. But I assure you such remarkable solicitude
as you have shown for the protection of His Cause, such tenacity of
faith and unceasing activity as you have displayed for its promotion,
cannot but in the end be abundantly rewarded by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
who from His station above is the sure witness of all that you have
endured and suffered for Him.

Dawn of a Brighter Day

And now as I look into the future, I hope to see the
friends at all times, in every land, and of every shade of thought
and character, voluntarily and joyously rallying round their local
and in particular their national centers of activity, upholding and
promoting their interests with complete unanimity and contentment,
with perfect understanding, genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor.
This indeed is the one joy and yearning of my life, for it is the
fountainhead from which all future blessings will flow, the broad
foundation upon which the security of the Divine Edifice must
ultimately rest. May we not hope that now at last the dawn of a
brighter day is breaking upon our beloved Cause?

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
September 24, 1924.

Letter of November 24th, 1924.

To my dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: care of the American National
Spiritual Assembly.

Dearest friends:

The day is drawing near when, for the third time, we
shall commemorate the world over the passing of our well-beloved
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. May we not pause for a moment, and
gather our thoughts? How has it fared with us, His little band of
followers, since that day? Whither are we now marching? What has been
our achievement?

Menace of Social Chaos

We have but to turn our eyes to the world without to
realize the fierceness and the magnitude of the forces of darkness
that are struggling with the dawning light of the Abhá
Revelation. Nations, though exhausted and disillusioned, have
seemingly begun to cherish anew the spirit of revenge, of domination,
and strife. Peoples, convulsed by economic upheavals, are slowly
drifting into two great opposing camps with all their menace of
social chaos, class hatreds, and worldwide ruin. Races, alienated
more than ever before, are filled with mistrust, humiliation and
fear, and seem to prepare themselves for a fresh and fateful
encounter. Creeds and religions, caught in this whirlpool of conflict
and passion, appear to gaze with impotence and despair at this
spectacle of unceasing turmoil.

Such is the plight of mankind three years after the
passing of Him from whose lips fell unceasingly the sure message of a
fast-approaching Divine salvation. Are we by our thoughts, our words,
our deeds, whether individually or collectively, preparing the way?
Are we hastening the advent of the Day He so often foretold?

None can deny that the flame of faith and love which His
mighty hand kindled in many hearts has, despite our bereavement,
continued to burn as brightly and steadily as ever before. Who can
question that His loved ones, both in the East and the West,
notwithstanding the insidious strivings of the enemies of the Cause,
have displayed a spirit of unshakable loyalty worthy of the highest
praise? What greater perseverance and fortitude than that which His
tried and trusted friends have shown in the face of untold
calamities, intolerable oppression, and incredible restrictions? But
such staunchness of faith, such an unsullied love, such magnificent
loyalty, such heroic constancy, such noble courage, however
unprecedented and laudable in themselves, cannot alone lead us to the
final and complete triumph of such a great Cause. Not until the
dynamic love we cherish for Him is sufficiently reflected in its
power and purity in all our dealings with our fellow-men, however
remotely connected and humble in origin, can we hope to exalt in the
eyes of a self-seeking world the genuineness of the all-conquering
love of God. Not until we live ourselves the life of a true Bahá’í
can we hope to demonstrate the creative and transforming potency of
the Faith we profess. Nothing but the abundance of our actions,
nothing but the purity of our lives and the integrity of our
characters, can in the last resort establish our claim that the
Bahá’í spirit is in this day the sole agency that
can translate a long-cherished ideal into an enduring achievement.

Paramount Duty of Every Bahá’í

With this vision clearly set before us, and fortified by
the knowledge of the gracious aid of Bahá’u’lláh
and the repeated assurances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, let
us first strive to live the life and then arise with one heart, one
mind, one voice, to reinforce our numbers and achieve our end. Let us
recall, and seek on this sad occasion the comfort of, the last wishes
of our departed yet ever-watchful Master:—

“It behooveth them not to rest for a moment,
neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every land,
pass by every clime, and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred,
without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land
the triumphal cry ‘Ya Bahá’u’l-Abhá!’
(O Thou the Glory of Glories)…. The disciples of Christ forgot
themselves and all earthly things, forsook all their cares and
belongings, purged themselves of self and passion, and with absolute
detachment scattered far and wide and engaged in calling the peoples
of the world to the divine guidance; till at last they made the world
another world, illumined the surface of the earth, and even to their
last hour proved self-sacrificing in the pathway of that beloved One
of God. Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom.
Let them that are men of action follow in their footsteps!”

Having grasped the significance of these words, having
obtained a clear understanding of the true character of our mission,
the methods to adopt, the course to pursue, and having attained
sufficiently the individual regeneration—the essential
requisite of teaching—let us arise to teach His Cause with
righteousness, conviction, understanding and vigor. Let this be the
paramount and most urgent duty of every Bahá’í.
Let us make it the dominating passion of our life. Let us scatter to
the uttermost corners of the earth; sacrifice our personal interests,
comforts, tastes and pleasures; mingle with the divers kindreds and
peoples of the world; familiarize ourselves with their manners,
traditions, thoughts and customs; arouse, stimulate and maintain
universal interest in the Movement, and at the same time endeavor by
all the means in our power, by concentrated and persistent attention,
to enlist the unreserved allegiance and the active support of the
more hopeful and receptive among our hearers. Let us too bear in mind
the example which our beloved Master has clearly set before us. Wise
and tactful in His approach, wakeful and attentive in His early
intercourse, broad and liberal in all His public utterances, cautious
and gradual in the unfolding of the essential verities of the Cause,
passionate in His appeal yet sober in argument, confident in tone,
unswerving in conviction, dignified in His manners—such were
the distinguishing features of our Beloved’s noble presentation
of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

If we all choose to tread faithfully His path, surely
the day is not far distant when our beloved Cause will have emerged
from the inevitable obscurity of a young and struggling Faith into
the broad daylight of universal recognition. This is our duty, our
first obligation. Therein lies the secret of the success of the Cause
we love so well. Therein lies the hope, the salvation of mankind. Are
we fully conscious of our responsibilities? Do we realize the
urgency, the sacredness, the immensity, the glory of our task?

I entreat you, dear friends, to continue, nay, to
redouble your efforts, to keep your vision clear, your hopes
undimmed, your determination unshaken, so that the power of God
within us may fill the world with all its glory.

In this fervent plea joins me the Greatest Holy Leaf.
Though chagrined in the evening of her life at the sorrowful tales of
repression in Persia, she still turns with the deepest longings of
her heart to your land where freedom reigns, eager and expectant to
behold, ere she is called away, the signs of the universal triumph of
the Cause she loves so dearly.

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
November 24th, 1924.

Letter of November 27, 1924.

To my dear friends and fellow-workers, the members of
the American National Spiritual Assembly.

My friends and fellow-workers:—

The letters which our able and devoted friend, Mr.
Horace Holley, has addressed in your behalf to the Greatest Holy Leaf
and myself have all been received, and, together with their
enclosures, read with the closest attention. It is indeed highly
gratifying to observe that notwithstanding the strain and stress of
the critical period through which our beloved Cause is passing, the
elected representatives of the friends in America have, with
unflinching faith, undaunted courage, and conspicuous ability,
persevered in their task and fulfilled their arduous duties.

The splendid contribution you have made to the efforts
of your fellow-workers in England in connection with the Conference
on the Living Religions within the British Empire, we all heartily
appreciate and regard as a fresh evidence of the growing power and
solidarity of the Cause of God. Both in the admirable paper which you
arranged to be drafted and prepared, and in the person of your
devout, trusted and talented President, who performed his duty with
absolute fidelity and high distinction, you have rendered the Cause
of Bahá’u’lláh a fresh and distinguished
service. May the results achieved lend a fresh impetus to the onward
march of the Cause in the West.

The recent measures you have adopted in view of the
necessity of promoting fuller confidence and a greater measure of
understanding and cooperation between the body of the believers and
the local and National Assemblies, will, I am confident, be of the
greatest value, and indicate clearly that you are fully aware of the
true position, the privileges and responsibilities of every Bahá’í
Assembly.

Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

We all long to hasten by wise and effective measures the
completion of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and
we fervently supplicate the All-Bountiful to bless richly our
teaching work that our numbers may be reinforced in time by men who
with sufficient means at their disposal may voluntarily and
abundantly support this vast and noble endeavor. I trust that you
will encounter no further obstacles in receiving the necessary
support to meet the immediate needs of this Universal House of
Worship as decided at your recent general gathering in Chicago.

Bahá’í Magazine

The Star of the West, the latest issues of which I have
read with genuine satisfaction, has admittedly made a notable advance
towards the ideal which the Master has set before it. Articles on
broad humanitarian lines, well-conceived, adequately treated, and
powerfully presented, should have their proper place in every issue
together with such accounts of the history and the teachings of the
Cause as will portray to the Bahá’í and
non-Bahá’í alike the unique beauty as well as the
compelling power of the Bahá’í spirit. Matters
political and partisan in character should be carefully avoided as
they would eventually lead to entanglements that would be not only
futile but positively harmful. As regards the Persian Section: I feel
that in view of the severe restrictions imposed on the friends in
Persia its temporary suspension would be well-advised, particularly
as it makes such a disproportionate demand on the meagre resources of
the friends in America.

The increasing efforts displayed by my beloved brothers
and sisters in America, both individually and collectively, and the
action taken by you in constituting regional Teaching Committees are
of vital importance to the spread of the Cause in the present stage
of our work. I feel that we should all collaborate in widening its
scope, intensifying its influence, assuring its continuity, and
endeavoring to subordinate every other activity to this most urgent
and vital task. It is our bounden duty to do all in our power to give
the Cause from day to day a fuller publicity, to maintain and
stimulate the interest aroused, and to concentrate at the same time
our attention on a chosen few, endeavoring tactfully and persistently
to make of them earnest and unreserved supporters of the Bahá’í
Faith.

I am deeply conscious of the manifold and unavoidable
difficulties that confront you in your labors for the administration
of the affairs of the Cause. Vast distances; personal professional
preoccupations; insufficient number of capable and experienced
teachers, unhampered by the necessity of earning their means of
livelihood; the inadequacy of the means at your disposal, financial
and otherwise; the prevailing tendencies in the general thought,
sentiment, and manners of the people in whose midst you work—all
these, though insuperable obstacles at present, will, if we stand
steadfast and faithful, be one by one removed, and pave the way for
the ultimate ascendency of the Cause and the fruition and triumph of
our labors.

As to the projected prayer-book, I feel the need for a
specially prepared compilation of the prayers of Bahá’u’lláh
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá designed for the general public
which would both prove of value for devotional purposes and act as a
fresh incentive to eager and inspiring minds. I am enclosing copies
of prayers which you may have not yet received and trust to send you
more in future. I should be glad to receive any particulars you might
wish me to consider in this connection.

Our untiring and devoted sister, Dr. Moody (the handmaid
of the Most High), has had to her profound regret to discontinue for
a time the invaluable and unique services she has been rendering to
the Cause in Persia. She is proceeding to America, and will
familiarize you with the deplorable state of affairs in that unhappy
country. You will get first-hand information from her regarding the
present condition and activities of our long-suffering friends in
Persia, and she will take counsel with you as to the best way to meet
the needs and serve the Cause of Education in Ṭihrán. I
hope and pray that as soon as circumstances permit, the friends in
America may enable Dr. Moody to take back with her to Persia
suitable, capable and ardent collaborators who will contribute their
distinct share towards the uplift and the advancement of their
brethren and sisters in that land.

Concerning the magazine … I feel we must make it
unmistakably plain to those in charge of it that the Bahá’ís
would gladly and gratefully respond to the invitation to cooperate
with those that are responsible for it immediately they are fully
satisfied that nothing is or will be published by them, whether in
the magazine or elsewhere, that would, however indirectly, prejudice
or reflect upon their conception of what the Bahá’í
Movement is or stands for. Should this be refused, and unfriendly and
harmful matters be published against them, the attitude of all of us
should be a definite refusal to help and absolute non-interference,
as well as the absence of any form of retaliation which will instead
of achieving our end defeat our purpose. We should leave him in the
hands of God.

As to the suggestion of the Annual Convention being held
next summer at Green Acre, I believe it to be both wise and helpful,
and trust that it will forge another link between the Bahá’ís
as a body and its founders and trustees, and will serve to draw them
closer and closer to the outward form as well as to the spirit of the
activities of the friends in America.

The financial help extended recently by the friends in
America to their fellow-workers of the Faith in Qadiyán,
Punjab, has given us all intense satisfaction and made us deeply
grateful. Their contribution has immediately been forwarded to them
through the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma, and will,
I am certain, enhance the prestige and the influence of the Cause.

I feel that the conditions are now favorable for the
circulation of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
only in manuscript form and among recognized believers in America.
Every such believer should be trusted with a single copy with the
express understanding that no duplicate copies or extracts of it be
made or published anywhere.

Bahá’í Year Book

The suggestion made by my dear and able friend, Mr.
Horace Holley, as to the compilation of an annual “Bahá’í
Year Book” is extremely valuable and timely. I am much
impressed by it, and feel that an immediate start should be made. I
believe it can best be now undertaken under the direction and
supervision of your Assembly until the time should come for the
friends in the East and particularly Persia to participate
effectually in its development. I trust you will send me a copy of
the skeleton of the material you propose to include, and I shall here
attempt to fill up any gap and render any assistance I can to make it
as comprehensive, as attractive, and as authoritative as possible.

I am sending through my dear brother, Mr. M. Mills,
various relics and Tablets of our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
the only and priceless treasures of the devoted gardener of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Shrine, Ustad
Abu’l-Qasim Khurasani, who has offered them to be preserved in
his behalf in the Archives of the friends in America. I am hoping to
be able to send you in future precious additions to what the Archives
Committee has already collected, and may I in this connection express
to those who have conceived so admirable a plan my profound
admiration and heartfelt gratitude.

I wish to assure you in conclusion of my readiness and
genuine desire to help you and serve you to the utmost of my ability.
I fully realize the enormous burden that weighs on your shoulders,
and am constantly mindful of the distinct and eminent share you are
contributing to the advancement of the Cause. I wish you from the
depths of my heart entire satisfaction in your glorious work. Our
beloved Master is surely watching from the Realm Beyond over His
children whom He nurtured and loved so well, and will certainly guide
you in every step you take, and crown your patient efforts with
signal success.

Your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
November 27, 1924.

Letter of January 16, 1925.

To my dearly-beloved friends, the members of the
American National Spiritual Assembly.

My dear and precious fellow-workers:

The three communications dated November 19, November 22
and December 22, which I have recently received from that
indefatigable servant of Bahá’u’lláh, my
esteemed spiritual brother, Mr. Holley, have given me great
satisfaction and have cheered and sustained me in my work. I have
read most carefully the minutes of your December meeting and am
particularly pleased to note in many respects the notable advance you
have made in establishing the Cause upon a wider and surer
foundation.

History of the Cause

With reference to the need, so often expressed, for an
authentic and comprehensive history of the Cause, I am glad to inform
you of the action contemplated by the National Spiritual Assembly of
Persia in instructing and urging the local Assemblies throughout the
country to take immediate steps for the formation in every locality
of a special committee which will seek the assistance and the
testimony of the remnants of the earliest believers and pioneers of
the Cause in Persia in collecting most carefully all available
evidence and data for the compilation of a comprehensive, reliable
and representative history of the Movement from its earliest dawn to
the present day. I have communicated with the National Assembly of
Persia, regarding this urgent and vital necessity, and I feel the
time is not far distant when a free rendering into English of this
stirring narrative as well as an abridged form of it will be made
available for both the Bahá’ís and the general
public in the West.

The efforts recently displayed by the Publishing
Committee so clearly reflected in the minutes of their meeting of
November 2, 1924, a copy of which I have read with the closest
attention, indicate the efficiency, the zeal and the determination
with which they are conducting this vital branch of Bahá’í
activity. The scope of their effective work is expanding rapidly, and
I wish to assure them one and all of my prayers for the fruition of
their labors and the further development and consolidation of their
work.

There have been of late no fresh developments in the
situation of the House of Baghdád. The case, which is
now before the court of First Instance, has been postponed for some
time and we still await anxiously the decision of the court. Any hope
of an immediate and final solution of this intricate problem seems
for the present remote. In the event of our success the case may
still be referred by our powerful opponents to the Court of
Appeal—the highest in the land—and should its decision be
in our favor the government may at any time—as it does not seem
unlikely—decide, by retaining the keys in its custody, to
postpone indefinitely the execution of such a verdict in order to
allay the fierce hostility of the clerical element as well as the
Shi’ite population of ‘Iráq.

Should a crisis occur, I will immediately inform you and
endeavor to define more clearly any measure that I feel should be
taken by the American Assemblies to insure the security of the House
of Bahá’u’lláh.

Bahá’í
Periodicals

Regarding the publication of Bahá’í
periodicals in America, there is no doubt whatsoever that every
individual Bahá’í is free to inaugurate and
conduct any magazine of his own provided that nothing is published
therein which in the estimation of the National Assembly tends in the
least to become detrimental or injurious to the highest interests of
the Cause. Within these limits, and these limits only, private
initiative should in no wise be discouraged and is indeed highly
praiseworthy. It is for the National Assembly, however, to exercise
its judgment as to what extent the resources at their disposal enable
them to aid financially the individual undertakings of the friends.
Should the response of the friends and Assemblies to the appeals made
on behalf of the National Fund be prompt, sustained and generous, the
National Assembly will, I am certain, justify its sympathy, good-will
and genuine cooperation with every individual Bahá’í
enterprise. I would, however, at this early state of our work,
strongly urge, nay entreat, the friends not to dissipate their
efforts, but to seek, after frank, mature and continuous
deliberation, to arrive at a common conclusion as to the most urgent
requirements and needs of the hour, and having unified their views to
strive to uphold and enforce them with promptitude, wholeheartedness
and understanding.

News Letter

The first printed issue of the National Assembly’s
News Letter prepared and signed on behalf of the Assembly by its able
secretary, stands as a bright and eloquent testimony of his
thoroughness, his industry, his conspicuous ability, his undoubted
self-sacrifice. The Cause is entering upon a new era of renewed and
concerted activity. Its method of presentation has unmistakably
improved, and this general advancement in standard is in no small
measure attributable to the distinctive capacity of your Assembly. My
constant prayer is that He who watches over and inspires your
manifold activities may bless more richly than ever before your noble
endeavors.

Temple Meetings

With reference to the matter of meeting in the
Foundation Hall of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
I feel that the Foundation Hall should serve the purpose both of
devotional gatherings where the revealed Word of God is read and
chanted, and meetings at which subjects strictly Bahá’í
in character are presented, propounded and discussed. I have no doubt
that every conscientious and thoughtful Bahá’í
will scrupulously and at all times observe the commandment of
Bahá’u’lláh and the instructions of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá relative to the maintenance of the
sacredness, the dignity, and the universality of an edifice that will
in time become God’s universal House of Worship.

May the blessings of our Almighty Master rest upon your
deliberations.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 16, 1925.

Letter of January 29th, 1925.

To the esteemed members of the American National
Spiritual Assembly.

My well-beloved and precious fellow-workers:

I have perused your recent communication, dated December
29th, and signed on your behalf by your vigilant and capable
secretary, with an interest and attention worthy of the paramount
importance of the issues it raises.

The matter of the revision of the English version of the
Hidden Words, in view of the rapidity of the sale of the copies
recently printed, is of urgent importance. I shall as soon as my
multitudinous preoccupations permit avail myself of the opportunity
of Dr. Esslemont’s happy sojourn in the Holy Land to
collaborate with him in any necessary alterations of the text. I
strongly hope, except in the event of unforeseen circumstances, to
undertake this task in the course of this coming month.

In connection with the fundamental questions of general
policy referred to in your letter, I feel that the basic principles,
laid down but briefly stated in my past letters, which must guide the
administration of the affairs of the Bahá’í
Movement, pending the definite formation of the first authoritative
Universal House of Justice, must be further affirmed, elucidated, and
explained in greater detail, for the complete knowledge of all the
individual members of the vast and growing community of the believers
in America.

The National Convention

Hitherto the National Convention has been primarily
called together for the consideration of the various circumstances
attending the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. I feel,
however, that in view of the expansion and the growing importance of
the administrative sphere of the Cause, the general sentiments and
tendencies prevailing among the friends, and the signs of increasing
interdependence among the National Spiritual Assemblies throughout
the world, the assembled accredited representatives of the American
believers should exercise not only the vital and responsible right of
electing the National Assembly, but should also fulfill the functions
of an enlightened, consultative and cooperative body that will enrich
the experience, enhance the prestige, support the authority, and
assist the deliberations of the National Spiritual Assembly. It is my
firm conviction that it is the bounden duty, in the interest of the
Cause we all love and serve, of the members of the incoming National
Assembly, once elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek
and have the utmost regard, individually as well as collectively, for
the advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the
assembled delegates. Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue
reticence, of dictatorial aloofness, from their midst, they should
radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the delegates, by whom
they are elected, their plans, their hopes, and their cares. They
should familiarize the delegates with the various matters that will
have to be considered in the current year, and calmly and
conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of the
delegates. The newly elected National Assembly, during the few days
when the Convention is in session and after the dispersal of the
delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate understanding,
facilitate and maintain the exchange of views, deepen confidence, and
vindicate by every tangible evidence their one desire to serve and
advance the common weal. Not infrequently, nay oftentimes, the most
lowly, untutored and inexperienced among the friends will, by the
sheer inspiring force of selfless and ardent devotion, contribute a
distinct and memorable share to a highly involved discussion in any
given Assembly. Great must be the regard paid by those whom the
delegates call upon to serve in high position to this all-important
though inconspicuous manifestation of the revealing power of sincere
and earnest devotion.

National Spiritual Assembly

The National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the
unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and
long-standing sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in its
hands the final decision on all matters that affect the interests of
the Cause in America, such as the right to decide whether any local
Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles laid down
for the conduct and the advancement of the Cause. It is my earnest
prayer that they will utilize their highly responsible position, not
only for the wise and efficient conduct of the affairs of the Cause,
but also for the extension and deepening of the spirit of cordiality
and wholehearted and mutual support in their cooperation with the
body of their co-workers throughout the land. The seating of
delegates to the Convention, i.e., the right to decide upon the
validity of the credentials of the delegates at a given Convention,
is vested in the outgoing National Assembly, and the right to decide
who has the voting privilege is also ultimately placed in the hands
of the National Spiritual Assembly, either when a local Spiritual
Assembly is for the first time being formed in a given locality, or
when differences arise between a new applicant and an already
established local Assembly. While the Convention is in session and
the accredited delegates have already elected from among the
believers throughout the country the members of the National
Spiritual Assembly for the current year, it is of infinite value and
a supreme necessity that as far as possible all matters requiring
immediate decision should be fully and publicly considered, and an
endeavor be made to obtain after mature deliberation, unanimity in
vital decisions. Indeed, it has ever been the cherished desire of our
Master, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, that the friends in their
councils, local as well as national, should by their candor, their
honesty of purpose, their singleness of mind, and the thoroughness of
their discussions, achieve unanimity in all things. Should this in
certain cases prove impracticable the verdict of the majority should
prevail, to which decision the minority must under all circumstances,
gladly, spontaneously and continually, submit.

Nothing short of the all-encompassing, all-pervading
power of His Guidance and Love can enable this newly-enfolded order
to gather strength and flourish amid the storm and stress of a
turbulent age, and in the fulness of time vindicate its high claim to
be universally recognized as the one Haven of abiding felicity and
peace.

Regarding the pamphlet entitled “The Passing of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá,” I believe some additional
material, consisting mainly of a few selections from leading American
newspapers, would increase its value and extend its scope. I shall be
glad to receive a copy of the reprinted edition, and I wish you
success in this endeavor.

My dearly-beloved friend and fellow-worker, Mr.
Mountfort Mills, is now with me in Haifa, and will ere long join you
in the discharge of your manifold and arduous duties. I greatly value
his assistance in the difficult task and the complex and often urgent
problems that are before me, and I trust that his return to America
will lend a fresh impetus to the glorious work of service you are
rendering to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.

I wish you success from all my heart.

Your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 29th, 1925.

Letter of April 10th, 1925.

To the members of the American National Spiritual
Assembly.

My dearly-beloved fellow-workers:

The communications lately received from your
distinguished secretary, dated January 8th, February 6th and 13th,
and March 17th, together with the enclosed minutes, reports and
letters, have been read with profound interest and genuine
satisfaction. The methods you pursue, the new measures for publicity
which you have adopted, the increasing confidence you have achieved,
and the degree of support, both moral and financial, which you have
deservedly earned from the body of the believers are all encouraging
signs that testify to the growing solidarity of a Cause destined to
confer inestimable benefits upon mankind.

Great as is the promise of the Movement for the future,
it has already revealed in a remarkable manner to every unprejudiced
observer its indomitable spirit of loving sacrifice and true
fellowship burning with undiminished ardor in the breasts of its
followers both in the land of its birth and in the great Republic of
the West. The heroism and fortitude lately displayed by its
sorely-tried adherents in Persia, and the prompt and generous
contributions of the American believers who have spontaneously
responded to the call of their needy brethren of the East have served
to kindle the flame of enthusiasm in many a heart, and forged fresh
bonds of fellowship which will prove of the highest value for the
advancement of the Bahá’í Faith. I would
specially request you to convey to all the friends in the name of the
oppressed Bahá’ís of Persia, and particularly the
homeless sufferers of Nayríz, the expression of their deepest
gratitude and highest appreciation. May America’s noble
donations draw even as a magnet the blessings of the Almighty Giver
upon the task it has set itself to achieve!

I am delighted to learn of the evidences of growing
interest, of the sympathetic understanding, and brotherly cooperation
on the part of two capable and steadfast servants of the One True
God, Dr. H. Randall and Dr. Guthrie, whose participation in our work
I hope and pray will widen the scope of our activities, enrich our
opportunities, and lend a fresh impetus to our endeavors. I wish them
happiness and success from all my heart.

News Letter

The News Letter which you have lately initiated fulfills
a very vital function and has been started admirably well. I would
urge you to enlarge its scope, as much as your resources permit, that
in time it may devote a special section to every phase of your
activities, administrative, devotional, humanitarian, financial,
educational and otherwise. That it may attain its object it must
combine the essential qualities of accuracy, reliability,
thoroughness, dignity and wisdom. It should become a great factor in
promoting understanding, providing information on Bahá’í
activity, both local and foreign, in stimulating interest, in
combating evil influences, and in upholding and safeguarding the
institutions of the Cause. It should be made as representative as
possible, should be replete with news, up-to-date in its information,
and should arouse the keenest interest among believers and admirers
alike in every corner of the globe. I cherish great hopes for its
immediate future, and I trust you will devote your special attention
to its development, and by devising well-conceived and worldwide
measures transform this News Letter into what I hope will become the
foremost Bahá’í Journal of the world.

Title of Assemblies

As to the title to be adopted for letterheads, I would
suggest, pending the formation of the Universal House of Justice, the
phrase “The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of the United States and Canada,” retaining the word
“spiritual” and restricting the meaning of the term
“assembly” to be applied only to the body of nine elected
by the friends whether for local or national purposes.

Representation at Convention

I have already replied to your cable in connection with
the representation of groups of less than nine adult believers at the
annual Convention and the matter of proxy, the latter being left to
the discretion of the National Spiritual Assembly. Should the
conditions be altered, and the number of Bahá’í
localities multiply, the situation will have to be considered afresh
and a new basis for representation adopted.

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

Regarding the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár,
I would again most emphatically urge the believers in America, and
ask you to do the utmost you can to devise every possible means for
the removal of every outstanding financial liability incurred in this
connection. I would remind you of the supreme and urgent necessity of
raising the full sum decided upon by the National Spiritual Assembly
at its meeting in Chicago in order to meet the immediate needs of
this great future House of Worship. I would welcome a full,
authorized and up-to-date statement on its present situation, its
assets and liabilities and an estimate of the cost for its
completion.

In conclusion I wish to renew the assurance of my ardent
prayers for you and for those whom you represent in safeguarding and
promoting the sacred interests of so precious a Cause. I am fully
alive to the vastness and delicacy of your task, I heartily
appreciate your indefatigable efforts and unflinching determination,
I am continually reminded of our Master’s assurances of a
dazzling future before you. May His love enfold you, His Spirit guide
you, and His power enable you to achieve signal victory.

Your brother in the Master’s service,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
April 10th, 1925.

Letter of May 12, 1925.

To the members of the American National Assembly.

Dearly-beloved fellow-workers:

I have read with deep interest your two recent
communications dated April 4th and 18th, and am gratified to learn of
the steady expansion of your manifold activities.

Election of National Assembly

Regarding the method to be adopted for the election of
the National Spiritual Assemblies, it is clear that the text of the
Beloved’s Testament gives us no indication as to the manner in
which these Assemblies are to be elected. In one of His earliest
Tablets, however, addressed to a friend in Persia, the following is
expressly recorded:—

“At whatever time all the beloved of God in each
country appoint their delegates, and these in turn elect their
representatives, and these representatives elect a body, that body
shall be regarded as the Supreme Baytu’l-’Adl (Universal
House of Justice).”

These words clearly indicate that a three-stage election
has been provided by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the
formation of the International House of Justice, and as it is
explicitly provided in His Will and Testament that the “Secondary
House of Justice (i.e., National Assemblies) must elect the members
of the Universal One,” it is obvious that the members of the
National Spiritual Assemblies will have to be indirectly elected by
the body of the believers in their respective provinces. In view of
these complementary instructions the principle, set forth in my
letter of March 12th, 1923, has been established requiring the
believers (the beloved of God) in every country to elect a certain
number of delegates who, in turn, will elect their national
representatives (Secondary House of Justice or National Spiritual
Assembly) whose sacred obligation and privilege will be to elect in
time God’s Universal House of Justice.

Should the appointing of the delegates be made a part of
the functions of local Spiritual Assemblies, who are already elected
bodies, the principle of a four-stage election would be introduced
which would be at variance with the provisions explicitly laid down
in the Master’s Tablet. On the other hand, were the local
Spiritual Assemblies, the number of whose members is strictly
confined to nine, to elect directly the members of the National
Spiritual Assembly—thus maintaining the principle of a
three-stage election—all Bahá’í localities,
which must necessarily differ in numerical strength, would then have
to share equally in the election of the National Spiritual Assembly—a
practice which would be contrary to fairness and justice. Moreover,
the central principle guiding for the present the administration of
the Cause has been to make the Bahá’í National
Spiritual Assemblies as independent as possible in the conduct of
such affairs as fall within their province, and to lessen the
hampering influence of any institution within their jurisdiction that
might, whether directly or indirectly, impair their authority and
prestige.

Membership Roll

I would also strongly urge the members of every incoming
National Spiritual Assembly to take all necessary steps to insure
that every local Assembly throughout America, without any exception
whatsoever, should immediately after its election send the complete
list of its members together with the full address of its secretary
to the National Secretary, who in turn will forward them to me
directly, enclosing his own address as well as the list of the
members of the National Spiritual Assembly. It would also be
extremely helpful, should actual circumstances permit, to devise with
the wholehearted assistance of every local Assembly ways and means
for the compilation of an authoritative, up-to-date, and exhaustive
list of recognized believers in America, supplemented by the full
address of each believer’s permanent residence—this list
to be continually revised according to every change affecting the
residence and number of such believers. This would be particularly
advisable in view of the permanent residence of isolated believers in
various parts of the country, as well as of those who form parts of
groups as yet numerically too small for the formation of a local
Spiritual Assembly.

However desirable these steps may be, it is evident that
they are secondary in their importance and urgency to the pressing
and ever-increasing issues that vitally affect the spread and the
consolidation of the work which you are called upon to perform, and
which it is my privilege to assist in and serve. I am enclosing a
preliminary list of Bahá’í centers throughout the
world, exclusive of Persia, which, though inadequate, may still, I
trust, be of some help to you. I would welcome any additions or
corrections you might be able to make and hope it will evolve into a
valuable section of the contemplated Bahá’í Year
Book.

I wish to assure you, in conclusion, of my heartfelt
appreciation of your devoted labors in the Divine Vineyard.

Your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
May 12, 1925.

Letter of June 3rd, 1925.

To the beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful,
the delegates and visitors to the Bahá’í
Convention, Green Acre, Maine, U.S.A.

Fellow-laborers in the Vineyard of God:

Once again the hand of divine power has gathered
together the chosen representatives of the American believers,
assembled this time amid the pleasant surroundings of a blest and
beloved spot, to deliberate upon the most effective measures that
will insure the advancement of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
I feel it a pleasure and privilege to offer you these few thoughts as
my humble contribution to the proceedings of your annual Convention.

May I at the outset reaffirm my feelings of gratitude
and keen appreciation for the eminent share which the friends in
America, individually as well as by their collective efforts, have
contributed to ease the burden of responsibility and care that has so
often oppressed my heart. Your steadfastness, your unsparing
devotion; your self-sacrifice in upholding and fostering the
institutions of the Cause; the notable advance you have achieved in
the coordination of your activities; the remarkable solicitude you
have shown, and the magnificent response you have made on behalf of
the oppressed and needy among your brethren; the measures you have
initiated, the hindrances you have removed and the means and methods
you have perfected—these and others beside have established you
in the confidence, the esteem and the admiration of all the Bahá’í
world. I personally appreciate and am thankful for your unfailing
supplications and special prayers on my behalf. I am deeply touched
by your expressions of unwavering faith, of loyalty and affection,
and fully reciprocate your brotherly sentiments and your keen desire
and readiness to collaborate with me more closely and effectively
than ever before.

Purpose of Convention

And now regarding this forthcoming Convention, I feel
that the dominating purpose inspiring the assembled friends,
delegates and visitors alike, should be a two-fold one. The first is
a challenge to the individual, the second a collective
responsibility. The one seeks to reinforce the motive power of our
spiritual activities, the second aims at raising the standard of
administrative efficiency so vitally needed at this advanced stage of
our work. We should first and foremost endeavor by every conceivable
means to revitalize our precious Cause, rudely shaken by the constant
vicissitudes attending the outward departure of a vigilant and
gracious Master. Our next object should be to seek to approach,
through more intimate association, fuller and more frequent
consultations, and a closer familiarity with the character, the
mission and the teachings of the Cause, that standard of excellence
which should characterize the cooperative efforts of Bahá’í
Communities in every land.

High aims and pure motives, however laudable in
themselves, will surely not suffice if unsupported by measures that
are practicable and methods that are sound. Wealth of sentiment,
abundance of good-will and effort, will prove of little avail if we
should fail to exercise discrimination and restraint and neglect to
direct their flow along the most profitable channels. The unfettered
freedom of the individual should be tempered with mutual consultation
and sacrifice, and the spirit of initiative and enterprise should be
reinforced by a deeper realization of the supreme necessity for
concerted action and a fuller devotion to the common weal.

National Spiritual Assembly

It would be impossible at this stage to ignore the
indispensability or to overestimate the unique significance of the
institution of the National Spiritual Assembly—the pivot round
which revolve the activities of the believers throughout the American
continent. Supreme is their position, grave their responsibilities,
manifold and arduous their duties. How great the privilege, how
delicate the task of the assembled delegates whose function it is to
elect such national representatives as would by their record of
service ennoble and enrich the annals of the Cause! If we but turn
our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Bahá’í
Assemblies, as enumerated in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
Tablets, we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and
would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if
we rise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be
more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and
power. Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider
without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of
any material consideration, the names of only those who can best
combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless
devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature
experience. May the incoming National Spiritual Assembly—the
privileged and chosen servants of the Cause—immortalize their
term of stewardship by deeds of loving service, deeds that will
redound to the honor, the glory and the power of the Most Great Name.

The Cornerstone of Service

I would also earnestly entreat all the delegates at this
coming Convention, and through them I appeal to the larger body of
believers whom they represent, to ever bear in mind the supreme
injunction of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to teach unceasingly
until the “head cornerstone of the foundation” of the
Cause of God is firmly established in every heart. Let those whose
time, resources and means allow, travel throughout the length and
breadth of that vast continent, let them scatter to the most distant
regions of the earth and, fired with enthusiasm and detachment, hand
on the torch of God’s undying flame to the waiting multitudes
of a sadly-stricken world.

One word more in conclusion. Let the West, and
particularly the Great Republic of the New World, where a quarter of
a century ago Bahá’u’lláh’s Banner
was firmly implanted, realize that upon it now rests the
responsibility of achieving the universal recognition of the Bahá’í
Faith, of fulfilling ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s fondest
hopes.

Persia, the cradle of an unfolding world civilization,
is still bereft of her freedom, sunk in ignorance, a prey to
contending policies and factions, beset on one hand by the powers of
orthodoxy and sectarian fanaticism and assailed on the other by the
forces of materialism and unbelief. In her evil plight she is
radiantly confident that the Flame she had kindled in the world will,
in the fullness of time, blaze forth in the heart of the mighty West
and shed redeeming illumination upon the silent sufferers of a
distracted country. Will it be America, will it be one of the nations
of Europe, that will seize the torch of Divine Guidance from Persia’s
fettered hands and with it set the western world aflame? May your
Convention, by its spirit, its resolutions and its accomplishments,
give to that country’s urgent call a noble and decisive answer.

Your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
June 3rd, 1925.

Letter of October 24th, 1925.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

My well-beloved friends:

The numerous communications which your distinguished
Secretary has lately addressed on your behalf to the Greatest Holy
Leaf and myself, have been eagerly perused and their contents
carefully noted. The news they imparted and the spirit they revealed
have caused us both genuine satisfaction, and have served to
intensify the feelings of joyous confidence, of pride and gratitude
with which we have greeted the inauguration of your term of service.

The notable advance achieved by this year’s
memorable Convention is, I am certain, attributable in no small
measure to the energy, the thoroughness, the insight and the
loving-kindness that have characterized in an unprecedented degree
the activities of the outgoing National Spiritual Assembly. I am
confident that the work of America’s newly elected
representatives, so splendidly and auspiciously begun, will further
consolidate the labors of the past, will resolve to a great extent
the problems and perplexities of the present, and open up fresh
fields of future achievements and service.

I rejoice to learn that ways and means have been found
to enable the National Secretary, who discharges in such an exemplary
manner the manifold and exacting duties of a highly responsible
position, to devote all his time to the pursuit of so meritorious a
task. I am fully conscious of the privations and sacrifice which the
choice of this arduous work must involve for him, as well as for his
devoted and selfless companion; I cannot but admire and extol their
heroic efforts; and wish to assure them both of my continued prayers
for the speedy fruition of their earnest endeavors.

Qualifications of a Believer

Regarding the very delicate and complex question of
ascertaining the qualifications of a true believer, I cannot in this
connection emphasize too strongly the supreme necessity for the
exercise of the utmost discretion, caution and tact, whether it be in
deciding for ourselves as to who may be regarded a true believer or
in disclosing to the outside world such considerations as may serve
as a basis for such a decision. I would only venture to state very
briefly and as adequately as present circumstances permit the
principal factors that must be taken into consideration before
deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not.
Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner, the Author, and
the True Exemplar of the Bahá’í Cause, as set
forth in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Testament;
unreserved acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been
revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause
of our Beloved’s sacred Will; and close association with the
spirit as well as the form of the present day Bahá’í
administration throughout the world—these I conceive to be the
fundamental and primary considerations that must be fairly,
discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching such a vital
decision. Any attempt at further analysis and elucidation will, I
fear, land us in barren discussions and even grave controversies that
would prove not only futile but even detrimental to the best
interests of a growing Cause. I would therefore strongly urge those
who are called upon to make such a decision to approach this highly
involved and ever-recurring problem with the spirit of humble prayer,
and earnest consultation, and to refrain from drawing rigidly the
line of demarcation except on such occasions when the interests of
the Cause absolutely demand it.

National Convention

In connection with the annual holding of the Bahá’í
Convention and Congress, I feel that although such a representative
body need not be convened necessarily every year, yet it is highly
desirable, in view of the unique functions it fulfills in promoting
harmony and good-will, in removing misunderstandings and in enhancing
the prestige of the Cause, that the National Spiritual Assembly
should exert itself to gather together annually the elected
representatives of the American believers. It would in some ways be
obviously convenient and eminently desirable though not absolutely
essential, if the National Spiritual Assembly could arrange that the
holding of such a Congress should synchronize with the time at which
the national elections are renewed, and that both events should take
place, if not on the first of Ridván, at least during the
twelve joyous days of what may be justly regarded as the foremost
Bahá’í Festival. Apart from the local elections,
which universally are to be renewed on the 21st day of April, it is
entirely left to the discretion of the National Spiritual Assembly to
decide, after having given due consideration to the above mentioned
observations, on whatever time and place the Bahá’í
Convention as well as the annual elections are to be held. Were the
National Spiritual Assembly to decide, after mature deliberations, to
omit the holding of the Bahá’í Convention and
Congress in a given year, then they could, only in such a case,
devise ways and means to insure that the annual election of the
National Spiritual Assembly should be held by mail, provided it can
be conducted with sufficient thoroughness, efficiency and dispatch.
It would also appear to me unobjectionable to enable and even to
require in the last resort such delegates as cannot possibly
undertake the journey to the seat of the Bahá’í
Convention to send their votes, for the election of the National
Spiritual Assembly only, by mail to the National Secretary, as in my
view the advantages of such a procedure outweigh the considerations
referred to in your letter. It should, however, be made clear to
every elected delegate—who should be continually reminded—that
it is a sacred responsibility and admittedly preferable to attend if
possible in person the sessions of the Convention, to take an active
part in all its proceedings, and to acquaint his fellow-workers on
his return with the accomplishments, the decisions and the
aspirations of the assembled representatives of the American
believers.

Bahá’í Year Book

I am eagerly looking forward to your sending me in
manuscript form the projected Bahá’í Year Book,
that I may be enabled to contribute my share in rendering it as
comprehensive, as attractive, and as authoritative as possible. I
strongly advise you to combine in a judicious manner the two methods
outlined in this connection in your letter of September 2, 1925. A
short, concise and forceful account of the primary objects, as well
as of the principles underlying the worldwide administration of the
Cause, together with a brief description of various features of the
present day administration of its activities, supplemented with a
not-too-detailed survey of the actual accomplishments and plans
evolved in the current year, would serve to acquaint the outsider
with the purpose and the achievements of the Cause, and provide
sufficient material that would be edifying and helpful to the active
believers whether in the East or in the West….

The Greatest Holy Leaf desires me to convey in her name
to the esteemed members of the Green Acre Fellowship the expression
of her cordial thanks and sincere appreciation in having been made a
life member of the said Fellowship. She assures them of her prayers
for the success of this noble institution as well as for the
spiritual advancement of its individual members.

Recent developments in the Holy Land have led various
organizations in the Jewish world to contemplate seriously the early
possibility of transferring to Palestine’s sacred soil the
mortal remains of certain prominent founders and leaders of Jewish
thought, and Mount Carmel, which next to Akká’s Most
Holy Shrine is the most cherished object of Bahá’í
veneration, has been cited on various occasions as a permanent and
most befitting burial ground for their illustrious dead. Surely the
Bahá’ís of the world, ever on the alert and with
an eye to the future, will, no matter how pressed by financial
obligations, arise while there is yet time to contribute each his
share in securing for posterity such land as lies in close proximity
to the Holy Shrine—an area the acquisition of which in time
will prove indispensable if the sublime vision of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
is to be realized. I appeal to you, and through you to every earnest
and conscientious believer, to safeguard in particular the land
extending southward from these Shrines which now, alas! is gravely
exposed to the assaults of covetous and speculating interests. I am
loth to press further claims on friends who have displayed so
magnificent a spirit of self-sacrifice on several occasions in the
past, but I feel the urge of a sacred and impelling responsibility to
call your attention to what I conceive to be one of the worldwide
issues of the greatest moment requiring a prompt, generous and
collective response. I may add that whatever land is purchased will
be registered in the name of the contributor, and I would therefore
request every contributing believer to forward together with his
donation such power of attorney as will legally empower me to
transact in his name and on his behalf the purchase of the plot he
desires to acquire. It would be desirable to forward small
contributions to the National Spiritual Assembly, who will then
decide upon the manner in which the transaction should be conducted.

Persecution of Persian Bahá’ís

The compilation of newspaper clippings with regard to
recent persecutions in Persia which has been sent by our dear
brother, Mr. H. Holley, to the Greatest Holy Leaf has been forwarded
to the National Spiritual Assembly of Persia, that they may witness
for themselves and share with the rank and file of the Persian
believers the results of the extensive and vigorous campaign so
promptly undertaken on their behalf by their sympathetic brethren in
the West. It grieves me to inform you that this sad tale of barbarism
and unrestrained aggression on the property, the lives and the honor
of the heroic sufferers in that land is still continuing to reach our
ears, and the campaign of obstruction, of intimidation and plunder
is, but for short periods of comparative lull, being systematically
pursued with unabated vigor. I am certain that the members of the
National Spiritual Assembly, fully alive to the uncertainty, the
confusion and the seriousness of the present situation, will seize
the first opportunity to redress as much as it lies in their power
the interminable grievances that are being inflicted upon harassed
yet law-abiding citizens.

Wishing you success from all my heart, and assuring you
of my continued prayers for the steady expansion and consolidation of
your work,

I am, your brother and fellow-worker,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 24th, 1925.

Letter of November 6, 1925.

To the members of the American National Spiritual
Assembly.

My dear fellow-workers:

Two recent communications of your able secretary, dated
Oct. 14th and 15th, have been received and read with deep gratitude
and pleasure.

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

I rejoice to learn of the prompt and well-considered
measures you have undertaken to evolve, in conjunction with all local
Assemblies and groups, a wise and effective plan for the contribution
of America’s befitting share in response to the appeal lately
addressed to the American believers regarding the work of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Surely the great
company of eager and sympathizing believers throughout the East will,
as they increasingly witness the evidences of a revival of activity
along this line, arise to lend a helping hand to this vast endeavor.
They will not fail to extend their support in alleviating the burden
that is now borne so joyously and gratefully by their younger
brethren in North America. I shall myself do all in my power to
hasten the fruition of your self-sacrificing labors.

International Bahá’í
Shrine

The sad and sudden crisis that has arisen in connection
with the ownership of Bahá’u’lláh’s
sacred house in Baghdád has sent a thrill of
indignation and dismay throughout the whole of the Bahá’í
world. Houses that have been occupied by Bahá’u’lláh
for well nigh the whole period of His exile in ‘Iráq;
ordained by Him as the chosen and sanctified object of Bahá’í
pilgrimage in future; magnified and extolled in countless Tablets and
Epistles as the sacred center “round which shall circle all
peoples and kindreds of the earth”—lie now, due to fierce
intrigue and ceaseless fanatical opposition, at the mercy of the
declared enemies of the Cause.

I have instantly communicated with every Bahá’í
center in both East and West, and urgently requested the faithful
followers of the Faith in every land to protest vehemently against
this glaring perversion of justice, to assert firmly and courteously
the spiritual rights of the Bahá’í Community to
the ownership of this venerated house, to plead for British fairness
and justice, and to pledge their unswerving determination to insure
the security of this hallowed spot.

Conscious of the fact that this property has been
occupied by Bahá’í authorized representatives for
an uninterrupted period of not less than thirty years, and having
successfully won their case at the Justice of Peace and the Court of
First Instance, the Bahá’ís the world over cannot
believe that the high sense of honor and fairness which inspires the
British Administration of ‘Iráq will ever tolerate such
grave miscarriage of justice. They confidently appeal to the public
opinion of the world for the defense and protection of their
legitimate rights now sorely trampled under the feet of relentless
enemies.

Widespread and effective publicity along these lines, in
well-conceived and carefully worded terms, is strongly recommended
for it will undoubtedly serve to facilitate the solution of this
delicate and perplexing problem.

Having exerted ourselves to the utmost of our ability
let us rest assured in the power of the Lord, who keepeth watch over
His house, and who will, no matter how dark present prospects appear,
assure for generations yet unborn His cherished and holy edifice. I
shall acquaint you with every development of the case, and will
advise you as to the measures that should be taken whether we decide
to institute fresh proceedings or to appeal to higher legal
authorities in London.

Green Acre

In connection with the important step that has been
taken for the eventual inclusion of Green Acre Fellowship within the
orbit of the activities of the American National Spiritual Assembly,
I hope and pray that this new privilege and added responsibility will
prove highly beneficial in its results, both to Green Acre itself and
the general interests of the Cause in America. In a separate
communication addressed to the Chairman of the said Fellowship, our
dearly-beloved and self-sacrificing brother, Mr. W. Randall, I will
express my warm approval of this constructive step, and my ardent
hopes for the quicker unfolding and fuller expansion under the
fostering care of the National Spiritual Assembly, of Green Acre’s
unique and sublime mission in life. I shall follow in this connection
with the keenest interest the course of your activities in accordance
with the policy outlined in your letter of October 14th, and feel
that the greatest stress must be laid upon the necessity of
exemplifying in a most liberal and practical manner the driving power
hidden in this Divine Revelation, rather than upon the idle
reiteration of a set of principles, however exalted and unique in
their character. May the National Fund so flourish as to enable its
Trustees to undertake such measures as will eloquently testify to a
sorely stricken humanity the healing power of God’s Faith.

Jurisdiction of a Local Assembly

May I remind you regarding the situation in San
Francisco that no two independent Bahá’í centers
can possibly be recognized in the same city, and that the center
which bears my name should act in all matters only with the full
consent and approval of the San Francisco Spiritual Assembly.

Voting Rights of National Assembly
Members

Concerning the election of alternate members to the
National Spiritual Assembly, I feel that only the nine original
members of the National Spiritual Assembly are entitled to vote,
whereas such alternate members as may be elected should be asked to
fill vacancies only in a consultative capacity and not be entitled to
vote. They should not be regarded as part of the quorum (i.e., five
out of the nine original members) which is necessary for the
transaction of the business of the National Assembly. All secondary
matters that do not affect the principle outlined are left to the
discretion of the National Spiritual Assemblies who will decide
according to the exigencies of their respective circumstances.

Assuring you of my deep appreciation of your continued
efforts, and of my unceasing prayers on your behalf,

I am your grateful brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
November 6, 1925.

Letter of November 30, 1925.

To the beloved of God and the handmaids of the Merciful
in the East and in the West.

Dear fellow-workers:

It is with feelings of overwhelming sorrow that I
communicate to you the news of yet another loss which the Almighty,
in His inscrutable wisdom, has chosen to inflict upon our beloved
Cause. On the 22nd of November, 1925, that memorable and sacred day
in which the Bahá’ís of the Orient celebrated the
twin Festivals of the Declaration of the Báb and the birthday
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Dr. John E. Esslemont passed on
to the Abhá Kingdom. His end was as swift as it was
unexpected. Suffering from the effects of a chronic and insidious
disease, he fell at last a victim to the inevitable complications
that ensued, the fatal course of which neither the efforts of
vigilant physicians nor the devoted cares of his many friends could
possibly deflect.

He bore his sufferings with admirable fortitude, with
calm resignation and courage. Though convinced that his ailment would
never henceforth forsake him, yet many a time he revealed a burning
desire that the friends residing in the Holy Land should, while
visiting the Shrines, implore the All-merciful to prolong his days
that he may bring to a fuller completion his humble share of service
to the Threshold of Bahá’u’lláh. To this
noble request all hearts warmly responded. But this was not to be.
His close association with my work in Haifa, in which I had placed
the fondest hopes, was suddenly cut short. His book,12
however—an abiding monument to his pure intention—will,
alone, inspire generations yet unborn to tread the path of truth and
service as steadfastly and as unostentatiously as was trodden by its
beloved author. The Cause he loved so well, he served even unto his
last day with exemplary faith and unstinted devotion. His tenacity of
faith, his high integrity, his self-effacement, his industry and
painstaking labors were traits of a character the noble qualities of
which will live and live forever after him. To me personally he was
the warmest of friends, a trusted counsellor, an indefatigable
collaborator, a lovable companion.

With tearful eyes I supplicate at the Threshold of
Bahá’u’lláh—and request you all to
join—in my ardent prayers, for the fuller unfolding in the
realms beyond of a soul that has already achieved so high a spiritual
standing in this world. For by the beauty of his character, by his
knowledge of the Cause, by the conspicuous achievements of his book,
he has immortalized his name, and by sheer merit deserved to rank as
one of the Hands of the Cause of God.

He has been laid to rest in the heart of that
beautifully situated Bahá’í burial ground at the
foot of Carmel, close to the mortal remains of that venerable soul,
Ḥájí Mírzá Vakilu’d-Dawlih,
the illustrious cousin of the Báb and chief builder of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of Ishqábád.
Pilgrims visiting his grave from far and near will, with pride and
gratitude, do honor to a name that adorned the annals of an Immortal
Cause.

May he eternally rest in peace.

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
November 30, 1925.

Letter of January 10, 1926.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved fellow-workers in the Vineyard of God!

Your letter dated Nov. 9, 1925, has been received and
read with feelings of deep satisfaction and gratitude. It is most
unfortunate that, owing to unavoidable circumstances, I have been
prevented from communicating more fully and frequently with the
distinguished representatives of those dear fellow-workers of mine,
the progress of whose accomplishments I am continually following with
the liveliest expectations, loving sympathy and cheerful hope.

The multiplicity of vital and pressing issues, arising
out of the steady expansion of the Movement in various parts of the
world; the pain and sorrow so keenly felt at the sudden passing of
distinguished and dearly-beloved servants of the Cause; grave and
unexpected developments in the Holy Land and elsewhere—have all
in rapid succession greatly added to the already oppressive burden of
responsibility and care which it is my lot and privilege to shoulder
in the interests of the Cause. And yet in the midst of my unceasing
toil, my afflictions and perplexities, I have found fresh sustenance
and comfort in the striking manner in which the pioneers of the Cause
in that promising continent are proving themselves worthy of the
spiritual heritage bequeathed to them by their departed Master.
Refreshed and fortified by their inspiring example, I feel I can
pursue the thorny path of my arduous duties with serene confidence,
cheerful contentment and undiminished gratitude.

I rejoice to learn of the marvelous effect which your
resourcefulness, efficiency and unrelenting efforts are producing
upon your admiring brethren of the East. I am fully alive to the
eminent share you are contributing to the emancipation of those
heroic sufferers in distracted Persia. I am deeply conscious of the
part you play in consolidating the position of the Cause in the eyes
of both the exalted and lowly, and in hastening the advent of that
promised day of universal recognition and triumph for our beloved
Cause.

Shrine of Baghdád

We can but dimly discern the signs of that day of
priceless victory—the day when the mission of this sublime and
holy Faith will have been unfolded in all its power and glory to the
eyes of an unbelieving world. We have only to refer to the utterances
of Bahá’u’lláh in order to realize for
ourselves God’s invincible power to turn every fleeting
abasement, every transient sorrow, into abiding joy and glory. For
amid the gloom of humiliation that has now beset Bahá’u’lláh’s
holy habitation in Baghdád, these prophetic words of
His regarding His house shine forth resplendent in their assurance of
a future victory: “In truth, I declare, it shall be so abased
in the days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning
eye…. And in the fulness of time, shall the Lord by the power of
truth exalt it in the eyes of all the world, cause it to become the
mighty standard of His domination, the shrine round which shall
circle the concourse of the faithful.” How startling in His
prediction, how reassuring His promise!

The thoroughness of your methods in handling this grave
and highly delicate situation, the promptness of your response, the
spirit of unabated confidence, of unrelaxing determination and
admirable courage which you have abundantly displayed have, I am
certain, endeared you to us all, justified our hopes in you, and
ennobled the already lofty position you deservedly occupy among the
staunch supporters of God’s immortal Cause. Whatever the
outcome of your memorable endeavors, the immediate consequences of
your strenuous efforts cannot but be a growing realization on the
part of those placed in authority that the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh,
despite the calumny and slander showered upon it in the past, has
linked the East with the West as no other human agency can possibly
link and is capable of demonstrating the reality of that celestial
potency which no man can today safely belittle or ignore.

Furthermore, the spontaneous and generous response of
the American believers in connection with the land situation on Mount
Carmel has, in conjunction with the donations of the friends in other
parts of the world, safeguarded such lands as lie in close proximity
to the holy Shrines. This highly meritorious effort, blest and
sanctified by the bountiful grace of Bahá’u’lláh,
has in like manner served to reveal to every discerning eye the
friends’ unquenchable enthusiasm and unrivalled devotion—the
dominant characteristic of a Faith that is still in its stage of
tender growth, and now standing on the threshold of undreamt-of
achievements.

Judgment of Egyptian Religious Court

Among the disturbing factors that have intensified the
difficulties of the present situation is the extraordinary judgment
recently passed by the Supreme Religious Court of Egypt, declaring
the Bahá’ís of that land adherents of a Faith
heretical in character, and at variance with the accepted doctrines
of Islám, and hence utterly outside the sphere of its
jurisdiction. What exactly the implication of this verdict will be,
the effect its practical application will have on the relations of
the Bahá’ís with the followers of the Muslim
Faith, what measure of publicity it will receive, what impression it
will create in Muslim lands and particularly in hostile Persia, the
future only can disclose. So far it has failed to perturb public
sentiment or give rise to any official or public demonstration of a
nature that would justify or necessitate any action on the part of
the American Bahá’ís, who are powerfully
demonstrating today their readiness to champion the cause of truth
and justice. I will not delay in informing you of the exact measures
that I feel will be necessary to take should the occasion arise in
future. It is clear and evident that Western influence, the loosening
of the bonds of religion, and the consequent waning vitality of the
once powerful Muhammadan stronghold of Egypt are in a great measure
to account for the indifference and apathy that now seem to
characterize the attitude of the masses towards this important and
vital issue. This decision, however locally embarrassing, in the
present stage of our development, may be regarded as an initial step
taken by our very opponents in the path of the eventual universal
acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith, as one of the
independent recognized religious systems of the world.

National Fund

In connection with the institution of the National Fund
and the budgetary system set forth in the minutes of the National
Spiritual Assembly, I feel urged to remind you of the necessity of
ever bearing in mind the cardinal principle that all contributions to
the Fund are to be purely and strictly voluntary in character. It
should be made clear and evident to every one that any form of
compulsion, however slight and indirect, strikes at the very root of
the principle underlying the formation of the Fund ever since its
inception. While appeals of a general character, carefully worded and
moving and dignified in tone are welcome under all circumstances, it
should be left entirely to the discretion of every conscientious
believer to decide upon the nature, the amount, and purpose of his or
her contribution for the propagation of the Cause.

Association with Orientals

Regarding association with Oriental travelers and
residents in the United States and Canada, I desire to emphasize
afresh the vital necessity for the exercise in these days of the
greatest vigilance and reserve, prudence and caution, on the part of
the American believers in their dealings with them, either in an
official or private capacity, whether in business transactions or for
purely religious purposes. As the Movement grows in prestige, fame
and influence, as the ambitions, malice and ill-will of strangers and
enemies correspondingly wax greater, it becomes increasingly
important for every individual and Spiritual Assembly to be on their
guard lest they fall innocent victims of the evil designs of the
malevolent, the self-seeking and greedy.

Touching the publication of articles and pamphlets
bearing on the controversial and political issues of the day, I
desire to remind my dearly-beloved fellow-workers that at the present
stage when the Cause is still in its infancy, any minute and detailed
analysis by the friends of subjects that are in the forefront of
general discussion would often be misconstrued in certain quarters
and give rise to suspicions and misunderstandings that would react
unfavorably on the Cause. They would tend to create a misconception
of the real object, the true mission, and the fundamental character
of the Bahá’í Faith. We should, while endeavoring
to uphold loyally and expound conscientiously our social and moral
principles in all their essence and purity, in all their bearings
upon the divers phases of human society, insure that no direct
reference or particular criticism in our exposition of the
fundamentals of the Faith would tend to antagonize any existing
institution, or help to identify a purely spiritual movement with the
base clamorings and contentions of warring sects, factions and
nations. We should strive in all our utterances to combine the
discretion and noble reticence of the wise with the frankness and
passionate loyalty of the ardent advocate of an inspiring Faith.
While refusing to utter the word that would needlessly alienate or
estrange any individual, government or people, we should fearlessly
and unhesitatingly uphold and assert in their entirety such truths
the knowledge of which we believe is vitally and urgently needed for
the good and betterment of mankind.

The copy of the minutes of the 1925 Bahá’í
Convention has been received and, despite the pressure of work, read
with deep pleasure and keen interest.

Purpose of Bahá’í
Administration

As the administrative work of the Cause steadily
expands, as its various branches grow in importance and number, it is
absolutely necessary that we bear in mind this fundamental fact that
all these administrative activities, however harmoniously and
efficiently conducted, are but means to an end, and should be
regarded as direct instruments for the propagation of the Bahá’í
Faith. Let us take heed lest in our great concern for the perfection
of the administrative machinery of the Cause, we lose sight of the
Divine Purpose for which it has been created. Let us be on our guard
lest the growing demand for specialization in the administrative
functions of the Cause detain us from joining the ranks of those who
in the forefront of battle are gloriously engaged in summoning the
multitude to this New Day of God. This indeed should be our primary
concern; this is our sacred obligation, our vital and urgent need.
Let this cardinal principle be ever borne in mind, for it is the
mainspring of all future activities, the remover of every
embarrassing obstacle, the fulfillment of our Master’s dearest
wish.

May the year that has just dawned upon us witness in
such a glorious field many a signal victory.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 10, 1926.

Letter of April 22nd, 1926.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful through the West.

Fellow-laborers in the Divine Vineyard:

In the midst of the many vicissitudes which the creative
Word of God is destined to encounter in the course of its onward
march towards the redemption of the world, there breaks upon us the
news of still another loss, more bewildering in its character, yet
more inspiring in its challenge, than any of the gravest happenings
of recent times. Once again the woeful tale of unabated persecution,
involving this time the martyrdom of twelve of our long-suffering
brethren in Jahrum, southern Persia, has reached our ears, and filled
us with a gloom which all the joys and ennobling memories of Ridván
have failed to dispel.

Bahá’í
Martyrdoms in Persia

From the meagre reports which have thus far been
received from that distracted country it appears that this shameful
and atrocious act, though the outcome of a number of obscure and
complex causes, has been chiefly instigated by that ever-present
factor of fierce and relentless impulse of religious hostility.
Persia—long neglected and sorely tried—continues, despite
the revival of recent hopes, to be the down-trodden victim of
unscrupulous personal rivalries and factious intrigue, of tribal
revolt, political dissensions and religious animosities—all of
which have in times past brought in their wake the shedding of the
blood of so many of its innocent and choicest sons.

Fully alive to the gravity of the occasion, and
realizing the urgency of my sacred duty, I have, upon the receipt of
the news, transmitted telegraphically through the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia a special
message addressed in the name of the Bahá’ís of
every land to the supreme authority in the State, expressing our
profound horror at this outrageous act as well as our earnest
entreaty to inflict immediate punishment on the perpetrators of so
abominable a crime. And as this sad event involved chiefly the
welfare and security of the Bahá’í residents in
Persia, I have specially requested all local Assemblies in that land
to address a similar message to the highest authorities concerned
appealing for full protection and justice. Should future developments
necessitate direct and foreign intervention, I shall acquaint the
national Bahá’í representatives in every land to
take in cooperation with all local Assemblies such measures as will
effectually conduce to a fuller recognition of the dynamic force
latent in the Bahá’í Faith and insure the
betterment of the lot of the heroic supporters of our Cause.

Pending the opening of official communication with
recognized authorities whether in Persia or elsewhere, I strongly
feel that the time has assuredly come when it is incumbent upon every
conscientious promoter of the Cause to bestir himself and undertake
in consultation with the friends in his locality such measures of
publicity as will lead to the gradual awakening of the conscience of
the civilized world to what is admittedly an ignominious
manifestation of a decadent age.

I would specially request all National Assemblies to
give their anxious and immediate consideration to this grave matter,
and to devise ways and means that will secure the fullest publicity
for our grievances. I would remind them that whatever is published
should be couched in terms that are at once correct, forceful and
inoffensive.

I would particularly stress the importance of making
every effort to secure the sympathy and hospitality of the leading
journals and periodicals of the Western world, and of sending to the
Holy Land any such references in papers that will arise to champion
the cause of righteousness and justice. I greatly deplore the fact
that owing to the remoteness and the unstable conditions in Persia,
details and particulars regarding this ugly incident are not as yet
available, but will be duly communicated to the various centers
immediately upon their receipt. I would, however, ask the believers
throughout the West to arise without any further delay and supplement
the publication of the news conveyed in this message with an account
of previous happenings of a similar character, combined with an
adequate survey of the aim, the principles and history of the Bahá’í
Cause.

It is to you, dearly beloved friends of the West, who
are the standard-bearers of the emancipation and triumph of the
Bahá’í Faith, that our afflicted brethren of the
East have turned their expectant eyes, confident that the day cannot
be far-distant when, in accordance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
explicit utterance, the West will “seize the Cause” from
Persia’s fettered hands and lead it to glorious victory.

Though grief-stricken and horrified at this cruel blow,
let us be on our guard lest we give way to despair, lest we forget
that in the Almighty’s inscrutable wisdom this sudden calamity
may prove to be but a blessing in disguise. For what else can it do
but to stir the inmost depths of our souls, set our faith ablaze,
galvanize our efforts, dissolve our differences, and provide one of
the chief instruments which the unhampered promoters of the Faith can
utilize to attract the attention, enlist the sympathy, and eventually
win the allegiance of all mankind?

Ours is this supreme opportunity; may we fulfill our
trust.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
April 22nd, 1926.

Letter of May 11th, 1926.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

Fellow-laborers in the Vineyard of God:

Various happenings of recent months, highly disquieting
in their suddenness, their complexity and consequences, have time and
again, to my regret, compelled me to defer correspondence with you,
my highly valued co-workers, who are destined to share no small a
part of the burden that now weighs so heavily upon me. The prolonged
and delicate negotiations arising out of the critical situation of
Bahá’u’lláh’s house in Baghdád;
the shameful recrudescence of unrestrained barbarism in stricken
Persia; the unexpected reverse recently sustained in our legal
transactions for the deliverance of Bahá’u’lláh’s
mansion at Bahjí from the hands of the enemy; the
unprecedented increase in the volume of work resulting from the rise
and expansion of the Movement in various parts of the world—these
and other issues, no less pressing in their demand upon my time and
energy, have gradually affected my health and impaired the efficiency
required in the discharge of my arduous duties. But, though body and
mind be sorely strained by cares and perplexities which a Movement
such as ours just emerging from obscurity must needs encounter, yet
the spirit continues to draw fresh inspiration from the manner in
which the chosen deliverers of the Faith in the Western world, and
particularly in the American continent, are proving themselves
increasingly worthy of such a stupendous yet so noble a task.

Persecutions in Jahrum

Grave and manifold as are the problems confronting the
struggling Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, none
appear more significant, nor seem more compelling in their urgency,
than the incredible sufferings borne so heroically by our
down-trodden brethren of the East. Recent reports confirming the news
which I have lately communicated to you have all emphasized the
barbarous severity practiced on the innocent followers of our Cause.
They reveal the possibility of the extension of this agitation,
partly instigated for political purposes and selfish motives, to
neighboring towns and provinces, and dwell upon the traditional
slackness of the local authorities to inflict prompt and severe
punishment upon all the perpetrators of such abominable crimes. It
has been ascertained that in the town of Jahrum women have suffered
martyrdom in a most atrocious manner, that the knife of the criminal
has mercilessly cut to pieces the body of a child, that a number have
been severely beaten and injured, their bodies mutilated, their homes
pillaged, their property confiscated, and the homeless remnants of
their family abandoned to the mercy of a shameless and tyrannical
people. In other parts of Persia, and particularly in the province of
Ádhirbayján in the town of Marághih,
the friends have been pitilessly denied the civic rights and
privileges extended to every citizen of the land. They have been
refused the use of the public bath, and been denied access to such
shops as provide the necessities of life. They have been declared
deprived of the benefit and protection of the law, and all
association and dealing with them denounced as a direct violation of
the precepts and principles of Islám. It has even been
authoritatively stated that the decencies of public interment have
been refused to their dead, and that in a particular case every
effort to induce the Muslim undertaker to provide the wood for the
construction of the coffin, failed to secure the official support of
the authorities concerned. Every appeal made by these Bahá’ís
on behalf of their brethren, whether living or dead, has been met
with cold indifference, with vague promises, and, not infrequently,
with severe rebuke and undeserved chastisement.

The tale of such outrageous conduct, such widespread
suffering and loss, if properly expressed and broadcast, cannot fail
in the end to arouse the conscience of civilized mankind, and thereby
secure the much-needed relief for a long-suffering people. I would,
therefore, renew my plea, and request you most earnestly to redouble
your efforts in the wide field of publicity, to devise every possible
means that will alleviate the fears and sorrows of the silent
sufferers in that distracted country. Surely these vile wrong-doers
cannot long remain unpunished for their ferocious atrocities, and the
day may not be far distant when we shall witness, as we have observed
elsewhere, the promised signs of Divine Retribution avenging the
blood of the slaughtered servants of Bahá’u’lláh.

Plan of Unified Action

In connection with the Plan of Unified Action, enclosed
in your letter of January 19th, I feel that the friends must be
constantly reminded of the vital necessity for a continuous and
whole-hearted support of the scheme, the success or failure of which
will to a marked extent affect the course of the progress of the
Cause not only in Northern America but throughout the Bahá’í
world. Let the friends recall and ever bear in mind the repeated
exhortations and glowing promises of our beloved Master with
reference to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the
crowning institution in every Bahá’í community.
Let them arise with determination and confidence to lend a helping
hand to the Plan which you have so admirably devised for its speedy
and practical realization. Theirs is a splendid opportunity; let
their response to your call be prompt, whole-hearted and decisive.

I have specially requested that indefatigable pioneer of
the Cause of God, our well-beloved Bahá’í sister,
Mrs. Victoria Bedekian, to concentrate for the present all the
resources of her mind and heart upon this vast and vital undertaking.
I have urged her to direct her energies to this lofty purpose, and by
the aid of her most valuable letters arouse both the East and the
West to a fresh consciousness of the significance and urgency of the
object you have set yourselves to achieve.

Regarding the series of World Unity meetings which some
of the thoughtful, capable and devoted servants of the Cause have
carefully organized and successfully conducted, and to which you have
referred in your letter of March 8th, I wish to express my keen
appreciation of such a splendid conception, my deep gratitude for the
efforts they have exerted, and my gratification in view of the
success they have achieved.

Guiding Principles of Bahá’í
Administration

The administrative machinery of the Cause having now
sufficiently evolved, its aim and object fairly well grasped and
understood, and its method and working made more familiar to every
believer, I feel the time is ripe when it should be fully and
consciously utilized to further the purpose for which it has been
created. It should, I strongly feel, be made to serve a twofold
purpose. On one hand, it should aim at a steady and gradual expansion
of the Movement along lines that are at once broad, sound and
universal; and on the other it should insure the internal
consolidation of the work already achieved. It should both provide
the impulse whereby the dynamic forces latent in the Faith can
unfold, crystallize, and shape the lives and conduct of men, and
serve as a medium for the interchange of thought and the coordination
of activities among the divers elements that constitute the Bahá’í
community.

Whether it be by an open and bold assertion of the
fundamental verities of the Cause, or the adoption of a less direct
and more cautious method of teaching; whether by the dissemination of
our literature or the example of our conduct, our one aim and sole
object should be to help in the eventual recognition by all mankind
of the indispensability, the uniqueness and the supreme station of
the Bahá’í Revelation. Whatever method he adopts,
and however indirect the course he chooses to pursue, every true
believer should regard such a recognition as the supreme goal of his
endeavor. Whilst consciously laboring towards the attainment of this
end, he should, by supporting every branch of the administrative
activities of his national and local assembly, seek and obtain the
fullest information on the character and extent of the worldwide
progress of the Cause, and strive to contribute his share towards the
strengthening of the spirit of solidarity among the component parts
of the Bahá’í world.

Such in their broad outline are the guiding principles
which those who have been placed in charge of the administration of
the affairs of the Cause should at present endeavor to promote,
explain and securely establish. Nothing short of the spirit of
unwavering faith, of continuous vigilance and patient endeavor can
hope to secure eventually the realization of this our cherished
desire.

May America’s national representatives arise with
clear vision, with unswerving determination and renewed vigor to
carry out in its entirety the sacred task they have purposed to
perform.

Assuring you of my continued and earnest prayers for the
success of your efforts,

I am your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
May 11th, 1926.

Letter of October 7th, 1926.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

In the course of the few months that have elapsed since
my last communication to you regarding the appalling circumstances
that have culminated in the martyrdom of our Persian brethren in
Jahrum, events of the highest importance to the future welfare of our
beloved Cause have transpired, and with startling suddenness
conferred abiding solace upon those who still have to face the pains
and terrors of unmitigated and shameless tyranny.

Response of Queen Marie

You have, most of you, I presume, read with thrilling
joy in one of the recent issues of the Star of the West that
illuminating account given by our beloved sister, Miss Martha Root,
wherein she tells with her characteristic directness and modesty the
story of her moving interview with Her Majesty Queen Marie of
Roumania and of the cordial and ready response which her gentle yet
persuasive presentation of the principles of the Bahá’í
Faith has evoked in the heart of that honored queen. One of the
visible and potent effects which this historic interview proved
capable of achieving was the remarkable appeal in the form of an open
letter which Her Majesty freely and spontaneously caused to be
published to the world at large testifying in a language of exquisite
beauty to the power and sublimity of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

It was indeed a never-to-be-forgotten occasion when, on
the eve of the day commemorating the passing of Bahá’u’lláh,
a handful of us, His sorrowing servants, had gathered round His
beloved Shrine supplicating relief and deliverance for the
down-trodden in Persia, to receive in the midst of the silence of
that distressing hour the glad-tidings of this notable triumph which
the unbending energy and indomitable spirit of our beloved Martha has
achieved for our sacred Cause.

With bowed heads and grateful hearts we recognize in
this glowing tribute which royalty has thus paid to the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh an epoch-making pronouncement
destined to herald those stirring events which, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
has prophesied, shall in the fulness of time signalize the triumph of
God’s holy Faith. For who can doubt but that the deeds of those
valiant pioneers of the Faith, unexampled though they have been in
the abundance of their number and unexcelled in their sublime
heroism, are but a faint glimmer of what, according to the divine
promise, its steadfast followers are destined to perform? Those
heroic exploits that have immortalized the names of its primitive
adherents will continue to adorn and illuminate the pages of its
blood-stained history; yet we cannot forget that the period of its
full fruition with all its promise of world felicity and undreamt-of
achievements is yet to be realized, its golden age yet to unfold.
Indeed, how chastening to our pride, how challenging to our
enthusiasm, if we but pause for a moment amidst the world’s
many distractions and ponder in our hearts the vastness, the
compelling urgency, the ineffable glory of what still remains
unachieved.

The Regenerating Power

But let us all remember, in this connection, that prior
to every conceivable measure destined to raise the efficiency of our
administrative activities, more vital than any scheme which the most
resourceful amongst us can devise, far above the most elaborate
structure which the concerted efforts of organized Assemblies can
hope to raise, is the realization down in the innermost heart of
every true believer of the regenerating power, the supreme necessity,
the unfailing efficacy of the Message he bears. I assure you, dear
friends, that nothing short of such an immovable conviction could
have in days past enabled our beloved Cause to weather the blackest
storms in its history. Naught else can today vitalize the manifold
activities in which unnumbered disciples of the Faith are engaged;
naught else can provide that driving force and sustaining power that
are both so essential to the success of vast and enduring
achievements. It is this spirit that above all else we should
sedulously guard, and strive with all our might to fortify and
exemplify in all our undertakings.

Moved by an irresistible impulse, I have addressed to
Her Majesty in the name of the Bahá’ís of both
the East and the West a written expression of our joyous admiration
and gratitude for the queenly tribute which Her Majesty has paid to
the beauty and nobility of the Bahá’í Teachings.
I have, moreover, assured Her Majesty of the far-reaching effect
which her superb testimony will inevitably produce, and of the
welcome consolation it has already brought to the silent sufferers in
that distracted country. To my message of appreciation and gratitude
there has come lately a written response, penned by Her Majesty,
profoundly touching, singularly outspoken, and highly significant in
the testimony it bears. From this queenly tribute to a divine ideal I
quote these penetrating words:

“Indeed a great light came to me with the Message
of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
It came as all great messages come at an hour of dire grief and inner
conflict and distress, so the seed sank deeply…. We pass on the
Message from mouth to mouth and all those we give it to see a light
suddenly lighting before them and much that was obscure and
perplexing becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before.
That my open letter was balm to those suffering for the Cause is
indeed a great happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God
accepted my humble tribute…. With bowed head I recognize that I too
am but an instrument in greater Hands and rejoice in the
knowledge….”

Dear friends, with feelings of profound emotion we
recall the glowing promises that have so often fallen from the lips
of our departed Master, and with throbbing hearts rejoice in the
gradual realization of His most cherished desire.

And as we call to mind the circumstances that have led
to such a notable advance, we are filled with admiration for that
unique and great-hearted apostle of Bahá’u’lláh,
our dearly-beloved Martha Root, who under trying circumstances and
almost single-handed in her efforts, has so wonderfully paved the way
for the universal recognition of the Cause of God. In her case we
have verily witnessed in an unmistakable manner what the power of
dauntless faith, when coupled with sublimity of character, can
achieve, what forces it can release, to what heights it can rise.

Let such remarkable revelations of the reality and
continuity of the divine purpose, made manifest from time to time to
us His feeble children, serve to fortify our faith in Him, to warm
the chill which fleeting misfortunes may leave behind, and fill us
with that celestial potency which alone can enable us to withstand
the storm and stress that lives dedicated to His service must needs
encounter.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 7th, 1926.

Letter of October 29, 1926.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dear fellow-workers in the Divine Vineyard:

It will gladden and rejoice every one of you to learn
that from various quarters there has of late reached the Holy Land
tidings of fresh developments that are a clear indication of those
hidden and transforming influences which, from the source of
Bahá’u’lláh’s mystic strength,
continue to flow with ever-increasing vitality into the heart of this
troubled world.

Both in the wider field of its spiritual conquests,
where its indomitable spirit is forging ahead, capturing the heights,
pervading the multitude; as well as in the gradual consolidation of
the administrative structure which its avowed followers the world
over are laboring to raise and fortify, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
we can increasingly discern, bids fair to become that force which,
though not as yet universally recognized, none can afford to belittle
or ignore.

In the bold and repeated testimonies which Her Majesty,
Queen Marie of Roumania, has chosen to give to the world,—a
copy of whose latest pronouncement I enclose,13—we
truly recognize evidences of the irresistible power, the increasing
vitality, the strange working of a Faith destined to regenerate the
world. Her Majesty’s striking tribute paid to the illuminative
power of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá is bound to effect an entire
transformation in the attitude of many to a Faith the tenets of which
have often been misunderstood and sorely neglected. It will serve as
a fresh stimulus to the enlightened and cultured to investigate with
an open mind the verities of its message, the source of its
life-giving principles.

Shrine at Baghdád

From Baghdád, moreover, where the sacred
habitation of Bahá’u’lláh has been violated
by a relentless enemy and converted into a rallying center for the
corrupt, the perverse, and the fanatical, there comes the news,
highly reassuring to us all, of the satisfactory progress of the
negotiations which, we are informed on high authority, will soon lead
to the expropriation of the property by the State, culminating in the
fullness of time in its occupation by the triumphant followers of
God’s holy Faith. The case of the houses, so ably presented, so
persistently pursued, above all reinforced by the vigilant and
protecting power of our departed Master, will eventually triumph, and
by its repercussions in Persia as in the world at large, will lend a
powerful impetus to the liberation of those forces which will carry
the Cause to its ultimate destiny. I will, when the occasion presents
itself, inform the believers through their respective National
Spiritual Assemblies to address messages of appreciation and
gratitude to the authorities concerned in view of their unrelaxing
efforts for the triumph of right and justice.

For the present, we cannot but rejoice and feel
profoundly thankful as we witness in so many directions the welcome
signs of the gradual emancipation of the struggling Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh, of the increasing recognition
on the part of both the high and lowly of its universal
principles—all so rich in their promise of ultimate victory.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 29, 1926.

Letter of October 31, 1926.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved fellow-workers:

I have on two recent occasions given expression to the
profound sense of inspiring confidence and joyous gratitude which
recent happenings in the Cause—evident manifestations of the
steady evolution of a living Faith—must needs evoke in the
heart of every thoughtful and observing believer. And as I
contemplate the far-reaching possibilities involved in a careful
handling of those forces which Bahá’u’lláh’s
almighty arm has now released, I cannot help reflecting upon the
dominant share which the American friends, at home as well as in
distant lands, have contributed to this rejuvenation of the Cause of
God, and the decisive part it is theirs to play in its eventual
victory.

Your letters, dated June 17, July 11, July 20, August 3
and 16, and October 2, 1926, all of which have been forwarded during
my days of retirement and rest, have proved an added source of
thankfulness, of joy and strength to me. They have clearly revealed
by their spirit, as well as by the nature and variety of their
contents, the sustained devotion, the unabated confidence, and the
increasing vigor and efficiency with which you are initiating,
coordinating, and consolidating the manifold activities of the Cause
in North America.

International Secretariat

The range and character of the problems confronting you,
as revealed by the careful perusal of the minutes of your meetings,
the steady increase in the number and effectiveness of vigorously
functioning Centers in Central and Northern Europe, and the growing
significance and complexity of the work that has to be necessarily
conducted from the Holy Land, have all served to strengthen the
feeling of absolute necessity for the formation in Haifa of some sort
of an International Bahá’í Secretariat, which
both in an advisory and executive capacity will have to aid and
assist me in my vast and exacting labors. I have anxiously considered
this important matter in all its bearings during the past few months,
and have accordingly requested three well-informed, capable
representatives from America, Europe and the East to visit the Holy
Land this fall, that we may lay down the foundation of this vitally
needed institution. We shall take counsel together and decide, not
only upon the measures that have to be promptly undertaken to meet
the pressing demands of the present hour, but upon the wider issues
that on one hand will strengthen the ties that should bind the
International Center of the Cause with the world at large, and on the
other provide for the preliminary steps that will eventually lead to
the proper establishment of the First International House of Justice.

It is my earnest hope and prayer that this exchange of
thought and close cooperation in the work that has henceforth to be
internationally and vigorously conducted, will enable me to
participate more minutely and effectively in the labors of the
various administrative departments of your Assembly, and thus
reinforce the splendid efforts you are exerting for the extension of
its influence and the widening of its scope.

Plan of Unified Action

From the report of the National Treasurer, setting forth
the account of the progress of the contributions of the American
believers for the support of the Plan of Unified Action, up to June
30, 1926, I gather that the result has by no means exceeded our
expectations, nay has considerably fallen below what I confidently
expected it to achieve. I earnestly renew my plea and appeal to you,
and through you to every true and faithful lover of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
to realize, while there is yet time, the far-reaching possibilities
with which the present situation is fraught. I am firmly convinced
that this Plan combines, embodies, and serves the twofold purpose of
the present-day Bahá’í administration in the
United States and Canada, namely the promotion of the vitally needed
teaching work, and the provision for the gradual completion of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, both wishes so near and
dear to our beloved Master’s heart. It is the only effective,
feasible, and practical instrument placed in our hands for the speedy
accomplishment of our ends. So much that is vital to the future
welfare, the effectiveness, and the fair name of our beloved Cause
depends, I assure you, upon the success or failure of this
nobly-conceived, this sound and befitting enterprise. The eyes of all
Bahá’ís and of many sympathizers throughout the
world are turned towards you, eager to reinforce your accomplishments
in this field, expectant to witness what measure of success you are
capable of achieving.

World Unity Conferences

In connection with the series of World Unity Conferences
which you have initiated and so laboriously organized, I feel that in
order to reap the fullest advantage and benefit from this laudable
effort, it is absolutely essential to follow up with the aid of
enlightened, experienced and capable teachers the interest which has
been aroused. Such a group of teachers should judiciously select
those few among the many interested, and endeavor with patience and
sympathy and by constant intimate personal intercourse, to prepare
them gradually for the entire and unreserved acceptance of the
fundamentals of the Bahá’í Revelation. If the
results be meagre, if the attendance be small, let us not despair,
nor relax in our efforts. Let us remember that this sound method will
eventually triumph, if we only consistently support it, and persevere
in undertaking those subsequent steps that can alone produce full and
permanent benefit.

Appeal to the Sháh of Persia

I have already expressed my grateful appreciation of the
prompt and wise measures you have taken in behalf of our oppressed
and down-trodden brethren in Persia. The noble appeal which you were
moved to address to His Majesty the Sháh, so
illuminating, so courteous, so powerful, and the wide range of
publicity you have undertaken, were truly providential in character,
and will undoubtedly prove an inspiration and solace to those who
still continue to be trampled under the heel of an odious and
inveterate enemy. I have had your appeal translated into Persian and
sent to all Centers throughout the Orient that the suffering in
Persia may learn of your bold and courageous intervention, and
witness the signs of their promised redemption which, as foretold by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, must first be made manifest through
the efforts of their brethren in that great freedom-loving Republic
of the West.

It is sad and distressing to reflect that,
notwithstanding the repeated appeals addressed to the authorities
concerned, and so powerfully reinforced by the spontaneous action of
some of the leading Governments of the West, Persia, still heedless
and unaware of the spiritual forces that are at work, continues to
treat with indifference and contempt the most loyal, innocent and
law-abiding subjects of its realm. The chronic instability of its
affairs, the changing fortunes of factions and shadowy personalities
that sap its vitality and tarnish its name, the acute and widespread
economic depression that is now prevailing, and the grave discontent
of the masses of the people, all tend to aggravate a situation
already highly threatening to the security of its sorely tried
children. What else can we do but pray most fervently that the
almighty power of Bahá’u’lláh may soon
triumph over this petty strife, this age-long tyranny, and make, as
He prophesied, of the land of His birth, “the most honored of
all governments, the pride, the admiration and the envy of the
peoples of the world.”

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 31, 1926.

Letter of November 14, 1926.

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved friends:

The progress of various events, both within and outside
the Bahá’í world, as well as the perusal of the
able and illuminating report recently submitted by the Committee of
the Persian National Spiritual Assembly in charge of the Tarbíyat
School in Ṭihrán, have served to reinforce a gradually
growing idea as to the desirability of arranging for the settlement
in the capital of that country of one or two American believers who,
having the means, the freedom and the capacity, can adequately meet
the pressing requirements of a responsible position. Judging from
their report, the situation in Ṭihrán though much
confused and perplexing, is fraught with rich possibilities for the
future of the Cause, both as affecting the national fortunes of
Persia, as well as its influence upon the international development
of the Cause.

American Teachers in Ṭihrán

The situation as I see it calls for the devoted efforts
of one or two capable workers who, untrammelled and with independent
means, can quietly, tenaciously and tactfully, pursue over a
considerable length of time the meritorious work of fostering the
cause of Bahá’í education, for both boys and
girls, in the swiftly changing capital of a promising country. It
should be their primary duty to extend the scope and enhance the
prestige of these twin Bahá’í educational
institutions, and to initiate by sound and well-considered methods
such measures as will consolidate the work already achieved. It would
be highly gratifying if they could also endeavor, by keeping in close
and constant touch with the Persian and American National Spiritual
Assemblies, to fortify those vital bonds that spiritually unite the
cradle of the Bahá’í Faith with the great
American Republic—the foremost standard-bearer of the Cause in
the Western field. Such efforts will extremely facilitate cooperation
between these two countries, whose common destiny is to provide, each
in its own typical manner, the essential elements in the foundation
of the world order ushered in by Bahá’u’lláh.

The gradual expansion of foreign as well as officially
subsidized educational schools in Ṭihrán, the prolonged
absence of competent teachers and organizers that can revive the
declining influence of a hitherto renowned Bahá’í
educational institution, and the critical and vigilant attitude which
the growing influence of the Cause has induced in its malignant and
envious enemies, are today subjects of gravest concern to the elected
representatives of our suffering brethren and sisters in Persia. I
would therefore request those who feel the urge and have the means to
undertake this task to communicate with the National Spiritual
Assembly who, after mature deliberation, will select one or two who,
in their judgment, can best render this service, and decide upon the
exact time and manner which would be most suitable for its execution.
I would strongly urge the friends to consult most earnestly with that
devoted, experienced and indefatigable handmaid of Bahá’u’lláh,
Dr. Moody, whose past services have ennobled the record of
collaboration of East and West for the furtherance of the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh. It would be highly
satisfactory and immensely helpful if our beloved sister could find
it possible and convenient to accompany such a carefully-chosen
person on the way to Ṭihrán, and, by her unrivaled
experience and loving-kindness, assist personally in the fulfillment
of this pressing need.

Whoever steps into this field will find, as he settles
down to his work, that the environment is extremely disheartening,
that restrictions are oppressive, that the amenities of social life
are lacking, that the forces of opposition are determined and
organized. But let him realize also that, however tedious and
exacting his labors, however precarious and thankless his task, the
pioneer services it is his unique privilege to render in this time of
stress will forever live in the annals of God’s living Faith,
and will prove a source of inspiration to the countless workers who,
in happier times and with better means at their disposal, will
consummate the spiritual regeneration and material rehabilitation of
Bahá’u’lláh’s native land.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
November 14, 1926.

Letter of February 12, 1927.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

The trend of various events, affecting directly and
indirectly the interests of the Bahá’í Cause,
have of late served to bring into further prominence the character as
well as the significance of a Faith destined to regenerate the world.

Decision of Egyptian Tribunal

Of all the diverse issues which today are gradually
tending to consolidate and extend the bounds of the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh, the decision of Egypt’s
religious Tribunal regarding the Bahá’ís under
its jurisdiction appears at the present moment to be the most
powerful in its challenge, the most startling in its character, and
the most perplexing in the consequences it may entail. I have already
alluded in my letter of January 10, 1926, addressed to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United
States and Canada, to a particular feature of this momentous verdict,
which after mature deliberation has obtained the sanction of Egypt’s
highest ecclesiastical authorities, has been communicated and
printed, and is regarded as final and binding. I have stressed in my
last reference to this far-reaching pronouncement the negative aspect
of this document which condemns in most unequivocal and emphatic
language the followers of Bahá’u’lláh as
the believers in heresy, offensive and injurious to Islám, and
wholly incompatible with the accepted doctrines and practice of its
orthodox adherents.

Bahá’í Cause
Recognized as Independent Religion

A closer study of the text of the decision will,
however, reveal the fact that coupled with this strong denunciation
is the positive assertion of a truth which the recognized opponents
of the Bahá’í Faith in other Muhammadan countries
have up to the present time either sedulously ignored or maliciously
endeavored to disprove. Not content with this harsh and unjustifiable
repudiation of the so-called menacing and heretical doctrines of the
adherents of the Bahá’í Faith, they proceed in a
formal manner to declare in the text of that very decision their
belief, that the Bahá’í Faith is a “new
religion,” “entirely independent” and, by reason of
the magnitude of its claim and the character of its “laws,
principles and beliefs,” worthy to be reckoned as one of the
established religious systems of the world. Quoting various passages
judiciously gleaned from a number of Bahá’í
sacred Books as an evidence to their splendid testimony, they proceed
in a notable statement to deduce the fact that henceforth it shall be
regarded as impossible for the followers of such a Faith to be
designated as Muslim, just as it would be incorrect and erroneous to
call a Muhammadan either Christian or Jew.

It cannot be denied that in the course of the inevitable
developments of this present situation the resident Bahá’ís
of Egypt, originally belonging to the Muslim Faith, will be placed in
a most humiliating and embarrassing position. They, however, cannot
but rejoice in the knowledge that whereas in various Muhammadan
countries and particularly in Persia the overwhelming majority of the
leaders of Islám are utterly opposed to any form of
declaration that would facilitate the universal recognition of the
Cause, the authorized heads of their co-religionists in one of the
most advanced communities in the Muhammadan world have, of their own
initiative, published to the world a document that may justly be
termed as the first chapter of liberty emancipating the Bahá’í
Faith from the fetters of orthodox Islám. And in order to
insure the complete rupture of Bahá’í official
relations with Muslim Courts they lay down in unmistakable terms the
condition that under no circumstances can the marriage of those
Bahá’ís who have been required to divorce their
Muslim wives be renewed by the Muslim Court unless and until the
husbands formally recant their faith by solemnly declaring that the
Qur’án is the “last” Book of God revealed to
man, that no law can abrogate the Prophet’s Law, no faith can
succeed His Faith, no revelation can claim to fulfill His Revelation.

While unwavering in their belief in the Divine station
of the Author of the Qur’án and profoundly convinced of
the necessity and worldwide influence of His Divine mission, Bahá’ís
in every land stand undeterred and unabashed in the face of the
strong condemnation pronounced against their brethren in Egypt.
Indeed, they together with their fellow-workers in all Muslim
countries welcome with gladness and pride every opportunity for
further emancipation that they may set forth in a truer light the
sublime mission of Bahá’u’lláh.

In the face of such an outspoken and challenging
declaration, the Bahá’í of the West cannot but
feel the deepest sympathy with their Egyptian brethren who, for the
sake of our beloved Cause and its deliverance, have to face all the
embarrassments and vexations which the severance of old-established
ties must necessarily entail. They will, however, most certainly
expect every staunch and loyal believer in the Faith who resides in
that land to refrain in view of the grave warning uttered expressly
by our opponents, from any practice that would in any manner
constitute in the eyes of a critical and vigilant enemy a repudiation
of the fundamental beliefs of the people of Bahá. They will
most assuredly, whenever the moment is opportune, step forth with
eager hearts to offer every support in their power to their
fellow-workers who, with stout hearts and irreproachable loyalty,
will continue to hold aloft the standard of God’s struggling
Faith. They will not fail to come to the rescue of those who with
joyous confidence will endure to the very end such vicissitudes as
this New Day of God, now in its birth-throes, must needs suffer and
surmount.

Worldwide Attacks Foretold

We cannot believe that as the Movement grows in
strength, in authority and in influence, the perplexities and the
sufferings it has had to contend with in the past will
correspondingly decrease and vanish. Nay, as it grows from strength
to strength, the fanatical defendants of the strongholds of
orthodoxy, whatever be their denomination, realizing the penetrating
influence of this growing Faith, will arise and strain every nerve to
extinguish its light and discredit its name. For has not our beloved
‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent forth His glowing prophecy from
behind the prison walls of the citadel of Akká—words so
significant in their forecast of the coming world turmoil, yet so
rich in their promise of eventual victory:—

“How great, how very great is the Cause; how very
fierce the onslaught of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth!
Erelong shall the clamor of the multitude throughout Africa,
throughout America, the cry of the European and of the Turk, the
groaning of India and China be heard from far and near. One and all
they shall arise with all their power to resist His Cause. Then shall
the Knights of the Lord, assisted by grace from on high, strengthened
by faith, aided by the power of understanding and reinforced by the
legions of the Covenant, arise and make manifest the truth of the
verse: ‘Behold the confusion that hath befallen the tribes of
the defeated!’”

Dearly beloved friends, upon us devolves the supreme
obligation to stand by His side, to fight His battles and to win His
victory. May we prove ourselves worthy of this trust.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
February 12, 1927.

Letter of February 20, 1927.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

Dear and precious fellow-workers in the Vineyard of
God:—

The communications addressed to me by your indefatigable
and distinguished secretary, dated October 28, November 8, 11, 18,
December 4, 16 and January 27th, have been received, and together
with their enclosures read and carefully noted. I cannot but admire
the spirit of unrelaxing resolve and harmonious cooperation with
which you are conducting the ever-expanding activities of the Cause
in a land upon which our Beloved has lavished His richest blessings,
and for the spiritual potentialities of which He cherished the
brightest hopes. The vigorous efforts you are exerting to consolidate
the forces which the Almighty has placed in your hands; the
resourcefulness you display by the measures you have initiated for
the furtherance of the Cause; the magnificent response with which you
have met the piteous call of your suffering brethren of the East—all
proclaim your worthiness of the unexampled efforts which, in your
country more than in any other land, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
has exerted for the spread of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.

Twofold Teaching Method

In connection with the World Unity Conferences, which
you have organized, I desire to assure you of my heartfelt
appreciation of such a splendid conception. I am profoundly impressed
by the generous assistance spontaneously offered by those who,
faithful to their other obligations, have risen to insure the
financial success of such a noble Plan. I am grateful to those local
Assemblies and individuals who have given it their whole-hearted
support in their respective fields.

As to the policy that should be adopted with regard to
these Conferences and other Bahá’í activities in
general, it appears increasingly evident that as the Movement grows
in strength and power the National Spiritual Assemblies should be
encouraged, if circumstances permit and the means at their disposal
justify, to resort to the twofold method of directly and indirectly
winning the enlightened public to the unqualified acceptance of the
Bahá’í Faith. The one method would assume an
open, decisive and challenging tone. The other, without implying in
any manner the slightest departure from strict loyalty to the Cause
of God, would be progressive and cautious. Experience will reveal the
fact that each of the methods in its own special way might suit a
particular temperament and class of people, and that each in the
present state of a constantly fluctuating society, should be
judiciously attempted and utilized.

It is, I feel, for the National representatives of the
believers in every land to utilize and combine both methods, the
outspoken as well as the gradual, in such a manner as to secure the
greatest benefits and the fullest advantage for this steadily-growing
Cause. Every staunch and high-minded believer is thoroughly convinced
of the unfailing efficacy of every humanitarian undertaking which
boldly and unreservedly proclaims the source of its motive power to
be the consciousness of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
Yet, if we but call to mind the practice generally adopted by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we cannot fail to perceive the
wisdom, nay the necessity, of gradually and cautiously disclosing to
the eyes of an unbelieving world the implications of a Truth which,
by its own challenging nature, it is so difficult for it to
comprehend and embrace.

It was He, our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
our true and shining Exemplar, who with infinite tact and patience,
whether in His public utterances or in private converse, adapted the
presentation of the fundamentals of the Cause to the varying
capacities and the spiritual receptiveness of His hearers. He never
hesitated, however, to tear the veil asunder and reveal to the
spiritually ripened those challenging verities that set forth in its
true light the relationship of this Supreme Revelation with the
Dispensations of the past. Unashamed and unafraid when challenged to
assert in its entirety the stupendous claim of Bahá’u’lláh,
Bahá’ís, whether laboring as individuals or
functioning as an organized community, feel certain that in the face
of the apathy, the gross materialism, and the superficiality of
society today, a progressive disclosure of the magnitude of the claim
of Bahá’u’lláh would constitute the most
effective means for the attainment of the end so greatly desired by
even the staunchest and most zealous advocate of the Faith.

Fully aware of the repeated statements of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
that universality is of God, Bahá’ís in every
land are ready, nay anxious, to associate themselves by word and deed
with any association of men which, after careful scrutiny, they feel
satisfied is free from every tinge of partisanship and politics and
is wholly devoted to the interests of all mankind. In their
collaboration with such associations they would extend any moral and
material assistance they can afford, after having fulfilled their
share of support to those institutions that affect directly the
interests of the Cause. They should always bear in mind, however, the
dominating purpose of such a collaboration which is to secure in time
the recognition by those with whom they are associated of the
paramount necessity and the true significance of the Bahá’í
Revelation in this day.

As the Movement extends the bounds of its influence and
its opportunities for fuller recognition multiply, the twofold
character of the obligations imposed on its National elected
representatives should, I feel, be increasingly emphasized. Whilst
chiefly engaged in the pursuit of their major task, consisting
chiefly in the formation and the consolidation of Bahá’í
administrative institutions, they should endeavor to participate,
within recognized limits, in the work of institutions which though
unaware of the claim of the Bahá’í Cause are
prompted by a sincere desire to promote the spirit that animates the
Faith. In the pursuit of their major task their function is to
preserve the identity of the Cause and the purity of the mission of
Bahá’u’lláh. In their minor undertaking
their purpose should be to imbue with the spirit of power and
strength such movements as in their restricted scope are endeavoring
to achieve what is near and dear to the heart of every true Bahá’í.
It would even appear at times to be advisable and helpful as a
supplement to their work for the Bahá’ís to
initiate any undertaking, not specifically designated as Bahá’í,
provided they have ascertained that such an undertaking would
constitute the best way of approach to those whose minds and hearts
are as yet unprepared for a full acceptance of the claim of
Bahá’u’lláh. These twofold obligations
devolving upon organized Bahá’í communities, far
from neutralizing the effects of one another or of appearing
antagonistic in their aims, should be regarded as complementary and
fulfilling, each in its way, a vital and necessary function.

It is for the National representatives of the Bahá’í
Cause to observe the conditions under which they labor, to estimate
the forces that are at work in their own surroundings, to weigh
carefully and prayerfully the merits of either procedure, and to form
a correct judgment as to the degree of emphasis that should be placed
upon these twofold methods. Then and only then will they be enabled
to protect and stimulate on one hand the independent growth of the
Bahá’í Faith, and on the other vindicate the
claim of its universal principles to the doubtful and unbelieving.

I have already considered these delicate and complex
issues with the Bahá’í representatives whom I
have requested to gather in the Holy Land in the hope of arriving at
the best possible solution of the pressing and intricate problems
that confront the development of the Bahá’í
Cause. I have asked our dearly-beloved brother, Mr. Mountfort Mills,
whose services to the Cause only future generations can estimate, to
acquaint you with these and other considerations, the delicacy and
scope of which only a verbal explanation can adequately reveal. He
will fully and authoritatively inform you regarding the policy that
should govern the conduct of the Star of the West, the character and
the range of the Bahá’í Bibliography to be
inserted in the next edition of the Bahá’í Year
Book, the present position of Bahá’u’lláh’s
House in Baghdád, the hopes and desires I cherish for
the successful conclusion of the Plan of Unified Action, and the
consequences and possibilities involved in the decision of Egypt’s
religious Tribunal regarding the Muslim Bahá’ís
in that land.

The splendid record of the action taken by the national
and local representatives of the Bahá’ís of the
United States and Canada, embodied in the compilation of newspaper
cuttings which you have recently sent me, will be forwarded to the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
Persia. I will request them to pass it on from hand to hand, that the
rank and file of the sufferers in that distracted country may obtain
the strength and solace which the perusal of such a noble record of
service is bound to produce.

Regarding the publicity campaign, recently launched,
with your consent and under your general supervision, by a group of
devoted friends, I desire to express my earnest hope that it may be
richly blessed by our Beloved and yield abundant fruit. I am
gratified to learn that those who have conceived such a comprehensive
plan and have generously supported it by every means in their power
have refrained from any action that would involve the imposing of a
fresh burden upon those who have incurred the financial obligations
connected with the Budget Plan. I earnestly hope that those who have
undertaken to finance this project with such spontaneous generosity
have already fulfilled their sacred obligations in connection with
the Plan, and will not allow any pledges they have made for publicity
to interfere with their regular contributions to the National Fund,
the paramount importance of which has already been emphasized.

The Spirit of Enterprise

It is the duty and privilege of the National and Local
Assemblies if they find that the pressing requirements of their local
and national budgets have been adequately met, to encourage
individuals and groups to initiate and conduct, with their knowledge
and consent, any undertaking that would serve to enhance the work
which they have set themselves to achieve. Not content with appeals
addressed to each and every believer to offer any constructive
suggestions or plan that would remedy an existing grievance, they
should, by every means in their power, stimulate the spirit of
enterprise among the believers in order to further the teaching as
well as the administrative work of the Cause. They should endeavor by
personal contact and written appeals, to imbue the body of the
faithful with a deep sense of personal responsibility, and urge every
believer, whether high or low, poor or wealthy, to conceive,
formulate and execute such measures and projects as would redound, in
the eyes of their representatives, to the power and the fair name of
this sacred Cause.

In my hours of prayer at the holy Shrines, I will
supplicate that the light of Divine Guidance may illumine your path,
and enable you to utilize in the most effective manner that spirit of
individual enterprise which, once kindled in the breasts of each and
every believer and directed by the discipline of the majestic Law of
Bahá’u’lláh, imposed upon us, will carry
our beloved Cause forward to achieve its glorious destiny.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
February 20, 1927.

Letter of April 12, 1927.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada:

Dearly-beloved friends:

Your recent communications, dated February 17 and March
2, 17 and 21, have been received, and their perusal has served to
heighten my admiration for the unflinching determination which
characterizes the concerted efforts which you are exerting for the
spread and consolidation of the Bahá’í Faith.

Inter-racial Amity

I have also received and read with the keenest interest
and appreciation a copy of that splendid document formulated by the
National Committee on inter-racial amity and addressed to all the
Spiritual Assemblies throughout the United States and Canada. This
moving appeal, so admirable in its conception, so sound and sober in
its language, has struck a responsive chord in my heart. Sent forth
at a highly opportune moment in the evolution of our sacred Faith, it
has served as a potent reminder of these challenging issues which
still confront in a peculiar manner the American believers.

As this problem, in the inevitable course of events,
grows in acuteness and complexity, and as the number of the faithful
from both races multiplies, it will become increasingly evident that
the future growth and prestige of the Cause are bound to be
influenced to a very considerable degree by the manner in which the
adherents of the Bahá’í Faith carry out, first
among themselves and in their relations with their fellow-men, those
high standards of inter-racial amity so widely proclaimed and so
fearlessly exemplified to the American people by our Master
‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

I direct my appeal with all the earnestness and urgency
that this pressing problem calls for to every conscientious upholder
of the universal principles of Bahá’u’lláh
to face this extremely delicate situation with the boldness, the
decisiveness and wisdom it demands. I cannot believe that those whose
hearts have been touched by the regenerating influence of God’s
creative Faith in His day will find it difficult to cleanse their
souls from every lingering trace of racial animosity so subversive of
the Faith they profess. How can hearts that throb with the love of
God fail to respond to all the implications of this supreme
injunction of Bahá’u’lláh, the unreserved
acceptance of which, under the circumstances now prevailing in
America, constitutes the hall-mark of a true Bahá’í
character?

Let every believer, desirous to witness the swift and
healthy progress of the Cause of God, realize the twofold nature of
his task. Let him first turn his eyes inwardly and search his own
heart and satisfy himself that in his relations with his
fellow-believers, irrespective of color and class, he is proving
himself increasingly loyal to the spirit of his beloved Faith.
Assured and content that he is exerting his utmost in a conscious
effort to approach nearer every day the lofty station to which his
gracious Master summons him, let him turn to his second task, and,
with befitting confidence and vigor, assail the devastating power of
those forces which in his own heart he has already succeeded in
subduing. Fully alive to the unfailing efficacy of the power of
Bahá’u’lláh, and armed with the essential
weapons of wise restraint and inflexible resolve, let him wage a
constant fight against the inherited tendencies, the corruptive
instincts, the fluctuating fashions, the false pretences of the
society in which he lives and moves.

In their relations amongst themselves as
fellow-believers, let them not be content with the mere exchange of
cold and empty formalities often connected with the organizing of
banquets, receptions, consultative assemblies, and lecture-halls. Let
them rather, as equal co-sharers in the spiritual benefits conferred
upon them by Bahá’u’lláh, arise and, with
the aid and counsel of their local and national representatives,
supplement these official functions with those opportunities which
only a close and intimate social intercourse can adequately provide.
In their homes, in their hours of relaxation and leisure, in the
daily contact of business transactions, in the association of their
children, whether in their study-classes, their playgrounds, and
club-rooms, in short under all possible circumstances, however
insignificant they appear, the community of the followers of
Bahá’u’lláh should satisfy themselves that
in the eyes of the world at large and in the sight of their vigilant
Master they are the living witnesses of those truths which He fondly
cherished and tirelessly championed to the very end of His days. If
we relax in our purpose, if we falter in our faith, if we neglect the
varied opportunities given us from time to time by an all-wise and
gracious Master, we are not merely failing in what is our most vital
and conspicuous obligation, but are thereby insensibly retarding the
flow of those quickening energies which can alone insure the vigorous
and speedy development of God’s struggling Faith.

I would particularly address my appeal to you, as the
Trustees of God’s sacred Faith, to reaffirm by word and deed
the spirit and character of the insistent admonitions of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, so solemnly and so explicitly
uttered in the course of His journeys through your land—a trust
which it is your privilege and function to preserve and fortify.

May the varied opportunities presented by the
forthcoming assembly of the friends at Green Acre this summer—a
place so admirably suited to the realization of such a noble ideal—be
fully utilized to further this noble end. May it, on one hand, serve
to banish once and for all every misgiving and mistrust as to the
attitude that should characterize the conduct of the members of the
Bahá’í family, and, on the other, serve to
familiarize the invited public with that aspect of our Faith which,
owing to the pressure of circumstances, a few have inclined to
belittle or ignore.

Green Acre—a Testing Ground

It is my earnest hope and prayer that the forthcoming
gathering at Green Acre, the program for which has been so carefully
and judiciously prepared, may serve as a testing ground for the
application of those ideals and standards that are the distinguishing
features of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
May the assembled believers—now but a tiny nucleus of the
Bahá’í Commonwealth of the future—so
exemplify that spirit of universal love and fellowship as to evoke in
the minds of their associates the vision of that future City of God
which the almighty arm of Bahá’u’lláh can
alone establish.

Not by merely imitating the excesses and laxity of the
extravagant age they live in; not by the idle neglect of the sacred
responsibilities it is their privilege to shoulder; not by the silent
compromise of the principles dearly cherished by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá;
not by their fear or unpopularity or their dread of censure can they
hope to rouse society from its spiritual lethargy, and serve as a
model to a civilization the foundations of which the corrosion of
prejudice has well-nigh undermined. By the sublimity of their
principles, the warmth of their love, the spotless purity of their
character, and the depth of their devoutness and piety, let them
demonstrate to their fellow-countrymen the ennobling reality of a
power that shall weld a disrupted world.

We can prove ourselves worthy of our Cause only if in
our individual conduct and corporate life we sedulously imitate the
example of our beloved Master, Whom the terrors of tyranny, the
storms of incessant abuse, the oppressiveness of humiliation, never
caused to deviate a hair’s breadth from the revealed Law of
Bahá’u’lláh.

Such is the path of servitude, such is the way of
holiness He chose to tread to the very end of His life. Nothing short
of the strictest adherence to His glorious example can safely steer
our course amid the pitfalls of this perilous age, and lead us on to
fulfill our high destiny.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
April 12, 1927.

Letter of April 27, 1927.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved friends:

With feelings of horror and indignation I communicate to
you the tale of yet another tragedy involving the shedding of the
blood of a martyr of the Faith on Persia’s sacred soil. I have
before me, as I pen these lines, the report of the local Spiritual
Assembly of Ardibil, a town on the north-east confines of the
province of Ádhirbayján, not far distant from
those hallowed spots where the Báb suffered His last
confinement and martyrdom. Addressed to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia, this report
recounts in simple but moving language the circumstances that have
led to the cowardly crime committed in the darkness of the night at
the instigation of the fanatical clergy—the deadliest opponents
of the Faith in that town.

Assassination of Persian Believer

Our martyred brother, Aminu’l-’Ulama’
by name, had for some time past become notorious in the eyes of the
Muslim inhabitants of Ardibil for his tenacity of faith by openly
refusing at every instance to vilify and renounce his most cherished
convictions. In the latter part of Ramadán—the month
associated with prayer, pious deeds and fasting—his use of the
public bath (that long-established institution the amenities and
privileges of which are as a rule accorded only to the adherents of
the Muslim Faith) had served to inflame the mob, and to provide a
scheming instigator with a pretext to terminate his life. In the
market place he was ridiculed and condemned as an apostate of the
Faith of Islám, who, by boldly rejecting the repeated
entreaties showered upon him to execrate the Bahá’í
name, had lawfully incurred the penalty of immediate death at the
hands of every pious upholder of the Muslim tradition.

In spite of the close surveillance exercised by a body
of guards stationed around his house, in response to the intercession
of his friends with the local authorities, the treacherous criminal
found his way into his home, and on the night of the 22nd of Ramadán,
corresponding with the 26th of March, 1927, assailed him in a most
atrocious and dastardly manner. Concealing within the folds of his
garment his unsheathed dagger, he approached his victim and claiming
the need of whispering a confidential message in his ears, plunged
the weapon hilt-deep into his vitals, cutting across his ribs and
mutilating his body. Every attempt to secure immediate medical
assistance seems to have been foiled by malicious devices on the part
of the associates of this merciless criminal, and the helpless victim
after a few hours of agonizing pain surrendered his soul to his
Beloved. His friends and fellow-believers, alarmed at the prospect of
a fresh outbreak that would inevitably result were his mortal remains
to be accorded the ordinary privileges of a decent burial, decided to
inter his body in one of the two rooms that served as his own
dwelling, seeking thereby to appease the fury of an unrelenting foe.

He leaves behind in desperate poverty a family of minors
with no support but their mother, expectant to bring forth her child,
and with no hope of relief from their non-Bahá’í
relatives in whose eyes they deserve to be treated only with the
meanest contempt.

It appears from the above-mentioned report that the
merciless assailant has been arrested, waiting, however, as has been
the case with similar incidents in southern Persia, to be sooner or
later released under the pressure of bribery and intimidation
sedulously exercised by an impenitent enemy.

Dearest friends! Any measure of publicity the concerted
efforts of the Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies of the
West, on whom almighty Providence has conferred the inestimable
benefits of religious toleration and freedom, can accord to this
latest manifestation of unbridled barbarism in Persia will be most
opportune and valuable. It will, I am certain, confer abiding solace
to those disconsolate sufferers who with sublime heroism continue to
uphold the traditions of their beloved Faith. Our one weapon lies in
our prayerful efforts, intelligently and persistently pursued, to
arouse by every means at our disposal the conscience of unheeding
humanity, and to direct the attention of men of vision and authority
to these incredibly odious acts which in their ferocity and frequency
cannot but constitute in the eyes of every fair-minded observer the
gravest challenge to all that is sacred and precious in our
present-day civilization.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
April 27, 1927.

Letter of May 27, 1927.

To the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada:

Dearly-beloved co-workers:

Your communications dated April 15th and May 6th and 9th
have been received, with their enclosures, and carefully perused.

Declaration of Trust and By-Laws

The Declaration of Trust, the provisions of which you
have so splendidly conceived, and formulated with such assiduous
care, marks yet another milestone on the road of progress along which
you are patiently and determinedly advancing. Clear and concise in
its wording, sound in principle, and complete in its affirmations of
the fundamentals of Bahá’í administration, it
stands in its final form as a worthy and faithful exposition of the
constitutional basis of Bahá’í communities in
every land, foreshadowing the final emergence of the world Bahá’í
Commonwealth of the future. This document, when correlated and
combined with the set of by-laws which I trust are soon forthcoming,
will serve as a pattern to every National Bahá’í
Assembly, be it in the East or in the West, which aspires to conform,
pending the formation of the First Universal House of Justice, with
the spirit and letter of the world-order ushered in by Bahá’u’lláh.

I eagerly await the receipt of the complete set of the
contemplated by-laws, the purpose of which should be to supplement
the provisions, clarify the purpose, and explain more fully the
working of the principle underlying the above-mentioned Declaration.
I shall, after having given it my close and personal consideration,
transmit it to you, in order that you may submit it to the local
Spiritual Assemblies, who in turn will endeavor to secure its final
ratification by the body of the recognized believers throughout the
United States and Canada. I would urge you to insert the Text of the
Declaration, the complete set of the by-laws, and the accompanying
Indenture of Trust, all combined, in the next issue of the Bahá’í
Year Book, that sympathizers and believers alike in every land may
obtain a clear and correct vision of the preliminary framework of
that complete system of world administration implicit in the
Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Spirit and Method of Bahá’í
Elections

In connection with the best and most practical methods
of procedure to be adopted for the election of Bahá’í
Spiritual Assemblies, I feel that in view of the fact that definite
and detailed regulations defining the manner and character of Bahá’í
elections have neither been expressly revealed by Bahá’u’lláh
nor laid down in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
it devolves upon the members of the Universal House of Justice to
formulate and apply such system of laws as would be in conformity
with the essentials and requisites expressly provided by the Author
and Interpreter of the Faith for the conduct of Bahá’í
administration. I have consequently refrained from establishing a
settled and uniform procedure for the election of the Assemblies of
the East and the West, leaving them free to pursue their own methods
of procedure which in most cases had been instituted and practiced
during the last two decades of the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The general practice prevailing throughout the East is
the one based upon the principle of plurality rather than absolute
majority, whereby those candidates that have obtained the highest
number of votes, irrespective of the fact whether they command an
absolute majority of the votes cast or not, are automatically and
definitely elected. It has been felt, with no little justification,
that this method, admittedly disadvantageous in its disregard of the
principle that requires that each elected member must secure a
majority of the votes cast, does away on the other hand with the more
serious disadvantage of restricting the freedom of the elector who,
unhampered and unconstrained by electoral necessities, is called upon
to vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection have inspired
him to uphold. Moreover, the practice of nomination, so detrimental
to the atmosphere of a silent and prayerful election, is viewed with
mistrust inasmuch as it gives the right to the majority of a body
that, in itself under the present circumstances, often constitutes a
minority of all the elected delegates, to deny that God-given right
of every elector to vote only in favor of those who he is
conscientiously convinced are the most worthy candidates. Should this
simple system be provisionally adopted, it would safeguard the
spiritual principle of the unfettered freedom of the voter, who will
thus preserve intact the sanctity of the choice he first made. It
would avoid the inconvenience of securing advance nominations from
absent delegates, and the impracticality of associating them with the
assembled electors in the subsequent ballots that are often required
to meet the exigencies of majority vote.

I would recommend these observations to your earnest
consideration, and whatever decision you arrive at, all local
Assemblies and individual believers, I am certain, will uphold, for
their spiritual obligation and privilege is not only to consult
freely and frequently with the National Spiritual Assembly, but to
uphold as well with confidence and cheerfulness whatever is the
considered verdict of their national representatives.

Wishing you success from all my heart,

I am, your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
May 27, 1927.

Letter of October 17, 1927.

To the Honored Members of the Bahá’í
National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the West.

My dear fellow-workers:

With feelings of burning indignation I find myself
impelled to acquaint you with various events that have recently
transpired in Persia. Though in their immediate effect these
happenings may prove gravely disquieting to the followers of the
Faith in Persia and elsewhere, yet they cannot but eventually
contribute to the strengthening and purification of the Cause we
steadfastly love and serve.

I refer to the treacherous conduct of a professed
adherent of the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, by
the name of ‘Abdu’l-Ḥusayn Avarih, hitherto
regarded as a respected teacher of the Cause, and not unknown by a
few of its followers in Europe. Of a nature and character whom those
who have learned to know him well have never ceased to despise, even
in the brightest days of his public career in the Cause, he has of
late been driven by the force of circumstances which his
shortsightedness has gravely miscalculated to throw off the mask
which for so many years hid his hideous self.

The sudden removal of the commanding personality of our
beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; the confused consternation
that seized His followers in the years immediately succeeding His
passing; the reputation which to superficial eyes he had acquired by
his travels in Europe; the success attending his voluminous
compilation of the history of the Cause—these and other
circumstances emboldened him to launch a campaign of insinuation and
fraud aiming at the eventual overthrow of the institutions expressly
provided by Bahá’u’lláh. He saw clearly his
chance in the complete disruption of the Cause to capture the
allegiance if not of the whole world-wide Bahá’í
community of at least a considerable section of its followers in the
East.

No sooner had his evil whisperings reached the ears of
the loyal and vigilant followers of Bahá’u’lláh,
than they arose with overwhelming force and unhesitating
determination to denounce him as a dangerous enemy seeking to
undermine the faith and sap the loyalty of the adherents of the Cause
of God. Shunned by the entire body of the believers, abandoned by his
life-long and most intimate friends, deserted by his wife, separated
from his only child, refused admittance into even his own home,
denied of the profit he hoped to derive from the sale and circulation
of his book, he found to his utter amazement and remorse his best
hopes irretrievably shattered.

Forsaken and bankrupt, and in desperate rage, he now
with startling audacity sought to expose to friend and foe, the
futility and hollowness which he attributed to the Cause, thereby
revealing the depths of his own degradation and folly. He has with
bitter hatred conspired with the fanatical clergy and the orthodox
members of foreign Missions in Ṭihrán, allied himself
with every hostile element in the Capital, directed with fiendish
subtlety his appeal to the highest dignitaries of the State and
sought by every method to secure financial assistance for the
furtherance of his aim.

Not content with an infamous denunciation of the
originality and efficacy of the teachings and principles of the
Cause, not satisfied with a rejection of the authenticity of the Will
and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, he has dared to
attack the exalted person of the Author and Founder of the Faith, and
to impute to its Forerunner and true Exemplar the vilest motives and
most incredible intentions.

He has most malignantly striven to revive the not
unfamiliar accusation of representing the true lovers of Persia as
the sworn enemies of every form of established authority in that
land, the unrelenting disturbers of its peace, the chief obstacles to
its unity and the determined wreckers of the venerated faith of
Islám. By every artifice which a sordid and treacherous mind
can devise he has sought in the pages of his book to strike terror in
the heart of the confident believer, to sow the seeds of doubt in the
mind of the well-disposed and friendly, to poison the thoughts of the
indifferent and to reinforce the power of the assaulting weapon of
the adversary.

But, alas! he has labored in vain, oblivious of the fact
that all the pomp and powers of royalty, all the concerted efforts of
the mightiest potentates of Islám, all the ingenious devices
to which the cruelest torture-mongers of a cruel race have for
well-nigh a century resorted, have proved one and all impotent to
stem the tide of the beloved Faith or to extinguish its flame.
Surely, if we read the history of this Cause aright, we cannot fail
to observe that the East has already witnessed not a few of its sons,
of wider experience, of a higher standing, of a greater influence,
apostatize their faith, find themselves to their utter consternation
lose whatsoever talent they possessed, recede swiftly into the
shadows of oblivion and be heard of no more.

Should ever his book secure widespread circulation in
the West, should it ever confuse the mind of the misinformed and
stranger, I have no doubt that the various Bahá’í
National Spiritual Assemblies, throughout the Western world, will
with the wholehearted and sustained support of local Assemblies and
individual believers arise with heart and soul for the defence of the
impregnable stronghold of the Cause of God, for the vindication of
the sacredness and sublimity of the Bahá’í
Teachings, and for the condemnation, in the eyes of those who are in
authority, of one who has so basely dared to assail, not only the
tenets, but the holy person of the recognized Founder of an
established and world-wide Faith.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine; October 17, 1927.

Letter of October 18, 1927.

To the Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada.

Dearly-beloved co-workers:

I have already expressed indirectly my views with regard
to various secondary issues raised in your latest communications to
me dated May 23, June 10, 21, July 11, 14, 15 and 25, August 7 and
September 28; and I wish in this letter to deal more particularly
with such matters of primary importance as affect the conduct and the
growth of Bahá’í administration. The perusal of
these communications replete with the news of steadily multiplying
activities and newly conceived plans, all of which I as heretofore
appreciate and welcome, has made me feel however that the time seems
now opportune to utter a word of caution and warning to those who
with unceasing zest labor to give befitting embodiment to those
latent energies released by the Message of Bahá’u’lláh.

Concentration of Resources

Much as I rejoice in witnessing the abundant signs of
unfaltering energy that characterize in various fields and distant
lands the mission of the valiant warriors of the Cause, I cannot help
observing that, driven by their impetuous eagerness to establish the
undisputed reign of Bahá’u’lláh on this
earth, they may by an undue multiplication of their activities, and
the consequent dissipation of their forces, defeat the very purpose
which animates them in the pursuit of their glorious task.
Particularly do I feel that this necessity for a careful estimation
of the present resources at our disposal and of cautious restraint in
handling them applies in a peculiar manner to the swiftly expanding
activities of the American believers, whose mission increasingly
appears to be to give the lead and set the example to their brethren
across the seas in laying a secure foundation for the permanent
institutions of the Bahá’í Faith. That I feel is
chiefly the reason why such stress has been laid in the past upon the
necessity for consultation on the part of individual believers with
their elected national representatives in the matter of initiating
plans of action above and beyond the plans which the deliberations of
the National Spiritual Assembly have already evolved. In the matter
of affiliation with bodies and organizations that advocate ideals and
principles that are in sympathy with the Bahá’í
Revelation; in establishing magazines beyond those that already are
designed to advance openly and indirectly the interests of the Bahá’í
Teachings; in the financial support we may sooner or later be called
upon to extend to philanthropic institutions and the like; in
advancing the cause of any particular activity to which we may feel
sentimentally inclined;—these, as well as all similar
undertakings, we should only approach after having definitely
ascertained, through careful deliberation with those who are in a
responsible position, that the institutions representing the
paramount interests of the Cause are already assured of adequate and
continuous assistance. Nothing short of the spirit of earnest and
sustained consultation with those whom we have prayerfully and of our
own accord placed in the forefront of those who are the custodians of
the priceless heritage bequeathed by Bahá’u’lláh;
nothing less than persistent and strenuous warfare against our own
instincts and natural inclinations, and heroic self-sacrifice in
subordinating our own likings to the imperative requirements of the
Cause of God, can insure our undivided loyalty to so sacred a
principle—a principle that will for all time safeguard our
beloved Cause from the allurements and the trivialities of the world
without, and of the pitfalls of the self within. I entreat you,
well-beloved brethren, to resolve as you never have resolved before
to pledge undying loyalty and sleepless vigilance in upholding so
essential a principle in the course of your manifold activities, that
yours may be the abiding satisfaction of having done nothing that may
tend in the least to impede the flow or obscure the radiance of the
rejuvenating spirit of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

Relations of Committees to Assembly

Touching the recent decision of the National Spiritual
Assembly to place as much as possible of the current details of the
work in the hands of its national committees, I feel I should point
out that this raises a fundamental issue of paramount importance, as
it involves a unique principle in the administration of the Cause,
governing the relations that should be maintained between the central
administrative body and its assisting organs of executive and
legislative action. As it has been observed already, the role of
these committees set up by the National Spiritual Assembly, the
renewal, the membership and functions of which should be reconsidered
separately each year by the incoming National Assembly, is chiefly to
make thorough and expert study of the issue entrusted to their
charge, advise by their reports, and assist in the execution of the
decisions which in vital matters are to be exclusively and directly
rendered by the National Assembly. The utmost vigilance, the most
strenuous exertion is required by them if they wish to fulfill as
befits their high and responsible calling, the functions which it is
theirs to discharge. They should, within the limits imposed upon them
by present-day circumstances, endeavor to maintain the balance in
such a manner that the evils of over-centralization which clog,
confuse and in the long run depreciate the value of the Bahá’í
services rendered shall on one hand be entirely avoided, and on the
other the perils of utter decentralization with the consequent lapse
of governing authority from the hands of the national representatives
of the believers definitely averted. The absorption of the petty
details of Bahá’í administration by the personnel
of the National Spiritual Assembly is manifestly injurious to
efficiency and an expert discharge of Bahá’í
duties, whilst the granting of undue discretion to bodies that should
be regarded in no other light than that of expert advisers and
executive assistants would jeopardize the very vital and pervading
powers that are the sacred prerogatives of bodies that in time will
evolve into Bahá’í National Houses of Justice. I
am fully aware of the strain and sacrifice which a loyal adherence to
such an essential principle of Bahá’í
administration—a principle that will at once ennoble and
distinguish the Bahá’í method of administration
from the prevailing systems of the world—demands from the
national representatives of the believers at this early stage of our
evolution. Yet I feel I cannot refrain from stressing the broad lines
along which the affairs of the Cause should be increasingly
conducted, the knowledge of which is so essential at this formative
period of Bahá’í administrative institutions.

By-Laws of National Assembly

As already intimated, I have read and re-read most
carefully the final draft of the By-Laws drawn up by that
highly-talented, much-loved servant of Bahá’u’lláh,
Mountfort Mills, and feel I have nothing substantial to add to this
first and very creditable attempt at codifying the principles of
general Bahá’í administration. I heartily and
unhesitatingly commend it to the earnest perusal of, and its loyal
adoption by, every National Bahá’í Spiritual
Assembly, whether constituted in the East or in the West. I would ask
you particularly to send copies of the text of this document of
fundamental importance accompanied by copies of the Declaration of
Trust and the text of the Indenture of Trust, to every existing
National Spiritual Assembly, with my insistent request to study the
provisions, comprehend its implications, and endeavor to incorporate
it, to the extent that their own circumstances permit, within the
framework of their own national activities. You can but faintly
imagine how comforting a stimulant and how helpful a guide its
publication and circulation will be to those patient and toiling
workers in Eastern lands, and particularly Persia, who in the midst
of uncertainties and almost insuperable obstacles are straining every
nerve in order to establish the world order ushered in by
Bahá’u’lláh. You can hardly realize how
substantially it will contribute to pave the way for the elaboration
of the beginnings of the constitution of the worldwide Bahá’í
Community that will form the permanent basis upon which the blest and
sanctified edifice of the first International House of Justice will
securely rest and flourish.

I would specifically remind you that in the text of the
said By-Laws which to the outside world represents the expression of
the aspirations, the motives and objects that animate the collective
responsibilities of Bahá’í Fellowship, due
emphasis should not be placed only on the concentrated authority, the
rights, the privileges and prerogatives enjoyed by the elected
national representatives of the believers, but that special stress be
laid also on their responsibilities as willing ministers, faithful
stewards and loyal trustees to those who have chosen them. Let it be
made clear to every inquiring reader that among the most outstanding
and sacred duties incumbent upon those who have been called upon to
initiate, direct and coordinate the affairs of the Cause, are those
that require them to win by every means in their power the confidence
and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve. Theirs is
the duty to investigate and acquaint themselves with the considered
views, the prevailing sentiments, the personal convictions of those
whose welfare it is their solemn obligation to promote. Theirs is the
duty to purge once for all their deliberations and the general
conduct of their affairs from that air of self-contained aloofness,
from the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling atmosphere of dictatorial
assertiveness, in short, from every word and deed that might savor of
partiality, self-centeredness and prejudice. Theirs is the duty,
while retaining the sacred and exclusive right of final decision in
their hands, to invite discussion, provide information, ventilate
grievances, welcome advice from even the most humble and
insignificant members of the Bahá’í family,
expose their motives, set forth their plans, justify their actions,
revise if necessary their verdict, foster the spirit of individual
initiative and enterprise, and fortify the sense of interdependence
and co-partnership, of understanding and mutual confidence between
them on one hand and all local Assemblies and individual believers on
the other.

First National Convention of Persian
Bahá’ís

As to the state of affairs in Persia, where the
circumstances related in a previous circular letter have had their
share in intensifying the chronic state of instability and insecurity
that prevail, grave concern has been felt lest the support, both
moral and financial, anticipated from the bigoted elements of foreign
Missions in the Capital should lead to an extension of its
circulation in the West, and thus inflict, however slight, a damage
on the prestige and fair name of our beloved Cause. These internal
agitations, however, coinciding as they have done with outbursts of
sectarian fanaticism from without, accompanied by isolated cases of
fresh persecution in Kirmán and elsewhere, have failed to
exasperate and exhaust the heroic patience of the steadfast lovers of
the Cause. They have even failed to becloud the serenity of their
faith in the inevitable approach of the breaking of a brighter dawn
for their afflicted country. Undeterred and undismayed, they have
replied to the defiance of the traitor within, and the assaults of
the enemy without by a striking re-affirmation of their unbroken
solidarity and inflexible resolve to build with infinite patience and
toil on the sure foundations laid for them by Bahá’u’lláh.
With their traditional fidelity and characteristic vigor,
notwithstanding the unimaginable hindrances they have to face, they
have convened their first historic representative conference of
various delegates from the nine leading provinces of Persia, have
evolved plans for holding every year as fully representative a
convention of Bahá’í delegates in Persia as
circumstances permit, and modelled after the method pursued by their
brethren in the United States and Canada. They have reconstituted and
defined the limits of the hitherto confused Bahá’í
administrative divisions throughout the length and breadth of their
land. They have adopted various resolutions of vital importance, the
chief ones among them aiming at the reorganization of the institution
of the National Fund, the consolidation and extension of their
national campaign of Teaching, the strengthening of the bonds that
unite them with the local and national Assemblies at home and abroad,
the establishment of Bahá’í primary educational
institutions in towns and villages, the raising of the social and
educational standards of women, irrespective of sect and caste, and
the reinforcement of those forces that tend to raise the moral,
cultural and material standard of their fellow-countrymen. Surely, to
an unbiased observer of the present state of affairs in Persia, these
resolutions, backed by the creative energy inherent in the power of
the Word of God, mark not only a milestone on the road of the
progress of the Persian believers, but constitute as well a notable
landmark in the checkered history of their own country.

The warm hospitality accorded by the National Spiritual
Assembly and the American believers to my dear cousin and
collaborator, Ruhi Effendi, has deeply touched me, particularly as I
realize from the appreciative reports I have recently received that
by his radiant and earnest spirit of service he has deserved well of
his dear fellow-workers in that continent, and contributed
substantially to their better appreciation of the Teachings of the
Cause. Much as I desire him to work by my side here in the Holy Land,
I very gladly concur with your wish to further extend his sojourn
with you, trusting that he will prove of great assistance to you all
in the discharge of your noble task.

The Trend of World Events

And now in conclusion, may I be permitted to direct your
attention to the lesson which the trend of world events brings home
to us, the little band of His chosen workers who, according to the
intelligent efforts we exert, can prove ourselves the determining
factor in the immediate fortunes of the society we live in? As we
witness on all sides the growing restlessness of a restless age, we
are filled with mixed feelings of fear and hope—fear, at the
prospect of yet another deadly encounter, the inevitability of which
is alas! becoming increasingly manifest; hope, in the serene
assurance that whatever cataclysm may yet visit humanity, it cannot
but hasten the approaching era of universal and lasting peace so
emphatically proclaimed by the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh.
In the political domain, where we have lately witnessed, in the
council of the leading nations of the world, the surrender of
humanity’s noblest conception to what may be regarded only as a
transient phase in the life of peoples and nations; in the industrial
world, where the representatives of the wage-earning classes, either
through violence or persuasion, are capturing the seats of authority
and wielding the scepter of power: in the field of religion, where we
have lately witnessed widespread and organized attempts to broaden
and simplify the basis of man’s faith, to achieve unity in
Christendom and restore the regenerating vigor of Islám; in
the heart of society itself, where the ominous signs of increasing
extravagance and profligacy are but lending fresh impetus to the
forces of revolt and reaction that are growing more distinct every
day—in these as in many others we have much cause for alarm,
but much to be hopeful and thankful for also. To take but one
instance more fully: Observe the fierce and as yet unsilenced dispute
which the proposal for the introduction of a binding and universal
pact of non-aggression among the nations of Europe has aroused among
the avowed supporters of the League of Nations—a League so
auspiciously welcomed for the ideal that prompted its birth, yet now
so utterly inadequate in the actual principles that underlie its
present-day structure and working. And yet, in the great outcry
raised by post-war nationalism in blindly defending and upholding the
unfettered supremacy of its own sovereignty, and in repudiating
unreservedly the conception of a world super-state, can we not
discern the re-enactment only on a larger scale of the dramatic
struggles that heralded the birth of the reconstructed and unified
nations of the West? Has not authentic history clearly revealed in
the case of these nations the painful yet inevitable merging of
rival, particularistic and independent cities and principalities into
one unified national entity, the evolving of a crude and narrow creed
into a nobler and wider conception? Is not a parallel struggle being
now manifested on the world stage of ever-advancing humanity? Can it
lead to any other result than that which shall reaffirm the truth of
humanity’s onward march towards an ever-widening conception,
and the ever-brightening glory of its destiny? Reverses and setbacks,
such as we have already witnessed, no doubt will retard the ripening
of the choicest fruit on the tree of human development. Yet the
fierceness of controversy, the weight of argument advanced in its
disfavor, cannot but contribute to the broadening of the basis and
the consolidation of the foundations upon which the stately edifice
of unified mankind must ultimately rest. Let us take heart therefore,
and labor with renewed vigor and deepened understanding to contribute
our share to those forces which, whether or not cognizant of the
regenerating Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in this
age, are operating, each in its respective sphere and under His
all-encompassing guidance, for the uplift and the salvation of
humanity.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
October 18, 1927.

Letter of December 6, 1928.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

Events, of a startling character and of the utmost
significance to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
have recently transpired throughout the Near and Middle East in such
rapid succession, that I feel moved to write about them to those who,
in distant lands and with eager hearts, are waiting to witness the
fulfillment of the prophecies of Bahá’u’lláh.
You will, I am certain, rejoice with me to learn that the quickening
forces of internal reform are swiftly awakening from their age-long
slumber of negligence those lands which, trodden by the feet of
Bahá’u’lláh and wherein are enshrined the
memorable scenes of His birth, His ministry, His exiles, His
banishments, His suffering and His ascension, are destined in the
fulness of time to play a pre-eminent role in the regeneration of the
East—nay of all mankind.

The Promises of Our Departed Master

From Persia, the cradle of our Faith and the object of
our tenderest affections, there breaks upon us the news of the first
stirrings of that social and political Reformation which, as we
firmly believe, is but the direct and unavoidable consequence of that
great spiritual Revival ushered in by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
These social and political forces now released by the Source of such
a tremendous Revival are bound in their turn to demolish one by one
the barriers that have so long impeded its flow, sapped its vitality
and obscured its radiance.

From a communication addressed to me recently by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
Persia, as well as from reliable reports submitted by the local
representatives of the Persian believers, and confirmed by the vivid
narrative of visiting pilgrims, it is becoming increasingly manifest
that the glowing promises so many times uttered by our departed
Master are, with extraordinary exactitude and remarkable swiftness,
being successively fulfilled. Reforms of a revolutionary character
are, without bloodshed and with negligible resistance, gradually
transforming the very basis and structure of Persia’s primitive
society. The essentials of public security and order are being
energetically provided throughout the length and breadth of the
Sháh’s domain, and are hailed with particular
gratification by that much harassed section of the population—our
long-suffering brethren of that land. The rapidity, the incredible
ease, with which the enlightened proposals of its government, in
matters of education, trade and finance, means of transportation and
travel, and the development of the country’s internal
resources, are receiving the unqualified sanction of a hitherto
reactionary Legislature, and are overcoming the resistance and apathy
of the masses, have undoubtedly tended to hasten the emancipation of
our Persian brethren from the remaining fetters of a once despotic
and blood-stained regime. The severely repressive and humiliating
measures undertaken on the initiative of progressive provincial
Governors, and with the connivance of State officials in the Capital,
aiming at the scattering and ultimate extinction of a rapidly waning
clergy, such as degradation, detainment, deportation and in some
cases pitiless execution, are paving the way for the entire removal
of the shackles imposed by an ignorant and fanatical priesthood upon
the administration of State affairs. In matters of dress; in the
obligatory enforcement of a uniform style of national head-gear; in
the strict limitation of the number, the rights and the prerogatives
of high ecclesiastical officials; in the growing unpopularity of the
veil among almost every section of society; in the marked distinction
which unofficially and in various phases of public life is being made
by an enlightened and pressing minority between the tottering forms
of a discredited Ecclesiasticism and the civil rights and duties of
civilized society; in the general laxity in religious observances and
ceremonies; in the slow and hidden process of secularization invading
many a government department under the courageous guidance of the
Governors of outlying provinces—in all of these a discerning
eye can easily discover the symptoms that augur well for a future
that is sure to witness the formal and complete separation of Church
and State.

Regeneration of Persia

To this uplifting movement, various external factors are
being added that are tending to hasten and stimulate this process of
internal regeneration so significant in the life of renascent Persia.
The multiplicity and increasing facilities in the means of
transportation and travel; the State visit of energetic and
enlightened reformers to Persia’s capital; the forthcoming and
widely-advertised journey of the Sháh himself to the
progressive capitals of Western Europe; the repercussion of Turkey’s
astounding reforms among an essentially sensitive and receptive
people; the loud and persistent clamor of a revolting order in Russia
against the evil domination and dark plottings of all forms of
religious sectarianism; the relentless vigor with which Afghanistan’s
ambitious Ruler, reinforced by the example of his gracious Consort,
is pursuing his campaign of repression against a similar order of a
corrupted clergy at home—all tend to lend their force in
fostering and fashioning that public opinion which can alone provide
an enduring basis for the reform Movement destined to usher in that
golden Era craved for by the followers of the Faith in Bahá’u’lláh’s
native land.

As a direct consequence of the birth of this new
consciousness in the life of the nation, as evidenced by these early
stirrings in the minds of the people, both high and low, meetings of
an elaborate character, unprecedented in the number of their
attendants, in the tone of the public addresses, in the undisturbed
atmosphere of their proceedings, and the general impressiveness of
their organization, have been publicly held in Ṭihrán,
under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of Persia. Particularly significant and impressive were those that
were held in the Hazíratu’l-Quds, the administrative and
spiritual center of the Faith in the Capital, on the occasion of the
twin Festivals commemorating the declaration of the Báb and
the birth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, at the chief of which
no less than two thousand representative Bahá’ís
and non-Bahá’ís, leaders of public opinion, State
officials and foreign representatives were officially invited. The
addresses stressing the universality of the Teachings of the Cause,
the formal and ordered character of the proceedings so unusual a
feature to a gathering of such proportions, the mingling of the
Bahá’ís with the recognized representatives of
progressive thought in the Capital who, by virtue of their high
office and stately appearance, lent color and weight to the concourse
of attending believers, have all contributed to enhance the
brilliance and spiritual significance of that gathering on that
memorable occasion.

Moreover, reports of a highly encouraging nature, are
being continually received from local Assemblies and individual
believers, giving the names and stating the number of influential
Persians who, hitherto reluctant to declare openly their faith in
Bahá’u’lláh, are as a result of this
reassuring and promising state of affairs emerging from the obscurity
of their concealment and enlisting under the erected banner of
Bahá’u’lláh. This has served to embolden
the followers of the Faith to take the necessary steps, under the
direction of their local Assemblies, for the institution of Bahá’í
schools, for the holding of public gatherings, for the establishment
of Bahá’í hostels, libraries and public baths,
for the construction of official headquarters for their
administrative work, and for the gradual execution among themselves,
within the limits imposed upon them by the State, of the laws and
ordinances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Words fail me to
describe the feelings of those patiently suffering brethren of ours
in that land who, with eyes dim with tears and hearts overflowing
with thanksgiving and praise, are witnessing on every side and with
increasing force the unfoldment of a Faith which they have served so
well and love so dearly. Accounts pathetic and inspiring in their
tone are being received from that steadfast and cheerful band of
exultant believers, and are being shared with the resident friends in
the Holy Land who, having had the privilege of close and continued
association with the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
cannot but marvel at the range, the potency and accuracy of the
prophecies of their departed Master.

Bahá’í Faith
Vindicated in Turkey

From Turkey, on whose soil, for well nigh three score
years and ten, were enacted some of the sublimest and most tragic
scenes in the annals of the Cause; Turkey, under whose rule
Bahá’u’lláh twice proclaimed Himself, was
thrice exiled and banished, and finally ascended to the Abhá
Kingdom, and where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spent more than
fifty years of His Life, in incarceration and suffering; has of late
been rudely awakened to a Call which it has so long obstinately
despised and ignored. Following on the overthrow of that effete
theocracy, resting on the twin institutions of the Caliphate and
Sultanate—those two sinister forces that have combined to
inflict the deadliest blows to our beloved Faith in the earliest
stages of its infancy and growth—an uncompromising policy
aiming at the secularization of the State and the disestablishment of
Islám was initiated and carried out with exemplary vigor.
Religious institutions and monastic orders which under the guise of
religious propaganda were converted into hot-beds of political
intrigue and sedition were peremptorily closed, their adherents
scattered and banished, their funds confiscated, their privileges and
prerogatives abolished. None, save the little band of Bahá’u’lláh’s
devoted followers, escaped the trenchant ax of the pitiless reformer;
all, without fear or favor, had to submit to his searching
investigations, his dictatorial edicts, his severe and irrevocable
judgment. Lately, however, the Turkish Government, faithful to its
policy of ceaseless vigilance, and fearful of the growing activities
of the Bahá’ís under its rule, decided to order
the Police in the town of Smyrna to conduct a close investigation
into the purpose, the character and the effects of Bahá’í
activity in that town. No sooner were the representative Bahá’ís
in that locality arrested and conducted to the Law Courts for
purposes of investigation, than the President of the Bahá’í
Spiritual Assembly of Constantinople who, having read in the morning
papers the report of the Smyrna incident, had resolved unsummoned to
offer the necessary explanations to the authorities concerned, was in
his turn arrested and taken to the Police Headquarters where he soon
afterwards was joined by the other members of the Assembly. The
official searching of their homes, the seizure of whatever Bahá’í
literature they had in their possession, their twenty-four hours
detention at the Police station, the searching severity of the
cross-examination to which they were subjected—all proved
powerless to alarm and shake the faith of those intrepid champions of
the Cause, or to evince anything detrimental to the best interests of
the State. On the contrary, they served to deeply impress upon the
minds and hearts of the officials concerned the sublimity, the
innocence, and the dynamic force of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
So much so that their books were returned, a genuine desire to deepen
their knowledge of the Cause was expressed by their examiners, and
widespread publicity, as reflected in the articles of about a dozen
leading newspapers of Turkey, was accorded by the Government,
proclaiming the innocence of the Cause and lifting up the ban that
now so oppressively weighs upon religious institutions in Turkey.

From Constantinople in European Turkey to the eastern
confines of Anatolia, on the banks of the river Euphrates, where a
small and flourishing Bahá’í Community has been
recently established, a wave of public interest, criticism and
inquiry has been sweeping over the surface of the land, as witnessed
by the character and number of the leading articles, the
illustrations and caricatures that have appeared in the most
prominent newspapers of the capital and the provincial towns of
Asiatic Turkey. Not only Turkey, but its neighboring countries of the
East and the West, have lifted up their voice in the vindication of
the Bahá’í truth. From information thus far
gathered we learn that in Hungary, in ‘Iráq, Egypt and
Syria, and as far west as France and England, newspapers have, of
their own accord, with varying degree of accuracy, and in more or
less detail, reported this incident in their columns, and have given,
unasked and unaware, such publicity to our beloved Faith which no
campaign of teaching, however elaborately organized by the believers
themselves, could ever hope to achieve at the present time. Surely
the invincible arm of Bahá’u’lláh, working
through strange and mysterious ways, will continue to guard and
uphold, to steer the course, to consolidate, and eventually to
achieve the world-wide recognition and triumph of His holy Faith.

Our Most Vital Opportunity

And while the East, through suffering and turmoil, is
moving on in its slow and toilsome march towards the acceptance of
God’s holy Faith, let us turn for a moment our gaze to the
Western Hemisphere, and particularly to the American continent, and
attempt to visualize the possibilities of the future spread of the
Cause, and to estimate afresh those golden yet swiftly passing
opportunities which Bahá’u’lláh in those
far-away lands has accorded to His chosen people. I feel thoroughly
convinced, and am moved to share this firm conviction within me with
that great company of western believers, that in the speedy
resumption of the sorely-neglected construction of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár at Wilmette lies our
undoubted privilege, our primary obligation, our most vital
opportunity to lend an unprecedented impetus to the advancement of
the Cause, not only throughout the West but in every country of the
world. I would not stress at this moment the prestige and good name
of the Cause, much as they are involved in this most pressing issue,
I would not dwell upon the eager expectancy with which the unnumbered
followers of the Faith as well as the vast number of the
non-believers in almost every section of society throughout the East
are awaiting to behold that noble structure rear its head in the
heart of that far-western continent; nor would I expatiate on the
ineffable beauty of this holy Edifice, its towering glory, its
artistic design, its unique character, or its functions in the
organic life of the Bahá’í community of the
future. But I would with all the strength of my conviction emphasize
the immeasurable spiritual significance of an Edifice, so beauteous,
so holy, erected solely by the concerted efforts, strained to the
utmost degree of self-sacrifice, of the entire body of the believers
who are fully conscious of the significance of the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh. In this vast endeavor,
unparalleled in modern times, its world-wide range, its spontaneity,
its heroic and holy character, the American believers, on the soil of
whose country Bahá’u’lláh’s first
universal House of Worship is to be built, must, if they be faithful
to their trust, claim and fulfill a pre-eminent share in the
collective contributions offered by the Bahá’ís
of the world.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
Cherished Desire

For this reason do I feel impelled to direct by
incessant plea in particular to the followers of the Faith in the
United States and Canada to arise and play their part, while there is
yet time, and not to allow their earnest strivings to be swamped and
superseded by the self-sacrificing heroism of the multitude of their
brethren in Persia. Again I feel the urge to remind you one and all
of the necessity of keeping ever in mind this fundamental verity that
the efficacy of the spiritual forces centering in, and radiating
from, the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in the
West will in a great measure depend upon the extent to which we, the
pioneer workers in that land will, with clear vision, unquenchable
faith, and inflexible determination, resolve to voluntarily abnegate
temporal advantages in our support of so meritorious an endeavor. The
higher the degree of our renunciation and self-sacrifice, the wider
the range of the contributing believers, the more apparent will
become the vitalizing forces that are to emanate from this unique and
sacred Edifice; and the greater, in consequence, the stimulating
effect it will exert upon the propagation of the Faith in the days to
come. Not by the abundance of our donations, not even by the
spontaneity of our efforts, but rather by the degree of
self-abnegation which our contributions will entail, can we
effectively promote the speedy realization of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
cherished desire. How great our responsibility, how immense our task,
how priceless the advantages that we can reap!

Plan of Unified Action

I cannot refrain, however, from giving expression to my
gratification and appreciation of the substantial and continued
support already accorded, and in particular during the past year by
the believers in the United States and Canada, under the wise and
judicious direction of their elected national representatives, to the
Plan of Unified Action, whose declared purpose is to insure, ere the
present Bahá’í year comes to a close, the raising
of the funds required for the building of the first Unit of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. The vigilance and
fidelity with which the National Assembly of the United States and
Canada has observed its pledge in connection with the limitation of
the current administrative expenses of the Cause, and the zeal and
ready response manifested by local Assemblies and individual
believers to curtail their local and personal expenditures in order
to concentrate on the Temple Fund, are worthy of the highest praise,
and will deservedly attract the manifold blessings of a loving and
bountiful Master. Much indeed has been accomplished during this past
year of concentrated and consecrated self-sacrifice for so glorious a
purpose. Much more still remains unachieved if we are to vindicate,
in the eyes of an expectant world, the honorable name, the
inexhaustible and miraculous vitality of the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh.

In the mid-watches of the night, commemorating the
passing of Him Who with His own hands laid the head-cornerstone of
His Father’s House of Worship in that land, seated within the
hallowed precincts of His shrine, and keeping vigil in the company of
His closest companions, I have more than once in the midst of my
devotions prayerfully remembered those chosen ones of God on whose
shoulders has fallen so weighty a responsibility, whose destiny is to
bring to full fruition so excellent a heritage. I have recalled on
that peaceful and moonlit night, with much emotion and gratitude, the
inestimable bounties He lavished while on earth upon you. I have
revived in my memory the glowing promises that His unfailing guidance
and gracious assistance would continue from His station on high to be
showered upon you. I have pictured in my mind that beauteous vision
of a Cause unfolded in all its glory which in His immortal writings
He has revealed unto you. And with my head upon His threshold, I have
prayed and prayed again that we may all prove ourselves worthy
disciples of so gracious a Master, that we may, when called unto Him,
transmit, undiminished and unimpaired, our share of the immeasurably
precious heritage bequeathed by Him to us all.

And in closing, dearly-beloved friends, what more
appropriate thought with which to conclude my fervent plea than these
pregnant words fallen from the lips of Bahá’u’lláh:
“O My friends! I bear witness that the Divine Bounty has been
vouchsafed unto you, His Argument has been made manifest, His Proof
has been revealed, and His Guidance has shone forth upon you. Let it
now be seen what your endeavors in the path of renunciation can
reveal.”

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
December 6, 1928.

Letter of December 6, 1928.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the East and West.

Dear fellow-workers:

I desire to convey to you in a few words my impressions
of the recently published “Bahá’í World,”
copies of which, I understand, have already, thanks to the assiduous
care and indefatigable efforts displayed by the Publishing Committee
of the American National Spiritual Assembly, been widely distributed
among the Bahá’í countries of East and West.

The Bahá’í World

This unique record of world-wide Bahá’í
activity attempts to present to the general public, as well as to the
student and scholar, those historical facts and fundamental
principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message
of Bahá’u’lláh to this age. I have ever
since its inception taken a keen and sustained interest in its
development, have personally participated in the collection of its
material, the arrangement of its contents, and the close scrutiny of
whatever data it contains.

I confidently and emphatically recommend it to every
thoughtful and eager follower of the Faith, whether in the East or in
the West, whose desire is to place in the hands of the critical and
intelligent inquirer, of whatever class, creed or color, a work that
can truly witness to the high purpose, the moving history, the
enduring achievements, the resistless march and infinite prospects of
the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Eminently
readable and attractive in its features, reliable and authoritative
in the material it contains, up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate
in the mass of information it gives, concise and persuasive in its
treatment of the fundamental aspects of the Cause, thoroughly
representative in the illustrations and photographs it reveals:—it
stands unexcelled and unapproached by any publication of its kind in
the varied literature of our beloved Cause. It will, without the
slightest doubt, if generously and vigorously supported, arouse
unprecedented interest among all classes of civilized society.

I earnestly request you, dearly-beloved friends, to
exert the utmost effort for the prompt and widespread circulation of
a book that so faithfully and vividly portrays, in all its essential
features, its far-reaching ramifications and most arresting aspects,
the all-encompassing Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
Whatever assistance, financial or moral, extended by Bahá’í
Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers, to those who have been
responsible for such a highly valuable and representative production
will, it should be remembered, be directly utilized to advance the
interests and reinforce the funds that are being raised in behalf of
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, and will indirectly
serve to exert a most powerful stimulus in removing the malicious
misrepresentations and unfortunate misunderstandings that have so
long and so grievously clouded the luminous Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
December 6, 1928.

Letter of December 21, 1928.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!

With feelings of profound sorrow I am moved to address
you these few lines mourning the loss which the Cause has undoubtedly
sustained by the passing of one who, for many years and in
circumstances of exceptional significance, rendered the sacred
Threshold distinctive and inestimable services. The hand of Divine
Decree has removed, by the death of our talented and dearly-beloved
friend, Mr. Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney, yet another outstanding figure
in the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, who, by his
brilliant gifts of mind and heart as well as by the divers
achievements of his life, has truly enriched the annals of God’s
immortal Faith.

Mr. Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney

A pioneer of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh
ever since its celestial light first warmed and illuminated the West,
he has, by his close association with the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
by his contact with all sections of society, by his scholarly
presentation of the history and fundamentals of the Faith, and lastly
by his unforgettable share in the settlement of the complex and
pressing issues that called for expert assistance in the days
following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s passing, achieved a
standing which few have as yet attained.

The days of his spiritual communion with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
and His household within the walls of the prison-city of Akká,
wherein he imbibed the principles which he later so ably expounded to
the peoples of the West; his pre-eminent role on his return to Paris
in kindling the torch which is destined to shed eternal illumination
upon his native land and its people; the links of abiding fellowship
which he forged with our Persian brethren in the course of the
historic mission entrusted to his charge by our Beloved; the seeds
which he scattered far and wide during his subsequent travels to the
heart of Asia, throughout India, beyond the remotest villages of
Burma and as far as the eastern confines of Indo-China; the able
support he lent in its initial and intermediary stages to the case of
Bahá’u’lláh’s house in Baghdád;
his unhesitating intervention with State officials in paving the way
for the ultimate emancipation of our Egyptian brethren from the yoke
of orthodox Islám; the stimulating encouragement his visit
caused to the Bahá’í community of Tunis on the
northern shores of Africa; and last but not least the ability and
diligence with which he applied himself to the solution of the
delicate and vexing problems of the Holy Land in the critical years
following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ascension—all
stand out as memorable landmarks in a life that was as varied in its
international aspects as it was rich in its spiritual experience.

His gifts of unfailing sympathy and penetrating insight,
his wide knowledge and mature experience, all of which he utilized
for the glory and propagation of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh,
will be gratefully remembered by future generations who, as the days
go by, will better estimate the abiding value of the responsibilities
he shouldered for the introduction and consolidation of the Bahá’í
Faith in the Western world.

Suffering as he did in his last days from the effects of
a slow and painful illness, he bore heroically his share of the
afflictions of the world, and is now in the realms of blissful
deliverance partaking his full share of the goodly reward which he
certainly deserved. To me, and particularly amid the storm and stress
that have agitated my life after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
passing, he was a sustaining and comforting companion, a most valued
counsellor, an intimate and trusted friend.

With much emotion and the deepest sense of gratitude I
supplicate at the holy Threshold—and request you to join with
me in my prayers—for the spiritual advancement in the realms
above of a soul who by the sheer merit of the signal services he
rendered already deserves to rank highly among the departed faithful.

May he forever rest in peace.

SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
December 21, 1928.

Letter of January 1, 1929.

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Dearly-beloved co-workers:

Whilst the Bahá’ís of Persia,
constituting the overwhelming majority of the adherents of the Bahá’í
Faith in eastern lands, are tasting the first-fruits of their
long-dreamed emancipation, a not inconsiderable section of
Bahá’u’lláh’s following in the East,
inhabiting the provinces of Caucasus and Turkistan, are being
subjected to trials and tribulations not very dissimilar, though
inferior in intensity, to the afflictions borne so long and so
heroically by their Persian brethren.

In my last communication to you I have attempted to
depict the nature and swiftness of those liberating forces which
today are being released in Persia by an enlightened regime
determined to shake off with unconcealed contempt the odious fetters
of a long standing tyranny. And I feel that a description of the very
perplexing situation with which our brethren in Russia find
themselves confronted at present will serve to complete the picture
which responsible believers in the West must bear in mind of the
critical and swiftly moving changes that are transforming the face of
the East.

Persecutions in Russia

Ever since the counter-revolution that proclaimed
throughout the length and breadth of Czarist Russia the dictatorship
of the Proletariat, and the subsequent incorporation of the
semi-independent territories of Caucasus and Turkistan within the
orbit of Soviet rule, the varied and numerous Bahá’í
institutions established in the past by heroic pioneers of the Faith
have been brought into direct and sudden contact with the internal
convulsions necessitated by the establishment and maintenance of an
order so fundamentally at variance with Russia’s previous
regime. The avowed purpose and action of the responsible heads of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics who, within their recognized and
legitimate rights, have emphatically proclaimed and vigorously
pursued their policy of uncompromising opposition to all forms of
organized religious propaganda, have by their very nature created for
those whose primary obligation is to labor unremittingly for the
spread of the Bahá’í Faith a state of affairs
that is highly unfortunate and perplexing. For ten years, however,
ever since the promulgation of that policy, by some miraculous
interposition of Providence, the Bahá’ís of
Soviet Russia have been spared the strict application to their
institutions of the central principle that directs and animates the
policy of the Soviet state. Although subjected, as all Russian
citizens have been, even since the outbreak of the Revolution, to the
unfortunate consequences of civil strife and external war, and
particularly to the internal commotions that must necessarily
accompany far-reaching changes in the structure of society, such as
partial expropriation of private property, excessive taxation and the
curtailment of the right of personal initiative and enterprise; yet
in matters of worship and in the conduct of their administrative and
purely non-political activities they have, thanks to the benevolent
attitude of their rulers, enjoyed an almost unrestricted freedom in
the exercise of their public duties.

Lately, however, due to circumstances wholly beyond
their control and without being in the least implicated in political
or subversive activity, our Bahá’í brethren in
those provinces have had to endure the rigid application of the
principles already enunciated by the state authorities and
universally enforced with regard to all other religious communities
under their sway. Faithful to their policy of expropriating in the
interests of the State all edifices and monuments of a religious
character, they have a few months ago approached the Bahá’í
representatives in Turkistan, and after protracted negotiations with
them, decided to claim and enforce their right of ownership and
control of that most cherished and universally prized Bahá’í
possession, the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of
Ishqábád. The insistent and repeated
representations made by the Bahá’ís, dutifully
submitted and stressed by their local and national representatives,
and duly reinforced by the action of the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’ís of Persia, emphasizing the
international character and spiritual significance of the Edifice and
its close material as well as spiritual connection with the divers
Bahá’í communities throughout the East and West,
have alas! proved of no avail. The beloved Temple which had been
seized and expropriated and for three months closed under the seal of
the Municipal authorities was reopened and meetings were allowed to
be conducted within its walls only after the acceptance and signature
by the Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly of Ishqábád
of an elaborate contract drawn by the Soviet authorities and
recognizing the right of undisputed ownership by the State of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and its dependencies.
According to this contract, the Temple is rented by the State for a
period of five years to the local Bahá’í
community of that town, and in it are stipulated a number of
obligations, financial and otherwise, expressly providing for fines
and penalties in the event of the evasion or infringement of its
provisions.

To these measures which the State, in the free exercise
of its legitimate rights, has chosen to enforce, and with which the
Bahá’ís, as befits their position as loyal and
law-abiding citizens, have complied, others have followed which
though of a different character are none the less grievously
affecting our beloved Cause. In Baku, the seat of the Soviet Republic
of Caucasus, as well as in Ganjih and other neighboring towns, state
orders, orally and in writing, have been officially communicated to
the Bahá’í Assemblies and individual believers,
suspending all meetings, commemoration gatherings and festivals,
suppressing the committees of all Bahá’í local
and national Spiritual Assemblies, prohibiting the raising of funds
and the transmission of financial contributions to any center within
or without Soviet jurisdiction, requiring the right of full and
frequent inspection of the deliberations, decisions, plans and action
of the Bahá’í Assemblies, dissolving young men’s
clubs and children’s organizations, imposing a strict
censorship on all correspondence to and from Bahá’í
Assemblies, directing a minute investigation of Assemblies’
papers and documents, suspending all Bahá’í
periodicals, bulletins and magazines, and requiring the deportation
of leading personalities in the Cause whether as public teachers and
speakers or officers of Bahá’í Assemblies.

Guiding Principle of Conduct

To all these the followers of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
have with feelings of burning agony and heroic fortitude unanimously
and unreservedly submitted, ever mindful of the guiding principles of
Bahá’í conduct that in connection with their
administrative activities, no matter how grievously interference with
them might affect the course of the extension of the Movement, and
the suspension of which does not constitute in itself a departure
from the principle of loyalty to their Faith, the considered judgment
and authoritative decrees issued by their responsible rulers must, if
they be faithful to Bahá’u’lláh’s and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s express injunctions, be
thoroughly respected and loyally obeyed. In matters, however, that
vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation of
their innermost belief, they are convinced, and are unhesitatingly
prepared to vindicate by their life-blood the sincerity of their
conviction, that no power on earth, neither the arts of the most
insidious adversary nor the bloody weapons of the most tyrannical
oppressor, can ever succeed in extorting from them a word or deed
that might tend to stifle the voice of their conscience or tarnish
the purity of their faith. Clinging with immovable resolution to the
inviolable verities of their cherished Faith, our sorely-tried
brethren in Caucasus and Turkistan have none the less, as befits
law-abiding Bahá’í citizens resolved, after
having exhausted every legitimate means for the alleviation of the
restrictions imposed upon them, to definitely uphold and
conscientiously carry out the considered judgment of their recognized
government. They have with a hope that no earthly power can dim, and
a resignation that is truly sublime, committed the interests of their
Cause to the keeping of that vigilant, that all-powerful Divine
Deliverer, who, they feel confident, will in time lift the veil that
now obscures the vision of their rulers, and reveal the nobility of
aim, the innocence of purpose, the rectitude of conduct, and the
humanitarian ideals that characterize the as yet small yet
potentially powerful Bahá’í communities in every
land and under any government.

Should the present restrictions increase in number and
stringency, should a situation arise that would so endanger the
position of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in
Ishqábád as to necessitate the intervention of
the Bahá’í world, I will call upon the National
and Local Bahá’í Spiritual Assemblies in the East
and the West to arise with one accord and lend their moral support to
those of their brethren whose particular mission and privilege is to
keep watch over that consecrated ground on which already has been
erected the central Structure of Bahá’u’lláh’s
First Universal House of Worship. I will urge them to take whatever
action is deemed advisable in order to demonstrate the solidarity of
the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, to dispel
whatever doubts and apprehensions may yet linger in the minds of the
State officials in that land, and to restore their suspected brethren
to the esteem and confidence of their governors. I will specially
request them to proclaim in their written representations to the
authorities concerned their absolute repudiation of whatever ulterior
motive or political design may be imputed to them by their malignant
adversaries, and to reaffirm in unmistakable terms the purely
humanitarian and spiritual nature of the work in which Bahá’ís
in every land and of every race are unitedly engaged. I will moreover
ask them to assert the international character of the Bahá’í
Edifice in Ishqábád and to stress the close
bonds of material interest and spiritual fellowship that bind Bahá’í
communities the world over to an Edifice that can rightly claim the
distinction of being Bahá’u’lláh’s
First Universal House of Worship, of being conceived in its design by
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself, constructed and completed in
His days and under His direction, and supported by the collective
contributions of the believers throughout the world. The hour for
such a world-wide and concentrated appeal is not yet come, but it
behooves us, while expectantly watching from a distance the moving
spectacle of the struggling Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
to seek abiding solace and strength from the reflection that whatever
befalls this Cause, however grievous and humiliating the visitations
that from time to time may seem to afflict the organic life or
interfere with the functions of the administrative machinery of the
Bahá’í Faith, such calamities cannot but each
eventually prove to be a blessing in disguise designed, by a Wisdom
inscrutable to us all, to establish and consolidate the sovereignty
of Bahá’u’lláh on this earth.

Bahá’u’lláh’s
House at Baghdád

What we have already witnessed in connection with the
latest developments regarding the case of Bahá’u’lláh’s
House in Baghdád affords abundant evidence of the truth
of the observation that has just been made. In its initial stages
appearing to the superficial observer as a petty dispute submitted to
an obscure and antiquated Shiite court, the case has gradually
evolved into a paramount issue engaging the attention of the highest
tribunal of ‘Iráq. In its latest stages, it has gathered
such strength, secured such publicity, and received such support from
the chancelleries of Europe, as to become a subject fit for the
consideration not only of the specific international Commission
ultimately responsible for the administration of Mandated Territories
but of the leading Signatories of the Covenant of the League of
Nations that are represented in the Council of the League itself.

Few if any among those closely associated with the case
did at first imagine or expect that dwellings which to outward
seeming appeared only as a cluster of humble and decrepit buildings
lost amid the obscure and tortuous lanes of old Baghdád
could ever obtain such prominence as to become the object of the
deliberations of the highest international Tribunal that the hand of
man has thus far reared for the amicable settlement of his affairs.
Whatever the decision of the world’s highest Tribunal regarding
the petition submitted to it by the Bahá’ís of
‘Iráq—and none can deny that should its verdict be
in our favor, a triumph unparalleled in its magnitude will have been
achieved for our beloved Faith—the work already accomplished is
in itself an abundant proof of the sustaining confirmations that are
being showered upon the upholders of the case from the realm on high.

I cannot refrain from giving expression in this
connection to my feelings of profound appreciation of the ceaseless
vigilance and marked distinction with which our precious brother and
fellow-worker, Mr. Mountfort Mills, has undertaken and is still
shouldering this sacred and historic mission committed to his charge.
His unremitting labors, despite ill-health and domestic anxieties and
cares, are worthy of the highest praise and will be gratefully
recorded in the annals of an immortal Cause.

Surely, if we read the history of this case aright, we
cannot but discern the direction which the forces, released by these
prophetic utterances of Bahá’u’lláh sixty
years ago, are destined to take in the eventual solution of this
mighty issue:—

“In truth I declare, it shall be so abased in the
days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye….
And in the fullness of time shall the Lord, by the power of truth,
exalt it in the eyes of all the world, cause it to become the mighty
standard of His Dominion, the Shrine round which shall circle the
concourse of the faithful.”

Your true brother,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine,
January 1, 1929.

Letter of February 12, 1929.

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the
Merciful throughout the West.

Fellow-laborers in the Divine Vineyard:

I feel impelled by the force of various circumstances to
share with you the news of recent happenings in those countries of
the Near and Middle East which, by the ruling of Providence, are in
these days undergoing a transformation which is as startling in its
features as it is significant in its bearings upon the interests of
our beloved Faith.

I have already in my previous communication briefly
referred to the nature and effects of that momentous Revolution which
has, with surprising swiftness, substituted a westernized and
rejuvenated Turkey for the primitive and decrepit Ottoman Empire. I
have also attempted to describe the first stages of that recent and
moving episode which has served in a manner that is truly
providential to thrust the Bahá’í community in
Turkey out of the obscurity of oppressive neglect into the broad
daylight of official and public attention.

Recently, however, from the reports that have been
received from the elected representatives of the believers in
different parts of Turkey, it appears that the investigations
conducted by the Police authorities in the capital and provinces of
that land have proved but a preliminary to a more official and
detailed inquiry into the Bahá’í position with
respect to the laws recently promulgated by the Republican
government. For no sooner were the followers of Bahá’u’lláh
released from detention at the Police headquarters and given the
assurance that their Faith was in no way associated with any
political design or motive, than an official communication was
delivered to their representatives summoning them to appear before
the State’s criminal Tribunal on the charge of infraction of
the law of the Republic requiring the registration and authorization
of all public gatherings and associations within the jurisdiction of
the State. To this summons our brethren yielded immediate and
implicit obedience. They indeed welcomed this further opportunity to
assert not only the innocence of their Faith but to vindicate as well
the sublimity of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Realizing that with this fresh development their case has assumed a
solemn and juridical character, the undaunted champions of the Cause
resolved to seek the assistance of an expert and sympathetic
advocate, who would reinforce from a purely legal standpoint the
spiritual argument which they reserved for themselves to propound.
For a period ranging from a week to eighteen days the attention of
the officers of the Court, of the elected representatives of the
believers, of their officially appointed advocates, and of the
visiting public was focused upon the deliberations of a Court that
closely scrutinized not only the conduct and motives of the Bahá’í
followers but the laws and principles, the past history and the
present position of the Faith itself.

Trial of Turkish Believers

Fortified by the reflection that never before in Bahá’í
history have the followers of Bahá’u’lláh
been called upon by the officials of a State, responsible for the
administration of Justice, to unfold the history and principles of
their Faith, our brethren in Turkey decided to assert in their
entirety those distinguishing laws and ordinances of the Bahá’í
Revelation which the terrors of a suspicious autocracy had so long
compelled them to dissimulate and ignore.

I cannot do better than quote in this connection a few
passages from the text of the official defense which in a moving
language was pronounced by the President of the Constantinople Bahá’í
Spiritual Assembly at a plenary session of the Court on that historic
occasion: “La Behá’isme est une religion
universelle, moderne et absolument independante. Si l’on désiré
une désignation plus moderne encore: c’est une
institution de Clémence, de bonne entente et d’amour, en
d’autres termes, de progrès moral et spirituel. Il n’est
ni une secte, ni une branche des autres religions et doctrines
diverses. Il est cependant leur aboutissement naturel, logique et
pour ainsi dire scientifique. C’est la raison pour laquelle
l’on trouve parmi ses adhèrents des personnes, venant de
toutes les religions et doctrines existantes dans le monde, et qui se
comptent aujourd’hui par millions. …Ces explications ne
sauraient toutefois à dévoiler le suffire (?) mystère
qui est au fond des sacrifices, consentis dans ce siècle en
Orient, par plus de vingt mille martyrs du Behá’isme,
parmi lesquels se trouve Qurratu’l-‘Ayn Táhirih
(la joie des yeux, la pure), cette jeune femme turque, dépeinté
ainsi par notre illustre écrivain Suleyman Nasif, et dont le
martyre sans precèdent est cité aujourd’hui par
le monde entier comme l’epopée sans pareille de la cause
humaine. Je ne sais si ces explications peuvent elucider les raisons
pour lesquelles il se trouve à cette doctrine petrié
également par le sang turc des amis parmi des hommes de race
turque, cette race qui dans tout procès du genre humain et de
ses nobles aspirations, n’a pas hesité jusqu’ici à
verser son sang…. Toutefois, les Behá’ís n’ont
point dissimulé leur présence en Turquie, surtout
depuis le régime de la République. C’est ainsi
qu’ils se sont fait inscrire comme Behá’ís
sur les feuilles du dernier recensement à Constantinople.
D’autre part est-il admissible que le Gouvernement ignore leur
présence dans cette ville? Cela étant, il ne saurait
etre imaginé que les Behá’ís soient sous
le régime de la République, poursuivis comme tels,
surtout après avoir acquis leur liberté sous le régime
de la Constitution qui a suivi celui de la tyrannie durant lequel ils
étaient persecutés…. Mais avant de terminer, je ne
puis m’empecher de dire avec une entière assurance, que
les adeptes en Turquie de cette doctrine, sont surs de la Justice
d’un pays régi par la première véritable
République pleine de lumière dont s’honore
adjourd’hui tout l’Orient…. Ces déclarations
d’une part, et la conduite suivie par les Behá’ís,
a l’occasion de cet incident qui a commencé par
l’interrogatoire auquel ils ont été soumis par la
Police, de l’autre, sont la preuve convainquante de la
sincerité et de la bonne foie avec lesquelles nous nous
comportons tant vis à vis de la Justice que de celui du
Gouvernement. Ainsi, nous aurions pu soustraire certaines pièces
qui constituent les seuls documents pouvant servi à nous
assimiler à des societés. Ne nous voyant pas en
contravention avec la loi, nous n’avons rien voulu dissimuler,
comme personellement je ne cherche qu’a tout dire ici. Ce n’est
lá d’ailleurs qu’une necessité dicté
par le Behá’isme et la conformation à une
recommendation de Bahá’u’lláh. Lui nous
dit: “Devant la Justice, dites la Verité et ne craignez
rien.”