Letter to believers in India &
Burmah

The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the

Merciful throughout India and Burmah,
Care of the members of
the Spiritual Assembly.

Beloved co-workers in the Vineyard of God!

It has been my great pleasure and privilege to send you,
since my return to the Holy Land, first my general message of
confidence and of love addressed to all believers throughout the
East, and later another letter wherein I appeal in particular to
those faithful lovers of His Cause in that vast and distant dominion
to labour whole-heartedly and to the very end for the diffusion of
His Light and the spread of His Cause. Remembering, however, the few
among my friends in that land who are as yet unfamiliar with the
Persian Tongue, I have thought of sending these few lines to them in
particular and through them to the rest of my brethren and sisters in
those regions who, despite the diversity of tongue, of race and
custom are all united at heart and animated by one common desire to
uplift humanity and carry out His Divine Purpose for this world.

What an alluring field of service India with all its
possibilities unfolds to our eyes at the present time and how vast
are the opportunities of sowing the seeds of unity and loving
kindness in the hearts of its divers peoples!

True, that land seems now unhappily to be plunged in the
darkness of prejudice, hate and mistrust, yet however dark the
immediate prospect may appear, our confidence remains unshaken that
ere long these mists shall clear away, the dawn of a New Day shall
break upon that land and the Rays of this Divine Revelation shall
make of India a spiritually-quickened, peaceful and united country.

The universal Teachings of Baha’u’llah if
declared and propounded with wisdom and judgement, determination,
selflessness and sincerity, and above all if exemplified in our lives
and dealings with our fellow-men, cannot fail to inspire and
stimulate the mind of the enlightened seeker and win the admiration
and allegiance of all mankind. Ours then is the duty and privilege to
bring to the attention of this distressed and war-weary world this
Message of Eternal Salvation and help to establish the Era of Peace
and Brotherhood as purposed and foretold by Baha’u’llah.

The welcome news of the progress of the Third All-India
Baha’i Convention as well as the favourable comment made upon
it by the Press of that country have been fully shared with the
pilgrims and resident friends in the Holy Land and we have all
admired and rejoiced at the efforts you are exerting for the
consolidation of the Movement in that ancient land.

May your endeavours in every sphere of your spiritual
activities be crowned with brilliant success, that His glorious
Promise regarding the future of that land may be speedily fulfilled!

It is my earnest hope that “The Baha’i
News”, the representative organ of the Baha’i Community
in India, may expand and develop, may widen the sphere of its
correspondence, add to the number and quality of its articles in
Persian as well as in English, report regularly in its columns the
news of the spiritual activities of all Baha’i centres in India
and elsewhere, and in general provide for the full, correct and
dignified presentation of the Cause to the general public.

Assuring every one of you of my constant prayers on your
behalf and wishing you success in your noble task,

I am your brother and co-worker,
SHOGHI

January 9, 1923

Excellent Field of Service

As you mentioned India is a vast country and an
excellent field of service. If the younger Baha’i generation,
in whom Shoghi Effendi has great hopes, take the pain of studying the
Cause deeply and thoroughly, read its history, find its underlying
principles and become both well informed and energetic, they surely
can achieve a great deal. It is upon their shoulders that the Master
has laid the tremendous work of teaching. They are the ones to raise
the call of the Kingdom and arouse the people from slumber. If they
fail the Cause is doomed to stagnation. May we all hope and earnestly
pray that through God’s infinite grace, through the Master’s
spiritual guidance and through Shoghi Effendi’s tender care we
may do justice to this tremendous work and not fail to do the
Master’s bidding.

As Shoghi Effendi has not yet taken up the tremendous
work and responsibility of attending to the correspondence of the
individual friends, he asked me to write you this note, acknowledge
the receipt of your letter, and ask you to do the following things:
(1) Change the name of your Executive Committee to “The
National Spiritual Assembly”, because the corresponding
Assembly in England and America bear the same name, and uniformity in
such matters is most advisable. (2) He likes to receive regular and
detailed reports of the position of the Cause as well as the
activities of the friends in India drafted as well as sent by the
Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly. So as to be informed of
the conditions there and administer to your needs. (3) He wishes to
have the postal as well as telegraphic address of the secretary so as
to send his communications to him.

Shoghi Effendi earnestly hopes and prays that this
National Spiritual Assembly will be able to achieve a great deal and
herald a new era of spiritual awakening in that land.

April 26, 1923

Position of Baha’i Women

[From the Guardian:]

Regarding the position of the Baha’i women in
India and Burma, and their future collaboration with the men in the
administrative work of the Cause, I feel that the time is now ripe
that those women who have already conformed to the prevailing custom
in India and Burma by discarding the veil should not only be given
the right to vote for the election of their local and national
representatives, but should themselves be eligible to the membership
of all Baha’i Assemblies throughout India and Burma, be they
local or national.

This definite and most important step, however, should
be taken with the greatest care and caution, prudence and
thoughtfulness. Due regard must be paid to their actual capacity and
present attainments, and only those who are best qualified for
membership, be they men or women, and irrespective of social
standing, should be elected to the extremely responsible position of
a member of the Baha’i Assembly.

This momentous decision, I trust, will prove to be a
great incentive to the women Baha’is throughout India and Burma
who, I hope, will now bestir themselves and endeavour to the best of
their ability to acquire a better and more profound knowledge of the
Cause, to take a more active and systematic part in the general
affairs of the Movement, and prove themselves in every way
enlightened, responsible and efficient co-workers to their fellow-men
in their common task for the advancement of the Cause throughout
their country.

May they fully realise their high responsibilities in
this day, may they do all in their power to justify the high hopes we
cherish for their future, and may they prove themselves in every
respect worthy of the noble mission which the Baha’i world is
now entrusting to their charge.

December 27, 1923

The Baha’i News

[From the Guardian:]

Your long-awaited letter, penned by our dear and devoted
brother, Mr. N. R. Vakil, has been received and read with profound
interest. I note with deep satisfaction the vigour and earnestness
with which you are conducting the affairs of the Movement throughout
the length and breadth of that vast and distant land, and ardently
pray that you may achieve, individually and collectively, the highest
success in all your endeavours.

Regarding the Baha’i News, I strongly urge those
responsible for its publication, and in particular, our beloved
friends, Prof. Pritam Singh, Mr. Vakil, … Mr. M. U. Abasi, Mirza
Niku, Mr. Ardeshir Khodadad, and Haji Ahmad, to do their utmost that
this Baha’i organ may increase in volume, widen in scope,
broaden in its outlook, improve in style and general presentation,
and reflect more extensively the activities of the friends in India,
Burma, and elsewhere. As a magazine that has been established in the
days of our departed Master, and been the recipient of His special
favours and blessings, it ought, and I have no doubt it will, with
your active support and under your constant and general supervision,
carry out the great plan it is destined to fulfill in this world.

With regard to Burma and its Baha’i activities, I
trust you realise that that province falls directly within the sphere
of your activities, and although a Central Council for all Burma is
in the process of establishment, that Council as well as all local
Assemblies throughout Burma will have to be under the protection,
care and direction of the All-India Spiritual Assembly.

I would indeed welcome regular, frequent and
comprehensive reports from the National Assembly on the various
branches of its manifold activities, and will spare no effort to
contribute my humble share in consolidating and extending the
Teaching Campaign throughout that vast Dominion.

I would be pleased to receive the permanent postal and
telegraphic address of the Secretary of the National Assembly, and am
confident that by the grace of Baha’u’llah and under the
guiding Hand of our beloved Master, we shall all carry triumphantly
the noble task entrusted to our charge to a speedy and successful
conclusion.

June 1, 1923

An Era of Unprecedented Activity

[From the Guardian:]

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to renew the
bonds of fellowship and affection that have always united our hearts
in the service of our beloved Master. I need not recall to your minds
the warm and abiding place which that gifted Dominion has always
occupied in our Beloved’s heart, and the high hopes he
cherished for its future contribution towards the triumph of the
Movement in those distant regions of the earth.

I am sure the hour has struck when those dearly-beloved
pioneers of the Master’s Cause, scattered throughout the length
and breadth of that vast and promising land, should unite,
consolidate their forces, and effectively combine for the laying of a
firm foundation for the future progress of their noble task. It is my
earnest hope and my most cherished desire that at the forthcoming
Convention the vigour and enlightened efforts of the Baha’i
youth of India, coupled with the generous support and devotion of the
old beloved Parsee friends, and reinforced by the vast numbers of the
ardent followers of the Faith in Burma, may, by imparting power and
brilliancy to its proceedings, herald an era of unprecedented
activity for the ultimate recognition of the Cause by the peoples of
that country.

I shall welcome with genuine satisfaction every effort
which that talented and untiring servant of Baha’u’llah,
our highly-esteemed sister Mrs. Stannard, may exert in this
connection, and would feel truly gratified to learn of her
determination to play a conspicuous part in the presentation of the
Cause to the eyes of the enlightened public. May the sustaining grace
of God, the power of Baha’u’llah, and the loving counsels
of our beloved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá guide you and aid you
in your mighty endeavours for the accomplishment of your task.

I shall eagerly await any particulars you might wish to
send me regarding your various activities in the service of the
Cause, and I trust that during the interval between now and Ridvan a
complete and careful arrangement for the successful conduct of the
coming Convention will have been drawn by all the friends and
assemblies of India and Burma, and to which, I assure you, I shall be
most pleased to contribute my humble share of cooperation and advice.

Hoping to hear from you, individually and collectively,
and assuring you of my constant prayers on your behalf.

December 5, 1923

Nothing Must Dampen Our Zeal

Nothing, I dare say, can be more encouraging and
gladsome to Shoghi Effendi than the news of the activities of the
friends in such a vast and promising field as India. In the last few
years the harvest of the friends’ endeavours was not as rich
and abundant as we all would wish and undoubtedly the political
throes through which India has been passing and the general unrest
which such conditions have brought about, account to a large measure
for this comparative unfruitfulness in the self-sacrificing efforts
of the Indian Baha’is. Yet nothing must damp our zeal and we
cannot for a moment doubt the remarkable change that the Master said
would take place in that country.

We have been all very much interested in the first-hand
information which Mrs. Stannard has given us and we lament the
formidable difficulties and obstacles with which the Baha’is
must cope in their effort to imbue the individual with a new spirit
and to bring new measures of reform in the social order. We shall,
however, pray for you all and eagerly await every good news you have
to share with us.

[From the Guardian:]

I always eagerly await detailed and frequent reports
from the National Assembly and desire strongly its members to meet as
often as possible and actively, efficiently and constantly direct,
co-ordinate and reinforce the activities of the individuals and Local
Assemblies throughout India and Burma. I thirst for more specific
information and urge its secretary to ensure that every communication
from the Holy Land or from any other Baha’i centre is promptly
and widely distributed. I assure you of my loving prayers.

March 5, 1925

Unite in Promoting the Work of the
Cause

We were sorry to know of the state of tension that
exists between India and Burma. Let us hope that Shoghi Effendi’s
letter will draw both parties nearer together and so ease up the
matter. It is very sad to see two sections of such a continent though
closely connected together, unable to work in harmony. Let us pray
and also try our best that all petty misunderstandings should be
forgotten and that the work should start on a new basis firmer than
before.

[From the Guardian:]

I do hope and pray that the Indians and Burmese friends
will once the new N.S.A. is elected support their representatives and
whole-heartedly unite in promoting the work of the Cause. An earnest,
capable, energetic, loyal and experienced soul must discharge the
responsible and arduous duties of a National Secretary. So much
depends upon him. You will have my fullest and unqualified support in
impressing upon the friends the supreme necessity of establishing
forthwith and maintaining to the best of their ability the
institution of the National Fund. I will pray for you all and assure
you personally of my great affection.

April 1, 1925

Consolidation of the Foundations of
the N.S.A.

By now the election of the new National Spiritual
Assembly and of its office-bearers will probably be completed. The
office of Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly is most
important and the smooth and efficient working of the Baha’i
organisation in India and Burmah will depend to a large extent on
him. Shoghi Effendi hopes that the new Secretary of the National
Assembly will send him as soon as possible a full list of the members
and office-bearers of the Assembly with his own postal address. He
would like him also, as soon as possible, to procure from each of the
local assemblies in India and Burmah a full list of the members and
office-bearers of the Local Spiritual Assembly with the address of
the Secretary, and to transmit a copy of that list to Shoghi Effendi.
This is to be done every year immediately after the election of the
National Spiritual Assembly.

Further it is desirable that each local Assembly should
have a register of the names and addresses of all declared Baha’is
in their district and should be careful to keep the register
up-to-date, promptly noting any changes in the address or number of
the believers. It is also desirable that the National Secretary
should have a list of all believers in India and Burmah who are
living in districts where there is no Local Spiritual Assembly, with
full postal address in each case, so that these believers may be kept
in touch with the body of believers by letters, literature etc., and
travelling Baha’is visiting these districts may be put in touch
with the believers there. Shoghi Effendi would like to have a copy of
this list also.

The National Secretary should keep in as close touch as
possible with the Local Spiritual Assemblies, should urge the
secretaries of these Local Assemblies to furnish regular reports of
the progress of the movement in their respective localities, and
should, by means of circular letters etc., keep these local
assemblies and isolated believers informed of all matters of
importance affecting the Cause, remind them of the importance of
contributing as regularly and generously as possible to the National
Fund, and so on.

It is obvious that to carry out these manifold duties
efficiently, thoroughly and tactfully is no easy task and Shoghi
Effendi greatly hopes that some one may be found who will be able to
devote the necessary ability, time and energy to carry them out
satisfactorily.

A Baha’i Year Book is now in course of preparation
and Shoghi Effendi wishes to include in this Year-Book a complete
list of the local Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world, with the
address of the Secretary in each case, also a complete list of those
localities where there are resident Baha’is but where no local
Spiritual Assembly exists. It will probably be impracticable to
include the addresses of all isolated believers, but these should be
known to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly in each
country, so that they may be available on application to him.

It will interest you to know that the Baha’is of
Egypt have just elected their first National Spiritual Assembly.

[From the Guardian:]

Your past and present efforts are indeed worthy of the
deepest admiration and the highest praise. Concentrate as much as you
can at present on the consolidation of the foundations of the N.S.A.
of India and Burma. This is the first and most essential step to
further expansion in any direction. The institution of the National
Fund is of vital importance and should be greatly stressed and
emphasized in every circular or communication addressed to the
friends. I will continue to pray for you from all my heart and assure
you of my support and brotherly love.

May 12, 1925

The House of Baha’u’llah
in Baghdad

Yesterday he ordered me to write a few words and
acknowledge the receipt of your letter, conveying to you his love and
greeting. He was much pleased to see that you have followed his
telegraphic instructions concerning the Baghdad House promptly.

From other centres also telegraphic communications have
been done to both the High Commissioner and to His Majesty King
Faisal. We are hoping for a desirable result. Up to this time no
definite information has reached us. We shall keep you informed as
soon as we receive any.

[From the Guardian:]

The prompt and effective measures you have taken are
worthy of the highest praise. I will inform you if further action is
deemed necessary. I hope and pray your devoted efforts will yield
abundant fruit in the near future.

November 18, 1925

Inaugurate a Fresh Campaign of
Teaching

Shoghi Effendi prays for all of you and hopes that
through your practical devotion, you will all attract divine
assistance more and more day by day and so this coming year the Cause
of God will make unprecedented progress in that country. He sends you
and all the members of the National Spiritual Assembly his
affectionate greeting and expects your good news regularly.

[From the Guardian:]

I pray that your newly constituted National Spiritual
Assembly may grow from strength to strength, may co-ordinate and
consolidate the ever-expanding activities of the friends in India and
Burma and inaugurate a fresh campaign of Teaching that will redound
to the glory and power of the Most Great Name.

May the projected Congress at Cawnpore attract
widespread interest and stimulate the work undertaken by the friends
in that promising country. I assure you of my best wishes for your
success.

November 24, 1925

Increasing Activities

It is always a source of immeasurable joy and
encouragement to our dear Guardian to learn of your increasing
activities in serving our dear Cause and also of the growing measure
of success which you are meeting with in all your endeavours. The
unity of the friends in India and Burma, the spread of the Cause in
that vast country and especially among the real natives, intelligent
connections with the universities and schools and the direction of
the thoughts of the students to a proper understanding of the Cause
and its great mission on earth, will not only be real accomplishment
on the part of our dear fellow-workers but will relieve to a very
large extent our dear Guardian of the stupendous task that he
shoulders, and will give him the deepest joy and confidence. We
earnestly trust that through the help of our dear Master from on high
all your efforts will be crowned with success.

Shoghi Effendi is always interested to hear from you on
the work in India and to help you in every possible way.

You are, I am sure, in touch with Mr. Horace Holley in
America and you would be interested to know that they are publishing
soon a Baha’i Year Book which will be of widespread interest
not only to the Baha’is but also to many interested men and
women in our dear Cause.

Mrs. Stannard is very successful in her work in Geneva
and she has already started a fine center there. She is able to make
many connections with influential men and learned people and this is
in itself a great work.

[From the Guardian:]

I am very pleased and gratified to learn of your
persistent efforts in advancing and consolidating the Cause. The
establishment of a Central Office in Delhi is a great step forward
and I await very eagerly the first issue of the publication of the
National Spiritual Assembly of India & Burma. The Burmese friends
are very satisfied and pleased with the consideration shown and the
activity displayed by your Assembly and my prayer is that the
relations of the National Body with the local Assemblies will grow
firmer everyday. I will specially remember the friends who are
promoting the Cause among the Qadiyani community whenever I visit the
Shrines. I wish them the fullest success.

March 27, 1926

Bring Together the Hindus and
Mohammedans

Shoghi Effendi received your letter dated June 11th and
was very glad to see the result of the election of the National
Spiritual Assembly. He sincerely hopes that this year will witness a
great change and progress for the Cause in India. As the friends are
sincere in their love and devotion, the members of the Assembly
strong in their faith and unfailing in their services, there is full
assurance of an ultimate victory and final settlement of the existing
difficulties. Shoghi Effendi has great hopes in you personally and
trusts in your wise judgment, watchful attentiveness and absolute
assurance in the Cause you serve. He wants me to assure you of his
prayers.

He also hopes that the friends in India will do their
very best to bring together the Hindus and Mohammedans. In such cases
the friends can show their good-will, devotion to humanity, and
disinterestedness in the material result obtained. He will pray that
… Prof. Pritam Singh will be guided in this undertaking and ably
represent the spirit of the Cause as well as its teachings. Being
competent themselves and having the necessary divine blessing and
guidance it is sure that they will achieve much. May be this will be
a good chance for attracting the attention of some of the prominent
leaders to the reality of the Cause.

[From the Guardian:]

I have written in person to the Bombay Assembly and
urged them most emphatically to support morally and financially the
National Assembly and the National Fund. …We have to repeat and
repeat over and over again until the truth, the necessity and the
urgency of our Beloved’s instructions sink in the hearts and
minds of the believers. I am sure you will continue to remind the
friends of their primary obligations. Assuring you again of my
prayers for your success in your high endeavours.

July 10, 1926

Cause Will Ultimately Conquer

‘Abdu’l-Bahá used often to say that
the difference between a prophet and an ordinary person is that the
latter looks only to the present. He does not try to imagine the
future victories and thereby forget the present trivial obstructions.
The prophet, however, having a deep insight in the future condition
of things sees his ultimate victory and does not get disheartened
even though he sees a whole-sale massacre of his followers.

As Baha’is we should follow the prophet’s
method. We know that the Cause will ultimately conquer and its ranks
be fully united. We know that the Master’s promises will
ultimately be realized, therefore why be discouraged by trivial
oppositions we see on our way. We should rather add to our zeal and
persist in our prayers and endeavours… It always takes time for a
people to change from one administration to another. Up to the
present they have been accustomed to think of the local assemblies as
next only to the Center of the Cause, and it will take some time and
training before they can admit another superior.

[From the Guardian:]

I have cabled to Bombay and will soon confirm it by
letter. I have urged them to support consistently and whole-heartedly
the very essential and vital institutions of the National Fund and
the National Assembly. It must be made clear to them all that
continuous support to these twin institutions is the corner-stone of
all future achievements, the mainspring from which all future
blessings will flow. Persevere in your heroic effort and remember
that the end is glorious and bright.

September 7, 1926

I take pleasure in thanking you on behalf of our dear
Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, for your letter…

As it announced the election of a new body to take up
the responsible but lofty work of supervising and guiding the
promulgation of the Baha’i Cause throughout India and Burma,
Shoghi Effendi wishes me to take this opportunity and assure each and
every member of that distinguished body not only of his heartfelt
congratulations and prayers but also of the high hopes that he
cherishes for you all. It is from you and through you that he expects
to see emanating that glorious spirit for which our departed Master
gave his entire life; and with your earnest endeavours, your
consummate wisdom and your unflinching faith he awaits to see you
lead the humble workers of that great country to an ultimate victory.

May I also take this opportunity and express the great
desire of Shoghi Effendi that the National Assembly should try to be
in close communication with him. To him it is a joy beyond words to
try to do all in his power to help you in the noble work you have
undertaken.

[From the Guardian:]

Now that the N.S.A. has been properly constituted and
its officers duly appointed, it is incumbent upon each and all to
introduce and promote such measures as will consolidate the work that
you have so well begun. The institution of the National Fund, a
Baha’i Bulletin similar to the News Letter issued by the
American N.S.A., a rigorous and well-conceived campaign of Teaching,
a continuous and purposeful endeavour to coordinate the activities of
the local Assemblies and groups throughout India and Burma and the
sending of detailed and frequent reports to the Holy Land are among
the most primary and urgent requirements of the new day that has
dawned upon India. I eagerly await your reports and assure you of my
continued prayers for the success of your arduous labours.

October 28, 1926

Publication of Kaukab

The news that the difficulties, which for a time
prevailed and threatened grave disturbances between the N.S.A. and
the Local Assemblies, have vanished, was a source of great
satisfaction and gratification to him. We were quite sure that it was
all due to misunderstandings and that they would be easily
overcome…

In a letter which I have lately written to Seyed Jenabe
Ali on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, I intimated his desire that a
special committee of the N.S.A. should be created to undertake the
management of everything pertaining to the Kaukab. Furthermore, if a
certain sum is offered to the National Fund with the expressed desire
that it should be spent for the Kaukab, i.e., if the offer is
labelled, then the N.S.A. should take into consideration the wish of
the giver and spend it only for that purpose. Though the friends are
advised to give unlabelled contributions they cannot in any way be
prevented from using their choice in the way it should be spent.

Though the Local Assemblies should give the N.S.A. all
the moral and financial support the latter needs, it is the duty of
the N.S.A. to inspire the necessary confidence in keeping the
management of its work as efficiently as possible.

In a cable recently sent to the N.S.A. Shoghi Effendi
recommended the publication of the Kaukab. He desires this paper to
play an important role in drawing the attention of the more
thoughtful and seeking people to the potency of this divine Cause. I
herein enclose a cheque for L19 which Shoghi Effendi desires to be
spent for this all important organ of the Cause in India.

[From the Guardian:]

I am enclosing a general message, clearly worded,
emphatically expressed, and vitally important in all its bearings,
conveyed through Mirza Mahmood to the National Assembly for the
information of all Baha’is in India and Burma. I am sure you
will promptly and effectively take all necessary measures for its
dissemination throughout India and Burma. The ‘Kaukab’
must, at all costs be continued, and I feel that its two editors …
are the most suitable to form a committee which will conduct its
affairs under the direct supervision of the National Assembly.
Whatever is contributed to the National Assembly for a specific
purpose should be expended for that purpose only, but I would
encourage the friends to send unlabelled contributions in order not
to tie the hands of the National Assembly although I do not in the
least require them to do so. I will pray for your success from all my
heart.

November 16, 1926

The Baha’i News

It is most gratifying to him to hear that the
difficulties that darkened the horizon of the Cause in India have
vanished and the National as well as Local Assemblies are united to
further the interests of the Cause. He hopes that Kaukab will become
a Baha’i organ administered even better than before.

Shoghi Effendi hopes that Aqa Mirza Moneer will cause
another stir in India and draw many individuals into a full
understanding of the movement. His zeal as well as knowledge of the
Cause stand to his credit and are sure to win him success wherever he
goes. Please convey to him Shoghi Effendi’s loving greetings
and assure him of his prayers.

[From the Guardian:]

I hope to hear soon of the re-establishment and
circulation of the Kaukab. The matter of the publication of a Baha’i
News Letter issued by the National Assembly is also of utmost
importance. May the support to the National Fund be such as to render
it a truly worthy and representative Baha’i periodical.
Persevere in your splendid efforts and do not lose heart for I will
continue to pray for you from the depth of my heart.

December 21, 1926

Widen the Scope of Activities

With the opening of this new Baha’i year our
Guardian trusts that it will be marked by a new and greater effort,
by a more intense cooperation among the friends in India and Burma
and by an unsurpassed record of success.

Now that Mrs. Schopflocker has in many places broken the
ground, it devolves upon the faithful workers in India to follow up
the work, to seize every opportunity and to give to her hasty and in
many places insufficient services a more permanent and lasting
character.

I express the hopes of our Guardian without disregard to
your many problems and difficulties, but the field is so vast and the
ground so fresh and fertile that it cannot but evoke almost
unreasonable expectations. This feeling and yearning, I am sure, is
much more yours than ours could be.

[From the Guardian:]

I urge you to take every means at your disposal … to
follow up the work that has been so splendidly begun by Mrs.
Schopflocker. I would also urge you to arrange for the preparation of
an annual report by the National Assembly of the activities of the
friends in India and Burma, to be forwarded to the American National
Spiritual Assembly for insertion in the next issue of the Annual
Baha’i Year Book. A representative group photograph of the
Baha’is of divers races and creeds in that land would also
greatly enhance the Year Book, if such a thing is possible.

April 25, 1927

He is very glad to learn of the good work of Nabilzadeh
and Mrs. Schopflocker and hopes that the friends will follow up their
work in order to obtain some definite and permanent results. For a
teacher to fly from one end of India to another is not sufficient,
there must be somebody who can stay long enough in one place and
start regular gatherings.

The latter function naturally falls upon the friends in
India and he earnestly hopes that the new year may bring fresh and
lasting achievements.

Shoghi Effendi awaits eagerly the results of the
election of the N.S.A. and he should like to see that body accomplish
something more than routine work. They should take new steps and
carry out a regular campaign in India and Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

It is my hope and prayer that the newly-elected National
and Local Assemblies may widen the scope of their activities,
initiate new and valuable measures, extend the circle of their
correspondence with foreign Baha’i centres, and promote the
independence and distinctiveness of the Baha’i Faith. I would
urge you to inform the Year Book Committee through Mr. Holley of the
results of all elections in India and to send if possible an annual
report to that Committee. Wishing you success and happiness.

May 24, 1927

In the midst of his work and many responsibilities, it
is a source of comfort for him to feel that the initiative and
guidance of the Cause in India is in such able hands and he trusts to
see in the near future greater and fuller results.

True, the minds of many are turned away from all that
sounds religious, but it is only because they are ill-advised as to
the meaning of true religion and it is just that mission that
devolves upon us—to give a new viewpoint, to revive fresh hopes
and to guide by the sacred utterances the thoughts and actions of
mankind.

Perhaps India has not yet reached the high mark which
our hopes have made us expect, but the time still remains and the
hopes of our Guardian are anxiously turned to the educated, sincere
and zealous fellow-brothers he so much loves in India and Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

I have received lately your second letter dated June
10th enclosing the list of the members of the newly-elected Indian
Assemblies as well as the report of the receipts and expenditures of
the National Fund. Your loyal and untiring attention to the pressing
manifold requirements of our beloved and steadily expanding Cause is
a thing never-to-be forgotten and worthy of unqualified praise. I
trust you will continue to keep in touch with the American National
Assembly whose Secretary is only too anxious to incorporate in the
newsletter and the Year Book every bit of news regarding the progress
of the Faith in India & Burma.

July 14, 1927

Conduct of the Work of N.S.A.

He is very glad indeed to hear of the interview of Mr.
Nabilzadeh with the Governor of Burma. He will pray that the seeds he
has sown will germinate in the course of time and will prove of great
benefit to our beloved Cause.

Our Guardian hopes that henceforth the secretaries of
all local and national Assemblies will immediately upon their
election inform the American National Assembly of their membership
and the address, that the results may without delay be published in
the Baha’i Year Book.

Our Guardian will not cease to pray for you all that the
Beloved may guide you to achieve that which will conduce to the
consolidation and extension of the influence of the Cause.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust the newly-elected Assembly will endeavour to
follow the example of the American National Assembly in method,
action, and procedure. The American Newsletter will indicate clearly
the lines along which Baha’i National Assemblies are to conduct
their work in future and I earnestly urge you to encourage the
friends to follow and adopt the method outlined in its columns.

August 19, 1927

Extend the Scope of Activities

For a country like India and also Burma where the Baha’i
communities are so much scattered and are of varied extraction a
common centre to coordinate the different efforts and to link up
together both the Assemblies within India and in the various parts of
the world, is also … necessary, and our Guardian hopes and trusts
to see in time great results from this new measure. Of course much
depends upon how well this organ functions.

Shoghi Effendi is in good health having taken a good
rest during the summer. He awaits as much as ever the good news of
the friends in India and above all news of real accomplishment.

[From the Guardian:]

I hope that nothing has transpired of late that might
have in any manner affected the expansion of the work in those
regions. I fully realize your single-handedness in such a vast and
varied field, but I assure you, dearest friend, that your reward is
proportionately great, for He that watches over you is aware of the
great devotion which animates you in the pursuit of your arduous and
noble task.

November 1, 1927

[Letter of November 16, 1927]

Your frequent communications keeping him in close touch
with your activities and the work in India, are deeply appreciated,
and he relies much upon your efforts to coordinate the work in India
and to have more direct and material results than we have been
accustomed to lately. When compared to some other countries and
remembering the many years since the Cause was first known there,
India, I am afraid, does not come up to expectations. Are we going to
accept this secondary position or has the future a surprise in store?
At any rate we patiently wait.

November 16, 1927

[Letter of May 6, 1928]

He was greatly pleased with the news of the work of
Prof. Pritam Singh in Karachi and Lahore and he read his well-worded
lectures with interest. It gives him immense pleasure to keep in
touch with his activities and he prays for the success of his efforts
from the bottom of his heart. He is confident that when his plans are
carried out and he does travel throughout the whole of India in the
interests of the Cause, he will show a record of constant progress
and would have rendered valuable services to the Baha’i Faith.
Please assure him of our Guardian’s unfailing prayers and good
wishes and also kindly convey to the Amritsar Baha’is the
loving greetings of Shoghi Effendi…

I am sure it will interest you to know that we have had
during the Ridwan festivals the first Baha’i pilgrim from
Tunis. The representative of the Tunis Assembly is a young man full
of hopes and schemes for the future.

[From the Guardian:]

I will specially supplicate, on behalf of my dear
brethren in India & Burma, at the Beloved’s Shrine, that
they may arise with heart and soul and in perfect harmony and
understanding to extend the scope of their activities, to consolidate
the foundations of their work, to deepen their knowledge and
understanding of the fundamentals of the Faith, and to carry out the
Beloved’s explicit instructions for the establishment of
Baha’u’llah’s undisputed sovereignty on this earth.
May they be richly blessed and guided in their endeavours.

May 6, 1928

[Letter of June 22, 1928]

Among the subjects that the Guardian would expect your
body to take are a coordination of the various efforts and endeavours
throughout India and Burma, an acceleration and increase in the
number of Baha’is and fellow-workers, ways and means to attract
the attention of Indians from every class and creed to the message
and vital dynamic spirit of the Baha’i Faith and as a
cumulative and culminating step the final recognition of the Baha’i
Community as a separate religious organization similar to what has
been already achieved in America.

June 22, 1928

[Letter of August 21, 1928]

The news that we obtain from the various parts of the
world are most gratifying, for though there are some great problems
to solve, yet no one can fail to see the constant realization of
those ideals we cherish. May that day soon dawn when the source of
this spiritual power, which is permeating the whole of society, will
be appreciated and venerated.

August 21, 1928

Present the Teachings at Various
Conventions & Gatherings

This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter …
reporting the events of the Brahmo Samaj Centenary gathering to
Shoghi Effendi. Such meetings are wonderful occasions for showing the
spirit and teachings of the Cause…. Shoghi Effendi’s hope is
that at such Conventions and gatherings the friends would present the
teachings to persons otherwise inaccessible for individual contact.

[From the Guardian:]

I heartily approve the project of a Baha’i
Convention and would leave the choice of the site and other
arrangements to the National Assembly. The Cause in various countries
is making a great headway and the reference of the case of the
Baghdad House to the Mandates Commission of the League of Nations is
a great step forward.

October 10, 1928

The Faith Publicized in Turkey

He was glad to hear from you and he has read with deep
satisfaction the account of the good work of Syed Ilmi in Burma.
Shoghi Effendi has always wondered as to the reasons why despite so
many years of effort and activity, the Cause has not spread more
rapidly either in India or Burma, perhaps the latter can be more
proud of its results. He would in fact appreciate your own personal
opinion, although God’s ways are often hard to understand. We
have lately had a remarkable illustration in Turkey where the Baha’is
were an insignificant little group. Suddenly accused of constituting
a secret political society the members of the N.S.A. in
Constantinople and the S.A. in Smyrna were dragged to the police and
kept for one night pending the formation of the Board of Inquiry. The
next day the court sat and the president of the N.S.A. was
cross-examined for eight consecutive hours. The result was that they
were all dismissed, with the members of the Court deeply influenced
and impressed by the teachings and principles which the President
boldly and eloquently described. They asked for literature and many
of them carried from that session much food for thought. Furthermore
every paper in Turkey filled its front pages with the incident and a
repetition of the teachings and good many a Turk heard of the Cause
in a way that Baha’is could never bring about.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust and pray that circumstances will be favourable
and the means provided for the holding of a Baha’i convention
this year representative of India and Burma. A closer touch and more
frequent interchange of thought among the Baha’i Centres in
those lands are absolutely essential. I am sending you a copy of the
recently issued “Baha’i World”, and wish you to
urge the National and Local Assemblies in India & Burma to order
as many copies as they possibly can from America for distribution
among the enlightened public as well as a means for the assistance
and encouragement of the Baha’i Publishing Committee in New
York which is doing excellent service at the present time.

November 15, 1928 Assemblies Must Endeavour to Inspire
Confidence

Although I had never meant that my enquiry from you as
to the reasons of lack of progress of the Cause in India, should be
asked from every individual Baha’i, yet I am sure, our Guardian
will be interested to know the ideas and opinions of various sections
of the friends both in India and Burma.

The expression of our views in written form sometimes
helps us to think better and deeper and often brings various matters
into proper perspective, enabling us thereby to disregard what is
extraneous and unimportant. The answers to the question put forth,
would, I feel, be extremely valuable to the N.S.A. in India, and with
the proper backing, respect and support of the entire friends, they
should not lose a minute in an endeavour to remedy and inspire what
ought not and what should be done, in an effort to spread the Cause.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust that the forthcoming Convention will remedy most
if not all the present deficiencies in the Cause and lend an
unprecedented impetus to the progress of the Faith. The Teaching work
should be stressed as it is the Fountain-head from which all future
blessings will flow. We must first and foremost add to our small
numbers, and introduce fresh blood into the organic life of the
community. I will specially supplicate this bounty for the
representative delegates to be assembled at Convention this year.

December 19, 1928

Maintain and Strengthen the Unity of
the National Assembly

He was very glad to hear of the success of the
Convention. He hopes that such gatherings will become yearly and,
like in other countries, lead to a better understanding among the
friends. It is surely true that as the Cause progresses differences
will more and more arise. So unless there be a meeting place where
the different views are thrashed, true unity of purpose and activity
will not be obtained.

Just as much as the result of the Convention made him
happy he was sorry to hear of the differences that exist between the
N.S.A. members. The real source of the difficulty is, I believe, the
lack of constant intercourse between the different members. As the
country is so very vast meetings cannot be very frequent and well
attended, and this ultimately leads to misunderstandings and lack of
faith in each other. Shoghi Effendi knows the different individuals
involved, he knows their integrity and faith in the Cause and its
spirit. He is sure that they, each and all, have no other purpose but
to serve the progress of the movement and uphold its interests. And
they will surely not commit an act that would retard the very Cause
they are serving. What the solution is, I do not know. What Shoghi
Effendi has been hoping during the last two or three years is a
spirit of mutual trust that would overcome physical handicaps. But
that seems to be impossible. A lurking dissatisfaction is sure to
appear at the end.

[From the Guardian:]

Your subsequent letter dated Jan. 24 has also reached
me. I will specially remember our dear and valued co-worker Prof.
Pritam Singh when I visit the sacred Shrine that the spirit of
Baha’u’llah may inspire, guide and sustain him in his
great task. Regarding your last convention and the non-participation
of the Burma delegates, I feel that the utmost effort must be exerted
during the coming elections in April to elect those who are best
fitted for this supreme and responsible position, and once elected,
resignation is not to be accepted. The members must meet and consult
in person. Persia is preparing for the holding of national elections,
and for India and Burma to revert to a system that is being abandoned
by the Persian believers would be a decidedly retrograde step. We
must at all costs maintain and strengthen the unity of the National
Assembly. Everything must be subordinated to this end. I will
supplicate our Beloved to enable you to achieve His purpose.

February 12, 1929

It is his sincere hope and desire to see the
newly-elected National Assembly during its term of office, infuse a
new and fresh spirit into every Baha’i activity both in India
and Burma, and while establishing perfect unity and harmony within
its own ranks and the entire body of the believers, should take
vigorous steps to teach the Cause and to establish a progressive and
representative Baha’i community in both countries.

June 20, 1929

With regard to your proposal that the N.S.A. should meet
once in Burma and once in India, the Guardian wishes me to record his
hearty approval and to even suggest that if it should be feasible
they should meet even more often than that in both places.

It is his sincere hope that in this manner and through
the individual effort of every member the misunderstandings existing
between India and Burma will be wiped out altogether and that a fresh
start will be made in a spirit of true and whole-hearted accord.

July 8, 1929

He hopes that the new National Assembly will do its
utmost to bring about unity in its group and among the friends. For,
as he has often stated, the work of the Cause will remain cramped
unless that unity is obtained. The petty differences that do exist
are the result of misunderstandings and these can surely be
eliminated.

August 20, 1929

“Baha’i World”—Foremost
Baha’i Publication

I write on behalf of the Guardian to remind you that the
next issue of the ‘Baha’i World’ will soon appear
and its editors are already busy compiling material.

He has been asked by the editors in America to request
you please to make a special effort to contribute as much material as
you possibly can in the form of photographs, reports, accounts, and
individual articles; and to send them as soon as possible to America
in order that a work which the Guardian considers our foremost Baha’i
publication in the world, may be as representative of the many
countries and especially Eastern peoples as we would all wish it to
be.

December 15, 1929

“Huquq”

…As regards “Huquq”, it is really 19 per
cent of one’s income payable to the Guardian. But it is not
obligatory now.

December 19, 1929

Syed Jenab Ali—Distinguished
Baha’i Leader

He was very sorry to learn of the illness of Syed Jenab
Ali and since the receipt of your letter, he has been extremely
grieved to learn of his passing. His sudden departure throws a shadow
of gloom upon all of us here and in India and while Burma loses a
distinguished and truly earnest Baha’i leader, it must be
especially unfortunate to you that just at a time when you were
considering and preparing the ground for Government Recognition and a
temporary consideration of Baha’i laws, you were deprived of
his valued cooperation. The Cause in India is as yet in such a tender
age that we can ill afford the loss of those few that keep the torch
aflame.

[From the Guardian:]

The news of the passing of our dear and able friend and
collaborator Syed Jenab Ali has brought profound sorrow to our
hearts. He leaves a great gap behind him. I hope that the friends far
from feeling disheartened and discouraged at such a great loss will
arise and redouble their efforts in order to compensate for the loss
which they have sustained. Kindly assure his relatives of my deep
grief, and my prayers for his departed soul.

January 6, 1930

Martha Root Visits India

…Miss Root is at present in Tehran and she does not
know just how long she will stay, but surely before leaving for India
she would inform you of her plans in time.

It is such a pity that Mr. Vakil is unwell. He is a man
we cannot spare just as the passing of Syed Jenab Ali leaves a
serious gap in Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

Miss Root will soon be with you, and I trust her visit
may lend a fresh impetus to your work of consolidation and spread of
the Cause. I will continue to pray for your efforts and activities
from the depths of my heart. Be not disheartened. Persevere in your
labours and rest assured that the Beloved will richly reward those
who stand firm in the Faith, and those who persevere in their
endeavours.

March 1, 1930

Miss Root has been delayed by the enthusiastic reception
she has received in Persia and she is now planning to visit southern
and eastern Persia where she has not yet been. We hope her visit to
India will prove of some value in attracting the attention of the
intelligent classes among the non-Baha’is, but perhaps the
political agitation will entirely defeat that purpose at the present
time.

April 26, 1930

He was very glad to hear of the activities of Miss
Martha Root in India and hopes that they will all bear some wonderful
fruits for the progress of the Cause in India. It is sure that with
the existence of the present political unrest in that country few are
ready to pay any attention to religious matters, but among the very
intelligent people there are undoubtedly people whose vision extends
further than the present difficulties and desire a spiritual rebirth
for that much divided and troubled nation. To these the Baha’i
teachings should undoubtedly present a much desired reform movement.
Anyhow Shoghi Effendi hopes that with the help of Miss Root you have
been able to approach such eminent persons and have sown in their
heart the seed of faith.

July 4, 1930

Concerning the trip of Miss Martha Root, we have already
heard about her activities from many sources. Shoghi Effendi
sincerely hopes that the National Assembly will undertake such
measures as would keep up the work and produce some tangible result
from her visit. It is very important to follow up the work that she
started and keep in touch with the people she has been able to
interest.

[From the Guardian:]

With the assurance of my deep appreciation of your many
and highly successful endeavours in connection with the visit of Miss
Root and of my fervent and loving prayers for your own happiness and
spiritual advancement.

September 19, 1930

Baha’i Representation at the
All-Asian Women’s Conference

Concerning Baha’i representation at the All-Asian
Women’s Conference; this is undoubtedly a most commendable
thing to do especially as the Cause has so much concerning the
position of women in society. Shoghi Effendi hopes that the National
Assembly will do its best to win the admiration of all the assembled
delegates for the teachings of the Cause along that line. We should
always take such opportunities that present themselves. May be we
would succeed to render some service to society and alleviate its
ills.

November 10, 1930

Shoghi Effendi hopes that with the combined efforts of
the friends and the Master’s infinite mercy a great success
will be achieved at both of the conferences. While visiting the
Blessed Shrines he will remember the delegates and ask for them
divine guidance. If presented properly the position of women in the
Baha’i teachings will surely attract much attention, for it is
not only legal but also spiritual and educational. Our ideals are so
high and at the same time so practicable that all other views will
fall short if compared to them.

Shoghi Effendi hopes that many will be able to attend
these conferences and render all the assistance they possibly can.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust that the message sent on behalf of the Greatest
Holy Leaf and myself has reached in time and been conveyed to the
members of the conference. May the Almighty Hand of Baha’u’llah
guide your steps and sustain your efforts in the manifold services
you are rendering to the Cause. I will continue to pray for you from
the depths of my heart.

January 7, 1931

Publication of the “Dawn-Breakers”

The Guardian has also received the account of the
National Fund of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is
of India & Burma and he read it with careful attention and deep
interest.

He was very pleased to learn with what self-sacrificing
efforts our Indian brothers are toiling and he fervently prays that
the Almighty may continually shower His blessings upon them that they
may be able to spread the Cause in the most rapid and in the most
efficient way.

Shoghi Effendi was particularly rejoiced at the
perseverance with which our talented Baha’i brother, Dr. Pritam
Singh, is carrying on his work in connection with the publication of
the “Baha’i Weekly”, copies of which he has
received and read with deepest interest.

You may have heard of the projected publication by the
Baha’i Publishing Committee of the book entitled “The
Dawn-Breakers” being Nabil’s narrative of the early days
of the Baha’i revelation, recently translated by the Guardian.
It is hoped that the Indian friends will order a few copies of this
highly valuable book and that they will send a few others to some of
the leading libraries in India and Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

My prayers will continue to be offered on behalf of the
loyal and self-sacrificing friends in India and Burma. Prof. Pritam
Singh’s notable and ever-increasing share in the
administrative, literary and financial activities of the Faith in
that land is a source of genuine and constant satisfaction. I would
specially request your Assembly to prepare a comprehensive and
detailed report on the activities and progress of the Faith in India
and Burma during the last two years, 1930–32, for inclusion in
the forthcoming issue of the Baha’i World. Will you kindly
forward the report to Mr. Horace Holley as soon as possible, as he
has been charged to draw up a survey similar to the one published in
the last volume. I would also urge the friends in India and Burma to
order as many copies of the “Dawn-Breakers” as they
possibly can as I regard its circulation of vital importance to the
Cause.

August 29, 1931

Advertisements in Baha’i
Periodicals

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to drop you these few lines to
draw your attention to a general principle he has laid down for all
the Baha’i periodicals, namely that they should be very careful
in selecting the advertisements they accept to publish. It should be
highly dignified, such as books for example, otherwise it would
detract from the dignity of the periodical itself. This may cause
certain difficulty in financially establishing the paper, but we
should face the sacrifice and not endanger the prestige of our
publications. He wishes you to take note of this general
recommendation in accepting advertisements for the Baha’i
Weekly.

January 7, 1932

Mrs. Ransom Kehler Visits India

Mrs. Ransom Kehler has informed us of her trip to India.
Shoghi Effendi hopes that the friends will give her all the necessary
facilities to make of her tour a real success. The report of her work
in Australia and New Zealand has been brilliant. There is no reason
why she should not do the same in India and Burma if she is given the
chance, and be put in touch with really open-minded and interested
people. In America she is considered among the first class national
teachers and is well informed as to the progress of modern thought
and the teachings of the Cause. May be she will be able to give a new
impetus to the teaching work….

He trusts that through the efforts of you and the other
members of the National Assembly the Cause will take a real lead in
uniting the different elements existing in India and turn the face of
its people to the light of God shining through Baha’u’llah.

[From the Guardian:]

Your most welcome letter interrupting a prolonged
silence on your part, has brought joy and strength to my heart. I
will most assuredly pray for your complete recovery, for in you the
Cause in India has an invaluable asset which I, for my part, greatly
value and prize. I trust and pray that Mrs. Kehler’s visit will
lend a fresh impetus to the work which you are so ably conducting. I
would certainly advise her to prolong her stay in your midst if it is
practicable for her to do so. It is a splendid opportunity which the
friends in India should utilize to the utmost possible extent. May
the Beloved bless and reinforce your high endeavours, remove every
obstacle from your path, and enable you at once to broaden and
reinforce the foundations of the Faith in that troubled land.

February 11, 1932

Shoghi Effendi was very glad to hear of the arrangements
you have made for the trip of Mrs. Ransom Kehler to India. Being
thoroughly familiar with the teachings and a competent speaker, she
should succeed to render wonderful services to the progress of the
movement in India. She could be easily ranked as a first class
teacher among the Baha’is of America and has been the cause of
guidance to innumerable souls. Guided and helped by Prof. Pritam
Singh she should be able to awaken many souls to the spirit and
teachings of Baha’u’llah.

March 12, 1932

Translation of Baha’u’llah
& the New Era

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to urge you to take as soon as you possibly can,
the necessary and most effective steps to ensure the translation of
Dr. Esslemont’s book into Urdu and Gujrati. I have already
expressed the desirability to have these translations to a number of
pilgrims, but so far my hopes have not materialized. This book has
already been translated and printed into eight different languages,
the latest being Russian, Hebrew and Chinese. The Persian, the
Albanian, the Bulgarian, the French and the Swedish versions will be
printed this year. I wish you to do all in your power to ensure the
speedy and correct translation of this book into these two languages,
and if necessary to hire the services of a competent non-Baha’i
translator. I shall be only too pleased to assist financially both
with regard to their translation and publication. May the Beloved
guide and assist you in this vital and important task.

March 12, 1932

Mrs. Kehler Visits Calcutta

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter dated March 14th 1932 informing him about the arrival of
Mrs. Ransom Kehler to Calcutta. He was very glad to know that her
visit was successful and that it has very much stimulated the
teaching work in that city. He sincerely hopes that as a consequence
a number of souls will enter the Cause and be inspired by its divine
teachings and ennobling spirit.

Such teachers of the Cause who, with all sincerity and
determination, undertake such long trips, should be very much helped
by the resident believers if real progress is to be achieved. They
ought to be assisted to reach important people speak to intelligent
and receptive audiences, and obtain interviews with persons whose
heart is open to the light of God. Otherwise, during their short stay
they would, like a helpless man in a strange country, be impotent to
achieve their purpose.

Shoghi Effendi is very glad the friends have taken the
necessary step to assist Mrs. Ransom Kehler by appointing Professor
Pritam Singh to accompany her in her trip through India. May God help
her and help you in proclaiming the Word of God through the length
and breadth of that vast land.

March 28, 1932

He was very glad to learn of the plans you made for Mrs.
Ransom Kehler. He sincerely hopes that in these meetings and public
lectures delivered in so many cities, she has been able to attract
some new souls to the Cause and confirm people who until now have
been merely interested. We should admit, however, that the time at
her disposal was too short to give her the chance of doing her best.
A teacher ought to remain at least a few months in the same city if
he wants to really confirm souls. Mere passing and giving a lecture
or two is not sufficient unless there are resident Baha’is to
continue the work that was merely started. Anyhow Mrs. Ransom Kehler
is expected to reach Haifa in about 3 weeks and Shoghi Effendi will
hear the report of her journey from herself.

Translation of Baha’u’llah
and the New Era

The Guardian was very glad to learn of your quick
response to his expressed desire in having Dr. Esslemont’s book
translated into Urdu and Gujrati. As he comes to learn from one of
the Parsee pilgrims here in Haifa, the book has already been
translated by a competent Baha’i in India into Gujrati. So
there remains only Urdu. So Shoghi Effendi wishes you to concentrate
upon having the book translated only into Urdu.

[From the Guardian:]

I wish you to concentrate your efforts on the completion
of the Urdu version of Dr. Esslemont’s book, and to take the
necessary step for its early publication. I shall be only too glad to
assist financially in its printing as soon as its translation is
completed. I also desire to stress the paramount importance of
following up the valuable work accomplished by Mrs. Kehler and which
I hope other international Baha’i teachers will reinforce. How
vast is the field and how small the number of competent teachers!
Baha’u’llah will however bless and crown our efforts with
success if we persevere and labour with unabated confidence and
vigour.

April 5, 1932

Need of Baha’i Teachers all
over the World

He sincerely hopes that as a result of her (Mrs.
Kehler’s) trip the Cause will make a great progress in India
and many souls will be drawn into the Cause. It was surely very nice
and wise on the part of the National Assembly to appoint Mr. Pritam
Singh to travel with her and help her make openings into intellectual
circles. It is unfortunate, however, that she cannot stay long in
every centre and make really confirmed believers such as she did in
certain centres in Australia. But perhaps the National Assembly will
attend to that task and keeping in touch with persons she will
interest, and gradually make them embrace the Faith and lend a help
towards its progress. We need teachers in every part of the world,
and as those who are in active service are few we should create some
from the material we have. It is the work of the N.S.A. to attend to
such matters and develop some of our young Baha’is into
competent teachers. Baha’u’llah and the New Era to be
Translated into Urdu & Hindi

In a previous letter I informed you on behalf of Shoghi
Effendi that as we already have a translation of Dr. Esslemont’s
book into Gujrati, you concentrate your efforts on having it rendered
only into Urdu, so that the work may soon be completed and published.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust you have by now taken the necessary steps for a
prompt and careful translation of the book into Urdu. This service
will, I am sure, be an added blessing to the masses of India, whom
you are striving so devotedly and energetically to arouse and teach.
May it prove a prelude to an intensive and fruitful teaching campaign
that shall bring in its wake enlightenment, peace and hope to the
distracted multitudes of that agitated country.

April 12, 1932

Even though we can refer to a non-Baha’i when we
have no one among the friends to undertake a proper work of
translation, yet it is always preferable to have it accomplished by a
person who is imbued with the spirit and is already familiar with the
different expressions of Baha’i conceptions unfamiliar to a
non-Baha’i. Shoghi Effendi wishes him success and will pray for
his guidance.

Mrs. Ransom Kehler is now in Haifa taking some rest
before starting for Persia, where she expects to stay a few months.
Shoghi Effendi was very glad to hear of her great success in India.
He hopes that she will after Persia pay another visit to that country
and resume the work she has started. She is surely a very competent
teacher and well versed in the Writings.

[From the Guardian:]

I trust and pray that you will be enabled to start
promptly the publication of the Hindi translation on one hand, and to
ensure, on the other, the early completion of the Urdu version, both
of which, I feel are indispensable preliminaries to an intensive
teaching campaign among the great masses of the Indian people. I am
confident that the publication of the Gujrati version together with
these and the Burmese translations, will reinforce the impetus which
the projected visit of Mrs. Kehler to India next autumn will lend to
the onward march of our beloved Cause in India. May the Almighty
reinforce your labours and bless your high endeavours.

May 31, 1932

He is very glad to know that the different translations
of Dr. Esslemont’s book, that you have undertaken to have made,
are progressing rapidly. He sincerely hopes that before long they
will be passed through the press and be ready for distribution.

Even though the book was written by a Christian and was
meant to be for people of that Faith to read, yet it is a very fine
presentation of the teachings as a whole and might prove interesting
to other people as well.

Shoghi Effendi surely hopes that before long the Cause
may produce scholars that would write books which would be far deeper
and more universal in scope, but for the present this is the best we
possess to give a general idea as to the history and teachings of the
Faith to new seekers. After reading this they get the necessary
introduction to delve more deeply into the fundamental tenets such as
are explained in the Iqan.

Shoghi Effendi hopes that these books will greatly
stimulate the teaching work in India and become the cause of guidance
to many sincere souls.

Passing Away of the Greatest Holy
Leaf

The Guardian wishes me also to thank you for your kind
words of sympathy in connection with the passing away of the Greatest
Holy Leaf. This great loss will be felt by every Baha’i but
especially the pilgrims to whom she used to be such a source of
inspiration and joy. All those who met her left her presence with a
new spirit and a firm determination to serve the Cause for which she
suffered so much and whose progress was so near to her heart.

What the Guardian is glad about is that her passing is
creating a new spirit among the friends and arousing them to greater
effort. May her death do for the progress of the Faith as much as her
life did.

Publication of Baha’u’llah
& the New Era

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to emphasize afresh the vital necessity of
speeding up the work of the translation and publication of the
Gujrati, the Urdu and the Hindi versions of the ‘New Era’,
a book that has already been published into 14 different languages
and is being translated into sixteen additional tongues. I am deeply
appreciative of what you have already achieved, and wish to assure
you of my continued prayers for the success of your painstaking
efforts and the realization of your dearest wish in the service of
our beloved Faith.

October 19, 1932

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to communicate with you to
inquire regarding the Hindi and Urdu translations of Dr. Esslemont’s
book. It is sometime that he has had no definite word as to the
progress of that work which you have so kindly undertaken to
supervise. He sincerely hopes that gradually that task will be
successfully achieved and that they will be ready to be submitted to
the printers and then to the readers who may be anxiously awaiting to
study them and benefit from their contents.

This work once completed will become a great stimulus to
the teaching activities of the friends, for books can do infinitely
more work than teachers. Sitting in a chair in a solitary corner one
is infinitely more receptive to truth than in a lecture hall or in a
discussion group. The public has learned the habit of reading. It is
through that channel therefore that we have to approach them.

November 19, 1932

He was very glad to obtain some news regarding the
translation of Dr. Esslemont’s book into Urdu and Hindi, for he
feels deeply interested in the work. He feels that it is only when
such books are accessible to the public that the Cause will begin to
spread and its followers increase in number.

He, therefore, wishes you to exert your effort along
that line so that the task may be achieved properly and without any
needless delay. Also please keep him informed regarding any new
development or any progress made.

We do not now have any pilgrims, but the news we receive
from different parts of the world show great progress achieved by the
friends. Even though material conditions in some instances hamper
their activities to an appreciable extent, yet their devotion and
self-sacrifice are daily winning for them the admiration and sympathy
of the world around them. Every day a new group is formed and new
souls attracted to the faith.

[From the Guardian:]

I grieve to learn of the delay in the translation and
publication of the various translations of Dr. Esslemont’s
valuable book, and I urge you to do all you possibly can to hasten
the realization of our cherished hopes—hopes which when
fulfilled will no doubt lend a great and fresh impetus to the
advancement of the Faith in that land. I am enclosing a copy of my
recent letter concerning the Greatest Holy Leaf and the measures
which, I feel, must be taken by the friends in Persia preliminary to
the formation of the House of Justice.

January 10, 1933

Baha’i Center in Calcutta

He sincerely hopes that through God’s infinite
blessings the necessary sum will be forthcoming and that in time a
Center worthy of the prestige and name of the Cause will be purchased
or built.

Such institutions greatly help the spread of the Faith,
for there will be a permanent place where the interested souls can go
for information. It also operates as the center of the different
activities of the Spiritual Assembly of that locality.

In his moments of prayer at the Blessed Shrines, the
Guardian will think of you as well as of the other friends in that
locality and ask for you all divine guidance and help.

He was also delighted to hear that three new souls have
accepted the Faith in Calcutta. He hopes that before long we will
have large groups, comprising hundreds of earnest and seeking souls,
enter the Cause and take part in spreading the Message. Please assure
the three of them of Shoghi Effendi’s loving greetings.

February 8, 1933 Translation of Baha’u’llah
& the New Era into Burmese

Shoghi Effendi wishes me to write you this short note to
enclose a check for thirty pounds.

This is his contribution towards the publication of the
translation of Dr. Esslemont’s book into Burmese which has been
made by Sayed Mustafa Rumi. Please inform the latter about its
receipt because he has asked the Guardian to send this contribution
through you and he may be anxious to receive this news.

March 1, 1933

He was very glad to learn that the Burmese translation
has been completed and that it is now in the hands of the printers.

Now the translation into Burmese and Gujrati have been
completed and the latter is even printed and circulated the Guardian
feels we should concentrate upon the Hindi and Urdu translations. We
should not permit so much unnecessary delay. If one way seems closed
or difficult we could try another and strive for the speedy
completion of those books. The more we see the crying need of the
world for the spiritual teachings of our Faith the more restless we
should feel in giving out the Message and improving the means of
diffusing the precepts of the Cause.

In his moments of prayers at the Blessed Shrines the
Guardian will think of you and ask God to guide and sustain your
efforts. He knows fully how difficult it is these days to bring a
task to a speedy and successful conclusion, but to a person who is
determined and lays his trust in God nothing is impossible.

Teaching Among the Masses in India

[From the Guardian:]

I rejoice to hear of the steps that are being taken for
the printing of the Burmese edition of the ‘New Era’ but
deplore the delay in the translation of the book into Hindi and Urdu.
The Gujrati copies have already been placed in the library of the
Mansion at Bahji, and I long with all my heart to witness these
remaining translations in their final and printed form, side by side
with the nineteen printed versions which have already been collected
and distributed throughout the world. I would urge you to concentrate
your energy on this important and essential preliminary to an
intensive campaign of teaching among the masses in India. Persevere
and rest assured that my prayers will continue to be offered on your
behalf.

March 24, 1933

He was very glad to receive the Gujrati translation of
Dr. Esslemont’s book, and he hopes that through your efforts
the Hindi and Urdu translation of it will soon be ready for
publication. As you may know, this work has already been translated
into 19 different languages and its rendering into 11 others will be
soon completed. This is really encouraging.

[From the Guardian:]

I long to hear from you and of the progress of your
devoted and incessant activities in the service of our beloved Faith.
I am also eager to receive the good news of the completion of the
translation and early publication of the Urdu and Hindi versions of
the ‘New Era’. The utmost effort should be exerted to
ensure the consummation of this work which, I feel, must precede an
intensive teaching campaign among the masses in India. I am arranging
for Mrs. Kehler to visit southern Persia this autumn after which she
is expecting to visit India, this winter.

June 8, 1933

Baha’i Magazine

He was particularly glad to learn that some of our
Indian friends have encouraged you to start a fortnightly paper on
the Cause. The idea is, undoubtedly, most genuine and meets with our
Guardian’s wholehearted approval. He wishes you, however, not
to act hurriedly, to take all the necessary steps which can insure
its safety and development. Such projects are not so easy to carry
out, especially in these days when the economic crisis is getting so
acute. At any rate, if you find that your financial conditions allow
you to undertake such an important work, you should persevere in your
efforts and try to make your paper an indispensable adjunct to the
teaching activities of the friends.

The Guardian hopes that you will be more successful in
this, your second attempt. The unexpected death of the ‘Baha’i
Weekly’, he feels, had badly affected the prestige of the
Cause. It is hoped that your new fortnightly paper will enable all to
appreciate more adequately the divine potency with which it is
endowed.

Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, who has been doing such a fine
work in Persia, is planning to leave for India at the beginning of
winter. Her presence among you will be certainly appreciated. She is
such a wonderful soul, so devoted, so active and so capable. The
Guardian hopes that you will make the utmost use of her stay in
India.

[From the Guardian:]

Your unswerving loyalty and inflexible resolve to carry
on the work you have so nobly initiated are indeed worthy of the
highest praise. I will pray for your success and the steady and
uninterrupted progress of your activities whenever I lay my head on
the sacred Threshold and will supplicate for you all the strength and
guidance you need for the prosecution of your task. The friends in
India and Burma should bestir themselves and, under the guidance and
by the aid of the National Assembly prepare the way for the
forthcoming visit of our able and brilliant international teacher
Mrs. Kehler. May the Lord sustain and guide them in their endeavours
and reward them for their acts of self-sacrifice in His Path.

June 13, 1933

Publication of Baha’u’llah
& the New Era

As regards the Urdu translation of Dr. Esslemont’s
book, Shoghi Effendi wishes you to make all the necessary effort to
have it published as soon as possible. He is fully aware of the
difficulties that have caused an inevitable delay in the publication
of this highly important work, but he feels certain that, through
your perseverance and through the kind and invaluable assistance of
Prof. Pritam Singh … the translation will be soon completed and be
ready for publication.

The Guardian would like you also to take all the
necessary steps for the Hindi translation of this same work. It is
hoped that no delay will be caused this time.

[From the Guardian:]

The Serbian and Hungarian versions of “The New
Era” have been recently published through the efforts of Martha
Root. The Rumanian translation has been undertaken and the Greek
version will soon be started. I long to see the Urdu, the Hindi and
the Burmese versions in print and circulated among the masses of the
Indian people. Persevere and redouble in your efforts.

August 6, 1933

Shoghi Effendi was deeply gratified to learn of the
important steps you have taken for the translation and publication of
Dr. Esslemont’s book into Hindi. He has greatly appreciated the
assistance of Dr. Kaushal Kishore, and sincerely trusts that through
your combined efforts the work will be soon completed and will be
ready for circulation. In a recent communication to the Guardian, our
devoted friend Siyyid, Mustafa Rumi, has given the news of the
publication of this same book in Burmese. It is hoped that this will
serve to encourage our Indian believers to follow his example.

[From the Guardian:]

I am so pleased and grateful to you for your incessant
efforts in connexion with the translation and publication of the ‘New
Era’, and I am deeply gratified to learn of the progress
already achieved. I will continue to pray for the speedy realization
of your hopes, plans and wishes in the service of this glorious
Faith.

September 10, 1933

Passing Away of Brilliant
Teacher—Mrs. Kehler

The sudden passing of that wholly-consecrated and
brilliant teacher and international promoter of the Cause Mrs. Keith
Ransom-Kehler, has plunged Shoghi Effendi into deepest sorrow for in
her he has lost not only a valuable co-worker but a dear friend.
After more than a year of intense teaching work in Persia, where she
was entrusted by the Guardian with the mission of acquainting our
Persian brethren with the basic principles of the Administration and
of liberating them from the appalling persecutions to which they have
been lately subjected, our precious Keith left this world under so
tragic circumstances that she was given by the Guardian the title of
the first western martyr on Persian soil, and was raised by him to
the station of one of the Hands of the Cause. Her deep-rooted and
unshakable faith, her unqualified loyalty to the Cause of the
Administration and her profound knowledge of the Teachings, all these
fully entitle her to occupy such an eminent rank among the faithful.

Our Indian friends, who have been so appreciative of her
last visit to them, must have been particularly affected by such an
irretrievable loss. May the memory of her services inspire them to
follow in her footsteps, and to tread the path of service as firmly
and as successfully as she did.

Twentyfive Printed Versions of
Baha’u’llah & the New Era

[From the Guardian:]

I am so eager to receive the news of the completion and
publication of the Hindi and Urdu versions of the “New Era”,
and it will please and encourage you to know that we have already
twentyfive different printed versions of this precious book
translated into Eastern and Western tongues.

November 26, 1933

Registration of Bombay Assembly

The Guardian was greatly pleased to read the minutes of
the last meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is
of India and Burma and he wishes me to express his genuine
appreciation of the important steps which your Assembly has taken for
the further extension and consolidation of the administrative
institutions of the Faith in that country. He would be very grateful
if you send him regularly the minutes of the meetings of the N.S.A.
and he would be only too glad to offer any suggestion or advice which
may help its members to better discharge their manifold and delicate
functions. He sincerely hopes that your Assembly will meet as
regularly and as frequently as possible in order to maintain the
efficiency of its functioning and to raise the standard and to widen
the scope of its activities.

The important decision of the N.S.A. relative to the
registration of the Bombay Assembly as a recognized religious body
is, in the Guardian’s opinion, a leading step towards the
official recognition of the Cause as an independent religious
organisation by the Government authorities both in India and Burma.
He would strongly urge, however, that the constitution to be adopted
should not only be based on that which the New York Assembly has
adopted for its own registration but should reproduce it identically
without any change whatsoever but with due consideration to all local
and geographical differences.

The Guardian wishes also to stress the necessity of
completing the Urdu and the Hindi translations of Dr. Esslemont’s
‘New Era’. He has already, in several communications
addressed to Mr. N.R. Vakil, requested him to take all the necessary
steps in this direction. May the decision of the N.S.A. on this point
hasten and insure the completion of this task to which the Guardian
has so repeatedly drawn the attention of the friends.

December 27, 1933

Bedrock of Baha’i
Administrative Order

The Guardian was very pleased to learn of the progress
done by the Indian N.S.A. in its efforts to consolidate, widen and
maintain the scope of its national activities. The difficulties in
your way are tremendous. The differences of language and of social
and intellectual background do, undoubtedly, render the work somewhat
difficult to carry out and may temporarily check the efficient and
smooth working of the national administrative machinery of the Faith.
They, nevertheless, impart to the deliberations of the National
Assembly a universality which they would be otherwise lacking, and
give to its members a breadth of view which is their duty to
cultivate and foster. It is not uniformity which we should seek in
the formation of any national or local assembly. For the bedrock of
the Baha’i administrative order is the principle of unity in
diversity, which has been so strongly and so repeatedly emphasized in
the writings of the Cause. Differences which are not fundamental and
contrary to the basic teachings of the Cause should be maintained,
while the underlying unity of the administrative order should be at
any cost preserved and insured. Unity, both of purpose and of means
is, indeed, indispensable to the safe and speedy working of every
Assembly, whether local or national.

Another factor which, in the Guardian’s opinion,
is essential to the development of your N.S.A. is the holding of
frequent meetings. Although the members are stationed at great
distances from one another, yet they can communicate through
correspondence. It is not necessary that all the members should be
present in all the sessions. Those who for some reason or another are
unable to attend in person the meetings of the N.S.A., can express
their views in a written form and send them to the Assembly. The main
point is that your national activities should not be let to suffer in
any way, and its work be retarded and postponed because of such
necessarily unimportant and secondary considerations.

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to assure you in person of my prayers for the
removal of the difficulties, domestic and otherwise, that beset your
path in these days. I will supplicate the Almighty to guide you in
your manifold and valuable activities in the service of His Faith, to
cheer your heart, and to deepen your understanding of the
fundamentals of His Faith. You should concentrate your efforts at the
present time on whatever will, in your opinion reinforce the basis
and extend the influence, of the administrative institutions and the
teaching activities of the Faith. The Cause will, no doubt, surmount
the obstacles that now hinder its growth and will establish its
ascendency in the fulness of time and at the appointed hour. We
should persevere and never feel disheartened.

January 2, 1934

Accept Justified Resignation

The N.S.A. cannot refuse accepting a resignation when it
is well justified, and when it is done not with the purpose of
shirking responsibility but with the intention of giving a chance to
others to prove themselves worthy of occupying responsible posts in
the administrative field.

April 10, 1934

Revival of the Spirit of Fellowship

The resolutions passed by your N.S.A. at its recent
meeting at Delhi have given him sufficient evidence of the new spirit
that has come to animate its members. It is his hope that through the
continued development of that same spirit your Assembly will be
enabled to do more effective work for the Cause.

[From the Guardian:]

The splendid resolutions passed by the National Assembly
at Delhi are admirable and indicate the revival of the spirit of
fellowship and determination to consolidate the administrative basis
of the Faith in India and Burma. I am eagerly anticipating to hear
the news that these resolutions have been duly carried out,
particularly regarding the incorporation of the Bombay Assembly and
the translation and publication of the New Era into Urdu and Sindhi.

May 29, 1934

Changes in Membership of Baha’i
Assemblies

He fully agrees with the Bombay Assembly that they are
in need of an English-speaking Secretary, in view of the increasingly
large volume of correspondence they receive in English. But he feels
that this emergency does not afford sufficient justification to any
believer or Assembly to make the slightest departure from the
recognized and duly established principles governing the election of
the members of any Assembly, whether local or national. If the Bombay
Assembly feels it necessary to have a Secretary for the English
correspondence they can appoint an Assistant Secretary from outside
the Assembly. It is only the body of Baha’i electors who can
bring about any change in the membership of the Assembly, and this
during the Ridvan feast which for all administrative purposes is the
beginning of the Baha’i Year.

June 5, 1934

Intensify Teaching Throughout India

He notes with deep satisfaction the important steps
taken by your N.S.A. for intensifying the spread of the Cause
throughout India and Burma, and particularly values the encouragement
and help which they have extended to dear Mr. Pritam Singh in his
teaching tour in Northern India. He is praying from the depth of his
heart for the success of this trip, as well as for the speedy and
complete materialisation of the plans which you, in close
collaboration with your fellow-members in the National Assembly, are
initiating for the wider diffusion of the teachings throughout your
country.

He fully appreciates, indeed, the suggestions you have
offered him in this connection. The lack of competent teachers is no
doubt a serious obstacle facing the Indian believers at present. But
it is by no means the most difficult problem with which they have to
deal. The essential is that all the friends, without any exception
whatever, should realise the full measure of the responsibility which
Baha’u’llah has placed on them for teaching far and wide
His Message. It is only through such an awakened consciousness of
their heavy and sacred responsibilities and duties that the believers
can hope to effectively promote and safeguard the interests of the
Cause. The Baha’i era is thus the age of individual
responsibility—the age in which everyone is called to consider
the spread of the Cause as his most sacred and vital obligation.

This is the point which the Guardian wishes your
Assembly to emphasize in connection with the problem of teaching in
India. He hopes that through their collective efforts a new zeal for
teaching will come to animate the entire community of the believers
throughout India and Burma.

Shoghi Effendi approves of your suggestion to utilize
the fifty pounds which he sent to you, for the publication of the
Bengali translation of the “New Era”. He hopes that this
work will soon be ready for distribution.

November 25, 1934 “Kitab-i-Iqan” Translated
in Many Languages

I am directed by the Guardian to request you to kindly
mail to his address five copies of the Urdu translation of the
“Kitab-i-Iqan” (Book of Certitude).

You will certainly be interested to know that the Iqan
has already been translated and published into Russian, English,
French, German, Chinese, Albanian, Urdu and Braille. Steps have also
been taken for its rendering and publication into Arabic, Armenian,
Swedish and Danish.

November 27, 1934

Persecution of the Baha’is in
Iran

The persecutions from which the Persian friends are now
suffering represent, indeed, the culmination in the long and
nation-wide campaign which the authorities in that country have
during the last two years launched against the Faith. In many of its
aspects this campaign is reminiscent of the persecutions suffered by
the early Babis,…

The first incident which led to this outburst of fierce
antagonism on the part of the Government was in connection with the
Tarbiat Schools in Tehran. The school authorities having, after due
consultation with the N.S.A. and in strict conformity with the
principle governing the observance of Baha’i holidays, decided
to close the schools on the occasion of the celebration of the
anniversary of Bab’s martyrdom, the authorities in the capital
immediately issued orders that the schools be permanently closed, and
that also no public meetings of any kind be held by the believers.
This has been done in spite of the fact that other religious
communities, such as the Muslims and the Zoroastrians, are allowed to
celebrate their own feasts, and as such enjoy full religious freedom.
Similar orders were issued to the believers in all other parts of
Persia, with the result that today the friends find their activities
in Persia completely paralyzed. Their schools have all been
definitely closed, their meetings suspended, their correspondence
intercepted, and their assemblies and committees for the most part
dissolved.

The situation, as it stands at present, is highly
disconcerting. The friends, however, faithful to the injunctions of
the Master regarding obedience to government in all administrative
matters as distinguished from those affecting their conscience and
loyalty to the Cause strictly adhere to the laws and orders of the
government. Their sole hope is the assurance that in due time all
these restrictions are bound to disappear….

In the meantime, the Guardian would urge all the friends
to patiently and prayerfully wait until these sad happenings take
their due course. For the history of the Cause, particularly in
Persia, is a clear illustration of the truth that such persecutions
invariably serve to strengthen the believers in their faith, by
stimulating the spiritual powers latent in their hearts, and by
awakening in them a new and deeper consciousness of their duties and
responsibilities towards the Faith. Indeed, the mere progress of the
Cause, by provoking the hatreds and jealousies of peoples and
nations, creates for itself such difficulties and obstacles as only
its divine spirit can overcome. Abdu’l-Baha has emphatically
stated that the enmity and opposition of the world will increase in
direct proportion to the extension and progress of the Faith. The
greater the zeal of the believers and the more striking the effect of
their achievements, the fiercer will be the opposition of the enemy.

Many are the passages in the Writings of Baha’u’llah
wherein He foreshadows the persecutions awaiting His Faith. But side
by side with such emphatic predictions is the assurance that out of
these sufferings and trials His Cause will emerge triumphant and
purified. May we not, therefore, gather strength from such an
assurance, and with hearts filled with confident and joyous hope
arise to fulfil our part in the establishment of His Cause?

January 20, 1935

Training of Baha’i Teachers

With regard to the teaching outline you had enclosed,
Shoghi Effendi has read it with interest and appreciation and wishes
me to assure you of his whole-hearted approval. The method you have
adopted for the training of Baha’i teachers is, indeed, very
similar to the one used by the American friends. It is very thorough,
yet clear and highly effective. The Guardian trusts that the
believers in India and Burma will make full use of your Assembly’s
suggestions and directions, and in this way help in inaugurating a
new and effective teaching campaign throughout India and Burma.

July 8, 1935

Registration of L.S.A. of Karachi

He has been particularly pleased and encouraged to
receive the copy of the Certificate of Registration of the Karachi
Baha’i Assembly, and is eagerly awaiting for the registration
papers of the Delhi and Rangoon Spiritual Assemblies. He hopes that
the N.S.A. will expedite the matter of legalizing all the Local
Assemblies of India and Burma and in this way insure the stability of
the administrative institutions of the Cause in these two countries.

August 12, 1935

Formation of an Assembly in Lahore

He is pleased to learn of the possibility of
establishing an Assembly in Lahore in the near future. He would urge
you, and through you your fellow-members in the N.S.A., to make a
special effort to bring about such a formation as soon as conditions
are found to be favourable. He hopes that the establishment of a
local Assembly in so important and central a town in India will
greatly help the expansion of the Faith, and will consolidate the
foundations of its institutions throughout that country.

October 17, 1935 Historic Step in Development of
Administrative Order

He wishes me to congratulate you, and through you your
fellow-members in the N.S.A., for the steps you have taken for the
registration of the Delhi, Calcutta, Rangoon and other local
Assemblies. He hopes that by the end of the year six out of the eight
Assemblies will be duly registered. Needless to say that the
obtention of such an official recognition from the authorities is an
historic step in the development of the Administrative Order of the
Faith throughout India and Burma, and one which shall greatly enhance
its prestige, and consolidate its position in the eyes of the public.
May Baha’u’llah continue to guide and assist your efforts
for the fulfilment of this task.

The Guardian is also very much gratified to learn that
the N.S.A. is considering the possibility of establishing a local
Assembly in Lucknow. He trusts that in Jaunpur too an Assembly will
be formed very soon, and that through these two valuable additions to
the list of local Baha’i Assemblies, the administrative work of
the Cause in India will make further and steady advancement.

In connection with the Teaching School which the N.S.A.
is planning to start, the Guardian wishes me to express his approval,
as well as his appreciation of this important action taken by your
Assembly for the extension of their teaching work. He is also very
pleased at the news of the teaching tour undertaken by Prof. Pritam
Singh throughout Northern India and Bengal. He is praying for the
success of this trip, and cherishes the hope that it may serve to
bring into the Cause people of capacity and of true spiritual vision.

Circulation of Abdu’l-Baha’s
Photographs

Regarding the use of Abdu’l-Baha’s
photographs; Shoghi Effendi sees no objection to their circulation.
He would, however, suggest that the Paris photograph be used, as well
as the American reproduction of it, printed on yellow paper with a
quotation from the Kitab-i-Ahd at the bottom.

Splendid Initiative

[From the Guardian:]

My heart swells with pride and gratitude as I witness,
in rapid succession and with ever-increasing dearness, the evidences
of the splendid initiative, the unwavering determination and
solidarity which have characterized your accomplishments in recent
months. The National Assembly of India and Burma may be said to have
resuscitated our Cause and its institutions throughout the length and
breadth of that land. A mighty power whose source is centred in
Baha’u’llah Himself is copiously flowing through and
permeating the various organs of the Administrative Order of His
Faith in both India and Burma. You and your collaborators stand on
the threshold of unparalleled achievements. I cannot but congratulate
you on the start you have made and on your choice of the path, which,
after so many trials and vicissitudes, you are so confidently
treading. Persevere, and be happy and thankful to Baha’u’llah.

November 15, 1935

Baha’i Holidays must be
Observed

The Guardian … feels truly delighted at the news of
the splendid meetings that were held in Bombay in honour of the
anniversary of the birthday of His Holiness Baha’u’llah.
This fresh evidence of the loyalty and devotion with which the Bombay
friends are upholding the institutions of the Faith is highly
gratifying and encouraging to him, indeed.

But he cannot but deplore the fact that some of the
believers are reluctant to observe, as strictly as they should, the
Feasts and anniversaries prescribed by the Cause. This attitude,
which may be justified in certain exceptional circumstances, is
fraught with incalculable dangers and harm to the community, and
will, if allowed to persist, seriously endanger its influence and
prestige in the public eye. Unity of action, in matters of so vital
an importance as the observance of Baha’i holidays, is
essential. It is the responsibility of the N.S.A. to remind and urge
the friends to faithfully carry out all such laws and precepts of the
Cause, the enforcement of which does not constitute an open violation
of the laws of their country.

[From the Guardian:]

The striking evidences of renewed Baha’i activity
throughout India and Burma, the recent manifestations of loyalty,
solidarity and self-sacrifice on the part of individuals, groups and
Assemblies in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha’i
service, rejoice my heart and revive and enliven my hopes for the
future of that land. The friends in India and Burma have made a
splendid start. They have laid a firm foundation within the framework
of the administrative order of our Faith. They have weathered
manifold and distressing difficulties and successfully surmounted
formidable obstacles. A new era is opening before them. I have no
doubt that they will rise to the height of the occasion, and will
prove themselves worthy of their high destiny.

November 22, 1935

Effective Publicity Throughout India

He feels greatly rejoiced at the important steps you
have taken for giving the Cause a wide and effective publicity
throughout India. He has read with much interest the newspaper
clipping which you had enclosed, and sincerely hopes that your
masterly sketch of the history and teachings of the Cause will serve
to attract leading personalities among the Indian public to the
Faith.

Regarding the publication of the Hindi, Sindhi and
Bengali translations of “Baha’u’llah and the New
Era,” the Guardian very much appreciates your N.S.A.’s
response to his call for speeding up the printing of these works
which, he hopes, will, when widely circulated throughout the country
open a new era of unprecedented teaching activity not only in India
and Burma, but also in Ceylon and other neighbouring countries.

January 3, 1936

He feels really proud of you and of your distinguished
and able co-workers in the National Assembly for the unity,
efficiency and zeal with which you are labouring for the
consolidation of the Administration throughout India and Burma. He is
convinced that your sustained and collective efforts in this
connection will soon result in ushering in a new era in the history
of the Cause in that country.

Correspondence with the Guardian

The N.S.A. should, indeed, advise the believers to
lessen their correspondence with the Guardian. But under no
circumstances it can prevent them from writing to him. For this is a
sacred right and a supreme privilege which every believer can rightly
claim to possess, as through it alone he can get in direct touch with
his Guardian. If individuals feel, after the advice of the N.S.A. to
lessen correspondence, an inner urge to write to the Guardian they
should not be prevented or discouraged.

“New-Era” in Sindhi &
Bengali Printed

Shoghi Effendi is delighted to learn that the Sindhi and
the Bengali translations of the “New Era” have been
already sent to the press. He hopes that the Hindi version will also
be completed very soon. He is also very pleased that the N.S.A. is
taking the necessary steps for presenting to the authorities the
pamphlet regarding various laws and ordinances of the Cause on
matters of personal status. He sincerely hopes that the bill you are
planning to submit to the government will be approved. He is eagerly
awaiting to read the text himself.

Union With Loved Ones in the Next
World

…the possibility of securing union with his beloved in
the next world is one which the Baha’i Teachings are quite
clear about. According to Baha’u’llah the soul retains
its individuality and consciousness after death, and is able to
commune with other souls. This communion, however, is purely
spiritual in character, and is conditioned upon the disinterested and
selfless love of the individuals for each other. Effort in the Field
of Teaching Urgently Required

[From the Guardian:]

The evidences of the rise, the consolidation, and
expansion of the Administrative Order of our beloved Faith in India
and Burma are highly significant and most encouraging. The
incorporation of several local Assemblies is of historic importance.
Reproduction of all the Certificates of Incorporation will adorn the
pages of the forthcoming Biennial. Now that the basis of Baha’i
institutions has been firmly laid, an unprecedented effort in the
field of teaching is urgently required. Such an effort is of vital
and paramount importance. May the Almighty sustain, inspire and guide
you in this meritorious endeavour.

March 10, 1936

…He would also appeal to all the friends to lend full
and continued support to the Cause of teaching throughout India. He
would suggest that those believers who have the means and the
necessary physical requirements, to settle in those localities where
the light of the Cause has not yet penetrated, with the view of
establishing a new group. This, he feels, is a very effective way of
spreading the Cause in a vast and exceptionally varied country like
India.

Voting is Sacred Obligation

Regarding voting; it is not only the right but the
sacred obligation of every member of any Baha’i administrative
body, whether permanent, or temporary like the Convention, to fully
and freely exercise this function. Abstention from voting is, as a
rule, not advisable, as it implies a shirking of responsibility which
every loyal and conscientious believer should consider it a privilege
to shoulder.

It is But a Beginning

[From the Guardian:]

The work thus far achieved, in both the teaching and
administrative spheres of Baha’i service, is highly reassuring
and truly meritorious in the sight of God. It is but a beginning
however. Much remains to be achieved. A systematic effort, aiming at
the settlement of individual believers in those states and provinces
of India where the banner of the Faith has not yet been hoisted, must
be deliberately exerted and vigorously sustained. Southern India
particularly, the island of Ceylon and other outlying centres on the
fringe of the Indian Empire as well as within its very heart should
be won over, through your strenuous, constant and devoted labours, to
the ever-advancing Cause of Baha’u’llah. To extend the
outposts of our far-flung Faith should be your immediate objective.

May 31, 1936

Daidanaw Baha’i School

Much as he realizes the heavy and ever-increasing
expenses which your Assembly is incurring, particularly in these hard
times, he feels nevertheless the urge to impress upon you the vital
necessity for the Indian and Burmese believers to help in maintaining
this Baha’i school in Daidanaw which, in addition to the
educational advantages it offers to the Baha’is, can be of
great help in promoting the cause of teaching throughout Burma.

In view of that the Guardian wishes you to lay this
matter before the N.S.A. and to urge them to give it their careful
consideration. He himself is sending through the care of Siyyid
Mustafa Roumie, thirty pounds as his contribution towards the upkeep
of the school at Daidanaw.

July 10, 1936

Two Main Principles to Follow

With regard to the problems confronting the believers;
these, the Guardian fully realizes, are by no means easy to solve.
But the friends should be confident that the very progress of the
Cause will enable them to find the necessary solution to the
difficulties which appear now to so seriously puzzle their minds.

There are two main principles which the Guardian wishes
the friends to always bear in mind and to conscientiously and
faithfully follow. First is the principle of unqualified and
whole-hearted loyalty to the revealed Word. The believers should be
careful not to deviate, even a hair-breadth, from the Teachings.
Their supreme consideration should be to safeguard the purity of the
principles, tenets and laws of the Faith. It is only by this means
that they can hope to maintain the organic unity of the Cause. There
can and should be no liberals or conservatives, no moderates or
extremes in the Cause. For they are all subject to the one and the
same law which is the Law of God. This law transcends all
differences, all personal or local tendencies, moods and aspirations.

Next is the principle of complete, and immediate
obedience to the Assemblies, both local and national. It is the
responsibility of these Baha’i administrative bodies to enable
the community to acquire, and increasingly deepen in the knowledge
and understanding of the Cause. Doctrinal unity and administrative
unity, these are the two chief pillars that sustain the edifice of
the Cause, and protect it from the storms of opposition which so
severely rage against it.

September 5, 1936

Visit of Mr. Schopflocher to India

I am addressing you these few lines on behalf of our
beloved Guardian to ask you to kindly inform your fellow-members in
the Indian N.S.A. of the happy news of the projected visit of dear
Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher to India, and to request you to take any
step that your Assembly deems advisable in order to make his journey
as fruitful and abundant in its results as possible.

Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher is not in need of any
introduction, as his long and manifold services to the Cause in
America and particularly his generous and unfailing support of the
local, national as well as international Baha’i funds, have
endeared him to all the friends, whether in the East or in the West.

For many years he has been a member of the American
N.S.A. and he contributed no small part in the steady development and
consolidation of the Administration ever since the early days of its
establishment in the States. He is indeed an outstanding champion of
the Administration not only in America but also in the West, and has
proved in deeds his profound attachment and loyalty to all its
principles, laws and institutions.

His name will be ever associated with the beloved Temple
in Wilmette. Had it not been for the continued and whole-hearted
support, both financial and moral, which he so generously extended to
it, that edifice could have never been reared so steadily and
efficiently. The friends will always remember with deep gratitude the
eminent services he has rendered the Faith in this connection.

In view of these labours so devotedly accomplished, the
Guardian wishes your Assembly to urge the friends to draw full
benefit from Mr. Schopflocher’s visit to India. He is confident
that you will extend to him a most hearty welcome, and will, through
association with him, draw fresh strength and inspiration in your
arduous labours for the Cause.

September 25, 1936 Systematized and Nation-wide Teaching
Campaign

Our beloved Guardian has read with intense interest and
deepest satisfaction your most welcome letter of the fifth October
conveying to him the joyful news of the teaching travels undertaken
by Prof. Pritam Singh and Dr. G.Y. Chitnis throughout India. He
wishes you to congratulate most warmly on his behalf these two
distinguished friends upon their determination to carry the Message
to those numerous and varied sections of the Indian population who
have not received as yet the blessings which the knowledge of the
Cause confers. He is deeply grateful to them, and to those who have,
whether directly or indirectly, assisted them in the pursuit of this
truly noble aim.

The Guardian wishes also to express his heartfelt thanks
to the Indian N.S.A. for its splendid efforts for the extension of
the teaching work throughout India. The evidences of its warm and
effective response to his earnest appeal for the inauguration of a
new systematized and nation-wide teaching campaign in that country
are indeed such as to give him fresh hopes concerning the future
expansion and consolidation of the Faith not only in India and Burma
but in the neighbouring regions where the light of the Teachings has
not yet penetrated. It is his sincere hope that the National Assembly
will, faithful to its pledge, continue exerting its utmost for the
furtherance of the cause of teaching in India, and particularly in
Southern India and Ceylon where there are almost no centres at
present. Nothing short of the unity, self sacrifice and intelligent
and systematized planning which the local and national assemblies and
also the individual believers may show forth throughout the coming
years can enable them to attain this vital teaching goal.

[From the Guardian:]

I hasten to assure you in person of
my personal and intense satisfaction and of my special and fervent
prayers for these two stalwart pioneers who have arisen to accomplish
so noble a task in such difficult circumstances. The hosts of the
Abha Kingdom will assuredly guide and sustain them, and will, if they
persevere, crown their high endeavours with success. May their
example be followed by an increasingly large number of their fellow
workers.

October 22, 1936

Inflexible Determination Required

Now, that the teaching work is making a steady headway,
the friends should be on their guard lest they lose the opportunity
they have of spreading the Message in every corner throughout India
and Burma.

In this connection, he feels, he must congratulate most
warmly the members of the N.S.A. for the valuable steps they have
taken for the introduction of the Cause in central and southern
India.

[From the Guardian:]

The progress of the teaching
activities initiated by your Assembly is highly gratifying.
Inflexible determination is required to carry it to a successful
conclusion. The methods adopted by the American Baha’i
community, the zeal, the initiative, the efficiency, the fidelity
with which they are prosecuting their enterprise should be
exemplified by individuals and Assemblies in India and Burma. The
administrative machinery which the American believers have erected
and perfected has already had its counterpart in the institutions you
have so nobly reared in recent years. Your teaching campaign, the
supreme purpose for which this machinery has been fashioned, should
likewise be modelled according to the plan which your sister
community has devised and is now developing so strenuously and
successfully.

November 7, 1936

Welcome Extended to Mr. Schopflocher

He wishes me now to express in particular to you, and to
your distinguished fellow-members in the Indian N.S.A., his most
loving appreciation and thanks for the cordial welcome you have
extended to our dearly-beloved friend, Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher,
during his visit to India and Burma. He is confident that the steps
you have taken to render his trip successful will greatly help in
giving the Faith a wide and long-needed publicity. The opportunity
that has been offered you has been truly splendid, and you certainly
deserve to be heartily congratulated for having fully availed
yourselves of it. May the Beloved reward you a thousand-fold for your
ceaseless and devoted endeavours in His Path.

January 7, 1937

Theosophists

With regard to the Theosophists and their activities;
although they obviously try to copy and claim as their own some of
the principles of the Cause, yet the Guardian feels that it would be
of no advantage to oppose them and to refute their arguments. The
best attitude for the friends to adopt in such cases at the present
time is to totally disregard and even neglect their opponents. This
has invariably been his advice to the friends, whether in the East or
in the West.

Baha’i Holidays

Regarding the sale of tea and other refreshments in a
cinema under non-Baha’i ownership; those friends who have hired
from the owner of the cinema a stall for the sale of such
refreshments should make every effort to obtain permission to close
on Baha’i holidays. In case, however, the non-Baha’i
owner or partner refuses to grant their request their only
alternative is to obey.

The case is different with a bread bakery owned by a
believer. In this case there can be no excuse whatever why the shop
should not be closed during Baha’i holidays, as there are
always non-Baha’i bakers from whom the public can buy.

Baha’i Administration

Concerning the LSA’s right to suspend one of its
members from Assembly membership; the Assembly can, by a majority
vote, take such an action, even though the suspension may be for a
long period.

As regards your question whether the President of the
N.S.A. is entitled to give any ruling during the period of his
tenure; the Guardian wishes me to state that no such ruling can be
valid unless approved by the other members of the National Assembly.
The President has no special legislative capacity, except as a member
of the Assembly.

As to the question of removing a believer from the
voting list; although every duly constituted local Assembly has the
right to take such an action against any individual believer in the
community, nevertheless the Guardian feels the advisability for the
Local Assemblies to seek the advice and approval of the N.S.A. in
this most delicate and vital matter, as it is one fraught with grave
and far-reaching responsibilities.

Before closing I wish to express to you, and through you
to your fellow-members in the N.S.A., how happy the Guardian feels to
learn of the strong preparations your Assembly has made for the
holding of the next Annual Convention of the friends in Karachi. He
is the more rejoiced that the main item of the discussions will be
the problem of teaching. He is fervently praying that the program
upon which the delegates and the N.S.A. will decide will mark the
inauguration of an unprecedented teaching campaign throughout India
and Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

I am delighted to learn of the work
which is being steadily and efficiently accomplished in so many
spheres of Baha’i activity throughout India and Burma. My heart
is filled with gratitude as I witness the progress you have achieved,
the enterprises you have initiated, the method and measures you have
adopted, the plans you have conceived and above all the spirit of
exemplary loyalty and magnificent devotion that impels you forward in
the great mission you are destined to fulfil.

February 28, 1937

Obligatory Prayers

…concerning the three daily obligatory prayers. The
friends are free to choose any one of these three prayers, but have
to follow the instructions revealed by Baha’u’llah
concerning them. The long prayer should be recited once in every 24
hours, and is accompanied by certain physical acts. The short prayer,
consisting of one verse, should be recited once a day at noon; while
the medium prayer should be said three times a day: in the morning,
at noon and in the evening. The believer is entirely free to choose
any one of these three prayers for daily use.

While praying it would be better to turn one’s
thoughts to the Manifestation as He continues, in the other world, to
be our means of contact with the Almighty. We can, however, pray
directly to God Himself.

April 27, 1937

Progress of Teaching Most Gratifying

The reports of the progress of the teaching work in
India and Burma are most gratifying, and all indicate the high
measure of devotion and zeal which the friends are putting at the
service of this most noble and sacred task. Dr. Ali of Rangoon is
specially active working through the press, and has already succeeded
in giving a very wide publicity to the Faith in many circles, both
native and foreign. He is certainly the most promising teacher we
have in Rangoon, and the N.S.A. would do well to encourage him, and
to give him every possible assistance with the view of further
extending the scope of his teaching activities throughout Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

I am so glad … of the progress of
the teaching work in India and Burma. I pray that Martha’s
forthcoming visit to your shores may greatly stimulate the splendid
work which has been so nobly initiated and is being so painstakingly
continued.

July 12, 1937

National Fund

I wish, in particular, to express his gratification at
the success that has attended your annual Convention this year, and
at the recommendations and decisions taken by the N.S.A. with the
view of intensifying the teaching campaign throughout India and
Burma. He would strongly urge your Assembly to maintain the standard
of the teaching work, and to appeal to the friends to rise up to the
call of the hour, and to be ready to undergo any sacrifice that their
sacred task requires.

Above all he wishes through you to reiterate his wish,
already expressed in his recent cable to the N.S.A., that the
National Fund, which undoubtedly constitutes the bedrock upon which
all the activities of the Cause ultimately rest, should receive the
continued and whole-hearted support of all the believers. Both the
local Assemblies and the individual believers should realize that
unless they contribute regularly and generously to that Fund the
progress of the Faith in India and Burma will not only be
considerably retarded, but will inevitably come to a standstill.
There should be a continual flow of funds to the National treasury of
the N.S.A., if that body wishes to properly administer the manifold
and ever-increasing activities of the Faith. Every Baha’i no
matter how poor, must realize what a grave responsibility he has to
shoulder in this connection, and should have confidence that his
spiritual progress as a believer in the World Order of Baha’u’llah
will largely depend upon the measure in which he proves, in deeds,
his readiness to support materially the divine institutions of His
Faith.

With reference to your question in connection with the
observance of Baha’i Holy Days; the Baha’i day begins and
ends at sunset. The night preceding a Holy day is therefore included
in the day, and consequently work during that period is forbidden.

The Guardian is most delighted to hear of the activities
initiated recently by various local Assemblies in India, and wishes
you to convey to these dear friends, and particularly to Prof.
Abdu’l-Aziz of Hyderabad and the members of his teaching group,
the expression of his keenest appreciation of their labours for the
spread of the Cause. He would urge them each and all to lend every
effort to assist your N.S.A. in its nation-wide teaching endeavours,
and is most ardently praying that they may be assisted and guided by
the confirmations from on high.

[From the Guardian:]

I am deeply touched by the varied and
compelling evidences of the vigour and loyalty which characterize the
National Assembly’s conduct of Baha’i affairs in both
India and

Burma. The Cause, as a result of their self-sacrificing
endeavours and inflexible resolve, is being firmly consolidated and
widely propagated in those regions. Perseverance will enable you to
attain your goal and to lay an unassailable foundation for your
future work in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha’i
service. I will continue to pray for you from the depths of my heart.

July 17, 1937

Martha Root’s Teaching Trip

Shoghi Effendi has been most pleased to receive your
letter of October 25th and to learn of the very warm reception you
have accorded Miss Martha L. Root upon her arrival in India. He has
every reason to hope that with the program the N.S.A. has so
carefully arranged for her she will be able to do an extensive
teaching work, and to contact as many classes and sections of the
population as her time and energies permit.

The Guardian would call upon you specially to make every
effort possible to render Miss Root’s teaching trip successful
in every way, and wishes you to continually urge the friends to make
her visit an occasion for giving the Faith a widespread publicity
throughout India and Burma.

[From the Guardian:]

I am so glad to hear of the plans that have been
conceived and the activity that is being displayed by the friends in
connexion with dear Martha’s visit to India.

November 7, 1937

He was particularly delighted to know of the warm
hospitality and wholehearted assistance which the friends have so
kindly extended to dear Miss Root all through her travels throughout
India and Burma.

This truly memorable visit of Miss Root to the friends
in that vast continent is indeed a God-sent opportunity, of which the
believers should fully avail themselves in order to give the Faith
the widest possible publicity, and also to attract to it the
attention and sympathy of responsible leaders throughout India and
Burma.

The Guardian will continue to pray that at the
termination of this year the results of this historic teaching trip
undertaken by our beloved Miss Root may prove to be such as to ensure
for many years to come the uninterrupted extension of the teaching
work in all parts of India.

March 20, 1938

Resting Place of Holy Mother

It will surely please and interest the believers to know
that the Holy Mother’s remains have been laid to rest in a spot
in the vicinity of, and overshadowed by the resting-place of the
Greatest Holy Leaf on Mt. Carmel.

L.S.A. & Summer School in Simla

The Guardian was delighted to hear of the formation of a
Spiritual Assembly in Simla, and wishes that body to apply soon for
official registration. He would very much appreciate receiving two
copies of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Assembly, as soon
as they are obtained from the authorities.

The news of the projected holding of the first Indian
Baha’i Summer School in Simla has also considerably rejoiced
the heart of our beloved Guardian. He will pray that this excellent
and indeed historic project may be satisfactorily carried out, and
receive the whole-hearted, generous and sustained support of the
entire body of the believers throughout India and Burma.

Six-Year Plan

The Six-Year Plan which your N.S.A. has resolved to
initiate with the purpose of furthering the teaching work has met
with the full approval of the Guardian. He wishes your Assembly every
success in this remarkable and nation-wide undertaking which you have
decided to launch.

[From the Guardian:]

Your letter of June 19, enclosing
reports of great interest and value, has also reached me and I am
filled with a sense of happiness and gratitude for these incessant
evidences of your zeal and united endeavours. I am truly impressed by
the sound progress and expansion of the activities in which the
believers of India and Burma are so earnestly and devotedly engaged.
The institutions you have recently initiated, the plan of teaching
you have launched, the degree of unity, of consecration and
solidarity you have attained, the measures for internal consolidation
you have devised, the support you have consistently and cordially
extended to our dear Martha, all proclaim the depth of your devotion
and attest the nobility and staunchness of your faith. The utmost
care is now required to nurse, foster, multiply and coordinate these
nascent institutions and activities. Every nerve should be strained,
every sacrifice should be made to enable them to fructify and
prosper.

July 4, 1938

First Indian Baha’i Summer
School

I am instructed by our beloved Guardian to acknowledge
with thanks the receipt of your communication dated October 17th,
together with the enclosed report on the first Indian Baha’i
Summer School held in Simla during last September.

And as to the photographs of the Summer School you had
submitted under separate cover, these will be placed in the Mansion
of Baha’u’llah at Bahji, and will also appear in the
“Baha’i World” Vol. VIII.

The Guardian wishes me in this connection to express his
profound satisfaction at the success that has attended the N.S.A.’s
efforts for the formation of this first Baha’i Summer School in
India—a step which, he strongly feels, is bound to accelerate
the extension of the teaching activities of the believers in that
land.

He is truly delighted to know that the attendance at the
school has been satisfactory, and that the young believers, in
particular, have been most enthusiastic about it. What he feels now
is most essential for the N.S.A. is to make arrangements to have this
school held regularly every year, so that it may develop into an
effective, and increasingly vital, instrument for the propagation of
the Faith, and also for the education and training of Baha’i
teachers.

It is the Guardian’s fervent hope that as this
Institution expands, and fulfils the high hopes you all set upon it,
it will be felt advisable by the N.S.A. to consider the possibilities
of establishing, in due time, one or two more of such schools, thus
permitting those friends, who in view of their limited means are not
in a position to travel over large distances, to avail themselves of
the benefits derived from these nascent Baha’i institutions of
learning.

Task Immense—Time Short

[From the Guardian:]

The Six-Year Plan, initiated by the
National Assembly of India and Burma with such spontaneous devotion,
admirable zeal and unflinching resolve, marks a milestone on the road
of progress trodden by them and their fellow-workers in both of those
countries. The task is immense, the time is short, the hour critical
but the faith that animates and sustains them is strong enough to
surmount all obstacles, however formidable, that may stand in their
way. That they may persevere, redouble their efforts and win signal
success in their mighty enterprise is the dearest wish of my heart
and the object of my constant and earnest prayers.

December 1, 1938

Splendid Work Accomplished by Miss
Root

The Guardian was most pleased to receive your letter of
the 3rd inst. and has noted with genuine satisfaction the farewell
meeting which the N.S.A. had arranged in Bombay in honour of our
indefatigable and distinguished Baha’i sister Miss Martha L.
Root on the occasion of her departure to Australia.

The feelings of unbounded joy with which you all
unanimously acclaimed her arrival in India, and the expressions of
deep and sorrowful regret which your National Assembly, as the
official mouthpiece of all the Indian and Burmese believers, had been
moved to convey to her upon her leaving your shores, all attest the
high value which the friends have attached to her presence in India
and the splendid work accomplished by her throughout her travels in
that country. The cooperation she had received from the Assemblies
and individual believers in every centre she visited, and the
effective support, both moral and material, so lovingly and
continually extended to her by the N.S.A. in the execution of her
teaching plans, have contributed to a marked degree to the success of
her journey, which has been indeed the longest and most fruitful she
had ever undertaken to your shores.

The Guardian hopes that the friends, and in particular
the N.S.A., will now endeavour to follow up, with united and
unflinching resolve, the splendid work accomplished by Miss Root. The
contacts she has formed with leading personalities in social,
religious and university circles should be maintained, nay extended
and consolidated, and every effort exerted in order to speed up the
progress of the teaching work which has received such a fresh impetus
as a result of her uninterrupted teaching activity during this past
year.

January 25, 1939

He has noted with profound appreciation, in particular,
the account of the farewell meeting held in Bombay under the auspices
of your Assembly on the occasion of the departure of our
indefatigable and highly esteemed Baha’i sister Miss Martha
Root from India. No more eloquent tribute could have been paid indeed
to the historic work accomplished by that well-beloved star-servant
of the Cause during her stay of one full year in that country than
that beautiful and impressive gathering which had met to bid her a
last farewell upon her leaving your shores. The warmth and
spontaneity of your love must have profoundly impressed and moved her
heart, and given her an added proof of the unbounded gratitude which
you all surely cherish for her, after these many months of ceaseless
teaching activity she has spent in your midst.

The Guardian wishes to express his own gratitude to the
members of the N.S.A., and through them to the community of believers
throughout India and Burma for the hospitality and loving assistance
you have all, individually as well as collectively, continually
extended to Miss Root all through her stay in your country. The
essential now, he feels, is for each one of the friends, and
particularly the local Assemblies, to arise and with unflinching
resolve to endeavour to follow up the splendid work she has so ably,
yet so unostentatiously, accomplished. They would be certainly
failing in their debt of gratitude to her, if they allow the seeds
she has faithfully and painstakingly scattered, during these months
of arduous and uninterrupted effort, to get lost. Rather, they should
spare no effort to water these seeds and enable them to germinate and
yield in due time most abundant and lasting results.

Baha’i Youth Groups

With regard to the formation of Baha’i Youth
groups; the Guardian is most pleased to hear of the satisfactory
progress that has been accomplished along this line, and of the
extensive programme you have arranged for the development of Baha’i
Youth activity during the coming year. He wishes me to express, in
particular, his appreciation of the very warm response made by six of
these youth groups to the suggestion of the National Youth Committee
of America regarding the holding of special youth meetings on the
26th of this month. He wishes you to assure them of his special
prayers for the success and confirmation of their efforts. Six-Year
Plan—Spontaneous Undertaking of Indian Baha’i Community

In connection with the Six-Year Plan initiated by your
N.S.A.; the Guardian cannot too highly praise this undertaking of
unprecedented magnitude which your Assembly has resolved to carry
out. One year has already elapsed since that Plan was first launched,
and the task that will have to be accomplished during the remaining
five years is indeed immense, and calls for no less than a combined
and tremendous sacrificial effort by every Assembly, group and
individual believer throughout India and Burma.

But the friends should derive much encouragement at the
realization that their efforts for the prosecution of this Plan are,
in a way, far more meritorious than those which their
fellow-believers in the American Continent are exerting in connection
with the Seven-Year Plan of the American N.S.A.

Whereas this latter Plan, which, it should be fairly
admitted, is the largest enterprise of its kind ever undertaken by
any national Baha’i Community, has been conceived and
formulated directly by the Guardian himself, the Six-Year Plan
adopted by the Indian N.S.A. has been initiated solely through the
efforts of the elected body of the national representatives of the
Indian and Burmese believers, and represents therefore the
spontaneous undertaking of the Indian Baha’i Community itself,
and as such is endowed with a special merit and a unique spiritual
potency. When successfully completed this Plan will constitute indeed
an abiding monument to the resourceful energy, the unstinted
devotion, and the unquenchable enthusiasm of the Indian Baha’is,
from which future generations of believers in that land will derive
endless inspiration and guidance.

In view of the paramount importance of this Six-Year
Plan, and the urgency which the friends must undoubtedly feel to
carry it out as speedily and efficiently as possible during the
remaining five years, the Guardian would advise that in the next
Annual Convention meeting in Calcutta a special session be devoted to
the findings and consideration by all the delegates and friends
present of such policies and means as, in their considered opinion,
can best insure the speedy and timely completion of this glorious
undertaking.

The Guardian would particularly suggest that special
stress be laid on the necessity for pioneer teaching in those states
and provinces in India and Burma, where the Cause has not yet been
introduced. Those believers who have the means, and also the capacity
to teach, should be encouraged, no matter how great the sacrifice
involved, to settle in these virgin territories, until such time as a
local assembly has been constituted, or at least a group of firm
believers formed that can safely and gradually evolve into a
firmly-organized and properly-functioning local assembly. This policy
of teaching by settlement which the Guardian has also advised and
indeed urged the American believers to adopt has been proved by
experience to be the most effective way of establishing the Faith in
new territories, and he therefore confidently recommends it for
adoption by your Assembly.

Summer School

As regards the Indian Summer School; its importance, the
Guardian feels, cannot be overstressed, specially in view of its
recognized teaching value, both as a centre for the training of
Baha’i teachers, and also for the attraction of outsiders to
the Cause. The wide popularity which this newly-established yet
highly-promising institution is already enjoying, truly attests its
high value as one of those vital institutions of the Faith in this
formative age of its development.

David

…The David referred to by the Bab, and stated by Him
to have preceded Moses, is not the same one as King David, the father
of King Solomon, who lived in the tenth century B.C. and who
obviously lived many years, and indeed many centuries after Moses.
Abdu’l-Baha has explained this in a Tablet.

Inheritance

…Although in the “Questions & Answers”
Baha’u’llah has specifically stated that non-Baha’is
have no right to inherit from their Baha’i parents or
relatives, yet this restriction applies only to such cases when a
Baha’i dies without leaving a will and when, therefore, his
property will have to be divided in accordance with the rules set
forth in the Aqdas. Otherwise, a Baha’i is free to bequeath his
property to any person, irrespective of religion, provided however he
leaves a will, specifying his wishes. As you see therefore it is
always possible for a Baha’i to provide for his non-Baha’i
wife, children or relatives by leaving a will. And it is only fair
that he should do so.

Reason of Severe Laws Revealed by
the Bab

…The severe laws and injunctions revealed by the Bab
can be properly appreciated and understood only when interpreted in
the light of His own statements regarding the nature, purpose and
character of His own Dispensation. As these statements clearly
reveal, the Babi Dispensation was essentially in the nature of a
religious and indeed social revolution, and its duration had
therefore to be short, but full of tragic events, of sweeping and
drastic reforms. These drastic measures enforced by the Bab and His
followers were taken with the view of undermining the very
foundations of Shi’ah orthodoxy, and thus paving the way for
the coming of Baha’u’llah. To assert the independence of
the new Dispensation, and to prepare also the ground for the
approaching Revelation of Baha’u’llah the Bab had
therefore to reveal very severe laws, even though most of them, were
never enforced. But the mere fact that He revealed them was in itself
a proof of the independent character of His Dispensation and was
sufficient to create such widespread agitation, and excite such
opposition on the part of the clergy that led them to cause His
eventual martyrdom.

The Bab specified that the “Bayan” is not
completed and that “He Whom God would manifest”
(Baha’u’llah) would complete it, though not in its actual
form, but only spiritually in the form of another book. The “Iqan”
is believed to be its continuation.

February 17, 1939

Teaching—The Paramount Task

He is truly delighted to know that your Annual
Convention this year has been most united, and highly constructive
and fruitful in its result, and trusts that the important discussions
and deliberations held by the delegates at various Convention
sessions will have the result of stimulating afresh the progressive
and systematic penetration of the teaching work throughout India and
Burma. The Six-Year Plan of teaching inaugurated last year by your
N.S.A., the Guardian feels, however, cannot succeed unless it
receives the continued moral and material support of the entire body
of the Indian and Burmese believers, and it is this fact which the
National Assembly should continually endeavour to impress upon them
all, through frequent appeals destined at once to encourage and
provide the facilities required for all those friends who are
qualified to work in the field of pioneer teaching. The Guardian
would particularly recommend that the N.S.A. should make every
possible effort to open up to the Cause those Indian provinces which
still remain deprived of the light of the Teachings, and to this end
would suggest that those believers who can arrange to settle in those
virgin territories should at once be urged to do so, and the
necessary facilities extended to them by the N.S.A., with the view of
enabling them to prolong their stay until some definite results are
accomplished. Also, he feels, your Assembly should endeavour to
strengthen the weak areas which have been recently opened, and also
launch a wide and systematic campaign for the dissemination of Baha’i
literature throughout the whole country. Membership in Baha’i
Assembly or Committee is a Sacred Obligation

…The Guardian wishes you to make clear to all the
believers that membership in a Baha’i Assembly or Committee is
a sacred obligation which should be gladly and confidently accepted
by every loyal and conscientious member of the Community, no matter
how humble and inexperienced. Once elected to serve in a given
Assembly a believer’s duty is to do his utmost to attend all
Assembly meetings, and cooperate with his fellow-members, unless,
however, he is prevented from doing so by some major reason such as
illness, and even then he should notify the Assembly to this effect.
The N.S.A.’s duty is to urge, and also facilitate attendance at
assembly meetings. If a member has no valid reason to justify his
repeated absence from assembly meetings, he should be advised, and
even warned, and if such warning is deliberately ignored by him, the
assembly will then have the right to suspend his rights as a voting
member of the Community. Such administrative sanction would seem to
be absolutely imperative and necessary, and while not tantamount to a
complete expulsion of such a member from the Cause, deprives him of
any real participation in its administrative functions and affairs,
and is thus a most effective corrective measure which the Assembly
can use against all such half-hearted and irresponsible individuals
in the Community.

Meaning of Resurrection

…Concerning the meaning of “Resurrection”:
although this term is often used by Baha’u’llah in His
Writings, as in the passage quoted in your letter, its meaning is
figurative. The tomb mentioned is also allegorical, i.e. the tomb of
unbelief. The Day of Resurrection, according to Baha’i
interpretation, is the Judgement Day, the Day when unbelievers will
be called upon to give account of their actions, and whether the
world has prevented them from acknowledging the new Revelation.

The passage in Baha’u’llah’s Tablet in
which He explains the Sura of “The Sun” should not be
interpreted literally. It does not mean that after the Day of
Resurrection praise and peace will cease to be vouchsafed to the
Prophet. Rather it means to the end of time, i.e. indefinitely and
for all times.

The intercession spoken of by Baha’u’llah in
one of His prayers which you have quoted is a purely spiritual act
and is applicable to Muhammad as well as to all Prophets. This
passage, however, refers more particularly to that kind of
intercession in which Muslims believe, though the manner and
circumstances of it, according to Baha’i belief, are mysterious
and unknowable.

Teaching—The Paramount Task

[From the Guardian:]

I long to hear of the progress of
your teaching work in those areas and provinces where the light of
the Faith has not as yet shone forth. Teaching is the paramount task
that urgently demands the concentrated attention and the complete
consecration of the united and persistent efforts of the believers of
India and Burma at the present stage of the Six-Year Plan which they
of their own accord have so magnificently initiated. No dissipation
of efforts, no delay in the initiation and execution of the necessary
measures for its success should be allowed. All assemblies, all
committees and individuals should regard the teaching work as the
most essential factor in the discharge of their obligations to the
Faith of Baha’u’llah, and as the supreme purpose of the
machinery of the Administrative Order which they have lately so
laboriously and faithfully erected. I will from all my heart pray
that the high aim they pursue may be reached, that their hopes may be
fulfilled, and that their individual and corporate lives may equally
reflect the noble principles that animate their Cause.

July 2, 1939

Martha Root’s Arrival in
Bombay

Your joint and welcome message of October 18th written
on the occasion of our beloved sister Miss Martha Root’s
arrival in Bombay has duly reached the Guardian and his heart is
filled with gratitude to you for the very warm and befitting welcome
you have so kindly extended to that well-beloved star-servant of the
Cause. This is truly in keeping with the tradition of warm
hospitality for which our Indian believers have already won such a
high reputation. The cordiality you have shown this distinguished
international teacher on her previous visits to India could have
hardly been surpassed, and there is every reason to believe,
therefore, that on this trip, which will be probably the most
extended one she has ever been able to undertake throughout that
continent, she will be the object of the same devotion and love
manifested towards her on previous occasions.

[From the Guardian:]

May the Almighty bless you for the
magnificent welcome accorded to such an outstanding champion of the
Cause, and may He enable you, in conjunction with her, to lend a
mighty impetus to the progress of the Faith and the extension of its
institutions.

November 4, 1939

Paramount Task Facing the Believers

What you had written him regarding the various steps
taken by the N.S.A. to further the Six-Year Plan of Teaching has
immeasurably rejoiced his heart, and he too joins with your Assembly
in humbly supplicating Baha’u’llah to vouchsafe to all
those dear friends who have offered to undertake pioneer teaching in
various parts of India such measure of His guidance and blessings as
would enable them to effectively further the interests of this Plan.
He would urge you all to persevere in your self-sacrificing
exertions, and, notwithstanding the various handicaps under which you
may be compelled to labour, to confidently strive to achieve this
high teaching objective.

[From the Guardian:]

The energetic prosecution of the
Six-Year Plan, despite the perils, the uncertainties and gravity of
the present hour, is the paramount task facing the believers of India
and Burma. All projects and activities, however desirable and urgent,
must henceforth be subordinated to this most pressing and vital
issue, inasmuch as it is the fountain-head from which all future
blessings will flow and the one and only instrument which can at the
present time, most effectively establish and consolidate the
administrative order of the Faith throughout the Indian Peninsula. My
prayers for your signal success in such a mighty and glorious
enterprise will continue to be offered, with increasing fervour, at
the Threshold of Baha’u’llah. Persevere and be confident.

November 26, 1939

Passing Away of Dearest Martha

Your very kind message … expressing your profound
sorrow and sympathy at the passing away of our beloved sister Miss
Martha Root has just reached our dear Guardian, and he feels indeed
most deeply touched by the very thoughtful words which you had been
moved to convey to him. The loss which the entire Baha’i world
has come to sustain through her untimely departure from this world is
indeed enormous, and can be compensated only partially by the
self-sacrificing efforts which our dear Baha’i teachers in East
and West are now exerting in their respective fields of teaching.

The Guardian’s hope, however, is that, spurred by
the noble example of Martha’s life and character, the friends
in every land will make a supreme and united effort to carry onward
the great teaching task which she had so untiringly been endeavouring
to accomplish during all these years, and thus bring eternal joy and
impart infinite hope and solace to her heart in the other world.

[From the Guardian:]

I deeply appreciate, and am greatly touched by, the
noble sentiments you have expressed. The passing of dearest Martha,
that distinguished hero of the Cause of Baha’u’llah, is
indeed a great loss to those who labour for His Cause, both in the
East and West. May her glorious example continue to inspire the
friends in India and Burma to tread in her footsteps, and to extend
the work she so nobly initiated.

December 8, 1939

Sacred Task

It greatly pleased and encouraged him to know that the
Annual Convention held this year in Poona has proved such a high
success, and that the important decisions taken by the delegates with
the view of intensifying the teaching campaign in India and Burma are
being effectively implemented by the offer made by so many of the
friends to teach and travel in virgin territories. He wishes these
dear believers, who have so heroically responded to the call of the
hour, every blessing and success in their respective fields of
teaching, and will pray most earnestly for the confirmation of their
labours in the pursuit of their high and sacred task.

May 14, 1940

Steady Extension of the Teaching
Campaign

The slow yet steady extension of the teaching campaign
throughout India is a matter which greatly rejoices his heart, and
for which he feels moved to convey his warmest congratulations to the
N.S.A. Considering the well-nigh insufferable obstacles in your way,
and the difficult conditions created by the war, the progress so far
achieved, though small, has been remarkable in many ways, and augurs
well for the future of the Six-Year Plan which your Assembly is so
energetically carrying out.

The signal success which the able and untiring efforts
of Mr. & Mrs. Bakhtiari, Mr. M. H. Ilmi … have won for the
Cause in Kashmir deserves particular mention; and it is to be hoped
that the group already established in that center will steadily
develop and soon attain the status of a Spiritual Assembly. To these
dear teachers who have so successfully accomplished such high
teaching mission, as well as to our new Baha’i brother Moulvi
Abdullah of Kashmir who, notwithstanding the violent opposition and
criticisms of the Qadianis has firmly stood by the Cause, the
Guardian wishes you to convey his warmest appreciation and gratitude.

Financial Assistance to Baha’i
Teachers

In connection with your teaching campaign, the Guardian
wishes you to inform the N.S.A. that although there exists in the
Cause no such institution as that of paid teachers, the N.S.A.
nevertheless should, in view of the urgent and pressing requirements
of the Six-Year Plan, extend, though only temporarily, any financial
assistance in its power to those believers who offer to undertake
pioneer work throughout India and Burma. Also, those believers who
are not themselves able to offer their services as pioneers, and who
wish to directly and effectively participate in the campaign of
teaching can instead offer to defray, through the National Fund, the
expenses of any believer they choose to deputize for that purpose.
Such deputy teachers, however, should for all other purposes be
responsible to the N.S.A. and the teaching bodies concerned. Great
Message Can Redeem Bewildered Humanity

[From the Guardian:]

I regret that owing to present
circumstances arising from the war and its grave repercussions, the
activities, particularly in the teaching field, connected with the
Six-Year Plan, so spontaneously initiated by your Assembly, have had
to be curtailed. I wish to appeal, however, to all its members, and
through them to the general body of the devoted friends in India and
Burma to make a united and supreme endeavour to overcome, while there
is yet time, the obstacles that stand in their way, and to refuse to
allow the perils, the uncertainties and anxieties that face and
afflict their country to deter them from carrying out the original
plan they have so nobly conceived. Let them remember that a firm
resolution on their part, an absolute rededication of their
resources, and an actual attempt to translate into action their
meritorious intentions, coupled with perseverance in the discharge of
their duties, would suffice to ensure the success of the mission to
which they are now committed. The time is indeed ripe, and the minds
and hearts of the suffering multitudes are being mysteriously
prepared for the Great Message that can alone redeem, exalt and
regenerate a sore-tried and bewildered humanity. I will specially and
fervently pray for the success of any and every effort the
dearly-beloved friends in India and Burma may arise to exert.

November 28, 1940

Translation of Baha’u’llah’s
Writings

Regarding his instruction to the N.S.A. of Iran to the
effect that Baha’u’llah’s writings in Arabic should
not be translated into Persian; this applies to the translation of
the revealed words into Persian only. Your Assembly, therefore, may
proceed with its plan for the rendering of the Tablet of Ahmad, the
three daily obligatory prayers and other Tablets, into Urdu.

. . . .

With reference to … question whether it is permissible
for the Baha’is to see pictures; there is nothing in the
Teachings that would forbid such a practice.

. . . .

Also with regard to the practice of circumcision; the
Teachings bear no reference to this matter, and it is therefore not
enjoined upon the believers.

Training of Children

The question of the training and education of children
in case one of the parents is a non-Baha’i is one which solely
concerns the parents themselves, who should decide about it the way
they find best and most conducive to the maintenance of the unity of
their family, and to the future welfare of their children. Once the
child comes of age, however, he should be given full freedom to
choose his religion, irrespective of the wishes and desires of his
parents. Membership of the International House of Justice

As regards the membership of the International House of
Justice, Abdu’l-Baha states in a Tablet that it is confined to
men, and that the wisdom of it will be revealed as manifest as the
sun in the future. In any case the believers should know that, as
Abdu’l-Baha Himself has explicitly stated that sexes are equal
except in some cases, the exclusion of women from the International
House of Justice, should not be surprising. From the fact that there
is no equality of functions between the sexes one should not,
however, infer that either sex is inherently superior or inferior to
the other, or that they are unequal in their rights.

Appearance of two Davids

Concerning the appearance of two Davids; there is a
Tablet from Abdu’l-Baha in which He says that just as there
have been two Ishmaels, one the son of Abraham, and the other one of
the Prophets of Israel, there have appeared two Davids, one the
author of the Psalms and father of Solomon, and the other before
Moses.

Importance of the Teaching Campaign

The Guardian wishes me once again to stress the
all-importance of the teaching campaign throughout India and Burma.
Much as he is aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of the
expansion of pioneer teaching—obstacles which your sister
Assembly in the U.S.A. are far in a better position to overcome,
owing to the larger resources at their disposal and to their longer
and wider experience in matters of teaching—he nevertheless
strongly feels that, through the united, determined and passionate
resolve of your N.S.A., of all the local Assemblies, groups and
individuals, much can be accomplished in that direction, and firm
foundations laid down for future expansion and consolidation. The
greater your handicaps the firmer your determination should wax, and
the more abundant will assuredly be the blessings and confirmations
of Baha’u’llah. May His love and guidance lead you and
our dearly-beloved friends in that land to still greater heights of
selfless accomplishment in His path, and thereby crown with success
the Six-Year Plan so ably devised and so energetically pursued by the
N.S.A.

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to reassure you in person of
my fervent and continued prayers for the protection, the success and
the spiritual advancement of the community of the Indian and Burmese
believers who, under your direction, and stimulated by the initiative
and example, of their national elected representatives, are arising,
in these days of widespread confusion, turmoil and danger, to carry
out the Plan they are pledged to fulfil. No sacrifice can be regarded
as too great for the attainment of so great and splendid an
objective. They should persevere in their task, undaunted by the
rising tide of calamity and despair which afflicts the world, and
which is mysteriously paving the way for its unification and ultimate
redemption. May the Beloved guide every step you take, and bless
every endeavour you exert in His path.

December 14, 1940

Greatest Need of the Hour

Whenever the Guardian receives news of the spread of the
Cause it brings him fresh hope and helps to lighten his heavy burden.
This is the greatest need of the present hour in India; more teachers
in new fields! His prayers are always being offered for the
advancement of this all-important work and the fulfilment of the
Six-Year Teaching Plan.

April 19, 1941

Priceless Days

He was very happy to note the spirit of true and
profound dedication to their holy task of spreading the Faith in
India and Burma which the members of the N.S.A. manifest, and he
feels sure that, if they exert the utmost effort, they will, through
the confirmations of Baha’u’llah, succeed in fulfilling
what is required of them under the Six-Year Plan.

He regrets very much that circumstances have prevented
any active furtherance of the teaching work during the past Baha’i
year. Because of this the Guardian felt impelled, after reading your
Assembly’s letter, to transmit by cable the sum of two hundred
pounds sterling to be set aside by your Assembly as the nucleus of a
special fund to be established for the specific purpose of furthering
the all-India teaching campaign of the Six-Year Plan. He trusts that
this will stimulate the body of Indian and Burmese Baha’is to
also contribute to this fund generously and by providing the
necessary means to enable them to speedily fulfil the task they have
vowed to carry out.

Concerning the methods to be adopted for the realization
of your urgent task, Shoghi Effendi approves of the suggestion that
some business firms open branches in new districts and thus provide
Baha’i settlement by this means. However, he feels that this
will not be enough, and that all the Spiritual Assemblies, as well as
each individual believer, should rally to this great opportunity
which, indeed, may not again be presented to them, of spreading the
Faith through the length and breadth of India while they are still in
a position to do so. The world is day by day becoming increasingly
involved in this cataclysmic struggle, but so far the Baha’is
of India, Australia, New Zealand and the American continents have not
felt either the dangers or the restrictions imposed on less fortunate
communities which find themselves either over-run and temporarily
eclipsed, or in the actual theatre of war. Therefore the believers of
India should not allow these truly priceless days to slip by without
exerting themselves to the utmost and sacrificing comfort, home, and
money, to the great duty of giving the Divine Message to the people
of their vast country.

Smallness of numbers, lack of skilled teachers, and
modesty of means should not discourage or deter them. They must
remember the glorious history of the Cause, which, both in East and
West, was established by dedicated souls who, for the most part, were
neither rich, famous, nor well educated, but whose devotion, zeal and
self-sacrifice overcame every obstacle and won miraculous victories
for the Faith of God. Such spiritual victories can now be won for
India and Burma by the friends. Let them dedicate themselves—young
and old, men and women alike—and go forth and settle in new
districts, travel, and teach in spite of lack of experience, and be
assured that Baha’u’llah has promised to aid all those
who arise in His Name. His strength will sustain them; their own
weakness is unimportant.

Refrain from Imposing New Rules

In reading your annual Convention report the Guardian
has noted the request made that the N.S.A. should lay down certain
rules of procedure. He has already informed the American N.S.A. that
they should henceforth refrain from laying down any further rules and
regulations, as these would tend to rigidify the affairs of the Cause
and ultimately obscure its spirit and retard its growth. He feels
that your Assembly should exercise the same care, and avoid
introducing any rules of procedure not already in existence. Every
case coming before the Assembly should be judged on its own merits,
and be decided individually without any recourse to new rulings.

The Guardian will constantly pray for the success of all
your undertakings, as well as for the welfare and progress of all the
dear believers in India and Burma. Particularly will he remember in
his prayers the members of the National Assembly who are called upon
to direct, coordinate, and carry out the Indian Baha’is’
great and noble teaching enterprise. Prosecute Six-Year Plan With
Unremitting Energy

[From the Guardian:]

The Six-Year Plan, which you have so
nobly conceived and so enthusiastically initiated, must, during these
crucial years, when the first century of the Baha’i Era is
drawing to a close, be prosecuted with unremitting energy, and
unshaken determination. The vastness of the field, the smallness of
your numbers, the indifference of the masses, must neither discourage
nor appal you. You should at all times fix your gaze on the promise
of Baha’u’llah, put your whole trust in His creative
Word, recall the past and manifold evidences of His all-encompassing
and resistless power and arise to become worthy and exemplary
recipients of His all-sustaining grace and blessings. I appeal to
every Indian and Burmese believer, however modest his position,
however limited his knowledge, however restricted his means, to rise
to the height of this great opportunity which if missed will not
recur again. To disperse, to settle, to teach by word and deed, to
persevere and sacrifice are the requirements of the present hour. May
the Almighty, Whose Cause you are labouring to advance, endow you and
your fellow-workers with all the wisdom, the strength, and guidance
that you need to acquit yourselves worthily of this task.

June 29, 1941

Shoghi Effendi was also very happy to hear from you that
you consider the Faith is making substantial progress in India, due
to the tireless and devoted efforts of our Baha’i brothers and
sisters in that land. He would, however, urge the friends to follow
the example of the American believers by sending out more pioneers to
work in territories where there are no Baha’is. This is in
accordance with the idea expressed by the beloved Master in the
“Divine Plan” Tablets, and should be followed by all
Baha’is.

The Guardian will pray for the success of the Summer
School to be held in Surat. He is delighted that the Indian friends
are so well organised and are, year by year, strengthening the
administrative institutions of their Faith.

[From the Guardian:]

I am eagerly and hopefully awaiting
to witness fresh evidences of the renewed determination of the
believers throughout India and Burma, to carry aloft and into virgin
territories the torch of Divine Guidance despite the dark clouds that
threaten on the horizon. In these days of stress and peril, every
effort expended, every victory achieved, every sacrifice made, will
be rewarded a hundredfold. I will pray earnestly and continually that
the friends may evince such zeal and perseverance as to ensure the
complete success of the Six-Year Plan which they, of their own
accord, have so splendidly initiated.

October 5, 1941

Every Obstacle Should Be Surmounted

He was very happy to receive so much good news of the
progress of the Baha’i teaching work in India, as well as the
success of the Summer School.

The fact that the friends of India, and also of Iran,
are now finding themselves in a position where they can arise and
teach the Cause far and wide, greatly cheers the Guardian’s
heart. He hopes that the Baha’is of India, in spite of the fact
that the war is now so close to their native land, with all its
attendant dangers and problems, will allow nothing to deter them in
their prosecution of their Six-Year Teaching Plan for India and
Burma.

Now is the time of true test and trial—the time
when the friends must follow in the footsteps of the first Persian
believers, who, heedless of comfort and even life itself, raised the
Banner of Baha’u’llah’s Faith aloft, for all the
world to see and follow.

He feels confident that the believers, led by their
National Spiritual Assembly, and aided and inspired by their Local
Spiritual Assemblies, will arise to new heights of service, and
distinguish themselves in the eyes of the Baha’i world. His
constant prayers will be offered on their behalf, and he will
remember them in the Shrines with love and yearning for their
success.

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to add a few words in person
and appeal to you, and through you to the dear friends in Burma and
India, not to allow, despite the increasing gravity of the
international situation and the dangers that threaten the East, the
work, which has been so enthusiastically initiated, to suffer through
any relaxation of effort, or any deflection of purpose, on the part
of any individual or Assembly. These perils, sufferings and
commotions are blessings in disguise, which pave the way and prepare
the hearts of those who face and sustain them for a deeper
realization and an earlier and fuller acceptance of the Divine
Message of Baha’u’llah. The opportunities are manifold
and priceless. Every effort should be exerted, every sacrifice should
be made, every obstacle should be surmounted.

December 16, 1941

It rejoices his heart to see that the Indian believers
are now rising to such noble heights of self-sacrifice and utter
devotion to the Faith of God, and that they are, despite the great
difficulty of these war times we are living through, determined to
fulfil their Six-Year Plan of teaching the Baha’i Cause in
India and Burma and complete the spread of its divine and healing
message to her peoples before the end of the first Baha’i
century.

Persecution of Baha’is of
Kadwai

He was very sad to hear of the persecution of the
Baha’is of Kadwai by the fanatical Muslim population. Please
convey to the friends there the assurance of his most loving prayers
for their protection, and tell them that, though they are suffering
for their Faith, this very persecution is a blessing to the believers
of India, as we know that wherever the Cause has suffered it has
always grown stronger and attracted more attention and more
adherents.

He was also very pleased to hear of the success of the
Summer School this year. The Indian Baha’is have every reason
to feel encouraged by the marked progress of their activities in all
fields.

Use of A’rabs (Vowel Points)

Regarding your question as to the use of A’rabs on
the Arabic texts of the Tablets: The Guardian feels that this is a
matter which concerns the entire Baha’i world, and requires to
be worked out by a highly specialized group of qualified people at
some future date. He, therefore wishes you not to print the A’rabs
on the Holy Tablets except on rare occasions where it is absolutely
necessary in order to distinguish the word from some other word just
like it.

Two Davids

Abdu’l-Baha is the one who has interpreted the
reference of the Bab concerning David, by saying that there were two
Davids, one of them was the author of the Psalms. The Tablet in which
the Master states this is absolutely authentic, but at the moment the
original is not available.

He Whom God Will Make Manifest

The Bab said that whenever “He whom God will make
manifest” appears, accept Him. He never said don’t accept
Him until after the lapse of 1000 years. Also Baha’u’llah
says that in the year 9 of the Babi Dispensation the time was ripe
for the Revelation of “He whom God will make manifest”.
As the Bab was not only a Manifestation but a Herald of this Baha’i
Faith, the interval between His Revelation and that of Baha’u’llah
was of shorter duration. His Dispensation in a sense will last as
long as Baha’u’llah’s lasts.

The Holy Book—The Aqdas

There are no doubtful verses in the Holy Book, the
Aqdas. The reason it is not circulated amongst all the Baha’is
is, first, because the Cause is not yet ready or sufficiently matured
to put all the provisions of the Aqdas into effect and, second,
because it is a book which requires to be supplemented by detailed
explanations and to be translated into other languages by a competent
body of experts. The provisions of the Aqdas are gradually, according
to the progress of the Cause, being put into effect already, both in
the East and the West.

Use of A’rabs (Vowel Points)

No vowel points, as A’rabs, should be published
with any part of the text of the Aqdas. Certain of the Tablets may be
translated in Urdu, but not the Aqdas itself, for the reasons
mentioned above.

Writings of the Bab

The books of the Bab have not as yet been printed in the
original. Except for the Bayan, the Seven Proofs and Commentary on
the Surih of Joseph, we cannot be sure of the authenticity of most of
His other works as the text has been corrupted by the unfaithful.

The Universal House of Justice

The Universal House of Justice is elected by the members
of the National Houses of Justice. At this time when the National
Assemblies in the Cause are not yet functioning sufficiently or fully
representative of all the various important elements within it, and
when some of the Baha’is are not even free to practise their
faith, despite their numbers, it is quite impracticable to seek to
establish the Universal House of Justice. Whenever conditions permit,
it will be established.

Surmount Every Obstacle

The Guardian wishes the members of your Assembly to
persevere, in spite of the dangers of the war now raging near to
India, in the all-important task of fulfilling the Six-Year Plan.

He is confident that the friends of India and Burma like
their Baha’i brothers and sisters of other lands, will surmount
every obstacle, overcome every difficulty, and emerge victorious at
the end of the first Baha’i Century.

[From the Guardian:]

The news conveyed by your latest
communication has rejoiced my heart. The manner in which the friends
have arisen to promote the teaching work throughout their country
merits the highest praise. By their enthusiasm, their
self-abnegation, the determination and vigour they display, they have
lent a fresh impetus to the onward march of the Faith and the
expansion of its institutions and the multiplication of its
administrative centres. The perils of the present hour, the
repercussions of this tremendous world ordeal on their native land,
must, in no wise, alarm or discourage them. Their purpose must never
be deflected, their enthusiasm never dimmed, their vision never
obscured, their exertions never discontinued. Adversity prepares the
hearts of men, and paves the way for a wholehearted and general
acceptance of the tenets and claims of our beloved Faith. Challenged
by the obstacles in their path, encouraged by work already initiated,
assured of the Divine Promise of Baha’u’llah, let them
forge ahead until their goal is attained. My prayers will ever
surround them.

December 27, 1941

Remarkable Evidence of Activity

He has been greatly encouraged by the work the Indian
believers are doing in the pioneer teaching field. It makes him proud
to behold the way this great eastern nation is arising, through its
enlightened Baha’is, to serve the Cause of God, and is fast
pushing to the forefront of Baha’i service, and becoming an
example and an inspiration to the other Baha’i communities in
the Orient and Far East.

The noble response the Indian friends are making to his
appeals has encouraged him to send them further donations for their
teaching work, and he trusts that, under the indefatigable leadership
of the National Spiritual Assembly, they will redouble their efforts,
and push on to the full and glorious completion of the Six-Year Plan
they laid down for themselves with such courage and devotion.

The establishment of the Hyderabad Assembly and that of
Bangalore are great steps forward, and the Guardian is waiting
hopefully to receive the good news of more new spiritual Assemblies
in this coming Baha’i year.

He was also very pleased to hear that the Summer School
is becoming an institution of national importance, and that the
friends are increasingly attending it and realizing its great value
in the life of the entire Community of believers. In a country such
as India it might grow to be the first permanent institution of
Baha’i learning if the believers support it sufficiently and
carry out their teaching campaign with whole-hearted devotion and
zeal; for, with the influx of many new Baha’is into the Cause
in that country, it should not be difficult to evolve it into a
Baha’i university as time goes by.

The Guardian wishes to convey, through you, his loving
appreciation of their noble services to all the dear Indian believers
who have gone out as pioneers and teachers in these momentous days.
He will remember them, and all the Indian friends, in his prayers in
the Holy Shrines, and supplicate for them a victorious conclusion for
their Six-Year Plan by 1944.

[From the Guardian:]

I have been greatly heartened in my
arduous task by the remarkable evidences of activity, devotion and
perseverance which the believers in India have lately manifested, and
by the manner in which they have arisen to promote the cause of our
Beloved, and extend the range of its institutions. I admire, their
spirit, and feel truly proud of their achievements. The field is
indeed vast, and the problems manifold, but the spirit they have
demonstrated will, if kept alive, enable them to surmount every
obstacle. My prayers will continue to be offered on their behalf and
particularly for those who are planting the banner of the Faith in
virgin territories. How glorious their task, how meritorious their
accomplishments.

January 10, 1942

Future is Blessed and Glorious

He was very relieved to hear from Mr. Butt that the
Burmese Baha’is were all safe, and he trusts that, in spite of
the grave dangers now so near them, God will continue to over-shadow
them and protect them in His mercy and wisdom.

We Baha’is are indeed most blessed in that we know
that, however dark the days immediately ahead of the human race, the
future is blessed and glorious. It is for this future that the
believers must labour day and night, heedless of the state of the
world and the dangers threatening.

The Guardian will continuously pray that Baha’u’llah
will strengthen and guide the Indian friends to succeed in their
teaching plans, and to persevere in their efforts until they have
completed the Six-Year Plan.

[From the Guardian:]

In these days when perils are fast
gathering about India and Burma my heart and my thoughts turn
increasingly towards the friends, and particularly those who are
vigorously and devotedly promoting the interests of the Six-Year
Plan. I will specially and fervently pray for them all, that their
vision may not be obscured, that their efforts may not diminish, that
their courage many remain undaunted, and their steadfastness and
loyalty unshaken. The greater their problems and anxieties and the
more formidable the obstacles in their way, the more glorious and
abundant will be the recompense and blessings that will be bestowed
upon them by their all-seeing, their all-bountiful, all-powerful
Master.

February 23, 1942

New Assemblies of Hyderabad &
Kotah

The Guardian has written the new Hyderabad Assembly, and
he will indeed pray for their protection and blessing. They are an
important group in an important State, and he hopes that your
Assembly will render them every assistance and help possible, in
order to deepen them in the knowledge of the teachings and in Faith.

The establishment of the Assembly of Kotah, no less than
that of Hyderabad, must be viewed in the light of another milestone
in the forward march of the Faith in India. The Guardian would like
you to convey to all the dear pioneers and teachers whom you have
enumerated in your letters, the expression of his deep gratitude for,
and appreciation of the wonderful work they are doing. The believers
of India, though few in number in relation to the millions that form
their nation, are performing a service to their fellow-countrymen
which in the future will be seen in the true magnitude. Let them rest
assured and toil ceaselessly for the establishment of the Faith which
they serve, and which alone can ultimately heal the ills of
sorely-tried mankind.

[From the Guardian:]

The pioneer activities in which the
friends in India are so steadfastly, so energetically and so
devotedly engaged, in spite of the perils, the uncertainties and the
stress of the present hour, are a marvellous evidence of the
indomitable spirit that animates them in the service of the Cause of
Baha’u’llah. Perseverance is the magnet that will, in
these days, attract the promised blessings of the Almighty Author of
our beloved Faith. Unity and harmony constitute the basis on which
the structure of these activities can securely rest. Self-sacrifice,
audacity, undeviating adherence to the essentials of the Faith, will
reinforce that structure and accelerate its rise. That the dear
friends in India are increasingly demonstrating the quality and depth
of their faith and the character and range of their accomplishments
is a source of intense satisfaction to me, and I will continue to
supplicate our Beloved to guide their steps, cheer their hearts,
illumine their understanding, and fulfil their highest and noblest
aspirations. He indeed is well pleased with the record of their past
services, and will, if they redouble their efforts, enable them to
achieve a signal victory.

June 27, 1942

Prizes to be Won

…The extremely good news of the way the Baha’is
of India are arising and serving in new fields in spite of the war
conditions prevailing, and the formation of the new Assemblies of
Hyderabad and Kotah, the work in Kashmir and various other centres,
has all greatly cheered his heart, and impelled him to contribute the
sum he forwarded through you to help carry out the many teaching
enterprises now under way. The rate at which the Indian believers are
advancing is increasingly entitling them to a position in the
foremost ranks of the Faith, and will no doubt greatly inspire and
encourage other Baha’is of the East to follow their example.
Such prizes are to be won in these days of universal trial and
suffering, and it makes the Guardian very happy to feel that some of
them are evidently going to be merited by the Indian believers!

It is a great deprivation that the friends should be cut
off from their devoted fellow-Baha’is in Burma. We can only
hope and pray that Baha’u’llah will protect and watch
over them until the ordeal of these times is past, and the faithful
believers the world over can again join hands and work together for
the peace and progress of the entire world.

Passing of Abd’ul-Jalil Beg
Saad

The passing of Abd’ul-Jalil Beg Saad was a great
loss to the Faith in Egypt, and the Guardian was pleased to hear that
his co-workers in India held memorial meetings for him. Such
occasions constitute eloquent testimonials to the profound love that
binds Baha’is to each other, whoever and wherever they may be.

Painstaking and Fruitful Efforts

[From the Guardian:]

I wish to reaffirm my deep sense of
satisfaction and gratitude for the sustained, the painstaking and
fruitful efforts exerted so far by the Indian believers for the
promotion of the Six-Year Plan. The limits of the Faith have been
enlarged, the centres and groups have multiplied, and the
determination and zeal of the prosecutors of the Plan are visibly
increasing. I am greatly cheered and encouraged, and will, with
redoubled fervour, pray at the holy Shrines, for the victorious
conclusion of the campaign initiated with such devotion, energy, and
resolution. May the Beloved sustain them in their noble task.

July 27, 1942

The marked, and extremely encouraging, progress which
the Cause is making in India has so pleased the Guardian and cheered
his over-burdened heart that he felt impelled to forward to your
Assembly the sum of two hundred pounds to be expended for the further
promotion of the teaching work.

That at such a time, when dangers threaten on every side
and the whole planet is plunged in war and confusion, the Indian
believers should, so steadily and patiently, with such devotion and
enthusiasm, pursue their tasks of teaching under the Six-Year Plan,
is, indeed, a cause for universal acclaim and rejoicing on the part
of their fellow-Baha’is. They are ever increasingly arising to
take their place as one of the foremost Baha’i Communities, and
their spirit and their accomplishments are arousing the envy and the
admiration of their fellow-workers in Eastern lands.

Placing of Burial Stone

The placing of the burial stone on the dead has no other
significance than to emphasize our profound conviction that our souls
come from our Creator and to Him they return, and in Him we believe
and trust.

Ensure the Triumphant Conclusion

[From the Guardian:]

The accomplishments of the believers
of India, in virgin fields and in furtherance of the interests of the
Six-Year Plan, merit the highest praise. Prompted by their
achievements, and as a token of my keen appreciation of their notable
services, and in order to facilitate further expansion and
consolidation of their teaching activities, I have forwarded to you a
contribution which I trust will serve as a nucleus for a Fund
designed to promote the vital and urgent interests of the nation-wide
teaching enterprise in which you have embarked, and which constitutes
the greatest single organized undertaking launched in the service of
Baha’u’llah in that country. Perseverance, coupled with a
spirit of complete dedication to the cause of teaching, will, I feel
confident, ensure the triumphant conclusion of your labours. I will
continue to pray for you from the depths of my heart. Redouble your
efforts and be confident.

July 29, 1942

Proper Administrative Headquarters

Concerning his recent cable to the National Spiritual
Assembly: The Guardian feels that, if feasible, it is highly
desirable and necessary that the rapidly growing and strengthening
Indian Baha’i Community should have a proper administrative
Headquarters, situated in the capital—Delhi—and suitable
for the next few years at least. He wishes the N.S.A. to find a
building or house which will suit their requirements in every way,
and inform him at once of the price required. He considers that it is
premature at present to think of purchasing a site for a future
Baha’i Temple. The thing for the friends to concentrate on at
present is the Haziratu’l-Quds.

He has been greatly encouraged of late to witness the
marked increase of activity shown by the Baha’i Communities
everywhere in India. They are demonstrating their right to a place in
the foremost ranks of the Baha’i World, and he is very pleased
with them and eager that they should forge ahead in every field of
Baha’i life.

[From the Guardian:]

May the Almighty graciously assist
the Indian believers to establish, at the close of the first Baha’i
Century, their administrative headquarters in the capital city of
India, and thus befittingly crown their meritorious teaching
activities.

January 28, 1943

Passing Away of Mr. Vakil

He was very sad to hear of the passing of our dear and
esteemed brother, Mr. Vakil. His loss will be much felt by the Indian
believers, and the many services he rendered the Cause will never be
forgotten. It is too bad that he was denied the burial he himself
longed for, but no doubt his spirit is now rejoicing in the Abha
Kingdom after its long and faithful labours in this world.

Secretary of the N.S.A.

Regarding your question concerning the Secretary of the
N.S.A.: There cannot be any permanently elected Secretary who would
year after year hold office, as this would be contrary to the
principles of the administration; however, the Guardian feels that
the N.S.A. should supply the Secretary with a paid helper in order to
enable him to carry on his duties properly and at the same time
pursue his own profession, if that is necessary for him. In other
words the Secretary of the N.S.A. can have a full-time secretary
under him if the work requires it.

Election of L.S.A.’s

The Guardian has notified the friends in other countries
that, in view of the fact that this is the hundredth year of the
Faith and we are going to celebrate our Centenary next May, Spiritual
Assemblies may be constituted or elected anytime before next April,
wherever there are 9 or more believers. He has done this in order to
encourage the friends and stimulate the work everywhere. He would
like you to impress this fact on the believers in India so that they
may redouble their efforts and have a truly impressive number of
Assemblies by next May.

National Administrative Headquarters

He is sorry to hear that you have not as yet been able
to find a suitable house for the National administrative
Headquarters. The establishment of this headquarters will greatly
enhance the prestige of the Indian Baha’i Community and
stimulate the growth and work of the Cause. He hopes you will soon
meet with success, and cable him the glad news he is eagerly waiting
to receive.

Baha’is Can Undertake
Philanthropic Work

Mr. Mani Mehta forwarded to the Guardian a copy of the
N.S.A.’s decision informing him that he must either give up his
connection with the War Comforts Fund or his Baha’i
administrative work. The Guardian feels that there is no objection to
a Baha’i undertaking work of a philanthropic or humanitarian
nature and at the same time being on elected Baha’i bodies or
holding office in them. The War Comforts Fund is in no way contrary
to our principles, and there can be no objection to Mr. Mehta’s
work in this connection. He hopes that the N.S.A. will clarify this
matter and remove any misunderstandings that have arisen.

Centenary Celebrations

The friends in India are, after years of labour and
devotion, beginning to find their number greatly increased, their
assemblies multiplied, their Faith increasingly well-known to the
public; they are about to initiate their first national headquarters,
and in a few months will be celebrating the glorious occasion of the
hundredth anniversary of their Faith. At such a critical time they
should, one and all, devote their energies to achieving their
objectives and impressing upon the public the nobility and beauty of
their teachings, divinely inspired, and of such vast import to the
entire world, and cast aside, once for all, any differences of
opinion or personal viewpoints or prejudices that may hinder the
success of their plans and cast a blight on the wonderful
achievements they have carried out and are about to crown with still
greater victories.

The Guardian feels that the N.S.A. must from now on
coordinate its plans and set in motion its preparations for the
Centenary Celebration. The believers must hold gatherings for the
Baha’is at exactly 2 hours and 11 minutes after sunset on May
22nd, 1944 as this is the exact time when the Bab declared His
Mission to Mulla Hussayn. They should also arrange to hold public
gatherings on May 23rd and enlist the support of prominent friends of
the Faith as speakers, together with Baha’i speakers, on that
occasion. They should, as far as possible, hold festive gatherings at
this time, give banquets at which friends of the Cause and believers
are present, obtain as much space in the press of India as possible,
and in general devise ways and means of making this a glorious and
memorable celebration. He would also like to have the N.S.A. publish,
in conjunction with the Centenary, a pamphlet giving a brief outline
of the Faith’s origin and teachings and major events in India,
since its establishment there, and a detailed outline of the
accomplishments of the Indian Baha’i Community, its early
history, its development, etc.

He has been greatly encouraged by the progress made by
the Indian Baha’i Community in recent years, and he longs to
see them shine still brighter amidst its fellow communities the world
over.

You may be sure that his loving prayers will be offered
on your behalf and on behalf of all the other N.S.A. members, that
you may speedily find a suitable Hazira, that the Cause may go on to
still greater triumphs during this last year of the Century, and that
the unity of the friends may be increased everywhere, as befits our
Holy Faith.

[From the Guardian:]

The celebration of the Centenary of
our glorious Faith by the friends in India should, under your
direction, and with your encouragement and the assistance of
individuals and local Assemblies throughout India, constitute a
befitting conclusion to the magnificent labours and accomplishments
that have marked your stewardship in the service of the Cause of
Baha’u’llah in recent years. A special fund should be
initiated, a strong committee should be set up, the utmost care
should be taken, the most diligent efforts should be exerted and
every sacrifice should be made to ensure the unqualified success of
this great undertaking. I will pray for your success from the depths
of my heart. There is no time to lose. The Beloved will, no doubt,
crown your exertions with signal victory if you arise and persevere.

June 22, 1943

Friends Should Unite

He was very pleased to hear that the Convention was so
well attended, and the believers enthusiastic and united. One of the
most paramount needs of the Cause in India is that the friends should
unite, should become really keenly conscious of the fact that they
are one spiritual family, held together by bonds more sacred and
eternal than those physical ties which make people of the same
family. If the friends will forget all personal differences and open
their hearts to a great love for each other for the sake of
Baha’u’llah, they will find that their powers are vastly
increased; they will attract the heart of the public, and will
witness a rapid growth of the Holy Faith in India. The N.S.A. should
do all in its power to foster unity among the believers, and to
educate them in the administration as this is the channel through
which their community life must flow, and which, when properly
understood and practised, will enable the work of the Cause to go
ahead by leaps and bounds.

The excellent news you conveyed of the progress of the
Faith in so many hitherto virgin territories of India greatly
rejoiced the Guardian’s heart, and he is proud to witness the
manner in which the Indian believers are arising, teaching, and
sacrificing for the Faith of God. The friends themselves must be
astonished at the rapidity with which the devoted pioneers have
succeeded in establishing new spiritual Assemblies; and he hopes that
many more souls will, thrilled by these achievements, follow in their
footsteps, and thus ensure a truly glorious celebration of the
hundredth anniversary of the Cause next May. The eyes of the Baha’i
world are being increasingly attracted by the achievements of the
Indian friends, and they have the opportunity of crowning their
Centenary celebrations with a victory outstanding in the records of
the Baha’is of the East. The Guardian hopes that in this
connection many more Baha’i young people will arise and serve.
They have the advantages of health and freedom from family
responsibilities which are not always enjoyed by older people, and
they should cooperate to the full with more experienced believers in
carrying on the pioneer work of the Cause.

He is most anxious that now that the National
administrative Headquarters of the Faith has been successfully
established—a tremendous step forward for the Faith there—you
should give special attention to getting out the Esslemont book in
three additional languages as soon as possible.

The Six-Year Plan Has Progressed
Magnificently

[From the Guardian:]

The achievements of the Indian
believers in recent months have been truly stupendous. The Six-Year
Plan has progressed magnificently; the dissemination of Baha’i
literature has been stimulated, the national administrative
headquarters, to be henceforth designated as the Haziratu’l-Quds,
has been established; a new spirit stirs in the hearts of the
believers, teachers, pioneers as well as administrators; the
evidences of a fast-developing community life are evident everywhere.
The impetus lent to these activities must be continually reinforced
in these concluding months of the first Baha’i century. The
Indian believers have amply demonstrated the vitality of the faith
they profess. They must win fresh laurels. They cannot rest on their
oars. They must scale still loftier heights. They must persevere till
the end. They must sacrifice to the utmost. They must unite as never
before. They must prove themselves worthy of the task they have so
nobly initiated and are now so energetically prosecuting. I will,
with redoubled fervour, pray for its consummation. Rest assured.

October 26, 1943

Centenary Celebrations

He approves of the plans for holding the Centenary, and
wishes the annual Baha’i Convention to be held in conjunction
with it (as already confirmed by cable to you). All Baha’i
Communities free to convene conventions will be also meeting this
year during the Centenary celebrations. This will both facilitate the
work of the Cause, stimulate the friends, and be of added interest to
the public.

The truly remarkable work accomplished by the pioneers
and teachers in India during this last year has greatly pleased, and
even astonished, the Guardian, and he hopes that the friends, newly
enlisted under the banner of Baha’u’llah, will study the
teachings deeply, help to promote unity and concord among the
believers, and greatly aid in spreading the Divine Message among the
people of India.

Historic Achievements

[From the Guardian:]

The truly splendid and indeed
historic achievements of the Indian believers during the concluding
months of the first Baha’i century deserve the highest praise.
The repeated and striking evidences of their high accomplishments
invigorate, encourage, and excite the admiration of, their sister
communities in East and West. They are holding aloft the standard of
Divine guidance in a manner that cannot but evoke the unstinted
praise and the unqualified gratitude of their brethren throughout the
Baha’i world. The Beloved is well pleased with their
magnificent record of service. I feel truly proud of their
stewardship of the Faith of Baha’u’llah, of the spirit
which animates them, and of the steadfastness with which they pursue
their manifold and ever-expanding activities in the service of this
glorious Faith.

March 19, 1944

Baha’u’llah and the New
Era in Kanarese

A few days ago the Kanarese volumes reached him and he
was very happy to see them; he has placed most of them in the Mansion
of Baha’u’llah and the others he has distributed to
various Assemblies and Baha’i libraries. He is eagerly awaiting
copies of the various other translations your Assembly has
undertaken, and in this connection he urges you again to persevere in
your efforts to overcome every obstacle and get these further
additions to your Baha’i literature in India speedily out and
in the hands of the newly-attracted souls.

Achieved Mighty Victories

The Guardian wishes to once again stress the immediate
tasks which face your Assembly: the important—and almost
miraculous—work achieved during the closing years of our first
Baha’i Century in forming so many Assemblies, most of them in
virgin territory, should be carefully consolidated through travelling
teachers, additional pioneers (if necessary), extension of financial
help, etc., so that none of them will be weakened and forced to
revert to group status. Also the newly formed groups should be given
every assistance to enable them to become Assemblies and take part in
the administrative order of the Cause in India. He urges you to
concentrate on these three things: the publication and distribution
of the newly translated books; the firm consolidation of the new
Assemblies; and the development of existing groups, that they may
speedily achieve Assembly status.

Important as new teaching undertakings are they should
not be given precedence at the present time until these other
objectives are well on the way to being realized.

In closing let me assure you that the beloved Guardian
cherishes the brightest hopes for the future development of the Cause
there, and expects great things of the Indian believers in view of
the truly remarkable tasks they have been accomplishing these last
few years with such a spirit of zeal and devotion. His loving prayers
are offered on your behalf and for your fellow-members of the N.S.A.,
that you may be blessed and guided always.

[From the Guardian:]

The achievements of the Indian Baha’i
Community during the closing years of the first Baha’i Century
have shed a great lustre on the record of their imperishable services
ever since the inception of the Faith in their vast and promising
country. Both in the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha’i
activity they have assiduously laboured, nobly persevered, generously
given of their resources, consistently collaborated, achieved mighty
victories and raised to a new level the standard of Baha’i
stewardship. The field now stretching before them during the opening
year of the second Baha’i Century is vast and highly promising.
The call is urgent, the opportunities priceless, the need of the
waiting masses desperate, the machinery for the execution of the
Divine Purpose already erected and vigorously functioning, the
promise of signal victory clear and definite. A higher degree of
administrative efficiency; a closer collaboration between the various
elements constituting the organic Baha’i Community; a greater
measure of self sacrifice; a still more intensified exertion aiming
at the consolidation and preservation of the newly constituted
Assemblies and the rapid conversion of the existing groups into
full-fledged Assemblies; a systematic, sustained and nation-wide
endeavour for the purpose of disseminating the literature of the
Faith, increasing its volume and adding to its diversity and lastly a
more audacious and convincing presentation of its tenets to the
masses of the people—these constitute the primary tasks facing
now the Indian believers. That they may achieve their high destiny is
my constant hope and fervent prayer.

December 20, 1944

Re-instate Assemblies in Burma

First let me say that he was very pleased to receive
your cable telling him the Baha’is in at least a part of Burma
have survived. His thoughts and prayers have often been with them
during these terrible years of war.

He wishes to urge the N.S.A. to concentrate above all on
re-instating any Spiritual Assemblies which were disbanded last
Baha’i year owing to insufficient numbers. This must always be
the first consideration, so that the hardly won prizes of these new
Assemblies may not be lost. Depriving of Voting Rights—Function
of N.S.A.

Also he wishes to point out that the power to put a
person outside the Faith administratively must be solely, for the
present time, in the hands of the N.S.A. This applies only to the
cases where believers are deprived of their voting rights. Such
extremely important and dramatic measures should never be resorted to
unless absolutely necessary, and should certainly never be left in
the hands of local assemblies, where personal feelings might colour
the Assembly’s decision. On the other hand, the right to enroll
believers has always been given to the Local Assemblies. But they
should be strongly urged to make sure the applicant is sincere and
fully understands and accepts the fundamentals of the Faith.

Teach a Wider Range of Indians

He also feels that now that you have so much literature
on hand in various languages you should endeavour to teach a wider
range of Indian races; especially the Hindus and Moslems as they form
the preponderating mass of the people. Also Hindu and Moslem
believers should be encouraged to teach, pioneer, lecture, and be
appointed on Committees, and elected to Assemblies, so that our true
inter-racial, inter-religious character may be incontestably
demonstrated to the world.

The Guardian does not feel that it is necessary to wait
one whole year before an applicant is admitted into the Faith. The
Assemblies must not be too strict, but should make every effort to
increase the membership of their communities.

June 26, 1945

Passing Away of Siyyid Mustafa

He was deeply grieved to hear of the death of our very
dear and esteemed Baha’i brother, Siyyid Mustafa. He was truly
an example of steadfast devotion and one of the outstanding pioneers
the Faith produced during the first century of its existence. He was
also very sad to hear of the ruin of the Baha’i Haziras and the
plight of the Baha’is in general. He wishes your Assembly to
exert its utmost in alleviating the suffering of the Burmese friends,
and assisting them in every way possible. Convey to them all the
assurance of his ardent and loving prayers on their behalf, and for
the speedy re-establishment of the Faith and its institutions in
Burma.

Baha’i Marriage

Regarding the question of … marriage: She should have
performed the Baha’i marriage rites, but, as the Guardian
already wrote her, she can now be re-instated in her voting rights by
having a Baha’i marriage ceremony performed. As she was married
by civil, and not religious, law she need have no divorce or
annulment of her civil marriage.

As at present a Baha’i marriage is not yet legally
recognized by the authorities, the friends should also have the civil
marriage in addition. We have no objection to it at all, as it is
non-sectarian and in no way affects our Baha’i status.

As long as both the Baha’i and the other religious
(whatever it may be) ceremony are both performed prior to the
consummation of the marriage, we do not mind which ceremony is
performed first. It should be left to the individuals concerned to
decide among themselves.

Task Urgent, Vast and Sacred

[From the Guardian:]

The task facing the members of the
Indian Baha’i community in these days of stress and trial, is
urgent, vast and sacred. The responsibilities they shoulder are
growing in number and complexity. The obstacles in their path are
numerous and seemingly insurmountable. The victories, however, which
they have won during the concluding years of the first Baha’i
century, augur well for the future, and constitute only a preliminary
stage in the great work they are destined to accomplish in the years
that lie ahead. A unity that is truly unshakable, a consecration to
their task which no trial or test can impair, a resolve that no
force, however inimical, can shake, a united and systematic endeavour
to proclaim and firmly establish their Faith which enemies neither
from within nor from without can undermine—all these are
vitally required to enable them to achieve their high destiny. To you
as their national elected representatives I desire to appeal in
particular to exercise the utmost forbearance, care and vigilance, to
exert the utmost endeavour, to deliberate, cooperate and carry out
with exemplary vigour the necessary measures which the urgency of the
task and the criticalness of the hour imperatively demand. That their
glorious mission may be crowned with signal success is the object of
my constant and fervent prayers at the holy Shrine.

August 9, 1945

Shoulder Heavy Responsibilities

He was very sad to read of the sufferings of the beloved
Burmese friends, of the death of that bright star of the Faith,
Siyyid Mustafa, and of the murder of many other of the friends! At
the same time his heart swelled with pride when he saw that already
the believers have re-assembled, elected an Assembly, and started
their school again. This shows how deep their faith is, and presages
a glorious future for the Cause there.

As you already know he has sent you a sum to be devoted
to rebuilding the Baha’i institutions, teaching the Faith, and
assisting the friends who are in desperate need. He has also invited
other National Assemblies to contribute to this fund, and thus assist
your Assembly to carry out this very important task of
re-establishing a flourishing Community in Burma.

The Indian believers are finding themselves increasingly
called upon to shoulder heavy responsibilities; they are becoming
more numerous, have spread to many new centres, undertaken a large
publishing program, increased the number of their institutions, and
are gradually becoming known to their fellow-Indians as followers of
a new and glorious Faith. In view of this he feels your Assembly
should constantly exhort the friends to be more conscious of their
duties, and to be very careful of having differences of opinion which
are so strong as to lead to disputes and thus humiliate our beloved
Faith in the eyes of non-Baha’is. The public is beginning to
observe them, and they must therefore conduct themselves at all times
as befits those who bear the glorious Name of Baha. They must be
forgetful of self, but ever mindful of the Cause of God!

[From the Guardian:]

The rehabilitation of the community
of the sore-stricken believers throughout Burma constitutes the most
urgent task of the Indian believers, and is a direct challenge which
they cannot ignore or neglect. The reconstitution of dissolved
assemblies, the extension of relief to the needy, the promotion of
the teaching work, the dissemination of Baha’i literature, the
construction of the Haziras, the re-establishment of schools and
committees are all vitally urgent, and should be carried out fully,
systematically, and with the utmost speed. I long to hear of the
progress of your labours in this important field, upon which the
future welfare of the Burmese community depends, and with which the
destinies of the Indian believers are closely interwoven. I will pray
from the depths of my heart that your meritorious efforts may soon be
crowned with magnificent success.

December 18, 1945

Threefold Task

There is no objection to permitting the name of a Baha’i
or his relative, to be placed on a stone incorporated in some Baha’i
building he has donated to the Faith.

He is delighted with the progress your work is making in
every field, and he urges you all to continually stimulate and
inspire the friends to make ever greater effort and sacrifice in the
service of their beloved Faith. The opportunity is unique and the
rewards of Baha’u’llah inestimably glorious.

[From the Guardian:]

My heart swells with joy, pride, and
gratitude as I contemplate the range of the services rendered in
recent years by the Indian believers to the Cause of Baha’u’llah.
I particularly rejoice at the splendid initiative, the magnificent
zeal, the unconquerable spirit that have characterised their recent
understanding associated with the new Plan which they have
audaciously conceived, and which, I feel confident, they will
prosecute with exemplary vigour and constancy. Simultaneous with the
united efforts that must be strenuously exerted to ensure its
success, a systematic endeavour must be made to proclaim the verities
of our glorious Faith to the masses, and to disseminate far and wide
its literature. This threefold task requires the concentrated and
sustained attention of the rank and file of the believers, the
subordination of every consideration to its paramount interests, the
extension of generous financial assistance to the agencies designed
for its promotion. The believers in India have set an inspiring
example to their fellow-believers throughout the East, and even to
the great mass of their co-religionists in Baha’u’llah’s
native land, and have abundantly demonstrated to them all, what
organized activity, boldly conceived and soundly and energetically
conducted, can achieve when directed and animated by the ennobling
influences and the generative spirit of the Faith of Baha’u’llah.
Their exploits are indeed unsurpassed by those of any community
throughout the Baha’i world except those which stand associated
with the community that may well claim to be the standard-bearer of
the Cause of God in the West. That these exploits may be the
forerunners of still mightier and nobler achievements is my fervent
hope and prayer.

March 20, 1946 Baha’is Can Accept Grants-in-aid
From The Government

Your question about whether Baha’is can accept
grants-in-aid and free plots from Government….

There is no objection, the beloved Guardian says, to the
Baha’is receiving this type of help from the Government and
civic authorities.

March 24, 1946

Baha’i Holy Days

He thinks it is better for Baha’i doctors not to
work on our 9 Holy Days—but, of course, that does not mean they
should not attend to very sick people and emergencies on these days.

Voting Rights

As he already told you in a previous communication he
feels that your Assembly should not deprive people of their voting
rights unless the matter is really very grave; this is a very heavy
sanction, and can embitter the heart if lightly imposed, and also
make people think we unduly resort to pressure of a strong nature.
The friends must be nursed and assisted, for they are still mostly
immature spiritually, and their “sins” are those of
immaturity! Their hearts are loyal to the Cause, and this is the most
important thing.

Responsibilities Immense

[From the Guardian:]

The responsibilities confronting the
Indian and Burmese Baha’i Communities, in these days of stress
and turmoil, are immense and inescapable. The task facing them is
urgent, complex and rich in possibilities. The Plan which they are
now striving to carry out demands the utmost vigilance, care, vigour
and perseverance. All must arise to lend their assistance, and ensure
its unqualified success in all its aspects. An intensification of
effort aimed at increasing the number of pioneers who are labouring
throughout the length and breadth of that land; a more vigorous and
systematic endeavour to ensure the speedy publication of Baha’i
literature in all the languages that have already been determined
upon and its immediate dissemination as an adjunct to the
all-important teaching work; the elimination of every trace of
inharmony, misunderstanding and ill-will so detrimental, at this
juncture, to the interests of the Plan; the initiation of measures
designed to give greater publicity to the aims and purposes of the
Faith and its fundamental teachings, through the Press and radio; the
adoption and enforcement of whatever measures are required to
increase the number of Indian and Muslim converts to the Faith, on
whom its ultimate triumph and recognition must depend; the steady
consolidation and expansion of newly-established institutions, such
as the Summer School, the hostel and the local Haziras; a more
liberal and widespread contribution of funds to the National Treasury
for the support of these institutions, and for the promotion of the
general interests of the Faith—these stand out as the primary
duties and obligations of both the participants of the Plan and of
those who conduct its operation.

A special effort must simultaneously
be exerted to provide whatever is required to re-establish the
long-suffering and dearly-loved Burmese community on a secure
foundation.

The despatch of competent teachers and visitors to that
sorely-tried land; the extension of the necessary relief to those who
are still in need; the reconstruction of the administrative
headquarters and the re-establishment of the Baha’i school; the
construction of the memorial to the beloved and unforgettable pioneer
and martyr Siyyid Mustafa; the formation of Assemblies and Groups in
as many localities as possible—these constitute the immediate
tasks confronting your Assembly in addition to the responsibilities
you are called upon to discharge under the new Plan.

No sacrifice can be deemed too great
for the achievement of this dual purpose, no effort should be spared
in order to carry out in its entirety this twofold objective. May the
Beloved grant you the strength you require for the accomplishment of
your historic task.

August 2, 1946

Answer to Various Matters

Concerning … divorce: He has no right to demand from
his wife a refund of the marriage expenses he incurred. In the Aqdas
it is quite clear that the husband must not only give the dowry but
must support his wife until the time when the divorce is completed.
In view of this she is not required to repay expenses of the
marriage, etc.

The paying of the Huquq is a spiritual obligation; the
friends must not be obliged by the Assemblies to pay it, but they
should be encouraged to fulfil this spiritual obligation laid upon
them in the Aqdas.

He is very pleased to note the list of literature the
publishing committee is forwarding to him, and urges you to persevere
in pressing the translation and publishing of the New Era in the
important languages already chosen for the purpose, as he attaches
the greatest importance to this work.

He was also delighted to see that the Srinagar Assembly
held its elections. These new Assemblies must receive every aid and
encouragement from your Assembly and every effort must be made to
carry the Faith to new Centres, and to stimulate pioneering amongst
the friends.

The Indian believers have a great opportunity to compete
with both the American and British Baha’is in pioneer services;
they already have a record to be proud of, and are first among the
countries of the East in the record they hold of achievements in this
field. He hopes they will go on from victory to victory, and
vindicate the high hopes he cherishes for their future.

If the National Assembly is sure that it was Siyyid
Mustafa Roumie’s wish to be buried next to his wife in
Mandalay, then you should, by all means, arrange for the interment of
his remains there. A befitting memorial can then be erected over the
vault. The spirit of this great and valiant teacher surely watches
over the land of his adoption, and will aid the Burmese believers in
their efforts to rebuild their centres and promulgate the Cause of
God there.

As we see the confusion in the world spreading, and the
hatreds that divide men augmenting steadily, we, as the trustees of
our Lord’s glorious Faith, must rise to higher levels of
self-sacrifice and devotion. He prays that the Indian believers may
achieve wonderful victories for Baha’u’llah in the months
that lie ahead, and prove themselves worthy of the great destiny that
beckons to them.

Unstinted Devotion Displayed

[From the Guardian:]

The perseverance, the tenacity, the
unstinted devotion displayed consistently by the Indian Baha’i
Community, so clearly demonstrated by the reports recently received
by their national elected representatives, are truly exhilarating and
augur well for the future of the Plan. The members of this Community,
however, must not be content with the standard already achieved, but
must exert themselves ever more determinedly and unitedly to fulfil
the high hopes cherished for the success of their collective
enterprise. The Burmese Baha’i Community, which they are so
devotedly striving to rehabilitate, must, likewise participate
without reserve, in the glorious task that confronts them, and
demonstrate, thereby, its virility and resilience in the face of the
trials and obstacles which it has had to struggle against in the
past. The establishment of new centres in Burma, the consolidation of
the reinstated Assemblies, are both equally vital and urgent. The
verities of the Faith must be proclaimed, its literature must be
disseminated and its institutions reinforced and multiplied
throughout that land. Both communities must collaborate and through
sustained, vigorous and systematic effort and mutual assistance lend
an unprecedented impetus to the onward march of the Faith in India
and Burma. The greater the effort and self-sacrifice, the richer the
benefits that will accrue, and the more potent the blessings that
will be vouchsafed from on high. The goals are clearly defined. The
prizes to be won are within reach and inexpressibly glorious. Time is
running out and the opportunity is priceless. The promise of Divine
unfailing assistance is assured. All are challenged to arise, to toil
and to persevere, until their solemn pledge under the Plan is
completely and totally fulfilled. That they may prove themselves
worthy of their high mission is my fervent hope and constant prayer.

October 12, 1946

More Pioneers to Go Forth

He has been very encouraged to see the way the Indian,
and now the Burmese friends have responded to his repeated call for
greater sacrifice and for more pioneers to go forth into the teaching
field. Your country is so vast that less valiant hearts than those
possessed by the indomitable Baha’is might well have quailed
before the tasks to be undertaken. But, on the contrary, the Indian
and Burmese friends have arisen and demonstrated the calibre of their
faith and courage in a manner which excites the admiration of their
fellow Baha’is East and West.

Now is not the time to rest on their oars, but rather to
re-double their efforts and go on from victory to victory, and to add
new fame to their exploits, conscious that the eyes of their
fellow-believers are focussed upon them to see what they will achieve
next.

He was particularly happy to see how active the beloved
Burmese friends are, and that through the efforts of some members of
their Community and Indian friends they have now established a new
centre in Kyigone, where a Spiritual Assembly can exist. This is a
great step forward, and he hopes many new Baha’i Assemblies
will be developed in Burma during the coming Baha’i year.

He was also very pleased to hear of the book exhibit
held in Kolhapur, and of the interest shown in our Baha’i
literature by persons of standing in the Community. Such exhibitions
offer a great opportunity to show the public what the Cause is doing
and what it stands for, and every advantage of them should be taken.

Although your Assembly has succeeded in getting out a
number of new language publications, you should not relax for a
moment in your efforts to translate and publish the New Era in the
remaining languages chosen, as this work is of the utmost importance,
enables you to teach new language groups the Faith, and adds to the
prestige of the Cause not only in India but abroad. Although you have
many obstacles to overcome the results in the future will be great.

He cannot impress too strongly upon the friends the need
for action: they must arise in still greater numbers to pioneer;
those who cannot go themselves should remember the admonition of
Baha’u’llah and send, through the N.S.A., someone in
their stead; the young people should learn to teach and go forth in
the field in the days of their youth and receive this great blessing;
more qualified teachers should arise, and circulate among the new and
weak Assemblies in order to consolidate them.

[From the Guardian:]

The rich and varied material which
you have been forwarding during recent months to the Holy Land
proclaim and demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt the assiduous
care, the magnificent devotion, the exemplary fidelity, the increased
efficiency with which you are conducting the affairs, and
consolidating the activities of a steadily growing community. My
heart swells with gratitude as I witness, in so many fields, the
striking evidences of the growth, the multiplication and
establishment of highly diversified communities throughout the length
and breadth of India and Burma, the expansion of Baha’i
literature, the rise of new institutions, the growing consciousness
and solidarity of the teachers and administrators of the Faith, and
of the contact that is being established between them and the great
masses of their countrymen, at so critical a period in their history.
However much these communities have already achieved, they cannot
afford, for a moment, to rest content with the laurels that they have
won. Spurred on by these initial and superb victories—victories
unprecedented in the annals of their Faith in that land—they
must press on, more diligently than ever, to reinforce their unity,
to deepen their understanding of the spiritual verities of their
Faith and of the administrative principles underlying its new world
order, to multiply its nascent institutions, to broadcast its
Message, to disseminate its literature, to exemplify its spirit, to
proclaim its truths, and to swell the ranks of its unreserved
supporters. The greater the effort they exert along these lines, the
more abundant the measure of celestial grace that will be vouchsafed
to them from on high. That they may go from strength to strength,
that they may add still more glorious chapters to the distinguished
record of their immortal services to the Cause of Baha’u’llah
is my constant prayer and the most cherished desire of my heart.

March 13, 1947

Esslemont Book in Karen Language

He advises you to make every effort to have the
Esslemont book translated into Karen at present, and to persevere in
your attempts to find someone to translate it into Chin in the
future. He urges you to make a supreme effort to complete these
translations and publication of the Esslemont book in the remaining
chosen languages.

Rules & Regulations Should Not
Be Multiplied

You may not perhaps know that in connection with all
National Assemblies the Guardian is advising that rules and
regulations should not be multiplied and new statements on
“procedure” issued; we should be elastic in details and
rigid in principles; consequently he does not want your Assembly to
issue statements of a binding nature unless absolutely necessary….
It is only those who have been spiritually ex-communicated by the
Guardian with whom the believers are forbidden to associate, and not
a person who is being punished by being deprived of his voting
rights. As contributions to Baha’i funds are used to support
the administration of the Faith, they should not be accepted from
those who are deprived of their voting rights; but such believers,
should not be prevented from being buried in a Baha’i Cemetery
or receiving charity—which we even give to non-Baha’is—if
in dire need.

Added Responsibility

As the N.S.A. of Persia is, it would seem, unable to
send pioneers to Bahrayn or Afghanistan, he fully approves of your
Assembly doing so, if some of the dear Indian believers are willing
to assume this added responsibility and perform this valuable
service, highly meritorious in the sight of God.

The recent news conveyed to him by you of the
achievement of the immediate goals that lay before the Indian and
Burmese Baha’is, pleased him greatly. He feels that the
Community of believers there, as they see their own Plan developing
and their own labours bearing fruit, their fame spreading amongst
their sister-communities and their star rising in the heaven of the
Baha’i world, are now acquiring a new zest for teaching, and
are ever more ready to sacrifice themselves in order to win complete
victory for their Plan! This pleases him greatly and encourages him
to believe the future of the dear Indian and Burmese believers is
very bright.

He was also delighted and relieved to hear that unity
was achieved at Convention amongst the friends, and that all of them
have resolved to put away childish differences, unworthy of them as
servants and custodians of our glorious Faith in that great country,
and unitedly strive for the good of the Cause and the successful
completion of their sacred tasks.

He wishes once more to impress upon your Assembly the
great importance of immediately finding and purchasing, and moving
into, a befitting Hazira in Delhi. This will bring upon the entire
community great confirmations.

Threshold of a New Epoch

[From the Guardian:]

The perusal of your Annual Report and
the messages conveyed by the elected representatives of the Indian
and Burmese Baha’i communities, assembled at Convention, have
served to deepen my sense of admiration for the work collectively
achieved by the members of these communities, and of my gratitude for
the magnificent qualities they display, and for the spirit which so
powerfully animates them in their stewardship to the Faith of
Baha’u’llah.

They now stand on the threshold of a
new epoch in the history of the evolution of the Administrative Order
in their land. The transfer of the central institution of that Order
to the capital of India; the wide measure of centralization which
this historic step must needs involve; the purchase of a befitting
seat for the ever expanding activities and multiplying agencies of
that institution in that same capital, the progressive transfer of
the national committees to the national Haziratu’l-Quds—all
these must synchronize with a remarkable, and indeed unprecedented,
intensification of effort in the pioneer field of Baha’i
activity, as well as in the sphere of public teaching, designed to
arouse the masses and proclaim the verities of the Faith throughout
the length and breadth of that subcontinent and its adjoining
territory of Burma.

In this twofold activity, supporting
directly and indirectly the interests of the Plan, committed to your
charge, the Hindu, the Moslem, the Burmese and Zoroastrian believers
must jointly, unitedly, and effectively participate. The minority
elements in these ever-expanding communities must be continually
stimulated, encouraged, trained and in some cases, as when an equal
number of ballots have been cast in an election, given priority, in
order to reinforce the representative character of Baha’i
institutions, demonstrate the distinction of these institutions from
all other man-made agencies, and win, to an ever-increasing degree,
the sympathy and support of the teeming masses of Hindu and Moslem
extraction, on whose adherence to the Faith, the ultimate progress,
establishment, and triumph of the Cause of Baha’u’llah
must chiefly depend.

Courage, good-will, resolution,
self-abnegation, are imperatively required, at this momentous stage
in the evolution of these nascent communities, who, having reared,
with assiduous care, the machinery of their Administrative Order, and
launched the Plan which the institutions of that Order are now so
efficiently promoting, have arisen to initiate a crusade which, as it
gathers momentum, must embrace all the diversified races, classes and
creeds of that vast country, and its adjoining territories. May the
impelling power of the Faith which they champion enable them to
surmount every obstacle, and reach their destined goal.

May 8, 1947

Set the Highest Example of Tolerance

During the great period of transition that vast land has
been, and still is, going through his thoughts have been very
frequently with you all, and his anxiety for the safety of the
beloved friends there is very keen.

He fully appreciates the fact that the Baha’is, in
spite of their total lack of religious or other prejudice, and their
strict political neutrality, are nevertheless placed in danger
sometimes by the passions and unrest of their countrymen. His ardent
prayers are offered for their protection, and he urges them to, at
all times, set the highest example of tolerance, freedom from any
form of partisanship in the present troubles and disputes going on,
and sympathy with the deep sufferings of all classes and creeds.

Greater Dedication to Service

The work of your Assembly is even more onerous and
delicate than before. Now that India, Burma and Pakistan no longer
form one unit, in the sense of being under one regime, you will, no
doubt, have many new problems to meet. But he feels assured that the
experience the Community of believers has gained during recent years,
the increased awareness of the glory of this Cause, and the greater
dedication to its service which unites the hearts of all the Baha’is
out there, will now manifest themselves in the Community’s
wholehearted cooperation with the N.S.A., and in a renewed
determination to achieve its Plan.

The believers must realize that they, in fulfilling the
immediate goals of this Plan, are hastening the day when India,
Pakistan and Burma can respectively have each its own National
Spiritual Assembly, which, in due time, will become one of the
pillars of the International House of Justice. Although three
N.S.A.’s and not one must be envisaged in the future, how
appropriate it is that, at present, when political division has taken
place and animosities are fanned into flame, the believers in the
Cause of God are united under one Spiritual Assembly, guiding and
aiding all believers with love and understanding!

Please particularly assure the Serampur Baha’is of
his loving prayers, and that he is proud of their devotion to the
Faith.

He also wishes to assure you of his prayers for the
progress of all the work your Assembly is doing, and especially for
the solution of the problems involved in the National Headquarters’
purchase. He attributes great importance to this undertaking, and is
delighted to see the determined and self-sacrificing manner in which
the believers are supporting it.

Opportunity Which May Never Occur
Again

[From the Guardian:]

The strife and bloodshed, with their
attendant misery, sorrow and confusion, that have afflicted the
entire subcontinent of India, in recent months, have caused me the
gravest concern. The disorders, following in the wake of this great
crisis in the life of its people, constitute a challenge, which the
Community of the steadfast followers of Baha’u’llah in
that land must resolutely face, and demonstrate in meeting it the
quality of their faith, the depth of their devotion, the strength of
their unity, the solidity of their institutions and the heroic
character of their resolve. They must neither feel alarmed, nor
falter or hesitate in the execution of their Plan. Shielded by the
institutions which their hands have reared, abiding securely in the
stronghold of their love for Baha’u’llah and their
devotion to His Faith, pursuing with unrelaxing vigilance and
singleness of purpose the course set by the Plan they themselves have
inaugurated, heartened by the initial success already achieved since
that Plan was set in motion, they, however much buffeted by present
circumstances, and no matter how perilous the path they now tread,
must press forward, unafraid of persecution, scorn of calumny,
towards the shining goals they have set themselves to attain.

The newly-fledged Assemblies,
constituted with so much labour and sacrifice, must above all be
thoroughly safe-guarded. The administrative nuclei formed throughout
the length and breadth of that land, must, however great the effort
demanded, be preserved and continually fostered, and enabled to
develop into groups destined in time to evolve into firmly knit
Assemblies. The obstacles that have arisen in connection with the
purchase and registration of the Haziratu’l-Quds in Delhi must
be resolutely overcome and all the subsidiary issues connected with
it definitely and speedily settled, enabling thereby the attention of
your Assembly to be focussed on the vital requirements of the
teaching work on which the prosperity of the community and its rapid
growth must ultimately depend. Attention, moreover, should be
directed to the completion of the task undertaken in connexion with
the translation and publication of the New Era in the few remaining
languages selected for that purpose. The dissemination of Baha’i
literature should, likewise, be simultaneously carried out with
increasing vigour. Whatever measures are required to ensure a more
systematic and extensive propagation of the teaching of the Faith
among the masses must be promptly and unhesitatingly adopted.

The hour is indeed propitious. The
ordeals and tribulations which the hungry, the dispossessed, the
sick, as well as the disillusioned and restless multitudes, are now
experiencing, offer the bearers of the Message of the Most Great
Name, an opportunity which may never again recur. There is no time to
lose. Every warrior in the ever-advancing army of Baha’u’llah
must arise and participate in this holy crusade. The rewards and
prizes to be won are inestimable. However circumscribed its
resources, however small its numbers, however formidable the
obstacles with which it is confronted, the entire community of the
believers in India, Burma and Pakistan, must arise as one man, and,
pledging anew its fidelity to its Faith prove itself fully worthy of
the Cause it has espoused and the high mission it has undertaken.

October 24, 1947

Excommunication is a Spiritual
Matter

Excommunication is a spiritual thing and up until now
the Guardian has always been the one who exerted this power, and he
feels for the present he must continue to be. Only actual enemies of
the Cause are ex-communicated. On the other hand, those who
conspicuously disgrace the Faith or refuse to abide by its laws can
be deprived, as a punishment, of their voting rights; this in itself
is a severe action, and he therefore always urges all National
Assemblies (who can take such action) to first warn and repeatedly
warn the evil-doer before taking the step of depriving him of his
voting rights. He feels your Assembly must act with the greatest
wisdom in such matters, and only impose this sanction if a believer
is seriously injuring the Faith in the eyes of the public through his
conduct or flagrantly breaching the laws of God. If such a sanction
were lightly used the friends would come to attach no importance to
it, or to feel the N.S.A. used it every time they got angry with some
individual’s disobedience to them. We must always remember
that, sad and often childish, as it seems, some of those who make the
worst nuisances of themselves to their National Bodies are often very
loyal believers, who think they are protecting the true interests of
their Faith by attacking N.S.A. decisions!

Unite to Serve Him

The Guardian feels very strongly that everywhere,
throughout the entire Baha’i world, the believers have got to
master and follow the principles of their divinely laid down
Administrative Order. They will never solve their problems by
departing from the correct procedure… The Baha’is have got to
learn to live up to the laws of Baha’u’llah which are
infinitely higher, more exacting and more perfect than those the
world is at present familiar with. Running away, fighting with each
other, fostering dissension, is not going to advance the Indian or
any other Community; all it is going to do is to bring Baha’u’llah’s
plans and work to a standstill until such time as the believers unite
to serve Him, or new and more dedicated souls arise to take their
place.

Seeking to Purify the World

He also feels very strongly, as he has pointed out in
the enclosed letter to the Calcutta Assembly, that the Baha’is
must be mature and realize that, whether they are conscious of it or
not, the intense feelings of hatred, suspicion and jealousy which are
flaming up everywhere in India and Pakistan, are tinging the
attitudes of the believers themselves. At such a time, seeing this
colossal example before them of the very essence of everything we are
seeking to purify the world from, the Hindu, Moslem and Zoroastrian
Baha’is should determine to show a love for each other and an
inner spiritual solidarity so great as to forcibly attract the
attention of their countrymen and impress them with the fact that
Baha’u’llah’s Message is, indeed, the only remedy
for the ills afflicting the great multitudes of the Far East. It
would seem, however, from your reports and those of individuals who
write him, that the Baha’is are doing the very opposite and
enabling outsiders to point the finger at them and say “the
very rivalry we are experiencing between various communities, the
Baha’is are also experiencing!” How terrible, how tragic,
if Baha’is should let such a situation develop, such a betrayal
of not only the trust God has placed in their hands but also a
betrayal of the glorious victories they themselves won during the
past decade!

The Guardian assures you all, and through you, the
believers of India, Pakistan and Burma, that he will supplicate in
the Holy Shrines that the labours you have all achieved together may
be preserved from blemish, and that you may go on together to fulfil
your plan and raise still higher the name of your fame.

Stormy Yet Glorious Path of Service

[From the Guardian:]

The work now engaging the attention
of the members of the Baha’i Communities in India, Pakistan and
Burma, as it develops and is further consolidated, acquires momentous
importance, and should be pursued with added zeal, ever deepening
consecration, firmer unity, closer collaboration, greater vigilance
and nobler self-sacrifice. The sufferings and trials they have
recently experienced, the disappointments and anxieties they have
borne, the obstacles and setbacks they have encountered in their
path, should, far from causing them to flinch in their determination
or to relax in their efforts, act as a stimulant and challenge, to
scale loftier heights, and win mightier victories in their strenuous
labours for the propagation of their beloved Faith.

Though they are pressed by the multitudinous demands of
an ever-growing task, though overburdened by the manifold
responsibilities of an ever-expanding administration, I have, in my
desire to enable them to enrich the splendid record of their
stewardship to the Faith in recent years, and enhance the prestige of
all three communities, urged them to push still further the outposts
of the Faith, both southward and eastward of the present field of
their joint labours. In the island of Ceylon, the Republic of
Indonesia and the sovereign State of Siam, which due to their
proximity must, sooner or later be opened up to the Faith by these
Communities, an effort, however tentative, must be made to establish
a nucleus, through the settlement of one or two pioneers which will,
as Plans are initiated in the years to come, develop into
full-fledged communities capable of illuminating the eastern and
southern fringes of the continent of Asia.

Through the successful conclusion of
this added task to be shouldered by these communities, the believers
in these three communities will have contributed, to a marked degree,
to the raising to one hundred of the number of countries included
within the pale of the ever-advancing Faith of Baha’u’llah.
They will be emulating the example of their American, Canadian and
Persian brethren, who, through their respective plans, are hastening
this glorious consummation by initiating Baha’i activities in
Latin America, in Greenland and New Foundland and the territories of
the Arabian Peninsula.

Their solid achievements in recent
years, the marvellous multiplication of Baha’i Centres, the
establishment of befitting national headquarters, the remarkable
impetus lent to the translation, publication and dissemination of
Baha’i Literature, embolden me to appeal to them, to undertake
fresh enterprises, ere the termination of the present Plan, and on
however small a scale, beyond the confines of India and Burma.

The greater the range of their
collective enterprises, the mightier the effusion of the Abha grace
from on high, a grace that will sustain, protect, guide and cheer
them as they

tread the stormy yet glorious path of service for the
furtherance of their beloved Cause.

Let them, at this momentous stage of
their historic labours, eliminate, once and for all, every trace of
inharmony from their midst, purge their hearts from every lingering
suspicion, prejudice and animosity, acquire a clearer vision of the
greatness of their Faith and the significance of their mission, give
heed to the urgent and tragic needs of the vast multitudes of their
disillusioned and sore-tried countrymen, now hungering for the Bread
of Life, and arise, as one man, to discharge their sacred and
inescapable responsibilities. The hour is propitious, the situation
critical, the Cause infinitely precious, the prize within reach and
inexpressibly glorious.

May 8, 1948

Old and Tried Community

The news that from Calcutta two souls have volunteered
to go forth as pioneers to Siam and Indonesia greatly pleased him.
Likewise, he was rejoiced to hear a pioneer for Ceylon has been
found.

The Burmese, Indian and Pakistan Baha’is, forming
as they do a relatively old and tried Community of believers, have
heavy responsibilities to discharge. They cannot be looked upon as
children or youngsters in this great Cause, but rather must be
considered more in the light of elders, and consequently their Baha’i
brothers and sisters expect great things of them, and look to them
for signs of leadership in that part of the world! Therefore, the
fulfilment of their Plan, and the sending forth of their pioneers to
neighbouring Asiatic countries, is of crucial importance in
maintaining their leadership in this field and their prestige in the
Baha’i world.

He was very glad to see your Assembly has not relaxed
its efforts in the matter of translating and publishing the Esslemont
book. As you know, he considers this a vital service being rendered
by your Community to not only the peoples of that part of the world,
but to the Faith as a world-wide movement. He has begun to receive
lately some of your publications, and trusts, now the mails are again
running, to receive safely all the material you are sending.

Arcade of the Shrine of the Bab

The Foundation of the arcade of the Shrine has now been
laid and all the heavy threshold stones placed in position. More than
half of the stone work ordered in Italy for this first unit of the
beautiful shell, which will enclose and protect for all-time the
sacred building built by the beloved Master Himself, has now been
received on the Shrine property, and plans are being made for the
next stage of construction to go ahead.

This glorious work, so cheering to all our hearts, is,
however, greatly increasing the burden our beloved Guardian bears,
and he hopes the friends will understand this when they find letters
to him can no longer be answered promptly. At such a time, when this
country has passed through so much danger and difficulty, it is
little short of miraculous the way this work on the Shrine has been
facilitated and protected and gone ahead steadily! It is greatly
enhancing the prestige of the Faith here, and the authorities have
been cooperative and helpful.

Grave Challenge

[From the Guardian:]

The communications addressed to me
several months ago by your Assembly have, after considerable delay in
transmission, reached the Holy Land, and, together with the reports
and minutes accompanying them, were read with deep and sustained
interest.

The tremendous task facing the Baha’i
Communities in India, Pakistan and Burma, constitutes a grave
challenge to the followers of the Faith of Baha’u’llah in
these countries and must be faced and met with courage, determination
and a spirit of complete dedication to His Cause. The disturbances
that have so gravely shaken the peoples of these countries, on the
morrow of a world-convulsing international conflict; the unfortunate
and sudden cessation of communications between these countries and
the World Centre of the Faith in the Holy Land during the past year;
the fears and anxieties engendered by a steadily deteriorating
international situation which cannot but dismay the stoutest hearts,
have no doubt contributed, in varying degrees, and in no small
measure, to a slowing down of the progress of the collective
enterprise, so nobly, so enthusiastically and so energetically
initiated by the upholders of the Faith throughout the sub-continent
of India and Burma.

The reverses they have suffered, with
their attendant disappointments, confusion and relaxation of effort,
must never be allowed, however short the period remaining before the
termination of their Plan, to jeopardize the chance of a success
which is still in their power to achieve. They must close their
ranks, gird up their loins, rededicate their souls and spirits to the
unfinished tasks which face them, purge themselves of every taint of
communal prejudice, detach themselves from every thought of
self-interest, and arise, while there is yet time, to attain the
goals they have pledged themselves to attain.

The final phase of the Plan with
which they stand identified, and on which their immediate destiny
depends, coincides with the hundredth anniversary of the most bloody,
tragic and turbulent period in the history of their Faith—a
period immortalised by the noblest evidences of Baha’i
self-sacrifice, marked by acts of sublime heroism, and ennobled by a
spirit of dedication and determination unsurpassed at any subsequent
stage in Baha’i history. Now, if ever, is the time to emulate
the example of these heroes, saints and martyrs. Now is the time to
pour out one’s substance as copiously and as readily, as the
Dawn-breakers of the Heroic Age of the Faith have shed their
life-blood in the path of this most precious Cause. No more befitting
tribute can be paid to the memory of these luminous souls, by those
who carry the torch of Divine Guidance after them, than by a
corresponding

manifestation of solidarity, self-abnegation, zeal and
devotion, which will impel them to forsake their homes, sacrifice
their treasure, brave every danger, endure every hardship, expend
every ounce of energy, that the Plan which they have spontaneously
and unitedly sponsored may, through its triumphant termination, carry
them a stage further along the broad highway of their destiny.

The multiplication of Baha’i
Assemblies, at any cost and with the utmost speed; the reconstitution
of dissolved Assemblies, however great the effort required; the
completion of the translation into, and the printing of the New Era,
in the few remaining languages, within the shortest possible time,
the despatch of no more than one pioneer, to the neighbouring Island
of Ceylon, to Siam and to Indonesia, ere the termination of the
closing year of the Plan—these stand out as the immediate
requirements of the present challenging hour—requirements that
the prosecutors of the Plan must meet. The eyes of their
fellow-workers in East and West, are fixed upon them. The Concourse
on high watches their actions, and stands ready to bless and
reinforce their labours. The Centre of the Covenant Himself is
eagerly waiting to witness the evidences of their victory, and will
no doubt intercede, on their behalf, before the throne of
Baha’u’llah, if they but arise resolutely and spur their
chargers into the arena of service.

The sands are indeed running out. The
task that remains to be accomplished is indeed colossal. The
distractions, temptations, and pitfalls that might interfere with its
consummation are many and varied. The resources however spiritual and
material still at the disposal of the members of these communities,
are still adequate, if they but resolve to utilize them, to the needs
of the present hour. The blessings from on high, ready to be showered
upon them, are more than adequate to ensure their complete and total
victory. So much hangs on the fortunes of the present Plan! So much
must necessarily depend on the manner and the spirit in which they
discharge their terrific responsibilities, during the few fleeting
months still allotted them ere the expiry of the Plan!

I entreat them, with all the fervour of my soul, not to
allow this golden opportunity to slip from their grasp. They have, in
the past, proved themselves capable, in times of crisis, of
overleaping the most formidable barriers, and of wresting victory
from the jaws of impending defeat. Theirs is the opportunity, now if
ever, to demonstrate a similar resolution, a no less spectacular
outburst of enthusiasm, an even nobler heroism and self-sacrifice
than they have ever shown in the past.

Then, and only then, will the next
stage in the evolution of their common destiny be unveiled to their
eyes. Then, and only then, will the call summoning them to press
forward to yet another landmark in their history be sounded. Then,
and only then, will a still fuller measure of heavenly prizes be laid
up for them in reward for their inestimable and arduous services in
the treasuries of the Abha Kingdom by Him who alone knows how to
re-ignite His faithful servants.

April 9, 1949

Superstructure of the Shrine of the
Bab

He would like you to please thank on his behalf those
friends who have forwarded Huquq to him and contributions for the
building of the Super-structure of the Bab’s Shrine.

This building is now beginning to take shape and
promises to be very beautiful, befitting and dignified. It is the
realization of the fond hope of the beloved Master, who stated to
Badi Bushrui one day, as He looked up at the building He Himself had
already completed: “The Shrine is as yet unbuilt…. God
willing, it will be built. We have brought it up to this stage.”

The friends should be told this, as many of them do not
realize it was the Master’s own plan to go much further, and
erect a dome over the Resting Place of the Bab.

Keep in Close Touch With Pioneers

The Guardian desires your Assembly to keep in close
touch with your pioneers abroad and give them strong moral, as well
as financial support. It will please you to know two Dutch Baha’is
are going out to Indonesia, and he has asked them to communicate with
your Assembly and cooperate with you in spreading the Faith there and
in having at least a pamphlet, to begin with, translated into the
most needed native language.

His heart has been very anxious over the fate of the
believers in Burma, and it relieved him greatly to hear that you
received news they were safe. Please assure them his loving prayers
are with them and offered for their protection.

End of Six-Year Plan Approaches

[From the Guardian:]

As the end of the Plan to which your
community stands committed inexorably approaches, my anxious thoughts
increasingly turn towards you and your fellow workers, on whose
shoulders a staggering responsibility—grave as well as
inescapable—is weighing so heavily in these days. I am fully
aware of the character of the manifold and unexpected trials this
community has been called upon to face in India, Pakistan and Burma
since its inception. The ordeal of internal disorder and of civil
strife; the dislocation of the machinery of internal administration,
the inevitable consequence of the vast political changes that have
been effected in these countries; the reverses suffered by this same
community through the temporary seizure of its newly acquired
administrative headquarters and the loss of some of its precious
assets in both India and Burma; the hardships endured by the pioneers
of this community as well as its administrators as a consequence of
severely imposed restrictions, outbursts of fanaticism and civil
riots—have been such as to dismay the stoutest heart and tax to
the uttermost the determination of the most resolute.

And yet, in spite of these successive afflictions the
members of this community have forged ahead, valiantly, unitedly and
determinedly, and have even extended the original range of their Plan
by embarking on fresh and historical enterprises beyond the confines
of these territories, through the despatch of pioneers to the
neighbouring Dominion of Ceylon and the adjacent Kingdom of Siam and
the Republic of Indonesia. Whatever the fate of the Plan which they
are now seeking to bring to its consummation, this striking evidence
of the indomitable spirit of faith that animates the rank and file of
this community, and which has prompted it to seek fresh laurels in
virgin territories beyond the frontiers of its homeland, will,
without the slightest doubt, redound eternally to its credit, and be
abundantly rewarded by a vigilant and all-Bountiful Master.

To enhance the value of so rich a
prize won, in so short a period, by a community so burdened by cares
and anxieties, in territories for the most part overshadowed by
discord and internal revolution, through the triumphant conclusion of
the major task entrusted to its hands, and the successful conclusion
of the second collective enterprise embarked upon by its
indefatigable and resolute members, on the morrow of a
world-encircling conflict, must now be the paramount and
all-absorbing purpose of all who are privileged to participate in
this mighty endeavour. Time is short. Every week is precious. The
resources of the community, financial, moral and spiritual are, I
firmly believe, adequate to meet the needs of this critical hour. So
golden an opportunity, if missed, will not recur for who knows how
extensive a period. The launching of subsequent enterprises destined
to culminate in the triumph and ascendancy of a struggling Faith in
the subcontinent of India, as well as in the establishment of its
institutions in South-East Asia, will be inevitably and indefinitely
postponed.

Undaunted by the setbacks it has
experienced; heartened by the settlement and the initial victory won
by its pioneers in the newly opened virgin territories in the North,
the South and the East; fully conscious of its ability

to perform adequately its task and discharge befittingly
its responsibility; relying on the unfailing grace of an
all-Powerful, ever solicitous, continually watching Providence;
deriving fresh inspiration and confidence from the amazing feat
achieved, by the small band of its brethren, in the West, and in a
continent more devastated by the ravages of war than any other
continent of the globe; let this community, while time still remains,
gird up its loins, sink its differences, rededicate itself to its
urgent task, sweep away every barrier that confronts it, and rise,
with an upsurge of unprecedented enthusiasm and determination, to
those heights to which its spiritual destiny is now beckoning it.

With a heart, aglow with gratitude
for what this community has in the initial stage of its
administrative development accomplished, filled with confidence in
the potentialities with which our beloved Master has endowed it in
the years of His earthly ministry, and overflowing with love for
those who, through their incessant labours and heroic self-sacrifice,
have achieved unforgettable victories in recent years, I will
continue to supplicate for all its members, at home and abroad, in
their administrative spheres of activity as well as in the teaching
field such blessings as will enable them to crown their concerted
efforts with a success that will resound throughout the Baha’i
world.

November 6, 1949

Arcade of the Shrine

The past winter and spring have been very arduous months
for our beloved Guardian and very anxious ones. As you know, he has
been pressing the work on the arcade of the Shrine of the Bab in
order to have it completed by the Centenary of His martyrdom. As the
arcade which fits about and protects the Holy Tomb, built by our
beloved Master, is considerably larger than the original edifice, it
has been necessary to excavate the mountain immediately behind the
Shrine, and this very difficult work was carried out under the close
and constant supervision of the Guardian himself in order to ensure
it was accomplished safely, quickly and economically. This absorbed,
for many months, his precious time and energies. When this was
accomplished he looked forward to turning his attention to the
various National Assembly letters piled up, but, unfortunately, Mr.
Maxwell, the architect of the Shrine, became dangerously ill at the
beginning of April, and is still in hospital. His condition was so
grave that for weeks our Guardian and household were prevented from
concentrating on the many tasks waiting to be attended to owing to
the constant anxiety, the coming and going of doctors, etc. He feels
you should be informed of these facts as an explanation of the long
delay in hearing from him. Mr. Maxwell, thanks to the mercy of God
and the determination of the Guardian, is now recovering, and we hope
will live to continue his work on the Shrine.

The contributions sent by the Indian believers for the
Holy Shrine were very much appreciated. Ever since the Burmese
friends contributed the Sarcophagus for the Holy Remains, the friends
in that part of the world have been linked with this sacred
enterprise. Their joy will be great when, once the pilgrimage can be
resumed, their eyes fall upon the beauty of this Shrine.

Baha’is May Join Non-Partisan
Organisations

There is no objection to the Baha’is associating
with such organisations as the World Government Organisation. The
instructions he gave to the British Baha’is may be followed.
However, great care should be taken to make sure these organisations
are absolutely non-partisan in their political views and lean neither
to East or West.

A Baha’i Cannot be a
Theosophist

A Baha’i cannot at the same time be a theosophist;
many theosophists have become believers and very enlightened ones,
but as we do not believe in reincarnation we obviously cannot be
active as theosophists and Baha’is at the same time.

Killing of a Believer in Kamarhatti

The tragic killing of a believer in Kamarhatti grieved
the Guardian very much. If you are in touch with any of the relatives
please convey his sympathy to them, and assure them of his prayers.
Terrible as persecution is, we must always remember that it waters
the tree of Religion, and that from such deeds as this the
believers—far from being cowed and silenced—must derive
inspiration and courage.

Convention Delegates

The Guardian feels that, if a delegate is elected to
represent an Assembly (or community having Assembly status) during
the administrative year in which the Assembly existed he is properly
qualified, even if at Ridvan that community falls back to group
status. A community, however, which reverts to group status at Ridvan
cannot have a delegate to the following year’s Convention.

No Effort is Too Great

[From the Guardian:]

The severe restrictions to which the
dearly-loved, highly devoted, long struggling Baha’i community
of India, Pakistan and Burma have been subjected, the repeated
setbacks they have suffered, the grave disturbances in the wake of
which their manifold and meritorious activities have been caught,
evoke my heartfelt sympathy and arouse my deep concern. The spirit
which, despite adversities, delays and dislocations, they have
consistently manifested in recent years is, however, worthy of the
highest praise, and will, no doubt, triumph over every obstacle, and
will enable them to weather every storm and win ultimate victory.

Though the course of the Plan they
spontaneously undertook has, of necessity, been affected by these
constant vicissitudes and unexpected developments, their
achievements, beyond the confines of their homelands, as well as in
the publishing field, have ennobled the record of their service to
the Cause of Baha’u’llah, and constitute a memorable
chapter in the history of the Faith in the sub-continent of India.

The translation and publication of
the “New Era” in more than twenty languages in recent
years, the planting of the banner of the Faith in the Island of
Ceylon, the Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of Siam—though
not originally an integral part of their Plan—has signalized
the opening of a new epoch in the evolution of the Faith in South
Eastern Asia, and has marked the formal association of the Indian the
Pakistani and Burmese believers with their brethren in Europe,
America, Egypt and Persia, in carrying the torch of the Faith beyond
the confines of their respective continents and countries, and in
executing the last wishes of the Centre of the Covenant so movingly
expressed in His Will & Testament.

Whatever these communities, so
valiantly labouring in that disturbed and strife-ridden corner of the
Asiatic continent, undertake to perform within the confines of their
homelands in the years ahead, this double process of extending the
range of the literature of the Faith and of propagating its Message
within the virgin territories, lying to the North and South-East of
their native lands, must continue with undiminished momentum, and
must receive the undivided attention of the elected representatives
of these communities.

Consolidation at home, and the
provision of the necessary measures to ensure the speedy and
effective extension of the influence of the Faith abroad, constitute
the dual, the immediate and inescapable responsibilities of all the
members of these communities, who are labouring, at so critical a
period, with such steadfast zeal and devotion, amidst the masses of
their fearful and harassed countrymen, for so lofty an ideal and so
precious a Faith.

Firmly united in their purpose,
banishing, once and for all, every trace of estrangement and
prejudice from their midst, assured of the all-compelling,
ever-sustaining power of Baha’u’llah, deriving fresh
inspiration from the triumphs collectively achieved by their brethren
in all continents of the globe, undeflected in their resolve by any
setback, opposition or injustice, let them, with so notable a record
of service behind them, march resistlessly forward, entering still
wider fields, scaling nobler heights, plumbing still greater depths
of heroism and self-sacrifice.

As the Centenary of the birth of
Baha’u’llah’s prophetic mission approaches, these
sorely tried, much loved, indefatigable communities, must brace
themselves, however challenging future circumstances may prove to be,
however arduous the tasks they are called upon to discharge, to
contribute, in whatever, way possible in whatever field they may find
it practicable, a memorable share to the collective tribute which the
followers of the Most Great Name are now arising to pay, through
action in the field of service, to the Founder of their Faith on the
occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the inception of His
Revelation.

The hour is indeed both precious and
propitious. The opportunity is glorious and will not recur in the
lifetime of this generation. No effort is too great to ensure the
success of so historic a commemoration. Time is short for an adequate
preparation for the celebration, through collective and sound
achievement, of so great a jubilee. All must arise and contribute a
share worthy of the name they bear and of the privilege bestowed upon
them.

That all three communities may rise
to this occasion, may rededicate themselves with renewed resolve and
fresh vigour, is my ardent and constant prayer.

June 28, 1950

Photos of the Arcade of the Shrine

Under separate cover two enlargements of the arcade of
the Shrine of the Bab have been mailed you. The Guardian wishes this
gift from him to be shown to the believers as widely as possible, and
then be hung in the National Headquarters.

He has sent the American N.S.A. two negatives of the
Shrine, and the Baha’is can order from the States copies if
they desire to purchase some.

He feels it will make the friends happy to see the
beauty of this blessed building so dear to all our hearts.

November 2, 1950

Inter-Assembly Conferences

He was very pleased to see that the policy of holding
inter-assembly conferences has been adopted and is meeting with
success; and he urges your Assembly to encourage the believers to
hold more of such gatherings. It cannot but have a stimulating effect
upon the teaching work, and inspire the friends to make greater
efforts in their respective communities.

Assembly in Moulmein, Burma

The news of the formation of an Assembly in Moulmein
pleased him very much; and he wishes you to assure the believers
there that he will pray for them in the Holy Shrines. The devotion
and loyalty of the Burmese believers, in the face of so much turmoil
in their native land, has aroused his admiration and increased his
affection for this long-standing Baha’i Community, so
persevering and so attached to the Cause of Baha’u’llah.

Centenary Pamphlet Excellent

In connection with your publications, he would like to
say that he found your “Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab”
pamphlet excellent in every way, and was delighted to see that the
Indian Baha’is had shown so much initiative in getting out this
memorial pamphlet.

Increase the Number of Delegates to
95

The increase in the number of delegates to 95 is an
important milestone in the history of the Cause in those parts; and
he feels that the friends, proud of the progress they have made,
should determine that the coming Convention will be distinguished as
one of the most harmonious and constructive ever held.

Pioneering to Siam

The Guardian is very anxious that pioneer activities
should be carried forward in Siam; and he urges your Assembly to push
this matter further, and … send some other pioneer there.

Registration of Assemblies

The Guardian hopes that wherever you have a strongly
established Spiritual Assembly, you will make every effort to
register it legally, as he attaches great importance to the
registration and incorporation of Spiritual Assemblies, and hopes
that you will make every effort to add to their number in areas under
your jurisdiction.

Contribution for the Shrine of the
Bab

The contributions sent by the believers for the
construction of the Tomb of the Bab have been deeply appreciated by
our beloved Guardian. It is only right that this old Baha’i
Community, so tried in the fire of tests, and having been in
existence from practically the days of the beloved Bab Himself,
should play a part in building his sepulchre. The Guardian is now
undertaking the second phase of the construction work, which involves
raising the Edifice above the level of the original Tomb.

Baha’is Cannot Become
Freemasons

The Guardian does not consider it advisable for Baha’is
to become Freemasons.

Reviewing of Baha’i Books

…Local Spiritual Assemblies are not empowered to
review material which is for national circulation. The Guardian
thinks that your Assembly, or the Committee that you delegate such
authority to, should review the pamphlet in question; and if it is in
accordance with the Teachings, there is certainly no reason why it
should not be circulated; but in the future, the Spiritual Assemblies
should be more careful about publishing literature which is for more
than local use.

Pioneers for Indonesia and Siam

In closing, he would like to urge the members of your
Assembly to redouble your efforts to assist pioneers to go forth to
Indonesia and Siam. The extraordinary success the promulgation of the
Faith has met with in Ceylon should be sufficient evidence for all
concerned of the way in which God strengthens the endeavours of His
servants, and blesses their seed-sowing, and brings it to harvest. He
hopes that many of the believers, not only in India, but in Pakistan
and Burma as well, will volunteer to go forth as pioneers, and will
make every effort to do so.

The success of your past endeavours should encourage you
all and the Community whom you represent, to forge ahead, unmindful
of obstacles, and forgetful of personal differences of opinion in one
united and unanimous effort to carry out all the work you have set
for yourselves and achieve all your goals.

Great Historic Enterprise

[From the Guardian:]

The communications received in recent
months from your Assembly testify to the perseverance and devotion
with which the Baha’i Communities of India, Pakistan and Burma
have pursued the course of their activities in the face of manifold
obstacles and trials and despite the severity of the problems which
have confronted them since the outbreak of the political disturbances
that have agitated the Indian sub-continent. Though suffering from
various reverses, though afflicted with disappointment, though
sustaining repeated losses they have persevered in their labours,
widened the scope of their task, pushed further the outposts of the
Faith, and won their initial victories beyond the confines of their
respective homelands.

In the field of Baha’i
publications, in the publicity given to the Baha’i teachings,
in their negotiations with the civil authorities under whose
jurisdiction they function, in their constant encouragement and
support of the pioneers labouring both at home and abroad, the
national elected representatives of these communities have, likewise,
demonstrated a spirit of dedication, a zeal and fidelity worthy of
the highest praise.

The great historic enterprise
launched by them in recent years in the neighbouring territories of
Ceylon, Siam, Indonesia and the Malayan Peninsula,—a vast and
highly meritorious undertaking still in its initial stage of
development, and conferring a great and imperishable lustre on its
valiant initiators—must be energetically prosecuted
notwithstanding the unsettled political situation prevailing in those
territories, and however threatening the clouds gathering on the
international horizon. The movement and settlement of pioneers
throughout India, Pakistan and Burma must, moreover, continue
unabated and must be paralleled by a steady multiplication of Baha’i
Centres and the consolidation of nascent institutions, the
negotiations with the civil authorities, however disillusioning and
unfruitful they have been so far in their results, must continue to
be conducted with extreme vigilance and unrelaxing vigour. The highly
commendable task of completing the translation and publication of the
“New Era” in the languages already chosen should be
promptly and befittingly consummated. The efforts exerted to
publicize the Faith, disseminate its teachings and spread its fame,
should be redoubled by all administrative agencies concerned with
this vital sphere of Baha’i activity. The sacred duty of
deepening and enriching the spiritual life of the newly enrolled
believers should be faithfully discharged by both the local and
national elected representatives of these communities. The added
responsibility of contributing to the raising of the superstructure
of the Bab’s holy Sepulchre, now entering upon the second phase
of its construction, and of speeding its consummation in view of the
increasingly critical world condition, should be valiantly faced and
nobly discharged. Above all, the inescapable obligation of guarding
the integrity of the Faith, of preserving the unity of its followers,
and of reinforcing its spiritual and administrative foundations, must
be continually borne in mind not only by the representatives of these
communities but by every individual believer labouring for the good
name and the glorification of the Cause of Baha’u’llah.

The Baha’i Communities of the
Indian sub-continent and of Burma constituting the largest entity
throughout the Orient, next to the body of believers residing in the
Cradle of the Faith, and enjoying, unlike their Eastern sister
communities in Persia, Egypt and Iraq, the blessings of relative
freedom from repression or persecution, and including within their
fold a greater variety of races, creeds and tongues than any of their
sister communities throughout the world, are faced with both a
peculiar challenge and a unique opportunity. The resources at their
disposal, the privileges they possess, the facilities they enjoy
should, with clear vision, with confident hearts and inflexible
resolve, be consecrated to the noble objectives which it is their
mission to pursue. Conscious of their high calling, aware of the
potentialities with which their homelands have been endowed, these
communities, placing their reliance on the all-conquering power of
Baha’u’llah must unitedly arise, however numerous the
barriers imposed between them, to achieve their destiny, and
contribute collectively and effectively, to the world-wide
propagation, the universal recognition and ultimate world triumph of
the Cause of Baha’u’llah.

March 10, 1951

Increase of Believers in Benares

The wonderful news of the increase of believers in the
Benares area, thanks largely to the heroic determination and great
faith of Mr. Badi-uz-Zaman, brought great happiness to the Guardian.
Please assure this devoted soul that the Guardian is very pleased
about the wonderful services he is rendering the Cause of God, and
that he is praying for him to be richly blessed by Baha’u’llah.
He has suffered from the enemies of the Cause, but his reward will be
very great!

Teaching in South-East Asia

It brought great joy to the Guardian’s heart to
see there are so many believers now in the area of South-East Asia.
This marks a new epoch in the unfoldment of our Faith and an
important one. Just as Ceylon, at one time empty of believers, has
now developed an active and devoted community of Baha’is, so
now, in these far-flung territories, Assemblies and groups must be
built up…. He urges the younger believers, who are less held down
by family ties, to make an effort to migrate there and seek
employment.

The 19-Month Plan

He was delighted over the formulation of your Assembly’s
19-Month Plan. This spirit of initiative shown by you is highly
commendable, and he hopes that all the Baha’is, whether of
Indian or Persian origin, will arise to unitedly see it achieve its
goals. Determination, courage, faith and perseverance are necessary
if the Plan is to be a success, but he feels sure the friends will
not hesitate to demonstrate their capacity to meet the challenge it
presents.

Pioneers to Settle in Africa

He, likewise, wishes to call special attention to the
work in Africa which is very promising and which is going ahead very
well. Your Assembly must do all it can to speedily get pioneers
settled in the two countries allotted to you as your portion in this
historic campaign. Also, you should keep in close touch with the
British NSA as they are the co-ordinators of this work, and well
situated in order to give advice as English experts, having had such
a long contact with Africa, its peoples and problems, are available
in London and elsewhere for consultation with the British Africa
Committee. 19-Month Plan—Third of its Kind

[From the Guardian:]

The initiation of the 19-Month Plan
by the elected representatives of the Baha’i Communities of the
sub-continent of India and of Burma—the third of its kind
undertaken by them since the inception of the epoch marking the
commencement of the Formative Age of the Baha’i
Dispensation—evokes my deepest admiration. Through this
spontaneous act, momentous in its consequences, and eloquently
testifying to the initiative, the zeal and the valour of the
followers of Baha’u’llah in India, Pakistan and Burma,
the body of their elected national representatives can well boast of
the distinction it has achieved, throughout the Baha’i world
through the successive formulation of no less than three far-reaching
Plans since the inauguration of the First Epoch in the history of the
systematic prosecution of Abdu’l-Baha’s Divine Plan. This
striking demonstration of their resourcefulness and dedication to the
interests of the Faith is, indeed, highly praiseworthy, extremely
encouraging and augurs well for the future of the Mission which it is
theirs to carry out, in the years to come, not only in that
subcontinent and the adjoining territories and neighbouring islands,
but in South Asia as well.

They cannot, however, ensure the
success of the Plan they have devised, unless the unity and
solidarity of those who are participating in its execution, and above
all the harmony of the body directing its operation, are safeguarded,
maintained and consolidated. Time is pressing. The issues involved
are momentous. The centenary celebrations of the birth of
Baha’u’llah’s prophetic Mission will soon be upon
us. The inauguration of the first organized Crusade, in which several
Baha’i National Spiritual Assemblies, in no less than four
continents of the globe will be intimately associated, for the
purpose of proclaiming the Message of Baha’u’llah in the
South Pacific Islands as well as in South Eastern Asia, must directly
depend upon the successful conclusion of the Plan now envisaged. The
obligations involved in, and the privileges conferred by, such an
association—an association that will find its parallel in the
collective and organized effort now being exerted in the African
Continent, as well as in the joint campaign destined to be launched,
by other national Baha’i communities, in both Northern and
North Eastern Asia,—are at once sacred and unique. Their
significance, at this early stage, cannot be fully apprehended. It is
not for them, however, to attempt at the present time, to assess
their value. Theirs, rather, is the duty, to avoid any action or
thought that might delay the unfoldment of so glorious a Plan or
damage so splendid a destiny.

The members of all the communities
participating in this Nineteen-Month Plan, which may be regarded as a
prelude to the mighty and historic Crusade, of still vaster
dimensions and nobler scope, that is to be launched in the future,
irrespective of race, creed, or class, of either sex and of every
age, must rise as one man to the occasion that now presents itself.

No trace of bickering, no
consciousness of racial distinction, no petty jealousies, must be
allowed, under any circumstances, to darken the glorious prospect
opening before them. They must neither flinch, nor hesitate nor lose
sight, however briefly, of the distant and shining goal. An
all-powerful, all-loving, all-Bountiful Master, watching their
exertions from on high, will, surely, bless their effort, will
intercede on their behalf before the throne of His all-glorious
Father, and will, if they persevere in their high endeavours, render
them victorious.

I, for my part, will, with a
prayerful heart, follow the course of their activities, and will
continue to lend them whatever assistance that lies in my power, for
the complete discharge of their inescapable duty and the total
fulfilment of their united pledge to the Author of their Faith.

October 16, 1951

First Pilgrims from India

It has been a great pleasure to the beloved Guardian to
welcome recently in Haifa the first pilgrims from India; their love
and devotion to the Faith have brought their brethren in that far-off
land very close, and he hopes that they, in turn, will carry back to
the friends there a new sense of nearness to the World Center at
Haifa, and thus serve to create greater unity and dedication amongst
the believers.

Inter-Continental Conference

The Guardian attaches the greatest possible importance
to the forthcoming Inter-continental Conference to be held during the
Holy Year in New Delhi; as the National Assemblies of Persia, United
States, Canada, Central and South America, Iraq, Australia and New
Zealand, as well as your own body, are to send representatives to it,
it will, through having eight N.S.A.s pooling their thoughts and
suggestions, be, no doubt, the most important of the four
Inter-continental Conferences to be held. Also, aside from the
numerical importance of the participating bodies, the vast field
their plans must embrace is truly awe-inspiring. In view of this he
feels that the members of your Assembly have very heavy
responsibilities to discharge during the coming months, and that all
petty details and misunderstandings must be put aside, once and for
all, in order to ensure a brilliant success—a success, whose
repercussions must be felt during ten years of Baha’i history
between this coming great Jubilee and the Most Great Jubilee which
will take place in 1963.

As convenor of this great Conference you must lay your
plans very carefully to ensure that the representatives of the
various N.S.A.s., the visiting Hands of the Cause, the many Baha’is
attending, are properly accommodated, the sessions of the Conference
held in an efficient manner, and suitable publicity given to this
event. The Guardian also suggests that one or two private sessions
could be held at which the N.S.A. representatives and the Hands of
the Cause could meet to better and more effectively suggest plans for
the future campaign. There will, naturally, be no delegates to the
Conference, as it is in no sense a convention, but more concentrated
consultation can be obtained through a smaller number being present.
No doubt you will also, without sacrificing the interests of the
Conference, make good use of any visiting teachers and lecturers.

No Harm in Taking Part in Dramas

In the teachings there is nothing against dancing, but
the friends should remember that the standard of Baha’u’llah
is modesty and chastity. The atmosphere of modern dance halls, where
so much smoking and drinking and promiscuity goes on, is very bad,
but decent dances are not harmful in themselves. There is certainly
no harm in classical dancing or learning dancing in school. There is
also no harm in taking part in dramas. Likewise in cinema acting. The
harmful thing, nowadays, is not the art itself but the unfortunate
corruption which often surrounds these arts. As Baha’is we need
avoid none of the arts, but acts and the atmosphere that sometimes go
with these professions we should avoid.

Encouraging the Hindu Baha’is

As regards the question you asked about minorities:
because the Hindu believers are a minority at present in the Faith in
India, preference should be given to them in India, where the
majority of the population is Hindu. A special effort should be made
to convert them, so that our enemies may have no excuse for stating
that the Cause has scarcely affected the largest elements in the
country. There is also an added reason for encouraging the Hindu
Baha’is because within the Faith in India they are a minority.
In every country throughout the Baha’i World the Baha’is
must make a special effort to attract to the Faith the element which
constitutes the majority, whether religious or national.

The Work is Still Formidable

[From the Guardian:]

The multiplicity of the vital issues
that have of late confronted me at the World Centre of the Faith, the
opening of the door of pilgrimage, and the unexpected problems which,
by their urgency, have required my immediate and close attention
have, to my extreme regret, prevented me from acknowledging, as
promptly as I would have wished the communications which various
Baha’i National Assemblies have addressed me in recent months.
I have followed, however, with admiration and keen interest the
progress of the activities initiated under the 19-Month Plan by the
valiant Baha’i Communities of India, Pakistan and Burma. The
generous, unceasing contributions made by them for the completion of
the Bab’s holy Sepulchre proclaim, in unmistakable terms, their
devotion to the Cause for which He laid down so heroically His life.
The expansion of the activities initiated by the high-minded and
resolute pioneers in Ceylon, Indonesia, Siam, Malaya and Sarawak
indeed merit the highest praise. The efforts exerted for the
multiplication of the institutions of the Faith and their
consolidation both in the subcontinent of India and beyond its
confines augur well for the future of the Plan, the third of its kind
embarked upon by the followers of the Faith of Baha’u’llah,
who are destined to play a predominant part in the unfoldment of His
World Order throughout the territories of South East Asia. The steady
endeavours made for the translation, publication and dissemination of
the literature of the Faith by your Assembly have greatly enriched
and ennobled the record of the services you have rendered it in
recent years.

Great as have been the victories
already won in its service, the work that still remains to be
accomplished under this same Plan during the fleeting months that lie
ahead is still formidable, and demands unrelaxing vigilance, heroic
self-sacrifice, and inflexible resolve on the part of not only the
elected representatives of these communities but of all their members
as well. The uninterrupted and rapid multiplication of Baha’i
administrative centres; the conversion of groups into assemblies; the
development of isolated centers into

groups; a marked increase in the number of incorporated
Local Assemblies; the early completion of the highly important task
assumed in connexion with the translation and publication of the New
Era in the remaining languages already selected for that purpose; the
despatch, without further delay, of no more than one pioneer for the
present to Nepal and Indo-China, as well as to Zanzibar and
Madagascar, in pursuance of the Plan initiated in both Africa and
South East Asia; the maintenance, at any cost, of the present status
of the newly formed assemblies; the concentration of effort for the
promotion of unity and cooperation among the divers elements that
constitute the warp and woof of these communities—these stand
out as the predominating obligations facing the entire body of the
followers of the Faith in the subcontinent of India and its
neighbouring territories.

Nor must the privileged members of
these communities, and particularly their elected representatives,
neglect, for a moment, the paramount duty, of preparing, by every
means at their disposal, for the historic and in some respects, the
most vital, Conference to be held in the course of the Holy Year
which the entire Baha’i world will soon befittingly celebrate.
As the Convenor of such a fate-laden Conference, whose task is to
facilitate the execution of the most far-reaching, the most
challenging, and the most dramatic of all the enterprises destined to
be launched by the followers of the Faith throughout the whole
planet, your Assembly assumes a responsibility at once immense,
soul-stirring and inescapable.

In providing adequate facilities for
the accommodation of the Hands of the Cause and of the official
representatives of no less than eight National Spiritual Assemblies
and of the large number of visitors who will participate in its
proceedings; in ensuring wide publicity through the press and radio
for such a unique gathering; in exerting their utmost for the
maintenance of harmony and for full consultation on the weighty
issues that will face its attendants; in fostering the spirit of
heroic adventure and noble resolve on the part of the members of the
communities that are to act as hosts to the honoured participants of
such an epoch-making assemblage, which will, God willing, enable them
to play a notable role in the Crusade destined to embrace the
continents of Asia and Australasia and of the Pacific Islands—in
all these the members of your Assembly, supported by the rank and
file of the faithful, must display a determination, a valour and
consecration that will excite the admiration of the entire Baha’i
world.

The work that calls for unswerving
fidelity, urgent attention and continuous vigilance, during the
swiftly passing months ahead, is immense, truly sacred and infinitely
meritorious. The consummation of the Plan already initiated would
constitute the best preparation for the assumption of the still
greater functions, and the discharge of still weightier
responsibilities, that await the patiently labouring, the steadfast,
the loyal and devoted followers of the Most Great Name in India,
Pakistan and Burma. That they may victoriously discharge their
present responsibilities, that they may befittingly embark on the
glorious Mission that lies ahead of them, that they may distinguish
themselves through their collective contribution to the success of
the World Crusade soon to be inaugurated by the followers of
Baha’u’llah in both the East and the West, is the object
of my constant prayer and one of the most cherished desires of my
heart.

June 30, 1952

No Age Limit for Serving the Cause

There is no age limit whatsoever for serving the Cause
in administrative capacities after one has reached twenty-one years.
Indeed we are supposed to serve the Cause to our last breath.
Contributions Not Accepted From Those Whose Voting Rights are
Suspended

As regards the question of accepting contributions from
people whose voting rights are suspended, the Guardian says this is
not permissible.

Answer to Various Questions

Local Haziras may be converted to National ones; this is
premature at present.

The recognition of our Laws of Personal Status must
naturally precede formation of Baha’i courts; as long as your
translation is correct his approval is not needed.

You should start a Temple Fund; the site need not exceed
two or three acres, and should be inside Delhi or near the city
limits.

You will be able to consult with the members of
Australian N.S.A. at the time of the Conference in New Delhi about
literature; they will certainly assist your Assembly with the
publications.

Baha’is from India, Pakistan and Burma are
eligible for your Asian Teaching Committee.

Consolidation can mean the establishment of the
institutions you enumerate, but it is not essential at present; to
increase the assemblies and groups, and bring in new believers, is
the most important part of consolidation; as the plan unfolds, he
will have to see what other things are really essential and call your
attention to them.

Consolidation of the Manifold
Institutions

[From the Guardian:]

The splendid efforts, so devotedly
exerted by the members of the Baha’i communities in India,
Pakistan and Burma, extending over more than a decade, in connexion
with the launching and prosecution of no less than three successive
Plans, formulated for the promotion of the interests of the Faith in
South-East Asia, have raised their prestige in the eyes of the Baha’i
World, and have fitted them to undertake, at this auspicious hour in
the evolution of its institutions in the Indian sub-continent and its
neighbouring territories and islands, yet another collective
enterprise, of still vaster dimensions, of far greater possibilities,
requiring the utmost exertion and consecration for a period of no
less than ten years, and culminating in the Most Great Jubilee,
designed to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Declaration
of the Mission of the Founder of their Faith.

The task they now assume involves the
consolidation of the manifold institutions which, through the
operation of three successive Plans, have been patiently and
laboriously established, as well as the erection of the
administrative structure of the Faith in the virgin territories along
the shores, and in the vicinity, of the Indian sub-continent, in the
Islands of the Indian Ocean, in African Dependencies, and as far as
the Islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

Through the prosecution of the Plans
initiated by your Assembly these communities have acquired the
training and experience that have qualified them to embark upon so
extensive and momentous an undertaking—an undertaking which if
victoriously consummated will eclipse all the joint efforts and
enterprises which have illuminated the pages of Indian Baha’i
history since the inception of the Formative Age of the Baha’i
Dispensation.

The first and most sacred obligation
confronting them, on the morrow of the launching of their Ten-Year
Plan, is the despatch and settlement, during the current year and the
one succeeding it, of pioneers in the sixteen virgin territories and
islands, assigned to your Assembly according to the provisions of the
aforementioned Plan. The opening of the six dependencies along the
eastern and western coasts of the Indian subcontinent must be given
careful attention, and must be carried out with promptitude and
vigour. The despatch and definite settlement of no more than one or
two pioneers in each of these territories and islands is a task not
only of great urgency but of infinite merit, and constitutes the most
important feature of the initial phase of the Plan.

Next in importance and of no less
urgency is the selection and purchase, either within or in the
outskirts of the capital-city of India—in which the
Administrative Headquarters of the Faith has already been
established—of the site of the

First Mashriq’ul Adhkar of the Indian
sub-continent, covering an area of approximately one or two acres at
least which can gradually be enlarged in the course of the coming
years.

Collateral with this vital project is
the preparation in conjunction with the Australian National Assembly
of a suitable pamphlet by your Assembly, and the adoption of
energetic measures for its translation into the languages allocated
to the Australian and Indian National Assemblies.

While this threefold objective is
being assiduously pursued, the process of the multiplication of local
Assemblies, of groups and isolated centres must be maintained, nay
accelerated, for upon it will depend the early formation of
independent National Spiritual Assemblies in India, Pakistan, Burma,
Ceylon and South-East Asia.

The responsibilities devolving upon
your Assembly in the course of the opening stage of the Plan are
enormous, sacred and pressing. All Baha’i communities
participating in this glorious enterprise must bend every effort, and
sacrifice to the utmost of their power to ensure the unqualified
success of the great work that lies immediately ahead.

There is no time to lose. The newly
launched Plan demands a vigilance, an expenditure of effort and
resources on a scale unprecedented in Indian Baha’i history.
Baha’i communities in East and West, embarked on a similar
Crusade, are vying with one another and with your Assembly in the
world-wide field of Baha’i pioneering. The glory of the prizes
to be won, the benefits that will accrue to all participants are
unimaginable.

I direct my appeal to your Assembly
and, through its members, to all communities participating in this
unprecedented enterprise, to arise to this great and unique occasion
that now presents itself, at this critical hour in the fortunes of
mankind and at so significant a stage in the evolution of the Faith,
and to resolve, with inflexible determination, to consummate, at the
appointed time, this fate-laden enterprise on which all our hearts
are set and upon which the immediate destinies of the Cause of
Baha’u’llah so largely depend.

In my hours of prayer and meditation
in the holy Shrines I will supplicate on behalf of your Assembly, as
well as on behalf of the communities you represent, that Divine
Guidance may direct your steps, that God’s sustaining grace may
aid you to overcome every obstacle, that His strength may be poured
out upon you, that His providence and love may enfold you, and that
the inspiration of the Dawn-breakers, who proclaimed the birth of His
Cause, may carry you to ultimate and total victory.

June 21, 1953

The Most Important Thing is to Serve

The most important thing we know from the Teachings is
to serve. In carrying out the Plans of God we are strengthened,
blessed and purified; we attract the loving attention of Baha’u’llah;
our efforts are confirmed; and we are enabled through His power to
achieve great victories for His Faith.

He urges you, one and all, as one soul in many bodies,
to consecrate yourselves to fulfilling the objectives of the Ten-Year
Plan. He feels sure that when the proper unity and dedication prevail
in the National Body, it will be sensed by the mass of the believers,
and react upon their efforts. As Abdu’l-Baha said, nothing is
impossible if we have faith; and this must always be the standard for
all the Baha’is. As we have faith, so are our powers and our
blessings.

[From the Guardian:]

May the Almighty enable you to lend a
fresh and unprecedented impetus to the onward march of the Faith,
revive the spirit of its supporters, enlarge its limits, multiply its
local institutions, consolidate its foundations, safeguard its
rights, spread abroad its fame, and aid its followers to discharge
befittingly their responsibilities, and concentrate on the attainment
of the objectives of the Ten-Year Plan, on which the immediate
destiny of the entire community depends.

December 26, 1955

Youth & the Ten-Year Crusade

The Guardian urges as many of the Baha’i youth of
India, Pakistan and Burma as possible to attend the historic
Conference to be held in New Delhi, in October. At that Conference,
plans will be made for the carrying of the Message of Baha’u’llah,
during the coming ten years, far beyond the borders of their
homeland; and it will be the youth who will shoulder a great part of
this and the other tasks that will be given to your Community. In
fact, the settling of these virgin fields both close to your own
lands, and in far-off areas, is the very first responsibility of the
believers, in this Ten-Year World Crusade. Therefore, each one of you
should think now seriously what you are going to do about it, and
start making your plans accordingly. The sooner the virgin fields are
settled, the sooner will be witnessed the tremendous power that is
released in this day; and the bounties that await those who go forth
to pioneer in these lands, are great indeed.

May 28, 1953

Translation of Literature

Naturally it will be difficult for the Faith to be
established in the new territories or amongst the new tribes if they
do not have at least a pamphlet for distribution to the new contacts.

He therefore feels that along with the sending of
pioneers into the virgin areas, the translation of literature into
the languages assigned to the Indian National Assembly should take
place.

The Guardian feels that one of the existing pamphlets
would be satisfactory, or a new one, which you may feel it desirable
to prepare. At this time it is not necessary to enter into the
question of translation of Baha’i books, simply a pamphlet,
which can be used for teaching purposes.

The Guardian wishes you to budget the necessary funds to
cover this work, and to see that it is actively pursued, so that the
literature will be available at an early date.

June 8, 1953

Keynote of the Crusade

Our beloved Guardian has been greatly encouraged by
reports reaching him from all parts of the Baha’i world; of the
victories already gained, and the plans being laid for the
prosecution of the Ten-Year Crusade.

They have evoked his awe-inspiring, and soul-stirring
cablegram of May 28th, calling for the immediate settlement of all
the 131 virgin areas of the Plan, just as quickly as possible. He is
convinced, that the friends will arise and translate their enthusiasm
into Action, because the Keynote of the Crusade, must be Action,
Action, Action!

The beloved Guardian has directed me to write your
Assembly to amplify some of the aspects of his dynamic message.

The settlement of these virgin areas is of such an
emergency nature, that he feels pioneering in one of them takes
precedence over every other type of Baha’i service—whether
it be in the teaching or administrative fields of the Faith. So
important is it that the National Assembly may delay initiation of
steps to fulfill other phases of the Plan, until all these areas are
conquered for the Faith. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must be allowed
to interfere with the placing of pioneers in each of the 131 goal
countries.

In America some 150 people have volunteered for pioneer
service, and some of them already are preparing to leave for their
posts. The beloved Guardian fully expects the dear friends in India,
Pakistan and Burma to follow this example, and quickly settle the
areas allotted to them.

Because of it being the Chief Executor of the Divine
Plan, and having so many pioneers available, the Guardian has given
permission to the United States to send pioneers into any area of the
globe regardless of whom it may be assigned to. Thus pioneers from
the United States may ask permission to settle in one of the areas
assigned to your Assembly. If this is done, you should assist them in
every way possible.

There are some general observations which the Guardian
shares with you, and then some specific suggestions which are
enumerated below:

1. Every individual who has offered to pioneer, must be
encouraged in every way by the National Assembly.

2. The National Assembly should assist each pioneer, so
they may be placed in their post just as quickly as possible.

3. The handling of each application for pioneering
service, must be expedited, and not allowed to be bogged down for any
reason, or in the hands of Committees.

4. The National Assembly should make it their first
order of business to follow up actively this most important task.
They must make it the first order of business at each Assembly
meeting, to see that each application is being progressed rapidly.
This does not mean the special committees should not handle the
details; but it does mean the Assembly itself, must review each
application at each meeting; and see that the pioneer gets into the
field as soon as possible.

5. A large number of pioneers should not be sent to any
one country. One, or even two, will be sufficient for the time being.
Later on, if supplementary assistance is needed, that of course can
be taken care of. The all important thing now, is to get at least one
pioneer in each of the 131 virgin areas.

6. The National Assembly may exercise its prerogatives
and suggest to applicants where their services are most needed. This,
of course, applies particularly to pioneers, where a large number
wish to go to the same place.

The specific suggestions of the Guardian, are:

a. Areas close at hand and easy of settlement should be
filled first. Then the areas more difficult, and finally, those which
will be difficult.

b. Whenever a pioneer enters a new territory, a cable
should be sent at once to the Guardian, giving the name, place, and
any pertinent information.

c. A monthly report of progress is to be sent by your
Assembly to the Secretary-General of the International Baha’i
Council. Special matters of report nature, for the Guardian, in
connection with the plan of settling these 131 areas, should be sent
to the Secretary-General of the Council also.

This does not mean that any administrative matters in
connection with the settlement of pioneers should be handled with the
council. These should continue to be handled with the Guardian
direct. The Council is simply to coordinate reports, consolidate
them, keep maps up to date, etc. for the Guardian, and your reports
will enable them to do this.

d. The Guardian feels the following areas should be
easily settled, and he would appreciate your early cable advice of
such new victories:

Bhutan, Daman, Diu, Goa, Karikal, Mahe, Pondicherry,
Sikkim, as pointed out in his cable to your Assembly of May 30th,
1953. These have first precedence.

The beloved Guardian feels the friends living in large
Baha’i Centres, could easily move into these territories, which
are a part of India itself.

As his dramatic cable indicates, the Guardian will have
prepared an illuminated “Roll of Honor” on which will be
inscribed the names of the “Knights of Baha’u’llah”
who first enter these 131 virgin areas. This “Roll of Honor”
will be placed inside the entrance door of The Inner Sanctuary of the
Tomb of Baha’u’llah.

From time to time, the Guardian will announce to the
Baha’i World, the names of those Holy Souls who arise under the
conditions outlined in his message, and settle these areas and
conquer them for Baha’u’llah.

Now is the time for the Baha’is of the World to
demonstrate the spiritual vitality of the Faith, and to arise as one
soul to spread the Glory of the Lord, over the face of the Earth. The
Guardian is sure, that the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma
who have served and sacrificed so long for the Faith, will continue
their glorious record by winning many new victories for the Faith.

June 8, 1953 Message to the Inter Continental
Conference, New Delhi

[From the Guardian:]

To the Hands of the Cause, the
members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the
resident believers and visitors attending the Asian Intercontinental
Teaching Conference in New Delhi, India.

Well-beloved friends:

With high hopes and a joyful heart I
acclaim the convocation, in the leading city of the Indian
sub-continent, of the fourth and last of the Intercontinental
Teaching Conferences of a memorable Holy Year commemorating the
centenary of the birth of the prophetic Mission of Baha’u’llah.

On this historic occasion, when the
members of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha’is of
the United States of America, of the Dominion of Canada, of Central
and of South America, of Persia, of the Indian subcontinent and of
Burma, of Iraq and of Australasia, as well as representatives of the
sovereign states and dependencies of the Asiatic continent, of the
Republics of North, Central and South America, and of Australia, New
Zealand and Tasmania are assembled, and are to deliberate on the
needs and requirements of the recently launched triple Campaign
embracing the Asiatic mainland, the Australian continent and the
islands of the Pacific Ocean—a campaign which may well be
regarded as the most extensive, the most arduous and the most
momentous of all the campaigns of a world-girdling Crusade, and
which, in its scope, is unparalleled in the history of the Faith in
the entire eastern Hemisphere—my thoughts, on such an occasion,
go back to the early dawn of our Faith, to those unforgettable scenes
of matchless heroism, of dark tragedy, of imperishable glory which
heralded its birth, and accompanied the spread, of its infant Light,
in the heart of the Asiatic continent.

I vividly recall the meteoric rise of
the Faith of the Bab in the provinces of Persia and the stirring
episodes associated with His cruel incarceration in the
mountain-fastnesses of Adhirbayjan, with the revelation of the laws
of His Dispensation, with the proclamation of the independence of His
Faith, with the peerless heroism of His disciples, with the fiendish
cruelty of His foes—the Chief Magistrate, the civil
authorities, the ecclesiastical dignitaries and the masses of the
people, of His native land—with the humiliation, the
spoliation, the dispersal, the eventual massacre of a vast number of
His followers, and, above all, with His own execution in the City of
Tabriz.

With a throb of wonder I call to mind
the early and sudden fruition of His Dispensation in the capital city
of that land, and the dramatic circumstances attending the birth of
Baha’u’llah’s Revelation culminating in His
precipitate banishment to Iraq.

I am reminded, moreover, of the
initial spread of the light of this Revelation, in consequence of the
banishment of Baha’u’llah, to the adjoining territories
of Iraq, and, as far as the western fringes of that continent, to
Turkey and the neighbouring territories of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria,
and, at a later stage, to the Indian sub-continent and China,
situated on the southern and eastern extremities of that continent as
well as to the Caucasus and Russian Turkistan.

Nor can I fail to remember the series
of alternating crises and victories—each constituting a
landmark in the evolution of the Faith—which it has experienced
in some of these territories, associated with the distressful
withdrawal of its Author to the mountains of Sulaymaniyyih; with the
glorious Declaration of His Mission in Baghdad; with His second and
third banishments to Constantinople and Adrianople; with the grievous
rebellion of His half-brother; with the proclamation of His own
Mission; with His fourth banishment to the desolate and far-off penal
colony of Akka in Syria; with the revelation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas,
His Most Holy Book; with His ascension in the Holy Land; with the
establishment of His Covenant and the inauguration of the Ministry of
Abdu’l-Baha, His son and the Exemplar and authorized
interpreter of His teachings.

These opening stages in the evolution
of His Faith in the Asiatic continent were followed, while the first
and Apostolic Age of His Dispensation was drawing to a close, by the
opening of the Islands situated in the Pacific Ocean, Japan in the
north, and the Australian continent in the South. To these memorable
chapters of Asian Baha’i history another was soon added, on the
morrow of the ascension of the Centre of Baha’u’llah’s
Covenant, and during the initial epoch of the Formative Age of the
Faith, distinguished by the rise of the Administrative Order and the
erection of its pillars in the cradle of that Faith, in Iraq, in
India, Pakistan and Burma and in the Antipodes. This memorable
episode in its development in that vast continent was succeeded by
the initiation, during the second Epoch of that same Age, of a series
of Plans in those same territories in support of Abdu’l-Baha’s
Divine Plan and as a prelude to the opening of the recently launched
world-embracing Spiritual Crusade.

The hour has now struck for this
continent, on whose soil, more than a century ago, so much sacred
blood was shed, in whose very heart deeds of such tragic heroism were
performed, and in many of whose territories such brilliant victories
have been won, to contribute, in association with its sister
continents, to the progress and ultimate triumph of this global
Crusade, in a manner befitting its unrivalled position in the entire
Baha’i world.

The various Baha’i Communities
dwelling within the borders of this continent and those situated to
the south of its shores in the Antipodes, which include the oldest
and most venerable among all the communities of the Baha’i
world, and whose members in their aggregate constitute the
overwhelming majority of the followers of Baha’u’llah,
are called upon, in close association with four other Baha’i
communities in the Western Hemisphere, to undertake in the course of
the coming decade: First, the construction of the first
Mashriqu’l-Adhkar in Baha’u’llah’s native
land, in the City of Tihran, surnamed by Baha’u’llah
“Mother of the World”. Second, the purchase of land for
the future construction of three Mashriqu’l-Adhkars, one in the
city of Baghdad, enshrining the “Most Great House”, the
third holiest city of the Baha’i world, one in New Delhi, the
leading city of the Indian sub-continent, and the third in Sydney,
the oldest and foremost Baha’i Centre in the Antipodes. Third,
the formation of no less than eleven National Spiritual Assemblies,
one each in Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, under the aegis of the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan
and Burma; one in Turkey and one in Afghanistan, under the aegis of
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; one
in Japan, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha’is of the United States of America; one in New Zealand,
under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is
of Australia and New Zealand, as well as four regional National
Spiritual Assemblies, one in the Arabian Peninsula, under the aegis
of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia;
one in South-East Asia, under the aegis of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; a third
in the South Pacific, under the aegis of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of America; and a
fourth in the Near East, under the aegis of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is in Iraq. Fourth, the opening of the
following forty-one virgin territories and islands: Andaman Islands,
Bhutan, Daman, Diu, Goa, Karikal, Mahe, Mariana Islands, Nicobar
Islands, Pondicherry, Sikkim, assigned to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; Caroline
Islands, Dutch New Guinea, Hainan Island, Kazakhstan, Macao Island,
Sakhalin Island, Tibet, Tonga Islands, assigned to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States of
America; Brunei, Chagos Archipelago, Krigizia, Mongolia, Solomon
Islands, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, assigned to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; Admiralty Islands, Cocos
Island, Loyalty Islands, Mentawei Islands, New Hebrides Islands,
Portuguese Timor, Society Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand; Gilbert
and Ellice Islands, Marshall Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, assigned
to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Central
America; Hadhramaut, Kuria-Muria Islands, assigned to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Iraq; Marquesas Islands,
Samoa Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha’is of Canada; Cook Islands, assigned to the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of South America. Fifth, the
translation and publication of Baha’i literature in the
following forty languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma, in
association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is
of Australia and New Zealand: Abor Miri, Aneityum, Annamese, Balochi,
Bentuni, Binandere, Cheremiss, Chungchia, Georgian, Houailou,
Javanese, Kado, Kaili, Kopu, Kusaie, Lepcha, Lifu, Manchu, Manipuri,
Manus Island, Marquesas, Mentawei, Mongolian, Mordoff, Mwala, Na-Hsi,
Nicobarese, Niue, Ossete, Ostiak, Pali, Panjabi, Pashto, Perm,
Petats, Samoan, Tho, Tibetan, Tonga, Vogul. Sixth, the consolidation
of Aden Protectorate, Adhirbayjan, Afghanistan, Ahsa, Armenia,
Bahrayn Island, Georgia, Hijaz, Saudi-Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan,
Yemen, allocated to the National

Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Persia; of
Baluchistan, Borneo, Burma, Ceylon, Indo-China, Indonesia, Malaya,
Nepal, Pakistan, Sarawak, Siam, allocated to the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of India, Pakistan and Burma; of China,
Formosa, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippine Islands, allocated to
the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United
States of America; of Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Trucial
Sheikhs, Umman, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha’is of Iraq; of Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia,
Australian New Guinea, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha’is of Australia and New Zealand; of Hong Kong,
allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of
the British Isles. Seventh, the incorporation of the eleven
above-mentioned National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as those of
Persia and Iraq. Eighth, the establishment by these above-mentioned
eleven National Spiritual Assemblies of national Baha’i
endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a national Haziratu’l-Quds
in the capital cities of each of the countries where National
Spiritual Assemblies are to be established, as well as one in Suva,
one in Jakarta, one in Bahrayn and one in Beirut. Tenth, the
establishment of a national Baha’i Court in the capital cities
of Persia, of Iraq, of Pakistan and of Afghanistan—the leading
Muslim centres in the Asiatic continent. Eleventh, the establishment
of two National Baha’i Publishing Trusts, one in Tihran and one
in New Delhi. Twelfth, the formation of Israel Branches of the
National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha’is of Persia, of Iraq
and Australia; authorized to hold on behalf of their parent
institutions property dedicated to the holy Shrines at the World
Centre of the Faith in the State of Israel. Thirteenth, the
appointment, during Ridvan 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Asia
and in Australia of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in
conjunction with the eight National Spiritual Assemblies
participating in the Asiatic and Australian campaigns, assist,
through periodic and systematic visits to Baha’i centres, in
the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the
prosecution of the teaching campaigns in the continent of Asia

and in the Antipodes.

The Asiatic continent, the cradle of
the principal religions of mankind; the home of so many of the oldest
and mightiest civilizations which have flourished on this planet; the
crossways of so many kindreds and races; the battleground of so many
peoples and nations; above whose horizon, in modern times, the suns
of two independent Revelations—the promise and consummation of
a six thousand-year-old religious Cycle—have successively
arisen; where the Authors of both of these Revelations suffered
banishment and died; within whose confines the Centre of a
divinely-appointed Covenant was born, endured a forty-year
incarceration and passed away; on whose Western extremity the Qiblih
of the Baha’i world has been definitely established; in whose
heart the City proclaimed by Baha’u’llah as the “Mother
of the World” is enshrined; within whose borders another City
regarded as the “cynosure of an adoring world” and the
scene of the greatest and most glorious Revelation the world has
witnessed is embosomed; on whose soil so many saints, heroes and
martyrs, associated with both of these Revelations, have lived,
struggled and died—such a continent, so privileged among its
sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands,
at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, on the
threshold of an era that may well recall, in its glory and ultimate
repercussions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the
dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of
God’s purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human
race.

May this Crusade, launched
simultaneously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighbouring islands and
the Antipodes, under the direction of eight National Spiritual
Assemblies, and through the operation of eight systematic Teaching
Plans, and the concerted efforts of Baha’i communities in both
the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote
to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and
materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent
continent, and may it re-enact those scenes of spiritual heroism
which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated
its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the
peoples and nations dwelling within its borders.—SHOGHI

October, 1953

Consultation of Delegates

It should be pointed out to the delegates that the
function of consultation of the delegates takes place only when they
are in session at the Annual Convention. They do not have any
consultative status prior to the Convention or after the Convention.
In other words, they are elected to serve as electors of the new
National Assembly during the Convention, and to consult on all
matters properly coming before the Convention during the Convention
period, not before and not after.

April 27, 1956

Concentrate on Home Front

The Guardian has been greatly pleased with the results
of the expansion of the Faith in the new centers during the past
year, and the establishment of new Assemblies. He urges the National
Assemblies to concentrate on this type of teaching work, and
particularly on the home front. The Ten-Year Crusade is making most
remarkable progress in all fields except the teaching on the home
front. If the Baha’is remaining “at home” would
arise with the same spirit of devotion and fervor as animates the
pioneers, there is no question of the remarkable results that would
be achieved.

May 6, 1956

Increase Number of Assemblies

The Guardian was very happy to note the intensive manner
in which your Assembly is taking hold of the very important matter of
increasing the number of Baha’is, isolated Centers, Groups and
particularly Assemblies in the territories under your jurisdiction,
particularly those where National Assemblies are to be elected.

He feels every effort should be made to bring as many
groups up to Assembly status during this critical year as possible.
The Assemblies formed at Ridvan 1957, cannot take part in the
election of the National Assemblies elected during that same Ridvan
period; but they do make a much stronger base on which the National
Assembly can be formed.

In other words, answering directly your question, the
Guardian advises the practice prevalent now throughout the world that
a local Assembly may not participate in the election of a National
Assembly, until a year after its coming into being, must continue,
and be applicable in the areas referred to by you.

September 11, 1956

Translation of Baha’i Books
into Russian

With regard to the translations into the languages of
the countries of the Russian Zones—the Guardian feels you
should under no circumstances contact Universities in Russia. He
feels this might create great difficulty for the Faith, particularly
during these troublesome times.

If there are Universities in India, or Great Britain
where the translations can be made, there is no objection to
utilizing such sources, but no University or institution in Russia.
Perhaps the British NSA can be helpful—or the Italo-Swiss NSA,
as there are many Russian refugees in Switzerland.

November 12, 1956

Many Victories Won

He is quite distressed that some of the hard won goals
have become virgin again. He requests that your Assembly study the
matter carefully, to see if you cannot send pioneers into these areas
that have fallen back. He is thinking particularly of Nepal, Bhutan,
and Goa. Also, he is very anxious indeed that some assistance be
given our lone pioneer in Tibet. That noble soul is holding the
difficult post, without any aid, and the Guardian hopes you will be
able to send a pioneer into that land to cooperate in establishing
the Faith.

He assures you of his prayers in your behalf so you may
quickly regain the lost ground in these virgin areas, and go forward
to new victories.

The fact of the matter is, in some countries, they have
been able to add new areas to the Crusade—in other words, they
have established the Faith in areas, where the Faith has not existed,
and which were not included in the Crusade.

In other areas, many other victories have been won, not
contemplated in the Crusade. The Guardian has set up a new map,
showing the supplementary goals won, so far,—outside the
Crusade goals. It would be wonderful if India could add some
objectives to this supplementary map.

December 27, 1956

Pioneering to Ceram

The Guardian feels it is most important the teaching
work in the areas mentioned by Abdu’l-Baha in the Tablets of
the Divine Plan, be carried forward with intensive activity….

It has been over 40 years since the Master wrote the
Tablets of the Divine Plan, and only now has this center mentioned by
him, been settled. Surely the Master will watch over his devoted
servant who is labouring so diligently in this center, and guide and
protect him; as well as to confirm his work.

January 19, 1957

Baha’i Literature in Native
Tongues

He was very happy to receive these reports, which
indicate that the work of translating is actively in hand. He feels
this is a very important aspect of our teaching work, as it is
impossible, or at least, most difficult to teach natives, without
some of the literature being translated into their languages. Thus he
hopes you will follow up the matter quite actively.