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****************The Monuments Erected on the Graves of the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
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Letter Addressed to Shoghi Effendi by the Late Queen Marie of Rumania.
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VIIIPrepared under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada with the approval of Shoghi Effendi
Volume VIIICopyright, 1942, by National Spiritual Assembly of the ]lahA'is of the United States and Canada.
Reprinted 1981N 0 T F: The spelling of the Oriental words and proper names used in this issue of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD is according to the system of transliteration established at one of the
International Oriental Congresses.Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith this work is dedicated in the hope that it will assist his efforts to promote that spiritual unity underlying and anticipating the
"Most Great Peace"I. Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith 1
A Worldwide Spiritual Community 1II.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West 15
International 1 5Martha Root's Travels in India, Burma, and Australia, Her Death in
Honolulu 60Consolidation of the Faith in Egypt 85 Bahá'í Activities in 'IrAq 86 Persecution and Deportation of the Baha of Caucasus and Turkistan 87
The Bahá'í Faith in Australia and New Zealand 90
Bahá'í Activities in India and Burma 92Important Developments in the Bahá'í Community of North America 96
Bahá'í Summer Schools 117National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada � Annual report, 19381939 127 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States and Canada. Supplementary report, 193 81939138 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. Annual report, 19391940 139 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. Supplementary report, 19391940 157 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Annual report, 19381939 160 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. Annual report, 19391940 165 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of ir4n. Annual report, 19381939 172 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Ir4n. Annual report, 19391940 191
Page 16National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir&q. Annual report, 19381940 194 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma. Annual report, 19381940 196 National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.
Annual report, 19381940 201III. Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings 205
Words of the B~b 205Excerpts from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh 222
Words of 'Abdu'1 � Báb 230Explanation of the Rebukes Addressed by God to the Prophets 230 Explanation of the Verse of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. "There Is No Associate for the Dawning-Place of Command in the Supreme Sinlessness" 232
Perfections Are Without Limit 234The State of Man and His Progress After Death 235
Explanation of a Verse in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas 236 The Existence of the Rational Soul After the Death of the Body 236 Eternal Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of God 237
Industrial Justice 238The Image of 243 IV. Transfer of the Remains of the Brother and Mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Mt.
Carmel 245The Spiritual Potencies of that Consecrated Spot 245
The Burial of the Purest Branch and the Mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 253
V. The Passing of Munirih KhAnum the Holy Mother259
Episodes in the Life of Munirih KMnum 259VI. The Passing of Queen Marie of Rumania 269
Queen Marie of Rumania and the Bahá'í Faith271I. The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 285
1.Present-Day Administration of the Bahá'í Faith 285
Introductory Statement 285A Procedure for the Conduct of the Local Spiritual Assembly 294
The Annual Bahá'í Convention 299The NonPolitical Character of the Bahá'í Faith 301
Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá'í keligious Organizations 303
Bahá'ís and War 307Interpretations of The Will and Testament 309
Excerpts from The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 310 Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi 316 Messages from the Guardian 344
2. The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order 361
Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 362 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 363 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of tr~n 377 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria 383 Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma 391 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq 392 Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SudAn 399 Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S~d~n 401 Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles 405 Memorandum and Articles of Association of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles 406 Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand 419 ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York, N. Y., U. S. A 420 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York, N. Y., U. S. A 424 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Sydney, Australia 429 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Vancouver, B. C., Canada 431 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A 433 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco, California, U. S. A 435 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lima, Ohio, U. S. A 443 Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U. S. A 447
Page 18Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Columbus, Ohio, U. S. A 452 Certificate of Incorporation and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bábi'is of Phoenix, Arizona, U. S. A 454 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Portland, Oregon, U. S. A 461 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Jersey City, New Jersey, U. S. A 463 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 467 Corporation Declaration by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Peoria, Illinois, U. S. A 470 Corporation Declaration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Winnetka, Illinois, U. S. A 472 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Seattle, Washington, U. S. A 475 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A 480 Certificate of Formation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mexico City, Mexico 484 Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Bahá'í Faith in the City of Mexico 485 Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Government of the Commonwealth th of Australia covering the Name CCBah4~i~~ and the Symbol of the Greatest Name 486 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran 487 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S6d~n 488 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of 'Ir&q 489 Baha Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran 490 Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and Sriid&n 491 Marriage License issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Ill., to solemnize Bahá'í Marriages, with explanatory letter 492 Text in fr~nian of the Outline of Bahá'í Laws regarding Matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Egypt and SiidTh 493Map of Bahá'í holdings showing extension of properties surrounding ing and dedicated to the Shrihe of the B~b on Mt. Carmel 500 3. The Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 503
Foreword 503The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 505
Bahá'í Texts for the Nine Outer Doors of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 516 The Bahá'í Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal
Authorities of Wilmette, Illinois 517Envelope and Article related to the Cachet used by the Postal
Authorities of 'XTilmette, Illinois 517Letter of the Postmaster of Wilmette, Illinois, to the 'National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and
Canada 518Two Articles on the Bahá'í Temple published in Finland 533
4. Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals 536Bahá'í Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting 536
Babi'i Holy Days on which work should be suspended 537
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II)
regarding the Bahá'í Calendar 537 Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding ing Bahá'u'lláh 540
5. Youth Activities Throughout the Bat Li World 344
Introductory Statement 544Excerpts from "Bahá'í Youth" Magazine, 1938 to 1939 568
IT. References to the Bahá'í Faith 595
1. Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania 5952. Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University 598 3. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford 600 4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of
British Academy 6005. Prof. Arminius Varnb&ry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth 601
6. Sir Valentine Chirol 6028. Prof. Jowett, Oxford University 603 9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York 603 10. Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes f,tudes, Paris 604
11. Charles Baudouin 60412. Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D 606 13. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston 607 14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I.; K.C.I.E 607 15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous 609 16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, WA 609 17. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C 610
18. Leo Tolstoy 61019. Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva611 20. Dr. Auguste Ford, University of Zurich 612
21. General Renato Piola Casdlli 61222. Rev. Frederick W. Oakes 612 23. Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Wick,
Scotland 61224. Charles H. Prisk 613 25. Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt 613
26. Shri Purohit Swami 61427. Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College 614 28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., MY 614 29. Rev. K. T. Chung 615 30. Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia 616 31. Rev. Griffith J. Sparham 616
32. Ernest Renan 61733. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L 618 34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 619 35. tmile Schreiber, Publicist 619
36. Miss Helen Keller 62137. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan 622 38. Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist 622
39. Former President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia 622
40. Archduchess Anton of Austria 62241. Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons 622 42. H.R.H. Princess Olga of Jugoslavia 622
43. Eugen Relgis 62346. Princess Marie Antoinette de BrogUe Aussenac 623
47. Late President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University 624 48. Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia 624
49. Ex-Governor William Suizer 62451. Prof. Yone Noguchi 624 52. Prof. Raymond Frank Piper 624
53. Angela Morgan 62455. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia 625 56. A. L. M. Nicholas 62$
57. President Eduard Bene~ of Czechoslovakia62558. Sir Ronald Storrs, N.y.C., M.G., C.B.E 626 59. Coi. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal) 626 60. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 627 61. Rt. Hon. M. R. Jayakar 628
Page 21III. In Memoriam 631
1. May Ellis Maxwell 6313. Martha L. Root 643 4. Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper 649
5. Lady Blomfield 65112. Marie B. Moore 666 13. Robert S. Abbott 666 14. Mrs. Margaret Campbell 668 15. Howard M. Kinney 670
16. Margaret Kiebs 670I. Bahá'í Directory, 19391940 687
1. Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies 687
2. Countries where Bahá'ís are resident 688
Abyssinia 688688 688 689 689 689 689 689 689 689 689 689 689 689 690 690 690 690 690 690 6~ 0 690 691 691 691 691 691 691 691 691 691 691 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 692 xxii CONTENTS
Caucasus3. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 694 4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United States and Canada 699 5. Bahá'í Administrative Divisions inirAn 708
6. Directory of Leading Assemblies in Bahá'í Administrative Divisions
df IrTh 7127. Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings 713
8. List of the BTh's BestKnown Works 714LI. Bahá'í Bibliography 715
1. Bahá'í Publications of America 715Outlines and Guides for Bahá'í Study Classes 726
2. Bahá'í Publications of England 72710. Bahá'í Publications in Albanian 731
11. Bahá'í Publications in Esperanto 731
12. Bahá'í Publications in Russian 732
13. Bahá'í Publications in German 732
14. Bahá'í Publications in Bulgarian 735
15. Bahá'í Publications in Rumanian 735
16. Bahá'í Publications in Czech 735
17. Bahá'í Publications in Serbian 735
18. Baha Publications in Hungarian 73520. Bahá'í Publications in Maori 735
21. Bahá'í Publications in Spanish 736
22. Bahá'í Publications in Norwegian 736
23. Baha Publications in Croatian 73624. Ba1A'i Publications in Polish 736
25. Bahá'í Publications in Icelandic 736
Page 2429. References to the Bahá'í Faith under NonBahá'í Auspices
PAGE736 736 737 738 738 738 738 738 738 738 738 748 748 748 748 748 748 748 748 748 749 749 749 749 in Braille (for the Blind) in Books and Pamphlets Published 30. References to the Baha Faith in Magazines by Non-Bahá'í Writers.
31. References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in Non-BaM'i Publications
32. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Specialized Reference Works
III. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of tr4nian Alphabet and Notes on the Pronunciation of IrAnian Words
LV. Definition of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature
PART FOUR1. Constructive Religion, by George Townshend 2. Truth and World Unity, by Horace IrTolley 3. Bahá'u'lláh, by H. M. BMyuzi
4. International Bahá'í Congress Day at the Panama-Pacific International
tional Exposition 5. Bahá'í Message to the Universities of Northern India, by Martha L.
Root6. Essai sur les Diff6rentes Formes de Pri&es, by Lucienne L. Migette.
7. Crisis of the World Psyche, by Wilf rid Barton 749 756 759 759 760 762 764 769 769 776 779 797 809 819 825
Page 258. The New Citizenship, by Beatrice Irwin 831 9. The Oneness of Religion, by Doris McKay835 10. The Well of Happiness, by George Townshend 847 11. Bahá'ís and War, by David Hofman 856 12. Conf&ence dans un cercie Bahá'í a Paris, le 19 Mars, 1939, by
Madame J. Montefiore 85913. Rejoice, 0 Israel, by Alice Simmons Cox869 14. Pioneer Introduction of the Bahá'í Faith to the Netherlands, by Louise
Drake Wright 877IS. An Interview with A. L. M. Nicolas of Paris, by Edith Sanderson 885 16. Yucatan 1939, by Loulie A. Mathews 888 17. The Scriptures of Different Faiths, by Pritam Singh 892 18. Faith and the Man, by Louis G. Gregory 901 19. Appreciations by Leaders of Thought, by Ru1~Aniyyih Moffett 904 20. A Journey to the Arctic, by Nellie S. French 915 21. TAhirih's Message to the Modern World, by Martha L. Root 918
A Brief Commentary, by Marian Little 92122. A Brief Survey of the Literature of the Bahá'í Faith in English, by
William Kenneth Christian 92523. John Ebenezer Esslemont, His Life and Service, by Jessie E. Revell 929 24. A Letter from Finland, by Viiin6 Rissanen936 25. Radio-Nations Calling, by Ethel M. Dawe937 26. Le Martyre, par Dr. A. Mesbali 940
II. Song Offerings 945
HI.Echoes from the Spheres 967 IV. Contents of The Bahá'í World Vol. LVII 1009 V. Maps of Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada, of Central and South America, and of the Bahá'í World 1033
Page 26The Purest Branch in The Monuments Erected on the Graves of the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Letter Addressed to Shoghi Effendi by the Late Queen Marie of Rumania vii, viii, ix A Gift of the Guardian to the Bahá'ís of North America. Some locks of the hair of Bahá'u'lláh arranged by His daughter, Bahá'í Kh6num, The Greatest Holy Leaf Twilight view of the grave of Bahá'í Khuinum on Mount Carmel 8
Descriptive Card for Baha Exhibit Prepared by Directors of Temple of Religion 16
Section of the ornamentation of the Bahá'í Temple in Wilmette, Ill., presented by the American Bahá'ís to be placed in the gardens surrounding the tomb of the Bib on Mt. Carmel 20 Two Views of the Hlaziratu'1-Quds. The recently inaugurated headquarters of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, adjacent to the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois 24 The Bahá'í exhibit held during the 1938 Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto,
Canada 33Members of the newly formed Spiritual Assembly of St. Lambert, Province of
Quebec 33The Bahá'í Exhibit at the Wisconsin State rair of 1939 showing the Temple model prominently displayed 38 The Bahá'í booth in the Communications building of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Behind the Temple model is shown a detail of the design for the dome ornamentation 46 Three exhibitions of the model of the Bahá'í Temple: Exposed in a florist shop at Binghamton, N. Y., display at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque, N. M., and exhibited in a florist shop window in Port Huron, Mich 50 Official post cards of the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair and the 1939 New York World's Fair showing the different Bahá'í exhibits 56 The exhibit of the Bahá'í Temple model in the Homes and Gardens section of the San Francisco World's Fair in 1939 Facsimile of part of a letter addressed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Professor Vambery.A display of the Bahá'í Temple model in a window in Philadelphia, PennThe exhibit held at the Sacramento Flower Show in California, 1939 70 Facsimile of two letters written by Professor E. G. Browne, of Cambridge University, , concerning the Bahá'í Faith 74 The house of Siyyid Y4iy& D6Abi, surnamed Valiid, which has recently been acquired by the Bahá'ís of Iran as an historical site in the town of Nayriz. 80 Recently purchased site of the prospective Ija4ratu'1-Quds to be erected in Cairo,
Egypt 93Recently completed portion of the Ua~iratu'1-Quds of 'Idq, situated in Baghdad 95 Display at the Illinois State Fair, Springfield, Ill 100 Display in the Temple of Religions at the San Francisco World's Fair, 1939 100
Temple Model Exhibited at Big Bear Lake, California 106
Book Exhibit near the Bahá'í Temple Arranged During Convention 106
Bahá'í Exhibit, New York State Fair, Syracuse, 1939 114 Temple Model on Display at a Florist's Shop, San Francisco, California 114 Exhibit in Public Library, Yonkers, N. Y 120 The Souvenir Commemorating The Feast of Unity of 'Abdu'1 � Baha observed annually at Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, New Jersey 122 Temple Model Displayed in Window of Red Bank Register, the Local Paper of Red Bank, N. J., 1939 126 Temple Model Displayed by Louhelen Summer School at the Flint, Michigan,
Flower Show 126Temple Model on Exhibition in a store in Albuquerque, New Mexico 126 Some of the Bahá'ís attending the annual convention of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, London, 1939 128 The shop which was used by the Báb during his days in B~shihr 130 The bath of Uramiyyih where the Báb bathed during His visit to that town 136 Recently purchased historical site where the four Baha martyrs of 'Idq, I lie buried 144 The house of HAji Mirza J~tni in K~shAn which the Bahá'ís of Pin have recently purchased to be preserved as an historical site 154 The well used by the RAb is in the fortress of Shaykh Taharsi in M~zindar&n, I rkn 159 The interior of the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in M~zindar4n. The X marks the spot where MullA Husayn is buried 169 The weapon used by Mu11A ~usayn in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi. The Persian inscription reads: "The sword of his honor the BThu'1-BAb" 177 The house of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, the famous Bahá'í brothers of IsfAhAn, which has recently been purchased by the Bahá'ís of IrAn to be preserved as an historical site in that city 192 An early picture of the body of a Bahá'í martyr of fr&n 198 Study Class, BaghdAd, for training of children 202 Detail of the monument marking the resting place of Bahá'í KhAnum on Mt.
Carmel, Haifa 206'Abdu'l-Bahá and His brother the Purest Branch. (The Purest Branch is seated on the left) 246 Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh at the time when the Purest Branch was being prepared ared for the grave in His presence 246 Persian script with translation 248 A glimpse, between the trees of the garden, of the shrines of the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Mt. Garmel, Haifa250 The newiy made graves of the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá showing the flowers still in place before work on the erection of their monuments was begun 252
Page 29Detail of one of the twin monuments marking the graves of the Mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá BaM and of His Brother, on Mt. Carmel, Haifa252 The burial-ground on Mount Carmel in which are laid to rest the immediate family of 'Abdu'1-I3ah4. On the right is the shrine of Bahá'í KMnum His sister.
On the left the twin monuments marking the resting-places of His mother and brother. Below them can be seen the dome of the monument of his wife,
Munirili KlAnum 254The Holy Mother, Munirib Kbinum wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá 260 Monument erected on the site of the grave of Munirih Kh6num, the wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, on Mt. Carmel, and beneath the shadow of the resting place of Bahá'í Kh&num, The Greatest Holy Leaf 264
Her Late Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania 268A Floral Tribute to Her Majesty the Late Queen Marie of Rumania. Offered by the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada on the occasion of the service held in Washington, D. C., July 25, 1938, to commemorate the first anniversary sary of her death 281
The Bahá'í Community of Cincinnati, Ohio 288
The ncwiy constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Maywood, Illinois, in 1938 288 Spiritual Assembly of Helena, Montana, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939 318 Spiritual Assembly of East Cleveland, Ohio, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939, with members of the Bahá'í Community 318 Sacramento California. Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on April 21, 1938. Photograph shows tree under which 'Abdu'1 � Baha stood in 1912 340 Spiritual Assembly of Richmond Highlands, Washington, Newly Constituted
April 21, 1939 340Newly formed Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938 353
Recently constituted Spiritual Assembly of Glendale, Arizona 356
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Vancouver, B. C 430
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cincinnati, Ohio 434
Members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco, California 434
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bali S'is of Lima, Ohio 446
The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Philadelphia, Pa. Taken at the Nineteen Day Feast, Jan. 19, 1939 446
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Columbus, Ohio 453
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Phoenix, Arizona 453
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Portland, Oregon 460
Spiritual Assembly of the IBahá'ís of Wilmette, Illinois 469
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Peoria, Illinois 469
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Seattle, Washington 474
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Boston, Massachusetts 479
Bahá'ís of the newly established community of Mexico City, Mexico 485 Membership card used in enrolling new believers in the Bahá'í Faith in the City of Mexico 485
Page 30Trade mark certificate obtained from the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia covering the name "Baha'i' and the symbol of the Greatest Name 486 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Idn 487 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assem-My My of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S~d&n 488 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spirittial Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of 'Tr~q 489 Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Inn 490 Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and SAd4n 491 Marriage License Issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, to solemnize Bahá'í marriages, with explanatory letter 492 Map of Bahá'í holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel 500 The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar or Bahá'í Temple, showing ornamentation of second story in process, 1938 504 Sculptor carving central panel over doorway 506 Model for detail of First Story of Temple, in Process at Earley Studios 506 An early picture of Louis Bourgeois, the French Canadian architect whose design for a Bahá'í Temple is now being constructed at Wilmette, Illinois 507
Carving an Original Model 508
Completing the clay model of a unit to go on the first story 508 Design for the Bahá'í Temple by Mr. L. S. Bufiington, architect, of Minneapolis,
Minnesota 509Design for the Ba1A'i Temple by Mr. F. J. Woodward, architect, of Washington, D.C 510 One of the designs submitted by Mr. Charles Mason Remey, architect, of Wash ington, D. C., for the Bahá'í Temple competition held in New York, 1919 511 Design submitted by Mr. W. S. Maxwell, architect, of Montreal, Canada, for the competition for the Bahá'í Temple, held in New York, 1919 512 The site of the first Bahá'í Temple of the western world as it appeared on Sept. 24th, 1920 when excavation for the foundation was begun, in Wilmette,
Illinois 513Bahá'ís and workmen gathered on Sept. 24th, 1920, when the first drilling for bedrock was begun at the site of the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois.
The man holding a photograph of the design for the Temple is Louis Bourgeois, the architect of the building 514 The "Mother Temple of the West" reflected in the still waters of Lake Michigan 515 The Bahá'í Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal authorities of Wilmette, Illinois and used on all outgoing mail during National Air Mail
Week May 1521, 1938 517
Letter of the Postmaster of Wilmette, Illinois, to The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 518
Page 31Front Elevation of the Church of St. John Lateran, Rome 520
Church of Notre Dame in Paris 520
Amiens Cathedral, France, Interior 520
The Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem 520
Hall of Ablutions, Mosque of Su1v~n lilasan, Cairo, Egypt. (Interior View) 522 The Parthenon, Athens, Greece 522
The Church of Santa Sofia, Istanbul 522
Article from Soumen Nainen, 1938. Published in Finland 533 Article from Naisten AA!ni, 1938. Published in Finland 534 Two views of the land recently purchased by the Bahá'ís of I r~n and destined to be the site of the first Bahá'í Temple of that country 535 The Bahá'í children's class of Milwaukee, SMisconsin, taken with their teachers, 1938 545 John Eichenauer, the youngest pioneer of the Bahá'í Faith, who in 1939, at the age of seventeen, went to San Salvador to establish a center 547
The Baha Youth Group of Alexandria, Egypt 549Bahá'í youth attending the seventh annual Bahá'í Youth luncheon held in conjunction tion with the Bahá'í convention, Evanston, Illinois, 1939 551 Teacher and class at the Bahá'í Summer School, Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, gan, during the 1939 Youth Session 553 Attendants at the Youth session of the Bahá'í Summer School at Louhelen Ranch,
Davison, Michigan 555Group attending the Bahá'í Youth session of the Geyserville Bahá'í Summer School, California, 1939 559 A meeting of the young Bahá'ís from five neighboring centers held at Jamestown,
New York, 1939 561The Midwest Regional Bahá'í Youth conference held January 8th and 9th, 1938, at 'Wilmette, Illinois 563 The Youth Groups of Pasadena and adjacent Bahá'í Communities. Pasadena, California, October, 1939 565 The Bahá'í Youth Group of Karachi, India, 1938 569 Some of the Bahá'í Youth of TihrTh celebrating international Bahá'í Youth Day 573 The I3aM'i Youth Committee of Bombay, India, taken with Martha Root on the occasion of her tour of India and Burma during 1938 575 Midwest Bahá'í Youth Conference held at Wilmette, Illinois, January 67, 1940 577 The Bahá'í Youth Group of Los Angeles, California, February, 1939 578 The North Shore Youth Group composed of Babi'is from communities in the vicinity of the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois, taken in 1939 583
May Ellis Maxwell 632
Friends gathered for burial service of May Ellis Maxwell 633 Miss Martha L. Root, Famous International IBaM'i Teacher 644 Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper, One of the First Bahá'ís of the West 649 Lady Blomfield, "Sit~rih KMnum," Pioneer Baha of England 652
Rahmatu'11&h 'AIS'i of Iran 655
Page 32The coffin bearing the remains of Rabmatu'll&h 'AU'i of Tihr~n being borne to the Baha cemetery. December 3rd, 1939 C55
Grace Robarts Ober 657The body of Ijiji Ghu1&m-Ri4~, surnamed Amin-Amin, being removed from his home in Tihdn, December 23rd, 1939 659 Leroy loas and Sh&hnaz Waite 662
Soraya Fraser Chamberlain 665The last resting place of Margaret Kiebs, Sunset Cemetery, North Augusta, S. C 671
Joseph G. Bray 672William M. Miller, Pioneer Baha'i, Perth, Australia. Ascended to AbM Kingdom, Oct. 23, 1939 677 Abu'1-QAsim GulastThih, Died in Cairo, July 10th, 1939 678 Habib Miskar, Killed in Haifa, March 6th. 1939679
Muhammad Sulaym&n 680Thirty-first Annual Convention, United States and Canada 693
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, for the years 19391940 698 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma and of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bombay bidding farewell to Martha Root after her lengthy tour of India and Burma 709 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, 19391940 710 The Bahá'í Community of Adelaide, South Australia, with the local Bahá'í Youth
Group 711Bahá'í friends gathered to bid farewell to Mr. Nabili on the occasion of his departure ture for Kkbul, AfghinistAn, on a teaching trip 718 Views of the first Baha Summer School of IrAn held in the vicinity of Tihr~n in 1939 728 Reproductions of the title pages of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in the thirtyfive five languages in which it has been printed73 9747
Bahá'ís of Hobart, Tasmania 754Miss Martha Root with some of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Australia and New Zealand, 1939 754 Inter-Assembly Teaching Conference. Held in Los Angeles, California, February 26th, 1939, at the time of the visit of the National Spiritual Assembly. 770 Library and reading room of the recently inaugurated Bahá'í Center in Mexico City, Mexico, 1939 780
Page 33Lecture room of the recently inaugurated Bahá'í Center in Mexico City, Mexico, 1939 781 The Invitation issued by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mexico City, Mexico, to be present at the inauguration of the Bahá'í Center. 782 The first Mexican Baha to visit their American coworkers 793 Festival Hall, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915. Scene of Ceremonies Honoring the First International Bahá'í Congress 798
Bronze Medallion Presented to the First International Baha Congress 80 1
Frederick W. D'Evelyn, M.B.C.M. (Edin.), Member of the Ways and Means Committee ttee of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. President of the First
International Bahá'í Congress 805The tenth annual convention of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma held in Karachi, 1938. Miss Martha Root is seated in the center 810 Annual gathering of Bahá'ís at the commemoration service for Thornton Chase, the first believer of America. Inglewood, California, September 3 0th, 1939 820 The feast of the New Year being celebrated by the Bahá'ís of Miami, Florida, on
CCNaw~R~z~~ March 2 1st, 1939 832A Group of South American Bahá'í Pioneers 833
Book Exhibit. An exhibit of Bahá'í books placed on view at the Dean Hobbs
Blanchard Memorial Library in Santa Paula, California 845
Mine. Draga Illic with a group of friends in Belgrade, Jugoslavia taken in June, 1939 853 A group of country Baha'is. Booleroo Centre, So. Australia 854
Mine. Jeanne Monrefiore 860
The members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Karachi, India, bidding farewell to Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her departure for Australia and New Zealand 868 Some of the Bahá'ís of Bombay, India gathered to bid farewell to their indefatigable fellow-worker, Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her departure for Aus tralia and New Zealand. (Miss Root holds a bouquet of flowers.) 876 The Bahá'í Summer School of Australia and New Zealand. Community Picnic held during the 1939 session at ttBolton Place," Yerrinbool, New South Wales 883 The "Rose Garden" children's class held during the 1939 session of the Bahá'í Summer School at ttBolton Place," Yerrinbool, New South Wales, Australia 884 A. L. M. Nicolas 886 The First Bahá'í Summer School of India held at Simla. In the center is Martha Root, beloved teacher of the Faith throughout East and West, who was touring India and Burma 887 Attendants and friends at the Bahá'í Summer School of Australia held at Yer-rinbool, ool, S.W. Australia, in January, 1939 891
The recently inaugurated Bahá'í Fellowship House in Coxrington, Louisiana 897
Property in Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, which has recently been presented to the Faith as a training school for Bahá'ís in the Inter-America teaching work 898 Exterior of Henderson Business College, Memphis, Tennessee 900 The Founder, President Henderson, at his desk 900
The Bahá'ís of Khartoum, S~d~n 911
Page 34Bahá'í Group of Tunis 912
Amity Banquet held under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Pasadena, California, December 3rd, 1938914 The Feast of the Bahá'í New Year being celebrated by the New York Bahá'ís on
March 21st, 1939 923The Bahá'í Summer School of the British Isles. The upper picture is a group attend ing the 193 8 session. The center and lower pictures are of the 1939 session 93 0 Pastor V~iin6 Rissanen. First to have accepted the Bahá'í Faith in Finland. 1938 935
Map of Central America Teaching Region 1035
Map of South American Republics Teaching Region1037
Map of Teaching Regions of the WorldInside back cover Map of Teaching Regions of the United States and Canada Inside back cover
Page 35DURING the past fourteen years the Bahá'í community of East and West has learned to anticipate each successive volume of Tnr BAHÁ'Í WORLD (the first number was entitled "Bahá'í Year Book") as the best means by which the individual believer may keep abreast of the steady development of the Faith throughout the world. This work, in its illustrations as well as in its text, has recorded as completely as possible the progress of current Bahá'í events and activities over an area now embracing forty countries. In addition, each volume has presented those ~~historica1 facts and fundamental principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to this age."
The existence of so many evidences of a newly revealed Faith and Gospel for a humanity arrived at a turning point in its spiritual and social evolution has likewise a profound significance for the non-BaM'i student and scholar who desires to investigate the world religion founded by the B~b and Bahá'u'lláh. For in these pages the reader encounters both the revealed Word in its spiritual power, and the response which that utterance has evoked during the first ninety years of the Bahá'í era. He will find what is unparalleled in religious history � the unbroken continuity of a divine Faith from the Manifestation onward through three generations of human experience, and will be able to apprehend what impregnable foundations the Bahá'í World Order rests upon in the life and teachings of the B~b and Bahá'u'lláh, the life and interpretation of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, , and (since the year 1921) in the development of an administrative order under the direction of the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
It is the avowed faith of Bahá'ís that this Revelation has established upon earth the spiritual impulse and the definite principles necessary for social regeneration and the attainment of one true religion and social order throughout the world. In THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, therefore, those-who seek a higher will and wisdom than man possesses may learn how, amid the trials and tribulations of a decadent society, a new age has begun to emerge from the world of the spirit to the realm of human action and belief.
xxxvMrs. Stuart W. French, Chairman, 786 Chester Ave., San Marino, California.
Mrs. Ruth Brandt, 9313 Olympic Blvd., Beverley Hills, California.
Mrs. Mariam Haney, 1763 Columbia Road, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Charles Bishop, Geyserville, California.
Mrs. Marzieh Nabil Gail, 1207 Montgomery St., San Francisco, California.
Miss Florence Mattoon, 105 Sixth St., "XTilmette, Illinois.
Mr. Louis Gregory, Eliot, Maine.Mr. Kenneth Christian, State College of Agriculture, Morrisville, New York.
Mrs. Victoria Bedikian, Photograph Editor, Box 179, Montclair, New Jersey.
SWITZERLAND �Mine. Elizabeth Hesse, 96 Blvd. Maurice Barr6s, Neuilly s. Seine, Paris, France.
GREAT BRITAIN �Mr. David Hofman, 46 Bloomsbury St., W.C. 1, London, England.
'IRAQ � Mr. Jamil Bagbd~di, P. 0. Box 5, BaghdAd.Miss Adelaide Sharp, Pahiavi St., Kucheh Bageroff, Tihr~n.
INDIA AND BURMA �Mr. Abbassaly Butt, 13 Haig Square, New Delhi, India.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND �Miss Hilda Brooks; 17 Gurney St., Duiwich Road, Adelaide, Australia.
EGYPT �Mr. Muhammad Mustaf A, Bahá'í Bureau, P. 0. Box 13, Daher, Cairo.
CHINA AND JAPAN �Miss Agnes Alexander, 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, 111.
xxxvii"The Tabernacle of Unity has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers.
Of one tree are ye all the fruit and of one bc-ugh the leaves. The world is but one country and mankind its citizens." � BAHÁ'Í U LLAH.
UP ON the spiritual foundation established by Bahá'u'lláh during the forty year period of His Mission (18531892), there stands today an independent religion represented by nearly eight hundred local communities of believers.
These communities geographically are spread throughout all five continents. In point of race, class, nationality and religious origin, the followers of Bahá'u'lláh exemplify well-nigh the whole diversity of the modern world. They may be characterized as a true cross section of humanity, a microcosm which, for all its relative littleness, carries within it individual men and women typifying the macrocosm of mankind.
None of the historic causes of association served to create this worldwide spiritual community. Neither a common language, a common blood, a common civil government, a common tradition nor a mutual grievance acted upon Bahá'ís to supply a fixed center of interest or a goal of material advantage. On the contrary, membership in the Bahá'í community in the land of its birth even to this day has been a severe disability, and outside of IrAn the motive animating believers has been in direct opposition to the most inveterate prejudices of their environment. The Cause of Bahá'u'lláh has moved forward without the re~nforcement of wealth, social prestige or other means of public influence.
Every local Bahá'í community exists by the voluntary association of individuals who consciously overcome the fundamental sanctions evolved throughout the centuries to justify the separations and antagonisms of human society. In America, this association means that white believers accept the spiritual equality of their Negro fellows. In Europe, it means the reconciliation of Protestant and Catholic upon the basis of a new and larger faith. In the Orient, Christian, Jewish and Muhammadan believers must stand apart from the rigid exclusiveness into which each was born.
The central fact to be noted concerning the nature of the Bahá'í Faith is that it contains a power, fulfilled in the realm of conscience, which can reverse the principle momentum of modern civilization � the drive toward division and strife � and initiate its own momentum moving steadily in the direction of unity and accord. It is in this power, and not in any criterion upheld by the world, that the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláhThe forms of traditional opposition vested in nationality, race, class and creed are not the only social chasms which the Faith has bridged. There are even more implacable, if less visible differences between types and temperaments, such as flow ineVitably from
Page 22 the contact of rational and emotional individuals, of active and passive dispositions, undermining capacity for co6peration in every organized society, which attain mutual understanding and harmony in the Bahá'í community.
For personal congeniality, the selective principle elsewhere continually operative within the field of voluntary action, is an instinct which Bahá'ís must sacrifice to serve the principle of the oneness of mankind.
A Bahá'í community, therefore, is a constant and active spiritual victory, an overcoming of tensions which elsewhere come to the point of strife.
No mere passive creed nor philosophic gospel which need never be put to the test in daily life has produced this world fellowship devoted to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
The basis of self-sacrifice on which the Baha community stahds has created a religious society in which all human relations are transformed from social to spiritual problems.
This fact is the door through which one must pass to arrive at insight of what the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh means to this age.
The social problems of the age are predominantly political and economic.
They are problems because human society is divided into nations each of which claims to be an end and a law unto itself and into classes each of which has raised an economic theory to the level of a sovereign and exclusive principle.
Nationality has become a condition which overrides the fundamental humanity of all the peoples concerned, asserting the superiority of political considerations over ethical and moral needs. Similarly, economic groups uphold and promote social systems without regard to the quality of human relationships experienced in terms of religion. Tension and oppositions between the different groups are organized for dominance and not ftr reconciliation.
Each step toward more complete partisan organization increases the original tension and augments the separation of human beings; as the separation widens, the element of sympathy and fellowship on the human level is eventually denied.
In the Bahá'í community the same tensions and instinctive antagonisms exist, but the human separation has been made impossible.
The same capacity for exclusive doctrines is present, but no doctrine representing one personality or one group can secure a hearing. All believers alike are subject to one spiritually supreme sovereignty in the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
Disaffected individuals may withdraw. The community remains. For the Bahá'í teachirigs are in themselves principles of life and they assert the supreme value of humanity without doc-trifles which correspond to any particular environment or condition. Thus members of the Bahá'í community realize their tensions and oppositions as ethical or spiritual problems, to be faced and overcome in mutual consultation.
Their faith has convinced them that the tttruth" or ctright~~ of any possible situation is not derived from partisan victory but from the needs of the community as an organic whole.
A Bahá'í community endures without disruption because only spiritual problems can be solved. When human relations are held to be political or social problems they are removed from the realm in which rational will has responsibility and influence. The ultimate result of this degradation of human relationships is the frenzy of desperate strife � the outbreak of inhuman war.
Page 3Theref ore the Lord of Mankind has caused His holy, divine Manifestations to come into the world. He has revealed His heavenly books in order to establish spiritual brotherhood, and through the power of the Holy Spirit has made it possible for perfect fraternity to be realized among lnankind." � 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ.
In stating that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is an independent religion, two essential facts are implied.
The first fact is that the Bahá'í Cause historically was not an offshoot of any prior social principle or community. The teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are no artificial synthesis assembled from the modern library of international truth, which might be duplicated from the same sources. Bahá'u'lláh created a reality in the world of the soui which never before existed and could not exist apart from
I-Jim.The second fact is that the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is a religion, standing in the line of true religions: Christianity, Mul2arnmadan � ism, Judaism, and other prophetic Faiths. Its existence, like that of early Christianity, marks the return of faith as a direct and personal experience of the will of God. Because the divine will itself has been revealed in terms of human reality, the followers of Bahá'u'lláh are confident that their personal limitations can be transformed by an inflow of spiritual reinforcement from the higher world. It is for the privilege of access to the source of reality that they forego reliance upon the darkened self within and the unbelieving society without.
The religious education of Baha revolutionizes their inherited attitude toward their own as well as other traditional religions.
To Baha'is, religion is the life and teachings of the prophet. By identifying religion with its founder, they exclude from its spiritual reality all those accretions of human definition, ceremony and ritualistic practice emanating from followers required from time to time to make compromise with an unbelieving world.
Furthermore, in limiting religion to the prophet they are able to perceive the oneness of God in the spiritual oneness of all the prophets.
The Bahá'í born into Christianity can wholeheartedly enter into fellowship with the Bahá'í born into Muhammadanism because both have come to understand that Christ and Muhammad reflected the light of the one God into the darkness of the world. If certain teachings of Christ differ from certain teachings of Moses or Muhammad, the Bahá'ís know that all prophetic teachings are divided into two parts: one, consisting of the essential and unalterable principles of love, peace, unity and co6peration, renewed as divine commands in every cycle; the other, consisting of external practices (such as diet, marriage and similar ordinances) conforming to the requirements of one time and place.
This Bahá'í teaching leads to a profounder analysis of the process of history.
The followers of Bahá'u'lláh derive mental integrity from the realization made so clear and vivid by 'Abdu'l-Bahá that true insight into history discloses the uninterrupted and irresistible working of a Providence not denied nor made vain by any measure of human ignorance and unfaith.
According to this insight, a cycle begins with the appearance of a prophet or manifestation of God, through whom the spirits of men are revivified and reborn. The rise of faith in God produces a religious community, whose power of enthusiasm and devotion releases the creative elements of a new and higher civilization.
This civilization comes to its fruitful autumn in culture and mental achievement, to give way eventually to a barren winter of atheism, when strife and discord bring the civilization to an end. Under the burden of immorality, dishonor and cruelty marking this phase of the cycle, humanity lies helpless until the spiritual leader, the prophet, once more returns in the power of the Holy
Spirit.Such is the Bahá'í reading of the book of the past.
Its reading of the present interprets these world troubles, this general chaos and confusion, as the hour when the renewal of religion is no longer a racial experience, a rebirth of one limited area of human society, but the destined unification of human
Page 4ity itself in one faith of their material environment.
and one order. It is A human society which by the parable of the has substituted creeds vineyard that Bahá'ís for religion and armies of the Christian 'West for truth, even as all behold their tradition and ancient prophets foretold, their present spiritual must needs come to abandon reality at last in-separablyits instruments of violence joined, their faith and and undergo purification their social outlook identified,until conscious, humble faith their reverence for the powercan be reborn.
of God merged with intelligible graspAIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 5
A Gift of the Guardian to the Bahá'ís of North America. Some locks of the hair of Bahá'u'lláh arranged by His daughter, Bahá'í Khinum, The Greatest Holy Leaf.
These with other sacred relics are preserved in the archives of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar or Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Ill.
Page 6C rThe best beloved of at1 things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee." � BAHÁ'U'LLÁH.
Faith alone, no matter how wholehearted and sincere, affords no basis on which the organic unity of a religious fellowship can endure. The faith of the early Christians was complete, but its degree of inner conviction when projected outward upon the field of action soon disclosed a fatal lack of social principle. Whether the outer expression of love implied a democratic or an aristocratic order, a communal or individualistic society, raised fundamental questions after the crucifixion of the prophet which none had authority to solve.
The Bahá'í teaching has this vital distinction, that it extends from the realm of conscience and faith to the realm of social action. It confirms the substance of faith not merely as a source of individual development but as a definitely ordered relationship to the community.
Those who inspect the Bahá'í Cause superficially may deny its claim to be a religion for the reason that it lacks most of the visible marks by which religions are recognized.
But in place of ritual or other formal worship it contains a social principle linking people to a community, the loyal observance of which makes spiritual faith coterminous with life itself. The Baha'is, having no professional clergy, f or-bidden ever to have a clergy, understand that religion, in this age, consists in an "attitude toward God reflected in life."
They are therefore conscious of no division between religious and secular actions.
The inherent nature of the community created by Bahá'u'lláh has great significance at this time, when the relative values of democracy, of constitutional monarchy, of aristocracy and of communism are everywhere in dispute.
Of the Baha community it may be declared definitely that its character does not reflect the communal theory. The rights of the individual are fully safeguarded and the fundamental distinctions of personal endowment natural among all people are fully preserved. Individual rights, however, are interpreted in the light of the supreme law of brotherhood and not made a sanction for selfishness, oppression and indifference.
On the other hand, the Baha order is not a democracy in the sense that it proceeds from the complete sovereignty of the people, whose representatives are limited to carrying out the popular will. Sovereignty, in the Bahá'í community, is attributed to the Divine prophet, and the elected representatives of the believers in their administrative function look to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh for their guidance, having faith that the application of His universal principles is the source of order throughout the community.
Every Bahá'í administrative body feels itself a trustee, and in this capacity stands above the plane of dissension and is free of that pressure exerted by factional groups.
The local community on April 21 of each year elects by universal adult suffrage an administrative body of nine members called the Spiritual Assembly.
This body, with reference to all Bahá'í matters, has sole power of decision.
It represents the collective conscience of the community with respect to Bahá'í activities. Its capacity and power are supreme within certain definite limitations.
The various local communities unite, through delegates elected annually according to the principle of proportionate representation, in the formation of a National Spiritual Assembly for their country or natural geographical area. This National Spiritual Assembly, likewise composed of nine members, administers all national Bahá'í affairs and may assume jurisdiction of any local matter felt to be of more than local importance. Spiritual Assemblies, local and national, combine an executive, a legislative and a judicial function, all within the limits set by the Bahá'í teachings.
They have no resemblance to religious bodies which can adopt articles of faith and regulate the processes of belief and worship.
They are primarily responsible for the maintenance of unity within the Bahá'í community and for the release of its collective power in service to the Cause. Membership in the
Page 7Bahá'í community is granted, on personal declaration of faith, to adults.
Nine National SpiritualAssemblies have come into existence since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í in 1921.
Each National SpiritualAssembly will, in future, constitute an electoral body in the formation of an International Spiritual Assembly, a consummation which will perfect the administrative order of the Faith and create, for the first time in history, an international tribunal representing a worldwide community united in a single Faith.
Bahá'ís maintain their contact with the source of inspiration and knowledge in the sacred writings of the Faith by continuous prayer, study and discussion.
No believer can ever have a finished, static faith any more than he can arrive at the end of his capacity for being. The community has but one meeting ordained in the teachings � the general meeting held every nineteen days, on the first day of each month of nineteen days given in the new calendar established by the BTh.
This Nineteen Day Feastis conducted simply and informally under a program divided into three parts. The first part consists in the reading of passages from writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the BTh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá � a devotional meeting. Next follows general discussion of Bahá'í activities � the business meeting of the local community. After the consultation, the community breaks bread together and enjoys fellowship.
The experience which Bahá'ís receive through participation in their spiritual world order is unique and cannot be paralleled in any other society. Their status of perfect equality as voting members of a constitutional body called upon to deal with matters which reflect, even though in miniature, the whole gamut of human problems and activities; their intense realization of kinship with believers representing so wide a diversity of races, classes and creeds; their assurance that this unity is based upon the highest spiritual sanction and contributes a necessary ethical quality to the world in this age � all these opportunities for deeper and broader experience confer a privilege that is felt to be the fulfillment of life.
Page 8Twilight view of the grave of Bahá'í KMnum on Mount Carmel.
Page 9er11 man is left in his natural state, he will hecoine lower than the animal and continue to grow more ignorant and imperfect. The savage tribes of Central Africa are evidence of this.
Left in their natural condition, they have sunk to the lowest depths and degrees of barbarism, dimly groping in a world of mental and moral obscurity. Cod has purposed that the darkness of the world of nature shall be dispelled and the ins perfect attributes of the natal self be effaced in the effulgent reflection of the Sun of Truth." � 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ.
The complete text of the Bahá'í sacred writings has not yet been translated into English, but the present generation of believers have the supreme privilege of possessing the fundamental teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, together with the interpretation and lucid commentary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and more recently the exposition made by Shoghi Effendi of the teachings concerning the world order which Bahá'u'lláh caine to establish. Of special significance to Bahá'ís of Europe and America is the fact that, unlike Christianity, the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh rests upon the Prophet's own words and not upon a necessarily incomplete rendering of oral tradition.
Furthermore, the commentary and explanation of the Bahá'í gospel made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá preserves the spirtual integrity and essential aim of the revealed text, with-our the inevitable alloy of human personality which historically served to corrupt the gospel of
Jesus and Muhammad. TheBaha'i, moreover, has this distinctive advantage, that his approach to the teachings is personal and direct, without the veils interposed by any human intermediary.
The works which suppiy the Bahá'í teachings to English-reading believers are: CtThe KitTh-i-fq~in" (Book of Certitude), in which Bahá'u'lláh revealed the oneness of the Prophets and the identical foundation of all true religions, the law of cycles according to which the Prophet returns at intervals of approximately one thousand years, and the nature of faith; CCHidden Words," the essence of truths revealed by Prophets in the past; prayers to quicken the soul's life and draw individuals and groups nearer to God; ccTablets of Bahá'u'lláh" (Tardz6x, The Tablet of the World, Ka1im~r, Tajalli-yAt, Baha'i, Ishriq~t), which establish social and spiritual principles for the new era; ccTlre
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh"(Tablet of the Branch, Kitáb-i-'Ahd, Lawh-i-Aqdas), the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the Interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, theTesta-meat of Bahá'u'lláh, and His message to the Christians; (cEpistle to the Son of the 'Wolf," addressed to the son of a prominent tr~nian who had been a most ruthless oppressor of the believers, a Tablet which recapitulates many teachings Bahá'u'lláh had revealed in earlier works; "Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh."
The significant Tabletsaddressed to rulers of Europe and the Orient, as well as to the heads of American Republics, about the year 1870, summoning them to undertake measures for the establishment of Universal Peace, constitute a chapter in the compilation entitled CcBahi~i Scriptures."
The largest and most authentic body of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings in the English language consists of the excerpts chosen and translated by Shoghi Effendi, and published under the title of ccGleanings from the
Writings of Bahá'u'lláh."This work has replaced CC~~~~j'j Scriptures" as source of study and meditation, for the volume includes the Author's words on a great variety of subjects and has the unique value of the English rendering made by the Guardian of the Faith.
In "Prayers and Meditationsby Bahá'u'lláh," Shoghi Effendi has similarly given to the Bahá'í Community in recent years a wider selection and a superb rendering of devotional passages revealed by
Bahá'u'lláh.The published writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are: ccSome Answered Questions," dealing with the lives of the Prophets, the interpretation of Bible prophecies, the nature of man, the true principle of evolution and other philosophic subjects; "Mysterious Forces of Civilization," a work addressed to the people of lr~n about forty years ago to show them the way to sound progress and true civilization; !tTablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá," three volumes of excerpts from letters writ
Page 10ten to individual believers and Bahá'í communities, which illumine a vast range of subjects; cepromulgation of Universal Peace," in two volumes, from stenographic records of the public addresses delivered by the Master to audiences in Canada and the United States during the year 1912; "The Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá," a similar record of His addresses in Paris; 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London"; and reprints of a number of individual Tablets, especially that sent to the Committee for a Durable Peace, The Hague, Holland, in 1919, and the Tablet addressed to the late Dr. Ford of
Switzerland. The Willand Testament left by 'Abdu'l-Bahá has special significance, in that it provided for the future development of Bahá'í administrative institutions and the
Guardianship.To these writings is now to be added the book entitled ccBahA~i Administration," consisting of the general letters written by Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Cause since the Master's death in 1921, which explain the details of the administrative order of the Cause, and his letters on World Order, which make clear the social principles imbedcled in
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.These latter letters were in 1938 pub-fished in a volume entitled "The
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh."Here the Guardian defines the relation of the Faith to the current social crisis, and sums up the fundamental tenets of the Bahá'í Faith. It is a work which gives to each believer access to a clear insight on the significance of the present era, and the outcome of its international perturbations, incomparably more revealing and at the same time more assuring than the works of students and statesmen in our times.
The literature has also been enriched by Shoghi Effendi's recent translation of ttT& Dawn-Breakers," Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation, a vivid eyewitness account of the episodes which resulted from the announcement of the B~b on May 23,
1844. "The Traveller'sNarrative," translated from a manuscript given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the late Prof. Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, is the only other historical record considered authentic from the Bahá'í point of view.
When it is borne in mind that the term ccreIigious literature" has come to represent a wide diversity of subject matter, ranging from cosmic philosophy to the psychology of personal experience, from efforts to understand the universe plumbed by telescope and microscope to efforts to discipline the passions and desires of disordered human hearts, it is clear that any attempt to summarize the Bahá'í teachings would indicate the limitations of the person making the summary rather than offer possession of a body of sacred literature touching the needs of man and society at every point. The study of Bahá'í writings does not lead to any simplified program either for the soiu-tion of social problems or for the development of human personality. Rather should it be likened to a clear light which illumines whatever is brought under its rays, or to spiritual nourishment which gives life to the spirit. The believer at first chiefly notes the passages which seem to confirm his own personal beliefs or treat of subjects close to his own previous training.
This natural but nevertheless unjustifiable over � simplification of the nature of the Faith must gradually subside and give way to a deeper realization that the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are as an ocean, and all personal capacity is but the vessel that must be refilled again and again. The sum and substance of the faith of Bahá'ís is not a doctrine, not an organization, but their acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh as Manifestation of God. In this acceptance lies the mystery of a unity that is general, not particular, inclusive, not exclusive, and limited in its gradual extension by no boundaries drawn in the social world nor arbitrary limitations accepted by habits formed during generations lacking a true spiritual culture.
What the believer learns reverently to be grateful for is a source of wisdom to which he may turn for continuous mental and moral development � a source of truth revealing a universe in which man's life has valid purpose and assured realization.
Human history begins to reflect the working of a beneficent Providence; the sharp outlines of material sciences gradually fade out in the light of one fundamental science of life; a profounder sociology, connected with the inner life, little by little displaces the super
Page 11ficial economic and political beliefs which like waves dash high an instant only to subside into the moveless volume of the sea.
"The divine reality," 'Abdu'l-Bahá has said, ~ unthinkable, limitless, eternal, irn � mortal and invisible. The world of creation is bound by natural law, finite and mortal. The infinite reality cannot be said to ascend or descend. It is beyond the understanding of men, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world. Man, then, is in extreme need of the oniy power by which he is able to receive help from the divine reality, that power alone bringing him into contact with the source of all life.
"An intermediary is needed to bring two extremes into relation with each other. Riches and poverty, plenty and need: without an intermediary there could be no relation between these pairs of opposites. So we can say that there must be a Mediator between God and man, and this is none other than the Holy Spirit, which brings the created earth into relation with the tUnthink-able One,' the Divine reality. The Divine reality may be likened to the sun and the Holy Spirit to the rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all created things, so do the Manifestations bring the power of the Holy Spirit from the Divine Sun of Reality to give light and life to the souls of men."
In expounding the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh to public audiences in the West, 'Abdu'l-Bahá frequently encountered the attitude that, while the liberal religionist might well welcome and endorse such tenets, the Baha teachings after all bring nothing new, since the principles of Christianity contain all the essentials of spiritual truth. The believer whose heart has been touched by the Faith so perfectly exemplified by 'Abdu'l-Bahá feels no desire for controversy, but must needs point out the vital difference between a living faith and a passive f or-mula or doctrine.
What religion in its renewal brings is first of all an energy to translate belief into life. This impulse, received into the profoundest depths of consciousness, requires no startling ccnewness~~ of concept or theory to be appreciated as a gift from the divine world.
It carries its own assurance as a renewal of life itself; it is as a candle that has been lighted, and in comparison with the miracle of light the discussion of religion as a form of belief becomes secondary in importance. Were the Bahá'í Faith no more than a true revitalization of the revealed truths of former religions, it would by that quickening quality of inner life, that returning to God, still assert itself as the supreme fact of human experience in this age.
For religion returns to earth in order to reestablish a standard of spiritual reality. It restores the quality of human existence, its active powers, when that reality has become overlaid with sterile rites and dogmas which substitute empty shadow for substance.
In the person of the Manifestation it destroys all those imitations of religion gradually developed through the centuries and summons humanity to the path of sacrifice and devotion.
Revelation, moreover, is progressive as well as periodic. Christianity in its original essence not oniy relighted the candle of faith which, in the years since Moses, had become extinguished � it amplified the teachings of Moses with a new dimension which history has seen exemplified in the spread of faith from tribe to nations and peoples. Bahá'u'lláh has given religion its world dimension, fulfilling the fundamental purpose of every previous Revelation.
His Faith stands at the reality within Christianity, within Muhammadanism, within the religion of Moses, the spirit of each, but expressed in teachings which relate to all mankind.
The Bahá'í Faith, viewed from within, is religion extended from the individual to embrace humanity. It is religion universalized; its teaching for the individual, spiritually identical with the teaching of Christ, supplies the individual with an ethics, a sociology, an ideal of social order, for which humanity in its earlier stages of development was not prepared. Individual fulfillment has been given an objective social standard of reality, balancing the subjective ideal derived from religion in the past.
Bahá'u'lláh has removed the false distinctions between the "spiritual" and "material" aspects of life, due to which religion has become sepa
Page 12rate from science, and morality has been divorced from all social activities.
The whole arena of human affairs has been brought within the realm of spiritual truth, in the light of the teaching that materialism is not a thing but a motive within the human heart.
The Bahá'í learns to perceive the universe as a divine creation in which man has his destiny to fulfill under a beneficent Providence whose aims for humanity are made known through Prophets who stand between man and the Creator. He learns his true relation to the degrees and orders of the visible universe; his true relation to God, to himself, to his fellow man, to mankind.
The more he studies the Bahá'í teachings, the more he becomes imbued with the spirit of unity, the more vividly he perceives the law of unity working in the world today, indirectly manifest in the failure which has overtaken all efforts to organize the principle of separation and competition, directly manifest in the power which has brought together the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in East and 'West. He has the assurance that the world's turmoil conceals from worldly minds the blessings long foretold, now forgotten, in the sayings which prophesied the coming of the Kingdom of God.
The Sacred Literatureof the Bahá'í Faith conveys enlightenment. It inspires life, It frees the mind.
It disciplines the heart.For believers, the Word is not a philosophy to be learned, but the sustenance of being throughout the span of mortal existence.
"The Bahá'í Faith," ShoghiEffendi stated in a recent letter addressed to a public official, ccrecognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society.
It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
Those who, even courteously, would dismiss a Faith so firmly based, will have to admit that, whether or not by their test the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh are crnew~~ the world's present plight is unprecedented, came without warning save in the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and day by day draws nearer a climax which strikes terror to the responsible student of current affairs.
Humanity itself now seems to share the prison and exile which an unbelieving generation inflicted upon the Glory of God.
Page 13s. A BACKGROUND OF HEROIC SACRIFICE CrQ My belozied friends! You arc the bearers of the name of God in this Day. You have been chosen as the repositories of His mystery. It behooves each one of you to manifest the attribut&s of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, , His power and glory. Ponder the words of Jesus addressed to His disciples, as He sent then; forth to propagate the Cause of God." � THE RiB.
The words of Bahá'u'lláh differ in the minds of believers from the words of philosophers because they have been given substance in the experience of life itself. The history of the Faith stands ever as a guide and commentary upon the meaning and influence of the written text.
This history, unfolded contemporaneously with the rise of science and technology in the West, reasserts the providential element of human existence as it was reasserted by the spiritual consecration and personal suffering of the prophets and disciples of former times.
The world of Islim one hundred years ago lay in a darkness corresponding to the most degraded epoch of Europe's feudal age.
Between the tipper and nether millstones of an absolutist state and a materialistic church, the people of Pin were ground to a condition of extreme poverty and ignorance.
The pomp of the civil and religious courts glittered above the general ruin like firedamp on a rotten log.
In that world, however, a few devoted souL stood firm in their conviction that the religion of Muhammad was to be purified by the rise of a spiritual hero whose coming was assured in their interpretation of His gospel.
This remnant of the faithful one by one became conscious that in 'Au-Muhammad, since known to history as the Bib (the c!Gate~~) their hopes had been realized, and under the Bib's inspiration scattered themselves as His apostles to arouse the people and prepare them for the restoration of IslAm to its original integrity. Against the Báb and His followers the whole force of church and state combined to extinguish a fiery zeal which soon threatened to bring their structure of power to the ground.
The ministry of the BAt covered oniy the six years between 1844 and His martyrdom by a military firing squad in the public square at Tabriz on July 9, 1850.
In the Bib's own written message He interpreted His mission to be the fulfillment of past religions and the heralding of a world educator and unifier, one who was to come to establish a new cycle.
Most of the Báb's chosen disciples, and many thousands of followers, were publicly martyred in towns and villages throughout the country in those years. The seed, however, had been buried too deep in hearts to be extirpated by any physical instrument of oppression.
After the BTh's martyrdom, the weight of official wrath fell upon Flusayn-'Ali, around whom the Báb's centered their hopes. Husayn-'Ali was imprisoned in Tihrin, exiled to Baghdid, from Bagkd~d sent to Constantinople under the jurisdiction of the Suit in, exiled by the Turkish government to Adrianople, and at length imprisoned in the desolate barracks at 'Akka.
In 1863, while delayed outside of Bagh-d~d for the preparation of the caravan to be dispatched to Constantinople, Husayn-'Au established His Cause among the Báb's who insisted upon sharing His exile.
His declaration was the origin of the Bahá'í Faith in which the BAt's Cause was fulfilled. The Báb's who accepted Husayn-'Au as Bahá'u'lláh (the Glory of God) were fully conscious that His mission was not a development of the Báb movement but a new Cause for which the BTh had sacrificed His life as the first of those who recognized the Manifestation or Prophet of the new age.
During forty years of exile and imprisonment, Bahá'u'lláh expounded a gospd which interpreted the spiritual meaning of ancient scriptures, renewed the reality of faith in God and established as the foundation of human society the principle of the oneness of mankind.
This gospel came into being in the form of letters addressed to individual believers and to groups in response to questions, in books of religious laws and princi
Page 14pies, and in communications transmitted to the kings and rulers calling upon them to establish universal peace.
This sacred literature has an authoritative commentary and interpretation in the text of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í writings during the years between Bahá'u'lláh's ascension in 1892 and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í departure in 1921, Bahá'u'lláh having left a testament naming 'Abdu'l-Bahá (His eldest son) as the Interpreter of His Book and the Center of His Covenant.
The imprisonment of the Bahá'í community at 'AklA ended at last in 1908, when the Young Turks party overthrew the existing political r6ginie.
For three years prior to the European War, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, then nearly seventy years of age, journeyed throughout Europe and America, and broadcast in public addresses and innumerable intimate gatherings the new spirit of brotherhood and world unity penetrating His very being as the consecrated
Servant of Bah4. Thesignificance of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í commentary and explana-don is that it makes mental and moral connection with the thoughts and social conditions of both East and West. Dealing with matters of religious, philosophical, ethical and sociological nature, 'Abdu'l-Bahá expounded all questions in the light of His conviction of the oneness of God and the providential character of human life in this age.
The international Bahá'ícommunity, grief-stricken and appalled by its loss of the wise and loving "Master" in 1921, learned with profound gratitude that 'Abdu'l-Bahá in a will and testament had provided for the continuance and future development of the Faith. This testament made clear the nature of the Spiritual Assemblies established in the text of Bahá'u'lláh and inaugurated a new center for the widespread community of believers in the appointment of His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Baha Faith.
During the seventeen years of general confusion since 1921, the Bahá'í commxrnity has carried forward the work of internal consolidation and administrative order and has become conscious of its collective responsibility for the promotion of the blessed gospel of Bahá'u'lláh. In addition to the task of establishing the structure of local and national Spiritual Assemblies, the believers have translated Bahá'í literature into many languages, have sent teachers to all parts of the world, and have resumed construction of the Bahá'í House of Worship on the shore of Lake Michigan, near Chicago, the completion of which will be impressive evidence of the power of this new Faith.
In the general letters issued to the Bahá'í community by Shoghi Effendi in order to execute the provisions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í testament, believers have been given what they are confident is the most profound and accurate analysis of the prevailing social disorder and its true remedy in the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
Page 15THE period from April, 1938, to April, 1940, represented in the present volume, brought humanity to that stage in the destruction of a long historic cycle when inner incompatibility, prejudice, fear and ambition seize upon the instruments of civilization and employ the terms of political and economic policy in order to render to violence its supreme expression. The trend became fixed and irrevocable. Failing to yield itself to the divine Will, human will became victim to that frenzy which is the more sinister because it is no longer primitive excitement but the crystallization of implacable formulas of collective power. The individual consciousness is not scaled to such vast areas of experience.
Spiritually little men raise up artificial formulas to serve as substitutes for the essential truths uttered by the Prophet as He walks among men.
The condition was defined by these words in a cablegram from the Guardian of the Cause received in
America August 30, 1939:ctShades (of) night, descending (upon) imperilled humanity, inexorably deepening." Dark, encircling night, witnessing the setting of all the illumined heavenly bodies which had brought light to mankind in the past, hopeless of any new dawn, the state in which man learns that he must confront his own ignorance and his own evil!
What more can the civilized man do for himself and for others when the ends, the issues and the plans of existence have been seized from his grasp by Caesar and his legions? What more can the loyal follower of a sectarian creed accomplish for himself, his church or his neighbors when the ancestral world which the creed might have fitted is utterly abandoned, an empty house fallen to decay? How long can the stronger, cleverer few hope to fish in troubled waters when the hurricane engulfs even the dry land and dashes ships of steel against houses of stone?
"(The) long-predicted world-encircling conflagation, essential prerequisite (to) world unification, (is) inetorably moving to its appointed climax," the Guardian cabled a few months later, in 1940.
Immersed in such a vast movement of destiny, knowing that in this crisis there is no escape by migration, discovery, even by conquest and seizure, the Bahá'í at moments turns back to significant pictures by which human feeling attempts to grasp the meaning of times, peoples and civilizations. One of these pictures reveals the image of an inhuman god, enthroned by a powerful priesthood high above the people, his belly a smoking fire, his worship the sacrifice of children torn from their mothers' arms.
Another uncovers the rising waters of the great flood, inch by inch submerging every safety and every stronghold which mankind has built for protection against its foes. One sees, finally, the Figure of the Holy One walking on earth, asserting truth and love against every human argument and condition, the miracle of history, shepherding the lowly and sincere into His Kingdom, judging and condemning the cruel, the truthiess, the deniers.
Never in all recorded time has a destined destruction of civilization been stayed by any of the institutions, secular or religious, through which the civilization has developed to the degree of external glory and inner decay. All that has fed upon the civilization 15
Page 16LENT DY THE SPIRiTUAL ASSEMBLY oF THE DAE-IAIS OF SAN FRANCISCO
16 THE BAHÁ'Í WORLDDescriptive Card for Bahá'í Exhibit Prepared by Directors of Temple of Religion.
Page 17and exploited the weakness of its peoples, all that has attained influence and power for its own ends, all that depends directly or indirectly upon its injustice, goes down with the collapse of the civilization as parasites go down with the dying tree. For wars and revolutions to come, there must be a succession of awful prior defeats in the world of the soui.
There must be abdications of truth and righteousness, there must be prostitutions of public privilege and power, there must be accommodations entered into with despoilers of the people. One by one the mighty walls raised by the people of faith must be undermined by creed, ceremony and policy before the hosts of the destroyers can enter the city gates.
The work of evil goes on unchecked and unnoticed when leaders are busy in disputes concerning the priorities of institutional religion. At last the process culminates in necessity to uphold immoral public policy in the guise of programs for crisis. At last, having abandoned voluntary effort to remain true to the Faith of God, it becomes imperative for the multitudes to perform what their faith had originally condemned. Definitions of necessity are a last vain effort of man to remain rational when he has betrayed the true aim and function of reason.
No concentration of social force nor combination of moribund institutions can restore the youthful vigor and integrity that have been lost. The spirit creates the social institutions needed for accomplishing tasks concerned with the development of one historic era.
When the tool has done its work, and different instruments are needed, the institutions are destroyed by that same spirit, which then is engaged in creating new and more effective tools. But faith is the capacity to live positively in and through conditions which to the denier seem to be utterly irreconcilable and mutually exclusive, The beginnings and the ends of all things on earth are matters of faith.
The tenderest love which the Prophet can convey, and the violence of war itself, can to the man of faith be one and the same mystery.
The outcome of the trend when the power of destruction is manifest discloses the true nature of the prevalent human qualities and attitudes. Destruction is never merely the expression of one evil party in relation to another innocent party, for the outcome rests upon prior indifference and non-action as much as upon explosive ambition. The passive unwillingness of a great body of cui-tured, humane and civilized people in many countries to exert themselves sufficiently to establish either justice for their own poor or collective security for all nations, weak or powerful, provided the opportunity for the active forces to work. Those who build an anvil may deny having built the hammer, but in action the anvil and the hammer are one instrument and one function.
That is why, in a time like the present, there can be so much apparent good and so much innocence, such wonderful virtues and such heroic suffering.
Praiseworthy in relation to ethical standards of the past, they nevertheless did not suffice to stay the hand of the great destroyers.
The eventual outcome of events is their condemnation.
But destruction itself is part of that larger order whose dynamic form is growth. The Bahá'ís find in their Faith complete assurance that this outer darkness will end and the light of spiritual knowledge cover the earth. By the elimination of the social patterns, which have become agencies of destruction, and the refutation of the human loyalties which serve to organize and perpetuate prejudice of race, creed, class and nation, the creative spirit sent down through Bahá'u'lláh will gradually disclose its own world pattern and establish it with the authority of truth and discipline in the hearts of men.
Thus these passing years have to the Bahá'í revealed as never before the constructive nature of the new Dispensation.
In his soul and in his religious community he can perceive reflections of world order and justice the essence of which shines brilliantly from the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh above the clouds of war.
The problem of reconciling his relations to the two worlds of past and future the Bahá'í has been able to solve by applying the instruction cabled by the Guardian on September 24, 1938: "Lit (to the) world order (of) Bahá'u'lláh, (the) security (of) its basic institutions, both imperatively demand (that)
Page 18all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion builders (on the) American continent, in these days when sinister, uncontrollable forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds, (and) classes, resolve, despite (the) pressure (of a) fast crystallizing public opinion, (to) abstain, individually (and) collectively, in word (and) action, informally as well as in all official utterances (and) publications, from assigning blame, (or) taking sides, however indirectly, in (the) recurring political crises now agitating (and) ultimately engulfing human society."
And, a few months prior to the outbreak of hostilities, to prepare the believers for the future ordeal: "Fresh, ominous rumblings demonstrate (the) inevitability (and) foreshadow (the) approach (of the) final eruption involving (the) dissolution (of a) lamentably defective international order."
The mission of the Bahá'ís at this crucial time was emphasized again by the Guardian in his letter addressed to the American
National Spiritual Assemblyon May 22, 1939: "The Edifice of this New World Order, which the Bib has heralded, which the mind of Bahá'u'lláh has envisioned, and whose features 'Abdu'l-Bahá, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities or position, are now, at so precarious a period in the world history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the 'Western Hemisphere is, through the nature of its corporate life and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the laying of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure. The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers ascend on its behalf. Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power. I, for my part, am determined to reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.
"Far be it from me to underrate the gi gantic proportions of their task, nor do I for one moment overlook the urgency and gravity of the times in which they are laboring. Nor do I wish to minimize the hazards and trials that surround or lie ahead of them. The grandeur of their task is indeed commensurate with the mortal perils by which their generation is hemmed in. As the dusk creeps over a steadily sinking society the radiant outlines of their redemptive mission become sharper every day. The present world unrest, symptom of a worldwide malady, their world religion has already affirmed, must needs culminate in that world catastrophe out of which the consciousness of world citizenship will be born, a consciousness that can alone provide an adequate basis for the organization of world unity, on which a lasting world peace must necessarily depend, the peace itself inaugurating in turn that world civilization which will mark the coming of age of the entire human race.
By such words has the Guardian of a spiritual world community made it evident that capacity for collective action and initiative has for a time been centered in North America, whose believers are, until the present trend has been fulfilled, to feel themselves as trustees for their fellow-workers in other lands, endeavoring, by the reinforcement of this sacred mission, to serve them and to represent them as though the outer association continued to be as close and complete as the association of their spirits.
BLESSED REMAINS OF PURESTIn the development of the Bahá'í world community, the source of spiritual power and guidance, as well as the central institutions, is established at Mount Carmel, Palestine. There beats the heart of the Faith, there is concentrated its mind and there operates its will. 'Whatever makes for the evolution of its World Center becomes an influence felt throughout the Faith. The period under survey has been blessed by a great and mysterious event, the transfer of the remains of the two holy beings, the brother and mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, to the hallowed precincts of the Shrines on Mount
Page 19Carmel. On Christmas eve, 1939, as the Bahá'ís were informed by the Guardian in a cabled message, the beloved remains were laid in state in the Mb's Tomb, and on the following day a profoundly moving ceremony was carried out in the presence of believers come from centers of the Near East, when the remains were reinterred near the resting place of the revered Bahá'í KhAnum, the Greatest Holy Leaf.
Thus was consummated the reuniting at the focal center of Bahá'í institutions, of the earthly remains of the three figures who, in the Guardian's words, (ctower above the entire concourse of the faithful."
ttThe transfer of the sacred remains," he further stated, "constitute, apart from their historic associations and the tender sentiments they arouse, events of such capital institutional significance as only future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can adequately demonstrate.~~ Bitter and determined efforts had been made by enemies within the family of Bahá'u'lláh, those members who had violated the Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, 'Abdu'1 � Baha, to prevent the moving of the remains from their original grave.
ttThe circumstances attending the consummation of this long, this profoundly cherished hope were no less significant," the Guardian explained in a detailed letter dated December 21, 1939. "The swiftness and suddenness with which so delicate and weighty an undertaking was conducted; the surmounting of various obstacles which the outbreak of war and its inevitable repercussions necessarily engendered; the success of the long-drawn out negotiations which the solution of certain preliminary problems imposed; the execution of the plan in the face of the continued instability and persistent dangers following the fierce riots that so long and so violently rocked the Holy Land and despite the smouldering fire of animosity kindled in the breasts of ecciesiastics and Covenant-breakers alike � all combined to demonstrate, afresh and with compelling power, the invincible might of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh."
For the American believers, and no doubt for those in other countries as well, these events served to deepen their understanding of certain mysteries attending the coming of the Manifestation to earth. These high matters were unfolded in the letter from Shoghi Effendi already cited. "For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the restingplace of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot which, under the wings of the Bib's overshadowing Sepulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, which will be reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal center of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-directing administrative institutions, ordained by Bahá'u'lláh and anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and which are to function in consonance with the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice." "the association of these three incomparably precious souls in such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative Center is in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land which, geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, of some of the brightest gems of that World Order now shaping in the womb of this travailing age."
Concerning the loftiness of the beings whose spiritual capacity can release such forces, we have these excerpts from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
"Happy art thou in that thou hast been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament, until thou didst sacrifice thyself before the face of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Unconstrained. Thou, in truth, hast been wronged, and to this testifieth the Beauty of Him, the
Self-Subsisting. Thoudidst, in the first days of thy life, bear that which caused all things to groan, and made every pillar to tremble. Happy is the one that remembereth thee, and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Creator of the Morn.
I have, 0 my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united."
In such words Bahá'u'lláh wrote testimony to the Purest Branch, His son, who sacrificed his life that the Baha'is, separated
Page 20Section of the ornamentation of the Bahá'í Temple in Wilmette, Ill., presented by the American Bahá'ís to be placed in the gardens surrounding the tomb of the BTh on Mt. Carmel.
Page 21from Bahá'u'lláh, might have access to Him in the Prison at 'Akka.
Of the mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His own wife, the Most Exalted Leaf, Bahá'u'lláh wrote: ccTho art the one whom God created to arise and serve His own Self, and the Manifestation of His Cause, and the DaySpring of His Revelation, and the Dawning-Place of His signs, and the Source of His commandments; and who so aided thee that thou didst turn with thy whole being unto Him, at a time when His servants and handmaidens had turned away from His Face...."" 0 NavyTh! 0 Leaf that hath sprung from My Tree, and been My corn-panion!
My glory be upon thee, and My lovingkindness, and My mercy that hath surpassed all beings.
'Abdu'l-Bahá added these words: CCAS to thy question concerning the 34th chapter of Isaiah. This chapter refers to the Most Exalted Leaf, the mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
As a proof of this it is said: tFor more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife.' Reflect upon this statement, and then upon the following: CAd thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.' And truly the humiliation and reproach which she suffered in the path of God is a fact which no one can refute.
For the calamities and afflictions mentioned in the whole chapter are such afflictions which she suffered in the path of God, all of which she endured with patience and thanked God therefor and praised Him, because He had enabled her to endure afflictions for the sake of Bah~."
THE PASSING OFDuring the annual Convention of 1938, on April 30, the American Bahá'ís received this message from the Guardian:
CCHOLY Mother, MunirihKMnum, ascended (to) AbM Kingdom. With sorrowful hearts (the) Bahá'ís (the) world over recall divers phases (of) her rich, eventful life marked by unique services which by virtue (of) her exalted position she rendered during (the) darkest days (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í life."
In reverent honor to this noble spirit, the Bahá'ís devoted a session of the Convention to a special gathering in the auditorium of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar devoted to medita-don and prayer.
They were conscious that a link with the Apostolic days of their Faith had broken, a generation of mighty believers in her had passed away, and that it is now for those serving in the days of the first Guardianship to labor in deeper consecration because such souis as this have lived and marked the path of sacrifice, of devotion and of fidelity for those who have come after them.
Munirih Kknum was given burial tinder the shadow of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf.
In Memories of My Life, published fifteen years ago, the believers have her own exquisite story of her unique experiences.
PROGRESS OF THE TEACHINGUpon the believers of North America destiny has laid a special task and to them entrusted a special mission during these years of international turmoil when religious groups in so many countries are denied freedom of action.
This mission has been strongly emphasized and precisely defined by the Guardian of the Faith in successive letters and cablegrams since 1936. Sot-ne of those references written during the period devoted to THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, VII are repeated here in order to give more complete development to this crucial subject.
(The) Dawn-Breakers (in) previous age have on Persian soil signalized by their acts (the) birth (of the)
Faith (of) Bahá'u'lláh.Might not American believers, their spiritual descendants, prove themselves in turn capable (of) ushering in on world scale the civilization of which that Faith is (the) direct source and sole begetter." � � October 29, 1936.
"The promulgation of the Divine Plan, unveiled by our departed Master in the darkest days of one of the severest ordeals which humanity has ever experienced, is the key which Providence has placed in the hands of the American believers whereby to unlock the doors leading them to fulfil thoir unimaginably glorious Destiny. As the proclamation of the Message reverberates throughout the land, as its resistless march gathers momentum, as the field of its operation
Page 22widens, and the numbers of its upholders and champions multiply, its potentialities will correspondingly unfold, exerting a most beneficent influence not oniy on every community throughout the Bahá'í world, but on the immediate fortunes of a travailing society." � November 14, 1936.
"Dual gift Providentiallyconferred (upon) American Bahá'í community invests recipients with dual responsibility fulfil historic mission. First, prosecute uninterruptedly teaching campaign inaugurated (at) last Convention in accordance (with) Divine Plan.
Second, resume with inflexible determination exterior ornamentation (of) entire structure (of) Temple. Advise ponder message conveyed (to) delegates (through) esteemed coworker, Fred Schopflocher.
No triumph can more befittingly signalize termination (of) first century (of) Bahá'í era than accomplishment (of) this twofold task." � May 1, 1937.
etBiest and honored as none among its sister communities has been in recent years, preserved through the inscrutable dispensations of Divine Providence for a destiny which no mind can yet imagine, such a community cannot for a moment afford to be content with or rest on the laurels it has so deservedly won. It must go on, continually go on, exploring fresh fields, scaling nobler heights, laying firmer foundations, shedding added splendor and achieving added renown in the service and for the glory of the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.The seven year plan which it has sponsored and with which its destiny is so closely interwoven, must at all costs be prosecuted wiith increasing force and added consecration. All should arise and participate." � November 25, 1937.
"The outposts of a Faith, already persecuted in both Europe and Asia, are in the American continent steadily advancing, the visible symbols of its undoubted sovereignty are receiving fresh luster every day and its manifold institutions are driving their Toots deeper and deeper into its soil.
"For no less than six consecutive years this twofold and stupendous enterprise, which has been set in operation, must, if the American believers are to prove themselves worthy of their high calling, be wisely conducted, continually reinforced and energeti caHy prosecuted to its very end. Severe and unprecedented as may be the internal tests and ordeals which the members of this Community may yet experience, however tragic and momentous the external happenings which might well disrupt the fabric of the society in which they live, they must not throughout these six remaining years, allow themselves to be deflected from the course they are now steadily pursuing.
Nay, rather, as the impelling forces which have set in motion this mighty undertaking acquire added momentum and its potentialities are more fully manifested, they who are responsible for its success must as time goes on evince a more burning enthusiasm, demonstrate a higher sense of solidarity, reveal greater depths of consecration to their task, and display a more unyielding determination to achieve its purpose.
Then, and oniy then, will the pleas, the hopes and wishes of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, eternally enshrined in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, be worthily acknowledged and fulfilled. crLet your exertions, henceforth, increase a thousandfold" is the earnest appeal voiced by Him in those Tablets.
Crsummon the people," He exhorts them, er~~ these countries, capitals, islands, assemblies and churches, to enter the Abhd Kingdom. The scofte of yoitr exertions must needs be extended. The wider its range the more striking will be the evidences of Divine assistance."
Cf The moment," He solemnly affirms,is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia this corn-nn.rnity will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion. ...
Then will the whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness." The Seven Year Plan, to which every American believer is fully and irrevocably pledged, during the closing years of the First Century of the Bahá'í Era, is in itself but an initial stage in the unfoldment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í vision of America's spiritual destiny � a destiny which oniy those who will have successfully accomplished this preliminary task can enable the rising generation who will labor after them to fulfil in the course of the succeeding century." � April 14, 1938.
Page 23"The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this worldwide community and torchbearers of an as yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service.
Their Plan has been formulated.They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abbas Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps and reinforce their power.
Through their initial victories they have provided the impulse that must now surge and, with relentless force sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the entire human race. The generality of mankind, blind and enslaved, is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community has been endowed, nor can it as yet suspect the role which this same community is destined to play in its redemption." � July 5, 1938.
CcTh marked deterioration in world affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed peoples and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven-year Plan, now operating in both the northern and southern American continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated. Conceived as the supreme agency for the establishment, in the opening century of the Bahá'í Era, of what is but the initial stage in the progressive realization of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Plan for the American believers, this enterprise, as it extends its ramifications throughout the entire New World, is demonstrating its power to command all the resources and utilize all the facilities which the machinery of a labori-ousiy evolved Administrative Order can place at its disposal. However we view its aspects, it offers in its functioning a sharp contrast to the workings of the moribund and obsolescent institutions to which a perverse generation is desperately clinging. Tempestuous are the winds that buffet and will, as the days go by, fiercely assail the very structure of the Order through the agency of which this twofold task is being performed.
The potentialities with which an almighty Providence has endowed it will no doubt enable its promoters to achieve their purpose.
Much, however, will depend upon the spirit and manner in which that task will be conducted. Through the clearness and steadiness of their vision, through the unvitiated vitality of their belief, through the incorruptibility of their character, through the adamantine force of their resolve, the matchless superiority of their aims and purpose, and the unsurpassed range of their accomplishments, they who labor for the glory of the Most Great Name throughout both Americas can best demonstrate to the visionless, faithless and restless society to which they belong their power to proffer a haven of refuge to its members in the hour of their realized doom. Then and oniy then will this tender sapling, embedded in the fertile soil of a Divinely appointed Administrative Order, and energized by the dynamic processes of its institutions, yield its richest and destined fruit." � September 10, 1938.
"Recent swift progress (of) Temple ornamentation prompts me entreat American Community (to) focus immediate attention (and) center energies (upon) corresponding acceleration (in the) Teaching enterprise formulated (in) Seven Year Plan.
Final phase (in) construction (of) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar already entered. Initial stage (in the) inaugurated Teaching Campaign still untraversed.
End (of) First Centuryrapidly approaching. Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont,
West Virginia, Manitoba(and) Nova Scotia still unsettled. Universal, prolonged intensification (in) pioneer activity (is the) crying need (of this) fateful hour. (The) establishment (of) one resident believer (in) each virgin territory (is the) precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent, eagerly-anticipated stage aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) Southern Half (of the) Western Hemisphere.
(The) Concourse on high expectantly await, ready (to) assist (and) acclaim (the) nine holy souls who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes, cast away (their) attachments (and) definitely settle (in) these territories (to)
Page 24The recently inaugurated headquarters of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, adjacent to the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois.
24lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order (of this) undefeatable Faith." � January 26, 1939.
(cNllhed Central American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long-deferred World Mission constituting 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá'í Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining (in) stature, deepening (in) consecration. Its vanguard now entering arena nionopo-lized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom's mightiest ecclesiastical institutions. Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of) New World's ethnic elements. American believers' isolated oversea teaching enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end. New epoch opening, demanding exertions incomparably more strenuous, unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically organized, efficiently conducted. Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of) present prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the First (and) Second Centuries, (of the) potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American believers."
� May 28, 1939.of the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the BTh's holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise, pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform.
The site of the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfail ing solicitude. Its foundation-stone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring episodes of His historic visit to the North American continent. Its superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies which surged from the breasts of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation, bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely established
Administrative Orderhad released in the midst of a community that had identified its vital interests with that Temple's destiny.
The measures devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a Plan which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold relief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted by their Author to the American
Bahá'í i community. Andfinally, the Fund, designed to receive and dispose of the resources amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and cheered by those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American believers in the cause of their beloved Temple.
And now, while the Bahá'í world vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of the precious remains of both the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother to a spot which, watched over by the Twin Holy Shrines and in the close neighborhood of the rcsting � place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the administrative institutions of the Faith at its world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so significant an event in the Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual potentialities of, a work so significantly started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North
American continent." � December(The) stupendous struggle now convulsing (the) major part (of the) European
Page 26continent (is) progressively revealing (the) ominous features, (and) increasingly assuin-ing (the) proportions, (of the) titanic upheaval foreshadowed seventy years ago (by the) prophetic pen (of) Bahá'u'lláh.
(The) disruptive forces associated (with) humanity's world-shaking ordeal (are) cioseiy interrelated (with the) constructive potentialities inherent (in the) American believers'
Divinely-ordained Plan.Both (are) directly hastening (the) emergence (of the) spiritual World Order stirring (in the) womb (of a) travailing age. (I) entreat (the) American Bahá'í Community, whatever (the) immediate or distant repercussions (of the) present turmoil on their own continent, however violent its impact (upon the) World Center (of) their Faith, (to) pledge themselves anew, before (the) Throne (of) Bahá'u'lláh, (to) discharge, with unswerving aim, unfailing courage, invincible vigor, exemplary fidelity (and) ever-deepening consecration, (the) dual responsibility soi-emnly undertaken under (the) Seven Year Plan.
(I) implore them (to) accelerate (their) efforts, increase (their) vigilance, deepen (their) unity, multiply (their) heroic feats, maintain (their) distant outposts (in the) teaching field (of) Latin America, (and) expedite (the) termination (of the) last stage (in the) ornamentation (of the) Temple. (I am) praying continually (with) redoubled fervor." � June 13, 1940.
(The) long-predicted world-encircling conflagration, essential prerequisite (to) world unification, (is) inexorably moving (to its) appointed climax.
Its fires, first lit (in the) Far East, subsequently ravaging Europe (and) enveloping Africa, now threaten devastation both (in) Near East (and) Far 'West, respectively enshrining (the) World Center and (the) chief remaining Citadel (of the) Faith (of) Bahá'u'lláh.
(The) Divinely-appointedPlan must (and) will likewise pursue undeflected (its) predestined course. Time (is) pressing. (The) settlement (of the) two remaining Latin Republics, (the) sounder consolidation through formation (of) firmly-knit groups in newly-opened territories, (the) provision (of) adequate means (for the) ornamentation (of) last six faces (of) first story (of) Temple, stand out (as) vital requirements (of) approaching supremely challenging hour." � July 21, 1940.
Finally, in The Adventof Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi has given a more extensive exposition to the theme. The following excerpts are taken from that work: !cSuperb and irresistible as is the beauty of the
First Mashriqu'1 Adlikirof the West �it should be regarded as no more than an instrument for the more effective propagation of the Cause "In this respect it should be viewed in the same light as the administrative institutions of the Faith which are designed as vehicles for the proper dissemination of its ideals, its tenets, and its verities.
"It is to the teaching requirements of the Seven Year Plan that the community �must henceforth direct their careful and sustained attention.
(CT teach should at no time be regarded as the exclusive concern or sole privilege of Bahá'í administrative institutions.
CtHO often have the lowliest adherents been capable of winning victories for their Cause.
teThe field so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that no follower can afford a moment's hesitation.
"So precious an opportunity may never again recur. Now is the time, the appointed time, for the American believers to proclaim, through the agencies and channels of a specially designed Administrative Order, their capacity and readiness to rescue a fallen and sore-tried generation.
CtThe teaching campaign acquires an importance that can not be overestimated.
(CLaunched through the creative energies released by the Will of 'Abdu'l-Bahá it must be carried out in conformity with certain principles.
"Those who participate must thoroughly familiarize themselves with the � history and teachings study the literature delve into its teachings, assimilate its laws and principles, ponder its admonitions, tenets and purposes, commit
Page 27to memory certain of its exhortations and prayers, master the essentials of its administration keep abreast of its current affairs.
"They must obtain a sound knowledge of IslAm.
"They must, whenever they contemplate any specific mission in the countries of Latin America acquire a certain proficiency in the languages of those countries.
"NO participator of this inter-American campaign must feel that the initiative must rest solely with those agencies, whether Assemblies or committees, whose concern is this vital objective.
t~It is the bounden duty of every American believer to initiate, promote and consolidate, within the limits fixed by the administrative principles any activity he or she deems fit to undertake.
"Neither should the threatening world situation, nor lack of material resources, of mental equipment, of knowledge, or of experience deter any prospective pioneer teacher.
CtHaving on his own initiative resolved to arise let him carefully consider every avenue of approach survey the possibilities devise such methods as association with clubs or participation in social, cultural, humanitarian, charitable, and educational organizations.
"Let him preserve its dignity, and station safeguard the integrity of its laws and principles decide the suitability of either the direct or indirect method of teaching.
ttLet him shower kindness upon the seeker refrain at the outset from insisting on such laws and observances as might impose too severe a strain Let him, as soon as that stage (maturity of faith) has been attained, introduce him to the body of his fellow-believers, and seek to enable him to contribute his share to the enrichment of its (the Bahá'í community's) life.
CCLet every participator bear in mind the necessity of keeping in close and constant touch with those responsible agencies designed to direct, coordinate, and facilitate the teaching activities of the entire community.
ttThey should, through constant interchange of ideas, through letters, circulars, reports, bulletins insure the smooth and speedy functioning of the teaching machinery of their Administrative
Order.CCUPOn every participator rests the spiritual obligation to make of the mandate of teaching the all-pervading concern of his life.
"If he be member of any Spiritual Assembly let him encourage his Assembly to consecrate a certain part of its time to. consideration of such ways and means as may foster the campaign of teaching.
tcIf he attends his summer school let him consider such an occasion as a precious opportunity to enrich his knowledge.
tcLet him seek through inter-community visits to stimulate the zeal for teaching.
~cLet any one who feels the urge direct in particular the attention of the Negro, the Indian, the Eskimo, and Jewish races to his
Faith."Let those holding administrative positions bear in mind the vital and urgent necessity of insuring the formation of groups and enable these nuclei to evolve into properly functioning
Assemblies."To implant the banner of Bahá'u'lláh in the heart of these virgin territories, to erect the structural basis of His Administrative Order in their cities and villages constitute the first and most significant step.
"These undertakings require on the part of the National Spiritual Assembly and of both the National
Teaching and Inter-AmericaCommittees, painstaking investigations preparatory to the sending of settlers and itinerant teachers ttThe number of Bahá'í teachers, be they settlers or travelers, must be substantially increased.
"The material resources to be placed at their disposal must be multiplied, and efficiently administered.
"The literature with which they should be equipped must be vastly augmented.
"The publicity that should aid them in the distribution of such literature should be
Page 28extended, centrally organized, and vigorously conducted.
(CThe possibilities latent in these countries should be diligently exploited, and systematically developed.
ttThe various obstacles raised by the widely-varying political and social conditions should be closely surveyed and determinedly surmounted.
~tThe careful translation of such important Bahá'í writings as are related to the history, the teachings, or the Administrative Order of the Faith, and their wide and systematic dissemination would appear to be the chief and most urgent measures to be taken simultaneously with the arrival of the pioneer workers in those fields.
ttln countries where no objections can be raised by the civil authorities or any influential circles, this measure should be reinforced by the publication, in various organs of the Press, of carefully worded articles and letters, designed to impress upon the general public certain features of the stirring history of the Faith, and the range and character of its teachings.
c(Every laborer in those fields, whether as traveling teacher or settler, should make it his chief and constant concern to mix, in a friendly manner, with all sections of the population study the approach best suited to them, to concentrate on a few and to endeavor to implant such iove, zeal and devotion in their hearts as to enable them to become in turn self-sufficient and independent promoters of the Faith in their respective localities.
C(An effort can and should be made, not oniy by representative Bahá'í bodies, but also by prospective teachers, as well as by other individual believers to seize every opportunity to make the ac-quaintence, and awaken the genuine interest, of such people who are either citizens of these countries, or are in any way connected with them "C should be exercised lest in their eagerness to further the international interests of the Faith they frustrate their purpose, and turn away, through any act that might be misconstrued as an attempt to proselytize and bring undue pressure upon them, those whom they wish to win over to their
Cause.CCJ would particularly direct my appeal to those American believers who may find it possible, whatever be their calling or employment to establish permanently their residence in such countries as may offer them a reasonable prospect of earning the means of livelihood.
t~Shou1d they find it impossible to take advantage of so rare and sacred a privilege, let them determine to appoint a deputy who, on that believer's behalf, will arise and carry out so noble an enterprise.
CCA to those who have been able to leave their homes and country a special duty � devolves upon them to keep in constant touch with the National Committee specifically entrusted with the promotion of their work, and to cooperate with their fellow-believers in those countries.
For the reports of the actions taken in carrying out the teaching plans adopted in the light of the mission conferred upon the American Bahá'ís we turn to the admirable reports prepared by the Inter-America and Teaching Committees for the year 193 81939 and the year 19391940.
INTER-AMERICA TEACHING193 81939 CCA brief account of the several journeys that have been made during the Bahá'í year by various believers are herein outlined. Many details must be omitted which we would like to give if space allowed, but it is hoped that their example may be tripled in the near future, and that the record of pioneers, following Shoghi Effendi's ~tAdvent of Divine Justice," will be by next year a volume.
~A1though Mr. and Mrs. Ward Caihoon' visit to Cuba was made before the Convention of 1938, the account of it did not reach the Inter-America Chairman in time to include it last year, but because of its interest and value to us all it is included now.
was the intention of our Bahá'í friends to visit the West Indies, but when they arrived in Florida and realized the length of time such a trip would take, they
Page 29gave it up and decided on Cuba instead. They knew no one there and applied to a travel agency, but were not led to accept their offer; feeling that guidance was necessary, they waited until they felt drawn toward a particular agency.
Here they met Dr. Margolis, President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, who all unasked answered their fervent prayer by giving them letters of introduction to people in position to assist the Cause. One of these letters was to the editor of the only English newspaper printed on the island.
And the immediate response of the Editor was to run a splendid article, with photographs as well as an account of the Bahá'í
Faith, in ~tThe HavanaPost," the Spanish "ci Mundo" copied it so that it reached both the English and Spanish people of Cuba.
Another letter was to Sr. Enrico Berenguer, often called the good will Ambassador of Cuba. He invited the Caihoons to his famous estate Rio Crystal Gardens in company with Signor Gornez.
After admiring the gardens and the grounds Mr. Caihoon drew him aside and told him of the new day and the new message.
t~Signor Berenguer at once became interested and listened with great attention. Finally he said, tYo have been sent here by some Divine Agent. Although I was brought tip in the Roman Catholic Church, I long ago decided to search for truth by myself, and I feel that this is the truth.' Mr. Caihoon took colored pictures of the gardens and fountains.
I can do no better than to quote from the letter received from Mr. Caihoon to show the lovely spirit that actuated these friends.
ccThe most significant feature of our experience was the manner in which we were led to influential people in Cuba. Especially in having the opportunity to meet Signor Berenguer.
He is a born leader and has a winning personality and a deep consciousness of spiritual truth. We are, indeed, grateful to Bahá'u'lláh for the privilege of doing His Work and in gaining publicity and newspaper articles in both English and Spanish in this land where we knew no one. Through the medium of speaking in public aided by colored pictures and slides, we hope to make further trips of this same kind."
ttFollowing Mr. Caihoon's visit of last year, Mr. Phillip Marangella of New York City made a journey to Cuba this year, and though the visit was short, splendid contacts were established. Through the influence of Dr. Arango, president of the Lions Club, a full sized picture with an account of the Faith was printed in CEl Mundo,' followed by an article on the New World Order in the tHavana Post.' Dr. Ramos, associate director of the National Library finally consented to place a copy of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in circulation. Joachirn Sant'Anna, a cuhivated Spaniard, promised an introduction to his circle upon Mr. Marangella's next visit.
Signor Wiener, president of Centro Isarelita (Jewish Youth Group) promised to arrange a lecture on the Cause for his three hundred members. Mr. Stone, a student at the Flavana University was deeply interested in Bahá'í principles. Signor Castellani, of the Hospital Calixto Garcia, also received the Message with deep interest. Signor Estrada, a deputy for the detective force and delegate of the Liberal party, will upon a return visit, call a group of students for discussion. Signor Dorninges, program director 0f the radio station, offered to include Mr. Marangella in his published booklet when lie returned to Cuba, while the announcer promised him a full hour over the station C.M.W., called the voice of the Antilles, because it is heard through the West Indies and South
America. At the Royal PalmsHotel, where Mr. Marengella stayed, he interested the proprietor, Pascual Mirza and made friends with and gave the Message to the desk clerk, night clerk, dining room employcs, page boys and musicians. Among the latter he found two highly spiritual and open-minded men, Manual Gornez and Luis Blanco, who Mr. Maren � gella believes would be the leaders of study groups and could be depended upon for foundation work.
We may well congratulate Mr. Marengella upon his splendid accomplishment in so short a time.
our beloved teacher, Mrs. Frances Benedict Stewart, was entrusted the important and difficult task of opening the doors of South America. When one pictures that vast continent, with its many days' journeys between cities, its varied races within these
Page 30cities, it becomes evident that only the power which is tfar from the ken of men and angels' could direct this gigantic labor.
"Frances Stewart set sail from New York on a Norwegian freighter in September, and in twenty days landed in Buenos Aires, the center of the Argentine. Spanish is her native tongue.
This is an important factor in explaining delicate points of the Revelation that might fail to be clear otherwise. Whether on sea or land she gave messages to all with whom she came in contact.
Her first words written from Buenos Aires were, tTruly my cup runneth over with certainty and joy,' for many, many doors are open to this Message.
Whenever I speak of the coming of a new Prophet, the response is, tSurely it is wonderful that in the midst of this bewildering chaos, a new manifestation of God's is sent to humanity' " � And she continues, "One of the great families of the Argentine is named Roggio. Many hospitals and schools bear the name, and a member of this important family has become attached to me because of the Baha Message, and has invited to her palatial house, the foremost scientists and professors, to hear of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh."
Before long Mrs. Stewarthad gathered together a group of eighteen men and women desirous of Bahá'í study, though greatly hampered by the lack of adequate Spanish translations, a lack that we are working to overcome day and night. She found this group sincere and eager to form themselves into a definite part of the Bahá'í world.
"Mrs. Stewart had been specially urged by theto pay a visit to Montevideo, Uruguay, if possible. So leaving the study group under the leadership of Dr. Luis M. Di Cristofoso, she crossed into this small and very beautiful state.
Bringing letters from important people she was guided anew and able to choose those whom she felt were sincere seekers, and before long she stablished a group of nine souTh and placed it under the leadership of Sr. Simon
Rosenzweig, a Russianengineer. He had lived in many parts of the world and knew 'Akka and Haifa well. Mrs. Stewart describes him as having a brilliant mind combined with a radiant spirit.
CCHaving received word from the Inter-America America Committee that the N.S.A. favored a journey into Chile, her own land, she set forth on this arduous and long trek.
Crossing the Andes is harder and slower than any trip of which I know.
Martha Root, the first of the believers to visit South America, made part of her memorable journey on mule back. Today means of transportation are immeasurably easier.
tComing over the wonderful Andes was a great experience, one I shall never forget,' writes Mrs. Stewart, from Valparaiso, Chile, January 16th. Bringing with her letters from her connections in Montevideo and Buenos Aires, opportunity was at hand. She gave four lectures before the Women's Federation. Had dinner with, and afterwards addressed, the Masons; spoke on the Bahá'í Peace Plan before two hundred people, among whom she found a few who had studied by correspondence with persons in North America, and she adds, ~I am inviting these students to my hotel for a special conference.'
To a chosen number she spoke on the Administration and from this number formed a group that will, like those of the Argentine and Uruguay, study with a view to forming the first Chilean Assembly.
She placed this group under the leadership of Sitra Sara Luzg Bravo, who has studied Theosophy for many years, and has been looking for a religion with a practical application.
In the Bahá'í teaching she found that application of Spiritual Law for which she had so long sought. She has a large following.
ccOutside Valparaiso is a lovely suburb named Vina del Mar. in winter (which is our summer) the sea breaks constantly in immense rollers along the beaches and sea walls, but in summer the water is calm and bathing good, so that people come here from all over South America.
It is a strategic point in which to establish a Bahá'í center, because people have leisure to think and to study, so that it was extremely wise of our teacher to find a person here with whom she could place the fundamentals of the New World
Order. Sitra MargaretRodier is organizing a class, which, I feel, will spread the teachings far and wide through this vast land.
"Mrs. Stewart then went to Santiago, Chile, which is oniy a short bus ride from
Page 31Valparaiso. She had no sooner arrived in this city than the great earthquake took place in and around Concepci6n. It was she who spoke over the wires on that fateful night. To quote from the letter in which she described the disaster: tThe air was cleared, a short wave hookup that could reach both the U. S. A. and Europe was made. I described for the first time from Chile the tremendous catacyism that had occurred, and I appealed for help.
I think this has been the greatest experience in my life. I had arrived oniy the day before, Tuesday night, a severe and long tremor shook the earth � the Greatest Name was my spontaneous call, for the quake was of fearful force, and well I knew that not far off something terrible had happened. Surely the vision 'Abdu'l-Bahá had of coming cataclysms of which He said, cIt is not meet to tell,' had come to pass in Chile.
As I lived as a child in Concepci6n, I knew every road and building and the churches. Many ancient Roman Catholic cathedrals are now piles of dust � even as the ancient Temples of Thebes on the Nile! Surely God purposes some good to come out of such a great sacrifice.' The sorrow and grief that is widespread in this land will bind together human hearts."
ccMrs. Stewart is at this writing still in Chile, and in all probability will return to her two study groups across the Andes. She has rendered immortal service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh and should be remembered in our prayers, sustained in her labors by our love, and greeted upon her return with expressions of heartfelt thanks.
"During the Baha year, Mr. William de Forge, a member of our National Publishing Committee, made an important voyage into the virgin territory of Porto Rico and the
Dominion Republic. Hissuccess in these two countries was phenominal. He interviewed the Librarians of the cities of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Trujillo, Dominican Republic, and in both instances they said they would be happy to receive and put in circulation both Spanish and English Bahá'í literature, as well as to have on their reading table the World Order Magazine. Sr. Luis O'Neil, who is director of the Carnegie Library, is a highly cultured man, and though a Catholic, told Mr. de Forge that these teachings were badly needed by his people and that he would do everything in his power to spread the teachings and advise his people to read our books. Mr. de Forge had the great pleasure of meeting the President of Puerto Rico, Sr. Jose Ramfrez Santefanez. He, in turn, was thrilled with the Message and asked to have the literature sent personally to him. In one of the articles that appeared in the papers Mr. de Forge was hailed as an agent of peace.
Among the key people ofEnriqu Linares, editor of the largest and most important t'blication of Latin America, called Alma Latina, which circulates and influences South America as well as Central America.
He offered, if after study of the Divine Writing he approved, to put an article in this periodical on the "New 'World Order."
Another remarkable contact was that of the Editor of "El Mundo" a newspaper printed in San Juan, who received the Bahá'í Principles with marked enthusiasm. Mr. de Forge's list of contacts was so numerous that the
Inter-America Committeewas obliged to place them in its Baha Bulletin, where it is hoped everyone of the believers will read and note their names and occupations.
CcThi is one of the wonderful demonstrations of spiritual power that such a reception should have-been accorded one of our teachers in an unknown land, strongly Catholic, and entirely Latin in feeling, and from the President down, eagerness for teachings, and facilities for spreading them, was accorded Mr. de Forge on every hand.
CCAt the Convention ofof 226 West Michigan Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin formulated a plan to visit Mexico and to teach there.
Accordingly having closed his business affairs, he set out upon his journey reaching Laredo, Texas on the 16th of September.
As he crossed the Rio Grande River into Mexico he found that the entire populace were celebrating Independence Day, corresponding to our Fourth of July.
He waited over a day at Monterrey in order to approach the editor of "El Porvenir," the leading paper of the town. In this he was successful, a fine
Page 32article outlining the principles of Bahá'u'lláh appearing forthwith.
"Arriving in Mexico CityMr. Roca joined his forces with those of our Mexican Spiritual Assembly and remained in close contact with them during his two and a half months visit. Finding great need of Spanish Bahá'í literature he printed and presented two pamphlets to the
Assembly:and Principles of Bahá'í Faith. He also contributed generously to the work of translation being undertaken by Pedro Espinosa and Madame Olia both of the Spiritual Assembly, thus accelerating this important work.
ccHe was able to gain publicity through two of the leading newspapers
Le Prenan and El Excelsior.Before leaving Mexico he sent a copy of Esslemont to the President through one of his aides, and on his return journey achieved splendid newspaper publicity all along the line. He is an enthusiastic and generous believer and will in the future render valuable service to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
(CTh Chairman and Edwardthis winter. In Merid~, once a handsome and prosperous city, now desperately poor and shabby was found, on one hand, politicians not in the least interested in spiritual things, and on the other, men whose fortunes were failing, eager for something to hold on to. The editor of the one Liberal paper, The Yucatan, received us with enthusiasm. He told us that twice his office had been attacked, once burned, because of his liberal views. The Bahá'í Principles, he thought, were too good to be true, but we assured him that under a definite administration, they were being practiced. He promised to read the literature and publish extracts if we sent him Spanish editions, as he speaks no English. We gained an interview with the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, but his reiterated statement was that he was interestd in business affairs and not in religious ideas. However, he promised to read the literature that we promised to send him.
We found broadminded and sympathetic hearers at the Mayaland Tours.
Here English is spoken and they were eager to hear of the remedies for their sick and impoverished land. Two of them accompanied us into the jungle on 12th night to a Catholic celebration among the
Mayan peasants. Outsideheavy dew dripped like rain from the trees, the Mayan women were passing to and fro, the men singing in the tiny court yard close to us, as we sat before an altar dressed in tissue paper and small pictures of the Madonna. We had to whisper but when I spoke of a new Manifestation, they leaned forward and asked, where? and when? and between long pauses, they pressed my hand murmuring ~Yes we understand and the Divine News will never leave our hearts.'
ttF Yucatan we traveled to Mexico City, the long trip from Vera Cruz of 12 hours elongated by four hours delay, so we arrived in a state bordering on collapse, but on the platform waiting through the hours stood the whole group of Bahá'ís about eighteen in number.
In their hands they carried flowers and they greeted us with the spirit of true fraternity. From then on we were as one body and it was hard to believe that this was not oniy a Latin Assembly but a very new one. The subject nearest our hearts was the same, our work was on the same plane of action, we had everything in common since we had come to talk of translations and publications � something our Guardian is constantly occupied with. In every letter he has urged this Committee to take up this all important matter and work of translating Bahá'í books into Spanish until it is accomplished.
We discussed the subject for many hours and as the National Spiritual Assembly has invited Pedro Espinosa, the chairman, to the Convention, we may feel that the way is clear to the accomplishment of the Guardian's wishes.
ccIn the Philippine Islands a class of eighty is being taught by correspondence.
Efforts to bring the books to this island have so far been ineffectual, but in accordance with Shoghi Effendi's instructions we shall continue to send them for the Guardian writes: tTh copy of Sr. Maddela's communication was read with genuine satisfaction by our beloved Guardian.
He is rejoiced to witness the evidences of the steady penetration of the Cause of the Northern Islands of the Philippines, and will pray that in spite of the
Page 33The Bahá'í exhibit held during the 1938 Canadian National Exhibition at Toronto, Canada.
Members of the newly formed Spiritual Assembly of St. Lambert, Province of Quebec.
Page 34vehement and insidious opposition of the Catholic Clergy, the Faith may continue to advance, and make such a headway as to pave the ground for the formation of an Assembly in the near future. You should, he feels, renew your efforts once more, and through every possible endeavor try to introduce the literature of the Cause into these Islands.'
"TO facilitate an understanding of the work in Latin America the committee has compiled a bulletin that every Assembly throughout the country, each teacher or prospective settler, should be able to find the areas that have already been covered, the accomplishment therein and what is still needed, which states or countries are still to be visited for the first time."
INTER-AMERICA TEACHINGAssembly had invited the Chairman of our first Latin-America Assembly, Sefior Pedro Espinosa from Mexico City, to attend the Convention. He brought with him his mother, Seiiora Refugio Ochoa, who was the first to accept the Faith, and
Sejiora Maria LouisaJurado, the able Secretary, also Sefiorita Zenaida Jurado, a member of the Spiritual Assembly and the head of the Nursery Public
School throughout Mexico.Their high enthusiasm, their sweetness and charm permeated the occasion. Afterwards, they visited the New York and Washington Communities.
"Upon their return to Mexico City, they incorporated their Assembly and opened commodious headquarters at 65 Calle de Bucareli, Bajos 4.
The Bahá'í World Corn � munity was delighted with their first Newsletter, in Spanish, the initial copy distributed in November of 1939.
ttAt the suggestion of the N.S.A., the Assembly undertook to create interest in the Faith beyond the capital. Doctora Luz Guinchard was given an appointment to a pioneer post at Guadalajara, Jalisco, where she is now working for the Cause.
"Passing through Mexicoduring the current year were the following friends: Mr. Antonio Roca, en route to Honduras, Mrs. Amelia Collins, member of the N.S.A., Clarence Iverson, en route to El Salvador,
Mr.Gerrard Sluter, going to Guatemala City, Dr. and Mrs. Martin G. Carter, and in December, Mrs.
Ernest Meyer of the Geyserville Community.tCF volumes have been translated and are expected momentarily. They are: Some Answered Questions, Foundations of World Unity, lY7isdc#m of Abdu'l-Bahá,
Bahá'í Procedure. Pedro'sadmired translation of the Prayers is circulated widely."
CENTRAL AMERICAKaszab left for Panama, where he initiated the Bahá'í work which is being carried on there.
This first pioneer brought in the first resident believer, Joseph Mantuk, whose acceptance marks the birth of the Cause in this country to which 'Abdu'l-Bahá has attributed paramount importance in the Divine Plan.
CCA radio broadcast was given by Mathew over theTheatre on the occasion of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the opening of the Canal. The subject was Spiritual Changes for Panama. A second broadcast and lectures followed. Also, his essay quoting 'Abdu'l-Bahá, written in the form of an open letter to the Editor, appeared in one of the principal papers.
The approach and style made a model bit of publicity.
His lectures were before the Theosophical Society and the Training School he attended.
"In October, just before Mathew went on to Nicaragua, Mrs. Louise Caswell and Mrs. Cora Hitt Oliver, the first resident teachers and the second pioneers, arrived. John Eichenauer was present, and with Joseph, the first declared Baha'i, the five shared a historic moment.
ttBy taking courses at the University, Mrs. Caswell and Mrs. Oliver have met many persons of liberal outlook and capacity to understand the New World Order. Some of those who are interested in the Teachings are professors at the University, or teachers in the schools of the Canal Zone. A lecture on the Temple with illustrated slides was presented at the University.
Other lectures have been given before the Jamaican
Women Life's ProblemsY.M.C.A. Articles appeared in The Tribune, the Star and Herald, the Panama
American. The Presidentof the Republic gave them a cordial interview and welcome. In every way the work in Panama is promising a great future.
El Salvador:(cJohn Eichenauer, Jr., is our youngest pioneer, chosen for the post of San Salvador, El Salvador, � and his appointment was ratified by the Guardian. Coming from Phoenix, Arizona, by way of Panama, he gave the Teachings and leaflets to other travelers, who inquired the purpose of his journey.
At present he is at school in San Salvador with other boys of his own age.
"John has been joined by his relative, Clarence Iverson, a young man also from Phoenix. This modern ttroubadour of God' went on the economy plan with his own motor � strapped, at times, to the freight car � while he played the accordion and accepted gratuities from the crowd.
tCBoth lads have been granted considerable publicity by the press, which seems to have found in the Cause a definite news value. The earnest ones among the many who have heard the Message are forming a study group, which the boys will carry on towards complete acceptance of the Faith.
"In the latter part of February, Mrs. Lord Schopilocher and Mr. Gerrard Sluter visited San Salvador, and the former sent a glowing account of the work and spirit of our youthful pioneers.
Honduras:"The first pioneer teacher to this country is Mr. Antonio Roca from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He traveled by way of Mexico, stopping at Bahá'í Headquarters there. Now this teacher is settled in the beautiful city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where, through his untiring zeal eight believers have signed the Spanish registration cards. Without doubt, an Assembly will be formed soon.
ttAmong those who are supporting his efforts is the distinguished poctess, Angela Ochoa VeUsquez, who wrote a telling article for the local press on the beauty and nobility of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
With the insight of the true mystic, the poetess has grasped the significance of the Message and made testimony as praise.
Guatemala:"Guatemala City, reached through a panorama of wild beauty, is the seat of the Bahá'í labors of Gerrard Sluter from Toronto, Canada. He has had unprecedented obstacles to overcome both in the field of his teaching and in the barbed wire restrictions that surround aliens searching for employment.
ctNotwithstanding, Mr. Sluter has taught the requisite number of informed believers for an Assembly, and even wrested from the Government a permit to take employment.
In February and March,spent some days there, lending her zeal to the sustained endeavor of our pioneer.
"To the Theosophical Societywe are indebted for the hospitality shown to Mr. Sluter in the use of their platform.
The Theosophical journal ~Simiente' has published articles on the Bahá'í
Principles and Faith.ccMth Kaszab has been sent to Nicaragua, the most backward and unhealthy country in Central America. Yet cheerfully he left Panama and arrived at Managua, which he described as a land of grinning monkeys, � the people are illiterate, unclothed and unhealthy.
Mathew made his way across the narrow isthmus to Bluefields, near his birthplace, oniy to wander over a field of stones and mud; for an earthquake had destroyed the banana plantation, once belonging to his family.
CrAmid this unhappy people, Mathew has found a scarce audience to listen to his continued recital of the principles of the great and New World Order; but, at the least, the daily sacrifice which he is offering to Bahá'u'lláh will not be forgotten.
Costa Rica:~cMrs Amelia Ford of Berkeley, California, a lady born in Mexico, responded to the Guardian's call for pioneers. She has the priceless gift to offer of an intimate and profound knowledge of Spanish � her native tongue � and has proved already her usefulness with the translations.
Page 36ttCapable Mrs. Gayle Woolson of St. Paul, Minnesota, has offered herself for life in foreign lands, and, with Mrs. Amelia Ford is leaving for settlement in Costa Rica. At this moment they are en route for San Jose, where, together they will fill the last required quota of the
Guardian's Central AmericaColonies are closed to American citizens on account of the war, still we had the privilege of entering Jamaica through the reentry of Mr. and Mrs. John Shaw, who are natives of this island.
They left their home in San Francisco with the love and admiration of the Community and the visiting Ba1A'is, who had known them actively during their years on the Pacific Coast.
c!They write that the island is sadly in need of the Teachings, and that they arc working daily to bring the truth to the people of many races that are gathered in Kingston and its neighborhood.
We hope for the increase of the small yet earnest study group which they are holding at intervals.
Cuba:ttHavana, so directly in the line of both Mexican and Central American steamers, has bad many Bahá'í visitors from time to time; however, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Maran-gella are the first resident pioneers. They are working towards the realization of a study group; and we are watching the post for their recent news.
Republic of Domingo:ttMiss Margaret Lentz, who gave a long term of devoted service at the
International Baha Bureauin Geneva, Switzerland, asked to go to one of the republics, where she could teach among both Negro and white folk.
Accordingly, she was given an appointment to San Domingo, where she is settled in Cuidad
Trujillo."Margaret has entered into her new life with a true pioneer's spirit, and has found among those to whom she has spoken one who has made complete acceptance with an enthusiasm to match her own. Sefiora Maria Teresa Martin, the first believer, is celebrating the Feast Days with Margaret, and striving with her towards the future activities of Bahá'í teaching. Already these coworkers are planning a Bahá'í School to instruct some of the many illiterate natives.
Puerto Rico:ccMrs Katharine Disdier has already taught school in Puerto Rico, and now, in order to take part in the present campaign, she has applied for a post there during the coming season. Rouhieh Musette Jones has applied for a similar position. Together these staunch believers will be in close contact with children and their parents, and have thereby, opportunity for spreading the Bahá'í Teachings in a most unique way.
Trinidad:ttAt Port of Spain we have a friend to remember, Miss Anne Murdock, who is in the office of the
Pan-American Airways. Sheis reading the Bah? literature and has offered to work for the Faith in every possible way. Thus, even here, where we may not visit, ttie Bahá'í Spirit is kept alive.
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS"For more than two years, Sefior Felix Maddela, leader of a large group of people in a small island, has been corresponding with us. Although their knowledge is slight, Spanish literature scarce and the distance great, yet their enthusiasm for the Cause parallels all difficulties. They have evolved their slogan: "'The Bahá'í Faith is renewing the life of a dead world." Only a few pamphlets have reached them, which they read and reread. And they wear an emblem on their coats!
CcWWhen the Spanish registration cards reached them, they were filled out to the number of seventeen, with members of the Spiritual Assembly differentiated from the Community.
Their plea for paper with letterheads for use in writing to interested students thoughout the Islands has been answered by the Chairman.
~tIt is our earnest hope that opportunity will bring this group a teacher before long. These Islands so dominated by the Church, so geographically remote, yet have evinced a spirit of search after truth, an eagerness to be united to the New World Order that should be a lesson to every believer.
Page 37cit in the summer Wilf rid Barton set out for South America, and finding that Ivan Fillipac, a member of the New York Community, is steward on the S. S. Ar~tbic, he sailed on that ship. Upon their arrival at the port of Santos, Brazil, they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Worley of Rio de Janeiro, and Leonora Holsapple, the earliest of Bahá'í settlers. She had come from Baha for this celebration of the Nineteen Day Feast of 'Tim.
"Since then, Mr. Barton has been teaching in Buenos
Aires and Montevideo.Inasmuch as the former group is by far the most advanced, he is settled in Montevideo, where Mr. Simon Rosenzweiz has valiantly championed the Cause.
Argentina:ctThroughout all reports on South America, the name and service of Mrs.
Frances Benedict Stewartpersists. The friends in South America are overjoyed at the news that she will return to them. In Buenos Aires, the group she founded have continued their studies unceasingly under the direction of Sefior Salvador Tormo. An index of his thought and culture is the essay which was published in
World Order Magazinefor March, 1940. Great expectations from the entire Bahá'í world attend the labors for the Cause put forth in Argentine. On this third voyage which Mrs. Stewart will undertake, she will visit Central as well as South America, carrying forward the mission which Shoghi Effendi has described as tthe most outstanding teaching service.'
"To Chile, where Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Laws of Seattle, Washington, will go to make their home, a bounty was given: it was to Chile that 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent the oniy Tablet posted directly to South America.
From this circumstance we ascribe the importance of Chile in the Divine
Plan.t~A11 of us are grateful to Sefiora Espinosa, who followed Mrs. Stewart to the Argentine to understand more of the Bahá'í Teachings, then returned to Santiago, where she has kept alive the faith of the group taught by Mrs. Stewart.
Venezuela:"Good news comes from the New York Assembly that Miss Priscilla Rhoads has accepted a two year position with a South American family to look after their young child. This means we have an isolated believer in Miranda.
"With the arrival of the Salas, there will be a foundation for the Community of the future. in an exemplary manner, Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala have been arranging their affairs in order to go out to Venezuela as settlers. Not in any way daunted by the refusal of the authorities to enter Colombia and engage in business there, they have persisted in their determination to make their way in the pioneer area, serving in both a material and spiritual way.
Ecuador:ccMr. John Stearns is journeying, at present, towards Ecuador. He will take up his residence in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and the oldest city of South America.
His grasp of the Faith and treatment of Bahá'í responsibility in this country leads us to hopes of great accomplishment.
Brazil:has been able to leave her home in Baha, Brazil, to visit two cities, Macejo and Pern~mbuco, for a first approach to the Cause. Her gift to the Cause is the revised translation and publication of the
Portuguese Bahá'u'lláhand the New Era, which she placed in seven bookshops, carrying them to Santos and Santa Paula besides."
NORTH AMERICA TEACHING193 81939 ttThe first two-year period of the Seven Year Plan now drawing to a close, marks the happy conclusion of the initial step of the campaign to establish the Faith in each of the states of the United States, the provinces of Canada and the republics of Central and South America. The new hope and goal now set for the American Bahá'í by the beloved Guardian is the Advent of Divine Justice which can come oniy through the spiritualization of the believers themselves and the diffusion of the Divine Teachings throughout the world.
Page 38The Bahá'í Exhibit at the Wisconsin State Fair of 1939 showing the Temple model prominently displayed.
"The first year of this stupendous campaign was marked both by a general deepening in our consciousness of the great responsibility devolving upon us, and the beginning of the movement of Baha pioneers into new areas.
t'The second year has been marked by a vigorous translation of this appreciation of increasing responsibility into action � action on the part of each and every individual, action on the part of Bahá'í Groups, and action on the part of all Assemblies.
Under this wave of renewed activity, the Faith has surged forward on all fronts, and in no case was there any recession. The doors of Guidance have opened wider than ever before and the confirmations from on High have often been well nigh staggering.
Every individual, every Group and every Assembly has testified to the manner in which divine blessings have descended on every effort, no matter how small. No wonder the Guardian in a recent message stated: CLet the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such asSertIons.'
"This new surge of service, which was marked both by the gallant attack against the forces of darkness and a more rounded-out presentation of Bahá'í standards, expressed itself in three directions: � "First, there was the consolidation of the pioneer work started in the first year of the Seven Year Plan, and the extension of this work into the remaining virgin areas, new Groups and Assemblies themselves assuming much of the responsibility of spreading the Message to other parts of their regions.
"Second, there was the intensification of extension work by the Assemblies.
Almost every Assemblyfound that its efforts to introduce the Faith into adjacent cities and even virgin areas met with unexpected success.
It has been abundantly demonstrated that this field of service is the means of the steady growth of the Assemblies themselves and causes them to become power houses of spiritual energy in ever-enlarging spheres.
"Third, there was the recent dynamic call of the Guardian for prompt settlement of the remaining states and provinces of North America. The immediate response of forty-four intrepid volunteers to fulfill the divine command indicates the manner in which the friends are arising to the pioneer spirit of the Faith. Three of the areas were immediately settled; Alaska, Nevada and Vermont. At this time the National Teaching Committee is in correspondence with all these selfless souls and it is expected that by Convention time, arrangements will have been made for the settlement of every state in
Page 39"At this early stage in the unfoldment of Bahá'u'lláh's all-encompassing World Order, the greatest need is for pioneer teachers.
Indeed, the whole spirit of the Faith today is a pioneer spirit, and its fields of opportunity are for the most part virgin ones. As Shoghi Effendi has recently pointed out, the measures and plans devised ~can never yield any satisfactory results uniess a sufficient number of pioneers have determined to make the necessary sacrifices, and to voiun-teer to carry these projects into effect.'
"During the last two years the attention of the American community has been increasingly focussed upon this requirement, but only in the months just past have we come face to face with the overwhelming fact that not until the initial stage of the Seven Year Plan has been accomplished, tin. volving as it does the formation of at least one nucleus in each of these virgin states and provinces in the North American continent,' shall we be prepared and released for the far more difficult stages of advance into
Central and South America.That we face in all earnestness a crisis in our affairs is the inescapable conclusion based on knowledge that these Southern regions 'embrace no less than twenty independent nations, constituting approximately one-third of the entire number of the world's sovereign states.
ccThe National Teaching Committee would remind the friends that every one may share in the pioneering to which our lives must henceforth be consecrated.
In !The Advent of Divineexplains that this privilege and responsibility may be carried out in four ways: "First, by settlement in new areas (and this teaching by settlement in indubitably the most fruitful course) ; second, by travel in unsettled parts; third, deputies may be sent; and fourth, through contributions to the general fund after the example of our Guardian who has placed tat the disposal of any pioneer willing to dedicate himself to the task of the present hour such modest resources as would facilitate the discharge of so enviable a duty.'
tcIt will be remembered that the first of our seven years called forth forty-eight Baha pioneers, twenty of whom chose the settlement plan. This year, in addition to the many whose work has continued, there have been fifteen new settlers and nineteen traveling pioneers.
"The state of Texas has again this year drawn more Bahá'í settlers.
Mr. and Mrs. Ward Caihoon moved to Houston, and with the aid of Mrs. Kathryn
Frankland ahd Mr.A. Kiuss, are conducting a study class of nineteen students. Two members have already enrolled as believers and intensive fireside meetings are preparing others for the important step.
"Miss Myriam Grabler has settled in El Paso, Texas, where she is carrying on without the aid of any other believer.
ttMrs Lorrol 0. Jackson, of Seattle, who last year aided the isolated believers of Helena, Montana, has moved to another city in that state and is diligently cooperating with the believers there in developing a study class in Butte.
"West Virginia became the home of Mr. Harold Hunt, of Washington, D. C., and of Mrs. Orcella
Rexford and Dr. GayneV. Gregory for several months. Many new contacts were made for the Faith but unfortunately none of these friends was able to remain in the state until these contacts could be developed into Baha students.
"Nevada is now the home of Miss Helen Grilling whose arrival in Reno as a permanent resident followed closely upon a ten-day teaching trip of Mrs. Mamie L. Seto to that city.
ccArkansas has been the scene of much Bahá'í activity during the past year.
Miss Rezsi Sunshine has established herself in business in Hot Springs and already one individual in that city considers herself a believer. Miss Sunshine pays regular weekly visits to Little Rock and in both cities many are studying the Bahá'í literature.
~tPine Bluff, also in Arkansas, is now the home of Miss Lydia Martin who is carrying on intensive study classes for the students attracted to the Teachings through the work of Mr. Louis G. Gregory. Approximately twelve members of the group are about ready to enroll as believers.
Page 40CCVt has become the home of Miss Neysa Grace Bissell, one of the first to respond to the Guardian's call for pioneers. Some teaching work has been done in that state from time to time in the past and it is Miss Bissell's objective to follow it through until the ctt is teeming with
Baha'is.'CCThe Khan family has settled temporarily in Newport, Rhode Island, where teaching opportunities are being constantly pursued.
"Mrs Olga Mills has recently moved from Florida to Tryon, North Carolina, where she is cooperating with the other isolated Baha of the state in making new contacts for the Faith.
'~Tbose who have carried forward pioneer teaching work by extended or repeated visits are as follows: "Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Mrs.
Ruth H.Reimer Sears, Mr. Charles Mason Remey, Mrs. Orcella Rexford, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto, Mrs. Gertrude Struven, Miss Virginia Taylor, Miss Louise Thompson, Miss Alta Wheeler, Mrs. Gayle Woolson, Mrs.
Sylvia Matteson"Mr. Gregory has again given unique service in the South. Two months were spent in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where his teaching campaign was initiated by a tReligi-ous Emphasis Week' at the State College, the first time in the history of this country when such a week has been under the direction of Baha.
ccMrs Ruth Moffett, in addition to her continuous work in the other central states, opened up the city of Independence, Iowa, where a flourishing study class has been in progress since early summer.
ccMrs. Gayle Woolson assistedin furthering the teaching work already started in Davenport, Iowa, and subsequently spent several weeks in Cedar Rapids where many new people have begun to study the Teachings.
t~Mrs. Sylvia Matteson King made two teaching trips to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where she found many receptive souls waiting for the Message. Various clubs freely offered their platforms and the newspapers gave generous space to publicity. Many are reading the Bahá'í books and several are already very near the
Cause."Miss Maude Mickle and Miss ALa Wheeler who spent the winter in South Carolina found many teaching opportunities among individuals in Columbia and other cities, while
Miss Louise Thompsonfollowed up the interest which had been established by previous travelers in Charleston. Mr. Charles Mason Rerney, also, macic a teaching trip through this state in February and March.
~CMiss Nayan Hartfleldhas carried on active teaching work in the state of Mississippi where she was established in her business for some months, and Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews gave unique assistance to Mrs. Marion Little in her work in Louisiana.
CCMiss Virginia Taylorhas carried forward the teaching work initiated by Mrs. Grace Ober last year in Louisville, Kentucky, and further interest has been stimulated there by visits from Mrs. Dorothy Baker and Mr. Harlan Ober.
ccMrs. Ruth H. Brandt spent several weeks in Boise, Idaho, with the Bahá'í Group there, and Miss Doris Lohse devoted three weeks last summer to teaching work in Wilmington,
Delaware.C!M other teachers have made short trips into new states both to make new contacts and to assist with the work already under way.
CCWhile commending our pioneers, let us never minimize their task nor forget for a moment that their services are performed, as a rule, in regions whose spiritual darkness is only equalled by a material backwardness surely rooted in this very deprivation from the Word. tTh effort required is prodigious, the conditions under which these preliminary establishments are to be made are often unattractive and unfavorable, the workers who are in a position to undertake such tasks limited, and the resources they can command meagre and inadequate.' Is it not plain, then, why every assistance at our command must be extended, why our prayers must continually center on these fields, and our faith pour out unfailingly to cheer and support our beloved friends?
Page 41ttThe year 1939 will ever be remembered in the record of pioneer teaching because of the Guardian's cablegram of January 2 6th, bearing the fateful pronouncement that the cinitial stage (in the) inaugurated Teaching Campaign (is) still untraversed,' and calling for tnine holy souis who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volun � teer (to) forsake (their) barnes. .' 'Within ten days, projects for three of the nine areas were approved by the National Spiritual Assembly for three dauntless believers who, for some time, had been consulting with the Teaching Committee to this end. At this writing Miss Helen Griffin is already settled in Nevada and Miss Neysa Bissell in Vermont, while Miss Honor Kempton's plans to enter Alaska wait only upon certain final arrangements.
How speedily the confirmations encircled them (and we may all share their feelings), when on February 22nd the Guardian cabled this priceless reward: cHeart flooded joyous gratitude realization American believers rising magnificently challenge unutterably precious hour. Convey Alaska, Nevada and Vermont pioneers immense appreciation (of) marvelous, instantaneous, exemplary response. Prayers continually accompany them.'
CCTh have been forty-one other responses to Shoghi Effendi's call, and negotiations are being pressed in the hope of a speedy climax to this initial task.
Yet in our enthusiasm let us be constantly reminded that the settlement of one Bahá'í in every state and province is but the immediate goal. The real intention of the Seven Year Plan, enjoined alike upon isolated believers and Groups, is to establish Spiritual Assemblies, that every region of the United States and Canada may share in the benefits of the Administrative Order and be fully prepared, at the close of the first century, to push forward into vaster realms, as yet undisclosed, in the fulfillment of the Divine
Plan."The responsibility for ceaseless teaching upon every front has devolved, during 193839, upon the seventy-eight American Assemblies with an urgency never before equalled.
Charged by the Guardian to C tilt the infusion of fresh blood' into each community, and by the National Spiritual Assembly cto extend their efforts to adjoining areas,' they have attained heights of endeavor and success which far surpass all previous accomplishments.
CtOn April 21st their ranks will be strengthened by the election of nine new Spiritual Assemblies.
Five will be formed from the Groups of Helena, Mont.; Scranton, Pa.;
Jamestown, N. Y.; Knoxville, Tenn.;The remaining four have grown out of existing Assemblies and include Huntington Park, Calif.;
East Cleveland, Ohio;Wauwatosa, Wis., and Richmond Heights, Wash. The facts, stated thus simply, fail to disclose the real heroism surrounding each such victory, nor can they impart the sentiments which stir in every believer's heart as he contemplates the steady progress of his beloved Faith.
C~NOW as we face the prospect of the third year of this all-too-brief Seven Year Plan, are there not certain principles underlying the Administrative framework, which, if reestablished and reinforced would give wings to our historic enterprise?
ccThe prime essential, the National Teaching Committee believes, is the integrity in strength and unity of each local Assembly, for it is such integrity alone which guarantees a channel for the confirmations of Bahá'u'lláh. With unity as a base, tthe administrative institutions of the Faith, which are designed as vehicles for the proper dissemination of its ideals, its tenets, and its verities,' are equipped to throw their full weight behind the common Plan; without unity, they are powerless even to cooperate.
ttThe second principle, elaborated by the Guardian a year ago, will guarantee that constant expansion which is the clearest sign of health. tUpon the local Assemblies, whose special function and high privilege is to facilitate the admission of new believers into the community,' rests the duty ~ desist from insisting too rigidly on the minor observances and beliefs, which might prove a stumbling block in the way of any sincere applicant, whose eager desire is to enlist under the banner of Bahá'u'lláh.' In this connection it is interesting to note that,
Page 42among sixty-two Assemblies reporting, two hundred sixty-three new Bahá'ís have been enrolled. The work of certain Assemblies appears especially remarkable, i.e., Seattle with thirteen registrants, Los Angeles with forty-four, New York with forty-three, Chicago with twenty-nine and Lima with twenty-one (to March 15, 1939).
CCA third principle, and one which supplements the foregoing paragraph, is recognition of the fireside group as a teaching method which should be recommended to every community member.
For there is ample proof that the spirit and compelling influence of the Faith is perhaps more effectively transmitted through this medium of an informal group of friends, than in any other way.
Moreover, it permits everyone to become a teacher and to fulfill, in relation to those souls whom he has attracted, the continuing spiritual support to which the Guardian has but recently alluded.
The sixty-two Assembliesabove reported a total of one hundred thirty-one fireside meetings and all are also conducting study classes for new believers.
ttTh principle which truly distinguishes the achievements of this year from all past records is that of extension teacbing, � the choice by a local Assembly of nearby cities in which it is pledged to promulgate the Faith. This has been one of the chief goals held out for all Assemblies by the National Spiritual Assembly, and we are therefore happy to report that of the sixty-two Assemblies reporting, sixteen have opened fifty-nine new cities with regular study classes established in thirty-two of them.
Highest praise is due all participating communities, only a few of which can be mentioned in this restricted space.
C(Lima appointed an Extension Committee of thirteen, whose members consistently worked in six surrounding towns, relying upon prayer and well-devised tactics, which resulted in three memberships and three study classes. Binghamton lent most generous assistance to Scranton through frequent visits of teachers and large groups of the friends, and has also developed contacts in three other cities. The Los Angeles Extension Committee built its work around a six-lecture series which has been scheduled in several nearby towns and in Bakersfield, one hundred and twenty-five miles distant. Eliot sponsored extension teaching in five cities of New Hampshire and Maine, with a weekly study group in Portland formed by a member who moved there.
"Examples could be endlessly multiplied, but these are sufficient to demonstrate what an adventurous Assembly may accomplish in pioneer r6le. One factor of vital importance must not be overlooked, namely, the need to formulate followup plans and to carry on without interruption until the permanent establishment of the Cause.
"This review would be incomplete without mention of the use of radio by more and more communities.
The recent meeting of thein Los Angeles was preceded by seven related broadcasts.
Lima has conducted a daily morning program entitled tBahá'í School of the Air,' Vancouver, for the second time, organized a series of fireside groups in various homes with discussions centered about a radio presentation of the Faith. A definite result of the Springfield radio work was the registration as a Bahá'í of one whose first knowledge of Bahá'u'lláh came through this channel.
It would be impossible to estimate the accruing benefits which wider use of radio must bring.
'COne very important aspect of teaching work to which Assemblies must devote themselves more diligently is the development and training of teachers. We are rapidly approaching the time prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Bahá when we will not have suflici-ent teachers to meet the demands from the multitudes cwho are dying to be led to unity.'
Classes should be instituted for teacher training and every assistance and encouragement should be given to those new souis who are eager to develop their capacities along this line.
"The Summer Schools, carrying as they do, various courses to deepen the knowledge of the Faith and train the student in the proper presentation of the Teachings, have become an important teacher training institution and in the words of the Guardian, everyone without exception is urged to take advantage of attending it (the
Summer School).'appointed this year have, under the instructions of the National Spiritual Assembly, directed their particular attention to the stimulation and assistance of isolated believers, Bahá'í Groups, and study groups; while the extension of the Faith into new cities has become a major responsibility of local Assemblies. Although the jurisdiction of these respective agencies is thus clearly defined, a high degree of cooperation has, in certain areas, strengthened teaching programs and led to a greater efficiency and enthusiasm.
"At the same time, the Regional Committees have functioned as valued agents of the National Teaching Committee, dealing with local situations upon request, amplifying the national viewpoint, sending in suggestions, and in general making possible an immediate contact with the diverse teaching needs of this vast continent.
"That the work of the Regional Committees has been most efficient and constructive, no one who has followed the reports in BANAl NEWS can doubt, and the National Teaching Committee feels both pride in and gratitude for their devoted services.
Although limited as to space, two or three of their most striking achievements warrant notice.
~'The Committee of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia used its weekend meetings as opportunities to confer with the believers and assist in pioneer teaching. Each such meeting was scheduled in a different locality, and included a regional conference for Bahá'ís and a public or fireside meeting in a nearby city which lacked an Assembly. This Committee undertook to coordinate, route, and maintain up-to-date information on available teachers.
It sent out bulletins to isolated believers.It cooperated with the Vancouver Assembly in broadcasting for ten weeks on a station strong enough to reach regional fireside groups. As a result of its wide and persistent interests, the scope of Bahá'í influence in the Northwest has been notably increased.
"The Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois Regional Committee successfully organized teaching circuits in Michigan and Illinois, based upon the volunteer services of four teachers who were available to all Groups and study classes. One of the year's most outstanding projects was carried on in this Region, when Mrs. Marziah Nabil Carpenter gave forty-three lectures in thirteen towns surrounding the Louhelen Summer School, all to non-Bahá'í organizations upon Bahá'í subjects.
"The Committee for NewEngland has experimented with radio, in cooperation with the Radio Committee, to bring aid to small study classes in remote areas.
ttRegional work this year has confirmed the opinion that there are endless opportunities for growth in those localities where the Faith has been firmly rooted through the residence of one or a few believers.
Even more ingenuity must be used, however, in the future; more personal contact with isolated Bahá'ís is urgently required; and the harvest of newly-established Assemblies may well be greatly increased by next April through sustained and well-planned aid to our rapidly expanding
Groups."Starting the year with twenty-seven groups, we have seen the organization of fourteen more in the following localities: Tuskegee, Ala.; Atascadero, Calif.; Three Rivers, Mass.; Marysville, Mich.;
Atlantic City, N. J.; Jamestown, N. Y.; Scranton, Pa.;
San Antonio, Texas; Knoxville, Tenn.; Hinsdale, N. H.; Arlington, Va.; Bexley and Circieville, Ohio; and Eagle River, Wis.
Of the total, six have attained their goal and will elect Spiritual Assemblies on April 2 1st.
CCA remarkable vitality has been demonstrated by most of the Groups, together with a new understanding of their responsibilities in the Administrative Order.
Teaching activities, contributions to theThe Duluth friends, assisted by Miss Josephine Kruka, sponsored a three-weeks' campaign for Mr. Philip Marangella, including five public talks and several engagements with clubs. The Group in Albuquerque arranged an exhibit of the Temple model at the
New Mexico State Fairand another at a local store, and in addition has
Page 44held regular study and social meetings. The Marysyille Group sponsored four radio broadcasts and three exhibits of the Temple model in excellent business locations. Two radio talks were scheduled by the Madison believers, who have also been active in other fields of teaching.
The Knoxville Group was very active on the occasion of the meetings of the
National Spiritual Assemblyin that city, gaining a remarkable impetus therefrom. It has observed all Feasts and Anniversaries, held several regular classes, presented various outstanding Bahá'í speakers, and is now organizing an
Assembly.tCflQ~e cannot, as American Baha'is, enter the new year without real hopefulness at the thought of our thirty-two existing Groups, and a keen desire to consolidate them speedily into thriving
Spiritual Assemblies.CtJsolated believers, of whom there are three hundred and forty-three registered in two hundred and twenty-seven cities of forty-two states and five provinces, are truly the frontiersmen of the Cause.
They share, with those strong spirits who have chosen to pioneer, the inestimable privilege of laying the foundations, and establishing a nucleus from which a thriving Group and, in due course, a local Assembly may arise.
Surely the bounties and confirmations, promised to all pioneers, go with them as support for every lonely or discouraging hour. To each of them is specialized the opportunity to write, with his own hands, the unfolding history of this all-conquering Faith, and to exhibit such qualities of steadfastness and spiritual fortitude as are well-nigh impossible to the believer in more settled parts.
ttSome of the year's most valued work has developed through the efforts of isolated friends. Miss Lydia J. Martin, a teacher of the A. M. and N. College of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was able to schedule Mr. Louis G. Gregory as speaker and advisor for that school's Religious Emphasis Week. Mrs. Horace
Tillyer and Mr. LloydByars of Bakersfield, California, completed a major share of the arrangements for a Regional Conference, public meeting, and two radio talks, which were supported by eighty-eight Bahá'ís from sixteen communities.
Mrs.Marion Little of Covington, Louisiana, spon sored study groups during the visit of Mrs. Loulic A. Mathews, and was elected chairman of the Fellowship House donated to the city by Mrs. Mathews, at a dedication attended by sixty leading citizens.
ccThere have been fifty-nine new registrations during the year, thus enormously strengthening the outposts of our Cause.
Not one of these, nor of the other isolated Baha'is, can fail to contribute a unique and precious service to the Seven Year Plan, if each will but labor with confidence and energy. In the words of Shoghi Effendi, let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such assertions.'
EXHIBITS OF TEMPLE MODELSin an early Tablet, the Master stated that some material things have spiritual significance and that the Temple is one of these material objects having great spiritual effect. Symbolizing as it does the highest ideals of Bahá'í devotion, as well as the social principles of the Faith, none but can be affected by this visible evidence of the rise of the Faith throughout the land.
CtEhibit of the beautiful model of the Temple give the teaching work great impetus in any area.
Being tangible, it is something that can be easily grasped and discussed and it thus provides unending opportunity to present the Teachings through publicity and directly to large groups.
CCThe results of these exhibits at fairs, conferences, and congresses cannot be measured or overemphasized, and the Teaching Committee would urge all Assemblies, teachers, and Regional Committees not to overlook any opportunity to arrange for a display of a Temple model. The National Spiritual Assembly has made five models available to the Teaching Committee for this purpose and it is important that they be kept in constant use.
ttDuring the past year exhibits of the Temple model were arranged at Cornell University, at Vassar College, during the World Youth Congress at Toronto during the Canadian National Exposition, at Albuquerque at the New Mexico State Fair, at Urbana on the occasion of the meetings
Page 45of the National Spiritual Assembly in that city, at Port Huron, Flint, and Marysville in Michigan, at Santa Barbara, California, Wichita, Kansas, at the Temple of Religion and in the Bahá'í booth at the World's
Fair in San Francisco."Various Assemblies throughout the country have purchased models and use them most effectively in local and extension teaching activities.
ccstressing the great importance of these exhibits, the following is quoted from a recent letter from the Guardian to the National Spiritual
Assembly:cc C"fj~ Guardian is delighted at the steps which the N.S.A. has taken to arrange for a Bahá'í exhibit at the World's Fair to be held in San Francisco next spring, and also at the
New York World's Fair;on both of which occasions, he hopes, the Faith will be befittingly represented and given effective and widespread publicity.
He would urge your Assembly never to miss such opportunities of presenting the Cause to the general public, and would in particular recommend that such Bahá'í exhibits should in future be frequently and regularly held in various parts of the country, as they can be of far-reaching benefit to the teaching work in America.'
THE BAHÁ'Í TEMPLE AIR"The friends throughout the country received encouragement in their teaching work when they received through the air, shortly after the Convention of 1938, an air mail letter dispatched from 'X~iimette, carrying as the cachet a picture of the Bahá'í Temple. Airmailed from that center, this message of love, bearing the testimony of the city of W~ilmette, marked an interesting milepost in the progress of the Faith. In the early days the people of Wilmette were apprehensive and some were even opposed to the construction of the
Bahá'í House of Worship.Now they not oniy refer to it as tour Temple' but they use its replica to attract attention to their city. The Postmaster, writing to the National Assembly concerning the use of the Temple for this air mail cachet, said: tWe felt that in choosing this (Temple) for our design, we were taking the outstanding building, not oniy of Wilmette, but of the world, seeing that there is no other to coin-pare with it in architecture.'
NORTH AMERICA TEACHINGhas witnessed, not only the settlement of tHoly Souls' in every State and Province, but a tremendous movement of pioneers into all parts of the country.
ccThe new spirit released by the Guardian, three years ago, in inaugurating the Seven Year Plan, has during this, the third year of the Phn, brought such energy and enthusiastic service, that the entire Baha Community has arisen as one unit to spread over the entire country, the celixir that is life itself.'
This year has found isolated believers becoming veritable Light Houses in the surrounding darkness; groups are growing in numbers, and assuming more and more administrative activity; Assemblies have intensified the creative aspect of their functions by increasingly successful teaching efforts and extension of their benign influence into surrounding cities; and above all, the spirit of zeal and daring of our pioneers has been an unending example of Baha fortitude and sacrificial service. Throughout the entire country the spiritual victories which have been achieved, and the divine confirmations which have descended in such torrents, have astonished even the participants themselves. Has the third year of the Divine Plan laid the foundation for the rearing of the divine edifice in America, contemplated by the Master in the
Divine Plan?C! cNow strive ye that the Collective Center of the sacred religions � for the inculcation of which all the Prophets were manifested and which is no other than the spirit of the Divine Teachings � be spread in all parts of America, so that each one of you may shine forth from the horizon of Reality Like unto the morning star, divine illumination may overcome the darkness of nature, and the world of humanity may become enlightened. This is the most great work! Should you become confirmed therein, this world will become another world, the surface of the earth will become the delectable Paradise, and eternal Institutions be founded.'
ttThe teaching work during the third yearThe Bahá'í booth in the Communications building of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Behind the Temple model is shown a detail of the design for the dome ornamentation.
Page 47of the Seven Year Plan developed in every direction and from every standpoint.
Most outstanding of the fields of accomplishment, were the collective efforts in the following types of service: r~First: The development of pioneer services in virgin areas. Not only early in the year were the nine remaining States and Provinces settled with Baha'i, but a total of 44 souls moved into virgin areas on the North American continent.
erSecond: The growth in numbers and activity of the groups. This year has witnessed groups taking on the responsibilities of Community Life, including fireside teaching; extension teaching work, active support of the National Fund; and active local teaching.
The number of groups has increased to 63 at this writing, at least ten of which will become
Assemblies April 2 1st.Third: The intensification of teaching by Assemblies.
The creative or teaching aspect of our Assembly life has been greatly augmented, resulting in more Fireside Gatherings than previously; more public teaching campaigns, more study classes, and more extension work than ever before. The pioneer spirit has caught the imagination of the Friends and in Assembly life is manifesting itself in the ciPioneer at Home' movement. This bids fair to become one of the most important of our Assembly teaching activities.
Fourth: The increasingly important services of our Regional Committees.
So excellent have the activities of these teaching arms of the Faith become, that the National Assembly has authorized a section of the BAHÁ'Í NEWS to report their work, designated tAfield with our Regionals.'
The Regional Committeesare corresponding individually with the 363 Isolated Believers, encouraging and assisting the 63 groups; and particularly serving the pioneers.
repifth. The exhibits of the models of the Temple, particularly at the 'World's
Fairs in San Franciscoimportance of these exhibits may be understood when we learn that at the two World's Fairs alone, some 300,000 pieces of literature were distributed.
Sixth: The great spirit of loving and unified service which the Seven Year Plan is developing. Perhaps for the first time the Administrative channels of the Faith, can successfully canalize the spin and achievements of the Friends, for the welfare of the Faith as a whole. The attitude of the tGood Shepherd,' in dealing with all problems brings healing and spiritual strength and carries the realization that all the Institutions of the Faith at this time are to intensify the teaching services of the friends.
PIONEER TEACHING"The spirit of pioneering, almost without our notice, has penetrated more and more the heart of each believer, and the activities of every local and national administrative agency.
Almost the entire emphasis of teaching work during the past twelve months has been pioneer; the reports which have appeared in BAHÁ'Í NEWS have been vitalized by the words and achievements of our fellow-workers who have ventured into untouched territories, there to discover that the promises so long given by the Master are now literally fulfilled; the deliberations of the
National and RegionalTeaching Committees have centered about the extension and consolidation of work in these areas newly-claimed for the Cause; even in local communities, where circumstances have prevented many valiant souL from hastening to answer the pioneer call, the friends have found means to turn their thoughts and plans to pioneering goals.
The whole American Communitythrobs with this new energy, propelled by the dynamic messages of the Guardian into the initial stage of a World Mission, the harvest of which is tfore-ordained, incalculably rich, everlastingly glorious.'
ccThe conquest of North America moves through successive waves of effort and sacrifice. First, in every State and Province yet unsettled, by Convention time of 1939 a preliminary line of defense had been established. After them throughout the year fob lowed a larger number of valiant soldiers to strengthen every outpost area. The attached summary indicates the positions held by these forty-four settlers and the victories already won.
In six of the ten original pioneer territories � Alaska, Delaware, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, and Manitoba � be
Page 48lievers have been enrolled and three Ba1~'i groups are added. Twelve States and Provinces besides have become the centers of function for Bahá'í settlers.
ttThe third aspect of this mighty motion is the ceaseless activity of traveling teachers, some twenty-five of whom have labored in these areas without Assemblies.
"Perhaps the most phenomenal advance has been gained in the Southern States, Canada, and Alaska. In 1936 the South had not as yet fulfilled the expectations of the Master as set forth in the Divine Plan. Vhs words written in 1917 still, in large degree, described the condition of the Cause in that region: tno adequate and befitting motion has been realized and no great acclamation and acceleration has been witnessed.' In sixteen States there existed otidy eight Assemblies, two groups and forty-six isolated believers, while six of the States possessed no Bahá'ís at all. In three years those statistics have been vastly altered, until today there are nine Assemblies, twelve groups, ninety isolated friends, and no States without a believer. Last year new and intensive teaching was carried on in Miami, New Orleans, Charleston, W. Va., Huntington, Louisville, and other cities. Twenty-five of the year's pioneers have permanently settled in the South, and thus tthe fragrance of holiness (is) diffused with swiftness and rapidity.'
t~The achievement in Canada has been equally notable.
Tn 1936 there were Assemblies in Montreal and Vancouver alone, with no groups listed and oniy four isolated believers. In 193 8 the Assemblies of Toronto, St. Lambert, and Moncton were organized. But in the year just past the Faith swept iike a fire across the Prairie Provinces, in public campaigns in such cities as Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Calgary; and in the settlement of three Vancouver Bahá'ís in Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Meanwhile on the Atlantic Coast, Nova Scotia was settled by three believers; in Toronto the numbers were rapidly increased, youth work prospered, and the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly brought wide recognition; while in Hamilton extension teaching from Toronto, together with the concentrated efforts of such workers as Mabel Ives and Doris McKay, raised this Bahá'í group almost to Assembly status.
April, 1940, will find believers in every Province, four Assemblies, two groups, and nineteen isolated Baha'is.
(CA third dramatic episode was the winning of Alaska, conquered last April by Honor Kempton's move to Anchorage. The work was further strengthened by Betty Becker who followed in Juneau; by the enrollment of Janet Whiteneck, in Fairbanks, the first Alaskan believer; and now by the residence of Joy Allen.
ttlt is not our purpose in this summary to recount the experiences of our pioneers, heroes everyone, possessing such equalities 0f renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate fervor' as to carry them through every testing and cheer them in every lonely hour. Theirs has been the high privilege to tbrave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles,' that the Name of Bahá'u'lláh might be established throughout these lands. They have won the first victories.
Ours now to insure the security and provide for the steady expansion of the work initiated in those territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable
Faith.'CCPh the scene of greatest teaching development this year has been among the Baha groups. Whereas there were 32 groups a year ago, there are at this date 63, of which ten have already been authorized to elect Local Spiritual
Assemblies on April 21st. Among the ten is Omaha which will become the first Bahá'í Community in the State of Nebraska.
c(Of the 63 Bahá'í groups functioning at this time, twenty were organized for the first time this year, and it is worthy of note that of this number nine are offsprings of established communities, having conformed with the principle that where there are two or more Bahá'ís representing more than one family in a given locality, they should form a group and work toward the establishment of an Assembly in that locality.
Of these nine, two Groups (Beverly Hills and Burbank, California) are becoming
Local Spiritual Assembliesthis year. Five of the twenty are in cities where no Bahá'ís were living
Page 49Orleans, Louisiana; Providence, Rhode Island; and Bristol,
Wisconsin.tcTwenty~seven Bahá'í groups sent in annual reports and of this number fifteen indicated that fireside meetings constitute their most successful teaching effort. A few are holding more or less regular meetings, the speakers being supplied through the Regional Teaching Committee or nearby Assemblies. Very effective exhibitions of the Temple Models were arranged by eight Groups during the year and several of them were productive of unusually fine publicity in the local newspapers and on the radio.
ttJn addition to their greatly accelerated teaching work this year, all Bahá'í groups have demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility for the progress of the Faith as a whole. This has been reflected particularly in their increased support of the Bahá'í Fund, their greater use of the services of all national Bahá'í committees, and their wholehearted cooperation with the National and
Regional Teaching Committeesas well as their willingness to extend teaching assistance to neighboring groups and isolated Baha'is.
LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES"The resistless appeal of Shoghi Effendi has again stirred our hearts and caused in our midst that restlessness and urgent desire which are the propulsive forces of our Faith. Again we are to break the limitations that bind us, achieve a new goal which shall be the foundation of a yet more glorious stage. For the Guardian has called for one hundred Local
Spiritual Assembliesby April 2 1st! At this hour we can name but ten of the required tnewly-fledged Assemblies'; yet we await the date with hopefulness, knowing well that the capacity resides in the American community if this challenge but release it. CtWhen we contemplate that these Cvar1~ ous Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the bedrock upon the strength of which the Universal House is in future to be firmly established and raised,' we can appreciate with clearer vision the absolute necessity of this expansion, and must derive fresh hope from the quickening vitality which our Assemblies have so strikingly exhibited this year. Both at home and afield, tthrough all the resources at their disposal they are promoting the growth and consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their Administrative Order has been primarily designed and erected.'
ttThe concept of pioneering at home is a development of the past few months, a channel through which those unable to leave their homes and responsibilities may yet share in the glorious World Mission. A definition of this form of pioneering was carried in BAnA 'i NEWS for October, 1939, based upon a plan originated by the Milwaukee Spiritual Assembly. We quote: tThe suggestion is that each Assembly, alive to its responsibility within its own city limits and in nearby communities, should survey these areas which so literally depend upon its resourcefulness and conscientious administration of the teaching program for that news which is the priceless introduction to God's guidance and Word. Through the use of a map, mounted on cardboard and displayed for all to see, the soldiers of the campaign could be charted, just as we chart the centers of Bahá'í life throughout the continent.
Based on the position of each believer, as well as upon those factors which determine normal regions of activity in any city, the Assembly could then outline its pioneer plan.
Contacts could be made, neighborhood newspapers utilized, firesides established, teaching dr-cuits arranged; in fact, all the techniques of our national and international work could be locally applied. Such a program, comprehensive in scope, effective in method, aimed to cut down and eventually to obliterate the blank spaces of our Bahá'í maps, could well rally and direct the energies of every individual.
Thus each Spiritual Assembly, at the head of its own "army of life," might join the heroic campaign in which our valiant brothers are already engaged.'
CtwWe are advised that twenty-four Assemblies adapted the plan to their own communities and sixteen have reported fine re-suits, particularly in the growth of fireside groups in new sections of their cities.
tcThe ingenuity of the friends in discovering opportunities for pioneering is perhaps the most cheerful part of this program.
Page 50Three exhibitions of the model of the Bahá'í Temple which is in its final stage of construction at Wil-mete, , Illinois. Above: Exposed in a florist shop at Binghamton, N. Y. Below, left: Display at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque, N. M. Below, right: Exhibited in a florist shop window in Port Huron, Mich.
Page 51Berkeley wrote: tWe tried to imagine what could happen if all of us who have worked here so long were removed and one fresh pioneer Bahá'í arrived .' The result was a series of nineteen firesides in both Bahá'í and non-Bah~i'i homes, with a total attendance of 393, of whom 225 were not believers. In Los Angeles the city was divided into nine sections with a plan for firesides in each, conducted by cteachers of experience, preferably the newer ones, accompanied by a relatively inexperienced assistant,' and stressing 'hospitality and warmth.'
Thirty Bahá'í registrations were the outcome, the highest number achieved by any
Local Assembly. New Havenbased its efforts upon tThe Advent of Divine Justice,' with ta deliberate attempt to attract the negro race in this city.' It also pioneered among the blind by placing Baha Braille books with the State Board of Education for the Blind.
Chicago experimented with a group of 150 contacts, visitors to the Temple exhibits at Treasure Island and the Wisconsin State Fair, and through a series of entertainments and meetings, gradually transmuted their curiosity into genuine interest and a desire to study. t'We are greatly encouraged with the result of this continuity of effort .'
New York reached a wide audience of strangers by providing speakers for churches, clubs, museums, and Latin American groups, as did twenty-nine other Assemblies. It also sponsored a teaching campaign within the Polish population.
That these and many other methods of pioneering at home attained success is evidenced by the fact that sixty-five Assemblies enrolled 249 new members within the year.
ttThere is almost unanimous agreement that the fireside meeting is the heart of teaching vitality and the source of future growth.
Through these informal groups which any believer may start, with his own friends and contacts as nucleus, inquirers are imbued with the desire for study classes. Such classes, as a rule, are conducted under the direction of the Local Assemblies; through consistent and intensive lessons they provide the basis for Bahá'í membership and expand the knowledge of those who are already supporters of the Faith.
Sixty Assemblies sponsored such study classes, while more than 175 individuals held regular fireside meetings in fifty-seven communities.
"Local Spiritual Assemblieshave also exerted great influence through extension teaching work. Here again various methods have been followed.
Sixteen Assemblies have opened twenty-seven new cities to the Faith, with the help of over fifty Baha teachers. In addition, seventy-nine other individuals became isolated believers, and of these thirty-eight moved to cities without Baha'is. There were, moreover, another 161 believers representing forty-two Assemblies who made teaching trips.
(cThi motion of communities outward to other centers has in some cases involved real sacrifice. The loss of capable individuals to the pioneer field has meant redoubled effort at home, and the necessity to train fresh workers to replace them. Vancouver and Miami are examples of Assemblies which have contributed most remarkably to pioneer settlement.
Through the establishment of Bahá'í Groups, Assembly rolls have also been diminished, as in the case of Detroit with twelve members, five of whom withdrew to form a Group in Grosse Pointe, five in Dearborn, and two in Lincoln Park.
This ~meant reelection to the Spiritual Assembly and reorganizing of committees.'
Still another method was the removal of believers to a given center to create a Bahá'í Group where none had existed. Thus the Los Angeles community, having some membership in Beverly Hills, sufficiently increased the numbers in that city to organize a Local Assembly this year.
CCDifficult as this process may be, the rewards of extension teaching are high, for through these very sacrifices the Faith is broadcast, finds root, and firmly establishes itself in untouched regions; while at home latent capacity is aroused and a surpassing goal set and achieved.
~'At this time the Localface a tremendous challenge and opportunity. Their eighty-five Bahá'í communities actually embrace 250 cities! When will the Faith be independently secured in each?
ISOLATED BELIEVERSCCWith three hundred and sixty-three isolated Ba1A'is in the United States and
Page 52Canada, the outposts of the Faith are penetrating all regions. When we consider that the tpioneers~ who have forsaken home ties and Bahá'í associations, become active isolated believers in difficult areas, we can appreciate the value of the services of the isolated believers, who have kept the Light of the Faith burning, in less difficult areas, for these many years.
With the assistance of the Regional Committees, these isolated believers can so enrich the Faith by their persistent teaching efforts, that the future is very bright for the building up of new groups, and finally
Spiritual Assemblies.Perhaps the isolated Bahá'ís do not realize the great bounty that can be theirs if they redouble their efforts, as without breaking ties of home and friends, they have the possibility of achieving the same victories for the Faith, as the pioneer. In addition to this they can secure immediate assistance from nearby Assemblies or groups, or the Regional Committee.
(cT1~e isolated Bahá'ís during the past year have shown renewed devotion, and have achieved new goals, in their paths of service.
The pulsating life of ~pioneering' has reached them in full force, and has produced a deepening of understanding, and a greater appreciation of responsibility, and the attending glorious opportunity it affords.
REGIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEESCommittee feels particular pride in the vigorous functioning of the thirteen Regional Committees, to whose consistent and able administration the National Assembly has entrusted the development of Bahá'í groups and isolated believers. Mindful of the Guardian's words, these Committees have truly felt tthe vital and urgent necessity of insuring, within as short a time as possible, the formation of groups, however small and rudimentary, and of providing every facility within their power to enable these newly-formed nuclei to evolve, swiftly and along sound lines, into properly functioning, self-sufficient, and recognized Assemblies.'
Not only have they, as responsible agents, relieved the National Committee of a vast burden of work, but through their own initiative they have originated valued methods, undertaken wider interests, terests, trained and utilized a growing army of teachers, and helped to produce the Local Spiritual Assemblies for which the Guardian has called.
"In an attempt to portray their manifold activities, a monthly column, tAfield with Our RegionaL,' was instituted in BAHAI Nrws.
The present account can hope to mention oniy a few of the more striking accomplishments.
"The Committee f or California, Arizona, and Nevada succeeded this year in contacting personally almost every group and iso-hted friend in California, This involved travel on the part of the Secretary from San Diego to Lakeport, a distance one way of eight hundred miles. During this ambitious teaching iourney, in which she was joined at various points by local Baha'is, Mrs. Valeria Thornton visited 10 groups, 50 isolated believers, and several additional towns where interested persons were reported; she spoke in firesides, distributed literature, enlisted support for teaching plans, modernized the concepts of many Baha who had been out of touch with the main stream of the Cause for years, and was able to determine which areas would best respond to intensive work. The National Committee followed her course with deep interest, for it has long been apparent that some such survey should be made in every part of the
United States and Canada."Another heroic journey was accomplished in the South last June by the Committee for Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Four dauntless teachers, � the Secretary, Miss Nellie Roche, Mrs. Georgia Wiles, Mrs. Louise Caswell, and Mrs. Terah Smith � organizing themselves as a Baha Institute, carried the benefits of Summer School to the Bahá'í communities of Knoxville, Atlanta, and Augusta.
They traveled twelve hundred miles, finding everywhere tthe greatest spirit of enthusiasm and dedication to the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláhCCAble planning and execution has been the keynote of success of the Committee for Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Each member accepted responsibility for a section of the region and frequent meetings were scheduled in all of the responsive Groups. The teachers were prepared with a series of
Page 53at least five talks, ~ be given as intensive campaigns in these cities, attracting a few people who might be developed into study groups.'
Special emphasis was given the work in Waukcgan, Madison, and Batavia, as well as in Ann Arbor, Marysville, and several other groups.
Concrete results were the preparation for Assemblies in Waukegan and Madison.
Two exhibits of the Temple model were arranged, with the help of Local Bahá'í Assemblies, at the Illinois and Wisconsin
State Fairs.CcTh Committee for Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island achieved a remarkable success in several fields. The circuit of the Temple model for exhibits in Providence, West Haven, Rutland, Keene, Springfield, Boston, Portsmouth, Dover, Portland, and (possibly) Bangor was unparalleled throughout the country.
Its intercommunity conferences and library placements of Bahá'í books; its spontaneous cooperation with the two Bahá'í pioneers of Vermont and Rhode Island; its sustained assistance to groups through a series of four lectures, together with radio broadcasting; these and other activities gave high distinction to the year's work.
"Space will not permit the mention of all of our Committees. Yet the prospect of these diverse undertakings must redouble our faith in Cthe invincible army of Bahá'u'lláh which, however insignificantly small and poorly equipped materially it may appear, is endowed nevertheless with such celestial strength as will undoubtedly enable it to break down one by one every barrier it may encounter in its spiritual conquest for the redemption and guidance of human souls.'
TFMrLE MODEL EXHIBITSccThe most outstanding methods of publicizing the Faith, and teaching both directly and indirectly, was the exhibit of the model of the Temple. Indeed, we have found, that even before the completion of the Temple, the Master's promises that tth Temple would become the first and most important teacher' has become fulfilled.
"At the World's Fair inwas arranged displaying a model of the Temple and Bahá'í literature.
Attendants were present at all times, to explain the significance of the Temple, and the distinguishing features of the Faith, as well as distribute teaching literature. Millions of people were attracted to the beauty of the Temple, and thousands inquired concerning the Faith.
Free teaching literature was distributed to the extent of some 200,000 pieces.
CCAt the World's Fair inBooth was arranged, uniquely displaying a model of the Temple. Attendants were present at all times and unending opportunity permitted tconveying the message' to thousands. Over 60,000 pieces of free literature were distributed.
"A second exhibit of the Temple model was arranged in the World's Fair in San Francisco, in the exhibit rooms of the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace. It was not possible to distribute literature at this exhibit; but inasmuch as the Temple occupied a very conspicuous position, practically everyone who entered the exhibit rooms, viewed the Temple model.
The Temple of ReligionOfficers estimate over 600,000 people viewed the exhibits.
"The Bahá'í Booth at theExposition attracted thousands, giving the attendant opportunity to teach, and resulting in many fine contacts.
Over 15,000 pieces of free literature were distributed.
ccPerhaps the outstanding exhibit of the Temple model at State Fairs, was the one arranged by the Milwaukee Assembly, at the Wisconsin
State Fair. Attendantswere present at the Booth responding to the many teaching opportunities presented. There were some 18,000 visitors at the Booth, and about 2500 pieces of literature were distributed.
"Another outstanding exhibit, was that in Sacramento, Calif., at the annual flower show. This exhibit, prepared by the Junior Garden Clubs of Sacramento, under Bahá'í direction, portrayed the Temple in a garden with flowers from all countries of the world. It was especially mentioned by the Management, and won one of the first prizes.
(CAt Newark, New Jersey, the model was displayed at the ~ model of the New York World's Fair in miniature.
Page 54There were about 4000 visitors daily. The Management conceded that the Temple Model display was the outstanding single exhibit.
ttLil(cwise requiring special mention, is the exhibit arranged in Butte, Montana, at the WPA Art Center.
Groups were brought in from all parts of the county to view it. One Photography Group made a special study of methods of photographing it. Inquiry has been received as to whether we could permit this Model to be sent from Art center to Art center, throughout the State.
CCAt all exhibits where a Bahá'í Booth was maintained, an attendant was present at all times. Those interested were asked to register in guest books. These names and addresses were sent to the nearest Assembly, group, or Regional Committee for active followup. The Chicago Assembly report that one of its outstanding teaching successes of the year, was the followup contacts made at the various Fairs. One hundred fifty of these people responded to an invitation to a musicale and reception, planned by the Assembly to establish a friendly contact, as a foundation for more direct presentation of the Faith.
ccThe records of the Teaching Committee show that there were thirty-seven displays of the Temple model this year; over 300,000 pieces of teaching literature were distributed, and the ~Message' given to thousands of people. Undoubtedly, other exhibits were arranged by Assemblies owning Temple models, which were not reported to the Committee. The Teaching Committee, with the 6 models assigned to it for teaching purposes, has not been able to meet the demands, and it is hoped more models can be made available before the coming Fall.
STATISTICAL REVIEW OF TEACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTStcWhil statistics do not and cannot convey anything of the reality of service, yet they do indicate to a small extent, the effort put forth, and the immediate tangible re-following summary will suits. Thus the prove of interest:
MARCHNew Assemblies to be formed Baha groups53 New groups formed28 Isolated Bah&is363
Cities where Faithestablished576 States and Provinces with no Groups or Assemblies28
States and Provinceswith no Bahá'ís None '~Authorized as of March 15, 1940.
MARCH 15, 1939 78 34315, 1937 73 246 259 ccTh Bahá'í Faith now established in 576 cities in this country, is brought about by 85 Assemblies having a total of 250 cities represented in their rolls, while the 63 groups have a total of 72 cities represented. The 363 isolated believers represent 244 cities.
CCThe number of pioneers entering virgin areas for settlement during the year was 42, as against 15 during the second year of the Plan, and 20 during the first year.
CCA total of 202 Fireside Gatherings are being held regularly throughout the country.
CCDuring the year 27 new cities have been opened to the Faith.
tc56 Assemblies report 425 adults and youth attended Summer Schools last year from their respective communities."
Page 55A statement prepared by Miss Marion Holley for the Teaching Committee describes clearly and graphically the tart played by the pioneer in the larger teaching plans of the current years. F. cerpts from this statement follow: lo GRASP the scope and development of pioneer teaching in the first years of the Seven-Year Plan, it is needful to survey the evolution of the Faith in America through a much longer period, gaining thereby a perspective by which events and accomplishments may be related both causally and in just proportion. As one steps back for this long view, the first recognition is that for fifteen years an instrument was being forged � the Administrative Order � its full use unguessed until, at the moment of climax, the Guardian directed it to the fulfillment of America's spiritual mission. Thus the whole movement of the Cause in this continent, since the unfoldment of the
COMPARATIVE FIGURES 193 51936Cities where Faith established 259 New Cities opened 33
No Groups or Assembliesin 7 No registered Bahá'ís in 12 No registered Bahá'ís in 3 "During the two and a half years of the Seven-Year Plan, there were twenty Assern-blies organized and forty Groups, with 190 cities newly opened to the Faith.
And by the end of the second year, the initial phase had been traversed, with the settlement of pioneers in every State and Province of North America, including
Alaska.CCDespite the enthusiasm aroused, or such examples as that of the Entzminger family, who early in 1937 moved from California to Oklahoma City to establish the Faith, no full realization of their responsibility to f or-sake home and attachments had come to the body of the American Baha'is. Again in August, 1937, a heartfelt appeal was voiced by the Guardian: cWho among its stalwart defenders will arise, untrammelled (and) unafraid, to implant its banner in those Divine Plan by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been a mighty groundwork, a preparation for that day when the theme of pioneer endeavor, first declared in the deeds of those who responded to His immediate call, might be repeated, but in a style immeasurably more powerful and complex, in the Seven-Year Plan, this Plan itself a prelude oniy to the destined glorious, worldwide achievement of the American Baha Community.
"To appreciate the phenomenal advance of the American community, in response to this and the Guardian's successive life-im-parting messages, it is well to compare the status of teaching work as of May 1, 1936, and November 15, 1939.
193 91940 349 347o States o Provinces States, Provinces (and) Countries where its standard is still unhoisted?'
"From this period there seemed to enter into the Faith an unmistakable momentum which henceforth mounted steadily, appearing ever more vigorously in the activities of pioneer settlers, travelling teachers,
Regional Committees, Assembliesin their extension teaching, Groups, and isolated believers. Through the medium of fireside and public meetings, teaching circuits, inter-community conferences, exhibits of the Temple model, newspaper and radio publicity, and an infinite variety of contacts, the limits of the Faith were steadily expanded. More and more all work tended to be pioneering, if not afield or in undeveloped areas, then at home among widening groups of inquirers. Monthly the columns of BAHÁ'Í NEWS re
Page 562 L Official post cards of the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair and the 1939 New York World's Fair showing the different Bahá'í exhibits.
Page 57corded the story of cooperative achievement, proving by a wealth of detail beyond the capacity of this survey to recapture, the indispensability of every individual and organized effort in the spiritual conquest of the continent.
CCJ~ sixteen States of the South there existed only eight Assemblies, two Groups, and forty-six isolated believers in 1936, while six of the States possessed no Bahá'ís at all. It was to one of these, Oklahoma, that the Entzminger family of four members moved in January, 1937, settling in Oklahoma City. Although some work had been done there previously by Orcella Rexford and Edwinna Powell, there were but few contacts left and none of these Baha'is. Despite almost insurmountable odds of ill health, long unemployment and rapidly-dwindling resources, Alice and Albert Entzminger so faithfully exemplified the life of the Cause that within one year's time a Spiritual Assembly had been gathered, holding its first election in April, 1938.
ttAnother remarkable example of consistent effort through settlement was that of Louise Caswell in Knoxville, Tennessee, who established residence in the summer of 1937 and saw the fruit of her constancy in the organization of a Spiritual Assembly, April, 1939. This region was greatly assisted by the pioneering of the
National Spiritual Assemblywhich met in Nashville in January, 1937, and in Knoxville in February, 1939.
Through firsthand experience the members were enabled to grasp the problems and opportunities of the South as never before, and a teaching policy was de. veloped which was the basis for all subsequent work.
C(In Texas study groups were formed in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas through the labors of such teachers as Mrs. Katherine Frankland, Mr. A. Kiuss, Mr. and Mrs. Ward Caihoon, Mine. Gita Orlova, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Smith, and Mr. H. R. Huribut. Other cities opened to the Faith by various believers included Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Winterhaven, Denton, and El Paso.
ctArkansas which had been numbered among the States deprived of the influence of the Teachings, became the seat of great activity in 193 839.
Miss Rezsi Sunshine opened a business in Hot Springs, carrying on regular meetings in this city and in Little Rock.
In Pine Bluff Miss LydiaShe was able to arrange a month of intensive teaching by Louis Gregory, who also conducted the school's Religious Emphasis Week, and a study group has continued. Marvin Newport spoke before service clubs and churches in
Little Rock.~'Covington, Louisiana, received the gift of a Fellowship House from Mrs. Loulie Mathews which, under the direction of Mrs. Marion Little, has become a community center.
New Orleans was settled by three pioneers, Mrs.ccwwest Virginia, another virgin area, became the home of Harold Hunt in Huntington and Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Dali in Charleston.
Other teaching was done by Marion Holley, who visited six cities, and by Orcella Rexford, Dr.
Gregory, and Miss EireNicklin. A Group was formed in Arlington, Virginia, while in Richmond Mrs. Ethel Murray and Mrs. Louise Boyle established residence for some months.
As the outcome of two months spent by Mrs. Grace Ober in Louisville, Kentucky, a study group was carried forward by Miss Virginia Tay-br. A large group resulted in Tuskegee, Alabama, from a four-months' visit by Louis Gregory, who also taught in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Normal. Walter Blakely pioneered in Birmingham in 19373 8 and in 1939 Miss Martha Fettig continued the development of this area.
Another project of Mr. Gregory's brought several Baha registrations in Memphis, Tennessee, to which city it' jtr' 1JL , � C,' ct4~jk~~t saS~aP 4~, � ~ �1
ItFacsimile of two letters written by Professor F. G. Browne, of Cambridge University, concerning the Baha Faith.
cially recognized religions; recourse to them would thus be a denial of that truthfulness which is the basis of the Bahá'í Faith. After being questioned, the Friends are released on bail.
ttTh Bahá'ís are summoned in an unusual way; they are almost always called in on Thursday; since Thursday afternoon and Friday all offices are closed, they are thus imprisoned two days and two nights.
From 200 to 400 riimins bail is required of each person contracting marriage.
Since other Bahá'ís almost always furnish the bail and thus few persons are imprisoned for long, the authorities now ask for cash bail. The Assembly has appointed a commission to take charge of all such cases, and these persons with great self sacrifice stand ready to help at all times, personally attending court and smoothing every difficulty. The Assembly has likewise called a second commission to supply the cash bail. Besides the sums pledged by this second commission, its mem bers have also offered funds for the aid of couples who have been imprisoned or dismissed from jobs as a result of the marriage. The National Assembly has directed that all Assemblies throughout Inn reserve a special fund for this purpose, so that imprisonment, and the suffering of families of contracting parties, will not result.
"On occasion some of the authorities are brutal, and some use obscene expressions in addressing Baha'is, even the women; but others admit that the Bahá'ís are innocent and say they are taking action oniy because they are obliged to. Some of the questioners and judges say they know the Bahá'ís are trying to achieve official recognition by this means, but will never succeed; the Bahá'ís answer that they are not trying to break the laws, as proved by the fact that they officially register and notify the authorities of all marriages, but that they cannot in conscience use the provided legal channels.
CtThe Friends, and especially the women,although they have never undergone such experiences before, have stood up wonderfully in the courts, demonstrating their sincerity and their knowledge of the teachings. In some cases the officials have been remarkably moved, and astonished that even peasants could respond as they have. Some of the Bahá'ís have said they would be proud to go to prison for the Cause, and others, fully realizing the severe penalties, have not hesitated to contract Bahá'í marriages.
Daily the authorities see that their persecutions, far from frightening the Bahá'ís have increased the number of marriages, and the Department of Justice is being filled with talk of Bahá'í principles because Bahá'í married coupies are constantly summoned for questioning.
c(From eight days to six months' imprisonment has been the penalty so far imposed; even women have been sentenced to imprisonment for some days. The Friends usually appeal the case; a fine can be substituted for a sentence of two months or less. Oddly, although the act is the same, the penalty always varies according to the degree of fanaticism of the judge.
ccVictims of this law constantly petition the Department of Justice, the Cabinet and His Majesty.
Recently when one of the Bahá'ís presented a petition to the Royal Office, an order was sent (to Qazvin) saying that since the petitioner had broken the law and had further had the effrontery to tell his crime to the Sh4h, he was to be severely punished.
CCTil individual cases follow: In KishAn, Hasan Nisih, 'Abbas Bay~14'i, and Ahmad Yazd~ini, were sentenced to from three to four months' imprisonment.
In Najaf-ibid, 'Abdu'1-}jusayn Jini freely chose a month's imprisonment rather than pay the fine. In Yazd, Aqiy-i-Bay~ni, in Tihr4n Mu~addiqi TMiq~ni, have been sentenced to four months in prison.
In Bandar-i-Jaz, for contractingMashliad reports that among Bahá'ís contracting marriage who have been persecuted recently is .AqAy-i-Yazd6n-Parast, who was questioned, sent to prison, and after some days released on 200 t6m~ns bail. Brought to trial, he was sentenced to two months and five days in jail but has appealed the case. Than~i'u'1hh FurM of Sabziv6x, was likewise imprisoned, then released on 200 tiim4ns bail, pending trial. Aqiy � i-T4hiri was sentenced to seventy days in jail and has appealed the case. In Birj and, Muhammad-Ri44 Majidi wrote the Registry Office: ~I have married Layli Kh4num Majidi according to the procedure of my religion, ttBahA'i" I request that you designate the manner of registering this marriage.' Following further correspondence he awaits trial.
"General reports show that whenever the Friends list their religion in a Government bureau as Baha'i, the bureaus refuse to em-pioy them; those previously employed, when renewing their registration papers, are subjected to all sorts of difficulties if they describe themselves as Baha'is. If, however, they leave the religions column blank, the officials fill it in themselves with the word 'Muslim' and discharge anyone who protests."
The more detailed report of persecution inflicted upon the Bahá'ís by the government of Reza ShTh Pahiavi follows this survey of international Baha activity.
PROGRESS OF TEACHINGThe constructive teaching work of the Bahá'ís of IrAn, on the other hand, has intensified during this period. "A great wave of teaching activity, resulting from the Guardian's stirring and repeated messages to the Bahá'ís of tr~n," we learn from the report already cited, "is now sweeping over the country, the teaching work, carried on by women as well as by men, is winning new recruits of every type, even from the ranks of the clergy, and the fire and consecration of the new believers recalls the earliest heroes of the Cause. Meanwhile the consolidation of the Administrative Order continues in full force despite every obstacle "Not a moment's neglect is permissible. Slackness and carelessness would result in the retrogression of the community, and the increased boldness and audacity of that heedless, tyrannical group." This the Guardian pointed out to the Bahá'ís of IrAn in a message sent after the election of their National Spiritual Assembly in 1938.
Page 76Only a few brief citations can be made from the extensive material available on this engrossing subject; 'tThere are twenty-two Bahá'í administrative districts in Inn. Each of these has an appointed center, known as the District Spiritual Assembly, which serves to coordinate all Assemblies in its area with the National
Spiritual Assembly. TheseDistrict Assemblies are numbered as follows, their districts being given in parentheses: 1. 1sf i-Mn (IsfAbin).
2. Tabriz (Adhirbiyj~n).3. AMdih (Abidih). 4. Bandar-i-Jaz (Ban-dar-i-Jaz). 5. BAbul (BAbul). 6. Maslihad (Khur6sin).
7. Ahv4z (Khiizist~n).'tr&q ('Iraq). 13. Shir~z (F6xs). 14. Bir-land, (QA'init). 15. Quazvin
(Quazvin and Zanj~n).16. K~sh&n (K~sMn). 17. Kirmin (Kirmin). 18. KirmThsh6h (Kir-minshAMn). 19. Rasht (Gum). 20. Nay-riz (Nayriz).
21. HamacI~n (Hamatn). 22."During the year 95 the following were formally-appointed teachers in the given areas: tcSamandari Hamad4n, Kirminsh&hin; 'Alavi, IsfAh6n, Yazd; Adhir-Munir, AdhirMyj~n; Tshriq-i-Kh5vari, G il&n; H~shimi-Z~dih, M~zindar4n, (Bandar-i-Jaz, Sin,
B6bul); Muvlaq, Tihr6nNusMMdi, FArs; Kidil-i-Yazdi, Kirm~in; Adhari, Qaz � yin,
AdhirMy~ in; UskCi, Adhirb4jin. "Rd teachers were: ttMilmiri, Yazd; F4dil-i-Tihr6ni, K&sMn; Thibit-Sharqi,
Isfihin; ZA'ir, Yazd;H4'i, K~sMn; Baq6N, Gil6n; N&i, IsfThin; Shayd~in-Shaydi, Kirmin.
CeAmong those who instantly responded to the Guardian's message was the distinguished poet and scholar, Jinab~i~iAzizu'11Sh Misbih, who, not content with his teaching services in Tihr4n, and although ill and almost blind, left the capital with Aq4y-i-Nahavi, a young, newly-declared believer, and went on a teaching circuit to KAshin IsfAh~n, Najaf-Ab6xi, Ab&dih and Shir~z. He spent five months on this journey, and besides teaching the Friends, he gave the Cause to twenty-four seekers, of whom seven, including one of the 'ulamA of K~sMn have thus far accepted the Faith.
EcLeaving Tibrin for KhurAsin,spent three months visiting thirtyfive Bahá'í centers, mostly rural communities.
He went some of the way by automobile, much of it on donkey-back, and many miles on foot, and brought back to Tihr~n the spiritual refreshment of these meetings. 'Abdu'llAh }kidi1-Z~dih, son of the late, wellknown teacher, fldil-i-Shir6zi, made a nineteen-day journey to Qazvin and Hamad4n and their environs; he discussed the Faith with thirty inquirers and had many meetings with the Friends.
Javid-i-Mahbfibi, member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Hamadin, and Sa'id-i-Radavi went from Hamad~n to every neighboring village in which there were Baha'is, greatly stimulating the teaching work in this area.
ccobeying the Guardian's message, Lut-fu'lUh Mawhibat determined to serve as a pioneer; he and his wife therefore transferred their residence to the historic city of Zanj~n, where, in the course of a few months, they have held meetings and study-classes, entertained travelers, assisted the Local Friends and brought five people into the Faith.
Hishim-i-Ashrafi traveled from Tihr~n to Kashihand Shir~z, meeting with numbers of Friends and inquirers. The entire Spiritual Assembly of Jsf~hAn together with several committee members went out to Bur6jin, Kh6iinj6n, Shayd~n Shah-Rida, Jaz and Miisiy-Abid, communities in their district, and conferred with the Friends as to new teaching activities.
As'adu'1-Hukam~ went to Khur~sTh, and JinTh-i-'Ubtidiyyat to south tr~n on teaching trips."
"The Tihnin Teaching Committeehas likewise provided for teachers to spread the Faith throughout this area. Aq&y-i-Husayn YigAnih went to Karaj and established the Spiritual Assembly there; Aqiyin Rahmini-y~in and 'Uhddiyyat have also taught in Karaj. Aq~y-i--Mumt~zi, member of this Committee, took a three months' trip through Khuris~n.
Aq&y-i-Rahminiy~n, appointed by the Spiritual Assembly as circuit teacher for TihrAn, was sent out to ~MiqAn Fashandak and other neighboring localities to teach and meet the
Friends.ccThc following are at present conducting the teaching classes throughout Tihr4n (others, not listed, are likewise teaching in this city) The men: "Mahm6xIi KhSdim-i-Mithiq, Mustawfi, Furiitan, Dr. QAsimi, Sini-Zidih, Avirig~n, Vahid, F6dil-i-Mizindar5ni, KayvAn, Dan-gliArn, Akhtar-i-Khivari, 'At&'u'llih Baha, Jshr~q,
'Abdu'lUh F6dil, NCr-i-Din"The women: ttKhushbin Sini-Z4dih, Mihr-A'in, Bahá'u'lláh izadi
Bahá'u'lláh, Ishr~qiyyih"Some flavor of all this work comes to us in the following extracts from a few of the teachers' reports. Tar~zu'11Ah Samandari writes: cLeaving TihrAn I spent few days in Qazvin and gave the teachings to several inquirers � then came to Harnadin, and was sent by the Local Assembly to neighboring towns, including Baha, Amzijird, and L4lih-Jin, meeting Bahá'ís and seekers.
In Sarqurnish the devoted believer, JinAb-i--N&d-'Ali, invited five prominent men to his home, where I addressed them for about six hours in the course of their day's visit. The result was that they became much attracted to the teachings, and were given the Book of
I q~n. In AmzAjird Ivisited and spoke with one of the town supervisors in his home. In Hamad~n the Nineteen Day Feasts, teaching meetings and Character-Building classes are regularly held, and the Friends continually bring new inquirers to be taught. In Qurvili on the way to Kurdis-tin I spent nine days, meeting fifteen new persons, and having sowed the seed here I went on to Sanandal.
Here the Friends are very active, and in twenty-seven days I taught thirty-six persons of every type: Jews, Christians, Muslims both Shi'ih and Siinni, even some of the Im~m-Jum'ih 'ulami and the Sons of mujtahids, and also a number of military people.
The believers were anxious that I should stay on, but since enemies had begun to make a disturbance, I left, promising to return, and went to Kirm~nshih. Here in this spiritual city I found great receptivity, and through the efforts of the Friends I met and instructed a great number of people. Again, to follow up the work in Kurdistin, I returned there, remaining nineteen days. In Kirm~nshTh once more, I fell ill with influenza and the Local Assembly directed me to stay in the city and teach. In the course of a few months I gave the teachings to about ninety persons of every class, till the beginning of the year 96.'
~cOutstanding is the work of Mirza Nabil-Z6dih and his wife, who spent eight months around Birjand and gave the teachings to one hundred and seventy-six persons, forty of whom have thus far become believers. They then went on to GunAb6d, center of the Ni'matu'lhhi SMis and home of their leader; here they found a new Spiritual Assembly and the believers active.
They left for Firdaws, called by Bahá'u'lláh Firm (i.e. P6rin) where there were, and are today, great Baha'is, and from there by way of Khayru'1-Qur~, Bushrii'iyyih, and Turbat, they came to Mashhad. Here with the help of the Assembly they talked with forty inquirers, nineteen of whom accepted the Faith."
"In his letter dated 28718, Aq~y-i-NAshib~di reports that in the course of twenty-eight meetings held in Shir4z he met sixty-two new persons, some of whom have already accepted the Faith and started teaching activity.
A discussion group mci a study-class to further instruct the newcomers have been formed in addition to the teaching meetings, and all are cooperating in the work."
t~During a four-months' stay in Hindij~n (in the beginning of 1817) Fidil-i--Yazdi met and instructed many inquirers, afterward at the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly proceeding to
Rafsinjin and Kirmin;in the former place he taught eight persons and in the latter also found the Cause flourishing, with three teaching meetings a week, in the homes of IbrThim BiHin, Muhammad K�im and Jalil HakimiyTh, son of the late Dr. Sidiq-i-}{akimi.
"Siyyid Hasan Hishimi-ZAdibMutavaj jib writes (6917) cSome time ago I returned to
Gurg4n. Since the Friendshere were all visitors from elsewhere, and had established meetings which ceased to function as soon as they would leave town, I made an effort to interest local people, and at present some five or six of these, most of them with their wives and families, have accepted the Faith.'
Page 78An account of the TihrTh youth activities on that day follows: cCTh Bahá'í youth gathered in seventeen different meeting places and carried out the following program: opening chant; brief history of International Bahá'í Youth Day and its importance as stated by the Guardian; duties of youth in this turbulent age, and their need of unity to attract Divine confirmations; brief biographies of Bahá'í youth who died as martyrs to the Faith; music by the Youth Orchestra; consultation on youth activities; taking of pictures and signatures of those present. Pictures, suggestions and related documents were sent to the
American Bahá'í Youtht~Bahá'í child training is going forward satisfactorily throughout the country despite current restrictions.
In Tihr~n every Friday seventy-five children's and youth classes in character building and other Bahá'í teachings, for boys and girls both in separate and mixed groups, are held, 1,586 pupils attending. Throughout IrAn likewise several thousand Bahá'í children are receiving Bahá'í teachings and character building lessons. Twelve Divisions report 2,500 students in 263 classes, and classes also meet in the remaining Divisions.
The children thus sacrifice their one free day to study the lessons in character building and other phases of the Cause, with praiseworthy results."
BAnAl SUMMER SCHOOLTn 1939 the Bahá'ís of Iran through their National Spiritual Assembly instituted a Bahá'í Summer School at the estate of a believer near Tihr4n. The sessions conducted that year brought to the status of a formal school a series of annual teaching conferences and discussions which had previously been held for and by the Bahá'í youth.
The News Letter issued by the East and West Committee following the sessions described this activity as follows: "An item which we would like to dwell on at some length is the institution for the first time of a Bahá'í Summer School in Tihr~n which proved a remarkable success. The place chosen was the estate of a distin guished Tihr4n friend, not far from the city. The School consisted of three periods of ten days each beginning on July 6 and ending on August 6. Those who registered their names for these periods in advance were termed regular members, and of these there were 76 for the first period, 58 for the second period and 80 for the third. But apart from these members a large number of friends visited the School during holidays and weekends, The objects of the School were: to bring the various friends together in an atmosphere of great fellowship, to discuss religious and scientific matters, and to consult as to the progress of teaching activities.
Mr. Azizullah Misbah, distinguished for his high learning and culture, supervised the discussions and gave most valuable assistance.
The daily program included prayers, conferences, reading and entertainments.
You may be interested in knowing of some of the subjects actually discussed and so we give you the following summary: The importance of the Summer School;
Bahá'í Organization;the essential purpose of each separate Religion; the comparison of the Cause with other Religions; the life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; accounts of journeys made by certain friends to Europe and America to visit the Baha in those parts; the history of the building of the Temple at Ishqib id; as well as many other similar topics.
At the end of the School a telegram was sent to the Guardian, who replied, saying: 'Deepest joy (at this) historic achievement.
Urge perseverance. SupplicatingAs has been so frequently evidenced in these biennial records, the Bahá'í community is a living organism which, developing from stage to stage under the guidance of Bahá'u'lláh, continually produces new facilities and institutions required for the furtherance of a unified mankind.
SACRED BAHÁ'Í HISTORICIn its capacity as heir and trustee of the sacred history of the Dispensation of the Bib, and the early years of the Dispensation of
Bahá'u'lláh, the Assemblyof Ir6n began some years ago, under the Guardian's direction, to acquire, restore and maintain properties associated with the Persons of the
Page 79This subject receives due emphasis in the Assembly's report covering the present period.
"Of especial interest is the steady acquisition by the Bahá'ís of places sacred in the history of the Cause. A letter from the Guardian (dated 1927) defines these sacred areas as follows: tAll places which were adorned by the footsteps of the BTh, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'1 � Baha. The burial-places of companions and saints; the places where martyrs met their death; prisons and places of banishment of the heroes of the Cause; fortresses which in the early days of the Manifestation were the refuge and center of the defense measures of the companions; buildings and places which were the sanctuary of prisoners and exiles; and the homes and birthplaces of the great and the renowned of the companions in the dispensation of the Bay~n and the day of the Baha'is.'
The sites acquired since the previous issue of THE BANAl WORLD appeared include: Public bath in the Street of the Sword-Maker, Shiniz.
Caravansary of the Maymandis in BAshihr."Exact restoration of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in TAkur, as directed by the Guardian some years ago is, through the devoted efforts of Siyyid Mulisin As&si, almost completed; the exterior and interior ornamentation is soon to be done. Aq&y-i-As~si has also had a well-constructed dam built across the village watercourse and the Hiz&r River, to protect the building against threatened floods."
THE PASSING OF MAY MAXWELL"'A Li BDU'L-BAHÁ'Í beloved handmaid, (the) distinguished disciple, May Maxwell, (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abh~ Kingdom" the Bahá'ís learned in a cablegram received from Shoghi EfTendi on March 3, 1940.
Mrs. Maxwell passed from this life while engaged in teaching in the great new field of Latin America.
She died at Buenos Aires. A monument commemorating this Bahá'í martyr is to be placed at the grave in that city. "Southern outpost (of) Faith," the cable continued, U (has been) greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting place, (which is) destined (to) remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resistless march (of the) triumphant army (of) Bahá'u'lláh."
Bahá'ís throughout Northand South America loined in memorial gatherings on Friday evening, April 26, the largest meeting being held at Temple Foundation Hall, Wilmette, Illinois, during the Annual Convention of that year. The believers of both the Americas thus united for the first time in one action, the observance of gratitude and reverence for the sacrifice consecrating their mutual effort to serve the Cause.
The events of her rich and varied career as a Bahá'í are set forth in the tribute paid her by Marion Holley elsewhere in the present volume.
Here we may recall certain events and accomplishments in her life which combined to make her such a distinguished figure in the community.
Mrs. Maxwell accompanied the first party of pilgrims who traveled from North America to visit 'Abdu'1 � Baha in 'Akka and learn of
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.She was a pioneer believer and teacher of the Cause in Canada, in many cities of the United States and in the city of Paris.
She made pilgrimage to the Holy Land a few years after the Ascension of 'Abdu'1 � BaM to visit the Guardian.
Mrs. Maxwell served also in the capacity of member of the American National
Spiritual Assembly. HerThe house of Siyyid Yahy~ DirThi, surnamed Vahid, which has recently been acquired by the Bahá'ís of Ir~n as an historical site in the town of Nayriz.
Page 81wife. Despite illness and arising above the burden of advancing years, May Maxwell responded immediately and wholeheartedly to the call for pioneer teachers resounded by Shoghi Effendi in launching the Seven Year Plan as climax to the first Bahá'í Century.
In publishing the Guardian's cablegram, the National Spiritual Assembly added a few words, some of which are cited here: "There are events in a spiritual Cause which have the special characteristic that they seem luminous with the light of inner significance. They shine through the twilight of our ignorance and incapacity.
They are revealing of the vital importance of intention as well as of truth.
t!Such an event has now transpired in the Bahá'í community of America.
Let us endeavor to rise above the inevitable human feeling of grief and seek to apprehend it through the higher understanding that comes to us from the Manifestation and from those whose mission was created by Him.
tcconcerning those who leave their country to teach in foreign lands, Bahá'u'lláh has said: tThey that have forsaken their country for the purpose of teaching Our Cause � these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its power How great the blessedness that awaiteth him that hath attained the honor of serving the Almighty.'
CtAgain, we have these gemlike words from 'Abdu'l-Bahá: tlf you plant a seed in the ground a tree will become manifest from that seed. The seed sacrifices itself to the tree that will come from it.' " The culmination of her unusual gifts, capacities and blessings, martyrdom in the city which must constitute a strong pillar of the future Bahá'í community of South America, has been the planting of the seed, and from this sacrifice the souis of the believers have been inspired for more ardent service.
THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH IN THE BRITISH ISLESTHE BRITISH Bahá'ís in the period 193 81940, were the oniy Bahá'í community possessing administrative institutions and permitted to function by the civil authorities which has endured the psychological and material damage of war. Bahá'ís there were in other warring countries but lacking the institutions of the Bahá'í community or prevented by the state from exercising the duties of their religion.
Their collective experience has thus been deeply significant of the power of the Bahá'í Faith to maintain confidence of spirit and endow a community with social attitudes which open doors to a future be � yond the onslaught of any human conqueror.
Four items appear to stand out as most important in the available records and reports.
First, the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles.
This notable document is reproduced elsewhere in the present volume. Concerning the nature of the legal status acquired, the British Assembly itself writes as follows: "The effect of this document will be to give the National SPiritual Assembly legal personality and rights. It may enter contracts, receive bequests, hold property under certain restrictions, and exercise all the rights and privileges accorded by law. In addition its constitution has been defined exactly according to Bahá'í Administration; the principles governing its operation according to the explicit commands of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have been written into the memorandum; and its powers in relation to local
Spiritual Assembliesand to the Faith in the British Isles have been defined. The method of Bahá'í elections has been preserved and provision made for the annual Convention.
The enterprise is nonprofit making and has no share capital.
Liability is accepted by the individual members of the N. S. A. in equal proportions, and provision has been made for the transferring of this liability when new members are elected.
"This is undoubtedly one of the most important steps in the history of the Faith in the British Isles, and in spite of the primary disappointment, will, we know, delight the heart of our beloved Guardian, whose con
Page 82Second, the establishing of a Publishing Trust as a powerful organ of teaching. Its record of activity, as reported by the British Assembly, has been impressive:
"The Publishing Trustis now established as the chief subsidiary of the N. S. A. and its right hand in teaching.
It was started with the sum of �234 Os. Sd. specially contributed for that purpose, and in addition has taken possession of all books and literature previously held by the N. S. A. It acts as distributor for all Bahá'í literature, and publishes whatever the N. S. A. requires. The chief publications this year have been a revised edition of Dr. Esslemont's pamphlet Bahá'u'lláh and His Message and a brief life of Bahá'u'lláh by H. M. Baha'i. Both these publications have been purchased abroad and have made a good impression.
In addition a small calendar, showing the Bahá'í Feasts and Anniversaries, has been printed."
"The establishment of the Publishing Trust has proven to be a sound and invaluable undertaking.
It must surely be included in Cthe unassailable foundation' of which the
Guardian speaks. Withthe incorporation of the N. S. A., the three original Trustees resigned their office, and the N. S. A. became Trustee. The chief work this year has been the following pub � lications: "A new edition of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Dr. Esslemont's standard work on the Faith.
With the permission of Mrs. Esslemont a few alterations and some slight additions were made.
"Tioc Heart of the Gospel.'tA Jjahd'i Prayer Book, published in a complete and abridged form. The abridged copy has been found very acceptable by non-Bah6'is.
"The Bahá'í Faith. Fivethousand more copies of the penny pamphlet, which every Bahá'í needs frequently.
c~New World Order. A reproduction, with a few alterations, of the December number of the N. S. A.'s periodical
New World Order.Chosen Highway, is well advanced and copies should be available by the end of June."
TEACHING WORKCCFit and foremost of our activities has been Teaching. At the last Convention it was recommended that we should concentrate on five cities with a view to establishing communities there whenever possible. The National Spiritual Assembly adopted this plan but only two of the cities mentioned by the delegates, Leeds and Bourne � mouth, were included in the list.
Other places, Nottinghamand Brighton, presented better opportunities through the presence of resident believers, so these were included. One city, Newcastle, where there are no Bahá'ís at all, has been given special attention.
tCIn Leeds the Bradford Spiritual Assembly has continued teaching work throughout the year, and there is every prospect of success here. Mr. and Mrs. Peter 'Wilkinson have made their home there, bringing the number of resident believers up to four. Meetings have been held, and the Military Tribunal there granted the application of a Bahá'í for exemption from combatant service, which resulted in some publicity.
(cThr believers have moved to Bournemouth and the Group there now numbers ten.
The Feasts and Anniversariesare observed and it is hoped to have a Center as the chief aid to a teaching campaign.
"In Nottingham excellent work has been done through the efforts of the resident believer, Esther Richardson.
She has arranged meetings with the Esperantists and the Theosophists which have been addressed by visiting teachers, and has gathered together a number of her friends and aroused their keen interest. It is expected that a few of them will come to Summer School."
ccNew ground has been broken in Newcastle and much interest aroused.
A teacher spent five weeks there before Christmas, and three months after Christmas. Many clubs and societies were addressed, and a series of public lectures given from the platform of the Theosophical Society. Contacts were made in the University, a number of study meetings were held, a good deal of literature
Page 83has been purchased by interested inquirers and it is hoped that some of them will come to Summer
School.""At its first meeting the National Spiritual Assembly considered this matter and pledged itself to carry out the Guardian's wish, determining that all activities should be considered in the light of teaching.
Bradford and Torquaywere selected as the two most promising places for the establishment of new Assemblies. The believers in those centers were consulted and plans of campaign mapped out.
We are happy to report that owing to the persistent efforts of the resident believers, to the work of visiting teachers, to the sacrifices of all who have contributed to the Fund, and to the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Assemblies were elected in both places on April 21st.
Both communities are represented by delegates at this Convention. We take this opportunity of conveying, through them, our welcome and sincere congratulations.
t~Th local communities have maintained fireside and other teaching meetings.
A series of regular study meetings was held in Altrincharn during the summer by the Manchester Spiritual Assembly, and a successful meeting was arranged with the Rover Scout Crew by Miss Ada Williams, when the interest of about twenty young men was aroused.
The first extension work of the Torquay Spiritual Assembly was in Exeter when Mrs. Stevens addressed the Psychology Club."
~ Bahá'í Summer Schoolis the most important institution in England for teaching the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. More ambitious in every way than the three previous ones, the fourth Summer School brought correspondingly greater and more encouraging results. More than a hundred people visited it, indicating its steadily increasing interest to both believers and enquirers. The spirit of real friendship, sympathy, and understanding engendered amongst such a widely diverse group of individuals, was convincing proof of the unifying power of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
"The School was opened by Lady Blom-field, who, as always, brought the spirit of the Master close to each one of us by her vivid and beautiful &scriptions of many of the precious incidents which occurred during His stay in her house in London. A cable was then sent to our beloved Guardian, to which he sent an inspiring reply.
ccThe lectures were of high standard and though comprehensive, followed an orderly course, beginning with a survey of the nature of the present world struggle, then tracing the growth and development of man as an individual and mankind as a collective body, presenting the main problems confronting the world today and offering the solutions of Bahá'u'lláh, outlining the Bahá'í vision of a New World Order and culminating in the presentation of the Word of Bahá'u'lláh as the focus of all power.
CCBhP~~11~h and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have emphasised the importance of art in the Life of man.
Bahá'u'lláh tells us that the sancti-fled and detached souis titt the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest," and 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that the Sun of Truth, shining on the mind of the artist, is mirrored forth in great works of art. Therefore an experiment was made this year in inviting a larger number of non-Bahá'í speakers than previously, to lecture on their own specialized branches of art � the dance, drama, music and the crafts. The result was strikingly significant. At least four different lecturers came to the conclusion that in their particular field art had reached a standstill owing to the poverty of human creativeness � a convincing proof that the artistic spirit needs the new creative impulse of Bahá'u'lláh.
ccThe peak of Summer School was reached at bank holiday weekend, August 57, when the greatest attendance was recorded and the radiance of the gathering was so apparent as to arouse comment. It was during this weekend that the National Spiritual Assembly received its Incorporation Certificate.
Archdeacon Townshend'schallenging book The Heart of the Gospel appeared at this time and the author himself was present.
Dr. Mi, a member of theof the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, Mr. W. J. Grant, late editor of the Rangoon Times and a proven friend
Page 84of the Faith, Chief Jono Kenyatta of Kenya, the eminent anthropologist, were among the distinguished visitors. Mr. Kenneth
Christian and Miss VirginiaSetz were welcome visitors from America. Mr. Christian gave an interesting description of the Summer Schools in America.
"The setting of School was most delightful.Beautiful spacious grounds, with ample facilities for games, in the heart of a lovely countryside; an ideal place for relaxation and for study.
"Most of those present must have been conscious of the nearness of the final stages of the world struggle. They must have had too, intimations of the greatness of the privilege, and of the responsibility, of being identified with a nascent world faith in an age of doubt and fear. Summer School is a growing, consolidating institution, becoming established in a rapidly crumbling world. It has provided once again an incentive to activity and cooperation among the
Bahá'í communities. Wettlncreasing tension in world affairs made it necessary for the N. S. A. to define the attitude of Bahá'ís to the various military measures being undertaken by the country. The Guardian's instruction was obtained and published in Bahá'í Journal. It was to the effect that while we should do everything to obtain exemption from active combatant service, we should volunteer for all services of a humanitarian nature, such as Red Cross, A. R. P., stretcher-bearing, etc. Within the last three days Conscription has been introduced by the Government, and it is recommended that the incoming N. S. A. should consider the position of Baha Youth in relation to this."
ttShortly after the outbreak of war, a young believer from Bradford, Philip Hams-worth, having registered in accordance with the N. S. A/s request, was summoned to appear before a tribunal in Leeds.
The following is an account of the proceedings as accurately as I remember them; it was written down shortly after leaving the Court.
ttPetr Wilkinson and Mr. Hurst were there and we heard the proceedings in about a dozen cases. Hardly any of the applicants were clear or definite as to what their consciences demanded, and certainly had very little conception of their relationship to society. When Philip was called the Judge asked me to step up, and who and what I was. I said secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles.
A minute or two were spent in writing it down correctly and spelling tBahi'i.' They had never heard of it. "To me:
CWht is Bahá'ícw�e believe that all the revealed religions are the Word of God.
tWhat do you think ofCJt~s a sort of comprehensive omnibus. (slightly amused but kindly).
tNo sir. An independent world religion.tJ seek exemption from combatant military service, as it is inconsistent with the teaching of Bahá'u'lláh to kill my fellow men.
To you recognize any duty to the State?tYes of course. We are commanded to obey our governments.
tWell this seems an opportunity of obeying by accepting military service.
tI'm obeying the government by registering as a conscientious objector.
Page 85They are suppressed and some of them are in the army.
~There you are then.~Ye tlt does not ask you to refuse military service?
tlt asks us to uphold certain principles.tNtll tOne of these is to refrain from killing our fellow men by seeking exemption from combatant military service. We are ready to serve in any noncombatant capacity.
cSuppose exemption is refused?OVER a number of years the Bahá'í community of Egypt has been the instrument through which the independent status of the Bahá'í Faith has been established in relation to the prevailing and official religion of IslAm.
In previous volumes the origin and development of this remarkable historic process has been described. Between 1938 and 1940 the irresistible power of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh has been further demonstrated.
Lands were purchased for the construction of a I-Taziratu'1-Quds, a national Bahá'í center for administrative activities and meeting place for
Bahá'í gatherings. Ina number of countries during recent years the National and local Assemblies have taken steps to provide such centers, which strengthen and coordinate the direction of activities and symbolize the existence of the Faith as community and not merely as doctrine. "The N. S. A. has finally decided to buy a CDO you believe in transrnigration?
~No sir.'I investigated the teachings, declared myself a Baha'i, and am trying to propagate the Faith. I was an absolute pacifist before.
tYou were absolute?' (with some astonishment) CYCS. I had to give up many of my ideas to conform with Bahá'í teaching.'
"The tribunal were unanimous in granting exemption from combatant service, and made the applicant liable for noncombatant service.
"The local newspapers contained various accounts, one having a large headline which read: Persian Religion
Modifies Man's Paci-finn."plot of land in one of the most important quarters of Cairo quite near Maleka Nazli Street," it was reported in the Egyptian Bahá'í News of March-April, 1940, after consideration had been given to the fact that on account of war conditions it might be preferable to purchase a house rather than construct one. A fund was then instituted for the cost of construction, contributions to which have been made by Baha Assemblies in other countries.
After further difficulty with the Muslim clergy, the National Spiritual Assembly obtained authorization from the government to establish a Bahá'í cemetery in Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said.
A Eatwa (a judgment made by a Muslim judge in a religious matter on the basis of doctrine or custom derived from the Qur'an) issued by a Grand Mufti decreed that Bahá'ís could no longer be permitted burial in a Muslim cemetery.
After submitting full information to the government, the Bahá'í authorities were granted the necessary permission to proceed with their own independent burial places and the observance of their own burial rites. Since cemeteries in Egypt are public property not subject to sale or transfer, the government set aside a plot of land just outside Cairo for use as a Bahá'í place of burial.
Such an episode has great significance in a Muslim country, where the lack of a civil code surrounds every religious transaction with an official atmosphere and a ceremonial importance not felt in western lands since feudal days. Indeed, public violence has been manifested against the Bahá'ís in Egypt in connection with their effort to give proper Bahá'í burial to their own dead. The publication of the government's action in the public press made a powerful impression.
A notable service to the entire Arabic-speaking world has been rendered by the Bahá'ís of Egypt through their action in translating The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the
Early Days of the Bahá'í RevelationThe translation was made by Judge Abdul Jalil Saad, and the printed work contains over six hundred pages, with many illustrations.
The Assembly itself has made only modest references to the teaching work carried on in Egypt during the current period, feeling that most of its energies have been expended in carrying out the important matters already mentioned.
In the Sudan, however, the progress of the teaching work has been very satisfactory, and this area has become an important part of the Bahá'í community whose affairs are administered by the National Spiritual
Assembly.THE services rendered by the Bahá'ís of 'Iriq during this period are not to be measured by the information available in the form of bulletins and reports. We know, however, that their achievement has been great from the fact that the National Spiritual Assembly of the believers of that country was able to construct a large Hazi ratu'1-Quds, or headquarters, in a modern suburb of Bagiyhid. Behind efforts of such scope stand a great many contributing factors, unity and sacrifice for the Cause, coordination of effort, vigorous teaching work and administrative efficiency.
From reports on hand the following citations are of particular interest: eCTh most vital activity of the 'Ir4q Bahá'ís during these two years has been the construction of the new Haziratu'1-Quds. Where the former center was located in the dark, winding alleys of old Baglidid, the new edifice stands in its own beautiful gardens in a modern suburb.
Total expenditures on the building alone have amounted to 3,500 pounds, while the whole property, that is, the building and the site of land (40 m. x 60 in.), is now estimated at 6,000 pounds."
"It is with great pleasure and overflowing joy that we report the completion of building ing operations on the new Ijaziratu'1-Quds of Baghd~id, which have been proceeding during the last thirteen months.
The meeting for the inauguration of this edifice took place on Saturday afternoon, September 23, 1939, and was attended by believers representing almost every Bahá'í community in this country. Deeply impressed by the imposing grandeur, and with hearts cherishing the fondest hopes for the future of our beloved Faith in this blessed land the friends ioyously offered thanks and praise to Bahá'u'lláh, Who has graciously confirmed and assisted them in the discharge of their glorious task.
"The meeting opened with the chanting of a Tablet.
Then Mirza Wakil, chairman of the N. S. A., delivered the opening speech in which he summarized the various stages and developments that accompanied the construction of the edifice, and made a brief statement showing roughly the total expenditures, the debts incurred, and the contributions received to date.
"At the close of the inaugural meeting, which ended with the chanting of another Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, the N. S. A. met and approved the sending immediately of the following telegram to the Beloved
Guardian:"tBahá'ís assembled now occasion inauguration Haziratu'1-Quds express deepest gratitude divine confirmation completion building.
Supplicate continuation prayers."Much as has already been done, there still remains as much to be achieved.
The spacious assembly hail together with the adjoining guesthouse, which constitute no less essential parts of the plan already approved by the Guardian, now await construction. In fact, the full beauty of this Bahá'í Center and the effective functioning of the various Baha administrative bodies cannot reach their climax and reveal their full beneficent effect until the two remaining component parts are built and completed. The Guardian, lovingly assuring us of his cferyent unceasing prayers,' now directs and urges us to make tsustained, united, unremitting efforts' so that tthis vitally-urgent, divinely-appointed task' may be successfully carried forward to a glorious consumma-hon.
"It is worthy to note that this noble undertaking has not oniy been responsible for enhancing the dignity and the good reputation of the Cause in 'IrAq but has proved a powerful factor in reinforcing the spiritu al ties and genuine love uniting the members of the Bahá'í community.
In fact, this Ila4ratu'1-Quds can rightly be regarded as the sign of our unity and the center of our cooperation and sacrifice in our attempt to carry out the guiding instructions of our beloved Guardian."
"From Shoghi Effendi, through his secretary, the following message was received: cc ~ region of 'Jriq will be an arena where lights will shine, and the first connecting link between Idn, which is the cradle of the Faith, and the Holy Land, the Point of Adoration of the people of Baha. This momentous institution, therefore, is to be regarded as the first of the great preliminaries and glorious institutions which will be established in that blessed land, culminating in the recovery of the House of God, the hoisting of the Banner of His Faith, and the proclamation of His Dispensation in that region. It is, therefore, incumbent upon you to double your perseverance, steadfastness, vigor, tenacity, cooperation and mutual assistance, that thereby may become manifest what our Lord has, both in secret and openly, promised us in
His wondrous Book.'"THE construction of the first Bahá'í House of Worship in 'Ishqabad, Southern Russia, nearly forty years ago, may be realized as the first portentous symbol of the power of Bahá'u'lláh's
Dispensation in Europe.Its spiritual meaning and implication could not but present a challenge to the forces of darkness existing in that land.
It was not until after 1930, however, that the flourishing Bahá'í community centered around the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Ishqabad felt the weight of official persecution.
In previous issues of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD successive chapters of this tragic but glorious story have been told. Now there remains to recount the final chapter of dispersal, deportation and internment of the Bahá'ís by the Soviet authorities, and their seizure of the holy House of Worship as the extreme actions of a materialistic civiliza tion approaching the hour of its own destined punishment.
The available information no longer comes to us from the Bahá'í community of Southern Russia but from their fellow-believers of Ir6n with whom the survivors of persecution found refuge. The full report will be found in the Report of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of train published at the end of this international review. Excerpts from that Report follow: CCOn the eve of February 5, 1938, all the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of 'Ishqabad, and a great number of the Friends were arrested by order of the authorities and that same night the houses of the Friends were searched, and all Tablets, Bahá'í records and other articles were confiscated.
Some of the women, more active than the rest inBahá'í administrative affairs, were also led away to prison.
'tAccording to those who have been freed from prison and have emigrated to mm, the officials treated the prisoners with extreme harshness, and all Bahá'ís were condemned by the Government on political grounds, it being openly said to them: COn Soviet land you are, and have been, working to the advantage of foreigners.' A written charge to this effect was made out for each prisoner and each was ordered to sign it. When the Friends, innocent, denied the charge, they were sublected to every type of persecution. Some were even obliged, more than once, to dig graves for themselves, it being told them that they were to be killed on the spot; then, hoping to acquire the signed document, the authorities would defer their sentence.
"Wives and children of the captives lived meanwhile in the greatest wretchedness.
A woman believer wrote to her sister from 'Ishqabad: tHere many young men believers die in the prison. No one knows of what sickness they died, or what they asked for in their last agony, or in what place their bodies are laid.
One of the women believers, because of her grieving and anguish and the sight of her orphaned children, set fire to herself and after sixteen days in the hospital she passed away.'
"At first over five hundred men believers were imprisoned but a great number of these have died. The wives and children of the victims have gradually been exiled to I An, and dispatched by the lrThian Government to their various birthplaces, but here, too, most of them cannot find peace.
The women grieve over their husbands and sons, the children sorrow for their fathers and brothers. Many of the younger ones, well educated and trained, for lack of recommen-. dations and other reasons, are refused work in Government offices and elsewhere, and pass their days miserably in the little towns where they have been sent.
ttThis Assembly has, through the efforts of the Friends, given to these sufferers whatever financial aid was possible and up to now a sun-i has been collected for their urgent daily needs. in response to the Guardian's emphatic directions we have done all in our power to succor these oppressed persons; nevertheless, their lot has not improved, although they continue thankful, since they are suffering in the path of God. According to recent information the prisoners have been freed and exiled in small groups to remote corners of Russia.
Fortunately they are permitted to write to their relatives and at times word comes from them. This Assembly has applied to the Imperial Government seeking their return to Ir&n, and God willing, the desired aim will be realized.
"From a recent communication as to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Ishqabad: ~F the day when the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar became part of the Government properties, it was rented free to the Bahá'í community for five year periods; every five years the lease was renewed, and according to separate documents drawn up by the city, necessary repairs were specified to be made during the allotted period.
The Local Assembly would always carry out these repairs and improvements with dispatch, to give the authorities no pretext for complaint, also regularly renewing the insurance and paying the taxes. In 1933, however, although the specified period had not run out, certain repairs which were not urgent nor important, and which were very expensive � amounting to some 20,000 man4t � were imposed, and the Government broke the contract and forced the Assembly to renew it and make the repairs. A year had not elapsed when the Government officials renewed their complaints and it became obvious that their purpose was to create difficulties and oblige the Friends to relinquish the Temple and give it over to them.
Fearing that the holy edifice wouid be lost, the Assembly communicated the whole matter to the Guardian. Shortly thereafter, through the fr4nian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the tr~nian Embassy in Moscow, the frinian Consulate-General in 'Isliqibid made an inquiry as to the status and tenants of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
This investigation proved beneficial, and for some time the complaints and faultfinding of the authorities were modified. Then, in 1936, the Government stirred up further diflicul-ties, and imposed heavy and unnecessary repairs, thinking the Bahá'í community would be utterly unable to compLy with the requirements and a legal means would thus be
Page 89furnished to take the Temple away from the Baha'is.
The Assembly, however, asked for aid from the believers throughout Turkistin and the Caucasus, and as a result of their self-sacrifice the repairs were made.'
C(The authorities then tried another plan, as follows: Surrounding the Temple, the Friends had established schools for boys and girls, a library, an office, and Haziratu'l-Quds; and a long time since, the authorities had taken over the schools and the library building.
Now, with the excuse that the children had no playground, they sought to appropriate the main section of the Temple gardens, build a wall around the Temple and leave to the Friends oniy the Temple building itself and the Haziratu'1-Quds; and they planned to close the garden gate, which faces the main thoroughfare of the city and has always been opened to believer and nonbeliever alike, and oblige all those desiring entry to the Temple to go around by a side street. The Local Assembly remonstrated with the authorities and after considerable effort persuaded them to abandon their plan and continue on the same basis as before. Finally in 1936 after all sorts of pretexts and complaints, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was given over to the Friends for an unspecified period, on condition that they make repairs as required by the city and pay the taxes and insurance. During the past six or seven years the Assembly has been constantly negotiating with the authorities as to the Temple, and through
Divine Confirmationshas been able to protect it in every way. When the Friends were imprisoned it became clear to what extent the authorities were displeased with us." "According to Soviet law, every religious community which numbers fifty members of both sexes over eighteen years of age, can petition the authorities for recognition, that is, for the right to have a place of worship and administration. Now, if the number of Bahá'ís in 'Ishqabad should fall below fifty, the Government can take over the Temple. At present only a few Bahá'ís are left, women and children and a few old men; and even if there are as many as fifty women left there and two or three old men, yet because of their helplessness and ignorance of the law they will be unable to protect the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar."
~~According to recently received information, the Soviet Government has taken over the Temple, has turned it into an art gallery, and is keeping it in its original condition.
For there are no longer any Baha in "As to the Caucasus, recent news is that throughout all that region Spiritual Assemblies and all administrative institutions have, as a result of terrific pressure from the Government, been done away with, and the Haziratu'1-Quds has been taken over.
Only in B~ki~ is there a Spiritual Assembly, and the Haziratu'1-Quds there is in the hands of the Friends. The membership of the Biki~ Assembly has in two years been elected three times, for this reason, that the first members were all arrested and exiled to Siberia, whereupon the Friends elected nine more believers and these too were seized and exiled.
The third group to be elected, now serving on the Assembly, are mostly women. The Friends there are suffering terribly from lack of the means of livelihood and every sort of hardship, and they assist one another like members of one household.
"The persecuted Bahá'ísof 'Ishqabad and elsewhere who at the Guardian's direction and in spite of every affliction stood firm in 'Tshq4bid to protect the Bahá'í world's first Temple, were before the first of the year 95, by the Soviet Government's refusal to give them residence permits, gradually exiled to Ir&n. In February, 1938, that government imprisoned at least five hundred Bahá'í men throughout Turkistin, most of whom have been in prison over fifteen months in 'Ishqabad, Mary, etc., under terrible conditions. Some have died under torture, from starvation and other effects of prison life.
No recent news has reached us and we do not know what future awaits the survivors.
tcSix hundred refugees � women, girls, children and a few old men � have successfully reached I ran. Most of these are now in Mash-had, while others have dispersed throughout the country.
Those who had to travel were given their expenses and a letter of introduction to the LocalAssembly at their destination.
ccTheir state is pitiful beyond description. All were substantial citizens in their own country.
Then the men were taken prisoner and they had to sell all they had � houses,
Page 90rugs, furniture. Then, obliged to emigrate, they brought in their last trifling possessions and sold them here for bread, and are now The American Bahá'ís made a special contribution for the relief of these unfortunate believers.
The friends of Persia, however, assumed the real burden of relief.
THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH IN AUSTRALIA ANDIN the lifetime of many still active Bahá'ís the entire course of the development of the Cause in Europe, America and
Australia and New Zealandhas unrolled. They have witnessed, and contributed to, its growth from the first pioneer teacher or family through the stages of groups, local communities and finally that of the unified national community with its National
Spiritual Assembly. Thosewho first set forth carried in their souls the fiery conviction that the B&b had come to this age as a Manifestation to summon the peoples for acceptance of the Promised One of all religions; that Bahá'u'lláh had come in that mighty Station to unify the races, the nations, the classes and the sects of mankind.
Under the guidance and protection of 'Abdu'l-Bahá they achieved oneness in their devotion to Him as the Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant. Their kind Shepherd led them along the path of unity as rapidly as they could advance. His Will and Testament, however, disclosed the whole path and its consummation in world institutions, the Guardian and the House of Justice.
Since 1922 the Bahá'íshave achieved one of the greatest social adjustments in human history by their cooperation in the establishment of the pattern of the
'World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.Nothing short of a miracle could have raised up such strong foundations for this order in Australia and New Zealand as the result of the labors of two
Baha'is, themselves Americansand therefore of the generation of those who had learned the Message far from its Source. Wholly new social attitudes and a new quality of human relationships had to be established before a Bahá'í community could come into being. Some background of understanding is necessary before one can perceive in every report of Bahá'í activity a sustained victory for the spirit working through the lives of ordinary men and women.
The following excerpts will convey an outline at least of what has been accomplished in this great 'Western Continent geographically located in the East: (CTh second convention which was held in Sydney, New South Wales, in April, 1937, marked the beginning of a new stage of development in the history of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand; so illuminating and instructive were the addresses given by the delegates and so powerful was the spirit of dedication animating those present, from that time a deeper realization of the responsibility and mission of the Australian and New Zealand Baha community as a component part of the world wide Bahá'í community destined in the fullness of time to expand into a glorious new civilization, the Bahá'í Commonwealth of nations, intensified the zeal and determination of the believers and lent an impetus to their efforts which has produced gratifying results.
"The teaching field is steadily widening; in all the centers advertised lectures are given regularly; large fireside meetings are held by the believers in their homes; opportunities to give the Bahá'í Message on other platforms are courted and a wider circulation for our literature is being obtained.
~~In all the centers, increased efforts are being made to gain the attention of the press, and in this we were greatly helped by Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her teaching tour of Australia and New Zealand during the first half of 1939. Miss Root obtained more press publicity for the Cause than we had bad previously; indeed, she gave a much needed stimulus to our efforts in this direction and we learned much from her methods.
"The famous Bahá'í teacher arrived in Perth, Western
Australia, on January1 0th, and was given a warm welcome by the believers there. The Perth Spiritual Assembly had arranged a fine program and from the first the work went with a swing; many new
Page 91contacts were made and a great deal of interest was aroused; the Perth believers themselves being greatly stimulated and uplifted by this soui refreshing season of activity and by Miss Root's inspiring influence.
ttFrom Perth, Miss Root went to Adelaide, Hobart,
Melbourne and Sydney.In Adelaide, in addition to the radio broadcasts and tile lectures arranged for and widely advertised by the Spiritual Assembly, Miss Root spoke to the piritual
Mission Church, the Women'sSociety, at many informal gatherings and at a reception held at the Hotel Grosvenor.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne and Miss Hilda Brooks of Adelaide accompanied
Miss Root to Tasmaniaand Melbourne, and the little group of four traveling to promote the Bahá'í Faith, awakened considerable interest and gained publicity and press notices for the Cause. Miss Gretta Lamprill, sole be. liever in Tasmania at that time, and Miss Eloise Jensen, who became enrolled during the visit, were overjoyed to see them, as never before had there been such a number of Bahá'ís together in Tasmania.
Miss Jensen was enrolled at a little meeting of the Bahá'ís held at the hotel where the party was accommodated. The occasion was celebrated with prayers and joyous thanksgiving; this, it was felt, would be the turning point of the Cause in Tasmania and the first of many enrollments. That hopes were justi-fled was proved by the enrollment some weeks later of Miss Kitty Crowder.
Now these three capable workers have commenced teaching activities which are gradually gathering momentum.
CCMiss Lamprill had arranged for Miss Root to give several broadcasts and to speak at three High Schools, the Spiritualistic Church, the Workers' Education
Association, the LyceumClub, the Bellerive, Sandford Country Women's Association, and two public meetings in Hobart and one in Launceston.
Great interest was evinced by all who heard the addresses and the little group of believers was delighted with the result of the teaching campaign in Tasmania.
"In Melbourne, through the efforts of the indefatigable Secretary, Mrs. Wheeler, doors were magically opened and warm invitations for Miss Root to address meetings were received.
In addition to broadcasts and informal talks, Miss Root lectured to the 'Women's
International Leaguefor Peace and Freedom, the Australian Church, the Writers' Cultural Club, Trinity Grammar School, Chinese Women's Society,
Esperanto Club, Women's"The Sydney friends had been eagerly preparing for Miss Root's visit and had arranged for broadcasts, receptions, interviews and public meetings. In addition, Miss Root delivered addresses at the Millions Club, the United Association, the English Speaking Union, the Board of Social Study and Training, the Women's League of Health, the Quota
Club, Australian Leagueof Nations, Esperanto Society, the Rotary Club, Journalists' tea, the Newport W.E.A. Summer School, the Feminist Club, the Y.M.C.A., the Women's League of Health, and the Fellow � ship of Australian 'Writers.
CtI1~ Adelaide, SouthAustralia, a Bahá'í youth group has been formed and steady development maintained, the members are enthusiastic and bring their friends to the meetings to hear the
Bahá'í Message. Australianyouth are excellent material for Bahá'í teachers to work upon, for on the whole they are singularly unprejudiced in their outlook and the Bahá'í teachings make instant appeal to them.
"The Summer School held at tBolton Place,' Yerrinbool, New South Wales, the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Bolton of Sydney and lent and dedicated by them for the school sessions, is becoming a source of pride and joy and high hopes are entertained for its future development and usefulness.
c~Arrangements are under the direction of a committee and two successful sessions have already been held, the first in January, 1938, the second in January, 1939."
Page 92Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma has adopted a Six-Year Teaching Plan in order to intensify and direct the expansion of the Cause in those countries throughout the remainder of the first century of the Bahá'í Era. Indeed, the whole Bahá'í world has become profoundly conscious of the need to enlarge the scope of its teaching work and deepen its understanding of the importance of the mission entrusted to the followers of Bahá'u'lláh if the believers are to fulfil their collective responsibility to God. The inspiration emanating from the Guardian, as given instruments in such works as The Unfoldment of World Civilization and The Advent of Divine Justice, has stimulated the Bahá'ís and given them clearer realization of the significance of the year 1944 in the evolution of a Dispensation that is to have effect through successive cycles of future Manifestations for more than four hundred thousand years.
Moreover, the Bahá'íshave come to realize that there must be growth in all parts of the worldwide community, since the future central institutions of the Faith are to rest upon the pillars of the National Spiritual Assemblies of East and 'West.
The dear friends of India and Burma are associated with both the East and the 'West, and from this fact they seem destined to play a great rOle in the drama of human unity and universal peace.
To cite some of the important passages in their bulletins and reports: "It was one year after our American brothers and sisters have launched their Seven-Year Plan of Teaching that the N. S. A. of India and Burma on a recommendation by the 10th Annual Convention, adopted a Six-Year Plan of Teaching.
It at first aimed at making each local Assembly responsible to establish another Assembly in a nearby town; but later our beloved Guardian suggested that the chief aim of the Plan should be to find volunteer teachers for settlement in places where the Divine Faith has not yet been established.
These teachers will make these places either their permanent places of business or they will stay so long as to form a local Spiritual Assembly or at least a group of confirmed believers who will evolve themselves into an Assembly in due course. In the 11th Convention therefore the two chief aims of the Plan were clearly defined and a Committee was formed to concentrate their whole energy towards the successful prosecution of the Plan.
"Ever since the inauguration of the Six-Year Plan of Teaching the band of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma concentrated their efforts to carry out the wishes of their beloved Guardian expressed in almost all his epistles.
They have been directing all their energy to the successful accomplishment of this vital issue. Both the local Spiritual Assemblies and individual believers have been trying their utmost, and we are sure that in a short time many of the faithful servants of Bahá'u'lláh will leave their homes and go to live in places where the light of the Beloved Faith has not yet penetrated. The number of such souls no doubt is small but we have full belief in the might of Bahá'u'lláh, and as the Divine Faith from its very inception has penetrated the world without any material aid, so will it now give far greater results than the efforts of the friends would vouchsafe. We are giving below some of the efforts that the friends are making in this connection.
"BOMBAY � An important public meeting was held in the
Municipal Hall, Kalyan(an important town in the vicinity), when Mr. Ganesh Krishna Phadke, B.A., Member Legislative Assembly, presided. The hail was overflowing, the audience including among others Mr. M. P. Oka, President of the Kal-yan Municipality, members of the Legislative Assembly, school teachers, professors and notables of the town.
tcAfter the opening prayers by Mr. Ilmi and Miss Penn Roman, Mr. H. M. Manji spoke on the New History. He was followed by Prof.
N. K. Bhagwant, M.A., who spoke on Essentials of a Universal Religion. Mr. M. H. Ilmi gave an explanation of Salvation or Mukti or Nijat. Mrs. Shirin Foz-dar spoke on The Need of the Present Day. She said that although many progressive movements have sprung up, Bahá'u'lláh stands first to initiate the principles of life.
Page 93Recently purchased site of the prospective Ua4ratu'1-Quds to be erected in Cairo, Egypt.
The X in the upper right side indicates the actual site.
CNo progressive movement,' she said, Chad come into existence before the rise of the Bahá'í Faith in 1844 AiX' "The Chairman thanked the speakers and summed up the proceedings, saying that the Bahá'í teachings were really beautiful and worth practicing though very difficult to adopt.
"The meeting, on the whole, was successful and it is hoped that the town will be opened to the Faith in the near future.
t~LAHoRr � Prof. Pritam Singh was invited to be present at the Jubilee Celebra tions of the head of the
Qadian Movement, Moulvi'Abdu'lUh Vakil of Srinagar, who was also in Lahore, accompanied Prof. Pritam Singh.
Both of them were treated as the honored guests of the Khalif a and met many to whom they gave the Baha Message.
"M. 'Abdu'lUh is engaged in teaching the Faith in Lahore. He may visit some Mofassil towns also.
t~During January Prof.Pritarn Singh visited Hoshiarpur at the invitation of one of the professors of that place. Hoshiarpur is about four hours' train journey from
Page 94To the students of one of the colleges he gave a talk in English on Religion of the Future. An interesting discussion followed.
A copy of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era in Hindi was presented to the College
Library."At the request of Principal Muhammad Ibrahim M. A., of the Multan Government College Prof. Pritam Singh addressed the College on the subject of rReligion and Youth.'
A public lecture was also given at the Theosophical Lodge on February 29, with the President of the Lodge in the Chair. About 200 persons were present.
The subject of the talk was eReligion of the Future.' The talk theme developed by the Professor was that all the links in the long chain of Prophets � Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad � were equally important and no one could break the chain by presenting one of these Prophets to the exclusion of others.
This point of view was given to prepare every one to receive the Message of Bahá'u'lláh which was suited to the requirements of this age and was therefore universal.
"Prof. Pritam Singli was invited by the Literary Circle of the Prince of Wales's College, Jammu, to address a public meeting, the subject being ~Religion of the Future.' About 350 people attended.
ctThe Bahá'ís of Lahore have been meeting regularly for the study of comparative religion. Mr. 'Abdu'llih of Kashmir enlightened the group on the teachings of Tshm in the light of the Bahá'í Faith. Many Hindu Friends have become interested."
TRAVELS OF MARTHA L. ROOT"The teaching tour undertaken by our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root from October, 1937, to December, 1938, has partly been described in the BAHÁ'Í WORLD Vol. VII, and her visit to Northern India universities and colleges is being reproduced elsewhere in this volume. She traveled from Colombo in the South to Srinagar in the North, and from Peshawar, the outpost city of the British Empire in the West, to Calcutta and Burma in the East. All the big towns in India were visited by her and in colleges and universities and in conferences and societies such as the Theosophical
Society, the Brahmo Samajand the Arya Samaj and before Muslim Institutes, the Message of Bahá'u'lláh was proclaimed and illuminating lectures on subjects like
Culture and World Peaceand What the Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty were delivered.
In Indian States like Hyderabad (Deccan), Travancore, Jammu and Kashmir, Rampur, Patiala and Indore were visited and almost every university center such as Lahore, Delhi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Benares, Aigra, Patna, Calcutta, Madras,
Bombay, Mysore and Shantineketanwas visited and at some of the lectures Judges of the High Court, distinguished publicists, Vice-Chancellors of universities, eminent professors, and heads of religious organizations presided and thousands of students received the Teachings with a sense of joy and gratefulness.
The whole of the intelligentsia of this country heard the Teachings through these lectures and through pamphlet literature and through the leading daily newspapers (English as well as vernacular) of India and Burma which reached millions of literate people in our country.
Thus a great publicity was given to the Cause during these two years all over India and Burma and well written articles were contributed by able writers to the wellknown Indian Magazines like the Hindustan Review, the Aryan Path, the Tn-veni, the Twentieth Century, the Viswab-harati, the Rangoon Times, the Advance, the Bombay Sainachar, the Karachi Daily News, etc., etc. tcSimilar work was done by Mrs. Shirin K. Fozdar.
She toured South India, that is, Madras, Hyderabad (Deccan) and Mysore and then went to Burma where she did splendid work.
In her second tour she was accompanied by her husband Dr. K. M. Fozdar and they both joined Miss
Martha Root at MadrasDr. Fozdar returned after some time and the two sisters continued their splendid work in these parts of India as the Guardian had wished that the N. S. A. of India and Burma should give their attention to the South where there is as yet no Assembly.
ccProf. Pritam Singli made his usual tours of the university towns and delivered lectures and answered questions.
He is a wellRecently completed portion of the Ua;iratu'1-Quds of 'Jdq, situated in Baghdad.
known figure in these circles and his lectures make good impression upon his hearers.
He also toured to Kashmir to follow up the work of another teacher who had preceded him to that State.
"For the first time in the history of the Cause in India, the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir was opened up at first by Mr. 1sf andiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi in 1937, followed by a visit by Miss Martha L. Root in 1938 and the followup work was done by Prof. Pritam Singh. This valley is visited every summer by thousands of people from all parts of the world and some Bahá'í friends are going to settle there, in connection with the Six-Year Plan of Teaching, to continue the teaching work. We have already a good group of firm believers here which we hope will evolve into an Assembly in the near future.
"During her tour of more than one year, wherever Miss Martha Root went, she enlisted the aid of the Press. She met everywhere the journalists and editors of newspapers who very willingly published long and glowing articles about the Divine Teachings.
In India, Burma, and Ceylon there was not a single paper of note that did not devote some considerable space for the Bahá'í articles.
It was the same with the tours of Mrs. Shirin Fozdar, Prof. Pritam Singh and Mr.
Isfandiar Bakhtiari."Miss Martha L. Root rendered a great service to the Cause by publishing that wonderful book in Karachi
(India) namely, Tdbirihthe Pure, Irdn's Greatest Woman which was presented to all the libraries in India and Burma and also to some distinguished personages whom she met in her teaching tours. This book has been very well received all over the country and read with the deepest interest.
It has made indelible impression on some minds as is evidenced from letters that are received from those who have read it.
BAnAl SUMMER SCHOOL(Cone of the forward steps that the believers of these parts took during the years under review was the starting of the
SummerSchool. As India is a vast country and it was not possible to have more than one such school, it was decided by the N. S. A. to hold it yearly at different places.
The first school was held at Simla during September, 1938. It was blessed with the presence of our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root. The school was a grand all-round success far beyond the expectations of its promoters. A full program of study of the Holy Books was carried out.
Evening lectures were held in public halls and a day was set apart for an outing. The presence of beloved Miss Root inspired the youth who had joined the school and they were greatly benefited. A full report of the school will be found elsewhere in this volume.
"The second Baha summer school opened in Karachi during September, 1939, for ten days. Owing to disturbed international situation the attendance from other Assemblies was very poor but the friends of Karachi, especially the youth of the place, evinced great interest and were greatly benefited. They asked intelligent questions and the discussion that followed each lesson was greatly illuminating.
The Laws of the Aqdas, the Bahá'í Administration and other Bahá'í literature was studied. A course of lectures on comparative religion was also delivered.
Public lectures were delivered in the Theosophical Hall and at Sarnagati Flail. The school this year was decidedly an improvement on last year's effort and it is hoped that the institution will in time become the Great School � the universal nucleus � which will send out trained Bahá'í teachers to spread the Divine Faith of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the length and breadth of India, Burma and Ceylon."
PUBLICATIONSCCJ~ addition to the Bahá'í Magazine which is published from Bombay in Urdu and Persian every month we published the translations of some books in the vernaculars of the country. Mandalay Assembly rendered the Obligatory Prayer with some other prayers into
Burmese. Hindi and Sindhiversions of Bahá'u'lláh and the Ne-tv Era were published and extensively presented to the libraries of the province to which the language belonged. The Urdu version of Some Answered Questions was published and was presented to most of the libraries keeping Urdu books. The pamphlet The Dawn of the New Day was published in English, Urdu, Hindi and Tamil and was freely distributed during the teaching tours of Miss Martha Root, Mrs. Shirin Fozdar and other teachers.
The pamphlet World Religion was republished in English and was freely distributed.
Miss Martha Root published in pamphlet form What the Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty."
There are now six different language editions ofdecided to establish a National Office, or Haziratu'1-Quds, adjacent to the Baha House of Worship in Wil-mette, Illinois.
This action had been under consideration for one or two years, in response to the statement made by the Guardian in The
World Order of Bahá'u'lláhthat the administrative activities would be transferred to the site of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as well as under the pressure of a rapidly increasing schedule of work. The time had come for a National Spiritual Assembly coordinating the affairs of more than ninety local communities, some thirty national committees arid the programs of four schools, as well as the great House of Worship itself, to consolidate its internal functions and symbolize its responsible character by maintaining a suitable headquarters.
Through the generous donation of the Wilhelm property in West Englewood the Assembly in recent years had been provided with facilities for its own meetings, the work of its Treasurer and storage for its records. Other facilities were maintained elsewhere in accordance with the residence of its officers.
The headquarters available at Wilmetteconsisted of the studio constructed by Mr. Louis Bourgeois, Temple architect, with the consent of the Assembly, on Temple land where he would be most conveniently located for completing the working drawings and supervising the building operations. The architect, however, died before the construction of the superstructure began in September, 1930, and under the terms of the agree~ment the Temple Trustees had the option of purchasing the studio or requesting its removal from the grounds.
The studio was purchased from Mrs. Bourgeois, and for some years had been serving the Temple construction and maintenance.
On October 1, 1939, the office of the Secretary was transferred from New York to this site, and arrangements were made shortly thereafter for the similar transfer of the Treasurer's office to Wilmette.
On January 20, 1940, was held the first meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly in its Ha~iratu'1-Quds, and its members, together with Bahá'ís attending a regional teaching conference in Foundation Hall, conducted a special gathering for the dedication of the conjunction of the institutions of the Ija;iratu'1-Quds and the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The intention, communicated to the Guardian when adopted in June, 1939, brought forth a most gratifying approval. On October 3, 1939, the Assembly received the following message by cablegram: "Hail historic act signalizing auspicious conjunction (in) heart (of) North American continent (of the) institutions (of) Ijx4ratu'1-Quds (and) Mashriqu'1 � Adhk6x, (the) twin foci (of) steadily evolving American Bahá'í community life. (The) former henceforth regarded (as) national Seat upon which all administrative channels (of) Bahá'í activity must increasingly converge.
(The) latter permanently recognized (as) ordained Source from which rays (of) spiritual guidance will radiate. Upon (the) vigorous, constant interaction (of the) dynamic forces which these complementary institutions embodying administrative machinery and incarnating (the) Soul (of the) Baha community can release (the) effectual prosecution (of the) Seven Year Plan as well as (the) success (of) ultimate 'World
MissionMay (the) community responsible (for the) establishment (of) these nascent institutions progressively contribute (to) acceleration (of) their growth and derive fullest benefit (from) their eventual fruition."
Later, through his Secretary, in a letter dated February 27, 1940, the Guardian outlined the functions of the new central office: ttWhule the National Office in Wilmette, designated by the Guardian as Uaziratu'l-Quds, is primarily an administrative center, its use should by no means be confined to purely administrative work, but should include such activities of a social and intellectual character, both local and national, as can best establish its character as the foremost teaching and administrative center of the Faith throughout the States.
CCIn the conduct of any social activity at the National Office, however, great care should be taken to maintain strictly the dignity of the place, particularly in view of its proximity to the House of Worship, which makes it doubly essential for all the believers to conform to the standards of conduct, and of social intercourse set up in the
Bahá'í Teachings.(CAS a teaching center, where Bab6'i lectures, conferences and meetings, whether local, regional or national, could be held, the Ua~iratu'1-Quds can also prove of invaluable help, and the N.S.A. should indeed see to it that the necessary facilities are provided in the building for that purpose.
ttBy thus combining these three features, namely teaching, administrative and social, the Haziratu'1-Quds can best fulfil its mission, as the visible symbol of the steadily-growing national Bahá'í Community in Northern America, and as the chief rallying center for all its activities and plans throughout that Continent."
THE BAETA'i SCHOOLSThe enlarged scope and importance of the teaching work in both North and South America has been reflected in the extension of the Bahá'í Schools maintained at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine; at Geyserville, California; and at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan.
Moreover, through the munificent gift of98 THE BAHA Mrs. Loulie Mathews, the Bahá'í community received another Baha School, at Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, Colorado, which Mrs. Mathews dedicated to the special function of training Bahá'ís for teaching in the international field, especially in Latin America at this time.
From the annual reports submitted by the committees supervising the activities of these schools, we glean the following facts:
GREEN AcRE � 1938 SEASONccDuring the season there were 287 students attending the classes and courses.
Very diligent study and interest was maintained throughout the summer. We are greatly indebted to the speakers and teachers for their most scholarly presentations which showed deep devotion to the Faith through long hours of research and preparation. The Youth "Week was most successful; its courses very impressive and well attended. The high qual-fry of service rendered by them was a joy to all.
(CAn innovation in the presentation of Comparative Religion was introduced by Mr. and Mrs. Williard McKay, in which IslAm occupied the larger part, and was followed each evening with the direct Words from the different Holy Books. The clarity and thoroughness of this Course was remarkable.
~~Another new feature was given by Miss Lidia Zamenhof who conducted classes for the study of Esperanto every morning at 11 from July 11 to 22. The study of the students during several hours each afternoon was closely supervised by Miss Zamenhof.
ccThe Tuesday Eveningevening Lectures under the able sponsorship of our Dr. Shook were greatly enjoyed, proven by large audiences sometimes filling the Auditorium in The Inn. Dr. Shook gave two recitals on the Color Organ, exceedingly interesting; Mrs. Schop-flocher gave her moving pictures taken around the world, and in Haifa. Mrs. Rex � ford showed the latest moving pictures of the Temple and was rewarded by a fine audience in the Hall; another evening she presented the pictures of her travels in Mexico and in The
Shenandoah National Park. Laterby popular request, covering the laws of attraction and motion, clarifying the position of Science today, which was all new material for Green Acre. The high degree of musical talent he arranged this year was deeply enjoyed by every one.
c(Distinctive features added to the program were: Orcella Rexford met with the Regional Committee members during her week and gave a series of talks on public speaking, and about 20 attended these afternoon classes.
July 10th, Mrs. Mildred Mot-tahedeh gave a lecture on A Utopia that Works;
July 17th, Miss Zamenhofspoke on An International Language; Aug. 7th, Louis Gregory spoke on Religion and the Modern Man; Aug. 2
1st, Fred SchopflocherttOn Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, the Library of the Hall was opened by Mrs. Bowman, the Librarian, for reference, study, or reading, but the privilege was enjoyed by a very small number.
Mr. Holley brought the entire World Unity Library of scholars' works to add to the collection, which makes a valuable research library, including all the Bahá'í Books.
Also a large list of Bahá'í Books was kept here and $175.00 worth was sold after the lectures and Classes. There was a reiterated call for a Loan Library, and it is hoped another room at a small sible to of all."
year it may be arranged in some The Inn for the use of guests, with charge for use, to make it pos-gather a larger library for the use July 2, 3, 4 � The Future
World Common11 � 16 � Education for the New Hu-inanity, Dr. Glenn A. Shook.
18 � 23 � Art of Growing Up,CURR 10:00 A.M. � Talks by youth on Bahá'í books: Gleanings,
Elizabeth Shook; MysteriousNoyes; Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Marvin Newport;
The Dawn-Break-ers, Mae11:00 A.M. � Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Miss
CarolineLidia Zamenhof, daughter of the founder of Esperanto, conducted advanced classes to prepare students for qualification as Esperanto teachers.
August 1 � 6 � Spiritual DevelopmentSeptember 4 � Peace Pageant, arranged by Nancy Bowditch.
5 � (Labor Day) Peace Program:Course was given this year under the direction of Mrs. Helen Bishop, Dr. Glenn Shook, and Mrs. Wendell Bacon. This type of teaching work it is hoped will be continued.
There is always discussion after the lectures, but in the laboratory class with all participating, it is a very effective way of developing students, and we encourage the use of this method of teaching as much as possible.
The Ba/id'! AdministrativeOrder was the subject presented in this course, with Mrs. Wendell Bacon conducting the work on publicity and radio in the afternoon. Publicity covering the week was written up for the local papers and contacts were made in a nearby town as part of the work of this class.
"Mr. Allen McDaniel made a brief outline of each of the World Order Letters of the Guardian giving the highlights of each. The laboratory idea was carried along in this course, the class being given questions to test their knowledge of important facts. A splendid lecture with slides on the Temple was also given by Mr. McDaniel as an evening feature of his week. The study of Isldm was made very interesting by Dr. Stanwood Cobb, and our knowledge of this subject was much extended and deepened. In his course on The Meaning of Life Mr. George Spendlove developed study of: the station of man in this world and the next; the Divine wish and intention for man's life; the search for Reality; the Manifestation of God; and, the world � what it is and what it is not.
This course was beautifully complemented by Miss Orcella Rexford's course on Positive Living in which emphasis on practical application of the teachings in a living of the life was stressed. Also several tests were given to help the students determine their
Psychological Age.'ttDuring Youth Week Mr. Norman Smith gave talks, based on the Compilation made by the National Youth Committee on Bahá'í Life, and Mr. Horace Holley gave his course on The
Transformation of HumanSociety. In the afternoon Dr. Glenn Shook conducted a laboratory course on the Organization and the Systematic Teaching of the Ba/nfl Faith. The
Green Acre Committeehas endeavored to give the greatest possible freedom and authority to the youth for practice in the matter of personal integrity and living the life, and in working out a program of constructive activity in accordance with Bahá'í principles.
The session attracts both the serious students and some who have not yet become aware of the opportunity latent in such a youth meeting. The Committee realizes that it is essentially the problem of the real leaders of the youth groups to establish the spirit and the high standard of conduct set by the
Guardian in The Adventof Divine Justice � a spirit so strong that it will resist the disintegrating effect of external influences.
The problem facing the youth is essentially the problem facing the
Spiritual AssembliesThere are over nine of the Baha Temple models either owned by Local Spiritual Assemblies or available from the Teaching Committee for purposes of exhibition.
Above: Display at the Illinois State Fair, Springfield, Ill. Below: Display in the Temple of Religions at the San Francisco World's Fair, 1939.
Page 101he began with the history of Persia covering that period, giving the background; then the ForeRunners of the Báb; the Revelation of the Báb; stories of the Dawn-Breakers; the Martyrdom of the Bali. His conclusion was: tWe, their spiritual descendants, must contact that Divine Love which pervaded those Dawn-Breakers and carry on the same banner and establish the vision of hope for which they died.' These classes set a beautiful atmosphere for the Prayer and Meditation class given by Doris and Willard McKay in which all experienced a deepening of consciousness which left an indelible impression on the minds and hearts, and resulted in a greater appreciation and understanding of the revealed prayers.
CtA course on The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys by Bahá'u'lláh was given by Mirza 'Au Kuli-KhAn, who first translated this book into English. Dr. Kh4n with his profound knowledge brought a wealth of information. The simplicity and self-efface-ment of the presentation deeply moved his hearers. This course was followed by one on learning how to spread the Teachings � Spreading the News Behind the News by Mrs. Dudley M. Blakely, and was based on the Study
Outline on Public Speakingprepared by the Outline Committee. Every morning the entire class had practice in reading the Creative Word, and marked improvement in reading was shown each day. One student served as chairman later at one of the meetings, quoting from the Writings entirely from memory with fine effect.
ttSome Answered Questions was presented by Mr. Archie Tichenor and developed some fine discussion clearing up many abstruse points of view on important questions. Mr. Tichenor brought a splendid selection of records to Green Acre with him and gave concerts in the afternoons. An evening concert interspersed with readings from the Sacred Writings was another feature of this week.
Dr. Glenn Shook in his course on History in the Making gave the historical background and the steps leading to the final federation of the states in the United States as an example of the process neces sary for the future formation of the Federation of the World.
eeBahd~i Administration was given by Horace Holley, and he touched on: an organic World Community;
Civilization: a Spiritual Achievement;the Principle of Consultation; and Justice: a New Creation � basing his course upon spiritual principles and the integrity of the individual in relation to truth and to God, and then developing his relationship to society.
At the close of this course Mr. Harlan Ober gave the class a practical demonstration of a Bahá'í
Convention.course on Humanity's Corning of Age she showed the development and unfoldment of a World Civilization, marking the highest stage in man s evolution from that of family, tribe, city, state and nation to the unification of all mankind in a World Federation.
A forty-page digest of Current Religious and Scientific Writings on The Unfoldment of World Civilization, which she had compiled, was given each student of this course, making a very tangible contribution to their fund of information.
"The last week of the season was given over to a course on Esperanto by Miss Roan Orloff, authorized instructor of the Esperanto
Association of NorthAmerica; of the International Cseh Institute of Esperanto in Holland; and of the Massachusetts
University Extension.Miss Orloff uses the direct method of conversation which enables the student to speak Esperanto from the first lesson. There was also a Laboratory Teaching course in which the following subjects were discussed: Why a Summer School? � leader, Mrs. Harold M. Bowman; The Group as a Living Organism, by Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher;
Creating the Capacityto Serve, by Mr. Horace Holley; Technique of a Discussion Group, by
Miss Lorna Tasker; TeachingPractises, by Mrs. Harry Ford; and Pioneer Teaching, by Mr. and Mrs. Tom McNally and Miss Neysa Bissell."
GEYSERVILLE Scnoot � 1938"The opening session of the twelfth annual Bahá'í Summer School at Geyserville was held under the Douglas fir landmark on the Bosch estate Sunday, July 3,
1938. Sometwo hundred Bahá'ís were present to enjoy the Unity Feast and to hear messages from persons, representative of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
C!This event, under the chairmanship of Mr. L. C. Joas, initiated the extensive program of the Summer School at
Geyserville. Responseswere given by Mr. Ray Brackett for the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is President. Mr. John Bosch, speaking for hirnself and Mrs. Louise Bosch, expressed the great joy in welcoming the increasing num � ber who partake of the facilities for education each year, and stated that this summer school was rapidly becoming the beacon-light of Bahá'í education in the western states.
Mrs. Amelia Collins said, tthe peace and calm prevailing at Geyserville instils higher joy and happiness.' She conveyed the message from the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in which he hoped that this school would typify the ideal Bahá'í community in all phases of its sessions and life. Mrs. Helen Bishop, in her remarks, mentioned the establishment of summer schools in Germany, 'Iraq, Egypt, England, and Australia.
Mr. Mark Tobey explained in detail the founding of the summer school in England. He was impressed with how the program of this summer school was incorporating the practical and cultural phases of the Bahá'í teachings.
"Greetings were brought by Miss Agnes Alexander from Japan; Mrs. Lorrol Schop-flocher from her world wide travels; and representatives of Pacific Coast Assemblies and Denver. Former members of the Geyser-yule Assembly, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Entz-minger of Oklahoma City, telegraphed their wishes for the success of the 1938 sessions. Messages were read from Shanaz Waite and Mrs. T. C. Smith, who were unable to attend.
ccThe schedule of Courses, given during the morning sessions during the two weeks, July 416 inclusively, was developed by experienced speakers, chosen from wide fields of Bahá'í experience by the Program Committee of the School. The two courses:
I. Unfoldment of WorldRise and Expansion of Christianity, were presented during the first and second hours each morning.
The order of presentation of Course I, was, � The Meaning of Culture; Rise and Fall of Civilization; Forms of
Civilization and Culture;The Maturity of the Human Race; Religion as a Basis of
World Order; The Ba1A'i"Course H. entitled, The Rise and Expansion of Christianity was presented in the following sequence : � The Background; Spheres of Influence at the Time of Christ; Establishment of the Church; Development of Theocracy; The Dark Ages; The Influence of Islim; Divisions in the
Church; Modern Isms; Mormonism;Oxford Movement, etc. CCOh Summer School activities were: the devotionaL, at 9:15 A.M., Teaching Seminars,
Tuesdays and Thursdaysat 3:00 P.M., Youth Round Tables, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 2:00 P.M. with main theme of The Place of Religion in Modern Life. Three public meetings were held at the Bahá'í Hall in Geyserville, and one at Scottish Rite
Temple in Santa Rosa.One of these public meetings at Geyserville was sponsored by the Youth Group, which presented the Faith with a dignity and intelligence, exemplary of well trained
Baha'is. Introductionof a new feature, the Educational Evening, was well received on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8:00 P.M. A bit of culture was given by a lecture on the Fundamentals of Art by Mr. Mark Tobey.
Travelogues and personal experiences were the subjects of other speakers during these evenings which were enjoyed by the entire school body and the townspeople.
"The response to the school program was evident from the larger number attending in excess of the 1937 sessions. The attendance record follows: Devotionals, maximum 12 5, minimum 40; daily lectures, maximum 130, minimum 50; public meetings, 100 average; teaching seminars, maximum 70, minimum 40; 15 children, under the committee with Mrs. Rhoba Jones as Chairman, were given instruction in the Bahá'í principles, and provided with facilities for handicraft and recreation on the Collison place.
tlncrease in the Library facilities through gifts, and revenue from discounts of books purchased through Mrs. Emma Smith at the
Page 103sessions, has provided one or more copies of the principal Bahá'í books published in English and several non-Bahá'í books for corre1ar~x reading.
The growth of this library service, which is housed in the Bahá'í Hall annex, has proved indispensable for the reference of teachers and students.
(c~xJith the passing of each summer session into history, there has remained a sense of progress in the Faith through the agency jf the summer school.
The method of approaching the problems of this world have been made more real because many mdi � viduals render voluntary service on the numerous committees and act as the mouthpieces for the intellectual and spiritual development of the ideals and principles of the Faith. To each is rendered the appreciation of this Committee for contributing their mite for the advancement of the Summer School. To them as with us their joy comes with the satisfaction of the true fellowship of learning which the Summer School has provided."
GEYSERVILLE � 1 939 SEASONerDevotions Daily for the three weeks at 9 A.M. fifty different Babi'is were leaders or readers in the presentation of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
Eighteen regular devotional periods were arranged, and two special observances were celebrated, one on the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Bib, and one in commemoration of those who had departed to the Abh~ Kingdom during the past year. Particularly remembered at the later meeting were Shanaz Waite and Joseph Bray, who were speakers for the school program and frequently students.
"Each devotional period was in honor of an attribute of God, namely, Immortality, Steadfastness, Obedience, Unity, et cetera. Since these meetings established the spiritual tone for the activities of the day, the participation of adults, youth, and children became a common bond of communal unity.
!rPrO gram of Study. For the remainder of each morning excepting Sundays, three programs were concurrently in session, one for the adult classes, one for youth, and one for the children.
"The adult program consisted of two successive lecture-discussion periods of one hour duration each. The first week of lectures was repeated during the third week.
The major subject of the lectures was: The Spiritual
Unfoldment of Humanitywhich included by title the following topics: The Source of Civilization, Judaism, Christianity, Jsflm,
The Bahá'í Faith, A Worldand World Peace. Ten different speakers participated in this program. The second course was entitled: Bridges of Human Relationships, which outlined the points of contact between social and welfare activities of the world and the Bahá'í Faith in the following series of lectures: Physical Science, Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, Race Relations, and Comparative Religions.
Fourteen different speakers had prepared the agenda of these subjcts, which was enlarged upon in the discussion which followed.
tA maximum number attending the adult sessions was 100 and a minimum of 30 dur � ing the entire session. During the third week the average attendance was 38, which figure was comparable to the 72 average in attendance for the first two weeks.
ttThe Youth program was conducted in two sections daily excepting Sundays.
The first session was presented under the title: The Young Bahá'í in the World Today, with eleven different adult leaders.
Discussion of the Bahá'í attitudes towards such collective problems as war, nationalism, race and class struggle, and such individual problems as marriage, family relations, character, et cetera, was the means used. The second course every morning was a laboratory section with practical projects in the afternoons such as field contacts, publicity, radio, public speaking, dramatics and the use of Bahá'í literature in teaching. This discussion period by the youth was known as The Theory and Practice of Bahá'í Teaching. This project included the responsibility of providing the program for the tn-weekly meetings in Bahá'í Auditorium for the community. Notable was this contribution to the high standard of entertainment, as evident in the topics presented in the following sequence: Symphony Evening with musical interpretation; Depicting of the Episode of the Báb in a most impressive and solemn stage presenta-don; Travelogues via moving pictures with
Page 104accompaniment of experienced narrators; a social evening with dancing; History of Art; and one public meeting.
CtTO Marion Holley, VirginiaLinfoot, who carried the responsibility for the Youth, is due the deepest appreciation for pioneering this activity, which proved most effective in imbuing the 22 youth with an intelligent desire to serve. The hope of the Youth Committee was expressed in their report that this experience was tbut a foretaste of the time when Gey-serville will attract a host of young people, providing for thin the opportunity to mature and grow under the influence, and into the pattern, of true Baha life.'
"The early dawn of that integrated life among all age groups in a Bahá'í community may be foreshadowed in the brief report of the Children's Committee, which is being added to the Adult and Youth reports. Eighteen children from the age of 2 to 14 years were in attendance at the daily classes. Seven of this number completed one or more lessons in the Outline A Bahá'í Life. Seven completed at least one handiwork project. During the afternoon and evenings the parents assumed the responsibility of the chil � dren. Through the voluntary service of ten adults the lessons in their Bahá'í studies and handicraft were completed.
The coordination of the children's training effort was under the supervision of Mrs. Louise Groger, Mrs. Ethel MacAllaster, and Mrs. Rhoba Jones and their assistants to whom highest praise is due for their excellent work.
erGcneral Activity. There were six public meetings in which 32 Bahá'ís participated as speakers and artists.
Five of these meetings were held at Bahá'í Auditorium, in Geyser-yule, and one in Santa Rosa in conjunction with the display of the Bahá'í
Temple model. Attendanceranged from 45 to 100 and enabled an excellent group of Bahá'í teachers to effectively inform these growing communities with specific Bahá'í teachings.
CCPublicity which carried daily programs and personal notes totaling 360 column inches was printed at least once in every major city in California, and in Phoenix, Arizona. Liberal space continued to carry weekly news in the Geyserville, and Clover-dale papers.
"Through the fine support of the friends, 157 volumes of the principal Bahá'í literature in English are now found in the Library, which is in constant demand during the sessions.
These accessions have been catalogued and prepared for reference readings by Mrs. Janet Ward.
LOUHELEN ScnooL � 1938 SEASONSchool Committee held four sessions at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, with programs as follows:
First Youth Session, Junet0T1ne above classes were repeated, except that the course on Character Building was given by
Professor Stanwood Cobbinstead of by Mr. and Mrs. Sala. In addition, for those who stayed over and had already attended the first session, a class in The Dawn-Breakers was organized and one in an intensive study of some of The World
Order Letters by Shoghiwas something new, an experiment. Urged on by repeated suggestions from the Guardian that we should deepen in the Teachings, that there should be real study and incentive to go home and study more deeply and consistently, the committee planned a program which would be more like a real school and which would include definite practice in opening up new territory, getting publicity and giving radio talks. About 35 were present for five or more days and others for shorter periods. There were five courses: A Frame of Reference for Bahá'í Sacred Writings, conducted by Win. Kenneth Christian.
Page 105CURRENT BAHÁ'Í ACTIVITI The Three 'Worlds, an Intensive
study of the basic Teachings of the Bahá'í Faith, conducted by Mrs. II. Emogene Hoagg.
Publicity Methods and Writingsand Radio Speaking, conducted by Mrs. Alice Bacon.
How to make Contacts in New Places, conducted by Miss Marguerite Reimer.
Public Speaking, conducted by Mrs. Maude Beagle of the Flint Public Schools.
ccTh first named course included a classification of Bahá'í Sacred Writings based on their authoritativeness (i.e., whether we have the original manuscript or not) and a brief survey of their contents. Also a comprehensive analysis and tabulation of all the types of teachings included in the Baha writings was made. Assignments were made for outside work which involved research in the different Bahá'í books. The work done in this course is being compiled for future reference at the school.
ecOf the Frame of Reference made and used in this course the Guardian has written through his secretary, tHe has read the general outline (Frame of Reference) and finds it very comprehensive and of indispensable value to every student of the
Teachings.'"Mrs. Hoagg's course was based on a condensation of her outline for study called The Three Worlds.
She emphasized a more exact use of Bahá'í terminology, exact references, real and deep understanding of all the sacred writings, the need of a more exact presenta � non of the Bahá'í teachings.
"Miss Marguerite Reimer'scourse was one of practical contact methods. Always she emphasized prayer combined with action. Members of the class went to nearby towns to make contacts with groups and individuals and to invite them to public lectures at Louhelen auditorium. The result of this field work enabled the class to send Win. Kenneth Christian to three Rotary clubs as speaker, and to make engagements for teachers coming to the August session.
Twelve towns were covered by members of the class in contact work, and through this effort and publicity work two most successful public meetings were held at the Louhelen auditorium during the laboratory session. Other visitors came from time to time to spend a day in the class room and some caine from Flint daily to attend the regular lectures.
CtThe class in publicity was conducted by Mrs. Bacon, former newspaper woman, and so had the advantage of her practical experience from the newspaper point of view. She gave writing practice in linking excerpts from the Teachings with activities to make "live copy." She also gave suggestions and experiences in radio broadcasting and gave the class opportunity to write a radio broadcast that would be included in an actual broadcast in August.
"Mrs. Beagle's course in public speaking included assignments to prepare each day and speechmaking for class work. Individual criticism and instruction from Mrs. Beagle and from the class gave excellent training for future Bahá'í teachers and speakers.
C(J~ the General SessionNotes and Experiences from Haifa, Mrs. Margery McCormick (4 days).
Studies of Muhammad and Islim, teacher not reported.
Edward B. Struven (3 days).c~There was great earnestness and seriousness in deepening in the Teachings, several confirmations.
A valuable addition at the end of the course in Administration was a comprehensive examination using the true-false and other modern examination methods. A Baha wedding when Joseph and Caroline Williams of Kansas City received the blessing of the Baha ceremony was one of the happy occasions of the week.
There were many new visitors at this session both during the class periods and at the public meetings.
Page 106Temple Model Exhibited at Big Bear Lake, California.
Book Exhibit near the Bahá'í Temple Arranged During Convention.
Page 107"Noticeable gain was made last summer in extending the scope of the influence of the school and in gaining more sympathetic understanding of its aims in nearby communities. This report is therefore not complete without including work done before and after the real sessions of the school. The first of May Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg came to Louhelen Ranch and before the first session conducted a study class two nights a week for the Flint community and also spoke before a number of groups in nearby towns.
"Following the LaboratorySession there was a demand for Bahá'í speakers so Mr. Carl Scheffler came a week before the opening of the August Session and spoke before Rotary
Clubs in Lapeer, InilayCity, and Port Huron, the Caravan Club of Saginaw, and to groups in Flint, Clia and Marysville.
ttRobert Gaines of Urbana also gave several informal talks in August to Youth groups.
ttDuring the August session Mr. McDaniel and Mr. Ober each spoke before men's clubs in a number of the towns previously contacted and Mr. McDaniel spoke over the radio in Port Huron. During the summer through these many contacts some 850 or more people heard of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
The week following theand Mr. Ober made contacts and did followup work in Saginaw, Pontiac, Port Huron and Fenton. Mr. Ober gave a talk over the radio in Port Huron.
"At the Flint Flower Showin September Louhelen Summer School displayed the Tern-pie model surrounded by flowers. This attracted much attention."
LOUHELEN � 1 939 SEASON"The summer of 1939 there were 54 registered at the first youth session and 47 at the August one.
These numbers do not include many visitors who came for a day or shorter time nor adults who helped in teaching and other ways. In fact figures do not tell the story, but we keep a record for our own help in followup work and in other ways.
The following daily programs were carried out: CcFirst Youth Session, June 2529, inclusive:
Morning ProgramDevotions (before breakfast) 1. Character Building.
Miss Flora Hones (Bahá'íMr. Win. Kenneth Christian (Bahá'í Principles and
History)(The present day application of the laws of Bahá'u'lláh and how they lead to the New World
Order)(The above course continued through four days. The fifth day was given over to an all day forum conducted by Mr. Niss on the subject
Bahá'ímunity Life) 4. Recreation, forum, conferences, entertainment.
tainment.Session, August 16 � 20, inclusive, the plan and subjects were the same as for the first session but the courses were conducted by Mrs. Virginia Camelon, Mr. Ralph Garner, Mrs. Helen Bishop, Mr. Carl Scheffler, respectively. An additional feature was Mrs. Marzieh Gail's class in the World Order
Letters of Shoghi Effendi.ttlt will be noted that the program aims at a balanced life so greatly emphasized in our teachings, � the spiritual, the intellectual, social, physical and recreational. The aim is to have Bahá'í life and standards of conduct permeate all activities.
Each year we feel we do make progress toward attaining these high standards, but make no claims to perfection. The words of our Guardian urge us to increased effort.
In a letter written through his secretary, November, 1932, he expresses the hope that these Bahá'í schools cmay become powerful and well-established organizations that will train innumerable young men and women to go out into the world to spread the message of Bahá'u'lláh.' At another time he wrote, clndeed it is very important for the Faith to extend the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh amongst the youth, as it is through their
Page 108108 THE BAHÁ'Í WOR activities that the Cause of our beloved Master will in the future spread all over the American continent. They have upon their shoulders the responsibilities for the progress of the Movement; it is our duty to enlighten their hearts with the light of guidance which has been shed before us by the Master.'
CCThe young people take their share of responsibility in making these youth sessions vital and dynamic.
A group from some one community is chosen to be responsible for activities in entertainment, recreation, sports, and to help in creating a spirit of cooperation in maintaining order together with freedom on the campus and in the dormitories. Last summer the North Shore young people assumed this responsibility and carried out the plans most successfully.
This group assigned, in turn, the various evening entertainments to other groups. These youth sessions are truly cooperative enterprises.
~cThi was the second summer in which the committee has planned a special kind of session which we named the laboratory session both because it has been experimental and because it has meant real work and study by those attending. It has aimed to do two things: help those who wish to be guided into a deeper study and understanding of the Teachings and second to work out by practical demonstration under experienced teachers some type of Bahá'í teaching or administrative problem.
Last summer 35 ardent students and workers from east, west, north and south threw themselves wholeheartedly into seeking a better understanding of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and working out some definite problems.
The program follows: Devotions (before breakfast)practice in electing a local Assembly, appointed committees which did publicity and contact work in neighboring towns, held a Nineteen Day Feast, arranged a public meeting, etc.) 2. The Three Worlds of
Divinity, Prophet-hood(A survey of Bahá'í "Writings and research therein)
3. Public Speaking � Instruction4. Comprehensive survey of Shoghi U-fendi's 'World
Order LettersOber was most successful in guiding the elected Assemblies to Baha solution of problems and to correct Bahá'í procedure. Mrs. Paine helped many into a new understanding of some of the deeper aspects of our Faith. Mrs. Beagle made her class at the same time, inspirational, practical and relaxing and Mrs. Luberger used great skill in giving us a survey of the World Order letters.
CCAt the August general session about SO were present and a fine spirit prevailed. There were more strangers and inquirers than ever before. The program follows:
General Session, August3. The Art of Living. Mrs. Alice Bacon (Bahá'í standards of conduct) 4. What is the Bahá'í Faith, a series of talks, and forums to introduce the Faith to new seekers, by Bahá'ís present.
5. Talks on various phases of Bahá'í teachings, evening talks by Mrs.
Marzieh Carpenter Gail."Mr. Kelsey's series of lessons was particu-lady inspiring and helpful.
In fact the whole Kelsey family brought that real Bahá'í spirit of cooperation and understanding that radiated to all. Mrs. Kelsey's help with music was great and the children formed the nucleus of a children's class that was conducted by Miss Frances Bacon.
~cMrs. Bishop opened new vistas for us in the understanding of the sources and forces of all culture and civilization as well as those of IsHrn.
Mrs. Bacon inspired us to make new efforts to rise to Bahá'í standards of conduct. Her use of some of the Dawn-Breaker stories to illustrate certain characteristics brought the early days of the Cause to mind. The evening talks by Mrs. Marzieh Carpenter Gail were conducted in
Page 109formally. Her method was to draw the listeners unconsciously into the discussion. Her talk on Bahá'í marriage was especially acceptable.
"As always those who came as learners were among the greatest helpers in planning and carrying out Bahá'í forums, panel discussions, other teaching projects and helping with music and in innumerable ways.
"One great addition to the physical equipment of the school is the new library building, the gift of two friends augmented by smaller gifts and the labor of Mr. Eggleston and his son Mr. George Eggleston.
Many books have been contributed so that now there are some 765 in the library.
These include standard secular books on various subjects, fiction, philosophy, science, sociology, history, etc., as well as Bahá'í books. People from surrounding communities are invited to use the library and to draw books for home reading. Thus the library becomes a community service and acquaints people with the school. It is hoped that it will be one means of eventually attracting people to the Cause. The library is by no means complete and we invite people to continue to contribute books which are suitable, both new and used, which are in good condition.
t~An entirely new project of the Louhelen committee was the winter session held the week after Christmas,
December 26, 1939-January1, 1940. The registration (12) was small since warm accommodations were limited, but all who came considered it entirely worth while.
The aim was especially to inform about Latin American conditions and culture as a basis for Bahá'í work in those countries.
Mrs. Frances BenedictStewart gave most valuable information and inspiration along these lines. Two public meetings were held during the session at which Mrs. Stewart was the speaker. Some 71 different people from twelve towns and four states were present during the week. Mrs. Stewart also remained by special invitation to address the Shrine club in Flint. Other lessons in methods of teaching and study were given by Mrs. Ethel Furbush, Mr. Harry Jay and Mrs.
Bertha Kirkpatrick. Aletter from New Zealand inquiring about the winter session at Louhelen makes us realize the worldwide interest in all Bahá'í activities."
NEW INTERNATIONAL BAnAlOn September 4, 1939 Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews executed an Indenture of Trust under which title to property at Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, is to be vested in Trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Mrs. Mathews retaining full use and control of the property during her life.
This munificent donation is an important contribution to the facilities of the American Bahá'í community for service to the Faith, Mrs. Mathews having plans for developing at Pine Valley a School for the training of Bahá'ís for international teaching.
This plan was welcomed by the Guardian in a letter addressed to Mrs. Mathews on December 14, 1938: "The Guardian feels also deeply appreciative of your generous offering to the N.S.A. of your ranch in Colorado Springs.
Your idea to turn this property into a training school for Inter-America teaching work, he feels, is splendid."
The first session was not held until after the period covered by the present summary. However, the program announced in advance included two periods daily for prayer and meditation, followed by active discussion.
Lectures on Latin Americanmusic were to be given by Prof. James Sykes and Prof. Nicolas Slonimsky.
Prof. C. W. T. Penland was also announced in connection with an illustrated lecture.
Discussion on Inter-Americateaching was planned to share the personal experiences of Mrs. Mathews herself, Chairman of the Inter-America Committee for several years, and of Mrs. Louise Caswell, pioneer teacher settled in Panama.
A program of public lectures was arranged in Half
Way House, ColoradoSprings, with talks on the Cause by George 0. Latimer, Raphael Pumpelly,
Mrs. CharlesGreat progress was made in the external ornamentation of the Bahá'í House of Worship at 'Wilmette between 1938 and 1940. The facts were presented by George 0. Latimer in his annual reports submitted on behalf of the Temple Trustees, and the hA-lowing excerpts are taken from his reports: � "On July 4, 1937, the Guardian sent an
Page 110inspiring cable outlining five successive steps in Temple construction.
At the beginning of the current year two of these steps had been completed, and on June 6, 1938 Shoghi Effendi again cabled as follows: tRejoiced thankful initiative resourcefulness newly elected National Assembly prompting them signalize inauguration period stewardship by launching third stage in progressive unf old-ment seven year plan. Such farsighted action evokes in me deepest longing that they will not alone accomplish placing final contract but will have also ere expiry allotted year embarked on concluding stage by insuring uhinterrupted prosecution of closing phase of an enterprise which for no less than thirty years, has engaged attention and challenged resources of entire American Bahá'í community.'
"Since the receipt of this challenging cablegram the work of the ornamentation of the gallery section has been carried on slightly ahead of schedule with the same excellent craftsmanship that has characterized the Dome ornamentation by the Fancy Studio. When work was discontinued on December 23, 1938, all of the contracted work had been completed except the upper sections of the nine pylons. The remainder of the work of pouring the pylons will start about April 1, or when weather conditions are favorable, and should be finished sometime in June, 1939. Mr. McDaniel has supervised the construction work on behalf of the Trustees and has rendered monthly reports checking all items of expense. To date $111,785.40 has been expended on the contract for the gallery section and there are sufficient funds on hand for the completion of the work, estimated at $125,000.00.
CCThe Trustees had been informed by the National Assembly that the Guardian had approved of placing the contract for the ornamentation of the first story when one � half of the estimated cost of $150,000.00 for this work was at hand.
In October it was learned that savings in both time and cost could be effected if a contract were placed, before the completion of the gallery section, for the execution of the hand-carved models for the first story, thus dividing the work in successive units.
The Guardian approved the placing of an immediate contract tract for the models in a cable on November 29th, and on December 11, 1939, the Trustees signed an agreement with Mr. Earley for making the models at a total estimated cost, including the contractor's service fee, of $21,000.00.
CCM McDaniel informed the Trustees in October that a new source of suppiy of quartz needed in the external ornamentation had been located nearer to the Earley Studio and that if Mr. Earley were authorized to purchase the quartz at this time, the cost would be about $8.00 a ton, delivered, thus effecting a saving of several dollars per ton in comparison with the original cost of the former quartz. It was voted to authorize Mr. EarLy to purchase 50 tons of quartz a month, at $8.00 per ton, delivered, until the amount needed for the next contract is obtained. To date of this report 300 tons have been purchased and delivered at Ross-iyn, Virginia, from the Annapolis quarry.
ttThe Trustees were further notified of the most generous gift of the Guardian of One Thousand Pounds toward the Temple construction fund and the linking of the memory of Bahá'í Kh~num with all future Temple construction. With this glorious start, coupled with another munificent gift of $25,000.00 and payment of some substantial pledges by different
Assemblies, the Trusteesentered into a second contract, dated February 4, 1940, with Mr. Barley for the making of the molds required for the exterior ornamentation of the first story of the Temple.
These two contracts for $21,000 and $29,000 respectively, pius an estimated $5,000 for the necessary quartz, completes one-third of the required amount for the main story, leaving an estimated $95,000 still to be raised for casting and applying the units to the first story.
Thus, the fourth of the successive steps outlined by the Guardian has been taken, and the Trustees feel assured that the fifth and final stage will be inaugurated by the friends well within the time allotted by the Seven Year Plan.
"Mr. Earley completed his contract for the lower sections of the pylons of the main story of the Temple, and the Trustees have taken steps to assure the continuation of the construction of the main story section
Page 111CURRENT BAHÁ'Í ACTIVITIES ill in the Spring of 1940 by asking for $50,000.00 by April 1st, in order to enter into the final contract for the ornamentation of the Temple. This advance step makes it necessary to provide for the purchase of fill so that the plans for landscaping the grounds may be completed. Arrangements have been made by the chairman of the maintenance committee, Mr. Schefiler, to secure the necessary fill from excavations now being made at Northwestern University.
Mr. Allen B. McDaniel has ably supervised the progress of the Temple construction work of the Earley Studios and represented the Trustees in the contractural agreements."
INCREASE IN NUMBER orA total of twenty-four new Assemblies was established in North America between 1938 and 1940.
At the annual election held uniformly throughout the Bahá'í world on April 21, 1939, the new Assemblies formed were:
Knoxville, Tennessee;Huntington Park, California; Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; Eagle River, 'Wisconsin; East Cleveland, Ohio; Richmond Highlands,
Washington.A year later the Assembly Roll included: Aihambra, Burbank, Big
Bear Lake, Beverly HillsHaven, Connecticut; Atlanta, Georgia; Oak Park and Waukegan, Illinois; Brookline,
Massachusetts; Omaha, Nebraska;and Madison, Wisconsin, By April 21, 1940, the American Bahá'í community contained one hundred and two local Assemblies.
The same period also saw a large increase in the number of the incorporated Assemblies, the newly incorporated bodies being those of Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Phoenix, Portland, Lima, Columbus, Philadelphia, Jersey City, Boston, Winnetka, Wilmette, Peoria and Helena, By April 21, 1940, there were twenty-seven legally incorporated local Bahá'í Assemblies in the United
States and Canada.A significant result of this comparatively recent change in the status of the local Bahá'í Assembly was the successful applica-don made by the Chicago Assembly for civil recognition of its right to conduct a legal marriage and file a marriage certifibate. The Bahá'ís have thus made a beginning in their fulfilment of the functions of an independent religion.
Under the controlling procedures explained by Shoghi Effendi, the Assembly
Chairman or Secretaryrepresents the Assembly in the conduct of the marriage ceremony by the two contracting parties. Furthermore, before the Assembly can officially take part and issue the certificate it must have in writing the consent of all four, or all surviving parents, to the proposed marriage.
BAHÁ'Í EXHIBITSThe two great world's fairs held during this period, at San Francisco and New York respectively, during two successive summer seasons, afforded the American Bahá'ís an extraordinary opportunity to present the teachings to the general public.
In addition, the local exhibits of the Temple model, Bahá'í books and other material greatly increased. As for the local and more informal type of exhibit we have the following data reported by the Teaching Committee: � "Exhibits of the beautiful model of the Temple give the teaching work great impetus in any area. Being tangible, it is something that can be easily grasped and discussed and it thus provides unending opportunity to present the Teachings through publicity and directly to large groups.
"The results of these exhibits at fairs, conferences, and congresses cannot be measured or overemphasized, and the Teaching Committee would urge all Assemblies, teachers, and Regional Committees not to overlook any opportunity to arrange for a display of a Temple model. The National Spiritual Assembly has made five models available to the Teaching Committee for this purpose and it is important that they be kept in constant use.
ccDuring the past year exhibits of the Temple model were arranged at Cornell University, at Vassar College during the World Youth Congress, at Toronto during the Canadian National Exposition, at Alba
Page 112on the occasion of the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly in that city, at Port Huron,
Flint, and Marysvillein Michigan, at Santa Barbara, California, 'Wichita, Kansas, at the Temple of Religion and in the Bahá'í booth at the World's
Fair in San Francisco."Various Assemblies throughout the country have purchased models and use them most effectively in local and extension teaching activities.
"The Bahá'í Booth at theExposition attracted thousands, giving the attendant opportunity to teach, and resulting in many fine contacts.
Over 15,000 pieces of free literature were distributed.
"Perhaps the outstanding exhibit of the Temple model at State Fairs, was the one arranged by the Milwaukee Assembly, at the Wisconsin State Fair. Attendants were present at the Booth responding to the many teaching opportunities presented. There were some 18,000 visitors at the Booth, and about 2500 pieces of literature were distributed.
ccAnother outstanding exhibit, was that in Sacramento, Calif., at the annual flower show. This exhibit, prepared by the Junior Garden Clubs of Sacramento, under Bahá'í direction, portrayed the Temple in a garden with flowers from all countries of the world. It was especially mentioned by the Manage-merit, and won one of the first prizes.
"At Newark, New Jersey, the model was displayed at the ~ model of the
New York World's Fairin miniature. There were about 4000 visitors daily.
The management conceded that the Temple Model display was the outstanding single exhibit.
'~Likewise requiring special mention, is the exhibit arranged in Butte, Montana, at the WPA Art Center.
Groups were brought in from all parts of the county to view it. One Photography Group made a special study of methods of photographing it. Inquiry has been received as to whether we could permit this Model to be sent from Art center to Art center, throughout the State.
ttAt all exhibits where a Bahá'í Booth was maintained, an attendant was present at all times. Those interested were asked to reg ister in guest books.
These names and addresses were sent to the nearest Assembly, group, or Regional Committee for active followup.
The Chicago Assemblyreport that one of its outstanding teaching successes of the year, was the followup contacts made at the various Fairs.
One hundred fifty of these people responded to an invitation to a musicale and reception, planned by the Assembly to establish a friendly contact, as a foundation for more direct presentation of the Faith.
ccThe records of the Teaching Committee show that there were thirty-seven displays of the Temple model this year; over 300,000 pieces of teaching literature were distributed, and the 'Message' given to thousands of people. Undoubtedly, other exhibits were arranged by Assemblies owning Temple models, which were not reported to the Committee."
Concerning the formal Bahá'í exhibits at the World's Fairs we have special reports prepared by or for the Committees directly in charge, for the 1939 season.
1. NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIRCCFrom ten to ten, for over two months the Bahá'í Exhibit has been in operation at the World's Fair. At the opening moment, April 30, 1939, it started work and since that time hundreds of thousands have passed by, some quickly, others stopping for varying periods. It is truly a Visual Teaching, and it is a literal fulfilment of the old prophecy of tWriting on the Wall' so that tHe who runs may read.' The quotations in gold lettering are not only read but often copied, while the Temple model and the booklet furnish the other items of the pictorial message.
"The mass of people has been representative of all types of men, women and children, constituting a cross section of humanity, not alone in this country but from all parts of the world.
"The small Temple leaflet, with quotations, is given to all, the large one, by Genevieve Coy, to those showing real interest.
The illustrated postcard is given sometimes and in special cases additional literature, although our Exhibit is listed as a Book Exhibit and not a Religious Propa
Page 113ganda effort. Also, as seems advisable, information is given regarding other centers and groups, books, magazines, summer schools, youth meetings, lectures at the New York Center, and addresses in other cities and countries.
Many repercussions should result from this work.Some are interested, others indifferent, a very few openiy antagonistic, scorn-Lul or derisive � a heartening number enthusiastic but often pessimistic about the accomplishment of so beautiful a plan.
It seems fair to state that there has been a gratifying response in both interest and sympathy. Hundreds of interviews of varying duration have taken place, lasting from two minutes to two hours, or even longer. Groups have listened intently to descriptions of the Temple and Teachings.
Influence has been exerted in many interviews from the case where a man declared that he had decided because of the visit to the Booth not to carry out his intention to destroy himself to those who simply say ~ will take this home and look it over.'
ccOur approach, naturally, is from many angles: The Temple; its meaning, structure and beauty; World peace; Unity, Oneness of Mankind; Fulfilment of
Prophecies; ComparativeReligions; End of an Era; God's plan for the World; World Order; Group Evolution, etc. The most effective statement, possibly, is that this Movement stands for the elimination of all prejudice, national, racial, religious and class, or that the coming struggle will not be between the different religions but between religion and no-religion.
cTh volumes of the BAHÁ'Í WORLD have been most useful, references to articles therein being of hourly occurrence, such as on Esperanto Day, Czechoslovakian Day, etc. Also the translations of Dr. Esslemont's book, and others, in the different languages arouse interest.
CtFirst in importance and size of the interested groups should, it would seem, be cited the immense number of people who know of or live near the Temple, verifying 'Abdu'l-Bahá statement that it would be the Greatest Teacher.
Even when the passersby do not stop one often hears: cj have seen that,' ~J live near that,' tIsn~t it lovely?' and such remarks from hour to hour. Many who know the building without being aware of its purpose and meaning have promised to visit it. cCThen there are the many who have met Bahá'ís and received the Message proving that work and effort are not wasted; vast numbers of interested, keen and vital young people, especially young men, and the eager, bright-faced children who have listened in groups to talks on the Temple promising to write essays about it in school and tell their teachers and parents of the experience.
cdt seems just to say that fully as many men, especially young ones, as women, have shown sincere interest. Many of these have been college students, some from Theological Seminaries.
These have often said the Bahá'í Faith was taught in some of their courses and an attempt was being made to have it included as the ninth great religion.
ctCountless questions have been asked and answered to the best of the ability of the attendants. Only a small fraction can be referred to here. These have included enquiries regarding healing, prayer, reincarnation, God and His Prophets, God's reality and divinity, the divinity of Bahá'u'lláh, if this is the Unity Movement, its relation to the Oxford Group, Christian Science, New Thought, if it is Indian, Jewish, what God we worship, if we believe in Christ, the Bible and that Christ saved us from our sins through His blood, how we pray, what our service is, if we are related to the Sufis, the Zotoastrians, how old the Movement is, how many Bahá'ís there are, how much the Tern-pie has cost and will cost, when it will-be finished, why religion has to come from the East, if this originated with one of the ten Sons of Abraham or one of his descendants, and many, many others, one of the most curious possibly being: 'How much Mu � liamrnedan Teaching will be included in your Laws and Precepts?'
ccOver 70,000 booklets have been given out, to date, quite a number of people have signed the visitors' book and will be followed up, but this is not a thing the average person likes to do. Possibly they fear an annoying pursuit. A daybook is kept of a few of the outstanding items of interest
Page 114Bahá'í Exhibit, New York State Fair, Syracuse, 1939.
Temple Model on Display at a Florist's Shop, San Francisco, California.
Page 115but this is very incomplete; the things happening too rapidly to allow of recording and there occur many duplications, of necessity.
2. GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL"Two exhibits of the model of the Bábi'i Temple at the Golden Gate International Exposition held in San Francisco from February 18 to October 29, 1939, created widespread interest in the principles of the Bahá'í Faith, and secured far-reaching and excellent publicity.
One of the exhibits, in the Bahá'í Booth constructed in the Homes and Gardens Building, was viewed by thousands upon thousands of people; approximately 100,000 people stopping to ask questions and over 50,000 pieces of Bahá'í literature being distributed. The other exhibit was in the Exhibit Rooms of the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace. At this exhibit it was permissible to exhibit the model oniy. The Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace officers estimate over 500,000 people viewed the various exhibits of religious objects, ancient and modern, and of practically all living Faiths, presented in the four large exhibit rooms of this unique structure.
Bahá'í Booth, Homes and~'The model in the Homes and Gardens Building, was displayed in a special booth constructed and maintained by the Baha of the San Francisco Bay Region. This building was open every day from ten o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock in the evening. Members of the several Bahá'í communities acted as attendants at the booth to distribute literature and answer the questions of those interested and desirous of learning more of the Bahá'í Faith. For the technically-minded there was conveniently at hand a piece of the ornamental carving of the Temple itself, to show the actual building material and intricate detail of the exterior ornamentation of the
Bahá'í House of Worship."The Booth, designed by Phoebe H. Brown, a young architect of San Francisco, is 7%2 x 19 feet. The simplicity of Miss Brown's plan, so skilfully adapted to the space available, has stirred the admiration of every advertising and display expert who has viewed the exhibit; and repeated visits have been made by artists, architects, and artisans of many crafts.
The curve of the background and the graceful rise of the sand colored ramp have given to the shallow footage an impression of surprising depth. Enthusiastically a wellknown showman pointed out to his companions: Lee the perfect lines of that ramp sweeping up to the temple! They make it look like a pinnacle upon a mountain top!' This effect is intensi � fled by a starlike spotlight above the model, the luminous whiteness of which is further enhanced by the soft marine blue of the blackground whereon are dimly indicated, in darker blue, the continents of the world.
c(The oval curve of the highly polished black composition flooring cleverly accentuates the rhythm of the design.
"Identifying the exhibit, on the upper left hand edge of the wall, is the word BAHA'I, in raised letters cut out of wood.
These letters are a dull silver, as are also those comprising a quotation from the Tablet of Wisdom by Bahá'u'lláh: ~ ttf~j~ handful of dust, the world, is one home: Let it be in unity.'
tCA glossy-leafed Philodendron set in a corner adds to the whole a touch of living green.
"It is impossible to give any idea of the interest aroused by the Temple, nor of the thousands of questions concerning the Faith, and its relation to existing religious movements. In every way was it demonstrated that the Temple is the tgreatest teacher,' as 'Abdu'1 � Bah6 promised it would be, many years ago.
ccThough the majority of the visitors to the Exhibit were from local areas, a large proportion were travelers from all the States and Canada and not a few from points around the world such as Alaska, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, India, England, Sweden, Jamaica, Argentina. The international contacts included a young Co. lombian who had attended Bahá'í meetings in Milwaukee and was soon to return to Colombia. He left his address and took some of the literature. A Chinese gentleman with
Page 116his family from Shanghai who knew Martha Root and Roy Wilhelm admired the Exhibit and exchanged greetings.
An Egyptian who has visited 'Akka and Haifa was glad to have some of the Teachings explained and said he was greatly enlightened about the Baha'is.
ccBah6:i public activities in connection with the Bahá'í Booth consisted of a series of lectures in a Lecture Hall in the Homes and Gardens Building, immediately adjoining the Bahá'í Booth, on the general subject ~f CJ~f~~p~ Builders,' with slides showing the progress of the construction of the Bahá'í Temple. In this same Hall on the afternoon of
October 15, a RegionalConference of the Bahá'ís of the Pacific Coast with the National Spiritual Assembly was held.
"The relations established with the officers and emplayes of the Golden Gate International Exposition were most cordial, and in every contact relating to our contract for space, etc., increased friendliness for the Faith was shown.
Due to one of the exhibitors building into our original space (9 x 71 2) it was necessary for us to see the Chairman of the Board of the entire Exposition, renewing a Bahá'í contact pre-viousiy made; resulting in the Exposition people adjusting our space to a new location, and increasing the size without additional cost to 19 x 712 feet. The Committee in charge were greatly pleased to receive the following letter dated October 20th, 1939, from Director of the Exhibits Department of the Golden
Gate International Exposition."Th idea for the erection of an inter-religious structure to set the spiritual tone of the Exposition was the inspiration of Dr. W. Clyde Smith, Executive Secretary of the San Francisco Presbytery. He first interested a small group which soon expanded into a Committee of One Hundred designed to embrace followers of all faiths; later developing a corporation having direction of all official religious activities of the Exposition. Through the aid of Governor rrank F. Merriam, Honorary President, an appropriation was granted by the State of California, while public-spirited citizens and religious organizations � among them the San Francisco Bahá'í Community � contributed the remainder necessary to insure the success of the project. One of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco cisco was invited to become one of the Directors of the Organization, while another was appointed on the Committee of One
Hundred. Rabbi RudolphI. Coffee was elected President and Mr. 'William Unmack, Managing Director of the organization.
It is of more than passing interest to the Baha'is, that when the San Francisco Friends in 1925 conceived the idea of a World Unity Conference, the first to be held, Dr. Coffee cooperated in every way with this Baha activity and served as President of the Committee in Charge, while Mr. Unmack served the Conference by taking charge of publicity, etc. (CThe model rests upon a broad pedestal covered with dark blue velvet, the drape behind it being of the same material.
A nickel railing around three sides protects the exhibit from too close encroachment by the visiting public.
Half a million people passed through the Hall, which chouses the greatest collection of exhibits having historical and educational religious significance ever assembled under one roof, and emphasizes contributions made by religions to Human Welfare throughout the world.'
CCSunday July 16, was assigned to the Baha'is, that date having been designated as Bahá'í Day on the official
Exposition program. At2:30 o'clock in the afternoon the Bahá'ís of the San Francisco Bay Region sponsored a Religious Unity Service, at which Mrs. Ella G. Cooper was Chairman, the speakers being Mr. Willard Hatch of Los Angeles, and Mr. Anthony Y. Seto and Mr. Leroy
Joas of San Francisco.A number of the Friends at the Bahá'í Summer School at Geyserville made the 75-mile trip to attend the meeting. Before returning to Geyser-yule in the evening they had a hasty glimpse of the Exposition and its wonderful multicolored night lighting.
CCSunday October 15, designated again by the Exposition Officers as Bahá'í Day, brought the Bahá'ís together from all Pacific Coast points, when the National Spiritual Assembly conducted the Vesper Services, and held a meeting in the Temple of Religion and Tower of Peace, dedicated to Religion and World Peace. Mrs. Ella G. Cooper served as Chaiman of the Vesper Service, while Mr. Harlan Ober spoke on
Page 117Renaissance. Mrs. Thomas H. Collins read appropriate excerpts from the Gleanings from the Writings of
Bahá'u'lláh. For the Publicevening meeting, Mrs. Stuart W. French served as Chairman; while the speakers were Mr. Louis G. Gregory, with the subject The Oneness of Religion, and Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, speaking on the subject
World Faith � The BasisT HI S subject has been developed more extensively in reports prepared on the various schools in America, England, Pin, India and Burma, and Australia than could be done in the summarized references already included in this international survey.
First we are indebted to Mrs. Helen Bishop for the following presentation of material on the three
American Schools:CCThe reprint of formal programs given at the three
Bahá'í Summer Schoolsduring the seasons of 1938 and 1939 are a record of fact, but do not account for the full events which transformed attitudes.
These are forever recorded in the inner history of individuals who participated in such activities.
CCSome day the trained observer will attend the sessions of these Summer Schools: by a rare combination of psychology and insight, he will perceive the change of attitudes, which mark the true progress of the individual's relation to the group or the group's reaction to an individual. Analyzing more deeply, the individual's acceptance of the Word of God has changed his relation to himself, and thereby brought about a true relation to others, in turn bringing forth from them a recognition of his life in the life of the group.
!~This new type of sociologist will perceive the evidences of a collective spirit that en-forms the activities of each Summer School. A collective spirit, which is able to subdue the self-assertive or habitually aggressive person. The spirit persuades the timid to forget themselves in the happy meeting with others. It is the spirit which discovers new talent by making the unaware conscious of their ability to do old things in a new way, or more rarely, new things in a new way. It is spirit that leads ever onwards, widening or deepening expression of the appeal made by travelling teachers. The all-embracing spirit of Bahá'í Faith does not insure that the personal love between individuals be uni formly enjoyed, but it does demonstrate that conflicts between personalities can be resolved by mutual recognition of the relationship that the other sustains, not to oneself, but to Bahá'u'lláh. If we but allow it, His Spirit can turn all types, temperaments and mentalities to focus upon an impersonal work, which is more far-reaching in its victory than any one of us could be in his success.
"Wanting the researches of this as yet unconvinced sociologist, the plain testimony of the friends argues that the Summer School Communities have a growing sense of oneness in the Spirit, and are making increased application of the Bahá'í Administrative principles in their form.
"As in the permanent Communities, the Administrative Procedure has enabled the Schools to reach a technique of approach to the inevitable problems of group life.
The Committees are able to ascertain the type of instruction needed by newcomers and wanted by the Bahá'ís for themselves; and, in Committee this is done more comprehensively than any single member thereof could dictate or inspire on the basis of his nonacademic calling or even of his academic tradition.
"By this method a distinctive type of curriculum has been formulated, distinctive because the findings of history and social science are being related to the Word of God in cycles past and present. Bahá'í episto-mology is rooted in divine Revelation: all human knowledge is derived from that original knowledge of God in the Manifestation of His qualities, powers, and relations.
The World of Emanationis made apparent as the Cause of the World of Creation to the end that oneness and unity may be recognized and understood. Thus the old strife between Spirit and matter ceases in these courses of study, where science and religion are reconciled.
Page 118"To balance the emphasis placed upon the exterior principles of Bahá'í Administrative Procedure, the friends have entered into further communion with the Spirit of Bahá'í Faith.
This they do through the morning devotions practised in all three schools before the classwork; and by courses suggesting the values to be found in meditation and prayer.
The recent stir in this direction can be traced to the timely publication of The Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh, translated by Shoghi Effendi, and put into the hands of the friends for the Nineteen-Day Fast of March in 1938.
Although individuals essayed to mount this slope of consecration, it was the schools of that summer which gave an opportunity for a shared and communicative experience in the use of this cherished Gift.
Ever since, its meanings have become more accessible, while its companionship is an influence which cannot be confined, but must penetrate and chasten the everyday life.
"As previous issues of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD have printed photographs of the three Summer Schools, showing the landscape, properties, and friends in action, this issue carries forward the development in courses of study.
GREEN ACRE 1938 AND 1939CcGreen Acre at Eliot, Maine, is favored with a landscape of quiet yet subtle beauty and is rich in historical associations.
Its founder, Miss SarahFarmer, as early as 1894 gathered the fruits of New England's transcendentalism and offered a large public the opportunity to seek truth and certainty at this liberal center of learning.
'Abdu'l-Bahá'í presence there in 1912 verified its founder's vision and gave the vista looking towards the university of the future.
"Special features of the 1938 season were the advanced classes in Esperanto given by Miss Lidia Zamenhof, daughter of the founder of this international language.
Youth Week was an intensive conference from July 2431. A Peace Pageant in the pines, and a Peace Program are rememberable events of the Labor Day festivities. Throughout the season, a variety of subjects were presented at the evening meetings, whenever social activities, games, or a dance were not arranged.
"In July and August the following courses were presented: The Future World Commonwealth,
Mr.Education for the New Humanity, Dr. Glenn A. Shook.
Internationalism, PathSpiritual Development and Law, Mrs. Dorothy Baker.
Comparative Religion, DorisPrayer and Meditation, Mine. Orlova and Mrs. Schopflocher.
The Bahá'í Teachings, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto. "The Transformation of Human Society, a course by Horace Holley, utilized the intellectual resources of the twentieth century, as anticipated by the outline: Man in nature, man in civilization: The religion of primitive man. Nature repeats, society evolves. The culture of the age of territorial isolation.
Science displaces the ancient environment.A World in Can flirt: Nationalism and the fallacy of isolation.
Class interests disrupt the agricultural nation.The meaning of communism, fascism and naziism. The true basis of sociology.
Psychology the field of the conflict: The decay of spiritual awareness and the rise of scientific psychology. Development of modern psychology. The existing schools of psychology.
The Bahá'í doctrine of soui, mind and spirit.Religion and civilization: The rhythm of human existence.
Four stages in the life and death of faith. Secular individualism the end of the age.
The World an Organism:Bahá'u'lláh establishes a true human status. The morality of world unity. The League of Nations a human expedient: World Order a divine creation.
The source of social transformation."The first week in July of 1939, a Laboratory Course was given by Mrs. Wendell Bacon, Mrs. Charles
Bishop and Professor Shook.The latter's outline presents the Faith in all its aspects and is available to students by request. Mr. Allen McDaniel's treatment
Page 119of the World Order Letters was helpful; and Professor Stanwood Cobb narrated the history of IslAm, then traced its influence, � in lectures of much content and charm.
The third week, spiritual values were set forth by Mr. F. St. George Spendlove in a course aptly named
The Meaning of Life;followed by Mrs. Orcella Rexford's practical advices on
Positive Living."From July 2 329, the Youth convened for their session, which is becoming ever more popular. Meanwhile, the special eve-fling meetings engaged the aid of many friends. Stories from The Dawn-Breakers were told by Mr. Louis Gregory.
"At the close of the season, classes in E.speranto were given by Miss Roan
OrbiT; also, a LaboratoryTeaching Course, with psychological method, by Dr. Genevieve Coy.
From the end of July to September the program reads: The Dawn-Breakers, Mr.
Rinaldo Quigley. PrayerThe Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Dr. 'Ali-Kuli-Khan.
Spreading the News Behind"This fine ranch has been steadily improved by Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Eggleston in order to increase the facilities for the Summer
School guests. A LibraryBuilding is the new feature of 1939, for which is intended books on a universal art and science besides the complete set of Bahá'í literature.
"During the General sessions of 1938 many teachers of national standing participated in the classwork, as well as in the public meetings, which were an encouragement to inquirers from the neighboring countryside and the towns. Many of these had first heard of the Bahá'í Faith when the Summer School activities were given favorable publicity in the press of nearby towns. Reporters visit the School and share the common tables.
In 1939, a notable piece of publicity gave with the writeup a set of pictures showing the students in class, at active sports, and in the dining hail at table.
"The live-wire PublicityCommittee, and the Youth Committee have coordinated their effort to consolidate this Baha institution; and the friends throughout the Central States have made it the rallying center wherein their knowledge may deepen and their efforts spread out for the growth of the Cause.
ccThe Laboratory Course conducted by Mr. Win.Kenneth Christian for the Youth sessions of 1938 was a stride towards a more thorough concentration, not without influence in the other Schools as well. Under his method, the students became familiar with the Baha bibliography, and learned how to pursue the wanted facts, then to assemble material for presentation in proper form.
t~At these same sessions, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto gave the spiritual Teachings in a course which can be anticipated through its key verse from Bahá'u'lláh: % all that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested oniy as the result of your own volition.'
~'Jn 1939, the first Youth Session was held June 2 529, with the following program announced:
Character Building, MissThe Promise of All Ages, Mr. Wnt Kenneth Christian.
The Prophet of Arabia, Mr. N. H. Firoozi.of July 211 enjoyed the applied Administration conducted by Mr. Harlan Ober, wherein actual practice was given in electing a Local Assembly, appointed committees of which did publicity work in the nearby towns, and dealt with typical administrative problems. Public speaking instruction was given by professional skill.
A survey of Bahá'í 'Writings and research therein was presented by Mrs. Mabel
Paine.of August 613, 1939, the program was: The Administrative Order, Mr. Curtis Kelsey.
The Culture of Jsl4m, Mrs. Charles Bishop.Exhibit in Public Library, Yonkers, N. Y. "And a series of sketches on assorted themes in the inimitable manner of Mar-zieh
Nabil Carpenter (now Mrs."At the Second Youth Session, August 1620, 1939, Mrs. Virginia Carnelon gave exceedingly good talks on the Bahá'í standards of conduct, Character Building.
Mrs. Charles Bishop repeated the course on Islim, but with adaptations. The Laws of Bahá'u'lláh were treated by Mr. Carl Scheffler; and the World Order Letters of Shoghi Effendi by Mrs.
Carpenter.'tThese sessions followed the indicated policy of presenting historical and religious topics in line with Bahá'í Faith.
This practice seems to bring a large attendance of folk from the valley, which is, in turn, one indication of the fairly widespread recognition given to this center of study.
As in the past, public meetings were held at the county seat of Santa Rosa, twenty-five miles away.
CCThe session of July 416, 1938, offered two courses,
The Unfoldment of World Civilizationand The Rise and Expansion of Christianity. The first defines the New, and the second entails an account of the old Dispensation.
ctFor the first course, the concepts of civilization and culture were analyzed in an ethnological sense, as well as in the light of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í distinction between material and divine civilization. The forms of culture, its laws and institutions were defined; and the evidences of cycles set forth. Our time as the period of maturity for the human race, and the realization by man of mankind's oneness was affirmed as the cardinal message of Bahá'í Faith and the spiritual basis of the
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.ccThe Rise and Expansion of Christianity began with the background of conflict between Judaism and its polytheistic rivals, setting the stage for the divine Manifestation of the Christ.
The early spirit of Christianity was accented; the primitive Church was described; the development of theocracy was traced; and the significance of the period known as tThe Dark Ages' was told. At the close of this cycle, the trend is towards the secularization of thought, the rise of an independent science, and the increasing division of Christendom into sectarianism and modernisms. The culmination is the divorce between religion and daily life.
Page 121to Vancouver, Canada, and from as far East as Maine coP laborated on the teaching staff. Among them were Mr. George Latimer,
Mrs. CharlesWard, Mrs. Rouan Carter, Mr. 'Au Yazdi, Mr. Irvin Somerhalder, Mr. and Mrs. Seto, Mr. and Mrs. Schopilocher, Miss Virginia Orbison, Mrs. Joyce Lyon Dahi, Miss Marion Holley, Mrs. Beulali Lewis.
"Miss Agnes Alexanderof Honolulu shared her pilgrim's visit with the friends. For years she has been serving the Cause in Japan, and visited the School en route home � the long way around. Another traveler was Mr. Mark Tobey, on leave of absence from Dartington Hall, Devonshire, England. His courses on. art appreciation stressed the relation of beauty to life � which is not new � and of the artist to the community � which is new, necessitating as it does the use of concepts inherent in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
The theme was continued by Mr. Tobey in his talks of the following summer.
ttln 1939, the School gained a week, July 223. The first course,
The Spiritual Unfoldmentof Humanity, posited religion as the source of mankind's creativeness.
Judaism, Christianity, bUm, and the Bahá'í Faith were studied as progressive Revelations of one Religion from God, established by His Prophets. To the Bahá'í Faith, the last in point of time, it is given to establish God's Kingdom on earth.
"The second course, Bridges of Human Relationship, treated the sciences as ways of approaching man and the world. Physical science, political science, sociology, and psychology were searched for their contributions to human welfare, and their points of contact with spiritualized man.
Race relations and religion were recreated in the light of Bahá'í Faith.
"An innovation at Geyserville in 1939 was the specialized activities for the youth, summarized as The Young Bahá'í in the World Today, and held in conjunction with the regular session. Under the direction of Marion
Holley, with Virginiaas colleagues, a group activity was maintained. Its constructive value can be sounded by a letter of those summer days: 'What I really learned is that the human animal responds to environment.
We created one in which the young people could work � and they did work! Besides two classes a day, there were afternoon projects daily, resulting in newspaper publicity three times, contacts (about twenty-five), a pageant which was really effective, the best public meeting of all, a symphony night with comments, decorations for the dance, entertainment and a meeting for six or seven visiting youth over one weekend, and many contributions to the regular session by way of reading aloud and discussion. Also, the whole class came down to give the School a demonstration of method, for my talk at the regular session.
Yes, I learned about the human being � but I also learned that it is awfully strenuous.
The School maintained by the British Bahá'ís in 1939 has been reported by the National Spiritual
Assembly:is the most important institution in England for teaching the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. More ambitious in every way than the three previous ones, the fourth Summer School brought correspondingly greater and more encouraging results.
More than a hundred people visited it, indicating its steadily increasing interest to both believers and enquirers. The spirit of real friendship, sympathy, and understanding engendered amongst such a widely diverse group of individuals, was convincing proof of the unifying power of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
"The School was opened by Lady Blom-field, who, as always, brought the spirit of the Master close to each one of us by her vivid and beautiful descriptions of many of the precious incidents which occurred during His stay in her house, in London. A cable was then sent to our beloved Guardian, to which he sent an inspiring reply.
~'The lectures were of high standard and though comprehensive, followed an orderly course, beginning with a survey of the nature of the present world struggle, then tracing the growth and development of man as an individual and mankind as a collective body, presenting the main problems con
Page 122The Souvenir Feast of Unity of 'Abdu'1 � BaM observed annually at Evergreen Cabin, West Englewood, New Jersey and celebrated this year 1939 on Saturday, June 24.
fronting the world today and offering the solutions of Bahá'u'lláh, outlining the Bahá'í vision of a New World Order and culminating in the presentation of the Word of Bahá'u'lláh as the focus of all power.
ttBahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have emphasized the importance of art in the life of man.
Bahá'u'lláh tells us that sanctified and detached souls tconstitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest,' and 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that the Sun of Truth, shining on the mind of the artist, is mirrored forth in great works of art. Therefore an experiment was made this year in inviting a larger number of non-BaM'i speakers than previously, to lecture on their own specialized branches of art � the dance, drama, music and the crafts. The result was strikingly significant.
At least four different lecturers came to the conclusion that in their particular field art had reached a standstill owing to the poverty of human creativeness � a convincing proof that the artistic spirit needs the new creative impulse of Bahá'u'lláh.
C(The peak of Summer School was reached at bank holiday weekend, August 57, when the greatest attendance was recorded and the radiance of the gathering was so apparent as to arouse comment. It was during this weekend that the
National Spiritual AssemblyTownshend's challenging book The Heart of the Gospel appeared at this time and the author himself was present. Dr. 'Au, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of India and Burma, Mr. W. J. Grant, late editor of the Rangoon Times and a proven friend of the
Faith, Chief Jono Kenyattaof Kenya, the eminent anthropologist, were among the distinguished visitors. Mr. Win. Kenneth Christian and Miss Virginia Setz were welcome visitors from America. Mr. Christian gave an interesting description of the Summer Schools in America.
Page 123Beautiful spacious grounds, with ample facilities for games, in the heart of a lovely countryside; an ideal place for relaxation and for study.
"Most of those present must have been conscious of the nearness of the final stages of the world struggle. They must have had too, intimations of the greatness of the privilege, and of the responsibility, of being identified with a nascent world faith in an age of doubt and fear. Summer School is a growing, consolidating institution, becoming established in a rapidly crumbling world. It has provided once again an incentive to activity and cooperation among the Bahá'í communities.
We shall make efforts to maintain it." The second annual session of the School founded by Mr. and Mrs. Bolton at Yerrin-bool, New South Wales, has been described by the School Committee as follows:
CCThe second Bahá'í SummerSchool in Australia was held at ~Boiton Place,' Yerrin-bool, N. S. W., from January 7th to January 15th, 1939. It was most gratifying to see the increased numbers over last year. Friends from distant cities commenced arriving at Yerrinbool on January 7th and by 11 a. m. on Sunday, January 8th, all friends from afar and locally had congregated at cBlt Place.'
At 11:30 a. m. the Chairman, Stanley Bolton, called all to attention, asking Mr. 0. Whitaker to say the prayer, cFr All Nations.'
Mrs. Mariette Bolton extended a welcome to all present.
The following cable was then joyously read from our
Beloved Guardian:'Assure attendants Summer School special prayers success urge intensely study teachings deepen spirit Bahá'í fellowship extend scope activities.' � SHOGHI.
ttLetters of greetings were then read from theof Australia and New Zealand, the local Spiritual Assembly of Sydney, Mr. and Mrs.
Hyde Dunn, the Australianpioneers, Miss Margaret Stevenson, Miss E. Blundell, and
Miss D. Burns and MissF. De Lisle of Auckland, New Zealand, Mrs. A. Miller of Perth, Western Australia, Miss Greta Lamprill and Miss Jensen of Hobart, Tasmania, Mrs. M. Dixon and Mrs. Wheeler of Melbourne,
Miss EflieBaker of Victoria and Mrs. Maysie Almond of Adelaide, South Australia.
ccThe Chairman then called upon Mrs. Dewing of Auckland,
New Zealand, Miss Dorothythree ladies extended per � sonal love and greetings from their respective communities. The meeting of welcome then closed with a prayer for unity after which all gathered together for a community luncheon.
tcSunday afternoon, January 8th, at 2:30 p. in., all the friends with the residents of the local community assembled at the Yer-rinbool Public Hall to listen to a lecture given by Mrs. 0. Rout, the subject being The Bahá'í
Message to Mankind. Although avery hot day everyone was most attentive to the Message. The Chairman for the afternoon, Mr. 0. Whitaker, then extended to everyone present a welcome to attend the Summer
School sessions. Afterthe lecture Bahá'í literature was distributed, after which all assembled outside the hail for a photograph.
"Commencing on Mondaymorning, January 9th, and continuous until January 15th, the program arranged by the Yerrinbool Baha Summer School Committee, was fol � lowed. A number of the friends from all over
Australia and New Zealandwho were unable to attend the school most generously contributed by sending in papers to be read which were enjoyed to the fullest extent. Those sending in papers were Mr. Miller, Mr.
David Miller, Miss GrettaLamprell, Miss E. Blundell, Mr. 0. Whitaker, Miss M. Rowling, Miss Dc Lisle, Mrs. M. Almond, Mrs. M. Dixon, Miss Burns.
"The sessions opened each morning at 9:30 a. rn.with 15 minutes for devotions followed by the subjects for 2 hours.
C!On Monday evening, January9th, the friends visited the home of one of the local community at which time all details of program were discussed followed by prayer. On Tuesday afternoon, January 10th, at the invitation of an investigator, the friends journeyed to Mittagong, 7 miles from Yer-rinbool, where they had been invited to attend a conference of the Student Christian Movement held at Frensham College, one of the State's leading dolleges for ladies.
Therewere three hundred in attendance and the Bahá'ís were invited to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dams of Bowral where they had invited a number of friends, 20 in number, among them being a noted clergy and a representative of the local newspaper.
Questions and answers were the topics of the evening's discussion.
ttO1~ Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p. all the friends gathered at the home of one of the local community to listen to a radio broadcast by Miss Ethel Dawe, one of our attendants at the Summer School. in the evening a round table discussion took place followed by prayers. On Friday evening, January 13th, the local community held a social function in their Hall to which all the Bahá'ís were invited. All had a most enjoyable evening in spite of excessively hot weather. On Sunday morning at 10 a. m. the local children were all invited to CBolto Place' regular Rose Garden Sunday
School. The visiting Baha'isspoke to the children. On Sunday afternoon a community picnic was held at which 63 were present. A real Bahá'í community spirit was demonstrated and all enjoyed themselves with peace, love and harmony. This concluded the Bahá'í Summer School for 1939 which in every way showed an increase on our previous year."
THE INTERNATIONAL BAHÁ'Í BUREAUTHE maintenance of this Bahá'í center has been a signal spiritual victory for the Faith, one achieved by Mrs. Anne Lynch who under apparently insuperable difficulty has continued to discharge its functions with heroic courage.
One by one its normal areas of contact and correspondence have been cut off by the international difficulties, but the Bureau has concentrated the important task of printing translations of Baha books and pamphlets and at the same time has served not oniy visitors from other lands who came to the Bureau but also those who were still able to communicate by letter. Furthermore, during the year ending April, 1940, it produced the first Bahá'í publication in the Swiss language.
In 1939 the Bureau brought out a German translation of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont, making available the latest revised text which had been in process of publication in another country of Europe until Bahá'í activities were bar ned. Copies of this important work were distributed far and wide, and those obtained by the American Publishing Committee have made possible a number of valuable teaching opportunities both in North and South
America.In 1940 the Bureau issued the Polish trans lation made by Lidia Zamenhof of the same work, after solving innumerable problems in a miraculous way. Among the 17,000 young men of Polish nationality interned in Switzerland copies of this translation were given wide circulation through the forty-eight Camp Libraries maintained for these internees.
Two copies of the book were presented to each of these Libraries.
The Swiss translation of a pamphlet entitledEn! gegen, made possible by the donation given by a Baha of Zurich, Leo Bernhard, brings one more of the world's language groups into the orbit of the sun of
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation.The pamphlet, prepared after correspondence with the Guardian, consists of a compilation on the history and teachings of the raith, preceded by an introductory statement written by Mr. Semle.
A large number of inquiries were received after the first publicity on this pamphlet appeared in a paper of Zurich.
The Bureau in 1940 also mimeographed and distributed widely a number of Tablets and passages from Bahá'í writings translated into French, German and Russian.
A monthly teaching bulletin for German-reading Swiss has been maintained.
Page 125A DONATION of property made by Natib Halabi has been transferred to the Palestine Branch of the American
National Spiritual Assembly.Mr. Halabi, at the time Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Damascus, wished to present a tract of approximately 10,000 sq. metres to the Cause, and at the Guardian's request had the property recorded for ownership by the Palestine Branch.
In previous volumes of this biennial record the origin and development of the Palestine Branch of the American Assembly has been described. It holds title to a number of tracts in the vicinity of the Shrines on Mount Carmel purchased by individual American believers for the protection of the Faith and transferred to this Bahá'í religious society administered by the Guardian as its recorded agent and representative.
THE WORLDWIDE BAHÁ'Í COMMUNITYSTUDENTS of spiritual reality at this time of world destruction and world renewal may well ponder the fact that followers of Bahá'u'lláh by 1940 were to be found in more than sixty countries of East and West. Swiftly the universal character of this Faith is being demonstrated by the universality of its membership. In many of these countries the Bahá'í community is small and weak in numbers, in others it has attained a certain degree of power and experience for unified effort.
The testimony afforded by the spread of Bahá'í literature is most impressive.
By 1940 Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by J. F. Esslemont had been translated into thirtyfive languages.
Furthermore it has been transcribed into Braille texts for the blind in English,
Esperanto and Japanese.Incorporated or legally recognized National Spiritual Assemblies exist in North America, Egypt, the British Isles,
India and Burma. Incorporatedlocal Spiritual Assemblies existed by April, 1940, in twenty-seven cities of North America, and in Sydney, Auckland, Adelaide, Poona, Bombay, Daidanav, Mandalay, Rangoon, Calcutta, Delhi and Karachi. Plans for the incorporation of at least eight other local Assemblies were also under way in the
United States and Canadawhich can be reported in the next biennial record.
Most of the Central and South American countries now have Baha'is.
A true world commonwealth is coming into being.No one can survey the vast number of signs and evidences of its gathering power and its unified spirit without a feeling of reverence and elation that such a Cause actually exists on the earth. Though the evidences, examined one by one, appear trivial in comparison to activities and undertakings of the old order, nevertheless their combined weight is the very essence of proof to the sincere that Bahá'u'lláh has revivified mankind and given the human soul new life and larger capacity.
As Shoghi Effendi wrote in The Dispensation ofccLet no one, while this System is in its infancy, misconstrue its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abh~ Kingdom.
Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve is the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'1 � Baha. Its guiding principles are the truths which He 'Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West.
The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the KITAB-I-AQDAS.
The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'1 � Adhk~r and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its
Page 126Temple Model Displayed in Window of Red Bank Register, the Local Paper of Red Bank, N. J., 1939.
Temple Model Displayed Temple Model on Exhibition
by Louhelen Summer School in a store at the Flint, Michigan, in Albuquerque, New Flower Show. Mexico.
Page 127structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal
House of Justice. Thecentral, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá'u'lláh.
The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor "West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored.
Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the cMost Great Peace'; its consummation the advent of that golden millenium � the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of
God Himself, the Kingdom193 81939 THE I3ahi'i year now drawing to a ciose has witnessed the stage of definite crisis in human affairs, the vanishing of hopes to avert catastrophe by human power, a great progress in the achievement of the Seven Year Plan, the Guardian's inspiring action in associating the revered name of the Greatest Holy Leaf with Temple construction, his renewed and stirring call for pioneers in the teaching field, and his spiritual gift and blessing to all American Bahá'ís through the general letter dated December 25, 1938.
Such events and conditions, more sharply contrasting the old order with the new, make us realize that North America has become the theatre in which is being enacted a scene of transcendent importance in the majestic unfoldment of God's Faith upon earth.
To attain a full inward realization of that truth, to fit ourselves, individually and cob-lectively, for service to the Divine 'Will at the turning point in human history, taking our stand entirely within the spirit and activity of the Faith and leaving behind the false hopes and doomed desires of the worldly life � this, indeed, constitutes the essence of the significance of the year that ends; and the historical record of that period has real value only as it may contribute to our capacity for deeper experience, purer vision and more valiant action.
History, to the Baha'i, is not a tie with past human limitations but an increasing possibility to attain a future conforming to the Will of God.
This Bahá'í year was born in the response made by the believers assembled at the last Convention to the Guardian's words, "draw nigh unto Bahá'u'lláh that He may draw nigh unto them," to Shoghi Effendi's presentation of locks of Bahá'u'lláh, to the cablegram reporting the ascension of the
Holy Mother, Munirih Khinumand to the sudden and unexpected death of Mrs. Grace Ober while reporting her teaching activities.
The National SpiritualAssembly as its fundamental action and policy for the year reported a general plan based upon the Guardian's cablegram of July 4, 1937, outlining the five successive steps necessary for completion of the Temple work, and includ � ing a Teaching budget and plan appealing for that ~~more burning enthusiasm" and t~bigher sense of solidarity" which the Guardian had evoked.
For continuance of Temple construction the Assembly established a budget item of $75,000.00, onehalf the estimated cost of the exterior decoration of the first story.
For Teaching activities in North and South America, an item of $30,000 was included in the budget.
Setting forth the teaching policy as adopted in consultation with the Teaching Committee, the Assembly published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS for July, 1938, a statement emphasizing settlement by pioneers, the development of definite projects, concentration by
Regional Teaching Committeeson isolated believers, groups and study classes, the extension of local Assembly teaching, and a call for individual initiative under administrative supervision.
The Inter-America Committeewas extended, its functions more clearly defined, and necessary funds allotted for Mrs. Frances Stewart's journey to South America, the re
Page 128Some of the Bahá'ís attending the annual convention of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, London, 1939.
suits of which have been so fruitful to the Cause.
A schedule of meetings was adopted which included one new city, Knoxville, Tennessee, and two established Bahá'í Centers never previously visited, Urbana, Illinois, and Los Angeles, with plans for public meetings and regional conferences in each.
Some of the more important incidents of the year are briefly presented as follows: � Evidences of Progress The Assembly Roll for the year as published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS reported the recognition of eight new Assemblies and the re-es-tablishment of two former ones. The new Assemblies are: Glendale, Arizona;
Sacramento, California;Toronto, Ontario; Maywood, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and St. Lambert, Quebec.
Rochester, New York, and Topeka, Kansas, regained their Assembly status.
Even more significant in the Divine Plan was the formation of a Spiritual
Assembly at Mexico Cityby a community of believers, all natives of that country, the first signal victory won by the Inter-America
Committee.tee. Mr. Pedro Espinosa has been invited to attend the 1939 Convention as the guest of the National Spiritual Assembly, thus creating a closer bond with our coworkers in Mexico.
To contribute to the deepening of our spiritual life, two departments have been conducted in BAHÁ'Í NEWS this year, "The Charter of the New World Order," prepared by Mrs. Dorothy
Baker, and "Draw Nigh UntoThe moving picture film of 'Abdu'l-Bahá taken in Brooklyn during 1912, carefully preserved ever since by Mr. Roy Wilhelm, has been placed in the custody of the Archives Committee.
A translation of the French footnotes in The Dawn-Breakers, made by Dr. and Mrs. Perigord of Los Angeles, with the approval of the Guardian, is being printed as a supplement to that volume, the cost having been met by a generous special donation.
The Guardian, who approved the reprinting of Bahá'í Scriptures some years ago, has recently advised certain revisions before a new edition appears.
The fund of $1,000 set aside for thein Ispha-han has been transmitted to the National Spiritual Assembly of I r6n through Shoghi Effendi, as conditions in tr~n now appear to make it possible to proceed with the construction.
The design, made by the late Myron Potter of Cleveland, was illustrated some years ago in BAHÁ'Í NEWS and also in one volume of
Tim BAHÁ'Í WORLD.The lamentable destruction by the civil authorities of the types of the German edition of the revised Esslemont book has been mitigated by the printing of the work in Switzerland, from a fortunately-preserved copy of the manuscript, under the auspices of the International Baha
Bureau. The American Baha'icommunity were privileged to contribute to the expense, with the Guardian's permission, through the National Fund. Copies are expected in April or May, and some will be set aside for the Inter-America Committee to use among the German colonies in South America, while other copies can be used here. Mr. Karl Neumann's translation of Promise of All Ages has become available in manuscript form, and its use has been referred to the Guardian.
Miss Lidia Zarnenhof, who arrived as the guest of the American believers in September, 1937, left for Poland in November, 1938, being unable to extend her permit and thus foregoing a number of special teaching opportunities which had arisen. Her activi � ties are reported by the Committee on International Auxiliary Language, but a word should be added to point out that her capacity as a teacher of Esperanto, her fame as a daughter of the founder of the language, and her firmness as a Bahá'í produced a new atmosphere of cordial unity between the Esperanto groups and the Bahá'í community which constitutes a distinct teaching opportunity.
With the Guardian's approval, a duplicate unit of one of the beautiful details of the Temple exterior decoration is being produced for shipment to Haifa as gift to Shoghi Effendi.
A Temple model has been presented to the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran, through Shoghi Effendi, at his request.
A statement prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, based upon the laws and ordinances of Bahá'u'lláh in matters of personal status such as marriage and inheritance, has been under consideration for more than a year, and recently the Guardian's permission was asked to send a duplicate copy to each local Spiritual Assembly for study by the community. It is interesting to note that the statement was originally prepared as the result of the decision by the Egyptian courts that the Bahá'í Faith is an independent religion. Since in Egypt and other Islamic countries, except Turkey, there is no civil law to control matters of personal status, these matters being subject to the authority of the Qur'an, it became necessary for the National Spiritual Assembly in that country to prepare and file the Bahá'í laws and ordinances to be applied, under its own recognized authority, to the members of the Egyptian
Bahá'í community. Thelegal parallel does not exist in America or other western nations, where the civil constitution centuries ago assumed direct control over areas of human activity and relationship previously regulated by the church. The unique situation which arose in Egypt, however, served to bring into operation a number of the laws of the Aqdas which the American believers cannot yet apply in place of the civil code. But the restricted circulation of this intensely interesting Bahá'í document might well serve to prepare the American Bahá'ís for the future application of the laws and ordinances of Bahá'u'lláh; and the Guardian's view of the proposal is awaited with great interest.
Concerning the activities of American believers in other lands, reference is made to the fact that such activities, throughout Mexico, Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean, and South America, are now reported annually in detail by the Inter-America Committee. In other areas, grateful mention is made of Miss Martha L. Root's teaching work in India and her recent journey to Australia for another intensive campaign; the continued devoted services of Miss Marion Jack in Sofia, Bulgaria; the activities of Mrs. and Miss
Sharp in Tihr~n; Mrs.The shop which was used by the BTh during his days in Biishihr. It has recently been purchased by the Bahá'ís of I r~n to be preserved as a sacred site.
and Mrs. Lorol Schopilocher who in February departed for teaching work in the Scandinavian countries.
Mr. Mark Tobey returned after many years in England and is now active in the Bahá'í community of Seattle.
The successive volumes of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD represent the one directly international Bahá'í activity which the Guardian has centered in America during this formative period of the Faith. The gathering of the contents from the entire Bahá'í world, and the manufacture of successive works costing each in excess of $5,000, is at once a mighty task and a correspondingly great privilege. Volume VII is now on the press. The believers are urged to realize that each volume adds to the growing solidarity of the new spiritual commonwealth of Bahá'u'lláh, and affords ample evidence of its universal character and wide range of thought and activity. Such a work at present cannot be made to repay its cost, and therefore it is viewed by the National Assembly as a contribution tribution to the general field of teaching. Whatever the Committees, Assemblies and individual believers can do toward extending its distribution will be a distinctive service to the Faith. It is the one place where we can, as it were, meet face to face our fellow-Bahá'ís of other country, race, class and inherited creed.
It should be noted that the publication of the new volume has been greatly assisted by a special donation of $2,500.
The local influence of the House of Worship has been strikingly revealed this year in two ways: the selection by the Wilmette postmaster of the Temple design for "Air Mail Week," which meant that the design was carried on letters to many parts of the world; and the action of the president of the Village board in writing the
Illinois State Commissionto recommend that the Temple model be exhibited in the Illinois State Building at the New York
World's Fair.Bahá'í properties are reported separately by the Trustees, it should be noted that the Green Acre Trustees have received the gift of a cemetery lot in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews.
Through the initiative and thoughtfulness of Mr. Charles Mason Remey, the American Bahá'í community was represented by a floral tribute at the memorial meeting conducted for the late Queen Marie of Rumania, the first member of royalty to be confirmed in the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, at the National Cathedral at Washington, D. C., on July 25, 1938.
A new instrumentality for teaching has been developed by the Temple model made by the John J. Earley Studios. Not oniy is the model on exhibit continuously at a number of local Bahá'í Centers, but has been featured in such public gatherings as the Canadian National
Exposition, Cornell University;State Fair; florist shops at Lima, Ohio, and Port Huron, Michigan; and in the Biltmore Hotel and Hotel Arcady, Los Angeles. A model is now part of the permanent exhibit of the Museum of Science and Industry,
Chicago.A national committee has been requested to report a definite plan for exhibiting the model at State Fairs throughout the country.
The Book Exhibit held at Santa Paula, California, as illustrated in BAHÁ'Í NEWS for October, 1938, represents still another possibility for a new form of public teaching which will undoubtedly be developed by local Assemblies and groups.
Most impressive of undertakings in public teaching at present are the plans adopted for the World's Fairs to be held during
1939 at San Franciscoand New York. At San Francisco, space has been taken for a display of the Temple model and Bahá'í literature, and a beautiful design for the background and for the pedestal of the model has been developed. In addition, the model has been accepted by the Temple of Religions for exhibit in a building devoted to a historical religious exhibit, and Bahá'í meetings will be held in the Temple of Religions. Photographs graphs and further important details will be available before the Convention opens.
Conditions at the New York World's Fair were found to be definitely less liberal. The Temple of Religion, under construction from funds specially donated, is under the supervision of a committee representing
Protestants, Catholicsand Jews. Its meetings are to be restricted to tbe exposition of religious themes which will in no way deviate from a conception of tolerance based upon the theory that the rights of every existing church are to be preserved. It is a tolerance limited to the acceptance of the established ecclesiastical bodies and their creeds, and apparently not open to the declaration of universal principles capable of uniting humanity in "one Order and one Faith." No religious exhibits are permitted in the Temple of Religion. Moreover, a ruling was adopted two years ago excluding any directly religious exhibit in the Educational Building or other buildings controlled by the Fair.
The separate structure raised by the Christian Science Church was apparently arranged before that ruling was adopted.
It appears possible, however, for the Bahá'ís to secure space in the Communications Building for an exhibit laying chief emphasis upon publications, with a display of the Tem-pie model a subsidiary feature. The details, at this writing, are awaiting approval by the National
Spiritual Assembly.The Baha'is, on the other hand, have made application to the Temple of Religion for the use of Bahá'í speakers in its public meetings, have offered a Temple model to the Illinois State Commission for its State Building, and have made a similar offer to the United States Steel Corporation, whose interest in the Temple as an outstanding example of the new possibilities of cement construction was indicated by the use of the Temple as front cover illustration of US Steel News in March, 1937.
The attitude of the New York World's Fair has been reported because it seems typical of a policy which the Bahá'ís are likely to find confronting them more and more in North America as the lines are drawn between the old order and the new.
Such a conception of tolerance surely represents a final effort at defence raised by those who
Page 132identify the church with religion and overlook the true interests of mankind. Bahá'í teachers may well consider these facts and prepare themselves to deal with situations arising from them in future years.
It is, on the other hand, exceedingly gratifying to realize that the American Bahá'í community has become able to undertake such large tasks as are represented by these two World's Fairs.
Both will bring together millions of visitors, many of whom will be prepared to recognize the evidences and proofs of a World Faith. The experience acquired in handling affairs of this magnitude will be a valuable asset for the future.
The National Assemblyhas this year appealed to the local Assemblies to lay great emphasis upon their observance of the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh on November 12, and upon the subject of the Oneness of Mankind in their public gatherings during the month of January, 1939. The response in both cases has been profoundly gratifying.
Indeed, as we pay attention to the Guardian's consummate wisdom in evoking the latent powers of the Bahá'í community, we realize the important role played by social symbolism in the formation of a new spiritual community. The successive Anniversaries and Nineteen Day Feasts, organic parts of the Bahá'í life, are themsleves examples of the need for special occasions devoted to a release of the forces of ardor and consecration.
Further experience may justify some plan under which the programs of the local Assemblies are occasionally coordinated by the National Assembly to concentrate effort upon some particular aspect of the Teachings or some special condition in the civilization of which we are a part.
It would be impressive, for example, to set aside some date each year for meetings in which special welcome would be extended to groups of the foreign-born. America has many of these groups.
They are grievously affected by the increasing international disturbances, and as yet we have no systematized method or technic for directing their attention to Bahá'u'lláh's Plan of world accord and the reconcilliation of national, racial and religious traditions in one all-em-bracing
Cause.have continued their rapid progress in the establishment of facilities for Bahá'í education and the training of Bahá'í educators. Their combined effect has already produced a remarkable improvement in the public teaching activities maintained throughout North America.
Both functions have been necessary, and both are closely interrelated, yet as the local communities evolve the education of believers in the Teachings will no doubt fall primarily upon the local Assemblies, while the training of educators � the function of the normal school in the civil community � will become specialized in the Summer Schools. The privilege of attendance is very real, and it is hoped that isolated believers and members of local groups will make particular effort to enroll at one of the Schools.
As the date of the annual local elections approaches, it is gratifying to record that the following groups have qualified to form a new Spiritual Assembly on April 21: Knoxville, Tennessee; Jamestown,
New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania;River, Wisconsin; Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; East Cleveland, Ohio, and Richmond Highlands, Washington.
The number of local bodies in North America identified with the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh will thus become eighty-seven after April 21, 1939.
The local incorporations as approved by the Local Committee during the past year include: Cincinnati, San Francisco, Vancouver, Phoenix, Columbus, Philadelphia, Lima,
Portland, and JerseyThrough the generous spirit of Miss Martha L. Root we have received a donation of many copies of her new book, Tdhirila the Pure, published in Karachi, India, under the auspices of the National Assembly of India and Burma. In this book we have a new and more complete record of that great Bahá'í soul whose martyrdom has been acclaimed by liberals throughout Europe. Gratitude is expressed for Miss Root's achievement and her thoughtful donation to the American Fund.
These and many other actions, such as are recorded by the national committee in their individual Annual Reports, indicate something of the power with which the American Bahá'í community is advancing toward its goal.
Page 133A Bahá'í year, however, is to be understood not so much by any series of definite actions as by the fundamental possibilities and implications revealed for us and established for us by the Guardian of the Faith. We must learn how to parallel our capacity of response with the power of progress, both inward and outward, released through the Guardian's messages, and employ each definite achievement only as a measure of the greater thing to be accomplished.
Messages from the Guardian In order to enable the friends to realize more clearly the accumulative force of Shoghi Effendi's instructions, advices and appeals directed to America in this era of the Faith, the National Spiritual Assembly presented those received from January 10, 1936 to September 24, 1938 in a compilation enclosed with BAHÁ'Í NEWS for November last.
"'While we have all read and meditated on these messages singly," it was pointed out in announcing this compilation, "their meaning and power as a whole are overwhelming.
In letter after letter, cablegram after cablegram, Shoghi Effendi has developed the theme of devotion, sacrifice, understanding and mighty action for this very period of the severest danger humanity has ever suffered. The existence of the Bahá'í Community itself, and its destined capacity to become the instrument for the release of God's blessing of world order and peace, depend entirely upon our individual and collective response to these directions, warnings and supreme appeals
"Therefore the NationalSpiritual Assembly, conscious of the gravity of the hour, implores the local Assemblies, communities, and groups to grasp and incorporate in their very souL the vital import of the Guardian's words. Shoghi Effendi has created a new and higher reality for the
American Bahá'íshe cabled: �let them, delegates, visitors alike, draw nigh unto Bahá'u'lláh, that He may draw nigh unto them."
To the National Assemblyhe cabled on June 6: 'tRejoice, thankful, initiative, resourcefulness (of) newly-elected National Assembly prompting them signalize inauguration period (of their) stewardship by launching third stage in progressive unfold-rnent (of the) Seven Year Plan."
On July 5 he wrote: C(Th Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, the voice of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently, and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster.
The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnants that must survive the rolling up of the old, dis � credited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute.
The American believers, standard-bearers of this worldwide community and torchbearers of an as-yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated.
Their forces are mobilized.They are steadfastly marching towards their goal."
On September 10: "I feel truly exhil-. arated as I witness the ever-recurrent manifestations of unbroken solidarity and unquenchable enthusiasm that distinguish every stage in the progressive development of the nationwide enterprise which is being so unflinchingly pursued by the whole American Bahá'í community. The marked deterioration in world affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed peo-pies and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven Year Plan, now operating in both the northern and southern American Continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated."
The cablegram received September 24 conveyed tremendous significance:
"Loyalty (to) World Order(of) Bahá'u'lláh, security (of) its basic institutions, both imperatively demand all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion builders (in the) American continent, in these days when sinister, uncontrollable forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds, classes, resolve despite pressure (of) fast � crystallizing public opinion, abstain individually, collectively, in word, action, informally as well as in all official publications, from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in (the) recurring political crises now agitating, ultimately engulfing, human society. Grave apprehension lest cumulative
Page 134effect (of) such compromises disintegrate (the) fabric, clog (the) channel (of the) Grace that sustains God's essentially supranational, supernatural Order so laboriously evolved, so recently established."
In reply to a question received concerning the application of this instruction, the National Assembly informed the inquirer that believers should take part in no political or economic measures aimed at international situations except such as are commanded by their civil government.
On November 29 the Guardiancabled: CC (The) virtual termination (within the) appointed time (of the) gallery section (of the) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar triumphantly ushers in (the) final phase (of the) major task courageously shouldered (by the) champions (of the) Seven Year Plan (The) poignant memory (of the) ever-loved Greatest Holy Leaf, inseparably linked to (the) American believers' Temple exertions, impels me (to) offer, (at) this decisive hour, one thousand pounds in her name and as token (of) her debt of gratitude for their response (to) her last appeal addressed to them (in the) evening of her life. (I am) confident (that the) Temple Construction Fund, which from now on will ever bear her name and be consecrated (to) her memory, will, following this offering, swell (to) such proportions as will carry forward (the) stupendous undertaking (to a) glorious consummation."
In a letter dated at the same time, he wrote: "The initial contract, proclaiming the opening of the final phase of a work that embodies the finest contribution ever made by the West to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, is now ready for your signature. The fourth of the successive steps outlined in my previous message1 is punctually being taken.
The fond hopes cherished on the assumption of your exalted office are being amply fulfilled.
The heroism displayed by the members of the American Bahá'í Community in the face of these recurring, constantly widening opportunities is growing more apparent every day."
The Guardian's letter of November 27 contained an important instruction con � awning the Bahá'í calendar which was published in the January, 1939 issue of
BAHÁ'Í NEWS.Then came those messages calling for the extension of the teaching work to all unoccupied areas and laying greater emphasis on establishing the Faith in other countries of the Americas. The cablegram received January 26, 1939, stated, in part: ccRecent swift progress (of) Temple ornamentation prompts me entreat American Community (to) focus immediate attention (and) center energies (upon) corresponding acceleration (in the) Teaching enterprise (in)
SevenCentury rapidly approaching. Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia,
Manitoba (and) Nova Scotiastill unsettled. Universal, prolonged intensification (in) pioneer activity (is the) crying need (of this) fateful hour. (The) establishment (of) one resident believer (in) each virgin territory (is the) precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent, eagerly-an-ticipated stage aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) southern half (of the) Western
Hemisphere. (The) Concourseon high expectantly await, ready (to) assist (and) acclaim (the) nine holy souTh who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes, cast away (their) attachments (and) definitely settle (in) these territories (to) lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order (of this) undefeatable Faith. (I am) irresistibly urged (and) proud (of the) privilege (to) pledge nine hundred pounds (to) facilitate (the) permanent settlement (of) pioneers (in) these States and Provinces whose acts (and) heroic self-abnegation will mark (the) Conclusion (of this) Shining Epoch (in) American Bahá'í
History."Two days later, Shoghi Effendi wrote: !~Th twofold aim you are now pursuing should at no time become obscured, nor should either one of the dual responsibilities you have assumed be allowed to preponderate over the other. The urgency of the task con. nected with the ornamentation of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar has been rightly recognized, and its immediate needs have been generously and promptly met. A similar, nay a mightier effort should now be deliberately and persistently exerted in the field of pioneer teach-'The cablegram of July 4, 1937, previously referred to in this report.
Page 135ccVery soon we shall be entering the second half of the last decade of this, the first century of the Bahá'í Era. The five remaining years should essentially be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs of the remaining Republics of both Central and South America, for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahá'u'lláh the Plan was primarily formulated.
"The period ahead is short, strenuous, fraught with mortal perils for human society, yet pregnant with possibilities of unsurpassed triumphs for the power of Bahá'u'lláh's redemptive Cause. The occasion is propitious for a display, by the American Bahá'í Community, in its corporate capacity, of an effort which in its magnitude, character, and purpose, must outshine its past endeavors.
C(D ibid friends! 'What better field than the vast virgin territories, so near at hand, and waiting to receive, at this very hour, their full share of the onnishing tide of Bahá'u'lláh's redeeming grace?"
At this date of writing, the latest communication from the Guardian is the following cablegram received March 24, 1939: � "Fresh, ominous rumblings demonstrate (the) inevitability (and) foreshadow (the) approach (of the) final eruption involving (the) dissolution (of a) lamentably defective international order. (The) privileged community (of) American believers forewarned, undismayed, spiritually equipped. Notwithstanding (the) gravity (of the) times, (they) will pursue unswervingly (the) divinely-chartered course their attention distracted, (their) objective unobscured, (their) resolve unimpaired, (their) support undiminished, (their) loyalty unsullied. (The) immediate obligation (is to) complete settlement (of) Delaware, Utah,
Manitoba, (and) Nova Scotiabefore termination (of) Bahá'í administrative year.
Responsibility solemn, pressing, unavoidable."It is in the light of all the foregoing messages, and fully conscious of the import of that general communication published as The Advent of Divine Justice, that the salient features of the development of the twofold activities of the Seven Year Plan must be traced.
Turning first to Temple construction.When the year opened, the gallery contract was in full force, with the necessary funds on hand. By April 30, 1939, work will have been resumed on the exterior decoration of the few units uncompleted in December, 1938. The responsibility defined for the current year was the accumulation of funds amounting to onehalf the estimated cost of the exterior decoration of the first story. By March 15, 1939, the National Spiritual Assembly had found it possible to authorize the Temple Trustees to contract for the production of the models and molds and to purchase the suppiy of quartz. These two new contracts were approved and welcomed by Shoghi Effendi. Of the $75,000 incorporated in the annual Budget as the goal, approximately $60,000 has been contributed so far.
The March, 1939 issue of BAHÁ'Í NEWS reported that the balance needed for the molds contract was $6,862.64, and that the estimated cost of casting and applying the units to the first story is $95,000. As the models and molds will be finished before the end of the summer, the matter of accumulating funds for the next contract is already imminent, and will be a responsibility to be assumed by the incoming
National Assembly.In the teaching field, the great accomplishment has been the settlement of the nine areas for which the Guardian made supreme appeal in his cablegram received January 26, 1939.
This subject engaged the deep attention of the Teaching Committee, and consultation and correspondence with that committee has made it possible to inform Shoghi Effendi that his wishes and instructions have been met.
The response of the believers has been truly inspiring, and the full story can not even yet be recorded, as fresh offers are being received. The settlement of the nine areas, however, has been effected through plans under which the following Ba1A'is have already, or soon will, proceed to the field: � Miss Honor
Kempton, Alaska; MissThe bath of Urt�miyyih where the BTh bathed during His visit to that town. It has been recently purchased by the Baha of tr~n as an historic site.
Virginia; Mr. Harold Hunt,Reimer Sears, Utah; Mr. and Mrs. Allah K. Kalantar,
Delaware; Mr. RowlandCliff, Nova Scotia; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McNally, Rhode Island; Mrs. H.
Emogene Hoagg, SouthA significant spiritual victory has been achieved, for now the prerequisite condition laid down by the Guardian for concentrated effort in the other American countries has been fulfilled, and the blessings from the spiritual Kingdom will surely pour forth in greater abundance upon every Bahá'í activity we undertake from now on. The record of success in South America and in the West Indies reported by the Inter-America Committee is also impressive. The Bahá'í community of Mexico City is vibrant with enthusiasm, and will take an increased part in the Inter-America teaching work, not oniy through participation in the required Spanish translations but also no doubt through traveling teachers.
In a letter dated February 8, 1939, the Guardian graciously acknowledged the progressive steps taken under the Seven
YearPlan in the following words: "The illustrious community of the American believers, contemptuous of risk or peril, is driving ahead, relentlessly and with its whole vigor, toward the dual goal which the Seven Year Plan has set before it. The virtual completion of the contract for the gallery section of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar the inauguration of the
First Story ConstructionFund, the signature of the contract for the models of the Main Story, the prompt response to the Fund newly associated with the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf, the consequent placing of a further contract for the construction of the molds, the acceleration of pioneer teaching and the resultant penetration of the Faith into practically every State and Province in the United States and Canada � all these have, in the course of the second year of the Seven Year Plan, followed in amazingly swift succession.
With dramatic swiftness, with unyielding resolve, with uncompromising fidelity and superb courage, the community responsible for such a unique demonstration of Bahá'í initiative and enterprise is overcoming the barriers, whether material or moral, that threaten to interfere with the execution of its declared purpose."
Page 137identified the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh with the maturity of the human race, an assurance, yet also a challenge, that has special significance for the members of the
Baha Community.These larger and more responsible tasks which the American believers have since assumed are essentially characteristic of maturity in contrast to childhood and youth. They call for a true inward poise and assurance, a capacity for true consultation, and a degree of trustworthiness which we have never before attained. The bounty of the task brings the worthiness to achieve it, if we be completely loyal to its implications for both the community and the individual soul.
In consultation, whether local or national, Bahá'ís meet in consciousness consecrated to the achievement of unified understanding and action. Bahá'í consultation produces communication and cooperation among types and personalities which in the world are separated by abysms of ignorance, antagonism and military force. Our victory over the tendency to exclude other views, other values and other forms of capacity from the final outcome of consultation is our contact with the higher powers which alone can enable us to attain the goal. Bahá'í unity is not the result of self-suppression any more than of suppression by others, but a balance between initiative and sacrifice to the majority decision which stands as one of the new attributes of life in this Dispensation.
As we perceive the differences in the rate of growth and maturity among the local communities, we can realize that confirmation does not depend upon numbers nor upon the size of the city nor upon its geographical location, but upon its degree of unity and its power for consultation. The forces of confirmation, we are told, lie everywhere about us, awaiting the conditions under which they can enter into the operation of community life.
May we not make a higher resolve, as individuals, to permit no further continuance of any latent tendency to feel aloof from any fellow-believer, and as communities hasten to remove any condition of disunity which may have been perpetuated from former times. The conscious soui lives in the eternal present, and the present need not be a repetition of the past but a spiritual conquest unique and ever-renewed.
The time has come for unexampled effort. To meet the tests imposed by Bahá'u'lláh Himself we must turn resolutely from those artificial tests which sometimes we have imposed upon other believers or resented their imposition upon ourselves. An entire Bahá'í community can be made radiant by a changed attitude on the part of two or three believers.
In that same letter ofdeclared: ttTbough much has thus far been achieved, yet the processes now set in motion through the evolution of the Plan are still too rudimentary to permit even a faint glimpse of the brilliancy of the epoch in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í own Plan must come to fruition.
Ours is the solemn, the inescapable duty to labor faithfully and unremittingly to insure that no opportunity is being missed, that no avenues are left unexplored, that might, however indirectly, contribute to the furtherance of those tasks that claim so insistently our immediate attention."
The Advent of Divine JusticeThe communication addressed to the American believers by Shoghi Effendi under date of December 25, 1938, and published with the title The Advent of Divine Justice, brought to us the supreme blessing of the current Bahá'í year. In its clear unfoldment of the future, its directions for concentration of effort upon specific tasks for a long period of time, its exposition of the prerequisites for the success of our collective action, and its unification of the inner and outer aspects of Baha life at this crucial hour, this message conveys to us that spiritual food our souis and minds and hearts so poignantly require.
Its assimilation into the very depths of our being will prepare us for victory over the tasks and trials that must signalize the establishment of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh upon earth.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLYTHE month covered by this supplementary report has been notable in the swift development of events, signifying a great acceleration in the field of Bahá'í action.
Communications from the Guardian received in this period include, first, the fol � lowing cablegram dated April 1: "Assure each pioneer immeasurable gratitude.
Such vigorous response, in such perilous times, to so vital a call, opens brilliant epoch in the formative age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Impelled congratulate Assembly for its wise, efficient stcwardship." � And second, a letter dated March 17, which informs us that the roll of pioneers has been augmented by the names of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Bidwell, who had informed Shoghi Effendi that they have established residence in Greenville, South Carolina, in order to raise up a Baha community in that State.
To the number of local groups qualified to form new Assemblies, the groups at Albuquerque can now be added.
From Miss Martha Roothas come a bundle of newspaper clippings describing her activities in Australia, with a schedule indicating some thirty public meetings during the first few weeks after her arrival from India.
The far country of Lapland has been illumined with the light of the Faith by the indomitable energy of Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher, who has been traveling in that land and spreading the Message in recent months.
The reprint of the Master's address at the Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People at Chicagoin 1912, already mentioned, has now been made, and copies are available to delegates and friends.
In a few words, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave the American people so many years ago the reality of human oneness, and now it is our privilege to ponder His message on race amity with deeper understanding, and share it with the leaders of opinion throughout the country. Similar reprints of
L ASSEMBLY OF THEA � 193 81939 striking Bahá'í texts are to follow as rapidly as conditions justify, thus adding to our teaching literature a series of expositions that cannot fail to command the attention of awakened souL.
The present Conventionis privileged to receive visits from coworkers from other lands. Mr. and Mrs. Sabet are here from Tibrin, on a visit that will take them to a few of the larger cities and perhaps also include both World's Fairs.
Moreover, we have as honored guests not one, as had been anticipated, but four members of the new Spiritual Assembly of
MexicoCity: Pedro Espinosa, Mrs. Refugio Ochoa, Miss Zenay da Jurado, and Mrs. Maria Luisa Jurado, radiant in their enthusiasm and ardent in their service to the Faith. This visit is a great historic event, for it marks the true beginning of that new intercontinental teaching task which the Guardian has expounded for us in The Advent of Divine Justice.
'We join hands and hearts with these coworkers from Bahá'u'lláh's own native land, and with the coworkers from the newest country blessed with the institution of a Spiritual Assembly. The Master, surely, beholds with joy from on high a gathering so blessed and so pregnant with promise of future achievement.
Our foundation has been firmly laid in nearly ninety local Spiritual Assemblies, in the House of Worship rapidly nearing completion, in three Summer Schools, and in a Bahá'í community which has acquired a great diversity of experience and manifests a rich variety of gifts.
Each successive general communication from the Guardian has clarified our vision, deepened our aims and extended our horizon of consciousness.
And flow, as the world trembles on its collapsing basis, the American Bahá'í community numbering some thirtyfive hundred souls, is bidden to exemplify the coming of the Kingdom to mankind.
In reverence and in true humility we can but turn to the words of
Bahá'u'lláh:~O people of Bali! Ye are the breezes of spring that are wafted over the world. Through you We have adorned the world of being with the ornament of the knowledge of the
Most Merciful. Throughyou the countenance of the world hath been wreathed in smiles, and the brightness of His light shone forth.
Cling ye to the cord of steadfastness, in such wise that all vain imaginings may utterly vanish. Speed ye forth from the horizon of power, in the name of your Lord, the Unconstrained, and announce unto His
ANNUAL ASSEMBLYservants, with wisdom and eloquence, the tidings of this Cause, whose splendor hath been shed upon the world of being."
~cThis is the day in which to speak. It is incumbent upon the people of Baha to strive, with the utmost patience and forbearance, to guide the peoples of the World to the Most Great Horizon. Every body calleth aloud for a soul. Heavenly souls must needs quicken, with the breadth of the Word of God, the dead bodies with a fresh spirit."
HORACE HOLLEY, Secretary.1939-FOR FOR three successive years the American Bahá'í community has responded with all its force to the requirements of the world mission which 'Abdu'1 � Baha defined and the Guardian has made a matter of spiritual and administrative action.
Only during the current year have we realized the vital importance of that mission and its r3le in making possible the advent of Divine
Justice. The Guardian'sletter on Divine Justice, published shortly before the 1939 Convention, has raised our spirits to the exalted plane on which alone so consecrated a task can be undertaken.
Significant it is that in growing more conscious of the scope and arena of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, we have begun to be somewhat aware of what is meant by the endeavor to be a Baha'i.
Above and beyond the realm of outer achievement, therefore, the year now ending has brought us face to face with the spiritual privilege of becoming mature in our faith, firm in our understanding, reverent in our attitude, humble in our feeling, consciously active in our daily lives.
Immersed in the depths of the Guardian's call for consecration to be instruments for the establishment of true justice on earth, active in response to the definite plans adopted for the third year of the seven year plan, we came this year to that hour of fatality for man, the beginning of the final phase of the titanic struggle between the nations, the outbreak of savagery in human life, the dread
BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE1940 encounter with Destiny, the Armageddon wherein the perverted will of man is at last to be overthrown.
Thus a quality of responsibility has been quickened during the current year which betokens a more mature stage in the life of the Bahá'í community.
The significance of this period was anticipated and defined for us by the Guardian's reply to the message cabled to him by the Thirty-first Annual Convention: tcMomen~ tous deliberations of Thirty-first Convention opening sterner, more glorious chapter in corporate life of ever-advancing, steadily-ex--panding American Bahá'í community."
For the greater difficulties to be met, a greater power and capacity has been assured.
f!Sterner More GloriousThe year has brought forth a number of great events and conditions to bear witness to the swift working of a superhuman Power.
The outbreak of armed hostilities has already been mentioned. We know that nothing can stay this world conflagration except the universal principles of human relations created by Bahá'u'lláh. Day by day the people come nearer to a conscious understanding of the dire need in which they stand. The work of Bahá'í teaching deepens and augments day by day to meet this desperate need.
The inner peace and assurance of a Bahá'í is a candle burning in the dark. People will turn to the light when they real
Page 140ize that the sun of their worldly hopes has set forever.
But the condition of international disturbance has its grave effects upon the Bahá'í community itself. Here in North America, for example, our community forms part of two distinct political systems, one of them part of an international commonwealth, the other localized to one continent. To maintain perfect spiritual communication, active cooperation and identity of common purpose throughout this Bahá'í community, we must rise more and more above the pressure of public opinion and stand upon the sacred and inviolable ground of faith in His Message and in the World Order He has ordained.
But of far more gravity is the implication conveyed to us by Shoghi Effendi in his cablegram of August 30, 1939: ttShades (of) night descending (upon) imperilled humanity inexorably deepening.
American believers, heirs (of) Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, prosecutors (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Plan, (are) confronted (by) supreme opportunity (to) vindicate indestructibility (of their) Faith, inflexibility (of their) resolution, incorruptibility (of their) sanctity (for the) appointed task. Anxiously, passionately entreat them, whatever obstacles (the) march (of) tragic events may create, however distressing (the) barriers (which the) predicted calamities raise between them and (their) sister communities, and possibly (their) Faith's 'World Center, unwaveringly hold aloft (the) Torch whose infant Light heralds the birth (of the) effulgent World Order destined (to) supplant disrupting civilization."
Must we repeat in our lives that tragic separation from the creative Center of the Faith which was the tragic result of the European War in cutting off the beloved Master from the American Bahá'ís Are we to vindicate our more matured faith and the power of our administrative order by proving that interruption of outer, physical intercourse can not produce any deterioration in the quality of our understanding nor in the character of our collective effort? Will not the Guardian be with us always in the principles he has clarified, the institutions he has fostered, the unity he has built and the inspiration he has released?
Whatever betide, he has given to the Bahá'ís all that they need to press forward to the goals he pointed out in
The Advent of DivineJustice, that source of inexhaustible guidance for the Bahá'ís of the
West.The passing of Martha L. Root, first to respond to Abdu'l-Bahá'í unveiling of the Divine Plan, has placed its indelible mark upon the current Bahá'í year. Of this soui Shoghi Effendi declared in his cablegram of October 3: C~Mth~ unnumbered admirers throughout Bahá'í world lament with me (the) earthly extinction (of) her heroic life. Concourse on high acclaim her elevation (to) rightful position (in) galaxy (of) Bahá'í immortals. Posterity will establish her as foremost Hand which 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í will has raised up (in) first
Bahá'í century. Presentgeneration (of) her fellow-believers recognize her (to be the) first, finest fruit (which the) Formative Age (of the)
Faith (of) Bahá'u'lláhAdvise hold befitting memorial gathering (in) Temple (to) honor one whose acts shed imperishable lustre (on) American
Bahá'í community. Impelledshare with National Assembly expenses (of) erection (of) monument (in) symbolic spot, (the) meeting-place of East (and) West, to both of which she unsparingly dedicated (the) full force (of her) mighty energies."
Indeed, through the travels and unstinted teaching of Martha Root the American Bahá'í community attained the honor of serving the Faith throughout the world.
In her a basis was laid for Bahá'í teachings in South America. In her the nations of Europe, Africa, the Near East, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and the isles of the sea even to Iceland made contact with the Message of Bahá'u'lláh. But oniy the Guardian's words can pay to such a spirit the tribute its accomplishments in this world have earned.
It is for us to realize what faith can do when it comes to dominate a human personality and open doors to the entrance of higher than human aims and powers. Once again is a memorial to be built for the grave of an America Baha who died on the very field of spiritual battle, whose services had made her a Hand of the Cause.
To the reverence we have paid to the passing of Keith
Ransom-Kehier in Isphahanwe add now a deeper reverence as Martha Root's frail
Page 141remains go back to earth in Honolulu, meet-ing-place of East and West.
The decision to take legal action for the protection of the sacred rights of the Bahá'í community represents a culmination of one aspect of the evolution of the Faith in recent years which the newer believers have had little occasion to consider or understand.
To the older Baha'is, however, the preservation of the basis of the unity and integrity of the community is a matter vital to faith and inseparable from the experience of loyalty and service to the Cause.
For they have wit.-nessed actual efforts to deny the validity of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mission and question the authority of His station.
They have realized vividly and poignantly how the very existence of the Faith depends on loyalty to whosoever has received appointment from the Manifestation.
They have experienced the necessity of gathering their forces in order to assert the truth and preserve the community from destruction. Such an experience is forever unforgettable, for it means that conscious choice has been made between light and darkness in the spiritual world.
In one form or another, no doubt, no gem-eration of true believers can be spared the necessity of that supreme decision, the recurrence of which seems so essential if the deeper elements of the spiritual life � the struggle and the victory � are to be preserved on earth.
Thus has the privilege come for the newer Bahá'ís to realize that the universe is founded on reward and punishment, and not on a superficial idea of divine benevolence, and that the spirit of faith in choosing the good rejects the evil, and that understanding of the Faith must include knowledge of the working of its deniers.
The occasion for the legal action is definite and clear: the claim on the part of non-BaM'is that there are no qualifications of faith in this Cause, but any one is a Bahá'í who asserts that he is; and that there is no criterion by which to distinguish between authentic Bahá'í literature and literature which some one assumes is Baha'i; and that there is no basis nor foundation in the
Revelation of Bahá'u'lláhfor the Bahá'í community, with its institutions, its functions and its collective powers and responsibilities grounded in authentic Books and
Tablets.In brief, the situation which has arisen is that persons who formerly were believers but who withdrew from the Cause have denied the authority of the Master's
Will and Testament. Onno other grounds than denial of that mighty Testament can their actions be understood.
No compromise is possible. The Baha community will assert the truth, and the issue can be left to God. The Will and Testament itself is a victory over those who violated the Covenant in the Master's lifetime, and the 'Will and Testament invokes divine wrath upon all who seek to destroy what He sacrificed His entire life and being to build.
It would be well if local Assemblies could arrange meetings for the study of the Tablets which interpret the meaning of the Covenant.
Those Tablets are a vital part of the teachings which in recent years have been neglected through our need to concentrate upon immediate tasks.
Another expression of the character of this Baha year has been the action of the National Spiritual Assembly in transferring its headquarters to the Temple area, an action conforming to statements in the Master's Tablets known as America's Spiritual Mission and to passages in the Guardian's general communications. Thus, in The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pages 156157, we find this passage: "The seat round which its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its Dependencies."
The project was adopted subject to the Guardian's specific as well as general approval, and this arrived in a cablegram received June 22, 1939: ttDelighted welcome transference (to) Temple area. Loving appreciation."
Something of the inner significance of the move appears in a passage which Shoghi Effendi wrote as long ago as October 25, 1929, when teaching us the importance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as a Baha i institution: ~tDivorced from the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, Bahá'í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the
Page 142communion of the passive worshiper. It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to facilitate and promote.
Nor will the exertions, no matter how distinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá'í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend."
A fundamental principle has thus been given a new application in the development of the Bahá'í community � a principle established by Bahá'u'lláh, and not found in any prior age.
On October 3 the Guardianthus characterized the Assembly's action in a cabled message: "Hail historic act signalizing auspicious conjunction (in) heart (of) North American continent (of the) institutions (of) Jja?iratu'1-Quds (and) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, (the) twin foci (of) steadily evolving American Bahá'í community life. (The) former henceforth regarded as national Seat upon which all administrative channels (of) Bahá'í activity must increasingly converge. (The) latter permanently recognized (as) ordained Source from which rays (of) spiritual guidance will radiate.
Upon (the) vigorous, constant interaction (of the) dynamic forces which these complementary institutions embodying administrative machinery and incarnating (the) Soul (of the) Bahá'í community can release (the) effectual prosecution (of the) Seven Year Plan as well as (the) success (of) ultimate World Mission unquestionably depends.
May (the) community responsible (for the) establishment (of) these nascent institutions progressively contribute (to) acceleration (of) their growth and derive fullest benefit (from) their eventual fruition.~~ "Events of such capital institutional significance," the Guardian informed the Bahá'ís of the West in his general communication dated December 21, 1939, "as oniy future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can adequately demonstrate," were constituted by the transfer of the ctsacred remains of the brother and mother of our Lord and Master tAbdu'1-Bahi to Mount Carmel and their final interment within the hallowed precincts of the Shrine of the
Nb."That communication, published under title of The Spiritual
Potencies of That ConsecratedSpot, has been one of the blessings and portents of the Bahá'í year. By that dramatic contrast which is one of the essential characteristics of the Cause of God in all epochs, we were able to perceive the hallowed and miraculous element of spiritual life in the sacrificial devotion rendered to Bahá'u'lláh by the Purest Branch and the Most Exalted Leaf, in such complete opposition to the element represented by those who, having once believed, turn back in denial and betrayal of their trust. Moreover, the Guardian parted for us the veils of mystery sufficient to enable us to realize that the institutions of the Faith unfold only to the degree that they are nourished by the blood of those who both know and adore their Author.
A divine civilization draws nigh to men as men draw nigh to God.
How mysterious to the materialist is this statement which the Guardian included in the letter: ". The conjunction of the rest-ing-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual potencies of that consecrated Spot ." Or these words: ".
.At this troubled stage in world history the association of these three incomparably precious souls who, next to the three Central Figures of our Faith, tower in rank above the vast multitude of the heroes, Letters, martyrs, hands, teachers and administrators of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, in such a potentially powerful spiritual and administrative
Centeris in itself an event which will release forces that are bound to hasten the emergence in a land which, geographically, spiritually and administratively, constitutes the heart of the entire planet, of some of the brightest gems of that World Order now shaping in the womb of this travailing age."
It is good for us, dear friends, to pause frequently and realize that the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is a mystery, an ocean of significance and a sea of creative power, not a creed, not a church, not a civilization alone. Through our capacity to revere the followers who stand high above ourselves we may, let us hope, draw nearer to that supreme mystery than we can by employing our reason alone.
Finally, the Bahá'í year now drawing to a close has been made significant through the martyrdom of May Maxwell while engaged in serving the cause of Inter-America teaching at Rio de Janeiro.
This event was interpreted by the Guardian in his cablegram of March 3, 1940: cc 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í beloved handmaid, distinguished disciple May Maxwell (is) gathered (into the) glory (of the) Abbi Kingdom.
Her earthly life, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed, (is) worthily ended. To (the) sacred tie her signal services had forged, (the) priceless honor (of a) martyr's death (is) now added.
(A) double crown deservedly won. (The) Seven Year Plan, particularly (the) South American campaign, derives fresh impetus (from the) example (of) her glorious sacrifice.
Southern outpost (of) Faith greatly enriched through association (with) her historic resting place destined remain (a) poignant reminder (of the) resisdess march (of the) triumphant army (of) Bahá'u'lláh.
Advise believers (of) both Americas (to) hold befitting memorial gathering."
The next day came this cablegram from Ruhiyyih KMnum with its incomparable fragrance of heroic sacrifice and faith: "Humbly grateful beloved mother answered Guardian's call, turned southward (and) sacrificed (her) life (for the) Holy Faith. Beg prayers (her) daughter may follow her footsteps.~~ In the presence of so many and so glorious evidences, testimonies and portents, can we not glimpse something of the Guardian's intent as he cabled these words received January 16, 1940: "The fateful forties, pregnant (for) weal (and) woe (are) ushered in. (The) American believers enter them firmly rooted (in the) fertile soil (of the) administrative order (and) bountifully nourished (by the) vital sap (of the) animation (of) its institutions, spreading its sheltering shadow (to the) farthest corners (of the) Western Hemisphere.
Centenary (of the) Birth (of the) Faith (is) approaching.
Victories unsuspected (are) within reach (of) community.
(The) sooner (they are) achieved, (the) sharper (the) contrast offered (with) distracting miseries afflicting (a) generation (which) Faith alone can (and) must eventually redeem."
The Third Year of theSpiritual Assembly, meeting directly after the Convention, had before it the Guardian's cabled advice received
April 28, 1939: Settlement(of the) Central American republics (is) next step (in) progressive, systematic penetration (of) Latin America. Upsurge (of) Bahá'u'lláh's impelling Spirit can not, will not, be stemmed (nor) impeded. Methodical advance along (the) line traced (by) pen (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá irresistible. Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba,
Dominica (and) HaitiThough politically unsettled, religiously intolerant, socially backward (and) climatically inhospitable, these unexplored territories hold forth inestimable prizes (for) audacious adventures (in the) path (of) Bahá'í service. Dearly-beloved Martha's unrivalled experience, indomitable faith (and) indefatigable labors will soon reinforce (the) powers released (for) contemplated campaign.
Task admittedly laborious, hour laden with fate, privilege incomparable, precious divinely-promised aid unfailing, reward predestined immeasurable. Appeal all believers, white and Negro alike, (to) arise (and) assume rightful responsibilities. Urge prolongation (of) sessions (of) Convention (to) enable delegates (to) exercise (their) inalienable right (to) deliberate (and) formulate recommendations designed (to) aid incoming National
AssemRecently purchased historical site where the four Bahá'í martyrs of 'Jriq, tdn, lie buried.
bly resolutely (to) prosecute (this) momentous enterprise. Fervor (of) prayers intensified.
In the light of this message, and the opportunities afforded by the remarkable progress in Temple construction during the two previous years, the Assembly prepared and reported the following plan of action for the third year of the
Seven Year Plan: � Nowthe National Spiritual Assembly, after studying the recommendations of the delegates and the reports of committees, presents to the American Bahá'í community the schedule of tasks deemed vitally important for the third year of the Seven Year Plan, the 96th year of the Bahá'í
Era.laid before the believers is $150,000.00. Of this, $35,000 is required for International and Administrative Activities, including property maintenance and committee budgets other than teaching; to be devoted to teaching in North and South America, $40,000; and for continuance of Temple construction through the Bahá'í Kliinum Fund, the amount necessary to maintain the schedule is $75,000.
II. Inter-America Teaching.These activities include the following items: Training of teachers; Spanish correspondence; bulletins in English and Spanish; a Reference Library; translation and publication of Bahá'í literature in Spanish; projects for settlement of new countries; publicity for Latin-Amer-ican press.
III. Teaching in NorthAmerica. Under this general title the American believers are responsible for the maintenance of a large SHOGHI. number of facilities and activities. These must be properly coordinated and made to function vigorously in concentration of effort upon the common aim. Among the items to be noted are: A. The development of administrative communities in the areas which still lack a Spiritual
Assembly.These are in active operation, and are producing lists of interested persons.
C. State Fair Exhibits.A traveling exhibit is in preparation, and schedule of Fairs is being developed to the extent of our financial capacity.
D. Teaching literature � a field which can be greatly developed.
It includes special bulletins, study outlines, the series of teaching literature pamphlets, the use of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, Vol. VII, etc. E. Establishment of Latin-American activities in the United States and Canada. The Latin-American communities in many of our cities offer a remarkable teaching opportunity, and a beginning is to be made during the current year.
F. Special projects by the National TeachingG. Development of groups and isolated believers by the RegionM Teaching
Committees.L. Bahá'í amity. The function of the race amity activities of former years is to be enlarged in order to fulfill the Guardian's instructions concerning all minorities.
M. Youth activities. Child training.The annual budget contemplates the completion of the exterior decoration by 1942, and the success of this schedule of operations represents a vital aspect of the Seven Year Plan. For the coming years, the following task is assigned: A. Completion of gallery contract.
B. Completion of first story models contract.D. Completion of purchase of quartz needed for first story.
E. Begin casting and application of external decoration to first story. This item has paramount importance, for delay in beginning this part of the work would interfere with the schedule adopted for the Seven
Year Plan.By August, 1939, had been completed the first great achievement in Temple construction under the Seven Year Plan � the exterior decoration of the gallery section. This is one of the most beautiful units of the entire scheme, and its completion has enhanced the appearance of the House of Worship incomparably.
Without waiting for the accumulation of all the funds required for the first story level, the Assembly provided sufficient funds to the Temple Trustees in August to make possible a contract calling for the exterior decoration of the nine first story pyions to one-third their height. This work was finished well before the date of December 31, 1939, which the contract called for.
The current year has seen likewise the completion of the contracts for models and molds required for exterior decoration of the first story, the purchase of the quartz needed for casting the first story units, and the purchase of steel and wire also required.
This means that all the preliminary work has been done leading up to the casting and application of the units on the first story, the final stage in this part of the Temple construction; the other work to be accom pushed being the construction of the external stairs which are to rest upon the sloping deck of the foundation; some metal work, the nine entrance doors and grill work on certain windows; and such treatment of grounds and the interior of the edifice as may be decided on conclusion of the
Seven Year Plan.Assembly laid before the Bahá'í community in February, 1940, a plan, approved and endorsed by Shoghi Effendi, calling for the funds needed to place the contract for the casting and application of the first story units, $95,000, plus $30,000 the estimated cost of the stairs, iess the sums already expended amounting to $19,183.22, or a total of $105,816.78. Of this amount the Assembly reported that $50,000 would be required by April, 1940, the balance being payable during 1941. The essential purpose of this plan was to make possible the completion of all the work called for under the Seven Year Plan by 1942, two years ahead of schedule.
The Guardian's approval, and his participation in the plan, was reported in a letter dated December 27, 1939: ccTh Plan which your Assembly has suggested to raise the sum of fifty thousand dollars by next April, which will enable you to place the necessary contracts for the final completion of the entire First Story 'of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhk6x, meets with my unqualified approval. It was specially in order to initiate and encourage the progress of such a plan that I felt impelled to pledge the sum of one thousand pounds in the memory of these two glorious souls who, apart from the Founders of the Faith and its Exemplar, tower, together with the Greatest Holy Leaf, above the rank and file of the faithful.
"The interval separating us from that date is admittedly short. The explosive forces which lie dormant in the international field may, ere the expiry of these fleeting months, break out in an eruption that may prove the most fateful that mankind has experienced. It is within the power of the organized body of the American believers to further demonstrate the imperturbability of their faith, the serenity of their confidence and the unyielding tenacity of their resolve."
Page 146At the time of this writing about onehalf the $50,000 has been made available, and the continuance of the construction work is abundantly assured.
The Penetration of LatinNothing in the history of the Faith in America compares with the response which has been made to the Guardian's appeal for settlement of pioneer teachers in Latin-American countries.
By March, 1940, it is possible to record the following impressive list of American teachers either settled in or on their way to various countries in Central and South America.
In addition, Spanish translations of a number of Bahá'í texts are either completed in manuscript or on the press for publication; and plans for additional settlements as well as the return of
Mrs. Frances BenedictMrs. Louise Caswell, Mrs. Cora Hit Oliver, Panama.
Gerrard Sluter, Guatemala.John Eichenauer, Jr., Clarence Iverson, San Salvador.
Antonio Roca, Honduras.Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala, Priscilla Rhodes, Venezuela.
John Stearns, Ecuador.Thus a vast and far-reaching project has been firmly established, its aim the realization of the Guardian's plea for Bahá'í groups in all countries of Central and South America by the end of the first century of the Bahá'í Era. Mrs. Stewart's second journey to South America had great results in forming permanent groups in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and in Chile. The Spiritual
Assembly of Mexico Cityis taking an active part in the important work of Spanish translation as well as in extending the Cause in Mexico. The visit made by Mrs. Thomas
Collins to Mexico Cityduring the past year forged firmer bonds of unity and cooperation between the Bahá'ís of that city and their coworkers in North America. Finally, the element of spiritual sacrifice and martyrdom has been brought into the mighty task in the passing of Mrs. May Maxwell.
Consolidation of Teachingin North America A most powerful impetus has also been given to the teaching activities maintained during the year by the National and Regional Teaching Committees, the local Spiritual Assemblies and individuals who have served as pioneers or traveling teachers.
The record of pioneer settlements arranged during the past two years reveals the fact that all parts of the United States and Canada now reflect the light of the new Revelation.
Honor Kempton, Betty Becker, Mrs. Joy Allen, Alaska.
Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Kalantar, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Delaware.
Helen Griffing, Nevada.Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Bidwell, Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg, Miss Maud Mickle, Miss Wheeler,
South Carolina.Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Dali, Harold Hunt, Mr. Brandon,
West Virginia.Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Bab, Mrs. Dorothy Logelin, Pearl Berk, Louisiana.
Mrs. Marguerite Bruegger,Nayan Hartfielcl, Missouri, Mrs. Lorol Jackson, Montana.
Mrs. Beulah Proctor, Mr. and Mrs. G. Wade, NovaThe activities of these consecrated teachers, the development of study groups, and the preparation of new groups for the formation of a Spiritual Assembly, are reported in detail in the accompanying annual report of the National Teaching and the Regional Teaching Committees. What emerges is the vital fact that the entire Bahá'í community has become penetrated with a new quality of vigor and a new determination to lay strong foundations for the new order ere the old crashes to the ground.
The many activities which, under various Committees, make up the teaching work in its entirety, can oniy be grasped if we follow the Reports from all Committees.
A word might be added here about the Bahá'í Exhibits maintained at the Expositions conducted at San Francisco,
New York and Toronto. Inthe beauty of the exhibits, the vast amount of literature taken by visitors, the duration of the effort and the contribution made by the many believers who gave their time to be in attendance day by day, these 'World Fairs, and the Canadian National Exposition, mark a new and higher standard of participation in teaching activ-fry in connection with public enterprises. The experience gained by the Bahá'ís themselves is perhaps no less important for the future than the interest aroused by the several hundred thousand printed summaries of the Faith given to inquirers.
By March 1, 1940, authorization for formation of a local Spiritual Assembly on April 21 had been voted by the National As � semby to groups in the following cities:
Waukegan and Madison, Wisconsin;Santa Rosa, Big Bear Lake, Beverly Hills and Burbank, California; West Haven,
Connecticut; Omaha, Nebraska;and Atlanta, Georgia. Applications had been received, not yet acted on, from Santa Barbara, California, and Brookline, Massachusetts. These eleven new Assemblies will increase the number of local Assemblies in North America to 96.
Eighty-eight Assemblieswere elected on April 21, 1939, since when the removal of members to other cities and other reasons have dissolved the Assemblies of Moncton, New Brunswick, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Toledo, Ohio. From early in April, 1939 to March 10, 1940, a total of three hundred and sixty-eight enrollments were reported by the local Assemblies, some of these representing transfers of membership from one community to another. The report from Los Angeles was 56, from New York 36, from Chicago 22 and from Toronto 19.
These figures do not list those who enrolled as isolated believers or members of groups.
Communications from theThe guidance and strength which the American Bahá'ís have received from Shoghi Effendi have enabled them to understand the true character of these passing days, anticipate the trend of world affairs, and concentrate upon the most important spiritual task.
Space permits the recording of oniy some of the passages which during the year have been published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS in their entirety for the believers.
ccThe initial phase of the teaching work operating under the Seven Year Plan has at long last been concluded.
They who pushed it forward have withstood the test gloriously. By their acts, whether as teachers or administrators, they have written a glorious page in the struggle for the laying of a continent-wide foundation for the administrative Order of their Faith.
At this advanced stage in the fulfillment of the purpose to which they have set their hand there can be no turning back, no halting, no respite. To launch the bark of the Faith, to implant its banner, is not enough.
Support, ample, organized and unremitting, should be lent, designed to direct the course of that work and to lay an unassailable foundation for the fort destined to stand guard over that banner.
"The National SpiritualTeaching Committee, the Regional and local teaching committees, no less than the itinerant teachers, should utilize every possible means calculated to fan the zeal, enrich the resources and insure the solidity and permanency of the work, of those who, actuated by so laudable and shining a spirit of self-sacrifice, have arisen to face the hazards and perils of so holy and historic an adventure. Indeed every believer, however humble and inexperiencd, should sense the obligation to play his or her part in a mission that involves so very deeply the des.
Page 148tinies not only of the American Bahá'í community but of the nation itself.
"Whether through the frequency of their visits, the warmth of their correspondence, the liberality of their support, the wisdom of their counsels, the choice of the literature placed at the disposal of the pioneers, the members of the community should, at this hour when the sands of a moribund civilization are inexorably running out, and at a time when they are preparing themselves to launch yet another stage in their teaching activities, insure the security and provide for the steady expansion, of the work initiated in those territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable
Faith.ttlnexpressibly moved, grateful (for) stirring, unique message. Momentous deliberations (of) Thirty-first Convention opening sterner, more glorious chapter in corporate life (of) ever-advancing, steadily-ex-panding American Bahá'í community.
Admiration heightened, confidence immensely fortified (by) fresh revelations (of) community's latest strength hastening inevitable hour signalizing spiritual conquest (of) entire NQ~estern
Hemisphere.""Progress reflected (in) recently published National Reports inspiring, significant. Convey (to) responsible Committees abundant gratitude, heartfelt congratulations. Advise mail one copy (to) each
Community (of) Bahá'íWorld as example worthy emulation, as source (of) abiding comfort, as stimulus (of) greater exertions, nobler perseverance.
May 9, 1939.CCTII,~ concerted activities of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North American continent assume, as they multiply and develop, a dual aspect, and may be said to fall into two distinct categories, both equally vital and complementary to each other. The one aims at the safeguarding and consolidation of the work already achieved; the other is designed to enlarge the range of its operation. The former depends chiefly for its success upon the capacity, the experience and loyalty of wise, resourceful and judicious administrators, who, impelled by the very nature of their task, will be increasingly called upon to exercise the utmost care and vigilance in protecting the interests of the Faith, in resolving its problems, in regulating its life, in enriching its resources, and in preserving the pristine purity of its precepts. The latter is essentially pioneer in nature, demanding first and foremost those qualitks of renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate fervor that can alone brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles with which an infant Faith, struggling against vested interests and face to face with the entrenched forces of prejudice, of ignorance and fanaticism, must needs contend. In both of these spheres of Bahá'í activity the community of the American believers, it is becoming increasingly evident, is evincing those characteristics which must be regarded as the essential foundation for the success of their dual task.
CCAS to those whose function is essentially of an administrative character it can hardly be doubted that they are steadily and indefatigably perfecting the structural machinery of their Faith, are multiplying its administrative agencies; and are legalizing the status of the newly established institutions. Slowly and patiently they are canalizing the spirit that at once directs, energizes and safeguards its operation.
They are exploiting its potentialities, broadcasting its message, publicizing its literature, fostering the aspirations of its youth, devising ways and means for the training of its children, guarding the integrity of its teachings, and paving the way for the ultimate codification of its laws. Through all the resources at their disposal, they are promoting the growth and consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their Administrative Order has been primarily designed and erected. They are visibly and progressively contributing to the enrichment of their unique community life, and are insuring, with magnificent courage and characteristic promptitude, the completion of their consecrated Edifice � the embodiment of their hopes and the supreme symbol of their ideals.
"As to those into whose valiant andtrusted hands � and no believer, however humble is to think himself debarred from joining their ranks � the standards of a f or-ward marching Faith have been entrusted, they too with no less zest and thoroughness are pushing farther and farther its frontiers, breaking new soil, establishing fresh outposts, winning more recruits, and contributing to the greater diversification and more harmonious blending of the elements comprised in the worldwide society of its followers.
'tThe Edifice of this New World Order, which the B~b has heralded, which the mind of Bahá'u'lláh has envisioned, and whose features 'Abdu'l-Bahá, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities, or position, are now, at so precarious a period in the world's history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the Western Hemisphere is, through the nature of its corporate life and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the laying of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure.
The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers ascend on its behalf.
Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power. I, for my part, am determined to reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph."
May 22, 1939.American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long-deferred World Mission constituting 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá'í Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining (in) stature, deepening (in) consecration. Its vanguard now entering arena monopolized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom's mightiest ecclesiastical institutions. Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of) New World's ethnic elements. American believers' isolated oversea teaching enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end.
New epoch opening, demanding exertions incomparably more strenuous, unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically organized, efficiently conducted. Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of) present prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the First (and) Second Centuries (of the) potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American believers. Convey (to) piQneers (in) North,
Middle (and) South Americamy eagerness (to) maintain with each direct, personal contact. Assure Teaching (and) Inter-America Committees (my) delight (at) successive testimonies (of) believers' glowing spirit reflected (in) Minutes, letters (and) reports recently received. Entreat every section (of) community (to) labor unremittingly until every nation (in) Western Hemisphere (is) illumined (by) rays (and) woven (into) fabric (of) Bahá'u'lláh triumphant Administrative
Order."ccThe readiness of your Assembly, as expressed in your recently cabled message, to transfer the
National Bahá'í Secretariatto the vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette has evoked within me the deepest feelings of thankfulness and joy. Your historic decision, so wise and timely, so surprising in its suddenness, so far-reaching in its consequences, is one that I cannot but heartily and unreservedly applaud. To each one of your brethren in the Faith, throughout the United States and Canada, who are witnessing, from day to day and at an ever-hastening speed, the approaching completion of their National House of Worship, the great Mother Temple of the West, your resolution to establish within its hallowed precincts and in the heart of the North American continent the Administrative Seat of their beloved Faith cannot but denote henceforward a closer association, a more constant communion, and a higher degree of coordination between the two primary agencies providentially ordained for the enrichment of their spiritual life and for the conduct and regulation of their administrative affairs. To the far-flung Bahá'í communities of East and
Page 150West, most of which are being increasingly proscribed and ill-treated, and none of which can claim to have had a share of the dual blessings which a specially designed and constructed House of Worship and a fully and efficiently functioning Administrative Order invariably confer, the concentration in a single locality of what will come to be regarded as the fountainhead of the community's spiritual life and what is already recognized as the mainspring of the administrative activities, signalizes the launching of yet another phase in the siow and imperceptible emergence, in these declining times, of the model Bahá'í community � a community divinely ordained, organically united, clear-visioned, vibrant with life, and whose very purpose is regulated by the twin directing principles of the worship of God and of service to one's fellowmen.
CCThe decision you have arrived at is an act that befittingly marks the commencement of your allotted term of stewardship in service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Moreover, it significantly coincides with the inauguration of that world mission of which the settlement of Bahá'í pioneers in the virgin territories of the North American continent has been but a prelude.
That such a decision may speedily and without the slightest hitch be carried into effect is the deepest longing of my heart. That those who have boldly carried so weighty a resolution may without pause or respite continue to labor and build up, as circumstance permit, around this administrative nucleus such accessories as the machinery of a fast evolving administrative order, functioning under the shadow of, and in such close proximity to, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar must demand, is the object of my incessant and fervent prayer. That such a step, momentous as it is, may prove the starting point for acts of still greater renown and richer possibilities that will leave their distinct mark on the third year of the Seven Year Plan is a hope which I, together with all those who are eagerly following its progress, fondly and confidently cherish."
July 4, 1939."A triple call, clear-voiced, insistent and inescapable, summons to the challenge all members of the American Baha community, at this, the most fateful hour in their history. The first is the voice, distant and piteous, of those sister communities which now, alas, are fettered by the falling chains of religious orthodoxy and isolated through the cruel barriers set up by a rampant nationalism.
The second is the plea, no less vehement and equally urgent, of those peoples and nations of the New World, whose vast and unexplored territories await to be warmed by the light and swept into the orbit of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
The third, more universal and stirring than either of the others, is the call of humanity itself crying out for deliverance at a time when the tide of mounting evils has destroyed its equilibrium and is now strangling its very life.
ccThese imperative calls of Bahá'í duty the American believers can immediately if only partially answer.
Their present status, their circumscribed resources, debar them, however great their eagerness, from responding completely and decisively to the full implications of this threefold obligation. They can neither, individually nor through their concerted efforts, impose directly their will upon those into whose hands the immediate destinies of their persecuted brethren are placed. Nor are they as yet capable of launching a campaign of such magnitude as could capture the imagination and arouse the conscience of mankind, and thereby insure the immediate and full redress of those grievances from which their helpless co-religion-ists in both the East and West are suffering. They cannot moreover hope to wield at the present time in the councils of nations an influence commensurate with the stupendous claims advanced, or adequate to the greatness of the Cause proclaimed, by the Author of their Faith.
Nor can they assume a position or exercise such responsibilities as would enable them by their acts and decisions to reverse the process which is urging so tragically the decline of human society and its institutions.
"And yet, though their influence be at the present hour indecisive and their divinely-conferred authority unrecognized, the rOle they can play in both alleviating the hardships that afflict their brethren and in at
Page 151tenuating the ills that torment mankind is none the 'ess considerable and far-reaching. By the range and liberality of their contributions to mitigate the distress of the bereaved, the exiled and the imprisoned; by the persistent, the wise and judicious interven-don of their elected representatives through the authorities concerned; by a clear and convincing exposition, whenever circumstances are propitious, of the issues involved; by a vigorous defence of the rights and liberties denied; by an accurate and dignified presentation of the events that have transpired; by every manner of encouragement which their sympathies may suggest, or their means permit, or their consciences dictate, to succor the outcast and the impoverished; and above all by their tenacious adherence to, and wide proclamation of, those principles, laws, ideals, and institutions which their disabled fellow-believers are unable to affirm or publicly espouse; and lastly, by the energetic prosecution of those tasks which their oppressed fellow-workers are forbidden to initiate or conduct, the privileged community of the American Bahá'í can play a conspicuous part in the great drama involving so large a company of their unemancipated brethren in the Asiatic, the European and African continents.
ccTheir duties towards mankind in general are no iess distinct and vital. Their impotence to stem the tide of onrushing calamities, their seeming helplessness in face of those cataclysmic forces that are to convulse human society, do not in the least detract from the urgency of their unique mission, nor exonerate them from those weighty responsibilities which they alone can and must assume. Humanity, heedless and impenitent, is admittedly hovering on the edge of an awful abyss, ready to precipitate itself into that titanic struggle, that crucible whose chastening fires alone can and will weld its antagonistic elements of race, class, religion and nation into one coherent system, one world commonwealth.
CrThe hour is approaching" is Bahá'u'lláh's own testimony, ~rwhen the most great convulsion will have appeared I swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: Waste ye, what your hands have wroisght.'" Not ours to question the almighty wisdom or fathom the inscrutable ways of Him in whose hands the ultimate destiny of an unregenerate yet potentially glorious race must lie. Ours rather is the duty to believe that the worldwide community of the Most Great Name, and in particular at the present time its vanguard in North America, however buffeted by the powerful currents of these troublous times, and however keen their awareness of the inevitability of the final eruption, can, if they will, rise to the level of their calling and discharge their functions, both in the period which is witnessing the confusion and breakdown of human institutions, and in the ensuing epoch during which the shattered basis of a dismembered society is to be recast, and its forces reshaped, redirected and unified. 'With the age that is still unborn, with its herculean tasks and unsuspected glories, we need not concern ourselves at present. It is to the fierce struggle, the imperious duties, the distinctive contributions which the present generation of Bahá'ís are summoned to undertake and render that I feel we should, at this hour, direct our immediate and anxious attention. Though powerless to avert the impending contest the followers of Bahá'u'lláh can, by the spirit they evince and the efforts th~y exert help to circumscribe its range, shorten its duration, allay its hardships, proclaim its salutary consequences, and demonstrate its necessary and vital rOle in the shaping of human destiny. Theirs is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and ultimately envelop the entire human race.
Theirs is the function, amidst its tumults, perils and agonies, to witness to the vision, and proclaim the approach, of that recreated society, that Christ-promised Kingdom, that World Order whose generative impulse is the spirit of none other than Bahá'u'lláh Himself, whose dominion is the entire planet, whose watchword is unity, whose animating power is the force of Justice, whose directive purpose is the reign of righteousness and truth, and whose sup-preme glory is the complete, the undisturbed, and everlasting felicity of the whole of human kind. By the sublimity and serenity of
Page 152their faith, by the steadiness and clarity of their vision, the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the sanctity of their morals, and the unique example of their community life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable corruptions, paralyzed by its haunting fears, torn by its devastating hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries demonstrate the validity of their claim to be regarded as the sole repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the complete deliverance, the fundamental reorganization and the supreme felicity Gf all mankind."
July 28, 1939."Shades (of) night descending (upon) imperilled humanity inexorably deepening. American believers, heirs (of) Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, prosecutors (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Plan, (are) confronted (by) supreme opportunity (to) vindicate indestructibility (of) their Faith, inflexibility (of their) resolution, incorruptibility, sanctity (for the) appointed task.
Anxiously, passionately entreat them, whatever obstacles (the) march (of) tragic events may create, however distressing (the) barriers (which) (the) predicted calamities raise between them and (their) sister communities, and possibly (their) Faith's 'World Center, unwaveringly hold aloft (the) Torch whose infant Light heralds (the) birth (of the) effulgent World Order destined (to) supplant disrupting civilization."
August 30, 1939.Mother safely transferred (to) hallowed precincts (of the) Shrines (on) Mount Carmel. Long inflicted humiliation wiped away.
Machinations (of the) Cove-nant-Breakers (to) frustrate plan defeated. Cherished wish (of) Greatest Holy Leaf fulfilled. Sister, Brother, Mother (and) Wife (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá reunited (at the) one spot designed (to) constitute focal center (of) Bahá'í
Administrative InstitutionsShare joyful news (with) entire body (of) American believers."
December 5, 1939.ttChristmas eve, (the) beloved remains (of) Purest
Branch and Master's Motherlaid in state (in) Bib's Holy Tomb. Christmas day, entrusted (to) Carmel's sacred soil. (The) ceremony (in) presence (of) representatives (of) Near Eastern believers profoundly moving. Impelled associate America s momentous Seven Year enterprise (with) imperishable memory (of) these two holy souis who, next (to) Twin Founders (of) Faith and (its) Perfect Exemplar, tower, together with Greatest Holy Leaf, above (the) entire concourse (of the) faithful. Rejoice privilege (to) pledge thousand pounds my contribution (to) Bahá'í Khinum Fund designed (for) inauguration (of) final drive (to) insure placing contract next April (for) last remaining stage (in) construction (of) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Time (is) pressing, opportunity priceless, potent aid providentially promised unfailing."
December 26, 1939.of the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the Bib's holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of ~our Faith were laid to rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Camel. The birth of this holy enterprise, pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as tAbdu'1-Bahi Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform. The site of the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfailing solicitude.
Its foundation-stone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring episodes of His his
Page 153superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies which surged from the breasts of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation, bewilderment and sorrow. Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely established Administrative Order had released in the midst of a community that hat? identified its vital interests with that Temple's destiny.
The measures devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a Plan which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold relief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted by their Author to the American Bahá'í community. And finally, the Fund, designed to receive and dispose of the resources amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and cheered by those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American believers in the cause of their beloved Temple.
And now, while the Bahá'í world vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of the precious remains of both the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother to a spot which, watched over by the Twin hoiy shrines and in the close neighborhood of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the administrative institutions of the Faith at its world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so significant an event in the Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual potentialities of, a work so sig � nificantly started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North American continent."
December 30, 1939."Delighted (at) ceremony celebrating (the) union (of the) twin institutions. Praying victory similar (to the) one recently won (over) Covenant-breakers (in) Holy Land be achieved by American believers over insidious adversaries (in) City of (the) Covenant."
January 23, 1940.rr~ Spirihal Renaissance" A meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly at Toronto coincided with the beginning of the new phase in the international struggle. To that meeting came the Guardian's cablegram of August 30. Realizing the vital necessity of maintaining the unity of the Baha community throughout the troubled times to come, and the importance of sharing conscious awareness of the fundamental teachings pertaining to the believers in time of war, the National Spiritual Assembly immediately issued a special number of BAHÁ'Í Nrws in September, 1939.
A few excerpts from that message are reprinted in this report.
That fateful period has come upon us which to the world appears as the dire climax of all that is destructive in mankind. It is characterized by Shoghi Effendi as the supreme opportunity confronting the Anter-lean
Babd'i community. Inorder to realize that opportunity the Bahá'í must hold to certain fixed truths and instruments of action given us under unquestioned spiritual authority, and constituting that basis of Bahá'í unity which can never be sundered, impaired, or perverted by human power. As we turn gratefully to the Guidance vouchsafed for the Bahá'ís through Shoghi Effendi since the Ascension of 'Abdu'1 � Bah6, the older friends, who in 1914 saw the night of war descend upon the world, can appreciate what blessings have been received, and what a vital difference there is between a Bahá'í community in the station of infancy, and the same community grown to active and conscious youth.
The purpose of this special issue of BAHÁ'Í NEWS is to contribute to the knowledge, the steadfast calm, the sacred unity and the capacity of the American Baha during this fateful period that will terminate forever the institution of war in human society and reveal the Order which has been created by the Manifestation for the oneness of mankind.
Page 154The house of Ifliji Mirza JAni in Kish&n which the Bahá'ís of frdn have recently purchased to be preserved as an historical site.
The cablegram from Shoghi Effendi quoted above has many profound implications.
First let us recall that other cablegram received September 24, 1938, in which the Guardian established the true attitude of Bahá'ís in time of war.
t~L it (to) World Order (of) Bahá'u'lláh, security (of) its basic institutions, both imperatively demand (that) all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion buikiers (in the) American continent, in these days when sinister, uncontrollable forces are deepening (the) cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds (and) classes, resolve, despite (the) pressure (of) fast crystallizing public opinion, abstain individually, collectively, in word, action, informally as well as in all official utterances (and) publications from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in recurring political crises now agitating, ultimately engulfing, human society.
Grave apprehension lest cumulative effect (of) such compromises disintegrate (the) fabric (and) clog (the) channel (of) Grace that sustains (the) system (of) God's essentially supranational, supernatural Order so laboriously evolved, so recently established."
SHOGETI.May be both individually and as members of local communities or groups pray for such purity of vision that we may be wholly
Page 155obedient to the Guardian's appeal, which means nothing else than protecting the light of faith from the storms and tempests of the world!
The Baha law under which believers must obey their civil government involves the important question of the performance of military service by Bahá'ís when conscripted during time of war.
We find, among others, three passages bearing directly upon this question:
CCBah~Yis and War," Baha'iOne, Sheet 12; and the Guardian's letter to an individual believer explaining the Bahá'í view of absolute pacifists and conscientious objectors, published in BAT-PA Nrws, January, 1938.
A review of these passages and agreement as to their meaning is most desirable by members of local communities.
Nothing save understanding of true justice � the baLance characterizing divine truth � will save the Bahá'í communities from danger of disruption under the impact of personalities taking extreme views which result in controversy and dissension.
"The Bahá'í conception of social life is essentially based on the subordination of the individual will to that of society. It neither suppresses the individual nor does it exalt him to the point of making him an antisocial creature.
"'The Guardian instructs us that the obligation to render military duty placed by governments upon their citizens is a form of loyalty to one's government which the Bahá'í must accept, but that the believers can, through their National Assembly, seek exemption from active army (combatant) duty provided their government recognizes the right of members of religious bodies making peace a matter of conscience to serve in some noncombatant service rather than as part of the armed force."
rCT/&e hour is approaching when the must great convulsion will have appeared."
� BAHÁ'U'LLÁH.As to the details of coming events, these are not made known to us in the Teachings, save for the large outlines which mark the death of the old era and the birth of the new. But we know that profound changes will take place, and human emotion and thought subjected to every conceivable influence.
The Bahá'ís can and must anticipate tests in the form of pressure exerted through pub-1k opinion, tests in the form of psychic experience claiming to be spiritual guidance, and tests which would sway us emotionally away from the continuity of plan and effort provided by the Guardian.
ccFor no less than six consecutive years (from April, 1938) this twofold and stupendous enterprise, which has been set in operation, must, if the American believers are to prove themselves worthy of their high calling, be wisely conducted, continually reinforced and energetically prosecuted to its very end. Severe and unprecedented as may be the internal tests and ordeals which the members of this Community may yet experience, however tragic and momentous the external happenings which might well disrupt the fabric of the society in which they live, they must not throughout these six remaining years, allow themselves to be deflected from the course they are now steadily pursuing.
Nay, rather, as the impelling forces which have set in motion this mighty undertaking acquire added momentum and its potentialities are more fully manifested, they who are responsible for its success must as time goes on evince a more burning enthusiasm, demonstrate a higher sense of solidarity, reveal greater depths of consecration to their task, and display a more unyielding determination to achieve its purpose."
(AprilThe Assembly also acted to publish in pamphlet form the text of the letter which had been submitted to the civil authorities both in the
United States and Canadain order to establish the status of Bahá'ís as noncombatants in time of war. The title of the pamphlet is The Bahá'í
Teachings on UniversalAmong the activities of the Assembly during the year there might be mentioned briefly the following: On two occasions the Assembly cabled the Guardian an expression of the hope of
Page 156the Bahá'ís that he might bless America with his presence.
Action was taken to increase by one-third the amount which the Assembly, for the American Baha'is, contributes regularly to the International Bahá'í Fund administered by
Shoghi Effendi.The first meeting of the Assembly in its Ua;iratu'1-Quds was held on January 20, 21 and 22, 1940. The occasion was signalized by a special dedicatory gathering held at 536 Sheridan Road, Wilmette, and then in the Auditorium of the House of Worship, at which the nine members participated in reading passages from
Writings of Bahá'u'lláhAn action taken in connection with the establishment of this Office was to amend Article V of the
Declaration of Trustto read as follows: The central office of this Trust shall be located in the Village of Wil-mette, State of Illinois, U. S. A., the site of the
Bahá'í House of Worship.The Assembly conducted public meetings this year in Toronto, San Francisco, New York and Chicago, and held regional conferences with Bahá'ís in those four areas.
The report submitted by the Properties Representative deals with the subject of the Bahá'í properties held by Trustees for the benefit of the National Spiritual Assembly, and supplements the present statement in recording the activities touching the national Bahá'í institutions.
From that report is taken for emphasis the fact that the Bahá'í community has this year received three valuable property gifts: the Mathews property at Colorado Springs, to be used as an International Bahá'í School, property from Mr. and Mrs. John Bosch and Mrs. Thomas Collins which will augment the School property already held in that city; and the donation of her house in Berkeley, California, by Mrs. Katherine Prankland in memory of the late Mr. Frankland. A valuable part of this donation is represented by Miss Julia Culver's cancellation of mortgage she had held.
The legal steps are being taken for the transfer of this property to the Spiritual
Assembly of Berkeley.The first American local Assembly to own its meeting place and Bahá'í Center is Cm cinnati, which holds title to a house transferred to the corporate body by a local Baha'i.
Action has been taken to make possible the purchase of reproductions of the moving picture film showing 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Brooklyn during His American visit of 1912, and reproductions of the Master's voice record are also being prepared.
Matters of Bahá'í procedure published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS this year have been on the following subjects: the review of manuscripts; truth and rumor; teaching in the Southern States; credentials far traveling believers; credentials of believers from the Orient; the listing of Baha publications; brief outline of procedure on appeals; committee reports; the status of pilgrim's notes; the determination of membership; explanation of transfer of membership; and formation of new
Assemblies.No final selection has yet been made of design for the memorial to be erected at the grave of Martha L. Root in Honolulu, but an appropriation has been made and the most suitable material will be chosen as soon as possible.
A special contribution has been made this year for the relief of Bahá'ís in Turkistan and Caucasus, become tragically destitute due to the shattering of their lives under the compulsion of a war era. The American Baha likewise have felt a special and deep anxiety over the unknown fate of Miss Lidia Zamenhof, whose visit in America during 1937 and 1938 won her the respect and admiration of a host of Bahá'í friends.
The appointment of a Properties Representative makes possible an improvement in the records and maintenance of the various Bahá'í properties.
Aside from the Guardian's general letters and his communications to the National Assembly on subjects concerning general poi-icy, there are communications written through his secretary which bring answers to specific questions. Such answers are, whenever possible, published in
BAHÁ'Í Nrws. Subjectscovered in this way during the current year have been: the right of any believer to volunteer for pioneer work; request that newly-incorporated Assemblies send a photograph to transmit to the Guar
Page 157(in letter of July 4, 1939) ; request that associate members are not to be appointed in future; approval of effort by incorporated Assemblies to exercise the legal right to conduct Bahá'í marriage service; the fact that the consent of parents is a binding condition; explanation of time for holding Nineteen Day Feasts (letter of December 24, 1939).
Gratitude in full measure is due all those members of the active National Committees whose energy and devotion are such vital factors in the total accomplishment of the American Bahá'í community year by year.
SUPPLEMENTA few days before the opening of the Thirty-second Annual Convention, work was resumed on the exterior decoration of the House of Worship. The nine pyions will be completed during the next few months under a contract made possible by the balance in the Bahá'í Khinum Fund. Those attending the Convention, moreover, have noted that the grounds have been filled in and a new level attained corresponding to the level of the exterior stairs, almost around the edifice.
The approach to Foundation Hall from Linden Avenue is being left ungraded for a time, as it will be necessary to provide a tunnel from the Street to the entrance into what will then be the underground basement of the Temple. The Tem-pie
Maintenance Committeehas been able to obtain all this fill at a cost of oniy one-third the quotation obtained a year ago.
In the April bulletin the friends were informed of the Guardian's cablegram received March 31: "Suggest if feasible place immediate contracts for completion (of) pyions and ornamentation (of) one whole face. Praying early success." Investigations have been made to determine how best to carry out this wish, and how to proceed with the balance of construction as funds are made available from time to time. The re. Their reports are to be considered as extensions of the record which the National Assembly places in the hands of the Baha'is.
NATIONAL SrUUTUAL ASSEMBLYLouis G. GREGORY, Recording Secretary Ro~ C. WILHELM, Treasurer SIEGFRIED ScHorFLocnrR,
Assistant Treasurersuit of these investigations, not determined at the date of this writing, can be reported orally to the delegates and later issued to the entire Bahá'í community.
The important matter at this time is to realize the present status of the amount of Temple construction work definitely allocated to the seven years ending 1944. Financially, the work to be undertaken amounted to $350,000 in June, 1937. The work to be completed henceforth amounts to $ 79,.680.50, plus an estimated $50,000 for metal doors, grilles and landscaping. Within three years of a period covering seven years the American Baha'is, with those munificent donations made by the Guardian himself, have thus accomplished Temple construction work amounting to about $220,000.00. Through contracts amounting to less than $40,000 a year for the next two years, the exterior of the House of Worship can be completed two years before the termination of the Seven Year Plan. This, truly, is a notable achievement to contemplate, and a high standard to set for future generations of believers.
Another current accomplishment comparable in importance is the addition to the number of local Spiritual Assemblies made at the time of the annual election on April 21.
'While all reports are not yet received,the National Assembly can state that since mentioning the eleven applications on hand by the middle of March, groups in Oak Park, Illinois, North Augusta, South Carolina, Hamilton, Ontario, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Aihambra, California, have developed to the point of electoral capacity, the group at La Crescenta, California, may have likewise qualified, while Knoxville, Tennessee, has resumed Assembly status and Scranton, Pennsylvania, has emerged from the difficulties caused by the loss of two active believers who moved to another city.
These conditions mean that the American BaU'is have in all probability met the Guardian's expressed hope that one hundred Assemblies exist after April 21, 1940.
In a previous section of the report, reference was made to the new properties donated to the Faith this year. This inforrna-tion can now be amplified by the news that Mr. and Mrs. Schopflocher are prepared to execute an Indenture transferring to the Green Acre Trustees title to their property in Eliot, Maine, with the provision that they retain full use and control during their lifetime, the same provision written into the gift of properties at Geyserville and at Colorado Springs.
The Eliot property includes the cottage known as ttOle Bull" and the famous CCNine Gables" house, studios and farm.
The Assemblies of Boston, Honolulu, Peoria, Binghamton and Helena have recently incorporated, and ByLaws have been approved for the Newark Assembly.
Beginning with the April number, World Order Magazine has worked out a more directly Bahá'í function and is prepared to provide material for study as well as articles based on the Teachings or on personal experience of avowed Baha'is. This change was made under authority given by the National Assembly, with the twofold aim of serving the believers and of making the magazine self-supporting.
The essential point to note in the change is that experience has proved the oniy effective way to reach non-Bahá'ís is through
Baha'is.exhibits, at New York and San Francisco, will be conducted again this year.
New exhibit material has been prepared by the Bahá'í Exhibit Committee and is to be seen at the Conven don. The element of visual education is being rapidly developed for Bahá'í teaching, and no doubt the number of regional and local exhibits will greatly increase during the coming year.
Material on Bahá'í marriage certificates, with request for advice and instruction, has been sent to the Guardian.
The National Assemblyhopes that it will soon be able to provide a proper form f or use by those Assemblies which have satisfied the legal requirements laid down by their state codes. The Guardian is also being consulted concerning any changes in the local ByLaws necessary to define this new authority of local Assemblies. A standard ByLaw will be added to the approved local ByLaws when the Guardian's instructions have been received.
The Assembly is pleased to report that through its Chairman, Baha Teachings on peace have been conveyed to the President through his Secretary, and assurance received that the material was placed in the President's hands.
New publications under way since the publication of the Annual Reports include: Spanish edition of Esslemont's Hahd'u'!ldh and the New Era; Spanish edition of excerpts from the Master's
Will and Testament; Studyprehen-sive Study Course for children, prepared by the Child Education Committee; and three Bahá'í Reprints which make it possible to hand out important excerpts from the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and words of Shoghi Effendi in attractive and convenient form.
Actions taken at the meeting of the National Assembly held immediately prior to the Convention include authorizations for continuance of Temple work, decision to transfer the Treasurer's Office to the National headquarters at Wilmette, and approval of the brief prepared by the attorney in connection with the legal suit against the parties misusing the name ctBaM~i.~~ The friends are urged to give their careful attention to the passages in which the Guardian refers to the nature of attacks against the Master and His Will and Testa
Page 159The well used by the Báb's in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in M6zindar~n, Ir~in.
meat, appearing on pages 89 and 90 of The WorldHere we find the clearest statement in the writings for discussion of the New History publication dated April, 1940, with new believers and with those attracted to the Faith who have not yet gained the background of understanding and experience to discern the hot-iowness of any argument and claim based upon failure to accept the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The matter will soon come to trial, and the friends can rest assured that the true nature of the Bahá'í Faith and of its Administrative Order will be established in accordance with the power and scope of the written and authentic Teachings.
Let us realize now the significance of the first collective spiritual gathering of the Bahá'ís of all the Americas as meetings are held in all
Bahá'í Centers on April26 to commemorate the martyrdom of Mrs. May Maxwell.
It is indeed a historic occasion, a point of renewal and fresh beginning in the Inter-America teaching work. We recall Bahá'u'lláh's mighty Tablet to the Presidents of these Republics, the Master's call sounded in the Tablets of America's Spiritual Mission, and the Guardian's vision of the future expounded in The Advent of Divine Justice.
The Bahá'ís of Americastand at the converging center of the most tremendous power ever to stream into the hearts of mankind.
This is the power ordained to remove mountains of prejudice and cross all the seas of ignorance and division. Ours but to make ourselves instruments to serve those ends and be used by that power!
While the world is engaged in political debate and struggle, may the friends of God drink the cup of unity which contains the mysterious ingredient of all success.
In conclusion, the recent messages from the Guardian are recorded.
Cablegram received February27: "Con-gratulate alike (the) National Representatives, (the) newly fledged Assemblies, (the) recently despatched pioneers (and the) freshly enrolled believers all concurring (in) common mission (to) energize processes propelling Plan along destined course.
Appeal once again (to) every participant, notwithstanding (the) threatening tempest, (to) steadily maintain high aim, dare greatly, toil unremittingly, sacrifice worthily, endure radiantly, unflinchingly till very end. Harvest to be reaped (is) foreordained, incalculably rich, everlasting glorious, visibly approaching."
In a letter sent to the3, but delayed in transmission, Shoghi Effendi, through his secretary, emphasized again the Memorial to be raised in honor of Martha L. Root: "With regard to the Memorial which the N. S. A. is proposing to erect in honor of our beloved Martha, the Guardian is hopeful that the fund which is now being raised for that purpose will receive the full support of the believers, and that the donations which will be sent in will be sufficient to enable your Assembly to erect a befitting monument in memory of our de
Page 160parted sister. The friends should be impressed with the importance and significance of this undertaking, and should seize this opportunity of paying their last tribute to so outstanding and indeed matchless a pioneer and servant of the Cause in the 'West."
A letter dated February 23 made it clear that the Teaching and Inter-America Committees have different jurisdictions and distinct fields of work.
Excerpts from a number of letters written by the Guardian to individual believers were published with his consent in the March issue of
BAHÁ'Í NEWS. Theseexplanations cover a wide field of Bahá'í interest, and add to our understanding of the Faith.
The most recent communication at this date (April 23) is the cablegram received
ANNUAL REPOR ASSEMBLY'THE annual Convention last year marked a new departure in the work of the Bahá'í community of the British Isles.
It was recommended at that time that we should function as a teaching organism for the ensuing year with the objective of establishing new Spiritual Assemblies. This suggestion was communicated to the Guardian who replied by cable: t'Delighted urge incoming National Assembly perseverance subordinate all activities teaching objective."
Thus, our course for the year was outlined at its very beginning.
At its first meeting the National Spiritual Assembly considered this matter and pledged itself to carry out the Guardian's wish, determining that all activities should be considered in the light of teaching.
Bradford and Torquaywere selected as the two most promising places for the establishment of new Assemblies.
The believers in those centres were consulted and plans of campaign mapped out. We are happy to report that owing to the persistent efforts of the resident believers, to the work of visiting teachers, to the sacrifices of all who have contributed to the Fund, and to the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Assemblies were
April 11: CcDelightedPrompted urge, if not too uneconomical, (to) proceed (with the) completion (of) one face. Complete (the) remainder (in) manner most advisable.
Welcome contemplated memorial gathering. Moved (to) invite national representatives (and) community join me contribute (to) construction (of) grave being designed (by) Mr. Maxwell at such (a) significant spot for so outstanding (a) pioneer during such momentous stage (in the) dynamic expansion (of the) Faith (of) Bahá'u'lláh."
It is in the spirit of such words that the Bahá'ís convene at their Annual Convention and prepare themselves to enter the fourth year of the Guardian's
Plan.elected in both places on April 2 1st. Both communities are represented by delegates at this Convention.
We take this opportunity of conveying, through them, our welcome and sincere congratulations.
The experience gained through teaching in these two cities has been, and will be, invaluable. Each place presented a different problem.
One is in the industrial north, the other in the residential south; climatic, occupational, and temperamental differences are clearly marked. And yet, such is the all embracing power of Bahá'u'lláh, both communities have grown and become self governing units in the national community, and therefore in the
Bahá'í world. Somemeasure of this success must be attributed to the fact that in each case the ground was surveyed before the final plan was made. We receord this procedure for future guidance.
As a reinforcement to the teaching campaign the N. S. A. welcomed the suggestion of a regular publication, which should be made attractive to the public and serve as a means of interesting people in the Faith. New World Order was launched as a monthly magazine and has received favourable comment from the Guardian; it has
Page 161been welcomed by Bahá'ís in other countries. The English believers have supported it fairly well and its circulation is steadily increasing, but a large expansion is required to make it self-supporting.
It maintains a high standard and is capable of becoming a very powerful teaching medium.
The N. S. A. which went out of office at Rizwan, 1938, that is at the last Convention, had established three annual rallying points for the believers throughout the country. They were Convention, Summer School, and midwinter Teaching Conference.
Convention had already provided the soil for the new teaching campaign, and it was decided to make the other two occasions of especial service.
Summer SchoolSummer School was a notable success, both from the point of view of attendance and of the standard of the lectures and discus-sums.
This was its third year and the attendance was about ninety, nearly three times as many as the first year.
The great value of this institution lies in its unifying atmosphere and in the fact that it provides the oniy Bahá'í community life at present obtainable in England. Local Bahá'í communities have a community life, it is true, but at Summer School, everyone lives, works and plays together; Summer School gives physical shape to the Bahá'í community.
In addition to the morning lectures excellent talks were given in the evening by Miss Ninette de Valois on The Ballet, by Captain
Basil Hall on Peace DutiesPlans for this year are complete and have been published. A much larger place has been taken and the N. S. A. has guaranteed an attendance of fifty during the bank holiday weekend.
Teaching ConferenceThis was a true Bahá'í occasion, marked by earnest discussion, unity of purpose, and true happiness.
As a conclusion to thethe twenty-first birth � day of Hosein Mukhless was celebrated, when he declared himself a Baha'i. At the same time the friends heard of the birth of a son to Mrs. Weeks. Believers from Bradford, London,
Manchester and TorquayThe Conference made the following suggestions to the National Spiritual
Assembly.1. "That the N. S. A. should communicate more frequently with the local Assemblies, in the form of a more personal letter than the Journal." This was agreed to and the chairman of the N. S. A., Miss Challis, undertook to write to each community in the intervals of issues of the Journal. Her letters have been greatly welcomed by the friends.
2. CCTht the Administrationshould be clarified in the Journal, especially with regard to the relationship of local Spiritual Assemblies to the N. S. A. A copy of Bahá'í procedure should be sent to all Assemblies and Groups." Both these suggestions were accepted and acted upon.
3. "That a five year plan should be adopted, with the aim of having at least one believer in every county of England by Riz-wan 1944." This suggestion was held over for discussion by the Convention.
Our function as a teaching organism has been further marked by the appearance of a pioneer spirit. A Bahá'í family, Mr. and Mrs. Lee with their two children, have moved from Manchester to Brighton. They advised the N. S. A. of their willingness to go to some other district, and moved to Brighton at the N. S. A.'s recommendation. Mr. Lee is making efforts to establish himself in business there, and hopes to be the means of promoting the Faith. The N. S. A. has extended practical help and is confident that Bahá'u'lláh will bless this family and fulfil its hopes.
IncorporationParallel with the teaching campaign has been a persistent effort to achieve legal status and recognition of the Faith. The Guardian has continually urged the prosecution of this task, both by letter and cable. We were fortunate in securing the services of a lawyer who is particularly interested in this type of work, and who has shown a
Page 162sympathetic understanding of the position of the Faith. We wish to record our gratitude to the thorough work and interest of Mr. Dairy, of the law firm of J. Hampson Fogg.
Our first attempt was a direct application to the Board of Trade for incorporation by Royal Charter. The attempt failed, but produced good results. The secretary was, in � terviewed by officers of the Board and was able to remove many false impressions aboum the Faith, and a complete and authentic statement of its aims, history, and teachings, now rests in the Board's files.
The chief reason for the failure of this attempt was the smallness of our number and the absence of any substantial increase during the past few years.
Here is a challenge to every believer.Upon receipt of the Board's refusal, Mr. Drury immediately advised us to incorporate as an unlimited company.
The work of drawing up the articles and memorandum of association was begun at once and we are able to report that the document is now here, complete.
It will have to be checked for technical corrections and can then be signed and presented to the Court.
The effect of this document will be to give the National Spiritual Assembly legal personality and rights. It may enter contracts, receive bequests, hold property under certain restrictions, and exercise all the rights and privileges accorded by law. In addition its constitution has been defined ex � actly according to Baha Administration; the principles governing its operation according to the explicit commands of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have been written into the memorandum; and its powers in relation to local Spiritual Assemblies and to the Faith in the British Isles have been defined. The method of Bahá'í elections has been preserved and provision made for the annual Convention.
The enterprise is nonprofit making and has no share capital.
Liability is accepted by the individual members of the N. S. A. in equal proportions, and provision has been made for the transferring of this liability when new members are elected.
This is undoubtedly one of the most important steps in the history of the Faith in the British Isles, and in spite of the primary disappointment, will, we know, delight the heart of our beloved Guardian, whose continual encouragement has lightened the task.
The Bahá'í Pu bUshing TrustThe Publishing Trust is now established as the chief subsidiary of the N. S. A. and its right hand in teaching. It was started with the sum of �234 Os. Sd. specially contributed for that purpose, and in addition has taken possession of all books and literature previously held by the N. S. A. It acts as distributor for all Bahá'í literature, and publishes whatever the N. S. A. requires. The chief publications this year have been a revised edition of Dr. Esslemont's pamphlet Bahá'u'lláh and His Message and a brief life of Bahá'u'lláh by H. M. Baha'i. Both these publications have been purchased abroad and have made a good impression.
In addition a small calendar, showing the Bahá'í Feasts and Anniversaries has been printed.
A new prayer book will shortly be available.The manuscript is now with the Guardian. It is hoped to be able to sell it at a shilling.
A new book by Mr. Townshend will soon be out, called at present, The Heart of the Gospel. It is a startling exposition of the Bible in the light of the Kitáb � i-iqin, and is of vital importance not oniy to Bahá'ís but to the whole of Christendom.
We hope to publish soon Lady Blomfield's book, excerpts of which the friends have been privileged to hear on one or two occasions. It is a compilation from Lady Blom-. field's own notes, given to her by the Greatest Holy Leaf and other ladies of the Holy Family, referring to the Mb, Bahá'u'lláh, and the Master. Shoghi Effendi has approved it. A sister volume to Mr. Balyuzi's life of Bahá'u'lláh is expected very soon; a life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
And after that a life of the Bib.During the ensuing year the literature of the Faith should be considerably enriched.
PublicityCongress took place in London during the summer, and a Bahá'í session was held on August 1st. A number of the visitors were entertained at the London Centre and many individual contacts were made.
Page 163Attempts were made to arrange publicity in the form of a stand, an exhibition, or simply of literature, at the Glasgow Exhibition, but were unsuccessful.
An exhibition was held at Notting Hill Gate, London, in connection with the new magazine. It was kept open for a month, and although the cost was fairly high it was undoubtedly a wise and fruitful expenditure. The premises were made available through the generosity of Miss Nockold. The window was made very attractive and a large number of peopie came in to enquire. Many took literature, some came to the Centre, some attended fireside meetings. The properties used in this exhibition are still available and the N. S. A. recommends this form of publicity.
ArchivesThe National Archives have been properly organised, with each object tabulated and described. The Archives have been moved to a place outside London for safety in case of air raids.
A robe worn by the Blessed Beauty, several original Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and various other objects of historical importance have been preserved.
The American N. S. A. has kindly agreed to retain in its archives original Tablets which were sent there by English believers, until such time as it seems advisable to have them sent over here.
The N. S. A. once again stresses the importance of entrusting articles of value to it, for proper preservation. Directly the N. S. A. is incorporated it can make legal claim to the Archives and thus ensure them for posterity.
Not oniy original Tablets, but all articles associated with the Founders of the Faith, or with its early history, should be preserved.
FinanceAt the beginning of the year the N. S. A. made a budget of estimated expenditure and published it in the Journal, with an appeal to the friends to suppiy the required amount. This amount was not subscribed, but fortunately expenses were kept well within the amount budgeted.
Early in the year a donation of �500 was received and put to Capi � tal fund. It has been necessary to draw on this fund for publicity expenses. During the year the National Fund has received from subscriptions �114, 19s. ad. which is �63 6s. Sd. less than the amount received last year.
Last year the Publishing Trust made special demands, but the Teaching campaign requires an even greater effort, and if it is to continue there must be a larger income.
National ServiceIncreasing tension in world affairs made it necessary for the N. S. A. to define the attitude of Bahá'ís to the various military measures being undertaken by the country. The Guardian's instruction was obtained and published in Bahá'í Journal. It was to the effect that while we should do everything to obtain exemption from active combatant service, we should volunteer for all services of a humanitarian nature, such as Red Cross, A. R. P., stretcher-bearing, etc. 'Within the last three days Conscription has been introduced by the Government, and it is recommended that the incoming N. S. A. should consider the position of Bahá'í Youth in relation to this.
Two of the original believers in this country have departed to the realms of their beloved Master during the year. Mrs. Thorn-burgh-Cropper and Mrs. Scaramucci. May they continue to serve Him in their new life.
A word should now be said about the internal relationships of the community, as reflected in the activities already described. There has undoubtedly been a continuance of that sense of unity to the awakening of which we have called attention in previous years.
The Nineteen Day Feastshave become more significant, and there is, especially among the youth, a growing sense of the significance of the Cause in the world today.
The actual work of the administration still falls too heavily on a few people, although here the N. S. A. must express its thanks to those members of the London Youth Group who have helped in typing, addressing and mailing.
An examination of the reports of local Spiritual Assemblies indicates that there is
Page 164very often a lack of support for measures initiated by them. Some of this is due to the fact that a few of these measures have not impressed the believers as either important or useful to the Faith, and a few have not been understood. We feel that there is room for development in the relationship between the community and its
Spiritual Assembly. Thecommunity is too often inclined to carry over into the Bahá'í world the traditions and sanctions of its previous background.
On the other hand the Spiritual Assembly has the duty of educating, encouraging and explaining, in all matters relating to
Bahá'í procedure. Itshould initiate new plans, and make departures from accepted methods within the framework of the Administration, but these plans should be fully explained to the community in order to enlist its full support.
The Nineteen Day Feastis the proper occasion for this. The community is called to exert every effort to assist the Spiritual Assembly in its work, by frank discussion of difficulties, by endeavouring to understand the mysterious processes by which a Baha community functions, and by a willingness to adopt the new kind of life which the Spiritual Assemblies attempt to foster.
The obligation, in the end, rests with each individual.
To the extent to which each one penetrates the mystery of the Faith, understands stands its place in the history of our time, becomes impelled by iove of Bahá'u'lláh to greater and greater devotion in its service, to this extent shall we become significant and be able to affect the destiny of our country and of all mankind. Prayer and meditation, study of the Writings, constant association with all the activities of the Faith, are the food and drink for every soul who would become an actiye member of this teaching organism.
Our record for the year, and our outlook for the future are summarised in these words of the
Guardian:"A splendid beginning has been made, A firm foundation has been established.
Perseverance is now required to bring these devoted, painstaking and concerted efforts to full and speedy fruition. The path you are treading is beset with formidable obstacles, but the invincible power of the Faith will, if you remain faithful and steadfast, enable you to surmount them. My prayers will continue to be offered on your behalf. May Bahá'u'lláh fulfill every hope you cherish in the service of this Faith. Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi."HE year through which we have just passed must stand as a permanent witness to the mysterious working of the almighty power of the Manifestation of God in His Day. His Creative Word, consciously recognised by a numerically insignificant community, instils into it a vigour and unity which enables it to forge ahead in the midst of chaos, to consolidate its painfully wrought institutions and extend the range of its major activities in the heart of a society which has been engulfed in the most destructive war of history.
Such a catastrophe, overwhelming mankind, and now directly affecting our own nation, cannot but have an effect on the individual and collective life of the
Bahá'í community. Butit is this very impact of distintegration in the world around us which discloses the source of our strength. For while the circumstances of our life have been disrupted, the Cause which we serve and the vision which we hold has become stronger in our hearts and has evoked an expression of community effort greater than any we have made previously.
The preparation, encouragement, and guidance which the Guardian has bestowed upon us, both in his general letters and in messages to the National Spiritual Assembly, becomes more significant as the forces of the age move swiftly to a climax. In The Unfoldment of World Civilisation he drew attention to the two processes of disintegration and construction operating side by side throughout the world. The constructive process, he showed to be directly associated with the rise and consolidation of the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Inthe light of this analysis of the Age of Transition it is not insignificant that the Incorporation Certificate of the National Spiritual Assembly was received one month before the outbreak of war. For two years prior to this we had, as our Annual Reports mention, been striving to achieve an organic life in the national community which would enable us to go F or-ward as one body in our great task of Teaching.
ing. That this has, in some measure, been achieved is proved by the spirit of the Summer School and Teaching Conference, as well as by the extension of teaching work to new centres.
It is oniy on the basis of such spiritual achievements that we can ever think to play a part in the reshaping of human society, or try to comprehend the generous praise and thrilling promises which the Guardian has recently showered upon us. ~ wish to reaffirm my deep sense of gratitude and admiration for the splendid manner in which the English believers are discharging their duties and responsibilities in these days of increasing peril, anxiety and stress.
Their tenacity, courage, faith and noble exertions will as a magnet attract the undoubted and promised blessings of Bahá'u'lláh.
They have, at a time when the basis of ordered society itself is rocking and trembling, laid an unassailable foundation for the Administrative Order of their Faith.
Upon this basis the rising generation will erect a noble structure that will excite the admiration of their fellow-countrymen.
My prayers for them will continually be offered at the holy Shrines." Such a message is the greatest Thai-lenge and bounty to us, for no one dare accept it unless it be true in intention, but when it is accepted its promise will be assured.
Let us not, however, present a picture which would exaggerate the size of our achievements or our effectiveness.
We can as yet make no claim to influence consciously, the spiritual or moral life of our nation. rar from it. We are a small community just beginning to achieve the necessary unity for effective action; we are still in a state of preparation and purification for our greater task. We have yet to win to our cause people of capacity and influence, and the Name of Bahá'u'lláh is as yet unpro-claimed to our fellow-countrymen.
Certain weaknesses in ourselves must be overcome before we can successfully accomplish this task. Chief among these weaknesses is an
Page 166insufficient support of the Baha Fund, an inadequate knowledge and understanding of the administrative processes of the Faith, and and a too casual response to measures initiated by the National Spiritual
Assembly.First and foremost of our activities has been Teaching. At the last Convention it was recommended that we should concentrate on five cities with a view to establishing communities there whenever possible. The National Spiritual Assembly adopted this plan but oniy two of the cities mentioned by the delegates, Leeds and Bournemouth, were included in the list.
Other places, Nottinghamand Brighton, presented better opportunities through the presence of resident believers, so these were included. One city, Newcastle, where there are no Bahá'ís at all, has been given special attention.
In Leeds the BradfordSpiritual Assembly has continued teaching work throughout the year, and there is every prospect of success here. Mr. and
Mrs. Peter Wilkinsonhave made their home there, bringing the number of resident believers up to four. Meetings have been held, and the Military Tribunal there granted the application of a Bahá'í for exemption from combatant service, which resulted in some publicity.
Three believers have moved to Bournemouth and the Group there now numbers ten.
The Feasts and anniversaries are observed and it is hoped to have a Centre as the chief aid to a teaching campaign.
In Nottingham excellent work has been done through the efforts of the resident believer, Esther Richardson.
She has arranged meetings with the Esperantists and the Theosophists which have been addressed by visiting teachers, and has gathered together a number of her friends and aroused their keen interest. It is expected that a few of them will come to Summer School.
Work in Brighton is hampered by the small amount of time at the disposal of the resident believers, Mr. and Mrs. Lee. A member of the London community lived there for a few weeks, but a planned and sustained campaign is needed.
New ground has been broken in Newcastle and much interest aroused. A teacher spent five weeks there before Christmas, and three months after Christmas.
Many clubs and societies were addressed, and a series of public lectures given from the platform of the Theosophical Society.
Contacts were made in the University, a number of study meetings were held, a good deal of literature has been purchased by interested inquirers and it is hoped that some of them will come to Summer School. The last report of the work there states: CCThe situation now requires steady and continual work. About two hundred people have heard of the Faith directly, and a regular study meeting is required."
The local communities have maintained fireside and other teaching meetings.
A series of regular study meetings was held in Altrin-chain during the summer by the Manchester Spiritual Assembly, and a successful meeting was arranged with the Rover Scout Crew by Miss Ada Williams, when the interest of about twenty young men was aroused. The first extension work of the Torquay Spiritual Assembly was in Exeter when Mrs. Stevens addressed the
Psychology Club.We have begun to teach as a community, coordinating local effort and using national resources, but there is great scope for more individual effort.
Two years ago the Guardian cabled us to tcbdi t all activities (to) teaching objective." In our community effort we have attempted to do this, but this command, voiced by Bahá'u'lláh, the Master, and now by the Guardian, surely applies to our personal lives as well.
Minute 47 of the Nationalmeeting on December 3 0th reads as follows: "The whole teaching campaign was reviewed. It was suggested that the plan adopted at the Convention of concentrating on five centres, tended to make the growth of a Bahá'í community artificial and hasty. It was suggested that a longer plan � such as achieving 19 Spiritual Assemblies by 1944, would not oniy increase the scope of the National campaign, but prevent undue pressure from being exerted on new coinmu-nities, which would develop far more strongly and healthily by a slower and more natural process of unfoldment.
The meeting expressed agreement with this plan, but decided to refer it to Convention for general discussion."
Page 167This task was nearly complete at last Convention, and it oniy remains to record that our Certificate was obtained on August 5th. Legal records are maintained at the London centre, and our first annual return has been made to the Registrar of Companies, and to the Income Tax authorities.
The National SpiritualAssembly, by virtue of its Loan Account, was chief creditor of a business owned by one of the Baha'is. It was able to use its influence to prevent the business being forced into bankruptcy, and to make an arrangement which it is hoped will eventually benefit both the debtor and the creditors.
The Bradford SpiritualAssembly, upon presentation of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, was granted exemption from the payment of rates on its Centre. This same document has been of use to the Publishing Trust when entering business contracts, for which guarantees would otherwise have been required.
Military Serviceinstructions and upholding the principles of the Faith, Bahá'í young men who have been conscripted have applied for exemption from combatant service, at the same time stating their unquali-fled readiness to serve in any noncombatant capacity which the Government may indicate. In order to make this application, it is necessary to register as a conscientious objector, a term which does not accurately describe the Bahá'í attitude. So far one young man has appeared before a tribunal. His application was granted and the local newspapers printed accounts of a new Faith.
Three Baha are already serving in the forces, a number are awaiting their tribunals, and a few are in reserved occupations.
A great many members of the community are serving the country in one or other form of National Service such as A.R.P., ambulance driving, etc.
PublicityThe chief effect of the War has been, so far, to bring to a stop our plans for publicity. At the last Convention it was recoin-mende'J that the N. S. A. should examine the possibilities of wide publicity, such as buying time on the wireless. Plans had been made for a Bahá'í stand at the Sunday Times Book Fair last autumn, and negotiations were in progress for obtaining a model of the Temple from the American National
Spiritual Assembly. Thelatter was not available and the Book Fair was cancelled because of the war. At the same time the commercial broadcasting stations closed down, so that no publicity was possible in that direction.
The Torquay Spiritual Assemblypaid for a brief notice about the Faith in a local paper, and report that their regular meetings are advertised.
Meetings have also been advertised in Bradford and Newcastle with good results.
The Faith was represented at the South-port Convention of Religions, when a good deal of interest was aroused.
Several of those present have subsequently come to meetings in other parts of the country.
A number of books have been sent to the agency for distributing books among the services.
Mr. Townshend's book, The Heart of the Gospel, was very favourably reviewed in the Irish papers, and has had a good reception there.
Bahá'í Publishing TrustThe establishment of the Publishing Trust has proven to be a sound and invaluable undertaking. It must surely be included in "the unassailable foundation" of which the Guardian speaks.
With the incorporation of the N. S. A., the three original Trustees resigned their office, and the N. S. A. became Trustee.
The chief work this year has been the following publications: A new edition of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era., Dr. Esslemont's standard work on the Faith.
With the permission of Mrs. Esslernont a few alterations and some slight additions were made. It is now available at half a crown.
The Heart of the Gospel.A Ba/id'! Prayer Book, published in a corn � plete and abridged form. The abridged copy has been found very acceptable by non-Bahi'is.
Page 168thousand more copies of the penny pamphlet, which every Bahá'í needs frequently.
New World Order. A reproduction with a few alterations, of the December number of the N. S. K's periodical
New WorldOrder. Three thousand copies, for sale at a penny.
In addition the publication of Lady Blom-field's book, The Chosen Highway, is well advanced and copies should be available by the end of June. Advanced notices have been printed and circulated.
The war presented a grave problem to the Publishing Trust, for restrictions were imposed on the sending of money abroad for nonessential supplies, and in America goods could not be shipped to belligerent countries without cash payment. The standard works of Bahá'u'lláh and the Guardian are printed in America and we are unable to obtain them. Lady Blomfield, even after her passing, was the means of solving this problem. The American friends ordered a thousand copies of her book, thereby establishing a credit for us, so we have been able to place a large order with the American Publishing Committee, sufficient to meet our needs for some time to come. The friends should realize that the Publishing Trust, to continue its service, will need more money than receipts from books.
In order to make literature available at a price within everybody's reach, large stocks have to be carried, and this inevitably ties up liquid capital. Generous donations have been made during the year, but larger sums are needed if we are to have the standard works of the Faith available to the believers and the public. At present it would be possible to publish the Kitáb-i-IqAn at a sale price of five shillings if the necessary capital, �75, were subscribed.
The capital fund of the Publishing Trust has increased by cash donations already mentioned, and by the gift of a large stock of Paris Talks from Lady Blomfield, and of The Drama of the Kingdom, by Mrs. Basil Hall. In addition the Trust has been given all rights in The Chosen Highway and copyright in the Paris Talks. Mrs. Basil Hall has provided for full rights in Paris Talks to revert to the Publishing Trust after her death.
The National SpiritualLouis Rosen-field for their capable and devoted service in the dispatching and accounting work.
In order to distribute the stock of the Trust to a certain extent, local Spiritual Assemblies have been sent large supplies of standard literature such as Dr. Esslemont's book, penny pamphlets, etc. An insurance policy in the amount of �500 has been taken out on a large part of the stock.
Summer SchoolThis has now become an established feature of our national activity.
Continuing the progress of the first three years, the fourth Summer School was more ambitious, better attended, and marked by an even greater vitality than the earlier ones.
For the first time the National Spiritual Assembly took the risk of guaranteeing a minimum attendance during the bank holiday weekend. Its confidence in the support of the friends was justified by an attendance greatly in excess of the number guaranteed. The radiance and unity pervading the Summer School were in direct contrast to the turmoil and darkness of the outside world, which at that time was within four weeks of war. The morning lectures presented the Bahá'í reading of history, surveyed modern problems and explained Bahá'u'lláh's solutions.
In the evening, experts in various arts, the dance, drama, music, pottery, spoke on their own subjects and all declared the need for a new creative impulse which must somehow be linked with social conditions.
Arrangements are complete for the fifth Summer School which will be held at Caws-ton House, Rugby, in the very centre of England.
It remains to be seen what effect the war will have on this basic institution of Bahá'í life.
Teaching ConferencePursuing the plan of previous years, to maintain three annual rallying points for the national community, the midwinter Teaching Conference was held in Manchester. (The other points are Summer School and Convention.) There was a slight decline in attendance, but all local communities were represented and two isolated believers from
Page 169The interior of the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi in M6.zindar~n. The X marks the spot where Mulk ~usayn is buried.
Birmingham were especially welcome. The report of the Conference reads: t~It was generally felt that the Conference itself was better than in previous years. There seemed to be more weight in the discussions, and a more real sense of something actually being accomplished.
Specific matters were discussed and there was no time for generalities."
Two speakers examined the teaching resources of the community, one from the point of view of individual effort and one from the viewpoint of collective action.
One session was devoted to the Bahá'í Fund, and one to discussion between the National Spiritual Assembly and the community.
Recent messages from the Guardian were read, calling for "still greater tenacity, fidelity, vigour and devotion."
A cable was sent to him saying, ttTeac1~ing Conference resolves achieve high standard devotion teaching campaign called for your recent messages. Deepest love English friends."
His reply was, (tWelcome noble resolve prosecute energetically teaching campaign praying ardently signal success."
reNew World Order" The outbreak of war and the consequent rising price of paper made it necessary to change the National
Spiritual Assembly'speriodical from an eight page magazine to a four page leaflet. With this change came a change in price and policy. The price was reduced to a penny and the paper was made into a definite teaching organ, using a great deal of quotation from the Writings and setting forth directly the Bahá'í principles. This change was welcomed on all sides, and especially from Baha'is, who now have new teaching material every month.
New World Order is an expense to the National Spiritual Assembly, and would be so even if every copy were sold, but it is felt that the expenditure is justified by the value of the paper to the teaching work.
Local Spiritual Assemblieshave been allotted a specific number, which they are asked to buy every month, and this helps to reimburse the National Fund. It is felt that much greater use could be made of the paper by individual Baha'is; if everyone would buy two or three copies a month and give them away to nonBahá'í friends or strangers, the teachings would be spread more effectively.
A few complete sets of volume 1 have been preserved and may be purchased.
In MemoriamLady Blomfield passed away on December 31st, the Feast of Honour. In the first shock
Page 170of her parting, we could oniy think of the actual fact. Now we begin to realise something of the tremendous 'oss which we have sustained. Summer School, the Rizwan Feast, the Presence of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in England, were all associated in our minds with her. She it was who told us of the Master, who showed us what it meant to follow the True Exemplar. A bulwark in need, a friend in trouble, a companion in happiness, may her spirit be ever with us and assist us to manifest those qualities of kindliness, consideration, and graciousness of which she was the embodiment.
The news of her passing reached the friends during the Teaching Conference, and was sent on to the Guardian in the cable already mentioned.
His reply was: "Profoundly grieve passing dearly beloved outstanding coworker Sitarih Khinum. Memory her glorious services imperishable. Advise English community hold befitting memorial gathering. Assure relatives my heartfelt sympathy and loving fervent prayers.~~ Accordingly memorial meetings were held in all communities.
The funeral took place in Hampstead, and out of consideration to some of Sitarib Kh~nurn's relatives the service was Church of England.
Two members of the National Spiritual Assembly read from the Prayers and Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, and a number of the friends gathered round the grave afterwards.
ArchivesThe National Archives, which had been properly arranged and classified, were greatly augmented by a number of original Tablets and other objects which were left by Lady Blomfield.
There are two copies of the Paris Talks signed by the Master, a samovar which He had given to Lady Blomfield, some signed photographs, and a few other things. The National Spiritual Assembly has placed all these precious objects in a lined box, and they are now in the vault of a bank in the west of England.
Bahá'í WorldThe Guardian has appointed Mr. David Hofman to the editorial staff of Bahá'í World, as representative for the British Isles.
RegistrationAt the beginning of the year the National Spiritual Assembly commenced to register all declared believers. The friends have been very slow in responding to this plan, which is of importance to the welfare of the community. Believers are asked to send a photograph and details of name and address, which are then entered on a special card printed for the purpose.
One copy, stamped with the seal of the N. S. A. is returned to the believer, and a duplicate is retained in the National files. Believers travelling abroad, one to lr~n and one to America, have found this invaluable as a Bahá'í passport. Lately two communities have been imposed upon by a person claiming to be a Baha'i, a thing which would not happen if all believers were registered. But the most important reason for registration, as explained in the Journal, is to protect the Faith against authorised representation, and to enable the National Spiritual Assembly to accept responsibility for the community.
FinanceThe treasurer's report will give detailed accounts, but the outstanding feature is the large excess of expenditure over income.
During the twelve months this has amounted to about �115. Some �70 has been needed for Incorporation but the balance has been used for current expense.
This matter must receive the immediate attention of the believers if the teaching work is to continue.
Our own progress is inevitably bound up with the world body of the Faith, and although we do not, as yet, play any great part in the international activities, we are an organ of that body and receive from it as well as give to it. An event of Cccapital institutional significance," described by the Guardian in a general letter which has been circulated among the friends, calls for our deep attention and an earnest effort to understand its significance. This event is none other than the permanent interment of the remains of the Purest
Branch, 'Abdu'l-Bahá'íyounger brother, and of Asiyih Khinum, His Mother, on Mount Carmel in the neighbourhood of
Page 171the shrine of the Greatest Holy Leaf. The news was received by cable from the Guardian: "Remains Purest Branch and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Mother permanently laid (to) rest (in) close neighbourhood (of the) shrine (of the)
Greatest Holy Leaf. HeartsIn his letter he writes: tTor it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasised, that the conjunction of the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf with those of her brother and mother incalculably reinforces the spiritual ~otencies of that consecrated Spot which, under the wings of the Bib's overshadowing speulchre, and in the vicinity of the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar which will be reared on its flank, is destined to evolve into the focal centre of those world-shaking, world-embracing, world-di-recting administrative institutions, ordained by Bahá'u'lláh and anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and which are to function in conso � nance with the principles that govern the twin institutions of the Guardianship and the
Universal House of Justice."This letter was mimeographed under the title The Heart of the Entire Planet and a copy sent to each believer. An effort to understand this letter thoroughly, will increase everyone's understanding of the Faith itself.
An attack made on the Cause in America had repercussions in this country and a statement from the National Spiritual Assembly was circulated to each community for the information of the friends.
A word should now be said about the conditions in our own community.
One of the most hopeful and encouraging signs is the renewal of vigour in London. The Spiritual Assembly had given much thought and prayer to the enervated condition which undoubtedly existed for some time.
The outbreak of war brought immediate problems and disclosed still further the lack of unified action.
Many believers were evacuated and the community was forced to take some action to maintain itself. It is in the solution of this problem that the unfailing, creative, society building power of the Faith'' has been again demonstrated.
For the London SpiritualAssembly realised that the problem was a spiritual one, and would not be re solved by administrative action. It therefore called upon the community for a re-exami-nation of its spiritual life, for concentration upon the primary virtues and for a prayerful attitude in daily life. The result is the appearance of a new life in the community, a more serious and purposeful spirit, and a truly encouraging activity among the youth.
The new communities of Bradford and Torquay have each developed in their own way. They have both settled into the administrative pattern of Bahá'u'lláh's Administrative Order, and both have extended the range of their teaching activities. It is in � teresting to note that both communities have advertised in the local press.
The Summer School and Teaching Conference gave undoubted evidence of a still growing unity, a process which is fostered by the single purpose of teaching. Concentration on this purpose, with all its implica � dons of spiritual effort, reliance on God, purity of life and radiant faith, will take us far on that course which the Guardian has mapped out for us, and will ensure the ultimate victory.
His most recent message contains, for the first time, a statement to the effect that this community has a definite part to play in the reshaping of human society through the establishment of the Faith of God in the West. "May the Almighty bless, sustain and protect the English believers, who in these days of unprecedented turmoil, stress and, danger are holding aloft so courageously the banner of the Faith, and who will, in the days to come, contribute, through His grace and power, a notable share to its establishment and recognition in the west. Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi."
Humanity has now entered that final Armageddon, "which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake."
Let us turn to Bahá'u'lláh, and with unshakeable faith in His all-embracing sovereignty pray to be the instruments through which ccshall the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the
Nightingale of ParadiseA GREAT wave of teaching activity, resulting from the Guardian's stirring and repeated messages to the Bahá'ís of fr~n, is now sweeping over the country; the teaching work, carried on by women as well as men, is winning new recruits of every type, even from the ranks of the clergy, and the fire and consecration of the new believers recalls the earliest heroes of the Cause. Meanwhile the consolidation of the
Administrative Ordercontinues in full force despite every obstacle, and � to the joy of all believers � places sacred in IrAnian Bahá'í history are one by one becoming the property of the Faith.
Such in r6sum6 is IrAn's activity for the year 95, details of which follow.
ecArise oh Friends of God, as one soul" � the Guardian has written us, No champion this exalted, mighty and most powerful, this most holy and wondrous Cause. Use up your energies, devote your time, give tip your rest, your ease, spend your possessions, forsake your homes, pass by whatsoever you have, to serve His Cause, and fulfill His desires, and strengthen His institutions, and establish the dominion of His Word, and to prove His triumphant and luminous, His authoritative, exalted and single Faith.
I swear by the true God, this is what is worthy of you and your place and station, and of all who hear and respond to your summons, in this land that God has singled out for His bounty and whose rank He has raised up � this land that He has made the birthplace of His own Self, and the cradle of His Cause, and the treasure-house of His mysteries, and the throne of His might, and the fortress of His Faith, and the descending-point of His lights and the source of the joy of all mankind. The pledge is yours, 0 Beloved of the Lord, and its fulfillment is your God's, the Beneficent, and Your Master's, the Beholder, the Protector, the Assister, the Great."
And elsewhere: "The first requirement of the newly-elected
National Spiritual Assemblyis to further the all-important work of teaching, to increase the number of seekers and the interrelationships of Bahá'í centers and to prepare sure and effective means for establishing new Spiritual Assemblies within IrAn as well as its neighboring countries. Let them continually encourage and stimulate the Friends and cause the Bahá'ís of that land to be ever mindful of this holy Utterance: tExpend every effort in teaching the Cause of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this Revelation.
.' In this year the knights of the Lord must with amazing power spur on their chargers in the field of teaching and bear away the prize from their spiritual brothers and sisters in western lands.
This is what befits them and their place and station in this radiant, exalted and wondrous age."
The Friends were still under the impact of these words when another message came: ccTeaching the Cause of God, spreading the sweet savors of God, observing the law of God, promoting the religion of God, establishing the ordinances of the Book of God � these in this day are the most excellent, most honored of deeds. Not a moment's neglect is permissible. Slackness and carelessness would result in the retrogression of the community, and the increased boldness and audacity of that heedless, tyrannical group. Forsaking their homes, traveling to every city and village, confining their thoughts to strengthening the body of the believers, expounding and proving the verities of the Cause, discovering the divine mysteries, demonstrating the urgent need of the laws of the Faith and promoting the divine ordinances are � despite the tumultuous times, the varied difficulties, the plots of inimical people, the constant and violent threats � the first requirement of the followers of the Cause of God, whether men or women, in every Bahá'í center, whether in cities or villages, throughout that illustrious land.
As a result of such words, every one hasarisen to teach to the best of his ability. Much of the work accomplished has never been reported, the Friends having, as a matter of conscience, refrained from describing their activity, and we give here oniy a synopsis of reports from Local Assemblies, various Committees and formally-appointed teachers.
There are twenty-two Bahá'í administrative districts in Iran. Each of these has an appointed center, known as the District Spiritual Assembly, which serves to coordinate all Assemblies in its area with the National
Spiritual Assembly. TheseDistrict Assemblies are numbered as follows, their districts being given in parentheses: 1.
h~n (Isfihin). 2. Tabriz (Adhirb&yj4n). 3. Abidili (Abidili). 4. Bandar-i-Jaz (Ban-dar-i-Jaz). 5. B4bul (BThul). 6. Mashhad (Khur~s~n).
7. Ahvdz (Khiizistin).S~iri (Sin). 11. Tihrin (Tihrin). 12. 'IrAq ('Idq).
13. Shir4z (F4rs). 14.16. K~shin (Kthin). 17. Kirmin (Kirm6xn). 18. KirmAnshih (Kir-m6nshAhAn). 19. Rash (Gihin). 20. Nay-riz (Nayriz).
21. Hamadin (Hamadan). 22.During the year 95 the following were formally-appointed teachers in the given areas: Samandari, Hamad~n, Kirrn~nshiMn; 'Alavi, 1sf Thin, Yazd; AdMr-Munir, Adhirbiyjin; Tshriq-i-KhAvari, Gum; Hthimi-Zidih, Mizindar~n, (Bandar-i-Jaz, S~iri,
Bibul); Mutlaq, Tihr~nH4'i, K4sh~n; Baq6N, Gum; N~ri, IsfThin; Shaydin-Shaydi, Kirmin.
Among those who instantly responded to the Guardian's message was the distinguished poet and scholar, JinAb-i-'Azizu'llAb Misbib, who, not content with his teaching services in Tihr~n, and although ill and almost blind, left the capital with Aq6y-i-Na1~iavi, a young, newly-declared believer, and went on a teaching circuit to KAsh6n Tsf&Mn, Najaf-ibid,
AMdih and ShirAz. Hespent five months on this iourney, and besides teaching the Friends, he gave the Cause to twenty-four seekers, of whom seven, including one of the 'ulami of Kishin have thus far accepted the Faith.
Leaving Tihrin for Khur~s~n,spent three months visiting thirtyfive Bahá'í centers, mostly rural communities.
He went some of the way by automobile, much of it on donkey-back, and many miles on foot, and brought back to Tihrin the spiritual refreshment of these meetings. 'Abdu'lUh F~di1-Z~dih, son of the late, wellknown teacher, Tkidil-i-Shirizi, made a nineteen-day journey to Qazvin and Hamadin and their environs; he discussed the Faith with thirty inquirers and had many meetings with the Friends. Jav4d-i--Mahhiibi, member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Hamad6n, and Sa'id-i--Ra4avi went from Hamad~n to every neighboring village in which there were Baha, greatly stimulating the teaching work in this area.
Obeying the Guardian'smessage, Lu;-fu'lhh Mawhibat determined to serve as a pioneer; he and his wife therefore transferred their residence to the historic city of Zanjin, where, in the course of a few months, they have held meetings and study-classes, entertained travelers, assisted the local Friends and brought five people into the Faith.
H~shim-i-Ashrafi traveled from Tihrin to KashihAssembly of Jsf~hin together with several committee members went out to Bur6jin, Kh6linjAn, ShayclAn Shah � Rich, Jaz and M&iy-Abid, communities in their district, and conferred with the Friends as to new teaching activities.
As'adu'1-Hukarn~ went to Khur~sin, and JinTh-i-'Ubtdiyyat to south Iran ~ teaching trips.
Ever since the Guardian's command to arise and teach, even nonbelievers have seemed much more eager to study the Faith; calls for more teachers are being received from almost every center, and all those who have arisen to teach have been successful. Moreover the new believers show that
Page 174same fire which characterized those of the earliest days. For this very reason they have had in most cases to bear the opposition of father, mother, wife and kindred � but the more they have been persecuted the stronger they have grown. Typical is the young man in Gurgin, who, when he began to investigate the Faith, was mocked and tormented by his wife and the rest of his family.
Although they are doing everything to keep him from the Cause, he has shown them oniy kindness.
He writes verses in the Turkish language, one of which says, ttQ my dear kindred, let me be, for I shall not, whatever your cruelty, loose my hold from the robe of the Bib, and Bahá'u'lláh, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá." Another youth, the cultivated Mur~d-i-Dawdini of Ahv4v, studied the Faith and soon began to teach it himself, holding meetings and attracting a number of people to the Cause; his wife, as well, is doing everything to prevent his Bahá'í activities, but without effect.
The handling of such large groups of believers as those of presentday Ir~in results in interesting administrative developments. In Tihr~n, for example, fifty-five teaching meetings are held every week throughout the city. The nineteen members of the Tihr~in Teaching Committee meet at least once a week, and young men representatives of the teaching classes report to them once a month.
The Committee likewise meets for consultation with the teachers, as well as with the hosts and hostesses entertaining the various study groups.
Four classes for teachers are also given as follows: two courses delivered weekly by Jin6.b-i-FAdil-i-MAzinda-. rAni in Bahá'í history, the Book of Aqdas and various tablets, for young men and women respectively; a weekly course in the
Book of Aqdas, Some AnsweredQuestions and other subjects, for women and girls, by Aq~y-i-Furi5tan, and a weekly course in Some Answered Questions by Aq4-i-Yazd4ni. About nine hundred non-BaIA'is have received instruction in the Tilirin study-classes this year; Of these about one hundred have thus far become believers, have been registered and invited to attend the advanced study groups. According to the procedure, new believers whose names are submitted to the Tihr~n Teaching Committee by the various teachers, are introduced to the Fellowship and Feast Committees so that they may associate with the body of the believers.
The Tihrin Teaching Committeehas likewise provided for teachers to spread the Faith throughout this area. Aqiy-i-Husayn YigAnih went to Karaj and established the Spiritual Assembly there; Aqiy6n Rahm~ni-. yTh and 'Ubiidiyyat have also taught in Karaj.
Aqiy-i-Mumt4zi, member of this Committee, took a three months' trip through Khur~s&n. Aq~y-i-RahmAniyin, appointed by the Spiritual Assembly as circuit teacher for Tilirin, was sent out to Tiliqin, Fashandak and other neighboring localities to teach and meet the Friends, Circular letters quoting from the Guardian's teaching messages have been distributed at the Feasts, where Teaching Committee members have likewise addressed the Friends on the urgency of these messages. Other Committee activities have included presenta-don of certificates to young women who successfully passed examinations in their year's study course with Aqiy-i-Funiran; interviewing believers who are ready to go out as traveling teachers, and submitting their names to the District Teaching Committee and the Spiritual Assembly; and establishing a commission made tip of teachers in and some residents of the Bigh � i-Firdaws quarter, which meets every fortnight to con-suit on the teaching work � a plan which, if successful, will be used in other quarters as well.
Next year it is planned to hold one meeting weekly in each quarter of the city, which will be attended by not more than nineteen people, these including especially attracted students from the teaching classes in that quarter and one or two teachers. The purpose will be to fully confirm the newcomers in each quarter, so that they may be given a Bahá'í registration card and enter the Bahá'í community.
Each member of the Teaching Committee is to attend at least three of the various weekly teaching classes, so that the Committee's weekly conference will be fully informed of current problems.
The following are at present conducting the teaching classes throughout Tihr~n (others, not listed, are likewise teaching in this city) The men:
Page 175Mabmiidi Khidim-i-Mith4q, Mustawfi, Furitan, Dr. Qasimi, Sin~i-Z~dih, Av4rig~n, Vahid, F4dil-i-Mizindar4ni, Kayv&n, Dar-glum, Akhtar-i-Kh6vari, 'At4'u'llih Baha, Ishr~q,
'Abdu'114h F6xlil, N6r-i-DinAs for teaching activities throughout I ran, the following extracts from various District Assembly reports furnish some details: Tabriz: Three teaching classes for Baha youth are being held by Aq6y&n
Z4hidi and Adhar-Munir.has sent out a circular letter, enclosing the circular letter of the National Spiritual Assembly, to each one of the Tabriz Baha'is, with reference to the new teaching program.
A separate record is being made of the services undertaken by each individual believer in this field. The Teaching Committee is exerting itself to the utmost in carrying out the wishes of the Guardian, and is bringing seekers to the homes of the Bahá'í teachers Aqiy6n Saniti and Adhar � Mirza, and to other newly-established teaching classes.
San gsar: The TeachingCommittee meets twice weekly. It has arranged one hundred and eight teaching meetings for beginners and taught a large number of people.
A class has likewise been established to fully instruct the newcomers, about twenty of whom have so far attended; night and day the Friends, both men and women, are doing their utmost to attract new seekers.
Kdshdn: In addition to the Teaching Committee a teaching council meets weekly to which well-informed believers are invited for consultation on the teaching work. Some twelve persons have recently accepted the Faith in Yazdil, a village in the KisMn district.
In the city of K4sMn and its neighborhood, about five hundred people have recently received Bahá'í instruction and some of these have already accepted the Faith.
Kirmdnshdh: In seven months, AqAy-i-Samandari has had individual conversations with more than ninety persons; some twenty of these have become believers and the rest are now greatly attracted to the Cause.
Every week three fixed teaching meetings are held for men and one for women, in addition to other rotating classes. Eighty-five persons have so far been instructed.
Teachers for the men are Aq6yin Samandari and Sargard-i--Kh4di' Dr. Habibu'lUh Mu'ayyad and Abu'1-Q6sim Tundar. Khinum-i-Tun-. dar is instructing the women.
Of the eighty-five, nineteen arc about to become confirmed, and these are attending a weekly fellowship meeting with the Friends. Two study classes for men and two for women are likewise being held. These are now managed by the newly-established
Youth Committee.Nayriz: Four teaching meetings, one of these for women, are held weekly.
rorty persons have received instruction and a number of these have thus far accepted the Faith.
Ahvdz: This was a good teaching year for Ahv&z. Although we had no official teacher, the Friends themselves, especially Muhammad Partuvi, gave instruction to seventy persons, a number of whom have already received Bahá'í registration cards. Especially to be noted among the newcomers is Third Lieutenant Mur6d-i-Dawd4ni, who had been passionately seeking the truth when he was brought into contact with the believers here.
Since he knows Arabic and is familiar with the hadith and other branches of religious learning, and had, even prior to becoming a believer, written a commentary on the point of the CCB~~ in Bisrni'lUh � which had been accepted by the
Ministry of Educationfor publication � he at once began to spread the Faith, and with others, has brought in some ten persons, most of whom are now committee members, while he himself is on the Spiritual Assembly.
.&qiy-i-Dawd~ni has made a thorough study of Bahá'í principles and the laws of the Book of Aqdas, as he wishes to devote all his time to teaching.
He has been a great joy to the Friends of Ahv6z, consoling them for the hardships of the year 94, and it is felt that a brilliant future is in store for him. Four teaching meetings for inquirers are held here in private homes every week.
Maslohad: The Local Assemblydevotes one session a month exclusively to the teaching work. Assembly members have agreed that on every journey they will give part of
Page 176their time to emphasizing the Guardian's teaching messages amongst the Friends. Mu'ayyad-i-Ghiy~thi, Assembly member, spent his vacation visiting neighboring towns such as Bushni'iyyih, Khayru'1-Qud, Fir-daws and others, meeting the Friends in each place and discussing these messages. Nur-i-Din Mumtizi, one of the devoted Tihr4n believers who volunteered to come to Mash-had as a teacher, also visited Bahá'í communities throughout Khur~s~n, confirming a number of seekers, and greatly pleased the Mashhad Bahá'ís with his reports of this trip. One of the Bahá'ís from the days of Bahá'u'lláh, Aq4y-i-As'adu'1-Hukam~, in spite of his age and busy life, left Qazyin to visit KhurAs~in; he spent twenty days in Mashliad, and met all the Friends, who felt this to be a great spiritualizing experience. The traveling teacher appointed by the National Teaching
Committee for KhurtinMirza Nabil-Zidih, was so successful during the past year that, although he had planned to teach in Mizindarin, this Assembly requested the National Assembly to leave him in Khur~s~n for another year, especially to confirm the many beginners in the Cause.
Rag/it: The Teaching Committeehas established six weekly meetings for men, these being conducted by Aq~y-i-Ishr6q-Kh4vari, and in his absence, by Ardashir Hiz~ri and 'Ati'u'lUh Samandari. In one year ninety-five people have received instruction, five of these having thus far been registered as believers. Two weekly meetings are held for women, under the direction of Fir6zih KM-num-i-Hiz&ri and Munavvar KbAnum-i--Samandari.
'At?u'llAh Samandari also conducts a teacher's class which has just completed a course in the Book of Aqdas. A group of young men have likewise enrolled in a lecture and discussion group under Aqiy-i-Ishr~q-KhAvari, who in addition took a three months' trip through GiUn; he also sent out members of this Teaching Committee to Bandar-Pahiavi, LThij4n, LangarAd, Siy&hkul and Sangsar to visit the Friends in those localities, and arranged for speakers here to emphasize the teaching work at the Nineteen
Day Feasts.Some flavor of all this work comes to us in the following extracts from a few of the teachers' reports. Tarizu'lhh Samandari writes: (CLeaving TihrAn I spent few days in Qazvin and gave the teachings to several inquirers � then came to Hamadin, and was sent by the Local Assembly to neighboring towns, including Baha, Amzijird, and L6lih-Jin, meeting Bahá'ís and seekers.
In Sarqumish, the devoted believer, Jinib-i-NAd-'Ali, invited five prominent men to his home, where I addressed them for about six hours in the course of their day's visit. The result was that they became much attracted to the teachings, and were given the Book of Iqan. In Amz~jird I visited and spoke with one of the town supervisors in his home. In Hamad~n the Nineteen Day Feasts, teaching meetings and Character-Building classes are regularly held, and the Friends continually bring new inquirers to be taught. In Qurvih on the way to KurdistAn I spent nine days, meeting fifteen new persons, and having sowed the seed here I went on to Sanandaj.
Here the Friends are very active, and in twenty-seven days I taught thirty-six persons of every type: Jews, Christians, Muslims both Shi'ih and &dnni, even some of the ImAm � Juxn'ih 'ulamA and the sons of mujtahids, and also a number of military people.
The believers were anxious that I should stay on, but since enemies had begun to make a disturbance, I left, promising to return, and went to Kirminshih.
Here in this spiritual city I found great receptivity, and through the efforts of the Friends I met and instructed a great number of people. Again, to follow up the work in Kurdist~n, I returned there, remaining nineteen days. In Kirminsh4h once more, I fell ill with influenza and the Local Assembly directed me to stay in the city and teach. In the course of a few months I gave the teachings to about ninety persons of every class, till the beginning of the year 96. During the past month about one quarter of these have come every night for deeper study of Bahá'í history and principles.
Some of these kept the fast, some are saying the obligatory prayers, some are making a thorough study of our books. I then left KirmThshih (he says in his letter of 17218) spending eleven days with the Friends. On Friday the 1st of Ridvan many fine gatherings were held.
I went on to Mirza and then to Ahviz, where I met the Friends including
Page 177The weapon used by MullA Husayn in the fortress of Shaykh Tabarsi. The Persian inscription reads: ccTh sword of his honour the Bahá'u'lláh."
a number of devoted new believers, whose questions I answered to the best of my ability, and urged them to stand firm and to teach. I also met some new inquirers here. The extreme heat and my own ill health prevented my going on to Khurram-Shahr and AMdin. I have now been with the Friends in Khurram-Abid for two days, and shall go on to Buriijird, Hamad~n, and Qazvin, before returning to Tihr~n."
The reports of idhar-Munir state that (in spite of his age and failing eyesight) he has made many teaching trips during 95, meeting the Friends and instructing seekers in Rid6]iyyih,
A1-i-Hashimiyyih, KhalkhMand Shams-AMd. Resulting from this, a prominent Siyyid in RiQi'iyyih, manager of the Registry Office, has become a believer, as well as three persons in other localities. Traveling south, to K5shin, IsThMn, and Shiriz, this teacher likewise instructed many new people, among them four who accepted the Faith in Kishin, one of these being a member of a clerical family.
Outstanding is the work of Mirza Nabil-Z&dih and his wife, who spent eight months around Birjand and gave the teachings to one hundred and seventy-six persons, forty of whom have thus far become believers. They then went on to GunThid, center of the Ni'matu'lUhi Siif is and home of their leader; here they found a new Spiritual Assembly and the believers active.
They left for Pirdaws, called by Bahá'u'lláh IFir~tn (i.e. P~r~n) where there were, and are today, great Baha'is, and from there by way of Khayru'1-Qur6, Bushni'iyyih, and Turbat, they came to Mashhad. Here with the help of the Assembly they talked with forty inquirers, nineteen of whom accepted the Faith.
After a short stay here they traveled to Q6cMn, Bujn4rd and ShirvAn, then returned to Maslihad, where they taught one hundred and sixty-four new seekers, some of whom have already accepted the Faith. At the beginning of the year they went by way of Tihr~n, Qazvin and Zanj4n to Tabriz where they are continuing their devoted services.
In his letter dated 28718, Aq6.y-i-Ni%h4Mdi reports that in the course of twenty-eight meetings held in Shir~z he met sixty-two new persons, some of whom have already accepted the Faith and started teaching activity.
A discussion group and a study-class to further instruct the newcomers have been formed in addition to the teaching meetings, and all are cooperating in the work. His letters of 24917 and 111217 state: "After visiting the Friends of Ab&dih, I returned to ShirAz, where the teaching is going strong. Here I had a number of sessions with eleven persons, the majority of whom have become confirmed. These meetings are attended by all the Bahá'í young men who thus deepen their knowledge of the teachings."
During a four-months' stay in Hindij ~in (in the beginning of 1817) flQiL-i-Yazdi met and instructed many inquirers, after �
Page 178ward at the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly proceeding to
Rafsinj4n and Kirm6n;in the former place he taught eight persons and in the latter also found the Cause flourishing, with three teaching meetings a week, in the homes of Ibrihim B4r~n, Muhammad
Kizim and Jalil HakimMutavajjih writes (6917) ~CSon~1e time ago I returned to
GurgAn. Since the Friendshere were all visitors from elsewhere, and had established meetings which ceased to function as soon as they would leave town, I made an effort to interest local people, and at present some five or six of these, most of them with their wives and families, have accepted the Faith. (Their names have been recorded separately.) Each of these has arisen to serve, and there is also a group of new inquirers who are studying the teachings.
On Daymih 6 I went to Bahá'u'lláh and stayed seven days as the Assembly requested, visiting the Friends and giving instruction to three inquirers. Then I went to Bandar-i-Gaz, and also spent a week, holding meetings every night, returning by way of Bahá'u'lláh, where I spent a day with Friends and inquirers, to Gurg6n, and once more began to meet new people, most of whom would come every night to study the history and principles of the Faith � and having accepted the Teachings, would in their turn bring new seekers to the study classes.
Two of them have caused a great stir in Gurgin, with their teaching of the Faith; a third, who is well informed of conditions hereabouts, spreads the Faith among people of capacity wherever he goes; in particular he recently gave the teachings to an individual of considerable note, who, residing outside of town, came in with him for further investigation.
On Babman 17 I went to Gunbad-i-QibAs and spent day and night seeing the Friends and teaching newcomers; at their insistence I remained two weeks, and then returned to Gurg6n, continuing the teaching activities as before. Being directed to go to M~zindar6n, I made another trip to Gunbad-i-.QThiis, returned to Gurg~in, and left for %ri. Since a long stay would have been requisite in this city, I went on with the approval of the Spiritual Assembly to B&bul, where I have now spent eleven days instructing newcomers, both men and women."
Miscellaneous activities of the National Spiritual Assembly this year have included the following: The means were provided for making multiple copies of the Guardian's instructions, Bahá'í news and other material, hitherto the Friends' lack of information as to current Baha developments having been a handicap to them. A circular letter containing the Guardian's urgent teaching messages, and another stressing the National Fund, especially to provide for traveling teachers � also the necessary instructions as to the allocation and travels of the teachers � were sent out to every part of Pin. The Guardian's recent urgent instruction that individual believers should appoint teaching deputies was spread throughout fr4n. The Inn Bahá'í News, including the Guardian's teaching messages,, is being distributed free, one for each District Assembly and for every Bahá'í family in the capital.
Certain per � Sons are being selected by the National Spiritual Assembly to travel throughout the country and further emphasize the teaching messages of the Guardian and the measures that have been planned.
Of especial interest is the steady acquisition by the Bahá'ís of places sacred in the history of the Cause. A letter from the Guardian (dated 1927) defines these sacred areas as follows: ttAll places which were adorned by the footsteps of the BTh, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The burial-places of companions and saints; the places where martyrs met their death; prisons and places of banishment of the heroes of the Cause; fortresses which in the early days of the Manifestation were the refuge and center of the defense measures of the companions; buildings and places which were the sanctuary of prisoners and exiles; and the homes and birthplaces of the great and the renowned of the companions in the dispensation of the Bayin and the day of the Baha'is."
It is obvious from these words of the Guardian how extensive are the sacred and historic shrine-areas in Inn, and how much means and devotion will be required to complete this urgent work, Because fr5n, cradle of the Faith and stained with the blood of
Page 179thousands of martyrs, is the site of almost countless historic Bahá'í episodes.
However, although the task is staggering, theand the believers, encouraged by the Guardian's constant emphasis of this important point, have done their utmost to purchase each year a few more of these shrine-areas, so far as available funds and local circumstances have permitted. The following sacred areas were acquired in the year 95: 1. The public bath in the Street of the Sword-Makers in Shir6z often frequented by the Bib. The Local Spiritual Assembly ~i4 Shir6.z reports that this building has been preset i'ed in its original form and the houses adjacent to it have likewise been purchased.
2. The caravansary of thein Bflshilir. The shop of the Báb was located in this building. Shops and other buildings adjacent to this were likewise purchased, and exact restoration of the shops, particularly that of the Mb, has been undertaken.
Significantly, this verse from the Qur'an (LXVIII: 5152) has stood over the gate of the Sar6iy-i-Shaykh from early times: ccAlrnost would the infidels strike Thee down with their very looks when they hear the warning And they say, tHe is certainly possessed.' Yet is it nothing less than a warning for all creatures."
3. According to a letter from a Yazd Local Assembly member, nineteen holy sites in Manshid burial-places of martyrs, have been given to the Cause by their Bahá'í owners.
4. Kirrn6n reports that all Bahá'í holy sites in its area have been purchased, except the burial-place of Mirza B~qir-i-Shir6zi, the martyr, which is to be acquired on settlement of difficulties between its Bahá'í owner and the civil authorities.
5. Three of the historic gardens of Badasht.6. The house of the Beloved of Martyrs in IsfAMn.
7. The house of the famed companion and early martyr, FJAj Mirza J4ni, in K~sMn.
8. The burial-place in 'Iraq of H~ji 'Arab the martyr.
9. The house of Mirza ~usayn-'A1i N& in TihrTh where the sacred body of the BTh was hidden for some time.
10. The house of H~j Ahmad-i-Milini in Mil6n (Adhirbiyjin), a historic Bahá'í dwelling given to the Cause by the heirs.
Other activities along this line include repairing of the tomb of Shaykh-'Ali Akbar-i-Qiich4ni, the martyr, in Mashhad also repairing of the holy site in Kirm~nshTh where JinAb-i-Muttahidih, the early martyr of Jewish origin, is buried.
Since it was unwise and indeed impossible for a Convention to be held this year (95), ballots were sent in by a safe means and the following were elected to the National Spiritual
Assembly: 'Ali-AkbarDr. Y~nis AfrAkhtih, Vice-C hair man; Jin4b-i-F6dil-i-M4zindar&ni,
Chairman; Arnin-Amin;(Continued from last year's report) On the eve of February 5, 1938, all the members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of 'Tshq&bAd, and a great number of the Friends were arrested by order of the authorities and that same night the houses of the Friends were searched, and all Tablets, Bahá'í records and other articles were confiscated.
Some of the women, more active than the rest in Bahá'í administrative affairs, were also led away to prison.
According to those who have been freed from prison and have emigrated to Ir6n, the officials treated the prisoners with extreme harshness, and all Bahá'ís were condemned by the Government on political grounds, it being openiy said to them: "On Soviet land you are, and have been, working to the advantage of foreigners."
A written charge to this effect was made out for each prisoner and each was ordered to sign it. When the Friends, innocent, denied the charge, they were subjected to every type of persecution. Some were even obliged, more than once, to dig graves for themselves, it being told them that they were to be killed on the spot; then, hoping to acquire the signed document, the authorities would defer their sentence.
Wives and children of the captives livedmeanwhile in the greatest wretchedness. A woman believer wrote to her sister from 'Ishqabad: CCH many young men believers die in the prison. No one knows of what sickness they died, or what they asked for in their last agony, or in what place their bodies are laid.
One of the women believers, because of her grieving and anguish and the sight of her orphaned children, set fire to herself and after sixteen days in the hospital she passed away."
At first over five hundred men believers were imprisoned but a great number of these have died. The wives and children of the victims have gradually been exiled to tr~n, and dispatched by the IrAnian Government to their various birthplaces, but here, too, most of them cannot find peace.
The women grieve over their husbands and sons, the children sorrow for their fathers and brothers.
Many of the younger ones, well educated and trained, for lack of recommendations and other reasons, are refused work in Government offices and elsewhere, and pass their days miserably in the little towns where they have been sent.
This Assembly has, through the efforts of the Friends, given to these sufferers whatever financial aid was possible and up to now a sum has been collected for their urgent daily needs.
In response to the Guardian's emphatic directions we have done all in our power to succor these oppressed persons; nevertheless, their lot has not improved, although they continue thankful, since they are suffering in the path of God. According to recent information the prisoners have been freed and exiled in small groups to remote corners of Russia. Fortunately they are permitted to write to their relatives and at times word comes from them. This Assembly has applied to the Imperial Government seeking their return to I r4n, and God willing the desired aim will be realized.
From a recent communication as to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Ishqabad: "From the day when the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar became part of the Government properties, it was rented free to the Bahá'í community for five year periods; every five years the lease was renewed, and according to separate documents drawn up by the city, necessary repairs were specified to be made during the allotted period. The Local Assembly would always carry out these repairs and improvements with dispatch, to give the authorities no pretext for complaint, also regularly renewing the ihsurance and paying the taxes. In 1933, however, although the specified period had not run out, certain repairs which were not urgent nor important, and which were very expensive � amounting to some 20,000 manit � were imposed, and the Government broke the contract and forced the Assembly to renew it and make the repairs. A year had not elapsed when the Government officials renewed their complaints and it became obvious that their purpose was to create difficulties and oblige the Friends to relinquish the Temple and give it over to them.
Fearing that the holy edifice would be lost, the Assembly communicated the whole matter to the Guardian. Shortly thereafter, through the IrAnian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the I r~nian Embassy in Moscow, the IrAnian Consulate-General in 'Ishqabad made an inquiry as to the status and tenants of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhkir.
This investigation proved beneficial, and for some time the complaints and faultfinding of the authorities were modified. Then, in 1936, the Government stirred up further difficulties, and imposed heavy and unnecessary repairs, thinking the Bahá'í community would be utterly unable to comply with the requirements and a legal means would thus be furnished to take the Temple away from the Baha'is. The Assembly, however, asked for aid from the believers throughout Turkist&n and the Caucasus, and as a result of their self-sacrifice the repairs were made.
The authorities then tried another plan, as follows: Surrounding the Temple, the Friends had established schools for boys and girls, a library, an office, and Haziratu'l-Quds; and a long time since, the authorities had taken over the schools and the library building.
Now, with the excuse that the children had no playground, they sought to appropriate the main section of the Temple gardens, build a wall around the Temple and leave to the Friends oniy the Temple building itself and the Haziratu'1-Quds; and they planned to ciose the garden gate, which faces the main thoroughfare of the city and has always been opened to believer and non
Page 181believer alike, and oblige all those desiring entry to the Temple to go around by a side street. The Local Assembly remonstrated with the authorities and after considerable effort persuaded them to abandon their plan and continue on the same basis as before.
Finally in 1936 after all sorts of pretexts and complaints the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was given over to the Friends for an unspecified period, on condition that they make repairs as required by the city and pay the taxes and insurance.
During the past six or seven years the Assembly has been constantly negotiating with the authorities as to the Temple, and through
Divine Confirmationshas been able to protect it in every way. When the Friends were imprisoned it became clear to what extent the authorities were displeased with us. ccTaxes on the Temple amounted to some 7,500 man4t, and insurance to 500, a total of 8,000 man6x which was paid yearly in two instalments in March and April. This was paid regularly, and in 1938, although the Assembly members and many of the community were in prison, the few who were left got the money together and paid it. If the taxes are in arrears, a heavy sum is added for every day's delay, which may soon amount to more than the taxes themselves. In addition to taxes and insurance, 2,000 man~t were due for other expenses, such as electric lights and maintenance of the grounds.
Obviously it is not oniy on account of the taxes that the authorities would take over the Temple, since they do iot need that sum and could seize the Temple on any pretext were it not contrary to their policy. According to Soviet law, every religious community which numbers fifty members of both sexes over eighteen years of age, can petition the authorities for recognition, that is, for the right to have a place of worship and administration. Now, if the number of Bahá'ís in 'Ishqabad should fall below fifty, the Government can take over the Temple. At present oniy a few Bahá'ís are left, women and children and a few old men; and even if there are as many as fifty women left there and two or three old men, yet because of their helplessness and ignorance of the law they will be unable to protect the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar."
According to recently received informa don, the Soviet Government has taken over the Temple, has turned it into an art gallery, and is keeping it in its original condition.
For there are no longer any Bahá'ís in 'Ishqabad.As to the Caucasus, recent news is that throughout all that region Spiritual Assemblies and all administrative institutions have, as a result of terrific pressure from the Government, been done away with, and the Ija4ratu'1-Quds have been taken over.
Only in B~k~ is there a Spiritual Assembly, and the Haziratu'1-Quds there is in the hands of the Friends. The membership of the BAk~ Assembly has in two years been elected three times, for this reason, that the first members were all arrested and exiled to Siberia, whereupon the Friends elected nine more believers and these too were seized and exiled. The third group to be elected, now serving on the Assembly, are mostly women. The Friends there are suffering terribly from lack of the means of livelihood and every sort of hardship, and they assist one another iike members of one household.
Dispatch of a Relieverto Afgiqdnistdn In accord with the wishes of the Guardian, the sending of a suitable Bahá'í teacher to Afgh~nistin has been the constant aim of this Assembly.
When, therefore, it became possible for 'Au-Muhammad Nabili � who is a spiritual young man, well-informed, and who acquired his education in India in the English language � to go to AfgbAnistin for purposes of commerce, this Assembly was delighted and has extended to him all possible aid. Although up to now the Cause has not penetrated Afgh4nistin, and there was no way of spreading the Faith there, we now hope and pray that this young man will guide many and establish there the oneness of mankind.
Aid to Turkish Su IjerersUpon learning of the severe earthquake in Turkey, this Assembly wrote to the Turkish ambassador in Tihr6n, enclosing 10,000 riyMs as aid to the Turkish sufferers.
The correspondence, signed respectively by the National Assembly Secretary and the Ambassador, follows:
Page 182Assembly of the Bahá'ís of tr6n is deeply grieved over the severe calamity of the earthquake in Turkey and the great ioss of lives and property, which has pained the hearts of all who wish for the happiness of humankind.
It desires to express the sympathy and fellow-feeling of all the Bahá'ís of IrAn in this great affliction, and begs God in His bounty to heal the wounds of the honored people of
Turkey"The sum of 10,000 riyMs is enclosed from the Assembly fund by way of sharing in the aid to the sufferers, and it is requested that in spite of the small amount you will be so good as to accept and forward it."
(CTO the National SpiritualAssembly of the Bahá'ís of IrAn: Your esteemed letter of 131018 enclosing 10,000 riyMs as aid to the victims of the calamitous occurrence in Turkey has been duly received.
~ the name of my people and my Government, and in my own, I send you heartfelt thanks for the sympathy you have expressed on behalf of all the Bahá'ís of Inn � and the aid you have extended to the earthquake victims and I ask God to grant, in increasing measure, His confirmation to that sanctified Assembly and esteemed community in their service to humankind and their binding of the wounds of the afflicted."
IN MEMORTAMHe had suffered long hardships for the Cause and although he was blind spent all his time in Bahá'í activity. A memorial for him was held in Tihr6n.
Mirza Asliaq-i-Haqiqi, one of the early Baha'is, who in recent times was caretaker of the land of the Tihr6n Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (Uadiqih and IhtisThiyyih), passed away on Mashiyyat 5, 96.
The Guardian wrote of his many virtues and important services, and of the reward awaiting him, and sent words of consolation to his widow.
IjSj Mirza 'Ali-Akbar-i-Milani, son of the wellknown H~j Abmad-i-MilAni, passed in MiI~n .Adhirb&yj in, in Mihr 1318.
Rahmat 'AlAN passed away on the eve of Qawi 11, 96 (11918) in Tihr~n.
TheGuardian telegraphed: "My heart grieves over the passing of beloved 'Ali'i, faithful, worthy champion of the great Cause. I pray earnestly in his memory. His services are imperishable. Assure his family of my heartfelt sympathy."
He was laid to rest in the new Bahá'í cemetery, a great number of Bahá'ís and leading non-Bahá'ís being present, and a fitting memorial was held.1
IflAj Qul&m-Ridi Amin-Aminpassed away on the eve of Masi'il 12, 96 (Day-mAh 1, 1318). An almost countless multitude of people followed his cort~ge to the Bahá'í cemetery. No such funeral had been seen in Tihrin before; observers were astonished at the great crowds, the dignity and spirituality of the occasion. A memorial was then held at the home of the departed, visitors coming and going from early morning till late at night.
The Guardian telegraphed: "Hearts are grieving for loss of the emblem of firmness, the upright man, the strong pillar of the community of Baha, and its servant and trusted one and the keeper of its state and the upholder of its flag, whom God has raised to a station which the hearts of the pure do vehemently yearn for, in the AbM paradise. May God inspire his relatives and helpers and lovers in that glorious land with seemly patience, and assist them to follow in his footsteps and walk in his way. I truly join you in their grief and beg for the departed one every good in every world of God's worlds.
SHOGHI RABBANT."Memorials were held for this departed one throughout frin. Regarding his successor as custodian of the ~uqiiq, the Guardian sent two telegrams to Iran, respectively in Arabic and English, appointing Valiy'ulkh Khin Varq~ (son of Varq6 the martyr) to this office.
The second telegram reads:as follows: I have chosen you deservedly for the greatly-honored func-1 Rabmat 'A14'i is the believer who, with his wife Najmiyyih Kh&num, rendered so many loving services to Keith Ransom-Kehier and later to Dr. Howard Carpenter.
They entertained bothin their home for long periods; nursed both through severe illnesses; were at Keith's bedside when she died; and accompanied Howard Carpenter on the difficult journey which he made, invalided, from Tihdn to Haifa. Translator's note.
Page 183The Bahá'í teacher and poet, Adhar-Munir, who had been in the presence of the Master and taught the Cause all his life long, passed on Mas~'i1 12, 96 (11018) in Tabriz.
From Bandar-i-Jaz comes this account of the death of Muhammad Sangi, Assembly member.
In the night of 261018 (1816-96) fire broke out in the warehouse of the Rice Company, close to bazars and private homes. As soon as the alarm sounded, Muliammad Sangi left his bed, and wearing only his sleeping garments, hurried to the scene. Aware of the danger to the entire neighborhood should the flames spread, he started to tear down an adjacent structure. The crowd, including shopkeepers and householders, fled, calling to him to come away; he ran out, saw that the fire was spreading afresh, reentered the flames and smoke and managed to demolish a further part of the building and stop the fire, but in doing so he was crushed to death. The next day four hundred of the townspeople out of gratitude for his action, followed his bier and were present at the Bahá'í burial.
One of the early Baha'is,known as Fakhriy-i-Yazdi, passed away on 1sf and 11, 1318 and was buried in the Tihrin Bahá'í cemetery, a large crowd of believers and others attending.
A Tablet from the Master to this departed friend, sent by the heirs to Haifa, was placed by the Guardian in the International Archives.
~usayn Shayd6, one of the prisoners of Yazd, whose case is reported in section 5 of this record, died of typhoid fever in the prison at Tihr&n, in the night of Sunday, Ba1A 11, 1318. His body, which had been sent from the prison to the town burial-ground, was transferred to the Bahá'í cemetery and buried with due honor in the presence of a number of Friends.
Two memorials were held for him by the Tihr6n Feast
Committee. The Guardiantelegraphed: ccHearts infinitely saddened at Shay&'s honored passing.
Assure relatives special prayers. Shoghi Rabbani."
The Guardian likewise wrote: "Although that upright personage, self-sacrificing in the Cause of the mighty Lord, was afflicted during his latter days, and died in prison, and his blessed body to outward seeming was taken from the prison with the greatest indignity, yet he is now amongst the Supreme Concourse, throned in everlasting glory, consorting with the near to God and the holy. ." Prophesying that the Yazd afflictions will one day be changed to happiness, the Guardian adds, ccvarqi has been directed to send the sum of 200 tum6ris to the relatives of that victimized one in Yazd."
Memorials for Bahá'ísof Other Lands Regarding the passing of Martha Root, a telegram dated October 18, 1939 was received from the Guardian as follows: ccThe pure leaf and renowned reacher, sign of severance torch of love and tenderness, standard of courage and faithfulness, consolation of the eyes of the people of Baha, Martha Root, has ascended to the highest summits of paradise. The people of the Supreme Concourse came forth to meet her with the shout, tWl to thee, 0 pride of men and women teachers! Well done, well done, thou who hast spent thy whole being in devotion to the Kingdom of the Lord of signs and utterances!
Blessed, a thousandfold blessed art thou within this shining, proud and lofty station!' Inform all the Friends of the necessity of calling special meetings in all the provinces for two full weeks to honor her exalted station. Shoghi
Rabbani."This Assembly at once communicated its great sorrow to all centers throughout Iran, and directed the holding of fitting memorials in all localities for a period of two weeks, for this believer who was the joy and pride of all believers, who had been welcomed with such extraordinary love and enthusiasm on her journey to tr~n, and who is known even to children throughout the Bahá'í world.
Through a letter fromHiakirn, it was learned that the renowned Lady Blomfield (Sitirib Khinum) had passed away in that city.
A brief biography of the departed was printed in the Ir~in Babi'i News and a memorial was held for her in TihrAn.
The following telegram was received from the Guardian on the grievous occasion of the
Page 184passing of Mrs. May Maxwell: "The severed teacher, brand from the fire of the iove of God, and spreader of the fragrances of God, Mrs. Maxwell, forsook her native land and hastened to the most distant countries out of love for her Master and yearning to sound the call to the Cause of her Lord and her Inspiration; until she ascended to the highest summit, attaining the rank of martyrdom in the capital of Argentine, the furthermost boundary.
The countenances of paradise invoke blessings upon her in the glorious apex, saying tMay she enjoy with healthy relish the cup that is full and brimming over with the wine of the love of God.' tFor the like of this should the travailers travail!' Inform all the Friends of the announcement of this mighty victory.
Shoghi Rabbani."This message was sent out to all Bahá'í centers and everywhere fitting memorials were held, and the great services and well-loved qualities of her who was a flame of the iove of God were brought to mind.
In recent years great numbers of Bahá'ís have been forced by the Soviet Government to leave that country and come to trin. At the Guardian's direction this National Assembly has taken steps for them, has met the Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs and consulted at length as to the release of innocent Bahá'ís from Russian prisons. Every legal means has been used to lift the restrictions on these people, but unfortunately no tangible change has taken place for them in the year 95, during which all male Bahá'ís have, as previously, been kept in the Russian government prisons, and the women and children exiled to lr~n. Except for a few former members of the frinian consulate in 'Ishqabad not a single male Bahá'í is out of prison, nor have any returned to IrAn.
This National Assemblywith the cooperation of the Local Assemblies has so far as lies in its power given financial aid to the refugees, and funds have also been supplied to them by the Guardian.
The Local Assemblies have done everything they could to comfort them, prepared homes for them and given them living expenses.
In some Assemblies Baha'iRefugee Committees have been appointed to take care of them.
Although these persecuted people get some rest and release from worry when they enter fr4n, nevertheless it is very hard to find employment for them, or settled places to live. However in spite of everything they are firm in their faith and resigned to God's will, and the Guardian has directed us to make every effort on their behalf.
Mashhad, Tabriz Rash, Qazvin, are among the towns to which financial aid has been sent for these refugees; since most of them go first to Mashhad, that Assembly's report is given herewith:
The persecuted Bahá'ísof 'TshqTh6xl and elsewhere who at the Guardian's direction and in spite of every affliction stood firm in 'JshThAd to protect the Baha world's first Temple, were before the first of the year 95, by the Soviet Government's refusal to give them residence permits, gradually exiled to Pin. Tn February, 1938, that government imprisoned at least five hundred Bahá'í men throughout TurkistAn, most of whom have been in prison over fifteen months in 'Ishqabad, Mary, etc., under terrible conditions. Some have died under torture, from starvation and other effects of prison life.
No recent news has reached us and we do not know what future awaits the survivors.
Six hundred refugees � women, girls, children and a few old men � have successfully reached frin. Most of these are now in Mash-had, while others have dispersed throughout the country.2
Those who had to travel were given their expenses and a letter of introduction to the Local Assembly at their destination.
Their state is pitiful beyond description. All were substantial citizens in their own country. Then the men were taken prisoner and they had to sell all they had � houses, rugs, furniture.
Then, obliged to emigrate, they brought in their last trifling possessions and sold them here for bread, and are now destitute.
Although the Mashhad Assemblyhas continued its endeavors to find work for the refugees, little result has been obtained, because the majority are old or burdened with children, and all are distraught as to the condition of their men, and most of them have no trade by which they might live. Some of the girls could undoubtedly obtain office 2 To! Bushd?iyyih, Tabas, Turbat KAshih Sab-ziv~ir, Tibr~n Xdhirb&yj~in.
Page 185work, except that they are unable to procure papers as to their previous status. A very few have found work and are thus able to pay about half their own daily expenses. Their anguish over the fate of the men, from whom no word comes � their poverty and enforced idleness are heartbreaking to witness. They have written and telegraphed in detail to H. M. the ShTh explaining what has befallen them and it is hoped that through his efforts the men will be freed and come to Inn.
It is clear that the Shdh has read their petitions and taken steps on their behalf but the Soviet authorities have apparently failed to respond. Their oniy hope is in the unseen hand of God.
Up to now Mashliad has received 68,000 riyAls from the National Assembly and collected locally 9,636 riyils for these refugees. They � who once led all the Friends in their bounteous giving, and of whom the Master said, "The Friends of 'Ishqabad are the pride of the world in giving alms" � take this money with shame and weeping eyes, and bless the Assemblies for this aid.
The important question of Bahá'í marriage continues unsolved. The Government sanctions only such marriages as are registered at the License bureaus of the four recognized religions, Muslim, Jewish, Zoroastrian and Christian. The Department of Justice states that the marriage must be performed according to the rules of the given religion at that religion's license bureau and by its head; and further that no matters contrary to the practices of that religion are to be included in the license.
An amendment to the marriage law since 1317, states that any person contracting marriage or securing divorce in any place other than the official bureaus or without an official license will be subiect to from one to six months in prison.
Since no bureau is provided for Bahá'ís the friends perform the Bahá'í marriage, register it according to the Guardian's direction on the official registration blanks of the three recognized non-Muslim religions, enclose with this a written statement of the marriage and send the whole by registered mail to the required departments, requesting also official directions for Bahá'í marriage registration.
The Guardian directs that where both parties are Bahá'ís the marriage must take place according to Bahá'í procedure; where one is a non-Bahi'i, both the Bahá'í and the non-Bahá'í marriage procedure must be used. Occasionally, Bahá'ís in outlying districts have from ignorance of this teaching failed to contract Bahá'í marriage, and have thus according to the Guardian's direction been deprived of their voting right. To regain this, they have deliberately cancelled the non-Bahá'í marriage and remarried according to Bahá'í law.
This adherence of Bahá'ís to their Faith has greatly astonished non-Bah?is and won their admiration.
Up to some months ago, persons contracting Bahá'í marriage were only rarely interfered with by the Department of Justice, and such marriages were tacitly permitted. Then, in Tihr~n and the provinces as well, the severest penalties were suddenly imposed, and even those Bahá'ís who had married in previous years were summoned for trial; nor only the men, but the women, too, were prosecuted, and according to our present information, in TihrAn alone over three hundred and fifty cases are in process of being tried.
The questions usually asked by the authorities are-these: Who performed your marriage ceremony?
Who read the marriage sermon? What person drew up your marriage certificate?
Why did you not appear at one of the four marriage license bureaus to contract your marriage? The Friends answer: In Bahá'í marriage no one is appointed to perform the ceremony; the couple themselves perform the marriage by repeating the two marriage verses.
As for the marriage sermon, a chant is used to bless the occasion, but it is not a requirement to marriage and no special person is appointed to chant it. Persons attending the marriage are witnesses and nothing more � the presence of witnesses being a requirement. The Bahá'ís cannot use the license bureaus since each of these is set apart for one of the four officially recognized religions; recourse to them would thus be a denial of that truthfulness which is the basis of the Bahá'í Faith. After being questioned, the Friends are released on bail.
The Bahá'ís are summoned in an unusual way; they are almost always called in on
Page 186afternoon and Friday all offices are closed, they are thus imprisoned two days and two nights.
From 200 to 400 tumAns bail is required of each person contracting marriage.
Since other Bahá'ís almost always furnish the bail and thus few persons are imprisoned for long, the authorities now ask for cash bail. The Assembly has appointed a commission to take charge of all such cases, and these persons with great self sacrifice stand ready to help at all times, personally attending court and smoothing every difficulty. The Assembly has likewise called a second commission to supply the cash bail. Besides the sums pledged by this second commission, its members have also offered funds for the aid of couples who have been imprisoned or dismissed from jobs as a result of the marriage. The National Assembly has directed that all Assemblies throughout inn reserve a special fund for this purpose, so that imprisonment, and the suffering of families of contracting parties, will not result.
On occasion some of the authorities are brutal, and some use obscene expressions in addressing Baha'is, even the women; but others admit that the Bahá'ís are innocent and say they are taking action only because they are obliged to. Some of the questioners and judges say they know the Bahá'ís are trying to achieve official recognition by this means, but will never succeed; the Bahá'ís answer that they are not trying to break the laws, as proved by the fact that they officially register and notify the authorities of all marriages, but that they cannot in conscience use the provided legal channels.
The Friends, and especially the women, although they have never undergone such experiences before, have stood up wonderfully in the courts, demonstrating their sin � cerity and their knowledge of the teachings. In some cases the officials have been remarkably moved, and astonished that even peasants could respond as they have.
Some of the Bahá'í have said they would be proud to go to prison for the Cause, and others, fully realizing the severe penalties, have not hesitated to contract Bahá'í marriages. Daily the authorities see that their persecu � dons, far from frightening the Bahá'ís have increased the number of marriages, and the
Department of Justiceis being filled with talk of Bahá'í principles because Bahá'í married couples are constantly summoned for questioning.
From eight days to six months' imprisonment has been the penalty so far imposed; even women have been sentenced to imprisonment for some days. The Friends usually appeal the case; a fine can be substituted for a sentence of two months or less.
Oddly, although the act is the same, the penalty always varies according to the degree of fanaticism of the judge.
This Assembly has left the Friends free either to pay the fine or accept the prison sentence; in either case, this sentence, entered on the individual's identity card, deprives him of civil rights for a number of years, varying with the penalty, and means his dismissal from any government position; it also means that for years no one else will employ him. lii addition, certain laws that have been passed regarding penalties for Bahá'í marriage require that following imprisonment the Bahá'í must remarry according to the laws of the country, at one of the four license bureaus.
In other words the penalties might be imposed indefinitely.
Victims of this law constantly petition the Department of Justice, the Cabinet and His Majesty. Recently when one of the Bahá'ís presented a petition to the Royal Office, an order was sent (to Qazvin) saying that since the petitioner had broken the law and had further had the effrontery to tell his crime to the ShTh, he was to be severely punished.
Typical individual cases follow: In K&shin Hasan N~sih, 'Abbas Bayd~'i, and Ahmad Yazdini, were sentenced to from three to four months' imprisonment.
In Najaftbid, 'Abdu'1-HusaynJini freely chose a month's imprisonment rather than pay the fine. In Yazd, Aqiy-i-Bay6ni, in Tihr~n Mu~addiqi TAliqini, have been sentenced to four months in prison.
In Bandar-i-Jaz, for contractingMashhad reports that among Bahá'ís contracting marriage who have been
2 Transiavofs note: Thismust be the Muhammad Sangi who died a hero's death in a recent lire. See BAHÁ'Í NEWS, January, 1941.
Page 187persecuted recently is Aq~y-i-Yazd~n-Parast, who was questioned, sent to prison, and after some days released on 200 tum~ns bail. Brought to trial, he was sentenced to two months and five days in jail but has appealed the case. Than6'u'llAh Furacl of Sabziv~r, was likewise imprisoned, then released on 200 tumAns bail, pending trial.
Aq6y-i-TThiri was sentenced to seventy days in jail and has appealed the case.
In Birjancl, Muhammad-RichMajidi wrote the Registry Office: "I have married Layli Kh6num Majidi according to the procedure of my religion, tBahi'i.' I request that you designate the manner of registering this marriage." Following further correspondence be awaits trial.
Following is a summary of the documents in a typical marriage case in Tilirin: M6si ThThit-i-Isfmini, a twenty-five year old translator, married, father of a child, frThian citizen, religion Baha'i; and his wife Khinurn Agfri, eighteen, Ir6nian citizen, religion Bahá'í i. The defendants transgressed the marriage law, in marrying according to the regulations of the Bahá'í religion and in not appearing at one of the official license bureaus or informing the Registry Office of their marriage.
They admit their act and say in extenuation that since they cannot tell falsehoods and the bureaus would not register their marriage because they are IBahA'is, they married elsewhere Kh6num Agh~ is sentenced to one month in prison or payment of 6 riy6ls a day, and M6s& to three and onehalf months in addition to one and onehalf months The above and further charges included in this document, were answered by 'Abclu'1-'Au 'AIA'i, member of the commission for aid to Bahá'ís contracting marriage, as follows: Although another calendar and money standard were used in the marriage certificate of the defendants, nevertheless the fr~nian equivalent was also stated.
In other countries marriage has two aspects, civil and religious, the latter being optional; in Iran no civil marriage exists.
Other religions besides Islim flourish in ir4n, having their own temples, Parliamentary representatives and otter rights, and no disorder results. The present marriage law refers oniy to members of the four recognized religions, and therefore does not apply to mem hers of any other religion; for example, it obviously would not apply to Bralimins or Buddhists resident in Inn. Each of the four license bureaus is authorized to marry oniy members of the specific religion which it serves, and cannot marry nonmembers.
Although the law refuses to recognize the religions practiced by half the population of the globe, that does not prove that those religions are nonexistent, nor that fr6nian citizens should be obliged to commit themselves to falsehood at the official government offices. The defendants truthfully stated that their religion is Baha'i, and the learned judge in passing sentence testified to this, when he described their religion as Baha; now whether the law recognizes the Bahá'í religion along with the other four, or refuses to recognize it along with the remaining religions of the world � in any case the law applies only to members of the four religions specified, and therefore does not apply to Baha'is.
As a result of the fGregoing, the authorities agreed that Miis~ had shown proof of his informing the Registry Office by mail ol his marriage.
They added in substance that use in the certificate of a calendar and money standard other than fAn' s was not justified; that the license bureaus are really civil institutions intended merely to regulate marriage in an orderly way; and that, supposing an individual does have a special religion or even an imaginary one be can still contract marriage according to the law. Even if that legal marriage has a religious aspect and he thinks that religion to be false, it is better for him to obey the law than commit a crime, and then he can privately perform all the rites of his own religion.
Miis&s sentence was then reduced to two months in jail or payment of 20 riykls daily.
A second appeal was made by the Bahá'í Commission in answer to the above, showing that the license bureaus are anything but civil, since each is dedicated to the practices of a given religion and the head of each, who according to law must perform the marriage, is chosen on a religious basis; and adding that the compromise which the authorities obviously wish the Bahá'ís to make would be dishonest and intolerable. The authorities, however, did not withdraw the last-men-
Page 188tioned sentence, on the grounds that "what-ever Milsi's religion may be, and with due regard to personal convictions, there is no reason why he should not obey the law."
Meanwhile the Friends, men and women, bravely confront all obstacles; they will obey all the laws of their country except those which are tantamount to a recantation of their Faith. It is hoped that the misunderstandings caused by fanatics will be dissipated and the Government will come to realize that the Bahá'ís are true lovers of their homeland � blessed in Bahá'í history � and that the free exercise of their religion can bring to Inn oniy progress.
During the year 95, as ever, the Friends have been subjected to other difficulties as well.
NVlxere matters of conscience arc concerned, they are generally persecuted by the authorities; as a rule, and particularly in the provinces, local officials take advantage of their position to vent their personal spleen on the Friends � who, inspired by the Guardian, endure their trials patiently.
This Assembly is in constant communication with government officials, urgently requesting the removal of these difficulties, examples of which follow.
In Ardist6n (1sf Thinrepresentative Rafi'i sent a letter to the school superintendent to excuse all Bahá'í children, about eighty boys and girls, from school attendance on the day of the Martyrdom of the Bib. When the children returned to school after their absence, the principal expelled them all, saying he bad been so directed from IsfThin.
Rafi'i was imprisoned for some time, but released following vigorous action, and the children were readmitted to school.
Another reason for the persecution of Rafi'i was that when the Ardistin Friends were building the wall of their cemetery a local official had unfavorably reported this activity.
General reports show that whenever the Friends list their religion in a Government bureau as Baha'i, the bureaus refuse to em-pioy them; those previously employed, when renewing their registration papers, are subjected to all sorts of difficulties if they describe themselves as Baha'is. If, however, they leave the religions column blank, the officials fill it in themselves with the word ~~Mus1im" and discharge anyone who protests.
When As'adu'1-Hukami reached Mashhad he stopped at the Milli Hotel in the center of town. Fearing it would be unwise if crowds of Baha flocked to~ see him there, the Assembly transferred him to the Hazi-ratu'1-Quds, where every night a reception was held for him. On Fridays he would stay at the home of an Assembly member and the crowds would be diverted to that place.
In spite of these precautions, after a member of the Police Department, Aq6.
N~ji, the son of a Baha'i, had called socially at the }ja~i-ratu'1-Quds and found some Bahá'í visitors in a room that had once been the library and still had Bahá'í pictures on the walls � officials appeared and confiscated the pictures, one a large framed portrait of the Guardian done by a Bahá'í youth.
The authorities then summoned K~zimi, Assembly member, charged that a meeting had been held and inquired who owned the IAIa~irat'ul-Quds.
He replied that there had been no meeting but a social gathering for the visitor, and that the property was in the name of Amin-Amin, whose representative was Mu'-ayyad-i-Ghiy~thi.
They then summoned Ghiy4thi, and the head of the municipality fiercely upbraided him, finally ordering him to rent the building at once. A second official further directed that none but a Muslim tenant be accepted. The Assembly, however, decided to rent the building to Mihr-Kin, Assembly member, for his kindergarten, and this was done. The pictures have not yet been returned.
Restriction by the Chief of Police of even small meetings was so severe in ZThidin that the Assembly was forced to discontinue social gatherings and classes for adults.
Sangsar reports that when during a memorial for a Bahá'í woman Tablets were being chanted, some municipal officers came out of hiding and began to insult and abuse those present. They listed the names of all attending and prepared to carry off the women to the Municipality.
Siyyid Biqir, brother of the deceased, was beaten and imprisoned.
He was later freed, but the affair is not yet settled.
The Sangsar Friends having closed their shops on the day of the Martyrdom of the
Page 189Bib, six of them were arrested and imprisoned for a day and night.
A number of others were summoned for questioning.Following this the authorities drew up a list of certain Bahá'ís and ordered their banishment from Sangsar.
Early in 95 the Municipality of Kirm~tn-sbih stopped all Bahá'í gatherings, and immediately summoned for questioning those who gathered in even the smallest groups and forbade them to meet one another.
The Municipality head personally forbade certain Assembly members to attend Assembly sessions and for a time these could not be held.
Building of the local kla4ratu'1-Quds of Khurram~ib6xl was delayed for some time but permission for its construction was finally obtained.
Bun~jird authorities confiscated the As � sernbly seal, Bahá'í papers, census papers and the like.
The Rasht Chief of Policeentered a Bahá'í reception in Bandar-i-IPahlavi, confiscated all Baha papers and forced the host to pledge that no more meetings would be held in that house.
In Taft, a village near Yazd, a social gathering of Bahá'ís was going forward when the Police Chief entered the house, confiscated several books and the Assembly records, and broke up the meeting.
JinAb-i-N&h&bidi, who had gone to Kirmin to teach, was summoned by the police and forced to leave the town.
In Qazvin, when the Friends were holding their election at the Hapratu'1-Quds, municipal authorities entered, confiscated the ballot box and arrested a number of persons, who are gradually being released.
On their return from Haifa,went to visit the Friends in Nayriz. They took photographs of Bahá'í sacred areas in Nayriz and were chanting the visitation prayer in the Fort of KMjih, when suddenly they were surrounded by a group of leading Nayriz officials with about twelve of their staff members. The upshot was that Khidim and his party were taken in custody and forced to stay a day and night in Nay-Hz. Finally through efforts of the Shir~z Assembly they were permitted to return to Tihr~n but severe restrictions continued to be imposed on the Nayriz Friends.
The above are typical of many other cases, not reported here for lack of space.
Bahá'í Youth CommitteesCommittee appointed by the N. S. A. This important committee has national powers in youth work.
Local Youth Committeeswere: Public Speaking (for boys and girls, meeting separately) ; Sports (for boys) ; Teaching (boys and girls separately).
In 95 the National YouthAn account of the Tihr~n youth activities on that day follows: The Bahá'í youth gathered in seventeen different meeting places and carried out the following program: opening chant; brief history of International Bahá'í Youth Day and its importance as stated by the Guardian; duties of youth in this turbulent age, and their need of unity to attract Divine confirmations; brief biographies of Bahá'í youth who died as martyrs to the Faith; music by the Youth Orchestra; consultation of youth activities; taking of pictures and signatures of those present. Pictures, suggestions and related documents were sent to the American Bahá'í Youth.
Bahá'í child training is going forward satisfactorily throughout the country despite current restrictions.
In Tihrin every Friday seventy-five children's and youth classes in character building and other Bahá'í teachings, for boy and girls both in separate and mixed groups, are held, 1,586 pupils attending. Throughout Inn likewise several thousand Bahá'í children are receiving Bahá'í teachings and character building lessons. Twelve Divisions report 2,500 students in 263 classes, and classes also meet in the remaining Divisions.
The children thus sacrifice their one free day to study the lessons in character building and other phases of the Cause, with praiseworthy results.
Exact restoration of the House of Bahá'u'lláh in T~kur, as directed by the Guardian some years ago is, through the devoted efforts of Siyyid Mulyin As~isi, almost completed; the exterior and interior ornamentation is soon to be done. AqSy-i-As~si has also had a well-constructed dam built across the village watercourse and the
HizirRiver, to protect the building against threatened floods.
The following list of Committees for the year 95 gives a summary of Bahá'í activities in
I r~tn: Central Committees:Tihr~n Local Committees, most of which are duplicated in the provinces, are: Welfare (to suppiy the needs of Bahá'í poor); Reception (to entertain travelers) ; 19 Day Feast;
Teaching; Census; Ija;iratu'1-Quds; TeachingInstruction; Claims Committee (to settle financial claims between believers) ; Appeals Committee (to retry cases appealed from Claims Committee) ; Service (to put on memorial meetings, find lobs for Bahá'ís out of work, etc.); Library;
Ea1A'i Cemetery; TabletsTraining Committee (to instruct the Friends as to Bahá'í moral teachings and see that Bahá'í laws are observed); Youth Committees as described above; Fellowship (to contact and bring into the group believers who have been out of touch with activities); Confirmation Committee (to instruct those about to become Baha'is);
Bahá'í Refugee Committee.A recent traveler visiting us was Dr. Mu-Ijammad-Husayn Luqm~ni of India, who returned home from Haifa by way of Tihr~n and B6shihr and made the pilgrimage to the House of the Bib in Shir6z. He brought the good news of the official recognition of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand. The Guardian, having given him a photograph of the Australian Government's document of recognition, had directed him to spread this news among the Friends.
A second traveler was Salim Jun, member of the 'Iriq National and the Baglidid Local Assemblies, who came to tr~n with the Guardian's approval to visit the Shrines and tell the Friends of his pilgrimage to Haifa.
He stayed some time in Tihr~n, traveled to see the Friends in many centers, and returned home by way of HamadAn.
Of miscellaneous interest are the following: thehave opened a library near the House of the Bib, calling it "The Library of the Holy House." The Egyptian N. S. A.'s Bahá'í Laws of Personal Status has been translated into Persian under the supervision of our National Assembly.
The book Bahá'í AdministrationA compilation of all the Guardian's instructions to IrAn relative to such matters as: teaching, refraining from concealment of one's
Faith; marriage; Bah6?In ~ihr&n, the foundation of a Bahá'í archives has been laid. Steps have been taken regarding such matters as: making Bahá'í wills; completing the census; establishing hospices for travelers; assisting the Children's Trust; spreading the Guardian s instructions relative to Bahá'í workless days, and the blessed prophecies as to Ir~n's bright future.
We corresponded during 95 with the following National Assemblies: U. S. and Canada;
British Isles; 'Iriq;and the Local Assemblies of Haifa, Paris, and 'Adasiyyih.
The following telegram was received from the Guardian on Ridvan 12: ~'H art of Friends in East and West grieving over ascension of the Master's consort to the Abh& Kingdom. Joys of Ri4vin darkened. Festive gatherings of Sovereign Feast changed to memorial meetings in all centers. Shoghi." The expression of Inn's heartfelt sorrow was at once telegraphed to Haifa, and the day devoted to befitting memorials in Tihr~n while the provinces were likewise notified.
Memorial gatherings forwere held in Tihrin and the provinces, and a letter of condolence in both I r~nian and English was sent to the King of Rumania and the Royal Family.
Among the Bahá'ís who passed away in I r~in were: MahnThA
Badi' i, National and TihvAnmember, on 29 Mihr 1317; a large gathering attended his burial at the Bahá'í cemetery.
The wellknown Bahá'íteacher 'Abdu'llTh Mutlaq passed away on 1 Sulv&n 95, and the veteran teacher Siyyid Abu'1-Q4sim Mumt6zi Ani passed in Abidili.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLYSINCE it was impossible to hold a Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly for 97 was elected by letter. The same members were elected as in the previous year, and officers continued as before.
During 97 the following areas sacred in Bahá'í history were acquired: the house of the mayor of TihrAn, where TThirih was imprisoned; the burial place of QudcMs in Bibul (formerly B&rfunish); the house in Najaf-AbAd (near IsLihin) where the body of the Bib was placed for a time; the house of Mul]A Na~ru'114h the martyr in Shalimir-z~d, the place of his death.
Other activities of theinclude: dispatch of a commission to report on the Fort of Kinir-Gird and the village of Galin, where the Bib spent some time; preparations for purchase of the Fort of Afchih, blessed by the presence of Bahá'u'lláh; dispatch of a commission to report on Murgli-Mahallih, the summer home of Bahá'u'lláh; investigations to determine the home of Sulaymin KhAn, the martyr, the homes of Mirza RidA-Quli and Ja'far-Quli Kh6n where Bahá'u'lláh stayed for some time, and the home of H~iJ Muhammad-~Iusayn, husband of the sister of Aq& Mu-bammad-Karim-i-'AvPr, where the body of the Báb rested; preparations for purchase of the house of the late Muliammad-Karim-i-'Att~r where the body of the Bib rested; of the burial place of Badi'in Ga1and~ik; and of the remaining blessed lands of Badasht, etc. Teaching work has continued in full force during this period, an analysis of this activity being given herewith: The following twenty teachers worked in the localities specified during 96, exclusive of the teaching activity in Tihr~n: Tarizu'-11Th Samandari � KirminsMh, Hamad~n, Isl%ilAn, 'Jr&q, Yazd, Rafsinjin, Kirm6.n; 'Abbas
'Alavi, Yazd Khur~s~nAdhar-Munir � Tabriz Ishr~q-i-Kh&vari � Qazvin, Kurdistdn, Kirm~nshAh JsfAMn; Siyyid � lylusayn
Hashimi-Z4dih � MAzindarin; MirzaVolunteers who made teaching trips: 'Azizu'11Th MisbMii, member of the Central Teaching Committee, (and Mrs. Misb6i2) went by invitation of the Qazvin Assembly to that city, and is now teaching there. Fadlu'llih NAn went to Shah-Rick, AMdih and Shir~z on a three months' teaching trip. Ri~1A Sa'idati, who went to Tabriz last year, this year went to Shiriz Jahrum and K~sb4n for teaching purposes. Abu'1-QAsim Faydi and Mrs. Fay~i made a teaching trip to 'Iriq.
JiMng'ir Aqdasi traveled and taught in the environs of K4shAn, till severe illness necessitated his return to Tihr~n. Dr. Arjumand and Muhammad Ishr~qi went on behalf of this Committee to Qazvin with notable results. Tiibi Khinum Shamsi of that city donated to the N. S. A. six months' expenses for a teacher to locate in Qazvin and environs.
Mihdi Samandari, son of Tar6.zu'llAh, took a three months' trip with his father to Qazyin, Hama&in and Kirm~n-sh6h, especially to meet and work with Bahá'í youth.
Isma'il 'UbAdiyyat went to southern fr&n. Extracts from Re parts of the Teachers
Early in 96 Adhar-Munirwas invited to Zanjin and Qazvin, from Tabriz; then he came on to Tihr~n and despite his advanced age and failing sight begged to continue teaching; he therefore went on with this work in the Tabriz region, but toward the end of the year he fell ill and passed away.
Hishimi-ZAdih MutivajjihThe house of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, the famous Bahá'í brothers of I~f~h~n, which has recently been purchased by the Bahá'ís of fr&n to be preserved as an historical site in that city.
M6zindar&n and Gurg~n, following up his previous work there. In 956, 31 of the many taught, became believers. In
96, a Spiritual AssemblyThe young N&u'llAh Akhtar-i-KMvari volunteered to teach in Nayriz, where he established character building classes, regular 19 Day Feasts, and also photographed and listed the Bahá'í sacred areas in that locality; later he went to Yazd where he is teaching the youth.
Ishr~q-i-Kh&vari went from Raslit to Kurdistin, seeing the Friends everywhere en route. He is now teaching in I~Thh4n where the Cause flourishes, largely due to the efforts of Muhammad ThAbit-i-Sharqi, who now teaches in the surrounding areas.
fldil-i-'Alavi went from Yazd to Khur4-sAn, meeting many seekers and renewing his acquaintance with prominent people and leaders of thought in that region.
TarAzu'lUh Samandari'smany journeys took him also to Yazd, land of many historic martyrdoms for the Faith, where he comforted the believers for recent trials that have beset them.
Mirza Nabil � Z4dih is now actively spreading the Faith in Tabriz and environs, where he has greatly furthered the teaching work.
Shaykh-~1usayn Muhtadi, a learned divine of Q6init, known to all in that region for his erudition and holy life, became a believer some years ago. Recently, as a re-suit of the Guardian's letters and the action of the
Spiritual Assembliesof Birj and and Zihid~n, he left his teaching position and has arisen to serve the Faith. Great confirmations are awaited from his efforts.
The Bahá'í teachers .&q~y4nThey are grateful for this suffering in the service of the Cause, and their oniy regret is that they are cut off from all teaching activity.
The Friends are allowed to visit them.This year in Tihr~n 758 people received instruction in 56 Bahá'í classes, 90 of those attending being women. Seventy-two persons have thus far accepted the Faith as a result, eight of them women.
Since no one may attend the 19 Day Feast without a Bahá'í identification card, and since new believers do not have such a card,
Page 193the TihrAn Teaching Committee has arranged weekly gatherings where new and old believers can meet and the new be thus prepared for reception of the required card from the Census Committee.
A women's Commission has also been appointed to cooperate with the Teaching Committee regarding confirmation of nonBahá'í wives of Bahá'í husbands, and the giving of Bahá'í instruction to their children. Its members are: Mahbiibih
Na'imi; Bahá'í Rawshan-Damir;In addition to classes for Bahá'í teachers held by: Jin4b-i-F4dil-i-MAzindar6ni;
Air-mad-i-YazdAni; Funitan;Dr. Afriikhtih � a new class for women is conducted by Vahid-i-Kashafi and another for highly educated men students by JinAb-i-HdiL-i-M4zindar~ni and Mihdi Arjumand.
Supplying four months' expenses, the Tihrin Teaching
Committee sent Husayn-i-'Askarito Fashandak and TMiq~n, where he especially taught Bahá'í and nonBahá'í children; another teacher is now planned for this rural district, to do fob. low-up work.
Seven men and women were dispatched to villages around Tihr6n on short weekly trips; they were:
Khinum � i-Yig6nih; Khidim-i-Mithiq;The last-named volunteered for a year's trip to wheresoever the Teaching Committee desired. Although he had felt it imperative to return every month to superintend his business in TihrAn, he has foregone this necessity and is being greatly confirmed in his teaching work.
This Committee's delegates to each teaching meeting turn in written reports every week. In addition they hold a monthly consultation period with Committee members. From time to time a Committee member attends each class in an advisory capacity.
A frequent problem is the presence of too many Baha or inquirers at a given class.
Thirty teachers conduct these various classes.'IRAQ � THE Bahá'ís of 'Iriq were severely tested recently when authorities in Mosul, northern 'IrAq, acting on reports that Baha are communists, arrested accused believers and detained them pending their trial by courtmartial.
The friends were held under intolerable prison conditions in the intense summer heat for almost two weeks.
Nevertheless, assured of the help of Bahá'u'lláh, they remained unperturbed, and were even able to spread the teachings among their fellow-prisoners. After close investigation, the authorities were convinced that the accused were Baha'is, not communists, and that the Faith is nonpolitical, non-subversive, and in no way connected with communism. The
National SpiritualAssembly closely followed the proceedings, and, as had been expected, the arrested believers were declared innocent and promptly released, their faith greatly reinforced by this tribulation. A letter to the National Spiritual
Assembly from MuhammadTThir Najm, member of the Bahá'í group of Mosul, is in part as follows: the police authorities yesterday eve-fling (June 22, 1939) suddenly called at the homes of MullA Ahmad H. Mallih, Sharif 'Aziz, and Hishim Muhammad and conducted a careful inspection there.
Then, taking whatever Bahá'í books and letters they could find, they arrested these believers pending their trial by the courtmartial, which would also investigate about the raith. As regards the rest of the friends, it is rumoured that we, too, shall be arrested today or tomorrow.
Our attitude toward these events, which we regard as a propaganda for our dear Cause, is that of perfect joy and happiness. We are fully prepared to sacrifice our lives and precious possessions for the sake of upholding the Word of God in this land. Would to God we are made a sacrifice for His most great
CauseThe most vital activity of the 'Ir4q Baha during these two years has been the construction of the new Haziratu'1-Quds. Where the former center was located in the
T � NATIONAL SPIRITUAL OF19381940 dark, winding alleys of old Baglidid, the new edifice stands in its own beautiful gardens in a modern suburb. Total expenditures on the building alone have amounted to 3,500 pounds, while the whole property, that is, the building and the site of land (40 60 m3, is now estimated at 6,000 pounds.
Owing to financial difficulties, construction work on the new center had been suspended at the close of its first stage in the summer of 1937. Early in April 1938, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly returned from Haifa bearing emphatic instructions from the Guardian relative to the speedy completion of the work � an undertaking described as ttmomentous."
With his message the Guardian graciously enclosed 50 pounds as a contribution toward the enterprise.
The National SpiritualAssembly immediately called a number of consultation meetings in which delegates and friends were invited to join; these resulted in an urgent appeal to the entire Bahá'í community. The response was most encouraging, as a relatively small number of contributors during the Ridvan Feast of 1938 added 500 pounds to the Guardian's original donation.
Contributions during RiQvAn 1939 totalled 380 pounds, and it is expected that sums raised this year will at least equal those of 1938. Construction work was resumed August 23, 1938, and the new Hall, a befitting center for Bahá'í spiritual and administrative purposes, is expected to be inaugurated in September, 1939. In its Annual Report of 1939 the National
Spiritual Assemblystated that this undertaking had not oniy enhanced the dignity and good name of the Cause, but had also done much to unify the Bahá'ís of 'Ir&q, necessitating as it did their common effort in carrying out the Guardian's instructions. A recent letter from the Guardian enclosed a further donation to the work of 50 pounds. Replying to Naw-Riiz, 1939 greetings of the National Spiritual
Assembly, the GuardianOn the tragic occasion of the death in a motor accident of King Gbizi, April 4, 1939, the National Spiritual Assembly, sympathizing with the Royal Family in their deep sorrow, sent the following telegram to H.R.H. Prince 'Abdu'11&h, just declared Regent: "The painful tragedy that has so suddenly broken upon this dear Kingdom through the death of its beloved
Ruler, His Majesty KingGh&zi the First, has caused the hearts of the Bahá'ís in 'Iraq to bleed, who approach your Highness and the Royal Family with their sincere expression of heartfelt condolence, supplicating the Lord, exalted be He, to inspire all with patience and peace, and to keep his guarded son, His Majesty King FayQal the Second, the center of the hopes of the afflicted people.
(Sgd.)Assembly continues to publish quarterly the BAHÁ'Í NEWS LETTER, which was started in its new form in December 1937, and is issued in both Eng. lish and Arabic.
Responding to the appeal of the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, requesting cooperation in the sale and distribution of the Arabic translation of the Dawn-Breakers (now still at press), the
National Spiritual Assemblyhas thus far transmitted some 60 pounds as advance orders for this important work, which will greatly enrich Baha literature in Arabic.
A generous donation of ten copies of the BAHÁ'Í WORLD Vol. VII, was gratefully received in September, 1939, from.
Mr. Siegfried Schopflocherof Montreal, who requested presentation of these to sympathetic inquirers.
The National SpiritualAssembly likewise ordered ten copies of this volume. Our beloved sister, Miss Martha L. Root, last year presented to Local Assemblies and Groups several copies of her splendid work, Tdhirih the Pure � Irdn's Greatest
Woman. The late MuhammadCA1i BanM Yazdi, a believer who died in Haifa some time ago, willed one-fourth of his bequest to the General Fund of the 'Iraq
National Spiritual Assembly.This sum, just under 220 pounds, was recently received through the kindness of the Spiritual
Assembly of Haifa.World Symposiums are regularly held and enthusiastically celebrated in BaghdAd.
Young believers and their non-Bahá'í friends attend these to study various phases of the Cause, and the vital duties that devolve upon youth in the face of modern world trends.
To sum up, dominant events of the present two-year period have been: the imprisonment of Mosul Bahá'ís on the charge of communism, and their acquittal; the construction of the new and beautiful Hazi-ratu'1-Quds; the continued expansion and consolidation of all Bahá'í activities throughout 'Iniq.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLYAs THE years roll by the potency of the Divine Faith of Bahá'u'lláh shows itself in penetrating and spreading rapidly in different parts of the world. tcTruth,~~ says an old saw, "is one which does not require any aid for its dissemination."
The Qur'an in one of its arguments says, ttDO whatever you like you will have to obey my commandments whether willingly or unwillingly." This is exactly the case with the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Feeble as our resources are both financially and in trained teachers, we find that our humble efforts are blessed by re-suits which we never expected nor was there any inkling of achieving them. Surely Bahá'u'lláh beholds those who arise to serve His Cause from His Realms of glory and aids them with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of His favored angels.
The years under review have been years of significant achievements in India and Burma. The Faith has made an all round progress and firm foundations for solid achievements in future have been laid down. The local Spiritual Assemblies have shown growing alertness in the discharge of their duties.
The teaching tour undertaken by our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root from October, 1937, to December, 1938, has partly been described in the BAHÁ'Í WORLD Vol. VII, and her visit to Northern India universities and colleges is being reproduced elsewhere in this volume. She travelled from Colombo in the South to Srinagar in the North, and from Peshawar, the outpost city of the British Empire in the West, to Calcutta and Burma in the East. All the big towns in India were visited by her and in colleges and universities and in conferences and societies such as the Theosophical Society, the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj and before Muslim Institutes, the
Message of Bahá'u'lláhwas proclaimed and illuminating lectures on subjects like
Culture and World Peaceand What the Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty were delivered.
In Indian States like Hyderabad (Deccan), Travancore, Jammu and Kashmir,
Rampur, Patiala and Indorewere visited and almost every university centre such as La-hare, Delhi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Benares, Aigra, Patna, Calcutta, Madras,
Bombay. Mysore and Shantineketanwas visited and at some of the lectures Judges of the High Court, distinguished publicists, Vice-Chancellors of universities, eminent professors, and heads of religious organizations presided and thousands of students received the Teachings with a sense of joy and gratefulness.
The whole of the intelligentsia of this country heard the Teachings through these lectures and through pamphlet literature and through the leading daily newspapers (English as well as vernacular) of India and Burma which reached millions of literate people in our country.
Thus a great publicity was given to the Cause during these two years all over India and Burma and well written articles were contributed by able writers to the wellknown Indian Magazines like the Hindustan Review, the Aryan Path, the Triveni, the Twentieth Century, the Visivabharati, the Rangoon Times, the Advance, the Bombay Sama char, the Karachi Daily News, etc., etc. Miss Martha L. Root rendered a great service to the Cause by publishing that wonderful book in Karachi,
(India) namely, Tdhirihthe Pure, Irdn's Greatest Woman, which was presented to all the libraries in India and Burma and also to some distinguished personages whom she met in her teaching tours.
This book has been very well received all over the country and read with the deepest interset.
It has made indelible impression on some minds as is evidenced from letters that are received from those who have read it. Among the believers she left an abiding consclousness of duties towards the Great Faith. We need not dilate on her unique and immensely valuable services as she has most unostentatiously described them in her "Let-ters Home." We will, however be failing in our duty if we do not pay our humble and
Page 197heartfelt thanks to our most beloved sister for the great and glorious work that she has done among us and for the splendid holy example that she set before us.
Bahá'í TeachingHere again our beloved sister Miss Martha Root's work stands out as a marvelous example of fortitude and sustained work. She delivered speeches in all the big halls of the country and her audiences consisted of men from all walks of life. In some places some individuals tried to put to her some intriguing questions but she always rose to the situation and mastered it in a manner that resulted in the satisfaction of all concerned. From Srinagar in the North to Colombo and Kandy in the South she left no town of importance and no individual of prominence where and to whom she did not convey the Message of Bahá'u'lláh.
Similar work was done by Mrs. Shirin K. Fozdar.She toured South India, that is, Madras, Hyderabad (Deccan) and Mysore and then went to Burma where she did splendid work.
In her second tour she was accompanied by her husband Dr. K. M. Fozdar and they both joined Miss Martha Root at Madras and travelled with her to
Ceylon and Travancore.Dr. Fozdar returned after some time and the two sisters continued their splendid work in these parts of India as the Guardian had wished that the N. S. A. of India and Burma should give their attention to the South where there is as yet no Assembly.
Prof. Pritam Singh made his usual tours of the university towns and delivered lectures and answered questions. He is a wellknown figure in these circles and his lectures make good impression upon his hearers.
He also toured to Kashmir to follow up the work of another teacher who had preceded him to that State.
For the first time in the history of the Cause inof Jammu and Kashmir was opened up at first by Mr. Isfandiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi in 1937, followed by a visit by Miss Martha L. Root in 1938 and the followup work was done by Prof. Pritam Singli. This valley is visited every summer by thousands of people from all parts of the world and some Bahá'í friends are going to settle there, in connection with the Six-Year Plan of Teaching, to continue the teaching work. We have already a good group of firm believers here which we hope will eyolve into an Assembly in the near future.
The local Spiritual Assembliesas usual held public meetings, delivered speeches in public halls and left nothing undone within their means to spread the Cause of
God.Karachi held public lectures and at the time of each festive Bahá'í anniversary invited the gentry and the notables of the town to grand tea-parties in the garden of the Haziratu'1-Quds and delivered the Message of Bahá'u'lláh to the guests.
They extend their teaching activities to the neighbouring towns of Hyderabad (Sind) and Shikarpur. It is due to the efforts of this Assembly that the Divine Faith is known to the people of Sind from the highest to the lowest. A traveller will find the likeness of the beloved Master hung upon the walls of religious institutions. Sadhu Viswani, whom our beloved Miss Root describes as ccthe great writer, the saint, the seer, the sage, the messenger of the New Age" was so impressed by Miss Martha Root's direct message that he delivered speeches which may be aptly called the best Bahá'í speeches. There are many other public men, such as Mr. Jamshed Nus-serwanjee Mehta, Mr. Hatim Alvi, Mr. Durga Dass Advani, all ex-mayors of Karachi, and a host of other notables who never refuse to render any help in the interest of the Cause that may be asked of them.
Bombay Assembly, in addition to its usual programme, started weekly public meetings in the suburbs of Bombay at the house of one of the believers of the place visited.
This new feaure is evolving into a regular campaign and has not only added to the number of the Community but has also encouraged and roused the believers to try more and more. The public activities of the Assembly have brought the Divine Faith to the notice of all public bodies in the town. All the notables and statesmen of the Province are well aware of the aims and objects of the Divine Faith. Public men such as Mr. Jamna Dass Mehta, M.L.A., Principal Kashmira Singh, Mr. K. Natranjan, Prof.
P. A. Wadia,An early picture of the body of a Bahá'í martyr of I r6n.
Prof. N. K. Pohagwat, Prof. Rou, Mr. K. F. Nariman, Seth Manjibhoy Govindji, Dr. Mulbagala and Mr. Gyani who presided over the public meetings called by the Assembly at various occasions gave expression to their glowing appreciation of the Divine Teachings.
The Assembly availed itself of all public functions and turns them into occasions for the propagation of the Divine Faith.
Poona Spiritual Assemblycontinued in her efforts to serve the Cause in the most efficient way.
Public lectures were arranged and the Bahá'í Holy Days were made occasions for propagating the Divine
Faith.Assemblies did their utmost to discharge the duties enjoined upon them by the Author of their Faith. At Simla a local Spiritual Assembly was formed in 1938 but in 1939 it could not be formed owing to its four members having left the place. A group now meets there. The Lahore group is holding weekly study classes and is gathering strength.
PublicityDuring her tour of more than one year, wherever Miss Martha Root went, she enlisted the aid of the Press. She met everywhere the journalists and editors of newspapers papers who very willingly published long and glowing articles about the Divine Teachings. In India, Burma, and Ceylon there was not a single paper of note that did not devote some considerable space for the Bahá'í articles.
It was the same with the tours of Mrs. Shirin Fozdar, Prof. Pritam
Singh and Mr. IsfandiarPamphlets such as the "Dawn of the New Day," rfBahcfi Peace Programme,"
(Tworid Religion," r!Whatthe Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty" and others were printed in English and many Indian languages and given away gratis at public lectures of the touring teachers and at local meetings.
The rrworld Order" magazine of America is subscribed to by many in India and arrangements have been made to place a copy in the libraries of Universities all over India, Burma, and Ceylon. Mr. A. C. Harris of Switzerland presents this magazine to some of the Universities of these countries. Thus all the university libraries of these three countries receive this publication of the Divine Faith. Fifty copies of the BAHA WORLD, Vol. VII, presented to India and Burma by Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher, are being placed in the university libraries and in other wellknown libraries of these countries.
Our own Urdu and Persian monthly, the Bahá'í Magazine, has done very good
Page 199and has been instrumental in spreading the Cause far and wide. The Bahá'í Friends of Burma have also been active in those regions and have done good deal of teaching work in cooperation with Miss Martha Root and Mrs. Shirin Fozdar assisted by Dr. S. H. 'Au of Rangoon.
The Hindi and Sindhi versions of Dr. Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" were freely distributed in North India and in Sind and the Urdu version of ersolne Answered Questions" was also published and put on sale. The Sindhi version of reBahd~~ u'lIdh and the New Era" was approved by the Education Department of the Government and was ordered to be placed in the libraries of all the public and private schools of that Province.
Bahá'í Summer SchoolOne of the forward steps that the believers of these parts took during the years under review was the starting of the
Summer School. As Indiais a vast country and it was not possible to have more than one such school, it was decided by the N. S. A. to hold it yearly at different places.
The first school was held at Simla during September, 1938. It was blessed with the presence of our beloved sister Miss Martha L. Root. The school was a grand all-round success far beyond the expectations of its promoters. A full programme of study of the Holy Books was carried out.
Evening lectures were held in public halls and a day was set apart for an outing. The presence of beloved Miss Root inspired the youth who had joined the school and they were greatly benefited. A full report of the school will be found elsewhere in this volume.
The second Bahá'í summer school opened in Karachi during September, 1939, for ten days. Owing to disturbed international situation the attendance from other Assemblies was very poor but the friends of Karachi, especially the youth of the place evinced great interest and were greatly benefited. They asked intelligent questions and the discussion that followed each lesson was greatly illuminating.
The Laws of the Aqdas, the Bahá'í Administration and other Bahá'í literature was studied. A course of lectures on comparative religion was also delivered.
Public lectures were delivered in the Theosophical Hall and at Sarnagati Hall. The school this year was decidedly an improvement on last year's effort and it is hoped that the institution will in time become the Great School � the universal nucleus � which will send out trained Bahá'í teachers to spread the Divine Faith of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the length and breadth of India, Burma and Ceyon.
Youth ActivitiesThis was another effort which was crowned with success. Youth groups existed in many centres but there was no organized effort to coordinate their activities. The American
Bahá'í Youth Movementinvited the youth of this country to join them in holding a Symposium on a certain appointed day in February. This proved an incentive and the youth groups under the guidance of the N. S. A. organized themselves, held the annual Symposium and drew up plans for a course of study for the whole year.
In 1939 the N. S. A. appointed a subcommittee to consolidate the movement still further.
The Committee is now doing its work. The study classes at all centres are more or less regularly held and public meetings to which the youths and gentry of the towns were invited have been held.
Bahá'í Children's EducationThere are at present two schools, one at Deedanaw (Burma) and the other at Poona (India). The former is a government recognized institution and imparts education in Burmese and English up to the primary standard; while the latter is a private school and is conducted under the aegis of the local Spiritual Assembly. It too, imparts education in English, Guj rati and Persian up to the primary standard.
The N. S. A. has a scheme in hand planning a central boarding school for all the Bahá'í children to be established in one of the centres. Owing to financial difficulties the progress in this connection is very slow; but we hope that ere long the scheme will grow and fructify and we shall have the most up-to-date boarding school conducted on the lines of the British public schools.
Page 200It was one year after our American brothers and sisters have launched their Seven-Year Plan of Teaching that the N. S. A. of India and Burma on a recommendation by the 10th Annual Convention, adopted a Six-Year Plan of Teaching.
It at first aimed at making each local Assembly responsible to establish another Assembly in a nearby town; but later our beloved Guardian suggested that the chief aim of the Plan should be to find volunteer teachers for settlement in places where the Divine Faith has not yet been established.
These teachers will make these places either their permanent places of business or they will stay so long as to form a local Spiritual Assembly or at least a group of confirmed believers who will evolve themselves into an Assembly in due course. In the 11th Convention therefore the two chief aims of the Plan were clearly defined and a Committee was formed to concentrate their whole energy towards the suc-. cessful prosecution of the Plan. It is a matter for joy and gratification that the Plan is progressing and is drawing confirmations and assistance from the Supreme Concourse. Some of the friends have offered themselves for settlement in places which the Committee has selected for settlement this year. The Committee is now recommending to the N. S. A. to provide funds for the prosecution of the Plan. When the funds are obtained the rest will be easy. The way in which Bahá'u'lláh helps us in the achievement of our aims is really miraculous. He has shown this to us several times and the conviction is now deeply rooted in us that we will succeed in our aims and intentions provided we make but a move towards accomplishing them. We are fully convinced that by the end of 1944 A.D. we shall have attained the objectives for which we have started the campaign.
PublicaticmsIn addition to the Bahá'í Magazine which is published from Bombay in Urdu and Persian every month we published the translations of some books in the vernaculars of the country.
Mandalay Assembly rendered the Obligatory Prayer with some other prayers into
Burmese. Hindi and Sindhiversions of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era were published and extensively presented to the libraries of the province to which the language belonged.
The Urdu version of Some AnsweredQuestions was published and was presented to most of the libraries keeping Urdu books. The pamphlet The Dawn of the New Day was published in English, Urdu, Hindi and Tamil and was freely distributed during the teaching tours of Miss Martha Root, Mrs. Shirin Fozdar and other teachers.
The pamphlet World Religion was republished in English and was freely distributed.
Miss Martha Root published in pamphlet form What the Bahá'í Faith Can Do for Poverty.
Annual Bahá'í Conventionof the Bahá'ís of India and Burma was held in Karachi during the Ridvan of 1938, when public lectures were arranged and the Message was given to the Theosophists, the Jams and the Indian Parsees.
The 11th All-India andwas held in Calcutta during the Ridvan of 1939 and great publicity was done on the platform and from the press.
(Sgd.) ABBAS ALl BUTTand New Zealand during the two fateful years in the history of mankind, 1938 and 1939, has made really heartening progress.
New names have been added to the membership rolls in each center, the development of Bahá'í institutions has proceeded steadily and naturally, a Bahá'í Summer School has been established and two successful sessions held, teaching activity has been extended and become more zealous and the growing strength and vitality of the Bahá'í community is becoming increasingly apparent.
As the world situation deteriorates and the masses of the people are torn by doubt, conflicting ideologies, fear, and uncertainty, the believers in their calmness and unshakable faith in the world-redeeming power of the Cause, are attracting more and more attention.
Hearts grim with foreboding are drawn and eyes dulled with apprehension are turning to the light of faith, hope, and certainty which shines so brightly in the Bahá'í community.
The second convention which was held in Sydney, New South Wales, in April, 1937, marked the beginning of a new stage of development in the history of the Cause in Australia and New Zealand; so illuminating and instructive were the addresses given by the delegates and so powerful was the spirit of dedication animating those present, from that time a deeper realisation of the responsibility and mission of the Australian and New Zealand Bahá'í community as a component part of the world wide Bahá'í community destined in the fullness of time to expand into a glorious new civilization, the Bahá'í Commonwealth of nations, intensified the zeal and determination of the believers and lent an impetus to their efforts which has produced gratifying results.
The teaching field is steadily widening; in all the centres advertised lectures are given regularly; large fireside meetings are held by the believers in their homes; opportunities to give the Bahá'í Message on other platforms are courted and a wider circulation for our literature is being obtained.
In all the centres, increased efforts are being made to gain the attention of the press and in this we were greatly helped by Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her teaching tour of Australia and New Zealand during the first half of 1939. Miss Root obtained more press publicity for the Cause than we had had previously; indeed, she gave a much needed stimulus to our efforts in this direction and we learned much from her methods.
The receipt of the news that Miss Root was coming was the signal for intensive planning and preparation for a vigorous teaching campaign in all the centres. Everything possible was done in the way of advance publicity and arrangements were made for her to make broadcasts and to speak on the platforms of numerous societies and in schools and churches.
The famous Bahá'í teacher arrived in Perth, Western
Australia, on January10th, and was given a warm welcome by the believers there. The Perth Spiritual Assembly had arranged a fine programme and from the first the work went with a swing; many new contacts were made and a great deal of interest was aroused; the Perth believers themselves being greatly stimulated and uplifted by this soul refreshing season of activity and by Miss Root's inspiring influence.
From Perth, Miss RootIn Adelaide, in addition to the radio broadcasts and the lectures arranged for and widely advertised by the Spiritual Assembly, Miss Root spoke to the Spiritual Mission Church, the Women's Christian
Temperance Union, the RadiantSociety, at many informal gatherings and at a reception held at the Hotel Grosvenor.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorne and Miss Hilda Brooks of Adelaide, accompanied
Miss Root to Tasmaniaand Melbourne and the little group of four travelling to promote the
Page 202Bahá'í Faith, awakened considerable interest and gained publicity and press notices for the Cause. Miss Gretta Lamprill, sole believer in Tasmania at that time, and Miss Eloise Jensen, who became enrolled during the visit, were overjoyed to see them, as never before had there been such a number of Bahá'ís together in Tasmania.
Miss Jensen was enrolled at a little meeting of the Bahá'ís held at the Hotel where the party was accommodated. The occasion was celebrated with prayers and joyous thanksgiving; this, it was felt, would be the turning point of the Cause in Tasmania and the first of many enrolments. That hopes were justi-fled was proved by the enrolment some weeks later of Miss Kitty Crowder.
Now these three capable workers have commenced teaching activities which are gradually gathering momentum.
Miss Lamprill had arranged for Miss Root to give several broadcasts and to speak at three High
Schools, the SpiritualisticClub, the Bellerive, Sandford Country Women's Association, and two public meetings in Hobart and one in Launceston.
Great interest was evinced by all who heard the addresses and the little group of believers was delighted with the result of the teaching campaign in Tasmania.
In Melbourne, through the efforts of the indefatigable Secretary, Mrs. Wheeler, doors were magically opened and warm invitations for Miss Root to address meetings were received.
In addition to broadcasts and informal talks, Miss Root lectured to the Women's
International Leaguefor Peace and Freedom, the Australian Church, the Writer's Cultural Club, Trinity Grammar School, Chinese Women's Society,
Esperanto Club, Women'sThe Sydney friends had been eagerly preparing for Miss Root's visit and had arranged for broadcasts, receptions, interviews and public meetings. In addition, Miss Root delivered addresses at the Millions Club, the United Association, the English Speaking Union, the Board of Social Study and Training, the Women's League of Health, the Quota
Club, Australian Leagueof Nations, Esperanto Society, the Rotary Club, Journalists' tea, the Newport W.E.A. Summer, School, the Feminist Club, the Y.M.C.A., the Women's League of Health, and the Eel � lowship of Australian 'Writers.
Everywhere this dear and selfless servant of the Cause won all hearts by her gracious
Page 203ness, her loving kindness and her eagerness to serve humanity. Everywhere she diffused the fragrance of her beautiful radiant spirit and will ever be remembered by the believers of Australia and New Zealand with iov � ing grateful appreciation.
YouthIn Adelaide, South Australia, a Bahá'í youth group has been formed and steady development maintained, the members are enthusiastic and bring their friends to the meetings to hear the Bahá'í Message.
Australian youth are excellent material for Bahá'í teachers to work upon for on the whole they are singularly unprejudiced in their outlook and the Baha teachings make instant appeal to them.
The youth meetings are made interesting and attractive; lectures are given by the convener; papers they have prepared are read by the young people; all present are encouraged to take part in the discussions on Baha subjects and a lesson in Esperanto is conducted by Miss Dorothy Dugdale. The youth readily appreciate the value of an international language as a medium by which understanding and liking among the different races may be promoted and are pleased to have this opportunity of learning Es � peranto.
Members of the youth group have been very active in spreading the Message among fellow students in schools, the university and young members of religious societies and we feel that in these young people we have a potent teaching ally.
The Cause is gradually spreading into the country districts, the number of isolated believers is increasing, the largest country group being that of the family of Mr.
David Brooks, "Rockwood"The Summer School held at tCBolton Place," Yerrinbool, New South Wales, the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Bolton of Sydney and lent and dedicated by them for the school sessions, is becoming a source of pride and joy and high hopes are entertained for its future development and usefulness.
Arrangements are under the direction of a committee and two successful sessions have already been held, the first in January, 193 8, the second in January, 1939.
The proceedings commence with a public lecture given in the Yerrinbool district hail. During the week, morning and afternoon classes for the study of the Teachings are held at the school; enquirers sometimes attend these. Picnics and social evening~ have been the means of providing relaxation and entertainment for the attendants at tht school and of contacting people of the neighbourhood.
Plans are now being made for the third session to be held in January, 1940.
National Spiritual AssemblyIn view of the fact that owing to the great distances which separate them, the members are able to meet oniy once each year, the
National Spiritual Assemblyfunctions with surprising efficiency and effectiveness. This body, by its devotion to duty and its adherence to the principles of the administration, has attaine.d administrative capacity and efficiency which have won for it the spontaneous love and confidence of the believers.
It has been greatly heartened by the Guardian's assurance that the foundation laid is "broad, solid and unassailable."
Except for the meetings Lasting a week, sometimes longer, held annually, consultations have to be conducted by correspondence; this is a disability, but one which is not allowed to prevent the proper functioning of the N. S. A.
Teaching CommitteeCommittee was appointed; the aim of this committee is to help the smaller groups which are hampered by scarcity of numbers and teachers, by providing literature for circulation and by sending them public speakers from time to time to give impetus to their teaching efforts.
A magnificent gift of thirtyfive copies of the BANAl WORLD, Vol. VII, presented to the N. S. A. by Mr. Siegfried Schopilocher of Montreal, Canada, will greatly assist this
Committee.Cf Herald of the South" The enterprising and progressive editorial
Page 204staff, having raised the standard of our publication Herald of the South, this magazine is gaining popularity with both believers and enquirers.
Bahá'í QuarterlyThe N. S. A. keeps the believers informed of affairs and happenings through the medium of a news letter published every three months and called Bahá'í Quarterly.
The national news letters from other countries are a source of guidance and inspiration and are greatly appreciated.
National FundThe flow of contributions to the National Fund has been steady � all the Assemblies and groups contributing spontaneously and in proportion to their resources.
ConventionOwing to the great distances which separate the centres, it has only been possible to have a Convention every three years; the first was held in 1934, the second in 1937 and the third, we trust, will be in 1940. The election of the N. S. A., in the intervening years, has been conducted by correspondence.
The symbol of the CCG tt Name" and the word ceBh~~i~~ have been registered as a Trade Mark. This, according to the law, will remain in force for a period of fourteen years.
No record of this period is complete without mention of the iove of the believers for Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, and their gratitude for his ever present guiding band to which they cling with all their might. He has directed our efforts, led us forward, encouraged our N. S. A., protected us from error and inspired us all with an entrancing vision of the New Day.
Our love for him, although few of us have seen him, is so great that his name is constantly on our lips, our prayers that we may assist him in his work are fervent, and our trust in him complete.
For the Precious Relic, the lock of Bahá'u'lláh's hair which he sent us in 1938, we are deeply grateful.
To the believers of Australia and New Zealand living in this period nearly a half a century after Bahá'u'lláh's ascension and so far from the scenes amid which his life was spent, this precious gift has brought a sense of nearness and contact with his personality. Gazing upon it, the immortal words of Professor Edward G. Browne, describing his 3mpres � sion of Bahá'u'lláh, whom he was privileged to see once, came to mind, "The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one's very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLYLouanges ~ Dieu, car ii n'y a pas d'autre Dieu que Lui, le Seul Unique, le Seul Unique. Toute splendeur 'dent de Dieu, sur le nze~n youzher-Oullah et sur ses ap5tres jusque dans 1'6ternit~ des &ernit6s.
Et ensuite: Nous avons examin6 La lettre qui nous a 6t6 6crite: Si l'Ofl desire une explication d~-taill6e des preuves dtablissant la v6ritd de cette Manifestation, celle-ci serait trop longue et les tablettes du monde de 1'existence et des possibilitds n'y pourraient suflire Mais, 1'essence de ce discours et 'a perle de ce but sont qu'il n'y a jarnais eu et qu'il n'y a pas de doute que Dieu Eternel a touj ours 6t6 stable dans 'a Hauteur de sa Divinit~, dans la sub1imit~ de ses Purs Attributs, a qu'ii restera toujours dans Ia Splendeur et 1'immu-tabilit6 de
Son Infinie Grandeur.Rien ne "a connu comme II doit ~tre connu a les louanges que 1'on en a faites sont rest6es au-dessous de Lui.
II est Fur de tous noms, Libre de tous scm-blables.
Tout Lui est connu et Sa Grandeur r&ide en ceci qu'Il reste inconnu ~i tout. Sa Cr~ation n'a j amais eu de commencement et n'aura jamais de fin car ii y aurait eu alors ou ii y aurait un arret n&essaire ~ Ses bien-faits.
Toutes les fois qu'il s'est trouv6 utile dans ce monde de Possibilit6s, II a envoy6 des Proph&es a fait descendre du Ciel des Livres de la Loi: Ii le fera encore quand le besoin s'en fera sentir.
Si tu voyages dans 1'Oc6an des Noms, sache que tout est connu de Dieu. Lui est trop dev6 pour ~tre connu de Sa cr6ation ou pour are d&rit par Ses cr6atures. Tout ce que tu vois a 6t6 cr66 par Sa volont6. Et queue preuve te faa-il donc de son Unit6? Son existence en est la preuve la plus compl&te, et 1'existence m&me des choses ext6rieurcs est la preuve la plus formelle qu'elles oat 6t6 cr6des par Lui. C'est lit la preuve philo-sophique pour celui qui voyage sur la mer de Ia V6rit6.
Si tu vogues sur 1'Oc6an de Ia Cr6ation, sache que le premier Zikr, qui ~mane de 'a Primitive Volont6, est semblable au soleil que Dieu tr~s Haut a cr66 suivant sa Puissance, d~s le commencement pour lequel ii n'y a pas de commencement, et, dans chaque manifestation, c'est cc Zikr qu'il a montr6 suivant sa propre d&ision. Sache donc que ce Zikr est comparable au Soleil que Dieu tr~s Main a cr66 suivant son pouvoir d~s le commencement pour lequel ii n'y a pas de commencement: dans chaque Manifestation, c'est ce Premier Zikr qu'il a montrd suivant sa propre d6cision. Sache donc, qu'en ce sens, ii ear comme le Soleil.
En effet, cet astre, s'il se ]%ve jusqu'~ la fin qui n'aura jamais de fin, ne sera ainsi qu'il l'a ~ dans le pass~, qu'un seul et m~me soleil.
Or, c'est 6galement Lui qui a 6t6 manifest~ dans tous les proph&es * Translated from the original Persian by A. L. M. Nicolas. Published in Paris � 1902. J. Maisonneuve, Editeur.
205Detail of the monument marking the resting place of Bahá'í Khinum on Mt. Carmel, Haifa.
et c'est Lui qui pane dans tous leurs Jivres. Ii n'a pas eu de commencement parce que le commencement remonte ~ Lui qui est Ic Commencement, et ii n'y aura pas de fin pour Lid parce que la fin se r6sout en Lui qui est La Fin.
C'est Lui qui, dans cette nouvelle r6volution du monde vieux de 13000 ans, est connu sous le nom de NouqU-i-&ydn.
A la premi&e 6volution ii 6tait connu sous le nom d'Adam, puis sous celui de Noi~ ~i l'6poque de ce proph&e; ii fut Abraham en son temps, puis J6sus, puis Muhammad Re�oul Allah. Enfin ii est Celui que Dieu doit manifester apr~s celui que Dieu doit manifester ~ son 6poque. Voi1~ 1'explication du secret contenu dans Ia parole du Proph~te de Dieu: ((Les Proph~tes, c'est moix'. Oui, datis tous ne brillait et ne brille qu'un seul et m~me so] cii. C'est encore h 1'explication dii Hadis relatif ~i 1'Im&m M~hdi et dans lequel Im&m Dja'aThr ous-Sadeq a dit: ((0 Cr&zture, si fit veux voir Adam a Chit (regarde moO moi je suis
Page 207Adam et Chit; situ veux voir No~ et son fils Sam, moi je suis No6 et so~ fils Sam; si tu veux voir Abraham et Isma~l, inoi je suis Abraha~m et Ismail; si tu veux voir Morse et Joseph, moi je si~tis Morse et Joseph; si tu veux voir Je~sus et Chemhoun, inoi je suis J~sus et Chemhoun; si h~ veux voir Muhammad et l'Emir des Groyants, moi je suis Mu-hainmad et l'Emir des Croyants; Si 15U venx voir Hassan et HousseYn, nsoi je suis Hassan et HousseYn; si tu veux voir k's douze im~rns de Ia descendance de Housse~n, moi je suis les douze imdrns de la descendance de Hous-se7n, sur lui soit le satin'! R~po~dez d ma question! El en v6rih~, je vous ai dann6 une nouvelle q'ui ne vous avail jalnais ~ do-nn6e jusqu'd pr~sent , et ainsi jusqu'~ la fin du Hadis. Or, ii ne dit pas: ((Je suis semblable ~ eux)) � (il dit, je suis eux-m~mes) � car tout Ce qui &ait en eux 6tait en lui, et tout ce qui est dans leurs livres est de lui.
L'essencc de cc discours est ceci que Dieu, dans Sa sublime sagesse, a donn6 le Qur'an comme preuve de Ia Mission de Muhammad. C'~tait 1~ un cadeau tel qu'il n'en avait jamais 6t6 fait de pareil ?i aucune nation avant Muhammad, tel, qu'un seul de ses versets est une preuve suffisante pour tous ceux qui sont sur
Ia terre. L'impossibi1it~oii tous se trouvent d'en faire descendre un seul du Ciel est une preuve de
Ia Puissance de Dieu.Depuis le jour de Ia descente du Qur'an jusqu'~ celui de la manifestation du Nouqte~-i-Baydn ii s'est &oul6 1270 ans pendant lesquels les cr6atures ont ~ instruites dans cette m~me preuve et Ce, afin qu'elles sojent port~es, d~s qu'Il se manifesterait de nouveau, se tourner vers le Soleil de la V~rit~. Suivant leurs croyances ~ eux, le Livre sur-passe tout ce qui pourrait ~tre dit en dehors de cette preuve: or, Ce qui surpasse suflit, en dehors de ce qui lui est inf~rieur.
R~p~ter ce qui reste au dessous de Ce fruit est sans aucune utilit~ pour le savant perspicace.
Je ne te pane ainsi que dans le cas oii je t'aban-donnerai ~ ce que tu as appris d'autre part et oii je dissimulerai avec toi dans I'argumen-tatlon: dans le cas contraire, tout Ce que je te dis ~tant ~vident, c'est ~ toi ~ faire la preuve du contraire; mais tu ne peux penser un seul instant que le verset ne soit pas Un miracle sup6rieur ~ ceux de tous les Proph~tes: non, par Dieu, ii les a surpasses Ct les surpassera toujours.
Dans ce Livre je te fais connaitre sept preuves irrdutables dont chacune serait suf-fisante, par elle m~me, comme argument d~finitif aux yeux de tout homme ~quitab1e.
Avec Ia religion que tu professes, tu ne peux trouver aucune ~chappatoire. En effet, suivant ce qui est ~crit dans le Qur'an, tu dis: ~ Sauf Dieu, personne ne peut faire (descen-dre du ciel) des versets (tels) qu'on puisse dire qu'ils viennent de Dieu ~. Si une cr~a-ture en avait Pu produire, elle en aurait cer-tainement produit durant cette p~riode de mule deux cent soixante et dix ann~es.
L'in � capacit~ des creatures te parait donc, d~s maintenant, bien 6vidente. Alors, remarque combien est parfaite Ia bont~ de Dieu pour tous ceux qui acceptent le Qur'an, car ii a ferm6, pour eux, les portes du doute. En effet, au moment m~me oii us vojent des versets (us les doivent accepter), car ii ne peut leur venir ~ 1'esprit qu'ils viennent d'un autre que Dieu. De plus, ii est dit dans le Qur'an que personne ne peut cr6er m~me tin hadis.
Donc, un homme sinc~rement picux et croyant ne peut laisser entrer dans son ca~ur Ia pens6e que les versets de mon Baydn viennent d'un autre que Dieu. Peut-~tre, la plume refuserait-elle son service ~t une telle c~uvre, car enfin, elle est impossible ~ r~a1iser pour un musulman, combien plus encore, et je demande pardon ~ Dieu de cette supposition, pour un homme qui repousse l'islam-isme.
Avec toi je ne discute qu'en m'appuyant sur le t~moignage cle la raison.
Si quelqu'un veut aujourd'hui embrasser Ia religion musulmane, le t6moignage divin est-4l complet pour lui, oui ou non? Si tu dis non, alors, apr~s la mort, comment Dieu pourra-t-il chatier ce quelqu'un?
pendant sa vie, comment pourra-t~on lui reprocher de n'~tre pas musulman?
si tu dis oui, pourquoi oui?si c'est simplement parce que tu 1'affir-mes qu'il te CroiX, ce n'est vraiment pas Pt un argument; mais si tu dis: ~ oui, par le Qur'an alors tu as raison et tu donnes un argument solide et irr6futable.
Veujile maintenant jeter un coup d'ceil sur la manifestation du Baydn. Si l'un de ceux
Page 208qui crojent au Qur'Th voulait argumenter en sa faveur comme ii le fait vis ~ vis de celui qui est contraire ~ la religion islamique, per-sonne ne resterait dans l'opposition et tous trouverajent le salut au jour dii jugement dernier.
En effet, si Ufl chr6tien dit: ((Moi je ne comprends rien au Qur'an, comment peut-il dtre pour moi un t6moignage?
x c'est un raisonnement qui ne m&ite pas un moment d'attention.
Eh bien, c'est Ii le cas des adorateurs du Qur'Th qul disent: nous ne comprenons pas l'6loquence des versets du Baydn, qui ne peuvent donc &re un tdmoi-. gnage pour nous. A 1'homme qui pane ainsi ii n'y a qu'~ r6pondre: ((0 ignorant, comment se fait-il que tu sois devenu un musul-man? Tu n'as pas vu le Proph&e, tu n'as pas vu les miracles: si c'est sans comprendre que tu l'es devenu, pourquoi 1'es-tu devenu? L'es-tu devenu sur 1'aveu que les maitres de la science et de la connaissance t'ont fait de leur impuissance (~ produire des versets) ou bien es-tu humble et soumis ~ cause des dispositions inn6es d~pos6es en toi et qui t'ont fait entendre Ia parole de Dieu � ce qui est un des signes de l'amour de hi science * Suivant la croyance universelle, Dieu savait, sait, pouvait et pea tout. Aussi lorsque quelqu'un se pr6sente disant venir de Sa part et en apporte un tdmoignage evident, si Dieu ne manifeste personne pour mettre ~ n6ant ses affirmations, c'est une preuve qu'il vient r~ellement de Lui et qu'il en est aim6.
Par cela meme que Dieu est consentant et que malgr~ Sa Toute Puissance Ii n a suscite aucun adversaire, II ckmontre que Ic Proph&e a 6t6 envoy6 par Lui et qu'il Lui est agr6able.
Voici ce que je te recommande en ce qui regarde le Baydn.
Pour chaque manifestation, veujile bien rester, en ce qui la concerne, sur le terrain m&me des arguments de cette manifestation.
Ne t'dgare pas en dehors des routes des convenances et de Ia sinc6rit6.
Par exemple, dans le cas de Muhammad, Dieu a vouiu prouver la v&racit~ de sa mission par les versets.
Si tu es un homme loyal, discute sur Ic terrain m~me qui sert d'appui ~i cette mission et non sur des questions qui te ferajent entrer sur un autre terrain et que d'ailleurs Muhammad ne t'a pas proposees: tu ne peux donc les cliscuter.
Toutes ces odes que les arabes ont faites au d~but de la mission du Proph&te, ont-elles port6 des fruits? Leurs auteurs voulajent s'opposer par elks au PropMte! mais c'6tait ~ eux ~ produire non pas des odes, mais des versets semblables aux siens. Remarque que clans aucune manifestation ii n'y a eu et ii n'y aura d'autre moyen pour ics hommes dou6s de science et d'intelligence, et cela d'ailleurs, en derni&re analyse donne lieu aux remords, car le Temoi-gnage de la manifestation demeure a tout ce qui lui est oppos~ passe, comme 6manant Je 'a crdature et par suite frapp6 d'impuissance. Le T6moignage subsisre, et ii ne reste rien de
I'opposition.Penses-tu que Ia prison pr6vale contre le Thmoignage?
Parmi les Proph&es, Joseph a &6 emprisonnd, et parmi les successeurs, Mou~a ibn Dja'af6r. Tous deux n'&aient-ils pas envoy& de Dieu? Rien de cc qui semble tendre ~ d&ruire le T~moignage ne peut &re xnvoqu6 comme preuve (contre lui). Tu connais 1'histoire a tu saTh ce qui est arriv6 ~ Zacharie et au Seyy&d des Seyy&ls.
Tous les deux n'~taient-i1s pas prophtes. Je ne te dis d'ailleurs tout cela pour te faire bien r6fl&hir.
Quand tu dis: ((En conscience je ne suis pas convaincu, sinon je serais devenu croy-ant x sache, qu'en conscience, cc que tu en dis est une pure erreur, car tu n as aucune preuve sur la mati&e. Examine le peuple de David. Ce peuple fut 61ev6 durant cinq cents ann6es avec les r~gles des Psaumes, tant qu enfin, ii arriva ~ Ia perfection clans cette religion. Alors J6sus se manifesta. Quand ii parut, quelquesuns des sectateurs du Psalmiste crurent en lui, les autres le repous-s&ent. Eh, bien les deux camps croyaient en Conscience avoir chacun raison a certes, ni l'un ni l'autre n'6tait pouss6 par l'intention de blasphemer le Seigneur. C'est exactement ce qui se passe pour toi.
Tu n'as pas non pius le d6sir de t'dlever contre Dieu, peut-etre au contraire ne recherches-tu Ia certitude que pour acqu6rir Ia Foi.
Imagine toi pour ian instant que tu es du peuple de David: s'il avait pens6 que J~sus fut r6ellement le Proph&e pr~dit par les Psaumes, tous, sans exception, eussent cru & la v&rit6 cle sa mission et pas un seul ne fut rest~ dissident.
Pr~te-moi encore ton attention sur ce point: depuis ic jour de la Manifestation de David jusqu'au d6but de celle d'aujourd'hui,
Page 209ii s'est &oul6 deux mule deux cent soixante et dix ann6es. Or, ii existe encore ~ notre 5poque, des gens dont la religion se base sur les Psaumes et qui s'imaginent atre dans les voics de Dieu.
Cette pr&ention de leur part n a aucune valeur aux yeux des Chr6tiens. Que peut-elle valoir aux regards de Dieu!
Si nous examinons le peuple de MoYse, nous constaterons Ic meme ph6nom~ne. Pendant mule ans, ce peuple fut 6lev6 dans la religion MosaYque a y parvint enfin ~ Ia perfection. Alors eut lieu tout ce que MoYse leur avait promis au sujet de La manifestation de J6sus apr~s David. Un petit nombre d'entre eux crut an Fib de Marie. Le reste, malgr6 ses efforts pour suivre les vojes de Dieu Ct croire aux paroles de MoYse, ne put atteindre Ia certitude et ii resta ainsi stationnaire, attendant encore le Messie.
Queue valeur cette fa~on d'agir a-t-elle aux yeux des Chr6tiens? et combien moms encore en a-t-elle aux regards de Dieu!
* II y a ici tin secret que je te vais apprendre, car tu n'en as jamais entendu parler.
Examine ics peuples de tous les Proph&es. L'origine de leurs ceuvres est dans les paroles m~mes de leur Proph&te; ii s'en suit que ces cruvres sont fakes pour lui. Or, comme le Proph&e est Ic Mirza de Dieu, on n'y peut voir autre chose que Dieu; �s lors ces ceuvres sont toutes pour Dieu et uniquement pour Lui.
Or, de m&me que l'origine et les cruvrcs de toute nation tirent leur cause premi&e de son Proph&e, de m~me convergent-elles vers le Proph&e suivant.
Ainsi, au jour de La manifestation de Muhammad le monde 6tait uniquement pr6occup~ de lui, maTh tous ne comprirent pas qu'il 6tait apparu, car sans cela us ne se fussent pas s6par6s de leur ami.
Sache que Dieu n'a pas rempli sa promesse tant que ~ Ia terre n'a pas ~t6 remplie d'in-justices et d'iniquit6si Tu "as lu toi-m~me: La terre sera pleine de justice et d'd quill apras avoir dtd pleine de violences et d'ini-quit6s.
Ii est encore &zrit dans Ic hadis de Ibn 'Abbas, dans le Ijyre Ahv&n: Le Proph~te a cUt: ((Le Mdhdi sera de ma descendance a rem-plira Ia surface de (a terre de justice et d'dquitc coinine cue avait dti pleine de vio-fences et d'iniquitds.
Parmi les hadis qui peuvent rassurer Ic cceur sont les paroles que 1'~mir des Groyants � 'All � (le salut soit sur lui) prononce dans la khutba tutunc1jiy~h.
Demande alors d voir apftaraitre Celui qui, du buisson.
ardent du Sina?, ~arlait avec MoYse, et cet interlocuteur 4araitra.
Or ii faut se souvenir que rien n'a 6t6 dit (par moi) que ceci: ((En v6rit6 c'est moi qui suis Dieu, ii Ky a pas d'autre Dieu que moi ~.
Dans cette m&me khotba, dans tin autre passage, ii est dit: En v6riti, apras ce tern ps, ii viendra pour vous une voix fi cette voix vous apprendra quciques unes des questions: alors toutes cc's preuves deviendront claire's 4 vos yeux.
Ii est encore dit: Alors d cette Spoque on conviera Thus les hommes dii globe vers cc qui est abrogi. HJlas! h6las!
vous d6sirez, vous, la venue d'un grand bctnl3eur et pie Ia f6licit6 tombe sur vans comme une pinie.
Dans Ia khotbd yooum qdddr ii est dit: Bientdt Dieu enverra son aide co-ntre ses enneinis ajin qu'ils solent terrifids!
Dieu est pur et savant.Dans un autre passage de cette khotbt~ yooum qdddr ii est dit: Hdtez-vous vers lii inisdricorde de Votre Seigneur avant que l'on sonne Ia trompette. Hdtez-vous vers la porte dant l'apparence est Ia peine ci ic tourment, dont I'intiri cur est liz Bienveillance et la grd cc. La plupart des confesseurs de La foi, dans cette manifestation, ont 6t6 des maitres de 1'intelligence et de 1'entendement; de telle sorte que leur acte de foi est une preuve pour ceux qui n'ont pas cru.
Ii eut en &tre ainsi dans chaque manifestation, et Ia conversion d'hommes tels qu'eux eut d~ ~tre une preuve pour ceux qui sont rest6s in-cr6dules. Tu sais, toi, quel est le premier confesseur de cette foi: tu sais que la majeure partie des docteurs che~ikhi, sdy yadiydh et d'autres sectes admiralent sa science a son talent. Quand ii entra ~ tsfab&n, les gamins de la yule critrent sur son passage: ((Ah! ahl
Page 210un 6tudiant d6penaill6 vient d'arriver! ~ Eli bien, cet homme, par ses preuves et ses arguments, convainquit un se~yy&l d'une science 6prouv6e: Muliammad Mgher! En v6rit6 c'est lii une des preuves de cette manifestation car, apr~s la mort du sayyad, ce person-nage alla voir la plupart des docteurs de l'islam a ne rencontra la v6nt6 qu'aupr~s du maitre de Us veSritd; ce fut alors qu'il parvint au destin qui Iui avait 6t6 fix6. En v6rit6! les cr6atures du d6but et de la fin de cette manifestation 1'envient et I'envieront jusqu'au jour du jugement. Et qui clonc peat accuser ce maitre de 1'intelligence de faiblesse mentale et de l6g&et6?
Vois encore Ic nombre du nom de Dieu. Get homnie vivait tranquille Ct pur au point que personne, ami ou ennemi ne me ses talents et sa saintet6; tous admir&ent sa grandeur dans les sciences et la hauteur ~t laquelle ii s'6tait 6lev6 dans
Ia philosophie. Reporte-toiau commentaire de la sourat M-Koousar (Qur'an: S. 108) a aux autres traitds qui ont 6t~ 6crits pour lui et qui prou-vent I'6l6vation clu rang qu'il occupe pr~s de Dien!
Vois les autres, tous los autres dont ii est inutile que je mentionne les noms dans cet 6crit: ceux que j'ai nomm6s, c'est pour tran-. quilliser ton cceur, car enfin, comment donner comme preuve de la v6rit6 d'une manifestation Ia foi de ceux qui y ont cru? ce serait 'vouloir d~montrer 1'existence du soleil par sa r6flexion dans un miroir.
En v6rit6! si jC produis tant de preuves c 'est que, voulant le salut de tous, j'espre qu'un au moms comprendra.
J'en jure par les purs attributs de Dieu! ii m'est p6nible que quelqu'un me connaisse. Or, connaitre Ia V6rit6 � le BTh � c'est con-naitre Dieu; l'aimer, c'est airner Dieu. Or, connaissant les bornes qui limitent Ia cr~a-ture, j'avais cach6 mon nom. Ce sont ces memes cr6atures qui ont dit de Mubammad, qui n'a jamais eu et n'aura jamais son pareil: ~ C'est un fou! ~ pr~tendent-.ils, ~ nous ne sommes pas de ceux qui ont ainsi par16~ que leurs actes d6montrent le inensonge de leurs paroles.
Ce que Dieu dit, c'est ce que dit son t~moignage, et quand bien meme 1'univer-salitd des etres dirait une chose et le t~moi-gnage une autre, Dieu est garant que c 'est lui qui dit vrai; sans cela aucune chose ne pourrait exister, et s'il en existait une, elle retournerait ~ lui comme son lieu d'origine.
Vois donc comme ces gens lit sont vrai-ment pieux!
Deux t6moins honorables leur suflisent pour prouver une chose quelconque, a voili que malgr6 tous ces confesseurs de la foi, us h6sitent ~t croire ~ cette manifestation! Si tu veux comprendre le sens de ce verset: (Le t6moignage tie Dieu suflit~ ckpouille-toi des biens ext6rieurs et p~n~tre dans l'intimit6 de ton &re: d~s lors contente-toi de ce que dit celui que Dieu doit manifester, car cc qu'il dit, c'est lui qui le dit. Ne crois pas que ce soit Ii une preuve futile, car c'est cette preuve m~me qui eat apportde par le Qur'an, c'est cette preuve que Dieu a manifest& pour Ia secte de J6sus, c'est toujours die que Muhammad a manifest6e dans
Ic Livre de Dietu. Etvoil~ que les hommes n'acceptent pas le t6moignage de Dieu et n'agissent que suivant le t~moignage de leur propre inspiration!
Ces preuves, je te les donne pour &lairer ta vue, car ceux dont les yeux sont clairvoyants et attach& ~t Ia philosophie divine, qu'ont-ils besoin de preuves?
Comme c'est aujourd'hui le jour du juge-ment dernier, ii faut que se manifeste cette parole: Tout pirira, exce~tt la face de Dieu.
La face de Dieu, c'est le Baycin, car son ombre les confesseurs de Ia vdrit6 reposent paisiblement, et personne ne le comprend. Reporte-toi aux r6ponses que Shaykh
Alimad et Siyyid KAzimdonnajent ~ ceux qui les interrogeaient, tu te convaincras alors que la manifestation de celui qui a 6t6 promis est celle m&me de cette v6rit& En effet, dans le hadis de Kom~Y1, ii est dit: Dcsns hi premie~re ann6e, ouvrir sans signal les rideaux de la grandeur; dans la deuxiaine, effacer les futilitis tie l~i ma gina/ion et prouver cc' quf at ivident; dans Ia troisidine, divulguer les secrets et ic's ins planter vie-tori eusement (dans le nrur des hoinmes); dents hi quatrieme, 6tre extasid en Dieit pour en prouver l'unitd. Dans hi cinquie~me, c'est ic lever d% Ia lumieYe de l'aurore de t'dter-nitd x. Tu la verras cette lumi&re si tu ne fuis pas ou si tu n'es pas troubl6.
Examine les Dora~i Saharo mon Dieu! je te demande hi Iumkre de hi plus lumineuse tie tes lumie~res, p4 es t resplendissante.
0 mon DieM je ft demande hi lumiare, hi IumhYe corn pldte.
Ceci flit allusion, en premier lieu, au proph&e de Dieu, en second lieu, ~ 'Au 1'~mir des Croyants, et ainsi de suite ~us-qu'au cinqui~me degr6 oii ii est park de la lumi&e et cette lumi&e est le seigneur des seigneurs, car la lumi&e est un degr6.
De m~me que le luminaire qui se bifile Iui-m~me pour &zlairer les autres est d6pourvu d'6goYsme, de m~me tu verras, si tu vis et si Dieu le permet, les lumi~res de cette manifestation a tu les trouveras d6pouvues d'~goYsme: elles se sacri-flea el1es-m~mes pour montrer 1'unit~ de Dieu et faire ex6cuter ses conseils et ses ordres.
Vois ce verset du Qur'an: ((LCS infidales ant-its pens4 qu'231s ~cturront prendre pour patrons ceux qui ne sont pie nos seriAl curs. Nous leur avons prt3pare~ Ia g6benne pour denseure x. Ce verset est descenclu pour ceux pA pre-najent les pr~tres chr&iens comme guides contre le Proph&e de Dieis, et ce ch&tirnent m~me 6tait leur enfer clurant leur vie, car ii n'y a pas eu a ii Ky a pas de plus grande rdcompense pour celui qui fait des ~uvres pies en ce monde que 1'approbation de Dieu, et ii n'y a pas de feu plus violent que d'6tre loin de Dieu en ce bas-monde.
Sache que cette menace de 1'enfer est faite ceux qui adorent d'autres que Dieu: adorer veut dire ici ob6ir. On n'ob6it ~ Dieu en ce bas-monde qu'en ob~issant ~ celui en qui l'on petit voir Dieu dans chaque manifestation.
Comprends bien cela afin de ne pas avoir ob~i ~ d'autres qu'~ Dieu. Le iQur ott paraYtra celui que Dieu doit manifester, tu auras agi contre Wi et par cons6quent contre Dieu si tu continues ~t ob6ir ~ un des doc-teurs du Baydn. Si au contraire tu ob~is & celui que Dieu doit manifester, tu auras ador6 Dieu.
Dieu dit dans le Qur an: (Fn quel azUre Livre croiront its en-suite? )) Le vrai sens de ce verset, clans sa signification intime est: ((A quoi croirant-ils aprcs le Pro phate de Dieu et cc pci est descendu pour lid.)) Sache bien que l'acloration d'un autre que Dieu ne pea suflire en rien, tandis que con-naitre Dieu suflit, ~ 1'exception de toutes choses, et cela ~t la condition que 1'homme suive avec pi6t6 Ia grande route dans laquelle ii est entr~ jusqu'au moment oiI Un autre ordre se manifestera venant cle
Dieu.Quant Li ce que tu demandes au sujet des fonden-tents de Ia religion a de ses dogmes, sadie que la base de la religion est Ia con-naissance de Dieu: Ia connaissance parfaite et la connaissance de son unit6. La parfaite con-naissance de 1'unit6 c'est de rejeter tous les attributs du terrain de sa Saintetd, de 1'AM-vation A sa gloire et de sa
Subijinild.Sache que connaitre Dieu n'est possible en ce monde que par la connaissance de celui en qui 1km contemple Dieu. Sadie ~galement qu'~ la base de chaque manifestation se trou-vent ces paroles: ~Ii n'y a pas d'autre
Dieu que DieunC'est apr&s cette affirmation qu'apparait la mention du nom du maitre de hi inanifes-tation; ii en a 6t6 ainsi pour No6 ~ l'6poque de No6, pour Ibr6ihim en son temps, pour MoYse et pour J6sus, chacuri ~ son 6poque. Ii en a ~t6 ainsi pour Muhammad an moment oji ii apparut et ii en sera ainsi ensuite jusqu'ii Ia fin qui n'aura jamais de fin.
* Sack aussi que toutes les nations, dans leur langue religicuse, emploient ces termes m~mes, maTh restent cependant toutes a 1'ombre de Ia Nr5gation.
La signification du mot Assentiinent au moment oii parut Ic proph~te de Dieu 6tait: Ii n'y a pas d'autre Dieu que flien ci Mujoammad est son pro-phate. Dans chaque manifestation de chaque envoy6 c6leste ii en est ainsi, a cependant combien de Lois n'as-tu pas r~p6t~ ces paroles qui restajent obscures pour toi: Ii n'y a ~as d'autre Dien que Die-u!
Tu as entendu dire que Dieu, au jour du jugement dernier &ablira d'un mot le compte des cr6atures: Ce mot, c'est celui Ji~ m~me. De sorte que quand Dieu envoic un proph&te, qui � conque l'agr& rentre sous 1'ombre de t'assentiment, d~s lors son compte est 6tabli, ii ira mx cieux; celul qui ne lui aura pas don � n6 sa fri verra son compte s'6tablir ~t 1'ombre de la nigation et ii ira aux enfers. Demande & tout instant refuge ~ Diem car ic croyant est encore plus rare que le soufre rouge de Ia
Page 212pierre philosophale. Tous reconnaissent 1'unit6 de celiA qu'ils ignorent cependantl Par exemple, les sectateurs dii Christ admet-tent l'unit~ de Dieu, alors que leur adoration de la divinit6 retourne en cc monde 'a celui qui s'est manifest6 et qui est Dieu car ii n'y a pas d'autre Dieu que le proph~te de Dieu; en sorte que leur pi6r6 reste pour eux st6rile. Donne donc ta plus scrupuleuse attention ~ Ia connaissance de 1'unit6, car c'est Ii le Sirdth dont tu as entendu parler, CC Pont pIUS fin qu'un cheveu, plus tranchant qu'un rasoir.
N'ajoute pas foi & ceux qui disent avoir compris le Livre de Dieu, car j'ai eu beau les examiner je n'ai trouv6 chez eux que des mots ou des trames doctrinales, sauf chez deux personnages. Ceux-ci ont paru Iadis et ont 6lev6 leurs paroles au milieu de l'islam de fa~on ~i ce que leurs actes dans la Ia connais-sance de Dieu fussent d'accord avec elks. Chez les docteurs du Baydn on me s'en dent pas aux mots.
Les docteurs chr6tiens se sont vant6s d'avoir compris Its ~vangiles.
Or, le premier mat de ce Ijyre a trait ~i Ia cr~ation de Mu-$ammad.
Ii y a 1270 ans que ce5' est manifest6 et Dieu sait combien ces doc-teurs ont fait d'interpr6tations de leur tate sacr6, sans parvenir m~me de loin au sens vrai pA est Muhammad: s'ils avajent compris, ne Lace qu'un seul ma du Nouveau Testament, jig aurajent cru au Proph&e cle Dieu. Tu vois bien qu'ils n'ont pas compris une syllabe de 1'tvangile et qu'ils n'en ont ex-pliqu6 les termes qu'inconsid6r~ment et sans inspiration.
Reporte-toi ?~ 1'islamismeQue tie corn-mentaires n' ont-ils pas 6crits du Qur'Th sans comprendre que 1'essence m~me de Ia cr~ation du Qur'an est Ia descendance du
Proph~te.Ii en est ainsi encore pour les Shiites a leurs commentaires.
S'ils avajent compris, As n'cussent pas ignord que d~s Ic premier point du Qur'Th le Livre scwrd n'a pour but que 1'attente de la manifestation clu teCinoignage. Tu vois ken qu'ils n'ont compris rien autre chose que des mots rides de sens a d'inspira-tion.
Eli bien, alors, comprends donc, et ne sois pas comme eux en face de cette manifestation dii Ba'ydn.
Tranche toute amiti~ avec d'autres qu'a-vec Dieu et suffis-toi en lui en dehors d'autres que lui. R~p&e souvent ce verset du Haydn: c Dis: Dieu suffit d toutes choses en toutes choses, rien ne pr6vaut sur Dieu; rien, iii dans les cleux, iii sur Ia terre, ni dans cc p4 est entre eux.
Par son orire, it cr6era cc qu'il vcrndra. C'est lid Ic Savant, le Tout-Puissant Ne pense pas que cette parole: oDieu suflit & toutes choses x soit une imagination. Sache que dans chaque manifestation, ta foi dans le Maitre de cette manifestation te swift pour et sur toutes choses de la terre, alors que rien de cc qui eat en ce bas monde n'est sup6rieur ~ ta foi. Si tu ne crois pas, le Men Yazkr-hau Oullah te comptera parmi ceux de la ~ n6gation x, si at crois, ta foi te sup-pl6era toutes choses de la terre, m~me si tu ne poss~des rien. C'est h le sens de ce ver-set en ce qui concerne le Proph&te, dans Ia manifestation pr&6dente, pub pour la manifestation suivante, enfin pour celle du M~n Yazh&r-hou Oullali, et ainsi de suite jusqu'~ la fin qui n'aura pas de fin, depuis Ic commencement qui n'a pas eu de commencement. Sois attentif et dis;
((Gloire d Dien, Maitredes deux mondes, que notre Seigneur nous pardonne 4 tout in-slant, avant I'instant ci aftrds l'instant!
x'.) FRIENDS! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny.
Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, , the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll."
~ people of Baha. Ye are the breezes of spring that are wafted over the world.
Through you We have adorned the world of being with the ornament of the knowledge
Page 213of the Most Merciful. Through you the countenance of the world hath been wreathed in smiles, and the brightness of His light shone forth.
Cling ye to the Cord of steadfastness, in such wise that all vain imaginings may utterly vanish. Speed ye forth from the horizon of power, in the name of your Lord, the Unconstrained, and announce unto His servants, with wisdom and eloquence, the tidings of this Cause, whose splendor bath been shed upon the world of being.
Beware lest anything withhold you from observing the things prescribed unto you by the Pen of Glory, as it moved over His Tablet with sovereign majesty and might. Great is the blessedness of him that hath hearkened to its shrill voice, as it was raised, through the power of truth, before all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. 0 people of Baha!
The river that is Life indeed hath flowed for your sakes. Quaff ye in My name, despite them that have disbelieved in God, the
Lord of Revelation. Wehave made you to be the hands of Our Cause. Render ye victorious this Wronged One, Who hath been sore-tried in the hands of the workers of iniquity. He, verily, will aid every one that aideth Him, and will remember every one that remembereth Him. To this beareth witness this Tablet that hath shed the spien-dor of the lovingkindness of your Lord, the All-Glorious, the All-Compelling." ~~B1essed are the people of Baha! God beareth Me witness! They are the solace of the eye of creation. Through them the universes have been adorned, and the Preserved
Tablet embellished. Theyare the ones who have sailed on the ark of complete independence, with their faces set towards the
DaySpring of Beauty. Howgreat is their blessedness that they have attained unto what their Lord, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, hath willed. Through their light the heavens have been adorned, and the faces of those that have drawn nigh unto Him made to shine." CCBY the sorrows which afflict the beauty of the All-Glorious! Such is the station ordained for the true believer that if to an extent smaller than a needle's eye the glory of that station were to be unveiled to mankind, every beholder would be consumed away in his longing to attain it. For this reason it hath been decreed that in this earthly life the full measure of the glory of his own station should remain concealed from the eyes of such a believer." "If the veil be lifted, and the full glory of the station of those who have turned wholly towards God, and in their love for Him renounced the world, be made manifest, the entire creation would be dumbfounded."
teVerily I say! No one hath apprehended the root of this Cause. It is incumbent upon every one, in this day, to perceive with the eye of God, and to hearken with His ear. Whoso beholdeth Me with an eye besides Mine own will never be able to know Me. None among the Manifestations of old, except to a prescribed degree, hath ever completely apprehended the nature of this Revelation." "I testify before God to the greatness, the inconceivable greatness of this Revelation.
Again and again have We, in most of Our Tablets, borne witness to this truth, that mankind may be roused from its heedlessness."
"How great is the Cause, how staggering the weight of its Message!" ttln this most mighty Revelation all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation." ttThat which hath been made manifest in this pre~minent, this most exalted Revelation, stands unparalleled in the annals of the past, nor will future ages witness its like." "The purpose underlying all creation is the revelation of this most sublime, this most holy Day, the Day known as the Day of God, in His Books and Scriptures � the Day which all the Prophets, and the Chosen Ones, and the holy ones, have wished to witness." "The highest essence and most perfect expression of whatsoever the peoples of old have either said or written hath, through this most potent Revelation, been sent down from the heaven of the Will of the All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God."
"This is the Day in which God's most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things."
ttThis is the Day whereon the Ocean of God's mercy hath been manifested into men, the Day in which the Day Star of His lovingkindness hath shed its radiance upon them, the Day in which the clouds of His bountiful favor have overshadowed the whole of mankind."
"By the righteousness of Mineown Self! Great, immeasurably great is this Cause! Mighty, inconceivably mighty is this Day!" "Every Prophet bath announced the coming of this Day, and every Messenger hath groaned in His yearning for this Revelation � a revelation which, no sooner had it been revealed than all created things cried out saying, tThe earth is God's, the Most Exalted, the Most Great!' " "The Day of the Promise is come, and He Who is the Promised One loudly proclaimeth before all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, tVerily there is none other God but He, the Help in Peril, the Self Subsisting!'
I swear by God! That which had been enshrined from eternity in the knowledge of God, the Knower of the seen and unseen, is revealed. Happy is the eye that seeth, and the face that turneth towards, the Countenance of God, the Lord of all being."
'tGrt indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soui of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, bath thirsted for this wondrous Day.
All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it." "This Day a door is opened wider than both heaven and earth. The eye of the mercy of Him Who is the Desire of the worlds is turned towards all men. An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in the mirror of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is as the sea in that mirror.
For this is the Day which the one true God, glorified be He, hath announced in all His Books unto His
Prophets and His Messengers.is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense." LtA fleeting moment, in this Day, excelleth centuries of a bygone age. Neither sun nor moon bath witnessed a day such as this Day."
ceThis is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out, tGreat is thy blessedness, 0 earth, for thou has been made the footstool of thy God, and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne.'" etTlie world of being shineth, in this Day, with the resplendency of tbis Divine Revelation.
All created things extol its saving grace, and sing its praises. The universe is wrapt in an ecstasy of joy and gladness.
ness. The Scriptures of past Dispensations celebrate the great Jubilee that must needs greet this most great Day of God.
Well is it with him that hath lived to see this Day, and hath recognized its station." "This Day a different Sun hath arisen, and a different Heaven bath been adorned with its stars and its planets.
The world is another world, and the Cause another Cause." "This is the Day which past ages and centuries can never rival. Know this, and be not of the ignorant." (tThis is the Day whereon human ears have been privileged to hear what He Who conversed with God (Moses) heard upon Sinai, what He Who is the Friend of God (Muhain-mad) heard when lifted up towards Him, what He Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus) heard as He ascended unto Him, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting." "ThisHappy is he who bath renounced this world, and clung to Him Who is the DaySpring of God's Revelation."
"This is the King of Days, the Day that hath seen the coming of the Best Beloved, He Who through all eternity hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World." ttThis is the Chief of all days and the King thereof.
Great is the blessedness of him who hath attained, through the sweet savor of these days, unto everlasting life, and who, with the most great steadfastness, hath arisen to aid the Cause of Him Who is the King of Names. Such a man is as the eye to the body of mankind." ctPeerless is this Day, for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times." ttThis Day is different from other days, and this Cause different from other causes.
Entreat ye the one true God that He may deprive not the eyes of men from beholding His signs, nor their ears from hearkening unto the shrill voice of the Pen of Glory."
'tThese days are God's days, a moment of which ages and centuries can never rival. An atom, in these days, is as the sun, a drop as the ocean. One single breath exhaled in the love of God and for His service is written down by the Pen of Glory as a princely deed. Were the virtues of this Day to be recounted, all would be thunderstruck, except those whom thy Lord hath exempted." "By the righteousness of God! These are the days in which God bath proved
Page 215the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets, and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory." "Should the greatness of this Day be revealed in its fullness, every man would forsake a myriad lives in his longing to partake, though it be for one moment, of its great glory � how much more this world and its corruptible treasures!"
ctGod the true One is My Witness! This is the Day whereon it is incumbent upon every one that seeth to behold, and every ear that hearkeneth to hear, and every heart that understandeth to perceive, and every tongue that speaketh to proclaim unto all who are in heaven and on earth, this holy, this exalted, and all-highest Name."
"Say, 0 men! This is a matchless Day. Matchless, must, likewise, be the tongue that celebrateth the praise of the Desire of all nations, and matchless the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight. The whole human race hath longed for this Day, that perchance it may fulfill that which well beseemeth its station and is worthy of its destiny."
"Through the movement of Our Pen of Glory We have, at the bidding of the Omnipotent Ordainer breathed a new life into every human frame, and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of this worldwide regeneration."
"0 people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which all Seas have proceeded, and with which every one of them will ultimately be united. From Him all the Suns have been generated, and unto Him they will all return. Through His potency the Trees of Divine Revelation have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent down in the form of a
Prophet, bearing a Messageto God's creatures in each of the worlds whose number God, alone, in His all-encompassing knowledge, can reckon. This He hath accomplished through the agency of but one Letter of His Word, revealed by His Pen � a Pen moved by His directing ringer � His Finger itself sustained by the power of God's Truth."
"By the righteousness of the one true God! If one speck of a jewel be lost and buried beneath a mountain of stones, and lie hidden beyond the seven seas, the Hand of Omnipotence would assuredly reveal it in this Day, pure and cleansed from dross." ttEvery single letter proceeding from Our mouth is endowed with such regenerative power as to enable it to bring into existence a new creation � a creation the magnitude of which is inscrutable to all save God. He verily hath knowledge of all things." "It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendor, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages." tCIA~T~ are possessed of such power as, if brought to light, will transmute the most deadly of poisons into a panacea of unfailing efficacy."
ccThe days are approaching their end, and yet the peoples of the earth are seen sunk in grievous heedlessness, and lost in manifest error." "Great, great is the Cause! The hour is approaching when the most great convui-. sion will have appeared. I swear by Him Who is the Truth! It shall cause separation to afflict every one, even those who circle around Me."
CCs 0 concourse of the heedless! I swear by God! The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: tTaste ye what your hands have wrought!
'""The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived. He Who is the PreExistent is come, that He may bestow everlasting life, and grant eternal preservation, and confer that which is conducive to true living."
tcThe day is approaching when its (civilization's) flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of Grandeur will proclaim: tThe Kingdom is God's, the
Almighty, the All-Praised!'" ~O ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth you, and will suddenly overtake you.
Bestir yourselves, that haply it may pass and inflict no harm upon you." "0 ye peoples of the world! Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not the deeds ye have committed have been blotted from My sight." '~O heedless ones!
Though the wonders of My mercyhave encompassed all created things, both visible and invisible, and though the revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated every atom of the universe, yet the rod with which I can chastise the wicked is grievous, and the fierceness of Mine anger against them terrible." "Grieve thou not over those that have busied themselves with the things of this world, and have forgotten the remembrance of God, the
Most Great. By Him WhoThe day is approaching when the wrathful anger of the Almighty will have taken hold of them. He, verily, is the Omnipotent, the All-Sub-duing, the Most Powerful. He shall cleanse the earth from the defilement of their corruption, and shall give it for an heritage unto such of His servants as are nigh unto Him." "Soon will the cry, tYea, yea, here am I, here am I' be heard from every land.
For there hath never been, nor can there ever be, any other refuge to fly to for any one." "And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and oniy then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody."
"In the beginning of every Revelation adversities have prevailed, which later on have been turned into great prosperity."
tCSay: 0 people of God!Beware lest the powers of the earth alarm you, or the might of the nations weaken you, or the tumult of the people of discord deter you, or the exponents of earthly glory sadden you. Be ye as a mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Unconstrained." "Say: Beware, 0 people of Bah6, lest the strong ones of the earth rob you of your strength, or they who rule the world fill you with fear. Put your trust in God, and commit your affairs to His keeping.
He, verily, will, through the power of truth, render you victorious, and He, verily, is powerful to do what He willeth, and in His grasp are the reins of omnipotent might."
swear by My life! Nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved ones.
To this testifieth the Pen of God, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Best Beloved." "Let not the happenings of the world sadden you. I swear by God! The sea of joy yearneth to attain your presence, for every good thing hath been created for you, and will, according to the needs of the times, be revealed unto you." ~O my servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace.
To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.
CcThis is the day in which to speak. It is incumbent upon the people of Ball to strive, with the utmost patience and forbearance, to guide the peoples of the world to the Most Great Horizon. Every body calleth aloud for a soui. Heavenly souls must needs quicken, with the breath of the Word of God, the dead bodies with a fresh spirit. Within every word a new spirit is hidden, Happy is the man that attaineth thereunto, and hath arisen to teach the Cause of Him Who is the King of Eternity."
"Say: 0 servants! The triumph of this Cause bath depended, and will continue to depend, upon the appearance of holy souls, upon the showing forth of goodly deeds, and the revelation of words of consummate wisdom."
ttCenter your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead, proclaim this Revelation, whose power hath caused the foundations of the mightiest structures to quake, every mountain to be crushed into dust, and every soui to be dumbfounded."
"Let your principal concern be to rescue the fallen from the slough of impending extinction, and to help him embrace the ancient Faith of God. Your behavior towards your neighbor should be such as to manifest clearly the signs of the one true God, for ye are the first among men to be recreated by His Spirit, the first to adore and bow the knee before Him, the first to circle round His throne of glory." "0 ye beloved of God! Repose not yourselves on your couches, nay, bestir yourselves as soon as ye
Page 217recognize your Lord, the Creator, and hear of the things which have befallen Him, and hasten to His assistance. Unloose your tongues, and proclaim unceasingly His Cause. This shall be better for you than all the treasures of the past and of the future, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth." "I swear by Him Who is the Truth!
Erelong will God adorn the beginning of the Book of Existence with the mention of His loved ones who have suffered tribulation in His path, and journeyed through the countries in His name and for His praise. Whoso hath attained their presence will glory in their meeting, and all that dwell in every land will be illumined by their memory." "Vie ye with each other in the service of God and of His Cause. This is indeed what profiteth you in this world, and in that which is to come. Your Lord, the God of Mercy, is the All-Informed, the All-Knowing.
Grieve not at the things ye witness in this day.The day shall come whereon the tongues of the nations will proclaim: tThe earth is God's, the Almighty, the Single, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing!' Ct7~~SS~c~ is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified."
"The movement itself from place to place, when undertaken for the sake of God, hath always exerted, and can now exert, its influence in the world. In the Books of old the station of them that have voyaged far and near in order to guide the servants of God hath been set forth and written down." ~ swear by God! So great are the things ordained for the steadfast that were they, so much as the eye of a needle, to be disclosed, all who are in heaven and on earth would be dumbfounded, except such as God, the Lord of all worlds, hath willed to exempt." ccj swear by God! That which hath been destined for him who aideth My Cause excelleth the treasures of the earth." "Whoso openeth his Lips in this day, and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the realm of God's Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful." ttBy the righteousness of Him Who, in this day, crieth within the inmost heart of all created things, ~God, there is none other God besides Me!' If any man were to arise to defend, in his writings, the Cause of God against its assailants, such a man, however inconsiderable his share, shall be so honored in the world to come that the Concourse on high would envy his glory. No pen can depict the loftiness of his station, neither can any tongue describe its splendor."
ccPlease God ye may all be strengthened to carry out that which is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to appreciate the rank conferred upon such of His loved ones as have arisen to serve Him and magnify His name. Upon them be the glory of God, the glory of all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and the glory of the inmates of the most exalted Paradise, the heaven of heavens."
~ people of Bah6.! That there is none to rival you is a sign of mercy.
Quaff ye of the Cup of Bounty the wine of immortality, despite them that have repudiated God, the Lord of names and Maker of the heavens."
swear by the one true God!This is the day of those who have detached themselves from all but Him, the day of those who have recognized His unity, the day whereon God createth, with the hands of His power, divine beings and imperishable essences, every one of whom will cast the world and all that is therein behind him, and will wax so steadfast in the Cause of God that every wise and understanding heart will marvel." ttThere lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the entire human race rise up and war against them.
These are the ones who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven, shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised."
"The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will,
Page 218raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Power-ful, the Self-Subsisting."
"He will, ere long, out of the Bosom of Power, draw forth the Hands of Ascendancy and Might � Hands who will arise to win victory for this Youth, and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly.
TheseHands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name, the self-subsistent, the mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth.
They will enter the cities, and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might!"
2. PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONSo God, my God! I beg of Thee by the ocean of Thy healing, and by the splendors of the DayStar of Thy grace, and by Thy Name through which Thou didst subdue Thy servants, and by the pervasive power of Thy most exalted Word and the potency of Thy most august Pen, and by Thy mercy that hath preceded the creation of all who are in heaven and on earth, to purge me with the waters of Thy bounty from every affliction and disorder, and from all weakness and feebleness.
Thou seest, 0 my Lord, Thy suppliant waiting at the door of Thy bounty, and him who hail set his hopes on Thee clinging to the cord of Thy generosity.
Deny him not, I beseech Thee, the things he seeketh from the ocean of Thy grace and the DayStar of Thy lovingkindness.
Powerful art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. There is none other God save Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.
Praised be Thou, 0 Lordmy God! I implore Thee, by Thy Most Great Name through Which Thou didst stir up Thy servants and build up Thy cities, and by Thy most excellent titles, and Thy most august attributes, to assist Thy peopie to turn in the direction of Thy manifold bounties, and set their faces towards the Tabernacle of Thy wisdom.
Heal Thou the sicknesses that have assailed the souis on every side, and have deterred them from directing their gaze towards the Paradise that lieth in the shelter of Thy shadowing Name, which Thou didst ordain to be the King of all names unto all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Potent art Thou to do as pleaseth Thee. In Thy hands is the empire of all names.
There is none other God but Thee, the Mighty, the Wise.
I am but a poor creature, 0 my Lord; I have clung to the hem of Thy riches.
I am sore sick; I have held fast the cord of Thy healing. Deliver me from the ills that have encircled me, and wash me thoroughly with the waters of Thy graciousness and mercy, and attire mc with the raiment of wholesomeness, through Thy forgiveness and bounty.
Fix, then, mine eyes upon Thee, and rid me of all attachment to aught else except Thyself.
Aid me to do what Thou desirest, and to fulfill what Thou pleasest.
Thou art truly the Lord of this life and of the next. Thou art, in truth, the Ever-Forgiving, the
Most Merciful.my God! I am Thy servant and the son of Thy servant.
I have set my face towards Thy Cause, believing in Thy oneness, acknowledging Thy unity, recognizing Thy sovereignty and the power of Thy might, and confessing the greatness of Thy majesty and glory. I ask Thee, by Thy name through which the heaven was cleft asunder, and the earth was rent in twain, and the mountains were crushed, not to withhold from me the breezes of Thy mercy which have been wafted in Thy days, nor to suffer me to be far removed from the shores of Thy nearness and bounty.
I am he who is sore athirst, 0 my Lord! Give me to drink of the living waters of Thy grace. I am but a poor creature; reveal unto me the tokens of Thy riches. Doth it beseem 'Thee to cast out of the door of Thy grace and bounty such as have set their hopes on Thee, and can it befit Thy sovereignty to hinder them that yearn after Thee from attaining the adored sanctuary of Thy presence and from beholding Thy face? By Thy glory!
Such is not my belief in Thee, for Iam persuaded that Thou art the God of bounteousness, Whose grace hath encompassed all things.
I beseech Thee, 0 my Lord, by Thy mercy that hath surpassed the entire creation, and Thy generosity that hath embraced all created things, to cause me to turn my face wholly towards Thee, and to seek Thy shelter, and to be steadfast in my love for Thee. Write down, then, for me what Thou didst ordain for them who iove Thee. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou pleasest.
No God is there beside Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.
Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds!Praise be unto Thee, 0 my God! Thou art He Who by a word of His mouth hath revolutionized thz entire creation, and by a stroke of His pen hath divided Thy servants one from another. I bear witness, 0 my God, that through a word spoken by Thee in this Revelation all created things were made to expire, and through yet another word all such as Thou didst wish were, by Thy grace and bounty, endued with new life.
I render Thee thanks, therefore, and extol Thee, in the name of all them that are dear to Thee, for that Thou hast caused them to be born again, by reason of the living waters which have flowed down out of the mouth of Thy will.
Since Thou didst quicken them by Thy bounteousness, 0 my God, make them steadfastly inclined, through Thy graciousness, towards Thy will; and since Thou didst suffer them to enter into the Tabernacle of Thy Cause, grant by Thy grace that they may not be kept back from Thee.
Unlock, then, to their hearts, 0 my God, the portals of Thy knowledge, that they may recognize Thee as One Who is far above the reach and ken of the understanding of Thy creatures, and immeasurably exalted above the strivings of Thy people to hint at Thy nature, and may not follow every clamorous imposter that presumeth to speak in Thy name. Enable them, moreover, 0 my Lord, to cleave so tenaciously to Thy Cause that they may remain unmoved by the perplexing suggestions of them who, prompted by their desires, utter what hath been � or-bidden unto them in Thy Tablets and
Thy Scriptures.Thou art well aware, 0 my Lord, that I hear the howling of the wolves which appear in Thy servants' clothing. Keep safe, therefore, Thy loved ones from their mischief, and enable them to cling steadfastly to whatsoever hath been manifested by Thee in this Revelation, which no other Revelation within Thy knowledge hath excelled.
Do Thou destine for them, 0 my Lord, that which will profit them. Illumine, then, their eyes with the light of Thy knowledge, that they may see Thee visibly supreme over all things, and resplendent amidst Thy creatures, and victorious over all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth. Powerful art Thou to do Thy pleasure. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Whose help is implored by all men.
Praised be Thou, Who art the Lord of all creation.
Lauded be Thy name, 0 my God and the God of all things, my Glory and the Glory of all things, my Desire and the Desire of all things, my Strength and the Strength of all things, my King and the King of all things, my Possessor and the Possessor of all things, my Aim and the Aim of all things, my Mover and the Mover of all things! Suffer me not, I implore Thee, to be kept back from the ocean of Thy tender mercies, nor to be far removed from the shores of nearness to Thee.
Aught else except Thee, 0 my Lord, profiteth me not, and near access to any one save Thyself availeth me nothing. I entreat Thee by the plenteousness of Thy riches, whereby Thou dicist dispense with all else except Thyself, to number me with such as have set their faces towards Thee, and arisen to serve Thee.
Forgive, then, 0 my Lord, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens.
Thou, truly, art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
My God, my Well-Beloved!No place is there for any one to flee to when once Thy laws have been sent down, and no refuge can be found by any soui after the revelation of Thy commandments.
Thou hast inspired the Pen with the mysteries of Thine eternity, and bidden it teach man that which he knoweth not, and caused him to partake of
Page 220the living waters of truth from the cup of Thy Revelation and Thine inspiration.
No sooner, however, had the Pen traced upon the tablet one single letter of Thy hidden wisdom, than the voice of the lamentation of Thine ardent lovers was lifted up from all directions.
Thereupon, there befell the just what hath caused the inmates of the tabernacle of Thy glory to weep and the dwellers of the cities of Thy revelation to groan.
Thou dost consider, 0 my God, how He Who is the Manifestation of Thy names is in these days threatened by the swords of Thine adversaries.
In such a state He crieth out and summoneth all the inhabitants of Thine earth and the denizens of Thy heaven unto Thee.
Purify, 0 my God, the hearts of Thy creatures with the power of Thy sovereignty and might, that Thy words may sink deep into them. I know not what is in their hearts, 0 my God, nor can tell the thoughts they think of Thee. Methinks that they imagine that Thy purpose in calling them to Thine all-highest horizon is to heighten the glory of Thy majesty and power.
For had they been satisfied that Thou summonest them to that which will recreate their hearts and immortalize their souls, they would never have fled from thy governance, nor deserted the shadow of the tree of Thy oneness.
Clear away, then, the sight of Thy creatures, 0 my God, that they may recognize Him Who showeth forth the Godhead as One Who is sanctified from all that per-taineth unto them, and Who, wholly for Thy sake, is summoning them to the horizon of Thy unity, at a time when every moment of His life is beset with peril.
Had His aim been the preservation of His own Self, He would never have left it at the mercy of Thy foes.
I swear by Thy glory!I have accepted to be tried by manifold adversities for no purpose except to regenerate all that are in Thy heaven and on Thy earth. Whoso hath loved Thee, can never feel attached to his own self, except for the purpose of furthering Thy Cause; and whoso hath recognized Thee can recognize naught else except Thee, and can turn to no one save Thee.
Enable Thy servants, 0 my God, to dis cover the things Thou didst desire for them in
Thy Kingdom. Acquaintthem, moreover, with what He Who is the Origin of Thy most excellent titles hath, in His iove for Thee, been willing to bear for the sake of the regeneration of their souls, that they may haste to attain the River that is Life indeed, and turn their faces in the direction of Thy Name, the Most Merciful. Abandon them not to themselves, 0 my God! Draw them, by Thy bountiful favor, to the heaven of Thine inspiration. They are but paupers, and Thou art the All-Possessing, the ever-For-giving, the
Most Compassionate.Magnified be Thy name, 0 my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen
Ones and Thy Prophetsin Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever bath set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.
I beseech Thee, 0 my Lord, by the name of Him round whom circieth in adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that Thou wilt graciously assist them that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed abroad Thy praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.
Since Thou List guided them, 0 my Lord, unto the living waters of Thy grace, grant, by Thy bounty, that they may not be kept back from Thee; and since Thou hast summoned them to the habitation of Thy throne, drive them not out from Thy presence, through Thy lovingkindness.
Send down upon them what shall wholly detach them from aught else except Thee, and make them able to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness, in such wise that neither the ascendancy of the oppressor nor the suggestions of them that have disbelieved in Thy most august and most mighty Self shall be capable of keeping them back from Thee.
Glorified art Thou, 0 Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the Restrainer,
Page 221to withhold from us the maleficence of Thine adversaries who have disbelieved in Thy testimony, and caviled at Thy beauty.
Overpower by Thy Name, the All-Subduing, such as have wronged Thy previous Manifestation Who hath now appeared invested with Thy title, the All-Glorious.
Lay hold, by Thy name, the Chastiser, on them that have treated Thy Cause with scorn, have jested at Thy most mighty utterances, and were hindered from attaining this most exalted station. Enable Thy loved ones, by Thy Name, the Victorious, to prevail against Thine enemies and the infidels among Thy creatures. Rend asunder, by Thy Name, the Cleaver, the veil that hideth the doings of them that have besmirched Thine honor and undermined Thy Faith among Thy people. Bind, by Thy Name, the Restorer, the broken hearts of them that love Thee, and graciously bless them in their affairs.
Teach them, by Thy Name, the All-Knowing, the wonders of Thy wisdom, that they may cleave steadfastly to Thy Faith and walk in the ways of Thy pleasure. Keep them safe, by Thy Name, the Withholder, from the tyranny of the oppressor and the wickedness of the evildoers and the malice of the stirrers of mischief. Shield them, by Thy Name, the Preserver, within the stronghold of Thy might and power, that haply they may be protected from the darts of doubt that are hurled by such as have rebelled against Thee. Sanctify for Thy servants, by Thy Name which Thou hast blessed above all other names, which Thou hast singled out for Thy favor, and by which Thou didst reveal Thy beauty, these days of which the Pen of Thy decree hath distinctly written, and which, according to Thy will and wisdom, have been preordained in
Thine irrevocable Tablet.Subject to Thy rule, by Thy Name, the Conqueror, the peopie of Thy realm, that all may turn towards Thy face and forsake their all for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy pleasure.
Abase Thou, 0 my Lord, 'Thine enemies, and lay hold on them with Thy power and might, and let them be stricken by the blast of Thy wrath. Make them taste, 0 my God, of Thine awful majesty and vengeance, for they have repudiated the truth of the One in Whom they had believed, Who came unto them with Thy signs and Thy clear tokens and the evidences of Thy power and the manifold revelations of Thy might.
Gather, then, together Thy loved ones beneath the shadow of the Tree of Thy oneness, and of the Manifestation of the effulgent light of Thy unity.
Thou art, verily, the One Whose power is immense, Whose vengeance is terrible.
No God is there beside Thee, the Almighty, the Most
Powerful.Magnified be Thy name, 0 Lord my God, inasmuch as Thou List inclined mine ear to Thy voice, and called me to Thyself, and opened mine eyes to gaze on Thy beauty, and illumined my heart with Thy knowledge, and sanctified my breast from the doubts of the infidels in Thy days. I am the one, 0 my God, who lay fast asleep on his couch, when lo, the messengers of Thy manifold mercies were sent down upon me by Thee, and the gentle winds of Thy lovingkindness blew over me, and roused me up, and caused me to set my face towards the sanctuary of Thy knowledge, and to fix mine eyes upon the splendors of the light of Thy face.
I am but a poor creature, 0 my Lord! Behold me clinging to the hem of Thy riches. I have fled from darkness and from waywardness unto the brightness of the light of Thy countenance.
Were I � and to this Thy glory beareth me witness � to render thanksgiving unto Thee, through the whole continuance of Thy kingdom and the duration of the heaven of Thine omnipotence, I would still have failed to repay Thy manifold bestowaL.
I implore Thee, 0 my Lord, by Thy name, the Ever-Abiding, and by Thy name which Thou didst ordain to be the most great In-strurnent binding Thee to Thy servants, to grant that I may flee for shelter to Thy door, and speak forth Thy praise.
Write down, then, for me, in every world of Thine, that which will enable me to enter beneath Thy shadow and within the borders of Thy court.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful, the Most Exalted, the
Ever-For-giving, the MostAll-praise be to Thee, 0 Lord, my God! I know not how to sing Thy praise, how to describe Thy glory, how to call upon Thy
Page 222Name. If I call upon Thee by Thy Name, the All-Possessing, I am compelled to recognize that He Who holdeth in His hand the immediate destinies of all created things is but a vassal dependent upon Thee, and is the creation of but a word proceeding from Thy mouth. And if I proclaim Thee by the name of Him Who is the All-Compelling, I readily discover that He is but a suppliant fallen upon the dust, awestricken by Thy dreadful might, Thy sovereignty and power.
And if I attempt to describe Thee by glorifying the oneness of Thy Being, I soon realize that such a conception is but a notion which mine own fancy hath woven, and that Thou hast ever been immeasurably exalted above the vain imaginations which the hearts of men have devised.
The glory of Thy might beareth me witness! Whoso claimeth to have known Thee hath, by virtue of such a claim, testified to his own ignorance; and whoso believeth himself to have attained unto Thee, all the atoms of the earth would attest his powerlessness and proclaim his failure.
Thou hast, however, by virtue of Thy mercy that hath surpassed the kingdoms of earth and heaven, deigned to accept from Thy servants the laud and honor they pay to Thine own exalted Self, and hast bidden them celebrate Thy glory, that the ensigns of Thy guidance may be unfurled in Thy cities and the tokens of Thy mercy be spread abroad among Thy nations, and that each and all may be enabled to attain unto that which Thou hast destined for them by Thy decree, and ordained unto them through Thine irrevocable will and purpose.
Having testified, therefore, unto mine own impotence and the impotence of Thy servants, I beseech Thee, by the brightness of the light of Thy beauty, not to refuse Thy creatures attainment to the shores of Thy most holy ocean.
Draw them, then, 0 my God, through the Divine sweetness of Thy melodies, towards the throne of Thy glory and the seat of Thine eternal holiness. Thou art, verily, the Most Powerful, the
Supreme Ruler, the GreatGrant, then, 0 my God, that Thy servant who hath turned towards Thee, hath fixed his gaze upon Thee, and clung to the cord of Thy mercifulness and favor, may be enabled to partake of the living waters of Thy mercy and grace. Cause him, then, to ascend unto the heights to which he aspireth, and withhold him not from that which Thou dost possess.
Thou art, verily, theThe world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and oniy then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.
Recall thou to mind My sorrows, My cares and anxieties, My woes and trials, the state of My captivity, the tears that I have shed, the bitterness of Mine anguish, and now My imprisonment in this far-off land. God,
0 Mustaf6, beareth Mewitness. Couldst thou be told what hath befallen the
BA HA 'U'LL RHAncient Beauty, thou wouldsv flee into the wilderness and weep with a great weeping. In thy grief, thou wouldst smite thyself on the head, and cry out as one stung by the sting of the adder. Be thou grateful to God, that We have refused to divulge unto thee the secrets of those unsearchable decrees that have been sent down unto Us from the heaven of the Will of thy Lord, the Most Powerful, the Almighty.
By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed, I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door; and every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes. With every piece of bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh affliction, and with every
Page 223drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of the most woeful of trials.
He is preceded in every step He taketh by an army of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of agonizing sorrows.
Such is My plight, wet thou to ponder it in Wine heart. Let not, however, thy soul grieve over that which God hath rained down upon Us. Merge thy will in His pleasure, for We have, at no time, desired anything whatsoever except His Will, and have welcomed each one of His irrevocable decrees.
Let thine heart be patient, and be thou not dismayed.
Follow not in the way of them that are sorely agitated.
0 thou whose face is turned towards Me! As soon as thine eyes behold from afar My native city (Tihr4n), stand thou and say: am come to thee out of the Prison, 0 Land of T6, with tidings from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
I announce unto thee, 0 mother of the world and fountain of light unto all its peoples, the tender mercies of thy Lord, and greet thee in the name of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, the Knower of things unseen.
I testify that within thee He Who is the Hidden Name was revealed, and the Unseen Treasure uncovered.
Through thee the secret of all things, be they of the past or of the future, hath been unfolded.
o Land of TA! He Who is the Lord of Names remembereth thee in His glorious station.
Thou wert the Day Spring of the Cause of God, the fountain of His Revelation, the manifestation of
His Most Great Name � a Namethat hath caused the hearts and souls of men to tremble. How vast the number of those men and women, those victims of tyranny, that have, within thy walls, laid down their lives in the path of God, and been buried beneath thy dust with such cruelty as to cause every honored servant of God to bemoan their plight.
It is Our wish to remember the Abode of supreme blissfulness (Tihr~n), the holy and shining city � the city wherein the fragrance of the Well-Beloved hath been shed, wherein His signs have been diffused, wherein the evidences of His glory have been revealed, wherein His standards have been raised, wherein His tabernacle hath been pitched, wherein each of His wise decrees hath been unfolded.
It is the city in which the sweet savors of reunion have breathed, and which have caused the sincere lovers of God to draw nigh unto Him, and to gain access to the Habitation of holiness and beauty.
Happy is the wayfarer that directeth his steps towards this city, that gaineth admittance into it, and quaffeth the wine of reunion, through the outpouring grace of his Lord, the Gracious, the
All-Praised.I am come to thee, 0 land of the heart's desire, with tidings from God, and announce to thee His gracious favor and mercy, and greet and magnify thee in His name. He, in truth, is of immense bounteousness and goodness.
Blessed be the man that turneth his face towards thee, that perceiveth from thee the fragrance of God's Presence, the Lord of all worlds. His glory be on thee, and the brightness of His light envelop thee, inasmuch as God hath made thee a paradise unto His servants, and proclaimed thee to be the blest and sacred land of which He, Himself, bath made mention in the Books which
His Prophets and MessengersThrough thee, 0 land of resplendent glory, the ensign, "There is none other God but Him" hath been unfurled, and the standard, "Vr1 I am the Truth, the Knower of things unseen," been hoisted. It behoveth every one that visiteth thee to glory in thee and in them that inhabit thee, that have branched from My Tree, who are the leaves thereof, who are the signs of My glory, who follow Me and are My lovers, and who, with the most mighty determination, have turned their faces in the direction of My glorious station.
Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City (Constantinople), how the Ministers of the Sulv~n thought Thee to be unacquainted with their laws and regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant.
Say: Yes, by My Lord!I am ignorant of all things except what God hath, through His bountiful favor, been pleased to teach Me. To this We assuredly testify, and unhesitatingly confess it.
Page 224Say: If the laws and regulations to which ye cleave be of your own making, We will, in no wise, follow them. Thus have I been instructed by Him Who is the All-Wise, the All-Informed. Such hath been My way in the past, and such will it remain in the future, through the power of God and His might. This, indeed, is the true and right way. If they be ordained by God, bring forth, then, your proofs, if ye be of them that speak the truth. Say: We have written down in a Book which leaveth not unrecorded the work of any man, however insignificant, all that they have imputed to Thee, and all that they have done unto Thee.
Say: It behoveth you, 0 Ministers of State, to keep the precepts of God, and to forsake your own laws and regulations, and to be of them who are guided aright. Better is this for you than all ye possess, did ye but know it. If ye transgress the commandment of God, not one jot or one tittle of all your works shall be acceptable in His sight. Ye shall, erelong, discover the consequences of that which ye shall have done in this vain life, and shall be repaid for them. This, verily, is the truth, the undoubted truth.
How great the number of those who, in bygone ages, have committed the things ye have committed, and who, though superior to you in rank, have, in the end, returned unto dust, and been consigned to their in � evitable doom!
Would that ye might ponder the Cause of God in your hearts! Ye shall follow in their wake, and shall be made to enter a habitation wherein none shall be found to befriend or help you.
Ye shall, of a truth, be asked of your doings, shall be called to account for your failure in duty with regard to the Cause of God, and for having disdainfully rejected His loved ones who, with manifest sincerity, have come unto you.
It is ye who have taken counsel together regarding them, ye that have preferred to follow the promptings of your own desires, and forsaken the commandment of God, the Help in Peril, the Almighty.
Say: What! Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast behind your backs the precepts of God? Ye, indeed, have wronged your own selves and others.
Would that ye could perceive ive it! Say: If your rules and principles be founded on justice, why is it, then, that ye follow those which accord with your corrupt inclinations and reject such as conflict with your desires? By what right claim ye, then, to judge fairly between men? Are your rules and principles such as to justify your persecution of Him Who, at your bidding, hath presented Himself before you, your rejection of Him, and your infliction on Him every day of grievous injury? Hath He ever, though it be for one short moment, disobeyed you? All the inhabitants of ~IrAq, and beyond them every discerning observer, will bear witness to the truth of My words.
Be fair in your judgment, 0 ye Ministers of State!
What is it that We have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is the offense that bath warranted Our expulsion?
It is We Who have sought you, and yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us!
By God! This is a sore injustice that ye have perpetrated � an injustice with which no earthly injustice can measure.
To this the Almighty is Himself a witness.Know ye that the world and its vanities and its embellishments shall pass away. Nothing will endure except God's Kingdom which pertaineth to none but
Him, the Sovereign Lordof all, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the Almighty. The days of your life shall roll away, and all the things with which ye are occupied and of which ye boast yourselves shall perish, and ye shall, most certainly, be summoned by a company of His angels to appear at the spot where the limbs of the entire creation shall be made to tremble, and the flesh of every oppressor to creep. Ye shall be asked of the things your hands have wrought in this, your vain life, and shall be repaid for your doings.
This is the day that shall inevitably come upon you, the hour that none can put back. To this the Tongue of Him that speaketh the truth and is the knower of all things hath testified.
Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City (Con-stantinople), and sow not the seeds of dissension amongst men. Walk not in the paths of the Evil One. Walk ye, during the few remaining days of your life, in the ways of the one true God. Your days shall pass away as have the days of them who
Page 225were before you. To dust shall ye return, even as your fathers of old did return.
Know ye that I am afraid of none except God. In none but Him have I placed My trust; to none will I cleave but Him, and wish for naught except the thing He hath wished for Me. This, indeed, is My heart's desire, did ye but know it. I have offered up My soul and My body as a sacrifice for God, the Lord of all worlds. Whoso bath known God shall know none but Him, and he that feareth God shall be afraid of no one except Him, though the powers of the whole earth rise up and be arrayed against him. I speak naught except at His bidding, and follow not, through the power of God and His might, except His truth. He, verily, shall recompense the truthful.
Narrate, 0 Servant, the things Thou didst behold at the time of Thine arrival in the City, that Thy testimony may endure amongst men, and serve as a warning unto them that believe.
We found, upon Our arrival in the City, its governors and elders as children gathered about and disporting themselves with clay. We perceived no one sufficiently mature to acquire from Us the truths which God bath taught Us, nor ripe for Our wondrous words of wisdom. Our inner eye wept sore over them, and over their transgressions and their total disregard of the thing for which they were created. This is what We observed in that City, and which We have chosen to note down in Our Book, that it may serve as a warning unto them, and unto the rest of mankind.
Say: If ye be seekers after this life and the vanities thereof, ye should have sought them while ye were still enclosed in your mothers' wombs, for at that time ye were continually approaching them, could ye but perceive it. Ye have, on the other hand, ever since ye were born and attained maturity, been all the while receding from the world and drawing closer to dust. Why, then, exhibit such greed in amassing the treasures of the earth, when your days are numbered and your chance is well-nigh lost? Will ye not, then, 0 heedless ones, shake off your slumber?
Incline your ears to the counsels which this Servant giveth you for the sake of God. He, verily, asketh no recompense from you and is resigned to what God With ordained for Him, and is entirely submissive to God's Will.
The days of your life are far spent, 0 people, and your end is fast approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised and to which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that haply ye may attain that which He hath purposed for you, and be of them that pursue a right course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them.
Let your reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, erelong, bring to naught all the things ye possess.
Let Him be your fear, and forget not His covenant with you, and be not of them that are shut out as by a veil from
Him.Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and disdainfully reject His loved ones. Defer ye humbly to the faithful, they that have believed in God and in His signs, whose hearts witness to His unity, whose tongues proclaim His oneness, and who speak not except by His leave. Thus do We exhort you with justice, and warn you with truth, lest perchance ye may be awakened.
Lay not on any soui a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for any one the things ye would not desire for yourselves.
This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it. Respect ye the divines and learned amongst you, they whose conduct accord with their professions, who transgress not the bounds which God bath fixed, whose judgments are in conformity with His behests as revealed in His Book.
Know ye that they are the lamps of guidance unto them that are in the heavens and on the earth. They who disregard and neglect the divines and learned that live amongst them � these have truly changed the favor with which God hath favored them.
Say: Await ye till God will have changed His favor unto you. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Him.
He knoweth the secrets both of the heavens and of the earth. His knowi-edge embraceth all things.
Rejoice not in what ye have done, or will do in the future, nor delight in the tribulation with which ye have afflicted Us, for ye are unable by such
Page 226means as these to exalt your stations, were ye to examine your works with acute discernment.
Neither will ye be capable of detracting from the loftiness of Our state.
Nay, God will add unto the recompense with which He shall reward Us, for having sustained with persevering patience the tribulations We have suffered. He, verily, shall increase the reward of them that endure with patience.
Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and such of His servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to
His commandment. Suchis God's method carried into effect of old, and such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring, they that are patient under ills and hardships, who lament not over anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of resignation.
The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of Our trials, who will demand the restitution of Our rights from them that, without a tittle of evidence, have treated Us witb manifest injustice.
God, assuredly, domi-nateth the lives of them that wrong Us, and is well aware of their doings.
He will, most certainly, lay hold on them for their sins. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.
Thus have We recounted unto you the tales of the one true God, and sent down unto you the things He had preordained, that haply ye may ask forgiveness of Him, may return unto Him, may truly repent, may realize your misdeeds, may shake off your slumber, may be roused from your heedlessness, may atone for the things that have escaped you, and be of them that do good. Let him who will, acknowledge the truth of My words; and as to him that willeth not, let him turn aside. My sole duty is to remind you of your failure in duty towards the Cause of God, if perchance ye may be of them that heed My warning.
Wherefore, hearken ye unto My speech, and return ye to God and repent, that He, through His grace, may have mercy upon you, may wash away your sins, and forgive your trespasses.
The greatness of His Mercy surpasseth the fury of His wrath, and His grace encompasseth all who have been called into being and been clothed with the robe of life, be they of the past or of the future.
There hath appeared in this Revelation what bath never appeared before.
As to the infidels that have witnessed what hath been manifested, they murmur and say: "Verily, this is a sorcerer who hath devised a lie against God." They are indeed an outcast people.
Tell out to the nations, 0 Pen of the Ancient of Days, the things that have happened in tTr~q.
Tell them of the messenger whom the congregation of the divines of that land had delegated to meet Us, who, when attaining Our presence, questioned Us concerning certain sciences, and whom We answered by virtue of the knowledge We inherently possess.
Thy Lord is, verily, the Knower of things unseen."We testify," said he, "that the knowledge Thou dost possess is such as none can rival. Such a knowledge, however, is insufficient to vindicate the exalted station which the people ascribe to Thee. Produce, if Thou speakest the truth, what the combined forces of the peoples of the earth are powerless to produce."
Thus was it irrevocably decreed in the court of the presence of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Loving.
CC~~vitnes! What is it thou seest?" He was dumbfounded.
And when he came to himself, he said: "I truly believe in God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised." "Go thou to the people, and tell them: CAsk whatsoever ye please. Powerful is He to do what He willeth.
Nothing whatsoever, be it of the past or of the future, can frustrate His Will.' Say: to ye congregation of the divines!
Choose any matter ye desire, and ask your Lord, the God of Mercy, to reveal it unto you. If He fulfil your wish, by virtue of His sovereignty, believe ye then in Him, and be not of those that reject His truth.' " "The dawn of understanding hath now broken," said he, "and the testimony of the All-Merciful is fulfilled." He arose and returned unto them that sent him, at the bidding of God, the All-Glorious, the Well-Beloved.
Page 227Days passed and he failed to come back to Us. Eventually, there came another messenger who informed Us that the people had given up what they originally had purposed. They are indeed a contemptible people. This is what happened in tldq, and to what I reveal I Myself am witness.
This happening was noised abroad, yet none was found to comprehend its meaning. Thus did We ordain it. Would that ye knew this!
By My Self! Whoso hath in bygone ages asked Us to produce the signs of God, hath, no sooner We revealed them to him, repudiated God's truth.
The people, however, have, for the most part, remained heedless. They whose eyes are illumined with the light of understanding will perceive the sweet savors of the All-Merciful, and will embrace His truth.
These are they who are truly sincere.0 thou who are the fruit of My Tree and the leaf thereof! On thee be My glory and My mercy. Let not thine heart grieve over what hath befallen thee. Wert thou to scan the pages of the Book of Life, thou wouldst, most certainly, discover that which would dissipate thy sorrows and dissolve thine anguish.
Know thou, 0 fruit of My Tree, that the decrees of the Sovereign Ordainer, as related to fate and predestination, are of two kinds. Both are to be obeyed and accepted.
The one is irrevocable, the other is as termed by men, impending. To the former all must unreservedly submit, inasmuch as it is fixed and settled.
God, however, is able to alter or repeal it. As the harm that must result from such a change will be greater than if the decree had remained unaltered, all therefore, should willingly acquiesce in what God hath willed and confidently abide by the same.
The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and entreaty can succeed in averting it. God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences.
Say: 0 God, my God! Thouhast committed into mine hands a trust from Thee, and hast now according to the good-pleasure of Thy Will called it back to Thyself. It is not for me, who am a handmaid of Thine, to say, whence is this to me or wherefore had-i it happened, inasmuch as Thou art glorified in all Thine acts, and art to be obeyed in Thy decree. Thine handmaid, 0 my Lord, hath set her hopes on Thy grace and bounty. Grant that she may obtain that which will draw her nigh unto Thee, and will profit her in every world of Thine. Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. There is none other God but Thee, the Ordainer, the
Ancient of Days.Vouchsafe Thy blessings, 0 Lord, my God, unto them that have quaffed the wine of Thy iove before the face of men, and, in spite of Thine enemies, have acknowledged Thy unity, testified to Thy oneness, and confessed their belief in that which hath made the limbs of the oppressors among Thy creatures to quake, and the flesh of the proud ones of the earth to tremble. I bear witness that Thy Sovereignty can never perish, nor Thy Will be altered. Ordain for them that have set their faces towards Thee, and for Thine handmaids that have held fast by Thy Cord, that which beseemeth the Ocean of Thy bounty rnd the Heaven of Thy grace.
Thou art He, 0 God, Who hath proclaimed Himself as the Lord of 'Wealth, and characterized all that serve Him as poor and needy. Even as Thou hast written: "0 ye that believe! Ye arc but paupers in need of God; but God is the All-Possessing, the All-Praised." Having acknowledged my poverty, and recognized Thy wealth, suffer me not to be deprived of the glory of Thy riches. Thou art, verily, the Supreme Protector, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
The world's equilibrium bath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new 'World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System � the iike of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.
Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause � a Cause through which the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten
Page 228ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.
Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that bath refused to seek it � verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize this truth.
Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst you.
Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
Be not dismayed, 0 peoples of the world, when the day star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men.
We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are truly almighty.
Whoso hail recognized Me, will arise and serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose.
The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
They would cast away everything they possess, be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may remember them to the extent of addressing to them but one word. Such is the instruction given you by Him Who holdeth the knowledge of things hidden, in a Tablet which the eye of creation hath not seen, and which is revealed to none except His own Self, the omnipotent protector of all worlds. So bewildered are they in the drunkenness of their evil desires, that they are powerless to recognize the Lord of all being, Whose voice calleth aloud from every direction: "There is none other God but Me, the Mighty, the All-Wise," Say: Rejoice not in the things ye possess; tonight they are yours, tomorrow others will possess them.
Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Knowing, theCan ye claim that what ye own is lasting or secure?
Nay! By Myself, the All-Merciful. The days of your life flee away as a breath of wind, and all your pomp and glory shall be folded up as were the pomp and glory of those gone before you. Reflect, 0 people! What hath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries?
Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the All-Wise.
By My life! Neither the pomp of the mighty, nor the wealth of the rich, nor even the ascendancy of the ungodly will endure. All will perish, at a word from Him. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the All-Compel-ling, the Almighty. What advantage is there in the earthly things which men possess?
That which shall profit them, they have utterly neglected. Erelong, they will awake from their slumber, and find themselves unable to obtain that which hath escaped them in the days of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Did they but know it, they would renounce their all, that their names may be mentioned before His throne. They, verily, are accounted among the dead.
Let not your hearts be perturbed, 0 peo-pie, when the glory of My Presence is withdrawn, and the ocean of My utterance is stilled. In My presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet another, inscrutable to all but God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. Verily, We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favored angels.
0 peoples of the earth!God, the Eternal Truth, is My witness that streams of fresh and soft-flowing waters have gushed from the rocks, through the sweetness of the words uttered by your Lord, the Unconstrained; and still ye slumber.
Cast away that which ye possess, and, on the wings of detachment, soar beyond all created things. Thus biddeth you the Lord of creation, the movement of Whose Pen hath revolutionized the soul of mankind.
Know ye from what heights your Lord,Think ye that ye have recognized the Pen wherewith your Lord, the Lord of all names, commandeth you?
Nay, by My life! Did ye but know it, ye would renounce the world, and would hasten with your whole hearts to the presence of the Well-Beloved. Your spirits would be so transported by His Word as to throw into commotion the Greater World � how much more this small and petty one!
Thus have the showers of My bounty been poured down from the heaven of My lovingkindness, as a token of My grace; that ye may be of the thankful.
Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of Revelation, if ye be of them that believe.
Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. LIe enjoineth upon you that which shall profit you, though He Himself can well dispense with all creatures. Your evil doings can never harm Us, neither can your good works profit Us. We summon you wholly for the sake of God. To this every man of understanding and insight will testify.
It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestatiOnS of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain � a sign which He, Himself, hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation. Just as the conception of faith hath existed from the beginning that hath no beginning, and will endure till the end that hath no end, in like manner will the true believer eternally live and endure.
His spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God.
He will Last as long as God, Himself, will last.He is revealed through the Revelation of God, and is hidden at His bidding.
It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the Realm of Im �mortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs. Death can never invade that holy seat. Thus have We entrusted thee with the signs of Thy Lord, that thou mayest persevere in thy love for Him, and be of them that comprehend this truth.
Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth.
All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word CCF hi issuing forth from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is released as can generate, through successive ages, all the manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is this resplendent word uttered, than its animating energies, stirring within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments whereby such arts can be produced and perfected.
All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name. In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before. Thus hath it been decreed in the Tablets of God, and none can comprehend it except they whose sight is sharp.
In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute CeTh Omniscient" issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty that the Revelation of every other Name is accompanied by a similar manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and
His Tablet a Mother Tablet.THE Manifestations of universal Prophet-hood who appeared independently are, for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Bib, and Bahá'u'lláh.
But the others who are followers and promoters are like Solomon, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
For the independent Prophets are founders; they establish a new religion and make new creatures of men; they change the general morals, promote new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the Law. Their appearance is like the season of spring, which arrays all earthly beings in a new garment, and gives them a new life.
With regard to the second sort of Prophets who are followers, these also promote the Law of God, make known the Religion of God, and proclaim His word. Of themselves they have no power and might, except what they receive from the independent
Prophets.Question. � To which category do Buddha and Confucius belong?
Ansiver. � Buddha also established a new religion, and Confucius renewed morals and ancient virtues, but their institutions have been entirely destroyed.
The beliefs and rites of the Buddhists and Confucianists have not continued in accordance with their fundamental teachings.
The founder of Buddhism was a wonderful soul. He established the Oneness of God, but later the original principles of his doctrines gradually disappeared, and ignorant customs and ceremonials arose and increased, until they finally ended in the worship of statues and images.
Now, consider: Christfrequently repeated that the ten commandments in the Pentateuch were to be followed, and He insisted that they should be maintained. Among the ten commandments is one which says: tDo not worship any picture or image.' At present in some of the Christian churches many pictures and images exist. It is therefore clear and evident that the Religion of God does not maintain its original principles among the people, but that it has gradually changed and altered until it has been entirely destroyed and annihilated.
Because of this the manifestation is renewed, and a new religion established. But if religions did not change and alter, there would be no need of renewal.
In the beginning the tree was in all its beauty, and full of blossoms and fruits, but at last it became old and entirely fruitless, and it withered and decayed. This is why the True Gardener plants again an incomparable young tree of the same kind and species, which grows and develops day by day, and spreads a wide shadow in the divine garden, and yields admirable fruit. So it is with religions; through the passing of time they change from their original foundation, the truth of the Religion of God entirely departs, and the spirit of it does not stay; heresies appear, and it becomes a body without a soul. That is why it is renewed.
The meaning is that theThey are entirely heedless of the Oneness of God, and believe in imaginary gods like the ancient Greeks.
But in the beginning it was not so; there were different principles and other ordinances.
Again, consider how much the principles of the religion of Christ have been forgotten, and how many heresies have appeared.
For example, Christ forbade revenge and transgression; furthermore, He commanded benevolence and mercy in return for injury and evil. Now reflect: among the Christian nations themselves how many sanguinary wars have taken place, and how much oppression, cruelty, rapacity, and bloodthirstiness have occurred! Many of these wars were carried on by command of the Popes. It is then clear and evident that in the passage of time religions become entirely changed and altered.
Therefore they are renewed.some addresses of reproach and rebuke directed to the Prophets. 'Who is addressed, and for whom is the rebuke?
Answer. � A11 the divine discourses containing reproof, though apparently addressed to the Prophets, in reality are directed to the people, through a wisdom which is absolute mercy, in order that the people may not be discouraged and disheartened. They therefore appear to be addressed to the Prophets; but though outwardly for the Prophets, they are in truth for the people and not for the Prophets.
Moreover, the powerful and independent king represents his country: that which he says is the word of all, and every agreement that he makes, is the agreement of all, for the wishes and desires of all his subjects are included in his wishes and desires. In the same way, every Prophet is the expression of the whole of the people.
So the promise and speech of God addressed to him is addressed to all.
Generally the speech of reproach and rebuke is rather too severe for the people, and would be heartbreaking to them.
So the Perfect Wisdommakes use of this form of address, as is clearly shown in the Bible itself, as, for example, when the children of Israel rebelled and said to
Moses:tWe cannot fight with the Amalekites, for they are powerful, mighty, and courageous.' God then rebuked Moses and Aaron, though Moses was in complete obedience and not in rebellion.
Surely such a great man, who is the mediator of the Divine Bounty and the deliverer of the Law, must necessarily obey the commands of God. These Holy Souls are like the leaves of a tree, which are put in motion by the blowing of the wind, and not by their own desire; for they are attracted by the breeze of the iove of God, and their will is absolutely submissive.
Their word is the word of God, their commandment is the commandment of God, their prohibition is the prohibition of God. They are like the glass globe which receives light from the lamp. Although the light appears to emanate from the glass, in reality it is shining from the lamp: in the same way for the Prophets of God, the centres of manifestation, their movement and repose come from divine inspiration, not from human passions. If it were not so,how could the Prophet be worthy of trust, and how could he be the Messenger of God, delivering the commands and the prohibitions of God? All the defects that are mentioned in the Holy Books with reference to the Manifestations, refer to questions of this kind.
Praise be to God that you have come here, and have met the servants of God! Have you perceived in them anything except the fragrance of the pleasure of God? Indeed, no. You have seen with your own eyes that day and night they endeavour and strive, and that they have no aim except the exaltation of the word of God, the education of men, the improvement of the masses, spiritual progress, the promulgation of universal peace, goodwill to all mankind, and kindness towards all nations. Sacrificing themselves for the good of humanity, they are detached from material advantages, and labour to give virtues to mankind.
But let us return to our subject. For example, in the Old Testament it is said in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 48, verse 12: tHeark-en unto Me, 0 Jacob and Israel, My called, I am He; I am the first, I also am the Last.' It is evident that it does not mean Jacob who was Israel, but the people of Israel.
Also in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 1, it is said: cBut now thus saith the Lord that created thee, 0 Jacob, and He that formed thee, 0 Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.'
Furthermore, in Numbers, chapter 20, verse 23: tAnd the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Eclom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah'; and in verse 13: tThis is the water of Meribali; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.'
Observe: the people of Israel rebelled, but apparently the reproach was for Moses and Aaron. As it is said in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 3, verse 26: tBut the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee, speak no more unto Me of this matter.'
Page 232Now this discourse and reproach really refer to the children of Israel, who, for haying rebelled against the command of God, were held captive a long time in the arid desert, on the other side of Jordan, until the time of Joshua � upon him be salutations. This address and reproach appeared to be for Moses and Aaron, but in reality they were for the people of Israel.
In the same way in the Qur'an it is said to Muhammad: We have granted thee a manifest victory, so that God may forgive thee thy preceding and subsequent sin.'1 This address, although apparently directed to Muhammad, was in reality for all the people. This mode of address, as before said, was used by the perfect wisdom of God, so that the hearts of the people might not be troubled, anxious, and tormented.
How often the Prophets of God and His universal Manifestations in their prayers confess their sins and faults! This is only to teach other men, to encourage and incite them to humility and meekness, and to induce them to confess their sins and faults. For these Holy Souls are pure from every sin, and sanctified from faults.
In the Gospel it is said that a man came to Christ and called him tGood Master.'
Christ answered: CWhy callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God.' This did not mean � God forbid! � that Christ was a sinner; but the intention was to teach submission, humility, meekness, and modesty to the man to whom he spoke. These Holy Beings are lights, and light does not unite itself with darkness. They are life, and life and death are not confounded; they are for guidance, and guidance and error cannot be together, they are the essence of obedience, and obedience cannot exist with rebellion.
To conclude, the addresses in the form of reproach which are in the Holy Books, though apparently directed to the Prophets, that is to say to the Manifestations of God, in reality are intended for the people.
This will become evident and clear to you when you have diligently examined the Holy Books.
Salutations be upon you.It is said in the holy verse: cThere is no associate for the Dawning-place of Command2 in the Supreme Sinlessness. In truth he is the Manifestor of "He does what He wishes" in the kingdom of creation.
Verily God has reserved this station for Himself, and has not left to any one a share of this inviolable condition.'3 Know that sinlessness is of two kinds: essential sinlessness and acquired sinlessness. In like manner there is essential knowledge and acquired knowledge; and so it is with other names and attributes. Essential sinlessness is peculiar to the universal Manifestation, for it is his essential requirement, and an essential requirement cannot be separated from the thing itself. The rays are the essential necessity of the sun, and are inseparable from it. Knowledge is an essential necessity of God, and is inseparable from Him. Power is an essential necessity of God, and is inseparable from Him. If it could be separated from Him, He would not be God. If the rays could be separated from the sun, it would not be the sun. Therefore if one imagines separation of the Supreme Sinlessness from the universal Manifestation, he would not be the universal Manifestation, and he would lack the essential perfections.
But acquired sinlessness is not a natural necessity; on the contrary, it is a ray of the bounty of Sinlessness which shines from the Sun of Reality upon hearts, and grants a share and portion of itself to souls. Although these souls have not essential sinlessness, still they are under the protection of God: that is to say, God preserves them from sin. Thus many of the holy beings who were not dawn-ing-points of the Supreme Sinlessness, were yet kept and preserved from sin under the shadow of the protection and guardianship of God; for they were the mediators of grace
The Manifestation of God.Kitáb-i-Aqdas: i.e. The Most Holy Book. The principal work of Bahá'u'lláh, which contains the greater part of the commandments.
It is the basis of the principles of Bah&'iism.between God and men. If God did not protect them from error, their error would cause believing souls to fall into error, and thus the foundation of the Religion of God would be overturned, which would not be fitting nor worthy of God.
To epitomise: essential sinlessness belongs especially to the universal Manifestations, and the acquired sinlessness is granted to every holy soui. For instance, the General House of Justice, 1 jf it be established under the necessary conditions � with members elected from all the people � that House of Justice will be under the protection and the guardianship of God. If that House of Justice shall decide unanimously, or by a majority, upon any question not mentioned in the Book,2 that decision and command will be guarded from mistake.
Now the members of the House of Justice have not, individually, essential sinlessness; but the body of the House of Justice is under the protection of God: this is called conferred infallibility.
Briefly, it is said that the tRising~p1ace of Command' is the manifestation of these words, 'He does what He wishes'; this condition is peculiar to that Holy Being, and others have no share of this essential perfection.
That is to say, that as the universal Manifestations certainly possess essential sinlessness, therefore whatever emanates from them is identical with the truth, and corn-formable to the reality. They are not under the shadow of the former laws. 'Whatever they say is the word of God, and whatever they perform is an upright action.
No believer has any right to criticise; his condition must be one of absolute submission, for the Manifestation arises with perfect wisdom.
So that whatever the universal Manifestation says and does is absolute wisdom, and is in accordance with the reality. If some peo-pie do not understand the hidden secret of one of his commands and actions, they ought not to oppose it, for the universal Manifestation does what he wishes. How often it has occurred, when an act has been performed by a wise, perfect, intelligent man, that others incapable of comprehending its wisdom have objected to it, and been amazed that this wise man could say or do such a thing. This opposition comes from their ignorance, and the wisdom of the sage is pure and exempt from sin. In the same way, the skilled doctor in treating the patient 'does what he wishes,' and the patient has no right to object; whatever the doctor says and does is right; all ought to consider him the manifestation of these words, cHe does what he wishes, and commands whatever be desires.'
It is certain that the doctor will use some medicine contrary to the ideas of other people; now opposition is not permitted to those who have not the advantage of science and the medical art. No, in the name of God! on the contrary, all ought to be submissive and to perform whatever the skilled doctor says.
Therefore the clever doctor tdoes what he wishes,' and the patients have no share in this right.
The skill of the doctor must be first ascertained; but when the skill of the doctor is once established, the does what he wishes.'
So also, when the head of the army is unrivalled in the art of war, in what he says and commands 'he does what he wishes.' When the captain of a ship is proficient in the art of navigation, in whatever he says and commands, 'he does what he wishes'; and as the real educator is the Perfect Man, in whatever he says and commands, 'he does what he wishes.'
In short, the meaning of tHe does what He wishes' is that if the Manifestation says something, or gives a command, or performs an action, and believers do not understand its wisdom, they still ought not to oppose it by a single thought, seeking to know why he spoke so, or why he did such a thing. The other souis who are under the shadow of the universal Manifestations, are submissive to the commandments of the Law of God, and are not to deviate as much as a hairsbreadth from it; they must conform their acts and words to the Law of God. If they do deviate from it, they will be held responsible and reproved in the presence of God. It is certain that they have no share in the permission 'He does what He wishes,' for this condition is peculiar to the universal Manifestations.
Baytu'l � 'Ad'I, he. the House of Justice, is an institution designed by Bahá'u'lláh for the administration of the future city. The General House of Justice will determine the laws of the nation, and the International House of Justice will act as a tribunal of arbitration.
2 Kitáb-i-Aqdas.So Christ � may my spirit be sacrificed to him! � was the manifestation of these words, tHe does what He wishes,' but the disciples were not partakers of this condition; for as they were under the shadow of Christ, they could not deviate from his command and will.
4. PERFECTIONS ARE WITHOUTKnow that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of prophethood, and of Deity, but the divine and the contingent perfections are unlimited. When you reflect deeply, you discover that also outwardly the perfections of existence are also unlimited, for you cannot find a being so perfect that you cannot imagine a superior one.
For example, you cannot see a ruby in the mineral kingdom, a rose in the vegetable kingdom, or a nightingale in the animal kingdom, without imagining that there might be better specimens.
As the divine bounties are endless, so human perfections are endless.
If it were possible to reach a limit of perfection, then one of the realities of the beings might reach the condition of being independent of God, and the contingent might attain to the condition of the absolute. But for every being there is a point which it cannot overpass; that is to say, he who is in the condition of servitude, however far he may progress in gaining limitless perfections, will never reach the condition of Deity. It is the same with the other beings: a mineral, however far it may progress in the mineral kingdom, cannot gain the vegetable power; also in a flower, however far it may progress in the vegetable kingdom, no power of the senses will appear. So this silver mineral cannot gain hearing or sight; it can oniy improve in its own condition, and become a perfect mineral, but it cannot acquire the power of growth, or the power of sensation, or attain to life; it can oniy progress in its own condition.
For example, Peter cannot become Christ. All that he can do is, in the condition of servitude, to attain endless perfections; for every existing reality is capable of making progress.
As the spirit of man after putting off this material form has an everlasting life, certainly any existing being is capable of making progress; therefore it is permitted to ask for advancement, forgiveness, mercy, beneficence, and blessings for a man after his death, because existence is capable of progression.
That is why in the prayers of Bahá'u'lláh forgiveness and remission of sins are asked for those who have died. Moreover, as people in this world are in need of God, they will also need Him in the other world. The creatures are always in need, and God is absolutely independent, whether in this or in the world to come.
The wealth of the other world is nearness to God.Consequently it is certain that those who are near the Divine Court are allowed to intercede, and this intercession is approved by God. But intercession in the other world is not like intercession in this world: it is another thing, another reality, which cannot be expressed in words.
If a wealthy man at the time of his death bequeaths a gift to the poor and miserable, and gives a part of his wealth to be spent for them, perhaps this action may be the cause of his pardon and forgiveness, and of his progress in the Divine Kingdom.
Also a father and mother endure the greatest troubles and hardships for their children; and often when the children have reached the age of maturity, the parents pass on to the other world. Rarely does it happen that a father and mother in this world see the reward of the care and trouble they have undergone for their children. Therefore children, in return for this care and trouble, must show forth charity and beneficence, and must implore pardon and forgiveness for their parents. So you ought, in return for the love and kindness shown you by your father, to give to the poor for his sake, with greatest submission and humility implore pardon and remission of sins, and ask for the supreme mercy.
It is even possible that the condition of those who have died in sin and unbelief may become changed; that is to say, they may become the object of pardon through the bounty of God, not through His justice; for bounty is giving without desert, and justice is giving what is deserved. As we have power to pray for these souL here, so likewise we shall possess the same power in the
Page 235other world, which is the Kingdom of God. Are not all the people in that world the creatures of God? Therefore in that world also they can make progress. As here they can receive light by their supplications, there also they can plead for forgiveness, and receive light through entreaties and supplications.
Thus as souis in this world, through the help of the supplications, the entreaties, and the prayers of the holy ones, can acquire development, so is it the same after death. Through their own prayers and supplications they can also progress; more especially when they are the object of the intercession of the Holy Manifestations.
5. THE EVOLUTION OF MANKnow that nothing which exists remains in a state of repose, that is to say, all things are in motion. Everything is either growing or declining, all things are either coming from nonexistence into being or, going from existence into nonexistence.
So this flower, this hyacinth, during a certain period of time was coming from the world of nonexistence into being, and now it is going from being into nonexistence. This state of motion is said to be essential � that is, natural; it cannot be separated from beings because it is their essential requirement, as it is the essential requirement of fire to burn.
Thus it is established that this movement is necessary to existence, which is either growing or declining. Now, as the spirit continues to exist after death, it necessarily progresses or declines; and in the other world, to cease to progress is the same as to decline; but it never leaves its own condition, in which it continues to develop.
For example, the reality of the spirit of Peter, however far it may progress, will not reach to the condition of the Reality of Christ; it progresses oniy in its own environment.
Look at this mineral: however far it may evolve, it only evolves in its own condition; you cannot bring the crystal to a state where it can attain to sight: this is impossible.
So the moon which is in the heavens, however far it might evolve, could never become a luminous sun; but in its own condition it has apogee and perigee.
However far the disciples might progress, they could never become Christ.
It is true that coal could become a diamond, but both are in the mineral condition and their component elements are the same.
6. THE STATE OF MAN ANDWhen we consider beings with the seeing eye, we observe that they are limited to three sorts: that is to say, as a whole, they are either mineral, vegetable, or animal; each of these three classes containing species. Man is the highest species because he is the possessor of the perfections of all the classes; that is, he has a body which grows and which feels. As well as having the perfections of the mineral, of the vegetable, and of the animal, he also possesses an especial excellence which the other beings are without; that is, the intellectual perfections.
Therefore man is the most noble of beings.Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality; that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection.
He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the sum of all the degrees of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection.
He has the animal side as well as the angelic side; and the aim of an educator is to so train human souis, that their angelic aspect may overcome their animal side. Then, if the divine power in man which is his essential perfection, overcomes the satanic power, which is absolute imperfection, he becomes the most excellent among the creatures; but if the satanic power overcomes the divine power, he becomes the lowest of the creatures. That is why he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection.
Not in any other of the species in the world of existence is there such a difference, contrast, contradiction, and opposition, as in the species of man. Thus the reflection of the Divine Light was in man, as in Christ, and see how loved and
Page 236honoured he is! At the same time we see man worshiping a stone, a clod of earth, or a tree: how vile he is, in that his object of worship should be the lowest existence � that is a stone, or clay, without spirit; a mountain, a forest, or a tree.
What shame is greater for man than to worship the lowest existences?
In the same way, knowledge is a quality of man, and so is ignorance; truthfulness is a quality of man, so is falsehood; trustworthiness and treachery, justice and injustice, are qualities of man, and so forth.
Briefly, all the perfections and virtues, and all the vices, are qualities of man.
Consider equally the differences between individual men.
The Christ was in the form of man, and Caiaphas was in the form of man;
Moses and Pharaoh, AbelMan is said to be the greatest representative of God, and he is the Book of Creation because all the mysteries of beings exist in him. If he comes under the shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained, he becomes the essence of essences, the light of lights, the spirit of spirits; he becomes the centre of the divine appearances, the source of spiritual qualities, the rising-place of heavenly lights, and the receptacle of divine inspirations. If he is deprived of this education he becomes the manifestation of satanic qualities, the sum of animal vices, and the source of all dark conditions.
The reason of the mission of the Prophets is to educate men; so that this piece of coal may become a diamond, and this fruitless tree may be engrafted, and yield the sweetest, most delicious fruits. When man reaches the noblest state in the world of humanity, then he can make further progress in the conditions of perfection, but not in state; for such states are limited, but the divine perfections are endless.
Both before and after putting off this material form, there is progress in perfection, but not in state. So beings are consummated in perfect man. There is no other being higher than a perfect man. But man when he has reached this state can still make progress in perfections but not in state, because there is no state higher than that of a perfect man to which he can transfer himself. He oniy progresses in the state of humanity, for the human perfections are infinite. Thus, however learned a man may be, we can imagine one more learned.
Hence, as the perfections of humanity are endless, man can also make progress in perfections after leaving this world.
7. EXPLANATION OF A VERSEKitáb � i-Aqdas Question. � It is said in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas ~He is of the people of error, though he shows forth all good actions.' What is the meaning of this verse?
Anstver. � This blessed verse means that the foundation of success and salvation is the knowledge of God, and the the results of the knowledge of God are the good actions which are the fruits of faith.
If man has not this knowledge, he will be separated from God, and when this separation exists, good actions have not complete effect.
This verse does not mean that the souls separated from God are equal, whether they perform good or bad actions.
It signifies oniy that the foundation is to know God, and the good actions result from this knowledge. Nevertheless, it is certain that between the good, the sinners and the wicked who are veiled from God, there is a difference. For the veiled one who has good principles and character, deserves the pardon of God; whilst he who is a sinner, and has bad qualities and character, is deprived of the bounties and blessings of God: herein lies the difference.
Therefore the blessed verse means that good actions alone, without the knowledge of God, cannot be the cause of eternal salvation, everlasting success, and prosperity, and entrance into the
Kingdom of God.Question. � After the body is put aside and the spirit has obtained freedom, in what way will the rational soul exist? Let us suppose that the souL who are assisted by the 'Mirza Yahy4 Subbi Azal, half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, and his irreconcilable enemy.
Page 237bounty of the Holy Spirit attain to true existence and eternal life: but what becomes of the rational souis, that is to say, the veiled spirits? 1 Answer. � Some think that the body is the substance and exists by itself, and that the spirit is accidental, and depends upon the substance of the body, although, on the contrary, the rational soui is the substance, and the body depends upon it. If the accident, that is to say the body, be destroyed, the substance, the spirit remains.
Secondly, the rational soul, meaning the human spirit, does not descend into the body; that is to say, it does not enter it, for descent and entrance are characteristics of bodies, and the rational soul is exempt from this. The spirit never entered this body, so in quitting it, it will not be in need of an abiding-place: no, the spirit is connected with the body, as this light is with this mirror.
When the mirror is clear and perfect, the light of the lamp will be apparent in it, and when the mirror becomes covered with dust or breaks the light will disappear.
The rational soul, that is to say the human spirit, has neither entered this body nor existed through it; so after the disintegration of the composition of the body, how should it be in need of a substance through which it may exist?
On the contrary, the rational soui is the substance through which the body exists.
The personality of the rational soui is from its beginning; it is not due to the instrumentality of the body, but the state and the personality of the rational soul may be strengthened in this world; it will mak6 progress, and will attain to the degrees of perfection, or it will remain in the Lowest abyss of ignorance, veiled and deprived from beholding the signs of God.
Question. � Through what means will the spirit of man, that is to say the rational soul, after departing from this mortal world, make progress?
Answer. � The progress of man's spirit in the divine world, after the severance of its connection with the body of dust, is through the bounty and grace of the Lord alone, or through the intercession and the sincere prayers of other human souis, or through the charities and important good works which are performed in its name.
THE IMMORTALITY or CHILDRENQuestion. � What is the condition of children who die before attaining the age of discretion, or before the appointed time of birth?
Answer. � These infants are under the shadow of the favour of God; and as they have not committed any sin, and are not soiled with the impurities of the world of nature, they are the centers of the manifestation of bounty, and the Eye of Compassion will be turned upon them.
9. ETERNAL LIFE AND ENTRANCE INTOYou question about eternal life, and the entrance into the Kingdom. The outer expression used for the Kingdom, is heaven: but this is a comparison and similitude, not a reality or fact, for the Kingdom is not a material place, it is sanctified from time and place. It is a spiritual world, a divine world, and the center of the Sovereignty of God; it is freed from body and that which is corporeal, and it is purified and sanctified from the imaginations of the human world. To be limited to place is a property of bodies and not of spirits. Place and time surround the body, not the mind and spirit. Observe that the body of man is confined to a small place: it covers oniy two spans of earth, but the spirit and mind of man travel to all countries and regions � even through the limitless space of the heavens � surround all that exists, and make discoveries in the exalted spheres and infinite distances.
This is because the spirit has no place, it is placeless; and for the spirit, the earth and the heaven are as one, since it makes discoveries in both.
But the body is limited to a place, and does not know that which is beyond it. For life is of two kinds: that of the body, and that of the spirit. The life of the body is material life, but the life of the spirit, expresses the existence of the Kingdom, which consists in receiving the Spirit of God, and becoming vivified by the breath of the
Holy Spirit. Althoughthe material life has existence, it is pure nonexistence and absolute '~Vei1ed spirits' here signify rational souls, souTh not possessing the spirit of faith. Cf.
'Soul, Spirit, and Mind,' page 243.So man exists, and this stone also exists, but what a difference between the existence of man and that of the stone!
Though the stone exists, in relation to the existence of man it is non-ex-istent.
The meaning of eternal life is the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the flower receives the gift of the season, the air, and the breezes of spring.
Consider: this flower had life in the beginning like the life of the mineral; but by the coming of the season of spring, of the bounty of the clouds of the springtime, and of the heat of the glowing sun, it attained to another life of the utmost freshness, delicacy, and fragrance.
The first life of the flower, in comparison to the second life, is death.
The meaning is that the life of the Kingdom is the life of the spirit, the eternal life, and that it is purified from place, like the spirit of man which has no place.
For if you examine the human body, you will not find a special spot or locality for the spirit, for it has never had a place; it is immaterial.
It has a connection with the body, like that of the sun with this mirror.
The sun is nor within the mirror, but it has a connection with the mirror.
In the same way the world of the Kingdom is sanctified from everything that can be perceived by the eye or by the other senses � hearing, smell, taste, or touch.
The mind which is in man, the existence of which is recognised � where is it in him? If you examine the body with the eye, the ear, or the other senses, you will not find it; nevertheless it exists. Therefore the mind has no place, but it is connected with the brain. The Kingdom is also like this. In the same way love has no place, but it is connected with the heart; so the Kingdom has no place, but is connected with man.
Entrance into the Kingdom is through the love of God, through detachment, through holiness and chastity, through truthfulness, purity, steadfastness, faithfulness, and the sacrifice of life.
These explanations show that man is immortal and lives eternally.
For those who believe in God, who have love of God, and faith, life is excellent � that is, it is eternal; but to those souls who are veiled from God, although they have life, it is dark, and in comparison with the life of believers it is nonexistent.
For example, the eye and the nail are living; but the life of the nail in relation to the life of the eye is nonexistent.
This stone and this man both exist; but the stone in relation to the existence of man is non-ex-istent, it has no being; for when man dies, and his body is destroyed and annihilated, it becomes like stone and earth.
Therefore it is clear that although the mineral exists, in relation to man it is nonexistent.
In the same way, the souL who are veiled from God, although they exist in this world and in the world after death, are in comparison with the holy existence of the children of the Kingdom of God, non-existing and separated from God.
10. INDUSTRIAL JUSTICEYou have questioned me about strikes. This question is and will be for a long time the subject of great difficulties.
Strikes are due to two causes. One is the extreme sharpness and rapacity of the capitalists and manufacturers; the other, the excesses, the avidity and ill-will of the workmen and artisans.
But the principal cause of these diflicul-ties lies in the laws of the present civilization; for they lead to a small number of individuals accumulating incomparable f or-tunes, beyond their needs, whilst the greater number remains destitute, stripped and in the greatest misery.
This is contrary to justice, to humanity, to equity; it is the height of iniquity, the opposite to what causes Divine satisfaction.
This contrast is peculiar to the world of man: with other creatures, that is to say with nearly all animals, there is a kind of justice and equality. Thus in a shepherd's flock of sheep, in a troop of deer in the country, among the birds of the prairie, of the plain, of the hili or of the orchard, almost every animal receives a just share based on equality.
With them such a difference in the means of existence is not to be found: so they live in the most complete peace and joy.
It is quite otherwise with the human species, which persists in the greatest error,
Page 239Consider an individual who has amassed treasures by colonizing a country for his profit: he has obtained an incomparable fortune, and has secured profits and incomes which flow like a river, whilst a hundred thousand unfortunate people, weak and powerless, are in need of a mouthful of bread. There is neither equality nor brotherhood.
So you see that general peace and joy are destroyed, the welfare of humanity is partially annihilated, and that collective life is fruitless. Indeed, fortune, honors, commerce, industry are in the hands of some industrials, whilst other people are submitted to quite a series of difficulties and to limitless troubles: they have neither advantage nor profits, nor comforts, nor peace.
Then rules and laws should be established to regulate the excessive fortunes of certain private individuals, and limit the misery of millions of the poor masses; thus a certain moderation would be obtained. However, absolute equality is just as impossible, for absolute equality in fortunes, honors, commerce, agriculture, industry would end in a want of comfort, in discouragement, in disorganization of the means of existence, and in universal disappointment: the order of the community would be quite destroyed. Thus, there is a great wisdom in the fact that equality is not imposed by law: it is, therefore, preferable for moderation to do its work. The main point is, by means of laws and regulations to hinder the constitution of the excessive fortunes of certain individuals, and to protect the essential needs of the masses. For instance, the manufacturers and the industrials heap up a treasure each day, and the poor artisans do not gain their daily sustenance: that is the height of iniquity, and no just man can accept it. Therefore, laws and regulations should be established which would permit the workmen to receive from the factory owner their wages and a share in the fourth or fifth part of the profits, according to the wants of the factory; or in some other way the body of workmen and the manufacturers should share equitably the profits and advantages. Indeed, the direction and administration of affairs come from the owner of the factory, and the work and labor, from the body of the workmen.
In other words, the workmen should receive wages which assure them an adequate support, and when they cease work, becoming feeble or helpless, they should receive from the owner of the factory a sufficient pension. The wages should be high enough to satisfy the workmen with the amount they receive, so that they may be able to put a little aside for days of want and helplessness.
'When matters will be thus fixed, the owner of the factory will no longer put aside daily a treasure which he has absolutely no need of (without taking into consideration that if the fortune is disproportionate, the capitalist succumbs under a formidable burden, and gets into the greatest difficulties and troubles; the administration of an excessive fortune is very difficult, and exhausts man s natural strength). And, the workmen and artisans will no longer be in the greatest misery and want, they will no longer be submitted to the worst privations at the end of their life.
It is, then, clear and evident that the repartition of excessive fortunes amongst a small number of individuals, while the masses are in misery, is an iniquity and an injustice. In the same way, absolute equality would be an obstacle to life, to welfare, to order and to the peace of humanity. In such a question a just medium is preferable. It lies in the capitalists being moderate in the acquisition of their profits, and in their having a consideration for the welfare of the poor and needy; that is to say, that the workmen and artisans receive a fixed and established daily wage, and have a share in the general profits of the factory.
It would be well, with regard to the social rights of manufacturers, workmen and artisans, that laws be established, giving moderate profits to manufacturers, and to workmen the necessary means of existence and security for the future.
Thus, when they become feeble and cease working, get old and helpless, and die leaving children under age, these children will not be annihilated by excess of poverty. And it is from the income of the factory itself, to which they have a right, that they will derive a little of the means of existence.
In the same way, the workmen should no longer rebel and revolt, nor demand beyond
Page 240their rights; they should no longer go out on strike, they should be obedient and submissive, and not ask for impudent wages. But the mutual rights of both associated parties will be fixed and established according to custom by just and impartial laws. In case one of the two parties should transgress, the courts of justice would have to give judgment, and by an efficacious fine put an end to the transgression; thus order will be reestablished, and the difficulties settled.
The interference of courts of justice and of the Government in difficulties pending between manufacturers and workmen is legal, for the reason that current affairs between workmen and manufacturers cannot be compared with ordinary affairs between private persons, which do not concern the public, and with which the government should not occupy itself.
In reality, although they appear to be matters between private persons, these difficulties between patrons and workmen produce a general detriment; for commerce, industry, agriculture and the general affairs of the country are all intimately linked together.
If one of these suffers an abuse, the detriment affects the mass. Thus the difficulties between workmen and manufacturers become a cause of general detriment.
The court of justice and the Government have therefore the right of interference. When a difficulty occurs between two individuals with reference to private rights, it is necessary for a third to settle the question; this is the part of the Government: then the question of strikes � which cause troubles in the country and are often connected with the excessive vexations of the workmen, as well as with the rapacity of the manufacturers � how could it remain neglected?
Good God! Is it possible that, seeing one of his fellow-creatures starving, destitute of everything, a man can rest and live comfortably in his luxurious mansion? He who meets another in the greatest misery, can he enjoy his fortune? That is why, in the Religion of God, it is prescribed and established that wealthy men each year give over a certain part of their fortune for the maintenance of the poor and unfortunate.
That is the foundation of the Religion of God, and the most essential of the commandments.
As now man is not forced nor obliged by the Government, if by the natural tendency of his good heart, with the greatest spirituality, he goes to this expense for the poor, this will be a thing very much praised, approved and pleasing.
Such is the meaning of the good works in theThe greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is religion; for assuredly the divine teachings of religion are above all other sources of instruction and development of man. Religion confers upon man eternal life and guides his footsteps in the world of morality.
It opens the doors of unending happiness and bestows everlasting honor upon the human kingdom. It has been the basis of all civilization and progress in the history of mankind.
We will therefore investigate religion, seeking from an unprejudiced standpoint to discover whether it is the source of illumination, the cause of development and the animating impulse of all human advancement.
How shall we determine whether religion has been the cause of human advancement or retrogression?
We will first consider the founders of the religions � the prophets � review the story of their lives, compare the conditions preceding their appearance with those subsequent to their departure, following historical records and irrefutable facts instead of relying upon traditionary statements which are open to both acceptance and denial.
Among the great prophets was His Holiness Abraham who, being an iconoclast and a herald of the oneness of God, was banished from His native land. He founded a family upon which the blessing of God descended; and it was owing to this religious basis and ordination that the Abrahamic house progressed and advanced.
Through the divine benediction, noteworthy and luminous prophets issued from the lineage of His Holiness. There appeared Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon.
There is another and more significantaspect to this religious impulse and impetus. The children of Israel were in bondage and captivity in the land of Egypt four hundred years. They were in an extreme state of degradation and slavery under the tyranny and oppression of the Egyptians.
While they were in the condition of abject poverty, in the lowest degree of abasement, ignorance and servility, His Holiness Moses suddenly appeared among them. Although He was but a shepherd, such majesty, grandeur and efficiency became manifest in Him through the power of religion, that His influence continues to this day. His prophethood was established throughout the land and the law of His Word became the foundation of the laws of the nations.
This unique personage, single and alone, rescued the children of Israel from bondage through the power of religious training and discipline. He led them to the Holy Land and founded there a great civilization which has become permanent and renowned and under which these people attained the highest degree of honor and glory. He freed them from bondage and captivity. He imbued them with qualities of progressiveness and capability.
They proved to be a civilizing people with instincts toward education and scholastic attainment. Their philosophy became renowned; their industries were celebrated throughout the nations. In all lines of advancement which characterize a progressive people they achieved distinction.
In the splendor of the reign of Solomon their sciences and arts advanced to such a degree that even the Greek philosophers journeyed to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of the Hebrew sages and acquire the basis of Israelitish law.
When a movement fundamentally religious makes a weak nation strong, changes a nondescript tribal people into a mighty and powerful civilization, rescues them from captivity and elevates them to sovereignty, transforms their ignorance into knowledge and endows them with an impetus of advancement in all degrees of development (this is not theory, but historical fact) it becomes evident that religion is the cause of man 's attainment to honor and sublimity.
But when we speak of religion we mean the essential foundation or reality of religion, not the dogmas and blind imitations which have gradually encrusted it and which are the cause of the decline and effacement of a nation. These are inevitably destructive and a menace and hindrance to a nation's life, even as it is recorded in the Torah and confirmed in history that when the Jews became fettered by empty forms and imitations the wrath of God became manifest.
What then is the mission of the divine prophets?Their mission is the education and advancement of the world of humanity. They are the real teachers and educators, the universal instructors of mankind.
If we wish to discover whether any one of these great souis or messengers was in reality a prophet of God we must investigate the facts surrounding His life and history; and the first point of our investigation will be the education He bestowed upon mankind. If He has been an educator, if He has really trained a nation or people, causing it to rise from the lowest depths of ignorance to the highest station of knowledge, then we are sure that He was a prophet.
Furthermore we will establish the point that the foundations of the religions of God are one foundation. This foundation is nor multiple for it is reality itself.
Reality does not admit of multiplicity although each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions. One concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world of humanity in general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life. This is ideal and spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine religion and subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore the religions are essentially one and the same.
The second classification or division comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct.
This is not the essential spiritual quality of religion.
It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place.
Time changes conditions, and laws change to suit conditions. We must remember that these changing laws are not the essentials; they are the accidentaL of religion. The
Page 242essential ordinances established by a Manifestation of God are spiritual; they concern moralities, the ethical development of man and faith in God.
They are ideal and necessarily permanent; expressions of the one foundation and not amenable to change or transformation. Therefore the fundamental basis of the revealed religion of God is immutable, unchanging throughout the centuries, not subject to the varying conditions of the human world.
Christ ratified and proclaimed the foundation of the law of Moses. Muhammad and all the prophets have revoked that same foundation of reality. Therefore the purposes and accomplishments of the divine messengers have been one and the same.
At the time when the Israelites had been dispersed by the power of the Roman empire and the national life of the Hebrew people had been effaced by their conquerors � when the law of God had seemingly passed from them and the foundation of the religion of God was apparently destroyed � Jesus Christ appeared.
When His Holiness arose among the Jews, the first thing He did was to proclaim the validity of the Manifestation of Moses. He declared that the Torah, the Old Testament was the Book of God and that all the prophets of Israel were valid and true. He extolled the mission of Moses and through His proclamation the name of Moses was spread throughout the world.
Through Christianity the greatness of Moses became known among all nations. It is a fact that before the appearance of Christ, the name of Moses had not been heard in Persia.
In India they had no knowledge of Judaism and it was only through the Christianizing of Europe that the teachings of the Old Testament became spread in that region. Throughout Europe there was not a copy of the Old Testament; but consider this carefully and judge it aright; � through the instrumentality of Christ, through the translation of the New Testament, the little volume of the gospel, the Old Testament, the Torah has been translated into six hundred languages and spread everywhere in the world. The names of the Hebrew prophets became household words among the nations, who believed that the children of Israel were verily the chosen people of God, a holy nation under the especial blessing and protection of God, and that therefore the prophets who had arisen in Israel were the daysprings of revelation and brilliant stars in the heaven of the will of God.
Therefore His HolinessChrist really promulgated Judaism for He was a Jew and not opposed to the Jews. He did not deny the prophethood of Moses; on the contrary He proclaimed and ratified it. He did not invalidate the Torah; He spread its teachings. That portion of the ordinances of Moses which concerned transactions and unimportant conditions underwent transformation but the essential teachings of Moses were revoiced and confirmed by Christ without change. He left nothing unfinished or incomplete.
Likewise through the supreme efficacy and power of the Word of God He united most of the nations of the east and the west.
From another horizon we see Muhammad the prophet of Arabia appearing.
You may not know that the first address of Muhanti-mad to His tribe was the statement "Verily Moses was a prophet of God and the Torah is a book of God. Verily, 0 ye people, ye must believe in the Torah, in Moses and the prophets. Ye must accept all the prophets of Israel as valid." In the Qur'Jtn, the Muhammadan Bible, there are seven statements or repetitions of the Mosaic narrative, and in all the historic accounts Moses is praised.
Today the Christians are believers in Moses, accept Him as a prophet of God and praise Him most highly.
The Mubammadans are likewise believers in Moses, accept the validity of His prophethood, at the same time believing in Christ. Could it be said that the acceptance of Moses by the Christians and Muhammadans has been harmful and detrimental to those people? On the contrary it has been beneficial to them, proving that they have been fair-minded and just. What harm could result to the Jewish people, then, if they in return should accept His Holiness Christ and acknowledge the validity of the prophethood of His
Holiness Mi4iam-mad?By this acceptance and praiseworthy attitude the enmity and hatred which have afflicted mankind so many centuries would be dispelled, fanaticism and bloodshed pass
Page 243away and the world be blessed by unity and agreement.
Christians and Muhammadans believe and admit that Moses was the Inter-locator of God. Why do you not say that Christ was the Word of God? Why do you not speak these few words that will do away with all this difficulty?
Then there will be no hatred and fanaticism, no more warfare and bloodshed in the Land of Promise.
Then there will be peace among you forever.Praise be to God! the medieval ages of darkness have passed away and this century of radiance has dawned, � this century wherein the reality of things is becoming evident, � wherein science is penetrating the mysteries of the universe, the oneness of the world of humanity is being established and service to mankind is the paramount motive of all existence.
Shall we remain steeped in our fanaticisms and cling to our prejudices? Is it fitting that we should still be bound and restricted by ancient fables and superstitions of the past; be handicapped by superannuated beliefs and the ignorances of dark ages, waging religious wars, fighting and shedding blood, shunning and anathematizing each other? Is this becoming?
Is it not better for us to be loving and considerate toward each other? Is it not preferable to enjoy fellowship and unity; join in anthems of praise to the most high God and extol all His prophets in the spirit of acceptance and true vision: Then indeed this world will become a paradise and the promised Day of God will dawn. ...
The age has dawned when human fellowship will be come a reality.
The century has come when all religions shall be unified.
The dispensation is at hand when all nations shall enjoy the blessings of International peace.
The cycle has arrived when racial prejudice will be abandoned by tribes and peoples of the world.
12. THE IMAGE OF GODAccording to the words of the Old Testament, God has said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."
This indicates that man is of the image and likeness of God; that is to say, the perfections of God, the divine virtues are reflected or revealed in the human reality. Just as the light and effulgence of the sun when cast upon a polished mirror are reflected fully, gloriously, so likewise the qualities and attributes of divinity are radiated from the depths of a pure human heart. This is an evidence that man is the most noble of God's creatures.
Each kingdom of creation is endowed with its necessary complement of attributes and powers. The mineral possesses inherent virtues of its own kingdom in the scale of existence.
The vegetable possesses the qualities of the mineral plus a virtue augmentative or power of growth. The animal is endowed with the virtues of both the mineral and vegetable plane pius the power of the senses. The human kingdom is replete with the perfections of all the kingdoms below it, with the addition of powers peculiar to man alone. Man is therefore superior to all the creatures below him, the loftiest and most glorious being of creation. Man is the microcosm, and the infinite universe the macrocosm. The mysteries of the greater world or macrocosm are expressed or revealed in the lesser world, the microcosm. The tree, so to speak, is the greater world, and the seed in its relation to the tree is the lesser world.
But the whole of the great tree is potentially latent and hidden in the little seed. When this seed is planted and cultivated, the tree is revealed.
Likewise the greater world, the macrocosm, is latent and miniatured in the lesser world or microcosm of man. This constitutes the universality or perfection of virtues potential in mankind.
Therefore it is said that man has been created in the image and likeness of God.
Let us now discover more specifically how he is the image and likeness of God and what is the standard or criterion by which he can be measured and estimated. This standard can be no other than the divine virtues which are revealed in him.
Therefore every man imbued with divine qualities, who reflects heavenly moralities and perfections, who is the expression of ideal and praiseworthy attributes, is verily in the image and iikeness of God. If a man possesses wealth can we call him an image and likeness of God? Or is human honor and notoriety the criterion of divine nearness?
Page 244Can we apply the test of racial color and say that man of a certain hue � white, black, brown, yellow, red � is the true image of his creator? We must conclude that color is not the standard and estimate of judgment and that it is of no importance, for color is accidental in nature. The spirit and intelligence of man is the essential; and that is the manifestation of divine virtues, the merciful bestowals of God, the life eternal and baptism through the
Holy Spirit. Thereforebe it known that color or race is of no importance.
He who is the image and likeness of God, who is the manifestation of the bestowals of God, is acceptable at the threshold of God whether his color be white, black or brown, it matters not. Man is not man simply because of bodily attributes. The standard of divine measure and judgment is his intelligence and spirit.
Therefore let this be the only criterion and estimate; for this is the image and likeness of God. A man's heart may be pure and white though his outer skin be black; or his heart be dark and sinful though his racial color is white.
The character and purity of the heart is of all importance. The heart illumined by the light of God is nearest and dearest to God; and in as much as God has endowed man with such favor that he is called the image of God, this is truly a su-prerne perfection of attainment, a divine station which is not to be sacrificed by the mere accident of color.
Page 245safely:? transferred (to) hallowed precincts (of the) Shrines (on) Mount Carmel. Long inflicted humiliation wiped away.
Machinations (of the) Cove-nant-breakers (to) frustrate plan defeated. Cherished wish (of) Greatest Holy Leaf fulfilled. Sister, Brother, Mother (and) Wife (of) 'Abdu'l-Bahá reunited (at the) one spot designed (to) constitute focal center (of) Baha
Administrative InstitutionsShare joyful news (with) entire body (of) American believers.
� SHOGHI RABEANI.Christmas eve, (the) beloved remains (of) Purest Branch and Master's Mother laid in state (in) BTh's Holy Tomb. Christmas day, entrusted (to) Carmel's sacred soil. (The) ceremony (in) presence (of) representatives (of) Near Eastern believers profoundly moving. Impelled associate America's momentous Seven Year enterprise (with) imperishable memory (of) these two holy souis who, next (to)
Twin Founders (of) Faithand (its) Perfect Exemplar, tower, together with Greatest Holy Leaf, above (the) entire concourse (of the) faithful. Rejoice privilege (to) pledge thousand pounds my contribution (to) Bahá'í Khinum Fund designed (for) inauguration (of) final drive (to) insure placing contract next April (for) last remaining stage (in) construction (of) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Time (is) pressing, opportunity priceless, potent aid providentially promised unfailing.
� SHOGHI! RABBANLTo the beloved of God and the handinaids of the Merciful throughout the West.
Dearly beloved friends: The transfer of the secred remains of the brother and mother of our Lord and Master 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Mount Carmel and their final interment within the hallowed precincts of the Shrine of the Bib, and in the immediate neighborhood of the resting place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, constitute, apart from their historic associations and the tender sentiments they arouse, events of such capital institutional significance as oniy future happenings, steadily and mysteriously unfolding at the world center of our Faith, can adequately demonstrate.
The circumstances attending the consummation of this long, this profoundly cherished hope were no less significant.
The~ These two cablegrams received by the National Spiritual Assembly on the dates mentioned preceded the following epistle which proclaims in detail the "Spiritual Potencies of that Consecrated Spot" on Mt. Carmel, the
Mountain of God.'Abdu'l-Bahá and His brother the Purest Branch. (The Purest Branch
is seated on the left.)Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh at the time when the Purest Branch was being prepared for the grave in His presence.
Page 247TRANSFER OF SACRED REMAINS 247
swiftness and suddenness with which so delicate and weighty an undertaking was conducted; the surmounting of various obstacles which the outbreak of war and its inevitable repercussions necessarily engendered; the success of the long-drawn-out negotiations which the solution of certain preliminary problems imposed; the execution of the plan in the face of the continued instability and persistent dangers following the fierce riots that so long and so violently rocked the Holy Land, and despite the smoldering fire of animosity kindled in the breasts of ecciesiastics and Covenant-break-ers alike � all combined to demonstrate, afresh and with compelling power, the invincible might of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
The Purest Branch, the martyred son, the companion, and amanuensis of Bahá'u'lláh, that pious and holy youth, who in the darkest days of Bahá'u'lláh's incarceration in the barracks of 'Akka entreated, on his deathbed, his Father to accept him as a ransom for those of His loved ones who yearned for, but were unable to attain, His presence, and the saintly mother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, surnamed NavvTh by Bahá'u'lláh, and the first recipient of the honored and familiar title of "the Most Exalted Leaf," separated in death above half a century, and forced to suffer the humiliation of an alien burial-ground, are now at long last reunited with the Greatest Holy Leaf with whom they had so abundantly shared the tribulations of one of the most distressing episodes of the Heroic Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Avenged, eternally safeguarded, befittingly glorified, they repose embosomed in the heart of Carmel, hidden beneath its sacred soil, interred in one single spot, lying beneath the shadow of the twin holy Tombs, and facing across the bay, on an eminence of unequalled loveliness and beauty, the silver-city of 'Akka, the Point of Adoration of the entire Bahá'í world, and the Door of Hope for all mankind.
"Haste thee, 0 Carmefl"thus proclaims the pen of Bahá'u'lláh, f!f or lo, the light of the coitntencrnce of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee."
erRejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the days pring of the evidences of His Revel ation.~~ The machinations of Bahá'u'lláh � the brother and lieutenant of the Focal Center of sedition and Archbreaker of the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, the deceased Muhammad-'Ali � who with uncommon temerity and exceptional vigor addressed his written protest to the civil authorities, claiming the right to oppose the projected transfer of the remains of the mother and brother of 'Abdu'1 � Bah&, have been utterly frustrated. So foolish a claim, advanced by one who in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá has been denounced as an "alert and active worker of mischief," and whose life has been marked by so many instances of extravagance, of betrayal and folly, has been summarily rejected by the fairness and justice of the civil authorities, in whose custody the notorious S4dhij, the daughter of that same Bahá'u'lláh, is still retained, as a direct result of her ceaseless instigations to rebellion and terrorism, and whose acts constitute a clear and double violation of the civil law of the land and of the spiritual ordinances of Bahá'u'lláh, in Whose Faith she professes to believe.
Unabashed by his appalling mistakes and blunders; undeterred by the galling failure of his persistent efforts, in conjunction with his brother, to establish, in the days following the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá their alleged right to the custody of the Most Holy Tomb; unrestrained by the memory of the abortive attempt of Muharnmad-'Ali to retain the Mansion of Bahá'u'lláh as a private residence for himself and his family; unchastened by the spiritual and material misery into which he and his kindred have sunk; and impotent to perceive the contrast between that misery and the consolidating strength and ever-enhancing prestige of the institutions heralding the birth of the
World Order of Bahá'u'lláhat its international center, he has, with characteristic insolence, dared to raise once again his voice against the resistless march of events that are steadily accelerating the expansion and establishment of the Faith in the Holy
Land.For it must be clearly understood, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the conjunction of the resting-place of the Greatest
Page 248~Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thcnt shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the 'whole earth shall He be called. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. For the mountains s shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. 0 thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy wii~daws of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children ivhosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake."
,~ ~M9JL,Lk, "~ ~'~4P;b~)kfr9~J I;~.(t~A-,) ~ 1% L.ji Siyyid Muhammad Bagher. This latter was a very important theologian and learned man whose word was obeyed throughout all trim. He was peerless and without equal in his days. When my grandmother related her dream to him and requested an interpretation, he answered: cBe thou of good cheer and happy for God will grant thee two children who, like unto two luminous suns, will enlighten and illumine all your family and relatives.'
(In the course of time) ccmy father, Mirza. Muhammad-'Ali was born and a year and three months later, my uncle, Mirza H~ji, was born."
"When my father graduated from the college (tKaseh~Garan~), he started on a trip to visit the sacred cities, and in Karbifl enrolled himself as a student in the classes of H&ji
Siyyid K~zim Rashdi.THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM 261
teachings of this master and Shaykh Ahmad. These two brilliant orbs shine today in the world of existence, and were unequalled in fame and knowledge. After living for some time in that sacred city, he took unto himself a wife.
"When they were attending the classes of HAji Siyyid KA4m, they repeatedly had met His Holiness the BTh, and had observed many wonderful traces and spiritual signs appearing from His
Holy Temple.""Now concerning my father: On arriving at IsMMn, as his wife was living in Karbih, he took a room in the college of tKaseh-Garan.'
About this time His Holiness BThu'1-B~breceived a command from the BTh to leave Shiniz for I~fthAn. Having arrived in that city, he engaged in the promotion of the Cause, and guided many souis to this wonderful Movement. Among those who accepted the Message was my father. He was led to the path of knowledge and faith. After a while misfortune overtook him, as he received the news that his wife had ascended to the Kingdom.
"While he was thus deprived of the corn � forts of a home, he met and associated with Hiji Aga Mu1~ammad, a well known merchant of Isf&h4n and one of the new believers. He was very devoted to my father. One day he said to my father: tlnasmuch as your wife has passed away without issue, would it not be better for you to forsake your room in the college and come to live with us in our home; I have a sister, and if agreeable to you, I will be more than happy to arrange a marriage between you, so the bond of love and affection may thus be strengthened between you and our family.'
My father readily consented to this wise suggestion, and HAj i Aga Mi4iammad, after consulting with his mother, found that she not oniy had no objections, but was most eager to bring about the union. His mother said: tLast night I saw, in the world of dreams, a nobleman (Siyyid) with luminous face visit our home. He carried in his hands two lamps. Now that Siyyid must be this personage, and unquestionably you must hasten the consummation of this marriage.'
"Then HAji Aga Muijammadinvited many friends to a betrothal feast, and his sister, who is my mother, was affianced to my father.
It was well known that my father had no children from his first wife. Two years passed after his marriage with my mother, but no child was born.
Then His Holiness the Bib, traveling from Shir~z, arrived in IsfThAn, and took up his abode in the home of Imim-Jum'ih. My uncle, Mirza Ibrihim, the father of the King of the Martyrs and the Beloved of the Martyrs, was appointed by Im~m-Jum'ih as host to His Holiness the Báb, to be ready at all times to serve Him under all circumstances. One night he invited to dinner His Holiness the BTh, who graciously accepted this invitation.
Those present at that glorious feast received the bounties and favors of the Bib, and listened to His Words until supper was served. Then they all sat down to a spiritual and material feast. While partaking of the supper, His Holiness the Báb turned to one of those present and made inquiries about the children of my father. That person answered that, although he had been twice married, no children were born to him. His Holiness the Báb then offered my father a spoonful of sweets.
He ate, and at that moment it occurred to his mind that the blessed will of the Lord had at last destined the birth of a child for him. When the feast was over and he had returned to his home, he mentioned this fact to my mother.
Having kept a little of the sweets, he gave it to hen After eight months and nine days I was born into the world."
"In compliance with the command of the BlessedSiyyid Mihdi Dhaji arrived in Persia, and later passed through I~ThhAn to promulgate the Cause of God. A great feast was prepared for him, and all the believers clustered around inquiring eagerly the news of the Holy Land, and all the details concerning the Blessed Family and an account of the imprisonment of the believers in the barracks of 'Akka. Among the inquirers was Shins Os Zoha, the wife of my uncle, and a member of the household of the King of the Martyrs.
She asked of Siyyid Milidi: tWhule you were in the Presence of Bahá'u'lláh, did you ever hear whether any girl
Page 262had been spoken of or selected for the Master 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í He answered, tNo, but one day the Blessed Perfection was walking in the men's apartment and speaking.
Then He turned His face to me and said, tAga Siyyid Mihdi! I had a remarkable dream last night. I dreamt that the face of the beautiful girl who is living in Tihr~n, whose hand in marriage we asked from Mirza Hasan for the Greatest Branch, became dark and obscure. At the same moment, the face of another girl appeared on the scene whose countenance was luminous and whose heart enlightened. We have selected her to become the wife of the Greatest Branch.' Except for the above talk from the lips of the Blessed Perfection, I have heard nothing.
tCWh my aunt returned to the house and saw me, she declared by the One God that the very moment when Siyyid Milidi was relating to us the dream of Bahá'u'lláh, it had occurred to her mind that, without question, I was that girl, and ere long we would realize that she was right. I wept and answered: Tar be it, for I am not worthy of such a bounty. I beg of thee never let another word concerning the matter issue from thy lips; do not speak about it.' Munirili Kbinum continues the story of how she traveled to the Holy Land through successive instructions from Bahá'u'lláh to her relatives. En route to their destination they met many friends who tried to prevent them from going to the Holy Land, saying that in these days no one is permitted to go to 'Akka because some sad and unfortunate events had caused anew the incarceration of the friends, and the authorities did not permit any Bahá'í to enter the city of 'Akka. "This news disturbed us a great deal, and we wondered what we should do, but Shaykh Salman assured us that these conditions did not apply to us, and made us feel confident that we should enter the Holy Land with the utmost ease and tranquillity, even if all the believers were thrown into prison and under chains." After many trials and difficulties on the way, they finally arrived in 'Akka.
members of the Blessed Family came to visit and welcome us. I returned with them, and for the first time stood in the Presence of the Blessed Perfection.
Thestate of ecstasy and rapture that possessed me was beyond description. The first words of Bahá'u'lláh were these: tWe have brought you into the Prison at such a time when the door of meeting is closed to all the believers. This is for no other reason than to prove to everyone the Power and Might of God.' I continued to live in the house of Kalim for nearly five months. I visited Bahá'u'lláh many times and then returned to my abode. Whenever Kalim returned from his visit to the Blessed Perfection he would tell me of His infinite bounties, and bring a material gift from Him for me. One day he arrived with a great happiness in his face. He said: ~I have brought a most wonderful gift for you.
It is this � a new name has been given you and that name is Munirih (illumined).'
"Then the night of union drew nigh.I was dressed in a white robe which had been prepared for me by the fingers of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and which was more precious than the silks and velvets of Paradise. About nine o'clock. I was permitted to stand in the Presence of Bahá'u'lláh. Attended by the Greatest Holy Leaf, I listened to the words of the Blessed
Perfection.You are welcome! 0 thou My blessed leaf and maidservant.
We have chosen thee and accepted thee to be the companion of the Greatest Branch and to serve Him. This is from My Bounty, to which there is no equal; the treasures of the earth and heaven cannot be compared with it. Thou must be very thankful, for thou hast attained to this most great favor and bestowal.
May you always be under the protection of God"If I were to write the details of the fifty years of my association with the Beloved of the world, of His love, His mercy and bounty, I would need fifty years more of time and opportunity in order to write it; yet, if the seas of the world were turned into ink and the leaves of the forest into paper, I would not render adequate justice to the subject."
During the Conventionof the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-eight in the Foundation Hall of the
Mashriqu'1-.THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM 263
Adhk~r in Wilmette, a cable from Shoghi Effendi was read announcing the death of Munirih Kh4num, better known to most of us as the Holy Mother, the beloved wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The gathering was unprepared for the shock the reading of the cable produced. Many of us knew that Munirih KLinum had looked forward with eagerness to the time when she would rejoin her beloved 'Abdu'l-Bahá and we were aware she had reached a venerable age; but this knowledge did not mitigate the deep sense of loss experienced by the departure of this noble and inspiring woman.
We realized one of the great souis of the Heroic Age of the Cause had passed on. The atmosphere of the gathering became instantly altered and in the influx of the spirit that enveloped us, our hearts and our sympathetic thoughts became focused in Haifa with the Guardian and the Holy Family. During During the springtime of nineteen bun � dred and thirty-seven when our family had the honor of being the guests of Shoghi Effendi in the Pilgrim House in Haifa, I took several informal snapshots of members of the Holy Family.
These were shown to Munirih Khinum and apparently interested her. Later on word was conveyed to me that she would be pleased to have me take her photograph.
On a subsequent afternoon I was asked to go to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í home, across the street from the Pilgrim House.
There I had the honor of being received byand of being presented to the Holy Mother and to the other ladies present who were gathered in the reception room in the rear of the home. There during certain afternoons it is the custom of Zia Kh4num and other ladies of the Holy Family to receive Bahá'í ladies of Haifa and visiting pilgrims. On this occasion, as is usual at these gatherings, tea was served, and the conversation related to Bahá'í matters.
For the photographs taken that afternoon a small camera lent by Ruhiyyih KMnum was mostly used and they are, in reality, snapshot group pictures from which enlargements of Munirih Kh4num were made.
The photographs have a historic value due to their being the only ones taken during the later years of her life.
It was almost unbelievable that at the time they were made Munirih Kh4num had reached the venerable age of ninety-five.
On occasions during the meeting the Holy Mother spoke treasured words and chanted for us in a clear voice of great beauty; it was indeed a great soui to whom we had the honor of listening.
The rigors of a life in which great sufferings and hardships had been experienced side by side with her beloved 'Abdu'l-Bahá, had failed to dim the sweetness of character and sympathetic personality of this noble woman, the surviving member in the immediate article of the Holy Family, of that great period in which the !CFaith~~ had its inception.
W. S. MAXWELL October 1st, 1939.A Tribute B~ CORINNE TRUE, Wilmette, Illinois IT WAS in February of 1907 that I made my first trip to Palestine to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá while He was still confined in the "Most Great Prison" at 'Akka.
Our steamer arrived in the Bay of Haifa and we were taken to the quay in big boats propelled by Arab oarsmen. After passing through the Turkish Customs we went by carriage to the Carmel House, a very old hotel kept by German Adventists.
At Port SaYd on our way to Haifa, Ahmad Effendi Yazdi came aboard our ship bringing with him an English lady, a Baha'i, then living in Brittany, Madam Scaramucci, who was also on her way to visit 'Abdu'l-Bahá. She and my daughter (Ama) and I finished the journey together. We became the dearest of friends and were associated together in all the precious experiences of this memorable pilgrimage.
Shortly after our first meal in the German Hospice in Haifa in the early evening, a
Page 264Monument erected on the site of the grave of Munirih Kh~num, the wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, on Mt. Carmel, and beneath the shadow of the resting place of Bahá'í KMnum
The Greatest Holy Leaf.THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM 265
note was delivered to us by a messenger from Cook's
Travel Bureau in Haifa.This note requested that we three stroll up the avenue a few blocks where we were to be met by two Ba1A'i brothers who would accompany us to the Master's Haifa home, some six blocks up the mountain from our hotel.
Such a night as this was; it was full moonlight, the weather was as balmy as May with flowers blooming everywhere! We met our two Bahá'í escorts and they quietly guided us to 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í residence where first, as was the Oriental custom, we met a number of Bahá'í men.
They questioned us concerning the progress of the Cause in America and of our visit with the Egyptian Bahá'ís whom we had seen in Alexandria. In a short while these gentlemen excused themselves in or&r that we might meet the Ladies of the Holy Household of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. At this time one of the daughters of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, Ruha Khinum was living in the Master's Haifa house because the enemies had stirred up fresh trouble for 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Constantinople, causing Him to be reconfined within the old Penal Colony of 'Akka for a period of four years.
This was done by order of the Turkish government.How thoughtful of our beloved Master to send His wife, the revered Munirih Kh6num and the little grandson, Shoghi Effendi, together with some other members of His Household, from 'Akka to Haifa to welcome us!
Those Bahá'ís of today who may have known the Master as a free man, can scarcely comprehend the emotions of the early pilgrims going to Palestine to visit the World's Greatest Prisoner, who for forty years had been confined in that terrible Penal Colony of 'Akka, drawing not one breath of freedom!
Had the local authorities known who we were, our safety might have been in jeopardy. But God mercifully protected us from any harm, and bestowed upon us the boundless favors of His shelter.
We were permitted to have six days of indescribable joy associating with the members of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Household, with His wife and with His family. Words fail to depict to those who read what I write, the emotions of our hearts! Scarcely had our feet walked upon the soil of the sacred Mount of God when we found ourselves the recipients of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í 's fatherly love and tenderness and were made the associates of His Holy Household. His wife had driven all the way from 'Akka to Haifa to greet us and to extend to us her most cordial welcome. It was the beloved Holy Mother, Munirih Khinum who gave us our first welcome.
The day after our arrival in Haifa we visited the Shrine of the BTh on the slope of Mr. Carmel, accompanied by the holy women, and afterward we dined with them in the Master's house.
Early on the second morning after our arrival a Baha messenger came to the door of our room in the hotel and said: "The Master has sent word from 'Akka that the three pilgrims are to hire a carraige and drive around the bay to His prison home in 'Akka" For six days we were guests in this home and daily saw the Holy Mother and the Master's Sister, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and with them the Master's daughters. Very early in the mornings we were permitted to meet in the large reception room where the beloved
'Abdu'l-Bahá and His FamilyThe Master would ask different members of the family to chant the Holy Utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and always the motherly presence of Munirih Khanum filled the atmosphere of that room with the benediction of her great mother heart.
She seemed the personification of Universal Motherhood � indeed the "Holy Mother." When I was standing beside her one morning the dear Master came and placed my hand in hers, and looking into my face said in English: "She is your Mother."
When the hour for leaving this sacred prison home of 'Abdu'l-Bahá came and we had to return to America, it seemed as if our hearts would break to have to say "good-bye" to these divinely precious members of the Holy Family! We wept, and they wept with us � because of this parting. Through this sacred visit we had found a Heavenly Father in 'Abdu'l-Bahá and a Heavenly Mother in His wife, Munirih Khanum.
In November 1919, after a period of seven years, I was again permitted to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land; this time under very different circumstances. The
Page 266Turkish government had now passed from the hands of the SultAn, having been wrested therefrom by the Young Turk Party of Progress. One of the first acts of this new government was to give 'Abdu'l-Bahá His freedom, which meant also the liberation of His entire family.
The British forces commanded by General Allenby had but lately delivered Palestine from the hands of the Turks and the Holy Family had all moved to Haifa, where life was fairly comfortable after the terrific rigors of imprisonment for so many years.
During this second Pilgrimage we were permitted more intimate association with the Greatest Holy Leaf and the Holy Mother,
Munirih Kh4num. Almostdaily we were received by them in the Master's garden where questions were asked and instructions given to us, clearing up many things that had puzzled the American friends.
Here we saw this beloved wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as a most wonderful teacher, and through her we grew in the knowledge of the Cause. In the early days one of the greatest privileges of the visiting women pilgrims was this infl-mate association with these two divine maidservants of Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Kh&num, the Greatest Holy Leaf, and Munirili Khinum, the Holy Mother. We seldom saw one without the other.
These holy women had sacrificed everything to be the companions of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Their imprisonment. Could we have found in all the world a greater privilege than this: to sit at the feet of these holy women; to hear from them, first hand, the thrilling recital of their prison lives, of how God had sustained them when deprived of the very necessities of life; and to learn that they regarded this prison life with the Blessed Perfection and 'Abdu'l-Bahá as infinitely more valuable to them than all the comforts and luxuries of life!
These women are God's great heroines and we were indeed conscious of the great privileges that were granted us in their presence. The seeds of conviction that were born in our souis by this association planted roots of faith that assisted everyone to return to the outside world and lift the Banner of the Greatest Name before the eyes of all.
On our second visit we saw Munirib Khinum not only as a Universal Mother loving every child of God, but as a great teacher and expounder of the principles of Bahá'u'lláh. She was a teacher who lived these principles before our eyes. Religious history has never known greater examples than these of devotion and sacrifice to God's Holy Messengers!
Should we praise God throughout the coming centuries, we could not render praise sufficient for the priceless spiritual heritage bequeathed to us by these holy women.
They are the archetypes for the Bahá'í womanhood of the world.
A LOVING TRIBUTE FROM AUSTRALIAM UNIRIH KUANUM! How well beloved a name throughout the Bahá'í world! The unique circumstances of her birth seemed to foretell she was destined to hold an honored position in the history of the Ba1A'i Faith. This prophecy was fulfilled when she was chosen to be the loved and honored wife of our Beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. With radiant acquiescence she shared with Him the vicissitudes, trials and tribulations that were His lot during the long surveillance under the strict "Turkish Regime" in the "walled City of 'Akka." How her heart must have rejoiced when, through the overthrowing of the Ottoman Government, it was made possible for friends to come from different lands to freely visit and converse with her.
Pilgrims from East and West, during their sojourn in Haifa, will always remember those happy hours spent in her company.
They will ever picture in their mind their first meeting with her in the Master's drawing-room. They will see her seated beside her beloved sister-in-law
Bahá'í KhSnum (the GreatestHoly Leaf) in company with members of her family and the women and children of the Bahá'í Community; they will recall her sweet eager face as they entered her presence, and they will hear her melodious voice welcoming and bidding them be seated near her.
Page 267THE PASSING OF MUNIRIH KHANUM 267
Always assuring herself first regarding their physical health and bodily comfort, she would then revert to the theme uppermost in her mind, and eagerly inquire about the progress of the Bahá'í Faith in the land from whence they came, and as they related the various activities and spread of the Teachings there, her spiritually illumined face would become radiant with joy.
She loved to gather the women and children around her, and in her sweet voice chant with them the Holy Words and the poems written in praise of her Beloved One.
She was a true exemplar of a faithful follower of Bahá'u'lláh, so firm and steadfast was she in His Covenant and Testament. Her radiant spirit was ever ready for the call of death, and gladly winged its flight to the "Realms of the Supreme Concourse" to join her loved ones there.
The members of her family, those who were so intimately connected with her, and the many pilgrims whose privilege it was to meet her, found in her passing a very difficult experience to face. It was as though they were asked to play a chord in the CCGt Symphony of Life" which was too difficult for them. The rhythm seemed suddenly broken, the theme abruptly ended, but in that pause, listening ears heard the "Great Conductor s voice say, ~ on! 'tis part of the harmony. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve?" So once again we take up the theme, and with vibrant strings play sweet harmonious chords, singing in unison, "There is no death! There is no death!"
On the siopes of Carmel (God's Holy Mount) the mortal remains of Munirili Khinum were lovingly laid to rest near the tomb of her loved and revered sister-in-law Bahá'í
Khinum (the GreatestHoly Leaf), and not far distant from the Holy Tomb where lie the sacred remains of the BTh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Down through the ages thousands of pilgrims will visit her resting place, and standing with bowed heads, reverently and fervently will pray: "0 God! 0 God! Assist us with the Hosts of the Supreme Concourse, and make us firm and steadfast in the Covenant and Testament.~~
� EFnE E. BAKERThe inscription reads: "To Shoghi Effendi with a message of love and faith. Marie."
Page 269Cf We cherish the hope that one of the kings of the earth will, for the sake of God, arise for the triumph of this wronged, this oppressed people. Such a king will be eternally extolled and glorified.
TRIBUTES PAID BY QUEEN MARIEA WOMAN brought me the other day a Book. I spell it with a capital letter because it is a glorious Book of love and goodness, strength and beauty.
She gave it to me because she had learned I was in grief and sadness and wanted to help. She put it into my hands saying: "You seem to live up to His teachings." And when I opened the Book I saw it was the word of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, prophet of love and kindness, and of His Father the great teacher of international goodwill and understanding � of a religion which links all creeds.
Their writings are a great cry toward peace, reaching beyond all limits of frontiers, above all dissension about rites and dogmas. It is a religion based upon the inner spirit of God, upon that great, not-to-be-overcome verity that God is love, meaning just that. It teaches that all hatreds, intrigues, suspicions, evil words, all aggressive patriotism even, are outside the one essential law of God, and that special beliefs are but surface things whereas the heart that beats with divine love knows no tribe nor race.
It is a wondrous Message that Bahá'u'lláh and His Son 'Abdu'l-Bahá have given us! They have not set it up aggressively, knowing ing that the germ of eternal truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread.
There is oniy one great verity in it: Love, the mainspring of every energy, tolerance towards each other, desire of understanding each other, knowing each other, helping each other, forgiving each other.
It is Christ's Messagetaken up anew, in the same words almost, but adapted to the thousand years and more difference that lies between the year one and today. No man could fad to be better because of this Book.
I commend it to you all.If ever the name of Bahá'u'lláh or 'Abdu'l-Bahá comes to your attention, do not put Their writings from you. Search out Their Books, and let Their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into mine.
One's busy day may seem too full for religion.Or one may have a religion that satisfies. But the teachings of these gentle, wise and kindly men are compatible with all religion, and with no religion.
Seek them, and be the happier."Of course, if you take the stand that creation has no aim, it is easy to dismiss life 269
Page 270and death with a shrug and a ~tthat ends it all; nothing comes after."
But how difficult it is so to dismiss the universe, our world, the animal and vegetable world, and man. How clearly one sees a plan in everything.
How unthinkable it is that the miraculous development that has brought man's body, brain and spirit to what it is, should cease. 'Why should it cease? Why is it not logical that it goes on? Not the body, which is only an instrument, but the invisible spark or fire within the body which makes man one with the wider plan of creation.
My words are lame, and why should I grope for meanings when I can quote from One who has said it so much more plainly, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who I know would sanction the use of His words: "The whole physical creation is perishable. Material bodies are composed of atoms. When these atoms begin to separate, decomposition sets in. Then comes what we call death.
"This composition of atoms which constitutes the body or mortal element of any created being, is temporary. When the power of attraction which holds these atoms together is withdrawn, the body as such ceases to exist.
CCWWith the soul it is different. The soul is not a combination of elements, is not composed of many atoms, is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal.
ctIt is entirely out of the order of physical creation; it is immortal! The soui, being an invisible, indivisible substance, can suffer neither disintegration nor destruction.
Therefore there is no reason for its coming to an end.
ccCosider the aim of creation: Is it possible that all is created to evolve and develop though countless ages with merely this small goal in view � a few years of man's life on earth?
Is it not unthinkable that this should be the final aim of existence?
Does a man cease to exist when he leaves his body?
If his life comes to an end, then all previous evolution is useless. All has been for nothing. All those eons of evolution for nothing! Can we imagine that creation had no greater aim than this?
ttThe very existence of man's intelligence proves his immortality.
His intelligence is the intermediary between his body and his spirit.
When man allows his spirit, through his soui, to enlighten his understanding, then does he contain all creation; because man being the culmination of all that went before, and thus superior to all previous evolutions, contains all the lower already-evolved world within himself.
Illumined by the spirit through the instrumentality of the soui, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of creation!"
Thus does 'Abdu'l-Bahá explain to us the soul � the most convincing elucidation I know.
(From the Toronto DailyAt first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves.
We think He is something or somebody definite, outside of us, whose quality, meaning and so-to-say "personality" we can grasp with our human, finite minds, and express in mere words.
This is not so. We cannot, with our earthly faculties, entirely grasp His meaning � any more than we can really understand the meaning of Eternity.
God is certainly not the old Fatherly gentleman with the long beard that in our childhood we saw pictured sitting amongst clouds on the throne of judgment, holding the lightning of vengeance in His hand.
God is something simpler, happier, and yet infinitely more tremendous. God is All, Everything. He is the Power behind all beings.
He is the inexhaustible source of supply, of love, of goad, of progress, of achievement. God is therefore Happiness.
His is the voice within us that shows us good and evil.
But mostly we ignore or misunderstand this voice.Therefore did He choose his Elect to come down amongst us upon earth to make clear His word, His real meaning. Therefore the Prophets; therefore Christ, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh, for man needs from time to time a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the true God. Those voices sent to us had to become flesh, so that
Page 271THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 271
with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand.
Those who read their Bible with "peeled" eyes will find in almost every line some revelation.
But it takes long Life, suffering or some sudden event to tear all at once the veil from our eyes, so that we can truly see.
Sorrow and suffering are the surest and also the most common instructors, the straightest channel to God � that is to say, to that inner something within each of us which is God.
Happiness beyond all understanding comes with this revelation that God is within us, if we will but listen to His voice. We need not seek Him in the clouds.
He is the All-Father whence we came and to Whom we shall return when, having done with this earthly body, we pass onward.
If I have repeated myself forgive me. There are so many ways of saying things, but what is important is the Truth which lies in all the many ways of expressing it.
(From the PhiladelphiaccLately a great hope has come to me from one, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I have found in His and His Father,
Bahá'u'lláh's Messageof Faith all my yearning for real religion satisfied.
If you ever hear of Bahá'ís or of the Bahá'í Movement which is known in America, you will know what that is. What I mean: these Books have strengthened me beyond belief and I am now ready to die any day full of hope. But I pray God not to take me away yet for I still have a lot of work to do."
5.ttThe Bahá'í teaching brings peace and understanding.
~tIt is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope.
"It accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open.
ccSaddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied of their intolerence towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá'í teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood.
CCUnity instead of strife, hope instead of condemnation, love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men."
"The Bahá'í teaching brings peace to the soui and hope to the heart.
"TO those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering." 1934.
"More than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder.
CCTO those searching for light, the Bahá'í Teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and good will with all men."
1936.AMONG the Bahá'í treasures about giving it expression.
in the International She was at the time in Baha Archives at Haifa bitter need, in profound, there lies an exquisite overwhelming sorrow.
and precious brooch, The sweetness, the tenderness, the preserved as a memorial depth of sympathy and of the first of the queens helpfulness which she of the world who recognizedfound at once in boundless measure and acknowledged the Revelationin the Divine Message of Bahá'u'lláh. made an instantaneous Queen Marie of Rumania appeal and opened her did not hesitate about heart to seek and welcome this recognition nor the knowledge of its was she diffident mani
Page 272She felt the precious, warm lovingkindness of the Heavenly Teachers, the perfection of their understanding.
Her soul was satisfied.Here was peace, the reality of peace: a breath upon a fevered world from that guarded inner shrine where peace has its inviolate home.
She was in bitter need.Those who were near and dear to her surrounded her with love and sympathy and consolations; for they too knew grief and pain and felt with one who suffered so acutely as she. But anguish of spirit had awakened in her a desire for something other than the sincerest human condolence.
She faced the mystery of death and love. No word, no touch, however gentle, that came only from a knowledge of this fleeting human life could suffice her now. Loneliness had broken the hold of earth on her.
She longed, as she had never longed before, forJesus Christ divided those to whom the Divine Message is communicated into four classes: those who are too self-absorbed to receive any impression, those who are able to receive oniy a shallow impression, and those who are deeply impressed by the truth but are also impressed by things not true, and finally those who are single-minded in the love and service of truth. It was the unique distinction of Queen Marie that, living in a special sphere where the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches are at their maximum, she accepted and held fast to the New Revelation. She was the first to walk in that narrow path in which, when it is made broader, all the kings and queens and rulers of the earth will follow her.
The time of an Advent is and ever has been an epoch of the severest test for humanity. CCWho may abide the day of His coming?" cried the ancient prophet; etand who shall stand when He appeareth?"
For none is the test so hard as for the great and rich. "Know ye in truth," said Bahá'u'lláh, Cttht wealth is a mighty barrier between the seeker and his desire, the lover and his beloved. The rich, but for a few, shall in no wise attain the court of His presence nor enter the city of content and resignation." For none among the great and rich is the test so hard as for royalty.
Alone among those of royal blood, alone among her sister-queens, Marie of Rumania recognized the dawning of the Day of Days and acclaimed in Bahá'u'lláh the glory of the Father. Therefore this signal privilege has been accorded her; and the ornament which she presented as a sign of gratitude to the Bahá'í teacher who brought her the Divine message is honored with a place among the holy relics of the early heroes of the Cause who first upheld among man the Banner of the Manifest King of
Kings.Marie, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh, was born in the purple; but she had this special distinction that in her veins ran the blood of the only two royalties to whom Bahá'u'lláh, when
He announced His Adventto the world's rulers, addressed words of commendation.
She was on her mother's side the granddaughter of Czar Alexander H, who abolished serfdom, and on her father's side of Queen Victoria; both of whom Bahá'u'lláh addressed in words different from the stern or minatory terms used by Him towards the King of Prussia, the Emperors of Austria and France, and the Sultan of Turkey and the ShAh of Persia.
She was herself an outstanding and radiant personality, vigorous and daring, devoted to idealistic and humanitarian projects. A traveler who in 1909, before her accession to the throne, visited her summer home in Sinaja, Rumania, at a time when it was unoccupied by her, wrote afterwards in The
Bahá'í Magazine:"We were deeply impressed with the spiritual atmosphere of her living apartment furnished largely with her own handiwork, the carving of the furniture, the paintings, the beautiful altar, all made by herself and all indicative of a deeply spiritual nature. Her books, her thoughts, as one gleaned in a hasty passage through her home, were such as to indicate the kind and spiritual ruler she has become."
After her death, an old friend who had known her since they played as girls together in Malta in 1888 wrote of her as follows: "No one who ever had the privilege of personal or intimate acquaintance with Queen Marie could fail to be impressed by the greatness of her mind and spirit. Her
Page 273THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 273
own life story reveals so well her ardent and joyous nature, the depth of feeling that accompanied every thought and action.
The world is the poorer for the passing of such a noble lady, and a blank, impossible to fill, is left in the lives of those who knew her personally.
She had passed through and suffered so much, even her wonderful health was too sorely tried and we must be thankful in spite of the great ioss to us all that she is at rest and spared any further suffering. Her spirit is surely near us still and we must try to follow her noble example of great endurance and courage to face whatever may await us in these troublous times.
LILIAN MCNEILL, World OrderThe first tidings of the Bahá'í Teaching were brought to her in the early days of 1924 when her Majesty was in Bucharest and owing to personal sorrow was living in retirement. Martha Root, the best known of the pioneers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, sent her a short note with a copy of Dr. Esslemont's Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. The Queen accepted the book and was at once so keenly interested by its message that she sat up over it into the small hours, and the next morning she sent an invitation to Martha to visit her in the Palace on the following day at twelve o'clock.
So quick and strong was the impression made through that interview that the Queen gave it utterance that same year in many ways public as well as private.
She found a ready response to her enthusiasm in her young daughter Ileana, afterwards Archduchess Anton, to whom she taught these truths.
She wrote to an American friend of hers in Paris, ttj have found all my yearnings for real religion satisfied. I am now ready to die any day full of hope; but I pray God not to take me away yet for I still have a lot of work to do."
(BAHÁ'Í WORLD VI. 580)Star published from her pen two glowing tributes to the Bahá'í Faith. "It is a wondrous Message," she wrote, ttthat Bahá'u'lláh and His son 'Abdu'l-Bahá have given us. They have not set it up aggressively, knowing that the germ of eternal truth which lies at its core cannot but take root and spread. I commend it to you all. If ever the name of Bahá'u'lláh or 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í comes to your attention, do not put Their writings from you. Search out Their books and let Their glorious peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your hearts as they have into mine.
To the Philadelphia Eveningthe same year she contributed an article on the Faith in the course of which she testified expressly to her acceptance of the truth of a succession of Revelations, a succession of Prophets~~~~YChrist, Muham.-mad, Bahá'u'lláh," she wrote; continuing, ccthe voices [of Godi sent to us had to become flesh so that with our earthly ears we should be able to hear and understand.
These three articles being syndicated were printed in nearly two hundred American newspapers, and afterwards appeared in several newspapers in the East.
The Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause gratefully acknowledged these spontaneous appreciations.
"Moved by an irresistible impulse," he wrote in the Bahá'í World for 19268, ttj addressed her Majesty in the name of the Bahá'ís of both East and West a written expression of our joyous admiration and gratitude for the queenly tribute which her Majesty has paid to the beauty and nobility of the Bahá'í
Teachings.The following is the letter which he received in reply: Bran, August 27th, 1926.
Dear Sir, I was deeply moved on reception of your letter.
Indeed a great light came to me with the message of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It came as all great messages come at an hour of dire grief and inner conflict and distress, so the seed sank deeply.
My youngest daughter finds also great strength and comfort in the teachings of the beloved masters.
We pass on the message from mouth to mouth and all those we give it to see a light
Page 274suddenly lighting before them and much that was obscure and perplexing becomes simple, luminous and full of hope as never before.
That my open letter was balm to those suffering for the Cause is indeed a great happiness to me, and I take it as a sign that God accepted my humble tribute.
The occasion given me to be able to express myself publicly was also His work. For indeed it was a chain of circumstances of which each link led me unwittingly one step further, till suddenly all was clear before my eyes and I understood why it had been.
Thus does He lead us finally to our ultimate destiny.
Some of those of my cast wonder at and disapprove my courage to step forward pronouncing words not habituaL for crowned Heads to pronounce, but I advance by an inner urge I cannot resist.
With bowed head I recognize that I too am but an instrument in greater Hands, and rejoice in the knowledge.
Little by little the veil is lifting, grief tore it in two. And grief was also a step leading me ever nearer truth, therefore do I not cry out against grief!
May you and those beneath your guidance be blessed and upheld by the sacred strength of those gone before you. MARIE.
~Letter addressed to the Guardian by H.M. DowagerMartha Root also wrote to her Majesty, and in the reply which she received were these words: The beautiful truth of Bahá'u'lláh is with me always, a help and an inspiration.
What I wrote was because my heart overflowed with gratitude for the revelation you brought me. I am happy if you think I helped.
I thought it might bring truth nearer because my words are read by so many.
In the following year (1927) her Majesty gave another audience to Martha Root; a third audience in 1928 when with her daughter the Princess Ileana she was the guest of the Queen of Yugoslavia in Belgrade; and a fourth in 1929 in the Summer Palace at Baha'i. She contributed an encomium of the Cause, charged with warm feeling and beautifully expressed, to the fourth volume of the Bahá'í World; and another more brief but not less significant to the fifth volume. CtT~ Bahá'í Teaching," she wrote, tebrings peace to the soul and hope to the heart. To those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering.
It had been for some time her Majesty's wish and aspiration to visit in person the sacred shrines upon Mount Carmel and to meet in person Shoghi Effendi. In the year 1931 the opportunity, as it seemed, arrived. Accompanied by her youngest daughter her Majesty travelled to the Holy Land and arrived at Haifa with the intention of fulfilling her cherished desire.
But fate had ruled otherwise.Unfriendly influences intervened. She did not reach her goal. In a sad letter to Martha Root dated June 2 8th, 1931, she told of her frustration and of the unwelcome pressure to which she had been subjected.
ccBoth Ileana and I," she wrote, ttwere cruelly disappointed at having been prevented going to the holy Shrines and meeting Shoghi Effendi; but at that time we were going through a cruel crisis and every movement I made was being turned against me and being politically exploited in an unkind way.
It caused me a good deal of suffering and curtailed my liberty most unkindly.
But the beauty of truth remains and I cling to it through all the vicissitudes of a life become rather sad."
Early in 1934 her Majesty again received Martha Root in audience in the
Controceni Palace in Bucharestand expressed her delight that the Rumanian translation of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era had just been published in Bucharest and that her people were to have the blessing of reading this precious Teaching. In the course of the interview the Queen told of an incident which had happened in Hamburg some months earlier when she was en route to Iceland.
As she was driving down the street a girl tossed into the car a little note, and when her Majesty opened it she read the message, ~ am so glad to see you in Hamburg because you are a Baha'i."
Martha Root's sixth and final interviewTHE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 27$
took place in February 1936 in the same Palace, and was in some respects the most touching and significant of all. Her Majesty spoke of various Bahá'í books, for she used to purchase them as they came off the press. She spoke of the depth of the fq&n, and of the wonderful radiant force of Gleanings front the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
"Even doubters," she said, "would find a powerful strength in it if they could read it alone and would give their souis time to expand."
She told how in London she had met a Baha'i, Lady Blomfield, who had shown her the message that Bahá'u'lláh had sent to her Grandmother, Queen Victoria. She told, too, of a dear friend of her girlhood who lived in 'Akka, Palestine, and knew Shoghi Effendi and had sent from there pictures of 'Akka and Haifa. This friend (Mrs. McNeill) published afterwards a letter which the Queen wrote to her at this time: ttDear ~1ittle' Lilian," it began, "it was indeed nice to hear from you and to think that you are of all things living near Haifa and are, as I am, a follower of the Bahá'í Teachings. It interests me that you are living in that special house; the Teachers so loved flowers, and being English, I can imagine what a lovely garden you have made in that Eastern climate.
I was so intensely interested and studied each photo intently. It must be a lovely place and those southeastern landscapes and gardens attract me with a sort of homesickness ever since our Malta days.
And the house you live in, so incredibly attractive and made precious by its associations with the Man we all venerate.
Four days after this, the Queen sent for THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, her last public tribute to the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.It was in due course reproduced in facsimile as a frontispiece to Volume VI, 193638, and runs as follows: CCMore than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis of bewilderment and unrest, must we stand firm in Faith seeking that which binds together instead of tearing asunder.
To those searching for light, the Bahá'í Teachings offer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and goodwill with all men.
MARIE, 1936."Her health undermined by her many troubles began to fail. After some months of illness, in July, 1938 she passed away, and leaving this world where for all her royal rank she had known so much of grief and tears she entered that Great Beyond of which she had thought so often and so deeply.
Her death and obsequies were attended with all the ceremonial that befits the passing of a Queen.
But who can tell what was the greeting that awaited her on the other side where she learned in an instant how true had been her intuitions of the manifestation of God and where she saw unobscured now by any mortal veil the white eternal splendour of the Truth that she, alone among the earth's queens, had risen to acclaim.
The Guardian of the Cause and the Bahá'ís generally recognized the distinction of her spiritual station and the greatness of her service to the Cause.
In July, 193 8 the Guardianon behalf of all the Bahá'ís sent a message of condolence to her daughter the Queen of Yougoslavia to which her Majesty replied expressing "sincere thanks to all Bahá'í followers." To the Memorial Service held in the Cathedral of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada sent a tribute of flowers. The following sentences are from an account of that ceremony: ttOn July 25th, 1938, the first anniversary of the death of Queen Marie of Rumania, an impressive memorial service was held in her honor at the
Cathedral of Washingtonin the national capital of the United States. In Bethlehem Chapel on this midsummer afternoon national dignitaries and humble citizens paid loving tribute to a royal personage whose name stands out with an especial lustre in the history of her time.
The spiritual beauty of the service expressed the character of this noble Queen � the first member of royalty to embrace the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
ttArranged by the Rumanian Minister Radu Irimescu, the service was conducted by the Reverend Doctor Anson Phelps Stokes, canon of the Cathedral and former Secretary of Yale University. Among the diplomatists present were the British, French
Page 276and Italian Ambassadors and representatives of other European embassies and legations. The Secretary of State, Honorable Cordell Hull, headed the American delegation which included government officials and representatives of the Army and Navy.
ceDircetly opposite the altar in this intimate chapel stood the imposing floral tribute tfrom the
Bahá'í Friends of America' � across ten feet in height with a nine-pointed star at its centre. This emblem was designed by Charles Mason Remey and presented in consultation with the
National Spiritual Assembly.It was beside the Bahá'í tribute that the Rumanian Minister stood at the conclusion of the service to greet the audience as they passed out, according to the continental custom on such occasions.
"Not only did Queen Marie as the Dowager Queen of Rumania attest her faith in the Divine Cause through private letters; she claimed the spiritual bounty of calling the Teachings to the attention of others."
In these dark and troublous times, this Day (or is it not rather this Night?)
of Judgment, when there is no open vision and when the gift of spirituality is not esteemed, the connection of Queen Marie with the Bahá'í Faith may seem to be but a small matter, the least episode among the multifarious activities of a crowded and brilliant life. But when this sleep in which the world's soui is shrouded ends at last; when men's spirits awakening behold the glories and the bounties and the opportunities that have lain about them, unwelcome and unregarded, all these many years, then they will look back upon the past with a new and horrified understanding.
They will gaze with amazement and indignation and pity upon the incorrigible blindness of the mighty ones of Europe who despite the manifold warnings of God led their people through misery upon misery and flung them at last into the ultimate abyss of war. But amidst that universal darkness of failure and misrule that fills the palaces and chancelleries of the world men will see one solitary light shining in lone splendor and will acknowledge the true majesty of that one redeeming soui whose high faith caught and reflected far the glory of the breaking Dawn of
God.In later times, when the prophecies of the Bible are fulfilled openly before the eyes of all, when the New Jerusalem estab � lished in the top of the mountains and "the nations of them that are saved walk in its light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it"; then men will see treasured among the sacred relics of the first champions of the Bahá'í Faith one royal ornament, a brooch of silver and diamond, the memorial of the first Queen who recognized and acclaimed the Glory of Bahá'u'lláh; and the name and the deed of Queen Marie of Rumania will be on the lips of men forever. GEORGE TOWNSHEND 4
TREASURED MEMORIESIN AN article written by Martha L. Root in World Order, June, 1936, giving an account of various visits to Her (late) Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania, I found the following passage: Ct What a memorable visit it was! She told me she has a friend in 'Akka, Palestine, who knows Shoghi Effendi, and this friend has recently sent her Bahá'í pictures of 'Akka and Haifa. The two were playfellows when they were children and met in Malta."
I have the great happiness of being that friend and I would like Bahá'ís all over the world to share with me some treasured memories.
In the winter of 188889, five happy little girls played together in the lovely, sunlit orange gardens of the palace of San Antonio, Malta.
They were the four daughters of H. R. H. the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, afterwards Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was at that time the Commander in Chief of the British fleet in the Mediterranean; and my
Page 277THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 277
self, daughter of Major Harry Barron, Royal Artillery, in later years Major General Sir Harry Barron, Governor of Malta for a short period, and then successively Governor of Tasmania and of Western
Australia.Our ages ranged from thirteen years to five. I was youngest but one, and being rather delicate, on account of a fall from a pony, could not indulge in the wildest of the games and was taken great care of by the elder sisters, and always called tt1ittIe~~ Lilian, a name used ever afterward by Queen Marie.
When in due course we all left Malta, our games were renewed in the gardens of Buckingham Palace and at Clarendon House, their home in London. But we all always treasured those Malta days in our memories as a dream of happiness unforgettable. Those times are fully described in
Queen Marie's book, Storyof My Life. We all married very young and our ways lay apart for many years, though we kept in touch.
Queen Marie and I were reunited in close affection through the Bahá'í teachings, with which we both became acquainted about the same time, she in Rumania, I in Palestine.
Nearly ten years ago, making a voyage of discovery in this neighborhood, across country where then only the roughest of tracks existed, I came upon an old house, neglected, some parts almost ruinous.
Two gigantic cypress trees, said to be hundreds of years old, stand sentinel beside it. An inside courtyard was surrounded by a thick, high wall. Outside was a little paved terrace through which flows the aqueduct which supplies the orange gardens and the town of 'Akka, and steps leading down to further terraces of gardens. There was a Bedouin family living in a tent in the garden, and the olive pickers from a village near Carmel had been allowed to live in the lower floor of the house three winters running during the olive harvest, so the state of the place can be imagined!
Nevertheless I saw the possibilities and the poor old house with its vaulted lower rooms had an intense and almost weird fascination for me.
This is how I found the house which in Dr. Esslemont's book, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, is described as the "palace of
Mazra'ih." There Bahá'u'lláhand the whole family lived for about two years after leaving the town of 'Akka before the Mansion of Bahá'í became their residence.
(In a somewhat similar manner and at much the same time, Queen Marie discovered her castle in Transylvania that she called ccBrn the
Beloved.")It was in May, 1931 when my husband retired from Government service that we took a lease of this house and it was our great privilege to be able to restore it, and make a garden � a proper setting for a dwelling with such sacred associations.
Although we found it a good deal altered on the second floor from its condition at the time when Bahá'u'lláh lived there, the main features are unchanged, the vaulted rooms on the ground floor particularly.
There is a rough cement floor in the room downstairs which was Bahá'u'lláh's own special room. This I left as I found it, in the belief that His feet may have trodden it. Queen Marie was greatly interested in all we had done to the house, and we always hoped it would be possible for her to come here. This is our "jubilee" year, fifty years this autumn (1938) since we first met, and we had hoped somehow for a reunion. But her serious illness and the unsettled state of this country (Palestine) made it impossible to plan, and now No one who ever had the privilege of personal or intimate acquaintance with Queen Marie could fail to be impressed by the greatness of her mind and spirit. Her own life story reveals so well her ardent and joyous nature, the depth of feeling that accompanied every thought and action.
Professor Seton-Watsonin his History of the Roumanians has paid eloquent tribute to her heroism, devotion and courage in the Great War. Nobody is perfect and there are always critics, but I generally notice that the latter are almost invariably people who had never come into personal contact with her or perhaps never even seen her at a distance. What she did for Rumania is now history and can be best glimpsed in the touching last message to her people. The world is the poorer for the passing of such a noble lady, and a blank, impossible to
Page 278fill, is left in the lives of those who knew her personally. She had passed through and suffered so much, even her wonderful health was too sorely tried and we must be thankful in spite of the great ioss to us all that she is at rest and spared any further suffering. Her spirit is surely near us still and we must try to follow her noble example of great endurance and courage to face whatever may await us in these troublous times.
The following extracts are taken from various letters to myself in recent years, and through these her own words we surely can feel that Queen Marie speaks to every one of us. "Dear little' Lilian, it was indeed nice to hear from you and to think that you are of all things living near Haifa and are, like me, a follower of the Bahá'í teachings. It interests me that you are living in that special house; the Teachers so loved flowers, and being English, I can imagine what a ioveiy garden you have made in that Eastern climate.
I was so intensely interested and studied each photo intently.
It must be a lovely place and those southeastern landscapes and gardens attract me with a sort of homesickness ever since our Malta days. And the house you live in, so incredibly attractive and made precious by its associations with the Man we all venerate.
Certainly the times we live in are not easy to understand for those who were brought up as we were. So much has been overthrown, so many conceptions been changed. The methods used today are different from those in our times, and I refrain from criticism though I cannot always admire.
Everything seems to have become so much more vulgar somehow, so mercenary, so wanting in a fine ideal. Also money has changed hands, the rich of today are another class. Life has been hard on royalty ever since the war, and yet countries do not seem to have become more prosperous without them. Times are troubled, alas, and this unfortunate war (Ethiopian) has made all things so inflammable and events seem so out of control that one cannot help being anxious.
"And yet who wants war? Who could stand a war today materially or even morally? I really hope that I shall die before there is another war!
"I lead a very quiet life, my household has become small, but I have the feeling of being well loved in the country.
My people and I are old associates, we have shared good and bad through forty-three years, and that counts!
~I wonder if I shall ever travel your way again?For the present I have no plans, I sit still and watch the black clouds, and pray for peace. With love and blessing, MARIE."
5eeHo,w great the blessedness that awaits the king who will arise to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who u~ill detach himself from all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the coin-panion~s of the Crimson Ark � the Ark which God has prepared for the people of Baha.
All must glorify his name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible kingdoms.
Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountainhead of blessings inslo the whole world. Offer up, 0 people of Baha, your sub-sttrnce, nay, your very lives, for his assistance."' THE first Queen of the world to study and to promote Bahá'u'lláh's great Teachings has been Her Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania, one of the queens of this twentieth century who stands highest in intellect, in vision, in clear understanding of the 1Glean!ngs from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 212.
Page 279THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 279
new universal epoch now opening. Her Majesty received the book Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by Dr. J. E. Esslemont and a note from the writer of this article who first visited Bucharest, Rumania, in January, 1926. The Rumanian Queen, grand-daugh-ter of the renowned Queen Victoria of the British Empire and of Czar Alexander II of Russia, both of whom received Tablets from Bahá'u'lláh in their day, read this vol. ume until three o'clock in the morning and two days later, on January 30, 1926, received me in audience in Controceni Palace, in Bucharest. Her first words after the greeting were, "I believe these Teachings are the solution for the world's problems today!" The account of that historic morning appeared in The Bahá'í Magazine in Washington, in June, 1926, but very illuminating letters written by Her Majesty that same year show how deep was her confirmation.
Here is one written to her loved friend Loje Fuller, an American then residing in Paris, which after these ten years can be published for the first time: tcLately great hope has come to me from one, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a personal follower of Christ.
Reading, I have found in His and His Fatherof Faith all my yearnings for real religion satisfied. If ybu ever hear of Bahá'ís or of the Bahá'í Movement which is known in America you will know what that is! What I mean, these books have strengthened me beyond belief and I am now ready to die any day full of hope; but I pray God not to take me away yet, for I still have a lot of work to do."
Other Letters record that first of all she was teaching her young daughter fleana about these beautiful truths.
For ten years Her Majesty and her daughter, H.R.H. Princess
Ileana (now ArchduchesAnton), have read with interest each new book about the Bahá'í Movement as soon as it came from the press.
As we know she wrote three marvelous articles about these Bahá'í peace Teachings in 1926, and as they were syndicated each article appeared in nearly two hundred newspapers in the United States and Canada. Many millions of people were thrilled to read that a Queen had arisen to promote Bahá'u'lláh's plan for universal peace. Quickly these articles were translated and published in Europe, China, Japan, Australasia and in the Islands of the seas.
Received in audience byPalace, Sinaja, in 1927, after the passing of His Majesty King Ferdinand, her husband, she graciously gave me an interview, speaking of the Bahá'í Teachings about immortality.
She had on her table and on the divan a number of Bahá'í books, for she had just been reading in each of them the Teachings about Life after death. She asked the writer to give her greeting to Shoghi Effendi, to the friends in IrAn and to the many American Bahá'ís who she said had been so remarkably kind to her during her trip through the United States the year before.
Also, she graciously gave the writer an appreciation of these Bahá'í Teachings in her own handwriting, for Volume IV. of the
BAHÁ'Í WORLD.Meeting the Queen again on January 19, 1928, in the Royal Palace in Belgrade, where she and H. R. H. Princess Ileana were guests of the Queen of Jugoslavia � and they had brought some of their Bahá'í books with them � the words I shall remember longest of all that Her dear Majesty said were these: ~'The ultimate dream which we shall realize is that the Baha channel of thought has such strength, it will serve little by little to become a light to all those searching for the real expression of Truth."
Another happy audience was in Her Majesty's lovely summer palace ecTehna~ Yuva," at Baick, on the Black Sea, in October, 1929.
Again in the home of Archduchess Anton at Madling near Vienna she and her mother received me on August 8, 1932, and in February, 1933, and Her Majesty made this great statement which was used as the frontispiece to BAHÁ'Í WORLD, Volume
IV.: "The Bahá'í TeachingIt is like a wide embrace gathering together all those who have long searched for words of hope. It accepts all great prophets gone before, it destroys no other creeds and leaves all doors open. Saddened by the continual strife amongst believers of many confessions and wearied of their intolerance towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá'í
Teachingthe real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood.
Unity instead of strife, Hope instead of condemnation, Love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men.
Then in the audience in16, 1934, when Her Majesty was told that the Rumanian translation of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era had just been published in Bucharest, she said she was so happy that her people were to have the blessing of reading this precious
Teaching.How beautiful she looked that afternoon � as always � for her loving eyes mirror her mighty spirit; a most unusual Queen is she, a consummate artist, a lover of beauty and wherever she is there is glory. Perhaps too, a Queen is a symbol, people like to have their Queen beautiful and certainly
Queen Marie of Rumaniais one of the most ioveiy in this world today. Her clothes, designed by herself, are always a ~ ensemble" creation so harmonious in colors they seem to dress her soui. She received me in her private library where a cheerful fire glowed in the quaint, builtin fireplace; tea was served on a iow table, the gold service set being wrought in flowers. There were flowers everywhere, and when she invited me into her bedroom where she went to get the photograph which I like so much, as I saw the noble, majestic proportions of this great chamber with its arched ceiling in Gothic design, I exclaimed in joy, "Your room is truly a temple, a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar!" There were low mounds of hyacinths, flowers which Bahá'u'lláh loved and mentioned often in His Writings; there was a bowl of yellow tulips upon a silken tapestry in yel-'ow gold, a tall deep urn of fragrant white lilacs, and an immense bowl of red roses. Controceni Palace is the most beautiful palace I have seen in any country in the blending of its colors and in its artistic arrangements.
Her Majesty is a writer as well as an artist, and Her Memoirs entitled
"The Story of My Life"were just then being published in The Saturday Evening Post. She told me she writes two hours every morning unless her time is invaded by queenly duties, charity duties, family duties. She was pleased with the sincere letters that were pouring in from all continents giving appreciations of her story. She told me the American people are so openhearted and that from the United States children, professors, farmers' wives and the smart people had written to her, the tone in all their letters revealing Her Majesty's entire sincerity and the deep humanity of her character.
One teacher wrote Her Majesty that in her childhood each one lived through his own childhood: another said, "All who read your story have their own lives stirred!" The Queen remarked, ttAd this is a very satisfactory criticism for an author."
A most pleasing letter had just arrived from Japan from a girl there who thanked God Who had allowed her to live in a period in which such a wonderful book had been written! "This," said the Queen, "is one of the nicest appreciations I have ever heard."
Then the conversation turned again to the Bahá'í Teachings and she gave a greeting to be sent to Shoghi Effendi in Haifa. Later she mentioned an incident in Hamburg when she was en route to Iceland in the summer of 1933.
As she passed through the Street, a charming girl tossed a little note to her into the motor car. It was: "I am so happy to see you in Hamburg, because you are a Baha."
Her Majesty remarked that they recognized a Bahá'í and this shows a spirit of unity in the
Bahá'í Movement.Her Majesty said to me, "In my heart I am entirely Baha'i," and she sent me this wonderful appreciation:
"The Bahá'í TeachingTo those in search of assurance the Words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering."
And now today, February 4, 1936, I have just had another audience with
Her Majesty in ControceniAs I was starting to walk up the wide ivory toned stairs carpeted with blue IrAnian rugs to the third floor suites, at that very moment over a radio came the rich strains of the Wedding March from CtLohengrin,~~ played by an orchestra. It seemed.a symbol: the union of spiritual forces of the East and Europe!
Again Queen Marie of Rumania received me cordially in her softly lighted library, for the hour was six o'clock. She
Page 281THE PASSING OF QUEEN MARIE 281
was gowned in black velvet and wore her great strands of marvelous pearls. The fire in the grate beamed a welcome with its yellow-glowing fragrant pine boughs and large bowls of yellow tulips adorned the apartment.
What a memorable visit it was! She told me she has a friend in 'Akka, Palestine, who knows Shoghi Effendi and this friend recently has sent her pictures of 'Akka and Haifa; the two were playfellows when they were children and met in Malta. She also told me that when she was in London she had met a Baha'i, Lady Blomfield, who had shown her the original Message that Bahá'u'lláh had sent to her Grandmother
Queen Victoria in London.She asked the writer about the progress of the )Bahá'í Movement especially in the Balkan countries.
"Since we met two years ago," said Her Majesty, "so many sad events have happened! I look on with a great deal of sorrow at the way the different peoples seem to misunderstand one another; especially now that I have become very lonely in my home, I have all the more time to think over these problems, and I'm sometimes very sad that I can do so little.
However, I know that the right spirit and the right thoughts go a long way towards that unity of hearts which I haven't given up the hope to see before I pass on." She spoke, too, of several Bahá'í books, the depths of fqdn and especially of Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh which she said was a wonderful book! To quote her own words: "Even doubters would find a powerful strength in it, if they would read it alone and would give their souTh time to expand."
Her Majesty kindly promised to write for BAHÁ'Í WoRLD, Volume VI, a special appreciation and to send it after four days.
I asked her if I could perhaps speak of the brooch which historically is precious to Baha'is, and she replied, "Yes, you may. Once, and it was in 1928, Her dear Majesty had given the writer a gift, a lovely and rare brooch which had been a gift to the Queen from Her Royal Relatives in Russia some years ago. It was two little wings of wrought gold and silver, set with tiny diamond chips and joined together with one
A Floral Tribute to HerOffered by the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada on the occasion of the service held in Washington, D. C., July 25, 1938, to commemorate the first anniversary of her death.
large pearl. "Always you are giving gifts to others, and I am going to give you a gift from me," said the Queen smiling, and she herself clasped it onto my dress. The wings and the pearl made it seem CeLight. bearing," Baha'i!
It was sent the same week to Chicago as a gift to the
Bahá'í Temple, the Mashriqu'1-Aclhk6rand at the National Bahá'í Convention which was in session that spring, a demur was made � should a gift from the Queen be sold? Should it not be kept as a souvenir of the first Queen who arose to promote the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh � However, it was sold immediately and the money given to the Temple, for all Bahá'ís were giving to the utmost to forward this mighty structure, the first of its kind in the United States. Mr.
'Willard Hatch, a Bahá'íof Los Angeles, California, who bought the exquisite brooch, took it to Haifa, Palestine, in 1931 and placed it in the archives on Mt. Carmel where down the ages it will rest with the B~th~'j treasures.
Inadequate as is any one article to portrayof Rumania~s splendid spiritual attitude, still these few glimpses do show that she stands strong for the highest Truth, and as an historical record they will present a little of what the first Queen did for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Washington, D. C.On behalf of the BábS'is of the United States and Canada, flowers in memory of Her late Majesty Queen Marie of Rumania will be sent to Washington Cathedral for the memorial service to be held there next Monday afternoon.
Her Majesty's acceptance of the princi-pies of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and her public statements regarding His Cause have endeared her for all time to the followers of the Bahá'í Movement the world around. It is with heartfelt sorrow and profound regret that the Baha have heard of Her Majesty's death.
(For) Tnn NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLYIT HAS been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks the interruption of the true spiritual influence and serves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into the world. The organization has invariably become a substitute for religion rather than a method or an instrument used to give the religion effect. The separation of peoples into different traditions unbridged by any peaceful or constructive intercourse has made this inevitable.
Up to the present time, in fact, no Founder of a revealed religion has explicitly laid down the principles that should guide the administra � tive machinery of the Faith LIe has established.
In the Bahá'í Cause, the principles of world administration were expressed by Bahá'u'lláh, and these principles were developed in the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, more especially in His Will and Testament.
The purpose of this organization is to make possible a true and lasting unity among peoples of different races, classes, interests, characters, and inherited creeds.
A close and sympathetic study of this aspect of the Bahá'í Cause will show that the purpose and method of Bahá'í administration is so perfectly adapted to the fundamental spirit of the Revelation that it bears to it the same relationship as body to soui. In character, the principles of Bahá'í administration represent the science of cooperation; in application, they provide for a new and higher type of morality worldwide in scope.
In the clash and confusion of sectarian prejudice, the Bahá'í religion is impartial and sympathetic, offering a foundation upon which reconciliation can be firmly based.
Amid the complex interrelations of governments, the religion stands absolutely neutral as to political purposes and entirely obedient to all recognized authority.
It will not be overlooked by the student that Bahá'u'lláh is the only religious teacher making obedience to just governments and rulers a definite spiritual command.
In this brief analysis of the several features of the Bahá'í system of administration the purpose is rather to place in the hands of the believers themselves a convenient summary of the available instructions than to clarify this aspect of the teachings to the non-Bah&'i.
Until one has made contact with the spirit of the Bahá'í teachings and desires to cooperate wholeheartedly with their purpose, the administrative phase of the Faith can have little real meaning or appeal.
At the time of the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the organization was fully defined but not yet established among His followers. The responsibility for carrying out the instructions was placed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá upon His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, to whom was assigned the function of "Guardian of the Cause." Obedience to the authority of the Guardian was definitely enjoined upon all Bahá'ís by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, but this authority carries with it nothing of an arbitrary or personal character, being limited as to pur 285
Page 286pose and method by the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Guardian unifies the efforts to bring into complete application those principles of world administration already clearly defined.
To assist the Guardian in his manifold responsibilities and duties and particularly in the promotion of the teaching work, 'Abdu'l-Bahá provided for the appointment of a group of coworkers to be known as "The Hands of the Cause of God."
The appointment of this body is a function of the Guardian, and these from their own number are to elect nine persons who will be closely associated with the Guardian in the discharge of his duties.
It is the function of the Guardian also to appoint his own successor, this appointment to be ratified by the nine Hands of the
Cause.It is the genius of the Bahá'í Faith that the principle underlying the administration of its affairs aims to improve the life and upbuild the character of the individual believer in his own local community, wherever it may be, and not to enhance the prestige of those relatively few who, by election or appointment, hold positions of higher authority. Baha authority is measured by self-sacrifice and not by arbitrary power. This fundamental aim can be seen clearly on studying the significant emphasis which 'Abdu'l-Bahá placed upon the local Baha community. The local group, involving as it does men and women in all the normal activities and relations of life, is the foundation upon which rests the entire evolution of the Cause.
The local Bahá'í community is given official recognition oniy after its number of adult declared believers has become nine or more.
Up to this point, the community exists as a voluntary group of workers and students of the Cause.
In this connection, the word ttcommu-nity" is not used in the sense of any locality, exclusively Bahá'í in membership, nor of any manner of living differing outwardly from the general environment, such as has been attempted by religionists and also members of philosophic and economic movements in the past. A Baha community is a unity of minds and hearts, an association of people entirely voluntary in character, established upon a common experience of devotion to the universal aims of Bahá'u'lláh and agreement as to the methods by which these aims can be advanced.
A Bahá'í community differs from other voluntary gatherings in that its foundation is so deeply laid and broadly extended that it can include any sincere soul. Whereas other associations are exclusive, in effect if not in intention, and from method if not from ideal, Bahá'í association is inclusive, shutting the gates of fellowship to no sincere soul. In every gathering there is latent or developed some basis of selection. In religion this basis is a creed limited by the historical nature of its origin; in politics this is party or platform; in economics this is a mutual misfortune or mutual power; in the arts and sciences this basis consists of special training or activity or interest.
In all these matters, the more exclusive the basis of selection, the stronger the movement � a condition diametrically opposed to that existing in the Bahá'í Cause. Hence the Cause, for all its spirit of growth and progress, develops slowly as regards the numbers of its active adherents.
For people are accustomed to exclusiveness and division in all affairs.
The important sanctions have ever been warrants and justifications of division.
To enter the Bahá'í religion is to leave these sanctions behind � an experience which at first invariably exposes one to new trials and sufferings, as the human ego revolts against the supreme sanction of universal love. The scientific must associate with the simple and unlearned, the rich with the poor, the white with the colored, the mystic with the literalist, the Christian with the Jew, the Muslim with the Parsee: and on terms removing the advantage of long established presumptions and privileges.
But for this difficult experience there are glorious compensations. Let us remember that art grows sterile as it turns away from the common humanity, that philosophy likewise loses its vision when developed in solitude, and that politics and religion never succeed apart from the general needs of mankind. Human nature is not yet known, for we have all lived in a state of mental, moral, emotional or social defense, and the psychology of defense is the psychology of inhibition. But the love of God removes
Page 287THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 287
fear; the removal of fear establishes the latent powers, and association with others in spiritual love brings these powers into vital, positive expression.
A Ba1P'i community is a gathering where this process can take place in this age, slowly at first, as the new impetus gathers force, more rapidly as the members become conscious of the powers unfolding the flower of unity among men.
Where the community is small and insignificant, in comparison with the population of the city or town, the first condition of growth is understanding of the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh, and the next condition is that of true humility. If these two conditions exist, the weakest soui becomes endowed with effective power in service to the Cause. The result of unity, in fact, is to share the powers and faculties of all with each.
The responsibility for and supervision of local Bahá'í affairs is vested in a body known as the
Spiritual Assembly. Thisbody (limited to nine members) is elected annually on April 1, the first day of Ri~Ivin (the Festival commemorating the Declaration of Bahá'u'lláh) by the adult declared believers of the community, the voting list being drawn up by the outgoing Spiritual
Assembly. Concerningthe character and functions of this body, 'Abdu'l-Bahá has written as follows: cdt is incumbent upon everyone (every believer) not to take any step (of Bahá'í activity) without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soui its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and, after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.
"The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His divine fragrance, humility and lowliness among~t His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold.
Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of BaM shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, Assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity.
Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory.The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise.
This can be attained when every member expresses with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. ShouldQ anyone oppose, he must on no account feel hurt, for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed.
The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, the majority of voices must prevail.
ctThe first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden.
Should harmohy of thought and absolute unity be nonexistent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught.
!cThe second condition: They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the realm of Glory. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them and that Assembly shall become the center of the divine blessings, and hosts of divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of spirit."
The letters of Shoghi Effendi quote the fundamental instructions contained in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the character of Baha administration, and give them definite application: CCA careful study of Bahá'u'lláh's and
'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Tabletswill reveal that other duties (besides teaching the Cause), no iess vital to the in
Page 288The newly constituted Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Maywood, Illinois, in 1938.
Page 289THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 289
terests of the Cause, devolve upon the elected representatives of the friends in every locality.
"They must endeavor to promote amity and concord amongst the friends and secure an active and wholehearted cooperation for the service of the Cause.
"They must do their utmost to extend at all times the helping hand to the poor, the sick, the disabled, the orphan, the widow, irrespective of color, caste and creed.
"They must promote by every means in their power the material as well as spiritual enlightenment of youth, the means for the education of children; institute, whenever possible, Bahá'í educational institutions; organize and supervise their work, and provide the best means for their progress and development.
ctThey must bend every effort to promote the interests of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (that is, House of Worship) 1 and hasten the day when the work of this glorious Edifice2 will have been consummated.
"They must encourage and stimulate by every means at their command, through subscriptions, reports and articles, the development of the various Baha magazines.
tcThey must undertake the arrangement of the regular meetings of the friends, the feasts and anniversaries, as well as the special gatherings designed to serve and promote the social, intellectual and spiritual interests of their fellowmen.
!cThey must supervise in these days when the Cause is still in its infancy all Bahá'í publications and translations, and provide in general for a dignified and accurate presentation of all Baha literature and its distribution to the general public.
"These rank among the most outstanding obligations of the members of every
Spiritual Assembly. Inwhatever locality the Cause has sufficiently expanded, and in order to insure efficiency and avoid confusion, each of these manifold functions will have to be referred to a special Committee, responsible to that Assembly, elected by it from among the friends in that locality, and upon whose work the Assembly will have to exercise constant and general supervision.
"In every locality, be it city or hamlet, where the number of adult declared believers exceed nine, a local Spiritual Assembly must be forthwith established.
"As the progress and extension of spirtual activities is dependent and conditioned upon material means, it is of absolute necessity that immediately after the establishment of local as well as national Spiritual
Assemblies, a Bahá'í Fundbe established, to be placed under the exclusive control of the Spiritual Assembly.
All donations and contributions should be offered to the Treasurer of the Assembly, for the express purpose of promoting the interests of the Cause throughout that locality or country.
It is the sacred obligation of every conscientious and faithful servant of Bahá'u'lláh, who desires to see His Cause advance, to contribute freely and generously for the increase of that Fund. The members of the Spiritual Assembly will at their own discretion expand it to promote the teaching campaign, to help the needy, to establish educational Bahá'í institutions, to extend in every way their sphere of service.
"Nothing whatever should be given to the public by any individual among the friends, uniess fully considered and approved by the Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and, if this (as is undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains to the general interests of the Cause in that land, then it is incumbent upon the Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the consideration and approval of the National Body representing all the various local Assemblies.
Not oniy with regard to publication, but all matters without any exception whatsoever, regarding the interests of the Cause in that locality, individually or collectively, should be referred exclusively to the Spirtual Assembly in that locality, which shall decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national interest, in which case it shall be referred to the National (Baha'i)
Body. With this NationalBody also will rest the decision whether a given question is of local or national interest. (By national affairs is not meant matters that are political in their character, for the friends of God the world over are strictly forbidden to meddle with political affairs in any way whatever, but rather things that affect the 'Referring particularly to Spiritual Assemblies in America.
2 On the shore of Lakespiritual activities of the body of the friends in that land.)
CCFuII harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the various local Assemblies and the members themselves, and particularly between each Assmbly and the National Body is of the utmost importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working of the spiritual activities of His loved ones.
ttThe various Assemblies, local and national, constitute today the bedrock upon the strength of which the
Universal House (of Justice)is in future to be firmly established and raised.
Not until these function vigorously and harmoniously can the hope for the termination of this period of transition be realized. Bear in mind that the keynote of the Cause of God is not dictatorial authority, but humble fellowship; not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and loving consultation. Nothing short of the spirit of a true Bahá'í can hope to reconcile the principles of mercy and justice, of freedom and submission, of the sanctity of the right of the individual and of self-surrender, of vigilance, discretion and prudence on the one hand, and fellowship, candor, and courage on the other."
Experience in the life of a Bahá'í community and participation in the details of its several activities impresses one with the fact that Bahá'í unity has in it new elements which work powerfully to expand one's area of sympathy, deepen one's insight, develop one s character and bring order and stability into all of one's affairs.
There can be no higher privilege than the experience of attempting to serve faithfully upon a Spiritual Assembly, conscious as its members are of the unique standard upheld by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and bringing as it does the opportunity of dealing with a large range and diversity of human problems from an impersonal point of view. It is inevitable that the nine elected members shall exemplify diverse interests and types of character, with the result that unity of heart and conscience with the other eight members is a direct training to enter into spiritual unity with the larger body of mankind. No such schools of discipline and inspiration exist on earth today, for one must bear in mind that a Bahá'í community can never be an exclusive group nor a closed circle of interests, but, on the contrary, its fundamental purpose is to unify and cooperate with every possible element in the surrounding population.
The local Spiritual Assemblyafter elec-. tion organizes by electing from its own number a chairman, corresponding secretary, recording secretary and treasurer. It should appoint from its own members or from the local Bahá'í community working committees responsible for the various permanent activities of the Cause.
Since a Spiritual Assemblyis established upon a new and higher ideal, the character, knowledge and purity of its members is essential to success.
Wherever personal ambition, narrowness or impurity enters a Spiritual Assembly, the results are invariably to check the growth of the Cause and, if these conditions are prolonged, to destroy the foundation already laid. The careful student of the teachings will accept this result as one more vindication of the all-surrounding spirit protecting this Faith.
The elimination of an unworthy group from the Bahá'í Cause would be a bitter disappointment but not an evidence that the Cause had failed. On the contrary, the Cause could oniy be declared a failure if personal ambition, pride, narrowness and impurity should so prevail as to build a worldwide organization able to pervert the original purpose.
The local Spiritual Assembliesof a country are linked together and coordinated through another elected body of nine members, the
National Spiritual Assembly.This body comes into being by means of an annual election held by elected delegates representing the local Bahá'í communities.
The delegates are elected by all the adult declared believers of a community in which a Spiritual Assembly exists. The National Convention in which the delegates are gathered together is composed of an elective body based upon the principle of proportional representation.
The total number of delegates is fixed by Shoghi Effendi for each country, and this number is fulfilled by assigning to each local community the number of delegates called for by its relative numerical strength. These National
Conventions are preferably held during the period of Ridvan, the twelve days begin-fling April 21, which commemorate the Declaration made by Bahá'u'lláh in the Garden of RiavAn near Baghdid.
The recog � nition of delegates is vested in the outgoing National
Spiritual Assembly.is an occasion for deepening one's understanding of Bahá'í activities and of sharing reports of national and local activities for the period of the elapsed year. It has been the custom to hold a public Bahá'í Congress in connection with the Convention. The function of a Bahá'í delegate is limited to the duration of the National Convention and participation in the election of the new National
Spiritual Assembly. Whilegathered together, the delegates are a consultative and advisory body whose recommendations are to be carefully considered by the members of the elected
National Spiritual Assembly.Delegates unable to attend the Convention in person are permitted to vote for the new National Spiritual Assembly by mail.
The relation of the National Spiritual Assembly to the local Spiritual Assemblies and to the body of the believers in the country is thus defined in the letters of the Guardian of the
Cause:~Regarding the establishment of National Assemblies, it is of vital importance that in every country, where the conditions are f a. vorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a considerable size � that a
National Spiritual Assemblybe incimedi-ately established, representative of the friends throughout that country.
ccTts immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate, by frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country.
"It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first, as in the course of time it shall evolve into the
National House of Justice(referred to in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Will as the tSecondary House of Justice') which according to the explicit text of the Testament will have, in conjunction with
�the other National Assembliesthroughout the Bahá'í 'World, to elect directly the members of the International or Universal House of
Justice, that SupremeCouncil that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the Movement throughout the world.
"This National SpiritualAssembly which, pending the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, will have to be reelected once a year, obviously assumes grave responsibilities for it has to exercise full authority over all the local Assemblies in its province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends, guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and control and supervise the affairs of the Movement in general.
ctyital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country, such as the matter of translation and publication, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar the teaching work, and other similar matters that stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly.
cdt will have to refer each of these questions, even as the local Assemblies, to a special committee, to be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assembly from among all the friends in that country, which will bear to it the same relations as the local committees bear to their respective local
Assemblies."NVith it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point at issue is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for the consideration and decision of the local Assembly, or whether it should fall tinder its own province and be a matter which ought to receive its special attention.
cdt is the bounden duty, in the interest of the Cause we all love and serve, of the members of the incoming National Assembly, once elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek and have the utmost regard, individually as well as collectively, for the advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the assembled delegates.
Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue reticence, of dictatorial aloofness from their midst, they should radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the delegates by whom they were elected, their plans, their hopes and their cares. They should familiarize the delegates with the various matters that will
Page 292have to be considered in the current year, and calmly and conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of the delegates.
The newly elected National Assembly, during the few days when the Convention is in session, and after the dispersion of the delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate understanding, facilitate and maintain the exchange of views, deepen confidence, and vindicate by every tangible evidence their one desire to serve and advance the common weal.
ttThe National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and longstanding sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in its hands the final decision on all matters that affect the interests of the Cause � such as the right to decide whether any local Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles laid down for the conduct and the advancement of the Cause.
"The seating of delegates to the Convention (that is, the right to decide upon the validity of the credentials of the delegates at a given Convention), is vested in the outgoing National Assembly, and the right to decide who has the voting privilege is also ultimately placed in the hands of the National Spiritual Assembly, either when a local Spiritual Assembly is for the first time being formed in a given locality, or when differences arise between a new applicant and an already established local Assembly.
"Were the National SpiritualAssembly to decide, after mature deliberation, to omit the holding of the Bahá'í Convention and Congress in a given year, then they could, only in such a case, devise ways and means to insure that the annual election of the National Spiritual Assembly should be held by mail, provided it can be conducted with sufficient thoroughness, efficiency and dispatch. It would also appear to me unobjectionable to enable and even to require in the last resort such delegates as cannot possibly undertake the journey to the seat of the Bahá'í Convention to send their votes, for the election of the
National Spiritual AssemblyConcerning the matter of drawing up the voting list to be used at the annual local Bahá'í elections, the responsibility for this is placed upon each local Spiritual Assembly, and as a guidance in the matter the Guardian has written the following: "TO state very briefly and as adequately as present circumstances permit, the principal factors that must be taken into consideration before deciding whether a person may be regarded a true believer or not: Full recognition of the station of the
Forerunner, the Authorand the True Exemplar of the Bahá'í Cause, as set forth in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Will and Testament; unreserved acceptance of and submission to whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of our
Beloved's sacred Will;and close association with the spirit as well as the form of the presentday Bahá'í administration � these I conceive to be the fundamental and primary considerations that must be fairly, discreetly and thoughtfully ascertained before reaching such a vital decision."
'Abdu'l-Bahá'í instructions provide for the further development of Baha organization through an International Spiritual Assembly to be elected by the members of the National
Spiritual Assemblies.This international body has not yet come into existence, but its special character has been clearly defined: "And now, concerning the
Assembly (Baytu'1-'Ad'1:that is, House of Justice) which God bath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers.
Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God, and daysprings of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God's Faith, and the well-wish-ers of all mankind. By this Assembly is meant the Universal Assembly: that is, in each country a secondary Assembly must be instituted, and these secondary Assemblies must elect the members of the Universal one.
CtUnto this body all things must be referred. It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text.
By this body all the difli-cult problems are to be resolved, and the Guardian of the Cause is its sacred head and the distinguished member, for life, of that body. Should he not attend in person its de
Page 293THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 293
liberations, he must appoint one to represent him. This assembly enacteth the laws and the executive enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body, so that, through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.
"Unto the Most Holy Bookeveryone must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal Assembly.
That which this body, either unanimously or by a majority, doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself.
Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the
Covenant."Even at the present time, the Bahá'ís in all parts of the world maintain an intimate and cordial association by means of regular correspondence and individual visits.
This contact of members of different races, nationalities and religious traditions is con � crete proof that the burden of prejudice and the historical factors of division can be entirely overcome through the spirit of oneness established by Bahá'u'lláh.
The general student of religion will not fail to note four essential characteristics of Bahá'í administration. The first is its completely successful reconciliation of the usually opposed claims of democratic freedom and unanswerable authority.
The second is the entire absence from the Bahá'í Cause of anything approaching the institution of a salaried professional clergy. The Bahá'í con � ception of religion is one which combines mysticism, which is a sacred personal experience, with practical morality, which is a useful contact between the individual and his fellow man. In the nature of things, some souis are more advanced than others, and the function of spiritual teaching is given special importance in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and
'Abdu'l-Bahá. The Bahá'íteacher, however, has no authority over the individual conscience.
The individual conscience must be subordinated to the decisions of a duly elected Spiritual Assembly, but this relationship is entirely different in character and results, from the relationship of an individual with minister or priest.
The third characteristic is the absence of internal factionalism, that bane of all organized effort, and the sure sign of the presence of spiritual disease.
The predominant spirit of unity which distinguishes the Bahá'í Cause in its relation to the world, making its followers strive for reconciliation rather than partisan victory, creates an internal condition, unlike that which exists in movements which accept partisan victory, in one or another form, as their very reason for being.
Such movements can but disintegrate from within; the Bahá'í Order can but grow.
Significant also is the fourth characteristic, namely, that the Bahá'í Cause has within it an inherent necessity operating siowiy but surely to bring its administration into the hands of those truly fitted for the nature of the work.
The Lesser vision gives way invariably for the larger vision, itself replaced by the still larger vision in due time. The result is an inevitable improvement in the qualities placed at the service of the Cause, until the highest attributes of humanity will be enrolled.
In the Baha Cause we are actually witnessing the fulfillment of the strange and cryptic saying, "The meek shall inherit the earth."
That the administrative machinery is not an end in itself but merely the means to spread everywhere the light of faith and brotherhood, is frequently expressed by the Guardian in his general letters, and this brief survey may well close with one of those passages: rrNot by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching � no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character � not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and skeptical age the sufrreine claim of the Abhd Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh."
Page 294Adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and CanadaA PERUSAL of some of the words of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them." � SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 5, 1922.
"The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counselors to the number of Baha.
It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus bath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, 0 ye that perceive." � BAHÁ'Í
U'LLAH.ttlt is incumbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soui its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.
~tTh prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrance, humility and lowliness-amongst His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in diflicul-ties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bah& shall be vouchsafed to them.. In this day, Assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity.
Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory.The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth corneth forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If, after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise a majority of voices must prevail.
"The first condition is absolute iove and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden.
Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be nonexistent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught. The second condition: They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one s views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden.
The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and
Page 295THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 295
submit to the majority.It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from being enforced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with iove and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness. If this be so regarded, that Assembly shall be of God, but otherwise it shall lead to cooiness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souis, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the teip of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that Assembly shall become the center of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of Spirit." � 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ.
ttThe importance, nay the absolute necessity, of these Local Assemblies is manifest when we realize that in the days to come they will evolve into the local House of Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on which the structure of the Master's Will is to be reared in the future.
"In order to avoid division and disruption, that the Cause may not fall a prey to conflicting interpretations, and lose thereby its purity and pristine vigor, that its affairs may be conducted with efficiency and promptness, it is necessary that every one (that is, every member of the Bahá'í community) should conscientiously take an active part in the election of these Assemblies, abide by their decision, enforce their decree, and cooperate with them wholeheartedly in their task of stimulating the growth of the Movement throughout all regions.
The members of these Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their own likes and dislikes, their personal interests and inclinations, and concentrate their minds upon those measures that will conduce to the welfare and happiness of the Bahá'í community and promote the common weal." � SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 12, 1923.
CCLet us recall His explicit and often-repeated assurance that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is, in truth, appointed of God, that its verdict is truly inspired, that one and all should submit to its decision unreservedly and with cheerfulness."
� SHOGHI EFFENDI, FebruaryThe various functions of the local Spiritual Assembly, and its nature as a constitutional body, are duly set forth in Article VII of the ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and are more definitely defined in the ByLaws of a local Spiritual Assembly approved by the National Spiritual Assembly and recommended by the Guardian. Each local Spiritual Assembly, and all members of the local Bahá'í community, shall be guided and controlled by the provisions of those ByLaws.
II. MEETINGS OF THE LOCALIn addition to its observance of the general functions vested in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly, each Spiritual Assembly has need of a procedure for the conduct of its meetings.
The following items represent the outline of the parliamentary rules of procedure which the National Spiritual Assembly has adopted and recommends to each and every local Spiritual Assembly throughout the
United States and Canada.A meeting of the Spiritual Assembly is valid only when it has been duly called, that is, when each and every member has been informed of the time and place. The general practice is for the Assembly to decide upon some regular time and place for its meetings throughout the Bahá'í year, and this decision when recorded in the minutes
Page 296is sufficient notice to the members. When the regular schedule cannot be followed, or the need arises for a special meeting, the secretary, on request by the chairman or any three members of the Spiritual Assembly, should send due notice to all the members.
Order of BusinessRoll call by the Secretary (or Recording Secretary).
Prayer.Reading and approval of minutes of previous meetings.
Report of Secretary (or Corresponding Secretary), including presentation of letters received by the Assembly since its last meeting, and of any and all recommendations duly adopted by the community at the last Nineteen
Day Feast.New business, including conferences with members of the community and with applicants for enrollment as members of the community.
Closing Prayer.A Spiritual Assembly, in maintaining its threefold function of a body given (within the limits of its jurisdiction) an executive, a legislative and a judicial capacity, is charged with responsibility for initiating action and making decisions.
Its meetings, therefore, revolve around various definite matters which require deliberation and coi-lective decision, and it is incumbent upon the members, one and all, to address themselves to the subject under discussion and not engage in general speeches of an irrelevant character.
Every subject or problem before an Assembly is most efficiently handled when the following process is observed: first, ascertainment and agreement upon the facts; second, agreement upon the spiritual or administrative Teachings which the question involves; third, full and frank discussion of the matter, leading up to the offering of a resolution; and fourth, voting upon the resolution.
A resolution, or motion, is not subject to discussion or vote until duly made and seconded. It is preferable to have each resolution clear and complete in itself, but when an amendment is duly made and seconded, the chairman shall call for a vote on the amendment first and then on the original motion. An amendment must be relevant to, and not contravene, the subject matter of the motion.
The chairman, or other presiding officer, has the same power and responsibility for discussion and voting upon motions as other members of the Assembly.
Discussion of any matter before the Assembly may be terminated by a motion duly made, seconded and voted calling upon the chairman to put the matter to a vote or to proceed to the next matter on the agenda. The purpose of this procedure is to prevent any member or members from prolonging the discussion beyond the point at which full opportunity has been given all members to express their views.
When the Assembly has taken action upon any matter, the action is binding upon all members, whether present or absent from the meeting at which the action was taken. Individual views and opinions must be subordinated to the will of the Assembly when a decision has been made. A Spiritual Assembly is an administrative unit, as it is a spiritual unit, and therefore no distinction between '~majority" and ccminority~~ groups or factions can be recognized.
Each member must give undivided loyalty to the institution to which he or she has been elected.
Any action taken by the Assembly can be reconsidered at a later meeting, on motion duly made, seconded and carried. This reconsideration, according to the result of the consultation, may lead to a revision or the annulment of the prior action. If a majority is unwilling to reconsider the prior action, further discussion of the matter by any member is improper.
The Assembly has a responsibility in filling a vacancy caused by the inability of any member to attend the meetings. "It is only too obvious that unless a member can attend regularly the meetings of his local Assembly, it would be impossible for him to discharge the duties incumbent upon him, and to ful
Page 297THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 297
fill his responsibilities as a representative of the community. Membership in a local Spiritual Assembly carries with it, indeed, the obligation and capacity to remain in close touch with local Bahá'í activities, and ability to attend regularly the sessions of the Assembly." � SHOGHI EFFENDI, January 27, 1935.
The Spiritual Assembly, as a permanent body, is responsible for maintaining all its records, including minutes of meetings, correspondence and I4nancial records, throughout its existence as a Rah4'i institution. Each officer, therefore, on completing his or her term of office, shall turn over to the Assembly all records pertaining to the business of the
Assembly.A. The institution of the Nineteen Day Feast provides the recognized and regular occasion for general consultation on the part of the community, and for consultation between the Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community. The conduct of the period of consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts is a vital function of each Spiritual Assembly.
From Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá,was inaugurated by the Bib and ratified by Bahá'u'lláh, in His Holy Book, the tAqdas,' so that people may gather together and outwardly show fellowship and love, that the Divine mysteries may be disclosed.
The object is concord, that through this fellowship hearts may become perfectly united, and reciprocity and mutual helpfulness be established.
Because the members of the world of humanity are unable to exist without being banded together, cooperation and helpfulness is the basis of human society. Without the realization of these two great principles no great movement is pressed forward." London, England, December 29, 1912.
(Quoted in BAHÁ'Í NEWShas been described by the Guardian as the foundation of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
It is to be conducted according to the following program: the first part, entirely spiritual in character, is devoted to readings from Bahá'í Sacred Writings; the second part consists of general consultation on the affairs of the Cause. The third part is the material feast and social meeting of all the believers, and should maintain the spiritual nature of the Feast.
Bahá'ís should regard this Feast as the very heart of their spiritual activity, their participation in the mystery of the Holy Utterance, their steadfast unity one with another in a universality raised high above the limitations of race, class, nationality, sect, and personality, and their privilege of contributing to the power of the Cause in the realm of collective action.
March21calendar for some adequate reason cannot be observed, the Assembly may arrange to hold a Feast at the nearest possible date.
Only members of the Bahá'í community, and visiting Bahá'ís from other communities, may attend these meetings, but young people of less than twenty-one years of age, who have studied the Teachings and declared their intention of joining the community on reaching the age of twenty-one, may also attend.
Regular attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast is incumbent upon every Baha'i, illness or absence from the city being the oniy justification for absence. Believers are expected to arrange their personal affairs so as to enable them to observe the Bahá'í calendar.
Order of Business for theThe chairman or other appointed representative of the Spiritual Assembly presides during the period of consultation.
Page 298reports to the community whatever communications have been received from the Guardian and the National Spiritual Assembly, and provides opportunity for general discussion.
The Assembly likewise reports its own activities and plans, including committee appointments that may have been made since the last Feast, the financial report, arrangements made for public meetings, and in general share with the community all matters that concern the Faith. These reports are to be followed by general consultation.
A matter of vital importance at this meeting is consideration of national and international Bahá'í affairs, to strengthen the capacity of the community to cooperate in promotion of the larger Baha interests and to deepen the understanding of all believers concerning the relation of the local community to the Bahá'í
World Community.Individual Bahá'ís are to find in the Nineteen Day Feast the channel through which to make suggestions and recommendations to the National Spiritual Assembly. These recommendations are offered first to the local community, and when adopted by the community come before the local Assembly, which then may in its discretion forward the recommendation to the
National Spiritual AssemblyProvision is to be made for reports from committees, with discussion of each report. Finally, the meeting is to be open for suggestions and recommendations from individual believers on any matter affecting the Cause.
The local Bahá'í community may adopt by majority vote any resolution which it wishes collectively to record as its advice and recommendation to the
Spiritual Assembly.Upon each member of the community lies the obligation to make his or her utmost contribution to the consultation, the ideal being a gathering of Bahá'ís inspired with one spirit and concentrating upon the one aim to further the interests of the
Faith.The Secretary of the Assembly records each resolution adopted by the community, as well as the various suggestions advanced during the meeting, in order to report these to the Spiritual Assembly for its consideration.
Whatever action the Assembly takes is to be reported at a later Nineteen Day Feast.
Matters of a personal nature should be brought before the Spiritual Assembly and not to the community at the Nineteen
Day Feast. Concerningthe attitude with which believers should come to these Feasts, the Master has said, CCYOU must free yourselves from everything that is in your hearts, before you enter." (Bahá'í News Letter of the N. S. A. of Germany and Austria, December, 1934.)
B. The Annual Meeting on April 21, called for the election of the Spiritual Assembly, provides the occasion for the presentation of annual reports by the Assembly and by all its
Committees.The chairman of the outgoing Assembly presides at this meeting.
The order of business includes: Reading of the call of the meeting, reading of appropriate Bahá'í passages bearing upon the subject of the election, appointment of tellers, distribution of ballots, prayers for the spiritual guidance of the voters, the election, presentation of annual reports, tellers' report of the election, approval of the tellers' report.
C. The Annual Meeting for the election of Convention delegate (or delegates) is likewise presided over by the Assembly chairman, and except for the annual reports the order of business is similar to that observed at the meeting held each April 21. It is preferable for the Spiritual Assembly to arrange a special meeting for the election of delegates, and not to hold this election during the consultation period of a Nineteen
Day Feast.D. In addition to these occasions for general consultation, the Spiritual Assembly is to give consultation to individual believers whenever requested.
During such consultation with individual believers, the Assembly should observe the following principles: the impartiality of each of its members with respect to all matters under discussion; the freedom of the individual Bahá'í to express his views, feelings and recommendations on any matter affect-kg the interests of the Cause, the confiden
Page 299THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 299 tial character of this consultation, and the principle that the Spiritual Assembly does not adopt any resolution or make any final decision, until the party or parties have withdrawn from the meeting.
Appeals from decisions of a local Spiritual Assembly are provided for in the ByLaws and the procedure fully described in a statement published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS, February, 1933.
When confronted with evidences of unhappiness, whether directed against the Assembly or against members of the community, the Spiritual Assembly should realize that its relationship to the believers is not merely that of a formal constitutional body but also that of a spiritual institution called upon to manifest the attributes of courtesy, patience and loving insight. Many conditions are not to be remedied by the exercise of power and authority but rather by a sympathetic understanding of the sources of the difficulty in the hearts of the friends.
As 'Abdu'l-Bahá has explained, some of the people are children and must be trained, some are ignorant and must be educated, some are sick and must be healed. Where, however, the problem is not of this order but represents flagrant disobedience and disloyalty to the Cause itself, in that case the Assembly should consult with the National Spiritual Assembly concerning the necessity for disciplinary action.
Members of the Bahá'í community, for their part, should do their utmost by prayer and meditation to remain always in a positive and joyous spiritual condition, bearing in mind the Tablets which call upon Bahá'ís to serve the world of humanity and not waste their precious energies in negative complaints.
IV. BAHAI ANNIVERSARIES,The Spiritual Assembly, among its various duties and responsibilities, will provide for the general observance by the local community of the following
Holy Days:Period of the Fast, nineteen days begin-fling March 2.
Feast of Nawruz (Baha(Approved by the Guardian) DESPITE the repeated explanations given by the Guardian on this subject, there seems to exist each year, prior to and also during the Convention period, some misunderstanding as to the nature of the Annual
Meeting.In order to establish a definite standard of Convention procedure, the following statement has been approved and adopted, and in accordance with the vote taken by the National Assembly, a copy of the statement is placed in the hands of the presiding officer of the Convention to control the Convention procedure, after being read to the delegates by the officer of the National Spiritual Assembly by whom the Convention is convened.'
"The delegates present at this Annual Bahá'í Convention are called upon to render a unique, a vital service to the
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Theircollective functions and responsibilities are not a matter of arbitrary opinion, but have been clearly described by the Guardian of the Cause. If civil governments have found it necessary to adopt the doctrine that tignorance of the law is no excuse,' how much more essential it is for Baha'is, individually and collectively, to base their responsible actions upon thorough corn-This This reference to "being read to the delegates" was in connection with the
1934 Convention only. Thestatement is here published for the general information of the believers.
Page 300prehension of the fundamental principles which underlie that Administrative Order which in its maturity is destined to become the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
(!Cidbl confusion would have been avoided at Conventions held during the past three years had the delegates, and all members of the
National Spiritual Assemblyitself, given sufficient consideration to the fact that BAHÁ'Í NEWS of February, 1930, contained an explanation of the Annual Convention which had been prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, submitted to Shoghi Effendi, and definitely approved by him. It is because this statement of four years ago has gone unnoticed that successive Conventions, acting upon some matters as a law unto themselves, have inadvertently contravened the Guardian's clear instructions.
~tThe National SpiritualAssembly now calls attention to two specific portions of the 1930 statement approved by the Guardian which have been neglected in subsequent Conventions: first, the ruling that non-dele-gates do not possess the right to participate in Convention proceedings; and, second, that the time of the election of members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be fixed in the Agenda at such a time as to allow the outgoing Assembly full time to report to the delegates, and to allow the incoming Assembly to have full consultation with the assembled delegates.
It is surely evident that a procedure or principle of action once authorized by the Guardian is not subject to alteration by any Bahá'í body or individual believer to whom the procedure directly applies.
"In order to remove other sources of misunderstanding, the National Spiritual Assembly now feels it advisable to point out that the Guardian's letters on the subject of the Convention, received and published in BAHÁ'Í NEWS this year,1 do not, as some believers seem to feel, organically change the character and function of the Annual Meeting, but reaffirm and strengthen instructions and explanations previously given. In the light of all the Guardian's references to this subject, compiled and published by the
National Spiritual Assemblyin BAHÁ'Í NEWS of November, 1933 and February, 1934, the following brief summary has been prepared and is now issued with the sole purpose of contributing to the spiritual unity of the chosen delegates here present: �
~ The Annual Bahá'í Conventionhas two unique functions to fulfill, discussion of current Bahá'í matters and the election of the
National Spiritual Assembly.The discussion should be free and untrammeled, the election carried on in that spirit of prayer and meditation in which alone every delegate can render obedience to the Guardian s expressed wish. After the Convention is convened by the Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and after the roll call is read by the Secretary of the Assembly, the Convention proceeds to the election of its chairman and secretary by secret ballot and without advance nomination, according to the standard set for all Bahá'í elections.
"2. Non-delegates may not participate in Convention discussion. All members of the National Spiritual Assembly may participate in the discussion, but oniy those members who have been elected delegates may vote on any matter brought up for vote during the proceedings.
tt3� The outgoing National Spiritual Assembly is responsible for rendering reports of its own activities and of those carried on by its committees during the past year. The annual election is to be held at a point midway during the Convention sessions, so that the incoming Assembly may consult with the delegates.
"4. The Convention is free to discuss any Bahá'í matter, in addition to those treated in the annual reports. The Convention is responsible for making its own rules of procedure controlling discussion; for example, concerning any limitations the delegates may find it necessary to impose upon the time allotted to or claimed by any one delegate. The National Assembly will maintain the rights of the delegates to confer freely and fully, free from any restricted pressure, in the exercise of their function.
~ The Convention as an organic body is limited to the actual Convention period. It has no function to discharge after the 1February. 1934.
Page 301close of the sessions except that of electing a member or members to fill any vacancy that might arise in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly during the year.
"6 The Convention while in session has no independent legislative, executive or judicial function.
Aside from its action in electing the National Spiritual Assembly, its discussions do not represent actions but recommendations which shall, according to the Guardian's instructions, be given conscientious consideration by the National Assembly.
tt7 The National Spiritual Assembly is the supreme Bahá'í administrative body within the American Bahá'í community, and its jurisdiction continues without interruption during the Convention period as during the remainder of the year, and independently of the individuals composing its membership. Any matter requiring action of legislative, executive or judicial nature, whether arising during the Convention period or at any other time, is to be referred to the
National Spiritual Assembly.is responsible for upholding the administrative principles applying to the holding of the Annual Convention as it is for upholding all other administrative principles. If, therefore, fore, a Convention departs from the principles laid down for Conventions by the Guardian, and exceeds the limitations of function conferred upon it, in that case, and in that case alone, the National Spiritual Assembly can and must intervene. It is the National Spiritual Assembly, and not the Convention, which is authorized to decide when and why such intervention is required.
tt8. The National Spiritual Assembly feels that it owes a real duty to the delegates, and to the entire body of believers, in presenting any and all facts that may be required in order to clarify matters discussed at the Convention.
There can be no true Bahá'í consultation at this important meeting if any incomplete or erroneous view should prevail.
tC9� The National Assembly in adopting and issuing this statement does so in the sincere effort to assure the constitutional freedom of the Convention to fulfill its high mission.
The path of true freedom lies in knowing and obeying the general principles given to all Bahá'ís for the proper conduct of their collective affairs. 'While the entire world plunges forward to destruction, it is the responsibility of the National Spiritual Assembly to uphold that Order on which peace and security solely depends."
THE NONPOLITICAL CHARACTER OFA Statement Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly in Response to the Request for Clarification of the Subject Voiced by the 1933 Annual Convention It is the view of the
National Spiritual Assemblythat the Guardian's references to the nonpolitical character of the Bahá'í Faith, when studied as a whole, are so clear that they can be fully grasped by all believers and rightly applied by all Local Spiritual Assemblies to any problems they may encounter. Should special circumstances arise, however, the National Assembly will make every effort to assist any Local Assembly to arrive at fuller understanding of this important subject.
The first reference to consider is taken from the letter written by
Shoghi Effendi on March21, 1932, published under the title of "The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh."
~ feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West.
And this principle is no other than that which involves the nonparticipation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, whether in their individual capacities or coi-lectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an
Page 302interference in the political affairs of any par. ticular government.
"Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or by deed, with the political pursuits of their respective na-dons, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions.
In such controversies they should assign no blame, take no side, further no design, and identify themselves with no system prejudicial to the best interests of that worldwide Fellowship which it is their aim to guard and foster. Let them beware lest they allow themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous politicians, or to be entrapped by the treacherous devices of the plotters and the perfidious among their countrymen. Let them so shape their lives and regulate their conduct that no charge of secrecy, of fraud, of bribery or of intimidation may, however ill-founded, be brought against them.
It is their duty to strive to distinguish, as clearly as they possibly can, and if needed with the aid of their elected representatives, such posts and functions as are either diplomatic or political, from those that are purely administrative in character, and which under no circumstances are affected by the changes and chances that political activities and party government, in every land, must necessarily involve. Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand, firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Bahá'u'lláh, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the pursuits of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God's immutable Purpose for all men.
ttLet them proclaim that in whatever country they reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their desire to enforce the laws and apply the principles enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh, they will, unhesi � tatingly, subordinate the operation of such laws and the application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs of their Faith, to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country's constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective coun. tries."
This instruction raised the question whether believers should vote in any pub. lic election. A Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Mr. Thornton Chase was sent to the Guardian, and the following reply was received, dated January 26, 1933: "The Guardian fully recognizes the authenticity and controlling influence of this instruction from 'Abdu'l-Bahá upon the question. He, however, feels under the responsibility of stating that the attitude taken by the Master (that is, that American citizens are in duty bound to vote in public elections) implies certain reservations.
He, therefore, lays it upon the individual conscience to see that in following the Master's instructions no Bahá'í vote for an officer nor Bahá'í participation in the affairs of the Republic shall involve acceptance by that individual of a program or policy that contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith." The Guardian added to this letter the following postscript: ~cJ feel it incumbent upon me to clarify the above statement, written in my behalf, by stating that no vote cast, or office undertaken, by a Bahá'í should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder, of the entire program of any political party. No Bahá'í can be regarded as either a Republican or Democrat, as such. He is, above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh, with which, I am firmly convinced, the program of no politi.-cal party is completely harmonious.~~ in a letter dated March 16, 1933, the Guardian sent these further details: (CAS regards the nonpolitical character of the Bahá'í
Faith, Shoghi Effendifeels that there is no contradiction whatsoever between the Tablet (to Thornton Chase, referred to above) and the reservations to which he has referred. The Master surely never desired the friends to use their influence towards the realization and promotion of policies contrary to any of the principles of the Faith.
The friends may vote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves with one party or another.
To enter the arena of party politics is surely detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and will
Page 303THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 303
harm the Cause. It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics, and always bear in mind that they are voting on the merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise their discretion and judgment.
But if a certain person does enter into party politics and labors for the ascendancy of one party over another, and continues to do it against the expressed appeals, and warnings of the Assembly, then the Assembly has the right to refuse him the right to vote in Bahá'í elections."
CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP IN NON-BAHA'1The instruction written by Shoghi Effendi concerning membership in non-Bahá'í religious organizations, published in the July, 1935, number of BAHÁ'Í Nrws, has brought forth some interesting and important corn-munications from local Spiritual Assemblies and also from individual believers, to all of which the National Spiritual Assembly has given careful and sympathetic attention.
The National Assembly itself, on receiving that instruction, made it the subject of extensive consultation, feeling exceedingly responsible for its own understanding of the Guardian's words and anxious to contribute to the understanding of the friends.
In October, 1935, the Assembly sent in reply to some of these communications a general letter embodying its thoughts on the subject, and a copy of that letter was forwarded to Shoghi Effendi for his approval and comment.
His references to its contents, made in letters addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly on
November 29 and Decemberapproval has been received, the National Assembly feels it desirable to publish, for the information �of all the American believers, the substance of the October letter.
While so fundamental an instruction is bound to raise different questions corresponding to the different conditions existing throughout the Bahá'í community, the most important consideration is our collective need to grasp the essential principle underlying the new instruction, and our capacity to perceive that the position which the Guardian wishes us to take in regard to church membership is a necessary and inevitable result of the steady development of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
This essential principle is made clear when we turn to Shoghi Effendi's further reference to the subject as published in BANAl NEWS for October, 193 5 � words written by the Guardian's own hand.
In the Light of these words, it seems fully evident that the way to approach this instruction is in realizing the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh as an ever-growing organism destined to become something new and greater than any of the revealed religions of the past. Whereas former Faiths inspired hearts and illumined souis, they eventuated in formal religions with an ecclesiastical organization, creeds, rituals and churches, while the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, likewise renewing man's spiritual life, will gradually produce the institutions of an ordered society, fulfilling not merely the function of the churches of the past but also the function of the civil state.
By this manifestation of the Divine Will in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state are separate and competitive institutions, and partake of a true civilization in which spiritual and social principles are at last reconciled as two aspects of one and the same Truth.
No Bahá'í can read the successive World Order letters sent us by Shoghi Effendi without perceiving that the Guardian, for many years, has been preparing us to understand and appreciate this fundamental purpose and mission of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. Even when the Master ascended, we were
Page 304for the most part still considering the Bahá'í Faith as though it were oniy the "return of Christ" and failing to perceive the entirely new and larger elements latent in the
Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.Thus, in the very first of the World Order letters, written February 27th, 1929, Shoghi Effendi said: ttWho, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the in.-creasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the in-f ant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests?"
Although for five years the Guardian had been setting forth the principles of Bahá'í Administration in frequent letters, in 1927 he apparently felt it necessary to overcome some doubts here and there as to the validity of the institutions the Master bequeathed to the Bahá'ís in His Will and Testament. The series of World Order letters, however, goes far beyond the point of defending and explaining their validity as an essential element in the Faith of ,Bahá'u'lláh � the Guardian vastly extended the horizon of our understanding by making it clear that the Administrative Order, in its full development, is to be the social structure of the future civilization.
Thus, in that same letter quoted above, he wrote: "Not only will the presentday Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power.
And as the Baha Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and 'West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the
Universal House of Justiceattain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Bahá'í Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future super-state."
This passage stands as the keystone in the noble structure which Shoghi Effendi has raised in his function as interpreter of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh.
The Master developed the Cause to the point where this social Teaching, always existent in the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, could be explained to the believers and given its due significance as the fulfillment of
Bahá'í evolution. Asthe Guardian expressed it: ctThat Divine Chili. zation, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Baha Faith." (World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 34.)
For us these words mean that a Bahá'í is not merely a member of a revealed Religion, he is also a citizen in a World Order even though that Order today is still in its infancy and still obscured by the shadows thrown by the institutions, habits and attitudes derived from the past.
But since the aim and end has been made known, our devotion and loyalty must surely express itself, not in clinging to views and thoughts emanating from the past, but in pressing forward in response to the needs of the new creation.
That true devotion, which consists in conscious knowledge of the "primary mission," and unified action to assist in bringing about its complete triumph, recognizes that a Bahá'í today must have singleness of mind as of aim, without the division arising when we stand with one foot in the Cause and one foot in the world, attempting to reconcile diverse elements which the Manifestation of God Himself has declared to be irreconcilable.
The principle underlying the Guardian's instruction about membership in non-BabS'i religious bodies has already been emphasized by Shoghi Effendi in another connection � the instruction about the nonpolitical character of the Faith which he incorporated in his letter entitled "The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh."
For example: "I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its
Page 305THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 305
application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the nonparticipation by the adherents of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government."
Again, when the question was raised as to membership in certain non-Bahá'í organizations not directly religious or political in character, the Guardian replied: "Regarding association with the World Fellowship of Faiths and kindred Societies, Shoghi Effendi wishes to reaffirm and elucidate the general principle that Bahá'í elected representatives as well as individuals should refrain from any act or word that would imply a departure from the principles, whether spiritual, social or administrative, established by Bahá'u'lláh. Formal affiliation with and acceptance of membership in organizations whose programs or policies are not wholly reconcilable with the Techings is of course out of the question."
(BAHÁ'Í NEWS, August, 1933.)Thus, not once but repeatedly the Guardian has upheld the vital principle underlying every type of relationship between Bahá'ís and other organizations, namely, that the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is an ever-growing organism, and as we begin to realize its universality our responsibility is definitely established to cherish and defend that universality from all compromise, all admixture with worldly elements, whether emanating from our own habits rooted in the past or from the deliberate attacks imposed by enemies from without.
It will be noted that in the instruction published in July, 1935, BAHÁ'Í NEWS, the Guardian made it clear that the principle involved is not new and unexpected, but rather an application of an established principle to a new condition. "Concerning membership in non-BaM'i religious associations, the Guardian wishes to reemphasize the general principle already laid down in his communications to your Assembly and also to the individual believers that no Bahá'í who wishes to be a wholehearted and sincere cere upholder of the distinguishing principles of the Cause can accept f till membership in any non-BaM'i ecclesiastical organization. For it is oniy too obvious that in most of its fundamental assumptions the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh is completely at variance with outworn creeds, ceremonies and institutions.
During the days of the Master the Cause was still in a stage that made such an open and sharp dissociation between it and other religious organizations, and particularly the Muslim Faith, not oniy inadvisable but practically impossible to establish.
But since His passing events throughout the Bahá'í world, and particularly in Egypt where the Muslim religious courts have formally testified to the independent character of the Faith, have developed to a point that has made such an assertion of the independence of the Cause not oniy highly desirable but absolutely essential."
To turn now to the Guardian's words published in October BAHÁ'Í NEWS: "The separation that has set in between the institutions of the Bahá'í Faith and the IslAmic ecclesiastical organizations that oppose it imposes upon every loyal upholder of the Cause the obligation of refraining from any word or action that might prejudice the position which out enemies have of their own accord proclaimed and established. This historic development, the beginnings of which could neither be recognized nor even anticipated in the years immediately preceding 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í passing, may be said to have signalized the Formative Period of our Faith and to have paved the way for the consolidation of its administrative order.
Though our Cause unreservedly recognizes the Divine origin of all the religions that preceded it and upholds the spiritual truths which lie at their very core and are common to them all, its institutions, whether administrative, religious or humanitarian, must, if their distinctive character is to be maintained and recognized, be increasingly divorced from the outworn creeds, the meaningless ceremonials and manmade institutions with which these religions are at present identified. Our adversaries in the East have initiated the struggle.
Our future opponents in the West will,in their turn, arise and carry it a stage further.
Ours is the duty, in anticipation of this inevitable contest, to uphold unequivocally and with undivided loyalty the integrity of our Faith and demonstrate the distinguishing features of its divinely appointed institutions."
Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic. These words, asserting again the essential universality of the Cause, likewise repeat and renew the warning that the organized religions, even in America, will be. come bitterly hostile to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, denounce and oppose it, and seek its destruction in vain effort to maintain their own "outworn creeds" and material power. Informed of this inevitable development, can a Bahá'í any longer desire to retain a connection which, however liberal and pleasing it now seems, is a connection with a potential foe of the
Cause of God? The Guardian'sinstruction signifies that the time has come when all American believers must become fully conscious of the implications of such connections, and carry out their loyalty to its logical conclusion.
Shoghi Effendi's latest words are not merely an approval of the foregoing statement, but a most helpful elucidation of some of the problems which arise when the friends turn to their local Assemblies for specific advice under various special circumstances.
"The explanatory statement in connec-don with membership in non-Bah6N religious organizations is admirably conceived, convincing and in full conformity with the principles underlying and implied in the unfolding world order of Bahá'u'lláh." (November 29, 1933.)
t~The Guardian has carefully read the copy of the statement you had recently prepared concerning non-membership in non-Bahá'í religious organizations, and is pleased to realize that your comments and explanations are in full conformity with his views on the subject. He hopes that your letter will serve to clarify this issue in the minds of all the believers, and to further convince them of its vital character and importance in the present stage of the evolution of the Cause.
In this case,1 as also in that of suf fering believers, the Assemblies, whether local or national, should act tactfully, patiently and in a friendly and kindly spirit. Knowing how painful and dangerous it is for such believers to repudiate their former allegiances and friendships, they should try to gradually persuade them of the wisdom and necessity of such an action, and instead of thrusting upon them a new principle, to make them accept it inwardly, and out of pure conviction and desire. Too severe and immediate action in such cases is not only fruitless but actually harmful.
It alienates people instead of winning them to the Cause.
ccTh other point concerns the advisability of contributing to a church. In this case also the friends must realize that contributions to a church, especially when not regular, do not necessarily entail affiliation. The believers can make such offerings, occasionally, and provided they are certain that while doing so they are not connected as members of any church. There should be no confusion between the terms affiliation and association. 'While affiliation with ecclesiastical organizations is not permissible, association with them should not only be tolerated but even encouraged. There is no better way to demonstrate the universality of the Cause than this. Bahá'u'lláh, indeed, urges His followers to consort with all religions and nations with utmost friendliness and iove.
This constitutes the very spirit of His message to mankind." (December 11, 1935.)
The National SpiritualAssembly trusts that the subject will receive the attention of local Assemblies and communities, and that in the light of the foregoing explanations the friends will find unity and agreement in applying the instruction to whatever situations may arise. In teaching new believers let us lay a proper foundation so that their obedience will be voluntary and assured from the beginning of their enrollment as Baha'is.
In our attitude toward the older believers who are affected by the instruction let us act with the patience and kindliness the Guardian has urged.
1 A special case involving an aged believer, afflicted with illness, for whom severance of church relations might have been too great a shock.
Page 307THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 307
BAHÁ'ÍS AND WAROne of the chief responsibilities of Bahá'ís in this transitional era is to grasp the principle upon which rests their loyalty to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in relation to their duty toward their civil government. This problem arises in its most difficult form in connection with our individual and collective attitude toward war.
Nothing could be more powerful than the Bahá'í teachings on the subject of peace. Not only does Bahá'u'lláh confirm the teachings of all former Manifestations which uphold amity and fellowship between individual human beings, and the supremacy of love as the end and aim of mutual intercourse and association, but He likewise extends the divine law of peace to governments and rulers, declaring to them that they are called upon to establish peace and justice upon earth, and uproot forever the dire calamity of international war.
Despite His Revelation, a most agonizing and excruciating conflict raged in Europe for four years, and since that war many other wars and revolutions have dyed the earth, while at present the heaven of human hope is black with the approach of a final world-shaking catastrophe.
What wonder that faithful Baha'is, abhorring and detesting war as insane repudiation of divine law, as destroyer of life and ruin of civilization, should now, in these fateful days, ponder how they may save their loved ones from the calamity of the battlefield, and how they may contribute their utmost to any and every effort aimed at the attainment of universal peace?
Conscious of these heart-stirrings, and mindful of its responsibility toward all Aiterican believers, and particularly that radiant youth which would first of all be sacrificed in the event of a declaration of war by the government, the National Spiritual Assembly wishes to express its view upon the matter, in the hope that the result of its study of the Teachings and of the Guardian s explanations will assist in bringing a unity of opinion and a clarification of thought among the friends.
Concerning the duty of Bahá'ís to their government, we have these words, written by Shoghi Effendi on January 1, 1929 (see ttBahá'í Administration," page 152): "To all these (that is, restrictive measures of the Soviet r6gime) the followers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh have with feelings of burning agony and heroic fortitude unanimously and unreservedly submitted, ever mindful of the guiding principle of Bahá'í conduct that in connection with their administrative activities, no matter how grievously interference with them might affect the course of the extension of the Movement, and the suspension of which does not constitute in itself a departure from the principle of loyalty to their Faith, the considered judgment and authoritative decrees issued by their responsible rulers must, if they be faithful to Bahá'u'lláh's and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í express injunctions, be thoroughly respected and ioy-ally obeyed. In matters, however, that vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation of their innermost belief, they are convinced, and are unhesitatingly prepared to vindicate by their lifeblood the sincerity of their conviction, that no power on earth, neither the arts of the most insidious adversary nor the bloody weapons of the most tyrannical oppressor, can ever succeed in extorting from them a word or deed that might tend to stifle the voice of their conscience or tarnish the purity of their faith."
In view of the fact that early Christians were persecuted because they refused to render military service, the question might be raised whether the above statement means that the Guardian includes refusal to bear arms as one of those matters which "vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation of their inner-"The Guardian has carefully read the N. S. A's statement on the Bahá'í attitude toward war, and approves of its circulation among the believers." � Shoghi Effendi, through his secretary, Haifa, Janu-. ary 10, 1936.
Page 308most belief" � a question the more important in that the early Christians preferred persecution to military service.
The answer to this question is that the Guardian instructs us that the obligation to render military duty placed by governments upon their citizens is a form of loyalty to one's government which the Bahá'í must accept, but that the believers can, through their National Assembly, seek exemption from active army duty provided their government recognizes the right of members of religious bodies making peace a matter of conscience to serve in some noncombatant service rather than as part of the armed force.
The National SpiritualAssembly has in � vestigated carefully this aspect of the situation, and has found that, whereas the government of the United States did, in the last war, provide exemption from military duty on religious grounds, nevertheless this exemption was part of the Statutes bearing directly upon that war, and with the cessation of hostilities the exemption lapsed.
In other words, there is today no basis on which any Bahá'í may be exempted from military duty in a possible future conflict. The National Assembly, consequently, cannot at present make any petition for exemption of Bahá'ís from war service, for such petitions must be filed with reference to some specific Act or Statute under which exemption can be granted. The Assembly understands that, in the event of war, there will be some kind of provision for exemption enacted, but as far as Bahá'ís are concerned, no steps can be taken until this government declares itself in a state of war.
This explanation, it is hoped, will satisfy those who for some years have been urging that protection be secured for American Ba1A'i youth.
On the other hand it must be pointed out that it is no part of our teaching program to attract young people to the Cause merely in order to take advantage of any exemption that may later on be officially obtained for duly enrolled Baha'is. The oniy justifiable reason for joining this Faith is because one realizes that it is a divine Cause and is ready and willing to accept whatever may befall a believer on the path of devotion. The persecutions which have been inflicted upon Bahá'ís so frequently make it clear that the path of devotion is one of sacrifice and not of ease or special privilege.
Another question encountered here and there among believers is what can Bahá'ís do to work for peace?
Outside the Cause we see many organizations with peace programs, and believers occasionally feel that it is their duty to join such movements and thereby work for a vital Bahá'í principle.
It is the view of thethat activity in and for the Cause itself is the supreme service to world peace. The Bahá'í community of the world is the true example of peace. The Bahá'í principles are the oniy ones upon which peace can be established.
Therefore, by striving to enlarge the number of declared believers, and broadcasting the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, we are doing the utmost to rid humanity of the scourge of war. Of what use to spend time and money upon incomplete human programs when we have the universal program of the Manifestation of God? The firm union of the Bahá'ís in active devotion to the advancement of their own Faith � this is our service to peace, as it is our service to all other human needs � economic justice, race amity, religious unity, etc. Let nonbelievers agitate for disarmament and circulate petitions for this and that pacifist aim � a Bahá'í truly alive in this Faith will surely prefer to base his activities upon the foundation laid by Bahá'u'lláh, walk the path which the Master trod all His days, and heed the appeals which the Guardian has given us to initiate a new era in the public teaching of the Message.
Page 309THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 309
THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁExcerpts Made by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, by Direction of Shoghi Fifendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WILLWELL is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá'u'lláh and rendereth thanks unto his Lord!
For He assuredly will be made manifest. God bath indeed ordained it in the Bay&n. � THE
BAn. (The DispensationThe world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System � the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed. � BAHÁ'U'LLÁH.
(The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, page �4.)It is incumbent upon the Aglis in, the Afn~n and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: "When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed.
Who hath branched from this Ancient Root." The object of this sacred verse is none except the Most
Mighty Branch ('Abdu'l-Bahá's).Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the A11-Powerful. � BAHÁ'U'LLÁH.
(The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, page 42.)There hath branched from the Sadratu'1-Muntahi this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow.
Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the whole of creation. � BAHÁ'U'LLÁH.
(The Dispensation of Dahd'u'lIdh, page 43.)In accordance with the explicit text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh hath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His Word � a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the present day no religious. Dispensation hath produced its like. � 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ.
(The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, page 44.)'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who incarnates an institution for which we can find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world's recognized religious systems, may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the one in which we are now laboring. His Will and Testament should thus be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that constitute the component parts of the Bahá'í Dispensation.
The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá'u'lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have, by their very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation.
The Will may thus be acclaimed as the inevitable offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated the generating influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient.
Being the Child of the� the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God � the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá can no more be divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it. Bahá'u'lláh's inscrutable purpose, we must ever
Page 310bear in mind, as been so thoroughly infused into the conduct of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and their motives have been so closely wedded together, that the mere attempt to dissociate the teachings of the former from any system which the ideal Exemplar of those same teachings has established would amount to a repudiation of one of the most sacred and basic truths of the Faith.
The Administrative Order, which ever since 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í ascension has evolved and is taking shape under our very eyes in no fewer than forty countries of the world, may be considered as the framework of the 'Will itself, the inviolable stronghold wherein this newborn child is being nurtured and developed. This Administrative Order, as it expands and consolidates itself, will no doubt manifest the potentialities and reveal the full implications of this momentous Document � this most remarkable expression of the Will of One of the most remarkable Figures of the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. It will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not oniy as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind. � SHOGHI
EFFENOL (The DispensationAll-praise to Him Who, by the Shield of His Covenant, hath guarded the Temple of His Cause from the darts of doubtfulness, Who by the Hosts of His Testament hath preserved the Sanctuary of His Most Beneficent Law and protected His
Straight and LuminousPath, staying thereby the onslaught of the company of Covenant-break-ers, that have threatened to subvert His Divine Edifice; Who hath watched over His Mighty Stronghold and All-glorious Faith, through the aid of men whom the slander of the slanderer affects not, whom no earthly calling, glory and power can turn aside from the Covenant of God and His Testament, established firmly by His clear and manifest words, writ and revealed by His All-glorious Pen and recorded in the Preserved
Tablet.Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that primal branch of the Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out, blest, tender, verdant and flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most wondrous, unique and priceless pearl that doth gleam from out the Twin Surging Seas; upon the offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, the twigs of the Celestial Tree, they that in the Day of the Great Dividing have stood fast and firm in the Covenant; upon the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God that have diffused widely the Divine Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed His Faith, published abroad His Law, de tached themselves from all things but Him, stood for righteousness in this world, and kindled the Fire of the Love of God in the very hearts and souis of His servants; upon them that have believed, rested assured, stood steadfast in His Covenant and followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Dayspring of Divine Guidance � for behold! he is the blest and sacred bough that hath branched out from the Twin Holy Trees. "Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind.
0 ye beloved of the Lord!The greatest of all things is the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto His Word. Ten thousand souls have shed streams of their sacred blood in this path, their precious lives they offered in sacrifice unto Him, hastened wrapt in holy ecstasy unto the glorious field of martyrdom, upraised the Standard of God's Faith and writ with their lifeblood upon the Tablet of the world the verses of His Divine Unity. The sacred breast of His
Holiness, the ExaltedOne (may my life be a sacrifice unto Him), was made a target to many a dart of woe, and in
M6zindar6n, the Blessedfeet of the Abh4 Beauty (may my life be offered up for His loved ones) were so grievously scouraged as to bleed and be sore wounded. His neck also was put into captive chains
Page 311THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 311
and His feet made fast in the stocks. In every hour, for a period of fifty years, a new trial and calamity befell Him and fresh afflictions and cares beset Him.
One of them: after having suffered intense vicissitudes, He was made homeless and a wanderer and fell a victim to still new vexations and troubles. In CIMq, the DayStar of the world was so exposed to the wiles of the people of malice as to be eclipsed in splendor. Later on He was sent an exile to the Great City (Con-stantinople) and thence to the Land of Mystery (Adrianople), whence, grievously wronged, He was eventually transferred to the Most Great Prison ('Akka). He Whom the world hath wronged (may my life be offered up for His loved ones) was four times banished from city to city, till at last condemned to perpetual confinement, He was incarcerated in this Prison, the prison of highway robbers, of brigands and of man-slayers. All this is but one of the trials that have afflicted the Blessed Beauty, the rest being even as grievous as this.
According to the direct and sacred command of God we are forbidden to utter slander, are commanded to show forth peace and amity, are exhorted to rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and harmony with all the kindreds and peoples of the world. We must obey and be the well-wishers of the governments of the land, regard disloyalty unto a just king as disloyalty to God Himself and wishing evil to the government a transgression of the
Cause of God.0 God, my God! Thou seest this wronged servant of Thine, held fast in the talons of ferocious lions, of ravening wolves, of bloodthirsty beasts.
Graciously assist me, through my love for Thee, that I may drink d~ep of the chalice that brimmeth over with faithfulness to Thee and is filled with Thy bountiful Grace; so that, fallen upon the dust, I may sink prostrate and senseless whilst my vesture is dyed crimson with my blood. This is my wish, my heart's desire, my hope, my pride, my glory. Grant, 0 Lord my God, and my Refuge, that in my last hour, my end, may even as musk shed its fragrance of glory!
Is there a bounty greater than this? Nay, by Thy Glory! I call Thee to witness that no day passeth but that I quaff my fill from this cup, so grievous are the misdeeds wrought by them that have broken the Covenant, kindled discord, showed their malice, stirred sedition in the land and dishonored Thee amidst Thy servants.
Lord! Shield Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty Stronghold of Thy Faith and protect
Thy secret Sanctuaryfrom the onslaught of the ungodly. Thou art in truth the Mighty, the Powerful, the Gracious, the Strong.
0 God, my God! Shield Thytrusted servants from the evils of self and passion, protect them with the watchful eye of Thy loving kindness from all rancor, hate and envy, shelter them in the impregnable stronghold of Thy Cause and, safe from the darts of doubtfulness, make them the manifestations of Thy glorious Signs, illumine their faces with the effulgent rays shed from the Dayspring of Thy Divine Unity, gladden their hearts with the verses revealed from Thy Holy Kingdom, strengthen their loins by Thine all-swaying power that cometh from
Thy Realm of Glory. Thouart the All-Bountiful, the Protector, the Almighty, the
Gracious!o ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken flight unto the celestial concourse, when it will have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen and its mortal frame will have been either lost or hidden neath the dust, it is incumbent upon the Afn~n, that are steadfast in the Covenant of God, and have branched from the Tree of Holiness, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God (the glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the friends and loved ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and soul and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His Cause and to promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a moment, neither to seek repose.
They must disperse themselves in every land, pass by every clime and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest and steadfast to the end they must raise in every land the triumphal cry ~ Thou the Glory of Glories!" (Y~-BaM'-u'I-AbhA), must achieve renown in the world wherever they go, must burn brightly
Page 312even as a candle in every meeting and must kindle the flame of Divine love in every assembly; that the light of truth may rise resplendent in the midmost heart of the world, that throughout the East and throughout the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savors of holiness may be diffused, that faces may shine radiantly, hearts be filled with the Divine spirit and souis be made heavenly.
In these days, the most important of all things is the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world. Teaching the Cause is of utmost importance for it is the head cornerstone of the foundation itself.
This wronged servant has spent his days and nights in promoting the Cause and urging the peoples to service. He rested not a moment, till the fame of the Cause of God was noised abroad in the world and the celestial strains from the Abh4 Kingdom roused the East and the West.
The beloved of God must also follow the same example. This is the secret of faithfulness, this is the requirement of servitude to the Threshold of Ba1A!
The disciples of Christ forgot themselves and all earthly things, forsook all their cares and belongings, purged themselves of self and passion and with absolute detachment scattered far and wide and engaged in calling the peoples of the world to the Divine Guidance, till at last they made the world another world, illumined the surface of the earth and even to their last hour proved self-sacrificing in the pathway of that Beloved One of God. Finally in various lands they suffered glorious martyrdom. Let them that are men of action follow in their footsteps!
0 my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghs4n (Branches), the Afn~n (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the AbhA Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi � the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness � as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghs~n, the Afnin, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn.
He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the firstborn of his lineal descendants.
The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abbi Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God.
Whoso obeyeth him not, neither obeyeth them, hath not obeyed God; whoso rebelleth against him and against them bath rebelled against God; whoso op-poseth him hath opposed God; whoso con-tendeth with them hath contended with God; whoso disputeth with him hath disputed with God; whoso denieth him hath denied God; whoso disbelieveth in him hath disbelieved in God; whoso deviateth, sepa-rateth himself and turneth aside from him bath in truth deviated, separated himself and turned aside from God. May the wrath, the fierce indignation, the venegeance of God rest upon him! The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God. It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Aghs&n, the Afnin, the Hands of the Cause of God to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the guardian of the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be iowiy before him. He that opposeth him hath opposed the True One, will make a breach in the Cause of God, will subvert His word and will become a manifestation of the Center of Sedition.
Beware, beware, lest the days after the ascension (of Bahá'u'lláh) be repeated when the Center of Sedition waxed haughty and rebellious and with Divine Unity for his excuse deprived himself and perturbed and poisoned others.
No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold, would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of BaJA. My object is to show that the Hands of the Cause of God must be ever watchful and so soon as they find anyone beginning to oppose and
Page 313protest against the guardian of the Cause of God cast him out from the congregation of the people of Baha and in no wise accept any excuse from him. How often bath grievous error been disguised in the garb of truth, that it might sow the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men!
0 ye beloved of the Lord!It is incumbent upon the guardian of the Cause of God to appoint in his own lifetime him chat shall become his successor, that differences may not arise after his passing.
He that is appointed must manifest in himself detachment from all worldly things, must be the essence of purity, must show in himself the fear of God, knowledge, wisdom and learning. Thus, should the firstborn of the guardian of the Cause of God not manifest in himself the truth of the words:~~~ccThe child is the secret essence of its sire," that is, should he not inherit of the spiritual within him (the guardian of the Cause of God) and his glorious lineage not be matched with a goodly character, then must he (the guardian of the Cause of God), choose another branch to succeed him.
The Hands of the Cause of God must elect from their own number, nine persons that shall at all times be occupied in the important services in the work of the guardian of the Cause of God. The election of these nine must be carried either unanimously or by majority from the company of the Hands of the Cause of God and these, whether unanimously or by a majority vote, must give their assent to the choice of the one whom the guardian of the Cause of God hail chosen as his successor. This assent must be given in such wise as the assenting and dissenting voices may not be distinguished (secret ballot).
0 friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. Should any, within or without the company of the Hands of the Cause of God, disobey and seek division, the wrath of God and His vengeance will be upon him, for he will have caused a breach in the true Faith of God.
The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, ing, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things. They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words.
This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually urge them to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse the sweet savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the universe to be illumined. To disregard, though it be for a moment, this absolute command which is binding upon everyone, is in no wise permitted, that the existent world may become even as the AbhA Paradise, that the surface of the earth may become heavenly, that contention and conflict amidst peoples, kindreds, nations and governments may disappear, that all the dwellers on earth may become one people and one race, that the world may become even as one home. Should differences arise they shall be amicably and conclusively settled by the Supreme Tribunal, that shall include members from all the governments and peoples of the world.
0 ye beloved of the Lord!In this sacred Dispensation, conflict and contention are in no wise permitted.
Every aggressor deprives himself of God's grace. It is incumbent upon everyone to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the world, be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of love and loving � kindness, that the stranger may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing between them.
For universality is of God and all limitations earthly. Thus man must strive that his reality may manifest virtues and perfections, the light whereof may shine upon everyone. The light of the sun shineth upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine Providence fall upon all peoples. The vivifying breeze reviveth every living creature and all beings endued with life obtain their share and portion at His heavenly board.
in like manner, the affections and lovingkindness of the servants of the One
Page 314True God must be bountifully and universally extended to all mankind. Regarding this, restrictions and limitations are in no wise permitted.
Wherefore, 0 my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, goodwill and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peo-pies and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity. Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity be friendly towards them, should they poison your lives sweeten their souis, should they inflict a wound upon you be a salve to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere!
Such are the attributes of the truthful.And now, concerning the House of Justice which God hath ordained as the source of all good and freed from all error, it must be elected by universal suffrage, that is, by the believers.
Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and daysprings of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God's faith and the well-wishers of all mankind. By this House is meant the Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries, a secondary House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of Justice must elect the members of the Universal one. Unto this body all things must be referred.
It enacteth all ordinances and regulations that are not to be found in the explicit Holy Text. By this body all the difficult problems are to be resolved and the guardian of the Cause of God is its sacred head and the distinguished member for life of that body. Should he not attend in person its deliberations, he must appoint one to represent him. Should any of the members commit a sin, injurious to the common weal, the guardian of the Cause of God hath at his own discretion the right to expel him, whereupon the people must elect another one in his stead. This House of Justice enacteth the laws and the government enforceth them. The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the ciose union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.
0 ye beloved of the Lord!It is incumbent upon you to be submissive to all monarchs that are just and show your fidelity to every righteous king.
Serve ye the sovereigns of the world with utmost truthfulness and loyalty.
Show obedience unto them and be their well-wishers.
Without their leave and permission do not meddle with political affairs, for disloyalty to the just sovereign is disloyalty to God himself.
This is my counsel and the commandment of God unto you. Well is it with them that act accordingly.
o dearly beloved friends!I am now in very great danger and the hope of even an hour's life is lost to me. I am thus constrained to write these lines for the protection of the Cause of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Word, and the safety of His Teachings. By the Ancient Beauty! This wronged one hath in no wise borne nor doth he bear a grudge against any one; towards none doth he entertain any ill-feeling and uttereth no word save for the good of the world. My supreme obligation, however, of necessity, prompteth me to guard and preserve the Cause of God. Thus, with the greatest regret, I counsel you say-mg:~~~ccGuard ye the Cause of God, protect His law and have the utmost fear of discord.
This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Baha (may my life be offered up for them) ~ (C~~ Holiness, the Exalted one (the BTh), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty.
His Holiness the AbM Beauty(may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence.
All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding."
Unto theTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 315
Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unani-rnousiy or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that iove discord, hath shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.
By this House is meant thatwhich is to be elected from all countries, that is, from those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found, after the manner of the customary elections in Western countries such as those of England.
It is incumbent upon these members (of the Universal House of Justice) to gather in a certain place and deliberate upon all problems which have caused difference, questions that are obscure and matters that are not expressly recorded in the Book. Whatsoever they decide has the same effect as the Text itself.
And inasmuch as this House of Justice bath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same. Thus for example, the House of Justice enacteth today a certain law and enforceth it, and a hundred years hence, circumstances having profoundly changed and the conditions having altered, another House of Justice will then have power, according to the exigencies of the time, to alter that law. This it can do because that law formeth no part of the Divine Explicit
Text. The House of Justiceis both the Initiator and the Abrogator of its own laws.
And now, one of the greatest and most fundamental principles of the Cause of God is to shun and avoid entirely the Covenant-breakers, for they will utterly destroy the Cause of God, exterminate His Law and render of no account all efforts exerted in the past. 0 friends! It behooveth you to call to mind with tenderness the trials of His Holiness, the Exalted One and show your fidelity to the Ever-Blest Beauty.
The utmost endeavor must be exerted lest all these woes, trials and afflictions, all this pure and sacred blood that hath been shed so profusely in the Path of God, may prove to be in vain.
o ye beloved of the Lord!Strive with all your heart to shield the Cause of God from the onslaught of the insincere, for souls such as these cause the straight to become crooked and all benevolent efforts to produce contrary results.
o God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets andand Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have declared conclusively Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones and set forth clearly all things unto them, that they may watch over Thy Faith, guard Thy Straight Path and protect Thy Resplendent Law. Thou art, verily, the All-knowing, the All-wise!
Whosoever and whatsoever meeting becometh a hindrance to the diffusion of the Light of Faith, let the loved ones give them counsel and say: "Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching.
It draweth unto us the Grace of God and is our first obligation. Of such a gift how can we deprive ourselves? Nay, our lives, our goods, our comforts, our rest, we offer them all as a sacrifice for the AbM Beauty and teach the Cause of God." Caution and prudence, however, must be observed even as recorded in the Book. The veil must in no wise be suddenly rent asunder. The Glory of Glories rest upon you.
0 ye the faithful loved ones of 'Abdu'l-Bahá!It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Late-Trees, that no dust of despondency and sorrow may strain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree.
For he is, after 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the guardian of the Cause of God, the Afnin, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him, hath denied the True One. Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the
Page 316Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Bahá'u'lláh) advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the door of false interpretation.
To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn unto the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.
The Glory of Glories rest upon you.Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá'u'lláh Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abhi Kingdom.
Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the t~Wi11 and Testament" of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Its guiding principles are the truths which He 'Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitáb � i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its Dependencies.
The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá'u'lláh.
The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the CCMOSt Great Peace"; its consummation the advent of that golden millenium � the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá'u'lláh. � SHOGHI
EFFENDI. (ttThe DispensationJ HAVE been acquainted by the perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that have been publicly expressed, by one who is wholly misinformed as to the true precepts of the Cause, regarding the validity of institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Not that I for a moment view such faint misgivings in the light of an open challenge to the structure that embodies the Faith, nor is it because I question in the least the unyielding tenacity of the faith of the American believers, if I venture to dwell upon what seems to me appropriate observations at the present stage of the evolution of our beloved Cause.
I am indeed inclined to welcome these expressed apprehensions inasmuch as they afford me an opportunity to familiarize the elected representatives of the believers with the origin and character of the institutions which stand at the very basis of the world order ushered in by Bahá'u'lláh. We should feel truly thankful for such futile attempts to undermine our beloved Faith � attempts that protrude their ugly face from time to time, seem for a while able to create a breach in the ranks of the faithful, recede finally into the obscurity of bblivion, and are thought of no more. Such incidents we should regard as the interpositions of Providence, designed to fortify our faith, to clarify our vision, and to deepen our understanding of the essentials of His
Divine Revelation.It would, however, be helpful and instructive to bear in mind certain basic principles with reference to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l � Baha which together with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission
Page 317THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 317
of the Bahá'í Faith. A study of the provisions of these sacred documents will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate. Far from regarding their specific provisions as incompatible and contradictory in spirit, every fair-minded inquirer will readily admit that they are not only complementary, but that they mutually confirm one another, and are inseparable parts of one complete unit. A comparison of their contents with the rest of Baha Sacred Writings will similarly establish the conformity of whatever they contain with the spirit as well as the letter of the authenticated writings and sayings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
In fact, be who reads the Aqdas with care and diligence will not find it hard to discover that the Most Holy Book fAqdas]
itself anticipates in a number of passages the institutions which 'Abdu'l-Bahá ordains in His Will. By leaving certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His
Book of Laws (Aqdas], Bahá'u'lláhseems to have deliberately left a gap in the general scheme of Bahá'í Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of the Master's Will has filled. To attempt to divorce the one from the other, to insinuate that the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh have not been upheld, in their entirety and with absolute integrity, by what 'Abdu'l-Bahá has revealed in his Will, is an unpardonable affront to the unswerving fidelity that has characterized the life and labors of our beloved Master.
I will not attempt in the least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the WTi11 and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as to the unanimous confidence of the believers in the genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed Master.
I will only confine my observations to those issues which may assist them to appreciate the essential unity that underlies the spiritual, the humanitarian, and the administrative principles enunciated by the Author and the Interpreter of the Baha
Faith.I am at a ioss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion of the truth of the Bahá'í Teachings what is admittedly oniy an obscure and un authenticated translation of an oral statement made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in defiance and total disregard of the available text of all of His universally recognized writings.
I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and from his incompetence to render adequately such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master's statements. Much of the confusion that has obscured the understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an only partially understood statement. Not infrequently has the interpreter even failed to convey the exact purport of the inquirer's specific questions, and, by his deficiency of understanding and expression in conveying the answer of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, has been responsible for reports wholly at variance with the true spirit and purpose of the Cause. It was chiefly in view of this misleading nature of the reports of the informal conversations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá with visiting pilgrims, that I have insistently urged the believers of the 'West to regard such statements as merely personal impressions of the sayings of their Master, and to quote and consider as authentic only such translations as are based upon the authenticated text of His recorded utterances in the original tongue.
It should be remembered by every follower of the Cause that the system of Bahá'í administration is not an innovation imposed arbitrarily upon the Bahá'ís of the world since the Master's passing, but derives its authority from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is specifically prescribed in unnumbered Tablets, and rests in some of its essential features upon the explicit provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
It thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid down by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can oniy result in the disintegration of its component parts, and the extinction of the Faith itself.
Page 318Spiritual Assembly of Helena, Montana, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939.
Spiritual Assembly of East Cleveland, Ohio, Newly Constituted, April 21, 1939, with members of the Bahá'í Community.
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LOCAL AND NATIONAL Housrsor JUSTICE It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the international Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master's Will as the "Secondary House of Justice," has the express sanction of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to all Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, have nor only been established by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the Tablets He revealed to the Bahá'ís of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings.
The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Bahá'í Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of close supervision over all Bahá'í publications, have been sedulously instilled by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, as evidenced by His authenticated and widely-scattered Tablets.
To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He has cherished most in His life.
That the Spiritual Assembliesof today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Bahá'í body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the "House of Justice" for that city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the identity of the present Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of Justice referred to by Bahá'u'lláh.
For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Bahá'í communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the Bahá'í Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not only will the presentday
Spiritual Assembliesbe styled differently in future, but will be enabled also t~ add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and
Sovereign Power. Andas the Bahá'í Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and 'West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exer-cisc, as the supreme organ of the BaUM Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future superstate.
It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Baha Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the
Universal House of Justicein His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the Turkish r6girne, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps for its establishment.
It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under which the Bahá'ís of Inn and of the adjoining countries under Soviet Rule may be enabled to elect their national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid down in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í writings, the oniy remaining obstacle in the
Page 320way of the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of the East and West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the WIll!, of electing directly the members of the International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in the organic life of the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of so august a body in the Bahá'í world.
THE INSTITUTION OF GIJARDIANSHIrIt must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of
Justice by Bahá'u'lláhin the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and repeatedly and solemnly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions. It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains.
Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide
Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.Oniy those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship.
They oniy will appreciate the significance of the vigorous language employed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá with reference to the band of Covenant-breakers that has opposed Him in His days. To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions initiated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age.
THE ANIMATING PURPOSEAnd now, it behooves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated oniy by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually achieve.
I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation. Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents,, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests? To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh would be to reject these countless
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláhand 'Abdu'l-Bahá, wherein they have extolled their privi-. leges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of friends, as well as from the malice of their enemies.
It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, am
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bition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
(February 27, 1929.)These recurrent crises which, with ominous frequency and resistless force, are afflicting an ever-increasing portion of the human race must of necessity continue, however impermanently, to exercise, in a certain measure, their baleful influence upon a world community which has spread its ramifications to the uttermost ends of the earth. How can the beginnings of a world upheaval, unleashing forces that are so gravely deranging the social, the religious, the political, and the economic equilibrium of organized society, throwing into chaos and confusion political systems, racial doctrines, social conceptions, cultural standards, religious associations, and trade relationships � bow can such agitations, on a scale so vast, so unprecedented, fail to produce any repercussions on the institutions of a Faith of such tender age whose teachings have a direct and vital bearing on each of these spheres of human life and conduct?
Little wonder, therefore, if they who are holding aloft the banner of so pervasive a Faith, so challenging a Cause, find themselves affected by the impact of these world-shaking forces.
Little wonder if they find that in the midst of this whirlpool of contending passions their freedom has been curtailed, their tenets contemned, their institutions assaulted, their motives maligned, their authority jeopardized, their claim relected.
In the heart of the European continent a community which, as predicted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is destined, by virtue of its spiritual potentialities and geographical situation, to radiate the splendor of the light of the Faith on the countries that surround it, has been momentarily eclipsed through the restrictions which a regime that has sorely misapprehended its purpose and function has chosen to impose upon it. Its voice, alas, is now silenced, its institutions dissolved, its literature banned, its archives confiscated, and its meetings suspended.
In central Asia, in the city enjoying the unique distinction of having been chosen by 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the home of the First Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Bahá'í world, as well as in the towns and villages of the province to which it belongs, the sore-pressed Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, as a result of the extraordinary and unique vitality which, in the course of several decades, it has consistently manifested, finds itself at the mercy of forces which, alarmed at its rising power, are now bent on reducing it to utter impotence. Its Temple, though still used for purposes of Bahá'í worship, has been expropriated, its Assemblies and committees disbanded, its teaching activities crippled, its chief promoters deported, and not a few of its most enthusiastic supporters, both men and women, imprisoned.
In the land of its birth, wherein reside the immense majority of its followers � a country whose capital has been hailed by Bahá'u'lláh as the errnother of the world" and the frdayspring of the joy of incrnkind" � a civil authority, as yet undivorced officially from the paralyzing influences of an antiquated, a fanatical, and outrageously corrupt clergy, pursues relentlessly its campaign of repression against the adherents of a Faith which it has for well-nigh a century striven unsuccessfully to suppress. Indifferent to the truth that the members of this innocent and proscribed community can justly claim to rank as among the most disinterested, the most competent, and the most ardent lovers of their native land, contemptuous of their high sense of world citizenship which the advocates of an excessive and narrow nationalism can never hope to appreciate, such an authority refuses to grant to a Faith which extends its spiritual jurisdiction over well nigh six hundred local communities, and which numerically outnumbers the adherents of either the Christian, the Jewish, or the Zoroastrian Faiths in that land, the necessary legal right to enforce its laws, to administer its affairs, to conduct its schools, to celebrate its festivals, to circulate its literature, to solemnize its rites, to erect its edifices, and to safeguard its endowments.
And now recently in the Holy Land itself, the heart and nerve-center of a world-em-bracing Faith, the fires of racial animosity,
Page 322of fraticidal strife, of unabashed terrorism, have lit a conflagration that gravely interferes, on the one hand, with that flow of pilgrims that constitutes the lifeblood of that center, and suspends, on the other, the various projects that had been initiated in connection with the preservation and extension of the areas surrounding the sacred Spots it enshrines.
The safety of the small community of resident believers, faced by the rising tide of lawlessness, has been imperiled, its status as a neutral and distinct community indirectly challenged, and its freedom to carry out certain of its observances curtailed. A series of murderous assaults, alternating with outbursts of bitter fanaticism, both racial and religious, involving the leaders as well as the followers of the three leading Faiths in that distracted country, have, at times, threatened to sever all normal communications both within its confines as well as with the outside world. Perilous though the situation has been, the Baha Holy Places, the object of the adoration of a world-encircling Faith, have, notwithstanding their number and exposed position, and though to outward seeming deprived of any means of protection, been vouchsafed a preservation little short of miraculous.
A world, torn with conflicting passions, and perilously disintegrating from within, finds itself confronted, at so crucial an epoch in its history, by the rising fortunes of an infant Faith, a Faith that, at times, seems to be drawn into its controversies, entangled by its conflicts, eclipsed by its gathering shadows, and overpowered by the mounting tide of its passions. In its very heart, within its cradle, at the seat of its first and venerable Temple, in one of its hitherto flourishing and potentially powerful centers, the as-yet unemancipated Faith of Bahá'u'lláh seems indeed to have retreated before the onrushing forces of violence and disorder to which humanity is steadily falling a victim.
The strongholds of such a Faith, one by one and day after day, are to outward seeming being successively isolated, assaulted and captured. As the lights of liberty flicker and go out, as the din of discord grows louder and louder every day, as the fires of fanaticism flame with increasing fierceness in the breasts of men, as the chill of irreligion creeps relentlessly over the soui of mankind, the limbs and organs that constitute the body of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh appear, in varying measure, to have become afflicted with the crippling influences that now hold in their grip the whole of the civilized world.
How clearly and strikingly the following words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá are being demonstrated at this hour: reTloe darkness of error that has enveloped the East and the West is, in this most great cycle, battling with the light of Divine Guidance. Its swords and its spears are very sharp and pointed; its army keenly bloodthirsty."
~~This day," He, in another passage has written, rethe powers of all the leaders of religion are directed towards the dispersion of the congregation of the All-Merciful, and the shattering of the Divine Edifice. The hosts of the world, whether material, cultural or political are from every side launching their assault, for the Cause is great, very great. Its greatness is, in this day, clear and manifest to men's eyes."
CHIEF REMAINING CITADELThe one chief remaining citadel, the mighty arm which still raises aloft the standard of an unconquerable Faith, is none other than the blessed community of the followers of the
Most Great Name in the Northits works, and through the unfailing protection vouchsafed to it by an almighty Providence, this distinguished member of the body of the constantly interacting Bahá'í communities of East and West, bids fair to be universally regarded as the cradle, as well as the stronghold, of that future New World Order, which is at once the promise and the glory of the Dispensation associated with the name of Bahá'u'lláh.
Let any one inclined to either belittle the unique station conferred upon this community, or to question the role it will be called upon to play in the days to come, ponder the implication of these pregnant and highly illuminating words uttered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and addressed to it at a time when the fortunes of a world groaning beneath the burden of a devastating war had
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reached their lowest ebb.r%Jihe continent of America," He so significantly wrote, ~is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the inyst cries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble."
His UNFAILING LIGHTThough the task be long and arduous, yet the prize which the All-Bountiful Bestower has chosen to confer upon you is of such preciousness that neither tongue nor pen can befittingly appraise it. Though the goal towards which you are now so strenuously striving be distant, and as yet undisclosed to men's eyes, yet its promise lies firmly embedded in the authoritative and unalterable utterances of Bahá'u'lláh. Though the course He has traced for you seems, at times, lost in the threatening shadows with which a striken humanity is now enveloped, yet the unfailing light He has caused to shine continually upon you is of such brightness that no earthly dusk can ever eclipse its splendor.
Though small in numbers, and circumscribed as yet in your experiences, powers, and resources, yet the Force which energizes your mission is limitless in its range and incalculable in its potency. Though the enemies which every acceleration in the progress of your mission must raise up be fierce, numerous, and unrelenting, yet the invisible Hosts which, if you persevere, must, as promised, rush forth to your aid, will, in the end, enable you to vanquish their hopes and annihilate their forces. Though the ultimate blessings that must crown the consummation of your mission be undoubted, and the Divine promises given you firm and irrevocable, yet the measure of the goodly reward which every one of you is to reap must depend on the extent to which your daily exertions will have contributed to the expansion of that niussion and the hastening of its triumph.
Dearly-beloved friends!Great as is my love and admiration for you, convinced as I am of the paramount share which you can, and will, undoubtedly have in both the 'continental and international spheres of future Bahá'í activity and service, I feel it nevertheless theless incumbent upon me to utter, at this juncture, a word of warning. The glowing tributes, so repeatedly and deservedly paid to the capacity, the spirit, the conduct, and the high rank, of the American believers, both individually and as an organic community, must, under no circumstances, be confounded with the characteristics and nature of the people from which God has raised them up.
A sharp distinction between that community and that people must be made, and resolutely and fearlessly upheld, if we wish to give due recognition to the transmuting power of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, in its impact on the lives and standards of those who have chosen to enlist under His banner.
Otherwise, the supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than the calling into being of a new race of men, will remain wholly unrecognized and completely obscured.
THE SUPREME FUNCTION orHow often have the Prophets of God, not excepting Bahá'u'lláh Himself, chosen to appear, and deliver their Message in countries and amidst peoples and races, at a time when they were either fast declining, or had already touched the lowest depths of moral and spiritual degradation.
The appalling misery and wretchedness to which the Israelites had sunk, under the debasing and tyrannical rule of the Pharaohs, in the days preceding their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses; the decline that had set in in the religious, the spiritual, the cultural, and the moral life of the Jewish people, at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ; the barbarous cruelty, the gross idolatry and immorality, which had for so long been the most distressing features of the tribes of Arabia and brought such shame upon them when Muhammad arose to proclaim His Message in their midst; the indescribable state of decadence, with its attendant corruption, confusion, intolerance, and oppression, in both the civil and religious life of Inn, so graphically portrayed by the pen of a considerable number of scholars, diplomats, and travelers, at the hour of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh � all
Page 324demonstrate this basic and inescapable fact. To contend that the innate worthiness, the high moral standard, the political aptitude, and social attainments of any race or nation is the reason for the appearance in its midst of any of these Divine Luminaries would be an absolute perversion of historical facts, and would amount to a complete repudiation of the undoubted interpretation placed upon them, so clearly and emphatically, by both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
How great, then, must be the challenge to those who, belonging to such races and nations, and having responded to the call which these Prophets have raised, to unreservedly recognize and courageously testify to this indubitable truth, that not by reason of any racial superiority, political capacity, or spiritual virtue which a race or nation might possess, but rather as a direct consequence of its crying needs, its lamentable degeneracy, and irremediable perversity, has the Prophet of God chosen to appear in its midst, and with it as a lever has lifted the entire human race to a higher and nobler plane of life and conduct. For it is precisely under such circumstances, and by such means that the Prophets have, from time immemorial, chosen and were able to demonstrate their redemptive power to raise from the depths of abasement and of misery, the people of their own race and nation, empowering them to transmit in turn to other races and nations the saving grace and the energizing influence of their Revelation.
In the light of this fundamental principle it should always be borne in mind, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the primary reason why the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh chose to appear in IrAn, and to make it the first repository of their Revelation, was because, of all the peoples and nations of the civilized world, that race and nation had, as so often depicted by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sunk to such ignominious depths, and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its contemporaries.
For no more convincing proof could be adduced demonstrating the regenerating spirit animating the Revelations proclaimed by the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh than their power to transform what can be truly regarded as one of the most backward, the most cowardly, and perverse verse of peoples into a race of heroes, fit to effect in turn a similar revolution in the life of mankind.
To have appeared among a race or nation which by its intrinsic worth and high attainments seemed to warrant the inestimable privilege of being made the receptacle of such a Revelation would in the eyes of an unbelieving world greatly reduce the efficacy of that Message, and detract from the self-sufficiency of its omnipotent power.
The contrast so strikingly presented in the pages of Nab il's Narrative between the heroism that immortalized the life and deeds of the Dawn-Breakers and the degeneracy and cowardice of their defamers and persecutors is in itself a most impressive testimony to the truth of the Message of Him Who had instilled such a spirit into the breasts of His disciples. For any believer of that race to maintain that the excellence of his country and the innate nobility of its people were the fundamental reasons for its being singled out as the primary receptacle of the Revelations of the Bib and Bahá'u'lláh would be untenable in the face of the overwhelming evidence afforded so convincingly by that Narrative.
To a lesser degree this principle must of necessity apply to the country which has vindicated its right to be regarded as the cradle of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. So great a function, so noble a rOle, can be regarded as no less inferior to the part played by those immortal souls who, through their sublime renunciation and unparalleled deeds, have been responsible for the birth of the Faith itself.
Let not, therefore, those who are to participate so predominantly in the birth of that world civilization, which is the direct offspring of their Faith, imagine for a moment that for some mysterious purpose or by any reason of inherent excellence or special merit Bahá'u'lláh has chosen to confer upon their country and people so great and lasting a distinction.
It is precisely by reason of the patent evils which, notwithstanding its other admittedly great characteristics and achievements, an excessive and binding materialism has unfortunately engendered within it that the Author of their Faith and the
Center of His Covenanthave singled it out to become the standard-bearer of the New World Order envisaged in their
Page 325writings. It is by such means as this that Bahá'u'lláh can best demonstrate to a heedless generation His almighty power to raise up from the very midst of a people, immersed in a sea of materialism, a prey to one of the most virulent and longstanding forms of racial prejudice, and notorious for its political corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards, men and women who, as time goes by, will increasingly exemplify those essential virtues of self-renunciation, of moral rectitude, of chastity, of indiscriminating fellowship, of holy discipline, and of spiritual insight that will fit them for the preponderating share they will have in calling into being that World Order and that World Civilization of which their country, no less than the entire human race, stands in desperate need. Theirs will be the duty and privilege, in their capacity first as the estab-ushers of one of the most powerful pillars sustaining the edifice of the Universal House of Justice, and then as the champion-builders of that New World Order of which that House is to be the nucleus and forerunner, to inculcate, demonstrate, and apply those twin and sorely-needed principles of Divine iustice and order � principles to which the political corruption and the moral license, increasingly staining the society to which they belong, offer so sad and striking a contrast.
Observations such as these, however distasteful and depressing they may be, should not, in the least, blind us to those virtues and qualities of high intelligence, of youthfulness, of unbounded initiative, and enterprise which the nation as a whole so conspicuously displays, and which are being increasingly reflected by the community of the believers within it. Upon these virtues and qualities, no less than upon the elimination of the evils referred to, must depend, to a very great extent, the ability of that community to lay a firm foundation for the country's future rOle in ushering in the Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.
How STAGGERING THE RESPONSIBILITYHow great, therefore, how staggering the responsibility that must weigh upon the present generation of the American believers, at this early stage in their spiritual and administrative nistrative evolution, to weed out, by every means in their power, those faults, habits, and tendencies which they have inherited from their own nation, and to cultivate, patiently and prayerfully, those distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to their effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith. Incapable as yet, in view of the restricted size of their community and the limited influence it now wields, of producing any marked effect on the great mass of their countrymen, let them focus their attention, for the present, on their own seives, their own individual needs, their own personal deficiencies and weaknesses, ever mindful that every intensification of effort on their part will better equip them for the time when they will be called upon to eradicate in their turn such evil tendencies from the lives and the hearts of the entire body of their fellow-citizens. Nor must they overlook the fact that the World Order, whose basis they, as the advance guard of the future Bahá'í generations of their countrymen, are now laboring to establish, can never be reared uniess and until the generality of the people to which they belong has been already purged from the divers ills, whether social or political, that now so severely afflict it. Surveying as a whole the most pressing needs of this community, attempting to estimate the more serious deficiencies by which it is being handicapped in the discharge of its task, and ever bearing in mind the nature of that still greater task with which it will be forced to wrestle in the future, I feel it my duty to lay special stress upon, and draw the special and urgent attention of the entire body of the American believers, be they young or old, white or colored, teachers or administrators, veterans or new-corners, to what I firmly believe are the essential requirements for the success of the tasks which are now claiming their undivided attention. Great as is the importance of fashioning the outward instruments, and of perfecting the administrative agencies, which they can utilize for the prosecution of their dual task under the Seven Year Plan; vital and urgent as arc the campaigns which they are initiating, the schemes and projects which they are devising, and the funds which they are
Page 326raising, for the efficient conduct of both the Teaching and Temple work, the imponderable, the spiritual, factors, which are bound up with their own individual and inner lives, and with which are associated their human and social relationships, are no less urgent and vital, and demand constant scrutiny, continual self-examination and heart-search-ing on their part, lest their value be impaired or their vital necessity be obscured or � or-gotten.
SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITESOf these spiritual prerequisites of success, which constitute the bedrock on which the security of all teaching plans, Temple projects, and financial schemes, must ultimately rest, the following stand out as preeminent and vital, which the members of the American Baha community will do well to ponder.
Upon the extent to which these basic requirements are met, and the manner in which the American believers fulfill them in their individual lives, administrative activities, and social relationships, must depend the measure of the manifold blessings which the All-Bountiful Possessor can vouchsafe to them all. These requirements are none other than a high sense of moral rectitude in their social and administrative activities, absolute chastity in their individual lives, and complete freedom from prejudice in their dealings with peoples of a different race, class, creed, or color.
The first is specially, though not exclusively, directed to their elected representatives, whether local, regional, or national, who, in their capacity as the custodians and members of the nascent institutions of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, are shouldering the chief responsibility in laying an unassailable foundation for that Universal House of Justice which, as its title implies, is to be the exponent and guardian of that Divine Justice which can alone insure the security of, and establish the reign of law and order in, a strangely disordered world. The second is mainly and directly concerned with the Baha youth, who can contribute so decisively to the virility, the purity, and the driving force of the life of the Bahá'í community, and upon whom must depend the future orientation of its destiny, and the complete unfoldment of the potentialities with which God has endowed it. The third should be the immediate, the univ&sal, and the chief concern of all and sundry members of the Bahá'í community, of whatever age, rank, experience, class, or color, as all, with no exception, must face its challenging implications, and none can claim, however much he may have progressed along this line, to have completely discharged the stern responsibilities which it inculcates.
A rectitude of conduct, an abiding sense of undeviating justice, unobscured by the demoralizing influences which a corruption-ridden political life so strikingly manifests; a chaste, pure, and holy life, unsullied and unclouded by the indecencies, the vices, the false standards, which an inherently deficient moral code tolerates, perpetuates, and fosters; a fraternity freed from that cancerous growth of racial prejudice, which is eating into the vitals of an already debilitated society � these are the ideals which the American believers must, from now on, individually and through concerted action, strive to promote, in both their private and public lives, ideals which are the chief propelling forces that can most effectively accelerate the march of their institutions, plans, and enterprises, that can guard the honor and integrity of their Faith, and subdue any obstacles that may confront it in the future.
This rectitude of conduct, with its implications of justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, and trustworthiness, must distinguish every phase of the life of the Bahá'í community. C!The companions of God," Bahá'u'lláh Himself has declared, rare, in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind may profit by their example." ~j swear by Him Who is the Most Great Ocean!" He again affirms, eewithin the very breath of such souls as are lure and sanctified far-reaching fiotenti-alities are hidden.
So great are these ~o-tentialities that they exercise their influence upon all created things." rrHe is the true servant of God," He in another passage has written, frwho, in this day, were he to 4ass
Page 327THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 327
through cities of silver and gold, would not deign to look upon them, and whose heart would remain pure and unde filed from whatever things can be seen in this world, be they its goods or its treasures.
I swear by the Sun of Truth! The breath of such a man is endowed with potency, and his words with attraction."
~By Him Who shineth above the DaySpring of sanctity!"
He, still more emphatically, has revealed, ~If the whole earth were to be converted into silver and gold, no man who can be said to have truly ascended into the heaven of faith and certitude wmld deign to regard it, much less to seize and keep it. They who dwell within the Tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands, and seize Un-law fully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be. The ~ur pose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom.
His object is to array every man with the mantle of a sainily character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds." crWe have admonished all the loved ones of God," He insists, frto take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained with the dust of reprehensible conduct." ~Cleave unto righteousness, 0 peo-pie of Baha," He thus exhorts them, ~This, verily, is the commandment which this wronged One hath given unto you, and the first choice of His unrestrained will for every one of you." ~A good character," He explains, 1~is, verily, the best mantle for men from God. With it He adorneth the temples of His loved ones. By My Life! The light of a good character surpasseth the light of the sun and the radiance thereof." !~One righteous act," He, again, has written, ~is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass be � yond the heaven of heavens.
It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and vanished.. Be pure, 0 people of God, be pure; be righteous, be righteous.Say: 0 people of God! That which can insure the victory of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, His hasts and helpers on earth, have been set down in the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such conduct and character, as are acceptable in His sight. W/hoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our Cause, and summoneth to his assistance the hosts of a praiseworthy character and ufrright conduct, the in flu-ence from such an action will, most certainly, be diffused througho t the whole world."
r~The betterment of the world," is yet another statement, ~can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct." r~Be fair to yourselves and to others," He thus counseleth them, ~that the evidences of justice may be revealed throitgh yoitr deeds among Our faithful servants."
~rEquity,~~ He also has written, ~is Ihe most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs depend upon ii." And again, t~Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man's station." ~~Beautify you~r tongues, 0 people," He further admonishes them, ~with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty.
Beware, 0 people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the tru,stees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His gen~ erosity amidst His people." r~Let your eye be chaste," is yet another counsel, !rycrnr hand faithful, your tongue truthful, and your heart enlightened."
~Be an ornament to the countenance of truth," is yet another admonition, ~a crawn to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue." ~~Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning," is still another admonition, t~suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, 0 people of Baha, lest ye walk in the ways of
Page 328them whose words differ front their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His coinnsandnsen is. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct.
It is through your deeds that ye can distin � guish yourselves from others.
Through them the brightness of your light can be shed u~un the whole earth.
Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."
rr~ army of God!" writes 'Abdu'l-Bahá, reThrough the protection and help vouchsafed by the Blessed Beauty � may my life be a sacrifice to His loved ones � ye must conduct yourselves in such a manner that ye inaj; stand out distinguished and brilliant as the sun among other souls. Should any one of you enter a city, he should become a center of attraction by reason of his sincerity, his faith Julness and love, his honesty and fidelity, his truth fulness and lovingkindness towards all the peoples of the world, so that the fleaple of that city may cry out and say: !This man is unquestionably a Baha'i, for his manners, his behavior, his conduct, his morals, his nature, and dis-~usition reflect the attributes of the Baha'is.'
Not until ye attain this station can ye be said to have been faith fill to the Covenant and Test ainent of God." rrThe most vital ditty, in this day," He, moreover, has written, r!is to purify your characters, to correct your manners, and improve your conduct. The beloved of the Merciful must show forth such character and conduct among His creatures, that the fragrance of their holiness may be shed ufion the whole 'world, and 'may quicken the dead, inasmuch as the purpose of the Manifestation of God and the dawning of the limitless lights of the Invisible is to educate the souls of men, and refine the character of every living man.
Truthfulness," He asserts, ee;5 the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will also be acquired."
Such a rectitude of conduct must manifest itself, with ever-increasing potency, in every verdict which the elected representatives of the Bahá'í community, in whatever capacity they may find themselves, may be called upon to pronounce. It must be constantly reflected in the business dealings of all its members, in their domestic lives, in all manner of employment, and in any service they may, in the future, render their government or people.
It must be exemplified in the conduct of all Bahá'í electors, when exercising their sacred rights and functions.
It must characterize the attitude of every loyal believer towards nonacceptance of political posts, nonidentification with political parties, nonparticipation in political controversies, and non-membership in political organizations and ecclesiastical institutions.
It must reveal itself in the uncompromising adherence of all, whether young or old, to the clearly enunciated and fundamental principles laid down by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His addresses, and to the laws and ordinances revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in His Most Holy Book. It must be demonstrated in the impartiality of every defender of the Faith against its enemies, in his fair-mindedness in recognizing any merits that enemy may possess, and in his honesty in discharging any obligations he may have towards him.
It must constitute the brightest ornament of the life, the pursuits, the exertions, and the utterances of every Bahá'í teacher, whether laboring at home or abroad, whether in the front ranks of the teaching force, or occupying a less active and responsible position.
It must be made the hallmark of that numerically small, yet intensely dynamic and highly responsible body of the elected national representatives of every Bahá'í community, which constitutes the sustaining pillar, and the sole instrument for the election, in every community, of that Universal House whose very name and title, as ordained by Bahá'u'lláh, symbolizes that rectitude of conduct which is its highest mission to safeguard and enforce.
So great and transcendental is this principle of Divine justice, a principle that must be regarded as the crowning distinction of all Local and National Assemblies,
Page 329THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 329
in their capacity as forerunners of the Universal House of Justice, that Bahá'u'lláh Himself subordinates His personal inclination and wish to the all-compelling force of its demands and implications. ~God is My witness!" He thus explains, ~were it not contrary to the Law of God, I would have kissed the hand of My wouldbe murderer, and would cause him to inherit My earthly goods. I am restrained, however, by the binding Law laid down in the Book, and am Myself bereft of all worldly posessions." ~Knoiv thoit, of a truth," He significantly affirms, ~these great oppressions that have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the
Most Great Justice."~Say," He again asserts, N~~Ie hath appeared with that Justice wherewith mankind hath been adorned, and yet the people are, for the 'most part, asleep."
~The light of men is Justice," He moreover states, ~Quench ~f not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny.
The purpose of justice is the appearance of l4nity among men." ~No radiance," He declares, ~can compare with that of justice. The organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind depend upon it." ~O people of God!"
He exclaims, ~That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world."
~Justice and equity," is yet another assertion, ~are two guardians for the ~rotecfion of man.
They have appeared arrayed in their mighty and sacred names to maintain the world in uprightness and protect the nations."
~Bestir yourselves, 0 people," is His emphatic warning, ~in antici~atian of the days of Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its un port, and be accounted among the erring." ~rThe day is approaching," He similarly has written, ~when the faithful will behold ~he daystar of justice shining in ifs full splen-tior from the days pring of glory." "The shame I was made to bear," He significantly remarks, Thath uncovered the glory with which the whole of creation had been invested, and throii~gb the cruelties I have endured, the daystar of justice hath manifested itself, and shed its splendor upon men." The world," He again has written, ~zs in great turmoil, and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions."
And again, ~There can be no doubt whatever that if the daystar of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed."
~eGod be praised!" 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in His turn, exclaims, rrThe sun of justice hath risen above the horizon of Bahá'u'lláh. For in His Tablets the foundations of such a justice have been laid as no mind hath, from the beginning of creation, conceived."
~The canopy of existence," He further explains, ~resteth upon the pole of justice, and not of forgiveness, and the life of mankind de-pendeth on justice and not on forgiveness."
Small wonder, therefore, that the Author of the Bahá'í Revelation should have chosen to associate the name and title of that House, which is to be the crowning glory of His administrative institutions, not with forgiveness but with justice, to have made justice the oniy basis and the permanent foundation of His Most Great Peace, and to have proclaimed it in His Hidden Words as ~the best beloved of all things" in His sight.
It is to the American believers, particularly, that I feel urged to direct this fervent plea to ponder in their hearts the implications of this moral rectitude, and to uphold, with heart and soul and uncompromisingly, both individually and collectively, this sublime standard � a standard of which justice is so essential and potent an element.
As to a chaste and holy life it should be regarded as no less essential a factor that must contribute its proper share to the strengthening and vitalization of the Bahá'í community, upon which must in turn depend the success of any Bahá'í plan or enterprise. In these days when the forces of irreligion are weakening the moral fibre, and undermining the foundations of individual morality, the obligation of chastity and holiness must claim an increasing share of the attention of the American believers, both
Page 330in their individual capacities and as the responsible custodians of the interests of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
In the discharge of such an obligation, to which the special circumstances resulting from an excessive and enervating materialism now prevailing in their country lend particular significance, they must play a conspicuous and predominant role. All of them, be they men or women, must, at this threatening hour when the lights of religion are fading out, and its restraints are one by one being abolished, pause to examine themselves, scrutinize their conduct, and with characteristic resolution arise to purge the life of their community of every trace of moral laxity that might stain the name, or impair the integrity, of so holy and precious a Faith.
A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principle in the behavior and conduct of all Baha'is, both in their social relations with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large. It must adorn and re~nforce the ceaseless labors and meritorious exertions of those whose enviable position is to propagate the Message, and to administer the affairs, of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. It must be upheld, in all its integrity and implications, in every phase of the life of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their travels, their clubs, their societies, their entertainments, their schools, and their universities.
It must be accorded special consideration in the conduct of the social activities of every Bahá'í summer school and any other occasions on which Bahá'í community life is organized and fostered. It must be closely and continually identified with the mission of the BaJA'i Youth, both as an element in the life of the Bahá'í community, and as a factor in the future progress and orientation of the youth of their own country.
Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment ment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures.
It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excess of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses.
eeBy the righteousness of God!" writes Bahá'u'lláh, tT'he world, its vanities and its glory, and whatever delights it can offer, are all, in the sight of God, as worthless as, nay even more contemptible than, dust and ashes.
Would that the hearts of men coidd comprehend it. Wash yourselves thoroughly 0 people of Ba/3d, from the defilement of the world, and of all that pertaineth unto it. God Himself beareth Me witness! The things of the earth ii! beseem you. Cast them away unto such as-may desire them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and effulgent Vision." re~ ye My loved ones!"
He thus exhorts His followers, C rsu p. fer not the /9 cm of My sacred vesture to be sinirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow nut the firomptings of your evil and corrupt desires." And again, !!O
ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond the narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the vast immensity of the realm of God, and abide ye in the ineads of sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead the whole of mankind to the ocean of God's unfading glory." erDis encumber yourselves," He thus commands them, ~?of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof.
Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prcnnpt you to walk after your own Lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious
Path." CrESTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 331
chew all manner of wickedness," is His commandment, ~!f
or such things are forbidden unto you in the Book which none touch except such as God hath cleansed from every taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified."
!~A race of men," is His written promise, ~incoin parable in character, shall be raised up 'which, with the feet of detach-inent, will tread under all who are in heaven and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that bath been created from water and clay." erThe civilization," is His grave warning, ~so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.
If carried to excess, civilization ivill prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness l2hen. kept within the restrains of moderation."
~He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants," He explains, ~~and made Ihein each a seat for the revelation of His glory. Where foi~e, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be en graven upon them.
This indeed is a token of God's bountiful favor."~Say," He procliams, ~~He is naf to be nu~mbered with the people of Baha who follc~weth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is 'my true follower who, if he come to a valley of p~ire gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause.
Such a man is assuredly of Me. From his garment the Concoi~rse ois high ccrn inhale the fragrance of sanctity. And if he met the fairest and most comely of ivoinen, he would not feel his heart seduced by the least shadow of desire for her beauty.
Such an one indeed is the creation of spotless chastity. Thus instructeth you the Pen of the Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the Almighty, the A1l-Boi~intiful."
~They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations," is yet another warning, ~have erred and dissipated their efforts. They indeed are of the lost." ~It bel.ioryveth the people of Baha," He also has written, ~~to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly thin~gs that the inmates of Paradise may inhale fro~n their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanc tity. They that have tarnished the fair izame of the Cause of God by following the things of the flesh � these are in palpable error!"
~Purity and chastity," He particularly admonishes, ~hav~ been, and still are, the most great orisaments for (he handmaidens of God. God is My Witness!
The brightness of the light of chastity sheddeth its illumination upon the worlds of the spirit, and its fragrance is ivaf ted even unto the
Most Exalted Paradise."~God," He again affirms, ~!hath verily made chastity to be a crown for the heads of His hand-maide~ns.
Great is the blessedness of that handmaiden that hath attained unto this great station." r!We verily, have decreed in Our Book," is His assurance, ~a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will (urn away from wickedness, and lead a chaste and godly life. He, in truth, is the Great Giver, the All-Bo~unkiful."
~V~7e have sustained the weight of all cakunities," He testifies, ~~to sanctify you from all earthly corruption and ye are yet indifferent.
We, verily, behold your actions. If We perceive from them the sweet s1nefl~ng savor of purity and holiness, We will most cer-fidnly bless you. Then will the tongues of the inmates of Paradise utter your praise and magnify your names amidst them who have drawn nigh unto God."
t~The drinking of wine," writes 'Abdu'l-Bahá, ~ according to the text of the Mosi Holy Book, forbidden; for it is the cause of chronic diseases, weakeneth the nerves, and consumeth the mind."
t~DrinJz ye, 0 handmaidens of God," Bahá'u'lláh Himself has affirmed, "7he Mystic Wine froin~ the cup of My words. Cast away, then, from you that which your minds abhor, for it hat/i been forbidden unto you in His Tab-lels and His Scriptures. Beware lest ye barter away the River that is life indeed for that which the soids of the fture-hearted detest.
Become ye intoxicated with the wine of the love of God, and not with that which dead en eth your minds, 0 ye that adore Him! Verily, ~t bath been forbidden unto every believer, whether man or woman. Thus hath the sun of My commandment shone forlh above the horizon of My utter-an ce, thai the handmaidens who believe in Me may be illumined."
Page 332It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculated by Bahá'u'lláh, seeks, under no circumstances, to deny any one the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator.
eeShould a man," Bahá'u'lláh Himself reassures us, aivish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God bath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. E~~t ye, 0 people, of the good things which God haTh allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wo drous bonn ties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and he of them that are truly thankful."
T~r MOST CHALLENGING ISSUEAs to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well nigh a century, has bitten into the fibre, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Bahá'í community at the present stage of its evolution. The ceaseless exertions which this issue of paramount importance calls for, the sacrifices it must impose, the care and vigilance it demands, the moral courage and fortitude it requires, the tact and sympathy it necessitates, invest this problem, which the American believers are still far from having satisfactorily resolved, with an urgency and importance that can not be overestimated.
White and negro, high and low, young and old, whether newly converted to the Faith or not, all who stand identified with it must participate in, and lend their assistance, each according to his or her capacity, experience, and opportunities, to the common task of fulfilling the instruc � dons, realizing the hopes, and following the example of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Whether colored or noncolored, neither race has the right, or can conscientiously claim, to be regarded as absolved from such an obligation, as hay � ing realized such hopes, or having faithfully followed such an example. A long and thorny road, beset with pitfalls, still remains untraveled, both by the white and the negro exponents of the redeeming Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
On the distance they cover, and the manner in which they travel that road, must depend, to an extent which few among them can imagine, the operation of those intangible influences which are indispensable to the spiritual triumph of the American believers and die material success of their newly-launched enterprise.
Let them call to mind, fearlessly and determinedly, the example and conduct of 'Abdu'l-Bahá while in their midst. Let them remember His courage, His genuine love, His informal and indiscriminating fellowship, His contempt for and impatience of criticism, tempered by His tact and wisdom. Let them revive and perpetuate the memory of those unforgettable and historic episodes and occasions on which Lie so strikingly demonstrated His keen sense of justice, His spontaneous sympathy, for the down-trod-den, His ever-abiding sense of the oneness of the human race, His overflowing love for its members, and His displeasure with those who dared to flout His wishes, to deride His methods, to challenge His principles, or to nullify His acts.
To discriminate against any race, on the ground of its being socialty backward, politi-cafly immature, and numerically in a minor-fry, is a flagrant violation of the spirit that animates the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. The consciousness of any division or cleavage in its ranks is alien to its very purpose, principles, and ideals.
Once its members have fully recognized the claim of its Author, and, by identifying themselves with its Administrative Order, accepted unreservedly the principles and laws embodied in its teachings, every differentiation of class, creed, or color must automatically be obliterated, and never be allowed, under any pretext, and however great the pressure of events or of public opinion, to reassert itself. If any discrimination is at all to be tolerated, it should be a discrimination not against, but rather in
Page 333Unlike the nations and peoples of the earth, be they of the East or of the West, democratic or authoritarian, communist or capitalist, whether belonging to the Old World or the New, who either ignore, trample upon, or extirpate, the racial, religious, or political minorities within the sphere of their jurisdiction, every organized community, enlisted under the banner of Bahá'u'lláh should feel it to be its first and inescapable obligation to nurture, encourage, and safeguard every minority belonging to any faith, race, class, or nation within it. So great and vital is this principle that in such circumstances, as when an equal number of ballots have been cast in an election, or where the qualifications for any office are balanced as between the various races, faiths or nationalities within the community, priority should unhesitatingly be accorded the party representing the minority, and this for no other reason except to stimulate and encourage it, and afford it an opportunity to further the interests of the community. In the light of this principle, and bearing in mind the extreme desirability of having the minority elements participate and share responsibility in the conduct of Bahá'í activity, it should be the duty of every Bahá'í community so to arrange its affairs that in cases where individuals belonging to the divers minority elements within it are already qualified and fulfill the necessary requirements, Bahá'í representative institutions, be they Assemblies, conventions, conferences, or committees, may have represented on them as many of these divers elements, racial or otherwise, as possible.
The adoption of such a course, and faithful adherence to it, would not only be a source of inspiration and encouragement to those elements that are numerically small and inadequately represented, but would demonstrate to the world at large the universality and' representative character of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and the freedom of His followers from the taint of those prejudices which have already wrought such havoc in the domestic affairs, as well as the foreign relationships, of the nations.
Freedom from racial prejudice, in any of its forms, should, at such a time as this when an increasingly large section of the human race is falling a victim to its devastating f&rocity, be adopted as the watchword of the entire body of the American believers, in whichever state they reside, in whatever circles they move, whatever their age, traditions, tastes, and habits. It should be consistently demonstrated in every phase of their activity and life, whether in the Bahá'í community or outside it, in public or in private, formally as well as informally, individually as well as in their official capacity as organized groups, committees and Assemblies. It should be deliberately cultivated through the various and everyday opportunities, no matter how insignificant, that present themselves, whether in their homes, their business offices, their schools and coi-leges, their social parties and recreation grounds, their Bahá'í meetings, conferences, conventions, summer schools and Assemblies.
It should, above all else, become the keynote of the policy of that august body which, in its capacity as the national representative, and the director and coardinator of the affairs of the community, must set the example, and facilitate the application of such a vital principle to the lives and activities of those whose interests it safeguards and represents.
~O ye discerning ones!"Bahá'u'lláh has written, reverily the words which have descended from the heaven of the Will of God are the source of unity and harmony for the 'world.
Close your eyes to racial differences, and welcome all with the light of oneness."
vrWe desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations," he proclaims, ~ that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled." C!Bahd) u'lldh hath said," writes 'Abdu'l-Bahá, erthat the various races of human kind lend a composite harmony and beauty of color to the whole. Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend together side by side without discord or disagreement between them." frBahd~n~(ldh~) 'Abdu'l-Bahá moreover has said, rconce compared the colored people to
Page 334the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white. In this black pupil is seen the reflectiois of that which is before it, and through it the light of the spirit shine/h forth."
~God," 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himselfdeclares, '~maketh no distinction between the white and the black. If the hearts are pure both are acceptable unto Him.
God is no re-spector of persons on account of either color or race.
All colors are acceptable ~tnto Him, he they white, black, or yellow. Inasmuch as all were creakd in the image of God, we must bring o'u~rseIves to realize that all embody divine possibilities."
~In the estimation of God," He states, ~eall men are equal. There is no distinction or preference !or any soul, in the realm of His justice and equity."
~God did not make these divisions;" He affirms, ~these dk4sions have had their origin in man himself. Therefore, as they are against the plan and Inir pose of God they are false and imaginary."
~!In the estimation of God," He again affirms, ~there is no distinction of color; all are one in the color and beauty of servitide to Hi-rn.
Color is not important; the heart is all-important. It matlereth not what the exterior may be if the heart is p~ere and white within. God doth not behold differences of hue and co-rn-plexiws. He looketh at the hearts. He whose morals and virlues are praiseworthy is preferred in the ftresence of God; he who is devoted to the Kingdum is most beloved. In the realm of genesis and creations the question of color is of least importance." ~Throughoi~tt the ai~iinal kin gdoin," He explains, r~we do not find the creatures separated because of color. They recognize unity of species and oneness of kind. If we do not find color distinc~iois drawn in a kingdom of lower intelligence and reason, how can it be justified among human beings, especially when we know that all have come from the same soitrce and belong to the same household? In origin and intention of creation mankind is one. Distinctions of race and color have arisen afterward." !~Man is endowed with superior reasoning power and the faculty of perception"; He further plains, ~he is the manifestation of divine best owals.
Shall racial ideas prevail and ob.-scure the creative purpose of unity in his kingdom?" NOne of the important questions," He significantly remarks, ~~which affect the unity and the solidarity of mankind is the fellowship and equality of the white and colored races. Between these two races certain points of agreement and points of distincticyn exist which u'arrant just and mutual consideration.
The points of contact are many. In this country, the United States of America, patriotism is common to both races; all have equal rights to citizenship, speak one language, receive the blessings of the same civilization, and fallow the precepis of the same religion. In fact numerous points of partnership and agreement exist betweeis the two races; whereas the one point of distinction is that of color. Shall this, the lec~st of all distinctions, be allowed to separate you as races and individuals?" ~Tlois variety in forms and coloring," He stresses, ~which is mani-Jest in all the kingdoms is according to creative Wisdom and bath a divine purpose." ~The diversity in the human family," He claims, ~~should be The cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many dif � ferent notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord."
~If you meet," is His admonition, ~Ihose of a different race and color from yoitrself, do not mistrust them, and withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionally, but rather be glad and show the-rn kindness." ~In the world of being," He testifies, ~the meeting is blessed when the white and colored races meet together with infinite spiri~uai love and heavenly harmony. When such meetings are established, and the participants associate with each other with perfect love, 1~nity and kindness, the angels of the Kingdom praise them, and the Beauty of Bahá'u'lláh addresseth them, Tlessed are ye!
Blessed are ye!'" ~!When a gathering of these two races is brought about," He likewise asserts, ~�that assemblage will become the magnet of the Concourse on high, and the confirmation of the Blessed Beauty will surround it." ~eSIrive earnestly," He again exhorts both races, ~and put forth your greatest endeavor toward the accomplishment of this fellowship and the cementing of this bond of brotherhood behveen you. Such an attainment is not possible without will and effort
Page 335THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 335
on the part of each; from one, expressions of gratitude and appreciation; from the other, kindliness and recagnit ion of equality.
Each one should endeavor to develop and assist the other toward mutual advancement.
Love and unity will be fostered between you, thereby bringing about the oneness of mankind. For the accomplishment of unity between the colored and white will be an assurance of the world's peace."
~7 hope," He thus addresses members of the white race, ~~that ye may cause that downtrodden race to become glorious, and to be joined with the white race, to serve the world of man with the utmost sincerity, faithfulness, love, and p-i~rity. This opposition, enmity, and prejudice among the white race and the colored cannot be effaced except through faith, assurance, and the teachings of the Blessed Beauty." '~This question of the union of the white and the black is very important," He warns, or if it is not realized, erelong great difficulties will arise, and harmful results will follow." elf this matter reinaineth without change," is yet another warning, ~en1nity will be increased day by day, and the final result will be hardship and may end in bloodshed."
A tremendous effort is required by both races if their outlook, their manners, and conduct are to reflect, in this darkened age, the spirit and teachings of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
Casting away once and for all the fallacious doctrine of racial superior~ ity, with all its attendant evils, confusion, and miseries, and welcoming and encouraging the intermixture of races, and tearing down the barriers that now divide them, they should each endeavor, day and night, to fulfill their particular responsibilities in the common task which so urgently faces them. Let them, while each is attempting to contribute its share to the solution of this perplexing problem, call to mind the warnings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and visualize, while there is yet time, the dire consequences that must follow if this challenging and unhappy situation that faces the entire American nation is not definitely remedied.
Let the white make a supreme effort in their resolve to contribute their share to the solution of this problem, to abandon once for all their usually inherent and at times subconscious sense of superiority, to correct their tendency towards revealing a patronizing attitude towards the members of the other race, to persuade them through their intimate, spontaneous and informal association with them of the genuineness of their friendship and the sincerity of their intentions, and to master their impatience of any lack of responsiveness on the part of a people who have received, for so long a period, such grievous and slow-healing wounds.
Let the negroes, through a corresponding effort on their part, show by every means in their power the warmth of their response, their readiness to forget the past, and their ability to wipe out every trace of suspicion that may still linger in their hearts and minds. Let neither think that the solution of so vast a problem is a matter that exclusively concerns the other. Let neither think that such a problem can either easily or immediately be resolved. Let neither think that they can wait confidently for the solution of this problem until the initiative has been taken, and the favorable circumstances created, by agencies that stand outside the orbit of their Faith. Let neither think that anything short of genuine love, extreme patience, true humility, consummate tact, sound initiative, mature wisdom, and deliberate, persistent, and prayerful effort, can succeed in blotting out the stain which this patent evil has left on the fair name of their common country.
Let them rather believe, and be firmly convinced, that on their mutual understanding, their amity, and sustained cooperation, must depend, more than on any other force or organization operating outside the circle of their Faith, the deflection of that dangerous course so greatly feared by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and the materialization of the hopes He cherished for their ioint contribution to the fulfillment of that country's glorious destiny.
...No sooner is this initial step taken, involving as it does the formation of at least one nucleus in each of these virgin states and provinces in the North American continent, than the machinery for a tremendous
Page 336intensification of Bahá'í concerted effort must be set in motion, the purpose of which should be the reinforcement of the noble exertions which oniy a few isolated believers are now making for the awakening of the nations of Latin America to the Call of Bahá'u'lláh.
Not until this second phase of the teaching campaign, under the Seven Year Plan, has been entered can the campaign be regarded as fully launched, or the Plan itself as having attained the most decisive stage in its evolution.
So powerful will be the effusions of Divine grace that will be poured forth upon a valiant community that has already in the administrative sphere erected, in all the glory of its exterior ornamentation, its chief Edifice, and in the teaching field raised aloft, in every state and province, in the North American continent the ban-ncr of its Faith � so great will be these effusions that its members will find themselves overpowered by the evidences of their regenerative power.
The InterAmerica Committeemust, at such a stage, nay even before it is entered, rise to the level of its opportunities, and display a vigor, a consecration, and enterprise as will be commensurate with the responsibilities it has shouldered. It should not, for a moment, be forgotten that Central and Southern America embrace no less than twenty independent nations, constituting approximately one-third of the entire number of the world's sovereign states, and are destined to play an increasingly important part in the shaping of the world's future destiny.
With the world contracting into a neighborhood, and the fortunes of its races, nations and peoples becoming inextricably interwoven, the remoteness of these states of the Western Hemisphere is vanishing, and the latent possibilities in each of them are becoming increasingly apparent.
When this second stage in the progressive unfoldment of teaching activities and enterprises, under the Seven Year Plan, is reached, and the machinery required for its prosecution begins to operate, the American believers, the stouthearted pioneers of this mighty movement, must, guided by the unfailing light of Bahá'u'lláh, and in strict accordance with the Plan laid out by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and acting under the direction of their National Spiritual Assembly, and assured of the aid of the InterAmerica Committee, launch an offensive against the powers of darkness, of corruption, and of ignorance, an offensive that must extend to the uttermost end of the Southern continent, and embrace within its scope each of the twenty nations that compose it. Let some, at this very moment, gird up the loins of their endeavor, flee their native towns, cities, and states, forsake their country, and, Cr rutting their whole trust in God as the best provision for their journey," set their faces, and direct their steps towards those distant climes, those virgin fields, those unsurrendered cities, and bend their energies to capture the citadels of men's hearts � hearts, which, as Bahá'u'lláh has written, ~the hosts of Revelation and of utterance can subdue." Let them not tarry until such time as their fellow-laborers wiii have passed the first stage in their campaign of teaching, but let them rather, from this very hour, arise to usher in the opening phase of what will come to be regarded as one of the most glorious chapters in the international history of their Faith.
Let them, at the very outset, ceteach their own selves, that their speech may attract the hearts of their hearers.~~ Let them regard the triumph of their Faith as their rrsupreme objective."
Let them not ~consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle" that carries the measure of grace that God poureth forth in this age. Let them rrdisencumber themselves of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof," and, with that spirit of detachment which 'Abdu'l-Bahá exemplified and wished them to emulate, bring these diversified peoples and countries to the remembrance of God and His supreme Manifestation.
Let His 'ove be a rrstorehouse of treasure for their souls," on the day when f!every pillar shall tremble, when the very skins of men shall creep, when all eyes shall stare up with terror." Let their !esouls be aglow with the flame of the undying Fire that burneth in the midmost heart of the world, in such wise that the waters of the universe shall be powerless to cool down its ardor."
Let them be e~unrest rained as the wind" which r!neither the sight of desolation nor the evidences of prosperity can either rain or please."
LetTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 337
them ~run1oose their ton gites and proclaim unceasingly His Cause." Let them ~pro claim that which the Most Great Spirit will inspire them to utter in the service of the Cause of their Lord." Let them r~belvare lest they contend with any one, nay strk'e to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation." Let them ~ivholly for the saize of God pro-etaim His Message, and with that same spirit accept whatever response their words may evoke in their hearers." Let them not, for one moment, forget that the ~Faithfu1 Spirit shall strengthen them through its power," and that ~a company of His chosen an gets shall go forth with them, as bidden by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise." Let them ever bear in mind ~how great is the b(essedness that awaiteth them that have attained the honor of serving the Almighty," and remember that ~such a service is indeed the prince of all goodly deeds, and the orna-inent of every goodly act."
And, finally, let these soul-stirring words of Bahá'u'lláh, as they pursue their course throughout the length and breadth of the southern American Continent, be ever ready on their lips, a solace to their hearts, a light on their path, a companion in their loneli-less, and a daily sustenance in their journeys: ~O wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its depths. A dewdrop out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and on earth, suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the Almighly, the All-Knowing ~he All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth fro in its life-giving waters, and sprinkle therewith all c~reated things, that they may be cleansed from all manmade limitations, and may approach the mighly seat of God, this hallowed and resplendent Spot.
Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be a!l-suf]icient for thee. Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call, lay bare before him the pectr!s of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God, which His Spirit hath sent down upon thee, and be thou of them that truly believe. And should any one reject thy offer, turn thou away from him, and pzd thy trust and confidence in the Lord of all worlds. By the righteousness of God!
Whoso openet1~ his lips in this day, and maizeth men flon of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of my name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft ~ chalice of pure light. Thus halk it been foreordained in the realm of God's Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful."
Let these words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, gleaned from the Tablets of the Divine Plan, ring likewise in their ears, as they go forth, assured and unafraid, on His mission: ~O ye apostles of Bahá'u'lláh!
May my life be sacrificed for you! Behold the portals which Bahá'u'lláh hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain; how unique the favors with udv~ch you have been endowed." ~My thoughts are turned towards you, and my heart leaps within me at your mention. Could ye know hoiv my soul gloweth with your love, so great a hap~-ness would flood your hearts as to cause you to become enamored with each other." r!The full measure of your success is as yet unrevealed, its significance still u apprehended. Erelong ye will, with your own eyes, wit n~ess how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate in the firmament of your country the light of Divine Guidance, and w~lI bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life." N fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your achievements."
~The Almighty will no doubt grant you the help of His grace, will invest you with the tokens of His might, and will endue your souls with the sustaining power of His holy Spirit." ~Be not concerned w)th the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world.
Exert yourselves; your mission is isnspeakably glorious.
Should success crown your enterprise, America wilt assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the pleni
Page 338tude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established."
It should be remembered that the carrying out of the Seven Year Plan involves, in so far as the teaching work is concerned, no more than the formation of at least one center in each of the Central and South American Republics.
The hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Faith of RaM'-u'lUh should witness, if the Plan already launched is to meet with success, the laying, in each of these countries, of a foundation, however rudimentary, on which the rising generation of the American believers may, in the opening years of the second century of the Bahá'í era, be able to build. Theirs will be the task, in the course of successive decades, to extend and reinforce those foundations, and to suppiy the necessary guidance, assistance, and encouragement that will enable the widely-scattered groups of believers in those countries to establish independent and properly constituted local Assemblies, and thereby erect the framework of the Administrative Order of their Faith. The erection of such a framework is primarily the responsibility of those whom the community of the North American believers have converted to the Divine Message. It is a task which must involve, apart from the immediate obligation of enabling every group to evolve into a local Assembly, the setting up of the entire machinery of the Administrative Order in conformity with the spiritual and administrative principles governing the life and activities of every established Baha community throughout the world. No departure from these cardinal and clearly enunciated principles, embodied and preserved in Bahá'í national and local constitutions, common to all Bahá'í communities, can under any circumstances be tolerated. This, however, is a task that concerns those who, at a later period, must arise to further a work which, to all intents and purposes, has not yet been effectively started.
Tur SPECIAL POSITION orFaithful to the provisions of the Charter laid down by the pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, I feel it my duty to draw the special attention of those to whom it has been entrusted to the urgent needs of, and the special position enjoyed by, the Republic of Panama, both in view of its relative proximity to the heart and center of the Faith in North America, and of its geographical position as the link between two continents. ~A11 the above countries," 'Abdu'l-Bahá, referring to the Latin States in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, has written, erhave importance, but especially the Republic of Panama, wherein the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans come together through the Panama Canal. It is a center for travel and passage from America to other continents of the world, and in the future it will gain most great importance."
!fLikewise,~~ He again has written, C!ye must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal, and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will become very import ant in the future.
The teachings, once established there, will unite the East and the West, the North and the South."
So privileged a position surely demands the special and prompt attention of the American Bahá'í community.
With the Republic of Mexico already opened up to the Faith, and with a Spiritual Assembly properly constituted in its capital city, the southward penetration of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh into a neighboring country is but a natural and logical step, and should, it is to be hoped, prove to be not a difficult one. No efforts should be spared, and no sacrifice be deemed too great, to establish even though it be a very small group in a Republic occupying, both spiritually and geographically, so strategic a position � a group which, in view of the potency with which the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá have already endowed it, cannot but draw to itself, as soon as it is formed, the outpouring grace of the Abh5 Kingdom, and evolve with such marvelous swiftness as to excite the wonder and the admiration of even those who have already witnessed such stirring evidences of the force and power of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Preference, no doubt, should be given by all wouldbe pioneers, as well as by the members of the InterAmerica Committee, to the spiritual needs of this privileged Republic,
Page 339THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 339
though every effort should, at the same time, be exerted to introduce the Faith, however tentatively, to the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica which would link it, in an unbroken chain, with its mother Assemblies in the North American continent. Obstacles, however formidable, should be surmounted, the resources of the Baha treasury should be liberally expended on its behalf, and the ablest and most precious exertions should be consecrated to the cause of its awakening.
The erection of yet another outpost of the Faith, in its heart, will constitute, I firmly believe, a landmark in the history of the Formative Period of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the New World. It will create limitless opportunities, galvanize the efforts, and reinvigorate the life, of those who will have accomplished this feat, and infuse immense courage and boundless joy into the hearts of the isolated groups and individuals in the neighboring and distant Republics, and exert intangible yet powerful spiritual influences on the life and future development of its people.
AN INSCRUTABLE WISDOM,Such, dearly-beloved friends, is the vista that stretches before the eyes, and challenges the resources, of the American Bahá'í community in these, the concluding years of the First Century of the Ba1A'i Era. Such are the qualities and qualifications demanded of them for the proper discharge of their responsibilities and duties. Such are the requirements, the possibilities, and the objectives of the Plan that claims every ounce of their energy. Who knows but that these few remaining, fast-fleeting years, may not be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude, with ordeals more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced, with conflicts more devasting than any which have preceded them. Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their newborn faith.
Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must never befog their vision. Tribulations, however afflictive, must never shatter their resolve.
Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty. Upheavals, however cataclysmic, must never deflect their course.
The present Plan, embodying the budding hopes of a departed Master, must be pursued, relentlessly pursued, whatever may befall them in the future, however distracting the crises that may agitate their country or the world.
Far from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men.
Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Bahá'u'lláh, the theatre of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race and the peace of all mankind.
Reflections such as these should steel the resolve of the entire Bahá'í community, should dissipate their forebodings, and arouse them to rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine Charter whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Seven Year Plan, as already stated, is but the initial stage, a steppingstone to the unfoldment of the implications of this Charter.
The impulse, originally generated through the movement of that pen, and which is now driving forward, with increasing momentum, the machinery of the Seven Year Plan, must, in the opening years of the next century, be further accelerated, and impel the American Bahá'í community to launch further stages in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, stages that will carry it far beyond the shores of the Northern Hemisphere, into lands and among peoples where that community's noblest acts of heroism are to be performed.
Page 340Members of the Spiritual Assembly newly established on April 21, 1938. Photograph shows tree under which 'Abdu'l-Bahá stood in 1912.
Spiritual Assembly of Richmond Highlands, Washington, Newly Constituted April 21, 1939.
Page 341THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 341
THE ADVENT OF THE KINGDOMLet any one inclined to doubt the course which this enviable community is destined to follow, turn to and meditate upon these words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, enshrined, for all time, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and addressed to the entire community of the believers of the
United States and Canada:frThe full measure of your success," He informs them, !rjS at yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Erelong, ye will, with your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate, in the firmament of your country, the light of Divine Guidance, and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life. The range of your future achievements still remains undisclosed.
I fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your achievements.
The hope, therefore, which Abdu'l-Bahá cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended your efforts in America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused throughout the East and the West, and the advent of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the jive continents of the globe." ~The moment," He most significantly adds, ~this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the shores of America, and is propagated throughout the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of Aus&alasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion. Then will all the leo-pies of the world witness that this community is spiritually illumined and divinely guided. Then will the whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness."
No reader of these words, so vibrant with promises that not even the triumphant consummation of the Seven Year Plan can fulfill, can expect a community that has been raised so high, and endowed so richly, to remain content with any laurels it may win in the immediate future.
To rest upon such laurels would indeed be tantamount to a betrayal of the trust placed in that community by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
To cut short the chain of victories that must lead it on to that supreme triumph when, ~the whole earth may be stirred and shaken" by the results of its achievements would shatter His hopes. To vacillate, and fail to ~pro-pa gate through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific" a Message so magnificently proclaimed by it in the American continent would deprive it of the privilege of being t~securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion." To forfeit the honor of proclaiming r~the advent of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts" in ~all the jive continents of the globe" would silence those frpraises of its majesty and greatness" that otherwise would echo throughout ~the whole earth."
Such vacillation, failure, or neglect, the American believers, the ambassadors of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, will, I am firmly convinced, never permit. Such a trust will never be betrayed, such hopes can never be shattered, such a privilege will never be forfeited, nor will such praises remain unuttered. Nay rather the present generation of this blessed, this repeatedly blessed, corn � munity will go from strength to strength, and will hand on, as the first century draws to a close, to the generations that must succeed it in the second the torch of Divine Guidance, undimmed by the tempestuous winds that must blow upon it, that they in turn, faithful to the wish and mandate of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, may carry that torch, with that selfsame vigor, fidelity, and enthusiasm, to the darkest and remotest corners of the earth.
One more word in conclusion.Among some of the most momentous and thoughtprovoking pronouncements ever made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in the course of His epochmaking travels in the North American continent, are the following: !~May this Amen.-can Democracy be the first nation to establish the foundation of International agreement.
May it be the first nation to proclain~ the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the Standard of the Most Great Peace." And again: reThe American people are indeed worthy of being the first to build the Tabernacle of the Great Peace, and pro
Page 342claim the oneness of mankind. For America hath developed powers and capacities greater and more wonderful than other nations. The American nation is equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East and the West for the triumph of its people...
The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement.
Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching.
It will lead all nations spiritually."The creative energies, mysteriously generated by the first stirrings of the embryonic World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, have, as soon as released within a nation destined to become its cradle and champion, endowed that nation with the worthiness, and invested it with the powers and capacities, and equipped it spiritually, to play the part foreshadowed in these prophetic words.
The potencies which this God-given mission has infused into its people are, on the one hand, beginning to be manifested through the conscious efforts and the nationwide accomplishments, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bahá'í activity, of the organized community of the foLlowers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North American continent. These same potencies, apart from, yet collateral with these efforts and accomplishments, are, on the other hand, insensibly shaping, under the impact of world political and economic forces, the destiny of that nation, and are influencing the lives and actions of both its government and its people.
To the efforts and accomplishments of those who, aware of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, are now laboring in that continent, to their present and future course of activity, I have, in the foregoing pages sufficiently referred.
A word, if the destiny of the American people, in its entirety, is to be correctly apprehended, should now be said regarding the orientation of that nation as a whole, and the trend of the affairs of its people. For no matter how ignorant of the Source from which those directing energies proceed, and however siow and laborious the process, it is becoming increasingly evident that the nation as a whole, whether through the agency of its government or otherwise, is gravitating, under the influence of forces that it can neither comprehend nor control, towards such associations and policies, wherein, as indicated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, her true destiny must lie.
Both the community of the American believers, who are aware of that Source, and the great mass of their countrymen, who have not as yet recognized the Hand that directs their destiny, are contributing, each in its own way, to the realization of the hopes, and the ful-fihiment of the promises, voiced in the above-quoted words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The world is moving on. Its events are unfolding ominously and with bewildering rapidity.
The whirlwind of its passions is swift and alarmingly violent. The New World is being insensibly drawn into its vortex.
The potential storm centers of the earth are already casting their shadows upon its shores. Dangers, undreamt of and unpredictable, threaten it both from within and from without.
Its governments and peoples are being gradually enmeshed in the coils of the world's recurrent crises and fierce controversies. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are, with every acceleration in the march of science, steadily shrinking into mere channels. The Great Republic of the West finds itself particularly and increasingly involved. Distant rumblings echo menacingly in the ebullitions of its people. On its flanks are ranged the potential storm centers of the European continent and of the Far East. On its southern horizon there looms what might conceivably develop into another center of agitation and danger. The world is contracting into a neighborhood. America, willingly or unwillingly, must face and grapple with this new situation. For purposes of national security, let alone any humanitarian motive, she must assume the obligations imposed by this newly created neighborhood.
Paradoxical as it may seem, her only hope of extricating herself from the perils gathering around her is to become entangled in that very web of international association which the Hand of an inscrutable Providence is weaving.
'Abdu'1-THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 343
Bahá'ís counsel to a highly placed official in its government comes to mind, with peculiar appropriateness and force. !CYOU can best serve your country if you strive, in your capacity as a citizen of the world, to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism, underlying the government of your own country, to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world." The ideals that fired the imagination of America's tragically unappreciated President, whose high endeavors, however much nullified by a visionless generation, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, through His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, though now lying in the dust, bitterly reproach a heedless generation for having so cruelly abandoned them.
That the world is beset with perils, that dangers are now accumulating and are actually threatening the American nation, no clear-eyed observer can possibly deny. The earth is now transformed into an armed camp. As much as fifty million men arc either under arms or in reserve. No less than the sum of three billion pounds is being spent, in one year, on its armaments. The light of religion is dimmed and moral authority disintegrating. The nations of the world have, for the most part, fallen a prey to battling ideologies that threaten to disrupt the very foundations of their dearly-won political unity. Agitated multitudes in these countries see them with discontent, are armed to the teeth, are stampeded with fear, and groan beneath the yoke of tribulations engendered by political strife, racial fanaticism, national hatreds, and religious animosities.
"The w2nds of despair," Bahá'u'lláh has unmistakably affirmed, are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing.
The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned.
The ills," 'Abdu'l-Bahá, writing as far back as two decades ago, has prophesied, front which the world now suffers will multiply; the gloom which envelops it will deepen.
The Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will increase. The vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame of war. Movements, newly-born and worldwide in their range, will exert their utmost for the advancement of their designs.
The Movement of the Left will acquire great imfiortance.
Its influence will spread."As to the American nation itself, the voice of its own President, emphatic and clear, warns his people that a possible attack upon their country has been brought infinitely closer by the development of aircraft and by other factors. Its Secretary of State, addressing at a recent Conference the assembled representatives of all the American Republics, utters no less ominous a warning. ttThese resurgent forces loom threateningly throughout the world � their omninous shadow falls athwart our own Hemisphere."
As to its Press, the same note of warning and of alarm at an approaching danger is struck. ccWe must be prepared to defend ourselves both from within and without. Our defensive frontier is long. It reaches from
Alaska's Point Barrowto Cape Horn, and ranges the Atlantic and the Pacific.
When or where Europe's and Asia's aggressors may strike at us no one can say. It could be anywhere, any time. We have no option save to go armed ourselves. We must mount vigilant guard over the Western Hemisphere."
The distance that the American nation has traveled since its formal and categoric repudiation of the Wilsonian ideal, the changes that have unexpectedly overtaken it in recent years, the direction in which world events are moving, with their inevitable impact on the policies and the economy of that nation, are to every Bahá'í observer, viewing the developments in the international situation, in the light of the prophecies of both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'1 � Baha, most significant, and highly instructive and encouraging. To trace the exact course which, in these troubled times and pregnant years, this nation will follow would be impossible. We can only, judging from the direction its affairs are now taking, anticipate the course she will most likely choose to pursue in her relationships with both the Republics of America and the countries of the remaining continents.
A closer association with these Republics, on the one hand, and an increased par
Page 344ticipation, in varying degrees, on the other, in the affairs of the whole world, as a result of recurrent international crises, appear as the most likely developments which the future e has in store for that country. Delays must inevitably arise, setbacks must be suffered, , in the course of that country's evolution n towards its ultimate destiny. Nothing, however, can alter eventually that course, ordained for it by the unerring pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Its federal unity having already y been achieved and its internal institutions s consolidated � a stage that marked its coming of age as a political entity � its further r evolution, as a member of the family of nations, must, under circumstances that cannot at present be visualized, steadily continue.
. Such an evolution must persist until such time as that nation will, through the active and decisive part it will have played in the organization and the peaceful settlement t of the affairs of mankind, have attained d the plenitude of its powers and functions s as an outstanding member, and component t part, of a federated world.
The immediate future must, as a result of this steady, this gradual, and inevitable absorption in the manifold perplexities and problems afflicting humanity, be dark and oppressive for that nation. The world shaking g ordeal which Bahá'u'lláh, as quoted in the foregoing pages, has so graphically prophesied, may find it swept, to an unprecedented d degree, into its vortex. Out of it it will probably emerge, unlike its reactions to the last world conflict, consciously determined mined to seize its opportunity, to bring the full weight of its influence to bear upon the gigantic problems that such an ordeal must leave in its wake, and to exorcise forever, in conjunction with its sister nations of both the East and the West, the greatest curse which, from time immemorial, has afflicted and degraded the human race.
Then, and oniy then, will the American nation, molded and purified in the crucible of a common war, inured to its rigors, and disciplined by its lessons, be in a position to raise its voice in the councils of the nations, tions, itself lay the cornerstone of a universal and enduring peace, proclaim the solidarity, the unity, and maturity of mankind, and assist in the establishment of the promised reign of righteousness on earth. Then, and oniy then, will the American nation, while the community of the American believers within its heart is consummating its di-vinely-appointed vinely-appointed mission, be able to fulfill the unspeakably glorious destiny ordained for it by the Almighty, and immortally enshrined in the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Then, and only then, will the American nation accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history," !ebecoine the envy of the world and be blest in both the East and the West."
December 25, 1938.Excer fits from Letters and Cablegrams Received by the American Bakd'is from Apr11, 1938 to April, 1940
MARCHING TOWARD THEIRI wish to reaffirm in person my sense of joy and gratitude, as expressed in my last cable to your Assembly, at the new spirit of alertness and determination which you have so clearly demonstrated while yet on the threshold of your year of stewardship in the service of the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.I am filled with fresh hopes, and yearn to witness, ere the present year draws to a close, not only the fulfillment of an unexampled record of service but the revelation of such depths of consecration as will astonish, nay thrill, both the members of your own community and the rest of the Bahá'í world. Pregnant indeed are the years looming ahead of us all.
The twin processes of internal disintegration and external chaos are being accelerated and every day are inexorably moving towards a climax. The rumblings that must precede the eruption of those forces that must cause "the limbs of humanity to quake" can already be heard. ttThe time of the end," "the latter years,"
Page 345THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 345
as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us. The Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, the voice of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster.
The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this worldwide community and torch-bear-ers of an as yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abhi Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps and reinforce their power. Through their initial victories they have provided the impulse that must now surge and, with relentless force sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the entire human race. The generality of mankind, blind and enslaved, is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community has been endowed, nor can it as yet suspect the role which this same community is destined to play in its redemption. Fierce and manifold will be the assaults with which governments, races, classes and religions, jealous of its rising prestige and fearful of its consolidating strength, will seek to silence its voice and sap its foundations.
Unmoved by the relative obscurity that surrounds it at the present time, and undaunted by the forces that will be arrayed against it in the future, this community, I cannot but feel confident, will, no matter how afflictive the agonies of a travailing age, pursue its destiny, unde-flected in its course, undimmed in its serenity, unyielding in its resolve, unshaken in its convictions.
(July 5,1938)I feel truly exhilarated as I witness the ever-recurrent manifestations of unbroken solidarity and unquenchable enthusiasm that distinguish every stage in the progressive development of the nationwide enterprise which is being so unflichingly pursued by the whole American Bahá'í community. The marked deterioration in worLd affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed peoples and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven-year Plan, now operating in both the northern and southern American continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated. Conceived as the supreme agency for the establishment, in the opening century of the Bahá'í Era, of what is but the initial stage in the progressive realization of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Plan for the American believers, this enterprise, as it extends its ramifications throughout the entire New World, is demonstrating its power to command all the resources and utilize all the facilities which the machinery of a laboriously evolved Administrative Order can place at its disposal.
However we view its aspects, it offers in its functioning a sharp contrast to the workings of the moribund and obsolescent institutions to which a perverse generation is desperately clinging.
Tempestuous are the winds that buffet and will, as the days go by, fiercely assail the very structure of the Order through the agency of which this twofold task is being performed. The potentialities with which an almighty Providence has endowed it will no doubt enable its promoters to achieve their purpose.
Much, however will depend upon the spirit and manner in which that task will be conducted. Through the clearness and steadiness of their vision, through the un-vitiated vitality of their belief, through the incorruptibility of their character, through the adamantine force of their resolve, the matchless superiority of their aims and purpose, and the unsurpassed range of their accomplishments, they who labor for the glory of the Most Great Name throughout both Americas can best demonstrate to the visionless, faithless and restless society to which they belong their power to proffer a haven of refuge to its members in the hour of their realized doom. Then and only then will this tender sapling, embedded in the fertile soil of a Divinely appointed
Administrative Order, and energized by the dynamic processes of its institutions, yield its richest and destined fruit. That the community of the American believers, to whose keeping so vast, so delicate and precious a trust has been committed will, severally and collectively prove themselves worthy of their high calling, I fo~ one, who in my association with them have been privileged to observe more closely than perhaps any one else the nature of their reactions to the momentous issues that have confronted them in the past, will refuse to doubt.
(September 10, 1938)Loyalty world order Bahá'u'lláh, security its basic institutions, both imperatively demand all its avowed supporters, particularly its champion builders American continent, in these days when sinister uncontrollable forces are deepening cleavage sundering peo-pies, nations, creeds, classes, resolve despite pressure fast crystallizing public opinion abstain individually collectively in word, action, informally as well as in all official utterances publications from assigning blame, taking sides, however indirectly, in recurring political crises now agitating, ultimately engulfing human society.
Grave apprehension lest cumulative effect such compromises disintegrate fabric, clog channel grace that sustains system God's essentially supranational, supernatural order so laboriously evolved, so recently established. (Cablegram
September 24, 1938)I had scarcely dispatched my cable expressing my approval of your written suggestion to enter into a contract as soon as one-third of the estimated cost of the First Story of the Temple is in hand when the most welcome news reached me of your readiness to place an immediate contract for the making of the models, thus effecting considerable saving of time and expense in connection with the ornamentation of the remaining unit. I am thrilled by the news, and my heart brims over with gratitude as I witness on the one hand the evidences of your resourcefulness and unrelaxing vigilance, and observe on the other the ready and generous response of the individual believers at every critical stage in the prosecution of this magnificent enterprise.
I feel so happy and thankful to have been able to associate, at this juncture, through my recent offering to the Temple Construction Fund, the name of the Greatest Holy Leaf, with the noble exertions of those who, through their unstinted support, both moral and financial, are so valiantly acquitting themselves of their task under the
Seven Year Plan.The initial contract, proclaiming the opening of the final phase of a work that embodies the finest contribution ever made by the West to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, is now ready for your signature. The fourth of the successive steps outlined in my previous message is punctually being taken. The fond hopes cherished on the assumption of your exalted office are being amply fulfilled. The heroism displayed by the members of the American Bahá'í Community in the face of these recurring, constantly widening opportunities is growing more apparent every day.
With every fresh crisis that plunges a hapless humanity deeper and deeper into the morass of despair and degradation, the pioneers of the nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh are elevated to nobler heights of triumph, evince a rarer spirit of self-abnegation and courage, and disclose more compelling evidences of their capacity and power.
Every operation, no matter how indirectly connected with the dual responsibilities assumed by the American believers, must continue to be conducted and supported with that selfsame assuidity, sternness of purpose and steadiness of vision that have garnered them thus far so rich a harvest.
A work so auspiciously begun, so efficiently organized, so rapidly extended, so uniquely blessed, can never be allowed, however soin-her the clouds looming on the international horizon, to fall into abeyance or to even appear to have sustained the least injury from the world-shaking forces that now batter on the tottering institutions of hu
Page 347man society. The adamant determination of those who support it will enable it to yield at the appointed time its destined fruit.
(November 27, 1938)I have, in a recent cable addressed to your Assembly, felt it necessary to stress the paramount need of maintaining the proper balance between the Temple construction work and the teaching activities which have been initiated and are being so energetically conducted under your direc-Lion in accordance with the Seven Year Plan.
The twofold aim you are now pursuing should at no time become obscured, nor should either one of the dual responsibilities you have assumed be allowed to preponderate over the other. The urgency of the task connected with the ornamentation of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar has been rightly recognized, and its immediate needs have been generously and promptly met. A similar, nay a mightier effort should now be deliberately and persistently exerted in the field of pioneer teaching, in both the
United States and Canada.Every facility and encouragement, moral and material, should be extended to the National Teaching Committee and its auxiliary agencies to insure the speedy termination of the first stage in the teaching campaign to which every American believer is now pledged.
Very soon we shall be entering the second half of the last decade of this, the first century of the Bahá'í Era. The five remaining years should essentially be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs of the remaining Republics of both Central and South America, for whose entry into the fellowship of
Bahá'u'lláh the PlanThe prime requisite for the definite opening of what may come to be regarded as one of the most brilliant chapters in American BaUM history, is the completion of the initial task which American Baha pioneers must perform in the nine remaining
States and Provincesas yet unassociated with the organic structure of the Faith.
The period ahead is short, strenuous, fraught with mortal perils for human society, yet pregnant with possibilities of unsurpassed triumphs for the power of Bahá'u'lláh's redemptive Cause. The occasion is propitious for a display, by the American Bahá'í Community, in its corporate capacity, of an effort which in its magnitude, character, and purpose must outshine its past endeavors. Failure to exploit these present, these golden opportunities would blast the hopes which the prosecution of the Plan has thus far aroused, and would signify the ioss of the rarest privilege ever conferred by Providence upon the American Bahá'í Community. It is in view of the criticalness of the situation that I was led to place at the disposal of any pioneer willing to dedicate himself to the task of the present hour such modest resources as would facilitate the discharge of so enviable a duty.
The Bahá'í World, increasingly subjected to the rigors of suppression, in both the East and the West, watches with unconcealed astonishment, and derives hope and comfort from the rapid unfoldment of the successive stages of God's Plan for so blest a community. Its eyes are fixed upon this community, eager to behold the manner in which its gallant members will break down, one after another, the barriers that obstruct their progress towards a divinely-appointed goal.
On every daring adventurer in the service of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh the Concourse on high shall descend, e!each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light."
Every one of these adventurers God Himself will sustain and inspire, and will cause the pure waters of wisdom and utterance to gush out and flow copiously from his heart." C!The Kingdom of God," w?ites 'Abdu'l-Bahá, rr~~ pos � sessed of limitless potency.
Audacious must be the army of life if the confirming aid of that Kingdom is to he repeatedly vouchsafed unto it. Vast is the arena, and the time ripe to spur on the charger within it. Now is the time to reveal the force of one's strength, the stoutness of one's heart and the might of one's soul."
Dearly-beloved friends!What better field than the vast virgin territories, so near at hand, and waiting to receive, at this very
Page 348hour, their full share of the onrushing tide of Bahá'u'lláh's redeeming grace? What theatre more befitting than these long-neglected nine remaining states and provinces in which the true heroism of the intrepid pioneers of His World Order can be displayed?
There is no time to lose.There is no room left for vacillation. Multitudes hunger for the Bread of Life.
The stage is set. The firm and irrevocable Promise is given. God's own Plan has been set in mo-non.
It is gathering momentum with every passing day.The powers of heaven and earth mysteriously assist in its execution. Such an opportunity is irreplaceable.
Let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such assertions. To try, to persevere, is to insure ultimate and complete victory.
(January 28, 1939)I have in two recent, successive messages, cabled to your Assembly, giving expression, as far as it lay in my power, to the feelings of overpowering gratitude which the response of so many pioneers to the call of teaching has evoked in my heart. I have moreover felt impelled to convey my congratulations to the members of your Assern � bly who, through their resource, unity and singlemindedness, have lent so needed and timely an impetus to the mighty work asso � ciated with the second year of the Seven Year Plan. There can be no doubt whatever that what the American believers, no less than their elected national representatives, have accomplished, the long and assiduous care of the former and the potent methods employed by the latter, have witnessed to the uprising of a new spirit on which the defamers of the Cause m~y well pause to reflect, and from which its lovers cannot but derive deep joy and solace. I again wish to thank with all my soul those whose acts have stirred the imagination of friend and foe alike.
In my desire not to omit anything that might help to spur on or reinforce the community of the American believers as they move on to their destiny, I feel it necessary to add a word of warning in connection with the work that has been so splendidly begun lest it should be jeopardized or frustrated.
The initial phase of the teaching work operating under the Seven Year Plan has at long last been concluded.
They who have pushed it forward have withstood the test gloriously. By their acts, whether as teachers or administrators, they have written a glorious page in the struggle for the laying of a continent-wide foundation for the administrative Order of their Faith.
At this advanced stage in the fulfillment of the purpose to which they have set their hand there can be no turning back, no halting, no respite.
To launch the bark of the Faith, to implant its banner, is not enough.
Support, ample, organized and unremitting, should be lent, designed to direct the course of that work and to lay an unassailable foundation for the fort destined to stand guard over that banner.
The National SpiritualTeaching Committee, the Regional and local teaching committees, no iess than the itinerant teachers, should utilize every possible means calculated to fan the zeal, enrich the resources and insure the solidity and permanency of the work, of those who, actuated by so laudable and shining a spirit of self-sacrifice, have arisen to face the hazards and perils of so holy and historic an adventure.
Indeed every believer, however humble and inexperienced, should sense the obligation to play his or her part in a mission that involves so very deeply the destinies not oniy of the American Bahá'í community but of the nation itself.
Whether through the frequency of their visits, the warmth of their correspondence, the liberality of their support, the wisdom of their counsels, the choice of the literature placed at the disposal of the pioneers, the members of the community should, at this hour when the sands of a moribund civilization are inexorably running out, and at a time when they are preparing themselves to launch yet another stage in their teaching activities, insure the security and provide for the steady expansion, of the work initiated in those territories so recently set alight from the torch of an inextinguishable
Faith.The concerted activities of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North American continent assume, as they multiply and develop, a dual aspect, and may be said to fall into two distinct categories, both equally vital and complementary to each other. The one aims at the safeguarding and consolidation of the work already achieved; the other is designed to enlarge the range of its operation.
The former depends chiefly for its success upon the capacity, the experience and loyalty of wise, resourceful and judicious administrators, who, impelled by the very nature of their task, will be increasingly called upon to exercise the utmost care and vigilance in protecting the interests of the Faith, in resolving its problems, in regulating its life, in enriching its resources, and in preserving the pristine purity of its precepts.
The latter is essentially pioneer in nature, demanding first and foremost those qualities of renunciation, tenacity, dauntlessness and passionate fervor that can alone brave the dangers and sweep away the obstacles with which an infant Faith, struggling against vested interests and face to face with the entrenched forces of prejudice, of ignorance and fanaticism, must needs contend. In both of these spheres of Bahá'í activity the community of the American believers, it is becoming increasingly evident, is evincing those characteristics which must be regarded as the essential foundation for the success of their dual task.
As to those whose function is essentially of an administrative character it can hardly be doubted that they are steadily and indefatigably perfecting the structural machinery of their Faith, are multiplying its administrative agencies, and are legalizing the status of the newly established institutions. Slowly and patiently they are canalizing the spirit that at once directs, energizes and safeguards its operation. They are exploiting its potentialities, broadcasting its message, publicizing its literature, fostering the aspirations of its youth, devising ways and means for the training of its children, guarding the integrity of its teachings, and paving the way for the ultimate codification of its laws.
Through all the resources at their disposal, they are promoting the growth and consolidation of that pioneer movement for which the entire machinery of their Administrative Order has been primarily designed and erected. They are visibly and progressively contributing to the enrichment of their unique community life, and are insuring; with magnificent courage and characteristic promptitude, the completion of their consecrated Edifice � the embodiment of their hopes and the supreme symbol of their ideals.
As to those into whose valiant and trusted hands � and no believer, however humble is to think himself debarred from joining their ranks � the standards of a forward marching Faith have been entrusted, they too with no less zest and thoroughness are pushing farther and farther its frontiers, breaking new soil, establishing fresh outposts, winning more recruits, and contributing to the greater diversification and more harmonious blending of the elements comprised in the worldwide society of its followers.
The Edifice of this New World Order, which the Bib has heralded, which the mind of Bahá'u'lláh has envisioned, and whose features, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, its Architect, has delineated, we, whatever our capacities, opportunities or position, are now, at so precarious a period in the world's history, summoned to found and erect. The community of the Most Great Name in the 'Western Hemisphere is, through the nature of its corporate life and the scope of its exertions, assuming, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a preponderating share in the laying of such a foundation and the erection of such a structure. The eyes of its sister communities are fixed upon it. Their prayers ascend on its behalf. Their hands are outstretched to lend whatever aid lies within their power.
I, for my part, am determined to reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.
Far be it from me to underrate the gigantic proportions of their task, nor do I
Page 350for one moment overlook the urgency and gravity of the times in which they are laboring. Nor .do I wish to minimize the hazards and trials that surround or lie ahead of them. The grandeur of their task is indeed commensurate with the mortal perils by which their generation is hemmed in. As the dusk creeps over a steadily sinking society the radiant outlines of their redemptive mission become sharper every day. The present world unrest, symptom of a worldwide malady, their world religion has already affirmed must needs culminate in that world castastrophe out of which the consciousness of world citizenship will be born, a consciousness that can alone provide an adequate basis for the organization of world unity, on which a lasting world peace must necessarily depend, the peace itself inaugurating in turn that world civilization which will mark the coming of age of the entire human race.
Fortified by such reflections, the American believers, in whichever section of the Western Hemisphere they find themselves laboring, whether at home or abroad, and however dire and distressing the processes involved in the disintegration of the structure of presentday civilization, will, I feel convinced, prove themselves, through their lives and deeds, worthy of that priceless heritage which it is their undoubted pnvi-lege to proclaim, preserve and perpetuate.
(May 22, 1939)American campaign marks official inauguration (of) long-deferred World Mission constituting 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í distinctive legacy (to the) Bahá'í Community (of) North America. Chosen Community broadening its basis, gaining (in) stature, deepening (in) consecration.
Its vanguard now entering arena monopolized (by) entrenched forces (of) Christendom's mightiest ecclesiastical institutions.
Laboring amidst race foreign in language, custom, temperament embracing vast proportion (of) New World's ethnic elements.
American believers' isolated oversea teaching enterprises hitherto tentative, intermittent, now at end. New epoch opening, demanding exertions incomparably more strenuous, unflinchingly sustained, centrally directed, systematically organized, efficiently conducted. Upon alacrity, tenacity, fearlessness (of) present prosecutors (of the) unfolding mission depend speedy (and) fullest revelation, in the First (and) Second Centuries, (of the) potentialities (of the) birthright conferred (upon) American believers. Convey (to) pioneers (in) North,
Middle (and) South Americamy eagerness (to) maintain with each direct, personal contact. Assure Teaching (and) InterAmerica Committees (my) delight (at) successive testimonies (of) believers' glowing spirit reflected (in) Minutes, letters (and) reports recently received. Entreat every section (of) community (to) labor unremittingly until every nation (in) Western Hemisphere (is) illumined (by) rays (and) woven (into) fabric (of) Bahá'u'lláh triumphant Administrative
Order.The readiness of your Assembly, as expressed in your recently cabled message, to transfer the
National Bahá'í Secretariatto the vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette has evoked within me the deepest feelings of thankfulness and joy. Your historic decision, so wise and timely, so surprising in its suddenness, so far-reaching in its consequences, is one that I cannot but heartily and unreservedly applaud. To each one of your brethren in the Faith, throughout the United States and Canada, who are witnessing, from day to day and at an ever-hasten-ing speed, the approaching completion of their National House of Worship, the great Mother Temple of the West, your resolution to establish within its hallowed precincts and in the heart of the North American continent the Administrative Seat of their beloved Faith cannot but denote henceforward a closer association, a more constant communion, and a higher degree of coordination between the two primary agencies providentially ordained for the enrichment of their spiritual life and for the conduct and regulation of their administrative affairs. To the far-flung Bahá'í corn
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munities of East and West, most of which are being increasingly proscribed and ill-treated, and none of which can claim to have had a share of the dual blessings which a specially designed and constructed House of Worship and a fully and efficiently functioning Administrative Order invariably confer, the concentration in a single locality of what will come to be regarded as the fountainhead of the community's spiritual life and what is already recognized as the mainspring of the administrative activities, signalizes the launching of yet another phase in the siow and imperceptible emergence, in these declining times, of the model Bahá'í community � a community divinely ordained, organically united, clear-visioned, vibrant with life, and whose very purpose is regulated by the twin directing principles of the worship of God and of service to one's fellowmen.
The decision you have arrived at is an act that befittingly marks the commencement of your allotted term of stewardship in service to the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Moreover, it significantly coincides with the inauguration of that world mission of which the settlement of Bahá'í pioneers in the virgin territories of the North American continent has been but a prelude.
That such a decision may speedily and without the slightest hitch be carried into effect is the deepest longing of my heart. That those who have boldly carried so weighty a resolution may without pause or respite continue to labor and build up, as circumstances permit, around this administrative nucleus such accessories as the machinery of a fast evolving administrative order, functioning under the shadow of, and in such close proximity to, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar must demand, is the object of my incessant and fervent prayer. That such a step, momentous as it is, may prove the starting point for acts of still greater renown and richer possibilities that will leave their distinct mark on the third year of the Seven Year Plan is a hope which I, together with all those who are eagerly following its progress, fondly and confidently cherish.
The American believers, while straining to accomplish befittingly this particular task, must simultaneously brace themselves for another sublime effort to discharge, ere the present year draws to a close, their manifold responsibilities allotted to them under the Seven Year Plan. The placing of yet another contract for the casting of the ornamentation of the First Story of the Temple, the permanent settlement of the six remaining
Republics of CentralAmerica, and the extension of continual support both material and moral, to those weaker States, Provinces and Republics that have been recently incorporated in the body of the Faith, combine to offer, at this hour when the fate of civilization trembles in the balance, the boldest and gravest challenge that has ever faced the community of the American believers both in the propagative and administrative spheres of Bahá'í activity. In the field of pioneer teaching, and particularly in connection with the opening of the Republics of Haiti, Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Dominica and Guatemala, the utmost encouragement should at all times be vouchsafed by the elected representatives of the community to those who, out of the abundance of their hearts, and in direct response to the call of their Faith and the dictates of their conscience, have renounced their comforts, fled their homes, and hazarded their fortunes for the sake of bringing into operation the majestic Plan of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, while special support should be extended to those who appear to be best qualified for the strenuous labors which pioneering under such exacting circumstances demands. Care should be exercised lest any hindrance, should, for any reason, be placed in the way of those who have, whether young or old, rich or poor, so spontaneously dedicated themselves to so urgent and holy a mission.
Towards this newly-appointed enterprise a more definite reorientation is needed.
To its purposes a more complete dedication is demanded.
In its fortunes a more widespread concern is required. For its further consolidation and speedy fulfillment a larger number and a greater variety of participants are indispensable. For its success a more abundant flow of material resources should be assured.
Let the privileged few, the ambassadors of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh, bear in mind
Page 352His words as they go forth on their errands of service to His Cause. NI behoveth whosoever willeth to journey for the sake of God, and whose intention is to proclaim His Word and quicken the dead, to bathe himself with the waters of detachment, and to adorn his tein pie with the ornaments of resignation and submission.
Let trust in God be his shield, and reliance on God his provision, and the fear of God his raiment. Let patience be his helper, and praiseworthy conduct his succorer, and goodly deeds his army. Then will the concourse on high sustain him. Then will the denizens of the Kingdom of Names march forth with him, and the banners of Divine guidance and inspiration be unfurled on his right hand and before him."
Faced with such a challenge, a community that has scaled thus far such peaks of enduring achievements can neither falter nor recoil. Confident in its destiny, reliant on its God-given power, fortified by the Consciousness of its past victories, galvanized into action at the sight of a slowly disrupting civilization, it will � I can have no doubt � continue to fulfill unflinchingly the immediate requirements of its task, assured that with every step it takes and with each stage it traverses, a fresh revelation of Divine light and strength will guide and propel it forward until it consummates, in the fulness of time and in the plenitude of its power, the Plan inseparably bound up with its shining destiny.
(July 4, 1939)A triple call, clear-voiced, insistent and inescapable, summons to the challenge all members of the American Bahá'í community, at this, the most fateful hour in their history. The first is the voice, distant and piteous, of those sister communities which now, alas, are fettered by the falling chains of religious orthodoxy and isolated through the cruel barriers set up by a rampant nationalism.
The second is the plea, no less vehement and equally urgent, of those peoples and nations of the New World, whose vast and unexplored territories await to be warmed by the light and swept into the orbit of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. The third, n-iore universal and stirring than either of the others, is the call of humanity itself crying out for deliverance at a time when the tide of mounting evils has destroyed its equilibrium and is now strangling its very life.
These imperative calls of Bahá'í duty the American believers can immediately if only partially answer.
Their present status, their circumscribed resources, debar them, however great their eagerness, from responding completely and decisively to the full implications of this threefold obligation.
They can, neither individually nor through their concerted efforts, impose directly their will upon those into whose hands the immediate destinies of their persecuted brethren are placed. Nor are they as yet capable of launching a campaign of such magnitude as could capture the imagination and arouse the conscience of mankind, and thereby insure the immediate and full redress of those grievances from which their helpless coreligionists in both the East and the West are suffering. They cannot moreover hope to wield at the present time in the councils of nations an influence commensurate with the stupendous claims advanced, or adequate to the greatness of the Cause proclaimed, by the Author of their Faith.
Nor can V they assume a position or exercise such responsibilities as would enable them by their acts and decisions to reverse the process which is urging so tragically the decline of human society and its institutions.
And yet, though their influence be at the present hour indecisive and their divinely-conferred authority unrecognized, the role they can play in both alleviating the hardships that afflict their brethren and in attenuating the ills that torment mankind is none the less considerable and far-reaching. By the range and liberality of their contributions to mitigate the distress of the bereaved, the exiled and the imprisoned; by the persistent, the wise and judicious intervention of their elected representatives through the authorities concerned; by a clear and convincing exposition, wherever circumstances are propitious, of the issues involved; by a vigorous defense of the rights and liberties denied; by an accurate and
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Newly formed Spiritual Assembly of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1938.
dignified presentation of the events that have transpired; by every manner of encouragement which their sympathies may suggest, or their means permit, or their consciences dictate, to succor the outcast and the impoverished; and above all by their tenacious adherence to, and wide proclamation of, those principles, laws, ideals, and institutions which their disabled fellow-be-lievers are unable to affirm or publicly espouse; and lastly, by the energetic prosecution of those tasks which their oppressed fellow-workers are forbidden to initiate or conduct, the privileged community of the American Bahá'ís can play a conspicuous part in the great drama involving so large a company of their unemancipated brethren in the Asiatic, the European and African continents.
Their duties towards mankind in general are no less distinct and vital. Their impotence to stem the tide of onrushing calamities, their seeming helplessness in face of those cataclysmic forces that are to convulse human society, do not in the least detract from the urgency of their unique mission, nor exonerate them from those weighty responsibilities which they alone can and must assume. Humanity, heedless and impenitent, is admittedly hovering on the edge of an awful abyss, ready to precipitate itself into that titanic struggle, that crucible whose chastening fires alone can and will weld its antagonistic elements of race, class, religion and nation into one coherent system, one world commonwealth.
C!The hour is approaching" is Bahá'u'lláh's own testimony, rewhen the most great convulsion will have appeared I swear by Cod!
The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: Waste ye, what your hands have wrought.'" Not ours to question the almighty wisdom or fathom the inscrutable ways of Him in whose hands the ultimate destiny of an unregenerate yet potentially glorious race must lie. Ours rather is the duty to believe that the worldwide community of the Most Great Name, and in
Page 354particular, at the present time its vanguard in North America, however buffeted by the powerful currents of these troublous times, and however keen their awareness of the inevitability of the final eruption, can, if they will, rise to the level of their calling and discharge their functions, both in the period which is witnessing the confusion and breakdown of human institutions, and in the ensuing epoch during which the shattered basis of a dismembered society is to be recast, and its forces reshaped, redirected and unified. With the age that is still unborn, with its herculean tasks and unsuspected glories, we need not concern ourselves at present. It is to the fierce struggle, the imperious duties, the distinctive contributions which the present generation of Bahá'ís are summoned to undertake and render that I feel we should, at this hour, direct our immediate and anxious attention.
Though powerless to avert the impending contest the followers of Bahá'u'lláh can, by the spirit they evince and the efforts they exert help to circumscribe its range, shorten its duration, allay its hardships, proclaim its salutary consequences, and demonstrate its necessary and vital role in the shaping of human destiny.
Theirs is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of Divine Guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and ultimately envelop the entire human race. Theirs is the function, amidst its tumults, perils and agonies, to witness to the vision, and proclaim the approach, of that recreated society, that Christ-promised Kingdom, that World Order whose generative impulse is the spirit of none other than Bahá'u'lláh Himself, whose dominion is the entire planet, whose watchword is unity, whose animating power is the force of Justice, whose directive purpose is the reign of righteousness and truth, and whose supreme glory is the complete, the undisturbed, and everlasting felicity of the whole of human kind.
By the sublimity and serenity of their faith, by the steadiness and clarity of their vision, the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the sanctity of their morals, and the unique example of their community life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable corruptions, paralyzed by its haunting fears, torn by its devastating hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries demonstrate the validity of their claim to be regarded as the sole repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the complete deliverance, the fundamental reorganization and the supreme felicity of all mankind.
Though the obstacles confronting the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the American continent in their efforts to completely emancipate their fellow-Bahá'ís on the one hand, and to speedily rehabilitate the fortunes of their fellowmen on the other, be in the main unsurmountable, such impediments cannot as yet be said to exist that can frustrate their efforts to fully discharge the second duty now incumbent upon them in the intercontinental sphere of Bahá'í teaching.
The field, in all its vastness and fertility, is wide open and near at hand. The harvest is ripe. The hour is overdue.
The signal has been given.The spiritual forces, mysteriously released, are already operating with increasing momentum, unchallenged and unchecked. Victory, speedy and unquestioned, is assured to whosoever will arise and respond to this second, this urgent and vital call.
In this field, as in no other, the American believers can most easily evince the full force of their latent energies, can exercise in their plentitude their conspicuous talents, and can rise to the highest level of their God-given opportunities.
Fired by their zeal, their love for and faith in Bahá'u'lláh; armed with that Holy Charter, wherein 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mandate investing them with their world mission is inscribed; piloted through the instrumentality of those agencies which a divine, a smoothly functioning administrative Order has providentially placed at their disposal; disciplined and invigorated by those immutable verities, spiritual principles and administrative regulations that distinguish their religious beliefs, govern their individual conduct and regulate their community life; aspiring to emulate the example of those heroes and martyrs, the narrative of whose exploits they have admired and pondered, it behooves all members of the American Bahá'í community to gird themselves as never before to the task of befittingly
Page 355THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 355
playing their part in the enactment of the opening scene of the First Act of that superb Drama whose theme is no less than the spiritual conquest of both the Eastern and 'Western
1-Jemispheres. Theirimmediate task, under the Seven Year Plan, the object of which is the establishment of a minimum of one Baha center in each of the Republics of Middle and South America, has flow been gloriously ushered in through the settlement of one pioneer in most of the Central American Republics, and bids fair to be recognized by posterity as the original impulse imparted to an enterprise that will go round the world.
That impulse must, as time goes by, communicate itself to the farthest extremities of Latin America, and must be reinforced in every manner, by as many of the American believers as possible. The broader the basis of this campaign, the deeper its roots, the finer the flower into which it shall eventually blossom. That its call may be heeded, that its implications may be recognized and its potentialities progressively unfold, is my earnest prayer, and the supreme longing of my heart. (July 28, 1939)
THE SEAL OF COMPLETE TRIUMPHof the West with the hallowed memories of the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother, recently re-interred under the shadow of the Bib's holy Shrine, inaugurates a new, and at long last the final phase of an enterprise which, thirty years ago, was providentially launched on the very day the remains of the Forerunner of our Faith were laid to rest by our beloved Master in the sepulchre specifically erected for that purpose on Mt. Carmel. The birth of this holy enterprise, pregnant with such rich, such infinite possibilities, synchronized with, and was consecrated through, this historic event which, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself has affirmed, constitutes the most signal act of the triple mission He had been prompted to perform.
The site of the Temple itself was honored by the presence of Him Who, ever since this enterprise was initiated, had, through His messages and Tablets, bestowed upon it His special attention and care, and surrounded it with the marks of His unfailing solicitude.
Its foundation-stone was laid by His own loving hands, on an occasion so moving that it has come to be regarded as one of the most stirring episodes of His historic visit to the North American Continent. Its superstructure was raised as a direct consequence of the pent-up energies which surged from the breasts of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í lovers at a time when His sudden removal from their midst had plunged them into consternation, bewilderment and sorrow.
Its external ornamentation was initiated and accelerated through the energizing influences which the rising and continually consolidating institutions of a divinely es~ tablished Administrative Order had released in the midst of a community that had identified its vital interests with that Temple's destiny.
The measures devised to hasten its completion were incorporated in a Plan which derives its inspiration from those destiny-shaping Tablets wherein, in bold lief, stands outlined the world mission entrusted by their Author to the American Bahá'í community.
And finally, the Fund, designed to receive and dispose of the resources amassed for its prosecution, was linked with the memory and bore the name of her whose ebbing life was brightened and cheered by those tidings that unmistakably revealed to her the depth of devotion and the tenacity of purpose which animate the American believers in the cause of their beloved Temple.
And now, while the Bahá'í world vibrates with emotion at the news of the transfer of the precious remains of both the Purest Branch and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í mother to a spot which, watched over by the Twin Holy Shrines and in the close neighborhood of the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, is to become the focus of the administrative institutions of the Faith at its world center, the mere act of linking the destiny of so far-reaching an undertaking with so significant an event in the Formative Period of our Faith will assuredly set the seal of complete triumph upon, and enhance the spiritual potentialities of, a work so significantly started and so magnificently executed by the followers of Bahá'u'lláh in the North American continent.
The Plan which your Assembly has suggested to raise the sum of fifty thousand
Page 356dollars by next April, which will enable you to place the necessary contracts for the final completion of the entire First Story of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, meets with my unqualified approval. It was specially in order to initiate and encourage the progress of such a plan that I felt impelled to pledge the sum of one thousand pounds in the memory of these two glorious souis who, apart from the Founders of our Faith and its Exemplar, tower together with the Greatest Holy Leaf, above the rank and file of the faithful.
The interval separating us from that date is admittedly short. The explosive forces which lie dormant in the international field may, ere the expiry of these fleeting months, break out in an eruption that may prove the most fateful that mankind has experienced.
It is within the power of the organized body of the American believers to further demonstrate the imperturbability of their faith, the serenity of their confidence and the unyielding tenacity of their resolve.
We stand at the threshold of the decade within which the centenary of the birth of our Faith is to be celebrated. Scarcely more than four years stand between us and that glorious consummation. No community, no individual, neither in the East nor in the West, however afflictive the circumstances that now prevail, can afford to hesitate or falter. The few years immediately ahead are endowed with potencies that we can but dimly appreciate.
Ours is the duty and privilege to utilize to the full the opportunities which these fate-laden years offer us. The American Bahá'í community, already responsible, over such a long period, for such heroic acts, under such severe handicaps, cannot and will not hesitate or falter. The past is a witness of their splendid triumphs. The future will be no less a witness of their final victory.
(December 30, 1939)The fourth year of the Seven Year Plan enters upon its course in circumstances that are at once critical, challenging, and unprecedented in their significance.
The year that has passed has in so far as the rise and establishment of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in the Western Hemisphere is concerned, been one of the most eventful since the Plan began to operate and exercise its potent and beneficent influence. Both within and without the Community of the Most Great Name, the events which the last twelve months has unfolded have in some mysterious way, whether directly or indirectly, communicated their force to the Plan's progressive unfoldment, contributed to the orientation of its policy and assisted in the consolidation of the diversified undertakings, both primary and subsidiary that fall within its orbit.
Even the losses which the ranks of its stouthearted upholders have sustained will, when viewed in their proper perspective, be regarded as gains of incalculable value, affecting both its immediate fortunes as well as its ultimate destiny.
The successive international crises which agitated the opening months of the year that has elapsed, culminating in the outbreak of the war in Europe, far from drowning the enthusiasm or daunting the spirit of the prosecutors of God's Plan, served by deflecting their gaze from a storm-tossed conti
Page 357nent, to focus their minds and resources on ministering to the urgent needs of that hemisphere in which the first honors and the initial successes of the heroes of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh are to be scored and won.
The sudden extinction of the earthly life of that star-servant of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, Martha Root, who, while on the last lap of her fourth journey round the world � journeys that carried her to the humblest homes as well as the palaces of royalty � was hurrying homeward to lend her promised aid to her fellow-countrymen in their divinely-appointed task � such a death, though it frustrated this cherished resolution of her indomitable spirit, steeled the hearts of her bereaved lovers and admirers to carry on, more energetically than ever, the work which she herself had initiated, as far back as the year 1919 in every important city in the South American continent.
The subtle and contemptible machinations by which the puny adversaries of the Faith, jealous of its consolidating power and perturbed by the compelling evidences of its conspicuous victories, have sought to challenge the validity and misrepresent the character of the
Administrative Orderembedded in its teachings have galvanized the swelling army of its defenders to arise and arraign the usurpers of their sacred rights and to defend the longstanding strongholds of the institutions of their Faith in their home country.
And now as this year, so memorable in the annals of the Faith, was drawing to a close, there befell the American Bahá'í community, through the dramatic and sudden death of May Maxwell, yet another ioss, which viewed in retrospect will come to be regarded as a potent blessing conferred upon the campaign now being so diligently conducted by its members. Laden with the fruits garnered through well-nigh half a century of toilsome service to the Cause she so greatly loved, heedless of the warnings of age and ill-health, and afire with the longing to worthily demonstrate her gratitude in her overwhelming awareness of the bounties of her Lord and Master, she set her face towards the southern outpost of the Faith in the New World, and laid down her life in such a spirit of consecration and self-sacrifice as has truly merited the crown of martyrdom.
To Keith Ransom-Kehier, whose dust sleeps in far-off Isf~h&n; to Martha Root, fallen in her tracks on an island in the midmost heart of the ocean; to May Maxwell, lying in solitary glory in the southern outpost of the 'Western Hemisphere � to these three heroines of the Formative Age of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, they who now labor so assiduously for its expansion and establishment, owe a debt of gratitude which future generations will not fail to adequately recognize.
I need not expatiate on other, though less prominent, events that have contributed their share to the furtherance of the Seven Year Plan, or marked its systematic development. The association of the Fund, specifically inaggurated for its prosecution, with the hallowed memories of both the Mother and Brother of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; the establishment of at least one pioneer in each of the Republics of Central and South America; the ushering in of the last phase of the external ornamentation of the Temple; the conjunction of the institutions of the 171a?iratu'1-Quds and the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in the heart of the North American continent; the founding of yet another institution designed as a training school for Inter-America teaching work; the steady rise in the number of groups and Assemblies functioning within the Administrative Framework of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh � these stand out as further evidences of the animating Force that propels the Plan towards its final consummation.
Varied and abundant as have been the past manifestations of this driving, resistless Force, they cannot but pale before the bril-. liant victories which its progressive and systematic development must achieve in the future.
The American believers, standing on the threshold of the fourth year of the Seven Year Plan, pursue their God-given task with a radiance that no earthly gloom can dim, and will continue to shoulder its ever-grow-ing duties and responsibilities with a vigor and loyalty that no earthly power can either sap or diminish.
(April 15, 1940)r!And now as I look into the future, I hope to see the friends at all times, in every land, and of every shade of thought and character, voluntarily and joyously rallying round their local and in particular their national centers of activity, upholding and promoting their interests with coin plete unanimity and contentment, with perfect understanding, genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor. This indeed is the one joy anti yearning of my life, for it is the fountainhead from which all future blessings will flow, the broad foundation upon which the security of the Divine Edifice must ultimately rest." �
SHOGHI EFFENDI.THE 192627 National Spiritualmethods and relationships Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bahá'í collective association.
of the United States The provision both in and Canada completed the Declaration and in a task which, while pertaining tothe ByLaws for amendments the outer and more materialin the future will permit aspects of the Cause, the National Spiritual nevertheless has a special Assembly to adapt this significance for its spiritdocument to such new administrative and inward sacred purpose. elements or principles This task consisted in as the Guardian may at creating in a legal form whichany time give forth. The gives proper substance Declaration, in fact, and substantial character is nothing more or less to the administrative than a legal parallel processes embodied in of those moral and spiritual the Bahá'í Teachings. laws of unity inherent The form adopted was that in the fullness of the known as a Voluntary Trust,BaM'i Revelation and making a species of corporation it the fulfillment of recognized under the commonthe ideal of Religion law and possessing a in the social as well long and interesting history.as spiritual realm. Because, The famous Covenant adoptedin the Bahá'í Faith this by the Pilgrim Fathers perfect correspondence on the Mayflower, the exists between spiritual first legal document and social laws, the in American history, is Bahá'ís believe that of the same nature as the administrative success Declaration of Trust is identical with moral voted by the National success; and that nothing Spiritual Assembly. This less than the true Bahá'í spirit Declaration of Trust, of devotion and sacrifice with its attendant By-Laws,can inspire with effective is published for the informationpower the worldwide of the Bahá'ís of the world.body of unity, revealed Careful examination of by Bahá'u'lláh. Therefore the Declaration and its it has seemed fitting ByLaws will reveal the factand proper to accompany the that this document containsDeclaration of Trust no arbitrary elements with excerpts from the nor features new to the letters of Shoghi Effendi Bahá'í Cause. On the contrary,which furnished the source it represents a most conscientiouswhence the provisions effort to reflect those of the Declaration were very administrative principlesdrawn, and which furthermore and elements already set give due emphasis to forth in the letters that essential spirit of the Guardian, Shaghi without which any and Effendi, and already every social or religious determining the form is but a dead and soulless body.
HORACE HOLLEY.Certification of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States and Canada.
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Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 364By the National Spiritual Assembly of the Báb4'is of the
United States and CanadaWe, Allen B. McDaniel of Washington, D. C., Horace Holley of New York City, N. Y., Carl Scheffler of Evanston, Ill., Roy C. Wilhelm of West Englewood, N. J., Florence Morton of Worcester, Mass., Amelia Collins of Princeton, Mass., Ali-Kuli Khan of New York City, N. Y., Mountfort Mills of New York City, N. Y., and Siegfried Schop-flocher r of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, duly chosen by the representatives s of the Báb~i'is of the United States and Canada at the Annual Meeting held at San Francisco, Calif., on April 29, April 30, May i, and May 2, 1926, to be the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, with full power to establish a Trust as hereinafter set forth, hereby declare that from this date the powers, responsibilities, rights, privileges and obligations s reposed in said National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada by Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, its Interpreter and Exemplai-, and by Shoghi Effendi, its Guardian, shall be exercised, administered and carried on by the above-named National Spiritual Assembly and their duly qualified d successors under this Declaration of Trust.
The National Spiritual Assembly in adopting this form of association, , union and fellowship, and in selecting for itself the designation of Trustees of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, does so as tbe administrative body of a religious community which has had continuous existence and responsibility for over, eighteen years. In consequence of these activities the National Spiritual Assembly is called upon to administer such an ever-increasing diversity and volume of affairs and properties for the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, that we, its members, now feel it bath desirable and necessary y to give our collective functions more definite legal form. This action is taken in complete unanimity and with full recognition of the sacred relationship thereby created. We acknowledge in behalf of ourselves and our successors in this Trust the exalted religious standard d established by Bahá'u'lláh for Bahá'í administrative bodies in the
Page 365THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 365
utterance: "Be ye Trustees of the Merciful One among men"; and seek the help of God and His guidance in order to fulfil that exhortation.
Article IThe name of said Trust shall be the National Spiritual Asscm~,ly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Article IISharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of our fellow Bahá'ís to establish, uphold and promote the spiritual, educational and humanitarian n teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character r and selfless love revealed in the lives and utterances of all the Prophets and Messengers of God, Founders of the world's revealed religions � and given renewed creative energy and unh~ersa1 application n to the conditions of this age in the life and utterances of Bahá'u'lláh i � we declare the purposes and objects of this Trust to be to administer r the affairs of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh for the benefit of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada according to the principles of Bahá'í affiliation and administration created and established by Bahá'u'lláh, defined and explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and amplified and applied by Shoghi Effendi and his duly constituted successor and successors under the provision of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
.These purposes are to be realized by means of devotional meetings; ; by public meetings and conferences of an educational, humanitarian n and spiritual character; by the publication of books, magazines and newspapers; by the construction of temples of universal worship and of other institutions and edifices for humanitarian service; by supervising, unifying, promoting and generally administering the activities of the Baha of the United States and Canada in the fulfilment t of their religious offices, duties and ideals; and by any other means appropriate to these ends, or any of them.
Other purposes and objects of this Trust are: a. The right to enter into, make, perform and carry out contracts of every sort and kind for the furtherance of the objects of this Trust with any person, firm, association, corporation, private, public or municipal or body politic, or any state, territory or colony thereof, or any foreign government; and in this connection, and in all transactions under the terms of this
Page 366Trust, to do any and all things which a copartnership or natural person could do or exercise, and which now or hereafter r may be authorized by law.
b. To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust established d by law or otherwise or under any will or other testamentary y instrument in connection with any gift, devise, or bequest in which a trust or trusts is or are established in any part of the world as well as in the United States and Canada; to receive gifts, devises or bequests of money or other property.
c. All and whatsoever the several purposes and objects set forth in the written utterances of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, under which certain jurisdiction, powers and rights are granted to National Spiritual Assemblies.
d. Generally to do all things and acts which in the judgment of said Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, are necessary, proper and advantageous to promote the complete and successful administration n of this Trust.
Article IIISection x. All persons, firms, corporations and associations extending, ing, credit to, contracting with or having any claim against the Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, and the members thereof, of any character whatsoever, whether legal or equitable and whether arising out of contract or tort, shall look solely to the funds of the Trust and to the property of the Trust estate for payment or indemnity, or for the payment of any debt, damage, judgment or decree or any money that may otherwise become due or payable from the Trustees, so that neither the Trustees nor any of them, nor any of their officers or agents appointed by them hereunder, nor any beneficiary or beneficiaries ficiaries herein named shall be personally liable there for.
Section 2. Every note, bond, proposal, obligation or contract in writing or other agreement or instrument made or given under this Trust shall be explicitly executed by the National Spiritual Assembly, as Trustees by their duly authorized officers or agents.
Article IVThe Trustees, i.e., the National Spiritual Assembly, shall adopt for the conduct of the affairs entrusted to them under this Declaration of
Page 367THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 367
Trust, such bylaws, rules of procedure or regulations as are required to define and carry on its own 'administrative functions and those of the several local and other elements composing the body of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, not inconsistent with the terms of this instrument and all in accordance with the explicit instructions given us to date by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, which instructions are already known to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada and accepted by them in the government and practice e of their religious affairs.
Article VThe central office of this Trust shall be located in the City of New York, State of New York, United States of America.
Article VIThe seal of this Trust shall be circular in form, bearing the following description: National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. Declaration of Trust, 1927.
Article VIIThis Declaration of Trust may be amended by majority vote of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada at any special meeting duly called for that purpose, provided d that at least thirty (30) days prior to the date fixed for said meeting a copy of the proposed amendment or amendments is mailed to each member of the Assembly by the Secretary.
Art. V amended to read located in the Village of Wilmette, Illinois, the site of the
Bahá'í House of Worship."The National Spiritual Assembly, in the fulfilment of its sacred duties under this Trust, shall have exclusive jurisdiction and authority over all the activities and affairs of the Bahá'í Cause throughout the United States and Canada, including paramount authority in the administration of this Trust. It shall endeavor to stimulate, unify and coordinate the manifold activities of the local Spiritual Assemblies (hereinafter defined) and of individual Bahá'ís in the United States and Canada and by all possible means assist them to promote the oneness s of mankind. It shall be charged with the recognition of such local Assemblies, the scrutiny of local membership rolls, the calling of the Annual Meeting or special meetings and the seating of delegates to the Annual Meeting and their apportionment among the various local Bahá'í communities. It shall appoint all national Bahá'í committees s and shall supervise ihe publication and distribution of Bahá'í literature; the reviewing of all writings pertaining to the Bahá'í Cause, the construction and administration of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its accessory activities, and the collection and disbursement of all funds for the carrying on of this Trust. It shall decide whether any matter lies within its own jurisdiction or within th~ jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly. It shall, in such cases as it considers suitable and necessary, entertain appeals from the decisions of local Spiritual Assemblies s and shall have the right of final decision in all cases where the qualification of an individual or group for continued voting rights and membership inilie Bahá'í body is in question. It shall furthermore represent the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in all their cooperative and spiritual activities with the Bahá'ís of other lands, and shall constitute the sole electoral body of the United States and Canada in the formation of the Universal House of Justice provided for in the Sacred Writings of the Bahá'í Cause. Above all, the National Spiritual Assembly shall ever seek td' attain that station of unity in devotion to the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh which will attract the confirmations s of the Holy Spirit and enable the Assembly to serve the founding of the Mast Great Peace. In all its deliberation and action For amendments made to April 20, 1940, sec notes at foot of pages 370, 373, 374, 375.
Page 369THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 369
the National Assembly shall have constantly before it as Divine guide and standard the utterance of Bahá'u'lláh "It behooveth them (i.e., Spiritual Assemblies) to F~ the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to consider themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all thai dwelt on earth. It is incumbent t upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly."
Article IIThe Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, for whose benefit this Trust has heen established, shall consist of all persons resident in the United States and Canada who are recognized by the National Spiritual Assembly as having fulfilled the requirements of voting membership p in a local Bab~'i community. To become a voting member of a Bahá'í community a person shall a. Be a resident of the locality defined by the area of jurisdiction of the local Spiritual Assembly, as provided by Article VII, Section 12, of this instrument.
b. Have attained the age of 21 years.c. Have established to the satisfaction of the local Spiritual Assembly, embly, subject to the approval of the National Assembly, tbat he possesses the qualifications of Bahá'í faith and practice required quired under the following standard: Full recognition of the station of the Forerunner (the BTh), the Author (Bahá'u'lláh), and 'Abdu'l-Bahá the True Exemplar of t~e Bahá'í Cause: unreserved served acceptance of, and submission to, whatsoever has been revealed by their Pen; loyal and steadfast adherence to every clause of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í sacred Will; and close association with the spirit as well as the form of presentday Bahá'í administration ration throughout the world.
Article IIIThe National Assembly shall consist of nine members chosen from among the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, who shall be elected by the said Bahá'ís in manner hereinafter provided, and who shall continue in office for the period of one year, or until their successors s shall be elected.
Page 370The officers of the National Spiritual Assembly shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as may be found necessary for the proper conduct of its affairs.
The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the entire membership of the Assembly taken by secret ballot.
Article VThe first meeting of a newly-elected National Assembly shall be called by the member elected to membership by the highest number of votes or, in case two or more members have received the same said highest number of votes, then by the member selected by lot from among those members; and this member shall preside until the permanent t Chairman shall be chosen. All subsequent meetings shall be called by the Secretary of the Assembly at the request of the Chairman n or~ in his absence or incapacity, of the Vice-Chairman, or of any three members of the Assembly; provided, however, that the Annual Meeting of the Assembly shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by a majority vote of the Assembly, as hereinafter provided.
Article VIFive members of the National Assembly present at a meeting shall constitute a quorum, and a majority vote of those present and constituting g a quorum shall be sufficient for the conduct of business, except as otherwise provided in these ByLaws, and with due regard to the principle of unity and cordial fellowship involved in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly. The transactions and decisions of the National l Assembly shall be recorded at each meeting by the Secretary, who shall supply copies of the minutes to the Assembly members after each meeting, and preserve the minutes in the official records of the
Assembly.Whenever in any locality of the United States and Canada, be it city, town or village, the number of Bahá'ís resident therein recognized d by the National Spiritual Assembly exceeds nine, these may on April 21st of any year convene and elect by plurality vote a local administrative e body of nine members, to be known as the Spiritual As-Article ticle IV, amended to read by a majority vote of the Assembly taken by secret ballot."
Page 371THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 371
sembly of the Bahá'ís of that community. Every such Spiritual Assembly y shall be elected annually thereafter upon each successive 21st day of April. The members shall hold office for the term of one ye~ir and until their successors are elected and qualified.
When, however, the number of Bahá'ís in any community is exactly nine, these may on April 21st of any year, or in successivc years, constitute themselves the local Spiritual Assembly by joint declaration. Upon the recording of such declaration by the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, said body of nine shall become established with the rights, privileges and duties of a local Spiritual Assembly as set forth in this instrument.
Section x. Each newly-elected local Spiritual Assembly shall at once proceed in the manner indicated in Articles IV and V of these ByLaws to the election of its officers, who shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and such other officers as the Assembly finds necessary for the conduct of its business and the fulfilment t of its spiritual duties. Immediately thereafter the Secretary chosen shall transmit to the Secretary of the National Assembly the names of the members of the newly-elected Assembly and a list of its officers.
Section 2. The general powers and duties of a local Spiritual As-sembjy y shall be as set forth in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá i and Shoghi Effendi.
Section 3. Among its more specific duties, a local Spiritual Assembly y shall have full jurisdiction of all Bahá'í activities and affairs within the local community, subject, however, to the exclusive and paramount authority of the National Spiritual Assembly as defined herein.
Section 4. Vacancies in the membership of a local Spiritual Assenib~y shall be filled by election at a special meeting of the local Bahá'í community duly called for that purpose by the Assembly.
In the event that the number of vacancies exceeds four, making a quorum of the local Assembly impossible, the election shall be held under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 5. The business of the local Assembly shall be conducted in like manner as provided for the deliberations of the National Assembly y in Article VI above.
Section 6. The Ioc2il Assembly shall pass upon and approve the qualifications of each member of the EaWi'i community before such members shall be admitted to voting membership; but where an individual l is dissatisfied with the ruling of the local Spiritual Assembly
Page 372upon his Bahá'í qualifications, such individual may appeal froni the ruling to the National Assembly, which shall thereupon take jurisdiction n of and finally decide the case.
Section ~. On or before the 1st day of February of each year the Secretary of each local Assembly shall send to the Secretary of the National Assembly a duly certified list of the voting members of the local Bahá'í community for the information and approval of the
National Assembly.Section 8. All matters arising within a local Bahá'í community which are of purely local interest and do not affect the national interests s of the Cause shall be under the primary jurisdiction of the Spiritual Assembly of that locality; but decision whether a particular matter involves the interest and welfare of the national Bab~'i body shall rest with the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 9. Any member of a local Bahá'í community may appeal from a decision of his Spiritual Assembly to the National Assembly, which shall determine whether it shall take jurisdiction of the matter or leave it to the local Spiritual Assembly for reconsideration. In the event that the National Assembly assumes jurisdiction of the matter, its finding shall be final.
Section io. Where any dissension exists within a local Bahá'í community y of such a character that it cannot be remedied by the efforts of the local Spiritual Assembly, this condition shall be referred by the Spiritual Assembly for consideration to the National Spiritual Assembly, , whose action in the matter shall be final.
Section ii. All questions arising between two or more local Spiritual Assemblies, or between members of different BaWi'i communities, , shall be submitted in the first instance to the National Assembly. which shall have original and final jurisdiction in all such matters.
Section 12. The sphere of jurisdiction of a local Spiritual Assembly, , with respect to residential qualification of membership, and voting tights of a believer in any Bahá'í community, shall be the locality included within the dvii limits of the city, town or village, but Bahá'ís who reside in adjacent, outlying or suburban districts and can regularly attend the meetings of the local Bahá'í community, may be enrolled on the membersh'zp list of the adjacent Spiritual Assembly and enjoy full voting rights pending the establishment of a local Spiritual Assembly in their home community.
All differences of opinion concerning the sphere of jurisdiction of any local Spiritual Assembly or concerning the affiliation of any Baha'i
Page 373THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 373
or group of Baha in the United States and Canada shall be referred to the National Spiritual Assembly, whose decision in the matter shall be final.
Article VIIIThe Annual Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly at which its members shall be elected shall be known as the National Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, and shall be held at a time and place to be fixed by the National Assembly, which shall give sixty days' notice of the meeting to each local Bahá'í community through its Spiritual Assembly. The National Assembly shall at the same time inform each Spiritual Assembly of the number of delegates s to the Convention it has assigned to the local Bahá'í community in accordance with the principle of proportionate representation in such manner that the entire number of delegates composing the National Convention shall be ninety-five. Upon receipt of this notice each local Spiritual Assembly shall, within a convenient period and after giving due and sufficient notice thereof, call a meeting of the voting members on its rolls for the purpose of electing their delegate or delegates to the National Convention; and, not later than thirty days before the date of the Convention, the Secretary of each local Spiritual Assembly shall certify to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly the names and adddresses of the delegates so elected.
Section i. All delegates to the Convention shall be elected by plurality vote of those present at their election.
Section 2. All delegates to be seated at the Convention must be enrolled as voting members of the Bahá'í community represented by them.
Section 3. The rights and privileges of a delegate may not be assigned nor may they be exercised by proxy.
Section 4. The recognition and seating of delegates to the National l Convention shall be vested in the National Spiritual Assembly.
Section 5. Delegates unable to be present in person at the Convention n shall have the right to vote for members of the National Spiritual l Assembly by mail or telegram under such conditions as may be indicated by the National Assembly.
Section 6. If in any year the National Spiritual Assunbly shall 'consider r tbat it is impracticable or unwise to assemble together the delegates s to the National Convention, the National Spiritual Assembly shall provide ways and means by which the business of the Convention may be conducted by correspondence or telegram. Any action taken Article VIII, amended to read number of delegates composing the National Convention n shall be one hundred seventy-one."
Article VIII, Section 1, amended to read ". by plurality vote. Members who for illness or other unavoidable reasons are unable to be present at the election in person shall have the right to transmit their ballots by' mail or telegram under conditions acceptable to the local Spiritual Assembly."
Article VIII, Section 6, amended to end with words by correspondence or telegram."
Page 374under such circumstances shall be by a majority vote of all the delegates.
Section ~'. The presiding officer of the National Spiritual Assembly y present at the National Convention shall call to order the delegates, who shall then proceed to the permanent organization of the meeting, electing a presiding officer, a Secretary and such other officers as are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Convention.
Section 8. The principal business of the National Convention ~ha11 be the election of the nine members of the incoming National Spiritual Assembly, the consideration of the reports of the financial and other activities of the outgoing National Assembly and its various committees, , and deliberation upon the affairs of the Bahá'í Cause in general, , it being understood, however, in accordance with the principles of Bahá'í administration defined by the Guardian that all deliberation and action of the delegates at the National Convention, other than the election of the members of the incoming National Spiritual Assembly, shall constitute merely advice and recommendation for consideration by the said Assembly, final decision on all matters concerning the affairs of the Bahá'í Cause in the United States and Canada being vested solely in that body.
Section 9. The general order of business to be taken up at the National Convention shall be prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, , but any and all matters pertaining to the Cause introduced by any of the delegates may upon motion and vote be taken up as part of the deliberations of the Convention.
Section lo. The election of the members of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be by plurality vote of the delegates recognized by the outgoing National Spiritual Assembly, i.e., the members elected shall be the nine persons receiving the greatest number of votes on the first ballot cast by delegates present at the Convention and delegates whose ballot bas been transmitted to the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly by mail or telegram. In case by reason of a tie vote or votes the full membership is not determined on the first ballot, then one or more additional ballots shall be taken until all nine members are elected.
Section ii. All official business transacted at the National Convention n shall be recorded and preserved in the records of the National
Assembly.Section 12. After the termination of the National Convention and until the next such Annual Meeting has been called in session, the delegates tes shall continue as a consultative body capable of rendering a dis-Article cle VIII, Section 7, amended to read electing by ballot a presiding officer," eta.
Article VIII, Section 12, deleted.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 375
tinctive service to the work of the Cause, and they shall make every effort to contribute to the unified spirit, information and useful action of the National Spiritual Assembly throughout the year.
Section 13. Vacancies in the membership of the National Spiritual Assembly shall be filled by a plurality vote of the delegates composing the Convention which elected the Assembly, the ballot to be taken by correspondence or in any other manner decided upon by the National
Spiritual Assembly.Where the National Spiritual Assembly has been given in these ByLaws exclusive and final jurisdiction, and paramount executive authority, in all matters pertaining to the activities and affairs of the Bahá'í Cause in the United States and Canada, it is understood that any decision made or action taken up&n such matters shall be subject in every instance to ultimate review and approval by the Guardian of the Cause or the Universal House of Justice.
Article XWhatever functions and powers are not specifically attributed to local Spiritual Assemblies in these ByLaws shall be considered vested in the National Spiritual Assembly, which body is authorized to delegate e such discretionary functions and powers as it deems necessary and advisable to the local Spiritual Assemblies within its jurisdiction.
Article XIIn order to preserve the spiritual character and purpose of Bahá'í elections, the practice of nominations or any other electoral method detrimental to a silent and prayerful election shall not prevail, so that each elector may vote for none but those whom prayer and reflection n have inspired him to uphold.
Among the most outstanding and sacred duties incumbent upon those who bave been called upon to initiate, direct and coordinate the affairs of the Cause as members of local or national Spiritual Assemblies s are To win by every means in their power the confidence and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve; to investigate and acquaint themselves with the considered views, the prevailing sentiments and the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn obligation n to promote; to purge their deliberations and the general conduct Article VIII, Section 13, amended to be Section 12.
Page 376of their affairs of selfcontained aloofness, the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling atmosphere of dictatorial assertiveness and of every word and deed that may savor of partiality, seif-centeredness and prejudice; and while retaining the sacred right of final decision in their hands, to invite discussion, ventilate grievances, welcome advice, and faster the sense of interdependence and copartnership, of understanding and mutual confidence between themselves and all other Baha'is.
Article XIIThese ByLaws may be amended by majority vote of the National Spiritual Assembly at any of its regular or special meetings, provided that at least fourteen days prior to the date fixed for the said meeting' a copy of the proposed amendment or amendnients is mailed to each member of the Assembly by the Secretary.
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Page 377THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 377
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Page 383THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 383
TREUHANDSCHAFTSERKLARUNGThE DECLARATION AND BYLAWS OF THE NATIoNAL SPIRITUAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE BAnAl S OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIAW IR, Marta Blanche Brauns-Forel, Karisruhe i. B.; Paul Ferdinand
Goilmer, Stuttgart; MaxSchwarz-Solivo, Stuttgart, er-kiliren hermit als der durch die Abgeordne-ten der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich anliisslich der Jalirestagung in Stuttgart am 22. April 1934 ordnungsmiissig gewThlte und mit alien Vollmachten zur Erriclitung der nachfolgenden Treuhandschaft ausge-stattete Nationale
Geistige Rat der Bahá'íin Dents chiand und dsterreich, dass 'worn heuti-gen Tage an die diesem Rate durch
Bahá'u'lláh, den Begriinderdes BahA'i-Glaubens, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, den Ausleger und das Vorbild, und Shoghi Effendi, den Hiker desselben, iibertragenen Befugnisse, Verantwortlich-keiten, Rechte, Vorrechte und Pflichten von dem vorgenannten
Nationalen GeistigenRat und semen ordnungsm~issig besteilten Nach-folgern gem~ss dieser Treuhandschaftser-khirung ausgeiibt, verwalter und fortgefiihrt werden sollen.
Die Annahme dieser Formdes Zusam-menschlusses, der Vereinigung und Gemein-schaft, und die Zulegung der
Bezeichnung als TreuWinderder Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich erfolgt durch den Natio-nalen Geistigen Rat als dem seit melir als dreiundzwanzig Jahren bestehenden und verantwortlichen
Verwaltungskbrper ciner Religionsgemeinschaft.zur Verwaltung der sfiindig mannigfacher und umfangreicher werden-den Angelegenheiten und Verm5genswerte der
Babi'i in Deutschlandund desterreich, weshaib wir als dessen Mitglieder es ffir wfinschenswert und notwendig erachten, unserer gemeinsamen Titigkeit eine fester umrissene, gesetzm~ssige Form zn geben. Wir tun dies in v6lliger Einmfitigkeit und in voller Erkenntnis der damit geschaffen heiligen Bindung. Wir anerkennen fur uns und unsere Nachfolger in dieser Treuhand-schaft die erhabene religi6se Richtschnur, die fur Bahá'í � Verwaltungskbrperschaf ten in dem Worte Bahá'u'lláh's zum Ausdruck kommt: ,,Seid
Treuh~inder des Barmherzi-genunter den Menschenct, und suchen den Beistand Gottes und Seine FUlirung, damit wir dieser Ermalinung folgen kbnnen.
ARTIKEL IDie genannte Treuhandgemeinschaft fiihrt die Bezeichnung, ,,der
Nationale Geis-tige RatWir teilen die Ideale unserer Mit-BaM'i und arbeiten mit ihnen an der Aufrichtung, Erhaltung und Fbrderung der geistigen, er-ziehlichen und menschenfreundlichen Leh-ren menschlicher Bruderschaft, strahienden Glaubens, erhabenen Charakters und selbst-loser Liebe, wie sie im Leben und in den Ausserungen aller ]?ropheten und Botschaf-ter
Gottes, der Bergrflnderder Offenbarungs-religionen in der Welt, geoffenbart mid mit erneuter Kraft und allumfassender Geltung fur die Gegebenheiten dieses Zeitalters durch das Leben und die Worte Bahá'u'lláh's verkiindet warden sind. Wir erkhiren als Zweck und Gegenstand dieser Treuhandge-meinschaft die Verwaltung der Angelengen � heiten der Sadie Bahá'u'lláh's zum Besten der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich gam~iss den von Bahá'u'lláh geschaffenen und eingefiihrten, von 'Abdu'1 � Baha n~iher bestimmten und erliluterten und von Shoghi Effendi und dessen nach dem Willen und
Page 384ordnungsmissig eingesetzten Nachfolger und Naclifolgern erweiterten und angewandten Grunds~itzen fUr die BaM'i-Zugehbrigkeit und -Verwalt-ung.
Der Erfiillung dieses Zweckes sollen Andachtszusammenktinfte, bifentliche Ver-sammiungen und Zusammenkflnfte erzieh-lichen, menschenfreundlichen und geistigen Charakters, die Ver6ffentlichung von Biichern, Zeitschriften und Zeitungen, die Errichtung von Tempein aligemeiner An-betung und anderer
Einrichtungen und Bautenfur menschenfreundliche Dienste, die tYberwachung,
Vereinheitlichung, F5r-derungund aligemeine Verwaltung der Angelegenheiten der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich in Erfiillung ihrer religibsen Dienste, Pilichten und Ideale, sowie jjedes sonstige diesen Zielen oder einem von ilinen farderliche Mittel dienen.
Weiterer Zweck und Gegenstanddieser Treuhandgemeinschaft ist: a. das Recht, mit irgendwelchen Per-sonen, Unternelimungen, Vereinigung-en, privaten, bifentlichen oder ge-meindlichen Kdrperscbaften, dem Staat oder irgendwelchen seiner L~inder, Gebiete oder Kolonien oder mit irgendwelchen fremden Regicrungen in jeder Art und Weise Vertr~ge abzuschliessen, zu voliziehen und zu erfiillen, die zur F6rderung der
Ziele dieser Treuhandschaftdienen, und im Zusammenhang damit und bei alien Verriclitungen, die im Ralimen dieser Treuhandschaft erfolgen, alles und jedes zu tun, was eine Gesellschaft oder natiirliche Person zu tun oder auszuiiben vermag und was gegen-w~irtig oder kiinftig vom Gesetz zu-gelassen ist, b. bei alien durch Gesetz oder anderswie errichteten
VerbThden oder Nach-Iiissenund sonstigen Ietztwilligcn Verfilgungen in Verbindung mit Schenkungen,
VermThhtnissen oder Auflassungenjeder Art, in weichen em oder melirere TreuMnder in irgend einem Teil der Welt sowobi Ms audi in Deutschland und bsterreich besteilt werden, aufzutreten und Ms emp fangsberechtigt zu gelten und Schen-kungen, Verm~chtnisse oder Auflas-sungen in Geld oder sonstigen Verm6genswerten anzunehmen, c. alles und was immer in den schrift-lichen Xusserungen Bahá'u'lláh's; 'Abdu'l-Bahá's, Shoghi Effendi's und seiner ordnungsm~issigen Nachfolger, durch die den Nationalen Geistigen Riiten gewisse Spruchrechte,
Befug-nisse und Gerechtsamegew~hrt sind, an verschiedenen Zwechen und Zielen niedergelegt ist, d. gemeinhin alles zu tun und zu be-wirken, was nach Ansicht der be-nannten Treubiinder d. h. des
Natio � nalen GeistigenRates der BaM 'i in Deutschland und bsterreich zur Farderung der vollst~indigen und erfoigreichen
Verwaltung dieser Treu-handgemeinschaft1. Abschnitt. Allen Personen, ljnter-nehmungen, K6rperschaften und Vereini-gungen gegeniiber, die den TreuMndern d. h. dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat urn! den Mitgliedern desselben in ilirer Eigenschaft als soiche Kredit gewThren, Vertr~ge mit ihnen schijessen oder irgendwelche An-spriiche gegen sic, gleichviel weicher Art, ob rechtlich oder billig, zu Recht oder zu Unrecht, haben, gilt lediglich das Treu-handvermagen und der Treuhandbesitz als Masse flm Zahiung oder Sicherstellung bezw.
fur die Begleichung irgendwelcher Schulden,und Bescheide oder irgendwelcher Betr~ige, die in sonstiger Weise seitens der Treuh~inder geschuldet oder zahibar werden kannten, sodass weder die Treuh~inder, noch irgend-einer von ihnen, noch irgendeiner ihrer kraft dieses ernannten Beamten oder Bea~iftragten, noch irgendwelche hierin genannte Berech-tigte, sei es einzeln oder gemeinsam, persdn-lich dafiir haften.
2. Abs chnitt. AlL Bescheinigungen, Schuldanerkenntnisse,
Antrage, schriftlichen Verpflichtungenund Vertr~ge oder sonstig-en Vereinbarungen und Urkunden, die im Rahmen dieser Treuhandschaft getroffen oder gegeben werden, werden ausdrticklich
Page 385THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 385
vom Nationalen Geistigen Rat Ms Treu-lcdinder durch dessen ordnungsm~issig er-m~ichtigte Beamte und Beauftragte you-zogen.
AwrIKEL IVDie Treuh~inder, d. it der Nationaic Geistige Rat, nelimen fur die Durchfiihrung der ihm in dieser TreuhandschaftserklAirung anvertrauten Obliegenheiten die zur
Fest-legung und Erledigungder eigenen Ver-waltungsaufgaben wie auch derjenigen der verschiedenen artlichen und sonstigen Glie-derungen, di~ die
Bahá'í in Deutschlandund dsterreich verkarpern, erforderlichen Satz � unger,
Bestimmungen und Dienstvorschrift-engem~iss den Zwecken dieser Einrichtung und in tYbereinstimmung mit den seitheri-gen ausdriicklichen, den Bahá'í in Deutsch.-land und bsterreich bereits bekannten und von ilinen in der Fiihrung und Handhabung ihrer religibsen Angelegenheiten ilbernom-men Weisungen
Shoghi Effendi's, des Htitersdieser Treu handgemeinschaft befindet sich an dem-jenigdn Ort, der durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat von Zeit zu Zeit bestimmt wird.
ARTIKEL VIDas Siegel dieser Treuhandgemeinschaft besitzt runde Form und zeigt folgende
In-schrift:Rat der Bahá'í in Deutschland und dsterreich e. V. Treuhandschaftserlzldrung 193 5.
ARTIKEL VIIkann durch absoluten Mehrheitsbeschluss des Nationalen Geistigen Rats der Bahá'í in Deutscbland und bsterreich in jeder be-sondern Versammiung, die zu diesem Zwecke ordnungsmiissig cinberufen wor-den ist, erg~inzt werden, vorausgesetzt, dass mindestens dreissig Tage vor dem fur die Versammiung festgesetzten Zeitpunkt cine Abschrift der vorgesehiagenen
Erg~inzung oder Erginzungenan jedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekret~r miaels eingeschriebenen Briefes versandt wird.
SATZUNG DES NATIONALEN GEISTIGEN RATSRat besitzt in Erftillung seiner geheiligten Pflichten im Rahmen dieses TreuhandverhMrnisses aus-schujessliches Spruch-und d Hoheitsreich fiber alle Veranstaltungen und Angelegen-heiten der
Bahá'u'lláh in Deutschlandund bsterreich unter Einschluss cler Oberhoheit in bezug auf die Verwaltung dieser Treu-handschaft. Er soil darnach streben, die (naclistehend erhuterte) Arbeit der
6rt-lichen GeistigenRitte sowie diejenige der einzelnen Bahá'í in Deutschland und bster-reich anzuspornen, zusammenzufassen und gleichzurichten, und sie in jeder nur m6g-lichen Weise in der Farderung der Einheit der Menschheit unterstfitzen. Thin obliegt die Anerkennung derartiger brtlicher Rlie, die Prbfund der 6rtlichen Mitgliederrollen, die
Einberufung der Jahrestagungoder be-sonderer Versammiungen und die Einsetzung der
Abgeordneten zur Jahrestagungund dare ziffernm~ssige Verteilung auf die ver-schiedenen Bah6N-Gemeinden. Er ernennt s~mt1iche nationalen BahA'i-Ausschiisse und fiberwacht die Ver6ffentlichung und Ver-teilung vom Bah&'i-Schrifttum, die tYber-prtifung aller die Bahá'u'lláh betreffenden Schriften, den Bau und die Verwaltung des ailgemeinen Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's und seiner Nebeneinrichtungen und die Erhebung und Verwendung aller Gelder zur Fortfiihrung dieser Treuhandschaft. Er entscheidet, oh irgendwelche Angelegenheiten dem Bereiche seines elgenen Spruchrechtes oder demjenigen cines
5rtlichen Geistigen Ratesangeharen. Er nimmt in Thillen, die ibm geeignet und natwendig erscheinen,
Berufungen aus Entscheidungen6rtlicher Geistiger R~ite an und besitzt das Recht zur endgiil-tigen Entscheidung in alien Thillen, in denen die Beflihigung eines Einzelnen oder einer Gruppe, stiindig das Wahireclit auszuiiben oder
Mitglied der Bah4'i-Gemeinschaftfiberall, wo es sich urn die Zusammenarbeit und geistige Betitigung mit den Bahá'í anderer Under handelt, und bildet das alleinige Wahiorgan der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich bei Schaffung des in den heiligen Schrif ten der Sache vorgesehenen Universalen Hauses der Gerechtigkeit. Vor allern aber soil der Nationale Geistige Rat stets jene Stufe der Binheit in Ergebenheit, gegeniiber der Of-fenbarung Bahá'u'lláh's erstreben, die die Best~tigung des Heiligen Geistes anzieht und den Rat zum Dienste an der Begriin-dung des Gr6ssten Friedens flihig machen wird.
Bei alien semen Beratungen und Handlungen soil der Nationale Geistige Rat als g6ttiichen Fiihrer und Massstab sfindig die Ausserung Bahá'u'lláh's vor Augen haben: ,,Es geziemt ilinen. (d. h. den Geistigen R~ten), die Vertrauten des Barmherzigen unter den Menschen zu scm und sich fur Gottes auserwThlte Hiitter von allem, was auf Erden ist, zu halten.
Es obliegt ihnen, miteinander zu beraten und auf die
Be-lange der Diener Gottesaclit zu haben, urn Seiner Selbst willen, wie sie auf die eigenen Belange acliten, und das zu wThlen, was geziemend ist und schicklich."
ARTIKEL IIund dsterreich, zu deren Gunsten diese Treuhandschaft errichtet ist, umfassen alle in Deutschland und bsterreich wolinhaften Personen, die yam Nationalen Geistigen Rat als den Er-fordernissen zum stimmberechtigten
Mit-glied einer Bah4'i-Gemeindewerden will, muss a. in dem Ortsgebiet wolinen, das durch den Rechtsbereich des 5rtlichen Geis-tigen Rates gem~ss dem zwciten
Ab-schnitt des ArtikelsVII dieser Satzung bestimmt ist, b. das einundzwanzigste Lebensjahr vol-lendet haben, c. zur Zufriedenheit des 5rtlichen Geis-tigen Rates, die zon der Zustimmung durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat abMngt, dargetan haben, dass er den folgenden Bali Li -Glaubensforderun- gen und -br~uchen genflgt: voile Anerkennung der Stufe des Vorliiufers (des Thib), des Begriinders (Bahá'u'lláh's) und CAbdu~1~Bah~~s, des Erkhirers und wahren Vorbildes des
BahA'i-Glaubens, vorbehaitlose Annahmevon allem, was durch Ire Feder geoffenbart ist, und Unterwerf-ung darunter, treues und standliaftes Festhalten an alien Teilen des gelici-ligten
Willens CAbdu~1~~Ba1A~sund enge Verbundenheit sowohi mit dem Geiste als audi mit cia Form der gegenw~rtigen BaM'i-Verwaltung in der
Welt.Rat besteht aus neun aus dem Kreise der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich gew~ih1ten Mitgliedern, die von den genannten Bahá'í in der weiter unten beschriebenen Weise gewThlt werden und This die Dauer ekes Jahres oder dis zur Wahi ihrer Naclifolger irn Amte bleiben.
ARTIKEL IVDie gesch~iftsfiihrenden Mit glieder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates bestehen aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer, Sekretar und Rechner und was sonst zur gecigneten Fiihrung seiner Geschiifte an Amtern far nOtig eraclitet wird.
Die ge-schiiftsfiihrenden Mirglieder werden mit absoluter Stimmenmelirheit durch s~mtIiche Ratsmitglieder in geheimer Abstiminung gewThlt.
ARTIKEL VDie erste Versammiung des neugewThlten Nationalen Geistigen Rates wird durch das-jenige Mitglied einberufen, das bei der Wahi die hbchste Stimmenzahl erhalten hat, oder, soweit zwei oder melirere Mitglieder die gleiche Stimmenzahl aufweisen, durch das unter diesen ausgeloste Mitglied. Dieses Mitglied fiihrt den Vorsitz lAs zur Wahi des sfindigen
Yorsitzers. Alle folgenden Sitzungenwerden durch den SekreUr des Rates auf Ersuchen des Vorsitzers oder, lxi dessen
Abweseniheit oder Verhinderungdes stellvertretenden Vorsitzers oder drejer be-liebiger Ratsmitglieder einberuf en, wobei
Page 387THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 387
Iedoch die Jahrestagung, wie weiterhin fest � gelegt, in bezug awE Zeitpunkt und Ort von der Versammiung durch absoluten Mehr-heitsbeschluss festgelegt wird.
ARTI WEt VIRat ist beschluss-. fEihig, sobald fUnf Mitglieder desselben in ciner Sitzung anwesend sind, und die durch diese gefassten, absoluten Mehrheitsbe-schitisse gelten, soweit nicht diese Satzung em Anderes bestimmt, in gebiihrendem Hinblick auf den in der Einrichtung der geistigen Rate enthaltenen
Grundsatz der Einheitund aufrichtigen Gemeinschaft als ausreichend zur Fiihrung der Gesch~ifte. Die Verhandlungen und Entscheidungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates sind bei jeder Sitzung durch den Sekret~r zu protokol-lieren, der den Ratsmitgliedern nach jeder Sitzung Abschriften der Protokolle zustelit und die Protokolle unter den offiziellen Ilrkunden des Rates aufbewahrt.
ARTIKEL VIIWo immer in Deutschland und 6ster-. reich, in ciner Stadt oder einer hindlichen Gemeinde, die Zahi der darin wohnenden, vorn
Nationalen Geistigenneuen iibersteigt, kbnnen diese am 21. April eines Jalires zusammenkommen und mit relativer Stimmenmelirheit eine brtliche Verwaltungskbrperschaft von neun Personen aN Geistigen Rat der betreffenden
Gemeinde w~ih1en. Jedersoiche Geistige Rat wird darauf a11j~ihr1ich an jedem folgenden 21. Tag des
Aprils gewiihlt. DieMitglieder bleiben fur die Dauer cines Jahres und his zur Wahi und Benennung ihrer Nachfolger im Amte.
Soweit dagegen die Zahi der Bahá'í in einer Gemeinde genau neun betriigt, k6nnen sich diese am 21.
April eines Jahres und in den nachfolgenden Jahren durch gemein-same Erkhirung zum 6rdichen Geistigen Rat ernennen. Durch I3eurkundung einer soichen Erkflirung seitens des Sekretars des Nationalen Geistigen Rats gilt der besagte Neunerrat als mit alien Rechten,
Vorrech-ten und Pflichtencines 6rtlichen Geistigen Rates, wie sie in dieser Satzung festgelegt sind, eingesetzt.
I. Abschnitt. Jeder neugewiihlte brt liche Geistige Rat verfThrt sofort gem~ss den in den Artikein IV und V dieser Satzung enthaltenen Anweisungen hber die Wahi seiner gesch'iftsfiihrenden Mitglieder, die aus einem Vorsitzer, stellvertretenden Vorsitzer,
Sekret~ir und Rechnerund was der Rat sonst far die Ftihrung seiner Ge-sch~ifte und die Erfiillung seiner Geistigen Pflichten an Amtern fUr n6tig eracliten mag, bestehen. Unmittelbar darnach fibermittelt der gew~ih1te Sekrecir dem
Sckretilr des Nationalender Mitglieder des neugew~hLten Rates und cine Liste seiner geschiiftsfiihrenden
Mitglieder.eines 6rtlichen Geistigen Rates ergeben sich aus den Schriften BaM'u-'Ilili's, tAbdu'1-Bahá'í und Shoghi
Effendi's.3. Abs chnitt. Unter die besonderen Pflichten eines 5rtlichen Geistigen Rates flilit dlas voile Spruchrecht fiber alle Bahi'i-Veranstaltungen und -Angelegenheiten in-nerhaib der Gemeinde, unbeschadet der hierin erkhirten ausschuiesslichen
Oberhoheit des Nationalen4. Abschnitt. Ausseheidende Mitglieder cines 5rtlichen Geistigen Rates werden auf einer zu diesern Zwecke durch den Rat ordnungsmiissig einberufenen, besonderen Gemeindeversammiung durch Wahi erg~inzt. Falls die Zahi der ausscheidenden Mitglieder h5her als vier ist, sodass die BeschlussThhig-keit des 6rlichen Rates entfiillt, wird die Wall unter der
Oberaufsicht des Natia-nalen5. Abs ehuilt. Die Gesch~ifte des 6rt-lichen Rates werden in gleicher 'Weise gefiihrt, wie oben in Artikel VI fur die Verhandlungen des Nationalen Geistigen Rates festgelegt ist.
6. Abs chnitt. Der 5rtliche Rat bber-priift und anerkennt die Lignung jedes Mitgliedes der Bahá'í � Gemeinde vor dessen Zulassung als wahlberechtigtes Mitglied, doch steht es jedem, der mit dem Befund des
6rtlichen Geistigen Ratesilber seine Fignung als Bahá'í unzufrieden ist, frei, gegen den Befund beim Nationaten Geistigen Rat Berufung einzulegen, der den Fall auf-greift und endgiilrig dariiber entscheidet.
7. Abscfsmitt. Am otter vor dem ersten Tag imdes Narionalen Geistigen Rates eine ord-nungsm~ssig beglaubigte Liste der stimm-berechtigten Mitglieder der Bah6.'i-Gemeinde zur
Unterrichtung und Gutheissung8. Abschnitt. Alle sich innerhaib einer BaM'i-Gemeinde ergebenden Angelegen-heiten von rein artlichen Interessen, die niclit die nationalen Belange der Sadie beriihren, unterstehen in erster Instanz dem Spruch-recht des betreffenden 5rtlichen Geistigen Rates, doch liegt die Entscheidung darbber, oh in cinem Fall durch die Angelegenheit die Belange und die Wohifalirt der nationalen BahA'i-Gen-xeinschaft bertihrt werden, heim Nationalen
Geistigen Rat.9. Abschnitt. Jedem Mitglied ciner BaM'i-Gemeinde steht es frei, gegen cine Entscheidung seines Geistigen Rates beim Nationalen Geistigen Rat Berufung einzu-legen, der dartiber befindet, oh er die Sadie zur Fntscheidung aufgreifcn oder sie beim i5rtlichen Geistigen Rat zur nochmaligen Erw~igung belassen will. Greift der Natio-nale Geistige Rat die Sache zur Entscheidung auf, so ist seine Findung endgiiltig.
10. Abschnitt. Bestehen innerhaib ciner BaYt'i-Gemeinde Meinungsverschiedenheit-en, die niclit durch die Bemiihungen des artlichen Geistigen Rates beigelegt werden kbnnen, so ist die Angelegenheit durch den Geistigen Rat dem
Nationalen Geistigen Ratezur Erwagung zu tiberweisen, des-sen Vorgehen in der Sadie dann endgiiitig 1st.
ill. Abschnitt. Alle Streitfragen zwischen zwei oder mehreren brtlichen Geistigen R~ten oder zwischen Mitglieclern verschied-ener Bahi'i-Gemeinden sollen in erster In-stanz dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate unter-breitet werden, dem bei alien derartigen Angelegenheiten das erste und letzte Spruch-. recht cigen ist.
12. Abschnitt. Der Rechtsbereich der einzelnen artlichen Geistigen Rite in tezug auf die 6rtliche Befindung zur Mitglied-schaft und Wahlberechtigung ekes Ghiu-bigen in einer BahA'i-Gemeinde entspricht der durch die verwaltungsrechtlichen Gren-zen einer Stadt oder einer hindlichen Ge-meinde bezeichrieten Gemarkung, cloch k5nnen Baha'i, die in angrenzenden, abseits liegenden oder vorst~idtischen
Bezirkenwohnen und regelm~ssig an den Yersamm-lungen der BahA'i-Gemeinden teilzunehmen verm6gen, bis zur Errichtung cines
5rtlichen Geistigen Ratesin ihrer Heimatgemeinde in die vom angrenzenden Geistigen Rat ge-fiihrte Mitgliederrolle eingesclirieben werden und volles Walilrecht geniessen.
Alle Auffassungsverschiedenheitenin be-zug auf das Rechtsgebiet eines artlichen Geistigen Rates oder beziiglich der Anglie-derung irgend cines Bahá'í oder einer
Gruppe in Deutschlandund desterreich sind dem Nationalen Geistigen Rat zu unterbreiten, desen Entscheidung in der Sadie endgixlrig ist.
ARTIKEL VIIIdes Nationalen Geistigen Rates, auf der die ~Wah1 seiner Mitglieder erfolgt, fiihrt die Bezeichnung Nationaltagung der Bahá'í in Deutschland und bsterreich. Zeitpunkt und Ort Liar die Abhaltung bestimmt der Nationale Geistige Rat, der aBe Bahi'i-Gemeinden dureb ihre Geistigen R~ite seclizig Tage zuvor von der Versammiung in Kenntnis setzt. Der
Na-tionale Geistige Ratteilt jedem Geistigen Rat gleichzeitig die von ibm der Bah&'i-Ge-meinde gem~ss dem Grundsatz der Ver-lThltnisvertretung zugeteilte Anzahl von Ab � geordneten zur Nationaltagung mit, wobei die Gesamtzahl der Abgeordneten, die die Na-tionaltagung darstellen, neunzehn betragen soil.
Nach Empfang dieser Benacliriclitig-ungberuft jeder 6rtliche Geistige Rat inner-haib cines angemessenen Zeitraumes und unter Beachtung ordnungsm~issiger und aus-reichender Ankiindigung eine Versammiung der in seiner Rolle verzeichneten stimm-berechtigten Mitglieder zwecks Wahl ihres oder ilirer Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung em, worauf die Sekretare der einzelnen brtlichen
Geistigen Rite dem Sekrethrdes Nationalen Geistigen Rates sp~itestens dreis-sig Tage vor dem Zeitpunkt der Tagung die Namen und Anschriften der so gew~h1ten Abgeordneten beseheinigen.
1. Abschnitt. Alle Tagungsabgeordneten sind mit relativer Stimmenmelirheit zu wThl-en. Mitglieder, die durch Krankheit oder andere unvermeidliche Griinde verhindert sind, an der Wahi persanlich teilzunehmen, haben das Reclit, ihre Stimme brieflich oder
Page 389THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 389
telegrafisch in einer Weise abzugeben, die dem artlichen Geistigen Rat geniiigt.
2. Abs chnitt. Alle fbr die Tagung cm-zusetzenden Abgeordneten mtissen als stimmberechtigte Mitglieder der von Amen vertretenen RaM' i-Gemeinden eingetragen sein.
3. Abs chnitt. Die Recite und Vorreclite der Abgeordneten k5nnen weder iibertragen noch abgetreten werden.
4. Abschnitt. Die Anerkennung und Einsetzung der Abgeordneten zur National-tagung erfolgt im Nationalen Geistigen Rate.
5. Abs chnitt. Soweit Abgeordnete nicht pers6nlich an der Tagung teilnehmen kan-nen, haben sie das Recht,
Mitglieder des Na-tionalenGeistigen Rates schriftlich oder telegrafisch zu den vom Nationalen Geisti-gen
Rat festzusetzenden Bedingungenfur undurchfiihrbar oder nicht geraten, so setzt der Nationale Geistige Rat die Mittel und Wege fur die briefliche oder telegrafische Durchflihrung der GescMfte der National-tagung fest.
7. Abs chnitt. Das auf der National-tagung anwesende vorsitzende, gescMfts-filhrende
Mitglied des NationalenGeistigen Rates ruft die Abgeordneten auf, die darauf zur endgfittigen Ordnung der Versammiung schreiten, einen Vorsitzenden, Schriftfiihrer und was weiter an Xmtern fur die geeignete Ftihrung der Gesch~ifte der Tagung erfor-derlich ist, wahien.
8. Abschnitt. Die Hauptaufgabe der Na-tionaltagung ist die Wahi der neun Mit-glieder zum kommenden Nationalen
Geisti-gen Rate, die Entgegennahmeder Berichte fiber die finanzielle und sonstige T~tigkeit des ausscheidenden
Nationalen Geistigen Ratesfiber die Angelegenheiten der Bahá'í Sadie im aligemeinen, selbstverstJind-lich in Ubereinstimmung mit den von Shoghi Effendi ausgedriickten Grunds~tzen der Baha'i-Verwaltung, wonach alle Ben-tungen und Handlungen der Abgeordneten zur Nationaltagung ausser der Wahi der Mitglieder zum kommenden Nationalen
Geistigen Rate nur Ratsch1~geund Emp-fehiungen zur Beachtung durch den gcnann-ten Rat darstellen, w~ihrend die Entscheid-ung in alien Eragen, die die Angelegenheiten der
Bahá'u'lláh in Deutschlandund bster-reich betreffen, ausschliesslich bei dieser Karperschaft liegt.
9. Abschnitt. Die auf der Nationaltag-ung anzunehmende GescMtrsordnung wird durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat vorbe-reitet, doch kannen alle auf die Sadie beziig-lichen Angelegenheiten die von irgend eihem Abgeordneten vorgebraclit werden, auf Antrag, bber den abzustimrnen ist, als Punkt der Tagungsberatungen aufgenommen werden.
10. Abs c/mitt. Die Wahi der Mitglieder des Nationalen Geistigen Rates erfolgt mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit durch die vom ausscheidenden
Nationalen GeistigenRat anerkannten Abgeordneten, d. li. als ge-wThlt gelten diejenigen neun Personen, die im ersten Wahigang der bei der Tagung an-wesenden Abgeordnetcn sowie derjenigen Abgeordneten, deren Stimme dem Sekret~ir des
Nationalen GeistigenRates schriftlich oder telegrafisch jibermittelt worden ist, die grdsste Anzahl Stimmen erhalten haben. Falls infolge Stimmengleiciheit die voile Mitgliedszahl nicht im ersten Wahigang erreicht wird, finden em oder mehrere weitere Wahlginge statt, bis s~imt1iche neun Mitglieder gew~ih1t sind.
11. Abs chnitt. Alle bei der National-tagung oiliziell behandelten Angelegenheiten sind unter die Protokolle des Nationalen Geistigen Rates aufzunehmen und mit die-sen zu bewaliren.
12. Abs chnitt. Nach Schiuss der Na-tionaltagung und bis zur Einberufung der n~ichsten Jalirestagung wirken die Abgeord-neten als zu besonderern Dienste in der Ar � beit fur die Sadie befThigte beratende K6r-perschaft fort, in jeder NVeise bemiiht, zum einheitlichen Geiste und zu fruchtbringen-der
T~itigkeit des NationalenGeistigen Rates werden mit relativer Stimmenmehrheit seitens der Abgeordneten der Nationaltagung, die den Rat seinerzeit gew~h1t haben, neu besetzt, wobei die Wahi in brieflicher oder irgend
Page 390sonstiger durch den Nationalen Geistigen Rat bestimmter Form erfolgt.
ARTnm. IXGeistigen Rat durch diese Satzung in irgendwelchen, die Thtigkeit und die
Angelegenheiten der Bahá'u'lláhin Deutschland und bsterreich betreffenden Fragen ausschuiessliches und h5chstrichterliches Spruchrecht sowie you � ziehende Oberhoheit tibertragen ist, gilt dies mit der Weisung, dass alle beziiglich soldier Fragen getroffenen Entscheidungen oder er-folgten
Massnalimen in IedemFalle dem Hiiter der Sadie oder dem Universalen Flause der Gerechtigkeit zur endgiiltigen Prilfung und Billigung zu unterbreiten sind.
ARTIKEL Xdurch diese Satzung nick ausdriicklich den i5rt-lichen
Geistigen R~iten Ubertragensind, gel � ten sie als dem Nationalen Geistigen Rate verliehen, wobei dieser K6rperschaft das Recht zur tYbertragung soldier beliebiger Verrichtungen und Befugnisse zustelit, die zie innerhalb ilires Spruclireclites als fur 6rtliche Geistige R~ite erforderlich und rat-sam eraclitet.
ARTIKEL XIder Bah4'i-Wahlen soil weder der Brauch der Wahlvorschhige noch irgend cm sonstiges, eine stille und von Gebeten getragene Wahl beeintr~ichtigendes W"ahl-verfahren aufkommen, sodass jecler W~ih1er fur niemanden stimmen soil, als wen ibm Gebet und Oberlegung cingegeben haben.
Zu den hervorragendsten und geheiligt-sten Pflichten derer, die berufen werden, die Angelegenheiten der
Sadie als Mitglieder 5rtlicheroder nationaler Geistiger R~ite auf-. zugreifen, zu fiihren und gleichzurichten, geh5rt: auf jede nur xn5gliche Weise das Ver-tranen und die Zuneigung derer zu ge-winnen, denen zu dienen sie das Vorreclit haben; die Meinungen, vorherrschenden Empfindungen und die pers6nliche titer-zeugung derjenigen, deren Wohiergehen zu fardern ibre fejerliche Pflicht ist, zu erforschen und sich mit ilinen vertraut zu machen; ihre Erwigungen und die ailge-meme FiAhrung ihrer Angelegenheiten von verschlossener Teilnahmslosigkeit, dem Anschein der Heimlichkeit, dem ersticken-. den Dunstkreis diktatorischer Bestim-mungen und von alien Worten und Handlungen zu reinigen, die den Fin-druck von
Parteiliclikeit, Selbstsuchtund Vorurteilen erwecken kbnnen, und unter Vorbehalt des geheiligten Recites endgiil.-tiger Entscheidung zur Besprechung em-zuladen, Beschwerden nachzugehen, Rat-sch1~ge zu begriissen und das Geflihi der gegenseitigen Abhmgigkeit und Mitbe-teiligung, des Verst~ndnisses und wechsel-seitigen Vertrauens unter sich mid alien iibrigen Bahá'í zu pilegen.
ARTIKEL XIIin jeder rege1m~ssigen oder besonderen Sitzung mit absoluter Stimrnen-melirheit ergiinzt werden, -vorausgesetzt, dass mindestens vierzehn Tage vor dem fur die betreffende
Versammiung festgesetzten Zeitpunkvan jedes Ratsmitglied durch den Sekret~r mirtels Einschreibebriefes versandt wird.
In alien Fdllen, in denen fiber den durch den Wortlaut ausgedriickten Sinn dieser Treuhandschaftserk1~rung und Satzung Un-kiarheit bestelit, ist der englische
Wortlaut der Declarationof Trust and By Laws der Bahá'í der Vereinigten Staaten und Kanadas zu Rate zu zichen.
Stuttgart, den 10. Februar 1935.I Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Page 392I,, )9I~L~ j~ A~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~JWUd~e~ ~ &~4~ ~ ~
'&J~Lpj~ ~~ k~{~ j ~ Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Idq.
Page 393THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 393
ac, ~ ~~AJ ~J~1~aV - -J~j'~j ~j ~L~i ~j~4 lz5~� � I � I. � .. ~iLrAb~ ~3!, 'ZC~
Page 394(U~;u~ ~AL ~A ~A ~ �~ ~y~i &~)%& (y) ~5~; ~ � ~ A � I
A~ A'THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 397
hAl "..(~1;U y) ~ ~ A gY~&ALJA~~1 ~ ~~~J;~J1) � ~ d~3 ~ 4~Lj~
S L~~ ;~b~~JC ~l ~ * ~
Page 399THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 399
~d~e ~ ~ &{' ~~Arp~i ~ _________ ____ A & ~AA~ ~ ~
~' J~-L~~-~'~' __________ (4 o4) ~'1~ ____ 1/f Z:~i,~ ~ ,~1gjq4 � j
~ Li'� ;., U Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and S(d~n.
Page 400� . ;LJ Lt7 7 �. 1's~ &4k\ 2' ~
�'J'pP ~ 4/ f~ /9
Ct~Pursuant to Section 193 of the Rell.glcnw Corporation Law of' the State of New York We, the undersigned, ali being of Cull age, and citizens of the United States, and re8identa of the State of New York, desiring to ron a corporation pursuant to Section 193 of the Religious Corporation Law of the State off New York, do hereby make, sign, and acknowledge this certificate as follows: FIRST: The purpose and objects for which the corporation is formed are to administer the affafra of the B&ha' 5. Religion for the benefit of the Balm' i. of the City of' New York in accordance with the religiouB teachings and administrative principles at this Faith.
SECOND: The name off the corporation is to be ~The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York."
THIRD: The territory in which its activities are principally to be conductet is New York City and vicinity.
FOURTH: The principal place of worship is to be located in the City of New York, County of New York, State of New York.
FIFTH: The number of trustees is to be nine.SIXTH: The names and places of residence off the persons to be trustees until the first annual meeting are as follows:
NAMESEVENTH: The time for holding its annual meeting is to be on the twenty � I'fret day of April in each year.
Page 427427 The first meeting was held on March 30,1952, at Baha'i. Center, 119 West 57th Street, New York City.
IN WITNESS imEREOF, We have made, 8igned and acknowledged this certificate in triplicate. Dated this thirty � first day of March,1932.
Before me on this thirty � first day of March,1932, personally appeared Horace Halley, Ophe1i~ Crum, and Bertha Herk1ot~, who being by me severally sworn did acknowledge that they had executed the written certificate of 1.
COMMISSIONER OP DEEDS.New York Co. Cledcs No. SO New Yo& Co. Rq;~i&. No 20S4 Corn ..Lon Expires F.b 2, j934 ~4 ~A~e~ �
Page 428THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 429
NEW SOUTH WALES.$~c~i~ 2L~) ~ to ~vtifv � ~ncorpo~ oted tmjcr du Co~npantes 4ct~ 1936.
(2) rIu~t tiw dqfc of Incorporation of ~he said Company is day of ~ one tfrrn~sand hundred and thirty~ � ~3) that the said Company is lzmzed ky ~ ~ 4~iUen under my hand, az Sydney, r __ day of i~ov ~i~r one �h~ isand n ~ne hundred and Izirzy :~ ~ D uy R ~ar~Gen 0 TW SPI~TIUAL ASSE~4BLY c~ TH~ BAHÁ'Í OF s~N
KNOW ALL K~N BY THESE PRE~3~NT~&That the nambera of The Spiritual Asumiably of the Baha S~n Franc1a~,a, California, an unincorporated aaaociaticn~ have th~ day voluntarily associated ouragive. together. Tor the pwpo.. of forming a corporation under the Jaws of the Stat.e of California.
AND W~ DO HEREBY CERTTFY:"THE SPThITTJAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 8AHA~S OF SAN FRA!~CISCO."
The name off the existing unincorporated anaociat,ion which ii being 1n~orporated is � "The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í of ~mn
Franciaco.Second: That t.hia corporation doom not oonLemplat.. p.awiiar~ gain or profit to the member8 thereof, and that, the purpose, for which this corporetion is formed are the fo11owin~ Sharing the ideala aria aa~iating the etiort.a of our fellow Bahá'í to e~stabJ.i~b, uphold ax~i promote th. spiritual, educational and humm~itarian teacilinga of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character and welfl.aa Love revealed In the liven and Ut-ter&iees s off all the Propheta and L~ousengeru of God, Founder, of the WorJ.d'B revealed religions � and given r.new*i creative energy and univercal application to the cor~iitions o~ this age in the life m~d utterances of Bah~d11~b � we declare t2ie pwpoaas and ob~eo~,a off thia cox'noration to be to Bdmilkiat4r the affairs of the Faitk~ off Bah~.d11~h ~or tile ben~Cit. or the Baha of the City and County ot ~,an Prancisco according to the principle, of Bbai affiliation .ini administration created and ontaoliahed by Baha'i, deffined .ini explained by ~.bdu.L � Hab~, ~d amplified ax4 applied by Shoghi Effendi and his ddly constituted successor and aucceasora under U~e provi-alon.
. of tne will and 'restan~nt. of Abdu'l-Bahá.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 437
These purpoa.a are to be realized by m,an~ off devotional al meetings; by public meetings and conferencen of an educational.
baimanitarimn and upiritual cbaracter; by th~ pu~J1ication o~ books.
ma.gazinoa and newapapera; by the construction of tempiea of uni-vermal vermal worship and of other Inatitutiona and edifices fbr humanitarian itarian aervice; by aup.rvi~ing, unifying, promoting a~id gener&L-ly ly wluiniaterlng the activities of the Bahá'í of t%e City and County off Sui ?ranclaco in t~ tulfilmerit of Uieir religious OffICes, dutiec anAl ideala; ~id by ~ny other means appropriate ~,o these ~nda, o~' any off them.
Ot.hBr purpoaea aml objecta of this carjx~ration ares (a) The right to ~nter into, .ake. perform and carry out cont.racts of every sort and kind if or the fur-~herance e of the objecta off thia corporation with any person. ~'irm. association, corporation, private, , public or municipal or body politic, or any state, territory or colony Vher~of. or any fforeign government; and in this connection, and in all transactions under the powers and object.8
or this corporation, to do any and ai.J. LhingS ~iich a co � partnerahip or natural person could do or exercise, and which now or hereafter may be authorized by law.
(b) To hold and be named aa bene~iciay u.nder any trust estab1i~kie I by law or otherwi~ or under &iy will or othGr ~eatai~ntary in~trum~nt. in connection with any gitt. devise. or bequest in ~xioh a trust or trueta is or are eatabliahed in any part of t~ae World aa well as in the United States and Canada; to receive gifts, devises s or b.quest8 off money or other property.
(c) All and utiataoever the several purj~oacia ax~d object.
. aet forUi in the writVon utterances of Bah&Lll~h. Abdu1-3ah~ and Shoghi ~fffer~cii.
under uhich certain Jurisdiction, powora and right.. we granted to Local Spiritual ~J3.m-bUos.
.(d) To a~ ar~1 be sued; to receive property by do � via, or b4queat. 8ubjQCt to t~ae lawI3 r~iatiN to tr~ufer of proptrty by will; and to ot.ber-wise e acquima and hold all property. reaJ. or p.raon&1. including ahares of aLock. bonda mid aoouritio.a ot other corporations; to act, as trustee under any truat inoident.al to the principal l objeeta of t~iia corporation; ar.d to receive e or w~miniater and expend funda and property y subject to auch t.ruBt; to convey, ex � Ohaige. lease. mortgago~, encumber. tranafer ~apon trust, or othQrwise dispose of all property, , real or personal; to borrow money, contract debt,. aDd isaue bonds. not.a and delenturel 2
Page 4384 aecur. the .; and gmn~a11y to do all O1.~ier aCts 1~ao.S.ary or exp.a1.n~. for ~ administration tration of t.h~e aff.ilru s&d al ainmsA at the Pu-poe.. or tM. amporat.ion.
Third: That tb. FIInoipal office frr the anaatlon of t.he basineac of this corporation Ii to be 1ooate~d in Uae City and County of San prgnclaoo8 t.a% of California.
~ourth~ That there �l~a~.1 be n!x~e (a) dfroctora; Uiat the n~es end addre.m.g of the persora ~o uh~a11 act ma direct-ora a unl.�1 U~e election or thefr suaoessoin ~. as follovas Mr. La ~oy Io.z. 640 � 4GtJ~i Ale., Sa~ rr&ncisoo~ Calif.
&trs Uarr~ R. ~i~~oi1� ~665 pgJ~ fl�, P. ~'. Win. . SmiUx. 944~ L.i.&'ierngjr~..b Sr.,.," ~r. J~ln~ 0. Sbav, 1~2~3 8roduric~ ~...
~ ~LA.~% J. MardbaU0 20 ~rod.rick ~ ~ ~ UPW~. 22O~D Van Jesa Avg.. ~i~Nadeen 0. Cooper. 748 Pate St~eet1 F1f~ha that, The SpiriLual e..mW.y or i.r~e ~ah~9i. or San Franciaco �~ae ~ieretofor~ t~xiateo & en un1ncgr~irat.d naa~c�a � tAor~~ and in .1opLin.~ U~is toni or 1.noorporEd..ion, aeociatlon, union and fellowship. e~nd in �~1eotin~ for ita~1r the ~ieaignat1on of The Splrit.ual Auae~ab1y of t.h. ~h~'i. of C&n ~L1ejeoo1 doga �o aa Vb. a�ainiat~ativ~ body of a religious oo.n~ainit.y whioh has h~d contimoua .xlwt.no. m~1 r.ponaibility for over .i~ht. � �eri year.. In conaeqU4rno, of tkwee actiyitl.a� The Jpfr~tua1 As8e~biy at the BshPla of San ~'anci ~ Is called u~w~ to ad.
mhi~13t4r axab en .v.r � lnors.aing diversity �nd vo1u~sa of a1taira ar~4 properties roy t~iO F3&haIB of ~flfl ~runcisco� Lhat w~. its ~ now teal It. both d.airablc ~nd fl6CD6aax-y to give 0W co11~cfAv. functions more durlnitu legal form. Thi, action Is t.akgn L~ complete wwzi1uit~y a~rkd wltb full r.cogn~.ion of the aacrs~ r~1at1onh1p thereby crantod. We &okr~o~1e~je in behalf of ours. ives ~'ix� our aucosacors in th ia corpor uit.ion the exalt,.-d d religious Atar4wd eatabliahed by~ah~z2.1~h for bah~~t ad � ainiatratly. bodlel iz~ '.bs ut.t.eruiog, "B. ye fruetees of tha � 3 �
Page 439THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 439
Merciful One amon~g a.n~; and seek tb. help ot God and His guidance in order to fulfill that exhort.ation.
~ixthz All persona, firm. corporationn and asaocia-Lions s �xtend1n~ credit to. contracting wit.h or haviDg any claim s.~ainat thia ocx~poration and its offlcer8, and It. agent. or w~r thereof~ mid the meabera Ux.r~of. or an~r charaCTer r wLat~aOVer� vhathsr 1e~a1 or equitable and whether arisia,g out of contract. or tort. ahall look aolo2y to t.ho fundE of thia c~poration and to the property off this corporation n for payment or indemit.y. or for the payment of any debts d~mage. Judgment Qr doc~ee or any money that. may otherwise become ~rn. or payable from ~hia corporation, ~o ~,bat neiULer the d irector~, Wi-uiy of tbaa� nor any of their officers or genta appointed by then hereunder. nor any m~mb.r or members of t.hia corporation a ball be personally liable tberefor.
$eventha Tb. inabera by a vote or written assent of the majority thereof ahall adopt for t~ie coi4uct or the affaira of this corporation, audi by � laws, rules oC proceure or re-gu.lationa a aa ~. requir.1 to define and carry on ita adminiatra � the functiena, nol. 1noenaiat~nt with the terms of thia Inatru-inent.
. ~d ali in accordanag with th. explicit inatruc-tiona pro-inil6ated d to date by Shoghi gffendi. Guardian of the Faitii of Bah~J11~h. which inat.ructiona ar. already ~iowi to the Baha of the City and County of Swi Pranciaco and Accepted by them In the gowrrin.nt and practice of their religious affafra. 3ub-JeoL L t.o the ri~1it of tl~. asmbra to adopt, amend or repeal by-1mm.
. by~1mr. otkier thi a bylaw or afhiidnont. theroof. chang-1r~g g the authorized rnmbr of dir'ct.oru. may 1e adapted, amend.4
4 or repealed by a majority vat. of the Board of Dirsotora at U27 of It. regular or special meeting.; provided, that at. least fourt.eii day. prior to the date fixed for asia meeting a copy of th. propoSed suendum t or ainndnta Is mailed to each 4
Page 440Eighths These Artic1e~ of Incorporation may be amended from tlma to tim. in the manner provided by law.
IN tVITNESS Vt1TR~OF. The Spfritual Assembly o� the Bahais
of C~ ~'rancisao. heretofore e~ciist1ng a~ an unincorpara~ed association, has caused these Artic1e~ o1 Incorporation to b~ signed by its dir~ctor~. this 22th day of November 1933, ~ loas Mrs. Harry R. Munson Win. H. ~dth
John B. ShaitTHE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 441
STAX~ 0? CAJ..I7O~KIA� )b.fbre ue� FRANK HA~VEr ~ Notaiy Nblle In nd tot U~. City amd Cewaty of Sai franolao� tat4 of Califouida� p.r5Qca1I~y ~pw.4 LiRCY IOAS. MRS. KMR~ R. W.i!~ON, ~. H. SMITH. J(~J 3. SHAW� ANTkYJt~ Y. SETV. MRS. MAMX~ 1.. SEW), LUCY J. ~dARSJIALL, HONOR KE*Pm~. end NA~~~J 0. Ce~OPEzH � knows l.a 2e LO be Uae p.w~ N. P. aewis exeouted Ui. wiUalia tn.t.rummnt ~d wkac~�e nia~s r. sab.~er1b.d U~wete~ g4 ..Vs~aI1~y ~~a&o,1 ed,gei t N that t~ay .out,.i the arn.
XN W1Tk~SS W1i~~OF. I havi k~.w.un%. set s~y h~d u~4 eSt lied ~v ofilcial egal at ~ @ff ice in rh. City ar~ Cowxt.y or 8~a Franoia@o. SI.at. of Ca1I~rx~ia~ ~.M d~ ~n ~ia gsrLUieae fir~, abOve wrltL4n.
(SEAL)On this 3 day of D.cembr 19aB� bfor. m Frank Hanoi h a Notary Public �u d fra maid Cit~ mid County Of San Vranai3~@, Stat. of California. residing tlwr.hI. duly ooinieaionsd gid uworn� p.wa~ia.U.y appeared L5ROY IQAS wad NAfl~N G. OOOP~RI wI~o, being s~rn8 �eah for hlelf, dposes ~d maya s That th saM L~A)Y IOAS i. the Chairman and prsidirag officer f Th. Spiritual Asainbly of the Baha or 3~ fr~oiaoo, and that t.he said NAIE~N G. OOOP~ l.a the Secretary of The Spiritual Aaembly ~ the Bahá'í of Sui francisco; that !~ Spiritual ABainblJ of tI~. Baha of San Francisco 13 m iuilncorporat.ed asaoolMdon and that said association ham &aly authorized fta incorporation; that L~WY IOAS a~d IADK~N G. COOPER have executed these ~tio1ea of inoorpora-t1o~ ~ In their official eapaoity and by aaUiorit~y of such asa@clation.
Leroy baaSYB3~I~ and s~gorn to before n~ this 3rd d.~ of
Deeen~er � 1938.irotary Publie in and for the City and County .t San Francisco.
state 8f California.THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 443
ArtirI~ ~f fizcorpi~r~dirni � OF � -p~Ai~, Ai~, ~wdrn tG~n~I C~~ti~ Ad ~t Ohj~~, dQ b~by ~
Ob~o3 tOZND. Tb~ pI~c'~ i~ $i~, $ti~t~ where ~ ~ of~e of ~ ~ipo~ti~ is ~o b~ kcM~ ~ Vw.~. * ~ ThUW. Tb. pw~pow pu~po.~. fo, whie~ *~d ~p a4*r~ .
Th~* ~o por~1Acu t~ w~an~z4 f~z� ~1igiQui p~arpvae~ eii4 Ita ~'o1�~1~~ teaohlnga ~nd ~d~dni.tr~�tiv~ 1~ip1~s af thia FaUh, iii � ~ fl#iflt@fla~OO ~t ~ ~1BO~ or ~ o~ vo1~hip ~4 to~bine.
1~OURfl1. Th~ o~kwin petw~ ~ ~ .~ t~.t~m ~mt.! the ~,t .nrni.~ ~ot*~ o~tiw~ m~eU~g c~Ii~d to ~I~ct ~ ~ *~~T AD~kKU.
4 ~ Dr1y~, L&~ Qb4~~ ~NoW.twoo4~~i4 L1aa~r Ohio
~ ~ ~ A ~Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lima, Ohio.
Page 4444LL ARTICLL~ QFJQOMT~O~ PILED MtIS f~E ACCOM?AN~W BY FOLLOWIN~
DE5L4~N~'flON OF AGENTKNOW ALL MEN i8Y ThESE PR~5ENTS. That A. Nt~.,. ~4 Ar
~ ~ WtWt nAnfl. ~ Ot f~'t C~uuty. Oh ~ ~ ~d j~e ~wu and r~iden~ 2~f said ~aIuit~.
~. kcat~d. ~a hereby ~ppoiri e~t a. ~he p~so whom p~oce~i. ii ~ and d~rn ~ a The SpirituaX .~0~b4 c~t Báb ~t L~, Obi~ .4L~ ~/ I
Ohio.1 ~ Ge~i,tkmen~ I h&~by ~cc,~pt tb~ i~pp i~tm~nt a~ th~ pr~tativ~ of your ~aI~pany i~po~ whow pr~xe*e, tax notkc,, e~t dem~nd. may be terved, $t~e of Ohio, O,urgy ~L~~3An. ~ P~r~maiIy mt, tb~ uudatigued, ~ No~a~y P~bTh~ im ar~d kr ~d ~ t2~Q~~ ~f A. D. 94, th~ ab~we nam~ .wbo acknawle$geA ~ ,igiilug a* th~e ~reg~i~g ~ � '~' 4~ to I~e his tr~c ~ and de~4 for the uac~ a~d puipo.e& ther~ii~ rnant~on~d, WITNESS my bend &nd o~icial .eal ~n ~he day ~nd7r1&~tafo~id, _ No~y Public ~n ~d f~r 4,
Page 445rii~ AT~O~Oi~ QL~N 0 th. i~L * NA~iV Ft~N~e~. i~ for ~id ~ ~und 3. M�8~1 ~ i~4.r, A1ZS~ J. ~r ~d ~ (~EAL~ / K A ~ ~ ~ f~m~d ~ ~, ~y p~p ~t I. Th.~ na,n~ o~ ~he ~oq4fMttrn 4 Th~ ~ ~A ~ ~ d ~t. ~ts, ~. ~ ti~ ~ nu,fling or ~he ~ c]kd ta ,ka ut.*.~
*1 ~Iw t~qmotcw4 ,nd of da. tgnn~n *md 4 s,E at.t tfr.~ ~f ~ n4 &,v tb~ ~ 1 �~ 0 i i ~ ~ U N V 6~ I ~ 4~4~
Page 446The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Lima, Ohio.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Philadelphia, Pa.
Taken at the Nineteen Day Feast, Jan. 19, 1939.In x�e: c. ~ Charter or the ~, -~ecember ecember Term, 1938 SPI~T~1JAj.~ ASSE~3LY O~' ~AI{A'IS of : the r4ty or Philadelphia No. 4029
DECREBAND NOW, this day O~ A. D, 1959, the within Certificate ot Incorp0ration~ hIv~rig been pro. ented to m0,a L~w Jiidr5e at ~a5.d County, s~ccompa~i1~ 1~y due proof o~ pubII~ation of notice of thIs app1i~oat1on a~ z'e'luired by the Act of Aa3einbly and Rule o~ thia Court In such ca~e3 made azid provided~ I certify ~h~t I have ~xarntne~ ~nd Perused the said writ~n~ and have fo~ind the Baha 1~e be in prc~per ~ozin and within th~ purpo~en named in ~ha Act oI' the ~ene~1 A3~emb1~ oI' the Colnrnonw~a1th of' Penn~i~van1a, entitled "1an?ro~It Corpoi'atiou tawh approved the f'iffth ch~y ~ nay, 1933, ~ 28~, ~nd the ~UP~Lement~ thereto; a~d the ~me appearl.ng to be tawful and not in~ur1oua t~ liae comnn~nity,~ I do hereby on moti.on o~ 1~nani.ie~ T~ribdnian, Egg.,
~'n beh~1~ oT the Petitioners, order and d~trec~ that the said Charter o~V the Spiz~itna1 Assembly or Bah~'S~8 o~' the City a? Phila..
delpiata ~I'oresaid be and the ~a~ne i~ hereby approved, and th&b unon the recording of the ~arn~ gnd ~zI~ this Order, t1~e8ub~oriber~ ther~to and tl~eir a~soci~t~ shall b.e a co~poz'a onby the name oi' T~iI~ SPTIiITIJAI. A$$E~ E3TX OV T~ ~ B Q~ :i2 C TY OF PUILAD 'L H: ~or th~ pHrpoae~ axid upon the tez'ms therein state~.
Certificate of Incorporation, and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of Philadelphia.
Page 448ART! I~1~S OF ~C0TU~O. ~i~; o~ ~ SPIRITUAL AS~YBLY
?Q TRE 'OTORABLK r~ JUtx~ O!~' m~ SMP COURTS]~the1 C. RemU, S~phia A.. R~o~er) Jo58i,a 1~ ~eve1l, Ida W. 1ti~tt, 3~ry J, i~ev~l1, Wftrtha V~sh1n5ton, C1are~oe Y~, ?ishei', D~,rat1'~y' ~. Gr~.f a~d I~~j A. Reyualde hereby re.peotfuUy ~pp~ly ~or the gr.~t~n4' or a oh#irt~r to than a~d 1h~ir ~ucces~ore ~md~r 1~ie Thrn..proflA C~rpo~&t~ion law ~f 1~y 5, 193~, i I"~rsts Thu nan~e ~4' th. propoe~4 oorpor~1a~ sh&11. be ~m, 8~�r1tua1 A~s~wb1yof the Ba1~'j~ o~ th~ Oiiy oi' ?hUade1phta.'~ I ~ooond, The 1~oation aiA pos~ offtioe dxee~ of At# initial regis � t~e~ eI7~t~i~e sb~1 he ~4o. 2551 Noz~h Ninftteenth Str~e~ ~ii1a~i~1phia~,
Th~n~tsyWania~Thirdt It i~ ~ oorporation Which daea n~t aontemplato peo~i~ie~r~ g.~bi proI~it, inc~ide~t&1 ~r oth&~r~d~e~ 1~o its ~mborB. Its purp~se/z~ i~a t~r th~ ~~airB o~' th~ I3ah~~ ReI4~on Thr th~ ban~it oP the ~' ~ziie Oity ~f Phi1~de1phia in ~a~ordanco with tIle r~1igiou~ te hir~s ~nd ad~i1~i6tra= Faiir1~h: It Is to e~ci ~t .p~tu~ Uy.
F~thi Th. ro~oative n~x~es, p1~ee~ o~ r~ic1en~ ~nd no~t a~�'~ce &ddros~e~ of the ~o~qr~tor~ ~ ____ o~ R~side~aoe ~rtd Poet Of~fir~e Addre~ 2~1~h~~1 C. Revell 25$1 lTorth 1~1~h Street, Thi1~de1phia, P~.
Sophia A. Ri~ar 4~25 Tampa Stre*t, ~'hi1ruie1phia, P~.
I)t~ W. Tii~ff 100 ~e~b Thi1 � ~1e~a 31~reet, ~d~1ph~a, Pa.
)&wy J, R.m1~ ~ Nox-t~h ~9i% S1~roet~ Phtltidelphia) Pa.
~r1~h~ Waeh3~ng~otk 214 8outh 4$rd tr~ee~, Philadelphia, P~.
Page 449Olar0nQe W. Fisher 7Th~ aryan Str~ot, kid1&de1phia~ P~.
Dorothy ~. (1r~.f 6~Q9 ~1~y~e A~nu~, Phi1~do1phia, Pa.
Luoy A. R~mo1ds West oul, r treat, Thi1ad~1phia, ?a. Sixth, 'Tho ~id nine ~rsons ~~ove-n3mnod ~re to ~t ~s tnte~s ~m1~i1 the eleotlon of their suaee~sor~.
So~ont1u The corpor~tirn~ ~s to b~ orp~niz~d ~rnona non � ~to~k &si~s~ 1~ightht The ~rn0~mt o~ ~Ssot8 ~h�6h tl~e ~orp~ation wiU have to 8t~r1 it~ oor~or~te rlAnation~ ~a ~1~7.SO in aa~h.
In Witm~s h~reo1', the Baha in r&tor~ have ~t t~wtr h~ids ~4 ~ 1~hi~ day of~ Janu~ry~, 1939w ~ (si~&t) ~J~AL)
(SnAL)f~T~r~y ~ ~ILA~LP~i7k .r~ Pubi ~o af th~ eonmonwe~1t~ o~ B~fo~e ~ '~ sb~riber ~ ?en~isyIv~i1. ro~dim P~ (~tt~ o1~ ?i1~d~1)hi~, per~c~r1i11;~ ~ppe~red The ~bQv~ J. ~eve1)~,~4rtM ~ ~ O1~rerice 4~ Fish~r, Dorothy 1~. t~ra1' ~id t~u~ A. yuQad~ on 1~h~ da~ o~' J~nue~ry, ]~39, a~d Th d~w �'orm ~ 1~w tho Care~~~ t~ be th4~r ~t and ~1 ~f4th, ~u~I I~OURTH. fl~ ~oUo~'h~ ~ .I~AI ~ ..~d p.~io~ � ,.~ ,mtil t~ ~,t ,,rn,~j ,~ti~g ~* to ~kd t.t~*~ .~Itv ~ h 4t~ � iN WITNESS WHEREOF. W~, ~ ~ ~rn ~e.
& 4� V ~ ~ h~ ~d ~utp~~e. tfltreAn ,~rn&d in Voh~,n~ ~ of Lh~ ~ In~tio
Cdm~bd%f~ Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Columbus, Ohio.
Page 453THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 453
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Columbus, Ohio.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Phoenix, Arizona.
Page 454HA~It~G ~U~MITTt$~ T~ TM~ AR~ZCNA CQR~ORAT~N ~O~M~$SIQN ~V~EN~ ~
~L1ANC~ WFTH TH~ ~AW~O~ TH~ STATE Q~ A~?ONA RN~4~ Th~ ~N~ORPORA11ON
or COM~'AN~ES, ~, ~y VtRT{jEi OF r~E POW ~VESTE~D ~N ~HE COMMlSS~ON UNQ~
TH~ ~ONSflTUT~ON AN~ THE LAWS O~ T~ STATE OF AR~ONA, HLR~Y G~ANTE~O THIS
AUTHO~~~'~ $AJ~ '~Y TO ~ FUNCflONS OF A CORPO~AV~N.
-A~ONA, ANi2~ $U~JECT TO SUCIiCertificate of Incorporation, and Articles of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Phoenix, Arizona.
Page 455THE WORLD ORDER OF IBAHÁ'U'LLÁH 455
* AJ4QS A etrys ~~LSO~? *R~GHT
WL �THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 457
t~ ~oi t ~ That ~w ~ij'h ~uG~ ~~ra1~i~ i~ to ~ ~s ~ of ~ ~ahA'i re1igior~ ~ t~i~ b~i~Cit ~ the B~h~1~ ~ Tho~iiX~ Airiz~fl~ in acc~~anCe witl~ t~t ~i1~i~u~ t~a~hiir~S ~n~t frtratlve n~I~a~ c�~ This f~itb~ City ~ Th~Ax, (~ur~ty 1~f c~ MiZ~~ ~ t~+~ ih~~
A1~(~L~ ~VArI,~fla @ t1~f~ 2IAt ~ay o~7 ~ ~f ~t~t ~*M U ~ of the' t~ ~ p2.ace of ~ ~.~�ng m~i1~ t~ v~tI~ m~b~r~ ~p.
A~P CL~ VP~ ~F'~'7~~S ~. ~we ~ ore flt~ ~ ~U? anct~ tbie ay a~ ~$9.
~ T~O~AtThe f~r~e~in~j 4~t x~eptv~a.~ ~i~bsvrib~1 ~d sworn tQ ~ d~y ~939 ~ irum~rey, ~dwa~
1i~per~ ~ Báb ~h~ah ~ Q1a~e~ice II~ereon Paul A~'eb~eny~ JeTiflie ~w~n X~y tuc~ an~ C2~i~ton ~ ~3l2gAee w~ P ~kn~1edged t~ m~ that They ezecxte~ the sane ~r the purpo~e ~ot~y~
1'~ CO~Pliss4~ ~xpix _____________THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 459
Page 460The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Portland, Oregon.
Page 461THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 4~1
� Al&ttificate of %i1in~ ~rtwIe~ of incorporation ~tt to ~I~jom ~I~ic~t ~re~eut~ 91a!' E2ouz ~rutin~ ~ be ea � ~ ~. V~ � 1O~U ~
~a JAM~ ~.ha~ia& presii~ied Attida q Jnc~rporation of a c p~~i~Lrn. 0rga~ized a~zd fr~rt~d taider a~zd t~ tb~ L4w~ of th~ Siaie of 0r~gon p~ri~d~i!ig to Rdigio~i, Cha~'it4bl~ Rd,ication4, ~ 0rga ~iij~s, ~m~i /ia~h~g paid tiw org z~aikrn fee p vid~d by sai4 Iaw~; ~ jertfor~, 3. J. ~. ~~1ttt. ~rr~ii~ Comrnitfi~er ~j the S~,Je oJ O~&o~z~ ~ If F~REI3Y cERTIFY that s4id Aaid~ of 1n~orft~ratiw~ h~z~e bee~i fikd in ~he � ~/fi~e 4 ih~ c~p~ra~P~ t mmniiion~r; ch~~ th~ n~m~ ~w~d by xaid ~~tp a~i~n is � mc t~ I d ra .h~ ~b;~'~t, bUJrn~S~ or p,ffs#t m w&d~ ihi~ c~r ~atkrn /~po~ ~o ~ngag~ ~s a~ foIkws~ ~4r~ d~ t?~tSy~ ~ii~i~I~ ~ ~ r~1i~io~, ~W in ~ r~ilt~y with the ~ tc~ b~ a1b~1 by ~ o~ ~tio~1 ~ by pub1i~ ~~ttr~ '~n ~ or ~ ~du~ti~d, hu i~i~t4x~t~im a~c~ s~aritu~1 ~h&r~ct~r; ~d b~ ~ Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Portland, Oregon.
Page 462THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 463
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Jersey City,
New Jersey."Received in the Thi&~an ~ !~. J. C1erk~ OCfice ApriL ]~5, A. I~. 1939. flecor~e~ iii CVo$~ ~e rdo.2~~-z._on P~gej~~.j ~eta~ i~ach
C1~rk."THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 467
HDUI( 1261. PA0E28:3T~ I~j~ ~ ~3j ~I.~ch~ ~w~a'~ t~i~t g~t the ~n-~u~1 c~ti~' yi~.ore elected; ~ ~. ti1~~w~ ~I~"~�~ 7~. ~ ~'~1 ~, J. i~a ~ ~~r1 A. ~pcrn, ~ � ~ ~ AI~l~ ~' ~% a~t~ i~ c~ %1ii~ ;O C ic~i1 Th~i I ~ If ~ n, :~th ~ ~r ~ Vmd~r~ ~ 1 i, by ~Ab~bW-~~ ~t~ 2&~ ~ ~ ~v 'Q ~ An~ ~3l~ ~W ~~-'s~ ' � 1'
K9 -4~A.~ v ~n ex~~ r Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Wilmette, Illinois.
Page 468THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 469
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Wilmette, Illinois.
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Peoria, Illinois.
Page 470muLJty o& ~ a~i~er~ o$ ~ state o~ W~shi~tQ~. ~ to t~i�~ & ~orj,Qr~~~tQ~ ~irnie~ ~e~ni~ton'~ I~evi~ Btatute~ ~ The state ~f ~faahTh~to~ ~a~pI~ ~f36~ ~ Z~V~ y~rni~ bonsyolgut ~r1~' ~~titab1e ~ n~t ~p~rati~ Thr profit, do ~e~#by as � ~c~eiat~ re~Lv~ t~eTher and ber.h~ ~ sign B~id ai~Ow1,d~.~
M~IcL~ X.Th~ ~ o~ l~is cQrporaU.gn a~11 b. ~nd hezuby ie 4.oia~*4 t~~a
~ ~mx~t' ~S&.A~LY o~ TilE ~AJIA' S OFThe purp~~a ~r whioh this eorp~ration in ~r~a~iizu4 am to ~ fl~5t~ the ~ o~ Ths D~A1 ?.li&ion tor Z~e ~t t~ City ~t Seatt1~1 in ~t?ict ~ 4en~e~with ~h� ?.1i~i~ub te&o~in~ an4 adminiatraU'r, pr'in~11les or sA4 faitb.
I~o ~e~rrI~or~r in which this oo~cratiou'. a~tiyiV1~e. t~ pr~j~etp&3.1~ t~ be ~Quduo~*d S~s t~. City of ~a~t1e, Kind OoimW, ~tato o~ Wtshlklgtion.
Page 477Tli~ number O~ ~i~r~oto~ o~ this ~or r~tio~ ~h&U. be nii~.
(9) Iu i~b~,v; ~ th~ ~ ~md pl~~ or r~~0 o~ tb~ ~ ~oI~p~r~tiQfl, on tLe ~i~t ~1~y ~ April ~ ~e a~e eIe~t~ ti'~ ~ ~ provided by t~ ~to~ 3emn~zt ~ ~ ~3~tL lk1~i W2k~
RI ~ ~i~,&~dsThl~a corporation ~2v~1J. b,~m ~ ~xi.te~oe, ~ ~i~Ied ~y the 1~w~ o~ the ~ Q~ W40i~gton~ ~ mbe~hbip t~i'ei~ ~i~11 be 1imit~d to t~2~e o~rto~en in & ~ w~l~ t~e ~ ~4Th~3 ~Th~R~C?, we, th~ inob~ eA~8 a~n~ di~~tor5 ftbc~r~ pa.t~d. ~ ~ere~rntc ~t ~u~h~idi ~ in ~ripU~ �
Page 478CCUW~Y 0? k~ ~wz~ X~ TO ~3~XFY th&t on This day, ~efrr. ~ the uudsa~gtie4. a ~&at~ry Pub1i~ in and t~r ~1h Bt&t~e of Vazbin~t.on� ca~ Th, W~LE~ ~ 1~T.E ~21YDXR sn~i flE~~ ~A2R3, to a� kyIown tQ b~ th~ i~id~i~I~ de~~tb.d i~r~ ~ud w~io ft~eed*d the ~oregoin~ Arti~1~e c~ ~pe~t4~n~ 8nd a m~w1e4~e~1 to me t2lat they ~ ~n4 $e4104 tb~ a~ a~ Their free ~d v~Amte~7 act ei~d d.~d, ?~ U~0~ and pv~po~a l~1ert~n mqIdAOL~B4, GtV~ JNnI~ ~iY ~A~D A~fl OffI~aAL SElL tbiB ..3~ ~ \
Page 480Wc, N~?184~ Ob~?, daixmnn Prc~iddU, flet9r U. A? I8zbau1~ ,'Fi~iurer, helen t.Ar~bN~~1~At11t Ckrkot ~ and being a majority ~ tbc 4fr~ctots, at (having the powers of diicctor~ under autho~y of ~ctkn 7 ~4 ~h~p~cr 180, Gcuei~i i~aw~ ~t Tb. Pp*ri.tual Assel~bly ~f The Báb' 1~* ~ ~e Qlty of Bost~rn.
in compIi~rwe with ~hc requi~cmcnts of sccti~n 3 of ~hapt~r ISo of ~be G~ie~L Laws, do hc~by ~tnt~ th~ii the ~oI1owing is a true copy of the i~gr~cmc~ ~ a$so~ia 91 ~ f~rfl~ said orporation~ with the namc~ of ~ subKrlbcrs thercto ~ We, wM~e i~a~nc~i~rc h~r&~i ~ub~ribcd, do, bythi~ ~igrccmeI~, socizt~ our$~Iv~%w~J~ the intcntjon of ~rmh~ ~ car i~1Iiori under th~ pr ~~o1� chapter IBO of thc G~rncr4
LawL'Vhc na~r~ by wh~h tht cwp~ation ~haII bc kn~w~ i~ The 1~r~t~I Ae,*~b1s~ o~ th0~ba'i.s o~ t1i~ City of 3oeto*~� TII~at~ d~he princ~pa1 vflicc of th~ trponUivn t~ bc in M~tjsach~tts ~s th~ pp~~s~for wbii~h th~ cirporation i~ ftwm~d ~ir~ ~ follows: �
The,08t8~1i1~]1meI~ ai~d maintenance of, re1ig10~&B worship and splritusl tt~s in o~dan~e with the ~ri~n~ip1OB 4 t~e ~aM'� ?aitb,e.e oot~b1iahed ~ab&~~11ah~ts 7Qunde?,by'Ab~1u'1 9aha~its Ix~t~rpTeter atid ~xemi4.a~, y 8b~hi !ffendi~its zdi~u~awi by t~ie National 8piri~ua1 A Asaem~Ay ~ ~ LA" L~y.
~ JjI ~U .x, ~ ~. ~ (~ ~A ~ ~,y A s. ~ ~~y-j 4Z.~ ~JI IA 4,L ~5I Z~I jU,.~ Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Iraq.
Page 490~ ~ 4 i4~ � � ~Dp ,JI, � � � � S . .
I S � � � ' . � � P � � ~ � ~,; ~,; . .
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 1r~n.
Page 491THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 491
Q~4IJ &)~A JK'} ~'I ~ -~ ~ 3iI,,U ~ ~ ~�U$ c~' ( G~3~sJ.4~ Qa~Q~ ~ J4~ j~I ~ \, I~,f I.
J~I~I~Jc~� ________ ~di~M 1~4JU~ ~3~4JI, J,~1t (J~PJJ~ j~&~ 4~. 4a~,JI JaM ~b ~iIL.~I .L~4 ~iiai .U.4
tIL~ -Bahá'í Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and Si~id~n.
Page 492A kerEby e~rti4 that if: ~ w0~e3rnked1~4Maxrhgeby w~ ~ ~ Cow~i I C~'ak aj,d *te oIIThiaI,, fl~r~~-.Th4. f4...,.t~t $~ � ~,1... p,m.A, .44~. ~* ~ d.n~ ~. .4 S c~,nrr rtflx, ~r ~ ,~. ,.*, ,.1~.4 ~1.. .,$~ ~..
SPI~TuA~. ASM~L~ ~ BAHÁ'ÍS / CWCAGOO~*2~ &?enta Vo be r~~iA4. Th~ ~*tV1t i~ i~ wIt~i The ~ tb~ ~f uai'i'�ag~ 1~w .~ ~ ~rt& �r~ t~e �un~s .~.r
Cc~(~9. ~ ~ s~4 *it~#*rTh..1 bafci~. me Marriage License Issued by the State of Illinois authorizing the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, to solemnize Bahá'í marriages, with explanatory letter.
Page 493a2 LrJI ci) 1,i. J,ltk ~ ~ ~zz'JI,s ,j,w Q%LI ctWIPseJJI4 � 0u~~ ~ &j-Lto ~44fr L 1o4 ~y L~W? L9~I Li LI s)J I'Lr ~,LJI ) jj~ � 0~A � A&Y& Lsb �s.~ Cry~' ~LiLJ~iW jL~,JI JLCI.
u u L.~y,.'fl.rt.t,QY2-Ir)Ls-s LJ~ UWJQ, C 1O~ tI~rJiI ) cAl., ~z~L ito, 6 c'-j9, .~ sLb,-c W.2~. (.39 Iiis Ki~ WI.
Ci ) QrUJ%ro 6 ( ~y~g~iJ(ri. ~L V h.L � �k *Jy t�.rj~~~yIbJI j2LCIj o~. ~a.z22r$-.ZjI%LsJ.ffl rU, JL~. .i9JA c�2L,~ oV~j JJC ( L ,-ejl.
Ci)W~JJ)~zL)J)oU~Y.I ~ Ct 3v~j JL4#-1t~T--JJ~tZ JJ~tZ
I I .3!r � 51~.1 cbh'r4sc~~tp~ Y~A tLr.W ~ 1 ) clp~aJ ~-lsl( '~~L ~ r -' c. Ct � ~' ~A' � ' rC C i~ ) LczI~eWcU .LLJ3jjiojI%z.~ cb%'t2� U Cr) ...~tL1t uJ~C-JJJ&t!yt.)-!?-~A ~( ~J~EJL~ Jyt ~ oVfjLocI JL4Ca. (F2~ dJL (~ ) ~L (o 3 O~��jy�I o~~~JrjI (t )t-b--'-~, JLZ.~~AZ3I CU.\t�W I Text in fAnian of the Outline of Bahá'í
Laws regarding Matters of Personal Statussubmitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt and
Si~d~n.t 3WL~,-'JI 01�3J.iS \J[j ~ a~s &eL'~z ol w~.Ltck.-ISJI ~}d~s-~J, U C �i ~V t� ii I oIji&LZ&9y~~,jSJtJL~Sb~'3' (~~i~L) 90 JIoJJ~J3I ~ .tL33W JLU. 1~ 31 ~ t Jk~ �c~Ie~L J[i. I ) 4C I tt.i 42-~.SL wm.2.~W ~ ~s-.aEjs~j
~ C JJYLr ~)JAWoIJY$.(�) ii jp. I9,-~j ~ &)UaJL3sU~~) �s;I x... or.. ( rThJ3t.~ o~L7 C r )j~,Ij~: j, 01e.UJ)Usfl 4z.�~x~-~tncyL,}L sJJ% I 4~ZrAZ~J5GJJI~,i~JIL,it t~~it5L~fl3t
L4r-AI.r9&EWZL$I3C.~~& Lp.I~~ a~U~4 JtjS~y.� k 0j'~iP � ( ~r~~~ctkk ~ ~Ly. r1S'3'u .Q5'J~~-J JWI .2a4 Jy J.oLz.-j~j tju~,s � !r � '� . c~1-'"Q'-r IUZ...t 3gIdSZI I~ ~,-6J12 6J12 JSc~~9 J~t)ty W 0L1 C A
Page 495V jc~-W LILA jo~ oict+ Cr :~'A' JLI .ASjJeJK~fiuI ~nz~y~L~WoiAicS ol, LrJI~y~yUJtW!iS,j 'I~4.sI LW U ii lot c~JI ) LJ~'fl ~ ~ I. IJ~U~z Li ~~J4Lf~ � ( 4..y) L~~�~D~9 Jy~-j 31 ~t Ijtj C-J.jJ
/I ~J J43jLL?;If 3 ~tJ~.: C) ~(i) ~ ~p3tZSS4l~ (rjL~-jc~~Jti ~jI.J J.a~6 ~ JL,rcsLC.z.wI ~ tfl ~, c~Z J ~ U i~ (vV .&. Ly~p c~~C ~ , I~ I ~ r~r ~ ~ Cr~'" Jy$-c~- ~,. S 0) ~ cjJ~A5~U".r-r-�tI�Jy.~crI�ZJL 5fl1 rdL ~ � 7L~ cr3 oi&2, L~~JtVJL JtU ~ � 9tr--3 1&.. tsr ~ �oJJILA& � ytJ ( WV cI-j.fl 01 J.
L~J'rV-�?4 0t1 )I~rJ~yf '~Z.. UL'~sL~,Jui;~J245 j4JcLsVI cwLz4j*LC&s U.~pt'iI ~c%JJI ~-.s L.~. ~5 oJ ~Z 5,cL~ JbI.tCLI ~ r~r J.5L&~.~~LL~1 JtIsit~9L~.. L,oj j4. WL LkJJ.ZJI -~AflU . .1) 2~ ~sLc ~L ~t$Lc9W3I Lt ~ e{~. ~4.kc4,z. LuWJI~,z.L wL~LL~ CJt?~~t)L~~O JL~JL9r�~gg k~JL ~ ~t4~�( rKreJL '~~' ~ Cr~ c?YWI ,cLWI~ J!,s.41, ~L~tr~i, wl;urr~ 4 ~rWi u 3.I j~WI2i. )�z-'ry-'~-~t, "A c&L~, ~+ki o-ttY, rtY'~ LA 4" 5~~1L r5L.IcJ ~2ii0. jWJ ~,Jyzt c~h9IWL&JJIjW
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'4 L~SJ~A &;
~J %JJJ &.cyt~JL4V% %..WI~LUI LL&, ~J~L c,W4'Ia~,5 'J~ ~sW~ rh' jcL ~s5JI 012LW1 jz..,Jyy ci rtJI ~,JUJJs) ~ cLWJWVJI J~-'2k r~ (01 aT tI~~iI ) c1 j~k
Page 498rnnwzify ftrt ~7~ ~ntW ,tc~rtase NDn~ meld kr{qr~ rJk~t~~s ;~ ( Map of Bahá'í holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel.
Page 501Visible Embodiment of the Universality of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh
FOREWORDMANY discerning minds Bahá'í institution, we have testified to the must lay aside all customary profoundly significant ideas of the churches change which has taken and cathedrals of the past.
place during recent years The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in the character of popularfulfills the original intention religious thinking. Re-ligionof religion in each dispensation, has developed an entirely before that intention new emphasis, more especiallyhad become altered and for the layman, quite veiled by human invention independent of the older and belief.
sectarian divisions. The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is Instead of considering a channel releasing spiritual that religion is a matter powers for social regeneration of turning toward an because it fills a different abstract creed, the averagefunction than that assumed religionist today is by the sectarian church.
concerned with the practicalIts essential purpose is applications of religion to provide a community meeting-place to the problems of human for all who are seeking life. Religion, in brief, to worship God, and achieves after having apparently this purpose by interposing lost its influence in no manmade veils between terms of theology, has the worshiper and the Supreme.
been restored more powerfullyThus, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar than ever as a spirit is freely open to people of of brotherhood, an impulseall Faiths on equal terms, toward unity, and an idealwho now realize the universality making for a more enlightened civilizationof Bahá'u'lláh in revealing the throughout the world. oneness of all the Prophets.
Against this background, Moreover, since the Bahá'í the institution of the Faith has no professional clergy, Mashriqu'l-Adhkar stands the worshiper entering revealed as the supreme the Temple hears no sermon expression of all those and takes part in no ritual the modern religious tendenciesemotional effect of which animated by social ideals whichis to establish a separate do not repudiate the group consciousness.
reality of spiritual Integral with the Temple experience but seek to are its accessory buildings, transform it into a dynamicwithout which the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar striving for unity. The would not be a complete Mashriqu'l-Adhkar when social institution. These clearly understood, gives buildings are to be devoted to the world its most potent such activities as a school agency for applying mysticalfor science, a hospice, vision or idealistic a hospital, an asylum aspira-don to the servicefor orphans. Here the circle of humanity. It makes visibleof spiritual experience and concrete those deeper at last joins, as prayer meanings and wider possibilitiesand worship are allied of religion which could directly to creative service, not be realized until eliminating the static the dawn of this universalsubjective elements from age. religion and laying a foundation The term "Mashriqu'1-AdhLir"for a new and higher type means literally, "Dawning-placeof human association.
of the praise of God." HORACB HOLLEY.The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, or Bahá'í Temple, showing ornamentation of second story in process, 1938.
Page 505The Beloved of the Lord and the Handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and
Canada.My well-beloved friends: Ever since that remarkable manifestation of Bahá'í solidarity and self-sacrifice which has signalized the proceedings of last year's memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a steady and continuous support of the Plan which can alone ensure, ere the present year draws to its close, the resumption of building operations on our beloved Temple.
Moved by an impulse that I could not resist, I have felt impelled to forego what may be regarded as the most valuable and sacred possession in the Holy Land for the furthering of that noble enterprise which you have set your hearts to achieve. With the hearty concurrence of our dear Bahá'í brother, Ziaoull&h Asgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh has been already shipped to your shores, with our fondest hope that the proceeds from its sale may at once ennoble and reinforce the unnumbered offerings of the American believers already accumulated on the altar of Bahá'í sacrifice. I have longed ever since to witness such evidences of spontaneous and generous response on your part as would tend to fortify within me a confidence that has never wavered in the inexhaustible vitality of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in that land.
I need not stress at this moment the high hopes which so startling a display of unsparing devotion to our sacred Temple has already aroused in the breasts of the multitude of our brethren throughout the East. Nor is it I feel necessary to impress upon those who are primarily concerned with its erection the gradual change of outlook which the early prospect of the construction of the far-famed Mashriqu'1 � AdhkAr in America has unmistakably occasioned in high places among the hitherto sceptical and indifferent towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith proclaimed by Baha u'll5h. Neither do I need to expatiate upon the hopes and fears of the Greatest Holy Leaf, now in the evening of her life, with deepening shadows caused by failing eyesight and declining strength swiftly gathering about her, yearning to hear as the one remaining solace in her swiftly ebbing life the news of the resumption of work on an Edifice, the glories of which she has, from the lips of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, learned to admire.
I cannot surely overrate at the present juncture in the progress of our task the challenging character of these remaining months of the year as a swiftly passing opportunity which it is in our power to seize and utilize, crc it is too late, for the edifica-don of our expectant brethren throughout the E~st, for the vindication in the eyes of the world at large of the realities of our Faith, and last but not least for the realization of what is the Greatest Holy Leaf's fondest desire.
As I have already intimated in the course of my conversations with visiting pilgrims, so vast and significant an enterprise as the construction of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the West should be supported, not by the munificence of a few but by the joint contributions of the entire mass of the convinced followers of the Faith.
It cannot be denied that the emanations of spiritual power and inspiration destined to radiate from the central Edifice of the Mashriqu'1 � Adhkir will to a very large extent depend upon the range and variety of the contributing believers, as well as upon the nature and degree of self-abnegation which their unsolicited offerings will entail.
Moreover, we should, I feel, regard it as an axiom and guiding principle of Bahá'í administration that in the conduct of every specific Bahá'í activity, as different from undertakings of a humanitarian, philanthropic, or charitable character, which may in future be con
Page 506Model for detail of First Story of Temple, in Process at Earley Studios.
Page 507An early picture of Louis Bourgeois, the French Canadian architect whose design for a Bahá'í Temple is now being constructed at Wilmette, Illinois.
ducted under Bahá'í auspices, oniy those who have already identified themselves with the Faith and are regarded as its avowed and unreserved supporters should be invited to join and collaborate. For apart from the consideration of embarrassing complications which the association of nonbelievers in the financing of institutions of a strictly Bahá'í character may conceivably engender in the administration of the Bahá'í community of the future, it should be remembered that these specific Bahá'í institutions, which should be viewed in the light of Bahá'u'lláh's gifts bestowed upon the world, can best function and most powerfully exert their influence in the world oniy if reared and maintained solely by the support of those who are fully conscious of, and are unreservedly submissive to, the claims inherent in the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. In cases, however, when a friend or sympathizer of the Faith eagerly insists on a monetary contribution for the promotion of the Faith, such gifts should be accepted and duly acknowledged by the elected representatives of the believers with the express understanding that they would be utilized by them oniy to reinforce that section of the Bahá'í Fund exclusively devoted to philanthropic or charitable purposes. For, as the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh extends in scope and in influence, and the resources of Bahá'í communities correspondingly multiply, it will become increasingly desirable to differentiate between
Page 508Completing the clay model of a unit to go on the first story.
Page 509Design for the Bahá'í Temple by Mr. L. S. Buflington, architect, of Minneapolis,
Minnesota.such departments of the Bahá'í treasury as minister to the needs of the world at large, and those that are specifically designed to promote the direct interests of the Faith itself. From this apparent divorce between Bahá'í and humanitarian activities it must not, however, be inferred that the animating purpose of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh stands at variance with the aiim and objects of the humanitarian and philanthropic institutions of the day.
Nay, it should be realized by every judicious promoter of the Faith that at such an early stage in the evolution and crystallization of the Cause such discriminating and precautionary measures are inevitable and even necessary if the nascent institutions of the Faith are to emerge triumphant and unimpaired from the present welter of confused and often conflicting interests with which they are surrounded. This note of warning may not be thought inappropriate at a time when, inflamed by a consuming passion to witness the early completion of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar we may not only be apt to acquiesce in the desire of those who, as yet uninitiated into the Cause, are willing to lend financial assistance to its institutions, but may even feel inclined to solicit from them such aid as it is in their power to render.
Ours surely is the paramount duty so to acquit ourselves in the discharge of our most sacred task that in the days to come neither the tongue of the slanderer nor the pen of the malevolent may dare to insinuate that so beauteous, so significant an Edifice has been reared by anything short of the unanimous, the exclusive, and the self-sacrificing strivings of the small yet determined body of the convinced supporters of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
How delicate our task, how pressing the responsibility that weighs upon us, who are called upon on one hand to preserve inviolate the integrity and the identity of the regenerating Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and to vindicate on the other its broad, its humanitarian, its all-embracing principles!
True, we cannot fail to realize at the present stage of our work the extremely limited number of contributors qualified to lend financial support to such a vast, such an elaborate and costly enterprise.
We are fully aware of the many issues and varied Bahá'í activities that are unavoidably held in abeyance pending the successful conclusion of
Page 510Design for the Bahá'í Temple by Mr. F. J. Woodward, architect, of Washington, D. C. the Plan of Unified Action.
We are only too conscious of the pressing need of some sort of befitting and concrete embodiment of the spirit animating the Cause that would stand in the heart of the American Continent both as a witness and as a rallying center to the manifold activities of a fast growing Faith.
But spurred by those reflections may we not bestir ourselves and resolve as we have never resolved before to hasten by every means in our power the consummation of this all-absorbing yet so meritorius task? I beseech you, dear friends, not to allow considerations of number, or the consciousness of the limitation of our resources, or even the experience of inevitable setbacks which every mighty undertaking is bound to encounter, to blur your vision, to dim your hopes, or to paralyze your efforts in the prosecution of your divinely appointed task.
Neither, do I entreat you, suffer the least deviation into the paths of expediency and compromise to obstruct those channels of vivifying grace that can alone provide the inspiration and strength vital not only to the successful conduct of its material construction, but to the fulfillment of its high destiny.
And while we bend our efforts and strain our nerves in a feverish pursuit to provide the necessary means for the speedy construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, may we not pause for a moment to examine those statements which set forth the purpose as well as the functions of this symbolical yet so spiritually potent Edifice? It will be readily admitted that at a time when the tenets of a Faith, not yet fully emerged from the fires of repression, are as yet improperly defined and imperfectly understood, the utmost caution should be exercised in revealing the true nature of those institutions which are indissolubly associated with its name.
Without attempting an exhaustive survey of the distinguishing features and purpose of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar I should feel content at the present time to draw your attention to what I regard as certain misleading statements that have found currency in van
Page 511One of the designs submitted by Mr. Charles Mason Remey, architect, of Washington, D. C., for the Bahá'í Temple competition held in New York, 1919.
ous quarters, and which may lead gradually to a grave misapprehension of the true purpose and essential character of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
It should be borne in mind that the central Edifice of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar round which in the fullness of time shall cluster such institutions of social service as shall afford relief to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the wayfarer, solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant, should be regarded apart from these Dependencies, as a House solely designed and entirely dedicated to the worship of God in accordance with the few yet definitely pre � scribed principles established by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
It should not be inferred, however, from this general statement that the interior of the central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration of religious services conducted along lines associated with the traditional procedure obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues, and other temples of worship. Its various avenues of approach, all converging towards the central Hall beneath its dome, will not serve as admittance~ to those sectarian adherents of rigid formuix and manmade creeds, each bent, according to his way, to observe his rites, recite his prayers,
Page 512Design submitted by Mr. W. S. Maxwell, architect, of Montreal, Canada, for the competition for the Bahá'í Temple, held in New York, 1919.
perform his ablutions, and display the particular symbols of his faith within separately defined sections of Bahá'u'lláh's
Universal House of Worship.Far from the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar offering such a spectacle of incoherent and confused sectarian observances and rites, a condition wholly incompatible with the provisions of the Aqdas and irreconcilable with the spirit it inculcates, the central House of Bahá'í worship, enshrined within the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, will gather within its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual atmospherei oniy those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshipers of the one true God, as mani fested in this age in the Person of Bahá'u'lláh.
To them will the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Baha Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but progressive. Theirs will be the conviction that an all-loving and ever-watchful Father Who, in the past, and at various stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His Message and the Manifestations of His Light to mankind, cannot at this critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which
Page 513The site of the first Bahá'í Temple of the western world as it appeared on Sept. 24th, 1920 when excavation for the foundation was begun, in Wilmette, Illinois.
neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having recognized in Bahá'u'lláh the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of His House, and congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creed, to render homage to the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth, and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and Prophets Who, from time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in varying measure, mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of heavenly Guidance.
But however inspiring the conception of Bahá'í worship, as witnessed in the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it cannot be regarded as the sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as designed by Bahá'u'lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the
Bahá'í community. Divorcedfrom the social, hu manitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Bahá'í worship, however exalted in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve beyond the meager and often transitory results produced by the contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshiper.
It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to facilitate and promote.
Nor will the exertions, no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the precincts of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will be engaged in administering the affairs of the future Bahá'í Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating
Page 514Bahá'ís and workmen gathered on Sept. 24th, 1920, when the first drilling for bedrock was begun at the site of the Bahá'í Temple, Wilmette, Illinois. The man holding a photograph of the design for the Temple is Louis Bourgeois, the architect of the building.
from the central Shrine of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.Nothing short of direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity can possibly provide the necessary agency capable of removing the ills that have so long and so grievously afflicted humanity. For it is assuredly upon the consciousness of the efficacy of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, reinforced on one hand by spiritual communion with His Spirit, and on the other by the intelligent application and the faithful execution of the principles and laws He revealed, that the salvation of a world in travail must ultimately depend. And of all the institutions that stand associated with His Holy Name, surely none save the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar can most adequately provide the essentials of Bahá'í worship and service, both so vital to the regeneration of the world. Therein lies the secret of the loftiness, of the potency, of the unique position of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as one of the outstanding institutions conceived by Bahá'u'lláh.
Dearly-beloved friends!May we not as the trustees of so priceless a heritage, arise to fulfill our high destiny?
Haifa, Palestine, October 25, 1929.THE INSTITUTION OF THE MASHRIQU'L-ADHKAR 515
The "Mother Temple of the West" reflected in the still waters of Lake Michigan.
Page 5161. The earth is but one cotintry; and mankind its citizens.
2. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.
3. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.
4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
5. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.
6. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore ore dost thou grieve?
7. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.
8. 0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.
9. The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.
Page 517NATIONAL AIR MAIL WEEK, MAY 1521,1938 The Bahá'í Temple used as design for Cachet selected by the Postal authorities of Wilmette, Illinois and used on all outgoing mail during National Air Mail Week May 1521, 1938.
Page 518~uiteb ~tate% ~ ~tf ice *emoflimM.#Anpw� ~Pi ~ ~{~ghi, 55.
Q&vshi5q, 56. Qarah-ShirAn.7. SharafAb~d, 8. MihdiyiMd-i-Rustiq, 9. 'AsdMd, 10. Mariyam~b4d, 11.
K&hihbayk, 12. KhurramsMh 13.NirsiyTh~d, 16. Na~r&IAd-i-Pishkiih, 17, Khud~b&d-i-Pishkah 18.
ManshAd, 19.Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma and of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Bombay bidding farewell to Martha Root after her lengthy tour of India and Burma.
i-Qutb4Md, 25. AhmadTh6xl-i-Ardakin, 26. Sadribid, 27. I1ihib~d, 28. NusratA-Lid, 29. Mahmfidib6xl, 30. AbrandTh~d, 31. Kasnaviyyih, 32. Na'imThAd, 33.
RahmatTh~d, 34. MuhammadTh~d � i-Chihak, 35. HasaniMd-i-Hiimah, 36.
Khavidak, 37. Fahraj, 38. Saryazd, 39.Hanz~t', 43. Hidish 44 Ban~dak-i-S~d~t, 45. KhayrAbid, 46. Mazra'ih-Sayd-Mirz~i, 47. BiyAMnAk, 48. An~rak, 49.
Shahr-i-B4bak, 50. HirAt, 51. Hiribar-j~n, 52. Ahrist~n, 53. Mubirakah, 54.
Far4shi 55 Shamsi, 56.Sh&uk, 58. Chivurchiy-i-Shahr-i-BThak, 59. Qan~t-i-N~h-i-Shahr-i-BThak, 60.
Givar-i--ManshAd 61. Yakhdin-i-Buliik, 62. Bafrii.
VIII. DISTRICT: ISFAHAN1. ISFAHAN, 2. NajafTh~d, 3. Ardist4n, 4. Zav&rih, 5. Bunijin, 6. Qabfirukh 7.
Dastjird-i-Im~mz~dih, 8. S~m~n, 9.DiMq&n, 10. Jaz, 11. Dizaj, 12. Khi$in 16. Muhammadiyyih, 17.
Kishih, 18. Rus-tam, 19.MiisiyTh~d, 20. Mihdiy6b~d, 21. Kat6, 22. Dihaq, 23.
Kurd-i-Sufl~, 24. Diirchah 25 Khurziiq, 26. Laftuv~n, 27. ShaydTh, 28. Qal'ih-ShTh 29 Shah-rak, 30. TMkhuinchih 31 Damanii (?), 32. Varn4mkh4s, 33. Sidih-Linj ~n, 34. B&ghbahidunin, 35. ChidigAn, 36. Ad-j4n, 37. Q~ichanak-Faridan, 38. Chayg~n, 39. Shaliridi 40. Ni'in, 41. Chain-gawdin, 42.
Riz, 43. Hamgin, 44. Shahr-i-Kurd, 45. Misinan, 46. Tirin-i-Gardan, 47. M&ghdhar&n 48. San'4n, 49. Kamiram, 50. Tushiz 51 Far~dminih, 52. Jarquviyyih, 53. Sanidg6n, 54. Dumanih, 55. Adirj~n, 56. Strinj~n, 57. QadarkMn 58 VishigAn, 59. Maras&n, 60.
Nik~n.Qul6x, 7. ZThhirz, 8. ZarqTh, 9. Kinirih-Marvdasht 10.
'Irn~d~Md-i-Marvdasht.Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Burzu, 14. FathAbid, 15.
ShamsilAd-i--Takht 16Bay~U, 22. Qasr-i-Marvdasht, 23. K Md-i-Bay4~i, 24. IbrAhim&lAd-i-Bay44, 25. QaI'ih-Naw-i-Bay4~, 26. QAsim4b~d-i-Bay~U, i-Bay~U, 27. MilyAn.
X. DIsmICT: HAMADANAvarzamin, 5. Tiiysarg6n, 6. NaMvand, 7. AmzAjird, 8. Baha, 9. LAlijin, 10.
~usaynAMd, 11. Uqchul4 12 Chu-puql6, 13. Qurvah-KurdistAn, 14. Sfri-Qamish, 15. Mirzakandi 16 trchtappih, 17. JamshidAb~id, 18.
UqbulAq, 19. Latg&, 20.Qiziljahkand, 21. Qarahbukq, 22. KMnb&ghi, 23. Kajah-Gunbad, 24. issibu1~q, 25. SirisMbAd, 26. NadirsMh, 27. Akink, 28. Pirt~j.
XI. DISTRICT: QA'INAT1. tTRAQ, 2. Su1~n~bAd 3 Khalaj4Mcl, 4. Gulpiyig4n, 5. SMhAb6A, 6. Mashhad, 7. Ijusayn6iAd, 8. VarqA, 9. Amirili.
XIII. DISTRICT: Gim&N1 RASHT 2. Bandar-i-Pahlavi, 3. GMzi-y6.n, 4. L4hij4n, 5. Langari~d, 6. Ri~dsar, 7 Shahv~r 8. Diy4'bar, 9. SiyThkal, 10. Sangar, 11. RfidMr, 12. Minjil.
XIV. DISTRICT: KHPZISTXNDizf iii, 4. AiIAdAn, 5. Khurramshahr, 6. Qusvih (fl, 7. ManyiXhi, 8. SMihib&d, 9. Masjid-i-Sulaym&n, 10. Haftgil, 11. Ti~f-Chishmili 12. Bahbah4n, 13. RAmhur-muz, 14. Cham-Khalf-'isA, 15. SafAiy � yih, 1& Fayliyyih, 17. Chamtang, 18. Chihil-Masni, 19. JabrTh~d, 20. Hindi-jAn, 21. Kurrilipt 22. Ghamtangit 23. Chamsha'lAn.
XV. DISTRICT: KIRMANSHAHBuiTh, 6. Ghah-chaha, 7. NasrA1Ad-i-J~m, S. Turbat-i-JJtm, 9. TayyiMt, 10. Mirza, 11. Ijusayn~Md, 12. QiicMn, 13. B4jgir~n,
Page 711The Bahá'í Community of Adelaide, South Australia, with the local Bahá'í Youth Group.
14. Shirv6n, 15. Muhammad&Lid-i-Dari-gaz, 16. Lutftb&d, 17. Bujniird, 18. J~jarm, 19. Ruvin, 20. Isfar~'in, 21. Qariyiy-i-Amand-Turkaman-Sahri, 22. Shahr-i-Mir&vih, 23. Nish6tur (Ridvan), 24. Ma'miiri, 25. Farrukh 26. Dastgird, 27. IshaqThAd, 28. RilAbAd, 29. SarvalAyat, 30. Ma'dan, 31. SabzavAr, 32. Siidkhar 33 KAshk-B&gli, 34. Rab~;-i-Gaz, 35.
ZarqAn, 36. Safiy~b4d, 37. Ja'far~bAd, 38. Juvin, 39. Kiihmish 40. DAvarzan, 41. Turbat-i-Haydariyyih, 42. Pitraw, 43. Z&vih, 44. MarghzAr, 45. Daw1atTh~d, 46. Gu1bi~, 47. RashtkMr, 48. Khurq, 49. Murtadaviyyih, 50. Di~giPMd, (Fur6gh), 51. HasanThAd, 52. Mihnah, 53. Khayr4lAd, 54. Miy~n-dihi, 55. ShamsTh~d, 56. 'Au, 57. Zahir~-bAd, 58. 'Abdu'UMd, 59. Azghand, 60. Furshali, Li. Nay, 62. Yi$nis, 63. His~r, 64. N4maq, 65. Katahtalkh, 66. Qar&-chah 67. Kashmar, 68. MagliAn, 69. Kha1i1Ab~d, 70. Shafi'iMd, 71. Jiiyrnind, 72. Kikhk 73. Shahr-GunAbid, 74. Rawshan~vand 75.
Firdaws, 76. B~ghis tin, 77. Bus~&q, 78.Sihqal'ih, 79. Burtin, 80. Gazin, 81. SarAyAn, 82. Sarand, 83.
Bijistin, 84. Bushruviyyih, 85. Khayru'1-Qur4, Qur4, 86. Tabas, 87.
B~ghdihak, 88.1. SANGSAR, 2. Shahmirz~d 3 Shili-rM, 4. Aftar, 5. Simn~n, 6. D~mgiPn.
XVIII. DISTRICT: SARI1. SARI, 2. Mahfuriizak, 3. Arati, 4. Chulih-Zamin, 5 Sh~ihi 6. Kafshgar-KulAh, 7. Amirili, 8. RawshankiTh 9. ival, 10. Ashraf-K~h1An.
XIX. DISTRICT: BANDAR � I-GAZ1. BANDAR-I-GAZ, 2. Bahá'u'lláh, 3. Gurg~n, 4. Gunbad-QThXs, 5. Gum-ish-Tappih, 6.
Dasht-i-Gurg4n.1. BABUL, 2. 'Arabkhayl, 3. Baha'i, 4. Day~'ka14, 5. Bandar-i-Mashhadsar 6.
Bandar-i-Firaydiin-Kin4r, 7. N&, 8.9 Sangsar Sangsar Chirigh-'Aliy-i-TibyThi
TibyThi14 Q~i'inAt Birjand GhulAm-Husayn-i-TMbiti
i-TMbiti19. Lawh-i-Huriif&t. 20. Tafsir-i-Nubuvvat-i-KhAssih.
21. RisMiy-i-FurC-i-'Adliyyih.N. B. � The Mb Himself states in one passage of the
Idnian BayAn that His29. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and
Pamphlets by NonBahá'íin Braille (for the The books and pamphlets in this section have been published under Babd'i auspices or approved by a recognized Bahá'í body.
BAHÁ'Í PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICAPublished and Distribitted by the Publishing Cam~mittee of the National Spiritual Assembly, P. 0. Box 348, Grand Central Annex, New York, N. Y., with the exception of th~ older publications (marked by an asterisk ~), which are now out of print.
(a) BOOKS ABOUT THE BAHÁ'Í this great Oriental FAITH Bahá'í Proofs, The, scholar, philosopher and by Mirza Abu'1-FaQ1 of Gu1p~tyig~n.disciple of Bahá'u'lláh The bestknown book of translated into English.
It presents the truth of the Ba71~ 71~h&'i Revelation from manifold points of view, and also contains a biographical outline of the lives of the B&b, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 288 pp. Crown 8vo., 4% x 612 Bound in blue cloth.
Bahá'í Revelation, The, by Thornton Chase. This book contains a most excellent compilation of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, gathered from various translations and arranged so as to be consecutive as to subjects. A clear account of the evolution of spiritual consciousness showing the oneness of purpose of all the great religions of the world, and culminating today in the fulfillment of all the religions of the past. 182 pp. Crown Bvo., 5'/2 x 8. Bound in green cloth.
BaN'!: Sfiirit of the Age, The, by Horace Holley,
Presenting the Bahá'íMovement and teachings as the synthesis of all modern movements. 212 pp. Crown Svo., 6 x 8.
Bound in blue cloth.Two. A biennial record giving a comprehensive account of the activities of the Bahá'í Cause throughout the world, Contains many interesting illustrations showing the universal growth of this movement.
304 pp. 7 x 10. Bound in blue cloth.Three, The third volume in the biennial series of Bahá'í records continuing recent historical developments of the Cause throughout the world. Besides the many excellent illustrations, this volume contains a reproduction of a hand-illuminated
Tablet of Bahá'u'lláhFour, In addition to a comprehensive report of Bahá'í activities during this two-year period, the fourth volume in this series of publications devotes generous space to the presentation of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh through the presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Faith. The frontispiece is a facsimile of appreciation of the teachings written by the Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania. 548 pp., 7 x 10. Bound in blue cloth.
Bahá'í World, The (AprilFive, This volume presents the further spread of the Bahá'í Faith and establishment of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. The frontispiece, a photograph of Bahá'í Kh~inum and the loving tributes to her memory form a special feature of this volume. 712 pp., 7 x 10. Bound in brown cloth.
Bahá'í World, The (AprilVI records Bahá'í activities for the two years ending April 1, 1936. In addition to many beautiful illustrations, there are two frontispieces; one a photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sent from Haifa, especially for this volume, and the other a facsimile of a further appreciation of the teachings, written by the Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania. Two maps showing
Bahá'í Centers in IranVII of the biennial international record, This volume contains 891 pages, including two colored frontispieces, inset map and 137 photographs, and records the growth of the Faith throughout the world during this period.
Bahá'í Year Book. (AprilI, a record of current activities with articles on various Bahá'í institutions, newly translated teachings, photographs, etc, Bound in green cloth. 174 pp., 7 x 10. For Volume II, see The Bahá'í World.
::.Bahá'u'lláh ModernAn authoritative and comprehensive survey of Bahá'í history and the teachings as related to present religious, scientific and social conditions in Europe and America, with many quotations from the writings. New edition. 308 pp. Post Xvo., 5 x 7. Bound in green cloth. In paper.
Coming of the Glory, byPinchon, An interesting narrative giving the spirit and the principles of the Bahá'í Movement. 144 pp., Post Svo., 41/2 x 6 '/2. Bound in blue cloth.
Page 717BAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPHY Dawn-Breakers, The. Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. 736 pp., 6V x 934. 200 pp. of illustrations.
Reproductions of twenty tablets written by the BTh. Standard edition bound in green leather. Limited edition bound in morocco.
Transi alien of French FootNotes in The Dawn-Breakers, by Emily M. Perigord. Bound in paper.
Do'a: The Call to Prayer, by Ruth Ellis Moffett.A study of the mystical science of prayer and meditation, with a compilation of prayers chosen from a number of religions.
126 pp. Bound in paper.~Life and Teachings of 'Abbas Effendi, The, by Myron H. Phelps. Published by Putnam & Sons.
Life Eternal, compiled by Mary Rumsey Movius. Selections from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá on immor � tality and the life of the soul. 178 pp. Bound in cloth.
My Pilgrimage to the Land of Desire, by Marie A. Watson. The story of Mrs. Watson's visit to Haifa in 1921, with an interesting account of her healing by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 24 pp., 6 x 9�~ Paper cover.
Mysticism and the Bahá'í Revelation, by Riihi Afn~n.
An essay which analyzes in the light of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh the mystical tradition of the soul's union with God: demonstrating that the Prophet or Manifestation is the intermediary between God and man. 80 pp. '~Nesv Day, The, by Charles
Mason Remey. Bahá'í PublishingMarvelous Message, The, by Nathan Ward Fitzgerald.
Tacoma, 1905.~Oriental Rose, The, by Mary Hanford Ford. A vivid presentation of historical aspects of the Bahá'í Movement. 214 pp. Post 8vo.,
5'/2 x 734. Bound in blue cloth.'Teace of the World, The, by Charles Mason Rerney.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, CM-cago, 1919.author recounts personal experiences in meeting 'Abdu'l-Bahá during 1912 and describes the spiritual power released through the Bahá'í Faith for the development of human personality in this age. Illustrated with photographs. 256 pp. Bound in cloth.
Promise of A!! Ages, The, by Christophil. An important contribution to the literature expounding the significance of the Bahá'í Faith. The author traces the true spiritual content of religion through the Dispensations of the past, to culminate in the World Order revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. Originally published in London, England. American edition, 254 pp. Bound in cloth.
Religions of the Empire.The addresses delivered by representatives of the several religions invited to participate in the conference on
Some Living Religionswithin the British Empire held at the Imperial Institute, London, England, from September 22 to October 3, 1924. Includes the two papers read on the Bahá'í Cause. Bound in ted cloth. 519 pp. Royal Svo., 6'2 x 914
Security for a FailingA careful and scholarly diagnosis of the social problems of modern civilization, with an exposition of the spiritual education afforded by the Bahá'í raith and its culmination in a World Order by which alone universal peace can be secured. 202 pp. Bound in cloth.
* Social Principles, The, by Horace 1-Jolley. Laurence J. Gomme, New York, 1915.
Traveller's Narrative, A, translated into English by Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.B. Written to illustrate the Episode of the BTh. 448 pp. New edition from original plates in the possession of Cambridge University Press. Bound in blue cloth.
Truth of It, The, by Arthuras the ful-fihiment of Christianity, with extensive quotations and bibliography. 226 pp. Royal 8vo., 6 '/2 x 9. Bound in red cloth.
Universal Religion, The, by Hippolyte Dreyfus.An introductory work on the Bahá'í Cause by a French Orientalist, who has
Page 718Bahá'í friends gathered to bid farewell to Mr. Nabili on the occasion of his departure for K&bul, Afgh~nist&n, on a teaching trip.
translated many of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.176 pp. Crown 8vo., 5'/2 x 8. Bound in black cloth.
~ Whence Comes the Light?The author gives a clear understanding in this brief outline of the approach to the Bahá'í Cause and the noble grandeur of its founders. The quotations from Bali S'i writings throw light upon every phase of life.
84 pp., 5 x 6. Bound in paper.in the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh developed by ten different contributors to a symposium published in World Order Magazine.
68 pp. Paper covers.(b) WRITINGS OF THE 13kB The Báb's Address to the Letters of the Living.
These sublime words are reproduced in pamphlet form from a hand-lettered copy of pp. 9294 of The Dawn-Breakers. 12 pp. (See Bahá'í Literature in French.)
(c) WRITINGS OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁHby Horace fbi-ley, Brentano's, New York, 1923. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, New York, 1929. Book of Certitude, The (Kidb-i-fqTh), revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
Translated by Shoghi Effendi.Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1931. This work reveals the oneness of all the Prophets and their significance as the expression of the Will of God. 5% x g5/~. Bound in blue cloth.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Julie Chanler. A work written by Bahá'u'lláh in His last years, addressed to the son of a prominent Persian who had been a savage enemy of the Cause.
This Tablet recapitulates many teachings Bahá'u'lláh had revealed in earlier works.
140 pp. Royal 8vo., 6� x ~�� Bound in blue cloth and white parchment.
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work consists of selections from Tablets. 354 pp. Bound in dark blue fabrikoicl; also in dark blue cloth.
Hidden Words, translated by Shoghi Effendi. The essence of the teachings of all the Prophets. 54 pp., l6mo., 14� x 16�. Three editions: black leather, blue cloth, and paper cover.
Page 719Works of Bahá'u'lláh, ed. A. H. Tumansky, St. Petersburg, 1892.
Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ed. A. H. Tumansky, M6-moires de 1'Academie Imp6riale de St. Petersburg 1899 VIII serie vol. III, No. 6.
Prayers and Meditationsby Bahá'u'lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. This sup-preme book of devotions is issued in the same style as the Gleanings.
348 pp. Bound in fabrikoid.by 'Ali-Kuli-KhAn. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago.
The Seven Valleys andtreatises revealed by Bahá'u'lláh on the nature of spiritual evolution.
Translated by 'Ali-Kuli Khan, N.D. 60 pp. Bound in fabrikoid. Also in paper.
* Source of SpiritualQualities, The. Pour page leaflet. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1924.
*Sliratu~lHay1zal. Translated(Taniz&t, The Tablet of the World, Ka1im~t, TajalijyAt, BishA-rat, Ishr~q~t), social and spiritual princi-pies of the new age. 138 pp., 6~/4 x 10. Bound in blue cloth.
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláhPrayers. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. 14 pp. Paper cover.
Three Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh(Tablet of the Branch, Kitáb-i-'Ahd, Lawh-i-Aqdas), the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the interpreter of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Testament of Bahá'u'lláh, and His message to the Christians. 168 pp. Post Svo.,
5'/4 x 7�. Bound in paper.(d) WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ *'Abdu~IBahd on Divine Philosophy (com-piled by Isabel F. Chamberlain).
Tudor Press, Boston, 1916.A record of public and private addresses delivered in 1911. 134 pp. Post Svo., 5 x 7�. Paper binding.
'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York.York, 1922. A new edition containing selected addresses delivered at Columbia University and various churches and at public meetings by 'Abdu'l-Bahá while in New York. Also Tablets written to the
New York Spiritual Assemblyby 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Bound in sapphire blue paper 4% x 6�.
America's Spiritual Mission.Teaching Tablets revealed to American Bahá'ís by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during 19161917.
54 pp. Self cover.Bahá'í Peace Program, The. A compilation containing a letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá pertaining to a plan of peace and a letter to Dr. Ford entitled "God and His Universe," a scientific statement of the laws governing the world and showing the necessity of absolute harmony in the relations of all mankind united under one spiritual law.
Bound in blue leather with gold stamping. Also bound in green paper with dark green stamping.
Bahá'í Scriptures. Compiledby Horace Hol-ley, Brentano's, New York, 1923. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, New York, 1929.
'~Definition of Love, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Received at New York, December 7, 1902.
Divine Secret for HumanD. Storey. A charmingly bound book, compiled from the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, showing the relation of the Twelve Basic Principles of the Bahá'í Cause to the foundation of the new world order of the future. 96 pp., 16 mo., 434 x 6. Bound in white parchment stamped in gold.
Also bound in paper.Foundations of World Unity, The. Selected addresses delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Universities, Churches,
Synagogues, Peace Societiesand similar public meetings during His journey through America in 1912. 112 pp. Royal Svo., 6 x 9. Paper covers.
~Letter from St. Jean* ~~Letter of Love" from Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas to the Beloved in America.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, 1902.~:-Letter and Tablet to the Central Organization for a Ditrable Peace:
The Hague. Bahá'í Publishing'~Letters to the Friends in Persia. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, January 21, 1906.
Mysterious Forces of Civilization.A work addressed to the people of Ir&n nearly forty years ago to show the way to true
Page 720720 THE BAH progress. 132 pp. Royal 8vo., 6% x 9~/2. Bound in black cloth.
*Prayers and Tablets. 1906.Peace, edited by Howard MacNutt. Public addresses delivered throughout the
United States and Canadain 1912. This work contains 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í spiritual message to the American people, whom he summoned to establish the "Most Great Peace" which is the consummation of the ideals of all re1igionists~ scientists and humanitarians. 232 pp. Imperial 8vo., 6� x 93/4. Bound in black cloth in two volumes.
Promulgation of UniversalPeace. New edition, issued in 1939, in which the two volumes have been bound together as one.
Reality of Man, The. A compilation from the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá explaining the relations of mind, soui and spirit. Compiled by Horace Holley. Bound in dark red paper. Size 4� x 6%.
'~Reality of Religion � TabletSome Answered Questions, edited by Laura Clifford Barney. An expression of fundamental spiritual and philosophic problems, 350 pp. Royal 8vo., 0/2 x 9�~ Bound in black cloth.
* Supplication, a one-page leaflet.'~Tablet on Universal Peace, a letter written by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1919 to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace.
'Tablet to the Beloved of God in America. Translated by 'Ali-Kuli-KMn. Cambridge, Mass., January 3, 1906.
Tablet to the Beloved of God of the Occident. Translated by Alimad Isf4lAni (Al2mad SohrTh), Washington, D. C., September 8, 1906.
Tablets by 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas to the House of Justice of Chicago, to the Ladies' Assembly of Teaching, and others.
Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá compiled by Albert R. Windust. Intimate letters written in reply to questions addressed by individuals and groups. Three volumes.
Volume one and three (new edition) bound in blue cloth.
Volume two bound in black cloth.Translated by M. A. E. Washington, D. C., August 29, 1906.
~:.Tab1ets Containing GeneralAbbas to F. E. Wrestling Brewster. Bahá'í Publishing Society, 1902.
The Garden of the Heart.A compilation of passages on nature from Bahá'í Sacred Writings and from the Bible, selected by Frances Esty. Bound in colored linen.
Unveiling of the DivineTranslated by 'Ali-Kuli Kh&n. Bahá'í Board of Council, New York, 1901.
~?Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The. National Spiritual Assembly, 1925.
Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá.Selected passages which constitute the Administrative Order of the Bahá'í Faith, the establishment of the Guardianship, the interpretation of the institutions of local, national and international Houses of Justice. These excerpts are accompanied by passages from the Writings of the B&b and Bahá'u'lláh which reveal the continuity of the Faith, and by passages from the communications of Shoghi Effendi explaining the significance of the Will and Testament itself. A pamphlet, uniform in size and appearance with the series of World Order letters of Shoghi Effendi.
Wisdom of cAbd&l~Bahd.Previously published under the title of Paris Talks, a brief but comprehensive presentation of His Message.
172 pp. Post Svo., S x 71/2, paper covers. Bound in green cloth.
Page 721(c) WRITINGS OF SHOGHI EFFENDI ::Baha Administration, A work compiled by the National Spiritual Assembly to present the original sources of instruction on the duties and responsibilities of believers, in their relations to the local, national and international bodies of the Cause. Part One, Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá; Part Two, Letters from Shoghi Effendi to the American National Spiritual Assembly and the body of American believers from January 21, 1922, to October 18, 1927; Part Three,
Declaration of Trustby the National Spiritual Assembly; Index. 155 pp. Royal Svo., 6 x 95/4.
Bound in blue cloth. Bahá'í Publishing Committee, New York, 1928.
Bahá'í Administrationletters written by Shoghi Effendi to the American Bahá'í community, from January, 1922, to July, 1932, in his capacity of Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, to encourage, guide and instruct the believers in carrying out the provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá concerning the organic development of the Bahá'í community.
This volume constitutes the authoritative interpretation of that Will and of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on the subject of the principles determining the character of the Faith as an evolving religious society. These letters, which define the institutions of local, national and international Bahá'í administrative bodies forming the nucleus of the new world order of Bahá'u'lláh, include communications explaining the new world order and clarifying the problems of the postwar years.
The volume also contains excerpts from 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Will, and an Appendix consisting of the Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and ByLaws for local Spiritual Assemblies.
286 pp. Bound in cloth.'~L dl erg from Shoghi Effendi, selections from letters written by the grandson of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, appointed Guardian of the Cause by Him, regarding details of administering the affairs of the Movement. (The complete letters to October 18, 1927, are included in Bahá'í Administration.)
Bahá'í Publishing Committee.World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, The. A letter from Shoghi
Effencli, dated February27, 1929, clarifying the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the source of the Bahá'í Administrative
Order. Bahá'í PublishingThis letter, written March 21, 1930, continues the theme of the Administrative Order as the nucleus and pattern of the future world civilization. Ba-h&'i
Publishing Committee.Order. In this communication (dated November 28, 1931) the Guardian analyzes the existing international political, economic and social problems, points to the signs of impending chaos, and emphasizes the guiding principles of world order established by Bahá'u'lláh. The goal of world federation is upheld, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í prophecy of the failure of the present civilization is called to the attention of Baha'is. 32 pp. Paper covers.
The Golden Age of theGuardian's letter (dated March 21, 1932) referring to the spiritual importance of America in the new world order, the progressive character of divine Revelation, the station of the BTh, the release of spiritual forces for human regeneration, and the nonpolitical character of the Bahá'í Faith. 24 pp. Paper covers.
America and the Most Great Peace. A letter addressed to American Baha'is, dated April 21, 1933.
This communication summarizes the forty years of American Bahá'í History (1893-1933),and develops in greater detail than in the preceding letter, the responsibility laid upon America in the divine plan for the establishment of universal peace. 28 pp. Paper covers.
The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.A letter addressed to the Bahá'ís of the West, dated
Page 722February 7, 1934. In this letter the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith clarifies, with numerous quotations from Bahá'í sacred writings, the spiritual station and mission of Bahá'u'lláh, the Mb, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and the nature of the
World Order which Bahá'u'lláhestablished. In this statement, prepared by the one authorized in 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Will and Testament to be the sole interpreter of Bahá'í writings, students of the Cause possess the first complete and authentic outline and summary of the Bahá'í Faith in its development from the Announcement of the B~b in 1844 to the Administrative Order defined by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the era following His departure from this world in 1921. 66 pp. Bound in cloth and also bound in blue paper.
The Unfoldment of Worldof the Faith. A letter dated March 11, 1936, giving an analysis of the death of the old order and the birth of the new.
46 pp. Paper covers.This volume reprints the Guardian's successive general letters from February 27, 1939, to March 11, 1936, and represents the Bahá'í attitude toward current world problems as well as the Bahá'í Teaching on religious and social matters. 234 pp. Index.
The World Religion. Abrief outline of the aims, teachings and history of the Bahá'í Faith.
The Advent of Divine Justice.A general letter addressed to the American Bahá'ís in December 25, 1938, outlining the personal and collective requisites for success in carrying out their mission of spreading the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh throughout the earth. 77 pages. Bound in fabrikoid and also paper.
(f) PRAYERSby Bahá'u'lláh, translated by Shoghi Effendi. In this great work the Guardian has made available, in the realm of devotional literature, a spiritual treasure comparable only to the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh which consists of Tablets. 347 pages.
Index. Bound in blue fabrikoid.Bahá'í Prayers. The Bib, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
A large collection of prayers, newly compiled, to meet the needs of the spiritual life of today. 210 pp. 16 mo., 33/4 x 6. Bound in blue cloth and also bound in blue paper.
'Bahá'í Prayers by Bahá'u'lláhand Abdu'l-Bahá. 16 pp., 3 ',4 x 5. Gray paper cover.
*Prayers, Tablets, Instructions, etc., gathered by American visitors in 'Akka, 1900.
'SPrayers Revealed byalso prayers revealed by 'Abdu'1-. Bab. 108 pp., 3 x 5'/2. Black paper cover.
Bahá'í Prayers. Prayersrevealed by Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. 34 pp. Paper covers.
Prayers Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, The Rib and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, translated by Shoghi Effendi.
24 pages, pocket size, linen cover.in America, intimate and beautiful glimpses of the Master, from the diary of Juliet Thompson.
40 pp. Printed by The Roycrofters. Paper cover.Booklets. S Nos. Translated by Alimad Sohr~b. Seattle, 1921.
3:~Addresses delivered before the New York and Chicago Assemblies, by
'Abdu'1-Karim Effendi.*(AJZ/Z6 Lights, by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hannen.
Assurance of Immortality, a compilation on immortality.
Four pages.'~ 191 6, a calendar compiled from the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Bahá'í Congress, April29-May 2, 1916, a combination program and compilation, Chicago,
Ill.::.Baha Calendar for 1932. Consisting of twelve sheets of colored cardboard stock, one for each month, with Bahá'í dates,
Page 723BAHÁ'Í feasts, anniversaries and quotations in addition to the monthly calendar.
Compiled and arranged by Doris Holley. 9 x 12.States Government pamphlet showing the registration of the Bahá'ís as an organized religious body.
'Bahá'í Faith, The, by a Methodist Layman, questions and answers suggested by personal experience.
Bahá'í Faith, The, by Horace Holley. An explanation of the nature of the worldwide Baha community.
Bahá'í House of Worship, The. A brief description of the Bahá'í Temple at 'Wilmette, Illinois, quoting words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on the spiritual significance of Bahá'í Houses of Worship, with an outline of Bahá'í history and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í summary of Bahá'í teachings. Illustrated.
8 pp. Bahá'í Hymnal, words and music by Louise R. Waite.
Paper.'Bahá'í Manuscripts, by Charles Mason Re-mey. Newport, R. I., 1923.
Bahá'í Martyrdoins in Persia in the Year 1903 A. FL, by Iplaji Mirza
Ijaydar-'Ali. Translatedby YYinis Kh4n. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
'Bahá'í Movement, The.Articles originally published in Vedic Magazine of Lahore.
J. L. Zuahien, Vesey, 1916.Its Spiritual Dynamic, by Albert Vail, reprint of a magazine article.
Bahá'í Movement, The. A pamphlet outlining the history and aims of the Cause, with a statement on Bahá'í Administration and many quotations from the Writings.
Baha Movement in Its'KBahá'í Persecutions in Persia, reprint of letter written to the Sh&h of
Persia, Rid6SIAh Pahlavi, July, 19Th, by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.by the National Spiritual Assembly. A compilation and codification of secondary administrative material.
80 loose leaf sheets, with Index.Bahá'í Religion, The, a reprint of the two Bahá'í papers presented at the
Conference on Some LivingReligions within the British Empire. Paper, 24 pp. Bahá'í Revelation, The, by Thornton Chase. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1909.
Baha Revelation and Reconstruction, The, byMason Remey. (Seven bound pamphlets.) Washington, D. C., 1917.
Bahá'í Teachings On UniversalPeace, The, a statement submitted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada to the United States Government in 1934 and to the Government of the Dominion of Canada in 1935.
'Bahá'u'lláh and His Message, by J. E. Essle-mont, briefly outlining the spiritual message of the New Day.
~?Bef ore Abraham Was IAm, by Thornton Chase, an explantion of the Station of the Prophet.
~Bird's Eye View of the World in the Year 2000, a reprint of article by
Orrol Harper in The Bahá'í~?Bri11iant Proof, The, by Mirza Abu'1-Fadl of Gulp~yig~n, a refutation of an attack on the Cause by a Protestant missionary. Contains both English and frinian text.
~Call of God, The, by George Latimer, the significance of the return of the Messenger.
~Chapter on Strikes, a supplement to ccSome Answered
Questions.~~Christians, Jews and Muhammadans, a reprint of Address by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Tern-pie Emmanu'el, San Francisco, in 1912.
'~Compilation, No 9, available in: English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Hungarian,
Yiddish.of the Bahá'í Movement, by Charles Mason Remey. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1917.
'~Daily Lessons ReceivedG. Cooper. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1908.
:~Dawn of Knowledge and the Most Great Peace, by Paul Kingston Dealy.
The Bahá'í Cause and ancient prophecy.Declaration of Trust, and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Ba/od'is of the United States and Canada, with amendments adopted to April 1, 1933. The Legal instrument defining the nature and functions of the institutions existing in the American Bahá'í community, with the ByLaws approved for use by Local
Spiritual Assemblies.~:-Divine Revelation, the Basis of Civilization, by
Anvun IIadd~id. BoardEconomics as Social Creation, by Horace Holley. 32 pp. ~Episodes in My Life, by Munirih Kh4num. Translated by A1~mad Sohr4b. Persian-American Publishing Co., Los Angeles, 1924.
First Obligation, The, by Lady Blomfield.'~F1owers Culled from the Rose Garden of 'Akka by Three Pilgrims in 1908.
::.prom the World's Greatest(compiled by Mrs. J. W. Gift), an outline for the study of such Bahá'í topics as the need of a Manifestation, the signs of His appearance, His influence upon civilization, the proofs of His cause, etc. Paper covers.
Green Acre, a reprint of articles published in'~Heavenly Vista, A, by Louis G. Gregory. Homo culture, by Stanwood
Cobb.Image of God, The, reprint of Address by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Annual Convention of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1912 at Chicago.
Index to Bahá'í News.A key to the contents of Bahá'í News from December, 1924, to November, 1933: No. 1 to No. 79. Paper cover, mimeographed, 58 pp.
Index to Bahá'í News.A key to the contents of Bahá'í News from 1934 to 1936: No. 80 to No. 104. Paper cover, mimeographed, 25 pp. '~In Spirit and in Truth, by A. S. Agnew. ~Knock and It Shall Be Opened Unto You, by Roy and M. J. M.
~:-In Meinoriam (MissLillian F. Kappers and Dr. Sarah Clock), by Dr. Susan I. Moody, Union Press, Camp Karachi.
'~In Galilee, by ThorntonChase. An interesting account of a visit to Haifa in 1907.
~:-KnouAng God ThroughLaboratory of Life, The, by Louise D. Boyle. On the reconciliation of science and religion.
::-Lectures by Jindb-iJddil, a series of lectures by a scholar appointed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to teach the principles of the
Bahá'í Cause in America.Lessons in Religion, by Shaykh Mulammad-'All QA'ini, prepared especially for chi'-dren. Translated by Edith R4iiyyih Sanderson.
~:-Letter from Honolulu, by Charles Mason Remey.'~Letter written on behalf of the rrFrie;$ds~~ of 1sf dhdn, Persia, to the American Believers, by Mirza 'Abdu'1-1{usayn.
~Light of the World, by a group of Pilgrims. The Tudor Press, Boston, 1920.
Manifestation, The, by Albert P. Entzmin-ger.On the relations of the Prophet to God and to mankind.
~Martinists' Report, by M. Gabriel Sasi. An address concerning the Bahá'í Religion de. livered at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
~Martyrdoins in Persia in 1903, by IjAji Mirza Haydar-'Ali, relating the circumstances in which seventy Persian Baha is were martyred.
*Map Showing Travels of the Báb and Babe? u'lIdh.'~Maxims of Bahd'iisrn, by Antun Hadchid. Board of Council, New York.
Page 725BAHÁ'Í ~Message of the Kin gdoin of God, The, by James F. ]3rittingham. 1907.
~Message from 'Akka, AntunSelections from words of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá on interracial amity, compiled by Louis G. Gregory and Mariam Haney. 64 pp., paper cover.
Oneness of Mankind, The, by Hussein Rab-bani. An exposition of the Baha teachings on the unity of races. 24 pp. Self cover.
~Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá,Principles of the BaJ~6'i Fajith. The new edition of the little blue "No.
9" Compilation.Path to God, The, by Dorothy Baker. An explanation of the Baha teachings on the spiritual development caused by turning to the
Manifestation of God.Radiant Acquiescence, by Orcella Rexford. The principle of nonresistance applied to personal life.
~Races of Men � Many or Qiw, The, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. 40 pp., paper covers.
~Rays from the Sun of Truth,Religion and the New Age, by A. G. B., a brief introduction to the Bahá'í teachings.
~Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, The, Isabella D. I3rittingham.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1902.~:-Spirif of World Unity, The, selections from words of 'Abdu'1 � Baha in America on religious, racial and scientific subjects. 24 pp. Paper covers.
~Spiritual Opportunitiesof the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, selections from words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The National Spiritual'STable Talks at 'Akka, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá 'Abbas, by Arthur S. Agnew. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907. Table Talks with 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Mr. and Mrs.
George Winterburn. Bahá'í'~Tablets to Japan, a collection of letters written by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Japanese and to Americans serving the Cause in Japan. Foreword by Agnes Alexander.
~Through Warring Countriesto the Mountain of God, by Charles Mason Remey. Private printing.
~True Gardener, The (from notes by L.H.C.B.). Rangoon Standard Press, 1930.
~Ten Days in the Light of Akka, by Julia M. Grundy. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1907.
Tests: Their SpiritualTwelve articles introductory to the study of the Bahá'í te~whings, by Charles Mason
Remey.Persian-American Bulletin, Washington, D. C., 1912.
~Visit to Abbas Effendiin 1 89.9, by Margaret B. Peake. Grier Press, Chicago, 1911.
~What Is a Bahá'í by Dr.J. E. Esslemont. American edition published by Louis Bourgeois, Chicago, 1921.
What Is the Bahá'í Faith?A brief explanation by the late Dr. J. E. Esslemont, author of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era." Available in many languages.
What Went Ye Out For to See? by Thornton Chase, a letter written in reply to an inquiry from a Christian.
Whence? Why? Whither? Man!~Wor1d Economy of Bahá'u'lláh, The, by Horace Holley.
Bahá'í Publishing Committee, 1931. The Bahá'í explanation of current world depression and unrest, with
Page 726726 a summary of the principles revealed by Bahá'u'lláh to make possible international order, peace and social iustice.
32 pp. Paper covers.excerpts from the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Privately printed in Honolulu, New York and other cities.
Bahá'í House of Worship.Bahá'í Hymns and Poems, by Louise R. Waite. Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago, 1904, New York, 1927.
'~Ba/5dV Message. Compiled~CompiIation of Utterances from the Pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Regarding His Station.ream of God, The. By Albert Durrant Watson. A poem.
Bahá'í Publishing Society.A compilation of the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Madam Haney and Louis Gregory, to assist the progress of interracial amity, 1927.
'Trayers Revealed by flab d'u'lldIi and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Translated by ShoghiUniversal Principles of the Bahá'í Movement � Social, Economic, Governmental. Persian-American Bulletin, 1912.
'~Views of Haifa, 'Akka, Mt. Carmel and Other Places.
Bahá'í Publishing Society, Chicago.for Children. A series of thirty-six lessons in four sections, for teachers holding Bahá'í study and discussion classes for children.
The course has been planned for weekly classes over a period of nine months.
Complete series (four sections).invaluable aid for individual students of the Teachings, and for Bahá'í Communities and Groups who desire to follow a definite course of study. The Course may be obtained with or without the three books needed for reference. Study
Course with Bahá'u'lláhand the New Era, Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Foundations of World Unity.
'Bahá'í Teachings ConcerningBAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPHY 727 piled by the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee, 19281929.
Bahá'í Teachings on Economics.A compilation prepared by the National Teaching Committee. 16 pp.
The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.Compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Teaching Committee, 1930.
'~Outlines for Study of Scriptures, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the National Bahá'í classes and meetings, compiled by Louis G. Gregory. Mimeographed.
~Questions and Topics for Discussion in Ba-h~'i classes and meetings, compiled by Louis G. Gregory.
Mimeographed.An aid for classes and individuals in making a careful study of this historical work.
Study Outline for Kitáb-i-Iqdn.~Study of Outlines of Science, compiled by the Outline Bureau of the
National Bahá'í TeachingAdministration. 28 pp. Twenty Lessons in the Bahá'í Revelation. A valuable supplement to the Bahá'í Study Course and for the individual research of advanced Bahá'í students.
Conditions of Existence:Servitude, Prophet-hood, hood, Deity, by H. Emogene Hoagg. A course for advanced students in the mysteries of the three kingdoms of reality.
Deepening the Spiritu~dPassages for meditation and discussion, arranged for six lessons, under subjects of: God's Will for Man:
The Purpose of Creation;of Civilization. This Outline can be used by individuals or by groups.
Fundamentals of Bahá'íCommittee, 19391940. This Outline is designed for classes arranged by Spiritual Assemblies to prepare applicant for admission into the Bahá'í Community, but is also adapted for completing and clarifying the knowledge of those already members of the Faith.
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, Horace Holley. Based on the volume of this name containing the Guardian's Letters and on the excerpts from the Master's Will and Testament, available in pamphlet form. This outline planned for use by Bahá'í study classes and individual believers already familiar with the Guardian's book but desiring further knowledge of its most important topics.
Comprehensive Study Outlinefor Children, in three parts. Creation, Progressive Revelation, Bahá'í World.
Twenty-five lessons.Addresses delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit in London, with description of His life and activities.
Bahá'í Faith, The, by G. Paigrave Simpson.(See list one.) Published by George Allen & Unwin,
Ltd.Coming of ~The Glory," The, by Florence E. Pinchon.
Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd., London.
Drama of the Kingdom, The, by Mrs. Basil Hall, London, 1933.
God's Heroes, by LauraViews of the first Bahá'í Summer School of fr6n held in the vicinity of Tihr~n in 1939.
Life and Teachings of Holley. Published by Sidgwick Abbas Effendi, The, by & Jackson. 1912.
Myron H. Phelps. PublishedMysterious Forces of C2vilization, by Putnam & Sons. The. (See list one.)
Meditations of a Bahá'í Paris Talks. (See list Christian, by E. T. Hall. one, "The Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.") C. E. Bennett & Co., Published by G. Bell Manchester, 1912. & Son.
Modern Social Religion,Passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The. (See list one.) Promise of A!! Ages, The, by ttChristophul."
Published by Simpkin, Marshall, Ltd., 1934.Universal Religion, The, by Hippolyte Dreyfus, an introductory work on the Bahá'í Cause by a French orientalist who has translated many of the writings of Bah4 � u'lUh.
Universal Religion, The, by E. T. Hall. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles, 1927.
Unity Triwmnphant, byas the fulfillment of Christianity, with extensive quotations and bibliography. Published by Kegan, Paul.
*Reconciliation of Racesand Religions, The, by Thomas Kelly Cheyne, Dr. Lit., D.D. Religions of the Empire, edited by W. Lot-tus Hare. Published by Duckworth (Lon-don).
Addresses delivered by representatives of the several religions invited to participate in the
Conference on Somethe British Empire, held at the Imperial Institute, London, England, from
September 22 to October3, 1924. Includes two papers read on the Bahá'í Cause. 519 pp. Cloth cover.
Some Answered Questions.E. G. Browne, M.A., F.B.A., M.R.A.S. Cambridge University
Press.* What Is a Bahá'í by J. E. Esslemont, a reprint of chapter three of his larger work. Published by Burnside, Ltd.
* Wise Man from The East, A, by Felicia R. Scatchard.
The Unity Press. London, 1912.~Year with the Bahá'ís in India and Burma, A, by Sidney Sprague. The Priory Press, London, 1908.
Chosen Higlnvczy, The.(manuscript) Heart of the Gospel, The, by G. Townshend. London, 1939.
Bahá'u'lláh, by H. Bilyiizi, London, 1939.Tdhirih the Pure, by Martha L. Root, a study of the great Bahá'í heroine by one who traveled to the places in I r~n which are consecrated to her memory. Miss Root's book was completed in India and published in that country.
4.Gen&ve, 1932. flu Rdgne A Dieu et de l'Agneau, par Gabriel Sacy. 12 Juin, 1902 (brochure).
Essai sin' it' Bahd'iisrne, son Histoire, sa Por-tJe sociale, par Hippolyte Dreyfus. 2~me 6dition.
Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 1934.Le Livre des Sept Preuves, translated by A. L. M. Nicolas, Paris, 1902.
Le Machreqou'l-Az/zar, d'Achqabad, par HippolyteL'Apitre au Fils dii Loup, par Bahá'u'lláh. Traduction fran~aise par Hippolyte
Drey-f us. Librairie ErnestGleanings front the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (manuscript).
Les Lefons de Saint-Jean'~Les Pr4ce pies dii Bahd'iisrne, traduit par H. Dreyfus et H. Chirazi. 1506.
Le Vrai Baha'i. Le cinquiameand The New Era. Traduc-tion par Edward Roscoe Mathews (bro-chure).
L'Oeuvre de Bahá'u'lláh, traduction fran-~aise par Hippolyte Dreyfus:
Tome I:cach6es. � Les Sept Vall6es du Voyage vers Dieu. � La Lettre sur le
Bayin. Tome II:Tablette de Bahá'u'lláh, 6crite ~i Adrianople pour un des Croyants de Qazyin (bro-chure).
Trois Lettres d des Perscrns, par 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Juin-Juillet, 1907 (brochure).
Vers I'Apogde de let Race Humaine, lettre de Shoghi Effendi traduite de 1'anglais. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris, 193 6 (brochure).
5.translation of the Bahá'í Principles as given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá Baha at various times, taken from Paris Talks and other sources.
1925. Florence. ParoleAlegineene Beginselen icr Bahá'í Beweging. Dc Verborgen Woo rden (Hidden Words), Amsterdam, 1914. Rotterdam, 1932.
r!Bahd)u~11dh and the New Era." Rotter-Pamphlets and Leaflets in Dutch TaM pub dam, 1933. lished in Pretoria, S. A. Kitáb-i-tq~n. Rotterdam, 1937.
BAHÁ'Í PUBLICATIONS IN DANISH(What is the Bahá'í Movement?), by J. E. Esslemont. Translated into Danish by Johanne Sbren-sen. Copenhagen.
April, 1926.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, 1932. Kitáb-i-fqdn. Helsingfors, 1936.
Page 731Fjalll Ti! Eshehura (Hidden Words), New Kitáb � i-fqdn, Tiran~, 1932.
York. Del yrat e Dctmosdoshe Besnikvet Baha'i, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Tiran~, 1933. 1932. Libri i Bes~s, Tiran~, 1932.
11.Bahá'u'lláh: Ka~itaj vortoj, ella perso lingvo tradukis Lutfu'llih S. Ilakim, John E. Esslemont, London, Brita Esperantista Asocio, jaro ne indikata, go, 39 pp. Ka~itaj vorto], el la angla lingvo tradukis Vasily J. Erosenko, Japanujo, loko kaj jaro ne indikataj, go, 23 pp.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Baha (Babaaj!)instruoj, loko kaj jaro ne indikataj, 8~, 16 pp. Kompih4o, vortoj de Bahá'u'lláh kaj 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Wandsbek, Germany, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, iaro ne indikata, 8~, 16 pp. Esslemont, Dr. J. E.: Bahá'u'lláh ka) hi nova epoizo, ci 'a angla originalo tradukita de Lidja Zamenhof,
Weinheim (Germany), IBah4'iEsperanto-Eldonejo, 1930, s0, 191 pp. Religio ka) Scienco laA hi lumo de hi Ba-baja (bahaa!) rivelajo, London, Brita Es-perantista Asocio, 1919, 8~, 28 pp.
Bahá'u'lláh Iza] LiesMisia, Hamburg, Esperanto Komitato de la Baha Movado. 1926, s~, 22 pp. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: La esenco de lii Bahaisino, Wandsbek, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1929, 8~, 8 pp. Historio, instruoj 1w]
valoro de la Bahd'i-movado.Hamburg, Esperanto Komitato de Ia Bahaa-movado, 1925, ~Q, 8 pp. Kliemke, Dr. Ernst: Bahaisino kaj politiko, 'a stata idealo lafi Ia instruoj de Bahá'í � u'11ih, Wandsbek, Germany, Baha Esper-anto-Eldonejo, 1929, 8~, 8 pp.
Miihlschlegel, Adelbert:de Esperanto en Genevo, Stuttgart, 1925, g0, 4 pp. Root, Martha: Bahaaj sciencaj firuvoj de vivo post inorto.
Praha, 1927, 80, 7 pp� Bahaaj ~ruvoj di vivo post inorto, Wands-bek, Germany, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1928, g0, 3 pp. S.S.: La His torio A l'Bahaj'a
(Baha!) Mo-vado, UniversalaEdo, esperantigita de William W. Mann, London, the Priory Press, 1907, go 24 pp. Lidja Zamenhof: Homo, Dia, Prof do, Wein-heim, Baha Esperanto-Eldonejo, 1931, s~, 8 p~.
Kia estas hi Ba/ma movado?Wandsbek, jaro ne rndikata, s~, 4 pp. La Nova Tago. La internacia bahaa esper-ant a-gazeto.
Weinheim (Germany), Ba-haaKitáb-i-Iqdn (manuscript). Bahá'í literature and magazines please ad-Some e Answered Questions (in manuscript), dress Dr. Hermann Grossmann, Neckarge-miind miind b/Heidelberg, Gbringstr. 37. Ger-For or information on German and Esperanto many.
12.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Printed in Kitáb-i-iqdn. Riga, Pus jela 14, 1933.
Latvia, 1930. Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. B~kii, 1909.
Lessons in Religion, by Shaykh Muhammad-Talk Talk about Bahá'í Faith. Biki$.
'Au Q&'ini. 'Tshq6ib4d, 1912. Talk of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York. 'IshqA-Bahá'u'lláh, , by Isabel Grinevskaya. Lenin-lAd, Ad, 1922.
grad, 1912. Tablet to the Hague, by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Lon-Bah'iyyat, , by M. Blanovsky. Moscow, 1914. don, 1922.
Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh. Riga, 1934. No. 9. (Compilation.) New York, N. Y. Some Answered Questions (manuscript).
13.Bahá'u'lláh: Tab! ett von Ishrdqdt, Tab! ett von Tardzdt, Worte des Paradieses, Tab-ten von Tajalliydt,
Frohe Botschaften. Ausdem Englischen von A. Braun und E. Ruoff. Stuttgart,
Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung.von 'Ali-Kuli Khan Deutsch von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart,
Verlag des Deutschencit und Geizete. Nach der Engli-schen von A. Braun and E. Ruoff. Stuttgart, Verlag der Bah&'i-Vereinigung, 1916, 80, 104 p. Bahá'u'lláh: Verbor gene Work, Worte der W/eisloeit und Gebete. Nach der
Engli-schen Uebersetzungvon Shoghi Effendi, Deutsch von Alice Schwarz und W. Her-rigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahi'i-Bundes, 1924, 8~, 109 p. Bahá'u'lláh: Das heilige Tableti, geoffenbart in
BaghdAd. Aus dem Englischenvon W". Herrigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BahA'i-Vereinigung, 1911, go, ~ p.
Bahá'u'lláh: Das Tablett1914, go 172 p. 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Ansprachen, gehalten im Herbst 1911 in Paris. Aust dern Engli-schen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bahi'i-Bundes, 1921, s~, 196 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Beantwortetc Era gen. Nach der Englischen Ausgabe von L. Clifford Barney, Deutsch von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart.
Verlag des DeutschenBah&'i-Bundes G.m. b. H. 1929, 8~, VIII und 392 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: Eine Botschaftan die JuAn. Aus den-i Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, im Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung.
1913, 8~, 15 p.Deutsch von Fanny Knobloch. 1906, ohne Angabe des Ortes, s~, 12 p.
'Abdu'l-Bahá: T~ibelleBAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGRAPH Bahd'iperlen (Worte von Bahá'u'lláh und 'Abdu'l-Bahá).
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschenvom Deutschen Bah~i'i-Na-tionairat, Stuttgart, M~rz 1930, ~O, ~5 p. Shoghi Effendi: Au die Ge1~ebten des Herrn und an die Dienerinnen des Barmherzigen in der ganzen Welt. Aus dem Englischen. Herausgegeben vom Deutschen Bah~'i-Nationairat,
Stuttgart, April 1930an die Freunde Got tes und ais die Dieneriisnen des Barns-herzigen im
Abendland. Aus dern En-glischenvon A. Schwarz. Oline Angabe des Ortes und des Jabres. 8~, 4 p. Blomfield, Sit~irih, und
Shoghi Effendi: Das HinscheidenAn-gabe des Ortes und des Jahres, ~ 32 p. Brittingham, Isabella, D.: Die Offenbarisng von Bahá'u'lláh. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung, 1910, 8~, 47 p.
Carpenter, Marion: Majniinund Layld. Nach Bahá'u'lláh's Erziihlung in den "Sieben Thiern." Deutsch von E. M. Gr. und Dr. H. Cr.
Wandsbek, Weltgemein-.schaft 1926, 80, 8 p. Chase, Thornton: Die Bahd'io!Jenbarung. Aus dem Englischen von W. Herrigel. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, 192S, go XVI + 168 p.
Chase, Thornton: Ehe Abrahamwar, 'war Ich. Aus dem Englischen von W. Her-rigel.
Stuttgart, Verlag derStuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah~i'i-Bundes, 1920, 80, 40 p. Dreyf us, Dr. Hippolyte:
Bdbisinus und Bahd'ismus.Frankfurter Verlag G.m.b.H., 1909, 80, 61 p. Esslemont, Dr. John 12X: Bahá'u'lláh und das Neuc Zeitalter. Deutsch von H. K. und W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen Bah~'i-Bundes, 1927, ~ VIII � i � 431 p. Essleinont, Dr. John E.: Was ist cm Bahá'í Aus dem Englischen fibersetzt und her-ausgegeben von der Bahá'í � Arbeitsge-meinschaft Esslingen. Oline Jalir.
(ver-vielfiiltigt), 40, 20 p. Esslemont, Dr. John E.: Der Weg zurn Fri edeis.
Sonderdruck des KapitelsX aus Bahá'u'lláh und das Neue Zeitalter." Herausgegeben von der Bahá'í -Arbeitsge.. meinschaft Esslingen. Oline Jahr, 8~, 8 p.
Fadi, Mirza Abu'1: Geschichteund W/ahr-heitsbe'weise Jer Bahá'í � Reiigion. Nach der
Englischen UebersetzungAus dem Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Herausgegeben von der Bahá'í -Vereinigung Zuffenhausen, ohne Jalir, 8~, 45 p. Grossmann, Dr. Herrnann: Die soz~ale Frage und ibre L6sung irn Sinne der Bahd'i-Lebre. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, 1923, 80, 12 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Die Bahd'i-Be-. wegung, ihre Geschichte, Lehren und Be-deutung. Herausgegeben von der Bah~i'i-Bewegung.
Hamburg, 1926, 80, 8 p. Grossrnann, Dr. Herrnann:Ohne Angabe des Ortes und des Jabres. 80, 8 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Bahd'i-Erzie-hung. Wandsbek,
Weltgemeinschaft, DeutscherZweig, 1924, 80, 8 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Rosen giirtlein-Lehrstunden.
Lehrproben zur BaM'i-Er-ziehung.Hetausgegeben von der Weltge-meinschaft, Wandsbek, ohne Jahr, 80, 12 p. Grossmann, Dr. Elerniann:
Chainm. Eine Erz~ih1ungaus unserer Zeit. Wandsbek, 1927, 80, 8 p. Grossmann, Dr. Hermann: Am Morgen einer neuen
Zeit, Verlag StreckerDie Bah~i'i-Bewegung, ihr Zweck und Ziel. Stuttgart,
Selbstverlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung.1915, 8~, 30 p. Hartmann, Pauline: Bahd'i-V7eltanschauung.
Page 734734 Verlag des Geistigen Nationairats
der Deutschen Baha'i. E. V., go, 24 p. W. H.: Die BaJod'i-Bewegung im Ailge-meinen und ihre grossen lvirkungen in Inclien.
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, 1922, 80, 56 p. W. H.: Die Zeichen unserer
Zeit ins Liclote Ar BibelStuttgart, Verlag der Bahk'i-Vereinigung. 1916, 8~, 16 p.
Holley, Horace: Die Wellwirtschaftvon Bahá'u'lláh. Aus dem Englischen. 30 p. Geneva, 1934.
Kliemke, Dr. Ernst (HeinrichBahd'i-Lehre und Politil.z. Das Staatsideal nach den
Lebren Bahá'u'lláh's.nacherzdhlt. Aus dem En-glischen von Dr. H. Gr. Wandsbek, Welt-gemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1924, g0, S p.
Miihlschlegel, Adelbert:80. Oline Angabe des Ortes, September, 1924, s~, B p.
Miihlschlegel, Adelbert:Stuttgart, Bah6N-Bund, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, 8~, S p. Naimajer, Marie von: Qurratu'l-'Ayn.
Em BiLl aus Persiens Neuzeit.Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart, Verlag des Deut-schen BaM'i-Bundes, 1922, s~, 248 p.
Remey, Charles Mason:von 97. H., Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, Stuttgart, 1923, 8~, 32 p.
Remey, Charles Mason:und des Jalires. 80, 8 p. Rosenberg, Ethel J.: Die BaJad'i-Lehre, deren ethisehe und soziale Begriffe.
Aus dem Englischen von Fr. Schweizer. Stuttgart, Selbstverlag der BahA'i-Vereinigung, 1908, g0, g p. S. S.: Fin Jahr uniter den Bahá'í in Indien und
Birma. Aus dem Englischenvon W. H Stuttgart, Selbstverlag Jet ]3ahA'i-Vereinigung, oline Jahr, s~, 46 p. S. S.: Die Geschichtc der
Bahd'i-Bewegung.Aus dem Englischen von W. H. Stuttgart Selbstverlag der Bah6]i-Vereinigung, 1913, Zweite auflage, 1913, s~, 22 p. A Dritte auflage, 1919, s~, 22 p. Schwarz, Alice: Die universale W/eltreligion. Stuttgart,
Verlag des DeutschenBaM'i-Bundes, 1919, g0, 35 p. Wright, A. H.: Báb und seine Secte in Per-sien,
Leipzig.dem J3ranzd � sischen von Albert Renf tie. Stuttgart, Verlag der BaM'i-Vereinigung, 1916, 8~, 16 p. Erweiterte Auflage, Stuttgart, 1928,
Verlag des DeutschenVogel und an-dere Erziihlungen aus dens Leben 'Abdu'l-Bahá's.
Wandsbek, Weltgemeinschaft, Deutscher Zweig, 1925, go, ~ p. Aus Leben und Lehre des Bahd'isinus. Hamburg, ]Rah4'i-Verlag, 1918, ~O, 42 p. Die Bahd'i-Bewegung. Flugblatt.
Stuttgart, Verlag des Deutschen BaM'i-Bundes, ohne Jalir, s~, 4 p. Was ist die Buhd'i-Bewegung.
Flugblatt.(2 Ausgaben: Hamburg und Wien), So, S bezw. 10 p. Die Bahá'í Lehre, 1933, Schmal 8~, 4 p. An der Schwelle eines nenes Zeitalters. Flugblatt.
Stuttgart, W. H. Ohne Jahr. g0, 10 p. Bericht vorn ersten Deutschen
Bahd'i-Kon-gress 1921.Herausgegeben von der Bahá'í -Arbeitsgemeinschaft Esslingen (vervielfiiltigt) 40, 54 p. Wcihnachtsbeilage fur Kinder. Dezember 1921.
Beilage zur Sonne der Wahrheit, g0, 8 p.in Deutschland und Gesterreich nebst Satz-ung des Geistigen Rates der Bahá'í in Stuttgart.
Herausgegeben vom Nationalen GeistigenRat der Bahá'í in Deutschland und Oesterreich e. V., Stuttgart, 1935, g0 32 p.
Nabil's Narrative: The(in manuscript). Prayers and Meditations of Bahá'u'lláh (manuscript)
Page 735Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Sofia, 1932. Words of Wisdom (in manuscript) Hidden Wards, Sofia, 1937. Seven Valleys (in manuscript) Kitáb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript).
15.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Bucharest, Ce Este Mis carca Baha'i, Bucharest, 1934.
1934.Kitáb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript). World Religion, Prague, 1937.
Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Prague, 1932. F. C. Hdilin and Milos Wurm: ~jer Hnuti Some Answered Questions (in manuscript). Mirovdho.
Bahajsk6 Zjeveni (No. 9). Pamphlets, 1934.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Belgrade, Kitáb-i-Iqdn (in manuscript).
1933. World Religion, Belgrade, 1937.
Hidden Words, Belgrade, 1936. World Economy of Bahá'u'lláh (in manu-Book k of Prayers, Belgrade, 1936. script).
18.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Budapest, Hidden Words (in manuscript).
1933.2 Wlhakatikenga Pa/mi, Pamphlet by G. G. Paul, Auckland, New Zealand, 1933.
Page 736Era.. Traduccion espafiola por Leonora Stirling Holsapple. Baha, Brazil, 1933.
~~Qut~ Salisteis AVer? Dr. Carlos A. Stoppel's translation of What Went Ye Out for to
See? by Thornton Chase.Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, Oslo, 1935. World Religion, Oslo, 1937.
Kitáb-i4qdn (manuscript).of Bahá'u'lláh, The. Bombay.Kildb-i-iqdn, The. Cairo Book of Iqtiddr, Tablets and Bombay.
of Bahá'u'lláh, The. Bombay.Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh Kalimdt-i-MaknAnih (Hidden lo the Shdh of Pei~sia.
Words). Cairo.Ishrdqdt, Tardzdt, Tajalliydt,Tablets and Prayers from The. Bombay. Bahá'u'lláh. Cairo. The
Seven Valleys. CairoBAHÁ'Í BIBLIOGR Will and Testament of Bahá'u'lláh, The. 'I~q~b~d and Cairo.
Ad~iyiy-i-Hadrat-i-Mahbi~bTraveller's Nai~rative, The. London and T~shkand, 191g. Bombay.
Prayers from 'Abdu'l-Bahá.Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Bahá, The. Bombay and Cairo.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, The. Bahá'u'lláh.Kashfu'1-Ghitc? compiled by Siyyid Mibdi Gu1p~yig~ni.
'Ishq&b~d.Cairo. Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era. Haifa, 1932 History of the Martyrs of Yazd, The. Cairo. Dald'ilu'1.flrfdn, Mirza Haydar-'Ati. Bombay.
Bihjatu'~-Sudi~r, MirzaRisdliy-i-.Istidldliyyih, by Mirza Abu'1-Fadl, Egypt.
Istidldliyyiy-i-Afshdr.Cairo. Travels of Abdu'l-Bahá, The. Vol. 1 and 2, Mirza Malimud Zarp~ni. Bombay.
Early Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, The, compiled by Baron Rosen, St. Petersburg.
Memorials of the Faithful, Abdu'l-Bahá. Haifa.i -'Abdu'l Baha. Table talks collected by Laura C. Barney. Kegan, Paul, London, 1908.
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Twenty-twopage booklet written in fr~nian on the Bahá'í Temple. Published by the Bahá'í Assembly of Washington, D. C.
Hadiqah~'I-13ahd'iyyih.Poems by Nayyir. Tihr~n, 1930. Istidldliyyih, I and II, by Na'im, Tabriz, 1911 and 1912.
Magdliy-i-Bahd'i. Delhi, 1915. Poems, by Na'im.Translation of lshrdqdt, Bishdrdt, Kalimdt, Tardzdt, Tajafljydi, of Bahá'u'lláh.
Agra, 1918.Hidden Words, The. Bombay. Why People of the World Could
Not Know Their PromisedRevelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Mrs. I. D. Brittingham.
Rangoon, 1902.Talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Europe, The. Translation anonymous. Cairo.
Bahá'u'lláh an~d the New Era, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont.
Cairo, 1930.A Letter to the Women of Japan, by Agnes B. Alexander. 1916.
Reli~gknz of Love. 1917.D-ro J. E.Esslemont t baha'u'llah k~j Ia NQVa 1~poko El ~ ~1g1~ originMo td~kib~ d~ Lid~ Zam~nh6f
Webiheiw I9~OReproductions of the title pages of "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" in the thirtyfive languages in which it has been printed.
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Armenian Russian0G. DEN. NYE TID A ~T~fU~,E E~ (,WrRS1~fTEI ~F FB~. b~ I ~
BAHA U'LLAH~J. 1~. 1~SSL~MONT~ M. 33., Cit. B.,. B, E. A. Traducido ~deI fngI6s
Il~0Th ~J. E. ESSLEMOPiT, M. B., Ch. B,, F. 13, F. P~ flpeBe~e:R. B. U. ~UREP~U ~Th~i~T1Or~L ~XHfI 1q32
BulgarianOQ 0 I-' blossom as the rose and the wilderness and solitary place to be glad. One is the Balfour Declaration favoring ccthe establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
"12 From this hour, it is said, a new spirit came to animate the Jewish people. In 1922 the Council of the League of Nations ratified the selection of Great Britain, a powerful nation long experienced in dealing with minority peoples, as the holder of the mandate of this former part of the Turkish Empire.
Third in time of influence have been the European governmental policies of expulsion, which not only force the most thoroughly assimilated Jews in the world to seek residence elsewhere, but unwittingly encourage fulfillment of Palestinian destiny. International attempts to help all refugees may have a similar effect with relation to the million or more Jews that the Holy Land may yet gradually provide for.
3) The recent re-invigoration of the world Jewish community, with redirection of effort, which is in fact but one of the evidences of worldwide upheaval and change, is caused by a new spiritual impetus from God. The forces of disturbance appearing in the world in the eighteenth century and the new hopes offered by the nineteenth century included in their orbit of change the breaking of barriers between Jewish and Aryan people, destroying the old status quo and affecting the life of Israel as we have described.
The Jewish emancipation, the subsequent disappointment and the dawn of revival within Israel, were thus part of the larger unrest and transformation of which Bahá'u'lláh wrote many years before humanity realized the nature of the tremendous extent of the change. "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order," He announced.
CCM kid~ ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System � the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed."13 This new spirit in the world, as the rays of the eternal Sun of Life, is penetrating to the heart of Jew and Gentile alike. It brings the day of judgment, it encourages the hopes for peace, it relights the fires of spiritual life in souTh that are begging for progress.
It is the Sun of the Word of God, revealed to the peoples of the centuries by such Manifestations of God's Will as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, and the Christ, that Word of Life which was before Abraham, in the beginning with God, the Creator, that effulgence of the attributes of divinity.
This sun is again shining today. In the early days of the Christian dispensation its light assisted the Jews, though they knew it not, to retrieve a portion of their ancient glory in the environs of old Babylon, and in the days of Muhammadan ascendancy to achieve notable intellectual attainments in spiritual contact with the Moors of Spain just prior to the sweep of the Inquisition. And in such manner today it has touched the hearts and minds of many Jewish leaders with its radiance and, though the effect may still be in the realms of the unconscious, it is nevertheless productive of new hope, courage and inspiration.
This brings us to our fourth point:Bahá'u'lláh (Glory of God), Himself claiming~ to be a Prophet of the Ancient Word of God, delegated to kindle the eternal fire in the souls of men, fulfilling the prophecies of all the scriptures, is reflecting the ~ Hayes, Canton, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, p. 844.
'~ Gleanings, p. 136.sun of God's Will and Love to the world. He will unite by the power reflected through Him all streams of human progress in a great ocean of understanding and brotherly cooperation.
It is He who will redeemThe follower of Bahá'u'lláh who is gladdened by His message, sees in His teachings a divine guidance suited to the needs of this age, a divine assistance for deliverance from selfishness and greed, ignorance and prejudice, poverty and contention, in this dispensation is the Covenant of Abraham fulfilled. God renewed that Covenant through a succession of prophets, expanding its domain of influence with the growth of social communication and the enlarging of the circle of spiritual consciousness in the human race. Specifically and primarily it was a Covenant with the Hebrew people, but in reality it was a compact whose participants were destined to increase until Abraham's spiritual seed should become "as the dust of the earth." It has been an everlasting Covenant with a chosen people; also it has been kept alive and fruitful for those nations brought into its horizon of influence through successive Revealers of God's Word, such as Jesus and Muhammad, who in their turn proclaimed the validity of the Jewish dispensation and foretold its ultimate fulfillment in a universal brotherhood of men.
The Abraham of the spirit who left the idols of Chaldean materialism and imagination and tradition to sojourn and to teach in
Palestine was a DivineMessenger. He became the father of a great physical race that was to enjoy a special mission in history; He likewise became the spiritual father from whom countless generations of Israelites of the spirit have come, for it is true that wherever men of whatever race have acted with love for God and man they have been one as keepers of God's eternal Covenant. Abraham, in another and less understood manner, was forbear of a great line of prophets, their spiritual predecessor and their physical ancestor.
Isaiah and Jeremiah were Jews.Jesus, whose supreme spiritual genius gave Him sovereignty in the entire western world, was born of a Jewish mother through the line of Isaac and David, Muhammad's descent from Abraham can be traced to Ish-mae1, son of Abraham.
The Bib, in whom Bahá'ís recognize the Herald (or the Elijah) of the Bahá'í era, was a direct heir of the House of Hashim and descendant thus of the Arabian Prophet and through Him, of Abraham.
Bahá'u'lláh was heir of royal Persian blood coming from Zoroaster, ancient Prophet of tr~n; and also through His mother was a descendant of Abraham through Katura and Jesse. Literally, by the seed of Abraham have the nations been blessed.
Through this seed of divine guidance will the dream of world brotherhood come true. Although practical commands of the Hebrew Covenant were intended for the Jews alone, and such peoples as might join them in the Mosaic dispensation, the inner reality of that Covenant, the specific spiritual teaching, was to remain the law forever because in its essence it is eternal, applicable to every age.
Each new prophet renewed its potency, recalled for His special people its meaning and its promise.
Each prophet, including Bahá'u'lláh who today as the Great Michael (Dan.
12) speaks for the whole of humanity, re-proclaimed Abraham's revelation from God: ~ am the Almighty
God:abrogated those ordinances of His predecessor which were no longer adequate or suitable to meet the needs of an evolving humanity.
ISRAEL'S MISSIONUnder the guidance of this new universal Messenger, the "Desire of the nations," the meaning of the service to be rendered by God's peculiar people in uniting humanity assumes magnitude even beyond their vision. It is true that each great religious order of the world sees itself as a chosen vehicle not only for the most effective transmission of God's spirit to men, but also God's plan for universal salvation in an eventual establishment of world harmony, justice and peace. Although the faithful believers in each of these groups could not all be right in their understanding on this matter, the error may lie, not so much in their vision of a future civilization motivated by religion, as in the desire which would exalt any one specific institutional name, rather than proclaim the spirit of love which gave each birth under
Page 875whatever name was appropriate to the time. Inasmuch as this spirit of love becomes renewed and relived by all peoples, all will become instruments of God's purpose in building a
Kingdom of Righteousnesson earth, whether under a new name or an old. In this program Israel will do her part. The return to Palestine is already effecting her regeneration as a nation with a positive and dynamic attitude.
Seeing the importance of this function which Israel may serve in the world, Albert Einstein has written: ~ am a national Jew in the sense that I demand the preservation of the Jewish nationality, as of every other. ...
But my Zionism does not exclude cosmopolitan views. I believe that every Jew has duties toward his coreligionists.
Through the return of the Jews to Palestine, and so to a normal and healthy economic life, Zionism involves a creative function, which should enrich mankind at large."
There seems, however, to be a more distinctive mission than this reserved for the Jews, which does not nullify, but enhances the significance of the present restoration and aids the cause of world regeneration. From Old Testament wisdom we may learn that the Jewish national home is to be the center of the new world civilization.
Whatever of good Palestine will do for the Jews themselves as one aid to rebirth in this transition era before that civilization is firmly established, whatever of worth the Jews may give to the world as a creative nation once more, above all of this, and because of this perhaps, they are now laying the substructure of the world capital.
When the federation of nations is achieved, as Bahá'u'lláh assures us it will be, this people, capable of great mental accomplishment, and of supreme iove, self-sacrifice and forgiveness, will become the hosts of all the races and religions which were for so long inhospitable to them.
For it is in Palestine that Occident and Orient find their natural meeting ground; it is in Palestine from the growing metropolis of Haifa-Acca today that the vitalizing forces of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation radiate to all the earth; it is in the Holy Land, indicates Shoghi Effendi, where will be established ttthe nerve center of a world civilization, the focus where the unifying forces of life will converge"; it is from this historic place that the Branch of guidance in this Day of Jehovah will be the standard of the nations, and the prophecies of princely authority, like unto that of David, be fulfilled.
Israel will complete the superstructure in Palestine when the universal impulse of creation, released through Bahá'u'lláh, becomes the conscious living core of her own unity throughout the world, when through it she is once again at one with the primordial motives of her being as a people illumined, when as Zion (at Jerusalem) rejoicing with Carmel (at Haifa) she may give of her talents to the service of mankind.
Because of the fact that co-eva1 with this evolution will come the spiritual maturity of other peoples, Israel will find in the rising commonwealth of nations � the new Jerusalem � that her problems of how to live in a non-Jewish world has been solved, for her as a nation, or for all Jews who in foreign lands prefer to move the way of ultimate assimilation.
This, because the age in which we live will recognize 'fits new and living Word." Injustice and prejudice will vanish and the Jew, wherever he lives, will become known for his virtues. "Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory.
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God."14 Under the unclouded Sun of a new revelation, when religion once again directs the conscious efforts of men, the new Jew will be received into a joyous international citizenship.
His folk religion will have been fully expanded to meet the radically changed needs of the time.
Then will there be singing on Mount Zion. 14 Isaiah, 62:4.
Page 876Some of the Bahá'ís of Bombay, India gathered to bid farewell to their indefatigable fellow-worker, Miss Martha Root on the occasion of her departure for Australia and New Zealand. (Miss Root holds a bouquet of flowers.)
Page 877IN THE late winter of 1932 an inspiring letter from Shoghi Effendi, the revered and beloved guardian of the Bahá'í Cause, reached me in Brookline, Massachusetts, saying, ttj trust that your health is sufficiently restored to enable you to resume with enthusiasm and vigor your services to the Cause in Europe. Central and Southeastern Europe are the fields to which I would like you to direct your attention."
On April 13th, after saying goodbye to my beloved sister, Mrs. George Lewis Nelson, and all my friends, I sailed on the S.S. Bremen for France, and proceeded immediately to Geneva where I found pleasant hospitality and met persons of interest at Maison Internationale.
Attending some sessions of the league of Nations, frequenting the Bahá'í Bureau where activities were directed by dear Mrs. Emogene Hoagg, and telling the Bahá'í Message, occupied the time while awaiting further instructions from Shoghi Effendi. A letter soon arrived informing me of a new arrangement regarding his plans for the spread of the Faith.
He had been able to provide a sufficient number of teachers to take care of the work in Central and Southeastern Europe, and therefore I was instructed to ~cConcentrate on North Germany and Holland. Holland is a totally new country to the Cause, so it will be true pioneer service," he wrote.
This change of plan was very welcome as it would allow me to meet again some of the dear friends in Germany, made during a previous teaching journey through that country in 1930.
As to Holland, the land of peace, glorious paintings, windmills, and tulips, I had no affiliations whatever. However, knowing that
Bahá'u'lláh would Ccpavethe way" for those in His service, high hopes arose that assistance would be at hand, and soon doors began to open.
A most interesting English woman had a room near mine at Maison Internationale, Miss Mary Eaton, well known in European countries through her compassionate prison reform achievements.
She had heard much of the Bahá'í Cause through Lady Blomfield, whose devotion to the Faith and to the establishment of the "New World Order" on earth, is well known in England.
Miss Eaton, upon hearing of the change in my immediate future plans, took a lively interest in introducing me, by letter, to a clever young friend, Miss Hildtsant Kastner of Leipsig, the city selected as my first destination after leaving Geneva. This young lady spent part of each year in Holland and therefore could inform me of all things, religious, social, or financial important to 1(now, in order to avoid awkward situations. This friendly aid along an unknown path was heartening, and dispelled all care as I started on my northern journey � speaking of the Cause to groups of persons at Leipsig, Berlin, Rostock, and Hamburg � then on to Amsterdam, arriving July 27th.
As was my custom in foreign lands, I first sought the American Consul to make known my purpose in coming to Holland, toward which he showed a kindly interest. Through his advice, it became possible to become a member of the oniy woman's club in Holland, the beautiful, centrally-placed Nederlandsche Vrouwenclub on Keizers-gracht, which was bordered on either side with immense trees, broadly branched, that added charm and grace to the reflections in the canal of the stately old houses.
Because the Vrouwenclubwas closely associated with the Lyceum Club of London, to which I had belonged when living in 877
Page 878England for several years, I was admitted to the club with no further questioning.
It soon became evident that staying in this well known place was helpful to my work in every respect as well as less expensive than living in hotels.
Being a stranger with no letters of introduction to anyone in that country, and having come to present a totally unknown, all-inclusive religious movement, made progress very slow.
However, before long I became acquainted with some kind and delightful young Quakers who, having heard that a world peace movement was being introduced for the first time to Holland, came to the club several times and brought some of their acquaintances to investigate the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and were much impressed with His ideas of bringing to pass the unity of mankind and the establishment of world peace and federation of nations.
Eventually an invitation came to attend a meeting, held in the drawing room of one of these ladies, and I was cordially invited to give to them the message I had come to Holland to deliver.
After I had finished speaking, all showed intelligent interest through the questions that were asked, and some of them wished to know where Bahá'í books could be found and I directed them to Miss Lena de Beer's delightful and choice little book shop on Lange Voorhout, The
Hague.Several persons whom I met remonstrated with me, in a kindly manner, for bringing such a thought-inspiring movement to Holland at that time of year, "when all people of capacity seek the country, the sea, the sand dunes, the forest, to rest completely from all serious considerations of life." They urged me to return to Holland when those who were internationally minded would have come back to their winter activities.
* * In the spring of 1933, before I left America for a second attempt to promote knowledge of the Baha Revelation in the Netherlands, a letter from Shoghi Effendi arrived containing this encouraging and wel-. come message: The New Era is being translated into Dutch and ere long will be printed. It will serve as a splendid ally to you in your pioneering endeavors in that land."
Shortly after this I was favored by receiving two letters of introduction to Holland which opened doors of opportunity in many directions. One from the ttNational Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada" which stated, "We learn that at the request of Shoghi EfTendi you are going to Holland to render service to the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.As the country of Holland had important political ties with the United States in the days of New Amsterdam, so we hope that spiritual bonds will join these two free, independent, and democratic countries for common service to international peace and world order." Mr. Horace Holley, the secretary, wrote and sent me several names of internationally minded persons and societies that might be of service, particularly at The Hague.
There also came a letter of introduction to all librarians of the Netherlands from a much valued family friend of many years standing, Dr. Herbert Putnam, the head of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., who wrote that although he was not personally affiliated with the Cause I was undertaking to proclaim, he had great respect for it. Fortified by all this thoughtful assistance, I sailed away on the S.S. lie de France, caught the CCN th Star Express" train for Amsterdam, and was once more happily established at the Nederlandsche
Vrouwen-club on MarchAfter inquiry as to the manner of presenting a letter of introduction in Holland, the first venture was made in this direction by telephoning to the head of the Universi-teit Bibliothecaris, Prof.
Dr. J. S. Theissen. Upon hearing that I wished to present a book to his library concerning a world peace movement little known among his people, also that I possessed a letter from Dr. Herbert Putnam, head of the Library of Congress of Washington, introducing me to the librarians of Holland, he responded enthusiastically and in perfect English, ~ know all about Dr. Putnam's notable library achievements.
Will you not come to see me? Can you come now?I am at leisure.~~ Taking the English edition of the book,
Page 879then being published in the Dutch language by Nijgh & Von Ditmar, which I hoped to place in his library, and calling a taxicab, I was soon in the presence of an elderly man of noble aspect, cultivated and courteous manner, to whom I offered my two letters of introduction.
He sat opposite me at a large desk and listened with rapt attention to an outline of the history of the sacrificial lives of the three great Founders of the Cause, of its princi-pies and universal aims, of its worldwide expansion through the wealth of Bahá'í literature, through the effect of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í extensive missionary journeys in Europe, England, and throughout the United States, from Boston to San Francisco, and through its present day consolidation under the direc-. tion of Shoghi Effendi, who is the interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh's Word and is adjusting His laws of world unity to the needs of humanity through Bahá'í institutions that are functioning all around the world.
From time to time, Dr. Theissen expressed his approval and interest in what was being said through exclamations such as t~HOW extraordinary!
How timely these princi-pies!"After which he telephoned to Miss A. C. Gebhard, the director of the large public library on Keizersgracht, saying he had just been listening to a world peace message in which he felt she would be interested, and arranged for me to meet her at her library.
As I arose to depart, Dr. Theissen said, very quietly and earnestly, ~tThat a movement so important, of which I have never even heard, could have arisen, spread its influence throughout the world, flourished since the year 1844 and become established to an acknowledged degree that warrants a letterhead such as that upon this letter of introduction, amazes me! (It was the letter from the National
Spiritual Assembly.) Thankyou for bringing me so beautiful a message this morning. What may I do to assist in making it known to Holland?"
Pausing a moment to consider this generous and unexpected offer, it occurred to me to ask if it would be possible for him to give me a list of the names of the persons to whom so universal a movement would appeal.
This request was fully complied with in a few days, and upon the list were found names of the directors and members of peace societies, heads of international bureaus, lecturers and writers, some of the librarians, Theosophists, Esperantists, and private persons devoting their time and energies to the bettering of human conditions and furthering peace relations. In a good many cases the attitude of mind to be encountered was given � religious, scientific, philosophical or atheistical.
As the Bahá'í Revelationspeaks to all phases of life, this knowledge made an easier approach to strangers.
'When I went to see Miss Gebhard at her library I found a woman of great sincerity and unusual capacity of heart and mind. After hearing to some degree the principles and aims of the Cause, she asked if I would come with her a short distance to include a friend in all that she was hearing, Miss Clara Nayers, head of the women's department of the Rotterdarn Bank, "one of Holland's most brilliant women, very influential in all kinds of progressive movements and clubs, and devoted to the education and advancement of women.
Miss Nayers was ready to receive us and there followed a highly animated conversation during which Miss Nayers made known that she specially desired to learn what soiu-tion for the economic problems
Bahá'u'lláh's TeachingsI had taken with me Shoghi Effendi's The Coal of the New World Order, and Mr. Horace Holley's
World Economy of Bahá'u'lláhand Testament, proclaimed that after His own departure, a succession of Guardians would for a period of one thousand years direct and administer the Bahá'í principles and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh f or the needs of an evolving mankind.
He narne'd us grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as the one who would first occupy this station of high service to humanity, to whom all the believers must turn and whom they must obey as the inspired interpreter of the Word, the focal point through whose interpretation the House of Justice will come into being, and the true federation of nations be established on earth,
Page 880erected upon the pillars of divine love and justice.
This Will and Testamentis a document known as the most unique of its kind in all history. None of the past Divine Prophets has safeguarded the pristine purity of His Revelation and its institutions by so definite an arrangement to protect its teachings from manmade interpretations which have in the past obscured the Word uttered by each Manifestation of God.
Our mighty Guardian, ShoghiEffendi, gives to the Bahá'í Faith the sign of its present vitality, the assurance of its steady advance; and through.
him shines the living flame of its celestial power, ttAs the embryonic World
Order of Bahá'u'lláhWhen traveling in various countries, where Shoghi Effendi had sent me to make known the Faith, I became aware that there were in the world some misguided persons, who were announcing the Bahá'í Cause, but for selfish purposes of their own, were denying the need of Guardianship.
This great error has caused confusion in certain places, and I began to look about me to ascertain if any of this disloyalty had shown itself in Holland and prayed that I might find any who had been misled by so crippling an omission.
Presently I met separately and talked at length with six truth-seeking persons who, when taking their summer holiday in another country, had there heard Bahá'í lectures wherein all information put forth concerning it ended in the death of the three great Founders. This cessation of truth concerning its further progress left those who had heard the lectures with little inclination to investigate deepLy the Bahá'í literature, as it seemed to hold no more assurance of fulfillment on earth than the prophetic dispensations of the past had displayed. The great ideals, principles and laws seemed to be left hanging in midair awaiting practical application from some master builder.
Upon learning that 'Abdu'l-Bahá had appointed His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as His successor, the Guardian of the Faith and the interpreter of the sacred writings, and that he was living at Haifa, Palestine, erecting an administrative structure applicable to the entire world through which Bahá'u'lláh's design for a New World Order could become a reality, these earnest men and women began to catch a glimmer of the future stupendous possibilities lying within
DaM'-u'lUh's Revelation.During this second visit to Holland, through using my letters of introduction and through the kindness of those whom I had previously known, I met and talked of the Cause with many delightful and thoughtful persons who showed varying degrees of interest. Most of them were too much occupied with their own demanding undertakings to have time for further rn-vestigation, although a few who were looking for the appearance of a new star in the East, approached the Cause with great reverence and began to study the Teachings and inquire into their meaning.
The magnificent architecture of the Cause is too vast for anyone to grasp without deep and careful study of Bahá'u'lláh's great writings and 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í interpretations of His Word. Lacking this, men are unable to grasp the indispensable need of the Bahá'í plan for the establishment of a World Commonwealth, with laws that will soive the entire range of human problems in this latter day � religious, national, social, racial, economic.
* When spending the winters of 19067 in Alassio, Italy, I often met the late Professor Lewis Campbell, professor of Greek in the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for many years, who was an eminent pupil of Dr. Benlamin Jowett, late master of
Balliol College and Professorof Greek in the University of Oxford, also Doctor of Theology of the University of Leyden, Holland.
Because of Professor Campbell'sprofound spiritual and intellectual attainments he was highly honored as one who spoke with truth-flu authority and his noted translations of Greek poetry endeared him to all. From him I first heard of the Bahá'í Revelation, the significance of which had been indelibly impressed upon him by Dr. Jowett's deep con. victions concerning it, and I wrote down some very telling sentences which Professor Campbell quoted from Dr. Jowett's words to him.
Page 881"This Baha Movement is the greatest light that has come into the world since the time of Jesus Christ. You must watch it and never let it out of your sight. It is too great and too near for this generation to comprehend.
The future alone can reveal its import."During conversations with Professor Campbell upon the vital importance of this recent outpouring of the Holy Spirit from God upon mankind I became firmly convinced of its divine origin and high destiny.
Finding that there were a great many openings at The Hague for spreading the Bahá'í Faith and having been there a number of times to meet inquirers as to its meaning, on May 4th I left Amsterdam and settled into a pleasant pension on Sophiallan No. 2, in that city.
Upon my list of names was that of the Countess von Herdt, known in many lands as a writer and promoter of peace relations, her notable work for the advancement of youthful education and her able translations into various languages.
When I wrote asking if she would allow me to talk with her of the Bahá'í Peace Movement, an invitation to have tea at Bloemendaal was the response, and upon arriving at her house I was welcomed by one whose face was alight with high purpose and attainment.
She opened the conversation by saying that long ago through her friendship with Dr. August Forel, the wellknown scientist of Switzerland, she had become much attached to Bahá'u'lláh's Cause. During years of correspondence he had tried to persuade her to put aside the lesser peace societies and center her entire attention upon the universal peace Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, as she was in perfect accord with His basic teachings.
However, the work for peace that she had entered into had entirely engrossed her attention and energies as it included an enormous correspondence that was world wide. As she spoke she opened the doors of a cabinet which contained rows of letter folders completely filled.
It was a happiness to talk with one who had so great a knowledge of Bahá'u'lláh and His Divine mission.
I came from the Countess von Herdt refreshed and grateful.
She kindly gave suggestions that assisted in making the Cause known.
I owe to Madame H. J. Romeijri, who devotes much time to furthering humanitarian and peace activities, a debt of gratitude for her many kind attentions, friendship and helpful ideas as to spreading the Bahá'í teachings. She gave a pleasant dinner party at her house, where I met Dr. Romeijn and their gifted daughter, Miss Jean Marie, and others who desired to know more of Bahá'u'lláh's great Message to the world.
Through my having an introduction to Miss M. L. Fledd6rus, director of the International Industrial Institute, a meeting was arranged and I went to her at Scheveningen and found her to be a delightful and gifted person with comprehensive outlook who immediately showed appreciation of the Bahá'í ideals.
She was exceedingly helpful on several occasions and showed sympathetic understanding of the difficulties to be encountered when introducing an unknown cause to Holland.
She was deeply engaged in work that had to do with Herr Dr. Otto Neurath's great activities and extraordinary educational charts that make plain without words the industrial and other conditions of the world. So scientific and convincing are these charts that the most ignorant of men can understand them immediately.
Dr. Neurath seems to have a mind similar to that of the late Sir Patrick Geddes, for years professor of botany at Edinburgh University, Scotland, whose selflessness, originality and creative ability in aiding humanity amounted to genius.
He loved and reverencedwas honored by 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í presence, Sir Patrick Geddes arranged for Him to deliver addresses in Edinburgh, and he later visited Him at His home in Haifa.
What I had been told ofcapacities and work, attracted me some time before I met her. She had established the Girl Scouts throughout Holland as well as the Soropto-mist Clubs and took part in international affairs and peace activities.
Her name was upon that invaluable list provided me through Dr. Theissen's effort. She arranged by telephone to visit me and expressed much appreciation of what she heard of the
Causeand kindly asked what she might do to help make it known. She was about to start for America to attend the Century of Progress Exhibition as one of the International Corps and was to deliver speeches to large audiences.
Madame Wijnaendts-Franckentook notes as I tried to make known to her the chief aims of the Cause and upon seeing for the first time a photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, a glow of surprised admiration swept over her face. The beauty of a picture of the Bahá'í TempLe then added to her interest and she exclaimed, ~ now see what may be done for this cause. I will go to the Temple, write an article about it which will come out in a Holland magazine, with reproductions of these photographs.
Publishers always accept what I write of interest when in foreign lands."
Madame Jacob Ter Meulen, wife of the director of the library at the Peace Palace, came to see me in response to a note I had written her husband telling him of the letter of introduction to Holland librarians that Dr. Herbert Putnam had given me.
Dr. Ter Meulen was ill and wished to see me as soon as his health permitted.
Madame Ter Meulen told of their delightful friendship with Dr. Putnam when they were staying in Washington, D. C., some years ago, and of the work Dr. Putnam and Dr. Ter Meulen had done together in the library.
One afternoon Madame TerMeulen asked me to meet a friend, Miss Dekker, who had, when making a visit in Philadelphia, the United States, become much interested in the Bahá'í teaching through a woman whose name had escaped her memory but whom she vividly remembered as a most lovable and remarkable person, and who had given her books about the Cause that were still in her possession.
Miss Dekker made me acquainted with an American woman, Mrs. Cornelius van der Hoogt, living at The Hague, who invited me to have tea. The conversation first centered about dear Miss
Juliet Thompson of NewYork City, who had aroused her interest in the Cause by taking her to hear an address given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at Ascension Church, when 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in America in 1912.
Mrs. van der Hoogt spoke of the beloved Master with loving reverence and heard with interest of the Administrative activities. When I arose to go she led me into another large room to see a graceful and beautiful portrait of herself that Miss Thompson had painted.
As midsummer approached the cities were so deserted that I felt inclined to return before long to America. The directors of the principal libraries in Amsterdam and at The Hague had listened with courteous attention to
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelationand accepted, with expressions of pleasure, the Dutch edition of The New Era, also Bahá'í booklets, with promises to place them on the book shelves where they would be accessible to the public.
On June 19th I sailed for home on the S.S. lie de France.
* As the winter of 1934 approached a letter from Shoghi Effendi arrived asking me to resume my work of ccservice to
His Cause in Holland."The first week in January found me ready and eager to carry out our beloved Guardian's wishes and upon reaching The Hague my work proceeded much as it had before, going from person to person and at times speaking to drawing room audiences, where the Message received cLose attention and usually a few of those present asked to see me again to talk further about it. Through correspondence I had promised to communicate with Madame Wijnaendts-Francken upon reaching The Hague, which I did, and an invitation from her arrived asking me to dinner, that we might have opportunity to talk quietly of the
Cause.Shortly afterward she arranged to have me speak at her house to a number of her friends and there followed a happy tea party during which I talked informally with a few at a time who wanted to ask questions, and all expressed satisfaction in having received so universal a message.
In a few days I received a note from a man whom I had met at Madame Wijnaendts-Francken's and who had shown keen interest in all that he had heard, which said, CCWith renewed thanks for a thoughtprovoking speech and conversation."
Madame Wijnaendts � Franckenfulfilled her promise and wrote an article about tie
Page 883The Baha Summer School of Australia and New Zealand
Community Picnic held during the 1939 session at "Bolton Place,' Yerrinbool, New South Wales.
Faith which was published by Nijgh & von Ditmer in Wereidlzroniek April 7th, 1934, illustrated as she had suggested with a photograph of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and of the two Bahá'í Temples in existence, one at 'Ishqabad, Russia, and another, now in construction, near Chicago, the United States.
Sometimes when I had been speaking, surprising comments followed. One man after listening to a talk given in his friend's house, when introduced to me later in the afternoon, remarked with conviction and a humorous glance, CCYOU were a brave woman to come to a stubborn country like this, to introduce a new peace movement.
We are the greatest arguers in the world. We argue all day and all night, and for what? To learn the truth? Not at all! Each argues to prove to himself that his standpoint is correct and each feels himself justified."
Another man said he never made efforts to try to convince a Hollander of views other than those he already held, that he had given it up long ago.
These amusing remarks were made, I imagine, that I might not become disheartened.
Although there was no Bahá'í Assembly formed through my Holland endeavors, there was, however, what might be termed a network of the knowledge of its existence and aims spread out. Many were intellectually glad to be informed of its history and principles.
A few caught the vision of its divine significance to all mankind as the fulfillment of the promise of all ages.
In April the Bahá'í PublishingCommittee kindly responded to my request for books to present to the libraries, and when, just before my return to America on April 2 1st, I delivered several books into the hands of each director of the libraries, they were welcomed with words of cordial appreciation and interest.
The list of libraries in Holland where Bab~'i Literature is to be found is appended to this article.
LIST OF LIBRARIES IN HOLLANDAmsterdam 1. Bahá'u'lláh and The
New Era � By Dr. EsslemontAmsterdam Gemente Universitait(Dutch translation).
Bibli-othecaris � Prof. Dr. 2. Book of Certitude � Kitáb-i-Iqdn J. S. Theissen, Singel � Translated from lr~nian 421. by Shoghi Effendi.
Page 884The "Rose Garden" children's class held during the 1939 session of the Bahá'í Summer School at "Bolton Place," Yerrinbool, New South Wales, Australia. 3. The Bahá'í World � A Biennial
International Record.Peace � Discourses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to the
United States in 1912. OpenbareLeeszaal en Bibliotheck � Director, Miss Anna C. Gebbard,
KeizersgrachtNew Era � By Dr. J. E. Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Baha'i! World (193032) � AMohuysen, Lange Voorhout. Promulgation of Universal Peace � Discourses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to the United States in 1912.
Some Answered Questions � Byhibliotheck von ha Vredispalais � Bibli--othecaris, Dr. Jacob Ter Meulen.
1. Bahá'u'lláh and TheNew Era � By Dr. J. E. Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Book of Certitude � Kitáb-i-Iqdn � Translated
from the Persian by Shoghi Effendi.Narrative � Translated from the Persian by Shoghi Effendi.
Dames Leeszaal en Bibliotheck � Lange VoorhoutPea ce � Discourse by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to the United States in 1912.
4. Wisdom of 'Abdu'l-Bahá � FromOpenbare Leeszaal en Bibliotheck � Bibli-othecaris, Dr. H. E. Greve.
1. Bahá'u'lláh and TheNew Era � By Dr. J. IL Esslemont (Dutch translation).
2. Book of Certitude � Kitáb-i-IqaTn � Translated
from IrAnian by Shoghi Effendi.3. Baha'i, The Spirit of the Age � By Mr. Horace Halley.
Page 885LL&. L. M. Nicolas, after having passed the greater part of his life in IrAn, now lives in a pleasant corner of Paris in the rue George Sand, surrounded by his books and his souvenirs of the Orient. For some years the Bahá'ís of Paris have entertained the most cordial relations with him and to him is due their gratitude and appreciation for the courtesy of the following interview which was sought by Miss Edith Sanderson expressly for the Baha World. The interview took place on February 7, 1939.
Quels furent vos debuts en Perse?Je suis n6 ~i Rash Gil4n, province de la rive occidentale de la Caspienne. Je ne par-laTh que le Persan et le Russe. Quand je vms en France j '6tais habill6 en cosaque.
Mes d6buts en Ir4n (Perse) n'ont rien d'extraordinaire: ceux d'un ieune homme ardent, desireux de s'instruire.
Mon p&e 6tait premier interpr&e de Ia Legation de France en Perse, poste que j'ai rempli ~galement plus tard.
De queue fa~on vous &es-vous trouv~ en rapport avec les BThis?
CCGobineau arrivant ~ Ia L6gation, tr&s imbu des pr6jug~s diplomatiques, m6prisant ses collaborateurs, entra en lutte avec mon p&e au sujet d'un manuscrit achet6 par celui-ci ~ un courtier. Mon p&e me lit & cc propos des rcmarques qui m'orient&ent vers 1'id6e de vdrifier par moi-m~me le fond des choses.
Dans ses papiers ii laissa une critique de ce ijyre de Gobineau: CLes Religions et les Phulosophie dans 1'Asie Cen-trale,' qui m'incita ~ en rechercher et r&futer les erreurs, cet ouvrage ayant 6te' 6crit sans donn6es suflissantes avec 1'aide d'un IsraNite que Gobineau avait comme professeur de persan et qui ne pouvait apprendre ~ son d&ve que le peu qu'il savait cle la secte. Je me documentai largement, grace au secr& take indig&ne, Mirza Ebrahirn, de Tihrin, que je d6couvris ~tre Bahá'í et qui me mit en rapport avec les sectateurs."
Comment vous etes-vous interess6 ~ Ia Cause du Bab, au BTh Lui � meme?
Qu'est-ce qui vous a amen6 ~t traduire Ses oeuvres? A ecrire votre ijyre ttSiyyid 'Ali-Mubam-mad, dit le
Mb?"que pendant les deux or troTh ans que dura mon 6tude je fin souvent 6bloui par les explications que le B~b nous donne sur certains myst&res tels que la mort, la r6surrection, le Sirat � ce Pont qui sur-passe 1'enfer, fin comme un cheveu, tran-chant comme un rasoir, a que le croyant traverse avec la rapidit6 de l'&lair.
Ces explications me plurent et je m'enfon~ai de pius en plus dans mes travaux.
Ii ne me resta plus qu'~ regretter d'avoir n6glig6 la traduction de la majorit6 des 6crits sortis de Ia plume du Prophete.
ttDe mdme, lisant le tLivre des Sept Preuves,' que j'ai traduit, j'ai dt6 s6duit par Ia clart6 du raisonnement du Mb. J'&ais aid6 dans mon travail par un jeune Persan et chaque jour nous allions l'apr~s midi nous promener hors de Ia yule en sortant par Ia porte du Chimran.
La puret6 de Pair, la s6r6nit6, Ia douceur de la temp6rature et, ~ certaines saisons, le parfum des acacias pr6-disposajent mon &me ~t la paix et ~ Ia dou-ceur.
Les r~flexions que je me faisais sur l'dtrange livre que je traduisais m'envahirent d'une esp&ce d'ivresse a je devins peu ~ peu profond6ment et uniquement B&bi. * A. L. M. Nicolas, so long known by the worldwide Bahá'í Community for his association in I r~n with some of the early followers of the Edb, and his translations of His Writings into the French language, accorded to Miss Edith Sanderson in Paris just before his recent demise, the interview which is here reproduced.
This interview took place Feb. 7, 1939.A. L. M. Nicolas Plus je me plongeais dans ces r6flexions plus j'admirais La hauteur du g6nie de celui qui, ne ~r Shir6z avait r~v~ de soulever le monde musulman, et 1'explication du sens des mots de la croyance Shiite m'entraina petit h petit ~ 6crire 'Siyyid 'Au-Muhammad, cUt le Bib.'
"Je vouLais naturellement parfaire mon ouvrage et cela m'amena ~ des recherches a ~ des conversations avec des BThis � de fait des Azalis et des Baha'is.
Je trouvai devant moi une mine abondante et que je n'ai pas 6puis& car ii y ~ des oeuvres dli Mb que je n'ai pas aflleur6es."
Comment vos publications ont-elles 6t6 d'abord accuejilies?
ttJe n'ai g&re Pu rendre compte.t~Un jeune Persan m'avait dit que les Bahá'ís approuvaient mes travaux, mais que j'avais tort de traduire le Bay~n, deja abroge, plutOt que 1'1 q~n.
~tGette m~me remarque a 6t~ faite par M. Hippolyte Dreyfus dans ian de ses ouvrages.
~CAU cours de 1'6t6 de 1906 j'ai rencontrd M. Dreyfus en m~me temps que Mine. La-cheney a Miss Laura Barney: us etajent 'Cs premiers Bahá'ís franqais et americains voya-geant en IrAn.
connu aussi le Professeur Browne de l'Universit6 de Cambridge et dm6 avec hi ~ la Ldgation de France.
C'6tait avant sa visite ~ Bahá'u'lláh a Baha'i, pr6s de Saint-Jean d'Acre
('Akka). J'aurais Pule mettre en rapport avec des Bahá'ís s'iI n'6tait rest6 silencieux ~ ce sujet.
ttAu Su6dois Christiansen j'ai pr6sent~ un Siyyid, ce qui liii i permis d'&rire ses tGontes Persans.'
ccMe travaux sur 1'oeuvrc du Báb m'ont amen6 ~ ~tre en contradiction avec le Baron Rosen qui avait publi6 des extraits des oeuv
Page 887AN INTERVIEW WITH A. L. M. NICOLAS 887
The First Bahá'í Summer School of India Held at Simla
In the center is Martha Root, beloved teacher of the Faith throughout East and West, who was touring India and Burma.
rages du B&b: ic Baron Rosen considerait que si Ofl changeait l6g&ement la signification des mots du Bib en le traduisant on arrivait ~ mieux le faire comprendre. Ma connaissance compl&te de la langue persane me permettait de trouver un sens 6clatant de v6ritd dans Ia traduction int~gra1e des paroles du BTh."
Pensez-vous que les enseignements du Báb s'adaptent aux temps modernes?
ttParfaitment, ~t la condition cependant que les Temps Modernes s'adaptent aux cisions du Mb."
Croyez-vous ~ 'a port6e mondiale de la Rdvdlation du BTh?
t~Je ne vois aucune raison ce que le monde ne se soumette pas ~i la R6v6lation du Bib. ~ est diflicile,' dit le proverbe franqais, tde satisfaire tout le monde et son p~re.' Mais la raison finit toujours par avoir raison.
Miss Sanderson ajoute que "Les Bahá'ís doivent beaucoup ~t 1'oeuvre de M. A. L. M. Nicolas, car cet 6rudit ~ traduit en fran-qais les 6crits suivants du BTh, ce qui permet une 6tude plus approfondie de cc remarquable personnage et de sa r6v6lation vivifiante: BayAn Persan, 4 volumes.1 Bay6n
AbbasM. Nicolas est connu aussi par les orien-talistes pour ses ttEi sur le Cheikhisme," en quatre fasciculesi 'Chez Paul Geutliner, 13, rue Jacob, Paris
6; France.THE chimes of New Orleans were ringing in the New Year as we boarded a steamer bound for Cuba.
The Mississippi river runs from New Orleans to the Delta, a distance of a hundred miles, before it empties into the sea.
Old plantations line its banks. Little life is stirring there today, but before the Civil War, these cotton fields formed part of Louisiana's wealth and teemed with life. Spirituals born of pain and gladness and faith in God were sung � songs that will pierce the hearts of men for generations to come.
In Cuba we were obliged to transship, as Yucatan lies outside frequented steamship lines and oniy one boat a month touches there.
The coast of Yucatan is inhospitable in the extreme; sandbars stretch far out to sea forcing steamers to anchor several miles off shore, while passengers must be brought in by means of small boats.
Was it force of circumstances, adventure or destiny that brought an ancient people to choose this land as the center of their religious and intellectual life that existed for more than a thousand years?
The ruins, vast in extent as well as beauty, have brought forth sighs of admiration from the whole world, yet they are hidden away like jewels in a mine.
The land like the sea is flat. Rivers run under ground and give no sign of their existence save for a luxurious vegetation. Even while we sat on the wharf waiting for officials, the values of yesterday slipped away; waiting in the sunshine appeared a normal occupation and the hours elongated so there was time left over.
Every place has its tempo, staccato or siow, measured or quick, and thus you learn to keep step with each and to be in tune with all.
Some time in the afternoon we drove into Merida, the only city of any considerable size in Yucatan.
One can see how charmingly planned the city had been, with three rows of trees on each side of wide streets, and planting of flowers and shrubs along the center. Once it must have been an oasis of fragrant beauty in a parched land.
Now its grandeur is bowed in the dust.Stately mansions copied from the French villas of the eighteenth century are loud in lamentation.
Streaks of paint blacken the walls, oval windows are without panes, while lawns are littered with stucco roses and cupids that have fallen from ornate cornices. Whole blocks are boarded up.
Once on a time fountains ran proud and free everywhere; now all are silenced.
What has brought about such a disastrous change? The answer lies in a shift of ownership that has bankrupted the rich merchants, for Yucatan is the native habitat of a special type of cactus from which rope is made. The control of this vastly important industry has become the property of the Mexican government and the income derived from the plantations goes to Mexico. With the decline of private wealth, the clerical party has fallen on evil days, and the churches like the manor houses are closed. One priest for a given number of miles is strictly enforced.
Our first visit was to interview Sr. Rube M. Romero, editor and owner of the oniy liberal newspaper in Yucatan. For his daring he has been stoned and more than once had his equipment set on fire.
He was most receptive to Bahá'í ideals and listened to the Message with deep attention.
He speaks no English and asked for the books in Spanish which he said he would gladly review in his paper. He accepted and published in the Yucatan an article on The Bahá'í Religion, placing it on the front page of his paper.
Next we visited the Chamber of Commerce where Sr. N. Sarlet, the chairman granted us an interview. He received us with courtesy but was noncommital; his preoccupied manner was to become familiar to us while talking with prominent men of the city, an attitude of listening with ap 888
Page 889YUCATAN... 1939 889 parent fear of hearing what might be said, a state of fear where no one dared make a decision, a great unwillingness to speak lest words be used against you.
Chichen Itza was our ultimate destination, a four-hour ride from the city of Merida. The roads were incredibly bad: momentarily it seemed as though the wheels would fly off and the whole motor shake to pieces. The chauffeur seemed pained by our apprehension; he assured us that this was considered a fine road and expressed surprise that we could not enjoy it with serenity.
Finally, we drew up before the only inn at Chichen Itza, consisting of a main building surrounded by small adobe houses, each round and thatched. These are the rooms for guests.
Vistas of the Mayan city could be seen through the trees. The work of restoration has been going on for almost a hundred years, and immediately after the war the Carnegie Institute sent a commission to complete the work.
Though there are innumerable mounds yet untouched, a group of buildings that must have formed the central pivot of the city, stands complete and perfect. The architecture is surprising, combining many forms which they could not have possibly seen � the field of games might have been built today, while the ceremonial altars are formed like a pyramid, the top gained by hundreds of steps etched into each of its four sides, the plumed serpents having been carved to extend the entire length and form a balustrade as well as a symbolic ornament.
The Temple of the Warriors, so named by the Carnegie commission, has six columns of figures, elaborately dressed in robes of state, very suggestive of a Greek Temple, while the tower for astronomical observations is round and might have been a mosque.
As the Spanish Fathersburned all Mayan records, little is known of the belief or even the customs of the people. No Rosetta stone has yet been found to decipher the hieroglyphics written on the stones. Perhaps it is this fact that acts upon the imagination and gives one a special zest to piece together the fragments that have been gleaned since the Spanish invasion.
There is a moment of supreme glory in every clime � the coming of the day � but none, I believe, can surpass the sunrise of Yucatan.
Its most dramatic feature is caused by the heavy dew that rains down each night obscuring forest and glen and covering the ground until it looks as though a white sheet had been laid over it. The first shaft of morning light penetrates the thatch with long fingers of light that swing around the crevices between the walls of adobe and the roof turning the thatch into bright gold; showers of diamonds shake from the trees, while scarfs of mist float upward to be shot through with iridescent colors from the sun. Sometimes whole sheets of dew lift from the grass and float off like a magic carpet that disappears by the wand of the great magician.
Jungle birds, wild with the joy of the coming day, try to reach the sun with their top notes and as the curtains of mist part, one building after another rises to greet the dawn as they did thousands of years ago.
Even to this day, the proud descendants of the Mayans will not speak Spanish uniess forced to, but they are glad to pick up English words and are friendly with strangers. The rainy season had just come to an end when we arrived and an army of workmen were repairing adobe walls that melt away each year from the excessive rain; even the heavy thatch must be changed every other year.
Mayans will not work under an overseer. A man we would speak of as foreman, is referred to as the oldest friend of the Chichen Itza inn, and it was this important person who extended to us his hospitality and invited us to a supper given to celebrate Twelfth Night. We gladly accepted his invitation. His home, like that of his ancestors before him, was in the jungle. Each house is hidden securely by miles of vegetation. It is oniy when the moon is overhead that it is safe to enter the jungle by night. The roads are rough and winding and often obscured by mist which gives the privacy so dear to the heart of the Mayan people.
Twelfth Night fell at the full of the moon and the night turned clear and bright. Though dew was falling from myriad of leaves, we could see bits of sky above and a brightness cast by the moon. A member of the family was sent to conduct us and from
Page 890him we learned why there were no locks on the doors at Chichen Itza. He replied in answer to our question that his people had never learned to steal, "We do not want what belongs to others because we can use oniy that which willingly comes to us." I asked if there were any Mayan beliefs mixed with the Catholicism which they had practiced since the Spanish conquest.
"We still remember," he replied, ttsome of the holy sayings of our ancestors and we keep them alive from one generation to another."
At length the flares came into view. Mayan houses consist of two rooms separated by a walled patio. Both poor and rich sleep in hammocks that are taken down during the day and the space used for other purposes.
The poor make their hammocks of hemp and the well-to-do of raw silk with long knotted fringe that can be wrapped around for warmth. One hammock lasts a lifetime and reduces the cumbersome apparel of night to its simplest equation. Fragrant boughs are fastened over the entrance so that bad spirits cannot enter and the hard mud floors are swept and garnished with wild flowers.
As we drove up, the tortilla, the staple food of the country, was being cooked.
We were ushered into the room reserved for ceremonials.
Three boards had been placed across one side in order to form an altar. High up were streamers of tissue paper representing the Three 'Wise Kings of the East on their visit to Bethlehem. The middle shelf was covered by crude china dogs, guardians of the Mayan Law, reminding one of the symbol of China.
The lowest altar was a concession to the faith of the Spanish fathers, with the Madonna of Guadeloupe sewn on lace and surrounded by homemade candles and wayside roses. Before these mixed symbols we sat down, one Englishman, two Spaniards and myself.
For a long time nothing was said. At length, the Spaniard nearest me said in a whisper, "What can one believe?
How much is true, how much false among the myths, the superstitions and the twice-told tales? Yet deep in the heart lies a persistent belief that we are here for some high purpose, some great design of an Almighty Being."
In the patio, noisy preparations were going ing forward, so we drew closer together that I might answer the question.
The appearance of Bahá'u'lláh in this day is the new chapter of evolution for mankind.
An era begins with the appearance of a dynamic personality who founds a new civilization. History attests this fact. The advent of the Prophet becomes the pivotal point of the spiritual seasons.
His coming is the springtime, His teaching the summer, and when the divine precepts penetrate the heart, the harvest appears. Finally comes the winter season, when religion is handed down and accepted without question and without ecstasy. Now mental concepts and discussion take the place of iove. Limited minds construct dogmas; forms and ceremonials become overweeningly important. Belief, no longer spontaneous, becomes rigid. The cold winds of dispute blow over the land and the truth seeker knows not where to turn for guidance.
In this dark hour comes the Illumined One, He brings again the creative force that man has lost; knowledge of Him renews life and a new energy is apparent in all things. As the spiritual light creates a higher vibration, old barriers crumble, governments fall, idols are overthrown.
In Bahá'u'lláh's own words: !cThe world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new
World Order. Mankind'sordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System � the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed."
(From The Gleanings, page 136.)Each religion that has preceded this dispensation, has believed that the Prophet sent to his people was The True One and all others were false.
Bahá'u'lláh's teaching reverses these limitations � all have been sent down at stated intervals and all have renewed religion.
All have restated the fundamental verity of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. All have advanced the body politic and have been an honor to mankind.
But the outer laws are changed in accordance with the exigencies of each age. Bahá'u'lláh, speaking of his own message, says: tq have no will but Thy will, 0 my Lord, and cherish no desire except Thy desire. From my pen floweth only summons
Page 891YUCATAN... 1939 891 Attendants and friends at the Bahá'í Summer School of Australia held at Yerrinbool, S.W. Australia, in January, 1939.
which thine exalted pen hath voiced and my tongue uttereth naught save what the Most Great Spirit bath itself proclaimed in the kingdom of Thine eternity." (From Prayers and Meditation, page 108.)
The choice lies with us � the will is free. If we wish, we can investigate truth for ourselves, we can learn the characteristics of a Messenger of God and apply our knowi � edge.
Pausing, I suggested that we should repeat the Greatest Name that this knowi-. edge may come to us. At the mention of this greatest of vibrations, the walls before us seemed to dissolve, the heart of the jungle lay bare.
With the inner eye, I beheld an ancient people coming from all directions, crowding near to hear the great Name of God. Even as the three Kings journeyed from the East to greet the Lord of that day, so we were journeying to the Mayan people to greet the Lord of this day. Old and new � present and past � flowed together in that moment of eternity. One instant of reality shot from heaven to earth. When we returned to the objective world, tears stood in the eyes of my new found friends.
In halting phrases, each expressed his reactions. One said that faith had been born again; another, that he had known in his heart the new message but did not know where to find it; the third felt that the heritage of the ages was consummated in this day and that the world of the spirit had for a moment become a reality.
When we were called to join in the Mayan supper and celebrate the holiday, Twelfth Night, our hearts were light and joyous and bound by a new allegiance.
Page 892A STUDENT of comparative religion should be familiar with the scriptures of different historical faiths. He should know when they were written or recorded, what were the main contents of those scriptures and what they teach. For such a student, it is not necessary that he should go to the originals and study them in the languages in which these scriptures were revealed.
If he were to do that, he would have to study Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, Pali and Persian (old and new) � all very difficult languages to learn, In these days he can buy the translations in English or in the vernaculars and go through them and get into their spirit and not wrangle about the interpretations of the texts. Such a study of course would be very fruitful and create a spirit of understanding and sympathy and enable the student to arrive at truth for himself.
He will learn about religion at first hand and not by hearsay.
It is with this object that I wish to present in the briefest possible manner an account of the scriptures of different faiths in the h9pe that some, at any rate, will take up their study in their Leisure time.
Tnr HINDU SCRIPTURESAmong the scriptures of the Hindu religion the most outstanding and the most comprehensive is the Rhagawad � Gita, which should be considered as a text in Hinduism by a student of comparative religion. The Vedas, the Upanishads and the various schools of philosophy are too technical and very difficult to master and can be studied at a later stage.
In all the sacred literature of India no book has exerted so profound and universal an influence on religious thought and life of Hinduism in all its branches as
Bhagawad-Gita of Sri Krishna.It has rightly been called the greatest philosophical poem in the literature of the world.
The Gita, which forms a part of the Mahabharata, is the most popular religious poem in Sanskrit literature.
ft is a book conveying lessons of philosophy, religion and ethics and is available in every language and can be read in a short time. Its message is simple and is within the reach of all and is universal in its scope. The main spirit of the Gita is that of the Upanishads; only there is a greater emphasis on the religious side.
The date of its composition is not known, but it was probably written in 500 B.C. The philosophical background of the Gita as stated above is taken from the Upani � shands.
The author of the Gita, however, made the impersonal and the absolute of the Upanishands into a personal Ishwara. Then there are the teachings of the Sankhya, the Yoga and the Vedanta to be found in combination. These terms, however, when they occur in the Gita do not represent the classical philosophic schools of thought, but reflective and meditative methods of gaining salvation or union with God. For instance, though the Gita recognizes the distinction between Pursha and Prakriti, yet it overcomes this dualism by saying that there is a spiritual fact behind this play of nature. Pursha or spirit is not an independent reality, it is the spectator and not an actor. Prakriti or nature does everything.
Again the two doctrines, the theistic and the pantheistic, are mixed up with each other and follow each other and the two beliefs are treated almost throughout as though there was indeed no difference between them. This change of emphasis from the speculative to the practical, from the philosophical to the religious, is indeed mar ~ This paper was read before the students of Hindu College in Lahore, India.
892THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS 893
veious. "The central purpose of Gita," in the words of Prof. Radhakrishnan, "is to solve the problem of life and stimulate right conduct." The Gita, therefore, is a system of speculation as well as a rule of life, an intellectual search for truth, as well as an attempt to make the truth dynamic in the soul of man.
Above all the Gita harmonizes the different ideals of life and synthesizes them all and shows the exact place and value of each of them. For instance, Gita recognizes two kinds of knowledge, that which seeks to understand the objective phenomena of existence and that which grasps the ultimate principle behind the phenomena by means of intuition.
The one is called V'igyan or science and the other Gayan or knowledge, that is to say the integral knowledge of the common foundation of all existence.
As a means of getting the second kind of knowledge, th~ Gita recommends the Yogic discipline, of which the essential steps are purification of mind, concentration and its identification with the real when we reach it. True Yoga, according to the Gita, is the control of senses and indifference to the attractions of material objects. True Gayan or knowledge is the recognition of a self-existent eternal spirit in every man.
An equal emphasis is laid on Karma or action and on Bhakhti or devotion.
As a matter of fact the Gita coordinates Gayan, Karma and B/mAt).
THE BtYDDHISTIC SCRIPTURESWe shall next take up the Buddhistic Scriptures which are in the Pali language, as they were like tbe Vedas, reduced to writing long after the founder of Buddhism bad given them to his disciples.
The Pali language is like the old Sanskrit.Lord Buddha or the "Enlightened One" lived from 567 B.C. to 487 B.C. and his sayings and discourses were compiled and completed two hundred and fifty years after his death and were reduced to writing in about 80 B.C. in Ceylon by his disciples after they had sifted and sorted them in the various councils held from time to time. The present translations are largely from the Pali texts.
The Buddhist scriptures are known asThey are known in Pali as Suttas. The part dealing with the discipline of monks is known as Vinaya and that dealing with the Buddhistic doctrines, such as psychology, logic and ethics, is known by the name of Abhid-hamma.
These constitute theThe Buddhist thought evolved slowly, and consequently, it varied by slight degrees as the centuries passed by. Many schools of thought have therefore arisen in the past, the most two important being the
Mahayana (the Greater(the lesser Vehicle) � a school that flourished in the North.
The teachings of Buddha as they have come down to us through the Pitakes may be briefly described as follows: "Buddha taught that the seeker of salvation should be warned against the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortifica-tion, both are unworthy and unprofitable."
There is the Middle Way, following which, according to Lord Buddha, man arrives at peace of mind, knowledge, enlightenment and attains to Nirvana or liberation.
This Middle Way is the well known eightfold path of Buddha which has been described as follows: The first step in the path is right belief, i.e., belief in the four fundamental principles enunciated by Buddha. He assumed that suffering was universal; and that we must find out the cause of this suffering and try to remove it, and then he pointed out the way which is known as the eightfold path of which right belief is the first step. Then follows the right resolution or the resolve to renounce all sensual pleasures, to have malice towards none and to harm no living creature. Right speech means that one should abstain from backbiting and slander, should nor use harsh language nor tell lies, nor indulge in frivolous talk. Right conduct according to Buddha would consist in being chaste and in not taking what does not belong to one and in not destroying life.
All these steps are ethical of course. Buddha also emphasizes the right means of subsistence, that is to say, that one should earn his living properly by giving up wrong
Page 894occupations and then he must make right effort which means that he should acquire all the good qualities he can and overcome all the evil qualities. These are the steps to moral discipline, and in order to attain Nirvana or liberation one should undergo intellectual processes also, such as overcoming sorrow, grief and pain by thinking and meditation, till one arrives at the Last stage, the one of absorption, which is a state which transcends pain as well as pleasure, and brings perfect bliss, which is Nirvana, or liberation according to Buddha.
Rhys Davids says, CCIndepth of philosophic insight, in the method of Socratic questionings often adopted, in the earnest and elevated tone of these discourses, one is often reminded of the dialogues of Plato, and the success of Buddha was due to the fact that he gave to his disciples a simple rule of life and also gave them the yellow robe, the shaven head and the begging bowl and consequently millions followed him.
Buddhism today, however, is in a static state and its scriptures are in a language which very few can understand. As a gospel of renunciation and as a moral code, however, it remains unsurpassed.
Buddha's emphasis was on Dharma or righteousness as the driving principle of the universe and the supremacy of the individual effort, and perfection of the human personality by the extinction of all desire and passion. Lie gave to the people at large the simple Dharma of love, justice and righteousness.
Tnr ZENDA AVESTAof India) of whom there are about a hundred thousand living in and near Bombay, are known as Zenda Avesta or commentaries on the Avesta (Vesta means knowledge).
The Avesta represents a long period of diverse development spread over about one thousand years. The original Avesta is said to have consisted of 2 1 volumes, but the ravages of Alexander the Great seem to have destroyed a large number of the old manuscripts.
The various scattered manuscripts were later on collected by the Sassanian Kings (third and fourth centuries A.D.). The language of these scriptures is old and extinct and very few orien tal scholars can understand them. The modem translations are in Pahiavi of course and the original has undergone many changes in the course of time. The Gathas, or the words attributed to the Prophet Zoroaster, form part of the Zenda Avesta.
The Zenda Avesta, like the Bible, consists of many books and extends over a period of one thousand years as stated above.
The process of compilation was roughly as Lal-lows.
The sayings of the Prophet Zoroaster and those who immediately followed him were the first to be recorded. These records were then edited and elaborated by successive generations.
The language originally was Gathic Avestan. In course of time new explanations were added in a dialect known as the "Younger
Avestan" or Zenda. Themodern Zenda Avesta is in the Pahiavi language which was the spoken language in the Sas-sanian times and is nearer to modern frinian. The languages and dialects of the Zenda Avesta are, however, all interrelated.
Gatbas form the most important part of the Avesta and are CC til sermons" attributed to Zoroaster himself and are regarded as revelations.
These were recorded more than three thousand years ago. Considering the age, it is really remarkable that such fine literature should find birth in the primitive civilization of ancient I din. The art of verse seems to have been very highly developed in that age. One Gatha, however, is in prose which is a collection of prayers.
The Yasucs of which the Gathas form a part, is a book of liturgy meant to be used in connection with the various ceremonies current among the Parsis.
Besides the Yasna there is the Vendidad which means claw against the demons." All these constitute the Zenda Avesta.
Subsequent to the invasion of Isl4m there were other books like Bundahisk.
and Zar-tusk Namah in modern tr~nian which tell us a good deal about the life and teachings of Zoroaster. Not only the old manuscripts suffered at the hands of the Greeks, the Mu-bammadans also destroyed many Zoroastrian books.
The Zenda Avesra therefore which has come down to us is fragmentary and mutilated and very much mixed up.
The Zoroastrian faith based on these scriptures is monotheistic in the main.
Page 895THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS 895
Ahura Mazdah or OrmuzdHe showed them that there was one Ahura (spirit) and he was Mazdah (the wise one). Justice and truth must be rendered as his service by men of good speech, good thoughts and good deeds. It sounds paradoxical, that we should find two spirits postulated, the good and the evil, thus giving a color of dualism to the teachings of Zoroaster.
This dualism is not of coeternal spirits however; because it maintains that the evil spirit will ultimately succumb to the good.
Zoroaster's teaching therefore is monotheistic, behind which was a tendency to philosophic dualism based on moral grounds. It is false to assume that Zoroaster taught the worship of the sun or any of the elements of nature. He took fire as a symbol of Divine purity.
In short, the ethical code laid down by Zoroaster stands very high. Purity is enjoined for the self which can be kept clean by good speech, good thoughts and good deeds. The Parsis, however, lay more emphasis on external purity than on the internal.
Judaism and Zoroastrianismhave many things that are common, but it appears no contacts existed between the Zoroastrians and the Jews in the past. Both are non-proselytizing faiths, and in both there is the dualistic trend such as Satan and God, Evil and Good, Virtue and Vice, Heaven and Hell, which runs through Christianity as well as Islim. As a matter of fact, Zenda Avesta passed in course of ages through many hands and was colored with the ideas current in different times. Among others we may mention the Magian, the Greek, the Hindu and the Muslim influences.
At present the Zoroastrian faith is in a static condition and these scriptures are of historical interest oniy.
Tnt HOLY BIBLEThe Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New.
The Old Testament is composed of many books written in different times of the world's history. It contains some fables, to us incredible, and teachings that occasionally contradict each other.
But, for the Jews and for theIt tells, in psalm, in laws and in prophecy, how man has been seeking God through the ages. The Old Testament has rightly been called !CJ1isto~~s
Psalm."The New Testament, on the other hand, centers around Jesus, though Jesus wrote none of it. The Apostles differing from each other in intelligence wrote down what they thought Jesus had said and done.
The Gospels show that Jesus Christ made very little reference to the Old Testament, though He had fully imbibed its spirit. The Apostles really provided the frame for the picture of this Great Teacher and they made it so well that the picture and the frame seemed to have merged into one. The New Testament that is in our hands today was compiled from scores of writings in 397 A.D. at Carthage by a Council of learned Christians.
In studying the Old Testament, we should remember that all its tales were written hundreds of years after the events they purport to describe.
They are not history but are more like parables with a moral for the people of Israel. The Old Testament may be conveniently divided into the Pentateuch, (five books) containing the ordinances of Jewish ethics and laws as taught by Moses, the old books, the books of the prophets, and the chronicles of the kings of Israel, together with historical narrative and legend. These contain many sublime religious truths expressed in song, prayer and prophecy. It is, however, in the Psalms of David that the Old Testament finds its best expression.
The essence of the Jewish religion lies in the immense stress which it lays on the moral life upon earth, as the truest exemplification of our belief in and love of God.
We see the Semitic nomads, freed from the captivity of the Pharaohs of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, enter Canaan and become the ctchosen people" of their racial God, Jehovah, "who from a governor of a single family, becomes a tribal governor, then a race governor; a friend of monarchy; the destroyer of monarchy; and lastly the inspirer of a prophecy about a Messiah following an Exile and thus the disappointer of all Jewish hopes thus raised."' Once the
'The Human Bible by EricJews had made Palestine their home, they did not think of military conquest.
The quest of righteousness became their chief passion and their highest vision.
As a matter of fact, Judaism inculcates a high ethical teaching.
So much about the OldThe claim made for Jesus that He was the Messiah offended the Jewish divines and led to His crucifixion.
Many legends have grown around the person of Jesus and many miracles, such as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and even raising the dead have been attributed to him. The idea of a divine eternal Christ, however, came from non-Jewish sources, and it was St. Paul who connected it with the idea of Jesus as Messiah and thus made Christianity appear different from Judaism. There has been a great divergence on many points such as
Trinity, Resurrectionand Salvation through Christ, and the two religions have grown and developed along different lines, the Jew remaining where he was before the Advent of Christ. This much however is common, that the Christian Church has retained the Old Testament along with the New, thus demonstrating the continuity of two religions which had as a matter of fact one source. Later it appears the Prophet of Arabia built Is1~m on the foundations laid down by the Prophets of Israel and elaborated by the Apostles of Jesus
Christ.There are very few among the Hindus who make a careful and a critical study of this sacred scripture of the Muslims. The present writer assures the readers that such a study will be fruitful in results.
In addition to familiarizing a Hindu with the technique and terminology of the three Semitic faiths � Judaism, Christianity and Islam � the study of the Qur'an will produce in him a sympathy for the Muslim point of view and also generate a tolerant attitude of mind for the followers of faiths different from his own.
Very good translations of this scripture are available in almost every language of the world, and by a rapid reader the book can be gone through in a week or ten days at the most. The Muslims regard the Qur an as a revelation from God through the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be on Him) Who Himself was an unlettered person. The earlier revelations such as those incorporated in the Old Testament and in the New were in the Hebrew language, but the Qur an was revealed in the Arabic language.
As regards its style and diction, it is as simple and sublime as the previous revelations and with a little effort can be read in the original also.
The Holy Qur'an was revealed piecemeal during a period of twenty-three years out of which the Prophet spent 13 years in Mecca and 1 0 years in Medina.
Since the collection was made from various sources and mostly from the memories of the people, the chronological order could not be observed and hence there is repetition in the verses of the Qur'an.
There are altogether 114 chapters called Siirihs of which some are longer than others. Each chapter or S4rih is divided into sections which are not connected with each otber.
And yet for the last thirteen centuries and more this scripture has inspired the lives of millions of Muslims all over the world. The Qur an is the fountainhead from which all the teachings of IslAm are drawn and the book is regarded as an absolute and final authority on almost everything by the people of IsUm.
In addition to the Qur'an there is the Hadith or tradition which signifies the precept and example of the Prophet and is regarded as a secondary source of the Law of IslAm.
These traditions were collected after the death of the Prophet and have been handed down to us through various channels, some authentic and others perhaps spurious.
The Qur'an enjoins a belief not only in what has been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, but also in the previous revelations as embodied in the Torah and the Gospels, or the revelations vouchsafed to Moses and to Christ. As a matter of fact The Qur'an regards the previous revelations as well as its own as of Divine origin and the Prophets that have gone before are regarded as true Prophets from God.
For example we read: "And verily we gave unto Moses the scripture and we caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and we gave
Page 897THE SCRIPTURES OF DIFFERENT FAITHS 897
The recently inaugurated Bahá'í Fellowship House in Covington, Louisiana.
unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), and we supported him with the holy spirit. It is ever so, that when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant and some ye disbelieve and some you slay~" (S'irih
II, 87)M. Muhammad 'Au in the introduction to an English translation of the Qur'an says: tcRevelation according to the Holy Qur'an, is not oniy universal but also progressive.
A revelation was granted to each nation according to its requirements and in each age in accordance with the capacity of the people of that age."
This view is confirmed by what has been said in John XVI, 1213. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when He the spirit of truth is come, He will guide you unto all truth."
It is evident that the doctrine of the Qur'an is mainly based on the earlier scriptures revealed to Moses and Jesus and there is a close resemblance in the teachings of these three faiths. Take for example the doctrines of the Unity of God, the Day of Judgment, Heaven and Hell, Sin and Satan and the principle of punishment and reward � all these occur and reoccur in the Old Testament and in the New as well as in the Qur'an. Many of the institutions, such as that of prayer, fasting, charity, the observance of Sabbath, etc., are common to the three faiths.
All three � Jews, Christians and Muslims � are called the ~~Peop1e of the Book" and all subscribe to faith in a God and His
Messengers. The Qur'anmakes mention of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, David, and many other Biblical Prophets and the accounts tally even in minor details.
Read for example the Sfirib of Joseph and you will see the whole story narrated in the Old Testament also.
The function of a Prophet is to give the lead to the people among whom he appears, and considering the age and the country where Mubammad proclaimed the Message,
Page 898Property in Pine Valley, Colorado Springs, which has recently been presented to the Faith as a training school for Bahá'ís in the inter-America teaching work.
He had wonderful success.He faced opposition and was forced to teach a defensive warfare to the ignorant tribes of Arabia. He took them out of the mire of superstition and taught them to fear God and obey His commandments.
The Qur'an was in fact a reminder for the Christians as well as the Jews, who had forgotten the teachings of their own Prophets and had been led astray. What Christ did for the lost sheep of Israel, that Muhammad did for the wild tribes of Arabia.
The study of the Qur'Th will drive home to us the gigantic work of reform taken up by Muhammad thirteen hundred years ago. If for nothing else, then for the sake of knowing the great work that Mu-bammad did, every Hindu should take up the study of this great and noble scripture.
Here are a few verses from the Qur'an taken at random. These speak for themselves.
"Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded."
~ ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lo! AllAh is with the steadfast."
"AUTh is the Protecting Friend of those who believe.
He bringeth them out of darkness into light.""AUTh bath blighted usury and made alms-giving fruitful.
AUTh loveth not the impious and guilty."Observe your duty to A11&h." One could go on quoting passage after passage calling people to righteousness and to God and setting a high ethical ideal for the people of that age. Every Hindu shouLd take up the Qur'Th and read it for himself and form his own opinion about it. That is the least that is expected of a student who is interested in the fascinating study of religion.
THE BAnAl SCRII'TURESThe scriptures of different faiths of which we have spoken above were all collected and collated long after they had been revealed. This was of course due to the want of proper means of recording and reproducing at the time.
The scriptures of which we are going to speak now were recorded by the founder of the Bahá'í Faith Himself under the shadow of the prison walls of
'Akka (Pales-tine). Fromthis prison Bahá'u'lláh wrote letters to the crowned heads of the world, to
Queen Victoria, the Czarof all the Russias, the Presidents of the American
Republics, Napoleon IIIof France, to the Emperor of all Austria, the Kaiser of Germany, the SliTh of Persia and the Su1r~n of Turkey, exhorting them to desist from war and to be just and kind to their subjects. Among Bahá'u'lláh's other works may be mentioned
Page 899which explains the functions of Prophets and the true significance of their messages. Hidden Words and Seven Valleys are beautiful books which are worth studying. In the Alwahs or
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláhare incorporated many exhortations and teachings, and besides these there is one book AlA qdas which is in Arabic and gives the Bahá'í Law in full detail.
'Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of Bahá'u'lláh, is the interpreter of the words of His Father and
His letters (Tablets)written to His fol � lowers in all parts of the world have been collected, compiled and translated into English.
Among the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá we may mention the Mysterious Forces of Civilization, Some Answered Questions and
Letters or Makatibs.His discourses delivered in America and Europe, which He visited in 1912, have also been collected and translated into English and these should be regarded as part of the Bahá'í writings.
"The Bahá'í revelation is the spirit of this age.It is the essence of all the highest ideals of this century. The Bahá'í Cause is an inclusive movement; the teachings of all religions and societies are found here.
Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muhammadans, Zoroastrians, Theosophists, Freemasons, et al., find their highest aims in this Cause. Socialists and philosophers find their theories fully developed in this revelation.
(CThe Bahá'í message is a call to religious unity and not an invitation to a new religion, not a new path to immortality.
God forbid! It is the ancient path cleared of the debris of imaginations and superstitions of men, of the debris of strife and misunder standing and is again made a clear path to the sincere seeker, that he may enter therein in assurance, and find that the word of God is one word, though the speakers were many.~~ 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ.
Thus we see that the scriptures of the old historical faiths merely gave the message and called people to righteousness, they did not give a comprehensive program of uniting the races, the nations and the religions of the world. The study of the Bahá'í Literature, however, would open out a large vista for the student of comparative religion and reveal to him the fundamental spiritual fact that all the different faiths had a Divine origin and were really one in essentials and in basic principles and that all the Prophets gave the same teaching of love, of good will and of brotherhood and it will also reveal a new fact that we have not only to see unity in this diversity, we have to make that unity an accomplished fact in real life. Unless Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, Zoroastrians and Buddhists come and sit on the same platform and live under one canopy and walk under the same banner and follow one Universal Faith, the great teachers of religion and their scriptures would not achieve the real object of religion � viz.,
the unification of all mankind. Every historical faith and its scriptures put forward a claim to be universal, but the followers of each invite others to their own particular fold and make no attempt to bring about real unity so needed in the sphere of religion in an age like ours. The comparative method of study of these scriptures would at least put us on the road to such a reconciliation.
Page 900The Remarkable Story of Henderson Business College, a Bahá'í Enterprise
B~ Louis G. GREGORYDURING the autumn of 1915, Prof. George W. Henderson, then in charge of the Business Department of Roger Williams University, Nashville, Tenn., for the first time heard of the Bahá'í Faith. One of his friends had assured a visiting worker that he was keenly interested in the true values of life and would assuredly give a ready response.
This expectation was realized. He was one of those rare souls who seemed just awaiting the message and so became aflame with its truth instantly. He made arrangements for a Bahá'í lecture at his college and afterwards declared that during its delivery the veils and clouds over all nations seemed for him to disappear.
He arranged for other contacts and soon became both a teacher and exemplar of the great message with its ideals and principles of the New Day. As may be easily fancied, his enthusiasm because of his new discovery brought him many tests and trials, domestic, economic and social. But nothing daunted by these, he resigned his position at the close of the school year and selected another city, the metropolis of the state, Memphis, for pioneer work, and proceeded there on the strength of his faith. His aim was to found a college of his own where be would be entirely free, not only to earn a living, but to teach the Religion he loved.
If his faith was abundant his capital was small, consisting of but $2.20 in cash and two secondhand typewriters. His love and sincerity soon awakened others and in an incredibly short time he had gathered around him many of the brightest youth of that city and had also won the co5peration of their elders.
Yet the dual nature of his enterprise, not only to teach business efficiency and methods, but also to train young and old in the Bahá'í Religion, aroused no little opposition.
Business rivals and sec. tarian leaders of the old order did not leave him unscathed. But through many afflictions he adhered steadfastly to his aim.
During the sixth year of the school's life, on a memorable evening, the entire faculty and student body united in a letter to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in Haifa, Palestine.
That Holy One very graciously and happily answered, and in another letter, to the friend who had given them the message, He thus wrote about Prof.
Henderson:tcThy letter that thou hast written in the beginning of December, 1920, has been received. Its contents contained very good news, indicating that his honor, Prof. George WI. Henderson, has establised a Baha College in one of the cities of the South; that now that college has developed, and the students are studying the Divine Teachings and also the necessary sciences and arts.
"That revered professor has been and will always be favored. The meetings which are formed at that college are bestowed with an emanation from the meetings of the Supreme Concourse.
Such arc also the meetings for teaching the children.
These meetings are spreading eternal graces and are supported by the breathings of the Holy Spirit. His honor, Prof. Henderson, has in reality arisen in the service of the Kingdom.
The fruits of this service are eternal bounty and everlasting life. Through the graces of God do I cherish this hope, that he at every moment will receive a new confirmation."
(Signed) 'ABDTJ'L BAHA-ABBAS.These noble Words have been indeed found creative and prophetic in the evolution of the college.
It was a new sign of confirmation when, about a decade later, these friends again united in a letter, this time to the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, who in reply showered his love and encouragement upon them. What was an infant project twenty-four years ago has obviously grown during the passing 901
Page 902years. After a few years of struggle it was able to change its rented quarters for a ten-room structure of its own, whence, through its unusual services to the city, state and nation, its influence and fame spread, and as a special sign of favor the city fathers, although it was a private enterprise, made it tax exempt. Within the past year it has made its greatest step forward.
The United States Government, in connection with one of its welfare projects, found it necessary to exercise its right of eminent domain by taking over, in connection with one of its welfare undertakings, a considerable section of the city, included in which were two coi-leges, this being one of them.
'While this plan was pending, the other college, in view of the withdrawal of so many of its students, who felt the uncertainty and upsetting conditions unfavorable to planning and work, found it necessary to close its doors. On the other hand, Henderson Business Gol-lege maintained its morale and discipline through it all, and through the prayers and guidance which have shaped its ends, has gained a new plant and location in every way better than the old.
It is now beautifully housed in two commodious buildings and a large campus in the very heart of the best residential section of the city, a site which in that city a colored school could not occupy without the consent of its white neighbors.
The chapel of the college, devoted to Ba1A'i service, is adorned with the Greatest Name, a picture of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, another of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and still another with a symbol of the number
Nine.Bahá'í teachers and workers, ever we1-come, receive a cordial hearing. The president himself is well equipped as a Bahá'í teacher and attracts friends from the outside, as well as faculty and students.
The acceptance of the Bahá'í Faith is of course for all a voluntary matter.
The respect, loyalty and reverence which the president commands, the influence which he wields among all classes, are impressive to the visitor.
The Pittsburgh Courier, a weekly newspaper with a national circulation, under the appealing caption
From Shoeshine Boy to CollegePresident, tells this story in part of this college and its founder: CcThe story of how George W. Henderson, with $2.20 and a resolute determination, an iron will and undaunted faith, created what has become the world's largest business college for the colored youth in America, reads like that of Aladdin and his magic lamp.
ttFirm in the conviction that the Negro's social and economic plight is due largely to his inability to cope with the ever increasing demands of present day business, and with the firm belief that man has the power to be what he wants to be, to get what he desires, this genius, a Tennesseean by birth (Knoxville), in spite of poignant disappointments from individuals and sources from which he might have expected support, has created and developed Henderson Business College � a $50,000 institution, with dormitory accommodations, and a publishing and printing plant which turns out books, papers and commercial job work.
Ct~pp~OXj~~te1y eight hundred graduates and more than one thousand competent students have been recipients of the instruction in this school, scores of whom are employed by the government and in public and private business.
Negro insurance companies and other commercial enterprises throughout the country draw largely upon this reputable institution for some of their most competent help.
ctThe record of Prof.Henderson � holder of many diplomas from various schools and colleges, working his way upward from that of ~shoe-shine boy' to the professorship of a college � should be definite inspiration to the Negro youth of the nation as positive proof that tlt can be done!'
tUp from Slavery' is one thing; but up from nothing is another. For after one reviews the difficulties overcome by this institution, and the rapidity with which it developed, he becomes mystified and marvels as he revels in the history of the achievements of Henderson Business College, under the mystic guidance of its president and founder, George W. Henderson, tThe man who would not quit.'"
Although Prof. Hendersonleads a very active life, he yet finds time for meditation and prayer, and attributes all his success to his discovery of the new world order of a new day and the Divine Favor which has
Page 903guided his humble efforts Negro education by the to serve humanity. As founding and development he is a teacher in the of a college. Secondly, true sense, there is every by making its origin and sign that his influence foundation Bahá'í and will widen with the coming devoting his talents years, causing many souls toand resources to the enter the path of God. spread of the Heavenly He has the distinction Teachings, he has a place of being a pioneer in in history which the gladness two ways: of the world will some rirst, in developing this day acclaim.
particular phase ofREADERS in many fields of thought are becoming aware of the Glad Tidings of the Bahá'í Faith, the Spirit of the New Age, which like unto leaven is siowiy but surely rising and bringing new life into mankind. Many scholars, writers, scientists and leaders have expressed great appreciation and ardent interest in the BaJA'i Teachings of unity, peace and good will.
There are being expressed in both the written and spoken word, in unprejudiced and scholarly presentation, something of the basic principles of the Bahá'í Faith, its ire-lation to other raiths and the spiritual up-Iiftment it gives to the whole pattern of life.
It is interesting to note that since the removal of the headquarters of the Faith in the Western World to the vicinity of the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wilmette in October, 1939, many significant statements by leaders of thought have been made. Some of these have come to the desk of the writer.
Mrs. Charles S. Clark, President of the Conference of Club Presidents and Program Chairmen, which encourages talented artists, musicians, dramatists and those who have a real message, is known and loved by artists from all over the world. She is active on many boards and her broad interests include many organizations of underprivileged people where her beautiful spirit sheds the fragrance of faith, courage and inspiration upon all. One of the sources of her inspiration is the Bahá'í House of Worship which she has visited several times. She writes: "Something sublime in the architecture of the Bahá'í Temple affected me deeply. Something sublime also in the devotion of the Bahá'ís to the beauty of holiness, to the beauty and possibility of brotherhood, to the celestial beauty and earthly necessity for that peace of Christ which passeth understanding.
"They are opening the East windows of their souls to eternal and renewing ideas which I wish could become dynamic in all religion."
Dr. Preston Bradley, Pastor of The Peo-pie's Church of Chicago of which he is the founder, is perhaps one of the best known, brilliant and most beloved speakers before universities, colleges, clubs and churches, and his radio broadcasts encircle the world. He is striving toward social regeneration by means of spiritual idealism practically applied. For years he has watched the progress of the Bahá'í Faith with deep interest, arranging tours of the Bahá'í Temple and sometimes quoting from the Creative Words of
Bahá'u'lláh.With deep appreciation and good wishes for the Bahá'í Faith, Dr. Preston Bradley wrote to the writer these sincere and impressive words: "As a resident of Chicago for a great many years, I have watched with interest the development and progress of the Bahá'í Movement.
I have known many whose lives were transformed because of their interest in this philosophy. The universality and inclusiveness of its idealism appeal to me as something unique and necessary in the world.
!tAnY movement which has for its purpose the integration of mankind, tolerance, and working for universal peace and international brotherhood, is needed today as never before."
Mrs. Maude Roberts George, past President of theof Negro Musicians and also past President of the Chicago Music Association, and much loved and honored by artists of all races who know her, is deeply impressed by the beauty of the idealism of the Bahá'í Faith, its wide inclusiveness and its emphasis on nobility of life. She wrote: 904
Page 905APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT 905
"The Bahá'í Faith is inspiring and impressive to our peopie. The earnestness of the followers and the high educational attainments of the lecturers, impress the young peopie. The hope and guidance it brings to all peoples are reflected in the spirit of love and fellowship which is felt in the meetings.
am grateful for the experience that I cherish when I was soloist in 1928 and was presented with one of the powerful books by the Interracial Amity Committee. May the great Bahá'í work continue and bring peace and understanding to all mankind."
The ideals of the new age arc finding fresh expressions in unique forms. One of the interpreters of these new ideals a French American, Dane Rudhyar, who is a most convincing and challenging interpreter of the latest as well as the oldest movements in music, art, poetry and civilizations. lie is a man of profound and penetrating, far-reaching vision whose works lead from the dark crystallized and chaotic concepts of the past to a new spiritual order in music, in art, in words and in life.
That we may better understand this man who stands so courageously for the ideals of the new age and who is attracting nationwide attention by expressing these ideals in creative art, let us look at his works for a moment. He is a pioneer in creative synthesis.
His music might be called cosmic, uplifting and interior and seems to stretch out into a new sense of space. In his search for the answer to why sound is such a powerful element in expressing sacred emotions, he created new musical forms in many compositions for the piano, orchestras and interpretations for the dance. His greatest orchestral compositions, expressing new spiritual urges, are CCSOUI Fire," a symphonic poem for which he received a $1,000 award from the
Los Angeles PhilharmonicOrchestra, "Ouranos," ttThe Surge of rite" and "Desert Chants."
For many years Dane Rudhyar has been deeply interested in the chant, believing it to be an expression of man's search for God. His compositions are many and masterful. Tie believes there are no absolute dissonances, even when two musical sounds have no apparent affiliation.
He perceives the resulting sound may very well contain new elements of harmony that hitherto have been unknown, out of which new thought forms emerge.
Therefore, his music rather than being theme music, expresses the element of growth from within or it seems like a widening beam of light.
The same element of root forces at work struggling upward expresses itself in pure, clear color and symbolic form in his paintings.
He makes the intangibles, tangible and seems to release the pent up life forces in higher expressions.
In his published books and hundreds of articles the element of upward-struggling-life-stuff is uppermost, while his motive is to open new channels of understanding to tradition-bound souls.
To hear him speak on the surging life force is not just another lecture but a rare experience.
His greatest concern is about the most vital problems of the age and he seeks to present through cui � tured activities a high spiritual and yet practical approach to life and its problems by means of which the "living person" or higher self in us may be made to act and to transfigure our lives and the world.
It was in 1919 that he began an intensive study of Oriental philosophies and cultures, and learned of the Bahá'í Faith, before he left for California where he was commissioned to write scenic music for the Pilgrimage Play (the life of Christ), and for some of Ruth St. Denis's dances. lie explained to the writer that it was in 1920 he translated a Bahá'í pamphlet "No. 9" into French, and in 1937 reviewed the 13AnA'i WORLD, Volume VII, for an American magazine.
It was in the September,1939 issues of an American maga-zinc that he wrote understanding and masterful articles about the ]3~b, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá and of a New World Order of society which will come after the times of purgation now at hand.
Dane Rudhyar in these articles sums up his analysis of the Bahá'í Faith in these compelling words: "The Movement is qute unique in having unfolded through three different periods and being now in the fourth. Three great Personalities are at the source of it: The Forerunner (the 13Th), the Supreme Manifestation (Bahá'u'lláh), and the Interpreter of
Page 906Each of them gave to the Movement a different keynote, or, let us say, each was the center of a particular phase of the Movement. The passing of 'Abdu'1 � Baha opened a new phase: the phase of consolidation and practical organization of what is being called ttThe Bahá'í World Order," a complete system of social, practical and religious organization which, if applied, would transform basically human society and the relations between individuals and between nations.
CtBOth the Mb and Bahá'u'lláh are acknowledged as tDivine Manifestations' � the former as ~the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner,' and the latter as the ~Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine essence.
tt 'Abdu'l-Bahá � and even still more Shoghi Rifendi � belong to the more chuman~ phase of the Movement. 'Abdu'l-Bahá appears in the light of being a man so transfigured by His devotion to His father and God that He became indeed a 'demigod.'
If Bahá'u'lláh is Godbecome-man, 'Abdu'l-Bahá is man-taken-over-by-God.
He is thus the Bahá'ícannot be an exemplar for mere men; but all men, theoretically, can, through the intensity of their self-surrender to God, live as 'Abdu'l-Bahá � as Servants of the Glory of God. Only with 'Abdu'l-Bahá this tSta-tion of Servitude,' in which He glorified, was so complete and perfect that through it He became utterly tone with His
Father.'cdt is through this utter tat-one-meat' that 'Abdu'l-Bahá became the tCenter of the Covenant' � the Interpreter of the Word of God, as pronounced by (or through) Bahá'u'lláh. On the other hand, Shoghi Effendi is the 'Guardian of the Cause.' His task is to pre~erve the purity of the Teachings, considered as infallible Revelation from God, and to apply or interpret them as practical needs arise.
He is the prototype of the Bahá'í Administrator.The level of consecrated manhood is reached with him. The Ideal is being organized. The reality of the World Order is being built according to the plans laid down by Bahá'u'lláh.
ttThe Isl&mic cycle is a relatively small cycle; and the Bib, rather than fulfill that small cycle as such, linked it with a more universal cycle of which Bahá'u'lláh can truly be said to be the Divine Manifestation. As 'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote symbolically: ~We are in the cycle which began with Adam, and its universal Manifestation is Bahá'u'lláh.'
The appearance of such a universal Manifestation causes the world to attain maturity. This doctrine of cycles � great and small, universal and racial � the tseeds~ of which are Divine Manifestations, is a very ancient one, and seems absolutely basic.
In the cycle of Bahá'u'lláh the early Heroic Age of the Movement is ended.
The Western world is beginning to awaken.was first announced in America in the Parliament of Religions at the World's
Fair in Chicago (1892)."Since then the number of converts to the Bahá'í Faith has been increasing steadily. They are being organized in ways which somewhat make one think of early Christendom. Indeed the Bahá'í Movement as a whole is the oniy great religious movement of these last 2000 years which presents a remarkable parallel with early Christendom � notwithstanding the many things which on the surface differentiate the cause of the Christ from that of the Glory of God � the Cross from the effulgent nine-pointed Star, symbol of the new
Faith."In a recent letter to the writer Dane Rudhyar makes this challenging appeal to the whole Bahá'í
World:"In this age, restless with insecurity and weary with the results of intellectual search, the Bahá'í Revelation stands as a tower of inspiration and a source of spiritual security for multitudes which otherwise would be swayed by forces of social and emotional disintegration.
It embodies clearly the most basic keynotes of the collective spirit of the age which dawned with the breakdown of feudal and aristocratic Europe and which wiii become established when European nationalisms will be ground to dust and the continental unity of Europe will be fulfilled.
CCTh Revelation of Bahá'u'lláhhas meaning in terms of the human family as a whole and its synthesizing message can be the tseed' of a future era. To exhausted communities it gives a vital impetus which, we hope, will soon energize new creative mani �
Page 907APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT 907
festations and produce an inspired art, equal or superior to that of early Christianity. The great Temple near Chicago is a forerunner of this creative wave of inspiration which America and the whole world needs so much today.
(CJ order to reach such a fountainhead of creative spiritual power, the Bahá'ís should feel the emotional vitality of the Movement as an inner reality of their unConscious life; for great, inspired art can only arise from the unconscious depths of man's psyche. Mere devotion does not produce great artistic fruits. The Ideal must not only be worshipped.
It must become flesh � and Art is the firstborn flesh of any great Movement which has the power to stir collectivities, once the heroic period of martyrdom is passed.
ttWTe are therefore expecting a great birth of creative Art from the Bahá'í communities in which the living spirit of El AbhA has really become flesh. The vitality of such creative manifestations will prove the essential vitality of the Impulse among the followers of the tGlory of God' � for the CG1ory~ is creative emanation; just as the photosphere of the sun rouses plants and trees from the soil of the earth.
ttOpen yourselves, therefore, to the Glory of this Sun of the Spirit, that the seed sown within by the Message may become great trees � c
Cedars of Lebanon.'Joseph Sadony, writer, who is also a scientist, a psychologist, musician, poet and one of America's distinguished thinkers, is profoundly interested in the great basic principles of the oneness of mankind and the establishment of peace and good will upon the earth. As a guest in his home in The Valley of The Pines, the writer was amazed to observe the way he has interwoven science and psychology with great spiritual values and demonstrates them all in his well equipped laboratories. His rich background of special service for Theodore Roosevelt, his renowned noncommercial laboratories for educational and scientific research, command attention. He edits the Journal of ccPre~ venient Thought" (intuitive understanding) and is giving to the world interesting pioneer research from his laboratories on the chemicoelectromagnetic nature of physical and mental phenomena. He is responsible for many contributions of philosophical and scientific and educational importance in the fields of electricity, magnetism, gravispheric analysis, visual education and their relation to spiritual values.
He has written many articles and volumes in these co-related fields.
It was to a pioneer servant of mankind like this that 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í wrote in 1920 these inspiring words translated by Shoghi
Rabbani:tCThe great sages and the eminent philosophers have entertained good and benevolent wishes, but have failed through the power of their philosophy to realize their aims.
But on the other hand, his Holiness Christ and the Apostles, by the power of the Word of God, have attained all their aims which centered around the common weal, and have been therein assisted. We, likewise, must aim at that which is the spirit of this age, such as the oneness of humanity, the establishment of universal peace, the investigation of truth, the elimination of misunderstandings among religions, the conformity of religion with science, the abandonment of racial, religious, and political prejudices, the extermination of antiquated imitations, the promotion of arts and sciences, the advancement of the world of humanity, the establishment of right and justice, the equality of both sexes.
ttJf in the enforcement of these benevolent purposes we hold fast to the power of the Word of God, there is no doubt that we shall attain our purpose and aim. Thou hast chosen a good place of residence, art associating with many people, art expert in many sciences, and hast a pure purpose. Strive, therefore, that through the influence of the Word of God, thou mayest promul.-gate thy benevolent purpose, mayest become the cause of the promulgation of the heavenly teachings and the recipient of merciful susceptibilities, so that thou mayest be confirmed in both this world and in the Kingdom, mayest become in the nether world, the standard of the Love of God, and in the world of the Kingdom, the bright and resplendent morn, like unto the souls who today, are striving in accordance with the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, and through the
Page 908power of the Word of God, are assisted and secure remarkable results. I trust that thou too, by the power of the Word of God, mayest be assisted, and mayest leave behind in the world of humanity, remarkable traces. Upon thee be greeting and praise."
'ABDU'L-BAHÁ 'ABBAS.The inspiration of these powerful words in this remarkable Tablet makes of great interest the reactions of the one to whom they are written, who is working in a new field of thought essential for the new age and a new humanity.
Few men have a better understanding of human nature and of the conditions of the world and their relation to life than has Joseph Sadony.
Therefore, his views of the Bahá'í Faith and its teachings are of deep interest.
In the sweet pine fragrance of his little hallowed chapel, he spoke tenderly of 'Abdu'l-Bahá whose picture hangs on the wall of his study beside that of Christ.
He said, N have mentally and spiritually contacted 'Abdu'l-Bahá and found in him a brother, a friend, a coworker in behalf of unity, peace and all the highest ideals which have constituted my lifelong efforts before I knew of the existence of the Bahá'í Movement. Even now I know little of the external history or affairs. The spiritual understanding requires attention and receptivity to the spirit and soui rather than to the letter and outer body of things.
ccMay I say that though my contact with 'Abdu'l-Bahá was purely mental and spiritual, in our mutual recognition (I never met him in person) his Tablet to me has been sufficient basis for an attunement of direct understanding with the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, without the medium of outer affairs or interpretation by others.
"The Bahá'í Movement is one of the few faiths originated from and founded upon prevenient principles; therefore, it deserves the attention of every student of prevenient thought.
I feel and believe in the spirit of their faith and efforts toward the end of love and unity.
ttThe Bahá'í Movement today is the fruit of a Branch which made its appearance early in the nineteenth century as the combined fruits of that same great Spiritual Root that produced Judaism,
Christianity and Muhammadanism.It marks the dawn of an era which has yet to be made manifest under requirements which demand the dissolving of walls and boundaries that prevent a consciousness of the oneness of mankind (the basic ideal of the Bahá'í Movement) in which the instinct of self-preservation will be lifted into race-preservation.
Then will there be the inwardly prompted co6pera-tion of all peoples for the greatest welfare of all."
To meet Mr. Sadony is to meet one you seem to have known a long time, one who is frank, open, lovable, sincere and understanding.
It was a real inspiration to have Mr. Sadony state, ttThe Spirit of the age, as 'Abdu'l-Bahá himself well knew, demands other than mere affirmations of spiritual faith. It demands the living of life, of labor in the correlation of all things, to the end of bringing order out of chaos and providing for the still future Mansion of Universal Understanding, the absolutely unassailable foundations without which the conformity of religion with science, the illumination of misunderstandings among religions, and the abandonment of racial, religious, world and political prejudice cannot take place. This was anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His Father Bahá'u'lláh."
With great earnestness, Mr. Sadony spoke of America's part in the Divine Plan for the world, and the writer was happy to see how even without having read the writings from the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, he has caught the spirit of the Word of God. He said; "We here in America must realize our exceptional position among the nations and in the course of history, as a direct result, easy to be traced, of the forces set in motion by the particular efforts of Christ and His Apostles. The fulfillment of His universal aims, and of which an understanding is lacking in so many professed Christians, demanded conditions which did not then exist, but the need for which throughout the centuries set in motion the chain of events which culminated in the birth of "America" as a refuge of religious as well as political freedom for all who had been persecuted because of what they believed.
Religious intolerance is thereAPPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT 909
fore distinctly and especially ttUn-Ameri-can," since it strikes at the very taproot of what America was created to provide and produce. Nowhere else on earth in the history of humanity in its present cycle of existence, has there been a condition so f a-vorable to the religious tolerance that must precede the attainment of religious unity. So one of the cornerstones of the American philosophy of liberty and tolerance that will undoubtedly prove to be a foundation for religious unity based on scientific understanding, is the "Law of Functional Limitation" which I have therefore suggested and dwelt on as one of the abutments of the bridge between religion and science.
'tlt is the essence of this law that man thinks with what he acquires or is given to think with. Without regard to what is or is not the "truth," each belief and every variation of each belief is understandable in terms of what the individual or group possess to believe with, or to think with in supporting or having arrived at that belief. If you sincerely and open-mindedly examine what each possess to think with, then you will understand why the primitives believe in idols, why savages believe in fetiches, and why every creed, ism, dogma and article of faith of all the denominations and religions are believed by those who do believe them. This may be understood, I have insisted, without raising the question or their truth or falsity.
No belief need be tattacked'; no man need be killed.
Even nature has means more economical and more humane than this: that plants or creatures, men or beliefs survive oniy as they are fed by food that sustains them, and as they conform to the laws under which they are holden. Reality is that which exists; truth is that which sustains that which exists. Nothing can continue to exist for long unsupported by truth. We need only bide our time and right will prevail. America is the testing ground for all the world; she is the laboratory in which the future course of history is being predetermined. It has been thus since her inception. Here was the last hope of liberty, and because we did not falter in our stand the principle of Freedom became effective in the world; but it depends upon us to maintain and perpetuate our demonstration of man's fitness for freedom. Here too and likewise other ideals and principles have been and are making their last stand. Let us not forget this; for if we fail then upon our head falls the ensuing failure of mankind in its present state of civilization to achieve those ends.
Though we take no part in the struggles of other nations, yet the final outcome is or has been predetermined on this continent.
Why this should be so is beyond the scope of this communication to elucidate; I can only point out that it is so, and that there are men of other nations who also realize that it is so, hence cross the seas either to influence, or to test their policies among us. 'When asked if he considered this age as the 'tAge of Reason," Mr. Sadony replied: !cwe are passing from the tAge of Reason' to the tAge of Intuition.'
The law of the age is the survival of the intuitively fit, not merely the physically or the intellectually fit. It has been and is one of my especial responsibilities in virtue of gifts bestowed upon me, to exemplify the functioning of intuition in the mind of man as the fruit of a simple mode of life. It is thus with a method of thinking based on a method of living normally and naturally, that I have sought to inspire all those who have knocked at my door, and by so doing to provide the timber of thought for the unassailable foundations so necessary for the fulfillment of our mutual ideals.
I have sought, too, to provide otherwise missing blocks for the conceptual structures by which both religion and science may be incorporated by universal education into the enlightenment so essential to the realization of Unity in mankind.
I have sought and am seeking to remove every obstacle in the road and to pave more smoothly the way for the truth to prevail; and it will prevail; but its survival out of the confusion of tongues and viewpoints of our modern tTowers of Babel,' will be the more firmly assured and the more quickly manifested by the understanding tolerance that has ever been exemplified more fully by the founders themselves of every religious or spiritual movement, than by the followers, whose very virtue of faithfulness and loyalty causes them to violate the examples set them, as
Page 910is so evident in the history of the bitter controversies among the professed followers of
Christ."At the conclusion of the conference with this unusual man he gave in a few profound sentences a digest of his inner understanding, through which glows quietly the light of the Spirit of
Truth.ttHe who is entirely without doubt, therefore, as to the presence of the power of the Word of God in his own efforts or the efforts of another, rests and labors in that greatest of all securities born of knowing that time proveth all things.
'Abdu'l-Bahá labored, and now rests, in that certitude.
Christ and His Apostlessacrificed their all in that certitude. Every wise and sincere man throughout history has lived his life and faced his death in that certitude.
I silence the arguments of all skeptics and atheists by that certitude. I suggest that the sincere followers of every religious belief take refuge in that certitude, that time will prove whether or not it was a true revelation; and time will also prove whether or not its students and commentators correctly interpreted the spirit as well as the letter of the words in which it was expressed. The seeker for truth will recognize the truth when and where he finds it; otherwise he could not seek it. If he fails to recognize it when found, then he sought it not, and it does not belong to him."
With deep kindly eyes lighted by the Spirit he said: ccMy impressions of the Bahá'í religion therefore as a non-BaM'i, although seemingly confined to the Tablet received from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, give me reason to believe it is an expression of the universal Spirit of Truth."
Is it any wonder that hundreds, nay thousands make a path to his door?
ccIf love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it destruction and dispersion are inevitable.
This is likewise true of a city. If those who dwell within it manifest a spirit of accord, love and fellowship, it will progress steadily and human conditions become brighter, whereas through enmity and strife it will be degraded and its inhabitants scattered.
In the same way the people of a nation develop and advance toward civilization and enlightenment through love and accord and are disintegrated by war and strife. Finally this is true of humanity itself, in the aggregate.
ccn;(h Love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of men, the whole race will be uplifted, the world will continually grow more spiritual, and the radiance and happiness and tranquillity of mankind will be immeasurably increased. Warfare and strife will be uprooted, disagreement and dissension, pass away and Universal Peace unite the nations and the peoples of the world."
'ABDU'L-BAHÁ."What a magnificent symbol of unity, of beauty and of aspiration," exclaimed Mr. J. Otto Schweizer after gazing in profound silence at the Bahá'í Temple in Wilmette. ttThe keynote of this age is unity," he continued. ~tTh law of the cells of matter, the law of the far-flung celestial spheres and the law of the whole human kingdom is Unity. How strange that man is oniy now awakening to the realization that the law of unity is the very heartbeat of human progress! What a symbol of this powerful and permeating idea of unity and its relation to all human progress is this magnificent Bahá'í House of Worship!" The kindly, scholarly eyes of Mr. Schweizer glowed with light as he studied the symbols and structure of the Bahá'í Temple in detail.
The impressions of the great Universal House of Worship as seen through the eyes of this great artist were most thrilling to the writer, who had the privilege of spending a day with Mr. Schweizer and his family guiding them through the Temple and discussing art and architecture in relation to the problems of the human race.
This artist is one of the torch bearers of humanity who from his early youth has realized that ultimately all of its problems, whether economic, social, political or national, are inextricably woven, and have their secret roots imbedded in the hearts and minds of man and are inherently spiritual in nature. In his art work he has tried to express the evolution of mankind to higher
Page 911APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT 911
The Bahá'ís of Khartoum, SiTiclAn.and greater spiritual capacity, oneness and peace.
Let us step aside a moment and glance at some of the influences that have come into the life of this true artist that we may understand a little better why this universal House of Worship, symbolic in every way of unity, made such an appeal to this artist of international fame; for he has breathed the culture of many lands and been tested in the school of difficulties.
Mr. Schweizer was born some seventy years ago in the somewhat cosmopolitan city of Zurich, Switzerland.
Even at the age of three the talent for his life work expressed itself in childish drawings and paintings which were admired by all who saw them.
As he approached maturity he went to Dresden to study his art, first in the Royal Academy and then in the private studio of Dr. Johannes Schilling.
After this for five years he pursued his artist's calling in both Rome and
Florence.Tn 1934 circumstances brought young Otto Schweizer to America. Then began a period of twelve years of hardest and bitterest tasks and tests. As he became acquainted with the habits and thoughts of people in many lands during all these years of training and trial, his own attitude toward life broadened and deepened and he built up a sound philosophy of applied idealism which it would be well to put in the schoolbooks for the students of all races.
Molded thus in the school of life as well as by technical training, he became able to give expression to his feelings, thoughts and philosophy in some outstanding statues and relief panels. His works have been exhibited in various art academies and may be seen in many of our larger cities. Recently there was unveiled in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, one of his best known works, a group in honor of "The
Colored Soldiery of Pennsylvaniaat Mooseheart, Illinois, is much admired. Milwaukee possesses his large equestrian statue of General Von Steuben, and in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, may be seen his Molly Pitcher statue.
His ideal groups, panels of ttThe Harmonics of Evolution," "Lions on the Way," ttLight Bearers," particularly express the idealism of the sculptor.
Delicacy of line, perfection of form, originality of idea, beauty of arrangement characterize his work. Profound meaning and aspiration are woven into every line.
Page 912Seldom does one see such high idealism wrought in stone. He is truly an artist of the new age.
So as the little group stood under the dome of the great edifice gazing intently upward, this query was put: "To one who can see a vision of the far stretching path of evolution in a block of cold marble and patiently chisel it into our view, what does this great temple in its unfinished condition mean?"
"It is a divine inspiration from foundation to the crowning apex," replied the artist, with glowing eyes and radiant smile.
"At the very root of this materialization of a vision lie age old symbols of truth and wisdom with new light. It is expressed in an entirely new and most beautiful conception. There is nothing like it in the world. The nine-pointed star which dictates the ground plan and is reflected throughout the building up to the highest point of the edifice is the new symbol of a new age.
"Permeating the whole structure is the spirit of the lofty principle of the unifying of the races, religions, classes and nations of mankind into a new degree of togetherness. The proportions of the construction are perfect. See those nine gracefully curved lines of the nine ribs of the dome, which, rising, touch each other as fingers of upward stretching hands meeting in prayer over the glistening whiteness of the crystal dome. The fairylike openwork ornamentation, containing the religious symbols of the world, gives an air of ethereal refinement, aspiration and unity that harmonizes with the central thought of the whole structure.
ttEven in this unfinished state," Mr. Schweizer continued, "the interior offers to the eye of vision untold and marvelous possibilities of finishing and final expression.
It can be truly said that the building has no back or front or sides. All the nine entrances lead to one center, the Creator, the God of Love and Wisdom.
Though as yet devoid of decoration, the structural masses leading up to the first and second balconies produce a lofty and uplifting sensation. The intense desire arises iii the heart that this beautiful edifice may soon be finished, finished in the same magnificent workmanship and in harmony with the priceless original designs of its inspired architect and creator, Mr. Bourgeois."
Mr. Schweizer showed a keen appreciation, as did his radiant wife, of the permanency of the Bahá'í Temple when he said, "The technical construction is of a quality that will endure for hundreds of years and every precaution is clearly being taken toward that end. The spot where the Temple stands was
Page 913APPRECIATIONS BY LEADERS OF THOUGHT 913
most wisely selected as through the guidance of a Divine hand. I can picture the Temple of the future, standing out like a sparkling jewel mounted on the golden rim of God's earth. I repeat, there is nothing like it in the universe.
When completed it will undoubtedly be the Mecca for millions of people from all corners of the earth. It will be considered as one of the great wonders of the world of architecture.~~ Again Mr. Schweizer revealed the depths of the inner understanding of the meaning of the Bahá'í Temple, for just as we were about to leave he said: "It has been a great and inspiring moment of our lives to visit the Temple under your loving guidance. We have learned much of the religion of Love of which this is the exquisite symbol and beloved shrine for the people of the world. We of today must bestow the highest grati tude and credit upon those who are sacrificing so much to build this Temple.
Their earnest conviction, their sincere purpose, their profound iove form a piercing beacon light against the prevailing darkness and confusion of the world. They by their lives seem to be calling those souis who are ready to come forth to pray in a new spirit of freedom and unity and iove. For when love is universally realized, the hearts of men will be united and the whole race will be uplifted.
ttYou teachers are certainly carrying the brightly shining torches as true light bearers to the children of God, pointing the way toward the ultimate goal � the Kingdom of God.
I shall never forget this great privilege.I am deeply grateful to God that the Temple of Light is being constructed to promote the unity and progress of the world today."
Page 914Amity Banquet held under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í is of Pasadena, California, December 3rd, 1938.
Page 915ABOUT midway between the northernmost point of the continent of Europe (the North Cape pertaining to Norway) and the North Pole there lies a group of islands, five in number, with various smaller ones near by, which has excited the discoverer, the sportsman, the scientist, the trapper, the whaler, the miner, the explorer and finally of recent years the ubiquitous tourist, though few have braved the rigors of the north sufficiently to remain there. This group of islands known to us as Spitsbergen or by the Norwegian name of Svalborg, has been the goal of much scientific research and has proven itself rich in those wonderful provisions of nature which the wisdom of the Almighty placed there before man set foot upon that land. Fur animals abound, edible moss and birds supply food, and coal mines have been worked for many years which yield an ample supply of fuel for the islands with vast shipments also to the mainland of Norway.
The largest of the group of islands known as West Spitsbergen, although only about 650 miles from the Pole, is so situated as to be modified in temperature by the warm ocean currents which provide an ice-free passage for boats during the summer months of June, July and August, although the eastern and northern shores are always ice-locked and have been explored oniy in the face of the most extreme hardships.
It was this group of islands to which our cruise ship was bound, it was to this faraway haven that the precious books which lay in our cabin were to find their way! But these were gray days at sea, days and days when there was no ray of sunshine � no cessation of the heavy blanket of fog which enveloped the ship! No signs of life, no birds, no swimming things, no relief to the tragic monotony of foglike gray wool which choked the lungs and chilled one to the bone. The water temperature showed the presence of ice which could not be seen and yet cautiously the boat felt her way, a spectre in the gray mist. New York lay ten days behind us, Iceland had been left behind four days before. It was lonely � no friendly sail drifted into sight, no seagull's sharp note broke the awful stillness, the sky and sea were one, merged together as in infinite space. And then � on the port side, little by little, the heavy curtain of fog lifted and disclosed a sea of floating ice. Strange weird shapes rose from the water, disintegrating icebergs doomed to lose their identity in the warmer atmosphere of the Gulf Stream already dissipated and yielding to the frozen north.
For hours the boat cruised along amid the broken ice, the distance between the floating cakes becoming narrower and narrower until it became evident that we had reached the great ice barrier, that greedy monster that holds within his breast the secrets of the Poles, and as if alarmed lest we penetrate his domain, had come a hundred miles farther south than ever known to block the passage.
Disappointment shrouded the faces of the travelers as word came from the Captain that our course would have to be retraced if indeed we were to find a break in the barrier which would permit our progress to Magdalena Bay, and thus to the land of Spitsbergen.
After a night of tense nerves and ears strained for the crunching of the ice floe the morning broke clear and bright, and in a few hours the glory of Magdalena Bay broke upon the sight like a vision so wonderful and so breathtaking that it seemed as if one had been translated from earth to heaven � a heaven of brilliant, glistening ethereal beauty. Around this bay the sharp, jagged mountains rose in their ice mantles from a sea as blue as that of Italy and overhead there blazed a sun so bright that it might have been the tropics.
At last the steamer came to anchor and put off a launch laden with sailors who went to set up an emergency landing stage on 915
Page 916the shore of Magdalena Bay. No life breathed there, only a few gulls and an occasional auk shrieked their resentment at this invasion of their domain. Near the water were the crumbling ruins of a stone structure which had served many years ago as a research station.
Wandering over the loose rocks and approaching the foot of the gigantic glaciers which moved in their majestic and imperceptible rhythm, casting off their iceberg progeny to fare for themselves and form a bulwark against the invasion of mankind, suddenly we saw among the rocks a pile of human bones.
Tradition says these once were sailors and that they slew each other. What the tragedy may have been, whether starvation or cold, whether they marked the fateful end of some long cherished grudge fought to the finish here is not known, but the bones seemed to bear witness to this age when every man's hand is raised against his brother! How tragic the thought and how the heart swelled with gratitude for the blessing of the Message in this day which is to dispel the darkness of human greed and competition and warm and melt the ice of human prejudice and hate! For was it not our intention to deliver this Message somewhere here in this frozen north?
Was not the hand of the ttHoly Mariner" unveiling His glorious sunshine and spreading His heavenly calm upon the sea that this very thing might be accomplished?
Leaving Magdalena Baythe boat cruised along, revealing at every turn a new glory of ice and sea until finally the little habitat of Spitsbergen came into view, the harbor of King's Bay, bidding us land and share the news of the great world with its isolated inhabitants.
This then was our goal!This the land upon which was to be deposited for the first time in history, the Message of the Coming of "Him Whom God had made manifest," the Glory of the Lord; through the humble efforts of these wayfarers in the path of service, souis were to be awakened, a new life was to pulsate and these regions were to be summoned to the glory of the New Day! It all seemed too wonderful to be true and the beauty of it all struck awe to the very soni. Here we would land � here we would surely find, even in the brief hour allotted to us, the one prepared of God to receive His Message and to herald the glad tidings of a
New World Order.Our landing was effected by climbing on an old, unused trestle which had served for the hauling and dumping of coal some years before. A long, uneven roadbed led to what would have been the center of town, had there been a town, but which now proved to be a settlement of about thirty houses, the most conspicuous of which was the CtBoutik~~ or store. Although groups of men had stood at the landing, no face gave cvi-dence of being the one upon which the Light was first to shine. Stolid faces they were, weathered by wind and sea, furrowed by lines of hardship, grim with the struggle of life, still unready and unaware � we must look further for the object of our search to whom was to be given a copy of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, in its Norwegian translation.
As we entered the store where there seemed to be nothing negotiable save a few postal cards and a pile of raw pelts, one young man at once attracted our attention. He was a bright-eyed Norwegian who was serving as postmaster, though his duties must have been ordinarily very light, and to him we felt drawn at once. His knowledge of English was sufficient for him to understand that he was being presented with some very wonderful books which he was to share with his associates.
On discovering that the books were in Norwegian his face beamed with gratitude and he seized the package in eager anticipation!
After a brief interview in which we sought to convey the mighty significance of the contents of the books, our mission accomplished, we gave way to the curious, jostling crowd of our fellow passengers and leaving the store we started on a tour of investigation of the island.
It is possible to conceive of this place in its winter atmosphere, in the darkness of its six months' night, in its blinding, storm-swept isolation, the angry Arctic ocean pounding on its shores, its manifold privations, but to us on that memorable day it showed oniy its softer side, its golden carpet of moss, its glistening, icy mountains, its
Page 917low-growing, orchid-coloredlay like a jewel in the flowers, its myriads of hand of God, His to have birds sweeping down upon and to hold, to warm their nests, or rising and to quicken, to love in their winged freedom leavingand to preserve in His their eggs a plentiful great wisdom for the completion harvest to supply the of His design for mankind!
needs of the islanders.JAM happy to speak to you this evening about one of the greatest young women in the world, one of the most spiritual, one of the greatest poets of I din, and the first woman of her time in Central Asia to lay aside the veil and work for the equal education of the girl and the boy. She was the first suffrage martyr in Central Asia.
The woman suffrage movement did not begin with Mrs. Pankhurst in the West, but with TThirih, also often called Qurratu'1-'Ayn of IrAn. She was born in Qazvin, Persia, in 1817.
Picture to your mind one of the most beautiful young women of I ran, a genius, a poet, the most learned scholar of the Qur'an and the traditions, for she was born in a Mu1~ammadan country; think of her as the daughter of a jurist family of letters, daughter of the greatest high priest of her province and very rich, enjoying high rank, living in an artistic palace, and distinguished among her young friends for 11s boundless, immeasurable courage. Picture what it must mean for a young woman like this, still in her twenties, to arise for the equality of men and women, in a country where, at that time, the girl was not allowed to learn to read and write!
The Journal Asiatic of 1866 presents a most graphic view of TThirih, the English translation of which is this: "How a woman, a creature so weak in Ir&n, and above all in a city like Qazvin where the clergy possess such a powerful influence, where the 'Ulam~s, the priests, because of their number and importance and power hold the attention of the government officials and of the people, how can it be that in such a country and district and under such unfavourable conditions a woman could have organized such a powerful party of heretics?
It is unparalleled in past history."As I said, in her day girls were not permitted to learn to read and write, but T4hirih had such a brilliant mind, and as a child she was so eager for knowledge that her father, one of the most learned mullAs of Iran, taught her himself and later had a teacher for her. This was most unusual, for in her day girls had no educational opportunities. She outdistanced her brothers in her progress and passed high in all examinations. Because she was a woman they would not give her a degree.
Her father often said what a pity she had not been born a son, for then she could have followed in his career as a great mulli of the Empire.
T4hirih was married when she was thirteen years old to her cousin, the son of the Im6m-Juma, a great mull4 who leads the prayers at the mosque on Fridays. She had three children, two sons and one daughter. She became a very great poet and was deeply spiritual, she was always studying religion, always seeking for truth. She became profoundly interested in the teachings of Shaykh
AhsA'i and Siyyid K~imRashti who were liberalists and said great spiritual reforms would come. Her father was very angry with her because she read their books and her father-in-law was too. But she continued to study their books and she heard about the BTh and Bahá'u'lláh, and their teachings for universal peace and the equal education of the girl and the boy. She believed in these principles wholeheartedly and declared herself a believer.
This great young woman of Qazvin laid aside the veil which Mutammadan women wear; she didn't put it aside altogether, but she many times let it slip from her face when she lectured. But she declared that women should not wear the veil, should not be isolated, but should have equal rights and opportunities.
She quoted her great teacher, 918Bahá'u'lláh, that man and woman are as the two wings of the bird of humanity, and this bird of humanity cannot attain its highest, most perfect flight until the two wings are equally poised, equally balanced. She was too far ahead of her time, and like other pioneers of great progressive movements, she was imprisoned.
Instead of putting her into jail, they made her a prisoner in the home of the Kalantar, that means the Mayor of Tihr&n. Here several poets and some of the greatest women of the capital came to call, and every one was charmed by her presence. The
ShAli-in-SliTh of Persiasent for her to be brought to his palace, and when he saw her he said: ttj like her looks, leave her and let her be."
The Mayor gave a notable party for the betrothal of his son; they had music and dancing, but the guests left it all to come to meet Tdhirih and listen to her words of wisdom, for she too was a guest at this party.
Though she had at first been imprisoned in a house in the garden, the ladies of the Mayor's household loved her so much they insisted that she must come and live in the house with them.
N~siri'd-Din-ShAh, the ruler, sent her a letter asking her to give up her very advanced ideas and telling her if she did, he would make her his bride, the greatest lady in the land. On the back of his letter she wrote her reply in verse declining his magnificently royal offer. Her words were: CeKingdom, wealth and ruling be for thee, Wandering, becoming a poor dervish and calamity be for me.
If that station is good, let it be for thee.And if this station is bad, I long for it, let it be for me!"
She was a prisoner in the Mayor's home for more than three years and during all this time the women of fran came to love her more and more, and all people were enchanted with her poetry, and many came to believe as she did, that this is the dawn of a great new universal epoch when we must work for the oneness of mankind, for the independent investigation of truth, for the unity of religions and for the education of the girl equally with that of the boy.
The orthodox clergy were afraid of these new progressive ideals and as they were the power behind the government, it was decided to put TAhirih to death. They had to do it secretly because they knew how many hundreds of the most important people in Tihr&n loved her.
They decided upon September 15, 1852, for her death.
With her prophetic soul she must have divined it for she wrote in one of her poems: "At the gates of my heart I behold the feet and the teats of hosts of calamity."
That morning she took an elaborate bath, used rosewater, dressed herself in her best white dress.
She said goodbye to everyone in the house, telling them that in the evening she was leaving to go on a long journey. After that she said she would like to be alone, and she spent the day, as they said, talking softly to herself, but we know she was praying. They came for her at night and she said to them, ~ am ready!"
The Mayor had them throw his own cloak about her so that no one would recognize her, and they put her upon his own horse. In a roundabout way through smaller streets they took her to a garden and had her wait in a servant's room on the ground floor. The official called a servant and ordered him to go and kill the woman downstairs.
He went but when TThirih spoke to him he was so touched by her sweetness and holiness, that he refused to strangle her, and carried the handkerchief again upstairs. The official dismissed him, called a very evil servant, gave him liquor to drink, then handed him a bag of gold as a present, put the handkerchief into his hands and said, "Go down and kill that woman below and do not let her speak to you." The servant rushed in, brutally strangled her with the handkerchief, kicked her and while she was still living threw her into a dry well and filled it up with stones.
But they could never bury her there! Her influence has gone around the whole world. T&hirih, Qurratui-'Ayn, has become immortal in the minds of millions of men and women, and her spirit of love and heroism will be transmitted to millions yet unborn.
I should like to explain to you what her names mean. One of her teachers, K~im Rashti gave her the name of Qurratu'l.-'Ayn, which means c!Consolation of the
Page 920Eyes," because she was so young, so beautiful, so spiritual. Bahá'u'lláh gave her the name TAhirib, which means "The Pure One."
While still in the twenties she began to preach the equal rights of men and women, she was martyred at the age of thirty-six years, and yet today, eighty-seven years after her cruel martyrdom, the women of IrAn and of many other countries of the IsUrnic world no longer are allowed to wear the veil, and girls are receiving education. She did not die in vain.
Tahirih's courageous deathless personality forever will stand out against the background of eternity, for she gave her life for her sister women.
The sweet perfume of her heroic selflessness is diffused in the whole five continents.
People of all religions and of none, all races, all classes, all humanity, cherish the memory of Tihirih and weep tears of love and longing when her great poems are chanted.
When I was in Vienna, Austria, a few years ago, I had an interview with the mother of the President of Austria, Mrs. Marinna Hainisch, the woman who has done most for woman's education in Austria, that nation of great culture.
Mrs. Hainisch established the first high schools for girls in her land.
She told me that the inspiration of all her lifework had been TAhirih of Pin. Mrs. Hainisch said: ~ was a young girl, only seventeen years old when I heard of the martyrdom of TAhirih, and I said, c~ shall try to do for the girls of Austria what T~hirih tried to do and gave her life to do, for the girls of Iran.' " She told me: was married, and my husband too, was only seventeen; everybody was against education for girls, but my young husband said: tlf you wish to work for the education of girls, you can.' " I mentioned this interview over in Aligrab, India, a short time ago when I spoke to the university students at the home of Professor Habib, and at the close of my talk another guest of honor arose, a woman professor of Calcutta University, and asked if she could speak a few words. She said, "I am Viennese, I was born in Vienna and I wish to say that Mrs. Marinna Hainisch established the first col � lege for the higher education of girls in Austria and I was graduated from the college." This is a proof of the influence of T4hirih. Mrs. Hainisch had said to me, "It is so easy for you, Miss Root, to go all around the world and be given the opportunity to speak on the equal education of the girl and the boy. It was so hard for me to interest people in this new idea in my day, but I remembered T~hirih and I tried.
Poor T&hirih had to die for these very ideals which today the world accepts!"
When I was in Cawnpore, India, and spoke in a girls' college on TThirih's life the founder and the donor of that great college arose and said: "It is my hope that every girl in this school will become a
TAhirih of India."of Allahabad, one of India's greatest lawyers, said to me: love T4hirih's poems so much that I have named my favorite little granddaughter TThirih.
I have tried for years to get her poems, and now today you give them to me." When I was in the Pemberton Club in London one evening, a well known pub-usher said to me: ~ shall get T&hirih's poems collected and publish them at a great price."
But he could never get them. I should like to tell you, dear listeners on the air, that the day after the martyrdom of TThirih, the authorities burned her clothing, her books, her poems, her birth certificate; they tried to wipe out every trace of her life; but other people had some of her poems, and a friend of mine worked for years to gather them together, copied them in longhand and gave them to me as a present when I was in mm in 1930. Another friend in India, Mr. 1sf andiar K. B. Bakhtiari of Karachi, has twice published one thousand copies of these poems for people in India. In my book Tdhirih the Pure, Irdn's Greatest Woman, published July, 1938, I included her poems and published three thousand copies. Two of these poems are trans-med into English, but the original poems are all in the Persian language. They would be very beautiful sung in the Persian language over your radio.
Professor Edward G. Browneof Cambridge University, in his book A Travel hr's Narrative, wrote: ~ appearance of such a woman as T&hirih, Qurratu'1-'Ayn, is in any country and in any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a country as Persia
Page 921TAHIRIM'S MESSAGE TO THE MODERN WORLD 921
it is a prodigy, nay, almost a miracle. Alike in virtue of her marvelous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid eloquence, her fearless devotion and her glorious martyrdom, she stands forth incomparable amidst her countrywomen.
Had the Mbi religion no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient, that it produced a heroine like Qurratu'1-'Ayn."
And now dear listeners, that we have heard of Tihirih, Qurratu'1-'Ayn, this first woman suffrage martyr, this first woman in Central Asia to work for the education of girls, what will our own endeavors show forth in this twentieth century?
Today you have equal education for girls and boys in Australia, and you have suffrage for women; but you in Australia and we in the United States and in all other parts of the globe are born into this world to work for universal peace, disarmament, a world court and a strong international police force to ensure arbitration.
We are born into this world to work for universal education, a universal auxiliary language, for unity in religion and for the oneness of mankind. Our lives, our world, need strong spiritual foundations, and one of the finest traits of Thhirib, and one that helped the world most, was her fidelity in searching for truth!
She began as a little girl and continued until the very day of her passing from this world.
0 TThirih, you have not passed out, you have only passed on! Your spiritual, courageous life will forever inspire, ennoble and refine humanity; your songs of the spirit will be treasured in innumerable hearts. You arc to this day our living, thrilling teacher!
JI.in reading the story of the life of this great woman of tdn, one cannot but feel that Martha Root, the author, has caught the flaming torch from the hand of Tihirih and lighted once more the path in order that those that arc to follow may find the Way.
Her biography is so closely associated with the phenomenal quickening of religion known as the Bahá'í Faith that it would be difficult to know her except for her relation to this great event.
Although born in 16n in the middle of the nineteenth century, she belongs to the whole world, her radiant personality shone forth like the ray of light which comes after that darkest moment before dawn. She was a prototype for the women of the twentieth century and gave her life that they might be emancipated from their state of sublection.
She is quoted as saying: ttOh when will the day come when new laws will be revealed on earth?
I shall be the first to fob. low these new Teachings and to give my life for my sisters."
TThirih the Pure was the name that Bahá'u'lláh gave her at the memorable Council at Badasht, where eighty-one followers of the BTh assembled by invitation of Bahá'u'lláh to consult upon the important question as to when the Mb was to proclaim the final stage of His Manifestation which was that of Qi'im.
He had first declared Himself to be the Báb (Gate) but the station of Qt'irn, the promised Im~m, had not been proclaimed.
It was at Badasht that Tihirih cast aside her veil, and in the presence of the gath~ring declared that the "New Revela-tioncwas at hand."
Her teacher was Kizim-i-Rashti, a Siyyid and disciple of the great and learned Shaykh Ahmad-i--Ahsi'i, who foretold the coming of the Bib in the near future, and was the forerunner of the great BThi movement which was later to become the great Bahá'í Faith.
Qurratu'1-'Ayn, the c~Consolatio of the *Mart1~a Root, after spending some time in Iran and meeting the remaining members of the family of T&hirih wrote the little book "T~hirih the Pure" which she had published in India where it made a profound impression. When Miss Root realized that she could not live to write a synopsis of the book for Bahá'í World, volume eight, she requested that the work be assumed by Mrs. Marian Little.
The above commentary is in compliance with this request.
Page 922Eyes" became a student of this Siyyid K4m; she corresponded with him and learned many things about questions which she had longed to have answered.
It was he who gave her the title of Qurratuc1~~Ayn. She journeyed to KarbiU to see him but the narrative tells us that she arrived too late, that he had passed from this world oniy ten days before her arrival. Contemporary historians state that she remained in Karbili and took the great Siyyid's place and began to teach his students. This was a most remarkable innovation at a period when a woman~s voice was never permitted to be heard outside the harem. It was at this time that during the period of fasting she had a dream.
~ night she saw in a dream a young Siyyid standing in the air, then he knelt and prayed. She heard these prayers and learned one by heart, which she quickly wrote down when she awoke." (From
CAbdu~1~Bah~ Memorialsof the Faithful). The author quotes again from Nabil's Narrative The Dawn Breakers the sequel to this dream: "ft was T~ihirih who, having learned that her brother-in-law, Mirza Muhamtnad � 'Ali, was departing from Qazvin, entrusted him with a sealed letter requesting him to deliver it to the Promised One, Whom he was bound to meet in the course of his journey.
tSay to Him for me, she added: 'The effulgence of Thy face flashed forth and the rays of Thy visage arose on high.' Then speak the word: tAm I not your Lord?' and CThOU art, Thou art' we will reply."
The message was given to the Bib, and He forthwith declared her one of the Letters of the Living.
She is the oniy one of the eighteen disciples of the Mb who never attained His presence in this world, but she was the first to recognize Him and answer to His call in the realm of reality.
She was given the title of Zarrin � TAj, "One Crowned with Gold," and was also addressed as Nuq~ih, "The Point."
These titles are most significant for they reveal her station in recognizing the qualities which belonged to her. She was pure, she was beautiful, she was illumined, her whole being was centered and this endowed her with the gift of the Holy
Spirit.In reading the life of TAhirih we find that her most outstanding characteristic was this spiritual illumination; for this is the thing that makes her life a part of the history of the Bahá'í Faith. She lives once more in this narrative written by Martha Root; and we walk with her and witness with her the many events and dramatic happenings which can oniy exist when Religion is reborn, when another Messenger of God walks the earth and utters once more the creative words which are destined to regenerate the whole world of all these things TThirih was a part � the heroic deeds of the followers of the Bib, and in the end the frightful martyrdom of thousands who gave their lives for the Cause they had embraced.
Tihirih was imprisoned in the house of Mahmi~d KMn. She was summoned to the presence of N4siri'd-Din SMh, who urged her to deny the BTh and again become a true Muslim, promising her that she could become his bride and thus have an exalted place.
To these requests she replied to the ShAh in verse: ttKingdom, wealth and ruling be for thee, Wandering, becoming a poor dervish and calamity be for me If that station is good, let it be for thee, And if this station is bad, I long for it, let it be for me."
The ShTh was impressed with this answer and commented on her wonderful spirit and courage. In his own words, ~ far history has not shown such a woman to us." The wife of the kalantar in whose house TThirih was imprisoned is quoted as relating a description of the last hours of this heroine's imprisonment.
One night, whilst Tihirih was staying in my home, I was summoned to her presence and found that she was fully adorned, dressed in a gown of snow white silk. Her room was redolent with the choicest perfume. I expressed my surprise at so unusual a sight. 'I am preparing to meet my Beloved,' she said, Cand wish to free you from the cares and anxieties of my imprisonment.'
I was much startled at first and wept at thought of separation from her. tWeep not,' she sought to reassure me, the time of your lamentation is not yet
Page 923The Feast of the New Year being celebrated by the New York Bahá'ís on ccNaw~R~z)~ March 21st, 1939.
come. I wish to share with you my last wishes, for the hour when I shall be arrested and condemned, to suffer martyrdom is fast approaching. I would request you to allow your son to accompany me to the scene of my death and to ensure that the guards and executioner into whose hands I shall be delivered will not compel me to divest myself of this attire.
It is also my wish that my body be thrown into a pit, and that the pit be filled with earth and stones.
Three days after my death a woman will come and visit you, to whom you will give this package which I now deliver into your hands.
My request is that you permit no one henceforth to enter my chamber. From now until the time when I shall be summoned to leave this house, let no one be allowed to disturb my devotions. This day I intend to fast a fast which I shall not break until I am face to face with my Beloved.'" ttShe was ready when they came for her that night.
They took her to a garden.The executioners hesitated for a while to carry out the orders issued for her death and even refused to do it. Then they found a negro slave who was drunk; he put a handkerchief into T~hirih's mouth and strangled her.
They cast her into a well in the garden and threw stones and rubbish on her." ('Abdu'1-' Bahá'ís Memorials of the Faithful.)
"Beauty and the female sex also lent their consecration to the new creed, and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Qazyin, Zarrin-T4j or Qurratu'1-'Ayn, who throwing off her veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide, is one of the most affecting episodes of modern history." (Lord Curzon, Persia and the Persian
People.)There are many quotations from contemporary Oriental scholars, all of whom bear testimony to the greatness of TThirih and to the Cause to which her life was consecrated. Le comte
Ac Gobineau in Les ReligionsYounghus-band in The Gleam, Dr. T. K. Cheyne in The
Reconciliation of RacesMartha Root gives a touching account of her visit to Qazyin in 1930 and her interview with some of TThirih's descendants who accompanied her to the palace where TThirih was born; they showed her the quaint library where the little girl studied, the child who was to become a poet and the
Page 924first woman martyr for the education and equality of women.
Then again the author tells us of her visit to Tihr&n in the same year.
"As I stood beside the well in a little garden in the heart of Tihr~n, where her dear body was cast, I thought of the lines in the beautiful drama God's Heroes written by Mrs. Laura Dreyfus
Barney:"Cease your profanations weak of purpose. Do you think you can bury her there?
She will reappear, and be ever before you all.You have rendered her immortal in the minds of men, and her spirit of love will be transmitted to millions of living hearts. You have undone your work and have established her fame. Forever after, T~hirih will inspire courage and sincerity and truth!"
Since this book was written the author, Martha Root, has passed on. I cannot refrain here from saying a few words about this saintly being who so selflessly carried the message of Bahá'u'lláh to every conti-. nent in the world. She lived and died for the Cause of God and was a true disciple, following in the footsteps of her illustrious sister, TThirih the Pure.
Page 925B~ WILLIAM KENNET EVERY great idea is reflected in a literature of its own. The concept of democracy has been discussed in many treatises and related types of literature.
A literature has grown up about great historical personalities. Witness the almost unceasing publication of books about Napoleon. Certain cycles of stories and legends have been told and retold in different form. Thus we find a whole literature built around the legends of King Arthur and his knights. Similarly, the great religions of the world have each produced a vast body of literature, reflecting the myriad aspects in theory and application of the particular body of truth embodied in that faith.
The student approaching the Bahá'í teachings is amazed at the extensive bibliography of publications in English. The dates of publication go back to the beginning of the century, and the bibliography reveals a varied and constant outpouring of literature on the Bahá'í Faith.
It is the purpose of this brief survey to give some idea of the growth of that literature and to comment on the authentic material now easily available to the student. To simplify the task of showing the historical development of Bahá'í literature in English, the discussion will be divided categorically.
Reference to the extensive bibliography, found elsewhere in this volume, will enable the student to search more closely into specific books which could not be discussed within the limits of this survey.
It should also be noted that no claim is made for completeness. Only a few specific publications can be mentioned; it is hoped that they are representative.
1. THE FIRST LITERATUREIn the early days of the Bahá'í Faith in America, i.e., about the year 1900 and immediately after, the few scattered believers exchanged typewritten copies of prayers and tablets from 'Abdu'l-Bahá. As soon as a new tablet was received from Haifa, the believer receiving it would send copies to known Bahá'ís in different parts of the country.
The early centers in the large cities became points of distribution for tablets to isolated believers. We find many evidences of great earnestness and sacrifice in this period when the Bahá'í teachings were first being introduced into the United States.
It is said that these early believers devoured each single paragraph and each tablet, no matter how brief, in their great desire to satisfy a newly awakened spiritual hunger.
One of the early centers of distribution was Newsent out typed, mimeographed, and printed pamphlets.
In February, 1904, the Board of Counsel sent out a 128-page mimeographed folder of the teachings.
The contents were divided as follows: Vol. 1. Long Tablets by the Manifestation Vol. 2. Tablets to the Kings and short Tablets by the Manifestation Vol. 3. Tablets from The M a s t e r, 'Abdu'l-Bahá Vol. 4. 'Writings, lectures, etc., by Believers Vol. 5. News letters and information regarding the Cause Difficult though many of the translations are in this early compilation, a great effort was being made to meet the need for a fuller knowledge.
If it were possible to compare this compilation with all the literature on the Bahá'í Faith available in English up to that time, it would probably stand out as an historic effort.
925Many of the early pamphlets were mere leaflets reproducing a Tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Some of these recorded conversations between American believers and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Most are undated and bear no reference to place of publication.
A deeply religious note concerning the "second coming" is reflected in a number of these leaflets.
Three are headed, respectively: Prophecies and Warnings, Can Ye Not Discern the Signs of the Times? and Prophecies � Signs of the Coming of the "Son of Man." The contents in each case are a compilation of Biblical references and selections from the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Two of these state at the end: CCSi seekers may address David ." (An address in New York City follows).
Among the early pamphlets are a number of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh printed in leaflet form. A survey of this type of publication would seem, however, to confirm the fact that the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá were given more prominence until the period following 1921 when the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, began his series of masterly translations of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
This emphasis at that time is understandable when we realize that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in constant correspondence with a number of American believers. We must also.
keep in mind the fact that an accurate as well as beautiful translation of the books of Bahá'u'lláh is an exceedingly difficult task.
3. REPORTS OF PILGRIMSAround the beginning of the century and until 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í release from prison in 1908, there was a steady stream of small parties of Americans to the prison-city of 'AMA.
Many of those who made this seven thousand mile pilgrimage to sit at the feet of tAbdu'1-BaM wrote pamphlets and booklets concerning the experience.
This part of Bahá'í literature has come to be known as ttpilgrim's reports."
Let us look at two samples.A small 16-page pamphlet has a picture of a door on the cover and the verse from the New Testament: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7).
Inside are two brief, simply written accounts of visits to 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Each records the great love, hospitality, and unity which always marked the home of the Master.
In Galilee, by ThorntonChase, the first American Baha'i, is a small book of this type. Here is a much longer account of the visit of a party of Americans to 'Akka. The book is well illustrated with photographs of places in that vicinity associated with the lives of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Again there is reflection of the iov-ing unity existent among the believers.
It is to be noted that the many pilgrims' reports record conversation with 'Abdu'l-Bahá. While this was a great aid in giving an understanding of the teachings, 'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself, and the Guardian after Him, insisted that only His written words and those of His Father, Bahá'u'lláh, were to be considered authentic.
This is nof an effort to minimize the importance of the pilgrims' reports, but to point out that they filled a great need and helped carry over until a sufficiently large body of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been translated.
4. SOURCES OF PUBLICATIONA number of the early pamphlets and books on the Bahá'í Faith were published by non-BaM'i publishers.
An example of this is Myronand Teachings of 'Abbas Effendi, published by Putnam and Sons.
Many individual Bahá'íspublished pamphlets and books. We have already mentioned the leaflets published by "David." Another individual who published extensively over a period of years was Charles Mason Remey.
Mr. Remey published books on the Temples, lessons and lectures on the teachings, and many pamphlets. He also published accounts of teaching trips in mimeograph form. These great efforts on the part of individuals represent a fine source of historical information and show the efforts made to produce an adequate body of literature.
Various centers in the United States formed publishing groups. The Board of Counsel in New York City has already been mentioned. Prior to
1908 a Bahá'í PublishingA BRIEF SURVEY OF LITERATURE 927
With the coming of the administrative order under the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi, publishing has been centralized under the Bahá'í Publishing Committee, set up by the National
Spiritual Assembly. Thishad made for efficiency, economy, and authenticity in Bahá'í literature.
We may set the date 1921 as approximately the beginning of authenticity in translation and publication of Bahá'í literature. The importance of the work accomplished by this Committee can hardly be overestimated. Another committee of the National Spiritual Assembly, the Reviewing Committee, was set up with the specific task of not oniy passing on the authenticity of all publications, but also of setting as high a literary standard as possible.
5. MAGAZINE LITERATUREIn March, 1910, the first Bahá'í magazine was published in English. This was a small 20-page booklet bearing the name Bahá'í News. It was edited by Albert R. Windust and Gertrude Buikema.
The editorial page read, in part: "The need for a Bahá'í News Service is apparent throughout the Occident. To meet this need this humble publication has stepped forth from nonexistence into the court of existence This magazine was published nineteen times a year.
During the course of the first year a Persian section was added, in order to make more useful the circulation of the magazine among believers.
The magazine prospered, for the second year it increased in size and was named Star of the West.
During this year, the contents included not only news of Bahá'í activities, photographs, the Persian section, and translations of Tablets from 'Abdu'1 � Baha, but also occasional articles on various aspects of the teachings appeared. Volume three is of special historical interest because it chronicles so much of the talks and incidents of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í visit to America. Slowly the Star of the West changed from a magazine designed primarily for Bahá'ís to a magazine for the general public as well. When the
National Spiritual Assem-Nybegan to publish Bahá'í News Letters for all the believers in December, 1924, it was no longer necessary to publish news in the magazine. The name was changed to Bahá'í Magazine, with Star of the West as a subtitle. After a few years, however, the subtitle was dropped entirely.
In 1935 the Bahá'í Magazinewas combined with World Unity magazine to make the present World Order magazine.
And in this we find discussions of the relation of the Bahá'í Faith to all aspects of modern life and world problems.
6. AUTHENTIC LITERATUREThe presentday literature of the Bahá'í Faith in English falls into three classifications: first, the actual translations of the teachings and history of the Faith; second, commentaries on, and explanations of, the teachings; third, discussion of allied subjects and literary expression of the Bahá'í spirit.
Of the translations of the teachings, those translations by the Guardian stand out as monumental renderings of the prose of Bahá'u'lláh into English. Rich in beauty and dynamic truth are his translations of Hidden Words, The Book of Certitude, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, and
Prayers and Meditationsby Bahá'u'lláh. How much easier now for a student to approach the spirit and teachings of Bahá'u'lláh!
Nor must we overlook the Guardian's translation of Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation. Here, for the first time in English, we can appreciate the glorious figure of the Bib, majestic predecessor of Bahá'u'lláh. This volume provides a greater degree of completeness in understanding the Ba1A'i Faith. Not only is The Dawn-Breakers the most beautifully bound Bahá'í book ever published, but it is by far the most scholarly and completely annotated.
And we must not overlook the volumes of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í
Tablets, His compelling MysteriousForces of Civilization, and the books of His recorded lectures.
The writings of Shoghi Effendi himself constitute a special branch of Bahá'í literature dealing with the subject of world order.
We refer particularly to the series of long, general letters beginning in 1928 with The World
Order of Bahá'u'lláh.In 1923 was published Bahá'í Scriptures, a large compilation of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh and the writings and talks of 'Abdu'1 � Baha. This was a noteworthy effort to bring together for the student the mass of Baha literature then available in English.
The series of translations by the Guardian and continued scholarship have shown that many parts of the volume are not accurate or adequate. It is proposed that a new edition be prepared to meet the need for a one-volume anthology.
Commentaries on and explanations of the teachings have been many. The best of these is Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era by J. E. Esslemont, a book now translated and published in over thirty languages.
The most literary of these books is The Promise of All Ages by Christophil, pen name of Archdeacon George Townshend of Dublin, Ireland.
The pen of this gifted writer has produced another book, The Heart of the Gospel, published in England, a few copies of which have just reached this country as this article is written. In both these voi-uines, Townshend approaches the Bahá'í Faith from the viewpoint of Christianity. He writes compellingly and convincingly, showing the Bahá'í Faith as the consummation of the teachings of Christ.
The monthly issues ofmagazine provide a forum for the discussion of subjects allied to the
Bahá'í teachings. Herewe find articles on world federation, race relations, comparative religion and modern sociology. With a great amount of authentic literature now available, Bahá'í writers are able to discuss accurately the wide implications of their Faith in meeting with the many individual and social problems of the modern world. Here, too, in World Order, are many poetic expressions of the Bahá'í spirit, evidence of a still small, but growing artistic expression of Bahá'í ideals. Perhaps the most noteworthy poetic effort is Howard Ives' moving long poem, Song
Celestial.In concluding this brief survey, mention should be made of the successive volumes of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, of which this volume is the eighth.
Here is a chronological account of the growth of the Bahá'í Faith throughout the world. The volumes are filled with articles, pictures, and reproductions of documents of great historic value. Included always are excerpts from the wnt-ings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. To anyone wishing a good source for the study of Bahá'í literature, history, and presentday administration, the volumes are invaluable.
Page 929rrHis Book (Bahá'u'lláh and The New Era), an abiding monument to his pure intention, , will, alone, inspire generations yet unborn to tread the path of Truth and Service as steadfastly and as unastentatiously as was trodden by its beloved author." Doctor John Ebenezer Essleinont, by sheer merit deserves to rank as one of the Hands of the Cause of GOD." � SHOGHI EFFENDI.
B~ JESSIE E. REVELL(Compiled from Introduction in Revised Edition of Bahá'u'lláh and The New Era, from Article in Volume 1 � 19231926 Bahá'í Year Book, and from personal association with Dr. John E. Esslemont in Haifa in December, 1924.)
JOHN EBENEZER ESSLEMONT, who passed away at Haifa November 22, 1925, was born May 19, 1874, the youngest son of John E. Esslemont of Fairford, Cults, Aber-deenshire.
He received his preliminary education at Ferryhull public school and continued his studies at the Robert Gordon College and ultimately at Aberdeen University, where he was graduated with honors in April, 1898, obtaining not oniy the medical degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and of Surgery, but also a Philip Research Scholarship at the University.
He spent the second half of 1899 at Berne and Strasburg, at both of which places be wrote papers on his research work, which were published and considered valuable.
Returning to Scotlandin December, 1899, Esslemont took up the position of assistant to Professor Cash at Aberdeen University, which position he held until 1901, when he went to Australia, remaining there two years. During this residence in Australia, he married on December 19, 1902.
Early in his life Esslemont's health proved a cause of trouble and anxiety, and in 1903 he was obliged to leave Australia, returning to Aberdeenshire, where he spent the summer, but found it necessary in the winter of that year to proceed to South Africa, the climate of which country it was hoped would prove beneficial to bis pulmonary ailment.
He remained in South Africa for five years, returning to his native country in 1908, when he obtained the post of resident medical officer at the Home Sanatorium, Southbourne, Bournemouth, which he continued to hold until 1923, when, owing to the death of the proprietor, the Sanatorium was closed and Esslemont found himself without medical occupation.
In 1924 he received a warm invitation from Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Baha Faith, to spend the winter at Haifa, and early in November he left London, proceeding direct to Port Said.
Writing from Malta, the oniy port of call, November 15th, Essle-mont spoke of a delightful voyage and of feeling much improved in health. He spent a day or two in Port Said, where he was most warmly received by the friends, and arrived at Haifa on November 2 1st. Here he at once devoted himself to the work of assisting Shoghi Effendi in his multifarious correspondence, which work he continued to do in spite of ill-health until the end.
Such is a brief account of the material side of Esslemont's life; it remains now to say something of the spiritual side, which continues and will continue forevermore.
Whilst at Bournemouthin 1912 Essle � mont, in association with several other doctors, took up the question of state medical service and in 1914 he read a paper on this subject before the British Medical Association at its meeting at Bournemouth, which by the attention it aroused helped greatly the deliberations of the Advisory Committee on Public Health. The wife of one of 929
Page 930The upper picture is a group attending the 1938 session. The center and lower pictures are of the 1939 session.
Page 931Esslemont's associates in this work, who had met 'Abdu'l-Bahá in London in 1911, first mentioned the Bahá'í Faith to Essle-mont in December 1914 and lent him some pamphlets.
He had been searching for truth in many directions, but without finding that which could satisfy his innate religious feeling; on hearing, however, the Bahá'í Message he was at once impressed by its beauty and thoroughness; so much so that without delay he procured all the books in English which dealt with the subiect.
Most truly applicable to Esslemont are the words of tAbdu'1-Bahi: "Blessed is he that the Word of GOD hath reached him and had found his soul tawake~.~~ His progress in the study of the Sacred Books was therefore rapid, for already in 1915 he was writing to the lady above mentioned, recommending what books she should read; and in February 1916, little more than a twelvemonth after he had himself first received the Glad Tidings, he wrote at length to a Bahá'í friend in Manchester in terms which show how thoroughly he had accepted the Bahá'í Teachings and how profoundly he had already studied them.
Thus he writes: "We can each become like our friend if we make the great surrender of self and selfishness and become willing channels for the Divine Spirit. There is no limit to what the human spirit can achieve in the strength of Divine inspiration. The germ of the Divine nature is in every man; only most of us are not manifesting it. Instead, we are smothering it. It is like a plant which needs sun and rain for its growth, the Sun and Rain of Divine Love and Bounty. We have the power either to open our hearts to that Love and Bounty or to reject them. Only by turning our attention and interest away from the world and turning them to GOD can we grow in spirit. Such turning means attending to the reality and inner significance of things, instead of to the outward appearance.
It means that our interest in and love for everything in all GOD'S universe should vastly increase, but that we should regard all outward appearances but as the garments of the inner realities, as dawning places for the Glory of GOD. Oh! may people all over the world soon turn to GOD, as revealed in Bahá'u'lláh, with humble contrite hearts, begging for His forgiveness and blessing and imploring His mercy and bounty!
Then shall His kingdom come in men's hearts and the whole world become one home and all mankind one family."
This extract from one of Esslemont's early letters shows so clearly the spirit which illumined all his words and actions, that its insertion here will be forgiven by those who read his stirring admonition and appeal. That he himself did in very truth turn to GOD as revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, and that having so turned, he never deviated by one hair's breadth from the path of love and righteousness is a fact known to those who had the privilege of meeting him and listening to his glowing talks as well as to those who are acquainted with him only through his writings inspired as they are with that same loving spirit which was so apparent to those who knew him personally.
Esslemont's work as a personal teacher, apart from his letters, began in Bournemouth, where a group of adherents to the Faith gathered under his auspices. This gathering resulted in the formation of a Spiritual Assembly of which he was the first chairman, a position he continued to occupy until he left England in 1924. In this connection it may be mentioned that he was also the representative of the Bournemouth group on the National Spiritual Assembly of England, of which body he became Vice Chairman, and which benefited much by his counsel and advice.
In his introduction to his Book Bahá'u'lláh and The New Era (revised
1937 edition) Dr. Essleinontreferring to the Bahá'í Teachings states: was at once struck by their comprehensiveness, power and beauty. They impressed me as meeting the great needs of the modern world more fully and satisfactorily than any other presentation of religion which I had come across � an im
Page 932pression which subsequent study has only served to deepen and confirm.
In seeking for fuller acknowledgment about the movement I found considerable difficulty in obtaining the literature I wanted, and soon conceived the idea of putting together the gist of what I learned in the form of a book, so that it might be more easily available for others. When communication with Palestine was reopened after the war, I wrote to 'Abdu'l-Bahá and enclosed a copy of the first nine chapters of the book, which was then almost complete in rough draft.
I received a very kind and encouraging reply, and a cordial invitation to visit Him in Haifa, and bring the whole of my manuscript with me. The invitation was gladly accepted, and I had the great privilege of spending two and a half months as the guest of 'Abdu'l-Bahá during the winter of 191920. During this visit, 'Abdu'l-Bahá discussed the book with me on various occasions. He gave several valuable suggestions for its improvement and proposed that, when I bad revised the manuscript, He would have the whole of it translated into frinian so that He could read it through and amend or correct it where necessary.
The revisal and translation were carried out as suggested, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá found time, amid His busy life, to correct some three and a half chapters (Chapters I, II, V and part of HI) before He passed away. It is a matter of profound regret to me that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was not able to complete the correction of the manuscript, as the value of the book would thereby have been greatly enhanced.
The whole of the manuscript has been carefully revised, however, by a committee of the
National Bahá'í Assemblyof England, and its publication approved by that Assembly.
I am greatly indebted to Miss E. J. Rosenberg, Mrs. Claudia S. Coles, Mirza Lotfullah S. Hakim, Messrs. Roy Wilhelm and Mountfort Mills and many other kind friends for valuable help in the preparation of the work. As regards the transliteration or Arabic and Ir&nian names and words the system adopted in this book is that recently recommended by Shoghi Effendi for use throughout the Bahá'í world."
Nor satisfied with studying the Bahá'í writings in English, he learned IrAnian so as to read them in the original language.
The third chapter of his justly celebrated book relating to ccBah4~u~11MV~ was first pub-fished as a separate pamphlet, and it was proposed to issue a new edition on the occasion of the Conference on some Living Religions within the British Empire when it was held in London in the autumn of 1924; on consideration, however, it appeared that a more general pamphlet would be both more appropriate and more useful, and thus Bahá'u'lláh and His Message came to be written by Esslemont, who also wrote the small leaflet, What is the Bahá'í Move-i nent?
It was not only by his printed works that Esslemont became known to the Bahá'í world, for he was an indefatigable and voluminous correspondent not oniy in English, but also in Esperanto, of which universal language he was a complete master.
Amongst his last labors during his stay in Haifa in 1925 was the revision of the Esperanto translation of the above-men-tioned leaflet which had been prepared for the meeting of the Universal Esperanto Congress at Geneva in August of that year.
Another work on which he was also engaged towards the close of his earthly career was the translation into German of his large book.
These evidences of Esslemont's labors in the service of the Cause remain open to all, but of the loving services which he so gladly and selflessly rendered to all with whom he came into personal contact, only they can give full account from the inmost recesses of their hearts; but surely all whom he helped will forever bear in mind the inestimable benefits conferred upon them by his words, and more, perhaps, by his living example of what a true Bahá'í should be, for he was nigh unsurpassed in selflessness, in utter devotion and obedience to the Bahá'í teachings, in love and trustfulness to all his fellows.
With the publication of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era more than sixteen years ago,
Page 933the BaJil'i Faith was given its first well-conceived, thorough exposition by a student of the teachings.
Recognizing its value as the most satisfactory introduction to the Cause, Bahá'ís in both East and West have found Dr. Esslemont's book so helpful that it has been translated into some thirty-six langauges as follows: English, published in England and America French, published in Geneva, 1932 Italian, published in Florence Dutch, published in Rotterdam, 1933 Danish, published in Copenhagen, 1932 Swedish, published in 1932 Portuguese, published in
Baha, BrazilRussian, published in Larvia, 1930 German, published in Stuttgart, 1927 Bulgarian, published in
Sofia, 1932Czech, published in Prague, 1932 Serbian, published in Belgrade, 1933 Hungarian, published in
Budapest, 1933Greek, published in Athens, 1934 Spanish, published in Baha, 1934 Norwegian, published in
Osio, 1935lr~nian, published in Haifa, 1932 Urdu, published in Lahore, 1935 Arabic, published in Cairo, 1930 Turkish, published in Istanbul, 1932 Burmese, published in Mandalay, 1933 Chinese, published in Shanghai, 1931 Hebrew, published in Haifa, 1931 Gujrati, published in Bombay, 1932 Japanese, published in
Tokyo, 1932Kurdish, published in Baglidicl, 1934 Braille, published in California Abyssinian (Amharic), published in 193 S Icelandic, published in
Reykjavik, 1939As Dr. Esslemont himself recognized, the Faith entered a new phase of its history after the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The result is that the author's views, some of them written prior to 1921, no longer correspond on certain aspects of the subject, to the evolutionary character of the Faith.
His treatment of events and social conditions then existing, moreover no longer appear fully relevant. Unavoidably, a few errors of fact had entered his text, while his explanation of the stations of the Báb and of 'Abdu'l-Bahá have been replaced in the minds of Bahá'ís by the authoritative interpretations since made by the first Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
The present edition (March, 1937) therefore represents a revision made by the American
National Spiritual Assemblyacting under the advice and approval of Shoghi Effendi.
These revisions in no respect alter the original plan of Dr. Esslemont's book, nor affect the major portion of his text. Their purpose has been to amplify the author's discussion in a few passages by the addition of material representing the fuller knowledge available since his Lamented death, and newer translations of his quotations from Bahá'í
Sacred Writings.It was the writer's great pleasure and privilege to meet and become quite well acquainted with Dr. Esslemont while in Haifa in December, 1924. At that time he was assisting Shoghi Effendi in translating The Tablet of Ahmad by Bahá'u'lláh and Gems from Nabil. In the first edition of his book which he presented to me at that time in Haifa, he wrote a verse from Gems from Nabil with his own pen as follows: ttKnow this, 0 thou who seekest thy Beloved Whose heart doth yearn His presence to attain That till in thee His attributes appear In exile and astray thou must remain."
It seems he lived to serve and comfort others. I can see the mental picture of him now one day in Haifa � he had invited me to accompany him to the Shrine of the B~b and 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Mount Carmel and early one morning together we prayed there for the whole world � this memory will be with mc throughout all the worlds of eternity; on our way back we saw 'Azizu'llAh Kh&n S. BaMdur, sitting in the sun and very, very sad because he was ill and could not serve Shoghi Effendi as he had been doing. Dr. Esslemont sat beside him, encouraged and cheered him, and while they sat together, I
Page 934'Azizu'lUh KMn's face became happier because of Dr. Essle-mont's comforting presence and words.
Dr. Esslemont was so very thorough and efficient in everything he did.
He would work for hours over the translation of a single word in order to get the best shade of meaning. He was always trying to find a way to make Shoghi Effendi's duties lighter and to serve him more and more wherever possible. A verse from Gems frcrm Nabil which he was helping to translate while I was in Haifa seems to describe his life: "Dost cherish in thy heart thy life, then hither come not thou, But if life and heart thou freely giv'st, then come and bring thine all.
This is the path for those who seek for union with DaM, And if this path thou likest n3t, why trouble us? Begone!"
His life was wholly devoted to the Cause of GOD.Bahá'u'lláh as quoted by Nabil in these "Gems," said: "To gather jewels have I come to this world.
If one speck of a jewel lie hid in a stone and that stone be beyond the seven seas, until I have found and secured that jewel, my hand shall not stay from its search."
And so we know that our beloved Dr. Essle-mont is one of Bahá'u'lláh's jewels.
No better appreciation of Dr. Esslemont and of his services to the Bahá'í Cause can be given than that contained in the following letter which the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, wrote after the passing of him who loved the Cause so well and served it so faithfully: "It is with feelings of overwhelming sorrow that I communicate to you the news of yet another loss which the Almighty, in His inscrutable wisdom, has chosen to inflict upon our beloved Cause. On the 22nd of November, 1925 � that memorable and sacred day in which the Bahá'ís of the Orient celebraCed the twin Festivals of the Declaration of the Mb and the Birthday of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Dr. John E. Esslemont passed on to the AbhA Kingdom. His end was as swift as it was unexpected. Suffering from the effects of a chronic and insidious disease, he fell at last a victim to the inevitable complications that ensued, the fatal course of which neither the efforts of vigilant physicians nor the devoted cares of His many friends could possibly deflect.
"He bore his sufferings with admirable fortitude, with calm resignation and courage. Though convinced that his ail-meats would never henceforth forsake him, yet many a time he revealed a burning desire that the friends residing in the Holy Land should, while visiting the Shrines, implore the All-Merciful to prolong his days that he may bring to a fuller completion his humble share of service to the Threshold of Bahá'u'lláh.
To this noble request all hearts warmly responded. But this was not to be. His close association with my work in Haifa, in which I had placed fondest hopes, was suddenly cut short. His book, however, an abiding monument to his pure intention, will, alone, ins fire gcneratio'ns yet u'n born to tread the path of truth and service as steadfastly and as unostentatiously as was trodden by its beloved aitthor. The Cause he loved so well he served even unto his last day with exemplary faith and unstinted devotion.
His tenacity of faith, his high integrity, his self-effacement, his industry and painstaking labors were traits of a character the noble qualities of which will live and live forever after him. To me personally he was the warmest of friends, a trusted counsellor, an indefatigable collaborator, a lovable companion.
tt13ith tearful eyes I supplicate at the Threshold of Bahá'u'lláh � and request you all to join � in my ardent prayers, for the fuller unfolding in the realms beyond of a soul that has already achieved so high a spiritual standing in this world. For by the beauty of his character, by his knowledge of the Cause, by the conspicuous achievements of his book, he has immortalized his name, and by sheer merit
Page 935First to have accepted the Bahá'í Faith in Finland.
1938 deserves to rank as one trious cousin of the of the Hands of the Cause B~b and chief builder of of Gad. the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar "He has been laid to of 'Ishq~b&d. Pilgrims rest in the heart of visiting his grave from that beautifully situated far and near will, with Bahá'í burial ground pride and gratitude at the foot of Carmel, do honor to a name that close to the mortal remainsadorned the annaLs of of that venerable soul, H6Iian immortal Cause.
Mirza Vakilu'1-Dawlih, CcMay he eternally rest the illus in peace.
Page 936DEAR Bahá'í Brothers and world, a world torn to Sisters: shreds by many be-lids and sects and political tcTh who walked in darknessfactions, each hating have seen a great light!" the others. Mankind is One evening in early June so separated and still of 1938 1 walked aimlessly,so close in the difficulties seeking to quiet the and trials which assail grief which pressed heavilyus! This Revelation brings upon me. Death, whose us closer to each other traces had chilled my and makes real brothers of heart had compelled me us all, It is this uniting to seek anew the solution power that we need in to life's mysteries, the this conscious age."
answers to the eternal This phase of the Revelation questionings. Thus I has greatly rejoiced meditated when I saw me.
a woman who was asking in the spring of 1939 to be directed to a place Mrs. Lorol Schop-flocher in the neighborhood of came to Finland. She my villa. So it was that gave several lectures for the first time I which were well attended met a Baha'i, Miss A. and at one of her lectures Josephine Kruka, who a noted author said of her had come as a pioneer that "She is the world's teacher to Finland. Other most wonderful peace promotor."
teachers bad been in FinlandOne of our newspapers wrote but as their stay was at length of her work so short they had not and as a result she received been able to establish many letters from other the Faith here. cities, and many enquirers Miss Kruka spent several sought her during many busy months here and through days wanting to know her teachings my whole more of the new Revelation.
life was changed. Truly She made a deep impression this Truth seemed to because of the way that me to be all-encompassingi she explained the connection I could scarcely believe between the present Revelation that this great prophetic and the Bible. In ber Word had really come into presence one felt like the world! I had been a thirsty traveller who accustomed to viewing had reached the W'ater of these matters from a narrowLife. Several people angle, seeing, as it professed their be-lid were, only select groups and evidenced it by the who were worthy of salvationjoy in their faces.
and blessing from the Welcome to Finland! If prophetic Word. anyone wishes to remember The greatest thing which us children of the northern lights this new Revelation offerswe shall be so delighted!
to the world is brotherly Our little group in Helsinki love, not love for one's will heartily receive own family, nor love and welcome any visitor.
for one's awn nation, 93~ but love for the whole
Page 937and New Zealand!" The call rang through the air from the studio of the League of Nations 'Wireless Station. In Geneva � it was cold and grey, yet as I waited in the studio beside the Lake the first rays of the morning sun softly lighted the mountains and the mists began to drift. In Australia it was the evening of a spring day but in a fraction of time my voice would have sped from Geneva and be heard in my own home. The miracle of radio!
There was a story behind that broadcast. It began three years before in Australia when I became Secretary of the League of Nations Union, a work taken up and animated, I hope, by the same impulse which had led me to find the Bahá'í Teachings a few years earlier � the desire to assist in the promoting of understanding between the different peoples of the world. Travelling in both the East and the Nwest has brought the realization of the essential oneness of mankind and the urgent necessity to work for unity.
With this in mind, a new venture was made in youth work. Representative senior students from high schools and colleges gathered together each week in a study group to examine the problems and possibilities of international associations. They in their turn, took their assignments of study back to their schools to discuss it with their feb. low students in smaller study circles. These young people were remarkably free from prejudice. They were attracted by the idea of world codperation, although they realised its difficulties. The vision of a better world order gripped them. More than ever I was convinced that it is to the generous moods of youth that we must appeal. This was forcibly brought home to me by the remark of one girl who said � .-~tWe know all this � but how can we teach our parents?"
But these efforts brought rich reward. One day a cable came from the Secretariat of the League of Nations inviting me to become a temporary collaborator during the meeting of the Assembly of 1937.
Within a few weeks from the receipt of this invitation I was on the sea en route to London and thence by air to Geneva.
As the plane descended into picturesque Switzerland over the mountains and lakes on to the green slopes, my heart was filled with joy. This project fulfilled a desire conceived years before when I walked by the home of the newly founded League of Nations.
Since then I had come into the light of the Bahá'í Teachings and could approach the League � not in sadness � as one well might in this tragic hour of its impotence � but with the confidence in my heart that, in time, there would be a true League of Nations and that an International House of Justice would eventually be established. This was but a prelude to the real League, a forerunner of the accoin-plishment of the ideal of cobperation.
Even the very sadness in the hearts of its workers would make for a deeper conception of the fundamental needs underlying world unity. Shoghi Effendi has written in The Advent of Divine Justice "The ideals that fired the imagination of America's tragically unappreciated President, whose high endeavours, however, much nullified by a vi-sionless generation, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, through His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, though now lying in the dust, bitterly reproach a heedless generation for having so cruelly abandoned them." The officials of the Secretariat viewed my optimism with something akin to dismay. Almost in chorus they said, "I do hope you won't be disappointed."
Days of interesting investigation in the different departments of the League then began.
The Intellectual Co6perationsection, to which belonged the subjects of the educational r6le of radio and its use in the cause of peace, and also the humanitarian 937
Page 938and social sections were the things that attracted me specially.
No one can view unmoved the gathering together in one Assembly of the representatives of fifty-two nations meeting in cooperation.
And although one is told that their efforts will not succeed, yet the very attempt is surely a foreshadowing of that assembly of people who, in the course of time, through their spiritual unity of purpose will achieve their aims. Indeed at the conclusion of the Session when we gathered to listen to a concert of orchestral music, which all nationalities apparently appreciated, it was easy to believe, in spite of the black days ahead, in the ultimate establishment of international life.
With this background I went to the microphone to talk to Australia.
But that was not the end of my broadcasting adventures.
Indeed it was just the beginning.With introductions from the International Radio Union I visited a number of radio stations in other countries. First Vienna, a fascinating place at that time for a folklore enthusiast, where they made for me records of actual folk festivals which had been recorded by their travelling microphone in distant provinces.
In Budapest records of folksongs and gypsy music were given me. These, with the knowledge gained at the London, Paris and Cairo stations, have proved most valuable in the compiling of talks in Australia. But I must leave the story of radio experiences and tell you of happenings in Paris,
London and Haifa.In Paris, in company of my hostess Madame Dreyfus-Barney, we visited the places where 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been and I would listen entranced as Madame said, c~Here He stopped and spoke to us." ~ is the view He loved."
The spell of the Master is still upon those who knew Him, something of His spirit has fallen upon them.
The really wonderful Exposition of 1937 was then in progress and it was interesting to see that the section given to the Pavilions des ~trangers was that part of the Trocadero Gardens where 'Abdu'l-Bahá used to walk each day. There, where He used to sit, was erected the long Column of the Golden Star of Peace that dominated the Exposition. On the final night of the Exposition Madame and I went to see the playing fountains of colored water.
We entered where 'Abdu'l-Bahá had so often entered and where now stood the
Pavilion of Palestine.Here where the Master loved to walk, strangers from the ends of the earth were gathered together and we felt that these things were a parable.
From Paris to London.There to hear from Lady Biomfield of the Master's visit to London. To listen to these stories told by one whose words vibrate with His power was an unforgettable experience and a fitting introduction for the visit to Haifa.
How can I tell you of the meeting with Shoghi Effendi? How describe to you the power which radiates through him � the boundless love which envelops all humanity. His compassion yet his Justice; the dynamic energy which demands � all.
With a quivering breath one realizes the greatness of this Day, the value of this time; and with radiant joy knows that every breath of one s life is too little to give in this Cause. CCT~ere is no sacrifice if we are conscious of the privileges."
Here the glorious certainty of God's illimitable power and immutable purpose for mankind pulsates through one's heart in ever deepening waves of strength and joy. Truly the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh is the heart of the world; the source of all peace from which the revivifying waves of His love permeate all things. "He is verily nearby, even though you may think Him far away."1 In humble tribute to the memory of that inestimable one Munirih Khinum, wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, I want to give you her message which seemed to be for us all. Holding me in her loving arms she said: "Read the Words of Bahá'u'lláh, dear. Read the Words of
Bahá'u'lláh. EverythingBlessed are the hours spent with the Words of God." She quoted many words of Bahá'u'lláh which
Ziyiiyyih Kh4num ShoghiThe presence of Ru-1~iyyih Kh~num at that hallowed spot was an inspiration words fail to describe.
The Guardian wished to send to the Bahá'ís of Australasia a most precious relic for their national archives, a lock of the 'Four Valleys, p.55.
Page 939hair of Bahá'u'lláh, every strand of which had been arranged by the Greatest Holy Leaf. This precious relic was entrusted to this overwhelmed servant to carry to Australia. Oh that the glory of the moment of its uncovering could be transmitted too. The profound reverence of the Guardian. The intensity of the power that enveloped all.
The dynamic force of love flowing out in ever widening circles. Shoghi Effendi said that he wished this most precious relic, which he was sending to us because we were so distant, to be presented at our next Convention but that he would like Mother and Father Dunn, our much loved pioneers, to see it soon. He would like them to feel the strands of the hair of Bahá'u'lláh.
((Thir work," he said, ccwas beyond recounting."One leaves Haif a with new found strength. Life has begun afresh. "There is no power and no strength save in God, the Protector, the Self Subsistent."2 A subsequent visit to the Egyptian Bahá'ís revealed the happiness of the spiritual unity of the East and the West.
But to complete this record of radio work I should add that upon returning to Australia I undertook new types of work. Experiments were made with a series of radio talks by young people from the study group which took the form of discussions between themselves on a number of subjects under the heading of If We Had Our Way. Then over the national network undergraduates talked of religion. Women also have been given the opportunity to discuss together, at intervals, over the national network such subjects as the status of women and similar points which interest us so deeply. But these are small things. Our joy is in knowing that "Through the power of the Words He has uttered the whole of the human race can be illumined with the light of unity.,,3 2 Four Valleys, p. 53.
2 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.PAR DR. A. MESBAH A VEZ-VOUS remarque, ~ la fin de 1'hiver, les nombreux bourgeons qui, coiff ant les branches d'arbres, attendent impatiemment I'arriv6e du printemps pour 6clore et devenir d'6clatantes fleurs?
A peine cependant les bourgeons sont-ils ouverts, ~ peine leur naissantes corolles ont-cues, ~i travers 1'espace, exhal6 un parfum subtil, que d6j~ kur ravissants p6tales se fanent et tombent en poussi&e. Ce sont Ii des martys de Ia nature. Mais en r~a1it6 disparaissent-ils vraiment, ou plu-t6t ne commencent � ils pas une autre vie dans ic fruit qui les succ~de? Ainsi ce vieux monde malgr~ les nouveaut~s que, con-tinuellement ii nous pr6sente n'a jamais chang~ son cours r~gu1ier. Les jours qui se suivent, les anndes qui se succ~dent ont entre eux une analogie frappante.
De maine qu'il existe pour La terre une p6riode saison-ni&e d'un an, pendant laquelle elle vit grace i la chaleur bienfaisante du soleil, de m&me ii existe pour 1'humanit~ une semblable p6riode aussi r6guli&e. L'histoire nous montre en effet qu'~t peu prs tous les mdle ans une &e nouvelle de spiritua1it~ commence, et, par 1'apparition d'une divine manifestation, le monde, tomb~ en d&adence, se retrouve r~g6n6r~.
Ainsi donc avant le renouveau spirituel, alors que le genre humain se trouve plong~ dans la plus noire obscurit6 morale et intellectuelle, ii se trouve des hommes au cocur pur qui, sentant la proche arriv6e du printemps Divin s'impatientent ~i 1'instar des bourgeons. Ces hommes ~ 1'~me transparente de puret~ ont 'a mdme destin6e et subissent le mdme sort que ces fleurs printanitres qui doivent ~tre sacrifi6es pour faire place aux fruits. Leur coeur est prat ~ brftler d'amour divin, et, au premier appel de Ia manifestation de Dieu us s'enflamment a Sc consument pour leur Bien-aim& Tel a 6t6, parmi les temps les plus r6coul6s, la marche de ce monde. Ces &res, 6lus parmi les autres, qui ont donn6 par leur sang t~moignage de 'a v6rir~, one exist6 de toujours et partout.
Socrate qui, avec un courage surnaturel, montrant son prafond d6dain pour le monde physique, donna une sublime leGon de sacrifice. Ii but Li cigiie tout aussi sirnplement qu'un breuvage ordinaire, tant ii 6tait sfir que son tr6pas n'6tait que le commencement d'une nouvelle vie 6ternelle.
'tPourquoi pleurer ainsi, disait-il h ses disciples constern6s, quand mon &rne aifran-chic du lourd poids de mon corps va s'envoler vers Dieu, chercher La v&it6, la connaitre peut-etre.
Le christianisme nous a donn6 de nom-breux exemples de martyrs. Pendant 300 les disciples du Christ, suivant pas ~i pas les traces de leur Divin Maitre (qui donna son sang pour effacer les p6ch6s du monde) furent pers6cut6s de tous les points du globe. Ces pers6cutions furent la cause que le grain d'enseignement sem6 par J6sus dans les cocurs humains, arros6 du sang des martyrs leva si bien. Le g~nie du christian-isme pdn6tra dans tout 1'univers, donnant naissance une civilisation jamais egal'ee jusqu'alors.
Aujourd'hui 1'humanit6, parcourant les premi~res 6tapes de sa vie a arrivant it Page adulte, a une plus grande intensir~ d'action.
Le nombre des martyrs de la foi Bahá'í eat consid6rable. L'ardeur et la bra-voure des croyants devant ics tortures que leur infligeaient les ennernis de la Cause sont sans pr6c~dent dans 1'histoire de 1'humanit6.
Le soleil de Ia v6rit6 se leva dans le coin le plus obscur parmi les peuples civilisds. Cependant ii s'y trouva des &res qul, par leur puret6 d'ame, sentirent 1'arriv& de La plus grande manifestation de Dieu. Us veillajent, et, d~s que 1'aurore divine apparut, d~s que les voix du BTh et de Bahá'u'lláh se firent entendre une foule consid6rable, du plus petit jusqu'au plus grand, embrass~rent leur sainte Cause. 'is savajent naturellement 940
Page 941de quel prix us devajent payer la d6claration de leur nouvelle foi, mais us &aient pr&ts, puisqu'ils se trouvaient etre arrives au but essentiel de leur vie.
us 6taient, ces martyrs, si compl%tement d6tach6s du monde physique, que les dou � leurs des tortures qu'ils endurajent semblaf � ent n'avoir aucun effet stir eux. Et queues tortures cependant! Les bourreaux n' avajent rien trouv6 de miex que de percer en maints endroits les corps des supplici~s, de placer dans chacun des trous des chan-delles allum6es, et de les promener ainsi a traver la yule, sous les quolibets de la foule. Malgr6 le sang qui les aveuglait, la cire fondue qui faisait gr~siller leur peau, ces sublimes martyrs trouvajent La force de chanter des cantiques. On raconte que Sulaymin Khin tout en chantant, ramassait les bougies qui tombajent a les replaQait sur son corps. Quelqu'un lui ayant cri6 "Pour-quoi ne danses-tu pas aussi?"
ii se mit ~ danser.Je veux citer ici un passage du livre !tLes Ap6tres" &rit par Renan, un 6minent dcri-vain francais (un chr&ien, un non-BaM'i) qui voit dans ces martyrs une r6vdation re-ligicuse aussi grande que le christianisme.
ccNt si&le a vu des mouvements re-ligieux tout aussi extraordinaires que ceux d'autre fois, mouvements qui ont provoque autant d'enthousiasrne, qui oat eu ddj ii, proportion gard6e, plus de martyrs.
Le Bahi'iisme en Persea un ph6nom~ne consid6rable. Des milliers des martyrs sont accourus pour lui avec all6gresse au devant de la mort.
Un jour sans pareil, peutatre dans 1'histoire du monde, fut celui de 'a grande bouclirie qui se fit des Báb's ~ TihrAn. On vit ce jour-h dans les rues et les bazars de Tilirin, dit un narrateur qut a tout su d'original, un spectacle que la population semble devoir n'oublier jamais. Quand Ia conversation, encore aujourd'hui se met sur cette mati&e on peat juger de 1'adrniration melde d'horreur que 'a foule 5prouva et que les ann6es n'ont pas diminu6e. On vit s'avan cer entre les bourreaux, les enfants et les femmes, les chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec les m&hes aL1um~es, flambantes, fich6es dans Ics blessures.
On les trainait par des cordes et on les faisait marcher ~ coups de fouet. Enfants a femmes avan�aient en chantant un verset qui dit CE~it~ nous sommes de Dieu et nous re-tournons ~ lui!'
"Leurs voix s'6levaient 6clatantes au-dessus du silence profond de Ia foule. Quand un des supplici6s tombait et qu'on le faissait relever ~ coups de fouet ou de bajonnette, pour peu que la perte de son sang qui ruisse-lait sur tous ses membres, lui laissait encore un peu de force, ii se mettait ~ danser et crier avec un surcroit d'enthousiasme: 'En verit6 nous venons de Dieu et nous retour-nerons ~ lui!'
ttQuelques uns des enf ants expir&ent dans le trajet. Les bourreaux jet&rent leurs corps sous les pieds de leur p&e et de leurs soeurs qui march&ent fi&ernent dessus et ne leur donn&ent pas deux regards. Quand on ar-riva au lieu d'ex6cution, on proposa encore aux victimes la vie pour leur abjuration. Un bourreau imagina de dire ~i un pare que s'il ne c6dait pas, ii couperait La gorge de ses deux fils sur sa poitrine. C'6taient deux petits gar~ons dont 1'ain~ avait quatorze ans a qui, rouges de leur propre sang, les chairs calcin6es, 6coutaient froidement le dialogue; le p&e r6pondit en se couchant par terre qu'il 6tait pret, et l'ain6 des enfants r&la-mant avec emportement son droit d'ainesse, demanda ~t ~tre ~gorg6 ic premier" Comment pourvoir d&zrire les souffrances de ces saints, ou trouver des mots pour ex-pliquer leur 6tat d'ame?
Notre esprit est incapable de sonder 1'abime de ce myst&e. La souffrance physique nous est intokrable a nous aimons notre vie par-dessus tous. Comment donc ces hommes qui n'6taient, apks tout, que des humains comme nous, ont-ils pu subir avec all6gresse ces aifreux supplices?
Queue force mys&ieuse a pu les transformer de la sorte?
Que s'est-il produit en eux pour &re ainsi chang6s?
Pour r~pondre h toutes ces questions ii nous reste ~ croire une seule chose, c'est que ces ~tres, bien qu'encore vivants sont corn-pl&ement d6tach6s des biens d'ici has.
us sont sur terre mais leur &me s'envole vers le ciel pour voir 1'aurore du jour 6ternel.
Les forces vitales et spirituelles qui dma-nent des saintes manifestations divines, au
Page 942commencement de chaque Les martyrs, arriv6s par &e, sont tellement fortes Ia bont6 divine un tel qu'elles font apparaitre d6gr~ de perfection, dans 1'homme toutes les et ayant ter-min6 leur capacit6s qui existent stage ici-bas, n'one en lui & l'&at latent. plus besoin d'y s6journer.
En r6alit6 ce monde physique C'est ainsi q'avec enthousiasme, est pour 1'homme in purgatoireus s'6va-dent de leur qui doit le purifier et prison corporelle pour le perfectionner dans s'envoler dans les cieux un temps plus ou moms afin d'atteindre avec long. plus d'intensit6 Ia perfection sans limite.
Page 943in Word or deed no one hath been. Than Whom no parallel in any age or clime Hath ever stepped the mortal worlds between.
Almighty God's SupremeThy Law is pulsing every cosmic sphere; Its wondrous potency but dimly shone To hearts made weak with 'ove, eyes blind with fear.
Majestic Mirror of Divinity!in these latter days, Our feeble mutterings ascribe to Thee Such vain and stunted attributes of praise.
Our hearts are stilled, our tongues forever mute, Before the glowing radiance of Thy Door.1 And though we know Thy Branch,2 0
Ancient Root!O Holy Leaf! adorning God's own Tree, Our humbler hearts we turn to thee.
Help us, we pray, that each new day May draw us nearer to thy silent way, And lay our deeds, a measure of thy price, Upon thine altar of unending sacrifice.
Give us the vision and the faith to see Our task fulfilled in Temple Unity � Symbol of God; beacon of hope for man; Divinely ordered pattern of a new world plan � Let thy compassion intercede, That we may heed, that we may heed, Before the oniy Guardian of our fate May write the woeful words: "too late."
O Daughter of the Glory!Thy life hath told its story, thy love is our dream.
� PHILIr AMALFI MARANGELLATranscendent Star, past mortal ken The glory of your Life through all the spheres Bathes the unending vista of the years.
The radiance of the Light you brought to men Has purified the planet's heart anew!
Your blood was poured upon its dearth like dew, Ichor of God's decree, let each drop shed Raise up the nations, and the living dead, Revive the vision of the spirit's youth: Auroral is the fountain of your Truth.
� BEATRICE IRWINHe, Who by varied names, in every clirnc In diverse paths the wayworn wanderers seek; Omnipotent, Who to the end of time Shall bow the prideful and lift up the meek; He, Who the sun in the high heaven lit And gave of rarest fragrance to the rose, Who patient, waiting, shall in judgment sit To listen and forgive, because He knows The fleshly weakness: grant to us this day A single spark from His undying fire To cheer and guide us up the darksome way Lest we turn backward to the earthly mire; Then draw us to His glory from our night � Unveil His beauty to our groping sight.
~ The 2 tAbdu'1-Bah&.He Whom here you seek Hides as a bird, within a bush to sleep; And who would find must come with spirit meek And, lest the bird be startled, softly creep.
The searcher as he mounts the upward way Must cast aside his burdens, free his soui Of what it gathered in the world of clay If unencumbered, he would reach the goal.
For man must leave behind the world of men, New climates must the soui exchange for old, And bravely journey on, for not till then Shall the first bud of the Friend's vine unfold, Releasing sweetness rarer than the rose To tell the searcher He is near, and
Knows.Illumination in this place shall burn The dross of falsehood, leaving but the gold Of truth; along this road each turn Shall strange new beauty to the eyes unfold.
He who here enters, having left behind The world of fancies, dark as moonless night, Wherein he wandered, impotent and blind � Shall know and worship, in the newfound light, Him, Who without beginning, without end, Awaits the traveler, loosed at last of earth, Who naught seeks here but nearness to the Friend, The perfect measure of all-perfect worth. Here time shall cease; here death and life are one As lcng as His swift stream of Being run.
THE VALLEY OF LOVEThis is a land of all consuming fire Lit with a radiance brighter than noon sun Where each must sacrifice upon love's pyre Forsworn ideals, and seek alone the One.
And he who would approach the Friend, must first Find life in death, and glory in defeat; Here must the soui its worldly fetters burst Nor spurn the travail if it here would meet The One, the matchless
Friend of Ecstasy.Here, earthly fancies must the seeking heart Upon His altar as an offering lay If it would learn that which He would impart; And free at last of mortal passions move On to the higher world of endless love.
THE VALLEY OF UNITYLike as a stream returning to the sea From whence it left in vapor, here the soul At last, within itself, shall cease to be.
'Who, seeking here, has set his final goal Near to the sanctuary of the Friend Shall lose himself in timeless unity That no beginning had, and has no end.
Here shall man's life, of every mortal hope Set free, at last from out the earthly night No longer feeble in the darkness grope, But walk in paths of beauty, in the light Of Oneness, through ages still to be, Drawn to the Friend in endless ecstasy.
THE VALLEY OF CONTENTMENTThis is a garden where the rarest blooms In full profusion grow, wet by the dew Of blessed nearness to the Friend, that dooms All want and sorrow. Here all things are new: Here, freed at last, earth's prisoner shall find Beauty, where oniy ugliness before He saw; when loosed from mortal loves that bind He has passed through the open, waiting door Into this place of peace.
All truth, all power Are his who enters here.Here shall he see The mystery of eternity in an hour And understand all secrets yet to be.
This is reality. Old wants are gone As flies the morning star before the dawn.
THE VALLEY OF WONDERMENTHere every hour is luminous as the dawn After a night of storm, and here the soui To glory after glory travels on, And to the eyes new beauties do unroll, So vast that every earthly sight would pale Before this rapture. Mortal happiness Takes flight, and from the heart the heavy veil Of earth is lifted, and the air does bless.
Unwearied here, where neither day nor night Shall be, the questing soui shall find at last Life's mystery unraveled, in the light
Page 947That shall shine on, when mortal days are past; A guiding beam for ages yet to come Sent by the Friend, to lead the wanderer home.
THE VALLEY OF TRUE POVERTYHere lay aside the ragged robes of earth And leave behind all worldly place and fame, For Oneness here the measure is of worth.
Admitted oniy, those who speak His name In true humility. The souls that here Would walk for all eternity, must first Seek but the Friend, to Him alone give ear, And for His nectar, be their oniy thirst.
Not by the proud of mind is ever won Admittance here, but by the poor in heart, Stripped of past glory, at the set of sun. Death here is not an ending, but the start At last, of all the soui has hungered for: Oneness with Him, till time shall be no more.
� EVEI~ETT TABOR GAMAGEValleys" of Bahá'u'lláh, translated by 'Ali-Kuli KMn.
PRELUDE'Tis not from sages, nor from learned books That man gains wisdom.
In his secret breast A Chamber lies wherein he sometimes looks And listens. There his troubled soul finds rest, And there, if he adores, his life is blest.
The gloomy dust which rises from men's minds, In their eternal search for certainty, Obscures the spirit's vision, and so blinds The eye of heart that, failing Truth to see, They grope and wander in perplexity.
But sometimes � Ah, that blessed, unwarned hour!The dust is scattered by a mystic breeze: Upon man's heated mind there falls a shower From Fouint Celestial, and his heart finds ease Which only God can give � Such hours are these.
ARGUMENT:Man desires God ivith ~'41 his heart, and in its secret Chamber holds with Him high converse.
He asks God why He hides from him; says that he seeks with telescope, microscope and in the mind, but in vain. God warns him that He is not thus to be found but, rather, in the Spiritual Universe, His Home. Man asks how be may find this Universe of God and hears that all the Prophets have come to men as Guides to the way of true Life.
Man complains that thehave always been slain by men: how, then, can God's love be found in men's hearts? He is told that the true Man is not mirrored in the lower self of man but in his true Self which is mirrored in the Prophets themselves; that man's vision is too limited to judge correctly the long history of the race from cell to man, much less the immortal life ahead of him. Man sees no certainty of life beyond the grave for death seems victorious. God assures him that the thought of death as the end of life is superstition and reassures him. Man is content.
HOUR ONEWhere'er throughout the ages man hath trod His mind and soui hath sought
Thee. AllI search through far-flung depths of stellar space; I grope adown the labyrinths of mind; I peer into each microscopic place And find all else: but Thee I cannot find.
Editor's Note: The beautiful poem "The Song Celestial" by Howard Colby Ives being too long for complete reproduction in Bahá'í World certain excerpts have been chosen which it is hoped may convey some idea of the power and beauty of the work, the publication of which is by the Landon Press, Chicago, Ill.
Page 948revealeth Me; That every atom is an open door Inviting thee to enter and explore!
What dost thou hope to see When thou goest seeking
Me?If I should write some guiding Word to men Could they interpret My
Supremest Pen?For is thine eye so keen, thy mind so sure, That when My Spirit moves thee, and I lure Thy longing soui afar To probe the mote and star, Thou canst in such wise hope to limit Me Who doth surround what mind and eye can see?
Such futile search shall surely be unbiest.0 son of Love! For thee can be no rest Save 'ove for Me and calm upon My breast.
* 'I.That Life is now if thou that step wilt take And from thy temple vigorously shake The ragged mantle of mortality.
For that My royal robe I offer thee, And bid thee share My
Eternality.These things have I from youth been taught, 0 Lord.
I know this as I know some Sanscrit word A learned man once taught me. Ah, but still I seek and find Thee not.
I find not God Within my heart, nor in the star nor clod.
'Tis Thee I want: 0, pray that need fulfill A fire glows ever in my yearning breast Which oniy knowing Thee can quench. No rest Nor peace I ask, no mortal anguish shun, Could I but purchase thus the vision clear Of Thee.
Not words about Thee: I have done With words. For this no price nor pain too dear.
God Speaks:so unbound, That never hath a soul besought unbiest, Nor any seeker but hath surely found.
It is for this that allThey might lead men thither, and man's claim To paradise, which like celestial fire I lighted in his heart, substantiate.
Not temples to My Glory dedicate Nor prayers from sullied lips that suplicate, Do They desire, nor can with Me prevail.
My Prophets came that every fleshly veil Be rent between man's soaring soui and Me, And he, in his Reality, be free.
The whale by seeking cannot find the sea; The eagle, soaring high Against My blue-domed sky, Finds not the air, nor can thy mind find Me Who in thy heart of hearts is truly thee.
About thee and above, beneath, within, Thy mystery am I and thou art Mine.
No flight avails: nor height nor depth, nor sin, Nor death, nor hell can part thee from My Love.
My lamp thou art and I the Light within, Know this, 0 servant, as the swallow knows The air: the fish the boundless seas they rove; The leaf the wind which by My order blows.
Man Speaks:How can I know this, God, when all I see Seems fiercely bent on crushing petty me?
That very wind on which the swallow flies Haply resounds with some doomed sailor's cries.
Page 949Did I not hear thee say no care nor pain Would be too great a price to see My face?
Yet when a little I withdraw the veils That thou, through suffering, may tread the place Of Holiness, then all thy courage fails.
o son of man! The love that is sincere Seeketh to prove that love through sacrifice.
Look how the merchant seeks year after year For goodly pearls. The pearl of greatest price Once having found all lesser pearls are naught.
For very joy, and with that joy distraught, He hastens to the marketplace and sells All that he hath that he may buy that pearl.
He selleth all: not lesser pearls alone, But home and fields. He selleth all he hath That he may for those withered gods atone.
And note the moth. It flutters 'round the light Though its frail wings be singed. It loves that bright Consuming flame more than ephemeral life.
These count it not a sacrifice to give Their all if, giving, they receive far more.
If thou in My Companionship shouldsr live Perchance that bliss would cheapen all thy store.
And dost thou think, 0 stranger to the Friend, That there is room within thine inmost heart For Me, the Whole, and any lesser part?
If thou wouldst know Me, know none else but Me: If thou wouldst love Me, lesser loves deny.
If thou shouldst die in Me I'll live in thee: For this, My son, wouldst thou not gladly die?
Man speaks: Such things are far too high for my weak mind Or heart to compass. Lord, how can I find This Path that leads to Thine Abode? How gain The strength, the will to be that which I fain Would be? To do that which I yearn to do?
The souis who thus attain are sadly few.I look abroad upon Thy world and see That man is bent on everything save Thee. Nor heart, nor mind, nor will contains
Thee, God!Beneath his cruel feet Thy sacred sod Is spread with empires wrecked.
In Thy blest NameHe drags Thy saints and heroes to the flame, The rack, the sword, the dungeon and the cross.
He gains no whit: he findeth oniy loss, And yet he blindly goes his way.
He strews The earth with bones of innocence. The news Of daily crime and lust befouls the page Of history. He vents his filthy rage On every brother man.
He lifts the rod Of hate in home and church, in court and mart.
He seems to hold all hell within his heart Not Thee � not Thee! Is this Thy Will,
0 God?Man is not Man because of wealth and fame, Nor yet because he calls upon My Name.
Not learning nor refinement marks true Man: He's only such when he conforms to plan Divine, and with My attributes adorns His temple: for the true Man ever scorns The beast within, the relic of his long Ascent from primal ccii.
His triumphs throng That Path which led from mineral to man.
And dost thou dream that thy blind eyes can scan That journey vast, thy mind give judgment plain Of gain and loss through acons long of pain?
And how much less art thou fit to discern Thine agelong future which My plans concern?
Page 950I see death stalking all the world: He takes The high and iow. The tree of life he shakes Remorselessly and man drops from the scene.
He pays no need to pleading nor complaint: His cold hand strikes the sinner and the saint.
The heart of mankind bleeds and, bleeding breaks.0 son of man! Death have I made for thee As tidings glad: at its approach why flee?
That darkness have I for thee kindly made A beckoning glory, not a threatening shade.
Why dost thou screen thee from this splendid light And close thine eyes, insisting it is night?
Look thou with keenly penetrating eye: Canst thou in all My Universe descry A trace of death? 'Tis change thou seest here A change which leadeth but to life again: Death is a superstition born of fear.
Think how the unborn babe would fear the pain Of parturition. If he could foresee That venture vast would he not be aghast?
Would he not say that life can nowise be Outside his mother's womb?
" 'Tis her life blood That nurtures me; it is her heart that beats In mine; my very life is in her breath; Tear me from her! Ali, that, indeed were death!"
Yet, could he think, were he not wholly blind, Within his very being he would find A proof most plain of wider life to be.
For, in his organs, forming in the womb Is evidence that soon he will be free To use them. Even so it is with thee, For, in the matrix of this world thy part It is to build thy future life; thy heart Of love to warm; thine insight keen attend; Thine car instruct; thy limbs to service bend.
Thy world, compared to Mine, is more a tomb Than life. Thou shouldst prepare thee to ascend.
For, in this transient tavern now engaged Thy hunger for true life is not assuaged.
ARGUMENT:Man's longing still unappeased, and God having encouraged him to ask until all doubts are set at rest, Man asks how he may find God in the created world.
After a brief direction as to how man may find a key to such search God tells him that a Guide is necessary, and that sswh Guides have been provided: at which man is rejoiced and demands His Name.
He is asked if man is snre that he would recognize his Guide if disguised in lowliness and hidden beneath human clouds, and whether man is willing to sacrifice all and follow him when found. Man is overwhelmed but still unsatisfied. He asks regarding rrJmigment Day" and reHeaven~~ and CfHe1I/~ God explains these symbolic words.
HOUR TWOAnon I heard Thy heavenly accents say That every atom is an open door Inviting me to enter and explore.
This door is closed to me: unclose, I pray.In mineral and plant, in beast and man, Thou mayest discern the working of My Plan Which hath one aim: that I may fully be Revealed to every heart that seeketh Me.
Cohesion, growth, the senses and the mind Are the four steps which through the cycles wind That from the void of nonexistence may Existence come, and that My Love may find, Some far-off Day, its full expression. Nay, That I Myself may tell man's ordained story In Man, the very temple of My Glory.
For, in this gloomy and disastrous age Man may perceive, if he will scan My Page, The secret of Creation. There is he
Page 951Told of My Wisdom: for Humanity Hath borne indeed its noblest fruit; My Love Disclosed in Man his Lord, that he may prove All things and thereby with My aid may reach The summit of the truth I fain would teach, That all man's probing eye and mind can see Hath but one purpose: to uncover Me.
By every grain of dust shall man be told Of Me.The still, small Voice within his heart Shall whisper low: ttj am of God a part."
Lo all things, from their silence shout aloud! My Voice falls from each bright or lowering cloud!
My Trumpet peals from every star and clod: ttThere is no God but Me but Me no God!"
Why else should I create, 0 son of man?In My eternal Being hid I knew My love in thee and framed a gracious Plan, Agelong, in which I might My Self review And see My Love expressed in Form and Power.
Thus through the ages, countless hour by hour, Have I in It made known
My Love; to Man RevealedWherefore love oniy Me That My Command may summon thee to Be.
Man Speaks:My struggling mind entangled in the net Of all the differing teachings of the past In vain strives to get free. I pray Thee let Me penetrate the clouds still hiding Thee!
Of what avail can all these marvels be If still they are enigmas unto me?
God Speaks:Perchance, My son, thy strivings are too great: Let now thy frenzied agonies abate.
It may be thou shalt find all thy alarms Are struggles in the folding of My Arms.
If thou abandon self and love but Me My hastening Love with joy embraceth thee: But if, content with self, thou lovest Me not My Love is vain, since in thy heart no spot It finds to rest.
Let fevered strivings cease, Upon each soui who follows guidance Peace!
Man Speaks:My thirsty heart is drinking in Thy Word, This water which is life.
A stranger I, Returning to my Home Supreme.I cry Aloud for help. Where shall I find a Guide To lead me through this thorny desert wide?
God Speaks:If Thou in some vast wilderness shouldst be And longing for thy home, what wouldst thou do?
Wouldst thou not seek a height, if but a tree, Whence thou couldst all surrounding country view?
And if a lofty mountain thou couldst climb Thou wouldst not grudge the bleeding feet, nor time However weary, if thy long-lost home Thou thence mightst glimpse, and need no longer roam The wilderness, and to thy fireside come.
If, then, thou seekest a Guide unto thy Home Eternal turn unto the mountain peaks Of men, that by their counsel thou mayest come To what thy heart desires and thy soul seeks.
For never have I left My world withoutmighty shout Hath summoned men aiway unto My Path, The straight and narrow Path that to their life Of freedom leads. Their wisely severing knife
Page 952To him who, listening, hath But heeded Their sweet call, of all most sweet, And bath with girded loins, and eager feet, And heart courageous, trod this Path, he comes He surely comes to Me his Home of homes.
If thou My Holy Spiritthen wouldst gain, And to the world of Certitude attain, Join company with those blessed Noble
OnesWho through the rolling ages have like suns Illumined men and nations. They have quaffed
Of My Immortal Chalice.They have laughed Disdainfully at all this world could do: For, dwelling on the topmost Heights, They view
The Promised Land. They0 let them lead Thee to thy destined Home � My Pleasant mead!
Man Speaks:A very Man, who wisely in mine ear Shall whisper all my spirit longs to hear?
Who is He, God? Whereis He? That I may This instant rush and all my problems lay At His dear feet? The wind is not so fleet As I shall be. My inmost heart's aflame!
Tell me His Name, 0 God!Is it so easy, then, to find thy Lord Amongst thy fellowmen?
If Him you find He may not be at all unto your mind.
Perhaps a murderer as Moses was; Perhaps a camel-driver, friendless, poor; Perhaps a peasant workman, fatherless, Despised and scorned, forsaken of all men.
Wouldst thou, then, that He was thy Guide, be sure?
And wouldst thou recognize His glory then?And if thou didst it may be He might ask Of thee some difficult, some mighty task.
He might renunciation seek of thee: Might say, "What wilt thou sacrifice for Me?
Art thou prepared to face the worldling's scorn That thou mayest into My new Life be born: Prepared to shun the song thy fathers sung And seek sole guidance from My rapturous
Tongue?"cancel every page Writ by the past except the page of Love, For this is writ on Tablets firm as rock Unchanging, ageless: and Their hands unlock With love the door that to My Kingdom leads, Blest is the soul who Their injunction heeds.
They speak not as the scribes, with learned lore Culled from the outworn teachings of the past, Which leave men darker than they were before, As blind lead blind.
They speak not as men speak.In accents wise and yet sublimely meek They tell of what I whisper to Their soul.
But even They tell not the Story whole, For men cannot receive it. Many things They would reveal if mankind had the wings To soar with Them to Where, beyond men sight, And hidden from their searching mind, I dwell, veiled in pure Love, behind My seventy thousand barriers of Light.
"What go men out to see when they'd behold A Prophet?"
Was the question asked of old: "A reed by breezes shaken?"
Aye, a Reed � An empty Reed, and shaken by the Breeze Of
My new Revelation. SuchBlest are the souis who to Their Beauty look, And whom the Fragrance of
My UnionMy Blest are they Who from their darkness glimpse Eternal Day And rise amongst the dead to mention Me.
For they have resurrected from the tomb Of self: no longer captive in the womb Of Nature they are now sublimely free, And all desires fulfilled in meeting Me.
To every age My Prophets speak of Me; To every cycle give what men can bear.
My Trumpets They who call men to be free.They call all men: but to My chosen Few, Who heed My clarion Trumpet when they hear, New Heavens and earths disclose.
These nothing fear But, hoisting their heart's anchor, which hath clung With passionate attachment to the clay Of mortal perishings, all bravely steer Their ship of life into
My Course.These brew Celestial nectar from earth's horrid stew; They make of their heart's blood a vintage rare For My loved lips. They turn their backs on all Which heretofore held their whole lives in thrall.
When from this art free What hath that thee!Anon I heard Thy heavenly accents say: Blest are the souls who rise amidst the dead
Attaining to Thy Union:Each day is Judgment Day: but comes a Day Of Days when I Myself in Power rise Amongst the dead and open ready eyes
Unto My Glory.In the atmosphere Of faith in My past Prophets these have died To self, the world and all but Me beside.
Hast thou not heard? ttTh who in Christ are dead Shall meet Him in the air."
These nothing fear For they shall know Him when He doW appear, No matter what His Name or Birth or Nation; No matter what may be His earthly station, For from the sea of Names they long have fled.
They know Him by the shining of His Light, As those whose eyes are open see the bright And cloudless sun: for the benign bestowing Of His great bounties, like the sunlight flowing,
Declare Him. He hath NamesWith man's interpretations they have done; Their longing hearts in Certitude find rest;
They recognize My SongIt is by this, of all My tests the Test Supreme, that men are judged. I judge them not: Man is himself the judge and his own lot Decides: for he who turns away from Him, My Chosen One, is thus discarding Me And all My Messengers throughout the dim And endless past. But those who see beneath The veils which cloud the mirror of My Sun,
And in His breath My HolySpirit breathe, And in His Face, My Face, adoring, see, And follow Him, obeying His command,
Have found Me and My Love.and swiftly rise To meet Me. They can never any more Be satisfied to flit on Low-branched trees.
Their home is high, with Me. They, singing soar And fling their joyous wings into My Breeze, And high above earth's transient, petty things They shake its dust from sunlit flashing wings.
But those poor earthbound birds which chirp And twitter their unreal imaginings, And eagerly with clay besmear their wings, And hence are all incapable of flight, Seek in this mire their petty grains of food.
These rashly dare My Power to usurp Of Judgment.These seek to turn My DaySpring into night; They cloud My radiant, all-embracing Light 'With literal interpretation.
VainAre they of this, the melancholy cloud Raised by their scratching feet.
They proudly stain My glorious Morning with their raucous crowing, And speak of Heaven and Hell as their bestowing.
Man Speaks:The Lords Of Life have seemed to speak of streets of gold And pearly gates, where saints forever dwell In heavenly mansions.
And, again, they've told Of fiery pits whose flame is never quenched And gnawing worm dies not, where fools behold Their endless doom because they rashly sold Their capital of Life for fleshly lust, Or fame, or some vain heritage of dust.
How often hath my childhood's spirit blenched Before this horror! 0 my God! Pray tell Me of this mystery of heaven and hell!
God Speaks:o questioning lover! Couldst thou oniy know One millionth part of what Love's gifts bestow On man, to answer this would be no task, Nor such vain questions wouldst thou need to ask.
Know this, my son, thyThese fleeting Doubts and fears I bid thee put away: This is My stern Command to thee, Obey!
Dost think that when My longing lovers callSpirit pray, That they do so for any hope of bliss Or fear of doom? One oniy fear they know:
That from My Presencethey should banished go; One only hope, My garment's hem to kiss.
The fragrance of that Garment's holiness Math so intoxicated them with love They seek for sacrificial ways to prove Its purity. What pain hath hell in store Compared with exile from
My Loveliness?What joys can heaven offer them that's more Entrancing than My smile and fond caress?
These comrades of My EverlastingThe symbols which My holy Prophets used, And which man's ignorance hath so abused, Were used to show what absence from
Memeant And found no words sufficed that vast intent.
Perforce They used the langauge which They found: But through ephemeral words They sought to sound
Page 955thou them aright, And pray that I will open inner sight, And thou shalt their significance perceive And all the world's interpretations leave.
These sing Celestial songs to deafened men; They write Celestial Truth with My pure Pen For purblind men to read.
But man translates Their Scroll of Love to satisfy his hates.
Men gaze through tinted glasses on My Book Of Life and see their own imaginings.
They might have soared among Celestial things; They might on stars and mystic beauties look; They might have used My gift of such strong wings To soar: but they prefer to flit around The underbrush and hug the sordid ground.
On men I have bestowed a priceless gift, The iove of beauty, but their selfish lust Hath spun a web which binds them to the dust.
On Beauty's Self they gaze, but cannot lift Their hearts, so clouded by corroding rust, Above the ground where shifting shadows are, And through dark spectacles they stare Unblinking at the splendrous
SunThey strain out gnats and swallow camels whole And, doing thus, they lacerate My soui.
I say to thee again, and yet again: My universe holds naught but love. I send Upon the world the pains men see But that they may be driven unto Me.
If earth held every ~oy would men attend When to their hearts I call, or ever bend Their footsteps, straying in the easy road, So broad, and to their blindness blithe and sweet, Into My narrow road?
They call it "wrath" When I would urge My sheep into My Path, And prick them sharply with My loving goad, And beckon them to rest their weary feet In Pastures green and My cool waters greet.
Wouldst thou, then, gladly sin and suffer not?Wouldst thou find every transient, earthly spot So satisfying to thy pride to be That thou wouldst never think of seeking Me?
I tell thee, 0 My son, If thou couldst know The happiness, the peace, I would bestow On thee if thou wouldst listen to My Voice, Thou wouldst not think of any other choice, Nor dream that these fast-fleeting, shadowed days Have any purpose but My love and praise.
Man Speaks:did say That I must from the tomb of self arise And soar with Thee into the blissful skies Of Thy desire. How can I thus ascend When this world's shackles 'round my limbs stiLl bend?
God Speaks:Why thinkest thou that I have made so fair This world and showered on all My tender care?
Didst never hear of lilies and of birds Which toil and spin not and yet never need?
And dost thou dare to dream that My pure seed, The topmost point of My creation, man, Is left outside the all-enclosing span Of My protecting, My providing Hand, Or that for him alone I have not planned?
Nay! Know that I have destined unto man A fate so high he could not even scan Those Heights with his earth-clouded eyes.
He feeds His spirit with a food which conquers death.
All creatures saving man find their life's needsCompletely met when they are warmed and fed: But in man's timeless spirit I have bred Eternal Life and I have breathed My Breath Into his nostrils. He can never rest Until his head is laid upon My breast.
ARGUMENTMan asks concerning the problem of end-iess toil and fear of poverty.
God explains the dignity of work if done in the spirit of service, using Nature's service as an illus Ira-tion. Man fears that if he serves alone he will be trodden down by selfish men. Hence, he is told an entirely new World Order is necessary and that His hosts are now build � ing it. Man thinks this a dream, seeing no sig s of U is new Order. God assures him that His Command has gone forth and must be obeyed. He is also told that all who work for Right are in His Armies, whether they outwardly acknowledge Him or not, and that He has a Chosen Few who will lead His Hosts to victory. Man is at last convinced and dedicates his life to the search for, and obedience to, His heavenly
Guide. God promises HisThy words have brought a calmness to my soul Not known before: but yet I still am wide
From understanding. Allaround me roll The strifes of men who put their selfish pride And bodies' need above all else beside.
And I too feel the pressure of my need; I have aspired to more abundant life.
Should not man eagerly this longing feed And seek the full enjoyment of this world Wherein he hath, without consent, been hurled?
God Speaks:Upon the sweetness of pure servitude Man's spirit feeds. I have adorned the face Of Nature with this Truth: who of this food Eats not can in My Kingdom find no place.
Behold thc sun: it asks no pay nor praise Yet see: its service makes thy nights and days!
And even the grass, in humble service sweet, Makes all the earth a carpet for thy feet.
Shall man alone, defyingno more shall dearth In midst of plenty curse the race of Man: The meek shall then inherit all the earth.
Man Speaks:My spirit longs to serve none else but Thee, But how can I be humble and aspire To servitude? This world imprisons me.
0 help me, God, My soui longs to be free!All things work. Agelong My toiling spheres have not complained Nor, slothful, sought their heaven-born task to shirk, Yet note their endless travail. And behold The atom! Here a universe unrolled In miniature before thy wondering eye: Its bright electrons see, they ceaseless ply 'With noiseless speed and not a jot abate Their toil, that they may aid Me to create.
Thus doth the universe acknowledge Me And in its constant toil do reverence.
'Tis man alone who in his work doth see A means for selfish gain.
To penitence For this dread sin against My Love I called Him by the scourge of crime and poverty, That through his suffering he may wiser be, And know work as a means to worship Me.
Lo, how the whole world now doth stand appalled Before the wreck such wantonness bath made!
This is My bounty, making man afraid Above all else to brave
My chastening Rod:My heart leaps with new ecstasy to hear That labor may no longer be to moil And sweat beneath the awful lash of fear: Ab, what a royal crown might Labor wear!
God Speaks:Shall man deprive himself of this divine And sacred gift? Again I call to thee And all men: seek in servitude the wine Of union.
If thou wouldst My lover be Pour all thy love on men; if thou wouldst find True wealth of joy to thine own joy be blind; If thou wouldst fill thy barns with harvest store See that thy brother men shall have still more.
o give and all to thee shall then be given. How vainly men for self have fought and striven Throughout the ages! Is it not enough? Come, build on earth the Kingdom of My
Heaven!Thus shall earth pour her riches in men's hands; To him who gives My stars give in their turn;
From one Ray of My Generosity SuchSuns of generosity shall rise That men shall look on men with glad surprise And wonder that it took so long to learn.
The splendor of this luminosity, Which from My Sun shall pour upon all lands, Shall bathe My people in Celestial light, And all their terrors, creatures of the night Of Self, their poverty and shame, the bands Of steel which made their sordid toil a curse, Shall, like all phantoms of the dark, take flight And men shall find in work their truest prayer, The fruits of which they all together share. This is the law of all My universe.
To all My World I call:The light of which beyond the noonday sun Is sanctified. It is the Day foretold.
See how the nations late so proud and bold Are humbled in the shadow of their doom.
Their councils are in tumult; earthquakes roar As the oppressed of men toss in the gloom, And threaten those whom late they bowed before.
My Messenger hath come with healing wings And sword of Justice. To all wrong He brings Destruction; to the Right triumphant sway. This is the meaning of My
Prophet's Word:Hath cast the mighty from their seats. The sod So long drenched with the blood of innocence Shall bloom again. The time for penitence Is past. My Justice and My Love shall reign And earth shall be a paradise again.
Bewildered are the learned and the wise Of this world, and the nations tremble sore To their foundations.
But those blessed eyes Which kept awake and watched that they might see And greet My coming, these My Name adore And write upon their hearts My high Command.
They take My Chalice fromAnd drink with joy, their pure hearts all aflame, And cry aloud in every
Prophet's Name:Praise be to Thee, beloved of our heart's yearning!"
Page 958This is the Day for which My dear Son prayed And taught men thus to pray. He with My aid
Worked for My Kingdom;Its foundations laid In all men's hearts with loving servitude.
My kind forbearance made oppressors bold; My patience negligent their hearts hath made, Till now the flags of passion they unfold And ride their steeds to death all unafraid.
But know that I love Justice over all: None may neglect it who desireth Me.
The hidden secrets of all hearts I see And mark them well.
The wicked surely fall.An eagle fierce is now pursuing them And ordeals dire upon their footsteps tread.
Except they turn and grasp My Garment's hem Of justice, they are numbered with the dead.
For while they to their sure destruction ride, My Spirit, once again enshrined in flesh, My Very Self, comes hastening to man's aid And summons a vast Host, unto His side To build My Kingdom on the ruined plan For power which those rabid wolves have made.
The tread of these, My Hosts, shall shake the world, And make each tyrant totter on his throne. Look! Even now have they not sternly hurled A horde of them unto their doom! Now prone They lie who late their filthy dunghull strode And blatantly their barnyard triumph crowed.
For all such cocks the last dread hour hath struck.
The vengeance of My marching Hosts shall pluck Them from their seats.
Among forgotten things Soon � Soon shall they be numbered. Look! Their wings Have now been clipped: they speedily shall fall Into the pit they for their brothers dug And none shall hark nor heed their dying call.
Man Speaks:The tyrant seems Triumphant: When one falls his vacant place Is taken by another worse than he.
How canst Thou let such huge injustice be!In vain man dreams of his long-sought release From slavery to arrogance.
His dreams Of liberty and truth across the face Of History float like a wraith. It seems That warfare triumphs, not Thy promised Peace; Of brotherhood sincere there's scarce a trace.
God Speaks:My hosts indeed Are those who from all human ties are freed, And rise to serve My Everlasting
Truth.Each one of them holds in his righteous hand A trumpet, sounding loudly in each land The call to free and more abundant life.
These walk above the world by My Great Name, And, like a searing, devastating flame Destroy the forts of wrong and still man s strife.
From every human attribute set free They take commands from Me � from only Me!
See how the shadow moveth when its lord, The sun, commands. So do My servants stand And move, and raze and build at My Command.
These rule the world with Justice, My Keen Sword.My attributes adorn their earthly frame; Their very names are lost in My Great Name;
Page 959Their brows illumined with My Holiness They singing march all evil to redress.
So hath My love their total being won: So hath It though their veins and arteries run, That every part and limb obeys My Voice: They can no other for they've made their choice.
When once My servants listen unto Me They hear none else, for they at last are free From all dependence on men's praise or blame.
My smile their glory is, My frown their shame.My Power assists them: one alone pursues A thousand and ten times that number flee At threat of two. Before their thundering feet All strongholds fall as Jericho once fell.
The chains of slaves, the bars of prisons greet Their shouts and vanish when they sound the knell.
Such are My Hosts. Theyhave bound up their thews With My all-conquering omnipotence. Who can resist them whom My Power endues
The Tree of ManAll prejudice, all ignorance, all hates He must abolish from his inmost part And love his enemies with all his heart.
He must establish Unity; know all Religions, races, creeds and flags as one.
Humanity with two wings flies. If one Be clipped how can My servants soar and sing?
Hence Woman must be free � her slavery done � That she may fly with man on equal wing.
One language must he learn to speak, that so The winds of vague distrust may cease to blow.
He must to all details of life applyall his social needs Shall be immersed in My pure Sea, and seeds Of hatred, born of envy, quickly die.
For economic ills, howe'er involved Are by the science of My Love resolved.
I have decreed all work to worship be, And work for service done is love for Me.
Man must all ancient barriers cast down, Inherited from days when Nature made Men strangers, pagans, foes unto each other.
All manmade walls that fearfulness hath laid To keep man from his friendly, unknown brother, Must nevermore upon My children frown.
Man must upon My Singleness agree; In all My Prophets see My Unity, And in Their Meeting know that they meet Me.
For all are but the Trumpets of My Voice Who in My heart's companionship rejoice, And bring men to My Kingdom for their choice.
All peoples must a general council call To form a Parliament of Man, that all Mankind in friendly conference may meet
And frame a UniversalLaw for Man, The Race, based on My Word revealed today.
Blest is the soui who loves and serves his kind, Not he who loves alone his native land.
Thus all My children gather at My feet; Thus all conform to one generic Plan; Thus all, with joy, My Will, not man's, obey.
Men's eyes shall then see Glory, late so blind. Rejoice!
Rejoice! This is My fixednow bath dawned, And hell its final wickedness hath spawned.
Page 960All men who love this Light and tend Its burning: All men who, prejudice and hatred spurning, Follow Its Gleam, are in My Host enrolled.
All men who have the Universal mind; All men who limbs of weeping slaves unbind; All men who for each thought of war do hold, And firmly hold, a stronger thought of peace; All men who in their inmost heart enfold The Christian, Moslem, Jew, and never cease
Proclaiming Oneness; Menwho treat the white, The black, the yellow � each one as a flower Within My Garden, varicolored light Which makes My perfect spectrum; all who shower My Knowledge on the eager minds, (what men Call science), and who know they have found Me Anew when any Truth is found, My Pen, My Pen Supreme, records such loyal men As of My Host: of such My Kingdom be.
For that blest hour which no man knew bath rung; My angels to man's longing ear have sung; The Light hath shone from East unto the 'West; My wandering birds are homing to their Nest.
The thief was in the house while owner slept.If oniy men had prayed and vigil kept They would have known
Me when in Man My ThroneSoon all the flags of evil shall be furled. The self-called great shall learn how small they are
When My transcendent OnenessAll such are likened unto reckless boys In puddles playing on My sea's vast shore.
Soon they shall hear My venging Ocean roar And see its waves o'erwhelm their childish toys: And they themselves be swept to doom so great That none would stoop to envy their estate.
Man Speaks:0 Glorious Lord! My heart is living song; At last I glimpse the light for which I long.
My heart bursts with the hope of meeting Thee!0, may I be Enrolled with these, Thy chosen ones? May I Be privileged to die, unknown, for Thee: Or, self-forgetting, be allowed to live And all my dedicated powers give That my own fellowmen no more may lie In graves of their own digging?
So may Thynow be built on earth; That so in midst of plenty may be dearth No more, and from all sorrowed, weeping eyes Shall tears be wiped away, and anguished cries Replaced by joyous song!
My eager being flies To seek my longed-for, promised Guide; Nor is the night so dark nor world so wide But I shall find Him and His Word obey.
0, Voice of God! AssureWhen man calls unto Me with heart sincere As thine, La! I become the very ear With which he heareth My assured reply.
Unto thy eager knock My Love all doors unlock.And, risen to true Life, armed with Love's sword, I march beneath Thy banner, nor care when, Nor where, nor how I meet my shining Lord Enthroned in Man, for I shall know Him then!
Page 961Before thy tread All obstacles shall fade and I will lead Thee to thy heart's desire.
I grant release To thee from bondage; from all fear surcease.
To every soul who followeth0 blessed spot! Where once the Master trod! 'Twas here He lifted up His voice in prayer, Unto that Glorious One, with Him to share His poignant grief. For here, beneath the sod, � O'ershadowed by the murmuring leaves which nod In autumn's breeze � the earthly temple fair Of him � His faithful son without compare, � Was laid, � this servant of the Will of
God.o holy shrine! They come from every land To honor him, in western world the first To see the Light of this New Day. To whom The Master station gave.
His blest command With joy we heed. We seek his shrine, athirst For peace, which vibrates from this sacred tomb.
� GESENA KOCHStar-soul upon your further voyage bent, You leave our orbit gladdened by your light!
Through years, the purpose of your high intent Was but to cleanse and uplift human sight To Bahá'u'lláh's Sun of
Truth!To give this purblind world a youth Of hopes and dreams, born of His Kingly word Whose lucent power makes space a womb of wealth Rich with a freedom forged in spirit's fire!
Upon that anvil, you laid down desire For the companioned ways of human love And in ione beauty shone o'er many lands, Your chart of hope surrendered to His hands.
The world was but a bead upon the thread Of your life's work, a faith, a prayer, That moved so silken through the weight of night, Cupping your heart, to catch the love and light That lead this age to a transcendent morn! Who knows what mysteries shall there be born?
� BEATRICE IRWINI know not how I chanced upon That glorious Orb beneath the sun, Nor can I now recall the way That brought me to that
Golden Day.I only know it led along Jnvis'ble tracks of evensong And wound its way thru pricks and goads Down dense and dark primeval roads.
I know not how I came upon That splendid Orb beneath the sun; I cannot tell unless it be That half-awake and aimlessly, I wandered by, and, from within, A gust of Love had drawn me in. Or it may be, by way of sport, A storm-cloud blew me to that Port.
I know not how, but one bright day I found myself a cycle away From bonds of dread and bonds of dearth, Upon a new uplighted earth, The like of which was never seen By anyone, however keen, 'Who lives bereft of inward mirth Upon Today's benighted earth.
Page 962That Planet has no parallel In any sphere where mortals dwell: Supporting it as on a throne, Its broad millenial cornerstone, Around, before it and behind,
Proclaims the Onenessof Mankind; The while a new and joyous dream Supports each sacred, massive beam; And the whole structure of its frame,
Alight with Justicefrom base to dome, Has rendered it a true World-Home, Where all desire oniy the good Of all its various brotherhood.
The Orb itself is like a tide Of gold and grain on every side, And overflows each vale and wold, Like some great vat, too full to hold, And spills in fountains gold and grain On rugged places and on plain � That all may garner and may share The plenty which is everywhere.
Besides its seas that shine and roll, And oceans which surround it whole, On one side rise from mists of things White mountains like celestial wings; And on the other, pillars rise, Rise high and noble to the skies; And here and there an arch and dome As of castles in some starry home.
And all around in even flow, Upon the high hills and the low, Deep rivers feed the fertile lands Like multitudes of loving hands.
There is no valley but has fountains, No highland but has golden mountains, No wilderness but has a pool, And every root is glad and cool.
For, as, in gratitude, unto A Kind, that's merciful and true, That keeps the Justice and the Peace, Nor knows the ways of avarice, The elements, it seems to me, Work there in conscious ministry, And they, together with the earth, Contrive that bounty and that mirth.
The Orb, I said, is like a tide Of gold and grain on every side But, alit to what shall I compare The peerless peoples assembled there!
The righteous nations that understandWhat I saw there no man has seen Save he so blest as there to've been, Save he who chanced, with weary breath, From out a world, plunged deep in death, From out a sphere, impelled by din, Outwardly live, but dead within, To look into an Orb that beams With Justice and with Truth redeems!
A World that knows not of such things As risen clowns and fallen kings; Or any place or path, along � Men straining at the leash of wrong; Or burning yokes that bend awry; Or cank'ring wounds that brutify; Or rabid men commanding fate; Or mad men at the helm of state; A world where no one wants or needs, Where no one prides or lusts or greeds, Or grinds or crushes any more, Or shatters or destroys by war; Where all inventiveness and skiii, The learning and the common will Is consecrated to a-grace And dignify the human race.
And everywhere I saw the same, In little lands and lands of name; The teeming earth, the plenteous wine, The shade and refuge of the vine, And all the milk and myrrh and mirth Are shared by all who dwell on earth.
And none who labor there are dreary; And none who serve are ever weary; And none are waxen fat and sleek; And none are portionless and weak; But all are strong and mount up high, With wings, like eagles, to the sky; And like the eagle, unbound and free, Is all of that humanity; And there is singing in the fields, And there is gladness in the yields, And understandings never cease, And ali! there is no end of Peace.
And what a glory 'twas to see, (I did not dream such things could be), A World all clean and wholly freed Of every barrier of race and creed!
Whence everything, that leads astray, Was swept, as by the wind, away; Whence all the images of old, The molten ones of brass and gold,
Page 963And graven ones of silver bars, That vied in shining with the stars, Were cast away, like things unclean; Are never spoken of or seen.
And none proclaims the praise of gain, And none bow low to what is vain, And none are serving turbid needs, And none are trafficking in creeds, And no false prophets, in disguise, Are blinding men with baleful lies, Not anywhere, in any place!
But everywhere a nameless grace For every acre that World around Is holy, consecrated ground, And all the Sphere, with one accord, The Tabernacle of the Lord � Since all cohere and all declare
The Oneness of ReligionAnd ali! this too was good to see; A Planet, calm and tumult-free, Whence all the uproar and mistrust Has vanished in a cloud of dust: As tho the Lord had stretched
His HandAnd touched each mouth in every land � All speak a universal tongue!
And high and low and old and young, And peoples from all parts and poles Converse together like kindred souls And members of a single band, Or children of one native land.
And lo! there's nowhere the confounding And the confusion so astounding, Which drove apart and led astray The crumbling Babel of
TodayBut everywhere the harmony Of branches on a leafy tree, And pure, ah pure, enlightened hearts And understanding in all parts; And all the earth, replete with glory � Untold as yet in any story.
For how make known, to what compare The bounties of the spirit there?
Such outpouring of nameless graceOr faiths of every shade and notion Merged, like rivers in an ocean?
Or all the thousand tongues men spun Reduced to clearness and to One?
And how describe and how compute Such harvests of eternal fruit As bowed-down men, grown straight and tall, With Peace on earth, Good Will to all?
I know not how, I said, before, I chanced upon that Golden
Shore;Nor can I tell what magic steed, In faith or fun, had done this deed; I know not how, I know not who, But this I know, this thing is true: I saw, with eyes undimmed and clear,
Tomorrow's All-InclusiveSphere, Anchored in Truth that sets men free And leads to all Infinity!
� SYLVIA MARGOLISThe worid is charged with strife and din As fiends engage in slaughter.
Confusion reigns; the blot of sin Befouls air, land and water!
The Day of Wrath with violence booms, Conflict of mind and matter.
Dense clouds but veil relief that looms Which armies cannot shatter!
Monarch of courtliness and grace With strength beyond all measure, Inspire the zeal to blend the race Like rainbow in its azure.
What can subdue the wrath of death With trumpet from the living breath?
Behold the King's Majestico Day Star of the boundless skies Unrivaled in thy splendor, Our spirits yearn with stronger eyes To view what thou dost render.
Without thy power to feast our sight, Thy genial warmth to cheer, What Stygian gloom would be our plight, What bleakness and dull fear!
A sign thou art of CentralWhich rules the Realms of Right, Around which circle as they run
Celestial Orbs of Light.And now to earth descend the rays Of spirit from the glad
New SunThat ecstasy of love the days May brighten with the task well done.
EXHALES THE ROSEOf all the flowers that breathe to earth The incense of the heart, What sweetness can attain thy worth?
What charm approach thine art?o lovely Attar, heavenly fee, Thou rich, ethereal treasure, A trace of thee, fond dreams of thee Distend all nostrils' measure.
Yet lovelier than fair Beauty's goal, Excelling its aroma Is flagrance wafted to the soul Dispelling its dread coma.
In Garden planted by the WiseThere's music in expanse of air, In sky and land and sea; The concord of a nature rare In mount and dale and lea.
What cadence in the anvil's ring, In orchestra and choir; In gentle word that peace doth bring In love's expressive fire!
But Queen of Song with tender note Heart ravishing in rhythm Bids silence: And all others vote That each tune in with
Heaven!So be it when the Muse of God Which gave to man his voice, Bestows upon this mundane clod Clear Guidance for his choice.
o be all ears, all hearts unstopped Sweet Strain of Words, Divinely dropped!
o Mystic Bird, our souls release To vibrate songs that joys increase!
CHORUSThe Bird and Rose by night and day To earnest souls glad news convey: The Lion's voice and
Beam of SunThe New Earth clings to Him Who brings To mortal man Seraphic things.
Supreme o'er all His Abhi faire.&1 5~ re~/~Zg . ~Q O/~ ~9 ~ ci. ci. ~ .4.~
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I~1r ri Notc: Louise C. Rich desiresbe made regarding this musical a correction to dedicatedcomposition erroneously compositions to the Guardian. Another bears the correct dedication � The of her musical Editors.
Page 969~ ;~r ~ ~ ~ ~W?2~ 7W1 4. ~ A I ~
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Page 982Prayer given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for the Believers, in the ii Southil-Western States of U. S. A.
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r ~LM~a~5, 9Vi~Shoghi Effendi, Without thy guiding hand, Too soon would we forget!
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Page 989Nov. 9, '37 Affectionately dedicated to Shoghi Effendi.
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I~3A(Newspaper accounts of conditions in Palestine inspired this Tone Poem.)
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Ii:: ~ECHOES FROM THE SPHERES 1005
Page 1006A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá'í Faith.
Outline of Bahá'í History.A Statement on Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Cause.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Brief History of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in America.
Extracts from Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Report.European and American Cities Visited by 'Abdu'l-Bahá
Transliteration of Oriental Terms Frequently Used in Bahá'í Literature.
Dr. J. E. Esslemont.The Relation of the Bahá'í Cause to Modern Progressive Movements.
The Unity of Civilization.A Statement of the Purpose and Principles of the Bahá'í Faith and Outline of Baha'i
History.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
PART TWOA Statement on Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Cause.
Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.Address of 'Abdu'l-Bahá delivered at Ba1A'i Convention, Chicago, 1912.
The Structure of the Bahá'í Temple.Address delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at the Dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Grounds, May, 1912.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of 'Ishq&b&d.Queen Marie of Rumania pays tribute to the beauty and nobility of the Bahá'í Teachings.
PART THREEBahá'í Groups with names and addresses of correspondents.
Baha Groups.Section One � List One: Bahá'í Publications of America.
Section Two � List Two: Bahá'í Publications of England.
� List Three: Bahá'í Literature in French.� List Five: Partial List of Bahá'í Literature in Oriental Languages.
Section Three � Alphabetical list of Bahá'í books and pamphlets.
Page 1011Section Four � References to the Bahá'í Movement in Non-Bahá'í works.
Section Five � References to the Bahá'í Movement in Magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Terms frequently used in Bahá'í literature.
Guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the lr4nian alphabet.
PART FOURIntroduction to The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
Poem � tA Prayer."The Baha Religion � Papers read at the Conference of Some Living Religions Within
the British Empire, 1924.The Bahá'í Cause at the Universal Esperanto Congresses at Edinburgh and Danzig.
On the Borders of Lake Leman.Translation of a Letter from the Israelitish Assembly of Bahá'ís of Tihr~n, Inn.
InterRacial AmityAppendix � Tablet to America revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í Persecutions in tr&n � An Appeal to His Imperial Majesty Ri~U Sh4h ]?ahlavi.
Appendix One � Summary of Bahá'í Teachings.Appendix Two � Excerpts from Letters of Bahá'u'lláh to the Sultan of Turkey and the SliTh of Thin.
Appendix Three � Words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá concerning I ran.
VOLUME IIIBahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
The Dawn of the Bahá'í Revelation. (From Nabil's Narrative.)
Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Text of Bahá'í application for civil recognition by the Palestine Administration.
Page 1012Facsimile of Bahá'í marriage certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of IrAn and Egypt.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Green Acre and the Bahá'í Ideal of Interracial Amity.
References to the Baha Faith.The Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in BaghdAd before the League of Nations.
Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Non-BaM'i works.
References to the Baha Faith in Magazines.Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the IrAnian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURBahá'u'lláh's Divine Economy: a Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh: A Reflection, by G. Townshend.
'Abdu'1 � Bahá'ís Visit to Woking, England.Impressions of Haifa, by Alaine Locke, A.B., Ph.D. The World Vision of a Savant, by Dr. Auguste Henri Ford.
The Cultural Principles of the Bahá'í Movement, by Dr. Ernst Kliemke.
The Relation of the Báb to the Traditions of bUm, by Wanden Mathews LaForge.
The Bahá'í Movement in German Universities, by Martha L. Root.
The City Foursquare, by Allen B. McDaniel.The Races of Men � Many or One, by Louis G. Gregory.
Haifa � and the Baha'is, by Dr. John Haynes Holmes.
A Visit to Rustum Vamb6ry, by Martha L. Root.The Bahá'í Cause at the XXth Universal Congress of Esperanto at Antwerp, Belgium, August, 1928, by Martha L. Root.
Shrines and Gardens, by Beatrice Irwin.Bahá'u'lláh and His Teachings, Reprinted from the Japan Times and Mail.
'Abdu'l-Bahá anti the Rabbi, by Willard P. Hatch.Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, by Leonora Holsapple.
A Trip to 'Tahiti, by Louise Bosch.Bahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and 'West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Excerpts from the Will and Testament of cAbd1t~l~Ba/jd.
The Spirit and Form of Baha Administration.Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Certificate of Incorporation by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
Documents related to the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada as a recognized Religious Society in
Palestine.Petition addressed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada to the Prime Minister of the Egyptian Government.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Facsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of IAn and of Egypt.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration tion of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the Palestine Government incorporating the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada as a Religious
Society in Palestine.Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation, The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Page 1014Further Developments in the Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House: Extracts from the Minutes of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.
Minutes of the Sixteenth Session: November 1929.Minutes of the Twenty-first Session: November 1931.
Extracts from the Report to the Council of the League of Nations.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Additional Material gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Baha'i
Calendar.Historical Data gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá'u'lláh.
Short History of the International Bahá'í Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland.
In Memoriam.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and CanadaLocal Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in IrAn.Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in fr6n.
List of the Nb's BestKnown Works.References to the Baha Faith in Books by nonBahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-BaM'i Writers.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the trinian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature. Glossary.
PART FOURThe Goal of a New World Order: A Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Way of the Master, by C. Townshend.Italy and the Bahá'í Cause, by General Renato Piola Caselli.
The World Economy of Bahá'u'lláh, by Horace Holley.
Education as a Source of Good Will, by President Bayard Dodge.
Unity through Diversity: A Bahá'í Principle, by Alain Locke, A.B., Ph.D. A Short Chronicle of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to London, 19111912, by Lady Blomfield.
Professor Auguste Forel and the Bahá'í Teaching, by Stanwood Cobb.
A Tribute from Dr. Edmund Privat.The First Fruits of Victory, by Keith Ransom-Kehier.
Where Is the Key to World Unity, by Louise Drake Wright.
A Visit to Rahji, by Nancy Bowditch.Appreciations of the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha L. Root.
The Supreme Affliction, by Alfred E. Lunt.The Bahá'í Movement and North American University Circles, by Martha L. Root.
Bahá'í Ideals of Education, by Stanwood Cobb.Man and Mankind on the Way of Progress, by Lidja Zamenhof.
The Epidemic of the Persian Jews, by A. J. Wicnberg.
The Younger Generation, by Mardiyyih Nabil Carpenter.
Light on Basic Unity, by Louis G. Gregory.Science and Religion, compiled by Loulie A. Mathews.
A Bahá'í Traveler in Palestine, by Walter B. Guy, M.D. Dr. David Starr Jordan, by Willard P. Hatch.
Song Offerings.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and "West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.The Passing of Bahá'í Kh~num the Most Exalted Leaf.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Genealogy of the Bib.Facsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Iran and of Egypt.
The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration tion of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States and Canada.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the City of New York.
Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of
India and Burma.Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Esslingen,
Germany.Map of Bahá'í holdings surrounding and dedicated to the shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carrnel and tentative design of terraces.
The Mashriqu'J-Adbk~r.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Spell of the Temple.The Project of Ornamenting the Bahá'í Temple Dome.
Architectural Concrete of the Exposed Aggregate Type.
God-Intoxicated Architecture.Model of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar at the Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933.
References to the Bahá'í Faith, by: Archduchess Anton of Austria, Charles Baudouin, Prof. Norman Bentwich, Prof.
E. G. Brown; Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, General Renato Piola Caselli, Rev. T. K.
Page 1017Cheycne, Valentine Chirol, Rev. K. T. Chung, Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston, Prof. James Darmesteter, Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, Dr. Auguste Forel, Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, Dr. Henry H. Jessup, Prof. Jowett, Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, Helen Keller, Harry Charles Lukach, Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania, Alfred W. Martin, President Masaryk, Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Mr. Renwick J. G. Millar, Prof. Herbert A. Miller, The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, Rev. Frederick W. Oakes, Sir Flinders Petrie, Charles H. Prisk, Dr. Edmund Privat, Herbert Putnam, Ernest Renan, Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, Emile Schreiber, Prof. Had Prasad Shastri, Rev. Griffith J. Sparham, Shri Purohit Swami, Leo Tolstoy, Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Sir Francis Younghusband.
Further Developments in the case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in Baghd~d.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXII session of the Permanent Mandates Commission sion of the League of Nations: Nov. 3 to Dec. 6, 1932.
Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXIV s~ssion of the Permanent Mandates Commission sion of the League of Nations: Oct. 23 to Nov. 4, 1933.
Note.Additional Material gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Baha'i
Calendar.Historical Data gleaned from Nab/i's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding Bahá'u'lláh.
Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá'í World.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Soiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and Canada.
Baha Administrative Divisions in Inn.Address of Centers of Babi'i Administrative Divisions in Pin.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the BTh's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books by nonBahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-EahA'i Writers.
References by Bahá'ís in non-BaM'i Publications.Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the tr~nian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURThe Administrative Order in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, from a letter of Shoghi
Effendi.The Descent of the New Jerusalem, by G. Townshend.
Page 1019The Spiritual Basis of World Peace, by Horace Holley.
In the Footsteps of the Pioneers, by Keith Ransom-Keller.
The Orientation of Hope, by Akin Locke.La Foic et Ia Science Unies par 1'Art, by Marie Antoinette Aussenac, Princess de Brogue.
Religion and Social Progress, by Keith Ransom-Kehier.
Prince Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, by Martha L. Root.
A Religion of Reconciliation, by Rev. Griffith J. Sparham.
The Men of the Trees, by Richard St. Barbe Baker.Les Probl&mes du Monde et Ia Foic Baha'i, by 'Au Afdalipur.
The Bahá'í Movement, the Greatness of Its Power, by Martha L. Root.
Der Sinn Unserer Zeit, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.The Re-florescence of Historical Romance in Nabil, by Mary Maxwell.
William Miller, Student of Prophecy, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A New Cycle of Human Power, by Marion Holley.The Nature of the Divine Manifestations, by Glenn A. Shook.
Religious Education for the Young, by Mrs. M. H. Inouye.
Why Do I Espouse the Bahá'í Cause? by Clii Kao Pujisawa.
Count Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha L. Root.
A Chinese View of the Bahá'í Cause, by Chan S. Liu.
Vernunft mid Glaube, by Dr. Adelbert MUhlschlegel.
Influence of Astronomy on Religious Thought, by Giorgio Abetti.
Haifa Calling, by riorence E. Pinchon.Taking the Message to the Maori People, by Keith Ransom-Kehier.
Only a Word, by Laura Dreyfus-Barney.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Excerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 1020Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of I ran.
Declaration and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Germany and Austria.Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq.
Text of Authorization Issued for Registration by the Mixed Court in Egypt of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Egypt.ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New
York.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Teancck, New Jersey, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, go, Illinois, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Petition of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Montreal, Canada.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Esslingen, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Ess-Jingen, en, Germany.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Karachi,
India.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Calcutta, ta, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Delhi,
India.Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of Bahá'ís of Rangoon, on, Burma.
Certificate of Registration of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bábi'is of Daida-naw, aw, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Mandalay, ay, Burma.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Auckland, nd, New Zealand.
Documents Related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, as a Recognized Religious
Society in Palestine.Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, Palestine Branch, as a Recognized Religious Society in Palestine.
Text of Application to the Palestine Government for Incorporation of the
Page 1021Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Certificate of the Palestine Government Incorporating the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma, Palestine Branch.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the word ttBah&'i."
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the name "Baha'i."
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the Canadian Government covering the symbol of the Greatest Name.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Iran.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'IrAq.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of tr~n.
Outline of Baha Laws regarding matters of Personal Status submitted for recognition to the Egyptian Government by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Text of the FarmAn issued by suitAn 'Abdu'1-'Aziz banishing Bahá'u'lláh to 'Akka, Palestine.
Text of the Resolution presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Map showing Travels of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh.Map showing Section of Route followed by Bahá'u'lláh on His Journey from
Baghd~id to Constantinople.Map showing Path of Travel of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the United States of America and Canada, 1912.
Facsimile of Tablet addressed by tAbdu'1-Bah& to the Chicago "House of
Justice."The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
The Bahá'í Temple � Why built near Chicago?The Five Billion Carat Gem Bahá'í Temple at Wilmette, Ill.
Temple Echoes from the World's Fair.Bahá'í Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume IL) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.Bahá'í Youth � An Estimate and Survey of International Events.
Bahá'í Youth in Iran.Story of the Pageant tC~171~ie Gate of Dawn.~~ The Drama of the Kingdom.
Pageantry as a Factor in Education.Prof. E. G. Browne, MA., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of British Academy.
Prof. Arminius Vamb&y, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
Harry Charles Lukach.Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, ~co1e des Hautes ttudes, Paris.
Charles Baudouin.Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.G.S.L; K.C.I.E. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous.
Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, BA.Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Frisk.Right Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P. Rev. K. T. Chung.
Prof. Dimitry Kazaroy, University of Sofia.Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
tmile Schreiber, Publicist.Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
Ex-Governor William Suizer.Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United States
and Canada.Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Iran.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the Mb's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and Pamphlets by non-Bahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-Bahá'í Writers.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Bahá'ís non-Bahá'í Publications.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Irkian Alphabet, and Notes on the
Pronunciation of Iranian Words.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURSpiritual Perspectives, by Prof. Raymond Frank Piper.
Page 1025Bah4'i-Glaube und Christentum, by Dr. Eugen Schmidt.
Bahi'isrno kaj 'a Socia Problemo, by Prof. Paul Christaller.
Bahá'u'lláh's Ground Plan of World Fellowship, by Archdeacon George Town-shend.
nd.Die Bahá'ís und meine Erfahrungen, by Prof. Dr. J. Rypka.
Impressions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Louise R. 'Waite.Zwei Heilige Grabst~itten, by Dr. Adelbert Miihlschlegel.
in Praise of Words, by Helen Bishop.Some Memories of the Sojourn of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Paris, by Lady Blomfield.
Racial Likenesses and Differences: the Scientific Evidence and the Bahá'í Teachings, by Louis G. Gregory.
Denmark's Oriental Scholar, by Martha L. Root.'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Historic Meeting with Jane Addarns, by Ruth J. Moffett.
The Soul of Iceland, by Martha L Root.Em Junger Glaube wird Bekannt, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
South America: Journey Taken in the Interest of the Bahá'í Cause, by Loulie A.
Mathews.Russia's Cultural Contribution to the Baha Faith, by Martha L. Root.
A Bab~i'i Incident from the Netherlands, by Louise Drake Wright.
Mr. Harald Thilander and his Publications for the Blind in Sweden, by Nellie S.
Frencb.The Modern Miracles of Palestine, by Beatrice Irwin.
A New Future for Radio, by Shirley Warde.Map of the United States of America Showing Bahá'í Centers.
CONTENTS VOL. VIISurvey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and '*~est.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.Commemoration of the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to America.
PART TWOExcerpts from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-l3ahd.
Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Bahá'ís of Iran.Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Germany and Austria.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma.
Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of 'Ir~q.
Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Egypt.Facsimile of Document related to the Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Australia and New Zealand.
ByLaws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of New York, N. Y., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Kenosha, Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Racine, Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Detroit, Michigan, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Milwaukee, , Wisconsin, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cleveland, , Ohio, U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Minneapolis, Minn., U. S. A. Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bombay, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Poona, India.
Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Adelaide, Australia.
Trade Mark Certificate obtained from the United States Government covering the tCW id Order Magazine.~~ Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of I ran.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of CIr~q.
Certificate of Marriage issued by the Palestine Government and delivered to the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Haifa for official registration.
Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of fMn.
Page 1027Bahá'í Divorce Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
Translation of the Record of 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í voice.
Map of Bahá'í holdings showing extension of properties surrounding and dedicated cated to the shrine of the Mb on Mt. Carmel.
The Institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
Progress of Temple Ornamentation.References to Bahá'í House of Worship in U. S. Steel News.
When Bahá'ís Build a Temple.Bahá'í Holy Days on which Work should be Suspended.
Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar.
Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Volume II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.The World Activities of Bahá'í Youth, 1936 to 1938.
Excerpts from Bahá'í Youth, 1937 to 1938.Prof. E. G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University.
Dr. J. Esdin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford.
Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.Litt., D.D., Oxford University, Fellow of the British
Academy.Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth.
Harry Charles Lukach.Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York.
Prof. James Darmesteter, tcole des Hautes ttudes, Paris.
Charles Baudouin.Dr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston.
Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.L, K.C.LE.Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A. Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.
Leo Tolstoy.Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of "John O'Groat Journal," Wick, Scotland.
Charles H. Prisk.The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
1mi1e Schreiber, Publicist.Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan.
Miss Helen Keller.President David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford University.
Prof. Bogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Jugoslavia.
Ex-Governor William Suizer of New York.Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia.
A. L. M. Nicolas.Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups Alphabetically listed according to
Nations.Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States and Canada.Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies, Groups and Isolated Believers in the United
States and Canada.Addresses of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Inn.
Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings.
List of the Báb's BestKnown Works.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books and Pamphlets by non-Bahá'í Authors.
References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by nonBahá'í Writers.
References to the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'ís in non-Bahá'í Publications.
Page 1031Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of Idnian Alphabet and Notes on the
Pronunciation of Iranian Words.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
PART FOURThe Seven Valleys by Bahá'u'lláh; A Meditation, by G. Townshend.
The World of Heart and Spirit, by Horace Holley.A Session at the World Congress of Faiths, by Helen Bishop.
Importance de 1'Id6e Spirituelle dans la Vie Actuelle, by Lucienne Migette.
Racial Amity in America, by Louis G. Gregory.Dawn over Mount Hira, by Mardiyyih Nabil Carpenter.
The Bahá'í Faith and Eastern Scholars, by Martha L. Root.
The Unity of Nations, by Stanwood Cobb.Baha'i, from "La Sagesse de 1'Orient," by Dr. Edmund Privat.
Sources of Community Life, by Marion Holley.A Brief Account of Thomas Ereakwell, by May Maxwell.
Unity of Races, by Genevieve L. Coy.The Fulfillment of Religion, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
A World Community, by George 0. Latimer.Bahá'í Radio Program, delivered over Station "WHN," New York.
The Bust of 'Abdu'1-Eahi, by Mrs. Stannard.The NonPolitical Nature of the Bahá'í Cause, by Emily M. Axford.
Teaching the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh in Distant Lands, by Nellie S. French.
Two Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst from "Persia by a Persian."
A Tribute from Iceland, by H6lmfridur Arnad6ttir.Map of the United States and Canada Showing Bahá'í Centers.
Page 1032(6) 1919 1920 19343537 1936 1939 193 91940 Journey of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.
First resident teacher, Gerrard Sluter.Sefior Francisco Acker, 15 Calle Poniente 24, left by Mr. Sluter.
charge of group First resident teacher, John Eichenauer, joined later by Clarence Iverson. Address: 11 a Ave. Sur No. 43, San Salvador.
Antonio Roca, first teacher, Tegucigalpa; Gerrard Slurer, resident teacher, formed large group. Executive Cummittee in charge: Senor Angela Ochoa Velasquez, Chairinaui.
Senor Jos6 Leon Ruiz, Secretary. Address: Bo. "El Socorro" D. C., Comayaguela, Honduras.
First resident teacher, Mathew Kaszab. Address: c/o U. S. Consul, Managua, Nicaragua.
Journey of E. R. Mathews and L. A. Mathews.First resident teachers, Mrs. Gayle NVoolson. Address: c/o American can Consul, San Jos6, Costa Rica.
Mrs. Amalia Ford.Journeys of Stuart W. French and Nellie S. French.
First resident teacher (5 months), Mathew Kaszab.Resident teachers: Mrs. Louise Caswell and Mrs. Cora Oliver.
Address: P. 0. Box 1296, Ancon, Canal Zone.MAPS OF THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD 1037
Map of South American Republics Teaching Regionpreparing to take up residence as pioneer teacher in La
Paz.of Magellan where they left books in the city of Magallanes.
(6) 1940 SefioraAtwater, preparing to take up permanent residence dence in Santiago.
PatagoniaMAPS OF THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD 1039
Brazil(10) 1940 Miss Leonora Holsapple, permanent resident. Address: Praca Dr. Paterson I, Baha, Brazil.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Worley, permanent residents.1936 Miss Eve Nicklin resided in Baha some months.
The Guianas(111213) 1940 Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Blakeley visited British Guiana but no pioneers there at present.
Republics of the West Indies will appear in Vol. IX, The Bahá'í World.
Page 1040