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****************MEMORIAL MARKING THE RESTING-PLACE OF THE MOST EXALTED LEAF.
Page 8Prepared 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 VCopyright, 1936, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada
Reprinted 1980NOTE: 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 Cause this work is dedicated in the hope that it will assist his efforts to promote that spiritual unity underlying and anticipating the
CCMOSt Great Peace"I. Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith 3 II.Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West 18
III. Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings 135
IV.The Passing of Bahá'í Kh&num, the Most Exalted Leaf 169
PART III. The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 191
1. Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Faith 191
2. Excerpts from the Will and Testament of cAbdu~1~Bah4 201 3. Genealogy of the Bib Facing page 203 4. Genealogy of Bahá'u'lláh Facing page 205 5.Facsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembles of the Bahá'ís of Persia and of Egypt 207, 208
6.The Spirit and Form of the Bahá'í Administrative Order 210
7.Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, 211 8.Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government t to the Declaration of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and
Canada 2139.Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A 217219 10.Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A 222224 11.By-Laws of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of
New York 22812.Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly y of the Bahá'ís of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A 22923 1 13.Certificate of Incorporation, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma 236 14.Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Esslingen, Germany 237 15.Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi 239 16.Map of Bahá'í holdings surrounding and dedicated to the shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel and tentative design of terraces 241
II. The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 265
1. Foreword 2653.The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 274
4. The Spell of the Temple 279 5. A Statement by the Architect 284
6.The Project of Ornamenting the Bahá'í Temple Dome 287
7.Architectural Concrete of the Exposed Aggregate Type 293
8. God-Intoxicated Architecture 313
9.Model of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar at the Century of Progress Exposition, sition, Chicago, 1933 318 III. References to the Bahá'í Faith, by: 322 Archduchess Anton of Austria, Charles ]laudouin, Prof. Norman Bentwich, Prof. E. G. Browne, Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, General Re-nato nato Piola Caselli, Rev. T. K. Cheyne, Valentine Chirol, Rev. K. T. Chung, Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Keddleston, 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. Millar, Prof. Herbert A. Miller, The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, Rev. Frederick W. Oakes, Sir Flinders Petrie, Charles H. Prist, Dr. Edmund Privat, Herbert Putnam, Ernest Renan, Right Hon.
Sir Herbert Samuel, Emile Schreiber, Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, Rev. Griffith J. Sparham, Shri Purohit Swami, Leo Tolstoy, Prof. Arminius Vambery, Sir Francis Younghusband.
IV. Further Developments in the case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in Bagiad Ad 351 1.Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXII session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations: Nov. 3 to Dec. 6, 1932 351 2.Excerpts from the Minutes of the XXIV session of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations: Oct. 23 to Nov. 4, 1933 354
3. Note 357
4. Mandates under the League of Nations 359
V. Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals 360
1. Foreword 360
2.BaM'i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting 360 3.Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding the Bahá'í Calendar 361 4.Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding ing Bahá'u'lláh 365
VI. Youth Activities Throughout the Bahá'í World 370
VII. In Memoriam 389
1. Mrs. Keith Ransom-Keller 389 2. Mrs. Agnes Parsons 410
3. Yusuf Khan-i-Vujdani 413
4. Dr. Arastii KMn Hakim 414
5. George Adam Benke 416
6. Edwin Scott 418
7. Mrs. Alice Barney 419 8. Mrs. Lisbeth Klitzing 420
9. Extracts from "IBaM'i News" 420
Page 91. Bahá'í National Spiritual Assemblies 425
2. Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies and Groups 426
3. Officers and committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 433
4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States
and Canada 436
5. Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia 446
6. Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia 449
7. Alphabetical List of Bahá'u'lláh's BestKnown Writings 449
8. List of the Bib's BestKnown Works 452
II. Bahá'í Bibliography 454
1. Bahá'í Publications of America 454
(a) Books about the Ba1A'i Faith 454 (b) Writings of the B~b 456 (c) Writings of Bahá'u'lláh 456 (d) Writings of CAbd~1Bh~ 456 (e) Writings of Shoghi Effendi 458 (f) Prayers 458 (g) Bahá'í Literature in Pamphlet Form 458 (li) Compilations 461
2. Bahá'í Publications of England 463
3. Bahá'í Literature in French
4. Bahá'í Literature in Italian 465
5. Bahá'í Literature in Dutch 465
6. Bahá'í Literature in Danish 466
7. Bahá'í Literature in Swedish 466
8. Bahá'í Literature in Portuguese 466
9. Bahá'í Literature in Albanian 466
10. Baha Literature in Esperanto 466
11. Bahá'í Literature in Russian 467
12. Bahá'í Literature in German 468
13. Bahá'í Literature in Bulgarian 472
14. Ba1A'i Literature in Rumanian 472
15. Bahá'í Literature in Czech 472
16. Bahá'í Literature in Serbian 472
17. Bahá'í Literature in Hungarian 473
18. Bahá'í Literature in Greek 473
19. Bahá'í Literature in Maori 473
20. ]lahi'i Literature in Spanish 473
21. Baha Literature in Oriental Languages 473
(a) Persian 473 (b) Urdu 475 (c) Arabic 475 (d) Turkish 475 (e) Burmese 475 (f) Chinese 475 (g) Hebrew 477 (h) Tartar 477 (i) Gujrati 477
Page 10(j) Japanese 477 (k) Armenian 477
(1) Tamil 477(in) Kurdish 477 22.Bahi'iLiterature in Braille (for the Blind) 477
23.Bahá'í Periodicals 477
24.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books by non-Bahá'í Authors 478 25.References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non-Bahá'í Writers 484 26.References by Bahá'ís in non-Bahá'í Publications 485 III. Transliteration of Oriental 'Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian
Alphabet 487IV.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature 491
PART IVI.The Administrative Order in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, from a letter of Shoghi Effendi 497 II. The Descent of the New Jerusalem, by G. Townshend 507 HI. The Spiritual Basis of World Peace, by Horace Holley 511 IV. In the Footsteps of the Pioneers, by Keith Ransom-Kehier 519 V. The Orientation of Hope, by Alain Locke 527 VI. La Foje et la Science Unies par 1'Art, by Marie Antoinette Aussenac,
Princesse de Brogue 529VII.Religion and Social Progress, by Keith Ransom-Keller 533 VIII.Prince Paul and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia, by Martha Root 541 IX. A Religion of Reconciliation, by Rev. Griffith J. Sparham 545 X. The Men of the Trees, by Richard St. Barbe Baker 549 XI. Les Probkmes du Monde et Ia Foje Baha'i, by tAli Afdalipur 553 XII.The Bahá'í Movement, the Greatness of Its Power, by Martha Root 563 XIII. Der Sinn Unserer Zeit, by Dr. Hermann Grossmann 571 XIV. Le Baha'ism, by Eugen Relgis 574 XV. A Visit to Adriano~1e, by Martha Root 581 XVI. The Re-florescence of Historical Romance in Nabil, by Mary Maxwell 595 XVII.William Miller, Student of Prophecy, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick 600 XVIII.A New Cycle of Human Power, by Marion Holley 605 XIX. An Appreciation, by Dr. Rustum Vambery 609 XX. The True Sovereign, by Alfred B. Lunt 615 XXI. The Nature of the Divine Manifestations, by Glenn A. Shook 625 XXII. Religious Education for the Young, by Mrs. M. H. Inouye 635
XXIII.Why Do I Espouse the Bahá'í Cause? by Chi Kao Fujisawa 638
XXIV. Count Leo Tolstoy and the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha Root 642 XXV. A Chinese View of the Bahá'í Cause, by Chan S. Liu 645 XXVI. Vernunft und Glaube, by Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel 647 XXVII.Influence of Astronomy on Religious Thought, by Giorgio Abetti 651 XXVIII. Haifa Calling, by Florence E. Pinchon 655 XXIX. Taking the Message to the Maori People, by Keith Ransom-Keh1er 660 XXX. Only a Word, by Laura Dreyfus-Barney 667
Song-Offerings 668
Echoes from the Spheres 675
Map of the Bahá'í World Inside Back Cover
Page 11Bahá'í Kh&num, The Most Exalted Leaf, Daughter of Bahá'u'lláh Frontispiece
Memorial Marking the Resting-Place of the Most Exalted Leaf Frontispiece
Her Majesty Dowager Queen Marie of RumaniaFrontispiece
Facsimile of Appreciation written by Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania Frontispiece Signets used by Bahá'u'lláh 4
Glimpses of CAbd~1BhP 8 � 11
Impressions of the Hands of tAbdu'1-Bahi 15 Takyiy-i-Mawlini KhMid in Sulayrn&niyyih, clriq, where Bahá'u'lláh stayed during His period of retirement 19 Bahá'í Women and Children, Representative of the East 36 Shrine of the Irnim Husayn in Karbila. X indicates Resting-place of Siyyid K&~im, one of the Forerunners of the BTh 42 Shrine of the Imim Husayn where the Mb often prayed (Refer to C(T1~e Dawn-Breakers," ers," Ch. II) 48 The Marriage Certificate of Bahá'u'lláh. 1251 A.H. (1835 A.D.) 53 Imperial Firman of N~siri'd-Din ShAh 1265 A.H. (1848 A.D.) with marginal note in his own hand, commanding Prince Nihdi-Quli Mirza to exterminate the Báb's of M~zindar~n, Persia (Refer to The Dawn Breakers, cli. XIX) 58 The Marriage Certificate of the Bib. 1258 A.H. (1842 A.D.) 63 The Tomb of Bahá'u'lláh in the years immediately following His Ascension 75 Portrait of tAbdu'1-BahA by Sigismund Ivanowski 76 House where Bahá'u'lláh passed away at Baha 78
The Garden of Ridvan 81
tAkki from the Beach 82 Newly-opened section of the International Bahá'í archives where the portraits of Bahá'u'lláh and the BAt are preserved 84
The House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad 136
The Garden of Ridvan, Baghdid 146
Bahá'í KlAnum, The Most Exalted Leaf 170The Shrine of the Most Exalted Leaf at night 173 Views of the Shrine of the Most Exalted Leaf 176 Bahá'í Khinum, The Most Exalted Leaf. Circa, 1895 180 Cort~ge of Bahá'í KhAnum approaching the Shrine of the Mb 186 Feast given to the poor of Haifa in memory of Bahá'í Kh&num 186 Members of the N.S.A. of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada. In the background round is the lowest section of one of the ribs of the recently completed dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 192 'Abdu'l-Bahá'í bedroom, Plaza Hotel, Chicago, 111., U. S. A., April, 1912 199 Bahá'ís of Chicago, Sept. 6, 1908, and Bahá'í Pioneers of Chicago 200 Mirza Buzurg, Father of Bahá'u'lláh, and four of his sons 204 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the N. S. A. of the Bahá'ís of Persia 207 Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the N. S. A. of the Bahá'ís of Egypt 208 xl
Page 12The seal of the first Bahá'í Assembly in the United States and Canada, 1897 212 Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration of Trust entered into by the N. S. A. of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada 213 Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A 217219 The Spiritual Assembly and Bahá'í community of Chicago, Ill., U. S. A 221 Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Washington, D. C., U. S. A 222 � 224 The Spiritual Assembly and Bahá'í community of Washington, D. C., U. S. A. 226, 227 Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A 229 � 23 1 The Spiritual Assembly and Bahá'í community of Teaneck, New Jersey, U. S. A 234 The Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India and Burma 236 Certificate of Incorporation, the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Esslingen,
Germany 238Map of Baha holdings surrounding and dedicated to the Shrine of the Mb on Mt. Carmel, recently exempted from the payment of taxes by the Government ment of Palestine. Tentative design of terraces suggesting an idea of the future development of a part of this area 241 Unity Feast, Baha Summer School, July, 1933, Geyserville, California, U. S. A 243 Upper center: Group of friends attending the Bahá'í Summer School at Geyserville, Calif. Left: The large fir tree under which many meetings are held. Lower center: View over the valley from Bosch Place. Right: A view of the beautiful ful redwood trees on the property 246 Some of the friends attending the Bahá'í Summer School, Louhelen Ranch, in
Michigan 249The buildings and grounds at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, and a group of Bahá'í friends who participated in the fruitful and happy beginning of the Bahá'í Summer School at this beautiful place249 The Bahá'ís of Racine, Wisconsin, U. S. A 262 The first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the West, now being built at Witmette, near Chicago, cago, Illinois 266 Aerial view of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 272 CAbdu~1.Bah~ after breaking the ground for the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar dhk&r in Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 273 The Dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (March, 1934) showing details of the ornamentation ation 278 Bahá'ís assembled at the geometrical center of the Temple grounds, and invoking the Greatest Name as their faces are turned toward tAkk&, April 27, 1910 278 The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar the crowning institution in every Bahá'í community.
Between pages 280 � 283 Work on Exhibit (of Mashriqu'l-Adhkar) 285 The Dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as now assembled. The ornamentation of the Dome was completed in March, 1934. The remainder of the ornamentation still to be completed 286 Details in the production of Temple Ornamentation290 Further details in the production of Temple Ornamentation 291 1933 Convention of the Baha of the U. S. and Canada. In the background entrance rance to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A 294
Surveys Marked on Concrete Bases 300
Page 13Timbers Constituting a Replica of the Steel of a Dome Section 3 01
First Steps in Making Models 302Bottom Sections of Ribs to Extend Down Over the Clerestory 305
Plaster Molds Made from the Models 306The Dome as Now Assembled � the remainder of the structure still to be completed leted 311 Cast of Clerestory section of great rib of dome312 Model of dome panel and casts 312 Mrs. Nettie Tobin kneeling by the stone chosen as the cornerstone of Bahá'í Temple 317 Model of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar exhibited in the Hall of Religions, A Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933 319 The first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar tlshqTh Ad, Turkistan, Russia 320 Seventh Persian National Bahá'í Convention, 1933. (Keith Ransom-Keller in the center) 328 Girl Students of the Bahá'í Tarbiyat School, Tihr&n, Persia 341 Bahá'ís gathered at the laying of the cornerstone of the IfIa~iratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í headquarters), Tibr&n, Persia 346 Members of the various committees appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia (1933) 352 Map showing travels of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh 362 Map showing section of route followed by Bahá'u'lláh on His journey from Baghdad to Constantinople 364
Young Bahá'ís of Batd~d 369Bahá'í Youth Group of London, England 371
The World Council of Youth 373Bahá'í Youth Group Committee, Tihr&n, Persia 376
The Karachi Young Men's Bahá'í Association 378Bahá'í Youth Group, Manchester, England 381 Group of ninety-nine young Baha'is, Hotel Orrington, Evanston, Illinois, 1933 381 Keith Ransom-Kehier, a Hand of the Cause and first American Bahá'í martyr 390 Bahá'ís of Tilinin bidding farewell to Keith Ransom-Kehier on her departure to
Isf~h~n 395Grave of Keith Ransom-Kehier, IsThMn, Persia 399 Grave of the Suit Anu'sh-Shuhad& (King of Martyrs), near which Keith Ransom-Keller eller was buried 399 Bahá'ís of I~fth~n gathered about the casket of Keith Ransom-Keller 408 Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Persia and representatives tives of various Bahá'í centers in Persia assembled at the grave of Keith
Ransom-.Kehler 408Design of Memorial to Keith Ransom-Keller, 1sf 4h~n, Persia 411 Portrait of Mrs. Agnes S. Parsons 412 Yiisuf KhAn-i-VujdAni, distinguished Persian Bahá'í teacher 413
Dr. Arastii Kh~n Hakim 415Edwin Scott 418
Mrs. Alice Barney 419
Mrs. Lisbeth Klitzing 420
The National Convention of the Bahá'ís of Germany427
Ba1A'is of Rostock, Germany 427
The Haziratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), Karachi, India 429
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Karachi, India 431
Bahá'ís of Karachi, India 431
Two views of the Bahá'í Summer School at Esslingen, Germany 435
Bahá'ís of Poona, India 440
448The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Bombay, India 448
Bahá'ís of Varna, Bulgaria 451
Egyptian Bahá'í teacher with Abyssinian translator of J. E. Esslernont's 'Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era 451
Bahá'ís of Kunjangun, Burma 453
The Ha4ratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), Rangoon, Burma 462
Bahá'ís of Sofia, Bulgaria 464
464Bahá'ís of Auckland, New Zealand 469
Bahá'ís of Perth, Australia 469
Bahá'ís of Tunis, North Africa 471
Bahá'í Home, Esslingen, Germany 471
The First Bahá'í Group in Abyssinia 474
Bahá'í Home, Rammen, Sweden 476 476
Bahá'ís of Aleppo, SyriaBahá'ís of Antep, Turkey 479
Mr. and Mrs. Dunn's first flat in Avoca Street, Randwick, Sydney, N. S. W., first Bahá'í meeting-place in Australia 483 Mrs. Blundell's home in Dunholme Road, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand, first Bahá'í meeting-place in New Zealand 483
Bahá'ís of Ism~-i1iyyih, Egypt 486
Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of tlr4q 490 Members of the National Convention of the Bahá'ís of tlriq 490 The Iyla4ratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), village of tAd iih Transjordania 496 The Masjid in Amul, Mizindarin, Persia, where Bahá'u'lláh was confined and bastinadoed 506 Square in Zanjin, Persia, where body of Hu,jjat was thrown and sixty martyrs were killed 510
House of Vahid (Siyyid Yahyay-i-Darabi) in Nayriz, Persia 510
Burial place of Vabid in Nayriz 510 The shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi, M4zindar&n, Persia, where the body of Mulla Husayn, the BThu'1-B6,b, is interred 518 Tree near the shrine of Shaykh Tabarsi, from which Mulla Husayn, the BThu'1-Bab, was shot 318 The Masjid in Birfurush M~zindar~n, Persia, where Qudd& is buried 518 A group of Persian Bahá'ís including prominent pioneer workers 526 Aq~ Jan KhAn-i-Khamsih who carried out the order for the execution of the Bib.
(Refer to ttThe Dawn-Breakers," Cli. XXIII) 532House owned and occupied by Bahá'u'lláh in Tihrin, Persia 540 H.R.H. Prince Paul of Yougoslavia 542 J-LR.H. Princess Olga of Yougoslavia 543 The Imim-Z~dih-Ma'sum, Tihrin, Persia, where the remains of the B~b were kept 544
Burial Place of "The Seven Martyrs" in Tihr~n 544
Burial Place, near Tibrin (underneath boulder), of Badi, bearer of Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to the ShTh of Persia 544 Manuchihr Khin the Muqtamidu'd-Dawlih who extended his protection to the Mb in 1sf ih4n, Persia (Refer to ~tThe Dawn-Breakers," Ch. X) 546
Richard St. Barbe Baker 548
Giants of the Redwood Empire Highway in Northern California �50
Group of Bahá'í friends and students in Paris, France 562 House of Manuchihr KMn visited by the BTh during His stay in 1sf MAn, Persia 570 House of the Jm~m-Jumcih where the Bib stayed while in 1sf Ah~n, Persia 570 Hiji Muhammad-Karim KMn, archenemy of the Báb. (Refer to p. 184) 572 Eugen Relgis, Rumanian writer and peace worker575 Mosque of Sultan-Salim, Adrianople, Turkey 582 Interior of the Mosque 5 82 Governor and Mayor of Adrianople, Turkey, with Martha Root and Marion Jack, international Bahá'í teachers 585 Must af a Big, 85 years old, who had seen Bahá'u'lláh in his boyhood home in Adrianople which was close to the Amru'lUh House 585
Ruins of Rida Big House 587Ruins of tlzzatu'11Th House 589 Site of the old KMn-i-tArab caravanserai 589 Ruins of house in Muradiyyih quarter 591 \Tiews of the town and ruins of the castle of M6h-Kfi, Adhirb4yj in, Persia, where the Báb was confined 594
Castle of M4h-Kii 597The site of East Rind ge, New Hampshire, which tradition cherishes as the place where the Millerites gathered in sincere expectation of being tttaken up to heaven" 601 The Ua;iratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), Tihr~n, Persia 610 Site of the Garden of Jlkhini, Tihrin, Persia, where T~hirih (Qurratu'1-tAyn) suffered martyrdom 614 Original home of Tihirih (Qurratu'I-tAyn) in Qazyin, Persia, where she was born and lived 614
Bahá'ís of Baku, Caucasus 624
Baglidid from the west bank of the Tigris 633 Mrs. M. H. Inouye, President of Japan Women's University, Tokyo 636 Provincial convention of the Bahá'ís of Adhirbayj in, Persia 637 The Ija4ratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), Yazd, Persia 641 Count Leo Tolstoy and his secretary 643 Chan S. Liu, Director of Bureau for the Improvement of Sericulture Department of Reconstruction, Honglok, Canton, China646
Bahá'ís of Sisin, Persia 650Haifa, April 24, 1839, and Haifa at the time of tAbdu'1-BaM's passing 658
Page 16Haifa, 1934, from Mount Carmel showing shrine of the Báb and gardens (left f ore-ground) ground) and Tomb of the Most Exalted Leaf (right foreground) 659 Early and late views of the Shrine of the Báb on Mt. Carmel 661 Chief Mita Taupopoki, who summoned a Macni tribe to hear the Bahá'í Message 663
Baha of Melbourne, Australia 666G. G. Paul, first translator of Bahá'í writings into Maori 666
Page 17DURING the past ten years the Bahá'í community of East and West has learned to anticipate each successive volume of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD (the first number was entitled ttBahá'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 s 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 Cchitil 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 y arrived at a turning point in its spiritual and social evolution has likewise a profound significance for the non-Bahá'í student and scholar who desires to investigate the world religion founded by the Bib 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 Baha era. He will find what is unparalleled in religious s 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 e foundations the Bahá'í World Order rests upon in the life and teachings of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, the life and interpretation of cAbdu~1~Bah& 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 t 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.
xviiHorace Holley, Chairman, 119 Waverly Place, New York City.
Mrs. Stuart W. French, Secretary, 501 Bellefontaine St., Pasadena, Calif.
Mr. Albert Windust, 5824 Emerald Ave., Chicago, Ill.
Mrs. Edvard Lindstrom, Fayville, Mass.Mrs. Oliver LaFarge, Santa Fe, N. M. Miss Marion Holley, Box 492, Visalia, Calif.
Victoria Bedikian, Assistant Photograph Editor, P. 0. Box 179, Montclair, N. J.
GREAT BRITAIN �Mrs. Annie B. Romer, 19 Grosvenor Place, London SW. 1, England.
GERMANY �Dr. Hermann Grossmann, 37 G6ringstrasse, Neckargemfind, Heidelberg, Germany.
SWITZERLAND �Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg, case 181 Stand, Geneva, Switzerland.
FRANCE �Mrs. Mardich Carpenter, do American Consul, Tihr&n, Persia.
Dr. Lutfu'llAh Hakim, Avenue Chirkgh Barg, Tihr~n, Persia.
INDIA AND BURMA �Prof. Pritam Singh, 9 Langley Road, Lahore, India.
PALESTINE �Miss Effie Baker, Photograph Editor, Bahá'í Pilgrim House, Haifa.
EGYPT �Muhammad Mustaf 4, Baha Bureau, P. Box 13, Daher, Cairo, Egypt.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND �Bertram Dewing, 5 Aidred Road, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand.
CIRAQMartha L. Root, care Roy C. Wilhelm, 104 Wall St., New York City.
xix~~T/ae Tabernacle of Unity has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers.
Of one tree are ye all the fruit and of one bough 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 suppiy 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 Persia the motive animating believers has been in direct opposition to the most in � veterate prejudices of their environment. The
Cause of Bahá'u'lláhhas moved forward without the reinforcement 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 Mubammadan 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 con-sdicnce, 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'lláh has special significance.
The 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 the contact of rational and emotional individuals, of active and passive dispositions, undermining capacity for cooperation in every organized society, which attain mutual under
Page 4AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA FAITH 5
standing 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 Bahá'í community stands has created a religious society in which all human relations are transformed from social to spiritual prob-lerns.
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. Tensions and oppositions between the different groups are organized for dominance and not for 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 teachings are in themselves principles of life and they assert the supreme value of humanity without doctrines 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 "tth" or "right" 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 oniy 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.
2. THE RENEWAL OF FAITH~~Theref 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 mankind." � tABDU'L-BAHÁ.
In stating that the Cause national truth, which of Bahá'u'lláh is an independentmight be duplicated from religion, two essential factsthe same sources. Bahá'u'lláh are implied. created a reality in the The first fact is that world of the soul which the Bahá'í Cause historicallynever before existed and was not an offshoot of could not exist apart any prior social principle from Him.
or community. The teachings of The second fact is that Bahá'u'lláh are no artificialthe Faith of Bahá'u'lláh synthesis assembled from is a religion, standing the modern library of in the line of true religions: inter-Christianity, Christianity, Muhammadan
Page 6mm, 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 un � believing society without.
The religious education of Bahá'ís 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 cooperation, 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 or the process of history.
The fol lowers of Bahá'u'lláh derive mental integrity from the realization made so clear and vivid by tAbdu'1-BahA 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 immortality, 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 humanity itself in one faith and one order.
It is by the parable of the vineyard that Baha of the Christian 'West behold their tradition and their present spiritual reality at last inseparably joined, their faith and their social outlook identified, their reverence for the power of God merged with intelligible grasp of their material environment. A human society which has substituted creeds for religion and armies for truth, even as all ancient prophets foretold, must needs come to abandon its instruments of violence and undergo purification until conscious, humble faith can be reborn.
3. THE BASIS OF UNITYC rThc best beloved of all 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 endure. The faith of the how wholehearted and early Christians was complete, sincere, affords no basis but its degree of inner on which the organic unity conviction when projected of a religious fellowship outward upon the field can
Page 7AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 7
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 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 peopie to a community, the loyal observance of which makes spiritual faith coterminous with life itself. The Baha'is, having no professional clergy, forbidden ever to have a clergy, understand that religion, in this age, consists in an ttit dd 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 Bahá'í 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 in.-terpreted in the light of the supreme law of brotherhood and not made a sanction for selfishness, oppression and indifference.
On the other hand, the Bahá'í 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 IBahá'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 meri-ibers, 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 Ba1A'i community is granted, on personal declaration of faith, to adult men and women.
Six National SpiritualAssemblies have come into existence since the passing of tAbdu'1-Bahi 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 believercan 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
E~b.is 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 B&b and tAbdu'1 � Baha � 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 expe-rienc5 confer a privilege that is felt to be the fulfilment of life.
4. THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW DAYre1f man is left in his natural state, he will become 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. God has purposed that the darkness of the world of nature shall be dispelled and the imperfect attributes of the natal self be effaced in the effulgent reflection of the Sun of Truth."
� tABDU'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 tAbdu'1-BahA, and more recently the exposition made by Shoghi Effendi of the teachings concerning the world order which Bahá'u'lláh came 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 tAbdu'1-Bah4 preserves the spiritual integrity and essential aim of the revealed text, without the inevitable alloy of human personality which historically served to corrupt the gospel of Jesus and Mubammad. The Baha, 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: The Kitáb-i-Iq6n (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 cycies according to which the prophet returns at intervals of approximately one thousand years, and the nature of faith; Hidden 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;
Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh(Tar6At, The Tablet of the World, Kalim&t, Taja11iy~t, Bish6At, Ishr~q&t), which establish social and spiritual principles for the new era; Three Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh (Tablet of the Branch, KitTh-i-tAhd, Law~-i-Aqdas), the appointment of CAbd 'lB If as the
Interpreter of Bahá'u'lláh'steachings, the Testament of Bahá'u'lláh, and His message to the Christians; Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, ad
Page 13AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA FAITH 13
dressed to the son of a prominent Persian who had been a most ruthless oppressor of the believers, a Tablet which recapitulates many teachings Bahá'u'lláh had revealed in earlier works. The significant Tablets addressed to rulers of Europe and the Orient, as well as to the heads of American repub-. lics, about the year 1870, summoning them to undertake measures for the establishment of Universal Peace, constitute a chapter in the compilation entitled ttBah~?i Scriptures."
The published writings of tAbdu'1-Bahi are: Some Answered Questions, dealing with the lives of the prophets, the interpretation of Bible prophecies, the nature of man, the awe principle of evolution and other philosophic subjects; Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a work addressed to the Persian peo-pie about forty years ago to show them the way to sound progress and true civilization; Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, three volumes of excerpts from letters written to individual believers and Bahá'í communities, which ii-lumine a vast range of subjects; Promulga � tion 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 cAbdu~1~BaM, a similar record of His addresses in Paris; tAb du'1-BaM 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. Forel of Switzerland. The Will and Testament left by CAbdu~1~Bahi 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 Bahá'í 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 imbedded in Bahá'u'lláh's
Revelation.The literature has also been enriched by Shoghi Effendi's recent translation of The
Dawn-Breakers, Nabil'sNarrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation, a vivid eyewitness account of the episodes which resulted from the announcement of the Mb on May 23, 1844.
The Traveller's Narrative, translated from a manuscript given by tAb du'1.-BahA to the late Prof. Edward G. Erowne of Cambridge University, is the only other historical record considered authentic from the Ba1A'i point of view.
When it is borne in mind that the term ttreligious 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 Baha 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 simpli-fled program either for the solution 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 be-lids or treat of subjects close to his own previous training. This natural but nevertheless unjustifiable oversimplification 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
Page 14valid 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 superficial economic and political beliefs which like waves dash high an instant only to subside into the moveless volume of the sea.
CCThe divine reality," tAbdu~1~Bah~ has said, "is unthinkable, limitless, eternal, immortal 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.
(CAn 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 Godand man, and this is none other than the Holy Spirit, which brings the created earth into relation with the ~Unthink 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 beings, 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, tAbdu~1~ BaM frequently encountered the attitude that, while the liberal religionist might well welcome and endorse such tenets, the Bahá'í teachings after all bring nothing new, since the principles of Christianity contain all the essentials of spritual truth. The believer whose heart has been touched by the Faith so perfectly exemplified by tAbdu~1Bah~ f eels no desire for controversy, but must needs point out the vital difference between a living faith and a passive formula 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 "newness" 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 Faithno 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 dimen-sian, fulfilling the fundamental purpose of every previous
Revelation. His Faithstands as 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, veiwed 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 fulfilment has
Page 15AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA FAITH 15
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 separate 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.
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 Right Hand. Left Hand.
Impressions of the hands of tAbdu'I-Bah4 reproduced in the German magazine Sonne der W'ahrheit some years ago.
The Bahá'í learns to perceive the universe as a divine creation in which man has his destiny to fulfil 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 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 df 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 equalopportunity, 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 "new," the world's present plight is unprecedented, came without warning save in the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh and cAbdu1~Bahi, 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.
5. A BACKGROUND OF HEROIC SACRIFICE!fQ My beloved friends! You are 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 attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His right ecus-ness, s, His power and glory. Ponder the words of Jesus addressed to His disciples, as He sent them forth to pro~a gate the Cause of God." � THE BAt 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 IsUm one hundred years ago lay in a darkness corresponding to the most degraded epoch of Europe's feudal age.
Between the upper and nether millstones of an absolutist state and a materialistic church, the people of Persia 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 souis stood firm in their conviction that the religion of Mul3ammad 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 ~A1i-Muhammad since known to history as the Báb (the "Gate"), their hopes had been realized, and under the BAt'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 Mb 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 Mb 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 BTh's own written message He interpreted His mission to be the fulfilment 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 Mb'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 Mb's martyrdom, the weight of official wrath fell upon ~ around whom the Mbis centered their hopes. kin-sayn~cA1i was imprisoned in Tihr~n, exiled to Baghdad, from BaghdAd sent to Constantinople under the jurisdiction of the SuI;in, exiled by the Turkish government to Adrian-ople, and at length imprisoned in the desolate barracks at tAkk~.
In 1863, while delayed outside of Baghdid for the preparation of the caravan to be dis
Page 17AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 17
patched to Constantinople, Husayn-tAli 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 Báb's Cause was fulfilled.
The Báb's who accepted 1Iusayn~CA1i as Bahá'u'lláh (the Glory of God) were fully conscious that His mission was not a development of the I3Abi movement but a new Cause for which the Báb 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 gospel 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-pies, and in communications transm~ ted 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 CAbdu~1~Bah~~s writings during the years between Bahá'u'lláh's ascension in 1892 and tAbdu'1-BaM's departure in 1921, Bahá'u'lláh having left a testament naming tAb-du'1-BaM (His eldest son) as the Interpreter of His Book and the Center of His Covenant.
The imprisonment of the Bahá'í community at Akka ended at last in 1908, when the Young Turks party overthrew the existing political rdgime.
For three years prior to the European War, CAbdu~1~Bahi 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 Bab. The significance of CAb du'1-BaIA's commentary and explanation 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, tAbdu'I-BaM 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 ioss of the wise and loving (cMaster~~ in 1921, learned with profound gratitude that tAbdu'1-BalTh in a wiii and testament had provided for thz 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 Bahá'í Faith.
During the twelve years of general confusion since 1921, the Bahá'í community 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 th2 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 CAbdu~1~Bah6t 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 18AT the time when the Survey was in preparation for the previous volume of The
Bahá'í World, the Ba1A'icommunity found itself in the full stream of international economic depression. It was noted in that Survey that the depression was in reality an unescapable test of the religious values prevalent in civilization.
The rise of an unexpectedly powerful nationalism since that time, making possible a degree of control by states over industry in a time of peace commensurate with the control exercised as a matter of course during the war years, affords no reason why a Bahá'í should withdraw that general statement.
On the contrary, the nature of public events and trends since 1930 serves to throw it into far stronger relief.
For the Bahá'í community today is surrounded by a society compelled to make f ate-ful decision between the principle of internationalism, represented publicly by the League of Nations, and the principle of exclusively nationalistic sovereignty and power.
The political bodies, which under the agony and stress of the European War had taken the new and unprecedented step of establishing a League embodying hope of political peace, were revealed, in the startling glare of general depression, as still essentially competitive with respect to that wide range of affairs on which the economic life of their people had come to depend. The devious and perplexing interrelations not oniy of commerce but also of the new and special problem represented by war debts and indemnities disclosed an immediate separation of vital interests which in action outweigh the ap parendy less immediate general interest of universal peace. The result has been the identification of nationalism with the struggle for existence, with a consequent intensification of that very separateness from which the European 'War inevitably derived.
It was as though the states sincerely participating in the League had unexpectedly found themselves committed to a prior obligation � the obligation to sustain their own people in commerce � which had the effect, if not officially nevertheless practically, of canceling their obligations to the League.
The course of the disarmament proceedings, not to men-don the withdrawal of two powers from the League, has written for all to read the political consequences of an economically competitive world.
Followers of Bahá'u'lláhdo not refer to such matters from any partisan point of view but solely to arrive at fuller understanding of the larger movements of the mysterious age in which they live.
In this spirit of impartial analysis it may further be remarked that current nationalism has profoundly altered the customary relations of the state to its citizens, and likewise affected the nature of the state in itself.
One observes a vast increase in the degree of responsibility assumed by government for the economic welfare of the people. Nationality and people appear as closely identified now with respect to normal activities as they were with respect to war making between 1914 and 1918.
The strength of the state is its capacity to solve problems which peo-pie through various business agencies formerly assumed they had to solve for themselves.
18Since the oniy public international agency in existence was never endowed with power to deal with economic problems from the international point of view, the unescapable responsibility has fallen upon national bodies to which the international point of view is not merely alien but also, as far as action is concerned, as yet impossible. While politically the world by means of the League emerged from the era of separate treaties into the era of the general covenant or pact, eco executive function and suppressed the legislative and judicial functions of government in practically every nation. Today decision and action tend to proceed independently, the legislative and judicial branches serving rather to justify action after the event than to anticipate and shape its course by preliminary inquiry and deliberation.
Psychologically this means that the current period emphasises will at the expense of thought and habit. Socially it reveals the existence of Takyiy-I-Maw1An~ Khulid in Sulaym~niyyih, 'Jr~q, where Bahá'u'lláh stayed during his period of retirement.
nomically the world is now proceeding through that same phase of separate treaties which characterized the last desperate decades preceding the war.
The impact of this sudden and overwhelming responsibility has compelled the national state to make significant changes in its constitutional structure and its methods of oper � anon. Whether these changes will in the future be regarded as "revolutionary" cannot now be determined, but the fact remains that the traditional balance between executive, legislative and judicial elements of government has been overthrown. The irresistible pressure of need for decision and action under unprecedented conditions has developed the crisis and emergency without precedent. Philosophically it means an instinctive breaking away from a past which no longer has meaning or influence.
The balance between will, thought and habit must in time be fully restored, in government as in individual personality, because that balance is innate in human life itself. All emergency and crisis are inherently transitory, no matter how overwhelming the specific condition may appear.
Deeper, however, than these changes going on in the political realm are the tacit assumptions upon which at present society is established.
All public policy reflects a social philosophy of some sort, and the prevailing
Page 20philosophy, from the Bahá'í point of view, is fatally limited. The individual everywhere is reckoned in terms of his political or economic citizenship and not in terms of his spiritual significance. Public pressure, through statute and collective opinion, seeks to give moral sanction to policies which have no root in moral truth.
Humanity is divided against itself by the most powerful sanctions which can be devised, and by this division it may be seen how far the individual is swept from any foundation in righteousness. Man's relationship to a national state or a sectarian creed is no substitute for his relationship to God, and the effort to make it so is a desperate gamble with Destiny by which former societies have invariably destroyed themselves. The very process of social development since 1844 has been committed to this end, with no power of itself to check its course. Each step on the path to world war has apparently been inevitable, for the decisive factors at each step have been institutional and materialistic values rather than the humanitarian values which every religion in its purity has upheld. The decay of the individual � his acceptance of false values � has become organized as the very structure of civilization. Hence the clash of philosophies and institutions which project into action a general attitude severed from spiritual truth.
Every civilization is the realization of man's collective will, and when that will is materialized the civilization possesses no source of healing.
It is significant that one result of the social condition already manifest is the rapid destruction of our historic past.
The increase of power in the state, made necessary by the increase of its responsibility, has, in some cases consciously and intentionally, in others unconsciously and without intention, established an entirely new scale of values and a new standard of usefulness upon all organized activities within the nation. No organized social activity, whether industrial, cultural or religious in character, can any longer maintain itself as a completely independent organism, feeding upon but entirely unanswerable to, the larger social organism of which it forms a part.
The demand for social unity and more perfect coordination is serving rapidly to annul, by public opinion if not by statute, those larger and smaller social anarchies perpetuated from an earlier period under the protection of that indifference which, up to the present crisis, was considered the very flower of the democratic ideal.
When, then, a true balance is again attained with the final recession of crisis, the nature of human socity will be far different from its nature in the autumn of 1929. The longer perspective of history may indeed explain the bitter economic crisis as the visible symptom of a society suffering from a more serious ailment than is even yet realized.
The future verdict may be that international unity can rest upon no less substantial foundations than a true unity within the constituent nations, which preliminary unity could not be achieved apart from an emergency great enough to dominate the elaborately evolved divisive influences inherited from the past. The rise of nationalism may, at least, be viewed in two ways: first, as involving risk, if not inevitability, of a truly international war; and second, as the first major effort since feudalism to check the anarchy of individualism and socialize mankind.
In the previous Survey reference was also made to the Baha teaching that by the year 1963 the foundations of universal peace will have been laid.
Since the followers of Bahá'u'lláh accept this teaching as a truth superior to any human analysis of the course of events, they realize, more clearly than others can, the transitory character of existing conditions and the vast amount of readustment which humanity is destined to undergo during the next twenty-nine years. The rapidity of change and alteration during the period since 1914, stupendous though it has been, appears in the light of that prophetic teaching as no more than a feeble indication of changes and alterations yet to occur. What has happened, visibly and invisibly, is but preliminary to what must happen in less than half the span of man's allotted life.
What the Bahá'í community confidently anticipates is first, the general realization that social principles and doctrines cannot be divorced from spiritual truth, and second, that the nations and peoples will come to adopt an organic world order.
Page 21The prevalent notion that political principles bear sanction merely from their source in a civil state, and that economic dictrines possess validity merely by concentrating upon one field of human activity isolated from the rest of life, is a fatal consequence of a religious tradition culminating in an artificial creed. Modern social principles are forms of a science compelled historically to build upon nonreligious foundations. Men as individuals may be religious, but society has come to be materialistic, and whatever else the course of events may produce it will reveal the impermanence of the basis upon which civilization rests.
BaJA'is, therefore, have learned to cherish more deeply, and appreciate more fully, the pragmatic truth as well as the spiritual reality of tAbdu'1-Bahá'í exposition of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh concerning the nature of human society.
They have made transition from that preliminary stage, inevitable in a Cause gradually drawing its workers from a preexisting society, when the believers upheld the Bahá'í social teachings as a static, if universal, religious creed, and have firmly entered that higher stage of development in which it is possible to realize that the principles enunciated by the Interpretor and Exemplar of the Faith have not oniy a divine origin but an immediate and direct relation to human history.
They are the true path, apart from which is naught but frustration for the "armies that clash by night."
Thus the Bahá'ís today feel a new insight into the significance of such principles as tcThe agreement of science and religion," "The abolition of prejudice," or "The establishment of a Supreme Tribunal," since they behold the throes of a society in which these aspects of truth are penetrating more deeply day by day. They behold and feel poignantly the sterile effort of the greatest human powers to solve problems apparently political and economic but in reality rooted in the spiritual domain.
They are not blinded by the formidable nature of those powers expressing themselves through myriad doctrines emanating from the most highly trained and acute intelligences at the disposition of society. They see ttthe end of this valley from the begin-fling," and however they regret their own human weakness they possess a steadfast faith in the revealed purposes of the divine Will. Sooner or later events and conditions will compel the world to accept life as one reality and no longer as separate fragments termed ttreligion,~c economics, or "politics."
Another significant development in the Bahá'í community during the past two years has been its emergence from the view that Bahá'í Administration is a method of internal unity and discipline to the larger view that it is a true world order, the pattern of that order which humanity wiii attain when disorder has run its course to the end.
The belief which many friendly observers of the Faith have expressed, namely that the mission of this Cause is to introduce into society the leaven of a more liberal and universal outlook, a mission to be fulfilled when the "Bahá'í principles" have won general acceptance � this attitude, which has conditioned a certain number of Baha'is, at least in the West, has lost its force with the rise of knowledge concerning the world order of Bahá'u'lláh emanating from the Testament of tAbdu'1-Bah5. The Bahá'ís have been carried beyond that critical point of development, with its temptation to relax from the early zeal of teaching, overlook the vital importance of their own organic unity, and judge the progress of the Faith by criterions established in non-BaM'i realms of society. Their present realization, that the new wine cannot be held in old bottles, stands as a landmark in the evolution of the Baha community.
For this realization has served to intensify the spirit of teaching, by making its aim the growth of the Bahá'í community and not merely the spread of general principles; and it has greatly deepened the conviction of the believers that they are citizens of a worldwide spiritual commonwealth and not merely individual exponents of new and desirable ideals.
To summarize this subject briefly, it is noted that the Bahá'í community has come to see more and more clearly its essential separation from a world which has lost control of its own destiny. The followers of Bahá'u'lláh have been given knowledge that another war is inevitable; they consequently are striving to build upon the foundations which can alone endure.
The source of this growth has been, inpart, the natural result of the impact of the general depression upon a Ba1A'i community habituated to think of life in terms of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, but even more the influence exerted by the general communications issued by the Guardian of the Faith during this two-year period, ttAmerica and the Most Great Peace," and
"The Dispensa-don of Bahá'u'lláh."In these statements the Bahá'ís find their Faith reaffirmed in terms of clear insight into the nature of the current world movement.
The present Survey is introduced with the necessary comment that in no visible and concrete activity but rather in a development of understanding and responsibility has the international Bahá'í commuity most truly made definite progress since the previous voi-urne of this biennial record was prepared.
THE PASSING OF BAHÁ'ÍThe worldwide Bahá'í community responded to a profound common grief in the passing of Bahá'í Khanum, daughter of Bahá'u'lláh, in July, 1932.
Throughout the lifetime of the present generation of Bahá'ís in all countries, Bahá'u'lláh Khanum known by the title 'tGreatest Holy Leaf" bestowed upon her by Bahá'u'lláh, had been felt to be the exemplification of supreme devotion to the Faith, the exam-pie of perfect womanhood, and a link between the believers and the great historic period when the Cause had its Manifestation in the persons of the Mb and Bahá'u'lláh. From the stories by pilgrims returning from Haifa, from Bahá'í Khanum's own communications written at the Guardian's behest during his absence from Haifa at intervals since the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the Bahá'ís felt the unique quality of her life, and in the pang of her removal realized that an era in the evolution of God's Faith had come to a close.
"Greatest Holy Leaf's immortal spirit winged its flight (to the) Great Beyond. Countless lovers (of her) saintly life in East and West seized with pangs of anguish. Plunged in unutterable sorrow humanity shall ere long recognize its irreparable loss The announcement received by the
American National SpiritualAssembly on July 15 from Shoghi Effendi, communicated at once to all local communities, united the believers with a new and sacred bond and in the experience of tragic ioss inspired the hearts to rise higher above the oppressive limitations of a divided world. Between the National Assemblies flew messages expressing the burden of the mutual grief.
All Baha"' Assemblies held special meetings, and for a period of nine months the Bahá'í world suspended the observance of every manner of religious festivity.
With this sorrow was mingled realization that upon the believers themselves henceforth would rest more and more collective responsibility for maintaining upon earth the Cause for which the Greatest Holy Leaf had during a long life paid unremitting sacrifice.
From the Guardian within a few weeks came a tribute to her sacred memory which was published and spread among all Bahá'í communities.
From his pen came words expressive of the reverence and passionate loss which the Baha were unable to describe. It was realized that among the Divine blessings destined for this age there had been granted two Manifestations, but likewise a Holy Family.
At Haifa, the scene of her life during the later years of the Cause, on August twenty-fifth a memorial feast was arranged for the poor and indigent in cAbdu~1~Bah4~s garden � an occasion which was later described as unprecedented in that city. The thousand peo-pie, old and young, who received hospitality in the name of Bahá'í Khanum, without distinction of race, class, or creed, stood, though they knew it not, on the very threshold of the new day when the spirit of love shall reign upon an earth so long accustomed to wretchedness and misery.
Elsewhere in the present volume will be found tributes to her. Here must suffice this brief reference to the experience shared by all Baha, concluding with these excerpts from a letter written by the Greatest Holy Leaf to the American Bahá'ís in 1924.
(cLet us then, affectionate brothers and sisters, ponder for awhile upon the underlying reason that had made God's divine Messengers prefer a life of torture to one of ease, and those blessed martyrs, so many of
Page 23them cut off in the springtime and promise of their youth, choose death with faces radiant with joy. What did the BTh sacrifice His promising youth for except out of a burning desire to have mankind live in unity and peace; and what was the spirit that animated those bold and heoric martyrs but love and adoration to a Cause they wished to triumph? What made Bahá'u'lláh, born and brought up in opulence, fling away all earthly possessions and choose upon Himself unspeakable hardships and deprivation, save for an earnest appeal to the world at large to turn their hatred for one another into genuine love and to make a world seething with blood a peaceful home for God's children; and why did tAbdu'1-BahA, who could have chosen a life of ease and comfort, prefer to lead a crusade against the strongholds of human hearts and make a direct appeal to individuals as well as groups that unless we love one another with all our might and with all our heart we are absolutely doomed. He carried a crusade not with a sword of steel but with a sword of love and affection.
And if we dare call ourselves Bahá'ís it simply means that we have to follow in their wake. It means that we must always have the public weal in mind and not give ourselves wholly to our inclinations and desires, and it means that we must picture before us the perseverance and self-sacrifice of those early voiun-teers and make a wholehearted effort to be like unto them; and it shall be oniy in this way that we can safeguard the Cause of God...
THE MISSION OF KEITH RANSOM-KEHLERThe action of the Persian and Turkish governments in exiling Bahá'u'lláh from His native land was the means employed by Providence to reveal the universal character of a Faith which hitherto had been viewed merely as a reform movement confined to IslAm. By successive steps, the Faith established itself in lands both East and West of Persia itself, among peoples having religious traditions different from that of Ishim. The new Cause took root and flourished most vigorously in regions which had developed the spirit of religious freedom; its growth re mamed slowest wherever intolerance still reigned.
Throughout Persia, however, as Lord Cur-zon and other observers have testified, the martyrdom of the Báb and the banishment of Bahá'u'lláh by no means terminated the life of the Faith in that country. By Tablets received from Akka, by the influence of pilgrims who made the journey to the Great Prison for the privilege of praying near its formidable walls or happily of obtaining a glimpse of Bahá'u'lláh at the narrow window of His cell, and later by the ceaseless ministry of Abdu'l-Bahá, the numbers of the believers in Persia increased steadily during the two generations arisen since the Announcement made by the Mb to the world in 1844.
During the Master's ministry a number of Persian Bahá'í teachers traveled to Europe and America, correspondence between Bahá'í communities of the two countries was maintained, and the spiritual bond connecting them was strengthened by their mutual undertaking in the development of the
Tarbiat Schools."With the interruption of a few cases of persecution which took place in smaller towns and villages, an era of increasing tolerance marked the history of the Faith in the land of its origin.
The postwar rise of the secular attitude, particularly pronounced in the Near East, with its undermining of clerical privilege and influence, favored the development of a Cause possessing no professional clergy but identifying religion with ethical and moral values rather than with ritualistic ceremony and an artificial creed. Among a population still medieval in outlook and bereft of modern education, the Bahá'ís formed a nucleus from which a higher type of civilization could gradually be developed.
Other tendencies, however, began to prevail in Persia, and to the great surprise and grief of the American Bahá'í community it became apparent since the preparation of the previous volume of the international record that alarming measures were being taken to suppress the Cause. A rigid ban was imposed upon the entrance of Bahá'í literature, and the printing and circulation of the literature in Persia was suppressed.
In June, 1932, the National Spiritual Assembly of American Bahá'ís appointed
Mrs.Keith Ransom-Kehier its representative to present in person an appeal to the Shah. This action followed the presentation of written appeals which brought no result.
At that time, Mrs. Ransom-Keller had completed her journey to the Far East, described in Volume IV of the present work, and had returned to Haifa for spiritual renewal and preparation for additional international service to the Cause.
Proceeding to Persia, she obtained an interview with the Court Minister, and on his assurance that the ban would be raised, cabled the National Spiritual Assembly that her mission had brought success, a consummation which later events unfortunately invalidated.
Changes in the government compelled Mrs. Ransom-Keller to recognize the fact that the disabilities imposed upon Persian believers continued unchanged, and from January to October, 1933, the heroic American Bahá'í maintained unremitting effort to overcome the forces of inertia resisting the advance of a universal
Faith.On October 27, 1933, a cablegram from Tihr ~n conveyed the sad and startling news that the American representative, her spirit exhausted by the long ordeal, had succumbed at Isfahan.
Recognizing the high importance of her Bahá'í mission and martrydom in Persia, the American Assembly published a detailed report of her work and moreover took steps to obtain designs for a memorial to be erected at Isfahan to commemorate Mrs. Ransom-Kehier's unique contribution to the Bahá'í union of East and West. The report appears in Part Two of the present volume, and will record, however inadequately, the determination of American believers to assist their fellow-Bah?is in Persia, symbolized in the sacrifice of Mrs. Ransom-Keller's life on Persian soil. To that statement may now be added the following excerpts from letters written by the Bahá'í Assembly of Persia on November 21, and December 25, 1933: ccOrdained destiny and the desire of God has taken our beloved Keith Ransom � Kehier away from us and lifted her to the AMA Kingdom, and has plunged the Bahá'ís of Persia into mourning. Our dear Keith spent approximately sixteen months in Persia; she entered the country from the western frontier, visiting the friends of KirmansMh, HamadAn and QarVin, after staying some time in Tihr4n and recovering from sickness she travelled to AdhirbAyj 4n where the friends derived great profit from her eloquent teaching; she then made another journey through the East and North, and the friends of Khur~s~n and M6zindar4n and GilAn had the bounty of her presence, her fluent speech, her spiritual life. Everywhere the friends paid her due honor, sending representatives ahead to welcome her into their cities, escorting her for some distance when she left. They felt themselves fortunate in being with her, and thanked God that the power of His word had raised out of the old beliefs such shining, devoted souis for the service of His Cause, the salvation of all the world; they prayed for the success of her important mission in this land.
"During her sojourn in Tihr~n, Keith strained every nerve to fulfill the instructions of the Guardian. Her tireless effort, her refusal to rest, were an example in sacrifice, and recalled the impassioned deeds of our Heroic Age. On seven occasions she composed and sent to His Majesty lengthy petitions in which she clearly proved the necessity of lifting the ban on Bahá'í literature, and asked the removal of existing restrictions on
Bahá'í activity. Sheleft no phase of her task undone; in her meetings with distinguished officials she spoke with power and convincing authority, informing them of the Bahá'í principles and of the greatness of Bahá'u'lláh's
Cause throughout Eastand West, she gave countless talks to audiences of Bahá'ís and non-Bahi'is, setting forth in inspiring words the reality of religion and the teachings of the new Manifestation; all who heard her recognized the breadth of her knowledge, the value of the Bahá'í Faith and its superiority to other ways of life.
Her talks addressed to Bahá'ís kept us continually mindful of the main issues confronting us at this time. In the face of trials and difficulties besetting the Cause in our country she stood firm, and at all times turned in lowliness and prayer to Bahá'u'lláh and begged for confirmation.
Her spiritual qualities, the beauty of her nature drew people to her, and awakened those who could corn
Page 25"The Guardian had instructed Keith to leave Tihr&n at the beginning of autumn, travel through Persia and leave Bi%hihr about December 21. The night preceding her departure from Tihr~n a large meeting was held in the Haziratu'1-Quds; the friends, deeply moved by her words of farewell, voiced their thanks and appreciation and love through a member of the Spiritual Assembly. On
Friday, September 22a large escort of friends accompanied her to the Baha village of Hasan-AbAd, a few miles out of town on the road to Qum; refreshments were served, many pictures taken, and after a last farewell Keith and her party continued on to Qum, escorted by a number of Tihrin friends and a delegate from the
Tihr~n Spiritual Assembly.That night was spent in Qum, and a meeting was held of the Qum Bahá'ís and the delegation of welcome that had come on ahead from K&sh&n; Keith further met several Qur'an officials and discussed the teachings with them.
CCOn Saturday, September23 the party left for Kish4n; at Mishg~n, about twenty-two miles outside the city, a group of some two hundred and fifty
Bahá'ís from K6sh~n, Ar~nand neighboring villages gathered as an escort; luncheon was served and Keith spoke, after which the party proceeded to the appointed residence in K~sh~in. Sunday, in accordance with the local Spiritual Assembly's program, was devoted to rest; on Monday and Tuesday several meetings were held for men and women respectively, Bahá'ís and non-Bahi'is. Wednesday Keith was invited to the village of Ar~n, where one meeting was held for men and a second for women, the majority at each being non-Bahi'is, and Keith delivered the Teachings with great spirituality and good cheer. Thursday afternoon in response to a previous invitation Keith went to the home of the governor where she met many leading officials, including the chief of police, the director of the municipal council, the directors of public health and of commerce; here three hours were passed, during which she viewed an exhibit of K~shin industrial products, and set forth at length the Bahá'í principles. Friday afternoon a talk was given at a bril liant meeting arranged by the Children's Service Committee, many children joining in the program; that night a meeting of members of committees was held, in the course of which funds were raised to build the tomb of Aq~ M6ndil-Ali, one of the martyrs of M4zg~n; here Keith spoke on the importance of completing the census and of other pressing
Bahá'í duties. Aftera day's rest Keitb left on Sunday for the town of JaushiqAn; there a hundred people, Bahá'ís and non-Bah6As, including many from neighboring villages, gathered for luncheon and a meeting; a second meeting followed that evening with three hundred present, and all were delighted with the address. Keith returned to K~sh~n the next day, and on Tuesday attended two meetings, one for men, the other for women, which were planned especially for Baha'is; Wednesday afternoon she was photographed with several members of Women's Progress Committee, children of the character training classes and others, and spoke on the importance of women's progress. She was extremely pleased with the Bahá'ís of Ktbin and their zeal in serving the
Cause."Keith left Kishin on Thursday, October 5, escorted for some miles by the friends of that city, some of the KAsh&n friends continued on with her to IsThhAn, and many 1sf ~Mn friends caine ahead as far as Murch-ih-Khurt and Tarq (about sixty-three miles from Isflhin) to welcome her, and in complete happiness the party entered
IsftMn October 6. Saturdayafternoon, October 7 was spent visiting places sacred in Bahá'í history, and that night the Spiritual Assembly and committees met at the Haziratu'1-Quds and Keith addressed them.
A week's program was arranged, and meetings planned for every afternoon and evening.
Sunday afternoon a women's meeting was held, and Sunday night a meeting for men, both Bahá'ís and others, in the Flaziratu'1-Quds, and Keith spoke at length on the calumnious articles in a local paper, dwelling on the true nature of Baha'is, their love of their own country and of all countries, their good will toward every human being. Monday afternoon Keith called on the governor at his home, and also met the head of the telegraph department and of the police; that evening
Page 26she received and addressed a group of iso � lated believers.
After their departure she fell ill, with chills and high fever, and from Tuesday, October 10 she was confined to her bed, unable to continue with the work that had been planned. Keith was constantly attended by Najmiyyih Kbinum'A14'i, the graduate nurse who had been her Tihr~n hostess, this lady and her husband, Ralima-tu'lUh KMn'A1A'i, had placed themselves entirely at Keith's disposition during her sojourn in this country, in accordance with the Guardian's instructions the two were escorting Keith throughout her journey and were to have accompanied her to B&hihr.
~~On Wednesday the illness was aggravated, and Doctor 'Abb6siyTh, one of the best doctors in IshliTh and a Baha'i, diagnosed the trouble as measles; by Friday her condition was much worse, and at her request a cable was sent the Guardian, begging for his prayers. The doctor then diagnosed smallpox; a consultation of several physicians was held, and Doctor 'AbAsiy~n's diagnosis and treatment approved. The illness was then seriously complicated by dysentery, which however yielded to treatment and Keith seemed on the point of recovering; meanwhile the following cable was received from the Guardian: "Wire news health Keith; Carpenter Na'imi welcome"; this was dated at Haifa October 21 and addressed to Tihr~n; a reply was cabled to the effect that Keith was better. Monday, October 22 she still had a slight fever but was sufficiently recovered to hear read a letter addressed to her from this Assembly, and to dictate a cable to the Guardian � t tGuardian's prayers overcoming every difficulty." However at eleven o'clock Monday morning she suddenly, without any warning, lost the power of speech; the doctor was sent for, and said that a new complication had set in, and that a nerve-centre was paralyzed. After that for four hours she could still speak a few words; with difficulty she repeated
CtY6. Bah&'u'1-Abhut"and "All4hu'Abhi", and motioned for those in the room to pray. The doctor gave a number of injections in the hope of saving her, and he and another Bahá'í physician spent the night at her bedside; but every effort failed before ordained destiny, and our dearly-loved Keith ascended at four ten on Tuesday afternoon, the 9th of 'Jim, the year 90, corresponding to October 23, 1933.
"As soon as Keith passed away, Najmiyyib Kh4num 'AIA'i and 'Atiyyih KhAnum Rab.-mini H~diyuff washed her body and placed it in a casket of fine workmanship; a great crowd of friends from Najaf � Abid and I~f&h&n gathered, and a photograph was taken which will be forwarded; then a cortege of approximately six hundred friends was formed, to follow the flower-laden hearse down one of 1sf 4hAn's main avenues to a great cemetery; and here, in a place where many early Bahá'ís are buried, not far from the tombs of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, Keith was laid to rest. For three days thereafter memorial services were held all over the city; it was said that such a funeral had never been seen in 1sf 4h4n.
"The stupefying news of Keith's ascension was wired to the Tihr~n Spiritual Assembly, and from here to the Guardian and to New York. On Thursday, October 26 under the auspices of this Assembly the eight district meetings which are held weekly in Tihr4n conducted memorial services; on Friday, October 27 a large group met in the Haziratu'1-Quds; here a tablet for the departed was chanted, and the Guardian's letters, regarding Keith's high station, her wonderful qualities and mission, were read; a member of this Assembly then spoke on Keith's life; her missions undertaken at the Guardian's command, her services to the Cause in America, her historic journeys, her appointment as delegate from the American National Spiritual Assembly; during this talk the cable from your Assembly was received and was read to the friends.
"The following cable was sent us by the Guardian on October 28: tThe intrepid defender and illustrious herald of God's Cause has risen triumphant from depths of darkness to her heavenly home; her magnificent deeds were hidden from the negligent in that land; the Supreme Concourse knew her worth; she possesses the rank of martyrdom and is one of the Hands of the Cause. The entire Tihrin Assembly will surely in conjunction with delegates from ShiMz, Kirm6n, .Ab4dih, Yazd and the southern ports go on pilgrimage in my stead to her venerated grave.
Page 27Assembly will leave Friday, November 23, just one month after her passing and will meet with the delegates specified in the Guardian's cable, as representatives of the Guardian at her illustrious resting-place.
ttA second cable dated October 26 was received from your Assembly, and as stated above the last rites had taken place by that date; we are now waiting for the effects to arrive from Shir6z and JsThh4n, to deliver them to the American Consul and fulfill the requirements of Persian and American law. On Tuesday afternoon, November 7 a public memorial service was arranged by the Servants of the Merciful Committee at the Tili-rAn Ha~iratu'1-Quds, where members of the Women's Progress Committee spoke on Keith's life of service to the Cause. We have requested the Assemblies all over Persia to hold similar services."
CCJ~ obedience to the Guardian's cabled instructions the members of this Assembly left
TihrAn November 23, 1933for I~f~h~n, where an evening meeting was held at the Jja4ratu'1-Quds in conjunction with the IsfM~n friends and the six delegates from those centres which Keith was to have visited . � Shir6i, Abidili, Yazd, Kirmin and the southern ports; tablets were chanted, and Dr. Yiinis Kh~n Afnikhtih of this Assembly spoke impressively on Keith's spiritual qualities and the significance of her mission to Persia. On the following morning at eight o'clock, the Tihr~n and IsfThin Assemblies, the 1sf ~h~in committees, the six delegates and some Tihr~n friends who had accompanied this Assembly, proceeded to the cemetery, which is on the outskirts of JsfThin, stopped at the graves of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs, and then gathered at the enclosed ground which is the perpetual rest-ing~place of Keith.
We stood over the dust of that pure spirit that was sacrificed for the Cause, and buried her honored grave in flowers; the
Shir~z delegate, HAjiHabibu'11&h Afnin, who had brought a bottle of rose-water from the House of the Bib, sprinkled it on the ground, and a large portrait of Keith, taken in Tihr~n and decorated with flowers, was placed above the grave. We stood in silence, visiting this radiant earth in the Guardian's stead, while prayers for the dead were chanted. Several photographs were then taken, three of which we enclose.
At ten o'clock that morning another large meeting was held at the Haziraru'1-Quds, and here the secretary of this Assembly, Aq&y-i-Rawbani, read the letters sent by the Guardian to Persia regarding Keith and her mission; Aq~y-i-Yazd&ni of this Assembly then spoke on the importance of Isf~h4n to the Cause, and on the life of Keith, her many missions, the far-reaching effect of her services. Following this Aq&y-i-Afn6n, the Shir~z delegate, told how the friends in Shir~z had longed to meet Keith, how deeply they had felt this ioss, and his words further intensified the emotion of the gathering.
On the morning of the 25th, this Assembly returned to Tihr6n. SWe feel the meeting of the Tihr4n Assembly and the delegates in 1sf &h6n at the grave of the first Western martyr to be of historic import, a significant ending to Keith's luminous life; surely the spiritual tumult which this pilgrimage caused in our hearts will give rise to far-reaching results.
It is certain that the building of a memorial by the American friends will bring added fame to her grave, strengthen the bonds between East and West and prove a distinguished service to the Cause."
PERSIAThe activities of the Persian Bahá'í community during the period 19321934 are embodied in a separate report prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of that land. A brief summary is included in this international survey which seeks to present a view of Bahá'í developments as a whole.
Of essential importance is the fact that this period marks the completion of all necessary preparations for the election by Bahá'í delegates of a National Spiritual Assembly, the foundation of the Bahá'í administrative order in each country.
Hitherto on account of restrictions imposed by deep-seated prejudice of religious origin the Persian Bahá'ís have found it impossible to carry out the comprehensive plan required for the establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly, involving the election of delegates by each local community under uniform
Page 28conditions, and the meeting of the delegates in Convention.
The steady growth of the Cause, however, and above all the success of the many traveling teachers who have carried information concerning Bahá'í administrative principles to the remotest towns and villages, have created the conditions under which the Persian Bahá'í community has found it possible to join its fellow communities of other lands in fulfilling the spiritual order enjoined in the Will and Testament of tAbdu'1-Bahi This achievement is one which the entire Bahá'í world realizes has fundamental historic significance, bringing nearer the final stage of Bab6'i administration, the formation of the International
Body.More than five hundred local communities arranged for participation in the election of delegates to the First Annual Convention, held at the end of April, 1934, the details of which will therefore be published in the next volume of The
Bahá'í World.Those in Western lands who have knowledge of Persian history may well pause to consider what a spiritual power � what a manifestation of faith � has penetrated a great section of the public, to bring about so profound a movement in an ancient land, among a people deemed backward and uneducated � a movement linking together believers in so many cities, towns and villages in an administrative order inspired by universal principles and reflecting the spirit of a new age!
Typifying the Bahá'í development is the village of Saysan, some twenty-eight miles from Tabriz, which has 1600 inhabitants, 1250 of which are Baha'is. These believers maintain a well equipped Haziratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Center) and two schools for boys and girls where two hundred and eleven students are enrolled.
A class is also conducted for adult women who received no opportunities for education under the Muslim era.
A contrasting but equally significant view of the Cause is to be found in the city of Tihr4n, where an active and large Bahá'í community exists. Their efforts have laid the foundations of a Bahá'í national administrative center, and initiated negotiations for the purchase of an extensive area on the slope of a mountain overlooking the city, to constitute the site of the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar iqu'1-Adhk~r (Bahá'í House of Worship) � the third Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to be erected by the Bahá'í world community.
From the correspondence of the Bahá'í Committee at Tihr~n the Western believers have learned with gratitude that generous contributions made by Mirza Asasi have been employed to restore the house occupied by Bahá'u'lláh in the village of Takur in Mazin-daran, originally the property of the Vazir, His father.
What especially impresses a Bahá'í of the West in following the activities of his fellow-believers in Persia is the degree to which they have developed educational institutions, not only for their own members but for non-Bahá'ís as well. The essence of the Bahá'í Faith is knowledge.
The Revelation in itself is the greatest body of truth which exists in the modern world. But where the American believers, for example, find themselves surrounded with opportunities for secular education, and therefore have developed oniy facilities for expounding the Bahá'í texts, the Persian Bahá'ís have been compelled to lay foundations for education in general.
They consequently do not make distinctions between religious and secular education, but combine these two elements in their classes and schools, a fact which means much for the future civilization of that land.
THE SPREAD OF BAHÁ'ÍThe foundation upon which stands the steady development of the Faith from country to country is the spread of the literature. An age raised by Divine power to the plane of independent investigation of truth, liberated at last from those artificial influences which for hundreds of years have been associated with the propagation of religions, must needs have access to the Word of God and direct knowledge of its source and significance. The true result of the activities of every Bahá'í teacher is to quicken hearts to an awareness of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh as delivered to every seeker, and not to impose even the most beneficent aspects of personal influence.
The period 19321934 covered by the present volume has been noteworthy in the spread
Page 29of Bahá'í literature, as attested by the following facts.
"Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era," by the late John E. Esslemont, was translated and published by devoted workers in these additional languages: Kurdish, Spanish, Bulgarian, Turkish, Japanese, Armenian, Serbian, Hungarian, Dutch, Albanian, � bringing the total number of printed translations to twenty � eight.
Moreover, it appears from reports that these additional translations were in process: Urdu, Hindi, Norwegian, Polish, Greek, Bengali and Abyssinian.
The "Hidden Words" of Bahá'u'lláhwas translated into Russian, and work begun on translation into Esperanto, Czech,
Gujrati and Urdu. CCThof the Early Days of the Bahá'í Faith" was in process of translation into Arabic, while "The Tablet of Iqan" (Book of Certitude) was being rendered into Armenian,
Danish and Czech. A Russianedition of the IqTh was published during this fruitful period.
Valuable translations by Dr. Tsao of Shanghai into Chinese included ~tThe
Tablet of Iqan," "ParisTalks of ~ and the Index to c tSome Answered Questions," the book itself being under way in a translation expected to appear in the near future. The same faithful worker has given Chinese renderings to a number of articles and pamphlets, among them tAbdu'1-Bahá'í Tablet to the Committee on a Durable Peace, The Hague.
Bahá'í literature in the English language will soon be enriched by translations undertaken by Prof. Zeine N. Zeine of the American
University at Beirut.Prof. Zeine made preliminary renderings into English of the following works: ttKitáb-i-AqdAs "Ques-tiOns and Answers," an Appendix to the AqdAs ccvi it ti Tablet to Siyyidu'sh-ShuhAda," CcPrayer to the Dead," the 'tEx-alted Letters," "Tablet of Carmel," ttTblet of the Vision," Four Valleys, Tablets revealed for the Feasts of RidvTh, Nawruz, and the birthdays of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, and selected chapters from ttMemorials of the Faithful," by tAbdu'1-.Bah&.
Contributions made by Bahá'í authors to the literature during this period included the following works: by
Dr. Hermann Gross-mannmann of Heidelberg, Germany, "Am Morgen ciner neuen Zeit," published by Strecker und Schroder, Stuttgart; by "Christophul," ccThe Promise of All Ages," published by Allen and Unwin, London; by Mary Hanford Ford, "The Secret of Life," and by Prof. Stanwood Cobb, "Security for a Failing World," early publication of which was expected.
In the light of the statement made by Shoghi Effendi in a recent letter to an Amer-jean believer, that in the future the Faith would be spread effectively by the mediums of creative art, the writing of a play entitled tcThe Drama of the Kingdom," by Mrs. Basil Hall of London, and its publication in book form, appears to the believers a happy augury.
BAHÁ'Í SUMMER SCHOOLSThe future historian of the Faith will devote particular attention to the development of Summer Schools by the various National Bahá'í communities in this era. Nothing could more clearly distinguish the difference between the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh and the creeds to which former religions have been reduced by the spiritual attritions of the centuries than the eagerness with which Bahá'ís undertake to give serious study to their Sacred Scriptures, their attitude that these Scriptures constitute reality itself, and their determination to fit themselves to become teachers and expounders of the
Word. Bahá'í Summer Schoolsare lay institutions, without resemblance to schools of theology, conducted and frequented by believers who recognize no professional clergy, and who look to the Writings of their Faith not merely for knowledge of God but knowledge of man and the evolution of a true social order.
At the time of this writing, Bahá'í Summer Schools exist in Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, in Geyserville, California, at Louhelen Ranch, Davison, Michigan, and in Esslingen, Germany.
The School at Green Acrehad its origin in the public Conferences conducted by the late Sarah J. Farmer under the inspiration she received at the Parliament of Religions held in connection with the Chicago World's
Page 30Fair, 1893, later deepened and guided by her acceptance of the Bahá'í Cause.
The second Summer Schoolestablished under Bahá'í auspices was that held on the property of Mr. and Mrs. John Bosch at Geyserville, and it was the Pacific Coast Summer School which first in America made the transition from the general conference and public lecture type of gathering to the more intensive study type of gathering now prevalent. The German Bahá'ís next established an annual School at Esslingen, followed by the School held on the property of Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Eggleston at Davison, Michigan.
The section devoted to current Bahá'í activities in the United States and Canada includes reports from the three American Summer Schools and facts about the study courses conducted during the period 19321934, while an article about Esslingen will be found under the topic CCG~~ farther on in the present survey. 'While there is no need to duplicate this material at this point, due emphasis must be given to the importance which the Bahá'í Summer School has come to possess as a recognized institution in the Faith.
Significant is the fact that the devotion of the believers, their interest in the Teachings, constitutes the reality of a Bahá'í Summer School, and not its resources of physical equipment nor even of educational leaders trained according to professional standards. A
Bahá'í Summer Schoolrepresents a free and voluntary association of believers for the purpose of mutual study and consultation, and consequently the institution will inevitably expand in the near future to many other countries.
Already, an annual gathering at Paris contains the germ of a Bahá'í School which continuance will undoubtedly expand into a form resembling the gatherings at Green Acre or Esslingen.
It is not in these Schools, however, but in the permanent educational institutions created by the Bahá'ís of Persia and of Turkestan that the followers of Bahá'u'lláh have so far made their greatest achievement in terms of education.
Similarly, teaching developments in Florida indicate that in a few years Baha residents and winter visitors from other Bahá'í communities will find it possible to establish a Winter School equivalent in all essentials to the model already achieved.
'IRAQ A circular letter issued by the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa during 1934 made this interesting reference to Bahá'í activities in cIr5q: cQfl~j~ country, honored and blessed by the presence of Bahá'u'lláh for well nigh twelve years, which event culminated in His public declaration, in the Garden of Ridvan, of the birth of a new spiritual cycle, is so closely connected with the history of the Cause that any changes or developments in it, related to the Cause, must be of great interest to all Baha'is."
The following statement on Bahá'í activities in CJr&q during 19321934 was prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahá'ís in that land.
The youth and educated classes of the country have undergone awakening to truth freed from traditional limitations, and have begun to respond to the Message of Bahá'u'lláh. The Bahá'í community has been joined by energetic new workers who are engaged in bringing the Teachings to their former friends and associates.
A Youth Committee has been appointed to supervise and direct these efforts, its functions including the translation of literature into Arabic, the holding of public meetings and other means of spreading the
Cause.The Assembly feels that the position of the Faith in tlrAq has greatly improved since the last biennial report, in part the consequence of the general increase of interest in world affairs, and in part directly due to the famous case of the House of Bahá'u'lláh at Baghdad, reported in the previous volume and referred to elsewhere in the present review.
In this connection the Bahá'ís of Baghdad appreciate very deeply the cooperation received from Mrs. Marjorie
Morten and Mr. MountfortMills, who at Shoghi Effendi's request carried on negotiations with the authorities of tIr~q.
The purchase of a large area in the suburbs of Baghdad for the construction of a Bahá'í Hall and community center, under the supervision of the National Assembly, is evidence of the growth of the Cause in
Page 31tldq. The Bahá'ís themselves are fully aware of the important location of their city as a link between East and West and a principal stopping place for new airplane services.
Other Western Bahá'ís whose visit to Baghdad rejoiced the believers were Miss Martha L. Root, the late Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehier, and Dr. and Mrs. Howard Carpenter.
Quoting again from the circular letter received from the Haifa Assembly: our letter of December, 1933, we published the message of condolence � and the Royal answer to it � sent by the Central Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of cJr~q to His Majesty King Ghazi I of cIrAq after the passing away of his father, the late King Faysal I. We now have the pleasure of publishing the text of the recent correspondence exchanged between the Central Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of cIrAq and His Majesty King Gliazi I, on the occasion of His Majesty's marriage. The importance of these messages cannot be overemphasized as the progress of the Cause becomes more pronounced in that country, specially as they take place between the representative body of all the believers in cIr~~q and the highest sceptre of authority in that land.
The reign of the new and youthful and enlightened ruler of Mesopotamia may usher in an era of more freedom for and tolerance towards the spread of the regenerating principles of Bahá'u'lláh in the land where He declared His
Mission.ttThe translation of the abovementioned correspondence follows: tTo His Majesty, King Ghazi I, the Great, may God protect
His Kingdom!tThe Bahá'í Central Spiritual Assembly of Baghdad on behalf of its members and of all the Bahá'ís in tTr~q have the honor to convey to your Gracious Majesty their hearty congratulations and most sincere felicitation, and to express their utmost joy and happiness on the occasion of the marriage of their Heaven-protected King. They supplicate from the Kingdom of our Most Glorious (Abhi) Lord to bless and consecrate this glorious union, to protect with the glances (of the Eye) of His Divine Bounty this happy marriage, to encompass with prosperity and comfort, everlastingly, this matrimony, and to bestow upon the unique beloved loved of tJr~q, the holder of a cherished Throne, a blessed offspring, confirmed in the favours of its Creator, and assisted in the uplifting of this beloved country to the level of the advanced and progressive nations, under the protection of His Majesty, our Great King.
CWC also beg from the Kingdom of our Lord, the Most Exalted, to protect Her
Majesty the Queen 'AuThand to guide Her Loin the Heights of His Glory with the
Bounties of His Most GreattDeign, Your Majesty, to accept our heartfelt hopes that Your Majesty's Glory may be everlasting, strengthened with Divine assistance, and our good wishes for the success and prosperity of all the members of the beloved Royal Family.'
CC (Sgd.) AEDU'L RAZZAKtcThe following Royal answer, dated the 5th of February, was received: To the Secretary of the
Bahá'í Centralam directed to express to you the thanks of His Majesty, our Great Ruler, for your letter, dated the 2nd of February, 1934, which conveyed your felicitations on the occasion of the happy marriage of His Majesty, and to solicit for you continual prosperity coupled with complete happiness and all-en-compassing peace.'
(Sgd.) Ar-Anuni ALT JAWDAT, fC Private Secretary to
His Majesty.'"In summarizing the developments in the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in tIAq it is necessary to point out that the essential factor is not so much the specific actions of the believers themselves as the world movement by which every nation and people are compelled to adjust to the universal order which the Manifestation came to establish in this age.
THE HOUSES OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁHThe two previous volumes of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD have traced the development of the significant case which arose from the seizure by Muslim leaders of the Houses occupied by Bahá'u'lláh during His exile in the city of Baslidad. As recorded in those volumes,
Page 32the Bahá'í community, after an unsuccessful recourse to the tIr~qi Courts, made appeal to the League of Nations under privilege of the fact that cIrAq was a Mandate state for which the Council of the League had ultimate responsibility.
This petition, after examination by the Permanent Mandates Commission, was f a-vorably received, and led to the following report to the League Council: cdt recommends that the Council should ask the British Government to make representations to the tIr~qi Government with a view to the immediate redress of the denial of justice from which the petitioners have suffered." The full text of this and other official reports on the case are reprinted elsewhere in the present volume.
Despite the efforts of the British Government to carry out the request of the Council � the recommendation of the Permanent Mandates Commission having been adopted by that body � the case remained unsettled on October 3, 1932, on which date tIr~q became a member state of the League of Nations, terminating the former relationship to Great
Britain as Mandatory Power.As pointed out in Volume IV of THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, the entrance of tIr~q into the League of Nations before the Baha petition received satisfactory action created a delicate and unusual situation, the League having admitted a state which had failed to meet the Council's specific standard of justice.
To the credit of the Permanent Mandates Commission's sense of responsibility and honor, the matter was not allowed to pass out of mind, but brought up for further consideration at the Twenty-fourth Session of the Commission, held at
Geneva from October 23The Minutes of that Session record the fact that the unexpected and tragic death of King Faisal had made impossible the fulfillment of His Majesty's personal intention of settling the case of the Houses to the satisfaction of the
Bahá'í representative. Thisintention, stated to the representative by King Faisal as a matter of His Majesty's word of honor, was however known to and accepted by Nury Pasha es Sa'id, Foreign Minister. "In addition, the interested parties had noted with gratification that the present Government of tlr&q had officially announced its intention to carry out the policies inaugurated by His late
Majesty."The solution proposed by His Majesty had been to expropriate the Bahá'í property, still held by Muslim enemies of the Faith, and incorporate it, without destruction of the Houses, in a city improvement plan, a solution to which the Baha representative had agreed. Quoting from the Minutes of the Twenty-second Session of the Permanent Mandates Commission: ttToo much should not be made of the fact that an agreement had finally been reached between this (Ba � h4'i) community and the tlriqi Government.
That was not necessarily a proof of the generosity of the latter. It should be remembered that the Bahá'ís were, by their religion, tenets, and character, of an extremely conciliatory disposition."
To the Baha'is, the history of this case is clear proof of the spiritual power reinforcing the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. Otherwise, property of such slight material value, wrested from a small and feeble community by leaders of a religious majority, could never have become an international issue before the League of Nations.
Bahá'u'lláh, in two Tablets, exalted this House of His exile in the following words: "Grieve not, 0 House of God, if the veil of thy sanctity be rent asunder by the in.-fideL. God hath, in the world of creation, adorned thee with the jewel of
His remembrance. Suchan adornment no man can, at any time, profane. Call thou to mind that which hath been revealed unto Mihdi, Our servant, in the first year of Our banishment to the Land of Mystery (Adrianople). Unto Him have We predicted that which must befall Our House, in the days to come, lest he grieve over the acts of robbery and violence already perpetrated against it. To Him We have written: This is not the first humiliation inflicted upon My House. In days gone by the hand of the oppressor hail heaped indignities upon it. Verily it shall be so abased in the days to come as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye. Thus have We unfolded to thee things hidden beyond the veil, inscrutable to all save God, the Almighty, the All-Praised.
In thefullness of time, the Lord shall, by the power of truth, exalt it in the eyes of all men. He shall cause it to become the Standard of His Kingdom, the Shrine round which will circle the concourse of the faithful."
TURKESTANThe Bahá'í communities in Turkestan have during this period undergone a collective experience which raises them to a station of spiritual preeminence among the followers of Bahá'u'lláh. The following report was prepared by one who wrote from first hand knowledge of conditions, and whose simple statement of facts attains the significance of a historical document.
Nothing could be more portentous and dramatic than this contrast between a community of poor and unassuming souls, imbued with superhuman faith and devotion, and their social environment based upon a philosophy denying Divine truth. In these pages we are witness to incidents that might have happened to early Christians under the dominance of Rome before its fall � incidents which reveal afresh the unconquerable power of humility in the face of material might.
While the Bahá'ís of other lands have assisted the believers of Turkestan as much as possible, not merely by petitioning the Goy � eminent not to destroy or alienate the f a-mous Bahá'í House of Worship at tlshqAbAd, but also by transmitting funds for the relief of friends compelled to flee to Persia, nevertheless this assistance from without has been necessarily slight and not to be compared to that help and solace which the Bahá'ís in Turkestan derived from their own spirit of faith.
"In 1927, Bahá'í administration and various branches thereof in the regions of Turkestan in general and at CJ4jq4bj~ in particular began to meet with certain restrictions and hardships which had gradually led to the entire closing up of many branches of Bahá'í organization in that country.
"The first Bahá'í Committeewhich was closed was the Committee of Youth Unity, an organization which had developed remarkably and which was independently managing certain branches, namely a public reading-room, a library, night classes for adults, courses of study for the Esperanto and Russian languages, meetings and conferences for public-speaking, literary and teaching societies, etc. Practically all the Bahá'í youth were members of these meetings and organizations and were rendering some sort of service. One of the founders of these organizations had, in the course of a speech, said that the Youth organizations are considered as a school where the Bahá'í youth receive Bahá'í education, are inspired with Bahá'í spirit and prepare themselves for the large field of Bahá'í activities in the days to come.
ccFor this reason the first blow fell upon the organizations of the Bahá'í Youth. After the closing up of these organizations, the Bahá'í Youth held their meetings in the hail of the Haziratu'1-Quds and with a view to avoiding any further difficulties and to showing that other Bahá'ís beside young people were taking part in the Bahá'í activities, some older friends were invited to attend these meetings which gradually began to flourish.
ttSince in those days the governing members of such meetings were of a limited number, they were secretly kept under surveillance and otherwise persecuted; and on the other hand, a great deficiency was felt which consisted of the fact that other efficient friends were oniy attending the meetings and listening without having an opportunity to show their ability, enter the field of service and prepare themselves for future Bahá'í activities; the deficiency was especially felt after the efficient governing members of the Bahá'í organizations in Ishqabad were arrested.
It was then arranged, at the suggestion of the Bahá'í Youth and with the approval of the Central Spiritual Assembly, that efforts should be made to select and train a number of friends to replace those who were imprisoned and who were not likely to be released soon. Since during recent years any believer who had shown some fervency in the field of Bahá'í activities was spied upon and placed under pressure, it was decided that the number of friends taking part in the program of the meetings should be increased as far as possible. Therefore those of
Page 34the friends who were endowed with literary and other qualifications and could speak in public were gradually and tactfully chosen from amongst men and women, young and old, and enrolled in the meetings and societies.
Satisfactory results were obtained from these activities, of which the following are the more important: ttj~ In spite of the fact that no new teachers were visiting those places, that most of the Baha lecturers and servants of the Cause were arrested and detained, that every energetic and fervent believer was encountering all sorts of hardships, losses, a number (amounting this year to 100) of all those men and women who were formerly merely attending the meetings received good training, and are now able to act as teachers, promoters of Faith, lecturers, secretaries and writers, or in other words, to enter the field of service and replace their predecessors.
"2. Another result obtained is the fact that the number of active believers who held the reins of Bahá'í activities was increased, and since it was not an easy matter to place under surveillance such a large number of these fervent friends who had newly entered the field of active service, the restrictions were in part relaxed. Today we cannot find a single foreign Baha teacher, either resident or traveller, throughout Turkestan and the Caucasus; all Bahá'í affairs are in the hands of these newly trained and enducated believers who have gone through the school of Bahá'í administration and who are rendering important services.
Meetings and Gatherings"At present meetings and gatherings of the friends in question have a greater spirit of spirituality and peace and order than in the past. The friends are becoming more anxious to attend meetings and a spirit of harmony, simplicity, sympathy, devotion and subservience is felt among all of them. It is apparent that a real unity, a heartfelt cooperation and sincere devotion are reigning among the friends and that these feelings are increasing among them.
The solidarity, sacrifice and cooperation prevailing among the friends testify to virtual forgetfulness of self. Tribute should be paid to the sincere loyalty and obedience of the friends towards the Spiritual Assembly and its decisions.
Spirit~l Assembly"The elections of the Spiritual Assembly are made every year in the middle of April two or three days before the Ridvan Feast. The system of secret voting by writing has been officially prohibited by the Government and the Spiritual Assembly had taken steps to resist and revert the order, but all without avail.
The restriction has been increased.tcThe Assembly is obliged to send to the proper Department of the Government a copy of the minutes of the election, as well as a list giving the names of those on the Assembly.
The Assembly meets six times a month and if necessary more. All the minutes of the Assembly concerning decisions taken are made in duplicate, and translated into Russian for dispatch to the Government department concerned. The Assembly is not allowed to form committees or branches since after the suppression of the Youth Association and organizations the committees and branches of the Assembly were soon suppressed in the year 1928 with the result that the duties and responsibilities of all the committees of the Assembly were placed on the shoulders of the Assembly itself.
Therefore, with a view to assuring the good and speedy working of affairs and putting into force the decisions taken by the Assembly, all activities have been divided into nine sections for the fulfillment of each section of which a member of the Assembly takes full responsibility, carries out the work with the assistance of other friends, and gives a monthly report of his work to the Assembly. There is for instance the member in charge of charitable work, the member in charge of financial business, the one in charge of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, of Bahá'í property, of ineefings, etc. The suppression of Assembly Committees rendered difficult the task of the Assembly and increased its duties and responsibilities, until the Assembly was holding eight sessions every month and each session lasted four or five hours. The provisional commissions which have lately been formed have to some extent lessened the heavy burdens of the Assembly.
Page 35ttThe years 1928 and 1929 have proved exceptionally significant in the history of Bahá'í administration since it was during those two years that the worst restrictions were imposed on the Assembly, its branches and committees, that conspicuous servants of the Cause were persecuted, Bahá'í property confiscated and Bahá'í activities in general curtailed.
On two occasions the attitude of the local Government towards the Bahá'ís was clearly shown: first, on the occasion of the approval of new regulations and bylaws of the Bahá'í Community in tlsh-q&b~d; second, when the contract of lease of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was concluded.
t~These two events, which proved most significant, and the series of restrictions and hardships imposed at that time deserve to be explained saparately.
We should mention here that the former comprehensive and detailed program of the Bahá'í Community was cancelled and replaced by regulations very narrow in scope and of a short and ambiguous character.
The question of the Bahá'í regulations and the contract of lease of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was under discussion for months between the Spiritual Assembly and the local Government.
Public meetings were formed by the Bahá'ís where the regulations were brought to the notice of the friends and discussed in detail and those articles of the program which were in contravention to Bahá'í principles were rejected by the Bahá'í Community, while those suggestions which were made by the friends were not accepted by the Government. Finally a short program of a limited scope was approved.
With regard to the signature of the contract for lease of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the friends showed particular resistance and refused to sign the cotnract; the doors of the Bahá'í Temple were locked and sealed by the Government Property Department and it was advertised in the papers that the property was to be let. Many steps were then taken, communications were made and telegrams sent on the subject.
Finally a contract was made on June 5th, 1928, whereby the Temple was let to the Bahá'ís for a period of five years. In the contract it has been stipulated that: It is recognized that the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is a Government property.
(t2. The Ba1A'i Community have leased the property from the Government temporarily for a period of five years and have undertaken to make at their own expense all the repairs necessary for the upkeep of the place and also to pay all the Government taxes payable on property.
The Bahá'ís must also insure the property and pay for the insurance fees.
"No money is paid by the Bahá'í Community for the Temple under the name of rent, but a total sum varying from 4000 to 5000 roubles per annum during the years before conclusion of the contract and 9000 roubles at present must be paid to the Government in respect of the Temple on account of taxes, dues, insurance fees, etc. "In addition to various undertakings made in accordance with the provisions of the contract, the Assembly has spent considerable sums of money during the last five years for internal and external repairs on the Tem-pie and, notwithstanding the scanty resources and financial difficulties of the friends, the latter, with a view to preserving the prestige and good name of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar before nonBahA'is, will have to spend annually half of the income of the National Fund on lighting, cleaning and general upkeep of the Temple.
"On June 5th, 1933, the contract of the lease of the Temple expired and notwithstanding the fact that the friends had carried out most faithfully the terms of the contract to a point beyond that stipulated (which fact was certified by the Commission of Architects, who stated that the Bahá'ís had spent more than was stipulated in the contract for repairs and upkeep of the property) the friends were most anxious as to whether the contract would be renewed or the Government would change its policy and make such renewal difficult. But in view of the fact that this property is wellknown throughout those regions under the name of Bahá'í Temple and the Government is fully aware of the fact that the Baha all over the world in cities, villages and the remotest corners of the globe have much interest and attachment to the property and are most anxiously watching the course of events re
Page 36cJJ Bahá'í Women and Children, Representative of the East.
Page 37lating to it, they renewed the contract for a further period of five years without any difficulty and the Temple has, therefore, been let to the friends up to June 5th, 1938. Thus a new contract was entered into last June (1933) between the Bahá'í Community represented by the Spiritual Assembly and the local Government represented by the Government Property Department and a certificate was given by the architects in respect of repairs in which it was stated that since during the last five years the terms of the old contract were most faithfully carried out, even to a point beyond that stipulated, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was again given in contract to the Bahá'í Community for a further period of five years free of charge, together with the garden, hail and dependencies.
Bahá'í Educational InstitutionsctThe cI4~qib&d Bahá'í school for boys founded in 1897 is the first educational institution among the Eastern people of those regions to be conducted on modern lines. The school for girls which was founded in 1907 is also the best among the Eastern communities there.
There were also two kindergartens, founded in 19171918, which, together with other Bahá'í schools and the Bahá'í
Library and Public ReadingRoom, were run out of the income of the National Fund.
All the teachers and servants of these five Bahá'í educational institutions were Bahá'ís and were serving their national institutions at a small salary with a sense of loyalty and a spirit of sincerity, love and enthusiasm. Their remuneration was much smaller than that of their colleagues in non-Bahá'í schools, but they worked in order to help the National Fund.
"In 1927 the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the first Bahá'í school was brilliantly celebrated.
A reception which was attended by a large number of Bahá'ís and non-Bahá'ís clearly illustrated the Bahá'í perseverance in and iove for educational pursuits and the fact that, in spite of scanty material resources, the Bahá'ís were conducting five educational institutions in a remarkably satisfactory manner, that their schools were flourishing and their prestige increasing to such a degree that non-Bahá'ís were sending their children to Baha schools with a view to achieving the best academic and moral training. There is not a single illiterate among all the Bahá'í children and young men of Turkestan and the Caucasus; the majority of the youth have finished the course of primary and secondary studies and about fifty young Bahá'ís are studying in higher institutions.
"In 1927 and 1928 commissions were appointed by the Department of Education who came and inspected the Bahá'í schools and investigated their methods of education and the educational acquirements of their students. Thereafter praise of the I3ahi'i schools appeared in the local press and at times these articles were attacked; the friends gradually formed the impression that plans were being made against Bahá'í schools and that the authorities were oniy waiting for suitable opportunity to put them into effect. The curriculum of the schools did not include any religious questions or anything against the laws of the country, but the academic program and rules and the schools' text books were on the lines of those recommended by the Persian Department of Education.
"In 1929 at the time when some of the members of the Assembly and a number of other notable Bahá'ís were imprisoned, rumors were circulated on the part of the Department of Education regarding the cios-ing of Bahá'í schools. A delegation composed of three members of the Assembly, who were also teachers and superintendents of the school, namely Aq4 Azizullili Alioff, Hu-sayn Beg and Bahá'u'lláh Sami mi, was appointed to take the matter up officially with the Minister of Education.
They talked things over with the latter for three days. The Department of Education was of the opinion that it would be advisable for the Bahá'ís to close up their schools themselves and to ask the Government to take charge of the schools. The Assembly did not accept this suggestion and therefore the discussions brought no result. The Department of Education chiefly maintained that the Bahá'ís were giving religious education and spiritual training to 600 children and that this was
Page 38explicitly in contravention with rules and laws as well as with the Government's system of education. rinally they declared that as the Bahá'ís were not willing to agree to the Government's wishes, the Latter were obliged to close the Bahá'í schools by force. Therefore in October, 1928, the Boys' and Girls' Bahá'í schools at tlshq&b&d, then the schools at Merv and Qali Qahili and then the kindergartens were closed up one after the other and new schools were founded to replace the former with the same students. Owing to lack of Persian teachers, the
Department of Educationhad no other alternative but to enlist the same Bahá'í teachers who had been teaching in the Bahá'í schools. These teachers, men and women, were, however, gradually dismissed from the new schools and replaced by nonBahá'í teachers. During the first year the Bahá'í students and teachers were treated with some consideration, but in the following year the authorities introduced radical changes which affected the curriculum, the teachers and the servants of these institutions.
Among other changes made, five Bahá'í teachers of the primary classes were discharged and replaced by five young non-Bahá'í teachers who had oniy an inadequate knowledge of Persian. The curriculum was changed to conform with that of other Russian schools. The teaching of Persian books published in Persia was discontinued.
In short, in the course of the four years during which the Government had taken charge of Bahá'í educational institutions, considerable changes have been made therein and certain noteworthy controversies have taken place between the Ba-hiM teachers and the school superintendents, as well as between Bahá'í students, both boys and girls, and non-Bahá'í students and teachers which, being worth mentioning, have been recorded separately.
Space does not permit us to give in detail an account of these events and we give here oniy two or three instances with a view to illustrating the situation.
ttOne question which was always a cause of controversy between the friends and the Managing Board of the schools was that relating to the celebration of Bahá'í Feasts and the commemoration of mourning days. The Superintendent as well as the nonBahá'í teachers was opposed to the children's absence on such occasions and their going instead to the Bahá'í Hall to take part in the meeting. But the attitude adopted by the Superintendent towards the Bahá'í children only served to strengthen their sense of attachment and religious feeling: the more the Superintendent and teachers showed their opposition, the more the students' perseverance and courage increased. Things went on in this way until the school managers had recourse to threat and intimidation and some of the best students, boys and girls, were dismissed.
This severe action on the part of the school managers intensified the sentiments of the students and this led to hot controversies in class between the students and teachers. It happened one day that a paper which was hung on the wall in school contained an article published against religion and the prophets. The article closed with some offensive passage against His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh.
The Bahá'í children crossed out that part of the article.
The following day the Superintendent noticed this, was furious and had the sentence rewritten on the paper. This was once more crossed out.
For the third time the Superintendent ordered that the passage be rewritten and the pupils who had crossed it out be identified and punished. The students scratched out the sentence with a knife. The Superintendent commissioned inspectors to trace the perpetrators. The non-Bahá'í students helped the Superintendent and enabled him to trace the Bahá'í students who were three Bahá'í girls and a boy of the fifth grade; a council of the teachers was formed to discuss the matter and punish those responsible for the socalled offense, in order to intimidate the other students. The following day the whole paper was found slashed to pieces by a knife. The efforts made by the Superintendent to trace the perpetrators remained futile. As the girls who were found were too young, their parents were called to school and reprimanded for their daughters' act; the girls were listed in the newspaper as having disobeyed school regulations. The Superintendent, however, felt that should he speak abusively against things which the Bahá'ís held sacred, he would meet with fierce opposition from the Baha students.
The Dcpartment of Education disapproved of his tactless attitude, rebuked him severely and explained to the students that his action was unwarrantable and was not based on the instructions of the
Department of Education. TheBahá'í students, brought up in freedom of thought and unaccustomed to hearing abuse of their Faith, were not disposed to endure such treatment. The inexperienced superintendents and teachers gradually became aware of the situation and saw that the Bahá'í children were of quite a different type from the rest, that their religion was a fundamental fact in their lives, and that they could not be won over nor their religious beliefs be weakened by humiliation, abusive language or mockery.
The school Superintendent'stactless attitude resulted in undermining that discipline which is always a marked characteristic of Bahá'í schools; the students did not consider the non-Bahá'í Superintendent and teachers of the school worthy of respect and so were not keeping order in the classes. They were preparing their lessons with reluctance and were not showing themselves respectful towards their teachers and school officials in public places. They paid respect only to their Bahá'í teachers.
In short, this method of conducting the school, which was aimed at weakening the students' religious beliefs, resulted in a completely chaotic state of affairs, and the students became more and more adverse to continuing attendance. Another policy of the School Principal was the discrimination made between the Bahá'í and non-Bahá'í students.
The latter, though far inferior to their Bahá'í companions in studies and behavior, were given more favorable treatment and attention and had preference over the Baha'is. The unsatisfactory effects of such discrimination, the resulting animosity and rivalry among the students, can well be imagined.
But the School managers had recourse to all sorts of means with a view to accomplishing their end. They even induced some of the Bahá'í students to create differences among their classmates.
Then they began to dismiss Bahá'í teachers gradually under various pretexts.
They would have done this at the very time they took charge of the school had they had experienced non-Bahá'í substitutes, as the head of the Department of Education himself had told the Bahá'í representatives that the presence of Bahá'í teachers in the School was strengthening the students' religious sentiments. So at the first opportunity they dismissed the Bahá'í teachers and replaced them by non-Bah4'is, and the result was that the school which had enjoyed a good reputation on account of its sound organization and high moral standards was reduced to a deplorable condition and the pupils were decreasing in number and were entering other schools. The Superintendent of the School, realizing the gravity of the situation and the bad consequences derived from it, caused an order to be issued by the Department of Education whereby other schools were forbidden to accept students from the Persian Baha School unless these students were graduates of the latter institution. Among other objections raised against Bahá'í teachers was a charge brought by the Superintendent to the effect that in the copybook of a 7th grade girl student he had seen the following sentence:
"The Mash-riq'ul � Adhkiris higher than the Church", he had taken the booklet to the Department of Education and said that the teacher had taught that sentence to the students in class and that this supplied a good excuse to dismiss him; as the teacher was highly influential in the school and much loved and respected by all the students, the Superintendent said that his presence would eventually nullify the activities of the school authorities.
The Superintendent had, however, admitted that in other respects no oh. jection could be raised to the Baha teachers, whose behavior was irreproachable, and that the man in question could oniy be dismissed on this pretext. They took up the matter at the Teachers' Meeting and spread the news through the city so as to attract the attention of other teachers.
The teacher in question said that it was the student himself who had written the sentence, which was merely an exercise done at home to illustrate the use of the Persian superlative; in proof of the fact that he had not dictated in class, he pointed out that the sentence did not appear in the copybooks of the other students. No attention was paid to this argument and the Superintendent summoned the student, had recourse to intimidation and ordered her to
Page 40admit in writing that the teacher had dictated the sentence; the girl replied that she was neither afraid of the Superintendent's intimidation nor anxious for his help and would never allow herself to tell a lie about her teacher; that she had written the sentence at home when preparing her exercise and that no teacher had anything to do with it. All this proved unavailing, however, and the teacher was eventually dismissed and the secondary classes left without a teacher for some time.
In short, all the efforts made by the school authorities and the large expenditure made by them with a view to diverting the Bahá'í students from their religious and moral inclinations and attracting them to their own ideas remained futile.
The Department of Educationpresumed that this failure was due to lack of efficiency on the part of the school authorities and for this reason the principal and superintendent of the school were repeatedly changed. In one year the superintendent of the school was replaced five times. In the course of school debates Bahá'í children would raise questions which caused astonishment to those present. Space does not allow us to illustrate here the extremely unfriendly attitude adopted towards the faith of the younger Bahá'í students. The last scheme planned against these children was to change the school premises since the authorities thought that as the students were studying near the Bahá'í Temple, the continual view of the Temple dome and the walks under the trees of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar gardens were increasing their faith. The friends were reluctant to change the school premises, and the matter was under discussion for some time between them and the superintendent, but eventually the school was removed to the Armenian
School buildings. Becausethe Armenian children were damaging the Temple gardens, the friends were greatly opposed to this and finally Russian children were removed to the Bahá'í school.
The change in school premises did not, needless to say, fulfill the expectations of the school authorities.
Restrictions Placed on"The restrictions placed on individual Bahá'ís began in 1928 and the facts of the case are that in February, 1928, one of the most fervent friends, Husayn beg Qudsi, who was teaching Russian in the school, was arrested one night. He was a Russian national � a learned man and fully acquainted with the Bible, and was at that time the person best qualified to teach Europeans and other Christians. He was in close touch with various nineteenth century Christian sects, including a group not unlike the Millerites, the followers of which believe that the Christ is soon to appear, and enumerate many traditions and prophecies, in addition to those set forth by the Baha'is, in support of the statement that the Son of Man will descend from Heaven to earth on clouds in the year 1844, corresponding to 1260 All. In short, Husayn beg was in touch with the Russians and had lately received a letter from the Guardian in which he was encouraged to guide the enlightened young Russians to the path of God. He, therefore, translated some of the Bahá'í works into Russian and began to give the Message to the Russians. He also made a teaching tour to Russia and explained the Bahá'í principles to a great many people. "Some Answered
Questions," Abdu'l-Bahá'í Tabletto Dr. Forel, the Tablet to The Hague Conference and other Bahá'í books were translated and made ready for publication; the Teaching Committee went ahead most efficiently with the work, and meetings were held which were attended by Europeans. But on a certain night in February, 1928, political officers entered the house of Husayn beg, arrested him and searched the premises. He was kept in prison for twenty-seven days and for some time no one knew what had happened to him, until towards the close of his imprisonment permission was given his family to visit him. Then he was set free on condition that he would not leave town.
CCTh next to be arrested were two members of the25th, 1928, at 2 o'clock in the morning, following a careful search of their houses and the confiscation of all their Bahá'í literature.
These two friends were detained for about three months and were set free only after enduring many hardships.
!CThe object of the officials in making these arrests was to prepare the way towards ar �
Page 41resting a much larger number of Baha'is: they had formed a general plan to this end, but they did not wish to put it into force at once and were trying out their plan in a few cases to see what the conse~uences would be, and who would oppose them and support the friends. They, therefore, arrested Husayn beg, who was their own national, and waited expectantly for an uproar to be raised; but contrary to their expectation, this was met with much calmness and patience. They then ventured to arrest and imprison the two members of the
Spiritual Assembly. Oneof these was a young man whom they had selected with the intention of intimidating the Bahá'í youth and disturbing their organization. In doing so, they expected strong protests and vigorous resistance, but since on the contrary no resistance was offered, they ventured on a still more serious move. On July 28th, 1929, twenty-four Bahá'ís were arrested, of whom seven were released after some days. One of them, Asliraf beg, who was a Russian national, was never heard of again and it is probable that he was put to death.
The remaining sixteen souis were kept in prison for six months, during which period they were harshly treated, threatened and intimidated. They were eventually released and banished following energetic measures which were taken by the friends on their behalf. The circumstances of the case are worthy of being described separately and have no doubt been recorded. From 1930 to 1933 no more such cases have arisen and no other friends from tlshqTh4d have been arrested, but in the year 19281929 in other towns the wellknown and energetic friends were molested.
For instance, in Tashkent, Aqa Habibullah Baqiroff, a member of the Spiritual Assembly, in Baku, Zargaroff and Mas-soumoff, respectively
Chairman and Secretaryof the Spiritual Assembly, together with some other friends from Bards, were imprisoned. Zaragaroff and Massoumoff were banished for three years to the extreme north of Russia in the vicinity of the
Arctic Ocean, while Aqawas sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the neighborhood of the North Sea and the polar forests. From that date onward the students in schools and universities met with hardships and restrictions.
Some of them were dis missed; it will suffice to mention here that nine students were dismissed from school in Leningrad and two in Tashkent, and College candidates when they were known to be active members of Bahá'í organizations.
The Baha'is, no matter what their occupations, formerly stopped work on public Bahá'í holidays and would say openiy that Bahá'ís could not work on nine particular days throughout the year.
The employers were reluctant to allow this privilege to their Bahá'í workers, but the latter persisted both individually and collectively in abstaining from work and asserted that whether given wages or not and whether dismissed or not, they should stop work on these days. They offered to work extra hours, at nights or on Fridays (the weekly holiday) to make up for the Bahá'í public holidays on which they abstained from working or else to go without their daily double wages. But the employers agreed to none of these alternatives and the situation gave rise to serious controversies and eventually resulted in the dismissal of some of the Bahá'í workers.
Especially in Mary, where all the Baha were craftsmen or working in Government offices and industrial concerns, the case assumed significance. In the "Tavakkul" Confectionery, for instance, which was founded by the Bahá'ís and was subsequently changed into a Government institution, the majority of the workers were Baha'is.
On the first day of the Nawruz Festival the employees stopped work.
On the following day all the workers who were Bahá'ís were dismissed.
The manager of the firm, Mirza Assadull4h Rid4off, who was the chairman of the Spiritual Assembly and in whom the Government had placed much trust for his honesty and efficiency, was also dismissed. They supposed that these Bahá'ís would express repentance and ask to be reinstated, but the Bahá'ís did not refer to these employers again, and found other jobs. However, as the affairs of the firm were much disorganized by the change, all the Bahá'í workers were finally reinstated, a matter which encouraged the believers and gave them a new lesson in steadfastness.
For many years the Bahá'ís have been in the habit of abstaining from work on Bahá'í public holidays and they find it unusual not to do so. The workers in the
Page 42abovementioned industrial firm of Mary were reengaged with the exception of the manager, who did not accept the terms proposed to him, and took another job which was less desirable than the former.
ments or as craftsmen, etc. But a large number of friends who were not craftsmen and had no special professions nor any adequate capital met with severe financial distress. This was especially the case with Bahá'ís of Shrine of the Im4m Husayn in KarbilA. X indicates resting-place of Siyyid K~izim, one of the forerunners of the Báb.
Economic SituationtcThe Bahá'ís in these regions are chiefly people who emigrated from Persia because of destitution.
Some of them engaged in commercial pursuits, others became craftsmen or professional men. When commercial affairs came to nothing on account of the financial crisis, the friends gradually took up other work as employes in Government
Depart-advancedadvanced age who had earned their livelihood by working as small salesmen or as shoemakers, weavers, tailors, etc. Those of the Bahá'ís who were familiar with conditions were better able to secure jobs for themselves in the local departments, especially because of their knowledge of Russian and Turkish.
During the past two years the friends in general suffered cosiderably on account of the economic crisis and only a
Page 43limited number of Bahá'ís could be found who were able, to a satisfactory extent, to earn their living somehow or other.
A f am-ily whose oniy breadwinner consisted of one person could not meet expenses living even at the average wage; this was why it became necessary for most Bahá'í young men, women and girls to find work in tailoring houses, stocking factories and the like to help their families.
CCOn the first day of Ridvan, 1933, there were 40 families who were Teceiving financial support from the Spiritual Assembly. The greater portion of the Bahá'í National Fund has been given to needy friends for the last two years.
The national expenditure of Bahá'í institutions can be said to be devoted almost entirely to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and the poor class of friends.
Thus there remain no funds for other expenses. The National Fund Committee is not even able to meet these two items of expenditure properly. This is why in the course of every week families who have lived in this country for years are leaving their homes and migrating to KhurAs6n (east Persia), which is the Persian province nearest to Turkestan.
CCJ~ the year 19321933 the friends in Turkestan had and are still having a most trying time as far as the financial situation is concerned, and the Spiritual Assembly in 'Ishqabad was obliged to ask for contributions from all the Bahá'í centers in Turkestan and the
Caucasus. These Bahagroups and centers, though suffering themselves from the financial crisis almost to the same degree as the friends in tIshq~b6A, responded to the call as far as their means permitted; the friends in Baku and Mary offered especially generous contributions to the relief fund. But all the contributions raised were not sufficient to meet even half the annual expenses, and the Spiritual Assembly had, therefore, to spend the reserve fund assigned to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to buy flour and distribute it to the friends. On one occasion all the friends were summoned by the Spiritual Assembly and invited to make every possible contribution to the relief fund; that day a wonderful spirit of sacrifice and generosity was shown; even the very poor contributed, offering their daily food, which consisted of only one ttpoud" (Russian weight) of flour; one man had 10 pounds of grain, another some potatoes, and each offered half of what he had; women gave up their bits of finery. They acted in accord with the Qur'an verse which says tThey gave up all their belongings, even their dearest.'
But the National Fundhad no money left nor the friends any means of subsistence. They are all in dire need of Continuous financial help from their fellow-workers in other parts of the world.
"In conclusion, it should be pointed out that all these imprisonments, banishments and other persecutions are directed only against the religionists who have refused to go under the Bolshevik yoke; those who adhere to Communist principles, far from being under restrictions, enjoy many advantages and privileges."
GERMANYBecause each Bahá'í community, no matter what its social environment, has an inner relationship to one universal Source of truth, and an outer relationship to one administrative order, the principle of unity established in the Teachings goes hand in hand with the coequal principle of diversity.
That is, the application of the ideal of the oneness of mankind produces among the Ba1A'is not uniformity � which tyranny ever and always seeks to maintain � but that true self-de-velopment of individual and group which sustains the pillars of voluntary cooperative effort. Agreeing upon basic principles of truth and upon basic modes of consultation and decision, the Bahá'ís rejoice in that inherent and inevitable diversity arising from the existence in one Faith and one Order of so many different racial and national elements.
Those very factors of racial difference which in the world make for suspicion and strife, in the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh constitute the very binding force of the spirit of union and harmony.
To the Bahá'ís of Germany the believers in other lands look with loving appreciation for the emergence of a certain racial genius the manifestations of which will in the future contribute vitally to the development of the Faith. In the realm of science and spiritual philosophy, the believers understand, the
Page 44German Bahá'ís will prove themselves leaders on the path of world civilization.
As indicated in the following statement prepared by Dr. Hermann Orossmann, the emphasis laid by the believers of Germany is upon the plane of understanding and inner experience.
This emphasis makes for the development of spiritual power rather than for the production of interesting incidents available for historical record.
"The general attitude of the Baha'i, inner as well as outer, is the result of his relationship with God. The Bahá'í Faith teaches one to recognize the essence of religion in the manner that man directs himself unreservedly towards the Divine, and out of which through the medium of meditation he draws power and guidance for the reconstruction of his life. Looking inward he gains the victory over the dualism between the material and the spiritual, by the Manifestation of God, which is the creative principle that encompasses the plan, will, and action of all existence. The manifested world of creation in proportion to the essence of God, which is inconceivable to man, is like an infinitely small point in the inestimable eternity of the unknowable Creator. Himself, a member, a part of creation, himself a creation of this plan, he proceeds directing himself entirely to the Creator, and conscientiously he travels the way of the Logos toward his origin, and in this way listens to the secret of the great plan of creation as it has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.
This is the mystery of salvation, and the unresting obedience to the creative will of the Logos. Out of this obedience as well results the outer attitude toward the numberless problems of life, for all manifestation to the Bahá'í is Logos translated into action, the conceivable expression of the inconceivable Divine being; though the Bahá'í Faith requires from the Bahá'í the highest demands of moral action in relationship to his outer life. However, this action ceases for him to be a more or less unimportant attitude in world events. He realizes the more his obligation in the sense of the conscious action of the Logos. He himself, responsive to the Logos, has the solemn obligation to assist, through his own action, the Divine Will according to the Plan translated into deed for such a high conception of life, and the tasks which are caused by it for the Bahá'í have no question except the sealed Divine Truth, which are outside the realm which is destined for him, and which is his obligation. (This, of course, does not exclude the fact that the duties for each man will be different according to his particular qualification.)
Hence result for the study of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as for the spreading and deepening of Bahá'í principles, serious and far reaching demands and the' need of schooling before the believer is prepared to teach.
t~Out of the recognition of this necessity the thought was born for Bahá'í schooling arrangements.
Occasional courses in different localities of friends as well as active themes offered on the occasion of different Baha Meetings have furnished the basis for experience.
C(Q~ the basis of this experience a school meeting was arranged in the autumn of 1931 by the Esslinger Bahá'í friends at their Bahá'í home, situated near the Katharinen.-linde, for two days, at which occasion through different speakers and through general discussion the theme of salvation was taken up. This first experiment encouraged the coming together for eight days at the same place, which recommends itself for its lovely situation as well as its beneficial seclusion for this purpose, and where many friends came together from various parts of Germany. This meeting was arranged by the Esslinger Bahá'í Assembly, which with touching self-sacrifice arranged everything with the greatest success for the care of the guests. The spiritual arrangement was taken care of by Dr. Albert Muhlschlegel, Stuttgart, Dr. Eugen Schmidt, Stuttgart, and Dr. T � Jermann Grossmann, Neckargemund. By this first German Bahá'í Summer Week the formula was found for the later meetings: different courses, which formed in themselves a certain unity so that they touched over and over again certain problems, and by these means brought out the unity of the Bahá'í understanding in different persons; several single lectures and informal teachings were gIven during spare hours and during promenades.
The life during the summer week is on a community basis, devotional meetings in the morning and evening, corn
Page 45munity meals, informal walks during the evening, recreation in the garden of the Bahá'í Home and in the meadows, a morning celebration as a conclusion on Sunday morn-in.g with song and music; everything is the impulse of the friends present.
"During the first Bahá'í week of the summer of 1932, the following subjects and courses were given: ~tIntroduction in the Greater Religions, by Dr. Albert
Muhlschlegel.ccThe World of Bahá'í Teachings, Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
"The Place of the Baha in the Present World, Dr.ttDuring the second Bahá'í Summer Week 1933, at which several foreign friends participated, the subjects were: "The Life of Man in the Light of the Bahá'í Teachings.
'tThe life of Myself, Dr. Albert Muhi � schiegel.
"The Life of My Neighbor, Dr. Eugen Schmidt."For the third Bahá'í Summer Week 1934, the following subjects are planned: ccPeople and Faith, Dr.
Albert Muhlschle-gel.ttBah~j'j Faith and Christianity, Dr. Eugen Schmidt.
ccFrom Christ to Bahá'u'lláh, Dr. Hermann Grossmann.
"God in Us, Emil Join.presents in perfect natural form a distinctive expression of a religious life. It is just his religious attitude which determines, and it may also be the proof for this spiritual unity that during the year 1931, the year of the greatest political disruption in Germany, in spite of guests who were not acquainted with the Bahá'í Faith, not the slightest discord came forth. The Esslinger Bahá'í week also attained this high purpose during the year of 1933, the year of political reform, obedient to the Bahá'í Faith as it was expressed already in the words of Christ~~ccRender unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's," and thus keep faith.
'tBy this it can be understood that the Esslinger Summer School practically has become a symbol of the new formation and endeavors of the friends in Germany. It is new in the sense of a deepening of an always conscious form in the sense of those great Divine principles of the Logos in this age.
~tThe Bahá'í Annual Meetingin Karisruhe in 1933 breathed the same spirit. Here as well the friends from different parts came together for two days, where the facilities of the meeting place, a Froberikindergarten with all its rooms and garden at our disposal for two days, assisted greatly to our unified meeting.
The whole arrangement has been subjected to the one leading motive, ttUnity," and consequently lectures were named: 'tUnity and Cooperation in the Universe.
(CUnity in Religion and"The tasks which this epoch with all its events along the different spheres of life confronts us with are becoming greater, always more powerful are the demands which come to the Bahá'í out of the absolute service, confidence and their loyalty. Visits of the friends to various places and the circulars of the National Spiritual Assembly of the German Bahá'ís reflect to the greatest extent the spiritual fulfilment of the inner and the outer obligations toward God and their Faith, and towards mankind, government, and people. May the spirit of recognition give us all the power to find in joyful fulfilment of our duty the right path which leads us through the Seven Valleys to the
Mountain of Abh~!"Miss Martha L. Root, international Bahá'í teacher, has continued travelling uninterruptedly since we wrote of her in the last BAHÁ'Í WORLD (Volume IV). After her work at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, for more than three months, where she personally met statesmen from more than fifty countries, spoke with them about the Bahá'í Teachings and gave them important literature (especially
Shoghi Effendi's c(Goalof a New World Order"), Miss Root went to central and southeastern Europe, where she has been working for nearly two years. First, in Praha,
Czechoslovakia, she arranged for the translation and publication of Dr. J. E. Esslemont's book, "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era," into the Czech language. The Foreword to this Czech edition is a quotation from President T. G. Masaryk of the Republic of Czechoslovakia about the Bahá'í universal principles.
Nearly five hundred books were placed in libraries, sent to editors, and distributed generally and five hundred placed on sale. Also, a translation of the "Kitáb-i-Iq6n" into Czech was arranged for and made, though it is not yet published. A friend of the Bahá'í teacher translated
"Hidden Words" into Czechand it was used in the Bahá'í Study Class. Many lectures, including one before the
Czech Friends of GreatBritain Society held in the Faculty of Letters, Charles University, also addresses before the All Peoples' Association in the Spolicensky Club, the Prague English Club,
Prague English GrammarSociety, the Y. W. C. A. and many others were given. November 20, 1932, Miss Root broadcast over (CR di Journal Station," a very powerful station which is heard all over Europe and even as far as New Zealand. Several magazine articles were written by her in Praha.
This Bahá'í teacher took part in the Czechoslovak Esperanto Congress in Oloo-. muc, May 1518, 1932, and on the new Zamenhof monument dedicated in the cen � tral park of Oloomuc, the Bahá'í Cause is engraved as one of the movements working for a universal auxiliary language and world peace.
She also left Praha again to go to Paris in late July, 1932, to take part in the Twenty-fourth Universal
Congress of Esperantoheld in that capital. A Bahá'í Esperanto session was a feature of that Congress.
Miss Root met the Paris believers, and she also had an interview with Mr. A. L. M. Nicolas who, while he lived in Persia for twenty years, studied the Writings of the Báb and is a distinguished French historian of the BTh's Life and works � his "Siyyid 'Ali-Muham-mad dit le Bib" is well known.
Returning to Praha from Paris, Miss Root came by way of Vienna, and in Mbedling close by Vienna she had tea and an audience with
Her Majesty Dowager QueenMarie of Yugoslavia, and H. R. H. Princess Ileana, who is Archduchess Anton of Austria; the event took place in the Archduchess's home.
Another trip out of Praha was a journey to Poland.
She visited Miss LidjaZamenhof in Warsaw for two weeks and they worked together to promote the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh in that country. Books were placed in several libraries � and this was true in every country, literature in English and other languages was carefully placed after the Teachings had been explained.
Also, in some countries small booklets such as ttWhat Is the Bahá'í Movement?"
and the tiny blue booklet were published in the language of the country.
Miss Root made a trip to Lublin in the heart of Poland to interview the President of the great theological University of Lublin, Dr. Joseph Kruszynski, who in 1914 had visited Haifa and had met tAbd'lBh' On her way back to Praha from Poland she stopped for two days in the Czechoslovak city of Jagerndorf visiting the Esperantists, who arranged two public lectures and for her to meet groups in their homes. Mrs. Thilde
Diestelhorst, a new Bahá'íof Berlin, came to Praha and worked for one month with Miss Root in September, 1932.
After several months' stay in Praha, Miss Root left January 25th, 1933, for Vienna where she stayed for one week, lecturing in the University of Vienna, and before the Quaker Society, the Theosophical Society, the American Women's Club, the Women s League for Peace and Freedom, the
Student Forum; the Bahá'ísarranged a public lecture and several important smaller group meetings in their hail. Dr. and Mrs. Howard Carpenter of California and Mrs.
Diestel-horst of Berlinwere in Vienna at that time, and spoke with Miss Root at several of the events.
Dr. and Mrs. Carpenter came with her to Gy6r and Budapest in Hungary, and to
Belgrade, Yugoslavia;in Gy6r they visited Mr. George Steiner, who was translating ~tBh"'11'h and the New Era" into
Hungarian, and Miss ElisabethFitter of Gy6r arranged a public lecture in the church.
During the week's stay in Budapest, Miss Root and Mrs. Carpenter gave a number of public lectures, speaking before the All Peo-pies' Association, the Women's League for
Page 47in Belgrade they spoke in the Univer-sky, also before the American-Anglo-Yugo-slav
Club, the Yugoslav UniversityLeague for Peace and Freedom, the Esperanto Society of Belgrade. In both cities there was much publicity in all the daily newspapers.
Miss Root while in Belgrade arranged for the translation of cCBhP~~11ih and the New Era" into Serbian and arranged for Professor Bogdan Popo-vitvh, the greatest Serbian scholar in Yugoslavia, to write the introduction. She was invited to tea in the Royal Palace by Their Royal
Higlinesses Prince Pauland Princess Olga of Yugoslavia whom she had met in 1928.
Miss Root only stayed one week in Bel � grade and then returned to Budapest, where she looked after the publishing of ~tBh" u'llAh and the New Era" in the Hungarian language.
Dr. Rustum Vamb&y wrote one introduction to this book and Miss Root wrote the other, which was an account of tAbdu'1-Bahá'í Visit to Budapest in 1913. Nearly four hundred of these books were sent out and the remainder of the thousand put on sale. For three months the Bahá'í teacher remained in the Hungarian Capital. She lectured before the English speaking students in Budapest University, four hundred students and professors being present. She and the Professor of English Literature and the President of the
Women's League for Peaceand Freedom arranged a public Peace Forum in the Women's League hail; talks were also given before the Theosophists, before the Esperantists and in several clubs. Every week the Bahá'í teacher invited groups to her hotel. Miss Marion E. Jack of Canada came from Sofia and spent one month with Miss Root in Budapest, and Miss Jack had the meetings in her larger room. Many homes were visited and several of the good friends in Budapest invited groups to their homes to meet the Baha'is.
May 3 0th, 1933, Martha Root came again to Belgrade, where she took part in the Sixth Yugoslav Esperanto Congress which was held in the capital June 4th and 5th. Immediately afterwards she arranged for the publication of "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" in the Serbian language. She was again invited to the Royal Palace in Belgrade as the guest of H. R. H. Princess Olga and met also the two sisters of the hostess, H. R. H. Princess Elisabeth of Greece and H. R. H. Princess
Marina of Greece.While the book was being printed Miss Root made a short strip through Yugoslavia, stopping for a day or two in Sarajevo and Dubrovnik then going on to Tirana, Albania, for five days where she met several of the friends she had known on her former visit in 1929.
She had an interview with Mr. K. Kotta, President of the Parliament and he sent gracious greetings to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Cause. She met Mr. Refo Chapari, the devoted Albanian Bahá'í who has returned from New York City to live in Tirana and promote the Cause. She visited his home and the homes of some of his friends, they worked very hard; she also called upon several statesmen, the press representatives, the librarians, the publishers and the booksellers.
Then returning to Belgrade the book and little booklets were already published and she sent out four hundred copies of the ttBah~'u'1Uh and the New Era" to editors, schools,
Libraries in Yugoslaviaand the remainder of the thousand were put on sale. She met the friends and then left for Ruse, Bulgaria, going down the Danube River in an Esperanto boat excursion to take an active part in the
Twentieth Bulgarian Esperanto Congressheld in Ruse, July 1418, 1933. She gave the greetings of Bahá'ís of the world at the opening held in a theatre with four hundred delegates and friends present from several cities in Bulgaria and Rumania. Other talks were given and a Bahá'í Esperanto session was a feature of the Congress. Mr. Konstantin Dinkoff of Sofia, who had heard of the Teachings from Miss Marion E. Jack and had translated CCB h" '111 and the New Era" into Bulgarian, came to this Congress and brought one hundred copies to give to those interested.
Dr. Herman Grossmann ofAll the Esperantists were invited to come over to Bucharest, Rumania, where they were cordially received by the Mayor. Miss Root used the opportunity to call upon the woman educator and writer who was tans
Page 48lating "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" into Rumanian.
Returning again to Belgrade with the Esperantist excursionists, Martha Root left at once for Athens, Greece, on July 27, 1933, where she arranged with the editor of one of the greatest daily newspapers in Athens for the translation of "Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era" into Greek.
She met several will take until May first, 1934. In all these capitals, in addition to arranging for the translations and publications, she has tried to awaken interest through public lectures and equally through small study groups. Her aim has been to spend two years in central and southeastern Europe trying to help establish permanent Bahá'í groups.
Mrs. Jindriska Wurmovafriends including editors, professors, Esper-antists, put books into some libraries, gave several interviews, visited the Esperanro Club, and after nine days returned to Belgrade.
Her itinerary is to visit Adrianople for two weeks and write some articles, then come to Sofia, Bulgaria, and work with Miss Jack for one month in the
Bulgarian capital. Thenshe expects to go to Bucharest to see about the Rumanian publication of Dr. Esslemont's book, and also go to Athens to see about its publication into Greek. This slovakia, one of the greatest peace workers in Czechoslovakia, said of Miss Root in 1932: "Some can give a Truth to one or two or three, but Miss Root is giving the Bahá'í Teachings to our nation.
One can oniy say of her what tAbdu'1-BahA wrote to her upon her return from South America in 1919: "Praise be to God the Call of the Kingdom has been received in South America and the seeds of Guidance have been sown in those cities and regions. Certainly the heat of the Sun of Reality, the rain of the Eternal Bounty and the breeze
Page 49of the Love of God will make them germinate: have confidence."
He also wrote to her: ~cAnyhow, thou art really a herald of the Kingdom and a harbinger of the Covenant and doest self-sacri-fice.
Thou showest kindness to all nations; thou art sowing a seed that shall in the long run give rise to thousands of harvests; thou art planting a tree that shall till eternity put forth leaves, blossoms and fruits and whose shadow shall day by day grow in magnitude."
FRANCEFrom Mr. C. N. Kennedy comes the foLlowing report on Bahá'í activities in France, and more particularly in Paris.
ttrrenchinen like Renan and Count Gobi-neau recognized in the dawn of the Báb movement an influence which would have aided in the development of civilization, but the socalled Bahá'ís themselves in France date back to oniy a short time before 1900.
Cdt was Miss May Bolles, now Mrs. Maxwell, who, living in France at that period, spread the message.
Mr. Mason Rerney, then a student at the tcole des Beaux Arts, was among the very first persons living in Paris to become a Bahá'í and opened his studio for the meetings, for the inquirers and the friends. In 1900 Edith
Sanderson and Miss LauraBarney, then living in Paris, heard of the Cause and a few months afterwards M. Hippolyte Dreyfus, and for years the meetings have been held in the homes of these three Baha'is. M. Hippolyte Dreyfus became an indefatigable student of this movement and the French translation of the books containing the works on the Faith are due to him as well as many articles and publications on the subject.
He also gave conferences in many different centers such as at the tcole des Hautes tudes. It is interesting to note that at Lyons in 1908 the celebrated Mayor and Statesman, M. Edouard Herriott, presided at a meeting organized under the auspices of the Mission LaYque when M. Dreyfus gave a talk on the Cause. It was also through him that the Cause became knOwn in Tunisia.
ccMeetings have been held in well-nigh every part of Paris, but since the last years the studio of Mr. and Mrs. Scott has been the central meeting place.
It was in this studio that tAbdu'1-Bahi spoke on several occasions when he visited Paris.
ccWhen the Master came to Paris, he was cordially received by many important people such as the late Pastor Wagner, who invited him to speak at his church.
He also spoke before the students of the Faculty of Theology and to large audiences at l'Alliance Spiritualiste.
tAbdu'[Bahi was visited by people of all classes and of,varied points of view, who seemed to be greatly satisfied by the privilege of meeting him.
"In France the position of Religion is very special.
As is well known the general tendency is laYque, but the religion of the country is Catholic which is always very powerful; the Protestants are a minority. There is, however, a spirit strong at work with the liberal-minded, and, no doubt, it will be mostly in these ranks that the Cause will be appreciated and fill a need.
"The Bahá'í group in Paris is a very changing group because often we had had in our Assemblies people that have heard of the Cause here but have become members of groups in the different countries to which they returned.
Also often the friends of other parts of the world come and settle in Paris for a short period and attend regularly our meetings. Then again we are fortunate in having a strong Persian element in our Assemblies, not only some older men who are here for their business but many young students following University courses, and even a few young Persian women.
"The Cause is considered as a very serious movement in intellectual centers and generally speaking the press has treated the subject in a dignified manner. The eminent philosopher Professor Bergson, after reading Dr. Esslemont's book ttBh"'11'h and the New Era," made some very interesting and appreciative remarks on the importance of the Cause. Mr. Ernile Schreiber, editor of the wellknown newspaper ties Echos," who recently returned from a trip to Palestine and Syria, has written about the movement in most generous terms. Mr. Schreiber has spoken about the Cause in an article which
Page 50has just been published in the "Illustration" and also in an excellent article which appeared quite recently in ties
Echos."~~Before giving a resum6 of this year's activity, permit me to quote a paragraph that a Frenchman will read when he opens the Encyclopedia Larousse to the Bahá'í reference: ~Actue11ement ii y a des Bahá'ís partout, non seulement dans les pays inusuirnans, mais encore dans tous les pays d'Europe, comme aux Estates-Unis, au Canada, au Japon, aux Indes, etc.
C'est que Bahá'u'lláha su transformer le Babisme en une religion universelle qui se pr6sente comme 1'aboutissement et le compliment n6cessaire de toutes les anciennes croyances.'
(Extrait du LarousseccTrnslation: tAt the present time there are Bahá'ís everywhere, not only in moslem countries, but also in all European countries, in the United States of America, Canada, Japan, India, etc. The fact is that Bahá'u'lláh succeeded in transforming Babisme into a urn-versa1 religion which presents itself as the result and the necessary complement of all the ancient creeds.'
ccThe third assembly of the Union of Bahá'í Students in Europe was held in Mrs. Scott's studio on December 26th and 27th and was well attended. The following subjects were ably and profitably treated by the young friends: ~ Individual development in view of the development of the community.
"2. The Baha movement and World Economy.tC3 What should be the line of conduct of a Baha'i.
CC4~ The importance of the Bahá'í Cause in the"The fourth assembly which will also be held in Mrs. Scott's studio, has been fixed to take place during the Christmas holiday, which is the most convenient date for the students who are studying at provincial Universities and who come to Paris during the vacation. We have just received a letter from Teheran announcing the departure of the sixth group of young students whom the Persian Government is sending to Europe to follow the University courses and giving us the names of the nine young Bahá'ís who are coming to Paris.
CCDuring the year we have had our regular fortnightly meetings at Mrs. Scott's and the members of the Spiritual Assembly meet once a month at the house of Mrs. Dreyfus-Barney to discuss questions regarding the working of the Cause.
Miss Edith Sandersonhas also arranged at her home a monthly meeting which is reserved to the Persian friends and Bahá'í students who much appreciate the opportunity of debating on the Cause.
C(W have been favored with communications from many Baha Assemblies, thus enabling us to follow with great interest the activities of the different groups throughout the world.
"Jn our last letter we announced our intention of publishing a new edition of Mr. Nicola's book "Seyed Au Mohamed dit le Bib."
We have since been fortunate in finding 250 copies of the original edition which will shortly be ready for sale.
"In conclusion, we are pleased to announce that Mrs. Scott has donated a painting by Mr. Scott which will be sold for the benefit of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar fund."
EGYPTIn previous reviews the important part played by the Egyptian believers in the development of the Baha world community has been described. Under Muslim law, which still prevails in absence of a civil code, the courts were called upon to deterniine the status of Bahá'ís in relation to Islam.
If considered in the light of dissenters against Islam, the Egyptian Bahá'ís would have incurred severe disabilities in such matters as marriage, inheritance, etc. The actions imti-ated by Muslim leaders led, however, to the court decision that the Bahá'í Faith is an independent Religion, not to be viewed merely as a sect within Mul?ammadanism.
This determination of official attitude is a matter of funchimental importance, creating the Legal basis upon which the Egyptian Bahá'í community can in time claim and secure recognition of a code based entirely upon the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
The principal events in Egypt during the period 19321934 were in relation to that vital objective.
Page 51The Cause has developed rapidly in Egypt, drawing the attention of the Government and of the Muslim ecclesiastical authorities in that land.
In Alexandria particularly the number of the Bahá'í community has increased.
As result of the formal separation from Islam enacted by the Muslim Ecclesiastical Court, the National Spiritual Assembly has prepared and published a compilation, with comments and explanations, of the important laws and ordinances revealed in the Aqd~s, a copy of which the Assembly officially presented to the Egyptian Government. This and other actions have, on the one hand, awakened the interest of some enlightened people, while on the other hand they have aroused the suspicion, enmity and violent opposition of the leading Egyptian divines. A member of the Egyptian Parliament has made public tribute to the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and recognized the services which western Bahá'ís are rendering Islam by upholding the divine authority of Mu$ammad. A well known Shaykh has published in a prominent newspaper of Cairo a series of violent criticisms of the yarious social, spiritual and religious Teachings of the Cause. To these vehement attacks the Bahá'ís made adequate response. One of their representatives refuted, logically and convincingly, in the pages of that same newspaper, all the charges and bitter criticisms of their ecclesiastical foe, securing thereby most effective publicity for the Cause.
Interesting details of this episode were issued by the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa in one of its circular letters.
'tAs the progress of the Bahá'í Faith grows from day to day and its influence spreads in the furthermost corners of the world, as the number of the Bahá'í Communities multiplies and their social power becomes increasingly evident, and as the light of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh encompasses the whole earth with C girdle of shining glory,' the believers will find themselves more and more subjected to the pressure of veiled or manifest attacks which the enemies of the Cause � be they deluded enthusiasts or besotted mortals � will exercise in the vain hope of undermining the faith of the followers of Baha-. 'u'lUh in tthe sublimity of their calling,' or cforcing the surrender of the newly-built stronghold of the Faith.' No words apply better to these assailants of the Cause than the following from the pen of our Beloved Guardian: tThriving for a time through the devices which their scheming minds had conceived and supported by the ephemeral advantages which fame, ability or fortune can confer, these notorious exponents of corruption and heresy have succeeded in protruding for a time their ugly features Oflly to sink, as rapidly as they had risen, into the mire of an ignominious end.'
"In these days, a certain Muslim Shaykh in Egypt � one of the ~U1em~'s of the famous Muslim University and religious seminary called ~A1-Azhar,' has published in a wellknown Arabic daily paper of Cairo, called ~Assiyassah,' a series of articles entitled tB haism, a Delightful Fancy,' attacking the Cause, its principles and its institutions.
The author dwells at some length on his criticism of the equality of men and women as taught by Bahá'u'lláh and cAbdu~1~BaM, and the modus operandi of the distribution of legacies and heritage among heirs according to the laws of this Divine Dispensation.
(Cm order to answer the foregoing article and to enlighten the public on the Bahá'í Revelation, a most scholarly refutation of the baseless assertions, ridiculous arguments and foul misrepresentations of the aforementioned Sheikh has been written and published in the same paper, by Abdu'1 Jalil Beyk Sa'd � a judge of the Civil courts in Egypt and one of the notable believers, in that land.
This valiant upholder of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh has shown remarkable assiduity and courage in proclaiming and supporting the Cause publicly and without any veil or disguise in a Muslim land where only recently the believers had to face most formidable obstacles in their struggle to enfranchise the Faith from the fetters of Muslim orthodoxy.
"The following are the titles of the first four articles written by Abdu'1
Jalil Beyk Sa'd: 'Baha'ismfor Islam, Not a Calamity and a Requital'; tBa-ha'ism and the Freedom of Women.'
Page 52CJ~ the first article, the author makes a successful attempt to prove the authenticity of this Divine Dispensation, its perfection and superiority over the religions of the past, and the universality of its teachings. Furthermore, in answer to the criticism of the aforementioned Shaykh of the incarnation of the divine spirit, the author asserts that the Invisible Essence of Divinity itself is exalted above any corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress or regress. 'What is meant by divine revelation from the Baha paint of view is a manifestation and not an incarnation of the divine attributes.
"The believers may remember in this connection that Bahá'u'lláh writes in the KitTh-i-IqAn: CHC (the Divine Being) is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men.
He standeth exalted beyond and above all separation and union, all proximity and remoteness God was alone; there was none else beside Him" is a sure testimony of this truth.'
CCJ~ the second article, the author gives a detailed and comprehensive account of the writings and Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh concerning the Most Great Peace and the New World Order.
He also quotes from the Talks of tAbdu'1-Bah~ delivered during His western tours, and by which He summoned all peoples to Universal Peace and Unity and warned them of the outbreak of the
World War.ccThe third article is a most interesting exposition of the fact that the Bahá'í Faith is a great blessing to Islam and one that confirms the latter rather than repudiates it. In support of his very well developed theme, the author quotes from the Hadith � Muslirn religious Traditions � and the Qur'an.
The following are two of the quotations: tByIslam will be glorified after its humiliation,' and tAt the beginning of every age, God shall send unto this nation (the Muslim) Him who will renew (for them) the status of His (God's) religion.~
"The fourth article deals with the degraded condition of women in Arabia, before the advent of Islam, a condition that persists today in certain countries and among certain people, their freedom and equality with men as established by the Ba-h&'i Cause, pointing out the wisdom and the justice of the Bahá'í Laws in this connection.
The author enumerates some famous women in the history of Islam, Christianity and the Bahá'í Faith, women who by their physical prowess, intellectual abilities and spiritual loftiness surpassed many a man supposedly their superior. Qurrat-ul-Ayn is one of those women that the author names with special emphasis. Reference is also made to the remarkable progress and accomplishments of the modern woman.
tcAmong other things, the Shaykh writes: tBahA'ism has forbidden the plurality of wives, it has thus committed a social crime and a severe tyranny.' This is only one of the numerous instances in which the learned Shaykh exposes and asserts his ludicrous ignorance and immature grasp of social order and the divine civilization revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
In this connection we cannot help remembering the words of the late Mirza Abu'1 Fazi Gulpayegan, a most erudite Bahá'í historian, philosopher, and teacher, who wrote in his tBrilliant Proof': cCid the thirty-fourth verse of the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, where
His Holiness the Christsays: "0 ye generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?"
Yea, if it were possible for the sugarcane to yield a bitter fruit and for the fragrant rose to exhale a foul odor, such signs as these ("ye shall know the tree by its fruits") would never have been revealed in the heavenly books and such distinction would never have been appointed as the correct criterion.'
(cThe articles of Abdu'1 Jalil Beyk Sa'd are published on the front page of the af ore-mentioned paper and also in other papers. They have aroused considerable interest in the Bahá'í Faith, in Egypt, and will undoubtedly be the harbingers of its spread and progress there. The Central Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís in Egypt has appointed a Committee entrusted with the responsibility of writing on behalf of the said Assembly and in its name, answers to the attacks of the enemies of the Cause, or articles on the Baha Faith, in the papers."
Page 53~ 4~;O~' & ' � ~~~-vu ~ 4~4~ ~ KL~;JK4rj I , ~ ~L~J /;~L2. , ~ 4~J ~rT~L,~'r ~ ~i'~ 'K~~ S ~ 9 ~L
Page 208Bahá'í Marriage Certificate adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Egypt.
208 9) AY iU~ ~ ~ 4 C, ~ C J~JI J~,)~ j~ 'L~A ~ H d k~. JLI' 2Jc~jj~Yi~2 ~ 9) ~.2
Page 209THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 209
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.
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.
By the Ancient Beauty!This wronged one hath in nowise borne nor doth He bear a grudge against anyone; towards none doth He entertain any ill-feeling and uttereth no word save for the good of the world. My supreme obligation, however, of necessity, prompteth Me to guard and preserve the Cause of God. Thus, with the greatest regret, I counsel you saying: ttGd 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 BaM � may my life be offered up for them.
His Holiness, the ExaltedOne (the Báb), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abbas Beauty � may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends � is the
Supreme Manifestationof God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence.
All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding."
Unto the Most Holy Bookevery one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority, doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hal shown forth malice and turned away from the Lord of the
Covenant. By this Houseis meant that Universal House of Justice which is to be elected from all countries � that is, from those parts in the East and 'West where the loved ones are to be found � after the man-ncr of the customary elections in western countries, such as those of England.
0 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 StraightWhosoever, 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 draw-eth 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 AbliA 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!Bah4! It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote.-Trees, that no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree.
For he is, after tAbdu'I-IBaM, 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, hail denied the True One. Beware lest anyone falsely interpret these words, and like unto them that have broken the Covenant after the Day of Ascension (of Bahá'u'lláh), advance a pretext, raise the standard of revolt, wax stubborn and open wide the door of false interpretation.
To none is given the right to put forth his own opinion or express his particular convictions. All must seek guidance and turn unto the Center of the Cause and the House of Justice. And he that turneth unto whatsoever else is indeed in grievous error.
The Glory of Glories rest upon you!!!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 ng their interests with complete unanimity and contentment, with perfect understanding, g, genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor. This indeed is the one joy and yearning ng 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.
FOREWORDSpiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada completed a task which, while pertaining to the outer and more material aspects of the Cause, nevertheless has a special signficance for its spirit and inward sacred purpose. This task consisted in creating a legal form which gives proper substance and substantial character to the administrative processes embodied in the Bahá'í Teachings.
The form adopted was that known as a Voluntary Trust, a species of corporation recognized under the common law and possessing a long and interesting history.
The famous Covenant adopted by the Pilgrim Fathers on the Mayflower, the first legal document in American history, is of the same nature as the Declaration of Trust voted by the National
Spiritual Assembly. ThisDeclaration of Trust, with its attendant ByLaws, is published for the information of the Bahá'ís of the world.
Careful examination of the Declaration and its ByLaws will reveal the fact that this document contains no arbitrary elements nor features new to the Bahá'í Cause.
On the contrary, it represents a most conscientious effort to reflect those very administrative principles and elements already set forth in the letters of the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and already determining the methods and relationships of Bahá'í collective association.
The provision both in the Declaration and in the ByLaws for amendments in the future will permit the National Spiritual Assembly to adapt this document to such new administrative elements or principles as the Guardian may at any time give forth. The Declaration, in fact, is nothing more or less than a legal parallel of those moral and spiritual laws of unity inherent in the fulness of the Bahá'í Revelation and making it the fulfillment of
Page 211THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH 211
the ideal of Religion in the social as well as spiritual realm. Because in the Bahá'í Faith this perfect correspondence exists between spiritual and social laws, the Bahá'ís believe that administrative success is identical with moral success; and that nothing iess than the true Bahá'í spirit of devotion and sacrifice can inspire with effective power the worldwide body of unity, revealed by
Bahá'u'lláh.Therefore it has seemed fitting and proper to accompany the Declaration of Trust with excerpts from the letters of Shoghi Effendi which furnished the source whence the provisions of the Declaration were drawn, and which furthermore give due emphasis to that essential spirit without which any and every social or religious form is but a dead and soulless body. Horace Holley.
DECLARATION OF TRUST AND BYLAWSOf the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United Slates and Canada NVE, Allen B. McDaniel of Washington, D. C., Horace Holley of New York City, N. Y., Carl Scheffler of Evanston, Ilk, Roy C. Wilhelm of West Englewood, N. J., Florence Morton of 'Worcester, Mass., Amelia Collins of Princeton, Mass., ~A1i-Ku1i-Kh4n of New York City, N. Y.,
Mountfort Mills of Newof Montreal, Quebec, Canada, duly chosen by the representatives of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada at the Annual Meeting held at San rrancisco, Calif.,
on April 29, April 30, May 1, and May 2, 1926, to be the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha 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 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 tAbdu'1-BaM, its Interpreter and Exemplar, and by Shoghi Effendi, its Guardian, shall be exercised, administered and carried on by the above-named
National Spiritual Assemblyand their duly qualified successors under this Declaration of Trust.
The National SpiritualAssembly 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 the administrative body of a religious community which has had continuous existence and responsibility for over eighteen years.
Inconsequence 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 both desirable and necessary 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 established by Bahá'u'lláh for Bahá'í administrative bodies in the utterance: "Be ye Trustees of the Morel/ni One among men"; and seek the help of God and His guidance in order to fulfill that exhortation.
ARTICLE IThe name of said Trust shall be the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United
States and Canada.Sharing the ideals and assisting the efforts of our fellow Bahá'ís to establish, uphold and promote the spiritual, educational and humanitarian teachings of human brotherhood, radiant faith, exalted character and selfless love revealed in the lives and utterances of all the Prophets and
Messengers of God, Foundersof the world's revealed religions � and given renewed creative energy and uni
Page 212versa1 application to the conditions of this age in the life and utterances of Bahá'u'lláh � we declare the purposes and objects of this Trust to be to administer 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 Baha affiliation and administration created and established by Bahá'u'lláh, defined and explained by CAbd~1Bh~ and amplified and applied by Shoghi Effendi and his duly constituted successor and successors under the provision and kind f or 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 Trust, to do any and all things which a copartnership or natural person could do or exercise, and which now or hereafter may be authorized by law.
The seal of the first Bahá'í Assembly of the United States and Canada, 1897.
of the Will and Testament of CAbd Wi Ba/id These purposes are to be realized by means of devotional meetings; by public meetings and conferences of an educational, humanitarian 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 Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada in the fulfillment 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 1'. To hold and be named as beneficiary under any trust established by law or otherwise or under any will or other testamentary 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, tAbdu~1~ Bah~ and Shoghi Effendi, under which certain jurisdiction, powers and rights are granted to National Spiritual
Assemblies.ci. Generally to do all things and acts which in the judgment of said
Trusro WUom tbe~e pv~srnt~ ~Fafl wine, @ruti~i~v i1~3 JAa/ t/d A A '~t~ u'Ilih." (The Goal of a New World Order, pp. 2021.)
It is evident that the followers of the Bahá'í Faith must find in their worship an inspiration which will give them power to work at a stupendous task. But they find no cause for discouragement, for they are convinced of the truth of tAbdu'1-Bahá'í statement, "Thanks to the unfailing grace of God nothing whatever can be regarded as unattainable.
Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor is required." Meditation and prayer in the Bahá'í Temple is one of the means through which Bahá'ís acquire the strength to persevere in this "ceaseless endeavor."
The significance to the social order of the Bahá'í ideal which is taking concrete form in the Bahá'í House of Worship in Wil-mette can best be summarized in the words of Shoghi
Effendi, the Guardianof the Bahá'í Faith. CcNothing 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 evils 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 the 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."
THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THEThe Beloved of the Lord and the Handinaids 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 memorable Convention, I have been expectantly awaiting the news of a steady and continuous support of the Plan which can alone ensure, crc 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
Baha brother, ZiaoullihAsgarzadeh, who years ago donated it to the Most Holy Shrine, this precious ornament of the Tomb of Bahá'í u'llih 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'l-Adhkar in America has unmistakably occasioned in high places among the hitherto sceptical and indifferent
Page 275towards the merits and the practicability of the Faith proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.
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 cAbdu~1. Báb 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 edification of our expectant brethren throughout the East, 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'l-Adhkar 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 conducted 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 Baha character er 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 only 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'lláhextends in scope and and in influence, and the resources of Bahá'í communities correspondingly multiply, it will become increasingly desirable to differentiate between 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'lláhstands at variance with the aims 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 dis-crirninating 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 oniy be apt to acquiesce in the desire of those who, as yet uninitiated into the Cause, are willing to lend financial assistance to its
Page 276institutions, 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 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 meritorious a 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, to 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 oniy 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 various 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 fulness 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 prescribed principles established by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i Aqd~s. 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 formulx and manmade
Page 277creeds, each bent, according to his way, to observe his rites, recite his prayers, 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 Aqdis 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 atmosphere, only those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshippers of the one true God, as manifested in this age in the Person of Bahá'u'lláh. To them will the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Bahá'í 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 chil-dien the Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which 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'1-. Adhk~r, as designed by Bahá'u'lláh, is destined to play in the organic life of the
Bahá'í community. Divorcedfrom the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the Dependencies of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Bahá'íworship, 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 worshipper.
It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshipper 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 comnmnion with those spiritual agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. Nothingshort 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,
Page 278The Dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (March, 1934) showing details of the ornamentation.
Bahá'ís assembled at the geometrical center of the Temple grounds, and invoking the Greatest Name as their faces are turned toward Akka, April 27, 1910.
278of 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.crAnd finally who can be so bold as to deny that the completion of the superstructure of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar � the crowning glory of America's past and present achievements ts � has forged that mystic chain which is to link, more firmly than ever, the hearts of its champion-builders with Him Who is the Source and Center of their Faith and the Object of their tritest adoration? � SnoGnI EFFENDI ONE hot afternoon in August, 1921, two men entered the office of the Earley
Studio in Washington.They arrived unannounced and presented to John J. Earley, the head of the studio, the photograph of a model of a beautiful building. One of these gentlemen, a man of rather distinguished appearance, introduced himself as Louis Bourgeois, the architect of the building shown in the photograph. He stated that he had been sent to the studio by an engineer, a mutual friend.
Mr. Bourgeois explained that the model was the accepted design for a universal Temple, which the followers of Bahá'u'lláh all over the world were going to erect on a sightly location on the shore of Lake Michigan about fifteen miles north of Chicago. Soon it became evident that the design was the dream of this architect's life, a vision that had come to him. At that moment he was seeking a material with which to build this unique and beautiful structure and someone with the sympathetic understanding, ability and experience to put this design into material form. The architect left the photograph of the Temple with the studio and thus began an eleven-year study by Mr. Earley and his assistants of one of the most remarkable building projects in all history.
Meanwhile, the TempleTrustees, the national organization in charge of the building of the Temple, started construction * The Dawning Place of
God's Praise.work with the sinking of nine great concrete caissons to a depth of 136 feet to bed rock, and the erection of a circular foundation containing a domed hail which has been used for meetings since its completion.
Nine years passed and funds became available for the building of the superstructure of the Temple. During this period an almost continuous investigation was carried on to solve the problem of what materials to use in building a structure, the design of which seemed to be a cclacey envelope enshrining an idea, the idea of light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with Light � light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing faery."
Mr. Bourgeois and the Temple Trustees had originally planned on erecting the Tem-pie in sections, story by story, as funds became available. And so in 1930, when $400,000 was on hand for the resumption of the building work, it was decided to build the first story complete and cover it with a temporary roof, until further funds made it possible to build the first gallery story, and so on until the dome was finished. But a careful analysis indicated the desirability of constructing the entire superstructure framework for an amount well within the available resources.
This plan. was adopted and carried out within a year's time. So efficiently and economically was this done that it was possible to install the entire plumbing system and part of the heating
Page 280and lighting systems thus affording a completely enclosed and usable building.
Just before the building of the superstructure of the Temple began in September, 1930, the architect, Mr. Bourgeois, died in his studio home on the Temple property. But he had completed his design including fullsized drawings of all of the exterior ornamentation, great drawings of remarkable beauty and accuracy, and details for the dome reaching a length of 109 feet. With these detailed data and with the results of years of consultation with the architect, we believe that we know the problem and have a clear conception of his vision � a Tern-pie of Light with a great pierced dome having ribs extending toward the heavens like great arms lifted in supplication � a gleaming white building through which the sunlight would stream to illumine all within, and through which by night the temple light would shine out to enlighten a darkened world. The vision of the architect penetrated the sky, where he saw not only the stars and constellations, but their orbits, circles, ovals and vesicas of endless variety weaving in and out like a great celestial fabric. This is the theme of the dome ornamentation, the courses of the firmament.
But to give life to this fabric, tendrils, leaves and flower forms were added.
Interwoven in this fabric are the symbols of the great religious movements of the past and present, the swastika used in many ancient faiths, the six-pointed star of Moses, the cross of Christianity, the star and crescent of Muhammadanism, and the nine-pointed star of the universal religious faith of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh (Glory of
God).With the architect gone, and with the fruits of his years of devoted service in hand, the Temple Trustees turned to The Research Service of Washington, D. C., an organization of specialists in the fields of engineering and construction, men who had been associated with some of the great works in America and abroad, and requested this concern to determine on the material or materials and the methods to be used in clothing the Temple superstructure with ttthe lacey envelope" that would complete the building and materialize the dream of Bourgeois.
And so nearly eleven years after the Earley Studio received its first call from the architect, two engineers called on Mr. John J. Earley and informed him that his studio had been selected, after two years of intensive investigation, to prepare the exterior ornamentation of the dome of the Temple of Light.
Fortunately the EarleyStudio had available a plant at Rosslyn, Va., that was especially adapted to the construction of the dome ornamentation.
This plant was assigned to the project and early in July, 1932, the preliminary work was started. This involved the layout and construction of a fullsized wooden model of one panel of the structural outer framework of the existing dome structure that would finally support the concrete ornamentation. An analysis quickly indicated that it would be more efficient and economical in the end to make the dome ornamentation at this plant rather than on the Temple property, as originally contemplated by the architect.
The principal purpose of this model of the dome panel was to serve as a standard of measurement from which the dimensions of the various sections of the field and the ribs of the dome could be taken off later and used. Also this model was used for the purpose of studying the plaster of Paris casts of the dome ornamentation.
It was necessary to study the dome ornamentation, which is unique in having about one-third of its area perforated. If these perforations were too large they would destroy the architectural continuity. Were they too small they would not be apparent. All of the exterior surfaces of the ornamentation were carefully modelled and this modelling studied so as to secure the proper lights and shades and thus give character to the surface, especially when seen from a distance. It was necessary to study every ornamentation detail over a period of several months, so that it would fit into the design, as the brush strokes of the painter fit into and form a part of his masterpiece.
The first step in the preparation of the ornamentation was the modelling and carving of the original clay model for each and every section.
The sculptor made a tracing of the architect's original fullsized drawing for each surface and then transferred this
Page 281Model of dome with plaster models of panel and rib.
ccThe Mashriqu'l-Adhkar the crowning institution in every Bahá'í community.
An edifice that will in time become God's Universal
House of Worship."An aeroplane view of the Temple an the shore of Lab
Page 282Carving model ot a section ot the dome ornamentation.
Ltiful site The Temple as it will at "~Vilmette look when completed.
on igan.design on to the clay surface. From this outline he modelled and carved out the fullsized clay model. Plaster of Paris impressions were taken of the clay surfaces and from these the plaster of Paris model was prepared.
These models were well reinforced with hemp and jute and rods. The rough plaster of Paris model was carefully carved to give the final surface texture and modelling.
From each plaster cast or model a plaster of Paris mould was made and this represented the negative of the final cast section.
The unique feature in the casting of the concrete sections is the use of a mat or framework of high carbon steel rods which forms the reinforcement, serves to give high early strength to the casting for handling and subsequently makes of each section a structure which is designed to resist the highest possible pressures produced from wind, snow, ice, etc. After the concrete casts are taken out of the moulds a group of skilled laborers scrape the mortar from the outer surfaces and thoroughly clean these surfaces down to the exposed aggregate. This leaves the entire outer surface of a white radiant quality.
The vision of the architect involved a structure that would be indeed a Temple of Light. His design called for an outer surface that was radiantly white at the dome and graded to a light buff tone at the base of the building.
The contractor and the engineer spent several months in a search through the eastern section of the United States to find just the right material for the aggregate of the concrete. After visiting many outcroppings of native stone and quarries it was decided to use two qualities of quartz � a pure white opaque quartz from Kings Creek, S. C., and a crystalline quartz from Moneta, Va. This material is quarried and shipped in large pieces to the plant where it is passed through a jaw crusher and a series of rolls until it is of the required size for the coarser aggregate.
The waste is then taken and again passed through the rolls and crushed finer for the sand. These aggregates are mixed with white cement and water to form the plastic concrete which is carefully poured and tamped in the moulds.
The casting is a!-lowed to set for from eighteen to twenty hours depending upon temperature and moisture conditions before it is removed from the mould.
The scraping and finishing of the outer surfaces of each cast requires a little less time than an average working day.
After the cast has been scraped and cleaned, it is then removed to a large room where the air is kept moist. The concrete casts are allowed to remain in this moist chamber for a period of at least two weeks. They are then removed to the storage yard and subsequently loaded in freight cats and shipped to the Temple for erection on the dome.
Inserts are imbedded in the four corners of each concrete casting. These provide a means of bolting the ornamentation to the structural steel skeleton of the dome.
An interesting feature of the ornamentation is its division into the two hundred and seventy sections of the field of the dome and the one hundred and seventeen sections of the great ribs. These sections are separated by a space of a half inch to allow for deflection and temperature changes in both the steel structure and concrete material of the ornamentation.
This entire project is unique in the history of building construction.
It does not mean simply the building of another church or temple. Continuous study and investigation extending over the past decade has evolved the new idea of constructing a framework and then building and placing on this framework the design which in itself is a superimposed structure.
Even to the layman it is apparent that this method of construction is simple, direct and economical.
It is believed that it is the oniy practicable method for a building of this unique and ornamental nature.
The estimates of the engineers for the construction of this Temple, in accordance with the ordinary methods of stone masonry and with the use of white marble, would have involved an expenditure of about ten times what this building will cost. Even a building laboriously carved out of white marble and requiring a long period of years for execution would not have met the architect's requirements of a radiantly white building of a permanent and enduring material.
The development of the work of the amamentation has developed a spirit among the workers which is known as "The Spell of the Temple."
Many delightful little stories of personal interest could be told of the workers who are largely craftsmen of long experience. Then man who had the final carving of the plaster of Paris casts insisted on doing all of this work. Several of the workers, when learning that the Temple was being built by voluntary contributions made largely by poor people all over the world and on the basis of sacrifice, voluntarily suggested a reduction in their pay. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Earley's associate, personally laid out and superintended every part of the work involved in the construction of the wooden model of the dome panel, the casting shed and other parts of the job. The design and supervision of this work involved an endless amount of time and effort.
And thus the work goes on and on. The spirit of the project seems to involve devotion and selfless service. The "Spell of the Temple" has inspired everyone connected with the work to heights of craftsmanship, to degrees of ingenuity and a sustained enthusiasm that recall the days of the cathedral builders of the Middle Ages.
A STATEMENT BY THE ARCHITECTTIII1HE Master, cAbdu~1~BaM, told us that the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar will symbolize the body of the Manifestation among men. Of supreme importance, then, to all Baha'is, and especially to those of us who live in America is the building of this great Edifice at Wil-mete, Illinois, by the shores of beautiful Lake
Michigan.The history of this Temple, as step by step it unfolds, is so unique that already the story will fill a book. Its inception was not from man for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, feel themselves to be a receiver by whose means a heavenly melody is transmitted, a new idea is given to the world, so the Temple's architect through all his years of labor was ever conscious that Bahá'u'lláh was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory. And the architect's belief was confirmed in a talk with the beloved
Master.When the manmade creeds are stripped away from all the religions we find nothing left but harmony. Today, however, religion is so entangled in the superstitions and hypotheses of men that it must needs be stated in a new form to be once again pure and undefiled.
Likewise in architecture those fundamental structural lines which originated in the faith of all religions are the same, but so covered over are they with the decorations picturing creed upon creed and superstition after superstition that we must needs lay them aside and create a new form of ornamentation.
Into this new design, then, of the Temple is woven, in symbolic form, the great Bahá'í teaching of unity � the unity of all religions and of all mankind. There are combinations of mathematical lines, symbolizing those of the universe, and in their intricate merging of circle into circle, of circle within circle, we visualize the merging of all the religions into one.
On the first floor of the Bahá'í Temple there will be the great auditorium of the building, above which will rise the stately dome, 162 feet high. A corridor encircles the dome on the outside, and inside the building is a circle of rooms, or alcoves, all opening upon the main auditorium. A circle of steps, eighteen in all, will surround the structure on the outside and lead to the auditorium floor.
These eighteen steps represent the eighteen first disciples of the Bib, and the door to which they lead stands for the Mb himself.
In the rear of the building will be steps leading to the first and second balconies which, tier above tier, follow the circular dome. In the second balcony choirs of children will sing their songs of praise to God, the all-glorious.
The auditorium under the dome, with its beautiful molded tracery, will be protected inside by a glass dome and in the space be.
Page 285Work on Exhibit � Workmen fit together plaster sections of the fullsize model of the dome for the Bahá'í Temple of Light.
285The Dome of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as now assembled. The ornamentation of the dome was completed in March, 1934. The remainder of the ornamentation still to be completed.
286tween the stone dome and the glass dome will be placed electric lights which will shine through the auditorium. On the dome's pinnacle there will be a sunken room and this will house a mighty search light. Through the nine faces made by the ribs which will bind the dome into a unity this search light will radiate its starlike rays.
Louis J. BOURGEOIS.LVE years ago, last August, two gentlemen came to my studio in Washington. They came unexpectedly and they brought with them oniy the photograph of a plaster model.
They had been sent by a mutual friend, an engineer, deeply interested in the work being done with concrete by this studio, who suggested that we might offer a solution for their problem. One of these gentlemen was Mr. Louis Bourgeois, an architect, and the most unusual personality I have met in that profession.
The other was Mr. Ashton, his friend, and the photograph which they brought was of a Temple, the most exotically beautiful building I have ever seen. It came up our of the earth like the sprout of some great plant bursting out to life and growth.
Mr. Bourgeois explained that he was the architect of the building and a member of the Bahá'í Faith who believe themselves to be the children of a new era, who believe that they have received a new Manifestation. It soon became clear that this Temple was the dream of Mr. Bourgeois' life, that all his hopes and ambitions were centered in it, and that he believed himself to have been inspired to design a temple unlike any other in the world, so that it might be the symbol of a new religion in a new age. At that moment he was anxiously seeking a material with which to build it and someone with the ability to understand his work and the skill to execute it. He left with me the photo*
* Presented at 29th Annualt Architectural Sculptor, Washington, D. C. graph, after autographing it. I have it still. It marks the beginning of the project for me.
In the time which intervened between this meeting and the death of Mr. Bourgeois about two years ago, there developed between us an interesting and instructive friendship.
We studied this temple with all its ramifications of form, of treatment and of meaning as a preparation for the time when work on it would be begun.
It was strange, in a way, that we of the studio should have given so much thought to it. We bad no authority to do so and as a matter of fact we were not commissioned to do the work until this summer just past. But somehow it always seemed to be our work. We understood it, we had the material and were equipped to do it. The architect was interesting to us and we to him. And then there was the job itself, a thing to fascinate the imagination. A temple of light with a great pierced dome through which by day the sunlight would stream to enlighten all within and through which by night the Temple light shone out into a darkened world. When at night we look into the sky we see only the stars but could we see the arbits of the stars how wonderful it would be. Great curves intertwining in weird perspective. Ovals, circles, and vesicas of endless variety twisted and woven into some great cosmic fabric. This is the theme of the dome, the courses of the stars woven into a fabric. But this is not all, interwoven with the courses of the stars in the pattern of the dome are the tendrils of livings things, leaves, and flowers, because no symbol of
Page 288creation would be complete without a symbol of life.
Lifted above the dome are nine great ribs, nine aspirations that mount higher than the courses of the stars. I wonder after all if it was strange that we of the studio should have given so much thought to this project?
The drawings left to us by the architect adequately illustrate his ideas about the decorations of the dome but they do not pretend to show a method for making the dome nor for attaching it to the steel skeleton. Among his drawings are some of the most extraordinary fullsized details of ornament. There is one of a panel in the field of the dome which is seventy feet long, another of the face of the great rib which is ninety feet long. Each of these drawings was made in one piece in a loft building on La
Salle Street in Chicagowhere Mr. Bourgeois stretched out on the floor a great sheet of paper and with his pencil tied to the end of a long stick he drew in great sweeps, in a manner never to be forgotten, the interlacing ornament of the dome. One line through another, under and over, onward and upward until the motif was corn.-pleted. Never have I seen a greater feat of draftsmanship nor a more interesting draftsman than Mr. Bourgeois.
Most surprising of all perhaps is the approximation to accuracy which he maintained in these great drawings in spite of the disadvantages under which he worked.
He was obliged to stand on the drawing which he was making and his oniy view of the whole was from the top of a step ladder. It became necessary after the death of Mr. Bourgeois for the Temple Trustees to carry the drawings further.
This matter was put in charge of The Research Service of Washington, D. C., which allotted to our studio the development of the ornamental dome.
I can not begin to tell you how many factors enter into such a problem and I am sure that we automatically give consideration to many without being able to recall or to name them: Just as an operating surgeon might know the position and function of every vein and sinew, the names of which have long since been forgotten.
So in discussing such a problem consideration can be given only to principles such as these: The decoration of the temple must always be subservient to the architecture, the theme of the ornament must not be lost. The craftsmanship must be adequate, practical and economical; the materials must be suitable and enduring.
Were we to treat the exterior surface of the dome so that the perforations were too large they would destroy the architectural continuity.
Were they too small they would not appear to be perforations. If the surface were simply perforated without further treatment the decoration would be inadequate, the theme would be lost, there would be no pathways of the stars nor movements of living things. All this must be modelled into the surface of the dome with care and good judgment, so that at no place will the intertwining of this complicated grille escape from the configuration of the hemisphere. The interior surface of the dome is the subject of another group of considerations.
If the solids between the perforations are too large the dome will appear as a dark surface spotted with bright dots.
It would be like looking into a colander. If the solids be too thin, the light which enters will seem to bend around them and the bright spots will resolve into a confused blur. The pattern would be lost. And so with time and the greatest of care every ornamental detail must be adjusted to the unity of the architecture and the sequence of the story, as words are made to tell a story in the cadence of a poem.
Intermediate between the artistic and the practical there is a zone of translation where the asthetic is translated into the practical and where the complex is made simple. One who makes this translation must be thoroughly versed in theory and in practice. He must be able to understand the abstract form of a project and the means by which it may be determined in material by the operation of craftsmen. Such a translation has a real economic value, for it brings to the execution of the work many pairs of skillful hands which would not be available if the pure form of the project were not determined in the medium of the craftsmen. This work was undertaken by my associate, Mr. Taylor. It required a perfect understanding of all the factors of the problem
Page 289It was necessary to express the forms, relations and measurements in terms which our craftsmen could understand and use. In my opinion it was one of the most important factors in the execution of the work. Imagine translating such a theme into a practical operation, which would not involve anything new in the technique of the studio. Spherical measurements must become bits of wood of certain length cut to a given radius, complicated angles became jointed boards, skewed solids became simple frame work with internal bracing. The pathways of the stars were just clay models of ornamental grilles, plaster casts were just plaster casts and piece molds remained unchanged.
The work of the craftsmen was as yesterday and the day before. It interested them. It was in their medium. They understood it. Formulas became pieces of wood and of plaster: We have men who can do nothing with formulas but who can do wonders in wood and in plaster.
This translation was brought about by means of a fullsized model of one ninth, forty degrees, of the dome. In my opinion a model of this kind was practically necessary.
Drawings could have been made but from the viewpoint of the studio they would have been exceedingly complicated. Certain architectural requirements disturbed the geometrical symmetry of the dome. By this I mean that the great ribs would not have been well done if they radiated simply from the pole as do meridians. They needed a thickness at the top which moved their sides from the meridians of the sphere and required that they be joined together at the top into a boss.
Further, the sides of these great ribs warp continuously from the spring line of the dome where they are radial, to the top where they are parallel. Cross sections through the rib taken at intervals between the bottom and the top may be likened to a series of trapezoids becoming more nearly rectilineal as they progress from the bottom to the top. In addition to this all fillets diminish at a purely arbitrary rate from bottom to top and the fields of the ornament are continously changing. Theoretically the three panels in the field of the dome were distorted but the distortion was actually very little and practical econ omy indicated that they should be made symmetrical to a degree where one model and one mold would serve for all.
We began our model by constructing in the yard of our studio a fullsized wooden frame representing exactly the steel for one � ninth of the dome.
To do this we gathered from the structural drawings of the building all available information pertaining to the dome. All of this was condensed to one diagram showing a reflected plan and a section. This was a diagram pure and simple, there was nothing pictorial about it. It contained every available shred of information about the structure and we reproduced it at fullsize on specially prepared strips of concrete pavement in the yard of the studio. The principal lines of the plan were extended far out beyond the periphery of the dome to points where one could see up and over the dome.
These lines terminated in bronze pins set in concrete hubs. Over the plan a frame work was constructed and on it were placed timbers located exactly as are the steel ribs and purlins on the skeleton of the dome. From over the pins, which terminated the principal lines of the plan, a transit quickly and easily drew planes up and through the curved surfaces of the dome, just as a great invisible knife might slice a melon.
Strips of wood were made which represented the thickness of the concrete shell and a frame was made which represented the form of the great ribs.
These were carefully lifted up over the frame work of the dome and carefully set with the aid of the transit in their proper relation to the ornamental dome and the structural steel.
Now for the first time, we faced reality and were able to see the relation between the existing steel structure and a proposed concrete covering. All other relations of form such as that between the area of the concrete dome and its thickness; the relations of length, heiglif and width in the great ribs, and curve of the rib up over the arc of the dome, all such ceased to be concepts and became experiences.
The question whether this dome should be poured in place as a continuous fabric or precast and set, ceased to be a question.
It was immediately apparent to practical judgment that a per
Page 290Fig. 1~~~~ccWe began our model by constructing in the yard of our studio a fullsized wooden frame representing exactly the steel for one-ninth h of the dome." Figs. 2 and 3 � ttEvery available shred of informa � tion about the structure we reproduced at full size on specially prepared strips of concrete pavement.~~ 290
Page 291Fig. ~ frame was made to represent the form of the great ribs."
Fig. 5~~C(The precast sections of the field were joined in a pattern following closely the center lines of the steel ribs and purlins." Fig. 6 � "The great ribs we divided into voussoirs corresponding to the heights of the sections of the field from purlin to purlin."
291forated concrete shell such as this dome, if cast as a continuous fabric attached to and supported by steel members, would tear it self to pieces in its first drying. I do not mean by this that the dome would break into many pieces and fall to the ground but I mean that the first volume change between wet and dry would set up internal stresses which could be relieved only by a great number of incipient cracks which might heal or which might grow larger as time passed.
'We, therefore, decided to precast the dome and set it in place. In doing this we completely excluded every element of construction, even a stiffening effect, and placed the concrete dome simply as a load upon the steel. We decided that the precast sections of the field might each contain a hundred square feet more or less and that they might be jointed in a pattern following closely that established by the center lines of the steel ribs and purlins. The great concrete ribs we divided into voussoirs the length of which corresponded to the heights of the sections of the field from purlin to purlin. Pieces of this size would, we estimated, weigh approximately two or three tons. They would be large enough to contain a dignified section of ornament and small enough to be easily handled and to be reinforced against shrinkage with a reasonable hope of success. Between each precast section there is an open joint onehalf inch wide. It is provided to allow free movement in every direction to each cast, and to provide a means of taking up such variations as would naturally occur between the contours of the steel skeleton and the concrete shell.
Considered from the point of view of appearance such joints in the surface of a white dome should be hardly visible. On a curved surface one quickly loses direct elevation and in perspective the joints would quickly be lost.
A brilliantly white surface may be expected to cast a halo of light over the joints to obscure them and further, if they do appear, they will be an orderly division of large areas that are well in scale with the dome. The pieces of the dome and ribs will be mechanically attached to the steel frame. Fittings will be cast in the concrete by means of which the castings will be bolted to the structural steel skeleton, nothing will be needed to set this dome in place but light hoisting apparatus and wrenches.
Much yet remains to be done in designing reinforcements, and in the selection of materials for the metal attachments, the reinforcements, the aggregate, the cement, and all the various details of preparation and execution.
Each decision affords a new thrill and stirs our interest to the highest point. It is a project for which we feel that the best is none too good.
It has never lost its interest for ourselves or for our men. Many delightful little stories of personal interest might be told of such incidents as these: My associate, Mr. Taylor, personally laid out every line and measurement on the job; our plaster carver desires above all else to carve the great plaster model by himself without help; a member of the Bahá'í Faith wanted to give all the aggregate, if the quartz deposit on his homestead would meet our requirements. Unfortunately it did not. And so the development of the work goes on. It has been sincerely studied and sincerely met.
No combination of steel and concrete could be more frankly made. No separation of finish from structure could be more completely made. I am deejly impressed by the simplicity and the economy of this solution to a complex problem, and I present it to you for your consideration.
I have spoken to the Institute before of a method of construction, which completely separated the structure and the ornamentation, pointing out its practical advantages and the reasons for them, indicating its history and giving examples of its application. The idea of building without decoration and of decorating after construction is not new. Indeed it is so very old that perhaps it may seem to be new. Familiarity with architectural form does not go back much further than the Renaissance and the same may be said of building methods, therefore, very old forms and very old methods particularly when applied by a new technique to a new material may easily be regarded as a daring innovation.
When the time came to build, the Temple Trustees were forced to decide whether the temple should be built as an indeterminate structure or whether it should be translated
Page 293I do not know the reasoning which led them to accept the conventional design.
We have never considered the structure of the building except to dream that this Temple might have been built as it seems to be built. On the other hand I am sure that sound economic reasoning led them to decide to separate completely the ornamentation from the structure. The separation was as complete as it could possibly be. The structural elements were entirely completed before we began our work which consisted only in clothing the skeleton with an ornamental covering expressive not only of the form but the spirit of the architect's design.
ARCHITECTURAL CONCRETE OF THETITFILS paper is the continuation of a paper presented last year to the Institute.
The previous paper described the problem presented by the ornamentation of the Bahá'í Temple.'
This paper describes some of the technique by which architectural concrete of the exposed aggregate type has been developed and some of the methods by which the ornamentation of the Temple has been done.
As I look back over the work of our studio with concrete I see from year to year a noticeable improvement in its appearance. The work is better both in design and execution.
The improvement has been continued and rational and in general what should be expected from a studio such as ours. Nevertheless, I am impressed that the most important improvements affecting the nature of the material did not come gradually from year to year but quickly, when the material was made to take on an added quality to meet the requirements of some particular job of work. It took on character, which was necessary for that work, which suddenly developed in the highly concentrated attention paid to the problem, which remained with the material after the * Presented at the 30th
Annual Convention Americanexperience had passed and which befitted it for a new order of use.
I have in a more or less disconnected way recorded in the Proceedings of the American Concrete Institute some of the most important developments.
For instance: We developed for the work at Meridian Hill Park control of the appearance of concrete of the exposed aggregate type by means of a two-step gradation of the aggregate.2
Upon this theme rested all future development of this type of architectural concrete. We reasoned that if every particle of stone exposed upon the surface of the concrete might be considered as a spot of color in juxtaposition to other spots of color, all the knowledge of color and texture of the mosaicist and of the pointilist painter could be immediately applied to concrete.
It would eliminate the necessity for a long period of experimentation.
It would, if a technique could be devised, permit concrete to participate in the traditions of these older arts and transform it almost immediately into an acceptable architectural medium. We thought that a suitable technique must be one by which the particles of stone could be distributed and exposed on the surface of the concrete in a predetermined manner. Reasoning from the surface to the mass is a natural process.
It is particularly so to an artist. We, therefore, thought that the 2 Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 16, p. 70
Page 2941933 Convention of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
Page 295desired end could be reached by making the concrete so that any section through it would have the character desired for the surface.
Current work in the laboratories at home and abroad indicated that by carefully grading the aggregates, highly desirable qualities could be given to concrete, such as increased strength and density. Two methods of gradation were being studied. That by which the aggregate was evenly graded through many sizes from fine to coarse, and that by which it was graded into three sizes, fine, medium, and coarse. Practically equal strengths and densities were obtained by either method but it always appeared that, when the latter method was applied to aggregates passing a half-inch sieve, the best results were obtained by omitting the medium size. We, therefore, designed a two-step gradation which proved itself to be just what we wanted. It gave to concrete of the type in which we were interested the best structural qualities and characteristics of appearance adaptable to our theme and quite different from the appearance of concrete made with aggregate graded by other methods. Furthermore, our two-step method of gradation gave to concrete better workability than did the other methods. It prevented segregation and bridging and gave better flow. It permitted us to fill perfectly the most complicated molds.
Another example: We developed for the casting of Lorado
Taft's Fountain of Time8 acontrol of the water-cement ratio in the molds at the time of set by means of an absorptive core, which as part of the mold extracted free water and permitted the concrete to be placed in one consistency and to set in another. The Fountain of Time is so large a single group that we decided to cast it in place, in a plaster mold of more than four thousand pieces made on the original model.
The usual process of casting is to pour material into a mold as into a basin, but in this case the usual process was reversed.
The material was packed between an inverted mold and an inner core. The core was framed with wood, covered with metal lath and a very porous plaster.
This highly absorptive inner core drew off the excess water, which had been used as a vehicle for placing the concrete, and left the concrete tightly packed between it and the mold in such a condition that it would not shrink away from the mold but would harden into a strong, sharp cast. Here a major change in technique added something new to our concrete not oniy for the Fountain of Time but for succeeding work.
Again: For the Church of the Sacred Heart at Washington4 we developed poiy-chrome coloring by means of the aggregate to meet the requirements of the architects, Murphy and Olmsted, for a Byzantine-Romanesque church done in the manner of the churches of Ravenna.
Technical control was exercised by means of raised contour lines in the molds. They permitted the use in one casting of many aggregates of as many colors, separated them and kept each in its own place without losing anything of unity in the mass of concrete. Design in color was now possible and concrete became a modern mosaic of unusual beauty with a character all its own and an adaptability greater than that of any medium with which we had had experience.
I believe that this was the most impressive gesture ever made with architectural concrete. For us it was a great adventure. It stimulated us to efforts which can be clearly seen in a steady and rational improvement.
Not for a long time did another problem force us to devise an essential change in technique.
In the years 1932 and 1933 we had entrusted to us two epoch marking jobs of work, namely: the ceilings of the passages to the courts in the new building at Washington for the United States Department of Justice and the dome of the Bahá'í Temple at mete, Illinois. Both of these works presented the difficulties, the challenge necessary to lift us above normal improvement to one of those extraordinary technical changes which give new and lasting character to a material. For the ceilings of the Department of Justice we devised a system of forming by which thin precast slabs of concrete mosaics were used as forms for structural elements and normal forming was eliminated.
8 Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 19, p. 185. Proceedings, Amer. Concrete Inst., Vol. 20, p. 157.
Page 296(With your permission I will reserve a discussion of these ceilings for another time.)
For the dome of the Bahá'í Temple it was necessary to develop in the concrete greater early strength than we had done before.
We did this by a new modification of technique. It retained a predetermined quantity of water in the concrete in the mold at the time of set by controlling the size, that is to say the surface, of the small aggregate.
The casts for the dome of the Bahá'í Tern-pie weighed as much as three tons each. The nature of the molds in which they were cast made it necessary to turn them over within twenty hours and to remove the mold so that their surface might be treated to expose the aggregate. Frankly we were impressed. We felt the necessity for increased stability in these casts and we reasoned that it could be obtained by further decreasing the quantities of water in the concrete at the time of set. The difficulty was that we had been in the habit of extracting as much water as we could. We knew from experience that a properly designed capillary system when applied to wet concrete would extract all free water, that is, water which is not restrained in concrete by some force equal to or greater than the force of the capillaries.
We also understood that this restraint is exercised principally by the surface of the aggregates and of the cement, to which water attaches itself with ever increasing tenacity as the particles become smaller.
From this we reasoned that if surface could be brought under control a predetermined quantity of water, either more or less, could be retained in concrete against the puii of a capillary systeni.
We learned that control can be exercised to a remarkable degree. Concrete can be designed from which water will run freely or in which water will be retained against the force of capillarity.
Our concrete is composed of materials generally grouped into three sizes, the large aggregate, the small aggregate and the cement. We applied our theory to the small aggregate because the surface of the large aggregate was too insignificantly small and because the surface of the cement was too tightly covered by water to afford us much hope of success.
Changes in the size of the small aggregate produced the exact result desired.
We extracted the additional water, obtained the increased stability in the concrete, turned over the three-ton casts in twenty hours, removed the mold and exposed the aggregate.
Exactly what we did was to increase the mean diameter of the small aggregate .0015 inch by changing the opening of a sieve from .0125 to .014 inch.
Considered casually it seems ridiculous that so small a change to but one of the ingredients should make so great a difference in the character of the concrete. It might be interesting to note that particles of the size indicated are about the largest which may be classified as small aggregate with surface sufficiently dominant to be subject to this technique.
The application of this theory clearly proves that less water makes better concrete. But it should be remembered that water means practically nothing to a concrete product in its first phase. When concrete is being mixed and placed, water is oniy a vehicle carrying the solid particles. But water is of great importance in the second phase when the concrete is at rest in its mold and beginning to set. Further, our experience teaches that the new technique will control not only the strength of concrete but its density.
There is no need for elaborate tests to establish this.
It is perfectly apparent to one watching the concrete in the mold while the water is being extracted, and to one handling and studying the casts after they have been made.
Here, I believe, is another extraordinary technical improvement devised for the execution of the dome of the Bahá'í Temple, which gave an added character not only for the improvement of architectural but of structural concrete.
Here is a means to control over a wide range the water-cement ratio in concrete at the time of set. It is a tool from which much is to be expected. We believe that such ciose control of water will be of ever increasing value as thin sections come into more general use. Indeed it may be that thin sections will never come into general use without such a close control of water.
Other interesting processes and devices were used in casting and erecting the Temple dome. Some of them are new to concrete
Page 297The character of the work was such that one major technical development was not sufficient to meet all requirements. Many minor improvements and ingenious devices were also needed.
The process of exposing aggregate evenly over the surface by brushing concrete with wire brushes before it is thoroughly set is still essentially of the technique of making architectural concrete of the exposed aggregate type and is now used in our studio for all our work with concrete. Certain difficulties imposed by the process would be relieved if a substitute process could be found to expose the aggregate properly after the concrete has set. Our experience with other methods such as rubbing, mechanical brushing, chemical treatment, sand blasting, tooling and the like have not been satisfactory. Hand brushing establishes beautiful architectural planes, uniform surfaces and good drawing. The other methods have produced for us poorly established architectural planes with marked erosion and bad drawing. The advantages of hand surfacing are still more apparent when colored aggregates are used. More violent methods fracture the surface of these aggregates and change their color.
The mold or forms in which concrete is cast are at present one of the great difficulties of the industry.
Complicated forms test the skill of a craftsman and are a handi-. cap on the performance of concrete in the architectural field. Had the molds for the Bahá'í Temple dome been necessarily made with some nonpiastic material, as wood or metal, the difficulties and the cost might have endangered the project or might have defeated it. Indeed there were many who admired the beauty of the Temple dome but who thought its execution to be impossible or impractical. Fortunately we had had much experience in making molds for other unusual projects. We knew the remarkable adaptability and economy of molds made with a plastic material when applied to complex forms, therefore: we made the molds of the Temple dome with plaster.
Although these molds were far more complicated than any we had previously made for concrete, they added nothing new in principle but much to experience.
It was difficult to fill the deep and narrow molds of the great ribs. It was particularly difficult to �11 the molds of the perforated sections of the ribs.
They were channel shaped and consisted of an inner and outer form with five inches between. This space was almost completely choked by projections designed to form the holes in the ornament and by reinforcements.
Here, truly, was a need for two consistencies.One for placing concrete in these complicated and unhandy molds and one for a strength to meet previously explained requirements. The problem presented was paradoxical.
If the consistency were wet enough to permit the concrete to fill properly such a mold, the required strength would not be developed; and, if the consistency were dry enough to develop the required strength, the concrete could not be properly filled into such a mold.
The casts were cured in a chamber in which the air was kept close to maximum humidity by intermittent spraying of the floor.
The floor was covered to a depth of about three inches with pebbles screened through a one-quarter inch sieve.
Evaporation from the floor kept the air moist but not filled with spray.
The intention was to keep the casts from drying out and not to add more water.
The structural steel designed to support the concrete dome was composed of curved ribs radially spaced and of straight purlins fastened on top of them. This structure did not coincide with a spherical form well enough to support the ornamental envelope. 'We, therefore, imposed upon it a furring system of light steel tees bent to conform to a sphere and to the underside of the envelope. These tees afforded a support along two sides of each piece of concrete and a means to fasten the concrete envelope to the structural steel. The concrete dome was divided into three hundred eighty-seven pieces, which corresponded to the paneL formed in the structural steel by the intersecting ribs and purlins.
At every corner of the concrete casts there was inserted a steel fitting drilled and threaded to receive a cap screw.
The inserts were placed so that each fitting in the top of a cast could be joined to a corresponding fitting in the adjacent cast by bolting to
Page 298This arrangement held each concrete cast close to the furring tees but permitted it to move as might be required by expansion and contraction in either the concrete or the steel. To the fittings at the bottom of the casts were attached short pieces of steel angles, which rested on the purlins and prevented the casts from slipping down. When the concrete casts were set by this method there was an open joint onehalf inch wide on every side, and each piece of the concrete dome was completely free from every other piece.
I have no knowledge of another masonry structure assembled by this method.
It is a logical one even though somewhat contrary to precedent.
The members of the Bahá'í Faith look upon their Temple as a building which will last for a long time and so does this studio. Every precaution has been taken to make the concrete as well as it can be made iii the present state of the art. We believe that the concrete in the Bahá'í Temple will endure better than terra-cotta, freestone, marble or any other building stone excepting granite.
At the same time our studio, because of its experience with all these materials, knows that masonry materials in architectural form will not endure indefinitely.
To monumental buildings which have stood for a long time, as time is reckoned in human history, there have been many repairs and replacements. We have, therefore, arranged the temple dome so that any piece can be repaired and, if need be, reino~ed and replaced without disturbing any other piece. Further, if the furring system through neglect should deteriorate to such a condition that it were advisable to replace it, it can be moved and replaced without disassembling the concrete dome. These provisions for maintenance should be regarded neither as unnecessary precautions nor as a lack of faith in the durability of any of the materials.
Indeed it would be presumptuous to attribute to the steel structure and the concrete envelope an endurance greater than they can possibly possess.
Materials were chosen with care like to that exercised in making and assembling the dome. White quartz was selected for aggregate because it is beautiful and strong and can resist erosion and corrosion. Copper bearing steel was used for the furring system because some metallurgists say that steel containing a small quantity of copper will not rust as readily as plain steel. We were not greatly impressed by this, but, if the effect were there we wanted the dome to benefit by it. Chrome-nickel-steel alloy, usually called stainless steel, was chosen for the fittings which hold the concrete casts in place. It can hardly be called stainless but certainly it has shown a good resistance to rusting, as the term is generally understood. We felt the need of a rust resisting metal for the fittings because, if rust worked back between them and the concrete, it might break the corners of the casts. We considered aluminum but thought it might corrode excessively in concrete. We disliked the green stain of bronze.
From other suitable metal we selected the steel alloy as the best obtainable within reasonable costs.
The fittings have since been inserted in wet concrete, stored in damp storage, washed with muriatic acid and weathered, all in the process of making the concrete dome. We are pleased by their performance and feel assured that their deterioration will be very slow.
I understand from the engineer in charge that the economy afforded by concrete for the ornamental dome of the Bahá'í Temple was truly remarkable. Great difference between the cost of concrete and that of other material is to b~ expected when the work is difficult and complicated. When the work is simple the difference in costs is not so great. But, when concrete is properly used, when the technique is intelligent, there is always economy, freedom of design and a flexibility unequaled by another material.
Let the Bahá'í Templebe admitted as evidence to support my testimony that concrete of the exposed aggregate type is no longer in an experimental state but is ready for use and is an entirely satisfactory architectural medium. All present indications point to exposed aggregate as the mark of architectural concrete. I see nothing in the art of making concrete which threatens its supremacy.
I know of no existing process which is likely to set up another element of concrete in the place of the aggregate to
Page 299dominate its appearance, and I repeat what I said more than ten years ago, namely: the aggregate is the dominant element of concrete, therefore, the appearance of the concrete should be the appearance of the aggregate. Further, it has been thoroughly demonstrated that the character of the aggregate has been made to control the character of the concrete and that such concrete has been made to meet every architectural requirement.
I do not hesitate to assert without weakening qualifications of any kind that from the point of view of designing architect, artist architect, and the studio executing their work there is no masonry material with which as much of form and color can be expressed as with exposed aggregate concrete.
That is a positive statement.It is as definite as any statement I have made before the Institute. I mean it. I can support it. The reason for making it is that it is now time to make an end of unbelief and doubt in concrete as an architectural material.
The architects who still doubt are depriving themselves of a great and efficient medium, with which to solve modern architectural problems. They might do well to investigate and to learn why Louis Bourgeois chose exposed aggregate concrete for the execution of his exotically beautiful temple and why Zantzinger, Boric and Me-dary chose it for the strikingly colorf iii ceilings of their Department of Justice.
The presentatIon of the foregoing ~a~er by Mr. Farley was followed by stereo fiticon views with descriptions of details of manujacturing and construction methods, devices and procedure.
Their firesentation here is in turn followed U� 27427 8) by recoflvelztion discussion" � consisting almost wholly in questions from the convention audknce and Mr. Earley's answers � EDITOR.
The Bahá'ís are a Persianfaith which originated about 70 years ago and came to this country by way of the Paris Exposition of 1900. The architect, Louis Bourgeois, (deceased), had, as the dream of his life, that he might execute an architectural symbol of a new religion which would not be reminiscent of the forms which had served as symbols for other religions. The sketch indicates the nature of the problem for execution in architectural concrete. The dome is about 100 feet in diameter; the decorations perforated.
Reduced in scale, they are as fine as a piece of Duchesse lace, and these perforations are carried down through the building in grilles filling all the openings and with architectural surfaces covered with a tracery as fine as is found in the marble slabs of the Taj Mahal.
Our studio had nothing to do with the construction of this skeleton (described by Benjamin Shapiro in a paper before this Institute~?).
The dome is of glass to serve as a watershed. Above it is now superimposed the perforated concrete dome.
Its theme is that by day the light of the sun will filter into the Temple, symbolic of the light of faith and at night the light of the Temple will filter out to illuminate the darkened world. It is called CCA Temple of Light." It is of very unusual design. The plan of the first lift is of a nine-pointed star; the second is the same, but oriented so that the points do not coincide. First a record had to be made of the physical condition of the dome.
Men made wooden templates on every line of pylons around the dome, because to precast the dome sections in concrete in our studio in Rosslyn, Virginia, and then to ship and assemble them at Wilmette, it was very necessary that no mistakes be made. The dome was very complicated by reason of the fact that the ribs were not radial.
It would have been difficult to translate the necessary calculations into the mind of the craftsmen who had to do the work.
JOURNAL, Amer. Concrete Inst., Jan.-Feb. 1934, Proceedings, Vol. 30, p. 239.
Page 300Figures 1 and 2. � Surveys marked on concrete bases for a full size model of one-ninth of the dome.
We decided to build a full size model of one-ninth of this dome so that all the measurements and lines could be taken off it in a series of templates rather than in a series of calculations.
First, on a concrete platform, a full size projected plan of the dome was laid out. The white lines (Figure 1) indicate the joints between the sections of the field and two ribs. From the periphery of the do me another plan was projected of the outer edge of the dome. The dark spots indicate sections through the rib and the dark line connecting them is the plan of the five-inch thick concrete envelope of the dome. On top of this full sized plan of a ninth of the dome we constructed a scaffolding; timbers were set with exact relation to the steel which existed on the dome.
Page 301Figures 3, 4, and 5. � A scaffold supports timbers constituting a replica of the steel of a dome section.
Over timbers exactly representingwere marked with center the steel work were timberslines (Figure 4, below).
exactly representing The great ribs were laid the purlins and over the out in plan on the ground purlins in turn were placedin relation to a vertical strips representing the section through the dome.
thickness of the concrete The framework running up field sections of the over the section describes dome. (Figure 3, top left.)one of the great ribs Both ribs and purlins (Figure 5, top right).
Page 302After the layout had been made it was necessary that the configuration of the dome be translated from the model into the workshop as a basis upon which to build the models of the field of the dome.
That was done by spinning on the floor a plaster disk like a saucer. (Figure 6, top.) Then there was laid off on that the lines which correspond with the boundary lines of the field of the dome.
On the saucer-like form plaster slabs were cast. The timbers are merely reinforce-meats for the back of the slabs, and those slabs were taken off this saucer-like shape and placed on the floor at some other position.
Subsequently they were sawed into lengths and put together to give sections of the surface of the dome as might be needed for the work.
(Figure 7, bottom.) Such curved slabs formed the basis of all models of the dome.
Page 303Figures 8 and 9. � Details were carved in plaster models.
Models were first roughed out in clay and then cast in plaster and then re-carved by band. (Figure 8, top.)
This was done so that the lines, the drawings, of this very complicated ornament might be as true and as nice as possible.
Then again it was done so that the modelling on the face of the dome might be carefully done with due consideration to this phase of the problem: If the modelling of this ornament were overdone by erecting projections or by excessive perforations, the continuity of the architectural dome would be lost. If, on the other hand, the surface of these models was without movement, the dome would present an appearance more like a colander, just a plain surface with holes punched in it, which would not be architecturally acceptable. Figure 9 shows two sections of the great ribs placed together on the pattern of the dome showing the half-inch joints which separated them.
Page 304Figures 10 and 11. � Plaster models erected on the dome frame.
Models were carefully checked by placing them on the frame of the dome.
(Figures 10, 11.)The bottom sections of the great ribs extending down over the clerestory were not a part of the dome: they were modelled separately. (Figures 12, 13, next page.) The top of the model coincides with the spring-line of the dome. In this assembly it was possible to judge the character of the ornament and the character of the modelling to be sure that the uniformity of surface was retained and the proper degree of decoration and that there had been achieved a proper balance of perforations with the general area of the dome. Note the half-inch joint surrounding every piece � each casting independent of every other. The bottom castings were about ten feet square, five inches thick and, as finally cast of concrete, weighed between three and three and a half tons each.
Page 305Figures 12 and 13 . � Bottoin sections of ribs to extend down over the clerestory.
After the models were made, the next thing was to make molds on them, and these molds were necessarily very complicated (Figures 14, 15, 16) because the ornament is perforated, which means that, wherever there is a perforation in the ornament, there must be a projection in the mold. Those projections were five inches high and very numerous, which meant that if a concrete casting were made in a mold as ordinarily constructed, it would be impossible ever to remove that mold, because if, in moving it, it was twisted the slightest bit, all of these projections would bind so on the perforations that it would be entirely impossible to remove the mold. Another thing, these molds had to be removed within 24 hours, before the cast was as hard as it would have to get. So, wherever there was a perforation, it was treated in the mold as a plug, and, when the mold was removed from the cast, the plug would remain in the cast and it was removed separately, and afterwards reassembled in the mold.
Page 306Figures 14, 15, and 16. � Plaster molds were made from the models.
Page 307Reinforcement (Figure flatten. That is a thing 17) was designed on the we have to be very careful theory that, if sections about, because slab castings, of the dome could be held particularly when they rigidly around the edges, are new, have a tendency to there was very little bend; if they are flat, likelihood that castings they will curve, and, would
Page 308if curved, they have a tendency to flatten. Every one of these castings is a section of the curved surface of the dome and we held the edges .of them as firmly as we could. Reinforcements were bent to follow the curvature of the ornaments and wherever they crossed they were electrically welded so might be dead or chalky or have the appearance of a plaster casting, we chose an aggregate to give a maximum of reflection � a white crystalline quartz. Studies made with the white crystalline quartz, while they were better than dead white surfaces, because the broken faces reflected light, showed too lit. Figures 20 and 21. � Brushing the surface to expose the aggregate.
that each reinforcement unit was a welded mesh.It was the desire of the architect that the dome should be the whitest thing possible and we have learned that so much white presents a difficult problem. Because we thought that, even though the surface was to be broken by ornamentations and perforations, there was great danger that it tie scintillation to avoid monotony. So, we also chose a clear translucent quartz. We mixed about one-quarter of the translucent quartz with three-quarters of the white opaque quartz and the result was very pleasing. This quartz came from South Carolina and the clear quartz from a little deposit neat Lynchburg, Virginia.
Because our requirements for size are so exact that nobody
Page 309has any sympathy with us, we crush our own aggregates.
The quartz passes through a jaw crusher to an elevator, through screens and back through a set of balanced rolls, and it keeps circulating, and whenever the stone passes through one of these screens it passes to its proper bin. By this method we effect an economy because the amount of crushed does not further reduce those sizes and by using two sizes in a two-step gradation, we are able to get seventy per cent of usable product out of the crude material.
Pictures will not show, so you must accept my statement that all particles of each of the two sizes we use are as nearly of one size as it is practical to make them. To Figures 22 and 23. � Curing chamber.
material of one size which may be expected from the mass of raw material is about fifteen per cent.
That was impossible, because some of the aggregates we have used (some highly colored ones), cost as much as $2,000.00 a ton and fifteen per cent is not a satisfactory recovery in usable product.
Therefore by taking out all particles which are the right size, between every crushing operation, so that further attrition indicate the character of the screening, I would say that the size is such as you might expect to have between alternate sieves in a set of standard sieves.
We used a little open mixer, for a one bag batch.We find that by using a small mixer that is open, in which we can see the concrete while it is being mixed, we can vary the consistency as the cast progresses to meet our requirements.
I suppose that sort ofFigures 24, 25, and 26. � Castings ready for shipment.
Page 311thing applies to our own particular work much more than it would to ordinary concrete.
Casting this dome involved matters of economy as well as artistic problems: When the molds were finished from models done with the greatest care, our mental attitude changed and we made an effort to produce casts with the least possible effort that would maintain quality.
We have a shed which is covered by a light framework; in this molds gate. Some may wonder that so many men are employed on one piece. The reason is that concrete which has stiffened enough in 1 8 or 20 hours to permit its remoVal from molds and to stand it up, has a tendency to keep on hardening, and it is very wise to finish the surfacing as soon as it possibly can be done, because the difference in the hardness of the surface between morning and afternoon is a thing you would have to experience to believe.
Figure 27. � The dome as now assembled � the remainder mainder of the structure still to be completed.
were set on concrete foundations in a crane line one after another, and every day every alternate mold was filled. (Figures 18, 19.) Across every mold an angle iron was bolted down to a fitting in the mold.
The angle iron has holes bored in it to serve as a jig in placing the fittings (used in final assembly of the dome) which were bolted to the angle. (Figure 19.)
The iron served also as a gage for centering the reinforcing web in the concrete casting.
The following morning these castings were turned out from the mold and leaned in a vertical position against posts. That put them in exactly the right position to be brushed and surfaced to expose the aggre "While the casts are being surfaced the alternate molds are being filled and the molds released are assembled for their next pouring the following day. When casts have been washed they are picked up by the crane and stored in a damp chamber. (Figures 22, 23.) This has wooden walls, plastered inside with emulsified asphalt and a roof of canvas in panels on light frames easily lifted off when at the end of two weeks curing, the crane lifts castings out for air curing and shipment.
Figures 24 and 25 show castings of dome sections preliminary to shipment.
The figure indicates about the scale of the texture and also the varying shades in the color of the
Page 312Cast of clerestory section Model of dome panel of great rib of dome. and casts.
Page 313The darker spots are of the translucent quartz and the white spots are the opaque quartz. Though the clear quartz appears dark in a photograph it is, as seen in the casting, not a white spot but a bright spot. We determined in these castings that we would avoid patching, and wherever something occurred that was a defect of an inconsiderable character, we just frankly left it; it is better to leave them than to make an attempt at patching.
The drawings which were left to us by the architect from this point onward arc rather sketchy. They are all that is necessary to convey his idea, but they do not in any sense express any of the details of the ornamentation.
We feel, however, that the building ing below the dome is going to introduce an exceedingly interesting problem in ornamentation.
We have already established in the dome a pattern, but as we come down we have two characters of surface � openings to be covered by perforated grilles which must be done in relation to perforated grilles in the story above, which in turn are related to the dome. So, while the dome and all the openings require perforations, we have struc � tural surfaces which are not perforated and we arc looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to the experience of relating this continuous ornament so that we will not lose the structure of the building nor the sense that the structure is solid and that the openings are perforated ornamentations.
GOD-INTOXICATED ARCHITECTUREMANKIND in the making has marked his progress by the temples he has built. Most of these have long since disappeared; the records of these are blank. When fragments of others are found they give us perhaps our oniy evidence as to the existence of nations, wholly lost except for these fragments.
Such ruins prove that these forgotten natiohs possessed intelligence and a high degree of skill during milleniums long before the historic era.
They afford clues, fascinating but elusive, of systems of primitive thought and practice. The material temples have survived the deities to which they were erected.
Primarily a temple is not a church, not a place of public worship, quite the contrary. It is a consecrated piece of ground, not to be profaned by the careless crowd; it has been defined as the dwelling house of the Deity to which it is consecrated and whose presence is marked by a statue or other symbol. Here are kept the sacred treasures, the gifts and tribute of the worshipers.
A church building on the contrary is often regarded as a social center, a place of meeting for all who may be interested.
It is not narrowly limited to the use of the priesthood but is more comparable to a school or place of instruction, an evolution in part comparable to the Jewish synagogue, a place for religious instruction and worship.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkarwith its surrounding buildings may be said to combine the conceptions both of a temple, and of a church with class rooms and facilities for study and meditation.
In one sense it has no direct ancestors; it stands in a class by itself. Yet it has its predecessors or prototypes, infinite in number and variety.
Some of these doubtless have had an influence on the design; a few in a negative way, warnings what not to do; others have been helpful in suggesting size and form. It is well worth our time to study the "ancestors" or predecessors of the temple, so that we may appreciate the magnitude and far-reaching effect of the work in hand, namely, the building of the Bahá'í Temple, now in course of construction at Wilmette, Illinois. It is, of course, impossible in a brief article to do much more than suggest a few lines of thought.
The most complete or readily available source of information on the growth of the ideals of a temple are in the Hebrew sacred books, at least those combined and printed together as the Old Testament. There have been recorded the traditions reaching back into pre � historic times; giving the development of a Semitic people from the days of
Page 314human sacrifice, when each tribal deity had a local habitation, on up to the times when there was erected for their god a permanent home or temple in Jerusalem, a rectangular room or structure into which the high priest alone could enter once a year.
This was surrounded by courts and cloisters where the various classes of people might meet for public worship.
The essential feature of each temple, erected in succession at Jerusalem on the older ruin, was this (CHOL of Holies" devoted to the Divine Presence. So far as is known, it was a plain boxlike room of 20 cubits on each edge; that is, about 30 feet high, wide and long. The buildings which surrounded and concealed this, in whole or in part, were doubtless ornamented in Oriental fashion; possibly a mixture of
Cretan, Egyptian and Babylonianstyles. Nothing characteristically Hebraic has been found. There are no traces of the ornamentation nor of the colors used; many of which were doubtless vivid.
The Greeks had much of the same idea, a room or darkened enclosure devoted to the presence of a particular god whose statue was enshrined there.
This was surrounded by columns all relatively severe, with little ornamentation; a striking contrast to the elaborate details of their far Eastern contemporaries. It must not be supposed, h6wever, that these temples were colorless.
Those that remained have been bleached white by the weather, but particles of color found in interstices show that they were not originally of the snowy white pentalic marble.
Possibly the best idea of one of these temples devoted to the presence of a specific god can be had from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C., where the great statue practically fills the building. The doorways of the Lincoln Memorial are unobstructed, whereas the doors of the Grecian and Roman temples were thrown open oniy on great occasions when the multitude was allowed to gaze upon the statue from a distance.
The Romans followed the Greeks in simplicity of outline, erecting rectangular buildings, carefully proportioned and conforming to certain architectural conventions which became more and more rigid as the arts declined.
In contrast to these Grecian and Roman structures, which the world has regarded as the highest achievement of art, were the Egyptian temples. In these the more striking feature was the entrance or approach with gigantic pyions guarding the doorways, all massive, everything designed for permanence and with resultant heavy, serious and gloomy effects.
Opposed to the straight lines, 'ow roofs and boxlike forms of the classic age are the curves and elaborate tracery of the temples and tombs of Persia, India, and China, � with arches, slender posts, openings of all sizes and shapes, riots of forms and color, peaked roofs, spires, pagodas, minarets and domes, fantastic to western eyes, grotesque rather than serious. All in a sense were intended to serve the same purpose, namely, to guard and protect the sacred relics, images or symbols which denoted the presence of a diety or which turned the worshipers from worldly to spiritual thoughts.
One of the most impressive forms of architecture evolved by the human race, the Byzantine, was a creation of the Greco-Roman world, particularly, its Eastern branch, the
Eastern Roman Empirelocated at Byzantium (now Constantinople) from whence the name Byzantine is derived. The special character of this Byzantine architecture, of which St. Sofia is the most notable example, is the placing of a round dome upon a square base the four walls of which are each supported externally by half-domes. In the most perfect elaboration of this architectural system, as in the Turkish mosques of Constantinople, the central dome lifts its majestic head skyward above the friendly grouping half-domes clustering at its base and enclosed in the four slender tapering minarets; while the interior presents a special beauty of vast space unbroken by supporting columns, a majestic simplicity which commends itself especially to Mubammadans as expressive of the Unity of God.
During the progress of the renaissance of art in Europe came the evolution of the Gothic forms notable for the pointed arch and for symmetrical pinnacles.
There was in medieval Europe a period when men s energies seemed to be devoted to the multiplication of these churches and cathedrals
Page 315repeating over and over again, with slight variation, the more attractive of these structures, embodying a union of the Greek system of columnar construction with the Roman vaulting and arches. In fact, to the European mind a church or temple must be based upon some of these types.
A reaction from these well established forms took place in New England where there developed the characteristic colonial church, barnlike in form and with a plain pointed steeple; possessing a certain charm from simplicity as contrasted with the more ornate European structures.
There is a tendency to try to improve on these forms. In attempting to develop something suitable and yet characteristic, there has come about a wide range of effort shown by some of the more recent structures in the United States, particularly those adopted by the founders or followers of the newer religions or sects. As an illustration of such an attempt may be noted the temple at Salt Lake City, obviously inspired by European ideals and yet not following classical lines, This is a temple in the restricted sense in that its use is confined to the priesthood; while the people as a whole must congregate for worship in a tabernacle nearby.
Bearing in mind these recent attempts and the older wellknown types, it is of peculiar interest to view the sketches of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. lit is erected on a circular foundation which reaches down to bedrock, the building itself being nine-sided. It has no front nor back, as all sides are identi � cal. There is hardly a straight line visible, everything is curved. In place of solidity an attempt is made to create an impression of airiness.
The architect, Louis Bourgeois, "has conceived a Temple of Light in which structure, as usually understood, is to be concealed, visible support eliminated as far as possible, and the whole fabric to take on the airy substance of a dream; it is a lacy envelope enslirining an idea, the idea of Light, a shelter of cobweb interposed between earth and sky, struck through and through with light � light which shall partly consume the forms and make of it a thing of faery."1 1 Statement of Mr. H. Van Euren Magonigle, archi-tea of New York City.
It is to be noted that each type of religious architecture that humanity has created has been an expression of a definite religious belief. The Egyptian,
Hebrew, Greek and Romantemples, respectively, were of this kind. Christendom experimented with adaptations of the Roman basilica, until the glorious Gothic architecture flowered out in the mid-die ages as a perfect expression of the inspiration and upsoaring qualities of the Christian faith.
Meanwhile the Muhammadanworld was evolving from the Byzantine church the mosque which, as already stated, is a perfect expression of the simplicity of dogma of the strictly unitarian faith of IsHm.
It was to be expected that the new power and inspiration of the Bahá'í Faith should express itself in new forms of art and architecture.
Such a form would naturally evolve from preexisting forms just as, for instance, the Muhammadan mosque evolved from the Byzantine, and the Gothic from the basilica; yet would be in a way a de novo creation. A study of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, designed by Louis Bourgeois, will make it evident that his glorious creation does exactly this. It embodies, as definitely conceived by him, the characteristics of past religious architecture brought together in a new whole of which there is no similar example.
In other words, this inspired architect has created a new form of architecture perfectly adapted to the expression of the Baha Faith with its universality and its worldwide comprehensive scope.
The test of a beautiful form is to see it without ornamentation. This test is well met by the Temple as it stands at present;2 even without the external decoration which the architect, Louis Bourgeois, has designed for it. Standing as it does near the Lake Shore, without the competition from tall buildings, it dominates the landscape. The sun's rays reflected from the glass and aluminum roof catch the eye when miles away.
Approaching, the details gradually become prominent, but seen from any angle or distance the building is singularly well balanced and attractive. Much more is to be done; to enable the visitor to gain some impression of what 2 1931.
Page 316the building will ultimately look like there has been erected in a most conspicuous place near the roadside, a drawing of the structure as it will ultimately appear when the surface, including the dome, has been covered by the tracery designed by the 6rchitect.
To the engineer or person of imagination, the structure as it now stands is perhaps more interesting than it will be when fully completed.
It is now possible to see the large and graceful curves and to appreciate the care and skill required to preserve proper proportions and bring about a true balance of lines. There is no other building like it nor have constructors been called upon to meet similar problems.3
In the first place, as well known, the building is nine sided with nine similar entrances. Thus from whatever direction the structure is seen, the view, excepting for the foreground, is practically identical. The front, seen from any angle, is not a flat surface but the arches are curved either toward or away from the observer, as well as in the vertical plane. The play of sunlight and shade on the building, changing from hour to hour brings out new beauties in the design, so that one, for the time being, does not notice the bare, rough surfaces of the concrete.
The accompanying picture taken soon after the dome was erected in May, 1931, gives an excellent idea of the general shape and proportions as seen from the ground. Another view from the air gives the setting in connection with the surrounding highways, waterways and buildings. The site is peculiarly well adapted for the building. On the east, across Sheridan Boulevard, is the broad expanse of Lake Michigan. To the north and west of the building the North Side Canal takes clear water from the lake and carries it down through the city of Chicago, helping to purify or dilute the wastes from that great city. In the same way, the influences flowing from the Temple may well be pictured as helping to elevate the spiritual conceptions of the great mass of people.
~ The writer, the late Frederick H. Newell, was president of The Research Service, Inc., engineers who supervised the construction of the Bahá'í House of
Worship.This has been built of about 100,000 pieces of aluminum and glass. When complete, according to the vision of the architect, this glass dome will not be seen either from outside or inside the Temple. It is to serve the useful purpose of keeping out wind and weather.
Outside of it will be the highly ornamental covering designed by the architect through which is to shine the light from the interior, making real the conception of a Temple of Light.
On the inside of the dome it is intended also to place ornamental patterns through which the daylight may shine into the great central auditorium. The ornamentation will extend downward covering the bare spaces. The great vertical windows will ultimately be partly concealed by tracery of stone or metal, both inside and out, bringing about the general view given in the picture as conceived by the artist.
These perforated panels which will appear upon the outside as well as the inside of the structure are shown in the accompanying illustrations, one of these being for the exterior of a doorway, the other to partly conceal the window. These are made from full size drawings or casts prepared by Mr. Bourgeois.
Turning from the vision of what will be, it is interesting to note some of the details as to how the present structure has been completed. The accompanying views show the way in which the steel columns were erected and then covered by the protecting concrete poured in wooden forms ultimately stripped away.
The preparation of the forms for the arches with their complex curves afforded excellent opportunity for theoretical and practical mathematics as well as skilled carpentry.
The contract for erecting this superstruc � ture was entered into with George
A. Fuller Company on August27, 1930. This organization worked in collaboration with twenty-four subcontractors under liberal and mutually satisfactory arrangements.
It is gratifying to note that in all the various operations where men of different trades and training must of necessity work together and at times get in each other's way, there was the utmost harmony with no visible
Page 317In fact, a spirit of devotion to the work and enthusiasm in its outcome was shown throughout the entire operations.
There were no delays due to misunderstanding but each and every man connected with the work seemed to regard it as an opportunity to take part in a worthwhile undertaking.
all of these factors led to the conclusion that it might be possible, while building the lower story, to continue the work to the point where the entire building would be outlined and enclosed.
This was found practicable; by executing the work as a whole large savings have been made and economies secured which otherwise would have been Mrs. Nettie Tobin kneeling by the stone which she carried as her contribution to the Temple in the very early days, and tAbdu'1 Bah& chose as the ccr stone" when He visited the site in 1912. The stone is now incorporated into the building, and serves as a special place for prayer and meditation.
When first it became apparent that funds would be available to Continue construction on the foundations, laid in 1922, the assumption was that, with the funds available, the first story oniy could be completed with the exterior ornamentation.
This would have necessitated the building of a temporary roof, an expensive affair which later must be removed.
Careful consideration of impracticable. Thus by clear engineering vision, it has been possible to realize the hopes of a structure completed to a degree where it can be put to use and one which is an inspiration and a challenge to all believers to continue to the degree of perfection.
The building of the Temple has aroused interest of the people the world over, for
Page 318this is truly the first universal temple which is open to all the peoples of the world, regardless of race, sect or belief.
In the years to come people from everywhere will gather under the central dome to worship the one God in the spirit of loving unity, in accordance with the Revelation of
Bahá'u'lláh.9, 1933, a beautiful model of the Temple, made by Mr. Louis J. Voelz, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, was placed on exhibition in the Hall of Religions at the
Century of Progress Expositionin Chicago. Its position was most advantageous, as everyone entering the Hall of Religions passed this replica of the Tem-pie at some time during his progress through the building. Significantly enough, it was oniy about ten feet away from the famous Chalice of Antioch, which was also on exhibition in the Hall of Religions.
In order that the greatest possible amount of dignified publicity might be obtained from the use of the model, a placard, bearing the following inscription was placed above it:
CCBAHA~I HOUSE OF WORSHIPRACE, CLASS, NATIONALITY OR CREED. VISITORS WELCOME."
as well as a small framed photograph of the architect's drawing. In addition to this it was arranged to have one of the friends constantly in attendance each day from ten o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock at night. The days were divided into three four-hour periods, the ladies serving during the day and the gentlemen during the evening ning hours. The National Spiritual Assembly authorized the printing of fifty thousand pamphlets ~~Wht is the Bahá'í Faith?" These were distributed to those persons who evinced sufficient interest to ask for them. However, several weeks before the close of the Exposition, the suppiy of fifty tholisand pamphlets was exhausted, and an additional twenty-five thousand was ordered.
'When it was realized that Fair officials conservatively estimated that ten thousand persons passed through the Hall of Religions daily, all of whom saw the model and a large percentage of whom stopped to examine it, read the legend accompanying it, and listened to the remarks of the attendant, it is not difficult to form a fairly accurate opinion of the very great number of people from all over the world who have, through this medium, learned something of the Bahá'í Faith.
Much could be told of the hundreds of extremely interesting experiences enjoyed by the various attendants in their contacts with the public. It was illuminating to find how very many persons, who, although not Baha'is, had a knowledge of the Bahá'í Faith. Equally, or perhaps more important, was it, to learn how many, many there were, who had never even heard the name ~tBah6.'i" for it brought a realization of how great is our responsibility today, to spread the
Message of Bahá'u'lláh.Again and again were voiced such thoughts as "That's what the world needs today," and "That's the first sensible religious idea
I've heard." Especiallyinteresting was the experience of one of the friends who had an opportunity to speak with a
Page 319Model of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar exhibited in the Hall of Religions, A Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933.
319The first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar tlshqThAd, Turkistan, Russia.
Page 321lady who said that just a year ago she had visited the Temple in tI~q~b~d, which, she said, strangely enough, was the only church in Soviet Russia which had been permitted to remain open. There were a number of visitors from the Holy Land who had known Abdu'l-Bahá and who knew the Shrines on Mt. Carmel, and also one oriental group whose members, in passing, hissed, reminding us of the enemies always about us. Many, too, were the remarks which made us realize how very much teaching there is to do � such as statements that the little model of our Temple represented the Vatican, St. Peter's in Rome, a Jewish Temple, a Sun-worshippers' Temple, the Mormon Temple, the Taj Mahal and many others, equally farfetched. It was a privilege to be able to explain to those having such erroneous ideas, what the Temple really represents, and to give them, however briefly, an outline of the Bahá'í Faith. So often the response was instantaneous, showing how ready the world at large is for the Message of
Bahá'u'lláh.The results of this exhibit have already become apparent in a number of ways.
The beauty of the model is so arresting that a great many of those who saw it have visited the Temple in Wilmette, and have attended the public meetings there. The Publishing Committee reports an increased demand for books from various parts of the country, proving that interest in the Bahá'í Faith has been greatly stimulated by this concrete evidence of the existence in the world today of a new Revelation from
On High.Those who had the opportunity of serving as attendants at Bahá'í Exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition, bear eloquent testimony to the wonderful part it has played in bringing a knowledge of the Bahá'í Faith to a very great number of people, in deepening the knowledge of many others and in correcting innumerable erroneous ideas entertained by thousands of persons.
Page 322Alphabetical List of Archduchess Anton of Austria Charles
Baudouin Prof. NormanProf. E. G. Browne, MA., M.B., Ca'mbridge University Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College,
Oxfordof Keddleston Prof. James Darmesteter, Ecole des Hautes Etudes,
ParisDr. Henry H. Jessup, D.D. Prof. Jowett, Oxford University Prof. Dirniry Kazaroy,
University of SofiaRokuichiro Masujima, Do yen of Jurisprudence of Japan
Mr. MillarHon. Lilian Helen Montagu, J.P., D.H.L. Rev. Frederick W. Gakes
Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologistensy of Pesth Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E.
I. Br DOWAGER 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: seem to live up to His teachings." And when I opened the Book I saw it was the word of cAbdu~1~BahA, 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 tAbdu~1~Bah4 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.
Miss Martha L. Root. � Rditor.REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 323
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 fail to be better because of thisIf ever the name of Bahá'u'lláh or tAbdu'1-Bahi 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 thej 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 and death with a shrug and a "that ends it all; nothing comes after."
But how difficult it is so to dismiss the universe, our worlcj, 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 oniy an instrument, but the invisible spark or fire within the body which makes man one witb 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, CAbdu~1~BaM whom I know would sanction the use of his words: ccThe whole physical creation is perishable. Material bodies arc composed of atoms. When these atoms begin to separate, decoin position sets in. Then comes what we call death.
ttThis 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.
"With the soui it is different.The soui is not a combination of elements, is not composed of many atoms, is of one indivisible substance and therefore eternal.
~tIt is entirely out of the order of physical creation; it is immortal!
The soul, being an invisible, indivisible substance, can suffer neither disintegration nor destruction. Therefore there is no reason for its coming to an end.
tcCid the aim of creation: Is it possible that all is created to evolve and develop through countless ages with merely this small goal in view � a few years of iran'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?
t~The 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 soul, 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 soul, man's radiant intelligence makes him the crowning-point of creation!"
Thus does cAbdu~1~BaLi explain to us the soul � the most convincing elucidation II know.
(From the Toronto DailyAt first we all conceive of God as something or somebody apart from ourselves.
Wethink He is something or somebody definite, outside of us, whose quality, meaning and so-to-say ctpersona1ity~~ 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 � no 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 beginnings. He is the inexhaustible source of suppiy, of love, of good, 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 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 veii 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 Philadelphia"Lately a great hope has come to me from one, tAbdu~1~Bah~.
I have found in His andMessage of 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."
ccThe Bahá'í teaching brings peace and understanding.
t~Jt 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 intolerance towards each other, I discovered in the Bahá'í teaching the real spirit of Christ so often denied and misunderstood: (cUnity instead of strife, hope instead of condemnation, love instead of hate, and a great reassurance for all men."
ttThe Bahá'í teaching brings peace to the soui and hope to the heart.
ttTo those in search of assurance the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering."
1934.REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 325
IL BY PROFESSOR K S. BROWNE.Phelps' !Abbas Effendi, pages xv-xx; 1903 rev. 1912 � I have often heard wonder expressed by Christian ministers at the extraordinary success of BThi missionaries, as contrasted with the almost complete failure of their own. CCHOW is it," they say, ccthat the Christian doctrine, the highest and the noblest which the world has ever known, though supported by all the resources of 'Western civilization, can only count its converts in Muhammadan lands by twos and threes, while BAbiism can reckon them by thousands?" The answer, to my mind, is plain as the sun at midday.
'Western Christianity, save in the rarest cases, is more 'Western than Christian, more racial than religious; and by dallying with doctrines plainly incompatible with the obvious meaning of its Founder's words, such as the theories of "racial supremacy," "im-perial destiny,"" survival of the fittest," and the like, grows steadily more rather than less material. Did Christ belong to a c!dit race," or even to a European or Ctwhite race"? I am not arguing that the Christian religion is true, but merely that it is in manifest conflict with several other theories of life which practically regulate the conduct of all States and most individuals in the Western world, a world which, on the whole, judges all things, including religions, mainly by material, or to use the more popular term, ccpractica1~~ standards.
� There is, of course, another factor in the success of the BThi propagandist, as compared with the Christian missionary, in the conversion of Muhammadans to his faith: namely, that the former admits, while the latter rejects, the Divine inspiration of the Qur'an and the prophetic function of Muhammad.
The Christian missionary must begin by attacking, explicitly or by implication, both these beliefs; too often forgetting that if (as happens but rarely) he succeeds in destroying them, he destroys with them that recognition of former prophetic dispensations (including the Jewish and the Christian) which Muhammad and the Qur'an proclaim, and converts his Muslim antagonist not to Christianity, but to Skepticism or Atheism.
What, indeed, could be more illogical on the part of Christian missionaries to Muhammadan lands than to devote much time and labor to the composition of controversial works which endeavor to prove, in one and the same breath, first, that the Qur'an is a lying imposture, and, secondly, that it bears witness to the truth of Christ's mission, as though any value attached to the testimony of one proved a liar! The BiN (or Baha'i) propagandist, on the other hand, admits that Muhammad was the prophet of God and that the Qur'an is the Word of God, denies nothing but their finality, and does not discredit his own witness when he draws from that source arguments to prove his faith. To the Western observer, however, it is the complete sincerity of the B~bis, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admirable conduct towards mankind and especially towards their fellow-believers, which constitutes their strongest claim on his attention.
Introduction to Myron H.Phelps' rAbbas Lifendi, pages xii-xiv � It was under the influence of this enthusiasm that I penned the introduction to my translation of the Traveller's
Narrative.This enthusiasm, condoned, if not shared, by many kindly critics and reviewers, exposed me to a somewhat savage attack in the Oxford Magazine, an attack concluding with the assertion that my Introduction displayed "a personal attitude almost inconceivable in a rational European, and a style unpardonable in a university teacher."
(The review in question appeared in the Oxford Magazine of May 25, 1892, page 394, "the prominence given to the Báb in this book is an absurd violation of historical perspective; and the translation of the Traveller's Narrative a waste of the powers and opportunities of a
Persian Scholar.") Increasingage and experience (more's the pity!) are apt enough, even without the as
Page 326sistance of the Oxford Magazine, to modify our enthusiasms; but in this case, at least, time has so far vindicated my judgment against that of my Oxford reviewer that he could scarcely now maintain, as he formerly asserted, that the Báb religion "had affected the least important part of the Muslim World, and that not deeply." Every one who is in the slightest degree conversant with the actual state of things (September 27, 1903), in Persia now recognizes that the number and influence of the Báb's in that country is immensely greater than it was fifteen years ago.
A Traveller's Narrative, page 309 � The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu'1-cAyn is in any country and any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a country as Persia 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 and immortal amidst her countrywomen. Had the Báb religion no other claim to greatness, this were suflicient � chat it produced a heroine like Qurratu'1-tAyn. yn.
Introduction to A Traveller'sNarrative, pages ix, x � Though I dimly suspected whither I was going and whom I was to behold (for no distinct intimation had been given to me), a second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious chat the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met the wall sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt headdress of the kind called t~j by dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white turban.
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 jetblack 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.
A mild, dignified voice bade me be seated, and then continued: rrprgise be to God, that thou hast attained! Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile. We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer-up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. 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 � what harm is there in this? Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the CMost Great Peace' shall come.
Do not you in Europe need this also? is not this that which Christ foretold? Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind.
These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one fain-fly. Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.
7' Such, so far as I can recall them, were the words which, besides many others, I heard from Baha. Let those who read them consider well with themselves whether such doctrines merit death and bonds, and whether the world is more likely to gain or lose by their diffusion.
Introduction to A Traveller'sNarrative, pages xxxv, xxxvi � Seldom have I seen one whose appearance impressed me more. A tall, strongly built man holding himself straight as an arrow, with white turban and raiment, long black
Page 327REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 327
locks reaching almost to the shoulder, broad powerful forehead, indicating a strong intellect, combined with an unswerving will, eyes keen as a hawk's, and strongly marked but pleasing features � such was my first impression of Abbas
Effendi, ccT1~e Master" (CAgh~)Subsequent conversation with him served only to heighten the respect with which his appearance had from the first inspired me. One more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians and the Muhammadans, could, I should think, be scarcely found even amongst the eloquent, ready and subtle race to which he belongs. These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father's followers.
About the greatness of this man and his power no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt.
III. B~ DR. J. ESTLINReligion, pages 70, 71 � From that subtle race issues the most remarkable movement which modern Muhammadanism has produced. Disciples gathered round him, and the movement was not checked by his arrest, his imprisonment for nearly six years and his final execution in 1850. It, too, claims to be a universal teaching; it has already its noble army of martyrs and its holy books; has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion which will go round the world?
IV. B~ THE Rrv. T. K. CIXTEYNE, D.LITT., D.D.of Races and Religions, (1914) � There was living quite lately a human being* of such consummate excellence that many think it is both permissible and inevitable even to identify him mystically with the invisible Godhead.
Hisj combinadon of mildness and power is so rare that we have to place him in a line with supernormal men.
We learn that, at great points in his career after he had been in an ecstasy, such radiance of might and majesty streamed from his countenance that none could bear to look upon the effulgence of his glory and beauty. Nor was it an uncommon occurrence for unbelievers involuntarily to bow down in lowly obeisance on beholding His Holiness.
The gentle spirit of the Báb is surely high up in the cycles of eternity.
Who can fail, as Professor Browne says, to be attracted by him? UHis sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misfortune; his complete self-negation; the dim ideal of a better state of things which can be discerned through the obscure mystic utterancds of the Baydn; but most of all, his tragic death, all serve to enlist our sympathies on behalf of the young prophet of Shir6z."
C~11 sentait Ic besoin d'une reforme pro-fond a introduire dans les moeurs publiques.
Ii s'est sacrifi6 pour 1'humanit6; pour elle ii a donn6 son corps et son ante, pour elle ii a subi les privations, les affronts, les injures. Ia torture et le martyre."
(Mons. Nicolas.)If there has been any prophet in recent times, it is to Bahá'u'lláh that we must go. Character is the final judge. Bahá'u'lláh was a man of the highest class � that of prophets. But he was free from the last infirmity of noble minds, and would certainly not have separated himself from others. He would have understood the saying: Ccfl~Tou1d God all the Lord's people were prophets!"
What he does say, howeyer, is just as fine: "I do not desire lordship over others; I desire all men to be even as I am.
The day is not far off when the details of tAbdu'1-Bahá'í missionary journeys will be admitted to be of historical importance. How gentle and wise he was, hundreds could testify from personal knowledge, and I, too, could perhaps say something. I will only, however, give here the outward framework of CAbd~1Bh~~ life, and of his apostolic journeys, with the help of my friend Lutfull4h.
During his stay in London he visited OxL.a Seventh Persian National Bahá'í Convention, 1933. (Keith Ransom-Kehier in the center.)
Page 329REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 329
ford (where he and his party � of Persians mainly � were the guests of Professor and Mrs. Cheyne), Edinburgh,
Clifton and Woking. Itis fitting to notice here that the audience at Oxford, though highly academic, seemed to be deeply interested, and that Dr. Carpenter made an admirable speech.
V. By PROFESSOR VAMJ3tRY.Testimony to the Religion of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. (Published in Egyptian Gazette, Sept. 24, 1913, by Mrs. 1. Stannard.) � I forward this humble petition to the sanctified and holy presence of tAbdu'1-Bahi tAbbt, who is the center of knowledge, famous throughout the world, and loved by all mankind. 0 thou noble friend who art conferring guidance upon humanity � May my life be a ransom to thee!
The loving epistle which you have condescended to write to this servant, and the rug which you have forwarded, came safely to hand. The time of the meeting with your Excellency, and the memory of the benediction of your presence, recurred to the memory of this servant, and I am longing for the time when I shall meet you again. Although I have traveled through many countries and cities of Jsl6m, yet have I never met so lofty a character and so exalted a personage as your Excellency, and I can bear witness that it is not possible to find such another. On this account, I am hoping that the ideals and accomplishments of your Excellency may be crowned with success and yield results under all conditions; because behind these ideals and deeds I easily discern the eternal welfare and prosperity of the world of humanity.
This servant, in order to gain firsthand information and experience, entered into the ranks of various religions, that is, outwardly, I became a Jew, Christian,
Muhammadan and Zoroastrian.I discovered that the devotees of these various religions do nothing else but hate and anathematize each other, that all their religions have become the instruments of tyranny and oppression in the hands of rulers and governors, and that they are the causes of the destruction of the world of humanity.
Considering those evil results, every person is forced by necessity to enlist himself on the side of your Excellency, and accept with joy the prospect of a fundamental basis for a universal religion of God, being laid through your efforts.
I have seen the father of your Excellency from afar. I have realized the self-sacrifice and noble courage of his son, and I am lost in admiration.
For the principles and aims of your Excellency, I express the utmost respect and devotion, and if God, the Most High, confers long life, I will be able to serve you under all condition.
I pray and supplicate this from the depths of my heart.
Your servant,of the East (Macmillan & Co., London, 1913.) � Bah4'ism is now estimated to count more than two million adherents, mostly composed of Persian and Indian Shi'~hs, but in � eluding also many Sunnis from the Turkish Empire and North Africa, and not a few Brahmans, Buddhists, Taoists, Shintoists and Jews.
It possesses even European converts, and has made some hcadway in the United States.
Of all the religions which have been encountered in the course of this journey � the stagnant pools of Oriental Christianity, the strange survivals of sun-worship, and idolatry tinged with Mubammadanism, the immutable relic of the Sumerians � it is the only one which is alive, which is aggressive, which is extending its frontiers, instead of secluding itself within its ancient haunts.
It is a thing which may revivify Islim, and make great changes on the face of the Asiatic world.
VII. Bx~ VALENTINE CHIROL.of BThiism.) � When one has been like Satdi, a great personage, and then a common soldier, and
Page 330then a prisoner of a Christian feudal chief; when one has worked as a navvy on the fortifications of the Count of Antioch, and wandered back afoot to Shir~z after infinite pain and labor, he may well be disposed to think that nothing that exists is real, or, at least, has any substantial reality worth clinging to. Today the public peace of Persia is no longer subject to such violent perturbations.
At least, as far as we are concerned, the appearances of peace prevail, and few of us care or have occasion to look beyond the appearances. But for the Persians themselves, have the conditions very much changed? Do they not witness one day the sudden rise of this or that favorite of fortune and the next day his sudden fall?
Have they not seen the At4bak � i-Atzam twice hold sway as the Slidli's all-powerful Vazir, and twice hurled down from that pinnacle by a bolt from the blue?
How many other ministers and governors have sat for a time on the seats of the mighty and been swept away by some intrigue as sordid as that to which they owed their own exaltation? And how many in humbler stations have been in the meantime the recipients of their unworthy favors or the victims of their arbitrary oppression? A village which but yesterday was fairly prosperous is beggared today by some neighboring landlord higher up the valley, who, having duly propitiated those in authority, diverts for the benefit of his own estates the whole of its slender supply of water.
The progress of a governor or royal prince, with all his customary retinue of ravenous hangers-on, eats out the countryside through which it passes more effectually than a flight of locusts. The visitation is as ruinous and as unaccountable.
Is it not the absence of all visible moral correlation of cause and effect in these phenomena of daily life that has gone far to produce the stolid fatalism of the masses, the scoffing skepticism of the more educated classes, and from time to time the revolt of some nobler minds? Of such the most recent and perhaps the noblest of all became the founder of B&biism.
Chapter XI, page 120 � Thewas not the first, and still less the last, of a long line of martyrs who have testified that even in a country gangrened with corruption and atrophied with indifferentisnct like Persia, the soul of a nation survives, inarticulate, perhaps, and in a way helpless, but still capable of sudden spasms of vitality.
Chapter Xl, page 124 � Sociallyone of the most interesting features of B6biism is the raising of woman to a much higher plane than she is usually admitted to in the East. The Báb himself had no more devoted a disciple than the beautiful and gifted lady, known as Qurratu'1-tAyn, the "Consolation of the Eyes," who, having shared all the dangers of the first apostolic missions in the north, challenged and suffered death with virile fortitude, as one of the Seven Martyrs of Tihr6n. No memory is more deeply venerated or kindles greater enthusiasm than hers, and the influence which she yielded in her lifetime still inures to her sex.
VIII. B~ PROFESSOR JOWETTof Oxford. Quotation from Heroic Lives, pages 305 � Prof.
Jowett of Oxford, Masterof Balliol, the translator of Plato, studied the movement and was so impressed thereby that he said: ttThe BThite Bahá'í movement may not impossibly turn out to have the promise of the future."
Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter quotes Prof. Edward Caird, Prof.
Jowett's successor as Master of Balliol, as saying, "He thought BThiism (as the Bahá'í movement was then called) might prove the most important religious movement since foundation of Christianity." Prof.
Carpenter himself gives a sketch of the Baha movement in his recent book on Comparative Religion and asks, "Has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion that will go around the world?"
IX. By ALFRED W. MARTIN.Religion and the Religion of the Future, pages 8191 � Inasmuch as a fellowship of faiths is at once the dearest hope and ultimate goal of the Bahá'í movement, it behooves us to take
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cognizance of it and its mission. Today this religious movement has a million and more adherents, including people from all parts of the globe and representing a remarkable variety of race, color, class and creed.
It has been given literary expression in a veritable library of Asiatic, European, and American works to which additions are annually made as the movement grows and grapples with the great problems that grow out of its cardinal teachings. It has a long roll of martyrs for the cause for which it stands, twenty thousand in Persia alone, proving it to be a movement worth dying for as well as worth living by.
From its inception it has been identified with Bahá'u'lláh, who paid the price of prolonged exile, imprisonment, bodily suffering, and mental anguish for the faith he cherished � a man of imposing personality as revealed in his writings, characterized by intense moral earnestness and profound spirituality, gifted with the selfsame power so conspicuous in the character of Jesus, the power to appreciate people ideally, that is, to see them at the leyci of their best and to make even the lowest types think well of themselves because of potentialities within them to which he pointed, but of which they were wholly unaware; a prophet whose greatest contribution was not any specific doctrine he proclaimed, but an informing spiritual power breathed into the world through the example of his life and thereby quickening souis into new spiritual activity. Surely a movement of which all this can be said deserves � nay, compels � our respectful recognition and sincere appreciation.
Taking precedence over all else in its gospel is the message of unity in religion.
It is the crowning glory of the Bahá'í movement that, while deprecating sectarianism in its preaching, it has faithfully practised what it preached by refraining from becoming itself a sect. Its representatives do not attempt to impose any beliefs upon others, whether by argument or bribery; rather do they seek to put beliefs that have illumined their own lives within the reach of those who feel they need illumination.
No, not a sect, not a part of humanity cut off from all the rest, living for itself and aiming to convert all the rest into ma terial for its own growth; no, not that, but a leaven, causing spiritual fermentation in all religions, quickening them with the spirit of catholicity and fraternalism.
'Who shall say but that just as the little company of the Mayflower, landing on Plymouth Rock, proved to be the small beginning of a mighty nation, the ideal germ of a democracy which, if true to its principles, shall yet overspread the habitable globe, so the little company of Bahá'ís exiled from their Persian home may yet prove to be the small beginning of the worldwide movement, the ideal germ of democracy in religion, the Universal
Church of Mankind?Sketch" (translated by G. K. Nariman), and incorporated in Persia and Parsis, Part I, edited by G. K. Nariman. Published under patronage of the 1dm League, Bombay, 1925.
(The Marker LiterarySeries for Persia, No. 2.) � The political reprieve brought about by the Siif is did not result in the regeneration of thought. But the last century which marks the end of Persia has had its revival and twofold revival, literary and religious. The funeral ceremonies by which Persia celebrates every year for centuries � the fatal day of the 10th of Muharram, when the son of tAli breathed his last at Karbili � have developed a popular theater and produced a sincere poetry, dramatic and human, whicb is worth all the rhetoric of the poets. During the same times an attempt at religious renovation was made, the religion of Bibi-ism. Demoralized for centuries by ten foreign conquests, by the yoke of a composite religion in which she believed just enough to persecute, by the enervating influence of a mystical philosophy which disabled men for action and divested life of all aim and objects, Persia has been making unexpected efforts for the last fifty-five years to remake for herself a virile ideal. B4biism has little of originality in its dogmas and mythology. Its mystic doctrine takes its rise from Siifism and the old sects of the Aijides formed around the dogma of divine incarnation.
But the morality it inculcates is arevolution. It has the ethics of the West. It suppresses lawful impurities which are a great barrier dividing
IslAm from Christendom.It denounces polygamy, the fruitful source of Oriental degeneration.
It seeks to reconstitute the family and it elevates man and in elevating him exalts woman up to his level.
BAbjism, which diffused itself in less than five years from one end of Persia to another, which was bathed in 1852 in the blood of its martyrs, has been silently progressing and propagating itself.
If Persia is to be at all regenerate it will be through this new faith.
XI. By CHARLES BAUDOUIN.Studies, Part III, page 131. (Allan & Unwin, London, 1924.) � We 'Westerners are too apt to imagine that the huge continent of Asia is sleeping as soundly as a mummy. We smile at the vanity of the ancient Hebrews, who believed themselves to be the chosen people.
We are amazed at the intolerance of the Greeks and the Rornans, who looked upon the members of all races as barbarians. Nevertheless, we ourselves are like the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans. As Europeans we believe Europe to be the only world that matters, though from time to time we may turn a paternal eye towards America, regarding our offspring in the New World with mingled feelings of condescension and pride.
Nevertheless, the great cataclysm of 1914 is leading some of us to undertake a critical examination of the inviolable dogma that the European nations are the elect. Has there not been of late years a demonstration of the nullity of modern civilization � the nui-lity which had already been proclaimed by Rousseau, Carlyle, Ruskin, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche? We are now inclined to listen more attentively to whispers from the East. Our self-complacency has been disturbed by such utterances as that of Rabindranath Tagore, who, lecturing at the Imperial University of Tokio on June 18, 1916, foretold a great future for Asia.
The political civilization of Europe was "carnivorous and cannibalistic in its tendencies." The East was patient, and could afford to wait till the West, "hurry after the expedient," had to halt for want of breath. ttEurope while busily speeding to her engagements, disdainfully casts her glance from her carriage window at the reaper reaping his harvest in the field, and in her intoxication of speed, cannot but think him as siow and ever receding backwards.
But the speed comes to its end, the engagement loses its meaning, and the hungry heart clamors for food, till at last she comes to the lonely reaper reaping his harvest in the sun. For if the office cannot wait, or the buying and selling, or the craving for excitement � love waits, and beauty, and the wisdom of suffering and the fruits of patient devotion and reverent meekness of simple faith. And thus shall wait the East till her time comes.
Being thus led to turn our eyes towards Asia, we are astonished to find how much we have misunderstood it; and we blush when we realize our previous ignorance of the fact that, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, Asia gave birth to a great religious movement � a movement signalized for its spiritual purity, one which has had thousands of martyrs, one which Tolstoy has described. H. Dreyfus, the French historian of this movement, says that it is not cca new religion," but "religion renewed," and that it provides "the only possible basis for a mutual understanding between religion and free thought." Above all, we are impressed by the fact that, in our own time, such a manifestation can occur, and that the new faith should have undergone a development far more extensive than that undergone in the same space of time nearly two thousand years ago, by budding Christianity.
At the present time, the majority of the inhabitants of Persia have, to a varying extent, accepted the BAbjist faith. In the great towns of Europe, America, and Asia, there are active centers for the propaganda of the liberal ideas and the doctrine of human community, which form the foundations of Bahi'ist teaching.
We shall not grasp the full significance of this tendency until we pass from the description of Bah6Nsm as a theory to that of Bahi'ism as a practice, for the core of religion is not metaphysics, but morality.
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The Bah4'ist ethical code is dominated by the law of love taught by Jesus and by all the prophets.
In the thousand and one details of practical life, this law is subject to manifold interpretations.
That of Bahá'u'lláh is unquestionably one of the most comprehensive of these, one of the most exalted, one of the most satisfactory to the modern mind.
That is why Bahá'u'lláh is a severe critic of the patriotism which plays so large a part in the national life of our day. Love of our native land is legitimate, but this love must not be exclusive. A man should love his country more than he loves his house (this is the dogma held by every patriot) ; but Bahá'u'lláh adds that he should love the divine world more than he loves his country. From this standpoint, patriotism is seen to be an intermediate stage on the road of renunciation, an incomplete and hybrid religion, something we have to get beyond. Throughout his life Bahá'u'lláh regarded the ideal universal peace as one of the most important of his aims.
Bahá'u'lláh is in this respect enunciating a novel and fruitful idea.
There is a better way of dealing with social evils than by trying to cure them after they have come to pass. We should try to prevent them by removing their causes, which act on the individual, and especially on the child. Nothing can be more plastic than the nature of the child.
The government's first duty must be to provide for the careful and efficient education of children, remembering that education is something more than instruction. This will be an enormous step towards the solution of the social problem, and to take such a step will be the first task of the Bahá'u'lláh (House of Justice). "It is ordained upon every father to rear his son or his daughter.
by means of the sciences, the arts, and all the commandments; and if any one should neglect to do so, then the members of the council, should the offender be a wealthy man, must levy from him the sum necessary f or the education of his child. When the neglectful parent is poor, the cost of the necessary education must be borne by the council, which will provide a refuge for the unfortunate."
The Baytu~1cAd~1, likewise, must prepare the way for the establishment of universal peace, doing this by organizing courts of arbitration and by influencing the governments.
Long before the Esperantists had begun their campaign, and more than twenty years before Nicholas II had summoned the first Hague congress, Bahá'u'lláh was insisting on the need for a universal language and courts of arbitration. He returns to these matters again and again: ccLet all the nations become one in faith, and let all men be brothers, in order that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men may be strengthened. What harm can there be in that? It is going to happen.
There will be an end to sterile conflicts, to ruinous wars; and the Great Peace will come!" Such were the words of Bahá'u'lláh in 1890, two years before his death.
While adopting and developing the Christian law of love, Bahá'u'lláh rejected the Christian principle of asceticism. He discountenanced the macerations which were a nightmare of the Middle Ages, and whose evil effects persist even in our own days.
Bah~'ism, then, is an ethical system, a system of social morality. But it would be a mistake to regard Bahi'ist teaching as a collection of abstract rules imposed from without.
BaM'ism is permeated with a sane and noble mysticism; nothing could be more firmly rooted in the inner life, more benignly spiritual; nothing could speak more intimately to the soui, in low tones, and as if from within.
Such is the new voice that sounds to us from Asia; such is the new dawn in the East. We should give them our close attention; we should abandon our customary mood of disdainful superiority. Doubtless, Bahá'u'lláh's teaching is not definitive.
The Persian prophet does not offer it to us as such.
Nor can we Europeans assimilate all of it; for modern science leads us to make certain claims in matters of thought � claims we cannot relinquish, claims we should not try to forego.
But even though Bahá'u'lláh's precepts (like those of the Gospels) may not fully satisfy all these intellectual demands, they are rarely in conflict with our scientific outlooks. If they are to become our own spiritual food, they must be supplemented, they must be relived by the religious spirits
Page 334of Europe, must be rethought by minds schooled in the Western mode of thought. But, in its existing form, Bah6'ist teaching may serve, amid our present chaos, to open for us a road leading to solace and to comfort; may restore our confidence in the spiritual destiny of man. It reveals to us how the human mind is in travail; it gives us an inkling of the fact that the greatest happenings of the day are not the ones we were inclined to regard as the most momentous, not the ones which are making the loudest noise.
XII. Da. HENRY II. JESS{JP, D.D.of Religions; Volume II, 13th Day, under Criticism and
Discussion of MissionaryMethods, page 1122. At the Columbian Exposition of 1893, at Chicago. Edited by the Rev. John Henry Barrows, D.D. (The Parliament Publishing Company, Chicago, 1893.) � This, then, is our mission: that we who are made in the image of God should remember that all men are made in God's image.
To this divine knowledge we owe all we are, all we hope for. We are rising gradually toward that image, and we owe to our fellowmen to aid them in returning to it in the Glory of God and the Beauty of Holiness.
It is a celestial privilege and with it comes a high responsibility, from which there is no escape.
In the Palace of Babji, or Delight, lust outside the Fortress of tAkkA, on the Syrian coast, there died a few months since, a famous Persian sage, the Báb Saint, named Bahá'u'lláh � the "Glory of God" � the head of that vast reform party of Persian Muslims, who accept the New Testament as the Word of God and Christ as the Deliverer of men, who regard all nations as one, and all men as brothers. Three years ago he was visited by a Cambridge scholar and gave utterance to sentiments so noble, so Christlike, that we repeat them as our closing words: "Tht 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 religions should cease and differences of race be annulled. What harm is there in this? Yet so it shall be. These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the cMost Great Peace' shall come.
Do not you in Europe need this also? Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind."
XIII. By THE RIGHT HON.Excerpts from Persia, Vol. I, pages 4965 04. ('Written in 1892.) � Beauty and the female sex also lent their consecration to the new creed and the heroism of the lovely but ill-fated poetess of Qazvin, Zarrin-T4j (Crown of Gold) or Qurratu'1-~Ayn (Solace of the Eyes), who, throwing off the veil, carried the missionary torch far and wide, is one of the most affecting episodes in modern history.
The lowest estimate places the present number of Báb's in Persia at half a million. I am disposed to think, from conversations with persons well qualified to judge, that the total is nearer one million. They are to be found in every walk of life, from the ministers and nobles of the Court to the scavenger or the groom, not the least arena of their activity being the Mussulman priesthood itself. It will have been noticed that the movement was initiated by Siyyids, H~tjis and MullAs, i.e., persons who, either by descent, from pious inclination, or by profession, were intimately concerned with the Mubammadan creed; and h is among even the professed votaries of the faith that they continue to make their converts. Quite recently the Báb's have had great success in the camp of another enemy, having secured many proselytes among the Jewish populations of the Persian towns. I hear that during the past year (1891) they are reported to have made 150 Jewish converts in Tihr&n, 100 in Flamad6n, 50 in K6shAn, and 75 per cent of the Jews at Gulpiyig4n.
The two victims, whose names were H4ji Mirza Ijasan and H~ji Mirza Husayn, have been renamed by the B~bis: Su1~nu'sh-Shuhad4', or King of Martyrs, and Mah-b~bu'sh-Shuhad~', or
Beloved of Martyrs �REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 335
and their naked graves in the cemetery have become places of pilgrimage where many a tear is shed over the fate of the "Martyrs of IsfiMn." It is these little incidents, protruding from time to time their ugly features, that prove Persia to be not as yet quite redeemed, and that somewhat staggers the tall-talkers about Ir~nian civilization. If one conclusion more than another has been forced upon our notice by the retrospect in which I have indulged, it is that a sublime and murmuring [?] devotion has been incul � cated by this new faith, whatever it be. There is, I believe, but one instance of a BThi having recanted under pressure of menace of suffering, and he reverted to the faith and was executed within two years. Tales of magnificent heroism illumine the bloodstained pages of Báb history.
Ignorant and unlettered as many of its votaries are, and have been, they are yet prepared to die for their religion, and fires of Smithfield did not kindle a nobler courage than has met and defied the more refined torture-mongers of Tihrin. Of no small account, then, must be the tenets of a creed that can awaken in its followers so rare and beautiful a spirit of self-sacrifice. From the facts that Bibi-ism in its earliest years found itself in con. flict with the civil powers and that an attempt was made by Báb's upon the life of the SMh, it has been wrongly inferred that the movement was political in origin and Nihilist in character.
It does not appear from a study of the writings either of the Báb or his successors, that there is any foundation for such a suspicion. The charge of immorality seems to have arisen partly from the malignant inventions of opponents, partly from the much greater freedom claimed for women by the Báb, which in the oriental mind is scarcely dissociable from profligacy of conduct.
If B~ibiism continues to grow at its present rate of progression, a time may conceivably come when it will oust Muhammadanism from the field in Persia.
Since its recruits are won from the best soldiers of the garrison whom it is attacking, there is greater reason to believe that it may ultimately prevail.
The pure and suffering life of the Báb, his ignominious death, the heroism and martyrdom of his followers, will appeal to many others who can find no similar phenomena in the contemporaneous records of IslAm.
XIV. By SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHTJSBAND.(1923.) � The story of the Bib, as Mirza tAli Muhammad called himself, was the story of spiritual heroism unsurpassed in Svabhava's experience; and his own adventurous soul was fired by it. That a youth of no social influence and no education should, by the simple power of insight, be able to pierce into the heart of things and see the real truth, and then hold on to it with such firmness of conviction and present it with such suasion that he was able to convince men that he was the Messiah and get them to follow him to death itself, was one of those splendid facts in human history that Syab-hava loved to meditate on. This was a true hero whom he would wish to emulate and whose experiences he would profit by. The Mb's passionate sincerity could not be doubted, for he had given his life for his faith. And that there must be something in his message that appealed to men and satisfied their souls, was witnessed to by the fact that thousands gave their lives in his cause and millions now follow him.
If a young man could, in only six years of ministry, by the sincerity of his purpose and the attraction of his personality, so inspire rich and poor, cultured and illiterate, alike, with belief in himself and his doctrines that they would remain staunch, though hunted down and without trial sentenced to death, sawn asunder, strangled, shot, blown from guns; and if men of high position and culture in
Persia, Turkey and Egyptin numbers to this day adhere to his doctrines, his life must be one of those events in the last hundred years which is really worth study. And that study fortunately has been made by the Frenchman Gobineau and by Professor E. G. Browne, so that we are able to have a faithful representation of its main features.
Thus, in oniy his thirtieth year, in the year 1850, ended the heroic career of a true God-man. Of the sincerity of his conviction that he was God-appointed, the manner of his death is the amplest possible proof.
Page 336In the belief that he would thereby save others from the error of their present beliefs he willingly sacrificed his life.
And of his power of attaching men to him, the passionate devotion of hundreds and even thousands of men who gave their lives in his cause is convincing testimony.
He himself was but CC letter out of that most mighty book, a dewdrop from that limitless ocean."
The One to come would reveal all mysteries and all riddles. This was the humility of true insight.
And it has had its effect.His movement has grown and expanded, and it has yet a great future before it. During his six years of ministry, four of which were spent in captivity, he had permeated all Persia with his ideas.
And since his death the movement has spread to Turkey, Egypt, India and even into Europe and America. His adherents are now numbered by millions.
The spirit which pervades them, says Professor Browne, ~tj~ such that it cannot fail to affect most powerfully all subject to its influence."
XV. Excerpt from The Christianat Oxford � tAbdu'1-BaM addressed a large and deeply interested audience at Manchester College, Oxford, on December 31. The Persian leader spoke in his native tongue, Mirza Abmad Sohrab interpreting. Principal Estlin Carpenter presided, and introduced the speaker by saying that they owed the honor and pleasure of meeting ~Abd'1Bh' to their revered friend, Dr. Cheyne, who was deeply interested in the Bahá'í teaching.
The movement sprung up during the middle of the last century in Persia, with the advent of a young Mu1~ammadan who took to himself the title of the Báb (meaning door or gate, through which men could arrive at the knowledge or truth of God), and who commenced teaching in Persia in the year 1844. The purity of his character, the nobility of his words, aroused great enthusiasm. He was, however, subjected to great hostility by the authorities, who secured his arrest and imprisonment, and he was finally executed in 1850. But the movement went on, and the writings of the DAb, which had been copious, were widely read. The movement has been brought into India, Europe, and the United States. It does not seek to create a new sect, but to inspire all sects with a deep fundamental love. The late Dr. Jowett once said to him that he had been so deeply impressed with the teachings and character of the Mb that he thought B6tiisrn, as the present movement was then known, might become the greatest religious movement since the birth of Christ.
XVI. B~r REV. J. TYSSUL DAVIS, B.A. Quotation from A Lea gue of Religions. Excerpts from Chapter X: ctBahAJism~The Religion of Reconciliation." (The Lindsey Press, London,
England.) � The Bahá'íreligion has made its way because it meets the needs of its day. It fits the larger outlook of our time better than the rigid exclusive older faiths.
A characteristic is its unexpected liberality and toleration. It accepts all the great religions as true, and their scriptures as inspired. The Bah&'ists bid the followers of these faiths disentangle from the windings of racial, par-ticularist, local prejudices, the vital, immortal thread, the pure gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element to life. Instances are quoted of people being recommended to work within the older faiths, to remain, vitalizing them upon the principles of the new faith. They cannot fear new facts, new truths as the Creed-defenders must.
They believe in a progressive revelation. They admit the cogency of modern criticism and allow that God is in His nature incomprehensible, but is to be known through
His manifestations. Theirethical ideal is very high and is of the type we 'Westerners have learnt to designate ccChrist~ like."
"What does he do to his enemies that he makes them his friends?" was asked concerning the late leader. What astonishes the student is not anything in the ethics or philosophy of this movement, but the extraordinary response its ideal has awakened in such numbers of people, the powerful influence this standard actually exerts on conduct. It is due to four things: (1) It makes a call on the Heroic Element in man.
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It offers no bribe. It bids men endure, give up, carry the cross. It calls them to sacrifice, to bear torture, to suffer martyrdom, to brave death.
(2) It offers liberty of thong/at. Even upon such a vital question as immortality it will not bind opinion. Its atmosphere is one of trust and hope, not of dogmatic chill.
(3) It is a religion of love. ttNotwithstanding the interminable catalogue of extreme and almost incredible sufferings and privations which this heroic band of men and women have endured � more terrible than many martyrdoms � there is not a trace of resentment or bitterness to be observed among them. One would suppose that they were the most fortunate of the people among whom they live, as indeed they do certainly consider themselves, in that they have been permitted to live near their beloved Lord, beside which they count their sufferings as nothing" (Phelps). Love for the Master, love for the brethren, love for the neighbors, love for the alien, love for all humanity, love for all life, love for God � the old, well-tried way trod once before in Syria, trodden again.
(4) It is a religion in harmony with science.It has here the advantage of being thirteen centuries later than Islirn. This new dispensation has been tried in the furnace, and has not been found wanting. It has been proved valid by the lives of those who have endured all things on its behalf.
Here is something more appealing than its logic and rational philosophy. "To the 'Western observer" (writes Prof.
Browne), "it is the complete sincerity of the Báb's, their fearless disregard of death and torture undergone for the sake of their religion, their certain conviction as to the truth of their faith, their generally admirable conduct toward mankind, especially toward their fellow-believers, which constitute their strongest claim on his attention."
"By their fruits shall ye know them!" We cannot but address to this youthful religion an All Hail!
of welcome. We cannot fail to see in its activity another proof of the living witness in our own day of the working of the sleepless spirit of God in the hearts of men, for He cannot rest, by the necessity of His nature, until He bath made in conscious reality, as in power, the whole world His own.
XVII. By HERBERT PUTNAM.The dominant impression that survives in my memory of tAbdu'1-BaM is that of an extraordinary nobility: physically, in the head so massive yet so finely poised, and the modeling of the features; but spiritually, in the serenity of expression, and the suggestion of grave and responsible meditation in the deeper lines of the face. But there was also, in his complexion, carriage, and expression, an assurance of the complete health which is a requisite of a sane judgment. And when, as in a lighter mood, his featu~es relaxed into the playful, the assurance was added of a sense of humor without which there is no true sense of proportion. I have never met any one concerned with the philosophies of life whose judgment might seem so reliable in matters of practical conduct.
My regret is that my meetings with him were so few and that I could not benefit by a lengthier Contact with a personality coin-bining a dignity so impressive with human traits so engaging.
I wish that he could be multiplied!Translated from a letter to Mine. Isabel Grinevskaya, Oct. 22, 1903.
I am very glad that Mr. V. V. Stassov has told you of the goo.d impression which your book has made on me, and I thank you for sending it. I have known about the Báb's for a long time, and have always been interested in their teachings.
It seems to me that these teachings, as well as all the rationalistic social religious teachings that have arisen lately out of the original teachings of Brahmanism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and IsUm distorted by the priests, have a great future for this very reason that these teachings, discarding all these distorting incrustations that cause division, aspire to unite into one common religion of all mankind.
Therefore, the teachings of the Báb is, inasmuch as they have rejected the old Mu
Page 338h ammadan superstitions and have not established new superstitions which would divide them from other new superstitions (unfor-tunately something of the kind is noticed in the exposition of the Teachings of the Bib), and inasmuch as they keep to the principal fundamental ideas of brotherhood, equality and love, have a great future before them.
In the Mubammadan religion there has been lately going on an intensive spiritual movement.
I know that one such movement is centered in the French colonies in Africa, and has its name (I do not remember it), and its prophet.
Another movement exists in India, Lahore, and also has its prophet and publishes its paper t~Review of
Religions."Both these religious teachings contain nothing new, neither do they have for their principal object a changing of the outlook of the people and thus do not change the relationship between the people, as is the case with B&biism, though not so much in its theory (Teachings of the Bib) as in the practice of life as far as I know it. I therefore sympathize with Bibjism with all my heart inasmuch as it teaches people brotherhood and equality and sacrifice of material life for service to God.
Translated from a letter to Phd ul Khan Wadelbekow.
(This communication is dated 1908 and is found among epistles written to Caucasian Muhammadans.)
In answer to your letter which questions how one should understand the term God. I send you a collection of writings from my literary and reading club, in which some thoughts upon the nature of God are included. in my opinion if we were to free ourselves from all false conception of God we should, whether as Christians or Mu-hainmadans free ourselves entirely from picturing God as a personality. The conception which then seems to me to be the best for meeting the requirements of reason and heart is found in 4th chap. St. John, 71215 that means God is Love. It therefore follows that God lives in us according to the measure or capacity of each soul to express His nature. This thought is implicit more or less clearly in all religions, and therefore in Mu-bammadanism.
Concerning your s~cond question upon what awaits us after death I can only reply that on dying we return to God from whose Life we came. God, however, being Love we can on going over expect God oniy.
Concerning your third question, I answer that so far as I understand Ishm, like all other religions, Brahrnanisrn, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc., it contains great basic truths but that these have become corrupted by superstition, and coarse interpretations and filled with unnecessary legendic descrip-. dons. I have had much help in my researches to get clear upon Mubammadanism by a splendid little book tlhe sayings of Muhammad.'
The teachings of the B~bis which come to us out of IslAm have through Bahá'u'lláh teachings been gradually developed and now present us with the highest and purest form of religious teaching.
XIX. B~ DR. EDMUND ]?RIVAT.The practical and spiritual understanding between nations, the realization of the unity of mankind above all barriers of language and religion, the feeling of responsibility towards all who suffer from grief or injustice, are oniy different branches of the same central teaching which gives the Bahá'í Movement such a faithful and active family of workers in so many countries.
XX. lix' DR. AUGUSTE FOREL.En 1920 seulement j'ai appris h connaitre, ~ Karisruhe, la religion supra-confessionelle et mondiale des Bahá'ís fond6e en Orient par le persan Bahá'u'lláh ii y a 70 ans. C'est la vraie religion du Bien social humain, sans dogmes, ni pr6tres, reliant entre eux touts les hommes sur notre petit globe terreste. ft ntis devenu Baha'i.
XXI. By GENERAL CASELLI.Having been engaged all of his life in the training of me, he does this (i.e., write on the subject of religion) more as a "shepherd of a flock" might do, in hope of persuading
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his friends and brothers to turn spontaneously to the Illumined Path of the Great Revelation.
xxii. By'-rAEDERIcK W.The Enlightener of human minds in respect to their religious foundations and privileges is of ~~ch vital importance that no one is safe who does not stop and listen for its quiet meaning, and is to the mind of men, as the cooling breeze that unseen passes its breath over the varying leaves of a tree. Watch it! And see how uniformly, like an unseen hand passing caressingly over all its leaves: Full of tender care and even in its gifts of iove and greater life: Caresses each leaf. Such it is to one who has seated himself amid the flowers and fruit trees in the Garden Beautiful at tAkk~ just within the circle of that Holy and Blessed shrine where rests the Mortal part of the
Great Enlightener. Hishandiwork is there, you touch the fruit and flowers his hand gave new life's hopes to, and kneeling as I did beside Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Marvelous Manifestation, felt the spirit's immortal love of Him who rests there. While I could not speak the words of the Litany, my soui knew the wondrous meaning, for every word was a word of the soul's language that speaks of the Eternal love and care of the Eternal Father.
So softly and so living were the reflections from his beautiful personality, that one needed not spoken words to be interpreted.
And this Pilgrim came away renewed and refreshed to such a degree, that the hard bands of formalism were replaced by the freedom of love and light that will ever make that sojourn there the prize memory and the Door of revelation never to be closed again, and never becloud the glorious
Truth of Universal Brotherhood.A calm, and glorious influence that claims the heart and whispers to each of the pulsing leaves of the great family in all experiences of life, "Be not afraid, It is I!" � And makes us long to help all the world to know the meaning of those words spoken by The Great Revealer, CCLCt us strive with heart and soul that unity may dwell in the world."
And to catch the greatness of the word "Strive," in quietness and reflection.
XXIII. Thr MR. MILLAR.I was in Chicago for oniy some ten days, yet it would take a hundred chapters to describe all the splendid sights and institutions I was privileged to see. No doubt Chicago has more than its fair share of alien gangsters and gunmen, and the despicable doings of this obnoxious class has badly vitiated its civic life and reputation.
But for all that it is a magnificent city � in many respects probably the finest in America; a city of which its residents have innumerable reasons to be proud.
Every day indeed was filled up with sightseeing and the enjoyment of lavish hospitality.
One day, for example, I was entertained to lunch at the Illinois Athletic Club as the guest of Mr. Robert Black, a prosperous Scot belonging to Wigtonshire, who is in the building trade.
1-Ic is an ex-president of the St. Andrew's Society.
Mr. Falconer and other Scots friends were present, and they were all exceedingly kind and complimentary.
I could not, in short, have been treated with more distinction if I had been a prominent Minister of State instead of a humble Scottish journalist out on a mission of fraternity and good will.
On the same day I met by appointment Mr. Albert R. Windust with whom I went out to see the Baha Temple which is in course of being erected at Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. It is about an hour's ride out on the elevated railway.
Only the foundation and basement have so far been constructed, and the work was meanwhile stopped but, we understand, is now shortly to be resumed. I have no hesitation in saying that when completed this Temple will be one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world. I had the privilege of an introduction to the architect, a Frenchman, M. Bourgeois, who speaks
English fluently. Wespent a considerable time with him in his beautiful studio overlooking the Lake, and he did me the honour of showing me the plans of the Temple, drawings which cost him years of toil, and they are far beyond anything I could have imagined in beauty and spiritual
Page 340significance. M. Bourgeois, who is well advanced in years, is a genius and mystic � a gentleman of charming personality.
In all that I had the pleasure of seeing in his studio I had a privilege that is given to few.
My signature is in his personal book, which contains the names of some of the great ones of the earth! Mr. Windust, who is a leading Bahá'í in the city, is a quiet and humble man, but full of fine ideas and ideals.
He treated me with the utmost brotherly courtesy.How is it, I kept asking myself, that it should be mine to have all this privilege and honour?
There was no reason save that they told me I had touched the chords of truth and sincerity in referring to and reviewing the Bahá'í writings and principles in a few short articles in this Journal. The Temple is designed to represent these principles � universal religion, universal brotherhood, universal education, and the union of science and religion. Meantime the Chicagoans are seemingly indifferent to all its spiritual significance; but some day they will wake up to a realisation of the fact that its symbolism will mark the city as one of destiny in the world.
XXIV. By CHARLES H. PRIST.Humanity is the better, the nobler, for the Bahá'í
Faith. It is a Faiththat enriches the soul; that takes from life its dross.
I am prompted thus to express myself because of what I have seen, what I have heard, what I have read of the results of the Movement founded by the Reverend Bahá'u'lláh.
Embodied within that Movement is the spirit of world brotherhood; that brotherhood that makes for unity of thought and action.
Though not a member of the Bahá'í Faith, I sense its tremendous potency for good. Ever is it helping to usher in the dawn of the day of "Peace on
Earth Good Will to Men."By the spread of its teachings, the Bahá'í Cause is slowly, yet steadily, making the Golden Rule a practical reality.
With the high idealism of Bahá'u'lláh as its guide, the Bahá'í Faith is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Countless are its good works. For example, to the pressing economic problems it gives a new interpretation, a new solution. But above all else it is causing peoples everywhere to realize they are as one, by heart and spirit divinely united.
And so I find joy in paying this little tribute to a cause that is adding to the sweetness, the happiness, the cleanness of life.
XXV. B~r PROF. HARI PRASAD SHASTRI, D. LITT.My contact with the Baha Movement and my acquaintance with its teachings, given by Jja4lrat-i--Bahá'u'lláh, have filled me with real joy, as I see that this Movement, so cosmopolitan in its appeal, and so spiritual in its advocacy of Truth~ is sure to bring peace and joy to the hearts of millions.
Free from metaphysical subtleties, practical in its outlook, above all sectarianism, and based on God, the substratum of the human soul and the phenomenal world, the Bahá'í Movement carries peace and illumination with it. As long as it is kept free from orthodoxy and church-spirit, and above personalities, it will continue to be a blessing to its followers.
XXVI. B-i-SHRI PUROHITI am in entire sympathy with all of the principles that the Bahá'í Movement stands for; there is nothing which is contrary to what I am preaching. I think at this stage of the world such teachings are needed more than anything else.
I find the keynote of the Teachings is the spiritual regeneration of the world.
The world is getting more and more spiritually bankrupt every day, and if it requires anything it requires spiritual life. The Bahá'í Movement stands above all caste, creed and color and is based on pure spiritual unity.
XXVII. B~ SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND.For many years I have been interested in the rise and progress of the Bahá'í Movement.
Its roots go deep down into the past and yet it looks far forward into the future. It realizes and preaches the oneness of man
Page 341Girl students at the Baha Tarbiyat School, Tihr4n, Persia.
Page 342kind. And I have noticed how ardently its followers work for the furtherance of peace and for the general welfare of mankind. God must be with them and their success therefore assured.
XXVIII. B~ Paor. HERBERTThe central drive of the Baha Movement is for human unity. It would secure this through unprejudiced search for truth, making religion conform to scientific discovery and insisting that fundamentally all religions are alike. For the coming of urn-versal peace, there is great foresight and wisdom as to details. Among other things there should be a universal language; so the Bahá'ís take a great interest in Esperanto though they do not insist on it as the ultimate language.
No other religious movement has put so much emphasis on the emancipation and education of women. Everyone should work whether rich or poor and poverty should be abolished. What will be the course of the Báb4'i Movement no one can prophesy, but I think it is no exaggeration to claim that the program is the finest fruit of the religious contribution of Asia.
XXIX. By DR. ATJGTJSTEJ'avais 6crit les lignes qui pr6c~-dent dent en 1912. Que dois-je ajouter aujour-d'hui en aoftt 1921, apr~s les horribles guerres qui viennent de rnettre 1'humanit6 ~t feu et ~ sang, tout en d6voilant plus que jamais 'a terrible ftrocit6 de nos passions haineuses? Rien, sinon que nous devons derneurer d'autant plus ferrnes, d'autant plus in6bran-lables dans notre lute pour ic Bien social. Nos enfants ne doivent pas se d&zourager; us doivent au contraire profiter du chaos mondial actuel pour aider ii 'a p6nible organisation sup6rieure et supranationale de L'humanit4 a 1'aide d'une f6d6ration uni-verselle des peuples.
"En 1920 seulement j'ai appris h con � naitre, ~ Karisruhe, Ia religion supraconfes-sionnelle et mondiale des Bahá'ís fondde en Orient par ic person Bahá'u'lláh ii y a 70 C'est la vraie religion du Bien social humain, sans dogmes, ni pr~tres, reliant entre eux tous les hommes sur notre petit globe terrestre. Je suis devenu Baha'i. Que cette religion vive et prosp&e pour le bien de L'humanit6; (eat fl mon voeu le plus ardent.
(Excerpt from Dr. AugusteXXX. B~r THE Kr. HON. SIR HERBERT SAMUEL, G.C.B., M.P. In John O'London's Weekly, March 25th, 1933.
"It is possible indeed to pick out points of fundamental agreement among all creeds. That is the essential purpose of the Bahá'í Religion, the foundation and growth of which is one of the most striking movements that have proceeded from the East in recent generations."
XXXI. By REV. K. T. CHUNG.ccLast summer upon my return from a visit to Japan, I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Keith Ransoni-Kehier on the boat. It was learnt that this lady is a teacher of the Bahá'í Cause, so we conversed upon various subjects of human life very thoroughly.
It was soon found that what the lady imparted to me came from the source of Truth as I have felt inwardly all along, so I at once realized that the Bahá'í Faith can offer numerous and profound benefits to mankind.
CCMY senior, Mr. Y. S. Tsao, is a well-read man.His mental capacity and deep experience are far above the average man.
He often said that during this period of our country when old beliefs have lost their hold upon the people, it is absolutely necessary to seek a religion of all-embracing Truth which may exert its powerful influence in saving the situation. For the last ten years, he has investigated indefatigably into the teachings of the Bahá'í Cause. Recently, he has completed his translations of the book on the New Era and showed me a copy of the proof. After carefully reading it, I came to the full realization that the Truth as imparted to me by Mrs. Ransom-Kehier is veritable and unshakable.
This Truth of great value to mankind has been eminently translated by Mr. Tsao and now the Chinese people have the opportunity of reading it, and I cannot but express my profound apprecia
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don for the same. Should the Truth of the Bahá'í Faith be widely disseminated among the Chinese people, it will naturally lead to the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Should everybody again exert his efforts towards the extension of this beneficent influence throughout the world, it will then bring about world peace and the gen-ergl welfare of humanity."
(From Rev. K. T. Chung's Preface to the Chinese version of Dr. Esslemont's
Book.)Une des causes principales de la situation actuelle du monde c'est que 1'hurnanit6 est trop en arri6re encore dans son developpe-meat spirituel. Voila pourquoi tout en-seignement qui a pour but ~ eveiller et fortifier la conscience morale et religieuse des hommes est d'une importance capitale pour 1'avenir de notre race. Le Bahaisme est un de ces enseignements.
Ii a ce merite qu'en portant des principes qui sont communs de toutes les grands r6ligions (Ct specialement du christianisme) cherche ~t les adapter aux conditions de Ia vie actuelle et ~i la psy-chologie de 1'homrne moderne.
En outre ii travail pour 1'union des hommes de tout nationalit6 et race dans une conscience morale et rdligieuse commune.
Ii n'a pas Ia prdtention d'&re autant une r6ligion nou-velle qu'un trait d'union entre les grandes r6ligions existants: ce sur quoi ii insiste surtout ce n'est pas d'abandoner la religion ~ Ia queue nous appartennons dej?i
pour en chercher une autre, mais ~t faire une effort pour trouver dans cette meme r6ligion 1'd6-ment qui nous unit aux autres et d'en faire la force d6terminante de notre conduite toute enti6re.
Cet 6l6ment (commun ~ toutes les grandes religions) c'est la conscience que nous sommes avant tout des &tres spirituels, unis dans une m~me entit6 spirituelle dont nous ne sommes que des parties-unies entre cues par 1'attribut fonda-mental de cette entit6 spirituelle � ~t savoir I'amour. Manifester, realiser, dev6lopper chez nous et chez les autres (surtout ches les enf ants) cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle a 1'amour comme son attribut fondarnental c'est la chose principale que nous devons poursuivre avant tout et par toutes les manifestations de notre activit6. C'est en m~me temps he seule moyen par lequel nous pouvons esperer de r6aliser une union toujours grandissant parmi les hommes.
Le Bahaisme est un des enseignernent qui cherche a eveiller chez nous-n'importe ~i queue r6iigion nous appartenons-justement cette conscience de notre nature spirituelle.
Ii y a plus de 20 ans un groupe d'hommes a femmes de diff6rentes nationalit6s et religions, anim6s par le d6sir de travailler pour 1'union des peuples, ont cornrnenc6 ~ publier un journal en esperanto sous le titre (cUniversala Unigo." Le premier article du premier Numero de cc journal 6tait consacr6 au Bahaisme et ~ son fondateur.
Ii mc semble que ce fait est une preuve 6clatante de ce que j~ viens de dire sur le Bahaisme.
XXXIII. B~ Rrv. GRIFFITH J. SPARHAM.In his book "A League of Religions," the Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, formerly minister of the Theistic Church in London, and at present minister of a Unitarian Church in Bristol, England, the writer sets out to demonstrate that each great religious movement in the world has contributed something of peculiar importance to the spiritual life of man. Thus, he says, the great contribution of Zoroastrianisrn has been the thought of Purity; of Brahmanism that of Justice; of Mohammedanism that of Submission; of Christianity that of Service; and so on. In each instance he lays his finger on the one thing par excellence for which the particular religious culture seemed to him to stand, and tries to catch its special contribution in an epigrammatic phrase. Coming, in this way, to Bah&'ism, he names it ~tthe Religion of Reconciliation." In his chapter on Bah~'ism he says: ccThe Bahá'í religion has made its way because it meets the need of the day. It fits the larger outlook of our time, better than the rigid older faiths. A characteristic is its unexpected liberality and tolerance. It accepts all the great religions as true and their scriptures as inspired."
Page 344This, then, as he sees Bah?ism, is its essential features: liberality, toleration, the spirit of reconciliation; and that, not in the sense, as Mr. H. G. Wells has it in his "Soul of a Bishop," of making a ttco1lection~~ of approved portions of the world's varied and differing creeds, but in the sense, as he also puts it in the same book of achieving a great simplification.''
CtBah5~ists~~ says Dr.Davis, "bid the fob lowers of these (that is, the world's) faiths disentangle from the windings of racial, particularist, local prejudices, the vital, immortal thread of the pure gospel of eternal worth, and to apply this essential element to life."
That is Dr. Davis's interpretation of the genius of Bah4'ism, and that it is a true one, no one who has studied Bah?ism, even superficially, can question, least of all the outsider. Indeed one may go further and assert that no one who has studied Bah4'ism, whether superficially or otherwise, would wish to question it; particularly if he approaches the subject from a liberal and unprejudiced point of view. In the last act of his cWandering Jew," Mr. Temple Thurston puts into the mouth of
Matteos, the WanderingJew, himself, the splendid line, (CAll men are Christians � all are Jews." He might equally well have written, "All men are Christians � all are Baha'is." For, if the sense of the Unity of Truth is a predominant characteristic of liberally-minded people, whatever may be their religious tradition, it is predominantly a characteristic of BaM'ism; since here is a religious system based, fundamentally, on the one, simple, profound, comprehensive doctrine of the unity of God, which carries with it, as its necessary corollary and consequence, the parallel doctrine of the unity of Man.
This, at all events, is the conviction of the present writer; and it is why, as a Unitarian, building his own faith on the same basic principles of divine and human unity, he has long felt sympathy with and good will toward a religious culture which stands on a foundation identical with that of the faith he holds. And a religion that affirms the unity of things must of necessity be a religion of reconciliation; the truth of which in the case of BaM'ism is clear.
XXXI V. ERNEST RENAN.Passage tir6 de Renan C!LCS Apdtres, P." Edition Ldvy, Paris, 1866.
INJOTRE si&cle a vu des mouvements religicux tout aussi extraordinaires que ceux d'autrefois, mouvements qui ont provoqud autant d'enthousiasme, qui oat eu d6j~, proportion gard6e, plus de martyrs, a dqnt l'avenir est encore incertain.
Je ne pane pas des Mormons, secte ~i quelques 6gards si sotte et si abjecte que l'on hdsite ~ la prendre au s6rieux.
II est instructif, cependant, de voir en plein 1 9~me si&le des milliers d'hommes de notre race vivant dans le miracle, croyant avec une foi aveugle des merveilles qu'ils disent avoir vues et touches. Ii y a d6j~ toute une litt6rature pour montrer 1'accord du mormonisme et de Ia science; cc qui vaut mieux, cette religion, fond6e sur de niaises impostures, a su accomplir des prodiges de patience a d'abn6gation; dans cinq cents ans des docteurs prouveront sa divinit~ par les merveilles de son 6tablissement.
Le Babisme, en Perse, a 6t6 un ph6nom~nc autrement considdrable. Un homme doux et sans aucune pr6tention, une sorte de Spinoza modeste et pieux, s'est vu, presque malgrd lui, dev6 an rang de thaumaturge d'incarna-tion divine, et est devenu ic chef d'une secte nombreuse, ardente et fanatique, qui a failli amener une r6volution comparable ~ celle de l'Islam. Des milliers de martyrs soni accourus pour lui avec l'all6gresse au-devant de Ia mort.
Un jour sans pareil peut-&tre dans 1'historie du monde fut celui de la grande boucherie qui se fit des Báb's, ~ T6-h6ran. "On vit cc jour-h dans les rues a les bazars de T6hdran, dit un narrateur qui a tout su d'original, un spectacle que Ta population semble devoir n'oublier jamais. Quand Ia conversation encore aujourd'hui se met sur cette mati&e, on peut juger Fad � miration mel6e d'horreur que la foule dprouve et que les ann6es n'ont pas diminuce. On vit s'avancer entre les bourreaux des en-fants et des femmes ics chairs ouvertes sur tout le corps, avec des m&hes allum6es, flam-bantes, fich6es dans les blessures. On trainait les victimes par des cordes et on les faisait marcher ~ coups de fouet. Enfant et femmes s'avan~aient en chantant un verset qui din
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En v6rit6 nous venons de Dieu et nous re-tournons h Lui. Leurs voix s'devaient, &latantes, au-dessus du silence profond de la foule. Quand un des supplici6s tombait et qu'on le faisait relever ~ coups de fouct ou de bajonnette, pour peu que Ia perte de son sang qui ruisselait sur tous ses membres lui laiss&t encore un peu de force, ii se mettait ~t danser a criait avec un surcroit d'en-thousiasme: (CEn v6rit6 nous sommes ~ Dicu et nous retournons ~t lui." Quciques-uns des enf ants expir~rent pendant le trajet; les bourreaux jettrent leurs corps sous les pieds de leurs p&es et de leurs soeurs, qui march&-ent fi&ement dessus et ne leur donn&ent pas deux regards. Quand on arriva au lieu d'ex6cution, on proposa encore aux victimes La vie pour leur abjuration. Un bourreau imagina de dire ~i un p~re que, s'il ne c&lait pas, ii couperait Ia gorge ~ ses deux fils sur sa poitrine.
C'&aient deux petits gar~ons dont l'aYn6 avait 14 ans et qui, rouges de leur sang, les chairs calcin6ss, 6coutaient froidernent le dialogue; le p~re r6pondit, en se couchant par terre, qu'il 6tait pr& et 1'ain6 des enfants, r&lamant avec emporte-ment son droit de'ainesse, demanda ~ ~tre 6gorg~ le premier. (I) Enfin tout fut achev6. La nuit tomba sur un amas de chairs in-formes; les t&tes 6taient attach6es en paquets au potent justicier et les chiens des faubourgs se dirigeaient par troupes de ce c5t& Cela se passait en 1852.
La secte de Moz-dak sous Chosro~s Nousch fut ~touff6e dans un pareil bain de sang. Le ddvouement absolu est pour les nations naYves La plus exquise des jouissances et une sorte de besoin.
Dans 1'affaire des BaNs, on vit des gens qui 6taient ~ peine de La secte, venir se d6noncer eux-m~mes afin qu'on les adjoignir aux patients. Ii est si doux ~ 1'homme de sufirir pour quelque chose, que dans bien des cas 1'app&t du martyre suflit pour faire croire.
Un disciple qui fat le compagnon de sup-puce du Bab, suspendu ii cOt6 de lui aux remparts de Tabriz et attendant la mort, (I) Un autre d6tail que je tiens de source premi&re est celui-ci: Quciques sectaires, qu'on voulait amener ~ r6tractation, furent attach~s ~ la gucule tie canons amorc~s d'une m&che longue a brtdant lentement. On leur proposait de couper la m&che, s'ils reniajent le Bab. Eux, les bras tendus vers le �eu, le suppliaient de se h&ter et tie venir bien vite consommer leuer bonheur.
n'avait qu'un mot ?~ la bouche "Es � tu content de moi, maitre?".
XXXV. hr HON. LILIAN HELEN MONTAGUE, J.P., D.H.L. As a Jewess I am interested in the Bahá'í Community.
The teaching lays particular stress on the Unity of God and the Unity of Man, and incorporates the doctrine of the Hebrew Prophets that the Unity of God is revealed in the Unity of men. Also, we seem to share the conception of God's messengers as being those people who in their deep reverence for the attributes of God, His beauty, His truth, His righteousness and His justice, seek to imitate Him in their imperfect human way. The light of God is reflected in the soui of him who seeks to be receptive. Like the members of the Bahá'í community, we Jews are scattered all over the world, but united in a spiritual brotherhood. The Peace ideal enumerated by the Hebrew Prophets is founded on faith in the ultimate triumph of God's justice and righteousness.
XXXVI. By NORMAN BENTWICH.From rCPalestine,~~ p. 235 � ttPalestine may indeed be now regarded as the land not of three but of four faiths, because the Bahá'í creed, which has its center of faith and pilgrimage in Acre and Haifa, is attaining to the character of a world-religion.
So far as its influence goes in the land, it is a factor making for international and inrerreligious understanding." (From !rPa1CSIinC,~~ by Norman Bentwich, p. 235.)
XXXVII. By E~xwr SCHRETBER.Trois proph&es. Alors que Le marxisme sovi6tique proclame le matdrialisme historique, alors que les jeunes g6n6rations sionistes sont 6galement de plus en pius indiffdrentes aux croyances 6tablies, une nouvelle religion est n6e en Orient, et doctrine prend, dans les circonstances actu-elles, un int6rdt d'autant pius grand que, s'6cartant du domaine purement philo-sophique, elk pr&onise en 6conomie politique
Page 346C.~) Bahá'ís gathered at the laying of the cornerstone of the I~Jaziratu'1-Quds (Bahá'í Headquarters), Tihr~n, Persia.
Page 347REFERENCES TO THE BAHÁ'Í FAITH 347
des solutions qui coincident curieusemcnt avec les pr6occupations de notre 6poque.
Cette religion, de plus, est par essence anti-raciste.
Elle est n~e en Perse, vers 1840, et les trois prophates successifs qui Pont pra-ch6e sont des Persans, c'est-~-dire des musul-mans de naissance.
Le premier, le cr6ateur, s'appelait le Bab. Ii pr&ha vers 1850, et pr6conisa, outre La r6conciliation des diff6rents cultes qui divi-sent 1'humanit6, la lib6ration de la femme, r~duite aujourd'hui encore un quasi escia-vage clans tout 1'Islam.
Une Persane d'une rare beaut6, et qui, chose rare chez les inusulmanes, 6tait dou6e d'un grand talent oratoire, r6pondant nom diflicile ~ prononcer de Qourratou � 'l'Am, 1'accompagna dans ses r6unions, n'h&i-tant pas, en donnant e11e-rn~me 1'exeinple, ~ pr6coniser la suppression du voile pour les femmes.
Le B&b et elle r6ussirent ~ convaincre, a l'6poque, des dizaines de milliers de Persans et he shah de Perse les emprisonna 1'un et 1'autre, ainsi que La plupart de leurs partisans. Le BTh fut pendu. Sa belle collaboratrice fut 6trangl6e dans sa prison. Leurs disciples furent exil6s ~i Saint-Jean-d'Acre, devenue, aujourd'hui, yule palestinienne. C'est lit que i'ai visit6 la maison du successeur du B&b, Bahá'u'lláh, transform6e aujourd'hui en temple du CCBh~ e
Page 398communities whether their Convention resolution had borne fruit. The answer came in this message, cabled by Mrs. Ransom-Keller on September 1 0: "Petition unanswered."
The grief and disappointment caused by this outcome of her mission, magnified by exhaustion resulting from self-sacrificing effort to meet every opportunity to visit and address Bahá'í gatherings in Persia, reduced Mrs. Ransom-Kehier's strength to such a degree that on October 23, 1933, while at 1sf ih~n, this consecrated follower of Bahá'u'lláh fell victim to small pox and succumbed within a few brief hours.
This grievous event was announced in Bahá'í News of November, 1933, as follows: ccOn October 27, 1933, the Spiritual Assembly of Tihr~n, Persia, cabled the startling news that
Mrs. K~ith Ransom-Kehierhad passed into the spiritual Kingdom. With burning hearts the Persian Bahá'ís conveyed their grief at this mysterious culmination of our sister's special mission in the land of the birth of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh.
"The beloved Guardianon October 30 dispatched this message: tKeith's precious life offered up in sacrifice to beloved
Cause in Bahá'u'lláh'snative land. On Persian soil, for Persia's sake, she encountered, challenged and fought the forces of darkness with high distinction, indomitable will, unswerving, exemplary loyalty. The mass of her helpless Persian brethren mourns the sudden loss of their valiant emancipator.
American believers grateful and proud of the memory of their first and distinguished martyr. Sorrow stricken, I lament my earthly separation from an invaluable collaborator, an unfailing counsellor, an esteemed and faithful friend. I urge the Local Assemblies befittingly to organize memorial gatherings in memory of one whose international services entitled her to an eminent rank among the Hands of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh.'
(Signed) Shoghi."A message from the American Consul at Tihr&n, communicated through the Secretary of State, brought the information that Keith had passed on at I~fTh~n on October 23.
ttWith the approval ofnearest relative, a message was cabled to the Tihr~n Assembly asking that burial be arranged at Isf&hin under Bahá'í auspices, and stating that the American Assembly will construct a permanent memorial.
CCShog1~i Effendi, on November 3, sent this message: tlnstructed 1sf AlAn Assembly to inter Keith in the vicinity of the grave of Sultanushushuada, surnamed by Bahá'u'lláh ttKing of Martyrs."
"The detailed reports which our beloved sister has during the past year sent from TihrAn, to convey information on the result of her mission, as the representative of the American believers chosen by the Guardian, to secure from the Persian Government the lifting of the ban on entry of Baha literature and also removal of the difficulties and hardships placed upon the Persian Baha'is, form one of the precious and important historical records of the Cause.
A summary of these reports will be published in Bahá'í News next month.
"Local Spiritual Assembliesand groups are requested to arrange memorial meetings in accordance with the Guardian's wish."
The papers of New York and other cities reported in detail the news of the death of this American citizen in Persia. The following statement was published in the "New York
American" on October28, 1933: c�r\jrs Keith Ransom-Kehier, who spent the last year in Teheran, Persia, as representative of the
American National Bahá'íAssembly, died in that city on October 25, it was reported in a cable received yesterday by the Assembly from the secretary of the Teheran Bahá'í community.
ttln August, 1932, Mrs. Ransom-Kehier, after two years' travel in China, Japan and India as a Bahá'í teacher, went to Persia on a special mission to represent the American Bahá'ís in appealing to the Shah's government for removal of the ban on entry of Bab4'i literature into the country of the origin of the world religion established by Bahá'u'lláh nearly seventy years ago.
"From the Court Minister,received assurance that the prohibition, passed under the former r6gime while the Muhammedan clergy were at the height of their power, would be rescinded.
ttThis promise was, however, unfulfilled, and Mrs. Keith Ransom-Keller devoted the remaining months of her life to the task of penetrating the imperial entourage and pre
Page 399Grave of the Su1t~nu'sh-Shuhad~ (King of Martyrs), near which Keith Ransom-Kehier was buried.
399senting to the Shah in person a formal petition prepared by the American Bahá'í Assembly on behalf of the sixty Bahá'í communities of the United States and Canada.
ccThe American Bahá'ís will erect in Teheran (correctly I~fih&n) a memorial to commemorate the work of Mrs. Ransom-Kehier, the second American Bahá'í to die in Persia while serving the cause of unity and international peace."
That memorial, we may be assured, will in future be visited by innumerable Bahá'ís of West and East as a shrine marking the physical interment of a pure and valiant Baha spirit who, not in vain, sacrificed its earthly existence for the sake of the believers in that land.
The above statement has been prepared in reverent acknowledgment of Mrs. Ransom-Kebler's mighty services to the Bahá'í Faith, that the worldwide community of believers may know what has been done to this date in effort to assist in bringing about freedom and security for the Bahá'ís of Persia.
II.Your Majesty, In a matter of vital importance to a vast number of people, I took the liberty, a few weeks ago, of invoking Your Majesty's assistance.
Your Majesty's ForeignOffice has given me information so strange, so inconsistent and out of keeping with Your Majesty's recognized policies that before making this interview public it seemed only wise and just to inform Your Majesty of its tenor.
For that reason I summarized its main points and submitted them for approval to Your Majesty before dispatching this news to the world.
Having as yet received no reply from the Throne I am now, with humble supplication, presenting my full report to Your Majesty hoping and praying that Your Majesty will indicate your good-pleasure in this matter, since I have nothing in mind but the satisfaction and approval of Your Just and Gracious
Majesty.Assembly of the Bahá'ís is of the United States and Canada, an officially incorporated body, is now pressing me for further information cdrvcerning their petition. This petition has already been granted by a then-accredited Minister of the Crown.
They are therefore at a loss to understand why the question involved in their petition remains in its former status.
Since this is a matter of international import may I again, very beseechingly, request Your Majesty to give me an authentic answer concerning the enclosed report.
Relying on Your Majesty'sgrace Very respectfully, (Sgd.) KEITH RANSOM-KEHLER.
To:Dear Bahá'í friends: My delay in submitting this report is due to my having summarized it in a petition to His Imperial Majesty requesting that He consent to affirm its accuracy.
You are already too familiar with my experience of last summer when a then-accredited Minister of the Crown gave me a firm and solemn assurance that has since been entirely disregarded and that now seems to be invalid. In order to avoid the repetition of sending wrong or inaccurate information around the world a second time it seemed to me more fitting to ascertain the authenticity of what I am about to set forth.
His Majesty not having seen fit to reply to my supplication on the one hand, and your request for further information on the other, now necessitate the following response.
With the sanction of the a-Minister ofCourt, as already reported, I sent for some Bahá'í books. When they were examined by the Customs authorities I was denied the right to receive them.
Astonished and perplexed I at once wrote the former Minister to inquire why his definite and unqualified promise was being disregarded.
There was no response to my inquiry and very shortly thereafter he was dismissed.
You can imagine my concern to find that all of our efforts, hopes and past assurance have proven valueless and that the matter of the circulation of our literature is in a worse condition today in this advanced rdgime than it was some years ago, when there was no ban against it. I confess that my ingenuity is becoming more and more taxed to understand this violent opposition, on the part of certain Ministers and those in political posts, to our Faith. Like the intelligentsia in every land today, many educated Persians regard religion as a matter of minor consideration, except a negligible percentage who still display a forma1 loyalty to hUm. The daughter of a Persian in the diplomatic service, whom I met abroad, answered when asked her religious allegiance, ctLe Lion et le Soleil," (the ancient symbol of
Persia).Here are the Bahá'ís scattered round the world, protecting the prestige and advancing the interests of Persia; making of every Bahá'í convert an adherent of Persia's state religion, Islam; Persian Baha'is, like all others scrupulously refraining from any political activity; serving with honesty and zeal in administrative posts; loyally supporting the progressive policies of the Government; what more could a politician ask?
Of course if they want us to say that the Qa'im has not come thirty thousand Baha'is, with joy and valor, have looked upon death as a less formidable alternative.
Perhaps a reason for this resentment is beecause we of other lands have widely and easily succeeded in making friends for
Persia where Persiansthemselves have been iess successful; perhaps it is the mediaeval reflex that still grips the minds of those emerging from the dark night of Persia's ignorance and fanaticism into the Shining Era of Pahievi; perhaps the larger, richer, fuller outlook on life given in the Bahá'í teachings causes instinctive stinctive dread on the part of generations constrained through dogmatism and repressed by hereditary conservatism. Whatever the reason, we see the amazing phenomenon of those both in and out of Persia who are devoting themselves to her advancement, persecuted, dispossessed and reviled, by Persians.
One of the most intelligent and well-informed men in Persia is Mr. Mohammed Au Khan Furuqi, former Persian Secretary to the League of Nations and now Foreign Minister.
Of his great ability there is not the slightest doubt. I have heard a rumor to the effect that his father supported the claim of Yahya, brother of Bahá'u'lláh, called Subhi Ezel, and, though this group is now practically extinct, the few remaining Ezelis are still animated by their only raison d'Ftres, that of opposing, thwarting and persecuting the Baha to the extent of their capacity.
The first rigid exclusion of our literature was when Mirza Puruqi was
Minister of Finance. Ifour information be correct, from him probably emanated this suggestion that was enacted by the Council.
At the interview which I am about to discuss, his Secretary for America informed me that this practice has now become so firmly entrenched that even the Shah Himself (who, perhaps as a matter of routine, signed this decree when President of the Council) is now helpless to reverse it, for fear of an uprising. Naturally the Secretary did not state it that way; he merely said that to remove this ban would cause internal disorder; but there is no other logical inference that can be deduced from his admission. When we recall the brilliant and spectacular manner in which His Majesty with astounding intrepidity, and no untoward results, changed many of the age-old customs of this country we are, of course, constrained to conclude that this regulation, supposedly devised by the present Foreign Minister and superimposed in the midst of the vicious and corrupt conditions of the past, now constitutes a law so powerful that even a new and advanced dynasty is forced to respect it. However, I will discuss this further in its proper place. It is certainly shocking enough, wherever it is discussed that members of His Majesty's
Coyeminent should, with perfect candor, give out such discreditable information to f or-cigners. It is well that such an astonishing admission of Persia's weakness should have been made to a friend and lover of Persia who thoroughly disbelieves and denies it, instead of to an enemy.
The Minister of Postsand Telegraph was kind enough to grant me an interview and treated me with the utmost courtesy and respect. I was filled with gratitude for the consideration which he showed me. The Per-suns are unriyalled for suavity, courtesy and hospitality. But on two occasions he has denied the use of the public telegraph for Bahá'í communications; one a death message, when the Tibrin Assembly wished to inform Persian Bahá'ís of the ascension of the
Greatest Holy Leaf.So you see that these Ministers, most vitally concerned in the question of Baha publications and printing, are not cordially disposed toward the Cause.
Having twice importuned the Shahanshah for an audience, so that there could be no mistake as to His intentions and desire, I was summoned after sonic weeks to the Foreign Office. On that very day I was seized with a violent attack of sciatica and was unable to touch my foot to the floor f or more than a week. Finally when I was up and about again an appointment was made for me, after office hours to avoid interruptions.
I was very fortunate in having the matter handled by the Secretary for American Affairs, Mr. Shayesteli, a gentleman of much affability and sincere kindliness who extended to me the greatest courtesy. Mr. Assadi was my interpreter. Being a Columbia University MA. he was admirable for this work.
How strange the ways of God, that I, a poor, feelAe, old woman from the distant West, should be pleading for liberty and justice in the land of Bahá'u'lláh, who has given to the world its most advanced standards of humanitarianism and enlightenment.
After the interchange of usual compliments, I introduced the subject by speaking of the love and loyalty which the Bahá'ís of the world entertain toward Persia.
As is customary in such cases the gentleman spoke of the friendly relations between Persia and America, and of how much Persia appreciated these sentiments on the part of the West. I hastened, as I always do on such occasions which are constantly recurring, (for it does not suit the purposes of official Persia to admit the vital and valuable service which the Bahá'ís everywhere are rendering to this land), I hastened to inform him that to the bulk of our hundred and thirty millions Persia is a mere name � just another Oriental country; while the money contributed for schools, hospitals and the like represents to the American churchgoer no definite love for this country, since the donor is un~- I k ~ 7'F 'r� 'J ~ more9 Emblazon Across a mystic Portal those ev-er-]ast-ingwords,Iam the Door.
What Mas ter Mind conceived those gatesof spleli dor ~ 4 4 1W � . ~. ~ I ~ I,~. ~ � ~ I I I I I I
~ Slo~vtyI I Nine gold en doors en-cir cling 'round a bout t That it should be a ~ *.~wK4~rw I I, I L � K K I I. I I Dtiwn-ii{g place of prais es Claim -ing the true, the faithful and de - ,, ,, ID ID ~ :0I~UET vout. Here God is One! as er- of the
Page 680'ibm pie ie InThee wetrusL...andthe iskin all world � 2 I I I � I.. I I I '�~ 'it-'I~'~.
~ I I I H NJ F~I I flIJ 4~ ~ 4W~4~.
Thus by Mo-hamMoses and byBud-dha ~ ~ � ~ ~ v:v.~-i~i~ I � I.. [� I I I 'I I j w. ~ let the By every cup that I I l~ii�It: ill ~ 4 frees from srn F' and sor row nr ye tribes and nations and I I I be blest Here each have life be-ie i I t I i I i i I I 4 ~4 �~ ~i I'. r ~ I~: K~ ~ v~. ~ I I I I � � t) � � � ~ ~ ~ neafh it he~1-ing shTI-ow Atyl tb~ God ma4e th~ 'Ibm-pIe of His ~ k,~ ~ ~ VK I~ ~ ~
Page 681"I ________________________________ ,w w . w. A. L I ,~I. a � u I � . I r r strang or fn this des -ert drear~ His most ho ly foot prints tray oiled at God's high coni -mand, Teaoh big Ba -h~s pre -cepts ~ ~� ~.
atempo in r I I y I r v fol low with out fear. He will guide and keep thee; ~!ve to Him thy tbru out eai~th's broaAi land. Steps grow wid er, deep er, all in blest ac - -Iitaempof mpof ~ v~ - � � , �1 r r r hand, Our dear MaR ter leads us thru earth'~toiI-some sand.
cord, As we near the Ring -dom, fol -low-ing our
Lord.Int.rn.tional Copy~igM Scvur0dCo~'right MCMXXXI by Nina Benedict Matthiseu All RIghtS Re~.erv.d
Page 68201. I ' � : I I .1 � � K I '1~ � Mo-ses,Bnd-dha, Je sus came to savo mau-kind Prom-iseA Ba ha's Ya Ba-h~i -u'I- Ab h~4 lead us thin the ,night, Thin earth's lone ly
V1 1421 ~ I� w. I ~it I � . I r L I I corn -ing, toour earth so blind. Prop bets all fore4old it, jour -ney, safeto God's great light. Lord! ThoD art no strang er, er, Pu I I K L � . L � .~
IrkGod's un :fail -ing plan, His great glo-ryguides us, blessing ev -'ry n~v er- more we'll roam; For Thy love will guide us to our beav'n-ly ) D.S. man.
home./ Lo! An gel ic ic 4K~ 'F F hosts tri urn rn -phant t Nowsur round oneve ry ry side And in that heaven ly ly strains are spread -ing ing
Peaceand love ~ ~ ~ p I A" I V I, Copyright MCMXXX by Louise R.W~ite, Hollywood, Calif..
Page 684will abide Hark! the heaven ly con~-course sing ing fI si I I I Joy -ous prais es to their King Lift your Voj0 es t~J.L now and join them And loves Ben e -dic dic -tion sing I I I I i'm I. V. hr ri
I I I I' IAnd loves Ben e -dic ic -tion sing: �
Page 685ECHOES FROM THE SPHERES 685
TEMPLE SONG.� I. K I j I U U p �~� �w � The Tern-pie to our Gb -rious King C~i rise a lone through love, And A Tern-pie or true u ni ty Where. in all na -tions meet, And With in this Tern-pie's might y walls His spir it e'er will be, And ~ ~ ~ F ~ ~ ~ 42 6 I I I as we built it let US send, Up to His throne a -bove, A wer-ship Gad and Him a lone, Iii pray'r and com-inune sweet. A chant ed there the songs of love, The songs of u ni ty. And - ~': ~': I I I I I ng to wa ken � ev -'ry heart Md spread Bweet har~ mon y; A Tern-pie to the liv ing God Who hears our ev -'ry call, The ev -'ry heart tha�' is in tune With His great, by ng heart,WIII 1� br love A of Kings and Lord of Lords And Fa u ty song tri -uniph ant clear and strong, King ther of us all. The be with in this Tern-pie fair An ev er- last -ing part. Will F � .1 I I �,. I ~
E~ Jj Lf ~song tri -umph- ant, clear and strong, (X love and u ni ty. King of Ki~gs and Lord of Lords, And Fa -ther of us all.
be with in this Tern-pie fair An ev er -I~at ing part.
IThen come and build a Tern pie great. Now 'f&2tnalx, I � I King of Love, For Love alone is King. F~ar Love a lone is I ~I I k I I I .~. W�4~ I I I II ~ .~.j�
I~�1 I II1 a Great day looked of for,
"I God,Iong Thyday ~dawn or we Might do and pro
~ PowjKnow ledge and of .7-.~ ~ -7..-un un 1 1 ~ty and known o~r all the splendor
Thyshall shine a a a -tionHath given en a new day of rec love, love, Soon re-sur-Day,whenGod,the tioti,Of Fa earth,
-ther~ Andbright in all its to His whole cre-c1aii'~.Greatday c1aii'~.Greatday na -tionShall EW1~5 ~P when praiseHisho-lyname%3reat ev -'ry Lig)ii, clouds -sti ti now now be-dimsightGreat No of per.tionCan ou~ su I . I I ' I I I I '~i~ 1 I I I I I i I I ' I j I I I I k Great Day of the unveiling
Of Truth~ Deepmysteries, When every hidden secret Of earth and sky and seas, In all their wondrous beauty, To man shall be revealed; Nor can an act or motive By man now be concealed.
Great Day of God,AIIglorious; Great Day of Peace,so blest; The thought of Thee brings gladnes8, And dilates every breast.
Great Day of one religion, When all are understood; One faith in Life Eternal, One God, one Brotherhood.
Page 688wondrous drous His glo -rio~is ris en, Go Sun has teU to tid He He the joy -ings: ngs: His aus ame and King.. ong dwellt a. us, with rings from shore to ev ry doubt suc birds the trees the r�:~~~ ech o of His in all pain and Love embraced ~11 .r~rr ~ darkness to show the per-feet it is, ~uid x~ho 80 ev er King-dam we praise Thy Ho ly ly more, prais es The come' now sor Wher pow'rs, row, His and na, ture th~ :I~. w�.w�wIU' r~*~ shore, He came to banish ish cun-ib,
Es -tablish'dhereai I I I I t k I I ~' I day' way. This is the ra -diant diant morn -ing of' the mill-en en -nia~ nia~ will" en ter love di aad peace his heart' May Name;Thyin, and ~1o-rious-vine Ii till.
h ris -ight ight t en, its Jrnir:;jw;ei ~�
Page 689Tell the won-droua sto ry, Tell it near and far He hascome as promised He thePrinceof Peace f� F F Of the loving Father.
Of BA-HX-'VL LAMver Come in might an power nd all strife must cease He has come in tell it That all men may Know Now has come Gods Kingdom glo ry Dark ness now must flee Fa -ther of all na-*lons On this earth below. low. II IlTell thewondrous story it near and We will teU of Thee 'III
-.IIriA~ 114 J 4 4
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Page 700"Sing this melody in all gatherings of Love and Harmony of' the beloved of God.
Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas.kve flQW hover r oe'r us As a dove with out-streehed wings .j J ,j ~ J .~i .1.~
' p 'While peace tAiat flows a round us To His each heart sweet comfort brings ii' M I I j II now receive His spi-nt And May its rad-jance shed a far we I gzllarp.~ ,~ Now here in Love a bid- ing In the realms and of EL-AB HA.
Page 701A 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 CAbdu~1~Bah~.
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 Bahá'í
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 eAbdui~Bahd.
The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.Address of 'Abdu'l-Bahá delivered at Bahá'í Convention, Chicago, 1912.
The Structure of the Bahá'í Temple.Address delivered by tAbdu~1Bah~ at the Dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Grounds, May, 1912.
The Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of tlshq&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.
Bahá'í Groups.Section One � List One: Bahá'í Publications of America.
704Section 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.
Section 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 Persian alphabet.
PART FOURIntroduction to The Promulgation of Universal Peace.
Poem � ttA Prayer."The Bahá'í 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 Israclitish Assembly of Bahá'ís of Tihr~n, Persia.
InterRacial Amity.Appendix � Tablet to America revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
Bahá'í Persecutions in Persia � An Appeal to His Imperial Majesty Ri~U Shih Pahiavi.
Appendix One � Summary of Bahá'í Teachings.Appendix Two � Excerpts from Letters of Bahá'u'lláh to the SuIt~n of Turkey and the Sh&h of Persia.
Appendix Three � Words of tAbdu'1-BaIA concerning Persia.
Page 706Bahá'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 TWO1. Presentday Administration of the Bahá'í Faith.
2. Excerpts from the Will and Testament of eAbdu~lBghd.
3. The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.
4. Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly.
5. Excerpts from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi.
6. Text of Bahá'í application for civil recognition by the Palestine Administration.
7. Facsimile of Bahá'í marriage certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Persia and Egypt.
Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.Green Acre and the Bahá'í Ideal of Interracial Amity.
References to the Bahá'í Faith.The Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House in Baglid6d before the League of Nations.
Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney.2. Alphabetical List of Bahá'í Books and Pamphlets.
3. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Non-BaM'i works.
4. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines.
Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with guide to the transliteration and pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature.
706Bahá'u'lláh's Divine Economy: a Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh: A Reflection, by EL Townsend.
Abdu'l-Bahá'í Visit to Woking, England.Impressions of Haifa, by Alaine Locke, A.B., Ph.D. The World Vision of a Savant, by Dr. Auguste Henri Forel.
The Cultural Principles of the Bahá'í Movement, by Dr. Ernst Kliemke.
The Relation of the Mb to the Traditions of IslAm, by Wanden Mathews LaFarge.
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.
tAbdu'1-BahA and the Rabbi, by Willard P. Hatch.Some Experiences Among the Poor in Brazil, by Leonora Holsapple.
A Trip to Tahiti, by Louise Bosch.I. Bahá'u'lláh: The Voice of Religious Reconciliation.
II. Aims and Purposes of the Bahá'í Faith.Ill. Martyrdom of the B&b (From Nabil's Narrative).
IV. Survey of Current Bahá'í Activities in the East and West.
V. Excerpts from Bahá'í Sacred Writings.2. Excerpts from the Will and Testament of rAbdu~l~Bahd.
3. The Spirit and Form of Bahá'í Administration.4. Declaration of Trust by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
5. Certificate of Incorporation by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
6. Documents related to the incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada as a recognized d Religious Society in Palestine.
7. 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.9. Facsimile of Bahá'í Marriage Certificates adopted and enforced by the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Persia and of
Egypt.10. Facsimile of the Certificate of the United States Federal Government to the Declaration of Trust entered into by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
11. 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.
12. Facsimile of the Certificate of Incorporation, The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the City of New York.
7082. Architecture Expressing the Renewal of Religion.
3. God-intoxicated Architecture.9. The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar.
III. References to the Bahá'í Faith.IV. Further Developments in the Case of Bahá'u'lláh's House: Extracts from the Minutes of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations.
1. Minutes of the Sixteenth Session: November 1929.
2. Minutes of the Nineteenth Session: November 1930.
3. Minutes of the Twentieth Session: June 193 1.5. Minutes of the Twenty-first Session: November 1931.
6. Extracts from the Report to the Council of the League of Nations.
/. Bahá'í Calendar and Festivals.2. Bahá'í Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting.
3. Additional Material gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding ing the Bahá'í Calendar.
4. Historical Data gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) regarding
Bahá'u'lláh.VI. Short History of the International Bahá'í Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland.
VII. In Memoriam.3. Officers and Committees of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada.
4. Local Bahá'í Spiritual Assemblies and Groups in the United States and
Canada.6. Address of Centers of Bahá'í Administrative Divisions in Persia.
7. List of the Báb's bestknown works.14. Bahá'í Literature in Braille (for the Blind).
15. Bahá'í Periodicals.16. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Books by non-Bahá'í Authors.
17. References to the Bahá'í Faith in Magazines by non � Bahá'í 'Writers.
Page 711III. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Bahá'í Literature with Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet.
IV. Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Bahá'í Literature. Glossary.
PART FOURI. The Goal of a New World Order: A Letter of Shoghi Effendi.
II. The Way of the Master, by G. Townshcnd.III. Italy and the Bahá'í Cause, by General Renato Piola Caselli.
IV. The World Economy of Bahá'u'lláh, by Horace' Holley.
V. Education as a Source of Good Will, by President Bayard Dodge.
VI. Unity through Diversity: A Bahá'í Principle, by Akin Locke, A.B., Ph.D. VII. A Short Chronicle of tAbdu'1-Bahá'í Visit to London, 19111912, by Lady
Blomfield.VIII. Professor Auguste Forel and the Bábi'i Teaching, by Stanwood Cobb.
IX. A Tribute from Dr. Edmond Privat.XI. The First Fruits of Victory, by Keith Ransom-Keller.
XII. Where Is the Key to World Unity, by Louise Drake Wright.
XIII. A Visit to Baha, by Nancy Bowditch.XVI. Appreciations of the Bahá'í Movement, by Martha L. Root.
XVII. The Supreme Affliction, by Alfred B Lunt.XVIII. The Bahá'í Movement and North American University Circles, by Martha L.
Root.XIX. Bahá'í Ideals of Education, by Stanwood Cobb.
XX. Man and Mankind on the Way of Progress, by Lydj a Zamenhof.
XXI. The Epidemic of the Persian Jews, by A. J. Wienberg.
XXII. The Younger Generation, by Mardiyyih Nabil Carpenter.
XXIII. Light on Basic Unity, by Louis G. Gregory.
XXIV. The Bahá'í Movement in Japan, by Tokujiro Toni.
XXV. Science and Religion, compiled by Loulie A. Mathews.
XXVI. A Bahá'í Traveler in Palestine, by Walter B. Guy, M.D. XXVII. Dr. David Starr Jordan, by Willard P. Hatch.
Song-offerings.