Not formatted or fully proofread. See http://bahai-library.com/usnsa_bahai_world_12 ---------- [p1] THE BAHA'I WORLD 107, 108, 109 AND 110 OF THE BAHA'I ERA 19501954 A.D. [p2] The Sepulcher of the B‡b on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel. [p3] THE BAHA'I WORLD A BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL RECORD Prepared under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States with the approval of Shoghi Effendi VOLUME XII 107, 108, 109 AND 110 OF THE BAHA'I ERA APRIL 19501954 A.D. ~ BAHAI BAHA'I PUBLISHING TRUST Wilmette, Illinois [p4] © Copyright 1956, by National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Reprinted 1981 N 0 T E: The spelling of the Oriental words and proper names used in this issue of THE BA1~X'f WORLD is according to the system of transliteration established at one of the International Oriental Congresses. Library of Congress Catalogue Card No. 275882 Printed in the United States of America [p5] SHOGHI EFFENDI Guardian of the Baha'i Faith this work is dedicated in the hope that it will assist his efforts to promote that spiritual unity underlying and anticipating the "Most Great Peace" of BAHA'U'LLAH [p6] [p7] CONTENTS PART ONE PAGE I. Aims and Purposes of the Baha'i Faith 1 II.International Survey of Current Baha'i Activities 19 III. Excerpts from the Baha'i Sacred Writings: 1. Words of Baha'u'llah 71 2. Words of the B~b 85 3. Words of 'Abdu'l-Baha 98 IV. The Centenary Celebrations of the Birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah, 1953 115 1. The Guardian's Announcement and Messages115 2.The African Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Kampala, Uganda, February, 1953 121 3.The All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Chicago, ago, U.S.A., April Ñ May, 1953 133 4.The European Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Stockholm, olm, Sweden, Juiy, 1953 167 5.The Asian Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in New Delhi, India, October, 1953 178 V. The Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab 18501950 189 1. Baha'u'llah's Tribute to the Bab 189 2. 'Abdu'l-Baha's Tribute to the Bab 191 3.The Guardian's Message for the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the 191 4. The Station of the Bab 193 5. The Execution of the BTh 196 6.International Observance of the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab 205 7.The Martyr Prophet of a World Faith, by William B. Sears 208 8. Pilgrimage to the Scenes of the Bab's Captivity and Martyrdom, by Dhikru'llAh KhAdem 217 9. A Century of World Crisis 18501950, by Dr. G. A. Borgese 226 10. Der 100. Jalirestag des Opfertodes des Bib, by Dr. Eugen Schmidt 230 VI. The Completion of the Construction of the Sepulcher of the B~b in the Holy Land, 1953 235 1. Entombment of the BTh's Remains on Mt. Carmel 235 2. Announcements by the Guardian 238 3.An Account of the Preparatory Work in Italy, by Dr. Ugo R. Giachery 240 4.Reports on the Construction of the Arcade, by Ben D. Weeden 246 VII. The Inauguration of the World Baha'i Crusade 19531963 253 1. Announcement by the Guardian 253 2.Ten-Year International Baha'i Teaching and Consolidation Plan 19531963 1963 256 3. Maps of the Ten-Year Plan Inside Front Cover 4. Chart of the Ten-Year Plan Inside Front Cover 5. Chart showing the Expansion of the Faith 275 PART TWO I. The World Order of Baha'u'llah 279 1. Present Day Administration of the Baha'i Faith 279 vii [p8] viii CONTENTS PAGE The Formation of an Organic Religious Community, by Horace Holley 279 A Procedure for the Conduct of a Local Spiritual Assembly 295 The Institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, by Horace Halley 300 A Procedure for the Conduct of the Annual Baha Convention 304 The NonPolitical Character of the Baha Faith 306 Concerning Membership in Non-B ah4'i Religious Organizations 313 Baha'is and Military Service 316 Interpretation of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha 318 Excerpts from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi 321 Important Messages from Shoghi Effendi 19501954 337 The Process of International Consolidation 373 Appointment of the Hands of the Cause of God 374 Formation of the International Baha'i Council 378 2.Documentation of the Baha'i Administrative Order 391 Certificate of Declaration of Trust of the National Spiritual Assembly ly of the Baha'is of the United States 392 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Baha'is of the United States 393 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Baha'is of Persia 401 Declaration and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Ba1A'is of Germany and Austria 407 Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly y of the Baha'is of 'hAq 416 Constitution of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America 423 Certificate of Registration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America 431 Certificate of Registration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America 433 ByLaws of a Local Spiritual Assembly 435 Certificate of Registration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P6kistTh and Burma, Delhi, India 439 Certificate of Registration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, Pttkist~tn and Burma, Rangoon, Burma 440 Certificate of Registration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P~kisLin and Burma, Lahore, P6tist4n 441 Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand 442 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Maywood, Illinois 445 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the BaJA'is of Houston, Texas 447 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Eliot, Maine 450 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Fresno, California 453 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of San Diego, California 459 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Sacramento, California 463 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Glendale, California 467 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Fort Wayne, Indiana 472 [p9] CONTENTS ix PAGE Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tucson, Arizona 475 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Ba1A'is of Oak Park, Illinois 476 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Nashville, Tennessee 479 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Greenwich, Connecticut 483 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Reno, Nevada 485 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Grand Rapids, Michigan 488 Certilicate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Surat, India 490 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Jalna, Hyderabad (Decean), India 491 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Kamarhati, India 492 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mysore, India 493 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Singapore 494 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Montevideo, Uruguay 495 Certificate of Incorporation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Quito, Ecuador 496 Baha Marriage Certificate Adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly bly of the Baha'is of the United States 497 Marriage Certificate issued by the State of Idaho 498 Marriage Certificate issued by the State of Michigan 499 Marriage Certificate issued by the State of New York 500 Marriage Certificate issued by the Territory of Hawaii 501 Marriage Certificate issued by the Territory of Alaska 502 Marriage Certificate issued by the State of New Mexico 503 Letter from the Board of Education of Prince George's County, Maryland, excusing Baha'i Children from School Attendance on Baha'i Holy Days 504 Letter from Superintendent of Schools, Wilmington, Delaware, excusing ing Baha'i Children from School Attendance on Baha'i Holy Days 505 Communications between the Government of Liberia and the Baha'i Pioneers, authorizing the Teaching of the Faith in the Republic of Liberia, and exempting Goods consigned to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Monrovia from Customs Fees 506 Certificate of Exemption from Registration granted to the Baha'i Community of Kenya in connection with Emergency Laws regarding ing Public Meeting 508 Deed of Transfer of the Botton Property at Yerrinbool, N.S.W., Australia, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand, for a Summer School 509 Certificate of Transfer of Title of the Hyde Dunn Baha'i School Property in Auckland, New Zealand, to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand 311 Certificate of Incorporation of the Baha'i School in Green Acre, Eliot, Maine, under the name "Green Acre Baha'i Institute," entitled led to hold property 512 [p10] x CONTENTS PAGE 3. The Institution of the Ma~briqu'I-AcThk5r515 Foreword 515 The Spiritual Significance of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar 517 Passages Regarding the Temple in America, taken from God Passes By 521 The Baha'i House of Worship 524 Architecture of the Temple Interior, by Robert W. McLaughlin 528 Structural Features of the Interior of the Baha'i House of Worship, by Edwin H. Eardley 529 Completing the Interior Ornamentation of the Baha'i House of Worship, by Alfred P. Shaw, Architect532 Interior Ornamentation of the Baha'i House of Worship, by Allen B. McDaniel and Paul E. Haney 533 Landscape Plan of the Baha'i House of Worship by Hubert Dali 540 Baha'i Temple of Light, by Harold Lejendecker 542 Unveiling the Model of the Temple to be constructed on Mount Carmel, Address by Charles Mason Remey547 4. Baha'i Calendar, Festivals and Dates of Historic Significance 551 Foreword 551 Baha'i Feasts, Anniversaries and Days of Fasting 551 Baha'i Holy Days on Which Work Should be Suspended 552 Additional Material Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) Regarding ng the Baha'i Calendar 552 Historical Data Gleaned from Nabil's Narrative (Vol. II) Regarding Baha'u'llah 556 Dates of Historic Significance During the First One Hundred and Ten Years of the Baha'i Faith 559 5. Youth Activities Throughout the Baha'i World 562 Around the World with BaWi'i Youth 562 Report of International Baha'i Youth Activity for the Year 19521953, 53, compiled by Dwight Allen 586 6. The Baha'i Faith and the United Nations 597 Baha'i Relationship with United Nations597 United Nations Informed of the Baha'i Concept of Worship 598 Prayer Card Issued with Compliments of United Nations Committee of the Baha'i International Community599 Report of Baha'i Activities in relation to the United Nations 19471954, 54, by Mildred Mottahedeb 601 II. Appreciations of the Baha'i Faith 617 1. Dowager Queen Marie of Rumania 618 2. Prof. E. G. Brewne, M.A., M.B., Cambridge University 620 3. Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter, D.Litt., Manchester College, Oxford 622 4. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, fl.Litt., DIII., Oxford University 623 5. Prof. Arminius Vamb6ry, Hungarian Academy of Pesth 623 6. Sir Valentine Chirol 624 7. Harry Charles Lukach 625 8. Prof. Jowett, Oxford University 625 9. Alfred W. Martin, Society for Ethical Culture, New York 625 10. Prof. James Darmesteter, Scole des Hautes ttudes, Paris 626 11. Charles Baudouin 626 12. Dr. Henry II. Jessup, D.D 628 13. Right Hon. The Earl Curzon of Kedleston 629 14. Sir Francis Younghusband, K.C.S.J., K.C.J.E 630 15. The Christian Commonwealth, Anonymous 631 16. Rev. J. Tyssul Davis, B.A 631 [p11] CONTENTS xi PAGE 17.Herbert Putnam, Congressional Library, Washington, D.C 632 18. Leo Tolstoy 632 19. Dr. Edmund Privat, University of Geneva 633 20. Dr. Auguste Forel, University of Zurich 634 21. General Renato Piola Caselli 634 22. Rev. Frederick W. Oakes 634 23. Renwick J. G. Millar, Editor of John O'Groat Journal, Scotland 634 24. Charles H. Prisk 635 25. Prof. Han Prasad Shastri, D.Litt 635 26. Shri Purohit Swami 636 27. Prof. Herbert A. Miller, Bryn Mawr College 636 28. Viscount Herbert Samuel, G.C.B., M.P 636 29. Rev. K. T. Chung 637 30. Prof. Dimitry Kazarov, University of Sofia, Bulgaria 638 31. Rev. Griffith I. Sparham 638 32. Ernest Renan 639 33. The Hon. Lilian Helen Montague, J.P., D.H.L 640 34. Prof. Norman Bentwich, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 640 35. Smile Schreiber, Publicist 641 36. Helen Keller 643 37. Dr. Rokuichiro Masujima, Doyen of Jurisprudence of Japan 643 38. Sir Flinders Petrie, Archaeologist 644 39.Former President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia 644 40. Archduchess Anton of Austria 644 41. Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons 644 42. H.R.H. Princess Olga of Yugoslavia 644 43. Eugen Relgis 644 44. Arthur Henderson 645 45. Prof. Dr. V. Lesny 645 46.Princess Marie Antoinette de Brogue Aussenac 645 47.David Starr Jordan, Late President, Leland Stanford University 646 48. Prof. ]3ogdan Popovitch, University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia 646 49. Ex-Governor William Suizer of New York 646 50. Luther Burbank 646 51. Prof. Yone Noguchi 646 52. Prof. Raymond Frank Piper 646 53. Angela Morgan 646 54. Arthur Moore 646 55. Prof. Dr. Jan Rypka, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia 647 56. A. L. M. Nicolas 647 57. President Eduard Bene~ of Czechoslovakia 647 58. Sir Ronald Storrs, K.C.M.G., C.B.E 647 59. Col. Raja Jai Prithvi Bahadur Singh, Raja of Bajang (Nepal) 649 60.Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 650 61. Right Hon. M. R. Jayakar, Privy Councillor, London 651 62. Prof. Benoy Kumar Sarkar, M.A., Ph.D 651 63. Sarojinu Naidu 651 64. Jules Bois 651 65. The late Sir John Martin Harvey, D.Litt 652 66. Dr. Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury 653 67. Arnold I. Toynbee, Hon. D.Litt. Oxon 653 68. Sir A. Ramaswami Mudaliar, K.C.S.I 653 69. Dr. Rhagavan Das 654 70. S. Eitrem, University of Oslo, Norway 654 71. Dr. G. W. Carver 654 72. George N. Mayhew, Dean, School of Religion, Vanderbilt University 654 73. Kenneth Walker, F.R.C.S., F.I.C.S 655 [p12] xii CONTENTS PACE 74. Prof. Joseph Klausner, Jerusalem, Israel655 75. Prof. Francesco Gabrieli, University of Rome 655 76. Dr. G. A. Borgese, Professor of Italian Literature, University of Chicago cago 655 77. Prof. Raffaele Pettazzoni, Professor of the History of Religion, University ersity of Rome 656 78. Dr. Marshall Wingfield, D.D., Litt.D 656 79. Sir Alfred Zimmern, Switzerland 656 III. In Memoriam William Sutherland Maxwell 657 Roy C. Wilhelm 662 Siegfried Schopifocher 664 Louis Gregory 666 Dorothy Baker 670 Marion Jack 674 Edward B. Kinney 677 Dr. Youness Afrukhtih 679 Ella Goodall Cooper 681 Dr. Sulaym6n Berjis 684 Ella Bailey 685 Maria B. Joas 688 Nuri'd-Din Fath 'Azam 690 H6Ji Muhammad T6~hir Malmiri 692 Johanna Schubartli 694 Florence George 697 Philip Goddard Sprague 698 Nellie Stevison French 699 Dagmar Dole 701 Florence Breed Khan 703 Bahram Rawh4ni 705 Louise Bosch 705 Florence Morton 708 Ra1~m~.n Kulayni Mamaq4ni 710 'Abdu'1 Hussein Yazdi 711 Charles Kennedy 711 L. W. Eggleston 712 PART THREE I. Baha'i Directory 19531954 717 1. International Baha'i Council 717 2. Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies 717 3. Countries opened to the Baha'i Faith 719 Abyssinia 719 Aden Protectorate 719 AcThirbiyjAn 719 Afgh4nisttn 719 A1~sa 719 Alaska 719 Aleutian Islands 719 Algeria 719 Andaman Is 719 Andorra 719 Angola 719 Argentina 719 [p13] CONTENTS xiii PAGE Armenia 719 Ashanti Protectorate 719 Australia 719 Australian New Guinea 719 Austria 719 Azores 719 Bahama Is 719 Baljrayn Is 719 Balearic Is 719 Balhchist4n 719 Baranof J 719 Basutoland 719 Bechuanaland 719 Belgian Congo 719 Belgium 719 Bermuda 719 Bismarck Archipelago 719 Bolivia 719 Borneo 719 Brazil 719 British Cameroons 719 British Guiana 719 British Honduras 719 British Somaliland 719 British Togoland 719 Brunei 719 Bulgaria 719 Burma 719 Canada 719 canary Is 719 Cape ]3reton I 719 Cape Verde Is 719 Caroline Is 719 Ceylon 719 Channel Is 719 Chile 719 Chilo6 ~ 719 China 719 Colombia 719 Cook Is 719 Corsica 719 Costa Rica 719 Crete 719 Cuba 719 Cyprus 719 Czechoslovakia 719 Daman 719 Denmark 719 Diul 719 Dominican Republic 719 Dutch Guiana 719 Dutch New Guinea 719 Dutch West Indies 719 Ecuador 719 Egypt 719 Eire 719 El Salvador 719 [p14] XIV CONTENTS PAGE Eritrea 719 Falkiand Is 719 Faroe Is 719 Fiji Is 719 Finland 719 Formosa 719 France 719 Franklin 719 French Cameroons 719 French Equatorial Africa 719 French Guiana 719 French Morocco 719 French Somaliland 719 French Togoland 719 French West Africa 719 Frisian Is 719 Galapagos Is 719 Gambia 719 Georgia 719 Germany 719 Gilbert and Ellice Is 719 Goa 719 Gold Coast 719 Grand Manan I 719 Great Britain 719 Greece 719 Greenland 719 Guatemala 719 Hadliramaut 719 Haiti 719 Hawaiian Is 719 Hebrides Is 720 IjlJaZ 720 Holland 720 Honduras 720 Hong Kong 720 Hungary 720 Iceland 720 India 720 IndoChina 720 Indonesia 720 Iraq 720 Israel 720 Italian Somaliland 720 Italy 720 Jamaica 720 Japan 720 Jordan 720 Juan Fernandez Is 720 Karikal 720 Keewatin 720 Kenya 720 Key West 720 Kodiak I 720 Korea 720 Koweit 720 Kuria-Muria Is 720 [p15] CONTENTS xv PM3E Labrador 720 Lebanon 720 Leeward Is 720 Liberia 720 Libya 720 Liechtenstein 720 Lofoten Is 720 Luxembourg 720 Macao ~ 720 Mackenzie 720 Madagascar 720 Madeira Is 720 Magdalen Is 720 Mah6 720 Malaya 720 Malta 720 Manchuria 720 Margarita I 720 Mariana Is 720 Marquesas Is 720 Martinique 720 Mauritius 720 Mentawai Is 720 Mexico 720 Miquelon I. and St. Pierre I 720 Monaco 720 Morocco (mt. Zone) 720 Mozambique 720 Nepal 720 New Caledonia 720 Newfoundland 720 New Hebrides Is 720 New Zealand 720 Nicaragua 720 Nigeria 720 Northern Territories Protectorate 720 North Rhodesia 720 Norway 720 Nyasaland 720 Orkney Is 720 P~tkist~n 720 Panama 720 Paraguay 720 Persia 720 Peru 720 Philippine Is 720 Poland 720 Pondicherry 720 Portugal 720 Portuguese Guinea 720 Puerto Rico 720 Qatar 720 Queen Charlotte Is 720 Reunion I 720 Rhodes 720 Rio de Oro 720 Ruanda-Urundi 720 [p16] xvi CONTENTS PAGE Russian S.F.S.R 720 Samoa Is 720 San Marino 720 Sarawak 720 Sardinia 720 Saudi Arabia 720 Seychelles 720 Shetland Is 720 Siam 720 Sicily 720 Sierra Leone 720 Sikkim 720 Society Is 720 Solomon Is 720 South Africa 720 South Rhodesia 720 South West Africa 720 Spain 720 Spanish Morocco 720 Spanish Sahara 720 Siidin 720 Swaziland 720 Sweden 720 Switzerland 720 Syria 720 Tanganyika 720 Tasmania 720 Tonga Is 720 Trucial Sheiks 720 Tuamotu Archipelago 720 Tunisia 720 Turkey 721 Turkmenistan 721 Uganda 721 'Ummgn 721 United States of America 721 Uruguay 721 Venezuela 721 Windward Is 721 Yemen 721 Yugoslavia 721 Yukon 721 Zanzibar 721 Zululand 721 4. Local Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies, Groups, and Localities where Isolated d Baha'is Reside in the United States of America 19531954 721 5. Directory of Assemblies, Groups, and Isolated Baha'is in Administrative Divisions in Persia 19531954 744 6. Directory of Localities where Baha'is Reside under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, PAkistAn and Burma 19531954 753 7. Directory of Localities where Baha'is Reside under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of Central and South America 19531954 757 8. Directory of Localities in Australia and New Zealand where Baha'is Reside 19531954 763 [p17] CONTENTS xvii PAGE 9. Directory of Localities in the Dominion of Canada where Baha'is Reside 19531954 765 10. Directory of Localities in the British Isles where Baha'is Reside 19531954 767 11. Directory of Localities in Germany and Austria where Baha'is Reside 19531954 769 12. Directory of Localities in Egypt and the Sfidan where Baha Reside 19531954 772 13. Directory of Localities where Baha'is Reside under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Ir6q 19531954 773 14. Directory of Localities in Italy and Switzerland where Baha'is Reside 19531954 '774 II. Baha Bibliography 775 1. Baha'u'llah's BestKnown Writings 775 2. The B&b's BestKnown Works 776 3. Baha'i Publications of the United States of America in print 777 a. Writings of Baha'u'llah 777 b. Writings of the BTh 777 c. Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha 777 d. Works Compiled from Writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha 778 e.Works Compiled from Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha 779 f.Works Compiled from Writings of Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi 779 g. Writings of Shoghi Effendi 779 li. Writings on the Baha'i Faith 780 1. Baha'i Reprints 782 j. Pamphlets 782 k. Phonograph Records 784 1.Outlines and Guides for Baha'i Study Classes 784 m. Children's Courses 785 n. Baha'i Literature in Foreign Languages 786 o. The Baha'i World 786 p. Periodicals 788 3A. Baha Publications of the United States of America that are out of print 788 4. Baha'i Publications of Great Britain in print 796 a. Writings of Baha'u'llah 796 b. Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha 796 c.Works Compiled from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha 796 d. Writings of Shoghi Effendi 796 e.Compilations from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi 796 f. Writings on the Baha'i Faith 796 g. Baha'i Literature in Pamphlet Form 797 h.Outlines and Guides for Baha Study Classes 797 1. Baha'i Literature in Foreign Languages 797 4A. Baha'i Publications of Great Britain that are out of print 798 5. Baha'i Publications of Burma, India, PAkistAn and Princely States in English (Publications in other languages spoken in India, Burma, Ceylon and P~jkistin listed elsewhere under name of language) 800 6. Baha'i Publications in Albanian 801 7. Baha'i Publications in Bulgarian 801 8. Baha'i Publications in Croatian 801 9. Baha'i Publications in Czech 802 10. Baha'i Publications in Danish 802 [p18] xviii CONTENTS PAGE 11. Baha'i Publications in Dutch 802 12. Baha'i Publications in Esperanto 803 13. Baha'i Publications in Finnish 805 14. Baha Publications in French 805 15. Baha'i Publications in German in print 807 15A. Baha'i Publications in German that are out of print 808 16. Baha'i Publications in Greek 812 17. Baha'i Publications in Hungarian 812 18. Baha'i Publications in Icelandic 812 19. Baha'i Publications in Italian 812 20. Baha'i Publications in Maori 813 21. Baha'i Publications in Norwegian 813 22. Baha Publications in Polish 814 23. Baha'i Publications in Portuguese 814 24. Baha'i Publications in Rumanian 815 25. Baha'i Publications in Russian 815 26. Baha'i Publications in Serbian 816 27. Baha'i Publications in Slovak 816 28. Baha Publications in Spanish 816 29. Baki'i Publications in Swedish 818 30. Baha'i Publications in Welsh 818 31. Baha'i Publications in Oriental Languages818 Abyssinian (Amliaric) 818 Arabic 818 Armenian 819 Assamese 819 Bengali 819 Burmese 819 Chin 821 Chinese 821 Gujarati 821 Gurmukhi 821 Hebrew 821 }{indi 821 Japanese 821 Kanarese 821 Kashmiri 821 Kurdish 821 Malayalam 821 Marathi 821 Nepalese 822 Oriya 822 Panjabi 822 Pashto 822 Persian 822 Rajasthani 825 Sindhi 825 Singhalese 825 Tamil 825 Tartar 825 Telugu 826 Turkish 826 Urdu 826 32. BaWt'i Publications in African Languages 827 Acholi 827 Adanwe 827 Ateso 827 [p19] CONTENTS xix PAGE ChiNyanja 827 Ewe 827 Hausa 827 Igho 827 KiKikuyu 827 KiSwahili 827 Luganda 827 Mende 827 Twi 827 Yoruba 827 33. Languages into which Baha'i Literature is being translated 827 34. Baha'i Literature for the Blind 828 35. Baha'i Periodicals 830 36. References to the Baha'i Faith in Books and Pamphlets published under nonBahA'i Auspices 830 37. References to the Baha Faith in Magazines by non-Bahtt'i Authors 845 38.References to the Ba1A'i Faith by Baha'is in non-Bah~t'i Publications 852 39.References to the Baha'i Faith in Encyclopedias and Reference Books 852 III. Transliteration of Oriental Words frequently used in Baha'i Literature 855 Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet 857 Notes on the Pronunciation of Persian Words857 IV.Definitions of Oriental Terms used in Baha'i Literature 859 PART FOUR I. Articles and Reviews: 1. The Sufferings of Baha'u'llah and Their Significance, by George Townshend, M.A 865 2. The God Who Walks with Men, by Horace Holley 868 3. Educating for Progress, by Stanwood Cobb 872 4. The Prison City of 'Akka, by William Sears 877 5. A Century of Spiritual Revival, by Dr. W. Kenneth Christian 883 6.The Kingdom of God on Earth, by Marion Hofman 886 7.The Call of the Martyrs, by George Townshend 892 8. The Path to God, by Dorothy Baker 894 9.An Italian Scientist Extols the BTh, by Ugo Giachery 900 10.The Baha'i Faith and World Government, by David Earl 904 11.The Birth of World Religion, by Reginald King 910 12.Teaching Among the American Indians, by Rex King 914 13. In the Presence of 'Abdu'l-Baha, by Ella Quant 917 14. The Baha'i Faith in Backward Africa, by Dunduzu Chisiza 921 15. Black Sunlight, by William and Marguerite Sears 925 16. The Baha'i Faith, reprinted from India & Israel 932 II.Verse 935 III.Music 947 IV. Maps and Charts of Baha'i Communities Around the World, 19501954: Australia and New Zealand 989 The British Isles 990 Canada 991 Central America 992 Germany and Austria 993 India, P~kisfftn and Burma 994 South America 995 Map of Greenland Showing Localities where Baha'i Literature has been sent 996 [p20] xx CONTENTS PAOE The United States of America Inside Back Cover The Baha'i World: Localities Where Baha'is ResideInside Back Cover Map of the Baha'i World Showing Countries where Baha'is Reside Inside Back Cover Note: Maps and Chart of the Ten-Year Plan (Part I, Section VII) Inside Front Cover [p21] ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The Sepulcher of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel Frontispiece Corner room of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah beneath the floor of which His remains are buried 3 Entrance to the Holy Tomb of Baha'u'llah at Babji, Israel 3 Views of the garden surrounding the Shrine of Baha'u'llah 4 Monumental path leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, Baha, Israel 5 View of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah from the air 6 Aerial view of the Uaram-i-Aqdas Panoramic view of newly developed garden of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Baha'i, Israel 89 View of the curved path in the Shrine Gardens at Baha'i 11 View of the monumental path leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, showing the main entrance gate at the end 12 View of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, seen through the Collins gate 13 Main gate leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Baha'i, Israel, gift of Hand of the Cause, Mrs. Amelia Collins, and named after her 15 The new garden in front of the Mansion at Baha'i Shrine of the Bib, Haifa, Israel. Twelve thousand gilded tiles cover the Dome in a fish scale pattern 18 Shrine of the BTh on Mt. Carmel. Beyond the Shrine can be seen the city of Haifa, the harbor, the bay of 'Akka, the hills of the Lebanon 21 Shrine of the Bab, as seen from the slopes of Mt. Carmel 23 Shrine of the Martyr Prophet of the Baha'i Faith, completed October, 1953 27 Aerial view of the Shrine of the Bab, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel 33 Night view of the Sepulcher of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, showing terraces and gardens 34 Circular cluster of cypress trees, visited by Baha'u'llah, from which He indicated the present site of the Shrine of the Bab and stated that His remains must be brought from Persia and placed there 36 Manesmann pipes placed, prior to erection, within recently cast reinforced con crete work which constitutes support for the superstructure of the Bab's Shrine 39 Erection of the cement ceiling of the octagon of the Shrine 39 One of the completed pinnacles of the octagon, March, 1952 39 A corner of the B&b's Shrine with two pinnacles of the octagon completed and the wrought-iron gilded railing in position 43 Finishing the molds for beams of the great "star" foundation 46 The great star-shaped reinforced concrete foundation of the octagon 47 Octagon of the Shrine seen from the mountainside and showing one iron railing in place, March, 1952 73 Scaffolding around the drum and dome of the Bib's Shrine, June, 1953 73 First golden tiles laid on the dome of the BTh's Shrine. Beneath the tile on the right a piece of plaster from the prison room occupied by the Bab in Mtih-Kii was imbedded by the Guardian on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission 77 Raising the bell of the lantern of the dome of the Bab's Shrine 80 The crown of the dome 81 The completed lantern on the dome of the Shrine of the Bab 84 xxi [p22] xxii ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE The B~b was imprisoned while in Tabriz 1848 in this now crumbling prison room of the old brick Ark 87 The BTh's remains lie in state in His Holy Sepulcher on Mt. Carmel, 1953 87 View of the Shrine of the 13gb, in the heart of Carmel 94 Baha'i properties on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel 95 View of one of the paths in the gardens surrounding the resting place of the Greatest est Holy Leaf, Haifa, Israel 99 Hands of the Cause of God 108114 Baha'is attending First Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conference, in Kampala, Uganda, Africa, February, 1953 facing 118 Hands of the Cause attending First Intercontinental Baha'i Conference in Kampala, ala, Uganda, Africa, February 1218, 1953 120 Group of pioneers to Africa attending First Intercontinental Teaching Conference at Kampala, Uganda, February, 1953 123 African choir at Kampala Conference public meeting, singing "Lord, I want to be a Baha'i with all my heart" 126 Leroy loas greeting African Baha'is on behalf of the Guardian, Kampala, Uganda, Africa, February, 1953 129 Baha'i All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference, Chicago, Illinois, May 36, 1953 facing 134 Ri1~iyyih KjAnum presenting the Guardian's Message of Dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, May 2, 1953 142 Baha'is gathered in the House of Worship, Wilmette, at Dedication 145 Abdu'l-Baha RtiWyyih Kh5num receiving the Baha'is at reception given in her honor at the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference, Chicago, Illinois, May 4,1953 147 Baha'is attending the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference who had met 'Abdu'l-Baha 148 American Indian Baha'is at the All-America Intercontinental Conference, Chicago, ago, Illinois, May, 1953 160 Baha from thirty countries attending the Third Baha Intercontinental Teach ing Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2 126, 1953 following 166 Unity Banquet commemorating the Jubilee Year, held during the Third Intercontinental ntal Conference in the Golden Room of the Town Hall, Stockholm, Sweden, July 25, 1953 preceding167 Hands of the Cause of God present at the Third Intercontinental Teaching Conference, nce, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2126, 1953 169 Volunteer pioneers for the Ten-Year Global Crusade, Third Baha'i Intercontinental tal Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, July, 1953 174 Participants at the Fourth Baha Intercontinental Teaching Conference, New Delhi, India, October 615, 1953 facing182 The President of the Union of India, Dr. Shri Rajendra Prasad, with members of Baha delegation received in his official residence during Asian Intercontinental tal Conference, New Delhi 185 Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President of India, with members of Baha'i delegation, New Delhi, October 5, 1953 185 Public reception held during Fourth Ba1A'i Intercontinental Teaching Conference, New Delhi, India, October, 1953 187 Sketch of the eight-pointed star foundation for the octagon of the Shrine of the Bib, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel 245 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, elected April, 1953 281 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia, elected April, 1951 283 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles, 1953 284 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria for the Year 110 (19531954) 286 [p23] ILLUSTRATIONS xxiii PAGE National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada, 19531954 287 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand, Year 110 (19531954) 288 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P6kist4n and Burma, 19521953 1953 and 19531954 291 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Sfid~n, 19501951 292 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq, 19531954 293 First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America, Mexico and the Antilles, elected April, 1951 301 First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of South America, elected April, 1951 302 First Italo-Swiss Baha'i National Spiritual Assembly, 19531954 303 Forty-Third Annual Convention of the Baha'is of the United States, Wilmette, Illinois, April 28 Ñ May 1, 1951 facing306 Delegates to the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Baha'is of Persia, at the Ija4ratu'1-Quds, Iihr~n, April 27 Ñ May 3, 1951 310 Baha'is of the British Isles, Convention, Year 110, London 322 Baha'is attending National Convention of Baha'is of Germany and Austria, held in newly erected Ijaziratu'1-Quds, April, 1951 325 Australian and New Zealand Baha'is gathered at the Ua4ratu'1-Quds, Sydney, for Jubilee Year Convention and First Pacific School, 1953 332 Canadian National Baha'i Convention, Toronto, April 2930, 1953 338339 Delegates and friends at Twenty-Fourth Annual Baha'i Convention and Jubilee week celebration, New Delhi, April 26 Ñ May 2, 1953 342 Delegates to National Convention of Baha'is of Egypt and Shd6n, 1950, attended for first time by a delegate from the Sid6n347 Baha'is attending First National Baha Convention of South America, Lima, Peru, April, 1951 352 Reception, South American National Baha'i Convention, Lima, Peru, 1953 355 Baha'i delegates and visiting Baha'is attending First Baha'i Convention of Central America, Mexico and the Antilles, Panama City, April 2224, 1951 359 Baha'is attending First Italo-Swiss Baha'i Convention, Florence, Italy, April 2327, 1953 362 Baha'i Temple. A Temple for man's worship of God516 View of the Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, February, 1953 520 Interior of dome of the Baha House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois 531 Interior view of the Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois 535 Interior ornamentation of Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, as seen from second gallery 537 Model of landscaping surrounding Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette 539 Design for landscaping surrounding Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, as made by Hubert E. Dali and approved by the Guardian 541 Assembly rig for checking large bay tracery models at Barley Studios 543 Progress view, December 29, 1950, illustrates finished walls of a bay alcove and ornamentation of column arches 544 Temple Interior construction Ñ progress to April 17, 1950 545 Interior ornamentation of the dome being put in place, March 28, 1951 546 Model of Matriqu'1-AcThk4r designed for construction on Mt. Carmel, Israel, Charles Mason Remey, architect 548 National Ua4ratu'1-Quds, Tihrkn, Persia, Ri4lvAn, 1951 (view from the air) 554 Ua4iratu'1-Quds of Baha'is of Germany and Austria, Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, any, newly erected, April, 1951 555 Ija4ratu'kQuds of Baha'is of Kampala, Uganda, British East Africa, April, 1952 560 Haziratu'1.-Quds of Baha'is of Paris, France, 1953 560 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Maywood, Illinois, incorporated June 11, 1951 564 [p24] xxiv ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Fresno, California, incorporated February ary 20, 1953 564 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of San Diego, California, incorporated April 29, 1953 565 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Sacramento, California, incorporated April 9, 1954 565 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Glendale, California, incorporated April 29, 1954 567 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tucson, Arizona, incorporated January 21, 1954 567 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Oak Park, Illinois, incorporated February 16, 1954 568 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Nashville, Tennessee, incorporated April 13, 1954 568 Spiritual Assembly of the I3aM'is of Greenwich, Connecticut, incorporated April 23, 1954 569 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Reno, Nevada, incorporated April 20, 1954 570 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Surat, India, incorporated March 24, 1951 571 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Jalna, Hyderabad (Deccan), India, incorporated ated 1951 571 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Kamarhati, India, incorporated September 7, 1950 572 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Mysore, India, incorporated September 25, 1950 572 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Singapore, incorporated July 28, 1952 573 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Montevideo, Uruguay, incorporated 1952 574 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tripoli, Libya, formed April 21, 1954 575 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Gbteberg, Sweden, formed April 21, 1953 575 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Porto, Portugal, formed April, 1952 577 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of The Hague, Netherlands, 19521953 577 British Borneo's first Baha'i Spiritual Assembly, in Kuching, Sarawak 578 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa 578 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Trivandrum, India, 19501951 580 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Anchorage Recording District, Alaska, organized April 21, 1951 580 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of ZUrich, Switzerland, elected April 21, 1950 581 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Basra, South 'IrAq, inaugurating the land offered ered by one of them for the future local $a4ratu'1-Quds 581 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Sheffield, England, 19501951 582 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Daidanaw, Burma, 19501951 582 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Rosarfo-Santiago, Isabela, Republic of the Philippines 583 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Port Said, Egypt, with a woman as member for first time 584 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Alexandria, Egypt, with women elected members bers for first time, April 21, 1951 585 Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Cairo, Egypt, with women elected members for first time, April 21, 1951 585 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Berlin reestablished after World War II, April 21, 1950 587 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Cienfuegos, Cuba, elected April 21, 1951 587 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Call&o, Peru, elected April 21, 1951 588 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Agra, India, 1950195 1 590 [p25] ILLUSTRATIONS xxv PAGE First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Ichalkaranji, India, 1950195 1 591 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Kanpur, India, April 21, 1952 591 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Florence, Italy, elected April 21, 1951 592 Eight members of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tokyo, Japan, 19501951 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Naples, Italy, elected April 21, 1951 594 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Jakarta, Indonesia, elected April 21, 1954 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Kampala, Uganda, British East Africa, formed April 21, 1952 595 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Wolfhalden, Switzerland, elected April 21, 1950 596 Regional Conference of United Nations NonGovernmental Organizations, Yildiz Palace, Istanbul, April 913, 1951 602 Baha delegates to United Nations International Conference of Non-Governmen-tal tal Organizations, Lake Success, New York, April, 1949 603 Baha'i representatives and observers at United Nations NonGovernmental Organizations tions Regional Conference for the Middle East, Istanbul, Turkey, April 913, 1951 606 Representatives of Baha'i International Community at Regional Conference of NonGovernmental Organizations of United Nations held in Managua, Nicaragua, agua, August 411, 1951 608 Baha delegates at Fourth United Nations International NonGovernmental Organizations tions Conference, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2628, 1950 611 Baha'i delegation at Fifth Conference of International NonGovernmental Organ izations on United Nations Information, New York City, October 610, 1952 612 Fourth World Congress for World Federal Government, Rome, Italy, April 29, 1951 613 Dr. David Earl, headquarters delegate of Baha'i International Community, being presented to President Quirino of the Republic of the Philippines at reception, United Nations NonGovernmental Organizations Conference, Manila, October ber 24, 1952 614 NonGovernmental Organizations Conference on Technical Assistance, United Nations Headquarters, New York, March 29, 1954614 Second Regional Conference of Baha'is of France, Lyon, April 1819, 1954 ..First Benelux Baha'i Conference, Brussels, Belgium, April 1214, 1952 718 Teaching Conference of Baha'is of British Isles, Sheffield, England, January, 1953 722 Delegates in session at Fifth Baha'i Congress, San Salvador, Central America, April 2528, 1950 723 First Regional Swiss-Italian Baha'i Conference, Rome, March 2023, 1952 725 Second All-Swiss Baha'i Conference, at ZUrich, November 1819, 1950 726 Friends attending Third All-Swiss Baha Conference, Bern, February 2324, 1952 731 Delegates and friends attending banquet of Fourth South American Baha'i Congress, ess, Lima, Peru, May 1, 1950 735 First Baha'i Teaching Conference of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, held in Bogota, October 1215, 1949 739 Group of Baha'is attending Fourth European Baha'i Teaching Conference and Summer School, Scheveningen, Holland, August 31 Ñ September 10, 1951 . 740 Baha'i Summer Conference in Banif, Alberta, Canada, 1951 743 Group of Baha'is on steps of "Peace Palace," The Hague, after visiting Baha'i Book Display in Peace Palace Library, during Fourth European Teaching Conference, 1951 746 Delegates and friends attending Third European Baha'i Teaching Conference and Summer School, Elsinore, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1950 750 [p26] xxvi ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Conference in session, Third European Teaching Conference, Elsinore, Copen hagen, Denmark, July 2427, 1950 750 Baha attending Fifth European Teaching Conference and Summer School, Luxembourg, urg, September, 1952 756 Fourth Swiss Baha'i Teaching Conference, Basel, Switzerland, November 2223, 1952 758 Attendants at First French Teaching Conference, held in Lyon, France, May 23 and 24, 1953 759 International Baha School, Loncoche, Chile, February, 1953 761 Baha Summer Conference, Ontario, Canada, 1952762 Baha'i Summer School, Esslingen, Germany, August 915, 1953 764 Twelfth Baha Summer School held in Pancligani (India), October, 19M 767 View of the service dedicated to the Ezeiza International Baha'i School, Argentina, at opening of Convention School Session, 1952768 Baha'i Summer School held August 18 Ñ September 1, 1951, at Thwaite Hall, Cot-tingliam, iam, Yorkshire, England 770 Baha'i Summer School at Hyderabad-Sind (P~kist6n), 19521953 772 Baha Group of Aden, Aden Protectorate, November 22, 1953 778 Baha Group in Hyogo-ken, Osaka, Japan 781 View of Baha'i Guest House, Ija4ratu'1-Quds, Baghdad, 'IrAq 792 Mr. Noel Wuttunee of Calgary, Alberta, first Canadian Indian Baha'i, with his wife 793 His Worship the Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Aba Khoushy, being welcomed by members bers of the National Spiritual Assembly when he visited the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, Illinois 794 The first Baha'is in the British Cameroons, 1954795 Title page of Baha'i pamphlet in ChiNyanja published by British Africa Committee, tee, "Do You Know in What Day You are Living?" 797 Baha of Helsinki, Finland, at Third Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, July, 1953 798 Dr. Sushula Nayyar, Health Minister, Delhi State, on her way to preside at Centenary nary Commemoration of Thhirih's martyrdom 800 First Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Kalutara (Ceylon), 19531954 801 Some members of National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Iraq carrying wreath to the royal cemetery to place it on the tomb of the Queen, who died December 27, 1950 803 "New Era" Baha'i School, Pancligani, Bombay State (India), 1950 804 Baha'i Group of Suva, Fiji Islands, 1950, with visiting member of National Spiritual itual Assembly, Australia and New Zealand 806 Fourth Baha'i Women's Progressive Convention, held at Ija4ratu'I-Quds, TihrAn, April 1316, 1950 808 All Faiths Convention held April 30, 1953, in New Delhi, as part of Baha'i Jubilee Week Celebrations (April 26 Ñ May 2) 810 A Baha group in Addis Ababa on the occasion of visit of Mason Remey, President dent of International Baha'i Council, Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeli and R. Yazdi, following their attendance at the Intercontinental Baha'i Conference, Kampala, pala, Uganda, Africa 814 First four native African Baha'is of Kampala, Uganda, representing the Buganda, Batero and Teso tribes 815 Fifth National Baha'i Youth Convention, Tihrdn (Baha'i Year 107) 816 German, British and Persian Friends attending Baha'i Youth Summer Week, Dils-berg, berg, Germany, August 1825, 1951 817 Baha'i Youth of Germany at Baha'i Youth Summer Week, Breuberg Castle, Neu-stadt-i-Odenwald, ald, July 30 Ñ August 5, 1950, with Baha'i visitors from England, France, Norway, Persia and the United States819 Baha'i Youth Group of Colombo, Ceylon 820 [p27] ILLUSTRATIONS fly" PAGE Baha'i Youth Symposium, Poona, India 820 Baha'i Youth Symposium, Rangoon, February 25, 1951823 The Baha'i Youth of Daidanaw, Burma 824 Float representing "This Earth One Country" entered in annual parade, July 4, 1950, at Anchorage, Alaska, by Baha'i Children's Workshop 833 Baha'i group at Annual Convention of Baha'is of British Isles, April 29 Ñ May 1, 1950, Bonnington Hotel, London 835 Among youth attending Green Acre Youth Camp, June, 1951, was a young man from Kenya, British East Africa, now student in an American University 836 Baha delegates to United Nations NonGovernmental Organizations Regional Conference, held in Den Passar, Indonesia, July 29 Ñ August 3, 1951 (photo graph taken on board SS. Plancius) 839 Braille Exhibit including Baha'i books transcribed in Braille, arranged by Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Butte, Montana 841 Display of Baha'i photographs and texts, Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Chile, 1952 844 Festival of Britain Ñ Baha Exhibition, arranged by Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of Manchester, September 915, 1951 847 First exhibition of Baha'i books in Paris, end of 1949 848 View of section of Baha'i Jubilee Exhibition at Park Lane House, London 850 Baha'i Exhibit, Elmhurst, Illinois 853 Professor Michele Lessona 900 Title Page of Lessona's History of the BThi Movement, written in 1862 and published shed in 1881 in Turin, Italy 901 Map of Persia, made in 1845 903 Haifa and Haifa Bay at night, 1951 934 [p28] [p29] INTRODUCTION ID URING the past twenty-eight years the Baha community of East and West has learned to anticipate each successive volume of THE BAWk'i WORLD (the first number was entitled "Baha Year Book") as the best means by which the individual believer may keep abreast of the steady development of the Faith throughout the world. This work, in its illustrations as well as in its text, has recorded as completely as possible the progress of current Baha events and activities over an area now embracing more than two hundred and twenty countries. In addition, each volume has presented those "his-torical l facts and fundamental principles that constitute the distinguishing features of the Message of Baha'u'llah to this age." The existence of so many evidences of a newly revealed Faith and Gospel for a humanity arrived at a turning point in its spiritual and social evolution has likewise a profound significance for the non-Bahi'i student and scholar who desires to investigate the world religion founded by the Bab and Baha'u'llah. For in these pages the reader encounters both the revealed Word in its spiritual powers, and the response which that utterance has evoked during the first one hundred and ten years of the Baha'i era. He will find what is unparalleled in religious history Ñ the unbroken continuity of a divine Faith from the Manifestation onward through four generations of human experience, and will be able to apprehend what impregnable foundations the Baha World Order rests upon in the life and teachings of the BTh and Baha'u'llah, the life and interpretation n of 'Abdu'l-Baha, 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 Baha'is that this Revelation has established upon earth the spiritual impulse and the definite principles necessary for social regeneration and the attainment of one true religion and social order throughout the world, In THE BAW&'f 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. [p30] [p31] STAFF OF EDITORS 19501952 UNITED STATES Ñ appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly: Mrs. Beatrice 0. Ashton, chairman, Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Victor de Araujo, Chicago, Illinois. Miss Ruth E. Dasher, Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Gordon A. Fraser, East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Ugo R. Giachery, Rome, Italy. Mrs. Baha Faraju'lItth Gulick, Berkeley, California. Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Winnetka, Ii-linois. Mr. Horace Holley, Wilmette, Illinois. Miss Farrukh loas, Wilmette, Illinois. Miss Evelyn Larson, Chicago, Illinois. BRITISH ISLES Ñ Representative for the National Spiritual Assembly: Hugh McKinley, London, England. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Ñ The Baha'i World Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly: Miss Gretta S. Lamprill, secretary, Sydney, N.S.W. Mrs. Dulcie Burns-Dive, Rozelle, N.S.W. INTERNATIONAL BAHA'I BUREAU: Mrs. Anne Lynch, 37 Quai Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland. 19521954 UNITED STATES Ñ appointed Mr. Rafi Y. Mottahedeli, by the National Spiritual New York, New York. Assembly: Miss Vera Olsen, New Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, York, New York. Mrs. chairman, New York, New Florence Steinhauer, York. Hastings-on-Hudson, Mrs. 0. H. Blackwell, New York. secretary, Forest Hills, Mrs. Rouhieli McComb, New York. Glen Cove, Long Island, Mrs. Mary Burnet, New New York. Rochelle, New York. [p32] [p33] PART ONE [p34] [p1] THE BAHA'I WORLD AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'I FAITH By HORACE HOLLEY UPON the spiritual foundation established by Baha'u'llah during the forty year period of His Mission (18531892), there stands today an independent religion represented by aver two thousand 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 Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'is to supply a fixed center of interest or a goal of material advantage. On the contrary, membership in the Baha 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 inveterate prejudices of their environment. The Cause of Baha'u'llah has moved forward without the re-enforce-ment of wealth, social prestige or other means of public influence. Every local Baha'i community exists by the voluntary association of individuals who consciously overcome the fundamental sanc tions evolved throughout the centuries to justify the separations and antagonisms of human society. In America, this association means that white believers accept the spiritual equality of their Negro fellows. In Europe, it means the reconciliation of Protestant and Catholic upon the basis of a new and larger faith. In the Orient, Christian, Jewish and Muhammadan believers must stand apart from the rigid exclusiveness into which each was born. The central fact to be noted concerning the nature of the Baha'i Faith is that it contains a power, fulfilled in the realm of conscience, which can reverse the principle momentum of modern civilization Ñ the drive toward division and strife Ñ 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 Baha'u'llah 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 understanding and harmony in the Baha community. For personal congeniality, the selective principle elsewhere continually operative within the field of volun 1 [p2] 2 THE BAHA'! WORLD tary action, is an instinct which Baha'is must sacrifice to serve the principle of the oneness of mankind. A Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah. The basis of self-sacrifice on which the Baha'i community stands has created a religious society in which all human relations are transformed from social to spiritual problems. This fact is the door through which one must pass to arrive at insight of what the Faith of Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'u'llah. Disaffected individuals may withdraw. The community remains. For the Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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 "truth" or '4right" of any possible situation is not derived from partisan victory but from the needs of the community as an organic whole. A Baha community endures without disruption because only spiritual problems can be solved. When human relations are held to be political or social problems they are removed from the realm in which rational will has responsibility and influence. The ultimate result of this degradation of human relationships is the frenzy of desperate strife Ñ the outbreak of inhuman war. THE RENEWAL OF FAITH "Therefore 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 oji the Holy Spirit has made it possible for perfect fraternity to be realized among mankind." Ñ 'ABDU'L-BAHA La stating that the Cause of Baha'u'llah is an independent religion, two essential facts are implied. The first fact is that the Baha'i Cause historically was not an offshoot of any prior social principle or community. The teachings of Baha'u'llah are no artificial synthesis assembled from the modern library of international truth, which might be duplicated from the same sources. Baha'u'llah created a reality in the world of the soul which never before existed and could not exist apart from Him. The second fact is that the Faith of Baha'u'llah is a religion, standing in the line of true religions: Christianity, Muhammadanism, Judaism, and other prophetic Faiths. Its existencC, 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 Baha'u'llah are confident that their personal limitations can be transformed by an inflow of spiritual reenforcement from the higher world. It is for the privilege of access to the source of reality that they forego reliance [p3] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'! FAITH 3 The corner room of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah beneath the floor of which His remains are buried. Entrance to the Holy Tomb of Baha'u'llah at Baha, Israel. [p4] Views of the garden surrounding the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, at Baha, Israel. [p5] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'! FAITH 5 The Monumental Path leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, Baha'i, Israel. upon the darkened self within and the unbelieving society without. The religious education of Baha'is 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 Baha born into Christianity can wholeheartedly enter into fellowship with the Baha'i born into Mubammadanism because both have come to understand that Christ and Mul~ammad 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 Bab~t'is 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 sisting of external practices (such as diet, marriage and similar ordinances) conforming to the requirements of one time and place. This Baha'i teaching leads to a profounder analysis of the process of history. The followers of Baha'u'llah derive mental integrity from the realization made so clear and vivid by 'Abdu'l-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 immorality, dishonor and cruelty marking this phase of the cycle, humanity lies helpless until the spiritual leader, the prophet, once more returns in the power of the Holy Spirit. [p6] View of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah from the air. The Main Gate and Monumental approach can be seen in the center; in the background are extensive olive orchards. [p7] Below: Aerial view of the Ilaram-i-Aqdas. The large building in the center is the Mansion of Baha'u'llah where He passed away in 1892. t1~ [p8] 8 THE BAHA'I WORLD Panoramic view of newly developed garden Such is the Baha'i 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 I3ahA'is 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. THE BASIS OF UNITY "The 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." Ñ BAHX'u LLAH Faith alone, no matter how wholehearted and sincere, affords no basis on which the organic unity of a religious fellowship can endure. The faith of the early Christians was complete, but its degree of inner conviction when projected outward upon the field of action soon disclosed a fatal lack of social principle. Whether the outer expression of love implied a democratic or an aristocratic order, a communal or individualistic society, raised fundamental questions after the crucifixion of the prophet which none had authority to solve. The Baha'i teaching has this vital distinction, that it extends from the realm of conscience and faith to the realm of social action. It confirms the substance of faith not merely as a source of individual development but as a definitely ordered relationship to the community. Those who inspect the Baha'i Cause superficially may deny its claim to be a religion for the reason that it lacks most of the visible marks by which religions are recognized. But in place of ritual or other formal worship it contains a social principle linking people to a community, the loyal observance of which makes spiritual faith coterminous with life itself. The Baha'is, having no professional clergy, forbidden ever to have a clergy, understand that religion, in this age, consists in an "attitude toward God reflected in life." They are therefore conscious of no division between religious and secular actions. The inherent nature of the community [p9] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'I FAITH 9 of the Shrine of Bah~ u'llAh at Baha, Israel. created by Baha'u'llah has great significance at this time, when the relative values of democracy, of constitutional monarchy, of aristocracy and of communism are everywhere in dispute. Of the Baha'i community it may be declared definitely that its character does not reflect the communist theory. The rights of the individual are fully safeguarded and the fundamental distinctions of personal endowment natural among all people are fully preserved. Individual rights, however, are interpreted in the light of the supreme law of brotherhood and not made a sanction for selfishness, oppression and indifference. On the other hand, the Baha'i 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 Baha'i community, is attributed to the Divine prophet, and the elected representatives of the believers in their administrative function look to the teachings of Baha'u'llah for their guidance, having faith that the application of His universal principles is the source of order throughout the community. Every Baha'i 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 Baha matters, has sole power of decision. It represents the collective conscience of the community with respect to Baha'i activities. Its capacity and power are supreme within certain definite limitations. The various states and provinces unite, through delegates elected annually according to the principle of proportionate representation, in the formation of a National Spiritual Assembly for their country or natural geographical area. This National Spiritual Assembly, likewise composed of nine members, administers all national Baha'i 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 Baha'i 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 Baha'i community and for the release of its collective power in service to the Cause. Membership in the Baha'i community is granted, on personal declaration of faith, to adults. [p10] 10 THE BAHA'! WORLD Twelve National Spiritual Assemblies have come into existence since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1921. Each National Spiritual Assembly 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. Baha'is maintain their contact with the source of inspiration and knowledge in the sacred writings of the Faith by continuous prayer, study and discussion. No believer can ever have a finished, static faith any more than he can arrive at the end of his capacity for being. The community has but one meeting ordained in the teachings Ñ the general meeting held every nineteen days given in the new calendar established by the BTh. This Nineteen Day Feast is conducted simply and informally under a program divided into three parts. The first part consists in reading of passages from writings of Baha'u'llah, the B~b and 'Abdu'l-Baha Ñ a devotional meeting. Next follows general discussion of Baha'i activities Ñ the business meeting of the local community. After the consultation, the community breaks bread together and enjoys fellowship. The experience which Baha'is 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 Ñ all these opportunities for deeper and broader experience confer a privilege that is felt to be the fulfillment of life. THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW DAY "1/ 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." Ñ 'ABDU'L-BAHA The complete text of the Baha'i sacred writings has not yet been translated into English, but the present generation of believers has the supreme privilege of possessing the fundamental teachings of Baha'u'llah, together with the interpretation and lucid commentary of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and more recently the exposition made by Shoghi Effendi of the teachings concerning the worM order which Baha'u'llah came to establish. Of special significance to Baha'is of Europe and America is the fact that, unlike Christianity, the Cause of Baha'u'llah rests upon the Prophet's own words and not upon a necessarily incomplete rendering of oral tradition. Furthermore, the commentary and explanation of the Baha'i gospel made by 'Abdu'l-Baha 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 Muhammad. The Baha'i, moreover, has this distinctive advantage, that his approach to the teachings is personal and direct, without the veils interposed by any human intermediary. The works which supply the Baha'i teachings to English-reading believers are The Kitdb-i-Iqdn (Book of Certitude), in which Baha'u'llah revealed the oneness of the Prophets and the identical foundation of all true religions, the law of cycles according to which the Prophet returns at intervals of approximately one thousand years, and the nature of faith; 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 Baha'u'llah (Tar~zAt, Tablet of the World, Ka~im&t, Tajailiy6t, BiThttrAt, Ish-rAq~it), which establish social and spiritual principles for the new era; Three Tablets ol Baha'u'llah (Tablet of the Branch, Kit4b-i-'Ahd, Lawlt-i-Aqdas), the appointment of 'Abdu'l-Baha as the Interpreter of Baha'u'llah's teachings, the Testament of Baha'u'llah, and His message to the Christians; Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, addressed to [p11] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'I FAITH 11 A view of the curved path in the Shrine Gardens at Baha'i. Beneath the big pine trees on the left, Baha'u'llah often sat. the son of a prominent Persian who had been a most ruthless oppressor of the believers, a Tablet which recapitulates many teachings Baha'u'llah had revealed in earlier works. The significant Tablets addressed to rulers of Europe and the Orient, as well as to the heads of American Republics, about the year 1870, summoning them to undertake measures for the establishment of Universal Peace have been, in selected excerpts, incorporated by Shoghi Effendi in his book, The Promised Day Is Come. The largest and most authentic body of Baha'u'llah's Writings in the English language consists of the excerpts chosen and translated by Shoghi Effendi, and published under the title of Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah. In Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, Shoghi Effendi has similarly given to the Baha'i Community in recent years a wider selection and a superb rendering of devotional passages revealed by Baha'u'llah. The published writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha are: Some Answered Questions, dealing with the lives of the Prophets, the interpretation of Bible prophecies, the nature of man, the true principle of evolution and other philosophic subjects; Mysterious Forces of Civilization, a work addressed to the people of Persia about fifty years ago to show them the way to sound progress and true civilization; Tablets of 'A bdu'l-Bahd, three volumes of excerpts from letters written to individual believers and Baha'i communities, which illumine a vast range of subjects; Promulgation of Universal Peace, from stenographic records of the public addresses delivered by 'Abdu'l-Baha to audiences in Canada and the United States during the year 1912; The Wisdom ol 'Abdu'l-Baha, a similar record of His addresses in Paris; 'Abdu'l-Baha 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 'Abdu'l-Baha has special significance, in that it provided for the future development of Baha administrative institutions and the Guardianship. The most comprehensive selection of the Writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha now available in the English language is Baha'i World Faith. To these writings has now been added the [p12] 12 THE BAHA'I WORLD View of the Monumental Path leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, showing the main entrance gate at the end. book entitled Baha'i Administration, consisting of the general letters written by Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Faith since the Master's death in 1921, which expkin the details of the administrative order of the Faith, and his letters on World Order, which make clear the social principles imbedded in Baha'u'llah's Revelation. These latter letters were in 1938 published in a volume entitled The World Order of Baha'u'llah, Here the Guardian defines the relation of the Faith to the current social crisis, and sums up the fundamental tenets of the Baha'i Faith. It is a work which gives to each believer access to a clear insight on the significance of the present era, and the outcome of its international perturbations, incomparably more revealing and at the same time more assuring than the works of students and statesmen in our times. After laying the basis of the administrative order, and explaining the relations between the Faith of Baha'u'llah and the current movement and events which transform the world, the Guardian has written books of more general Baha import, In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi expounded the significance of 'Abdu'l-Baha's teaching plan for North America against a background of ethical and social regeneration required for Baha'i service today. The Promised Day Is Come examines the history of the Faith in its early days when the world repudiated the B6t and Baha'u'llah and inflicted supreme suffering upon them and their followers, and develops the thesis that war and revolution come as penalty for rejection of the Manifestation of God. In 1944, the centenary year of the Faith, the Guardian produced in God Passes By the authentic historical survey of the evolution of the Faith from its origin. The literature has also been enriched by Shoghi Effendi's translation of The Dawn-Breakers, Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation, a vivid eyewitness account of the episodes which re-suIted from the announcement of the Bib on May 23, 1844. When it is borne in mind that the term "religious 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 [p13] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAUM! FAITH 13 <2¾ ¾ A view of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, Baha'i, Israel, seen through the Collins gate. passions and desires of disordered human hearts, it is clear that any attempt to summarize the Baha'i 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 Baha writing does not lead to any simplified 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 beliefs 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 Baha'u'llah 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 Baha'is is not a doctrine, not an organization, but their acceptance of Baha'u'llah 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 dur ing generations lacking a true spiritual cub ture. 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 Ñ a source of truth revealing a universe in which man's life has valid purpose and assured realization. Human history begins to reflect the working of a beneficent Providence; the sharp outlines of material sciences gradually fade out in the light of one fundamental science of life; a profotmnder 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. "The divine reality," 'Abdu'l-Baha 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 man, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world. Man, then, is in extreme need of the only power by which he is able to receive help from the divine reality, that power alone bringing him into contact with the source of all life. "An intermediary is needed to bring two extremes into relation with each other. Riches and poverty, plenty and need: with [p14] 14 THE BAHA'I WORLD out an intermediary there could be no relation between these pairs of opposites. So we can say that there must be a Mediator between God and man, and this is none other than the Holy Spirit, which brings the created earth into relation with the 'Unthinkable One,' the divine reality. The divine reality may be likened to the sun and the Holy Spirit to the rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all created things, so do the Manifestations bring the power of the Hdy Spirit from the divine Sun of Reality to give light and life to the souls of men." In expounding the teachings of B alA'-u'llAh to public audiences in the West, 'Abdu'l-Baha. frequently encountered the attitude that, while the liberal religionist might well welcome and endorse such tenets, the Baha'i teachings after all bring nothing new, since the principles of Christianity contain all the essentials of spiritual truth. The believer whose heart has been touched by the Faith so perfectly exemplified by 'Abdu'l-Baha feels 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 Baha Faith no more than a true revitalization of the revealed truths of former religions, it would by that quickening quality of inner life, that returning to God, still assert itself as the supreme fact of human experience in this age. For religion returns to earth in order to reestablish a standard of spiritual reality. It restores the quality of human existence, its active powers, when that reality has become overlaid with sterile rites and dogmas which substitute empty shadow for substance. In the person of the Manifestation it destroys all those imitations of religion gradually developed through the centuries and summons humanity to the path of sacrifice and devotion. Revelation, moreover, is progressive as well as periodic. Christianity in its original essence not only relighted the candle of faith which, in the years since Moses, had become extinguished Ñ it amplified the teachings of Moses with a new dimension which history has seen exemplified in spread of faith from tribe to nations and peoples. Baha'u'llah has given religion its world dimension, fulfilling the fundamental purpose of every previous Revelation. His Faith stands as the reality within Christianity, within Mu1~ammadan-ism, within the religion of Moses, the spirit of each, but expressed in teachings which relate to all mankind. The Baha'i Faith, viewed from within, is religion extended from the individual to embrace humanity. It is religion universalized; its teaching for the individual, spiritually identical with the teaching of Christ, supplies the individual with an ethics, a sociology, an ideal of social order, for which humanity in its earlier stages of development was not prepared. Individual fulfillment has been given an objective social standard of reality, bakncing the subjective ideal derived from religion in the past. Baha'u'llah 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. The Baha'i learns to perceive the universe as a divine creation in which man has his destiny to fulfill under a beneficent Providence whose aims for humanity are made known through Prophets who stand between man and the Creator. He learns his true relation to the degrees and orders of the visible universe; his true relation to God, to himself, to his fellow man, to mankind. The more he studies the Baha'i teachings, the more he becomes imbued with the spirit of unity, the more vividly he perceives the law of unity working in the world today, indirectly manifest in the failure which has overtaken all efforts to organize the principle of separation and competition, directly manifest in the power which has brought together the followers of Baha'u'llah 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 [p15] The main gate leading to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Baha, Israel, gift of Hand of the Cause, Mrs. Amelia Collins, and named after her. coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. The Sacred Literature of the Baha'i Faith conveys enlightenment. It inspires life. It frees the mind. It disciplines the heart. For believers, the Word is not a philosophy to be learned, but the sustenance of being throughout the span of mortal existence. "The Baha'i Faith," Shoghi Effendi stated in a recent letter addressed to a public official, "recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace." Those who, even courteously, would dismiss a Faith so firmly based, will have to admit that, whether or not by their test the teachings of Baha'u'llah are "new," the world's present plight is unprecedented, came without warning save in the utterances of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, and day by day discloses dangers which strike 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 seventy years ago. A BACKGROUND OF HEROIC SACRIFICE "0 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 righteousness, His power and glory. Ponder the words of Jesus addressed to His disciples, as He sent them forth to propagate the Cause of God." Ñ THE B~B. The words of Baha'u'llah 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 [p16] 16 THE BAHA'I WORLD 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 Iskim 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 souls stood firm in their conviction that the religion of Muliammad 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 'All-Muhammad, since known to history as the Bab (the "Gate"), their hopes had been realized, and under the Bib's inspiration scattered themselves as His apostles to arouse the people and prepare them for the restoration of Is1~m to its original integrity. Against the B&b 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 Bab covered only 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 fulfillment of past religions and the heralding of a world educator and unifier, one who was to come to establish a new cycle. Most of the ETh'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 Bab's martyrdom, the weight of official wrath fell upon klusayn-'A1I, around whom the Bab's centered their hopes. lit-sayn-'AII was imprisoned in TihrAn, exiled to Baglid6xl, from Baghdad sent to Constantinople stantinople under the jurisdiction of the Su1ff~n, exiled by the Turkish government to Adrianople, and at length imprisoned in the desolate barracks at 'Akka In 1863, while delayed outside of BaghdAd for the preparation of the caravan tobe dispatched to Constantinople, Ijlusayn-'AII established His Cause among the BANs who insisted upon sharing His exile. His declaration was the origin of the Baha Faith in which the BTh's Cause was fulfilled. The BANs who accepted Ijusayn-'Ali as Baha'u'llah (the Glory of God) were fully conscious that His mission was not a development of the BThI movement but a new Cause for which the Bib 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, Baha'u'llah 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 principles, and in communications transmitted to the kings and rulers calling upon them to establish universal peace. This sacred literature has an authoritative commentary and interpretation in the text of 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings during the years between Baha'u'llah's ascension in 1892 and 'Abdu'l-Baha's departure in 1921, Baha'u'llah having left a testament naming 'Abdu'l-Baha (His eldest son) as the Interpreter of His Book and Center of His Covenant. The imprisonment of the Baha'i community at 'Akka ended at last in 1908, when the Young Turks party overthrew the existing political r6gime. For three years prior to the first World War, 'Abdu'l-Baha, 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 Baha The significance of 'Abdu'l-Baha'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, 'Abdu'l-Baha ex [p17] AIMS AND PURPOSES OF THE BAHA'I FAITH 17 The new garden in front of the Mansion at Baha. pounded 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 Ba1A'i community, grief-stricken and appalled by its loss of the wise and loving "Master" in 1921, learned with profound gratitude that 'Abdu'l-Baha in a will and testament had provided for the continuance and future development of the Faith. This testament made clear the nature of the Spiritual Assemblies established in the text of Baha'u'llah and inaugurated a new center for the widespread community of believers in the appointment of His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. During the years of general confusion since 1921, the Baha'i community has carried forward the increasing work of internal consolidation and administrative order and has become conscious of its collective responsibility for the promotion of the gospel of Baha'u'llah. In addition to the task of establishing the structure of local and national Spiritual Assemblies, the believers have translated Baha'i literature into many languages, have sent teachers to all parts of the world, and have completed the Baha'i House of Worship on Lake Michigan, Wil-mette. In the general letters issued to the Baha'i community by Shoghi Effendi in order to execute the provisions of 'Abdu'l-Baha's 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 Baha'u'llah. [p18] The Shrine of the Bib, Haifa, Israel. Twelve thousand gilded tiles cover the Dome in a fish scale pattern. [p19] INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES HE four-year period covered in this survey was marked by events and activities of surpassing importance to the followers of Baha'u'llah. Not since the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha which terminated the Heroic Age of the Faith in 1921 and the publication of His Testament which inaugurated the Formative Age have Baha'is been conscious of such profound alteration and redirection of the affairs of their community or been drawn so deeply into its sustaining spirit. Two Centennials were celebrated: the Martyrdom of the BTh, July 9, 1950, and the Birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah during Holy Year, 19521953, consecrating the Baha'is of East and West to the exalted character of their Faith and purifying their souls by realization of the tragic persecutions suffered by the Founders and Their following in Persia. These spiritual experiences were given expression in worthy action. The worldwide Baha'i community entered upon the prosecution of a ten-year intercontinental teaching plan, a crusade aimed at a tremendous expansion in the number of countries and political dependencies having Baha centers and a vast increase in the number of Baha institutions. This crusade was initiated by four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences held successively in Kampala, Uganda, in Chicago and Wilmette, illinois, in Stockholm, Sweden, and in New Delhi, India, during 1953, involving the participation and cooperation of all National Spiritual Assemblies for the first time in Baha history. The completion of the Shrine of the B~b on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, and of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, that same year gave public evidence of the vitality of the Faith. Two new international Baha institutions were established: the International Baha'i Council at the Baha'i World Center in Israel, and the Hands of the Cause with members in the Holy Land, in Ir5n, in Africa, in Australia, in Europe and in North America. The number of National Spiritual Assemblies was increased to twelve by the formation of the National Assemblies of the Baha'is of Central America, South America, and of Italy and Switzerland. The impetus in the growth of the IBalA'i Faith internationally was witnessed not oniy outwardly but also within the spiritual awareness of the Baha'is themselves. The years preceding the Centenary Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Bab (July, 1950) had been largely those of laying groundwork, building local and national communities. The ultimate objective was known Ñ the erection of a world community living according to the spiritual Laws and Ordinances of Baha'u'llah Ñ but this was something for the far distant future. Suddenly, with the erection of the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel and the opening of the doors of contribution to this "transcending enterprise" to the Baha'is of the world, the spiritual impulse was released for an international consciousness in fact, a matter of action not of thinking only. The succession of occurrences which followed quickly, inaugurated by the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith and emanating from the International Center of the Faith in the Holy Land, united the Baha'is of the world in action as never before in the history of the Faith had been possible. In his Announcement of the Centenary Commemoration of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission, inaugurating the intercontinental teaching work, the Guardian called upon the Baha'is of the world to prepare themselves "for demonstration of Baha'i solidarity of unprecedented scope and intensity during the entire course of Baha'i history." Thus, during the years 19501954 (years 107110 of the Baha'i Era) the Baha'is of 19 [p20] The Shrine of the Bib on Mt. Carmel. Beyond the Shrine can be seen the city of Haifa, the harbor, the bay of 'Akka, and the hills of the Lebanon. 20 THE BAHA'! WORLD East and West were swept into an unprecedented and spiritually vitalizing stage of the development of the World Order of Baha'u'llah, destined to emerge "in the fullness of time" in a world-recognized, spiritually unified and administered world commonwealth, the Kingdom of God on earth. Nor will the student of current affairs fail to note the fact that this dynamic spiritual world plan was inaugurated at a time when the menace of devastating atomic warfare oppressed the peoples of all nations with the ominous threat that civilization as we know it is doomed to destruction. As the world lay helpless under this darkness, the new creation of Baha'u'llah, His community of followers, gathered their forces to establish the foundation of unity throughout the world. Nothing short of the Divine Power invested in the Mission of the Prophet can reverse the fatal direction of human affairs and redeploy men's faculties in the constructive task of unifying the peoples in one Faith and one Order. CENTENARY COMMEMORATIONS OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab T}{E Centenary of the Martyrdom of the was reverently anticipated by the Baha'is of East and West. References to His mission and martyrdom in Baha'i Sacred Writings were searched out and pondered. Chapters in Dawn-Breakers and God Passes By vividly depicting the event were read again and again. The Centenary actually began for Baha'is when they received the Guardian's cablegram dated July 4, 1950. Moved by the glimpse of high significance revealed by these words, the Baha'is contemplated the mysterious scene which took place at Tabriz on July 9, 1850, when the radiant Youth chosen by God to enact so tremendous a drama expired, pierced by the bullets fired by a regiment acting under official command. For, as was emphasized in a previous volume dealing with the Declaration of the BTh in 1844, the Bab terminated the Prophetic Era and reflected the Dawn of the Sun of Truth risen to signalize the Promised Day of the maturity of the human race. A twofold Centenary program was carried out in the various Baha'i national communities in accordance with the conditions in each, including national and local gatherings of believers for spiritual observance of the event, and public activities conveying the challenge of the Bab's Mission to mankind. Thus, in Egypt and Sfld~n the National Spiritual Assembly reported the publication of a memorial pamphlet, copies of which were distributed freely, a devotional program in the Ija4ratu'1-Quds of Cairo and in local centers, consisting of passages from Sacred Writings, and a public meeting to which eminent non-B ah4'is were invited. In view of the religious background of their nation, the Egyptian Baha'is produced a selection of passages from the Old and New Testament and the Qur'an which lent support to the Mission of the Baha'i Faith. Invitations were sent personally to about eighty eminent men of letters, law, the arts, educators, parliamentarians and representatives of the press known to be liberals or independent seekers after truth. This public meeting concluded with refreshments during which a moving picture of the Baha'i House of Worship was exhibited. The effect was to strengthen the prestige of the Faith among intellectual circles and persons of good will. This result was reflected in the favorable comment published in the daily press. The Assembly's report included mention of the successful commemoration held in Addis-Abba, Ethiopia. In Persia the National Spiritual Assembly published a translation of Shoghi Effendi's World Survey pamphlet and prepared a [p21] [p22] 22 THE BAHA'! WORLD Centenary program which was carried out by the local communities. Throughout Canada, likewise, a great number of devotional and public meetings were carried out in accordance with a plan launched by the National Spiritual Assembly. The tribute paid to the Bab by Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand in devotional and public meetings was enlarged through their publication of a pamphlet Martyrdom of the Bab. This memorial brochure contained a photograph of the design of the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel and a photograph of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, with a selection of passages reporting the Bab's own words to His disci-pies, Baha'u'llah's Tribute to Him, utterances of the Bib, and a thoughtful summary of the Baha'i Faith. An excellent press report published in Auckland, based upon a conference with a Persian Baha'i student, gave a very favorable impression of the public meeting conducted in that city. The speakers were Suhayl AU'i and Gertrude Blum. In Paris a public meeting was held at the Music Social, notices of which were circulated in artistic circles, University City, and magazine and newspaper editors, attracting a gathering of some one hundred and fifty guests. Addresses were delivered by M. Delacroix, Mrs. Marion Little and Mile. L. Migette. George Townshend, a leading Baha'i scholar and author, contributed a brief article on "The Call of the Martyrs," attesting the complete devotion of those who yielded up their lives through "all-absorbing, all-forgetting devotion for one in Whom they saw God Manifest." In this treatise the Baha'is were poignantly reminded of the BTh's significant words: "0 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 behoves each one of you to manifest the attributes of God, and to exemplify by your deeds and words the signs of His righteousness, His power and glory For verily I say, this is the Day spoken of by God in His Book." Local centers in India, P~kist4n and Burma observed the Centenary not oniy with meetings but also by providing food to the indigent through municipal agencies. A radio program was also made available to local stations. Nationally, the Centenary message was broadcast in four languages Ñ English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi Ñ over Radio GOA. The National Assembly likewise conducted a public meeting at the Constitution Club, New Delhi, the program including addresses by Prof. Abdul-Majid Khan, Shri S. N. Chaturvedi, and Shrimati Shirin Boman. A scholarly article on the Martyrdom of the BTh, based on Nabil's Narrative, by Prof. Alessandro Bausani, was published in the Italian language magazine Oriente Mo-demo, volume 30, 1950. A Portrait of the Bab, presented to the American Baha'is by the Guardian in 1944, was reverently shown to believers gathered in Foundation Hall, Baha'i House of Worship, at the hour of noon on the Centenary date. After this rare and solemn privilege the throng reassembled in the auditorium where a program of readings was carried out under the great dome of the Temple. It was in this hallowed setting, on so holy an occasion, that the cabled message from the Guardian was read, stating in part: "Moved share (with) assembled representatives (of) American Baha'i Community gathered beneath (the) dome (of the) Most Holy House (of) Worship (in the) Baha'i world, feelings (of) profound emotion evoked (by this) historic occasion the worldwide commemoration (of the) first Centenary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Blessed BTh, Prophet (and) Herald (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah, Founder (of the) Dispensation marking (the) culmination (of the) six thousand year old Adamic Cycle, Inaugurator (of the) five thousand century Baha'i Cycle." Still later the gathering met again in Foundation Hall for a national public meeting attended by about nine hundred persons. Miss Elsie Austin presided, and addresses were delivered by Dr. G. A. Borgese, University of Chicago, Mrs. Dorothy Beecher Baker and Mr. William Kenneth Christian. After this program a moving picture film of the Shrines and Gardens at the World Center, sent by the Guardian, was shown to the is. Meanwhile local meetings were held to commemorate the Centenary throughout the United States, and many radio stations broadcast the story of the Martyrdom of the Rib. The national program included the publication of two Centenary pamphlets: The [p23] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 23 The Shrine of the BTh, Haifa, Israel, as seen from the slopes of Mt. Carmel. Baha'i Faith Ñ 18441950, regions. He is also the a World Survey, compiled Harbinger of the Most by Shoghi Effendi, and Great Light, the Abh~ The Mar-tyr-Prophet of Luminary. The Blessed a World Faith, by William Beauty Baha'u'llah B. Sears, dramatically is the One promised by presenting the BTh's the sacred books of mission and martyrdom the past, the revelation for a western public. of the Source of light "The Bab, the Exalted that shone upon Mount One, is the Morn of Truth, Sinai, whose fire glowed in the splendor of Whose the midst of the Burning light," 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote,Bush. We are, one and "shineth throughout all all, servants of their threshold, and [p24] 24 THE BAHA'I WORLD stand each as a lowly keeper at their door. • Every proof and prophecy, every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Baha'u'llah and the Bab. In Them is to be found their complete fulfillment." Reports from the Baha of Germany mention public memorial services conducted in the larger communities Ñ Esslingen, Gbp-pingen, Frankfurt-am-Main, Heidelberg, Karisruhe and Stuttgart. Musical selections from the works of Bach, Hayden and Beethoven, and readings from the Sacred Writings created an impressive background for addresses eulogizing the Bab and explaining His mission. Throughout the British Isles the Centenary coincided with the successful conclusion of the first national, coordinated teaching campaign to be conducted by the British Baha'is. Meetings of commemoration were held in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol and Manchester on a regional scale and locally in Bournemouth, Newcastle and Torquay. After a devotional period these programs presented a dramatic script on the Martyrdom of the Bab and a review of the activities of the Baha'i world community. CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS OF THE BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION A MOMENTOUS message was cabled by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith, from the Baha'i World Center on November 30, 1951, which is cited in part as follows: "Approaching Great Jubilee commemorating (the) Centenary (of the) termination (of the) BThi Dispensation (and) birth (of) Baha'u'llah's Revelation (in) Siy4h-ChM Tih din, as well as imperative necessity adopt effectual measures insure befitting inauguration (of) third concluding phase of initial epoch (in) execution (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan destined (to) culminate (in) hundredth anniversary (of) Declaration of Founder (of) Faith (in) BaghdAd, impel me (to) summon entire Baha'i world, through (the) eleven National Assemblies already functioning (in) East (and) West, (to) bestir itself, arise during sixteen months ahead through supreme, concerted, sustained effort, (and) prepare for demonstration (of) Baha'i solidarity (of) unprecedented scope (and) intensity (during) entire course (of) Baha'i history. "Forthcoming celebrations must be signalized though inauguration (of) long-antici-pated intercontinental stage in administrative evolution (of) Faith marking its gradual development through successive phases (of) local, regional, national (and) international Baha'i activity. Initiation (of) this highly significant measure further cementing Baha National Assemblies (in) five continents (of) globe will be acclaimed (by) posterity as counterpart (to) consolidation (of) Faith at its World Center through recent formation (of) International Baha'i Council (in the) Holy Land. "Centennial festivities (of) Year Nine continuing throughout Holy Year commencing October 1952 must include, apart from consummation (of) plans initiated (by) various National Assemblies in both hemispheres, (the) formal dedication (for) pub-lie worship (of the) Mother Temple (of the) West (in the) heart (of) North American Continent, (and) possible termination (of) superstructure (of the) Bab's Sepulcher (in) Holy Land, (the) convocation (of) four intercontinental Baha Teaching Conferences to be held successively (in the) course (of) historic year (on) Continents (of) Africa, America, Europe, Asia." The message continued with the directions that the first conference was to be convened by the British National Spiritual Assembly in Kampala, Uganda, in the early spring of 1953, representing the National Assemblies of the British Isles, United States, Persia, Egypt and Siid6.n, India, P&kisffin and Burma. Invitations to attend were to be issued to Baha'is residing in America, Persia, the subcontinent of India, the British Isles and every territory on the continent of Africa. The aim of the conference was to plant the banner of the Faith in remaining ten-i-tories of Africa and the neighboring islands to the east, south and west. [p25] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 25 The second conference, Shoghi Effendi directed, was to be convened by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States in Wilmette, Illinois, during the Rhjv~tn period, representing the Baha'is of the United States as chief trustees of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, and their ally and associates, the National Assemblies of Canada and Latin America. Invitations to attend were to be extended to Baha'is in every State of the United States, every Province of Canada and every Republic of Latin America. The purpose of this conference was to prepare for the establishment of the Faith in the remaining territories of the Americas and the nearby islands of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The third in this series of Intercontinental Conferences was to be convened in Stockholm, Sweden, during the summer of 1953 by the European Teaching Committee of the United States Assembly, and was to be representative of the American, British and German National Assemblies. Invitations to attend were to be extended to Baha'is from the ten countries of Western Europe, England, Scotland, Wales, Eire, France, Germany, Austria, and Finland. The purpose of this gathering was to provide for the gradual introduction of the Faith into the remaining Sovereign States of the European Continent and its neighboring islands in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The fourth and concluding Jubilee Teaching Conference was to be convened in New Delhi, India, in the autumn of 1953 by the National Spiritual Assembly of India, PM-ist~n and Burma, representative of the National Assemblies of Persia, the Indian subcontinent, 'Iraq, Australasia, the United States, Canada, Central America and South America. Invitations to attend were to be extended to the Baha'is of every Sovereign State and dependency of Asia, North America, Central America and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. This Conference was to consult on steps aimed at opening the Faith in the remaining Asiatic States and dependencies, particularly in South East Asia and the islands of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Guardian ended his message with this plea: "Address plea particularly (to) convenors (of) abovementioned conferences (to) arise prayerfully consider, carefully plan, energetically prosecute, (the) respective sacred delegated tasks fix procedure, provide (for) smooth working, accord wide publicity, insure resounding success, of epochmaking Conferences immortalizing Centenary (of) memorable Year anticipated (by) St. John (the) Divine, foreshadowed by Sjjaykli Al2mad, eulogized (by the) Bab, extolled (by) both Baha'u'llah (and) 'Abdu'l-Baha, and constituting prelude (to) Most Great Jubilee which will alike commemorate (the) Centenary (of) formal assumption (by the) Author (of the) Baha'i Revelation (of) His Prophetic Office, (and) mark, God willing, the worldwide establishment (of the) Faith forecast (by the) Center (of the) Covenant [i.e., 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Tablets, prophesied (by) Daniel (in) his book, thus paving (the) way (for the) advent (of the) Golden Age destined (to) witness (the) world recognition, universal proclamation (and the) ultimate triumph (of the) Cause of Baha'u'llah." By this portentous message the Baha'is were ushered into a new era of action and understanding, symbolized by the Centenary of the Birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah and given substance in this series of four intercontinental teaching conferences which inaugurated a new World Crusade to culminate in the year 1963, the one hundredth anniversary of Baha'u'llah's public assumption of His Mission. The Centenary of the Birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah was observed throughout the Baha'i world during the year beginning the middle of October, 1952, and ending the middle of October, 1953. This period marked the centenary of the year 1269 A.H., known among Baha'is as the "Year Nine." It possesses great significance since in His Writings the BTh used it to foretell the Birth of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and therefore the end of His own Dispensation. The intimation of His Mission as the Promised One of all nations was quickened spiritually in Baha'u'llah as He lay in chains, a prisoner, in the dungeon of SiyAh-Chul, Tihr4n. It was in so foul a place, to One so cruelly oppressed, that the Holy Spirit descended to the person of ilusayn 'AU and created Baha'u'llah, the Manifestation of God and the LawGiver for a new World Era. The Guardian has thus described this tremendous event: "It was in such dramatic circumstances, recalling the experience of [p26] 26 THE BAHA'I WORLD Moses when face to face with the Burning Bush in the wilderness of Sinai, the successive visions of Zoroaster, the opening of the heavens and the descent of the Dove upon Christ in the Jordan, the cry of Gabriel heard by Mul2aminad in the Cave of Hira, and the dream of the Bab, in which the blood of the Im~m tiusayn touched and sanctified His lips, that Baha'u'llah, He around Whom the Point of the Bay6~n hath revolved,' and the Vehicle of the greatest Revelation the world has yet seen, received the first intimation of His sublime Mission, and that a ministry, which, alike in its duration and fecundity, is unsurpassed in the religious history of mankind, was inaugurated." Gratitude to God for this supreme mercy, assuring the ultimate regeneration of humanity and the establishment of Christ's Kingdom on earth, inspired the Baha'is as they carried out their plans for the celebration of this great Jubilee. While each National Spiritual Assembly prepared and carried out appropriate devotional and public meetings throughout Holy Year in celebration of the Mission of Baha'u'llah, the several Intercontinental Conferences themselves represented the fulfilment of this sacred experience. INAUGURATION OF THE WORLD CRUSADE HE publication of a pamphlet, compiled by the Guardian setting forth a statistical survey of the Ten-Year International Ba-hi'i Teaching Plan constituting the World Crusade, underlay the thinking and action of Baha'is in celebrating the Mission of Baha'u'llah. The Plan as set forth, accompanied by a map, included in the present volume, specifies twenty-seven objectives, some to be realized at the World Center and others won by the twelve participating National Spiritual Assemblies by 1963 Ñ the most challenging task ever set for the followers of a Prophet to achieve. Among these objectives might be noted: establishing the Faith in one hundred thirty-one new countries and territorial divisions; translation and publication of Baha'i texts in ninety-one new languages; construction of two new Baha'i Houses of Worship and purchase of land for eleven future Temples; establishing forty-eight additional National Spiritual Assemblies; and purchasing properties to be used as National Administrative Centers in forty-nine cities of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and New Zealand. The first Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Holy Year was conducted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles at Kampala, Uganda, February 12 to 18, 1953. All four Conferences disclosed a basic pattern. A message from the Guardian was delivered by his special representative, a Hand of the Cause. At Kampala Mr. Leroy loas presented the Guardian's message, the aim of which was to emphasize the importance of those elements in the Ten-Year Plan which related to Africa. A sacred relic entrusted by the Guardian to his representative, in this case a portrait of the BTh, was so placed that each attendant in turn could gaze upon the Countenance of the Martyr Prophet. The third element in the pattern consisted of the active participation of all National Spiritual Assemblies having teaching missions in that continent. The fourth was the impressive response made by volunteers to arise and go forth into the pioneer field. Another element was the conduct of Baha'i public meetings. At Kampala Baha members from all the different continents gathered together for the first time for discussion of a common theme. About two hundred thirty-two perSons attended the Kampala Conference, representing nineteen countries, one hundred twenty-three of whom were native African believers. Some thirty tribes and races were represented. By some mysterious process of spiritual alchemy the outer differences and distinctions so important to the worldly were dissolved away, and what one felt in his fellow-participant was a joyous light ignited by the fire of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. The oneness of mankind found impressive exemplification. The variety itself was evidence of true unity since unity is of the spirit and not a uniformity of type or personality. The agenda, entitled "Light Over Africa," devoted two sessions to commemoration of the Centenary. The rapid progress of pio [p27] The Shrine of the Martyr Prophet of the Baha'i Faith, completed in October, 1953. [p28] 28 THE BAHA'! WORLD neering and teaching work in Africa since 1950 was summarized. Its prime purpose was to bring the Baha'i teachings to the natives and after securing their confidence confirmations were recorded far beyond expectation. The spiritual capacity of the native African for independent investigation of truth and responsible membership in the Baha'i community has been fully demonstrated. It was at the Kampala Conference that the statement was made that this Ten-Year Crusade will result in the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel relative to the 1335 days, when the Glory of the Lord will cover the earth. Mr. Hasan Baha'i, Chairman of the British National Spiritual Assembly, presided at the Conference sessions. The participating National Assemblies were, besides the British, the Egyptian, the United States, Persian, the 'Irttq and Indian Assemblies, among which the goal areas of Africa and adjacent islands have been divided. These Assemblies, through their representatives, held two conferences to arrange for cooperation in the African teaching campaign. The Guardian's plans and hopes for Africa were eloquently expounded by Mr. Toas. All present realized what a privilege had been granted them in Mr. Tar~u'11~h Sa-mandari's moving presentation of his personal recollections of Baha'u'llah. Two public meetings were held, one in the Conference meeting place, the other in the assembly auditorium of the local college. Though second in time, the Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Chicago and Wilmette, Illinois, had the distinction of inaugurating the Ten-Year Crusade. From thirty countries came a throng of over twenty-three hundred Baha'is. The great auditorium of Medinah Temple, Chicago, presented an impressive spectacle during the Conference sessions. As his special representative the Guardian appointed 'Abdu'l-Baha RAliiyyih Kh6-num, Hand of the Cause, whose gracious presence and rare charm as speaker seemed to crown the success of the important occasion. This Conference was termed an All-America Conference, and it was conducted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States in association with the National Spiritual Assemblies of Canada, Central America and South America. Its essential purposes were, first, to emphasize the vital importance of the World Crusade in all continents, and second, to consult and plan on how to meet the goals set forth by the Ten-Year Plan for the Western Hemisphere and surrounding islands. Mr. Paul E. Haney, Chairman of the United States Assembly, presided at the sessions. Rtiljiyyih Kjiinum delivered the principal address on the "Character and Purpose of the World Crusade," and in a later session aroused the spirit of pioneering with her stirring talk programmed as "Mount Your Steeds!" One evening session was devoted to the Guardian's representative which was followed by a reception in which all Baha'is had the privilege of presentation to this distinguished Hand of the Cause and member of the Guardian's family. During the course of the Conference several groups of Baha'is were assembled on the speakers' platform for special attention: those who had been present when 'Abdu'l-Baha dedicated the Temple grounds in 1912; twelve Hands of the Cause; Baha'is from Persia; a group of Latin American Baha'is; of Baha'i Youth; of American Indians; and a large company of those who, during the Conference, had arisen to volunteer their services as pioneers to the number of one hundred and fifty. During the afternoon of Sunday, May 3, the Conference assembled in the auditorium of the House of Worship for the unveiling of the portrait of Baha'u'llah which RPbiy-yih Kh4num had brought as the Guardian's supreme blessing to this Conference. The Baha'is entered the auditorium one by one and Rtil$yyih Kh~num touched the hand of each with a drop of the fragrant attar of rose sent by the Guardian for this occasion. The portrait of Baha'u'llah and a portrait of the Bab were placed on a table at the front of the auditorium. Quietly, reverently, one by one, the seated Baha'is arose and paused before these Remembrances of the Twin Manifestations of God in this great Day. Words cannot describe this unique privilege. It was an inner dedication of spirit to the new World Faith. Perhaps outside the Baha World Center at Haifa the celebration of the Jubilee, the Mission of RaM'-u'11Th, around the world, witnessed no more significant event. The Conference devoted an evening session to the unveiling of the model of the [p29] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 29 Baha'i House of Worship, designed by C. Mason Remey, which is to be constructed on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. Mr. Remey, Hand of the Cause and President of the International Baha'i Council, spoke of the temples of worship which each religion has developed to express its particular style of architecture. "The place of worship has been the cultural center." He then referred to the teachings of Baha'u'llah which exhort His followers to build temples for worship, with a general plan for their design and function. The speaker had visited the city of 'Ishqabad many years ago where the first Baha Temple had been constructed, recently, alas, confiscated by the civil authorities and diverted to other use. The Ba1A'is were deeply impressed by Mr. Remey's design which has had the distinction of being chosen for the future Tern-pie in the Holy Land, associated with the Baha'i Shrines and the World Center which is arising step by step in the Holy Land, heart of the world. Among the key addresses which impressed the gathering we note the remarks on teaching work in Africa by Misct Banani; the exposition of the significance of the Year Nine, by Shu'6'u'116h 'A16'i; Mr. Samandari's reminiscences of Baha'u'llah; Mr. 'Au-Ak-bar Fur6tan's talk on the Baha'i Administrative Order; Mr. Valiyu'ilTh Varq67s presentation of the subject "Heroes of the Lord of Hosts"; and Mr. Dhikru'116h KlAdem's story of Tihr4n Ñ the standard of sacrifice. All these speakers were Hands of the Cause. Jubilee public meetings were notable occasions. On Wednesday evening, April 29, Dr. Paul Hutehinson of The Christian Century, and Mrs. Dorothy Baker of the National Baha'i Assembly spoke on "Religion for Humanity." Matthew Bullock, member of the National Assembly, presided. On Friday, May 1, the public meeting was held in New Trier High School, Winnetka, in the vicinity of the Temple in Wilmette. This meeting formally presented to the friends and neighbors the story of the Baha Temple to be publicly dedicated the following day. Paul Haney, presiding, read messages of greeting and good wishes from distinguished personages, including Justice Wil-ham Douglas of the United States Supreme Court, Mrs. Ruth Bryan Rhode, Dr. Marcus Bach and the Israeli Ambassador. William Alexander, President of Wilmette Village, shared the platform as guest of the Baha'is. Allen B. McDaniel, supervising engineer of Temple construction for many years, outlined the history of the project from its first beginnings some fifty years before, through the purchase of land, the selection of Louis Bourgeois as architect, and the completion of the structure under successive contracts. Robert McLaughlin, Director of the School of Architecture of Princeton University, explained the features of the architectural design. Horace Holley dealt with the Temple in terms of the meaning of worship. Edwin Eardley, member of the Temple Technical Committee, and }{ilbert Dahi, landscape architect, whose design was selected for landscaping the Temple grounds, were presented to the audience. Mr. Alexander, in the name of the Village of Wilmette, offered congratulations on the completion of Temple construction. The local residents, he said, feel privileged to have this world f a-mous structure in their community. The public program returned to the Me-dinah Temple in Chicago. The theme "One God and One People" was presented Sunday evening May 3 by Dr. Charles H. Wes-icy, president of Central State College, Ohio, followed by Riil2iyyih ~jjAnum, Au Yazdi presiding. The account written after this meeting stated concerning Ribiyyih 'SM-num: "Every one was touched by the spirit which flowed through her, by her dignity, simplicity and candor, and even more by those indefinable qualities of a selfless Baha'i, and each knew he had spent a moment with a rare sod." The fourth public meeting was devoted to the theme "The Human Goal," with H. B. Kavelin presiding. The speakers were Norman Cousins, editor, Saturday Review of Literature, and Dr. W. Kenneth Christian, member of the National Spiritual Assembly. Extraordinary was the publicity which acclaimed the Jubilee and the dedication of the House of Worship, carried by Associated Press, United Press and Universal Press. Feature stories appeared in Newsweek, Cappers Weekly, The Chicago Sunday Tribune, Chicago Daily News (an editorial), and the Baha'i press committee received clippings from three hundred and ninety-seven cities. Thirteen international radio broadcasts were beamed over Station WRUL to Europe, the Near East and Latin America. Fifty television stations showed a film-short on the Temple dedication, while Universal [p30] 30 THE BAHA'! WORLD Newsreel pictures were shown in many theaters. This Conference, like that held in Kampala, produced a new spirit of intimate fellowship among Baha'is who had, while loyal to the same Faith, been long accustomed to regard themselves as members of one particular national community. Boundaries were swept away. The Third Intercontinental Teaching Conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from July 21 to July 26, 1953, in the attractive auditorium of the Medborgarhus. This Conference was planned and conducted by the European Teaching Committee. Edna M. True, Committee chairman, presided, with Mrs. Marion Hofman of England serving as co-chairman. The participating Baha bodies were the National Spiritual Assemblies of the British Isles, Germany and Austria, Italy and Switzerland, the United States. Three hundred seventy-seven persons attended, representing Baha'is in thirty different countries. Ugo Giachery, Hand of the Cause, represented the Guardian of the Faith and read the Guardian's message addressed to the Conference. This message outlined thirteen European goals to be achieved during the Ten-Year Plan. The experience acquired in the conduct of the two previous Intercontinental Conferences, at Kampala and Chicago, made the Stockholm Conference an efficient and smoothly running organized meeting. Among the agenda topics presented by Hands of the Cause and other Baha'is we note: Launching the World-Embracing Spiritual Crusade, by Ugo Giachery; Europe's Part in the Ten-Year Global Crusade, by Hermann Grossmann; the Kampala Conference, by Mflsi BanAni; the All-American Conference, by Beatrice Ashton and Mildred Mottahedeh; Temple Dedication, by Horace Holley; Sufferings of Baha'u'llah and Their Significance, by George Townshend and Dhikru'llih KhAdem. The first afternoon was devoted to the unveiling of the portrait of the Bab by the Guardian's representative and the commemoration of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. A public meeting was held in the Con-certhus which assembled an audience of about seven hundred. Mrs. Gerd Strand of Oslo spoke on "The Spiritual Regeneration of the Individual Man," and Professor Zeine N. Zeine of Beirut spoke on "The Recon struction of Human Society." Hans Odemyr of Stockholm presided. The Baha'is attending the Stockholm Conference were profoundly conscious of the vital importance of carrying out a spiritual mission in Europe, the ancient theater of war and conquest, of upholding the Message of reconciliation, peace and unity in a universal Faith. The European goals set forth in the World Crusade call for pioneer settlement of thirty new territories on the continent and adjacent islands, and the formation of more local Spiritual Assemblies in fifteen lands. The success of the Conference was signalized by the rise of sixty-three volunteers prepared to enter the teaching field. Before the end of the final session, pioneers were assigned to all the new territories to be opened in Europe, except lands where religious missions are at present not permitted. An unforgettable occasion was the Unity Banquet held in the magnificent Golden Room of Stockholm Town Hall, commemorating the Jubilee of the Year Nine. In this setting the chanting of Baha'u'llah's words in the original Persian seemed to carry a special penetrating force. The Banquet program was simple and effective. Other than the prayers and invocations, oniy simple and heartwarming greetings in many languages were delivered, each speaker testifying to his faith and his resolve to serve the Cause of Baha'u'llah. The Stockholm Conference rested on a strong basis in the establishment of Baha'i Assemblies in the ten western countries of Europe since 1946, and the activities of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the British Isles and of Germany and Austria over the years. The International Baha'i Bureau, long maintained in Geneva, Switzerland, has also contributed to the teaching work in Europe. The fourth and final Intercontinental Teaching Conference, convened at New Delhi, India, was electrified by a cabled message received from the Guardian of the Faith in Haifa announcing the completion of construction of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Bab after five years of work, at a cost of about seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This achievement at the World Center seemed to be the climax of the Holy Year. The New Delhi Conference was conducted by the National Spiritual Assembly [p31] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 31 of India, PAkistAn and Burma, A. A. Butt presiding at the first session. Other sessions had as chairman a representative of the participating National Baha'i Assemblies Ñ those of the United States, Canada, Central and South America, Persia, the host Assembly of India, P6)kist&n and Burma, 'IrAq, and Australia and New Zealand. C. Mason Remey, Hand of the Cause from Haifa, as the Guardian's representative, delivered Shoghi Effendi's formal message to New Delhi. In it were enumerated forty-one virgin territories and islands constituting the Asia Teaching Mission entrusted to the eight participating Assemblies. "The Asiatic Continent," the Guardian wrote, "the cradle of the principal religions of mankind; the home of so many of the oldest and mightiest civilizations which have flourished on this planet; the crossways of so many kindreds and races; the battleground of so many peoples and nations; above whose horizons, in modern times, the suns of two independent Revelations Ñ the promise and consummation of a six thousand year old religious Cycle Ñ have successively arisen; where the Authors of both these Revelations suffered banishment and died; within whose confines the Center of a di-vinely-appointed Covenant was born, endured a forty-year incarceration and passed away; on whose Western extremity the Qiblih of the Baha'i world has been definitely established; in whose heart the city proclaimed by Baha'u'llah as the 'Mother of the World' is enshrined; within whose borders another city regarded as the 'Cynosure of an adoring world' and the scene of the greatest and most glorious Revelation the world has witnessed is embosomed; on whose soil so many saints, heroes and martyrs, associated with both of these Revelations, have lived, struggled and died Ñ such a continent, so privileged among its sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, on the threshold of an era that may recall, in its glory and ultimate repercussions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of God's purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human race. "May this Crusade, launched simultaneously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighboring islands and the Antipodes, under the direction rection of eight National Spiritual Assemblies, and through the operation of eight systematic Teaching Plans, and the concerted efforts of Baha'i communities in both the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent continent, and may it reenact those scenes of spiritual heroism which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the peoples and nations dwelling within its borders." This note of spiritual statesmanship gave the Baha'is at New Delhi a deeper understanding of the meaning of their teaching mission in relation to past historical events. For the Conference there had been arranged a colorful canopy on the grounds of the Constitution Club. The Baha'i from the West arriving at the meeting was struck by the pageantry of human types and costumes represented by his comrades from the East. Thirty nations were represented among the four hundred and fifty Baha'is who registered. The opening period of devotions was conducted in English, Persian, Hindustani and Burmese. The portrait of the Martyr Prophet, the Bib, was unveiled by Mr. Remey and before it, in awe and reverence, the Baha'is present knelt and besought the purity essential to service in the Kingdom. The public events included in the Conference agenda provided two public meetings Ñ one held under the marquee, the other in New Delhi Town Hall. The speakers on the platform at the first meeting were Horace Holley, Stanley Bolton, Sr., Dorothy Baker and Ugo Giachery, with C. Mason Remey presiding. At the Town Hall the theme "Towards a World Federation," was elucidated by H. C. Featherstone, John Robarts, Mildred Mottahedeh and A. Q. Faizi. New Delhi surpassed the three previous Conferences in its program of public relations. A public reception and tea held in the garden of Imperial Hotel was attended by nearly one thousand persons, including high officials of the India government and representatives from Embassies and Consulates and men from the press. Formal acceptance had been received from men in high official positions. The setting for this occasion was charming and effective. [p32] 32 THE BAHA'! WORLD For press and other public distribution the Indian Assembly had published a brochure quoting appreciations of the Faith written by eminent Indians, and reproducing many press notices of the Baha Jubilee. Moreover, the host Assembly found it possible to present delegations of Baha'is to three government leaders Ñ the President of India, the Vice-President, and Prime Minister Nehru. Much of the time during the sessions was devoted to filling the forty-one pioneer posts by volunteers and to contributing funds for the future construction of three Houses of Worship. In both realms the result was excellent. lit was announced that, aside from delays in arranging visas, it appeared that all Asiatic virgin territories would soon be definitely filled. Seventy-four Baha'is offered their services as pioneers. A generous amount was raised or contributed toward the cost of purchasing three Temple sites. The sessions brought out from a number of Baha'is the personal story of their teaching work in the early days or, more recently, under conditions of determined opposition. The very history of the Faith seemed to be repeated in the experience of these spiritual heroes. The Conference held a memorial meeting in honor of the late William Sutherland Maxwell, designer of the Shrine of the DAb, with eulogies by John Robarts, Ugo Gia-chery and C. Mason Remey. Prayers were offered for the departed Hand of the Cause, Siegfried Schopflocher, of Montreal. Many of the Baha'is visited the site selected for the future Temple outside New Delhi on a slope overlooking the city. This Conference terminated with the observance of the mid-October Baha'i Nineteen Day Feast during the early evening of October 15, the date of the termination also of Holy Year. After the New Delhi Conference Hands of the Cause visited local Baha'i communities in India, PakistAn, Burma, Ceylon and other countries of the Orient, by direction of the Guardian. Similar directions had been received at the three previous Conferences, with the result that Hands of the Cause met and addressed local Baha'i communities in Africa, United States, Central and South America, Canada and countries in Western Europe. This action brought the new institution closer to the body of Baha'is. It was on her return home from India, after weeks of travel and public teaching, that Dorothy Baker met death when the airplane in which she was traveling exploded and plunged into the Mediterranean Sea. EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HOLY LAND AND THE GROWTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER EMERGENCE of the Baha'i world community in the years 19501954 into a consciously functioning international organism was given its impetus by developments initiated by the Guardian of the Faith at its International Center in the Holy Land, in Haifa and 'Akka in Israel, "under the shadow of the Mountain of God, Mt. Carmel." These developments at the International Center were inevitably associated, during these years, with the development of the rapidly emerging new State of Israel. The spirit released by the erection of the Shrine of the Bib on Mt. Carmel, which the Guardian termed an "enterprise transcending in sacredness any collective undertaking launched in the course of the history of the hundred year old Faith," not only inspired the Baha'is of the world but also gave confidence and hope to the new State, which, in turn, showed its appreciation in many ways, notably in the recognition of the historic sites of the Faith as Baha'i Holy P1aces~ in assistance with acquisition of new properties needed, and in increasing recognition of the status of the Faith and of its appointed I-Lead, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i World Faith. COMPLETION OE THE SEPULCHER OF THE BiB Erection of the superstructure of the Sepulcher of the BTh, the "shell designed to preserve and adorn the original structure [p33] Aerial view of the Shrine of the Bab, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel. The building was completed in October, 1953. raised by 'Abdu'l-Baha as the Tomb of the Martyr Herald of our Faith," proceeded uninterruptedly. Begun in 1948, the work on the superstructure progressed from stage to stage as successive contracts were signed by the Guardian, or his representative in Italy, Ugo Giachery, for the plans, the cutting and carving of the marble in Italy and its shipment to Haifa, together with cement, steel, wrought-iron railings, window-frames, until the Shrine was finally completed five years later, in October, 1953, at a total cost of three-quarters of a million dollars. By the Centenary Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the BTh, in July, 1950, the "initial stage" of this "irresistibly advancing enterprise was completed, and the Arcade with its Rose Baveno granite columns, its curved and exquisitely carved corner panels of gleaming Chiampo stone, and the green marble mosaic panel of the Greatest Name in the north fagade, "the fairest gem set in the crown of the Arcade," gave breath-tak-ing promise of what was yet to come. It was the inspiring and unifying privilege of Baha'is over all the world to contribute sacrificially toward the cost of this first of the Institutions at the International Center of the Faith. The new Government of Israel, struggling in its birth pangs, gave spontaneous expression of its appreciation of the developments in the heart of the Holy Mountain, by permitting the various kinds of material imported for the construction of the Shrine, to enter tax free. The new Government even donated some cement at a crucial stage, when it was itself feverishly erecting buildings and housing for its new citizens. The International Baha'i Council wrote of this gift: "One would have to be a resident of this country to realize just what that means." By Ris1v~tn of 1952 what the Guardian called the "second crown," with its eight majestic, minaret-like pinnacles gracing the Octagon, was completed. As the next stage of construction proceeded and the circular Drum with its eighteen stained-glass windows was erected, the third "crown" Ñ the brim of the Dome Ñ was set in place by [p34] Night view of the Sepulcher of the B~b on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel, showing terraces and gardens. [p35] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 3 Naw-Rtiz of 1953, to be followed by erection of the Dome and the laying, during Rislvtn of 1953, of the first golden tiles covering the two hundred and fifty square meter area of the Dome. On the ninth day of the ninetieth Anniversary of the Ri~1vTh Festival the Guardian, with his own hands, reverently placed a fragment from the plaster ceiling of the BTh's prison cell in the castle of MAh-Kfi beneath one of the gilded tiles of the Dome of this beautiful Shrine. Erection of the final unit, the stone lantern, coincided with the closing of the Holy Year (October, 1953), associated with the Centenary of the birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. (For further details on the erection of the Shrine of the BTh, see Section VI.) The Guardian cabled to the Fourth Intercontinental Teaching Conference in New Delhi in October, 1953: "(A) steadily swelling throng (of) visitors (from) far (and) near, (on) many days exceeding (a) thousand, (is) flocking (the) gates leading (to the) Inner Sanctuary (of this) majestic mausoleum; paying homage (to the) Queen of Carmel enthroned (on) God's Mountain, crowned (in) glowing gold, robed (in) shimmering white, girdled (in) emerald green, enchanting every eye from air, sea, plain (and) hill." During the erection of the Sepulcher of the BTh the Guardian had had the broad terrace on which it rests extended toward the east, adding three hundred and fifty square meters in area, thus enhancing the "beauty and stateliness of the immediate surroundings" of the Shrine. COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION OF NINE TERRACES In April, 1951, the Guardian added the two lower terraces to the impressive roadway leading, terrace by gardened terrace, from the city directly to the Shrine. With the addition of the two lower terraces and their beautification, the Guardian completed the series of nine terraces "linking Haifa's oldest and most imposing avenue with the Bab's resting place majestically rising in the bosom of CarmeL" Thus was fulfilled 'Abdu'l-Baha's "cherished desire" to connect the Shrine with the German Templar colony at the foot of Mt. Cannel. The Guardian wrote the Baha'is of Persia and the Middle East that this roadway would become known as the "avenue of the kings and monarchs of the earth." EXTENSION OF INTERNATIONAL ENDOWMENTS B ah6.'i International Endowments have been rapidly extended at the World Center of the Faith through the purchase of properties on the slopes of Mt. Carmel, until as of April, 1954, they cover a total area of over three hundred and fifty thousand square meters, valued at approximately four million dollars. The Guardian pointed out in a cable dated April 3, 1952, that the "historic process" of establishment of international Baha'i endowments on Mt. Carmel, "inevitably delayed" during the first fifty years of the Faith, was "initiated on the morrow of Baha'u'llah's ascension" through the purchase of a limited number of plots during the lifetime of 'Abdu'l-Baha in the immediate area of the then newly erected Tomb of the Rib. The process was "greatly accel-crated" through the purchase of extensive properties after 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing and is "now further reinforced." A twenty thousand square meter area, consisting of eighteen plots, was added in 1952 at a cost of one hundred eighteen thousand dollars, overlooking the resting-place of the revered sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the eastern approaches to the Shrine of the Bab. Land extending from the heart of the Mountain to its ridge was also added, to safeguard the immediate precincts of the Shrine and to provide for extension of the terraces to the top of the Mountain above the Shrine, as envisaged by 'Abdu'l-Baha In March, 1953, the Guardian announced the acquisition, "after thirty years of effort, of a wooded area of over twenty-three thousand square meters," made possible through the estate bequeathed to the Faith by Roy C. Wilhelm. Acquisition of this property increased "the total area within the precincts permanently dedicated to the Bab's Sepulcher to almost a quarter million square meters." Over one hundred thousand square meters of the land permanently dedicated to the Shrine of the B~b are registered in the name of the Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America. A strip of land previously owned by Mrs. Farah Sprague, who had asked a fantastic [p36] [p37] The circular cluster of cypress trees (foreground) is the spot visited by Baha'u'llah, from which He indicated the present site of the Shrine of the Bab and stated that His Remains must be brought from Persia and placed there. CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 37 price for this property, when the Guardian repeatedly tried to acquire it, and had finally arbitrarily refused to sell it at all to the Ba-hg'is, was expropriated on the recommendation of the Mayor of Haifa. Arrangements were made with the Finance Minister of the State of Israel through the Guardian's representatives for purchase of the property for a small amount. It is now a part of the land being prepared for the International Archives building. In the city of Haifa a piece of property facing both the House of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Western Pilgrim House was also acquired, to be kept as a private open space. The Guardian has had it planted with gardens. PURCHASE OF TEMPLE LAND ON MT. CARMEL AND COMPLETION OF DESIGN When the Guardian announced, in October, 1952, the tasks to be accomplished during the Ten-Year World Spiritual Crusade, one of the objectives at the World Center of the Faith was the acquisition of land for the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar on Mt. Carmel. A year later he announced that a site had been selected and preliminary steps taken toward the purchase of an area at the head of the Mountain of God. This area, comprising approximately thirty-six thousand square meters is located "in close proximity to the Spot hallowed by the footsteps of Baha'u'llah, near the time-honored Cave of Elijah, and associated with the revelation of the Tablet of Carmel, the Charter of the World Spiritual and Administrative Centers of the Faith on that mountain." Funds amounting to over one hundred thousand dollars have been generously contributed by one of the Hands of the Cause residing in the Holy Land. Forty years earlier 'Abdu'l-Baha had written to Charles Mason Remey, wellknown architect then living in Washington, D.C., that his mission would be to design the Baha'i House of Worship to be built on Mt. Carmel. Mr. Remey had been studying architecture in Paris as a young man when he first heard of the Faith and since then had made and exhibited internationally many drawings of designs for a Baha'i House of Worship. In 1948 at the invitation of the Guardian he went to Haifa to live and there, under the direction of the Guardian, has been working on the plans for the Tern-pie to be built on Mt. Carmel. The completed design, approved by the Guardian, and a model of this first Baha'i Temple for the Holy Land, were exhibited at the Second Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conference in Chicago, Illinois, in May, 1953. The design provides a circular building, embellished with beautiful minaret-like spires, and has nine approaches through gardens. DESIGN OF INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES BUILDING In the development of the Baha'i International Center the first edifice "destined to usher in the establishment of the World Administrative Center of the Faith" is the International Baha'i Archives, One of the fundamental provisions of the Faith of Baha'u'llah is that there shall be not only the aspect of worship and glorification of God but also the channel through which that spirit thus engendered can flow out to the world through Baha'i activities. The Administrative Center provides that channel. The design for the International Baha'i Archives has been made by Charles Mason Remey, carrying out suggestions of the Guardian of the Faith. It was first exhibited at the Fourth Intercontinental Conference at New Delhi, October, 1953. It calls for a stately marble edifice, of pure classic Greek form, similar to the Parthenon in Athens, having Ionic columns on each side. The building is to be erected on the slope of Mt. Carmel, at the west end of an arc which circles from the main boulevard above the resting places of the sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha and His mother and brother. Again the marble work is being done in Italy, and shipped to Haifa, as for the Shrine of the BTh. The World Administrative Center of the Baha'i Faith, of which the International Archives is the first building, is, as the Guardian points out, "the Ark referred to by Baha'u'llah in the closing passages of His [p38] 38 THE BAHA'I WORLD Tablet of Carmel." Addressing Mt. Carmel Baha'u'llah writes: "Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bah~ who have been mentioned in the Book of Names." NEW ISRAEL BRANCHES ESTABLISHED In order that Baha'i properties on Mt. Cannel may be safeguarded by being held in the names of various National Spiritual Assemblies, Israel Branches of seven National Spiritual Assemblies are to be established, in addition to that of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the United States of America, which has been in effect for many years. As of April, 1954, four new Israel Branches had been legally established, formally recognized as Religious Societies by the Israeli Civil Authority and empowered to hold unrestricted title to immovable property in any part of the State of Israel, on behalf of their parent Assembly. The four new Israel Branches are those of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of the British Isles, of Persia, of Canada, and of Australia. Through these bodies the National Spiritual Assembly concerned has an interest in the property registered in its name and could challenge, through its Government, any claims that might be made by enemies of the Faith. APPOINTMENT OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD In December, 1951, the entire Baha'i world was profoundly stirred and humbly grateful that the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith felt the time had come in the unfoldment of the Faith to proclaim publicly the appointment of the first Hands of the Cause to be named during their lifetime. Provision for this Institution had been made by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His Testament, and Baha'u'llah had named a few devoted and dedicated believers as Hands of the Cause, but hitherto the designation by the Guardian of an outstanding servant of the Faith as Hand of the Cause had been made publicly oniy after that person's death. The Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha states that "the Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the Guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command." The first Guardian of the Cause of God deemed the "hour now ripe to take long inevitably deferred step." Appointment of the first contingent of the Hands of the Cause of God was made known in a cablegram from the Guardian dated December 24, 1951, in which twelve were named, "equally allocated Holy Land, Asiatic, American, European continents." Those nominated were: Holy Land: Sutherland Maxwell, Mason Remey, Mrs. Amelia Collins. Cradle of the Faith (Persia): Valiyu'116h Varq6, Tar~gu'114h Samandarf, 'A1I-Akbar Fur6tan. American Continent: Horace Holley, Dorothy Baker, Leroy Joas. European Continent: George Townshend, Hermann Grossmann, Ugo Giachery. The number of the Hands of the Cause was raised to nineteen with the nomination of seven additional, in the Guardian's cablegram of February 29, 1952: Dominion of Canada: Fred Schopflocher. United States of America: Mrs. Corinne True. Persia: Dhikru'llAh KhAdem Shu a u'-lUh 'A1&i. Germany: Adelbert Miihlschlegel. Africa: M6sA Ban~ni. Australia: Mrs. Clara Dunn. In this cablegram the Guardian stated: "Members august body invested (in) conformity (with) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, twofold sacred function, (the) propagation (and) preservation (of the) unity (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah, (and) destined (to) assume individually (in the) course (of) time (the) direction (of) institutions paralleling those revolving around (the) Universal House (of) Justice, (the) supreme legislative body (of the) Baha'i World, (are) now recruited (from) all five Continents (of) the globe (and) representative (of the) three principal world religions (of) mankind." On the death of Mr. Maxwell in March, 1952, the Guardian cabled that the mantle of Hand of the Cause "now f ails (upon the) shoulders (of) his distinguished daughter, Abdu'l-Baha Rtiljiyyih, who (has) already rendered (and is) still rendering manifold no less meritorious self-sacrificing services" at the World Center of the Faith. A sixth Hand of the Cause for Persia was named by the Guardian on December 7, 1953, with the appointment of Jal6i KlAzeh. And Paul Haney of the United States was [p39] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 39 Manesmann pipes placed prior to erection, within the recently cast reinforced d concrete work which constitutes the support t for the superstructure e of the Bab's Shrine. Erection of the cement ceiling of the octagon of the Shrine, January Ñ February, 1952. One of the completed pinnacles of the octagon, March, 1952. [p40] 40 THE BAHA'I WORLD nominated Hand of the Cause in the Guardian's cable of March 19, 1954. Mr. Schop-flocher of Canada passed away in July, 1953, and Mrs. Dorothy Baker of the United States had been killed in an airplane accident in January, 1954. Four of the Hands of the Cause serve in Haifa at the World Center Ñ Abdu'l-Baha R6I~iyyih Khanum, Mason Remey, Mrs. Amelia Collins, and Leroy loas. In the Guardian's cablegram to the Hands of the Cause and the National Spiritual Assemblies, dated April 6, 1954, he acknowledged the services of the Hands of the Cause in the Holy Land in the erection of the Bab's Sepulcher on Mt. Carmel, in the reinforcement of ties with the newly emerged State of Israel, in extension of Baha'i International Endowments in the Holy Land, in the initiation of preliminary measures for the establishment of the Baha'i International Administrative Center, and in the participation of these Hands of the Cause in the four successive Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conferences and their subsequent travels in the five continents. APPOINTMENT OF AUXILIARY BOARDS In the unfoldment of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause the Guardian instructed the fifteen Hands of the Cause outside the Holy Land to appoint, during Rish4±n 1954, "by virtue of their supreme function as chosen instruments for the propagation of the Faith," five auxiliary Boards, one for each of the five continents. This body of the Hands of the Cause was, in the Guardian's words, "now entering (the) second phase (of) its evolution signalized (by) forging (of) ties (with the) National Spiritual Assemblies (of the) Baha'i world (for the) purpose (of) lending them assistance (in) attaining (the) objectives (of the) Ten Year Plan." The task of the auxiliary Boards was to increasingly lend (their) assistance (for the) promotion (of the) interests (of the) Ten-Year Crusade." Their function was to act "as deputies, assistants and advisers of the Hands," "working itt conjunction" with the National Spiritual Assemblies on each continent. Their duties had been defined by the Guardian in his cablegram of October 8, 1952, launching the World Crusade: to "as-sist, through periodic systematic visits (to) Baha centers (in the) efficient, prompt exe cution" of the twelve projected National teaching plans. The five auxiliary Boards appointed by the fifteen Hands of the Cause were announced as follows: African: John Allen Miss Elsie Austin 'Ali Na1ibjav~tni JaIAl Nakhjax4ni John Robarts William Sears Muhammad Mustafa Soleiman Valerie Wilson 'Aziz Yazdi American: Canada: Rowland Estall Central America: Esteban Canales South America: Mrs. Gayle Woolson, Mrs. Margot Worley United States and inter-America: William de Forge Mrs. Margery McCormick Mrs. Katherine McLaughlin Mrs. Florence Mayberry Dr. Sarah Pereira Asiatic: Miss Agnes Alexander Mrs. Elena Marsella Fernie Abul Qasim Faizi Abbas Mi Butt Carl A. Scherer Daoud Toeg Kazem Kazemzadeh Australian: H. C. Featherstone Miss Thelma Perks European: Mrs. Marion Hofman Mrs. Dorothy Ferraby Eugen Schmidt Mrs. Anna Grossmann Louis Henuzet Joel Marengella Miss Elsa Steinmetz Mrs. Angeline Giachery Mrs. Tow Deleuran FORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL BAWk'I COUNCIL Tn January, 1951, the Guardian made known to the National Spiritual Assemblies of East and West his "weighty epochmaking [p41] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 41 decision" to form the first International Baha'i Council, as a forerunner of the Universal House of Justice "destined to emerge in the fullness of time" at the International Center of the Faith, "the midmost heart of the entire planet." He referred to the International Council as an "embryonic International Institution," stating that it will evolve into an officially recognized Baha'i Court, be transformed into a "duly elected body" and reach its effiorescence finally as the Universal House of Justice. He outlined its threefold function: (1) to forge a link with authorities of the newly emerged State of Israel, (2) to assist the Guardian in the erection of the Shrine of the Bab, and (3) to conduct negotiations related to matters paving the way for the formation of the Baha'i Court. The Guardian appointed the following members of the International Baha'i Council: Abdu'l-Baha Rtd~iyyih KMnum, as liaison between himself and the Council Charles Mason Remey, president Mrs. Amelia Collins, vice-president Ugo Giachery, member-at-large Leroy Joas, secretary-general Jessie Revell, treasurer Ethel Revell, Western assistant secretary Lotfullah Hakim, Eastern assistant secretary. Two comprehensive letters have been received from the International Baha Coun-cii by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, which are included in Part Two, Section I, of this volume. These letters serve to keep the Baha'is informed of interesting events connected with the progressive developments at the International Center of the Faith, which have been announced by the Guardian. Assistance of the members of this Coun-cii has been repeatedly acknowledged by the Guardian in the work at the International Baha'i Center, in the erection of the Shrine of the Bab, in contacts which members of the Council have made with Government and religious authorities of the State of Israel, in widening the understanding of the Faith and its spiritual influence in the world. ACQUISITION AND EMBELLISHMENT OF LAND SURROUNDING THE SHRINE OF BAHA'U'LLAH One of the most astounding and miracu-bus developments at the World Center of the Faith has been the acquisition and embellishment of the land surrounding the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Baha'i, on the plain outside of 'Akka After two-year-long negotiations the Guardian announced on November 12, 1952, that a contract had been signed whereby about one hundred sixty thousand square meters of land (forty acres) in the immediate area of the Shrine were to be transferred by the Israeli Government to Baha ownership. Thus the Guardian was able to begin carrying out his longing to beautify the entire surroundings of the Tomb of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. This property, equal in extent almost to "the entire Baha'i international endowments purchased in the course of sixty years in the vicinity of the BTh's Sepulcher," had come into the hands of the Israeli Government because of the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners. The Government of Israel was willing to arrange for its exchange for property which was located in a strategic area, owned by Baha'is who offered to donate their property for the purpose of the exchange. The dramatic event was heightened by the fact that the property in the Baha area now being acquired by the Baha'is had formerly been owned by Arab supporters of old Covenant-breakers and descendents of the notorious enemy of 'Abdu'l-Baha who had placed his residence at the disposal of the Turkish Committee of Investigation sent to interrogate 'Abdu'l-Baha just prior to overthrow of the Caliphate in 1908. The area donated for exchange, on the other hand, was property belonging to the grandchildren of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, Baha'u'llah's faithful half-brother and companion in exile. The Guardian's cable announced that the contract was signed on the one hundred thirty-fifth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah. Transfer of the Baha property was arranged by the Development Authority of Israel to be registered under the name of the Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America. The International Council wrote: 'The magnitude of this historic event is difficult to understand at this time." Immediately the Guardian began laying out gardens to beautify the area around the Sepulcher of Baha'u'llah, "the Qiblih of the Baha'i world." Laid out in the form of a semicircle around the Shrine, with a radius [p42] 42 THE BAHA'! WORLD of 110 meters, the gardens, "sprung from the dust," are decorated with white Carrara marble vases and ornaments, with decorative lamp posts and beautiful wrought-iron gates flecked with gold, on graceful pebbled paths leading to the Shrine. The International Council wrote of these developments: "Lo! like a dream they [the gardens] spread before the eyes of the Baha'is. Indeed the Arab laborers would quote to each other an old saying: 'The ring of Solomon has been found!' Ñ which stems from a tradi-hon that the king lost his ring, and that whoever found it and turned it on his finger Ñ whatever he wished for would materialize instantly." In order to embellish the area immediately adjacent to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, the Guardian had, in years past, removed some piles of ruined buildings and had completdy renovated the Mansion of Baha, where Baha'u'llah was living when He ascended in 1892, and where Muhammad-'Ali, "Arch Covenant-breaker of Baha'u'llah's Testament," had been permitted to live with his family, while 'Abdu'l-Baha and His family were still living in 'Akka. By 1932 the roof of the Baha Mansion was caving in through neglect of the property by the then inhabitant, Muhammad-All, who claimed to have no funds to repair the damage. The Guardian, who felt that such a condition was not only a disgrace to the memory of Baha'u'llah but was a responsibility of the Baha'is to repair, prevailed upon Mu1~ammad-'A1i to move with his family to an adjacent building. The Guardian then restored the Mansion, with great care, to its original beauty, for it was an exquisite oriental palace built by a wealthy resident of 'Akka during the time of Baha'u'llah's incarceration in the prison city and deserted when a pestilence struck the area. After the Guardian had renovated the entire building, restoring even the original delicate mural decorations on the walls, he lined the rooms with eases containing original Writings of Baha'u'llah, books and pictures of priceless historical value, and placed in Baha'u'llah's own room original relics associated with His stay there. The Guardian then invited the British District Commissioner to inspect the Mansion with him. The Commissioner was so impressed that he agreed to ask the High Commissioner to include it as a Baha'i Holy Place, making it, as were the Shrines of Baha'u'llah and of the Bab, and Bahi'u' llAh's House in 'Akka, exempt from taxation. Thus the status of the Mansion of Baha changed from a personal residence to a beautiful Museum and Pilgrim House for the Baha'is. By 1951 there remained still a small one-story building adjacent to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah whose roof had caved in and whose walls were crumbling. As Custodian of the Baha Holy Places the Guardian considered its presence detrimental to the dignity of the approach to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, and in December, 1951, he ordered it demolished. Before his order could be carried out, however, an order was issued from the Haifa court to prevent this action, at the instigation of the Covenant-breakers, urged on by Majdi'd-Din, who was nearly one hundred years old, miserably paralyzed and still living in an adjacent building. After a legal suit, described in a subsequent section of this Survey, the case was settled as a complete victory for the Baha'is, upholding the authority of the Guardian of the Baha'i World Faith. Within forty-eight hours after settlement of this case, in which title to the house occupied by Muljammad-'Alf was also cleared and included in the setfiement, the ruins were removed "in a blast of joy" and within one week gardens had appeared as if by magic, with pebbled paths, marble ornaments, peacocks, eagles, cypress trees, and beautiful wrought-iron gates. THE HARAM-I-AQDAS Within these gardens, immediately adjacent to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, the Guardian has created an "outer sanctuary" which he has termed the Ijaram-i-Aqdas, or Most Holy Court. He has stated that in the future a "magnificent Mausoleum" will be erected in its heart. He cabled, February 9, 1953: "(The) striking enhancement (of the) beauty (and) stateliness (of the) most holy spot (in the) Ba1A'i world constitutes (a) befitting tribute (to the) memory (of the) Founder (of the) Faith, within (the) hallowed area adjacent (to) His resting-place, (on the) occasion (of the) Centenary Celebrations (of the) birth (of) His glorious Ivtission." RESUMPTION OF PILGRIMAGE On December 25, 1951, a cablegram from the Guardian was received by all National [p43] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 43 A corner of the BTh's Shrine with two pinnacles of the octagon completed and the wrought-iron gilded railing in position. Spiritual Assemblies which brought untold joy to thousands of Baha'is the world over. It announced "restrictions on pilgrimage being gradually removed." Not since the war, ten years before, had it been possible for Baha'is to fulfill the longing of their hearts to visit the Holy Shrines and be privileged to meet the Guardian of the Faith in person. Within four months one hundred Baha'is from East and West had been permitted this privilege. Their visits were necessarily restricted to nine days, owing to limited accommodations in the two Pilgrim Houses, so that as many as possible could be received as the Guardian's guests. During this pilgrimage the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Baha and the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel are visited, a night at least is spent in the Mansion sion of Baha'u'llah at Baha, His cell in the prison of 'Akka is visited, as well as the House in 'Akka where He revealed the Kitdb-i-A qdas and the House where lived 'Abdu'l-Baha and Baha'i Kh4num His revered sister; also visited are the peaceful Garden of Ridvan and the Garden of Fir-daws, where Baha'u'llah often went, and the International Archives, where priceless relics and treasures are viewed. The Guardian has pointed out that the pilgrims constitute the stream of life blood flowing in and out of the great heart of the Faith. As direct result of the inspiration received, many Baha'is have pioneered to distant countries and islands of the world, carrying the Teachings of Baha'u'llah to important goals of the Ten-Year Crusade. [p44] 44 THE BAHA'! WORLD THE HOUSE OF MAZRA'IH The Mansion of Mazra'ih, in the country a few miles north of 'Akka, where Baha'u'llah first lived after leaving the prison city, has become a Baha'i Holy Place to be visited by Baha'i pilgrims, because of the gracious intervention of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Ben-Gurion. Mazra'ih was formerly the residence of a wealthy Arab PAshA which 'Abdu'l-Baha had rented and prepared for Baha'u'llah so that He might be surrounded by the verdure He loved after His nine years of confinement within the prison and the prison city. The Mansion had since become a Muslim religious endowment but by arrangements made, at the Prime Minister's suggestion, through the Minister of Religions it is now rented to the Baha'is. The Guardian had it ~tttractive1y and simply furnished in December, 1950, "in anticipation" of opening the door of pilgrimage. THE HOUSE OF BAHA'U'LLAH IN 'AKKA Within the prison city of 'Akka is the large House where Baha'u'llah lived after His confinement in the prison itself, and where He revealed the Kitdb-i-A qdas in which are "preserved for posterity the basic laws and ordinances on which the fabric of His future World Order must rest." Later 13ah~'u'I1th moved to Mazra'ih and 'Abdu'l-Baha and His family remained for a time in the House in 'Akka. The House of Baha'u'llah in 'Akka, now a Baha'i Holy Place, was completely renovated and furnished by the Guardian, except that the room of 'Abdu'l-Baha, where the Aqdas was revealed, has been left exactly as it was. This House is now visited by a "steadily swelling number of visitors, both local and foreign." It is of interest to recall that the Guardian, in his God Passes By. terms the Kitab-i-Aqdas "the Charter of the future world civilization," and points out that David referred to 'Akka as the "strong city" and Hosea called it "a door of hope." BAlk'u'LL½'s PRISON CELL The placing of the room occupied by Baha'u'llah in the fortress prison of 'Akka. under the control of the Ba1A'is is another dramatic occurrence, one which has made it possible for all Baha pilgrims to visit this scene of His great suffering and to pray there. Presentation of this room to the Baha'is came about without any request having been made on their part, according to a letter from the International Council. The members of the Council were simply informed one day in 1951 by the Government Physician in charge of the hospital into which this fortress prison has now been converted, that he wished to deliver the keys of Baha'u'llah's room, as it had been set aside for the Baha'is. The room has been marked with a dignified plaque over the entrance. It is a large corner room, on the top floor of the fortress prison, with high, small, deeply recessed windows and bare stone floor. Baha'u'llah wrote, as cited by the Guardian: "Blessed the man that hath visited 'Akka, and blessed he that hath visited the visitor of 'Akka." "He that raiseth therein the call to prayer, his voice will be lifted up unto Paradise." CORDIAL RELATIONS WITH STATE OF ISRAEL The Guardian has frequently referred, in his messages to the National Assemblies, to the cordial relations existing between the State of Israel and the International Center of the Faith. He has expressed his deep appreciation of the assistance given by the Prime Minister, Mr. Ben-Gurion, and the Ministries of the Government in various ways. Some of these have already been at-luded to, in connection with the construction of the Shrine of the Bib and the designation of historical sites of the Faith as Baha'i Holy Places. Of vital importance has been the increasing evidence of greater and deeper understanding of what the Baha'i Faith is and what it stands for. Contacts by members of the International Baha'i Council with the departments of the Government, both State and local, and with many Cabinet officials, have done much to help in establishing and maintaining these cordial relations. A reception given by the International Council at the Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Baha was one of the first steps taken to establish friendly understanding. It was attended by Government officials, Consuls, representatives from the Ministry of Religions in Jerusalem and by many friends and acquaintances. Greetings have been ex [p45] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 45 tended to the Baha'is, in turn, by means of Israeli radio broadcasts on special Baha'i Feast Days, such as Nawruz and RiQv~n. Baha'i books have been placed in the library of the Ministry of Religions and presented to the Minister himself, who is a profound student of religions, at his request. The importance of the fact that the International Center of the Baha'i World Faith is in Israel is being more and more realized by authorities of both the State Government and the cities of Haifa and 'Akka. Many Cabinet officials have visited the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, the Shrine of the Bab, the Mansion of Babji, and the Baha'i Gardens in 'Akka and on Mt. Carmel. VISIT OF THE PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL On April 26, 1954, the extent of these growing cordial relations between the State of Israel and the International Center of the Faith was evidenced when His Excellency the President of the State of Israel, Mr. Iz-hak Ben-Zvi, and Mrs. Ben Ñ Zvi, officially visited the Shrine of the Bab and of 'Abdu'l-Baha on Mt. Carmel, and called upon the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, in response to an invitation tendered earlier by the Guardian. This was the first time in Baha'i history that the Head of a sovereign independent State had officially visited the Shrine and called on the Head of the Ba1A'i World Faith. The Secretary-General of the International Baha Council describes this event, as follows: "On that historic day the President and the Secretary-General of the International Baha'i Council were received by the President of the State of Israel and Mrs. Ben-Zvi in their suite at the Megiddo Hotel in Haifa at nine in the morning. After visiting a few minutes, the party left by auto for the home of Shoghi Effendi. "The Guardian and R6biyyih I~hinum warmly received the President and Mrs. Ben-Zvi, surrounding them with gracious hospitality. During the friendly and informal discussion which followed, Shoghi Effendi outlined the aims and purposes of the Faith, the love and friendliness of the Baha'is for Israel, and their hope and prayer for the success of the State. The President recalled a visit with 'Abdu'l-Baha some years ago in Baha, when he and Mrs. Ben-Zvi were making a tour of the country. Persian tea and sweets were served. A beautiful hand-wrought wrought silver-bound volume with colored views of the Baha'i Holy Places in Israel, both at Babji and on Mt. Carmel, was presented to the President as a memento of the occasion. "The party then left for the gardens and Shrines. The Guardian took his honored guests through the gardens fragrant with the perfume of roses, lilies and the many flowers in bloom, showing them the view over Haifa with 'Akka in the distance to the north. Then he escorted them to the Holy Shrines. "The President and Mrs. Ben-Zvi were greatly impressed with the atmosphere of the sacred precincts, commented at length on the glory of the Shrine of the Mb and the gardens, which they recognized as the most beautiful in Israel. "On leaving, the President expressed his appreciation of the hospitality shown by the Guardian and of the work which the Baha'is are doing in Israel. He extended his best wishes for the success of the Baha'i community, not only in Israel, but throughout the world. "The preliminary steps leading to this historic visit may be of interest. In January the President, Vice-President and Secretary-General of the International Baha'i Council asked permission to call on the President of the State of Israel to greet him officially. The latter received them on February first. It was during that visit that the President expressed the wish to visit His Eminence, the Guardian of the Faith and the Shrine and gardens on Mt. Carmel. Subsequently, the Guardian extended a cordial invitation to the President, which was accepted for April 26." OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE BAHA FAITH Evidence of the official recognition of the Baha'i Faith as an independent world religion by the Jewish authorities has been witnessed by exemption of Baha'i properties from all taxation, both State and local. This exemption is especially noteworthy in a growing new State, struggling to maintain and further its own development. The exemption includes the properties of the Shrines of Baha'u'llah and of the BTh, the International Archives (at present in two separate locations), the two Mansions of Baha'u'llah (Baha and Mazra'ih), the House in 'Akka Where Baha'u'llah lived when He revealed the Aqdas and the House [p46] 46 THE BAHA'I WORLD Finishing the molds for beams of the great "star" foundation. Note that the molds for the beams interlock; beams when poured are six feet deep. (See drawing, page 245.) in Haifa where 'Abdu'l-Baha lived when He passed away. Objects received for these properties are also exempted from taxation. Other evidence of official recognition of the Baha'i Faith has been given in various ways: A Baha'i marriage certificate has been accepted and registered by the District Commissioner of Haifa. A Baha'i Department has been established under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Goods consigned to the Baha'i Community have been exempted from all customs duties. This important evidence of official recognition has come about through the good offices of the Minister of Finance, and has included all material imported for the construction of the Shrine of the Bib. The exemption also includes material imported for beautification of the Gardens and all furniture for the Baha'i Holy Places. It has been extended to include material for all international endowments surrounding the Shrine on Mt. Carmel from the ridge of the Mountain to the Templar Colony at its foot, and for the immediate vicinity of the resting-places places of the Greatest Holy Leaf and her kinsmen. As the Guardian wrote in his letter of March 29, 1951: "All these establish, beyond the shadow of doubt, the high status enjoyed by the international institutions of a World Faith, in the eyes of a newborn State." Furthermore, a circular issued to all schools by the Ministry of Education and Culture provides for the excusing of Baha'i children from school attendance on Holy Days. This action was unsolicited by the Baha'is and provides yet further evidence of the official recognition of the Baha'i Faith. LEGAL CASE WON BY THE BAHA'IS The legal case brought by the Covenant-breakers in December, 1951, in connection with the ruined house adjacent to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, referred to under "Acquisi-tion and Embellishment of Land Surrounding the Shrine of Baha'u'llah," was started in the civil court of Haifa as a suit against the Guardian of the Faith, to restrain him [p47] CURRENT BANAl ACTIVITIES 47 The great star-shaped reinforced concrete foundation of the octagon of the BTh's Shrine. [p48] 48 THE BAHA'I WORLD from removing some unsightly ruins. As Custodian of Baha'i Holy Places and as undisputed possessor of the building concerned for over thirty years, the Guardian considered he was free to order their removal. The Covenant-breakers, however, led by Mrs. Musa Baha'i, daughter of a brother of Muharnmad-'Ali, refused every reasonable solution offered by the lawyers and representatives of the Guardian, so that it became obvious that those who had brought the suit wished no settlement but only to prolong the existing situation. When the Covenant-breakers had the audacity to summon the Head of the Faith to court as witness, the Guardian appealed to the Government to lift the matter entirely out of the jurisdiction of the civil court. The Attorney-General then, instructed by the Minister of Religions, informed the head of the Haifa court that according to a Statute in existence since 1924 the case was not one to be tried in a civil court but was a religious matter. To the astonishment of all, however, the lawyer for the Covenant-breakers challenged the order of the Attorney-General and appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Interviews were being constantly held with the higher authorities in Jerusalem by the Guardian's representatives, three Hands of the Cause, as well as through lawyers of the respective parties to the suit, without any progress being made. At this point the Guardian transmitted an appeal to the Prime Minister. This brought immediate solution, as the representative of the Prime Minister informed the Covenant-breakers that any further litigation they wished to carry on would be against the Government. If they wished to do that, they could. The case and the appeal were dropped at once. For six months, the Covenant-breakers had apparently tried to restrain the Guardian from embellishing the precincts of the Tomb of Baha'u'llah. During that interval, however, they had revealed, to higher and higher departments of the Government, that their real objective was not concerned with the ruins in question but with an insidious plan to obtain possession of a key to the Holy Shrine, so that they could represent themselves as "joint custodian" with the Guardian, and to secure rooms in the Mansion of Baha itself. During this period of litigation it often seemed, the International Council has stated, that the case would be dropped or settled out of court, but it continued, as if providentially, until it reached the Office of the Prime Minister himself, through whose intervention it was settled. Meanwhile, as the International Council points out, the high-ranking officials of the Foreign Office, of the Ministry of Religions, of the Attorney-General's Office and of the Prime Minister's Office have become well aware that "the Baha Faith is united under the leadership of its legitimate Guardian and that he is the true Custodian of the Baha'i Holy Places." DECLINING FORTUNES OF THE COVENANT-BREAKERS The termination of the legal action brought against the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith was but another indication of the declining fortunes of the Covenant-breakers. The Guardian cabled on June 11, 1952, a "double announcement" to the Baha world: "(The) rapid progress (of the) enterprise majestically unfolding (in the) heart (of) God's Holy Mountain, (and the) steady decline (in the) fortunes (of the) remnant (of) old Covenant-breakers still defiantly challenging (the) combined strength (of the) Baha'i world community." As a result of this "short-sighted action" on the part of a handful of enemies of the Faith, longstanding privileges which had been extended to the Covenant-breakers for sixty years were "irretrievably" curtailed. Other attempts of the enemies of the Faith to indefinitely delay the completion of the nine terraces leading to the Shrine of the B&b from the city of Haifa had been frustrated early in 1951. "God's avenging wrath" had removed, early in April, 1952, the son of Siyyid 'All, Nayer AfMn, who was to have been a star witness for the Covenant-breakers in the lawsuit brought to challenge the authority conferred upon the Guardian in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, by virtue of which he is Custodian of Baha'i Holy Places. A few months later, in December, 1953, the Guardian cabled that three others of the few remaining who had shown faithlessness to 'Abdu'l-Baha had been struck down Ñ Avarih in Persia, Fareed in the United States, and Falah in Turkey. The Guardian stated: "All three, however blinded (by) perversity, could not have failed (to) perceive, as (their) infamous careers ap [p49] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 49 proached (their) end, (the) futility (of their) opposition, (the) measure (of their) own loss (and the) degree (of) progress (and) consolidation (of the) triumphant Administrative order (so) magnificently celebrated (in the) course (of the) fes tivities (of the) recently concluded Holy Year." As 'Abdu'l-Baha has written: "Firmness in the Covenant will preserve the unity of the religion of God and the foundation of the religion of God will not be shaken." REGIONAL AND NATIONAL TEACHING CONFERENCES HE year 1946 marked the beginning of a new stage in the expansion of the Baha'i Faith through the launching of a Seven-Year Plan during which the American Baha'is were to establish Baha'i communities in ten countries of Western Europe. During the first two years of that period, the activities consisted chiefly of placing Baha'i settlers under the direction of the European Teaching Committee in at least one key city in each country. This undertaking, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, referred to as "the opening phase of the spiritual conquest of the old world under the divinely conceived plan" entrusted to the American Baha Cominu-nity by 'Abdu'l-Baha thirty years before. So rapidly did the teaching work of the pioneers proceed that in May, 1948, it was possible to assemble ninety-two believers in Geneva, Switzerland, from all ten goal countries for the first Baha European Teaching Conference. The results of this first conference were so successful in terms of inspiration, planning and developing appropriate teaching techniques, that similar conferences were held annuafly to 1952, each one of which was acclaimed by the Guardian as "leaving an indelible imprint on the annals of the second stage of the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan." COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE The first such conference in the period covered by this volume (19501954) took place in Elsinore, near Copenhagen, Denmark, July 2430, 1950, with an attendance of one hundred seventy-seven Baha'is representing twenty-two countries. The greeting from Shoghi Effendi to the gathering hailed it as the "first evidence (of the) answer (to the) prayer (of the) Center (of the) Covenant voiced (in) His Tablet over thirty years ago, supplicating (that) holy souls be raised up (to) promulgate the Faith (in) northern lands." At the Conference was first inaugurated the type of Baha summer school which henceforth would follow each summer conference. Besides prolonging the sessions of the Conference, the program of the school was designed to stimulate the spirit of Baha fellowship, to deepen the understanding on the part of the Baha'is in the fundamental spiritual and administrative principles of the Faith and to fix the pattern of future independent national summer schools in the ten goal countries. SECOND ALL-SWISS CONFERENCE ZUrich, Switzerland, was the scene of the second All-Swiss Conference, November 18 and 19, 1950, with an attendance of eighty, including five Baha'is from Germany and two United States pioneers from Luxembourg. The primary purpose of this meeting was to consolidate and expand the teaching plans within Switzerland itself and to relate them to the prosecution of the seven points of endeavor listed by Shoghi Effendi in his cablegram to the Copenhagen Conference. These were: rapid increase in membership, effective promotion of extension teaching work, consolidation of all administrative agencies, energetic dissemination of Baha'i literature, closer collaboration with sister communities in the European continent, greater awareness of the inescapable respon-sihilities and deeper understanding of the verities of Baha'u'llah's Revelation, of His Covenant and Woi-ld Order, and above all, "constant daily effort aiming at the enrichment of the spiritual life of the individual," the sole foundation whereupon the stability of the structure of every Baha'i administrative edifice must depend. [p50] 50 THE BAHA'I WORLD In his cablegram of April 25, 1951, enumerating to the American National Baha'i Convention the accomplishments of the fifth year of the Second Seven-Year Plan, Shoghi Effendi mentioned this second All-Swiss Conference as "foreshadowing (the) closer integration (of the) ten goal countries (of the) European continent through (the) eventual formation (of) regional National Assemblies (in) Scandinavia, (the) Benelux countries, Switzerland (and) Italian and Iberian peninsulas." CONFERENCE IN HOLLAND The fourth European Teaching Conference took place in Scheviningen in Holland, on the outskirts of The Hague, August 31 to September 4, 1951, attended by one hundred forty representatives from twenty-two countries. This city was to produce the second local Spiritual Assembly in that country eight months later, harvest from the initial seed sown there by the Hand of 'Abdu'l-Baha when He addressed a Tablet to the Central Organization for Durable Peace which met in The Hague in 1919, calling the attention of the representatives of the nations gathered there to Baha'u'llah's plan for universal peace. The Guardian's message to the Schevinin-gen Conference referred to the range and quality of the work already accomplished, the spirit demonstrated by the pioneers and the new Baha'is, and the degree of maturity attained in the greatly diversified, budding and virile communities of Europe "rightly regarded (as the) first fruits (of the) operation (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan (on the) European continent." The message further enlarged the horizon of the believers and gave them a glimpse of the tasks that would follow upon the termination of the remaining two years of the Second Seven-Year Plan. These, the Guardian said, would include "(the) gradual formation (of) regional National Assemblies (as) prelude (to the) emergence (of a) separate National Assembly (in) each goal country as well as (the) launching (of) organized campaigns, in collaboration (with the) parent community (of the) great republic of the West (in) conjunction (with the) longstanding, preeminent national community [Germany] laboring (in the) heart (of the) European continent, aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) remaining ing sovereign states (of) Europe and, God willing, reaching beyond its borders as far as (the) heart (of the) Asiatic continent." Thus opened still another stage in the evolution of the Baha'i World Community Ñ one of "regional cooperation," through the five groupings of Baha'i communities already forming, namely, in the Scandinavian countries where the plan was already in operation, in the Benelux countries, the Iberian peninsula, and in Italy and Switzerland. Confident of divine assistance, the delegates at this conference enthusiastically assumed another goal which was to become the culminating achievement of the Seven-Year Plan Ñ the formation of at least one regional National Spiritual Assembly by 1953. Furthermore, plans were made for participation in the forthcoming Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Stockholm which was soon to open the way for the gradual introduction of the Faith in the remaining sovereign states in the European continent, and in the neighboring islands of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the North Sea. FIRST IBERIAN CONFERENCE In order to launch the plan of regional cooperation immediately, Miss Edna True, chairman of the European Teaching Committee, and the American pioneers who had attended the Conference in Holland, proceeded directly to Madrid, Spain, where they were joined by nine Spanish and Portuguese Baha, for the first Iberian Teaching Conference, September 14 to 16, 1951. Though small and insignificant in number, but armed with the promises of 'Abdu'l-Baha, this little band resolved to demonstrate to their fellow-countrymen how to dissolve the barriers of prejudice that had existed traditionally between Spain and Portugal for generations. Before the three short days had ended, they had initiated plans for the exchange of community bulletins and qualified teachers, formed an Iberian Teaching Committee, mapped out an extension teaching program aimed at forming six new local Spiritual Assemblies, and established a fund for the work at the World Center. The acceleration of the teaching work in all ten countries resulting from the various conferences and summer schools, and the [p51] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 51 growing number of local Spiritual Assemblies and Baha'i Groups in all Western Europe, clearly indicated the necessity and wisdom of developing the work along regional lines as called for by the Guardian. With less than one year remaining in the Seven-Year Plan, the Geneva office of the European Teaching Committee became the scene of intense activity, for from here the Committee directed preparations for no less than six conferences in 1952 with the respective regional teaching committees responsible for local arrangements. THIRD ALL-SWISS CONFERENCE The first of the series was the third All-Swiss Conference in Bern, February 23 and 24, 1952, during which a Swiss National Teaching Committee was formed, to which the European Teaching Committee transferred major responsibility for the development and consolidation of new Baha communities within Switzerland. ITALIAN CONFERENCE A month later, the first Baha conference ever to take place in Italy opened in Rome on Nawruz Day (March 21), 1952. The presence of Mr. Dhikru'lltih KMdem, Hand of the Cause of God, from Persia, who had been given a special mission by the Guardian to visit all Baha'i centers in Europe, together with Dr. Ugo Giachery, a Hand of the Cause of God in Europe residing in Rome, lent unusual historic significance to this gathering. Mr. KhAdem told the seventy assembled friends about the map of the world on which the Guardian had marked with large circles the areas of the earth's surface that would within the next decade form forty-eight new National Spiritual Assemblies. The first of these new ones, which would be the twelfth, was to embrace Italy and Switzerland, chosen for this bounty and honor because of the swift progress that had been made in the establishment of the Faith in that region. The area being thus defined for what was to become the Itallo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly in April, 1953, the Italian and Swiss Baha'is present at the Conference immediately mapped out plans for the election of nineteen delegates from centers in Italy and Switzerland who would convene in Florence during the following RP~IvAn period to elect nine members for "the twelfth pillar of the Universal House of Justice." Henceforth the European Teaching Committee concentrated its attention upon the strengthening of the remaining eight countries that were to comprise the next National Assemblies, plus the two (Finland and France) which the Guardian now also placed under its jurisdiction. BENELUX REGIONAL CONFERENCE The first Benelux Regional Conference was held in Brussels, Belgium, April 12 to 14, 1952, with forty-seven representatives from Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Mr. Khidem, Hand of the Cause of God, brought news of the developments at the World Center of the Faith and of the activities in Persia and the various centers he had already visited in Europe. The main theme of the Conference was: "Goals Ahead," and special plans were made for the Fifth European Teaching Conference scheduled to take place in Luxembourg August 30 to September 7 of that year. LUXEMBOURG CONFERENCE The Conference in Luxembourg, the European Teaching Committee announced, was to be the last of the series of the European Teaching Conferences. Each had indeed left "an indelible imprint" on the "evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan" in western Europe. Here in this smallest of the ten goal countries, the crossroads of culture and conquest for centuries, three Hands of the Cause of God were present as the personal representatives of the Guardian Ñ Mr. Kh& dem from Persia, Dr. Giachery from Italy and Dr. Adelbert Miihlschlegel from Germany. Reviewing the achievements of the Seven-Year Plan which would draw to a close six months hence, the European Teaching Committee pointed out that at the beginning of the European campaign there was only a small handful of believers, but at this Conference one hundred thirty-two Baha'is from twenty-one countries had responded to the roll call and had joined their hearts in prayer in twelve languages. The Luxembourg meeting was followed by four more Regional Conferences, each convened in a city where intensive teaching work had been started by the regional teach [p52] 52 THE BAHA'I WORLD ing committee for that particular grouping of countries. REGIONAL CONFERENCES The first, the Iberian Conference, was held in Lisbon, Portugal, September 12 to 14, 1952, to carry forward the plans that had been initiated for Spain and Portugal the previous year. The next two were held simultaneously, November 1 and 2, in Oslo for the Scandinavian region of Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and in Antwerp for the Benelux region of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. And finally, November 22 and 23, another, the fourth All-Swiss Conference, took place in Basel, Switzerland. In Basel much planning was done for the Baha'i Convention to be held in Florence the following April for the formation of the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly, "a steppingstone in the formation in the course qf the next decade of two independent National Spiritual Assemblies." Although this was the concluding phase of the Second Seven-Year Plan, the expansion of the Faith in Europe was to go forward with even greater impetus as part of the World Crusade whose aim is the "spirit-ual conquest" of the entire planet. BAHA'I PARTICIPATION IN UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCES While concentrating primary attention on Baha'i conferences, the Baha'i community continued to give encouragement and cooperation to meetings of the United Nations and its Regional Conferences of Non-Gov-ernmental Organizations. Between 1950 and 1954 accredited delegates and observers not only attended all the conferences, but won recognition for their participation in the discussions, their services on working committees, and for the breadth of vision expressed in the several resolutions which they offered. Accredited representatives of the International Baha'i Community and delegates and observers from the United States, joined by representatives from other national Baha'i communities, met in Regional Conferences of NonGovernmental Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland; Istanbul, Turkey; Managua, Nicaragua; Santiago, Chile; Den Passar, Indonesia; Paris, France; La Paz, Bolivia; Manila, Philippine Islands; and Montevideo, Uruguay, as well as annually in Lawrence, Kansas, and in the International Non-Gov-ernmental Conferences in New York, the home of the United Nations, and in Geneva, Switzerland. Through personal association with delegates from other organizations, press interviews, and invitations to speak about the Faith on the floor of the conferences, at luncheons and other meetings, these representatives have brought the Teachings of Baha'u'llah concerning World Order to the attention of the leaders in the cause of peace in many countries and established the recognition of the Baha International Community as "an agency working for and firmly believing in the unification of the human family and permanent peace." DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAITH IN AFRICA THE) hour (is) propitious (for the) galvanized, firmly knit body (of) believers (to) brace itself (to) embark (on) yet another historic undertaking designed (to) carry (the) torch (of the) Faith (to) territories (of the) Dark Continent." The cablegram from the Guardian to the National Baha Convention of the British Isles in April, 1950, from which these words are quoted, set the stage for an intensive teaching campaign in a vast continent where only the northern shores and southern tip had previously been touched by the Light of the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Another passage from this same message defined the "preliminary steps" as "the formation (of) nuclei (in) three of the dependencies (of the) British Crown, either (in) East (or) West Africa" and the "translation, publication (and) dissemination of Baha literature (in) three African languages (in) addition (to the) three already undertaken." On July 5 of the same year, the Guardian called upon the American Baha'i community to "lend valued assistance (to the) meritorious enterprise" and he appealed "particularly (to) its dearly-beloved members belonging (to the) Negro race (to) participate (in the) contemplated project [p53] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 53 marking (a) significant milestone (in the) world-unfoldment (of the) Faith, supplementing (the) work initiated fifty years ago (on the) North American continent (and) providing (the) prelude (to the) full-scale operations destined (to) be launched (at a) later period (of the) unfoldment (of the) Divine Plan aiming (at the) conversion (of the) backward, oppressed masses (of the) swift-awakening continent." Within the year, participation in this "epoch-making enterprise" was further expanded to include the National Spiritual Assemblies of Persia, Egypt and India; the first pioneers had arrived, and others were on the way, including the first two American Negro pioneers, Mrs. Ethel Stephens, who had chosen to settle in the Gold Coast, and Mr. William Foster, who chose Liberia as his post. The first fruits of this historic campaign were the acceptance of the Faith in Dar es Salaam by Mr. P. K. Gopalskrishan Nayer, of Indian nationality, and by Mr. Denis Dudley-Smith of Nyasaland, followed very shortly by the enrollment in Kampala of the first two Africans, Crispian Kajubi and Frederick Bi~abwa, members of the Bu-ganda and Mtoro tribes, respectively. The first public presentation of the Faith in Kampala was made by an African contact before a gathering of three hundred Africans from several tribes. By April, 1952, two years after the launching of the campaign, the number of states and dependencies to be opened in Africa had been increased to twenty-five, pioneers had arrived in nine of them, members of four African tribes had enrolled as members, and local Spiritual Assemblies had been formed in Kampala, Uganda, and Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika. Six months later (October, 1952) there were one hundred believers in Uganda alone. No sooner had the Africans enrolled than they began to go out as Baha'i teachers and pioneers to carry the Faith to their own peo-pie. The first to undertake such a mission was Denis Dudley-Smith, who returned to his native village in Nyasaland, thus becoming the first Baha'i to settle in that country. Another was Enoch Olinga of Kampala who spent his two weeks of vacation teaching in the Teso and Mbale areas of Eastern Uganda where seventy-two Africans immediately accepted the Faith. As the teaching work progressed, the need for literature increased, but by early fall, 1952, in addition to translations done in KiSwahuli, Hausa and ChiNyanja before the opening of the campaign, pamphlets had been published in Twi, Igbo and Yoruba, and six others were being completed for printing Ñ Acholi, Luganda, Adanwe, Ewe, Mende and KiKikuyu. With the launching of the Ten-Year Plan on May 1, 1953, the remaining states and dependencies, as well as the bordering islands of Africa were added to the campaign, thus incorporating all of Africa in the total World Crusade. The renewed appeal for pioneers included in the Guardian's message to the Intercontinental Conference held in Chicago, resulted in a rapid influx of settlers both for the virgin areas and for reinforcement of the centers already established, whose teaching efforts, added to those of the African Baha'is, made it possible for the Guardian in his message to the twelve National Baha Conventions one year later, to assess the accomplishments in Africa in four short years as follows: "The African Campaign, outshining the brilliant success of the enterprise launched in Latin America, throwing into shade the splendor of the victories won in recent years on the European continent, eclipsing all previous collective pioneer undertakings embarked upon in the Asiatic and Australian continents, has almost doubled, in the course of a single year, the number of territories opened since the introduction of the Faith in that continent over eighty years ago. The total number of converts to the Faith belonging to the African race has passed the six hundred mark. The total number of African Baha'i centers has now been raised to over one hundred and ninety. The total number of tribes indigenous to the soil of that continent represented in the Faith is now over sixty." [p54] 54 THE BAHA'! WORLD RAPID WORLDWIDE EXTENSION OF THE FAITH A MONG the twenty-seven objectives of the World Crusade announced by the Guardian to the Baha'i Community on October 8, 1952, was that of "doubling (the) number (of) countries within (the) pale (of the) Faith through planting its banner (in the) remaining Sovereign States (of the) planet as well as (the) remaining virgin territories mentioned (in) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Tablets (of the) Divine Plan, involving (the) opening (of) forty-one countries (on the) Asiatic, thirty-three (on the) African, thirty (on the) European, twenty-seven (on the) American continents." To each of the eleven existing National Spiritual Assemblies the Guardian assigned the specific territories for which it was to be responsible. To the Forty-Fifth Annual Convention of the Baha'is of the United States of America in Chicago, April 29, 1953, he called upon the "stalwart American Baha community" to "arise and reaffirm its primacy and capture loftier heights • for the exaltation of God's Cause." And in a second letter entitled "A Turning Point in American Baha'i History," dated July 18, 1953, the Guardian appealed to "the envied custodians of a Divine Plan" to ''vindicate their right to the leadership of this World Crusade" and to "scatter far and wide" in fulfillment of "the hope voiced by 'Abdu'l-Baha that from their homeland 'heavenly illumination' may 'stream to all the peoples of the world.' Such was the response that by April, 1954, the Guardian announced to all twelve Babi'i Conventions that through "the superb feats of the heroic company of the Knights of the Lord of Hosts in pursuance of their sublime mission" the banner of the Faith of Baha'u'llah had been hoisted "in no less than a hundred virgin territories of the globe," thus "swelling the number of sovereign states and dependences enlisted under the standard of the Cause of God to two hundred and twenty-eight." In consequence of the phenomenal success achieved by the vanguard of "Baha'u'llah's crusaders," he further stated that "the northern frontiers of a divinely guided, rapidly marching, majestically expanding Faith have been pushed beyond the Arctic Circle as far as Arctic Bay, Franklin, 73 degrees latitude" and "its southern limits have now reached the Falkiand Islands in the neighborhood of Magallanes, the world's southernmost city." RACES REPRESENTED IN THE FAITH The expansion of the Faith into many new areas of the earth resulted in embracing within its membership many races and tribes hitherto deprived of the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Among the goals of the World Crusade were two designed to accomplish this objective among specified races, namely, the conversion to the Faith of members of the leading Indian tribes, and representatives of the Basque and Gypsy races. By April, 1954, the Guardian announced that contact had been established with twenty-two American Indian tribes, raising to thirty-four the total number of tribes contacted throughout the Western Hemisphere. Also, the first Greenlandic, the first Pygmy, the first Berber, and the first Fijian Baha'is had been enrolled, swelling the total number of races represented in the Baha'i World Community to thirtyfive. LANGUAGES The translation of Baha'i literature into ninety-one additional languages was another goal of the Ten-Year Plan, representing a twofold increase in the number of languages into which translations had been printed or were in the process of translation. By the end of the first year, introductory Literature had been translated or was being translated into forty-two languages Ñ European, African, Asiatic, American Indian, including seven supplementary languages, thereby raising the total number of translations undertaken since the inception of the Faith to one hundred and thirty. By this time, also, Baha'i literature had been dispatched as far as the northernmost outpost of the globe Ñ the radio station in Brond-Iundsfjord, Pearyland, 82 degrees north latitude. The needs of the blind, too, for the Light of Baha'u'llah, had not been overlooked. A [p55] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 55 steady increase in the number of Braille transcriptions, not only in English but also in Esperanto, Japanese and German, brought the number of Braille publications to one hundred and ten by April, 1954. ESTABLISHMENT OF Two HAZfRATU'L-QUDS On February 29, 1952, Shoghi Effendi announced by cable to the Baha'i world, his instructions to the Hand of the Cause of God in Africa, Mr. Mhs4 Ban4nf, to acquire property in Kampala, Uganda, for a local Ua4ratu'1-Quds, to be regarded as the nucleus of a future national administrative headquarters. This news was followed two weeks later by the Guardian's announcement to the five National Assemblies engaged in the teaching campaign in Africa that he himself had contributed six thousand dollars toward this historic enterprise, and he appealed to the Assemblies to participate through contributions toward the completion of the total purchase price of fifty-five hundred pounds sterling, or seventeen thousand dollars. In commenting on the swift movement of events represented by this development, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States pointed out to the American Baha'is that their national headquarters, the first, was acquired thirty years after the first National Baha'i Convention in North America, whereas, in Central Africa, even before the establishment of the first local Assembly "the farseeing Guardian prepares an 1ja4-ratu'1-Quds, creating for the Baha'i work a substantial edifice" assuring prestige and respect for the activities of the Uganda believers. On June 3, 1952, the Kampala local Spiritual Assembly, formed the preceding April 21st, officially took possession of the property and immediately began preparation for a public dedication on July 5. Over sixty people attended the formal opening, including representatives of more than twelve African tribes. The second Haziratu'I-Quds to be acquired during this period was one in Paris, destined to become the national administrative headquarters of the French Baha'i community. This achievement was announced in the Guardian's cablegram to the Forty-Fifth Annual Baha'i Convention of the United States Baha'is on April 30, 1953, as follows: "Heart-warming news (of the) impending establishment (of the) long overdue UaP-ratu'1-Quds (in the) French capital through (the) conclusion (of an) agreement (to) purchase (a) nine thousand pound property situated (in the) best residential quarter (of the) city." The acquisition of this property was made possible by the spontaneous and generous contribution of a single believer, Mr. Hus-sayn Quif Kiyani, recently come to Paris from Persia. The formal dedication of the Paris IJa4-ratu'1-Quds took place on July 4, 1953, with Dr. Ugo Giachery, Hand of the Cause of God, coming from Rome to assist in the ceremonies. FUNDS INAUGURATED FOR PURCHASE OF ELEVEN TEMPLE SITES The purchase of land for eleven future Baha'i Houses of Worship, three on the American, three on the African, two on the Asiatic, two on the European and one on the Australian continents, was another of the objectives of the World Crusade ending in 1963 as announced by the Guardian on October 8, 1952. The purchase of sites for four was assigned specifically to the American Baha'i community Ñ Stockholm, Sweden; Rome, Italy; Panama City, Panama, and Johannesburg, Union of South Africa. On June 25, 1953, the Guardian cabled all National Assemblies "East (and) West (to) participate through contributions and (in the) meritorious endeavors exerted (toward the) eventual establishment (of a) Baha'i House (of) Worship (in the) City (of) Panama, specifically mentioned (by) 'Abdu'l-Baha, situated (in the) heart (of the) Western Hemisphere," and for his own participation in the "furtherance (of this) notable objective" he contributed five hundred pounds. Meanwhile, contributions for eight of the sites had aggregated, by December 7, 1953, approximately two hundred thousand dollars. These were for the Temple sites on Mt. Carmel, in Canada, Panama, Italy, Sweden, 'Ir~tq, Australia and India. On that date the Guardian cabled all National Assemblies: "(The) hour (is) propitious (for) all National Assemblies, particularly (the) United States, (the) British (and the) Egyptian, (to) participate befittingly (in the) opening (of the) three remaining Funds ere (the) first year (of the) Ten-Year Plan draws (to [p56] 56 THE BAHA'I WORLD a) close, insuring thereby (the) early purchase (of) sites (for the) future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's (in) Cairo, Kampala (and) Johannesburg." He further appealed to the individual believers to reinforce the contributions being made by the three national bodies primarily invested with the responsibility of erecting the Temples in these cities, and himself contributed an initial gift of three thousand pounds for this purpose, thus clearly emphasizing the supreme importance of this aspect of the World Crusade and the necessity of its early completion. On April 21, 1954, the fist of the sites was purchased at a price of eighteen thousand dollars Ñ five acres of land on a hill seven miles from the heart of the city of Panama, with a beautiful view of the city and bay. A few days later in his message to the twelve National Assemblies, the Guardian announced the purchase of a four-acre site in Australia, commanding an extensive view of the Pacific Ocean and the greater portion of Greater Sydney. Later the municipal authorities repossessed the property for town planning purposes. His supplementary message dated May 4, 1954, further announced the purchase of a six-acre site in Kampala. INCORPORATION During the four years preceding 1950 the consolidation of the Faith was reflected though the incorporation of seven National REVIEW Spiritual Assemblies and twenty-six local Assemblies. Within the next year, by April 21, 1951, the number of incorporated National and local Assemblies had reached one hundred and ten, and in April, 1954, the number of National and local incorporated Assemblies in the United States and the entire world totaled sixty-six and one hundred twenty, respectively. BAHA'I MARRIAGE LEGALIZED Another evidence of the growing recognition accorded the Faith by legal bodies is the increasing number of States granting local Spiritual Assemblies authority to conduct legal Baha'i marriages. At the close of the period covered by this volume Baha'i communities in twenty-one States of the United States enjoy this authority. RECOGNITION OF BAHA'I HOLY DAYS The number of school authorities granting exemption from school attendance by Baha'i children on their Holy Days is still another evidence of the increasing recogni-don of the independent character of the Faith. By 1954 this privilege had been granted by local school boards in seven States in the United States, and in Anchorage, Alaska, the British Isles, the State of Victoria in Australia, and by the Minister of Education and Culture in Israel for Baha schoolchildren there. OF VARIOUS NATIONAL EVENTS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA End of Second Seven-Year Plan DURING the period of the first World War, 'Abdu'l-Baha revealed the series of Tablets addressed to Baha'is of the United States and Baha'is of Canada which, when received after the end of hostilities, communication from Palestine being interrupted by the occupying forces, were published under the title The Divine Plan. These Tablets charged the Baha'is of North America with the mission of establishing the Faith of Baha'u'llah in countries where the spiritual banner had not yet been raised. A number of years had to pass without concerted action on this international task while the administrative institutions described in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament were acquiring strength and experience under the Guardian's direction. In 1937, as reported in a previous volume, Shoghi Effendi called upon the Baha'is of the United States and Canada to carry out the objectives enumerated in the first Seven-Year Plan terminating in 1944, date of the Centenary of the Announcement of the Bab. By 1944 the exterior ornamentation had been applied to the House of Worship, local Assemblies established in all States and Provinces, and local Assemblies formed in fourteen republics of Latin Amenca. In 1946, the Guardian announced in a message addressed to the North American Annual Convention, a second Plan. "The [p57] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 57 time is ripe, events are pressing, Hosts on high are sounding the signal for inauguration of a second Seven-Year Plan designed to culminate [in] first Centennial of the Year Nine marking the mystic birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic mission in SiyAh-CThA1 at Tihr6n." This Plan embraced four objectives: multiplication of Baha'i centers throughout the Americas and bolder proclamation of the Faith to the masses; completion of the interior ornamentation of the House of Worship; formation of three National Assemblies, one in Canada, one in Central America and one in South America; the initiation of "systematic teaching activity in wartorn, spiritually famished European Continent," aiming at the establishment of local Assemblies in the countries of Western Europe. "The opening decade of the second Ba-hi'i century coincides," the Guardian wrote to North America on June 15, 1946, "with the launching of the second Seven-Year Plan, destined alike to consolidate the exploits that have shed such luster on the last years of the preceding century, and to carry the Plan a stage further across the ocean to the shores of the Old World, and to communicate, through the operation of its regenerative power, its healing influence to the peoples of the most afflicted, impoverished and agitated continent of the globe." As reported elsewhere in this review, the four objectives of the second Seven-Year Plan were achieved. The significance of this Plan emerges as one contemplates the international events and conditions which resulted from the second World War, challenging the religious conscience of mankind. The elements of unity which inspire the Baha'i Message were implanted in new lands, creating a far broader basis and a stronger foundation for subsequent teaching plans aimed at carrying the Faith to the ends of the earth. The completion of the ornamentation of the Temple interior prepared this House of Worship for its destined spiritual function; the formation of three more National Spiritual Assemblies, bringing the number to eleven, manifested the vitality of the Faith in creating new national communities expressive of the variety of peoples and tongues responding to the call of Baha'u'llah, and the formation of local Assemblies in capital cities of Europe prepared the way for additional national administrative bodies in the future. In the darkness of a war-rent world the light of the Sun of Truth shone with increased intensity. While the Plan originally called for the formation of National Spiritual Assemblies in Canada, Central America and South America, the progress of the teaching work in Europe proceeded so successfully that the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland was also achieved before the end of this second Seven-Year Plan. Completion ol Baha'i Temple To complete the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, contracts for the ornamentation, utilities and furnishings of the interior, and for the landscaping of the grounds had to be executed. The interior was completed by the spring of 1951, and the landscape plan brought to its final stage for the public dedication held May 2, 1953. The interior ornamentation designs made by Louis I. Bourgeois, Temple architect, provided for the treatment of the nine bays or alcoves on the main floor as separate rooms. This early concept reflected a misunderstanding of the function of the Tem-pie in expressing the basic unity of religion. The concept later given by the Guardian of the Faith made these bays an integral part of the Temple auditorium. To increase the seating capacity a stairway leading from Temple foundation level to the main floor and thence to the first gallery was removed and a new spiral stairway constructed from foundation to gallery which fits between two adjoining alcoves on the main floor level. To carry out this concept, and to maintain harmony of design between exterior and interior ornamentation, two independent studies were carried out over a period of nine months after the decision to proceed with interior ornamentation had been made in the spring of 1946. The essential features sought were to carry the spirit of the exterior design and its architectural motifs into the interior, the creation of a single great auditorium, provision for satisfactory acoustics, the use of color, and seating arrangement. Allen B. McDaniel's treatment was approved. A Temple Construction Committee was appointed consisting of Paul E. Haney, chairman, Amelia E. Collins, Edna M. True, [p58] 58 THE BAHA'I WORLD and Philip U. Sprague. Leroy Joas was later added. A technical advisory board was also set up, the members being Allen B. McDaniel, Robert W. McLaughlin and Edwin H. Eardley. After investigation Alfred P. Shaw, architect, was chosen to prepare the detailed plans and specifications. It is Mr. Shaw's recreation of the spirit of the Bourgeois design which has been carried out in the ornamentation of the Temple interior. The firm of Shaw, Metz and Doijo designed and engineered the utilities. Final plans and cost estimates were approved in January, 1949, the estimated cost being $780,000. The John J. Earley Studio was awarded the contract for making the sectional units of architectural concrete to be affixed to the walls and columns, and the contract foii work on the project at the Temple was placed with the George A. Fuller Company. Between July, 1949, and April, 1951, one thousand concrete sections were cast at the Earley Studio, shipped to the Temple and set in place. Actual operation began on July 11, 1949. Before the ornamental surface could be applied, the interior columns and piers were set in place, and the utilities and fixtures installed. The cast concrete sections were made of a mixture of ground white and crystalline quartz with cement, while for the ornamentation up to the dome level the cast units were fabricated with a background of rose quartz. The floor of auditorium and surrounding alcoves were laid in terrazzo, another use of color. Color also appears in the upholstered seats and the window draperies. The temporary wooden doors installed when the superstructure was built were replaced with bronze panels and doors with plate glass. Seats in the nine bays face the center of the auditorium; in the central hail itself the seats face a single portable reading desk, pointing the attendants in the direction of 'Akka Just as the completion of the exterior ornamentation endowed the structure with a new and deeper meaning, while notably enhancing its physical beauty, so the completion of the interior created an effect greatly exceeding the anticipation of its friends and workers. What has become apparent and real, to the inner eye as well as to physical vision, is the majesty befitting worship offered the one true God. The great interior provides interesting perspective, from floor to dome, from floor to first and second gallery, central hail to alcove, and from alcove across the wide hail to opposite entrance portal. Innumerable details invite notice Ñ the great columns supporting the dome, treatment of piers and gallery columns, details of ornamentation, the Baha'i texts set forth in gold lettering in each of the nine bays, the dome itself, where the lines of the columns, prolonged in the ornamental scheme, converge at the center where the Arabic symbol, "God Most Glorious," associates the House of Worship with the Baha'i World Faith. The final cost of the interior ornamentation as recorded in January, 1954, was $933,481.99. This sum included certain essential maintenance items and also the cost of capping the nine pylons, actually an element of the exterior ornamentation. Dedication of Temple to Public Worship The Baha'i Temple in Wilmette was publicly dedicated on Saturday afternoon, May 2, 1953, a unique event in the series of Jubilee celebrations held throughout the world. For the American Baha'is, especially, the dedication represented the actual achievement of the goal toward which they had been striving since 'Abdu'l-Baha, in 1903, granted their petition for the privilege of constructing a Temple in America. Moreover, during His visit to America in 1912 their revered Master had visited the Temple site and consecrated the future edifice. Here, then, stood the holiest House of Worship ever to arise in the Baha'i world, for none other could receive His blessing. Deep in their hearts they cherished His assurance that when this Temple was completed it would release spiritual powers. As the doors were opened a great throng stood waiting, filling the Temple steps, the entrance way and extending along the street Outside the grounds. Three times was the auditorium filled that afternoon, and at the end hundreds reluctantly departed without having been able to enter the auditorium. The Message of Dedication prepared by the Guardian of the Faith was read on his behalf by his chosen representative, Rtiljiy-yih KMnum, presented to the gathering by Paul E. Haney, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Her clear voice filled the auditorium, focusing attention on the high significance of the Message. ". This [p59] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 59 House of Worship, now opening wide its doors to peoples of all creeds, of all races, of all nations and of all classes, is dedicated to the three fundamental verities animating and underlying the Baha'i Faith Ñ the Unity of God, the Unity of His Prophets, the Unity of Mankind. "I greet and welcome you on behalf of the Guardian of our Faith within these walls, and invite you to share with us the words recorded in the Sacred Scriptures which we believe to be repositories of the eternal and fundamental truths revealed by God in various ages, for the guidance and salvation of all mankind." All arose as Rii1~iyyih K4Anum read a prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah. Readers from the Persian, Latin American and North American Baha'is then in turn stood at the reading desk and presented passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Qur'an and the Baha'i Sacred Writings. The Northwestern University A Cappella Choir sang choral selections, at the opening of the dedication service, during the readings and after the final prayer. A note of triumphant ecstasy prevailed throughout the afternoon. The passages from the four Sacred Scriptures were, to the Baha'is at least, the complete evidence of the unity of the Prophets in revealing, at different stages of human evolution, the divine will and guidance for mankind. Among the visitors many remarked afterward that they had not realized that the various Prophets had brought the same basic truths. linmediately after the public dedication, plans were put into operation for the conduct of a weekly program of public worship. These programs also present selections from the various Sacred Scriptures, with vocal music provided by an A Cappella Choir directed by Mr. Lloyd Cousins. The Temple is thus fulfilling its mission as the herald in the Western world of the universal spiritual concept: the Unity of God, the Unity of His Prophets, the Unity of Mankind. Participants in these programs are chosen without consideration of race or class. The event attained national significance through messages of greeting received from distinguished personages, from radio announcements and from illustrated feature articles carried, among others, by The Chicago Sunday Tribune. The Wilmette and neighboring village of Winnetka weekly papers devoted almost an entire issue to the story of the Temple. Universal Newsreel pictures included exterior and interior views of the Temple. Fifty television stations made use of a Baha'i Temple dedication film short. Public interest and commendation was aroused to an extraordinary degree. Landscaping the Temple Grounds In July, 1951, the design submitted by Hubert Dali was adopted for landscaping the Temple grounds. Letters written by 'Abdu'l-Baha laid down certain elements to be incorporated in the landscape plan: a circular area, with nine gardens, nine approaching paths, nine fountains and nine pools. To these elements Mr. Dahi had given most careful consideration and his design carried out the basic concept. Work was started on the contract in April, 1952. The landscaping went forward under two successive contracts. The first, at an estimated cost of $200,000, was intended to provide for the essentials of the plan. The details not completed by 1953 were included in a supplementary contract to be carried out over a period of two or more years at an estimated cost of from $180,000 to $200,000. The landscaping plan, accordingly, was not entirely completed during the period covered by the present survey. Mr. Dam's design provided for a circular concrete platform extending out from the bottom of the Temple steps, its outer circumference a series of concave arcs after the fashion of the entrance bays of the Temple itself; steps descend from the platform to the garden level where nine sunken gardens were to be developed; nine pathways lead between the gardens to an outer circular walk to be constructed on the largest diameter permitted by the area of the grounds. The principal entrance to the Temple steps extends from Linden Avenue, to the south, where a wide flight of concrete steps rises to the garden level. The longest approach runs from the corner of Linden Avenue and Sheridan Road. As the work progressed, the nine gardens were seen to be designed in different patterns of flowers and shrubs, affording a pleasing variety. Rows of cypresses were [p60] 60 THE I3AHA'I WORLD planted along the paths leading to the gardens. Plantings of small flowering trees enhanced the beauty of the landscaped area. Extensive lawn areas were laid out. Describing the design Mr. Dahi wrote: "It involves an approach leading to each of nine entrance bays with gardens between. Circular fountains with jets of water keeping them ever fresh and clear are found in the gardens The whole is enclosed within an outer circular walk, and an inner walk, at the base of the Temple steps, provides a vantage point at a higher elevation from which the garden scene can be viewed. "The gardens are arranged and planted with simple dignity, restrained in treatment but with a touch of color and softness of texture which will give them a gardenesque feeling of peaceful and quiet loveliness In area there are involved almost five acres of intensive development." The concrete work was carried out by the George A. Fuller Company under extension of the contract executed for the interior ornamentation. A contract was entered into with the landscape architect on July 9, 1951. To represent the Temple trustees in the execution of these contracts a Temple Landscape Committee was appointed consisting of Robert W. McLaugh-un, Leroy Joas, H. B. Kavelin and Clarence Ulirich. The gardens and general landscape plan were sufficiently advanced by May, 1953, to delight those who attended the public dedication. The temporary floodlighting equipment as employed during the Jubilee period brilliantly depicted the imposing architectural features of the House of Worship. A restudy of the design in its relation to the particular area involved was carried out by the Temple Landscape Committee. Their recommendation eliminated the reflecting pools and the sunken gardens with low walk, substituting lawn areas for the reflecting pools. A tunnel structure was recommended over the service entrance to the Temple foundation, with two utility rooms. Other recommendations were that the outer circular walk should be constructed with concrete edged with flagstone; and some of the paths leading from the outer walk through the gardens developed with lawns. The decision to eliminate the reflecting pools and the walled sunken gardens was based on the fact that the landscaped area is not large enough for pools and the size of the gardens does not warrant the rather intricate treatment which the landscape architect originally proposed. With each succeeding season of intensive gardening the landscape develops new beauty. Complete final cost of the project will not be available until the next volume of The Baha'i World. FORMATION OF LATIN AMERiCAN ASSEMBLIES Included in the objectives of the Second Seven-Year Plan given by the Guardian to North America in 1946 was the establishment of National Spiritual Assemblies in Central America and South America before 1953. Since the delegates who would elect the members of these Assemblies would be representative of the local RaM'S AssembLies in existence at the time, an energetic teaching plan was inaugurated by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States to develop at least one Assembly in each country. The activities of the Teaching Committee appointed to carry out the plan included the appointment of regional teaching committees, and the holding of annual conferences and Baha'i schools, each designed to prepare the Latin American Baha'is for the responsibilities they would ultimately assume as independent Baha communities. The first of the twin historic Conventions called to elect these new National Spiritual Assemblies was held in Lima, Peru, April 22 to 24, 1951, with eighteen of the twenty-seven official delegates present in person and seven voting by mail. Representing the Ba-hfl'is of the United States were Paul E. Haney, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, and Miss Edna M. True, former secretary of the Inter-America Committee. The Convention for Central America, Mexico and the Antilles, opened the same day in Panama City with twenty-five official delegates representing all of the seventeen local Spiritual Assemblies in the twelve countries of this region. Here the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States was represented by its vice-chairman, Mrs. Dorothy Baker, who was also chairman of the Inter-America Committee, and by Horace Holley, secretary of the National Assembly. [p61] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 61 Congratulating the believers at both Conventions for the "magnificent triumph marking (the) culmination (of the) fourteen-year old process linking (the) concluding years (of the) first with (the) opening decade (of the) second Baha'i century," the Guardian's cabled message appealed to the two new National Assemblies to "arise (in) complete unity, exemplary fidelity, greatest wisdom, utmost dedication, unswerving resolve, heroic self-sacrifice (to) befittingly discharge (their) threefold, sacred, inescapable responsibilities: first, (to) consolidate (the) two newly-elected pillars (of the) world administrative order (of the) Faith; second, (to) stimulate (the) propagation (of) its teachings; third, (to) enrich (the) spiritual life (and) deepen (the) understanding (of) its avowed supporters. As a token of his love and as the first precious relic for its national archives, the Guardian also presented to each Assembly through Mrs. Amelia Collins, Hand of the Cause of God, a lock of the blessed hair of Baha'u'llah. Messages were read from each of the other nine National Spiritual Assemblies and each delegate was presented with a picture of 'Abdu'1-J3ah~i in a special souvenir folder bearing a greeting from their "broth-ers and sisters in Europe, under the Divine Plan." Part of the agenda at both conventions was devoted to the discussion of the three Seven-Year Plans given by the Guardian to North America, as part of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan to spread the Teachings of Baha'u'llah throughout the world, and how, under the aegis of the Baha'is of the United States, the believers in Latin America and Europe had been aided to attain this stage of international administrative cooperation, "thereby paving the way to the ultimate organic union" of all National Spiritual Assemblies in the International House of Justice, destined, as declared by the Guardian "to launch enterprises embracing the whole Baha'i world." Thus began a new stage in the evolution of the Administrative Order in Latin America. During the next two years, the believers in Central and South America, under their respective National Spiritual Assemblies and with the counsel and guidance of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, were to devote their energies to carrying out the three objectives assigned to them in the Guardian's message, to the end that they would be prepared and ready by Ridvan 1953 to assume their full and independent roles as "pillars of the Universal House of Justice" and participants in the global crusade. FORMATION OF THE ITALO-SWISS ASSEMBLY Although not originally designated as an objective of the Second Seven-Year Plan and its teaching campaign in Europe, the Guardian cabled the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States on March 8, 1952, that immediate steps were to be taken for the formation of the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland in Ridvan 1953. The election of nineteen delegates by all established local Spiritual Assemblies in the two countries was set for Nawruz 1953, and the city of Florence, Italy, was designated as the place where they would elect this new "pillar (of the) Universal House of Justice, (the) third in Europe (and) twelfth (in the) Baha'i World." This Assembly, the Guardian stated, was to be regarded as "a stepping stone (in the) formation (in the) course (of the) impending decade-long crusade (of) two independent National Spiritual Assemblies, destined (to) each lend (an) impetus (to the) unfoldment (and) consolidation (of) Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Order." Indicative of the importance of this step, the cablegram also announced that the Guardian would entrust to this youngest of Assemblies a specific plan by which it would collaborate with its sister National Assemblies in the achievement of all the goals of the World Crusade. The Convention took place April 23 to 26, 1953, with eighteen of the nineteen elected delegates and thirty visitors present from Italy and Switzerland. Mr. Paul E. Haney, chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, brought greetings from the American Baha'is and stressed the unique distinction of the erection of this twelfth pillar of the Universal House of Justice during the Holy Year. Miss Edna True, chairman of the European Teaching Committee, and member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, expressed the great pride of both the American and European Baha'is in the remarkable progress of the Faith in [p62] 62 THE BAHA'! WORLD these two countries in the seven short years since the inauguration of the Second Seven-Year Plan. The Guardian's message to the Convention, awaited with eager anticipation, expressed his feelings of 'joy, pride and gratitude" to the "steadily unfolding, highly promising Italian-Swiss Baha'i communities" and assured this youngest National Spiritual Assembly of his prayers that it would be enabled to befittingly discharge its responsibilities and tasks through which it would "contribute (a) distinct share (in the) worldwide festivities which will commemorate (the) hundredth anniversary (of the) Declaration (of) Baha'u'llah's Mission (in the) city of BaghdAd." To this "infant institution" the Guardian assigned two vital functions: "(to) stimulate (the) propagation (of the) Faith (and to) consolidate (its) institutions (over the) length (and) breadth (of) Switzerland (and the) Italian Peninsula." The ten specific tasks which these functions involve are 'listed elsewhere in this volume as those responsibilities assigned by the Guardian to Italy and Switzerland tm-der the Ten-Year Crusade. Among the many gifts presented to the new Assembly was one of rare historical significance from the Guardian Ñ two Tablets written by 'Abdu'l-Baha shortly before His passing, to Mrs. I. A. Burr of Florence, the first Baha'i in that city and the first to kindle the light of the Cause in Italy. Others of particular note were letters of acclaim from the eleven sister National Assemblies, bound in leather for "permanent inspiration," the Assembly's official seal, engraved in three languages Ñ Italian, French and German Ñ a gift of the European Teaching Committee, and a gift of fifteen hundred dollars from the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States on behalf of the believers of that country to inaugurate the new Assembly's National Baha'i Fund. Taking a prominent part in the Convention was Dr. Ugo Giachery, Hand of the Cause of God, present as the Guardian's representative, who in his closing remarks as chairman of the Convention and of the newly elected National Spiritual Assembly, remarked: "Six years ago who would have dreamed that we should meet in Florence today; that our two countries would be joined in an undertaking whose vastness leaves us aghast? Let each one of us take inventory and realize what his share in effort, dedication and sacrifice must be!" NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES The extensive properties of the Baha'is of the United States of America, valued at more than $3,200,000, are indicative of the rapid expansion and stability of the Faith in this country. Most widely known is the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois, which was formally dedicated and opened to the public on May 2, 1953. Erected on land purchased between 1908 and 1914, the cost of construction, including landscaping up to April, 1954, was $2,763,617.88. The tla4ratu'1-Quds, also in Wilmette, consisting of the national administrative headquarters of the National Spiritual Assembly, a supplementary administrative office, the office of the Baha'i Publishing Trust, the Collins House, and certain land, is valued at $83,026. The Wilson House in Maiden, Massachusetts, where 'Abdu'l-Baha rested on the occasion of His visit to the United States in 1912, is valued at $7,000. In addition there are four Baha'i schools, located respectively in Maine, Michigan, Colorado, and California, each consisting of certain lands and a number of buildings, having a total value of $375,418. Two pieces of property in Wilmette, one adjoining the administrative headquarters on the shore of Lake Michigan, and a lot across the street from the Baha'i House of Worship, are being held for future additions to the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. FIRST DEPENDENCY OF THE TEMPLE In his message to the Forty-Fifth Annual Convention of the Baha'is of the United States, April 29 to May 1, 1953, the Guardian included among the World Crusade objectives for the believers of the United States "the erection of the first Dependency of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Western World," the first of five accessory institutions named by 'Abdu'l-Baha which will ultimately surround the Baha'i House of Worship. The nature of the dependency was clarified in August, 1953, when the Guardian recommended that it be a home for the aged, to be started on a modest scale, to [p63] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 63 demonstrate to the people of the world the expression of the Baha'i Faith in terms of practical service to humanity. Up to the time of this survey the only step that has been taken toward this objective is the appointment of a special committee to compile information regarding state and county laws governing the construction and operation of such an institution, the suitability of the lake shore property for the purpose, and the estimated building and operating costs of a home housing twenty guests and staff. INTERVIEW OF ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER WITH NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS On May 19, 1951, His Excellency the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. David Ben-Gurion, during a short visit in Chicago, received three members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, accompanied by the Vice-President of the International Baha'i Council, Mrs. Amelia E. Collins. The interview was held in the Prime Minister's suite in the Ambassador East Hotel. The Guardian had wished the National Spiritual Assembly to express to the Prime Minister the great interest the Baha'is of the United States of America have in the progress of Israel. The interview was very friendly and cordial. His Excellency was particularly interested in Mrs. Collins' association with the Baha'i World Center in Israel, and invited her to call on himself and Mrs. Ben-Gurion when she returned to Haifa. His Excellency was interested to know how the Baha'i Faith had been introduced to America, what had been the effects following 'Abdu'l-Baha's visit to the United States in 1912, and to what extent the Faith had spread to other lands. A selection of Baha'i literature was presented to the Prime Minister, together with the color print of the design of the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel and a framed photograph of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. On the same day the Prime Minister's press representative released the following statement concerning the interview to newspapers and radio stations: "The Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. David Ben-Gurion, this morning received four members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is in the United States who expressed to the Prime Minister their gratitude for the Government of Israel's exemplary treatment of their World Headquarters and their World Leader Shoghi Effendi Rabbani. "The representatives were Mrs. Amelia Collins, Vice-Chairman Baha'i International Council who lives in Haifa; Miss Edna M. True, Recording Secretary; Mr. Horace Holley, Secretary; and Mr. Leroy C. loas, Treasurer. "For almost an hour the Prime Minister and his guests discussed the spiritual content of the Baha'i Faith and its spread throughout the world. The Prime Minister was particularly interested in the manner in which the Baha'i faith was introduced into the United States. He expressed surprise when he was informed that there are Baha'i centers in over one hundred seventy-five cities in the United States and that there are twenty-five hundred such centers throughout the world. He was told that the Baha'i faith has been accredited to the United Nations within the International Non-Govern-mental Organizations of the United Nations. "Prior to their departure the Baha'i representatives presented to the Prime Minister a photograph of the I3ahA'i Temple in Wil-mette which is the national shrine for the Baha'i faith in the United States. He was also given a letter expressing the Baha'i appreciation for the Government of Israel's understanding of their problems and the good wishes of the Baha'i faith for the development of Israel." Owing to his many appointments it was not possible for the Prime Minister to accept the National Assembly's invitation to visit the Baha'i House of Worship. VISIT OF MAYOR OF HAIFA TO THE TEMPLE A year later the National Spiritual Assembly was able to extend an invitation to the Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Aba Khoushy, to visit the Baha Temple, and on May 14, 1952, members of the National Assembly and a group of about thirty Baha'is cordially welcomed the Mayor of Haifa at the Baha'i House of Worship. In response to a request to speak to the group, the Mayor expressed his admiration for the Shrine and the Shrine Gardens on Mt. Carmel and voiced his respect and regard for the Baha'is and the desire of the Haifa civil authorities to give their cooperation in the projects being un [p64] 64 THE BAHA'! WORLD dertaken at the World Center of the Faith. In turn, Mayor Khoushy and his party were assured of the grateful appreciation of the American Baha'is and of their interest in the development of the Baha'i World Center. After the prayer for all nations was read, Mayor Khoushy and his party were conducted through the Temple and it was obvious that they were deeply impressed. PRESENTATION OF B~uui'i LITERATURE TO THE QUEEN OF HOLLAND In connection with the Fourth European Baha'i Teaching Conference held in Holland in 1951 the Dutch Baha'i Community was able to fulfill one of its long-cherished hopes, to acquaint Queen Juliana in a dig-nifled way with the Baha'i teachings and the work being done in the Netherlands. The Dutch Baha'is had had a copy of their new Dutch translation of the Selected Writings of Baha'u'llah specially bound in green morocco with the title in gold, in readiness for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen. In addition, they had had made, by a Dutch artist well known for her beautiful handmade leatherwork, a simple pigskin case, in which the Dutch translation and a few books on the Faith in English could be placed together, for the presentation. The artist, not knowing for whom the case was intended, had remarked that pigskin was especially loved by the Queen Mother, for whom she had made several things. A letter was sent to Her Majesty the Queen, after long planning, by the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Amsterdam, expressing their wish to present the Bloemle-zing till de Geschrijten van Baha'u'llah to the Queen, giving a brief statement of the aims and purposes of the Baha'i Faith, and commenting appreciatively on the Queen's public expressions of strong humanitarian principles and trust in God's guidance. Presentation of the case with the Baha'i books was made on August 31, 1951, the day when Baha'is from nineteen countries were gathering for the Fourth European Teaching Conference which was to start the next morning. The Baha'i messenger presented himself at the gate of the Soestdijk Palace and was conducted to the secretariat of the Queen, where two of the Queen's private secretaries cordially received him. When the case was unwrapped both secretaries expressed their admiration for the ar tistic and lovely way in which the Baha'i books were presented. For almost one and a half hours they inquired about the Faith and looked through the books, which they promised to present to the Queen on her return to the Palace. A few days later the fob lowing gracious letter was received, signed by one of the private secretaries of Her Majesty the Queen: "Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to convey to you her sincere thanks for the offering of the 'Bloemlezing uit de Geschrif-ten van Baha'u'llah' and some English books about the Baha'i World Faith, which Her Majesty has accepted with special gratitude." PERSIA Purchase of the Siydh-Cftdl In the third year following the Martyrdom of the Wtb, Iflusayn-'Ali, preeminent among the Bab's followers, was seized by order of the ShAh and confined for four months in the subterranean dungeon of Tili-rAn known as the SiyAh-Qh~1, an abandoned reservoir which had served one of the public baths of the city. His place of confinement was reached along a completely darkened corridor, down three steep flights of stairs. There, in thick darkness, his fellow prisoners numbered about one hundred and fifty, among whom were thieves, assassins and highwaymen. The dungeon was used for the imprisonment of desperate criminals. His feet were placed in stocks and a heavy chain was fastened around his neck. The place has been described as "chill and damp, filthy, fever-stricken, infested with vermin, and filled with a noisome stench." It was under these conditions, reflecting the bitterest tyranny and fanaticism of the age, that the intimation of a supreme prophetic mission entered the heart of $usayn-'All, transforming him into Baha'u'llah, The Glory of God. In His Epistle to N6~iri'd-Din Sh6h, revealed at a later time, Baha'u'llah thus described the Divine origin of His mission: "0 king! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing • His all-compelling summons bath [p65] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 65 reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people." The birth of the mission of Baha'u'llah has been described by the Guardian of the Faith in these words: "Wrapped in its stygian gloom, breathing its fetid air, numbed by its humid and icy atmosphere, His feet in stocks, His neck weighed down by a mighty chain, surrounded by criminals and miscreants of the worst order at so critical an hour and under such appalling circumstances the 'Most Great Spirit,' as designated by Himself, and symbolized in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian, and Mu1~ammadan Dispensations by the Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush, the Dove and the Angel Gabriel, respectively, descended upon, and revealed itself, personified by a 'Maiden,' to the agonized soul of Baha'u'llah history of religion can offer no sharper contrast between the power of the Holy Spirit and the circumstances under which that power manifested itself in its chosen human vehicle. That from such a beginning the mission of Baha'u'llah could arise and reveal salvation to the peoples and nations is an evidence of divine power none can deny. To Baha'is, the place so consecrated by supreme sacrifice has been venerated as a holy place of their Faith. In the spring of 1954 the site of Siyah-CAiAl in Tihr~n was purchased for the Faith by Ijabib Sabet for $400,000. End of Four-Year Plan for Persian Women The International Survey published for the years 19461950 included reference to the effort made by the Persian Baha'is to create opportunities for Baha'i women to attain education, and their aim to bring about equality with men in relation to elective and appointive offices in the community. This aim was pursued under a four-year plan the result of which has been to find women elected to membership on Assemblies for the first time, thus overcoming a long historic disability. The service of men and women in these elective bodies represents the operation of the principle of equality of opportunity and status for men and women which the Baha'i Faith has established in the new social pattern now unf old-ing throughout the world. Through special classes and discussions and by active participation in Baha'i community affairs the Baha women of Persia have fully demonstrated their capacity to assume responsibilities which had been reserved for men. Indeed, in the arena of spiritual heroism from the earliest days of the Faith, Persian Baha'i women have risen to sublime heights of fortitude and sacrifice. The name of TAhirih stands beside those of the most exalted women in history. The Four-Year Plan provided facilities for the education of girls and special classes for adult women. A National Women's Progressive Committee was appointed, with regional committees acting under its supervision. A national convention for Baha'i women was held annually, with the participation of the members of the National Women's Progressive Committee and twenty-two representatives of the regional committees. At these gatherings the women demonstrated their ability and aptitude for serving their Faith on an equality with the men. In addition, district conventions were held semiannually, to consult on ways to carry education even to women in the vii-lages. The program of education included oral instruction for the illiterate and those who had little schooling; an advanced class for graduates of secondary schools, and a higher class of more advanced education for women living in the larger centers. Finally, a periodical was circulated with contents covering topics of general history, Baha'i history, science, literature, health, hygiene, housekeeping and care of children. From Shoghi Effendi a message was received which stated: "The great barrier has now been completely removed and absolute equality is attained as the result of recent developments, as well as the glorious and continuing efforts rendered by the beloved Baha'i sisters in that country and abroad." END OF EGYPTIAN FIVE-YEAR PLAN The Five-Year Plan of the Baha of Egypt and the Stid&n began in May, 1948, in response to a cablegram from the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Sfld~n. At the end of this Plan the goals achieved in Egypt included the establishment of three new local Spiritual Assemblies, in Sohag (1950), Me-halla ci Kobra (1951) and Mansoura (1952), thus raising to nine the number of local Spiritual Assemblies. Six virgin prov [p66] 66 THE BAHA'! WORLD inces were opened, of nine set up as goals. A plot for a permanent summer school was found but legal transfer of the land was not yet completed. In the Siidtin the goals were achieved in the opening of three new centers, at Port SiidTh, Wan and Wad Medani. A Baha'i center was established at Asmara in Fxitrea. In Africa, Algeria was opened to the Faith and in Libya Baha'i centers were established in Benghazi and Tripoli. A Spiritual Assembly was established in Tunis in April, 1953. Women Included in Assembly Membership for First Time Elections for members of local Spiritual Assemblies in Egypt on April 21, 1951, for the first time permitted inclusion of women. Accordingly, one or two women members were elected as members of the Spiritual Assemblies of Alexandria, Cairo, and Port Said. The Guardian referred to this change in his message to the 1951 National Convention of the Baha'is in the United States, as follows: "(A) notable step (in the) progress (of) Baha'i women (of the) Middle East (is) taken through (the) extension (of the) right (of) membership (in) local Assemblies (to) women believers (in) Egypt." PURCHASE OF HISTORIC SITE, ISTANBUL Among the many significant events that transpired during the period covered by this volume was one announced in the Guardian's message to the National Convention of Baha'is in the United States on April 23, 1952, in this statement: "Historic site (of) House occupied (by) Baha'u'llah (in) Istanbul (has been) partly purchased." On October 1, 1954, the Guardian further announced to all believers of the East and West that funds to complete the acquisition of this historical edifice had been provided as a result of "successive contributions made by the Hand of the Cause, Amelia Collins, outstanding benefactress of the Faith, for the furtherance of some of the most vital objectives of the Ten-Year Plan." Thus there has been preserved for future generations another historic place associated with the exile and banishment of Baha'u'llah from the land of His birth and His incarceration in the prison city of 'Akka. It was while residing in this house for four months from August 16, 1953, that Baha'u'llah addressed to Sultan 'Abdu'1-'Aziz the first of His communications to the rulers and ecclesiastical leaders of the world, proclaiming the Divine Summons and warning all those who refused to heed His Call. On the eve of His banishment from that city by the Su1t~in's edict, Baha'u'llah revealed: "Were all the governments of earth to unite to take My life and the lives of all who bear this Name, this Divine Fire would never be quenched. Whatever may yet befall Us, great shall be Our gain, and manifest the loss wherewith they shall be afflicted." The Guardian points out that ¶4-tAn 'Abdu'1-'Aziz was also "first among Oriental monarchs to sustain the impact of God's retributive justice." The months which Baha'u'llah and His family spent in this house have been associated by the Guardian with the begin-fling of a period in which "untold privations and unprecedented trials were mingled with the noblest spiritual triumphs," and one in which "the daystar of Baha'u'llah's ministry was about to reach its zenith." END OF CANADIAN FIVE-YEAR PLAN On April 21, 1953, the Canadian Baha'i Community rejoiced in the news that their Five-Year Plan was completely and successfully fulfilled. The plan had been initiated when the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada was first established in 1948. Completion of the plan climaxed five years of intensive teaching work and its organization throughout Canada, from Victoria to Newfoundland. It meant that a total of thirty Spiritual Assemblies had been established in Canada, and that Baha were resident in one hundred different localities throughout the Provinces. A National ila4ratu'1-Quds had been purchased in the heart of Toronto. Purchase of Haziratu'l-Quds A building was purchased in October, 1952, on St. George Street, Toronto, to serve as the Canadian Ua4ratu'I-Quds, in response to the Guardian's writing the Canadian National Baha'i Assembly that "ef-fort must be exerted for the establishment of an institution which, though not an integral part of the [five-year] Plan, formulated for that Community, is none the less regarded as indispensable owing to its emer [p67] CURRENT BAHA'I ACTIVITIES 67 gence into an independent existence." Later it was found necessary to sell the building acquired, because it proved to be unsuitable on account of fire regulations. MAXWELL HOUSE DEEDED TO CANADIAN NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY The home of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutherland Maxwell on Pine Avenue in Montreal, Canada, for many years the gathering place of Baha'is and their friends, was given over to the ownership of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada, to be maintained as a Shrine in remembrance of 'Abdu'l-Baha's stay in this home in 1912. This gracious gift was that of Rti1~iyyih KMnum, daughter of May and Sutherland Maxwell, and now the wife of the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. Transfer of the property was completed in March, 1954. It was the first Baha'i home in Canada, established in 1907. Uncountable numbers of persons had been received in this home and had there heard of the Baha'i Faith and been surrounded with spiritual guidance and love. The Canadian National Spiritual Assembly wrote of the gift of this home by Rtitiiyyih KWtnum: "Many who enter its lovely white doors have the inner realization that they stand within the same walls where 'Abdu'l-Baha had stood." END OF AUSTRALIAN SIX-YEAR PLAN The Six-Year Plan of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand was fulfilled in April, 1953, and all the goals exceeded. The Plan called for establishment of two new Spiritual Assemblies in Australia and nineteen groups in Australasia. Five additional Assemblies were established, bringing the total number in Australia and New Zealand to seventeen. Twenty-one groups beyond the goals of the plan brought the total number of groups to forty. Purchase of Temple Site in Sydney In acknowledging the news of purchase of the site for a Baha'i House of Worship in Sydney to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand, the Guardian wrote, on June 16, 1954: "The number of pioneers of the National tional Body who have gone forth as pio-fleeTs to virgin territories the purchase of the Temple site in Sydney Ñ all attest the vitality of the faith of the believers in the Antipodes." The Temple site chosen was unfortunately, however, shortly after its purchase, repossessed by the city, and the National Spiritual Assembly, though having to relinquish this site, was paid a sum for it which brought a considerable profit. END OF GERMAN FIVE-YEAR PLAN The Five-Year Plan of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria was inaugurated in May, 1948, in response to a suggestion made by Shoghi Effendi, who left the extent of the plan to the decision of the National Assembly. The following objectives were set up: (1) Consolidation and strengthening the understanding of the Baha'is for the Administrative Order; (2) increasing the number of Baha'i centers from fourteen to twenty-eight and at the same time furthering Community growth; (3) deepening in the Teachings, through addition to the Baha'i literature in German, in order to replace the Baha'i literature confiscated and destroyed by the National Socialist government; (4) erection of a National laratu'1-Quds in Frankfurt-am-Main. During the course of the Plan three communities of active Baha'is were cut off from the main body of German Baha'is, as activities of the Faith were prohibited in the Eastern Zone of Germany. During the first four years of the Plan six Baha'i groups were brought to community status, one of which relapsed to group status. During the last year of the Plan, through the sacrificial efforts of the Baha'is of Germany, aided by Baha'is from Persia who had come to study in Germany, concentration on nine goal cities resulted in establishment of nine additional Assemblies by the end of the five years, thus fulfilling the objective of fourteen additional Baha Communities. The nine new Assemblies established in one year were Bad Cannstatt, Bonn, Ebingen, Freiburg-i-I3reisgau, Gies-sen, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Tilbingen and UIm. On the site of the ruin purchased at West-endstrasse 24, in Frankfurt-am-Main, for the Lja4ratu'1-Quds shortly before the beginning of the Five-Year Plan, a stately [p68] 68 THE BAHA'I WORLD five-story building was erected and completed by the end of the Plan. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles arose in all phases of the erection of the building Ñ financing, materials, permits Ñ but each was overcome in turn. A few paragraphs from the account of the architect of the building, Bruno Bauer, give modest insight into what some of these difficulties were: "Thanks to the greathearted and generous gifts of our beloved Guardian and with the help of additional gifts and loans of the Baha'is it was possible to work out financing arrangements through building loans (mortgages). With a part of the building fund, construction above the first floor was begun in the summer of 1950. All the believers were delighted and breathed more easily, with relief and gratitude. Then a rift occurred in the favorable relations between East and West and in its wake came new vexations, disputes and economic difficulties. All prices mounted, the workers struck, materials were again hoarded and thus became scarce and in part illegal. New evidences of lack of confidence pervaded the world. Our work was threatened with coming to an end. A whole series of old encumbrances burdened the property and had to be set aside. Old claims had to give way to new. Endless, galling dealings with the former owners, with the mortgage office, with the notary and with a number of financial institutions were necessary m order to clear the way for continuing the construction. The believers had to be appealed to for new sacrifices. Next to the evident divine blessing we must be thankful for this courage in sacrifice, this insight and this unbending will and faith in success, but especially to the great help of our Guardian, so that we could go forward with the construction and meet the contracts." In July, 1950, the commemoration of the Martyrdom of the BTh in Frankfurt was held in the large first floor room of the Ija4ra, while construction with the upper floors was in progress. Tin 1952 all interior construction work was completed, and a lovely garden and planting had been installed in the spacious area back of the building. The finished $a4ra contains, on the third floor, a meeting hail seating one hundred thirty persons, with balcony overlooking the garden, and an adjoining kitchen; a secretariat on the second floor; and several apartments at present leased to help finance payment of the mortgages. Addition to the Baha'i literature in German has included new translations and editions of the Hidden Words, a selection of prayers, translation and publication of Shoghi Effendi's "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah" from The World Order of Baha'u'llah, of Paris Talks of 'A bdu'1-Bahd, of Some Answered Questions, and, in press, of Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By. A beginning was thus made in the Five-Year Plan to reestablish an authentic Baha'i literature in German. END OF CENTRAL AMERICAN ONE-YEAR PLAN At the Annual Convention of the Baha'is of Central America held in San Jos6, Costa Rica, in 1952, the idea of a Plan was developed and later approved by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America and the Antilles, then beginning its second year of existence. The Guardian had written the Assembly urging it "to devote its energy primarily to laying a sound and abiding foundation for the future." The Plan encompassed four points formulated by the Guardian: (1) to establish harmony, love and understanding among the Baha'is, (2) to promote the teaching work, (3) to win support for the National Baha'i Fund, and (4) to assure publication of Baha'i literature in well-translated Spanish editions, in cooperation with the National Spiritual Assembly of South America. To fulfill the first objective the Central American National Spiritual Assembly sent a member to each principal community of each country under its jurisdiction, to establish a bond of love and service through these visits; and in reply to letters it took particular care to quote from the Writings on each specific question or problem raised. For the second objective two National Teaching Committees were formed, one for work among Spanish speaking friends and the other among English and French. These Committees in turn encouraged the Regional Teaching Committees Which carried out specific projects in the field. An Indian Committee carried the Teachings to the aborigines and established a Baha'i Cultural Institute in the heart of the Indian country in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. The first Baha'i School in Central America was held at "Karbila" outside of Tegucigalpa. Hon [p69] CURRENT BAHA'! ACTIVITIES 69 duras. At the end of the Plan all Assemblies had been maintained and teaching work was being actively carried on in many fields. Support for the National Baha'i Fund was aided by appeals in the Assembly's official news organ Noticias, published in Spanish, French and English and mailed to every Baha'i. In the interests of well-translated Baha'i literature in Spanish, steps were taken to consolidate all translating efforts and to secure well-qualified translators. END OF INDIAN NINETEEN-MONTH PLAN The Nineteen-Month Plan of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P4kisfftn and Burma, extending from September, 1951, to April, 1953, was the third successive Baha'i Teaching Plan undertaken in the subcontinent of India and Burma. Five main objectives were outlined and although all were not fully attained, the end of the Plan saw great progress as a result of the intense efforts of the Baha'is of this area. The first objective was to offer Rs 2,50,000 to the Shrine of the BTh Fund; a little over three-fourths of this sum was contributed. Esslemont's Baha'u'llah and the New Era was translated and printed in three languages, Indonesian, Siamese, Karen; a revised translation was made in Burmese; and a smaller booklet, "Baha'u'llah and His Message," was translated and printed in Kachin. The third objective, pioneering into neighboring countries, succeeded in opening seven of eight "goal" countries, with formation of an Assembly in two and promise of one in a third. The areas opened were Siam (Thailand); Malaya, with an Assembly in Singapore; Indonesia; Sarawak, with an Assembly established in Kuching; Zanzibar; Madagascar; and Nepal. IndoChina remained unsettled. On the home front of the Indian subcontinent, eight of ten Spiritual Assemblies hoped for were established in India, three of five in P~kislAn, and one of two in Cey-ion. It was not possible to fulfill the objectives in Burma owing to disturbed conditions in that country. Of thirteen Assemblies to be consolidated in India, twelve maintained their status, and all Assemblies to be consolidated in PAkistAn (three) and Burma (four) maintained status. The fifth objective, expansion of the Baha'i New Era School in Pancligani, to bring it to the status of government recognition, was not attained although progress was made toward this goal. The eighth anniversary of the school was celebrated in December, 1952. More suitable, larger property was purchased and the school was moved to the new premises in February, 1953. Improvements were being made in this twenty-eight acre property, on which were located five bungalows in good condition, the number of classrooms was being increased, playgrounds were being developed, and a qualified teaching staff was being arranged for. During the Nineteen-Month Plan wide publicity was received in the press which would prove of valuable assistance in the work of the future. BRILLIANT END OF BRITISH TWO-YEAR PLAN Projected in 1950, in the Guardian's cablegram to the British Baha'i Convention of that year, the Two-Year Plan of the British Baha'is was to be a prelude to the "initiation (of the) systematic campaign designed (to) carry (the) torch (of the) Faith (to) territories (of the) Dark Continent whose northern (and) southern fringes were successively illuminated (in the) course (of the) ministries (of) Baha'u'llah (and) 'Abdu'l-Baha" The three objectives of the Plan were (1) to strengthen the nineteen Spiritual Assemblies already established in the British Isles, (2) to form nuclei in three dependencies of the British Crown in East or West Africa, and (3) to translate, publish and disseminate Baha'i literature through the British Publishing Trust in three African languages in addition to the three already undertaken in the Six-Year Plan successfully completed less than a year previously by the British Baha'is. At the midpoint of the Plan, in April, 1952, the Guardian was able to announce that pioneers had been dispatched to the three virgin territories of Tanganyika, Uganda and the Gold Coast; that a seventeen thousand dollar Haziratu'1-Quds had been purchased in Kampala, Uganda; that native Africans of the Teso, Yao, Buganda and Mutoco tribes had been enrolled in the Faith; and that Spiritual Assemblies had [p70] THE BAHA'! WORLD been formed in Kampala and in Dar es Salaam. When the Plan came to its brilliant conclusion in April, 1953, the Guardian announced that the number of believers in Uganda alone was over two hundred and ninety, residing in twenty-five localities and representing twenty tribes. In Africa all goals were exceeded. Twelve new local Spiritual Assemblies had been established in Uganda, and besides the Assembly in Tanganyika one was assured in Kenya. In his message to the First Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conference held in Kampala, in February, 1953, the Guardian wrote: "I welcome with open arms the unexpectedly large number of the representatives of the pure-hearted and the spiritually receptive Negro race.~~ On the home front in the British Isles, all Assemblies were maintained on a firm basis. In addition to the three pamphlets previously printed in African languages (ChiNyanja, KiSwahuli and Hausa), translations into Luganda, Twi and Ateso were published and in use, and translations into at least eight additional African languages were in progress. The pamphlets were printed by the British Publishing Trust and distributed by them. The objectives thus brilliantly achieved in the British Two-Year Plan laid the groundwork for and greatly furthered the tremendous successes of the African teaching work in which six National Spiritual Assemblies were to cooperate during the Ten-Year Crusade. [p71] III EXCERPTS FROM THE BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 1. WORDS OF BAHA'U'LLAH From PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS BY BAHA'U'LLAH ALL praise, 0 my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all glory and majesty, of greatness and honor, of sovereignty and dominion, of loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou wiliest Thou causest to draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou conferrest the honor of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will. From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise. Illumine, 0 Lord, the faces of Thy servants, that they may behold Thee; and cleanse their hearts that they may turn unto the court of Thy heavenly favors, and recognize Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the DaySpring of Thine Essence. Verily, Thou an the Lord of all worlds. There is no God but Thee, the Unconstrained, the All-Subduing. (p. 94) Lauded be Thy name, 0 Lord my God! I testify that Thou wast a hidden Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being and an impenetrable Mystery enshrined in Thine own Essence. Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, 0 Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate! Thou didst raise Him up to occupy Thy throne before all the people of Thy creation. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine with the lights of Thine 71 inspiration and Thy Revelation, and to manifest Thy names and Thine attributes. Through Him Thou didst adorn the preamble of the book of Thy creation, 0 Thou Who art the Ruler of the universe Thou hast fashioned! I bear witness that in His person solidity and fluidity have been joined and combined. Through His immovable constancy in Thy Cause, and His unwavering adherence to whatsoever Thou, in the plenitude of the light of Thy glory, didst unveil to His eyes, throughout the domains of Thy Revelation and creation, the souls of Thy servants were stirred up in their longing for Thy Kingdom, and the dwellers of Thy realms rushed forth to enter into Thy heavenly dominion. Through the restlessness He evinced in Thy path, the feet of all them that are devoted to Thee were steeled and confirmed to manifest Thy Cause amidst Thy creatures, and to demonstrate Thy sovereignty throughout Thy realm. How great, 0 my God, is this Thy most excellent handiwork, and how consummate Thy creation, which hath caused every understanding heart and mind to marvel! And when the set time was fulfilled, and what had been preordained came to pass, Thou didst unloose His tongue to praise Thee, and to lay bare Thy mysteries before all Thy creation, 0 Thou Who art the Possessor of all names, and the Fashioner of earth and heaven! Through Him all created things were made to glorify Thee, and to celebrate Thy praise, and every soul was directed towards the kingdom of Thy revelation and Thy sovereignty. At one time, Thou didst raise Him up, 0 my God, and didst attire Him with the ornament of the name of Him Who conversed with Thee (Moses), and didst through Him [p72] 72 THE BAHA'! WORLD uncover all that Thy will had decreed and Thine irrevocable purpose ordained. At another time, Thou didst adorn Him with the name of Him Who was Thy Spirit (Jesus), and didst send Him down out of the heaven of Thy will, for the edification of Thy people, infusing thereby the spirit of life into the hearts of the sincere among Thy servants and the faithful among Thy creatures. Again, Thou didst reveal Him, decked forth by the name of Him Who was Thy Friend (Muhammad), and caused Him to shine brightly above the horizon of Hijiz, as a• token of Thy power and an evidence of Thy might. Through Him Thou didst send unto Thy servants what enabled them to scale the heights of Thy unity, and to yearn over the wonders of Thy manifold knowledge and wisdom. I testify, 0 Thou Who art the Lord of the whole creation, and the Desire of whosoever bath sought Thee, that, amidst Thy creatures, they resemble the sun which no matter how often it riseth and setteth is still the one and the same sun. Whoso maketh any distinction between any of them hath truly failed to attain the ultimate purpose, and to reach the highest goal, and bath been deprived of the mysteries of unity and of the lights of sanctity and oneness. I testify, moreover, that Thou hast decreed that none on the face of the earth should equal them, and none of Thy creatures be able to be compared with any of them, in order that Thine own singleness and peerlessness might be recognized and established. Glorified, immeasurably glorified be Thy name, 0 my God! How can I ever befittingly mention Thee or sufficiently praise Thee, that Thou hast manifested Him by the power of Thy might, and caused Him to shine above the horizon of Thy will, and made Him the DaySpring of Thy signs, and the Dawning-Place of the revelation of Thy names and Thine attributes? How bewilderingly mysterious, moreover, 0 my God, is His nature and all that Thou hast infused into Him, through Thy strength and by the power of Thy might! At one time He ap-peareth as the water which is Life indeed, sent down out of the heaven of Thy grace, and poured forth from the clouds of Thy mercy, that Thy creatures may be endued with new life, and live as long as Thine own Kingdom endureth. Every drop of that water would suffice to quicken the dead, and to set their faces in the direction of Thy fa vors and Thy gifts, and to rid them of all attachment to aught else except Thee. At another time He revealeth Himself as the Fire which Thou didst kindle in the tree of Thy unity, whose heat melted the hearts of Thine ardent lovers when He Who is the DayStar of the world shone forth above the horizon of 'Ir6q. I testify, 0 my God, that through Him the veils of human fancy were burnt up, and the hearts of men were set towards the scene of Thy most resplendent glory. I implore Thee, 0 Thou Who art the Supreme Ordainer, not to suffer me to be deprived of the breezes which are wafted in Thy days, the days whereon the sweet smell of the raiment of Thy mercy bath been shed abroad. Neither do Thou keep me back from Thy most great Ocean, every drop of which crieth out and saith: 'Great is the blessedness that awaiteth him who bath been awakened from his sleep by the breath of God which, from the source of His mercy, hath blown over all such of His creatures as have set themselves towards Him!' Thou seest, 0 my Lord, how Thy servants are held captive by their own selves and desires. Redeem them from their bondage, o my God, by the power of Thy sovereignty and might, that they may turn towards Thee when He Who is the Revealer of Thy names and attributes is manifested unto men. Cast upon this poor and desolate creature, 0 my Lord, the glance of Thy wealth, and flood his heart with the beams of Thy knowledge, that he may apprehend the verities of the unseen world, and discover the mysteries of Thy heavenly realm, and perceive the signs and tokens of Thy kingdom, and behold the manifold revelations of this earthly life all set forth before the face of Him Who is the Revealer of Thine own Self. Direct, then, his eyes, 0 my God, towards the horizon of Thy lovingkindness, and make steadfast his heart in its attachment to Thee, and unloose his tongue to praise Thee, and make him able to hold fast the cord of Thy love, and to cling to the hem of Thy bounteousness, and to proclaim Thy name amidst Thy creatures, and to recount Thy virtues throughout Thy realm, in such wise that no obstacle will deter him from turning to Thy name, the All-Bounti-ful, and no veil shut him out from Thee, in Whose hand is the dominion of utterance and the kingdom of all names and attributes! [p73] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 73 Octagon of the Shrine seen from the mountainside and showing one iron railing in place. March, 1952. Scaffolding around the drum and dome of the BTh's Shrine; the ribs, tiles and lantern of the dome are still to be added. June, 1953. [p74] 74 THE BAHA'! WORLD Hold Thou the hand of this seeker who hath set his face towards Thee, 0 my Lord, and draw him out of the depths of his vain imaginations, that the light of certainty may shine brightly above the horizon of his heart in the days whereon the sun of the knowledge of Thy creatures hath been darkened through the shining of the DayStar of Thy glory; the days whereon the moon of the world's wisdom hat been eclipsed through the appearance of Thy hidden knowledge, and the manifestation of Thy well-guarded secret, and the revelation of Thine enshrined mystery; the days whereon the stars of men's doings have fallen through the rising of the orb of Thy unity and the shedding of the radiance of Thy transcendent oneness. I beg of Thee, 0 my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into purest gold, 0 Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy bounteousness and favor. Potent art Thou to do as Thou wiliest. Thou, in very truth, art the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Happy is the man who hath recognized Thee, and discovered the sweetness of Thy fragrance, and set himself towards Thy kingdom, and tasted of the things that have been perfected therein by Thy grace and favor. Great is the blessedness of him who hath acknowledged Thy most excellent majesty, and whom the veils that have shut out the nations from Thee have not hindered from directing his eyes towards Thee, O Thou Who art the King of eternity and the Quickener of every moldering bone! Blessed, also, is he that bath inhaled Thy sweet savors, and been carried away by Thine utterances in Thy days. Blessed, moreover, be the man that hath turned unto Thee, and woe betide him that hath turned his back upon Thee. Praised be Thou, the Lord of the worlds! (p.48) Praise be to Thee, 0 Lord my God! Thou seest and knowest that I have called upon Thy servants to turn nowhere except in the direction of Thy bestowals, and have bidden them observe naught save the things Thou didst prescribe in Thy Perspicuous Book, the Book which hath been sent down according to Thine inscrutable decree and irrevocable purpose. I can utter no word, 0 my God, unless I be permitted by Thee, and can move in no direction until I obtain Thy sanction. It is Thou, 0 my God, Who hast called me into being through the power of Thy might, and hast endued me with Thy grace to manifest Thy Cause. Wherefore I have been subjected to such adversities that my tongue hath been hindered from extolling Thee and from magnifying Thy glory. All praise be to Thee, 0 my God, for the things Thou didst ordain for me through Thy decree and by the power of Thy sovereignty. I beseech Thee that Thou wilt fortify both myself and them that love me in our love for Thee, and wilt keep us firm in Thy Cause. I swear by Thy might! 0 my God! Thy servant's shame is to be shut out as by a veil from Thee, and his glory is to know Thee. Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. Send down, therefore, 0 my Lord, upon me and upon my loved ones that which will protect us from the mischief of those that have repudiated Thy truth and disbelieved in Thy signs. Thou art, verily, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful. (p. 207) From GLEANINGS FROM THE WRiTINGS OF BAHA'U'LLAH THE DAY OF FULFILLMENT Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the The time foreordained Law of God, and unto the peoples and kindredsJerusalem, and the hills of the earth is now come. and land thereof, The promises of God, as are filled with the glory recorded in the holy of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his [p75] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 75 heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, 0 ye beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause. In the Book of Isaiah it is written: "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty." No man that meditateth upon this verse can fail to recognize the greatness of this Cause, or doubt the exalted character of this Day Ñ the Day of God himself. This same verse is followed by these words: "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day." This is the Day which the Pen of the Most High hath glorified in all the holy Scriptures. There is no verse in them that doth not declare the glory of His holy Name, and no Book that doth not testify unto the loftiness of this most exalted theme. Were We to make mention of all that hath been revealed in these heavenly Books and holy Scriptures concerning this Revelation, this Tablet would assume impossible dimensions. It is incumbent, in this Day, upon every man to place his whole trust in the manifold bounties of God, and arise to disseminate, with the utmost wisdom, the verities of His Cause. Then, and oniy then, will the whole earth be enveloped with the morning light of His Revelation. (p. 12) Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted tip upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory. Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless. o thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil bath shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's," may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples. (p. 10) By the righteousness of God! These are the days in which God hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets, and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory. How severe, therefore, the test to which they who join partners with God must needs be subjected! (p. 11) Beware, 0 believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning of Divine Unity, if ye be of them that apprehend and believe this truth. Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, bath repudiated His signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Mes sengers. (p. 59) It is evident that every age in which a Manifestation of God hath lived is divinely ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized as God's appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique, and is to be distinguished from those that have preceded it. The designation "Seal of the Prophets" fully revealeth its high station. The Prophetic Cycle hath, verily, ended. The Eternal Truth is now come. He hath lifted up the Ensign of Power, and is now shedding upon the world the unclouded splendor of His Reve lation. (p. 60) [p76] 76 THE BAHA'! WORLD Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive Revelations that hath linked the Manifestation of Adam with that of the Bab. I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been entrusted with a divinely-revealed Book and been commissioned to unravel the mysteries of a mighty Tablet. The measure of the Revelation with which every one of them hath been identified had been definitely foreordained. This, verily, is a token of Our favor unto them, if ye be of those that comprehend this truth. And when this process of progressive Revelation culminated in the stage at which His peerless, His most sacred, and exalted Countenance was to be unveiled to men's eyes, He chose to hide His own Self behind a thousand veils, lest profane and mortal eyes discover His glory. This He did at a time when the signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation were being showered upon Him Ñ signs and tokens which none can reckon except the Lord, your God, the Lord of all worlds. And when the set time of concealment was fulfilled, We sent forth, whilst still wrapt within a myriad veils, an infinitesimal glimmer of the effulgent Glory enveloping the Face of the Youth, and lo, the entire company of the dwellers of the Realms above were seized with violent commotion and the favored of God fell down in adoration before Him. He hath, verily, manifested a glory such as none in the whole creation hath witnessed, inasmuch as He hath arisen to proclaim in person His Cause unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. (p. 74) 0 $usayn! Consider the eagerness with which certain peoples and nations have anticipated the return of ImAm-Uusayn, whose coming, after the appearance of the QA'im, hath been prophesied, in days past, by the chosen ones of God, exalted be His glory. These holy ones have, moreover, announced that when He Who is the Day Spring of the manifold grace of God mani-festeth Himself, all the Prophets and Messengers, including the Q6Nm, will gather together beneath the shadow of the sacred Standard which the Promised One will raise. That hour is now come. The world is ii-lumined with the effulgent glory of His countenance. And yet, behold how far its peoples have strayed from His path! None have believed in Him except them who, through the power of the Lord of Names, have shattered the idols of their vain imaginings and corrupt desires and entered the city of certitude. The seal of the choice Wine of His Revelation hath, in this Day and in His Name, the Self-Sufficing, been broken. Its grace is being poured out upon men. Fill thy cup, and drink it in His Name, the Most Holy, the All-Praised. (P. 12) Say: 0 ye that have strayed and lost your way! The Divine Messenger, Who speaketh naught but the truth, hath announced unto you the coming of the Best-Beloved. Behold, He is now come. Wherefore are ye downcast and dejected? Why remain despondent when the Pure and Hidden One hath appeared unveiled amongst you? He Who is both the Beginning and the End, He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes. Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion bath been engendered. This motion hath been generated by the potent energies which the words of the Almighty have released throughout the entire creation. Whoso hath been quickened by its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into irretrievable despondency. He is truly wise whom the world and all that is therein have not deterred from recognizing the light of this Day, who will not allow men's idle talk to cause him to swerve from the way of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who, at the wondrous dawn of this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened by its soul-stirring breeze. He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and helpless, in the fetters of his desires. 0 My servants! Whoso bath tasted of this Fountain hath attained unto everlasting Life, and whoso hath refused to drink therefrom is even as the dead. Say: 0 ye workers of iniquity! Covetousness hath hindered you from giving a hearing ear unto the sweet voice of Him Who is the All-Sufficing. Wash it away from your hearts, that His Divine secret may be made known unto you. Behold Him manifest and resplendent as the sun in all its glory. [p77] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 77 First golden tiles laid on the dome of the Bab's Shrine. Beneath the tile on the right a piece of plaster from the prison room occupied by the 13Th in MAh-K6 was imbedded by the Guardian on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. Say: 0 ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth you, and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it may pass and inflict no harm upon you. Acknowledge the exalted character of the name of the Lord, your God, Who hath come unto you in the greatness of His glory. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Possessing, the Supreme Protector. (p. 168) Tablet to Carmel All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on high, were heard calling aloud: "Haste thee, 0 Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee." Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus exclaimed: "May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast directed towards me Thy steps. Separation from Thee, 0 Thou Source of everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my remoteness from Thy presence hath burned away my soul. All praise be to Thee for having enabled me to hearken to Thy call, for having honored me with Thy footsteps, and for having quickened my soul through the vitalizing fragrance of Thy Day and the thrilling voice of Thy Pen; a voice Thou didst ordain as Thy trumpet-call amidst Thy people. And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things." No sooner had her voice reached that most exalted Spot than We made reply: [p78] 78 THE BAHA'I WORLD "Render thanks unto Thy Lord, 0 Carmel. The fire of thy separation from Me was fast consuming thee, when the ocean of My presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all creation, and filling with delight all things visible and invisible. Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the day spring of the evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circieth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God bath showered upon thee. Seize thou the Chalice of Immortality in the name of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, and give thanks unto Him, inasmuch as He, in token of His mercy unto thee, hath turned thy sorrow into gladness, and transmuted thy grief into blissful joy. He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honored by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears. "Call out to Zion, 0 Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation Ñ a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: 'Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.' Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mmd or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bah4 who have been mentioned in the Book of Names. Sanctified be the Lord of all mankind, at the mention of Whose name all the atoms of the earth have been made to vibrate, and the Tongue of Grandeur hath been moved to disclose that which had been wrapt in His knowledge and lay concealed within the treasury of His might. He, verily, through the potency of His name, the Mighty, the Mi-Powerful, the Most High, is the ruler of all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. (p. 14) Bestir yourselves, 0 people, in anticipation of the days of Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring. (p. 17) THE STATION OE MATURE MAN All-praise to the unity of God, and all-honor to Him, the sovereign Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements of His creation, and 'Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His all-encom-passing grace, His all-pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it. How could it, otherwise, have been possible for sheer nothingness to have acquired by itself the worthiness and capacity to emerge from its state of nonexistence into the realm of being? Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him Ñ a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation. Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He bath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty. These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the [p79] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 79 flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. It is clear and evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp will never be ignited, and unless the dross is blotted out from the face of the mirror it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory. And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He bath assigned a twofold nature; the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself. To this testitieth the tradition: "Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is." And in like manner, the words: "Arise, 0 Muhammad, for lo, the Lover and the Beloved are joined together and made one in Thee." He similarly saith: "There is no distinction whatsoever between Thee and Them, except that They are Thy Servants." The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: "I am but a man like you." "Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?" These Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the channels of God's all-pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with supreme sovereignty, they are commissioned to use the inspiration of their words, the effusions of their infallible grace and the sanctifying breeze of their Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations. Then, and only then, will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment, and implant the ensign of its revealed glory upon the summits of men's hearts. From the foregoing passages and allusions it hath been made indubitably clear that in the kingdoms of earth and heaven there must needs be manifested a Being, an Essence Who shall act as a Manifestation and Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself, the Sovereign Lord of all. Through the Teachings of this Day Star of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and such might as oniy the Eternal can reveal. Can one of sane mind ever seriously imagine that, in view of certain words the meaning of which he cannot comprehend, the portal of God's infinite guidance can ever be closed in the face of men? Can he ever conceive for these Divine Luminaries, these resplendent Lights either a beginning or an end? What outpouring flood can compare with the stream of His all-embracing grace, and what blessing can excel the evidences of so great and pervasive a mercy? There can be no doubt whatever that if for one moment the tide of His mercy and grace were to be withheld from the world, it would completely perish; For this reason, from the beginning that hath no beginning the portals of Divine mercy have been flung open to the face of all created things, and the clouds of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality their favors and bounties. Such hath been God's method continued from everlasting to ever lasting. (p. 64) The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence. To this most excellent aim, this supreme objective, all the heavenly Books and the divinely-revealed and weighty Scriptures unequivocally bear witness. Whoso hath recognized the Day Spring of Divine [p80] 80 THE BAHA'I WORLD Raising the bell of the lantern of the dome of the Bib's Shrine. guidance and entered His holy court hath drawn nigh unto God and attained His Presence, a Presence which is the real Paradise, and of which the loftiest mansions of heaven are but a symbol. Such a man hath attained the knowledge of the station of Him Who is "at the distance of two bows," Who standeth beyond the Sadratu'1-Muntahi Whoso hath failed to recognize Him will have condemned himself to the misery of remoteness, a remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness and the essence of the nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though to outward seeming he may occupy the earth's loftiest seats and be established upon its most exalted throne. He Who is the Day Spring of Truth is, no doubt, fully capable of rescuing from such remoteness wayward souls and of causing them to draw nigh unto His court and attain His Presence. "If God had pleased He had surely made all men one people." His purpose, however, is to enable the pure in spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by virtue of their own innate powers, unto the shores of the Most Great Ocean, that thereby they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse. Thus hath it been ordained by the all-glorious and resplendent Pen. That the Manifestations of Divine justice, the Day Springs of heavenly grace, have when they appeared amongst men always been destitute of all earthly dominion and shorn of the means of worldly ascendancy, should be attributed to this same principle of separation and distinction which am-mateth the Divine Purpose. Were the Eternal Essence to manifest all that is latent within Him, were He to shine in the plenitude of His glory, none would be found to question His power or repudiate His truth. Nay, all created things would be so dazzled and thunderstruck by the evidences of His light as to be reduced to utter nothingness. How, then, can the godly be differentiated under such circumstances from the froward? This principle hath operated in each of the previous Dispensations and been abundantly demonstrated. It is for this reason that, in every age, when a new Manifestation hath appeared and a fresh revelation of God's transcendent power was vouchsafed unto men, they that misbelieved in Him, deluded by the appearance of the peerless and everlasting Beauty in the garb of mortal men, have failed to recognize Him. [p81] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS 81 The crown of the dome. They have erred from His path and eschewed His company Ñ the company of Him Who is the Symbol of nearness to God. They have even arisen to decimate the ranks of the faithful and to exterminate such as believed in Him. Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! Such is God's transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things. Consider at all times the sovereignty exercised by the Ideal King, and behold the evidences of His power and paramount influence. Sanctify your ears from the idle talk of them that are the symbols of denial and the exponents of violence and anger. The hour is approaching when ye will witness the power of the one true God triumphing ing over all created things and the signs of His sovereignty encompassing all creation. On that day ye will discover frw all else besides Him will have been forgotten and come to be regarded as utter nothingness. It should, however, be borne in mind that God and His Manifestation can, under no circumstances, be dissociated from the loftiness and sublimity which They inherently possess. Nay, loftiness and sublimity are themselves the creations of His Word, if ye choose to see with My sight not with yours. (p. 70) God's purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which they can be established. The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to foster the wellbeing of the world and its peoples, that, through the spirit of oneness, they may heal [p82] 82 THE BAHA'! WORLD the sickness of a divided humanity. To none is given the right to question their words or disparage their conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained. Little wonder, then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day should not be found to be identical with that which he prescribed before. How could it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer necessitate at every stage of his sickness a special remedy? In like manner, every time the Prophets of God have illumined the world with the resplendent radiance of the Day Star of Divine knowledge, they have invariably summoned its peoples to embrace the light of God through such means as best befitted the exigencies of the age in which they appeared. They were thus able to scatter the darkness of ignorance, and to shed upon the world the glory of their own knowledge. It is towards the inmost essence of these Prophets, therefore, that the eye of every man of discernment must be directed, inasmuch as their one and only purpose hath always been to guide the erring, and give peace to the afflicted. These are not days of prosperity and triumph. The whole of mankind is in the grip of manifold ills. Strive, therefore, to save its life through the wholesome medicine which the almighty hand of the unerring Physician hath prepared. And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion. Know thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world unto the human temple. As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath fulfilled its purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of the age in which it hath appeared. As to thy question regarding the sayings of the leaders of past religions. Every wise and praiseworthy man will no doubt eschew such vain and profitless talk. The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest of His creatures. Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore, depend upon man's own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress. We fain would hope that the vernal showers of the bounty of God may cause the flowers of true understanding to spring from the soil of men's hearts, and may wash them from all earthly defliements. (p. 77) THE PURPOSE OF RELIGION The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world's religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requires. It is incumbent upon them who are in authority to exercise moderation in all things. Whatsoever passeth beyond the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial influence. Consider for instance such things as liberty, civilization and the like. However much men of understanding may favorably regard them, they will, if carried to excess, exercise a pernicious influence upon men. Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the result of the high endeavors exerted by their rulers and the wise and learned amongst men, to recognize their best interests. How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society? The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order ap [p83] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS peareth to be lamentably defective. I beseech God, exalted be His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of the earth, may grant that the end of their conduct may be profitable unto them, and aid them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station. (p. 215) 0 contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of the world's great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne. This wronged One hath, ever since the early days of His life, cherished none other desire but this, and will continue to entertain no wish except this wish. There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and revealed unto you. To this beareth witness the Tongue of Grandeur from His habitation of glory. (p. 217) [p84] The completed lantern on the dome of the Shrine of the Bib. [p85] 2. WORDS OF THE Bab Compiled by BEATRICE ASH'rON S HOGHI EFFENDI, the Guardian of the Baha Faith, has mentioned in God Passes By, his history of the first hundred years of the Faith, certain Writings of the Bab, in particular, which came to be well known and had a profound effect on the scholars and officials of Persia, not oniy during the six years of the Bib's ministry (18441850) but in succeeding years as well. In order that "the people of the West" may become better acquainted with some of these Writings of the 13Th, excerpts from them are presented here, chronologically, as they have been identified and made available in translations by Shoghi Effendi, together with historical information concerning them given by the Guardian in his books and by Nab'il in his narrative, The Dawn-Breakers. Concerning the Writings of the Bab Shoghi Effendi states: "Alike in the magnitude of the writings emanating from His pen, and in the diversity of the subjects treated in those writings, His Revelation stands wholly unparalleled in the annals of any previous religion. He Himself affirms, while confined in M6.h-Kii, that up to that time His writings, embracing highly diversified subjects, had amounted to more than five hundred thousand verses. 'The verses which have rained from this Cloud of Divine mercy,' is Baha'u'llah's testimony in the Kitdb-i-Iqdn, 'have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number. A score of volumes are now available. How many still remain beyond our reach! How many have been plundered and have fallen into the hands of the enemy, the fate of which none knoweth!' No less arresting is the variety of themes presented by these voluminous writings, such as prayers, homilies, orations, Tablets of visitation, scientific treatises, doctrinal dissertations, exhortations, commentaries on the Qur'an and on various traditions, epistles to the highest religious and ecclesiastical dignitaries of the realm, and laws and ordinances for the consolidation of His Faith and the direction of its activities."' 1 God Passes By, pp. 2223. THE QA YYCJMU'L-ASMA? The Qayyz2mu'l-Asmd' (Commentary on the Qur'an Sflrih of Joseph) was revealed in Arabic in Shir4z. The first chapter was revealed "in its entirety" in the presence of Mullt Ijusayn on "that memorable night" when the BTh declared His Mission, May 23, 1844. It was characterized by Baha'u'llah in His Kitdb-i-tqdn as "the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books" in the Bab Dispensation.2 Its "fundamental purpose was to forecast what the true Joseph (Baha'u'llah) would, in a succeeding Dispensation, endure at the hands of one who was at once His archenemy and blood brother. This work, comprising above nine thousand three hundred verses, and divided into one hundred and eleven chapters, each chapter a commentary on one verse of the abovementioned shrih, opens with the BTh's clarion-call and dire 2Ibid, p. 23. warnings addressed to the 'concourse of kings and of the sons of kings;' forecasts the doom of Muhammad SMh; commands his Grand Vizir, IJ6j'i Mirza AqAsi, to abdicate his authority; admonishes the entire Muslim ecclesiastical order; cautions more specifically the members of the Shi'ah community; extols the virtues, and anticipates the coming, of Baha'u'llah, the 'Remnant of God,' the 'Most Great Master;' and proclaims, in unequivocal language, the independence and universality of the BAN Revelation, unveils its import, and affirms the inevitable triumph of its Author. It, moreover, directs the 'people of the West' to 'issue forth from your cities and aid the Cause of God;' warns the peoples of the earth of the 'terrible, the most grievous vengeance of God;' threatens the whole Islamic world with 'the Most Great Fire' were they to turn aside from the newly-revealed Law; foreshadows the Author's martyrdom; eulogizes the high station 85 [p86] 86 THE BAHA'I WORLD ordained for the people of Bah~, the 'Companions of the crimson-colored ruby Ark;' prophesies the fading out and utter obliteration of some of the greatest luminaries in the firmament of the BThi Dispensation; and even predicts 'afflictive torment,' in both the 'Day of Our Return' and in 'the world which is to come,' for the usurpers of the Imamate, who 'waged war against Nusayn (Im~m Ijusayn) in the Land of the Euphrates.' "It was this Book which the B~bfs universally regarded, during almost the entire ministry of the BTh, as the Qur'an of the people of the Bay~n; whose first and most challenging chapter was revealed in the presence of MuIIA Ijusayn, on the night of its Author's Declaration; some of whose pages were borne, by that same disciple, to Baha'u'llah, as the first fruits of a Revelation which instantly won His enthusiastic allegiance; whose entire text was translated into Persian by the brilliant and gifted T~hirih; whose passages inflamed the hostility of I:Iusayn Kj~n [the governor of the province of Firs] and precipitated the initial outbreak of persecution in Sttfr~z; a single page of which had captured the imagination and entranced the soul of Ijujjat; and whose contents had set afire the intrepid defenders of the Fort of S!iaykiui Tabarsi and the heroes of Nayriz and Zanj6m"3 In this book, moreover, the B~b refers to His wife and to His little son.4 "'I am the Mystic Fane,' the B~b thus proclaims His station in the Qayyt~mu'l-Asmd', 'which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendor. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush.' "'0 Qurratu'l-'Ayn!' He, addressing Himself in that same commentary, exclaims, 'I recognize in Thee none other except the "Great Announcement" Ñ the Announce-mnent voiced by the Concourse on high. By this name, I bear witness, they that circle the Throne of Glory have ever known Thee.' "'With each and every Prophet, Whom We have sent down in the past,' He further adds, 'We have established a separate Covenant concerning the "Remembrance of God" and His Day. Manifest, in the realm 8Thid., pp. 2324. 4Dawn-Breakers, p. 76, notes 3 and 4; p. 81, note 2. ci glory and through the power of truth, are the "Remembrance of God" and His Day before the eyes of the angels that circle His mercy-seat.' 'Should it be Our wish,' He again affirms, 'it is in Our power to compel, through the agency of but one letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our Cause.' In this commentary on the SCirili of Joseph "we read the following references to Baha'u'llah: 'Out of utter nothingness, 0 great and omnipotent Master, Thou hast, through the celestial potency of Thy might, brought me forth and raised me up to proclaim this Revelation. I have made none other but Thee my trust; I have clung to no will but Thy will 0 Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love. Sufficient witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days.' 'And when the appointed hour hath struck,' He again addresses Baha'u'llah in that same commentary, 'do Thou, by the leave of God, the All-Wise, reveal from the heights of the Most Lofty and Mystic Mount a faint, an infinitesimal glimmer of Thy impenetrable Mystery, that they who have recognized the radiance of the Sinaic Splendor may faint away and die as they catch a lightening glimpse of the fierce and crimon Light that envelops Thy Revelation.' "6 "'As to those who deny Him Who is the Sublime Gate of God,' the Bib, for His part, has affirmed in the Qayyamu'l-Asmd', 'for them We have prepared, as justly decreed by God, a sore torment. And He, God, is the Mighty, the Wise.' And further, '0 peoples of the earth! I swear by your Lord! Ye shall act as former generations have acted. Warn ye, then, yourselves of the terrible, the most grievous vengeance of God. For God is, verily, potent over all things.' And again: 'By My glory! 1 will make the infidels to taste, with the hands of My power, retributions unknown of any one except Me, and will waft over the faithful those musk-scented breaths which I have nursed in the midmost heart of My throne.' "~ ~ World Order of Baha'u'llah, by Shoghi Effendi, p. 126. 6Th1d., p. 101. 7 The Promised Day Is Come, by Shoghi Effendi, p. 2. [p87] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 87 The B~b was imprisoned while in Tabriz 1848 in this now crumbling prison room of the old brick Ark. The BTh's remains lie in state in His Iloiy Sepulcher on Mt. Carmel, 1953. [p88] 88 THE BAHA'! WORLD In this same commentary the Bab "has issued this stirring call to the kings and princes of the earth: "'0 concourse of kings and of the sons of kings! Lay aside, one and all, your dominion which belongeth unto God Vain indeed is your dominion, for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him 0 concourse of kings! Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by Us to the peoples of Turkey and of India, and beyond them, with power and with truth, to lands in both the East and the West By God! If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs, We, in very truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly dominion.' "And again: 'Fear ye God, 0 concourse of kings, lest ye remain afar from Him Who is His Remembrance (the Bab), after the Truth hath come unto you with a Book and signs from God, as A'poken through the wondrous tongue of Him Who is His Remembrance. Seek ye grace from God, for God hath ordained for you, after ye have believed in Him, a Garden the vastness of which is as the vastness of the whole of Paradise.' "~ Addressing Mu1~ammad Shah: "0 King of Isldm! Aid thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book, Him Who is Our Most Great Remembrance, for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment, a responsible position in His Path. I swear by God, 0 Shdh! If thou showest enmity unto Him Who is His Remembrance, God will, on the Day of Resurrection, condemn thee, before the kings, unto hellfire, and thou shalt not, in very truth, find on that Day any helper except God, the Exalted. Purge thou, 0 Shdh, the Sacred Land (Tihr~n) from such as have repudiated the Book, ere the day whereon the Remembrance of God cometh, terribly and of a sudden, with His potent Cause, by the leave of God, the Most High. God, verily, hath prescribed to thee to submit unto Him Who is His Remembrance, and unto His Cause, and to subdue, with the truth and by His leave, the countries, for in this world thou hast been mercifully invested with sovereignty, and will, in the next, dwell, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness, with the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure. Let not thy sovereignty deceive thee, 0 Shdh, for 'every soul shall taste of death,' and this, in very truth, hath been written down as a decree of God."9 To the shi'ih clericals "who, as Baha'u'llah declared, had they not intervened, Persia would have been subdued by the power of God in hardly more than two years" the BTh addressed the following words: "0 concourse of divines! Fear God from this day onwards in the views ye advance, for He Who is Our Remembrance in your midst, and Who cometh from Us, is, in very truth, the Judge and Witness. Turn away from that which ye lay hold of, and which the Book of God, the True One, bath not sanctioned, for on the Day of Resurrection ye shall, upon the Bridge, be, in very truth, held answerable for the position ye occupied."10 "0 concourse of sizi'ihs! Fear ye God, and Our Cause, which concerneth Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance of God. For great is its fire, as decreed in the Mother-Book." "0 people of the Qur'an! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit unto the Remembrance of God and unto this Book. If ye follow the Cause of God, We will forgive you your sins, and if ye turn aside from Our command, We will, in truth, condemn your souls in Our Book, unto the Most Great Fire. We, verily, do not deal unjustly with men, even to the extent of a speck on a date-stone."'0 "And finally, in that same Commentary, this startling prophecy is recorded: 'tire-long We will, in very truth, torment such as waged war against Iclusayn (Im~~m I.{usayn), in the Land of the Euphrates, with the most afflictive torment, and the most dire and exemplary punishment.' 'Erelong,' He also, referring to that same people, in that same Book, has written, 'will God wreak His vengeance upon them, at the time of Our Return, and He hath, in very truth, prepared for them, in the world to come, a severe torment.' "" 9 Ibid., p. 43. lOThid., p. 88. 11 Ibid., p. 89. 8Thid., p. 27. [p89] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 89 THE SAHIF1Y-I B A YNU'L-HARAMA YN The "Epistle between the Two Shrines" was "revealed between Mecca and Medina, in answer to questions posed by Mirza Muljit-i-Kirmini," a Sinykj4 leader, who had presented many questions to the B~b while in Mecca. This Epistle was revealed in January, 1845.12 Shoghi Effendi states that the visit of the B~±b to Ijij& "was marked by two episodes of particular importance. The first was the declaration of His mission and His open challenge to the haughty Mirza. Muljit-i-12 God Passes By, p. 24; Dawn-Breakers, pp. 136 Ñ 137, 140. Kirm~ni, one of the most outstanding exponents of the S±aykhf school who at times went so far as to assert his independence of the leadership of that school assumed after the death of Siyyid K~zim by WJ{ Mu1~am-mad Karim KhAn a redoubtable enemy of the E~N Faith. The second was the invitation, in the form of an Epistle, conveyed by Quddtis, to the Sherif of Mecca, in which the custodian of the House of God was called upon to embrace the truth of the new Revelation."'3 13 God Passes By, p. 9. EPISTLE TO THE SHERIF OF MECCA "No sooner had the B~b performed the last of the observances in connection with His pilgrimage to Mecca than He addressed an epistle to the Sherif of that holy city, wherein He set forth, in clear and unmistakable terms, the distinguishing features of His mission, and called upon him to arise and embrace His Cause. This epistle, together with selections from His other writings, He delivered to Quddi§is, and instructed him to present them to the Sherif. The latter, however, too absorbed in his own material pursuits to incline his ear to the words which had been addressed to him by the flAb, failed to respond to the call of the Divine Message."'4 "Seven years later, when in the course of a conversation with a certain 156.jI Niy~z-i-BaghdAdi, this same Sherif was informed of thJcircumstances attending the mission and martyrdom of the Prophet of $j4r~z, he listened attentively to the description of those events and expressed his indignation at the tragic fate that had overtaken Him."'5 '4Dawn-Rreakers, p. 138. 16 God Passes By, p. 9. KITAB U'R-R 61 This work of the Bab, "comprising seven hundred siirihs,"'6 was also revealed in the 16 God Passes By, p. 24. period before His banishment to the fortress prison of MAli-Kit KHASA7L-I-SAB 'IH The Khasd'iI-i-Sab'ih (meaning literally "The Seven Qualifications") "enjoined the alteration of the formula of the adh6n" (the Muslim call to prayer). This was a treatise in which the BTh had "set forth the essential requirements for those who had attained to the knowledge of the new Revelation and had recognized its claim." A copy was entrusted by the Bab to Quddfis when he departed from Biishihr to Shir~z. Qudd6s, soon after arriving in Shir~z gave it to MullA %diq-i-K ur~s~ni, and "stressed the necessity of putting into effect immediately all its provisions." Mulli SAdiq, "among the first believers who identified themselves with the Message proclaimed by the Bab," "im-pelled by the injunction of the Bab in the Khasd'il-i-Sab'ih to alter the sacrosanct formula of the adh6n, sounded it in its amended form before a scandalized congregation in Shfr4z, and was instantly arrested, reviled, stripped of his garments, and scourged with a thousand lashes."17 17 Ibid., pp. 24, 1011; Dawn-Breakers, pp. 143-1M. [p90] 90 THE BAHA'! WORLD RISA?LIY-I FUR LY'-I-'ADLIYYIH Written originally in Arabic, this work of the flAb was "rendered into Persian by MullA Muljarnmad-Taqiy-i-Har4ti" while the Bab was staying at the residence of the ImAm-Jumih in IsfAh~n38 18 God Passes By, p. 24; Dawn-Breakers, p. 208. COMMENTARY ON THE SURIH OF KAWTHAR The Commentary on the Sarih of Kaw-thar (Qur'an, 108) was revealed by the Bab during the third interview held with Him by Siyyid Ya1)y~y-i-DAr4bi, surnamed Valtid, sent by Muhammad $Mh "to investigate and report to him the true situation" concerning the Bab's claims. ValAd was "one of the most erudite, eloquent and influential" of the subjects of the SlAb. "Broad-minded, highly imaginative, zealous by nature, intimately associated with the court, he, in the course of three interviews, was completely won over by the arguments and personality of the BTh. During the third interview the circumstances attending the revelation of the B&b's commentary on the siirih of Kawthar, comprising no less than two thousand verses, so overpowered the delegate of the SliTh that he, contenting himself with a mere written report to the Court Chamberlain, arose forthwith to dedicate his entire life and resources to the service of a Faith that was to requite him with the crown of martyrdom during the Nayriz upheaval." The one in whose soul this commentary of the Bab's "effected such a transformation" was designated by Baha'u'llah in His Kitdb-i-f qdn "that unique and peerless figure of his age." He was "a man of immense erudition and the most preeminent figure to enlist under the banner of the new Faith." To his "talents and saintliness" and "high attainments in the realm of science and philosophy" the Bab testified in His Dald'il-i-Sab'ih ("Seven Proofs") 19 19 God Passes By, pp. 1112, 24, 50. COMMENTARY ON THE SURIH OF VA'L-'ASR The Commentary on the Sfirih of Va'1-'Mr (Qur'an, 103) was revealed by the Bab during the first forty days of His sojourn in 1sf Thin when he was "the guest of Mirza Siyyid Muhammad, the Su1tanu'I-U1am~, the ImAm-Jum'ih, one of the principal ecclesiastical dignitaries of the realm, in accordance with the instructions of the governor of the city, Maniichihr KlAn, the Mu'tamidu'd-Dawlih, who had received from the Bab a letter requesting him to appoint the place where He should dwell." This wellknown commentary was revealed "one night, after supper" at the re quest of the Imam-Jum'ih. The BTh, "writ-ing with astonishing rapidity in a few hours, had devoted to the exposition of the significance of oniy the first letter of that sirih Ñ a letter which Sbaykji Aljmad-i-Aljs4'i had Stressed, and which Baha'u'llah refers to in the Kitab-i-Aqdas Ñ verses that equalled in number a third of the Qur'an, a feat that called forth such an outburst of reverent astonishment from those who witnessed it that they arose and kissed the hem of His robe."20 20 IbId., pp. 14, 24; Dawn-Breakers, p. 201. DISSERTATION ON THE SPECIFIC MISSION OF MUHAMMAD Written at the request and demonstrate the truth of Maniichihr Kh6n, the of Mutiammad's specific governor of 1sf Ah&n, mission. To this request, "a Georgian by origin which those present had and a Christian by birth,"felt compelled to decline, the the Dissertation on Bab readily responded. the Specific Mission In less than two hours, of Muliam-mad was revealedand in the space of fifty also in the house of pages, He had not only the TmAm-Jum'ih. "Before revealed a minute, a a brilliant assembly of vigorous and original the most accomplished dissertation on this divines" the Mu'tamid noble theme, but had also "requested the Bab to linked it with both the expound [p91] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS 91 coming of the Qtt'im and the return of the Imam Ijusayn Ñ an exposition that prompted Man6chihr KhAn to declare before that gathering his faith in the Prophet of Iskim, as well as his recognition of the supernatural gifts with which the Author of so convincing a treatise was endowed."2' As Shoghi Effendi points out, "The great bulk of the writings emanating from the Bab's prolific mind was, however, reserved for the period of His confinement in M~h-K6 and Chihriq. To this period must probably belong the unnumbered Epistles which, as attested by no less an authority than Baha'u'llah, the B~b specifically ad21 21 God Passes By, pp. 1415; Dawn-Breakers, pp. 202204. dressed to the divines of every city in Persia, as well as to those residing in Najaf and Karbi1~, wherein He set forth in detail the errors committed by each one of them. It was during His incarceration in the fortress of Mgh-K6 that He, according to the testimony of Sjiaykb Wasan-i-Zurnizi, who transcribed during those nine months the verses dictated by the B~~h to His amanuensis, revealed no less than nine commentaries on the whole of the Qur'an Ñ commentaries whose fate, alas, is unknown, and one of which, at least the Author Himself has affirmed, surpassed in some respects a book as deservedly famous as the Qayyhmu'1-Asm~' "22 22 God Passes By, p. 24. THE PERSIAN BA YAW "Within the walls of that same fortress IIMtth-K6] the Bayan (exposition) Ñ that monumental repository of the laws and precepts of the new Dispensation and the treasury enshriniug most of the Bab's references and tributes to, as well as His warning regarding, 'Him Whom God will make maui-lest Ñ was revealed. "Peerless among the doctrinal works of the Founder of the Bab Dispensation; consisting of nine V~ids (Unities) of nineteen chapters each, except the last VM~id, comprising only tea chapters; not to be confounded with the smaller and less weighty Arabic BayAn, revealed during the same period; fulfilling the Mubammadan prophecy that 'a Youth from Bani-JThshim will reveal a new Book and promulgate a new Law;' wholly safeguarded from the interpolation and corruption which has been the fate of so many of the Bab's lesser works, this Book, of about eight thousand verses, occupying a pivotal position in Bab literature, should be regarded primarily as a eulogy of the Promised One rather than a code of laws and ordinances designed to be a permanent guide to future generations. This Book at once abrogated the laws and ceremonials enjoined by the Qur'an regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce and inheritance, and upheld, in its integrity, the belief in the prophetic mission of Muijam-mad, even as the Prophet of Jsltm before Him had annulled the ordinances of the Gospel and yet recognized the Divine origin of the Faith of Jesus Christ. It moreover interpreted in a masterly fashion the meaning of certain terms frequently occurring in the sacred Books of previous Dispensations, such as Paradise, Hell, Death, Resurrection, the Return, the Balance, the Hour, the Last Judgment, and the like. Designedly severe in the rules and regulations it imposed, revolutionizing in the principles it instilled, calculated to awaken from their agelong torpor the clergy and the people, and to administer a sudden and fatal blow to obsolete and car-rapt institutions, it proclaimed, through its drastic provisions, the advent of the anticipated Day, the Day when 'the Summoner shall summon to a stern business,' when He will 'demolish whatever hat/i been before Him, even as the Apostle of God demolished the ways of those that preceded Him.' Unlike the Prophets gone before Him, Whose Covenants were shrouded in mystery, unlike Baha'u'llah, Whose clearly defined Covenant was incorporated in a specially written Testament, and designated by Him as 'the Book of My Covenant,' the Bab chose to intersperse His Book of Laws, the Persian Bayiin, with unnumbered passages, some designedly obscure, mostly indubitably clear and conclusive, in which He fixes the date of the promised Revelation, extols its virtues, asserts its preeminent character, assigns to it unlimited powers and prerogatives, and tears down every barrier that might be an obstacle to its recognition. 'He, verily,' Baha'u'llah, referring to the B~±b in His Kitdb-i-Badi', has stated, 'hath [p92] 92 THE BAHA'I WORLD not fallen short of His duty to exhort the people of the Baydn and to deliver unto them His Message. In no age or dispensation hath any Manifestation made mention, in such detail and in such explicit language, of the Manifestation destined to succeed Him.~"2~ in the third V~hid of this Book there occurs a passage which, alike in its explicit reference to the name of the Promised One, and in its anticipation of the Order which, in a later age, was to be identified with His Revelation, deserves to rank as one of the most significant statements recorded in any of the Bab's writings. 'Well is it with him,' is His prophetic announcement, 'who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Baha'u'llah, and rendereth thanks unto his Lord. For He will assuredly be made manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Baydn.'"24 "The germ that holds within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of all those who follow me." "Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My written confession, that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My Book, the Baydn, do justice to His Cause."25 "The Baydn and whosoever is therein revolve round the saying of 'Him Whom God shall make manifest,' even as the Alif (the Gospel) and whosoever was therein revolved round the saying of Muhammad, the Apostle of God." "A thousand perusals of the Baydn cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by 'Him Whom God shall make manifest.'. Today the Baydn is in the stage of seed; at the beginning of the manifestation of 'Him Whom God shall make manifest' its ultimate perfection will become apparent The Baydn and such as are believers therein yearn more ardently after Him than the yearning of any lover after his beloved The Baydn deriveth all its glory from 'Him Whom God shall make manifest.' All blessing be upon him who believeth in Him and woe betide him that rejecteth His truth."26 '7t ix clear and evident that the object of 23 Ibid., pp. 2425, 28. 24 Ibid., p. 25. 25 World Order of Baha'u'llah, by Shoghi Effendi, p. 100. 26 Ibid., pp. 100-lOt. all preceding Dispensations hath been to pave the way for the advent of Muhammad, the Apostle of God. These, including the Mui!iammadan Dispensation, have had, in their turn, as their objective the Revelation proclaimed by the Qd'im. The purpose underlying this Revelation, as well as those that preceded it, has, in like manner, been to announce the advent of the Faith of Him Whom God will make manifest. And this Faith Ñ the Faith of Him Whom God will make manifest Ñ in its turn, together with all the Revelations gone before it, have as their object the Manifestation destined to succeed it. And the latter, no less than all the Revelations preceding it, prepare the way for the Revelation which is yet to follow. The process of the rise and setting of the Sun of Truth will thus indefinitely continue Ñ a process that hath had no beginning and will have no "'The Baydn,' the B~b in that book, referring to the Promised One, affirms, 'is, from beginning to end, the repository of all of His attributes, and the treasury of both His fire and His light.' 'If thou attainest unto His Revelation,' He, in another connection declares, 'and obeyest Him, thou wilt have revealed the fruit of the Baydn; if not, thou art unworthy of mention before God.' "'0 people of the Baydnl' He, in that same Book, thus warns the entire company of His followers, 'act not as the people of the Qur'an have acted, for if ye do so, the fruits of your night will come to naught.' 'Suffer not the Baydn,' is His emphatic injunction, 'and all that hath been revealed therein to withhold you from that Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and invisible.' "28 "And finally is this, His moving invocation to God: 'Bear Thou witness that, through this Book, I have covenanted with all created things concerning the mission of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, ere the covenant concerning My own mission had been established. Sufficient witness art Thou and they that have believed in Thy signs.' "29 "'How veiled are ye, 0 My creatures,' He, speaking with the voice of God, has revealed in the Bay~n, '. who, without any right, have consigned Him unto a moun-tam (M~tkti), not one of whose inhabitants 27 Ibid., p. 117. 2S God Passes By, p. 29. 29 Ibid., p. 30. [p93] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 93 is worthy of mention. With Him, which is with Me, there is no one except him who is one of the Letters of the Living of My Book. in His presence, which is My Presence, there is not at night even a lighted lamp! And yet, in places (of worship) which in varying degrees reach out unto Him, un numbered lamps are shining! All that is on earth hath been created for Him, and all partake with delight of His benefits, and yet they are so veiled from Him as to refuse Him even a lamp!' "30 30 The Pro,nised Day Is Come, p. 7. THE ARABIC BAY4N The "smaller and less weighty Arabic Bay~n" was also revealed during the BTh's confinement in MTh-Kti.81 31 God Passes By, p. 25. TABLETS TO MUHAMMAD SHXH The first Tablet of the BTh to Muhammad Shah was written following the Commentary on the Siirih of Joseph, and the second Tablet some two years later, after the Bib's Dissertation on the Specific Mission of Muliammad, revealed in I~f~hAn. In the second Tablet to Muhammad ShTh the BTh wrote "craving an audience in which to set forth the truths of the new Revelation, and dissipate his doubts."32 "The Bab was still in MTh-Ki2i when He wrote the most detailed and illuminating of His Tablets to Muhammad Shin. Prefaced by a laudatory reference to the unity of God, to His Apostles and to the twelve Im~ims; unequivocal in its assertion of the divinity of its Author and of the supernatural powers with which His Revelation had been invested; precise in the verses and traditions it cites in confirmation of so audacious a claim; severe in its condemnation of some of the officials and representatives of the SMh's administration, partidil-larly of the 'wicked and accursed' Husayn Kh~n moving in its description of the humiliation and hardships to which its writer had been subjected, this historic document resembles, in many of its features, the Lawh-i-Sultdn, the Tablet addressed, under similar circumstances, from the prison fortress of 'Akka by Baha'u'llah to N~siri'd-Din SliTh, and constituting His lengthiest epistle to any single sovereign.~~aa The BTh was confined in the fortress of MTh-K6 for nine months, about July, 1847, to April, 1848.~~ From this mountain fortress He thus addressed Muhammad ShTh: "I am the Primal Point from which have S2Ibid., p. 24. 83 Ibid., p. 26. ~4 Ibid., pp. 17.19. been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right hand, and all the keys of hell on My left I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me, hath known all that is true and right, and hath attained all that is good and seemly The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conterred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faith-Jul discover "By My life! But for the obligation to acknowledge the Cause of Him Who is the Testimony of God I would not have announced this unto thee In that same year (year 60) 1 despatched a messenger and a book unto thee, that thou migh test act towards the Cause of Him Who is the Testi-many of God as befitteth the station of thy sovereignty "I swear by the truth of God! Were he who hath been willing to treat Me in such a manner to know who it is whom he bath so treated, he, verily, would never in his life be happy. Nay Ñ I, verily, acquaint thee with the truth of the matter Ñ it is as if he hath imprisoned all the Prophets, and all the men of truth, and all the chosen ones Woe betide him from whose hands fioweth evil, and blessed the man from whose hands floweth good "I swear by God! I seek no earthly goods from thee, be it as much as a mustard seed I swear by the truth of God! Wert thou to know that which I know, thou wouldst forego the sovereignty of the world and ol [p94] View of the Shrine of the BTh, in the heart of Carmel. (The unbuilt areas surrounding the Shrine, extending to the top of the Mountain, are Baha'i properties.) [p95] ~b,Th S 4k~d/&~a~S/, LAMB o,~ TII'E BA#MI COMMUNITY. +1 A IFA ~,4PkfL, 21 t95. LEGFJYD I S41.~/~F OF BAA 2 TE~IMC~$ 3 STrnG2LACEOFRAIIfl'Yh'1 7~UA/WM 4 PJST/AG~DLACESOFT#IE po~FsrA7~,4gcl9 ,411.D T1Y~ MOT11A~ OF ABDUL A,4HA 5. hYTE~fh4 TIO!Y,4L. ~4/~Cl4/k'FS BOIL DittO 6 ~ILG~IM HOUSES 7 ARC Baha'i properties on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel. [p96] 96 THE BAHA'I WORLD the next, that thou mightest attain My good-pleasure, through thine obedience unto the True One Wert thou to refuse, the Lord of the world would raise up one who will exalt His Cause, and the Command of God will, verily, be carried into effect."35 "I swear by God! Shouldst thou know the things which in the space of these four years have befallen Me at the hands of thy people and thine army, thou wouldst hold thy breath from fear of God Alas, alas, for the things which have touched Me! I 35 The Promised Day Is Come, pp. 4344. swear by the Most Great Lord! Wert thou to be told in what place I dwell, the first person to have mercy on Me would be thyself. In the heart of a mountain is a fortress (MTh-Kii) the inmates of which are confined to two guards and four dogs. Picture, then, My plight In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered, nor any transgressor endured what I have endured!"3~ 36 Ibid., pp. 67. DALA'IL-I-SAB'IH (SEVEN PROOFS)~ "The most important of the polemical works of the BTh," the Dald'il-i-Sab'ih was also revealed during the Bib's confinement in MTh-Kii. "Remarkably lucid, admirable in its precision, original in conception, unanswerable in its argument, this work, apart from the many and divers proofs of His mission which it adduces, is noteworthy for the blame it assigns to the 'seven powerful sovereigns ruling the world' in His day, as well as for the manner in which it stresses the responsibilities, and censures the conduct, of the Christian divines of a former age who, had they recognized the truth of Muhammad's mission, He contends, would have been followed by the mass of their coreligionists "~8 "'Gracious God!' writes the B~~b with reference to the 'seven powerful sovereigns ruling the world' in His day, 'None of them hath been informed of His (the BTh's) Manifestation, and if informed, none hath believed in Him. Who knoweth they may leave this world below full of desire, and without having realized that the thing for which they were waiting had come to pass. 37 For the translation into the French, by A. L. M. Nicolas, of excerpts from this Tablet, see The Baha'i World, Vol. VIII, p. 205. 38 God Passes By, p. 26. This is what happened to the monarchs that held fast unto the Gospel. They awaited the coming of the Prophet of God (Muliam-mad), and when He did appear, they failed to recognize Him. Behold how great are the sums which these sovereigns expend without even the slightest thought of appointing an official charged with the task of acquainting them in their own realms with the Manifestation of God! They would thereby have fulfilled the purpose for which they have been created. All their desires have been and are still fixed upon leaving behind them traces of their names.' 'The BTh, moreover, in that same treatise, censuring the failure of the Christian divines to acknowledge the truth of Muliam-mad's mission, makes this illuminating statement: 'The blame falleth upon their doctors, for if these had believed, they would have been followed by the mass of their countrymen. Behold, then, that which hath come to pass! The learned men of Christendom are held to be learned by virtue of their safeguarding the teaching of Christ, and yet consider how they themselves have been the cause of men's failure to accept the Faith and attain unto salvation!' "~ 39 The Promised Day Is Came, p. 17. LAWH-I-HURU'FI4T (TABLET OF THE LETTERS) "During the BTh's confinement in the as an exposition of the science of divination, fortress of Chihrfq, where He spent almost was later recognized to have unraveled, on the whole of the two remaining years of His the one hand, the mystery of the Mustagh~th and to have abstrusely alluded, on the other, life, the Lawh-i-~-Iuru'jdt (Tablet of the Let-to the nineteen years which must needs ters) was revealed, in honor of Dayy~n Ñ a elapse between the Declaration of the Bab Tablet which, however misconstrued at first and that of Baha'u'llah [p97] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS 97 "To this period of incarceration in the fortresses of M4h-Kfl and Chihriq Ñ a period of unsurpassed fecundity, yet bitter in its humiliations and ever-deepening sorrows Ñ belong almost all the written references, whether in the form of warnings, appeals or exhortations, which the Bab, in anticipation of the approaching hour of His supreme affliction, felt it necessary to make to the Author of a Revelation that was soon to supersede His own."40 This Tablet was revealed for "a prominent official of high literary ability later surnamed Dayy~n by the Bib,"4' on whom "He conferred the title of 'the third Letter to believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest.' "42 According to Nabil, "The mystery of the MustaghAth [literally, "He Who is invoked"] had long baffled the most searching minds among the people of the Bay4n and had proved an insurmountable obstacle to their recognition of the promised One. The BTh had Himself in that Tablet unraveled that mystery; no one, however, was able to understand the explanation which He had given. It was left to Baha'u'llah to unveil it to the eyes of all men. 40 God Passes By, p. 27. 41 The Dawn-Breakers, p. 303. 42 God Passes fly, p. 28. 43 The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 304305. Baha'u'llah, in His Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, cites a passage from the Tablet of the Bab to Dayy6n, prefacing it with these words: "Day yin, who, according to the words of Him Who is the Point is the repository of the trust of the one true God and the treasury of the pearls of His knowledge, was made by them to stifler so cruel a martyrdom that the Con course on high wept and lamented. He it is whom He (the BTh) had taught the hidden and preserved knowledge and entrusted him therewith, through His words: "'0 thou who art named Dayydn! This is a hidden and preserved Knowledge. We have entrusted it unto thee, and brought it to thee, as a mark of honor froni God, inasmuch as the eye of thine heart is pure. Thou wilt appreciate its value, and wilt cherish its excellence. God, verily, hath deigned to bestow upon the Point of the Baydn a hidden and preserved Knowledge, the like of which God hath not sent down prior to this Revelation. More precious is it than any other knowledge in the estimation of God Ñ glorified be He! lie, verily, hath made it His testimony, even as He hath made the verses to be His testimony.' 44 op. cit., p. 175. DENUNCIATORY TABLET TO HAIl MIRZA zfQ,4S1 "ft was during these years Ñ years darkened throughout by the rigors of the Bab's captivity, by the severe indignities inflicted upon Him, and by the news of the disasters that overtook the heroes of M4zindar6n and Nayriz Ñ that He revealed, soon after His return from Tabriz, His denunciatory Tablet to 1J6.ji Mirza AqAsi. Couched in bold and moving language, unsparing in its condem nation, this epistle was forwarded to the intrepid Wuijat who, as corroborated by Baha'u'llah, delivered it to that wicked minister"45 [Grand Vizir of Muhammad Sh6~h]. This Tablet was given the name of the Kjmtbiy-i-Qahriyyih (literally, "Sermon of \Vrath") 46 45 God Passes By, p. 27. 46 The Dawn-Rreakers, p. 323. KITAB-I PA NI-SHA 'N "In the Kitdb-i-Panj-Sha'n, one of His last works, He had alluded to the fact that the sixth Naw-Rflz after the declaration of His mission would be the last He was destined to celebrate on earth."47 to 'A4m He divulged, in the Kit4b-i-Panj-Sha'n the name, and announced the approaching advent, of Him Who was to con47 47 God Passes By, p. 51. summate His own Revelation 'Wait thou,' is His statement to 'A4m, 'until nine will have elapsed from the time of the Baydn. Then exclaim: "Blessed, there lore, be God, the most excellent of Maker~.~"'"48 48 Ibid., pp. 27, 28. Mu1I~ Sbaykb 'All, surnamed 'A4m (literally, "great") by the Bab, was one of the "outstanding figures among the ecclesiastical leaders of Khur~sttn" (Dawn-Breakers, p. 125). [p98] 3. WORDS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA From SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS* TRADITIONAL PROOFS EXEMPLTFIED FROM THE BooK OF DANIEL HE state in which one should be seriously to search for the truth is the condition of the thirsty burning soul desiring the water of life, of the fish struggling to reach the sea, of the sufferer seeking for the true doctor to obtain the divine cure, of the lost caravan endeavoring to find the right road, of the lost and wandering ship striving to reach the shore of salvation. Also, the seeker must be endowed with certain qualities, First of all he must be just, and severed from all else save God; his heart must be entirely turned to the supreme horizon; he must be free from the bondage of vices and passions, for all these are obstacles; furthermore, he must be able to endure all hardships; he must be absolutely pure and sanctified, and free from the love or the hatred of the inhabitants of the world. Why? because the fact of his love for any person or thing might prevent him from recognizing the truth in another, and in the same way, hatred for anything might be a hindrance in discerning truth. This is the condition of seeking; and the seeker must have these qualities and attributes, Until he reaches this condition, it is not possible for him to attain to the Sun of Reality. Let us now return to our subject. AlI the peoples of the world are awaiting two Manifestations, who must be contemporaneous; all wait for the fulfillment of this promise. In the Bible the Jews have the promise of the Lord of Hosts and the Messiah; in the Gospel the return of Christ and Elijah is promised. In the religion of Muhammad there is the promise of the Mihdi and the Messiah, and it is the same with the Zoroastrian and the other religions, but if we relate these matters in detail it would take too long, The essential fact is that all are promised two Mani * Chapters X, XII through XIV, Some Answered Questions was first published in 1908. festations, who will come, one following on the other, It has been prophesied that in the time of these two Manifestations the earth will be transformed, the world of existence will be renewed, and beings will be clothed in new garments. Justice and charity will encompass the world, enmity and hatred will disappear, all causes of division among peo-pies, races, and nations will vanish, and the cause of union, harmony, and concord will appear. The negligent will awake, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dumb will speak, the sick will be cured, the dead will arise, War will give place to peace, enmity will be conquered by love; the causes of dispute and wrangling will be entirely removed, and true felicity will be attained. The world will become the mirror of the Heavenly Kingdom, humanity will be the Throne of Divinity, All nations will become one, all religions will be unified, alI individual men will become of one family and of one kindred, All the regions of the earth will become one, the superstitions caused by races, countries, individuals, languages, and politics will disappear; and all men will attain to life eternal, under the shadow of the Lord of Hosts. Now we must prove from the Holy Books that these two Manifestations have come, and we must divine the meaning of the words of the Prophets; for we wish for proofs drawn from the Holy Books. To conclude: in the Book of Daniel,1 from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the martyrdom of Christ, seventy weeks are appointed; for by the martyrdom of Christ the sacrifice is accomplished and the altar destroyed. This is a prophecy of the manifestation of Christ, These seventy weeks begin with the restoration and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, concerning which four edicts were issued by three kings. The first was issued by Cyrus in the year 536 B.c.; this is recorded in the first chapter of the Book of Ezra. The second edict, with 1Daniel 9:24. 98 [p99] View of one of the paths in the gardens surrounding the Resting Place of the Greatest Holy Leaf. Haifa, israel. [p100] 100 THE BAHA'! WORLD reference to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, is that of Darius of Persia in the year 519 B.c.; this is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra. The third is that of Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign, that is in 457 B.c.; this is recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. The fourth is that of Artaxerxes in the year 444 B.c.; this is recorded in the second chapter of Nehemiab. But Daniel refers especially to the third edict which was issued in the year 457 B.C. Seventy weeks make four hundred and ninety days. Each day, according to the text of the Holy Book, is a year. For in the Bible it is said: "The day of the Lord is one year."2 Therefore four hundred and ninety days are four hundred and ninety years. The third edict of Artaxerxes was issued four hundred and fifty-seven years before the birth of Christ, and Christ when he was martyred and ascended was thirty-three years of age. When you add thirty-three to four hundred and fifty-seven, the result is four hundred and ninety, which is the time announced by Daniel for the manifestation of Christ. But in the twenty-fifth verse of the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel this is expressed in another manner, as seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and apparently this differs from the first saying. Many have remained perplexed at these differences, trying to reconcile these two statements. How can seventy weeks be right in one place, and sixty-two weeks and seven weeks in another? These two sayings do not accord. But Daniel mentions two dates. One of these dates begins with the command of Artaxerxes to Ezra to rebuild Jerusalem; this is the seventy weeks which came to an end with the ascension of Christ, when by his martyrdom the sacrifice and oblation ceased. The second period, which is found in the twenty-sixth verse, means that after the termination of the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the ascension of Christ, there will be sixty-two weeks; the seven weeks are the duration of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which took forty-nine years: when you add these seven weeks to the sixty-two weeks, it makes sixty-nine weeks, and in the last week (6970) the ascension of Christ took place. These seventy weeks are thus completed, and there is no contradiction. 2 Cf. Numbers 14:34. Now that the manifestation of Christ has been proved by the prophecies of Daniel, let us prove the manifestations of Baha'u'llah and of the Bab. Up to the present we have only mentioned logical proofs; now we shall speak of traditional proofs. In the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel, verse thirteen, it is said: "Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, I-low long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" Then he answered (v. 14): "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"; (v. 17) "But he said unto me • at the time of the end shall be the vision." That is to say, how long will this misfortune, this ruin, this abasement and degradation last? meaning, when will be the dawn of the Manifestation? Then he answered, "Two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Briefly, the purport of this passage is that he appoints two thousand three hundred years, for in the text of the Bible each day is a year. Then from the date of the issuing of the edict of Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem until the day of the birth of Christ there are 456 years. and from the birth of Christ until the day of the manifestation of the B6h there are 1844 years. When you add 456 years to this number it makes 2300 years. That is to say, the fulfillment of the vision of Daniel took place in the year 1844 LV., and this is the year of the BTh's manifestation according to the actual text of the Book of Daniel. Consider how clearly he determines the year of manifestation; there could be no clearer prophecy for a manifestation than this. In Matthew, chapter 24 verse 3, Christ clearly says that what Daniel meant by this prophecy was the date of the manifestation, and this is the verse: "As he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" One of the explanations He gave them in reply was this (v. 15): "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand) ." In this answer He referred them to the eighth chapter of the Book of Daniel, [p101] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 101 saying that every one who reads it will understand that it is this time that is spoken of. Consider how clearly the manifestation of the BTh is spoken of in the Old Testament and in the Gospel. To conclude, let us now explain the date of the manifestation of Baha'u'llah from the Bible. The date of Baha'u'llah is calculated according to lunar years from the mission and the Hijirali of Mul2ammad; for in the religion of Mu1~ammad the lunar year is in use, as also it is the lunar year which is employed concerning all commands of worship. In Daniel, chapter 12 verse 6, it is said: "And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times and a half; and that when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." As I have already explained the signification of one day, it is not necessary to explain it further; but we will say briefly that each day of the Father counts as a year, and in each year there are twelve months. Thus three years and a half make forty-two months, and forty-two months are twelve hundred and sixty days. The Bab, the precursor of Baha'u'llah, appeared in the year 1260 from the Hijirah of Muijammad, by the reckoning of IsUim. Afterwards, in verse 11, it is said: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolation be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five-and-thirty days!" The beginning of this lunar reckoning is from the day of the proclamation of the prophethood of Mubammad in the country of Hij~z; and that was three years after his mission; because in the beginning the proph-ethood of Mul3ammad was kept secret, and no one knew it save KThadijih and Ibn Nau-faL2 After three years it was announced. And Baha'u'llah in the year 1290 from the S Waraqat-Ibn-Naufal. Kbadfjih's cousin. proclamation of the mission of Muijammad caused his manifestation to be known.4 COMMENTARY ON THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER OF ISAIAH In Isaiah, chapter 11 verses 1 to 10, it is said: Ñ "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." This rod out of the stem of Jesse might be correctly applied to Christ, for Joseph was of the descendents of Jesse the father of David; but as Christ found existence through the Spirit of God, he called himself the Son of God. If he had not done so, this description would refer to him. Besides this, the events which he indicated as coming to pass in the days of that rod, if interpreted symbolically, were in part fulfilled in the 4 The year 1290 from the proclamation of thc mission of Muljammad, was the year 1280 of the Hijirab, or 18631864 of our era. It was at this epoch (April 1864) that Baha'u'llah on leaving Baghd~d for Constantinople, declared to those who surrounded Him that He was the Manifestation announced by the flAb. It is this declaration which the Baha'is celebrate by the Feast of Ridvan, this name being that of the garden at the entrance of the city of Baghd~d, where Baha'u'llah stayed during twelve days, and where He made the declaration. [p102] 102 THE BAHA'I WORLD day of Christ, but not all; and if not interpreted, then decidedly none of these signs happened. For example, the leopard and the lamb, the lion and the calf, the child and the asp, are metaphors and symbols for various nations, peoples, antagonistic sects, and hostile races, who are as opposite and inimical as the wolf and lamb. We say that by the breath of the spirit of Christ they found concord and harmony, they were vivified, and they associated together. But "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." These conditions did not prevail in the time of the manifestation of Christ; for until today various and antagonistic nations exist in the world, very few acknowledge the God of Israel, and the greater number are without the knowledge of God. In the same way, universal peace did not come into existence in the time of Christ; that is to say, between the antagonistic and hostile nations there was neither peace nor concord, disputes and disagreements did not cease, and reconciliation and sincerity did not appear. So, even at this day, amongst the Christian sects and nations themselves, enmity, hatred, and the most violent hostility are met with. But these verses apply word for word to Baha'u'llah: likewise in this marvellous cycle the earth will be transformed, and the world of humanity arrayed in tranquillity and beauty. Disputes, quarrels, and murders will be replaced by peace, truth, and concord; among the nations, peoples, races, and countries, love and amity will appear. Cooperation and union will be established, and finally war will be entirely suppressed. When the laws of the Most Holy Book are enforced, contentions and disputes will find a final sentence of absolute justice before a general tribunal5 of the nations and kingdoms, and the difficulties that appear will be solved. The five continents of the world will form but one, the numerous nations will become one, the surface of the earth will become one land, and mankind will be a single community. The relations between the countries, the mingling, union, and friendship of the peoples and communities, will reach to such a degree that the human race will be 5 The universal Baha'u'llah, a sort of tribunal of international arbitration, instituted by HaM'u'116h in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book. like one family and kindred. The light of heavenly love will shine, and the darkness of enmity and hatred will be dispelled from the world. Universal peace will raise its tent in the center of the earth, and the Blessed Tree of Life will grow and spread to such an extent that it will overshadow the East and the West. Strong and weak, rich and poor, antagonistic sects and hostile nations Ñ which are like the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and kid, the lion and the calf Ñ will act towards each other with the most complete love, friendship, justice, and equity. The world will be filled with science, with the knowledge of the reality of the mysteries of beings, and with the knowledge of God. Now consider, in this great century which is the cycle of Baha'u'llah, what progress science and knowledge have made, how many secrets of existence have been discovered, how many great inventions have been brought to light, and are day by day multiplying in number. Before long, material science and learning, as well as the knowledge of God, will make such progress, and will show forth such wonders, that the beholders will be amazed. Then the mystery of this verse in Isaiah. "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord," will be completely evident. Reflect also that in the short time since Baha'u'llah has appeared, people from all countries, nations, and races have entered under the shadow of this Cause. Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Hindus, and Persians all associate together with the greatest friendship and love, as if indeed these people had been related and connected together, they and theirs, for a thousand years; for they are like father and child, mother and daughter, sister and brother. This is one of the meanings of the companionship of the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, and the lion and the calf. One of the great events which is to occur in the day of the manifestation of that incomparable Branch, is the hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations; meaning that all the nations and tribes will come under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation. The antagonism of faiths and religions, the hostility of races and peoples, and the national differences, will be eradicated from amongst them. All will become one religion, one faith, one race, and one single people, and [p103] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS 103 will dwell in one native land, which is the terrestrial globe. Universal peace and concord will be realized between all the nations, and that incomparable Branch will gather together all Israel: signifying that in this cycle Israel will be gathered in the Holy Land, and that the Jewish people who are scattered to the East and West, South and North, will be assembled together. Now see: these events did not take place in the Christian cycle, for the nations did not come under the One Standard which is the Divine Branch. But in this cycle of the Lord of Hosts all the nations and peoples will enter under the shadow of this Flag. In the same way, Israel, scattered all over the world, was not reassembled in the Holy Land in the Christian cycle; but in the beginning of the cycle of Baha'u'llah this divine promise, as is clearly stated in all the Books of the Prophets, has begun to be manifest. You can see that from all the parts of the world tribes of Jews are coming to the Holy Land; they live in villages and lands which they make their own, and day by day they are increasing to such an extent, that all Palestine will become their home. COMMENTARY ON THE TWELFTH CHAPTER OF THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN We have before explained that what is most frequently meant by the Holy City, the Jerusalem of God, which is mentioned in the Holy Book, is the Law of God. It is compared sometimes to a bride, and sometimes to Jerusalem, and again to the new heaven and earth. So in chapter 21, verses 1, 2, and 3 of the Revelation of St. John, it is said: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God." Notice how clear and evident it is that the first heaven and earth signify the former Law. For it is said that the first heaven and earth have passed away and there is no more sea: that is to say, that the earth is the place of judgment, and on this earth of judgment there is no sea; meaning that the teachings and the Law of God will entirely spread over the earth, and all men will enter the Cause of God, and the earth will be completely inhabited by believers; therefore there will be no more sea, for the dwelling-place and abode of man is the dry land. In other words, at that epoch the field of that Law will become the pleasure-ground of man. Such earth is solid, the feet do not slip upon it. The Law of God is also described as the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. It is evident that the New Jerusalem which descends from heaven is not a city of stone, mortar, bricks, earth, and wood. It is the Law of God which descends from heaven and is called new; for it is clear that the Jerusalem which is of stone and earth does not descend from heaven, and that it is not renewed; but that which is renewed is the Law of God. The Law of God is also compared to an adorned bride who appears with most beautiful ornaments, as it has been said in chapter 21 of the Revelation of St. John: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." And in chapter 12 verse 1 it is said: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars": this woman is that bride, the Law of God that descended upon Muhammad. The sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under her feet, are the two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the Persian and Turkish kingdoms; for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of Turkey is the crescent moon: thus the sun and moon are the emblems of two kingdoms which are under the power of the Law of God. Afterwards it is said: "upon her head is a crown of twelve stars" Ñ these twelve stars are the twelve Im~ms who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad, and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance. Then it is said in the second verse: "and she being with child cried," meaning that this Law fell into the greatest difficulties, and endured great troubles and afflictions until a perfect offspring was produced, that is, the coming Manifestation, the Promised One, who is the perfect offspring, and who [p104] 104 THE BAHA'! WORLD was reared in the bosom of this Law which is as its mother. The child who is referred to is the Bab, the First Point, who was in truth born from the Law of Muhammad. That is to say, the lloiy Reality, who is the child and outcome of the Law of God, his mother, and who is promised by that religion, finds a reality in the kingdom of that Law; but because of the despotism of the dragon the child was carried up to God. After twelve hundred and sixty days the dragon was destroyed, and the child of the Law of God, the Promised One, became manifest. Verses 3 and 4. "And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth." These signs are an allusion to the dynasty of the IJmayyads who dominated the Mul2am-madan religion. Seven heads and seven crowns mean seven countries and dominions over which the Baha'u'llah had power: they were the Roman dominion around Damascus, and the Persian, Arabian, and Egyptian dominions, together with the dominion of Africa, that is to say Tunis, Morocco, and Algeria, the dominion of Andalusia which is now Spain, and the dominion of Turkestan and Transoxania. The Baha'u'llah had power over these countries. The ten horns mean the names of the Umay-yad rulers: that is, without repetition, there were ten names of rulers, meaning ten names of commanders and chiefs Ñ the first is AM Sufian and the last Marwan Ñ but several of them bear the same name. So there are two Mu'awia, three Yazid, two Walid, and two Marwan; but if the names were counted without repetition there would be ten. The Baha'u'llah, of whom the first was Abti Sufian, Amir of Mecca and chief of the dynasty of the Umayyads, and the last was Marwan, destroyed the third part of the holy and saintly people of the lineage of Mul2ammad who were like the stars of heaven. Verse 4. "And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour the child as soon as it was born." As we have before explained, this woman is the Law of God. The dragon was standing near the woman to devour her child, and this child was the promised Manifestation, the offspring of the Law of Mu-~ammad. ~ammad. The Baha'u'llah were always waiting to get possession of the Promised One who was to come from the line of Mu-ljnmmad, to destroy and annihilate him; for they much feared the appearance of the promised Manifestation, and they sought to kill any of Mul2arnmad's descendents who might be highly esteemed. Verse 5. "And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." This great son is the promised Manifestation who was born of the Law of God and reared in the bosom of the divine teachings. The iron rod is a symbol of power and might Ñ it is not a sword Ñ and means that with divine power and might he will shepherd all the nations of the earth. This son is the ~ Verse 5. "And her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne." This is a prophecy of the BTh, who ascended to the heavenly realm, to the Throne of God, and to the center of His Kingdom. Consider how all this corresponds to what happened. Verse 6. "And the woman fled into the wilderness," that is to say, the Law of God fled to the wilderness, meafling the vast desert of Ijij6z, and the Arabian Peninsula. Verse 6. "Where she had a place prepared of God." The Arabian Peninsula became the abode and dwelling-place, and the center of the Law of God. Verse 6. "That they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." In the terminology of the Holy Book these twelve hundred and sixty days mean the twelve hundred and sixty years that the Law of God was set up in the wilderness of Arabia, the great desert: from it the Promised One has come. After twelve hundred and sixty years that Law will have no more influence, for the fruit of that tree will have appeared, and the result will have been produced. Consider how the prophecies correspond to one another. In the Apocalypse, the appearance of the Promised One is appointed after forty-two months, and Daniel expresses it as three times and a half, which is also forty-two months; which are twelve hundred and sixty days. In another passage of John's Revelation it is clearly spoken of as twelve hundred and sixty days, and in the Holy Book it is said that each day signifies one year. Nothing could be more clear than this agreement of the prophecies with one another. The Bab appeared in the year 1260 [p105] BAHA'I SACRED WRITINGS 105 of the Ilijirali of Mul2ammad, which is the beginning of the universal era-reckoning of all Js1~m. There are no clearer proofs than this in the Holy Books for any Manifestation. For him who is just, the agreement of the times indicated by the tongues of the Great Ones is the most conclusive proof. There is no other possible explanation of these prophecies. Blessed are the just souls who seek the truth. But failing justice, the people attack, dispute, and openly deny the evidence; like the Pharisees who, at the manifestation of Christ, denied with the greatest obstinacy the explanations of Christ and of his disciples. They obscured Christ's Cause before the ignorant people, saying, "These prophecies are not of Jesus, but of the Promised One who shall come later, according to the conditions mentioned in the BiHe." Some of these conditions were that he must have a kingdom, be seated on the throne of David, enforce the Law of the Bible, and manifest such justice that the wolf and the lamb shall gather at the same spring. And thus they prevented the people from knowing Christ. Note Ñ In these last conversations 'Abdu'1-Hah~i wishes to reconcile in a new interpretation the apocalyptic prophecies of the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims, rather than to show their supernatural character. SPIRITUAL PROOFS In this material world time has cycles; places change through alternating seasons, and for souls there are progress, retrogression, and education. Sometime it is the season of spring, at another time it is the season of autumn, and again it is the season of summer or the season of winter. In the spring there are the clouds which send down the precious rain, the musk-scented breezes and life-giving zephyrs; the air is perfectly temperate, the rain falls, the sun shines, the fecundating wind wafts the clouds, the world is renewed, and the breath of life appears in plants, in animals, and in men. Earthly beings pass from one condition to another. All things are clothed in new garments, and the black earth is covered with herbage; mountains and plains are adorned with verdure, trees bear leaves and blossoms, gardens bring forth flowers and fragrant herbs. The world becomes another world, and it attains to a life-giving spirit. The earth was a lifeless body; it finds a new spirit, and produces endless beauty, grace, and freshness. Thus the spring is the cause of new life, and infuses a new spirit. Afterwards comes the summer, when the heat increases, and growth and development attain their greatest power. The energy of life in the vegetable kingdom reaches to the degree of perfection, the fruit appears, and the time of harvest ripens; a seed has become a sheaf, and the food is stored for winter. Afterwards comes tumultuous autumn when unwholesome and sterile winds blow, it is the season of sickness, when all things are withered, and the balmy air is vitiated. The breezes of spring are changed to autumn winds, the fertile green trees have become withered and bare, flowers and fragrant herbs fade away, the beautiful garden becomes a dust-heap. Following this comes the season of winter, with cold and tempests. It snows, rains, hails, storms, thunders and lightens, freezes and congeals; all plants die, and animals languish and are wretched. When this state is reached, again a new life-giving spring returns, and the cycle is renewed. The season of spring with its hosts of freshness and beauty, spreads its tent on the plains and mountains with great pomp and magnificence. A second time the form of the creatures is renewed, and the creation of beings begins afresh; bodies grow and develop, the plains and wildernesses become green and fertile, trees bring forth blossoms, and the spring of last year returns in the utmost fullness and glory. Such is, and such ought to be, the cycle and succession of existence: such is the cycle and revolution of the material world. It is the same with the spiritual cycles of the Prophets. That is to say, the day of the appearance of the Holy Manifestations is the spiritual springtime, it is the divine splendor, it is the heavenly bounty, the breeze of Life, the rising of the Sun of Reality. Spirits are quickened, hearts are refreshed and invigorated, souls become good, existence is set in motion, human realities are gladdened, and grow and develop in good qualities and perfections. Universal progress takes place, and there are resurrection and lamentation; for it is the day of judgment, the time of turmoil and distress, at the same time that it is the season of joy, of happiness, and of absolute attraction. Afterwards the life-giving spring ends in [p106] 106 THE BAHA'I WORLD fruitful summer. The word of God is exalted, the Law of God is promulgated; all things reach perfection. The heavenly table is spread, the holy breezes perfume the East and the West, the teachings of God conquer the world, men become educated, praiseworthy results are produced, universal progress appears in the world of humanity, and the divine bounties surround all things. The Sun of Reality rises from the horizon of the Kingdom with the greatest power and heat. When it reaches the meridian it will begin to decline and descend, and the spiritual summer will be followed by autumn, when growth and development are arrested. Breezes change into blighting winds, and the unwholesome season dissipates the beauty and freshness of the gardens, plains, and bowers. That is to say, attraction and goodwill do not remain, divine qualities are changed, the radiance of hearts is dimmed, the spirituality of souls is altered, virtues are replaced by vices, and holiness and purity disappear. Only the name of the Religion of God remains, and the exoteric forms of the divine teachings. The foundations of the Religion of God are destroyed and annihilated, and nothing but forms and customs exist. Divisions appear, firmness is changed into instability, and spirits become dead; hearts languish, souls become inert, and winter arrives; that is to say, the coldness of ignorance envelops the world and the darkness of human error prevails. After this come m-difference, disobedience, inconsiderateness, indolence, baseness, animal instincts, and the coldness and insensibility of stones. It is like the season of winter when the terrestrial globe, deprived of the effect of the heat of the sun, becomes desolate and dreary. When the world of intelligence and thought has reached to this state, there remain oniy continual death and perpetual nonexistence. When the season of winter has had its effect, again the spiritual springtime returns and a new cycle appears. Spiritual breezes blow, the luminous dawn gleams, the divine clouds give rain, the rays of the Sun of Reality shine forth, the contingent world attains unto a new life, and is clad in a wonderful garment. All the signs and the gifts of the past springtime reappear, with perhaps even greater splendor in this new season. The spiritual cycles of the Sun of Reality are like the cycles of the material sun; they are always revolving and being renewed. The Sun of Reality, like the material sun, has numerous rising and dawning places: one day it rises from the zodiacal sign of Cancer, another day from the sign of Libra or Aquarius, another time it is from the sign of Aries that it diffuses its rays. But the sun is one sun and one reality; the people of knowledge are lovers of the sun, and are not fascinated by the places of its rising and dawning. The people of perception are the seekers of the Truth, and not of the places of its appearance, nor of its dawning points; therefore they will adore the Sun from whatever point in the zodiac it may appear, and they will seek the Reality in every Sanctified Soul who manifests it. Such people always attain to the truth, and are not veiled from the Sun of the Divine World. So, the lover of the sun and the seeker of the light will always turn towards the sun, whether it shines from the sign of Aries or gives its bounty from the sign of Cancer, or radiates from Gemini; but the ignorant and uninstructed are lovers of the signs of the zodiac, and enamored and fascinated by the rising-places, and not by the sun. When it was in the sign of Cancer they turned towards it, though afterwards the sun changed to the sign of Libra; as they were lovers of the sign, they turned towards it and attached themselves to it, and were deprived of the influences of the sun merely because it had changed its place. For example, once the Sun of Reality poured forth its rays from the sign of Abraham, and then it dawned from the sign of Moses and illuminated the horizon; afterwards it rose with the greatest power and brilliancy from the sign of Christ: those who were the seekers of Reality, worshiped that Reality wherever they saw it, but those who were attached to Abraham were deprived of its influences, when it shone upon Sinai and illuminated the reality of Moses. Those who held fast to Moses when the Sun of Reality shone from Christ with the utmost radiance and lordly splendor, were also veiled; and so forth. Therefore man must be the seeker after the Reality; and he will find that Reality in each of the Sanctified Souls. He must be fascinated and enraptured, and attracted to the divine bounty; he must be like the butterfly who is the lover of the light from whatever lamp it may shine, and like the nightingale who is the lover of the rose in whatever garden it may grow. If the sun were to rise in the West, it would still be the sun; one must not with [p107] BAHA'! SACRED WRITINGS 107 draw from it on account of its rising-place, regarded the Sun of Reality, without any nor consider the West to be always the place doubt they would have recognized the Sun of sunset. In the same way, one must look in the dawning-place of the reality of Christ, for the heavenly bounties, and seek for the in the greatest divine splendor. But, alas! a Divine Aurora. In every place where it ap-thousand times alas! attaching themselves to pears, one must become its distracted lover, the outward words of Moses, they were de-Consider r that if the Jews had not kept turn-prived of the divine bounties and the lordly ing to the horizon of Moses, and had only splendors! [p108] HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD Abdu'l-Baha R~il~fyyih Kh~num appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God, March 26, 1952. [p109] William Sutherland Maxwell, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the Holy Land, December 24, 1951. Mrs. Amelia E. Collins, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the Holy Land, December 24, 1951. Charles Mason Remey, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the Holy Land, December 24, 1951. Leroy C. loas, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the United States, December 24, 1951. [p110] Valfyu'll6ih VarqA, appointed Ugo R. Giachery, appointed by Shoghi Effendi by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause a Hand of the Cause of God from the of God from the Cradle of the Faith (Persia), European Continent, December 24, 1951. December 24, 1951. George Townshend, appointedHorace Holley, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God of the Cause of God from from the European Continent,the United States, December December 24, 1951. 24, 1951. [p111] Tar~u'11ah Samandari, appointed M6s~ Ban~ni, appointed by Shoghi Effendi by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God a Hand of the Cause of God from the Cradle of the Faith (Persia), from Africa, February 29, 1952. December 24, 1951. 'Ali-Akbar Furtitan, Siegfried Schopflocher, appointed by Shoghi Effendiappointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause a Hand of the Cause of of God from the God from the Dominion Cradle of the Faith, of Canada. February 29, December 24, 1951. 1952. [p112] Upper left: Hermann Grossmann, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the European Continent, December 24, 1951. Upper right: Mrs. Dorothy Baker, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the United States, December 24, 1951. Left: Mrs. Clara Dunn, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from Australia, February 29, 1952. [p113] Upper left: Mrs. Corinne True, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the United States, February 29, 1952. Upper right: Dhikru'11&h Kh~dem, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the Cradle of the Faith (Persia), February 29, 1952. Right: Paul E. Haney, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the United States, March 19, 1954. [p114] Upper left: Adelbert Miihlschlegel, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from Germany, February 29, 1952. Upper right: ShuM'u'llAh 'Ahi'i, appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from the. Cradle of the Faith (Persia), February 29, 1952. Left: Jal6i Kh6zeh appointed by Shoghi Effendi a Hand of the Cause of God from Persia, December 7, 1953. [p115] THE CENTENARY CELEBRA TIONS OF THE BIRTH OF THE MISSION OF BAHA'U'LLAH, 1953 1. MOMENTOUS ANNOUNCEMENT THE JUBILEE CENTENARY OF CONVEY all National Assemblies Baha'i World (the) following momentous announcement. Approaching Great Jubilee commemorating Centenary termination BThi Dispensation, birth Baha'u'llah's Revelation (in) Siy&h CM1 Tihr~n, as well as imperative necessity adopt effectual measures insure befitting inauguration third concluding phase of initial epoch (in the) execution 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan destined culminate hundredth anniversary (of) Declaration (of) Founder (of) Faith (in) Baghd6A, impel me summon entire Baha'i world, through eleven National Assemblies already functioning (in) East (and) West, bestir itself, arise during sixteen months ahead through supreme concerted sustained effort, prepare for demonstration (of) Baha'i solidarity (of) unprecedented scope (and) intensity (during) entire course Baha'i history. Forthcoming celebrations must be signalized through inauguration long anticipated intercontinental stage in administrative eva-lution (of) Faith marking its gradual development through successive phases (of) local, regional, national, international Baha'i activity. Initiation this highly significant measure further cementing Baha'i National Assemblies (in) five continents (of) globe will be acclaimed (by) posterity as counterpart (to) consolittion Faith at its World Center through recent formation International Baha Council (in) Holy Land. Centennial festivities (of) Year Nine continuing throughout Holy Year commencing October 1952 must include, apart from consummation summation plans initiated (by) various National Assemblies both hemispheres, (the) formal dedication (for) public worship (of) Mother Temple (of) West (in) heart North American continent, and possible termination superstructure (of) B&b's Sepulcher (in) Holy Land, (the) convocation (of) four intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conferences to be held successively (in) course historic Year (on) continents (of) Africa, America, Europe, Asia. First conference (will be) convened by British National Spiritual Assembly (in) Kampala, Uganda (in) early spring, representative of British, American, Persian, Egyptian, Indian National Spiritual Assemblies, to which Baha'is residing (in) America, Persia, Indian subcontinent, British Isles, every territory African continent (will be) invited attend, aiming planting banner (of) Faith (in) remaining territories (and) neighboring islands east, south, west African continent. Second conference (will be) convened by United States National Spiritual Assembly (in) Wilmette, (in) Ridvan period, representative (of) chief trustees 'Abdu'l-Baha's Plan, their ally and associates United States, Canadian, Latin American National Assemblies, to which Baha'is every state American Union, every Province Canada, every Republic Latin America (will be) invited attend, designed pave way establishment Faith (in) remaining territories (of the) Americas (and) neighboring islands (in) both Atlantic (and) Pacific oceans. Third conference (will be) convened by 115 [p116] 116 THE BAHA'! WORLD American European Teaching Committee (in) Stockholm, Sweden, during summer, representative (of) American, British, German National Assemblies, to which Baha'is (of) each ten goal countries Europe (and) England, Scotland, Wales, Eire, France, Germany, Austria, Finland, (will be) invited attend, for purpose gradual introduction (of) Faith (into) remaining sovereign states European continent (and) neighboring islands Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, North Sea. Fourth conference (will be) convened by National Spiritual Assembly subcontinent India (in) New Delhi, autumn, representative (of) National Assemblies (of) Persia, Indian subcontinent, 'IrAq, Australasia, United States, Canada, Central and South America, to which Baha'is residing (in) every sovereign state (and) dependency (in) Asia, North, Central, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania (will be) invited attend, in order deliberate measures calculated open Faith remaining Asiatic states (and) dependencies, particularly South East Asia and islands (of) South Pacific (and) Indian Oceans. Address plea particularly (to) convenors abovementioned conferences (to) arise within short time (at their) disposal, prayerfully consider, carefully plan, energetically prosecute, respective sacred delegated tasks, take immediate preliminary steps issue invitations, fix procedure, provide smooth working, accord wide publicity, insure resounding success, epochmaking conferences immortalizing Centenary (of) memorable Year, anticipated (by) St. John (the) Divine, foreshadowed (by) Shayki A1~mad, eulogized (by the) ~ extolled (by) both Baha'u'llah (and) 'Abdu'l-Baha, and constituting prelude (to) Most Great Jubilee, which will alike commemorate Centenary formal assumption (by) Author (of) Baha'i Revelation (of) His Prophetic Office, (and) mark, God willing, worldwide establishment Faith forecast (by) Center (of) Covenant (in) His Tablets, prophesied (by) Daniel (in) his book, thus paving way (for) advent (of) Golden Age destined witness world recognition, universal proclamation, ultimate triumph (of the) Cause of Baha'u'llah. (Signed) Snoom Cablegram received November 30, 1951 at Wilmette, Illinois. MESSAGES FROM THE GUARDIAN The Year Nine The following statement is an excerpt from the portion of the Guardian's letter of November 23, 1951, written through his Secretary. Regarding your question about the Centenary, the Guardian wishes you to share the following information with the Persian and other National Assemblies; the "Year Nine" is an abbreviation of 1269 A.H. This term has been used by the BTh in His Writings, foreshadowing the Birth of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. The friends should refer, in God Passes By, to the passages mentioning the year Nine in order to appreciate its significance as well as the great importance attached to it by the BTh. In that same book the Guardian has explained that the Revelation of Baha'u'llah was progressive: It commenced with the first intimation He received, of His Prophetic Mission while in the SiyTh-QbAl of Tihr6n. The beginning of the year Nine occurred about two months after His imprisonment in that dungeon. We do not know the exact time He received this first intimation, nor have either the Bab, or Baha'u'llah, made mention of any specific date in this connection. We therefore regard the entire year Nine as a Holy Year, and the emphasis should be placed, in accordance with the Bab's Writings, on the entire Year which started in October, 1852. This means our Centenary Year of Celebration will be from October, 1952, to October, 1953. All celebrations must be held within these two dates. As the RiQv6n period is associated with Baha'u'llah's Revelation it should be regarded as the most important time of that year and therefore the most suitable period for the celebrations. The second stage in that progressive Revelation was when Baha'u'llah declared His Mission to His companions in Baghd4d; this is considered the most momentous stage in His Revelation, hence it is called the "Most Great Festival," the One Hundredth Anniversary of which will be celebrated in RiQvTh 1963 and will constitute the Most Great Jubilee, the third of its kind, the first Jubilee having been the Centenary of the B~~b's Declaration; and the second the one we will be celebrating all over the world in 19521953. [p117] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 117 The third and last stage in Baha'u'llah's Revelation was when He proclaimed His Mission to the rulers and religious leaders of the world in Adrianople. The first was an intimation, the second a declaration and the third a proclamation Ñ the intimation was from God to Him, which He kept a secret within His own spirit, the declaration was to His faithful companions, and the proclamation was to the entire body of the religious and political leaders of mankind. This statement is an excerpt from the Guardian's letter of June 15, 1946, pub-lislied as "A God-Given Mandate" in "Mes-sages to America," pages 9910]. What greater reward can crown the labors of that community, now launched on the second stage of its world mission, than that the consummation of the second Seven Year Plan should coincide with the celebrations commemorating the centenary of the "Year Nine," the year which alike marked the termination of the Bab Dispensation, and signalized the birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic Mission? It was at a time when the Faith for which the Bab had suffered and died was hovering on the brink of extinction, when Baha'u'llah lay wrapped in the gloom of the SiyTh-ChAI of TihrAn, His feet in stocks, His neck freighted with chains, and surrounded by vile and wretched criminals, that the auspicious year 1269 AlT., acclaimed by the 134b as the "Year Nine," dawned upon the world, ushering in the most glorious and momentous stage in the Heroic Age of the greatest religious dispensation in the spiritual history of mankind. To that year He had referred as the year in which "the realities of the created things" will "be made manifest," the year in which mankind "will attain unto all good," in which the "Bay4n," as yet "in the stage of seed," will manifest "its ultimate perfection," in which the "embryo of the Faith will attain the station of 'the most comely of forms,'" and in which "a new creation" will be beheld. It was in that same year that the "third woe," as anticipated by St. John the Divine, quickly succeeded the second. To that same year Siaykh-Ahmad-i-A1~s5'i, who had heralded the Faith of the BTh, had alluded as the year "after $in" (68), when, according to His written testimony, the "mystery" of the Cause of God would be "manifested," and the "secret" of His Mes sage "divulged." It was in that same year that, according to Baha'u'llah, Himself, "the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated, and sanctified souls" had been "most secretly consummated." It was in such dramatic circumstances, recalling the experience of Moses when face to face with the Burning Bush in the wilderness of Sinai, the successive visions of Zoroaster, the opening of the heavens and the descent of the Dove upon Christ in the Jordan, the cry of Gabriel heard by Mul2am-mad in the Cave of Hira, and the dream of the BTh, in which the blood of the ImAm Uusayn touched and sanctified His lips, that Baha'u'llah, He "around Whom the Point of the Bay6n hath revolved," and the Vehicle of the greatest Revelation the world has yet seen, received the first intimation of His sublime Mission, and that a ministry, which, alike in its duration and fecundity, is unsurpassed in the religious history of mankind, was inaugurated. It was on that occasion that the "Most Great Spirit," as designated by Baha'u'llah Himself, revealed itself to Him, in the form of a "Maiden," and bade Him "lift up" His "voice between earth and heaven" Ñ that same Spirit which, in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian and Muliammadan Dispensations, had been respectively symbolized by the "Sacred Fire," the "Burning Bush," the "Dove," and the "Angel Gabriel." "One night in a dream," Baha'u'llah Himself, recounting His soul-shaking experience of the first stirrings of His prophetic Mission, in the Year Nine, in that abominable pit, has written, "these exalted words were heard on every side: 'Verily, We shall render Thee victorious by Thyself and by Thy Pen. Grieve Thou not for that which hath befallen Thee, neither be Thou afraid, for Thou art in safety. Ere long will God raise up the treasures of the earth Ñ men who will aid Thee through Thyself and through Thy Name, wherewith God hath revived the hearts of such as have recognized Him.'" And again, "During the days I lay in the prison of Tffir~n, though the galling weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set [p118] 118 THE BAHA'! WORLD afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear." What still greater reward could await those who, inspired by the success achieved by the prosecutors of the second Seven Year Plan, will have arisen to carry forward to a triumphant conclusion the third phase of the Mission entrusted to them by 'Abdu'l-Baha, than that their prodigious labors, having embraced territories far beyond the confines of the continents of Europe and of America, should climax in, and be worthily commemorated through, the worldwide celebrations of the "Most Great Festival," the "King of Festivals," the "Festival of God" Himself Ñ the Festival associated with the accession of Him Who is the Lord of the Kingdom to the throne of everlasting glory, and with the formal assumption by Him of His prophetic office? What greater reward than that the consummation of the third Seven Year Plan, marking the close of the first, and signalizing the opening of the second, epoch in the evolution of the Divine Plan, should synchronize with that greatest of all Jubilees, related to the year 1335, mentioned by Daniel in the last Chapter of His Book, and associated by 'Abdu'l-Baha with the world triumph of His Father's Faith? What greater glory than that those who have brought this initial epoch in the resistless march of a world-embracing Plan to a triumphant termination should be made to feel that they, and those gone before them, have, through their collective, their sustained, and heroic endeavors, organized through three successive stages, and covering a span of almost a quarter of a century, been vouchsafed by the Almighty the privilege of contributing, more than any other community consciously laboring in the service of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, to this blissful consummation, and to have played a preponderating role in the world triumph of its institutions? III. From the Guardian's letter of November 23, 1951. The historic significance of this period cannot indeed be overestimated. For it was a hundred years ago that a Faith, which had already been oppressed by a staggering weight of untold tribulations; which had sustained shattering blows in M~zindar4n, Nayriz, Tihr~n and Zanjin, and indeed throughout every province in the land of its birth; which had lost its greatest exponents through the tragic martyrdom of most of the Letters of the Living, and particularly of the valiant MuIlA 1-lusayn and of the erudite Vahid and which had been afflicted with the supreme calamity of losing its Divine Founder; was being subjected to still more painful ordeals Ñ ordeals which robbed it of both the heroic liujiat and of the far-famed TThirih; which caused it to pass through a reign of terror, and to experience a bloodbath of unprecedented severity, which inflicted on it one of the greatest humiliations it has ever suffered through the attempted assassination of the Sovereign himself, and which unloosed a veritable deluge of barbarous atrocities in Tihr4n, M~zindartjn, Nayriz and SThir~z before which paled the horrors of the seige of Zanj~n, and which swept no less a figure than Baha'u'llah Himself Ñ the last remaining Pillar of a Faith that had been so rudely shaken, so ruthlessly denuded of its chief buttresses Ñ into the subterranean dungeon of Tihr~n, an imprisonment that was soon followed by His cruel banishment, in the depths of an exceptionally severe winter, from His native land to 'Irdq. To these tribulations He Himself has referred as "afflictions" that "rained" upon Him, whilst the blood shed by His companions and lovers He characterized as the blood which "impregnated" the earth with the "wondrous revelation" of God's "might." Nor should the momentous character of the unique event, that may be regarded as the climax and consummation of this tragic period, be overlooked or underestimated, inasmuch as its centenary synchronizes with the termination of the sixteen month interval separating the American Baha'i Community from the conclusion of its present Plan. This unique event, the centenary of which is to be befittingly celebrated, not only in the American continent but throughout the Baha'i World, and is destined to be regarded as the culmination of the Second Seven Year Plan, is none other than the "Year Nine," anticipated 2,000 years ago as the "third woe" by St. John the Divine, alluded to by both Slaylt A1~mad and Siyyid K~?im Ñ the twin luminaries that heralded the advent of the Faith of the BTh Ñ specifically mentioned and extolled by the Herald of the Baha'i Dispensation in His Writings, and eulogized by both the Founder of our Faith and the Center of His Covenant. In that [p119] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 119 year, the year "after $in" (68), mentioned by Sbaykh Ahmad the year that witnessed the birth of the Mission of the promised "Qayytim," specifically referred to by Siyyid K64m, the "requisite number" in the words of Baha'u'llah, "of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls" had been "most secretly consummated." In that year, as testified by the Pen of the Bab, the "realities of the created things" were "made manifest," "a new creation was born" and the seed of His Faith revealed its "ultimate perfection." In that year, as borne witness by 'Abdu'l-Baha, a hitherto "embryonic Faith" was born. In that year, while the Blessed Beauty lay in chains and fetters, in that dark and pestilential Pit, "the breezes of the All-Glorious," as He Himself described it, "were wafted" over Him. There, whilst His neck was weighted down by the Qara-Guhar, His feet in stocks, breathing the fetid air of the SiyTh-Clil6l, He dreamed His dream and heard, "on every side," "exalted words," and His "tongue recited" words that "no man could bear to hear." There, as He Himself has recorded, under the impact of this dream, He experienced the onrushing force of His newly revealed Mission, that "flowed" even as "a mighty torrent" from His "Head" to His "breast," whereupon "every limb" of His body "would be set afire." There, in a vision, the "Most Great Spirit," as He Himself has again testified, appeared to Him, in the guise of a "Maiden" "calling" with "a most wondrous, a most sweet Voice" above His Head, whilst "suspended in the air" before Him, and, "pointing with Her finger" unto His Head, imparted "tidings which rejoiced" His "soul." There appeared above the horizon of that dungeon in the city of TihAn, the rim of the Orb of His Faith, whose dawning light had, nine years previously, broken upon the city of Shir~z, Ñ an Orb which, after suffering an eclipse of ten years, was destined to burst forth, with its resplendent rays, upon the city of BaghdAd, to mount its zenith in Adrianople, and to set eventually in the prison-fortress of 'Akka [p120] Hands of the Cause attending the First Intercontinental Baha'i Conference in Kampala, Uganda, Africa, February 1218, 1953. Left to right: Muss Ban~ni, Va1fyu'11~h Varq~, Shu'6.'u'11Th 'A1~'i, Mason Remey, Horace Holley, Tar~u'11Th Samandari, Dhikru'11~h KMdem, Leroy loas, Dorothy Baker, 'Ali-Akbar Fur6tan. The Kampala I1a~fratu'1-Quds is in the background. [p121] 2. THE AFRICAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE HELD IN KAMPALA, UGANDA, FEBRUARY, 1953 (1) THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE TO THE CONFERENCE Presented by LEROY JOAS THE Hands of the Cause, the Members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the resident believers and visitors attending the African Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Well-beloved Friends: I hail with a joyous heart the convocation in the heart of the African continent of the first of the four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences constituting the highlights of the world wide celebrations of the Holy Year which commemorates the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Mission of the Founder of our Faith. I welcome with open arms the unexpectedly large number of the representatives of the pure-hearted and the spiritually receptive Negro race, so dearly loved by 'Abdu'l-Baha, for whose conversion to His Father's Faith He so deeply yearned and whose interests He so ardently championed in the course of His memorable visit to the North American continent. I am reminded, on this historic occasion, of the significant words uttered by Baha'u'llah Himself, Who as attested by the Center of the Covenant, in His Writings, "compared the colored people to the black pupil of the eye," through which "the light of the spirit shineth forth." I feel partidil-larly gratified by the substantial participation in this epochmaking Conference of the members of a race dwelling in a continent which for the most part has retained its primitive simplicity and remained uncontaminated by the evils of a gross, a rampant and cancerous materialism undermining the fabric of human society alike in the East and in the West, eating into the vitals of the conflicting peoples and races inhabiting the American, the European and the Asiatic continents, and alas threatening to engulf in one common catastrophic convulsion the generality of mankind. I acclaim the pre ponderance of the members of this same race at so significant a Conference, a phenomenon unprecedented in the annals of Baha'i Conferences held during over a century, and auguring well for a corresponding multiplication in the number of the representatives of the yellow, the red and brown races of mankind dwelling respectively in the Far East, in the Far West and in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, a multiplication designed ultimately to bring to a proper equipoise the divers ethnic elements comprised within the highly diversified world-embracing Baha Fellowship. I feel moved, on this auspicious occasion, to pay a warm tribute to the elected representatives, as well as the members, of the British, the Persian, the American, the Egyptian and the Indian Baha Communities which have participated, in pursuance of their respective Plans, in the opening stage of a colossal teaching campaign, constituting a vital phase of the impending dec-ade-long World Crusade, and aiming at the spiritual conquest of the entire African continent. I desire in particular to express to all those gathered at this Conference my feelings of abiding appreciation of the magnificent role played and of the remarkable prizes won, by the small band of Persian, British and American pioneers, in the course of the initial stage of this divinely propelled and mysteriously unfolding collective enterprise, which has overshadowed both the Latin American and European teaching campaigns launched in recent years, which is destined to exert an incalculable influence on the fortunes of the Faith throughout the world, and which may well have far-reach-ing repercussions among the two chief races dwelling in the North American continent. To the American Baha'i Community, the chief executor of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan; to the British Baha'i Community, des121 121 [p122] 122 THE BAHA'I WORLD tined to play in future decades a predominating role in opening to the Faith of Baha'u'llah not only the British Territories throughout the African continent, but the divers Dependencies of the British Crown scattered on the surface of the globe; to the Persian Baha'i Community, at once the most venerable and most consistently persecuted among its sister communities in both the East and the West; to the Egyptian Baha'i Comnunity that may well boast of having erected in that continent the first pillar of the Universal House of Justice; to the Indian Baha'i Community, fated to contribute, to a marked degree, to the spiritual quickening of the Indians constituting a noble element of the population of Africa Ñ to these Communities I feel I must acknowledge my deep sense of thankfulness for the strenuous efforts exerted by their pioneers to raise aloft the standard of the Faith in the territories allocated to them in Liberia, Uganda, Tan-ganyita, the Gold Coast, Kenya, Somaliland, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Libya, Algeria, Zanzibar and Madagascar. To others who, though not following the fixed pattern of the Plan initiated for the present African campaign, have arisen to introduce the Faith in the Territories of Sierra Leone, Angola, Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia I feel, moreover, a debt of gratitude is due for their share in extending the range of Baha'i pioneer activity in that continent. The hour is indeed propitious, as the climax of the world wide rejoicings signalizing the Holy Year approaches, for the National Spiritual Assemblies of these same Communities to gird up their loins, in collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'IrAq, in a supreme effort to launch, on the morrow of this fateful Conference, that phase of the ten-year Crusade which, God willing, will culminate in the introduction of our glorious Faith in all the remaining territories of that vast continent as well as the chief neighboring islands lying in the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans. The decade on whose threshold they now stand must, circumstances permitting, witness: First, the erection of three additional pillars within the confines of that continent and its neighboring islands, designed to support, together with no less than forty-five other National Spiritual Assemblies to be established in other parts of the world, the final unit in the erection of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, namely: The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central and East Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles, with its seat in Kampala; the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South and West Africa, to be formed under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, with its seat in Johannesburg; the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of North West Africa, to be fonned under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Siid&n, with its seat in Tunis. Second, the initial purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's one in Cairo, one in Kampala and one in Johannesburg, situated respectively in the north, the heart and the south of the African continent. Third, the opening of the following thirty-three virgin territories and islands: Cape Verde Is., Canary Is., French Somaliland, French Togoland, Mauritius, Northern Territories Protectorate, Portuguese Guinea, Reunion I., Spanish Guinea, St. Helena, and St. Thomas I., assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; Ashanti Protectorate, Basutoland, I3echuanaland, Italian Somaliland, Southern Rhodesia and Swaziland assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; French Equatorial Africa, French West Africa, Morocco (mt. Zone), Rio de Oro, Spanish Morocco and Spanish Sahara assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Siid6n; Comoro Is., French Cameroons, Gambia, Ruanda-Urundi and Socotra I. assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P~kistTh and Burma; the British Cameroons, British Togoland, Madeira and South West Africa, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; and Seychelles Is. assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'IrAq. Fourth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the following thirty-one languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles: Aecra, Afrikaans, Aladian, Ashanti, Banu, Bemba, Bua, Chuana, Gio, Gu, Jieng, Jolof, Kuanyama, Krongo, Kroo, Luimbi, Malagasy, Nubian, Pedi, Popo, Ronga, Sena, Shilha, Shona, Sobo, Suto, [p123] Group of pioneers to Africa attending the First Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conference, at Kampala, Uganda, February, 1953. [p124] 124 THE BAnAl! WORLD Wongo, Xosa, Yalunka, Yao, and Zulu. Fifth, the consolidation of the twenty-four following territories already opened to the Faith in the African continent: Angola, Belgian Congo, Gold Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zululand, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; Abyssinia, Algeria, Eritrea, Libya, French Morocco, Somaliland, S6d~tn and Tunisia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and Sad6n; Madagascar, Mozambique and Zanzibar, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, F6kistAn and Burma; Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; Liberia and South Africa, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America. Sixth, the establishment, circumstances permitting, of a National Baha Court in the capital city of Egypt, the recognized center of both the Islamic and Arab worlds, officially empowered to apply, in matters of personal status, the Laws and Ordinances revealed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of the Baha Revelation. Seventh, the incorporation of the three abovementioned Regional National Spiritual Assemblies. Eighth, the establishment by those same National Spiritual Assemblies of National Baha'i Endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a National Ua4ratu'1-Quds in Johannesburg and one in Tunis and the conversion into a similar institution of the local Haziratu'1-Quds of Kampala. Tenth, the formation of a National Baha Publishing Trust in Cairo. Eleventh, the formation of an Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and S6d4n, authorized to hold, on behalf of its parent institution, property dedicated to the Holy Shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the State of Israel. Twelfth, the appointment, during Rhjv4n 1954, by the Hand of the Cause in Africa, of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the six National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the African Campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i Centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the African continent. May the six aforementioned National Spiritual Assemblies, aided by the Hand of the Cause appointed in that continent, and the auxiliary Board to be chosen by him and supported by the national committees and subcommittees to be formed in due course, and reinforced by the constant and energetic efforts of an ever-swelling number of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, and assisted by the wholehearted collaboration of the indigenous believers in all localities, be spiritually welded into a unit at once dynamic and coherent, and be suffused with the creative, the directing and propelling forces proceeding from the Source of the Revelation Himself, and be made, as the projected campaign unfolds, the vehicle of His grace from on High, and prove themselves worthy and effective instruments for the execution and ultimate consummation of one of the most thrilling and far-reaching enterprises undertaken in the Formative Age of the Faith and constituting one of the noblest phases of the most glorious Crusade ever launched in the course of Baha'i history for the systematic propagation of the Cause of Baha'u'llah over the surface of the entire planet. Ñ SHOGHI (2) REPORT OF THE AFRICAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE KAMPALA, Uganda, is one the four Baha Intercontinental of the lovelier and more Conferences was held. temperate spots of Africa Meetings took place in where the native African a large and well-made and the European are not army Marquee erected in bitter conflict. In on the spacious attractive this Protectorate from grounds of the Kampala February 12 to 18, 1953, }ja4ratu'1-the e first of [p125] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 125 Quds. In that tent, which was literally and figuratively a tent of the Oneness of Mankind, two hundred and thirty-two Baha'is, representing thirty ethnic groups from nineteen countries of the continents of America, Asia, Europe and Africa, were assembled. The Africans were well represented and constituted a majority of the Conference. They came from eighteen tribes of Uganda and in addition, there were Baha'is from North, South, East and West Africa. This mingling of races and nationalities taking place on such a high and dignified level was productive of much happiness and inspiration. Thus the Kampala Conference demonstrated the Baha'i pattern for harmony and unity among the children of men. Completely missing was the sense of alienation and tension characteristic of the meeting of races which have long practiced the embittering separations established by old traditions in Africa. The choice of the theme, "Light Over Africa," was amply justified. There was earnest consultation over the tasks and opportunities of the Great Teaching Crusade, the training of Baha'i teachers, the maturing of individual Baha'is to the spirit and principles of their Faith, and the important work of developing and consolidating Baha'i groups and Assemblies throughout the African continent. The earnest and beautiful prayers which opened the Conference gave it the momen-turn and high spirit which prevailed. Following this, powerful messages from the Beloved Guardian were read, giving a set of definite objectives and the magnificent scope of the Crusade with its relationship to the development of the World Order of Baha'u'llah. Along with these great messages, the Guardian sent a striking map of the world on which he had drawn the Crusade objectives, and, by means of colors and lines, charted the assignments and responsibilities given to each country. The messages and the maps were presented by Leroy Joas, Hand of the Cause, who came as the Guardian's representative to the Conference. He gave us the Beloved Guardian's words and views, pointing out that through this Hcily Crusade the Baha'is would in ten years double the accomplishments of the past one hundred and ten years. "They will cover the earth with the glory of the Lord," thus fulfilling the ancient prophecy of Daniel. He made us understand that the victories ahead like those of the past would result from our ability to strengthen the administrative order and demonstrate the devotion and service which is the spirit of the Baha Faith. The Conference agenda was designed to draw upon the teaching and administrative experience of the Baha around the world. Talks of great wisdom, information and inspiration were given by the Hands of the Cause, the Assembly representatives from the United States, Great Britain, India and Ir~in. The Africa pioneers who had done the groundbreaking in Africa's widely differing areas contributed much in their down-to-earth discussion of the pioneers' problems, and in their presentation of the attitudes which they must be prepared to face and with which they must deal. Following are excerpts from some of the talks given: Horace Holley, American Hand of the Cause: 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Blessed are those who work in groups." Small groups which learn to solve their problems train themselves for larger problems. The small group is but the flowerpot in which the seed is planted. When the seed grows we transplant it to a larger garden. The Baha'i local community with the local assembly is civilization in miniature. The individual begins to realize that the Faith establishes a social order. The unified community is civilization. Human society is a series of human relationships. The Baha'i Faith gives us the form of perfect government for our own Baha affairs. Man is not wholly man until he learns the spirit of the Teachings. The seed has all the potentialities of the tree. The little group is the seed, and when it has attained a tiny sprout, community development begins which will re-suit in the maturity of the tree. God has no time. He is timeless. Man conquers time when he is imbued with moral purpose. He knows that the power of God will bring His work to perfection. The Guardian wrote the American Baha'is that the wofid is in dire need of the love of God. At every stage in the consolidation of the community, the friends must do their utmost to convey the love that is born of God. 'A ii Nakhjavdni, Persian pioneer to Africa: 'Abdu'l-Baha said that teaching is like the science of medicine. In each case you find a different disease, and the treat [p126] African choir at Kampala Conference public meeting, singing "Lord, I want to be a Baha'i with all my heart." [p127] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAI{A'U'LLAH'S MISSION 127 meat changes accordingly. The Guardian has given us the general principle for teaching in Africa, "One teaches the receptive souls one finds." Also in The Challenging Requirements the Guardian emphasizes the fundamental prerequisites of Teaching and tells us teaching methods must be adapted to the various backgrounds, temperaments and susceptibilities of the races. The susceptibilities of the African people are (1) an abhorrence of any racial discrimination; (2) fear of plans and activities originated by white people; (3) a dissatisfaction with the methods used by missionaries; (4) a consciousness of the superiority of the outside world, coupled with a thirst for knowledge and progress; (5) an understanding and preference for simpler ideas; (6) a hesitation at the use of reason in the study of religious methods; (7) an acceptance of the teachings of the Church and the Bible; (8) a sensitiveness and appreciation for true and sincere love, lack of prejudice and genuine hospitality; (9) a strong faith in God and His Prophets. The first thing a pioneer must have is devotion, understanding and love for the Guardian. He should study the writings constantly and turn to the Guardian in his heart. The second most important thing is prayer at all times, not in words, but in deeds. Where there is more than one pioneer, there must be unity real unity among the Baha'is. The spirit of love and unity is absolutely necessary, or there can be no success. Deeds not words must be the attitude of the pioneer. Philip Hainsworth, British pioneer to Africa: An African once said to me "Our hearts are like mirrors, we reflect what we see." Thus the African reflects the state of mind of the person with whom he deals or works. The white man's condemnation of the African is a condemnation of himself. The success of the Persian pioneers is explained by the fact that they show such an abundance of love to the African who reflects it back. Translation difficulties with the African language are not so much in words as in ideas. The person of a narrow environment cannot understand the problems of the world. Then there are problems unique to Africa. For thirteen hundred years the Islamic countries have been struggling to develop ideas of nationalism. For two thousand years the Western world has had peo pie working for certain ideas of civilization. In Africa, however, some of the groups have not even evolved to the village stage, as we know it in the West. The village for them is merely a boundary line for administration or collection of taxes. The African family often lives in two villages. There is little community life as we know it. As Baha'is the Africans have made the jump from a family or clan stage of society to the sense of world community in oniy a few months. Oniy the power of Baha'u'llah could have made this possible. It is only this power which can create a new society and environment for this progress. The assuming of responsibility, as we understand it in the West, will be new to the African. The African leaders never give responsibility to the members of their flock. They may dispense charity or similar actions, but they never permit the development of responsibility. It must be noted, too, that the African has had very little experience in voting, in administrative responsibility and in the exercise of the mind over the dictates of the heart; these are all new experiences for him. The lack of equality between the sexes is another factor to be considered. The Baha'is must instill in the African a crusading spirit for African advancement. They must demonstrate the Unity of the Faith, and prove that they have come to drive out disunity. To meet the need there must be preparation, prayer, meditation, study classes for deepening, and classes for educating the illiterate in every village. The Africans must be urged to help themselves and to develop and share the Message of Baha'u'llah. The high spiritual note of the Conference came when its participants were afforded the privilege of viewing the photograph of the portrait of the B6h which the Beloved Guardian had sent as a special gift. Prior to the actual viewing of the portrait, a short period was devoted to stories of the Bab related by two Hands of the Cause, Mr. VaIiyu'11~h Varq~ and Mr. Leroy Joas. Mr. Varq~'s story on the history of the portrait was as follows: As part of a plot against the life of the B~b, the Governor of Urtimiyyih invited Him to the public bath when He arrived in that city. A wild and dangerous horse, notorious for its unruliness, was sent to the Bib and the attendants accompanying the [p128] 128 THE BAHA'! WORLD horse had been instructed to run away as soon as He had mounted. Under such circumstances, the Governor was certain that the Bab would be killed. On being told of ifie plot, the Bab merely replied, "I have left My Life in the Hands of God." According to plan, the dangerous horse was led to the BTh and as lie mounted, the attendants ran away. At His first touch, however, the horse grew tame and gentle, carrying Him to the public bath calmly and comfortably. When the BTh dismounted, the horse again became so unruly that seven or eight men rushed to subdue it, but when the BTh was ready to return home and the wild horse was once more led up to Him, the same incidents occurred Ñ the attendants dashing away when the Bab mounted, and the dangerous horse becoming tame and gentle. Thus, it carried the 13Th back to His home. Crowds of people who had heard of the vicious nature of the horse came to see the spectacle. They marveled at the behavior of the animal, and to their simple minds the extraordinary demonstration appeared nothing short of a miracle. Therefore, when the Bab left the bath, they hurried with receptacles and cloths to carry away every bit of the water that had touched His Holy Person. After this episode, great numbers of peo-pie went to see the Bab and among them was a young painter who wanted to paint a picture of the Hoiy Man. When he was permitted to visit Him and was ushered into His presence, the Bab gathered His 'abA about Him, placed His hands on His knees and gazed intently at the painter, who studied His face. On arriving home the painter tried to paint it from memory but could not, so he went a second time to see the BTh. Again the B&b pushed back His turban, drew His 'aba around Him, placed His hands on His knees and gazed intently at the painter. This whole incident was repeated once again and then the painter, having a perfect impression of the Countenance, drew the portrait with a pencil. When Varq~'s father was shown this portrait, he asked the painter to do it in water color. This was executed and a copy sent to Baha'u'llah, who upon receiving it, sent for a great Afn~n, a cousin of the Bab, who happened to be in the ItToiy Land at that time, to come and identify it. The Afn~n stated that the portrait was a true likeness. VarqA's father asked Baha'u'llah if nine copies could be made for future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's of the world but Baha'u'llah said that only one or two copies could be made of the countenance of that "Father of Beauty and Grandeur." The painter drew another and gave it to Varq&'s father. When lie was martyred, this picture was taken to the House of the Bab and the original pencil sketch was taken to the House of the Master. Two water colors are in the World Center Archives and another is at present in the Royal Archives, but 'Abdu'l-Baha said the latter would come back to the Baha'is. The copy of the portrait sent to Kampala and that sent to America are photographs of the painting in the World Center Archives. Mr. Leroy Joas told the following story: When the Bab was martyred, His body was thrown into a moat to be devoured by dogs. This was done because there was a verse in the Qur'an declaring that the dogs would not devour the body of the Promised One and they wished to make certain that this prophecy would not apply to the flAb. However, dogs did not molest the remains and the body of the BTh was promptly rescued by the B~bis. Today the Guardian walks in the gardens on Mt. Carmel. He loves to point out that the most beautiful sepulcher in the world, surrounded by lovely gardens, now houses those remains which were thrown into the moat, and that all over the world there are friends who proclaim the Divinity and Holiness of the Blessed DAb. The actual viewing of the portrait was an occasion of great reverence and spiritual dedication. Preceding the procession of the viewers, Mr. 'Alf-Akbar Furdtan, Hand of the Cause, chanted the Tablet of Visitation in the original tongue. The portrait was set upon a table covered with a fine silk cloth and adorned with roses. The believers walked solemnly by so that they might gaze upon it. The Persians and Africans evidenced great devotion, kneeling before the portrait and kissing the cloth beneath it. Tears streamed from many eyes, for every heart was filled with love and respect for the great suffering and service of the Bab who was martyred for heralding the dawn of a World Faith. Along with the portrait the Guardian sent another very valuable and impressive gift to the Conference. It was a beautifully lettered [p129] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 129 Leroy loas greeting African Baha'is on behalf of the Guardian, Kampala, Uganda, Africa, February, 1953. scroll of portions of the BTh's Commentary on the S6rih of Joseph. This magnificent revelation of the Bab was the one He gave on the night of His announcement of His Station and Mission. The Guardian said that this Commentary was the Bible of the early Bab's and that the BTh sent portions of it to Baha'u'llah, Who when He read it, acknowledged the BTh. In this highly significant Commentary, the BTh addressed the rulers and leaders of the world, giving prophecies concerning the suffering which would come, and the extension of the Faith to Africa. In it, also, He first called the people of the West to issue forth from their cities in the service of the Faith. Despite their primitive background, the African Baha'is showed great interest and gave concentrated attention during the Conference. They followed the consultation closely and frequently participated, expressing their views on matters discussed. Two African women of the Teso tribe addressed the Conference, being particularly concerned with the emphasis the Faith places upon education and freedom from prejudice. Several of the speakers made an appeal for Baha'i teachers and schools. Conference languages were English, Persian, Teso and Swahili. The African and Persian interpreters did a masterful job of translating the talks and the ensuing discussions. They spoke with eloquence and ease, so that none of the listeners lost the expression and fire of what was said. The Persian Baha'is brought a unique [p130] 130 THE BAHA'! WORLD spirit to the Conference. There was a spontaneous and natural friendliness about them and they showed the African believers great courtesy and wholehearted affection. One of them, TarA~u'll6~h Samandari, the only living Hand of the Cause who saw BahA'u' -11Th, enchanted all with the stories and reminiscences of his visit with Him. The American Baha'is also won the interest of the Africans who seemed eager to learn about America and asked many questions about it. The spirit of America's Louis Gregory, first Negro Hand of the Cause, was keenly felt at the Conference. The story of his life, as published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, was eagerly read and the Africans expressed keen interest and deep admiration for this distinguished servant of the Cause of Baha'u'llah who devoted his life to the promulgation of the Teachings. Several asked that a large picture of Louis Gregory be sent to the Ija4ratu'1-Quds in Kampala. Two public meetings were held in connection with the Conference in Kampala. The first was at Makere College, the leading college in East Africa for African natives, and was well attended by Europeans, Africans and Asians. Horace Holley, American Hand of the Cause, and H. M. Baha'i of Great Britain were the speakers. The second was held under the Conference Marquee and the speakers were Dorothy Baker, American Hand of the Cause, and Matthew Bullock of the United States. This meeting attracted lively comment in the Kampala press and from it came an opportunity to reply to an article which misstated the teachings of the Faith. In addition to the public meetings and the press publicity, mention should be made of the two fine window displays in prominent shops on the main street of Kampala, which were arranged by the Collisons and the Elstona, American pio. neers. The displays were of books, posters and pamphlets on the Faith, pictures of the Temple in Wilnette, and a circle of dolls which represented the various races and nationalities. These windows drew crowds of people. The Conference released a special booklet for teaching use in Africa. It was The Baha'i Life, an unusually fine compilation of the teachings selected and arranged by Rex and Mary Collison for the British Africa Teaching Committee who published it. The Conference closed on a high note of dedication. Every believer there understood the grave responsibilities the Baha'is face as they enter upon the greatest religious Crusade in history and every one resolved to share in the great task of achieving the goals. All knew that the victories sought come only through deeds which express sincere devotion, wisdom, purity of heart, and courageous and tireless service in the promotion of that which will advance the unity of mankind. The spiritual influence and fellowship this Conference generated will be far-reaching in its effect upon Africa. (3) AFRICA'S NEW HORIZON By MILDRED MOTTAHEDEH IN THE months preceding the Kampala Conference the Guardian spoke to many of the pilgrims who came to Haifa of the African Baha'is and how pure-hearted they were. Some of the pilgrims wondered how these Africans, coming from so primitive a culture, could integrate themselves in the Baha'i world which was trying to emerge as the highest type of civilization the world had yet known. It seemed beyond comprehension that these primitive people could learn, in so short a time, to function according to Baha'i principles when it had taken Baha'is from the more highly developed countries decades to evolve working communities. Most of the African Baha'is had joined the Faith during the six months preceding the Conference, and the majority of them came from the interior bush country where they had had little contact with governmental processes. To this Conference came Baha'is of nineteen countries outside of Africa, and Africans representing thirty tribes. Even those in charge of the program could scarcely visualize the result of mingling such diverse elements of race and culture. From the very moment that the African Baha'is began to arrive in Kampala and to meet the Baha'is of other countries, new and dazzling facets of the unity of the human [p131] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 131 race appeared to all the participants with a brilliant clarity. Racial and cultural differences disappeared into a pattern of unity. For all the world to see, here was the example of an emerging world commonwealth with all races joining hands in a united effort for the betterment of all. Racial and culiural differences properly became the variations which added richness and color to men's lives rather than becoming sources of contention. Imbued with the noble principles of the Teachings of Baha'u'llah, designed to weld the races of man together, there was no difficulty whatever in making a bridge from one Baha'i to another, regardless of national or racial origin. Animated by the same great purposes, the force of unity increased with each passing day of the Conference. It soon became apparent that the so-caRed differences that divide men were wholly imaginary and that all peoples have the same capacity to take their proper share, as brothers, in the advancement of civilization. The African Baha'is, in accepting the principles of the Faith, had bridged a gap of six thousand years of civilization and had advanced to a viewpoint which has not as yet been achieved by the peoples of highly evolved nations. In the many hours of consultation during the nine days of the Conference they spoke with dignity and wisdom as individuals and not as "blocks" of people. When they voted on any question by a show of hands it was easy to see that all were voting as individuals and not by national or racial Hocks. Though the Africans had had no previous experience in such conferences, both men and women freely participated in an orderly fashion in the discussion of various questions. The Baha'is coming from outside of Africa were deeply moved to see and hear the many evidences of the love that the African Baha'is bore for their newfound Faith. Their faith was no passing emotional fancy but a firmly rooted conviction that they had found the truth for this day. Some spoke of the fact that they wished it to be understood that they had not come for material gain but for spiritual enrichment. Many spoke of their desire to teach their fellow Africans. They considered it their responsibility to awaken their fellow Africans to this light which had newly illumined their lives. A group of young men coming from different parts of Africa who were then attending the Aggrey Memorial School, composed a letter to the Conference in which they wrote that they were glad of the long history of martyrdoms in the Baha'i Faith because when they might perhaps suffer a similar fate in teaching their African brothers they would have this noble example before them. They went on to say that should they be burned for their Faith they would hope that their ashes would be blown over Africa to fertilize the soil for the planting of the seeds of the Baha'i Faith. All the Africans who spoke showed by their comments how well they had grasped the basic principles of the Faith. Though the position of women in Africa is not high, the women spoke with ease and freedom and declared their intention to share in the task of teaching Africa. Both men and women found in their Faith a fresh objective viewpoint on the problems of Africa itself. More than that, their horizon had been broadened to include not only their own continent but all the world. There was a newly acquired sense of responsibility that cried oUt for action Ñ not action to overcome their problems by force, but to foster their own development and that of their continent by teaching the principles of their Faith. All pleaded for education so that they might truly take their places as citizens of the world. This Conference, the first of four Intercontinental Baha'i Conferences, was also the first time that large groups of Baha'is from different continents had gathered to work together. The ease with which all national and cultural barriers were hurdled became apparent even the first day. Orientals, Africans and Occidentals found no difficulty in understanding each other's viewpoint. Midway in the Conference it would have been difficult for an outside observer to guess that the participants had, for the most part, never met until the Conference opened. There was an atmosphere of love, trust and mutual respect which blended all into a cooperative while, moving forward together toward the great goal destined to launch the whole earth into a new era of understanding. Touching, indeed, to Baha'is long in the Faith, were the devotion and respect of these new IBahA'is, their desire to know everything in the Baha books, their expressions of surprise and joy when they realized that the National Headquarters building belonged to them! Every one of the thousands of martyrs [p132] 132 TIlE BAHA'I WORLD who died for their Faith in the early years of its history would surely have felt his death newly vindicated in the glowing faces of these new Baha'is as they walked with devout feet before the Portrait of the BTh. In Him they saw the Herald who had given His life that men might find the Promised One. Baha'is present who had been in the Faith for many years felt a sharp sting of remorse when the Africans asked why the Baha'is had waited one hundred and nine years before bringing them the joyful tidings of a new day. Well might they reproach themselves, having at last discovered that in the heart of Africa were millions of souls untainted by the materialism now eating into the vitals of the Western world. Here, waiting, were a people as pure in heart as those who first believed in Jesus Christ. The Guardian has said that many of the Africans had accepted the Baha'i Faith like the Christians in The Book of Acts. Indeed, many had come through dreams and visions as did the early Christians whose faith shed light on all the civilized world. Like them, the Africans at once realized the burning truth of Baha'u'llah's Message. Like them, they longed to hasten with the tidings to their fellowmen. From them flows a dynamic force of belief that will hasten the emergence of their great continent and will, in turn, spread its influence to other parts of the world. This Conference forever laid to rest the timeworn idea that primitive people are childlike and cannot shoulder their share of responsibility for world development. They, like all other peoples, can readily assume their place when their hearts and minds are won over to a noble ideal, divinely inspired. This is the alchemy that brings the true brotherhood of man and true progress in civilization. Though it was the Africans who thanked the Baha'i visitors for having demonstrated to them the unity of man, it was the visitors who learned the profound lesson that spiritually, there are no primitive people Ñ only those waiting to be awakened. [p133] 3. THE ALL-AMERICA INTER CONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE HELD IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., APRIL 29-MAY 6, 1953 THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGES TO THE CONFERENCE (1) Presented by ROUfYYIH KHANUM ON THE occasion of the launching of an epochal, global, spiritual, decade-long crusade, constituting the high-water mark of the festivities commemorating the Centenary of the birth of the Mission of Baha'u'llah, coinciding with the ninetieth Anniversary of the Declaration of that same Mission in the Garden of Risivan, and synchronizing with both the convocation of the All-American Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Chicago, and the fiftieth Anniversary of the inception of the holiest Mashriqu'I-Adbk& of the Baha world and its dedication to public worship Ñ on such a solemn and historic occasion I invite His followers, the world over, to contemplate with me the glorious and manifold evidences of the onward march of His Faith and of the steady unfoldment of its embryonic World Order both in the Holy Land and in the five continents of the globe. This infinitely precious Faith, despite eleven decades of uninterrupted persecution, on the part of governments and ecciesiastics, involving the martyrdom of its Prophet-Herald, the four banishments and forty-year-long exile suffered by its Founder, the forty years of incarceration inflicted upon its Exemplar, and the sacrifice of no less than twenty thousand of its followers, has succeeded in firmly establishing itself in all the continents of the globe, and is irresistibly forging ahead, with accelerating momentum bidding fair to envelop, at the close of the coming decade, the whole planet with the radiance of its splendor. Confined within the lifetime of its Martyr Prophet to two countries, reaching during the period of the ministry of its Author thirteen other lands; planting its banner in the course of the ministry of the Center of the Covenant in twenty additional sovereign states and dependencies in both hemispheres, this Faith has spread, since the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha, to ninety-four countries, raising the total number of the territories within its pale to one hundred twenty-nine, no less than eighteen of which were added in a single year, while fifty-one were opened in the course of the nine year interval separating the first from the second Baha'i Jubilee. The number of eastern and western languages into which its literature has been translated and printed, or is in the process of translation, and which reached forty-one a decade ago, is now ninety-one, including thirteen African and twenty-five Indian and Burmese languages. The number of settlements in Greenland provided with Baha'i Scriptures in the Greenlandic tongue has been raised to forty-eight, including Thule beyond the Arctic Circle and Baha near the 80th latitude, whilst Baha'i literature in that same language has been despatched as far north as the radio station at Brondlunsfjord, Pearyland, 82nd latitude, the northernmost outpost of the world. Representatives of thirty-one races and of twenty-four African tribes have been enrolled in the Baha'i World Community. Contact has been established with the fob lowing seventeen minority groups and races: the Eskimos of Alaska and Greenland, the Lapps of Scandinavia, the Maoris of New Zealand, the Sea-Dayaks of Sarawak, the Polynesians of the Fiji Islands, the Cree Indians of Prairie Provinces, Canada, the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, the Oneida Indians in Wisconsin, the Omaha Indians in Nebraska, the Seminole Indians in 138 [p134] 134 THE BAHA'! WORLD Florida, the Mexican Indians in Mexico, the Indians of the San Bias Islands, the Indians of Chichicastenango in Guatemala, the Mayans in Yucatan, the Patagonian Indians in Argentina, the Indians of La Paz in Bolivia and the Inca Indians in Peru. The national Plans, formulated and vigorously and systematically prosecuted, in the course of the concluding years of the first, and the opening years of the second, epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, by the Baha'i Communities in the United States, in Persia, in the British Isles, in Latin America, in Canada, in India, P6ikist&n and Burma, in 'IrAq, in Australia and New Zealand, in Germany and Austria, in Egypt and the S6d6.n, have raised the number of Baha'i centers established in both hemispheres to two thousand five hundred maintained by representatives of the white, the black, the yellow, the red and the brown races of mankind, comprising ten in the Arabian Peninsula, over thirty in Egypt and the SfldAn, over forty in the recently opened European goal countries, over fifty in the British Isles, over sixty in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, over seventy in Germany and Austria, over ninety in Canada, over ninety in India, P6tistAn and Burma, over one hundred in Central and South America, over six hundred in Persia and over one thousand two hundred in the United States of America. The Superstructure of the Sepulcher of the Martyr Herald of the Faith Ñ a three-quarters of a million dollar enterprise Ñ is nearing completion, on the slopes of the Mountain of God, within the heart of the Holy Land, the nest of the Prophets, and the divinely chosen Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Baha'i world. The preliminary measures, heralding the unf old-ment of the institution of Guardianship, the pivot of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament, have been adopted, through the appointment of the first two contingents of the Hands of the Cause, numbering nineteen, recruited from the five continents of the globe, representative in their extraction of the three principal religions of mankind, and constituting the nucleus of that august institution invested with such weighty and sacred functions by the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant. The International Baha'i Council, comprising eight members, charged with assisting in the manifold activities attendant upon the rise of the World Administrative Center of the Faith, which must pave the way for the formation of a Baha'i International Court and the eventual emergence of the Universal House of Justice, the Supreme Legislative Body of the future Baha'i Commonwealth, has been established, enlarged, and the functions of its members defined. The number of the pillars of the Universal House of Justice has been raised to twelve through the successive formation of the Canadian, the Central American, the South American and the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies. The stupendous process of the rise and consolidation of the World Administrative Center of the Faith has been accelerated through the acquisition, in the Plain of 'Akka, of a one hundred and sixty thousand square meter area, surrounding the Qiblili of the Baha'i world, permitting of the extension of the Outer Sanctuary of the Most Holy Tomb Ñ to be designated henceforth the Ijaram-i-Aqdas Ñ through the initiation, at the inception of the Holy Year, of the landscaping and embellishment of a tenth of the acquired area, and through the adoption of measures for the extensive illumination of the entire Sanctuary and the erection of stately portals constituting a befitting tribute to the memory of the Author of the Faith, within the Sacred Precincts of His Sepulcher, on the occasion of the celebration of the Greatest Festival of the Year commemorating the Centenary of the birth of His Mission. The fifty-year-old enterprise, involving the purchase of land for the construction, the exterior and interior ornamentation, and the landscaping of the grounds of, the holiest House of Worship ever to be reared to the glory of the Most Great Name, the Mother Temple of the West, and involving the expenditure of over two and a half million dollars, has been consummated, in time for its dedication to public worship during the Ri4v~n period of this Holy Year coinciding with both the fiftieth anniversary of the inception of this enterprise and the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's ministry. The design for the Mashriqu'1-Ad±Ur on Mt. Carmel, conceived by the architect appointed by 'Abdu'l-Baha has been completed, and a model constructed, which is soon to be unveiled at the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference, in anticipation of the selection and the purchase of its future site, and of its ultimate construction in the neighborhood of the Bib's Sepulcher. The total area of Baha'i [p135] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAIIA'U'LLAII'S MISSION 135 international endowments, surrounding and permanently dedicated to the Tomb of the Bab has been raised, through recent successive purchases of extensive plots, overlooking that hallowed Spot, to almost one-quarter of a million square meters. The estimated value of the Baha'i international endowments and holy Places at the World Center of the Faith, in the twin cities of 'Akka and Haifa, has passed the four million dollar mark. The Baha'i national endowments in the United States of America now exceed three million dollars. The area of land purchased on the slopes of the Elburz Mountains, overlooking the city of TilirAn, in anticipation of the construction of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of Persia, has reached approximately four million square meters. The area of land dedicated to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, in the vicinity of the confines of the Holy Land, exceeds two million three hundred thousand square meters. The area of land dedicated to the Shrine of the Bab and registered in the name of the Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, is more than one hundred thousand square meters. Over one hundred and fifty thousand square meters of land have been dedicated to the Faith in the Antipodes, eighty thousand square meters in the Territory of Alaska, whilst the lands contributed in Latin America for a similar purpose approximate onehalf of a million square meters, ninety thousand of which have been set aside near Santiago, Chile for the first Matriqu'1-Adiik4r of South America. The estimated value of the National Baha'i administrative headquarters established in Tihr4n, in Wilmette, Illinois, in Baghdad, in Cairo, in New Delhi, in Sydney, in Frankfurt and in Toronto, exceed one and three-quarters of a million dollars. The Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies now incorporated number one hundred and fourteen, of which nine are national and the rest local Assemblies, fifty-six of which are in the United States of America, sixteen in India, eleven in South America, six in Central America, three each in P~kist~n, in Burma and in Canada, two in Australia and one each in Germany, in Baluchist6n, in New Zealand, in the Philippine Islands and in Malaya. The Baha'i Marriage Certificate has been recognized by the Israel Civil Authorities, as well as by twenty-one federal districts and states of the United States of America. The Baha'i Holy Days have been recognized by the Ministry of Education of the State of Israel, in the British Isles, by the state of Victoria in Australia, in Anchorage, Alaska, in Washington, D.C. and in seven states of the American Union. National Baha'i Conferences have been held in recent years in Bern, ZUrich, Basel, Rome; National Baha'i Women's Conventions and Youth Conferences have convened in Tili-am, whilst Regional Teaching Conferences have been organized in Buenos Aires, in Panama City, in Scandinavia, in the Iberian Peninsula, and in the Benelux countries. European International Teaching Conferences have been convened successively in Geneva, in Brussels, in Copenhagen, in Scheveningen and in Luxembourg City, paving the way for the convocation of four successive Intercontinental Teaching Conferences, the first of which has recently been held in Kampala, in the heart of the African continent, the rest to be successively convened in Wilmette, Illinois, in Stockholm and in New Delhi Ñ Conferences which, God willing, will be the forerunners of the World Baha Congress, to be convened in the City of Baghdad, on the occasion of the centenary of The formal assumption by Baha'u'llah of His prophetic Office. Recognition has been extended to the Faith by the United Nations as an international nongovernmental organization enabling the Baha'i International Community to appoint accredited representatives, who have already attended, in their capacity as observers, the Conference on Human Rights held in Geneva and the United Nations General Assembly held in Paris and participated in United Nations regional nongovernmental conferences, held in localities as far apart as New York, Santiago, Manila, Istanbul, Den Passar, Paris, Managua, Geneva and Montevideo. So glorious a record of accomplishments in the service of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, whether local, national or international, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Bab4'f activity, can be regarded in no other light than as a prelude to a period of prodigious expansion and consolidation to be inaugurated by the launching of a global spiritual crusade, on the threshold of which the Baha'i world now stands. This crusade extending through ten years will involve the simultaneous prosecution of twelve National Plans, will necessitate the active and sus [p136] 136 THE BAHA'I WORLD tamed participation of each of the twelve existing National Spiritual Assemblies representing no less than thirty-six nations and will demand the utmost exertion, consecration and heroism. It aims at the broadening and the reinforcement of the foundations of the Faith in each of the twelve areas that are to serve as operational bases for the prosecution of these twelve National Plans; the opening of one hundred and thirty-one territories to the Faith, the consolidation of one hundred and eighteen territories; the translation and printing of literature in ninety-one languages; the construction of two Mashriqu'1-AdblArs; the acquisition of sites for the future construction of eleven Temples; the formation of forty-eight National Spiritual Assemblies; the founding of forty-seven National fla4ratu'1-Quds; the incorporation of fifty National Spiritual Assemblies; the framing of Baha'i national constitutions and the establishment of Baha'i national endowments by each of these National Assemblies; the adoption of preliminary measures for the construction of B abA'-u'11Th's Sepulcher; the erection of the first Dependency of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the western world; the development of the institution of the Hands of the Cause; the transformation of the International Baha'i Council into an international Baha'i court; the codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the KITAB-I-AQDAS; the establishment of six National Baha'i Courts in the chief cities of the Islamic East; the extension of international Baha'i endowments in the Plain of 'Akka and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel; the construction of the International Baha'i Archives in the neighborhood of the Bab's Sepulcher; the construction of the Tomb of the BTh's wife in ShirAz the identification of the resting-places of Baha'u'llah's father, of the Bab's mother and of His cousin and their reburial in the neighborhood of the Most Great House; the acquisition of the Garden of Ri4v~tn inBagh-did, and of the sites of the Siy4h-ChAI in Tihr6~n, of the BTh's martyrdom in Tabriz and of His incarceration in Qbihriq; the establishment of six Baha'i National Publish-kg Trusts; the formation of seven Israel Branches of Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies; the participation of women in the membership of Baha'i local and national Spiritual Assemblies in Persia; the establishment of a Baha'i National Printing-Press in Tihr~n; the reinforcement of the ties binding ing the Baha'i World Community with the United Nations; the opening to the Faith, circumstances permitting, of eleven Republics comprised in the Soviet Union, as well as two Soviet-controlled European states Ñ all, please God, culminating in the convocation of a World Baha'i Congress, in the vicinity of the Garden of RiQvAn, in the third holiest city of the Baha'i world, on the occasion of the worldwide celebrations commemorating the centenary of the formal assumption by Baha'u'llah of His prophetic Office. Let there be no mistake. The avowed, the primary aim of this Spiritual Crusade is none other than the conquest of the citadels of men's hearts. The theater of its operations is the entire planet. Its duration a whole decade. Its commencement synchronizes with the Centenary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission. Its culmination will coincide with the Centenary of the Declaration of that same Mission. The agencies assisting in its conduct are the nascent administrative institutions of a steadily evolving divinely appointed Order. Its driving force is the energizing influence generated by the Revelation heralded by the BTh and proclaimed by Baha'u'llah. Its Marshal is none other than the Author of the Divine Plan. Its standard-bearers are the Hands of the Cause of God appointed in every continent of the globe. Its generals are the twelve National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the execution of its design. Its vanguard is the chief executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Master Plan, their allies and associates. Its legions are the rank and file of believers standing behind these same twelve National Assemblies and sharing in the global task embracing the American, the European, the African, the Asiatic and Australian fronts. The charter directing its course is the immortal Tablets that have flowed from the Pen of the Center of the Covenant Himself. The armor with which its onrushing hosts have been invested is the glad tidings of God's own Message in this Day, the principles underlying the Order proclaimed by His Messenger, and the laws and ordinances governing His Dispensation. The battlecry animating its heroes and heroines is the cry of YA Bab'u'1-AbM, Y~ 'Aliyyu'1-A'162. So vast, so momentous and challenging a crusade that will, God willing, illuminate the annals of the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, and [p137] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 137 immortalize the second decade of the second Baha'i century, and the termination of which will mark the closing of the first Epoch in the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, will, in itself, pave the way for, and constitute the prelude to, the initiation of the laborious and tremendously long process of establishing in the course of subsequent crusades in all the newly opened sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as well as in all the remaining territories of the globe, the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith with all its attendant agencies, and of eventually erecting in these territories still more pillars to share in sustaining the weight, and in broadening the foundation, of the Universal House of Justice. Then, and only then, will the vast, the majestic process, set in motion at the dawn of the Adamic cycle, attain its consummation Ñ a process which commenced six thousand years ago, with the planting, in the soil of the Divine Will, of the Tree of Divine Revelation, and which has already passed through certain stages and must needs pass through still others ere it attains its final consummation. The first part of this process was the slow and steady growth of this Tree of Divine Revelation, successively putting forth its branches, shoots and offshoots, and revealing its leaves, buds and blossoms, as a direct consequence of the light and warmth, imparted to it by a series of progressive Dispensations associated with Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Mu1~ammad and other Prophets, and of the vernal showers of blood shed by countless martyrs in their path. The second part of this process was the fruition of this Tree, "that belongeth neither to the East nor to the West," when the Bab appeared as the Perfect Fruit and declared His Mission in the Year Sixty in the City of Shir~z. The third part was the grinding of this sacred Seed, of infinite preciousness and potency, in the mill of adversity causing it to yield its oil, six years later, in the City of Tabriz. The fourth part was the ignition of this oil by the Hand of Providence in the depths and amidst the darkness of the SiyTh-ChAl of Tffir~n a hundred years ago. The fifth, was the clothing of that flickering Light, which had scarcely penetrated the adjoining territory of 'Iraq, in the lamp of Revelation, after an eclipse lasting no less than ten years, in the City of Baghdad. The sixth, was the spread of the radiance of that Light, shining with added brilliancy in its crystal globe in Adrianople, and later on in the fortress-town of 'Akka, to thirteen countries in the Asiatic and African continents. The seventh was its projection, from the Most Great Prison, in the course of the ministry of the Center of the Covenant, across the seas and the shedding of its illumination upon twenty sovereign states and dependencies in the American, the European, and Australian continents. The eighth part of that process was the diffusion of that same Light in the course of the first, and the opening years of the second, epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, over ninety-four sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet, as a result of the prosecution of a series of national Plans, initiated by eleven National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Baha world, utilizing the agencies of a newly emerged, divinely appointed Administrative Order, and which has now culminated in the One Hundredth Anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission. The ninth part of this process Ñ the stage we are now entering Ñ is the further diffusion of that same Light over one hundred and thirty-one additional territories and islands in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, through the operation of a decade-long world spiritual crusade whose termination will, God willing, coincide with the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah in Bagh&td. And finally the tenth part of this mighty process must be the penetration of that Light, in the course of numerous Crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of Baha'u'llah's Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the Light of God's triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet. This present Crusade, on the threshold of which we now stand, will, moreover, by virtue of the dynamic forces it will release and its wide repercussions over the entire surface of the globe, contribute effectually to the acceleration of yet another process of tremendous significance which will carry the steadily evolving Faith of Baha'u'llah through its present stages of obscurity, of repression, of emancipation and of recogni [p138] 138 THE BAHA'I WORLD tion Ñ stages one or another of which Baha'i national communities in various parts of the world now find themselves in, to the stage of establishment, the stage at which the Faith of Baha'u'llah will be recognized by the civil authorities as the State Religion, similar to that which Christianity entered in the years following the death of the Emperor Constantine, a stage which must later be followed by the emergence of the Baha'i state itself, functioning, in all religious and civil matters, in strict accordance with the Laws and Ordinances of the KITAB-I-AQDAS, the Most Holy, the Mother-Book of the Baha'i Revelation, a stage which, in the fullness of time, will culminate in the establishment of the World Baha'i Commonwealth, functioning in the plenitude of its powers, and which will signalize the long-awaited advent of the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth Ñ the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah Ñ mirroring however faintly upon this humble handful of dust the glories of the AbhA Kingdom. This final and crowning stage in the evolution of the Plan wrought by God Himself for humanity will, in turn, prove to be the signal for the birth of a world civilization, incomparable in its range, its character and potency, in the history of mankind, Ñ a civilization which posterity will, with one voice, acclaim as the fairest fruit of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, and whose rich harvest will be garnered during future Dispensations destined to succeed one another in the course of the five thousand century Baha'i Cycle. Ñ SHOGHI May 4, 1953. (2) Presented by ROHiYYIH KHVZNUM THE Hands of the Cause, the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the resident believers and visitors attending the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. Well-beloved Friends: With a heart overflowing with joy and thankfulness I acclaim, at this hour marking the climax of the worldwide festivities of this Holy Year, the convocation, in the heart of the North American continent and under the shadow of the newly consecrated Mother Temple of the West, of the second and, without doubt, the most distinguished of the four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences commemorating the Centenary of the inception of the Mission of Baha'u'llah. On the occasion of the opening of this epochmaking Conference, at which members of the United States, the Canadian, the Central American and South American National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Baha'i Communities in the States of the American Union, in the Provinces of the Dominion of Canada, in Alaska, and in the Republics of Latin America, are assembled, I recall the unique, the historic, the highly significant and profoundly moving summons issued by the Author of the Baha Faith Himself, and enshrined for all time in the Mother-Book of His Revelation and Repository of His Laws, and addressed cob lectively to the rulers of the entire Western Hemisphere, conferring upon them an honor such as has not been conferred by Him on the rulers of any other continent of the globe. With a throbbing heart I call to mind, at a distance of more than a century, since the Herald of the Faith bade in His Qayyflmu'1-Asm4' the "peoples of the West" to "issue forth" from their "cities" to aid His Cause, the long series of events which have illuminated the annals of Baha'i history in the course of six memorable decades stretching from the time when the name of Bah6] u'll~h was first publicly mentioned on the American continent to the present hour when the first Matriqu'1-Adbk~r of the West has finally been dedicated to public worship on the occasion of the celebrations signalizing the termination of the first century since the birth of His Mission. I can but, at this juncture, touch upon certain outstanding episodes which, viewed in their proper perspective, may well be regarded as landmarks in the rise and development of the Faith of Baha'u'llah throughout the Americas. I am particularly reminded of the [p139] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 139 holding of the World Parliament of Religions of Chicago in September 1893; of the arrival of the first American Baha'i pilgrims in the Holy Land in December 1898; of the inception of the Temple enterprise in June 1903; of the opening of the first American Baha Convention in March 1909; of 'Abdu'l-Baha's arrival in America in April 1912; of the laying by Him of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in May 1912; of the unveiling of the Tablets of the Divine Plan in April 1919; of the birth and rise of the Baha'i Administrative Order on the morrow of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension; of the official inauguration of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Plan through the launching of the first Seven-Year Teaching enterprise in April 1937; of the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the Mashriqu'1-AcThk4r, on the eve of the Centenary Celebrations of the Founding of the Faith, in May 1944; of the inception of the second Seven-Year Plan in April 1946; of the formation of an independent National Spiritual Assembly in the Dominion of Canada in April 1948; of the establishment of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Central and South America in April 1951; and of the completion of the interior ornamentation of the Temple in October 1952. So remarkable a development in the course of the past six decades, spanning the concluding phase of the Heroic, and the opening decade of the Formative, Age of the Faith, and encompassing the length and breadth of a continent, so greatly blessed, so richly endowed, has resulted in the extension of the ramifications of a nascent Administrative Order to every State of the American Union, to every Province of the Dominion of Canada, and to every Republic of Central and South America; in the construction, the ornamentation, and the dedication to public worship of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Western World; in the erection of no less than four pillars destined with others to sustain the weight of the final and crowning unit of the Administrative Structure of the Faith; in the establishment of over ninety centers in the Dominion of Canada, of over an hundred centers in Latin America, and of over twelve hundred centers in the Great Republic of the West, covering a range that stretches from the Arctic Circle in the North to the extremity of Chile in the South; in the founding of local and national endowments estimated at over three million dollars; in the incorporation of no less than four national, and of more than fifty local, Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies; in the recognition by eighteen States of the American Union of the Baha'i Marriage Certificate; in the establishment of two national administrative headquarters, one in the Dominion of Canada and the other in the heart of the North American continent; in the framing of national Baha'i constitutions; in the inauguration of summer schools; and in a notable progress in the translation, the printing and the dissemination of Baha literature. The hour has now struck for the National Baha'i Communities dwelling within the confines of the Western Hemisphere Ñ the first region in the Western World to be warmed and illuminated by the rays of God's infant Faith shining from its World Center in the Holy Land Ñ to arise and, in thanksgiving for the manifold blessings continually showered upon them from on high during the past six decades and for the inestimable bounties of God's unfailing protection and sustaining grace vouchsafed His Cause ever since its inception more than a century ago, and in anticipation of the Most Great Jubilee which will commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Baha'u'llah's formal assumption of His Prophetic Office, launch, determinedly and unitedly, the third and last stage of an enterprise inaugurated sixteen years ago, the termination of which will mark the closing of the initial epoch in the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha alA's Divine Plan. Standing on the threshold of a ten-year long, world-embracing spiritual crusade these Communities are now called upon, by virtue of the weighty pronouncement recorded in the Most Holy Book, and in direct consequence of the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, to play a preponderating role in the systematic propagation of the Faith, in the course of the coming decade, which will, God willing, culminate in the spiritual conquest of the entire planet. It is incumbent upon the members of the American Baha'i Community, the chief executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, the members of the Canadian Baha'i Community acting as their allies, and the members of the Latin American Baha Communities in their capacity as associates in the execution of this Plan, to brace themselves and initiate, in addition to the responsibilities they have assumed, and will assume, in other continents of the globe, an intercon [p140] 140 THE BAHA'I WORLD tinental campaign designed to carry a stage further the glorious work already inaugurated throughout the Western Hemisphere. The task, at once arduous, thrilling and challenging, which now confronts these four Baha'i Communities involves: First, the formation, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, and in collaboration with the two existing National Assemblies in Latin America, of one National Spiritual Assembly in each of the twenty Latin American Republics as well as the establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly in Alaska under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America. Second, the establishment of the first Dependency of the Mas1ariqu'I-AcThk~r in Wilmette. Third, the purchase of land for the future construction of two Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's one in Toronto, Ontario; one in Panama City, Panama, situated respectively in North and in Central America. Fourth, the opening of the following twenty-seven virgin territories and islands: Anticosti Island, Baranof Island, Cape Breton Island, Franklin, Grand Manan Island, Keewatin, Labrador, Magdalen Islands, Miquelon Island and St. Pierre Island, Queen Charlotte Islands and Yukon, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; Aleutian Islands, Falkiand Islands, Key West and Kodiak Island assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; Bahama Islands, British Honduras, Dutch West Indies and Margarita Island, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America; British Guiana, Chulo6 Island, Dutch Guiana, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Juan Fernandez Island, Leeward Islands, and Windward Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America. Fifth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the following ten languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America: Aguaruna, Arawak, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Iroquois, Lengua, Mataco, Maya, Mexican and Yahgan. Sixth, the consolidation of Greenland, Mackenzie and Newfoundland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; of Alaska, the Hawaii Islands and Puerto Rico allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of Amer ica; of Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America; and of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peril, Uruguay and Venezuela, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America. Seventh, the incorporation of the twenty-one above mentioned National Spiritual Assemblies. Eighth, the establishment by these same National Spiritual Assemblies of national Baha'i endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a National Iaratu'1-Quds in the capital city of each of the aforementioned Republics, as well as one in Anchorage, Alaska. Tenth, the formation of two National Baha Publishing Trusts, one in Wil-mette, Illinois, and the other in Rio de Ia-neiro, Brazil. Eleventh, the formation of an Israel Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada, authorized to hold, on behalf of its parent institution, property dedicated to the holy Shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the State of Israel. Twelfth, the appointment during RiQ-vAn 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in the United States and Canada, of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the four National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the American campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the American Continent. Mindful of the magnificent services rendered during over half a century by the chief executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, within a territory that posterity will regard as the cradle of the embryonic World Order of Baha'u'llah and the stronghold of its nascent institutions, and confident that this vast and historic assemblage, over which the national elected representatives of this privileged Community are presiding, will prove to be the harbinger of still greater victories, I have been impelled to transmit, through my special representative, who will participate on my behalf in the proceedings of this Conference and act as my deputy at the official dedication of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar a reproduction of the Portrait of Baha'u'llah Himself, made in the prime of His life, whilst an exile in Baghclid, as a token of my [p141] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 141 admiration for this Community's unflagging and hercukan labors, and as a benediction and inspiration for those who, whether officially or unofficially, are participating in the proceedings of a Conference that will go down in history as the most momentous gathering held since the close of the Heroic Age of the Faith and will be regarded as the most potent agency in paving the way for the launching of one of the most brilliant phases of the grandest crusade ever undertaken by the followers of Baha'u'llah since the inception of His Faith more than a hundred years ago. Ñ SITIOGHI Sunday, May 3, 1953. (3) THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEDICATION OF TIlE MOTHER-TEMPLE OF TIlE WEST Presented by R6HfYYIH KHXNUM ON BEHALF of the Guardian of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, I have the great honor of dedicating this first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Western World to public worship. "Initiated fifty years ago, its foundation stone laid by 'Abdu'1-Eah6, the son of the Founder of the Faith, raised by contributions from its followers all over the world, reared in the vicinity of the first Baha'i center established in the West, this House of Worship, now opening wide its doors to peoples of all creeds, of all races, of all nations and of all classes, is dedicated to the three fundamental verities animating and underlying the Baha'i Faith Ñ the Unity of God, the Unity of His Prophets, the Unity of Mankind. '¶1 greet and welcome you on behalf of the Guardian of our Faith within these walls, and invite you to share with us the words recorded in the Sacred Scriptures which we believe to be repositories of the eternal and fundamental truths revealed by God in various ages, for the guidance and salvation of all mankind. "May I now request you all to rise while I read on behalf of the Guardian of the Faith these words of prayer written by the Author of the Baha'i Revelation: "'0 God, Who art the Author of all Manifestations, the Source of all Sources, the FountainHead of all Revelations, and the WellSpring of all Lights! I testify that by Thy Name the heaven of understanding hath been adorned, and the ocean of utterance hath surged, and the dispensations of Thy providence have been promulgated unto the followers of all religions Lauded and glorified art Thou, 0 Lord my God! Thou art He Who from everlasting hath been clothed with majesty, with authority and power, and will continue unto everlasting to be arrayed with honor, with strength and glory. The learned, one and all, stand aghast before the signs and tokens of Thy handiwork, while the wise find themselves, without exception, impotent to unravel the mystery of Them Who are the Manifestations of Thy might and power. Every man of insight bath confessed his powerlessness to scale the heights of Thy knowledge, and every man of learning hath acknowledged his failure to fathom the nature of Thine Essence. "'Having barred the way that leadeth unto Thee, Thou hast, by virtue of Thine authority and through the potency of Thy will, called into being Them Who are the Manifestations of Thy Self, and hast entrusted Them with Thy message unto Thy people, and caused Them to become the DaySprings of Thine inspiration, the Exponents of Thy Revelation, the Treasuries of Thy knowledge and the Repositories of Thy Faith, that all men may, through Them, turn their faces towards Thee, and may draw nigh unto the kingdom of Thy Revelation and the heaven of Thy grace. "'I beseech Thee, therefore, by Thyself and by Them, to send down, from the right [p142] 142 THE BAnAl! WORLD Riiljiyyih Kjiinum presenting the Guardian's Message of Dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, May 2, 1953. hand of the throne of Whose hand is the source Thy grace, upon all that of all gifts, that they dwell on earth, that may all arise to serve which shall wash them Thy Cause, and may detach from the stain of their themselves entirely from trespasses against Thee, all except Thee. Thou and cause them to become whollyart the Almighty, the devoted to Thy Self, All-Glorious, the Unrestrained.'" 0 Thou in [p143] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 143 REPORTS OF THE ALL-AMERICA INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE (4) REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE By BEATRICE ASHTON THE second and, in the Guardian's words, "without doubt, the most distinguished of the four Intercontinental Teaching Conferences commemorating the Centenary of the inception of the Mission of Baha'u'llah" was held in Chicago and Wilmette, Illinois, May 3 through 6, 1953. As the Guardian stated in one of his messages to the Conference, this occasion marked the launching of the "epochal, global, spiritual decade-long crusade." This crusade represents the "third and last stage of an enterprise inaugurated sixteen years ago, the termination of which will mark the closing of the initial epoch in the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan." The Inter-America Conference, convened by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, embracing the United States, Canada, Central and South America, was endowed by our beloved Guardian with great and special blessings. The sacrifice of the Guardian, already overburdened with work, in sending to the Conference as his personal representative 'Ama-tu'1-Bah4 Ri1~iyyih KMnum, gave to the deliberations of the Conference and to the next ten years their basic clue. The presence of all five Hands of the Cause from Persia, ever ready with inspiring stories of heroic deeds, brought a unique blessing to this Conference of the West. Sacrifice Ñ love Ñ deeds, these must needs be our equipment for the coming ten years, already begun. The Conference was especially blessed with two tremendously pregnant messages from Shoghi Effendi, read by Ril$yyih KhAnum, one at the opening session and the other the following day. The unveiling by Charles Mason Remey, president of the Baha'i International Council and Hand of the Cause, of the model of his design for the Mashriqu'1-Ad±k~r on Mount Carmel was also an event of this Conference by the special request of the Guardian. That the Conference itself was convened during Rhjvan period, the midpoint of the Holy Year, was again due to the loving plans of our Guardian. In all, twelve Hands of the Cause were present. Besides the three members of the Baha'i International Council and the five Hands of the Cause from Persia, there were Mr. MasA Ban6.ni of Africa, Mr. Fred Schopflocher of Canada, and Mrs. Dorothy Baker and Mr. Horace Holley of the United States. The Conference was held in the Medinah Temple in Chicago, a large building which comfortably accommodated the sessions and activities attended by two thousand three hundred and forty-four registered Baha'is from thirty-three different countries of the world, including two hundred and thirtyfive who came from countries other than the United States. A total of some twenty-five hundred Baha'is had attended the Baha'i Consecration Service held at the House of Worship on May 1. One of the important services rendered by the Jubilee Committee was the provision of a duplicate set of attractive, leather-bound Guest Books for the registration of Baha'is attending all or any of the Jubilee events conducted in Medinah Temple. One of these volumes has been sent to the Guardian, and the other is preserved permanently in the National Archives. A second set of duplicate volumes was maintained at the Temple for registration of believers unable to attend the sessions held in Chicago. From the moment, on Sunday morning, May 3, that the Inter-America Conference was opened with prayers read in English and Spanish and chanted in Persian, and the chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, Paul Haney, spoke its cordial welcome to all present, saying, "This is a unique and historic event," one felt caught up in a transcending spiritual current [p144] 144 THE BAHA'I WORLD which presaged indeed a new phase in the evolution of the Faith, the like of which had never before been experienced in the world. The roll call of visitors from the various countries included Baha'is from Persia, Turkey, Australia, Japan, Denmark, British East Africa, Sweden, Finland, France, the provinces of Canada, as well as the Northwest Territories, ten of the fourteen countries and islands of Central America opened to the Faith, nine of the ten republics of South America, and forty-seven States of the United States, plus Alaska and Hawaii. Races represented included the Negro, North American Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian and Caucasian, Persian and Turkish. The high note of the opening session came when the love of the Guardian was brought to the Conference by 'Abdu'l-Baha Riil.iiyyih KjAnum and she read his opening message [see page 133]. At the morning session of the second day, the Guardian's second message was read by R6l2iyyih Kh4num. In this message the Guardian gives a monumental survey of the progress of the Faith to date, which, however, must be regarded as a "prelude" to the period now inaugurated. The beloved Guardian, in his love and mercy, as ever holds before us the promise of the glorious future, while outlining to us the challenging tasks of the present. Then RflWyyih Kj~num spoke to the Conference on "The Character and Purpose of the World Crusade." [See page 1511 Following this stirring session four pioneer tables Ñ one for each of the four "allied" and "associated" National Spiritual Assemblies Ñ were set up. During the luncheon period these tables were crowded with Baha'is volunteering to pioneer, leaving their names and addresses with the respective National Spiritual Assembly representative. At the opening of the afternoon session the co-chairman of the Conference, Mrs. Dorothy Baker, called all those, and others who wished to pioneer, to the platform to give their names over the microphone. Most of them also spoke a few words and stated where they would like to go. An eventual total of one hundred and fifty Baha'is of various countries signified their wish to pioneer. Included were two anonymous offers to serve in leper colonies. To implement the consultation on pioneering under the topic "The Art of Opening ing New Territories" during the afternoon session, Mr. Mtis6 Ban~ni, Hand of the Cause from Africa, gave an absorbing account of how it is done in Africa. Mr. BanAni first conveyed the greetings sent by the Baha from all centers of Africa. He stated that there were three reaSons for the great success of the teaching work in Uganda: (1) The bounties and confirmations of Baha'u'llah. (2) The complete unity of the pioneers. (3) The exemplary way in which 'Au Nakbjavanf, one of the pioneers, conducted himself, with absolute freedom from prejudice. "He went and lived with the Africans in the heart of the jungle," Mr. BanThi said, "and this was a new experience for the Africans, because at no time previously had any white man acted toward these Africans as he did. In the past the Africans had heard many promises and many beautiful words from white men, but in actions they had always seen the opposite. When they saw that words and deeds were one in the person of 'All Nakj~jav~ni they immediately warmed up to the Faith and have received the Message of the Faith very eagerly and in exultation.~~ Mr. Ban~ni also emphasized how important it is for the Baha'i pioneers to make the authorities in the country understand that Baha'is have no connection with politics. He told a story of how cooperation with the police on the part of the Baha'i pioneer, in letting them know he was making a trip to a region of the jungle, vitiated the attempts of a white person to make trouble. Now one of the tribal villages visited has a spiritual assembly. Many of that tribe and others came to the Kampala Conference, eighty Africans in all, invited as guests of the Guardian. The fact that they returned "hale and hearty and much happier" after contact with the Baha'is resulted in fifty more coming into the Faith after the Conference. Consultation on opening new territories was continued on Tuesday morning. The National Spiritual Assembly representatives from Canada, Central America, South America (the "allied" and "associated" Assemblies) and the United States each spoke of the opportunities presented in their virgin areas, and gave short descriptions of the territories assigned to each by the Guardian. All those who had had experience in pioneering anywhere were then asked to give their suggestions for opening new territories. The role of Baha'i Youth in pioneering [p145] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 145 Baha'is gathered in the House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, on the occasion of its Dedication. in the World Crusade was presented in the afternoon session. Following the opening devotions, Mrs. Amelia Collins spoke briefly and read the following words spoken by the Guardian, as they offer the "key for all of us today": The magnetic power is the action of the believers. If they arise and show the right spirit it will act as a magnet and attract this power which is accumulated ready to aid every believer who will arise to serve. The chairman of the National Baha'i Youth Committee, Dwight Allen, emphasized the role of Youth as part of the Baha'i Community in the Ten-Year Crusade Ñ in consultation and in pioneering. He then opened the discussion to all "Youth." Practical points were brought out concerning the need for Youth to orient their education toward work useful in pioneering and to plan their lives and marriage to that end; and concerning opportunities for jobs in international organizations. The problem of Baha'i Youth in military service was clan fled, and a recommendation was made to the National Spiritual Assembly that teach-big committees be asked to make a special point of contacting foreign students in our universities. Mr. 'Ali-Akbar Furdtan, Hand of the Cause and secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of 'Persia, who has written textbooks for Baha'i children in Persia and for teachers training the Youth, spoke about the pioneering preparation given to Baha'i Youth in Persia. First, he said, it was made sure that every Baha, young or old, was convinced that this particular phase of the Divine Plan could be achieved. Then, they were assured of the promise of Divine help. Mr. Fur6tan gave the Guardian's three guarantees for the fulfillment of the Ten-Year Crusade as recently written to the Baha'is of Persia: (1) To arise with love, (2) to persevere after one has arisen, and (3) the occurrence of certain events in the world which will in some way assist the ful [p146] 146 THE BAHA'! WORLD flulment of this Crusade. Mr. Furtitan explained that the Youth are taught that pioneering has two aspects, the personal (that of prayer and study) and the administrative which involves cooperation with their Assemblies and Committees. At this session there was also consultation concerning the work among the Indians and the Eskimos. Members of the Indian Teaching Committees of Central and of South America reported activities initiated to reach the Indians. The efforts of Baha'is in Greenland and Alaska to reach the Eskimos were reported. Teaching in schools, nursing and study of anthropology were mentioned as valuable ways of making these contacts. Mr. Eli Powlas, a full-blooded Oneida Indian now a Baha'i, was one who spoke. He was asked by Rtibiyyih Kb~num to translate a Baha'i pamphlet into his language for Shoghi Effendi. "This would make the Guardian happy," she said. Of course he eagerly agreed to do it. Riikifyyih KMnum urged us to study the methods of the Guardian, to try to see things with farseeing vision and make use, in our teaching, of developments on the periphery of the Faith, as evidenced in his pamphlet In formation Statistical and Comparative, 18441952 and his Appreciations of the Baha'i Faith, which we should use to give people an idea of the extent of the Faith and the quality of those who speak favorably of it. Monday evening was the time set aside for the Guardian's representative, 'Amatu'I-Bali R6tiiyyih KMnum, to speak to the Baha'is from her heart. She spoke to the heart of every Baha'i, about many things, all helpful. She spoke chiefly of that which "you want most to hear about Ñ Shoghi Effendi." And she told how when she first went to serve with the Guardian she had a mental image of the Cause of God as a ship, the Captain of the ship was Shoghi Effendi and the Baha'is were all on deck and she was one of them. After a time the image needed revising Ñ the Guardian was the ship, the sea was the Cause of God and the Baha'is were traveling on the ship. "Time went by and that image was no longer large enough. Finally I came to the conclusion that the ocean was the Guardian and the Cause of God was the ship and the Cause of God often gets a rough ride and the ocean is tossed by the winds of God." She said: "There is nothing diffuse about Shoghi Effendi. He is like the point of flame that comes out of a blowtorch. Intensity of concentration and action." Rti1~iyyih Kh6num told of the way in which the Guardian, in two and onehalf months, had converted twelve thousand square meters (almost three acres) of land, all sand, around Baha and the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, into beautiful gardens. She said he concentrated sixteen hours a day on getting this work done. "Otherwise it could have taken two years. Everything he does, he does that way. And we must learn to work the way Shoghi Effendi does, because only in that way will we get the work accomplished." She gave instances of the great integrity of the Guardian. "Shoghi Effendi is like the law. He has the most tremendous courage where principle is concerned." And she told of his returning thirty-four thousand pounds sterling donated at one time during the Guardian's absence from Haifa by a man "with whom Shoghi Effendi was displeased. He considered that the man's spirit was not right, that his motives were not pure, and Shoghi Effendi could not accept money from him. He said, 'How can I take his money and not reinstate him in my good graces? And he can't buy me.'" Ri-hiyyih KMnum added: "You see, it is these things that set the standard of Baha'is in the world. When our integrity is as shining and as clear cut as Shoghi Effendi's, we will not have much trouble bringing people into the Faith." Riiljiyyih KFnum spoke of the absolute necessity for us to learn to think in terms of principle and not in terms of personality. "It seems to be a terrible disease that we all have, of constantly thinking of everything in terms of personality. We never seem to get to terms of principle. You see, the Guardian doesn't care anything about personality. It doesn't exist as far as he is concerned. He cares oniy for principle. There are no exceptions to his rule. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, how much you have given, how prominent you are, anything to do with you that you might feel entitles you to some special consideration. It is only principle. "Now the Baha'is should learn to look at things that way. They have simply got to stop thinking in terms of personality. They have got to start thinking in terms of prin [p147] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 147 Amatu'1-I3alA Rtiljiyyih Kh4num receiving the Baha'is at reception given in her honor at the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference, Chicago, Illinois, May 4, 1953. ciple. The principle is your Spiritual Assemblies composed of nine people. They have been elected by you. They are supposed to fulfill certain functions specified in our teachings which are quite clear. Whether they do it very well or very poorly or you think Mrs. Jones is a person who actually started the whole thing and you are sure it is Mr. Smith who doesn't like you, or whatever the thing is that is going on in your mind, you have got to learn, always, that it is principle that is the thing to follow. We are never, never going to get this administrative order swinging until we forget all individuals, however much they get into our hair, and devote ourselves to the application of the principles involved. You will be astonished what you can do if you ever get over the question of personalities. •Don't look at each other so much as an individual. Look at each other as all Baha'is, all belonging to Baha'u'llah and all belonging to Shoghi Effendi. And when you see those things, think of that love in your heart for Shoghi Effendi, and say, 'All right, I love you.'" Following her stirring talk, RtilAyyih Khinum graciously answered about fifty questions written out by Baha'is and sent to the platform at her invitation. The reception for Rhltiyyih Kh~inum which followed gave the friends the opportunity to shake hands with her and speak a few words individually with her. The evening of Tuesday, May 5, was devoted to the World Center, with the unveiling by Charles Mason Remey of his model for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar to be erected on Mt. Carmel, a talk by Mr. Furfitan on the institutions of the World Order of Baha'u'llah, and the viewing of color moving pictures of the Shrines and gardens in Haifa and Baha, sent by the beloved Guardian to be shown at the Conference. As Mr. Remey unveiled the model the friends saw the exquisitely beautiful design for the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Holy Land, with the landscaping of its surrounding terrace. Five drawings were ako displayed, of various elevations, cross section and interior design. Acquisition of land for its erection is one of the objectives in the development of the World Center during this Crusade. [p148] 148 THE BAHA'I WORLD Mr. Furtitan's talk on the World Order was a very comprehensive review tracing the development of the Administration, the importance of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the functions of the two great "pillars" of interpretation and legislation later, after he had also visited 'Abdu'l-Baha On this visit he had with him two of his sons; one of them, Rtil2u'lWh, a very gifted child, was only eight years old. One day the Greatest Holy Leaf, 'Abdu'l-Baha's sister, asked the boy what he did in Persia. He Baha'is attending the All-America Intercontinental Teaching Conference who had met 'Abdu'l-Baha. which support the Administrative Order, and, finally, the steps outlined by the Guardian in his second communication to the Conference through which the development of the Faith would progress. At the last morning session of the Conference four of the Persian Hands of the Cause had been asked to speak on the "Significance of the Year Nine" Ñ General Shu'4'u'IlAh 'Al6Pi, Valiyu'lhh Varq6~, TarA-zu'11th Samandari and Dhikru'114h KMdem. General 'AIA'i read from passages in the Writings of Baha'u'llah and told that the exact site of the dungeon of the Siy&h-ChM is known but that large buildings have since been built over this property. Mr. Varq4 had been asked to tell about his father and brother who attained to martyrdom. He told the moving story of his grandfather's making the trip to Baha on foot from Persia only to become ill and die just before he reached his goal. He was buried by 'Abdu'l-Baha in a grave made with His own hands. Mr. Varqa's father attained the presence of Baha'u'llah several times and asked for martyrdom for himself and one of his sons. lie was a physician and traveled about Persia to promulgate the Faith. His wish was granted many years replied, "I was teaching." So the Greatest Holy Leaf asked him how he taught. He said he spoke only to those who had "percep-tion." The Greatest Holy Leaf then asked him to tell her whether two boys who were present (sons of Baha'u'llah) could understand what he had to say. Rii1~u'11Th went to the boys, looked attentively into their faces, and returned to Baha'i Kh4num saying, "It is no use; they would not understand." Both of these brothers of 'Abdu'l-Baha became Covenant-breakers. Mr. Varq4 himself had accompanied 'Abdu'l-Baha on His visit to the United States. Mr. Samandari, the oldest Hand of the Cause among the five Persians, is descended from one of the pupils of S±ayk± Abmad, first of the two forerunners of the BTh. At the age of fifteen, Mr. Samandari attained the presence of Baha'u'llah. He recalled his impression of the great humility and the grandeur and majesty of Baha'u'llah, and told many reminiscences of that memorable visit. Then, inevitably, came the closing session of the Conference, a Conference which the Guardian stated in his opening message "will go down in history as the most mo [p149] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 149 mentous gathering held since the close of the Heroic Age of the Faith, and will be regarded as the most potent agency in paving the way for the launching of one of the most brilliant phases of the grandest crusade ever undertaken by the followers of Baha'u'llah since the inception of His Faith more than one hundred years ago." At this session the Guardian's own chosen representative, Rtil~iyyih Kb6num, called upon us to "Mount Your SteedsV* When Rdliiyyih KMnum finished, just before the reading of the closing prayer Mrs. Amelia Collins spoke briefly: "Now I have witnessed in this audience day after day your great joy, your inspiration, your longing to serve, the pledges you have made, and all of this I feel is the result of our Guardian's sacrifice. Let us just cherish this thought all through the next ten years, that our Guardian is sacrificing for us daily, and with great joy. To see the Guardian smile just once is enough to cause you to wish to lay down your life, really and truly it is. But that is not it. We are to make our Guardian happy, and this it is really our privilege to do." Mrs. Collins then concluded the Conference with reading 'Abdu'l-Baha's Tablet of Visitation. These were the words of Quddlis as be led the Ribis at the siege of Tabarsi. See The Dawn-Breakers, page 365. (5) THE JUBTLEE PUBLIC MEETINGS By FARRTJKH LOAS THE impressive public events of the All-American Jubilee celebrations, which included four public meetings and the dedication of the House of Worship, received widespread notice in the press and attracted much public attention and interest. Each of the four meetings, with their distinguished guest participants and outstanding Ba1A'i speakers, drew large audiences, estimated to have varied from fifteen hundred to twenty-five hundred. The first meeting was held Wednesday evening, April 29, the opening day of Jubilee week, at Medinah Temple in Chicago. Mr. Matthew Bullock was chairman and the two speakers on the theme of "Religion for Humanity" were Dr. Paul Ilutchinson and Mrs. Dorothy Baker. Dr. Hutchinson is widely known and respected as an outstanding analyst of present day problems and spokesman for the lay Protestant Church world. lie is editor of the Christian Century, generally considered to be the most influential Protestant periodical. Dr. Hutchinson's subject was "Points of Light in the Dark World." He began his remarks by offering his congratulations on the completion of the House of Worship, which he described as a symbol of mankind's oneness in this vital quest for spiritual satisfaction which will be achieved when all are gathered as brothers in one common household of faith under one God. In a forceful manner, Dr. Jiutchinson then presented his analysis of the hopeful factors Ñ points of light Ñ in the general darkness of the present age. He outlined five such points of light which exist in the thinking of common men everywhere, and which therefore offer promise for the future. These are: the faith of common men in the reality of progress, the belief in the reality and authority of moral values, the belief in the reality of human oneness, common man's increasing awareness of the necessity for world government, and his deep belief in the spiritual basis for all life. Mrs. Baker spoke on the "Mission of the Prophets" with eloquence and persuasiveness. She identified the Prophets as the founders of civilization and described their twofold mission as individual and social, "to glorify the individual and to safeguard and unify the race." Then she traced the development of this twofold mission in the stories of Moses, Jesus and Mul2ammacl, showing that religion has given repeated proofs that it is the source of human progress and redemption. Baha'u'llah was proclaimed as the fountainhead of light and [p150] 150 THE BAHA'I WORLD salvation for this chaotic hour. Mrs. Baker concluded by outlining the movement of the Faith toward the achievement of the eternal plan of God Ñ the "Kingdom indivisible, whose watchword is the oneness of the human race Ñ all rivers flow to the ocean; all missions are fulfilled in this mission.,, On the eve of the dedication of the Tem-pie, Friday, May 1, a public nieeting was held in the New Trier High School, Winnetka, a suburb north of Chicago in the vicinity of the House of Worship. Baha'is came from their special service of consecration held at the Temple in the afternoon to join with guests Ñ for the most part residents of the northern suburbs who have watched the Temple during the long years of its building as they have flowed past on the highway that borders the Temple grounds Ñ in a happy prelude to the great event of the next day, the public dedication. On this evening the story of their beloved House of Worship was publicly unfolded. Mr. Paul Haney, the chairman, presented several messages of greeting and congratulations on the dedication of the House of Worship from wellknown people. The history, architecture and purpose of the Temple were discussed by Baha'is whose close association with the work has familiarized them with its every detail. Mr. Alien McDaniel, a former member of the National Spiritual Assembly, for many years supervising engineer of the building and more recently on the Technical Committee, gave the history of the project from its beginning, through the purchase of the land, the choice of a plan and the completion of the con struction. Mr. Robert McLaughlin, Director of the School of Architecture of Princeton University and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, who has served for some years on the Technical Committee, described the unusual architectural elements of the building, pointing to the unique fitness of the plan to the Baha'i conception of unity and manner of worship. He stressed the timeless quality of the architectural design for it has stood apart and aloof from the changing fashions of the last thirty years. Regarding it as an example of early Baha architecture, Mr. McLaughlin speculated on the wonders of world architecture that will develop as the world becomes spiritually and physically united. Mr. Haney then introduced the third member of the Technical Committee, Mr. Edwin Eardley, and the Landscape Architect, Mr. Hubert Dali. The chairman presented Mr. William Alexander, the President of the Village of Wilmette, to whom he expressed the appreciation of the Baha'is for the friendly attitude and cooperation extended by the village authorities during the years of the Temple's building. Mr. Alexander, in the name of the Village of Wil-mette, offered greetings and congratulations and stated that the village feels privileged to have this world famous structure in its community and has sincere regard for the lofty ideals which it represents. Mr. Horace ilolley then gave a penetrating and profound definition of the purpose of the Ba1A'i House of Worship. The meeting was closed with the reading of an editorial from the Chicago Daily News on the dedication of the Temple, praising the ideals for which it stands. Rfiltiyyih KiAnum, the Guardian's representative to the All-American Intercontinental Conference, and Dr. Charles Wesley were speakers on the theme "One God and One People," Sunday, May 3, at Medinah Temple in Chicago. There was much excitement over the participation of Rfi1~iyyih KMnum in a public program and the large audience rose as she came on the huge stage with Dr. Wesley, guest speaker, and Mr. 'All Yazdi, Chairman. Dr. Charles II. Wesley, president of Central State College at Wilberforce, Ohio, author, historian and educator, chose as his topic "The Significance of Oneness Ñ Principle or Expediency?" He stated that the principle of oneness is recognized and advocated by the great religions and by most world thinkers, but practice departs from theory. In application to life in the modern world, the principle of oneness has faced obstacles which Dr. Wesley listed as selfish nationalism, self-serving industrialism, and selfcontained racism. In the movement toward world unity and the oneness of mankind, he questioned whether it would be reached by principle or expediency, the latter being thus far the most influential argument. Permanent and enduring change will come only through the translation of democratic and religious ideals into practical activities. What is needed, he asserted, "is a consistent application of principle by people [p151] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 151 of principle with a consistent and intelligent plan of action. Resistance may be great, but the cause is greater." RChiyyih liThinurn had chosen to speak on "A WorM Crusade." She spoke at first directly to the comments of Dr. Wesley, and stressed the essential importance of the principle of oneness to the Faith of Baha'u'llah. She then announced that the Baha'is are undertaking a specific program to diffuse the teachings of one God, one people, and one religion to all parts of the planet. She presented the broad outlines of the ten-year Crusade to reach practically all peoples and remote corners of the world, closing with the invitation to all to join this vast spiritual crusade, or if not, to wish us well. Certainly Ri1~iyyih Kh4num herself impressed the large gathering more than any words that were spoken. Everyone was touched by the spirit which flowed through her, by her dignity, simplicity and candor, and even more by those indefinable qualities of a selfless Baha'i. Each knew that he had spent a moment with a rare soul. The fourth public meeting on the theme of "The Human Goal" was held the closing evening of Jubilee week, Wednesday, May 6, at Meclinah Temple. Mr. Norman Cousins and Dr. W. Kenneth Christian shared the platform and Mr. H. Borrah Kavelin was chairman. Mr. Norman Cousins, wellknown writer and lecturer, is editor of The Saturday Review, America's oldest literary magazine, and president of the United World Federalists. His most recent book Who Speaks for Man? was currently receiving widespread notice. Mr. Cousins' subject was "A New Moral Order." His friendly manner and informal style immediately won his audience, when he said he was scared because he was "in the presence of people who live out the things I have been talking about." He referred to his inclusion of quotations from the Faith in his latest book because it stresses "integration as opposed to corn-partmentalization of mankind," and it talks of the "unity of the whole man: economical man, political man and social man." He stated that the crisis of modern man is one of human destiny, one of unity versus fragmentation and disintegration. He spoke of the compartmentalization of life as the disease of our age, and of the limitations of education, whether religious or academic, to prepare men for the modem crisis. He recounted vividly his experiences and impressions at Los Alamos, viewing the electronic brain, visiting a horribly scarred victim of the atom bomb at Hiroshima, Japan; seeing the refugees in Korea; arid being at a cemetery for American soldiers in Korea. His analyses of the fundamental ills of this age sprang from his critical examination of the deep meanings of these events in the total question of human destiny. He asked, could the deformed figure of the atom bomb victim and the pitiful plight of the refugee be the face of tomorrow's man? Man needs faith and "a rule of law in a responsible world government." The question, he continued, is what kind of qualities, human and spiritual, will be brought to bear on the creation of world order? Men have created war and destruction, and they can now create a moral and just peace. Dr. W. Kenneth Christian spoke on "Reli-gion for a World Society." He reviewed some of the basic tenets of the Baha'i Faith, stressing the progressive revelations of God's Will and the oneness of mankind. "Disunity is the disease of our civilization," he asserted, and "we cannot have an endur-big and peaceful world society without the spiritual foundation of a world faith." "If a world government were set up and ready to start tomorrow, what ethics would knit together the actions of the people?" he asked. "What would supply the world loyalty to support a world government?" He declared that only a "world religion can meet the basic needs to support and firmly knit together the billions of people on this planet." "The Baha'i Faith provides a standard of morality and human rights above convenience and political pressure. Baha'u'llah stands as the conscience of humanity in this age." He calls men to "Unity of faith as rightful equals in the Kingdom of God." lit is interesting to the Baha'i to note the unanimity of basic ideas among our three eminent guest speakers. Though differing markedly in approach each stressed that the essence of the problem of this age and the urgent need for the world of tomorrow is the oneness of mankind and world government, demonstrating so clearly that the humanitarian and spiritual principles enunciated decades ago by Baha'u'llah are now viewed by a world conscious of their source [p152] 152 THE BAHA'I WORLD as fundamental verities of our time. Though each man analyzed the crisis of society today, none could provide the answers as to the source of the power to realize these aims, nor could they define the character of the goal of human destiny, or tell by what means it could be achieved. The Ba1A'i speakers, on the other hand, were able not only to describe the disease of society, but could and did deal quite fully with the healing remedy of the world religion, given men in this era by Baha'u'llah. (6) JUBILEE AT WILMETTE By MARZIEH GAIL ON FRIDAY afternoon, May 1, there was a simple consecration service at the Temple for Baha'is alone; a private dedication and a commemoration of the Master's coming to this spot by the Lake in 1912 and with His own hands placing the Temple cornerstone. This afternoon the Baha'is swarmed all over the Temple walks and steps, but upstairs in the vast auditorium everything was quiet. High up in the tip of the Dome against a white background the golden Greatest Name was written. The Hands of the Cause were seated directly before the reading stand. Microphones were placed in front of it, and behind at either side were huge bouquets of yellow, pink and white flowers, stretched out like wings. The sun had come out but it was not too bright. In the second gallery above us there were great buglike mechanisms, startlingly black against the white; these were the "juniors," the lights which unseen technicians working up in the air were focusing on the lectern. The people were absolutely silent. The Dome, its white rays dropping away, poured down a lacy rain of grace. Light filtered through the closed Temple drapes. Madame Samihib Ban~ni, wife of the Africa Hand of the Cause, now rose and chanted a haunting Persian prayer. Then Harlan Ober read the passage beginning "They apprehended Us" from the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. It tells of I3aM'u'116h's imprisonment in the slums of Tihr6.n. The contrast between the Black Pit and this Edifice and this Jubilee took sudden shape: that darkness and stench, this light and fragrance; those murderers and thieves, these massed disciples from around the world; those sweating walls, that slime, three flights down into the earth, that hollowed-out hole; this great mother-of-pearl bubble of a Temple that can hardly stay on the ground and seems to float above it. If people want a miracle, this is it. Elsie Austin of the National Spiritual Assembly was reading the words which the Master spoke as He laid the Temple cornerstone in the fields here, forty-one years ago. Her delicate bronze profile shone out against the wing of flowers to her right. Jinflb-i-Varq& whose father and small brother both died for the Cause and who was present here in 1912, now chanted the Arabic Visitation Tablet (Prayers and Meditations, p. 310) just as it is chanted in Baha and at the Shrine of the Bib. When the words came to: "Waft, then, unto me, 0 my God and my Beloved, from the right hand of Thy mercy and Thy loving kindness, the holy breaths of Thy favors, that they may draw me away from myself and from the world unto the courts of Thy nearness and Thy presence" Ñ I remembered being told that when the Master was here, He would sometimes chant or repeat these lines and then Lua Getsinger would weep, and she would say, "He is pleading so to go, to die and then we shall be left alone." On Saturday afternoon, May 2, I had hurried upstairs with the Press, to the first gallery which looms high above the audience level. A capacity crowd of eleven hundred people waited below us. The silence was absolute. Members of the Press were collecting wooden chairs on which to stand so they could peer over the high parapet into the crowd below; their comings and goings had to be utterly silent because of the acoustical properties of the Dome; any noise would have dissipated the great spiritual [p153] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 153 atmosphere that was accumulating from the time and the place, the unseen presences and the actual presence of the Guardian's consort, of the other Hands of the Cause Ñ six of whom were here from the far side of the earth Ñ and of the multitudes of Baha'is who had come, in some cases with the greatest sacrifice, to witness this hour. Across dizzy space from us was the silent black-robed choir. The dedication was about to take place. In a moment Paul Haney spoke: "On this historic occasion. Shoghi Effendi Rab-bani, Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, has sent his wife, 'Abdu'l-Baha Riilgyyih Kh6.num, as his personal representative to present a message of dedication from him as world leader of the Baha Faith." And then we heard Rfihiyyih KlAnurn, in her grave and youthful voice, giving full value to each of the beautiful English words of the message from our beloved Guardian dedicating this first Mashriqu'I-Adbkir of the Western World to public worship. They say it was the first time in history that a woman figured so prominently in the dedication of a Temple of an independent Faith. There was a pause. Then another voice began, a man's voice, Borrah Kavelin's, reading from the nineteenth Psalm: "Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." As Margot Worley, Chairman of the National Assembly of South America, read from the words of Jesus, I thought again how the references to Him in our teaching are apt to be tender and full of pathos, like imminent spring not yet come on, or a recurring song, mournful and delicate, as if the world would never get over the Crucifixion, while time lasts. Matthew Bullock read from the Qur'an, as Louis Gregory had read from it under this same Dome, at the Centenary in 1944. After a delay of thirteen hundred years, Isl6m is being befittingly proclaimed in the West: "0 our Lord! Punish us not if we forget, or fall into sin. 0 our Lord! lay not on us that for which we have not strength; but blot out our sins and forgive us, and have pity on us!" The Guardian had said to use the Psalms ('Abdu'l-Baha loved the Psalms) and to use the words of Jesus, and to quote from the Qur'$~ passages on the unity of God and His Prophets which would appeal to the Western world; he had sent on the exact Persian and Arabic readings which were to be chanted, together with translations where these had been made; he had chosen Jin4b-i-Furtitan and JinTh-i-KlAdem to chant the selections, and had directed the Hands of the Cause of God to choose who should chant the final commune, and they had chosen JinTh-i-Samandari. Just then someone parted the great off-white drapes, and I saw below us a blinding flash of bright green tree tops over against the darker green of the grass. The service was given, all except for 'Abdu'l-Baha's words of dedication, three times to accommodate the many more than capacity crowds which came. Horace Holley opened the second one, reading, as we all stood, the commune which R6liiyyih KlPnum had read before. I sat in the first row, off center, and watched the light coming through the sixty red roses massed at either side of the reading stand, the Persian rug glowing beneath it, and the shadow of the roses thrown by the lights against one of the pillars. It was brighter than day from the lights, except when they were dimmed as the choir sang. Again I listened to words read or chanted in three languages, to the Hands of the Cause Furtitan Kh~dem and Saman-. dan, to Albert Windust, Selma Solomon, and David Bond. The end came when Ji-nAb-i-Samandari, tiny under the looming white reaches of the Dome, with that austere dignity which is his special characteristic, finished his Persian chant, put on his glasses again, and took up the book which had been open but not referred to, on the reading stand before him. Like all other Baha'i pilgrims, I had, during successive visits to the Holy Land, seen the Portraits of Baha'u'llah. The one that remained in memory through the years was the photograph made in Adrianople, where He was exiled from December 12, 1863 to August 12, 1868. It has the direct, probing glance that all who saw Him describe. It is not the face of youth, but of the Ancient of Days. As Rtitiiyyih I§hAnum described the sacred gift which the Guardian had sent us in her care Ñ the colored, photographically reproduced Portrait of Baha'u'llah "in the bloom of manhood" Ñ a new and different Being began to take shape; a youthful Personage, still in His thirties, perhaps, or early [p154] 154 THE BAHA'! WORLD forties, since the Portrait was done in J3agh-did; One Whom painters forever wanted to paint and poets to write about. The Master tells how even hostile poets had eulogized Him, one of them writing: "He charms men, He drugs them; He is a hypnotizer! Beware! Beware!" (Promulgation ci Uni-versa! Peace, p. 431). We know too that others maintained He bewitched His guests by dropping a magic phulter in their tea (Dawn-Breakers, p. 113). Not yet, in this Portrait, the Manifestation Whom the world had forsaken (Gleanings, p. 261), the freshness of Whose countenance had faded (Promised Day Is Come, P. 7), the One Who cried with such a bitter cry that every mother in her bereavement was bewildered at Him and forgot her own anguish (Prayers and Meditations, p. 271). 'Ama-tu'1-Bah& spoke of the strong and youthful beauty He had once and of the redness of His lips. She told us this Portrait Ñ which has never before been out of the hands of the Master or the Guardian Ñ was made by a Christian artist who had seen Him at the public baths. We went remembering what the Bab had said: "Look not upon Him with any eye except His own. For whosoever looketh upon Him with His eye, will recognize Him; otherwise he will be veiled from Him" (Epistle to the Son 0/the Wolf, p. 153). That Sunday afternoon, May 3, a great crowd of us massed for hours on the Temple steps. It was cold and windy and we herded together for comfort. Some maintained that they waited five hours; I waited about three. Finally we worked our way clear up the Temple steps and reached the great glass doors. Here, one by one, we passed through, to find R6l~iyyih KhAnum on our left, anointing each one with attar of rose. The use of this attar, enjoined by Baha'u'llah, was familiar to the early American Baha'is because of its use by the Master, but some of the newer Baha'is had not heard of the custom until Mrs. Amelia Collins had anointed us on the Guardian's behalf at the Convention in 1952. We sat in fragrant silence, about sixteen hundred of us at a given time, and since every detail had been carefully planned, we had only to follow the ushers' directions and were soon passing quietly, single file, toward the tables where two Portraits were placed. It was a white ethereal and muffled scene; a verse from the Qur'an described it: "And low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy, nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall" (Surih 20:107). We drew near to the Portraits and there was hardly a moment to look, first on the grave countenance of the BTh, the One "Who had never taken His eyes away from the face of God" (Gleanings, p. 221) Ñ and then on the young and joyous Baha'u'llah. He seemed to be greeting each one of us. It was really jubilee. (7) TIlE PUBLJC DEDICATION OF THE BAHA'I HOUSE OF WORSHIP By WILLIAM B. SEARS Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch;* and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. Zechariali 6:12, 13. IT IS impossible to report upon a prayer or a meditation. They exist in a realm of * "The )3ranch" is a title of 'Abdu'l-Baha. values independent of words. To convey the exaltation that animated Baha'is on this never-to-be-repeated occasion is equally beyond the power of expression. To each worshiper, the moment was a personal one, associated with the heart and spirit. Therefore, these pages will try to share the joy and rapture that filled one heart only. These pages will recall the wonderful river of memories that flowed ceaselessly throughout the Dedication, the stream of thoughts that made every barren period of the past become liv- [p155] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 155 ing and fertile, that banished all sorrow, healed all suffering; and led the wayfarer at last to the sea of understanding, to this harbor of the love of God, to safety inside this Ark of His Covenant. Across the aisle could be seen the glowing and triumphant faces of those apostles of Baha'u'llah who had stood upon this same plot of ground with 'Abdu'l-Baha on that cold, windy May day forty-one years ago. They had watched their beloved Master dedicate this spot, then an empty, open field, to the welfare of all humanity. The real Tem-pie, he had told them, was the Word of God; for to it all humanity must turn. Then he looked up, smiled, and assured them that "in the unseen world, the Temple is already built." On that day of Dedication you could look into the tranquil, confident eyes of those followers of Baha'u'llah who had helped to draft the immortal cablegram to the Holy Land back in 1909, a message which had brought solace to the heavy-laden heart of 'Abdu'l-Baha. In a Tablet written later to His followers He told the story of its coming and announced the triumphant event that synchronized with it. "The most joyful tidings is this, that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, has, through the mercy of the AbW~ Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Rtiz, within the sacred casket in the exalted Shrine on Mount Carmel. By a strange coincidence, on that same day of Naw-Reiz, a cablegram was received from Chicago, announcing that the believers in each of the American centers had elected a delegate and sent to that city and defi nitely decided on the site and construction of the Matriqu'1-AdNir" [House of Worship]. Every moment inside that dome of exquisite beauty and majesty, on the day of its dedication, was enriched by memories of the love and sacrifice that had raised this jewel of God. Its inception, the architect of the Temple has himself testified, was not from man, for, as musicians, artists, poets receive their inspiration from another realm, so the Tern-pie's architect, through all his years of labor, was ever conscious that Baha'u'llah was the creator of this building to be erected to His glory. When gazing upon a model of this House of Worship, a famous professor of architecture had said, "This is a new creation which will revolutionize architecture in the world, and it is the most beautiful I have ever seen." The model had now become reality. The dream had become clothed in flesh. Here, on this day of dedication, were gathered together people of all races, religions and nations. The words had been fulfilled: "And they that are afar off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me unto you," for "Mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people," and "all nations shall flow unto it." From a lofty gallery, the unseen choir filled the Temple with the music and words "Who can comprehend Thee?" Through the mind flowed the wonderful creative words of Baha'u'llah: "Lauded and glorified art Thou, 0 Lord, my God! How can I make mention of Thee, assured as I am that no tongue, however deep its wisdom, can befittingly magnify Thy name, nor can the bird of the human heart, however great its krnging, ever hope to ascend unto the heaven of Thy majesty and knowledge." "Know thou of a certainty," Baha'u'llah proclaims further, "that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation [the Prophet], and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own person." The music soared up to the dome of the Temple and departed. Then were heard the first spoken words, delivered by Rtiyyih Khinum, the representative of the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. "On behalf of the Guardian of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, I have the great honor of dedicating this first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Western World to public worship." [For the entire message of Dedication, see page 141.] As the address of Dedication ended, a quiet settled over the assembled throng. Through the doorway to the East could be seen the blue waters of Lake Michigan rushing toward the Temple in great white waves, bowing and prostrating Themselves upon the [p156] 156 THE BAHA'! WORLD sand. Through the doors to the South were visible the throngs of people streaming toward the Temple. The clouds, which had threatened to shut out the sun, parted and down through the glass dome came the flooding sunlight as the first of the Holy Books was opened. From the scriptures of all Faiths, the one religion of God was to be recognized as one sheltering tree, of which Moses was the seed, Jesus the trunk, Muhammad the branches, the BTh the leaves, and Baha'u'llah the fruit. "The word is one, though the speakers are many.~~ From the Faith of Moses came the all encompassing praise of one God: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. The law of the Lord is perfect. The statutes of the Lord are right. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, 0 Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. The statutes of the Lord are right! What untold blessings Moses has conferred upon mankind. The ten commandments for which He was the channel from God are the basis of the structure of law in the western world. The eternal fountain of the Faith of Moses continued to pour out its words: The earth is the Lord's, and the Juliness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For He hat/i founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face. Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. As the reading of the Psalm ended, the echo rang through the silence: "Who is this King of glory?" And the heart answered: "Who has brought together from all racial, religious, and national backgrounds these lovers of God? Baha'u'llah, whose very name means 'The Glory of God.'" "To Israel He was the incarnation of the 'Everlasting Father,' 'The Lord of Hosts' come down 'with ten thousands of saints'; to Christendom, Christ returned 'in the glory of the Father'; to ShPah Isliim, the return of the Imam ilusayn; to Sunni Ishm, the descent of the 'Spirit of God' [Jesus Christ]; to the Zoroastrians, the promised SliTh-Bahr4m; to the Hindus, the reincarnation of Krishna; to the Buddhists, the fifth Buddha." This was the King of Glory, and this His Temple, God's Temple, the House of Worship for all His prophets and people. •The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your head, 0 ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory. Psalm 24. What moments of satisfaction these words stirred in the mind. Those delicious hours when the teachings of the Baha'i Faith were heard for the first time. Those exciting hours of research and study, unveiling proof after proof of the vitality and the great need of Psalm 19. Baha'u'llah's universal truth. Those equally exciting mental expeditions deep into the holy scriptures of the past confirming the conditions of the coming of the great Promised ised One to the mountain of God in Israel; those prophecies which disclosed the enforced forced journeys of Baha'u'llah, His exile to BaghdAd, His banishment to Constantinople, Adrianople, and to the prison of 'Akka across the bay from Mt. Carmel in Israel. Baha'u'llah, the shepherd of the one fold of God, was to spend no less than a third of His allotted span of life here in the "valley of Achor" which in the book of Isaiah had been singled out as a "door of hope" for "my herds to lie down in." This was the land promised by God to Abraham; sanctified by the Revelation of Moses; honored by the Psalm 24. lives and labors of the Hebrew patriarchs, judges, kings, and prophets; revered as the cradle of Christianity; and as the place where Zoroaster, according to 'Abdu'l-Baha's Baha'is testimony, "held converse with some of the prophets of Israel." This was the land associated by IslAm with the apostles' night-journey journey through the seven heavens to the throne of the Almighty. "His enemies intended that His imprisonment ment should completely destroy and annihilate hilate the blessed Cause," says 'Abdu'l-Baha, [p157] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 157 "but this prison became the means of its development. From this prison His light was shed abroad; His fame conquered the world, and the proclamation of His glory reached the East and the West. • His light at first had been a star, now it became a mighty sun." Then the second Holy Book was opened: And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:2, 3, 6, 7. These were the words of Christ. Words alive with a new richness and power because of the fresh measure of love and devotion which Baha'u'llah had instilled in the hearts of His followers for Jesus of Nazareth. "Know thou," says Baha'u'llah of His Holiness Christ, "that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-per-vasive, and resplendent Spirit. "We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified." Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfill. Matthew 5:8, 9, 16, 17. From the Mount of Olives, Jesus had poured out His teachings into those hearts that were athirst for the words of God. They were not His teachings, not His words, but the words and counsels of an infinite, unknowable God. How plainly Christ had tried to tell mankind this: "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." These words of the Sermon on the Mount were the "bread of life" which comes down from Heaven in the time of each Prophet. They are the food with which each Prophet nourishes mankind. This "bread of life" is in the Old Testament in the generous and loving "holiness code" of Leviticus, a model of charity, hospitality, kindness and unity. It came again in the Sermon on the Mount. It is once more in this day in the book of the Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah. Judge not, that ye be uzot judged. For with what judgment ye pie/ge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and tile prophets. Matthew 7:1, 2, 7, 12. With the reading of the words of the "golden rule" from the New Testament, eyes met across the sunhighted interim of the Temple. The teacher smiled, the student responded, and in that moment, memory recalled the happy evening of the great discovery that the "golden rule" was to be found in all the Holy Books, It was like the theme of a symphony; it repeated, growing ever stronger. The words were one because God is one, His prophets one, and His creatures inhabitants of one home, the earth. The messages of the Books cry out that God is not in competition with Himself. There is no exclusive salvation for the Jew, the Buddhist, the Christian, the Muslim, the Baha'i. Christ did not come to the Christians; He came to the world. Baha'u'llah did not come to the Baha'is; He came to all humanity. [p158] 158 THE BAHA'! WORLD In the Old Testament man was his brother's keeper; in the New Testament he was his brother's brother; in this day of the great Covenant with all Faiths, it is written: "Blessed is he who prefers his brother before himself, such a one is of the followers of Baha'u'llah." What heart can fail to be stirred and made richer by the belief in this oneness of Almighty God, and this unity of His messengers, who are the lights stationed at intervals along one road of life Ñ when the light of one age and its prophet begins to fade back into time and another appears to banish darkness. They are the strata of earth along the river bank that mark the history of man. For a time, each was the topmost layer from which grew the fruits, grains and vegetables to nourish man. Each layer later became the foundation for the next, the new that was to grow upon it. In yet another way, the "word" of each Messenger is like unto the air which men breathe in every part of the earth and in every age. It never fails to give life to each creature, in each age, in each part of the earth. It is the "word" that was with God and "became flesh and dwelt amongst man" in the form of Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah. Here, today, in this House of God, united as 'leaves of one tree and the drops of one ocean," the followers of Baha'u'llah linked their hopes and energies with those of their fellowmen and cried out together the joy that is in their hearts: "This is the Day in which God's most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and lovingkindness." The page of the Book of Jesus was turned, and His words were read for all to hear: I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. The Spirit of Truth has come! The light of splendor has been shed upon the earth, but as in the days of its previous appearance in Jerusalem, only an eye that sees with the sight of the true seeker can recognize Him. Raise thy voice in thanks within this House of God, that thou hast heard His voice for "many are called, but few are chosen." "Call thou to remembrance Him who was the Spirit [Jesus]," Baha'u'llah warns humanity, "Who, when He came, the most learned of His age pronounced judgment against Him in His own country, whilst he who was oniy a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed, then, ye men of understanding heart! Consider those who opposed the Son [Jesus], when He came unto them with sovereignty and power. How many the Pharisees who were waiting to behold Him, and were lamenting over their separation from Him! And yet, when the fragrance of His coming was wafted over them, and His beauty was unveiled, they turned aside from Him and disputed with Him. None save a very few, who were destitute of any power among men, turned toward His face. How our hearts had wept, when, as children, we had heard how His own people had refused to accept Jesus. They called him a false prophet. "Nay, but He deceiveth the people," they said. The Messiah, they insisted, was to come from an unknown place, to sit upon the throne of David, to rule with a sword, and to promulgate the law of Moses. "This poverty-stricken upstart," they said of Jesus, "fulfills none of these conditions. He is a false prophet!" Alas! Had they not blindly insisted on a material fulfillment of these prophecies, they would have seen that although Jesus' body caine from the womb of His mother, Mary, His spirit came from God, "the unknown place," that the throne upon which He sat was in the kingdom He established in the hearts of the people. His sword was His tongue and teachings with which He conquered the world. Today wherever the Bible is read throughout the world, there we find the Old Testament of Moses linked with the New Testament of Christ. Jesus brought the Word and Book of Moses to people who would never have heard of Moses if Christ had not appeared. "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers John 16:12, 13. Jesus had cried out because of their [p159] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 159 disbelief. "I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill or crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city." How accurately these words of Christ were to be fulfilled not oniy in His own life, but again in the day of His return. The herald of the Baha'i Faith had been "scourged in the synagogue" and "killed." He was lashed with the bastinado in the prayer house in Tabriz. Later, in this same city, He was suspended before a mocking and disbelieving multitude as Christ had been suspended; finally, His breast was made a target for a volley of musket balls. Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Faith, shared each step of persecution with His Herald, the Bib. He was held captive in Tihr4n, Amul, and again "in the Black Pit" of Tihr6n. He was scourged in the prayer house of Amul. He was exiled from His native city, Tihr~n, to BaghdAd, 'Iraq, to be persecuted "from city to city" as Jesus had foretold. He was banished from Baghdad to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and finally to 'Akka in Syria, across the bay from Mt. Carmel. "0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" What a tragedy, that all through history the liberals of one age become the orthodox of the next. They accept the symbolical interpretation of the prophecies that validate their own prophet and call down shame upon those who insist that the prophecies must be fulfilled to the letter. Then, having won their goal and captured the citadel, they turn the same well-directed cannon of orthodoxy upon those who come after them. No wonder His Holiness Christ censored them saying, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" For years the Jews had searched the scriptures which testified to the coming of the Messiah, but still they denied Christ. The followers of Jesus sighed sorrowfully at the perversity of the Jews, yet, holding the Book of Christ in their hands Ñ a Book laden with testimony of the coming of Baha'u'llah Ñ they have repeated the sin of the "generation of vipers." They have denied the Messenger of God. Every prophet seems false to the age in which He appears. He calls men from their sensual desires and pleasures and they fight against responding to His summons. They ask for a great sign so they can be certain of His truth before they give up their physical comforts and satisfactions. They wish to be hypnotized into belief by miracles and wonders so that they need not exert any personal effort. Baha'u'llah recognized this insincerity and challenged it. While in exile in Bagh-did, He was asked, as an evidence of die truth of His Mission, for a miracle that would satisfy completely all concerned. Baha'u'llah told them that the Cause of God was not a theatrical display to be presented upon demand. "Although you have no right to ask this," He said, "for God should test His creatures, and they should not test God, still I allow and accept this request the 'ulam6s (clergy) must assemble, and with one accord, choose one miracle, and write that, after the performance of this miracle, they will no longer entertain doubts about Me, and that all will acknowledge and confess the Truth of My Cause. Let them seal this paper, and bring it to Me. This must be the accepted criterion: if the miracle is performed, no doubt will remain for them; and if not, We shall be convicted of imposture.~~ This clear, challenging, courageous reply, unexampled in the annals of any religion was addressed to the most illustrious of the clergy in the heart of their stronghold. They did not accept the challenge. "What if He should perform the miracle?" they asked themselves. The matter was dropped. Baha'u'llah, the Spirit of Truth, has come to fulfill the prophecies of the past. He is the Father in the parable of the vineyard, who has seized the vineyard (this earth) from those who destroyed His servants (the prophets) and slew His son (Jesus). DaM'-u'11~h (the Father) has come into the vineyard to give it out to those who will render to Him the fruits of love and service. He has come! The Spirit of Truth, the Father, the Lord of Hosts, the Glory of God! What tongue can voice its thanks? "Address yourselves to the promotion of [p160] 160 THE BAHA'! WORLD American Indian Baha'is at the All-America Intercontinental Conference, Chicago, Illinois, May, 1953. the wellbeing and tranquillity of the children of men," the Spirit of Truth has commanded. "Bend your minds and wills to the education of the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply the dissensions that divide it may, through the power of the Most Great Name, be blotted out from its face, and all mankind become the upholders of one Order, and the inhabitants of one City. Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love." The tidings have been given, the song sung, and the great bell tolled. But as in the days of Jesus the ears are stopped up with the clay of desire. Then the third Holy Book was opened, and a voice spoke, calling us back to our presence beneath the sheltering dome of this house of prayer. These words were the words of the prophet of Is1~m, words read with joy and reverence. They were lifted to heaven with a devotion and respect long denied in the West to this glorious Messenger of the light of truth. Moreover, to Moses gave we "the Book," and we raised up apostles alter him; and to Jesus, son of Mary, gave we clear proofs of his mission, and strengthened him by the Holy Spirit. So oft then as an apostle cometlz to you with that which your souls desire not, swell ye with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay others? Qur'an 2:81. There is a generation of vipers born to strike at the representative of God in whatever age He appears. God does not send a Messenger to enfotee His edicts. He sends the Laws and the Life. If we are athirst, we shall drink and be revived. If we are not, we will turn aside and wither away. The choice is ours; the channel of God's grace, the Prophet, offers us the cup. Perhaps none of the Messengers of God have been more maligned in the West than Muijammad, but [p161] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 161 through the agency of Baha'u'llah, who connects and unifies all the links in God's chain of educators, Mul ammad has come into His rightful place in the hearts and minds of all the people of the earth. Here in the Baha'i Faith we had been brought to a true understanding of IsUrn. Here is the only place in the Western world where the Prophet of Arabia has received an unprejudiced hearing as one of God's Messengers. The truth and beauty of His teachings have been acknowledged as God-given. His words, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" witness to the tolerance of Muhammad. Love for His teachings and His life was created in our hearts by the Baha World Faith which spontaneously engenders a depth of devotion for all the Messengers of God Ñ unmatched by the most zealous of those who support any one Faith exclusively. Baha'is have come to see Muijammad through new eyes; Mul2ammad of stately and commanding presence. He was described affectionately by one who knew him intimately as having "depth and feeling in His dark black eyes and the winning expres sion gained the confidence and love even of strangers." Another admirer declared, "He was the most generous of men. It was as though the sunlight beamed in His countenance. ~ The Prophet of Iskim not only united the warring tribes of Arabia in a common faith in one God, but also by introducing the concept of the nation as a unit in the organization of society, He made a major contribution to civilization. He recognized the rights of the individual, abolished privilege of birth, banished the concept of superiority of skin color, gave protection to the nonbeliever, and advanced man's social consciousness to a height so advanced that Europe could not boast of accomplishing the same until many centuries after His coming. Human solidarity as well as spiritual oneness were basic principles in Islttm. Small wonder that His words are recognized as God-inspired. Now in the western world, His words were being voiced under the dome of the Baha'i Temple: We believe in God, and that which hath been sent to us, and that which bath been sent down to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes: and that which bath been given to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. No difference do we make between any of them: and to God are we resigned. Qur'an 2:130. The invisible choir, raising its voice to the sunbathed dome, began the words "Have ye not heard?" The lips of the followers of Baha'u'llah silently repeated the words, those words they had been crying out to all mankind in every corner of the planet, "Have you not heard? lie has come! The new Jerusalem has descended!" "All nations and kindreds will become a single nation the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men will have one common Faith, will be blended into one race, and become a single people. All will dwell in one common f a-therland, which is the planet itself." Then the Books of the Babi'i World Faith were opened, and the words of a prayer of the Bab, the Herald of the Faith, were chanted in the original tongue. Is there any Remover ci difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding. The heart felt impelled to cry out in triumph when it thought of the words spoken by this Holy Youth that night so long ago in Sbir~z, Iran. It happened just two hours and eleven minutes after the sun had set on the twenty-second of May in 1844. This was the hour of the birth of the Baha'i Faith. "This night, this very hour," the BTh had said, "will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant of all festivals." The BTh, the Herald, had ushered in this new Day of God. Baha'u'llah, the Founder, had established it upon an enduring foundation. The words first spoken to but one soul on that historic night had echoed and reechoed down through the years until now its message had been planted and was bearing fruit in almost every nation of the world. No Messenger was ever foretold with such accuracy and power, as the coming of Baha'u'llah was foretold by the Bab. Lest the hour of Baha'u'llah's appearance be mistaken, the Bab wrote this clear prophecy, "Ere nine will have elapsed from the inception of this Cause, the realities of the created things will not be made manifest. All [p162] 162 THE BAHA'! WORLD that thou hast as yet seen is but the stage from the moist germ until We clothed it with flesh. Be patient, until thou beholdest a new creation." In the year Nine (1269 of the calendar of Is1~m and 1853 of the Christian calendar) Baha'u'llah Was imprisoned in the Black Pit in Tihr4n. He later described his experience there in these words: "I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven. Then a song of oneness was heard as the words of Baha'u'llah, the unifier of mankind, wafted upward in His holy house of prayer. That the divers comm unions of the earth, and the manilold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith ci God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly-estab-lished and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated. The Books of all Faiths were closed, and the moment sealed, forever, in the memory. The promises of all the Holy Books were fulfilled and the day of the "one fold and one shepherd" had come at last. The choir joyously sang out: From the sweet-scented streams of Thine eternity give me to drink, 0 my God, and of the /ruits ci the tree of Thy being enable me to taste, 0 my Hope. Within the meadows ci Thy nearness, before Thy presence, make me able to roam, 0 my Beloved. To the melodies of the dove of Thy oneness stifler me to hearken, 0 Resplendent One. To the heaven oj Thy lovingkindness lift me up, 0 my Quickener. The public dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship was completed. As we passed through one of the nine archways of the Temple, we could read the words of Baha'u'llah, graven upon the stone above our heads: "The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens." The steps outside were thronged with those who were waiting to enter. Baha and their friends were still arriving on foot, by bus, by car, from every direction. The ceremony of Dedication would have to be repeated until all had shared in this occasion. 'Abdu'l-Baha had said that this Temple would be one of the greatest of teachers. "When that Divine Edifice is completed, a most wonderful and thrilling motion will appear in the world of existence. From that point of light the spirit of teaching, spreading the Cause of God and promoting the teachings of God, will permeate to all parts of the world." Out of this Mother Temple of the West, thousands of Temples would be born, He had promised. "It marks," he furthermore had written, "the inception of the Kingdom of God on earth." The world has long awaited such a house of prayer. It is not dedicated to the East or the West, to the light or dark skin, to the rich or the poor, but to all humanity. It was established by Baha'u'llah in His great Book of Laws for this new age. This Temple is a symbol of the spirit of service which gives life to the Baha'i World Community in its relation both to the Faith of God and to mankind in general. In the future, within the walls of these Houses of Worship throughout the world, the representatives of Baha local and national communities will gather daily at the hour of dawn to derive the necessary inspiration enabling them to discharge their administrative responsibilities as the elected and chosen trustees of the World Faith of Baha'u'llah. This House of Worship is the first fruit of a slowly maturing Administrative Order which will be guided by the words found above the Temple entrances: "The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me." "0 rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust." "The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory." Oniy a future age will fully comprehend this great gift of Baha'u'llah to society. This House of Worship is the nucleus of a great social evolution which will establish the Kingdom of God when the "Will" of God will be "done on earth as it is in Heaven." A temple will be the heart of a community center in each city. Around it will be built a hospital, a hospice, an orphanage, a col [p163] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 163 lege and scientific laboratories. These educational, humanitarian, and scientific institutions will complete the dedication of the in. dividual to God. To the Baha'i there is no rigid division between the spiritual and practical parts of life. Services in the Temple will not be elaborate. There will be no ritual or set forms. Baha'is have no professional clergy to preside. Services are for prayer, meditation, and the reading of writings from the sacred scriptures of the Baha'i Faith and other great Faiths of the world. This House of Worship does not belong to the Baha'is alone; it belongs to humanity. It is a gift from the Baha'is; a house of prayer with doors thrown wide open to men and women of all races and religions. Inside its doors there is no infidel or pagan; all are children of one God. All may turn their hearts to Him and know that they are brothers. "Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God bath been made, and His praise glorified." (8) UNVEILING THE MODEL OF TEMPLE TO BE CONSTRUCTED ON MOUNT CARMEL Address by CHARLES MASON REMEY MANY years ago our beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha, told us that certain material objects, certain materlid constructions have a spiritual mission in the world, have a spiritual effect in the world, and before the Baha Temple, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar was built here in Wilmette, he told us that when that Temple was built, it would have a great spiritual effect in the world, that it would be a symbol manifesting forth to all of the world the spiritual ideals and the services to the world of humanity of the friends of the Baha'i Faith. As we study into the history of the religions of the past, we see that each religion has developed a civilization in the world and has developed also a style of architecture which has found its full and perfect development in the temples of the epoch. Way back in the very dawn of religious history, when the Prophet Abraham came out from his homeland and took his band of followers to the Land of Promise, the Holy Land, one of His first activities was building a temple to the Lord, and that temple was a very sim-pie place of worship, the altar which he built on the mountain top for the sacrifices that He instituted as the ritual for the people of His day. It was probably a very, very simple affair, built, laid up, of rough stones gath ered from the top of the mountain. But it was the center; that simple altar on the mountain top, that place of worship, was the center of the civilization of that day. In those days, the people lived pastoral lives in the valleys below, but on certain occasions they went up onto the mountain top for their spiritual worship, for their sacrifices. Later on, centuries later, when Moses, the Prophet of God, led the children of Israel out of Egypt, out of the land of bondage to the land of promise, one of the first institutions that He instituted was the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a portable temple of worship. I suppose the Tabernacle described in the Old Testament was probably covered with skins of animals, but it had certain elements of worship in it. There was the inner Holy of Holies, there Was the court around that, and finally the outer court, and during the long forty years that the children of Israel were in the wilderness, when they struck their camp, their first duty was to set up this Tabernacle, so the Tabernacle during those years was the center of their religious life in the wilderness. Later on, when the Jewish civilization developed in Jerusalem, the Temple of Solomon, the Temple in Jerusalem, was the center of their religious life and their cultural [p164] 164 THE BAHA'I WORLD life, and it was built very much on the plan, the rudimentary plan, of the tabernacle in the wilderness. There was the inner Holy of Holies and then the inner court and the outer court. At that time, people flowed from all nations to Jerusalem in order to partake of the learning and the culture that developed around the civilization there, the center of which was the Temple. Centuries later, when the Christian Church was established, little by little, these churches, places of worship, were the cultural centers of Christianity. First, the style developed out of the Roman style in the City of Rome. Later on it developed into the Romanesque style in the West, into the Byzantine style of the Eastern Church, and after some thirteen or fourteen centuries, we have the flowering out of the magnificent cathedrals and churches of Europe. This style of architecture, the Gothic style, developed in its greatest fragrance and development and beauty around in the central part of France; the Cathedrals of Lyon, of Chartres, of Amiens, Rheims, and Notre Dame of Paris are the outstanding temples of the Christian epoch. When Mubammad gave His teaching off in the deserts of Arabia, one of the first developments of architecture was the Mosques that were built in and about the city of Cairo, and this Islamic culture went westward into Northern Africa and up into Spain. It went East into Persia and then down into India and the Mosques of these countries were the spiritual centers of education and culture in that magnificent civilization which Islim gave to the world. And so it was with the other religions in the far East. The place of worship has been the cultural center and the point for the development of architecture and all of the a]-lied arts. Now, in the Baha'{ Faith, which is the new religion of the present day and present age, in the writings of Baha'u'llah, we have exhortations that we should build in this epoch, temples for worship, and He has given us a general plan for these temples. There shall be a temple proper, a circular building, built on the plan of a nine-sided polygon, which is to be the sanctuary for worship and prayer and meditation, and this central temple is to be surrounded by various institutions for the physical benefit of mankind, schools and hospitals and all the institutions that go to make up the activities of a great world civilization. The first one of these Baha'i temples was built many years ago over in that country east of the Caspian Sea, sometimes spoken of as TransCaspian. There, in the City of 'hbqTh~d, our friends of the Orient built the first Baha'i Temple. It was my privilege tovisit it back some forty-five years ago. We have heard very little about our friends there in the last few years. The present Russian Government has confiscated our Temple and the Baha'i community there in 'Ish-qTh6A has been scattered and dispersed, but now, only in the last few days, we have dedicated and completed the TempLe here in Wilmette with which you are all so familiar. A number of years ago, when I was still a student of architecture, I first heard of the Baha'i Faith, and one of my first recollections was that when the time came for me to create my thesis in architecture, I would like very much, indeed, to take as my subject a typical Babtt'i Temple. That was way back a little over fifty years ago and, following that, I spent a good deal of time in making different studies for Baha Temples, and some of you may recall that when the design was chosen for the Temple here in Wil-mette, a number of us architects offered drawings. Some of my drawings were offered at that time. But shortly after that, the Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha alA, revealed a Tablet to me and told me that my mission in the future would be to design the Temple to be built on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. As we all know, the Holy Land is the Holy Land of all the religions of the world. The Jewish religion, the Christian religion, it is the Holy Land for IslAm, and now in these days, it is the Holy Land for all the world in the Ba1A'i Faith. Our spiritual background is there and also our Administrative Center is there, and it was the plan in the mind of the Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha, that there should be a Baha'i Temple built upon Mt. Carmel. During these years, I have made a number of studies and along about five years ago, our beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, wrote to me and told me that it was time to begin to think of the design, the completed design for that Temple. At that time, in the latter part of 1947 and the early days of 1948, I made a complete set of drawings for the Temple and later on I took those drawings over to our [p165] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BALIA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 165 Guardian and he made a number of suggestions that really created within my mind an entirely unique and different design from any of those studies that I had made before, and that is the design that we are going to show you this evening. These designs were made during the past two or three years that I have been spending in Haifa and they were made under the direction of our Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and I must say that the architecture, the architectural motifs, are really his rather than mine. He gave me a great many criticisms, a great many suggestions, and after a period of time, of working and making drawings and submitting them to him and restudying them, etc., a design was made that he approved of, and it was his idea that a model should be made of this design and that it should be unveiled here in this Conference, and 1 left Haifa a little over three months ago, and I went to Italy, and there in the City of Florence, I engaged a wood carver to make this model, carved of wood. I had had some rather bad experience with some of the models that I had made of plaster. It didn't hold up in transportation, but this model of wood has transported very well and it is assembled and we are going to show it to you now. This ensemble of models will give you an idea of the architecture. It speaks for itself. It shows the Temple proper which will be erected upon Mt. Carmel in the L{oiy Land, surrounded by terraces and gardens, with fountains and avenues leading up to it. It speaks for itself. (9) MESSAGES OF GREETING RECEIVED FOR TEMPLE DEDICATION THE Dedication of the Temple brought many messages of greeting from public leaders. Following are excerpts from some of the greetings received. From the Ambassador of Israel in the United States came the message: "On occasion of dedication of Baha'i House of Worship I wish to convey to you sincere greetings and congratulations of State of Israel. Israel people and government, harboring iii their country the Baha'i spiritual Center, have always cherished cordial, friendly relations with Guardian of that Center and all Baha'is. Ideals of peace and brotherliness underlying Baha'i Faith are dear and sacred to Israel, ancient and revived alike. Wish you every success." (signed) Abba Evan, Ambassador, State of Israel. From Charles Malik, Ambassador of Lebanon in the United States, came: "The devotion to the highest spiritual realities is the greatest thing in the world. I believe without the judgment and guidance of God all is of no avail. May you therefore he quickened in your endeavors to search for, know and worship Him." Justice William 0. Douglas of the Supreme Court wrote: "The Baha'i House of Worship at Wilmette, Illinois, is a structure of great beauty, as millions who have seen it know. But perhaps not so many realize its symbolic significance. It teaches the essential unity of mankind under one God, irrespective of the various sects and creeds that give expression to the various faiths. There is a basic wholeness among people the world around. There are spiritual ties that unite them in the brotherhood of man. The important thing is recognition of the essential unity of mankind under one God. That is a force which cuts across politics, trade routes, racial groupings the world around. It can be made a powerful moral force in the practical affairs of the world if there is a dedication to the cause Ñ the kind of dedication that went into the long and difficult task of constructing the Baha'i House of Worship at Wilmette." Mrs. Ruth Bryan Rhode, former United States Ambassador to Denmark sent this message: "On the occasion of the dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship, I join in spirit with the Assembly whose aspiration is the unification of mankind. May the beauty of the edifice and its symbolism carry inspiration in wider and wider circles around our troubled earth." Dr. Paul R. Anderson, President of the Pennsylvania College for Women, wrote: "I am delighted to learn of the dedication of [p166] 166 THE BAHA'! WORLD the Baha House of Worship at Wilmette. In times like these it stands as a great monument of liberalism and internationalism. "I have never met more serious believers in the cause of humanity than Baha'is. Such loyalty to the highest ideals is what we need to bring us closer to the goal of a peaceful, friendly world." Dr. Marcus Bach, of the State University of low a, sent the following tribute: "The Baha'i emphasis on the unity of religions is the richest adornment of our contemporary faith. "While the dedication of your House of Worship symbolizes this fact in ceremonial, it remains for true followers of the Glory of God to instill its principle in the hearts of men. "The words of Baha'u'llah, which have become a challenge and a working formula for our time, have long been my text, 'The earth is but one country; and mankind its citizens.' "These words, strengthened by my recent visit with the Guardian, are now further intensified by the rising influence demonstrated in the Intercontinental Centenary Conferences. "It is my earnest hope that men of every belief and race may catch the spirit and power inherent in the Baha'i cause and that this day of dedication will hasten the dawn of concord and direct the eyes of nations toward the light of brotherhood and peace.~~ Among the clergymen sending greetings was Dr. David Rhys Williams, of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York, who wired that the members of his congregation "extend fraternal greetings and best wishes for an inspiring centennial celebration of the Baha Revelation and join you in affirming the oneness of all religions as you dedicate your beautiful Temple as a symbol of this oneness." Dr. Karl M. Chworowsky, minister of the First Unitarian Church of Fairfield County, Conn., wrote: "The writer who for these past several years has enjoyed the high privilege and profound inspiration of active fellowship with the Baha'is of New York, desires to join with your many friends and well-wishers in congratulating the Baha of the United States on this occasion of the dedication of your beautiful House of Worship. The richest blessings of the Eternal One be and abide with you Rabbi Abha Hillel Silver, of Cleveland, wrote: "May I be permitted to send you my felicitations on this occasion and to express the hope that your newly-dedicated House of Worship will be a source of inspiration and spiritual guidance to many people in our country." From Syracuse University, the Department of Philosophy, Dr. Raymond Frank Piper, sent this message: "The Baha House of Worship is a unique and magnificent achievement in the history of the world's religions and cultures because it embodies, in incomparable, compelling, and unforgettable beauty, the glorious ideal of the enlightened and creative unity of reli-glans, and also because it is a sun-clear, enduring symbol which invites all religionists, and others too, to work together in loving sympathy for the sake of multiplying those precious fruits of goodwill, wisdom, peace, and joy of which mankind now stands in profound and painful need." A long letter came from Dr. Sbao Chang Lee, Head of the Department of Foreign Studies at Michigan State College. With the ktter came a large Chinese card with the twelve Baha principles beautifully lettered in Chinese by Dr. Lee. In his letter, Dr. Lee said in part: "I for one deeply appreciate the efforts that you and other members of the Assembly have made and are making to achieve an integrated community of truth-loving and peace-loving peoples. At this critical point in world history, you bring to mankind the spiritual and practical values which Baha'u'llah has emphasized, and which the world greatly needs." Dr. Kirtley F. Mather, Professor of Geology at Harvard University, wrote: "You and your associates are greatly to be congratulated upon the completion of this lovely edifice, but even more because of the effective work you are doing to unite the people of many lands and creeds in a spiritual unity that cannot help but bear rich fruits in coming years." From The Hoover Institute and Library, Stanford University, the Chairman, Dr. H. H. Fisher, wrote: "Please accept my sincere good wishes. I am sure that believers in human brotherhood and workers for understanding among the peoples of the earth will be happy to know, as I am, of the dedication of this House of Worship to these great causes." From the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University, Dr. E. A. Burtt wrote: [p167] [p168] [p169] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 167 "All I can say is that this seems to me a notable occasion in the history and progress of religion in the United States, and that I hope the Temple will increasingly help to bring about a spirit of union and of hope among adherents of all religious creeds." From Dr. Harry A. Overstreet came the following: "Your effort to make a new feeling come alive in us Ñ that of ongoing revelation Ñ is to me most impressive. This is the feeling all of us, I think, must somehow manage to make intimately part of ourselves. This must be our worship of the One God that liveth." Mr. Thurgood Marshall, Director and Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, wired: "We are happy to extend greetings and best wishes on the occasion of the dedication of the Baha'i House of Worship. You affirmatively offer full religious fellowship to all without distinctions based upon race and color and are thereby attempting to put into practice one of the highest ideals of religious and democratic teachings. Our organization is dedicated to the same end although through use of different tools. We are, therefore, fellow-soldiers trying to build a society in which there will be no place for distinctions and differences based upon race, color, class or religion." Mr. Roy Wilkins, Administrator for the NAACP, wrote: "I am happy to send greeting to the members of the Baha'i faith and their friends upon the occasion of the dedication of your Temple to the brotherhood of man. Our poor world is in great need of the deep faith and sincere and unostentatious practices of the Baha'is." Greetings were also received from: Dr. Dwight I. Bradley; Dr. Albert Guerard; Dr. Channing H. Tobias, Director of the Phelps Stokes Fund; and Dr. Frank H. Hankins. 4. THE EUROPEAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE HELD IN STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, JULY 2126, 1953 (1) TIlE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE Presented by UGO GIACHERY THE Hands of the Cause, the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the resident believers and visitors attending the European Intercontinental Teaching Conference in Stockholm, Sweden: Well-beloved friends: With a glad and grateful heart I welcome the convocation, in the capital-city of Sweden, of the third of a series of Intercontinental Teaching Conferences associated with the worldwide festivities commemorating the centenary of the Mission of Baha'u'llah and destined to exert a profound and lasting influence on the immediate fortunes of His Faith in all continents of the globe. I look back, with feelings of wonder, thankfulness and joy, upon the chain of memorable circumstances which, a little over a century ago, accompanied the introduction of the Faith into, and marked the inception of its nascent institutions within, a continent which, in the course of the last two thousand years, has exercised on the destiny of the human race a pervasive influence unequaled by that of any other continent of the globe. I feel impelled, on this historic occasion, when the members of the American, the British, the German and the newly formed Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as representatives of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom, of Eire, of Germany, of Austria, of the Scandinavian and Benelux [p170] 168 THE BAHA'! WORLD countries, of the Iberian Peninsula, of Italy, of Switzerland, of France, and of Finland are assembled, to pay a warm tribute to the valiant labors of the early British and French Baha'i pioneers, who at the very dawn of the Faith in Europe, strove with such diligence, consecration and resolution, to fan into flame that holy Fire which the hand of the appointed Center of BaIA'u'-liTh's Covenant had kindled in the northwest extremity of that continent on the morrow of His Father's ascension. I recall the slow eastward spread of that infant Light which led to the gradual emergence of the German and Austrian Bab6A Communities, during the darkest period of 'Abdu'l-Baha's incarceration in the prison-fortress of 'Akka. I am reminded of His subsequent epochmaking visit, soon after His providential release from His forty-year confinement in the Most Great Prison, to these newly-fledged struggling Communities, of His patient seed-sowing destined to yield at a later age its first fruits, and constituting a landmark of the utmost significance in the rise and establishment of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in that continent. I, moreover, call to mind, on this occasion, the successive episodes which, on the morrow of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension, in the course of the initial Epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, signalized the emergence of those administrative institutions, both local and national, which proclaimed the germination of those potent seeds which had lain dormant for more than a decade in these newly-opened European territories, and which culminated in the construction of the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah and the erection of the first two pillars destined to sustain in that continent the weight of the final unit of that Order. Nor can I fail to acclaim, as a further milestone in the irresistible evolution of that Faith, the launching, following the creation of the administrative agencies designed to provide the effectual instruments for its propagation, of the Six-Year Plan of the British Baha Community followed successively by the European Teaching Campaign, inaugurated in accordance with the provisions of the second Seven-Year Plan of the American Baha'i Community, the Five-Year Plan conceived by the German and Austrian Baha'i Communities and the Two-Year Plan later initiated by the British Baha'i Corn-munity munity Ñ Plans which, within less than a decade, succeeded in laying the structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith in Wales, in Scotland, in Northern Ireland and in Eire, in multiplying and consolidating Baha'i institutions throughout the British Isles, in broadening and strengthening the foundations of that same Order in Germany and Austria, in erecting the National Administrative Headquarters of the Faith in the city of Frankfurt, in establishing Spiritual Assemblies in the capital cities of no less than ten sovereign states in Europe, in reenforcing the administrative foundations of that Faith in those territories, in providing the means for the convocation of five European, and a series of regional, Teaching Conferences, and above all, in the convocation of the historic Convention in Florence culminating in the emergence of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of Italy and Switzerland, the third in a series of institutions destined to play their part in the eventual establishment of the Supreme Legislative Body of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The hour is now ripe for these Conimun-ities whether new or old, local or national, already functioning on the Northern, the Western and the Southern fringes of that continent, as well as those situated in its very heart, to initiate befittingly and prosecute energetically the European Campaign of a global Crusade which will not only contribute, to an unprecedented degree, to the broadening and the consolidation of the foundations of the Faith of Baha'u'llah on the continent of Europe, but will also diffuse its light over the neighboring islands, and will, God willing, carry its radiance to the Eastern territories of that continent, and beyond them as far as the heart of Asia. The privileged prosecutors of so revolutionizing, so gigantic, so sacred and beneficent a campaign, are, on the morrow of its launching, and,at such a crucial hour in the destinies of the European continent, summoned to undertake: First, the formation, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, of one National Spiritual Assembly in each one of the Scandinavian and Benelux Countries, and those of the Iberian Peninsula, and one in Finland, as well as the establishment, in collaboration with the Paris Spiritual Assem [p171] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 169 Hands of the Cause of God present at the Third Intercontinental Teaching Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2126, 1953. bly, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of France, the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria, of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Austria, and the establishment, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, and in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland, of independent National Spiritual Assemblies in Italy and Switzerland. Second, the construction of the first Masbriqu'1-Adjjk~r of Europe in the city of Frankfurt, the heart of Germany, which occupies such a central position in the continent of Europe. Third, the purchase of land for the future construction of two Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's, one in the North in the city of Stockholm, and one in the South in the city of Rome, the seat and stronghold of the most powerful church in Christendom. Fourth, the opening of the following thirty virgin territories and islands: Albania, Crete, Estonia, Finno-Karelia, Frisian Islands, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Rumania, White Russia, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria; Channel Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Hebrides Islands, Malta, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; Andorra, Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, Spitzbergen, Ukraine, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Balls of the United States of America; Liechtenstein, Monaco, Rhodes, San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland. Fifth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the following ten languages to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, through its European Teaching Committee: Basque, Estonian, Flemish, Lapp, Maltese, Piedmon [p172] 170 THE BAHA'I WORLD tese, Romani, Romansch, Yiddish, Ziryen. Sixth, the consolidation of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; of Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russian S.F.S., Yugoslavia, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria; of Bire allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the British Isles; of Iceland allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; and of Corsica allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland. Seventh, the incorporation of the thirteen abovementioned National Spiritual Assemblies. Eighth, the establishment by these same National Spiritual Assemblies of national Baha'i endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a national Ija4ratu'1-Quds in the capital city of each of the countries where National Spiritual Assemblies are to be established, as well as one in London and one in Paris. Tenth, the formation of a National B~ih~'i Publishing Trust in Frankfurt, Germany. Eleventh, the formation of Israel Branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of the British Isles and of Germany and Austria, authorized to hold, on behalf of their parent institutions, property dedicated to the holy Shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the State of Israel. Twelfth, the conversion to the Faith of representatives of the Basque and Gypsy races. Thirteenth, the appointment, during RigivAn 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Europe, of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction with the four National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the European campaign, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaign in the European continent. A continent, occupying such a central and strategic position on the entire planet; so rich and eventful in its history, so diversified in its culture; from whose soil sprang both the Hellenic and Roman civilizations; the mainspring of a civilization to some of whose features Baha'u'llah Himself paid tribute; on whose southern shores Christendom first established its home; along whose eastern marches the mighty forces of the Cross and the Crescent so frequently clashed; on whose southwestern extremity a fast evolving Islamic culture yielded its fairest fruit; in whose heart the light of the Reformation shone so brightly, shedding its rays as far as the outlying regions of the globe; the wellspring of American culture; whose northern and western fringes were first warmed and illuminated, less than a century ago, by the dawning light of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah; in whose heart a Community, so rich in promise, was subsequently established; whose soil was later sanctified by the twice-repeated visit of the appointed Center of His Covenant; which witnessed, in consequence of the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of His Faith, the erection of two of the foremost pillars of the future Universal House of Justice; which, in recent years, sustained the dynamic impact of a series of national Plans preparatory to the launching of a world spiritual crusade Ñ such a continent has at last at this critical hour Ñ this great turning-point in its fortunes Ñ entered upon what may well be regarded as the opening phase of a great spiritual revival that bids fair to eclipse any period in its spiritual history. May the elected representatives of the National Baha'i Communities entrusted with the conduct of this momentous undertaking launched on the soil of this continent, aided by the Hands of the Cause and their auxiliary Board, reinforced by the local communities, the groups and isolated believers sharing in this massive and collective enterprise, and supported by the subsidiary agencies to be appointed for its efficient prosecution, be graciously assisted by the Lord of Hosts to contribute, in the years immediately ahead, through their concerted efforts and collective achievements, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha'i activity, to thc success of this glorious Crusade, and lend a tremendous impetus to the conversion, the reconciliation and the ultimate unification of the divers and conflicting peoples, races, and classes dwelling within the borders of a travailing, a sorely-agitated, and spiritually-famished continent. May all the privileged participators, en [p173] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 171 listing under the banner of Baha'u'llah for the promotion of so preeminent and meritorious a Cause, be they from the Eastern or Western Hemisphere, of either sex, white or colored, young or old, neophyte or veteran, whether serving in their capacity as expounders of the teachings, or administrators, of His Faith, as settlers or itinerant teachers, distinguish themselves by such deeds of heroism as will rival, nay outshine, the feats accomplished nineteen hundred years ago, by that little band of God-intoxicated disci-pies who, fearlessly preaching the Gospel of a newly-arisen Messiah, contributed so decisively to the illumination, the regeneration and the advancement of the entire European continent. (2) REPORT OF THE EUROPEAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE HE Third Intercontinental Baha'i Teaching Conference, held in Stockholm, Sweden, from July 2126, 1953, can be described in one word, Action! In this Jubilee celebration of Baha'u'llah's Mission "the spirit of the Year Nine was revived" and the European campaign was launched. Visualize, for a moment, the large auditorium of the Medhorgarhus [Citizens Hall], its stage decorated with pink gladiolas, yellow roses and carnations; Ugo Giachery, the special representative of the Guardian at the speaker's table with Edna True, Chairman of the European Teaching Committee, Marion Hofman, Co-Chairman for the Conference, Honor Kempton and Anne Lynch, secretaries. The Conference was convened by Edna True on Wednesday morning, July 22, and the message of the Guardian was read by Ugo Giachery, outlining the thirteen goals of "so revolutionizing, so gigantic, so sacred and beneficent a campaign." Honor Kemp-ton read messages and greetings from the International Baha'i Council, many of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the European Teaching Committee and countless local Assemblies and individuals. The Chairman then presented each of the fourteen Hands of the Cause who were present: Amelia Collins, Vice-President of the International Baha'i Council, Charles Mason Remey, President of the International Baha'i Council, Dorothy Baker, Hermann Grossmann, Adelbert Milhlschlegel, Valiyu'116h Varq4, Shu'i'u'llAh 'A1A'i, Tara?-u'lltih Samandari, 'Ali-Akbar Fur6tan, George Townshend, MilsA Ban~ni, Horace Holley, Dhikru'llAh Kh6tdem and Ugo Giachery. On this occasion Mrs. Baker remarked, "I begin to understand why Europe has been considered the pulse of the world. If we regenerate its pulse, the world may be conquered!" Then, as the believers answered the roll call, three hundred and seventy-seven from thirty countries responded: One hundred and ten from the ten goal countries,1 seventy-six from Germany, sixty-six from Ir~n, forty-two from England, and forty-eight from other lands! On the afternoon of this first day of the Conference, following the reading of the prayer, "The Remover of Difficulties," the story of the meeting of Mulli Ijusayn with the Bab, and the chanting of the Tablet of Alimad by a descendent of the Bab, the sacred gift of our beloved Guardian Ñ the blessed portrait of His Holiness the BTh Ñ was unveiled. Profound reverence touched each heart as the friends gazed on the portrait of the Blessed BTh, creating a sense of dedication and consecration which was to burst into a flame of action! It was a holy moment, a moment in eternity. The public meeting, held that night in the Concerthus, brought an audience of almost seven hundred to hear Mrs. Gerd Strand of Oslo, Norway, and Professor Zeine N. Zeine of Beirut, Lebanon. Hans Odemyr of Stockholm presented the speakers after giving a brief r6sum6 of the principles of the Faith. Mrs. Strand, who spoke in Swedish on "The Spiritual Regeneration of the Individual Man," pictured the "winter darkness of 1 Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, France, Finland. [p174] 172 THE BAHA'! WORLD doubt and restlessness" with the Baha'i Revelation "coming as a sunrise from the east, carrying the hope and promise of spring in its bosom." She reviewed the effects of education and religion on the character of man and closed her talk with a quotation from Baha'u'llah giving the Baha'i standards of conduct. Professor Zeine, speaking of "The Reconstruction of Human Society," explained that the reason "we are living in & time of confusion, perplexity and insecurity is that most people have lost their sense of values and their sense of direction, admitting no authority higher than their own, rejecting spiritual authority." He logically unfolded his subject, showing that "only God can save humanity from itself" and ended with the thought that "human society cannot be reconstructed on any solid, lasting foundation unless we turn to God again." The session Thursday morning opened with the reading of the cable to be sent to the Guardian: "Three hundred and seventy-seven believers (from) thirty countries humbly thank (the) beloved Guardian (for the) sacred, blessed bounty (of his) priceless gift (and) join (in) heartfelt loving greetings. (Our) hearts (are) joyously, solemnly united (and) uplifted (by) your message (sent) through (your) honored representative (and by) greetings from fourteen revered, beloved Hands (of the) Cause. (The) vision (of) Europe's great destiny (and this) immense Crusade calls us (to) rededication (and a) greater loyalty. (We are) entreating your prayers. Devoted love, Third Intercontinental Conference." Introducing the subject, "Launching the European Campaign of the World-Embrac-ing Crusade," Dr. Giachery summarized the Guardian's cable for us and made an impassioned appeal for us not to consider our limitations and human frailties but to arise, one and all, to shoulder our responsibilities. He listed the three immediate goals as follows: 1. To get our pioneers to the virgin territories as soon as possible. 2. To start translations. 3. To purchase land for future Masliri-qu'I-AdliMrs in Rome and Stockholm and the construction of the Mashriqu'1-Adbk~r in Frankfurt. The response began immediately with Horace Holley's announcement that the Baha'is of America, through their National Spiritual Assembly, were making what might be called a token contribution of $250. "Undoubtedly, the first payment," he added. This was followed by an offer of $5,000 each for Stockholm and Frankfurt, another of $1,000 for each, and then came offers in kroner, pesetas, marks, lire, francs, so that in a few moments a total of $8,567 each was reached. But this was not all, for the floodgates had opened and Baha'is, young and old, gave cameras, wedding rings, Baha'i rings, diamonds, watches, necklaces, earrings. One young man offered to sell his motorcycle and walk. Two brothers offered to work for two months on the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Frankfurt. Many laid on the altar of sacrifice the last piece of jewelry belonging to the family, heirlooms, precious and historic gifts associated with the Holy family and the early believers, objects which could never be replaced. Some of the gifts were given in memory of departed mothers, sisters, brothers, pioneers Dagmar Dole and Johanna Schubartli; in memory of the chairman of the Persian National Assembly and of Louis Gregory, first Negro Hand of the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Numerous gifts were given for the Stockholm Mashriqu'l-Adhkar photographs and paintings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Persian rugs carrying the symbol of the Greatest Name, embroidered cloths, a silver picture frame, a vase, precious soil from the home of the BTh in I~f~h~n and other offerings from the friends. In the afternoon a glimpse of the First and Second International Conferences was given as MasA Ban~ni, Shu'6iu'll~h 'A14'i, Horace Holley, Mildred Mottahedeli and Beatrice Asliton made their reports. Mr. Ban4ni told many interesting incidents in connection with the preparations for the Kampala Conference and explained how seemingly insurmountable obstacles had been miraculously overcome, many at the very last moment. General 'A1~'i compared the gathering to an experimental farm, wherein God was trying out new seeds which were destined to bring in a bumper crop. He confessed that, before the Conference, he had had misgivings as to the firmness of the African believers so recently converted to the Faith. Much to his joy he found that "each of these African believers is deep in the Faith and that their knowledge is superior to that of many of the people who have been in the Faith for years.~~ [p175] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 173 The Temple Dedication was vividly described by Horace Holley, who spoke of the structural beauty of the edifice and of its interior ornamentation and read the statement made at the dedication in behalf of the Guardian by R61~iyyih KjAnum. Then Mrs. Mottahedeh covered the high points of the Second Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in Wilmette. The afternoon ses-Sian closed with a showing of slides and films taken by believers at the First and Second Intercontinental Conferences and the Temple Dedication. These were explained by Beatrice Ashton. Two evenings of the Conference were devoted to the early history of the Faith, with George Townshend and Dhikru'11~h Kh& dem speaking Thursday evening on "The Sufferings of Baha'u'llah and Their Significance." Mr. Townshend explained that "the pains, the griefs, the sorrows, the sufferings, the rejections, the betrayals, the frustrations which were the common lot of all the High Prophets reached their culmination in Him" and, he significantly added, "Not He Himself alone but the Cause of God was in prison." Again, he said: "Wrongs done to the founder of a religion have two inevitable effects: one is that of retribution against the wrong done Ñ the severity of which we may judge from the two thousand year exile of the Jewish people; the other is that of reward to the High Prophet through the release of fresh powers of life that otherwise would have lain latent, enabling Him to pour forth Divine energies which in their boundlessness will utterly overwhelm the forces of evil and empower Him to say, 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'" Mr. Townshend closed with these words, "Love is a priceless thing, only to be won at the cost of death Those heroic souls who are rapt in the love of the Lord, they are the true lovers." Mr. Kh~tdem traced the life of Baha'u'llah in His imprisonments and banishment. He told of His great sufferings and loneliness, pointing out that, "When we look back a hundred years ago, Baha'u'llah was alone, but now His lovers all around the world in twenty-five hundred localities in one hundred and twenty-nine countries speak of Him in ninety different languages!" He then enumerated many of the achievements of the Faith, ending with the establishment of the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly, another pillar of the Universal House of Justice. "By 1963 we shall have a Universal House of Justice, no doubt, and in Baghdtid witness to that great day of Daniel. He could not live to see that day but he said, 'Blessed are they who will see that day.' Daniel, whose grave is in 'Irttq, will, in each one of us, see his prophecy fulfilled Friday morning Ugo Giachery read the paragraph of the Guardian's cable setting forth Europe's part in the Global Crusade, listing the territories in which we must have pioneers before the end of the Jubilee year, just a little over two months from now! He made a moving appeal saying, "We are young and strong and able to go; we all have our businesses, our family connections and things that are important to do, but when we realize that we can do without them and that by pioneering we can accomplish something that will last for all eternity! "I am hoping that before the day is over we shall be able to cable the Guardian that every place is filled. The Guardian will inscribe the name of every pioneer on a special scroll, the Knights of Baha'u'llah, and this will remain forever in the inmost tomb of Baha'u'llah in Baha" Dr. Giachery then announced that another message from the Guardian had been received and read it to the assembled believers. This cable from the beloved Guardian set ablaze the true spirit of sacrifice and devoted souls responded to the call; singly, in families, in couples, offering to go wherever needed. Sixty-three volunteered, in all: twenty-seven from the Persian ranks, eleven from England, four from Germany, fifteen from the ten goal countries with five offers from American pioneers now serving under the European Teaching Committee and one from America. On Friday afternoon, the friends had the joy of seeing moving pictures of the Holy places of the Faith in Israel. The beauty of the gardens, as well as the tremendous achievements at the World Center, is just one more miracle to add to the wondrous testimonies to the power of Baha'u'llah in our day! Friday evening, Horace Holley, in his presentation of "The Birth and Development of the Institutions of the Faith," traced the power and authority of Baha'u'llah perpetuated in Baha'i institutions. "Now what we have here is indeed a divine creation. It is humanity being raised toward God and [p176] Volunteer pioneers for the Ten-Year Global Crusade, Third Baha'i Intercontinental Teaching Conference, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2126, 1953. [p177] CENTENARY OP BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 175 the divine grace of God descending to humanity Therefore, in our daily lives when we have troubles and difficulties of an administrative nature, let us not be too impatient or too easily discouraged because we are in the process of making possible the formation of that spiritual body of the Universal House of Justice. There is the basis of the world's peace. There is the order and security of the world. There is the nobility and enlightenment of the human race If by the purity of our motives, by the depths of our self-sacrifice, we could hasten by one year or one month the establishment of that body, the whole human race would bless us for that great gift." Mr. Holley concluded with this thought: "'Abdu'l-Baha told us to see God in every human face, and we shoffid also see God in our institutions. When we do this, we can with more patience and insight join in this great new order of justice and peace." Mr. Tara?u'114li Samandari spoke of "The Stirring Episodes of the Early Days of the Faith." He said: "When there is a Divine Beloved, He needs lovers A farmer needs, first of all, soil in which to plant The Manifestations require the heart in which to plant their love In the days of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, there were lovers who went through the fire of martyrdom." Mr. Samandari pointed out that today "Pioneering is the equivalent of martyrdom and suffering. They will reap the same fruits as the early believers for their sacrifice." He told of 'Abdu'l-Baha's prophecy that kings would one day carry flowers to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and visit the Holy Places of the Baha'i world. One time, in the presence of Baha'u'llah as He chanted the Tabkt to the Sultan, Mr. Samandarf said: "He was seen in two states at the same time; that of the majesty and might of kingship, and one of modesty and meekness; the two could be seen, side by side." In conclusion, he related a story of the last days of the Blessed Perfection. He had summoned all the believers to come to His bedside and chanted verses from the Book of Aqdas referring to His passing. Seeing the believers overcome with grief, He counseled them, "The most important attribute in the life of the believers should be love and unity." In beginning his presentation of "The Dawn-Breakers," Mr. 'A1I-Akbar Furtitan said that the Guardian had instructed the believers to study the history of the Faith and compare it with the early days of past religions. Mr. Fur6tan showed that the disciples of other religions had not fully recognized the true and exalted station of their own prophets and gave examples of disobedience to the expressed wishes and commands of Moses, Christ and Muhammad. As contrast, he cited the many examples of absolute obedience in the I3ahA'i Faith. One, taken from the record of the last days of the earthly life of the 1kb, tells that when the Bab called for a volunteer to take His life (not wishing, as He said, to die by the hand of an unbeliever) a youth sprang to his feet, ready to obey His command and later explained that his obedience was to His Cause, not to His person; to His Word, not to His personality. Mr. Furfitan closed his remarks by quoting a saying of 'Abdu'l-Baha: "A small piece of cotton can prevent the ear from hearing sweet melodies. A very thin veil can cover the eyes and make it impossible for them to see. A very small headache can cause our mind to stop functioning a small drop of mortal poison can kill the person who takes it. The veils of selfishness are like the piece of cotton, the thin veil, the small headache and the drop, but those heroic souls, the Dawn-Breakers, did not let any veils come in between them and their true responsibility." At the opening of the session Saturday morning a letter from King Gustav Adolph of Sweden was read in which he acknowledged receipt of the Jubilee booklet. Dr. Grossmann then called attention to four maps of Europe on which were designated the goals of each of the four National Spiritual Assemblies and Local Spiritual Assemblies in the European campaign and endeavored to orient, geographically, the needs of the Crusade. He brought out many interesting historical facts with regard to these countries and enumerated the languages into which Baha'i literature is to be translated during the next ten years. At this point a letter written by R6ljiyyih KhAnum at the request of the Guardian was read by Dr. Giachery: "The friends in Stockholm must realize that the most important institutions to support at this time are the London Ija ratu'1-Quds and the funds for the Temple land in Stockholm and Frankfurt. The back of some of the hardest work in the plan will then be broken. [p178] 176 THE BAnAl WORLD The Guardian wishes that the friends should do their utmost to fill the remaining virgin territories and after returning home they should urge the Baha'is generally to do the same. The Hands of the Cause in their travels should do likewise John Ferraby, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles, was asked to report on the efforts made thus far in England to secure a site for their Ua4ra-tu'1-Quds. "Nearly the whole of the center of London is owned by a few landowners," he said, "and the few properties available command a very high price indeed. There is only one property offered which seems in any way suitable. If we cannot find a cheaper place, the Guardian has told us we may purchase it. For a lease they are asking five thousand pounds sterling, but for the land thirteen thousand pounds sterling, making a total of eighteen thousand pounds in all. The Guardian has cabled two thousand pounds toward the cost." Again the Conference was moved to action and excitement mounted as contributions were offered. Soon it was announced that the London Ua4ratu'1-Quds was assured a very substantial amount by this Conference. Consultation on the Guardian's cable continued and many points were clarified, among them the meaning of "incorporation~, and "national endowments," set forth by Horace Holley. "The legal incorporation of a national or local assembly," he said, "is very important from several points of view. In the first place, it produces recognition and enhances the prestige of the Faith and in the second place, it brings to the Baha'i community the advantage of legal protection in the case of lawsuits, litigation, etc. Finally, it creates of the institution of the Spiritual Assembly a legal person, a corporate body which is free from the personalities of the nine members. This legal person has perpetuity of existence." In considering endowments, he added, "In the future the Local Spiritual Assembly and, of course, the National Spiritual Assembly will build schools, libraries and other Baha'i institutions. As these institutions come into existence they are held legally by the aggregate body and not by the nine members of the Spiritual Assembly. The nine members of the Spiritual Assembly are the trustees of these properties." He drew attention to the lesson taught the American believers by 'Abdu'l-Baha when He told them to build the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar. "Little by little the friends began to contribute their funds to build the Temple. After a while we had sufficient funds to begin construction and by the time the Temple was completed $2,600,000 had been spent! Because the Baha'is concentrated on carrying out the Master's wish, they produced a building that is the glory of America. The Master told Mrs. Corinne True who was the first and, for many years, the financial secretary, that they must make a beginning and then all things would come and, therefore, no matter how small or how weak your community is, realize that it is the seed from which will come the fruitful trees!" At the beginning of the afternoon session, Amelia Collins, at the request of our Guardian, showed the latest photographs of developments in the work on the Shrine of the B~b and explained how, on the day of the Feast of RiK1v~n, the Guardian had sealed a bit of the plaster from the ceiling of the prison room of the Bab at MAh-Kii behind one of the golden tiles in the Dome of the Shrine. Discussing "Opening up New Territories," Edna True outlined some salient considerations and shared experiences of the European Teaching Committee in the work in Europe. Dorothy Ferraby, of England, reviewed the work of the British Africa Committee in its collaboration with other National Spiritual Assemblies in the development of the first world project. Dorothy Baker followed with practical suggestions for opening new territories and phcing pioneers, using Spitzbergen as a concrete exam-pie. Honor Kempton spoke on spiritual prerequisites and practical preparation for pioneers, suggesting The Advent of Divine Justice and The Challenging Requirements of the Present Hour as excellent textbooks for this study. Many pioneers in the European field shared their experiences for the remainder of the afternoon. The night of the Unity Banquet arrived. A full moon watched its reflection in the waters surrounding Stockholm's Town Hall. Inside, the magnificent Gokien Room, dazzling in its splendor, was filled with joyous "God-intoxicated souls" gathered to commemorate the great Jubilee of the Year Nine. In this perfect setting all were enchanted, as the Guardian's special representative, the President and the Vice-Presi [p179] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 177 dent of the International Baha'i Council, Hands of the Cause, seven members from National Spiritual Assemblies, delegates from each of the goal countries, and visitors from other lands were presented. Heartwarming greetings in many languages heightened the spirit of love and unity in the hearts until all were "as one soul in many bodies." Each believer, leaving this golden scene, carried with him a precious little packet of petals from the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, brought from the Holy Land for this occasion. As it had opened, the Unity Banquet closed with chanting by Persian believers. The Jubilee had indeed been befittingly commemorated. Summarizing the Conference next morning, Marion Hofman declared, "These days have been days of faith, obedience, detachment, love, heroism, and sacrifice!" As examples she pointed out that even before the Guardian's request that the friends establish Funds to purchase Temple sites, $27,000 had been donated; that, in response to the appeal of the Guardian for the participants to "swell the roll of honor through enlisting promptly under the unfurled banner of the advancing Hosts of Baha'u'llah," one out of seven arose and enlisted under that banner. A third achievement she likened to the Holiest Temple of the Baha'i World. "As that building of steel and concrete rose m Wilmette, a symbol of the transcendence of the Cause it brought joy to the believ ers around the world even so does the arising of the European Ba1A'i community reinforce all of us." At the close of the morning session, Edna True expressed the appreciation of the European Teaching Committee for the assistance given by all who contributed to the success of the Stockholm Conference. Ugo Giachery, the Guardian's special representative to the Stockholm Conference, commented on the maturity which the European community had reached, lauded the European Teaching Committee and the pioneers for their work and addressed special thanks to the Persian friends who contributed so generously to the achievement of the European goals. Closing the Conference Sunday afternoon, Horace Holley announced that the representatives of the National Spiritual Assemblies had held several sessions during the Conference and had appointed a special committee to accept all pioneer offers and achieve settlement of the goal areas as quickly as possible. He read the following cable, sent to the Guardian by the Hands of the Cause and representatives of the National Spiritual Assemblies: "Fourteen Hands (and) members (of the following) National Spiritual Assemblies: United States, British Isles, Germany, Italo-Swiss, Jr&n, 'Idq, present (at) Stockholm, consulting (on the) rapid settlement (of) pioneer territories, impressed (by the) spiritual fervor (and) capacity (of the) Third Conference, pledge (and) humbly beseech prayers. Devoted love." Dorothy Baker reported that of the European goals assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, the Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, and Spitz-bergen had been filled, leaving one virgin territory to be assigned Ñ Andorra. As she spoke, a believer immediately offered to pioneer in that country. Dr. Eugen Schmidt announced that pioneers under the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria had been assigned to Greece, Frisian Islands and Crete. Dr. Ugo Giachery announced for the Italo-Swiss National Spiritual Assembly that assignments have been made for Monaco, Sicily, Rhodes, and Sardinia. This left Liechtenstein and San Marino but, again, believers immediately rose to volunteer for these posts. Mr. Ferraby, Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles, announced assignments to Cyprus, Malta, and the Shetland Islands. Pioneers were available to fill other posts, he said, but funds were lacking. A Persian believer at once assured the necessary amount to send pioneers to the Channel, Hebrides and Orkney Islands, while a Baha'i from Sweden offered to settle in the Faroc Islands. Thus, pioneers were assigned to all the territories to be opened to the Faith in Europe! For those territories where, for the present, admittance to the countries cannot be secured, the pioneers are preparing themselves by thrift and study for the moment when they shall take their posts. The others either are en route or planning their imminent departures to positions for the waging of the World Crusade. With these miracles of action the Conference drew to its close. In his farewell remarks Mr KhAdem drew attention to other tangible miracles: the presence at the Con [p180] 178 THE BAHA'! WORLD ference, as Baha'is, of a descendent of N~siri'd-Din ShAh, a descendent of the ImAm Jum'ih whose father's uncle was the Son of the Wolf, and the former head of the Sbay1~j4 School of I~fAh&n, at whose declaration as a believer it was said, "the backbone of the Shaylibis is broken." The Third Intercontinental Baha Teaching Conference closed with the reading, in English and in the original Persian, of 'Abdu'l-Baha's prayer for the unity of East and West. 5. THE ASIAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE HELD IN NEW DELHI, INDIA, OCTOBER 715, 1953 (1) THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE TO THE CONFERENCE Presented by CHARLES MASON REMEY THE Hands of the Cause, the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the resident believers and visitors attending the Asian Intercontinental Teaching Conference in New Delhi, India. Well-beloved friends: With high hopes and a joyful heart I acclaim the convocation, in the leading city of the Indian subcontinent, of the fourth and last of the Intercontinental Teaching Conferences of a memorable Holy Year commemorating the centenary of the birth of the prophetic Mission of Baha'u'llah. On this historic occasion, when the members of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of the United States of America, of the Dominion of Canada, of Central and South America, of Persia, of the Indian subcontinent and of Burma, of 'Iraq and of Australasia, as well as representatives of the sovereign states and dependencies of the Asiatic continent, of the Republics of North, Central and South America, and of Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania are assembled, and are to deliberate on the needs and requirements of the recently launched triple Campaign embracing the Asiatic mainland, the Australian continent and the islands of the Pacific Ocean Ñ a campaign which may well be regarded as the most extensive, the most arduous and the most momentous of all the campaigns of a worldgirdling Crusade, and which, in its scope, is unparalleled in the history of the Faith in the entire Eastern Hemisphere Ñ my thoughts, on such an occasion, go back to the early dawn of our Faith, to those unforgettable scenes of matchless heroism, of dark tragedy, of imperishable glory which heralded its birth, and accompanied the spread, of its infant Light in the heart of the Asiatic continent. I vividly recall the meteoric rise of the Faith of the Bib in the provinces of Persia and the stirring episodes associated with His cruel incarceration in the mountain-fast-nesses of AdhirlAyj5n, with the revelation of the laws of His Dispensation, with the proclamation of the independence of His Faith, with the peerless heroism of His disciples, with the fiendish cruelty of His foes Ñ the Chief Magistrate, the civil authorities, the ecclesiastical dignitaries and the masses of the people, of His native land Ñ with the humiliation, the spoliation, the dispersal, the eventual massacre of a vast number of His followers, and, above all, with His own execution in the City of Tabriz. With a throb of wonder I call to mind the early and sudden fruition of I-us Dispensation in the capital city of that land, and the dramatic circumstances attending the birth of Baha'u'llah's Revelation culminating in His precipitate banishment to 'Jr~q. I am reminded, moreover, of the initial spread of the light of this Revelation, in consequence of the banishment of Baha'u'llah, to the adjoining territories of 'Ir&q, [p181] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 179 and, as far as the western fringes of that continent, to Turkey and the neighboring territories of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, and, at a later stage, to the Indian sub-con-tinent and China, situated on the southern and eastern extremities of that continent as well as to the Caucasus and Russian TurkistAn. Nor can I fail to remember the series of alternating crises and victories each constituting a landmark in the evolution of the Faith Ñ which it has experienced in some of these territories, associated with the distressful withdrawal of its Author to the mountains of Sulim6niyyih; with the glorious Declaration of His Mission in BaghdAd; with His second and third banishments to Constantinople and Adrianople; with the grievous rebellion of His half-brother; with the proclamation of His own Mission; with His fourth banishment to the desolate and far-off penal colony of 'Akka in Syria; with the revelation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book; with His ascension in the Holy Land; with the establishment of His Covenant and the inauguration of the Ministry of 'Abdu'l-Baha, His son and the Exemplar and authorized Interpreter of His teachings. These opening stages in the evolution of His Faith in the Asiatic continent were followed, while the first and Apostolic Age of His Dispensation was drawing to a close, by the opening of the Islands situated in the Pacific Ocean, Japan in the north, and the Australian continent in the South. To these memorable chapters of Asian Baha'i history another was soon added, on the morrow of the ascension of the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant, and during the initial epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, distinguished by the rise of the Administrative Order and the erection of its pillars in the cradle of that Faith, in 'Idtq, in India, PAkistAn and Burma and in the Antipodes. This memorable episode in its development in that vast continent was succeeded by the initiation, during the second epoch of that same Age, of a series of Plans in those same territories in support of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan and as a prelude to the opening of the recently launched world-embracing Spiritual Crusade. The hour has now struck for this continent, on whose soil, more than a century ago, so much sacred blood was shed, in whose very heart deeds of such tragic heroism ism were performed, and in many of whose territories such brilliant victories have been won, to contribute, in association with its sister continents, to the progress and ultimate triumph of this global Crusade, in a manner befitting its unrivaled position in the entire Baha world. The various Baha Communities dwelling within the borders of this continent and those situated to the south of its shores in the Antipodes, which include the oldest and most venerable among all the communities of the Baha'i world, and whose members in their aggregate constitute the overwhelming majority of the followers of Baha'u'llah, are called upon, in close association with four other Baha'i communities in the Western Hemisphere, to undertake in the course of the coming decade: First, the construction of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Baha'u'llah's native land, in the City of Tihr4n, surnamed by Baha'u'llah "Mother of the World." Second, the purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's, one in the City of Baghdad, enshrining the "Most Great House," the third holiest city of the Baha'i world, one in New Delhi, the leading city of the Indian subcontinent, and the third in Sydney, the oldest and foremost Baha'i Center in the Antipodes. Third, the formation of no less than eleven National Spiritual Assemblies, one each in PMcist~n, Burma and Ceylon, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P4kist4n and Burma; one in Turkey and one in AfglAni-stAn, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; one in Japan, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; one in New Zealand, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand, as well as four regional National Spiritual Assemblies, one in the Arabian Peninsula, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; one in SouthEast Asia, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, Pakistan and Burma; a third in the South Pacific, under the aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; and a fourth in the Near East, under the [p182] 180 THE BAHA'I WORLD aegis of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'IrAq. Fourth, the opening of the following forty-one virgin territories and islands: Andaman Islands, Bliutan, Daman, Din, Goa, Karikal, Mah6, Mariana Islands, Nico-bar Islands, Pondicherry, Sikkim, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, P6ikist4n and Burma; Caroline Islands, Dutch New Guinea, Hainan Island, Kazakhstan, Macao Island, Sakhalin Island, Tibet, Tonga Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; Brunei, Chagos Archipelago, Kirgizia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; Admiralty Islands, Cocos Island, Loyalty Islands, Mentawai Islands, New Hebrides Islands, Portuguese Timor, Society Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assemhly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand; Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Marshall Islands, Tuainotu Archipelago, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America; I4adhramaut, Kuria-Muria Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'IrAq; Marquesas Islands, Samoa Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada; Cook Islands, assigned to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America. Fifth, the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in the following forty languages, to be undertaken by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of India, P~kist~n and Burma, in association with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand: Abor Mirza, Aneityum, Annamese, Baha'i, Bentuni, Binandere, Cheremiss, Chungchia, Georgian, Houailou, Javanese, Kado, Kaili, Kopu, Kusaje, Lepeha, Lifu, Manchu, Manipuri, Manus Island, Marquesas, Men-tawai, Mongolian, Mordoff, Mwala, Na-ilsi, Nicobarese, Niue, Ossete, Ostiak, Pali, Panjabi, Paslito, Perm, Petats, Samoan, ThO, Tibetan, Tongan, Vogul. Sixth, the consolidation of Aden Protectorate AdhirlAyj6n, Afghttnistan, Abs4, Armenia, Babrayn Island, Georgia, Jjij~z, Saudi-Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Yemen, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia; of Baha'u'llah, Borneo, Burma, Ceylon, IndoChina, Indonesia, Malaya, Nepal, P&kist4n, Sara-wak, Siam, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, PAkistan and Burma; of China, Formosa, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippine Islands, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America; of Jordan, Koweit, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Trucial Sheiks, 'UmmAn, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'Irttq; of Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, New Caledonia, Australian New Guinea, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Balls of Australia and New Zealand; of Hong Kong, allocated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of British Isles. Seventh, the incorporation of the eleven abovementioned National Spiritual Assemblies, as well as those of Persia and 'IrAq. Eighth, the establishment by these abovementioned eleven National Spiritual Assemblies of national Baha'i endowments. Ninth, the establishment of a national Ija4ratu'1-Quds. in the capital cities of each of the countries where National Spiritual Assemblies are to be established, as well as one in Suva, one in Jakarta, one in Bahrayn and one in Beirut. Tenth, the establishment of a national Baha'i Court in the capital cities of Persia, of 'IrAq, of P~kistTh and of AfglAnist6n Ñ the leading Muslim centers in The Asiatic continent. Eleventh, the establishment of two national Baha'i Publishing Trusts, one in Tihr~n and one in New Delhi. Twelfth, the formation of Israel branches of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of Persia, of 'Ir6g, and of Australia, authorized to hold on behalf of their parent institutions property dedicated to the holy Shrines at the World Center of the Faith in the State of Israel. Thirteenth, the appointment, during Rh$-xAn 1954, by the Hands of the Cause in Asia and in Australia of an auxiliary Board of nine members who will, in conjunction wit the eight National Spiritual Assemblies participating in the Asiatic and Australian campaigns, assist, through periodic and systematic visits to Baha'i centers, in the efficient and prompt execution of the Plans formulated for the prosecution of the teaching campaigns in the continent of Asia and in the Antipodes. The Asiatic continent, the cradle of the [p183] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 181 principal religions of mankind; the home of so many of the oldest and mightiest civilizations s which have flourished on this planet; the crossways of so many kindreds and races; the battleground of so many peoples and nations; above whose horizons, in modern n times, the suns of two independent Revelations s Ñ the promise and consummation of a six thousand year old religious Cycle Ñ have successively arisen; where the Authors of both of these Revelations suffered banishment t and died; within whose confines the Center of a divinely-appointed Covenant was born, endured a forty-year incarceration n and passed away; on whose Western extremity the Qiblih of the Baha'i world has been definitely established; in whose heart the city proclaimed by Baha'u'llah as the "Mother of the World" is enshrined; within whose borders another City regarded as the "Cynosure of an adoring world" and the scene of the greatest and most glorious Revelation n the world has witnessed is embosomed; ; on whose soil so many saints, heroes and martyrs, associated with both of these Revelations, have lived, struggled and died Ñ such a continent, so privileged among its sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, sade, on the threshold of an era that may well recall in its glory and ultimate repercussions, sions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of God's purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human race. May this Crusade, launched simultaneously ously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighboring ing islands and the Antipodes, under the direction of eight National Spiritual Assemblies, blies, and through the operation of eight systematic Teaching Plans, and the concerted certed efforts of Baha'i communities in both the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent continent, and may it reenact those scenes of spiritual heroism which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the peoples and nations dwelling within its borders. Haifa, Israel October, 1953. Ñ Si-ioorn (2) REPORT OF THE ASIAN INTERCONTINENTAL TEACHING CONFERENCE THE fourth Intercontinental Teaching Conference under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of India, P6ki-st4n and Burma convened the first international Baha'i gathering ever to be held in the East. This great event took place in New Delhi, the picturesque metropolis of India, from October 715, 1953. West had come East at the behest of the Guardian. The attendance registered four hundred and eighty-nine, coming from thirty-one countries. The President of the Indian Republic, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, declared that it was the first gathering of its kind in the East. The delegates assembled beneath the colorful canopy erected on the grounds of the Constitution Club Ñ undoubtedly the most varied congregation of Baha'is yet assembled sembled anywhere in the world. Here were seen the many races and peoples of India, PAkistAn and Burma, Ceylon, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, Persia, 'IrAq, Egypt, Africa, Turkey, Europe, Canada, United States, Central and South America, unified in spirit and purpose within the Guardian's consummate application of the Divine Plan of 'Abdu'l-Baha for the redemption and unification of humanity at the time of impending peril. Surmounting the difficulties of language, the Conference exemplified that world unity which already exists among Baha'is. Its sessions concentrated the forces of the Baha'i world upon those goals of the Ten-Year Plan which are to establish firmly the Faith of Baha'u'llah throughout the lands of the [p184] 182 THE BAHA'! WORLD Far East and the islands of the South Pacific Ocean. After devotions conducted in English, Persian, Hindustani and Burmese, the Conference was opened by the Chairman of the Indian National Spiritual Assembly, Mr. 'Abbas 'AU Butt, with a gracious address of welcome: "On behalf of the Baha'is of India, P6ki-stan and Burma, I welcome the representative of the beloved Guardian, the Hands of the Cause, the representatives of the National Spiritual Assemblies, and the friends who have come to participate in this great Conference." Chairman Butt concluded his address with the following survey of the Faith in India, Burma and P~ikistTh. "We have a Publishing Committee and have published Baha'i literature in all the languages of India and P~kist6n and the principal languages of Burma, Ceylon and Indonesia, reaching a total of twenty-six languages. "We hold trust properties valued at more than one million rupees in the three countries of India, Ptikist~n and Burma. We have a school in Panchgani where we have recently purchased an extensive piece of land." All arrangements for the sessions, which were varied, dramatic and altogether appealing, were made by the Indian National Spiritual Assembly. They displayed remarkable initiative and resourcefulness in making the Conference an occasion for outstanding public events and contacts. As at the previous Intercontinental Conferences, the agenda included public meetings Ñ one held on the grounds of the Constitution Club and one in New Delhi Town Hall. The Guardian's representative, Charles Mason Remey, Hand of the Cause and President of the International Council, presided at the first. The theme was "Universal Peace Ñ A Need and Exigency of the Time," and the speakers were Horace Holley, Dorothy Baker and Dr. Ugo Giachery, Hands of the Cause, and Stanley Bolton, Sr. Mrs. Baker presided at the Town Hall meeting which was based on the theme "Towards a World Federation," the speakers being H. C. Featherstone, John Robarts, Mildred Mottahedeb and Abu'1 Qasim Faizi. This Conference, however, surpassed the previous Conferences in that it provided a public reception and tea in the garden of the Imperial Hotel. The scene was picturesque and charming Ñ the spacious lawn and ter race filled with tea tables under the soft light of late afternoon. There were about one thousand guests, including high officials of the Indian government, representatives from embassies and consulates, and men from the press. In addition, the National Spiritual Assembly arranged to present delegations of Baha'is to the three leaders of the Indian government Ñ Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President; Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President; and Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister Ñ each on a separate occasion and in his own office or reception room. The evening before the Conference, a reception was held at the Hotel Imperial for the representatives of the local and foreign press. Reporters from over thirty newspapers and news agencies had the opportunity to meet Mr. Remey, the Guardian s representative, a number of other Hands of the Cause, and delegates from many countries. Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh, International Observer for the Baha'is at the United Nations, served as chairman and made a statement on the purpose of the New Delhi Conference. This was followed by Mrs. Dorothy Baker's outline of the history of the Cause and plans for expansion during the ten-year World Crusade. One evening was devoted to a program of Indian dancing and music given by professional entertainers. On another occasion, an organized sightseeing tour, making use of a fleet of ten forty-seat buses, enabled the delegates to visit historical and other famous spots. Looking upon the remnants of a glorious past, the visiting Baha'is felt the inherent capacity of the Indian people to build a new civilization, as part of the great world civilization of the future. To return to the Conference proper: following the address of welcome, the Guardian s message to the Conference was presented by Mason Remey. Of the thirteen goals set forth by Shoghi Effendi in this communication, the Conference made immediate effort to fulfill the fourth goal, "the opening of. forty-one virgin territories and islands"; and the second goal, "the purchase of land for the future construction of three Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's, one in the city of Baghd6d, enshrining the 'Most Great House,'the third holiest city of the Baha'i world, one in New Delhi, the leading city of the Indian subcontinent, and the third in Sydney, the old [p185] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 183 est and foremost Baha'i center in the Antipodes." The achievement of these goals was handsomely supported by the Conference: Forty-five thousand dollars was contributed toward the purchase of the three tracts of land; seventy-four pioneers offered their services, were interviewed by a special committee and twenty-five of them were able to depart almost immediately to their posts; almost ten thousand dollars was contributed to a fund for pioneer budgets and all applications from pioneers not assigned definite posts at this time were referred to the National Spiritual Assemblies concerned. It was reported that the Indian National Spiritual Assembly had chosen the site for the future House of Worship, nine acres overlooking New Delhi. "Such a Continent," the Guardian wrote, "so privileged among its sister continents and yet so long and so sadly tormented, now stands at the hour of the launching of a world-encompassing Crusade, on the threshold of an era that may well recall in its glory and ultimate repercussions, the great periods of spiritual revival which, from the dawn of recorded history have, at various stages in the revelation of God's purpose for mankind, illuminated the path of the human race. "May this Crusade, launched simultaneously on the Asiatic mainland, its neighboring islands and the Antipodes, under the direction of eight National Spiritual Assemblies, and through the operation of eight systematic Teaching Plans and the concerted efforts of Baha'i communities in both the East and the West, provide, as it unfolds, an effective antidote to the baneful forces of atheism, nationalism, secularism and materialism that are tearing at the vitals of this turbulent continent, and may it reenact those scenes of spiritual heroism which, more than any of the secular revolutions which have agitated its face, have left their everlasting imprint on the fortunes of the peoples and nations dwelling within its borders." The Guardian likewise described to the Conference the teaching campaign upon which it was to deliberate, "a campaign which may well be regarded as the most extensive, the most arduous and the most momentous of all the campaigns of a worldgirdling Crusade." The spirit of consecration and deepened understanding engendered by the Guardian's Message was heightened by the privilege of viewing the Portrait of the Bab, the Martyr Prophet of the Faith. One by one, kneeling before it in awe and reverence, rising to behold the likeness of the divine Herald, anointed by the Guardian's representative with attar of rose, the followers of the Cause of God besought the purity essential to service in His Kingdom. During the afternoon of the first day of the Conference, another message from the Guardian, a cablegram, was presented. It bore a triple announcement: the completion of the Shrine of the Bab; the arrival of nineteen additional pioneers at their posts; and preliminary steps taken toward the acquisition of an extensive area preparatory to purchase of the site for the future House of Worship on Mt. Carmel, through the munificent donation by Mrs. Amelia Collins, Hand of the Cause. The Guardian urged that this triple bounty called for concerted exertion on the part of the assembled believers to carry out a triple responsibility. First, redoubled consecration to the task of sending-pioneers, eers, particularly into the Pacific area; second, increased self-sacrifice in order to purchase land for future Temples in Asia; third, earnest consultation by representatives of the Persian and 'Iraqi National Spiritual Assemblies and the assembled Hands of the Cause on thorough investigation of ways and means to insure the purchase of Holy Places, particularly the site of the Siy4h-Ch6i as well as identification and transfer to Baha'i cemeteries of the bodies of relatives of the B~b and Baha'u'llah. The Guardian also expressed his ardent hope that the New Delhi Conference would contribute in unprecedented degree to the ultimate attainment of the goals of the World Crusade. The Conference agenda as prepared and printed by the Indian National Assembly was set aside at this point because of the Guardian's cable and instead, the purchase of three Temple sites, the sending of pioneers and the purchase of Holy Places in Irt*n and 'Irtq took priority and became the focus of attention. Mr. Horace Holley emphasized the need for action and closed his talk by stating that a world poised for suicide could never be healed unless we spread the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Dr. Ugo Giachery and other speakers reiterated the call for action. [p186] 184 THE BAHA'I WORLD To give inspiration and help to delegates already thinking of offering their services as pioneers, those who had taken this step in earlier years spoke of their experiences. These talks were interspersed with a steady flow of volunteering pioneers who came to the platform and were presented to the assemblage. A moving statement was made by 'Ali-Akbar Furiitan, Hand of the Cause, quoting from 'Abdu'l-Baha on the spiritual significance of pioneering, and likening events today to the early days of Christianity. The first of the early pioneers to speak was Mrs. Clara Dunn, Hand of the Cause, and spiritual mother of Australia and New Zealand, who said: "Dear friends, this is the most wonderful occasion of my life. My late husband, John Henry Hyde Dunn, and I responded to the Divine Plan. I want to tell those who have answered the call of the Guardian to stand and go. It will be the greatest joy and pleasure of your lives even if the tests come. We need them to prove us. Baha'u'llah paid the price, set the pace, and the Master ['Abdu'1-Bah6i] gave us the path to follow. We have nothing to fear. If we have faith we can conquer the whole world. The Supreme Concourse is waiting to help us. 2' Then Miss Agnes Alexander told the friends that she was in Geneva, Switzerland, when World War I broke out and found herself without luggage and unable to cash her checks. On August 22, 1914, she received a letter from 'Abdu'l-Baha telling her to go to Japan. "Of course," she said, "I had no desire but to follow the Master's wish." She explained how miraculously she was enabled to do so. After 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing, Shoghi Effendi wrote a beautiful letter to the friends in Japan in which he stated: "As attendant and secretary of 'Abdu'l-Baha for well nigh two years after the termination of the Great War, I recall so vividly the radiant joy that transfigured His face whenever I opened before Him your supplications as well as those of Miss Agnes Alexander. What promises He gave us all regarding the future of the Cause in that land at the close of almost every supplication I read to Him. Let me state straightaway, the most emphatic, the most inspiring of them all. These are His very words that still keep ringing in my ears: 'Japan will turn ablaze! Japan is endowed with the most remarkable capacity for the spread of the Cause of God Mr. MhsA BanThi from Kampala, Uganda [British East Africa] was then asked to speak: "I was in Tihrtin when the call of the Guardian came for pioneers for Africa, and finally I decided to go with Mr. 'Au Nakh-javtni. Overcoming many difficulties, both of us got our visas. I settled in Kampala where 'All joined me and after some months we had two believers. We lived in a hotel and the teaching work was done while walking in the street; the morning prayers were held in the parks. Then the Guardian permitted both Mrs. Ban~nf and me to make the pilgrimage to Haifa. He gave us many instructions and on the last day, he appointed me Hand of the Cause for Africa. While we were away, 'All had been living and teaching in the villages and when we returned, little by little the number of believers grew. "We heard from the Guardian that the majority of believers attending the Kampala Conference would be Africans or native believers, but when the time came for the Conference, they thought they would have to stay at home to help with the harvest. Moreover, their friends had told them that the white people would gather them in and sell them as slaves. 'All and another Baha'i went to them and said, ''All is not inviting you; BanThf is not inviting you; but you will all be guests of the Guardian.' So many of them decided to come and thus, we had a majority of Africans at the Conference Ñ out of two hundred and thirty people, one hundred and forty were natives. They went back to their villages extremely happy and their suspicious relatives were surprised to see them." Mrs. Gloria Faizi spoke of the experiences of herself and her husband, Abu'1-Qasim Faizi: "The pioneers to Arabia are poor, very poor. The people belong to the Sunni sect of Isl4m and whenever you openly speak about the Faith, you are advised to keep quiet if you wish to stay in Arabia. After the Guardian asked the Persians to volunteer for Arabia many wanted to go, but only two families out of forty were able to get there. "We at Batirayn are in a position to see all the pioneers who are on the way to [p187] The President of the Union of India, Dr. Shri Rajendra Prasad, with some members of the Baha delegation whom he received in his official residence during the Asian Intercontinental Teaching Conference held in New Delhi, October, 1953. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-President of India, with some members of the Baha'i delegation, New Delhi, October 5, 1953. [p188] 186 THE BAHA'I WORLD Arabia. We see young men who have finished their studies in colleges and have obtained their degrees, leaving their education behind to take jobs as carpenters, tailors, barbers. After completing their studies, they take a short course in some manual work so that they can earn a livelihood. A large family lives in oniy one room in the winter and during the summer months of intense heat and moisture, they live on the roof of the house, which is merely a covering of palm branches and leaves. They have no water in the house, nor electricity. Their food consists of bread, rice, dates and tea, and in the winter a few vegetables. But do not think they are less happy than people in other parts of the world. Mr. Artemus Lamb of South America felt that his experiences would be helpful to Occidentals: "Many believe that everything will open up right away; often there comes a rude awakening." He told how he left for South America with everything he thought would be needed. Arriving in Mexico, he went ashore sightseeing, leaving all belongings on board the ship. Returning later to continue the next stage of the voyage, he noticed people running toward the waterfront and when he reached the wharf, there was his ship being towed out to sea in flames. Thus he found himself in Mexico without clothes, money, or any documents for identification Ñ indeed anything that connected him with the past. At the moment, this seemed a sign of God and he felt he should turn back. But later in a hotel room, he began to pray and then came the realization that he must be detached from all else save God. So he prepared his mind to go anywhere in Latin America. With the help of the Consul, he was able to go to Chile and in one-third of the time expected, arrived in the most southerly town of South America. Mr. Jamshid Fozd~r, from Sarawak, Borneo, said that they had had their difficulties in Sarawak Ñ difficulties in finding employment, housing and establishing themselves. Their activities came under suspicion, but they finally won the confidence of the authorities and were able to secure publicity for the Faith. When he and Mrs. Fozdir left Sarawak, there was an assembly and fourteen members in the community. Recently, he had heard of further enrollments. Mr. C. P. M. Anver Cadir of Thailand related that after twenty fruitless days of pioneering effort, he attended a moving picture show and saw 'Abdu'l-Baha's picture and a view of the Temple in Wilmette. This gave him an opportunity to hand out literature to those leaving the theater and resulted in his being questioned by the Police Department, but eventually they approved his literature. Mrs. Shirin Fozd6r described the results of her pioneering in Singapore and the prestige accorded her as a Baha'i by civil authorities there. Dr. H. M. Munji of India dwelt on the difficulties a Baha'i faces in teaching the Cause to Hindus. Other pioneers who shared their experiences were Saced Nahvi, Pondicherry, India; Mr. 'Ilmi, P6kistTh; Mr. Mawlavi, Aden; Mrs. Salisa Kirmani, Karikal, India; Mr. Alvin Blum, New Zealand, on technique of pioneering; Dr. Lukmani, on teaching in India and Ceylon; and Mrs. Baha'i N~diri who presented greetings from a Baha'i pioneering in Zanzibar. In the Guardian's first cablegram announcing the completion of the Shrine of the BTh, he requested that the Conference should hold a befitting memorial gathering to pay tribute to Hand of the Cause Sutherland Maxwell, the "immortal architect of the arcade of the superstmcture of the Shrine." He further suggested that acknowledgement should be made on the same occasion to the "unflagging labors and vigilance of Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery in negotiating contracts, inspecting and dispatching all the materials required for the construction of the edifice," and also to the ''assiduous and constant care of Hand of the Cause Leroy Toas in supervising the construction of both the drum and the dome." Two doors of the Shrine had recently been given the names of Sutherland Maxwell and Ugo Giachery. The cable announced that a door of the octagon would be associated henceforth with the name of Leroy Joas. The memorial gathering held in accordance with the Guardian's wishes was most impressive. Eulogies of Sutherland Maxwell were given by John Robarts, Ugo Giachery and Mason Remey. Mrs. Mildred Mottahe-deli paid tribute to Ugo Giachery and Mrs. Dorothy Baker to Leroy Toas. Another undertaking urged by the Guardian in his first cablegram was that the Hands of the Cause, together with representatives of Ir5nian and 'Ir4qi National Spiritual Assemblies, should consult on ways and means [p189] CENTENARY OF BIRTH OF BAHA'U'LLAH'S MISSION 187 to acquire Holy Places of the Faith, particularly the Siytth-Ch6tl where, during His imprisonment in that foul dungeon, Baha'u'llah received the first intimations of His mission. It was announced later that the consultation had been held as the Guardian which he felt were of the greatest concern to the Guardian. First, the Guardian wanted more cooperation and spiritual oneness among the Baha'is in India coming into the Faith from different backgrounds, Hindu, Muslim and Persian. Baha'i love should be Public reception held during the Fourth Baha'i intercontinental Teaching Conference, New Delhi, India, October, 1953. requested, and that Mr. Habib Sabet of New York City had offered to purchase the site of the Siy6~h-ChM. This generous and courageous offer was received with great joy and word was promptly sent to the Guardian. A second cablegram was received from the Guardian directed to the Hands of the Cause who were present at the Conference. It called upon them to disperse at the close of the Conference to teach for one or two months in Asia, Africa and Australia, in order to establish close contact with the respective National Assemblies, and assist the local assemblies to attain the goals of the Ten-Year Plan. This message laid out the itinerary of all the Hands, and the Guardian contributed three thousand pounds for the expense of the undertaking. The evening of the third day of the Conference was given over to the Guardian's representative, Mason Remey. It was designed to bring to the delegates a more vivid realization of the Guardian as a person in lieu of his actual presence. Mr. Remey emphasized three matters very strong among them. In America the white and colored should be united in the same way. Second, he hoped that the friends in India would give greater emphasis now and in the future to teaching the Hindu people. In India where there is a preponderance of Hindus as compared with the Muslims, the same proportion should be the goal: twice as many Hindus as Muslims in the Baha'i community. Third, the Guardian was now concentrating on the Pacific islands and the surrounding countries. Expansion of the Faith had been planned in stages and in the following order: Latin America, the Ten Goal countries of Europe, Central and South America. Now the time had come to spread the Faith in the islands of the Pacific and the countries nearby. With this new advance, the new emphasis on reaching American Indians and Eskimos, together with consolidating the gains already won, the Baha'is would be busy indeed during the ten-year World Crusade. When Mr. Remey was called upon to deliver a last word during the closing hours of the Conference, he reiterated these same [p190] 188 THE BAHA'! WORLD three points. At that time, Mr. Butt, Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly for India, Pakist~n and Burma asked Mr. Re-mey to let the Guardian know that enrollments were coming in from the Hindu peo-pie and that the National Assembly was taking action to carry out still further the Guardian's desire for the Hindus. During the evening with the Guardian's representative, Mrs. Dorothy Baker upon being asked to give her impressions of the Guardian said: "The Guardian is a new creation. You can never fully understand his station nor describe your meeting with him. In some strange way your existence becomes changed. You can never let go that first look when he greets you. Then the moment at table when he talks about the Faith and the teachings. It is so clear, so simple. I left Haifa with this impression of the Guardian Ñ the courtier and the court; the lover and the beloved; the king and the vassal of God." It would be impossible to include in this account of the New Delhi Conference everything that deserves description. Much that added richness must be omitted and oniy brief reference can be accorded to other weighty occurrences. Jin4b-i-fldil, who made two visits to America, sent once by 'Abdu'l-Baha and once by the Guardian, was called upon to address the Conference. He spoke chiefly of the history of the Faith which the Guardian had asked him to write. It is to comprise nine volumes. Before coming to the Conference he had sent the completed eighth volume in manuscript form to the Guardian. The five Hands of the Cause from Iran, Valiyu'116h Varq& Tar4~u'I1~th Samandari, 'Ali-Akbar Furiitan, Shu'tt'u'llAh 'A16~'i and Dhikru'lIAh Kh6dem, all graced the Conference with their presence and were often heard as they chanted prayers and contributed to the consultations. Mr. Samandari's stories of his youthful contacts with Baha'u'llah were greatly appreciated. The Conference was grieved by information from Basra PIriqi that a Baha'i had recently been martyred there Ñ the first Baha'i to be confirmed from the ancient John the Baptist community. A eulogy of him was delivered by Kamil 'Abbas. One session was devoted to a memorial gathering in honor of Mr. Fatlj-i-A'zam, a Persian martyr. Mr. Furfitan chanted a prayer for a still more recent Baha'i martyr of Persia. At the very first session, Siegfried Schopflocher, Hand of the Cause, who had recently passed on, was eulogized and a prayer was chanted for him. At the request of the National Spiritual Assembly of India, P6idst~n and Burma, the office of Conference Chairman was assumed in daily rotation by representatives of the participating Assemblies. The final sessions, however, devoted to the Baha'i community of India, and the concluding hours of the Conference were conducted by our hosts in the persons of Mr. 'Abbas 'All Butt, Chairman, and Mr. A. RahnAn, Secretary. The Vice-Chairman of the Indian National Spiritual Assembly spoke on the Baha'i School at Panchgani, which the Guardian has said will become a University. At present there are eighty-three children living there and attending classes in Baha'i and academic subjects. Seventy-five thousand rupees [about sixteen thousand dollars] are needed now for a new school building, and additional sums for equipment, laboratory and general repairs to the existing pknt. Contributions were made for this purpose. Mrs. Mildred Mottahedeh outlined Baha'i activities in relation to the United Nations. Particularly enjoyed was her remark that the NonGovernmental Organization Conference in Istanbul was conducted in the palace of the Sulttin who persecuted Baha'u'llah. The commission for interviewing pioneers headed by Alvin Blum did magnificent work; Habib Sabet very capably handled the appeal for funds; and Abu'1 Qasim Faizi's translation work was essential to the success of the Conference. This historic gathering closed with a celebration of the Nineteen Day Feast, which signalized likewise the end of Holy Year. [p191] THE CLNTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 18501950 1. BAHA'U'LLAH'S TRIBUTE TO THE Bab From the KITAB-I-IQAN HO UGH young and tender of age, and though the Cause He revealed was contrary to the desire of all the peoples of earth, both high and low, rich and poor, exalted and abased, king and subject, yet He arose and steadfastly proclaimed it. All have known and heard this. He was afraid of no one; He was regardless of consequences. Could such a thing be made manifest except through the power of a divine Revelation, and the potency of God's invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart, the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise. He could achieve it only by the permission of God, oniy if the channel of his heart were to be linked with the Source of divine grace, and his soul be assured of the unfailing sustenance of the Almighty. To what, We Wonder, do they ascribe so great a daring? Do they accuse Him of folly as they accused the Prophets of old? Or do they maintain that His motive was none other than leadership and the acquisition of earthly riches? Gracious God! In His Book, which He hath entitled "Qayy6mu'1-Asmt" Ñ the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books Ñ He prophesied His own martyrdom. In it is this passage: "0 thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake; and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love. Sufficient Witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days!" Likewise, in His interpretation of the letter "H&" He craved martyrdom, saying: "Methinks I heard a Voice calling in my inmost being: 'Do thou sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as Uusayn, peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake?' And were I not regardful of this inevitable mystery, k~ Him, Who hath my being between His hands even if all the kings of the earth were to be leagued together they would be powerless to take from me a single letter, how much less can these servants who are worthy of no attention, and who verily are of the outcast That all may know the degree of My patience, My resignation, and self-sacrifice in the path of God." Could the Revealer of such utterance be regarded as walking any way but the way of God, and as having yearned for aught else except His good-pleasure? In this very verse there lieth concealed a breath of detachment, which if it were to be breathed full upon the world, all beings would re-flounce their lives, and sacrifice their souls. Reflect upon the villainous behavior of this generation, and witness their astounding ingratitude. Observe how they have closed their eyes to all this glory, and are abjectly pursuing those foul carcasses from whose bellies ascendeth the cry of the swallowed substance of the faithful. And yet, what unseemly calumnies they have hurled against 189 [p192] 190 THE BAHA'! WORLD those Daysprings of Holiness? Thus do We recount unto thee that which the hands of the infidels have wrought, they who, in the Day of Resurrection, have turned their face away from the divine Presence, whom God hath tormented with the fire of their own misbelief, and for whom He hath prepared in the world to come a chastisement which shall devour both their bodies and souls. For these have said: "God is powerless, and His hand of mercy is fettered." Steadfastness in the Faith is a sure testimony, and a glorious evidence of the truth. Even as the "Seal of the Prophets" hath said: "Two verses have made Me old." Both these verses are indicative of constancy in the Cause of God. Even as He saith: "Be thou steadfast as thou hast been bidden." And now consider how this Sadrili of the Ridvan of God hath, in the prime of youth, risen to proclaim the Cause of God. Behold what steadfastness that Beauty of God hath revealed. The whole world rose to hinder Him, yet it utterly failed. The more severe the persecution they inflicted on that Sadrih of Blessedness, the more His fervor increased, and the brighter burned the flame of His love. All this is evident, and none dis-puteth its truth. Finally, He surrendered His soul, and winged His flight unto the realms above. And among the evidences of the truth of His manifestation were the ascendancy, the transcendent power, and supremacy which He, the Revealer of being and Manifestation of the Adored, hath, unaided and alone, revealed throughout the world. No sooner had that eternal Beauty revealed Himself in Shir~z, in the year sixty, and rent asunder the veil of concealment, than the signs of the ascendancy, the might, the sovereignty, and power, emanating from that Essence of Essences and Sea of Seas, were manifest in every land. So much so, that from every city there appeared the signs, the evidences, the tokens, the testimonies of that divine Luminary. How many were those pure and kindly hearts which faithfully reflected the light of that eternal Sun, and how manifold the emanations of knowledge from that Ocean of divine wisdom which encompassed all beings! In every city, all the divines and dignitaries rose to hinder and repress them, and girded up the loins of malice, of envy, and tyranny for their suppression. How great the number of those holy souls, those essences of justice, who, accused of tyranny, were put to death! And how many embodiments of purity, who showed forth naught but true knowledge and stainless deeds, suffered an agonizing death! Notwithstanding all this, each of these holy beings, up to his last moment, breathed the Name of God, and soared in the realm of submission and resignation. Such was the potency and transmuting influence which He exercised over them, that they ceased to cherish any desire but His will, and wedded their soul to His remembrance. Reflect: Who in this world is able to manifest such transcendent power, such pervading influence? All these stainless hearts and sanctified souls have, with absolute resignation, responded to the summons of His decree. Instead of complaining, they rendered thanks unto God, and amidst the darkness of their anguish they revealed naught but radiant acquiescence to His will. It is evident how relentless was the hate, and how bitter the malice and enmity entertained by all the peoples of the earth towards these companions. The persecution and pain they inflicted on these holy and spiritual beings were regarded by them as means unto salvation, prosperity, and everlasting success. Hath the world, since the days of Adam, witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion? Notwithstanding all the torture they suffered, and manifold the afflictions they endured, they became the object of universal opprobrium and execration. Methinks, patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds. Do thou ponder these momentous happenings in thy heart, so that thou mayest apprehend the greatness of this Revelation, and perceive its stupendous glory. (pp. 230236) [p193] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 191 2. 'ABDU'L-BAHA'S TRIBUTE TO THE Bab From SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS FOR the B~b,1 Ñ may my soul be His sacrifice! Ñ at a youthful age, that is to say when He had reached the twenty-fifth year of His blessed life, He stood forth to proclaim His Cause. It was universally admitted by the Shiites that He had never studied in any school, and had not acquired knowledge from any teacher; all the people of SThr~iz bear witness to this. Nevertheless, He suddenly appeared before the people, endowed with the most complete erudition. Although He was but a merchant, He confounded all the 'Ulama2 of Persia. All alone, in a way which is beyond imagination, He upheld the Cause against the Persians, who are renowned for their religious fanaticism. This illustrious soiM arose with such power that He shook the supports of the religion, of the morals, the conditions, the habits, and the customs of Persia, and instituted new rules, new laws, and a new religion. Though the great personages of the State, nearly all the clergy, and the public men, arose to destroy 1 The Bab is here designated by His title Uazrati 'A1~, His Supreme Highness; but for the convenience of the reader we shall continue to designate Him by the name under which He is known throughout Europe, i.e., the Bib. 2 Doctors of the religion of Isl5m. and annihilate him, He alone withstood them, and moved the whole of Persia. Many 'Ulam& and public men, as well as other people, joyfully sacrificed their lives in His Cause, and hastened to the plain of martyrdom. The government, the nation, the doctors of divinity, and the great personages, desired to extinguish His light, but they could not do so. At last His moon arose, His star shone forth, His foundations became firmly established, and His dawning-place became brilliant. He imparted divine education to an unenlightened multitude and produced marvelous results on the thoughts, morals, customs, and conditions of the Persians. He announced the glad tidings of the manifestation of the Sun of Baha to His followers, and prepared them to believe. The appearance of such wonderful signs and great results, the effects produced upon the minds of the people, and upon the prevailing ideas; the establishment of the foundations of progress, and the organization of the principles of success and prosperity by a young merchant, constitute the greatest proof that He was a perfect educator. A just person will never hesitate to believe this. (pp. 303]) 3. TIlE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE FOR THE CENTENARY OF TIlE MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab MOVED share (with) assembled representatives (of) American Baha'i Community gathered beneath (the) dome (of the) Most Holy House (of) Worship (in the) Baha'i world, feelings (of) profound emotion evoked (by this) historic occasion (of the) worldwide commemoration (of the) First Centenary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Blessed Bib, Prophet (and) Herald (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah, Founder (of the) Dispensation marking (the) culmination (of the) six thousand year old Adamic Cycle, Inaugurator (of the) five thousand century Baha'i Cycle. Poignantly call (to) mind (the) circumstances attending (the) last act consummating (the) tragic ministry (of the) Master-Hero (of the) most sublime drama (in the) religious annals (of) mankind, signalizing (the) most dramatic event (of the) most turbulent period (of the) Heroic Age (of the) Baha'i Dispensation, destined (to) be recognized (by) posterity (as the) most precious, momentous sacrifice (in the) [p194] 192 TIlE BAHA'! WORLD world's spiritual history. Recall (the) peerless tributes paid (to) His memory by (the) Founder (of the) Faith, acclaiming Him Monarch (of) God's Messengers, (the) Primal Point round Whom (the) realities (of) all (the) Prophets circle in adoration. Profoundly stirred (by the) memory (of the) agonies He suffered, (the) glad-tidings He announced, (the) warnings He uttered, (the) forces He set (in) motion, (the) adversaries He converted, (the) disciples He raised up, (the) conflagrations He precipitated, (the) legacy He left (of) faith (and) courage, (the) love He inspired. Acknowledge with bowed head, joyous, thankful heart (the) successive, marvelous evidence (of) His triumphant power (in the) course (of the) hundred years elapsed since (the) last crowning act (of) His meteoric Ministry. (The) creative energies released (at the) hour (of the) birth (of) His Revelation, endowing mankind (with the) potentialities (of the) attainment (of) maturity (are) deranging, during (the) present transitional age, (the) equilibrium (of the) entire planet (as the) inevitable prelude (to the) consummation (in) world unity (of the) coming (of) age (of the) human race. (The) portentous (but) unheeded warnings addressed (to) kings, princes, ecciesiastics (are) responsible (for the) successive overthrow (of) fourteen monarchies (of) East (and) West, (the) collapse (of the) institution (of the) Caliphate, (the) virtual extinction (of the) Pope's temporal sovereignty, (the) progressive decline (in the) fortunes (of the) ecclesiastical hierarchies (of the) Is1~mic, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, (and) Hindu Faiths. (The) Order eulogized (and) announced (in) His writings, whose laws Baha'u'llah subsequently revealed (in the) Most Holy Book, whose features 'Abdu'l-Baha delineated (in His) Testament, (is) now passing through (its) embryonic stage through (the) emergence (of the) initial institutions (of the) world administrative order (in the) five continents (of the) globe. (The) clarion call sounded (in the) Qayy4mu'I-Asm~', summoning (the) peoples (of the) West (to) forsake (their) homes (and) proclaim His message, (was) nobly answered (by the) communities (of the) western hemisphere headed (by the) valorous, stalwart American believers, (the) chosen vanguard (of the) all-conquering, irresistibly-march-ing ing army (of the) Faith (in the) Western world. (The) embryonic Faith, maturing three years after His martyrdom, traversing (the) period (of) infancy (in the) course (of the) Heroic Age (of the) Faith (is) now steadily progressing towards maturity (in the) present Formative Age, destined (to) attain full stature (in the) Golden Age (of the) Baha'i Dispensation. Lastly (the) Holy Seed (of) infinite preciousness, holding within itself incalculable potentialities representing (the) culmination (of the) centuries-old process (of the) evolution (of) humanity through (the) energies released by (the) series (of) progressive Revelations starting with Adam (and) concluded (by the) Revelation (of the) Seal (of the) Prophets, marked by (the) successive appearance (of the) branches, leaves, buds, blossoms (and) plucked, after six brief years (by the) hand (of) destiny, ground (in the) mill (of) martyrdom (and) oppression (but) yielding (the) oil whose first flickering light cast (upon the) somber, subterranean walls (of the) SivAh-Ch6i (of) TihrAn, whose fire gathered brilliance (in) Baghd&d (and) shone (in) full resplendency (in) its crystal globe (in) Acirianople, whose rays warmed (and) illuminated (the) fringes (of the) American, European, Australian continents through (the) tender mm-isterings (of the) Center (of the) Covenant, whose radiance is now overspreading (the) surface (of the) globe during (the) present Formative Age, whose full splendor (is) destined (in the) course (of) future mu-leniums (to) suffuse (the) entire planet. Already the crushing (of) this God-imbued kernel upon (the) anvil (of) adversity (has) ignited (the) first sparks (of the) Holy Fire Latent within it through (the) emergence (of the) firmly-knit world-encompassing community constituting no less (than) twenty-five hundred centers established throughout a hundred countries representing over thirty races (and) extending as far north as (the) Arctic Circle (and) as far south (as the) Straits (of) Magallanes, equipped (with) literature translated (into) sixty languages (and) possessing endowments nearing ten million dollars, enriched through (the) erection (of) two Houses (of) Worship (in the) heart (of the) Asiatic (and) North American continents. (the) stately mausoleum reared (in) its World Center, consolidated through [p195] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 193 (the) incorporation (of) over (a) hundred (of) its national (and) local Assemblies (and) reinforced through (the) proclamation (of) its independence (in the) East, its recognition (in the) West, eulogized by royalty, buttressed (by) nine pillars sustaining (the) future structure (of) its supreme administrative council, energized through (the) simultaneous prosecution (of) specific plans conducted (under the) aegis (of) its national councils designed (to) enlarge (the) limits (and) extend (the) ramifications (and) consolidate (the) foundations (of) its divinely-appointed administrative order (over the) surface (of the) entire planet. (I) appeal (on) this solemn occasion, rendered doubly sacred through (the) approaching hundredth anniversary (of the) most devastating holocaust (in the) annals (of the) Faith, (at) this anxious hour (in the) fortunes (of this) travailing age, (to the) entire body (of the) American believers, (the) privileged occupants (and) stouthearted defenders (of the) foremost citadel (of the) Faith, (to) rededicate themselves (and) resolve, no matter how great (the) perils confronting (their) sister communities (on the) European, Asiatic, African (and) Australian continents, however somber (the) situation facing both (the) cradle (of the) Faith (and) its world center, however grievous (the) vicissitudes they themselves may eventually suffer, (to) hold aloft unflinchingly (the) torch (of the) Faith impregnated (with the) blood (of) innumerable martyrs (and) transmit it unimpaired so that it may add luster (to) future generations destined (to) labor after them. Haifa, Israel July 4, 1950. (signed) SHOGHI 4. THE STATION OF THE Bab From THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH By SHOGHI ErrENDI DEARLY-BELOVED friends! That the Bab, the inaugurator of the B~bi Dispensation, is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God, that He has been invested with sovereign power and authority, and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophet-hood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Baha'u'llah insistently proclaims and which its followers must uncompromisingly uphold. That He is not to be regarded merely as an inspired Precursor of the Baha'i Revelation, that in His person, as He Himself bears witness in the Persian Baydn, the object of all the Prophets gone before Him has been fulfilled, is a truth which I feel it my duty to demonstrate and emphasize. We would assuredly be failing in our duty to the Faith we profess and would be violating one of its basic and sacred principles if in our words or by our conduct we hesitate to recognize the implications of this root principle of Baha'i belief, or refuse to uphold unreservedly its integrity and demonstrate its truth. Indeed the chief motive actuating me to undertake the task of editing and translating Nabil's immortal Narrative has been to enable every follower of the Faith in the West to better understand and more readily grasp the tremendous implications of His exalted station and to more ardently admire and love Him. There can be no doubt that the claim to the twofold station ordained for the ]Thb by the Almighty, a claim which lie Himself has so boldly advanced, which Baha'u'llah has repeatedly affirmed, and to which the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha has finally given the sanction of its testimony, constitutes the most distinctive feature of the Baha'i Dispensation. It is a further evidence of its uniqueness, a tremendous accession to the strength, to the mysterious power and authority with which this holy cycle has been invested. Indeed the greatness of the Bab consists primarily, not in His being the divinely-appointed Forerunner of so transcendent a Revelation, but rather in His having been invested with the powers inherent in the inaugurator of a separate re [p196] 194 THE BAHA'I WORLD ligious Dispensation, and in His wielding, to a degree unrivaled by the Messengers gone before Him, the scepter of independent Prophethood. The short duration of His Dispensation, the restricted range within which His laws and ordinances have been made to operate, supply no criterion whatever wherewith to judge its Divine origin and to evaluate the potency of its message. "That so brief a span," Baha'u'llah Himself explains, "should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained, and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed of the contents of My Hidden Book." "Behold," Baha'u'llah further explains in the Kit~±b-i-]ladP, one of His works refuting the arguments of the people of the BayAn, "behold, how immediately upon the completion of the ninth year of this wondrous, this most holy and merciful Dispensation, the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls had been most secretly consummated." The marvelous happenings that have heralded the advent of the Founder of the Bab Dispensation, the dramatic circumstances of His own eventful life, the miraculous tragedy of His martyrdom, the magic of His influence exerted on the most eminent and powerful among His countrymen, to all of which every chapter of Nabil's stirring narrative testifies, should in themselves be regarded as sufficient evidence of the validity of His claim to so exalted a station among the Prophets. However graphic the record which the eminent chronicler of His life has transmUted to posterity, so luminous a narrative must pale before the glowing tribute paid to the BTh by the pen of Baha'u'llah. This tribute the BTh Himself has, by the clear assertion of His claim, abundantly supported, while the written testimonies of 'Abdu'l-Baha have powerfully reinforced its character and elucidated its meaning. Where else if not in the Kit4b-i-IqAn can the student of the BAN Dispensation seek to find those affirmations that unmistakably attest the power and spirit which no man, except he be a Manifestation of God, can manifest? "Could such a thing," exclaims Baha'u'llah, "be made manifest except through the power of a Divine Revelation and the potency of God's invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise." "No eye," He in another passage affirms, "bath beheld so great an outpouring of bounty, nor bath any ear heard of such a Revelation of loving-kind ness The Prophets 'endowed with con stancy,' whose loftiness and glory shine as the sun, were each honored with a Book which all have seen, and the verses of which have been duly ascertained. Whereas the verses which have rained from this Cloud of divine mercy have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number How can they belittle this Revelation? Hath any age witnessed such momentous happenings?" Commenting on the character and influence of those heroes and martyrs whom the spirit of the Bab had so magically transformed Baha'u'llah reveals the following: "If these companions be not the true strivers after God, who else could be called by this name? Ii these companions, with all their marvelous testimonies and wondrous works, be false, who then is worthy to claim for himself the truth? Has the world since the days of Adam witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion? Methinks, patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds." Wishing to stress the sublimity of the Bab's exalted station as compared with that of the Prophets of the past, Baha'u'llah in that same epistle asserts: "No understanding can grasp the nature of His Revelation, nor can any knowledge comprehend the full measure of His Faith." He then quotes, m confirmation of His argument, these prophetic words: "Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets have revealed are two letters thereof. No man thus far hath known more than these two letters. But when the Qd'im shall arise, He will cause the remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest." "Behold," He adds, "how great and lofty is His station! His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets and His Revelation transcendeth the corn prehension and understanding of all their chosen [p197] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 195 ones." "Of His Revelation," He further adds, "the Prophets of God, His saints and chosen ones, have either not been informed, or, in pursuance of God's inscrutable decree, they have not disclosed." Of all the tributes which Baha'u'llah's unerring pen has chosen to pay to the memory of the ~ His "Best-Beloved," the most memorable and touching is this brief, yet eloquent passage which so greatly enhances the value of the concluding passages of that same epistle. "Amidst them all," He writes, referring to the afflictive trials and dangers besetting him in the city of Baghdad, "We stand life in hand wholly resigned to His Will, that perchance through God's loving kindness and grace, this revealed and mani-jest Letter (Baha'u'llah) may lay down His life as a sacrifice in the path of the Primal Point, the most exalted Word (the Bin). By Him, at Whose bidding the Spirit hath spoken, but for this yearning of Our soul, We would not, for one moment, have tarried any longer in this city." Dearly-beloved friends! So resounding a praise, so bold an assertion issued by the pen of Baha'u'llah in so weighty a work, are fully reechoed in the language in which the Source of the BThf Revelation has chosen to clothe the claims He Himself has advanced. "I am the Mystic Fane," the B~b thus proclaims His station in the Qayytimu'1-Asm~' "Yvhich the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendor. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush." "0 Qurratu'l-'Ayn!" He, addressing Himself in that same commentary, exclaims, "I recognize in Thee none other except the 'Great Announcement' Ñ the Announcement voiced by the Concourse on high. By this name, I bear witness, they that circle the Throne of Glory have ever known Thee." "With each and every Prophet, Whom We have sent down in the past," He further adds, "We have established a separate Covenant concerning the 'Remern-brance of God' and His Day. Manifest, in the realm of glory and through the power of truth, are the 'Remembrance of God' and His Day before the eyes of the angels that circle His mercy-seat." "Should it be Our wish," He again affirms, "it is in Our power to compel, through the agency of but one letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our Cause." "I am the Primal Point," the B~~b thus addresses Mul:iammad Sh~1h from the prison-fortress of MTh-K~i, "from which have been generated all created things I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the light of God whose radiance can never fade All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right hand, and all the keys of hell on My left I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me, bath known all that is true and right, and hath attained all that is good and seemly The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover." "Should a tiny ant," the BTh, wishing to stress the limitless potentialities latent in His Dispensation, characteristically affirms, "desire in this day to be possessed of such power as to be able to unravel the abstrusest and mast bewildering passages of the Qur'an, its wish will no doubt be fulfilled, inasmuch as the mystery of eternal might vibrates within the innermost being of all created things." "If so helpless a creature," is 'Abdu'l-Baha's comment on so startling an affirmation, "can be endowed with so subtle a capacity, how much more efficacious must he the power released through the liberal eflusions of the grace of Baha'u'llah!" To these authoritative assertions and solemn declarations made by Baha'u'llah and the B~b must be added 'Abdu'l-Baha's own incontrovertible testimony. He, the appointed interpreter of the utterances of both Baha'u'llah and the BTh, corroborates, not by implication but in clear and categorical language, both in His Tablets and in His Testament, the truth of the statements to which I have already referred. In a Tablet addressed to a Baha'i in M6zindadjn, in which He unfolds the meaning of a misinterpreted statement attributed to Him regarding the rise of the Sun of Truth in this century, He sets forth, briefly but conclusively, what should remain for all time our true conception of the relationship between the two Manifestations associated with the Baha'i Dispensation. "In [p198] 196 THE BATIA'! WORLD making such a statement," He explains, "I had in mind no one else except the BeTh and Baha'u'llah, the character of whose Revelations it had been my purpose to elucidate. The Revelation of the Bab may be likened to the sun, its station corresponding to the first sign of the Zodiac Ñ the sign Aries Ñ which the sun enters at the Vernal Equinox. The station of Baha'u'llah's Revelation, on the other hand, is represented by the sign Leo, the sun's midsummer and highest station. By this is meant that this holy Dispensation is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory." "The Bab, the Exalted One," 'Abdu'l-Baha. more specifically affirms in another Tablet, "is the Morn of Truth, the splendor of Whose light shineth throughout all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhd Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants ol their threshold, and stand each as a lowly keeper at their door." "Every proof and prophecy," is His still more emphatic warning, "every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Baha'u'llah and the Bab. In them is to be found their complete fulfillment." And finally, in His Will and Testament, the repository of His last wishes and parting instructions, He in the following passage, specifically designed to set forth the guiding principles of Baha'i belief, sets the seal of His testimony on the Bab's dual and exalted station: "The foundation of the belief of the people of Baha (may my life be o0ered up for them) is this: His holiness the exalted One (the BeTh) is the Manifestation of the unity and oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty (Baha'u'llah). His holiness, the Abhd Beauty (Baha'u'llah) (may my life be offered up as a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the supreme Manifestation of God and the DaySpring of His most divine Essence." "All others," He significantly adds, "are servants unto Him and do His bidding." (pp. 12312 8) 5. THE EXECUTION OF THE Bab From GOD PASSES BY* By SHOGHI EFFENDI THE waves of dire tribulation that no-lently battered at the Faith, and eventually engulfed, in rapid succession, the ablest, the dearest and most trusted disciples of the Bab, plunged Him, as already observed, into unutterable sorrow. For no less than six months the Prisoner of Chihriq, His chronicler has recorded, was unable to either write or dictate. Crushed with grief by the evil tidings that came so fast upon Him, of the endless trials that beset His ablest lieutenants, by the agonies suffered by the besieged and the shameless betrayal of the survivors, by the woeful afflictions endured by the captives and the abominable butchery of men, women and children, as well as the foul indignities heaped on their corpses, He, for nine days, His amanuensis has affirmed, re * Chapter IV. fused to meet any of His friends, and was reluctant to touch the meat and drink that was offered Him. Tears rained continually from His eyes, and profuse expressions of anguish poured forth from His wounded heart, as He languished, for no less than five months, solitary and disconsolate, in His prison. The pillars of His infant Faith had, for the most part, been hurled down at the first onset of the hurricane that had been loosed upon it. Quddds, immortalized by Him as Ismu'llThi'1-Akhir (the Last Name of God); on whom Baha'u'llah's Tablet of Kullu't-Ta'im later conferred the sublime appellation of Nuqtiy-i-UlsbrA (the Last Point); whom He elevated, in another Tablet, to a rank second to none except that of the Herald of His Revelation; whom He identifies, in still another Tablet, with one of the [p199] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 197 "Messengers charged with imposture" mentioned in the Qur'ttn; whom the Persian BayAn extolled as that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight V4-hids revolve; on whose "detachment and the sincerity of whose devotion to God's will God prideth Himself amidst the Concourse on high;" whom 'Abdu'l-Baha designated as the "Moon of Guidance;" and whose appearance the Revelation of St. John the Divine anticipated as one of the two "Wit-nesses" into whom, ere the "second woe is past," the "spirit of life from God" must enter Ñ such a man had, in the full bloom of his youth, suffered, in the Sabzih-Mayd~n of B~rfurash a death which even Jesus Christ, as attested by Baha'u'llah, had not faced in the hour of His greatest agony. Mu11~ I~-sayn, the first Letter of the Living, surnamed the B4bu'1-B~b (the Gate of the Gate); designated as the "Primal Mirror;" on whom eulogies, prayers and visiting Tablets of a number equivalent to thrice the volume of the Qur'an had been lavished by the pen of the Bab; referred to in these eulogies as "beloved of My Heart;" the dust of whose grave, that same Pen had declared, was so potent as to cheer the sorrowful and heal the sick; whom "the creatures, raised in the beginning and in the end" of the BThI Dispensation, envy, and will continue to envy till the "Day of Judgment;" whom the Kitab-i-Iqan acclaimed as the one but for whom "God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory;" to whom Siyyid K4im had paid such tribute that his disciples suspected that the recipient of such praise might well be the promised One Himself Ñ such a one had likewise, in the prime of his manhood, died a martyr's death at Tabarsi. Vahid, pronounced in the Kit6b-i-Iq~in to be the "unique and peerless figure of his age," a man of immense erudition and the most preeminent figure to enlist under the banner of the new Faith, to whose "talents and saintliness," to whose "high attainments in the realm of science and philosophy" the Bib had testified in His DaU'il-i-Sab'ih (Seven Proofs), had already, under similar circumstances, been swept into the maelstrom of another upheaval, and was soon to quaff in his turn the cup drained by the heroic martyrs of M~zindar~n. Jjujj at, another champion of conspicuous audacity, of unsubduable will, of remarkable originality and vehement zeal, was being, swiftly and inevitably, drawn into the fiery furnace whose flames had already enveloped Zanjan and its environs. The BTh's maternal uncle, the only father He had known since His childhood, His shield and support and the trusted guardian of both His mother and His wife, had, moreover, been sundered from Him by the axe of the executioner in Tihr4n. No less than half of His chosen disciples, the Letters of the Living, had already preceded Him in the field of martyrdom. TAhirih, though still alive, was courageously pursuing a course that was to lead her inevitably to her doom. A fast ebbing life, so crowded with the accumulated anxieties, disappointments, treacheries and sorrows of a tragic ministry, now moved swiftly towards its climax. The most turbulent period of the Heroic Age of the new Dispensation was rapidly attaining its culmination. The cup of bitter woes which the Herald of that Dispensation had tasted was now full to overflowing. Indeed, He Himself had already foreshadowed His own approaching death. In the Kit6.b-i-Panj-Sha'n one of His last works, He had alluded to the fact that the sixth Naw-Rtiz after the declaration of His mission would be the last He was destined to celebrate on earth. In His interpretation of the letter Wi, He had voiced His craving for martyrdom, while in the Qayyfimu'1-Asma' lie had actually prophesied the inevitability of such a consummation of His glorious career. Forty days before His final departure from Chih-riq He had even collected all the documents in His possession, and placed them, together with His pen-case, His seals and His rings, in the hands of Mulhi B&qir, a Letter of the Living, whom He instructed to entrust them to Mu11~ 'Abdu'1-Karim-i-Qazvini, surnamed Mirza Alimad, who was to deliver them to Baha'u'llah in Tihr~n. While the convulsions of M~tzindar~n and Nayriz were pursuing their bloody course the Grand Vizir of NA~iri'd-Din Shdh anxiously pondering the significance of these dire happenings, and apprehensive of their repercussions on his countrymen, his government and his sovereign, was feverishly revolving in his mind that fateful decision which was not oniy destined to leave its indelible imprint on the fortunes of his country, but was to be fraught with such incalculable consequences for the destinies of the whole of mankind. The repressive incas [p200] 198 THE BAHA'! WORLD ures taken against the followers of the Bab, he was by now fully convinced, had but served to inflame their zeal, steel their resolution and confirm their loyalty to their persecuted Faith. The ETh's isolation and captivity had produced the opposite effect to that which the Amir-Niz~im had confidently anticipated. Gravely perturbed, he bitterly condemned the disastrous leniency of his predecessor, IJAji Mirza Aq~si, which had brought matters to such a pass. A more drastic and still more exemplary punishment, he felt, must now be administered to what he regarded as an abomination of heresy which was polluting the civil and ecclesiastical institutions of the realm. Noth~ ing short, he believed, of the extinction of the life of Him Who was the fountainhead of so odious a doctrine and the driving force behind so dynamic a movement couki stem the tide that had wrought such havoc throughout the land. The siege of Zanj6tn was still in progress when he, dispensing with an explicit order from his sovereign, and acting independently of his counsellors and fellow-ministers, dispatched his order to Prince Ijamzih Mirza, the lisbmatu'd-Dawlih, the governor of Mhirb~yj~n, instructing him to execute the Bab. Fearing lest the infliction of such condign punishment in the capital of the realm would set in motion forces he might be powerless to control, he ordered that his Captive be taken to Tabriz, and there be done to death. Confronted with a flat refusal by the indignant Prince to perform what he regarded as a flagitious crime, the Amir-Ni$m commissioned his own brother, Mirza Hasan Khftn, to execute his orders. The usual formalities designed to secure the necessary authorization from the leading mujtahids of Tabriz were hastily and easily completed. Neither Mulh Mu1~am-mad-i-Mamiq6~ni, however, who had penned the Bab's death-warrant on the very day of His examination in Tabriz, nor H6Ji Mirza B&jir, nor Mulli Murtacj4-Quli, to whose houses their Victim was ignominiously led by the farr6.~h-b~shi, by order of the Grand Vizir, condescended to meet face to face their dreaded Opponent. Immediately before and soon after this humiliating treatment meted out to the Bab two highly significant incidents occurred, incidents that cast an illuminating light on the mysterious circumstances surrounding the opening phase of His martyrdom. dom. The farrAsh-bAshi had abruptly interrupted the last conversation which the Bab was confidentially having in one of the rooms of the barracks with His amanuensis Siyyid Ijusayn, and was drawing the latter aside, and severely rebuking him, when he was thus addressed by his Prisoner: "Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall it be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My inten-don." To the Christian Sdm KMn Ñ the colonel of the Armenian regiment ordered to carry out the execution Ñ who, seized with fear lest his act should provoke the wrath of God, had begged to be released from the duty imposed upon him, the BTh gave the following assurance: "Follow your instructions, and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you of your perplexity." S~m KhAn accordingly set out to discharge his duty. A spike was driven into a pillar which separated two rooms of the barracks facing the square. Two ropes were fastened to it from which the BTh and one of his disciples, the youthful and devout Mirza Muhammad-'AII-i-Zurnizi, surnamed Anis, who had previously flung himself at the feet of his Master and implored that under no circumstances he be sent away from Him, were separately suspended. The firing squad ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men. Each file in turn opened fire until the whole detachment had discharged its bullets. So dense was the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles that the sky was darkened. As soon as the smoke had cleared away the astounded multitude of about ten thousand souls, who had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, beheld a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe. The B~b had vanished from their sight! Only his companion remained, alive and unscathed, standing beside the wall on which they had been suspended. The ropes by which they had been hung alone were severed. "The Siyyid-i-B4b has gone from our sight!" cried out the bewildered spectators. A frenzied search immediately ensued. He was found, unhurt and unruffled, in the very room He had occupied the night before, engaged in completing His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. "1 have [p201] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 199 finished My conversation with Siyyid Ijusayn" were the words with which the Prisoner, so providentially preserved, greeted the appearance of the farrAsh-bfishi "Now you may proceed to fulfill your intention." Re]calling the bold assertion his Prisoner had previously made, and shaken by so stunning a revelation, the farr4sh-bAsjhi quitted instantly the scene, and resigned his post. 8gm Kh~n likewise, remembering, with feelings of awe and wonder, the reassuring words addressed to him by the Bib, ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and swore, as he left the courtyard, never again, even at the cost of his life, to repeat that act. Aq~ Thn-i-Khamsih colonel of the bodyguard, volunteered to replace him. On the same wall and in the same manner the Bab and His companion were again suspended, while the new regiment formed in line and opened fire upon them. This time, however, their breasts were riddled with bullets, and their bodies completely dissected, with the exception of their faces which were but little marred. "0 wayward generation!" were the last words of the W±b to the gazing multitude, as the regiment prepared to fire its volley, "Had you believed in Me every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you." Nor was this all. The very moment the shots were fired a gale of exceptional via-lence arose and swept over the city. From noon till night a whirlwind of dust obscured the light of the sun, and blinded the eyes of the people. In Shir4z an "earthquake," foreshadowed in no less weighty a Book than the Revelation of St. John, occurred in 1268 AlT, which threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc amongst its people, a havoc that was greatly aggravated by the outbreak of cholera, by famine and other afflictions. In that same year no less than two hundred and fifty of the firing squad, that had replaced S&m Kh6n's regiment, met their death, together with their officers, in a terrible earthquake, while the remaining five hundred suffered, three years later, as a punishment for their mutiny, the same fate as that which their hands had inflicted upon the Bib. To insure sure that none of them had survived, they were riddled with a second volley, after which their bodies, pierced with spears and lances, were exposed to the gaze of the people of Tabriz. The prime instigator of the Bab's death, the implacable Amir-Ni4m, together with his brother, his chief accomplice, met their death within two years of that savage act. On the evening of the very day of the Bab's execution, which fell on the ninth of July 1850 (28th of ShaiAn 1266 A.113, during the thirty-first year of His age and the seventh of His ministry, the mangled bodies were transferred from the courtyard of the barracks to the edge of the moat outside the gate of the city. Four companies, each consisting of ten sentinels, were ordered to keep watch in turn over them. On the following morning the Russian Consul in Tabriz visited the spot, and ordered the artist who had accompanied him to make a drawing of the remains as they lay beside the moat. In the middle of the following night a follower of the Bab, Wji Sulaym6n KlAn succeeded, through the instrumentality of a certain IjAji Allih-YAr, in removing the bodies to the silk factory owned by one of the believers of Mi1~n, and laid them, the next day, in a specially made wooden casket, which he later transferred to a place of safety. Meanwhile the mu11~s were boastfully proclaiming from the pulpits that, whereas the holy body of the Immaculate Im~m would be preserved from beasts of prey and from all creeping things, this man's body had been devoured by wild animals. No sooner had the news of the transfer of the remains of the Bab and of His fellow-sufferer been communicated to Baha'u'llah than lie ordered that same Sulaym5n KTh~n to bring them to Tihr4n, where they were taken to the Im~m-Thdih-t{asan, from whence they were removed to different places, until the time when, in pursuance of 'Abdu'l-Baha's instructions, they were transferred to the Holy Land, and were permanently and ceremoniously laid to rest by Him in a specially erected mausoleum on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. Thus ended a life which posterity will recognize as standing at the confluence of two universal prophetic cycles, the Adamic Cycle stretching back as far as the first dawnings of the world's recorded religious history and the Baha'i Cycle destined to propel itself across the unborn reaches of [p202] 200 THE BAHA'! WORLD time for a period of no less than five thousand centuries. The apotheosis in which such a life attained its consummation marks, as already observed, the culmination of the most heroic phase of the Heroic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation. It can, moreover, be regarded in no other light except as the most dramatic, the most tragic event transpiring within the entire range of the first Baha century. Indeed it can be rightly acclaimed as unparalled in the annals of the lives of all the Founders of the world's existing religious systems. So momentous an event could hardly fail to arouse widespread and keen interest even beyond the confines of the land in which it had occurred. "C'est un des plus magnifi-ques exemples de courage qu'il ait 6t6 donn6 h 1'humanit6 de contempler," is the testimony recorded by a Christian scholar and government official, who had lived in Persia and had familiarized himself with the life and teachings of the Bab, "et c'est aussi une admirable preuve de 1'amour que notre h& ros portait ~ ses concitoyens. II s'est sacrifi6 pour 1'humanit6: pour elle ii a donn6 son corps et son &me, pour elle ii a subi les privations, les affronts, les injures, Ia torture Ct Ic martyre. II a scell6 de son sang le pacte de la fraternit6 universelle, Ct comme J6sus ii a pay6 de sa vie 1'annonce du r~gne de la concorde, de 1'6quit6 et de 1'amour du pro-chain." "Un fait 6trange, unique dans les annales de 1'humanit6," is a further testimony from the pen of that same scholar commenting on the circumstances attending the BTh's martyrdom. "A veritable miracle," is the pronouncement made by a noted French Orientalist. "A true God-man," is the verdict of a famous British traveler and writer. "The finest product of his country," is the tribute paid Him by a noted French publicist. "That Jesus of the age a prophet, and more than a prophet," is the judament passed by a distinguished English divine. "The most important religious movement since the foundation of Christianity," is the possibility that was envisaged for the Faith the Bab had established by that far-famed Oxford scholar, the late Master of Balliol. "Many persons from all parts of the world," is 'Abdu'l-Baha's written assertion, "set out for Persia and began to investigate wholeheartedly the matter." The Czar of Russia, a contemporary chronicler has written, had even, shortly before the Bab's martyrdom, instructed the Russian Consul in Tabriz to fully inquire into, and report the circumstances of so startling a Movement, a commission that could not be carried out in view of the Bab's execution. In countries as remote as those of Western Europe an interest no less profound was kindled, and spread with great rapidity to literary, artistic, diplomatic and intellectual circles. "All Europe," attests the abovementioned French publicist, "was stirred to pity and indignation Among the litt6rateurs of my generation, in the Paris of 1890, the martyrdom of the Bab was still as fresh a topic as had been the first news of His death. We wrote poems about Him. Sarah Bernhardt entreated Catulle Mend~s for a play on the theme of this historic tragedy." A Russian poetess, member of the Philosophic, Oriental and Bibliological Societies of St. Petersburg, published in 1903 a drama entitled "The flAb," which a year later was played in one of the principal theatres of that city, was subsequently given publicity in London, was translated into French in Paris, and into German by the poet Fiedler, was presented again, soon after the Russian Revolution, in the Folk Theatre in Leningrad, and succeeded in arousing the genuine sympathy and interest of the renowned Tolstoy, whose eulogy of the poem was later published in the Russian press. It would indeed be no exaggeration to say that nowhere in the whole compass of the world's religious literature, except in the Gospels, do we find any record relating to the death of any of the religion-founders of the past comparable to the martyrdom suffered by the Prophet of Shir4z. So strange, so inexplicable a phenomenon, attested by eyewitnesses, corroborated by men of recognized standing, and acknowledged by government as well as unofficial historians among the people who had sworn undying hostility to the BAN Faith, may be truly regarded as the most marvelous manifestation of the unique potentialities with which a Dispensation promised by all the Dispensations of the past had been endowed. The passion of Jesus Christ, and indeed His whole public ministry, alone offer a parallel to the Mission and death of the BTh, a parallel which no student of comparative religion can fail to perceive or ignore. In the youthfulness and meekness of the Inaugurator of the BThi Dispensation; in the extreme brevity and turbulence of His public mm [p203] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 201 istry; in the dramatic swiftness with which that ministry moved towards its climax; in the apostolic order which He instituted, and the primacy which He conferred on one of its members; in the boldness of His dial-lenge to the time-honored conventions, rites and laws which had been woven into the fabric of the religion He Himself had been born into; in the rOle which an officially recognized and firmly entrenched religious hierarchy played as chief instigator of the outrages which He was made to suffer; in the indignities heaped upon Him; in the suddenness of His arrest; in the interrogation to which He was subjected; in the derision poured, and the scourging inflicted, upon Him; in the public affront He sustained; and, finally, in His ignominious suspension before the gaze of a hostile multitude Ñ in all these we cannot fail to discern a remarkable similarity to the distinguishing features of the career of Jesus Christ. It should be remembered, however, that apart from the miracle associated with the BTh's execution, He, unlike the Founder of the Christian religion, is not only to be regarded as the independent Author of a divinely revealed Dispensation, but must also be recognized as the Herald of a new Era and the Inaugurator of a great universal prophetic cycle. Nor should the important fact be overlooked that, whereas the chief adversaries of Jesus Christ, in His lifetime, were the Jewish rabbis and their associates, the forces arrayed against the BTh represented the combined civil and ecclesiastical powers of Persia, which, from the moment of His declaration to the hour of His death, persisted, unitedly and by every means at their disposal, in conspiring against the upholders and in vilifying the tenets of His Revelation. The BTh, acclaimed by Baha'u'llah as the "Essence of Essences," the "Sea of Seas," the "Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," "from Whom God bath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be," Whose "rank excelleth that of all the Prophets," and Whose "Revelation transcended-i the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones," had delivered His Message and discharged His mission. He Who was, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the "Morn of Truth" and "Harbinger of the Most Great Light," Whose advent at once signalized the termination of the "Prophetic Cycle" and the inception of the "Cycle of Fulfillment," had simultaneously through His Revelation banished the shades of night that had descended upon His country, and proclaimed the impending rise of that Incomparable Orb Whose radiance was to envelop the whole of mankind. He, as affirmed by Himself, "the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things," "one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God," the "Mystic Fane," the "Great Announcement," the "Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai," the "Remembrance of God" concerning Whom "a separate Covenant bath been established with each and every Prophet" had, through His advent, at once fulfilled the promise of all ages and ushered in the consummation of all Revelations. He the "Q6'im" (He Who ariseth) promised to the Shfahs the "Milidi" (One Who is guided) awaited by the Sunnis, the "Return of John the Baptist" expected by the Christians, the "IJshidar-MAh" referred to in the Zoroastrian scriptures, the "Return of Elijah" anticipated by the Jews, Whose Revelation was to show forth "the signs and tokens of all the Prophets," Who was to "manifest the perfection of Moses, the radiance of Jesus and the patience of Job" had appeared, proclaimed His Cause, been mercilessly persecuted and died gloriously. The "Second Woe," spoken of in the Apocalypse of St. John the Divine, had, at long last, appeared, and the first of the two "Messen-gets," Whose appearance had been prophesied in the Qur'an, had been sent down. The first "Trumpet-Blast," destined to smite the earth with extermination, announced in the latter Book, had finally been sounded. "The Inevitable," "The Catastrophe," "The Resurrection," "The Earthquake of the Last Hour," foretold by that same Book, had all come to pass. The "clear tokens" had been "sent down," and the "Spirit" had "breathed," and the "souls" had "waked up," and the "heaven" had been "cleft," and the "angels" had "ranged in order," and the "stars" had been "blotted out," and the "earth" had "cast forth her burden," and "Paradise" had been "brought near," and "hell" had been "made to blaze," and the "Book" had been "set," and the "Bridge" had been "laid out," and the "Balance" had been "set up," and the "mountains scattered in dust." The "cleansing of the Sanctuary," prophesied by Daniel and confirmed by [p204] 202 THE BAHA'I WORLD Jesus Christ in His reference to "the abomination of desolation," had been accomplished. The "day whose length shall be a thousand years," foretold by the Apostle of God in His Book, had terminated. The "forty and two nwnths," during which the "Holy City," as predicted by St. John the Divine, would be trodden under foot, had elapsed. The "time of the end" had been ushered in, and the first of the "two Witnesses" into Whom, "after three days and a half the Spirit of Life from God" would enter, had arisen and had "ascended up to heaven in a cloud." The "remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest," according to Islamic tradition, out of the "twenty and seven letters" of which Knowledge has been declared to consist, had been revealed. The "Man Child," mentioned in the Book of Revelation, destined to "rule all nations with a rod of iron," had released, through His coming, the creative energies which, reinforced by the effusions of a swiftly succeeding and infinitely mightier Revelation, were to instill into the entire human race the capacity to achieve its organic unification, attain maturity and thereby reach the final stage in its agelong evolution. The clarion-call addressed to the "concourse of kings and of the sons of kings," marking the inception of a process which, accelerated by Baha'u'llah's subsequent warnings to the entire company of the monarchs of East and West, was to produce so widespread a revolution in the fortunes of royalty, had been raised in the Qay-yumii'1-Asm6P. The "Order," whose foundation the Promised One was to establish in the KITAB-I-AQDAS, and the features of which the Center of the Covenant was to delineate in His Testament, and whose administrative framework the entire body of His followers are now erecting, had been categorically announced in the Persian Bay~n. The laws which were designed, on the one hand, to abolish at a stroke the privileges and ceremonials, the ordinances and institutions of a superannuated Dispensation, and to bridge, on the other, the gap between an obsolete system and the institutions of a world-en-compassing Order destined to supersede it, had been clearly formulated and proclaimed. The Covenant which, despite the determined assaults launched against it, succeeded, unlike all previous Dispensations, in preserving the integrity of the Faith of its Author, and in paving the way for the advent of the One Who was to be its Center and Object, had been firmly and irrevocably established. The light which, throughout successive periods, was to propagate itself gradually from its cradle as far as Vancouver in the West and the China Sea in the East, and to diffuse its radiance as far as Iceland in the North and the Tasman Sea in the South, had broken. The forces of darkness, at first confined to the concerted hostility of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of ShPah Persia, gathering momentum, at a later stage, through the avowed and persistent opposition of the Caliph of IsUm and the Sunni hierarchy in Turkey, and destined to culminate in the fierce antagonism of the sacerdotal orders associated with other and still more powerful religious systems, had launched their initial assault. The nucleus of the divinely ordained, world-embracing Community Ñ a Community whose infant strength had already plucked asunder the fetters of ShPah orthodoxy, and which was, with every expansion in the range of its fellowship, to seek and obtain a wider and still more significant recognition of its claims to be the world religion of the future, had been formed and was slowly crystallizing. And, lastly, the seed, endowed by the Hand of Omnipotence with such vast potentialities, though rudely trampled under foot and seemingly perished from the face of the earth, had, through this very process, been vouchsafed the opportunity to germinate and remanifest itself, in the shape of a still more compelling Revelation Ñ a Revelation destined to blossom forth, in a later period into the flourishing institutions of a worldwide administrative System, and to ripen, in the Golden Age as yet unborn, into mighty agencies functioning in consonance with the principles of a world-unifying, world-re-deeming Order. [p205] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 203 From THE DAWN-BREAKERS (Nabil's Narrative) * DEPRIVED of His turban and sash, the twin emblems of His noble lineage, the Bab, together with Siyyid Ijusayn, His amanuensis, was driven to yet another confinement which He well knew was but a step further on the way leading Him to the goal He had set Himself to attain. That day witnessed a tremendous commotion in the city of Tabriz. The great convulsion associated in the ideas of its inhabitants with the Day of Judgment seemed at last to have come upon them. Never had that city experienced a turmoil so fierce and so mysterious as the one which seized its inhabitants on the day the 13Th was led to that place which was to be the scene of His martyrdom. As He approached the courtyard of the barracks, a youth suddenly leaped forward who, in his eagerness to overtake Him, had forced his way through the crowd, utterly ignoring the risks and perils which such an attempt might involve. His face was haggard, his feet were bare, and his hair dishevelled. Breathless with excitement and exhausted with fatigue, he flung himself at the feet of the BTh and, seizing the hem of His garment, passionately implored Him: "Send me not from Thee, 0 Master. Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee." "Muhammad 'Alt" answered the BTh, "arise, and rest assured that you will be with Me. Tomorrow you shall witness what God has decreed." Two other companions, unable to contain themselves, rushed forward and assured Him of their unalterable ioy-alty. These, together with Mirza MuI~am-mad-'Aliy-i-Zunflzi, were seized and placed in the same cell in which the Bab and Siyyid ilusayn were confined. I have heard Siyyid ilusayn bear witness to the following: "That night the face of the Bab was aglow with joy, a joy such as had never shone from His countenance. Indifferent to the storm that raged about Him, He conversed with us with gaiety and cheerfulness. The sorrows that had weighed so heavily upon Him seemed to have completely vanished. Their weight appeared to have dissolved in the consciousness of ap * Pages 507517. proaching victory. 'Tomorrow,' He said to us, 'will be the day of My martyrdom. Would that one of you might now arise and, with his own hands, end My life. I prefer to be slain by the hand of a friend rather than by that of the enemy.' Tears rained from our eyes as we heard Him express that wish. We shrank, however, at the thought of taking away with our own hands so precious a life. We refused, and remained silent. Mirza Mu1~ammad-'A1i suddenly sprang to his feet and announced himself ready to obey whatever the BTh might desire. 'This same youth who has risen to comply with My wish,' the B~b declared, as soon as we had intervened and forced him to abandon the thought, 'will, together with Me, suffer martyrdom. Him will I choose to share with Me its crown.'" Early in the morning, Mirza Hasan KhAn ordered his farr6sh-bashf [chief attendant] to conduct the Bab into the presence of the leading mujtahids of the city and to obtain from them the authorization required for His execution. As the BTh was leaving the barracks, Siyyid Ijusayn asked Him what he should do. "Confess not your faith," He advised him. "Thereby you will be enabled, when the hour comes, to convey to those who are destined to hear you, the things of which you alone are aware." He was engaged in a confidential conversation with him when the farr~sh-Msbi suddenly interrupted and, holding Siyyid Ijusayn by the hand, drew him aside and severely rebuked him. "Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say," the Bab warned the farr6sh-bdshi "can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention." The farr4sh-Mshi was amazed at such a bold assertion. He made, however, no reply, and bade Siyyid Ijusayn arise and follow him. The Bab was, in His turn brought before Mulltt Mubammad-i-M~m~iq6ni. No sooner had he recognized Him than he seized the death-warrant he himself had previously [p206] 204 THE BAHA'! WORLD written and, handing it to his attendant, bade him deliver it to the farr~sh-b~shi. "No need," he cried, "to bring the Siyyid-i-BTh into my presence. This death-warrant I penned the very day I met him at the gathering presided over by the Vali-'Ahd. He surely is the same man whom I saw on that occasion, and has not, in the meantime, surrendered any of his claims." From thence the 13Th was conducted to the house of Mirza B6qir, the son of Mirza A1~mad, to whom he had recently succeeded. When they arrived, they found his attendant standing at the gate holding in his hand the Bab's death-warrant. "No need to enter," he told them. "My master is already satisfied that his father was right in pro-flouncing the sentence of death. He can do no better than follow his example." Mu11~ Murtad4-Quli, following in the footsteps of the other two mujtahids, had previously issued his own written testimony and refused to meet face to face his dreaded opponent. No sooner had the farr~sh-b~shi secured the necessary documents than he delivered his Captive into the hands of SAm KMn, assuring him that he could proceed with his task now that he had obtained the sanction of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the realm. S~tm KhAn was, in the meantime, finding himself increasingly affected by the behavior of his Captive and the treatment that had been meted out to Him. He was seized with great fear lest his action should bring upon him the wrath of God. "I profess the Christian Faith," he explained to the 13Th, "and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of Truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood." "Follow your instructions," the Bab replied, "and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity." Stm Kh&n ordered his men to drive a nail into the pillar that lay between the door of the room that Siyyid ilusayn occupied and the entrance to the adjoining one, and to make fast two ropes to that nail, from which the Bab and His companion were to be separately suspended. Mirza Muliam-mad-'Ali begged S~m KlAn to be placed in such a manner that his own body would shield that of the Bab. He was eventually suspended in such a position that his head reposed on the breast of his Master. As soon as they were fastened, a regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files, each of two hundred and fifty men, each of which was ordered to open fire in its turn until the whole detachment had discharged the volleys of its bullets. The smoke of the firing of the seven hundred and fifty rifles was such as to turn the light of the noonday sun into darkness. There had crowded onto the roof of the barracks, as well as the tops of the adjoining houses, about ten thousand people, all of whom were witnesses to that sad and moving scene. As soon as the cloud of smoke had cleared away, an astounded multitude were looking upon a scene which their eyes could scarcely believe. There, standing before them alive and unhurt, was the companion of the Bab, whilst He Himself had vanished uninjured from their sight. Though the cords with which they were suspended had been rent in pieces by the bullets, yet their bodies had miraculously escaped the volleys. Even the tunic which Mirza Muhammad-'Ali was wearing had, despite the thickness of the smoke, remained unsullied. "The Siyyid-i-B6b has gone from our sight!" rang out the voices of the bewildered multitude. They set out in a frenized search for Him, and found Him, eventually, seated in the same room which He had occupied the night before, engaged in completing His interrupted conversation, with Siyyid Uusayn. An expression of unruffled calm was upon His face. His body had emerged unscathed from the shower of bullets which the regiment had directed against Him. "I have finished My conversation with Siyyid tiusayn," the B6t told the farr~sh-b6shf. "Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention." The man was too much shaken to resume what he had already attempted. Refusing to accomplish his duty, he, that same moment, left that scene and resigned his post. He related all that he had seen to his neighbor, Mirza Siyyid Muljsin, one of the notables of Tabriz, who, as soon as he heard the story, was converted to the Faith. Mm KlAn was likewise stunned by the force of this tremendous revelation. He ordered his men to leave the barracks immediately, and refused ever again to associate himself and his regiment with any act that involved the least injury to the BTh. He [p207] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 205 swore, as he left that courtyard, never again to resume that task even though his refusal should entail the loss of his own life. No sooner had 84m KhAn departed than Akd Thn Kh6n4-Kharnsih colonel of the bodyguard, known also by the names of Khamsih and N~iri, volunteered to carry out the order for execution. On the same wall and in the same manner, the Bab and His companion were again suspended, while the regiment formed in line to open fire upon them. Contrariwise to the previous occasion, when only the cord with which they were suspended had been shot to pieces, this time their bodies were shattered and were blended into one mass of mingled flesh and bone. "Had you believed in Me, 0 wayward generation," were the last words of the Bab to the gazing multitude as the regiment was preparing to fire the final volley, "every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you." The very moment the shots were fired, a gale of exceptional severity arose and swept over the whole city. A whirlwind of dust of incredible density obscured the light of the sun and blinded the eyes of the people. The entire city remained enveloped in that darkness from noon till night. Even so strange a phenomenon, following immediately in the wake of that still more astounding failure of S~m KMn's regiment to injure the BTh, was unable to move the hearts of the people of Tabriz, and to induce them to pause and reflect upon the significance of such momentous events. They witnessed the effect which so marvelous an occurrence had produced upon S~m KJAn; they beheld the consternation of the farr~tsh-1Ashi and saw him make his irrevocable decision; they could even examine that tunic which, despite the discharge of so many bullets, had remained whole and stainless; they could read in the face of the Bab, who had emerged unhurt from that storm, the expression of undisturbed serenity as He resumed His conversation with Syyid Wusayn; and yet none of them troubled himself to inquire as to the significance of these unwonted signs and wonders. The martyrdom of the Bab took place at noon on Sunday, the twenty-eighth of SPa-'Mn, in the year 1266 A.H. [July 9, 1850], thirty-one lunar years, seven months, and twenty-seven days from the day of His birth in Shifftz. 6. INTERNATIONAL OBSERVANCE OF THE CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab l7HE worldwide character of the Baha'i Faith has been demonstrated once more by the action of various National Spiritual Assemblies in preparing memorial and public programs for their respective communities. This survey briefly outlines the information received to date from the national reports and does not attempt to cover all the local activities, interesting and important as they might be. CANADA From the National Spiritual Assembly we learn that on June 1 a general letter was issued giving plans for a special Memorial Meeting and also a Public Meeting on the Centenary date, with list of readings and suggestions for the conduct of both meetings. EGYPT AND SUDAN The National Spiritual Assembly has published a Memorial pamphlet in the Arabic language. On account of the conditions of dispute among the three religions recognized in the Muslim world, the pamphlet supplied "historical, logical and traditional proofs from the Qur'an, the Old and New Testaments," to support the Baha'i Revelation. Its epilogue presented the Baha teachings and principles as set forth by the Guardian in the Faith of Baha'u'llah, World Religion, followed by a selection from Hidden Words, and ended with "How to Live a Baha Life [p208] 206 THE BANAL'! WORLD from Words of 'Abdu'l-Baha" The English translation of the title of this pamphlet is "Page of Light." Cards of invitation to the Public Meeting in Cairo were sent to more than eighty eminent nonBahA'is, of whom (including the press) about forty attended. The motion picture film of the Baha'i Temple in Wil-mette was shown. Press comments were very favorable. The Centenary was also observed by the Baha'is of Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. PERSIA The National Assembly prepared a special number of the Baha'i News of Persia, giving the Centenary program for use throughout the local communities. The world survey pamphlet prepared by the Guardian and published in the United States was translated into Persian and copies distributed throughout the provinces. INIMA, PAKISTAN AND BURMA On May 10 the National Assembly addressed a general letter to all local Assemblies appointing three Regional Committees, each serving for the BaM is in one of the three countries. Nine items of advice and direction were given for the Commemoration and Public Meetings. "The poor shall be fed as far as possible. This may be done through the Municipality," was one suggestion. A very attractive Centenary pamphlet was also published, of 64 pages and illustrations. Its contents were listed as follows: "Foreword, A Prayer By the Bab, The World Religion, The Execution of the 13Th, Baha'u'llah's Tribute to the Bab, The Bab and the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, The Bab's Address to the Letters of the Living, A Pattern for Future Society, Appreciations of the Baha Faith." Program In Commemoration of the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab, the Forerunner of Baha'i Faith, Public Lectures will Be Held under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Shri Sri Prakasa at the Constitution Club, Curzon Road New Delhi on July 9, 1950 at 930 A.M. Prof. Abdul-Majid Khan, Guest Speaker (For-merly Indian Consul, Jidda, Saudi Arabia) Ñ A Century of World Crisis (In English) Shrimati Shirin Roman Ñ The Martyr-Prophet of a World Faith (In Hindustani) Shri S. N. Chaturvedi (Publicity Officer, U.S. of Rajasthan) Ñ A Century of Spiritual Revival (In English) All Are Cordially Invited AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Two items have been received: a newspaper clipping reporting a talk by Suhayl 'AIA'i at a gathering of Auckland and Dev-onport Baha'i communities held to commemorate the Centenary; and a pamphlet entitled "Martyrdom of the Bib, 18501950" published by the National Spiritual Assembly. Its contents include: Foreword, A Summary of the Baha'i Faith, The Martyrdom of the Bab, Baha'u'llah's Tribute to the Bab, The Bab's Farewell Address to the Letters of the Living, and Utterances of the Bab. It contains 24 pages with two full-page illustrations. CENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE BiB COMMEMORATION AT THE BARA'i HousE OF WORSHIP, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS The Baha House of Worship provided an ideal setting for the program carried out on Sunday, July 9, 1950, in commemoration of the Centenary. The "Holiest House of Worship in the Baha'i World" bestowed its own special blessing upon the great gathering of some five hundred Baha'is convened in Foundation Hall at the hour of noon, to see the Portrait of the BTh which the Guardian made a most precious gift and trust to North America in 1944. This meeting, drawn together spiritually by the sublime nature of the occasion, realized anew its grandeur when the Guardian's cablegram, shared with the "assembled representatives (of) American Baha'i Community gathered beneath (the) dome (of the) most Holy House (of) Worship (in the) Baha'i World" his "feelings (of) profound emotion evoked (by this) historic occasion."' This reading followed a brief period of silence for individual use of the Daily Prayer. Baha'u'llah's Tablet of Visitation (Prayers and Meditations, pp. 310313) intensified the emotions to the degree of awe and exalted reverence. 1 This cablegram is given in full on pages 191 to 193. [p209] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 207 Then, after the Portrait was placed on the rug-covered speakers' table, flanked by red roses, row by row the friends quietly filed before the Portrait to behold the features and likeness of the Martyr-Prophet whose mission inaugurated the world era in the life of mankind. When the Baha'is in the last row had resumed their seats, the gathering departed from the Foundation Hall and entered by the outside steps the auditorium of the House of Worship. Here, though the evidences of construction were so apparent, the interior ornamentation had been completed to a point where the beauty of the finished design impressed the hearts. Indeed, an architectural sketch of the completed auditorium, in color, had been placed outside the Foundation Hall before noon, that the friends might better visualize what the auditorium will be when completed early in 1951. In this remarkable theater, signifying both the majesty of the Faith and the sacrificial efforts of the believers, the second part of the Centenary program unfolded: Readings from the Baha'i Sacred Writings concerning the Station and Martyrdom of the BTh. Seven readers presented these selections: Tablet of Ahmad; Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, pp. 272276; Some Answered Questions, pp. 3031; Words of the Bab and of 'Abdu'l-Baha from Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, pp. 353 6, p. 34; Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pp. 291293; pp. 7475, 144146; Prayer revealed by the BTh, "Is There any Remover of Difficulties"; Prayers and Meditations, pp. 8486. The spirit of worship sustained the gathering throughout these readings, evoking power to realize the meaning of these Holy Words and to reconsecrate oneself in service to so holy a Faith. The readings form a gemlike compilation which any one may from time to time ponder for himself, renewing faith and steadfastness whenever the world seems too violent and chaotic to be overcome and transformed. Public Meeting At 3:30 P.M. the Baha'is reconvened in Foundation Hall for the public meeting. The estimated attendance of Baha'is and non-B ah~'is was about nine hundred. Seldom has Foundation Hall held a larger gathering. Miss Elsie Austin, presiding, graciously welcomed the visitors in the name of the Baha'is. She stated the purpose of the Centenary, the significance of the Martyrdom of the Bab, and referred to the Centenary meetings being carried out in all parts of the world. As Chairman Miss Austin then presented the three speakers: Dr. G. A. Borgese, of the University of Chicago, member of the Committee to Frame a World Constitution, and director of the magazine Common Cause; Mrs. Dorothy Beecher Baker, longtime member of the National Spiritual Assembly, worker for unity, who has traveled widely and lectured throughout North America, South America and Western Europe; Mr. William Kenneth Christian, member of the National Spiritual Assembly, on the faculty of Michigan State College, writer, former member of the editorial staff of World Order Magazine. The Shrine and Gardens At 5:30 P.M., after the public meeting, the Baha'is gathered once more in Temple Foundation Hall. This meeting, concluding the Centenary program, had been arranged in order to project the moving picture film which the Guardian had sent from Haifa as one more contribution to the Centenary celebration, which synchronized with the completion of the Arcade surrounding the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel. The showing of the films was preceded by the reading of a letter written by Mr. Ben Weeden from Haifa describing the progress of construction work on the Shrine of the BTh. (See Section VI, page 246.) The film, a composite of numerous selected views, created as a whole an intensely interesting picture of the Shrines and gardens at the Baha'i World Center Ñ the Guardian's own project carried out at the spiritual heart of the Faith. It is not possible to reproduce these vivid photographic scenes in words. For the Baha'is present it was no less an experience than a psychic transportation to Haifa and 'Akka to see with their own eyes what has been done since the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha to glorify the remains of Baha'u'llah, the BTh, the Master and members of the Holy Family, and prepare the way for the building of the international institutions of the Faith to be centered in that holy region. The power of the Guardianship, the vision, the super [p210] 208 THE BAHA'I WORLD human toil of the guardian, were realized as seldom before. The final note was also sounded by Shoghi Effendi in the reading of his cablegram addressed to the Baha'is through all National Spiritual Assemblies, announcing the termination of the initial step of the construction of the "domed structure designed (to) embellish (and) preserve (the) Bab's sepulcher on Mt. Carmel." "(The) hour (is) ripe," the message continued, "(to) undertake (the) preliminaries (for the) erection (of the) octagonal first unit (of the) superstructure. "(I) appeal (to) entire body (of) believers (to) seize (ffiis) priceless opportunity (to) stimulate (the) unfoldment (of) this process through generous, sustained contributions (for the) furtherance (of an) enterprise transcending any national institution whether Ija4ra or MasPriqu'1-Adibk~r, reared (in the) past or (in) process (of) construction. "The hour (is) propitious (to) repay part (of the) infinite debt (of) gratitude owed its martyrs, through hastening (the) conclusion (of the) holiest enterprise since (the) dawn (of the) Revelation 2 Thus this Centenary is not merely a recalling, no matter how reverently, of a great Event which took place one hundred years ago: it is an occasion on which the Baha'is are challenged to carry forward the work of an ever-living and Divine Faith. Centenary Pamphlets Two pamphlets were published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States as part of the Centenary commemoration. The first publication is the world survey compiled by the Guardian with data reporting the spread of the Faith from 1844 to 1950, entitled The Baha'i Faith Ñ 18441950. 1950. The second publication is The Martyr Prophet of a World Faith by William B. Sears, telling the story of the B~b for a western public. 2 This cable, dated Haifa, July 7, 1950, appears in World Order Unfolds, page 12. 7. THE MARTYR PROPHET OF A WORLD FAJTH* By WILLIAM B. SEARS The blistering July sun glared from the barrels of seven hundred and fifty rifles, awaiting the command to fire and to take His life. He seemed so young to die, barely thirty, and He was handsome, gentle, confident. Could He possibly be guilty of the shocking crime of which He was accused? Thousands of eager spectators lined the Public Square. They crowded along the rooftops overlooking the scene of death. They wanted one last sight of Him for He was either good or evil, and they were not sure which. It was high noon, July 9, 1850, in a parched corner of Persia, the barracks square c/the sundrenched city of Tabriz. * Pamphlet issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Hahd'is of the United States, commemorating the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the B~.b, Tabdz, Persia, July 9, 1850-The The chain of events leading to this scene began in 1844. It was in an age of religious fervor. Everywhere men were preaching the return of Christ. They urged the world to prepare for it. Wolff in Asia, Sir Edward Irving in England, Leonard H. Kelber in Germany, Mason in Scotland, Davis in South Carolina, and William Miller in Pennsylvania all agreed that their studies of the Scriptures clearly showed that the hour for Christ's return was at hand. James Russell Lowell's poem ''The Crisis~~ was written in that very hour of Advent enthusiasm: "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide. Some great cause, God's new Messiah The years between 1843 and 1847 were [p211] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 209 generally accepted as the time for the return of Christ. Careful study of the prophecies had simultaneously led Bible scholars and students in different parts of the world to these fateful years. Did the years between 1843 and 1847 pass with no sign of the return of Christ? Or were these years comparable to those which followed the birth and enunciation of Christ's original message? Years which passed with no visible sign to the people of Palestine that the Promised One had come. The crucifixion of a trouble maker from Nazareth they had dismissed from their minds. Was the story to wait, as it had waited in the time of Jesus, for over one hundred years before it began to reach the consciousness of the people? Was the story of Calvary to be retold at an execution post in the public square of Tabriz? And during 1844, in Persia, this story had its beginning. It was the eve of May 23rd in Shii4z the "city of nightingales and blue tile fountains." ShirAz, in what was once the ancient province of Elam given by Daniel, the Prophet, as the place of vision in the latter days and mentioned in the book of Jeremiah: "And I will set my throne in Elam." A young man declared that He was the one foretold in all the holy books of the past. He said He had come to usher in a new era, a new springtime in the hearts of men. He was called "The 13Th" which means the door or the gate. His teaching was to be the gateway to a new age of unity: The world is one country and mankind its citizens; there is only one religion and all the prophets have taught it. As Jesus had spoken to Peter, the fisherman, the Bab spoke to a Persian student, Mull4 Ijusayn. Mulli tiusayn's own words can best describe the depth of this experience: "I sat spellbound by His utterance, oblivious of time. This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to have benumbed my faculties Excitement, joy, awe, and wonder stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among these emotions was a sense of gladness and strength which seemed to have transfigured me."' 1 The quotations cited are taken from The Dawn-Breakers, Nabfl's Narrative of the Early Days of the "I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation. At last I reluctantly arose from my seat and begged to depart. He smilingly bade me be seated, and said: 'If you leave in such a state, whoever sees you will assuredly say: This poor youth has lost his min&'" At that moment the clock registered two hours and eleven minutes after sunset on the eve of May 23, 1844. The BTh declared to MuIU Ijusayn as he prepared to leave, "This night, this very hour will, in the days to come, be celebrated as one of the greatest and most significant festivals." One hundred years later, May 23, 1944, in over eight hundred Baha'i communities of the world this hour was commemorated as the dawn of a new age, the beginning of the era of "one fold and one shepherd." In one century from the evening of its birth, this World Faith heralded by the ETh had spread to all the major countries of the earth, embracing people from every walk of life, every religious conviction, every shade of skin-color. The fame of the Bab soon spread beyond the circle of His disciples. It reached the authorities of both church and state. They were alarmed by the enthusiasm with which the people accepted the Bab's message. The same wave of opposition and hatred that had surrounded Jesus, began to engulf the Bab. The clergy at once initiated a combined attack upon Him. They gathered their wisest and most capable scholars and speakers to argue with and try to confuse the lThb. They arranged great public debates in ShuiAz and invited the governor, the clergy, the military chiefs, as well as the people, hoping to discredit the young Prophet of $hf4z. He spoke such searching truths that day by day the crowds increased. His purity of conduct at an age when passions are intense impressed the people who met Him. He was possessed of extraordinary eloquence and daring. Instead of benefiting the clergy, the debates they arranged elevated the B~b at their expense. He exposed, unsparingly, their vices and corruption. He proved their infidelity to their own doctrine. He shamed Baha'i Revelation, translated from the original Persian and edited by Shoghi Effendi, flaM'f Publishing Committee, New York, 1932. The quotations are from the following pages of The Dawn-Breakers: 6265, 61, 173177, 239, 315316, 321322, 447, 450452, 502, 507, 509, 512517. [p212] 210 THE BAHA'I WORLD them in their lives. He defeated them with their own Holy Book in His hand. Soon all of Persia was talking about the Bab. The SjjAh himself, moved to investigate the truth of the reports concerning the Bab, delegated Siyyid Ya1~y~y-i-D4rAbi, surnamed Vaitid, to go at once to Shir~z and investigate the matter in person. Vaijid was chosen because he was called the "most learned and most influential" of all the ShAh's subjects. Vahid had three interviews with the Bab. After the first, he said to a friend, "I have in His presence expatiated unduly upon my own learning. He was able in a few words to answer my questions Of these interviews, Va1~id said later, "As soon as I was ushered into His presence, a sense of fear, for which I could not account, suddenly seized me The BTh, beholding my plight, arose from His seat, advanced towards me, and, taking hold of my hand, seated me beside Him. 'Seek from me,' He said, 'whatever is your heart's desire. I will readily reveal it to you. "Like a babe that can neither understand nor speak, I felt powerless to respond. The B~b smiled as He gazed at me and said: 'Were I to reveal for you [the answers to the questions you seek], would you acknowledge that My words are born of the spirit of God? Would you recognize that My utterance can in no way be associated with sorcery or magic?' "How am I to describe this scene of inexpressible majesty? Verses streamed from His pen with a rapidity that was truly astounding. The incredible swiftness of His writing, the soft and gentle murmur of His voice, and the stupendous force of His style, amazed and bewildered me." VaI3id summed up his report on his investigation of the B~b by saying, "Such was the state of certitude to which I had attained that if all the powers of the earth were to be leagued against me they would be powerless to shake my confidence in the greatness of His Cause." When word of this reached the ShAh, he told his Prime Minister that he had been informed Vahid had become a follower of the BTh. "If this be true, it behooves us to cease belittling the Cause of that Siyyid." Still disturbed by Vatiid's response to the Bab's teaching the Sh4h issued an order summoning the BTh to the capital city of Tihrin. The SMh had received a letter from the B6t requesting such an audience. The B~b said that He was confident of the justness of the King and so He wished to come to the capital and hold conferences with the priests of the empire in the presence of the ShTh, the civil authorities, and the people. The Bab offered to explain His Cause and His purpose. He said He would accept beforehand the judgment of the Shah and, in case of failure, was ready to sacrifice His head. The BTh never reached Tihr~n. The Prime Minister, ~~JI Mirza AqAsi, feared the consequences of such an interview. He feared the influence the BTh might exert on both the sovereign and the capital city. He succeeded in persuading the Siith to transfer so dreaded a subject to M6.h-Kti, a prison castle in the Ad±irbAyj~n mountains to the north. En route to Mih-K6, the BTh approached the gate of Tabriz. The news of His arrival stirred the hearts of the people and they set out to meet Him, eager to extend their web come to so beloved a Leader. The officials of the government refused to allow them to draw near and receive His blessing. As the Bab walked along the streets of Tabriz, the cries of the multitude resounded on every side. So loud was the clamor of welcome that a crier was ordered to warn the people of the danger to which they were exposing themselves. The cry went forth: "Whosoever shall make any attempt to approach the Siyyid-i-B6.b, or seek to meet him, all [that person'sl possessions shall forthwith be seized and he himself condemned to perpetual imprisonment!" An undercurrent of excitement ran through the city during the Bib's stay. With saddened hearts and mixed feelings of helplessness and confusion, the people watched the beloved Prophet leave Tabriz for the castle of Mih-Kii. They whispered among themselves, as had the followers of Jesus when they watched Him being delivered in turn to Caiaphas and Pilate: If this is the Promised One, why is He subjected to the whims of the men of earth? The Bab was given into the custody of 'All KhAn warden of the solid, four-towered stone castle which sat on the summit of a mountain on the frontier of Russia, Turkey, and Persia. The Prime Minister was confident that few, if any, would venture to penetrate that [p213] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 211 wild region. The people of the area were already hostile to the Bab, and it was the Prime Minister's hope that this enforced seclusion among enemies would stifle the Faith at its birth and lead to its extinction. He soon realized how grav&ly he had underrated the force of the Bab's influence. The hostility of the natives was subdued by the gentle manners of the Bib. Their hearts were softened by His love for them. Their pride was humbled by His modesty. Their opposition to His teaching was mellowed by the wisdom of His words. Even the warden, 'All KhTh, began to relax the severity of the Bab's imprisonment, in spite of the Prime Minister's repeated warning against falling under His spell. Soon great numbers began to come from all quarters to visit the Bab at M~h-Kii. During this period, the BTh composed His Persian Baydn, the most comprehensive of all His writings. In it the Bab defined His mission as twofold: To call men to God, and to announce the coming of the Promise of all ages and all religions Ñ a great world educator whose station was so exalted that in the words of the BTh, "A thousand perusals of the Baydn cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by 'Him Whom God shall make manifest.' "2 The Prime Minister was informed of the affection which the once unfriendly people of MAli-Ku were showing toward the BTh. He was told of the flood of pilgrims to the castle. Those who had been ordered to watch devdopments reported to the Prime Minister that the warden, 'All KhAn had been enchanted by the Bab and treated Him as his host rather than as his prisoner. Both fear and rage impelled the Prime Minister to issue an instant order for the transfer of the Bab to the castle of Qhihriq, called the "grievous mountain." The Bab said farewell to the people of MTh-Kti who, in the course of His nine months' captivity among them, had recognized to a remarkable degree the power of His personality and the greatness of His character. The Bab was subjected to a closer and more rigorous confinement at Cjiihriq. The Prime Minister left strict and explicit instructions to the keeper, Ya12y~ KMn that no one was to enter the presence of his prisoner. He was 2 World Order of Baha'u'llah, page 100. warned to profit by the failure of 'All KhAn at M6.h-Kti. Yet, in spite of the open threat to his own safety, Ya~y~ Kji~n found himself powerless to obey. He soon felt the fascination of his prisoner and forgot the duty he was expected to perform, for the love of the Bab had claimed his entire being. Even the Kurds who lived in Cbibriq, and whose fanaticism and hatred exceeded that of the inhabitants of M4h-K6, fell under the transforming influence of the BTh. The love which the BTh radiated was a living thing. As Saul of Tarsus had fallen victim to the enrapturing warmth of Jesus, in like manner whoever came in contact with the BTh was transported into a new world of joy and gladness. As the crowds had flocked to Jesus on the Mount of Olives, so came the hungry, thirsty people of Persia to the Mountain of Giiihriq. No sooner did this news reach the capital than the infuriated Prime Minister demanded that the BTh be transferred at once to Tabriz. He called an immediate conference of all the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Tabriz to seek the most effective means for bringing to an abrupt end the Bab's power over the people. The news of the impending arrival of the BMJ caused such popular enthusiasm that the authorities decided to confine the B~b in a place outside the gate of the city. The crowds besieged the entrance to the meeting place the next day, impatiently awaiting the time when they could catch a glimpse of His face. They pressed forward in such large numbers that a passage had to be forced for the Bab. When the Bab entered the hail, a great stillness descended upon the people. At last the stillness was broken by the president of the gathering. "Who do you claim to be," he asked the Bab, "and what is the message which you have brought?" Pontius Pilate had asked Jesus, "Art thou a king then?" And Jesus replied, "Thou say-est that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.~~S So did the Bab reply to the Assembly. "I am, I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you 3john 18:37. [p214] 212 THE BAHA'! WORLD have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and pledge allegiance to My person." Immediately after He had pronounced these words, a quiet fell over the hail; a feeling of awe seized those who were pres-cut; the pallor of their faces betrayed the agitation of their hearts. The examination of the Bab continued to its prearranged end. Yet, once again the purpose of the authorities had been frustrated. The meeting had served oniy to uplift Him in the eyes of the people. The Bab was at length delivered to the head of the religious court of Tabriz to be whipped with the bastinado. As Jesus had fallen under the scourge for His claim to be a Redeemer of men, the Bab also was subjected to the same indignity. Eleven times the head of the religious court applied the rod to the Bib's feet. He was struck across the face with one of the strokes intended for His feet. Dr. McCormick, an English physician, treated Him and recalled their meeting in the following manner, "He was a very mild and delicate-looking man, rather small in stature and very fair for a Persian, with a melodious soft voice, which struck me much In fact his whole look and deportment went far to dispose one in his favour." His persecutors had fondly hoped that by summoning the B~b to Tabriz they would be able through threats and intimidations to induce Him to abandon His mission. They had failed. As Jesus had said, "My teaching is not mine, but His that sent me," the Bab too made it clear that this message was something greater than Himself. The gathering in Tabriz had enabled Him at last to set forth emphatically, in the presence of the authorities, the distinguishing features of His claim. It had also enabled Him to destroy, in brief and convincing language, the arguments of His enemies. The news of this meeting spread rapidly throughout Persia. It awakened new zeal in the hearts of His followers. They redoubled their efforts to spread His teachings. It enkindled a corresponding reaction among His adversaries. Persecutions, unprecedented in their violence, swept over the nation. The ShAh succumbed to illness, and his Prime Minister IJ~ji Mirza Aqdsi was toppled from power. The successor to the throne was seventeen year old Ntsiri'd-Din Mirza, and the active direction of the affairs of the nation fell to a new Prime Minister, Mirza Taqi Kh6tn. His rule was iron-hearted and his hatred for the BTh more implacable than that of Ij6ji Mirza iqAsi. He Unchained a combined assault of civil and ecclesiastical powers against the BTh and His Faith. When word of the suffering of His followers reached the Bab, who had been returned to the castle of Cjiihriq, He was plunged in sorrow. There was yet an added blow to come to Him. His beloved uncle, by whom He had been reared in childhood, was arrested in Tihr~n to await execution. It was this same uncle who had served the BTh with such devotion throughout His life, who became one of His first and most ardent disciples. It had been less than a year before his arrest in Tihr~n that the Bab's uncle had visited Him in His prison cell in Chihrfq. He had gone from there to Tihr6n to teach the Faith of the BTh and had remained there until his arrest as one of fourteen prisoners. The fourteen captives in Tihr4n were imprisoned in the home of one of the city officials. Every kind of ill treatment was m-flicted upon them to induce them to reveal the names and addresses of other believers. The Prime Minister issued a decree threatening with execution whoever among the fourteen was unwilling to recant his faith. Seven were compelled to yield to the pressure and were released at once. The remaining seven became known as the "Seven Martyrs of TihrTh." The BTh's uncle, one of the leading merchants of S±ir6.z, was one of these seven. His friends urged him to deny his faith and save his life. A number of the more affluent merchants offered to pay a ransom for him. The Bab's uncle rejected their offer. Finally he was brought before the Prime Minister. "A number have interceded in your behalf," the Prime Minister told him. "Emi-nent merchants of Shir& and Tihr6n are willing, nay eager, to pay your ransom A word of recantation from you is sufficient to set you free and ensure your return, with honors, to your native city." The Bab's uncle boldly replied to these [p215] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 213 words. "Your Excellency," he said, ". my repudiation of the truths enshrined in this Revelation would be tantamount to a rejection of all the Revelations that have preceded it. To refuse to acknowledge the Mission of the BTh would be to deny the Divine character of the Message which Mu1~ammad, Jesus, Moses, and all the Prophets of the past have revealed." The Prime Minister could not hide his impatience as the BTh's uncle signed his own death-warrant with his lips. The Bab's uncle continued: "God knows that whatever I have heard and read concerning the sayings and doings of those Messengers, I have been privileged to witness the same from this Youth, this beloved Kinsman of mine, from His earliest boyhood to this, the thirtieth year of His life I only request that you allow me to be the first to lay down my life in [His] path." The Prime Minister was stupefied by such an answer. Without uttering a word, he motioned that the Bab's uncle be taken out and beheaded. The second to fall beneath the headsman s axe was Mirza Qurb~n-'A1i. He was a close friend of many nobles. The mother of the Sh6h because of her friendship for Qur'an Ñ 'Ali, said to the King, "He is no follower of the BTh, but has been falsely accused." So they sent for him. "You are a scholar, a man of learning," they said. "You do not belong to this misguided sect; a false charge has been preferred against you." Qurbrin-'Ali replied, "I reckon myself one of the followers and servants of the Bab, though whether or no He hath accepted me as such, I know not." They tried to persuade, holding out hopes of a salary and pension. "This life and these drops of blood of mine," he said, "are of but small account; were the empire of the world mine, and bad I a thousand lives, I would freely cast them all at the feet of His friends." QurMn-'Ali was taken to the Prime Minister. "Since last night I have been besieged by all classes of State officials," the Prime Minister told him, "who have vigorously interceded in your behalf. From what I learn of the position you occupy and the influence your words exercise, you are not much inferior to the Siyyid-i-B~b himself. Had you claimed for yourself the position of leadership, ship, better would it have been than to declare your allegiance to one who is certainly inferior to you in knowledge." "The knowledge which I have acquired," Qurb6n-'Ali answered, "has led me to bow down in allegiance before Him." QurlAn-'All boldly continued: "Ever since I attained the age of manhood, I have regarded justice and fairness as the ruling motives of my life. I have judged the Bab fairly" with my mind and with my heart. I "have reached the conclusion that should this Youth, to whose transcendent power friend and foe alike testify, be false, every Prophet of God, from time immemorial down to the present day, should be denounced as the very embodiment of falsehood!" Neither the sweetness of bribes, nor the threat of death had any effect. "I am assured of the unquestioning devotion of over a thousand admirers," QurbAn-'All told the Prime Minister, "and yet I am powerless to change the heart of the least among them. This Youth, however, has proved Himself capable of transmuting the souls of the most degraded among His fellow men. Upon a thousand like me He has, unaided and alone, exerted such influence that, without even attaining His presence, they have flung aside their own desires and have clung passionately to His will. Fully Conscious of the inadequacy of the sacrifice they have made, these yearn to lay down their lives for His sake The Prime Minister hesitated. "I am loth, whether your words be of God or not, to pronounce the sentence of death against the possessor of so exalted a station." "Why hesitate?" burst forth QurMn-'Ali. "[For this was I born.] This is the day on which I shall seal with my lifeblood my faith in His cause." Seeing the Prime Minister's uncertainty, he added quickly, "Be not, therefore, reluctant, and rest assured that I shall never blame you for your act. The sooner you strike off my head, the greater will be my gratitude to you." The Prime Minister paled. "Take him away from this place!" he cried. "Take him away! Another moment, and [he] will have cast his spell over me!" QurlAn-'Ali smiled gently. "You are proof against that magic that can captivate only the pure in heart." Infuriated, the Prime Minister arose from his seat. His face was mottled and his whole frame shaking with anger as he shouted: [p216] 214 THE BAHA'! WORLD "Nothing but the edge of the sword can silence the voice of this deluded people!" He turned to the executioners. It is enough. "No need to bring any more members of this hateful sect before me. Words are powerless to overcome their unswerving obstinacy. Whomever you are able to induce to recant his faith, release him; as for the rest, strike off their heads. I will face no more of them!" The news of the tragic fate which had befallen the seven martyrs of TihrAn brought immeasurable sorrow to the heart of the Bab. To His companions, the BTh explained that this event foreshadowed His own death soon to follow. The Prime Minister decided to strike at the very head of the Faith. Remove the Bab, he felt, and once more the old order could be restored. He called his counsellors together and unfolded his plans. "Nothing," he told them, "short of his lithe BTh's] public execution can enable this distracted country to recover its tranquillity and peace.~~ He dispatched an order commanding that the Bab be brought to Tabriz a second time. Forty days before the arrival of this summons, the Bab collected all the documents and writings in His possession. He placed them in a box, along with His pen-case and ring, and made arrangements for their disposal. 'Abdu'1-Karim, to whom they were eventually entrusted, informed his fellow-disciples that all he could reveal of the letter which had been given him concerning the contents of the box was that it was to be delivered into the hands of Baha'u'llah, one of the ETh's ablest defenders in Tihr~n. At last the Bab was escorted to the city of Tabriz which was to be the scene of His martyrdom. Never had this city experienced a turmoil so fierce. As the Bab was being led through the courtyard to His cell in the city barracks, a youth leaped forward into His path. This eighteen year old boy had forced his way through the crowd ignoring the peril to his own life which such an attempt involved. His face was haggard, his feet were bare, his hair dishevelled. He flung himself at the feet of the BTh and implored Him: "Send me not from Thee, 0 Master. Wherever Thou goest, suffer me to follow Thee." Reminiscent of the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross, the BTh answered him, saying, "Muljammad-'A1I, arise and rest assured sured that you will be with Me. Tomorrow you shall witness what God has decreed." That night the face of the Bab was aglow with joy, a joy such as had never shone from His countenance. Indifferent to the storm that raged about Him, He conversed with His companions with gaiety and cheerfulness. The sorrows that had weighed so heavily upon Him seemed to have completely vanished. The Bab saw the sun rise over the sands of His native Persia for the last time. He was engaged in a confidential conversation with one of His followers who served as His secretary when He was interrupted by a government official. The chief attendant for the Prime Minister's brother had come to lead the Bab to the presence of the leading Doctors of Law in Tabriz to obtain from them the authorization for His execution. The BTh rebuked the attendant for his interruption and held fast to His secretary's hand. "Not until I have said to him all those things that I wish to say," the Bab warned the attendant, "can any earthly power silence Me. Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention." The attendant was amazed at such boldness and effrontery in a mere prisoner. He insisted that the Bib accompany him. The barracks doors were opened and the Bab was brought into the courtyard, His conversation left unfinished. To the people of Tabrfz, the Bab was no longer triumphant. The campaign of united opposition by church and state was having its effect. The BTh was now a humbled prisoner. The crowd filled the streets and people climbed on each other's shoulders the better to see this man who was still so much talked about. Just as Jesus had entered Jerusalem hailed on all sides and with palms strewn in His path only to be mocked and reviled in that same Jerusalem within the week, in like manner the glory that had attended the Bab's first visit to Tabriz was forgotten now. This time the crowd, restless and excitable, flung insulting words at the BTh. They pursued Him as He was led through the streets. They broke through the guards and struck Him in the face. When some missile hurled from the crowd would reach [p217] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 215 its mark the guards and the crowd would burst into laughter. As soon as the chief attendant secured the death warrant, he delivered the 13Th into the hands of Sdm KhAn who was in charge of the Armenian regiment which had been ordered to execute Him. S~m KlAn had found himself increasingly affected by the behavior of his captive. He was seized with great fear lest his action should bring upon him the wrath of God. He approached the Bab and spoke to Him. "I profess the Christian Faith," he explained, "and entertain no ill will against you. If your Cause be the Cause of Truth, enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood." "Follow your instructions," the BTh replied, "and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity." S6m Kh~n ordered his men to drive a nail into the pillar that lay between the doors of the barracks. To the nail they made fast the ropes from which the 13Th and His companion, Muliammad-'Ali, were to be separately suspended. The Bab remained silent, His pale handsome face framed by a black beard and small moustache. His appearance and His refined manners, His white and delicate hands, His simple but neat garments, all seemed out of place in the midst of this scene of violence. Mu1~ammad-'Mi begged S~m KMn to place him in such a manner that his body would shield that of the Bab. He was eventually suspended so that his head rested upon the breast of his Master. About ten thousand people had crowded onto the roofs of the adjoining houses, all eager to witness the spectacle, yet all willing to change at the least sign from the Bab. As the crowd that had passed by on Golgotha, reviling Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the crass," so, too, did the people of Tabrfz mock the Bab and jeer at His impotence. As soon as the Bab and His companion were fastened to the post, the regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files. S~m KMn could delay the command no longer. He ordered his men to fire. In turn, each of the files opened fire upon them until the whole detachment had discharged its volley of bullets. The smoke from the firing of the seven hundred and fifty oldstyle rifles was such as to turn the light of the noonday sun into darkness. As soon as the cloud of smoke had cleared away, the crowd looked upon a scene which reason could scarcely accept. Standing before them, alive and unhurt, was the companion of the Bab, Muhammad-'A1I. The Bab Himself had vanished from their sight. The cords with which they had been suspended were torn into pieces by the bullets, yet their bodies had escaped the volleys. The soldiers tried to quiet the crowd. The chief attendant began a frantic search for the Bab. He found Him seated in the same room which He had occupied the night before. The Bab was completing the conversation which had been interrupted that morning by the chief attendant. "I have finished My conversation with My secretary," the BTh told the attendant. "Now you may proceed to fulfil your intention." The attendant was too much shaken to resume. He remembered the words the Bab had spoken that morning: "Though all the world be armed against Me, yet shall they be powerless to deter Me from fulfilling, to the last word, My intention." The attendant refused to continue. He left the scene and resigned his post. Meanwhile, in the courtyard the soldiers, in order to quell the excitement of the crowd, showed the cords which had been severed by the bullets. The seven hundred and fifty musket balls had shattered the ropes into fragments and freed the two, nothing more. A. L. M. Nicolas, a European scholar, wrote of this episode, "It was a thing unique in the annals of the history of humanity. The volley severed their bonds and delivered them without a scratch." M. C. Huart, a French writer, stated, "It was a real miracle..:' SAm KhAn was likewise stunned. He recalled the words the Bab had addressed to him: "If your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity." He ordered his regiment to leave the barracks square immediately. He told the authorities that he would refuse ever again to associate himself and his regiment with any act that would involve the least injury to the Bab, even though his refusal should entail the loss of his own life. After the departure of Sgm KMn the [p218] 216 THE BAHA'I WORLD colonel of the bodyguard volunteered to carry out the order for the execution. A second time the Bab and His companion were lashed to the fatal post while the firing squad formed in line before them. As they prepared to fire the final volley, the BTh spoke His last words to the gazing multitude. "Had you believed in Me, 0 wayward generation," He said, "every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you." The regiment discharged the volley. The BTh and His companion gave up their lives as the bullets shattered their bodies. As Jesus had expired on the cross so that men might be called back to God, the BTh breathed his last against the barracks wall in the city of Tabrfz. The martyrdom of the Bab took place at noon on Sunday, July 9, 1850, thirty years from the time of his birth in Shir~z. There is but one parallel in all recorded history to the brief, turbulent ministry of the Bab. It is the passion of Jesus Christ. There is a remarkable similarity in the distinguishing features of their careers: the youthfulness and meekness; the dramatic swiftness with which their ministry moved toward its climax; the boldness with which they dial-lenged the time-honored conventions, laws, and rites of the religions into which they had been born; the r&Ie which the religious hierarchy played as chief instigator of the outrages they were made to suffer; the indignities heaped upon them; the suddenness of their arrest; the interrogations to which they were subjected; the scourgings inflicted upon them; the public affronts they sustained; and finally their ignominious suspension before the gaze of a hostile multitude. Sir Francis Younghusband in his book, The Gleam, said, "His life must be one of those events in the last hundred years which is really worth study." Edward Granville Browne, the famous Cambridge scholar, wrote, "Who can fail to be attracted by the gentle spirit of the Bab His sorrowful and persecuted life; his purity of conduct, and youth; his courage and uncomplaining patience under misfortune but most of all his tragic death, all serve to enlist our sympathies an behalf of the young Prophet of $hir~iz." At last the clergy and the state prided themselves on having crushed the life from the Cause they had battled so long. The Bab was no more. His chief disciples had been destroyed, the mass of His followers throughout the land were being gradually cowed and exhausted. Within three years, the Cause for which the Bab had given His life seemed on the verge of extinction. The life of the ill-fated Youth of Shir~z appeared to be one of the saddest and most fruitless. Yet this abyss of darkness and despair was the very hour for which the Bab had long been preparing His followers. Repeatedly He had told them that He was but the humble forerunner of a Messenger of incomparable greatness yet to follow. In His book the Baydn, the Bab had written, "Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My written confession that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My book, the Baydn, do justice to His Cause."4 Amid the shadows that were gathering about the Faith of the BTh, the figure of Baha'u'llah alone remained as the hope of an unshepherded community; that same Baha'u'llah, to whom the Bab had sent the box containing His personal possessions and His writings. The marks of clear vision, of courage and sagacity which Baha'u'llah had shown on more than one occasion ever since he rose to champion the Cause of the BTh, appeared to qualify him to revive the fortunes of an expiring Faith. Yet even this hope seemed taken from the believers. Baha'u'llah was imprisoned in the "black pit" in Tihr~n. He was stripped of his possessions and was exiled to Baghdil in 'Iriq. The Sh6h and the Prime Minister rejoiced. If they were to believe their counsellors, they would never again hear of the Bab or His Faith. It was swiftly receding into oblivion. Once again they had underestimated the character of this Faith and the source of its power. The Bab had promised His followers in His book, the Baydn, that the one 4 World Order of Baha'u'llah, page 100. [p219] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 217 "Whom God will make manifest" would appear nineteen years from the date of His own declaration. In 1863 outside the city of Baghd6xl, nineteen years from that evening in Shir4z when the BTh had spoken to Mull4 Ijusayn, Baha'u'llah declared to the world that He was the One foretold by the BTh. 8. PILGRIMAGE TO Bab's CAPTIVITY The Cause for which the 13Th had given His life no longer seemed to border on the verge of obliteration. The dawn had now given way to daylight. The era promised to the earth since the beginning of time, the day of the "one fold and one shepherd" had been ushered in by His sacrifice. THE SCENES OF THE AND MARTYRDOM By 1JIKRIJ'LLAH KHXDEM Translated by Marzieh Gail A HUNDRED years have now gone by since the meek and holy Bab, the Gate of God, was put to death at noon on July 9, 1850, and even to the present day the world and its peoples ("except for those into whose eyes God hath shed the radiance of His Face") are fast in a deathlike sleep, unconscious of a mighty Faith, a transcendent Dispensation, which made prophets and seers of past ages cry out and weep with longing for it. At this time the Baha'is of the world, from the northernmost point of the globe to the southernmost, and from Far East to Far West, following the example of Shoghi Effendi turned their hearts toward the Country of Sorrows, to commemorate at the Guardian's bidding the first Centenary of the BTh's martyrdom. In recognition of this event the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia went on a nine days' pilgrimage into AdbirMyj~n. This is an account of their journey and what it meant to one of them. JOURNEY TO TAHRiZ It is Thursday, the 6th of iuiy, 1950. It is the day of Istijlttl, the day of Qudrat, the month of Rabmat, of the year JavTh, of the sixth Vtbid of the first Kull-i-Shay'. The group of travelers has set out as pilgrims, in a spirit of humility and penitence and great Jove, going to the place of the B&b's last agony. They are traveling to that spot whose very name, some thousand years ago, set fire to the heart of Muhammad's descendent the Im&m Mul.iammad-B64r, so that he spoke these words of it: "Inevitable for us is AdhirMyj5n. Nothing can equal it They are traveling to see the place with their physical eyes, but also to weep over the anguish of that Lord of men in the Country of Sorrows itself, where earth and air, mountains and lakes, streams, trees, and stones bear witness to the wrong that was done Him. They will pour out for Him as a libation something of the sorrow of their hearts. The bus goes fast. Again it slows. It fulfills the promise as to the Day of the Lord and the coming of the Kingdom when, Scripture says, the earth will be rolled up. All along our talk is of the passion of the BTh. We pass through Zanj4n and remember how lightly llujjat and his companions tossed away their lives there. Wherever the new road replaces the old, we turn like compass needles to the abandoned thoroughfare, because it was there that the Bib passed by. At Miy~naj we see Him again Ñ in that house with the upper room. One of the friends calls our attention to the fact that the Bab loved high places; that even when they were leading Him away to prison, wherever they would stop, in whatever town or village, and even if there were oniy one upper room in the place, it was there He chose to stay. His prisons, too, whether in Tabriz or M6h-Kii or Chihriq, were always in high places. In His Tablet to Muijammad Sh4h revealed at MTh-Kii, He speaks, however, of His abode as being still higher than the prison, for He says, "It is as if I were dwelling in the loftiest Paradise, delighting [p220] 218 THE BAHA'I WORLD Mys elf with the remembrance of God the Most Great." As we talk of all this, mountains and deserts and pasture lands pass by us, and about midnight we come to Tabriz. Waiting for us here are the believers, They welcome us, and carrying out the efficient arrangements of the Tabriz Assembly, they guide us away singly or by two's, to the different houses where we are to stay. Here are people who have never laid eyes on us before, approaching us with such pleasure. And afterward, when we went away, although we had been with them only a few days, they wept and so did we. It is this that is stirring all over the Baha'i world today, because the love of God has transfigured human nature. It is two days before the Commemoration, Early on the day itself, all are to gather at the $a4ratu'1-Quds, where a general meeting will be held; communes will be chanted, the Guardian's letter will be read, and then, one by one or two by two, the visitors, guided by local believers, are to circle around the Barracks Square where the Bib was offered up as a sacrifice, the holy place of which it is written: "The souls of the Prophets and Messengers do pace about it." The meetings arranged throughout Tabriz are brilliant, Absent friends are remembered and missed. We feel that the hearts of alI believers throughout East and West are focused on this city, and this gives rise to emotions that are best communicated not in words but from heart to heart. ThE COMMEMORATION Now it is the eve of the Martyrdom. The Baha is are in their houses; they are gathered in small groups, or quite alone. They are communing with their Lord. I cannot tell how it is. We recall the aspect of that other night one hundred years ago: How Mirza Muhammad-'A1I surnamed Anis and Siyyid Ijusayn the amanuensis remained in the presence of the Bab; the conversation that took place that night between disciple and Beloved; all this came to mind again. To emulate the kind of obedience that Anis offered his Lord that night Ñ this is the ultimate wish of every Baha'i. In a commentary the Bab had referred to the circumstances of His approaching martyrdom in this wise: "Had I not been gazing upon this secret fact, I swear by Him in Whose hand is My soul, should all the kings of the earth be banded together they could not take from Me so much as a single letter of a word." And again, in the Tablet to Muijammad Shah: "All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right hand, and all the keys of hell on My left ." It was His own unconditioned will to cast down His holy life in the pathway of the "Remnant of God" Ñ He Whom the Splendor of God has named "My previous Manifestation, the Precursor of My Beauty." Of Whom, again, He has said, "I am He, He is I; I am His Beloved; He is My Beloved." Could we sleep on a night like this? Day finally breaks. The appointed time approaches. It is as if from all the streets and passageways of Tabriz souls are gathering for Judgment. Yes, it is the Resurrection Day, the rise of the Qa'im and the Qayy6m. The squares of Tabriz are black with crowds. "Deliver us, most exalted Beloved forgive us then our sin and hide away from us our evil deeds." (Qur'an 3:191.) Some are hurrying, reverently, prayerfully, up to the "Ark," the Citadel where the Bab was imprisoned, to that high place which even today dominates the whole city and which, once seen, is impressed on the heart forever, They go here, that they may, prior to commemorating the hour of the Martyrdom, witness yet another stage in the long passion of the B~b. Some wait till a later hour to make this pilgrimage. These stay in the vicinity of the Bab's upper chamber, and bowing their foreheads to the earth in that exalted place, are repeating excerpts from His writings, such as the Commentary on the S6rih of Joseph. Not one has a thought except for the Beloved; they are in another world now, and they cannot easily return from it. At the base of the terrifying "Ark," at the entrance to the courtyard, the Bab has once again demonstrated His power; for on a structure they have raised here in memory of the dead, we find inscribed this verse from the Qur'an: "Think not of those who are slain in the path of God as dead; nay, alive with their Lord, are they richly sustained." (Sfirih 3:163.) It stands as a secret allusion to the Bab's agony and death. The pilgrims, reading this holy verse, seek leave to enter here, and thus they pass into the prison with their hearts free from everything except God. The time has come to attend the meeting [p221] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 219 in Tabriz. The program goes forward; it is well arranged and deeply moving. Although the friends in other areas have been advised not to attend in large numbers, nevertheless some are here from other parts of Adhir-bAyjAn for this historic day, and the great auditorium of the Iaratu'1-Quds is jammed; those who cannot find seats stand in the doorways and in the embrasures of the windows. Prayers are chanted. Then we listen to the Bab's Tablet to Muhammad ShAh. Today the holy blood of the Bab is coursing through the world, it is flowering everywhere, and where is Muliammad ShTh? We search, but find no trace of him. That foolish Minister of his has also sunk into his tomb, and that other Prime Minister, Taqi the Bloodshedder, the Brazen, who condemned the Lord of the world to death, has vanished in eternal night. Iii the Turkish language, the Assembly secretary then speaks. He tells impressively of the spread of the Faith across the world, and of the building of the BTh's Shrine on Mt. Cannel. The account of the Martyrdom is read. A strange spiritual atmosphere prevails; you would say a glimmer from the world beyond is hovering here. With complete humility, the Visitation Tablet of the Bab is chanted. lit is almost noon. The pilgrims, led by some of the local friends, have come in utter lowliness, imploring the help of God, to circumambulate that place which is worshiped by the people of Paradise. Unobtrusively they pass around the Barracks Square. They see the very spot where the Martyrdom took place. They visualize the Barracks as they were that day, and the roof tops black with people. They see the Bab there, bound to Anis, and suspended from the ropes. They hear again the words that passed between the Bab and the farrAsh-IAshi; between the Bib and SAm Kh6n. Then Anis, making himself a living shield for the BTh. Then the first volley, by the will of the Bab, setting forth His proof to the stupefied people, taking no effect. Anis stands there before them in his immaculate white robe; not even the smoke from the seven hundred and fifty rifles has settled on it. The Bab concludes His interrupted conversation with His amanuensis. Other soldiers are drawn up. The Bab utters His last words, and His blessed voice still seems to ring across the Barracks Square: "0 wayward generation! Had you believed lieved in Me, every one of you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most of you, and would have willingly sacrificed himself in My path. The day will come when you will have recognized Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with you. "1 In the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, "The groaning of the Supreme Concourse is lifted up. The people of Paradise wail and cry out, their eyes shedding tears, their hearts afire." At this moment we are conscious of the loving attention of the Guardian, the beloved Shoghi Effendi, who labors at all times to exalt the Bab, who spreads His utterances abroad, who is now devoting his nights and days to constructing the Shrine of the Martyr-Prophet on Mt. Carmel. The circumambulation is complete. A feast is ready. But it is as if our bodies had sustained a death wound, and the pain does not lessen During the remainder of our stay a great number of gatherings are held, each one generating a vivid, never-to-be-forgotten quality of the spirit. VISIT TO URPMIYYIH The following day we leave for SaysTh. Some of the friends have come out along the way to welcome us while others have repaired and leveled the road ahead. What is this joy, this feeling of exhilaration? In the spacious auditorium Ñ I think it measures nine by nineteen meters Ñ of the new Ija4ra a morning and an afternoon meeting are held. The auditorium is packed, there is no room even to walk through, many are crowding the embrasures of the windows and the doorways, and others stand outside the building. Prayers are being chanted. As the Assembly welcomes us in the accents of Adhirb~yj4n, we recall the wellknown verse, "When they speak Persian, Turks are life-bestowers." Two of us, Varq4 and Furii-tan, reply with addresses in Turkish, telling of victories already won by the Faith, and victories to come. Labib, famed Baha'i photographer, takes pictures. He has made photographs of all these places that relate to the Bab in Adhirb~yj~n, the way-stations on His journey, the historic sites Food is prepared for us. The next day we visit the holy sites at 1 Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, page 53. [p222] 220 THE BAHA'I WORLD Urdmiyyih. We are to meet the friends of this area on our return. The lake of Ur6-miyyih rises before us, and we recall the BTh's arrival at the city here, RiQA'iyyih. As one of the friends has said, it is not saddening to visit these holy places, because outwardly at least the Bab suffered no afflictions here. He was the guest of Malik Q~sim Mirza, who received Him with ceremony and forbade that any disrespect be shown Him. The room of the Bab, in the upper story of the prince's house, is like His upper chamber in S±fr6z; it lifts the spirit. The entrance door and wall of the public bath attended by the Bib have been preserved; they are just as they were then. Dumbly they address the pilgrim. The pool of the bath is empty now. The people had carried away, to the last drop, the water used by the B~~b for His ablutions, to bless themselves with it and keep it as medicine for their ills. We know that even an animal had a care for Him here. The prince's unmanageable horse became quiet under His hand, and let Him mount Ñ a strange thing to witness, and the memory of it will endure forever.2 At the same time, a warning to mankind; for how is it that man in his unawareness has sunk even below the animal and has shut himself away from grace? We cannot forget the meeting with our friends of Rhj~'iyyih, in a house blessed by the B&b with His presence. Here too the invisible hand of the Bab has been at work Ñ across from the Bath we read the inscription: "God is the Light of the heavens and of the earth." (Qur'an 24:35.) This verse appears in delicate calligraphy on sky-blue tile, and serves as a guide post to "the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the light of God whose radiance can never fade" Ñ words uttered by the Primal Point Himself concerning His own Essence. THE MOUNTAIN OF SUFFERING It is morning. Our bus leaves for Tabriz. The driver has agreed to stop all along the way so that we can meet with local friends, and some of these have been alerted ahead of time. The first place where we stop is ShThp6r (Sa1m~s), and a meeting is held. The pioneers here are solidly established; 2 The Dawn-Breakers, pages 309310. like their spiritual brothers and sisters across Persia, they have left their homes and it is their great joy to have taken part in the extensive teaching campaign; to have earned the approval of the beloved Guardian who wrote of the Plan: "It is a vital undertaking of the followers of the All-Merciful, conceived and established in the opening years of the second century of the Baha'i Dispensation, and without peer or precedent throughout all the brilliant history of the first century of this wondrous Cause in that holy land"; and to have assisted in the Plan's successful completion by the Centenary of the Martyrdom. They are rendering enviable services and their faces are nothing but light. Unforgettably now, a woman believer chants; her voice rises, all lowliness and supplication, so that our hearts are drawn toward God. And out of that place, Sa1m~.s, which lies near Chihriq Ñ and which the poet Wtfi~ has named "the abode of Salm6," greeting it six hundred years ago and calling down blessings upon it, saying, "Hail, a thousand times hail, to thee, 0 abode of SalmM How dear is the voice of thy camel-drivers, how sweet the jingling of thy bells !" Ñ out of Sa1m~s, which lies between the "Open Mountain" (MAh-Kii) and the "Grievous Mountain" (Cjiihriq), our unspoken prayers ring out from one mountain to the other. Surely they are heard as well in the holy worlds of the Beloved. Suddenly we decide to follow the road taken by Mull4 IJusayn when in Mashhad, he vowed to walk the whole distance that separated him from the Bab, and come to Him on the mountain of M6.h-Kii. We long to visit the spot on the mountain where the Lord shone forth, as promised by God in the Qur'~nic verse: "When God manifested Himself to the mountain." (Sdrih 7:139.) It so happened that the Guardian's message, sent by telegraph in commemoration of the Martyrdom and addressed to the long-afflicted Baha'is of Persia, was dated at this very day and hour. The words of the Im~m who said, "I have known God by His disposal of man's resolves," were now demonstrated. Everyone felt a longing to go on pilgrimage to "the Open Mountain." The plan to turn back to Tabriz was changed; we determined to remain in Khuy and prepare for the pilgrimage to MTh-Kit Some feel that although they are unable [p223] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE DAB 221 to walk the entire distance that separated MullA tlusayn from the Bab they will at least go on foot from Kbuy to M~h-K4, following in the footsteps of MuIIA $usayn's faithful attendant, Qambar-'Ali. Unfortunately this cannot be done. It is now almost half past three in the afternoon, and the bus is leaving for M6t-K6. Some of the friends of Khuy are with us. We find ourselves looking up and down the road, searching for Mull6. Ijusayn and Qambar-'Ali, and we think of those two holy souls; we consider their humility, their spiritual quality, their evanescence. Mountains and valleys pass by. The goal nears. Over a wide area around MAh-Ka the plains are black; the world mourns at M6zh-K6; for mile on mile the land is studded with outcroppings of glistening black rock. Like ebony planets, these rocks rise out of the land; they flood it like waves of an ebony sea. Posted haphazardly at the mountain pass are other, monstrous shapes, terrifying rock formations that guard the entry. All nature is a prison here, on guard over the Beloved of mankind, over that Captive of Whom Baha'u'llah has written: "The purpose in creating the world and making it to flourish was His Manifestation." We come to a river that boils and clamors through the rocks; it has cut its way through solid rock and is maybe fifteen feet deep. We remember how Nabil tells us that the night before Mu11~ Ijusayn and his servitor arrived Ñ it was on the eve of the Feast of the New Year Ñ All KjiAn, the frontier officer in charge of the castle of M~ih-Kii, had a dream. He saw the Prophet Muhammad, followed by a companion, advancing to meet him from beside the bridge. In the dream, Mubammad was on His way to visit the cas-tie, to greet the Bab on the occasion of the New Year. ~A1i KMn awoke with a sense of exhilaration. He performed his ablutions and prayed, dressed himself in his best garments, sprinkled rosewater on his hands, and went out on foot to receive the Visitor. He further instructed a servant to saddle and bridle his three best horses and bold them in readiness at the bridge. But when he met Mull6. Ijusayn there 'All KhAn was told: "I have vowed to accomplish the whole of my journey on foot, to visit an illustrious Personage who is being held prisoner on top of Masj~had is in the northeast corner of Persia; M~h-Kti in the extreme northwest corner. the mountain. For this reason I will not ride." We strain our eyes, but we cannot see 'All KMn now, and his honored visitors. But the memory of this event has, even till our day, made the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Baha'is all across the world beat faster; and God alone in His wisdom knows how many billions of other hearts, throughout the length of the Baha'i Cycle which in the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha is to last "at least five hundred thousand years," will turn their attention toward this place. We are still in the defile. We cannot see MAh-K6. And then suddenly, around the bend, there is "the Open Mountain" and the town of M~h-Kti on its slopes. You who may read this, believe me: I would swear by Him Who is the Lord of the mountain that in all the world there is no such terrifying sight as this. Those who have traveled to the ends of the earth will bear me out: There is no other mountain like this. It has no like, just as the anguish of the Bab had no like, so that the Blessed Beauty wrote in the Visitation Tablet: "I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee." If, as scientists believe, our globe of dust detached itself one way or another from the sun, and down through the endless ages came at last to be as we know it, it is certain that wind and cloud, sun, moon, and sky worked from the beginning that had no beginning to bring about this mountain of MTh-K6, in just this wise, to serve as the prison of the Bab. It is not a place that writers and painters can describe, this spot that was the destined setting against which the meekness of the Bab shone out. The reader must see the mountain for himself, and the prison house and the place where the Lord made Himself manifest, and he must then observe what the sight has done to his own heart, and meditate on these things through long, wakeful nights and at many a dawn, and then, if he can, let him write of it. We are speaking of this when, after a brief detour from the road in the frightening pass that leads through the mountain, we see on our right a view of "the Open Mountain" and on its slopes the town of Mih-Kfi. At this point the pass, lying between M&h-K6 and another high mountain that pushes into the sky across from it, widens out. And again we come face to face with the heights of M&h-Kii. Then the pass narrows again as [p224] 222 THE BAHA'I WORLD if it were the mouth of the Fathomless Pit. The mountain stretches like a bow, between the entrance and exit of the pass. It rises, awesome, overpowering, into the sky. It rivab the moon's heights, and shuts the moon away. At either end of the bow, nature has piled two massive towers, lifting out of the mountain, up and up into the Milky Way. From a distance you would say these two are jailers, adding to the cruelty of the BTh's imprisonment. Or again, that they are minarets from which was raised the cry, "Hasten ye to salvation! Hasten ye to salvation! I bear witness that He Who is 'All before Nabil4 ('All-Muhammad, the Bab) is the Gate of the Remnant of God!" The city of MTh-K6 lies within the curve of the bow, the opening of which is several hundred meters across; it clings to the steep slopes, an almost perpendicular street rises jaggedly from house to house, leading finally up to the mountain top. Panting and sweating we climb toward the summit. Not all of us, however. One or two of the band who set out from Khuy to make this pilgrimage cannot keep on; the road is too rough, too steep. They cannot reach that last point of all, the prison of the BTh. They complete their pilgrimage by the roadside, and who knows, perhaps they show a special reverence in this. As the Bab writes in the Tablet to Mu-l~ammad $tAh, the castle lies in the center of the mountain and there is no higher point. The slope ends abruptly at the castle and above it there is not a span of earth where anything could be built or find a foothold. Not jutting straight up in fortress-like walls, but inverted here in a wide arc, the mountain becomes a great parasol or cupda sheltering the prison place. Rain and snow cannot fall here; stars and moon cannot cast down their light; only the cruel cold, the scorching heat can enter here. For all day long in the heat of summer, the fortress and the mountain, like a concave mirror, gather in the heat, and all night long, while in other places people are restfully asleep, they radiate it back. And wintertimes the cold is so intense that the water which the BTh used for His ablutions froze on His face. It is here that the Monarch of love was beset by the legions of tyranny, and the Dove of holiness prisoned by owls. 4 According to the abjad reckoning, "Nabfl" and "Muhanunad" are numerical equivalents, the letters of each word totaling 92. The two towers which nature has planted on the slopes of the mountain seem from here more vigilant than ever, holding their Captive in full view. A deep cleft runs crookedly from the summit all the way down the mountain and across from the prison, like a knotted black cord hanging; thousands of feet it swings down, a symbol of the anger of God. Perhaps it means that God desires to pull down the mountain, to crush out nature and man as well. Yet again, we believe that MTh-KP, the prison of His Holiness, should exist forever, that, as the ages unroll, the peoples of the earth may come at last to understmd some hint of the B fib's agony. So it is that the pull of the earth has not been able to draw down this curving roof-like peak, raised up "without pillars that can be seen" (Qur'an 31:9) and that castle and mountain stand in their place. This is MAh-Kfl The pilgrims, with two of the Baha'is who are pioneers at MTh-K6, reach only the base of the mountain at sunset. They must climb the mountain before night shuts down, for at the summit is their long-desired goal. At this time we bring to mind what Shayki Ijasan-i-ZunPzi said to the historian Nabil: That as the BTh dictated His Teachings at MTh-Ktt the rhythmic flow of His chant could be heard by those who lived at the foot of the mountain, and mountain and valley reechoed His voice. What a melody that must have been; how it must have shaken the spirit! Our ears strain now in the effort to hear it again, or to catch the song of the Kingdom that reverberates from slope to slope. After long twisting and turning up the mountain we draw near to the abode of the Well Beloved. Here is another "oratory"5 at the base of the walls; from the heart of the mountain, gushing beneath the castle, a stream of pity and anguish jets out with a noise like sighs and sobs and plunges down the mountain, scattering over the surface of a massive rock. Here is clear delicate water, well-suited to this holy place, for our ablutions. The friends are very careful not to muddy it. We come to the castle steps. Step after step, our yearning mounts. Here then is the prison of the Lord of the Age. Here is the 5 Musalld, "The Oratory," a favorite resort of the poet ~Idfi? near 5~frgz, watered by the stream of Run~Md. [p225] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE BAR 223 place where they brought as a captive the Sovereign and Possessor of the earth, of Whom it is written: "My Lord bath ordained that all which is and all which is not should belong to the Adored One that liveth forever." Now we can make out His cell and that of His guards. The sorrowing voice of the BTh, which could move a heart to its depths, seems to be ringing against the mountainside, and the sacred verses He addressed to Muijammad SliTh from this very place speak to our souls: "I swear by the Most Great Lord! Wert thou to be told in what place I dwell, the first person to have mercy on Me would be thyself. In the heart of a mountain is a fortress the inmates of which are confined to two guards and four dogs. Picture, then, My plight All of us, in complete humility, praying and supplicating God, visit the cells and rooms, We take up the dust of the holy place for a blessing. We chant verses of the Bab: "0 Thou the Consolation of Mine eyes! Verily Thou art the Great Announcement!" "0 Thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed Myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love." We call to mind His Manifestation and His longing to offer Himself up in death. The Visitation Tablet is chanted. As we stand there in the dark of the night, we remember that the Holy Being spent His nights on the mountain in total darkness; there was not even a candle for Him here. Our hearts are heavy; grief bows us down. But suddenly we are comforted by the words of the Primal Point to His own Essence: "Be patient, 0 Consolation of Mine eyes, for verily God hath vowed to establish Thy glory in every land, amongst all that dwell on earth." Our minds are now flooded with joy. It is as if from one end of the sky to the other a blinding light shines down. We see that the BTh Ñ Who in this place out of the very depths of His captivity and His anguish revealed unnumbered utterances Ñ completely disregarded the prison, and continued to exercise that all-powerful, all-pervasive Will, against which no worldly might prevails. In His Book, the Persian Baydn, written on this mountain top, from this dark and narrow cell, He alludes to His own glory; and with His promise of World Order bestows new life on all mankind, and relates the exaltation of His own eternal rank and station to the spreading awareness of this Order. In the heart of this mountain the wrongs inflicted on Him Whom the world has wronged stand before us. But in the heart of another mountain, which seems now to rise face to face with this one and in sharp contrast with this, the sovereignty, dominion and might of the Lord are made manifest. The Guardian of Baha'u'llah's followers, the "primal branch" that hath grown out "from the Twin Holy Trees,'' watches us here, watches the two mountains. Here is Mth-K6; and there is the holy mountain where the Bab's body is laid to rest Ñ named by Prophets thousands of years back in time the Mountain of God (Mt. Carmel). The King of Glory has related that mountain to His own Self. The Heavenly Father has chosen that spot to hold the dust of the Bab, and has set it apart as the center of His new World Order. THE MOUNTAIN OF VICTORY Now that we speak of these things here at MAh-Kti in the BTh's prison, and Mt. Carmel rises suddenly before us, it is not inappropriate to turn our thoughts toward His everlasting resting place, so that we may note how the long cruelties, the prison, and at last the bullets Ñ intended, in the words of the Almighty, to free mankind from the chains of self and passion Ñ were changed into abiding glory. How Baha'u'llah, in the pathway of Whose love the Bab sought and found death, fulfilled the promises voiced by the Prophets of God back through the endless ages, when He named Mt. Carmel as the Shrine of the BTh. flow at 1-us command the blessed hands of 'Abdu'l-Baha reared the divine edifice; how redemption of the promises set down in the Tablet of Carmel6 was entrusted to the mighty arm of Shoghi Effendi, the wondrous, unique and priceless Guardian. What is the best way to go on pilgrimage to the City that has come down from heaven, as the Shrine of the Rib is called in the Tablet of Carmel; the Shrine which, Baha'u'llah tells us, Mt. Zion circumambulates? Shall we take the path that leads from the Pilgrims' House all the way to the Tomb Ñ the house that after its builder is named Ja'far-Ab6d? 'Abdu'l-Baha said that HMiz referred to this house when he wrote: 6 In Gleanings from the Writings of Rahd'u'lldh, pages 1417. [p226] 224 THE BAHA'I WORLD Between Ja'far-AbAd and Musalli Laden with ambergris the north wind blows. Or, as in the case of M~~h-K6, when we looked first at the mountain itself, shall we contemplate the Shrine from a distance and set these two mountains against each other and compare them each to each? I think this last is best. We follow the Guardian over the flowering slopes of Haifa. They seem to glitter with colored gems and pearls, like a bride at her wedding, and we repeat to ourselves the lines, "From every branch within the blossoming grove, a thousand petals are cast before the king." We observe the Guardian's gait, and we think that if men's eyes were seeing eyes, this in itself would be proof enough. We have watched the sea in the sunset and now we are returning. We look upon Carmel, heart of the world, and at its center the BTh's Shrine, heart of Carmel. We see its terraces from far away, burning like lighted torches before the eyes of its builder. The Guardian smilingly contemplates all this. His voice, strong and clear, rings down the mountain; he is saying, "Terraces of light; light upon light." His words echo back from the slopes and the sea. We think of the contrast between those long nights on MTh-Kit when the Bab was denied even a candle, and now, when the terraces of His Shrine are light upon light, the face of the building is a solid sheet of light, the whole mountain is to blaze with light. We remember two lines that were chanted by 'Abdu'l-Baha: "Glad tidings, glad tidings! Zion is dancing! Glad tidings, glad tidings! The Kingdom of God whirls in delight!" Instead of panting and struggling up the narrow twisted road at M6h-K4, stopping at times because we can climb no more, here we can rest on every terrace in the midst of gardens and trees, in lovely settings of mountainside and sea. Pools and fountains are to be built here that will reflect the sky and heaven. Each terrace is dedicated to one of the Letters of the Living, and we are received as it were by him. We forget our sorrows, as we take deep breaths of the delicate air. No longer is the Bab a captive on M~th-K6. He rests in the divine gardens on the Mountain of God. He lies across the Bay of Haifa from His Well-Beloved, HaM'-u'llAh, u'llAh, the Point of Adoration, Him Whom God made manifest. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Who had cast aside His turban and wept and sobbed aloud as, with His own hands, He laid the flAb's body in the heart of Carmel, Himself rests now beside the Bab. The companion who died with the B~b has never been separated from Him. Near them are built the tombs of the Most Exalted Leaf, and of the brother, the mother, and consort of 'Abdu'l-Baha. From the foot of the mountain all the way to the Shrine, the nine terraces rise in memory of nine Letters of the Living, and, in accord with the Guardian's design, from the Shrine to the summit of Mt. Carmel nine more shall complete the number. The beloved Guardian, called by the Master "My Shoghi," was from his early childhood enamored of the BTh. He dreamed of the Bab, and he was named RabbAni in memory of the Bab's title Rabb-i-A'14. It is he who, standing on the heights of the Shrine, drew the geometric designs of the terraces. He laid out the gardens, and established the International Baha'i Endowments about the Shrine. He has placed here the International Archives, of whose treasures Baha'u'llah had promised, "Ere long souls will be raised up who will preserve every holy relic in the most perfect manner." The portrait of the Bib, drawn in Urfimiyyih and gazed upon by Baha'u'llah Himself, is here. Here too are His outer garments and His shirt, soaked in His blood. A copy of the portrait and locks of the IThb's hair have been sent as a historic gift to the Baha'i House of Worship in the United States, which has been completed under the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi; and the Guardian has promised a copy to Persia, cradle of the Faith, as soon as the first Persian Mashriqu'l-Adhkar is built. The Guardian has added to the Shrine on Mt. Carmel three rooms built according to the same plan as those already constructed by the Master. He has extended the length, width and height of the Shrine, and is now protecting the Edifice like a pearl of great price within the shell of an arcade and crowning it with a balustrade set with panels, the central one to the north bearing a great green and gold mosaic of the Greatest Name. It is the Guardian who has widely spread the works of the Bab. In "The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah" he has set forth the exalted [p227] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE DAB 225 station of the Bab. By translating the narrative of Nabil he has published the days of the B~b across the earth. He has seen to it that in every area the Centenaries of the Bab's Declaration and of His Martyrdom were befittingly celebrated. Across over a hundred countries he has added thousands upon thousands of souls to the company of those who love the Bab, and he is looking for yet more countries to come. At this time the Guardian is concentrating his labors on completion of the Edifice, importing marbles and granite and other priceless rock materials that had lain in the earth down endless ages until at last they should serve for the building of just such a Shrine Ñ rock materials in jade and rose, that are symbols of the BTh's lineage and the way He died. Following the architect's design (you can see it in color, in the pages of that mirror of Baha'i activities around the globe, The Baha'i World) 7 the arcade and balustrade have been completed, and the Guardian is now working day and night to direct completion of the superstructure and rear the great golden dome. Then the light will pour out of this source of light and envelop all mankind, and the "peo-ple of Bah~" referred to in the Tablet of Carmel will be made manifest, and God will sail His ark upon His holy mountain, and the laws of God will be made known to all men, and the Tabernacle of the Lord of Hosts will be pitched on the heights of Carmel, and the divine World Order be unveiled; and there near the resting place of the Most Exalted Leaf (the sister of 'Abdu'l-Baha) and the other blessed ones, and in the neighborhood of the Holy Shrine, the Universal House of Justice will be established, and the promise "Then shalt thou see the AbM paradise on earth" will be redeemed. Let us go into the gardens around the Shrine-Tomb. Let us walk there on the Mountain of God, and "unravel the mysteries of love from its windflowers," for "solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein!" Let us see with our own eyes how "the rosegardens that grow around His Holy Tomb have become the pleasure-spot of all kinds and conditions of men," how the flower beds and fruit-bearing trees cluster so thick around the Shrine. Visitors, not Baha'is, will tell you these fresh and green I Frontispiece, Volume IX. and delicate gardens have no equal anywhere else. When the famed Orientalist A. L. M. Nicolas, who had longed to see the Bab's Shrine exalted, received as a gift from Shoghi Effendi a copy of its design, together with a copy of The Dawn-Breakers of Na-Ni, he was so moved that he kissed the bearer's hand. Strangers love this place, how much more do the friends. Within the holy precincts we put on slippers and anoint ourselves with rose water poured out by the Guardian himself, this wonderful personage who has arisen "with the most perfect form, most great gift, most complete perfection." His handsome face is so phenomenally bright that the Master wrote, "His face shineth with a brightness whereby the horizons are illumined." Within the Shrine his voice, resonant, haunting, lifts in the Visitation prayer: "The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which bath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee I wonder if I am awake or in a dream. "Bless Thou, 0 Lord my God, the Divine Late-Tree and its leaves, and its boughs, and its branches as long Thy most excellent titles will endure and Thy most august attributes will last." If we observe the Guardian when he places flower petals on the threshold of the Bab's sepulcher, we shall see as he strews the roses and violets there how intense are the stirrings of His love. Today from the mountain of M~ih-K~i the anguished cry of the Bab is raised no more: "In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered, nor any transgressor endured what I have endured!" With these great victories, these new and mighty institutions, surely the sorrow of His heart is stilled at last, and out of the verses of the Baydn He is calling: "Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Baha'u'llah and rendereth thanks unto His Lord!" Today the B6t is not alone on the mountain any more: "The people of the Supreme Horizon and the presences who dwell in the eternal paradise circle around His Shine." The love of the Baha'is around the globe, from Anchorage to Magallanes, from farthest East to farthest West, gathered within the shelter of the Branch of the Sinaitic [p228] 226 THE BAHA'! WORLD Tree, centers on this place and is offered up continuously to Him; while the Guardian labors by day and by night to bring to pass the prophecy of the Master when He said: "I see the ships of all the kings of the world berthed at the docks of Haifa. I see the sovereigns disembark. Bareheaded and barefooted, and carrying on their shoulders vases studded with jewels, they advance toward the Shrine." And to fulfill these written words set down by the Pen of Glory: "After that which is inevitable shall have came to pass, these very kings and presidents will follow in the footsteps of the champions of the Cause of God. They will enter the field of service. They will fling in the dust the crowns of their perishable sovereignty and place on their heads the diadems of utter servitude, and in the front ranks of the pioneers they will labor with all their heart, with all their possessions, with all that God in His bounty hath bestowed upon them, to spread this Faith. And when their labors are completed they will hasten to this sacred place, and in complete humility, supplicating God, bowing down before Him, in utter lowliness, they will circle round the Holy Shrines, and lifting their voices will cry out to heaven, extolling and magnifying and glorifying the Lord, and they will unveil and establish before all the peoples of the earth the incalculable greatness of this almighty Faith." In this unfaithful world, this house of grief, where all things die except the Face of the Beloved, where in a little while there will be no sign of us left, let us bequeath to those who will come after us an enduring proof of what we feel. So that they will remember us, who lived in the days of the first Guardian; so that they will tell one another, for five thousand centuries to come, how we loved the Primal Point. 9. A CENTURY OF WORLD CRISIS, 185O~195O* By G. A. BORGESE, PH.D. Pro jessor of Italian Literature, The University of Chicago; Founder and Secretary General of the Committee to Frame a World Constitution; Director of Common Cause HE world crisis as it existed a few weeks ago was bland as compared with its present phase.' I shall, however, cling to the topic of my brief talk, while apologizing if it is inherently difficult or practically impossible to * From stenographic notes of an address delivered at the Centenary Commemoration of the Martyrdom of the B6M held at the Baha House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, July 9, 1950. In this talk Dr. Borgese outlines some of the elements of the crisis of western civilization in the last century. He uses as an explanatory key the proposal that the cause of the crisis has been the fragmentation of the humanistic and cosmopolitan culture of eighteenth century Europe, a time in which educated people were in surprising agreement as to their social and educational ideals and in their scientific and artistic interpretations of the world. Using this fragmentation as a general theme, he traces its development in successive areas of human endeavor Ñ in political, social and economic organization and in science, education and the arts. Finally, Dr. Borgese argues that the only way to end the crisis is to bring about a reunification of social and cultural ideals by a return to the true nature of religion. (Editors.) 1 The invasion of Korea occurred on June 25, 1950, two weeks before this address was delivered. (Editors.) distinguish the scientific factors of the crisis from those related to education and culture, as it is also very difficult or sheerly impossible to separate sharply all these from the political and the social causes of the disorder. Obviously the main political factor in the crisis of the last century has been the rise of the national states to absolute independent sovereignties with no superior authority acknowledged. Hence ultimately the boundless helium omnium contra ornnes Ñ the war of everybody against everybody. There was still, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a certain shadow if not reality of superior authority. There was striving for something that could connect the various national, local efforts. Napoleon tried it in a bad way in his wars of conquest Ñ in a certain other way, perhaps not quite so bad as those we have seen since, he tried it. At the [p229] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 227 middle of the nineteenth century all his cosmopolitan schemes and other remainders of all-embracing authority had collapsed. Nations and nation-states emerged in their self-sufficient power. Obviously, also, the main social factor has been, as everybody knows, the maturation of the industrial revolution. Here three consequences can be distinguished. The first of these is the growth in the absolute power of management, a development which built the basic pattern for any totalitarianism, fascist or other. Then there is the depersonalization of capital, so that anybody can have shares in a factory manufacturing fertilizers or shares in an automotive industry, without knowing the least thing about either activity and without having any contact with planning and production. And finally, a third factor as a consequence of the maturation of the industrial revolution: the sharp demarcation between the owner class and the working class, creating a division of classes deeper than has been known in the MiddLe Ages or in the early modern age. Now when we speak of these factors, which are supposed to be well known to any cultivated and thoughtful mind, we must, however, incur the danger of speaking moralisticalLy, of sermonizing, as if the only perilous things that have happened were due to the ill will of a few men or states, and as if we were holier than they and we could have avoided them if we had been at the helm. No such boastful and ridiculous implication is included in my presentation. Anything that has happened must be looked at with a certain kind of reverence toward what was evidently inevitable or at least was not avoided. True, the subject suggested to me, "A Century of World Crisis, 18501950," is connected with the event of the martyrdom of the BTh that Sunday Ñ it was a Sunday, too, I have learned Ñ July 9, 1850. However, the connection is not merely arbitrary or pious. As a matter of fact, things of an epochmaking nature did happen at the middle and around the culmination of the nineteenth century. The Revolutions of 1848, that upsurge of idealistic popular will, were suppressed. No occasion for resistance was any more offered. The balance between the possible armaments of the armed people of the barricades and the armaments in the hands of the government reached a decisive level at that moment. In the future a strong government would always hold a monopoly of arms. The derogatory conception of the popular revolutions, as they had been arising at that time, had two faces, two aspects. On the one hand there was the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels of 1848, establishing or contending that nothing like bourgeois revolutions can lead anywhere, that the reformation must be deeper and infinitely more radical, and that this reformation must also be against the assumption of the bourgeois revolution's ideas of liberty, justice and whatnot. On the other hand, the other aspect of the crisis at that moment is seen in the dominating behavior of the governments, whether extant or in the making, in so far as they conceived governance as power, or acquisition of power, as a matter of power, exercised from on high, not as a tumult from below. If you take the examples of the two most recent national unities in Europe, that is, Italy and Germany, you see the phenomenon happening in both countries. In Italy from the Mazzinian or great popular idealism we step over to the wise calculation of the man on horseback, Cavour; and the free bourgeois progressive Germany of Frankfurt disappears, vanishes, before the iron fist policy and success of Bismarck. These are some of the events that happened at the culmination of the nineteenth century. There is another crisis in the fields to which I have referred, that is, in science, education and culture, which in a very similar way belongs in the same trend. One of the epochmaking events immediately after the culmination of the nineteenth century was the publication in 1859 of the basic book of Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or (the title continues) the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. There have been a number of occasions on which I have indicated that the real religion of our age is evolution, meaning by religion the complex of imaginations and beliefs, that is, the Weltanschauung, the cosmic conception of the whole. But I am glad to make it clear that evolution is nevertheless a religion which falls into two churches: There is evolutionism of the right and there is evolutionism of the left. The evolutionism of the right is a popular interpretation of Darwin which had its heyday in the latter part of the nineteenth century and which [p230] 228 THE BAHA'! WORLD finally received its most glamor-like accent in Nietzsche's philosophy. This church of the right is a church of discord, of struggle, the survival of the fittest. One can say it is the religion of Ens, discord, whereas the church of the left, evolutionism of progress, achieved through cooperation, through mutual aid, much rather than through conflict, should be called the church of Eros, the church of love. The evolutionary church of the right had a prevalence during the latter part of the nineteenth century and the beginning of ours. In education the consequences both of the prevalence of the natural sciences and of the mechanical sciences and of the industrial revolution were necessarily specialization. The vocational skill was deepened and sharpened in the one direction of labor and production, while the universality of humanism went to pieces. In another field, that of culture, we have, in 1857, the publication of Baudelaire's Fleurs du Ma! (the flowers of evil), a book of grandiose lyrical power which, however, has the effect of making amends to the prophetic, the moral, the ethical kind of poetry which was represented at that time, particularly by Victor Hugo in France, but you may also remember as part of its imitations Tennyson in England or Walt Whitman in the United States. Even at the risk of exposing the moralistic poetry to ridicule, of sapping the authority of the Good and establishing Beauty as the criterion, even as the Flower (La Fleur) on the root and stem of evil, the former poetry no longer has the approval of Baudelaire and those who fob low. Most of the poetry since Baudelaire has stressed Beauty in the form of expression over the Good. However, I cannot help returning to a crude but extremely significant book by Tolstoy, written around, very shortly before, the end of the nineteenth century, the title of which is What Is Art? It is crude because the taste of Tolstoy was, shall I say, fanatically colored Ñ a direction of judgment that was taken by him in that he did not have any remorse or any restraint. Having established that music can be corruptive, he breaks his lances not oniy against Wagner's Siegfried but also against Beethoven's Kreut-zer Sonata, even against the Ninth Symphony with which he should have felt himself in complete agreement. And equally savage is he in scores of other particular judgments. But he is right when he speaks against what we have called the aesthetics of expressionism, saying that art or poetry or fiction is not expression alone, it is communication. It is a communicated expression which has power over the minds and hearts of our fellow men. "Art," he wrote, "is not a pleasure, a solace or an amusement. Art is a great matter. Art is an organ of human life, transmuting man's reasonable perception into feeling. The task of art is enormous. It is through the influence of the real art that the peaceful cooperation of man which is now plagued by external means should be obtained, by man's free and joyous activity. Art should cause violence to be set aside, and it is only art that can accomplish this." Now if we consider what is our present attitude toward these main factors of the crisis through which we have lived and are living, we see that the first factor consisted of national policies and the industrial revolution mastered by the will to power, both of them to be considered together Ñ military political power in the state, production and enlargement of production in industry. We have also had regimentation, a second factor in the fragmentation of humanism, that is, specialized and vocational skill. The third factor is deviation of the arts and of culture in general, which have become an assemblage of facts, a deviation from a feeling of responsibility as communication to its feverish exultation in pure expressionism. If we look at our attitudes toward these evils, the progress that has been achieved is that we have become cautious, we have become aware of them, and we realize that the higher and bloodier the crisis arises, the more tensely are we in quest of remedies, of rewards. There are remedies that have been proposed of the reactionary, of the retrograde kind, that is, to dig out some things from the past ancient medieval civilization or even from the monistic2 liberal civilization of the eighteenth century, and to build them anew and give them a new chance for life; that is the fertilization of fossils. It cannot be successful. At least the second kind of remedy is more hopeful, and that is the creation of something new from the past with the clear vision that when we speak of politics and industrial revolution 2 Monistic, that is, the humanized world as composed of interrelated cultures which was destroyed (broken up into fragmentary concepts) in the nineteenth century. (Editors.) [p231] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 229 and science and technology and education and culture and liberty and the arts, we are simply naming and listing the boughs of one tree, the tree being religion, provided that the word religion is understood in its cosmic sense. It is very curious that even at the acme of scientism, of positivism, it is Auguste Comte who already at the beginning of the latter part of the nineteenth century tried to transmute the belief in science into a mystical belief. He created, together with a sublime woman friend of his, an unsuccessful and yet significant religion of science. But then, even more convincing, you see a personality like Gandhi arise from the tail end of Hinduism and extract from Hinduism what is of universal and permanent value, leaving the metaphors and imaginations and the myths to the delight of the cultivated mind or to the pleasure of the uncultivated, to the pleasure and comfort of the popular mind, but hallowing and cleansing the substance of the Hindu teaching as the age wants it to be understood. Nor is the experience of Tolstoy different, who, after all, performed the same operation in what concerned Christianity. He did not even want to know, right or wrong as he may have been, anything about the resurrection of Jesus, or about redemption through Christ's sacrificial death; all this was for him superstition or myth. What he wanted was the Christian idea of the universality of man, and of brotherly love, to be extracted as the real, permanent, inextinguishable quintessence of the historical transformation of the Christian creed. But the importance Ñ I should not say but, I should say and Ñ the real meaning and importance of your religion of the Baha'i Faith is in this trend, that it is again a contribution through the very curvilinear ways, one might say providential, of Isl6m which had been separated for centuries from the culture of the human progressive family and which enters it again through a twig arising from that branch of the Is1~mic tree which had already given the fruits that everybody remembers in the late Middle Ages and in the Sufi poetry of that Persia where Tabriz, the place of the martyrdom of the Bab, is located. Nor could anybody forget that civilization owed to IslLm one of the most creative elements of progress in the late Middle Ages and in the eve of the Renaissance, that is, the principle of religious tolerance, or even more than tolerance, the idea that the Jew, the Christian and the Arabian all, after all, believe the same thing. Then, in later times, it seemed as if the West had gone its own way; as if only the self-enclosed or impoverished elements of the Is1~mic tradition were at work in the Near and Middle East. There is something dramatic and thrilling in the appearance of this solitary man, the Bab, who resumes the IsJ~mic tradition from its sources and who brings it to the necessary conclusion that there is one mankind, one world, and "mankind its citizens." And that there is only one religion and all the Prophets have taught that one. So there is another spur, and it is another revelation of the concomitance of the good efforts all around the world; the fact that the Bab and His successors have been able to raise congregations in the United States is another evidence, if you are ready for the paradox, that the real Christianity or real Judaism is not quite dead in this country, so that an IslAmic prophecy could be accepted in so far as it found a terrain in traditions of the West which you did not want to dishonor or disown. Now I have finished, with the desire only of adding one more expression of my thankfulness for having been singled out for this appearance. As a matter of fact the distance, physical, between Wilmette and the South Side of Chicago where the University is located, and a little house where are the offices of the Committee to Frame a World Constitution, in which is located the Common Cause of which I am the director Ñ the distance between Wilmette and the South Side of Chicago is small. The distance between what you are doing and worshiping here and what we are doing and attempting there is nothing. It has been said in 1936 by Shoghi Effendi, and similar words have appeared in earlier Writings of the Baha'i Faith: "A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation Ñ such [p232] 230 THE BAHA'! WORLD is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving."3 And we wrote in the Preamble of our preliminary draft of a World Constitution: "The people of the earth having agreed that the advancement of man in spiritual excellence and physical welfare is the common goal of mankind, that universal peace is the prerequisite for the pursuit of that goal, that justice in turn is the prerequisite of peace, and peace and justice stand or fall together, that iniquity and war inseparably spring from the competitive anarchy of the national states, that therefore the age of nations must end and the era of humanity begin." That is what we wrote and write, because our work proceeds. It counts on your he1p~ and on your vicinity. This is a good occasion for me to invite all of you, or at least From "Unfoldment of World Civilization," written in 1936, by Shoghi Effendi, published in World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 204. those who can, to join physically or spiritually in what ways would be the best to further the Fourth World Congress for World Federal Union which we are calling to be assembled in Rome in 195 14 Ñ a year of decision. The spirit which leads us there is yours as it is ours. Nowhere has it been said better what unites us to you and you to us, as a symbolic meeting of what should be and shall be, the universal meeting of the human mind, than in the first two and most basic of the nine selected utterances of Baha'u'llah carved on the exterior of this House of Worship. The first repeats: "The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens."5 The second: "The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice. Turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me."6 ~The Fourth World Congress for World Federal Government was held in Rome, Italy, April 29, 1951. The Preliminary Draft of a World Constitution has been published by The University of Chicago Press, 1948. 5 Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, page 250. 6 Hidden Words (Arabic), verse 2. 10. DER 100. JAHRESTAG DES OPFERTODES DES Bab ZUR GEDENKFEIER AM 9.JULI 1950 TN KARLSRUHE, DEUTSCHLAND NACH ETNER ANSPRACHE VON DR. EUGEN SCHMIDT, STUTTGART Es SIND heute 100 Jahre, dass an jenem wildbewegten Sommertag, am 9. mu 1850 in Tiibris in Aserbeidschan (Persien) em junger Perser, erst 31 jThrig, auf Geheiss ciner fanatischen, muhammadanischen Geistlielikeit und seiner Regierung von cinem Regiment Soldaten unter ungewbhnlichen Umstiinden erschossen wurde. Mit roher irdischer Gewalt wurde das Leben eines grossen Mensehen ausgel5scht, der seclis Jabre lang das Evangelium einer nenen religibsen Sendung verkiindete. Obwohl der Hingerichtete Ñ Sein Name war 'All Muhammad Ñ in seinem Lande eine m~ichtige geistige ]3ewegung ausl6ste, wurde jenem Ereignis wenig Beaclitung geschenkt, in einer Zeit, die in den grbsseren Bann neuer Erfindungen, nationaler Maclit-entfaltung und materiellen Reichtums gezogen war. Heute, nach 100 Jahren seit jenem denkwiirdigen Geschehen, finden sich in melir als 100 Liindern auf alien Kontinenten, in Hunderten von Sliidten und Dbrfern, viele Hunderttausende aller Rassen und Stiinde zu einer Gedenkfeier zusammen, die dem Martyrertod des genannten Persers gewidmet ist, dem Bab, das soviel besagt wie das Tor oder die Pforte zu einem neuen Gottgesandten, einer gbttlichen Manifestation. DURCH OFFER ZUR WELTORDNUNG In der Geschichte der Vblker, im Auf-und Niedergang ihrer Kulturen sind es nicht viele mensehuiche Opfertaten, die die Ge-schicke der Menschheit wesentlich bestimm-ten. Wohi kennen wir manche heldenmUtige Taten von Mensohen, die aus politischen oder sozialen Grllnden den Einsatz ihres persbnlichen Lebens nicht scheuten. Es sind uns auch menschliche Opfer urn des Glau-bens oder einer Idee willen bekannt. Die erhabetnsten und erschiltterndensten Zeug [p233] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 231 nisse von Seibstilberwindung und Opfer-gang sind uns aber in der fortschreitenden Entwicklung der Religion gegeben. Es sind die unvergesslichen Beispiele bedingungsloser Unterwerfung ilberragender einzelner unter den When Gottes, die eine eritisende Kraft und zukunftsweisendes Licht in das Dunkel der Menschheitsent-wicklung hineintrugen. Das Leben, Wirken und Leiden der wenigen Grossen, der g6tflichen Boten, wiesen den Mensehen immer wieder durch jener opfervolle Bin-gabe den Weg zu deren hbchsten Bestim-mung, zur liebenden Hingabe an den Schdp-fer und die Mitmenschen. Wenn Abrahams Opferbereitschaft noch darin gepriift wurde, dass er semen Uber alles geliebten Solin Gott auf dem Altar des Opfers darbringen solite, so steht uns der Opfertod Christi als das bezwingexndste Zeugnis des bedingungslosen Gehorsams ge-genilber Gott var Augen. Das Geschehen von Golgotha, der Kreuzestod des Naza-reners, wurde fir das Abendland zu ejuem geschichtsbildenden Ereignis von nicht geahnter Kraft und Bedeutung, hat aber seit der Reformation mehr und melir an Em-fluss auf das Vdlkerleben verloren. Die kulturschbpferische Mack der Sendung Muhammads, die im Mittelalter bis nach Spanien vordrang, verebbte in den letzten Jalirhunderten ebeuf ails in wachsendem Masse und verfiel ebenso wie das Christen-turn einer Verweitlichung und Verfiachung. An die Stelle der aussbhnenden, verbin-denden Religion hat der aufgeklarte Mensch der Neuzeit die Vernunft, Systeme von Lebensanschauungen, Phiosophien und Ideologien gesetzt, die die inneren, sittlichen Bindungen des einzelnen wie der Gemein-schaft bedrohuich lockerten und aushbhlten. Em Autor unserer Zeit gab kennzeichnen-derweise seinem Buch fiber den Weg des 19. Jahrhunderts' den Untertitel: ,,Am Ab-grund der Ersatzreligionen"! Nun haben sich aber seit 1844 Dinge ereignet, die wir bis jetzt auf Geschichts-und Zeittafein nicht verzeichnet finden, die jedoch den Beginn cines neuen Zeitalters fUr die Menschheit bedeuten. Der 13Th, von dem wir cingangs sprachen und Dessen Opfertod am heutigen Tag wir und viele mit uns in tiefster Ehrfurcht und Liebe geden-ken, kilndigte Mitte des letzten Jahrhunderts elne geistige Wiedergeburt der strauchein-1 Hermann TJIlmann (Gin. Kaiser Verlag, Milnehen). den Menschheit an, cine neuc Menschheit, die em grbsserer ails Er, eine gbttliche, Manifestation, zu elner befriedeten, geistigen Einheit herauffiihren werde. Der Bab als das Tor zu elnem neuen, erleuchteten Zeitalter war mehr als cm Re-formator oder Mystiker auf muhammada-nisch-persischem Boden Ñ Er war selbst cm Sprecher Gottes, em Herold g5ttlicher Nih-rung, der in wenigen gefahrvollen Jahren in bezwingender geistiger Macht die Rechte der Menschheit fiber die der Rasse, Kiasse und Nation erhob und unter Hinweis auf die grosse Offenbarung einen trennende Bekenntnisse iibergreifenden, universalen Glauben verkiindete. Er legte den Grund zu ciner mit Seinem Blut geweihten Weltreli-gion und maclite den Weg frei fur jenen, ,,den Gott offenbaren wird," Baha'u'llah Ñ die Herrlichkeit Gottes Ñ Der, im Jahre 1863, Seine vom BTh vorausgesagte Sen-dung 5ffentlich verkiindigte. Der denkwiirdige 9. Juli 1850, an dem der Bib hingericlitet wurde, ist durch Augen-zeugenbericlite von Freunden und Feinden f hr die Nacliwelt festgehalten worden. Unterdriickung, Verfolgung und Einker-kerung des neuen Propheten konnten niclit verhindern, Seine Anhdnger stiirker und mutiger anwachsen zu lassen, weshaib trotz Feblens einer Besfiltigung durch em Gericlit und oline Ietzte Rechtfertigungsm6glichkeit des BAIJ das von der geistlichen Fiihrung gefdllte Todesurteil am 9. Juli 1850 in TTh-ris ausgefiihrt wurde. Dem Bruder des Grosswesirs, Mirza Stim KMn elnem Christen, wurde als Oberst eines armenischen Regiments der Befebi zur Hinrichtung des B~b gegeben. Dem Regimentskommandeur fiel das edle I3etragen seines Gefangenen so selir auf, dass er dem Bib erkflirte, keine b5se Absiclit gegen Ilin at hegen und dass er, erfijilt von Furcht, dass seine Tat den Zorn Gottes herbeifiihren wiirde, den Verur-teilten bat, iha von der ilim auferlegten Pflicht zu entbinden, wenn Seine Sadie die Sadie der Wahrheit sei. Der Bab gab dern Obersten darauf folgende Zusicherung: ,,IFolgen Sie iliren Anweisungen, und wenn Ihre Absicht aufrichtig ist, so ist der All-m~ichtige sicher imstande, Sie aus Threr Verlegenheit zu befrelen." Noch cia bedeutungsvolles Vorkommnis ereignete sich vor der Hinrichtung des Bab. Der Farr~sh-B5shi, der die Durchfiihrung des Befehies des Grosswesirs iibernahm, hatte schroff die letzte Unterhaltung unter [p234] 232 THE BAHA'I WORLD brochen, die der Bab vertraulich in einem der R~iume der Kaserne mit Seinem vertrau-ten Gehilfen Siyyid Ijusayn fiihrte, und zog den letzteren beiseite und schalt ihn heftig aus, Ms er von seinem Gefangenen also angeredet wurde: ,,Nicht ehe Ich ibm alles gesagt habe, was Ich ihm sagen will, kann irgend elne irdische Macht Mich zum Schweigen bringen. Mbge auch die ganze Welt gegen Mich in Waif en stehen, so soil es ihr doch nicht gelingen, Mich am Volibringen Meiner Absicht his zum letzten Won zu hindern." Aus The Dawn-Breakers,2 entnehmen wir auch: ,,S~tm Kh~.n befahi semen Leuten, einen Nagel in den Pfeiler zwischen der Ttir zu dem von Siyyid Ijusayn bewohnten Zim-mer und dem Eingang zum Nebenraum einzuschlagen und zwei Seile an ihn zu hef-ten, von denen der Bab und Sein GefThrte gesondert herabhdngen soliten. Mirza Mu-hammad-'A1i [der Gefiihrte des BTh] bat S4m Khin, so angebunden zu werden, dass sein K5rper an der Brust des Bab rulite Sobald sie angebunden waren, trat em Regiment Soldaten in circi Gliedern an, jedes zu 250 Mann, mit der Weisung, wechsel-weise zu feuern, bis die ganze Abteilung ihre Salven verschossen hiitte. Der Pulver-dampf der feuernden 750 Gewehre war geeignet, das Liclit des Mittags in Dunkel zu wandein. Auf dem Dach der Kaserne sowohi als audi auf den angrenzenden T{Uu-sern hatten sich an zehntausend Menschen angesammelt, von denen jeder Zeuge dieses traurigen und erregenden Schauspiels war. ,,Sobald der Rauch sich verzogen hatte, starrte eine verbiflifte Menge auf em I3ild, das ilire Augen kaum zu fassen vermocliten: Da stand der GefThrte des BTh vor ihnen, lebend und unversehrt, wThrend Er Selbst ohne Schaden ihren Thicken entschwunden war. Obgleich die Kugein ihre Hiingestricke zerfetzt hatten, waren ihre Leiber wunder-barerweise den Salven entgangen. Selbst das Gewand Mirza Muliammad-'AII's war, trotz der Diebte des Rauches, ohne Flecken ge-blieben. ,Der Siyyid-i-B~b ist unseren Blicken entschwundenU, so tdnten die Stimmen der bestilrzten Menge. Rasend fing sic an, Ilin zu suchen und fand Ihn schijesslich in dem Zimmer sitzend, in dem Er zuvor ilbernach-2 "Nabil's Narrative" (New York, 1932), Kapitel 'CXIII. tet hatte, Sein trnterbrochenes Gespfdch mit Siyyid IJusayn vollendend. Em Ausdruck ruhigsten Friedens war auf Seinem Antlitz. Sein Kdrper war dem Kugeihagel, den das Regiment auf Ihn gerichtet hatte, unbescha-digt entgangen. Ñ ,Ich habe meine Unter-haltung mit Siyyid Fusayn beendet', sagte der Bab zum Farr~sh-B~shi. ,Nun mbgen sic ihre Absicht erfihilen.' ,,Der Mann war zu selir erschiittert, urn fortzufahren. Er weigerte sich, seiner Auf-gabe nachzukommen, verliess augenblicklich den Schauplatz und legte semen Posten nie-der S~tm KMn war genau so befiiubt von der Wucht dieser gewaltigen Offenba-rung. Er befahi semen Leuten, die Kaserne sofort zu verlassen und verweigerte fUr sich und scm Regiment jede Handlung, die audi nur die kicinste Unbill fUr den B±b eintra-gen k5nnte. Er schwor beim Verlassen des Hofes, nie wieder die Aufgabe zu iiberneh-men, selbst wenn seine Weigerung ihm den Tod einbringen soilte. ,,Kaum hatte S6m Khin sich entfernt, als sich Aq~ JTh KhAn-i-Khamsih, Oberst der Leibgarde, audi bekannt unter den Namen Khamsih und N~iri, freiwillig erbot, den Hinrichtungsbefehl zu vollstrecken. Der Bab und Sein Gefdhrte wurden an der gleichen Mauer und in der gleichen Weise wieder hochgehThgt, und das Regiment trat in Li-nie an, urn auf sie zu feuern. Anders als vorher, da nur ihr Ringeseil in Stiicke ge-schossen war, wurden ilire Kbrper diesmal verletzt und zu einer einzigen Masse von Fleisch und Knochen vermengt. ,Hiittest du, o widerspenstiges Geschle-cAt, an Midi geglaubt', waren die letzten Worte des Bab an die gaflende Men ge, wdhrend dcli this Regiment anschickte, die let zte Salve abzujeuern, ,so wiirde jeder von euch dem Beispiel dieses JUng-lings, der im Rang hock ilber den meisten von euch stand, gefolgt sein und sich gem auf Meinem P/ad geoptert haben. Der Tag wird kommen, da dir MicA erkannt liaben werdet, an jenem Tag werde ich aufgehtirt liaben, in eurer Mine zu wet-len.' ,jm Augenblick, als die Schiisse fielen, erhob sich em Sturm von ungewbhnlicher Stiirke und fegte Uber die ganze Stadt hin. Em unglaublich dichter Wirbel von Staub verdunkelte die Sonne und blendete die Au-gen der Leute. Die ganze Stadt blieb in das Dunkel gehihit von Mittag his Abend." [p235] CENTENARY OF MARTYRDOM OF THE Bab 233 EIN JAURHUNDERT IM ZEICHEN DER NEUEN GOTTESOFFENBARTJNG Heute, cm Jahrhundert, nachdem die Stimme des Bab durch seine Hinrichtung zum Schweigen gebracht wurde, mtissen wir erkennen, dass die ganze Menschheit ilir eigenes, selbstverschuldetes Mllrtyrertum erleidet, weil sie sich immer noch weigert, dem gbttlichen Ruf zu folgen und sich in einem umfassenden Glauben auszusdhnen und zu vereinigen. Gleiclisam wie em Meteor trat der Bab mit prophetischer Ver-heissung der unmittelbar bevorstehenden Heraufkunft cines Gottgesandten am Firmament auf und wurde durch semen Opfer-tod zum Wegbereiter und Lichtstrahl der erlbsenden Wahrheit, die der von Ihm Ver-heissene, Baha'u'llah, in der Niederlegung einer gerecliten Weltordnung im Zeichen der Einheit der Menschheit und der Reli-gionen bald nach dem erschiitternden Ereig-nis in TThris offenbarte. Der berufene Erkhirer der Sendungen des Bab und Baha'u'llah's, 'Abdu'l-Baha, legt die Beziehungen zwischen den beiden mit der Bahi'i-Sendung verbundenen Manifestatio-nen wie folgt dar:3 ,,Die Oflenbarung des Bab mag mit der Sonne verglichen werden, deren Stand dem ersten Tierkreiszeichen entspricht, dem Zeichen des Widders, in weiches die Sonne mit der Tag-und und Nachtgleiche des Friihlings eintritt. Die Stufe der Of-Jenbarung Baha'u'llah's dagegen wird durch das Zeichen des Ltiwen dargesteilt, wenn die Sonne die Sommermitte und ihren hachsten Stand erreicht hat. Das bedeutet, dass diese heilige Oflenbarung erleuchtet ist yam Lichte der Sonne der Wahrhe it, die von ihrem erliabensten Punkte aus in tier Fiille ihres Glanzes, direr Wdrme und ibrer Herrlichkeit he-rahscheint." Die heutigen Probleme des Aufbaus einer friedlichen und gerechten Weltordnung ilbersteigen menschliches Kbnnen und Ver-mbgen; sie erheischen walirlich eine gbttliche inspirierte L6sung, die nur aus dem Bereich der Religion kommen kann. Alle grossen Kulturen hatten ihren Aufstieg cinem re-Iigi5sen Impuls zu verdanken und zerfielen mit dem Niedergang ihrer gbttlichen Bin-dungen. Hatte Goethe nicht recht, wenn er sagte: ,,Das eigentlich einzige und tiefste Thema der Welt-und und Menschheitsgeschi-8 Die Sendung Raha'u'llah's, S. 40. chte, dem alle iibrigen untergeordnet sind, bleibt der Konflikt des Glaubens und Un-glaubens"? Aus der Diagnose der tiefsten Ursachen der heutigen aligemeinen Unsicherheit, des Misstrauens und des Zweifels, der Verant-wortungsmtidigkeit und des Glaubens-schwundes ergibt sich fUr den defer Schauen-den fast zwangsliiufig die Autwort, dass nur eine neue sittlich-religidse Fundamentierung der einzelmenschlichen, gesellschaftlichen und zwischenstaatlichen Beziehungen und Bindungen eine durchgreifende Wendung der bedroblichen Lage der Menschheit her-beifiihren kann. VerstThdigung oder Chaos, Ordnung oder Untergang heisst die alternative Lebensfrage der Menschheit. Wir sind der gleichen Auffassung wie Toynbee, der sagt'. ,,Was der modernen Welt zutiefst not tut, 1st cine Neugeburt des Glaubens an das Uebernatiirliche." Wahrer Glauben kann aber nur aus der Religion kommen und diese kann heute nur eine sol-che scm, die die ganze Menschheit ernenert und vereinigt. Die Sicherung des Weltfriedens und elnes sozialen Ausgleichs ist ohne die Erriclitung ciner gerecliten Weltordnung nicht denkbar und diese wiederum kann nur dann von Be-stand scm, wenn sie gbttlichen Ursprungs ist. In religionsgeschichtlicher Einmaligkeit hat nun Baha'u'llah schon vor mehr als 80 Jaliren trotz Verfolgung, Verbannung, Em-kerkerung und Lebensbedrohung ,,den Zir-kel der Einigkeit gefiihrt, Er hat einen Plan niedergelegt fur die Vereinigung aller VbIker, urn sie alle unter dem schuitzenden Zelt der Einigkeit zu sammein." ('Abdu'l-Baha) Es ist zum Ereignis geworden: FUr die Vblker der Welt Iiegt seit dem Erscheinen Baha'u'llah's cine g5ttlich geoffenbarte Welt-Charta in authentischdokumentarischer Form bereit. Die Zukunft der Menschheit wird durch deren aligemeine Annahme und Verwirklichung bestimmt werden. Die von Baha'u'llah niedergelegte Welt-ordnung und deren autoritative ErVAuterung durch Semen Mtesten Sohn 'Abdu'l-Baha verbtirgen in ihrem Aufbau soziale Gerech-tigkeit, treuhiinderische, beratende und jibernationale Zusammenarbeit irn Bewusst-sein wahrer und weltoffener Bruderschaft. Ausgehend von der tragenden Idee der gei-stigen Einheit der Menschheit zielt die Welt-ordnung von Baha'u'llah auf die schiless [p236] 234 THE BAHA'I WORLD liche Bildung eines Weltgemeinwesens ab, da die nationalstaatliche Entwicklung ihren Abschluss gefunden hat. Zu den wesentli-chen Bestandteilen der iiberstaatlichen V6I-kergemeinschaft werden folgende Vorausset-zungen zdffien: Ueberwindung aller imperia-listisehen Maclit-und Herrschaftsanspriiche, Einfiihrung der obligatorischen interna-tionalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit und Bildung elnes Internationalen Schiedsgerichtshofes nebst ciner Weltpolizei als Sicherheits-und VolJzugs-Weltorgan, aligemeine Abriistung, Kriegffihrung nur bei unbestrittener Vertei-digungszwangslage im Sinne einer kollekti-yen Verteidigungs-und Schutzpflicht im Ag-gressionsfalle, Abschaffung der aligemeinen Wehrpflicht ohne unbedingte Kriegsdienst-verweigerung, Lbsung der sozialen Fragen auf der Grundlage der Wiirdigung jeglicher mensehendienenden Arbeit und elner Be-grenzung von Armut und Reiclitum nach Grundsiitzen der Leistung und gerecliter Teilhaberschaft am Arbeitsertrag, Einheit von Religion und Wissenschaft als Basis der V6lkerverstiindigung, Einftihrung einer Welthilfssprache und Einheitsschrift, ciner Weltverfassung unter Einbeziehung der un-verletzlichen Menschenrechte und -Pflich-ten. Shoghi Effendi schrieb dariiber:4 ,,Ein Weltbundsystem, das die ganze Erde beherrscht und eine unanfechtbare Befugnis Uber ihre unvorstelibar umfassenden Hilfs-quellen ausiibt, die Ideale sowohi des Ostens als auch des Westens verschmilzt und ver-k5rpert, von dem Fluch des Krieges und seines Elends befreit 1st und sich auf die Ausntitzung aller verfiigbaren Kraftquellen auf der Oberfluiche des Planeten richtet, cm System, in dem die Stiirke zur Dienerin der Gerechtigkeit gemacht ist, dessen Dasein durch seine allumfassende Anerkennung des elnen Gottes und durch semen Gehorsam gegen cine gemeinsame Offenbarung getra-gen wird Ñ dies ist das Ziel, dem die Men4 4 Aus World Order of Rahd'u'tldh, by Shoghi Effendi, S. 204. schheit durch die vereinenden LebenskrMte zustrebt." Gott ge/it voriiber betitelte Shoghi Effendi scm Buch Uber das erste Bah&i-Jahrhun-dert. Wenn wir heute des freiwilligen Opfer-todes des BTh gedenken, kbnnen wir uns der erlbsenden und verpffichtenden Maclit dieses erschtitternden Ereignisses nicht entzie-hen. Christi Wort: ,,Nehme dein Kreuz auf dich und folge mit nach" hat durch den Opfergang des Bab und die von Baha'u'llah aus frejem Entscbluss auf sich genommene 40-jiihrige Freiheitsberaubung in unbe-schreiblicher, hartester und erniedrigender Gefiingnis-und d Kerkerhaft elne unvergleich-liche Steigerung erfaliren. Die neue Welt-ordnung muss von wiedergeborenen Men-schen getragen werden, von opferbereiten, glaubensstarken Menschen, deren liebende Taten sie zur Stufe des wahren Menschen erheben. Die tiefste Bedeutung, die erldsende Kraft des Opfers erschuiesst sich den Mexnschen in dem Gesehehen der fortschreitenden Got-tesoffenbarung, in der unbedingten Hingabe der Gottgesandten an Gott fUr die Men-schen, in ilirer Wahrheitsoffenbarung. Dem Glauben an den Eribser muss aber die sittliche Tat der Selbsttiberwindung des Menschen folgen. Die folgenden Worte Baha'u'llah's m5gen uns am heutigen Gedenktag zur 100. Wie-derkehr des Mdrtyrertodes des Bab die hohe Berufung des Menschen unserer Zeit verge-genw~irtigen:5 ,,O Sohn des Menschenl Auf die Ta/el des Geistes sebreibe alles, was Wir dir verkiindet haben, mit der Tinte des Lichtes. Wenn du dies nicht vermagst, so mache zu deiner Tinte das Wesen deines Herzens. Bist du auch dazu nicht imstande, dann schreibe mit der roten Tin te, die cml km PP-ide zu Mir vergossen wurde. Wahrlich, dies ist Mir kost barer als alles andere, denn soiches Licht wdhret ewiglich." 5 Verborgene Worte (Arabisehe v. 71). [p237] THE COMPLETION OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE r SEPULCHER OF THE Bab IN THL HOLY LAND, 1953 1. ENTOMBMENT OF ON MT. THE Bab's REMAINS CARMEL From GOD PASSES BY* By SHOGHI EFFENDI VVITHIN a few months of the historic decree which set Him free, in the very year that witnessed the downfall of SultAn 'Ab-du'1-Uamid, that same power from on high which had enabled 'Abdu'l-Baha to preserve inviolate the rights divinely conferred on Him, to establish His Father's Faith in the North American continent, and to triumph over His royal oppressor, enabled Him to achieve one of the most signal acts of His ministry: the removal of the BTh's remains from their place of concealment in Tihr6n to Mt. Carmel. He Himself testified, on more than one occasion, that the safe transfer of these remains, the construction of a befitting mausoleum to receive them, and their final interment with His own hands in their permanent resting-place constituted one of the three principal objectives which, ever since the inception of His mission, He had conceived it His paramount duty to achieve. This act indeed deserves to rank as one of the outstanding events in the first Baha'i century. As observed in a previous chapter the mangled bodies of the Bab and His fellow-martyr, Mirza Muiiammad-'Ali, were removed, in the middle of the second night * From Chapter XVIII. 285 following their execution, through the pious intervention of Wji Su1aym~n Kh~tn from the edge of the moat where they had been cast to a silk factory owned by one of the believers of MilAn, and were laid the next day in a wooden casket, and thence carried to a place of safety. Subsequently, according to Baha'u'llah's instructions, they were transported to Tffir~n and placed in the shrine of Im~m-Z4dih ijasan. They were later removed to the residence of H~iji Su-1aym~n KlAn himself in the Sar-Chashmili quarter of the city, and from his house were taken to the shrine of Im~m-ZAdih Ma'sim, where they remained concealed until the year 1284 A.H. (18671868), when a Tablet, revealed by Baha'u'llah in Adrianople, directed MullA 'Ali-Akbar-i-Shahmfrz4di and JamAl-i-Burhjirdi to transfer them without delay to some other spot, an instruction which, in view of the subsequent reconstruction of that shrine, proved to have been providential. Unable to find a suitable place in the suburb of $~4h 'Abdu'1-'A4m, Mulh 'All-Akbar and his companion continued their search until, on the road leading to Cjiash-mih-'Ali, they came upon the abandoned and dilapidated Masjid-i-Mash4'u'lMh, where they deposited, within one of its [p238] 236 THE BAHA'! WORLD walls, after dark, their precious burden, having first re-wrapt the remains in a silken shroud brought by them for that purpose. Finding the next day to their consternation that the hiding-place had been discovered, they clandestinely carried the casket through the gate of the capital direct to the house of Mirza Ijasan-i-Vazir, a believer and son-in-law of IThji Mirza Siyyid 'Ally-i-TaP rishi, the Majdu'1-AshAf where it remained for no less than fourteen months. The long-guarded secret of its whereabouts becoming known to the believers, they began to visit the house in such numbers that a communication had to be addressed by Mu11~ 'All-Akbar to Baha'u'llah, begging for guidance in the matter. HAJI ShAh Muhammad-i-MansMdi, surnamed Abdu'l-Baha, was accordingly commissioned to receive the Trust from him, and bidden to exercise the utmost secrecy as to its disposal. Assisted by another believer, U~ji SMh Muhammad buried the casket beneath the floor of the inner sanctuary of the shrine of Im~m-Z6dih Zayd, where it lay undetected until Mirza Asadu'11Th-i-IsMMni was informed of its exact location through a chart forwarded to him by Baha'u'llah. Instructed by Baha'u'llah to conceal it elsewhere, he first removed the remains to his own house in TihrAn, after which they were deposited in several other localities such as the house of ljusayn-'Aliy-i-IsfAMni and that of Mu-0ammad-Karim-i-'AttAr, where they remained hidden until the year 1316 (1899) A.H., when, in pursuance of directions issued by 'Abdu'l-Baha, this same Mirza Asadu'llah, together with a number of other believers, transported them by way of hf~-Mn, Kirm6nsh6h, Baghckid and Damascus, to Beirut and thence Ty sea to 'Akka, arriving at their destination on the 19th of the month of RamagUn 1316 A.H. (January 31, 1899), fifty lunar years after the Bib's execution in Tabriz. In the same year that this precious Trust reached the shores of the Holy Land and was delivered into the hands of 'Abdu'l-Baha, He, accompanied by Dr. Ibr6hfm Khayru'llah, whom He had already honored with the titles of "Baha'is Peter," "The Second Columbus" and "Conqueror of America," drove to the recently purchased site which had been blessed and selected by Baha'u'llah on Mt. Carmel, and there laid, with His own hands, the foundation-stone of the edifice, the construction of which He, a few months later, was to commence. About that same time, the marble sarcophagus, designed to receive the body of the B~b, an offering of love from the Baha'is of Rangoon, had, at 'Abdu'l-Baha's suggestion, been completed and shipped to Haifa. No need to dwell on the manifold problems and preoccupations which, for almost a decade, continued to beset 'Abdu'l-Baha until the victorious hour when He was able to bring to a final consummation the historic task entrusted to Him by His Father. The risks and perils with which Baha'u'llah and later His Son had been confronted in their efforts to insure, during half a century, the protection of those remains were but a prelude to the grave dangers which, at a later period, the Center of the Covenant Himself had to face in the course of the construction of the edifice designed to receive them, and indeed until the hour of His final release from His incarceration. The long-drawn out negotiations with the shrewd and calculating owner of the build-ing-site of the holy Edifice, who, under the influence of the Covenant-breakers, refused for a long time to sell; the exorbitant price at first demanded for the opening of a road leading to that site and indispensable to the work of construction; the interminable objections raised by officials, high and low, whose easily aroused suspicions had to be allayed by repeated explanations and assurances given by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself; the dangerous situation created by the monstrous accusations brought by Mirza Mu-ljammad-'Ali and his associates regarding the character and purpose of that building; the delays and complications caused by 'Abdu'l-Baha prolonged and enforced absence from Haifa, and His consequent inability to supervise in person the vast undertaking He had initiated Ñ all these were among the principal obstacles which He, at so critical a period in His ministry, had to face and surmount ere He could execute in its entirety the Plan, the outline of which Baha'u'llah had communicated to Him on the occasion of one of His visits to Mt. Carmel. "Every stone of that building, every stone of the road leading to it," He, many a time was heard to remark, "I have with infinite tears and at tremendous cost, raised and placed in position." "One night," He, according to an eyewitness, once observed, "I was so hemmed in by My anxieties that I [p239] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 237 had no other recourse than to recite and repeat over and over again a prayer of the Bab which I had in My possession, the recital of which greatly calmed Me. The next morning the owner of the plot himself came to Me, apologized and begged Me to purchase his property." Finally, in the very year His royal adversary lost his throne, and at the time of the opening of the first American Baha Convention, convened in Chicago for the purpose of creating a permanent national organization for the construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, 'Abdu'l-Baha brought His undertaking to a successful conclusion, in spite of the incessant machinations of enemies both within and without. On the 28th of the month of $afar 1327 A.H., the day of the first Naw-Rfiz (1909) which He celebrated after His release from His confinement, 'Abdu'l-Baha had the marble sarcophagus transported with great labor to the vault prepared for it, and in the evening, by the light of a single lamp, He laid within it, with His own hands Ñ in the presence of believers from the East and from the West and in circumstances at once solemn and moving Ñ the wooden casket containing the sacred remains of the B~b and His companion. When all was finished, and the. earthly remains of the Martyr-Prophet of Shir~tz were, at long last, safely deposited for their everlasting rest in the bosom of God's holy mountain, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Who had cast aside His turban, removed His shoes and thrown off His cloak, bent low over the still open sarcophagus, His silver hair waving about His head and His face transfigured and luminous, rested His forehead on the border of the wooden casket, and, sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him. That night He could not sleep, so overwhelmed was He with emotion. "The most joyful tidings is this," He wrote later in a Tablet announcing to His followers the news of this glorious victory, "that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the AMid Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Nawruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel By a strange coincidence, on that same day of Nawruz, a cablegram was received from Chicago, announcing that the believers in each of the American centers had elected a delegate and sent to that city and definitely decided on the site and construction of the Mash-riqu'l-A djzkdr." With the transference of the remains of the B4b-----Whose advent marks the return of the Prophet Elijah Ñ to Mt. Carmel, and their interment in that holy mountain, not far from the cave of that Prophet Himself, the Plan so gloriously envisaged by Baha'u'llah, in the evening of His life, had been at last executed, and the arduous labors associated with the early and tumultuous years of the ministry of the appointed Center of His Covenant crowned with immortal success. A focal center of Divine illumination and power, the very dust of which 'Abdu'l-Baha averred had inspired Him, yielding in sacredness to no other shrine throughout the I3ah~'i world except the Sepulcher of the Author of the Baha'i Revelation Himself, had been permanently established on that mountain, regarded from time immemorial as sacred. A structure, at once massive, sim-pie and imposing; nestling in the heart of Carmel, the "Vineyard of God"; flanked by the Cave of Elijah on the west, and by the hills of Galilee on the east; backed by the plain of Sharon, and facing the silver-city of 'Akka, and beyond it the Most Holy Tomb, the Heart and Qiblih of the Baha'i world; overshadowing the colony of German Templars who, in anticipation of the ''coming of the Lord,'' had forsaken their homes and foregathered at the foot of that mountain, in the very year of Baha'u'llah's Declaration in Baghdid (1863), the mausoleum of the Bib had now, with heroic effort and in impregnable strength been established as "the Spot round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration." Events have already demonstrated through the extension of the Edifice itself, through the embellishment of its surroundings, through the acquisition of extensive endowments in its neighborhood, and through its proximity to the resting-places of the wife, the son and daughter of Baha'u'llah Himself, that it was destined to acquire with the passing of the years a measure of fame and glory commensurate with the high purpose that had prompted its founding. Nor will it, as the years go by, and the institutions revolving [p240] 238 THE BAHA'! WORLD around the World Administrative Center of the future Baha'i Commonwealth are gradually established, cease to manifest the latent potentialities with which that same immutable purpose has endowed it. Resistlessly will this Divine institution flourish and expand, however fierce the animosity which its future enemies may evince, until the full measure of its splendor will have been disclosed before the eyes of all mankind. "Haste thee, 0 CarmeU" Baha'u'llah, significantly addressing that holy mountain, has written, "for lo, the light of the Coun tenance of God hath been lifted upon thee Rejoice, for God hath, in this Day, established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the dayspring of the evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circieth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God faith showered upon thee." "Call out to Zion, 0 Carmefl" He, furthermore, has revealed in that same Tablet, "and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that bath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels." 2. CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE UCTURE OF THE SHRINE OF THE Bab ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE GUARDIAN (a) I AM) happy (to) announce (the) completion of plans and specifications for (the) erection of (the) arcade surrounding the Bab's Sepulcher, constituting (the) first step in (the) process destined to culminate in (the) construction of the Dome anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Baha and marking (the) consummation of (an) enterprise initiated by Him fifty years ago according to instructions given Him by Baha'u'llah. Announce (to the) friends (the) completion, (on the) eve (of) Naw-Rfiz, (of the) erection (of) parapet crowning (the) east-em fagade (of) Holy Shrine one year after placing (the) first threshold stones upon (the) foundation (of the) arcade. (The) beauty (and) majesty (of the) finely carved panels surmounting (the) soaring arches spanning (the) rosy monolith columns, emblazoned with emerald green and scarlet mosaic symbolizing (the) Bab's lineage and martyrdom, (is) strikingly revealed. (The) original pearl-like structure raised by (the) hands (of the) Center (of the) Covenant, enshrining (the) remains (of the) Martyr Prophet (of the) Faith, acquiring, through construction (of the) shell designed (for) its embellishment (and) preservation, additional height by one-third, additional width by one-fifth, enhancing (the) massiveness (of the) edifice embosomed (in the) Mountain of God, heralding (the) erection (of the) lofty gilded dome that will eventually shine forth in solitary splendor from its heart. (b) (On the) occasion (of the) fivefold historic celebration Ñ (the) dedication (for) public worship (of the) holiest Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (of the) Baha world; (the) convocation (of the) Second Intercontinental Teaching Conference (of the) Holy Year; (the) Anniversary (of the) Declaration (of) Baha'u'llah (in the) Garden of Ridvan; (the) holding (of the) Forty-Fifth American Baha'i Convention, (and the) launching (of the) epochal, global spiritual Crusade, marking (the) climax (of the) festivities associated (with the) Centenary (of the) Birth (of) Baha'u'llah's Mission Ñ announce (to) His followers (of) East (and) West (that the) final phase (of the) construction (of the) Bab's Sepulcher (has [p241] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 239 been) ushered in through (the) erection (of) scaffolding (for the) completion (of the) shuttering (of the) dome. Forty-four gilded tiles out of (a) total (of) twelve thousand, designed (to) cover two hundred fifty square meter surface (of the) dome (were) placed (in) permanent position (on the) eve (of the) ninth day of the) Ninetieth Anniversary (of the) Ris1v~n Festival. (On the) afternoon (of the) same day, during (the) course (of a) moving ceremony (in the) presence (of) pilgrims (and) resident believers (of) 'Akka (and) Haifa, (there was) placed reverently (a) fragment (of the) plaster ceiling (of the) Bab's prison cell (in the) Castle (of) MTh-Kfl, beneath (the) gilded Pies (of the) crowning unit (of the) majestic edifice. Circumambulated (the) base (of the) dome, paid homage (to) His memory, recalled (His) afflictive imprisonment (and) offered prayers (on) behalf (of the) friends (of) East (and) West (on a) subsequent visit (to the) interior (of) His Shrine. Preparatory steps are now being taken (for the) pouring (of) concrete (for the) construction (of the) ribs (of the) dome, as well as for (the) placing (of) ornamental stones surrounding its base. (My) hopes (are) heightened (that the) termination (of the) five-year-long, three-quarter million dollar enterprise, undertaken (in the) heart (of) Carmel, (will) coincide (with the) termination (of the) worldwide celebrations commemorating (the) Centenary (of the) inception (of) llah4'u'lldh's Ministry. (c) (On the) occasion (of the) conclusion (of the) Holy Year (I am) overjoyed (to share the) following triple announcement (with the) attendants (at the) fourth (and) final Intercontinental Teaching Conference, marking (the) termination (of) festivities associated (with the) Centenary (of the) Birth (of) Baha'u'llah's Prophetic Mission. (The) five-year-old, three-quarter million dollar enterprise, constituting (the) final stage (of the) initial epoch (in the) evolution (of the) process initiated over sixty years ago (by the) Founder (of the) Faith, (in the) heart (of the) Mountain (of) God, (is) consummated. (The) finishing touches (of the) installation (of) stained glass windows (in the) Drum (and) Octagon, (the) removal (of) scaffolding (from the) exterior (and) interior (of the) edifice, (the) interior calcimining (of the) Dome, Drum (and) Octagon, tuckpointing, cleaning (and) floodlighting (the) entire Structure (have been) completed, synchronizing (with the) closing weeks (of the) glorious twelvemonth (in the) annals (of the) Holy Faith. (A) steadily swelling throng (of) visitors (from) far (and) near, (on) many days exceeding (a) thousand, (is) flocking (the) gates leading (to the) Inner Sanctuary (of this) majestic mausoleum; paying homage (to the) Queen of Carmel enthroned (on) God's Mountain, crowned (in) glowing gold, robed (in) shimmering white, girdled (in) emerald green, enchanting every eye from air, sea, plain (and) hill. (I am) moved (to) request (the) attendants (at the) Conference (to) hold (a) befitting memorial gathering (to) pay tribute (to the) Hand (of the) Cause, Sutherland Maxwell, immortal architect (of the) Arcade (and) Superstructure (of the) Shrine. (I) feel, moreover, acknowledgement (should) be made (at the) same gathering (of the) unflagging labors (and) vigilance (of the) Hand (of the) Cause, Ugo Gia-chery, (in) negotiating contracts, inspecting (and) despatching all materials required (for the) construction (of the) Edifice, as well as (of the) assiduous, constant care (of the) Hand (of the) Cause, Leroy loas, (in) supervising (the) construction (of) both Drum (and) Dome. To two doors (of the) Shrine recently named after (the) first two aforementioned Hands, (the) Octagon Door, now added, (will) henceforth (be) associated (with the) third Hand who contributed (to the) raising (of this) stately, sacred Structure. [p242] 240 THE BAHA'I WORLD 3. AN ACCOUNT OF THE PREPARATORY WORK IN ITALY By DR. UGO R. GIACHERY1 EI~ N April 29, 1948, at four o'clock in the afternoon, in a room of the Hotel Savoja in Rome, William Sutherland Maxwell, acting for Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, signed the first contract for the marble necessary to complete the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel. As the signatures were being affixed to the document, the fine drizzle which had been falling for many hours ceased as by magic, and a ray of the warm spring sun lit up the room. All those present looked at the skies through the open balcony and smiled cheerfully, while this correspondent reviewed rapidly in his mind the contrasting conditions prevailing on this joyous occasion and those during the tremendous hours which followed the noon of July 9, ninety-eight years before, when an obscuring gale swept the city of Tabriz at the time of the BTh's martyrdom. On May S a second contract was signed in the same room, and a complex and ponderous machinery was set in motion. Architects, draftsmen, quarriers, stonedutters, sculptors, and artists began a momentous activity. Many are familiar with the beautiful color plate giving the architect's design of the Shrine as it appears in Volume IX of The Baha'i World as the frontispiece. But only a few have seen the countless accurate and detailed drawings of this unique building, a mighty work done by one man. The Italian architects who have had the opportunity to examine these plans have expressed their admiration, with the highest words of praise, for the conception, the style, the elegance, and the exquisite intricacy of the decoration which characterizes the entire project. So begins the befitting completion of the work envisioned by 'Abdu'l-Baha, which He so dramatically described, "Every stone of that building, every stone of the road leading to it, I have with infinite tears and at tremendous cost, raised and placed in posi-tDr. Giachery was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as his personal representative for the work in Italy for the Shrine of the Bob. (Editors.) tion."2 For around and above the original Edifice erected by 'Abdu'l-Baha this beautiful new exterior is being placed, as by enchantment, within the matchless setting of magnificent gardens. The Persian gardens of Haifa are the finest in the East, and the constant loving supervision of the Guardian has embellished them to a degree almost impossible to visualize. At ground level the design of the Shrine calls for a quadrate colonnade, with twenty-four columns and eight pilasters of Rose Granite of Baveno, each fifteen feet high and resting on bases of the same granite. All tourists who have visited Italy know Lake Maggiore. Between Stresa and Ver-bania on the shores of this romantic lake, stands Mt. Mottarone, famous for the unique view of Lombardy's plains. On the north side of this mountain, lies the Cava del Camoscio, or Quarry of the Chamois, from which the rose granite for the columns, pilasters and bases has been quarried. Huge blocks have been hewn from the side of the mountain, thence lowered by cograil to the plains and transported by sturdy horsedrawn carts to the marble works in Gravellona. Scores of men have been at work on these blocks, week after week, producing by their accurate, painstaking labor the most perfect columns that glisten like minors in the sun. Every column has been packed as if it were precious glassware, in mammoth wooden boxes, for shipment to Haifa. The columns and pilasters support beautifully carved capitals of rare design, embodying classic elements of ancient Greco-Roman architecture and the delicate filigree-like motifs of Persia. Twenty-eight carved arches sustain the faQade with sculptured panels and join the four monumental corners into a harmonious ensemble. The arches, panels, corners, and fa§ades have been made, piece by piece, of a marble-like 2 Cited in God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi, page 275. The original Edifice was completed in 1908 and the B~b's remains were laid to rest therein on March 21, 1909. (See "Entombment of the H~b's Remains on Mt. Carmel," page 235 this Section.) [p243] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 241 stone called Chiampo. This stone, which is quarried near Vicenza, fifty miles northwest of Venice, is hard, compact, of uniform texture, and the delicate tint of wheat straw at harvest time. Car loads of large blocks of Chiampo have been carried from the quarry to Pietrasanta, on the Tyrrhenian sea. Pietra-santa, just north of Pisa, is one of the foremost marble working centers of Italy, not far from Carrara. Here a large group of skilled artists, carvers, stonecutters, carpenters, and sculptors have been mobilized under the guidance of two able architects (one, a college professor) to transfer into stone the dreamlike conception of Mr. Maxwell. This correspondent has had the special privilege of visiting the laboratory of Pietra-santa where over sixty men work daily with incredible facility to make the various pieces of the building which dovetail to perfection. It is a sight never to be forgotten: dozens of men at work in clouds of dust raised by their drills and chisels, deft fingers moving with care and skill, shaping the stone they have learned to love, humble artists contributing to the engraving of pages of splendor in the history of the Baha'i Faith, unknown actors in the unfolding of the most glorious of all Plans as envisaged by Baha'u'llah. In Pietrasanta, also, a large portion of the outdoor yard is ever covered with immense packing cases containing the completed pieces ready for shipment to Haifa. It was on November 16, 1948, that the following memorable cablegram was sent from Rome to Shoghi Effendi in Haifa, and was despatched with deep emotion by this correspondent: "First shipment granite, stone holy Bib's Shrine left Leghorn Sunday November 14th Steamship Norte due Haifa twenty-third entrusting safety beloved Guardian's prayer assistance Blessed Perfection ever-present Master's guiding hand. Loving devotion. Ugo Giachery." This message, the delivery of which was not guaranteed in war-tom Israel2 was to bring to the Guardian the much awaited news that the fruits of the first six months of intense activity and toil in four different parts of Italy were ripe and ready to be delivered. Since that day in April, when Wil-3 Israel was declared an independent Republic in May, 1948. ham Sutherland Maxwell, the architect for the Shrine, had signed, on behalf of the Guardian, the first contract much had already been accomplished. Seventy-two wooden cases, occupying 67 cubic meters and weighing 90 metric tons, were stowed safely in the holds of the SS. None, to be carried through a blockade of hostile naval vessels to its final destination in Haifa. Those early months will remain in our memory as the most difficult of the entire period necessary to the procurement of material for the Shrine. There was no mail service at this time between Italy and the nascent State of Israel; a few letters which had been posted had been returned to the sender. Shipping was erratic, and only a very few steamers dared to approach the shores of Israel as there was constant danger of confiscation of the cargo by hostile warships. To maintain correspondence with the International Baha'i Center in Haifa was the most complex and difficult problem. Plans and architectural drawings had to be sent back and forth. Photographs of the work accomplished had to be submitted to Mr. Maxwell for his approval. Cablegrams sent only at the sender's risk and without promise of delivery, if transmitted, were delayed by the censor for weeks at a time. After much searching, a method was found by which the necessary and vital correspondence could be carried on: Once a week there passed through Rome a lone plane going from Prague to Haifa. By complying with a tedious and endless procedure of filling out forms, waiting in long queues and obtaining government permits, it became possible to entrust to the crew of the plane the packages of mail. These were delivered with regularity but with much delay on account of the censorship. In looking back, it all seems a continuous chain of miracles! The activity which originated in Rome with the signing of three contracts in less than three months included, in the begin-fling, the choice of the stone or marble to be used in the construction. Mr. Maxwell wanted very much to match a Palestinian stone with a similar Italian marble. To simplify the search Mr. Maxwell was taken to the Geological Office of Rome, a government institution where samples of stones of every geological era and description are available. With the assistance of the director of the Office a stone was found which [p244] 242 THE BAHA'! WORLD matched the Palestinian stone in color, structure and geological formation. It was a typical Italian marble used chiefly in the civil building trade. When the contractor for the work on the Shrine, Messrs. Guido M. Fabbricotti, Successors, of Carrara, was charged with locating the quarry and making a substantial purchase of this stone, it was found that all the approaches to the quarry had been blown up during the war and that to put the quarry back into operation would require many months of work and a considerable sum of money. Taken aback but undaunted, we directed the search in other directions and after a second visit to the Geological Office another quarry was located, in Northern Italy at the little town of Chiampo, not far from Venice. Signor Andrea Roccaf the energetic Italian architect who has been carrying out all the technical details of the work in Italy as envisaged by Mr. Maxwell, was dispatched immediately to this quarry to make a thorough survey of the material. The reports were good and heartening, and arrangements were made to quarry the needed quantity of large blocks of "Chiampo," to be sent by lorries, or trucks, to the Tyrrhenian side of the Italian peninsula where the stone would be cut and carved. The reader should consider for a moment the arduous and intricate process of stone quarrying as applied to the requirements for the Shrine. A perfect stone was needed, without blemishes or even the most minute imperfection. Tons upon tons of rock had to be removed first in order to reach the vein or stratum of the marble to be quarried. After that, a quantity about three times larger than needed was to be removed and shipped to the laboratory. To illustrate this point, for example, in order to carve to perfection an ornate capital, weighing when finished about one ton, a block three times that weight was initially required Ñ and there were thirty-two capitals to be carved! After the signing of the third and fourth contracts, when much more "Chiampo" was needed, considerable difficulties were met with. First, the quarry had to be closed on account of the frigid weather and much snow which made any work impossible. 4 The Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara bestowed upon Signor Rocca the honorary Professorship in Architecture of that Academy, in recognition of his men-torious skill as an artist and an architect. Then, when operation was resumed at the first signs of spring, the stratum uncovered was imperfect and criss-crosseci by flaws. Weeks of anxiety followed until another perfect stratum was struck and the much needed material started to flow again from Chiampo to Pietrasanta. For the columns, the pilasters and their bases, which were made of Rose Baveno granite, the matter was not so complicated as the quarry yielded perfect blocks for all our needs. This part of the work was carried out in the little town of Gravellona near Lake Maggiore. From the same district came also the green marble used in the panels of the balustrade and as background for the central panel of the Greatest Name.5 "Verde Ugo" is the name of this beautiful green marble chosen by Mr. Maxwell; it is named after the owner of the quarry, Count Ugo d'Ivrea of Gressoney, Piedmont. After the first shipment had arrived safely in Haifa, we initiated a continuous flow of material from the Italian ports of Genoa, Leghorn and Venice to Haifa. Obstacles of every nature arose from time to time, from the most unexpected sources. The most serious was created by the drought which prevailed in Italy during the winter and spring of 1949. All industrial electric power was curtailed to three working days per week. The workmen could not operate the pneumatic drills and chisels; the great cutting saws were idle, and the production of cut stone lagged behind the schedule which had been set. After this correspondent had prevailed on the contractors to purchase a diesel electric generator, the rain started again and things went back to normal. During these crises one of the partners of the contracting firm became very ill and suddenly died. He was Colonel Alberto Baha'i of Carrara, a fine and competent gentleman in whom Mr. Maxwell and this correspondent had placed a great deal of trust and responsibility. His death was a real loss, an irreparable loss to the firm and his family. His last words addressed to his wife were an exhortation to complete the work of the Shrine in the best possible manner, as this was the greatest thing he had done in his life time. Fortunately, his two young Sons are carrying on, with competence and 5 fl-Ba1i~'u'1-Abh4, or Afl6h-u-AbhA, meaning "Gad the All Glorious!" [p245] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 243 interest, the work so well initiated by their father. Great anxiety was also caused by the shipping situation. We would engage a steamer to take a cargo on a certain date from a certain port. The precious cargo of material for the Shrine would be brought to the wharf and there it would have to wait for days and days until the ship arrived. One time the steamer arrived on schedule but an earthquake sent the population of Leghorn fleeing to the countryside, and there was no one to load the ship! In another instance, when the steamer was unloading our cargo of stone in the port of Haifa, the captain became alarmed at a plane flying overhead and hastily took the ship out of the port, returning half of the cargo back to Italy. Another time a fire broke out on board the steamer Sacro Cuore, endangering all our shipment, but it remained miraculously undamaged. Still another time a full load of stone which had been transferred from the ship to a lighter in the port of Haifa went to the bottom of the sea, when a stiff wind arose and capsized the lighter. Again good fortune was on our side and a salvage company with the aid of a diver brought every case to the surface undamaged. The testing of all the cut stone has been one of the most meticulous tasks and has been carried out with unfailing precision and accuracy. The reader should realize that the stone shipped was not merely cut; it was cut to a size prescribed by plans made by the architect, then carved, finished to a smooth surface, and placed with its neighboring stones in the actual part of the building erected in the marble works, in sections held together by plaster of Paris. Specialized workers then went over every single stone to eliminate any imperfection to the fraction of a line. The stones were then numbered, the temporary pan of the building dismantled, and every piece placed in a strong wooden box made especially for it, to be shipped to Haifa. A detailed list would give the number of the case and the number of each stone contained in it, while a master key-plan indicated the location of each stone in the building. A fascinating gigantic puzzle. An Italian journalist has stated that this appears to be the largest prefabricated building to move from the European continent to any point in the world, even larger than the Rockefeller "Cloister" which was moved from France to New York City. The Guardian's desire was to have the complete colonnade surrounding the original Shrine, built by 'Abdu'l-Baha, erected and finished for the one hundredth anniversary of the Martyrdom of the BTh Ñ July 9, 1950. Time was racing by fast. New contracts were concluded for the parapet which crowns the colonnade. Samples of gold and green mosaics were submitted for approval. Their acceptance started a new activity, the completion of twenty-eight large panels carved and embellished with "blue-green" mosaic and "scarlet-red" blossoms. The great central panel, the one which was to bear the Greatest Name, was completed with its huge star of green marble in one piece and with background rays filled in with gold mosaic. The shipment of these panels presented a great problem. They were heavy, large in size and delicate to handle on account of the mosaic. After thorough consultation with the Contractors and Signor Rocca it was decided to ship the panels in double cases to be sure they would arrive in Haifa in excellent condition. The Guardian approved this plan, and every panel reached its destination in the utmost state of perfection. But the problem of moving such large cases was not a small one; again another link was added to the chain of miracles. To ship all the columns, pilasters, capitals, star panels, arches of the arcade, walls of the arcade, monumental corners, cornices, small pilasters and panels of the parapet, we used seventeen different steamers over a period of nineteen months. Nearly eight hundred tons of finished material were shipped and safely delivered in Haifa, in 1,800 wooden cases. The largest piece shipped weighed over three tons, and the largest carved piece of "Chiampo" weighed over one ton. Altogether 4,587 finished pieces were transported from Italy to Mt. Carmel during this period. Over 100 trucks were required, to carry the material from the laboratory to the wharves to be shipped, and more than 100 railroad cars and lorries were used to bring the stone blocks from the quarry to the laboratory. On May 8, 1950, the last shipment left Leghorn on the S.S. Maria Ñ the last 44 cases containing the precious cargo for the [p246] 244 THE BAHA'I WORLD Bab's Shrine. This steamer entered the harbor of Haifa on May 20, thus bringing to a close the nineteen months of intense labor on the Italian side of the Mediterranean Sea. On June 29, 1950, the last small stone was put in position at 3:30 P.M. in the Arcade of the Shrine on Mt. Carmel, in ample time for the commemoration of the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab. The Guardian s foresight had won; the colonnade was completed and all the Baha'i world rejoiced at the announcement. The morning of the first of September, 1950, a cable from Shoghi Effendi was received, announcing the shipment by plane of the architectural drawings for the octagon section of the Shrine superstructure, to obtain an estimate of the cost and of the time required to complete this part of the construction. On September 8 the drawings finally arrived. After a series of conferences and consultations with Architect Rocca and representatives of the firm of Messrs. Guido M. Fabbricotti, Successori, of Carrara, a new contract for the carved Chiampo necessary to erect the octagon was stipulated. The contract was signed in Rome, at Via Liguria 38, on Saturday, October 21. Again a complex machinery was set in motion with a speed that, at the time, left both this correspondent and the contractors spellbound and breathless; immediately a representative of the contractor was dispatched to Chiampo to purchase all the blocks of marble required, before the closing of the quarry which, on account of the inclement weather, was scheduled the first week of November. As soon as the work of cutting and carving the stone started, new technical problems of vital importance arose in Haifa which demanded skillful, rapid and accurate solution. The reader should consider that the ensemble of the octagon, the drum and the dome Ñ a mighty construction weighing over 1,000 tons Ñ could not be laid on the roof of the original Shrine, this venerable Edifice erected by 'Abdu'l-Baha being unable to hold such tremendous weight. Prof. H. Neuman of Haifa Institute of Technology, the engineer for the project, devised a very ingenious system to support the entire superstructure by planning to sink eight mighty piers, of unusual dimensions, all the way through the original Shrine to reach the bedrock lying under its foundation. It was a truly gigantic and delicate task to break through the masonry of the Shrine without damaging its structure or impairing in any manner the sacred entirety of the Holy Tombs. To carry out this bold plan, this correspondent was called upon to provide and ship at the earliest possible moment a large amount of structural steel, eight huge Manesmann pipes6 and 100,000 pounds of cement Ñ all material it was impossible to secure in Israel. On the other hand, Italy's reconstruction program made these materials extremely scarce in Italy and they were exportable oniy under special Government licenses. Twice the cement was obtained and twice, with great swiftness, its shipment was prevented by everchanging and unheralded Government regulations. After weeks of stubborn perseverance, and soliciting and pleading with Government agencies, the licenses were obtained and the material left the port of Leghorn on two ships, the S.S. Komemiut and the S.S. Frank is, on April 5 and 13, 1951, respectively. Professor Neuman has personally described to this correspondent the fascinating and highly skilled work of casting the eight huge piers and the eight-pointed star on which the entire new structure Ñ the octagon, the drum and the dome Ñ will rest. The star consists of eight interlocked beams of reinforced concrete, each measuring one foot wide, six feet deep and forty-three feet long, each point of the star resting on one of the eight vertical piers. The lower edge of the beams is a distance of about one foot from the roof of the original Shrine. On the upper part of the beams is laid a mighty concrete platform which constitutes the floor of the octagon and the foundation for the eight steel columns. As all the beams are interlocked (like two superimposed quadrangles), it was necessary to cast this enormous foundation in one day Ñ something of a miracle, "epoch-making, unique in the history of engineering in the entire Middle East," said Professor Neuman, "as we had to cast 135 cubic meters of concrete in one single day." During this search for the materials mentioned, another cablegram from Shoghi Effendi requested an estimate of the cost of the cylinder (or drum) and of the dome. Again new conferences and consultations took place, to agree on many important technical details and to discuss costs and labor. Hollow steel columns 15 feet high and one foot wide, to support the drum and the dome. [p247] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE BAR 245 After several quotations were submitted to the Guardian, authority was received to stipulate a new contract at a favorable cost, and on Friday, March 24, the contract was signed at Via Liguria, in Rome. During negotiations for this contract, additional requests were received from time to time from Shoghi Effendi which resulted in new con-The The task of cutting and carving the Chiampo stone for the octagon was proceeding with great alacrity. It was a meticulous and vast undertaking to carve out of the stone eight fa~ades each measuring twenty-four by twenty-six feet, with intricate ornamental carvings and eight huge pinnacles to be placed at the summit of every corner. REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAM CONCRETE PIERS TO BEDROCK Construction of Shrine of the BTh, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel. Sketch of the eight-pointed star foundation for the Octagon: 1. Outline of original Edifice, built by 'Abdu'l-Baha, roughly square in shape. 2. Eight reinforced concrete piers rising from bedrock to one foot above roof level of original Edifice. 3. Reinforced concrete eight-pointed star foundation, consisting of eight interlocked concrete beams one foot wide, six feet deep and forty-three feet long. The eight points of this star rest on the eight concrete piers; the entire star is raised one foot above the roof of the original Edifice. 4. Dotted line connecting points of the star foundation represents the fa9ade of the Octagon. Small circles at intersections of beams indicate position of the eight hollow steel columns (Manesmann pipes). tracts for the beautiful hand-wrought iron railing for the octagon, iron window frames for the same structure and for the cylinder Ñ a total of eighteen large windows, eight of medium size, sixteen small ones Ñ and an oak door with wrought-iron grill. In addition to these items other contracts were drawn up for iamp posts to embellish the terraces outside the Shrine and for artistic wrought-iron gates for the completion of the terraces. Over fifty highly skilled stone cutters and artist carvers accomplished this work, sometimes laboring until late at night in order to deliver the material in less than a year. Shipments were made from time to time. The first lot of Chiampo, 18 tons carefully packed in sealed wooden boxes, left the port of Leghorn on May 4, on the S.S. De Vii-hena. Another important shipment of 105 tons was made on August 2 on the S.S. Resi, [p248] 246 THE BAHA'I WORLD and was followed by other shipments of 54 tons on the same steamer on September 26, of 30 tons on the S.S. Rapido on November 12, and the balance on the S.S. De Vilhena on December 3. About the middle of September an additional request was received, for structural steel, another 100,000 pounds of cement, a huge quantity of construction lumber, all to permit the erection of the cylinder and the dome. By this time the Italian Government had made it almost impossible to purchase or to ship abroad any quantity of steel, even the smallest. Petitions to the proper authority, and verbal pleading seconded by written statements stressing the importance of completing the cylinder and the dome of the Shrine, which would extoll the skill of Italian artistry, brought the capitulation of the adamant Committee on Exports, and with the great rejoicing of this correspondent the export license for the steel, cement and lumber was granted. "This is an exceptional measure," stated the government official who signed the license, "as no such permit has been granted for months, even to larger corporations with worldwide trade." By the middle of October storms of un precedented violence were lashing the north and the south of the Italian peninsula, bringing about the disastrous floods which devastated all the Polesine region in the north and a good part of Calabria in the south. The Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic seas were stormy as they had never been in the memory of any living man. Right at that moment a large cargo of Chiampo stone, of steel and a good part of the lumber had been sent to the port of Leghorn for shipment. No steamer was then able to enter or leave any port. All shipping was paralyzed for a few weeks and our precious and most needed cargo lay idle at the wharf. It was oniy on November 12 (Baha'u'llah's birthday) that the S.S. Rapido, after completing hasty loading operations, sailed from Leghorn with the weather still unsettled. At the present date, January, 1952, the work is proceeding with great speed to complete the cylinder with its eighteen intricately carved windows, the eighteen great ribs of the dome, and the stone lantern which crown this superstructure of the Shrine, like outstretched arms and uplifted hands joined in a prayer to the Almighty. 4. REPORTS ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ARCADE By BEN D. WEEDEN S HOGHI EFFENDI has asked me to write you about the progress of the building of the arcade about the Shrine of the Bib on Mt. Carmel from time to time, with the suggestion that it be printed in Baha'i News for the information of the friends. This is a rather large task for so poor a servant to undertake, for truly the erection of this arcade will be an epic milestone in the annals of the Baha Faith, and will foreshadow the erection of the golden dome, some one hundred and twenty feet in height, and the completion of the enterprise conceived by Baha'u'llah sixty years ago. Many of the friends will recall the circular group of cypress trees near the Shrine, under which Baha'u'llah sat when He indicated to 'Abdu'l-Baha the spot upon which the Shrine of the Bib was to be erected, and where the Bab's earthly remains should be placed at rest. That was a memorable day and it is fitting that one of the Baha'is present at the time should now be residing at the Baha'i Pilgrim House near the Shrine and acting as host to all visitors Ñ Hussein Ek-bal. He is a fine and kindly, elderly gentleman, and it is a privilege to meet and know him. All Baha'is know that 'Abdu'l-Baha was able to bring the precious remains of the Bib to Mt. Carmel and to erect six of the nine rooms of the present Shrine building. Perhaps, something not so well known, is that one day in 1915, 'Abdu'l-Baha was sitting on the terrace at the top of the steps of His home looking up to the building then on Mt. Carmel and remarked that as yet the Shrine of the Bab was "unbuilt" and that [p249] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 247 considerable sums of money would be needed, but God willing, they would be forthcoming. How significant that word "un-built," and yet, how precious are the rooms built at His direction! How indicative it was that He envisaged the beautiful structure which is to be raised about the precious kernel He had placed on Mt. Carmel. You may be sure no stone which was laid at His desire will ever be disturbed. This same will hold true of the three rooms added by Shoghi Effendi after the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and in accordance with His desire. The present nine-room structure will always remain the kernel of the Shrine and the present project will oniy be a beautiful and glorious shell to protect and preserve it. Even with this bit of background in mind, few will ever know the intense longing which has been in the heart of Shoghi Effendi, over a long period of years, to start the construction of the edifice he knew was so dear to the heart of 'Abdu'l-Baha Then, suddenly, in the spring of this year, 1948, he felt that the end of his patient waiting had come, even though conditions in the world, and especially in Palestine, were far from propitious. However, he well knew that every great step forward in our Ba1A'i Faith has been taken under severe difficulties, therefore, he did not hesitate to send Mr. William S. Maxwell to Italy with his exquisitely designed plans, to contract for the cutting and carving of the stone necessary to bring out the full richness and delicacy of the arcade he, Mr. Maxwell, has conceived. It might be mentioned that his designs and drawings have excited the admiration of many of the finest stonecutters in Italy. This is justified and it is to be regretted that space does not allow the telling of the labor and devotion Mr. Maxwell has put into this work. It is great, very great. The trip to Italy was most successful; with the very able assistance of Dr. Ugo R. Giachery, contracts were entered into with Guido M. Fabbricotti, Successors, of Carrara, Italy, for twenty-four columns and eight pilasters, with their bases, to be cut and polished from Rose Baveno granite, the capitals for these, together with the twenty-eight graceful arches, star panels and delicate, curved corner panels to be cut and carved of cream, Chiampo granite. The search for a proper stone and the selection of Chiampo granite for this fine carved work is a tale in itself and could better be told by Ugo Giachery who rendered so great a service in all this work, and continues to act as Shoghi Effendi's appointed representative in Italy in the matter of stone for the Shrine of the Bab. Very quickly after the return from Italy, on May 15, affairs in Palestine took on a swifter tempo. The British Mandate had come to an end and the State of Israel came to birth. This latter event forced a change in the construction plans for the Shrine. The first intent was to use Palestinian stone for the thresholds, the corners, walls, and the cornices, but circumstances left the quarries of the needed stone in the hands of the Arabs. This looked like a serious obstacle and might cause a serious delay, hut Shoghi Effendi immediately communicated with Ugo Giachery and within a surprisingly short time Ugo was able to place a further contract with Guido M. Fabbricotti, Successors, for the cutting, in Chiampo granite, of all the stone needed to construct the arcade. Everyone feels this has been a happy turn of events as this Chiampo granite is a very fine and beautiful stone. The placing of this latest contract means that all the stone of the arcade will be Italian and it is possible that when the time comes to add the balustrade and the tall dome the master stonecutters of Italy will have more work to do. With the matter of the stonework decided, Shoghi Effendi took swift action toward preparing the site about the Shrine for the work to come. This is a huge task in itself and is not without a little heartbreak for it means disturbing the beauty Shoghi Effendi has devoted so many years to create about the Shrine, to gladden the hearts of the pilgrims and visitors. There were hundreds upon hundreds of finely laid tiles to be carefully removed and properly stored, many yards of well-cared-for hedging and trees to take up and replant, four huge, lead vases and their pedestals dismounted, the laying of the foundation and the taking of many, many cubic yards of stone from the high wall on the mountain side of the Shrine. The laying of the foundation has been completed and the cutting of the rock wall progressing swiftly under Shoghi Effendi's direction. While work was progressing in Haifa much of the work in Italy was being finished and packed for shipment. The excitement of the day Shoghi Effendi asked Ugo Giachery [p250] 248 THE BAHA'! WORLD to arrange for the first shipment of stone was only equaled by the day we learned that the S. S. Norte had left Italy with some one hundred and twelve tons of columns, pilasters, bases, socles, and threshold stones, and would arrive in Haifa on November 28. Activities increased greatly here as there was much to be done to clear the shipment through customs, arrange transportation from the port and prepare a space near the Gardens where this precious cargo could be stored. And then came word from Ugo that an additional forty tons was being loaded on the S. S. Campidoglic and would arrive in Haifa on December 3. One hundred and fifty-two tons of cut, carved and polished stone on the high seas! Only a small part of the six hundred and fifty odd tons to come from Italy, but the flow of stone had started! At last the 28th came and the slow and careful unloading got underway. A good measure of the pieces were unloaded into lighters but the great columns and pilasters, weighing about three tons each, had to be taken from the S.S. Norte by one of the big shore cranes. It was a grand sight to see those huge crates rise slowly out of the hold of the ship and be gently lowered onto the quay. With the unloading completed, the work of clearing the shipment was quickly finished and the transportation to the storage space near the Gardens started. Before this task was completed the S.S. Cam pidogilo arrived with forty additional tons, was cleared and in due time all stone transported to the storage space to await the day it can be placed in its position to form the arcade about the Shrine of the 13Th. How everyone is looking forward to the day when the first stone will be laid on the foundation! Then day by day this great and beautiful structure will take form. The polished rose granite bases will be put into position, the twenty-four polished, rose granite columns and eight pilasters will be stood proudly erect ready to receive their intricately carved Chiampo stone capitals, the beautifully designed curved corners will rise stone upon stone, the twenty-eight graceful arches will rest secure on the capitals, the delicately carved star panels inset and at last the cornices put into place. Thus will be completed the first step in the construction of the glorious rose and gold edifice which will forever guard and protect the Shrine of the B~b on Mt. Carmel. While this letter is mostly a recital of Ia-bors bors both great and small, it is to be hoped that the friends who read it will not forget the importance and great purpose behind these strivings. The structure 'Abdu'l-Baha hoped one day, God willing, would be raised upon the side of Mt. Carmel is taking tangible form under the hands of our beloved Guardian. Haifa, Dec. 28, 1948 With completion of the foundation toward the end of 1948, the enlarging of the site of the Shrine began. This meant cutting into the side of the mountain and the removal of many hundreds of yards of earth and rock. It was a difficult work and was not made easier by the very cold and rainy winter such as has not been experienced in Israel for many years. Yet, despite the adverse circumstances, under the direction of Shoghi Effendi, this work, including the necessary retaining wall, was completed within a period of time that amazed the engineers. It was truly a herculean task in itself and is the more remarkable if consideration is given to the fact that Shoghi Effendi also extended the terrace of the Garden upon which the Shrine is located, by a matter of some two hundred feet. A truly large undertaking in itself due to the steepness of the mountain. As this work neared completion a new drainage system for the Shrine was put in and the day the first of stones so carefully cut in Italy, was to be laid, drew close. On March 14, 1949, one week before the fortieth anniversary of the placing by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the BTh's blessed remains in the sarcophagus presented by the Burmese Baha'is for this purpose Ñ the first threshold stone weighing half a ton, was set in its exact place upon the foundation. The beautiful arcade for the Shrine of the BTh on Mt. Carmel, conceived by Mr. William S. Maxwell, was really taking form. Dreams were taking on reality. The setting of the one hundred and forty threshold stones proceeded swiftly and the base stones for three of the corners were put in position. At this point there was an interruption due to the long drought in Italy which cut the use of electric power to three days a week. This delayed the arrival of stone we needed to continue. How we would have liked to have sent some of our excess rain to Italy! Still, this interruption was not without its benefit, for it did give time to de [p251] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 249 vise a special gantry to be used to lift the huge Rose Baveno pilasters and columns into place, and other pieces of stone work ranging up to a ton or more. With the arrival of the needed pieces of stone the work was resumed with renewed vigor and with lightened hearts. It is progressing swiftly and in a most encouraging manner. The three corners upon which work is being done have taken on a strength and promise of beauty difficult to picture, with the erection of the two great, square Rose Baveno pilasters with which each finely proportioned corner is bound. To see one of these solid pieces of granite some fifteen feet long rise into position is a sight never to be forgotten. It is raised slowly and with infinite care until it is above its base and then, with much measuring, lowered into the position it will hold for ages. Six of these fine monoliths have been put into position and the stone work of Chiampo granite forming these corners is over half way to the top of the pilasters. This includes some of the very fine carved work of the curved section of the corners. Even in the present construction stage of these corners, they bring exclamations of delight from those who view them. Who can say how the first sight of the completed arcade will ravish the hearts of all who behold it? Sitting within sight of the Shrine of the as this report is being written, makes it difficult to keep thoughts within due bounds of a true report. Knowing that on the morrow a start is to be made in preparation for raising twelve of the graceful Rose Baveno columns tends to distracting thoughts of the future. Aye, that future! Those twelve great columns, and the twelve to follow, each with its carved capital, the graceful arches, the walls with the inset star panels, then the balustrade and over all the great dome! That is what a Baha'i would envisage if sitting here. That is what a Baha'i would envisage upon seeing just one stone set in place and to be able to touch it. Further, a Baha'i would sense something of the great import of what our beloved Guardian is creating on the side of Mt. Carmel for the future of the world. How the Baha'is would strive and pray for the completion of the glorious covering for the Shrine of the B~b if they but knew something of this! Our beloved Guardian has asked that a third report be made to the friends on the progress of the work at the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel. A goodly amount of progress has taken place since the last report, in fact, the arcade has been over half completed, but not without difficulties. The continued drought in Italy still delayed stone shipments, as mentioned in the last report. This made the planning of construction progress difficult. Plans would be made for the arrival of a shipment and then it would be delayed. This was annoying but when a lighter load of sixty-one cases of stone sank in the harbor one stormy night we felt we had a real burden on our shoulders. However, like all burdens and tests we found it not as severe as we thought and that it did add to our experience. It was not long before a diver had salvaged the cases from the bottom of the harbor and not a stone had been damaged. We had a further experience of a like nature when a case was dropped into the water when it slipped from the sling while unloading. We also had the experience of a ship catching afire while she was unloading, and it was necessary to flood her to put out the fire. We were very worried about this as can be imagined, but we found that not a single one of our precious cases had been harmed in the slightest. With the vicissitudes many of our shipments have passed through it is miraculous that no damage was done to a single stone which would have called for a long delay in the work while it was being recut. While these difficulties were heartrending, still the work on the arcade went steadily on. The three magnificent curved corners took on more height and grandeur. Twelve of the huge Rose Baveno granite columns were set upon their bases, each with its beautifully carved Chiampo granite capital. A momentous occasion truly! Then followed the placing of the finely cut graceful arches, seven on the east side and seven on the north. This led to the building up of the walls to the height of the architrave, including the star panels and half star panels, those gems which relieve the austerity of the walls and balance the fine, ornate, curved corners. With the completion to the architrave of the beautiful corners at the southeast, northeast and northwest and the walls to the east and north, the summer came to a close and plans for the winter work were made. One of the first steps in this work is already nearing completion, the excavation of the mountain on the west and south sides [p252] 250 THE RAHA'! WORLD of the Shrine. This has meant the removal of many, many hundreds of cubic yards of rock and earth and the building of a retaining wall which on the south side will reach a height of nearly ten meters. The earth and rock excavated will be used to extend the terrace upon which the Shrine stands, to the east or the right as you stand facing the sea and the city of 'Akka. As soon as the wall is completed, work will start on the southwest curved corner, the setting of its two great pilasters and the placing of the twelve remaining columns with their capitals. Then the arches and the wall stones of the west and south sides. As this work progresses the concrete ceilings will be poured, and the stones of the architrave and cornices set in place. Then will come the momentous setting up of the parapet, which is to be such a fitting crown for this splendid and glorious arcade the labors of our beloved Guardian are bringing into being about our holy Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel. In midsummer, in anticipation of this last momentous part of the work, our Guardian instructed Dr. Ugo R. Giachery, as his representative in Italy, to negotiate a fourth contract with Guido M. Fabbricotti, Successors, of Carrara, Italy, for the fabrication of this intricate stone work. On September 7, 1949, the contract was signed and calls for close to two hundred tons of fine carving and delicate mosaic work. Mr. W. S. Maxwell has created a masterpiece of beauty and design. There will be thirty-two Chiampo stone posts with carved caps. There will be twenty-seven large panels carved in low relief with a background of variegated bluegreen opaque glass mosaic. These panels will be in single slabs and weigh nearly a ton each. There will be a special central panel for the front fa~ade of the arcade, with a large star with radiating gold rays, and there will be the Greatest Name done in metal and gilded superimposed upon the green marble star. This panel will be complete with the intricately designed 'B's' to the right and the left of the circle of green marble enclosing the star and the golden rays. The 'B's' will be in low relief and the background mosaic. The four curved corners will have beautifully designed ornamentation in which there will be a large oval of green marble and again the Greatest Name will be superimposed upon each oval. This is a very inadequate description, and while the lack of space might be pled, the real need is the abilities of a poet or a great artist to picture what is now being created in Italy. The expressions of admiration made by the many many visitors to our beautiful Baha'i Gardens on the work already done on the arcade, when they get a partial view of it from the unrestricted part of the Gardens, are heartwarming, and one wonders to what length they will go when the arcade is finished and open to the public. What will they feel and think when they see the delicate rose of the tall columns, the light cream of the impressive and strong corners and walls and last, but not least, the crown of glory, the parapet, with its green panels (the green emblematic of the Bib's lineage) and the gold of the Greatest Names and the rays to add the final touch of color and balance to it all? To this beautiful harmony of color will be added the superb carving, so exquisite in design, and the proportions which convey such a feeling of strength and ageless endurance. Do you doubt but what it will leave a vision in their hearts that will last throughout a lifetime? Please do not ask what it will mean to a Baha'i making a pilgrimage to this holy spot. My prayer is that you all may have this privilege and bounty, God willing. With the passing of an unusually severe winter (19491950), and one of many and diverse labors, despite the adverse weather, the construction plans for the winter were more than fulfilled and the completion of this glorious and sacred arcade enveloping the Shrine of the B~b is rapidly approaching. At the beginning of the winter, construction on the west and south sides of the arcade began in earnest. The southwest curved corner with its huge rose granite pilasters rapidly took shape. Twelve great rose columns and their capitals were put in place. While this work was going on, the wall of the mountain on the south side of the Shrine was strengthened and the terrace upon which the Shrine of the 13Th stands was extended to the east. This extension required the building of a high retaining wall and was a major engineering undertaking in itself, but under the guidance of our Guardian it went forward at amazing speed and is now a flourishing garden. With these activities at their height the first shipment of the parapet stones arrived. [p253] COMPLETION OF SEPULCHER OF THE Bab 251 Included in this shipment were the first of the twenty-seven mosaic panels which with their artistry and beauty of design conceived by Mr. Maxwell will so enhance the majesty of the glorious crown now being placed upon the towering walls of the arcade which is to protect the holy Shrine of the Bab for all posterity. Our impatience to open one of these cases of panels knew no bounds. When, at last, one of the panels had been carefully exposed it is neadless to say our admiration also knew no bounds. The bowl of our expectations overflowed. The craftsmanship of the Italian artisans in stone and mosaic work was beyond compare and Mr. Maxwell's design and plan had become a noble fruit. As Mr. Maxwell is extremely reticent in speaking of his work and is not given to a display of his emotions one will never know the extreme pleasure it must have been for him to stand before this beautiful creation and know that he had inspired it. With these wonderful panels on hand the workmen went forward with added zest to prepare for the setting of them. Soon the day came when the first panel on the east side of the arcade was brought carefully into place and raised into position. At the end of the second day the other six panels were placed with the small pillars standing between. Not long after, the cover stones and the finials of the pillars were added thus completing the east side of the arcade. Now the staging needed for all this construction could be removed and the full beauty of these labors stood revealed: The delicate rose of the huge columns and the pilasters, the graceful arches, the light cream of the wall stones and then the wondrous and glorious crown of glory, the balustrade with its panels of carved Chiampo granite with a background of light green, glass mosaic with a few flecks of red and a narrow green border of Ugo Vert granite, with subdued touch of color so masterfully added to bring out the full beauty, dignity and glory of this magnificent edifice. And how symbolic of the B~±b's martyrdom are those panels Ñ those gems set in the crown of gloriousness, the balustrade! The white Clii-ampo stone denoting the pure light of His Message, the green symbolical of His lineage and the red flecks the drops of blood of His Martyrdom. As one stands before this beauty one's heart is near to bursting. There is little more to be added to this report but you may all be assured that construction of the arcade about the Shrine of the Bab is nearing its conclusion. A great step forward will have been taken when the last stone has been laid. A breathtaking edifice of beauty will stand in a garden of great splendor, which our beloved Guardian has already created, for all the world to be drawn to in admiration, and all Baha'is in reverence and devotion. Haifa, Israel May 30, 1950 At three-thirty o'clock in the afternoon on May 29, 1950, the last stone was placed in position in the huge corner panel at the southeast corner of the arcade about the Shrine of the BTh on Mt. Carmel. It was only a small stone, being about a foot long and ten inches in width, triangular in shape, but how filled with import the setting of it was! The placing of this small stone brought to a close the first stage in the construction of one of the most magnificent and important edifices in the world of today and the long long tomorrow of the future. You know something of the extraordinary conditions existing at the World Center when our beloved Guardian sent Mr. Maxwell to Italy to arrange for the nearly eight hundred tons of stone to be used in completing the arcade. You know something of the many difficulties that have been encountered and overcome, that are so reminiscent of every great forward step taken in the advancement of our beloved Faith. An attempt has been made in reports to picture something of the splendor and beauty of the edifice conceived by Mr. Maxwell and brought into reality through storm and stress under the sure guidance of the Guardian, up to and including the large mosaic panels of the balustrade. You must be anxious to know something of the great and tall corner panels and the jewel of splendor the magnificent central panel, a gem of great price set in the diadem of our arcade. Those towers of massive strength, the concave curved corners are most fittingly crowned by curved panels rising nearly nine feet in height, and tapering to a point. The central stone, weighing over a ton and a half, has a large oval of Ugo Vert marble set into it upon which is mounted the Greatest Name in the calligraphy used on Baha'i ring stones, done with a special gold-fired bronze. This green oval is wreathed in a sim [p254] 252 THE BAHA'! WORLD pie floral design. The upper portion of the panel tapers to a point with finely carved wings diminishing in size to make a fitting frame for the carving over the oval that adds so much to the strength, dignity and harmony of these four immense corner panels. The dignity and majesty of these curved corner panels are enhanced by the simplicity of the square panels with their cover stones of quiet leaf-fluting which flank the curved sections. These square panels have their centers cut back in two steps taking away any feeling of weight, and this inset carving is so finely proportioned in size and depth that these panels become the perfect union between the beautiful mosaic panels of the sides and the imposing curved panels at each corner, The central panel, set in the balustrade of the north fagade which faces 'Akka and overlooks Mt. Carmel Avenue, is a true crown jewel. Its center is a great five-foot circle resting between two quarter panels each having carved upon them an exquisitely designed floral "B" with backgrounds of light green mosaic. The great circle has a huge nine pointed star of dark green marble set in it upon which is mounted the Greatest Name done in gold-fired bronze and in the Persian calligraphy so familiar to all Baha'is. From the nine-pointed star radiate carved rays of Chiampo stone having a background of bright gold mosaic; all being enclosed in a narrow band of dark green Ugo Vert marble. The cover stones for this glorious panel are harmoniously carved to make a perfect setting for this truly inspiring masterpiece. This central panel is truly a masterpiece, and perhaps something more, for as one views it there is a glow and radiance about the nine-pointed star that does not come from just the white stone and gold mosaic. There is a golden aura that is a sign and a promise of the Golden Age our beloved Faith is to bring to the world. The real evidence of the greatness of this step initiated by, inspired by and which has been completed under the guidance of our beloved Guardian, now stands in all its majesty and glory in the Baha Gardens, also created by our Guardian, on the side of Mt. Carmel, the most holy mountain Ñ the arcade about the Shrine of the BTh. It is the initial stage in the erection of the glorious edifice which is always to guard and protect the sacred building 'Abdu'l-Baha caused to be reared under terrible adversity, on the spot designated by Baha'u'llah as the final resting place for the Sacred Remains of the Bab and within which He, 'Abdu'l-Baha, placed those Sacred Remains with His own loving hands. It is to be remembered that this inspiring edifice will ever stand as a shining light for all the world to glory in. [p255] VII THE INAUGURATION OF THE WORLD BAHA'I CRUSADE 19531963 1. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE GUARDIAN HAIL, (with) feelings (of) humble thankfulness (and) unbounded joy, opening (of the) Holy Year commemorating (the) centenary (of the) rise (of the) Orb (of) Baha'u'llah's most sublime Revelation marking (the) consummation (of the) six thousand year cycle ushered in (by) Adam, glo-rifled (by) all past prophets (and) sealed (with the) blood (of the) Author (of the) Bab Dispensation. Evoke (on this) auspicious occasion (the) glorious memory (and) acclaim (the) immortal exploits (of the) Dawn-Breakers (of the) Apostolic Age (of the) Baha Dispensation (in the) cradle (of the) Faith (and the) mighty feats (of the) champion builders (of) its rising World Order (in the) Western Hemisphere as well as (the) multitude (of) valorous achievements (of the) past (and) present generations (of) their brethren (in the) European, Asiatic, African (and) Australian continents, whose combined accomplishments during (the) one hundred (and) nine years (of) its existence contributed (to the) survival (of) God's struggling Faith, (the) reinforcement (of) its infant strength, (the) safeguarding (of the) unity (of) its supporters, (the) preservation (of the) integrity (of) its teachings, (the) enrichment (of the) lives (of) its followers, (the) rise (of the) institutions (of) its administrative order, (the) fashioning (of the) agencies for (the) systematic diffusion (of) its light (and the) broadening (and the) consolidation (of) its foundations. Moved (to) express (the) confident hope as (the) centenary celebrations now commencing, attain (their) climax during (the) approaching Rijv~n period, (that the) plans formulated (by the) valiant members (of the) World 253 Baha'i Community (in the) five continents, may each (and) all, through their victorious consummation, add distinct fresh luster (to the) worldwide festivities constituting (the) collective tribute paid (by the) followers (of the) Most Great Name (to the) memory (of the) august Founder (of) their Faith in honor (of the) centenary (of the) birth (of) His Mission (and the) eternal glory (of) His embryonic, majestically unfolding World Order. Feel hour propitious (to) proclaim (to the) entire Baha world (the) projected launching (on the) occasion (of the) convocation (of the) approaching Intercontinental Conferences (on the) four continents (of the) globe (the) fate-laden, soul-stilTing, decade-long, world-embracing Spiritual Crusade involving (the) simultaneous initiation (of) twelve national Ten Year Plans (and the) concerted participation (of) all National Spiritual Assemblies (of the) Baha'i world aiming (at the) immediate extension (of) Baha'u'llah's spiritual dominion as well as (the) eventual establishment (of the) structure (of) His administrative order (in) all remaining Sovereign States, Principal Dependencies comprising Principalities, Sultanates, Emirates, Sbaykjjdoms, Protectorates, Trust Territories, (and) Crown Colonies scattered (over the) surface (of the) entire planet. (The) entire body (of the) avowed supporters (of) Baha'u'llah's all-conquering Faith (are) now summoned (to) achieve (in a) single decade feats eclipsing (in) totality (the) achievements which (in the) course (of the) eleven preceding decades illuminated (the) annals (of) Baha pioneering. (The) fourfold objectives (of the) forth [p256] 254 THE BAHA'I WORLD coming Crusade, marking (the) third (and) last phase (of the) initial epoch (of the) evolution (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan (are) destined (to) culminate (in the) worldwide festivities commemorating (the) fast-approaching Most Great Jubilee. First, development (of the) institutions (at the) World Center (of the) Faith (in the) Holy Land. Second, consolidation, through carefully devised measures (on the) home front (of the) twelve territories destined (to) serve (as) administrative bases (for the) operations (of the) twelve National Plans. Third, consolidation (of) all territories already opened (to the) Faith. Fourth, (the) opening (of the) remaining chief virgin territories (on the) planet through specific allotments (to) each National Assembly functioning (in the) Baha'i world. (The) projected historic, spiritual venture, at once arduous, audacious, challenging, unprecedented (in) scope (and) character (in the) entire field (of) Baha'i history, soon to be set (in) motion, involves (the) adoption (of) preliminary measures (to the) construction (of) Baha'u'llah's Sepulcher (in the) Holy Land. Doubling (the) number (of) countries within (the) pale (of the) Faith through planting its banner (in the) remaining Sovereign States (of the) planet as well as (the) remaining virgin Territories mentioned (in) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Tablets (of the) Divine Plan, involving (the) opening (of) forty-one countries (on the) Asiatic, thirty-three (on the) African, thirty (on the) European, twenty-seven (on the) American continents. Over twofold increase (in the) number (of) languages into which Baha'i literature (is) translated, printed or (in) process (of) translation Ñ forty (in) Asia, thirty-one (in) Africa, ten each (in) Europe (and) America, to be allocated (to the) American, British, Indian (and) Australian Baha'i communities, including for (the) most part those into which Gospels (have been) already translated. Doubling (the) number (of) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's, through (the) initiation (of the) construction (of) one (on the) Asiatic (and the) other (on the) European continent. (The) acquisition (of the) site (of the) future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (on) Mt. Carmel. (The) purchase (of the) land (for) eleven future Temples, three (on the) American, three (on the) African, two (on the) Asiatic, two (on the) European, one (on the) Australian continents. (The) erection (of the) first dependency (of the) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (in) Wilmette. (The) development (of the) functions (of the) institution (of the) Hands (of the) Cause. (The) establishment (of a) Baha'i Court (in the) Holy Land, preliminary (to the) emergence (of the) Universal House (of) Justice. Codification (of the) laws (and) ordinances (of the) KITAB-I-AQDAS, Mother Book (of the) Baha'i Revelation. Establishment (of) six national Baha'i Courts (in the) chief cities (of the) Islamic East, TihrAn, Cairo, BaghdAd, New Delhi, KarAchi, Ktibul. Extension (of) international Baha'i endowments (in the) Holy Land, (on the) plain (of) 'Akka (and the) slopes (of) Mt. Carmel. Construction (of) international Baha'i Archives (in the) neighborhood (of the) Bab's Sepulcher. Construction (of a) tomb (for the) wife (of the) Bib (in) ShiiAz. Identification (of the) resting places (of the) father (of) Baha'u'llah (and the) mother (and) cousin (of the) Bib (for) reburial (in the) Baha'i cemetery (in the) vicinity (of the) Most Great House. Acquisition (of the) Garden (of) RigivAn (in) Baghd4d, site (of the) Siy~h-CAiA1 (in) Tihr~n, (site of the) martyrdom (of the) Bab (in) Tabrfz, (and of) His incarceration (in) Cbihriq. More than quadruple (the) number (of) National Spiritual Assemblies, twenty-one (on the) American, thirteen (on the) European, ten (on the) Asiatic, three (on the) African (and) one (on the) Australian continents. Multiply sevenfold national Eja-ziratu'1-Quds, their establishment (in the) capital cities (of the) chief Sovereign States (and) chief cities (of the) principal Dependencies (of the) planet, twenty-one (in) America, fifteen (in) Europe, nine (in) Asia, three (in) Africa, one (in) New Zealand. Framing national Baha'i constitutions, establishment national Baha'i endowments (in) same capitals and cities (of) same States (and) Dependencies. More than quintuple (the) number (of) incorporated National Assemblies, twenty-one (in) America, thirteen (in) Europe, twelve (in) Asia, three (in) Africa, one (in) Australasia. (The) establishment (of) six national Baha'i Publishing Trusts, two (in) America, two (in) Asia, one (in) Africa, one (in) Europe. (The) participation (of the) women (of) Persia (in the) membership (of) national [p257] INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'! CRUSADE 255 (and) local Assemblies. Establishment (of) seven Israel branches (of) National Spiritual Assemblies, two (in) Europe, two (in) Asia, one each (in) America, Africa (and) Australia. (The) establishment (of a) national Baha'i printing press (in) Tihr~in. Reinforcement (of the) ties binding (the) Baha'i World Community (to the) United Nations. Inclusion, circumstances permitting, (of) eleven Republics comprised within Union (of) Soviet Social Republics and two European Soviet-controlled States within (the) orbit (of the) Administrative Order (of the) Faith. Convocation World Baha'i Congress vicinity Garden (of) RhjIv~n, Baghdad, third holiest city Baha'i world, (on the) occasion (of the) worldwide celebrations (of the) Most Great Jubilee, commemorating (the) Centenary (of the) Ascension (of) Baha'u'llah (to the) Throne (of) His Sovereignty. Current Baha'i history must henceforth, as second decade (of) second Baha'i century opens, move rapidly (and) majestically as (it has) never moved before since (the) inception (of the) Faith over (a) century ago. Earthly symbols (of) Baha'u'llah's unearthly Sovereignty must needs, ere (the) decade separating (the) two memorable Jubilees draws (to a) close, be raised as far north as Franklin beyond (the) Arctic Circle (and) as far south as (the) Falkiand Islands, marking (the) southern extremity (of the) western hemisphere, amidst (the) remote, lonely, inhospitable islands (of the) archipelagos (of the) South Pacific, (the) Indian (and) Atlantic oceans, (the) mountain fastnesses (of) Tibet, (the) jungles (00 Africa, (the) deserts (of) Arabia, (the) steppes (of) Russia, (the) Indian Reservations (of) North America, (the) wastelands (of) Siberia (and) Mongolia, amongst (the) Eskimos (of) Greenland (and) Alaska, (the) Negroes (of) Africa, Buddhist strongholds (in the) heart (of) Asia, (amongst) Lapps (of) Finland, (the) Polynesians (of the) South Sea Islands, Negritos (of the) Archipelagos (of the) South Pacific Ocean. (The) broad outlines (of the) world-encircling plan (were) divinely revealed. Its course (was) chartered (by) 'Abdu'l-Baha's infallible Pen. Its shining goals (have been) set. (The) requisite administrative machinery (has been) created. Signal (has been) given by (the) Author (of the) Plan, (its) Supreme Commander. (The) Lord (of) Hosts, (the) King of Kings, (has) pledged unfailing aid (to) every crusader battling (for) His Cause. Invisible battalions (are) mustered, rank upon rank, ready (to) pour forth reinforcements from on high. Baha'u'llah's army (of) light (is) standing (on the) threshold (of the) Holy Year. Let them, as they enter it, vow (with) one voice, one heart, one soul, never (to) turn back (in the) entire course (of the) fateful decade ahead until each (and) every one will have contributed (his) share (in) laying on (a) worldwide scale an unassailable administrative foundation for Baha'u'llah's Christ-promised Kingdom on earth, swelling thereby (the) chorus (of) universal jubilation wherein earth (and) heaven will join as prophesied (by) Daniel, echoed (by) 'Abdu'l-Baha; "on that day will (the) faithful rejoice with exceeding gladness." Call upon fifteen Hands (from) five continents, by virtue (of) their supreme function as chosen instruments (for the) propagation (of the) Faith, (to) inaugurate historic mission through (the) appointment, during RiKlvtin 1954, (of) five auxiliary boards (one) each continent, (of) nine members each, who will, as their adjuncts, or deputies, and working (in) conjunction (with the) various National Assemblies functioning (on) each continent, assist, through periodic systematic visits (to) Baha'i centers, (in the) efficient, prompt execution (of the) twelve projected National Plans. Moreover request communities observing Baha'i Holy Days, solar calendar, celebrate (with) befitting solemnity (the) approaching anniversary (of) I3ah4'u'11~h's Birthday, falling (in the) middle (of the) two month period during which, a hundred years ago, (the) Author (of the) Faith received (the) first intimation (of) His glorious Mission. Advise American Baha'i community commemorate occasion (by) special gathering (in the) Temple (in) Wilmette (and) urge attendance (of) as many believers (as) possible (and) invite Hands (of the) Cause (in) United States (and) Canada (to) participate as my representatives. Ñ SHOGrn Haifa, Israel October 8, 1952 [p258] 256 THE BAHA'! WORLD 2. TEN-YEAR INTERNATIONAL BAHA'! TEACHING AND CONSOLIDATION PLAN 19531963 OBJECTIVES OF THE TEN-YEAR PLAN TO BE CONDUCTED BY TWELVE BAW&'i NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES, 19531963 1. Adoption of preliminary measures for the construction of Baha'u'llah's Sepulcher in the Holy Land. 2. Doubling the number of countries within the pale of the Faith, involving the opening ing of: 41 countries in the Asiatic Continent 33 countries in the African Continent 30 countries in the European Continent 27 countries in the American Continent 3. Over twofold increase in the number of languages into which Baha'i literature has been translated and printed, or is in process of translation: 40 in Asia 31 in Africa 10 in Europe 10 in America allocated to American, British, Indian, and Australian Baha'i Communities. 4. Doubling the number of Mashriqu'l-Adhkar's through the initiation of construction of: 1 in the Asiatic Continent 1 in the European Continent 5. Acquisition of a site for the future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar on Mt. Carmel. 6. Erection of the first dependency of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A. 7. Purchase of land for eleven future Temples: 3 in the American Continent 3 in the African Continent 2 in the Asiatic Continent 2 in the European Continent 1 in the Australian Continent S. Development of the functions of the institution of the Hands of the Cause. 9. Establishment of a Baha Court in the Holy Land, as a preliminary to the emergence gence of the Universal House of Justice. 10. Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the KITAB-I-AQDAS, the Mother Book of the Baha'i Revelation. 11. Establishment of six National Baha'i Courts in the chief cities of the Islamic East: Tihr6~n Cairo Baghdctd New Delhi Karachi KThul 12. Extension of the International Baha'i Endowments in the Holy Land, in the plain of 'Akka and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. 13. Construction of the International Baha'i Archives in the neighborhood of the BTh's Sepulcher. [p259] INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'I CRUSADE 257 14. Construction of the tomb of the Wife of the Bib in Shir6z. 15. Identification of the resting-places of the Father of Baha'u'llah, and of the Mother and of the Cousin of the Bab, and their reburial in the Baha'i cemetery in the vicinity of the Most Great House. 16. Acquisition of the Garden of RiK1v6~n in Baghd~c1, and of the site of the Siy&h-C±al in Tihdtn, of the Martyrdom of the Bab in Tabriz, and of His incarceration in Chihriq. t7. More than quadruple the number of the National Spiritual Assemblies: 21 in the American Continent 13 in the European Continent 10 in the Asiatic Continent 3 in the African Continent 1 in the Australian Continent 18. Multiply sevenfold the number of the National Ha ratu'1-Quds and their establishment ment in the capital cities of the chief Sovereign States and in the chief cities of the principal Dependencies of the planet: 21 in America 15 in Europe 9 in Asia 3 in Africa 1 in New Zealand 19. Framing of national Baha'i constitutions and the establishment of national Baha'i endowments in the capitals and cities of the same States and Dependencies. 20. More than quintuple the number of incorporated National Spiritual Assemblies: 21 in America 13 in Europe 12 in Asia 3 in Africa 1 in Australia 21. Establishment of six national Baha'i Publishing Trusts: 2 in America 2 in Asia 1 in Africa 1 in Europe 22. Participation by tile women of Persia in the membership of National and Local Assemblies. 23. Establishment of seven Israel branches of National Spiritual Assemblies: 2 Europe 2 Asia 1 America 1 Africa 1 Australia 24. Establishment of a National Baha'i printing press in TihrAn. 25. Reinforcement of the ties binding the Baha'i World Community to the United Nations. tions. 26. Inclusion, circumstances permitting, of eleven republics comprised within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and of two European Soviet-controlled States within the orbit of the Administrative Order of the Faith. 27. Convocation of a World Baha'i Congress in the vicinity of the Garden of Ridvan, Baghd4d, the third holiest city in the Baha world, on the occasion of the world-wici~ wici~ celebrations of the Most Great Jubilee, commemorating the Centenary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah to the throne of His sovereignty. [p260] 1. Afgh~nist6n 2. Alaska 3. Andorra 4. Argentina 5. Austria-Hungary 6. Bahama Islands 7. Balearic Islands 8. Belgium 9. Belize (or British Honduras) 10. Bermuda 11. Bismarck Archipelago 12. Bolivia 13. Borneo 14. Brazil 15. British Guiana 16. British Isles 17. Bulgaria 18. Canary Islands 19. Cape Verde Islands 20. Caroline Islands 21. Celebes 22. Ceram 23. Ceylon 24. Chile 25. China 26. Colombia 27. Corsica 28. Costa Rica 29. Crete 30. Cuba 31. Denmark 32. Dutch Guiana 33. Ecuador 34. Falkiand Islands 35. Faroe Islands 36. Fiji Islands 37. France 38. French Guiana 39. French IndoChina 40. Friendly Islands 41. Galapagos Islands 42. Germany 43. Gilbert Islands 44. Greater Antilles 45. Greece 46. Guatemala 47. Haiti 48. Hawaiian Islands 49. Hebrides 50. Holland 51. Honduras 52. Iceland 53. India 54. Italy 55. Jamaica 56. Japan 57. Java 58. Juan Fernandez 59. Korea 60. Lesser Antilles 61. Liechtenstein 62. Low Archipelago 63. Loyalty Islands 64. Luxembourg 65. Madagascar 66. Madeira Islands 67. Malta 68. Marquesas 69. Marshall Islands 70. Mauritius 71. Melanesia 72. Mexico 73. Micronesia 74. Moluccas 75. Monaco 76. Montenegro 77. New Caledonia 78. New Guinea 79. New Hebrides 80. New Zealand 81. Nicaragua 82. Norway 83. Orkney Islands 84. Panama 85. Paraguay 86. Peru 87. Philippine Islands 88. Polynesia 89. Portugal 90. Puerto Rico 91. R6union Island 92. Rumania 93. Russia (Asia) 94. Russia (Europe) 95. Saint Helena 96. Salvador 97. Samoa Islands 98. San Marino 99. Santo Domingo 100. Sardinia 101. Serbia 102. Shetland Islands 103. Siam 104. Sicily 105. Society Islands 106. Solomon Islands 107. South Africa 108. Spain 109. Straits Settlements 110. Sumatra [p261] 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. Sweden Switzerland Tasmania Timor Tobago INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'! CRUSADE 259 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. Trinidad Uruguay Venezuela Watling Island Zanzibar ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TERRITORIES TO RE OPENED TO THE FAITH, 19531963 Showing Allocation to National Spiritual Assemblies Admiralty Is. (As.) (Aus.) Albania (E) (Ger.) Aleutian Is. (Am.) (U.S.A.) Andaman Is. (As.) (In.) Andorra (E) (U.S.A.) Anticosti I. (Am.) (Can.) Ashanti Protectorate (AL) (Per.) Mores (E) (U.S.A.) Bahama Is. (Am.) (C.Am.) Balearic Is. (E) (U.S.A.) Baranof I. (Am.) (Can.) Basutoland (Af.) (Per.) Bechuanaland (At) (Per.) Bliutan (As.) (In.) British Cameroons (Af.) (Br.) British Guiana (Am.) (S.Am.) British Honduras (Am.) (C.Am.) British Togoland (Al.) (Br.) Brunei (As.) (Per.) Canary Is. (AL) (U.S.A.) Cape Breton I. (Am.) (Can.) Cape Verde Is. (Af.) (U.S.A.) Caroline Is. (As.) (U.S.A.) Chagos Archipelago (As.) (Per.) Channel Is. (E) (Br.) Chilo6 I. (Am.) (U.S.A.) Cocos Is. (As.) (Aus.) Comoro Is. (Af.) (In.) Cook Is. (As.) (S.Am.) Crete (E) (Ger.) Cyprus (E) (Br.) Daman (As.) (In.) Diu I. (As.) (In.) Dutch Guiana (Am.) (S.Am.) Dutch New Guinea (As.) (U.S.A.) Dutch West Indies (Am.) (C.Am.) Estonia (E) (Ger.) Falkiand Is. (Am.) (U.S.A.) Faroe Is. (E) (Br.) Finno-Karelia (E) (Ger.) Franklin (Am.) (Can.) French Cameroons (Af.) (In.) French Equatorial Africa (AL) (Eg.) French Guiana (Am.) (S.Am.) French Somaliland (Af.) (U.S.A.) French Togoland (AL) (U.S.A.) French West Africa (Af.) (Eg.) Frisian Is. (E) (Gem) Galapagos Is. (Am.) (SAm.) Gambia (AS.) (In.) Gilbert and Ellice Is. (As.) (CAm.) Goa (As.) (In.) Grand Manan I. (Am.) (Can.) Greece (E) (Ger.) Hadhramaut (As.) (Ir.) Hainan I. (As.) (U.S.A.) Hebrides Is. (E) (Br.) Italian Somaliland (Af.) (Per.) Juan Fernandez Is. (Am.) (S.Am.) Karikal (As.) (In.) Kazakhstan (As.) (U.S.A.) Keewatin (Am.) (Can.) Key West (Am.) (U.S.A.) Kirgizia (As.) (Pen) Kodiak I. (Am.) (U.S.A.) Kuria-Muria Is. (As.) (Ir.) Labrador (Am.) (Can.) Latvia (E) (Ger.) Leeward Is. (Am.) (S.Am.) Liechtenstein (E) (It.Sw.) Lithuania (E) (Gem) Lofoten Is. (E) (U.S.A.) Loyalty Is. (As.) (Aus.) Macao I. (As.) (U.S.A.) Madeira (AL) (Br.) Magdalen Is. (Am.) (Can.) Mah6 (As.) (In.) Malta (E) (Br.) Margarita I. (Am.) (CAm.) Mariana Is. (As.) (In.) [p262] 260 THE BAHA'I WORLD Marquesas Is. (As.) (Can.) Marshall Is. (As.) (C.Am.) Mauritius (Af.) (U.S.A.) Mentawai Is. (As.) (Aus.) Miquelon I. and St Pierre I. Moldavia (E) (Ger.) Monaco (E) (It.Sw.) Mongolia (As.) (Per.) Morocco (IntZone) (AL) (Eg.) (Am.) (Can.) New Hebrides Is. (As.) (Aus.) Nicobar Is. (As.) (In.) Northern Territories Protectorate (Gold Coast) (Af.) (U.S.A.) Orkney Is. (E) (Br.) Pondicherry (As.) (In.) Portuguese Guinea (Af.) (U.S.A.) Portuguese Timor (As.) (Aus.) Queen Charlotte Is. (Am.) (Can.) R6union I. (Af.) (U.S.A.) Rhodes (E) (It.Sw.) Rio de Oro (AL) (Eg.) Ruanda-Urundi (Af.) (In.) Rumania (E) (Ger.) Sakhalin I. (As.) (U.S.A.) Samoa Is. (As.) (Can.) San Marino (E) (It.Sw.) Sardinia (B) (It.Sw.) Seychelles (Af.) (Ir.) Shetland Is. (E) (Br.) Sicily (E) (It.Sw.) Sikkim (As.) (In.) Society Is. (As.) (Aus.) Socotra I. (Af.) (In.) Solomon Is. (As.) (Per.) South Rhodesia (Af.) (Per.) South West Africa (At.) (Br.) Spanish Guinea (Af.) (U.S.A.) Spanish Morocco (Af.) (Eg.) Spanish Sahara (Af.) (Eg.) Spitzbergen (E) (U.S.A.) St. Helena (At) (U.S.A.) St. Thomas I. (At.) (U.S.A.) Swaziland (Af.) (Per.) Tadzhikistan (As.) (Per.) Tibet (As.) (U.S.A.) Tonga Is. (As.) (U.S.A.) Tuamotu Archipelago (As.) (C.Am.) Ukraine (E) (U.S.A.) Uzbekistan (As.) (Per.) White Russia (E) (Ger.) Windward Is. (Am.) (S.Am.) Yukon (Am.) (Can.) TERRITORIES TO BE OPENED TO THE FAITH, 19531963 Division of Activities According to Continents ASIA: 41 Territories I. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF INDIA, PRKISTAN, AND BURMA 1. Andaman Is. 7. Mah6 2. Bliutan 8. Mariana Is. 3. Daman 9. Nicobar Is. 4. Diu 10. Pondicherry 5. Goa 11. Sikkim 6. Karikal II. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1. Caroline Is. 5. Macao I. 2. Dutch New Guinea 6. Sakhalin I. 3. Hainan I. 7. Tibet 4. Kazakhstan S. Tonga Is. [p263] INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'I CRUSADE 261 III. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF ThE BATL&'fS OF PERSIA 1. Brunei 5. Solomon Is. 2. Chagos Archipelago 6. Tadzhikistan 3. Kirgizia 7. Uzbekistan 4. Mongolia IV. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAI-Ik'fS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 1. Admiralty Is. 5. New Hebrides Is. 2. Cocos Is. 6. Portuguese Timor 3. Loyalty Is. 7. Society Is. 4. Mentawai Is. V. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAnKIs OF CENTRAL AMERICA 1. Gilbert and Ellice Is. 2. Marshall Is. 3. Tuamotu Archipelago VI. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF 'IRAQ 1. Hadhramaut 2. Kuria-Muria Is. VII. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF CANADA 1. Marquesas Is. 2. Samoa Is. VIII. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF SOUTH AMERICA 1. Cook Is. AFRICA: 33 Territories I. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1. Canary Is. 7. Portuguese Guinea 2. Cape Verde Is. 8. Rdunion I. 3. French Somaliland 9. Spanish Guinea 4. French Togoland 10. St. Helena 5. Mauritius 11. St. Thomas I. 6. Northern Territories Protectorate II. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF PERSIA 1. Ashanti Protectorate 4. Italian Somaliland 2. Basutoland 5. South Rhodesia 3. Bechuanaland 6. Swaziland III. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF EGYPT AND StDAN 1. French Equatorial Africa 4. Rio de Oro 2. French West Africa 5. Spanish Morocco 3. Morocco (mt. Zone) 6. Spanish Sahara IV. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BURMA 1. Comoro Is. 4. Ruanda-Urundi 2. French Cameroons 5. Socotra I. 3. Gambia [p264] 262 THE BAHA'I WORLD V. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF BRITISH ISLES 1. British Cameroons 3. Madeira 2. British Togoland 4. South West Africa VI. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF 'IRAQ 1. Seychelles EUROPE: 30 Territories I. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 1. Albania 7. Latvia 2. Crete 8. Lithuania 3. Estonia 9. Moldavia 4. Finno-Karelia 10. Rumania 5. Frisian Is. 11. White Russia 6. Greece IL. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 1. Channel Is. 5. Malta 2. Cyprus 6. Orkney Is. 3. Faroe Is. 7. Shetland Is. 4. Hebrides Is. III.NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1. Andorra 4. Lofoten Is. 2. Azores 5. Spitzbergen 3. Balearic Is. 6. Ukraine IV. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BATL&'IS OF ITALY AND SWITZERLAND 1. Liechtenstein 4. San Marino 2. Monaco 5. Sardinia 3. Rhodes 6. Sicily AMERICA: 27 Territories I. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF CANADA 1. Anticosti I. 7. Labrador 2. Baranof I. 8. Magdalen Is. 3. Cape Breton I. 9. Miquelon I. and St. Pierre I. 4. Franklin 10. Queen Charlotte Is. 5. Grand Manan I. 11. Yukon 6. Keewatin II. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF TIlE BAHA'IS OF SOUTH AMERICA 1. British Guiana 5. Galapagos Is. 2. Chio6 I. 6. Juan Fernandez Is. 3. Dutch Guiana 7. Leeward Is. 4. French Guiana 8. Windward Is. ilL NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1. Aleutian Is. 3. Key West 2. Falkland Is. 4. Kodiak I. IV. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA'IS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 1. Bahama Is. 3. Dutch West Indies 2. British Honduras 4. Margarita I. [p265] INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'! CRUSADE 263 TEIUUToRIES TO BE OPENED TO THE FAITH, 19531963 Division of Activities According to National Spiritual Assemblies I. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 29 Territories 1. AFRICA (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) 2. AsIA Canary Is. (7) Cape Verde Is.(8) French Somaliland(9) French Togoland(10) Mauritius(11) Northern Territories Protectorate (1) Caroline Is. (2) Dutch New Guinea (3) Hainan I. (4) Kazakhstan (5) (6) (7) (8) 3. EUROPE (1) Andorra (2) Azores (3) Balearic Is. 4. AMERICA (1) Aleutian Is. (2) Falkiand Is. Portuguese Guinea R6union I. Spanish Guinea St. Helena St. Thomas I. Macac I. Sakhalin I. Tibet Tonga Is. (4) Lofoten Is. (5) Spitzbergen (6) Ukraine (3) Key West (4) Kodiak I. II. INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BURMA: 16 Territories in 2 Continents 1. ASIA (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) Andaman Is. Bhutan Daman Diu I. Goa Karikal (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Mah6 Mariana Is. Nicobar Is. Pondicherry Sikkim 2. AFRICA (1) Comoro Is. (2) French Cameroons (3) Gambia (4) Ruanda-Urundi (5) Socotra I. IlL PERSIA: 13 Territories in 2 Continents 1. ASIA (1) Brunei (2) Chagos Archipelago (3) Kirgizia (4) Mongolia 2. AFRICA (1) (2) (3) Ashanti Protectorate Basutoland Bechuanaland (5) Solomon Is. (6) Tadzhikistan (7) Uzbekistan (4) Italian Somaliland (5) South Rhodesia (6) Swaziland [p266] (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Latvia Lithuania Moldavia Rumania 'White Russia 264 THE BAHA'! WORLD IV. CANADA: 13 Territories in 2 Continents 1. AMERICA (1) Anticosti I. (2) Baranof I. (3) Cape Breton I. (4) Franklin (5) Grand Manan I. (6) Keewatin 2. ASIA (1) Marquesas Is. (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) Labrador Magdalen Is. Miquelon I. and St. Pierre I. Queen Charlotte Is. Yukon (2) Samoa Is. V. BRITISH ISLES: 11 Territories in 2 Continents 1. EUROPE (1) Channel Is. (2) Cyprus (3) Faroe Is. (4) Hebrides Is. 2. AFRICA (1) British Cameroons (2) British Togoland (5) Malta (6) Orkney Is. (7) Shetland Is. (3) Madeira (4) South West Africa VI. GERMANY AND AUSTRIA: 11 Territories in 1 Continent 1. EUROPE (1) Albania (2) Crete (3) Estonia (4) Finno-Karelia (5) Frisian Is. (6) Greece VII. SOUTH AMERICA: 9 Territories in 2 Continent 1. AMERICA (1) British Guiana (2) Chilo6 I. (3) Dutch Guiana (4) French Guiana (5) Galapagos Is. (6) Juan Fernandez Is. (7) Leeward Is. (8) Windward Is. 2. AsIA (1) Cook Is. VIII. CENTRAL AMERICA: 7 Territories in 2 Continents 1. AMERICA (1) Bahama Is. (2) British Honduras 2. ASIA (1) (2) (3) (3) Dutch West Indies (4) Margarita I. Gilbert and Ellice Is. Marshall Is. Tuamotu Archipelago [p267] 1. AsIA (1) (2) (3) (4) 1. AFRICA (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'I CRUSADE 265 IX. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: 7 Territories in 1 Continent Admiralty Is. Cocos Is. Loyalty Is. Mentawai Is. (5) New Hebrides Is. (6) Portuguese Timor (7) Society Is. X. EGYPT AND S13DAN: 6 Territories in 1 Continent French Equatorial Africa French West Africa Morocco (International Zone) Rio de Oro Spanish Morocco Spanish Sahara XI. ITALY AND SWITZERLAND: 6 Territories in 1 Continent 1. EUROPE (1) Liechtenstein (2) Monaco (3) Rhodes (4) San Marino (5) Sardinia (6) Sicily XII. 'IRAQ: 3 Territories in 2 Continents 1. ASIA (1) Hadhramaut (2) Kuria-Muria Is. 2. AFRICA (1) Seychelles Is. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF LANGUAGES INTO WHIcH BAHA'I LITERATURE Is TO BE T Abor Mirza (borders of Tibet and N.E. Assam) Accra or Ga (Gold Coast) Afrikaans (S. Africa) Aguaruna (Peru) Aladian (Ivory Coast) Aneityum (New Hebrides) Annamese (Indo-China) Arawak (Guiana) Ashanti (W. Africa) Baha'i (Baluchistan) Banu (French Equat. Africa) Basque (Pyrenees) Bemba or Wendea (N. Rhodesia) Bentuni (New Guinea) Binandere (Papua) Blackfoot (Canada) Bua (Belgian Congo) Cheremiss (Kazan, Russia) Cherokee (Carolina, U.S.A.) Chuana (Bechuanaland) Chungchia (S.W. China) Estonian (Estonia) Flemish (Belgium) Georgian (Caucasus) Gio (Liberia) Gu (French W. Africa) Houaiou (Wailu) (New Caledonia) Iroquois (Ontario) Javanese (Java) Jieng or Dinka (Siid~tn) Jolof or Wolof (Gambia) Kado (China) Kaili (Celebes) Kopu (S.W. China) Krongo (Siid~n) Kroo (Liberia) Kuanyama (S.W. Africa) [p268] 1. Basque 2. Estonian 3. Flemish 4. Lapp 1. Accra 2. Afrikaans 3. Aladian 4. Ashanti 5. Kusaje (Caroline Is.) Lapp (Norway) Lengua (Paraguay) Lepcha or Rang (Sikkim) Lifu (Loyalty Is.) Luimbi (Angola) Malagasy (Madagascar) Maltese (Malta) Manchu (Manchuria) Manipuri (Manipur) Manus Island (Admiralty Is.) Marquesas (Marquesas Is.) Mataco (Argentina) Maya (Yucatan) Mentawai (Mentawai Is.) Mexican (Mexico) Mongolian (Mongolia) Mordoff (Central Russia) Mwala (Solomon Is.) Na-Hsi (Yunnan, S. China) Nicobarese (Nicobar Is.) Niuc (Cook Is.) Perm (Perm, Russia) Petats (Solomon Is.) LANGUAGES IN 1. Abor Mirza 2. Aneityum 3. Annamese 4. Baha'i 5. Bentuni 6. Binandere 7. Cheremiss 8. Chungchia 9. Georgian 10. Houailou 11. Javanese 12. Kado 13. Kaii 14. Kopu Piedmontese (Piedmont, Italy) Popo (Togoland) Romani, German (Gipsies S. Germany) Romansch (Grisons, Switzerland) Ronga (Mozambique) Samoan (Samoan Is.) Sena (Lower Zambezi) Shillia (Morocco) Shona (S. Rhodesia) Sobo (Nigeria) Suto (Basutoland) Th6 (Indo-China) Tibetan (Tibet) Tongan (Tonga Is.) Vogul (W. Siberia) Wongo (Belgian Congo) Xosa or Kafir (S. Africa) Yahgan (S. Chile) Yalunka (Sierra Leone) Yao (Nyasaland) Yiddish (Israel) Ziryen (Russian S.F.S.R.) Zulu (Zululand) WHICH BAHA'I LITERATURE Is TO BE TRANSLATED, 19531963 LISTED ACCORDING TO CONTINENTS ASIA: 40 15. Kusaje 16. Lepcha 17. Lifu 18. Manchu 19. Manipuri 20. Manus Island 21. Marquesas 22. Mentawai 23. Mongolian 24. Mordoff 25. Mwala 26. Na-ELi 27. Nicobarese 28. Niuc 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. Ossete Ostiak Pali Panjabi Paslito Perm Petats Samoan ThO Tibetan Tonga Vogul EUROPE: 10 5. Maltese 6. Piedmontese 7. Romani AFRICA: 31 6. Bemba 7. Bua 8. Chuana 9. Gio 10. Gu 8. Romansch 9. Yiddish 10. Ziryen 11. Jieng 12. Jolof 13. Kuanyama 14. Krongo 15. Kroo [p269] 27. Wongo 28. Xosa 29. Yalunka 30. Yao 31. Zulu 8. Maya INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'I CRUSADE 267 16. Liumbi 17. Malagasy 18. Nubian 19. Pedi 20. Popo 21. Ronga 1. Aguaruna 2. Arawak 3. Blackfoot 4. Cherokee 22. Sena 23. Shilha 24. Shona 25. Sobo 26. Suto AMERICA: 10 5. Iroquois 6. Lengua 7. Mataco OBJECTIVES OF THE TEN-YEAR PLAN AT THE WORLD CENTER OF TIlE FAITH IN ISRAEL 1. Preliminary steps for the construction of the Sepulcher of Baha'u'llah. 2. Purchase of Land for the Temple on Mt. Carmel. 3. Establishment of an International Baha'i Court. 4. Construction of the International Baha'i Archives. 5. Extension of international Baha'i endowments. 6. Development of the functions of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause. 7. Codification of the Laws of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. 8. Reinforcement of ties binding the World Baha'i Community to the United Nations. 9. Convocation of a World Baha'i Congress in the vicinity of the Garden of Ri~1v~tn, City of Baghdid, on the occasion of the worldwide celebration of the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the formal assumption by Baha'u'llah of His Prophetic Office. 10. Establishment of Israel Branches of seven National Spiritual Assemblies. TERRITORIES ALREADY OPENED TO THE FAITH, ALLOCATED TO BAHA'I NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES FOR CONSOLIDATION 19531963 I. UNIT 1. EUROPE 1. Belgium 2. Denmark 3. Finland 4. France 5. Holland 6. Italy 2. AsiA 1. China 2. Formosa 3. Japan 3. AMERICA 7. Luxembourg 8. Norway 9. Portugal 10. Spain 11. Sweden 12. Switzerland 4. Korea 5. Manchuria 6. Philippine Is. 1. Alaska 2. Hawaiian Is. 3. Puerto Rico 4. AFRICA 1. Liberia 2. South Africa [p270] 268 THE BAHA'! WORLD H. PERSIA: 14 Territories 1. ASIA 1. Aden Protectorate 2. AdhirbAyj~n 3. AfgMnist~in 4. Armenia 5. Ba1~rayn Is. 6. Georgia 7. }{as~i (A1~sa) 8. Iilij& 9. Saudi-Arabia 10. Turkey 11. Turkmenistan 12. Yemen 2. AFRICA 1. North Rhodesia 2. Nyasaland III. INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BURMA: 14 Territories 1. AsIA 1. 2. AFRICA Balhchistdn Borneo Burma Ceylon IndoChina Indonesia 1. Madagascar 2. Mozambique 7. Malaya 8. Nepal 9. P4kist~n 10. Sarawak 11. Siam 3. Zanzibar IV. CENTRAL AMERICA: 13 Territories AMERICA 1. Bermuda Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic El Salvador Guatemala Haiti 8. Honduras 9. Jamaica 10. Martinique I. 11. Mexico 12. Nicaragua 13. Panama V. BRITISH ISLES: 11 Territories 1. AFRICA 1. Angola Belgian Congo Gold Coast Kenya Nigeria 6. Sierra Leone 7. Tanganyika 8. Uganda 9. Zululand 2. EUROPE 1. Eire 3. As~~ 1. I-long Kong [p271] INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'! CRUSADE 269 VI. SOUTH AMERICA: 10 Territor AMERICA 1. Argentina 2. Bolivia 3. Brazil 4. Chile 5. Colombia 6. Ecuador 7. Paraguay 8. Peru 9. Uruguay 10. Venezuela VII. EGYPT AND SUDAN: 8 Territories AFRICA 1. Abyssinia 2. Algeria 3. Eritrea 4. Libya 5. Morocco (French) 6. Somaliland 7. S6dttn 8. Tunisia VIII. GERMANY AND AUSTRIA: 7 Territories 1. EUROPE 1. Austria 2. Bulgaria 3. Czechoslovakia 4. Hungary 5. Poland 6. Russian S.F.S.R. 7. Yugoslavia IX. 'IRAQ: 7 Territories 1. AsIA 1. Jordan Koweit Lebanon Qatar 5. Syria 6. Trucial Sheiks 7. 'Umm~n X. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: 6 Territories 1. ASIA 1. Bismarck Archipelago 2. Fiji 3. New Caledonia 4. New Guinea (Australia) 2. AUSTRALASIA 1. New Zealand 2. Tasmania XI. CANADA: 4 Territories 1. AMERICA 1. Greenland 2. Mackenzie 3. Newfoundland 2. EUROPE 1. Iceland XII. ITALY AND SWITZERLAND: 1 Territory 1. EUROPE 1. Corsica [p272] 270 THE BAHA'I WORLD CONSOLIDATION OF THE FAITH IN TERRITORIES INCLUDED WITHIN ITS PALE AS OF 1953 Allocation According to National Spiritual Assemblies 1. UNiTED STATES OF AMERICA: 23 12 in Europe, 6 in Asia, 3 in the Americas, 2 in Africa 2. PERSIA: 14 12 in Asia, 2 in Africa 3. INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BURMA: 14 11 in Asia, 3 in Africa 4. CENTRAL AMERICA: 13 13 in the Americas 5. BRITISH ISLES: 11 9 in Africa, 1 in Europe, 1 in Asia 6. SOUTH AMERICA: 10 10 in the Americas 7. EGYPT AND SODAN: S 8 in Africa 8. GERMANY AND AUSTRIA: 7 7 in Europe 9. 'IRAQ: 7 7 in Asia 10. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: 6 4 in Asia, 2 in Australasia 11. CANADA: 4 3 in the Americas, 1 in Europe 12. ITALY AND SWITZERLAND: 1 1 in Europe LOCATION OF SITES FOR FUTURE BAHA'I TEMPLES TO BE ACQUIRED 19531963 1. Sydney, Australia 2. Toronto, Canada 3. Panama City, Central America 4. Cairo, Egypt 5. New Delhi, India 6. Baghd4d, 'Iraq 7. Rome, Italy 8. Johannesburg, South Africa 9. Santiago, South America 10. Stockholm, Sweden 11. Kampala, Uganda CITIES IN WHICH BANAl TEMPLES ARE TO BE CONSTRUCTED 19531963 1. Tihr6n, Persia 2. Frankfurt, Germany ALPHABETICAL LIST OF COUNTRIES IN WHICH BAHA'I NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES ARE TO BE ESTABLISHED 19531963 1. Afgh&nistTh 5. Belgium 2. Alaska 6. Bolivia 3. Argentina 7. Brazil 4. Austria 8. Burma 9. Ceylon 10. Chile 11. Colombia 12. Costa Rica [p273] 13. Cuba 14. Denmark 15. Dominican Republic 16. Ecuador 17. El Salvador 18. Finland 19. France 20. Guatemala 21. Haiti 22. Holland 23. Honduras 24. Italy 25. Japan 26. Luxembourg 27. Mexico 28. New Zealand 29. Nicaragua 30. Norway 31. Pakistan 32. Panama 33. Paraguay 34. Peru 35. Portugal 36. Spain 37. Sweden 38. Switzerland 39. Turkey 40. Uruguay 41. Venezuela COUNTRIES IN WHICH BAFL&'i REGIONAL NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES ARE TO BE ESTABLISHED 19531963 1. Arabia (Baljrayn) 2. Central and East Africa (Kampala) 3. Near East (Beirut) 4. North West Africa (Tunis) 5. South East Asia (Jakarta) 6. South Pacific Islands (Suva) 7. South and West Africa (Johannesburg) NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES TO BE ESTABLISHED 19531963 Division According to Continents AFRICAN CONTINENT: 3 Assemblies 1. Central and East Africa (Regional) To be formed by the N.S.A. of the British Isles 2. North West Africa (Regional) To be formed by the N.S.A. of Egypt and Siidtin 3. South and West Africa (Regional) To be formed by the N.S.A. of the United States AMERICAS: 21 Assemblies National Assemblies to be formed by the N.S.A. of the United States: 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 1. Alaska 2. Argentina 3. Bolivia 4. Brazil 5. Chile 6. Colombia 7. Costa Rica 8. Cuba 9. Dominican Republic 10. Ecuador 11. El Salvador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela ASIATIC CONTINENT: 10 Assemblies 1. AfghttnistTh 2. Burma 3. Ceylon To be formed by the N.S.A. of Persia To be formed by the N.S.A. of India, P4kist6~n, and Burma To be formed by the N.S.A. of India, P~kist~n, and Burma To be formed by the N.S.A. of the United States 4. Japan [p274] (Regional) (Regional) (Regional) 5. Nkist6aa 6. Turkey 7. Arabia 8. Near East 9. South East Asia 10. South Pacific Is. AUSTRALASIA: 1 Assembly 1. New Zealand To be formed by the N.S.A. of India, P4kistTh, and Burma To be formed by the N.S.A. of Persia To be formed by the N.S.A. of Persia To be formed by the N.S.A. of 'IrAq To be formed by the N.S.A. of India, P&kist~tn, and Burma (Regional) To be formed by the N.S.A. of the United States To be formed by the N.S.A. of Australia and New Zealand EUROPEAN CONTINENT: 13 Assemblies 1. Austria To be formed by the N.S.A. of Germany and Austria To be formed by the N.S.A. of the United States: 2. Belgium 6. Holland 3. Denmark 7. Italy 4. Finland 8. Luxembourg 5. France 9. Norway 10. Portugal 11. Spain 12. Sweden 13. Switzerland ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BAHA'I NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES TO BE INCORPORATED 19531963 I. REGIONAL NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES 1. N.S.A. of Arabia 5. N.S.A. of South East Asia 2. N.S.A. of Central and East Africa 6. N.S.A. of the South Pacific Islands 3. N.S.A. of the Near East 7. N.S.A. of S II. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES 8. N.S.A. of Afg1Anist~tn 9. N.S.A. of Alaska 10. N.S.A. of Argentina 11. N.S.A. of Austria 12. N.S.A. of Belgium 13. N.S.A. of Bolivia 14. N.S.A. of Brazil 15. N.S.A. of Burma 16. N.S.A. of Ceylon 17. N.S.A. of Chile 18. N.S.A. of Colombia 19. N.S.A. of Costa Rica 20. N.S.A. of Cuba 21. N.S.A. of Denmark 22. N.S.A. of Dominican Republic 23. N.S.A. of Ecuador 24. N.S.A. of El Salvador 25. N.S.A. of Finland 26. N.S.A. of France 27. N.S.A. of Guatemala 28. N.S.A. of Haiti 29. N.S.A. of Holland 30. N.S.A. of Honduras 31. N.S.A. of 'IK±q 32. N.S.A. of Italy 33. N.S.A. of Japan 34. N.S.A. of Luxembourg 35. N.S.A. of Mexico 36. N.S.A. of New Zealand 37. N.S.A. of Nicaragua 38. N.S.A. of Norway 39. N.S.A. of Pt±kist&n 40. N.S.A. of Panama 41. N.S.A. of Paraguay 42. N.S.A. of Persia 43. N.S.A. of Peru 44. N.S.A. of Portugal 45. N.S.A. of Spain 46. N.S.A. of Sweden 47. N.S.A. of Switzerland 48. N.S.A. of Turkey 49. N.S.A. of Uruguay 50. N.S.A. of Venezuela [p275] * 5 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. INAUGURATION OF WORLD BAHA'! CRUSADE 273 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BAHA'I NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES WHICH ARE TO ESTABLIS 1. N.S.A. of Arabia 2. N.S.A. of Central and East Africa 3. N.S.A. of the Near East 4. N.S.A. of North West Africa IL NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES. 8. N.S.A. of AfghAnistan 9. N.S.A. of Alaska 10. N.S.A. of Argentina 11. N.S.A. of Austria 12. N.S.A. of Belgium 13. N.S.A. of Bolivia 14. N.S.A. of Brazil 15. N.S.A. of the British Isles 16. N.S.A. of Burma 17. N.S.A. of Canada 18. N.S.A. of Ceylon 19. N.S.A. of Chile 20. N.S.A. of Colombia 21. N.S.A. of Costa Rica 22. N.S.A. of Cuba 23. N.S.A. of Denmark 24. N.S.A. of Dominican Republic 25. N.S.A. of Ecuador 26. N.S.A. of El Salvador 27. N.S.A. of Finland 28. N.S.A. of France 29. N.S.A. of Germany 5. N.S.A. of South East Asia 6. N.S.A. of the South Pacific Islands 7. N.S.A. of South and West Africa 30. N.S.A. of Guatemala 31. N.S.A. of Haiti 32. N.S.A. of Holland 33. N.S.A. of Honduras 34. N.S.A. of Italy 35. N.S.A. of Japan 36. N.S.A. of Luxembourg 37. N.S.A. of Mexico 38. N.S.A. of New Zealand 39. N.S.A. of Nicaragua 40. N.S.A. of Norway 41. N.S.A. of Pttkist~n 42. N.S.A. of Panama 43. N.S.A. of Paraguay 44. N.S.A. of Peru 45. N.S.A. of Portugal 46. N.S.A. of Spain 47. N.S.A. of Sweden 48. N.S.A. of Switzerland 49. N.S.A. of Turkey 50. N.S.A. of Uruguay 51. N.S.A. of Venezuela LOCALITIES IN WHICH A NATIONAL HAZIRATU'L-QUDS Is TO BE Anchorage Asunci6n Auckland Ba1~rayn Beirut Bern BogotA Brussels Buenos Aires Caracas Ciudad Trujillo Colombo Copenhagen Guatemala Havana Helsingfors Istanbul *18 Jakarta *19. Johannesburg 20. K~bu1 *21. Kampala 22. Kar&chi 23. La Paz 24. Lima 25. Lisbon 26. London 27. Luxembourg 28. Madrid 29. Managua 30. Mexico City 31. Montevideo 32. Oslo 33. Panama City 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. *44 45. 46. 47. *48 49. Paris Port-au-Prince Quito Rangoon Rio de Janeiro Rome San Jos6 San Salvador Santiago Stockholm Suva Tegucigalpa The Hague Tokyo Tunis Vienna * Belong to Regional National Assemblies [p276] (Byelorussia) 274 THE BAHA'! WORLD NATIONAL BAHA'I COURTS TO BE ESTABLISHED 19531963 1. BaghdAd ('Ir6q) 2. Cairo (Egypt) 3. KAbul (AfgMnistTh) 4. Kar6chi (Pikistan) 5. New Delhi (India) 6. Tihffn (Persia) 1. National 2. National 3. National 4. National 5. National 6. National 7. National NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES WHICH ARE TO ESTABLISH BRANCHES IN ISRAEL 19531963 Spiritual Assembly of Australia Spiritual Assembly of British Isles Spiritual Assembly of Canada Spiritual Assembly of Egypt and S6d6n Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria Spiritual Assembly of 'IrAq Spiritual Assembly of Persia LOCALITIES IN WInCH BAHA'I PUBLISHING TRUSTS ARE TO BE FOUNDED 19531963 1. Cairo, Egypt 2. Frankfurt, Germany 3. New Delhi, India 4. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 5. Tihr6.n, Persia 6. Wilmette, Illinois LIST OF REPUBLICS CONSTITUTING THE UNION ~1. Armenia 2. Adhirb4yj6n 3. Estonia 4. Finno-Karelia *5 Georgia * 11. Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republics (1) Bashkiria (2) Buryat Mongolia (3) Chuvashi (4) Daghestan (5) Karbardinia (6) Komi 12. Tadzhikistan 13. Turkmenistan 14. Ukraine Already opened to the Faith. 6. Kazakhstan 7. Kirgizia 8. Latvia 9. Lithuania 10. Moldavia (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) 15. 16. Marii Mordovia N. Ossetia Tatarstan Udmurt Yakutia Uzbekistan White Russia COUNTRIES WITHiN ORBIT OF THE SOVIET UNION 1. Albania 2. Mongolia 3. Rumania 4. Sakhalin I. COUNTRIES WHOSE NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES ARE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FAITH TN THE SOVIET UNION 1. Germany 2. Persia 3. United States of America [p277] ~cA_ ~Tt~E~A TH~F~ THE ~S441855. THE H~RALO OF Tk4E Th~ Bab 1921 To 1952 I8~3~-Th~HO~ Th~HO~ ~892 THE AUTH~ jar St~0Ek~T ~ V~i~ Aaa) 1891-ml ml A~Q"~The~ COVEJ'~4AMT A~BD~i L Chart showing the expansion of the IBah4'i Faith. [p278] [p279] PART TWO [p280] [p281] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 1. PRESENT DAY ADMINISTRATION THE BAHA'I FAITH OF THE FORMATION OF AN ORGANIC RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY By HORACE HOLLEY IN accepting the message of Baha'u'llah, every Baha'i has opened his mind and heart to the dominion of certain fundamental truths. These truths he recognizes as divine in origin, beyond human capacity to produce. In the realm of spirit he attests that these truths are revealed evidences of a higher reality than man. They are to the soul what natural law is to physical body of animal or plant. Therefore the believer today, as in the Dispensation of Christ or Moses, enters into the condition of faith as a status of relationship to God and not of satisfaction to his own limited human and personal will or awareness. His faith exists as his participation in a heavenly world. It is the essence of his responsibility and not a temporary compromise effected between his conscience or reason and the meaning of truth, society, virtue, or life. The Baha'i accepts a quality of existence, a level of being which has been created above the control of his own active power. Because on that plane the truth exists that mankind is one, part of his acceptance of the message of Baha'u'llah is capacity to see that truth as existing, as a heavenly reality to be confirmed on earth. Because likewise on that higher level the inmost being of Moses, Christ, Muijammad, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah is one being, part of the believer's acceptance of the Baha'i message is capacity to realize the eternal continuance of that oneness, so that thereafter never will he again think of those holy and majestic Prophets according to the separateness of their bodies, their countries and their times. The Baha'i, morever, recognizes that the realm of truth is inexhaustible, the creator of truth God Himself. Hence the Baha'i can identify truth as the eternal flow of life itself in a channel that deepens and broadens as man's capacity for truth enlarges from age to age. For him, that definition of truth which regards truth as tiny fragments of experience, to be taken up and laid down, as a shopper handling gems on a counter, to buy if one gem happens to please or seems becoming Ñ such a definition measures man s own knowledge, or interest, or loyalty, but truth is a living unity which no man can condition. It is the sun in the heavens of spiritual reality, while self-will denies its dominion because self-will is the shadow of a cloud. There are times for the revelation of a larger area of the indivisible truth to mankind. The Manifestation of God signalizes the times and He is the revelation. When He appears on earth He moves and speaks with the power of all truth, known and unknown, revealed in the past, revealed in Him, or to be revealed in the future. That realm of heavenly reality is brought again in its power and universality to knock at the closed door of human experience, a divine guest whose entrance will bless the household eternally, or a divine punishment when debarred and forbidden and condemned. Baha'u'llah reveals that area of divine 279 [p282] 280 THE BAHA'! WORLD truth which underlies all human association. He enlarges man's capacity to receive truth in the realm of experience where all men have condemned themselves to social chaos by ignorance of truth and readiness to substitute the implacable will of races, classes, nations and creeds for the pure spiritual radiance beneficently shining for all. Spiritual reality today has become the principle of human unity, the law for the nations, the devotion to mankind on which the future civilization can alone repose. As long as men cling to truth as definition, past experience, aspects of self-will, so long must this dire period of chaos continue when the separate fragments of humanity employ life not to unite but to struggle and destroy. In the world of time, Baha'u'llah has created capacity for union and world civilization. His Dispensation is historically new and unique. In the spiritual world it is nothing else than the ancient and timeless reality of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad disclosed to the race in a stage of added growth and development so that men can take a larger measure of that which always existed. Like the man of faith in former ages, the Baha'i has been given sacred truths to cherish in his heart as lamps for darkness and medicines for healing, convictions of immortality and evidences of divine love. But in addition to these gifts, the Baha'i has that bestowal which oniy the Promised One of all ages could bring: nearness to a process of creation which opens a door of entrance into a world of purified and regenerated human relations. The final element in his recognition of the message of Baha'u'llah is that Baha'u'llah came to found a civilization of unity, progress and peace. "0 Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, o concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory." Thus He describes the law of survival revealed for the world today, mystical only in that He addressed these particular words to our deepest inner understanding. Their import is not confined to any subjective realm. The motive and the realization He invokes has become the whole truth of sociology in this era. Or, as we find its expression in another passage: "All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civiiza-tion)' And the truth reappears in still another form: "How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, erelong, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter." The encompassing reach of the Cause of God in each cycle means the particular aspect of experience for which men are held responsible. Not until our day could there be the creation of the principle of moral cause and effect in terms of mankind itself, in terms of the unifiable world. The mission of 'Abdu'l-Baha, following Baha'u'llah's ascension in 1892, was to raise up a community of believers through whom collectively He might demonstrate the operation of the law of unity. 'Abdu'l-Baha's mission became fulfilled historically in the experience of the Baha'is of North America. In them He developed the administrative order, the organic society, which exemplifies the pattern of justice and order Baha'u'llah had creatively ordained. By His wisdom, His tenderness, His justice and His complete consecration to Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha conveyed to this body of Baha'is a sense of partnership in the process of divine creation: that it is for men to recreate, as civilization, a human and earthly replica of the heavenly order existing in the divine will. The BaWt'i administrative order has been described by the Guardian of the Faith as the pattern of the world order to be gradually attained as the Faith spreads throughout all countries. Its authority is Baha'u'llah, its sources the teachings He revealed in writing, with the interpretation and amplification made by 'Abdu'l-Baha. The first conveyance of authority by Baha'u'llah was to His eldest son. By this conveyance the integrity of the teachings was safeguarded, and the power of action implicit in all true faith directed into channels of unity for the development of the Cause in its universal aspects. No prior Dispensation has ever raised up an instrument like 'Abdu'l-Baha through whom the [p283] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 281 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America, elected April, 1953. Left to right: H. B. Kavelin, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto, W. Kenneth Christian, Miss Elsie Austin, Paul E. Haney, Miss Edna M. True, Horace Holley, Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Matthew Bullock. spirit and purpose of the Pounder could continue to flow out in its wholeness and purity until His purpose had been achieved. The faith of the Baha'i thus remains untainted by those elements of self-will which in previous ages have translated revealed truth into creeds, rites and institutions of human origin and limited aim. Those who enter the Ba1A'f community subdue themselves and their personal interests to its sovereign standard, for they are unable to alter the Cause of Baha'u'llah and exploit its teachings or its community for their own advantage. 'Abdu'l-Baha's life exemplified the working of the one spirit and the one truth sustaining the body of believers throughout the world. He was the light connecting the sun of truth with the earth, the radiance enabling all Baha'is to realize that truth pener trates human affairs, illumines human problems, transcends conventional barriers, changes the climate of life from cold to warm. He infused Himself so completely into the hearts of the Baha'is that they asso ciated the administrative institutions of the Faith with His trusted and cherished methods of service, so that the contact between their society and theft religion has remained continuous and unimpaired. The second conveyance of authority made by Baha'u'llah was to the institution He termed "House of Justice" : Ñ "The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Bah~ [i.e., nine] • It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly...." "Those souls who arise to serve the Cause sincerely to please God will be inspired by the divine, invisible inspirations. It is incumbent upon all [i.e., all believers] to obey. Administrative affairs are all in charge of the [p284] 282 THE BAHA'! WORLD House of Justice; but acts of worship must be observed according as they are revealed in the Book." The House of Justice is limited in its legislative capacity to matters not covered by the teachings of Baha'u'llah Himself: Ñ "It is incumbent upon the Trustees of the House of Justice to take counsel together regarding such laws as have not been expressly revealed in the Book." A high aim is defined for this central administrative organ of the Faith : Ñ "The men of the House of Justice of God must, night and day, gaze toward that which hath been revealed from the horizon of the Supreme Pen for the training of the servants, for the up-building of countries, for the protection of men and for the preservation of human honor. In creating this institution for His community, Baha'u'llah made it clear that His Dispensation rests upon continuity of divine purpose, and associates human beings directly with the operation of His law. The House of Justice, an elective body, transforms society into an organism reflecting spiritual life. By the just direction of affairs this Faith replaces the institution of the professional clergy developed in all previous Dispensations. By 1921, when 'Abdu'1-]3ah6 laid down His earthly mission, the American Baha'i community had been extended to scores of cities and acquired power to undertake tasks of considerable magnitude, but the administrative order remained incomplete. His Will and Testament inaugurated a new era in the Faith, a further conveyance of authority and a clear exposition of the nature of the elective institutions which the Baha'is were called upon to form. In Shoghi Effendi, His grandson, 'Abdu'l-Baha established the function of Guardianship with sole power to interpret the teachings and with authority to carry out the provisions of the Will. The Guardianship connects the spiritual and social realms of the Faith in that, in addition to the office of interpreter, he is constituted the presiding officer of the international House of Justice when elected; and the Guardianship is made to descend from generation to generation through the male line. From the Will these excerpts are cited: "After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the loved ones of the 'AbIA Beauty [i.e., Baha'u'llah to turn unto Shoghi Effendi Ñ the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees [i.e., descended from both the Bab and Baha'u'llah as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian of the Cause of God unto whom His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the firstborn of his lineal descendants. "The sacred and youthful branch, the guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice, to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the AbhtL Beauty. • Whatsoever they decide is of God. • The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God. No doubt every vainglorious one that purposeth dissension and discord will not openly declare his evil purposes, nay rather, even as impure gold would he seize upon divers measures and various pretexts that he may separate the gathering of the people of Baha." "Wherefore, 0 my loving friends! Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness, kindliness, goodwill and friendliness; that all the world of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of Baha. "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. 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. In each country where Ba1A'is exist, they participate in the world unity of their Faith through the office of the Guardian at this time, and they maintain local and national Baha'i institutions for conducting their own activities. In each local civil community, whether city, township or county, the Baha'is annually elect nine members to their locaL Spiritual Assembly. In America the Baha'is of each State join in election of delegates by proportionate representation and these delegates, to the full number of one hundred [p285] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 283 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Persia, elected April, 1951. and seventy-one, constitute the Annual Convention which elects the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. These national bodies, in turn, will join in the election of an international Assembly, or House of Justice, when the world Baha community is sufficiently developed. The interrelationship of all these administrative bodies provides the world spirit of the Faith with the agencies required for the maintenance of a constitutional society balancing the rights of the individual with the paramount principle of unity preserving the whole structure of the Cause. The Baha as an individual accepts guidance for his conduct and doctrinal beliefs, for not otherwise can he contribute his share to the general unity which is God's supreme blessing to the world today. This general unity is the believer's moral environment, his social universe, his psychic health and his goal of effort transcending any personal aim. In the Baha'i order, the individual is the musical note, but the teachings revealed by Baha'u'llah are the symphony in which the note finds its real fulfillment; the person attains value by recognizing that truth transcends his capacity and includes him in a relationship which 'Abdu'l-Baha said endowed dowed the part with the quality of the whole. To receive, we give. In comparison to this divine creation, the traditional claims of individual conscience, of personal judgment, of private freedom, seem nothing more than empty assertions advanced in opposition to the divine will. It cannot be sufficiently emphasized that the Baha'is relationship to this new spiritual society is an expression of faith, and faith alone raises personality out of the pit of self-will and moral isolation into which so much of the world has fallen. There can be no organic society, in fact, without social truth and social law embracing the individual members and evoking a loyalty both voluntary and complete. The political and economic groups which the individual enters with reservations are not true societies but temporary combinations of restless personalities, met in a truce which can not endure. Baha'u'llah has for ever solved the artificial dilemma which confuses and betrays the ardent upholder of inch-vidual freedom by His categorical statement that human freedom consists in obedience to God's law. The freedom revolving around self-will He declares "must, in the end, lead to sedition, whose flames none can quench. • Know ye that the embodiment of lib [p286] 284 THE BAHA'! WORLD National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha of the British Isles, 1953. erty and its symbol is the animal. True liberty consists in man's submission unto My commandments, little as ye know it." The Guardian, applying the terms of the Will and Testament to an evolving order, has given the present generation of Baha'is a thorough understanding of Baha'i institutions and administrative principles. Rising to its vastly increased responsibility resulting from the loss of the beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Baha'i community itself has intensified its efforts until in America alone the number of believers has been more than quadrupled since 1921. It has been their destiny to perfect the local and national Baha institutions as models for the believers in other lands. Within the scope of a single lifetime, the American Baha'i community has developed from a small local group to a national unit of a world society, passing through the successive stages by which a civilization achieves its pristine pattern and severs itself from the anarchy and confusion of the past. In Shoghi Effendi's letters addressed to this Baha'i community, we have the statement of the form of the administrative order, its function and purpose, its scope and activity, as well as its significance, which unites the thoughts and inspires the actions of all believers today. From these letters are selected a number of passages presenting fundamental aspects of the world order initiated by Baha'u'llah. 1. On its nature and scope: Ñ "I cannot refrain from appealing to them who stand identified with the Faith to disregard the prevailing notions and the fleeting fashions of the day, and to realize as never before that the exploded theories and the tottering institutions of presentday civilization must needs appear in sharp contrast with those God-given institutions which are destined to arise upon their ruin. "For Baha'u'llah has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as 'Abdu'l-Baha after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme m-strument for the establishment of the Most [p287] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 285 Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. "Unlike the Dispensation of Christ, unlike the Dispensation of Mu1~ammad, unlike all the Dispensations of the past, the apos-ties of Baha'u'llah in every land, wherever they labor and toil, have before them in clear, in unequivocal and emphatic language, all the laws, the regulations, the principles, the institutions, the guidance, they require for the prosecution and consummation of their task. Therein lies the distinguishing feature of the Baha'i Revelation. Therein lies the strength of the unity of the Faith, of the validity of a Revelation that claims not to destroy or belittle previous Revelations, but to connect, unify, and fulfill them. "Feeble though our Faith may now appear in the eyes of men, who either de-flounce it as an offshoot of Iskim, or contemptuously ignore it as one more of those obscure sects that abound in the West, this priceless gem of Divine Revelation, now still in its embryonic state, shall evolve within the shell of His law, and shall forge ahead, undivided and unimpaired, till it embraces the whole of mankind. Only those who have already recognized the supreme station of Baha'u'llah, only those whose hearts have been touched by His love, and have become familiar with the potency of His spirit, can adequately appreciate the value of this Divine Economy Ñ His inestimable gift to mankind. "This Administrative Order will, as its component parts, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind. -"Alone "Alone of all the Revelations gone before it this Faith has succeeded in raising a structure which the bewildered followers of bankrupt and broken creeds might well approach and critically examine, and seek, ere it is too late, the invulnerable security of its world-embracing shelter. "To what else if not to the power and majesty which this Administrative Order Ñ the rudiments of the future all-enfolding Baha'i Commonwealth Ñ is destined to manifest, can these utterances of Baha'u'llah al Jude: 'The world's equilibrium bath been upset through the vibrating influ~nce of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hatli been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System Ñ the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed 2. On its local and national institutions: Ñ "A perusal of some of the words of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them. "Addressing the members of the Spiritual Assembly in Chicago, the Master reveals the following: Ñ 'Whenever ye enter the council-chamber, recite this prayer with a heart throbbing with the love of God and a tongue purified from all but His remembrance, that the All-powerful may graciously aid you to achieve supreme victory: Ñ '0 God, my God! We are servants of Thine that have turned with devotion to Thy Holy Face, that have detached ourselves from all beside Thee in this glorious Day. We have gathered in this spiritual assembly, united in our views and thoughts, with our purposes harmonized to exalt Thy Word amidst mankind. 0 Lord, our God! Make us the signs of Thy Divine Guidance, the Standards of Thy exalted Faith amongst men, servants to Thy mighty Covenant. 0 Thou our Lord Most High! Manifestations of Thy Divine Unity in Thine AbM Kingdom, and resplendent stars shining upon all regions. Lord! Aid us to become seas surging with the billows of Thy wondrous Grace, streams flowing from Thy all-glorious Heights, goodly fruits upon the Tree of Thy heavenly Cause, trees waving through the breezes of Thy Bounty in Thy celestial Vineyard. 0 God! Make our souls dependent upon the Verses of Thy Divine Unity, our hearts cheered with the outpourings of Thy Grace, that we may unite even as the waves of one sea and become merged together as the rays of Thine effulgent Light; that our thoughts, our views, our feelings may become as one reality, manifesting the spirit of union throughout the world. Thou art the Gracious, the Bountiful, the Bestower, the Almighty, the Merciful, the Compassionate.' "In the Most Holy Book is revealed: Ñ [p288] 286 THE BAHA'! WORLD National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria for the Year 110 (19531954). 'The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Baha, and should it exceed this number it does not matter. It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, 0 ye that perceive.' "Furthermore, 'Abdu'l-Baha reveals the following: Ñ 'It is incumbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause.' "'The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Baha shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail.' "Enumerating the obligations incumbent upon the members of consulting councils, the Beloved reveals the fdllowing: Ñ 'The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of [p289] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 287 National Spiritual Assembly of the Babi'is of Canada, 19531954. God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be non-exist-ent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that assembly be brought to naught. The second condition: Ñ They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one~ s views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority. It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism would prevent any decision from being enforced. forced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness. If this be so regarded, that assembly shall be of God, but otherwise it shall lead to coolness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His lloiy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the Grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that assembly shall become the center of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of Spirit.' "So great is the importance and so supreme is the authority of these assemblies that once 'Abdu'l-Baha after having Himself and in His own handwriting corrected the translation made into Arabic of the Ishr~qtit (the Effulgences) by Siwik± Faraj, a Kurdish friend from Cairo, directed him in a Tablet to submit the above-named translation to the Spiritual Assembly of Cairo, that [p290] 288 THE BAHA'I WORLD National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand, Year 110 (19531954). he may seek from them before publication their approval and consent. These are His very words in that Tablet: Ñ 'His honor, Sheilt Faraju'116h, has here rendered into Arabic with greatest care the Ishr6tq~t and yet I have told him that he must submit his version to the Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, and I have conditioned its publication upon the approval of the above-named Assembly. This is so that things may be arranged in an orderly manner, for should it not be so any one may translate a certain Tablet and print and circulate it on his own account. Even a nonbeliever might undertake such work, and thus cause confusion and disorder. If it be conditioned, however, upon the approval of the Spiritual Assembly, a translation prepared, printed and circulated by a nonbeliever will have no recognition whatever.' "This is indeed a clear indication of the Master's express desire that nothing whatever should be given to the public by any individual among the friends, unless fully considered and approved by the Spiritual Assembly in his locality; and if this (as is undoubtedly the case) is a matter that pertains tains to the general interest of the Cause in that land, then it is incumbent upon the Spiritual Assembly to submit it to the consideration and approval of the national body representing all the various local assemblies. Not oniy with regard to publication, but all matters without any exception whatsoever, regarding the interests of the Cause in that locality, individually or collectively, should be referred exclusively to the Spiritual Assembly in that locality, which shall decide upon it, unless it be a matter of national interest, in which case it shall be referred to the national body. With this national body also will rest the decision whether a given question is of local or national interest. (By national affairs is not meant matters that are political in their character, for the friends of God the world over are strictly forbidden to meddle with political affairs in any way whatever, but rather things that affect the spiritual activities of the body of the friends in that land.) "Full harmony, however, as well as cooperation among the various local assemblies and the members themselves, and par~ ticularly between each assembly and the na [p291] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 289 tional body, is of the utmost importance, for upon it depends the unity of the Cause of God, the solidarity of the friends, the full, speedy and efficient working of the spiritual activities of His loved ones. "Large issues in such spiritual activities that affect the Cause in general in that land, such as the management of the Star of the West and any periodical which the National Body may decide to be a Baha'i organ, the matter of publication, of reprinting Baha'i literature and its distribution among the various assemblies, the means whereby the teaching campaign may be stimulated and maintained, the work of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the racial question in relation to the Cause, the matter of receiving Orientals and association with them, the care and maintenance of the precious film exhibiting a phase of the Master's sojourn in the United States of America as well as the original matrix and the records of His voice, and various other national spiritual activities, far from being under the exclusive jurisdiction of any local assembly or group of friends, must each be minutely and fully directed by a special board, elected by the National Body, constituted as a committee thereof, responsible to it and upon which the National Body shall exercise constant and general supervision. "Regarding the establishment of 'National Assemblies,' it is of vital importance that in every country, where the conditions are f a-vorable and the number of the friends has grown and reached a considerable size, such as America, Great Britain and Germany, that a 'National Spiritual Assembly' be immediately established, representative of the friends throughout that country. "Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate by frequent personal consultations, the manifold activities of the friends as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land, initiate measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country. "It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first, as in the course of time it shall evolve into the National House of Justice (referred to in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will as the 'secondary House of Justice'), which according to the explicit text of the Testament will have, in conjunction with the other National Assemblies throughout the Baha'i world, to elect directly the mem bers of the International House of Justice, that Supreme Council that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the Movement throughout the world. "It is expressly recorded in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Writings that these National Assemblies must be indirectly elected by the friends; that is, the friends in every country must elect a certain number of delegates, who in their turn will elect from among all the friends in that country the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. In such countries, therefore, as America, Great Britain and Germany, a fixed number of secondary electors must first be decided upon. The friends then in every locality where the number of adult declared believers exceeds nine must directly elect its quota of secondary electors assigned to it in direct proportion to its numerical strength. These secondary electors will then, either through correspondence, or preferably by gathering together, and first deliberating upon the affairs of the Cause throughout their country (as the delegates to the Convention), elect from among all the friends in that country nine who will be the members of the National Spiritual Assembly. "This National Spiritual Assembly, which, pending the establishment of the Universal House of Justice, will have to be reelected once a year, obviously assumes grave responsibilities, for it has to exercise full authority over all the local Assemblies in its province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends, guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and control and supervise the affairs of the Movement in general. "Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country such as the matter of translation and publication, the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, the Teaching Work, and other similar matters than stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly. "It will have to refer each of these questions, even as the local Assemblies, to a special Committee, to be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, from among all the friends in that country, which will bear to it the same relation as the local committees bear to their respective local Assemblies. "With it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point at issue is strictly local in its nature, and should be reserved for the consideration and decision of the local Assem [p292] 290 THE BAHA'! WORLD bly, or whether it should fall under its own province and be regarded as a matter which ought to receive its special attention. The National Spiritual Assembly will also decide upon such matters which in its opinion should be referred to the Holy Land for consultation and decision. "With these Assemblies, local as well as national, harmoniously, vigorously, and efficiently functioning throughout the Baha'i world, the oniy means for the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice will have been secured. And when this Supreme Body will have been properly established, it will have to consider afresh the whole situation, and lay down the principle which shall direct, so long as it deems advisable, the affairs of the Cause. "The need for the centralization of authority in the National Spiritual Assembly, and the concentration of power in the various local Assemblies, is made manifest when we reflect that the Cause of Baha'u'llah is still in its age of tender growth and in a stage of transition; when we remember that the full implications and the exact significance of the Master's worldwide instructions, as laid down in His Will, are as yet not fully grasped, and the whole Movement has not sufficiently crystallized in the eyes of the world. "It is our primary task to keep the most vigilant eye on the manner and character of its growth, to combat effectively the forces of separation and of sectarian tendencies, lest the Spirit of the Cause be obscured, its unity be threatened, its Teachings suffer corruption; lest extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible freedom on the other, cause it to deviate from that Straight Path which alone can lead it to success. "Hitherto the National Convention has been primarily called together for the consideration of the various circumstances attending the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. I feel, however, that in view of the expansion and the growing importance of the administrative sphere of the Cause, the general sentiments and tendencies prevailing among the friends, and the signs of increasing interdependence among the National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world, the assembled accredited representatives of the American believers should exercise not only the vital and responsible right of electing the National Assembly, sembly, but should also fulfill the functions of an enlightened, consultative and cooperative body that will enrich the experience, enhance the prestige, support the authority, and assist the deliberations of the National Spiritual Assembly. It is my firm conviction that it is the bounden duty, in the interest of the Cause we all love and serve, of the members of the incoming National Assembly, once elected by the delegates at Convention time, to seek and have the utmost regard, individually as well as collectively, for the advice, the considered opinion and the true sentiments of the assembled delegates. Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue reticence, of dictatorial aloofness, from their midst, they should radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the delegates, by whom they are elected, their plans, their hopes, and their cares. They should familiarize the delegates with the various matters that will have to be considered in the current year, and calmly and conscientiously study and weigh the opinions and judgments of the delegates. The newly elected National Assembly, during the few days when the Convention is in session and after the dispersal of the delegates, should seek ways and means to cultivate understanding, facilitate and maintain the exchange of views, deepen confidence, and vindicate by every tangible evidence their one desire to serve and advance the common weal. Not infrequently, nay oftentimes, the most lowly, untutored and inexperienced among the friends will, by the sheer inspiring force of selfless and ardent devotion, contribute a distinct and memorable share to a highly involved discussion in any given Assembly. Great must be the regard paid by those whom the delegates call upon to serve in high position to this all-important though inconspicuous manifestation of the revealing power of sincere and earnest devotion. "The National Spiritual Assembly, however, in view of the unavoidable limitations imposed upon the convening of frequent and longstanding sessions of the Convention, will have to retain in its hands the final decision on all matters that affect the interests of the Cause in America, such as the right to decide whether any local Assembly is functioning in accordance with the principles laid down for the conduct and advancement of the Cause. It is my earnest prayer that they will utilize their highly responsible po [p293] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 291 National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India, Pdkist6n and Burma, 19521953 and 19531954. sition, not only for the wise and efficient conduct of the affairs of the Cause, but also for the extension and deepening of the spirit of cordiality and wholehearted and mutual support in their cooperation with the body of their coworkers throughout the land. The seating of delegates to the Convention, i.e., the right to decide upon the validity of the credentials of the delegates at a given Convention, is vested in the outgoing National Assembly, and the right to decide who has the voting privilege is also ultimately placed in the hands of the National Spiritual Assembly, either when a local Spiritual Assembly is being for the first time formed in a given locality, or when differences arise between a new applicant and an already established local Assembly. While the Convention is in session and the accredited delegates have already elected from among the believers throughout the country the members of the National Spiritual Assembly for the current year, it is of infinite value and a supreme necessity that as far as possible all matters requiring immediate decision should be fully and publicly considered, and an endeavor be made to obtain after mature deliberation, unanimity in vital decisions. Indeed, it has ever been the cherished desire of our Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha, that the friends in their councils, local as well as national, should by their candor, their honesty of purpose, their singleness of mind, and the thoroughness of their discussions, achieve unanimity in all things. Should this in certain cases prove impracticable the verdict of the majority should prevail, to which decision the minority must under all circumstances, gladly, spontaneously and continually, submit. "Nothing short of the all-encompassing, all-pervading power of His Guidance and Love can enable this nexxdy-enfolded order to gather strength and flourish amid the storm and stress of a turbulent age, and in the fullness of time vindicate its high claim to be universally recognized as the one Haven of abiding felicity and peace.~~ 3. On its international institutions: Ñ "It should be stated, at the very outset, in clear and unambiguous language, that these twin institutions of the Administrative Order of Baha'u'llah should be regarded as divine in origin, essential in their functions [p294] 292 THE BA}TA't WORLD National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Egypt and S6d&n, 19501951. and complementary in their aim and purpose. Their common, their fundamental object is to insure the continuity of that divinely-appointed authority which flows from the Source of our Faith, to safeguard the unity of its followers and to maintain the integrity and flexibility of its teachings. Acting in conjunction with each other these two inseparable institutions administer its affairs, coordinate its activities, promote its interests, execute its laws and defend its subsidiary institutions. Severally, each operates within a clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction; each is equipped with its own attendant institutions Ñ instruments designed for the effective discharge of its particular responsibilities and duties. Each exercises, within the limitations imposed upon it, its powers, its authority, its rights and prerogatives. These are neither contradictory, nor detract in the slightest degree from the position which each of these institutions occupies. Far from being incompatible or mutually destructive, they supplement each other's authority and functions, and are permanently and fundamentally united in their aims. "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha'u'llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as 'Abdu'l-Baha has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God. 'In all the Divine Dispensations,' He states, in a Tablet addressed to a follower of the Faith in Persia, 'the eldest son hath been given extraordinary distinctions. Even the station of prophethood hath been his birthright.' Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered. Its prestige would suffer, the means required to enable it to take a long, an uninterrupted view over a series of generations would be completely lacking, and the necessary guidance to define the sphere of the legislative action of its elected representatives would be totally withdrawn. "Severed from the no less essential institution of the Universal House of Justice this same System of the Will of 'Abdu'l-Baha would be paralyzed in its action and would be powerless to fill in those gaps which the Author of the Kitab-i-Aqdas has deliberately left in the body of His legislative and administrative ordinances. 'He is the Interpreter of the Word of God,' 'Abdu'l-Baha, referring to the functions of the Guardian of the Faith, asserts, using in His Will the very term which He Himself had chosen when refuting the argument of the Covenant-breakers who had challenged His right to interpret the utterances of Baha'u'llah. 'After him,' He adds, 'will succeed the firstborn of his lineal descendants.' 'The mighty stronghold,' He further explains, 'shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the Guardian of the Cause of God.' 'It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice, upon all the Agh%n, the AfnTh, the [p295] THE WORLD ORDER OF IBAHA'U'LLAH 293 Hands of the Cause of God, to show their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of the Cause of God.' "'It is incumbent upon the members of the House of Justice,' Baha'u'llah, on the other hand, declares in the Eighth Leaf of the Exalted Paradise, 'to take counsel together regarding those things which have not outwardly been revealed in the Book, and to enforce that which is agreeable to them. God will verily inspire them with whatsoever He wileth, and He verily is the Provider, the Omniscient.' 'Unto the Most Holy Book' (the KITAB-I-AQDAS), 'Abdu'l-Baha states in His Will, 'every one must turn, and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the truth and the purpose of God Himself. Whoso doth deviate therefrom is verily of them that love discord, hath shown forth malice, and turned away from the Lord of the Covenant.' "Not oniy does 'Abdu'l-Baha confirm in His Will Baha'u'llah's above-quoted statement, ment, but invests this body with the additional right and power to abrogate, according to the exigencies of time, its own enactments, as well as those of a preceding House of Justice. 'Inasmuch as the House of Justice,' is His explicit statement in His Will, 'hath power to enact laws that are not expressly recorded in the Book and bear upon daily transactions, so also it hath power to repeal the same This it can do because these laws form no part of the divine explicit text.' "Referring to both the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice we read these emphatic words: 'The sacred and youthful Branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, as well as the Universal House of Justice to be universally elected and established, are both under the care and protection of the Abhi Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of the Exalted One (the Bab) (may my life be offered up for them both). Whatsoever they decide is of God.' "From these statements it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of 'IrAq, 19531954. [p296] 294 THE BAHA'I WORLD House of Justice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings. The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce upon and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Baha'u'llah has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely invested. "Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The bedrock on which this Admmis-trative Order is founded is God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no less than Baha'u'llah Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the AbM Kingdom. It seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. Its guiding principles are the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Baha'u'llah. The methods it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the 'Most Great Peace'; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium Ñ the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah." Sixty years have passed since the Cause of Baha'u'llah was first brought to North America. Three generations of believers have worked and sacrificed and prayed in order to produce a body of Baha'is large enough to demonstrate the principles here summarized in a few pages for the presentday student of these teachings. What 'Abdu'l-Baha employed as unifying element for the American community during a period before more than rudimentary local administrative bodies could be established was the construction of the House of Worship, the Ma~briqu'1-Adiik6r in Wilmette. He in fact referred to the House of Worship as the ''inception of the Kingdom.'' Around its construction devotedly gathered the American friends. 'Abdu'l-Baha approved their action in setting up a religious corporation to hold title to the property and provide a basis for collective action. In surveying those days from 1904 to 1921, one realizes how, in every stage of progress, the believers rushed forward in devotion before they could perceive the full results of action or comprehend the full unfoldment of their beloved Master's intention. In their hearts they knew that unity is the keynote of their Faith, and they were assured that the new power of unity would augment until it encompassed the whole of mankind. But as to the nature of world order, the foundation of universal peace, the principles of the future economy, while the clear picture eluded them, they went forward with enthusiasm to the Light. In a continent consecrated to the pioneer, the early American Baha'is pioneered in the world of spirit, striving to participate in a work of supreme importance whose final re-suit was the laying of a foundation on which human society might raise a house of justice and a mansion of peace. [p297] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 295 A PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF A LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY Adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada INTRODUCTION A PERUSAL of some of the words of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha on the duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the grave responsibility which rests upon them." Ñ SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 5, 1922. "The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counselors to the number of Baha. It behooveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, 0 ye that perceive." Ñ BAW&'u'LL½. "It is incumbent upon every one not to take any step without consulting the Spiritual Assembly, and they must assuredly obey with heart and soul its bidding and be submissive unto it, that things may be properly ordered and well arranged. Otherwise every person will act independently and after his own judgment, will follow his own desire, and do harm to the Cause. "The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and longsuffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of 1kM shall be vouchsafed to them. In this day, Assemblies of consultation are of the greatest importance and a vital necessity. Obedience unto them is essential and obligatory. The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If, after discussion, a decision be car-ned unanimously, well and good; but if, the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, 'a majority of voices must prevail "The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the Assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be nonexistent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that Assembly be brought to naught. The second condition: They must when coming together turn their faces to the Kingdom on High and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one's views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority. It is again not permitted that any one of the honored members object to or censure, whether in or out of the meeting, any decision arrived at previously, though that decision be not right, for such criticism [p298] 296 THE BAHA'! WORLD would prevent any decision from being enforced. In short, whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness. If this be so regarded, that Assembly shall be of God, but otherwise it shall lead to coolness and alienation that proceed from the Evil One. Discussions must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word. Should they endeavor to fulfill these conditions the grace of the Holy Spirit shall be vouchsafed unto them, and that Assembly shall become the center of the Divine blessings, the hosts of Divine confirmation shall come to their aid, and they shall day by day receive a new effusion of Spirit." Ñ 'ABDU'L-BAHA. "The importance, nay the absolute necessity of these local Assemblies is manifest when we realize that in the days to come they will evolve into the local House of Justice, and at present provide the firm foundation on which the structure of the Master's Will is to be reared in the future." "In order to avoid division and disruption, that the Cause may not fall a prey to conflicting interpretations, and lose thereby its purity and pristine vigor, that its affairs may be conducted with efficiency and promptness, it is necessary that every one [that is, every member of the Baha community] should conscientiously take an active part in the election of these Assemblies, abide by their decision, enforce their decree, and cooperate with them wholeheartedly in their task of stimulating the growth of the Movement throughout all regions. The members of these Assemblies, on their part, must disregard utterly their own likes and dislikes, their personal interests and inclinations, and concentrate their minds upon those measures that will conduce to the welfare and happiness of the Baha'i community and promote the common weal." Ñ SHOGHI EFFENDI, March 12, 1923. "Let us recall His explicit and often-repeated assurances that every Assembly elected in that rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment is, in truth, appointed of God, that its verdict is truly inspired, spired, that one and all should submit to its decision unreservedly and with cheerfulness." Ñ SHOGm EFFENDI, February 23, 1924. I. FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY The various functions of the local Spiritual Assembly, and its nature as a constitutional body, are duly set forth in Article VII of the ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly, and are more definitely defined in the ByLaws of a local Spiritual Assembly approved by the National Spiritual Assembly and recommended by the Guardian. Each local Spiritual Assembly, and all members of the local Baha community, shall be guided and controlled by the provisions of those ByLaws. II. MEETINGS OF TIlE LOCAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY In addition to its observance of the general functions vested in the institution of a Spiritual Assembly, each Spiritual Assembly has need of a procedure for the conduct of its meetings. The following items represent the outline of the parliamentary rules of procedure which the National Spiritual Assembly has adopted and recommends to each and every local Spiritual Assembly throughout the United States. Calling of Meetings A meeting of the Spiritual Assembly is valid only when it has been duly called, that is, when each and every member has been informed of the time and place. The general practice is for the Assembly to decide upon some regular time and place for its meetings throughout the Baha'i year, and this decision when recorded in the minutes is sufficient notice to the members. When the regular schedule cannot be followed, or the need arises for a special meeting, the secretary, on request by the chairman or any three members of the Spiritual Assembly, should send due notice to all the members. Order of Business Roll call by the Secretary (or Recording Secretary). Prayer. [p299] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 297 Reading and approval of Minutes of previous meetings. Report of Secretary (or Corresponding Secretary), including presentation of letters received by the Assembly since its last meeting, and of any and all recommendations duly adopted by the community at the last Nineteen Day Feast. Report of Treasurer. Report of Committees. Unfinished business. New business, including conferences with members of the community and with applicants for enrollment as members of the community. Closing Prayer. Conduct of Business A Spiritual Assembly, in maintaining its threefold function of a body given (within the limits of its jurisdiction) an executive, a legislative and a judicial capacity, is charged with responsibility for initiating action and making decisions. Its meetings, therefore, revolve around various definite matters which require deliberation and collective decision, and it is incumbent upon the members, one and all, to address themselves to the subject under discussion and not engage in general speeches of an irrelevant character. Every subject or problem before an Assembly is most efficiently handled when the following process is observed: first, ascertainment and agreement upon the facts; second, agreement upon the spiritual or administrative Teachings which the question involves; third, full and frank discussion of the matter, leading up to the offering of a resolution; and fourth, voting upon the resolution. A resolution, or motion, is not subject to discussion or vote until duly made and seconded. It is preferable to have each resolution clear and complete in itself, but when an amendment is duly made and seconded, the chairman shall call for a vote on the amendment first and then on the original motion. An amendment must be relevant to, and not contravene, the subject matter of the motion. The chairman, or other presiding officer, has the same power and responsibility for discussion and voting upon motions as other members of the Assembly. Discussion of any matter before the Assembly may be terminated by a motion duly made, seconded and voted calling upon the chairman to put the matter to a vote or to proceed to the next matter on the agenda. The purpose of this procedure is to prevent any member or members from prolonging the discussion beyond the point at which full opportunity has been given all members to express their views. When the Assembly has taken action upon any matter, the action is binding upon all members, whether present or absent from the meeting at which the action was taken. Individual views and opinions must be subordinated to the will of the Assembly when a decision has been made. A Spiritual Assembly is an administrative unit, as it is a spiritual unit, and therefore no distinction between "majority" and "minority" groups or factions can be recognized. Each member must give undivided loyalty to the institution to which he or she has been elected. Any action taken by the Assembly can be reconsidered at a later meeting, on motion duly made, seconded and carried. This reconsideration, according to the result of the consultation, may lead to a revision or the annulment of the prior action. If a majority is unwilling to reconsider the prior action, further discussion of the matter by any member is improper. The Assembly has a responsibility in filling a vacancy caused by the inability of any member to attend the meetings. "It is only too obvious that unless a member can attend regularly the meetings of his local Assembly, it would be impossible for him to discharge the duties incumbent upon him, and to fulfill his responsibilities as a representative of the community. Membership in a local Spiritual Assembly carries with it, indeed, the obligation and capacity to remain in close touch with local Baha activities, and ability to attend regularly the sessions of the Assembly." Ñ SHoorn EFFENDI, January 27, 1935. The Spiritual Assembly, as a permanent body, is responsible for maintaining all its records, including Minutes of meetings, correspondence and financial records, throughout its existence as a Baha'i institution. Each officer, therefore, on completing his or her term of office, shall turn over to the Assembly all records pertaining to the business of the Assembly. [p300] 298 THE BAHA'I WORLD III. CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMUNITY A. The institution of the Nineteen Day Feast provides the recognized and regular occasion for general consultation on the part of the community, and for consultation between the Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community. The conduct of the period of consultation at Nineteen Day Feasts is a vital function of each Spiritual Assembly. From Words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, "The Nineteen Day Feast was inaugurated by the Bab and ratified by Baha'u'llah, in His Holy Book, the Aqdas, so that people may gather together and outwardly show fellowship and love, that the Divine mysteries may be disclosed. The object is concord, that through this fellowship hearts may become perfectly united, and reciprocity and mutual helpfulness be established. Because the members of the world of humanity are unable to exist without being banded together, cooperation and helpfulness are the basis of human society. Without the realization of these two great principles no great movement is pressed forward." London, England, December 29, 1912. (Quoted in Baha'i News, No. 33.) The Nineteen Day Feast has been described by the Guardian as the foundation of the World Order of Baha'u'llah. It is to be conducted according to the following program: The first part, entirely spiritual in character, is devoted to readings from Baha'i Sacred Writings; the second part consists of general consultation on the affairs of the Cause. The third part is the material feast and social meeting of all the believers, and should maintain the spiritual nature of the Feast. Baha'is should regard this Feast as the very heart of their spiritual activity, their participation in the mystery of the Holy Utterance, their steadfast unity one with another in a universality raised high above the limitations of race, class, nationality, sect, and personality, and their privilege of contributing to the power of the Cause in the realm of collective action. Calendar of the Nineteen Day Feast March 21 April 9 April 28 May 17 June 5 June 24 July 13 August 1 August 20 September 8 September 27 October 16 November 4 January 19 November 23 February 7 December 12 March 2 December 3 1 The Spiritual Assembly is responsible for the holding of the Nineteen Day Feast. If the Baha'i calendar for some adequate reason cannot be observed, the Assembly may arrange to hold a Feast at the nearest possible date. Only members of the Baha'i community, and visiting Baha'is from other communities, may attend these meetings, but young people of less than twenty-one years of age, who have studied the Teachings and declared their intention of joining the community on reaching the age of twenty-one, may also attend. Regular attendance at the Nineteen Day Feast is incumbent upon every Baha'i, illness or absence from the city being the only justification for absence. Believers are expected to arrange their personal affairs so as to enable them to observe the Baha calendar. Order of Business for the Consultation Period The chairman or other appointed representative of the Spiritual Assembly presides during the period of consultation. The Spiritual Assembly reports to the community whatever communications have been received from the Guardian and the National Spiritual Assembly, and provides opportunity for general discussion. The Assembly likewise reports its own activities and plans, including committee appointments that may have been made since the last Feast, the financial report, arrangements made for public meetings, and in general shares with the community all matters that concern the Faith. These reports are to be followed by general consultation. A matter of vital importance at this meeting is consideration of national and international Baha'i affairs, to strengthen the capacity of the community to cooperate in promotion of the larger Baha'i interests and to deepen the understanding of all believers concerning the relation of the local community to the Baha'i World Community. Individual Baha'is are to find in the Nineteen Day Feast the channel through which to make suggestions and recommendations [p301] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 299 to the National Spiritual Assembly. These recommendations are offered first to the local community, and when adopted by the community come before the local Assembly, which then may in its discretion forward the recommendation to the National Spiritual Assembly accompanied by its own considered view. Provision is to be made for reports from committees, with discussion of each report. Finally, the meeting is to be open for suggestions and recommendations from individual believers on any matter affecting the Cause. The local Baha'i community may adopt by majority vote any resolution which it wishes collectively to record as its advice and recommendation to the Spiritual Assembly. Upon each member of the community lies the obligation to make his or her utmost contribution to the consultation, the ideal being a gathering of Baha'is inspired with one spirit and concentrating upon the one aim to further the interests of the Faith. The Secretary of the Assembly records each resolution adopted by the community, as well as the various suggestions advanced during the meetings, in order to report these to the Spiritual Assembly for its consideration. Whatever action the Assembly takes is to be reported at a later Nineteen Day Feast. Matters of a personal nature should be brought before the Spiritual Assembly and not to the community at the Nineteen Day Feast. Concerning the attitude with which believers should come to these Feasts, the Master has said, "You must free yourselves from everything that is in your hearts, before you enter." (Baha'i News Letter of the N. S. A. of Germany and Austria, December, 1934.) B. The Annual Meeting on April 21, called for the election of the Spiritual Assembly, provides the occasion for the presentation of annual reports by the Assembly and by all its Committees. The chairman of the outgoing Assembly presides at this meeting. The order of business includes: Reading of the call of the meeting, reading of appropriate Baha passages bearing upon the subject of the election, appointment of tellers, distribution of ballots, prayers for the spiritual guidance of the voters, the election, presentation of annual reports, tellers' report of the election, approval of the tellers' report. C. In addition to these occasions for general consultation, the Spiritual Assembly is to give consultation to individual believers whenever requested. During such consultation with individual believers, the Assembly should observe the following principles: the impartiality of each of its members with respect to all matters under discussion; the freedom of the individual Baha to express his views, feelings and recommendations on any matter affecting the interests of the Cause; the confidential character of this consultation, and the principle that the Spiritual Assembly does not adopt any resolution or make any final decision, until the party or parties have withdrawn from the meeting. Appeals from decisions of a local Spiritual Assembly are provided for in the ByLaws and the procedure fully described in a statement published in Baha'i News, February, 1933. When confronted with evidences of unhappiness, whether directed against the Assembly or against members of the community, the Spiritual Assembly should realize that its relationship to the believers is not merely that of a formal constitutional body but also that of a spiritual institution called upon to manifest the attributes of courtesy, patience and loving insight. Many conditions are not to be remedied by the exercise of power and authority but rather by a sympathetic understanding of the sources of the difficulty in the hearts of the friends. As 'Abdu'l-Baha has explained, some of the people are children and must be trained, some are ignorant and must be educated, some are sick and must be healed. Where, however, the problem is not of this order but represents flagrant disobedience and disloyalty to the Cause itself, in that case the Assembly should consult with the National Spiritual Assembly concerning the necessity for disciplinary action. Members of the Baha'i community, for their part, should do their utmost by prayer and meditation to remain always in a positive and joyous spiritual condition, bearing in mind the Tablets which call upon Baha'is to serve the world of humanity and not waste their precious energies in negative complaints. [p302] 300 THE BAHA'! WO LV. B±smk'i ANNIVERSARIES, FESTIVALS AND DAYS OF FASTING The Spiritual Assembly, among its various duties and responsibilities, will provide for the general observance by the local community of the following Holy Days: Feast of Ridvan (Declaration of Baha'u'llah) April 21-May 2, 1863. Declaration of the BAHA, May 23, 1844. Ascension of Baha'u'llah, May 29, 1892. Martyrdom of the Bab, July 9, 1850. Birth of the flAb, October 20, 1819. Birth of Baha'u'llah, November 12, 1817. Day of the Covenant, November 26. Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Baha, November 28, 1921. Period of the Fast, fling March 2. Feast of Naw-Rtiz March 21. THE INSTITUTION OF TIlE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY By HORACE HOLLEY TITHE sacred Writings of the Baha'i Faith create organic institutions having a membership elected by the Baha community. Baha'u'llah called these institutions into being; their establishment, definition, training and development came later, in the mm-istry of 'Abdu'l-Baha and in that of the Guardian appointed in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament. Since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1921, the formation of local Spiritual Assemblies has multiplied in East and West, and the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly has become firmly established. Concerning this national administrative body Shoghi Effendi has provided dear information and direction. Its purpose, its power, its responsibility and its functions and duties are definitely prescribed. "Its immediate purpose is to stimulate, unify and coordinate by frequent personal consultations the manifold activities of the friends [believers] as well as the local Assemblies; and by keeping in close and constant touch with the Holy Land Baha'i World Center], initiate measures, and direct in general the affairs of the Cause in that country. "It serves also another purpose, no less essential than the first in conjunction with the other National Assemblies throughout the Baha'i world, to elect directly the members of the International House of Justice, that Supreme Council that will guide, organize and unify the affairs of the [Faith] throughout the world. it has to exercise full authority over all the local Assemblies in its province, and will have to direct the activities of the friends, guard vigilantly the Cause of God, and control and supervise the affairs of the [Faith] in general. "Vital issues, affecting the interests of the Cause in that country that stand distinct from strictly local affairs, must be under the full jurisdiction of the National Assembly. It will have to refer each of these questions to a special Committee, to be elected by the members of the National Spiritual Assembly, from among all the friends in that country "With it, too, rests the decision whether a certain point at issue is strictly local in its nature or whether it should fall under its own province and be regarded as a matter which ought to receive its special attention."' "The need for the centralization of authority in the National Spiritual Assembly, and the concentration of power in the various local Assemblies, is manifest."2 "The authority of the National Spiritual Assembly is undivided and unchallengeable in all matters pertaining to the administration of the Faith [throughout its country]."3 The individual Baha'i has spiritual citizenship in a world community of believers acting through local, national and international bodies. There is no division of interest or conflict of authority among these institutions, for ever since the ascension of BahA'-lflahd'i Administration (1945 edition), pp. 3940. 2 ibid., p. 42. S Baha'i Procedure (1942), p. 63. nineteen days begin-(BahA'i New Year), [p303] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 301 First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Central America, Mexico and the Antilles, elected April, 1951. Seated, left to right: Dr. David Escalante (San Salvador), James V. Facey (Colon), Miss Elena Marsella (Ciudad Trujilo), Artemus Lamb (San Jos6). Standing, left to right: Mrs. Louise Caswell (Tegucigalpa), Zenayda Jurado C. (Mexico City), Mrs. Cora H. Oliver (Colon), Sra. Raquel I. Fran9ois de Constante (Panama City), Natalia A. ChAvez (Tegucigalpa). u'11Th in 1892 His Faith has uninterruptedly possessed an infallible Interpreter, a spiritual Head, in the person of 'Abdu'l-Baha until 1921, and in the Guardianship after that date. The action of a Baha'i administrative body, therefore, while rationally determined by constitutional principles, operates in a spiritual realm revealed by the Manifestation of God and maintained free from political pressure and the influence of materialism. Apart from the appointed Interpreter, no Baha'i has individual authority. Decisions are confined to the sphere of action and are made by a body of nine persons. The advice and direction clarifying the nature and operation of a National Spiritual Assembly have been compiled by the American llahA'is from letters written them by Shoghi Effendi 4 Rahd'i Administration; Declaration of Trust and ByLaws of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. During the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Baha after He had approved the petition submitted to Him by the American Baha'is expressing their desire to construct a House of Worship, these Baha formed a national body known as I3ahA'i Temple Unity, incorporated for the purpose of gathering funds and coordinating plans to erect the Temple in Wilmette. That body, though national in scope and elected by delegates representing the various local Baha'i communities, was not a National Spiritual Assembly. It is interesting to note that in Baha Temple Unity the American Baha'is established a body reflecting their own national historical experience. The local communities preceded the national body in time and each exercised an independent authority in the conduct of its own affairs. When their representatives agreed to form a national 13ah4'f body with full jurisdiction over Temple matters, they transferred to it powers which vested final [p304] 302 THE BAHA'I WORLD First National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South America, elected April, 1951. Front row, left to right: Edmund I. Miessler (Sao Paulo), Mrs. Margot Worley (Baha), Miss Eve Nicklin (Lima), Manuel Vera (Lima). Rear, left to right: Dr. Alejandro Reid (Punta Arenas), Mrs. Gayle Woolson (BogotA), Est6ban Canales L. (Asuncion), Srta. Mercedes Sanchez (Lima), Rangvald Taetz (Montevideo). decision not in its directors but in the Annual Convention. The vital distinction between Temple Unity and the National Spiritual Assembly when later established lay in this field of ultimate authority. The National Spiritual Assembly possessed original authority, powers and functions of its own. It came into existence through election of its nine members at a National Convention but constituted a continuing authority derived from the Baha Teachings and not conferred by any action of the believers, whether as local communities or as delegates. This authority emerged supreme in relation to Baha'i matters within the national community but subject to the higher authority of the Guardian and also of the future International House of Justice. Within its own realm the National Spiritual Assembly is an institution created by the Teachings of the Faith independent of the Baha'is who elect its members and of the Baha'is composing its membership. In no way does this institution reflect either the political or the ecclesiastical influences of its environment, whether in America, Europe or the East. This fact has paramount importance. On the one hand it reveals the existence of an organic religious society; on the other hand it demonstrates the freedom of this new community from the legalisms and devices acting within every human institution. While the transition from Baha Temple Unity to National Spiritual Assembly in North America emphasizes certain princi [p305] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 303 First Italo-Swiss Baha'i National Spiritual Assembly, 19531954. Seated, left to right: Prof. Mario Fiorentini, Mrs. Anna Kunz, Dr. Ugo R. Giachery, Miss Elsa Steinmetz, Mrs. Stella Lonzar. Standing, left to right: Mrs. Anne Lynch, Friedrich Schdr, Mrs. Marion Little, Prof. Alessandro Bausani. pies inherent fri Baha'i institutions, the formation of a National Spiritual Assembly in a new area represents more profoundly the creation of a new type of society. Every national Baha'i community has gone through some evolution reflecting its historical background before its National Spiritual Assembly was established. In Central and South America, the preliminary teaching work and formation of local communities was conducted by a committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. and when the Baha'is of Canada formed their own National Assembly, by a committee appointed and sustained from the United States. The process of establishing new National Assemblies in those areas involved a number of steps. The membership list of qualified adult Baha'is was carefully prepared. The number of delegates to be elected to each of the first Annual Conventions under the principle of proportionate representation was determined. The Convention date and site were chosen. A call was issued to the participating local communities through their Assemblies for the election of the delegate or delegates assigned to each. The elected delegates were provided with ballots and a copy of the Convention agenda. The agenda, meanwhile, had been prepared in the light of the general nature of a Baha'i National Convention and with respect to the particular conditions of the Baha'i community. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States selected from its own membership two persons to attend each Convention, one to open the meeting as temporary chairman, the other to call the roll, and both to supervise the election of permanent convention officers from the menther-ship of the delegates present. With that election the Convention proceeded as an independent body, but acting under friendly supervision, to fulfill its own special functions: consultation on current Baha'i matters, and election of the members of the first National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of Central and South America. The nine persons receiving the highest number of votes on the first ballot, in accordance with the principle of plurality, were declared and certified to be Assembly members. [p306] 304 THE BAHA'I WORLD After the Conventions the newly elected bodies entered upon their duties in consultation with the representatives from the United States, who had prepared a list of actions to be taken annually by a national Baha'i body. Such an occasion as the birth of a national Baha'i institution is cherished in the memory of all present. Among the significant events are the receipt of a message from the Guardian of the Faith and greetings from all other National Spiritual Assemblies. Nine Assemblies existed at the time the two bodies were established in Latin America.5 The functions of a National Spiritual Assembly are manifold: the publication of Ba1A"i literature; national teaching plans; supervision of local communities; encouragement and direction of all the BaM is in their service to the Faith; and representation of the Baha'is in relation to the civil authorities. Each national body prepares and adopts its own constitution, formulated on 5 These National Spiritual Assemblies were, in the order of their establishment, India and Burma (1923), Germany and Austria (1923), British Isles (1923), Egypt (1924), United States (1925), 'Iraq (1931), Persia (1934), Australia and New Zealand (1934), and Canada (1948). (See God Passes By, p. 333.) the basis of the model approved by the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. All the National Spiritual Assemblies collectively, under the title of The Baha'i International Community, constitute an international nongovernmental organization whose delegates are accredited by United Nations for attendance and participation in its regional conferences. Through the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, Baha'is are enabled to carry out plans of considerable magnitude, collaborate with Baha'is of all other lands in matters of international interest, maintain common standards of administrative principle, and take advantage, in the appointment of committees, of particular talents and aptitudes possessed by individual believers. The National Spiritual Assembly stands as one of the pillars supporting the Baha'i world community. Participation in national Baha'i activities serves to insulate the individual Baha from infection by the psychic ills which afflict modern society as result of its lack of faith and spiritual direction. Within the shelter of this emerging order the storms of partisanship cannot engulf the soul. A PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE ANNUAL BAHA'! CONVENTION I. THE ANNUAL BAHA'I CONVENTION A SUMMARY of the constitutional basis of the Convention has been made by the National Spiritual Assembly and approved by the Guardian II. CONVENTION CALL The National Spiritual Assembly determines the date, duration and place of the Annual Convention and provides for such meetings in connection with the Convention as it may feel are desirable. III. CONVENTION PROCEDURE The Twenty-sixth Annual Convention [of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada], held in 1934, voted a recommendation calling upon the National Spiritual Assembly to supply a parliamentary procedure for the conduct of the Annual Convention, and the present material has been prepared to meet the need indicated by that recommendation. Order of Business Prayer and devotional readings, provided by the outgoing National Spiritual Assembly. Opening of the Convention by Presiding Officer of the National Spiritual Assembly. Roll call of delegates by the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly. Election by secret ballot of Convention Chairman and Secretary. The Convention Officers are to be elected by the assembled delegates from among the entire number of delegates who are present at the Convention. Annual Report of National Spiritual Assembly. Annual Financial Report of National Spiritual Assembly. Convention message to the Guardian of the Faith. [p307] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 305 Annual Committee Reports: These are to be considered as part of the Report of the National Spiritual Assembly. They are whenever possible published in Baha'i News in advance of the Convention date, for the information of the delegates. Subjects for Consultation. Any delegate may, before the Convention convenes, recommend to the National Assembly such topics as he deems of sufficient importance to be included in the Convention agenda; and the National Spiritual Assembly, from the list of topics received from delegates, and also suggested by its own knowledge and experience, is to prepare an agenda or order of business as its recommendation to the Convention. This agenda may include, as part of the National Assembly's Annual Report, the presentation of special subjects by well qua!-ified members, committee representatives or non-BahA'f experts whose exposition is necessary or desirable for the information of the delegates. On motion duly made, seconded and voted, any such subject may be omitted, and also on motion duly made, seconded and voted, any other subject may be proposed for special consultation. Annual Election. The election of members of the National Spiritual Assembly is to take place approximately midway during the Convention sessions, so as to enable the delegates to consult with both the outgoing and incoming Assemblies, in accordance with the Guardian's expressed desire. Conduct of Business Every deliberative body, to fulfill its functions, must conduct its deliberations in accordance with some established rules of order. The parliamentary procedure here set forth for the Convention is based upon the procedure already adopted for meetings of local Assemblies and communities. It accordingly extends to sessions of the Annual Convention the same procedure under which the delegates, in their other Baha'i activities, are accustomed to conduct discussion and consultation. The purpose of consultation at the Annual Convention is threefold: to arrive at full and complete knowledge of the current conditions, problems and possibilities of the Faith in America; to give to the incoming National Assembly the benefit of the collective wisdom, guidance and constructive suggestions of the assembled delegates; and to contribute to the unity, in spirit and in action, of the entire American Baha'i community. The freedom of each and every delegate to take part in discussion and to initiate motions is untrammeled save as the undue acZ tivity of one delegate might hamper the rights of the other delegates. Any necessary limitation to be placed upon individual discussion shall be determined by the Chairman in the absence of any specific motion duly voted by the delegates themselves. It shall be the duty of the Chairman to encourage general consultation and make possible the active participation of the greatest possible number of delegates. The Chairman has the same power and responsibility for discussion and voting upon motions as other delegates. Members of the outgoing and incoming National Assembly who are not delegates may participate in the consultation but not vote. A resolution, or motion, is not subject to discussion or vote until duly made and seconded. It is preferable to have each resolution clear and complete in itself, but when an amendment is duly made and seconded, the Chairman shall call for a vote on the amendment first and then on the motion. An amendment must be relevant to, and not contravene, the subject matter of the motion. The Chairman shall call for votes by oral expression of ayes and nays, but where the result of the vote is doubtful by a show of hands or a rising vote. A majority vote determines. Discussion of any matter may be terminated by motion duly made, seconded and voted, calling upon the Chairman to bring the matter to an immediate vote or proceed to other business. The transactions of the Convention shall be recorded by the Secretary, and when certified by the Convention officers shall be given to the National Spiritual Assembly. Annual Election The electors in the Annual Election shall consist of those delegates included in the Roll Call prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly. Ballots and tellers' report forms shall be provided by the National Assembly. The election shall be conducted by the Convention, but delegates unable to attend [p308] 306 THE BAHA'I WORLD the Convention shall have the right to vote by mail. The Chairman shall appoint three tellers, chosen from among the assembled delegates. The electoral method shall be as follows: 1. The Convention Secretary shall call the roll of delegates, whereupon each delegate, in turn, shall place his or her ballot in a ballot box; and as the names are called ballots received by mail shall be placed in the ballot box by the Secretary of the National Assembly. 2. The ballot box shall then be handed to the tellers, who shall retire from the Convention Hall to determine the result of the election. 3. The result of the election is to be reported by the tellers, and the tellers' report is to be approved by the Convention. 4. The ballots, together with the tellers' report, certified by all the tellers, are to be given the National Spiritual Assembly for preservation. IV. THE CONVENTION RECORD The permanent record of each successive Annual Convention shall consist of the following: Ñ ( 1) Convention Call as issued by the National Spiritual Assembly, including list of participating Baha'i Communities; (2) list of accredited delegates; (3) Annual Reports of the National Spiritual Assembly and of its Committees; (4) Messages sent to and received from the Guardian; (5) Resolutions and other transactions of the assembled delegates; (6) the result of the Annual Election. Ñ NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY THE NONPOLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE BAHA'I FAITH THE Baha'i principles clearly define and explain the nonpolitical character of the Faith, and serve as a guide for conduct in the relations of Baha'is with one another, with their fellow men, and in their relations with different departments of the civil government. A brief summary of excerpts from the Baha'i Writings will show that non-par-ticipation in political affairs is one of the basic axioms of Baha'i action. The keynote to this theme may be found in the Writings of Baha'u'llah. He has stated: "That one is indeed a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."' "Sow not the seeds of discord among men, and refrain from contending with your neighbor Open, 0 people, the city of the human heart with the key of your utterance "That which beseemeth you is the love of 1 Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 250. God, and the love of Him Who is the Manifestation of His Essence, and the observance of whatsoever He chooseth to prescribe unto you, did ye but know it. "Say: Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, 0 people of Bali, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. lit is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth "2 The aim of the Faith is to produce the reality of virtue in souls and evolve institutions capable of dealing with social matters justly, in the light of the revealed truths. This is entirely distinct from the province filled by partisan civil institutions. 2 Ibid., pp. 303305. [p309] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 307 'Abdu'l-Baha counseled the Baha'is from the early beginnings of the American Baha'i community not to discuss political affairs :~ All conferences (i.e., all consultation and discussion) must be regarding the matters of benefit, both as a whole and individually, such as the guarding of all in all cases, their protection and preservation, the improvement of character, the training of children, etc. "If any person wishes to speak of government affairs, or to interfere with the order of government, the others must not combine with him because the Cause of God is withdrawn entirely from political affairs; the political realm pertains only to the Rulers of those matters; it has nothing to do with the souls who are exerting their utmost energy to harmonizing affairs, helping character and inciting (the people) to strive for perfections. Therefore no soul is allowed to interfere with (political) matters, but only in that which is commanded." With the development of a worldwide administrative structure within the Baha'i Faith, institutions have been set up in national and local areas which assure the unity and integrity of the Faith. In unfolding these administrative institutions Shoghi Effendi has reiterated the importance of the nonpolitical character of the Baha teachings in a letter written March 21, 1932, to the Baha'is of the United States and Canada:4 "I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the nonparticipation by the adherents of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, whether in their individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government. Whether it be in the publications which they initiate and supervise; or in iheir official and public deliberations; or in the posts they occupy and the sei-vices they render; or in the communications they address to their fellow-disciples; or in their dealings with men of eminence 8 Rahd'i World Faith, p. 407. 4 World Order of Rahd'u'lldh, pp. 6467. and authority; or in their affiliations with kindred societies and organizations, it is, I am firmly convinced, their first and sacred obligation to abstain from any word or deed that might be construed as a violation of this vital principle. Theirs is the duty to demonstrate, on one hand, their unqualified loyalty and obedience to whatever is the considered judgment of their respective governments. "Let them refrain from associating themselves, whether by word or by deed, with the political pursuits of their respective nations, with the policies of their governments and the schemes and programs of parties and factions. In such controversies they should assign no blame, take no side, further no design, and identify themselves with no system prejudicial to the best interests of that worldwide Fellowship which it is their aim to guard and foster. Let them beware lest they allow themselves to become the tools of unscrupulous politicians, or to be entrapped by the treacherous devices of the plotters and the perfidious among their countrymen. Let them so shape their lives and regulate their conduct that no charge of secrecy, of fraud, of bribery or of intimidation may, however ill-founded, be brought against them. Let them rise above all particularism and partisanship, above the vain disputes, the petty calculations, the transient passions that agitate the face, and engage the attention, of a changing world. It is their duty to strive to distinguish, as clearly as they possibly can, and if needed with the aid of their elected representatives, such posts and functions as are either diplomatic or political from those that are purely administrative in character, and which under no circumstances are affected by the changes and chances that political activities and party government, in every land, must necessarily involve. Let them affirm their unyielding determination to stand, firmly and unreservedly, for the way of Baha'u'llah, to avoid the entanglements and bickerings inseparable from the pursuits of the politician, and to become worthy agencies of that Divine Polity which incarnates God's immutable Purpose for all men. "It shoud be made unmistakably clear that such an attitude implies neither the slightest indifference to the cause and interests of their own country, nor involves any insubordination on their part to the authority of recognized and established governments. Nor does it constitute a repudiation [p310] 308 THE BAHA'I WORLD of their sacred obligation to promote, in the most effective manner, the best interests of their government and people. It indicates the desire cherished by every true and loyal follower of Baha'u'llah to serve, in an unselfish, unostentatious and patriotic fashion, the highest interests of the country to which he belongs, and in a way that would entail no departure from the high standards of integrity and truthfulness associated with the teachings of his Faith. "As the number of the Baha'i communities in various parts of the world multiplies and their power, as a social force, becomes increasingly apparent, they will no doubt find themselves increasingly subjected to the pressure which men of authority and influence, in the political domain, will exercise in the hope of obtaining the support they require for the advancement of their aims. These communities will, moreover, feel a growing need of the goodwill and the assistance of their respective governments in their efforts to widen the scope, and to consolidate the foundations, of the institutions committed to their charge. Let them beware lest, in their eagerness to further the aims of their beloved Cause, they should be led unwittingly to bargain with their Faith, to compromise with their essential principles, or to sacrifice, in return for any material advantage which their institutions may derive, the integrity of their spiritual ideals. Let them proclaim that in whatever country they reside, and however advanced their institutions, or profound their desire to enforce the laws, and apply the principles, enunciated by Baha'u'llah, they will, unhesitatingly, subordinate the operation of such laws and the application of such principles to the requirements and legal enactments of their respective governments. Theirs is not the purpose, while endeavoring to conduct and perfect the administrative affairs of their Faith, to violate, under any circumstances, the provisions of their country's constitution, much less to allow the machinery of their administration to supersede the government of their respective countries. "It should also be borne in mind that the very extension of the activities in which we are engaged, and the variety of the communities which labor under divers forms of government, so essentially different in their standards, policies, and methods, make it absolutely essential for all those who are the declared members of any one of these corn-munities ies to avoid any action that might, by arousing the suspicion or exciting the antagonism of any one government, involve their brethren in fresh persecutions or complicate the nature of their task. How else, might I ask, could such a far-flung Faith, which transcends political and social boundaries, which includes within its pale so great a variety of races and nations, which will have to rely increasingly, as it forges ahead, on the goodwill and support of the diversified and contending governments of the earth Ñ how else could such a Faith succeed in preserving its unity, in safeguarding its interests, and in ensuring the steady and peaceful development of its institutions? "Such an attitude, however, is not dictated by considerations of selfish expediency, but is actuated, first and foremost, by the broad principle that the followers of Baha'u'llah will, under no circumstances, suffer themselves to be involved, whether as individuals or in their collective capacities, in matters that would entail the slightest departure from the fundamental verities and ideals of their Faith. Neither the charges which the uninformed and the malicious may be led to bring against them, nor the allurements of honors and rewards, will ever induce them to surrender their trust or to deviate from their path. Let their words proclaim, and their conduct testify, that they who follow Baha'u'llah, in whatever land they reside, are actuated by no selfish ambition, that they neither thirst for power, nor mind any wave of unpopularity, of distrust or criticism, which a strict adherence to their standards might provoke." And again: "The Baha'i Faith as it forges ahead throughout the western world and particularly in lands where the political machinery is corrupt and political passions and prejudices are dominant among the masses, should increasingly assert and demonstrate the fact that it is nonpolitical in character, that it stands above party, that it is neither apathetic to national interests nor opposed to any party or faction, and that it seeks through administrative channels, rather than through diplomatic and political posts to establish, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the capacity, the sane patriotism, the integrity and highmindedness of its avowed adherents. This is the general and vital principle; it is for the National representatives to apply it with fidelity and vigor."5 Baha'i News, December, 1932. [p311] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 309 These instructions raised the question whether Baha'is should vote in any public election. A Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha to Mr. Thornton Chase was sent to the Guardian, and the following reply was received, dated January 26, 1933:6 "The Guardian fully recognizes the authenticity and controlling influence of this instruction from 'Abdu'l-Baha upon the question. He, however, feels under the responsibility of stating that the attitude taken by the Master (that is, that American citizens are in duty bound to vote in public elections) implies certain reservations. He, therefore, lays it upon the individual conscience to see that in following the Master's instructions no I3ah~i'i vote for an officer nor Baha'i participation in the affairs of the Republic shall involve acceptance by that individual of a program or policy that contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith." The Guardian added to this letter the following postscript: "I feel it incumbent upon me to clarify the above statement, written in my behalf, by stating that no vote cast, or office undertaken, by a Baha should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder, of the entire program of any political party. No Baha'i can be regarded as either a Republican or Democrat, as such. He is, above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Baha'u'llah, with which, I am firmly convinced, the program of no political party is completely harmonious." In a letter dated March 16, 1933, the Guardian sent these further details :~ "As regards the nonpolitical character of the Baha'i Faith, Shoghi Effendi feels that there is no contradiction whatsoever between the Tablet (to Thornton Chase, referred to above) and the reservations to which he has referred. The Master surely never desired the friends to use their influence towards the realization and promotion of policies contrary to any of the principles of the Faith. The friends may yote, if they can do it, without identifying themselves with one party or another. To enter the arena of party politics is surely detrimental to the best interests of the Faith and will harm the Cause. It remains for the individuals to so use their right to vote as to keep aloof from party politics, and always bear in mind that they are voting on the S Ibid., April, 1933. 7 Ibid., January, 1934. merits of the individual, rather than because he belongs to one party or another. The matter must be made perfectly clear to the individuals, who will be left free to exercise their discretion and judgment. But if a certain person does enter into party politics and labors for the ascendancy of one party over another, and continues to do it against the expressed appeals, and warnings of the Assembly, then the Assembly has the right to refuse him the right to vote in Baha elections." That this principle, as do all Baha'i principles, has worldwide application is made clear by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated March 11, 1936:8 "The Faith of Baha'u'llah has assimilated, by virtue of its creative, its regulative and ennobling energies, the varied races, nationalities, creeds and classes that have sought its shadow, and have pledged unswerving fealty to its cause. It has changed the hearts of its adherents, burned away their prejudices, stilled their passions, exalted their conceptions, ennobled their motives, codrdi-nated their efforts, and transformed their outlook. While preserving their patriotism and safeguarding their lesser loyalties, it has made them lovers of mankind, and the determined upholders of its best and truest interests. While maintaining intact their belief in the Divine origin of their respective religions, it has enabled them to visualize the underlying purpose of these religions, to discover their merits, to recognize their sequence, their interdependence, their wholeness and unity, and to acknowledge the bond that vitally links them to itself. This universal, this transcending love which the followers of the Baha'i Faith feel for their fel-low-men, of whatever race, creed, class or nation, is neither mysterious nor can it be said to have been artificially stimulated. It is both spontaneous and genuine. They whose hearts are warmed by the energizing influence of God's creative love cherish His creatures for His sake, and recognize in every human face a sign of His reflected glory. "Of such men and women it may be truly said that to them 'every foreign land is a fatherland, and every fatherland a foreign land.' For their citizensbip, it must be remembered, is in the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah. Though willing to share to the utmost 8 World Order of Rahd'u'lldh, pp. 197198. [p312] Delegates to the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Baha'is of Persia, held at the Ija4ratu'1-Quds, Tihr~n, April 27-May 3, 1951. [p313] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 311 the temporal benefits and the fleeting joys which this earthly life can confer, though eager to participate in whatever activity that conduces to the richness, the happiness and peace of that life, they can, at no time, f or-get that it constitutes no more than a transient, a very brief stage of their existence, that they who live it are but pilgrims and wayfarers whose goal is the Celestial City, and whose home the Country of never-fail-ing joy and brightness. "Though loyal to their respective governments, though profoundly interested in anything that affects their security and welfare, though anxious to share in whatever promotes their best interests, the Faith with which the followers of Baha'u'llah stand identified is one which they firmly believe God has raised high above the storms, the divisions, and controversies of the political arena. Their Faith they conceive to be essentially nonpolitical, supranational in character, rigidly nonpartisan, and entirely dissociated from nationalistic ambitions, pursuits, and purposes. Such a Faith knows no division of class or of party. It subordinates, without hesitation or equivocation, every particularistic interest, be it personal, regional, or national to the paramount interests of humanity, firmly convinced that in a world of interdependent peoples and nations the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole, and that no abiding benefit can be conferred upon the component parts if the general interests of the entity itself are ignored or neglected." The unity of Baha'i action throughout the world is further emphasized in a letter from Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is of Vienna, written in 1947 through his secretary, in which he said in part:9 "We Baha'is are one the world over; we are seeking to build up a new world order, divine in origin. How can we do this if every Baha'i is a member of a different political party Ñ some of them diametrically opposite to each other? Where is our unity then? We would be divided because of politics, against ourselves and this is the opposite of our purpose. Obviously if one Baha'i in Austria is given freedom to choose a political party and join it, however good its aims may be, another Baha'i in Japan or America, or India, has the right to do the same thing and he might belong to a party the very opposite 9 Baha'i News, April, 1949. in principle to that which the Austrian Baha'i belongs to. Where would be the unity of the Faith then? These two spiritual brothers would be working against each other because of their political affiliations (as the Christians of Europe have been doing in so many fratricidal wars). The best way for a Baha'i to serve his country and the world is to work for the establishment of Baha'u'llah's World Order, which will gradually unite all men and do away with divisive pa-litical systems and religious creeds In the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha the Baha'is are instructed to "obey and be the well-wishers of the governments of the land, regard disloyalty unto a just king as disloyalty to God Himself and wishing evil to the government a transgression of the Cause of God."10 In explanation of this statement the Guardian wrote, in a letter dated July 3, 1948:11 "Regarding your question about politics and the Master's Will; the attitude of the Baha must be twofold, complete obedience to the government of the country they reside in, and no interference whatsoever in political matters or questions. What the Master's statement really means is obedience to a duly constituted government, whatever that government may be in form. We are not the ones, as individual Baha'is, to judge our government as just or unjust Ñ for each believer would be sure to hold a different viewpoint, and within our own Baha'i fold a hotbed of dissension would spring up and destroy our unity. We must build up our Baha'i system, and leave the faulty systems of the world to go their way. We cannot change them through becoming involved in them; on the contrary, they will destroy us." Another application of this principle concerns the right, propriety or usefulness of exerting Baha influence for the enactment of legislative measures reflecting more or less the purpose of same Baha'i principle or teaching. For example, should a Baha'i community, local or national, lend the name of the Baha'i Faith to support legislation which seeks to abolish race and religious discrimination in matters of industrial employment, or intervene when measures concerning military training of youth are before a legislature? The National Spiritual Assembly of the 10 Baha'i Administration (1945 ed3, p. 4. 11 Baha'i News, January, 1949. [p314] 312 THE BAHA'I WORLD Baha'is of the United States has stated12 that, "as a general policy subject to the Guardian's specific direction in special cases, Baha'is and their administrative institutions should not feel obligated to adopt a 'Baha'i' attitude or course of action on matters of civil legislation. Our teachings and basic principles speak far themselves. These we can always declare and set forth with all possible energy whenever occasions arise. But a truth which is sundered from its sustaining spiritual Source, lifted out of its organic relationship to the Baha'i community, broken off from the other truths, and made subject to the storm and stress of secular controversy, is no longer a truth with which we can usefully have concern. It has become an enactment to be carried out by institutions and groups committed to other enactments, other aims and purposes and methods not in conformity with the 'Divine Polity' entrusted to those alone who give full loyalty to Baha'u'llah. Far better for us to strive to mirror forth radiantly the individual and community virtues of a new era than to hope others than believers will achieve the holy mission of the Faith. We Baha'is have in reality accepted a world order and not merely a new decalogue of truths or commands. On the other hand, obedience to civil government is an obligation laid by Baha'u'llah upon every Baha'i" Shoghi Effendi13 points out, as a guiding principle of Baha'i conduct, that "in connection with their administrative activities, no matter how grievously interference with them might affect the course of the exten-l2RaIzd'i World, vol. 10, p. 278. 13 Rahd'i Administration (1945 ed.), p. 162. sion of the Movement, and the suspension of which does not constitute in itself a departure from the principle of loyalty to their Faith, the considered judgment and authoritative decrees issued by their responsible rulers must, if they be faithful to Bah~'u'-IlAli's and 'Abdu'l-Baha's express injunctions, be thoroughly respected and loyally obeyed. In matters, however, that vitally affect the integrity and honor of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, and are tantamount to a recantation of their faith and repudiation of their innermost belief, they [the Baha'is are convinced, and are unhesitatingly prepared to vindicate by their lifeblood the sincerity of their conviction, that no power on earth, neither the arts of the most insidious adversary nor the bloody weapons of the most tyrannical oppressor, cam ever succeed in extorting from them a word or deed that might tend to stifle the voice of their conscience or tarnish the purity of their faith." "Small wonder if by the Pen of Baha'u'llah these pregnant words, written in anticipation of the present state of mankind, should have been revealed: 'It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who lovethA the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.' And again, 'That one indeed is a man who today dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. 'Through the power released by these exalted words,' He explains, 'He hath lent a fresh impulse, and set a new direction, to the birds of men's hearts, and hath obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God's Holy Book.' "14 14 World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 198. LOYALTY TO GOVERNMENT Statement Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States of America V/HEN a great social crisis sweeps through a civilization, moral values become impaired. In the crisis of our own time, members of the Baha'i Faith go on record as firmly upholding the principle of loyalty to government. More than eighty years ago Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, set forth this cardinal principle: "In every country or government where any of this community reside, they must behave toward that government with faithfulness, trustfulness, and truthfulness." Loyalty to government, in the Baha view, is an essential spiritual and social principle. "We must obey and be the well-wish-ers of the government of the land. ." "The essence of the Baha'i spirit is that in order [p315] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 313 to establish a better social order and economic condition, there must be allegiance to the laws and principles of government." This allegiance is part of the strong emphasis on integrity of character found in the Baha teaching. "Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts." "Beautify your tongues, 0 people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty. Beware, 0 people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people." Without integrity of character in its citizens and without ~oyaIty to government, a nation will find itself torn asunder and unable to function as an organic society. Not oniy do the Baha teachings obligate members to be loyal to their government Ñ they also specifically forbid them from taking any part in subversive political and social movements. CONCERNING MEMBERSHIP IN NONBAHA'I RELIGIOUS ORGANJZATIONS* THE instruction written by Shoghi Effendi concerning membership in non-Bah~.'i religious organizations, published in the July, 1935, number of Baha'i News, has brought forth some interesting and important communications from local Spiritual Assemblies and also from individual believers, to all of which the National Spiritual Assembly has given careful and sympathetic attention. The National Assembly itself, on receiving that instruction, made it the subject of extensive consultation, feeling exceedingly responsible for its own understanding of the Guardian's words and anxious to contribute to the understanding of the friends. In October, 1935, the Assembly sent in reply to some of these communications a general letter embodying its thoughts on the subject, and a copy of that letter was forwarded to Shoghi Effendi for his approval and comment. His references to its contents, made in letters addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly on November 29 and December 11, 1935, are appended to this statement. Now that Shoghi Effendi's approval has been received, the National Assembly feels it desirable to publish, for the information of all the American believers, the substance of the October letter. While so fundamental an instruction is bound to raise different questions corresponding to the different conditions existing throughout the Baha'i community, the most important consideration is our collective need to grasp the essential principle under* * A statement prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of the BaM'js of the United States. lying the new instruction, and our capacity to perceive that the position which the Guardian wishes us to take in regard to church membership is a necessary and inevitable result of the steady development of the World Order of Baha'u'llah. This essential principle is made clear when we turn to Shoghi Effendi's further reference to the subject as published in Baha'i News for October, 1935 Ñ words written by the Guardian's own hand. In the light of these words, it seems fully evident that the way to approach this instruction is in realizing the Faith of Bab 4'-u'lThh as an ever-growing organism destined to become something new and greater than any of the revealed religions of the past. Whereas former Faiths inspired hearts and illumined souls, they eventuated in formal religions with an ecclesiastical organization, creeds, rituals and churches, while the Faith of Baha'u'llah, likewise renewing man's spiritual life, will gradually produce the institutions of an ordered society, fulfilling not merely the function of the churches of the past but also the function of the civil state. By this manifestation of the Divine Will in a higher degree than in former ages, humanity will emerge from that immature civilization in which church and state are separate and competitive institutions, and partake of a true civilization in which spiritual and social principles are at last reconciled as two aspects of one and the same Truth. No Baha'i can read the successive World Order letters sent us by Shoghi Effendi without perceiving that the Guardian, for many [p316] 314 THE BAHA'I WORLD years, has been preparing us to understand and appreciate this fundamental purpose and mission of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. Even when the Master ascended, we were for the most part still considering the Baha Faith as though it were oniy the "return of Christ" and failing to perceive the entirely new and larger elements latent in the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Thus, in the very first of the World Order letters, written February 27th, 1929, Shoghi Effendi said: "Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its affairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests?" Although for five years the Guardian had been setting forth the principles of Baha'i Administration in frequent letters, in 1927 he apparently felt it necessary to overcome some doubts here and there as to the validity of the institutions the Master bequeathed to the Baha'is in His Will and Testament. The series of World Order letters, however, goes far beyond the point of defending and explaining their validity as an essential element in the Faith of Baha'u'llah Ñ the Guardian vastly extended the horizon of our understanding by making it clear that the Administrative Order, in its full development, is to be the social structure of the future civilization. Thus, in that same letter quoted above, he wrote: "Not only will the presentday Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Baha'i Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Baha'i Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future super-state." This passage stands as the keystone in the noble structure which Shoghi Effendi has raised in his function as interpreter of the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. The Master developed the Cause to the point where this social Teaching, always existent in the Tablets of Baha'u'llah, could be explained to the believers and given its due significance as the fulfillment of Baha'i evolution. As the Guardian expressed it: "That Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Baha Faith." (World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 34.) For us these words mean that a Baha is not merely a member of a revealed Religion, he is also a citizen in a World Order even though that Order today is still in its infancy and still obscured by the shadows thrown by the institutions, habits and attitudes derived from the past. But since the aim and end has been made known, our devotion and loyalty must surely express itself, not in clinging to views and thoughts emanating from the past, but in pressing forward in response to the needs of the new creation. That true devotion, which consists in conscious knowledge of the "primary mission," and unified action to assist in bringing about its complete triumph, recognizes that a Baha'i today must have singleness of mind as of aim, without the division arising when we stand with one foot in the Cause and one foot in the world, attempting to reconcile diverse elements which the Manifestation of God Himself has declared to be irreconcilable. The principle underlying the Guardian's instruction about membership in non-Bah~t'i religious bodies has already been emphasized by Shoghi Effendi in another connection Ñ the instruction about the nonpolitical character of the Faith which he incorporated in his letter entitled "The Golden Age of the Cause of Baha'u'llah." For example: "I feel it, therefore, incumbent upon me to stress, now that the time is ripe, the importance of an instruction which, at the present stage of the evolution of our Faith, should be increasingly emphasized, irrespective of its application to the East or to the West. And this principle is no other than that which involves the nonparticipation by the adherents of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, whether in their [p317] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 315 individual capacities or collectively as local or national Assemblies, in any form of activity that might be interpreted, either directly or indirectly, as an interference in the political affairs of any particular government." Again, when the question was raised as to membership in certain non-Bah6.'i organizations not directly religious or political in character, the Guardian replied: "Regarding association with the World Fellowship of Faiths and kindred Societies, Shoghi Effendi wishes to reaffirm and elucidate the general principle that Baha'i elected representatives as well as individuals should refrain from any act or word that would imply a departure from the principles, whether spiritual, social or administrative, established by Baha'u'llah. Formal affiliation with and acceptance of membership in organizations whose programs or policies are not wholly reconcilable with the Teachings is of course out of the question." (Baha'i News, August, 1933.) Thus, not once but repeatedly the Guardian has upheld the vital principle underlying every type of relationship between Baha'is and other organizations, namely, that the Cause of Baha'u'llah is an ever-growing organism, and as we begin to realize its universality our responsibility is definitely established to cherish and defend that universality from all compromise, all admixture with worldly elements, whether emanating from our own habits rooted in the past or from the deliberate attacks imposed by enemies from without. It will be noted that in the instruction published in Juiy, 1935, Baha'i News, the Guardian made it clear that the principle involved is not new and unexpected, but rather an application of an established principle to a new condition. "Concerning membership in non-Bah6'i religious associations, the Guardian wishes to reemphasize the general principle already laid down in his communications to your Assembly and also to the individual believers that no Baha'i who wishes to be a wholehearted and sincere upholder of the distinguishing princi-pies of the Cause can accept full membership in any non-B ah~A ecclesiastical organization. For it is oniy too obvious that in most of its fundamental assumptions the Cause of Baha'u'llah is completely at variance with outworn creeds, ceremonies and institutions. During the days of the Master the Cause was still in a stage that made such an open and sharp dissociation between it and other religious organizations, and particularly the Muslim Faith, not only inadvisable but practically impossible to establish. But since His passing events throughout the Baha world, and partidil-larly in Egypt where the Muslim religious courts have formally testified to the independent character of the Faith, have developed to a point that has made such an assertion of the independence of the Cause not only highly desirable but absolutely essential." To turn now to the Guardian's words published in October Baha'i News: "The separation that has set in between the institutions of the Baha'i Faith and the Islamic ecclesiastical organizations that oppose it imposes upon every loyal upholder of the Cause the obligation refraining from any word or action that might prejudice the position which our enemies have of their own accord proclaimed and established. This historic development, the begin-flings of which could neither be recognized nor even anticipated in the years immediately preceding 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing, may be said to have signalized the Formative Period of our Faith and to have paved the way for the consolidation of its administrative order. Though our Cause unreservedly recognizes the Divine origin of all the religions that preceded it and upholds the spiritual truths which lie at their very core and are common to them all, its institutions, whether administrative, religious or humanitarian, must, if their distinctive character is to be maintained and recognized, be increasingly divorced from the outworn creeds, the meaningless ceremonials and manmade institutions with which these religions are at present identified. Our adversaries in the East have initiated the struggle. Our future opponents in the West will, in their turn, arise and carry it a stage further. Ours is the duty, in anticipation of this inevitable contest, to uphold unequivocally and with undivided loyalty the integrity of our Faith and demonstrate the distinguishing features of its divinely appointed institutions." Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic. These words, asserting again the essential universality of the Cause, likewise repeat and renew the warning that the organized religions, even in America, will become bitterly hostile to the Faith of Bah&' [p318] 316 THE BAHA'I WORLD u'lldh, denounce and oppose it, and seek its destruction in vain effort to maintain their own "outworn creeds" and material power. Informed of this inevitable development, can a Baha'i any longer desire to retain a connection which, however liberal and pleasing it now seems, is a connection with a potential foe of the Cause of God? The Guardian's instruction signifies that the time has come when all American believers must become fully conscious of the implications of such connections, and carry out their ioy-alty to its logical conclusion. Shoghi Effendi's latest words are not merely an approval of the foregoing statement, but a most helpful elucidation of some of the problems which arise when the friends turn to their local Assemblies for specific advice under various special circumstances. "The explanatory statement in connection with membership in non-BahA'f religious organizations is admirably conceived, convincing and in full conformity with the principles underlying and implied in the unfolding world order of Baha'u'llah." (November 29, 1933.) "The Guardian has carefully read the copy of the statement you had recently prepared concerning non-membership in nonBaha'i religious organizations, and is pleased to realize that your comments and explanations are in full conformity with his views on the subject. He hopes that your letter will serve to clarify this issue in the minds of all the believers, and to further convince them of its vital character and importance in the present stage of the evolution of the Cause. In this case,' as also in that of suffering believers, the Assemblies, whether local or national, should act tactfully, patiently and in a friendly and kindly spirit. Knowing how painful and dangerous it is 1 A special case involving an aged Baha'i, afflicted with illness, for whom severance of church relations might have been too great a shock. for such believers to repudiate their former allegiances and friendships, they should try to gradually persuade them of the wisdom and necessity of such an action, and instead of thrusting upon them a new principle, to make them accept it inwardly, and out of pure conviction and desire. Too severe and immediate action in such cases is not only fruitless but actually harmful. It alienates people instead of winning them to the Cause. "The other point concerns the advisability of contributing to a church. In this case also the friends must realize that contributions to a church, especially when not regular, do not necessarily entail affiliation. The believers can make such offerings, occasionally, and provided they are certain that while doing so they are not connected as members of any church. There should be no confusion between the terms affiliation and association. While affiliation with ecclesiastical organizations is not permissible, association with them should not only be tolerated but even encouraged. There is no better way to demonstrate the universality of the Cause than this. Baha'u'llah, indeed, urges His followers to consort with all religions and nations with utmost friendliness and love. This constitutes the very spirit of His message to mankind." (December 11, 1935.) The National Spiritual Assembly trusts that the subject will receive the attention of local Assemblies and communities, and that in the light of the foregoing explanations the friends will find unity and agreement in applying the instruction to whatever situations may arise. In teaching new believers let us lay a proper foundation so that theft obedience will be voluntary and assured from the beginning of their enrollment as Baha'is. In our attitude toward the older believers who are affected by the instruction let us act with the patience and kindliness the Guardian has urged. BAYLk'IS AND MILITARY SERVICE THE BAHA'I VIEW OF PACIFISM "With reference to the absolute pacifists or conscientious objectors IN a letter published to war: their attitude, in Baha'i News, January, judged from the Baha'i 1938, Shoghi Effendi, standpoint, is quite antisocial the Guardian of the BahA'iand due to its exaltation Faith wrote through his secretary:of the individual conscience leads inevitably to disorder and chaos in society. Extreme paci [p319] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 317 fists are thus very close to anarchists, in the sense that both of these groups lay an undue emphasis on the rights and merits of the individual. The Baha conception of social life is essentially based on the subordination of the individual will to that of society. It neither suppresses the individual nor does it exalt him to the point of making him an antisocial creature, a menace to society. As in everything, it follows the 'golden mean.' The oniy way society can function is for the minority to follow the will of the majority. "The other main objection to the conscientious objectors is that their method of establishing peace is too negative. Noncooperation is too passive a philosophy to become an effective way for social reconstruction. Their refusal to bear arms can never establish peace. There should first be a spiritual revitalization which nothing, except the Cause of God, can effectively bring to every man's heart." THE BAnAl POSITION ON MILITARY SERVICE (A Public Statement issued by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States) In view of the increasing importance of a clear understanding of the details of the Baha'i position on military service, the National Baha'i Assembly presents the following statement of general principles for the information and guidance of the members of the Baha'i Community in the United States and others who may have an interest in the Baha'i viewpoint. • The Baha'i teachings require that fob lowers of the Faith obey the laws of the government under which they live, and this requirement includes the obligation for military service which rests upon all citizens. However, Baha'is are also required to apply for noncombatant service whenever the opportunity to do so is b~gally provided by their government on the basis of religious training and belief. While the religious convictions of Baha'is require them to seek whatever exemption from combatant duty may be granted by their government on the grounds of religious belief, they definitely are not pacifists in the sense of refusal to cooperate with and obey the laws of an established government. Thus Baha'is do not, on the grounds of religious conviction, seek to abandon their obligation as citizens in time of war or national emergency. Neither do they attempt to avoid the dangers and hardships which are inevitable in time of war, and to which all citizens of military age are liable. Thus Baha'is who are citizens of the United States are able to reconcile their fundamental spiritual convictions and their civil obligations as citizens by applying for noncombatant service under the existing Selective Service law and regulations. The members of the Baha'i Faith make no reservations in claiming that they are fully obedient to all provisions of the laws of their country, including the constitutional right of the Federal government to raise armies and conscript citizens for military service. Although it is necessary for Baha'is to be classified as "conscientious objectors" to combatant military service in order to obtain a noncombatant status under the Sc-lective Service regulations, they are not conscientious objectors" in the sense of a refusal to obey the laws of their country or to perform noncombatant military duties as members of the armed forces. Their status is rather that of "conscientious co-opera-tors" with the military authorities of their country, since they serve as members of the armed forces in the Medical Corps, or in any capacity in which they may legally maintain a noncombatant status, regardless of the effect which this may have upon their personal safety, their convenience, the type of activity they must discharge, or the rank to which they may be assigned. SUMMARY .OF THE GUARDIAN'S INSTRUCTIONS ON THE OBLIGATION OF BAHA'IS IN CONNECTION WITH MILITARY SERVICE During World War II the Baha'i position on military training and service, and the obligation of individual Baha'is to apply for and maintain a noncombatant status when this is possible under the laws of their country, were outlined specifically in a series of instructions and bulletins issued by the National Assembly. Since 1945, two items on this subject have been published in BaJui'i News; one in the October, 1946 issue (pp. 910), and the [p320] 318 THE BAHA'I WORLD other in the September, 1948 issue (p. 6). Both of these articles quoted the Guardian's instruction contained in a letter to the National Assembly dated July 20, 1946, written in reply to a question as to whether the existence of the United Nations in its present form should change the attitude of Baha'is toward military duties which might require the taking of human life. The Guardian's answer to this question is again quoted below: "As there is neither an International Police Force nor any immediate prospect of one coming into being, the Bab's should continue to apply, under all circumstances, for exemption from any military duties that necessitate the taking of life. There is no justification for any change of attitude on our part at the present time." These words indicate that the Guardian still feels that a Baha'i cannot voluntarily enter any form of combatant military duty, and must seek exemption from such service if this is possible under the laws of his country. The instruction given in the July 20, 1946 letter was confirmed recently in a cable received from the Guardian by the National Assembly on January 17, 1951. The Guardian, in these and earlier communications, has made it clear that it is obligatory, and not an optional matter, for all Baha'is to apply for and maintain a noncombatant status if this is possible under the law. When such a law exists, as is the case in the United States, Baha'is cannot voluntarily enlist in any branch of the armed forces where they would be subject to orders to engage in the taking of human life. It is only through the Selective Service machinery of classification and induction that a noncombatant status can be secured and maintained. The N.S.A. statement in the September, 1948 issue of Baha'i News caLled attention to passage of the Selective Service Act of 1948, and to the fact that Section 6 (j) of this Act provides an exemption from combatant service and training for those citizens who are opposed to such service by reason of religious training or belief. This provision is similar to the one in Section 5 (g) of the Selective Service Act of 1940, which was the legal basis for application for exemption from combatant duty during the last war by Baha'is subject to the draft. It is the firm spiritual obligation of Baha'is residing in the United States who must fill out a Selective Service Questionnaire, to indicate on this form (Series XIV) in the space provided that they are opposed to combatant military service and to claim the exemption provided under the Selective Service Act on the grounds of religious training and belief. They should also request a copy of the special form (SS Form No. 150) provided for those claiming such exemption, and then fill this out in accordance with instructions contained in a special bulletin "Baha'is and the Selective Draft," which may be obtained from the National Assembly or from Local Assembly Secretaries. INTERPRETATION OF THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA '¶A/TELL is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Baha'u'llah and rem-dereth thanks unto his Lord! For He assuredly will be made manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bay6n. Ñ THE BAa.' The world's equilibrium bath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this 1 World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 146147. wondrous System Ñ the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed. Ñ BAHA'U'LLAH It is incumbent upon the Agh~~n, the Afiiln and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: "When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed. Who hath branched from this An2 2 Ibid., p. 146. [p321] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 319 cient Root." The object of this sacred verse is none except the Most Mighty Branch ('Abdu'l-Baha). Thus have We graciously revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful. Ñ BAHX'U' LL$LH.3 There hath branched from the Sadratu'I-MuntahA this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the whole of creation. Ñ BAHA'U'LLAH In accordance with the explicit text of the KITAB-I-AQDAS, Baha'u'llah bath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His Word Ñ a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation hath produced its like. Ñ 'ABDU'L-BAI-1K5 'Abdu'l-Baha, Who incarnates an institution for which we can find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world's recognized religious systems, may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the one in which we are now laboring. His Will and Testament should thus be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that constitute the component parts of the Baha Dispensation. The creative energies released by the Law of Baha'u'llah, permeating and evolving within the mind of 'Abdu'l-Baha have, by their very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation. The Will may thus be acclaimed as the inevitable offspring resulting from that mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated the generating influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient. Being the Child of the Covenant Ñ the Heir of bath Ibid., p. 134. 4 Ibid., p. 135. 5 IbId., p. 136. the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God Ñ the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha can no more be divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it. Baha'u'llah's inscrutable purpose, we must ever bear in mind, has been so thoroughly infused into the conduct of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and their motives have been so closely welded together, that the mere attempt to dissociate the teachings of the former from any system which the ideal Exemplar of those same teachings has established would amount to a repudiation of one of the most sacred and basic truths of the Faith. Ñ SrroGnI EFFENDI For Baha'u'llah, we should readily recognize, has not oniy imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely enunciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these He, as well as 'Abdu'l-Baha after Him, has, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of Laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth. Ñ SHOGIn EFFENDI the Spirit breathed by Baha'u'llah upon the world can never permeate and exercise an abiding influence upon mankind unless and until it incarnates itself in a visible Order, which would bear His Name, wholly identify itself with His princi-pies, and function in conformity with His Laws Ñ SHOGm EFFENDI The Administrative Order, which ever since Abdu'l-Baha's ascension has evolved and is taking shape under our very eyes m no fewer than forty countries9 of the world, may be considered as the framework of the Will itself, the inviolable stronghold wherein 6 ibid., pp. 143144. 7 Ibid., p. 19. S Ibid., p. 19. ~J By 1950 this figure had reached over one hundred; by 1954, over two hundred. This excerpt is from World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 144. [p322] 320 THE BAHA'! WORLD this newborn child is being nurtured and developed. This Administrative Order, as it expands and consolidates itself, will no doubt manifest the potentialities and reveal the full implications of this momentous Document Ñ this most remarkable expression of the Will of One of the most remarkable Figures of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. It will, as its component pads, its organic institutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigor, assert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind. Ñ SHoom EFFENDI. The Charter which called into being, outlined the features and set in motion the processes of, this Administrative Order is none other than the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, His greatest legacy to posterity, the brightest emanation of His mind and the mightiest instrument forged to insure the continuity of the three ages which constitute the component parts of His rather's Dispensation. Ñ SHOGHLI EFFENDI.'0 It was 'Abdu'l-Baha Who, through the provisions of His weighty Will and Testament, has forged the vital link which must for ever connect the age that has just expired with the one we now live in Ñ the Transitional and Formative period of the Faith Ñ a stage that must in the fullness of time reach its blossom and yield its fruit in the exploits and triumphs that are to herald the Golden Age of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. Ñ SHoGm EFFENDI' The Document establishing that Order, the Charter of a future world civilization, which may be regarded in some of its features as supplementary to no less weighty a Book than the Kitab-i-Aqdas; signed and sealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha alA; entirely written with His own hand; its first section composed during one of the darkest periods of His incarceration in the prison-fortress of 'AkU, proclaims, categorically and unequivocally, the fundamental beliefs of the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah; reveals, in unmistakable language, the twofold character of the Mission of the Bab; 10 God Passes By, p. 325. ii world Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 98. discloses the full station of the Author of the Baha'i Revelation; asserts that "all others are servants unto Him and do His bidding"; stresses the importance of the Kitab-i-Aqdas; establishes the institution of the Guardianship as a hereditary office and outlines its essential functions; provides the measures for the election of the International House of Justice, defines its scope and sets forth its relationship to that Institution; prescribes the obligations, and emphasizes the responsibilities, of the Hands of the Cause of God; and extolls the virtues of the indestructible Covenant established by Baha'u'llah. That Document, furthermore, lauds the courage and constancy of the supporters of Baha'u'llah's Covenant; expatiates on the sufferings endured by its appointed Center; recalls the infamous conduct of Mirza YatiyA and his failure to heed the warnings of the Bab; exposes, in a series of indictments, the perfidy and rebellion of Mirza Mu1~ammad-'A11, and the complicity of his son Shu'A'u'11Th and of his brother Mirza Baha'u'llah; reaffirms their excommunication, and predicts the frustration of all their hopes; summons the Afn~n (the Bab's kindred), the Hands of the Cause and the entire company of the followers of Baha'u'llah to arise unitedly to propagate His Faith, to disperse far and wide, to labor tirelessly and to follow the heroic example of the Apostles of Jesus Christ; warns them against the dangers of association with the Covenant-breakers, and bids them shield the Cause from the assaults of the insincere and the hypocrite; and counsels them to demonstrate by their conduct the universality of the Faith they have espoused, and vindicate its high principles. In that same Document its Author reveals the significance and purpose of the Ijuqiiiqu'11~h (Right of God), already instituted in the Kitab-i-Aqdas; enjoins submission and fidelity towards all monarchs who are just; expresses His longing for martyrdom, and voices His prayers for the repentance as well as the forgiveness of His enemies. Ñ SHoGm EFFENDI.'2 We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly con-tams. Only future generations can compre-12 God Passes fly, p. 328. [p323] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 321 hend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide Faith of Baha'u'llah. Only those who come after us will be in a post tion to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the institution of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions initiated by 'Abdu'l-Baha to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age Ñ SHOGHI EEFENDI.18 i3 World Order of Rahd'u'Zldh, p. 8. EXCERPTS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SilO GIlL EFFENDI I HAVE been acquainted by the perusal of your latest communications with the nature of the doubts that have been publicly expressed, by one who is wholly misinformed as to the true precepts of the Cause, regarding the validity of institutions that stand inextricably interwoven with the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Not that I for a moment view such faint misgivings in the light of an open challenge to the structure that embodies the Faith, nor is it because I question in the least the unyielding tenacity of the faith of the American believers, if I venture to dwell upon what seems to me appropriate observations at the present stage of the evolution of our beloved Cause. I am indeed inclined to welcome these expressed apprehensions inasmuch as they afford me an opportunity to familiarize the elected representatives of the believers with the origin and character of the institutions which stand at the very basis of the world order ushered in by Baha'u'llah. We should fed truly thankful for such futile attempts to undermine our beloved Faith Ñ attempts that protrude their ugly face from time to time, seem for a while able to create a breach in the ranks of the faithful, recede finally into the obscurity of oblivion, and are thought of no more. Such incidents we should regard as the interpositions of Providence, designed to fortify our faith, to clarify our vision, and to deepen our understanding of the essentials of His Divine Revelation. lit would, however, be helpful and instructive to bear in mind certain basic principles with reference to the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha, which, together with the Kitab-i-Aqdas, constitutes the chief depository wherein are enshrined those priceless elements of that Divine Civilization, the establishment of which is the primary mission of the Baha'i Faith. A study of the provi sions of these sacred documents will reveal the close relationship that exists between them, as well as the identity of purpose and method which they inculcate. Far from regarding their specific provisions as incompatible and contradictory in spirit, every fair-minded inquirer will readily admit that they are not only complementary, but that they mutually confirm one another, and are inseparable parts of one complete unit. A comparison of their contents with the rest of Baha Sacred Writings will similarly establish the conformity of whatever they contain with the spirit as well as the letter of the authenticated writings and sayings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha In fact, he who reads the Aqdas with care and diligence will not find it hard to discover that the Most Holy Book [Aqdas] itself anticipates in a number of passages the institutions which 'Abdu'l-Baha ordains in His Will. By leaving certain matters unspecified and unregulated in His Book of Laws lAqdas], Baha'u'llah seems to have deliberately left a gap in the general scheme of Dab Li Dispensation, which the unequivocal provisions of the Master's Will has filled. To attempt to divorce the one from the other, to insinuate that the Teachings of Baha'u'llah have not been upheld, in their entirety and with absolute integrity, by what 'Abdu'l-Baha has revealed in his Will, is an unpardonable affront to the unswerving fidelity that has characterized the life and labors of our beloved Master. I will not attempt in the least to assert or demonstrate the authenticity of the Will and Testament of 'A bdu'I-Bahd, for that in itself would betray an apprehension on my part as to the unanimous confidence of the believers in the genuineness of the last written wishes of our departed Master. I will only confine my observations to those issues which may [p324] Baha'is of the British Isles, Convention, Year 110, London. [p325] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 323 assist them to appreciate the essential unity that underlies the spiritual, the humanitarian, and the administrative principles enunciated by the Author and the Interpreter of the Baha'i Faith. I am at a loss to explain that strange mentality that inclines to uphold as the sole criterion on the truth of the Baha'i Teachings what is admittedly oniy an obscure and unauthenticated translation of an oral statement made by 'Abdu'l-Baha, in defiance and total disregard of the available text of all of His universally recognized writings. I truly deplore the unfortunate distortions that have resulted in days past from the incapacity of the interpreter to grasp the meaning of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and from his incompetence to render adequately such truths as have been revealed to him by the Master's statements. Much of the confusion that has obscured the understanding of the believers should be attributed to this double error involved in the inexact rendering of an oniy partially understood statement. Not infrequently has the interpreter even failed to convey the exact purport of the inquirer's specific questions, and, by his deficiency of understanding and expression in conveying the answer of 'Abdu'l-Baha, has been responsible for reports wholly at variance with the true spirit and purpose of the Cause. It was chiefly in view of this misleading nature of the reports of the informal conversations of 'Abdu'l-Baha with visiting pilgrims, that I have in-sistenfly urged the believers of the West to regard such statements as merely personal impressions of the sayings of their Master, and to quote and consider as authentic only such translations as are based upon the authenticated text of His recorded utterances in the original tongue. It should be remembered by every follower of the Cause that the system of Baha'i administration is not an innovation imposed arbitrarily upon the Baha'is of the world since the Master's passing, but derives its authority from the Will and Testament of 'A bdu'I-Bahd, is specifically prescribed in unnumbered Tablets, and rests in some of its essential features upon the explicit provisions of the Kitdb-i-A qdas. It thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid down by Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can oniy result in the disintegration of its component parts, and the extinction of the Faith itself. LOCAL AND NATIONAL HOUSES OF JUSTICE It should be carefully borne in mind that the local as well as the International Houses of Justice have been expressly enjoined by the Kitab-i-Aqdas; that the institution of the National Spiritual Assembly, as an intermediary body, and referred to in the Master's Will as the "Secondary House of Justice," has the express sanction of 'Abdu'l-Baha; and that the method to be pursued for the election of the International and National Houses of Justice has been set forth by Him in His Will, as well as in a number of His Tablets. Moreover, the institutions of the local and national Funds, that are now the necessary adjuncts to afl Local and National Spiritual Assemblies, have not only been established by Abdu'l-Baha in the Tablets He revealed to the Baha'is of the Orient, but their importance and necessity have been repeatedly emphasized by Him in His utterances and writings. The concentration of authority in the hands of the elected representatives of the believers; the necessity of the submission of every adherent of the Faith to the considered judgment of Baha Assemblies; His preference for unanimity in decision; the decisive character of the majority vote; and even the desirability for the exercise of dose supervision over all Baha'i publications, have been sedulously instilled by 'Abdu'l-Baha, as evidenced by His authenticated and widely-scattered Tablets. To accept His broad and humanitarian Teachings on one hand, and to reject and dismiss with neglectful indifference His more challenging and distinguishing precepts, would be an act of manifest disloyalty to that which He has cherished most in His life. That the Spiritual Assemblies of today will be replaced in time by the Houses of Justice, and are to all intents and purposes identical and not separate bodies, is abundantly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself. He has in fact in a Tablet addressed to the members of the first Chicago Spiritual Assembly, the first elected Baha'i body instituted in the United States, referred to them as the members of the "House of Justice" [p326] 324 THE BAllASt WORLD for that city, and has thus with His own pen established beyond any doubt the identity of the present Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies with the Houses of Justice referred to by Baha'u'llah. For reasons which are not difficult to discover, it has been found advisable to bestow upon the elected representatives of Baha'i communities throughout the world the temporary appellation of Spiritual Assemblies, a term which, as the position and aims of the Baha'i Faith are better understood and more fully recognized, will gradually be superseded by the permanent and more appropriate designation of House of Justice. Not oniy will the presentday Spiritual Assemblies be styled differently in the future, but will be enabled also to add to their present functions those powers, duties, and prerogatives necessitated by the recognition of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, not merely as one of the recognized religious systems of the world, but as the State Religion of an independent and Sovereign Power. And as the Baha Faith permeates the masses of the peoples of East and West, and its truth is embraced by the majority of the peoples of a number of the Sovereign States of the world, will the Universal House of Justice attain the plenitude of its power, and exercise, as the supreme organ of the Baha'i Commonwealth, all the rights, the duties, and responsibilities incumbent upon the world's future superstate. It must be pointed out, however, in this connection that, contrary to what has been confidently asserted, the establishment of the Supreme House of Justice is in no way dependent upon the adoption of the Baha Faith by the mass of the peoples of the world, nor does it presuppose its acceptance by the majority of the inhabitants of any one country. In fact, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Himself, in one of His earliest Tablets, contemplated the possibility of the formation of the Universal House of Justice in His own lifetime, and but for the unfavorable circumstances prevailing under the Turkish r6gime, would have, in all probability, taken the preliminary steps for its establishment. It will be evident, therefore, that given favorable circumstances, under which the Baha'is of Persia and of the adjoining countries under Soviet Rule may be enabled to elect their national representatives, in accordance with the guiding principles laid down in 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings, the oniy remaining obstacle in the way of the definite formation of the International House of Justice will have been removed. For upon the National Houses of Justice of the East and West devolves the task, in conformity with the explicit provisions of the Will, of electing directly the members of the International House of Justice. Not until they are themselves fully representative of the rank and file of the believers in their respective countries, not until they have acquired the weight and the experience that will enable them to function vigorously in the organic life of the Cause, can they approach their sacred task, and provide the spiritual basis for the constitution of so august a body in the Baha'i world. THE INSTITUTION OF GUARDIANSHIP It must be also clearly understood by every believer that the institution of Guardianship does not under any circumstances abrogate, or even in the slightest degree detract from, the powers granted to the Universal House of Justice by Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and repeatedly and sob emnly confirmed by 'Abdu'l-Baha alA in His Will. It does not constitute in any manner a contradiction to the Will and Writings of Baha'u'llah, nor does it nullify any of His revealed instructions. It enhances the prestige of that exalted assembly, stabilizes its supreme position, safeguards its unity, assures the continuity of its labors, without presuming in the slightest to infringe upon the inviolability of its clearly defined sphere of jurisdiction. We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and the significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece, which the hand of the Master-builder of the world has designed for the unification and the triumph of the worldwide Faith of Baha'u'llah. Only those who come after us will be in a position to realize the value of the surprisingly strong emphasis that has been placed on the iflStitUtiOil of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship. They oniy will appreciate the significance of the vigorous language employed by 'Abdu'l-Baha with reference to the band of Covenant-breakers that has opposed Him in His days. To them alone will be revealed the suitability of the institutions [p327] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 325 Baha'is attending the National Convention of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria, held in the newly erected Ija4ratu'1-Quds, Frankfurt-am-Main, April, 1951. initiated by 'Abdu'l-Baha to the character of the future society which is to emerge out of the chaos and confusion of the present age. THE ANIMATING PURPOSE OF BARKI INSTITUTIONS And now, it behooves us to reflect on the animating purpose and the primary functions of these divinely-established institutions, the sacred character and the universal efficacy of which can be demonstrated only by the spirit they diffuse and the work they actually achieve. I need not dwell upon what I have already reiterated and emphasized that the administration of the Cause is to be conceived as an instrument and not a substitute for the Faith of Baha'u'llah, that it should be regarded as a channel through which His promised blessings may flow, that it should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation. Who, I may ask, when viewing the international character of the Cause, its far-flung ramifications, the increasing complexity of its af fairs, the diversity of its adherents, and the state of confusion that assails on every side the infant Faith of God, can for a moment question the necessity of some sort of administrative machinery that will insure, amid the storm and stress of a struggling civilization, the unity of the Faith, the preservation of its identity, and the protection of its interests? To repudiate the validity of the assemblies of the elected ministers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah would be to reject these countless Tablets of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, wherein they have extolled their privileges and duties, emphasized the glory of their mission, revealed the immensity of their task, and warned them of the attacks they must needs expect from the unwisdom of friends, as well as from the malice of their enemies. It is surely for those to whose hands so priceless a heritage has been committed to prayerfully watch lest the tool should supersede the Faith itself, lest undue concern for the minute details arising from the administration of the Cause obscure the vision of its promoters, lest partiality, ambition, and worldliness tend in the course of time to becloud the radiance, stain the [p328] 326 THE BAnAl WORLD purity, and impair the effectiveness of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.' ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER With the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha the first century of the Baha'i era, whose inception had synchronized with His birth, had run more than three quarters of its course. Sev-enty-seven years previously the light of the Faith proclaimed by the Bab had arisen above the horizon of Shfr& and flashed across the firmament of Persia, dispelling the agelong gloom which had enveloped its people. A blood bath of unusual ferocity, in which government, clergy and people, heedless of the significance of that light and blind to its splendor, had jointly participated, had all but extinguished the radiance of its glory in the land of its birth. Baha'u'llah had at the darkest hour in the fortunes of that Faith been summoned, while Himself a prisoner in Tihr~~n, to reinvigorate its life, and been commissioned to fulfill its ultimate purpose. In Baghdad, upon the termination of the ten-year delay interposed between the first intimation of that Mission and its Declaration, He had revealed the Mystery enshrined in the BTh's embryonic Faith, and disclosed the fruit which it had yielded. In Adrianople IBah6?u'11Th's Message, the promise of the BThi as well as of all previous Dispensations, had been proclaimed to mankind, and its challenge voiced to the rulers of the earth in both the East and the West. Behind the walls of the prison-fortress of 'Akka the Bearer of God's newborn Revelation had ordained the laws and formulated the principles that were to constitute the warp and woof of His World Order. He had, moreover, prior to His ascension, instituted the Covenant that was to guide and assist in the laying of its foundations and to safeguard the unity of its builders. Armed with that peerless and potent Instrument, 'Abdu'l-Baha alA, His eldest Son and Center of His Covenant, had erected the standard of His Father's Faith in the North American continent, and established an impregnable basis for its institutions in Western Europe, in the Far East and in Austra-ha. He had, in His works, Tablets and addresses, elucidated its principles, interpreted its laws, amplified its doctrine, and erected 1 From World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 310. (This communication was dated February 27, 1929.) the rudimentary institutions of its future Administrative Order. In Russia He had raised its first House of Worship, whilst on the slopes of Mt. Carmel He had reared a befitting mausoleum for its Herald, and deposited His remains therein with His Own hands. Through His visits to several cities in Europe and the North American continent He had broadcast Baha'u'llah's Message to the peoples of the West, and heightened the prestige of the Cause of God to a degree it had never previously experienced. And lastly, in the evening of His life, He had through the revelation of the Tablets of the Divine Plan issued His mandate to the community which He Himself had raised up, trained and nurtured, a Plan that must in the years to come enable its members to diffuse the light, and erect the administrative fabric, of the Faith throughout the five continents of the globe. The moment had now arrived for that undying, that world-vitalizing Spirit that was born in Shir~z, that had been rekindled in Tihr~n, that had been fanned into flame in Baghdad and Adrianople, that had been car-rie&to the West, and was now illuminating the fringes of five continents, to incarnate itself in institutions designed to canalize its outspreading energies and stimulate its growth.... The Administrative Order which this historic Document has established, it should be noted, is, by virtue of its origin and character, unique in the annals of the world's religious systems. No Prophet before Baha'u'llah, it can be confidently asserted, not even Mubammad Whose Book clearly lays down the laws and ordinances of the Islamic Dispensation, has established, authoritatively and in writing, anything comparable to the Administrative Order which the authorized Interpreter of Baha'u'llah's teachings has instituted, an Order which, by virtue of the administrative principles which its Author has formulated, the institutions He has established, and the right of interpretation with which He has invested its Guardian, must and will, in a manner unparalleled in any previous religion, safeguard from schism the Faith from which it has sprung. Nor is the principle governing its operation similar to that which underlies any system, whether theocratic or otherwise which the minds of men have devised for the government of human institutions. Neither in the [p329] TIlE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 327 ory nor in practice can the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah be said to conform to any type of democratic government, to any system of autocracy, to any purely aristocratic order, or to any of the various theocracies, whether Jewish, Christian or Islamic which mankind has witnessed in the past. It incorporates within its structure certain elements which are to be found in each of the three recognized forms of secular government, is devoid of the defects which each of them inherently possesses, and blends the salutary truths which each undoubtedly contains without vitiating in any way the integrity of the Divine verities on which it is essentially founded. The hereditary authority which the Guardian of the Administrative Order is called upon to exercise, and the right of the interpretation of the Holy Writ solely conferred upon him; the powers and prerogatives of the Universal House of Justice, possessing the exclusive right to legislate on matters not explicitly revealed in the Most Holy Book; the ordinance exempting its members from any responsibility to those whom they represent, and from the obligation to conform to their views, convictions or sentiments; the specific provisions requiring the free and democratic election by the mass of the faithful of the Body that constitutes the sole legislative organ in the worldwide Baha community Ñ these are among the features which combine to set apart the Order identified with the Revelation of Baha'u'llah from any of the existing systems of human government. Nor have the enemies who, at the hour of the inception of this Administrative Order, and in the course of its twenty-three year existence, both in the East and in the West, from within and from without, misrepresented its character, or derided and vilified it, or striven to arrest its march, or contrived to create a breach in the ranks of its supporters, succeeded in achieving their mMevolent purpose. The strenuous exertions of an ambitious Armenian, who, in the course of the first years of its establishment in Egypt, endeavored to supplant it by the "Scientific Society" which in his shortsightedness he had conceived and was spon soring, failed utterly in its purpose. The agitation provoked by a deluded woman who strove diligently both in the United States and in England to demonstrate the unauthenticity of the Charter responsible for its creation, and even to induce the civil authorities of Palestine to take legal action in the matter Ñ a request which to her great chagrin was curtly refused Ñ as well as the defection of one of the earliest pioneers and founders of the Faith in Germany, whom that same woman had so tragically misled, produced no effect whatsoever. The volumes which a shameless apostate composed and disseminated, during that same period in Persia, in his brazen efforts not only to disrupt that Order but to undermine the very Faith which had conceived it, proved similarly abortive. The schemes devised by the remnants of the Covenant-breakers, who immediately the aims and purposes of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will became known arose, headed by Mirza Baha'u'llah, to wrest the custodianship of the holiest shrine in the Baha'i world from its appointed Guardian, likewise came to naught and brought further discredit upon them. The subsequent attacks launched by certain exponents of Christian orthodoxy, in both Christian and non-Chris-tian lands, with the object of subverting the foundations, and distorting the features, of this same Order were powerless to sap the loyalty of its upholders or to deflect them from their high purpose. Not even the infamous and insidious machinations of a former secretary of 'Abdu'l-Baha, who, untaught by the retribution that befell Baha'u'llah's amanuensis, as well as by the fate that overtook several other secretaries and interpreters of His Master, in both the East and the West, has arisen, and is still exerting himself, to pervert the purpose and nullify the essential provisions of the immortal Document from which that Order derives its authority, have been able to stay even momentarily the march of its institutions along the course set for it by its Author, or to create anything that might, however remotely, resemble a breach in the ranks of its assured, its wide-awake and stalwart supporters.2 2 From God Passes By, pp. 323324 and 326328. [p330] 328 THE BAHA'I WORLD THE STANDARD OF BAHA'I CHARACTER Excerpts from THE ADVENT OF DIVINE JUSTICE* By SfooHI EFFENDI DEARLY-BELOVED friends! Great as is my love and admiration for you, convinced as I am of the paramount share which you can, and will, undoubtedly have in both the continental and international spheres of future Baha'i activity and service, I feel it nevertheless incumbent upon me to utter, at this juncture, a word of warning. The glowing tributes, so repeatedly and deservedly paid to the capacity, the spirit, the conduct, and the high rank, of the American believers, both individually and as an organic community, must, under no circumstances, be confounded with the characteristics and nature of the people from which God has raised them up. A sharp distinction between that community and that people must be made, and resolutely and fearlessly upheld, if we wish to give due recognition to the transmuting power of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, in its impact on the lives and standards of those who have chosen to enlist under His banner. Otherwise, the supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than the calling into being of a new race of men, will remain wholly unrecognized and completely obscured. THE SUPREME FUNCTION OF His REVELATION How often have the Prophets of God, not excepting Baha'u'llah Himself, chosen to appear, and deliver their Message in countries and amidst peoples and races, at a time when they were either fast declining, or had already touched the lowest depths of moral and spiritual degradation. The appalling misery and wretchedness to which the Israelites had sunk, under the debasing and tyrannical rule of the Pharaohs, in the days preceding their exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses; the decline that had set in in the religious, the spiritual, the cultural, and the moral life of the Jewish people, at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ; the barbarous cruelty, the gross * Pa~es 1328. idolatry and immorality, which had for so long been the most distressing features of the tribes of Arabia and brought such shame upon them when Muhammad arose to proclaim His Message in their midst; the indescribable state of decadence, with its attendant corruption, confusion, intolerance, and oppression, in both the civil and religious life of Persia, so graphically portrayed by the pen of a considerable number of scholars, diplomats, and travelers, at the hour of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah Ñ aIl demonstrate this basic and inescapable fact. To contend that the innate worthiness, the high moral standard, the political aptitude, and social attainments of any race or nation is the reason for the appearance in its midst of any of these Divine Luminaries would be an absolute perversion of historical facts, and would amount to a complete repudiation of the undoubted interpretation placed upon them, so clearly and emphatically, by both Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. How great, then, must be the challenge to those who, belonging to such races and nations, and having responded to the call which these Prophets have raised, to unreservedly recognize and courageously testify to this indubitable truth, that not by reason of any racial superiority, political capacity, or spiritual virtue which a race or nation might possess, but rather as a direct consequence of its crying needs, its lamentable degeneracy, and irremediable perversity, has the Prophet of God chosen to appear in its midst, and with it as a lever has lifted the entire human race to a higher and nobler plane of life and conduct. For it is precisely under such circumstances, and by such means that the Prophets have, from time immemorial, chosen and were able to demonstrate their redemptive power to raise from the depths of abasement and of misery, the people of their own race and nation, empowering them to transmit in turn to other races and nations the saving grace and the energizing influence of their Revelation. In the light of this fundamental principle [p331] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 329 it should always be borne in mind, nor can it be sufficiently emphasized, that the primary reason why the Bab and Baha'u'llah chose to appear in Persia, and to make it the first repository of their Revelation, was because, of all the peoples and nations of the civilized world, that race and nation had, as so often depicted by 'Abdu'l-Baha, sunk to such ignominious depths, and manifested so great a perversity, as to find no parallel among its contemporaries. For no more convincing proof could be adduced demonstrating the regenerating spirit animating the Revelations proclaimed by the BTh and Baha'u'llah than their power to transform what can be truly regarded as one of the most backward, the most cowardly, and perverse of peoples into a race of heroes, fit to effect in turn a similar revolution in the life of mankind. To have appeared among a race or nation which by its intrinsic worth and high attainments seemed to warrant the inestimable privilege of being made the receptacle of such a Revelation would in the eyes of an unbelieving world greatly reduce the efficacy of that Message, and detract from the self-sufficiency of its omnipotent power. The contrast so strikingly presented in the pages of Nabil's Narrative between the heroism that immortalized the life and deeds of the Dawn-Breakers and the degeneracy and cowardice of their defamers and persecutors is in itself a most impressive testimony to the truth of the Message of Him Who had instilled such a spirit into the breasts of His disciples. For any believer of that race to maintain that the excellence of his country and the innate nobility of its people were the fundamental reasons for its being singled out as the primary receptacle of the Revelations of the BTh and Baha'u'llah would be untenable in the face of the overwhelming evidence afforded so convincingly by that Narrative. To a lesser degree this principle must of necessity apply to the country which has vindicated its right to be regarded as the cradle of the World Order of Baha'u'llah. So great a function, so noble a role, can be regarded as no less inferior to the part played by those immortal souls who, through their sublime renunciation and unparalleled deeds, have been responsible for the birth of the Faith itself. Let not, therefore, those who are to participate so predominantly in the birth of that world civilization, which is the direct offspring of their Faith, imagine for a moment that for some mysterious purpose or by any reason of inherent excellence or special merit Baha'u'llah has chosen to confer upon their country and people so great and lasting a distinction. It is precisely by reason of the patent evils which, notwithstanding its other admittedly great characteristics and achievements, an excessive and binding materialism has unfortunately engendered within it that the Author of their Faith and the Center of His Covenant have singled it out to become the standard-bearer of the New World Order envisaged in their writings. It is by such means as this that Baha'u'llah can best demonstrate to a heedless generation His almighty power to raise up from the very midst of a people, immersed in a sea of materialism, a prey to one of the most virulent and longstanding forms of racial prejudice, and notorious for its political corruption, lawlessness and laxity in moral standards, men and women who, as time goes by, will increasingly exemplify those essential virtues of self-renunciation, of moral rectitude, of chastity, of indiscriminating fellowship, of holy discipline, and of spiritual insight that will fit them for the preponderating share they will have in calling into being that World Order and that World Civilization of which their country, no less than the entire human race, stands in desperate need. Theirs will be the duty and privilege, in their capacity first as the establishers of one of the most powerful pillars sustaining the edifice of the Universal House of Justice, and then as the champion-builders of that New World Order of which that House is to be the nucleus and forerunner, to inculcate, demonstrate, and apply those twin and sorely-needed principles of Divine justice and order Ñ principles to which the political corruption and the moral license, increasingly staining the society to which they belong, offer so sad and striking a contrast. Observations such as these, however distasteful and depressing they may be, should not, in the least, blind us to those virtues and qualities of high intelligence, of youthfulness, of unbounded initiative, and enterprise which the nation as a whole so conspicuously displays, and which are being increasingly reflected by the community of the believers within it. Upon these virtues and qualities, no less than upon the elimination of the evils referred to, must depend, to a very great extent, the ability of that corn [p332] 330 THE BAHA'I WORLD munity to lay a firm foundation for the country's future role in ushering in the Golden Age of the Cause of Baha'u'llah. How STAGGERING THE RESPONSIBILITY How great, therefore, how staggering the responsibility that must weigh upon the present generation of the American believers, at this early stage in their spiritual and administrative evolution, to weed out, by every means in their power, those faults, habits, and tendencies which they have inherited from their own nation, and to cultivate, patiently and prayerfully, those distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to their effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith. Incapable as yet, in view of the restricted size of their community and the limited influence it now wields, of producing any marked effect on the great mass of their countrymen, let them focus their attention, for the present, on their own selves, their own individual needs, their own personal deficiencies and weaknesses, ever mindful that every intensification of effort on their part will better equip them for the time when they will be called upon to eradicate in their turn such evil tendencies from the lives and the hearts of the entire body of their fellow-citizens. Nor must they overlook the fact that the World Order, whose basis they, as the advance-guard of the future Baha'i generations of their countrymen, are now laboring to establish, can never be reared unless and until the generality of the people to which they belong has been already purged from the divers ills, whether social or political, that now so severely afflict it. Surveying as a whole the most pressing needs of this community, attempting to estimate the more serious deficiencies by which it is being handicapped in the discharge of its task, and ever bearing in mind the nature of that still greater task with which it will be forced to wrestle in the future, I feel it my duty to lay special stress upon, and draw the special and urgent attention of the entire body of the American believers, be they young or old, white or colored, teachers or administrators, veterans or new-corners, to what I firmly believe are the essential requirements for the success of the tasks which are now claiming their undivided attention. Great as is the importance of fash ioiing the outward instruments, and of perfecting the administrative agencies, which they can utilize for the prosecution of their dual task under the Seven Year Plan; vital and urgent as are the campaigns which they are initiating, the schemes and projects which they are devising, and the funds which they are raising, for the efficient conduct of both the Teaching and Temple work, the imponderable, the spiritual, factors, which are bound up with their own m-dividual and inner lives, and with which are associated their human and social relationships, are no less urgent and vital, and demand constant scrutiny, continual self-examination and heart-searching on their part, lest their value be impaired or their vital necessity be obscured or forgotten. SPIRITUAL PREREQUISITES Of these spiritual prerequisites of success, which constitute the bedrock on which the security of all teaching plans, Temple projects, and financial schemes, must ultimately rest, the following stand out as preeminent and vital, which the members of the American Baha community will do well to ponder. Upon the extent to which these basic requirements are met, and the manner in which the American believers fulfill them in their individual lives, administrative activities, and social relationships, must depend the measure of the manifold blessings which the All-Bountiful Possessor can vouchsafe to them all. These requirements are none other than a high sense of moral rectitude in their social and administrative activities, absolute chastity in their individual lives, and complete freedom from prejudice in their dealings with peoples of a different race, class, creed, or color. The first is specially, though not exclusively, directed to their elected representatives, whether local, regional, or national, who, in their capacity as the custodians and members of the nascent institutions of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, are shouldering the chief responsibility in laying an unassailable foundation for that Universal House of Justice which, as its title implies, is to be the exponent and guardian of that Divine Justice which can alone insure the security of, and establish the reign of law and order in, a strangely disordered world. The second is mainly and directly concerned with the Baha'i youth, who can contribute so de [p333] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 331 cisively to the virility, the purity, and the driving force of the life of the Baha'i community, and upon whom must depend the future orientation of its destiny, and the complete unfoldment of the potentialities with which God has endowed it. The third should be the immediate, the universal, and the chief concern of all and sundry members of the Baha'i community, of whatever age, rank, experience, class, or color, as all, with no exception, must face its challenging implications, and none can claim, however much he may have progressed along this line, to have completely discharged the stern responsibilities which it inculcates. A rectitude of conduct, an abiding sense of undeviating justice, unobscured by the demoralizing influences which a corruption-ridden political life so strikingly manifests; a chaste, pure, and holy life, unsullied and unclouded by the indecencies, the vices, the false standards, which an inherently deficient moral code tolerates, perpetuates, and fosters; a fraternity freed from that cancerous growth of racial prejudice, which is eating into the vitals of an already debilitated society Ñ these are the ideals which the American believers must, from now on, individually and through concerted action, strive to promote, in both their private and public lives, ideals which are the chief propelling forces that can most effectively accelerate the march of their institutions, plans, and enterprises, that can guard the honor and integrity of their Faith, and subdue any obstacles that may confront it in the future. This rectitude of conduct, with its implications of justice, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fair-mindedness, reliability, and trustworthiness, must distinguish every phase of the life of the Baha'i community. "The companions of God," Baha'u'llah Himself has declared, "are, in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds and character that all mankind may profit by their example." "I swear by Him Who is the Most Great Ocean!" He again affirms, "Within the very breath of such souls as are pure and sanctified far-reaching potentialities are hidden. So great are these potentialities that they exercise their influence upon all created things." "He is the true servant of God," He, in another passage has written, "who, in this day, were he to pass through cities of silver and gold, would not deign to look upon them, and whose heart would remain pure and uncle filed from whatever things can be seen in this world, be they its goods or its treasures. I swear by the Sun of Truth! The breath of such a man is endowed with potency, and his words with attraction." "By Him Who shineth above the DaySpring of sanctity!" He, still more emphatically, has revealed, "if the whole earth were to be converted into silver and gold, no man who can be said to have truly ascended into the heaven of faith and certitude would deign to regard it, much less to seize and keep it. They who dwell within the Tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands, and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be. The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom. His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds." "We have admonished all the loved ones of God," He insists, "to take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained with the dust of reprehensible conduct." "Cleave unto righteousness, 0 people of Baha," He thus exhorts them, "This, verily, is the commandment which this wronged One hath given unto you, and the first choice of His unrestrained will for every one of you." "A good character," He explains, "is, verily, the best mantle for men from God. With it He adorneth the temples of His loved ones. By My life! The light of a good character surpasseth the light of the sun and the radiance thereof." "One right-ecus act," He, again, has written, "is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and vanished. • Be pure, 0 people of God, be pure; be righteous, be righteous. Say: 0 people of God! That which can insure the victory of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, His hosts and helpers on earth, hath been [p334] Australian and New Zealand Baha'is gathered at the Ija~iratu'1-Quds, 2 Lang Road, Paddington (Sydney), for the Jubilee Year Convention, April 30 Ñ May 3, and the First Pacific School, May 4 Ñ 6, 1953. Mrs. Clara Dunn, Hand of the Cause, is seated in the center, middle row. [p335] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 333 set down in the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such conduct and character, as are acceptable in Hi~ sight. Whoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our Cause, and suminoneth to his assistance the hosts of a praiseworthy character and upright conduct, the influence from such an action will, most certainly, be diffused throughout the whole world." "The betterment of the world," is yet another statement, "can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct." "Be fair to yourselves and to others," He thus counseleth them, "that the evidences of justice may be revealed through your deeds among Our faithful servants." "Equity," He also has written, "is the most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs depend upon it." And again, "Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man's station." "Beautify your tongues, 0 people," He further admonishes them, "with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty. Beware, 0 people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people." "Let your eye be chaste," is yet another counsel, "your hand faithful, your tongue truthful, and your heart enlightened." "Be an ornament to the countenance of truth," is yet another admonition, "a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue." "Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning," is still another admonition, "suf-fer not yourselves to be deprived of the rube of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, o people of Baha, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and keep-eth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise." "0 army of God!" writes 'Abdu'l-Baha, "Through the protection and help vouchsafed by the Blessed BeautyÑ may my life be a sacrifice to His loved ones Ñ ye must conduct yourselves in such a manner that ye may stand out distinguished and brilliant as the sun among other souls. Should any one of you enter a city, he should become a center of attraction by reason of his sincerity, his faithfulness and love, his honesty and fidelity, his truthfulness and lovingkindness towards all the peoples of the world, so that the people of that city may cry out and say: 'This man is unquestionably a Baha'i, for his manners, his behavior, his conduct, his morals, his nature, and disposition reflect the attributes of the Baha'is.' Not until ye attain this station can ye be said to have been faithful to the Covenant and Testament of God." "The most vital duty, in this day," He, moreover, has written, "is to purify your characters, to correct your manners, and improve your conduct. The beloved of the Merciful must show forth such character and conduct among His creatures, that the fragrance of their holiness may be shed upon the whole world, and may quicken the dead, inasmuch as the purpose of the Manifestation of God and the dawning of the limitless lights of the Invisible is to educate the souls of men, and refine the character of every living man. ." "Truthfulness," He asserts, "is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will also be acquired." Such a rectitude of conduct must manifest itself, with ever-increasing potency, m every verdict which the elected representatives of the Baha'i community, in whatever capacity they may find themselves, may be called upon to pronounce. It must be constantly reflected in the business dealings of all its members, in their domestic lives, in all manner of employment, and in any service they may, in the future, render their government or people. It must be exemplified in the conduct of all Baha'i electors, [p336] 334 THE BAHA'I WORLD when exercising their sacred rights and functions. It must characterize the attitude of every loyal believer towards non-accept-ance of political posts, non-identification with political parties, nonparticipation in political controversies, and non-membership in political organizations and ecclesiastical institutions. It must reveal itself in the uncompromising adherence of all, whether young or old, to the clearly enunciated and fundamental principles laid down by 'Abdu'l-Baha in His addresses, and to the laws and ordinances revealed by Baha'u'llah in His Most Hoiy Book. It must be demonstrated in the impartiality of every defender of the Faith against its enemies, in his fair-mindedness in recognizing any merits that enemy may possess, and in his honesty in discharging any obligations he may have towards him. It must constitute the brightest ornament of the life, the pursuits, the exertions, and the utterances of every Baha'i teacher, whether laboring at home or abroad, whether in the front ranks of the teaching force, or occupying a less active and responsible position. It must be made the hallmark of that numerically small, yet intensely dynamic and highly responsible body of the elected national representatives of every Baha community, which constitutes the sustaining pillar, and the sole instrument for the election, in every community, of that Universal House whose very name and title, as ordained by Baha'u'llah, symbolizes that rectitude of conduct which is its highest mission to safeguard and enforce. So great and transcendental is this principle of Divine justice, a principle that must be regarded as the crowning distinction of all Local and National Assemblies, in their capacity as forerunners of the Universal House of Justice, that Baha'u'llah Himself subordinates His personal inclination and wish to the all-compelling force of its demands and implications. "God is My witness!" He thus explains, "were it not contrary to the Law of God, I would have kissed the hand of My wouldbe murderer, and would cause him to inherit My earthly goods. I am restrained, however, by the binding Law laid down in the Book, and am Myself bereft of all worldly possessions." "Know thou, of a truth," He significantly affirms, "these great oppressions that have befallen the world are preparing it/or the advent of the Most Great Justice." "Say," He again asserts, "He bath appeared with that Justice wherewith mankind bath been adorned, and yet the people are, for the most part, asleep." "The light of men is Justice," He moreover states, "Quench it not with the contrary winds of oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men." "No radiance," He declares, "can compare with that of justice. The organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind depend upon it." "0 people of God!" He exclaims, "That which trained-i the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world." "Justice and equity," is yet another assertion, "are two guardians for the protection of man. They have appeared arrayed in their mighty and sacred names to maintain the world in uprightness and protect the nations." "Bestir yourselves, 0 people," is His emphatic warning, "in anticipation of the days of Divine justice, br the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to apprehend its import, and be accounted among the erring." "The day is approaching," He similarly has written, "when the faithful will behold the daystar of justice shining in its full splendor from the dayspring of glory." "The shame I was made to bear," He significantly remarks, "hath uncovered the glory with which the whole of creation had been invested, and through the cruelties I have endured, the daystar of justice bath manifested itself, and shed its splendor upon men." "The world," He again has written, "is in great turmoil, and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions." And again, "There can he no doubt whatever that if the daystar of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed." "God be praised!" 'Abdu'l-Baha, in His turn, exclaims, "The sun of justice hath risen above the horizon of Baha'u'llah. For in His Tablets the foundations of such a justice have been laid as no mind hath, from the beginning of creation, conceived." "The canopy of existence," He further explains, "resteth upon the pole of justice, and not of [p337] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 335 forgiveness, and the life of mankind de-pendeth on justice and not on forgiveness." Small wonder, therefore, that the Author of the Ba1A'i Revelation should have chosen to associate the name and title of that House, which is to be the crowning glory of His administrative institutions, not with f or-giveness but with justice, to have made justice the only basis and the permanent foundation of His Most Great Peace, and to have proclaimed it in His Hidden Words as "the best beloved of all things" in His sight. It is to the American believers, particularly, that I feel urged to direct this fervent pka to ponder in their hearts the implications of this moral rectitude, and to uphold, with heart and soul and uncompromisingly, both individually and collectively, this sublime standard Ñ a standard of which justice is so essential and potent an element. As to a chaste and holy life it should be regarded as no less essential a factor that must contribute its proper share to the strengthening and vitalization of the Baha'i community, upon which must in turn depend the success of any Baha'i plan or enterprise. In these days when the forces of irreligion are weakening the moral fibre, and undermining the foundations of individual morality, the obligation of chastity and holiness must claim an increasing share of the attention of the American believers, both in their individual capacities and as the responsible custodians of the interests of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. In the discharge of such an obligation, to which the special circumstances resulting from an excessive and enervating materialism now prevailing in their country lend particular significance, they must play a conspicuous and predominant role. All of them, be they men or women, must, at this threatening hour when the lights of religion are fading out, and its restraints are one by one being abolished, pause to examine themselves, scrutinize their conduct, and with characteristic resolution arise to purge the life of their community of every trace of moral laxity that might stain the name, or impair the integrity, of so holy and precious a Faith. A chaste and holy life must be made the controlling principk in the behavior and conduct of all Baha'is, both in their social relations with the members of their own community, and in their contact with the world at large. It must adorn and reinforce the ceaseless labors and meritorious exer tions of those whose enviable position is to propagate the Message, and to administer the affairs, of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. lit must be upheld, in all its integrity and implications, in every phase of the life of those who fill the ranks of that Faith, whether in their homes, their travels, their clubs, their societies, their entertainments, their schools, and their universities. It must be accorded special consideration in the conduct of the social activities of every IBah~'i summer school and any other occasions on which Baha community life is organized and fostered. It must be closdy and continually identified with the mission of the Baha" Youth, both as an element in the life of the Baha'i community, and as a factor in the future progress and orientation of the youth of their own country. Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all a!-coholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such the-aries, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses. 'tRy the righteousness of God!" writes Baha'u'llah, "The world, its vanities and its glory, and whatever delights it can offer, are all, in the sight of God, as worthless as, nay even more contemptible than, dust and ashes. Would that the hearts of men could comprehend it. Wash yourselves thoroughly, 0 people of Baha, from the defilement of the world, and of all that pertaineth unto it. God Himself beareth Me witness! [p338] 336 THE BAHA'I WORLD The things of the earth ill beseem you. Casi them away unto such as may desire them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and eflul gent Vision." "0 ye My loved ones!" He thus exhorts His followers, "Suf-fer not the hem of My sacred vesture to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow not the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires." And again, "0 ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond the narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the vast immensity of the realm of God, and abide ye in the meads of sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead the whole of mankind to the ocean of God's unfading glory." "Disencumber yourselves," He thus commands them, "of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof. Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious Path." "Eschew all manner of wickedness," is His commandment, "for such things are forbidden unto you in the Book which none touch except such as God hath cleansed from every taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified." "A race oj men," is His written promise, "incomparable in character, shall be raised up which, with the feet of detachment, will tread under all who are in heaven and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that hath been created from water and clay." "The civilization," is His grave warning, "so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men. If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation." "He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts ol His servants," He explains, "and made them each a seat for the rev elation of His glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God's bountiful favor." "Say," He proclaims, "He is not to be numbered with the people of Baha who Jolloweth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is my true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause. Such a man is assuredly of Me. From his garment the Concourse on high can inhale the fragrance of sanctity. And if he met the fairest and most comely of women, he would not feel his heart seduced by the least shadow of desire for her beauty. Such an one indeed is the creation of spotless chastity. Thus instructeth you the Pen of the Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful." "They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations," is yet another warning, "have erred and dissipated their efforts. They indeed are of the lost." "It behooveth the pea. pie of Baha," He also has written, "to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanctity. •They that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God by following the things of the flesh Ñ these are in palpable error!" "Purity and chastity," He particularly admonishes, "have been, and still are, the most great ornaments for the handmaidens of God. God is My Witness! The brightness of the light of chastity sheddeth its illumination upon the worlds of the spirit, and its fragrance is wafted even unto the Most Exalted Paradise." "God," He again affirms, "hath verily made chastity to be a crown for the heads of His handmaidens. Great is the blessedness of that handmaiden that hath attained unto this great station." "We, verily, have decreed in Our Book," is His assurance, "a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will turn away from wickedness, and lead a chaste and godly life. He, in truth, is the Great Giver, the All-Bountiful." "We have sustained the weight of all calamities," He testifies, "to sanctify you from all earthly corruption and ye are yet indifferent. We, verily, behold your actions. If We perceive from them the sweet smelling savor of purity and holiness, We will most certainly bless you. Then will the tongues of the inmates of Paradise utter your praise and magnify your names amidst them who have drawn nigh unto God." "The drinking of wine," writes 'Abdu'l-Baha, "is, according to the text of the Most Holy Book, forbidden; for it is the cause of chronic diseases, weakeneth the nerves, and consumeth the mind." "Drink ye, 0 handmaidens ol God," Baha'u'llah Himsell has affirmed, "the Mystic Wine from the cup of My words. Cast away, then, from you that [p339] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 337 which your minds abhor, for it hath been lorbidden unto you in His Tablets and His Scriptures. Beware lest ye barter away the River that is life indeed for that which the souls of the pure-hearted detest. Become ye intoxicated with the wine of the love of God, and not wfth that which deadeneth your minds, 0 ye that adore Him! Verily, it hath been forbidden unto every believer, whether man or woman. Thus hath the sun of My commandment shone forth above the horizon of My utterance, that the handmaidens who believe in Me may be illumined." It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculcated by Baha'u'llah, seeks, under no circumstances, to deny any one the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator. "Should a man," Baha'u'llah Himself reassures us, "wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, o people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thank ful~" IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM SHOGHI EFFENDI 19501954 To THE NATIONAL BAHA'I CONVENTION~ U.S.A., 1950 HI AlL (the) valiant acts (during the) course (of the) last twelve months (of) members (of) firmly knit world embracing divinely propelled Baha'i Community, sin~ gly, collectively, both sexes, all ages laboring (in) near (and) distant fields, (in) Eastern (and) Western hemispheres, gathered (from) diverse classes, creeds (and) colors; as administrators, in (the) respective home lands or (as) settlers (or) itinerant teachers overseas; whether serving (in) private capacity or (in) official association (with) authorities. Second half (of) opening decade (of) second Baha'i century befittingly ushered in. Recent exploits (in) virgin territories (of) Western hemisphere, Arabian Peninsula, South and East Asia raised (to) one hundred (the) number (of) sovereign states (and) dependencies, enrolled (under the) banner (of the) Faith. Forthcoming celebrations, commemorating (the) Hundredth Anniversary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Herald (of the) Faith, doubly glorious, through association this historic victory, representing (an) increase (of) no less (than) twenty-two countries (in the) brief span (of) six years, since (the) Centennial (of the) Declaration (of) His Mission. Number (of) centers (in) Australasia now exceeds sixty; Canadian Community nearing ninety centers already established; Alaskan territory eleven centers; European goal countries thirtyfive, number (of) newly declared believers almost doubled (during) course (of) past year. Baha'i literature enriched (by) translation (into) Welsh, Eskimo, Swahili, Hausa, Chinyanja, raising (the) total number (of) languages (to) sixty-three. Languages (in) process (of) translation, eleven. Official recognition, constituting (a) unique victory (in the) annals (of the) Faith (in the) East, (and) West, extending (to) newly formed National Spiritual Assembly (of the) Dominion (of) Canada, through granting act (of) Parliament, enabling (the) National elected representatives (to) incorporate (as) religious organization. Additional contract placed (for the) con [p340] 338 THE BAHA'I WORLD Canadian National Baha Convention, struction (of the) parapet, crowning (the) Arcade (of the) Bab's Mausoleum (on) Mt. Carmel, raising (the) total tonnage ordered (to) almost eight hundred. (The) erection (of the) ornamental columns (of the) Temple interior commenced; ventilation (and) heating systems installed; number (of) visitors since (the) opening (of the) edifice (to the) public, over four hundred thousand. Six year plan (of the) British Baha'i Community triumphantly concluded; almost quintupled number (of) Assemblies (in the) British Isles laid basis administrative structure (of the) Faith (in the) capital (of) Eire (and in the) chief cities (of) North Ireland (and) Scotland. Plan initiated Persian Baha'i Community consummated 31 Assemblies, 17 Groups, 11 Isolated Centers formed beyond prescribed objectives. Recognition, long last, accorded (by) 'Iraqi authorities (to) all marriages solemnized (by) Baha'i Assemblies (in) 'Irdq [p341] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 339 Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 2930, 1953. through official registration (of the) marriage certificate by court, first instance setting (a) momentous precedent throughout (the) Muslim East, constituting (a) significant landmark (in the) process (of the) emancipation (of the) Oriental followers (of the) Faith (from the) fetters (of) religious orthodoxy. Certificate authorizing (the) celebration (of) Baha'i marriages issued (by the) District of Columbia court. Eight islands (of) Hawaii granted authority (to) recognize Baha'i marriages. Baha marriage contract legalized (by) attorney general throughout (the) territory (of) Alaska. Baha'i Holy Days recognized (by) Educational Department (of the) State (of) Victoria, Australia. Second European Teaching Conference convened (in the) capital city (of) Belgium, attended (by) hundred (and) thirty representatives (from) nineteen countries. [p342] 340 THE IBAHA'! WORLD (The) historic first all-Swiss Baha'i Conference (the) latest, most promising fruit (of the) transatlantic enterprise initiated (by the) American Baha'i Community, held (in the) Swiss capital, presaging (the) acquisition by (the) goal countries (of an) independent status within (the) family (of) Baha'i national communities. (The) process (of) extension (of) Baha endowments accelerated through (the) donation (of) twenty acre property (near) Anchorage, Alaska; purchase (of) twenty-two acres (in) neighborhood (of) Auckland, site (of) projected New Zealand summer school; grant (of) burial ground by Egyptian authorities (to) Port Said Baha'i Community. Ties binding (the) Baha'i International Community (to the) United Nations reinforced through participation (in) European Regional Conference (of) nongovernmental organizations (in) Geneva; (and in) Latin American Conferences (in) Chile, Uruguay; (and in) similar conferences (in) Kansas (and) Lake Success; (through) submission (in) response (to the) request (of the) UNO Committee (of) statement (on the) Baha'i concept (and) method (of) community worship, subsequently transmitted (to the) Secretariat responsible (for the) planning (of) permanent headquarters (in the) United Nations. Last (but) not least, nay (the) crowning achievement (of the) year just concluded (are the) stupendous exertions (of the) vanguard (of the) resistlessly advancing Baha'i World Community resulting (in the) raising (of) half (a) million dollars, virtually attaining (the) objective set (for the) two-year drive (to) ensure (the) completion (of the) interior ornamentation (of the) Mother Temple (of the) West (in) anticipation (of) its approaching jubilee. First stage (of) austerity period resolutely embarked upon, successfully traversed. Resolution no less grim, self-abnegation no less heroic, solidarity in sacrifice no less striking, must needs distinguish (the) final phase (of the) stern struggle, still facing (the) dauntless higliminded spartan-souled American Baha Community, designed (to) liquidate (the) deficit (in the) General Fund, marring (the) otherwise spotless record (of) collective achievement, as well as (to) provide financial support imperatively required (to) meet, through prompt despatch (of) substantial number (of) compe tent pioneers, (the) emergency existing (in) Central (and) South America, thereby ensuring (the) glorious consummation (of the) thirteen-year-old enterprise through (the) formation (of the) projected twin National Assemblies (in) Latin America. Ñ SHOGrn April 25, 1950. "FIVEFOLD OFFERING" Dearly beloved coworkers: The first half of the two-year austerity period, inaugurated at so anxious an hour in the fortunes of the second Seven Year Plan, has been successfully traversed, and deserves to be regarded as a memorable episode in the history of the Faith and the unfoldment of the Plan in the North American continent. An effort, prodigious, nationwide, sus-tamed, and reminiscent in its heroism and consecration, of the immortal exploits of the Dawn-breakers of the Apostolic Age of the Baha Dispensation, has been exerted by their spiritual descendents, in circumstances which, though totally different in character, are yet no less challenging and for a cause as meritorious Ñ an effort that has indeed outshone the high endeavors that have distinguished for so long the record of service associated with the American Baha'i Community. All of its members who have participated in this collective undertaking should be heartily congratulated, particularly those who, by their acts of self-abnega-tion, have emulated the example of the heroes of our Faith at the early dawn of its history. The entire Ba1A'i world is stirred when contemplating the range of such an effort, the depth of consecration reached by those who have participated in it, the results it has achieved, the noble purpose it has served. My heart overflows with gratitude for the repeated evidences of worthiness demonstrated by this generous-hearted, valiant and dedicated Community which has, no matter how onerous the task, how chaP lenging the issue, how distracting the external circumstances with which it has been surrounded, never shirked its duty or hesitated for a moment. The high water mark of so gigantic an exertion, however, still remains to be reached. The year now entered, ushered in and consecrated by the Centenary of the tragic execution of the Martyr Prophet of our Faith, and packed with poignant memo [p343] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH{ 341 ries of the persecutions of Zanj~tn which stained its history a hundred years ago and carried its fortunes to almost its lowest ebb, and were a prelude to the most ghastly holocaust ever experienced by its followers, must witness as it rolls forward to its close, a still more striking demonstration of the tenacity of the members of this Community, a still nobler display of acts of self-sacrifice, a still more inspiring manifestation of solidarity, and evidences of a grimmer determination, of a greater courage and perseverance in response to the triple call of this present hour. The vital needs of the most holy House of Worship reared in the service, and for the glory of the Most Great Name, though virtually met, still require the last exertions to ensure its completion as the hour of its jubilee approaches. The Latin-American enterprise, initiated thirteen years ago, and marking the initial collective undertaking launched by the American Baha'i Community beyond the confines of the Great Republic of the West, and under the mandate of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, still in a state of emergency and rapidly advancing towards its initial fruition, demands unrelaxing vigilance, and calls for still more strenuous exertions and self-sacrifice on the part of those who have so enthusiastically embarked upon it, who have so conscientiously and painstakingly shepherded it along its destined course and throughout the early stages of its unfoldment, and who are now, as a result of their ceaseless exertions, witnessing the first effiorescence of their mammoth pioneer labors. The construction of the Superstructure of the Holy Sepulcher of the Blessed Bab, now, at this anxious and urgent hour, superimposed on the manifold responsibilities shouldered by members of the American Baha'i Community, affording them the first historic opportunity of directly sustaining, through their contributions, the most sacred enterprise ever undertaken in the history of the Faith, the first and most holy edifice reared at its World Center, and the initial international institution heralding the establishment of the supreme legislative body at the World Administrative Center, requires the immediate and sustained attention of the members of a community whose destiny has been linked, ever since its inception, with the various stages marking the rise and consolidation of this divinely appointed, Unspeakably holy Enterprise. The hour is critical, laden with fate. Responsibilities bilities numerous and varied, as well as urgent and sacred, are crowding, in quick succession, upon a community youthful and valorous in spirit, Tich in experience, triumphant in the past, sensible of its future obligations, keenly aware of the sublimity of its world mission, inflexibly resolved to follow with unfaltering steps the road of its destiny. The world situation is perilous and gloomy. Rumblings from far and near bode evil for the immediate fortunes of a sadly distracted society. The Second Seven Year Plan is flow approaching its conclusion. The Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Bab with all its poignant memories is upon us. We are entering a period crowded with the centenaries of the direst calamities Ñ massacres, sieges, captivities, spoliations and tortures involving thousands of heroes Ñ men, women and children Ñ the world's greatest Faith has ever experienced. Another Centenary commemorating an event as tragic and infinitely more glorious is fast approaching. Time is short. Opportunities, though multiplying with every passing hour, will not recur, some for another century, others never again. However severe the challenge, however multiple the tasks, however short the time, however somber the world outlook, however limited the material resources of a hard-pressed adolescent community, the untapped sources of celestial strength from which it can draw are measureless, in their potencies, and will unhesitatingly pour forth their energizing influences if the necessary daily effort be made and the required sacrifices be willingly accepted. Nor should it be forgotten that in the hour of adversity and in the very midst of confusion, peril and uncertainty, some of the most superb exploits, noising abroad the fame of this Community have been achieved. The construction of the superstructure of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar during one of the severest depressions experienced by the people of the Ullited States in this century; the inauguration of the first Seven Year Plan on the eve of and during the anxious years preceding the second world conflagration; its vigorous prosecution during its darkest days and its triumph before its conclusion; the launching of the European campaign on the morrow of the most devasting conflict that rocked the continent of Europe to its foundation Ñ these stand out as shining evidences of the unfailing protection, guidance and sustaining power [p344] Delegates and friends at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Baha'i Convention and Jubilee Week Celebrations held in New Delhi, April 26 Ñ May 2, 1953. [p345] THE WOkLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 343 vouchsafed its members, so readily and so abundantly, in the hour of their greatest need and danger. To consolidate the victories won, and reinforce the foundations of the unnumbered institutions so diligently established, in the North American continent; to rear the twill pillars of the Universal House of Justice in Latin America, with their concomitant administrative agencies functioning in no less than twenty Republics of Central and South America; to maintain in their present strength the strongholds of the Faith in the ten goal countries of Europe; to complete the interior ornamentation of the first Mashriqu'1-Adjjk6r of the West, and its Mother Temple, in preparation of its jubilee; to assist in the erection of the superstructure of a still holier edifice, envisaged by its Founder and established by the Center of His Covenant on God's holy mountain, at the very heart and center of our beloved Faith, would indeed constitute, by virtue of their scope, origin and character, embracing three continents and including within their range the world center of the Faith itself, a worthy, befitting fivefold offering placed on the Altar of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of His Mission by a community which, more than any sister community, in East or West, has contributed, since the inception of the Formative Age of His Faith to the enlargement of its limits, the rise and establishment of its Administrative Order and the spread of its fame, glory and power. That this community may, in the course of these three coming years, discharge its fivefold task Ñ now assuming, through the stress of circumstances, still vaster propor-dons, and investing itself with still greater blessedness and merit, than originally envisaged Ñ with a spirit outshining any hitherto shown in the course of its half-century stewardship to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, is my most fervent wish and the object of my special and ardent prayers at this time when my heart and mind are fixed upon the sufferings and passion of the BTh on the occasion of the Centenary of His Martyrdom. Your true brother July 5, 1950. SHOGHI THE GUARDIAN'S TRIPLE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE BAHA'I WORLD Occasion approaching celebration ninth Naw-Rtiz second Baha'i century, desire share following triple announcement Baha'i world through National Assemblies East (and) West. First: Safe arrival (in) Holy Land (in the) course (of the) last six months successive consignments (of) stones (for the) remaining fa9ades (of the) Octagon (and) Pinnacles, eighteen window frames belonging (to the) Drum, one hundred tons (of) cement, thirtyfive tons (of) timber, fifteen tons (of) steel, eight wrought iron balustrades, stones (for the) lower section (of the) Drum as well as (the) completion (of) construction (of the) Octagon (and the) erection (of) fifteen feet Pinnacles constituting, with (the) ornamental balustrades (the) central adornment (of the) Holy Edifice. (The) leaded glass required (for) twenty-four windows (of the) Octagon (and) eighteen lancet windows (of the) Drum, ordered. Investigations initiated (for the) fabrication (of) gilded tiles, (the) final material necessary (for the) construction (of the) Sepulcher. Recall (with) feelings (of) humble thankfulness (and) intense joy (the) series (of) historic landmarks (in the) progress (of the) sacred enterprise, associated, first, (with the) formal entombment, Nawruz 1909, sixty lunar years after (the) BTh's martyrdom, (of) His dust (in the) vault (of the) Shrine; second, (the) laying, forty years later, Naw-Rtiz 1949, (of the) first threshold stones (of the) Arcade (of the) Sepulcher; third, (the) completion, two years later, Naw-Rflz 1951, (of the) excavation (for) eight piers, designed to support (the) Dome, followed (by the) placing, (a) year later, (on the) eve (of) Nawruz 1952, (of the) second crown (of the) same Edifice. (The) way (is) now prepared for (the) erection of (the) Drum, including eighteen windows symbolizing (the) eighteen Letters of the Living, (the) appointed transmitters (of the) dawning Light (of the) Author (of the) BAN Dispensation, as well as (the) rearing (of the) golden Dome, constituting (the) third (and) final unit (of the) triple crown destined (to) irradiate its splendor (in the) heart (of) God's Holy Mountain. Moved (to) pay warm, loving tribute (to the) Shrine's immortal architect (and) Hand (of the) Cause, Sutherland Maxwell, (and the) services (of) Ugo Gia-chery, UNO Representative (of the) International Baha'i Community, recently elevated (to the) rank (of) Hand (of the) [p346] 344 THE BAHA'I'! WORLD Cause, (and) newly-appointed member (of the) International Baha Council, (who is) ably discharging manifold responsibilities connected (with the) mighty undertaking. Second announcement: (The) enlargement (of the) International Baha'i Council. Present membership now comprises: Ama-tu'1-Bah~ Riiljiyyih, chosen liaison between me (and the) Council. Hands (of the) Cause, Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, Ugo Giachery, Leroy Toas, President, Vice-presi-dent, member at large, Secretary-General, respectively. Jessie Revell, Ethel Revell, Lot-fullah Hakim, Treasurer, Western (and) Eastern assistant Secretaries. Third announcement: Following upon (the) missions entrusted (to the) Hands (of the) Cause (in) connection (with the) establishment (of) }9a ratu'1-Quds (in the) Dominion (of) Canada (and) Central Africa, (have) instructed Ugo Giachery (to) take (in) conjunction (with the) European Teaching Committee, immediate steps, after (the) conclusion (of his) pilgrimage, aiming (at the) formation, ere (the) termination (of) (the) American Community's second Seven Year Plan, (of the) first National Spiritual Assembly (of the) Baha'is (of) Italy (and) Switzerland. Advise United States National Assembly arrange, through European Teaching Committee (the) election (on the) occasion (of) Naw-Rtiz 1953 (of) nineteen delegates by all local Assemblies already established (in) both countries. Urge convocation RhjvAn same year, (in the) city (of) Florence, (on the) occasion (of the) festivities (of the) Baha'i Holy Year, (of the) first Convention (for the) express purpose (of) electing through (the) delegates (the) projected National Assembly. Appeal (to the) American Baha'i community, particularly (the) Baha'is residing (in) Italy (and) Switzerland, (to) exert (their) utmost (to) insure (in the) course (of the) coming year (the) multiplication of Spiritual Assemblies (in) both countries, thereby broadening (the) basis (of the) projected pillar (of the) future Universal House (of) Justice. Advise European Teaching Committee, upon consummation (of) the glorious enterprise (to) issue formal invitation (to) their spiritual offspring, (the) newly-emerged National Assembly, (to) participate, together (with its) sister National Assemblies (of the) United States, (the) British Isles, (and) Germany, (in the) Intercontinental Conference (in) August (of the) same year (in the) capital city (of) Sweden. Anticipate entrusting (to the) youngest among (the) twelve National Assemblies (of) the Baha'i World (a) specific plan enabling it, (in) conjunction (with its) sister National Spiritual Assemblies (of the) Baha'i World (to) promote (in the) course (of the) ten years separating (the) second from (the) Most Great Jubilee (the) Global Crusade designed (to) hoist (the) standard (of) Baha'u'llah (in the) remaining states, dependencies (and) islands (of the) whole planet. Invite (the) attendants (to the) third Baha'i Intercontinental Conference (to) befittingly commemorate (the) undreamt-of climax (of the) brilliant victories won (in the) course (of the) second Seven Year Plan, eclipsing (the) feats accomplished (in the) Latin American field (in the) course (of the) first Seven Year Plan (and) presaging (the) tremendous triumph to be won (in the) course (of the) third Seven Year Plan (in the) African, Asiatic (and) Australian continents. With throbbing heart call (to) mind (the) solemn affirmations (and) glowing promises recorded (in the) Tablets (of the) Divine Plan envisioning (the) evidences (of the) everlasting dominion destined (to) signalize (the) inauguration, (and) accompany (the) triumphal progress, (of the) mission (of the) vanguard (of) Baha'u'llah's crusaders (and) champion builders (of) His world order (in the) European, Asiatic, African (and) Australian continents (and the) islands (of the) Pacific Ocean. Advise European Teaching Committee (to) cable (the) text (of the) third announcement (to the) Assemblies (of the) capital cities (of) Italy (and) Switzerland and urge on my behalf (the) participation (of the) Swiss believers (in the) first teaching conference (in) Rome (on the) eve (of) Nawruz this year (for) consultation (with their Italian collaborators (on the) prosecution (of the) soul-uplifting fateful undertaking (in the) heart (and) south (of the) European continent. Ñ SHOGHI March 8,1952. To THIRD BAT-LU EUROPEAN TEACHING CONFERENCE, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK Extend heartfelt greetings (to the) attendants (at the) third European Teaching Conference convened (in the) capital city (of) Denmark. (My) heart (is) uplifted [p347] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 345 (in) thanksgiving (to the) Martyr Prophet (of our) beloved Faith (on the) occasion (of the) first historic assemblage on Scandinavian soil, (on the) morrow (of the) centenary (of) His supreme sacrifice, representing diverse Baha'i communities (of the) eastern and western hemispheres. (I) joyfully acknowledge (the) first evidences (of the) answer (to the) prayer (of the) Center (of the) Covenant voiced (in) His Tablet over thirty years ago, supplicating (that) holy souls be raised up (to) promulgate (the) Faith (in) northern lands. (I) recall (with) feelings (of) profound emotion Baha'u'llah's own anticipation (of the) establishment (of) His Cause (in) lands (of the) extreme north (and) south through provision (in) His Most Holy Book (of the) specific ruling related (to the) ordinance (of) obligatory prayers. (I am) highly gratified (to) witness (the) far-reaching effect (of the) magnificent response (by the) American Baha'i community (to the) memorable summons issued (by the) Herald (of the) Faith (in) His Qayytirnu'1-Asm~', calling (the) peoples (of the) West (to) forsake (their) homes (to) assure (the) triumph (of) God's Cause. (I) welcome expansion (in) scope (of the) annual Conference through inauguration (of the) Summer School designed (to) prolong (the) sessions (of the) Conference, (to) stimulate (the) spirit (of) Baha'i fellowship, (to) deepen understanding (of the) fundamental spiritual (and) administrative principles (of the) Faith, (to) fix (the) pattern (of) future independent national Summer Schools (in the) ten European goal countries. (I) appeal (to the) assembled representatives (of the) goal countries and through them (to the) entire body (of) believers (in the) respective homelands (to) rededicate themselves (to the) urgent tasks ahead (in the) course (of the) three coming years falling between (the) historic Centenaries (of the) Bab's martyrdom (and the) birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic mission. Mindful (of the) struggles, sufferings (and) sacrifices (of the) heroes, saints, (and) martyrs (of the) Faith (in the) opening phase (of the) Apostolic Age (of the) Baha'i Dispensation; fully aware (of the) circumstances attending (the) launching (of the) transatlantic project amidst (the) confusion (and) prostration afflicting (the) wartorn continent; heartened (by the) signal initial success achieved (in the) years immediately suc-. ceeding (the) inauguration (of the) project, let them, undaunted (by the) perils (of the) progressively deteriorating international situation, pursue relentlessly (their) allotted tasks through rapid increase (in) membership, effective promotion (of the) recently initiated extension work, consolidation (of) all administrative agencies, energetic dissemination (of) Baha'i literature, closer collaboration (with) sister Communities (in the) European continent, greater awareness (of their) inescapable responsibilities, deeper understanding (of the) verities (of) Baha'u'llah's Revelation, (of) His Covenant, World Order, (and) above all, through constant daily effort aiming (at the) enrichment (of the) spiritual life (of the) inch-vklual, constituting (the) sole foundation whereon (the) stability (of the) structure (of) every Administrative edifice must depend. July 20, 1950. To FOURTH EUROPEAN TEACHING CONFERENCE, SCHEVENINGEN, HOLLAND, AUGUST 31 TO SEPTEMBER tO, 1951 Acclaim joyous occasion (of the) convocation on Dutch soil (of the) historic European Teaching Conference, constituting yet another link (in the) chain (of) annual gatherings (of the) representatives (and) followers (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah (in the) ten European goal countries as well as (in) Baha'i communities (of the) Eastern (and) Western hemispheres, stop. Heart dilated, spirit uplifted (by the) contemplation (of the) range (and) quality (of the) service rendered; (by the) spirit demonstrated, (by the) degree (of) maturity attained (in the) diversified budding, virile communities rightly regarded (as the) first fruits (of the) operation (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan (on the) European continent stop. Welcome with feeling (of) particular gratification (the) participation (of the) newly enrolled Dutch, Danish (and) Portuguese believers (in the) enterprises initiated (by the) Indian, Canadian, British, Baha'i communities (in) Indonesia, Greenland (and) African continent, presaging undertakings destined (to) be systematically launched (by the) elected representatives (of the) newly emerged European communities throughout the remaining countries [p348] 346 THE BAHA'! WORLD (of) Europe and possibly, beyond its confines, stop. (The) concluding years (of the) second seven year plan must witness within each (and) every goal country, notable multiplication (of) centers, steady consolidation (of the) Assemblies, rapid increase (in the) number (of the) avowed supporters (of the) Faith, (a) clearer vision (of the) strenuous tasks ahead, deeper awareness (of) their significance, (a) firmer resolve (toward) their prosecution (and a) greater dedication (to) their purpose, stop. Signal, wholly unexpected, manifold achievements, illuminating (the) annals (of the) first five years (of the) operation (of the) second seven year plan embolden me (to) confidently anticipate, upon (the) termination (of the) brief span (of the) remaining two years, (the) gradual formation (of) regional National Assemblies (as) prelude (to the) emergence (of a) separate National Assembly (in) each goal country as well as (the) launching (of) organized campaigns, in collaboration (with the) parent community (of the) great republic of the West (in) conjunction (with the) long standing, preeminent national community laboring (in the) heart (of the) European continent, aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) remaining sovereign states (of) Europe and, God willing, reaching beyond its borders as far as (the) heart (of the) Asiatic continent, stop. Interval separating us (from the) inauguration (of) yet another stage (in the) unfoldment (of the) Divine Plan (is) swiftly diminishing, stop. (The) perils confronting (the) sorely tried continent (are) steadily mounting, stop. (The) auspiciously inaugurated, mysteriously unfolding, highly promising widely ramified crusade, embracing well nigh (a) score of dependencies (on the) African continent presenting (to the) privileged prosecutors (of the) Divine Plan (in the) European field (a) challenge at once severe, soul-stirring (and) inescapable, stop. (The) future edifice (of the) Universal House of Justice, depending for its stability on (the) sustaining strength (of the) pillars erected (in the) diversified communities (of the) East (and) West, destined (to) derive added power through (the) emergence (of the) three National Assemblies (on the) American continents awaits (the) rise (of the) establishment (of) similar institutions (on the) European mainland, each depending directly (on the) efforts now consciously exerted by (the) champion builders (of the) Administrative Order (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah (on the) European continent, stop. May (the) Conference be aided through (the) outpouring grace (of the) author (of the) Revelation (to) hasten, through (the) deliberations (and) consecration (of its) attendants, so blissful (a) consummation, (to) lend unprecedented impetus (to the) present evolution (of the) Administrative Order and (to) accelerate (the) progress leading (to the) future emergence (of the) World Order of Baha'u'llah. Ñ SHOGHI "SPIRITUAL CONQUEST OP THE PLANET" Dear and valued coworkers: The virtual termination of the interior ornamentation of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the West; the forthcoming formation of the twin National Spiritual Assemblies of Latin America, following upon the establishment of a corresponding institution in the Dominion of Canada; the full attainment of the prescribed goals on the European continent in accordance with the provisions of the second Seven Year Plan and the consolidation already achieved in the North American continent, do not, under any circumstances, imply that the vast responsibilities, shouldered by a valiant, an alert and resolute community, have been fully and totally discharged, or that its members can afford, as the plan draws to its conclusion, to sink into complacency or relax for one moment in their high endeavors. The hour destined to mark the triumphant conclusion of the second stage in their historic, divinely conferred world-encircling mission has not yet struck. Rumblings, loud and persistent, presaging a crisis of extreme severity in world affairs, confront them with a challenge which, in spite of what they have already accomplished, they cannot and must not either ignore or underrate. The rise of the World Administrative Center of their Faith, within the precincts and under the shadow of its World Spiritual Center, a process that has been kept in abeyance for well nigh thirty years, whilst the machinery [p349] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 347 Delegates to the National Convention of the Baha'is of Egypt and the Stidan, 1950, attended for the first time by a delegate from the Stid6n (seated at extreme right). of the national and local institutions of a nascent Order was being erected and perfected, presents them with an opportunity which, as the champion-builders of that Order and the torchbearers of an as yet unborn civilization, they must seize with alacrity, resolution and utter consecration. The initiation of momentous projects in other continents of the globe, and particularly in Africa, as a result of the growing initiative and the spirit of enterprise exhibited by their fellow-workers in East and West, cannot leave unmoved the vanguard of a host summoned by 'Abdu'l-Baha its Divine Commander, and in accordance with the provisions of a God-given Charter, to play such a preponderating role in the spiritual conquest of the entire planet. Above all, the rapid prosecution of an enterprise transcending any undertaking, whether national or local, embarked upon by the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, destined to attain its consummation with the erection of the Dome of the Bab's holy Sepulcher, imposes an added obligation, owing to unforeseen circumstances, on the already multitudinous duties assumed by a community wholly ab sorbed in the various tasks it shoffiders. In fact, as the Centenary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic Mission approaches, His American followers, not content with the successful conclusion, in their entirety, of the tasks assigned to them, must aspire to celebrate befittingly this historic occasion, as becomes the chosen recipients, and the privileged trustees, of a divinely conceived Plan, through emblazoning with still more conspicuous exploits, their record of stewardship to a Faith whose Author has issued such a ringing call to the rulers of the American continent, and the Center of Whose Covenant has entrusted the American Baha'i Community with so glorious a mission. Indeed the present stage in the construction of the superstructure of so holy a shrine imperatively demands a concentration of attention and resources commensurate with the high position occupied by this community, with the freedom it enjoys and the material means at its disposal. The signing of two successive contracts, for the masonry of the octagon, the cylinder and the dome of the edifice, necessitated by a sudden worsening of the international situation, which might [p350] 348 THE BAHA'! WORLD cut off indefinitely the provision of the same stones used for the erection of the Arcade and the Parapet of that Sepulcher, and amounting to no less than one hundred and ninety thousand dollars; the subsidiary contracts for the provision of steel and cement for the erection of the wrought iron balustrade and the metal window frames of both the octagon and the cylinder, involving an additional expenditure of no less than twenty thousand dollars, to which must be added the cost of the excavation for, and the sinking of, the eight piers designed to support the weight of the dome and of the immediate construction of the octagon, Ñ these call for a stupendous effort on the part of all Baha'i Communities and a self-abne-gation unprecedented in Baha'i history. A drastic reduction of national and local budgets; the allocation of substantial sums by all National Assemblies; the participation of individuals through sustained and direct donations to the first international and incomparably holy enterprise synchronizing with the birth of the International Baha'i Council at the very heart and center of a world-en-circling Faith can alone ensure the uninterrupted progress of an undertaking which, coupled with the completion of the Mother Temple of the West, cannot fail to produce tremendous repercussions in the Holy Land, in the North American continent and throughout the world. A period of austerity covering the two-year interval separating us from the Centenary celebrations of the Year Nine, prolonging so unexpectedly the austerity period already traversed by the American Baha'i Community, and now extended to embrace its sister communities throughout the Baha'i world, is evidently not only essential for the attainment of so transcendent a goal, but also supremely befitting when we recall the nature and dimensions of the holocaust which a hundred years ago crim-son-dyed the annals of our Faith, which posterity will recognize as the bloodiest episode of the most tragic period of the Heroic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, which involved the martyrdom of that incomparable heroine TThirih, which was immediately preceded by the imprisonment of Baha'u'llah in the subterranean dungeon of Tihr~n, and which sealed the fate of thousands of men, women and children in circumstances of unspeakable savagery and on a scale unapproached throughout subsequent stages of Baha'i history. No sacrifice can be deemed too great, no expenditure of material resources, no degree of renunciation of worldly benefits, comfort and pleasures, can be regarded as excessive when we recall the precious blood that flowed, the many lives that were snuffed out, the wealth of material possessions that was plundered during these most tumultuous and cataclysmic years of the Heroic Age of our Faith. Nor will the sacrifices willingly and universally accepted by the followers of the Faith in East and West for the sake of so noble a Cause, so transcendent an enterprise, fail to contribute their share towards the upbuilding of the World Administrative Center of that Faith, and the reinforcement of the ties already linking this Center with the recognized authorities of a State under the jurisdiction of which it is now function-~g, ties which the newty-formed International Babi'i Council are so assiduously striving to cemeilt. Already the completion of the construction of the Arcade of this majestic Sepulcher and of its ornamental Parapet has excited the admiration, stimulated the interest, and enlisted the support, of both the local authorities and of the central government, as evidenced by the series of acts which, ever since the emergence of that State, have proclaimed the goodwill shown and the recognition extended by the various departments of that State to the multiplying international institutions, endowments, laws and ordinances of a steadily rising Faith. The recognition of the sacred nature of the twin holy Shrines, situated in the Plain of 'Akka and on the slopes of Mt. Carmel; the exemption from state and civic taxes, granted to the Mansion of Baha adjoining the Most Holy Shrine, to the twin Houses, that of Baha'u'llah in 'Akka and 'Abdu'l-Baha in Haifa, to the twin Archives, adjoining the Shrine of the Bab and the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf, and the twin Pilgrim Houses constructed in the neighborhood of that Shrine, and of the residence of 'Abdu'l-Baha; the delivery of the Mansion of Mazra'ih by the authorities of that same State to the Baha'i Community and its occupation after a lapse of more than fifty years; the setting apart, through government action, of the room occupied by Baha'u'llah in the Barracks of 'Akka, as a place of pilgrimage; the recognition of the Baha Marriage Certificate by the District Corn [p351] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 349 missioner of Haifa; the recognition of the Baha'i Hoiy Days, in an official circular published by the Ministry of Education and Culture; the exemption from duty accorded by the Customs Department to all furniture received for Baha'i Holy Places as well as for all material imported for the construction of the Bab's Sepulcher, the exemption from taxes similarly extended to all international Baha'i endowments surrounding the Holy Tomb on Mt. Carmel, stretching from the ridge of the mountain to the Templar Colony at its foot, as well as to the holdings in the immediate vicinity of the resting-place of the Greatest H&y Leaf and her kinsmen Ñ all these establish, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the high status enjoyed by the international institutions of a world Faith, in the eyes of this newborn State. The construction of the Mausoleum of the Bab, synchronizing with the birth of that State, and the progress of which has been accompanied by these successive manifestations of the goodwill and support of the civil authorities will, if steadily maintained, greatly reinforce, and lend a tremendous impetus to this process of recognition which constitutes an historic landmark in the evolution of the World Center of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, Ñ a process which the newly-formed Council, now established at its very heart, is designed to foster, which will gather momentum, with the emergence in the course of time of a properly recognized and independently functioning Baha'i court, which will attain its consummation in the institution of the Universal House of Justice and the emergence of the auxiliary administrative Agencies, revolving around this Highest Legislative Body, and which will reveal the plenitude of its potentialities with the sailing of the Divine Ark as promised in the Tablet of Carmet I cannot at this juncture, overemphasize the sacredness of that Holy Dust embosomed in the heart of the Vineyard of God, or overrate the unimaginable potencies of this mighty institution founded sixty years ago, through the operation of the Will of, and the definite selection made by, the Founder of our Faith, on the occasion of His historic visit to that Holy Mountain, nor can I lay too much stress on the role which this institution, to which the construction of the superstructure of this Edifice is bound to lend an unprecedented impetus, is destined to play in the unfoldment of the World Administrative ministrative Center of the Faith of Baha'u'llah and in the efflorescence of its highest institutions constituting the embryo of its future World Order. For, just as in the realm of the spirit, the reality of the Bab has been hailed by the Author of the Baha Revelation as "The Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," so, on this visible plane, His sacred remains constitute the heart and center of what may be regarded as nine concentric circles, paralleling thereby, and adding further emphasis to the central position accorded by the Founder of our Faith to One "from Whom God bath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be," "the Primal Paint from which have been generated all created things." The outermost circle in this vast system, the visible counterpart of the pivotal position conferred on the Herald of our Faith, is none other than the entire planet. Within the heart of this planet lies the "Most Holy Land," acclaimed by 'Abdu'l-Baha as "the Nest of the Prophets" and which must be regarded as the center of the world and the Qiblih of the nations. Within this Most Holy Land rises the Mountain of God of immemorial sanctity, the Vineyard of the Lord, the Retreat of Elijah, Whose Return the DAb Himself symbolizes. Reposing on the breast of this Holy Mountain are the extensive properties permanently dedicated to, and constituting the sacred precincts of, the Bab's holy Sepulcher. In the midst of these properties, recognized as the international endowments of the Faith, is situated the Most Holy Court, an enclosure comprising gardens and terraces which at once embellish, and lend a peculiar charm to, these Sacred Precincts. Embosomed in these lovely and verdant surroundings stands in all its exquisite beauty the Mausoleum of the BTh, the Shell designed to preserve and adorn the original structure raised by 'Abdu'l-Baha as the Tomb of the Martyr-Herald of our Faith. Within this Shell is enshrined that P&rl of Great Price, the Holy of Ilolies, those chambers which constitute the Tomb itself, and which were constructed by 'Abdu'l-Baha Within the heart of this Hoiy of Holies is the Tabernacle, the Vault wherein reposes the Most Hoiy Casket. Within this Vault rests the alabaster Sarcophagus in which is deposited that inestimable Jewel, the Bib's Holy Dust. So precious is this Dust [p352] 350 THE BAHA'! WORLD that the very earth surrounding the Edifice enshrining this Dust has been extolled by the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant, in one of His Tablets in which He named the five doors belonging to the six chambers which He originally erected after five of the believers associated with the construction of the Shrine, as being endowed with such potency as to have inspired Him in bestowing these names, whilst the Tomb itself housing this Dust He acclaimed as the Spot round which the Concourse on high circle in adoration. To participate in the erection of the superstructure of an Edifice at once so precious, so holy; consecrated to the memory of so heroic a Soul; whose site no one less than the Founder of our Faith has selected; whose inner chambers were erected by the Center of His Covenant with such infinite care and anguish; embosomed in so sacred a mountain, on the soil of so holy a Land; occupying such a unique position; facing on the one hand the silver-white city of 'AMA, the Qiblih of the Baha'i world; flanked on its right by the hills of Galilee, the home of Jesus Christ, and on its left, by the Cave of Elijah; and backed by the plain of Sharon and, beyond it, Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest Shrine in IslAm Ñ to participate in the erection of such an Edifice is a privilege offered to this generation at once unique and priceless, a privilege which only posterity will be able to correctly appraise. In this supreme, this sacred and international undertaking in which the followers of Baha'u'llah, in all the continents of the globe, are summoned to show forth the noblest spirit of self-sacrifice, the members of the American Baha'i Community must by virtue of the abilities they have already demonstrated and of the primacy conferred upon them as the chosen trustees of a Divine Plan, play a preponderating role, and, together with their brethren residing in the Cradle of their Faith, who are linked by such unique ties with its Herald, set an example of self-abnegation worthy to be emulated by their fellow-workers in every land. Whilst the members of this privileged community, laboring so valiantly in the Western Hemisphere, are widening the range of their manifold activities, and thereby augmenting their responsibilities, in both the Holy Land and the African continent, the original tasks, associated with the prosecution of the Second Seven Year Plan, must, simultaneously with this added and meritorious effort which is being exerted, in memory of the beloved Bab, and for the spiritual emancipation of the downtrodden races of Africa, be carried to a triumphant conclusion. Though the present deficit in their National Fund may, in a sense, register a failure on their part to meet their pressing obligations, and may arouse in their hearts feelings of self-reproach and anxiety, I can confidently assert that the supplementary duties they have discharged, and the material support they have extended, and are now extending, for the conduct of activities, not falling within the original scope of their Plan, not only fully compensate for an apparent shortcoming, but constitute, instead of a stain on their record of service, additional embellishments to the scroll already inscribed with so many exploits for the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Assured that no blot has marred so splendid a record of service; confident of their destiny; reliant on the unfailing guidance of the Founder of their Faith as well as on His sustaining power, let them address themselves, with unrelaxing vigilance and undiminished vigor, to the task of rounding off the several missions undertaken by them in Latin America, and in the North American and European continents. The extension of the necessary material support and administrative guidance to the forthcoming National Assemblies of Central and South America that will enable them to develop along sound lines and without any setback in the course of their unfoldment; the steady consolidation of the victories already won in the ten goal countries of Europe; the maintenance, at its present level and at whatever cost, of the status of the Assemblies and groups so laboriously built up; the provision of whatever is required to fully complete the interior of the Temple and beautify the grounds surrounding it, in preparation for its formal inauguration and its use for public worship Ñ these should be regarded as the essential objectives of the American Baha'i Community during the two year interval separating us from the Centenary celebrations of the prophetic Mission of the Founder of our Faith. Time is running short. The effort required to discharge the manifold responsibilities now challenging the members of a lionhearted community is truly colossal. The is [p353] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 351 sues at stake, demanding every ounce of their energy, are incomparably glorious. An ominous international situation emphasizes this challenge and reinforces the urgency of these issues. In the Holy Land, amid the tribes of a dark continent, over the wide expanses stretching from Panama to the extremity of Chile, in the heart of its own homeland, as well as in the new European field, marking the projection of its world mission across the seas, the American Baha'i Community must depThy its forces, hoist still higher its pennants, and erect still more glorious memorials to the heroism, the constancy and the devotion of its members. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Whose Plan they are executing in both Hemispheres, and to Whose summons they are now responding in the African continent; the Mb, Whose Sepulcher they are helping to erect; above all Baha'u'llah, Whose embryonic World Order they are building in the T{oiy Land and in other continents of the globe, look down upon them from their retreats of glory, applauding their acts, guiding their footsteps, vouchsafing Their blessings, and laying up, in the storehouses of the Abba Kingdom such treasures as only They can bestow. May the members of this Community prove themselves, as they forge ahead and approach yet another milestone on the broad highway of their mission, worthy of still greater prizes, and fit to launch still mightier enterprises, for the glory of the Name they bear, and in the service of the Faith they profess. March 29, 1951. To THE NATIONAL BAHA'I CONVENTION, U.S.A., 1951 (My) heart (is) filled (with) thankfulness (at) contemplation (of the) chain (of) swiftly succeeding, epochmaking events transpiring (in the) course (of the) fifth year (of the) second Seven Year Plan, rendered memorable through association (with the) Centenary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Prophet-Herald (of the) Baha'i Dispensation testifying (to) God's unfailing protection (and the) manifold blessings vouchsafed (to the) Community (of the) Most Great Name alike (in) its World Center (and in) all continents (of the) globe. Divine retributive justice (is) strikingly demonstrated through (a) series (of) suck den, rapid, devastating blows sweeping over leaders (and) henchmen (of) breakers (of) Baha'u'llah's Covenant foiling (the) schemes, levelling (the) hopes, (and) well-nigh extinguishing (the) remnants (of the) conspiring crew which dared challenge (the) authority, succeeded (in) infficting untold sorrow (and) assiduously plotted (to) disrupt (the) Will (and) Testament (of) its appointed Center. (The) triumphant, resistlessly expanding Baha'i Administrative Order now embraces (one) hundred (and) six sovereign states (and) dependencies constituting (an) addition (of) no less (than) twenty-seven countries since (the) Centenary celebration (of the) Declaration (of the) Mission (of the) Holy Bab. (The) number of languages (into which) Baha'i literature (is) translated (or in) process (of) translation (is) over eighty. (The) number (of) incorporated Assemblies, local (and) national, (is) (one) hundred (and) ten. (The) Centenary (of the) Martyrdom (of the) Herald (of the) Faith (was) befittingly commemorated, synchronizing (with the) completion (of the) Arcade (and) Parapet (of) His Sepulcher (on) Mt. Carmel, marking (the) termination (of the) two-year, quarter million dollar enterprise. (The) preliminaries (for the) erection (of) two additional Pillars (of the) Universal House (of) Justice, culminating (in the) formation (of) National Assemblies (in) Ñ SHOGHI Central America, Mexico, (and the) Antilles, (and in) South America (has been) successfully concluded, following (the) raising (of a) similar Pillar (in the) Dominion (of) Canada. (The) interior ornamentation (of the) Mother Temple (of the) West (is) virtually completed, paving (the) way (for the) provision (of) accessories (and) landscaping (in) preparation (of its) public dedication destined (to) coincide (with the) twin celebrations (of the) consummation (of the) fifty year old enterprise (and the) Birth (of) Baha'u'llah's prophetic mission. (The) prelude (to the) historic African campaign, (the) foremost objective (of the) two year plan (of the) Baha'i Community (of the) British Isles, linking in formal association four National Assemblies (is) marked by (the) departure (of the) first pioneer (to) Tanganyika (and) [p354] 352 THE BAHA'I WORLD Baha'is attending the First National Baha'i Convention of South America, Lima, Peru, April, 1951. plans (for) settlement Gold Coast (and) Uganda. Contracts amounting (to) over two hundred ten thousand dollars successively placed (for) stones, window frames, railing, steel, cement required (for the) erection (of the) Octagon, Cylinder (and) Dome (of the) Nt's Sepulcher raising (to) sixteen hundred tons total tonnage ordered (from) Italy. (A) quarter-century old project (is) terminated through (the) construction (of the) last two terraces connecting (the) same edifice (with the) Templar Colony (at the) foot (of) Carmel. (The) four year plan initiated (by the) Persian National Assembly (in the) promotion (of the) interests (of the) women members (of the) community (is) successfully concluded despite increasing disabilities resulting (from the) recrudescence (of) religious fanaticism afflicting (the) sore-pressed homeland (of) Baha'u'llah. (A) notable step (in the) progress (of) Baha'i women (of the) Middle East (is) taken through (the) extension (of the) right (of) membership (in) local Assemblies (to) women believers (in) Egypt. (The) third European Teaching Conference (and) Summer School (was) held (in) Copenhagen (and) attended (by) (one) hundred seventy-seven (persons) representing twenty-two countries. (The) second All-Swiss Conference convened (in) ZUrich, foreshadowing (the) closer integration (of the) ten goal countries (of the) European continent through (the) eventual formation (of) regional National Assemblies (in) Scandinavia, (the) Benelux countries, Switzerland, Italian (and) Therian peninsulas. Baha literature (in) Greenlandic, previously disseminated as far (as) Thule, Etab, beyond (the) Arctic Circle, (has been) dispatched (to) radio station (in) Brondlundsfjord, Peary Land, eighty-sec-ond latitude, northernmost outpost (of the) globe. Ties, linking (the) World Center (of the) Faith (with the) newly-emerged, [p355] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 353 rapidly consolidating sovereign state (in the) Holy Land, (have been) reinforced through (the) delivery (by the) Ministry (of) Religious Affairs (of the) Mazra'ih Mansion (into) Baha custody, (the) recognition (of) Baha'i Holy Days (by the) Ministry (of) Education (and) Culture, following exemption granted (to) Baha'i international endowments, (and) recognition accorded Baha'i marriage certificate. Bahd'u'flfih's residence (in) 'Akka, (the) scene (of) severe crises (in the) course (of the) ministries (of the) Founder (of the) Faith (and the) Center (of His) Covenant renovated (and) furnished, (are) added (to the) Holy Places already opened (to the) steadily swelling number (of) visitors both local (and) foreign. (A) significant step (was) taken (by the) City Governorate (of) Cairo presaging (the) eventual recognition (by) state authorities (of the) Baha'i laws (of) personal status, already codified (and) submitted (to the) central government (by the) Egyptian National Assembly. Bonds binding (the) Baha'i world community (to) United Nations strengthened (by) Baha'i participation (in) regional conference (of) NonGovernmental Organizations (in) Geneva (and) Istanbul. Preliminary steps taken (in) preparation (of) final design (for the) Mashriqu'l-Adhkar (on) Mt. Carmel by President (of the) International Baha'i Council, specifically appointed (by) 'Abdu'l-Baha (to be) its architect. Process (of the) unfoldment (of the) ever-advancing Administrative Order accelerated (by the) formation (of the) International Baha'i Council designated (to) assist (in the) erection (of the) superstructure (of the) Bab's Sepulcher, cement ties uniting (the) budding World Administrative Center with (the) recently established state, (and) pave (the) way (for the) formation (of the) Baha'i Court, essential prelude (to the) institution (of the) Universal House (of) Justice. (I) hail particularly (the) brilliant victory won (by the) American Baha'i Community (in) meeting (the) financial requirements (for the) completion (of the) interior ornamentation (of the) Temple (and) eliminating (the) deficit (in the) Victory Fund, exploits doubly meritorious owing (to the) added responsibilities courageously assumed (to) assist enterprise (in the) African field, (and) construction (of the) Bab's Sepulcher (in the) Holy Land. (I am) thrilled (by the) multiple evidences (of the) simultaneous prosecution (of) Baha'i national plans, East (and) West, (and the) rise (and) steady consolidation (of the) World Center (of the) Faith, constituting (the) distinguishing features (of the) second epoch (of the) Formative Age whose inception (on the) morrow (of the) Second World War coincided (with the) inauguration (of the) second Baha'i century, and which bids fair (to) eclipse (the) splendors (of the) preceding epoch, which posterity will associate with (the) birth (and) rise (of the) embryonic World Order of Baha'u'llah. Received April 25, 1951. Ñ SHOGHI To THE 1952 NATIONAL BAnAl CONVENTION, U.S.A. Soul stirred, heart uplifted (by) recollection (of) events signalizing (the) twelve month period preceding (the) fateful year destined (to) witness (the) consummation (of) series (of) plans formulated (by) Baha'i National Assemblies (of) five continents, as well as (the) inauguration (of the) second, glorious Jubilee (of the) Baha'i Dispensation. (The) irresistible march (of the) Faith marked simultaneously (by the) steady consolidation (of) its administrative institutions (and the) rapid enlargement (of its) limits. No less (than) eighteen countries (have been) enrolled, raising (the) total number (within) its orbit (to) (one) hundred twenty-four. Languages (in which) Baha'i literature (is) printed (or is) being translated (are) now ninety, including twelve African languages. (The) vast process (of the) rise (and) establishment (of the) World Center (of the) Faith (has been) accelerated. Contingents (of) Hands (of the) Cause (have been) successively appointed (in) every continent (of the) globe, five (of) whom (are) shouldering responsibilities (in the) Holy Land. (The) International Baha'i Council (has been) enlarged (and) officers designated. (An) interview (was) accorded (by), (and) literature presented (to the) Israel Prime Minister (in the) course (of his) American visit (by) representatives (of the) American National Assembly. Eighteen plots, (a) twenty-two thousand square [p356] 354 THE BAHA'I WORLD meter area, (have been) added (to the) International Baha endowments (on the) slopes (of) Carmel. Government survey concluded paving (the) way (for the) acquisition (of) over (one) hundred forty thousand square meters (of) property (in the) precincts (of the) Most Holy Tomb (at) Baha. (The) design (for the) Mash-riqu'1-Adbktir (on) Carmel, conceived (by the) President (of the) International Baha Council, completed. Privileges, exemption already accorded Baha'i Holy Places (in) Israel (by) Ministry (of) Finance extended (to) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Home, Eastern (and) Western Pilgrim Houses. Pilgrimages (to) World Center (of the) Faith resumed following decade (of) external hostilities (and) internal disturbances agitating (the) Holy Land. Eight piers, designed (to) support (the) thousand ton superstructure (of the) B&b's Sepulcher constructed. Successive contracts, totaling approximately forty-seven thousand dollars, (for the) construction (of the) structural work (and the) erection (of the) Octagon signed, culminating (in the) completion (of the) first unit (of the) superstructure, (and the) raising (of) eight pinnacles, constituting (the) second crown (of the) Holy Edifice. Preparations (to) build (the) Drum, (the) foundation unit (of the) golden Dome (of the) Sepulcher, commenced. Twin pillars (of the) future House (of) Justice erected (in) Central (and) South America, additional pillar projected (for) Europe uniting (the) heart (and) south (of the) continent. Preliminary measures initiated (for the) convocation (of) four intercontinental conferences (in the) African, American, European (and) Asiatic continents, involving (the) participation (of) twelve National Spiritual Assemblies, designed alike (to) befittingly celebrate (the) Centenary (of the) Year Nine (and to) launch ten year crusade destined (to) culminate (in the) Most Great Jubilee. Two year plan (of the) Baha'i community (of the) British Isles formally launched (on the) African continent through (the) dispatch (of) pioneers (to the) virgin territories (of) Tanganyika, Uganda, (and the) Gold Coast, (has been) reinforced (by the) assignment (of) Liberia (to the) American, Somaliland, Nyasaland (and) North Rhodesia (to the) Persian, Zanzibar (and) Madagascar (to the) Indian, (and) Libya (and) Algeria (to the) Egyptian, National Assemblies, raising (the) number (of) States (and) Dependencies already soon (to be) opened (to the) Faith (to) twenty-five. First fruits garnered comprise purchase (of) seventeen thousand dollar Ua4ratu'1-Quds (in) Kampala, settlement (of) Persian, American, British, Egyptian (and) Portuguese pioneers (in) Liberia, North Rhodesia, Angola, Libya, Spanish Morocco (and) Mozambique, inauguration (of) teaching classes, public meetings (and) firesides, enrollment (of) several native Africans belonging (to the) Teso, Yao, Buganda (and) Mutoco tribes, (and the) formation (of) Spiritual Assemblies (in) Kampala (and) Dar es Salaam. European Teaching campaign, exceeding fondest hop~s, stimulated successively (by) convocation (of the) fourth European Teaching Conference (in) Scheveningen, representative (of) twenty-one countries, (the) first Iberian Conference (in) Madrid, (the) third Swiss Conference (in) Bern, (the) first Italian Conference (in) Rome, (the) first Benelux Conference (in) Brussels (and the) establishment (of) headquarters (in) Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxem-bourg-Ville, Bern (and) Lisbon. (The) process (of) consolidation (of the) Faith stimulated (by the) recognition (of) Baha Holy Days (by the) Superintendent (of) Public Schools (in) Kenosha, Superintendent School (in) Milwaukee, (and) Rhode Island State Department (of) Civil Service, (and of the) Baha'i marriage certificate (by) civil authorities (of) Indianapolis; (by the) authorization by Adjutant General (of) Baha'i identification (for) believers serving (in) U.S. Armed Forces. Ba1A'i administrative centers steadily multiplying (in) Jjijaz, Yemen, Bal~rayn, Aljsa, Koweit, Qatar, Dubai, Masqat, Aden, heralding convocation (of) historic Baha Convention (in the) Arabian Peninsula, destined (to) culminate (in the) erection (of a) pillar (of the) Universal House (of) Justice (in the) midmost heart (of the) Islamic world. (The) nineteen month plan, formulated (by the) National Spiritual Assembly (of the) Indian subcontinent (and) Burma, aiming among other things (at the) introduction (and) consolidation (of the) Faith (in the) capital cities (of) Nepal, Siam, [p357] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 355 IndoChina, Malaya, Indonesia (and) Sara-wak. Ties binding International Baha Community (to) United Nations reinforced (by) official participation (of) Baha'i delegates (in) regional NonGovernmental Confer-with) with) Baha'u'llah's imprisonment (in the) Siy4h-QhAl (in) Tihr~n, (to) arise (and) scale still loftier heights (of) self-sacrifice (and) efface (the) deficit (in the) National Fund. Address in particular fervent plea (to) brace itself (to) play (a) preponder Reception, South American National Baha Convention in Lima, Peru, 1953. ences (in) Istanbul, Managua, Den Passar, Paris, (and) Lawrence, Kansas. Historic site (of) House occupied (by) Baha'u'llah (in) Istanbul (has been) partly purchased, (and) investigations conducted (for the) acquisition (of) similar sites associated (with the) exile (of the) Founder (of the) Faith (in) Adrianople. Northern outposts (of the) Faith reinforced (by the) settlement (of) pioneers (in) Egedesminde, Greenland, (and in) Yellowknife, Canadian North Western Territories. Last (but) not least, (the) internal ornamentation (of the) Mother Temple (of the) West (has been) terminated, (and) design adopted, funds allocated (by the) Temple Trustees (for the) landscaping (of) its immediate surroundings, constituting (the) final step (for) its approaching Jubilee. Appeal American Baha'i community standing (on) threshold (of) concluding year (of) second Seven Year Plan, traversing (the) last stage (of the) austerity period, confronted (by the) approaching centenary (of the) darkest, bloodiest episode (in) Baha'i history, associated (with the) nationwide holocaust (of) T6~hirih's martyrdom, (and ating role (in the) impending world crusade, which (a) world community, utilizing (the) agencies (of a) divinely-appointed world administrative order, (is) preparing (to) launch, amidst (the) deepening shadows (of a) world crisis, (for the) execution (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's world-encircling plan (and the) subsequent unfoldment (of a) world civilization, (and the) ultimate attainment (of the) supreme objective, (the) illumination (and) redemption (of a) whok world. Advise share message National Assemblies East (and) West. Received April 23, 1952. Ñ SHocrnI "DOUBLE ANNOUNCEMENT" TO THE BAHA WORLD (On) morrow (of) sixtieth anniversary (of) Baha'u'llah's Ascension share double announcement (with) Baha'i world through all National Assemblies: (The) rapid progress (of the) enterprise majestically unfolding (in the) heart (of) God's Holy Mountain, (and the) steady decline (in the) fortunes (of the) remnant (of) old Cove [p358] 356 THE DAnA'! WORLD nant-breakers still defiantly challenging (the) combined strength (of the) Ba1A'i world community. (The) termination (of the) Octagon, setting (the) second crown (on the) Holy Edifice, synchronizing (with) last Nawruz Festival, (was) followed (by the) erection (and) gilding (of the) balustrade (during the) course (of the) succeeding Rhjv6~n period. Preliminary investigations culminated (in the) erection (of the) scaffolding (and the) commencement (of the) construction (of the) Drum (at an) estimated cost (of) thirteen thousand pounds, constituting (the) third unit (of the) Edifice preparatory (to) raising (the) golden Dome. Experiments, prior (to the) placing (of the) contract (for the) gilded tiles (for the) Dome, concluded. Confidently anticipate (the) completion (of) all preliminaries, enabling (the) builders (of the) mighty, sacred Structure (to) start construction (of the) Dome (on the) morrow (of the) opening (of the) fast approaching Holy Year, paving (the) way (to the) fulfillment (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's prophecy, uttered (in the) dark days (of the) First World War, envisaging (the) glory (of the) resplendent Dome greeting (the) devout gaze (of) future pilgrims drawing nigh (to the) shores (of the) Holy Land. Old Covenant-breakers, untaught (by the) lessons (of the) past sixty years, (the) reverses suffered (in) connection (with the) restitution (of) keys (to the) Shrine, (the) evacuation (and) restoration (of the) Mansion, (the) devastating loss (in) rapid succession (of) outstanding leaders (and) spokesmen, backed (by the) support (of the) perfidious Sobrab, engaging (the) services (of a) clever, hostile lawyer, unitedly challenged (the) authority conferred (by) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, (and) instituted legal proceedings against (the) Guardian (of the) Faith, questioned (his) right (to) demolish dilapidated house situated (within the) precincts (and) constituting (an) affront (to the) Most Holy Shrine (of the) Baha'i world, were rebuffed through (the) intervention (of the) Israd government de-flying (the) competence (of the) civil court (to) adjudicate (the) matter, subsequently threatened (to) appeal (the) government decision (to the) Supreme Court, provoked (the) authorities who, (in) consequence (of) my representations (to) both (the) Prime Minister (and the) Minister (of) Foreign Affairs, issued authorization (to) demolish (the) ruins. Shortsighted action prompted (by) blind, uncontrollable animosity, resulted (in the) irretrievable curtailment (of) longstanding privileges extended (to the) Covenant-breakers (during the) course (of) six decades (on the) occasion (of the) celebration (of the) Baha'i Holy Days. (The) signal success (in the) removal (of the) ruins (was) immediately followed (by) landscaping (the) approaches (to the) Shrine, (the) erection (of a) gate (and the) embellishment (of the) surroundings (of the) Tomb (of) Baha'u'llah, long denied (a) befitting entrance through (the) deliberate obstruction (by the) enemies (of the) Faith. Public access (to the) heart (of the) Qiblili (of the) Baha'i world (is) now made possible through traversing (the) sacred precincts leading successively (to the) Holy Court, (the) outer (and) inner sanctuaries, (the) Blessed Threshold (and the) Holy (of) Holies. Recent events prelude (the) acquisition. (and) development (of) over thirty acres (of) property surrounding Baha'u'llah's resting place (and are) paving (the) way (for the) erection (in the) course (of) future decades (of a) befitting Mausoleum destined (to) enshrine (the) Dust (of the) Founder (of) God's Most Hoiy Faith. Ñ Snooni Haifa, Israel, June 11, 1952. "THE SUMMONS OF THE LORD OP HOSTS" Dear and Valued CoWorkers: The steady expansion of the activities conducted so devotedly and so efficiently, during the last twelve months, by the members of the valiant and exemplary American Baha'i Community, under the aegis of their elected national representatives, is such as to evoke feelings of deep and sincere admiration in my heart, and will serve to heighten the esteem in which they are held by their brethren in every continent of the globe. The completion of the interior ornamentation of the holiest House of Worship ever to be raised by the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, the initiation of the landscaping of the immediate approaches of this sacred and majestic Edifice, the actual launching of the highly promising, profoundly significant African Campaign, through the arrival and settlement of American pioneers in both [p359] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH{ 357 East and West Africa; the energetic efforts exerted for the multiplication of Baha administrative institutions and the stimulation and consolidation of the all-important teaching work throughout the States of the American Union; the generous, the unhesitating and effectual support extended to the newly fledged communities in Latin America in their efforts for the consolidation of the administrative structure so laboriously erected in recent years; the ready and enthusiastic response to the worldwide call for a befitting celebration by the entire Baha'i world of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's prophetic Mission; the magnificent services already rendered by the recently elevated American Hands of the Cause of God, in diversified spheres of Baha'i activity, at the World Center of the Faith, in the triple function of hastening the construction of the Bib's Sepulcher, of consolidating the ties binding the International Baha'i Council to the civil authorities of Israel, and of completing the design of the projected Mashriqu'l-Adhkar on Mt. Carmel, as well as in Latin America; the repeated contributions made for the erection of that Sepulcher, for the extension of Baha'i international endowments and the institution of the Ija4ratu'1-Quds in Kampala; the marvelous loyalty demonstrated in connection with the repeated defection of members of the Holy Family and the nefarious activities of Covenant-breakers, both old and new; as well as the share a number of these Hands have had in administering a stunning defeat to the enemies of the Faith who, so boldly and shamelessly sought, through legal action, to challenge the authority of the Guardian of the Faith, and to publicly humiliate, the institution created through the provisions of 'Abdu'l-Baha alA's Testament; the further unfoldment of the European project through the initiation of the two historic Conferences held in the Low Countries and in the Iberian Peninsula, and the convocation of the fateful Conference in Rome, heralding the formation of the Italo-Swiss National Assembly Ñ the fairest fruit of that mighty Project Ñ these stand out as the distinctive, the unforgettable, the infinitely meritorious achievements which posterity will record as the noblest exploits immortalizing the concluding years of the Second Seven Year Plan, and conferring untold benefits on its executors throughout the length and breadth of the Great Republic of the West. So notable a record, such splendid achievements, investing, as they inevitably must, the American Baha Community with the potentialities so essential for the adequate conduct of the impending Ten Year Plan, that will constitute the third and last stage in the initial epoch, in the unfoldment of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Plan, and auguring well for the triumphant conclusion of the present Seven Year Plan, can, and must, if the star of this enviable community is to continue to rise, rapidly and uninterruptedly, to its meridian, be converted into a steppingstone for the achievements of such feats as will, not only outshine the splendor of the services already enumerated, but constitute a befitting termination to the second collective enterprise undertaken in American Baha'i history, in the service of the Cause of RaM'-u'lldh, and for the execution of the grand Design conceived by the Center of His Covenant. The support extended by a self-sacrificing, high-minded, ever alert community, for the erection of the Drum of the Sepulcher of the BTh and the raising of its crowning unit Ñ the Dome itself Ñ must, in the course of this current year, be consistently maintained, both by the individual members of this community, and the body of its elected representatives. The assistance required for the acquisition of extensive properties, comprising both lands and houses, in the immediate neighborhood of the Most Holy Tomb in Baha, and for the embellishment of the approaches of that hallowed Shrine Ñ the Qiblih of the Baha'i world Ñ as a necessary prelude to the ultimate erection of a befitting Mausoleum to enshrine the remains of God's Supreme Manifestation on earth, must be generously and systematically extended. The scheme of landscaping the area surrounding the recently completed Mother Temple of the West, in time for its consecration and formal opening for public I3ah&f worship, must be rapidly and carefully carried out. 'The subsidiary Plan, formulated for the intensification of the Campaign of internal expansion and consolidation in every State of the American Republic, must be assiduously executed, and under no circumstances, be allowed to deteriorate or to fall into abeyance. The flow of pioneers to the African continent, to Liberia, North Africa, West and Bast Africa, must, at xvhat~ [p360] 358 THE BAHA'! WORLD ever cost, and while there is yet time, be substantially accelerated, as the essential prerequisite to the Ten Year crusade to be launched by no less than five National Assemblies in the African continent, on the morrow of the celebrations of the impending Holy Year. The process of multiplication of Baha'i local Assemblies in the ten goal countries of Europe, and particularly in Italy and Switzerland, and the preparatory measures required to ensure the success of the twin historic assemblages destined to commemorate the last year of the Seven Year enterprise launched in the European continent Ñ the European Teaching Conference in Luxembourg and the Italo-Swiss Convention in Florence Ñ must be pushed forward with extreme care, vigilance and vigor. The utmost help and the necessary guidance must be vouchsafed to the newly emerged sister communities, in both Central and South America, to enable them to consummate their spontaneously undertaken Plans, so vital to their future association with the organized communities, in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, in the prosecution of the worldwide undertaking destined to be launched on the morrow of the celebration of the approaching Great Jubilee. Above all, the most careful, prayerful, concentrated attention should be given by your Assembly, in conjunction with the several national committees, appointed for this purpose, to the adequate celebration of the fast approaching Holy Year, both lo-cafly, nationally and internationally, with particular emphasis on the three outstanding functions which the members of this Assembly must discharge, namely, the solemn consecration of the completed House of Worship and the commemoration of its Jubilee, the formal convocation of the Intercontinental Conference, and the holding of the Annual Convention in Wilmette, and the effective participation of the members of the American Baha'i Community, both officially and unofficially, in the three other historic Intercontinental Conferences to be convened successively in Kampala, Stockholm and New Delhi. The tasks ahead, calling for the expenditure of every ounce of energy on the part of the members of the indefatigable, irresistibly advancing, majestically unfolding American Baha'i community and for the unrelaxing vigilance of its national elected representatives, are immense, highly diversified, truly challenging, sacred in character, undreamt of in their potentialities, urgent by their very nature, and inescapable in the responsibilities they involve. At the World Center of the Faith, where, at long last the machinery of its highest institutions has been erected, and around whose most holy shrines the supreme organs of its unfolding Order, are, in their embryonic form, unfolding; amidst the diversified tribes and races, peopling the Dependencies and Principalities of the Dark Continent of Africa; in the far-flung territories of Central and South America so alien in culture, temperament, habits, language and outlook; in the capital cities and traditional strongholds of a materially highly advanced yet spiritually famished, much tormented, fear-ridden, hopelessly-sundered, heterogeneous conglomeration of races, nations, sects and classes overspreading the continent of Europe; in the heart of the African continent, in the capital city of the Indian subcontinent; in one of the leading capitals of the Scandinavian countries in Northern Europe, in the very heart of the leading Republic of the Western Hemisphere, the standard-bearers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, the champion-builders of the Administrative Order, the vanguard of the Heralds of His World Order, and the Chief and appointed executors of the Master Plan of the Center of His Covenant, have, in the course of the few, fast-fleeting months ahead, separating them from the grandest crusade thus far launched in Baha'i history, been assigned tasks, obligations and responsibilities that they can afford to neither minimize, neglect or shirk for a moment. Within only a few weeks the Baha'i World will enter upon the centenary of that fateful day of August the fifteenth, when a dastardly act, fraught with such terrible consequences, unleashed a series of tragic events that stained the annals of the Faith, that precipitated calamities on a scale unprecedented since its inception and unsurpassed in their tragic character by any event except the martyrdom of its Herald, which culminated in an holocaust reminiscent of the direst tribulations undergone by the persecuted followers of any previous religion, and which, in turn, paved the way, even as the darkest hour of the night precedes the dawn, for the first glimmerings that were to proclaim, to an unsuspecting world, and amidst the gloom and stench of the Siy~h-QP1 of Ti~~n~ the birth of the Mission of the [p361] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 359 Founder of our Faith. Less than four months separate us from the centenary celebrations designed to befittingly commemorate that glorious event in Baha'i history, an event even more potent in its implications than the birth of the Bab Dispensation, and that left their lasting imprint on His Ministry. Little wonder that, in the months immediately ahead, when our thoughts are fixed upon those days which heralded the outbreak of this reign of unprecedented terror, Baha'i delegates and visting Baha'is attending the First Baha'i Convention of Central America, Mexico and the Antilles, Panama City, April 2224, 1951. yielding in sacredness to none other except the memorable occasion when the Founder of the Faith Himself ascended the throne of His spiritual sovereignty and formally assumed, in the City of Baghdad, His Prophetic Office. The radiance of God's infant light shining within the walls of that pestilential Pit Ñ a radiance, an infinitesimal glimmer of which, as the Founder of the Faith, Himself, later testified, caused the dwellers of Sinai to swoon away Ñ seemed, as it were, to be intermingled, whilst Baha'u'llah lay in chains and fetters in that subterranean dungeon, and, for many months after, with the somberness of the tragedy which enveloped the members of a persecuted community in almost every province of that hapless land. The dawning light of the Revelation promised and lauded by the Bib marks the termination of the second and darker crisis in the annals of the B~±bi Dispensation, and signalizes the commencement of a ten-year-long crisis, the first of the three successive ones and the outburst of a light of such inconceivable brightness and in the twelvemonth period immediately following when we commemorate the centenary of that reign of terror as well as throughout the succeeding decade, constituting the hundreth anniversary of the period following the birth of so glorious a Mission Ñ little wonder that the followers of the Author of such a Revelation should be called upon to pour forth, as a ransom for so much suffering, and in thanksgiving for such priceless benefits conferred upon mankind, their substance, exert themselves to the utmost, scale the summits of self-sacrifice, accomplish the most valorous feats, and, through a concerted, determined, consecrated ten-year-long effort, achieve their greatest victories in honor of the Founder of their Faith, in grateful memory of His unnumbered slaughtered servants, and for the world establishment, and ultimate triumph, of His embryonic World Order. [p362] 360 THE BAHA'! WORLD The four Intercontinental Conferences, constituting the highlights of the centenary celebrations commemorating this unique period in Baha'i history, commingling so much tragedy and glory, as well as the public consecration of the Most Holy House of Worship ever to be raised for the glory of the Most Great Name, must alike proclaim, in no uncertain voice, the significance of the happenings which, a hundred years ago, endowed mankind with a potency unapproached at any period in the world's spiritual history, and signalize the inauguration of what may yet come to be regarded as a period of collective administrative and teaching accomplishments distinguishing the Formative Age of our Faith and endowed with a fertility comparable to that which marked the spiritual feats of the dawn-breakers of the Heroic Age which preceded it. To the members of the valorous Amer-lean Baha'i Community, the chosen trustees and principal executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, who, by virtue of the mission entrusted to them by the Center of RaM'-u'llcih's Covenant, have been empowered, and are fully qualified, to assume a preponderating role in the conduct of this world-encompassing crusade; to the longsuffering, the unflinching, the much loved and steadfast members of the venerable and still persecuted community of Baha'u'llah's followers laboring in His native land, whose spiritual ancestors have left a legacy of unsurpassed heroism and saintliness to the rising generation in both the East and the West; to the members of the small, yet intensely alive, community dwelling in the heart and center of the far-flung British Commonwealth of Nations, whose destiny is to lend a notable impetus to the progress of this world Crusade, through awakening the vast and heterogeneous multitudes that owe allegiance to the British Crown, and are dispersed throughout the five continents of the globe; to the members of the equally small yet virile and highly promising community, planted in the heart of the European continent, whose mission is to spread the light of the Faith throughout the regions that lie in its neighborhood and project its radiance as far as the heart of the Asiatic continent; to the members of the newly emerged yet swiftly advancing community established in the Dominion of Canada, worthy allies of the American Baha'i Community in the furtherance therance of the Grand Design delineated in 'Abdu'l-Baha's immortal Tablets; to the members of the loyal, the assiduously laboring and highly diversified community in the Indian subcontinent, whose geographic position entitles them to extend substantial assistance to the prodigious task of awakening the peoples of South East Asia to the redemptive Message of Baha'u'llah; to the members of the second most persecuted yet resolute community established in the heart of both the Arab and Muslim worlds, who, by virtue of the position they occupy, must play a distinctive part in the emancipation of a proscribed Faith from the fetters of religious orthodoxy; to the members of the youthful yet vigorously functioning community, championing the Cause of Baha'u'llah in the Antipodes who, by reason of their close proximity, are expected to contribute a substantial share to the establishment of the institutions of the Faith in the numerous and widely scattered islands and archipelagoes of the South Pacific Ocean; to the members of a long-established yet still persecuted community dwelling in a territory which may well rank, next to the Holy Land and the Cradle of our Faith, as the most holy in the entire Baha'i world, who are destined to share with their brethren in Persia, Egypt and PThist6n in the task of achieving the recognition of a downtrodden Faith, by the ecclesiastical leaders of Isl&m; to the newly-fledged, spiritually alert communities of Central and South America, who, by virtue of the responsibilities m-vested in the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere through the ringing call of Baha'u'llah in the Aqdas and the utterances of the Center of His Covenant, are expected by their brethren, in both the East and the West, to worthily play their part as associates of the chief executors of the Plan bequeathed by 'Abdu'l-Baha; to the members of the communities in Italy and Switzerland, as yet in the embryonic stage of their development, and who will soon take their place as an independent entity in the international Baha community, and must assume theft share in planting the banner of a triumphant Faith in the heart of a continent regarded as the cradle of Western civilization as well as in the stronghold and nerve-center of the most powerful church in Christendom; indeed, to each and every believer, whether isolated, or associated with any local Assembly or group, who, though as yet unidenti [p363] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 361 fled with any specific national Plan for the systematic prosecution of this Crusade, cam still, and indeed must, lend his particular assistance in this gigantic enterprise Ñ to all, without distinction of race, nation, class, color, age or sex, I feel moved, as the fateful hour of a memorable centenary approaches, to address my plea, with all the fervor that my soul can command and all the love that my heart contains, to rededicate themselves, collectively and individually, to the task that lies ahead of them. Under whatever conditions, the dearly loved, the divinely sustained, the onward marching legions of the army of Baha'u'llah may be laboring, in whatever theater they may operate, in whatever climes they may struggk, whether in the cold and inhospitable territories beyond the Arctic Circle, or in the torrid zones of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; on the borders of the jungks of Burma, Malaya and India; on the fringes of the deserts of Africa and of the Arabian Peninsula; in the lonely, faraway, backward and sparsely populated islands dotting the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans and the North Sea; amidst the diversified tribes of the Negroes of Africa, the Eskimos and the Lapps of the Arctic regions, the Mongolians of East and South East Asia, the Polynesians of the South Pacific Islands, the reservations of the Red Indians in both American continents, the Ma-ones of New Zealand, and the aborigines of Australia; within the time-honored strongholds of both Christianity and Is1~m, whether it be in Mecca, Rome, Cairo, Najaf or Karbilfi; or in towns and cities whose inhabitants are either immersed in crass materialism, or breathe the fetid air of an aggressive racialism, or find themselves bound by the chains and fetters of a haughty intellectualism, or have fallen a prey to the forces of a blind and militant nationalism, or are steeped in the atmosphere of a narrow and intolerant ecciesiasticism Ñ to them all, as well as to those who, as the fortunes of this fate-laden Crusade prosper, will be called upon to unfurl the standard of an all-conquering Faith in the strongholds of Hinduism, and assist in the breaking up of a rigid agelong caste system, who will replace the seminaries and monasteries acting as the nurseries of the Buddhist Faith with the divinely-ordained institutions of Baha'u'llah's victorious Order, who will penetrate the jungles of the Amazon, scale the moun tain-fastnesses of Tibet, establish direct contact with the teeming and hapless multitudes in the interior of China, Mongolia and Japan, sit with the leprous, consort with the outcasts in their penal colonies, traverse the steppes of Russia or scatter throughout the wastes of Siberia, I direct my impassioned appeal to obey, as befits His warriors, the summons of the Lord of Hosts, and prepare for that Day of Days when His victorious battalions will, to the accompaniment of hozannas from the invisible angels in the AbhA Kingdom, celebrate the hour of final victory. "0, that I could travel," 'Abdu'l-Baha crying out from the depths of His soul, gives utterance to His longing, in a memorable passage in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, addressed to the North American believers, "even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and raising the call of 'Y~-BahA'u'1-Abh&' in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the Divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it!" "Teach ye the Cause of God, 0 people of Baha," the Author of our Faith, Himself, admonishes His followers, ". for God hath prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds. Should any one arise for the triumph of Our Cause, him will God render victorious though tens of thousands of enemies be leagued against him." "They that have forsaken their country," He assures them, for the purpose of teaching Our Cause Ñ these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through its power. Such a service is, indeed, the prince of all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act." "When the hour cometh that this wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken its flight unto the celestial Concourse," is 'Abdu'l-Baha's last poignant call to the entire body of the followers of His Father's Faith, as recorded in His Will and Testament, "it is incumbent upon the friends and loved ones, one and all, to bestir themselves and arise, with heart and soul, and in one accord to teach His Cause and promote His Faith. It behoveth them not to rest for a moment. They must disperse themselves in every land and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred, without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land [p364] Baha'is attending the First Italo-Swiss Baha'i Convention, Florence, Italy, April 2327, 1953. [p365] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 363 the cry of 'Y&BaM'u'1-AbM' that throughout the East and the West a vast concourse may gather under the shadow of the Word of God, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted, that men's faces may be illumined, that their hearts may be filled with the Divine Spirit and their souls become heavenly." No matter how long the period that separates them from ultimate victory; however arduous the task; however formidable the exertions demanded of them; however dark the days which mankind, perplexed and sorely-tried, must, in its hour of travail, traverse; however severe the tests with which they who are to redeem its fortunes will be confronted; however afflictive the darts which their present enemies, as well as those whom Providence, will, through His mysterious dispensations raise up from within or from without, may rain upon them, however grievous the ordeal of temporary separation from the heart and nerve-center of their Faith which future unforeseeable disturbances may impose upon them, I adjure them, by the precious blood that flowed in such great profusion, by the lives of the unnumbered saints and heroes who were immolated, by the supreme, the glori-oiis sacrifice of the Prophet-Herald of our Faith, by the tribulations which its Founder, Himself, willingly underwent, so that His Cause might live, His Order might redeem a shattered world and its glory might suffuse the entire planet Ñ I adjure them, as this solemn hour draws nigh, to resolve never to flinch, never to hesitate, never to relax, until each and every objective in the Plans to be proclaimed, at a later date, has been fully consummated. June 30, 1952. Your true brother Ñ SHOGHI To THE EUROPEAN TEACHING CONEERENCE IN LUXEMBOURG (On the) occasion, auspicious opening Luxembourg Teaching Conference coinciding (with the) eve (of the) historic Holy Year marking (the) conclusion (of the) series (of the) memorable annual gatherings, leaving (an) indelible imprint (on the) annals (of the) second stage (of the) evolution (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha A's Divine Plan, wholeheartedly share feelings (of) joy, pride (and) gratitude evoked (in the) hearts (of the) assembled representatives (of the) Baha'i Communities (on the) European Continent (at the) prospect (of the) forthcoming convocation (of the) epochmaking convention (in) Florence, (the) harbinger (of the) birth (of the) Italo-Swiss Baha'i National Assembly. Stop. (The) projected institutions called (into) being amidst (the) worldwide celebrations commemorating (the) inception (of) Baha'u'llah's prophetic Mission, constituting fairest fruit (of the) initial stage (of the) European crusade, bound (to) add its valuable support (to the) triple pillars recently erected under (the) aegis (of the) same plan (in the) course (of the) same stage (of) its evolution designed (to) sustain (the) weight, (to) broaden (the) basis, (to) enhance (the) prestige, (to) add diversity (to the) elements (that are) destined (to) participate (in) six continents (of the) globe, (in the) future election (of the) Universal House (of) Justice. Stop. Moved (to) warmly congratulate (the) American National Spiritual Assembly, ably directing (the) vast operations (of the) European crusade from (the) heart (of the) North American Continent; (the) European Teaching Committee, (the) principal executor (of the) plan, inaugurating (the) European phase (of) America's unfolding mission; (the) European representative (of the) Committee established (in) Geneva, vigilantly coordinating (the) ramifications (of the) newly launched project; every subsidiary agency, regional (and) local, contributing its share (to the) triumph (of the) common cause; all pioneers, past (and) present; settlers, itinerant teachers, worthy emissaries (of the) Center (of the) Covenant, who nobly responded (to) His call (in the) length (and) breadth (of the) ten goal countries; (the) entire body (of the) steadily multiplying native believers, constituting (the) core (of the) vanguard (of the) army, singled out by (the) Lord (of) Hosts (for the) quickening (and the) ultimate conquest (of the) spiritually slumbering continent, particularly (the) members (of the) twin rapidly rising communities (of) Italy (and) Switzerland, who singly (and) collectively hastened, through high endeavors, (the) consummation (of the) enterprise, exceeding fondest expectations. Stop. Hail this crowning exploit (of the) Second Seven Year Plan as (the) forerunner (of the) formation (in) rapid succession, (in [p366] 364 THE BAHA'! WORLD the) course (of the) third phase (of the) Plan conceived (by the) Center (of) Baha'u'llah's Covenant, (of) Regional National Assemblies (in) Scandinavia, Benelux countries, Therian Peninsula, themselves a prelude (to the) establishment (in) present (and) succeeding epochs (of the) evolution (of the) Divine Plan, (of) separate National Assemblies (in) each sovereign state, principality, (and) chief dependency (on the) European Continent, as well as (on the) neighboring principal islands (of the) Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, (and) North Sea. Stop. Earnestly appeal (to) all participants (in the) phenomenal birth (and) rise (of the) communities constituting weighty elements (in the) life (of the) firmly knit world Baha'i family (to) prepare themselves during present Conference (for the) future close collaboration (with the) long established sister communities (in the) British Isles, France (and) Germany (to) meet (the) challenge (of the) major strenuous task constituting (the) pivot (of the) deliberations (of the) approaching Stockholm Intercontinental Conference, designed (to) expand (and) consolidate (the) framework (of the) administrative order (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah (in the) north, south, west (and) heart (of the) European Continent, foreshadowing (the) launching (of) future enterprises (in) collaboration (with the) German, Persian, 'JiAqf Baha'i Communities, calculated (to) extend (the) regenerating influence (of the) same order (to) eastern (and) southeastern territories (of the) same continent (and) eventually beyond its confines, across (the) Ural Mountains (to the) north, west (and) ultimately (to the) heart (of the) Asiatic Continent. Stop. Urge all attendants (to) dedicate part (of the) sessions (of this) Conference synchronizing (with) Centenary (of the) imprisonment (of) Baha'u'llah (in the) SiyTh-ChM (in) prayerful remembrance (of the) somber tragedy preceding (the) rise (of the) resplendent Orb (of the) august Revelation, (to) draw nigh (to) His spirit, (to) fix (their) thoughts (on) His promises, (to) derive fresh inspiration (from the) glorious triumph, following so closely (upon) His agonizing ordeal, (to) contemplate (the) magnitude (of) His Cause, (to) pledge themselves (to) ensure (in the) course (of the) decade opening before them (the) success (of the) twin colossal tasks assigned them, (the) propagation (of) His Faith (and the) consolidation (of the) agencies (of) His rising Administrative Order throughout (the) entire European Continent. Ñ SHOGHI Haifa, August 23, 1952. ACQUISITION OF VITALLY-NEEDED PROPERTY SURROUNDING THE TOMB OF BAHA'U'LLAH Announce (to) Baha'i communities, East (and) West, (on the) joyous occasion (of the) hundred (and) thirty-fifth Anniversary (of) Baha'u'llah's Birthday, (the) successful termination (of the) protracted negotiations, initiated two years ago (and) culminating (in the) signature (to the) contract providing (the) eventual, formal transfer by (the) Development Authority (of the) State (of) Israel to (the) Palestine Branch (of the) American National Spiritual Assembly (of the) extensive, long-desired, vitally-needed property surrounding (and) safeguarding for posterity (the) Most Holy Tomb (of the) Founder (of the) Faith, as well as (the) adjoining Mansion. (The) acquired area, raising Baha'i holdings (on the) holy plain (of) 'Akka from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand square meters, (was) exchanged against property donated by children (of) Zikrullah, grandchildren (of) Mirza. Muhammad Quli, Baha'u'llah's faithful half-brother (and) companion (in) exile. (This) spontaneous offer contrasts (with the) shameful action (of the) family (in the) sale to non-Bah5'is (of the) property (in the) neighborhood (of the) Jordan valley purchased (through the) instrumentality (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha during Baha'u'llah's lifetime, pursuant (to) His instructions (and) alluded (to in) His writings. (The) forty acre property acquired (in this) single transaction almost equals (the) entire Baha'i international endowments purchased (in the) course (of) sixty years (in the) vicinity (of the) BTh's Sepulcher (on the) slope (of) Mt. Carmel. (The) exchange (of) said property, including land (and) houses (was) made possible (by the) precipitate flight (of the) former Arab owners, traditional supporters (of the) old Covenant-breakers (and) de-scendents (of the) notorious enemy (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha who placed (his) residence [p367] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 365 (at the) disposal (of the) Committee (of) Investigation. (The) signature (to the) agreement signalized (the) commencement (of) large-scale landscaping, aiming (at the) beautification (of the) immediate precincts (of the) holiest spot (in the) entire Baha'i world, itself (the) prelude (to the) eventual erection, as happened (in the) ease (of the) Bab's Sepulcher, (of a) befitting Mausoleum enshrining (the) precious Dust (of the) Most Great Name. Desire (to) acknowledge (the) indef at-igable efforts exerted (by) both Larry I{autz (and) Leroy Joas enabling (the) consummation (of the) initial stage (of the) enterprise destined (to) eclipse in its final phase (the) splendor (and) magnificence (of the) DAb's resting-place (on) Mt. Carmel. Haifa, Israel, November 12, 1952. THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGE TO THE FORTY-FIFTH ANNUAL BAHA'I CONVENTION THE UNITED STATES' TASKS IN THE WORLD CRUSADE Presented by Ri4iyyih KThdnum My soul is uplifted in joy and thanks giving at the triumphant conclusion of the second Seven Year Plan immortalized by the brilliant victories simultaneously won by the vanguard of the hosts of Baha'u'llah in Latin America, in Europe and in Africa Ñ victories befittingly crowned through the consummation of a fifty year old enterprise, the completion of the first Masbriqu'I-Ac1hk~r of the Western World. The signal success that has attended the second cal-lective enterprise undertaken in the course of the American Baha'i history climaxes a term of stewardship to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, of almost three score years duration, Ñ a period which has enriched the annals of the concluding epoch of the Heroic, and shed luster on the first thirty years of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation. So fecund a period has been marked by teaching activities unexcelled throughout the western world and has been distinguished by administrative exploits unparalleled in the annals of any Baha National Community whether in the East or in the West. I am impelled, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Most Great Festival, coinciding with a triple celebration Ñ the dedication of the Mother Temple of the West, the launching of a World Spiritual Crusade and the Commemoration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission Ñ to pay warmest tribute to the preeminent share which the American Baha Community has had in the course of over half a century in proclaiming His Revelation, in shielding His Cause, in championing His Covenant, in erecting the administrative machinery of His embryonic World Order, in expcrnnding His teachings, in translating and disseminating His Holy Word, in despatching the messengers of His Glad-Tidings, in awakening Royalty to His Call, in succoring His oppressed followers, in routing His enemies, in upholding His Law, in asserting the independence of His Ñ SHOGHI Faith, in multiplying the financial resources of its nascent institutions and, last but not least, in rearing its greatest House of Worship Ñ the first Ma~hriqu'1-Adbkair of the Western World. The hour is now ripe for this greatly gifted richly blessed Community to arise and reaffirm, through the launching of yet another enterprise, its primacy, enhance its spiritual heritage, plumb greater depths of consecration and capture loftier heights in the course of its strenuous and ceaseless labors for the exaltation of God's Cause. The Ten Year Plan, constituting the third and final stage of the initial epoch in the evolution of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Master Plan, which, God willing, will raise to greater heights the fame of the stalwart American Baha'i Community, and seat it upon "the throne of an everlasting dominion," envisaged by the Author of the Tablets of this same Plan, involves: First, the opening of the following virgir territories, eleven in Africa: Cape Verde Islands, Canary Islands, French Somaliland, French Togoland, Mauritius, Northern Territories Protectorate, Portuguese Guinea, R6union Island, Spanish Guinea, St. Helena and St. Thomas Island; eight in Asia: Caroline Islands, Dutch New Guinea, Hainan Island, Kazakhstan, Macao Island, Sakhalin Island, Tibet and Tonga Islands; six in Europe: Andorra, Azores, Balearic Islands, Lofoten Islands, Spitzbergen and Ukraine, and four in America: Aleutian Islands, Falkiand Islands, Key West and Kodiak Is~ land. [p368] 366 THE BAHA'! WORLD Second, the consolidation of the Faith in the following territories, six in Asia: China, Formosa, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippine Islands; two in Africa: Liberia and South Africa; twelve in Europe: the ten Goal Countries, Finland and France; three in America: the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Third, the extension of assistance to the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of Central and South America, as well as to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Italy and Switzerland, in forming twenty National Spiritual Assemblies in the Republics of Latin America and two in Europe, namely in Italy and Switzerland; the extension of assistance for the establishment of a National lja4ratu'l-Quds in the capital of each of the aforementioned countries as well as of national Baha'i endowments in these same countries. Fourth, the establishment of ten National Spiritual Assemblies in the following European countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, France and Finland. Fifth, the establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly in Japan and one in the South Pacific Islands. Sixth, the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of Alaska. Seventh, the establishment of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of South and West Africa. Eighth, the incorporation of each of the fourteen abovementioned National Spiritual Assemblies. Ninth, the establishment of national Baha'i endowments by these same National Spiritual Assemblies. Tenth, the establishment of a National flaratu'1-Quds in the capital city of each of the eleven of the aforementioned countries, as well as one in Anchorage, one in Suva, and one in Johannesburg. Eleventh, the erection of the first Dependency of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the Western World. Twelfth, the extension of assistance for the purchase of land for four future Tem-pies, two in Europe: in Stockholm and Rome; one in Central America, in Panama City; and one in Africa, in Johannesburg. Thirteenth, the completion of the landscaping of the grounds of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar in Wilmette. Fourteenth, the raising to one hundred of the number of incorporated local assemblies within the American Union. Fifteenth, the raising to three hundred of the number of local spiritual assemblies in that same country. Sixteenth, the incorporation of spiritual assemblies in the leading cities of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal, as well as of the spiritual assemblies of Paris, of Helsing-fors, of Tokyo, of Suva and of Johannesburg. Seventeenth, the quadrupling of the number of the local spiritual assemblies and the trebling of the number of localities in the aforementioned countries. Eighteenth, the translation of Baha'i literature into ten languages in Europe: Basque, Estonian, Flemish, Lapp, Maltese, Piedmontese, Romani, Romansch, Yiddish and Ziryen; ten in America: Aguaruna, Ma-wak, Blackfoot, Cherokee, iroquois, Len-gua, Mataco, Maya, Mexican and Yaligan. Nineteenth, the conversion to the Faith of members of the leading Indian tribes. Twentieth, the conversion to the Faith of representatives of the Basque and Gipsy races. Twenty-first, the establishment of summer schools in each of the Scandinavian and Benelux countries, as well as those of the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-second, the proclamation of the Faith through the Press and Radio throughout the United States of Amenca. Twenty-third, the establishment of a Baha'i Publishing Trust in Wilmette, Illinois. Twenty-fourth, the formation of an Asian Teaching Committee designed to stimulate and coordinate the teaching activities initiated by the Plan. May this Community Ñ the spiritual de-scendents of the Dawn-Breakers of the Heroic Age of the Baha'i Faith, the chief repository of the immortal Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, the foremost executors of the Mandate issued by the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant, the champion-build-ers of a divinely conceived Administrative Order, the standard-bearers of the all-con-quering army of the Lord of Hosts, the torchbearers of a future divinely inspired world civilization Ñ arise, in the course of the momentous decade separating the Great from Most Great Jubilee, to secure, as befits its rank, the lion's share in the prosecution of a global crusade designed to diffuse the [p369] TIlE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 367 Light of God's Revelation over the surface of the entire Planet. April 29, 1953. "A TURNING POINT IN AMERICAN BAHA'I HISTORY" Dear and valued coworkers: My soul is thrilled and my heart is filled with gratitude as I contemplate Ñ looking back upon six decades of eventful American Baha'i history Ñ the chain of magnificent achievements which, from the dawn of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the West until the present day, have signalized the birth, marked the rise and distinguished the unfoldment of the glorious Mission of the American Baha'i Community. Of all Baha'i Communities in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, with the sole exception of its venerable sister-community in Bah~7u'-flTh's native land, it alone may well claim to have released forces, and set in motion events, which stand unparalleled in the am nals of the Faith; while in the course of the last fifty years, comprising the concluding years of the Heroic and the opening Epochs of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, it can confidently boast of a record of stewardship which, for its scope, effectiveness and splendor, is unmatched by that of any other community in the entire Baha world. The first to awaken to the Call of the New Day in the Western world; the first to spontaneously arise to befittingly erect the Mother Temple of the West; the first to grasp the implications, evolve the pattern and lay the basis of the structure of the Baha'i Administrative Order in the entire Baha world; the first to openly and systematically proclaim the fundamental principles of the Faith, to adopt effectual measures for its defense, to invite the attention of Royalty to its teachings, to devise an adequate machinery for the translation, the publication and the dissemination of its literature and to provide the means for the creation of its subsidiary institutions; the first to champion the cause of the oppressed and to generously contribute to the alleviation of the sufferings of the needy and persecuted among the followers of Baha'u'llah; the first to inaugurate collective enterprises for the propagation of His Cause; the first to assert its independence in the west; the first to lay an unassailable foundation for the erection of auxiliary institutions de Ñ Saoorn signed to multiply its financial resources; and, more recently, the first to achieve, as befits its primacy, the initial task devolving upon it in pursuance of the newly-launched world spiritual Crusade, this Community has abundantly merited, by the quality of its deeds and the magnitude of its exploits, the distinctive titles of the Cradle of the World Order of Baha'u'llah, of the Vanguard of His world-conquering Host, of the standard-bearers of the Oneness of Mankind, of the Chief Trustees of the Plan devised by the Center of the Covenant and of the torchbearers of an as yet unborn world civilization. The services rendered by this same Community in recent years, in its capacity as the chief executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, in the course of the second stage of the initial epoch in its evolution, are of such importance and significance as to deserve particular mention at this time. In the North American continent, throughout the Republics of Latin America, in the Ten Goal countries of Europe, on the shores and in the heart of the African continent, the members of this community have, in conformity with the provisions of the second Seven Year Plan, performed feats of such noble and enduring heroism as to enhance immensely their prestige, demonstrate unmistakably the caliber of their faith and qualify them to assume a preponderating share in the prosecution of the Ten Year Plan whose operations are to extend over the entire surface of the globe. In the multiplication and consolidation of Ba1A'i Administrative institutions and their auxiliary agencies throughout Central America, the Antilles and every South American Republic Ñ a task supplementing the initial enterprise undertaken, in pursuance of the first Seven Year Plan, in connection with the introduction of the Faith into the Republics of Latin America; in the even more rapid development of nascent institutions of the Faith in Scandinavian, in the Benelux countries, in Switzerland, in the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas; in the laying of the administrative basis of the World Order of Baha'u'llah in the capital and in some of the major cities of each of the ten European sovereign states included within the scope of the Plan; in the convocation of a series of historic teaching Conferences in [p370] 368 THE BAHA'I WORLD the North and in the bean of the European continent Ñ heralding the convocation of the recently held, epochmaking intercontinental Teaching Conferences; in the translation, the publication and dissemination of Baha'i literature in various European languages; in the still more dramatic evolution of the Faith in the African continent, culminating in the convocation of the first intercontinental Teaching Conference of the Holy Year in the heart of Africa; in the tremendous sacrifices spontaneously and repeatedly made to broaden and reinforce the foundations of the Faith in the North American continent, to sustain the campaigns undertaken in Latin America, Europe and Africa, and to meet the many demands of the Baha'i Temple, rapidly nearing completion in Wit-mette; in the successive emergence of three National Spiritual Assemblies in the Western Hemisphere Ñ an outstanding contribution to the evolution and consolidation of the structure of the world administrative order of the Faith; in the completion of the interior ornamentation of the first Mashriqu'l-Adhkar of the West, the provision of its accessories and the initiation of the landscaping of its grounds; in the support extended to the development of the institutions of the World Center of the Faith; in the role played by its representatives, whether as Hands of the Cause or members of the International Baha'i Council; in the financial aid unhesitatingly given to hasten the construction, and insure the completion, of the Superstructure of the 13Th's Sepulcher on Mt. Carmel Ñ above all, in the share its national elected representatives have assumed in providing the means for the convocation of the second intercontinental Teaching Conference of the Holy Year; in commemorating worthily the dedication to public worship of the Mother Temple of the West, on the occasion of its Jubilee; in befittingly inaugurating the launching of the World Spiritual Crusade, and in celebrating the climax of the Holy Year marking the centenary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission Ñ in all these the American Baha'i Community has fully deserved the praise and gratitude of posterity, has merited the applause of the Concourse on high and earned a full measure of the Divine blessings and of the celestial sustenance of which it will stand in such great need in the course of the prosecution of still mightier and more glorious enterprises in the days to come. The stage is now set, and the hour propitious, for a deployment of forces, and for the revelation of the indomitable spirit animating this community, on a scale and to a degree unprecedented in the entire course of American Baha'i history. To the Antilles and the seventeen Republics of Central and of South America Ñ the scene of the initial exploits of a conununity inaugurating the opening phase of its world-girding Mission Ñ to the ten sovereign states of Europe which, at a subsequent stage in the unfoldment of that Mission, the members of this community enthusiastically and determinedly arose to open up and conquer; to the African Territories which, in addition to their allocated task under the second Seven Year Plan, they spontaneously endeavored to win to the all-conquering Cause of Baha'u'llah Ñ to these numerous islands and archipelagoes, bordering the American, the European and African continents; Dependencies extensive, well-nigh inaccessible, and remote from the base of their operations throughout the Asiatic continent; lastly, the South Pacific area, the home of the one remaining race not as yet adequately represented in the Baha'i world community, occupying spiritually so strategic a position owing to its proximity to the Baha'i communities already firmly entrenched in South America, in the Indian subcontinent and in Australasia, at once challenging the resources of no less than eight National Spiritual Assemblies, and the theater destined to witness the noblest and the most resounding victories which the chosen executors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan have been called upon to win in the service of the Cause of God Ñ all these have now, in accordance with the requirements of an irresistibly unfolding Plan, been added, completing thereby the full circle of the worldwide obligations devolving upon a community invested with spiritual primacy by the Author of the immortal Tablets constituting the Charter of the Master Plan of the appointed Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant. "The moment this Divine Message," lie Who penned these Tablets and conferred this primacy has most significantly affirmed, "is propagated though the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this Community will find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion." Then, and only then, will, as He [p371] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 369 Himself has so remarkably prophesied, "the whole earth" "resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness." Now, indeed, is the time, after the lapse of two score years; following the triumphant conclusion of two successive historic Plans, marking the opening stages of the first Epoch in the unfoldment of that same Master Plan; on the morrow of the brilliant celebrations climaxing the worldwide festivities of a memorable I{oiy Year; and while a triumphant Community, in the first flush of enthusiasm, has just garnered the first fruits of its campaigns in four continents of the globe and is laden with its freshly won trophies, for this community to bestir itself, and, assuming its rightful preponderating share in the conduct of a newly launched world Spiritual Crusade, to demonstrate, through a supreme and sustained effort embracing the entire surface of the planet, its ability to safeguard that primacy, to enrich immeasurably the record of its stewardship and to bring to a majestic conclusion the opening Epoch in the evolution of a Plan destined to reveal the full measure of its potentialities, not only throughout the successive Epochs of the Formative Age of the Faith, but in the course of the vast reaches of time stretching into the Golden, the last Age of the Baha'i Dispensation. This decade-long global Crusade must mark a veritable turning point in American Baha'i history. It must prove itself to be, as it develops, a force so pervasive and revolutionary in its character as to leave a lasting imprint not only on the destinies of the American Baha'i Community but on the fortunes of the American nation as well. It must, even as a baptismal fire, so purge its members from self as to enable them to scale heights never as yet attained. It must, in its initial stages, witness a dispersal, combined with a consecration, reminiscent of the dawn of the Heroic Age in Baha'u'llah's native land. It must, as it gathers momentum, awaken the select and gather the spiritually hungry amongst the peoples of the world, as well as create an awareness of the Faith not only among the political leaders of presentday society but also among the thoughtful, the erudite in other spheres of human activity. It must, as it approaches its climax, carry the torch of the Faith to regions so remote, so backward, so inhospitable that neither the light of Christianity or 1s16.m has, after the revolution of centuries, as yet penetrated. It must, as it approaches its conclusion, pave the way for the laying, on an unassailable foundation, of the structural basis of an Administrative Order whose fabric must, in the course of successive Crusades, be laboriously erected throughout the entire globe and which must assemble beneath its sheltering shadow peo-pies of every race, tongue, creed, color and nation. Seconded by the neighboring fully fledged Canadian Baha'i Community flourishing beyond the northern frontier of its homeland; supported by the newly emerged Latin American Communities established in the Antilles and in each of the Central and Southern Republics of the Western Hemisphere; ably aided by its sister community vigorously functioning in the heart of a far-flung Empire, and destined to lend its inestimable assistance in the spiritual conquest of the numerous and widely scattered Dependencies of the British Crown; reinforced by the oldest and youngest national Baha'i communities on the European mainland which are to play a prominent part in the eastern and southern regions, and across the frontiers of Europe, along the shores and in the islands of the Mediterranean; assisted by its venerable sister-community in the cradle of the Faith and by the second oldest national community in the Baha'i world actively engaged in the propagation of the Faith in the Asiatic continent; confident of the help of its Egyptian and Indian sister-communities, whose destiny is closely linked with the African continent and Southeast Asia, respectively, and, lastly, assured of the unfailing cooperation of yet another national Community in the Antipodes which, owing to its geographical position, is bound to assume a notable share in the introduction of the Faith in the Islands of the South Pacific Ocean, the American 13ah~'i Community must, as befits its rank as the chief executor of the Divine Plan, play a dominant and decisive role in the direction and control of the manifold operations involved in the prosecution of the North American, the Latin American, the European, the African, the Asian and the South Pacific campaigns of this world Crusade, and ensure, by every means at its disposal and in conjunction with its junior partners, its ultimate and total success. Within its own sphere, extending to every continent of the globe, embracing no less [p372] 370 THE BAHA'I WORLD than twenty-nine virgin territories and islands, the members of this stalwart and preeminent Community are called upon, among other things and within the relatively brief span of a single decade, to create nuclei, around which will crystallize future-assem- blies, in no less than eleven territories and islands of Africa, eight of Asia, six of Europe, four of America; to inaugurate the establishment of the future Dependencies of the Mother Temple of the West, and to ter-inmate the landscaping of its grounds; to consolidate and broaden the basis of the Administrative Order already laid in twenty-three territories and islands distributed in four continents of the globe and situated in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; to assist in the erection of no less than thirty-six pillars, twenty in Latin America, twelve in Europe, two in Asia, one in the North American continent and one in Africa, designed to help in sustaining the weight of the crowning unit of the Baha'i Administrative Order, and in the establishment of national Baha'i headquarters, of national endowments, and of national incorporations in all of these continents; to lend its aid for the acquisition of land in anticipation of the erection of four Temples, two in Europe, one in Africa and one in Central America; to lend an impetus to the progress of the Faith in its homeland through raising to three hundred the number of local Spiritual Assemblies and to one hundred the number of incorporated Assemblies, as well as through the founding of a Baha'i Publishing Trust and the proclamation of the Faith through the Press and Radio; to enroll in the ranks of the followers of Baha'u'llah members of the Indian, of the Basque and Gipsy races; to assume responsibility for the translation and publication of Baha'i literature in twenty languages, ten in the Americas and ten in Europe; and to contribute to the consolidation of the Faith in eight of the European goal countries through the establishment of local incorporations, as well as through the quadrupling of the number of local Assemblies and the trebling of the number of local Baha'i centers in each one of them. While this colossal task, which in its magnitude and potentialities transcends any previous collective enterprise launched in the course of American Baha history, is being energetically carried out, it should be constantly borne in mind Ñ and this applies to all communities without exception partici pating in this world Crusade Ñ that the twofold task of extension and consolidation must be supplemented by continuous and strenuous efforts to increase speedily not only the number of the avowed followers of the Faith in both the virgin and opened territories and islands included within the scope of the Ten Year Plan, but also to swell the ranks of its active supporters who will consecrate their time, resources and energy to the effectual spread of its teachings and the multiplication and consolidation of its administrative institutions. The movement of pioneers, the opening of virgin territories, the initiation of Houses of Worship and of administrative headquarters, the incorporation of local and national elective bodies, the multiplication of assemblies, groups and isolated centers, the increase in the number of races, represented in the world Baha'i Fellowship, the translation, publication and dissemination of Baha literature, the consolidation of administrative agencies and the creation of auxiliary bodies designed to support them, however valuable, essential and meritorious, will in the long run amount to little and fail to achieve their supreme purpose if not supplemented by the equally vital task Ñ which is one that primarily concerns continually and challenges each single individual believer whatever his rank, capacity or origin Ñ of winning to the Faith fresh recruits to the slowly yet steadily advancing army of the Lord of Hosts, whose reinforcing strength is so essential to the safeguarding of the victories which the band of heroic Baha'i conquerors are winning in the course of their several campaigns in all the continents of the globe. Such a steady flow of reinforcements is absolutely vital and is of extreme urgency, for noThing short of the vitalizing influx of new blood that will reanimate the world Baha'i Community can safeguard the prizes which, at so great a sacrifice involving the expenditure of so much time, effort and treasure, are now being won in virgin territories by Baha'u'llah's valiant Knights, whose privilege is to constitute the spearhead of the onrushing battalions which, in diverse theaters and in circumstances often adverse and extremely challenging, are vying with each other for the spiritual conquest of the unsurrendered territories and islands on the surface of the globe. This flow, moreover, will presage and [p373] THE WORLD ORDER OP BAHA'U'LLAH 371 hasten the advent of the day which, as prophesied by 'Abdu'l-Baha, will witness the entry by troops of peoples of divers nations and races into the Baha'i world Ñ a day which, viewed in its proper perspective, will be the prelude to that long-awaited hour when a mass conversion on the part of these same nations and races, and as a direct re-suit of a chain of events, momentous and possibly catastrophic in nature, and which cannot as yet be even dimly visualized, will suddenly revolutionize the fortunes of the Faith, derange the equilibrium of the world, and reinforce a thousandfold the numerical strength as well as the material power and the spiritual authority of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Of all the Objectives enumerated in my message to the representatives of this Community, assembled on the occasion of the celebration of the climax of the Holy Year, of the convocation of the second intercontinental Teaching Conference, of the inauguration of the Mother Temple of the West and of the launching of the World Spiritual Crusade, the most vital, urgent and meritorious, in this the opening year of the initial phase of this world-embracing enterprise, is, without doubt, the settlement of pioneers in all the virgin territories and islands assigned to this Community in all the continents of the globe, with the exception of the few which, owing to present political obstacles, can not as yet be opened to the Faith of Baha'u'llah. This process already so auspiciously inaugurated, which, in the course of the first eight months of the Holy Year has gathered such splendid momentum, and which bids fair to astonish, stimulate and inspire the entire Baha'i world, must, during the concluding months of this same year and the one succeeding it, be so accelerated as to ensure the attainment of this paramount objective before the lapse of two years from the official launching of this World Crusade. While this goal is being vigorously pursued close attention must be directed to the preliminary measures for the establishment of the first Dependency of the Mother Temple of the West, as well as to the completion of the landscaping of its grounds, a double task that will, on the one hand, mark the termination of the fifty-year old process of the construction of the Central Baha'i House of Worship, and proclaim, on the other, the commencement of another de signed to culminate in the establishment in its plenitude of the institution of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar as conceived by Baha'u'llah and envisaged by 'Abdu'l-Baha Moreover, immediate consideration should be. given to two other issues of prime importance, namely the purchase of land, which need not exceed for the present one acre, in anticipation of the construction of the first Mashriqu'1-Adbk~r of South Africa, and the prompt translation of a suitable Baha'i pamphlet into the American and European languages allocated to your Assembly, and its publication and wide dissemination among the peoples and tribes for whom it has been primarily designed. The followers of the Most Great Name, citizens of the Great Republic of the West; constituting the majority and the oldest followers of His Faith in a continent wherein, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha, "the splendors of His (Baha'u'llah's) Light shall be revealed" and "the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled," addressed by Him in His Tablets of the Divine Plan as the "Apostles" of His Father; the recipients of the overwhelming majority of these same Tablets constituting the Charter of that Plan; conquerors of most of the territories, whether sovereign states or Dependencies, already included within the pale of the Faith; the Champion-builders of a world Administrative System which posterity will regard as the Harbinger of the World Order of Baha'u'llah, must, if they wish to retain their primacy and enrich their heritage, insure that, ere the opening of the second phase of this World Crusade, the names of the first American Baha'i conquerors to settle in virgin territories and islands will, as befits their primacy, be inscribed on the Scroll of Honor, now in process of preparation, and designed to be permanently deposited at the entrance door of the Inner Sanctuary of Baha'u'llah's Most 1{oiy Tomb, that the limited area of land required for the erection of four future Baha'i Temples, in Rome, Stockholm, Panama City and Johannesburg, will be bought, that the landscaping of the grounds of the Temple in Wil-mette will be completed, and that the translation and the publication of the aforementioned pamphlet in the specified languages will be accomplished. The two years that lie ahead, three months of which have already elapsed, will swiftly and imperceptibly draw to a close [p374] 372 THE BAHA'! WORLD Tasks even more onerous, equally weighty and requiring in a still greater measure the expenditure of effort and substance, lie ahead, which will brook of no delay, which will carry the Faith to still higher levels of achievement and renown, which will enlarge, through the forging of fresh instruments, the framework of a steadily rising world Administrative Order, and which will eventually, if worthily discharged, seal the triumph of the most prodigious, the most sublime, the most sacred collective enterprise launched by the adherents of the Cause of God in both hemispheres since the early days of the Heroic Age of the Faith Ñ an enterprise which in its vastness, organization and unifying power, has no parallel in the world's spiritual history. To them, and indeed to the entire body of the followers of Baha'u'llah, engaged in this global Crusade, I direct my appeal to arise and, in the course of these fast fleeting years, in every phase of the campaigns that are to be fought in all the continents of the globe, prove their worth as gallant warriors battling for the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Indeed, from this very hour until the eve of the Most Great Jubilee, each and every one of those enrolled in the Army of Light must seek no rest, must take no thought of self, must sacrifice to the uttermost, must allow nothing whatsoever to deflect him or her from meeting the pressing, the manifold, the paramount needs of this preeminent Crusade. "Light as the spirit," "pure as air," "blaz-ing as fire," "unrestrained as the wind" Ñ for such is Baha'u'llah's own admonition to His loved ones in His Tablets, and directed not to a select few but to the entire congregation of the faithful Ñ let them scatter far and wide, proclaim the glory of God's Revelation in this Day, quicken the souls of men and ignite in their hearts the love of the One Who alone is their omnipotent and divinely appointed Redeemer. Bracing the fearful cold of the Arctic regions and the enervating heat of the torrid zone; heedless of the hazards, the loneliness and the austerity of the deserts, the faraway islands and mountains wherein they will be called upon to dwell; undeterred by the clamor which the exponents of religious orthodoxy are sure to raise, or by the restrictive measures which political leaders may impose; undismayed by the smallness of their numbers and the multitude of their potential adversaries; armed with the efficacious weapons their own hands have slowly and laboriously forged in anticipation of this glorious and inevitable encounter with the organized forces of superstition, of corruption and of unbelief; placing their whole trust in the matchless potency of Baha'u'llah's teachings, in the all-conquer-ing power of His might and the infallibility of His glorious and oft-repeated promises, let them press forward, each according to his strength and resources, into the vast arena now lying before them, and which, God willing, will witness, in the years immediately lying ahead, such exhibitions of prowess and of heroic self-sacrifice as may well recall the superb feats achieved by that immortal band of God-intoxicated heroes who have so immeasurably enriched the annals of the Christian, the Islamic and B~bi Dispensations. On the members of the American Baha'i Community, the envied custodians of a Divine Plan, the principal builders and defenders of a mighty Order and the recognized champions of an unspeakably glorious and precious Faith, a peculiar and inescapable responsibility must necessarily rest. Through their courage, their self-abnega-tion, their fortitude and their perseverance; through the range and quality of their achievements, the depth of their consecration, their initiative and resourcefulness, their organizing ability, their readiness and capacity to lend their assistance to less privileged sister-communities struggling against heavy odds; through their generous and sustained response to the enormous and ever-increasing financial needs of a world-encompassing, decade-long and admittedly strenuous enterprise, they must, beyond the shadow of a doubt, vindicate their right to the leadership of this world Crusade. Now is the time for the hope voiced by 'Abdu'l-Baha that from their homeland "heavenly illumination" may "stream to all the peoples of the world" to be realized. Now is the time for the truth of His remarkable assertion that that same homeland is "equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world and be blest in both the East and the West," to be strikingly and unmistakably demonstrated. "Should success crown" their "en-terprise," He, moreover, has assured them, "the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in [p375] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 373 the plenitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established." Would to God that this Community, boasting already of so superb a record of achievements both at home and overseas, and elevated to such dazzling heights by the hopes cherished and the assurance given by the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant, may prove itself capable of performing deeds of such distinction, in the course of the opening, as well as the succeeding phases of this World Spiritual Crusade, as will outshine the dedicated acts which have already left their indelible mark on the Apostolic Age of the Faith in the West; will excel the enduring, the historic achievements associated, at a later period, with this Community's memorable contribution to the rise and establishment of the world Administrative Order of Baha'u'llah; will surpass the magnificent accomplishments which, subse quently, as the result of the operation of the first Seven Year Plan, illuminated the annals of the Faith in both the North American continent and throughout Latin America and will eclipse the even more dramatic exploits which, during the opening years of the second Epoch of the Formative Age of the Faith, and in the course of the prosecution of the second Seven Year Plan, have exerted so lasting an influence on the fortunes of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the Antilles, throughout the Republics of Central America, in each of the ten Republics of South America, in no less than ten sovereign states in the continent of Europe, and in various Dependencies on the eastern and western shores, as well as in the heart of the African continent. Ñ SHOGHI Haifa, Israel, July 18, 1953. THE PROCESS OF INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATION By the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States THE publication in this issue of Baha'i News [June, 1951] of a general communication from the International Baha'i Council, signed on its behall by its President, Mr. Charles Mason Remey, signalizes in a most impressive manner the nature of the new Baha'i era in which we now live. There are three stages in the evolution of the Baha'i world community. First, the formation of local groups and assemblies under the Master's loving care. flow many Tablets He revealed, charged with the spirit of unity, to raise up on this earth even small bodies of believers inspired with mutual love and trust and able to render united service to a divine Faith! American Baha'is still live who witnessed, and took active part in, that miraculous work. In the Master's time also, the beginning of the national Baha'i community could be discerned. The Temple project itself enlarged the horizon of the believer from his own local community to the larger body of Baha'is. The Guardian took up this work, defined the duties and responsibilities of the Local and National Assemblies, and trained the believers of East and West in the administration of the activities of their Faith. Now the consolidation of the international Baha'i community is taking place before our eyes. The call has been raised to individual Baha'is and not alone to National Assemblies, to enter into this greatest arena of Baha'i sacrifice, understanding and action as a direct and permanent element in our lives. Together with a host of Baha'is in other lands, we raise our eyes to the larger goal, accepting personal responsibility for the success of the Guardian's noble plans to complete the Shrine of the Bab and develop the Baha'i world center in the Holy Land. This new stage in the evolution of the Baha'i community expects and requires a fuller maturity than we have ever manifested before. It means the most conscientious balancing of effort and resource as we serve simultaneously on the three levels of Baha'i action: local, national and internationaL Just as we have for years devoted resources for national projects, limiting the scope of local action for the sake of the [p376] 374 THE BAHA'! WORLD greater and more important collective task, so now we, and all other Baha'is, while maintaining the essential work in both local and national fields, extend our devotion to the supreme world purpose. We do not eliminate responsibility for local and national support, for the power of the local community stands at the foundation of the entire Baha'i structure, and the unity of the national community constitutes the pillar on which will rest the future House of Justice and the fullest expression of the Guardian's spirit in the establishment of world order and peace. It is a matter of enlargement of our Baha'i life and not of choosing between different alternatives. This process of international consolidation prepares the Baha'is for the formation and operation of the House of Justice. Just as every Baha'i in former days felt an inner relationship to the Master, and now an inner relationship to the Guardian, so now we are to experience a new sense of loyalty and devotion to an unfolding World Center, fulfilling the loyalty we have learned to render local and national administrative institutions. What to the child and the youth seems to be an end, to the adult becomes a means to a true and supreme end. The end of our Baha service is to create a world in which humanity is one and citizenship is both spiritual and social integrity. Great effort is needed for us to make the transition from youth to maturity. Culturally and psychologically this experience parallels those vast historic changes when family union enlarged to the unity of the tribe, and when tribal union became loyalty to the nation. The Guardian's messages have been preparing us for this new stage. In April, 1950, for example, he referred to the members of a "firmly knit, world embracing, divinely propelled Baha community." On July 5, 1950, he emphasized the "first historic opportunity of directly sustaining, through their contributions, the most sacred enterprise ever undertaken in the history of the Faith," and on March 21, 1951 Ñ "I am moved to renew my fervent plea addressed to all National and local Assemblies and believers in all continents of the globe." The degree to which we accept our whole responsibility will supply a true measure of the value of our faith.~ APPOINTMENT OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE OF GOD IN the unfoldment of the World Order of Baha'u'llah there is provision for the existence of the Hands of the Cause of God, a body of believers who are to serve directly under the Guardian of the Faith. 'Abdu'l-Baha defines the functions of the Hands of the Cause in His Will and Testament: "0 friends! The Hands of the Cause of God must be nominated and appointed by the guardian of the Cause of God. All must be under his shadow and obey his command. "The obligations of the Hands of the Cause of God are to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of men, to promote learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things. They must manifest the fear of God by their conduct, their manners, their deeds and their words. "This body of the Hands of the Cause of God is under the direction of the guardian of the Cause of God. He must continually urge them to strive and endeavor to the utmost of their ability to diffuse the sweet savors of God, and to guide all the peoples of the world, for it is the light of Divine Guidance that causeth all the universe to be illumined." THE GUARDIAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS Recall feelings profound thankfulness joy chain recent historic events heralding long anticipated rise establishment World Administrative Center Faith Baha'u'llah Holy Land regarded third most momentous epochmaking development since inception Formative Age morrow 'Abdu'l-Baha's Ascension. Quarter century constituting opening epoch this age signalized successively by erection consolidation over period no less [p377] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 375 sixteen years local, national institutions Baha'i Administrative Order five continents globe conformity provisions Will Center Covenant and initiation first Seven Year Plan American Baha'i Community marking inauguration first epoch execution 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan unavoidably held abeyance over two decades pending creation divinely-appointed administrative agencies designed by its Author for its effective prosecution. Opening years second epoch Formative Age now witnessing long last commencement third vast majestic fate-laden process following two abovementioned developments destined through gradual emergence manifold institutions World Center Faith crown administrative structure Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Order. Gigantic process now set motion opening decade second Ba-h&i Century synchronizing with, deriving notable impetus through, birth sovereign State, Holy Land, greatly accelerated through series swiftly succeeding events originated World Center Faith. First, inauguration most holy worldwide enterprise unprecedented annals Faith construction heart Mount Carmel superstructure BTh's Sepulcher. Second, creation International Baha'i Council precincts Holy Shrine forerunner International House Justice, supreme legislative organ nascent divinely conceived world Ñ encircling Baha'i Administrative Order. Third, acquisition restoration embellishment historic sites associated incarceration Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, recognition their sacred character, exemption taxes newly formed State, accessibility appreciative general public. Fourth, initiation formal negotiation central municipal authorities same State twofold purpose preserve posterity immediate directly threatened neighborhood Most Holy Tomb Founder Faith outskirts 'Akka, acquire extensive, sorely needed properties vicinity Bib's Sepulcher destined serve site future edifices envisaged 'Abdu'l-Baha to house auxiliary agencies revolving twin institutions Guardianship House Justice. Fifth, preparation design future Mashriqu'l-Adhkar Mount Cannel outstanding indispensable feature unfoldment rising World Administrative Order. Sixth, forthcoming convocation four conferences embracing eleven National Assemblies all continents globe marking inauguration beyond limits World Center Faith intercontinental stage Baha'i activity precursor final step summoning assemblage representative communities all sovereign states, chief dependencies, islands, entire planet. Hour now ripe take long inevitably deferred step, conformity provisions 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, conjunction with six abovementioned steps through appointment first contingent Hands Cause God, twelve in number, equally allocated Holy Land, Asiatic, American, European continents. Initial step now taken regarded as preparatory full development institution provided 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will, paralleled preliminary measure formation International Council destined culminate emergence Universal House Justice. Nascent institution forging fresh links binding rising World Center Faith to consolidating World Community followers Most Great Name paving way adoption supplementary measures calculated reinforce foundations structure Baha Administrative Order. Nominated Hands comprise, Holy Land, Sutherland Maxwell, Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, President, Vice-President International Baha'i Council; cradle Faith, Valiyu'-11Th Varq4, Tar6~u'1IAh Samandari, 'All-Akbar Furhtan; American continent, Horace Holley, Dorothy Baker, Leroy Joas; European continent, George Townshend, Hermann Grossmann, Ugo Giachery. Nine elevated rank Hand three continents outside Holy Land advised remain present posts continue discharge vital administrative teaching duties pending assignment specific functions as need arises. Urge all nine attend as my representatives all four forthcoming intercontinental conferences as well as discharge whatever responsibilities incumbent upon them at that time as elected representatives national Baha'i communities. Communicate text announcement all National Assemblies. Haifa, Israel, December 24, 1951. Ñ SHOGHI Announce friends East (and) West, through National Assemblies, following nominations raising (the) number (of the) present Hands (of the) Cause of God (to) nineteen. Dominion Canada (and) United States, Fred Schopflocher (and) Corinne True, respectively. Cradle (of) Faith Dhik-ru'116h Khgdem Shu'~'u'11Ah 'AIA'i. Germany, Africa, Australia, Adelbert Milbi [p378] 376 THE BAHA'! WORLD schiegel, Mtis~ Banani, Clara Dunn, respectively. Members august body invested (in) conformity (with) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Testament, twofold sacred function, (the) propagation (and) preservation (of the) unity (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah, (and) destined (to) assume individually (in the) course (of) time (the) direction (of) institutions paralleling those revolving around (the) Universal House (of) Justice, (the) supreme legislative body (of the) Baha'i world, are now recruited (from) all five continents (of) the globe (and) representative (of the) three principal world religions (of) mankind. Recently urged newly-appointed Hand (of) Canada, (on) occasion (of his) pilgrimage (to) Holy Land, (to) undertake preliminary measures, (in) conjunction (with) Canadian National Assembly (for the) establishment (of) national Ua4ratu'1-Quds similar (to) those already founded (in) TihrAn, Wilmette, Baghdad, Sydney, Frankfurt, Cairo (and) New Delhi. Identical instructions (were) given appointed Hand (of) Africa (in) course (of his) just concluded pilgrimage, (for the) acquisition (of) property (in) Kampala (to) serve (as) local Iaratu'1-Quds (to) synchronize (with) formation (of) first Assembly (in) heart (of) Africa, (to) be regarded (as) nucleus (of) national administrative headquarters (of) Faith destined (to) arise (on) morrow (of) formation (of) National Spiritual Assembly (of) Central (and) Eastern Territories (of) African continent. Cable received February 29, 1952. "(The) mantle (of) Hand (of) Cause now falls (upon the) shoulders (of) his distinguished daughter Abdu'l-Baha R6biy-yih, who (has) already rendered (and is) still rendering manifold no less meritorious self-sacrificing services (at) World Center (of) Faith (of) I3ah&'u'11Th." March26, 1952. "Announce (to) all National Assemblies elevation (of) Paul Haney (to) rank (of) Hand of the Cause.~~ Haifa, Israel, March 19, 1954. "Inform National Assemblies elevation (of) Ja1~1 KhAzeh (to) rank (of) Hand (of) Cause." Ñ SHOGHI (On) occasion (of) Centenary (of) Baha'u'llah's release (from) oppressive mi-prisonment (in the) SfyTh-C1A1 TihrAn, synchronizing (with the) termination (of the) epochmaking, two-month period associated sociated (with the) Birth (of) His Revelation, tion, unsurpassed, with (the) sole exception (of the) Declaration (of) His mission, (by) any episode (in the) world's spiritual history, tory, call upon Baha'i communities, East (and) West, (to) ponder (the) unique significance, nificance, focus attention (on) imperative requirements (and to) respond worthily (to the) challenge offered each (of the) four fate-laden, fast-approaching Intercontinental Conferences, constituting (the) highlights (of) recently ushered-in Holy Year. Desire (to) announce (the) appointment (of the) Hands (of the) Cause, honored (by) direct association (with the) newly-initiated initiated enterprises (at the) world center (of the) Faith, (to) act, (in) addition (to) their individual participation (in the) deliberations liberations (at the) forthcoming Conferences, ences, (as) my special representatives, entrusted trusted (with a) fourfold mission: (to) bear, for (the) edification (of the) attendants, ants, a precious remembrance (of the) Go-founder founder (of the) Faith, deliver my official message (to the) assembled believers, elucidate date (the) character (and) purposes (of the) impending decade-long spiritual World Crusade (and) rally (the) participants (to) Ñ SHOGHI energetic, sustained, enthusiastic prosecution tion (of the) colossal tasks ahead. Instructing (the) President (of the) International ternational Baha'i Council, Mason Remey, Member at Large Ugo Giachery, (and) Secretary-General Leroy Toas, (to) discharge charge these functions (in the) course (of the) New Delhi, Stockholm (and) Kampala Conferences, respectively. Delegating Abdu'l-Baha, accompanied (by) Vice-President (of the) International Council, Amelia Collins, (to) fulfill three of (the) above mentioned functions, as well as carry (on) my behalf, (to) unveil (on the) occasion (of the) completion (of the) construction struction (of the) Mother-Temple (of the) Ñ SHOGHI West, (to the) privileged attendants (at the) Wilmette Conference (a) most prized remembrance membrance (of the) Author (of the) Faith, [p379] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 377 (which) never before left (the) shores (of the) Holy Land, to be placed beneath (the) dome (of the) consecrated edifice. Moreover assigning her (the) task (to) act (as) my deputy (at the) historic ceremony marking (the) official Dedication (of the) holiest Masbriqu'1-AcThk~r (of the) Baha'i world reared (to the) everlasting glory (and) honor (of the) Most Great Name (in the) heart (of the) North American continent. Ñ SHOGHI Haifa, Israel, December 15, 1952. UNFOLDMENT OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE HANDS OF THE CAUSE Message from the Guardian To all the Hands of the Cause and all National Assemblies of the Baha'i World: Hail emergence (of the) unfoldment (in the) opening years (of the) second epoch (of the) formative age (of the) Baha'i Dispensation (of the) august Institution foreshadowed (by the) Founder (of the) Faith (and) formally established (in the) Testament (of the) Center (of) His Covenant, closely associated (in) provisions (of the) same Will (with) Institution (of the) Guardianship, destined (to) assume (in the) fullness (of) time, under (the) aegis (of the) Guardian, (the) dual sacred responsibility (for) protection (and) propagation (of the) Cause (of) Baha'u'llah. Desire (to) pay warm tribute (to the) services rendered severally (and) collectively (by) appointed Hands (at the) World Center (of the) Faith (and in) territories beyond its confines. Greatly value (their) support (in the) erection (of the) Bab's Sepulcher (on Mt.) Carmel; (in) reinforcing ties (with the) newly emerged State (of) Israel; (in the) extension (of the) International Endowments (in the) Holy Land; (in the) initiation (of the) preliminary measures (for the) establishment (of the) Baha'i World Administrative Center, as well as (in their) participation (in) four successive Intercontinental Teaching Conferences; (in their) extensive travels (in) African territories, (in) North, Central (and) South America, (in the) European, Asiatic (and) Australian Continents. (This) newly constituted body, embarked (on) its mission (with) such auspicious circumstances, (is) now entering (the) second phase (of) its evolution signalized (by) forging (of) ties (with the) National Spiritual Assemblies (of the) Baha'i world (for the) purpose (of) lending them assistance (in) attaining (the) objectives (of the) Ten Year Plan. (The) hour (is) ripe (for the) fifteen Hands residing outside (the) Holy Land (to) proceed during Riqv~n (with the) appointment, (in) each continent separately, from among (the) resident Baha'is (of) that Continent, (of) Auxiliary Boards, whose members, acting (as) deputies, assistants (and) advisers (of the) Hands, must increasingly lend (their) assistance (for the) promotion (of the) interests (of the) Ten Year Crusade. Advise (the) Hands (of the) Asiatic, American (and) European Continents (to) convene (in) Tihr~n, Wilmette (and) Frankfurt respectively (for the) purposes (of) consultation (and) nomination. (The) Hands (of the) Cause (of the) African (and) Australian Continents must exercise (their) functions (in) Kampala (and) Sydney, respectively. (The) Auxiliary Boards (of the) American, European (and) African Continents must consist (of) nine members each, (of the) Asiatic (and) Australian continents (of) seven (and) two, respectively. (The) allocation (of) areas (in) each continent to (the) members (of the) Auxiliary Boards, as well as subsidiary matters regarding (the) development (of the) activities (of the) newly appointed bodies, (and the) manner (of) collaboration (with the) National Spiritual Assemblies (in their) respective Continents, (is) left (to the) discretion (of the) Hands. All Boards must report (and) be responsible (to the) Hands charged (with) their appointment. (The) Hands (of) each Continent (in) their turn must keep (in) close touch (with, and) report (the) result (of the) nominations (and) progress (of the) activities (of the) Boards (to the) National Assemblies (in their) respective continents, as well as (to the) four Hands residing (in the) Holy Land destined (to) act (as) liaison between themselves (and the) Guardian (of the) Faith. Urge (the) initiation (of) five Continen [p380] 378 THE BAHA'! WORLD tal Baha'i Funds which, as they develop, will increasingly facilitate (the) discharge (of the) functions assigned (to the) Boards. Transmitting five thousand pounds (as) my initial contribution (to) be equally divided (among the) five Continents. Appeal (to the) twelve National Assemblies (and) individuals (to) insure (a) steady augmentation (of these) Funds through annual assignment (in) National Budgets (and by) individual contributions. Advise transmit contributions (to) Varq~t, Holley, Giachery, Ban~ni (and) Dunn acting (as) Trustees (of the) Asiatic, American, European, African (and) Australian Funds respectively. Fervently supplicating (at the) Holy Threshold (for an) unprecedented measure (of) blessings (on this) vital (and) indispensable organ (of the) embryonic (and) steadily unfolding Baha'i Administrative Order, presaging (the) emergence (of the) World Order (of) Baha'u'llah which must pave (the) way (for the) establishment (of the) World Civilization destined (to) attain maturity (in the) course (of) successive Dispensations (in the) Five Thousand Century Baha'i Cycle. Airmail copies (to) all Hands and National Assemblies. April 6, 1954. (Transmitted Through Hand of the Cause.) Ñ SHOGHI Dr. Ugo Giachery, FORMATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL BANAl COUNCIL TEE GUARDIAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS PROCLAIM National Assemblies (of) East (and) West weighty epochmaking decision (of) formation (of) first International Baha'i Council, forerunner (of) supreme administrative institution destined (to) emerge (in) fullness (of) time within precincts beneath shadow (of) World Spiritual Center (of) Faith already established (in) twin cities (of) 'Akka (and) Haifa. Fulfillment (of) prophecies uttered (by) Founder (of) Faith (and) Center (of) His Covenant culminating (in) establishment (of) Jewish State, signalizing birth after lapse (of) two thousand years (of an) independent nation (in the) Holy Land, (the) swift unfoldment (of) historic undertaking associated (with) construction (of) superstructure (of the) Bab's Sepulcher (on) Mount Carmel, (the) present adequate maturity (of) nine vigorously functioning national administrative institutions throughout Baha'i World, combine (to) induce me (to) arrive (at) this historic decision marking most significant milestone (in) evolution (of) Administrative Order (of the) Faith (of) Baha'u'llah (in) course (of) last thirty years. Nascent Institution now created (is) invested (with) threefold function: first, (to) forge link (with) authorities (of) newly emerged State; second, (to) assist me (to) discharge responsibilities involved (in) erection (of) mighty superstructure (of the) flAb's Holy Shrine; third, (to) conduct negotiations related (to) matters (of) personal status (with) civil authorities. To these will be added further functions (in) course (of) evolution (of) this first embryonic International Institution, marking its development into officially recognized Baha'i Court, its transformation into duly elected body, its efflorescence into Universal House (of) Justice, (and) its final fruition through erection (of) manifold auxiliary institutions constituting (the) World Administrative Center destined (to) arise (and) function (and) remain permanently established (in) close neighborhood (of) Twin Holy Shrines. Hail (with) thankful, joyous heart (at) long last (the) constitution (of) International Council which history will acclaim (as the) greatest event shedding luster (upon) second epoch (of) Formative Age (of) Baha'i Dispensation potentially unsurpassed (by) any enterprise undertaken since inception (of) Administrative Order (of) Faith (on) morrow (of) 'Abdu'l-Baha's Ascension, ranking second oniy (to) glorious immortal events associated (with) Ministries (of the) Three Central Figures (of) Faith (in) course (of) First Age (of) most glorious Dispensation (of the) five thousand century Baha'i Cycle. Advise publicize announcement through Public Relations Committee. Ñ SHOGHI Haifa, Israel, January 9, 1951. [p381] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 379 Second announcement: (The) enlargement (of the) International Baha'i Council. Present membership now comprises: Ama-tu'1-BaM R6lyiyyih, chosen liaison between me (and the) Council. Hands (of the) Cause, Mason Remey, Amelia Collins, Ugo Giachery, Leroy Joas, President, Vice-presi-dent, Member at Large, Secretary-General, respectively. Jessie Revell, Ethel Revell, Lotfullali Hakim, Treasurer, Western (and) Eastern assistant Secretaries. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BAHA'I COUNCIU HAIFA, ISRAEL Mr. Horace Holley, Secretary, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States. Dear Baha'i Friends: Following the momentous decision of our beloved Guardian to further consolidate the work he has been doing here for thirty years by the appointment of the first International Baha'i Council, he has given us the privilege and joy of keeping our fellow Baha'is informed of not only the progress being made in the construction of the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, but also of developments in our relationship to the authorities of the State of Israel. The year 108 of the Baha'i Era is obviously one of very great importance to all believers, for it is during this year that we must put forth our greatest united effort to date on behalf of the first undertaking here in the Jloiy Land, which has been characterized by the Guardian as not only of international scope and paramount importance, but as also being the most sacred task ever entrusted to our hands; namely, the raising of the dome of the Sepulcher of the Bab. It had been the hope of the Guardian to carry forward this historic undertaking in easy stages; but the very critical international situation, the growing scarcity of primary materials, which is felt in the world market, and the uncertainty of what the outcome would be if there was any interruption in the quarrying, cutting and preparation of the stones in Italy for the Shrine, have forced him to greatly quicken the tempo of this work. What could have been done in a matter of years, he now sees must be done in a matter of months, unless the completion of the Shrine is to be perhaps indefinitely postponed. The friends the world over who are now being called upon to share in the period of austerity which the American Baha'is have already passed through during the past two years, and to do their utmost to economize in local and national affairs during the coming twenty-four months, in order to provide the funds required so pressingly for the work of the Shrine, will no doubt be keenly interested to hear the details of the plans being made here. As you are aware, from the time when Baha'u'llah pointed with His own hand to the present site of the Shrine, and instructed 'Abdu'l-Baha. to purchase this land, and bring the Body of the DAb from Persia and inter it here, the constant thought of first, the Master, and now, the Guardian has been to complete this sacred undertaking. 'Abdu'l-Baha succeeded in terminating, before His ascension, six rooms of the nine rooms of the Shrine. After His passing, Shoghi Effendi added the three more rooms which had been contemplated, and then for a period of over twenty years, concentrated on purchasing land around the Shrine, and extending both the terraces approaching it and the gardens immediately encircling it. It was not until the Centenary in 1944 that he was able to disclose to the Baha'is the plan for the completion of the building Ñ a plan which followed the wishes expressed by 'Abdu'l-Baha himself. You are all familiar, through previous reports, with the difficulties which were overcome in placing the initial contracts for the arcade. You know from photographs published how very beautiful the first part of the structure is. What perhaps the friends cannot realize is the great effect this building has produced locally. There is no doubt that it has not only interested the public in general, and tourists, but that it has become a source of pride to the people of Haifa, and warmed the cookies of the hearts of the authorities, as neither literature, nor admiration for the high principks they associate with the Baha'is could ever have done. It stands foursquare on the soil of Israel, and has become an advertisement for confidence in the future, no small thing, to a struggling people in a new State, surrounded by hostile elements. In March, 1949, the first threshold stones were laid. By March, 1950, the carved para [p382] 380 THE BAHA'I WORLD pet, inlaid with green and gold mosaic, was being placed in position. At the beginning of March of this year, the most delicate operation associated with the entire structure, was commenced; namely the excavation, within the walls of the old original building, of the eight shafts required for the piers which will support the dome. Perhaps the friends do not realize that until a few weeks ago, every bit of work associated with placing 800 tons of granite, chiampo stone and mosaics in place, was carried out beyond the walls of the old building and upon its roof. But of course in order to erect the octagon, the drum of the dome, and the dome upon the existing building, new foundations had to be dug Ñ foundations capable of holding up more than 1,000 tons of weight. After much consideration on the part of the architect, Mr. W. S. Maxwell, and the engineer, Prof. H. Neumann, it was decided that the oniy feasible way of doing this was to conceal within the eight partition walls of the eight rooms which surround the ninth central innermost room, which is the Tomb of the Bab, eight reinforced concrete piers. This required excavation to bedrock in eight places under the floors of the rooms of the Shrine. At present these eight shafts have been successfully dug without in any way endangering the walls of the Shrine, some of them to a depth of over ten feet, and have been filled with concrete. The complementary eight shafts in the roof have likewise been excavated, and eight channels cut down the walls within which the concrete piers will be concealed, when they have been poured. This part of the work has been very delicate, necessitating as it did, cutting through the vaultings of the old ceilings, where in some places, the roof is over eight feet thick. We have all been impressed with the immense strength of the building which SAbdu~1BaM constructed. It was indeed sufficiently strong to practically serve the purpose of a fortress, which as you remember, the enemies of the Faith accused it of being to the Turkish Commission which came to 'Akka to investigate 'Abdu'l-Baha's activities. When the Guardian decided to place the order for the octagon of the Shrine, he discovered that steel and cement were practically unobtainable in this country, and that the quickest and most economical procedure would be to order these mate~ia1s from Italy, along with the three hundred tons of stone, trimmed and carved and ready to be built into position, which are required for the octagon and its eight pinnacles. He consequently instructed our dear Baha'i brother, Dr. Ugo Giachery, to place the contract for the stone work of the octagon, which amounted to $63,000.00. Reference to a photograph of the model of the Shine will show that the octagon has a wrought iron railing, which forms an ornamental balustrade at this level. As such work is not procurable in this country, a further contract for $5,900.00 was signed in Italy, covering this item. Likewise the twenty-four windows of the octagon require metal frames, wholly unobtainable here, and a further contract for these was signed, amounting to $1,855.00. In addition to these two contracts, fifty tons of cement, and thirty-three tons of steel were ordered. Upon being informed by Dr. Giachery of the extreme difficulty he had in getting permission to export to us cement and steel, the Guardian decided that the sooner the contract was placed in Italy for the remaining portions of the building, the better. He therefore cabled Dr. Giachery to order all the stone work for the dome, the stone lantern surmounting it, and the drum supporting it, at once. This necessitated committing us to another contract, amounting to $130,000.00, to which must be added $3,210.00 for the metal window frames of the drum of the dome, which are eighteen in number. Whilst contemplating the magnitude of the work which has been ordered in Italy, we must bear in mind that these contracts do not include the surfacing of the dome with whatever material is chosen to give it its golden appearance, nor the actual cost of construction of the entire edifice above the roof level of the old Shrine, which must now be undertaken in this country. In coming to the decision to commit the Baha World and its resources so heavily at this time to this sacred enterprise, the Guardian took two important points into consideration: One was the quality of workmanship of the building, and the other was the state of the world at present. When work requiring such high standards of craftsmanship is undertaken, if the original staff is dispersed in the middle of the undertaking, it is very problematic whether, when construe-non is again resumed, the same standard can be maintained. Different workers have a dif [p383] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 381 ferent touch, and later work might be far below the level of what has so far been received. We must remember that the arcade was ordered shortly after the end of World War II, when first-class labor was available. The other side of the picture which undoubtedly has most strongly influenced the Guardian in coming to his decision, is the gloomy political outlook at present, and the fact that any postponement of the construction of the Shrine might have turned out to be practically an indefinite postponement. We know that the Cause of God moves ahead in mysterious ways, and no doubt in the future, when the Shrine is completed, not the least interesting of the facts associated with it and the romance of its construction will be that about sixteen hundred tons of granite was quarried, cut and carved in Italy and imported to Israel during undoubtedly one of the most disturbed periods in the world's history, and more particularly, in the history of the Holy Land. In addition to the abovementioned momentous decisions, the Guardian has been able to carry out this winter another enterprise most dear to his heart, and one which he had been prevented from doing for over ten years, owing to the machinations of the Covenant-breakers. The many friends who have been pilgrims to Haifa, will recall that 'Abdu'l-Baha, having Himself built one terrace directly in front of the Shrine of the Bab, had expressed the desire that a series of these should link the Holy Tomb with Carmel Avenue in the Templar Colony at the foot of Mt. Carmel, thus forming a direct line to the sea from the central door of the Shrine. This spring the municipality looked favorably upon our application for permission to complete the last two terraces, and the Guardian was able to extend the line of staircases, cypress trees, and walls, which comprise these terraces, by approximately another thirtyfive meters, He beauti-fled this termination of the Baha'i properties leading to the Shrine of the B&b by erecting four more lampposts, two pedestals with beautiful lead vases, a temporary iron gate and considerable landscape gardening. The effect of the whole is most impressive, and has now made it possible for visitors to go straight up the staircases to the Shrine itself from the lower part of the town. Recently the President and one of the Secretaries of the International Baha'i Coun-cii visited Jerusalem, where, in the course of several days, arrangements were made with the Ministry of Trade for receiving import licenses for the various materials to be used in the building of the Shrine on Mt. Cannel, including all stone work, structural steel, cement, wrought-iron decorative balustrades, metal window frames, etc. The Customs Department has likewise been most cooperative, and invariably frees all materials for the Shrine and objects for the Gardens, as well as the Holy Tombs and the Archives, from duty. When the Shrine is completed, this will mean that over sixteen hundred tons of material for its construction have come in duty-free. On March 30th, the President of the International Baha Council was received by Rabbi J. L. Hacohen Maimon, Minister for Religious Affairs in Israel. His Excellency, the Minister, welcomed this representative of our beloved Guardian, assuring him of the friendship of the State of Israel toward all the religious communities in Israel, saying that it was the desire of his government that freedom of religion exist in this country and that their attitude toward all religious communities was one of friendship and of respect, and of the extension of their protection to the Holy Places of these various religions, adding: "Have we not all one Father? Has not the one God created us all?" The President of the International Baha'i Council then spoke of Israel as being the Ho7ty Land of the Baha'is, as well as that of the Jews, Christians and Muslims; telling the Minister that fifty and more years ago the Master, 'Abdu'l-Baha had written that Palestine would eventually become the Home of the Jewish people; and that this was published in print at that time. The interview was characterized by a sincere spirit of welcome on the part of the Minister and his associates who were present. A colored print of the architect's design for the fagade of the Tomb of the BM was presented to the Minister, and an invitation was extended to him and to Mrs. Maimon to visit the Shrine of the Bab and surrounding gardens when they could arrange to come to Haifa. The President and Vice President of the International Council have likewise paid cans upon both the Mayor of Haifa and the Mayor of 'Akka, as well as the Military Governor of Galilee. These visits were in the nature of courtesy calls, and established a friendly contact between these officials and the officers of the Council. [p384] 382 THE BAHA'! WORLD The President likewise had a very pleasant interview with the United States Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Monett B. Davis. On April 13, the International Baha'i Council gave a reception in the nature of a tea party at the Mansion of Baha'u'llah at Baha. This was the first formal entertainment done by this body, and Government officials, Consuls, Representatives from the Ministry of Religions in Jerusalem, as well as many friends and acquaintances, were present. The reception received a friendly writeup in the social column of the English-speaking newspapers of Israel, and was generally considered a great success. It is interesting to note that the formation of the International Council was mentioned in various newspapers in this country in different languages, and "Kol Israel" has also on a number of occasions broadcast news concerning the Baha'is, amongst other items, to wish them a Happy Feast on such days as Naw-Rfzz and Ridvan. Baha'i books have for a long time been in the library of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and recently, at the request of the Ministry, some of our literature has been placed in the library of the Ministry of Religions in Jerusalem. Books have also been presented to His Excellency, Rabbi Mai-mon, for his own personal library, be, himself, being a profound student of the religions of the past. The books were given to him at his request. The nature of our contacts with the Government might be said to be of two kinds: Sometimes we procure assistance from them after considerable effort on our part; other times, we receive attention from authorities in very agreeable and unexpected ways. An important case in point is that of the room in the fortress of 'Akka, which was occupied by Baha'u'llah upon His arrival in that city, for two years. Without our having made any solicitation regarding this historic spot, so sacred in our eyes for the memories it holds, we were informed by the Government Doctor who is in charge of the Hospital which has been established there, that he wished to deliver to the Baha'is the keys of Baha'u'llah's room, and that it had been especially set aside for us. This gesture was greatly appreciated, and the room is now available for Baha'i pilgrims and local believers to visit. His Worship, the Mayor of Haifa, likewise was extremely cooperative and suggested that he would be glad to assist in any way he could in connection with completing the Shrine of the Bib, as he considered it a great embellishment to the city of Haifa. This kind offer was followed up, and through his good offices, the Government has released to us fifty tons of cement. One would have to be a resident of this country to realize just what that means. Masra'ih is a Muslim religious endowment, and it is consequently impossible, under existing laws in this country, for it to be sold. However, as the friends are aware, the Ministry of Religions, due to the direct intervention of the Minister himself, Rabbi Maimon, consented, in the face of considerable opposition, to deliver Masra'ih to the Baha'is as a Holy Place to be visited by Baha pilgrims. This means that we rent it from the Department of Muslim and Druze affairs in the Ministry of Religions. The head of this Department is also a Rabbi, Dr. Hirschberg. Recently he, his wife and party, visited all the Baha properties in Haifa and 'Akka, following upon a very pleasant tea party in the Western Pilgrim House with the members of the International Baha'i Council. After completing his visit to Masra'ih, Dr. Hirschberg and his party spent an hour going through the Mansion of Baha, and were much interested in the archives, records, photographs, maps, etc., which the Guardian has so impressively assembled in that building. The friends will be astonished to know that during Passover Week, over 1,000 people visited the Mansion. They come on conducted tours, by foot, in busses, and comprise important foreign visitors and whole schools of children and young people from the Kibutzim. The party of Dr. Hirschberg, accompanied by the President and Vice President of the International Baha'i Council, then motored to 'Akka and visited the House of Baha'u'llah, in which He spent so many years, and where the Aqdas was revealed, as well as other important writings. Last of all, a visit was made to the Mosque of 'Akid Ñ it was Friday Ñ the Muslim Sabbath, and a large congregation was assembled there. As the worshippers came out of the Mosque, the Muslim ImAm who had been conducting the prayers, caine from the Mibrdb, and welcomed our party, insisting that we have coffee with him and the judge and other Muslim officials of 'Akka, within the courtyard precincts of the Mosque. [p385] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 383 We see that the Faith towards which the authorities of the New State of Israel have always been friendly, is now gaining prestige in their sight, and that they have recognized it to be a World Faith in scope, a World Religion Ñ distinct and apart from the other religions of the past, yet nevertheless closely related to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions in their purity, as revealed by Christ and the Prophets. Already, a Baha'i marriage certificate has been recognized by the local authorities of this new State, and its Ministry of Education and Culture, unsolicited by us, has exempted Baha'i school children throughout the State from attending school on BaU'i Holy Days. This was done in a circular issued to all schools. Our institutions, comprising two Holy Shrines, those of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, two Archives housing sacred relics, one adjoining the Tomb of the BTh, the other, adjacent to the resting-place of the Greatest Holy Leaf; two historical mansions, that of Baha, where Baha'u'llah passed away, and that of Masra'ih, where He first resided upon leaving the prison walls of 'Akka; two Houses associated with Baha'u'llah and the Master, namely, the one in 'Akka, where the Manifestation of God revealed the Aqdas, and the one in Haifa, where 'Abdu'l-Baha passed away, have all been exempted from both Government and Municipal taxes; and objects received for them permitted to enter, duty free. Likewise the area of over forty acres of land, surrounding the Shrine of the Bab on Mt. Carmel, has been exempted from taxation. These things are the evidences of a spirit of true understanding and cooperation between the Baha'i Community and the Israeli authorities. We like to say to interested Jewish inquirers, that something very interesting and beautiful is happening here Ñ the world's newest religion is growing up within the world's youngest State. Faithfully yours in El Baha Ñ INTERNATIONAL BAWi'f COUNCIL Charles Mason Remey May, 1951. President National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A. Dear Baha'i Friends: The International Baha'i Council wishes to share with the friends news of the prog ress of the Faith at its World Center, and to inform them of what has been done during the past year, under the guidance of the beloved Guardian. The Shrine of the Bab With the steady progress in the construction of the Shrine of the Rib on Mt. Carmel, the eyes, not only of the Baha'is, are becoming increasingly fixed upon it, but also of the people of Israel. As the friends are already aware, the octagon of the Shrine is now complete. The eight minaret-like pinnacles, as well as the wrought-iron panels of the balustrade are now erected, and constitute, as Shoghi Effendi so beautifully said, the second crown of the building, the first crown being the carved marble parapet of the arcade with its green mosaic panels. This balustrade has now been painted a deep green, and the motif brought out through the application of gold leaf. The effect is truly exquisite, so much so that many local people seem to be under the misapprehension that the building is now completed. Evidently what exists is to them sufficiently charming to constitute the end of the enterprise. On April 8, the preliminary work commenced on the third unit, which consists of the drum section of the Shrine, containing eighteen lancet windows, symbolic in number of the Eighteen Letters of the Living. It is upon this intermediary unit, 11 meters (33 feet) high, that the dome of the Shrine must rest. In spite of the fact that this drum is much smaller in circumference than the two previous units already built, it constitutes a knotty construction problem because it must be a perfect circle, and because it has two walls, an outer stone wall and an inner thin reinforced concrete one, which must he built simultaneously. The fact that we are gaining in height constantly, also increases the difficulty of the operation. From the unveiling of the Shrine model in 1944, on the occasion of the first Centenary of the Declaration of the Bab, the question of what material to use for the dome was really the main problem which faced Mr. Sutherland Maxwell, its architect. He had an original and very beautiful idea: The dome of the Shrine of the B~b was to be covered with a fish-scale pattern of tiles, in diminishing sizes. His concept had been of either a green or a gold dome; but the [p386] 384 THE BAHA'! WORLD Guardian considered that a golden dome was much more suitable for this Second Holiest Structure in the Baha'i world; the Qiblili of the Faith, the Tomb of Baha'u'llah, being naturally the Most Sacred. The problem of discovering a means of materializing this design faced the builders. Italian gold mosaic was considered a possibility, but discarded by the Guardian because of the uniform effect which the multitude of small facets would create at a distance, the original and highly decorative concept of tiles being entirely lost by such a treatment. Copper was out of the question because of the weight and the oxide staining which always occurs when this metal is used. That left oniy some form of porcelain or clay tile, or possibly a plastic material. The investigations of Dr. Ugo Giachery showed that plastic material was a risk, as no one can predict at present how it will react to years of exposure in this climate. There remained therefore only tile as a feasible solution. While attending the 1951 European Teaching Conference in Holland, Dr. Gia-chery located an enterprising and long-estab-lished firm of tile makers in Utrecht. After a great deal of inquiry and experimentation on the part of this firm, a suitable solution to the problem of the dome seems to have been reached, and one which will realize the architect's design. An underglaze gold tile has now been developed and an order will shortly be placed for over 27,000 tiles, ranging in height from eight centimeters to twenty centimeters. The cost of these tiles will be approximately $11,000. Hand in hand with the work on the Shrine, the fame of the Shrine is spreading, and one hears more and more comments upon it. The people not only of Haifa, but from many parts of Israel, take pride in it, and when they learn something of the teachings of the Faith, greatly admire what we stand for and what we are doing here in their country. The friends are no doubt aware that ever since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi has been extending not only the terraces between the Shrine and the Templar Colony at the foot of Mt. Carmel, but has been widening, eastward and westward, the terrace upon which the Shrine itself rests. One section has remained to be extended for a number of years, but the engineering problem involved was complicated, and the expense very great. This year, however, the Guardian has felt that the longer the delay in building this extension, the more hopelessly expensive such a construction would be, and he has consequently commenced work which will when completed add approximately 350 square meters to the terrace of the Shrine towards the east. This addition necessitates the construction of a nine meter high wall of more than 350 cubic meter content of stone. It is interesting to note that the stones for the work are being carried up from the ruins of the old city of Haifa, which are being removed in order to make way for a new development. When this portion of the terrace is completed, peo-pie visiting the Shrine will get the most wonderful view from this spot of the entire building, with the rays of the rising sun bringing out the Greatest Name in brilliant gold relief, in the northeastern corner of the arcade. It is anticipated that in about a month and a half, this extension will be completed. The cost of the work will be about $12,600. Babji, comprising the Shrine of Bahi'-u 11~h and His Mansion, receives an even greater flow of visitors than the Gardens here in Haifa; owing to the fact that because of construction, the immediate surroundings of the Shrine on Mt. Carmel are closed to the public. During the recent Passover celebrations, more than 1,500 people visited Baha, 500 of these in one day. The interiors of the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and the Mansion, as well as the House of Baha'u'llah in 'Akldt and the Mansion of Mazra'ih, have been greatly beautified during the past year, in preparation for the coming of the pit. grims. The Mansion of Baha'u'llah For six months, the Cause at its International Center went through a most irritating crisis and one which, had not the divine protection been so clearly vouchsafed to the Guardian and the friends serving him here, might have led to serious repercussions. Ever since the Ascension of Baha'u'llah, as the friends are aware, the party of Mu-I~ammad-'A1f, his children, his relatives and a few supporters, have clustered around the Sacred Tomb. Upon the death of their Father, the sans of Baha'u'llah inherited shares in the Mansion where He passed away. In the course of many years, this building, so full of sacred associations, has witnessed the [p387] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 385 evidences of the violent animosity of the Covenant-breakers toward the Center of the Covenant. The friends will remember from their perusal of Baha'i history that already, while Baha'u'llah's body was being prepared for the grave, Mu1~ammad-'A1f was concentrating on his opposition to the Master. After the Ascension, and indeed until 1932, Mu-hammad-'A1I and his relatives resided in the Mansion of Baha'u'llah, in spite of the fact that the majority of the shares in this building were owned by 'Abdu'l-Baha. Baha'u'llah himself, in order to raise funds for his seditious activities, sold his share of the house of his Father to the Inspector of Police of 'Akka.. After the death of this man, and with tremendous inconvenience and legal complications, the Guardian succeeded in arranging to purchase back Baha'u'llah's original one-third share of the property. At this time, his son Musa Baha'i was the Registrar of Lands in 'Akka, and catching wind of the transaction, succeeded at the last moment in bringing pressure to bear on the Police Inspector's heirs, and instead of the Cause coming into possession of the remaining one-third of the title deed, the Guardian, succeeded in getting only one-sixth, and the other one-sixth fell into the hands of the Covenant-breakers and was registered in their names. About 1932, the Mansion of Baha'u'llah, which had been occupied by Mubammad-'Mi and his family ever since 1892, had f a!-len into such a state of disrepair that the roof was caving in. Shoghi Effendi considered this not only a disgrace to the memory of the Blessed Perfection, but also a responsibility which devolved upon the Baha'is, and he therefore represented to Muijam-mad-All, the necessity of repairing the building. Muliammad-'Ali, claiming he had no funds for such a purpose refused, but accepted the Guardian's proposal that he should evacuate the building, and allow the Baha'is to restore it; he moved into the adjacent building, where his son still lives. After the Mansion had been restored to its original glory (and such a term is not an exaggeration, for it is a beautiful oriental palace built by a wealthy resident of 'Akka during the last century), the Guardian invited the British District Commissioner to inspect it with him Ñ furnished, its walls lined with bookcases and pictures of interest to the Baha world, its cabinets containing Writings of Baha'u'llah in the original, the Room of Baha'u'llah itself restored, and original relics of His placed in it. It made such an impression that he agreed to ask the High Commissioner to include it as a Baha Holy Place along with the Shrines and the House in 'Akka, and exempt it from taxation. This was done. The status of the building changed from the personal residence of a son of Baha'u'llah to a Museum and Pilgrim House for the Baha'is; Mulmmmad-'All could no longer return, and was forced to remain where he had taken up his residence nearby. A ruined blacksmith's shop which had existed, owned and worked by one of the Covenant-breakers, right next to the wall of the 1{oiy Tomb towards the east, the Guardian had likewise destroyed. He had removed the old stables, and the unsightliness and disorder had been cleared away, and a quiet inner court created between the block of buildings in which the Tomb is situated, and the wall of the Mansion Garden. Towards the south, however, a small one-story building with five rooms, remained, and although since the days of Baha'u'llah and the Master, it had been in Baha'i possession, its title deed was part of the Mansion itself, of which the Covenant-breakers own one-sixth. Last December, the Guardian, in view of the fact that the roofs of three of the rooms had caved in and the walls were crumbling, and the building becoming daily a more complete and dangerous ruin, instructed the caretaker of the Holy Shrine to demolish it. While he was doing this, the police arrived with an Order of Stay from the Haifa Court, to which the Covenant-breakers had appealed, in view of the fact that without their permission, property in which they had a share was being destroyed. As the Covenant-breakers had been left in their portion of the Mansion property, in other words, part of the building towards the north and some rooms toward the east, unmolested and un-interfered with by the Guardian, he naturally supposed that after the Center of the Faith had been in undisputed possession of the building in question since 1892, he was at liberty, as Custodian of the Baha'i Holy Places, to tear it down. The bitterness, however, of the Covenant-breakers still moti [p388] 386 THE BAHA'I WORLD vated by the evil genius of Majdi'd-Din, who although oniy a few years short of 100, and paraLyzed, is still living in the building adjacent to the Mansion, and led by the widow of Musa Baha'i, the daughter of Baha'u'llah, their hatred and their perennial desire to create mischief, again surged to the surface. At the express request of the Covenant-breakers, a meeting was arranged at which two of them were present with their lawyer, the lawyer of the Guardian and two representatives of the Guardian, in an effort to settle the question peacefully out of court. However, the interview proved fruitless, because they continually raised the same old issues of sixty years ago which arose when Muljammad-'Ali challenged the authority of the Master. They did, however, make a few requests which the Guardian considered were justified, such as being allowed to pray alone in the Tomb, and that they would be permitted to enter during certain hours, etc. In spite of this concession on his part, they decided to go to the Court and place the matter before the Judge informally, rather than in the form of a trial. Twice the respective lawyers and parties concerned met in the Judge's presence, but at both meetings the unreasoning animosity of the daughter of Baha'u'llah, in particular, made any agreement impossible. Indeed, it became evident that working through her advocate, one of the sharpest in the country, and one whom she had carefully filled with all kinds of misrepresentations as to the true situation which arose after the ascension of Baha'u'llah, she had no other intention than to prolong the existing condition, which was that the Guardian had been prevented legally from tearing down the building, and, in the meantime the case was neither being decided out of Court nor being brought up in Court. Every reasonable solution having been consistently set aside by the Covenant-breakers, the first hearing of the Case was set. The Guardian, in spite of his desire to remove the unsightly rubble that the ruined house had become after its semi-demolition, was willing that the case should as expeditiously as possible be tried, knowing full well that any verdict could not but be in his f a-vor, not oniy on religious grounds, but because the building had been in his possession for over twenty years, which, according to the laws of this land, give a person certain welldefined rights. It was not until the Covenant-breakers had the temerity to summon the Head of the Faith himself as a witness, that he decided to appeal to the Government to lift the matter entirely out of the jurisdiction of the Civil Court. The three members of the International Baha'i Council, Mr. Remey, Dr. Giachery and Mr. loas, consequently had interviews with high-ranking officials of the Foreign Office and the Prime Minister's office, as well as with the Attorney-General and the Vice-Minister of Religions. It was evident immediately that the Government was quite aware of the fact that the Baha'i Faith is united Linder the leadership of its legitimate Guardian, and that he is the true Custodian of the Baha'i Holy Places. In view of this, the Attorney-General, in pursuance with instructions from the Minister of Religions, informed the President of the Haifa Court that according to a law existing in the Statutes since 1924, the case in question should not be tried by a Civil Court as it was a re-hgious matter. To the astonishment of all concerned, the lawyer of the Covenant-breakers decided to challenge the authority of this order of the Attorney-General on a technicality and to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. This in fact meant that the case would no longer be against the Guardian but against the Government itself! Again interviews were had with the higher authorities in Jerusalem and Hakirya, and the Guardian's own appeal to the Prime Minister was transmitted to him. This produced an immediate reaction. The legal adviser of the Prime Minister met with the Vice-Minister of Religions, the advocate of the Guardian and the advocate of the Cove-nant-breakers, and brought pressure to bear. The three Hands of the Cause, representing Shoghi Effendi, were in one room in the Ministry of Religions, and the Covenant-breakers in another, as the Baha'is had refused to meet with them any more. A stiff tussle ensued in which the lawyer of the Covenant-breakers repeatedly brought back more claims from Baha'u'llah's daughter, and the lawyer of the Guardian as consistently brought back from the members of the Council refusals to accept them. Finally the representative of the Prime Minister informed them that any further fight they wished to carry on would be with the Government and if they wanted to do that, they [p389] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH}{ 387 could. The result was acceptance on their part to drop the case and the appeal. From December until the end of May, they had succeeded in preventing the Guardian from doing what he wished to in the precincts of the Holy Tomb. They had, from giving the impression of being poor people whose rights were being denied and who objected to the demolition of a building in which they had a slight interest, gradually revealed themselves as being vindictive, revengeful, and pursuing with great determination and skill, a definite object, which had nothing whatsoever to do with the building in question, or whether it was torn down or rebuilt; but which revealed itself as being a plan to either get a key for themselves to the Holy Shrine, which would give them the position of joint Custodian with the Guardian, or of securing rooms in the Mansion itself for their own "Baha'i Archives." It would be no exaggeration to say that the entire course of the case was providential; and indeed all those here had the feeling that from beginning to end, it was pursuing a plan which no one could check or interfere with. Over and over again, when it seemed that the case would be dropped or settled out of Court or brought before the Judge and speedily dismissed, or the demolition Stay removed pending a hearing, or that the ruins would be torn down because the proper Civil authority had issued a demolition order, at the list moment, everything would go awry and the case would continue, growing and growing in importance, and going to ever higher official levels until it reached the Prime Minister himself. In fact, it gathered itself up like a big summer thunder cloud, and when it burst, crashed with full force on the heads of those who have disputed Baha'u'llah's instructions, the Successorship of His beloved Son, the Will and Testament, and the Guardianship, for sixty years. When the three members of the International Baha'i Council left the Ministry of Religious in Jerusalem, they had in their possession a paper giving them full authority to tear down the ruins at once. Within forty-eight hours of their return, a flat surface of rubble was all that remained. Servants, Arab laborers and Baha'i pilgrims had scattered the stones of the building in a blast of joy. New Garden at Baha One week later, the Guardian of the Cause, who went over to Baha'i himself to supervise the work, had created, in time for the night of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah a beautiful entrance, into what is now called the Holy Court leading to the Shrine. In front of the Mansion, and in the very spot where the ruined house had stood, a wide expanse of garden sprung from the dust, marble vases, carved white Carrara marble ornaments, lamp posts, cypress trees, borders, pebbled walks Ñ b! like a dream they spread before the eyes of the Baha'is. Indeed the Arab laborers would quote to each other an old saying: "The ring of Solomon has been found!", which stems from a tradition that the king lost his ring, and that whoever found it and turned it on his finger Ñ whatever he wished for would materialize instantly. Without the innocent remark thrown out by the Guardian one day as he left Baha after visiting the T{oiy Tomb to the keeper: "Bring laborers and destroy these ruins," and which he made because he could no longer tolerate this dilapidation so near the Holy Shrine, and because he desired to build a befitting entrance at the end of the Garden adjacent to the Shrine, which had never had, for sixty years, any entrance, befitting or otherwise, the Covenant-breakers would not have once again been routed, suffered defeat and lost many of the privileges they enjoyed for sixty years in respect to visiting the Holy Shrine. Indeed, it has been extraordinary the way this case has brought to the attention of almost every important Government Department in Israel, the true stature of the Faith, what it is doing here, who is its Head, what its plans are for the future, what it has already accomplished. One could almost say that the International Council were strangers to the Government in December, but, thanks to the good offices of our enemies, they became warm acquaintances! The Purchase of Eighteen Additional Plots on Mt. Carmel One of the most important events during this past year has been the purchase at long last of eighteen additional plots on Mt. Carmel, in the vicinity of the resting-places of the Sister, the Mother and the Brother [p390] 388 THE BAHA'! WOR of 'Abdu'l-Baha-. Upon the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, all enemy property was seized and placed under the Controller of Absentee Property. Within the last eighteen months the Government established, after the passing of suitable legislation in the Knesset (Parliament), a body known as the "Development Authority," empowered to dispose of lands, subject to the approval of the Cabinet, either by lease or outright sale for dollars. After over a year's negotiations with the Government, the eighteen plots were purchased for the sum of $118,000, and in April, 1952, transferred to the name of the Palestine Branch of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. In addition to these eighteen plots, totaling about six acres in area, the Guardian was able to purchase at the same time the remaining half of an empty plot facing both the Western Baha'i Pilgrim House and the House of 'Abdu'l-Baha, for the sum of $16,000. It was largely due to the intervention of His Worship the Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Aba Khoushy, that the Cause was able to secure this land at this price, the original price having been very much higher. The assurance it would be kept as a private open space induced His Worship to urge the Government to make a concession to the Baha'is in this matter. Embryo of the Universal Rouse of Justice The International Baha'i Council has been, during the past year, not only enlarged but strengthened through the addition to its membership of Mr. Leroy loas, who fulfills the function of Secretary-General; and Dr. Ugo Giachery, Member at Large. On more than one occasion, the Guardian has pointed out to the members of the Council that the Charter upon which the Spiritual and Administrative activities of the Faith in Israel rest is the Tablet of Carmel, revealed by Baha'u'llah on Mt. Carmel. The "City of God" mentioned in this Tablet, is the Shrine of the BTh, and the "Ark" means the Laws of God, and refers to the Universal I-louse of Justice, the embryo of which is the present International Baha'i Council, which through successive stages will develop into the Universal House of Justice to be established and function on this Mo~y Mountain. its membership i~ow consists of: Abdu'l-Baha ThThiyyih Kh6num Liaison between the Guardian and the Council Charles Mason Remey, President Amelia Collins, Vice-President Ugo Giachery, Member at Large Leroy loas, Secretary-General Jessie Revell, Treasurer Ethel Revell, Western Assistant Secretary Lotfullali Hakim, Eastern Assistant Secretary There are now four Hands of the Cause serving the Faith permanently at its International Center, as members of this Body. Dr. Giachery has paid two visits to Israel during the past three months, in order to assist with the work being undertaken here and this has meant that five Hands of the Cause were in the Holy Land. In addition to this, Mr. Dhikru'llAh Khadem, Mr. Shu'-~'u'I16h 'A16'i, Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher and Mr. MtisA BanThi, Hands of the Cause, have recently been in Haifa as pilgrims; in fact, two of them had the inestimable privilege of hearing from the Guardian's own lips that he had appointed them as part of the second contingent of Hands of the Cause. Plans Completed Icr Mashriqu'1-A dhkdr on Mt. Carmel The President of the Council, Mr. Charles Mason Remey, has now completed his design for the Ma~briqu'1-Adbk4r which will be erected at a future date, somewhere on Mt. Carmel. During the past winter, he has had the opportunity of consulting with the Guardian about the final details, and having received his suggestions and approval, is now ready to order the model of his Temple in Italy, so that it can be exhibited in the Mother Temple of the West in Wilmette during the historic Convention of 1953. This building is very monumental in character. While not resembling synagogue, church, mosque or any of the temples of former religions, it will have a distinctive religious character and dignity of its own. When constructed, it will greatly enhance the institutions of the Faith at the World Center and fulfill yet another of 'Abdu'l-Baha's cherished hopes. I-low soon work on it could be undertaken is not known at present; but the design carried out by the architect chosen for this prrpose by &flC Master T{imself, has now 2oeen sam [p391] THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH 389 guarded for posterity, and is ready for execution when the appointed time comes. Recognition a/the Faith by the israeli Government The relations of the State of Israel with our beloved Guardian and the International Baha'i Council have been friendly and cordial. We are happy to report that steady progress is being made in obtaining suitable legal recognition of the Faith here, from the Government. During the past few months, the exemption already given by both the Mandate Authorities and the Jewish State to material gifts received for the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, the Shrine of the BTh, Mazra'ih, the House of Baha'u'llah in 'Akka and the Gardens on Mt. Carmel, has been extended to cover all things received for the Western and Eastern Pilgrim Houses and the Home of the Head of the Faith. In addition to this, the Government has been both understanding and cooperative as regards the reduction of the heavy charges made in the port on material sent for the Shrine of the Bab, and gifts received for the Holy Places. Aside from the very pleasant interview two of the present members of the International Baha'i Council, Mrs. Collins and Mr. has, had with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. David Ben-Gurion, during his trip to America last summer, when they formed part of a delegation from the American National Spiritual Assembly received by him, contact has been made by various members of the Council and by Mr. Lawrence Hautz, with the following high-ranking officials of the State: Dr. Chaim Weizmann, President, at a reception at Rehovot; Miss Golda Myerson, Minister of Labor; Dr. David Z. Pinkas, Minister of Communications; Mr. Eliezer Kaplan, Minister of Finance; as well as Dr. W. Walter Eytan, Director General of the Foreign Ministry; Dr. Kurt Mendelsohn, Director of Customs and Excise; Dr. Zerah Warhaftig, Minister of Religions; Mr. Ahoud Avril, Director General to the Prime Minister, Mr. Shimon Eynat, Legal Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Attorney General, Mr. Kalman Cohen. It is both significant and interesting to note that the higher one goes in government circles, the greater is the courtesy shown and the wider the knowledge of the Faith possessed by its officials. Likewise at high levels we meet with ready understanding, and when assistance is necessary, we get it. Pilgrims to Haifa Ñ from the East and from the West No report of Baha'i activities during the past year could convey any sense of the stirring progress being made here that did not mention the arrival of the pilgrims. The first believer from the east to reach the Holy Land after more than ten years, during which the pilgrimage had been perforce suspended by the beloved Guardian, was Mr. Sami Doktoroglu, of Istanbul. After years of persecution, quiescence and obscurity, the Turkish believers have at last found themselves in a position to go ahead with their work in the service of Baha'u'llah. Thanks to the instructions carried back to them by this Baha'i brother from the presence of the Guardian, they have organized their first three Spiritual Assemblies in the historic city of Istanbul, in Aintab and in Adana, and have recently purchased a portion of the land which is the site of the building once occupied by Baha'u'llah during his sojourn there in Constantinople. The first Baha'i pilgrim to arrive from the west was Mr. Lawrence Hautz of Milwaukee. His eagerness to render any assistance within his power to the work here attracted the eye of Shoghi Effendi, who is ever ready to embark on new activities when he finds willing hands! It was in no small measure due to the enthusiasm and eagerness of this western Baha friend that the purchase of the additional plots here in Haifa was so speedily and successfully concluded. He made many contacts with the Government and impressed upon them the importance of the International Center of the Faith here to the 13ah4'is the world over, assuring them that Israel has no better friends than the people who believe that what Baha'u'llah promised will be fulfilled, and that His promises about Israel will likewise be fulfilled. During four months, more than a hundred friends have been the guests of the Guardian, and carried back from his presence inspiration, guidance, love and boundless zeal to their fellow Baha'is, upon their return to their own countries, the pilgrimage, due to lack of adequate accom~ modation here, for large ut mbers o' peopi ha~. bee limited