Chapter 9
[page 119]
IX
The Garden Nurseries
REFERENCE has often been made to the limitation of financial means from which the Guardian suffered, a condition which now makes it almost impossible to understand how he could have done so much with the little he had. The prestige and decorum of the Faith were to him the true foundation upon which the fame of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh would spread throughout the world, and his inventiveness and ingenuity would plan things which could not be provided otherwise for lack of means. Therefore to make the gardens as beautiful as he envisaged, he had to overcome many difficulties by seeking from the beginning the elements necessary to give substance to his plans. The spartan life lived within the limitations imposed upon 'Abdu'l-Bahá and His family by a relentless foe had tempered the character of the young Shoghi Effendi who, in becoming accustomed to privations on the one hand, rejoiced in the satisfaction of self-imposed discipline on the other. This quality of thrift in non-essentials remained one of his sterling habits, which permitted him to demonstrate his generosity in all its nobility on matters which reflected upon the greatness of the Cause of God.
Under Turkish domination and under the British Mandate, the policies of both governments were to limit expenditures to strictly military and civil administration, with practically little or no outlay of funds for things considered unnecessary, such as beautification of the land, reforestation or experimental and botanical gardens. One of the things which attracted my attention on my first visit to the World Centre of the Faith was the existence of two nurseries which Shoghi Effendi had established, one in Haifa and one in Bahji, to assure a constant supply of trees and plants for the expansion of the gardens. In Haifa, the nursery was located on the grounds north and east of the Pilgrim House, near the Tomb of the Báb; that ground is now partly used as a parking space, and partly as a flower garden. In Bahji, it was located not too far from the main entrance to the inner garden of the Mansion and is now part of the path that leads from the eastern terraces to the Master's Tea House. In both nurseries there were hundreds of clay pots of different sizes and depths, in which small trees, shrubs and flower plants were growing from seeds or cuttings. These were the product of the foresight of Shoghi Effendi, whose sagacity had envisioned the ideal beautification of the landscape around the Holy Places of the Faith. What chiefly caught my fancy were the cypress yearlings which stood upright like egret plumes waving in the breeze. While in the nurseries, With the roots imprisoned in small pots, they would not grow very fast but when transplanted into the fertile soil of that land, they would immediately increase from day to day in size and height. Shoghi Effendi spoke several times to me of his efforts to obtain trees and plants, and how he had to search in many directions to remedy a situation which was rather difficult to overcome. Many times since those days, and especially whenever I have visited the Holy Land, I have wondered what would have happened to the land around the sacred Tombs if Shoghi Effendi had not taken to his heart, in every minute detail, the destiny of its beauty and glorification.
In the early 'fifties, after the formation of the State of Israel, it became possible to secure from governmental nurseries some of the trees needed, particularly the cypresses which with their graceful stateliness have become the ornamental landmarks of the Bahá'í properties in the Holy Land.[*]
* This writer would like to remember an earlier gardener, who tried his very best to start and develop the Garden of Ridvan near 'Akka, and was much esteemed by Bahá'u'lláh, for his loyalty and skill. His name was 'Abdu's-Salih, originally from Isfahan, the son of earlier believers who had reached 'Akka in order to be of service to the Blessed Beauty. (See Memorials of the Faithful, 26-8.)
