A Celestial Burning:
A Selective Study of the Writings of Shoghi Effendi

by Jack McLean

About: This work is a comprehensive study of selected writings of Shoghi Effendi Rabbani (1897-1957), the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith. The fruit of over a decade of meditation and careful research, the author has approached Shoghi Effendi’s writings from two main perspectives: The Guardian as the divine expounder, a wellspring of incisive and perspicuous religious thought, and Shoghi Effendi the eloquent writer, a vocation that was inseparable from his sacred office. This unique volume treats such themes as Shoghi Effendi’s view of history as divine drama, his effective use of rhetoric, his penetrating insights into morality and spirituality, and his understanding of the emerging world order as a modern-day apocalypse, and also the inimitable style and integral patterns that emerge in his epistolary prose. The breadth of research and the rich detail is a pleasure to peruse, and will surely absorb many readers, and help to inform not only scholars, but also those teachers, administrators, and general readers who seek a deeper appreciation of these aspects of the writings of the Guardian, and who may wish to develop them in their talks or publications.