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Bahá'í Administration
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Pages 118-120
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Letter of November 14, 1926.
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The beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout
the United States and Canada.
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Dearly-beloved friends:
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The progress of various events, both within and outside the
Bahá'í world, as well as the perusal of the able and illuminating
report recently submitted by the Committee of the Persian National
Spiritual Assembly in charge of the Tarbíyat School in Tihrán,
have served to reinforce a gradually growing idea as to the desirability
of arranging for the settlement in the capital of that country
of one or two American believers who, having the means, the freedom
and the capacity, can adequately meet the pressing requirements
of a responsible position. Judging from their report, the situation
in Tihrán though much confused and perplexing, is fraught with
rich possibilities for the future of the Cause, both as affecting the
national fortunes of Persia, as well as its influence upon the international
development of the Cause.
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The situation as I see it calls for the devoted efforts of one
or two capable workers who, untrammelled and with independent
means, can quietly, tenaciously and tactfully, pursue over a considerable
length of time the meritorious work of fostering the cause of
Bahá'í education, for both boys and girls, in the swiftly changing
capital of a promising country. It should be their primary duty to
extend the scope and enhance the prestige of these twin Bahá'í educational
institutions, and to initiate by sound and well-considered
methods such measures as will consolidate the work already achieved.
It would be highly gratifying if they could also endeavor, by keeping
in close and constant touch with the Persian and American National
Spiritual Assemblies, to fortify those vital bonds that spiritually
unite the cradle of the Bahá'í Faith with the great American Republic--
the foremost standard-bearer of the Cause in the Western field.
Such efforts will extremely facilitate cooperation between these two
countries, whose common destiny is to provide, each in its own
typical manner, the essential elements in the foundation of the world
order ushered in by Bahá'u'lláh.
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The gradual expansion of foreign as well as officially subsidized
educational schools in Tihrán, the prolonged absence of competent
teachers and organizers that can revive the declining influence of a
hitherto renowned Bahá'í educational institution, and the critical
and vigilant attitude which the growing influence of the Cause has
induced in its malignant and envious enemies, are today subjects
of gravest concern to the elected representatives of our suffering
brethren and sisters in Persia. I would therefore request those who
feel the urge and have the means to undertake this task to communicate
with the National Spiritual Assembly who, after mature
deliberation, will select one or two who, in their judgment, can best
render this service, and decide upon the exact time and manner which
would be most suitable for its execution. I would strongly urge
the friends to consult most earnestly with that devoted, experienced
and indefatigable handmaid of Bahá'u'lláh, Dr. Moody, whose past
services have ennobled the record of collaboration of East and
West for the furtherance of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. It would be
highly satisfactory and immensely helpful if our beloved sister could
find it possible and convenient to accompany such a carefully-chosen
person on the way to Tihrán, and, by her unrivaled experience and
loving-kindness, assist personally in the fulfillment of this pressing
need.
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Whoever steps into this field will find, as he settles down to his
work, that the environment is extremely disheartening, that restrictions
are oppressive, that the amenities of social life are lacking, that
the forces of opposition are determined and organized. But let him
realize also that, however tedious and exacting his labors, however
precarious and thankless his task, the pioneer services it is his unique
privilege to render in this time of stress will forever live in the
annals of God's living Faith, and will prove a source of inspiration
to the countless workers who, in happier times and with better
means at their disposal, will consummate the spiritual regeneration
and material rehabilitation of Bahá'u'lláh's native land.
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Your true brother,
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SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine,
November 14, 1926.
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