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Bahá'í Administration
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Pages 147-156
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Letter of December 6, 1928.
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To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful
throughout the West.
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Dearly-beloved brothers and sisters in `Abdu'l-Bahá:
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Events, of a startling character and of the utmost significance to
the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, have recently transpired throughout the
Near and Middle East in such rapid succession, that I feel moved
to write about them to those who, in distant lands and with eager
hearts, are waiting to witness the fulfillment of the prophecies of
Bahá'u'lláh. You will, I am certain, rejoice with me to learn that
the quickening forces of internal reform are swiftly awakening
from their age-long slumber of negligence those lands which, trodden
by the feet of Bahá'u'lláh and wherein are enshrined the memorable
scenes of His birth, His ministry, His exiles, His banishments, His
suffering and His ascension, are destined in the fulness of time to
play a pre-eminent role in the regeneration of the East--nay of all
mankind.
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From Persia, the cradle of our Faith and the object of our
tenderest affections, there breaks upon us the news of the first
stirrings of that social and political Reformation which, as we firmly
believe, is but the direct and unavoidable consequence of that great
spiritual Revival ushered in by the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. These
social and political forces now released by the Source of such a tremendous
Revival are bound in their turn to demolish one by one the
barriers that have so long impeded its flow, sapped its vitality and
obscured its radiance.
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From a communication addressed to me recently by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia, as well as from reliable
reports submitted by the local representatives of the Persian believers,
and confirmed by the vivid narrative of visiting pilgrims, it
is becoming increasingly manifest that the glowing promises so
many times uttered by our departed Master are, with extraordinary
exactitude and remarkable swiftness, being successively fulfilled.
Reforms of a revolutionary character are, without bloodshed and
with negligible resistance, gradually transforming the very basis
and structure of Persia's primitive society. The essentials of public
security and order are being energetically provided throughout the
length and breadth of the Sháh's domain, and are hailed with
particular gratification by that much harassed section of the population--
our long-suffering brethren of that land. The rapidity, the
incredible ease, with which the enlightened proposals of its government,
in matters of education, trade and finance, means of transportation
and travel, and the development of the country's internal
resources, are receiving the unqualified sanction of a hitherto reactionary
Legislature, and are overcoming the resistance and apathy
of the masses, have undoubtedly tended to hasten the emancipation
of our Persian brethren from the remaining fetters of a once
despotic and blood-stained regime. The severely repressive and
humiliating measures undertaken on the initiative of progressive
provincial Governors, and with the connivance of State officials in
the Capital, aiming at the scattering and ultimate extinction of a
rapidly waning clergy, such as degradation, detainment, deportation
and in some cases pitiless execution, are paving the way for the
entire removal of the shackles imposed by an ignorant and fanatical
priesthood upon the administration of State affairs. In matters of
dress; in the obligatory enforcement of a uniform style of national
head-gear; in the strict limitation of the number, the rights and the
prerogatives of high ecclesiastical officials; in the growing unpopularity
of the veil among almost every section of society; in the
marked distinction which unofficially and in various phases of public
life is being made by an enlightened and pressing minority between
the tottering forms of a discredited Ecclesiasticism and the civil
rights and duties of civilized society; in the general laxity in religious
observances and ceremonies; in the slow and hidden process
of secularization invading many a government department under
the courageous guidance of the Governors of outlying provinces--in
all of these a discerning eye can easily discover the symptoms that
augur well for a future that is sure to witness the formal and complete
separation of Church and State.
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To this uplifting movement, various external factors are being
added that are tending to hasten and stimulate this process of
internal regeneration so significant in the life of renascent Persia.
The multiplicity and increasing facilities in the means of transportation
and travel; the State visit of energetic and enlightened reformers
to Persia's capital; the forthcoming and widely-advertised
journey of the Sháh himself to the progressive capitals of Western
Europe; the repercussion of Turkey's astounding reforms among
an essentially sensitive and receptive people; the loud and persistent
clamor of a revolting order in Russia against the evil domination
and dark plottings of all forms of religious sectarianism; the relentless
vigor with which Afghanistan's ambitious Ruler, reinforced by
the example of his gracious Consort, is pursuing his campaign of
repression against a similar order of a corrupted clergy at home--
all tend to lend their force in fostering and fashioning that public
opinion which can alone provide an enduring basis for the reform
Movement destined to usher in that golden Era craved for by the
followers of the Faith in Bahá'u'lláh's native land.
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As a direct consequence of the birth of this new consciousness in
the life of the nation, as evidenced by these early stirrings in the
minds of the people, both high and low, meetings of an elaborate
character, unprecedented in the number of their attendants, in the
tone of the public addresses, in the undisturbed atmosphere of their
proceedings, and the general impressiveness of their organization,
have been publicly held in Tihrán, under the auspices of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Persia. Particularly significant
and impressive were those that were held in the Hazíratu'l-Quds,
the administrative and spiritual center of the Faith in the
Capital, on the occasion of the twin Festivals commemorating the
declaration of the Báb and the birth of `Abdu'l-Bahá, at the chief
of which no less than two thousand representative Bahá'ís and
non-Bahá'ís, leaders of public opinion, State officials and foreign
representatives were officially invited. The addresses stressing the
universality of the Teachings of the Cause, the formal and ordered
character of the proceedings so unusual a feature to a gathering of
such proportions, the mingling of the Bahá'ís with the recognized
representatives of progressive thought in the Capital who, by virtue
of their high office and stately appearance, lent color and weight to
the concourse of attending believers, have all contributed to enhance
the brilliance and spiritual significance of that gathering on that
memorable occasion.
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Moreover, reports of a highly encouraging nature, are being
continually received from local Assemblies and individual believers,
giving the names and stating the number of influential Persians who,
hitherto reluctant to declare openly their faith in Bahá'u'lláh, are as
a result of this reassuring and promising state of affairs emerging
from the obscurity of their concealment and enlisting under the
erected banner of Bahá'u'lláh. This has served to embolden the
followers of the Faith to take the necessary steps, under the direction
of their local Assemblies, for the institution of Bahá'í schools, for
the holding of public gatherings, for the establishment of Bahá'í
hostels, libraries and public baths, for the construction of official
headquarters for their administrative work, and for the gradual
execution among themselves, within the limits imposed upon them
by the State, of the laws and ordinances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
Words fail me to describe the feelings of those patiently
suffering brethren of ours in that land who, with eyes dim with
tears and hearts overflowing with thanksgiving and praise, are
witnessing on every side and with increasing force the unfoldment
of a Faith which they have served so well and love so dearly.
Accounts pathetic and inspiring in their tone are being received
from that steadfast and cheerful band of exultant believers, and are
being shared with the resident friends in the Holy Land who, having
had the privilege of close and continued association with the person
of `Abdu'l-Bahá, cannot but marvel at the range, the potency and
accuracy of the prophecies of their departed Master.
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From Turkey, on whose soil, for well nigh three score years and
ten, were enacted some of the sublimest and most tragic scenes in
the annals of the Cause; Turkey, under whose rule Bahá'u'lláh twice
proclaimed Himself, was thrice exiled and banished, and finally
ascended to the Abhá Kingdom, and where `Abdu'l-Bahá spent more
than fifty years of His Life, in incarceration and suffering; has of
late been rudely awakened to a Call which it has so long obstinately
despised and ignored. Following on the overthrow of that effete
theocracy, resting on the twin institutions of the Caliphate and
Sultanate--those two sinister forces that have combined to inflict the
deadliest blows to our beloved Faith in the earliest stages of its
infancy and growth--an uncompromising policy aiming at the
secularization of the State and the disestablishment of Islám was
initiated and carried out with exemplary vigor. Religious institutions
and monastic orders which under the guise of religious propaganda
were converted into hot-beds of political intrigue and sedition
were peremptorily closed, their adherents scattered and banished,
their funds confiscated, their privileges and prerogatives abolished.
None, save the little band of Bahá'u'lláh's devoted followers, escaped
the trenchant ax of the pitiless reformer; all, without fear or favor,
had to submit to his searching investigations, his dictatorial edicts,
his severe and irrevocable judgment. Lately, however, the Turkish
Government, faithful to its policy of ceaseless vigilance, and fearful
of the growing activities of the Bahá'ís under its rule, decided to
order the Police in the town of Smyrna to conduct a close investigation
into the purpose, the character and the effects of Bahá'í activity
in that town. No sooner were the representative Bahá'ís in that
locality arrested and conducted to the Law Courts for purposes of
investigation, than the President of the Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly
of Constantinople who, having read in the morning papers the report
of the Smyrna incident, had resolved unsummoned to offer the
necessary explanations to the authorities concerned, was in his turn
arrested and taken to the Police Headquarters where he soon afterwards
was joined by the other members of the Assembly. The
official searching of their homes, the seizure of whatever Bahá'í
literature they had in their possession, their twenty-four hours detention
at the Police station, the searching severity of the cross-examination
to which they were subjected--all proved powerless to
alarm and shake the faith of those intrepid champions of the Cause,
or to evince anything detrimental to the best interests of the State.
On the contrary, they served to deeply impress upon the minds and
hearts of the officials concerned the sublimity, the innocence, and
the dynamic force of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh. So much so that
their books were returned, a genuine desire to deepen their knowledge
of the Cause was expressed by their examiners, and widespread
publicity, as reflected in the articles of about a dozen leading newspapers
of Turkey, was accorded by the Government, proclaiming the
innocence of the Cause and lifting up the ban that now so oppressively
weighs upon religious institutions in Turkey.
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From Constantinople in European Turkey to the eastern confines
of Anatolia, on the banks of the river Euphrates, where a small
and flourishing Bahá'í Community has been recently established, a
wave of public interest, criticism and inquiry has been sweeping
over the surface of the land, as witnessed by the character and
number of the leading articles, the illustrations and caricatures that
have appeared in the most prominent newspapers of the capital and
the provincial towns of Asiatic Turkey. Not only Turkey, but its
neighboring countries of the East and the West, have lifted up their
voice in the vindication of the Bahá'í truth. From information
thus far gathered we learn that in Hungary, in `Iráq, Egypt and
Syria, and as far west as France and England, newspapers have, of
their own accord, with varying degree of accuracy, and in more or
less detail, reported this incident in their columns, and have given,
unasked and unaware, such publicity to our beloved Faith which no
campaign of teaching, however elaborately organized by the believers
themselves, could ever hope to achieve at the present time.
Surely the invincible arm of Bahá'u'lláh, working through strange
and mysterious ways, will continue to guard and uphold, to steer
the course, to consolidate, and eventually to achieve the world-wide
recognition and triumph of His holy Faith.
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And while the East, through suffering and turmoil, is moving on
in its slow and toilsome march towards the acceptance of God's holy
Faith, let us turn for a moment our gaze to the Western Hemisphere,
and particularly to the American continent, and attempt to visualize
the possibilities of the future spread of the Cause, and to estimate
afresh those golden yet swiftly passing opportunities which Bahá'u'lláh
in those far-away lands has accorded to His chosen people.
I feel thoroughly convinced, and am moved to share this firm conviction
within me with that great company of western believers, that
in the speedy resumption of the sorely-neglected construction of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkár at Wilmette lies our undoubted privilege, our
primary obligation, our most vital opportunity to lend an unprecedented
impetus to the advancement of the Cause, not only throughout
the West but in every country of the world. I would not stress
at this moment the prestige and good name of the Cause, much as
they are involved in this most pressing issue, I would not dwell
upon the eager expectancy with which the unnumbered followers of
the Faith as well as the vast number of the non-believers in almost
every section of society throughout the East are awaiting to behold
that noble structure rear its head in the heart of that far-western
continent; nor would I expatiate on the ineffable beauty of this holy
Edifice, its towering glory, its artistic design, its unique character,
or its functions in the organic life of the Bahá'í community of the
future. But I would with all the strength of my conviction emphasize
the immeasurable spiritual significance of an Edifice, so
beauteous, so holy, erected solely by the concerted efforts, strained
to the utmost degree of self-sacrifice, of the entire body of the
believers who are fully conscious of the significance of the Revelation
of Bahá'u'lláh. In this vast endeavor, unparalleled in modern
times, its world-wide range, its spontaneity, its heroic and holy
character, the American believers, on the soil of whose country
Bahá'u'lláh's first universal House of Worship is to be built, must,
if they be faithful to their trust, claim and fulfill a pre-eminent share
in the collective contributions offered by the Bahá'ís of the world.
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For this reason do I feel impelled to direct by incessant plea in
particular to the followers of the Faith in the United States and
Canada to arise and play their part, while there is yet time, and
not to allow their earnest strivings to be swamped and superseded
by the self-sacrificing heroism of the multitude of their brethren in
Persia. Again I feel the urge to remind you one and all of the
necessity of keeping ever in mind this fundamental verity that the
efficacy of the spiritual forces centering in, and radiating from, the
first Mashriqu'l-Adhkár in the West will in a great measure depend
upon the extent to which we, the pioneer workers in that land will,
with clear vision, unquenchable faith, and inflexible determination,
resolve to voluntarily abnegate temporal advantages in our support
of so meritorious an endeavor. The higher the degree of our renunciation
and self-sacrifice, the wider the range of the contributing
believers, the more apparent will become the vitalizing forces that
are to emanate from this unique and sacred Edifice; and the greater,
in consequence, the stimulating effect it will exert upon the propagation
of the Faith in the days to come. Not by the abundance of our
donations, not even by the spontaneity of our efforts, but rather by
the degree of self-abnegation which our contributions will entail,
can we effectively promote the speedy realization of `Abdu'l-Bahá's
cherished desire. How great our responsibility, how immense our
task, how priceless the advantages that we can reap!
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I cannot refrain, however, from giving expression to my gratification
and appreciation of the substantial and continued support
already accorded, and in particular during the past year by the believers
in the United States and Canada, under the wise and judicious
direction of their elected national representatives, to the Plan
of Unified Action, whose declared purpose is to insure, ere the
present Bahá'í year comes to a close, the raising of the funds required
for the building of the first Unit of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.
The vigilance and fidelity with which the National Assembly of
the United States and Canada has observed its pledge in connection
with the limitation of the current administrative expenses of the
Cause, and the zeal and ready response manifested by local Assemblies
and individual believers to curtail their local and personal
expenditures in order to concentrate on the Temple Fund, are worthy
of the highest praise, and will deservedly attract the manifold blessings
of a loving and bountiful Master. Much indeed has been
accomplished during this past year of concentrated and consecrated
self-sacrifice for so glorious a purpose. Much more still remains
unachieved if we are to vindicate, in the eyes of an expectant world,
the honorable name, the inexhaustible and miraculous vitality of the
Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
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In the mid-watches of the night, commemorating the passing of
Him Who with His own hands laid the head-cornerstone of His
Father's House of Worship in that land, seated within the hallowed
precincts of His shrine, and keeping vigil in the company of His
closest companions, I have more than once in the midst of my devotions
prayerfully remembered those chosen ones of God on whose
shoulders has fallen so weighty a responsibility, whose destiny is to
bring to full fruition so excellent a heritage. I have recalled on
that peaceful and moonlit night, with much emotion and gratitude,
the inestimable bounties He lavished while on earth upon you. I
have revived in my memory the glowing promises that His unfailing
guidance and gracious assistance would continue from His station
on high to be showered upon you. I have pictured in my mind
that beauteous vision of a Cause unfolded in all its glory which in
His immortal writings He has revealed unto you. And with my
head upon His threshold, I have prayed and prayed again that we
may all prove ourselves worthy disciples of so gracious a Master,
that we may, when called unto Him, transmit, undiminished and
unimpaired, our share of the immeasurably precious heritage bequeathed
by Him to us all.
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And in closing, dearly-beloved friends, what more appropriate
thought with which to conclude my fervent plea than these pregnant
words fallen from the lips of Bahá'u'lláh: "O My friends! I bear
witness that the Divine Bounty has been vouchsafed unto you, His
Argument has been made manifest, His Proof has been revealed,
and His Guidance has shone forth upon you. Let it now be seen
what your endeavors in the path of renunciation can reveal."
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Your true brother,
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SHOGHI.
Haifa, Palestine,
December 6, 1928.
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