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Citadel of Faith
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Pages 93-95
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NO SACRIFICE TOO GREAT
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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.
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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
functioning, ties which the newly formed International Bahá'í Council
are so assiduously striving to cement.
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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 good will 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.
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The recognition of the sacred nature of the twin holy Shrines,
situated in the plain of Akká and on the slopes of Mount Carmel; the
exemption from state and civic taxes, granted to the mansion of Bahjí
adjoining the Most Holy Shrine, to the twin houses, that of Bahá'u'lláh
in Akká, and `Abdu'l-Bahá in Haifa, to the twin archives, adjoining
the Shrine of the Báb 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-Bahá; the delivery of the
mansion of Mazra'ih by the authorities of that same state to the Bahá'í
Community and its occupation after a lapse of more than fifty years; the
setting apart, through government action, of the room occupied by
Bahá'u'lláh in the barracks of Akká, as a place of pilgrimage; the
recognition of the Bahá'í marriage certificate by the District Commissioner
of Haifa; the recognition of the Bahá'í holy 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 Bahá'í holy places as well as for all material
imported for the construction of the Báb's Sepulcher, the exemption
from taxes similarly extended to all international Bahá'í endowments
surrounding the holy tomb on Mount 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
Holy Leaf and her kinsmen--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.
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The construction of the mausoleum of the Báb, synchronizing with
the birth of that state, and the progress of which has been accompanied
by these successive manifestations of the good will 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 Bahá'u'lláh--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 Bahá'í 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 Carmel.
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I cannot at this juncture over emphasize 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 Center of the Faith of
Bahá'u'lláh and in the efflorescence of its highest institutions constituting
the embryo of its future World Order.
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