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Messages to the Bahá'í World: 1950-1957
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Pages 45-46
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Acquisition of Vitally-Needed Property
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1 |
Announce to Bahá'í communities, East and West, on the joyous
occasion of the hundred and thirty-fifth Anniversary of Bahá'u'lláh's
Birthday, the successful termination of the protracted negotiations,
initiated two years ago and culminating in the signature to the
contract providing the eventual, formal transfer by the Development
Authority of the State of Israel to the Palestine Branch of
the American National Spiritual Assembly of the extensive, long-desired,
vitally-needed property surrounding and safeguarding for
posterity the Most Holy Tomb of the Founder of the Faith, as well
as the adjoining Mansion.
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2 |
The acquired area, raising Bahá'í holdings on the holy plain of
Akká from four thousand to one hundred and fifty-five thousand
square meters, was exchanged against property donated by children
of Zikrullah, grandchildren of Mírzá Muhammad Qulí, Bahá'u'lláh's
faithful half-brother and companion in exile.
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3 |
This spontaneous offer contrasts with the shameful action of
the family in the sale to non-Bahá'ís of the property in the neighborhood
of the Jordan valley purchased through the instrumentality of
`Abdu'l-Bahá during Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, pursuant to His instructions
and alluded to in His writings.
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4 |
The forty acre property acquired in this single transaction almost
equals the entire Bahá'í international endowments purchased
in the course of sixty years in the vicinity of the Báb's Sepulcher
on the slope of Mount Carmel.
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5 |
The exchange of said property, including land and houses, was
made possible by the precipitate flight of the former Arab owners,
traditional supporters of the old Covenant-breakers and descendants
of the notorious enemy of `Abdu'l-Bahá who placed his residence at
the disposal of the Committee of Investigation.
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6 |
The signature to the agreement signalized the commencement
of large-scale landscaping, aiming at the beautification of the immediate
precincts of the holiest spot in the entire Bahá'í world,
itself the prelude to the eventual erection, as happened in the case of
the Báb's Sepulcher, of a befitting Mausoleum enshrining the precious
Dust of the Most Great Name.
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7 |
Desire to acknowledge the indefatigable efforts exerted by both
Larry Hautz and Leroy Ioas enabling the consummation of the
initial stage of the enterprise destined to eclipse in its final phase
the splendor and magnificence of the Báb's resting-place on Mount
Carmel.
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8 |
--Shoghi
[Cablegram, November 12, 1952]
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