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            |  | Bahá'í Administration | Pages 12-17 |  |  | Letter of January 21st, 1922.
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	| 1 | Dearly beloved brethren and sisters in `Abdu'l-Bahá: |  |  
	| 2 | At this early hour when the morning light is just breaking upon 
the Holy Land, whilst the gloom of the dear Master's bereavement 
is still hanging thick upon the hearts, I feel as if my soul turns in 
yearning love and full of hope to that great company of His loved 
ones across the seas, who now share with us all the agonies of His 
separation. |  |  
	| 3 | It is idle for me to emphasize how much the sorrowful ladies 
of the Holy Household look forward to the work that lies before 
the friends in the American continent, who in the past have rendered 
so glorious a service to His Cause and will now, faithful to His 
special love for them, carry on their mission still more gloriously 
than ever before.  True, the shock has been too terrible and sudden 
for us all to recover from in so short a time, but whenever we recall 
His Sayings and read His Writings, hope springs in our hearts 
and gives us the peace that no other material comfort can give. |  |  
	| 4 | How well I remember when, more than two years ago, the 
Beloved Master turning to a distinguished visitor of His, who was  
seated by Him in His garden, suddenly broke the silence and said:--
"My work is now done upon this plane; it is time for me to pass on 
to the other world."  Did He not in more than one occasion state 
clearly and emphatically:--"Were ye to know what will come to 
pass after me, surely would ye pray that my end be hastened?"  
In a Tablet sent to Persia when the storm raised years ago by that 
Committee of Investigation was fiercely raging around Him, when 
the days of His incarceration were at their blackest, He reveals the 
following:--"Now in this world of being, the Hand of Divine 
Power hath firmly laid the foundations of this all-highest Bounty 
and this wondrous Gift.  Gradually whatsoever is latent in the innermost 
of this Holy Cycle shall appear and be made manifest, for now 
 
is but the beginning of its growth and the dayspring of the revelation 
of its Signs.  Ere the close of this Century and of this Age, it 
shall be made clear and manifest how wondrous was that Springtide 
and how heavenly was that Gift!" |  |  
	| 5 | With such assuring Utterances and the unmistakable evidences 
of His sure and clear knowledge that His end was nigh, is there 
any reason why the followers of His Faith, the world over, should 
be perturbed?  Are not the prayers He revealed for us sufficient 
source of inspiration to every worker in His Cause?  Have not His 
instructions paved before us the broad and straight Path of Teaching?  
Will not His now doubly effective power of Grace sustain 
us, strengthen us and confirm us in our work for Him?  Ours is 
the duty to strive by day and night to fulfill our own obligations 
and then trust in His Guidance and never failing Grace.  Unity 
amongst the friends, selflessness in our labors in His Path, detachment 
from all worldly things, the greatest prudence and caution in 
every step we take, earnest endeavor to carry out only what is His 
Holy Will and Pleasure, the constant awareness of His Presence and 
of the example of His Life, the absolute shunning of whomsoever 
we feel to be an enemy of the Cause ... these, and foremost among 
them is the need for unity, appear to me as our most vital duties, 
should we dedicate our lives for His service.  Should we in this 
spirit arise to serve Him, what surer and greater promise have we 
than the one His Glorious Father, Bahá'u'lláh, gives us in His Most 
Holy Book:--"Verily, We behold you from Our Realm of Effulgent 
Glory, and shall graciously aid whosoever ariseth for the triumph 
of Our Cause with the hosts of the Celestial Concourse and a company 
of Our chosen angels." |  |  
	| 6 | How dearly all the Holy Leaves
[1]
 cherish that memory of the 
departed Master, as He commented upon the fresh tidings that 
poured in from that continent, admiring the untiring activity of 
the friends, the complete subordination of their material interests 
to those of the Cause, the remarkable spread of the Movement 
in their midst and their staunch firmness in the Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh.  
It is these encouraging reflections of the Master about His 
loved ones in America and the tests intellectual rather than physical 
which He said He would send to them to purify them and make ever 
 
 
brighter than before--it is these comments and promises of His that 
make of the Movement in that land such a potential force in the 
world today.  The Beloved Master's cable to the friends in that 
region is a clear indication of the presence of those counteracting 
forces that may usher in those storms of tests that the Master Himself 
has said will ultimately be for the good of the Cause in that 
land. |  |  
	| 7 | And finally, the ladies of the Sacred Household and we, the rest 
of His kindred and family, will pray at His Hallowed Shrine for 
every one of you and He will surely watch over and enhance in the 
course of time that noble part of His heritage that He has bequeathed 
to His friends in the Far West; friends from whom in return He 
expects so much and whom He has loved and still doth love so dearly. |  |  
	| 8 | Your sincere co-worker in His Cause, |  |  
	| 9 | SHOGHI. 
Haifa, Palestine.January 21st, 1922.
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 Notes1. [Descendants (feminine) of Bahá'u'lláh.]
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